Adventures with Nissan

Or "Don't Car Shop with out Bob Seeley"

To begin our intrepid story I will start Sunday. Mike and I played a game of Malifaux and it ended a lot earlier than expected, So i popped over to Car Max to get a price on my car and a price on a used car. I was there for about an hour to an hour and a half. I saw a lot of nice cars in my price range, but at the end of they day they only offered my 2k for my 03 Sentra. I was a little dissapointed by this but not discouraged. I called my dad and let him know what I found. I also told him I was going to take my car to the Nissan Mechanic because I was having persistant problems that wouldn't go away.

Monday
Monday I take a half day to go to the Mechanic and Doctor. At around 4 the Mechanic calls to tell me I need over a grand in repairs for the car. I tell him to fix the Drive belt for $50 and say screw the rest. I head over there to look at the Nissan Versa. its the cheapest car Nissan makes and I can get on kitted out with nifty features for around 11,000. I take it for a Spin, Ellen comes out to look at it and We end up leaving for the night with some good numbers and information.

Tuesday
I was all set to get the Versa and was looking over my Finances with Ellen. We agreed that at the current price this car fit the Budget very well. As I left work my dad called me and said he wanted me to test drive the Sentra. I was hesitant because its quite a bit more money for the Sentra. but he had talked the guy down in price on a certain one and it was only a little more than the Versa. i took it for a spin, then Ellen did too. We looked at the features and immediately said no when it was found it had no ABS. My dad was on the phone at this point with a friend of his who sells cars. I mentioned to the manager that my upper ceiling was 230 a month, that was a mistake on my part. he runs the numbers on a Gray Sentra with ABS, cruise control, etc and comes back with 230 a month plus $500 down. I say no, and my dad gives me a dirty look for telling him I can do $230. Guy comes back to us with $212 a month with $500 down. We say we want $0 down. He says well maybe he can get the car lot to give me an additional $500 on my trade. We say you do that, we'll go to dinner. We got back to the Nissan dealership at 8. We took the new Sentra for a test drive, drove great. Then we waited for like 40 mins as a bunch of paper work was getting set up and they were running my credit. Finally they call me back and say ok its all for 215.89 a month. And I was like wait... I was told 212. Well my dad was pretty angry and he kinda over-reacted on the poor finance guy, who didn't create the numbers he just ran what the manager told him to run. The manager came in and siad he never told us 212 a month. we argued and the manager said "Im losing money on this deal already." My dad replied, "Well I don't want you to lose money, we can go somewhere else." We walked out and they caught us in the reception area to say hold on. 10 mins later they came back with 212.80 a month. That I signed on.


So the Car itself!
Pretty decent engine, fantastic gas mileage, and a bunch of features you never thought you would need but now I can't live out. Its a pretty cool grey color, and even has a connector to hook my Ipod up to the Radio so I can control it with my steering Wheel.

Looks a little something like this guy

Rock Poem

I was Paranoid that this was More Than a Feeling.
I felt Hot Blooded and wanted to Come On Eileen
She told me to Dream On and then to Beat It
I took a Crazy Train down to Africa and then
Rocked it like a Hurricane, until I was Wanted Dead or Alive
now a Renagade i went Up Around the Bend
Living in a Teenage Wasteland i waited until New Years Day
All I wanted was to Rock and Roll all Night, untilI met Tom Sawyer
Under Pressure, I Wouldn't Back Down
Now I'm on the Stair Way to Heaven Knocking on Heaven's Door



This idea came to me in a dream last night...

FSA Report

Last night Brian and I finally got in a game. It was a 500 point test for a possible new mission for our Firestorm Armada Campaign. He took a stanadard Battle Box of ships. I mixed it up with 2 units of 3 Cruisers, 1 unit of 3 Frigates, and 2 units of 2 frigates. The Board was set up so that His Ships Deployed in a single Corner and I was set up in small boxes centered on the opposite table edges.



We then Deployed 9 Escape Pods on the Board. Brian's Goal was to collect them for Bonus VP's. My goal was to kill him dead. We both began to move towards the Center of the Board. Maneuvering around the Nebula the Aqueans were using to Cover their advance. As I saw the Terrain laid out I was very Glad I had forgone the Battleship Since my speed would be crucial in this battle. I also Drew a Local Support Card which I turned into 5 Assault Boats.




I was able to first Strike and Kill off an entire squad of Frigates. My brand New assault boats got an extra boost when brian forgot he had a Bingo Fuel Card to play. They were able to take over one of his Frigates before being sent away to re-fuel.

My Cruisers went to work and did a number on Brians Ships, but thanks to repair cards and 2 reinforced armors His Battle Ship went back up to full life. It then moved into the middle of my fleet, which was split up due to the nebula and Fired out of every arc. As Mike and Brian both commented, it was an Aquan player's wet dream. He even shot his Aft guns at the Frigate I took over to prevent me from getting the bonus vp's. His cruisers followed up in the Tetris Formation and continued the Barrage of shots into my fleet. I lost 2 cruisers, another was damaged, as well as losing a Frigate, and My trophy Frigate.


My return fire was pretty effective. I was able to kill off 1 cruiser and Crit another. Wounded the Cruiser grabbed a pair of Pods and hit the FTL. I poured several shot into him but the tough Aquean ships held up to the Barrage and 2 escape pods were rescued. The battleship began to take more shots from the Remaining Sorylian Cruisers and it was starting to wear down. The remaining squad of Aquean Frigates were killed off by 2 cruisers and a little help from a pair of Frigates.



Not yet showing how much Damage it had taken the Battle ship unleashed another barrage and blew away two more Sorylian Cruisers. Leaving me with 1. In a last ditch Effort to destroy the Battleship my final Cruiser flew up along side and unleased 4 squads of Marines. Surviving the Point Defense they boarded the Aquean ship, but were no match for the number of Soldiers they faced. Still I was able to reduce his ship to 2cp and 2 ap.



