This is Friendship, Part 2

A while ago, my dad announced to both of my kids that he would take them on AN ADVENTURE. The adventure could be to nearly any place of their choosing, and would last roughly a weekend. Assuming their choice of destination and adventure was attainable, he would take them and they would have a blast.

He put some minor limits on the adventure criteria. It had to be in the continental US and needed to happen when the weather was warmer. He made a couple of suggestions, but ultimately, the choice was made by my kids.

My daughter decided to visit New York, New York.

I hit up my alien friend almost immediately and let him know my family would be traveling to his city. He asked me when, and assured me that he would be nothing less than a gracious host. He worried endlessly about the weather (spring in New York is fickle), and fussed about the subway. He made many faces at the idea that some scrub might bother my kid or my dad, and promised to keep them safe.

If They Put It In The Book, It's Gotta Work, Right? Right?

Hey, folks. SinSynn here.

So despite the fact that I'm working every day 'cept Christmas this month, and I'm eight different kindsa beat up, I felt possessed to write something. Dunno why. I'm prolly gonna miss some sleep cuz of this, but whatevs. The Hamster is spinning.

So I thought I'd talk about a gaming conundrum I'm currently experiencing with Infinity, but I've gone through similar experiences with other games.

Anywho, what I'm trying to do is run a Shasvastii Sectorial List, and include a Sheskiin Link Team...using Gwailos.
It's, uh, not gone well so far.
I haven't quite thrown up my hands yet, but there have been moments of frustration. Not quite rage-inducing frustration, but we're getting there...
I'm one of those knuckleheads that'll see something in a game, and I'll be like 'ermahgerd, that's so cool. I gotta try it.'
I will completely disregard any amount of evidence presented to me demonstrating that this thing I've seen is a not-so-good idea. I will run out and buy whatever it is that I need to do this thing, and set about trying to take over the known universe with it.

*Hey, a Xenos hasta have a hobby, amirite? I'll get this done before Pinky and the Brain do...I hope*

Infinity does Xenos right! Meet some friends o' mine.

Hey, folks. SinSynn here.

Anybody that reads my stuffs over at the House of Paincakes knows that I've totally fallen head over heels for Infinity. I've tried my hand at a buncha different games now, and invested a few dollars (maybe thousands, actually...don't you judge me) on several of them, but I've never been quite as obsessed with any of them the way I am with Infinity right now.
I'm literally ashamed (ok, not really...I'm just being dramatic. I have no shame) of the money I've spent on 40k. Ditto that for Flames of War (I've got two untouched starter sets, even, along with several boxes of tanks, troopies and halftracks). I even somehow managed to acquire a small Cryx army for Warmachine and played a few games back in the day, but my regular opponent suffered 'spousal hobby interference' (that's totally a thing) and Warmachine fell to the wayside.

Ah, but Infinity...I gotta tell ya, folks...Infinity is already like, my game. It's the one I've been looking for, the one I've been waiting on and the one I was hoping to find, all wrapped up in a sexy, anime-styled, bullet-filled pinata.

Every Saturday for the past month I've played until the Crazy Lady I Live With puts a stop to it, usually between midnight and 2am. And yes, I get punished with extra doggie walks and garbage duty...never mind the seemingly inevitable hangovers.
-_-

You know what?
Totally worth it.

I mean, look at this- this is a soon to be released figure for my Army of choice, the Combined. How could I resist something like this?

*Kerrigan from Starcraft tribute, fer sure. But oh so awesome*

FoW Mission Design. If You Want Something Done Right...

Hey folks, SinSynn here.

For the longest time, I've been aching to try my hand at mission design for Flames of War. I honestly believe that every mission in the rulebook, with the exception of Free-for-All, is awful.
Here's why:

- Forced reserves.
Oh dear Lord what an awful idea. Ten of the eleven 'standard' missions force one or both players to put 'more than half' of their armies in reserve. A roll of 5up is required to get units in reserves onto the table, and some missions don't allow even that to occur until turn three.
Ugh. Just....ugh.
The most pronounced effect this has on the game is known as Front-Loading, where the 'more than half' of one's army will consist of cheap, virtually useless units, simply because that half will see little to no action. Maybe they won't even arrive at all, since Defenders can be overwhelmed prior to receiving them. Whoops- I couldn't roll a 5up. I lose. Sure...that seems fair. Boy, that was fun!

