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I paint small metal and plastic figures and rarely get to play with them. But that is fine with me.

15 June 2015

Keeping it in the Family (Part - 2 Done and Done and an Armada AAR!

The second week of the 6MMRPC has had me working on the Saxon brothers (And brother-in-law) and also a pair of Viking Hirdmen that will be raiding the Saxon’s lands.

Still not decided what I'll do for a banner, but I'll worry about it another time.

Kept the shield design simple quartered effort. I think the green works well with the yellows on the model.

These are from the Jomsvikings/Rus ranges. I felt that elite warriors deserved some flashy togs and so the beardy fellow got some striped trews and  chainmail-face a classy red dress/tunic. 

Only complaint on these are the beardy sculpt's axe was far too fat and the armoured chap has a nice belt pouch, but no belt?

As far as hobby for the 3rd week of the challenge, things will be rather minimal as my mother is coming to visit from England for a bit and then on to my sister’s in Texas. But I have another 8 Saxon Thegns that I reckon I can kick out before she arrives!


Was lucky enough to get in a game of Star Wars: Armada with my good friend Gregg as well. This was only our second game of Armada and so we were still a little rusty on rules, but the game went along nicely regardless with an emphatic Imperial victory (Huzzah!) and the Rebel scum slinking back to the wretched holes they typically skulk within. (A Death Star Laser blast should take care of that vermin problem at a later date no doubt.)

Two Victory Star Destroyers with some upgrades for me along with 6 squadrons of  TIE's, one of which was Howlrunner, a special character

Grand Moff Tarkin was my force commander. He costs a lot of points to include, but damn his abilities make for some fun times.
Gregg's Rebel fleet consisted of the new Assault Frigate and two Correlian Corvettes stacked full of upgrades and some mixed squadrons of X-wings, A-wings and Y-wings. We both forgot many special rules that our add-ons offered up every turn. Yes, we are very new to this game.

Flying through the Cheerywood Nebula, these Rebel ships had no idea the Empire was lying in wait.

Both fleets move to engage. The Rebel fighter squadrons leading the way, A-wings engaging TIE's.

A squadron of X-wings, two of Y-wings and the pair of Correlian Corvettes move in to support.

Tarkin's ship unleashes a broadside into the closest Corvette, punishing the smaller Rebel ship for venturing too close. The Critical Hit taken would later prove to be it's doom.

The Assault Frigate likewise unloads against Tarkin's ship in revenge and wipes out shields on the Starboard side.

Meanwhile the fighter melee hots up and everyone starts to take hits.

Tarkin's vessel finishes off the limping Corvette. 

The Frigate's captain miscalculates his move, not speeding far enough away to get out of the 2nd Victory's front arc....

.... leading to next turn where the 2nd Victory showed it who's boss.
The remaning Corvette and rebel fighter squadrons exited Stage right soon after. Things to take from this game:

1. Rebels NEED to outnumber Imperials if they want any sort of chance at winning. Even the Assault Frigate is too weak to stand up to a Victory Star Destroyer by itself. (Two Frigates though would be nasty)

2. Upgrades are fun, but missing out on extra ships (See #1) means you're not rolling many dice each activation which in turn means you're not hurting the enemy nearly bad enough

3. New fighters (Rebel) looked nice, but I didn't feel they added much more to the Rebel fleet. X-wings are still the best fighter in our games.

4. I really need more than just Victory Star Destroyers to play with.... They're cool and all, but variety is really the spice of life. 

Speaking of "variety" - any day soon my Gladiator capital ship (Smaller and faster than a Victory.) and Imperial Fighter Squadrons packs should arrive. So next AAR should feature some new toys. 


13 comments:

  1. Those vikings look cracking Dai, and I think now you've added the shield to your converted leader, and done a top job on its pattern, he is definitely the best of the bunch. I'm a little underwhelmed by the bald bearded axeman though. Absolutely nothing to do with your paintjob I assure you. It simply strikes me as something of a disappointing sculpt... especially when placed alongside the other heavily-armoured chap. All good stuff though and I'm looking forward to seeing these on the tabletop :-)

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    1. Very much agree on the beardy sculpt. Though that was the reason I picked him to paint as it was a simple sculpt with simple details. My son says he looks like a teddy bear. I like to think he looks like a toothless walrus.

      They'll hit the tabletop in time, though I've still 75 warriors to go before they're ready! O_o

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  2. Outstanding brushwork! Love the yellow!

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    1. Such a simple recipe for it too.

      Thanks mate.

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  3. It *IS* a fine yellow. What are you using for it? The green quartered shield looks very crisp, nice work. I think the belt is hidden under the scale corset. The bag would sorta hang off and out of the scale armour?

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    1. O goodness... Now you've put me on the spot. It's an old GW paint. Bubonic Brown? I'll have to get back to you on that one. (Am at work)

      I think you're right on the pouch.

      Cheers!

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    2. Ah. I think I may know which one it is (though not the name).

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  4. Really dig that quartered shield!

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    1. Cheers Rich. It took a couple tries to get right, but I'm happy with how it turned out in the end.

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  5. Great to read that batrep, I always enjoy seeing new stuff that I've not tried before. Some very incisive tips there too.

    Oh yes, that quartered shield! After staring at it for a few moments I think it's the highlights on the green that do it for me. Is there some yellow in there? Without getting too over technical it would be nice to see a few tips on how you did those highlights...

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    1. There's no yellow. It's simple - bone and a foresty green as base colours. Then just simple highlights painted with white added, lines drawn from the center of the shield out toward the rim. I added a watered down black+brown wash near the rim to simulate a little dirt or darkening.

      Thanks Col.

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  6. Love the Saxons and Vikings. My viking force is also a mix of "regular" vikings and Jomsvikings.

    I'm about 3-4 years behind everyone, and am just getting into X-Wing...So Armada for me is a couple years down the road haha!

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    1. Armada seems to me a far better system, though I may be biased seeing as I want to control it all, not just fighter combats!

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