As if I have not got enough to do already, I have now got the new Kill Team Octarious box with a load of Orky terrain and two more Kill Teams to build and paint.
I am starting with the terrain, as to be honest, it is the easiest bit to do and reduces the sprue pile by quite a bit. I also have a number of other Kill Teams that are already painted and ready to go so there is no immediate rush for models, but I do like the new Orks!
Curved Card Roof Tiles
I have been adding even more cardboard roof tiles to my ever expanding MDF building collection. I think I am going to need a bigger table to get them all on.
We have a big game coming up when I will be taking loads of pictures of the complete setup with all of the buildings finished, at least, that is the plan.
Bolt Action
Bolt Action is another game that had not been played since before the Pandemic so we deployed 100 points of US versus Germans to give it a go again.
As a “house rule”, we have halved the points for transports, M3’s and 251’s, as we were finding we would never use them at about 100 points each normally.
The Germans had an HMG set up covering one street with a Puma and Marder coverign another. The US tried to move flamers up towards both positions.
A US infantry unit in the middle took fire from both sides and spent much of the game unable to activate.
Meanwhile the Germans jumped out of their transport and flamed a US M3.
The Americans did actually have a Sherman but somehow a photo did not get taken. It got taken out by the Puma soon after rumbling on.
Friendly fire helped out the Americans as the Puma fired on, and destroyed the Marder.
Mr Steinbergs Germans are really well painted, and they also pack plenty of firepower with multiple machine guns in a unit.
A jeep with an HMG gives great supporting fire with mobility, but you still need to get the target in view, something I failed to do most of the game.
Flamers are also effective against light vehicles, I think two flamers will be a regular inclusion in the future and I suspect Mr Steinberg will be doing the same.
The US Officer was this bloke who looks a bit like Clint. He did not do much during the game…
It has been a long time since we played Bolt Action. The game was fun, we did not have to go back to rule books too much. Not a lot beats a game on great terrain with two fuly painted up forces!
I think the main challenge is the ease with which units get pinned and then are unable to activate. I will have to revisit my army list and try in include more Officers to help with Morale.
Whats On The Table?
During the lockdown, I bought a box of Kharadron Overlords for Warcry, not too many models, so I thought they would be easy to get done, especially as they could be undercoated in Bolt Gun and then a bit of detail picked out…
How wrong I was. There are loads of options for building the models, yet it is really hard trying to get close to 1000 points. With three flying globe Skywarden/Endrinrigger dudes and only five Thunderers on foot, the permutations made it a bit tricky.
The solution?
Magnets.
About 36 magnets…
It was not as hard as I thought it would be, I started with just the heavier weapons, but then just decided to do all of them…madness…
Tyranids vs Necrons…Again
The Tyranids were at the Necrons…again.
This time I got to use an old Armorcast Haruspex for the very first time. This model had been sitting up in the Loft Full Of Lead for more than 20 years. In fact we have been in this current house for 20 years so it must have been in the previous Loft (not quite so) Full Of (as much) Lead for a few years as well.
This was a 100 Power game, so pretty much only added in the Haruspex and a few other proxy Pyrovores.
Mr Steinberg added a few new Necron units, but to be honest, I really don’t know what they are called, there were just plenty of them.
Massed firepower from a unit of Necron Warriors sure does make a mess of a unit of poor harmless Genestealers
Having two large Tyranid critters, one for close combat and one for shooting large targets is something I have never had before so it has been fun to have a chance.
I still manage to forget loads of special rules that would benefit units, but I did remember to use a respawn unit tactics card and bring back some Hormagants just in time to threaten an objective.
This game came down to a single objective, with a mad dash at the end and plenty of ensuing carnage.
When the Haruspex got into combat, it certainly proved its worth as it munched through a unit of Necron Warriors and even recovered some wounds, although one would think that Necrons are not particularly nutritious.
I have a plan to include some more proxy units in the next game…
Steam Wars
After well over a year, Mr Steinberg and I played a good gized Steam Wars game between the British Empire and the US Navy.
We did a nice simple “hold the objectives” game as it has been a long time since we rolled this one out.
The two forces started in opposite corners, so the first few turns involved plenty of strategic movement. Sort of.
A couple of units of the British rode forward in their armoured carriers
Whilst others just advanced…
The Gunbots secured the first objective while the jump trrops looked for a good position to lurk…
As the British were spreading out, the US Navy were doing the same with the mini landship taking the lead.
The US Navy had some nice new attacks bikes that really do look the part.
The US Navy Rocketeers took full advantage of the roof tops to move towards objectives.
It was not long before trouble broke out on several fronts. A quad of British Infantry took an objective and the Rocketeers roared down to contest it. Infantry are key in Steam Wars as they are the only units that can hold objectives
It is a times like this that you wonder if you really should have included a tank…
The US Navy heavy suits had taken ages to get into position and were about to assault a coupel of British infantry units.
With all of the objectives within reach, it was now a question of trying to wrest the objective from the other side!
In the middle of the town, most of the units had been reduced to a single soldier so there was not a lot happening here…
The final objective came down to a stalemate in the last turn with neither side able to take control of it.
It was a really good fun game and the Victorian town looked great, there must be more soon!
Stargrave Game
I am getting to like Stargrave quite a bit.
Using a small bunch of models, each being different is a great opportunity to paint up some nice character models, even for the runners just armed with pistols!
We have not yet tried any campaign games, so we have been playing with starting crews in each game.
I think the main problem is the speed at which a model moves when carrying physical loot, damn slow…
But it is a good fun multi-player game and more will be played soon.
Tyranids vs Necrons
Mr. Steinberg has a new army of Necrons, although it is a limited selection, much like my Tyranid army, so we pitted them against each other in a smallish 75 Power game. There were no really powerful characters, but loads of models on both sides!
Over the last year, I finished off some movement trays for my Tyranids to make moving a horde army around a bit easier, and they really do help.
I also got to use the nice big Tyrannofex and his big gun for the first time.
I need to remember to keep the Synapse creatures close to the lesser Tyranids, so I try to run some Warriors behind any speed bump units.
As I do not play against a large jumber of opponents, this was the first game I have ever played against Necrons.
This list would appear to be as much of a horde army as the Tyranids, loads of infantry and a few hovering weapons platforms.
Tyranids tactics are pretty much charge across the table and munch into close combat. The Genestealers did so and annihilated a unit before being totally shot to bits the next turn…
There were some objectives, but these Tyranids were all about lunch and advanced towards anything in sight, even if Necrons are not very tasty.
I got to use a small brood of Gargoyles for the first time, only ten, but they swooped in with the Tyrant and charged another unit of Necron Warriors.
The Tyranid Warriors with ranged weapons really struggled to hit anything all day, but these are the only heavy shooty infantry unit I have so they need to go in the list somewhere…
Once all the Genestealers and Termagants were gone, the Warriors were a litle outnumbered and had to do some mad advances in the last turn to dispute some objectives.
It was a close game in the end, but the Necrons got the win!
Billions Suns
We had a small game of Billion Suns recently, another of the new rulebooks acquired during the last year, that has finally been given a go.
It is not a mass battle game, but more of a resource management game. We spent a lot of time parked up completing missions and avoiding space critters.
The combat mechanic is pretty good, we are still trying to work out which ships give the best bang for the buck in small games. Not sure where Bombers fit in yet, maybe in a bigger game they may get a go.
New Roof
I have been trying out an Eyebrow Dormer window design and I think it looks pretty good.
I need to add the ridges to the top and around the dormer and then slap on some paint.
