Wrath of Kings- Impressions ...guest post by Evil Homer

     I have asked some of the local gamers to give me a hand with some content based on Wrath of Kings. While I have a small reader base I am hoping to spark that a bit with some additional content as well as get the word out about this game. I enjoy it and I am hoping others will as well. This post is some general first impressions from Evil Homer.

    Let me preface this by saying that Confrontation (Rackham – The Best Game Ever) is my favorite game from both an overall aesthetic and mechanical point of view.  It managed to capture a feeling that both GW and PP games have failed at.  The alternating activation works on so many levels, individual model activations combined with special abilities create interactions that often cannot be predicted.  The combined close combat phase of that game was and remains pure genius.  With all of that out of the way let’s talk Wrath of Kings and see why it almost scratches that itch.

Considering Light and Location

So I thought I was done with my Bloodmasks. I applied the finishing touches, gave them a spray of dullcoat, and I was pretty happy with how they looked. Then took them to the game store for the first week of our slow grow for WoK.

Houston we have a problem!

See I forgot a very important thing about miniature painting. Consider where you are and the light that is at that place. The miniatures I had finished painted at home were painted OK and the highlights and shadows, while not especially well defined, looked good. At the store they were flat lifeless pieces of excrement. Ok maybe that was a bit harsh but the flat lifeless part is accurate.

Wrath of Kings

So as you have seen I am getting started in CMoN's latest game, Wrath of Kings. So what is it all about? Well on the surface it is a simple, quick paced game, that gains depth from the interactions between friendly and enemy models. It is an alternating activation setup so players take turns activating models. It is a single die roll (d10) mechanic meaning all effects are bound by a single action/attack/ability roll, with little or no rolling for the inactive player. I typically do not like those types of games, but honestly my experience with them is extremely limited.

It's Alive...IT'S ALIVE!!!

     Nope, this is not a mirage.....I am actually going to post something. It's been a while since I have posted anything on here. I could blame it on time (school, work, wrangling my toddler), but it really boils down to a complete lack of interest in the hobby. I always go through low times in my gaming and normally something comes along that sparks me back into playing/painting and therefor posting. Maybe its just a perfect storm of my friends not playing or not playing anything I want to play, and wanting to invest my time into school and family.

Manipulations Episode #1

Well, I stated in the last post that I would probably start posting some random stuff here and there so here it is. It has been a couple weeks since I posted last, but I am gonna try to post at least once a week. Hell, maybe I will make a regular Sunday article. We'll play this one by ear and if it goes ok maybe I can keep up with it.

Competitive 40K?

So, there has been quite an uproar the last couple of weeks over what competitive 40K players feel GW is doing with their game. If I still ran regular tournaments I could easily see how it might be an issue. Dataslates. strongholds, super heavies, allies, and all that is out there is a nightmare for tournament organizers. It really has little to do with those fellas and a lot to do with the people who show for those events.

If you don't know maybe you should understand something about people who take it on themselves to run not only tournaments but any type of event. Regardless of how it may look on the outside the desire to run events comes mainly from the desire for others to have an enjoyable experience. Some may be about ego and the more successful ones can make some money at it, but at the root of it is running an enjoyable event.

Having said that, if they feel the players won't enjoy the game many will strive to strike a balance that can neutralize a problem. I was quite like that when I first started. Things I got complaints about or seem overpowering were often comped out or forced to deal with scenarios that weighed heavily against them. I learned a while ago that all you end up doing in those situation is creating something else that is off and it becomes a never ending battle. More recently I have been pretty much will to allow what ever is in the book to fly. Balance comes from the option for everyone to use the same stuff.

How do I feel about the current game. I like it. What follows may explain why.

WIP 2: Yu Jing Spec Ops, oh and a spew of random crap

That's right boys and girls, I am still painting. Not a ton of progress but I am working even though it is in 10-20min spurts. I am just having a lot of trouble maintaining focus for too long right now. At least I am putting paint on a model.

There may not seem like much progress, but trust me its there. Not only am I having to re-find my touch and technique, I am discovering that my eyes are starting to betray me. I am not "old" by any stretch of the word, but my eyes have never been good and after 33 years of glasses/contacts they are starting to tire. My eye doc suggested readers, but I am resisting that with every fiber of my being. Perhaps the intelligent part of my brain will cross the hall and slap the shit out of the stubborn side. For real though the more I paint the more I face that reality. My eyes take time to focus on the details, and at time I have to give distance to do so.

