Reawakening the Fleet

Ascorbic Acid

It's Sunday and the whole building was a buzzing hubbub of showbiz glitz and glamor. SOP here goes live, and it's a veritable carnival every week (well, as long as it's being shot here).

There was a line of people at the studio entrance earlier. Some were pushing, some were shoving, just so they could get in line to be in the show. Some braved to stand in line under the infernal sun, something I definitely will never EVER do (even for bands or celebrities I like). I haven't really watched it but I do know that studio audience members don't get as many prizes as they do in Eat Bulaga (if ever they do give away prizes at SOP at all ~ yeah yeah I'm a bad employee I don't even know those details). And yeah, as always the envious looks when I string up my ID and waltz in unhindered.

GMA stars were everywhere earlier. Some came in their expensive cars. Others were already on stage. Some were all waves and smiles to fans who called their names. It's weird, I don't even know what occassion today is (meron ba?). They (the stars) were all garbed in presumably expensive gear, bling all around and scents in the air which I'm sure is as costly.

To some, such would be envious indeed.

So as I was weaving my way through the maze of stars, dress tents, fans, stage hands and studio equipment, I was wondering what was the counterweight to all the fame and fortune. Well, sleep-deprivation for one. Then you have to memorize all those scripts and dance steps. Then you have to "look good" to everyone around you. I just shrugged off the notion.

I'd rather my foul-mouthed, independent, don't-give-a-shit, don't-ever-judge-me self. Besides, I won't be able to paint and play as I'd like. I'm so glad God invented blissful ignorance. And ascorbic acid.

Any naysayer out there can just kiss my big, fat ass.

Blood of Trolls

In any other time this week, I did nothing but assemble and paint my Trollblood models - Hoarluk, the light warbeasts I got from Romy, and the Mauler. They're just a few points short of 400, but I wanted to play on the 500-point weekend games, so I proxied my five MOWDC as Trollblood Champions. As always, I gave my ace game, and the results were excellent.

My 500-point Trollbloods consisted of Hoarluk Doomshaper as my warlock, two Impalers, an Axer, a DTM (Dire Troll Mauler) and a unit of Trollblood Champions.

Trollbloods Hoarluk Doomshaper vs Cryx Pirate Queen Skarre (Emp at UPCFA)

Emp has been out of the gaming circulation for a while, primarily due to his own marriage preparations. He has played last week, so that should have been good enough to shake the rust out of his system (I'd want my opponent to play his ace game as well). He had very few warjacks, a pair of bonejacks if I can remember correctly. The rest were thralls of various shapes and sizes. He even had the Atramaentous Pirates with him.

There was a point in the game where I engaged a corporeal Pistol Wraith with my DTM. I was boosting attack rolls the whole time but the rolls were mad dumb. I ended up with five fury on my DTM with the Pistol Wraith wearing a snicker on his bony face.

I tried to tie up the Atramanetous Pirates on my left flank by having my Axer rush towards them. He did manage to kill only one, but since I didn't get to kill the Quartermaster, it just stood up the following turn. They broke from the melee, setting the Axer up for a charge from Bane Thralls. And the Banes did charge but as the axe swings stopped, the Axer still stood. And with a nifty Thresher, the warbeast obliterated all five Banes around him in one fell swoop literally.

When we were close to grips at the center of the table, Skarre got six extra Focus via Sacrificial Lamb. Hoarluk's response to that was tagging her with Dhunia's Rage and forcing her to forfeit her movement or action via a Far-Struck Accursed. With all avenues closed and my following turn spelling an assassination setup, Emp promptly threw in the towel.

Result: Hoarluk Doomshaper victorious.

Trollbloods Hoarluk Doomshaper vs Four Star Syndicate Magnus the Traitor(Jake at UPCFA)

Jake has been doing pretty good with himself. As I fought him, he was the top WMPH player at the current ranking. He may have been playing handicapped though, as he forgot to bring his heavy warjacks (Jake's used to playing a lot of heavy warjacks, as opposed to the current local infantry-heavy trend).

He got to reduce one of my Impalers to critical condition by a Frenzy-ed Renegade. He'll just keep rolling damage so long as he hits its target with Shredder. And needing only 6 to hit with 2d6, it was bad luck he rolled a 4. The Renegade was promptly reduced to scrap afterwards.

