GMANews.TV Christmas Party

Here are several pics from our office Christmas party a few weeks back on my Multiply page.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas, guys ^_^

Very busy season, so almost zero blogging. See you all in 2008!

Blog Remix

After quite some time, I decided to update my Karmic Backstab blog.

In the spirit of Christmas, I placed a freebie Flash Christmas countdown on the top part of my blog, easily seen upon page load. It's cheesy non-Pinoy Christmas design, buy hey, free's free.

I also decided to upgrade my Blogspot template. In effect I cleaned out redundant links from my old layout and it's easier to code in new stuff now.

With the upgrade, I now have to re-tag post labels of each and every post I have on this blog since I started way back in August 2005. Ah well, slow and steady is better than nothing.

Trollblood Long Riders

I decided to do a step-by-step with the miniatures, from assembling to painting. For this one, I chose the Trollblood Long Riders (primarily because Kei wants this done ASAP so he can play with them already).

As soon as I open the box, I make sure to see if all the parts are there (and maybe see if I get some bonus bits as well ^_^). If it's all there, I dry-fit the pieces together. This is a basic mistake for some as they just go and superglue on whatever bit they get from the box. Some parts just don't go or fit right with another ~ a harsh lesson I found out with Protectorate Knights Exemplar.

With Games Workshop plastic bits, it's very easy to do. You can even just go Exacto on said bits and glue them together easily. You get nice action poses easy that way. Unfortunately, it's more difficult with Privateer Press metal miniatures. Luckily, Pork has shown me the light - via a jeweler's saw we got a few years back ^_^ But with this project, I decided not to have the Long Riders undergo surgery.



Another thing to consider about metal miniatures is that unless you prep up the metal before you paint, the paint rubs off more easily with handling (especially since we're talking about minis that get moved a lot on a battlefield table).

Pork and Arvin talked a lot about this - the release agent that's on the miniature, so that it doesn't stick to the mold; and some chemical reaction when the metal is shelved for a prolonged period of time. All that messes up with how paint is supposed to cling on to the metal. So, ALL the metal parts need to be cleaned, too. And I prefer to do that before assembling them.

I got a nifty grinding tool with a steel brush implement. I just take that whirring thing onto the metal and give it a nice shiny buff. Those steel brushes at hardware stores work as well, but I suggest not using the industrial-strength type steel brushes (those will erase a model's face LOL).

After the buff, I get some dishwashing liquid and some water, mix it together in a basin, and give the parts a nice bath. This works with those recesses that the grinding tool can't reach. I use a steel brush for this, but since there's a lot of splashing involved, I didn't get a picture of that step.



The main body of the Long Riders consist of two halves. If you just superglue them together, you'll have unsightly gaps that could ruin even the best masterclass paintjob you put on it. To close it up, you need to fill it up with putty. Most miniature modelers use Green Stuff. I just roll those up and line one of the Long Rider halves, and add some super glue as well, before slapping them on together. You should allow the putty to squeeze out and fill in those gaps.

I then break out the timer and wait for 10 minutes. This is also important, as Green Stuff needs to cure a bit before you can work on it effectively. I have made countless attempts previously with using Green Stuff for gaps and working on it without having it cured first. It just ends sadly as the putty usually comes out of the gaps as soon as you try to smooth it.

Another important thing to remember when working with putty is always keep your hands and tools wet. It's putty, it'll stick. Water helps a lot so keep a bottle of water nearby where you can dip your fingers and/or tools.

With the ten minutes, I decided to do some base work for the Trollblood cavalry. I got some various sized pebbles and superglued them onto the bases.

This is what I've been doing with the Long Riders so far. For any comments or criticisms, feel free to discuss it in the comment section of this post ^_^

7-Year Madness Hoard

I have been in the hobby of miniatures tabletop wargaming and painting/modeling for a little over seven years now. It may be a bit difficult painting in such small scale but I have always been more at ease with it so long as I have the proper tools. A lot of this stuff I read about from various sources on the Internet, White Dwarf and No Quarter magazines, words of wisdom from other veteran players (you all know who you are), and from many explorations (by myself or with the Boyz) in the depths of Cubao and Quiapo.

I now NEED to have my own work shed, as all of this junk is now squatting in the living room LOL

Cold War

Yeah, it's pretty cold in this year's December. It's very hard to wake up every morning, even if you did sleep early. Ironically, December started with some stir in Makati when Trillanes bunkered up in the Manila Peninsula.

Call To Arms
The recent league concluded with a special one-day tournament. I got to face against Kei and Obi. On my second match, I decided to take up on Mang's offer for a bye. I really wasn't up to playing the Mk. PS Mine Field scenario with anyone LOL, and the food downstairs was too good to pass up ^_^ In the end, I got my second Khador coin that day.

