Looking Back at 2020

I actually feel like Adam Sandler in Big Daddy - I kind of just want to cover up the awful puddle in the corner of the room that was 2020 with a handful of newspapers and just kind of ignore it. Let's just pretend that never happened. What happened in 2020, stays in 2020... that sort of thing. 

It's been a rough year - for me, for everyone - it's been a rough year for gaming and hobby stuff - with the pandemic and the upheaval of the never-ending-basement-renovation and... other... existential-crisis-inducing events....

I haven't even painted any miniatures or built any terrain or even played any miniature games!? On the flipside, I have been doing some OTHER PAINTING.

PLANS

Even in more stable times, without a clear plan, I get NOTHING done. Well, that isn't totally true. I am ALWAYS busy and on the move and doing things. I get things done. It's just without a clear plan that I can focus on and follow, my activity is rather scattershot and energy ends up spread too thin to be noticed as having accomplished anything - so I've tried to have big GAME PLANS for more than a few years... Sometimes they were followed. Sometimes they were abandoned. Sometimes they were modified - or entirely replaced - part way through. This year I tried to go with Quarterly Plans - to keep things more flexible and requiring focus over a more reasonably attainable period of time. 

You can find the plans here: 

Game Plan 2020 - Q1 Plans

Game Plan 2020 - Q2 Plans

Game Plan 2020 - Q3 Plans

Game Plan 2020 - Q4 Plans

I liked the felxibility of Quarterly plans. Events kind of wrecked some of those plans. The overall instability of the year made it hard to even any MAKE plans at all - even just for a few months - for most of the year. But I think it worked better than and annual plan and, being the perpetual optimist, I will continue with this. (Game Plan 2021 - Q1 - Coming soon!)

GAMES

What DID I play all year...? Well, according to Board Game Geek (where I log all of my game plays), I played the following:

• Warhammer Quest: Blackstone Fortress x23
• Terraforming Mars x19
• Wrath & Glory x18
• Azul x12
• Carcassonne x11
• Warhammer 40,000 (Eighth Edition) x8
• Warhammer 40,000 (Ninth Edition) x8
• Fate Accelerated x6
• Splendor x6
• Viticulture Essential Edition x6 (3x with Tuscany!)
• The Castles of Burgundy x5
• Century: Golem Edition – Eastern Mountains x5
• Hellboy: The Board Game x5
• Necromunda x5
• Century: Golem Edition x4
• Four Against Darkness x4
• 7 Wonders Duel x3
• The Big Bang Theory: The Party Game x3
• Monarch x3
• Patchwork x3
• Sidereal Confluence: Remastered Edition x3
• Abyss x2
• Betrayal at Baldur's Gate x2
• Century: A New World x2
• Codenames: Pictures x2
• Dogs x2
• The Hanging Gardens x2
• Power Grid Deluxe: Europe/North America x2
• Railways of North America x2
• Retro Loonacy x2
• Battlefleet Gothic x1
• Blend Off! x1
• Castle x1
• Century: Spice Road x1
• Dominion x1
• Dominion: Intrigue x1
• Fauna x1
• Firefly Fluxx x1
• Ingenious x1
• Kingdomino x1
• Legendary Encounters: A Firefly Deck Building Game x1
• London x1
• Machi Koro x1
• Mouse Guard Roleplaying Game x1
• Peptide: A Protein Building Game x1
• Power Grid x1
• Sentinel Comics: The Roleplaying Game x1
• Star Trek: Five-Year Mission x1
• Virulence: An Infectious Card Game x1
• Warhammer 40,000: Kill Team x1

215 games...? Did I add that up right..?! 

Damn!

I guess at the beginning of the Pandemic Shutdowns Amanda and I DID play a LOT of games - like almost every day for a month...? Or maybe more...? Wasn't much else to do!?  

MINIATURES (and Other Hobby Stuff) 

I did manage to get quite a bit done in the first half of the year.... less so for the last few months...  

You can also see this same info - with links to the posts where I shared pics of the stuff painted on a separate page: 

2020 Painted Versus Purchased

PAINTED

Organized, roughly, by scale and type and when I painted it. 

28mm Foot

Q1

• 5x Khorne Flesh Hounds
• 10x Khorne Bloodletters
• 10x Slaanesh Daemonettes
• 20x Nurgle Plague Marines
• 2x Daemon Hedgehogs
• 1x Chaos Sorcerer
• 1x Chaos Lord in Terminator Armour
• 2x Chaos Space Marines
• 8x NOISE MARINE
• 1x Inquisitor
• 4x Imperial Fist Space Marine Scouts
• 1x Tangermarine Space Marine Scouts
• 1x Imperial Guard Commissar
• 1x Daemonhost
• 12x Blackstone Fortress Characters 
• 4x Blackstone Fortress Spindle Drones
• 4x Blackstone Fortress Beastmen
• 14x Blackstone Fortress Traitor Guard
• 3x Blackstone Fortress Chaos Space Marines
• 4x Rogue Trader Glitchlings
• 4x Space Millipedes 
• 4x Necromunda Scavvies 
• 11x Necromunda Plague Zombies
• 1x Necromunda Giant Greenback Spider
• 1x Hellboy Frog Creature
• 1x Servoskull
• 1x Hive Scum
• 1x Ratling Bounty Hunter

Q2

• 1x Amazon Hoplite
• 25x Imperial Guard
• 1x Penitent (for Blackstone Fortress)
• 8x Traitor Guard (Blackstone Fortress: Servants of the Abyss)
• 2x Nega-Volt Cultists (Blackstone Fortress: Servants of the Abyss)
• 2x Chaos Beastmen (Blackstone Fortress: Servants of the Abyss)
• 1x Chaos Space Marine (Blackstone Fortress: Servants of the Abyss)
• 1x Rogue Psyker (Blackstone Fortress: Servants of the Abyss)
• 1x Traitor Commissar (Blackstone Fortress: Traitor Command)
• 1x Chaos Ogryn (Blackstone Fortress: Traitor Command)
• 2x Ogryn Retinue Characters (Brogan Brothers) for Blackstone Fortress
• 1x Ogryn Pit Fighter for Necromunda
• 1x Gellerpox Infected for Kill Team Rogue Trader
• 1x Eversor Assassin
• 1x Vindicare Assassin
• 1x Inquisitor Gregor Eisenhorn
• 1x Inquisitor in Terminator Armour
• 1x Death Watch - Watch Master
• 1x Death Watch Space Marine
• 1x Grey Knight Brother
• 1x Genestealer Patriarch
• 3x Grey Knights
• 1x Grey Knight Terminator
• 2x Imperial Fists Scouts
• 1x Master of Possession
• 2x Greater Possessed
• 13x Kreuger's Unvalids
• 1x Little Robot Thingie from Space Hulk 
• 2x Chaos Space Marine Raptors
• 1x Necromunda Hive Scum
• 29x Genestealer Cultists (for Finnegan)
• 12x Kroot Warriors for (Finnegan)
• 2x Fabius Bile and Surgeon Acolyte