With Magnus in line, the Axer got powered up with Rage from my DTM, and Fortune and Rush from Hoarluk Doomshaper. The Traitor was brought down by two mighty swings from the Axer's great axe after trampling over the Renegade's wreckage.

Result: Hoarluk Doomshaper victorious.

Trollbloods Hoarluk Doomshaper vs Highborn Covenant Ashlynn D'Elysse (Pork at Hobby Haven)

After several games, I got the hang of playing with Trollbloods. But Pork brought up a vicious shot from Alten Ashley, grinding down one of my warbeasts' Spirit (forcing me to heal it later). I had to take care of it as fast as I can. An Impaler with Far Strike and Fortune boosting it's attack roll made short work of the monster hunter.

Pork also had an insane amount of infantry with him. My DTM made a Fast Food move, trampling over several Steelheads and snacking at the same time. Too bad it had such a low MAT, and a pair of Halberdiers stuck at the DTM while it was moving away. Eventually, the Highborn mercs brought down the big badass monster.

I tried locking down Ashlynn with Hoarluk's Dhunia's Rage like I did with Skarre. Unfortunately, the Llaelese warcaster proved to be more tenacious than that. Pork responded by calling up Roulette on his turn. I tried caster-kill via a charge from my Trollblood Champions but none of them even scored a single hit (if only that Bokur wasn't too far away). There was absolutely no way I could have hit Ashlynn with anything on that turn.

But as serendipity would have it, I had Hoarluk put Fortune and Far Strike on my remaining Impaler. With the Impaler starting at the back arc of one of my Trollblood Champions, I moved its nice 5 inches and positioned it lined up against Ashlynn. Since hitting my own models wasn't affected by Roulette, boosting the hit gave me 3, 3 and 6 (and needing only 3 to hit, the two 3's gave me the critical slam that I needed)! The Champion slammed onto Ashlynn, knocking her down. The Axer she charged the turn before flashed a toothy grin before pummeling her with autohit boosted damage P+S15 swings.

Result: Hoarluk Doomshaper victorious.

Damned Lethargic

I'm so bloody sleepy today, so I decided to post something to spur me awake. I be sleepy because I don't drink coffee much (though at my age I should), and I got home late from a Weekday Warrior session last night, and I was up until 3am this morning because of too much Coke and I started painting my other Hoarluk (which I'm pretty pleased of the WIP outcome).

It turns out that the Trollbood skin is actually Enchanted Blue plus some Vallejo Slate Grey, but I already bought a Hawk Turquoise from NG Glorietta last night. I hope to get it painted by later tonight.

[WIP] Hoarluk Doomshaper - needs putty work for scrolls on back
[WIP] DTM - Which I'll be assembling while waiting for the greenstuff on Hoarluk to dry

On a lighter note, I did get to see old friends last night - Jigs, Raf and Tads!

Now only if I can wake up enough to get some coffee...

Fred's Iron Lich Asphyxious

Fred (Escalona, one of our more regular photogs) has been consistent with using the Lich for a big percentage of his WM/H gaming. He's won games with it via raining Breath of Corruption or Hellfire, or face up Soulsplitter slaughterfest. And in the months of constant playing, Fred's learned to go aggressive especially with the addition of Tartarus in his forces.

Fred's Asphyxious is tricky. From my point of view, he stays far away and blasts you with channeled spells through a lot of Deathrippers. And with his Consuming Blight, he can outright go for assassination even if you camp on your FOC or have FURY to transfer damage. But at times, he Shadow Wings real close, taking advantage of his fast movement and reach weapon.

In my recent game against him, he dropped the use of his Bane Thralls and Tartarus, and coined in some Nyss Hunters. It was different but I managed to confuse his Nyss with a Superiority Kodiak running towards them. I kinda baited them in charging my Manhunter, so that they'd clump up. Irusk's Airburst took care of that promptly.

My gameplan was survival plus surgical removal. I was trying to position everything for an acceptable survival rate, but at the same time, they should be able to deal out some effective damage also taking out high-threat models before they expire. I've seen Asphyxious wipe out units in one turn so I used Irusk's Undying Loyalty defensively, and added Grigorovich's Bear Strength for good measure. Too bad Fred held back when I expected him to charge in. I would've wanted to roll dice for Tough AND for Undying Loyalty just in case.