His Battleship had been hit hard on the previous turn lost the ability to turn. His cruiser, limping away from the Frigates who were hounding him grabbed another pair of Escape pods and hit the FTL. I won the roll for the next turn and knew right away where I would begin my activations.



I moved into RB2 and played a Blistering fire power. But even with 11 dice I was unable to score even a single hit. The Cruiser then busted out of there cargo safely in tow. The Battleship moved forward fired guns and grabbed a pod. My frigates followed up and managed to score a hit reducing it to its final wound.

Brian sensing it was time to get the big boy out of there grabbed a pod, coasted into an asteroid field and hit the FTL. My cruiser followed up and took a haily mary shot with only 3 dice. with no luck. not out of it yet, I sent my frigates right up to the Ship and Assaulted it. My first wave went poorly, losing a unit and causing no casualties. My Last two frigates played engine overburn and flew right up into range, dropping off two assault boats I was pleasently surprised when they Won the fight. brians 4 dice yielded 0 successes, and my 2 got me 1. Mike then pointed out that since it was the first turn of that boarding action my marines could sabotage the ship, causing it to suffer a Critical hit. Deciding their sacrifice was worthwhile the Brave marines planted their explosives in the engine bays and blew the Aquean battleship to pieces.

We sat down after the game and chatted for a bit about the mission. As were talking I mentioned Brian had killed 300 points of cruisers... then we realized He may have won. So he had to go back and Count out our VP totals. As it ended up I had recieved 190 vps he had 170. Had his battleship been able to make it out he would have won soundly, 190-90.

Thanks to mike for photgraphing our game for us.

Surogates + Painting Frenzy

*Possible Spoiler - I tried not to*
Ellen and I watched Surogates last night. Had an interesting debate in the movie. Mostly are surogates good or bad. Bruce Willis was on the undecided team, and the rest of the world had chosen a side. Ellen and I ended up debating on it. Would you live in a Surogate? Personally I would say its a tough call. Be safe from almost all harm, look like whatever you want, and drastically reduce violent crimes etc. It sounds like a great idea. But the whole no more real human contact aspect kinda bothers me. Still it would be great for Soldiers to keep them safe in battle, also it would be good for spinalcord patients, or any other debilitating diseases. Honestly I have no idea how I would fall on this issue. Though seeing the way the Humans who hated Surogates lives I totally would have had one. Im not busting my self back to the stone age for that crap.


Well keeping with my current trends for Malifaux and FSA I went into a painting Frenzy this weekend. At little later this week ill take the time to Photograph everything I did but for today enjoy some Punk Zombies.









And Lastly my new idea for a 30 point Seamus Crew is fully Painted

Salamanders Final Cut

So this like my 18th list for Salamanders, but this is what im building, Visual Aids added for the non-40k players benefit

Vulkan He'stan - 190


Librarian, Terminator Armor, Storm Shield - 140



5 Assault Terminators, Thunder Hammers and Storm Sheilds - 200


Venerable Dreadnought, Heavy Flamer, Drop Pod - 175



10 Tactical Marines, Melta Gun, Multi-Melta, Power Fist, Combi-Flamer, Rhino - 245
10 Tactical Marines, Melta Gun, Multi-Melta, Power Fist, Combi-Flamer, Rhino - 245
10 Tactical Marines, Melta Gun, Multi-Melta, Power Fist, Combi-Flamer, Rhino - 245



3x Attack Bikes, Multi-Meltas - 150
3x Attack Bikes, Multi-Meltas - 150


Land Raider Redeemer, Multi-Melta Turret - 250


The Redeemer is actually in the Color Scheme my Army will be.

History in Gaming Part 3. Role Playing

Role Playing is going to get split into two sections. Character I've really enjoyed playing and the a Ranking of Systems. moslty because my RP history is a bit of a blur.

So Characters that I have really enjoyed.

Dante Gallos - The lovable bodyguard turned assassin who i enjoyed enough to revive for another round of games. He lived a tough childhood, training for hours on end to perfect his craft. His father, also his teacher, was strict in his lessons and never let a mistake go without a punishment or reminder. He had a strict code that he lived by, formed when he took the life of a women and her children. He was scarred by his own actions and vowed never again. He went on to be the body guard to two young noble ladies. He fell in love with one of them and things went well for a while and then the game ended. In Dante the revisited, He returns an older far more bitter man. His love spruned him for another and the family that he sought to protect was gone. he had been betrayed and almost killed. He had found a Secret society that welcomed him with open arms, they were at first pleased with his ability with a blade as well as his utter disregard for morals, his old code no longer mattered. he was driven by revenge against the one who took his love and ruined the family he protected. When the hammer fell he landed on the side against the Society's leader. Helping to defeat and imprison the man. As the weeks of civil war within their ranks raged on Dante began to feel he may have chosen the wrong side. Achille could provide that which he desired most. Before he could act on his feelings... the game ended.... damn it mike! In the first game in one of the opening scenes we got attack by highway men. Dante Charged straight into them and using drama dice and my awesome attack stats I was able to drop 13 men in like 3 rounds of combat. It was cool especially when the town guard rolled up and i was covered in blood Dragon Age Style, and was like yo! what up? Awesomeness. My other favorite was When ryan And My character's had been fighting with Chase an Eisen who was tough as nails. the three of us beat the ever-loving crap out of each other and Ryan was knocked out. Chase tried to drag him out the room and I stepped up behind him, lit a match and held it to a grenade and told him he had one chance to get out here before the grenade blows and lit the fuse. he dropped Ryan and booked it the hell outta there... again, Awesome!

Buli - The Ogrin from our IK horror game. he was a lot of fun, but wasn't a deep character. I liked him because our whole group had great chemestry in that game. My favorite moment was when we were on a train and attacked, Mike steps outside and sees a steam-jack charging the train and first response is to yell my name. i totallt went toe-toe with that thing. Big props to mike for that though. Set up that the character was like the groups version of Chewie, very loyal and willing to put it all on the line to save everyone else.