*Opponent wins on turn four? NOT IMPRESSED*

This ain't the Olympics (on being kind to n00bs)

Hey folks, SinSynn here.

It may come as a surprise to some that I love the Olympics. Summer or winter, it doesn't matter to me. I luvs 'em.
Olympic athletes have a singular purity of purpose that I admire. Their entire lives orbit around the sport they participate in, and their goal is simple- bring home Gold for the country they represent. Not just for themselves, but for their country.

*I react this way when I roll 6's*

Olympic athletes tend to maintain a level of professionalism and sportsmanship throughout the games that I respect. There's honor there, by and large, and despite my general disdain for sports, I find myself drawn in every time the Olympics roll around.
So here's me, hoping Michael Phelps put the bong down and got his practice laps in (nice job qualifying, Mike!), hoping Hope Solo is on point in goal and the US Women's Soccer team brings home the Gold and avenges their World Cup loss, and getting a huge kick outta Rowan Atkinson during the opening ceremony.
Ah, good ol' competition. To me, the Olympics prove that it's a 'good thing.' Events like the Olympics give me hope in humanity.

And then there's the Ultimate Rival....sigh.

One of our recent debates has centered around the fact that our gaming club has asked him to 'be nicer' when giving demo games of Flames of War. He was nominated for this task simply because he owns so much FoW stuffs (both models and terrain), that he can literally leave several armies at the store at all times solely for this purpose. Customers visiting the game store we play at who express interest in FoW can schedule a demo game with the staff, and the Ultimate Rival will show up and talk them through the basics.
That's the theory, anyway.

Unfortunately, as it turns out, the Ultimate Rival has taken great joy in crushing each and every person he's given a demo game to. The last four people he's beaten never returned to the store, and well, that ain't good, for obvious reasons.
We want to grow our FoW community, not drive people away. We want the store where we play to make money.
Y'know- professionalism. Sportsmanship.
There's a time for hard-core competition, for sure, but there's also a time for training, for teaching and learning. When it comes to hand-holding a baby seal through his first game of anything, that simply isn't the time to get all competitive, in my opinion.

*The new guy ain't ready for this level yet (but damn- Hope Solo is tough! No header for you!)*

I recently introduced my friend Nascar (we all have nicknames where I live) to FoW, and I had a LOT of fun doing it. Seeing my buddy all amped up and hanging on every roll of the dice was...cool. Maybe I'm a lil' jaded. Maybe I've played so many games that I don't have the same level of enthusiasm any more, I dunno.
Oh, but seeing Nascar jumping up and down, pumping his fist at every successful save bought it all back to me.

I let him win the first game, and I had absolutely no issues doing so. I was happy to do it, in fact. Nascar had a huge grin, and his eyes shone with victory. In that moment, he was filled with hobby joy, and I'd be a flat out liar if I said that I wasn't happy, just seeing him happy.
I know I did the right thing, because he immediately asked me if we could play another. I'm absolutely certain I did the right thing, becasue halfway through our second game, he was animatedly discussing his plans for the third. We played on until well after midnight.
We have a game scheduled for later today.

Sometimes I think experienced gamers may have forgotten what being a noob felt like. Worse yet, I think that some experienced gamers use the word noob as an insult. This is especially prevalent in on-line gaming, but it occurs in our hobby, as well. Many of the games we play are complex, and possibly intimidating to the newcomer. More than that, mini-gaming represents a considerable investment in both time and money.
It behooves us, as a community, to kindle the interest shown by the new bloods, not to discourage them.

Take care of the noobs. Represent our community in a friendly manner. Be inclusive, be welcoming.
Save your Olympic caliber play for where it matters, at a tournament.
That's all I have to say about that.


