My camera is MIA! No pictures! Suckage.
My partner and I played against our local Bat-rep extraordinaire dude and his partner, the Jet-Bike Eldar of DOOM. (Seriously) The IG guy who writes glorious reports has decided to take a break from writing (apparently it took him scads of work) and so we were going to be left with my and my notoriously less-than-stellar reporting abilities. AND, of course, my camera goes missing. GAH.
So we faced an army composed of something like:
Seer Council on Jetbikes
Autarch on Jetbike
3 Squads of Jetbike Guardians w/ 2 Shuriken Cannon/squad
2 of the Hellhound variants with the Multi Meltas, forget the name…
3 Leman Russ Demolishers with LC and Plasma Sponsons
and we brought something like:
EC, AAC
Terminator Squad w/ 2 CML and Tank Hunter
Large squad of CCW/Pistol Marines
2 Line Squads, 1 ML, 1 Las Cannon
Vindicator
Librarian
10 man Terminator squad w/ 2 Psycannon, Banner
DN w/ 2 TLAC and Psybolt ammo
Dreadknight w/ Teleporter and Heavy Inferno
We got Spearhead with Annihilation - and they got first turn.
Knowing this was KP was sort of a kick in the teeth for me.I brought extra feet because so many of our battles have been close due to not enough troops, and now I have a LOT for them to shoot at. Can't win 'em all, right?
I'm skipping ahead to my usual wrap up chatter here, for reasons explained shortly.
What I learned: Having dedicated fire squads actually can and does work. Also, hiding Termies is MUCH better than leaving them in the open.
What I need to work on: I'm addressing that later on in this post.
About my opponents: One of them has smoked me right off the board before. The other has consistently been at the top of the league for months. I was not super confident, especially when they had so much mech and I had a ton load of dudes. However, they are fun players and I enjoyed seeing certain parts of the game in action,
My partner did a pretty effective write up here . Rather than repeat his efforts, I'm going to cover an issue that came up in the game a lot.
I do not understand how damaging vehicles works. Every time I think I have a handle on it, I am wrong. Something about the strength and armor and facing just confuses the crap outta me. Help a girl out, will ya?
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Sunday, April 10, 2011
[Weekly Whimsy] Whammy
edit/update: WOW!!!!! What a Whammy for ME! Ron over at FTW announced a some-what comeback....
[Welcome to Weekly Whimsy! Why write when words have withdrawn...]
“Remember when it used to go like this…” Lauryn Hill, That Thing
Today is a day of strange liberation.
It’s certainly got a sense of melancholy and some serious nostalgia, but it’s very freeing too. Why?
I’ve decided not to write any more Weekly Whimsy posts.
I looked at my posting history, and I have 24 of those babies put out there for your viewing pleasure. I loved writing each and every one. I loved coming up with the cool themes, the great alliterations, the ingenious ways to touch on a variety of topics most gamer dudes would never encounter or examine seriously. I loved crafting those compositions, finding the appropriate pictures and touching those of you that read in some way.
I don’t like being tied to it. I don’t like the forced and less-than natural feeling some of the posts had (to me). I don’t like how many Sunday mornings I got up early to write rather than hanging out with TheDude. Some weeks I was ahead of the game and had my stuff done before I went to bed Saturday, but most of the time I was winging it early in the am.
Don’t despair… I’m not giving up the writing overall- it just won’t be scheduled for every Sunday anymore. I’ll post whatever, whenever; truly the essence of whimsy. You can’t put a timeframe on inspiration, and so I won’t. I’ll just write when the mood strikes me and you can enjoy it when it comes.
I love writing, and I plan to continue bringing great content. I just need to do it on my own schedule, so that I can enjoy my husband, my kids, my dog, my store, my community, my gaming and my friends in a way that works for me.
Be Well,
‘Lo
Friday, April 8, 2011
[RPG] Getting What You Want
A little while ago, Jay over at Life and Times of a Phillipine Gamer shot out his expectations as a player in a game. I posted then that I really admired it- it is far too often that players do not know what they want from a game.
In certain kinds of games, this is ok. I'll say that 4E D&D and Pathfinder offer the option of waiting to see where the adventure takes you. Those games are (as a rule) pretty prescribed into "what do you DO" and not "how do you FEEL".