I'm hoping to get a nice Nintendo DS this year. The call of Pokemon is too strong. And Jojo had to show me how good his is LOL! I've already placed a bid on one on Ebay Philippines.

I got lots of more stuff planned for the coming year. Tune back in for updates. Have a good one! ^_^

Random Weekend (Late Post)

Better late than never (looks like I've been saying that a lot these past few weeks LOL). Here are some pics from Weewilldoodle's Instantinopol and a league day at Pitshop ^_^

More pics here!

Last Quarter Stuff

Again, not been updating as often as I'd have wanted. A lot of momentum now in the local WARMACHINE/HORDES community. Not so with WFB and 40K. No matter though as I have very little time to play. I do get a lot of painting time though. Got some more details in on my Winter Guard Rocketeer, as well as the whole Druids of Orboros lot. I will look into spraybombing my Khorne Bloodletters later when I get home (unless Guitar Hero 3 wrenches me off it though LOL).

Updating the now functioning Miniatures Wargaming Philippines forum. As per my last conversation with Lito, this new free forum will serve as the alternative once the old RHGC forum shuts down.

I'll be undertaking a new terrain project for my table at home. I'm planning to make something for Trollbloods, Menoth and Circle of Orboros. Not big projects but rather modular flavor pieces. I still don't know what exactly -- maybe a ruined Menoth church (the corners at the very least), maybe some herdstone-type obstructions, too.

Games at home: Atelier Iris 3 and Guitar Hero 2 (Hard) on PS2, Bang!
Games at work: Dawn of War, Company of Heroes, DOTA, Counter-strike 1.3
Target for the week: Winter Guard Rocketeer and Greylords Ternion or Kell Bailoch

I got lots of pics, just not on this blog. Go check out the WMPH blog instead.

Adding Larkin Vain's Glory & Coin to my blogroll ^_^

WIP 20071022

Just some works in progress. I evidently failed on my last weekly target and finished my IK Alexia instead (plus assembling the Risen and Thrall Warrior). Right now I'm contemplating on painting some more of Kei's and Les' stuff (maybe that other Fell Caller and Kaya).

Call To Arms
I got owned by Doclance's epic Deneghra last Saturday. LOL I'm not gonna make any excuses. I got caught. I'll try better next time. I only got to play against two guys last league Saturday. I hope I can get more games in this week ^_^

Mang's Website
Already laid down the foundations for this one. I hope he takes time off to email me his logo though. Can't proceed well without it since it will dictate the general look and feel of everything on the site. He's still hyped with WMH gaming though. Maybe after CTA, hehe.

Alone
My brother, Koi, will be leaving for Australia this evening. As if mom and Babee and Jei leaving wasn't sad enough. I'll be home alone again. Koi's Alone (scary Asian horror) won't help, too. Maybe they'll come back for a visit on Christmas?

Dawn of War
Zero 40K presence these past few days. My Necrons are getting all dusty on the shelves. Crap. Looks like playing the Dawn of War campaign will be my fix for any 40K action.

Shameless Plug
Christmas is just around the corner. And here I am with no side projects. Referrals would be cool, dude. I need the extra cash T_T

Call To Arms

In addition to the current Escalation campaign, I am also participating in the Warmachine/Hordes Call To Arms league.

Escalation (Pod 2)

Throat Cutter
Opponent: Jeff's epic Stryker
Result: Victory for Kommander Sorscha

Within the Dark Soil
Opponent: Fred's Asphyxious
Result: Victory for epic Vlad

Awaiting schedule matchup vs Mang's Protectorate of Menoth


Call To Arms

WEEK ONE

Finished Matches
10.12.2007 - Patrick Palma (W), Mike (L), Joel Tiongson (W)
10.13.2007 - Tiny David (W), Cocoy Reyes (W), Ryan Tamayo(W)
10.15.2007 - Arvin Tan (W)

Scheduled Upcoming Matches
10.17.2007 - Mang, Kei Valentin

Unavailable Matches
Laurence Tan

Awaiting Confirmation
Dick Sy, Fluffy Peña, Obi Parcon, Raymund Tesoro
"Any of you guys available to play at Pitshop this week, I'm available for CTA league games so long as it's after office hours."


Weekly Painting Target: Time to show my Khador that I haven't left them unpainted ~ Greylord Ternion, Kell Bailoch, finishes on epic Vlad and Widowmakers

Weekend Fun Games

Very slow day with very uncomfortable weather. And I still haven't had my laundry done. Was waiting for Fred so we can play our Escalation campaign match, but later in the day he decided to reschedule.

The guys decided to drop by Hobby Haven on the 12th (hopefully they'll still be open by then) for some farewell matches - as sadly, Chicco confirmed that his shop will close by the 15th.