Imrik - My poor ranger from Rembaldi. When I made this character I had no idea how he would turn out. The entire concept was he is a full fledged elven soldier, one of the best out there and hes essentially only 17. he also had awful social skills. What he ended up being though was the luckiest unlucky guy ever. he was drafted into the fight to Stop Mourne. Got called into an accidental confrontation with Black-Love. Was drawn into a meeting with a bunch of Dwarves which led him back to a meeting with black-love, mind-bane, death-walker, and the scarlet thorn. leaving only the Masque and Ulak(i think). Imrik would constantly find himself in these unbelievable situations with people far stronger than he could ever hope to be, and yet some how he would walk away from it all. Until mike ended the game... Im sensing a growing theme here...

Phoenix - My half Vampire in Ryan's Angel game. this guy was a ton of fun play as I made up what he was. His mother was turned while preggers, so I was like a half vampire. I made this up before I knew about Conner I was only into season 1 of Angel at the time. I got to kinda make up what aspects of a Vampire he was affected by and what advantages he didn't have. it was a lot of fun, Mike and I bounced off each other very well in that game. With luck I think we can get Ryan to restart it again.

Michio - My Mantis turned Ronin turned Panther Clan Samurai. I started the game as a Ronin who was expelled from the mantis clan for killing my master in a Duel to first blood. It was an accident, but they refused my Seppukku. Little did they know I would join the Panther Clan and be instrumental in their defeat a few years later... YEAH SUCK IT. I also saved the Panther Clan's Champion's life that day. I was eventually adopted into the Clan and was actually on track to become one of the more prominent members but again like always, the game fell apart.

Dodin & Dauntless - I group them together because it was from the same game. First I was Dauntless the Barbarian. I turned every beast we killed into Jerky. Our group ate Hydra Jerky and Manticore Jerky and I tried to give them Liche Jerky but they didn't like it as much. Partway into the game Jay quit and he was our Wizard, so i re-rolled into Dodin the mage. he was a gnome who thought he was a dwarf. His parents were and so was his brother, no one ever bothered to tell him he was adopted. I kept his jerky making skill strong so we could continue to feast on lots of Jerky. And later Mike and I got into a contest. Could I deal more Damage than he takes. It was close, but i belive his desire to talk half the damage every other player took usually gave him the edge. That game was fun on a bun!

Jon Parker - Our Final Character is currently still being played. mike is running us through Hot War and Jon Parker is kinda like Dean Winchester from Supernatural. This character has evolved tremendously through the game. There are still a lot of things left for him to accomplish but for now he is one of my favorite characters... and he's in mike's hands... yup... he's boned!

Little More Malifaux Painting

So last week or most likely the week before I got my 2 Flesh Constructs as well as the zombie Chihuahua painted up. Here is 1 Construct and the Dog





Tonight I decided I was going to Prime my Punk Zombies and Paint my 3 Undead Belles. This was the perfect plan and like every great battle plan fell apart upon contact with the enemy. See I had it all figured out, but I was really lazy and then the Caps and Penguins went into a shoot out. So instead I got 1 belle Painted. 0 Punks Primed, and out of Boredom and a desire to have him done so i wouldn't have to look at it anymore, the Grave Spirit.

Obamacare

Im not a really political person. I'm christian, know that Gun Control is a poor decision, and that I don't want to pay a lot of taxes. Those three guidelines have led me to the republican party. Im not a hardcore conservative, I don't care if gays get married, I respect pro-choice, etc.

Normally I would never even attempt political commentary, but this new Health Care bill is the worst thing I have ever seen. I have been getting articles from several people over the last few days explaining some of the things this bill is setting up. The one I just read is what got me so angry that I had to write this. Under this new Health Care plan, the Government will be taxing medical equipment. The proposal will be a $4 billion tax yearly on all equipment over $100. This is 40% of the projected sales over the next decade. This will make it more expensive to get defibrilators in public places. More expensive for companies to produce new medical equipment, such as the auto-matic insulin pump for diabetics. its a very expensive piece of equipment that measures your blood-sugar level and creates automatic doses for you. Worst of all with the R&D companies paying out so much of their profits to the Government they will not be able to continue with medical break throughs that might enhance out daily lives or save lives all together. Basically under this plan Obama has effectively set Spinal Cord and Diabetes research back ten years.

There comes a time when people need to admit a mistake, and this Health Care plan is a huge mistake. But no one is willing to admit it because this bill is no longer about health Care. Its about winning a bi-partisan battle. If the Bill passes then Obama was able to do what he said and he looks strong. If it fails then the Democrats look weak because they can't do the one thing they said they would. But while this battle rages on the Hill, the rest of America is sitting here thumbs up our asses, despite how opposed this country is to the bill waiting for it to become a law so we can all pay more money for worse health care. Thanks Obama, you are now worse than Jimmy Carter... and he was attacked by a Rabbit.

Salamanders 3.0

Im still trying to get this list down right. So here is my next incarnation

Vulkan - 190
Librarian, Terminator Armor, Storm Shield - 140

5 Terminators, Thunder Hammer, Storm Shield - 200
Dreadnught, Drop Pod, Heavy Flamer - 150
Dreadnught, Drop Pod, Heavy Flamer - 150

10x Tactical Marines, Melta Gun, M-Melta, Power Fist, Drop Pod, Combi-Flamer - 245
10x Tactical Marines, Melta Gun, M-Melta, Power Fist, Drop Pod, Combi-Flamer - 245
10x Tactical Marines, Melta Gun, M-Melta, Power Fist, Drop Pod, Combi-Flamer - 245

2x Attack Bikes, Mutli-Melta - 100
2x Attack Bikes, Mutli-Melta - 100

Land Raider Redeemer, multi-melta turret - 250


My last thought is, would it still work If I dropped the Land Raider and took 10 Terminators. I believe they would have a decent shot at walking across the table, or deep striking in. plus 11 2+/3+ guys would be a tough nut to crack for anyone. thoughts?

