Heading to Boston

I headed to Boston towards the end of this week and won't be back until mid next week.  It's very possible that I won't have reliable internet (I know, I know...  major city!), so my posting might be a little spotty for the next week or so.

Gaming Impatience

Every once in awhile I hit a point where I'm super excited about a series of upcoming releases to the extent that I don't want to work on anything I currently have...

But I will.

I'm hoping to get some time tonight to work on the Flames of War tanks I have.  I should be able to knock out a few of them.  The paint scheme is stupid easy.  If I get some done tonight, I'll post more pictures.  Otherwise, expect more on Monday.

Arkham Horror TCG Solo Decks

I've been playing around with the ArkhamDB.com site lately.  It's a site where people can make deck lists for the Arkham Horror card game and share them.  Here are a couple that I'm thinking about trying out.  I really like the red cards, but haven't used them yet.  I'm leaning towards Ashcan Pete.  I like that he has a dog.

Broke-ass Pete's Spooky Adventure

"Ashcan" Pete
Packs: Core Set (2)
Assets
2x Magnifying Glass (Core Set)
2x Scrying (Core Set)
1x Leather Coat (Core Set)
2x Scavenging (Core Set)
2x Rabbit's Foot (Core Set)
1x Knife (Core Set)
1x Duke (The Dunwich Legacy)
2x Fire Axe (The Dunwich Legacy)
2x Peter Sylvestre (The Dunwich Legacy)

Events
1x Working a Hunch (Core Set)
2x "Look what I found!" (Core Set)
2x Lucky! (Core Set)
1x Bait and Switch (The Dunwich Legacy)

Skills
1x Survival Instinct (Core Set)
2x Guts (Core Set)
1x Perception (Core Set)
2x Overpower (Core Set)
2x Manual Dexterity (Core Set)
2x Unexpected Courage (Core Set)

Treacherys
1x Random Basic Weakness (Core Set)
1x Wracked by Nightmares (The Dunwich Legacy)

Wendy the Scavenger

Wendy Adams
Packs: Core Set (2)
Assets
1x Wendy's Amulet (Core Set)
2x Burglary (Core Set)
2x Leo De Luca (Core Set)
2x Hard Knocks (Core Set)
1x Leather Coat (Core Set)
2x Scavenging (Core Set)
2x Baseball Bat (Core Set)
2x Rabbit's Foot (Core Set)
1x Knife (Core Set)
2x Flashlight (Core Set)

Events
2x Backstab (Core Set)
2x Lucky! (Core Set)
2x Emergency Cache (Core Set)

Skills
2x Guts (Core Set)
2x Perception (Core Set)
2x Overpower (Core Set)
2x Manual Dexterity (Core Set)

Treacherys
1x Random Basic Weakness (Core Set)
1x Abandoned and Alone (Core Set)

First Panzer III Painted

Hello all!  I did some priming...

...and am now ready to paint.  From a historical accuracy standpoint, I should be painting these tanks in a sand color representing what you what have actually seen in Africa in 1942.  From an 'I'm painting what I want' standpoint, I'll be trying to replicate this...

...which is a more standard, fresh from the factory German scheme.  The plan is as follows.

1. Primer Coat Black
2. Tank body gets an overbrush of Stormvermin Fur followed by a light drybrush of Dawnstone.
3. Treads get a drybrush of Leadbelcher followed by a drybrush of Steel Legion Drab.
4. Skin is Cadian Fleshtone,
5. Water transfers to add flavor.

Oh wait...  I finished one already.  I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.

Shadow War Armageddon

My Kill Teams group is super excited about this new 'board game' that GW is releasing this weekend.  Evidently, it's a new version of Necromunda with normal GW factions instead of hive gangs.  I never played the old Necromunda, so have absolutely no emotional attachment or nostalgia associated with it.

I talked about this a little before.  The core box is $130 and comes with a ton of stuff that I'm just not interested in.  I don't want the Scouts.  I don't want the Orks.  Oh, maybe I need the templates, tokens and dice?

Nope.  Sure looks like standard templates and die.  The tokens are pretty easy to replicate.  All I really need is the rule book.  I'm pretty sure I'll be able to borrow a copy from someone.

I'm a little conflicted.  I want to play this, but I REALLY don't want to spend $130 for what is essentially a rule book with some tokens.  I already have models, templates, dice and terrain.  Ugh.  So annoying.