SO since I'm already paid for both the Escalation campaign and the Call To Arms campaign, I just hope my sked would cooperate and let me play.


Here are the results for the games at home (relaxed time limit rules in play):

Game 1
Tiny's Captain E. Dominic Darius victorious over Les' Kaya Wildbourne via victory points in 500 pts Moshpit
- Tiny tries out Darius as warcaster
- Les' big game gamble did not pay off, as he miscalculated distance
- Les' Totem Hunter made its first ever warjack kill (killed one of Darius mini-mine jacks)
- Tiny sees a lot of exploit points in Darius' spells

Game 2
Joel's Warwitch Deneghra victorious over Kei's Grim Angus via forfeit in 500 pts Killing Fields
- Kei tries out Grim Angus as warlock, using a shoot-heavy list
- Kei curses the knockdown effect of Deneghra's Scourge

Game 3
Joel's Warwitch Deneghra victorious over Kim's Hoarluk Doomshaper via forfeit in 500 pts Divide and Conquer
- Kim tries out playing Trollbloods after months of playing just Khador
- Kim clunkered through terrain where Joel took full advantage of his Cryx debuffs

Game 4
Kim's Dark Champion Vlad Tzepesci victorious over Kei's Chief Madrak Ironhide via assassination in 750 pts Divide and Conquer
- Kei surges forward, denying the Khadoran infantry charge
- Kim preps Wind Blast and Blood Legacy on some Doom Reavers and Drakhun FTW!

SIDEBAR: It's nice when your work is recognized. I scanned this off of one of the local journalism publications. Good thing I put my name there on the bottom of the screen LOL. Makes working more enjoyable ^_^

BER Months

What the hell have I been doing all this time?!?

- Angela celebrates her birthday today!
- My sister gave birth to a healthy baby girl! (Mama: Dapat ikaw may baby na rin diba?)
- My folks are here from Australia; my Mom, Koi, Jei and Babee
- GMANews.TV nominated as semifinalist on the 10th Philippine Webby Awards!
- Koi bought me two boxes of the GW Woods. Put together one set for immediate home use. Set aside the other for Arvination.
- Les hoards more Menoth and Circle stuff at home. Very little progress since the folks are at home (dislike spraybomb fumes)
- Small farm partnership biz in Batangas already green light
- Organized backup CDs at work
- Pork gets Mando's LOE assembly done in record speed!
- Lito's RHGC forum closing down soon. Already setup another forum for community use.
- Hobby Haven will also close down soon T_T
- Koi brings home his heavy duty arcade controller for the PS2! Jun! Laro raw kayo ni Kei ng SF Alpha 3! LOL!
- Guitar Hero madness at home! My brothers got into NORMAL mode faster than I did! Babee also on NORMAL now! Don't worry, Kei, your guitar controller isn't broken. Much. LOL~!
- Koi and Jei let me borrow their Cybershot digicam! Woohoo! More pics soon!
- Mang to hold Call to Arms WMH campaign on the 20th! No time limit guys! But you go high up the ladder the more games you play! Coins on the line, too!
- Playing in Mang's Escalation campaign Pod 2! Won my first campaign game a few days ago vs Jeff's Cygnar!
- Raf came and got me some "Japanese entertainment!" Kamote, hindi man lang tayo nagkita, nagninjavanish ka na!
- Got to go to Trinoma for the first time!
- Got to watch Rogue Assassin at Trinoma theaters! It was a stupid experience. Just justified why Pinoys SHOULD by pirated DVDs instead!
- Jun got me some Dawn of War installers! Just installed the first one and playing through the campaign now.
- Connie got to have my Maxim mag signed by Francine Prieto ^_^
- Found the quested Battlechasers and Shanna CBR files on my computer! At long bloody last!
- DVDs watched: Conspiracy, Harry Potter Order of the Phoenix, Eye 10, LSATSB, Ace Ventura, Ace Ventura When Nature Calls
- Doing a lot of progress on the Kingdom of Loathing bounty hunter outfit run (if you call 9 filthy lucre progress); will ascend as soon as I complete the bloody outfit!

Still very sluggish updating the rest of my sections here.

Blogging Hiatus

No updates. Still fiddling around with that PHP for the ranking. Enjoying painting and modeling more than playing. Got to play Hard-level songs in Guitar Hero. My cavy's are both dead.

Live chat with Francine Prieto and Maureen Larrazabal tomorrow. It's Francine so there.

Be back whenever.

RIP Mark "JC" Lim

Yeah, we'll see you when we cross the fold, too, dude. You'll be very much remembered.

The best memories I have with this guy is his non-sugar-coated sharp-witted snaps. Everyone knows his own flavor of articulate remarks.