Salamders 2k list with real point values

Vulkan - 190
Librarian, Terminator Armor, Storm Shield - 140

5 Terminators, Thunder Hammer, Storm Shield - 200
Land Raider Redeemer, Multi-Melta, Dozer Blade - 255
Dreadnught, Heavy Flamer, Drop Pod - 150
Dreadnught, Heavy Flamer, Drop Pod - 150

10x Tactical Marines, Melta Gun, Multi-Melta, Power Fist, Drop Pod - 235
10x Tactical Marines, Melta Gun, Multi-Melta, Power Fist, Drop Pod - 235

2x Land Speeders, Heavy Flamer, Multi-Melts - 140
2x Land Speeders, Heavy Flamer, Multi-Melts - 140
3x Attack Bikes, Mutli-Melta - 150



Re-Done after learning that I suck at math...

Totals to 1980 so i have some wiggle room. For 1850 Games Drop 2 Land Speeders

Important Break Downs
I can Drop in either 2 dreadnoughts or 2 tactical squads in my opponents face turn 1 dependings on what I think would cause more havoc. In games against swarm foes I won't deploy via drop pod... it is a choice right, i feel like it was... Anyways with this many Muli-Meltas and since almost all of them can move 12 and then fire I think killing tanks will be a breeze and thats my goal since 40k has become very mechanized of late.

The Army has
12 twin-linked Multi-melta
7 Twin Linked Heavy Flamers
2 Twin Linked Melta guns
5 Master Crafted Thunder hammers + 1 Relic Blade

The Hierarchy of Miniature gaming

There are several Miniature games that i do or have played over the years. I'd like to give them some form of Ranking system. The problem is the group is so diverse that its hard to judge them all on 1 scale. So i have 2 different ranking systems Rules Mechaninics, Fun/Desire to Play

Lets meet our Contestants!

Warhammer Fantasy - Dragons and mages do battle in the old world while the forces of chaos wage constant war for control of the world!

Wahammer 40k - Tanks and Aliens do battle in the future while the forces of chaos.... wait....

Warmachine/Hordes - The countries of Immoren vye for independence or control of the world around them, using Guns, Swords, Steam powered Warjacks, and Beasts of many shapes and sizes.

Malifaux - Its the best steam/western/victorian/horror/punk game on the market. While its genre is a mouthful, the world is rich and the characters unique as they battle for control of the precious soul stones.

Firestorm armada - Space battles aplenty as the humans and aliens do battle to control the storm zone.

Blood Bowl - Part Rugby, Part Football, part gladiator arena. The races of warhammer love a good game as much as they love violence and this bad boy combines them.

Necromunda - In the world of 40k hive cities are a common place for gangs to form, in this particular city the only laws are kill or be killed!

Monsterpocalypse - The poor people are earth are caught in the middle of a clash of titans as giant monsters rampage through our streets.

Mage Knight - Something happens, I'm pretty sure its boring... at least thats my experience with this one.

Arcane Legions - Mass Action Miniatures. Do crazy things while making the Egyptians, Romans, and Hans to battle with magic and cool monsters of myth.

Notables Left off the list - LOTR, Mordhiem - played each like once, don't remember them. BFG, Confrontation, and im sure a few others never played them.


So on to the Rankings with a short explanation.

Rules and Mechanics
1 Warmachine/Hordes - The simple mechanics are great. The dice rolling allows for a greater disparity in stats but keeps a good average on the Dice. Instead of a 1-12 chance for any specific numnber you are more likely to roll a 6,7,8 then any other number. The magic is well used and not game breaking, and the movement is very simple.

2. Malifaux - Very similar to Warmachine in many of its rules. Its loses ground with the Deck being too random where as the 2d6 has a nice average to it, the Deck is basically a D13. The Fate Hand does help which is why this one ranks so high.

3. Warhammer 40k - Easy movement. Easy to read ranges etc. It loses ground with the To Hit Table. this has been GW's staple for years so i doubt it will change, but Personally I'm not a fan as Its tough to teach new players.

4. Arcane Legions - Great rule set, the action points allow for a lot of great combos and tricks. its big downside is that Range Attacks are over-powered. The best bows usually win the day. Still very fun game

5. FireStorm armada - Simple enough mechanics. Plays very fluidly, and seems a little cleaner than space combat games of the past. I never played BFG so its a tough one to compare to, but I hear most people say its a little better.

6. Blood Bowl - Has a lot of frustrating aspects. Most notably, I dropped the ball so now its your turn. outside of the lose your turn when you fail a roll, its a lot of fun and allows you to create interesting teams.

7. Necromunda - Plays like 2nd ed 40k, which means everyone has kinda crazy rules and cool wargear. you play with a bunch of ladders and bridges, and use true line of sight. It ranks low not because its bad, but because the games ahead of it are so much cleaner and have had their rules constantly updated. I have not read the current living rule book, no idea if they made this game all badass.

8 Monsterpocalypse - Any system that creates its own dice gets a automatic negative in my book. Also the game basically comes down to who can do some crazy damage combo to the enemy monster first. Or in some cases how long can i ping you and play keep away. Plus the game gets very repetative after a few games.

9 Warhammer Fantasy - The movement section of the game is about 15 pages. thats too much. It ends up detracting from the rest of the game. then the Magic in the game is very powerful and most are won by having superior magic users.

10 Mage Knight - You roll dice and add your stat I do the same, If the attacker wins he hits. Unfortunetly almost every stat is the same or within 1-2 of eachother. end Result stand there rolling dice like crazy until one person rolls well.

Fun/Desire to Play?
1. Malifaux - This is my flavor of the month so that might be influencing me. I love the terrain filled boards, the skirmish games, and the awesome models. Its a total blast to play and really brings me back to my hey-day of gaming.

