Progress report

I'm not painting nearly as much as I would like  Part of that is life getting in the way, part of that is because I decided to help out the FLGS.  Today, they are having a 40k tourney.  It's apparently going to be kind of a big deal - they are hoping to have people coming from several hours away (though the foot of snow expected over the course of the day will probably lessen attendance some).  Anyway, the FLGS does not have nearly enough terrain for this.  They have the table space, they have table toppers (to get them to 4' x 6'), but the tables would have been pretty spare.

So, the store reached out to the local gaming club, which, ideally, would have said something like "You betcha!  We're not really using it that day, and we'd love to see lots of 40k games being played in the area, even if they aren't at our preferred store.  What time and format is the tourney, anyway, because we would love to play!"

That didn't happen.

So, I looked at what I had in the basement earlier this week, sent a quick message to the store telling them that I could probably scrounge up some terrain for them to use, and got to work.  This is the result:



(For scale purposes - the green area rug is 5' x 8')

The final tally is more impressive.  I managed another seven or eight linear feet of walls, maybe more.  I had a large box of hills that aren't pictured here.  There are pieces on the right that got cut out of the photo.

Now, I have been painting.  I got a couple of things finished - and I'll post pics in the next day or so.  But, I have also been working toward the next big thing for my FLGS.  They're doing a miniature gaming demo day.  So, we plan on running demos of Warmachine and Hordes, another local is going to run Malifaux demos, and we'll have space set up to demo and play Firestorm Armada, Relic Knights, and Robotech Tactics.  We'll also demo PP games like Zombies Keep Out and High Command.

So I have also been building Robotech figs.  And some Malifaux. And painting FSA stuff, in addition to WM models.  And, this afternoon, while the snow falls, I am going to be spending some quality time in the basement, assembling veritech fighters and battlepods, while watching a bad movie or two, and periodically going out to fight a losing battle against the white stuff falling from the sky.

Serendipity

First off, a confession.  I haven't painted anything since Thursday night.  We had company this weekend, so I just did not get the time.  I did, however, manage to get out yesterday and launch some model rockets, which I had to paint before flying.  Whacking a model rocket with a couple colors of spray paint is not quite the same thing as painting miniatures - though sometimes it's pretty close!

Anyway, I got to the FLGS on Saturday, hoping for a game.  Unfortunately, most of the local crowd wasn't in - in fact,  I was the only one there.  Well, shoot.  That's kind of a bummer.  But, I stuck around - I had said that I would be there, and it was good to get out of the house and talk shop with other geeks.

So, I hung around for the afternoon, and, happily enough, someone wandered in, hoping to see a game of Warmachine in action.  I did better than that - I gave him a full demo, Cygnar versus Khador.  Funnily enough, I lost, and the cossacks are gaining another convert.  I've agreed to bring in my Khador stuff for a few weeks, so that he can play and get started, while he begins to assemble his own collection of models.

Mildly productive day yesterday

First of all, Maelok is still in pieces.  I haven't even tried to fix him yet.  But the Boneswarm is almost done, and I basically finished 4 of the Blackbane's Raiders yesterday.  Unfortunately for the 5 points per month deal, I need to finish the minimum unit before I get any credit, so hopefully the rest of the unit arrives soon.  I need to base all 5 of the figs, but that's a quick and easy project.

I hope to get a bit more done this afternoon, but my main focus will be grabbing what I need for possible demos - with any luck, I will get to make a Thursday night trek to the FLGS.  Thursdays are normally Warhammer night, but with the news of the impending GW price increase, there may be fertile ground for some demo games.  I'll just take the four main battleboxes & warpacks, plus the additional figs from the 2-player starter.

I'll also take my paint and brushes, plus some other figs.  That way, even if I don't do demos, I will feel as though I have gotten something accomplished.

Tomorrow, I'll have DW chose another deck at random, and I will pick and pack my army for Saturday.   I think I will have her chose until I have gone through all the factions, although I may have to start rolling a D12 or something after the full rotation, since she might remember which deck is which.

And, on a final note - by this weekend, I should have the dates chosen and fliers made for the June & July events at the store.  Steamroller tourneys, at least one of which will be 50 points - after all, people have to practice for GenCon, right?