Until next time, folks- Exit with catchphrase!

-SinSynn

P.S.- GO USA!

Xenos and 20 sided dice!

Hey folks, SinSynn here.

Lately I've been having deep hobby thoughts, because I'm missing something. I know exactly what it is I'm missing, too.
I'm missing my Xenos.
Y'all know I luvs me some Xenos.
It's more than that, of course. It's everything that accompanies them.  The fantastical sci-fi settings, the crazy-cool tech gizmos and weaponry...the tentacles, and the refreshing screams of humans as they TASTE DISENTEGRATOR!!!!!!
(or somesuch variant thereof)

*Hey, whatever works, amirite?*

Quick Internet Hobby Fix....Aaaaaah. Good.

Hey, folks, SinSynn here.

A buncha stuffs has happened over the last couple of months that has led me to get significantly LESS hobby time than I'm used to.

*Writing a murder/suicide pact and going to find Lucy*

 
Here's a list:

- A gentleman driving his car down the Ultimate Rival's street has a seizure, and crashes into the gaming garage, wrecking it.
Insurance companies are still bickering about it. Estimated time until repairs begin: two months.
Seriously, this happened.

-The weather has gotten good, and the lure of 'hanging out on the block' has been too great. 
Shaking out the winter doldrums is a time honored SinSynn tradition. Combine this with the above, and not a lotta 'hobbying' is getting done.

-I had three FoW tournaments scheduled for this month, but two of them were mid-war. 
After spending some time reviewing the books, potential lists, etc, I came to the conclusion that mid-war doesn't really interest me, and bowed out.
Late war tournament on the 28th...Let's see if I can stop flitting about the neighborhood long enough to paint stuffs.

-The Crazy Lady I Live With is on her 'spring cleaning' trip, and I pretty much hafta follow her around and rescue my stuffs from disposal. 
Should I leave for any extended period of time, I'm pretty sure everything I friggin' own would be 'cleaned.'
-_-

Despite all of this, and some other annoyances like having to re-format my computer after a meltdown (all my tentacle porn! Noooooooooooo!), I'm a hobbyist, and I have an addiction.
...Good thing there's the Internet, where I can grab a quick fix.

The thing is, I don't have a hobby store to bum around in. Also, I don't have a single friend that games other than the Ultimate Rival. Not tabletop games, not video games, nuthin.'
Over the last couple of years, I've gotten more social, and I've made many friendly acquaintances via the Hobby. They all live an hour or more away, by car.
How can people live where there are no subways? I cannot unnerstan' dis.
0_o

*231st and Broadway in da Bronx, NYC. My stop <3*

The lack of proper 'gaming' in my city, considered by many (especially myself), to be the greatest city in the world (and it is), saddens me. I can walk twenty steps in any direction and get literally whatever I want (legal or otherwise), but I can't play a friggin' wargame.
Excuse me while I make this face:
-_-
Really, New York?
....really?

I buy my hobby stuffs offa da internet, too. I probably spend almost as much of my internet time on the WarStore as I do watching porn or obsessively stalking Megan Fox.
DON'T YOU JUDGE ME!
The porn is free, at least. Nyah.

I suppose we all go through lil' phases, where life grabs us by the boo-boo, and we drift away from our models a bit. Waddayagonnado, amirite? Stuff happens.
Right now, I'm enjoying a bit of quiet time, since the Crazy Lady is out on dog walkies. Maybe if my hobby desk hadn't been 'cleaned,' I would be working on something.
Blah.

So here I am, typing a post (and yes, riffing and sharing my woes), and grabbing a quick Internet hobby fix.
Mmmmm....Dust Tactics unboxing at BoLS....
Delicious.
:D


Dammit, she's back...gotta go.


Until next time, folks- Exit with catchphrase!

-SinSynn

Interview for HOP- SinSynn

I wrote a series of articles about designing better games for House of Paincakes over the past 2 months or so. While I was working on the process and developing material for the series, I conducted a good number of interviews with various people across the internet, as well as some real life folks.