2. Firestorm Armada - Flavor of the Month part2. Its my first Space battle game so i guess its special to me, but I just love Broad-siding an opposing ship with a mit full of dice and then boarding them with my marines and taking them over.

3. Necromunda - Might just be better in my head then it ever really was, but for the same reasons I love Malifaux I loved Necromunda. Also my Skavies were cool as woah!

4. Warmachine/Hordes - It got too big to really enjoy as much as I used too. Back in the day I knew every stat of every unit, jack, caster, and solo. Now I can't even name them all. Still it has its moments and if I do return to it, I know I will have fun again at least for a while.

5. Warhammer 40k - My big knock on 40k right now is the codex creep. I hate that shit so much. Im angry that my chaos can't compete because GW decided that halfway through an arc of books they wanted to introduce some crazy shit and blow everything up. Now i either have to take a total douched out army that I really don't want to run or wait until they re-release Chaos in 2-3 years. Neither option appeals to me at the moment.

6. Blood Bowl - This game holds its own place in my heart. I love building a team and getting them skills etc. Its really cool. But as the game gets competative which is a situation i've been it this game loses its funness and becomes a chore to play. Going from open league play where you keep track of the team to a tournament or playoff style where you have to play x players over x weeks isn't fun and drives people away from the game.

7. Arcane Legions - Its fun and I enjoy it and all, but I just can't work up the desire to bring them out to play, plus my top 2 games are way more on my mind these days.

8. Wahammer Fantasy - Only If I ever find my beastmen army which I have no idea where it could be. Im a little pissed about that too. Even then, the game has too many broken armies and rules i just don't know anymore to give a crap about playing it.

9. Monsterpocalypse - Im a little surprised it ended up down here, but yeah. I just don't care about it anymore. maybe on a bored day when im malifauxed and FSA'ed out and looking at my gaming closet wondering what to do i'll bust this one out and give it another whirl.

10. mage Knight - What a bottom feeder. this game blows and I spent way too much money on it back in high school. I think I would rather have a blind surgeon with epilepsy operate on my junk then play mage knight.... its close I'd have to see how bad the Doctor's seizures end up.

A Possible return to 40k

I have been playing 40k since since I started College so its been a decent amount of time. I've played Chaos for almost the entire time. i tried blood angels, but that didn't work out so well for me. I recently tried to start a Salamander army that teetered out. Im currently considering picking them back up. Here is a possible list for 1850 and a way to bump up to 2k. I don't have my book on me so the points might be a bit off

Vulkan - 190
Librarian, maybe in terminator armor - 125

5x Assault Terminators with Thunder hammer, Storm Shield - 200
Land Raider Crusaider, Multi-melta - 250
Dreadnought - Multi-Melta, Heavy Flamer - 115
Dreadnought - Multi-Melta, Heavy Flamer - 115

10x Tactical squad- 175 Points
-Meltagun
-Multi-Melta- Free
Rhino- 35 Points
10x Tactical squad- 175 Points
-Meltagun
-Multi-Melta- Free
Rhino- 35 Points
10x Tactical squad- 175 Points
-Meltagun
-Multi-Melta- Free
Rhino- 35 Points

3x Attack Bikes, Multi-meltas - 180
2x Land Speeders, Multi-Meltas, Heavy flamers - 130
2x Land Speeders, Multi-Meltas, Heavy flamers - 130 - In 2k games


The Army ends up short in points at like 1830 and 1960. If i have over-costed things I will give Power-Fists to my Squads, if I've undercosted I hope its not by too much and I won't have to cut anything. Also I really want to find points to put my dreads in drop pods. that might be something I do with my tac Squads too. That way My characters can join them instead of the Terminators.

The Essence of being cool

What is Cool?

Everything in that Picture is Cool
In the long history of the world man has tried to be cool and failed terribly on many occasions. Dudes wearing togas was not cool. Slavery was totally uncool. White powder wigs were definetly not cool. Puffy Shirts not so cool. It wasn't until the invention of the Pirate that man really started to grasp what is cool. Rum, babes, open sea, plunder. All good stuff, but we had only begun to scratch the surface of cool.
Then as was fortold by Jesus, the savior of man, A savior of Cool was born unto us.



The Fonz was cool. He was hip and awesome, and everyone needed to learn from his lesson in order to also be cool. Why even today the measurement for something being cool is taken in Mega-Fonzies. The Fonz brought with him the famous "Ayyyyyyy" which was amazing in its own right, but with the addition of two thumbs point upwards while your elbows were on level with your hips. Well the world was not ready for such coolness. But the living Legend forged onwards carving out new ways to be cool for future generations. Soon everyone wanted to be cool like the Fonz, but with all greatmen debate was sure to follow. Was the Fonz divine? How was something chosen to be cool? Did Fonzie do it because it was cool? Or was it cool because Fonzie did it? though a most pointless debate it may have set us back in our search coolness several years. But on the Horizon a new leader of coolness had emerged. With the Fonz already in place as the master cool and being cool. A new man would show us that Violence was also totally freaking cool.



Chuck Norris let everyone know that murder was cool. Guns, Kung Fu, and beard were all a man ever needed. It was his job to carry the Mantle of cool for future generations, until a new bearer would take the crown from him and allow Chuck to return to the thing he loved the most... Selling the total Gym. It was with heavy heart and furrowed beard that he passed on his title to the Man who carries it today.



Bruce Campbell stole the Title of Cool away from all previous holders with his Dashing appearance, rapier wit, and devestating one-liners. Bruce taught us that anyone could be cool... mind you not as cool as he. And now that we have our holy trinity of coolness we are left to wonder. What will happen on the day when Bruce Campbell tires of his throne and passes down his mantle, who will be the Next champion of cool? Well I think you already know.

Can I Temper my Expectations?

I have been holding off writing about our local sports for a while. Mostly because in DC sucking has become a time honored tradition. Our teams create large expecations and then fail in the most spectacular way imaginable. But then in the offseason enough happens that we can fool ourselves into thinking that we can rebound next time.