I've only played against him twice in the sporadic moments that he does play. It was both in 40K, his Grey Knights against my Necrons. Yeh I got owned both times LOL. Looks like our rematch will be later on, my friend.

The Game

The WARMACHINE/HORDES (WMH) momentum has picked up in the past few months here in the Philippines. I am indeed glad and proud to be one of the pioneers of the game in this country, but as with any gaming community that's growing, disagreements of varying degrees appear. As if fighting make-believe battles weren't enough. Luckily, said disagreements are very minor.

As I've observed, there are players who prefer laid-back casual gaming, and there are those who prefer tournament-style competitive gaming. The "disagreement" occurs when tourney players insist that the more casual gamers follow the tourney standard; or when casual players drag out the time during their turns in a game (something that tourney players value). Some players stay away from the stressful timed turns in tourney gaming. Some players dislike the scenarios laid out in the rulebooks or the official Steamroller format. Some dislike playing against opponents with unpainted models. But all of these are familiar issues from any miniature wargame.

Don't get me wrong. The said disagreements are not full-blown fights. Some players just do not play against other certain players because of contradicting standards. But for me who can play casual or competitive, that is something I really have a concern for.

Time Limits

Officially printed in WARMACHINE Prime Remix, it says there that 500-point games have a 1-hour time limit (an hour and a half for 750 games, goes for both WARMACHINE and HORDES). In Mang's current tourney setting, 500-point games dictate a 7-minute limit per player turn. In more casual settings, some games last for three hours even for just 500 points in playing an assassination run or objective win.

I do know some players who refuse to play tournaments even before the 7-minute/turn concept. I do know some players who take at least a minimum of 15 minutes even before activating his first model.

In tournament formats, players can always choose to join a tourney or not. But in a casual format, crossing the boundary between standards can be tricky. A player who trained himself to complete everything his army can dish out in 7 minutes will have his patience stretched if he's fighting a casual player. Alternately, a casual player will have fits if a tourney player is prodding him unceasingly to hurry up and finish in just a few minutes.

My suggested solution for casual games: Mutually agree with your opponent whether or not you are playing with time limits before bringing out your models. If your opponent doesn't agree with your suggested time limit, make some sort of compromise. If in total disagreement, just go look for another opponent and respect your opponent's choice.

When playing at my place: I will have a sports timer there so I strongly suggest (if not enforce) an additional 30 minutes over the time limit in the book (1 hour 30 mins for 500-point games, 2 hours for 750-point games).

Additionally, a player should limit his turn to a maximum of 15 minutes. If models are not activated during the end of the time limit, they are considered to have activated but have done nothing (no movement, no action). If a player is resolving a model or unit's activation at the time the limit is called, he should resolve the model/unit's activation and end his turn immediately afterwards.

These resolutions for time limits are the most fair I can come up with for casual gaming.

My suggested solution for tournament gaming:As for tournament gaming, organizers will always have final say in how they run tourneys.

I do suggest a timer for each table, but that would be costly to the organizer. Proactive minutes for players would be more fair, i.e. if it only took you 2 minutes to finish your first turn, your second turn should have 12 minutes, and so on. Maybe later on we can have something like this.

Scenarios/Missions

As many of us have our roots in miniature wargaming from Games Workshop's Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000, it is normal to compare both. There has been significant difficulty by some players in adapting a chosen WARMACHINE or HORDES faction to fight (much less win) in certain scenarios as laid out in official Steamroller scenarios.

In casual gaming, this is alright since most just dust off and fight another day (sometimes another game right afterwards). But in tourneys, it bears a lot of weight since there's money involved. And to some, dropping P250 is easy, but others' pockets aren't as deep.

Some stick to Steamroller scenarios strictly, and frown on custom scenarios. I would understand, as I assume SR scenarios have been playtested and approved to be as balanced as can be by the makers of the game itself. But does it mean playing custom scenarios aren't worth it? I disagree. I do agree with Mang testing out various scenarios during his tournaments. It may be a pocket risk to some, but then again, no one is being forced to join any tourney anyway. Others frown on the official Steamroller scenarios (most notably Killing Fields) for many, many reasons.

My suggested solution for casual games: Same as with time limits, mutually agree with your opponent as to what scenario you'll play. They may be from official tourney scenarios or custom scenarios, or even tweaked tourney scenarios. Just try to have fun while trying your best to win.

We're all used to making a come-on-all-takers list with WFB or 40K, and doing such is a bit more difficult in WMH. In the book, players do should decide what scenario to play first before making a list. It may mean that you'll be carrying a cabinet-load of your minis wherever you go if you're that intent on making such a broad spectrum list though.

When playing at my place: I will have a copy of the rulebooks at home, plus the latest Steamroller tourneys, plus I had the Summer Rampage scenarios bound. I also have No Quarter magazines with special scenarios in them. There will be very little in the way of a lack of scenarios at home.

