New Years Resolutions 2020/2021

 So... 2020, the year that has been both too long and too short at the same time, is finally over. At least with the situation, I have gotten a fair bit of painting done. Let's see how I got through the resolutions I made last year.

• Bad Squiddo Games released some Amazons in a kickstarter. I got them, just need to paint them (which should be quick, as they're already primed and waiting)

As expected, these were swift and easy. They even got expanded later with a dedicated mage.

• Bad Squiddo Games also released some Dwarves at the same time. These are not primed yet, but should also get some loving paint. Possibly, I'll combine them with some Oathmark and/or Atlantis Miniatures Dwarves.

It took some time, but they all got done in time. Admittedly, most of them were quick, but as usual the last 10% took 90% of the time. Eh, they're done. And I hear rumours of another Bad Squiddo kickstarter "soon"...

• The Landsknecht need more love. Let's aim for the pikeblock being done, and hopefully some crossbowmen as well.

Managed to chip away some more, and I have now painted most of the old built models. I might have to make an actual post with these soon...

• Expand the Blood & Plunder French with some more Sailors (also primed and ready)

Swift and deadly, as French tend to be.

• Similar for the Blood & Plunder Spanish, one starter box should round out my force nicely.

These also got rounded off, and I should now have all the Spanish I'll need.

• Dito (although smaller) for the Blood & Plunder Dutch, they can do with a few more sailors, mostly to get up to units of 8. And maybe a second unit of Enter Ploeg

The Dutch, however, has been put on the back burner for now. Models are ready, but other stuff managed to push past them in the painting queue (yes, despite this year, I still have a significant painting queue).

• Shipwise, I have a Bark, a Tartana and a Piragua that need some paint (these are all from last year, and primed, so should be quick)

They were quick. Sadly, I haven't gotten to use them in an actual game, though.

• The Galleon! Keep the shippainting going, get this humongous thing done.

However, that was that for ships. The Galleon has been assembled and primed, but no actual final paint on it yet. Guess it'll have to wait for next year.

• Firelock is also releasing a 6th Rate Frigate for Blood & Plunder... I need it! Even if it's supposedly almost as huge and the Galleon

I got the 6th Rate, and it is as assembled and primed as the Galleon, but that's about it.

• Oak & Iron is incoming. Since I intend to run demos for this come Gothcon, it will be catapulted to the front of the queue as soon as I get it.

Both the Oak & Iron delivery, and Gothcon, became casualties of corona. I've got it, and a few of the ships have been painted, but not nearly enough for a post yet. Ah, well, next year, for sure.

• Take 2 on the Mace of Malcor Monsters for Frostgrave.

I have managed a few, and by "a few" I mean exactly 4. To little surprise, that is not enough for a photo session or a blog post. But at least I have another 8 that I've started to prepare, so next year?

• Victrix Vikings have caught my eyes, and I'm tempted to get a pack to paint as Jomsvikings for SAGA

The Vikings, however, got done with a vengeance. I still have a few more to assemble and paint, but this is a full warband (that even managed to see some careful gaming, when things were calmer).

• Perry Mounted Knights are assembled, but still waiting for paint. Let's try to do something about that. Perhaps I can use them for SAGA: Age of Magic...

Two of them have gotten primed, but that's about it. However, a friend got me Age of Empires II, and suddenly I have motivation to paint these up as french knights (no idea what game to use them for as that, but you can often find some way to use heavily armored mounted warriors, I think).

• Speaking of SAGA: Age of Magic, I have 2, or potentially 3, new ideas for warbands, either on their way (yay, kickstarters), or at least planned for purchase as soon as the FLGS gets them. (I'm being non-specific in the interrest of being coy with the fellows at the club, always fun springing surprises on them)

One of these ideas got tabled (and I will blame that one on temporary insanity), another was kickstarter'd, and has gotten delayed (but will hopefully be delivered early next year, and I can't wait to get my hands on it), but the third one...

The third one would be my Gauls, which not only got finished, but also rapidly expanded for SAGA: Age of Hannibal when it arrived.

