Tuesday 12 April 2022

300 in 3 Months

 Admittedly it's April, but these were finished in March. I've finally got into my Rohirrim horsemen (12) with another ~8 or so to come. These 27 minis bring my total to 316 so far this year.

 

What is this? Well, I did paint it, so I reckon it should count. ^^^Not really a mini I suppose....

Yes, I finally painted some Rohirrim on horseback. Not my finest work but gets them table-ready.

Another 10 Easterling foot, a commander and banner. 
Some Rangers of the North.
Repaired and painted some Gondor cavalry. Though spear still is shonky...
 

The longboard deck I painted above alludes to another interest - riding around on planks with wheels. There's a bit of overlap; I've been playing with my 6-year-old son's Tech Decks (toy finger-skateboards at 1:12 scale) and bought my own toy board. He and his sister were offended when I declared mine was cooler than theirs, and retaliated by buying themselves a 5-pack each. Finally, they had a toy collection bigger than Dad!...

...which prompted me to build a real skateboard identical to the Tech Deck toy, proving it's hard to outdo Dad in the toy department... 
 
Painting output has been low in April. I've got Dropfleet Commander PHR & USC boxes semi-assembled. Man, the models are amazing - they fit together so well you can click them together with friction and they stay in place. Some of the most precise work I've seen. Only downside was I've damaged a few when cutting them from the sprues and the castings are so fine you notice the blemishes.
 
Also sitting on my hobby bench is an Imperialis Aeronautica starter box which I've eyed off but not even attempted. The hex maneuver rules are a bit confusing and I haven't been in the mood to decipher them. Exacerbating this, the models - whilst nice - come in 101 pieces. It just seems like GW wants to justify their prices by making it feel like you bought a model kit. Taking an hour to assemble a single small mini isn't my idea of a good time. Don't expect a rules review or completed model pics anytime soon.
 
I've also been playing a few  PC games with my kids. Warframe (robot space ninja Jedi) which has given me ideas for a co-op wargame using simple AI, Hunter Call of the Wild - the family that shoots animals together, stays together - and Star Wars Battlefront II (2005 version, of course) being the most popular, although my young son surprisingly prefers slow paced tactical shooters like ARMA3 and Ghost Recon. All are actually pretty decent "Dad" games where old age and cunning tends to outweigh young reflexes, so I'm OK with that!

I have continued to experiment with homebrew skirmish rules; I've simplified The Forgotten by stripping away most of the reaction and activation mechanics. While good rules in themselves, creating lots of interesting decisions, it drew the focus onto positioning and firing lanes, rather than supernatural sci fi horror shenanigans. It was good meaningful decisions, but in the wrong places. As it was, it would have made a good modern spec ops shooter but I wanted faster play, and fewer position decisions in order to focus players on morale and magic management. Currently it's a bit like a super simple Savage Worlds with many shared dice mechanics - which has the benefit of allowing me to port in spells and abilities with minimal playtesting. 

11 comments:

  1. Well done fellow dad! Way to keep those kids in line and let them know that though they may grow up bigger, stronger, and smarter they will never have the better toy collection!

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    1. "He who dies with the most toys... ...dies a child"
      - some motivational speaker dude

      "He who dies with the most toys... ..wins!"
      - all wargaming dads

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  2. ehi, 3y ago longboards and surfskates hit me also like a lighting bolt!!!
    In next easter I'll try a pool! :D

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    1. Also been into boards for 3-4 years - ever since I needed to keep up with my son, who ditched bike trainer wheels aged 2 and is FAST. I decided I'd rather look like I was having a midlife crisis (longboard) than I was on parole/had made poor life choices (scooter)

      4 years later: cheap RARE downhill w 165 paris v2 & cult creators; cheap RARE freeride with 180 caliber 2s and remember hoots; pantheon ember long distance pusher; landyachtz drop cat; landyachtz rally cat with indys and snakes; powell oldschool 9.5 with g-slides, and a Globe popsicle....

      I'm not a good skater at all, but a wargaming dad can obviously collect with the best of 'em.

      Currently I'm interested in short topmount RKP longboards in the 34-37" range. If only I was in USA - Earthwing is again putting out cheap stuff.

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  3. So, you actually skate! I am impressed. I would get myself killed if I tried.

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    1. I just ride around a lot, with my kids. I'm not very skillful but I've only had one serious spill in years - when my son ran into me. Way more fun than BMX or scooters.

      Longboards are waaaay more stable than 'popsicles' and can be made very un-wobbly (even for my 200lb+) with high duro bushings.

      Collecting skate bits is as fun as wargame models - I highly recommend it. And you can swoop down (in my case very shallow) hills on them!

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  4. As you get older, skate falls feel (and heal) very different than when you are a little kid, especially if you've put on extra weight. As an adult, I can't imagine taking some of the spills I did when I was younger.

    Watch out, old man...

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    1. Yep, I'd like to complain that since I've hit Level 40, my Consitution, Agility stats & HP have been declining; so I wear a +30 Armour helmet and +10 Armour slide gloves minimum, and usually usually +10 Jeans or +20 kneepads for dangerous encounters...

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  5. Long silence here, hope it's just life keeping you busy and not a nasty side effect of the longboarding hobby!

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    1. No - I'm fine. Work has been pretty morale-sapping and if I have spare time I tend to play outdoors/videogames with my kids; the prep time of wargaming has been sidelining it when I am time poor

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