Other games, it really pays to have some concepts of what you want to do with your character (other than show up to beat on things). Having at least some character development goals can immensely improve your gaming experience. It can enrich the group setting and help everyone have an idea of 'what to do' when moving from place to place in the game.
It is important to talk to the GM and be sure the kinds of expectations you have match or mesh with the kind of game they are running. If you are in a gritty, dark & dirty near future game of some sort, wanting to become a porn star is probably feasible. If you are playing a silly dungeony old school variant, wanting to become a serious magical theoretician is probably not going to work out so well.
In addition to the kind of game, it helps to know that the GM is into the same level of "work" that you want. In one of the games I watch, the GM does a TON of work. If I walked up to him and said "hey, I want to do a bunch of private scenes to help with character development", he would at least consider it. He might say NO because that's adding to his workload, but at least it is in his realm of possibility. If, however, I did the same in Jeff's amazing dungeon game, he would almost definitively say "no". That sort of thing doesn't mesh with his style of running a game, overall.
Overall, I would hope that I'd know before I ever joined a game whether my playstyle and the GM will mesh. I would HOPE that I would investigate and ask questions, and make sure the GM did the same. But it's happened to me more than once when I have gotten in a game where things just didn't work, and I didn't know how to get what I wanted. I've put that knowledge to use, and have learned for the future, but when you're in the thick of it, it can really suck.
So what do you do when you want something the GM can't or doesn't want to give? How do you handle wanting intense, deeply personal private scenes with a GM that overschedules himself and barely sleeps, much less has time for "bluebooking"? How do you handle wanting to show up to "beat on stuff" with a GM that really wants character development hooks and rich, thick and immersive play?
In certain kinds of games, this is ok. I'll say that 4E D&D and Pathfinder offer the option of waiting to see where the adventure takes you. Those games are (as a rule) pretty prescribed into "what do you DO" and not "how do you FEEL".
Other games, it really pays to have some concepts of what you want to do with your character (other than show up to beat on things). Having at least some character development goals can immensely improve your gaming experience. It can enrich the group setting and help everyone have an idea of 'what to do' when moving from place to place in the game.
It is important to talk to the GM and be sure the kinds of expectations you have match or mesh with the kind of game they are running. If you are in a gritty, dark & dirty near future game of some sort, wanting to become a porn star is probably feasible. If you are playing a silly dungeony old school variant, wanting to become a serious magical theoretician is probably not going to work out so well.
In addition to the kind of game, it helps to know that the GM is into the same level of "work" that you want. In one of the games I watch, the GM does a TON of work. If I walked up to him and said "hey, I want to do a bunch of private scenes to help with character development", he would at least consider it. He might say NO because that's adding to his workload, but at least it is in his realm of possibility. If, however, I did the same in Jeff's amazing dungeon game, he would almost definitively say "no". That sort of thing doesn't mesh with his style of running a game, overall.
Overall, I would hope that I'd know before I ever joined a game whether my playstyle and the GM will mesh. I would HOPE that I would investigate and ask questions, and make sure the GM did the same. But it's happened to me more than once when I have gotten in a game where things just didn't work, and I didn't know how to get what I wanted. I've put that knowledge to use, and have learned for the future, but when you're in the thick of it, it can really suck.
So what do you do when you want something the GM can't or doesn't want to give? How do you handle wanting intense, deeply personal private scenes with a GM that overschedules himself and barely sleeps, much less has time for "bluebooking"? How do you handle wanting to show up to "beat on stuff" with a GM that really wants character development hooks and rich, thick and immersive play?
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Final Schedule and much more
Hey guys, gals, unicorns and others,
Thank you very much while I took a quick break to work out some kinks in my schedule/home life. I think I have some really good things coming at you, and hope you'll enjoy.
Just to let you know, I did not play 40K this week- I was pretty sick and just was not up to moving my doodz around the table.(I really wasn't up to very much of anything- I was pretty miserable.) My partner got to try out his shiny knights and seemed to have a very good time, though so all was not lost.
Starting next week, my WOW schedule will be as follows:
Wed: 40K
Fri: RPG
You'll see me every Sunday at HOP writing the New Kid In Town column, all about being a new 40K player.