Flames of War

My buddy talked me into giving a demo game of Flames of War a shot.  It's a pretty solid game.  I've always steered clear of historical games because they always seemed ridiculously complicated and unfriendly to anyone not willing to spend lots of research time and effort making everything historically accurate.

Also, there's the issue of playing as REAL bad guys.  I know it's just a game, but it feels a little odd.  My plan is to just play and enjoy the game as the tactical exercise that it is.

BUT...  my experience is that the new 4th edition of Flames of War is pretty straightforward.  The people I've met who play seem like completely normal people.  None of them seem too worried about historical accuracy.  It's more about just having fun.  Plus, the historical paint schemes are stupid easy to replicate.  In fact, the sandy colored plastic the tanks come in is pretty close to what you'd have seen in desert warfare.

I picked up a German starter army.  I just like the tanks more.  From what I understand, the Germans had better tank tech in the middle part of World War II.  I'll need to pick up one more box next week when it releases, but other than that, the starter has almost a full, standard 100 point list.

The core box came with five of the Panzer III tanks, three of the Panzer IV tanks and 2 of the 8.8cm AA Guns.

5x Panzer IIIs

3x Panzer IVs

2x 8.8cm AA Guns

I set one of the Panzer IIIs up as an uparmoured command tank.  The other four form a required Panzer III Platoon.  The three Panzer IVs form the second required Platoon.  From a Warhammer 40k perspective, there are three "Detachments" you can pick from.  I chose the Panzer III Company.  It's more or less 1x HQ, 2x Troops and a bunch of optional choices.  The 8.8cm AA Guns count as an optional choice.  The last box I need is a Tiger Platoon.  The Tiger is a more heavily armored tank with a much stronger main gun.  In game, this one take takes up 29 points.  It's a major threat.

The models are surprisingly detailed, considering that they're about the size of matchbox cars.  They're pretty easy to assemble.  I built the whole box while watching Doctor Strange...  so, about 2 hours or so.  I used a combination of plastic and super glue to make things stick.  The super glue came in handy for the dudes on the AA Gun bases.  Also, keeping the AA gun barrels pointed up.  Plastic glue is better for me most of the time, but sometimes the quick setting of super glue is great.

Here are a couple of shots of my work in progress today.

All the bits and pieces that make up a Panzer IV.

My Panzer IV Platoon.

The Tanks don't have bases.  The AA Guns do.

So many treads.  The Panzer IIIs are coming along.

Everything is assembled.  Apologies for the spotty photos.

This is the army so far, broken down into units/squads and sitting next to their unit cards.  I'm missing a fifth unit that will release next week.

Horus Heresy Humble Bundle

I normally don't advertise specific sales here, but this is an amazing Humble Bundle deal...

https://www.humblebundle.com/books/horus-heresy-warhammer-book-bundle

Sorting through the below list, you'll notice that this is the first 15 books of the Horus Heresy series, plus a smattering of other things including three of the Garro audiobooks.

Paying $1 gets you:
- Horus Rising
- False Gods
- Galaxy in Flames
- The Flight of the Eisenstein
- Fulgrim
- Garro - Oath of Moment (audio drama)
- Black Library sampler
- Talisman heroes DLC

Paying $8,- gets you:
- Descent of Angels
- Legion
- Battle for the Abyss
- Mechanicum
- Tales of Heresy
- Garro - Sword of Truth (audio drama)
- Horus Heresy digital wallpaper pack #1
- Will of Iron #0

Pay $15 or more and you get:
- Fallen Angels
- A Thousand Sons
- Nemesis
- The First Heretic
- Prospero Burns
- Garro - Legion of One (audio drama)
- Macragge's Honour (Graphic novel)
- The Emperor's Will (artbook)
- Will of Iron #1
- 75% off the Battle for Tallarn
- 33% off Battlefleet Gothic

Arkham Horror LCG - Last Dunwich Legacy Pack Announced

FFG finally announced the last pack of the Dunwich Legacy cycle.  It's called Lost in Time and Space.  Sounds like the Investigators are going to be leaving the safety of the well lit path.

The announcement made reference to 'extra-dimensional' locations.  Sounds pretty exciting.  Thus far, the Investigators have mainly been skulking around museums, train stations and other fairly benign locations.  It's nice to know that this game will branch out and go a little crazy by the end of the campaign.

