I played yet another game of Imperial Skies using a Victory at Sea scenario. This time I played Battle of Denmark Strait. Again, I had to adjust the scenario to fit my collection of models (the Germans are on loan from Randy), but it worked out fine.
I upped the ship number to 4 ships for this game. I know, I'm getting a little crazy. It was a fun game and played pretty quickly.
I think I need to expand my choices of ships, but I am making due with what I have.
I will be adding some Imperial Skies ships to my paint queue soon.
I managed to get my another game of Imperial Skies played. I played another scenario from Victory at Sea game, but this time I chose a historical scenario; Clash of Giants. I adjusted the scenario a little and made it work with the ships I have available.
This was a very small game with only 1 ship on the French side and 2 ships on the German side.
It played well enough and I will be playing more of these small scale scenarios. It gives a little different feel to the game, but that isn't a bad thing.
The great thing about any game is trying out different scenarios and seeing how it works. I encourage you to check this game out.
Guess what? I actually got several games played in November for the challenge; I was surprised, too. I'm still behind, but at least I made some progress.
I played 5 games in November and have now finished the games for three of my selections. I still have 9 games to play in order to complete the challenge, but I think I can get it done (or at least come close).
I've been thinking about swapping out Cold War Commander for Song of Blades and Heroes. This will mean I need to play 12 games, but I think it would be pretty easy to play 6 games of Song of Blades and Heroes. We will see what I ultimately decide.
I've got army lists and scenarios put together for the 3 Imperial Skies scenarios and I have the three scenarios for Conflict of Heroes already planned out as well.
Wish me luck.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cold War Commander
I pulled out my Mediterranean Expansion for another game of Memoir '44. I played the Sidi Rezegh Airfield scenario and I took control of the British forces.
This scenario is most comprised of armor units and played very quickly. I had a bit of a challenge with this one and was defeated pretty quickly. The great thing with this game is that I can reset the scenario and replay it again.
I'm not sure if I'm making bad plays of if I'm just unlucky. Either way, the games are fun and I will continue to play this game.
I played another game of Kings of War for my 6 x 6 Game Challenge. I used my Epic 40K models again for this game; Dwarves (Imperial Guard) vs Goblins (Orks/Chaos).
Each army was 750 points and I played on my 2' x 2' game board. All measurements are in centimeters for these small scale games.
As I was typing up this blog post and putting together the army lists below, I realized that I shorted the Dwarf army by 90 points. The units in the game only add up to 660 points. So while the dwarven army lost this game, they did pretty good for being 90 points short.
I messed up on the army list and stats for the dwarf army. I feel like though they lost, there is an asterisks next to this game. I will need to replay this and see how it turns out with the correct rules and full points.
I sat down and tried my hand at a solo play through of the Operation Cobra scenario.
I took command of the Allied forces. I made some not so great choice for myself and paid the price for them. The enemy also had some pretty good rolls. I will definitely be playing more scenarios solo.
For solo play, I use a pretty simple process that I've stolen from others.
Remove the Ambush card from the deck.
Chose the side that you will play in the scenario.
Set up the board as normal and deal yourself the appropriate number of command cards.
The enemy doesn't get a hand of cards. Instead, on their turn draw a number of cards based upon the number they would normally have for the scenario (see below) and play the best card.
5 or less command cards - draw 2 cards.
6 or more command cards - draw 3 cards.
If a recon card is used that normally allows you to draw 2 cards and choose one to add to your hand, then I will draw an additional card for the enemy on their next turn.
This isn't a prefect system, but it works well enough and you will find that the enemy is a pretty challenging opponent.
I put together another Kings of War game using my Epic 40k models. This time, I took my Kingdom of Men (Space Marines) and faced them off against a Goblin army (Orcs/Chaos) composed of only trolls.
Both armies were 750 points so I played on a 2' x 2' board. I changed all measurements to centimeters.
Kingdom of Men - 750 Points
Standard Bearer on Horse 65 points
Standard Bearer on Horse 65 points
Charioteers Regiment 115 points
Charioteers Regiment 115 points
Knight Regiment 195 points
Knight Regiment 195 points
I played my third game of Conflict of Heroes: Awakening the Bear for my 6 x 6 game challenge.
