Musings of being Bored

"Where'z da Any Key, Boss?"

Thinking is my biggest thing lately.  What with being unemployed and spending most of my time applying for jobs that don't have the decency to respond with an email saying I had been declined for an interview, I spend the rest of my time playing video games and considering my move to the 'zoo.

I've been making room for my video games for the big move by Min-maxing my stuff.  I'll be taking two consoles with me, my PSP and my Xbox, and working around taking them.  Like getting a CD Wallet and filling it with my Xbox games and favourite movies and TV shows. (Firefly was first in line)

When I chose my Xbox, I thought about how I wanted to continue interacting with my friends at home as The Boys all have Xbox's, so that was an easy choice.  But The Lads, they're a different kettle of fish.  They're mostly PC players, and the biggest game we have in common is Bloodbowl (though a few do stand out of that particular group).

I hope that'll be easy to sort out, because I have Blood Bowl on my PC and so do most of The Lads (I'm pretty sure).  So I would love to see the Blokenstein League start sometime not long after the move, but we'll see.

Though it brought me back to my Xbox because I remember when I was living with Richard, he had a copy of Blood Bowl for Xbox and then it went on to Cross-Platform compatibility, and while it does come down to nobody fighting fair, it's still a thought I indulge.

Playing Blood Bowl in the loungeroom, playing in a League with my friends in Australia, relaxing while I move my pieces around (only to get thwarted, naturally).  However that wouldn't be possible even the Cross-Platform compatibility was possible simply because the Xbox version is still behind by about 3 updates.  It has gone completely unsupported.  It would be easy to sort out, what with Downloadable Content being a large factor in the development of games today, but it comes down to what the developers can and can't do.

Downloading games is a massive thing now.  The availability, the range, the variety.  I just spent the Australia day long weekend downloading entire games for my nephew's Xbox because I promised them to him.  And conveniently, he had vouchers for a free copy of Skyrim and a Free month on Xbox Live.

I remember going through the Playstation Network Store months ago, just having a browse, and found that I could get the Monster World series.  I didn't purchase it, because I had it on my computer as part of an Emulator, but it still made me think how so many games from the past are still available.

Though I still resent the fact that I still have Playstation 2 games that I can't play on my Playstation 3, unless I want to buy them again.  Which I do not.  Backwards compatibility, in my opinion, still remains to be a standard feature.  But I would also like to see the option for the same game on multiple systems.

Playstation have that, with the PS Mini's, games that are playable on both their portable and home systems.  The games aren't complicated, they aren't fit to max the system of the Playstation 3, but they're there for the fun.  The way I look at it, PSP games are much the same.  They're not graphically able to max out the PS3, and they're really good fun.

So what's the harm in letting them play them on the Big Screen?  Heck, I would love to play Patapon on my TV.  I'd play while my nephews watch and order me around, or I could feel like i'm playing the original Final Fantasy Tactics like some of my friends have.

Same goes with other Companies, like Nintendo.  They offered Gameboy Advance games on your TV through an attachment on your Gamecube.  And they still offer many Gameboy games on the online store.  And with the release of the WII U, how difficult would it be to play a DS game through it?  If you can download it onto your system, you could easily play it without a hassle.

Though I wouldn't get myself a WII U, simply because I just don't have any inclination to, I do think about what I'm missing out on.  I have a Gameboy Advance emulator with a large set of games, and I've thought how nice it would be to play these on the big screen.  Especially Tactics Ogre: The Knight of Lodis, one of my favourite games, which I would like to see as a DLC for the PSP game.

But once again, I bring around the point that these are simply musings of a Gamer who wants the world.  If we ever see any of these in the future, I'll be happy.

Oh wait, the Steambox is coming.  It's a Console that allows you to play games from your Steam Library.

Close enough.

Heck, I may even be able to play World of Warcraft through it too.  Though I don't want to pay for it any more.  I think about when the game will actually die, and how much of a waste it will be to have a game like that closed up, and how cool it would be to have Blizzard make a stand alone RPG in it, covering all the significant events that cropped up, from clearing out the training grounds of enemies, to finding out what happened to Magni Bronzebeard after Arthur took Frostmorne, to the Cataclysm.

That or do a storyline on specific character combos.  Like the Orc Warrior, the Night Elf Hunter, the Human Mage, the Goblin Engineer, etc etc etc. But that'll have to wait for WoW to die out first.  I'm still waiting for Starcraft Ghost, regardless of it's Indefinite hold.

Calamari Throne

Lately I've been really getting into my Nerdistry and working on my models. Inso much as to have mostly assembled my Behemoth, mostly re-assembled my Karchev, and begun painting my Blood Bowl team.

I even went out to get some spray paint and basing sand so that I could undercoat them. $41 later from a Games Workshop, I had these two items. Never again. $26 for a can of spray paint? I may as well go to Supercheap Auto. It's the wrong kind of spray paint, but damnit it'll be cheaper, surely. And $15 for 100g of sand? Yeah, I'm going to make these last a bloody long time, and next time I'm going to the beach.