Huzzah!

Finally picked up my 2-player starter. My FLGS had been having some problems getting PP merchandise in stock, but that's all in the past (well, aside from some of the usual PP stocking wonkiness, but that' another story.) Anyway, he still does not have much in - a few Warmachine starters, some faction books and decks, some dice, and a few copies of NQ 41 and the 2-player starter, but that's a beginning. He also got in some of the new releases. I can pick up the extra bits for Hypnos and Ghetorix, but the plastic kits for those won't be in for another week or so.

So, while I have painted 2 figs this month, I picked up 17, plus another 15. The sad thing is that means that I have still made progress on my ratio - although, at 1:25 (painted to non), and with 750 plus figs, it's hard to really move it one way or the other. April and May should have more painting time, so I hope to get more infantry done, and start chipping away, maybe even getting down to 1:20 before GenCon at the end of the summer.

Woohoo!

My FLGS has finally started getting PP products in stock. It's been a long, hard road sometimes, but as of last week, he had in two of each of the 4 basic WM starters, a couple copies of Prime, three of the faction books (Cryx was backordered), three of the decks (missing Khador, I think), and some dice. And yes, some of it has already started selling. Got to play a couple of games this afternoon, and wound up doing an impromptu demo, which is always nice.

More stuff should be arriving Monday or Tuesday - including some stuff for me (which was also backordered, but supposedly already on its way).

He has also agreed to a tourney, so now I just need to decide the format, make up the flyers, and spread the word. Hooray!

The flipside, of course, is that I need to make sure that I have enough terrain for 8 tables, and really know the SR2012 docs. So, while I am going to keep working on painting stuff for the 2012 challenge, I might wind up just finishing two bonejacks tomorrow for the 5 point minimum, and then start working on terrain.

How are the game stores in your area?

Over at Jestor's Mini Playhouse, there is a colorful (but PG) little rant about the various and sundry FLGS in his area. I made a comment (reposted below), but wondered what game stores are like for other people out there.

I said:

Locally, my little town has 2 game/comic stores. The first could probably get PP stuff for me, but they mainly stock Reaper stuff, and some RPGS - most of their trade is comics, and that is actually where I get my 4 color fix.

The other game store charges $5 to play. I can see why they do it, but OTOH, if I have to pay $5 to play, then I am less likely to drop another $12 or so on a warcaster or solo on impulse. (They also don't stock PP stuff - lots of board games and GW stuff.) In fact, if I started thinking about playing there on a regular basis, then the $260 per year that I would pay in table fees would almost certainly mean that on-line retailers would see most of my business, instead of the FLGS.

The nearby towns have one store that also charges a fee, and flat-out refuses to order PP stuff. (He said he might change his mind, if enough people were there playing it, on a weekly basis. Yarite.) The last one is nice, charges no fee, and until last week, could not carry any PP stuff. We played there, and continue to do so, and now that he has PP stuff in stock, we are buying from him when possible.

That is, more or less, a decent summary of gaming in this area of SW Michigan. If I am willing to drive an hour or so, I can find some nice stores, and the one where I have been hanging my dice is nice enough. I can deal with the store being less-than-clean (although dingy and filthy are bad), if the staff is pleasant and the store acts like they want my business. OTOH, it doesn't matter how nice the play area is, or how much stock there is - if the staff is rude or otherwise disagreeable, then I may do no more than walk in, buy stuff and leave. While that seems like a good deal for the store, I know that I buy more (sometimes considerably more) when I play and linger - and I run demos and the like in order to encourage more people to game. If I don't stay in the store, I'm not going to try and create more business for them, and may steer people to a friendlier store instead.

Win some, lose some

Got in two small games with Maelok today. Won the first against a legion list (eThag, Typhon, some shredders), mainly because the shredders were in the way of Typhon and eThag, and I used feat to get past them to the crunchy warlock center. Could have gone the other way though.

Lost the second against a Xerxis Skorne list. Bronzeback, Gladiator, min paingivers and the beatstick. It wasn't even close. I almost managed to eke out a victory - I had Xerxis down quite a bit, he had no fury, but I had to resort to slamming one of my gatormen into him to try and finish him off. When it didn't work (and, frankly, it was a long shot at best), I was done. It was a go big or go home attempt, and I got spanked for it.

