Happy Christmas!

 This is my first entry in AHPC XI!

I've acquired a 3d resin printer (Creality Photon S) and these are the first prints off the bed, with factory settings. Old King Swol and the Tree of the Holy Cog are free files from The Makers Cult. I added a skull to the tree top.

I was going to do a racing green and white tree, but inspiration struck and I went for AdMech red. The scheme reminds me of my Epic titans.

I like the raging Saint Nick; there's a definite pagan Hogfather vibe.

Skullz: 16

Happy Christmas everyone, and stay safe!

Assassinorum Battle Report: Phase 2

Phase 1: Infiltration

Phase 2: Assassinate the Sorceror Lord

++ Click to embiggen ++

*Culexus died, not the Callidus

Oof. I got through the teleporter with many turns to go and all my Assassins unwounded. Things then went downhill fast as I got surrounded by Traitor Marines, who are both harder to take down and harder-hitting than cultists. The Eversor used up all his luck in the doorway and went down, as did the Culexus. Full frontal assaults aren't a good idea! I got hit hard by event cards which reduced my actions on multiple turns.

But the Vindicare and Callidus kept my hopes up. The Vindicare is, sadly, the weak link in this team- short-ranged indoors environments aren't his forte and he consistently underperforms. But today he held his own against multiple Traitor Marines for many more turns than he should have! This distracted multiple guards allowing the Callidus to take her polymorphine and shapeshift into a cultist- I was really happy with the miniature I chose for this deception- and sashay up to the Big Bad.

Cultist femme fatale or disguised assassin?

She got in two of the three wounds needed to take down this armoured beast, and then survived the counterattacks. She went for the third- failed- used her last poison blades for a reroll- also failed. On literally what would have been the last turn of the game, she desperately went in again but fell in a hail of fire.

The Big Bad and his lieutenants

The Chaos minis are showing their age, but the Assassins are lovely, even if I'm not a fan of the extravagant scenery bases following them around. I like how the little Familiar is used as an on-table turn marker. The boards are gorgeous, almost too glossy, but unfortunately there's only one way to set up the map. The automated enemy rules are really good. I used some Mines of Moria columns for a bit of pizzazz.

Execution Force Designate BarksAlphaKillSkullRaptorMax.
Status: Missing

Assassionorum: Execution Force is well out of print, but if you can find it, I'd recommend it.

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Thought of the day:

Victory requires no explanation.

Defeat allows no explanation.

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Made with Comic Life 3 and LensFX

Assassinorum Battle Report: Phase 1

++Inquisitorial Report++

++Ordo Sicarius Eyes-only++

++Unauthorised access is a sin++

++ The High Lords of Terra duly authorise a Level Delta Assassinorum mission against a Sorceror Lord beholden to the Ruinous Powers. Stop him before he completes his unspeakable ritual.++

++ Execution Force Operatives ++

Callidus Assassin

Eversor Assassin

Culexus Psychic Assassin

Vindicare Sniper

++ This will be a two phase mission. ++

++ Phase 1: Infiltrate the renegade base. Locate, activate and utilise the Teleportarium to gain access to the Sorceror's profane temple. ++

++ Phase 2: Assassinate the Sorceror Lord. Failure is not an option. ++

++ Phase 1 pict-report ++

++ Click to embiggen ++

So, I got Assassinorum: Execution Force to the table. What a little gem of a game this is! Perfect for solo play, you control four assassins sneaking into a Chaos base looking for a Teleportarium and its Control Room. There are sentries, who follow predetermined but slightly random paths printed on the board. Staying out of their line of sight isn't necessary, but they will swamp you if you are incautious- or unlucky. Random event cards spice things up (usually badly)- and the more alerted guards there are, the more cards come out.

Should you split up or stay together? Incautiously race to find rooms or risk running out of time? Slip past the guards unseen or take them out? All up, it is a fun puzzle with simple mechanics that tells a tense story. The automated sentry rules are simply excellent.

I think I'm going pretty well here. Luck has been with me: I've found the necessary rooms and eliminated thirteen of fourteen guards so far. I'm coming through the teleporter with three Assassins simultaneously and I haven't taken a single wound! Time is ticking, however...

Next week: The gripping conclusion!

Made with Comic Life 3 and LensFX

Elvis

This is a gift for a friend who is really into Elvis. She took me to an 'Elvis tribute artist' show a few years ago- apparently 'Elvis impersonator' is an offensive term, i.e. someone who is doing identity theft. We went to an Elvis pizzeria for her birthday many years ago as well.

The figure is from Slave 2 Gaming, who have a whole range of Elvises. Elvii?

Happy 9th Bloggiversary!

So. 2020, huh?

This year's retrospective is brought to you by the colour Tolkien. I've also knocked over some older projects that have been lingering too long, and painted some quirky individual miniatures.

Tolkien points

I had an unexpected resurgence in my interest in all things Middle-earth. I played in a tournament (remember those?) in January. I have enjoyed Journeys in Middle-earth. I dusted off (and was pleasantly surprised by) Battle of Five Armies. I got in a game of War of the Ring. My favourite piece of the year is my Sauron vignette. Not to mention the travelling Gandalves.

Orcs versus dwarves

On the slopes of Orodruin

Gandalves

Battle of Five Armies

Other projects

I'm glad to have finished all my Batman figures, and the 40K Assassins that were an albatross around my neck. Also two more Blood Bowl teams. I'm secretly relieved that GW has called 'time' on Blackstone Fortress, as I wasn't able to keep up with the admittedly slow pace of releases. I've still got a few more to paint, and many hours of gaming to go.

I'm Batman!

40K Assassins

The Green Streaks

Blackstone Fortress: Escalation

The Dunwich Hoppers

Other quirky figures

Unexpected Inquisitors

Intrepid archaeologist

Undead emperor

Drunken pirate

Rogue Trader Trooper Chow

La Légion Étrangère Camel Sousaphone

Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo

I particularly enjoyed the Skullfight I had with Paul of the Mancave during AHPC X. I painted 200 skulls, but Paul pulled out all the stops and smashed me with 543 skulls on the Skull-o-meter™. STOP THE COUNT! I conceded, and handed over Skully McSkullface, who I was very pleased to see star in a later battle report.

Skully McSkullface

The coming year:

• I'm looking forward to AHPC XI.
• There will be no CanCon in January, because of the Pangolin's Revenge.
• I'm working more on 3D printing.
• I await some crowdfunded boardgames.
• Can I resist the siren call of Necromunda and the grim darkness of the far future?
• Time to revisit WW1.

My AHPC X output

My journey across Challenge Island