On a completely different subject....COMPUTER GAMES

Dearest all, sorry for the long delay in posting to the all of THREE people who've probably missed my posts on their Blogspot feed.


Have I been away from gaming and painting?
Yes, I have. I had a motorbike accident on April 21st and just recently re-gained use of my arm (the left one gratefully)
I've also been to PNG for a wedding and to Fremantle in WA to see friends travelling from Italy, and though painful it was good to get away from Melbourne's cold in the early stages of recovery when the cold shivers made my shoulder and collar bone feel like they were being taken to by hordes of Goblins. Nasty ones. Not the funny GW ones...


In this hiatus I have taken an interest in the, for me, unknown realms of desktop gaming. I'd considered buying a console as I'll be off work awhile longer while I do physio in the coming months and hoped that would help with the depression of being home-bound, too.


Then I decided I'd explore a field I know nothing about...ie gaming PCs.
I spent a week online slowly typing my way through YouTube videos, guides, reviews and manufacturer's sites and will soon purchase this little beast.

The Guardian 921RB (Reborn) has a modern, stylish design with a spacious all-black interior that's easy to work on. The unit comes standard with 3 low noise 120mm fans optimally placed for excellent cooling, and temperatures are constantly monitored via the three temperature probes that output to the integrated LCD temp display. E-SATA, HD Audio, Mic and USB2.0 ports are conveniently located at the front of the case. Power supply not included.

Socket 1155, Intel B75 Chipset, 2x DDR3, 3x SATA III 6Gbps, 4x USB 3.0, 1x PCI Express 3.0 x16 slot, Gigabit ethernet, 6 channel audio, HDMI, DVI, D-Sub, mATX form factor. Backed by a 3 year warranty.

• 100% All Solid Capacitor Design
• Supports Dual Channel DDR3 1600
• 1 x PCIe 3.0 x16 Slot, Supports AMD Quad CrossFireX, CrossFireX
• PCIE Gigabit LAN
• Supports Intel HD Graphics with Built-in Visuals
• Multi VGA Output options: D-Sub, DVI-D, HDMI
• Combo Cooler Option (C.C.O.)
• 5.1 CH HD Audio (Realtek ALC662 Audio Codec), Supports THX TruStudio
• Supports ASRock XFast RAM, XFast LAN, XFast USB, OMG, Internet Flash, UEFI System Browser
• Supports Intel Smart Connect, Intel Rapid Start, Intel Small Business Advantage
• Free Bundle: CyberLink MediaEspresso 6.5 Trial, ASRock MAGIX Multimedia Suite

Intel Core i5 3550 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo) Quad Core CPU (Ivy Bridge), LGA1155, 6MB, BX80637I53550. Retail box including fan, heatsink and thermal paste

Enjoy lightning fast performance, providing next-level speed for your graphic-intense games; get faster load times enhancing your gaming experience from boot-up to shut-down and every in-game moment in-between.

• Capacity: 120 GB
• Interface: SATA 6 Gb/s (backward compatible to SATA 3 Gb/s & SATA 1.5 Gb/s)
• Temperature (operating/non-operating): 0˚C to 70˚C / -55˚C to 95C
• Active Power: 0.6W
• Shock Resistant: 1500G @ 0.5 msec
• Vibration (operating/non-operating): 2.17gRMS, 5-700Hz / 3.13gRMS, 5-800Hz

The Samsung S24B300h 24in Widescreen LED Monitor features a 1,920 x 1,080 resolution, 5ms GTG response time, 170/160 viewing angle, 250 cd/m2 brightness, 16.7M colour support and is equipped with 1x HDMI and 1x D-Sub inputs.

Western Digital Green Power 2TB WD20EARX Caviar, IntelliPower, SATAIII, 3.5", 64MB Cache. Cool, quiet, eco-friendly. WD Caviar Green drives use less power and support quieter, cooler-running desktop PCs and external storage devices. 
Covered by Western Digital's 2 year warranty.

The MSI GeForce GTX 570 Twin Frozr III Power Edition features a core clock of 732MHz, 1280MB of GDDR5 memory at 3800MHz (effective) through a 320bit bus, Twin Frozr dual fan cooler for improved cooling and overclocking headroom, 2x DVI and 1x mini-HDMI outputs. Backed by a 3 year warranty.

Corsair high performance Vengeance memory module 8GB (2x4GB) 1600MHz 9-9-9-24, 1.5V for motherboards using Intel dual channel processors including the 2nd Generation Intel Core platform. Vengeance memory modules provide users with outstanding memory performance and stability.

Simple HD 720p video calling! Experience widescreen high definition video calls with most major instant messaging applications and the included Logitech Vid HD software. Your friends and family will see you in life like detail with 3 megapixel photos and you can be heard loud and clear thanks to a built in microphone that reduces background noise.