Good games, both of them. I think Barnabas is still my favorite gator, but once the boneswarm and the witch doctors are out, Barnabas might have to take a back seat.

Next week, I think I will take my pigs. Sturm and Drang need some testing too.

Another update

So, I am still about on track for the 2,500 words/day that I wanted to be (I think I fell behind by 300 words or something yesterday, which I will make up easily today), but on Saturday, I at least managed to get some painting done.

And started some assembly, too. I have my gun carriage together, but not the horses. I glued them on Saturday, but they have some pretty bad gaps (almost reminiscent of the huge gap that the original Khador 'jacks have, actually), and I will need to do some serious GS work on them before they can be primed.

I have a tentative schedule of events for my FLGS through the spring, now I just need to print it up and take it in, as well as a sign-up sheet and a demo flyer.

Basement cleaning continues, and FLGS update

First, I'll start with the FLGS update. After dropping in on Saturday, it sounds like the store will actually start carrying PP merchandise. I promptly celebrated the good news by preordering Maelok and Jarl Skuld, as well as a farrow razorback crew. And, I picked up (elsewhere) a minimum unit of Warmongers and a minimum unit of blighted archers and the UA. It's not much, but it is a start.

And I continue to build on that. I have mentioned before that I am going to pare down my GW collection, and I have made arrangements to get rid of my BFSP Dwarves, and I just listed my IG army on Bartertown. I'm not sure whether I would prefer cash, or a big Khador (or Everblight) army - cash lets me build a 35 point army for each (and then some!), but a big army, arriving all at once, is kind of like Christmas.

FLGS update

Sorry, still nothing concrete on whether or not we will be able to start getting Warmahordes into the FLGS, but it is at least looking promising. And, yesterday, we had six players, so plenty of battle box games going on. We're going to start up the Journeyman league later on this month, and it sounds like everyone wants to play.

Definitely gave me some incentive to work on some painting last night, and right now, I am assembling my Storm Strider. (I wound up typing part of this post while trying to hold the legs in place as the glue dried.) I won't be using it for a while, although if no one takes Cygnar for the league, I might have to do it just as excuse to play the thing.

Not much to say today

I might have more tonight or tomorrow, but I did not get much painting done this weekend, and, frankly, most of what I painted were bases. I did get some WFB Skaven assembled and primed, and did some work on some Pyg Burrowers, but just not a lot of time down in the basement painting for the past few days - too much gaming going on.

On the FLGS note - it looks like my FLGS will finally be able to stock Warmahordes. He has apparently been having some trouble with his current distributor, and I think I found him an alternative. I gave him the info on Saturday, and I should know on Thursday or Saturday if he can start ordering stuff. If he can, I figure I will order a couple of things right then, to get the ball rolling, and hopefully he will start carrying at least a copy of Prime and some battleboxes in stock. He also said that the Journeyman League sounded like a good idea, so we might be doing that.

And the count goes up again

Stopped over at Black Sun Games this morning, and then headed over to Games Plus after. At Black Sun, I picked up a Grenadier and Kraye (both had MK I cards, but that's not a big deal, as I have spare MK II), so my current count is 609. (I think - the touch is recharging, so I cannot check my collection list).

At Games Plus, while I did not get in a game, that was by choice, since I planning on painting anyway. I got some base colors down on some Retribution myrmidons, a bit of work on some gators, a little work done on an Agonizer, and maybe a couple of other things. I was planning on working on one of the battle engines too, but just didn't have the time. Next time we are in town, I have to make sure that I have an army of three.

In the meantime, I am consider a Kraye army, and possibly the new eHaley theme force - anything that lets me use multiple battle engines (with tokens at the start!) can't be all bad, can it?

Grrr. . . navigation error

I was hoping to stop by Black Sun Games tonight before they closed, but due to an error between the steering wheel and the seat, I did not make it. I plan on making it tomorrow - I have a tentative deal to get rid of some old Warmaster stuff, and I am kind of thinking about getting some figs towards a Storm Bringers eHaley list. I am missing a lot of it, but the deal would let me get most of what I am missing, I hope.

And then there were three. . . .