• Blood & Valor (also from Firelock) is coming, I should probably look into it (which means whichever plastic ww1 army I find most interresting... or go with Italians, because my competence at the table shouldn't prevent me from playing historically)

It has not exactly been a good year for starting entirely new games in unfamiliar eras, so no...

Of course, as is usual for me, there were a few unscheduled things that got painted as well. And talking of starting new games, Oathmark was released...

...which meant that not only did my dwarves get a few additions, although mostly on the level of rounding out units...

... I also got a whole bunch of elves! Not quite an army on their own, but since Oathmark allows for mixing races, they make formidable allies to the dwarves.

Back before things got too bad, I also got some Rangers of Shadow Deep played, in co-op mode, which ended with a few models for that swiftly getting painted. Despite RoSD being a possible single player game, I haven't actually played it that way, yet...

There was also various loose and sundry, including a few more 15mm tanks, some dragons for a friend, several more-or-less random rpg characters, and a whole lot of built but unpainted stuff (darnit, I'm supposed to reduce the amount of unpainted stuff I have).

What about next year? By now, it's tradition that I make a whole lot of resolutions (and fulfil about half of them), so...

Let's start with the carry overs (the ones I am supposed to prioritize):

• Blood & Plunder need some more Dutch.
• And that Galleon.
• And of course the 6th Rate.
• Oak & Iron needs paint and love. At least these ships are smaller...
• That last warband for SAGA: Age of Magic, as soon as the kickstarter gets here.
• Mace of Malcor, now take 3.
• The Mounted Knights from Perry. Now, with some idea for getting started.

And, of course, some new ones.

• As said, I have some ideas for the Perry knights. And it requires more Perry, that has to be ordered (as soon as we know how brexit works), built, and painted. Should be easy, right?
• I have at least 2 ideas for SAGA: Age of Hannibal warbands, one easy and one hard (why do I always look at factions with a significant portion mounted on horses...)
• I also intend to finally make my own table. I have a good base (a friend got rid of his and asked me if I wanted it), but I need terrain for it, especially trees. The idea is to be able to run the first mission for Rangers of Shadow Deep, and perhaps combine it with some Frostgrave
• Talking about Frostgrave, Kromlech has some absolutely stunning terrain for it, that I need. (I just need to figure out how and where to store it first, because it doesn't look small.)
• Those Napoleonics have refused to leave, and I'm currently considering focusing on one battle, and then building a brigade from each side of that battle. No idea if it will see any table other than against myself, but it would somewhat solve my problem of being unable to pick a side and regiment.
• The Landsknecht are in eternal need of reinforcements. Perhaps a cannon this year, and possibly some ponybird knights.
• Oathmark has managed to do the impossible, and tempt me with undead. These will have to form a second army/kingdom.
• There are also promises of several exciting new Oathmark kits. Revenants will join the undead, Dwarven Light Infantry will be welcome for some variety among the short folk... and the Human Cavalry might just tempt me into a third kingdom
• Stargrave ("Frostgrave IN SPACE") is coming, so I will of course need at least one crew for that, possibly two, once it's released.

Happy new year, and may the dice see a lot more table than last year

/Fool Out

Oak & Iron has finally arrived!

After some slight delays (a missed containership, a new year, and a global pandemic,if I've managed to keep things straight), it is finally here. The Oak & Iron kickstarter, the new game from Firelock Games (the Blood & Plunder folks). Since it got delayed for Europe, it's not quite the new hotness any more, but I found myself quite excited when I got it none-the-less (certainly helped by the fact that I've conciously not followed the game much on social media).

Doesn't look all that much, does it? Still, the art is pretty to look at, that's always nice.

But we're not here to look at pretty boxes. What's in them, you ask? Well, let's have a look.

First up, we get some nice cardboard markers, rulers, and tokens. Good printing, but not something to get overly excited about. More exciting is almost the gaming mat included in the box, with a very nice bright blue Caribbean sea printed on it. Surprisingly good quality, but then this is in part sold as a full game in the one box, and you need a gaming mat for this (unless you want it to look truly bad).

