A wretched hive!

So I've been playing X-Wing almost exclusively for several months now and taken a liking to the 'Scum and villainy faction.

The Rebellion and the Empire (or the Resistance and the First Order?) are the main protagonists of the mighty franchise and the films, leaving Scum and villainy (S&V) somewhat in the shadow of the "stars." S&V aren't so much a clear cut faction but more a collection of freelancers, smugglers, bounty hunters and various other miscreants.

Fenn Rau charges at his enemy. 

My first foray into S&V was with some borrowed ships including Fenn Rau who was my first "ace" and has been a mainstay of my list ever since.

Whilst Rebels tend to favour tanky & defensive ships and the Imperial fleet certainly leans towards agile fighters, S&V seem to have a wider and more appealing range of ships at its disposal, including big lumps and nippy fighters alongside bizarre freighters and utility craft that were not initially intended to take part in space battles.

Standby for details on my ships in the near future.

Tanks - hit the beach!

I took part in the first round of the Tanks (by Gale Force 9) organised play season today at Athena Games and thoroughly enjoyed it!

The game shares many similar rules & mechanics with the hugely popular X-Wing, using simplified a version of its movement template system and just varying numbers of 6 sided dice for attack and defence. Typically an attacking tank may fire with 5 (this rarely changes in game) dice and will be looking to score 4-5 for a hit and 6 for a critical hit. The target tank will often start at a single defence die and gains extra dice for movement, positioning and cover up to a maximum of 6 dice. A roll of 6 will cancel out a hit (or critical) of the defenders choice and a roll of 4-5 will cancel out a hit of the attackers choice.

I decided upon going with mother Russia as my nation of choice and opted for two IS2 heavy tanks being backed up by a T34, concentration of fire was my main plan. The Russian national trait allows an additional attack die when firing at the same target that a nearby ally has already fired at this turn.

My 100 point Russian platoon.

As the games began I quickly realised the effectiveness of coordinated fire, operating in a tight formation the T34 would make the first shot with its 4 dice (any damage caused is a bonus) this would typically score two hits and depending on what the target is doing (speed & cover) they'll often be defending with 4 dice (typically saving both hits.) Now however, the real shooting starts! If I've been doing it right I have both my 6 attack dice IS2's firing on the same target with an additional 7th attack die and hopefully causing some real damage and/or destruction to the enemy vehicle.

The scenario of the day involved the attacking force making their way across the battlefield to capture an objective. This proved to be quite tricky for the attacking players as there was little time (6 turns) to make it all the way and if a defending tank was within a range stick of the objective, points could not be claimed until they'd been shifted.

My first game was against Chris and I opened up with volleys of coordinated fire as his tanks tried to scurry from cover to cover. I managed to destroy all his tanks, thus preventing any point scoring.

The Russian & German platoons face-off!

My second game was against Jack who bought a Super Pershing heavy tank to the table, this is a beast not to be trifled with! Supported by Sherman's he made it very hard work for me to get to the objective and scored 1 of 2 points needed before reaching the 6 game turn limit, at least I managed another total annihilation of the enemy with them falling under the coordinated bombardment of the IS2's in the final turn!

The Super Pershing was a monster, until it's crew bailed out!

My third game was against just two well equipped Panthers. Both formidable tanks. Dave decided to make tracks directly for the objectives, taking full advantage of the German's ability - Blitzkrieg! I was lucky to score debilitating damage on one of the panthers in the first volley and perform the coupe de grace on it in the next turn. This left a solitary Panther trying to outrun and outmaneuvere my full platoon. He made a valiant dash for victory but fell under my hail of high explosive rain!

The final battle!

I'm very much looking forward to the next round of the campaign, but I will certainly make note of a few things.

1. There's a big difference between 4 and 6 attack dice.
2. Coordinated fire is awesome.
3. If the enemy is destroyed they can still win!
4. Be sure to read the mission briefing in advance!

