WoK House Hadross

On the painting table this week, we have some Wrath of Kings miniatures from Cool Mini or Not. I've loved the idea of an aquatic army/warband for quite some time now, and when an opportunity arose to get my hands on some I had to jump.

I say the purchase as a chance for some cross-system efficiency. Obviously I'll be able to play Wrath of Kings with some people in my area... but that's not all! These models could also easily be used for Frostgrave- either as a warband itself or as an Atlantean play on the 'Thaw of Lich Lord" campaign. Finally I figured they could help round out my theoretical Trident Realms army in Kings of War!

Some aquatic bases WIP's.

What they look like when finished, with some highlighting along the
outside and lichen 'coral'.

My first test model, a Hadross Deepman.

I went with yellow on the weird tentacles to lighten him up some.

A Hadrossian Kaxes. The Hadross take a bio-armor approach that is very
organic... but its occasionally difficult to tell what is flesh, cloth or plate.

Thankfully a little more colorful on the back what with the pouches and
occasional tentacle. Since metal would rust/tarnish, I've decided to give the
blades a ceramic or bone look.

I think I need to work a bit on defining the fins out from the plate/skin
a bit on future models- but still a very cool figure.

Finally my Hadrossian Deepcaller. A conduit for the mysterious 'Deep Voices'.
He came out much brighter than his cohorts, which I like.

But MAN is he a weird one.

Origins and Game Days

Its been a quiet week or two around this blog. I've been busy between starting a new fellowship for the summer and heading out to Origins- but its time that I get back to updating more regularly.... and how better to do that than by sharing the results of a game day we had featuring only purchases from the convention.

Shout out to my friends at the excellent 'Manse on the Broken Hill' Fading Suns
Larp at Origins put on by Kettle of Fish productions. I encourage you to check them out
on facebook for all of their upcoming events.

Liberty or Death

Year 2 of our first Practice game.

 Liberty or Death is a GMT game utilizing the COIN system ala Fire in the Lake. Each player runs one of the major players of the American Revolution (Patriots, Royalists, French, and Native Americans). The game is an interesting simulation, and my Dad loves it- though we only managed a practice game. My brother and I both seem to feel that its a little on the overly complex side, but perhaps our next playthrough will run a bit smoother. I can definitely see the appeal of the game, if I can ever wrap my head around it

Tyrants of the Underdark

I've heard complaints about the board layout, and I have to agree that it
probably wouldn't have been my choice.

However here is the end of the game. Say what you will, but they allow
your influence to really take on a web-like look that is so thematic. I kinda
like the evocative imagery.

Whoo. Victory for me. The key for me was early currency, followed by
quick promotion cards.

 The brand new Dungeons and Dragons boardgame on the other hand has been a smash hit at our house. The combination of deck-building and area control, with seemingly multiple legitimate paths to victory has really impressed me. We've already played it three times, and I'm already looking forwards to potential expansions to fill out the potential card pool with... more!

Onitama

Two rival martial arts schools face off. Only one will find honor
in this dojo... and it won't be me.

 I have to admit, this one was something of a dark horse for me. The components were lovely, but I wasn't fully convinced with the cards and what I construed to be pre-planned limited movement. In the end, we love games like 'The Duke' and 'Jarl' so we thought hey. Let's go for it.

Good thing too! Onitama is a great logic game, with all of the traces of a game that might have once been chess with a new flavor. Lot's of fun... even if I did lose 4 out of 4 games. Pattern recognition has never been my strongest skill. Still had a ton of fun, and look forwards to more gaming in the future!

Scum v. Imperials 100pts

A fun game of X-wing pitting my Scum ships against an Imperial Squadron. Just a warning, some of the upgrade cards were incorrectly used, we're still fairly new to the game.

My Scum force, led by a Punishing One designed to be super tanky and
supported by a lone wolf Z-95 and a Graz the Hunter.

A fairly bare bones Imperial list, favoring numbers over upgrades.

Starting set-up. Scum setting up heavily on the right flank of space
while the Imperials find themselves more spread out.

Battle-lines join. On the far right the Z-95 is having a joust with a lone Tie along
the far edge of the board while everyone else moves to brawl in the center.

Caught directly in Graz's sights and with the Punishing One's 360 firing arc...

The first Tie fighter doesn't stand a chance.

Graz takes some damage as he finds himself in the middle of a
swarm.

More damage on the Imperial side. Some from the Punishing One, and some
from an unlucky asteroid hit.

A timely bump stops one of the Tie fighter's from putting heat on the
Jumpmaster...

Giving the Scum a chance to smoke another Imperial Pilot.

Head to head with a veteran Imperial pilot...

... and Graz the Hunter becomes the hunted.

But its too little, too late and soon enough...

The scum have their revenge. With that, the final Imperial pilot decides that
he needs to report the destruction of his squadron and the Imperials surrender.

More Ruined Men, Mutants, and some Brotherhood of Steel!

More wasteland fellows, commissioned for my good friend.

Significantly better equipped and trained, these Ruined Men Special Forces
are ready and willing to undertake dangerous missions in the Wasteland.

Special forces need to be ready to spend long periods of time out in the
wastes, far from resupply. As such, they learn to carry and scavenge everything
they might need.

Ghouls! Irradiated Rad Zombies! Whatever you call them...
Gross.

A pair of Super Mutant Raiders from Bones.

A third Reaper Mutant, with the Brother Vinni Super Mutants for Scale.

... And finally some Brotherhood, ready to fill out a Preserver Warband.

 

Three of the models are old classic GW Imperial Guard Tank Crew, with a
Brother Vinni Tech Wizard for good measure.