Still, I've gotten into my models and started cleaning off flash and supergluing my fingers together in hopes to put the rest of them together. Luckily, I did! The downside? My Khador Behemoth looks goofy. He's in the proper stance that's advertised on the box, with one leg up... but I don't like that pose.

So I'm going to look for a Rock which will fit underneath the Behemoths foot. I could chase after some greenstuff, but a rock will add that little bit of stability this monstrous pewter figure will need. Probably should've thought about that when I first bought him a year ago.

Which reminds me, I do have to email PP-Frontdesk about a missing Bombard Cannon.

Alongside him is Karchev, the Terrible. Now I tried putting his legs together a long time ago, and eventually wrecked them to a poin that I just got a pair of new legs on order and now I'm using those which have glued together VERy nicely.

Then I had a look at a Plastic Battlebox that I picked up ages ago. I picked it up last year thinking "Yeah, I'll get two more Warjack kits out of it and have a Sorscha to have battlebox games with." When I opened it, I was under the presumption that I'd used one of the Warjack Kits, but I was lucky enough to have two. So I assembled a Marauder, and half assembled the Soon-To-Be Black Ivan which I have waiting for me.

I'm also going to go for a different paint scheme for my Khador. Black Ivan will be the same, and I think I'll paint Torch in the same Scheme, but the others I'm going to try and go for something like this:

Oh look, that's a MERCS Behemoth. You know what would look very similar if it got a rock under it's foot? The Khador Behemoth.

Funny that.

After all these guys, I'm going to paint up my FSA Dystopian Wars Fleet. I've got my battleboxes on hand, and my Dreadnought, Escorts and Destroyers are over at Kelvins since I slept in way too late to dash over there myself to pick them up on Saturday (damn you sleepy times and your voracious ways) so I asked him for the biggest favour of picking them up for me. Owe him a drink, that's for sure.

On Wednesday last week, I received an email asking if I wanted to have a game on Saturday. Liam, a guy I demo'd in January, was going to bring his brother and a few of his mates along. His brother knows how to play, but his mates don't and they wanted to have a demo game to learn.

Legion and Menoth? Easy done. I can borrow from Scotty and I have my own (Unpainted) Menoth Battlebox. Along with that, I have a Khador Battlebox (Naturally), a Cygnar Battlebox, a Cryx Battlebox which I bought for $20 second hand from Fastbreak, and a Trollblood Battlebox. And if I do some digging and Assembling, I can pull out a Skorne Battlebox. And I'm not sure if a Farrow Battlebox is sanctioned, but that's what I'm going to use anyway.

I really should get some generic tokens though.

Actually, that's something that kinda Irks me. Hordes Battleboxes are, as a general rule, 1 Large Warbeast, 2 of the same Light Warbeast. The Legion box is the exception because it has 4 of the same lesser warbeasts. Whereas Warmachine has 1 Large Warjack, then 2 different Light Warjacks, Khador with 2 different heavy Warjacks and Cryx have 1 Heavy and 3 lights, but 1 different from the other.

The point is that Warmachine has that little bit of diversity. More options. So while I have the official battleboxes for Hordes, I'm thinking of swapping out double figures with something of equal points, or theme. So for Skorne, change out a Cyclops Savage for a Basilisk Drake or Krea. Or even for a Cyclops Brute. Or swap out a Trollblood Impaler for a Bouncer. An argus for a Gorax. And one or two Shredders for Stingers or Harriers.

Things like that. /Ramble

Sunday day was a really good day though, and While Liams Brother and mates didn't turn up I still had a good couple of games against Liam. The game came out 2-1 in his favour. The first game was a ferocious assassination of Karchev, with Lord Carver walking around a corner with his feat active and plenty of fury. Karchev was left on 2 damage points (his movement) until a Farrow Brigand came up and tried his luck. He rolled JUST enough to destroy Karchev.

Second game was Epic Irusk versus the same Carver list. I'd all but massacred most of his unit of Brigands, and the Behemoth tore apart one Warhog in melee (WOO!), while he was slowly whittling away at my unit of Winterguard. Then he put Carver a little too far forward, due to his determination of eliminating my Winterguard, and made an easy access for my Great Bears of Gallowswood to charge him. Well, one. The other two were engaged with a Warhog (whom they promptly left very sorry).

Sadly, that didn't kill Carver. Irusk charged with 6 Focus. Not enough to kill him. Kovnik Joe charged him. Knocked him on his arse because he passed a tough roll. 3 Winterguard Figures shot into his face. Two passed Tough rolls and the Standard Bearer had to finish it off. So Win to me.

Last game we swapped factions. I used his pigs, and he used my Khador. Made up his own list, I'd help him with points, and game on. He used the old Witch and out came her Feat turn. I couldn't charge, I couldn't run, and any time I ended my movement within 14 inches of her, I stuffered a severe damage roll.

Carver, with the addition of his speed enhancing spell, walked up and attempted to kill her. She was left on about 7 health of 17 after some abysmal rolls. Then I realised I forgot to use my feat, which grants me extra damage dice. So out of curiosity, I rolled 2 dice to represent the missing damage dice from the two successful hits. The great Opposers, 6 and 1, rolled up. Exactly what I needed to destroy the Old Witch of Khador.