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away (episode III)

So I've been playing X-Wing for a little while now and still really enjoy the game. It does seem as though I am reverting to type - exactly the same list FOREVER!

My custom painted K-Wing.

I am very lucky that there is such a great X-Wing community at Athena games (where I work) and I get plenty of opportunity to try new lists and new builds but regardless of the effectiveness of any other lists I try - I love my "triple K" list of Miranda Doni (painted by Maverick Mini Studios) and two Warden squadron K-Wings and struggle to change to using anything different. I'd quite like to custom paint whatever ships I do decide on, maybe a golden HWK (think C3PO) and a black & grey ARC-Fighter.

I think (daydream?) about having a list using Miranda alongside an incarnation of the upcoming ARC-fighter and some yet to be determined ship (although I keep looking at the HWK.)

So in the mean time I'll stick to using this list. The 2 points spent on a seismic charge are the only thing I change from game to game.

A tried and tested favourite.

p.s. I'm always on the lookout for tips and ideas :p

My Ultra Pro Gravity Dice

I'm just doing a post to try direct video upload and I'd thought I'd show off my Ultra Pro "Gravity dice" in the process.

I've always had a bit of a thing for dice and I have quite an extensive collection of them in all shapes, sizes and colours. One of my prized sets is a matching collection of Chessex poly dice and D6's (they're very nice.)

But a while back Athena ordered in a couple of sets of some rather special dice, with a rather special price tag of £20 for the pair in a very nice magnetic storage box. These are the most expensive dice I've ever bought, but they are particularly cool!

The two dice in their open storage box (with packaging)

Here's the 'blurb' from the back of the box:
"Gravity Dice are premium precision gaming dice made from high quality, aircraft-grade aluminum. Each die has a perfect center of gravity and chamfered edges for extended rolls. Both dice are hard anodized, laser etched and designed to enhance your gaming experience."

The dice are surprisingly light, being made from aircraft aluminum (whatever that is) and have a nice feel about them, very cold and smooth. Rather peculiarly one has solid dots whilst the other has small circles denoting the "number" rolled. The case is extremely sturdy and has a very strong magnetic clasp which is very satisfying to those that like that sort of thing (me!)

The free Kings

So it's the Athena X-Wing store championship and although I didn't do as well as was expected of me, I found the day very rewarding!

Squadron leader's prepare for battle.

I used my (notorious) three K-Wing list, with a borrowed C-3PO and Tactician.

#1Miranda Doni
C-3PO
Twin laser turret

#2Warden squadron pilot
Tactician
Twin laser turret

#3 Warden squadron pilot
Jan Ors
Twin laser turret

I've had mixed results using them in the past but losing isn't a big problem for me and they suit my preferred play style of plodding along shooting!

Game 1
In at the deep end against a well practised player using an Outrider and an intimidating Ghost!
Right from first contact this went badly both ships were well equipped and flown with skill, scattering my formation early on with a turn 3 kill on Miranda. The Warden pilots found themselves separated and easy prey for the monstrous Ghost.

Game 2
I found myself facing another Ghost! This one accompanied by it's attack shuttle and a Z-95.
This went somewhat better for me as the Ghost (with its huge base) bumped into asteroids a couple of times allowing me to pounce upon the Z-95 and fall back slightly to ambush the Ghost. With a combination of luck and TLT perseverance I had managed to  get the Ghost reduced to a single hull point before the attack shuttle launched. Once the Ghost was engulfed in a fireball, the lone shuttle couldn't survive for long.
Also this game was featured on the Athena game's stream table.

Game 3
Here I met another wave 8 ship - The Inquisitors Tie, he was accompanied by a Tie advanced and a Tie interceptor, all well outfitted.
I've got to admit I 'thought' this one was going to be a win for me! However as the Tie's hurtled towards my lumbering K-Wings, the lead Tie fired it's Proton rockets with +3 for 5 dice which combined with a couple of buffs resulted in a devastating pass on the Rebels! The Tie fighters seemed to run circles round me (ironic?) and I found them impossible to hit with their wide array of skills and abilities, "Juke" being a new and unpleasant experience for me!