As a side note, this blog might move a bit away from just a hobby blog and into a more personal nature. The times I do get to leave something for you I tend to feel better afterwards so maybe there is some therapy to be had here. I will try to at least have something for you to look at, but it may be old stuff or something interesting I find online. Having said that, you might get post about minis, my rp group, World of Tanks (by the way, thanks to TSP for taking me into their clan), programming work for school, or in the future even some EQN Landmark (I can not wait for this game).

Anyway, I have continued on with the armor a bit and started to work more detail around the mini. The cloth is still pretty much basic and the leather has had some more work. As you can obviously see, I also painted the fins on his back. Now, I doubt this will ever get used in a game of Infinity, but in the game they have many minis that have those type of protrusions. They describe them as something that helps soldiers with a combat drop ability (kinda like a paratrooper but more high tech). It adds a bit of color distraction as is, but I am not sure I like it. I might change it or I could just say f-it.

That is about it for now. As always thanks for taking a look.

Quick Hit

Been a while since I worked on anything hobby related. Not only have I not been painting I haven't even been playing anything. For most part the extent of my gaming has been either World of Tanks computer game or my weekly RP group.

Our RP group recently wrapped up the first portion/chapter/whatever of a Gurps Fallout game I was running. I feel like it went well and everyone seemed to enjoy it and that is what matters. I learned one great lesson running this group. All GMs cheat. The good ones do it to keep the game interesting and challenging, and the bad ones do it to compensate for things they can't control. The thing to remember is that there is a fine line between good/bad GMs and the most enjoyable ones bounce between the two.

Anyway, with the conclusion of my game, Gauthic has volunteered to run some stuff for his setting The Chronicles of Sol. It is a sci-fi high tech game set in the current solar system that has evolved over time. I made a "face" and plan on being the contact and communication guy. I still need to work on the background info for him, and I am going to need a mini for during the game.

I chose this:

Infinity Yu Jing Spec Ops. This is one of my favorite models in the army. The armor is a bit more than my character has at this time, but I should grow into it. I will try to keep up with it and keep you all posted when I get some progress.

Every Store Needs One turns 3 and I turn....none of your business!

So here we are. Another birthday for me means my blog is another year older. I don't post anywhere near as much as I used to, or as much as I would like to for that matter, but still here. Unfortunately for the blog as goes my hobby time (or free time in general) goes the blog. I could have given up on the blog long ago, but I like having it out there and sharing with anyone who is interested when I do get some work done.

This blog gives me a place to put my thoughts as well as my projects out there for anyone to see. At times its rambling mess, but I hope that at other times there is something here for you all to enjoy.

I would love to say I plan on posting more in the future, but there is not reason lying to myself or anyone else who stops here. I have had some major changes to my life the last couple of years and school and a 9 month old boy, free time is at a premium.

On my desk right now are my Eldar. The new codex has given it some new life, and in turn I am trying to give it a new paint job. Things are going good now, and I hope to have some more WiPs for you.

The one thing I will say is thank you to everyone who has taken the time to read my posts and look at my minis/projects. Hopefully I can get some new stuff up for you all to take a look soon.

Thanks for reading.

Master Manipulator

Eldar Re-Paint WIPs

     My hobby time the past two years has been extremely limited. My decision to return to school as well as the birth of my son have cause quite a drain on my free time. That is probably the number one reason why I have had limited activity on this blog. This summer I decided to take a break after 2 full years (summers too). That should allow me more time to paint and hopefully put some stuff up for you all to look at.

     So, with the recent release of the Eldar codex I have enjoyed working with that army again. We have a saying locally "I don't paint like that no more.", and to some extent that is true. I am not trying to say there was anything specifically wrong with how I used to paint in particular how I painted my Eldar, I have just learned skills and techniques that will make painting new models much easier and reach a better result.

"I'm not dead yet!"

Regardless of how it feels here on Every Store Needs One, I am not dead. The birth of my first child has stolen any free time I had. I have been working on some stuff, but just lack the time to post anything.

I am trying to reduce my collection a bit, and narrow my armies down to those I "really" want to keep and work on. Originally that meant that I was going to be selling my IG and my Black Templar, but the more I read in the Horus Heresy forgeworld book the more I think IG will be the only casualty. Eldar are one of old flames, and I have always been a fan of Emperors Children. So it seems I will be breaking apart my Templar and using what I can to make a loyalist version of Emperor's Children to mirror my current Chaos project.

And plans change yet again!