I'm also pleased to announce that I'll be writing twice a month for Miniature Wargaming Conversions! Team Awesome wanted me! Woohoo! Look for that column on Saturdays (twice a month) beginning on April 23.
I hope I'm done messing with my schedule for a while- I really want to get into a groove and lay out some stellar stuff for you, as you guys are great readers.
Be Well,
'Lo
Thank you very much while I took a quick break to work out some kinks in my schedule/home life. I think I have some really good things coming at you, and hope you'll enjoy.
Just to let you know, I did not play 40K this week- I was pretty sick and just was not up to moving my doodz around the table.(I really wasn't up to very much of anything- I was pretty miserable.) My partner got to try out his shiny knights and seemed to have a very good time, though so all was not lost.
Starting next week, my WOW schedule will be as follows:
Wed: 40K
Fri: RPG
You'll see me every Sunday at HOP writing the New Kid In Town column, all about being a new 40K player.
I'm also pleased to announce that I'll be writing twice a month for Miniature Wargaming Conversions! Team Awesome wanted me! Woohoo! Look for that column on Saturdays (twice a month) beginning on April 23.
I hope I'm done messing with my schedule for a while- I really want to get into a groove and lay out some stellar stuff for you, as you guys are great readers.
Be Well,
'Lo
Sunday, April 3, 2011
schedule change coming soon!
yeah. RPG Friday was blown off entirely, WW is delayed and I am thinking about a massive retool of my schedule and blog. hang on- I hope it will be for the better!
Friday, April 1, 2011
Doing A Solid- GO SEE CRUSADER!!!!!!
If you are ---ANYWHERE--- near Adepticon this weekend (even just because you live there) go check out this kick-ass metal show!
Why should you care? 'Cause it's Dethtron and Hoagy, that's why! Want aggression? Great symbolism? Swearing? Crushing drums? Super loud vocals? CRUSADER HAS ALL THAT AND MORE.
Go check it out, folks!
-----------------------------------
Crusader http://www.facebook.com/pages/
Show info
when: Saturday, April 2nd
doors at 8:30
where: Ardmore Lounge
340 S Ardmore Ave
Villa Park, IL
who: She Likes Todd
Situation Red
Crusader
how much: free!!!!!!!
age: 21+
directions from Adepticon:
Why should you care? 'Cause it's Dethtron and Hoagy, that's why! Want aggression? Great symbolism? Swearing? Crushing drums? Super loud vocals? CRUSADER HAS ALL THAT AND MORE.
Go check it out, folks!
-----------------------------------
Crusader http://www.facebook.com/pages/
Show info
when: Saturday, April 2nd
doors at 8:30
where: Ardmore Lounge
340 S Ardmore Ave
Villa Park, IL
who: She Likes Todd
Situation Red
Crusader
how much: free!!!!!!!
age: 21+
directions from Adepticon:
1. Head west on Yorktown Mall Dr toward S Grace St
276 ft
2. Take the 1st right onto S Grace St
0.2 mi
3. Take the 1st right onto E 22nd St
0.7 mi
4. Turn left at S Meyers Rd
1.0 mi
5. Turn right at IL-38 E/E Roosevelt Rd
0.8 mi
6. Turn left at S Ardmore Ave
1.5 mi
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
[40K] BT/GK vs Chaos/'Crons
Week 2 of our team league with shared force org. After last week, when we really needed more bodies, I volunteered to bring some this time. I have a ton of models and my troops are at least sort of cheap. My partner's choices are pretty limited, and pretty expensive, too.
We faced off against the team that gave me the most concern- Chaos/Necrons. Between Oblits and teleporting, "We'll Be Back", monoliths and GINORMOUS template weapons, I was NERVOUS to face this army. We got Spearhead with pitched battle, and 3 objectives.
They had something like this:
3 Oblits
Raptor Squad
Nurgle Bike Squad (with Icon)
Demon Prince
Lash on someone (but I don't know who)
2 Monoliths
Res Orb (?)
Warriors
We had something like this:
2 Small troops (1 Las, 1 ML)
1 Big troop (1 power weapon)
6 Termies, 2 CML with Tank Hunter
Vindicator
Grey Knight Land Raider
5 Grey Knight termies inside, Psycannons, Null Rod, Psychic Hood
1 Captain/Brother
1 Vindicaire Assasin
They roll first and keep. When we set up, I'm babysitting an objective, while creating fire lanes across our area as best able in the event that I get shot off the terrain.