However, I do suggest playing Summer Rampage scenarios. IMHO they are more balanced.

My suggested solution for tournament gaming:As for tournament gaming, organizers will always have final say in how they run tourneys. Yeah they do.

Tournament Scene

Some think tourneys are the end-all of the game. But since we all live in an imperfect world, there can never be a perfect tournament. Some will complain of venue. Some will complain about entrance fee. Some will complain about time limit usage (or lack thereof). Some will complain about scenarios or special rules. And being in the Philippines where complaining has been raised to the level as art, it's worse.

The game may continue to stick around even without tournaments, but it is the tournaments that spice it up.

To organizers, I suggest switching between formats and attract the different mentalities of players. Mang is already doing this one, considering timed tourneys and casual campaigns. Other people can readily setup their own tourneys with their own standards. I'm sure you won't find it difficult to attract participants since we all wanna help each other out anyway.

To players, I suggest to play tourneys, even the ones you dislike. You may learn a few tricks here and there, plus you break the monotony of your usual casual gaming. AND you may teach yourself to adapt to the community's current tourney scene.

Parting Shots

I guess what I'm trying to say here is that as players of such a small community, we should all practice common courtesy. You cannot have your way all the time, but bottom line of the game is for all players to have fun.

Nobody wants to play with an asshole, and with such a low number of players in the community, a rep of being an asshole spreads quite fast. Sayang naman ang ininvest mo sa pagbili ng miniatures, diba?

Peace ^_^

For the Motherland: Battles

Dark Prince Vladimir Tzepesci wins over Baldur the Stonecleaver (Obi) via forfeit
500 Pendulum, 9/15/2007 Kim's place

The Butcher of Khardov loses to Warwitch Deneghra (Joel) via forfeit
500 Crossed Lines, 9/15/2007 Kim's place

Forward Kommander Sorscha Kratikoff wins over Grand Exemplar Mikael Kreoss (Les)
750 No Man's Land, 9/15/2007 Kim's place

Dark Champion Vladimir Tzepesci wins over Lord Commander Coleman Stryker (Ryan) via assassination
750 No Man's Land, 9/14/2007 Hobby Haven

Karchev the Terrible wins over Chief Madrak Ironhide (Kei) via assassination
500 No Man's Land, 9/14/2007 Hobby Haven

Kommander Sorscha loses to Thagrosh, Prophet of Everblight (Mang) via assassination
500 Invasion, 9/8/2007 Pitshop Tournament

Kommander Sorscha wins over Iron Lich Asphyxious (Fred) via objective
500 Invasion, 9/8/2007 Pitshop Tournament

Kommander Sorscha wins over Baldur Stonecleaver (Chris) via objective
500 Invasion, 9/8/2007 Pitshop Tournament

Kommandant Irusk wins over Rhyas, Sigil of Everblight (Mike) via assassination
500 Pendulum (old), 9/8/2007 Pitshop Tournament

Old Witch of Khador wins over Kaya Wildbourne (Les) via victory points
500 Invasion, 9/1/2007 Kim's place

Kommandant Irusk (Heavy Winterguard) wins over Chief Madrak Ironhide (Kei) via forfeit
500 Divide and Conquer, 9/1/2007 Kim's place

Butcher of Khardov draws to Baldur Stonecleaver (Chris)
Undetermined scenario, 8/27/2007 Pitshop Tournament

Butcher of Khardov loses to Pirate Queen Skarre (Doclance)
Undetermined scenario, 8/27/2007 Pitshop Tournament

Butcher of Khardov wins over Chief Madrak Ironhide (Kei)
Undetermined scenario, 8/27/2007 Pitshop Tournament

Butcher of Khardov wins over Lord Tyrant Hexeris (Patrick)
Undetermined scenario, 8/27/2007 Pitshop Tournament

Kommandant Irusk wins over Commander Stryker (Ryan) via objective
500 Twister, 8/20/2007 Kim's place

Kommandant Irusk (Iron Rain) loses to Chief Madrak Ironhide (Kei) via forfeit
500 No Man's Land, 8/20/2007 Kim's place

Butcher of Khardov wins over Kaya Wildbourne (Les)
Undetermined scenario, 8/19/2007 Kim's place

Butcher of Khardov wins over Kaya Wildbourne (Les)
Undetermined scenario, 8/19/2007 Kim's place

Kommander Sorscha wins over Lord Tyrant Hexeris (Patrick) via assassination
500 Moshpit, 8/17/2007 Hobby Haven

Kommander Sorscha wins over Chief Madrak Ironhide (Clemence) via assassination
500 Invasion, 8/17/2007 Hobby Haven