Game 4
Here I met one of the Athena regulars whom I haven't had a chance to play against yet.
I made an error early in the game here, Miranda lagged behind the formation and Chris' X-Wing and Z-95's descended upon her with an unrivaled fury! Chris utilised "Tracer threads" to great effect, their hit endowing target locks upon the attackers allies. The formation made one pass (that's all they needed) and reduced my squadron leader to a flaming wreck with ease. My two surviving ships then pulled themselves together and led the enemy formation on a trail of destruction through and around the obstacles. But right from the moment where they struck down Miranda, I was on the defensive and I did all I could just to destroy his X-Wing before being defeated.

Game 5
Looking across at SEVEN Tie fighters was rather unsettling, with more than twice my numbers I reckoned I  was going to be in trouble here.
My K's move along my right flank and the Tie swarm swung around and homed in on the rear ship (Miranda) - this is where the dice gods smiled upon me! I lost count of how many attack die came up blank, it seemed as though the Imperial pilots had been out on the beer the previous night. Although they were being flown well and in tight formation, they just kept on missing. Turn after turn this continued, with my K's managing to destroy an enemy fighter each turn until it became apparent that the I was winning this war of attrition.

Game 6
Here I met more wave 8 goodness in the form a Misthunter with the intriguing "tractor beam" (which I now want.)
Our squadrons both charged straight at each other and a pair of Kihraxz fighter's unleashed cluster missiles (I need to try these out too) to great effect bringing down a Warded pilot and causing a lot of damage to Miranda. Luckily I managed to Zapp a Z-95 in this pass and get into position on a couple of the other scum ships and thinned out his numbers somewhat.
We ended up with a single K-Wing and a single Kihraxz fighter on the table, both desperately trying to outmaneuver the other. Then I had a "use the the force, Luke" moment, but in this reality it was Dave saying "Slam, Shaun - SLAM!" (for the hundredth time.) I've always been very reluctant to "not shoot" but in this situation it enabled my lumbering K to outflank a more agile fighter and win the day.

So I ended up mid table with 3 wins and 2 loses, but more importantly a received my very own C-3PO crew card (top 32 prize) that I really need for my squadron and had some great games with some great players. I experienced a few new things to, notably SLAMming and being on the receiving end of the new tractor beam upgrade. This allows the attacker (with a successful hit) to move an enemy ship 1 forward or 1 barrel roll, which I thought was great (as I was bounced onto nearby asteroids) and is certainly something I'm going to invest in.

Thoughts for the day . . .

1. Cluster missiles are savage.
2. Use tractor beams, hilarity will ensue.
3. I learned that sometimes (just sometimes) it pays to maneuver.

Miranda Doni get's attacked by a solar farm!?

K-Wing's in the winter.

So I'd thought I'd be brave and try my luck in the Athena winter tournament, it went surprisingly well!

Miranda & Co, staying in formation as the enemy approaches.

I've used my three K-wings a few times lately and bought these to the tournament (Miranda Doni with Chewbacca & 2 x Warden squadron, one with Jan Ors and one with Nein Numb) all equipped with my favourite thing ever - twin laser turrets!

1st game.
I came up against a B & two A wings and was lucky enough to take out one of the A-wings in only the second turn followed by the destruction of the second A next turn!
This greatly stacked the odds in my favor with my 3 ships chasing down the lonely B-Wing.

2nd game.
This match-up had me facing a Firespray and a scary looking IG-2000. Luck played it's part again here when the larger ships struggled to fly through an asteroid field.
The Firespray became separated from its big buddy and my 3 ships descended upon it and managed to bring it down before the IG returned.
The IG-2000 came back into the fight and proved a fearsome beast, the dogfight between it and my three ships was lengthy and savage, but I managed to reduce it to a flaming wreck just as time was called on the round!