This time I played the first scenario from the core box, but I used fan made Unit Spent Counters. These replace the normal action point mechanic in the game and add a little unpredictability to units being spent.
The Unit Spent Counters were created by Kevin Kitchens and are available on BGG here.
The Russian forces have a distinct advantage in this scenario, but it is still fun to play and does a good job of teaching the basic mechanics of the game.
I'm continuing to add trolls to my collection that will be based up for my Kings of War goblin army.
This time I have a Reaper Bones Troll.
This is a pretty simple paint scheme and the model was painted fairly quickly. If I can find more of these models at my local shop, I will likely be painting a few more for my army.
I managed to play and post videos on two more games this month; not quite enough to get back on schedule, though.
I've kind of resigned myself to fact that I'm likely not going to complete the challenge (still needing to play and video 14 games before the end of the year). However, I have played a lot of games and have enjoyed the experience.
I'm not giving up yet, but won't be too upset if I miss the mark at the end of the year.
Maybe I just need to focus on some small scenarios for the remaining plays and see if I can knock them out in a marathon play session.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cold War Commander
I pulled out my copy of Victory at Sea by Mongoose Publishing and found a scenario that I thought would work well for a game of Imperial Skies.
The blockade scenario was a good basic one that only needed a little adjustment to fit with the Imperial Skies game.
Table size: 4' x 6'
Fleets: The attacking player (blockader) builds a fleet to an agreed upon point value. The defender (blockade runner) builds a fleet using 50% of the points of the attacker's fleet.
Deployment: The blockader chooses a short table edge. He then chooses a ship and places that ship anywhere along the short table edge up with 24" away from his long table edge. He then rolls a die and multiplies the result by 12 inches. The ship must be moved to the right this many inches. He may deploy the ship anywhere within 6 inches of that position. This must be done for all ships in the blockader's fleet. When completed, all ships must be facing the same direction.
The blockade runner will move all his ships onto the table anywhere along the opposite long table edge in the first turn.
Scenario rules: The blockade runner has a "fee" turn at the beginning of the battle. In effect, he may move and attack with his ships normally, but the blockading fleet may do nothing - its ships may not move, fire, or use command actions. They must simply take any damage dealt during this turn. After this first turn, initiative is rolled normally.
Game length: The game continues until the blockade runner has either been destroyed or has left the table.
Victory conditions: The scenario uses Victory Points to determine who wins. The blockader scores victory points equal to the value of any ship destroyed. The blockade runner only scores victory points for moving ships off the blockader's long table edge. He scores points equal to the value of the ship that exits the table.
I choose a large selection of small ships for the French fleet. I was thinking they would have the best chance of breaking through the line. I plan to replay the scenario with a different make up for the French Fleet.
French Fleet
Perigeaux Class Patrol Nef x 6
Austro-Hungarian Fleet
Danube Class Patrol Nef x 3
Huszar Class Destroyer x 2
Prinz Eugen Class Destroyer x 1
I've decided that I need to add some hard hitting units to my Kings of War Goblin army. That means more trolls. I am going to add a couple of hordes of trolls and plan to multi-base them.
I'm going to be using a variety of models, but for my first unit, I'm using Reaper Bones models. I'm going to used a variety of models models look a little rag-tag.
First up is a couple of cave trolls. Nothing too special about these guys. They look nice and will make a good base for a unit.
I used a different technique for these models that I normally use. It turned out well, but did take a bit more time.
Conflict of Heroes: Awakening the Bear is one of my favorite games. I have not played it as much as I would like, but it is a fantastic games. I decided to play this game as part of my 6 x 6 Game Challenge so that I can get a few more games played.
I used the solo expansion for this game and played the Solo Mission 1 - Search and Destroy.
This game is full of difficult decisions. The player constantly has several options and you have to pick one. This means that you might miss the opportunity to do something else.
The game was a lot of fun and I am looking forward to getting more games played as I work through the game challenge.