Well I'm about to start fooling myself with the Redskins. Im still not sure why I'm so excited, we haven't changed that much from last year when we went 4-12. The biggest changes are in Philosophy. No longer is the leader of this team a happy go luck Mr. Rodgers whose orders are optional. No longer do Players get immunity because they are better liked by the owner. Shanahan is in town for 2 reasons. win a super bowl and teach these guys some respect. This raises the question, Was this a play-off team last year? Is the only thing that kept us out our poor discipline. Its a hard question to answer. There were certainly several games that the Redskins "Should" have won last year. With Shanahan at the helm this team can be molded by his new philosophy. Last year at voluntary work out Clinton Portis, Albert Haynsworth, and LaRon Landry all decided they had better things to do. This year they did not make that decision. They were called to camp, and they came to camp, end of story. Mike Shanahan cut the leadership from the Old Regime from his team. And I will be the first to say I'm going to miss almost every guy he dropped. But Football is a business and so is winning. Mike Shanahan only wants winners on his team, and that is what he is looking for.

Looking ahead this season is going to suck. we play the NFC North which holds three teams better then us. the NFC East which holds three teams better than us we have to play twice, and the AFC South which holds four teams better than us. It would be very easy to write this season off before it starts as rebuilding year. That the redskins aren't ready yet. But I have the feeling Mike Shanahan's opinion is the hell with that. So what if almost every team we play is "better than us" This is a team with nothing to lose and a lot of hungry talent. Shanahan will bring Winning back to Washington.

See I can't temper my expectations. Next season will be like 6-10 or 8-8 at the best, but its the future that holds my interest.

Also don't draft Jimmy Clausen, we need linemen so badly its stupid. Get Russel Okung and next year go for a QB there will be more of them and the ceiling is higher.

Couple Reports

Game 1: Seamus vs Ramos - 35ss

I took a little bit of a different list with Seamus and I gotta say I think it worked well.

Seamus, Madame Sybelle, Rotten Bell, Convict Gunslinger, The Hanged, Grave Spirit, 2x NecroPunks

Not really sure all the stuff chris took. Off the top of my head:
Ramos, Brass Arachnid, Alice, Johan, some spiders, and a dude with 2 axes.

Our deployment was corners. I got Treasure Hunt and he Got Slaughter. We both rushed towards the middle of the table and started creating new soldiers. At one point his pair of Axes guy charged my Bell who was next to the treasure marker. He dropped her to 2 wounds. Seamus stepped up and blasted into the melee. He randomly hit the Belle who was killed by the attack. Now that the Axe guy was freed up Seamus leveled his .50 Cal pistol at him and blew him away. Then in a final act of mercy restored the poor belle he had just killed off. Ramos kept churning out constructs and I kept killing them. the Hanged and Sybelle killed off Johan, Sybelle was also killed. Ramos then blasted the hanged with angry fire. My Necro punks weren't having a great day as they tried to kill off a lot of spiders. The Gunslinger was killing left and right. As the game began to wind down I felt I had a good chance at clinching it. In hand i had the red joker and the 8 of crows. I began cheating everything I could save those 2 cards to get chris to ditch his hand. When he had 3 cards remaining I had Seamus charge in on Ramos and slit his jugular, He was able to avoid the first one, but the Second was too much and the mage fell. With that the Constructs were in a very bad way without their leader to pump out more or help them reactivate. Chris called it there, it went well for my. It also reminded my why I like Seamus so much. I also decided I need Punk Zombies for him, so that will be an upcomming buy, only starting with 1 belle was fine, I made 3 in that game, including the one i killed myself so I could recreate her later.


Game 2: McMourning vs Nicodem - 25ss
First time playing Mirror.

Nicodem, 3x Zombie Punks, Mortimer, Vulture
McMourning, 3x necro Punks, Sebastian, Zombie Chuahwa, Convict Gunslinger

Again It was Corners, this time I got Slaughter and he got treasure hunt. We both started moving into the middle. being pretty darn fast the necro-pinks were the first to get to the treasure. Before they could skedattle away though a couple punk zombies showed up and locked them in. It took me 3 turns to get a crow in had so I could cast monstrous creation. We were fighting over the corpse tokens all game. But as the game progressed I started to get all of them I needed. Our punks fought to mutual annihilation. Nicodem kept popping out Punk Zombies and standing up Mindless corses. But my 2 extra Flesh Constructs and McMourning were able to help thin the herd a bit. In the End the game finished with Nicodem untouched and surounded by a hoarde of Zombies. Then there was McMourning, 2 Constructs, and the Gun Slinger all tied up with Zombies but holdinh strong. Game ended in my favor 6-3. But it was a close game and only went really well my way when my Flesh Construct was able to get a red joker on damage against his construct and drop it in one hit.


Things went well for the ressers yesterday. I also painted up my zombie dog and both constructs so they are looking prety good. Not sure I really like the way the Constructs look, but they are done so I really won't be complaining. The Chuahwa looks pretty slick though. Next on the Docket are the Rotten Belles who I would have painted already, but I'm a little intimidated by them.

The Dr. Is In

Finished McMourning last night... actually this morning. He's looking pretty sweet.



He was a bit of a challenge as after his pants and boots I had no idea what colors to use. White on his apron was my second choice after a light brown came out too brown. The blue gloves were my 4th option actually painting over brown, white, and yellow. Its a little Firefly reference, but I also think they look great. Lastly the blood splatters were really difficult. They didn't go on very well and at one point a huge glob of red hit his left arm and body and I had to wipe it off and repaint a lot oh his arm and chest. Still I'm pleased with the Final result.

Tactics: Ressers

This is just something I wanted to get down since i've been reading about them a lot lately. Today will Cover Seamus and McMourning as these are the only two masters I have played and because I really like their unique styles.