I want to start this post by apologizing to Evil Homer. I had planned to play on a team with him for the WargamesCon team tournament, and not that is bust. Sorry to leave you hanging.

That was the plan. Started working on a guard army to take to the Con but school and personal issues are telling me that it just isn't the best idea. I am more than likely taking Trig in the summer, and I would have to miss at least one day of school and a weekend of homework time to make it to the tourney. I just don't think that is a wise decision.

So, no WargamesCon means I have no immediate need to finish my guard. I am not going to stop playing them, I really do enjoy the army. It just means I can let my mind be drawn to other projects if I want, an d boy do I want. The announcement several weeks ago of the resurrection of Confrontation by Legacy Miniatures has me wanting to work on something a bit more....substantial. So last night I prepped a mini for paint, and I should get some spare time this weekend to put some paint on it. No pics yet, but I will try to get some up for you soon.

My hobby time, or leisure time in general tends to come in hour long spurts right now. I am hoping a single mini will easier to jump into and out of than a large army build that requires dragging out tools, assorted pieces, ect. Stay tuned.

I Don't Paint Like That No More!!

I have been going through a bit of a funk lately. School is taking a large chunk of my free time so the hobby time has been extremely limited. The problem is, with the limited time I have I am starting to tire of painting black and white on Templar so I have been looking for something different to do. I decided to take a crack at working on my future Chaos Marine army.

See, I have an Emperor's Children army that I started a long time ago. This was my attempt at a fluff based list. It was pretty much done construction and in the painting stages. After a while of playing the army the current codex was released and pretty much torpedoed the army I had constructed. I made several attempts to try to figure out a way to make the army work, but the codex really does not allow for a very good mono-god Slaanesh.

No time to work on minis...clearing out old stock.

Since I have not had any time to work on any new minis, I therefor have not written anything for you lovely people to read. Most of my spare time lately has been devoted to making an attempt to clear out some of my older minis that I am pretty sure will never get used. I have been thinking about paring down my collection since the beginning of the year and now I need to consolidate my computer room into my game room so no time like the present.

I have however had a few moments to assemble and test a bit of Helldorado. My initial impressions are pretty good. It is hard to say right now, but I think I am going to like the way some of the interactions work. Add to that the fact that I like a lot of the miniatures and this one may have staying power. We will see how the locals take to it.

As for the minis...I like the look and feel of most of the factions. There are a lot of smaller pieces that may become a problem later on if they get lost but they do make for a good looking miniature. The casting is good but not great. What do I mean by that? Well almost everyone of the models I bought had mold lines that needed to be cleaned off and some were fairly thick in places. In addition there were a few models that had mold lines running right down the center of the face. That is a pet peeve if mine. As a manufacturer you have to know that any mold line on a face will most likely be unrepairable by the normal gamer and therefor curses the model to look like Slough from the Goonies.

On the other hand, maybe when I am done removing minis from my collection I can do a hobby cribs article about what is left.

Happy Birthday to me!!!

Another year older. This one is a big one for me. I understand they are just years, but the ones with "0"s always seem to be the hardest for me.

Not much going on. Wifey threw me a small get together at the FLGS on Friday, and tonight its dinner with some family.

As a side note, I have the pics but have yet to write the info for the second part of my Dirz post. I  hope to get a chance to get it done soon. I have stumbled onto a new distraction.

World of tanks is a free to play multi-player online tank fighting game. It is not perfect but it has some great things I like about it in addition to it being free. Check it out. The game is free and the online play is free. There is of course a pay portion but I am not sure it really makes a difference for the everyday player.

One Year going...and my own little top ten.

Well well, it seems I have been going at this blog thing for a year now. I honestly have to tell you I not only figured at the beginning that this thing would fade long before a year, but there have been times during this year that I thought the same.

With that the blog sits here a year older and I figured it might be a good time to toot my horn a bit. Hopefully there is something in this list that is useful to you or maybe it was what made one of those cool people click the follow link to help boost my ego.

With that I thought I would do my own little top ten.

Good news for Confrontation

Well, it seem good things my actually come to those who wait. I have a fairly wordy post for you, but I am gonna toss in a couple of my favorite models from Rackham as painted by me.

Goblin Champion Bazuka-Front

Many years ago I was introduced to what is my favorite miniature game, Confrontation. I can not remember exactly when I started playing Confrontation, but I think I played it pretty much solid for about 4 years (I still play now albeit much less frequent). Now that may not seem like that long but I would estimate that I played more games of Confrontation in those 4 years than I have played 40K or Warhammer Fantasy Battle in the 20 or so years of playing those games. Its just a game I like that much.