I acquired some 15mm models from Battle Valor Games some time ago and they have sat quietly on a shelf waiting for me to give them some attention.
I decided to pull a few out and see what I could do with them. Battle Valor Games has a pretty large selection of factions and there is currently a Kickstarter project to expand some existing lines and create a few new ones.
I have a fair number of their Frigian line. These are kind of Viking-esk. They look pretty decent and each pack has a good variety of poses. I'm not entirely sure which rules I will be using these with, but I'm sure they will find their way to a battlefield for a game or two at some point.
As is my usual practice, I've gone with a very simple paint job on these models.
I primed these with a flat tan and then picked out a few pieces of cloth with red, blue, and green. Next, I painted weapons and shields. Finally, I applied a brown wash over the entire model.
With the models painted, I based the infantry on 40mm x 20mm bases and the cavalry on 40mm x 30mm bases. I mixed up some drywall spackle with some glue and a bit of brown paint and applied that to the bases. Next, I painted the bases with dark brown. I still need to add some flock to the bases, but thought I would share the progress so far.
I'm pleased with the models and how they turned out. I'm thinking I might use these models to build a halfling army for Kings of War.
I thought I would try something a little different for another game of Kings of War for my 6 x 6 Game Challenge. For this game, I pulled out some of my Epic 40K models and put together a couple of armies; Kingdoms of Men (Space Marines) and Orcs (Orcs).
I scaled down the normal table size to a 3' x 2' table and worked up some 800 point armies. I didn't spend a lot of time on building the armies as I was just checking to see how the game would work in this scale.
Kings of War is pretty abstract so I thought this might let me make use of my collection of Epic 40K models.
The Kingdoms of Men got lucky early and routed the Fight Wagon Regiment after doing some damage via shooting. Once the orcs reached melee range, things started to go down hill for the Kingdom of Men. Though in the end, the Orcs couldn't do enough damage and the Kingdom ended up winning the battle.
It was a fun game and fits well on a small board. I think I will be playing more games in this scale with my Epic 40k models. I have several factions and will be able to try out a variety of lists .
There isn't any hidden info in KoW so it works well as a solo game.
I thought it would be a good idea to show the basic mechanics of Imperial Skies by Rottenlead Publishing. I put together a couple of small fleets and set up my game table.
In this battle a small fleet of German ships have come across a fleet of French ships and a skirmish ensues.
The German's didn't have the best dice in the game and came out a little short because of that. I had a good time playing the game and since there isn't any hidden information, the game worked well as a solo experience. I will likely be playing more solo games in the future.
I didn't play until all the ships were dead as I thought it made more sense for Germans to break off once the battle had turned against them.
Maybe next time, the Germans will have a better showing as they have not done well in the last 2 games.
I took some models and the rules for Imperial Skies to the Recruits Gaming Convention in Lee Summit, MO.
I put together a scenario and ran it for some of the attendees at the convention and am counting this as my first game of Imperial Skies for my 6 x 6 Game Challenge.
The Allied Powers received intelligence that the Central Powers had developed a chemical weapon and were transporting it to the front lines. The Allied Powers dispatched an available French force to intercept the convoy.
The French forces could not simply shoot down the merchants carrying the chemical weapons because they were afraid that the wind would carry the weapons onto the nearby coast and kill many civilian lives.
The Central Powers considered the weapon to valuable to destroy so would fight to maintain control of them and would attempt to retake the ships if they were boarded.
The game started out well for the Central Powers, but the dice turned on them and they had pretty poor rolls throughout most of the game.
The end results showed all but two of the Central Powers ships being shot down while the French only lost 7 ships and most were the patrol boats, not the cruisers.
The rules worked well, even with several new players that had never seen them before. It was a fun game, and I look forward to more games in the future.
I found a very inexpensive copy of AVP: The Hunt Begins at a convention recently. My buddy Bill and I went in together on the game. I have not had a chance to play it yet, but I did get a chance to start painting some of the models.
First up on the paint table are the juvenile aliens. I went with a simple paint job and like the results.