Q3

• 12x Death Guard (Plague Marines and Terminator Lord)
• 4x Inquisitorial Stormtroopers
• 1x Genestealer Cult Sanctus (for Finnegan)
• 1x Genestealer Cult Kellermorph (for Finnegan) 
• 1x Kroot Shaper (for Finnegan)
• 3x Inquisitors (including one for Finnegan)
• 7x Deathwatch Veterans (for Finnegan)
• 1x Daemonette
• 13x Flesh Hounds
• 6x Grey Knights

Total 28mm Foot Painted: 303

28mm Mounted/Smaller Beasties

• 1x Karanack, The Hound of Vengeance - Q1
• 1x T'au Commander in XV86 coldstar Battlesuit - Q2
• 5x Seekers of Slaansesh - Q3
• 2x Chaos Space Marine Obliterators - Q3

28mm Bigger Beasties/Vehicles

• Hellflayer - Q3

28mm Super-Heavy/TITANIC

• 1x Renegade Knight Acheron - Q1

Wee Planes

• 2x Imperial Navy Thunderbolt Fighters - Q2

Micro Space Ships

• 2xChaos Cruisers - Q3
• 3x Imperial Escorts - Q3
• 22x Assorted Ordanace (Fighters/Bombers/Torpedoes) - Q3

Terrain

Little Bits/Markers

• 1x Chaos Objective Marker
• 1x Space Hulk Objective Chalice

Ruined Bits (Walls, Rubble Piles)

• 8x Assorted Wall of Martyrs bits (trench, 3 emplacements, 4 end bits) - Q3
• 2x Small Sector Imperialis Ruin bits - Q3
• 4x Chaos Monoliths - Q3

Buildings and Larger Bits

• 2x Daemon World Rocky Outcroppings - Q3
• 3x MORE Daemon World Rocky Outcroppings - Q3
• 1x BFG Planet - Q3

Terrain Tiles

• 1x 4'x4' Game Board - Q3

PURCHASED (or otherwise acquired - gifts, trades, etc.)

It was a (somewhat) lighter year for purchases... largely because I wasn't doing any miniature hobby-like-stuff for the last half of the year, it made NO sense to buy anything NEW!? 

(I did pick up a few things in this past week - I blame Boxing Week Sales and Hope For a Brighter 2021)

28mm Foot

Q1

• 1x Necromunda Scavvy
• 29x Nurgle Plague Marines
• 1x Nurgle Malignant Plaguecaster
• 3x Squats
• 4x Imperial Guard
• 1x Eldar Farseer
• 2x Space Marine Scout
• 8x Cultists of the Abyss
• 10x Chaos Cultists
• 18x Noize Marines
• 13x Chaos Space Marines (to be converted into Noise Marines!)
• 5x Chaos Space Marine Raptors
• 7x Chaos Terminators
• 1x Master of Possession (Start Collecting Chaos Space Marines)
• 2x Greater Possessed (Start Collecting Chaos Space Marines)
• 2x Obliterators (Start Collecting Chaos Space Marines)
• 10x Chaos Space Marines (Start Collecting Chaos Space Marines)
• 1x Chaos Space Marine (Servants of the Abyss)
• 1x Rogue Psyker (Servants of the Abyss)
• 2x Negavolt Cultists (Servants of the Abyss)
• 2x Chaos Beastmen (Servants of the Abyss)
• 2x Ur-Ghuls (Servants of the Abyss)
• 2x Spindle Drones (Servants of the Abyss)
• 7x Traitor Guardsmen (Servants of the Abyss)
• 1x Goblin Commissar
• 1x Inquisitor in Power Armour
• 1x Female Psyker
• 20x Ngoni Tribespeople (gift from John)
• 6x Plastic WW2 Germans  (gift from John)
• 6x Plastic Landsknechts  (gift from John)
• 10x Plastic Roman Legionaires  (gift from John)
• 3x Ogryn

Q2

• 1x Inquisitor Gregor Eisenhorn
• 3x Plague Marine miniatures (Blackstone Fortress: No Respite)
• 6x Poxwalker (Blackstone Fortress: No Respite)
• 1x Traitor Commissar  (Blackstone Fortress: Traitor Command)
• 1x Chaos Ogryn  (Blackstone Fortress: Traitor Command)
• 1x Arco-flagellant (in trade from Orion)
• 109x Mantic Space Orks (gifted from Other Tim)
• 15x Burnaboyz (gifted from Other Tim)
• 2x Warboss (gifted from Other Tim)
• 2x Fabius Bile and Surgeon Acolyte

Q3

• 2x Daemonifuge – Ephrael Stern & Kyganil
• 11x Flesh Hounds (including old version of Karanack)
• 2x Syll'Esske (okay, it's ONE model... but there really are TWO distinct figures, so I'm calling it 2)
• 1x Rubrik Marine
• 1x Thousand Sons Sorcerer

Q4

• 5x Morgwaeth's Blade-coven miniatures
• 10x Melusai
• 5x Khinerai
• 1x Melusai Ironscale
• 10x Daemonettes
• 1x Lord of Pain, champion of the Hedonites of Slaanesh

Total 28mm Foot Purchased: 373

28mm Mounted

• 1x Zoat!
• 10x Hellstriders 

28mm Big Beasties/Vehicles

• 1x Aerosan transport (to convert for use by Valhallans!)
• 1x Venomcrawler (Start Collecting Chaos Space Marines)
• 1x Mantic Ork Warbuggy (gifted from Other Tim)
• 2x Hellflayer

Small Terrain Pieces

• 1x Tactical Command Table

Wee Planes

• 2x Imperial Navy Thunderbolt Fighters
• 2x Imperial Navy Marauder Bombers
• 3x Ork Air Waaagh! Dakkajets
• 2x Ork Air Waaagh! Fighta Bommers

Mirco Tanks

• 2xOrk Bone Krusha Tanks

Micro Sailing Ships

• 2x Wee Ships  (gift from John)

DISPOSALS(Traded or Sold)

• 12x Old Plastic Space Marines (traded for Arco-flagellant!)