My partner is bunkered up in the Land Raider for now. Pinata time will come later.
Turn 1 boils down to : they move, we stay still as much as we can. They shoot at us (me, specifically) and move some of my guys off objectives and/or terrain. My partner's psychic hood defuses some psychic ability (thank you, Emperor's Psychic Badasses!). I was a little more bunched up than I probably should have been on the objective and Monolith template spam ate my squad up pretty quick.
After we get shot at repeatedly by Monoliths and bikers, which thins my squads down even further, our Turn 2 makes liberal use of cover, blocking and lots of movement to better position our guys.
The demon Prince pulls my squad right off the objective through assault and kicks the bejeezus out of my doodz. BigSword (aka Darious) was left to face him all alone.
Turn 3 brings the Grey Knights out of the Land Raider to attack -well, whatever's handy. Which happens to be Oblits. THANK YOU, PARTNER. Oblits need to die in a hole- and man, GK SMOKED those guys. (On a plain, but they died and that's all I care about. THANK YOU!)
Rain of fire (Monolith shots, Oblits, bikers, warriors double tapping with Gauss thingys) opens up on the Grey Knights, with the Bikers coming in to assault. Meanwhile, our concentrated fire plan against the Monoliths continues to do a whole lot of nothing. (we realize in Turn FOUR we should have been barraging the Warriors)
Turn four:
GreyKnights continue to get attacked. I don't have any idea why....
We really should have shot at Warriors and not the Monoliths. We do a little moving to try to hold onto our objectives, or at least refuse assault.
Turn 5- The Raptors finally come in. They pile in right where the GK and Bikers are (homing in on an icon) and start kicking some ass. One of the last of the GK fall, but luckily for us, the Assassin has been waiting for something to do all game and the LC Raptor dies quickly.
We would really love for the game to end; as we're at a draw. I roll, and fail yet again.
Turn 6, Those Raptors decide they want to get me off my objective- NOW.
One of the GK tries sitting on our opponent's objective, and it sort of works until he's destroyed by shooting from a Monolith (I think). My last little squad from on top of the building starts doing a conga line over towards the objective, and actually makes it ONTO the terrain holding our dear marker. Unfortunately, my little Raptor Lunchmates will not die and there's fall-in on assault right next to the terrain and one of the Raptors is within 3 of the objective when I roll to end at the end of turn 6.
Quick recap: WOW, this was an AWESOME game. SO MUCH FUN! I'll get into detail in a moment- but I wanted to get it out that this was an absolute blast.
What I learned: I am getting better. (But not on my own. I am getting help.) With one or two exceptions, I understood WHY we were making the choices we were making and have gained a HUGE grasp of cover and using firelines due to some incredible instruction through my partner being super patient with me.
What I need to improve on: Using the 2" allowed between guys for coherency to my advantage- ie: SPREAD OUT if I'm facing template weapons.
About my opponents: They are funny. They are smart. They are deceptive- with their "I can't roll for crap, I always lose" mantras, they could "seem" like easy pickings to other teams. I knew better- one of them is a fantastic skirmish-based game player and applies a lot of that theory to his 40K playing, and the other is far more analytical than he seems with his goofball personality. They were a serious challenge. I kept asking "are we about to die?" to my opponent- because I thought they had us dead to rights at least twice before the game was over.
The game was fun, challenging, and very tough. I loved it because I understood almost everything that was going on. I had a couple moments of serious confusion; but mostly based on not knowing the opponent's rules. I felt like I actually contributed some instead of just listening to directions- although the instructions sure did not hurt when I DID listen.
About my partner: For a silly list, that was awesome! I'm bringing feet again next time, right?
We faced off against the team that gave me the most concern- Chaos/Necrons. Between Oblits and teleporting, "We'll Be Back", monoliths and GINORMOUS template weapons, I was NERVOUS to face this army. We got Spearhead with pitched battle, and 3 objectives.
They had something like this:
3 Oblits
Raptor Squad
Nurgle Bike Squad (with Icon)
Demon Prince
Lash on someone (but I don't know who)
2 Monoliths
Res Orb (?)