Paints Used:
Army Painter
Matt Black
Dark Tone
Gloss Varnish
Vallejo Game Color
Royal Purple
Chainmail Silver
Next up will be the adult aliens. I'm going to be using a different color pallet for them so they are easy to distinguish on the table.
I finally got back around to my French fleet for the Imperial Skies aeronef game.
I used the first French ships as a guide and painted these Le Brouchet Class Torpedo Frigates with the same colors. I like the look of the ships and think the fleet will look great when it all comes together.
Stay tuned to see this fleet grow as I continue to expand this fleet.
I finally got around to playing another game of Cold War Commander for my 6 x 6 Game Challenge.
It has been a little while since my last game, so I probably got some rules wrong. I added in some artillery for this game so had a few new things to learn as well.
I played the Counter Attack Scenario from the book. The Soviet Union was defending with 1,335 points available and the US was the attacker with 2,000 points available.
Both sides would achieve a minor objective if they caused 25% casualties to the enemy and a major objective if they broke the enemy formation.
It was a fun game and came right down to the wire with the end result being very, very close.
I think I will try to use an forward artillery observer in the next game to make better use of the artillery.
Carl found his way to my paint table and I managed to get him done and as part of the black and white edition of The Walking Dead: All Out War.
I continue to use my simple process for this model. Base colors, wash, and then highlights. I'm not going to win any painting contests, but the models look pretty decent on the table.
Base colors
Wash applied
Highlighted
I think Liam is the only model left from the core box. Stay tuned to see what I start working on next.
Patrick visited my painting table recently and is now ready to head out to collect some supplies and thrash some walkers.
I continue with my simple but effective painting style. This is a pretty good way to paint models if you are interested in getting models to the table quickly. I think it would be pretty forgiving for a new painter as well.
Just a few more models and I'll be done with the core box.
Paints Used:
Vallejo Model Air Color
Anthracite Grey
Vallejo Model Color
White
Vallejo Game Color
Cold Grey
Stonewall Grey
Games Workshop
Nuln Oil
Army Painter
Matt Black
I had hoped to make a little progress on getting caught up, but I failed. However, I am glad to say that I didn't fall any further behind.
My three games this month were all of The Walking Dead: All Out War. I am finished with the plays for that game and am going to focus on Cold War Commander and Conflict of Heroes next.
I've played (and made videos of) 15 games so far toward this challenge. My plan was to play 3 games per month so I should have completed 21 games by the end of July. I now need to play 4 games per month (and 5 in one month) to complete my challenge.
I have plans to make some progress in August, but we will see how that actually works out.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cold War Commander
I was able to convince my friend John to join me in a game of The Walking Dead: All Out War. This is my first competitive game. The game mechanics are essentially the same as for a solo game, but there is much more to worry about with the addition of a force or hostile survivors that you must contend with instead of just the undead walkers.
We played the basic scenario out of the core box. There are 9 supply tokens placed on the board and the first side to hold 7 tokens in an end phase is the winner. If the game ends due to threat being too high, then then the player with the most tokens is declared the winner.
We had a good time and I think we got most of the rules correct. I look forward to playing more games and hope they go as well as this game did.
This game completes my plays for this game for my 6 x 6 game challenge. I will continue to work on models for this game and play more games, but I will be shifting gears and working on getting some other games played.
Derek was the next model to hit my painting table.
I continue to use my simple, but effective process of applying base colors, washing the model with Nuln Oil, and then highlighting with the base colors.
It is a pretty quick painting process, and the results look reasonable.
Base colors applied.
Wash applied.
Highlighted.
I'm getting closer to completing the core box. Stay tuned to see what is next.
Paints Used:
Vallejo Model Color
Neutral Grey
White
Vallejo Game Color
Stonewall Grey
Cold Grey
Army Painter
Stone Golem
Black
Games Workshop
Nuln Oil
I sticking to my simple process. Block in base colors (greys and black), then wash with Nuln Oil, and finally, highlight using the base colors.
Simple but effective.
I'm a fan of simple. As you've probably heard me say before; my goal is always a nice table top standard. I'm not going to win any awards, but my models look good enough on the table-top.
Stay tuned as I continue to work through this project.