3rd game.
Here I met a regular at Athena and some more familiar ships, T70's and a Y-Wing.
The Y-Wing used a fixed secondary weapon, allowing it to fire (front arc only) and then fire it's primary weapon too, this turned out to be a devastating ability.
The Y-Wing quickly dispatched my lead K whilst the T70's ran circles around the other two. I had to endure the savaging I was receiving from this experienced player.

4th game.
Again another regular Athenian! But with some new (to me) hardware. Darth Vader's Tie advanced accompanied by Soontir Fel in a Tie interceptor and (the painful bit) Emperor Palpatine in an imperial shuttle.
That nasty Sith lord Palpatine is a force to be reckoned with, having the ability to 'force' a reroll of any dice once every turn. This (along with my opponents skills) ensured the demise of my mighty K-Wings.

5th game.
I knew from the start that this was going to be my toughest of the day.
I faced another Miranda Doni, an X-Wing, a turret locked Y-Wing and a Z-95. Both squadrons rushed headlong at each other and engaged in deadly combat! One of my Wardens fell as the other took on the X-Wing and Z-95.
The two incarnations of Miranda merged upon each other as the other ships fell to the side and began a mini war of attrition!
They circled and zapped each other for several turns with both holding their own, until the surviving enemy ship returned to deal the coup de' grace.

In the end . . .
I had a great day with 4 great games and I never imagined I could have managed to land 4th place. I'm looking to refine my list a little (Nein Numb wasn't used) before my next tournament which will hopefully be the store championship at the end of the month.

A little box of magic

Since I bought the "Eldrazi Assault" MTG intro deck I've been enjoying it!

It is an immensely popular game at Athena where I work and even my son has hopped on board and bought himself a deck, so I've been able to get a few games in. Compared to my usual games involving dozens of models and rulebooks and dice, MTG is extremely portable I can easily keep a couple of decks in my bag so I'm always ready for action.

I've also discovered the joy of boosters! Buying one and opening it brings a certain (albeit small) rush of euphoria as I carefully tear it open to see what cards might be inside. I often say it's like a "mini christmas" every time you open one.

A Magic deck fits in this small box

From observing the many customers in-store I see varying levels of competition. There's casual players who are those that want to enjoy the game at its lower (easier?) levels. Then there is a sliding scale going on up to the serious (for want of a better word) players, who are constantly tweaking their decks with creatures, spells and lands ranging from a few pence up to and often exceeding £100 (per card).

I have myself begun to adjust my primary deck with a couple of cool cards I've found in boosters, I've yet to experience buying single magic cards (although I have got my eye on a couple) Athena Games have an absolutely huge collection available here.

Along side my primary deck I have also amassed quite a few colourless Eldrazi cards which I feel inexplicably drawn to, they favour mighty, slow, behemoths that take a perilously long time to summon - but - once they enter the battlefield they can often stomp your enemies into dust! This has inspired me to purchase a dual deck "Zendikar versus Eldrazi" (for the Eldrazi half at least) which actually helped me win not only my first victory (against another new player) but also a second win against a more established opponent! So this has greatly hyped the Eldrazi in my mind and I think they're going to be featuring much more in my future :)

I need to learn (and memorise) some of the newer cards I now have and hopefully get in a few more practice sessions at work, but I'm feeling more comfortable with the game and look forward to it and it's always available, in my backpack and easy to transport around!

So . . . . Magic

What is all this Magic the Gathering about then?

I'm looking to try my hand at MTG because since I began working at Athena I've realised how astonishingly popular (and portable) it is.

Historically I've never been into card games of any kind, "toy soldiers" have traditionally been more my thing, but I feel I could dip into MTG as it seems relatively cheap to start up and looks like I'd have a plethora of opportunities to play & learn at work.

My first instinct has been to go for an intro deck but after seeking advice from some local players I've been advised to go for either an event deck or a dual deck. Intro decks are your basic startup deck with rather run of mill cards for ease of learning. Event decks are better structured for competitive play (but I imagine a bit trickier to learn?) and finally, dual decks are designed for two players to begin their MTG journey side by side.