High-speed internal DVD/CD writer with SATA Interface, Cyberlink OEM software. The Pioneer DVR-220 offers up to 24x writing on DVD-R/+R media and up to 12x writing on DVD-R/+R (DL). It also works with Dual Layer Discs, increasing the capacity of a disc from 4.7 to 8.5 gigabytes, for even more storage space. Backed by a 1 year warranty.

Antec 550W Strictly Power Supply, 120mm fan with Active PFC, Dual +12V rails, 2x PCI-E, 5x SATA, 4x Molex. Backed by a 2 year warranty.

The MK260 Desktop Keyboard and mouse features advanced 2.4 GHz wireless so you can work or play in more places, the long range wireless connection virtually eliminates delays, dropouts and interference. The smart power management means less hassle with a 24 month keyboard battery life and 5 month mouse battery life (Battery life may vary based on user and computing conditions). The keyboard creates a natural typing feel that keeps you comfortable hour after hour and the contoured mouse is designed to fit comfortably in your hand. With plug and play simplicity setup takes seconds. You simply plug the wireless receiver into a USB port on your computer and start using your keyboard and mouse right away without software!

TL-WN781ND Wireless Lite N PCI Express(x1) Adapter provides a wider compatibility, fitting with any standard PCI Express slot, x1, x4, x8 or x16. Compared with standard PCI network cards, it offers increased bandwidth, reliability and more functionality, allowing you to enjoy a fast connection when downloading, making internet calls and video streaming.

I'm sure there are better rigs out there but as I've never been taken with computer games, preferring the vis-a-vis experience of miniature wargaming and the effort of building, customizing and fielding my armies of little minions - err, I mean proud warriors! - I think this is a good starting point in this new field of hobbying.
More to come as the pieces are assembled and the build itself begins.
Unfortunately not much to report on the gaming front at the moment, aside from the excitement of Mantic's KS campaign coming to a thunderingly successful completion, and the excitement connected to the imminent release of Battle for Alabaster by miniature God Mr. McVey and wife.
Also of note is the development of an almost Epic PC turn-based game in the form of the wicked-looking Exodus Wars : Fractured Empire which I'm also very excited about.


This is my first time at building a gaming rig and except for a few extras like headphones and speakers the whole thing came in $1500.
Please comment if you know about PC gaming and have any tips
Thanks for reading
Godspeed and my at least YOUR dice roll high!
S.

Kings of War - Romans vs Celts

Dear all
the first thing you'll note is that due to a small misunderstanding then Roman troops and regiments are the same size as Celtic hordes. Did that have something to do with the Celtic loss? Nha.....that would be a sore loser grasping at straws, wouldn't it be? And that's not what I am (or am I.....)

Actually, having written to the other two players asking if I'd made any mistakes, it turns out it was the OTHER way round - my Celts were based as regiments rather than hordes, which did of course make them MORE manoeuvrable.
So I guess I was at an advantage, not the underdog. But these are such minor details
:)

On the board were seven tokens (green) which represent the objectives to be held at game's end if that was the victory condition rolled. As you well know in KoW you don't know whether you're playing for slaughter or objectives till the very end of the game, making it a deep tactical consideration how deeply you want to commit to either facet of the engangement


The Celtic battlelines

1/72 scale beautifully painted archer troop, chariot regiment, infantry hordes

More Hordes, more archers and skirmishers, a clan lord, some light cav

The full army arrayed ready to give the invading Romans the beating they deserve

The Cavalry heavy Roman army looks VASTLY larger than it should as its troops are based as regiments, and behaved as such, and their regiments as hordes - but let's move on from these little details of "little" consequence....

Lots of regulars, three blocks in fact protected by skirmishers who would make and amazing impact on the game

The Roman center, the General, their initial deployment being a strong corner and denied flank arrangement

Romans move forth spreading their four regiments (which should have been troops!) in a fan manouver while the cavalry moves out one flank and archers and skirmishers cover the advance

What do Celts do? They move forth of course! Terrain affecting their unity, they spread out into three spears to effect three flank combat zones

Celtic Cavalry on one flank manoeuvre to charge the heavy Roman flank in both the flank and front.

The Chariots smash into a Roman block and find themselves drawn into the same deadly trick

The Chariots hold the high ground forcing the Romans to spread to protect their flanks

The battles in the center are furious beyond belief for both sides. A total back and forth bloodbath

 Here the question raised...had the Romans been troops (as they were paid for) instead of regiments (as which they rolled and acted and whose area they covered) how long would this all have gone on for?

The Celts own the battlefield destroying all but one Roman troop/regiment BUT leaving the skirmishers to roam the battlefield and carry on putting hits and forcing Nerve tests

So in conclusion, the Romans won. Despite the Celts having obliterated the Roman forces, their skirmishers managed two turns of nerve test causing little wounds which forced the Celts to leave the board.

A fantastic battle, which I would love to play again with the Romans rolling, testing nerve and having the right base sizes for their troop cost, and I learned a very valuable lesson indeed - in Kings of War even a SINGLE little wound, insignificant as it may appear, causes Nerve tests. And THAT's how you win battles in KoW.

