See Me Rollin

What I'm playing on.  Not too shabby.

Despite a few ups and downs (and I mean that sorta literally. Lots of earthquakes here, but little ones and it's apparently just business as usual after), I've managed to get my first few games in in Japan.  It's been a very good experience.  The local folks seem to be extremely flexible about what they're playing.  That seems to be the case for everything, so it may mean a pretty transient metagame, which makes sense with so many people rotating in and out.  Honestly, I'm kind of excited about that.  It means lots of new challenges and no must haves in my list.  Obviously, we're looking at mostly power armor, which is just about the norm everywhere, but there seems to be plenty of variety in the flavor available.

But, when hammers hammer, they totally hammer.

I've also made a drop from the typical 1850 point games I played for most of last year to 1500 points.  This is for a couple reasons.  Number one, again, runs back to new challenges.  Going in with blind lists and only having 1500 points means trying to have solutions for problems with resources that are even dearer.  Every troop unit that goes down makes the road to scoring even tougher.  Each time a hammer fails to break its target, the opponent's is free to wreak havoc.  It makes the game tougher and the board seem a little more open.  I like the challenge, though certain mismatches yield uphill battles.

Second, I don't know if you've heard, but there is a new Daemons codex out.  I don't have it.  While that really wouldn't stop me from playing at a higher points level, it feels weird to have a big Word Bearers army and not have any daemons in it.  It's kind of a shame, as I've heard some things that sound pretty cool about the book, but time and opportunity haven't met for my acquisition of the aforementioned book.

To these larger thoughts, I'd like to add three micro-level observations from each of my three games.  From my most recent game is this little nugget.  Grey Knights suck.  It's not exactly a new sentiment, but holy cow, do they try to take my fun and stomp all over it.  I'm sure they're good normally, but against an army with as many things with the "Daemon" rule as mine, it becomes a real uphill struggle.    I threw my Daemon Prince into a Paladins squad knowing he'd die, but hoping he'd take out the enemy warlord in the process.  Terminator troops make Possessed hammer units sad.  Land Raiders are tough to crack (as always).  Thankfully, everyone did there job.  While I didn't have much left, I squeaked it out, though that doesn't do anything to lessen my Grey Knight hate.

Picture preceded by: "It can't possibly happen again..."

From game two, I learned that bad luck on key rolls can only produce a shake of the head and a little laugh, cuz there's nothing else you can really do.  I played kill points against a Blood Angels army that had two serious hammer units consisting of Assault Terminators plus a Captain in a Storm Raven and Death Company with a Chaplain in a Drop Pod.  I planned on letting the Daemon Prince (with multiple boons!) go to work on the Terminators, but it was not to be.  I rolled FOUR ones on Daemon Weapon rolls.  That guy took all game trying to take out a five man assault squad and a ten man tactical squad.  It was ridiculous.  On the other hand, my Possessed popped up with AP3 weapons on the charge and totally wiped the Death Company in one go (minus the Chaplain in a challenge), so Lady Luck really does swing both ways.

Finally, from my very first game, I've begun "Playing to a Story" as I like to call it.  A few other members of the gang have made up a setting in which there games take place.  I have written up a little something to be an episode that will become a part of my army's history.  This means a little extra bookkeeping, but with the way things are in the codex, what's a little more?  I'm tracking specific events and deeds performed by various units and trying to produce certain things.  This doesn't always mean making the most tactical decision, but it adds a fun RPG element to my games.  As a general overview of what I'm talking about, my warlord is trying to secure the patronage of a minor deity, and to do that I am attempting to do things like force morale checks, headhunt HQ's, and force enemies to flee off the board (which is tough to do against all these marines).  It's actually a decent sized list, and I'm trying to come up with additional objectives, but it adds some spice to the decision making process which has been really enjoyable.

Let the New Year Begin! (Finally)

The only thing in our shipment I really (secretly) cared about.

So we moved into a house. It's awesome for a lot of reasons. One of them, not gonna lie, is finally getting our (my) stuff.  In our express shipment, there resided a bag full of minis, most of them handpicked for their need of paint, as well as a selection of brushes and paints, plus a bunch of other games and books. I realize that's a heck of a run on sentence, but I think it illustrates the point.  Basically, the pallet contains methods of entertainment beyond watching reruns of soccer games, and the genesis of my gaming both for the year and in Japan. 