Goblin Champion Bazuka-Back

There is probably one reason that I do not play the game as frequent as I used to. Several years ago in an effort to not only move their company in a different direction with their models but also to increase profits Rackham made what many consider the worst move in the history of mini gaming. They decided to not only move their game from a skirmish level game to a large scale game, but they also decided to transition from their current metal line to pre-painted plastic models (while completely discontinuing their current metal line). I am not going to go into how or why I think this failed other than to say that after they did so they lost a significant chunk of their fan base and they never were able to gain them or new ones back with the current game.

Collector of Mid Nor-Front

So for several years now I have maintained my collection and continued to play the game every once and a while when the mood stuck me or one of the local gamers. As the Rackham as we knew it was changing and moving from one company to another each time we would wish they would realize the mistakes made and re-start the metal line and the game we all enjoyed so much. Well fortunately it seems that has finally happened. As you can see here a company has acquired the rights to the miniatures and is planning to re-launch the mini line. I have heard whispers that the game it self will follow but at this point I am happy with just the minis.

Collector of Mid Nor-Side

The news almost slipped by me as well. I was wasting some time waiting for the misses to finish preparing for a Saturday afternoon out and about. We were heading to brunch and then she was dropping me at daycare (what see calls the FLGS) so I could ironically enough get in a game of Confrontation with a good friend of mine. As I waited patiently I browsed my email and was deleting the normal stuff I get. One of things I often pass over and delete without reading was the CMON newsletter. Man am I glad I read it.

Collector of Mid Nor-Back

So there you have it. I can honestly say I am excited. Granted I have learned over time to temper that excitement until it actually happens cause I have been burned before. I definitely have a new found bug for the game and plan on playing a few games the next couple of weeks. With that in mind don't be surprised to see some of my stuff show its face here .

Cynwall Magician Galhyan

Still here

I am still here. Unfortunately I have not been doing much hobby related. See I get in funks when it comes to the hobby. Any of you that come to this site more than once have probably seen that. This last one has been the worst. Normally my hobby work is driven by what I am playing. Recently though I have not really felt like playing anything. WFB has my interest a bit, but I have no idea how long that will last. Even if it does last I don't really feel like working on anything for it.

So yesterday my wife wanted to spend some time at here parents house. She has recently bought a 67' Mustang and her and her father have been working on it. That leaves me with nothing to do, but she still wants me to go with her. So I packed up some stuff to work on.

In digging though my minis to find a project I settled on one of my favorite miniatures of all time. You will soon see what it is but for now that is all I will tell you. I spent a good portion of the day pinning and cleaning the model. I do intend to once again create a scenic base for the model. While I was cleaning the model I had some plaster poured into basic molds so I can break it up and use it on the base. This model is for one of the armies I play for one of the games I play so it will need to be on a standard base but I intend for it to be a lot more dynamic.

I hope to have some WIPs up for you soon.

Dark Age Whisper: WIP....scrapped

So this model has been scrapped. The more I worked on it, the more I felt like I did not like it. Since I normally will force my self to work on models this one is going back in the box. I will push the base to the side for now and I may try to find a use for it later.

Big question now is what to work on.

Good Luck Evil Homer

Well the time has come for Evil Homer to take his leave of the local scene. His wife and family had already made the move to their new home in Austin as he stayed behind to finish up some critical stuff with work and take care of the final details of his move.

Got to play a game of Confrontation (god I love that game) with him last night at the LGS. It was great fun and we had a great time. We really had a great run with Confrontation and even though we hardly ever play it anymore it was really nice that the last game we played (for what I think will be a long time) is Con. Fitting I think.

I just wanted to take a second to give him one last good luck. He has been a good friend and I will miss the regular talks we have about the good and bad we see on the net. I am sure we will still keep in touch but it is not quite the same when your friends are 5 hours away.

Thats right...I said it...friend. Damnit I avoided that for this long and now I stick myself with it. I need to take a look at the rules again. (thats and inside joke for anyone not local)

Good luck Evil Homer..hope to see you back soon for a tournament or some other event.

Crappy Weather, Wet Palette, and a Funk

So the past week in North Texas has been pretty much the same as the rest of the country. Cold as can be and covered in snow and ice. This is far from the norm here. If we get snow it is usually once a year and it hardly ever sticks to the ground for any length of time. This batch hung around for four days and pretty much crippled the town.