A Refined Evening Of Boardgames

Further to my last post about being up in York, whilst there we spent a quality evening playing these bad boys: Forbidden Desert, Ticket to Ride and Sushi Go!

Each provided different mechanics but all were very enjoyable to play. All have been covered by TableTop on Youtube so I have provided links to each of those videos below if you wish to learn more about the games.

Forbidden Desert was is a fantastic co-op game and blimey is the game tough. We played on novice difficulty and got spanked a few times before moving on to Ticket to Ride. 

Ticket to Ride is a great game! I admit to being biased as I won the game on the final turn (which has never happened to me, in any game I've played, before!). This aside, I found the mechanics and aesthetic of this game to be top drawer and very enjoyable.

Finally, we played a couple of rounds of Sushi Go! For such a simple game, it was awesome and was the perfect game to wind down on. very colourful cards, great mechanics and very easy to understand! 

All in all, it was a great evening of gaming. My other half now has Forbidden Desert on her list of board games to add to our budding collection.

Keeping It In The Family: The Great Scenery Rescue of 2016

On a recent holiday up to York to see a friend (who is taking a break from the hobby) & his family, I purchased his scenery collection. It's quite the collection, as you can see in the photo below, so wanted to cover it in a post.

After returning to the hobby in 2013/2014, I played my first battles against my friend at his house. As a result these pieces of scenery are quite close to my heart and remind me of some good times rolling dice and chilling out with my friend. During those weekends at my friends house, aside from facing off my Spare Marines against his treacherous Chaos army, we would spend time panting some of these pieces up. Hobbying is something most of us probably do alone so it was awesome to to sit outside (in the sun), drink beer and hobby with someone doing the same!

Due to the never ending battle between hobbying need and grown-up 'real life' needs my friend has since chosen to watch the hobby from the sidelines and has been looking to move on his collection of scenery. So, it would have been a shame for these to be lost to some lucky eBay punter and it's good that they are to remain within our hobbying 'family'.

My medium/long terms plan is to purchase a suitable gaming mat/board for use at home and it's at that point I will be able to use these items all all their glory. In the mean time I will give each piece a touch up; testing out some of the new skills I have picked up over the last few years. I'm especially looking forward to repainting the broken Aquilla piece in a marble paint effect (again taking advantage of a GW 2015 Advent Calendar video), adding some weathering to the Space Marine statue (using the technique described in this video tutorial by Tabletop Minions) and getting down and dirty with the Bastion (making it look suitably battered!).

X-Wing Pew Pew!

Something a little different today; a post about X-Wing.

In an effort to engage in table top gaming with friends, I have been experimenting with X-Wing from Fantasy Flight Games. It's a great game! Very accessible, cheap to get into (£25-£30 for the starter set), quick to learn and fun to play. the models are also of an excellent quality; but I assume this isn't news to a reader of a hobbying blog.

In the photo's below I was playing against as the Rebel Alliance and got absolutely trounced in the couple of games played! No matter the results, I thoroughly enjoyed the game system and have picked up the Force Awakens version of the starter & a 'starfield' gaming mat set since these photos were taken. I will probably focus on building a Rebel Alliance list and *may* experiment with repainting some of the models... although that activity certainly isn't high on my list as the models look pretty awesome as they are!

Work In Progress: Grimwrath Berzerker

Going a little rogue with this one... a Dwarf Age of Sigmar model!

I know, weird right! This model was purchased via a lucky dip in the Warhammer Bath store as part of their store birthday painting competition. Unfortunately I haven't been able to dedicate enough time before the competition entry deadline to complete the paint job. I will continue to work on him  when the mood takes me, and will post photos of the finished article when completed.

I haven't ever painted a Dwarf before so the large amount of skin/hair has (and will) pose a new set of challenges and expand my experiences.