Welp... that's it. 

Hope you all had a... well... good-ish year. 

I REALLY hope 2021 is better for us all! 

Game Plan 2020 - Q4 Plans

 ""PLAN"!? AIN'T NO 'PLAN"!"

Wow... and entire quarter slipped by and... well, it slipped by and now we're well into Q4 and... I have no plan... 

Looking back at the Game Plan 2020 - Q3 Plan I had planned to play:

1. Warhammer Quest: Blackstone Fortress x5
2. Warhammer 40,000 Roleplay: Wrath & Glory x5
3. #New40K x5
4. OTHER GW/40K games (Necromunda, Kill Team, Aeronautica Imperialis) x5
5. (Some other To Be Determined Board Game?) x5

What I DID actually play was: 

• Warhammer 40,000 (Eighth Edition) x8
• Warhammer 40,000 (Ninth Edition) x8
• Wrath & Glory x7
• The Big Bang Theory: The Party Game x3
• Sidereal Confluence: Remastered Edition x3
• Terraforming Mars x2
• Abyss x1
• Battlefleet Gothic x1
• The Castles of Burgundy x1
• Century: Golem Edition x1
• Dogs x1
• Monarch x1
• Mouse Guard Roleplaying Game x1 
• Sentinel Comics: The Roleplaying Game x1
• Star Trek: Five-Year Mission x1
• Traveller (Mongoose 2nd Edition) x1

so... 

Succeeded in playing BOTH editions of 40K MORE than five times each... and I played Wrath & Glory MORE than five times... I did NOT manage to play a mix of "other 40K" games five times - though I DID get in a game of Battlefleet Gothic, which was pretty cool! I also didn't get in five plays of any one other game. Though there were a few games we played two or three times each, and, in total, I played more than FORTY games throughout the Quarter. So... I'd call it a relative success. 

For painting... I'd had plans to paint; Blackstone Fortress stuff, Some more Chaos Space Marines, finishing up some Grey Knights, MOAR Daemons (so many Daemons!), some stuff for Finnegan (Death Watch and T'au), that Knight that's almost done... and a bunch more stuff... 

I didn't get a LOT of that done... I did get a few things done... 

28mm

• 12x Death Guard (Plague Marines and Terminator Lord)
• 4x Inquisitorial Stormtroopers
• 1x Genestealer Cult Sanctus (for Finnegan)
• 1x Genestealer Cult Kellermorph (for Finnegan) 
• 1x Kroot Shaper (for Finnegan)
• 3x Inquisitors (including one for Finnegan)
• 7x Deathwatch Veterans (for Finnegan)
• 1x Daemonette
• 13x Flesh Hounds
• 6x Grey Knights
• 5x Seekers of Slaansesh
• 2x Chaos Space Marine Obliterators

Battlefleet Gothic 

• 2xChaos Cruisers 
• 3x Imperial Escorts
• 22x Assorted Ordnance (Fighters/Bombers/Torpedoes)
• 1x Planet

Assorted Terrain

• 8x Assorted Wall of Martyrs bits (trench, 3 emplacements, 4 end bits)
• 2x Small Sector Imperialis Ruin bits
• 4x Chaos Monoliths
• 2x Daemon World Rocky Outcroppings
• 3x MORE Daemon World Rocky Outcroppings
• 1x 4'x4' Game Board

But all of that was done in July and early August... I've done NOTHING in the last month and a half. 

Q4 PLAN

Well... what to do for the rest of the year. 

Honestly, at this point, I just don't know. 

I'm feeling pretty despondent.

Game Plan 2020 Q3 Plans

Damn, are we done another three months!? Feels like it's been for-EVAR since I made the Q2 plan... but at the same time it's like... "Wait, what? We're HALF WAY THROUGH THE YEAR!? WTF!?" Lacking the usual markers of the passage of the months - working up to year end dance recitals, dress rehearsals, recitals, etc... I feel totally adrift in time and space. It doesn't help that that which has defined me for the last decade and a half - The Homeschooling Dad - feels like it is suddenly, very abruptly coming to an end! Keira has decided to enrol in high school in the fall and, while finnegan continues to do school AT home, he has been in a very structured online program the last couple years and is VERY self-directed and needs very little help from me...

Of course if people continue to give zero fucks about social distancing or any other pandemic precautionary measures like they are doing, school may be cancelled again by the fall and Keira may be back to homeschooling...

Anyway....

Looking back at the Q2 plan...

5x5 Quarterly Challenge

I had planned on playing the following...

Wrath & Glory
CHECK! Just got the last one in under the wire! Got started a little late, but have been going solid on Saturday nights for the last month with no sign of stopping! Only two games where a single player was missing.

Blackstone Fortress
CHECK! - We played THRITEEN TIMES!!! Really having a lot of fun with this!

40K
Ehhhhh... Not-so-much... This was put on there when I was thinking there STILL might be a chance of playing in Battleforce Recon... and that would have been four games in ONE DAY - and I'd likely have played at least one or two games the week before to try out the force!

Other Skirmish Games
Whoopise... We did get in ONE game of Kill Team... but that was it!?

Five New Games!
CHECK! - We played three of the games we picked up in the ToonCon2020 auction - Castle, Fauna, Legendary Encounters: A Firefly Deck Building Game - and Dogs, which Keira picked up at another ToonCon auction...? Maybe in 2018...!? (or earlier!? the one that Amanda missed). We also tried out Machi Koro (which was gifted to use by Other Tim who was clearing out in preparation for his move)

We also tried out Tuscany, a few times!  Keira got it for her birthday in May. It was new but it's kind of just an expansion to a game we already have and played before..

