Spiel 2014

The Spiel 2014 convention is done again. This year I went there together with Bettina, Andi and Krüger.



Always so much to discover on the Spiel convention...



Under the sign of our upcoming Ancient Imagi-Nation project I visited the Warlord Games booth to buy one of their excellent Celt Warriors boxed sets and a can Army Painter Quick Shade. Now I've got everything that I need to start a small Celtic army. As a stand-alone army or perhaps as allies for greater Carthaginian, Roman or Greek army?



Having a nice conversation with the Warlord Games staff.

Later I went to the Prodos Games booth and discovered a prototype of their upcoming Aliens vs. Predator boardgame. The announcement of this game was actually the reason why I stopped my own Aliens vs. Predator project. I wanted to wait for the new miniatures. And what I saw looked very promising. The Prodos Games miniatures are superb and the gaming material of the boardgame also looked very good. Hopefully the rules will have the same quality.



Aliens vs. Predator: The Hunt Begins looks very promising.

I was very happy to get the new Tactics and Strategy Guide for Memoir'44, one of my all-time favourite boardgames. It only took two days to read the more than 500 pages of this excellent written book. I can highly recommend it. If you are interested in Memoir'44 or other Command & Colors games don't hesitate to get a copy.



Shopping victims?

Bettina took many pictures. Andi and Krüger couldn't resist to buy a big plastic bag full of cheap boardgames each. And I got everything I was looking for. At the end everybody was happy. See you again on next years' Spiel in Essen.



Carrying heavy on our way back home.

Holidays on Crete 2014

We spend this year's summer holiday on Crete. Two wonderful weeks on this wonderful mediterranean island.



Sid enjoys some Frapees on a Cretan beach.

We enjoyed the sun, the nature, the island's culture and history as well as great food. I gathered plenty good ideas for our Ancient Imagi-Nation campaign. And Bettina took many beautiful fotos that I can use on my blog.



An ancient Venetian lighthouse guards the harbour of Chania.

For the hobby I bought some tourist souvenirs: resin buildings of ancient sites. They suit very well for 15mm historical and fanatasy gaming.



Some souvenirs to use for 15mm gaming.

HOTT Battle Report: Goblins vs. Wood Elves

Our third game took place on Sunday morning. This time we played Hordes of the Things with my Goblins versus Karl's Wood Elves.



Taking pictures of the arrayed Goblin and Wood Elf armies.

Karl played with a Hero General, a Behemoth, a giant eagle acting as a Flyer, 4 Spears and 3 Shooters. I played with 4 Warbands (one of them containing my General), 2 Riders, 2 Beasts, a Hero and a Behemoth. My army was attacking and started on a table edge with two woods. Karl's army started on a table edge with one wood and his Stronghold. In the center of the battlefield a huge ancient temple blocked movement and sight. I placed my Warbands and Beasts on my right flank vis-à-vis to Karl's Spears and his Behemoth. My Riders, Hero and Behemoth were placed on my left flank confronting Karl's Shooters, his Flyer and his Hero General.



The Goblins face the Elves in the shadow of an ancient temple ruin.

Karl's army moved forward in a line. I made a swooping advance with my left flank trying to destroy his Shooters with my mounted troops. But due to good movement and the approriate dice results Karl was able to kill enough of my troops on this side to gain superior numbers. I didn't have enough PIPs to attack with my Warbands on the other side. When the Wood Elves' stag riding Hero General slew my Red Giant Behemoth half of my army was destroyed and Karl had won the day.



Heavy fighting on the Goblin's left stops their breakthrough attempts.

40K Battle Report: Tau vs. Plague Marines

On Saturday we played this weekend's second game. Karl asked me to bring my 40k Tau Empire army to Berlin. So I did. We played a 1000 points battle using the 5th Edition rulebook pimped up by some rules from  6th Edition. We battled with a diagonal army setup and struggled for two factories - one in each setup area.



Last preparations before the game starts and including terrain setup.

Karl fielded two strong units of Plague Marines, one with Melters and led by a Chaos General in a Rhino, the other with Plasma Guns defending his objective. A unit of three Obliterators was held in reserve. I fielded a unit of 12 Fire Warrios, 11 Kroot, two Hammerhead tanks and two Piranha Skimmers. A small unit of 3 Stealth Suits and two Commanders in Crisis Suits were ready to jump on the table during the course of battle.



