The Source, June 27th, 2009 'Warhammer 40,000' Pic

While playing in the LFR sessions at the Source on Saturday, there were some kids playing some Warhammer 40K in the evening. Just managed to snap a pic.

The Source, June 27th, 2009 'Living Forgotten Realms' RPGA Play

This past Saturday I swung by The Source for LFR game day.

There were three afternoon sessions scheduled: DALE 1-1 (Dalelands: 'The Propect', L1-4), EAST 1-4 (East Rift: 'Darkness In Delzimmer', L1-4) & TYMA 1-2 (Tymanther: 'Taking Stock of the Situation', L4-7). Unfortunately, there were not enough people for David's EAST 1-4, but the rest continued as planned. I played in DALE 1-1.

The evening sessions scheduled were: DRAG 1-1 (Dragon Coast: 'Many Hands Make Light Work', L1-4), LURU 1-1 (Luruar: 'Slivers of Eaerlann', L4-7) & an unknown (to me) Paragon tier adventure. I played in DRAG 1-1.

I played Sora, my L2 (now L3) elven rogue in both as usual.


In the afternoon session, I played in DALE 1-1, 'The Propect'. It was run by Chip, who is out of the pic range on the right. In this game I played with a couple guys that were in my very first LFR game. Brian (in the Zelda shirt on the right) returned with Tholamin, his L3 cleric. Adam (in the blue shirt on the left) returned with Maladictus, his L2 fighter. Also in the game was Matt (in the grey Fett shirt in the middle), who DM'd my first LFR game. He played Marcus, a L3 ranger. Scott (in the red/black shirt to the left of Matt) played a half elf bard named Theren. The guy at the lower left...I'm forgetting his name and character for some reason. Usually I note such things down, but I was pretty beat that morning and forgot to do it. Excuses indeed! Anyhow, things ended up pretty well. We played up and I came just a few dozen short of leveling to third, but that's OK. I got to see my character dropped for the first time below zero HP, but luckily he didn't chuck it in. I think Matt's character Marcus leveled to four after the game.

This is Brian's LURU 1-1 in the evening session. If I remember correctly, Brian mentioned this was the first time he's DM'd in five years or so. They seem to have enjoyed the game though! Brian's a funny guy that knows the game though, so how could he fail?!

That's Peter running the Paragon tier game I mentioned above. Some (all?) of these folks are working towards leveling for GenCon I think. The guy in the blue shirt on the left is Chip, the DM of DALE 1-1 that morning. To his right is Scott, also from our morning game. To his right in the grey shirt is David, who was to run EAST 1-4 in the morning if enough folks had shown up. I felt bad for David not being able to run anything, and had enough folks shown up I'd have switched to his game if they needed enough to fill it. But at least he had something going in the evening so the trip wasn't all for naught!

This is part of our evening game, DRAG 1-1, 'Many Hands Make Light Work'. It was DM'd by Matt, who you see in the Fett shirt on the right. We played up in this game as well, and the combat encounters were somewhat challenging for the group. Once again, for the second time that day, my character was dropped below zero HP, but a timely end to the encountered allowed the cleric Edley to save his bacon. On the lower left is Nicholas, playing his L3 wizard Raa. Nicholas runs the LFR game days up here at Village Games in my hometown of Anoka. Behind him is AJ, who played a rock solid human cleric, L1 I believe, named Edley. AJ is one of the best RPers I've gamed with at the Source. His lecture to some orphans was one of the funniest moments I've seen in an RPG in years. Remember Edley's words: "Don't be a heathen!"...unless you want to break like a glass bunny. ;) At the end of the table is Connie, another Source regular. She played Zelda, a L4 dragonborn fighter. Out of the shot is Mike, who played his L2 halfling paladin, Burlap. Yes...Burlap! Born in a gunny sack! It was one of the more entertaining LFR modules I've played, but I'm sure part of that was the group we had as well. And everyone lived, despite a rather gooey encounter. Ultimately I leveled to three after the game, and Nicholas leveled to four.

Village Games, June 23rd, 2009 'Combat Cards'

While at Village Games on Tuesday, I spied Dan and company playing on a Warhammer stylized table. Apparently they're playtesting a Skirmish version of 'Combat Cards'.