Then on his turn, the Old Witch did what was expected: She moved in with her twin claws, and smacked the living shit out of Carver. And when my first tough roll came up, I failed. Win: Liam.

But all though the game we talked about the next Hordes Expansion: Domination. To which comes the entire point of the post name:

Yeah, the Legion are looking a little Cthulian. But that's cool.

Scale of the Game

I was thinking about it today. There are a large variety of games that I've looked at, and they all go from varying scales. Not just in model size, but in description of the size of game, though they do go hand in hand. But what would it be like in the minds eye to combine the lot?

Here's an example. 40k Standard at 1:60 scale, a skirmish game with Orks and Space Marines fighting over a communications array. A way down the way, an Epic 40 at 1:600 scale fights to control an area of land. A few hundred miles straight up, there's a Battlefleet Gothic game at it's own scale fighting to stop either fleets from landing more troops.

See what I mean? It's not just a skirmish, but it's one big massive battle.

Dystopian wars has a similar thing but at a wider scale rather than a focal scale. Dystopian wars covers Air, Land and Naval. It doesn't get smaller and it doesn't get into space, but it's still impressive. Though if you cross it over with Firestorm, armada and invasion, you get pretty much all varieties of table top games. Small Skirmish, Large Battle across all territories, and a space battle up above.

So what would you do with this? Personally, i'd try and figure out a way to put it into a role play game. The players would be in control of the situation. They'd have their scenario with their own characters they made, and then situation would arise that they'd have to control a series of boats down a river so they can reach a fortress they're going to defend from a contingent of tanks making their way along. then word comes you have to fly yourselves to the space port to help with the battle in orbit. Maybe give the battleship or dreadnaught some extra stats to give the players an advantage, but nothing majorly significant. Maybe like extra health, or extra weapons.

Perfect reason to do a Dystopian Role Play game. The players are a group of privates who work their way up to take full control of every situation that arrives, from performing artillery strikes to escorting a naval fleet across the sea to their new destination. Then after dealing with the situation there, they fly off to the mountains in a carrier plane and fend off enemies in fighter planes, or heavy bombers.

This is sounding cooler and cooler every moment.

My First Space Marine

So I was going to have a little photo joke about "my Firsts", you know those things little kids have for when they go potty training or hold their own bottle. No, couldn't find it so I've decided to dive right into it.

Well playing Deathwatch has given me the right... No, the DUTY... to paint a space marine character for myself. Blood Angel tactical marine. Fair enough. Now my friends are artistic, so the model doesn't go in the bare essentials. No, he has pockets, a holster with pistol, a mark of honour, backpack and his pair of bolters.

why two bolters? Cos I said so.

On top of that, he doesn't get the standard base that WH40k offer to put your models on. He gets a resin designer base, one tailored to 40k.

And after painting it up with what paints I have, i came up with this.



I think it was a pretty good job, considering I only have a few paints (With way too many greys than I'd like to discuss) and not a very good eye for taste.

Now as for the model itself... well being a blood angel I have to paint him red. I have had way too much experience with Red. So i think I did a good job with it. Although I haven't done his belt. I just have no idea what colour to paint it.



I reckon he'll go down well with the crowd.

What was in the box

A good six year ago, and I was learning to play table top games, particularly Warhammer 40k. Now I'm not a big fan of 40k, because frankly I'm lazy and making an army seems like a butt-tonne of work. I mean even a Necron army seems like lots of work, with having about 21-41 models in 600pts (I can't remember if Warriors can come in units of 10 or 20). Yes, I am quite lazy.

There was one army that I really enjoyed because they were just goofy: Orks. I was tempted to join the ranks of Orks players, and wanted to start off with a bang. So I bought a £200 Gargantuan Squiggoth (it was 200 quid at the time).

It was big, and it was fun. But I just didn't get off my arse and get it assembled or anything. So six years down the track, moving house and dusting off the box, and thinking to myself “Hell, it's about time”. So over last weekend, I worked my way to assembling the awesome model, Howda and all.

It was a struggle at first, because I couldn't get the cap off my glue. Somehow I'd knocked it over and it slowly seeped out and stuck itself from the inside. Luckily I didn't lose too much glue. I even ended up pouring it out of the bottle itself, but that was a bad idea. Way too much glue going everywhere. So much glue even, that when it had all dried up there was this dangly bit hanging from underneath its neck, made from dried glue.

If the head falls off, because I believe there's a large gaping space between the head and the neck, I'll have to get green stuff if the head falls off.

The tail was the most annoying. Trying to keep it there for about two hours without it gluing and holding of it's own accord and having the sharp pointy bits dig into my hands was really not very comfortable. So after giving up, I realised I could just keep it in place by using parts of the Howda.

The Howda wasn't too much of a hassle. It came in 6 pieces: The main carriage, 3 side balconies and 2 front seats. It's plenty of room for the 20 or so Orks that it usually carries.

Now to get some weapons on it. I'm thinking of using the Gun Boars Cannon as a Lobba or a Kannon.