Also for my consideration is the five colours of magic, these are the different sources of power (and effect) available and are something like.

• White - Protection & order
• Green - Life & nature
• Black - Decay & death
• Red - Fury & chaos
• Blue - Deceit & intellect

So I need to pester my workmates for a little more info and take the plunge with some form of structured deck, stand by for more info :)

And after some more talking and pondering, I got myself an "Eldrazi Assault" (Red & Black) intro deck with two boosters included. It's given me a ton of cards to start with and try to figure out.

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away (episode I)

I've always loved Star Wars, it's the first film I ever saw in the cinema and like so many I've grown up with what was a truly ground breaking trilogy (yeah I know). The Jedi knights leading the rebellion against the evil empire (it's all a matter of perspective) and of course SPACE SHIPS!

A demo game I played at Dark Sphere (London)

These ships were different though, not all shiny and new, most of them were grubby and sometimes didn't even work - Millennium falcon, I'm looking at you! The story was perhaps a little familiar in places but some of the ideas and characters were totally revolutionary!

I'd seen games of XWing being played and greatly admired the rather nicely pre-painted ships, the titular XWings dog fighting the menacing Tie fighters along with all the other memorable ships from the (first three) films. I though to myself "I could enjoy this" . . .

The release of Episode VII The force awakens, saw a huge increase in XWing players at Athena games where I work and I thought to myself, it's time to jump on that band wagon!

Well the game itself is quite easy to get into, it doesn't require a huge capital investment (which is often a problem) the core set is just £30 for either original or The force awakens versions and contains everything you need to start playing straight out of the box.

You'll get a great XWing and two Tie fighters, all rather nicely painted. Tons of markers, templates, counters & cards and 3 of each attack and evade dice (4 would have been ideal).

I managed to bump two ships into the same asteroid!

The basic premise of the game is to move as per your ships available maneuvers and shoot your opponents ship when in range - dead simple but that's the beauty of this game. There's normally very little in the way of cover (you are in space) so you must think carefully about your closing speeds and position. Ideally you want to be able to get the first shots in! The game also uses a mechanic where the lower skilled pilots move first but the higher skilled pilots will shoot first, so things can start to get a little more complicated.

Like most people I didn't settle for the single T70 XWing in the core set, I got an additional one, then two AWings, this would comfortably make up the standard 100 points. I then got myself a KWing (massive flying tank) because i thought it looked awesome, to be honest I thought that of the other ships too.

My mighty KWing is mighty

To date i have only played a handful of games, but thoroughly enjoy it, I consider it my "lite" game, both in physical presence and cost when compared to my old friend Bolt action (think hundreds of Russian infantry)

Oh my, what have I done?

I am hoping to start work on a blog, just a collection of (what I think is) cool stuff.

Building, painting, playing and general funky stuff!

I started gaming with Judge Dredd back in 1984 with my brother when I was a mere 11 years old! Judge Dredd was absolutely awesome and provided countless hours of entertainment for us both. Warhammer 40,000 shortly followed and was a revolution for me, leading to me going out and expanding my limited (and rather awkward) social circles :)

The next few years bought HeroQuest, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (RPG), Blood Bowl and the legendary Space Hulk!

Then . . .

. . . life happened . . .

. . . fast forward 22 years to 2012 and I saw my little brother had returned to gaming with his 40K Orks! This caused an awakening in me, I suddenly really -needed- to play games again. I joined a local gaming club Aftermath and discovered a whole new world. It was here that I first experienced Bolt Action which absolutely blew me away, it was like the early editions of 40K but set in the real world, world war 2. This led onto to other games and more friends and (for me) a new lease of life.

Then in 2015 I was lucky enough to get a job at my FLGS Athena Games and have been enjoying that fusion of job and hobby ever since!

So here I am writing an intro to a blog, I'll add more details to my back story as time goes by and post my toys, painting, building and thoughts as I go. I hope I'll reach to you and make you smile or maybe just help you (a tiny bit) through your day.