Thanks Ben for a great game, and Tom for once more supplying all the terrain and miniatures.

Thank YOU for stopping by and reading
May your dice roll high!
Steven

Mantic Orc Project

Dearest all
I have been scouring the web for weeks now looking for photos to inspire me in painting my new 2000pt Mantic Orc army with no luck.
Thus I thought I'd do a little progress report of my own efforts.
This was today's production

My humble workstation

The first test piece I painted in all of ten minutes utilizing Leather Brown Army Painter as a base.
I tried to maintain a very limited palette to reflect my view of how Orcs should look and of course I'm not big on the "in your face" GW colour of Orcs. Thus I painted mine in a much more toned down Russian Uniform colour. It was then washed in Vallejo Dip and finally given a nice very minimal ultra subtle highlight of Bleached Bone drybrush.

Next I began working on the command groups of all my various units. As gorgeous as the Mantic figures are, let's be honest here: the figures are modular to a degree but I want each unit to have its own character.
Cue my trusty knife, snippers, glue, lots of bits from Chaos, Orcs, Brettonia etc...

Just a little conversion here and there, a few head swaps, a few arms, weapons.....the usual suspects!

In total my force will soon consist of
Krudger on Gore (155 pts)

Flagger (30 pts)

Krudger (120 pts)

Krudger (120 pts)

Orc Shaman (120 pts)

Morax Regiment with Full Command (175 pts)

Morax Regiment with Full Command (175 pts)

Gore Riders Regiment with Full Command (170 pts)

Gore Riders Regiment with Full Command (170 pts)

Greatax Regiment with Full Command (135 pts)

Greatax Regiment with Full Command (135 pts)

Ax Horde with Full Command (135 pts)

Ax Horde with Full Command (135 pts)

Ax Regiment with Full Command (85 pts)

Orclings Troop (70 pts)

Orclings Troop (70 pts)


How long will it take me to get through this?
Well I guess we're just going to have to wait and see and, if you're interested in Mantic Orcs, please follow this blog over the next few weeks!

Thanks for reading, and may your dice roll high!
Steven

Warhammer 40k - Imperial Fists cop it from Chaos' Iron Warriors

Another weekend gone, dearest readers, and I hope you are well.
This weekend I dusted off my Imperial Fists army for a game with my pal Mattie. He recently participated in a 1k tournament and I've to say the 1k points limit suits my approach to 40k.
Quick, limited activations (a dozen or so units in my case, about 8 in his) and all round fast and bloody.

In my case I took
1x Librarian
1x Tac Squad (10) with Plasma Cannon
1x Tac Squad (10) with Heavy bolter
1x Venerable Dread (assault cannon)
1x Regular Dread (twin linked autocannon)
1x Land Speeder (twin-linked missile launcher)
1x Predator (lascannon and sponson heavy bolters)

1000pt

Mattie fielded
1x Marine Squad (5) led by Champion w/transport
1x Marine Squad (10) with Icon of Khorne w/transport
1x Demon possessed Defiler
1x Obliterator Squad (2)
1x Infiltrator Squad (6)

995pt

As you'll see in the video I was very rusty on the rules, and the tactics in general. Then again Mattie is a seasoned if pleasant fellow to game against so, at this size, I can see more 40k happening in the future.

Unfortunately for moi, this time, the Emperor did NOT protect and we were forced to make an advance to the rear surrendering the battlefield objectives to the forces of Chaos!

Thanks for stopping by, may your dice roll well friends!
S.

NEW VIDEO - Goblins move in the shadows of the Hero's Quest....

Greetings!
Here's hoping you're having a serene Good Friday, wherever that may be
Me, I had a few friends over for fish and pasta and wine and a relaxed afternoon in the sun
I'm WAAAY too full in fact and very grateful. So much so that what I did was re-organized my games room (it's not done yet, so no pics...) and ventured back through my projects to do up 6 HQ Goblins

For those like me who like videos running in the background while you paint (tutorials, movies, how to, historical bios and such...) I've made a little video of the progress thus far which you can find here.


 Started off as usual with a black undercoat. In the back the palette I'm going to use (16 colours total)

First the Goblins were given a dark skin colour base

 I tried to keep them distinguishable (so players can ID them by the blue one, the yellow one, the purple one and so forth...)

My missus chose to do a few pics of the artiste at work...LOL!

I also touched up the mummies

They were given some nice highlights all round

And here is a selection of close ups after the eyes were done and smudges and the like touched up.

They're still missing the belt buckles, jewel effects on the hilts of the weapons, various blood and mud smudges and washes here and there.

How I've decided to run this though is to get all the miniatures from the set "table ready" then do all the bases at once and those touch ups you always invariably miss while giving them the first once over.

That's it for tonight, thank you for reading. I'm off to play some Medieval II and get my bottom wipped once more!
Have a great Easter
S.