While we didn't play all the 40K and Killteam/Necromunda games, we DID play THIRTEEN GAMES of Terraforming Mars, though! As well as seven games of Azul and five games of Carcassonne and five games of Splendor (including one with each of the four expansions included in Cities of Splendor)... So... through we didn't play the five games I chose for the challenge, we definitely played more than five games at least five times each... so, I think the 5x5 was covered...


Here are ALL the games I played in the last three months:

Warhammer Quest: Blackstone Fortress x13
Terraforming Mars x13
Azul x7
Carcassonne x5
Splendor x5
Wrath & Glory x5
Viticulture Essential Edition x4 (with Tuscany Essential Edition x3)
The Castles of Burgundy x3
Century: Golem Edition x3
The Hanging Gardens x2
7 Wonders Duel x1
Castle x1
Fauna x1
Legendary Encounters: A Firefly Deck Building Game x1
Machi Koro x1
Dominion (with Dominion: Intrigue) x1
Ingenious x1
Power Grid Deluxe: Europe/North America x1
Railways of North America x1
Kill Team x1
Dogs x1

(I know, I know... June isn't over... we COULD end up playing another game or two in the next two days... but we're looking at generalities here and, in general, the last three months have been pretty good for game playing!)

Events

I had speculated that it was unlikely I would be attending any events due to the Pandemic. I was correct.... No events were attended.


Painting

I was king of all over the place at the end of March - with everything looking so... uncertain... There wasn't so much of a plan as a general intention to paint some Chaos stuff (Space Marines and Daemons) and some Blackstone Fortress stuff and maybe some stuff for Necromunda and Kill Team. I didn't get all of the stuff I was thinking of done (not so much of the Chaos or Necromunda stuff... but I did get some stuff done for Blackstone Fortress and THREE Kill Teams!)... but I still think I did pretty good on the painting, all things considered...

Q2 Painted
1x Amazon Hoplite
25x Imperial Guard
1x Penitent (for Blackstone Fortress)
8x Traitor Guard (Blackstone Fortress: Servants of the Abyss)
2x Nega-Volt Cultists (Blackstone Fortress: Servants of the Abyss)
2x Chaos Beastmen (Blackstone Fortress: Servants of the Abyss)
1x Chaos Space Marine (Blackstone Fortress: Servants of the Abyss)
1x Rogue Psyker (Blackstone Fortress: Servants of the Abyss)
1x Traitor Commissar (Blackstone Fortress: Traitor Command)
1x Chaos Ogryn (Blackstone Fortress: Traitor Command)
2x Ogryn Retinue Characters (Brogan Brothers) for Blackstone Fortress
1x Ogryn Pit Fighter for Necromunda
1x Gellerpox Infected for Kill Team Rogue Trader
1x Eversor Assassin
1x Vindicare Assassin
1x Inquisitor Gregor Eisenhorn
1x Inquisitor in Terminator Armour
1x Death Watch - Watch Master
1x Death Watch Space Marine
1x Grey Knight Brother
1x Genestealer Patriarch
3x Grey Knights
1x Grey Knight Terminator
2x Imperial Fists Scouts
1x Master of Possession
2x Greater Possessed
13x Kreuger's Unvalids
1x Little Robot Thingie from Space Hulk
2x Chaos Space Marine Raptors
1x Necromunda Hive Scum
29x Genestealer Cultists (for Finnegan)
12x Kroot Warriors for (Finnegan)

1x T'au Commander in XV86 coldstar Battlesuit (for Finnegan) 

2x Imperial Navy Thunderbolt Fighters (wee ones for Aeronautica Imperialis) 

2x Fabius Bile and Surgeon Acolyte

125 total...?

Acquired
1x Inquisitor Gregor Eisenhorn
3x Plague Marine miniatures (Blackstone Fortress: No Respite)
6x Poxwalker (Blackstone Fortress: No Respite)
1x Traitor Commissar  (Blackstone Fortress: Traitor Command)
1x Chaos Ogryn  (Blackstone Fortress: Traitor Command)
1x Arco-flagellant (in trade from Orion)
2x Imperial Navy Thunderbolt Fighters
2x Imperial Navy Marauder Bombers
3x Ork Air Waaagh! Dakkajets
2x Ork Air Waaagh! Fighta Bommers
2x Fabius Bile and Surgeon Acolyte
1x The Archivist (Zoat from Dark Alliance)

25 bought by me... but then there were...

109x Mantic Space Orks (gifted from Other Tim)
15x Burnaboyz (gifted from Other Tim)
2x Warboss (gifted from Other Tim)
1x Mantic Ork Warbuggy (gifted from Other Tim)

More details can be seen on the 2020 Painted Versus Purchased page.


Q3 Plan

5x5 Quarterly Challenge

Five games...

Warhammer Quest: Blackstone Fortress
Warhammer 40,000 Roleplay: Wrath & Glory
#New40K
OTHER GW/40K games (Necromunda, Kill Team, Aeronautica Imperialis)
(Some other To Be Determined Board Game?)

Amanda and I seem to be going strong on Blackstone Fortress - Monday evening has been set aside as Blackstone Fortress night and we still have Traitor Command, Escalation, No Respite, Dark Alliance to play through (and Ascension will likely be released in the next few months!) - so no reason not to keep it on the list

So excited that I FINALLY got a role-playing game going - and even MORE excited that it's with such a great group of guys - most of whom are my very favouritest people to play with - EVER - that I haven't played with in years! ...and Jon... who only doesn't fit into the aforementioned category because I've really only just met him recently... I hope this game continues and doesn't just die (like every other RPG I've tried to run...) so I'm keeping Wrath & Glory on the list too!

#New40k - Warhammer 40,000 (9th Edition) - I'm guessing it will be out in the next few weeks - definitely by the end of the quarter - and Finnegan's been showing some interest in it, so I'm hoping over the summer I can get him to at least play a FEW games with me. I'm excited about there actually being scenarios DESIGNED to be played with smaller forces, on a smaller table, in a shorter amount of time. Maybe I'll even be able to talk Amanda into dusting off her Drukhari or Sisters to try out the new rules!