Kommander Sorscha wins over Lich Lord Terminus (Emp) via objective
500 Killing Fields, 8/17/2007 Hobby Haven

Butcher of Khardov wins over Archdomina Makeda (Chris) via objective
500 Pendulum, 8/17/2007 Hobby Haven

Kommander Sorscha wins over Commander Adept Nemo (Ryan) via objective
500 Invasion, 8/11/2007 Hobby Haven

Kommander Sorscha wins over Iron Lich Asphyxious (Fred) via assassination
500 Invasion, 8/11/2007 Hobby Haven

Old Witch of Khador wins over High Exemplar Kreoss (Les) via assassination
500 No Man's Land, 8/4/2007 Kim's place

Kommandant Irusk wins over Chief Madrak Ironhide (Kei)
500 Killing Fields, 6/30/2007 Kim's place

Kommandant Irusk wins over Rhyas, Sigil of Everblight (Mando) via victory points
500 Invasion, 6/23/2007 Kim's place

Kommandant Irusk wins over Hoarluk Doomshaper (Kei) via forfeit
500 Mosh Pit, 6/23/2007 Kim's place

Record of Llael War

Trollbloods on the rampage! Chief Madrak Ironhide has been leading crushing attacks against the west fronts of the Circle Orboros and Protectorate of Menoth!

Splinter Cryxian forces reported clashing against each other! Iron Lich Asphyxious, Lich Lord Terminus notably vying for assault rights on the weakened Llaelese states!

Khador still recuperating from the failed assault on Rhydden! Kommandant Irusk amassing large contingent of Khadoran military poised to retaliate southern Menite holds!

Cygnaran military recuperating from various skirmishes on its border! Reinforcements reported on its way! Heavy warjack production increased in Cygnar!

+++ So far, here's how the map looks like after all the games we had at home since the 20th of August. New participants are considered raiding forces and will have their presence felt as soon as they get their best-of-three win against anyone of us.

WIP 090705

Got some work in on models at home.

The Fell Caller got some OSL plus toned Trollblood skinwork. He'll be needing some grass flock and varnish to finish him off. Kei needs to transport this better though.

Barby helped with a lot of the reds on the Iron Fang Pikemen. My first squad will be dunked in brake fluid to remove the stupid thick paint I tested on them. This one will be finished real soon. I'm still thinking how to personalize each IFP model though. Maybe add some battle trophies and rank markings or something.

The Winterguard will also be done soon, too. But that stupid standard bearer is giving me a lot of problems. The pole itself is soft metal. So it was only a matter of time before the heavy metal flag broke itself free from the pole. I'll be prepping it up with brass rod and just green stuff a new right hand on the damn thing.

Take It Easy, `Foo!

Now that I've got a chance to have a breather, I can finally get to update my blog. Several things happened already and I hope I can remember those:

WMH Tourney at Pitshop

Congratulations to Doclance for winning the recent tourney at Pitshop/Petstop. The feat charge of Bane Knights were mind-numbing! I will make no excuses, it was a good loss for me.

Me and Kei will get a free bottle of P3 paint, I think, for joining, so it's nice! Plus I get a P500 blister of something. Right now, I just don't know what. Maybe a Manhuntress.

Domestic Tragedy

I lost a cousin the past week. His name's Jonnel. We're not that close. Not close that the most conversation we ever had was a casual nod of greeting. I dunno. Maybe I'm afraid we couldn't have some common ground of interest. But it's all late for that. He passed away at Ate Aileen's birthday bash at a beach somewhere in Iba. Something dumb happened in the water and he didn't make it. We received news about it in the evening that he was missing and the family was afraid that he drowned. Me not knowing all facts assumed a lot (maybe he ran away, or maybe he got kidnapped). But sad thing is, he did drown. He was buried yesterday and in the midst of all the crying relatives, my twisted perspective just wished him good journey because, after all, he is free of any tribulations in this mortal world.



The Smell Of Metal

Tremendous WMH momentum at home. Now I have to paint and assemble a lot more stuff in addition to my Khador LOL. S'all good, gives me a chance to paint and play other factions that are parked at home. The list includes a growing stack Menoth and Circle models, the Trollbloods, and a Legion of Everblight starter. Walang magrereklamo kung matagal matapos ha? LOL!

More on the Hobby

I'm now finalizing the map I'll be using to track wins on the games played at home, kinda like a minicampaign (Bond rules stand of course).

Got to play using my Irusk Heavy Winterguard and Old Witch AD lists.

I played the Heavy Winterguard against Kei's Trollbloods in a No Man's Land scenario. I still have trouble with timing between Grigorovich and the Winterguard as I'd like the to have charged something. I ended up using CRA a lot with them, as Kei propped his Champions in front of the Winterguard unit. I would have preferred to see them if they can down one of his warbeasts though. In the end, I managed to remove his Fell Caller and Axer, both of which mess up Irusk's Inhospitable Ground. The turning point of the game was when my Widowmakers made the CMD check at 6. Kei would have won if they didn't. Quantum mechanics for you LOL!