Seamus the Madhatter:
Seamus is the reason I was drawn in enough to buy the rule book for Malifaux and it was also his model that drew me back in enough to buy into the game. To be honest I think the Alice in Wonderland Movie may have re-sparked my interest. He is a stone cold killer. Fluff and Game wise. Seamus' most devestating attacks come from His pistol, which is so powerful you can't shoot it twice in one turn. He is also a powerful caster. His best spells include, Undead Psycosis, which can keep enemies at bay by not allowing them to get closer than 3incges from Undead models and Live for Pain, which is a short range decent damage spell but Heals seamus for every point of damage done. He has fantastic 0 abilities, such as companion any Belle within 6 of him, give all enemies within 12 -2 to their WP, or turn a corpse token into another Belle. When taking an Army that Includes Seamus its a no-brainer to include a few Belles. Madame Sybelle is in my opinion too good not to take. I have been taking her +2 belles in almost every game I play with him, But after playing McMouning and seeing how well he can produce Constructs I think it might be worth trying with 1 Belle and just aiming to summon any others you will need. He needs some melee power and I've found Necro-Punks tend to fall a little Short, a Pair of Punk Zombies on the other hand should provide amazing hitting power. The Convict Gun Slinger is a badass for anyone, keeping him close to Seamus and getting Psycosis up could also greatly extend his life expectancy. For my next game with Seamus I will try a list like this. Seamus, Sybelle, 1x Rotten Bell, 2x Punk Zombies, 1x Convict Gunslinger, 1x Grave Spirit +5 Soul Stones. Then I will try to use Undead Psycosis well, to this point I have never used it right, let alone to its full power.

Dr. Douglas McMourning:
Basically this is Dr. Frankenstien but way crazier. See Frankenstien wanted to find the key to resserection, McMourning wants to tinker. He likes using spare parts to create new things. His masterpieces are also the Focal point of his in game tactics. The Flesh Construct, they are mindless killing machines that McMourning can churn out at an almost unreal rate. In my couple games with him I have always made at least 2 Constructs in some cases 3. Its quite an advantage to turn a 2 point dog into a 7 point behemoth. But that is just one trick in his deep bag. McMourning is far and away the best fighter in the trio of resserectionitst. seamus has his gun, Nicodem has his spells, and Douglas has his Scalpel. He is a very scary man in melee. And he is able to support his army with a little impromtu surgery or if the situation calls for it, he can turn that scalpel of his towards the enemy and inflict some pain. He has a Combo that is very deadly but requires a few things to go your way. If you have a few body parts handy it can work. Spend one to become fast. Then Spend 1 to cast rancid transplant, this gives his taget easy to wound 2. Next cast Disection, cheat it and use a soulstone, try to make sure you keep a face card in your hand to cheat the damage. Do what you need to in order to hit. The easy to would will take care of damage. Its max damage is 10, that will drop 90% of the malifaux world in a single hit. Its his trump card, also if you get a diamond on the transplant you will earn a free scalple swing, which could be clutch against those pesky 12 wound foes. With McMourning the idea is to flood the table with bodies. the more that death that occurs the more body parts he can pick up and turn into Constructs. He needs a few hitters to help out since Constructs aren't very fast, Again the Gun Slinger is a no-brainer. I also have enjoyed the Punk Zombies with him. Between paired weapons and self mutilation they have a considerable punch. I think my next list will look like this. McMourning, Chihuahua, Sebastian, 3 Canine remains, Gun Slinger, 1 Punk Zombie, 1 Rotten Belle, +8 Soul Stones. I recomend max soul stones every game, they are very useful.

Ashvale Crossing

As the final touches were put on the towns Saloon, the Mayor christened his new city. It was the rapidly becoming one of the largest towns in the Breach. With all the amenities of any industrius fellah could want.

A Place to Store his horse


A Nice Clean place to get a Drink or meet a lovely Woman


A General Store


Get a nice meal


Merit out Justice to the Wicked


And all the homes and shops a budding metropolis needs.



Things seemed too good to be true for the young Mayor. Little did he know the darkness that lurks in the alleys of his city, or the horrors that awaited in the woods to the south. This city is more than just cursed, It just might be hell.

*Pictures totally stolen from http://wrabbit37-legendaryblog.blogspot.com/ =P*

Need some FSA ideas

I want to weight down the bases on my Sorylians. But im not sure how. Im fairly sure Im going to spray their stands black. I like the way mike's look, I'll most likely paint them black on top of the primer too.

Here are my ideas. what do you think?

1. Metal Plate. Most likely the easiest one. just glue it on and im done.

2. terrain. Like put meteors or something on the bases, it will weigh them down

3. Rubble. Like blown up ships parts or something, could be enough

4. Metal Fighters. I like this idea least, could be confusing.


Anything i missed?

Malifaux Battle Report Mcmourning vs Pandora

In our little town which has yet to be named there was a large dead oak tree in the middle of town. To gnarled and tough to remove it sits as the unofficial center of town to this day. It is on the site that Douglas McMourning ran into Pandora.

Lists:
McMourning
Sebastian
Zombie Chuahwa
3x Canine Remains
2x Punk Zombies
1x Convict Gunslinger
7x Soulstones

Pandora
Candy
Baby Kade
2x Sorrows
Teddy

Mike pulled Reconoiter, and called Body Guard and Kidnap. I pulled Assassinate and called Body Guard and Army of the Dead. We both moved towards the middle and then pandora went, you can assume she did like 850,000 things each turn. I was shocked and pretty annoyed, its bad enough that she can WP my guys but its damn lame when my Flesh Construct who doesn't even have a friggin brain is fleeing in terror. Now on the flip side McMourning wasn't a slouch, he changed 2 canines into two Golems and was leading from the rear pretty well. I took down a Sorrow with a Canine remain which mike WP'd to death, im not even sure he attacked it. I was closing in on his guys but getting nickle and Dimed. I used the Punk Zombies really poorly, most likely due to the fact i'd never tried them before, but even still I was impressed by them. A Construct killed off the second (and final) Sorrow, then Teddy killed the construct really really dead. Pandora made Sebastian chain sawhimelf, and wp'd the poor chuahwa. The Gunslinger killed Teddy with a ridiculous round of shooting, then Pandora made him shoot himself in the face. McMourning cut down Candy as she finished the final Punk, and then the good doctor ran like hell from Kade, it wasn't enough though as the psycho kid caught up to him. My last Construct was able to Kill off Kade before he could Gut McMourning. Then with Only Pandora, a Half dead construct and McMoruing still alive the game ended. I got 2 points for Army of the Dead, 1 corpse token + 1 Construct vs 0 neverborne minions. and 2 for bodyguard as the Doctor stayed alive. Mike got 2 for body Guard as I found it too tough to try to attack her. Had Kade been able to get through McMournings 12 life Mike would have pulled another crazy victory out from under me, but this time the Dr. lived and the Undead everywhere rejoiced.