Last year was the first time I set goals for hobby. This year, I want to do the same thing, and this seems to be an appropriate time.  Rather than being a completionist, accomplishment driven thing though, I'd like to view this as what I'm trying to get out of playing games.  I mean, I'd love to paint 1000 models, win all the tournaments, and get a game published, but let's all just have some fun, K?

So what are these goals?  Well let's see...

Hobby Goals for 2013!
- Take more (and better) pictures of my models!
            In the past, taking pictures consisted of finding the best lit place in the house and snapping a few pics.  If you look closely, you could count how many cutting boards I was using in the background.  What I'd like to do is work up a decent background for both sci-fi and fantasy models.  Add to that some kind of lighting set up and a tripod, plus a little photo editing and I'd call that a win for the coming year.

-  Get at least a little painting in 3 nights a week.
               It doesn't have to be a lot, but I know that a little bit of consistency goes a long way in making progress.  Obviously, this can't be a super hard and fast rule, as the ball is going to get dropped every once in a while when life happens, but keeping painting at the forefront of things would be a plus.

- Model, paint, and base all my Word Bearers.
                Or at least all the ones that I have in the bag.  That's something like 3000 points.  It's a lot, but if I can be consistent and set intermediate goals, I have confidence that I can set a new painting goal before the year is out.

Not gonna lie, surprised this made it in one piece.

Gaming Goals for 2013!
- Plug into the local gaming scene.
                 So this is the same as last year.  I need to stop moving or something.  All the guys seem pretty cool, so I don't expect any problems with this one, but it's important.

- Author and play a map based campaign and a narrative campaign.
                This might sound ambitious (if it doesn't, I assure you that my vision is ambitious), but again I think this comes down to consistency and focus.  I have a vision for what I want the campaign booklets to look like and how I want the campaigns to feel, but the success of actually running it depends on cooperation from external sources.  What would I deem a success?  Enthusiasm from people.  A few months' long run.  Challenges being thrown out via email.  That would feel good.

- Diversify my gaming base.
              I played a lot of 40k last year. Like a LOT. Particularly percentage wise. I would like to move the emphasis towards playing lots of different things, particularly the huge assortment of board games.

A Return/I Really Think So

The more things change, the more I am pretty much the same dude.

I am a few weeks removed from the previously mentioned hiatus.  I am many miles removed from what I began to think of as home.  Life, or at least mine, tends to have its various chapters punctuated by changes in physical location.  Based on the length of the previous plane ride, we're in for a doozy.

Yes, we are now in the Land of the Rising Sun.  We are still working on a few minor details like "finding a place to live", but we are settling in slowly but surely.  Despite all the newness, I've still managed to find the time to recon a local gaming group.  After hearing an ad on a 40K podcast (clutch timing by the The Independent Characters.  Thanks guys!) for the exact area we were moving into, I reached out via email and was invited to join the group on the following weekend.  I had a good time and have since been back one other time.

The group seems like good guys and their is a solid contingent of 40K players, so I imagine my standard gaming fare won't change so much as to be recognizable.  However, there seems to be quite a few games on offer, including Mordheim, War Machine, and various board gaming, so the dominance of 40K over the last year of dice rolling seems unlikely to continue.  Of the sixty or so tabletop games I played this year, all but two of them were 40K, so given the chance, I'd love to branch out some more in the upcoming year.

One thing I'm worried about is the general lack of focus.  It seems like many of the guys arrive and begin heading off on their own tangents, including wandering to the corner to play some MMO.  That seems an odd choice for social gaming.  I guess in this context, you need to take what you can get, but I believe a gaming group is stronger when they can be united behind a few creative ideas.  The group doesn't have to be totally homogenous, but it's a lot more fun when everyone gets behind something like a league or a campaign for a bit.

Regardless, I'm looking forward to a  bright new year and the opportunity to make some new friends.  What those will look like?  I have no idea.

The Dark Omnissiah Cometh

It seems I have had the technological touch of death recently.  Various electronics have been going down based on their proximity to me, one of which includes my laptop.  Sadly, that came at a time in which I was dragging my feet about backing up my files, so I lost a lot of my pictures, my data, and a few other bits and bobs.  Between that, the holiday season, and an upcoming move, I think it is time for Elfen Stuff Up to go dark for a while.  See you in a few months hopefully and thanks for reading.