I played the Old Witch AD list against Les' Circle in Invasion. It was insane! He made a block advance of his full Wolves and Druids on one flank, backed by a Totem Hunter. I propped my Snipingdeath squad on top of a hill and started sniping off his unit leaders, successfully routing the Druids. Running my Scrapjack and the Witch into position, I routed the Wolves with Murder of Crows and activated Field of Talons. Both units were forced to run on their Maintenance Phase, Field of Talons stabbing all fleeing models with POW14! Two squads vanish in fine red mist! It was wonderous LOL! I know THAT will never happen again. I'm just happy that I DID get to do it ^_^ And for a final move, Gorman dropped a Smoke over Zevanna; Zevanna teleported via Unseen Path from Gorman's smoke into an upkept Murder of Crows; measured control area; seeing opponent Invasion point is within her run range, Old Witch huffed it FTW!

I also taught Barby how to play. Not just some passing this and that. She wanted to learn the specifics so I did teach her. I just hope she doesn't get too much info overload. She already played two 350 starter box games before, but just surface basics. We'll be making a Menoth list, but she said not to buy models first. So we'll either proxy up stuff plus I'll just custom-build some models for her. I doubt she'll be playing any tourns any time soon anyway.

My plan to make more terrain at home failed. I ended up painting more instead. Since the Bokur is already finished, I want to finish the Pikemen squad. We'll see. I hope Koi buys me those Warhammer trees ^_^

Geek

- Warmachine Philippines is now two years old!
- Summer Rampage already finished
- Assembled Epic Vlad, painting around 65%
- Dungeons & Dragons 4th edition? WTF?!? Bloody good thing I haven't bought those expensive core books yet
- Assembled Lesther's Save Points (Orboros Stones)
- Assembled Lesther's Wolves of Orboros
- Repainted my Widowmakers, around 80%
- Too much work at the office, no nice layout

WARMACHINE/HORDES Gaming

Hobby Haven 8/17/07
- Kim's Butcher x Chris' Makeda, 500pts SR3 Pendulum via Objective Chris was trying out Patrick's Skorne; 2nd turn win for me
- Kei's Madrak x Chris' Morghoul, 500pts SR3 No Man's Land via Assassination
- Kim's Sorscha x Emp's Terminus, 500pts SR3 Killing Fields via Objective Emp got to feel some Whoosh lovin' on my 2nd turn
- Ryan's Nemo x Nick's Rhyas, 500pts SR3 Assassination via Assassination
- Clemence's Madrak x Chris' Morghoul, 500pts SR3 Killing Fields via Assassination
- Emp's Terminus x Arvin's Butcher, 500pts SR3 No Man's Land via Assassination
- Pork's Ashlynn x Ryan's Nemo, 500pts SR3 Invasion via Concede
- Clemence's Madrak x Fred's Asphyxious, 500pts SR3 Assassination via Assassination
- Arvin's Butcher x Chris' Kruger, 500pts SR3 Pendulum via Assassination
- Kim's Sorscha x Clemence's Madrak, 500pts SR3 Invasion via Assassination Another 2nd turn win; Clemence feels the Whoosh; Snipe Death major contribution
- Fred's Asphyxious x Kei's Madrak, 500pts SR3 Killing Fields via Assassination
- Clarence's Madrak x Emp's Terminus, 500pts SR3 Killing Fields via Assassination
- Patrick's Hexeris x Pork's Ashlynn, 500pts SR3 Invasion via Assassination
- Kim's Sorscha x Patrick's Hexeris, 500pts SR3 Moshpit via Assassination No 2nd turn victory here; had to chop down all his beasts so that he can't transfer damage to them
- Kei's Madrak x Ryan's Nemo, 500pts SR3 No Man's Land via Objective



Kim's 8/20/07
- Kei's Madrak x Kim's Irusk (Iron Rain), 500pts SR3 No Man's Land via Concede My ace game did not pay off; Curse be to Madrak's magical tissue paper of doom!
- Lesther's Kaya x Ryan's Stryker, 500pts SR3 Killing Fields via Objective
- Kim's Irusk x Ryan's Stryker, 500pts SR `07 Twister via Objective Hard fought gamble with the twister right in front of my force; tied up Ryan with Superiority Kodiak and Inhospitable Ground
- Kei's Madrak x Ryan's Stryker, 500pts SR `07 Floodlands via Objective
- Lesther's Kaya x Kei's Madrak, 500pts SR `07 Dust Bowl via Victory Points