I know I had OTHER SKIRMISH GAMES on the list last quarter and it didn't really happen (a single game of Kill Team, and NO Necromunda) and I'm not sure why I think it will this time... but I'm putting  back on that list... might be Kill Team... Might be Necromunda... Might be a bit of both... I do have a little campaign planned - which Finnegan is definitely excited about - and we'd PLANNED to play it with Kill Team, but after our recent game... I'm not so sure about Kill Team). I might expand the scope to also include Aeronautica Imperialis - as I'm really hoping I'll get the Ork Dakka Jets finished SOON and we'll at least try it out with THAT!

And... Board Game... I have no ideas what game we might want to play five times. I mean, there are PILES of games I'd love to play dozens of times * each * over the summer... Maybe I should just say Azul - as I know I'll have no problem convincing Amanda to play THAT!


Events

I find it very unlikely that I will be attending any events this quarter. I saw a note on the Hunters of the Warp page that an 40K event was going ahead in Manitoba in July... Perhaps the organizers of Battleforce Recon will be moving ahead with that...? I don't know... active cases of Covid-19 have QUADRUPLED in Saskatchewan in the last week or so as things open up and there is a general sense that it is "over"... I don't know... It's like no one knows how to read a graph around here or has paid any attention to what has been happening in other parts of the world - or even other parts of our own country!?

I'm just hoping at SOME point over the summer we can expand our "bubble" to include a few board/miniature gaming friends and get in some games - face-to-face - with... y'know... OTHER people (not that I MIND playing all these games with Amanda at all - quite the contrary - it's been a LOT of fun!)


Painting

If I had to pick what I was going to paint over the next three months RIGHT NOW - here's what I'd say I'd do (so... these will be guidelines... and I may paint some of these... but I'll probably paint some others stuff as well... and not get some of these done...):

Blackstone Fortress - First I'd like to finish up the Cultists and Explorers for Escalation (Including the extra Cultists of the Abyss I picked up!) There are also Poxwalkers and Death Guard from No Respite, The archivist (the Zoat from Dark Alliance!) and likely the Giant Spindle Drones from Ascension.

Chaos Space Marines - For the Emperor's Children force I have two Obliterators to finish up, Fifteen Noise Marines, ten or eleven Chaos Space Marines, and a handful of Chaos Terminators and cultists... There are also a few older Death Guard and the Malignant Plague Caster I picked up for a HQ unit to lead the detachment. Shouldn't be TOO onerous... though the Noise Marines are a bit of work - at least the way I'VE been doing them!

Grey Knights - I think there are about ten to finish off - they're about half painted. Maybe a couple Terminators. Two Rhinos to finish off.

Daemons - I have a few Seekers, Fiends, and the Infernal Enrapturess to finish up for Slaanesh (and a Start Collecting Slaanesh sitting in storage - but Amanda won't let me have them until I finish the basement). I also have a few Bloodcrushers to finish up for Khorne.

Stuff for Finnegan - I have a few things I'm going to knock off for Finnegan in anticipation of playing some Kill Team and #New40K with him this summer - including a Kill Team of Death Watch and a handful of T'au (six Battlesuits, half dozen Fire Warriors?).

Knights One is ALMOST DONE - just a little push on it might finish it off! the Eldar Wraith Knight is pretty close as well... then one more Imperial Knight and we could have some serious mech battles...

The Eldar Titans Seriously, they're not that detailed... The big one is half done!? What am I waiting for!?

Imperial Guard? I've had a hankering to get to work on the Valhalllans (and maybe finish up some more of the Tallarn) - likely spurred on from reading Ciaphus Cain the last few months.

Necromunda!? Still have LOADS of Necromunda minis to finish up - entire gangs of Van Saar, Orlocks, and Goliaths and piles and piles of Hive Scum and Ratskins and others... Be nice to get some of that done and start playing again!?

Kill Team Additions!? I have lots of ideas for Kill Teams... and I love the idea of Kill Team... I just don't love the game so much. We'll have to experiment with using Necromunda with regard 40K minis.

Aeronautica Imperialis Finish off stuff!


Other

Planned Purchases

This weekend the last of the Psychic Awakening books - Pariah - is to be released. Along with it are two sets of miniatures - Lord Inquisitor Kyria Draxus and the Daemonifuge – Ephrael Stern and Kyganil of the Bloody Tears. I was planning to pick up the book and both sets of miniatures, but Finnegan decided HE should have an Inquisitor to lead his small force of Deathwatch and would like to pick up a copy of Lord Inquisitor Kyria Draxus for himself - I said there was no sense in both of us having one, so he could have the one I asked for, but I could paint it for him. Of course as we were looking at them, Keira started mentioning that she always liked the ideas of having some Battle Sisters (and already has Harlequins) (Ephrael Stern is a Sister of Battle and Kyganil of the Bloody Tears is - or was - a Harlequin)... but I wasn't about to give up THAT pair...

#New 40k - I have a feeling this is coming up in July sometime. I'll pick that up too and give it a try.

House of Blades - the new Necromunda book covering Clan Escher - was originally slated to be released in Q2, but with the worldwide pandemic going on and things shutting down at GW, it's now to be a Q3 release.

Warhammer Quest Blackstone Fortress: Ascension. Not sure if this is a Q3 release - but given that they announced it a few months ago, I imagine it will be.

I, of course, have loads of other stuff already to paint, so I'm hoping that there won't be any other stuff I really feel I NEED to get!

One other thing I was thinking about, though... As Keira briefly showed some interest with Stern and Kyganil, and has been crazy into Supernatural (the TV show) lately, I thought I might try and lure her back in with a series of narrative games featuring a pair of Ordo Malleus DEAMON HUNTERS - Sam(anther) and Dee(Anna) Chesterwind... (Sam and Dean Winchester are the main characters in Supernatural and they are Hunters - that hunt all manner of supernatural creatures - demons being one of the most common of their foes!) I was looking at a few options at ArtelW miniatures....

Oh, there are other things on my "Wishlist" but I have pretty clearly established prerequisites for each.

For example, I'd like to pick up a Keeper of Secrets - either the new plastic one, or the Forge World one... but I've told myself that I have to paint ALL the Daemons I have before I can pick that up to lead them.