Warriors
We had something like this:
2 Small troops (1 Las, 1 ML)
1 Big troop (1 power weapon)
6 Termies, 2 CML with Tank Hunter
Vindicator
Grey Knight Land Raider
5 Grey Knight termies inside, Psycannons, Null Rod, Psychic Hood
1 Captain/Brother
1 Vindicaire Assasin
They roll first and keep. When we set up, I'm babysitting an objective, while creating fire lanes across our area as best able in the event that I get shot off the terrain.
 | |
| A good idea of my guys' setup. Objective on the white piece. |
 |
| general idea of their setup. Bikes hiding behind Monolith for now. |
 | ||
| The lonely assassin, waiting to shoot. |
 | ||
| My CMLs are on the other side of the boxcars and my CC squad is moving due to RZ. |
After we get shot at repeatedly by Monoliths and bikers, which thins my squads down even further, our Turn 2 makes liberal use of cover, blocking and lots of movement to better position our guys.
 |
| Fuzzy picture of me getting attacked by Bikes and the Demon Prince. |
 | ||
| My partner, blocking the bikers from attacking me. Thanks! |
Turn 3 brings the Grey Knights out of the Land Raider to attack -well, whatever's handy. Which happens to be Oblits. THANK YOU, PARTNER. Oblits need to die in a hole- and man, GK SMOKED those guys. (On a plain, but they died and that's all I care about. THANK YOU!)
 | ||
| Somehow our opponents see them as a threat. |
Rain of fire (Monolith shots, Oblits, bikers, warriors double tapping with Gauss thingys) opens up on the Grey Knights, with the Bikers coming in to assault. Meanwhile, our concentrated fire plan against the Monoliths continues to do a whole lot of nothing. (we realize in Turn FOUR we should have been barraging the Warriors)
Turn four:
GreyKnights continue to get attacked. I don't have any idea why....
 |
| Yeah, Ok, maybe I DO know why. They roll a LOT of dice. |
 | |
| After a round of combat- a LOT of guys (theirs and ours) are gone. |
 |
| Another round gone by. More bikers gone, but only 2 GK left. |
Turn 5- The Raptors finally come in. They pile in right where the GK and Bikers are (homing in on an icon) and start kicking some ass. One of the last of the GK fall, but luckily for us, the Assassin has been waiting for something to do all game and the LC Raptor dies quickly.
We would really love for the game to end; as we're at a draw. I roll, and fail yet again.
Turn 6, Those Raptors decide they want to get me off my objective- NOW.
 | ||
| I am Raptor dinner. |
One of the GK tries sitting on our opponent's objective, and it sort of works until he's destroyed by shooting from a Monolith (I think). My last little squad from on top of the building starts doing a conga line over towards the objective, and actually makes it ONTO the terrain holding our dear marker. Unfortunately, my little Raptor Lunchmates will not die and there's fall-in on assault right next to the terrain and one of the Raptors is within 3 of the objective when I roll to end at the end of turn 6.
Quick recap: WOW, this was an AWESOME game. SO MUCH FUN! I'll get into detail in a moment- but I wanted to get it out that this was an absolute blast.
What I learned: I am getting better. (But not on my own. I am getting help.) With one or two exceptions, I understood WHY we were making the choices we were making and have gained a HUGE grasp of cover and using firelines due to some incredible instruction through my partner being super patient with me.
What I need to improve on: Using the 2" allowed between guys for coherency to my advantage- ie: SPREAD OUT if I'm facing template weapons.
About my opponents: They are funny. They are smart. They are deceptive- with their "I can't roll for crap, I always lose" mantras, they could "seem" like easy pickings to other teams. I knew better- one of them is a fantastic skirmish-based game player and applies a lot of that theory to his 40K playing, and the other is far more analytical than he seems with his goofball personality. They were a serious challenge. I kept asking "are we about to die?" to my opponent- because I thought they had us dead to rights at least twice before the game was over.
The game was fun, challenging, and very tough. I loved it because I understood almost everything that was going on. I had a couple moments of serious confusion; but mostly based on not knowing the opponent's rules. I felt like I actually contributed some instead of just listening to directions- although the instructions sure did not hurt when I DID listen.
About my partner: For a silly list, that was awesome! I'm bringing feet again next time, right?
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