My Dice Tower

Thanks to Raymund Tesoro for the information on dice towers. I got surfing yesterday, hoping to buy that Chessex dice bowl/tray. I wanted to play without having dice scattered all over the battlefield. Plus, this thing prevents, ehem "engineered luck", too ^_^

What materials I used:
• Some thick plasticard (it's called high impact plastic locally; like in Joli's)
• Some thicker rubber foam (the ones I had left for making costumes for the old NMI Christmas parties)
• Loctite superglue
• Utility cutter
• Scriber (Got this from Quiapo during one of the Boyz' supply runs)
• Metal rulers (I have three at home, various lengths)
• Thick scotch tape
• Felt paper
• Yellow glue (Wood glue, dries faster and stronger)

There are a lot of plans for dice towers online, so just go surf for them. I was unlucky I did not have access to the office printer so I just winged it with this one.

BE VERY CAREFUL when cutting and scribing the plasticard. I had a lot of close calls last night.

Superglue will bond the plasticard pieces very well. Greco should be have a stronger bond, but harder prep time. I hope I had some Gel version of the Loctite glue I had. Ah well...

I padded the tray dice contact bottom with green felt paper because it was the only color I had at home. I would have preferred red of course (LOL). Then I sliced up some rubber foam and padded the bottom of the tray, as well as the inside walls of the tray.

The tower itself was just all superglue and tape. Hence the Orky look. But it works BWAHAHAH! I'll be taping on whatever stuff on it. Spraypainting would have been better, but I should have done that before gluing on the felt and rubber foam.

Well, it's in two parts, so it should be easy to carry around. No more scattered dice for me hehe ^_^

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My blog's officially two years old now! Yey! That's a feat for me LOL! As always, gifts are always welcome ^_^

Small Place, Big Crowd

Attendance: Kim, Barby, Pork, Emp, Fred, Kei, Les, Ryan (special participation of Kim's Cavy pets - Buddha and Elizabeth)
Grub: Some chips, some Coke, some Nestea
Games played: WARMACHINE/HORDES, Guitar Hero, Bang!
Stuff on DVD: Afro Samurai, Highlander anime, Ranma Nihao My Concubine

Invite list got a bit bigger, with a great turnout, despite the sunny weather. Seeing as the guys who came were on the bottom rungs of the Summer Rampage campaign, we all celebrated Doclance's complete victory by just hanging out and enjoying pickup games and some Guitar Hero, LOL ^_^

Bang! brought out later in the afternoon (should have brought it out earlier LOL). Emp and Les rock on Guitar Hero! Pork and Fred raid Kim's FHM collection!

Game 1 750pt Invasion: Kim's Kommander Sorscha victorious over Fred's Iron Lich Asphyxious via assassination
Game 2 500pt Divide and Conquer: Emp's Lich Lord Terminus victorious over Kei's Chief Madrak Ironhide via victory points
Game 3 500pt Mosh Pit: Lesther's High Exemplar Kreoss victorious over Pork's Ashlynn D'Elysse via victory points
Game 4 500pt Invasion: Kim's Kommander Sorscha victorious over Ryan's Commander Adept Nemo via objective
Game 5 500pt No Man's Land: Emp's Lich Lord Terminus victorious over Ryan's Commander Adept Nemo via victory points
Game 6 500pt No Man's Land: Kei's Chief Madrak Ironhide victorious over Lesther's High Exemplar Kreoss via objective

Quotable quotes:

"Grabe. Malas talaga itong mesa ni Kim." - Kei, after rolling badly. Many times.

"Hindi itong mesa ang malas. Kahit nung sa isang tourney noon minalas ako. Basta merong black cloth, malas lagi rolls ko!" - Emp, after rolling badly also.

*loud insane maniacal laughter* - Pork, upon getting Indians and Gatling Gun at the same draw on Bang!

"Uy Bang! Concede na ako!" - Emp, while playing WARMACHINE with Ryan


Bang! Game 1: Sheriff (Kei) and concealed Deputy (Kim) win! Renegade (Fred) blown up by Dynamite! Outlaws (Pork and Les) Banged by Deputy sniping (hehe that big gun)

Bang! Game 2: Outlaws win as Sheriff (Kei again) blows himself up with Dynamite! Shortest BANG! game ever, LOL!













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LIFE AND TIMES OF A PHILIPPINE GAMER
This blog is all about games in the Philippines… board games, card games, tabletop roleplaying games and even the occasional PC or console video game. So many games, so little time. Click here.




ODIE'S ATOMIC DUSTBIN
From this day forward, this space will be Odie's laboratory in her attempts to develop the skills of a web developer. Recurring bugs or strange occurrences should be ignored and will be dealt with as soon as she finds her bearings and figures out what to do. Everything here is strictly experimental. Click here.