I'd like to get a Chaos Knight (either a Desecrator or Rampager) - to finish off a Super Heavy Detachment of Chaos Knights... but I need to finish the two knights I already HAVE (one is Chaos, the other is Imperial).

Closet-Megalomaniac-Planner is already envisioning mass air campaigns with Valkyries carrying drop troops that have to get to a specific hex to be able to drop them as reinforcements for the ground scenario and bigger play areas and... and... but I have to FINISH all the aircraft in the box set AND play a few games before I buy ANYMORE Aeronautica Imperialis stuff!!

There are others... but all require I FINISH stuff - like, entire collections of what I already got - so I don't imagine I'll be buying TOO MANY more miniatures (beyond the few aforementioned special character figures) at any point in the near future...



Coming Soon to Tim's Miniature Wargaming Blog:

A wrap up of Junes games.

Maybe a painting update?

April Games - Part Three

And the gaming - and bike rides - just kept rolling along...

Thursday, 16 April 2020

Ever so slightly warmer today - actually got above freezing. I went for a shorter ride, though, because...



I actually convinced Number Two to come for a ride WITH me! (first she played Blackstone Fortress, now bike rides... she must be REALLY BORED with all this social distancing going on!)



Later, Amanda and I dug out Carcassonne to play. We ended up playing two games - the first was just with the base set - for a quick game to remind ourselves how to play (it's been a while) and to see if it was something we were really interested in... and it was fun... so the next game we added in Traders & Builders and Inns & Cathedrals..



Where to put that last piece...?


Friday, 17 April 2020

Aaaaaaand we're back to Terraforming Mars...



I tired a corporation called Viron - it seemed like it had a neat special ability - as an action I could basically repeat an action on a blue card every turn! I've had lots of games where I get loads of those cards out... I didn't get a SINGLE blue card with an action on it ALL GAME!? I only put two blue cards in play at all - both were just effects - one being -3 cost to any cards with Earth Tags... and I didn't get a single card with an Earth Tag after that!? GAH!



WE played with the Elysium board and just decided to skip the World Government Phase. the game only went 13 turns - probably wouldn't have gone 10 if we'd been doing the world government phase (and I might have had a CHANCE!)

Amanda had UNMI and EVERY turn got an extra Terraforming Rating for 3 credits when she increased... something.



Despite SWEARING she was going to actually DO some Terraforming and put Greenery and Cities on the table this game - she didn't put hardly any on - until the last couple of turns - when she was collecting 80 money per turn...



As usual, she won by a landslide by putting piles and PILES of green cards into play - all with points on them - 34 points to be precise. Over a QUARTER of her total points just came from cards in play.

(I had eight points from cards)

Part way through the game she had been moaning that she wasn't getting to do much Terraforming and wondered if I'd play a second game afterwards... Then beat me by 20 points...


Saturday, 18 April 2020

Saturday our friend Bruce dropped off our copy of Century: Golem Edition, which we had loaned to him some time ago...



So... Amanda and I had to play a game!



Amanda played a VERY quick game - picking up cheap cards as fast as she could - along with a lot of coins... Despite me only having four victory cards to her six cards and four coins... I still won...



right off the start, I'd picked up an amazing engine that allowed me to very quickly generate and trade for any sort of gems and I went for all the highest point cards!



In the afternoon Finnegan ran his Saturday afternoon D&D game.



I went for a ride up to the Chief Mistawassis Bridge.



When I got back, Amanda and I set up and played a game of Blackstone Fortress

A whole report of that action can be found here:

Blackstone Fortress: Null-Gravity Abyss


Sunday, 19 April 2020













Monday, 20 April 2020

Didn't play any games today...

I did make a couple trips out - both to run errands/get groceries. Trip #2 took me to Broadway Avenue, and while I was waiting outside the Steep Hill Food Co-op for my curtsied pick up, I noticed what they'd put out on the old Broadway Theatre....



Fly casual, indeed.



Curb-side pick up of groceries.



I also spent some time, reorganizing a few of my bookshelves and got all the Warhammer and Cthulhu stuff in one space...



A bit of spill over of older White Dwarf magazines had to be left on the top of the shelf...


Tuesday, 21 April 2020

Today was Amanda's birthday. The kids and I chipped in and picked up a copy of Azul for her (which she had expressed interest in a few times over the last few months - especially after playing it again at ToonCon!)



After breakfast we sat down with The Girl to play. They joked about us playing two separate games - there was the game they (Amanda and Keira) were playing and then I was apparently playing in a game entirely unto myself - because I scored WAY higher than they did (I had 72, they had 44 and 41).

They made a lot of comments about how I'm going to "dominate" this game and "always win". This is why I keep track of stats on Board Game Geek. Often I pick up games really quickly and will usually win the first time we play... maybe the first few times we play... and after that, somehow, Amanda just Groks it and wins most of the rest of the game we ever play...

I spent a good chunk of the rest of the day working on a couple of desserts for Amanda's birthday. She's been trying to reduce wheat/gluten intake for the last while - to see if it helps with this chronic pain she's been having in her abdomen - so she wasn't interested in the cake I usually make. I came up with a few other options... but she couldn't settle on one... so I made BOTH!



First, was a Creamy Coconut Pie - the filling was coconut and some tofu and a load of sugar with  a crust that was mostly nuts and dates. Gluten Free. Sort of Vegan. Keto? Not-So-Much!



The second was a Chocolatey Not-So-Cheese cake. Same crust as the pie above, the filling was mostly cashew and maple syrup and cocoa powder.

I tried to convince the kids that they probably wouldn't like them... I mean, they're practically salads... they saw right through my ruse, however.



In the evening, while we were waiting for supper, we played another game of Azul - and actually convinced Finnegan to join us!



Remember what I said about the false belief that I dominate all games... yeah, that's me with 45 points. Finnegan got 65 - the first time he played, EVER.



And Amanda...? 49. Looks like that earlier game was the last time I'll be winning this one... Ah, well... it's fun just making patterns with the pretty tiles...



Supper arrived. We actually ordered out (something we rarely do!) from a newish place called Kashmere over on Broadway.