They did spoil a handful of cards.  Two are powerful, but not particularly exciting, weapons.  There are 4 and 5 experience cards.  I expect them to be powerful.  They don't really add much in the way of new mechanics.  The Chicago Typewriter is pretty cool in that it lets you burn actions to get a more accurate shot.

The other card the spoiled is actually pretty solid.  One phase can frequently make or break a game, so being able to take two Investigator Phases in a row, or skip an Enemy or Mythos Phase is huge.

I'm excited to see what else the set has to offer.

Work is Killing Me

That is all.  I'm so tired.  I'll post more tomorrow.

Arkham Horror TCG

I can't remember how much I've written about Arkham Horror TCG.  I feel like I've written a bit about upcoming product, but not about my experience with the game.  I suppose I could look back through my post history, but that seems like a ton of work.  I'd have to click, like...  three links or so.  I don't get paid for that kind of dedication.

There are currently 10 investigators in the game.  They come in five different varieties.  Blue is Guardian, Red is Survivor, etc.  Each Investigator has health and sanity values.  These are like physical and mental health points.  If you die via physical damage, you incur a physical trauma and start the next game with one damage.  Same goes for sanity damage.  There are also four base stats that impact your ability to perform certain types of actions.  Lastly, each card has special rules unique to that Investigator.

Each player has a deck of cards to go with his or her Investigator.  There are usually a set of restrictions on what can be included in the deck.  Roland Banks, above, is restricted mainly to blue (Guardian) and grey (Neutral) cards.  Usually, it's possible to include a limited number of cards from other colors.  The reverse of the Investigator card tells you what you can use.

Decks of cards can be upgraded in between scenarios using experience gained during game play.  Cards have a level and can be purchased at the cost of 1 xp per card level...  so a level 3 card costs 3 xp.  In my experience, you get enough xp to upgrade a small handful of cards after each mission.

The game is driven primarily by two stacks of cards...  the Agenda deck and the Act deck.  Every round, you put a Doom token on the Agenda deck.  When the number of tokens matches the number on the card, the Agenda deck progresses.  This is typically bad for the players.  The Act deck is generally progressed by collecting a certain number of clues.  Sometimes there is another condition to progress the Act deck.  The general goal of the game is to get all the way through the Act deck.  If you do so successfully, you generally 'win' the scenario.  If you all die, all resign (quit early) or the Agenda progresses all the way, you usually 'lose' the scenario.

One of the core mechanics in the game is to take a skill test.  Skill tests always have a 'success' or 'target' value and are always versus one of the Investigators four base stats.  To perform a test, you pull a random 'chaos token' out of a blind bag and add the value to your stat.  On easy mode, the chaos token bag is made up of -2, -1, 0 and +1 tokens in addition to a few with icons (shown above).  There might be multiples of each number and tokens might be added as a campaign progresses.  If your modified total is at or above the skill test's target, you pass the test.  Otherwise, you don't.  Game difficulty is changed by modifying the contents of the chaos token bag.

Skill tests cover everything from looking for clues to fighting monsters.  Quite a few of the cards in your deck will have to do with improving your skill tests.  Some are permanent and some are one offs.

As an example, let's say that Roland is in the Study and wants to take an Investigate action.  He will pull a token from the chaos bag and add the value to his perception stat.  That's the one that looks like a book.  He compares this to the shroud value on the location card (2 above).  If his result is 2 or more, he gets a clue from the location...

The game itself can be played as a single night, one off adventure, but is really designed to be played as a linked campaign.  The core box comes with a three scenario standalone campaign.  The first deluxe box, The Dunwich Legacy, kicks off a much larger campaign.  The big box comes with a bunch of new player cards (for player decks) and generic scenario cards that are used for multiple scenarios.  It also contains the first two scenarios in the Dunwich Legacy cycle.

After playing through the first two scenarios, players can pick up scenario pack like the below, which each have one full scenario as well as two player cards for each of the five different Investigator types.

In addition to the linked campaign scenarios, FFG produces standalone scenarios that can be added mid campaign as 'side quests' or played as one night adventures.  If played as a side quest, each player has to pay 3 xp to 'unlock' the scenario.  Generally speaking, you'll earn the 3 xp back, plus or minus a couple, and also earn a useful card to add to your deck.

My final verdict is that this game is awesome.  Go out.  Buy it.  You will not be let down.