The Plague Marines defending their warped factory.

It was a balanced game that ended in a draw because both of us were able to hold our objective. First I blew up Karl's Rhino making his attack unit much less mobile. Then Karl put a lot of pressure on me when he made a deep strike with his Obliterators near my objective. It took three rounds to wipe them off. This was a close job because Karl killed all my Kroot and nearly wiped out my Fire Warriors. In the end I tried to put the pressure on him when I attacked his Objective with everything I had left. But in the end his Plague Marines proved to be too hard. I wasn't able to contest his objective. So the game ended 1:1.

 

Tau's side of the battlefield with some Kroot holding their objective.

WHF Battle Report: Orcs & Goblins vs. Wood Elves

Last weekend I visited my cousin Karl in Berlin for a long gaming weekend. We managed to play three games using three different systems: Warhamnmer Fantasy Battle, Warhammer 40.000 and Hordes of the Things. It started on Friday evening with a 1500 points WHF battle. It was the first time I fielded my newly painted Goblins.



Orcs and Goblins battle Wood Elves in a tropical jungle.

I faced Karl's Wood Elves together with Krüger who played his Orcs. Karl's army comprised of a big unit of spearmen led by a hero, two units of Dryads, a small unit of archers, a Treeman, a hero on a stag and a wizard. Krüger brought a big mob of Orcs led by our commander, a unit of Boar Riders and 4 Trolls. I fielded a unit of 20 Night Goblins with spears and 2 Fanatics led by a hero, a unit of 20 Night Goblins with bows and 2 Fanatics led by a shaman, a unit of 10 Spider Riders and the Red Giant.



Karl takes some pictures before the game starts.

Karl's Elves were well hidden in a line of trees. So we decided to attack. In the second round the Spider Riders reached the Wood Elf archers and overrun them. Then our Giant, the Trolls and the Ory warriors clashed into the enemy line. While the Elf spermen defeated the Trolls, the Red Giant slew Karl's mighty Treeman. On our left flank a unit of Dryads routed the Night Goblin archers. On our right flank the other unit of Dryads was destroyed by two Fanatics. The battle was finally decided when the Elven spearmen fell to the Orc warriors in the center of our battle line. In the beginning of the fourth round the greenskins had beaten the pointed-ears.



Krüger talks about rule issues.

I'am very happy with the way the Goblins performed on the battlefield and especially with the look of them. The Spider Riders, the Giant and the Fanatics did a good job (though the whole Goblin army benefitted from the higher Morale Value of the Orcish commander). And the newly painted Goblins looked great on the gaming table. I think it was a good idea to use my actual painting technique mainly using washes on a white priming.



Just Finished Painting: Night Goblin Bosses, Shamans, Fanatics and Spiders

Another bunch of miniatures are ready: two Night Goblin Bosses, two Night Goblin Shamans, four Night Goblin Fanatics and sixteen spiders. With the Goblin characters and Fanatics my Night Goblin regiments are finally ready for gaming.



Bosses and Shamans for the Night Goblin regiments.

Four vintage plastic Fanatics.

The spiders are taken from the old Warhammer Quest game. My plan is to either use them as stand-ins for the goblins or as stand-ins for a unit of Squigs. I could also write some rules for them. They are also painted with nothing else but inks. But this time I only used the new Citadel Shades instead of the old Citadel Washes.


Sixteen spiders from Warhammer Quest on 20mm bases.

They can be used as stand-ins for goblins or Squigs.

Just Finished Painting: Night Goblin Archers and Giant

I just finished my second unit of Night Goblins. It's a regiment of 20 Night Goblin Archers. They are accompanied by a huge fellow who they call "Mate from the Bogs". This miniature is a prepainted Bog Elemental from the World of Warcraft Miniatures Game. I rebased it to a Warhammer Fantasy Monster base, used some Green Stuff to hide the original plastic base and painted over the model with different green and brown Citadel Washes and Shades.

Another regiment of Night Goblins.

This time it's an archer regiment.

They are accompanied by a green giant called "Mate from the Bogs".