Dessert #1 - Keira insisted that birthday candles be put on at least one of the desserts. Amanda said there was no way we were putting one for every year as that might end up with the fire department being summoned. They settled on one. I suggested she try blowing it out with the face mask I made her for her birthday.



It didn't really work out... neither blowing or the face mask... It was WAY TOO BIG for her tiny little head. Guess it's going to be MY face mask! (Which is probably for the best, I'm the only one that really ever goes out at this point anyway...).



Happy Birthday Girl eating pie.


Coming Soon to Tim's Miniature Wargaming Blog:

Um...?



Lot of different stuff on the workbench these days... with the pressure off to finish the Noise Marines by next weekend, and the state of chaos in the world getting to me a bit, I've been a little all over the place. There is a lot of GUARD on the workbench - mostly because I've been reading Ciaphus Cain novels. Probably have a post with some of those sometime today or tomorrow.

After that...? Blackstone Fortress...?

I've been thinking a lot about Kill Team, lately, as well. Trying to come up with scenarios based on - or, at least, inspired by - stories I'm currently reading - or read in the past. Finnegan has Tau and Genestealer Cult stuff - two of the factions involved in For the Emperor - the first Ciaphus Cain novel, which I am currently reading. Not sure if I'll be able to convince him to play, just yet. I have been telling him about the novel, and he did say he might be interested in reading it when I'm done.... so there is hope!

April Games - Part Two

After an extended weekend of Terraforming Mars during the first week of April. We took a few days off of gaming... and then...

Things got busy!


Thursday, 9 April 2020

Starting off with... MORE Terraforming Mars!?



There had been talk of shelving Terraforming Mars for a bit and trying out some new games... Then I was feeling like I wasn't really in the headspace to be reading rules and figuring out new games... but still wanted to play games... and Amanda suggested we play a game on Thursday and I told her I wasn't interested in a new game, she said; "So... Terraforming Mars...?"

I had to laugh because I thought she was sick of it, or at least worked it out of her system... I guess not!

We played with Elysium,  Prelude, and Venus Next. I played Saturn Systems with Aquifer Turbines and Metals Company from Prelude. Amanda played Ecoline with Ecology Experts and Supply Drop.



It was a SUPER CLOSE game! There was her usual complaints remarks about how far ahead I was in the Terraforming rating while putting down card after card with victory points on them... WE BOTH put a bunch of greenery down on the planet - but I put out way more cities...

At the end of the game I had a Terraforming rating of 49 and Amanda was at 39.



I took the Generalist milestone, and the Estate Dealer and Industrialist Awards



Amanda took the Ecologist and Tychoon milestones and the Venuphile Award (I actually HAD a Venus tag in play, this time, so it was only a net 3 gain for her, rather than the net 5 gain the last few times she's done this one!).

We both had 14 green tiles on the board, I had seven cities generating about 23 points, she had five cities generating 16 points. I had 19 points on cards and she had THIRTY SEVEN!?

Final Score
Tim:124
Amanda125

SO CLOSE!!!

Anyway, it was a super fun game and we actually put stuff on the planet and got to realize a bunch of fun and interesting projects.

I'm not sure we're ever going to be able to play 3-4-5 player games anymore - they'll just be over too quickly and we'll feel like were weren't able to accomplish anything!? I guess we could remove the World Governor step (or... whatever it's called... were the First Player, at the end of each turn, gets to move one of the terraforming things forward - with no benefit to themselves - just speeds up the game)

Maybe we need to add Colonies back in...?


Friday, 10 April 2020 

Good Friday.

I've been losing track of days and stuff with all this social distancing and external things being cancelled, I was only really aware it was Easter because every online store I EVER ordered anything from sent me an email with their EASTER DEALS!



Before playing any games I decided to go for a ride. To escape the crowds of wanderers on the local trails, I decided to head south of the city. I'd been riding a lot a couple weeks ago, but then the hobbits in charge of local weather decided they needed Second Winter and temperatures plummeted into the -20s°C and we got a another big dump of snow... But it's back above 0°C (only just...) so I was determined to get out!!!



So some roads that were dry a couple weeks ago were now mud...



And some were still covered in snow!



It was a beautiful, if chilly, ride though...



and for part of it, the sky cleared up and the sun came out...



When I got home, Amanda insisted on running a yoga class for the family. Yoga Instructor is one of the MANY hats she wears, but all her classes have been cancelled for weeks due to the Covid-19 pandemic... She wanted to do one along with a video she had - the problem with videos is they're made for women that are 8 stone and know yoga poses and can bend in half in any direction they wish... which describes none in our household, save Amanda.... So... it didn't go great...

I did agree I'd do yoga with her in the future - as long as SHE led the movements and planned and adjusted the sessions for a fat, old, inflexible dude like me. And she can, she has taken a LOT of training and IS very good at what she does and can explain things that no video could ever do...

After supper we DID get in another game of... you guesses it - Terraforming Mars!



You'd think we'd be getting sick of it... or each other...!? But we haven't - on either account!



I played the Mining Guild with Early Settlement and Dome Farming.



Amanda played Morning Star Inc. with Bio Lab and Nitrogen Shipment.



In the end I took the Mayor and Builder Milestones and Amanda took the Planner - on turn two... or three...? By just buying ALL THE CARDS - and then spent the rest of the game trying to put them ALL into play... along with all the other ones she got! She did have 23 victory points on cards at the end of the game (to my 15), but I put a LOT of stuff on the surface of Mars (17 Greenery to her 7, and 8 cities to her 3).

She also took the Venuphile and Scientist Awards and I took the Miner Award.

This was one of my biggest wins yet 124-100 (but I still think she's ahead in combined points)!


Saturday, 11 April 2020

Saturday we actually took a break from Terraforming Mars!



We actually tried out a new (to us) game that Amanda had me buy at the ToonCon Auction.



Amanda actually even read the rules! I think this is the first game EVER that SHE read the rules for - and explained it to US! It really is quite a simple game, but I felt like it was a HUGE step!



Even got The Girl to play - they're laughing at me because I got EVERYTHING about the Pygmy Sperm Whale wrong! You basically place bets on the range, length and weight of an animal and gain points if you get it right or were close. Despite my utter failure at guessing anything correctly about the whale, I knew enough about all the other critters to WIN!!!