The table.

A bit of the action. He seems to love the smoke screens...

'Warhammer 40,000' Ork Deff Rolla Battlewagon Upgrade Release Info

While I'm not an Orkish kind of guy, they are without a doubt one of the most popular forces in 40K. Earlier this year, they released the Battlewagon. At Toronto Game Day, they revealed the new Deff Rolla upgrade kit. It looks pretty cool, in that haphazard Orkish kind of way.

Here's a link to the TMP article:

http://theminiaturespage.com/news/116936/

Village Games, June 16th, 2009 'Flames of War' Germans vs Soviets 6000 Point Battle

Last night was the bi-weekly "Flames of War' night at Village. It was all the usual suspects present.

The match was a 6000 point Germans vs Soviets match between John/Mark and Josh/Bobby. Mark is a newcomer to the game, and is involved in the modern armor games (I think) run at Village. I didn't get as many photos as I usually do as I was bopping around between things last night, so I apologize if this isn't up to the usual coverage.


Not far into the game, things were moving along for the Germans. Very little damage to the Germans, but this would change. The game was a 'Hold the Line' scenario IIRC, with the Germans defending the lower side of the table as you see here. I think their two markers were in the trees at the middle of the table, and the other I am not sure about. It might have been the tree at the bottom. John had his 88mm and Elefant in action, two units that Josh doesn't like very much...

As the game developed, most of the action was focused on the lower left side of the table...

In the end, it ended as a huge fur ball as you see on the left. You can't see it in this pic, but there's a lot of armor under all that fire and smoke. The game was ultimately called a draw, but I would have enjoyed seeing it fully played out. John/Mark had lost a lot of their forces, but so had Josh/Bobby. John/Mark did have some considerable forces, including his Elefant IIRC, surviving on that center hill. John did lose his 88mm ('my precious!') though. Great ending to the game though!

Village Games, June 16th, 2009 Miniatures Painting Night

Last night was the weekly painting night at Village. Not a big showing this week, maybe four painters or so. However, some of the guys were playing 'Blood Bowl' and the like. Most of the painters were working on an ongoing 'Flames of War' project, but a few were working on 'Warhammer' stuff.

This guy was working on his 'Nids. He's converting the talon colors and the like to the orange you see on the bottom unit.

Centurions Game Upcoming on Saturday, June 20th, 2009

Elliott , from the Centurions gaming group, is running a Napoleonics game at The Source this coming Saturday (June 20th) from 1100-1700.

It will be 10mm using Napoleonic Command.

If I didn't have a previous commitment, I'd be there. :(

But if you enjoy Napoleonics, best to show up!

Village Games, June 16th, 2009 'Blood Bowl' Matches

The guys at the Ville ran a Blood Bowl night yesterday. I think there were four players total, but it seems like everyone had fun. There's apparently some discussion of a BB league forming up. I have not played BB in quite some time, but I do have the minis and a couple of BB boards and so on in storage. Perhaps it might be time to crack them out, as the newest rules set are available as a free PDF online.

Shot of the table set-ups.

Village Games, June 14th, 2009 'Living Forgotten Realms' RPGA Play

Yesterday was our first RPGA LFR campaign at Village Games. We had one full game and another that scraped by. The two adventures on offer were: CORE 1-1 (Core: 'Inheritance', L1-4) and CORM 1-1 (Cormyr: 'The Black Knight of Arabel', L1-4).

I played in CORE 1-1 (Core: 'Inheritance', L1-4). We had six players total. There was: Angie (Roselyn, gnome bard), Joe (Gil-Glin, human evoker), Will (Malachi, human ranger), Jimmy (Kisthanis, Eladrin warlord) and of course my elven rogue, Sora. Nic DM'd the module. It was a fun day. As usual Jimmy's character took some whacking, but survived to fight again another day. We ran slightly shorter than the Cormyr game, which ran right up until the store's closing. Village Games was very accommodating in the late running.

Photo is of the Cormyr folks. The photo of our group didn't really turn out to well. I only took two photos total though, so...

Village Games, June 9th, 2009 Miniatures Painting Night

A pretty good turnout last night for mini painting at the Ville. Mostly 40K stuff, but also at least one doing 'Battlefleet Gothic' and some historicals (mostly 'Flames of War' 15mm stuff).