WHF Battle Report: The Empire vs. Ogre Kingdoms

Today I met Tobi for a game of Warhammer Fantasy. I didn't play WHF for a while so we decided to go for 1200 points. We played The Empire vs. Ogre Kingdoms on a small 4' by 4' table. It was the first time ever that I played against an Ogre Kingdoms' army.


The Empire army faces an Ogre Kingdoms' horde in our dining room.



I fielded my Empire army comprising of a level 4 Bright Wizard, a Captain leading 24 Halberdiers, a Priest of Sigmar leading 15 Greatswords, 10 Handgunners, a Great Cannon and a Steam Tank. Tobi fielded his Ogre Kingdoms' army comprising of a level 3 Butcher and a Bruiser with Battle Standard leading 7 Ironguts, 3 Leadbelchers, an Ironblaster and an Ogre Gorger.


Brave men of the Empire accompany the mighty Steam Tank.












The Ironblaster was destroyed in the first round. But I couldn't inflict much more damage to Tobi's army during the following turns. When he moved his big unit of Ogres in the center of the battlefield I decided to attack with my (mighty and famous) Steam Tank. I managed to inflict 18 hits and killed most of them. In the meantime Tobi sneaked his Ogre Gorger into the back of my army where he attacked my Great Cannon and destroyed it.



The Ogre Gorger sneaks into the back of the Empire's army.

I attacked attacked Tobi's Ogres with my Greatswords. But while I failed to kill the remaining Ogres and Leadblechers, they whiped out my whole unit of Greatswords. Luckily Tobi also failed to destroy the Steam Tank. The Steam Tank survived with only one hit point left out of ten...

In the end we achieve a fair draw.

In the end I had earned 260 victory points while Tobi had earned 390 victory points. A fair draw.

40K Battle Report: Chaos Space Marines vs. Tobi's Orcs

Thursday I met with Tobi, a very nice guy from my martial arts training group. Tobi plays Orks in Warhammer 40K and Dwarfs and Ogre Kingdoms in Fantasy. It was my first game in the new appartment. We played on the new dining table in the living room.



I fielded my Chaos Marines against Tobi's Orks.




It was the first game in the living room of the new appartment.















Tobi fielded his army of Orks. He took a Warboss with some Boyz in a Trukk, a big mob of Boyz with shootas, a big mob of Boyz with choppas, a Big mob of Lootas, three Big Gunz and a Dakkajet. I fielded my Chaos Marines. This time I tried something new. I took a Chaos General with the mark of Khorne and a Demon Weapon together with some Khorne Berserkers in a Rhino, a squad of Chaos Marines with two Melters in a Rhino, a small squad of Cultists with guns, a group of five Chaos Spawn and two Vindicators.

It was a very close game for most of the time and with lots of casualties. From the fourth turn on I had some really bad dice rolls - especially with my Vindicators - and was nearly butchered in the end. Despite the fact, that not a single of six objectives was held, Tobi won 3:1. Congratulations! It was a lot of fun to play with Tobi because he is a very polite guy and he only plays with good painted miniatures. Hope to repeat it soon.




I had nothing that could shoot at Tobi's Dakkajet so I tried to ignore it.

         



In the end most of my vehicles were burning.

                                                         

Just Finished Painting: Night Goblins

I just finished another unit for my Warhammer Goblin project. It's a regiment of 21 Night Goblins armed with spears.

We have plans to meet with our gaming group in may to play Warhammer Fantasy and Hordes of the Things. This time I will team up with Krüger against Karl's Wood Elves.

As you can see in my blog I haven't painted miniatures for nearly a year now. With the move to the new appartment I think I will find more time and space for the hobby.

A regiment of 21 Night Goblins.

Like the rest of the army I panted them nearly just with washes.

Baldur's Gate

Some weeks ago I moved together with Bettina to our new appartment. Such a move is a good moment to consolidate your collection of games and miniatures. This work is still pending...

While looking through all my old computer games I re-discovered Baldur's Gate, one of my all-time favourite Dungeons and Dragons games. I started to play it again and found out that it's still a great game even more than 15 years after it was released. For the generation of my character I used photos of myself.

Here you can find both pictures in correct sizes needed for the game (110x170 and 38x60 pixels). Feel free to use these portraits if you want to play Baldur's Gate with a character looking like me. Just convert them to .bmp files.



Small Portrait (38x60 Pixels)

Large Portrait (110x170 Pixels)