Next up, more cardboard, some flat but quite beautiful terrain. Double-sided, too, allowing for either fog banks or islands, or rocks/shoals for the smaller parts. And very easy to get of the cardboard squares as well (yes, the big island fell out by itself when I picked it up the first time).

And it matches amazingly well with the included gaming mat. The advantage of designing everything at the same time and place.

Finally, the thing everyone's excited about, the ships. You get six ships in the core box, a Light Galleon, Corvette, Sloop, Brigantine, Fluyt and a Petit Frigate. These ships should all be familiar to players of Blood & Plunder, who might own larger versions of these (and I'm not kidding about that, see further down).

Not shown is the 30 page rulebook and a small trees worth of cards. All of which I will probably memorize, if I know myself right.

Of course, all the ships in the core box are a bit... not compensatory enough. Men of War include some heavier girls, with the 4th, 5th and 6th Rates (the 4th rate being a true Ship of the Line, while the 5th and 6th still counts as Frigates). And yes, the 6th Rate looks suspiciously like the 6th Rate I haven't yet managed to paint in 28mm for Blood & Plunder.

And of course, you get tokens (shown) and stat cards (not shown) for these ships as well.

And if you want some true compensation jokes, look at the Ships of the Line, for the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Rate. All of them are humongous. How humongous, you ask? Suffice to say, most of the ships are incredibly light, but the 1st rate have some honest weight to it, to the point that it amazed me when I first picked it up (as a happy coincidence, after having looked at the Sloop directly before that, for maximum contrast).

The last box is smaller, with only a Sloop (upgunned, of course) and something converted to be close to a 6th Rate (the infamous Queen Anne's Revenge). I find it oddly amusing that this box contains so much revenge, Blackbeards Revenge, with the Sloop Revenge and the ship Queens Anne's Revenge... someone's looking for revenge, all right.

Of course, also included is the expected tokens and ship cards, but also a captain card for Stede Bonnet. And yes, I'm very tempted to use the Revenge for my ordinary Sloop, simply because the rigging looks awesome.

All in all, that's a moderately sized fleet that now enters the painting queue.

The details on all the ships are exquisite. Just look at the tiny gun carriages on the Sloop. I'm equal part excited and terrified for trying to paint these. (Mast removed so that it's easier to see everything)

Talking about details, the sides of the Brigantine share an amazing amount of detail with the 28mm version, including the curlies on the fore and aft deck railings. I might have to invest in some truly tiny brushes for this.

The stern of the Petit Frigate looks familiar to anyone who's looked at the Blood & Plunder ships. I am eternally amazed at the amount of details they've managed to fit in there.

And now for something that isn't just a down-scaled version of a 28mm ship (if only because the thought of this one in 28mm is terrifying, and my back hurts just imagining carrying it). The 1st Rate. 

Look at all those cannons! (Masts again removed for ease of viewing)

The decks also look incredible, with capstan, stairs (that at least look reasonable), and a whole lot of cannons.

And with a massive, and at the same time exquisite stern, too. I probably shouldn't paint her first, I need practice before that.

I did say the 1st rate was huge (in case the fact that she barely fits onto the base isn't a clue). Here she is next to the Sloop, once again for maximum contrast.

Now I just need to 

• Paint all of these
• Read, learn and understand all the rules and cards
• Figure out how to give them interchangeable flags (because I want them to have full flags, and of course they need to be for the correct nation I've elected to play this time)
• Figure out how to transport them all. Because while they're small, at the same time, they're not.

Any advice welcome

/Fool Out, slightly overwhelmed

Blood & Plunder Battle Report - Logwood Cutters vs Scottish Militia

Another week, another game. And this time, I remembered to take pictures as well. Because we were both tired and it was an evening, we decided to go with just 100 points and a simple kill-em-all scenario.

The baptism of fire for my Scottish Militia:
Experience Commander
7 English Militia
7 Musketeers (with Plug Bayonets)
4 European Militia Cavalry

Also the first time for my opponent using some of his newly painted frenchies (as compared to his usual englishmen) with the Logwood Cutters:
Untested Commander
6 Flibustiers
6 Freebooters
4 Boucaniers

Deployment was equally easy, 15" opposite corners. I didn't quite manage to get the entire battlefield in the picture below, there were some more forest "on top".