New in The Life of Dan

I started my new Job today. I can't say much, but its a nice pay bump, the commute is 10x better, and it is in pretty much all ways superior to my last job. As my boss said to me, this is the start of my Career.

Im very excited about getting in some FSA Games this week, as well as Malifaux. I ordered another batch of ships, I believe I will have the largest Fleet when it arrives. Also tonight I will start the process of painting McMourning and the Flesh Constructs.

I got a New Ipod yesterday. Its a nano which has video but not pictures. go figure. Its green and awesome. Only problem is the charger slot is like .0001 inches smaller than my onld mini so my car charger/adapter is useless F-U apple.

Lastly Ellen and I installed over-head lights in our nerd-room and bedroom yesterday. Its a huge difference. But thanks to some tricky wiring the lights are connected to Fan slider until we can get Brian to help us re-wire it we are using the pull chords.

Hidden Schemes in Malifaux

Maybe its the way we play the game, or maybe its something else entirely, but Hidden Schemes have cost me my last two games. In a game where VP's are tough to come by announcing vs keeping a secret is a huge deal for the game. But both of my last 2 games would have been at least draws had I just announced my scheme instead of hiding them. I'm curious if tournament play would be different. For now I doubt I'll keep any scheme hidden for a while, see if that makes any difference.

History in Gaming part 2

In my first installment of this segment i explained my experiences in Miniature gaming, today I will tell the tale of how i entered the world of CCG's

Back in the day there was 1 ccg, Magic the Gathering. Today there are a few that can exist alongside Magic, but it is still without a doubt the largest and most popular game on the market. I started playing it when i was still in elementary school. "The Dark" and Revised (3rd Ed) had recently released and my brother got into the game. Wanting to do what the older cool kids did, i too got into the game. It was a lot of fun. I wasn't great at the game, but I did win my fair share. It was over the course of my original tenure as a magic player that I became a terrible person. It was a slow change. I would cheat a less knowledgeable player out of a power card in a lop-sided trade. My mid-deeds got worse, but I would prefer they not become public knowledge. Eventually i found other interests. Mostly anime.

During my Magic days I tried all sorts of other cards games. Star Wars was the best of them. I tried the Star Trek game, but couldn't comprehend how to play. My brother and I picked up Jihad and spent 8 years with the Harvard law professor trying to understand the rules before realizing they were written in Sumerian.

As I was falling out of Magic, I soon took up the Poke-Mon CCG. It was fun and for a change I wasn't one of the youngest players. Plus I was really damn good at it! I had a water deck that would crush 90% of my opponents. I played Poke-Mon for about 2 years, tried Yu-Gi-Oh for about a month, and eventually just piled all my cards into boxes and left them in the basement. In High School some friends got me into Wrestling and that sparked me getting into the Wrestling CCG. My friends and I all played and I had one deck that was damn near untouchable, It was with the Rock, who else, and since i was a pompous asshole i kept my winning record recorded on the bottom of the box i kept my cards in. Off the top of my head i think it was like 26-3. But that too faded from my mind and i lost interest.

In my Junior year of high school Jay would wrestle after school during the winter leaving me to ride the bus home. It sucked, but I did find a few of the younger guys would play magic on the ride home. Feeling froggy I asked to borrow a deck to play. It was like 300 cards. I asked if i could try to modify it, they guy said sure, since he had never won a game. after modifications i could trash anyone else, save the one player who actually knew what he was doing. So i went home and built my old White Meekstone deck. With that power-house in hand i was unstoppable. Serra's Angels are without a doubt the best creature ever in MTG. I played here and there on the bus to prevent boredom.

It wasn't until my first year of college that I really got back into the game. i started to hit the tournament circuit again. i player through 3 arcs and was having a decent amount of fun. The best events were sealed deck, low pressure and lots of fun. The end of my magic days came at a Kamigawa event. It was a high pressure match as we were playing to make the top 4. winner would be guaranteed prize support, loser would go home empty handed. At one point my opponent was becoming so aggressive to told him to relax its just a game. his face literally contorted with rage unlike anything i've seen before. He slammed his hand down on the table and shouted, "ITS NOT A FUCKING GAME!" that was my last magic tourney.

I stayed away from CCG's until Mike showed me L5R. This game was a ton of fun and I played it a hell of a lot over the last 3-4 years. I took 3rd in two local tournaments and at Gen Con i made top 4 in 3 side events. It was a truly fun game. Lately though its lost its luster. I'm engaged now and don't have the unlimited time for gaming i once did. My schedule is tight during the week so i have to pick the games i REALLY want to play. L5R is a fun game with a rich world, but Celestial Ed isn't what i had hoped it would be. The game is impossible to balance and as much as I hate it the best decks are the ones that are the least fun to play. jank is unreliable and therefore can't win consistently. So the idea is to build as vanilla a deck as possible.

As of right now The last CCG i bought was a joke gift of Pokemon cards for Rockett for Christmas. I doubt i will ever get back into them at this point. I still have access to plenty of Magic Cards if I ever get the feeling to play it again. But as of now, the cost and hype competitive environment are what will keep me from coming back.