Up next, my favorite Xeno-

This guy has a great mind with the ability to create incredible conclusions. I always enjoy talking with the man from another planet; even if his tentacles DO go places they shouldn't! I've got the owner of the Disintegrator Ray ZX3000, SinSynn on tap for you. Warning, we both swear- a LOT.

In Flames of War, Van Saucken = CREED!!!

Hey folks, SinSynn here.

Just a quick lil' thing before I get all tactical an' stuffs.

Lets say you wanted to jump into FoW as a new player. Here's a good place to start in Late War, as an example-

Grey Wolf Panzerkompanie- 1750 points
HQ- 2 Panzer IV

4x Panzer IV
4x Stug G
4x Stug G
4x Stug G

Warrior Dietrich Van Saucken


If you were to order a single Battlefront halftrack (or the official Van Saucken mini, if you feel the need) from the WarStore, you could get the Version 3 Flames of War min-rulebook for free. Then you go to Easy Army and sign up for the Grey Wolf book for a couple of bucks.
Buy the Stugs and Panzer IV's from Plastic Soldier Company, and this entire army clocks in at less than  150 bucks!

Just sayin.' Not tryin' to corrupt ya, or nuthin' like that...
;)

This army will give your opponents fits, as well. Mainly because of this guy.

*This guy here? A genuine badass*

Hold on...SinSynn Might Just Be Happy...

Hey folks, SinSynn here.

Now that the Flames of War 3rd Edition rules are starting to sink in a bit, I have this strange feeling settling over me, and I must admit that for a hot minute, I was unsure of what it was, exactly.

Years of being being kinda kicked around by another company, who shall remain nameless ('no more riffing' rule I plan to stick to), left me feeling like some poor, battered animal, who flinched at the mere mention of new releases.
For many years, not one of those releases ever benefited me, in any way.
They often did quite the opposite- they made my personal hobby less fun.
I never got new models, new rules, or anything like that. I got the pleasure of watching my chosen army reduced to irrelevancy, instead.

So, this bruised and broken Xeno grabbed his dice and paintbrushes, and he made his escape.
Anything's gotta be better than this, I figured, and I'll take my chances out there.
Time to hit the road...

*Dunno where I'll end up, but I'll stop for hitchikers*

SinSynn- lil' fish, big pond...plenty o' room to swim...

Hey folks, SinSynn here.


Sometimes I get a lil' intimidated by my peers.
In truth, I don't really 'feel' like they're actually my peers, and at times I feel like a small child in a room full of adults, running around annoying everyone, and knocking stuffs over.

*Strippers are wise...heed the strippers*

Loquacious can bandy words about like no one's business, conveys her own thoughts with amazing efficiency, and is somehow humble about it. How the hell is that even possible?

Lauby somehow manages to come across as wise, yet pulls off wry humor and charm with a self-deprecating wink. That's my dude right there, and if anybody ever breathes a bad word about him anywhere, I swear I'll attack like a pit bull on crack.

I devour every word Dethtron writes with relish, and his rapier-like wit and ability to lay out a scathing insult and somehow come away smelling like a rose is da awesome.
I'll admit that I have a writer's crush on him. He's just so damn funny.

How can I NOT love Von? He's simultaneously incredibly smart and smug, and so very British (from my perspective), but it's hard to not laugh at this pompous knucklehead when he shows up wearing something crazy on his head. Curse his beard...even his beard is smug, I swear.

I can tell you straight away that I've patterned much of my 'internet personality' after Brent.
I suppose I subconsciously created 'the Hamster' as a sort of foil for myself in the way he has 'Not-Brent' lurking about with the infamous green marker.
Reading his posts taught me the value of being reasonable and tolerant, and has served me well.

GMort says things that need saying, is unapologetic about it, and strikes me as the kinda guy who would gleefully throw stones in his own glass house if it suited his mood.
If only I could have a lil' bit of that 'don't give a damn-ness.'