The Scottish have the bottom corner, with Cavalry nearest the forest, Militia next to the big house, and Musketeers in between in a firing line. Logwood Cutters have Flibustiers ready to run up to the big house, Freebooters hiding behind them and the smaller house, while the Boucaniers are hidden in the forest just out of shot (sneaky ones, them Boucaniers).

First thing that happens, the Cavalry is beset by some kind of annoying creature in the forest, and are forced to fall back (Yay, events). Luckily, they're Cavalry. Threat is dealt with (at the cost of gaining a fatigue), they then swiftly move forward.

But they don't quite manage to get into cover before the cheeky Flibustiers rushes forward and downs one.

The Scottish soldiers, not the least bit deterred, counteradvance into almost pike range, and fire a volley. Sadly, only a single Flibustier dies, the rest managing to dodge.

The Scottish Militiamen decide to be sneaky, and with encouragement from the commander, charge through the house, and into the Flibustiers.

Who, by a combination of Brawlers (because Scots) and general good rolling, are wiped out to a man. Woops?

Of course, retaliation is not far away. The Freebooters of the Logwood Cutters cut down 2/3 of the militia while they're in the open (I was expecting to be protected by an ongoing melee...)

And all of that was just Turn 1. Starting close to each other certainly speeds up the action.

Turn 2 start with the Militia being wiped out. Technically, I guess one man makes it, but routs due to suddenly having too much fatigue and no friends, but eh.

Otherwise, it's maneuvering. The Logwood Cutters gather in the forest (insert joke about treehugging pirate lumberjacks here), while the scots go in/around the big house.

Horses can't go into houses, but I think the cavalry wish they could.

Turn 3, it's time to do what Scots do best. Que the bagpipes, move out in orderly lines, fire a volley at point blank range into the Boucaniers. Buggers can't dodge it all...

And then? Mount bayonets, and charge! 3 dead Boucaniers, and one dead Commander, later... the Logwood Cutters player interrestingly chose to pass (wanting that delicious last activation of the turn).

Cavalry then moves up. Incidentally, I am honestly impressed by the speed of the cavalry, going all over by dint of having effectively 3 actions for movement each turn, one (or two, with quick) of which is free and therefore doesn't count for fatigue. And that is on 3 out of 4 card suites.

And then the freebooters finally get their chance for some revenge. Two Scottish Soldiers fall, but the rest stand firm.

Turn 4, the Cavalry finally get their chance for glory... only for the Freebooters to pull out their emergency pistols and gun them all down...

Their actual shooting manage to thin down the Scottish Soldiers by one, and make them shaken. But Resolve 4 and an Inspiring Commander, means it doesn't stick around, and they can advance back with a Command Point.

Turn 5. One card each. 13 of Clubs means the Scottish get to activate first (I was not expecting that, but I guess most things beat Ace of Clubs).

The bayonets are still mounted, so there's only one thing to do. Charge!

Over turns 5 and 6, all but one of the freebooters are downed, with no Scottish casualties. The last one decides to just surrender, it can't get more embarrasing than this (presumably, he does not know Scots...). There were some atrocious rolls involved for the Logwood Cutters in that last melee.

A very bloody battle, with the Scots emerging victorious, 4 standing models to none.

Lessons learnt:

• Cavalry is perfectly fine while Inexperienced, the free move action for being on horses and Quick mean they can still get 12" moves off almost every turn (just don't activate them with a Heart)
• Flibustiers did a poor showing, but on the other hand, I swear by mine. Will have to be tried out a bit more, but they are somewhat of a glass cannon. They would have done better if they hadn't had a spot of bad luck when they needed good luck the most (getting wiped in turn 1... I felt almost embarassed)
• Speaking of glass cannons, the Boucaniers did not do well. Got a few volleys off, but then got tied up in close combat and folded like a wet tissue. The dangers of short firelanes.
• Militia with Quick and/or Brawlers can be absolutely lethal. I don't think they bothered to fire their guns even once, instead charging straight into melee and wiping a unit.

/Fool Out