Here's Ben, whose Eldar Falcon I showed last time around. He's still on his Eldar mission as you can see. Later in the evening he helped out with basing some 'Flames of War' armored vehicles.

He's been working on these Eldar, which will eventually look like the one he's holding.

A close up of Ben's Eldar.

This is Paul, apparently a minis night newcomer. He's painting some 40K Ultramarines.

Some of Paul's unfinished Ultras.

And last but not least, Dan painting some Reds. These are 'Flames of War' 15mm Soviets.

Village Games, June 9th, 2009 Various GW Stuff

While at the Ville yesterday, I spied a few GW (Games Workshop) games. On Tuesdays there seems to always be some type of GW based game happening here, be it Gorkamorka, Battlefleet Gothic, Warhammer and others of course.

These folks are playing Gorkamorka, a vehicles based game set in the Warhammer 40K universe. I've played it before, but never really got into it much.

This was a Warhammer 40K 1850 point game set up to go. I didn't see much of this game, but learned it was Marine vs Marine. I have no idea who won. Sorry! Go Traitor Legions! ;)

Village Games, June 9th, 2009 'Combat Cards' Germans vs Soviets

Stopped by the Ville last night. Ran into Herb and Josh, who were playing Combat Cards. It's a card based wargaming system.

As usual, Herb's playing Germans and Josh is playing Reds. I didn't watch much of the game, but from what I heard afterwards Herb's forces couldn't take the other side of the table. His forces were required to capture three of the five houses, I think, and hold them for a turn. That's Herb on the left and Josh on the right.

'Litko' Gaming Markers

Litko's released some new markers for wargaming. Looks great with sci-fi minis, but not as much with fantasy and historicals. Still.

You can never have too many markers...

http://www.litkoaero.com/page/LAI/CTGY/Gothic

Village Games, June 2nd, 2009 'Flames of War' Germans vs Soviets 6000 Point Battle

Stopped by Village Games for the 'Flames of War' match. For the second week, I was drafted by John to play some of the German forces. This week, some armor reserves.

It was a 6000 point match, 3000 to a side. On the Soviet side was Bobby and Josh (as usual), against John, myself and a gentleman whose name I forgot to ask. Sorry! Anyhow, we played on the usual store table. The scenario was 'Breakthrough'. The objective was to occupy ground adjacent to the two haystacks seen in a below pic.

Placement of forces...

Initial gameplay. Although it is hard to see, John has an 88mm next to the tanks in the upper left portion of the table.

The haystacks (in the road and on top of the hill) were the objectives for the game. Of course, as I inquired, why is one of the haystacks on the road? Hiding a Goliath no doubt. ;)

Some of the action on the field. Unfortunately for the Germans, the 88mm and other units were quickly smacked, and John rolled badly for the morale check. According to our understanding of the rules, the Germans lost the match early in the game due to a failed morale check. We decided to play on for awhile though.

Eventually the Germans managed to roll for reserves to come in, but it was to late to do much good and the Soviets ultimately occupied the area of the haystacks, winning the scenario in addition to the possible earlier loss due to the failed morale check. I did get to deploy some of John's tanks in the upper right hand side and destroyed a fair bit of Josh's tanks in the area, and the other gentleman destroyed a tank in the lower left. A bit of a frustrating game really, and some (myself included) question to some degree the way that the morale checks apparently work. But hey...it's just a game. ;)

Village Games, June 2nd, 2009 Miniatures Painting Night

While at the 'Flames of War' match last night, I snapped a few pics of the weekly Miniatures Painting Night at Village Games. Usually most of the minis are Warhammer, but you'll see the occasional historicals, CBT, FoW and so on.

Someones fantasy minis.

This is Ben. The vehicle is an Eldar Falcon I think. The photo didn't turn out as well as I'd like, but you get the picture (no pun intended).

SPC Open For Visitors

SPC, a good manufacturer of mini terrain, has opened it's doors to visitors.

Unfortunately, I do not live in the UK. But I'll probably pop in the next time I'm over that way...that is if they're still taking visitors!

http://spcwargamecreations.flyingcart.com/