That's just the HoP writers, there are many more wonderful folks who do what we do, and inspire me.
Frontline Gamer, Sorrowshard, the guys at the Back 40k, James S from Warp Signal, Panzar from Whelp Slayer (Who has like, the greatest website banner ever, IMO), Kirby (the Mighty Pink One) and Abuse Puppy from 3++, and my boy Purgatus from Best Overall, of course...

A compliment from Porky over at Porky's Expanse! had my head all swollen for days. I couldn't wear a hat, in fact, and it's wintertime...

That's just the tip of the iceberg, as far as the links in my favorites are concerned.

The trick, I suppose, if there is such a thing as 'tricks' when it comes to blogging, is not to be just another voice amongst the din, but to blaze your own path. I find it odd that I could somehow be considered an 'authority' on anything involving our hobby, for clearly in my mind, I'm not.
I did nothing to deserve being 'elevated' above my fellow gamers, and I'll probably go to my grave having NO IDEA why Lauby decided to pluck me from the ranks of overly vocal commenters out there in our hobby blog-o-sphere.


All I know is I wanna take the ball he handed me and run with it, as fast and as far as I can.

In real life, I'm a hyper-active crazy person. If you think I'm a lil' nutty when you read my vaguely coherent posts, you can just multiply the random wackiness by ten, and you'll have an idea why people have a hard time living with me.
Writing regularly has proven to be an excellent mental 'strain relief' valve, and I'm sure my erstwhile family is grateful for the time I spend clacking away on my keyboard, as they are afforded a bit of peace and quiet while I do so.


I often wonder if some of the things I do in my posts strike people as odd- slang terms, catch phrases, tiny animals living in my head, and always putting my name in the title of my posts, for example....
Each and every one of these idiosyncrasies was a calculated decision on my part, though- an attempt to separate, to differentiate myself from  writers who are often flat out better than me.


It's a truly bizarre turn of events that's seen me reach this side of the velvet rope (eesh- horrible metaphor), but here I am.
There have been many helping hands along the way, beginning with a comment from Lauby over at Strictly Average asking me to e-mail him, which led to...all of this.

Imagine my slight embarrassment when I arrived at the House of Paincakes in time for the HoP Idol competition, to watch well-established bloggers duke it out over a position that was somehow, through some act of truly divine comedy...gifted to me.
Go friggin' figure.

I have nothing of value to offer anyone out here but the words I type, and the value of those is dubious at best. However, it is my sincere hope that I can connect with the tolerant folks who click on the link that brings them to my head, and we can have that time together, and maybe share a laugh, or something.
I genuinely believe there's a niche here for me, and I'll carve it out with my keyboard and a Hamster.
:)

To all of my friends out there- thank you SO MUCH for putting up with me, and sharing this time.
That means YOU, specifically.
*Xenos Hugs*

Until next time, folks- exit with catchphrase (cuz dat's how I do)!

-SinSynn

SinSynn: OMG, GW...WTF?....smh...

Hey folks, SinSynn here.

So, following the rumors of changes to their paint line, GW made another announcement recently.

They're rebooting the Lord of the Rings franchise, and re-releasing a bunch of the models in Finecast.
...
...

If an announcement is made in the woods, and no one friggin' CARES, does it make a sound?
Maybe the sound you heard was my wail of frustration, as I watch the company that pulled me into this hobby do one stupid thing after another.

*My failure senses are tingling*

The recent Vampire Counts book featured a character sure to draw some dumb attention.
While I find it somewhat amusing that folks are complaining about it while NOT returning the books in protest, GW has us talking 'bout it...

I won't even discuss the rumored 40k 6th Edition 'leak.'
Not even gonna talk about it.
Plenty of other people are doing that, so...whatevs.

I hear GW will be switching manufacturers for their line of paints...this does not bode well.
You can bet we'll see a price increase, smaller, more annoying pots, or whatever.
Now you can bet that the colors won't be precisely the same, either, if this is true.
...
Personally, I hope they screw the pooch on Ultramarines Blue and whatever shade of red Blood Angels use.
Smart Grey Knights players prolly use Vellejo paints anyway, since their metallics are way better, so I can't hope for relief there...
Blah.