So, today at the FLGS (L&J Hobbies), there were actually three of us. And, even stranger - all at once. I lost (and badly, I might add) using an ad hoc Cygnar force to Kharchev. I always seem to forget just how fast he can slingshot those jacks forward. And then the Khador player went up against a rookie Skorne player, using Khador and Skorne battleboxes. That one came pretty much down to the wire, with Morghul managing to take out Sorscha.

Hopefully, as summer winds down in the next couple of weeks, and people get back to their normal schedules, we will start seeing our player base stabilize and grow. We have anywhere from five to eight people who have expressed interest, and have armies, so once six or so start showing up on a regular basis, we should be okay.

Unfortunately, we have no space to play next week - the store is running a 40k 'Ard Boyz tourney, and there are still more 40k players than Warmahordes players. For now.

I do think that I am going to have to sit down and plan 35 point armies for as many factions as I can, using mainly the figs in the battleboxes (or, at most, changing the caster), so that I can put up a better fight, and so that ew can rope in new players more easily.

Continuing saga of starting a new group

So, today is another chapter in my quest to get a Warmahordes group going in Kalamazoo. We average about two people per attempt, which is not great, but since the store doesn't have any PP stuff in stock yet, and there had been no signage, it is what it is.

Today wasn't even that good, since I did not actually play a game or do a demo. But, a couple of the regulars dropped by (could not stay because of family commitments), and I talked up the game with several former players, who might now be coming back to the fold.

I also made up a flyer, announcing a date and a time for demos, and noted that (1) it was free, and (2) everything would be provided. I have also been told that I should stop by on a Warhammer night, because "there are a lot of impressionable minds that you might sway." (That's a quote, BTW - and not from me.)

So, no gaming, but I did get my Ogrun Assault Corps assembled, did some work on my Bloodgorgers, and some random minor assembly. And learned a few things about airbrushes, which will be handy, if I ever decide to paint my Imperial Guard tanks.

My next project

I'll take a pic tomorrow, but I think I found my next project. I was at the FLGS today, and we're still trying to get people interested and attending regular games. It's slow, and a little depressing at times, but I expect it. I am going to whip up a flyer or two, and maybe a sign-up sheet, but that's not my next project.

I did a quick inventory. By my count, there are 11 factions between Warmachine and Hordes (Khador, Cygnar, Cryx, Menoth, Retribution, Mercs, Minions, Skorne, Circle, Legion and Trolls). Ignoring Minions (though I have both Farrow and Gators), but fielding 2 different Merc battleboxes (Magnus and Gorten), there are still 11 different battlebox armies.

I have 10 of them, though I still need to pick up a Mk II Legion deck. I can pick up Kaelyssa and the Griffon, and have the Retribution "box". All total, those 11 battlebox armies total 47 figures. I have only 1 of them painted, but 31 of them assembled and primed. I should be able to get the other 16 (well, 14 of them, anyway) assembled and primed before next weekend, and then I'll see what I can get done before the demo.

A road trip and a delivery

Earlier this week, despite having no power, I placed an order for a few Warmachine items - Khador & Cygnar decks, pButcher, and the plastic Cygnar starter. I find the decks handy for stats when I proxy models, and they're useful for Vassal games as well. Eventually, I wind up with a bunch of surplus cards, which I can give to new players.

Anyway, today I had planned a road trip to a possible new FLGS. Right now, no store in my little corner of Michigan stocks Warmahordes. So, on Thursdays, I had been making the trek to the east, traveling an hour or so (each way) to game. Today, I headed west, to another possible store, about 30 minutes away. He doesn't stock Warmachine (yet), but he does have open table space, so a few of us tried to meet up for a game or two.

I managed to get in a couple battlebox games (Cryx v. Menoth, Cygnar v. Menoth), and had a lot of fun. There were only two of us, but a couple of other players might manage to show up next week, and we talked up the game to a couple of people who stopped and watched what we were doing. And, as an added plus, when I got home, my new toys were waiting for me.

I didn't get any painting done tonight, but plastic Stryker is assembled, a Firefly and the Defender are half done as well. Got a few other bits and pieces of things trimmed, but no other assembly of note. Spent too much time looking over the Menoth and Khador decks, I think. And my wish list grew by just a little, honest.