Overall it wasn't a terrible game. It was a bit simple. Would have been great if we picked it up 10 years ago - the kids would have loved it. Of course, Finnegan would have pulled all the cards out of the box and memorized all the animals stats and then it would have become unplayable - at least against him.



Finnegan ran (one of) his weekly D&D game(s).



I went for another bike ride. This time I ramble south east of town on the other side of the river.

 It was a LOT colder than the day before - and the headwind coming home was brutal.

When I got home we all had supper... and then Amanda and I tried out ANOTHER game she had me buy at the ToonCon Auction. (For all my complaints about HER purchases, I think we've played MORE of them than the ones I bought!)



This one I read the rules for... Castle. I'd never heard of it, but Amanda had been talking to some guy who said it was a good game (He was probably one of the guys selling one - there were three copies for sale!). It wasn't terrible. Probably take a few plays to figure out how all the different cards work together. Not sure if I love it enough to play it enough times to bother figuring it out...


Sunday, 12 April 2020



More connecting with friends online - Amanda ran another Family Yoga Dance Party for two families with younger children that are friends of ours. It was a pretty good time - despite some hiccups with the technology...

Afterwards I went out for a ride - picked up some easter chocolate for the kids from my folks place. Not sure why I had to be the one to go over and get stuff that isn't for me, that I'd really rather not even have in the house right now!?



 I love spring in Saskatoon and getting out to hit the dirt trails...



It was really cold and windy again, and I was really tired from the last two days, so I mostly just rode around town, rather than heading out of town for a longer ride.



A sure sign spring might actually be on it's way - Richardson Ground Squirrels!



After supper, Amanda and I sat down to play Splendor and try out all the expansions in Cities of Splendor. Cities of Splendor includes four separate expansions for Splendor: Cities, Orient, Trading Posts and Strongholds.



We started with Cities... which removes the nobles and adds different victory conditions. Amanda crushed it.



I was a bit behind...



Next we tried Strongholds. I didn't love this one... Amanda won again.



After that we tried Orient - which adds a bunch of new cards to the game - making for a dizzying amount of options and ways to get stuff done.



Finally we tried out Trading Posts. I didn't really get a picture of the trading posts. This picture above was taken because so many of the starting cards all needed ONE TYPE of gem - which is tricky to get in a four player game - but even HARDER to get together when just playing with two and so many of the gems are removed from the game.

It was good to finally try them all out... We've played Cities a couple times before, and maybe Trading posts once, but had never tried Orient or Strongholds.

Honestly, I could live without them.

I like Splendor because it's simple, fast, and straightforward. I like playing it when I need a game that is just simple, fast, and straightforward. All of these expansions make a game that is simple, fast, and straightforward into a game that is complex, slow, and convoluted...


Monday, 13 April 2020

Woke up to windchill of -20°C!? Stayed like that all morning! Later in the afternoon I went for a short ride and picked up a few groceries. When I got back, Amanda was baking up a storm! Afterwards we played a game of Warhammer Quest: Blackstone Fortress.



There is a full report of this game and loads more pictures here:

Saving Bone'ead Brogan

Afterwards while I was starting the game report I looked to see when our last game was - it felt like forever ago... I asked Amanda when she thought we last played. She said it was a month at least. It was just two weeks earlier.

I saw someone post something on Facebook that said something like: 2020 is a special Leap Year - there are 29 days in February, 300 in March and 5 years in April. It's really starting to feel like it! without reference of all our regular spring activities we're all feeling a bit adrift and lost in time.

The fact that we're STILL having days with highs below 0°C isn't helping!?


Tuesday, 14 April 2020



Warmer weather today and I went for a longer ride - 41Km - but mostly within the city limits (though there are parts of the city within the city limits that still seem pretty remote! Saw piles of Canada Geese in a field at the North end of town.



Tracks in the snow on the river ice - presumably left from geese walking back and forth across it...?



Mostly stuck to the roads in the central part of the city - took to the trails in a few parts - lots of people out walking and riding bikes.



In the evening I read through the rules and we had our first crack at Legendary Encounters Firefly this evening. We actually got Keira to play! (though she seemed mightily bored... or maybe she was just tired...? She does LOVE Firefly - the TV show!).

I played Mal, Keira played Kaylee and Amanda played Zoe. It was pretty tough... definitely an interesting reskin of the Legendary game engine - winning was definitely NOT a foregone conclusion, as it always seemed with Marvel Legendary when we played... We totally lost this one just at the end of the second episode... Yikes!


Wednesday 15 April 2020

Wow, half way through April...



I went out for a ride a bit earlier today.



I rode out to the Chappell Marsh Conservation Area (about a 20Km round trip). Not as cold or windy as the last few days.



Wetlands are still pretty much all iced over.

When I got back...



I actually talked Keira into playing a game of Warhammer Quest: Blackstone Fortress with me!

We used the Army of One rules from the 2019 Annual to run her Harlequin Solitaire through the fortress on a mission to take out Obsidius Mallex, the Chaos Lord bent on taking control of the fortress and turning it into the ultimate weapon in the galaxy!

We both had a great time! Harlequin Solitaires are BRUTAL!

I'll have a full report of the adventure later.

We had to take a break part way through as my friend Other Tim stopped by to offload some games on us - he is downsizing in preparation for a move at the end of the month.



Among the games was Machi Koro. It looked simple enough so we tried it out after supper. Fun. Quick. Keira kicked our butts...

And that's it for this week... last week seems like forever ago!? Anybody else experiencing some extreme time dilation!?


Coming Soon to Tim's Miniature Wargaming Blog:

A game report of the Harlequin Solitaire's adventures in the Blackstone Fortress. It was pretty exciting - I think she'll be back. Perhaps next time she'll be hunting Astroth Mythrak, Master of Possession!

I have an assortment of Imperial Guard I'll probably be posting pictures of... Then I might get to work on that Master of Possession and the two Greater Possessed  - get me back working on the Chaos project AND preparing something I'll be able to use in Blackstone Fortress - for games with BOTH Amanda and Keira!

In a week I'll have another instalment of April Games. I am looking at trying out a couple more new games... Not sure exactly which just yet - there ARE a LOT of them!