Frankly, at this point I am entirely used to GW having their way with me, and not offering a reach-around.
I am also used to paying for the privilege.
Up until the release of the Grey Knights codex, maybe I was even cool about the whole thing.
Sure, I was a bit butt hurt, but I still had faith, sorta.

*Mmmm...Faith. Wait...where was I?*

Of course, the GK codex was OP on a level that made the Imperial Guard release seem downright friendly.
One day in the GW store, my Tyranids got into a lil' scrap with a bunch of GK Termies, and my opponent and I spent about half an hour figuring out Grenade effects, Initiative order and Wound distribution.
For one lil' skirmish, which I lost, of course.

Subsequent matches against the Grey Knights made me pack my 'Nids away, and I went virtually 'hobbyless' for several months.
Until I got hoodwinked into a 'demo game' of Flames of War, of course.
Thank almighty Cthulhu for that.

I would never admit it to the Ultimate Rival, but I am eternally grateful.
...he's still a big dumb jerk, and I HATE his friggin' American tank list of DOOM, but whatevs.
I'm pretty happy with FoW.

So I've slowly had my faith eroded by a serious of facepalm worthy decisions from GW, and in the last month or so it's only gotten worse.

Am I surprised that GW is wasting more resources on a system I've NEVER SEEN PLAYED?
On models I've NEVER SEEN PURCHASED?
At this point, no. Not at all.

They managed to virtually ignore the Xenos races for most of 5th edition, and the three Xenos books we got seemed perfectly calculated to be underwhelming, and not a threat to the Imperial status quo.

They may have overshot on the 'Nid book, but both the D'Eldar and Necrons are just shy of actually being kick ass.
Sigh.

*Maybe just a teeny, tiny bit*

Regardless, here I am talkin' 'bout GW...
In that regard, they've been quite successful, haven't they?

In truth, I think GW has a tough road ahead of them in the next few years.
Chinese companies are making cheap knockoffs of their stuff now, and those copies will only get better.
Other gaming companies are making smart use of the Internet, and have release schedules that make GW's look laughably slow.

I'm gonna mention this again- I'm still stuck with the VERY SAME army book that I bought my first week into the hobby.
IT'S SEVEN FRIGGIN' YEARS OLD NOW.

I've gotten more books outta Battlefront in 6 months than I would get out of GW in...what?
A quarter of a century? Half?
THINK ABOUT THAT.

I'm planning a series of posts about my endeavors into Infinity, although due to some slightly overzealous holiday spending I'm a bit behind schedule.
A Haqqislam starter set is on it's way, and I've already got my Combine under construction.
Do I need to mention that Infinity has MONTHLY releases?
How awesome is that?

What's GW doing?
More of the same.
And at this juncture in time, I'm starting to wonder why I care.

The reboot of the LotR games is a giant pile of fail.

*Box cover art for the LotR starter set*

Look, I know that riffing 'bout GW is tiresome, and I sorta apologize.
I'm not gonna do it again for a while, I promise.
There's so much good stuff, so much cool stuff, so much stuff that's actually full of win in this hobby, that I'd much rather focus on that.
Sadly, GW isn't part of the 'good' in the hobby anymore, I believe.

People don't like being told what they want, they don't want to wait interminable amounts of time for what they want, and when they get something, they'd like it to be good.

I imagine if I was a Space Marine player, these would be awesome times.
Buy I'm not, so there ya go.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm tweaking my Grenadier list for FoW (I hate you, Ultimate Rival), and slowly ingesting the Infinity rules in preparation for my first games (totally psyched).
In truth, I'm happier with my personal hobby adventure than I've ever been.

I'm just disappointed that GW has nothing to do with it.
In some weird way, I thought they'd always be there...and maybe they will.
Just not in the way I thought.
*shrug*

Sigh...waddayagonnado?


Until next time, folks- Exit with catchphrase!

-SinSynn