And as I used Greylord Ternion again, I had to keep them alive and close by to take care of Fred's Pistol Wraiths that might stray in too close. I also didn't use their Blizzard to block LOS to my units. Maybe he saw it, maybe he didn't, but that was done purposely to get his units closer, in shooting range as much as possible. They were also in Irusk's control area, so they should survive being shot at by Pistol Wraiths if needed be.

His Deathrippers got caught in melee with my MOWDC and Winterguard. Even without their officer attachment, they performed quite admirably. Grigorovich's Bear Strength and Irusk's Undying Loyalty somewhat ensures their survivability enough for them to unload their CRA on some poor critter on the receiving end. CRA is nice as it is. CRA POW 18 is mad awesome!

Fred did concede when his Bokur didn't finish off enough Winterguard as he planned, and his remaining Pistol Wraith being engaged by Widowmakers, bad dice and all.

WOWCCG on WW

Photos by Romy Estrella.

I passed by Fortress for Arvin before heading off to Romy's JAA office. I got to play several WOWCCG games - won 3 against Romy, lost once to him and again to Lito. I may have missed playing minis but it was refreshing playing cards again.

Arvin kindly offered to give me and Obi rides home. Various tox - from politics to miniatures discussion to wandering around the Manila area to where Obi grew up to Imperium nitpick details. Arvin and Obi finally convinced me to go on ahead and build Howling Griffons as there already is an Imperial Fists player that I am not aware of. I need more details on what or what not is good to put on those quartered marines.

+++

Bonus mula sa nakaraang taon:



My sister, Indz, got married last year. Strange enough, I hadn't posted any pics from that until today. Maybe my brothers can send me the stuff on that cam someday LOL!

Old Gamer

All photos by Fred Escalona.

I've been gaming as far as I can remember. I've gone through traditional outdoor games like mataya-taya, taguan and patintero to Rockman and Goonies on the NES. Now, I'm into strats and RPGs on the PS2 and GBA and of course miniature wargaming.

A lot of naysayers have been slamming gaming but I disagree. Gaming has been instrumental into shaping me into what I am now. I still aim to compete but I know how to lose with dignity and win with humility. I still aim to further my skills at the rules and at painting, and by playing against strong players and not scrub on the weak-willed. I still have to save to buy the stuff I play with, too.

But one of the more important lessons I've learned is the acceptance of change.

Before I've always been adamant at any present "good" status. I've always abhored having to change stuff that I'm used to. But like with everything else, everything changes and we all have to accept that. I've met and lost playmates over the years. Some have stayed as good friends, others may have harbored anger towards me, but they're all good experiences for me.

The old computer games have evolved at an extremely rapid pace. Game And Watch turned to arcade boxes at malls to home consoles like the NES to even more powerful consoles like the XBOX and PS2 we have now. Monochrome LCD displays have now evolved into rich-textured 3d graphics. The old A and B buttons have become wireless Wii controllers. What's next I ask?

Before I have been discouraged countless times for the rules changes rampant in Warhammer Fantasy and Warhammer 40K. But looking back, it was only that was because I didn't want to be screwed over on tourns. Of course, no one wants to lose over some obscure technicality after paying a PhP500 entrance fee.

But now, since everything does indeed change, I adapted to the change as well. I now no longer concentrate on winning any local tourns. I've had my fair share of victories. I don't think I need to prove anything to anyone anymore. I'm now a recognized member of the miniature wargaming community and still continue to do so, actively promoting and playing WARMACHINE/HORDES, Warhammer Fantasy and Warhammer 40K. Heck, if I had the means I'd go play Confrontation and Starship Troopers, too.

It's been almost seven years since I delved into the miniature hobby. It may have taken that long but now is a good time as any. I'm now enjoying the stress-free environment of casual gaming. I get my fix and don't have to drop PhP500 to do so.

And yeah, I may be a geek but I won't hesitate to kick your ass - gamewise or throwdown wise.

So shut up, pass me my Coke and finish your turn already!

Past Midnight

Welcome to the blogging world, Ronald! For those who wanna know, Ronald's one of the more active players in the local miniature wargaming scene. He's had his hand at Warhammer Fantasy (Dark Elves, Vampire Counts, Lizardmen, Ogre Kingdoms) and Warhammer 40K (Space Wolves), and now with HORDES (Skorne)!

Check out his blog here.