Angel's new Szalamandra...

I felt I just had to re-post this image of Angel Giraldez newly painted (re-painted? Not sure if he did the original paint job) Szalamandra TAG from Infinity's Nomads faction. It's just... wow! But even so he mentions that it's actually still a work in progress.

This really goes to show how big a difference the paint job can do to change your view of the miniature as a whole. Seeing it with its original paint job (at left) I was never all that attracted to the model. It looks nice enough but it was one of my least favourite TAGs. But now... just look at it! A completely different feel to the entire model! That black and orange goes together perfectly, and the the non-metallic metal looks amazing. Granted Angel is one of the best painters around when it comes to technique, but this also shows how skilled he is at picking the right colours as well.

Well, that is all.

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Infinity - why play anything else?

Domaru Butai on the prowl...

After a couple of months without playing any Infinity me and my friend Anders thought it was time for some action! So the other day Anders brought his terrain boards out of storage, we plonked some terrain down (quite a lot of terrain actually) and put together a small 150pts force each. I've been using my Kuang Shi quite a lot in earlier battles to great effect, but I thought it'd be fun to try something else. So some Zhanshi, a Domaru, a couple of Celestial Guard, a Tiger Soldier and finally a Ninja as I hadn't used one before. Anders who plays Nomads had some Alguacile, a Zero, a Hellcat, an Interventor and a Mobile Brigada. I won't go into a blow by blow account, but just summon up the highlights.

We rolled up a couple of missions using Mission Roulette (looking forward to the upcoming campaign/scenario book from CB) and I got Blockade and Degrade, two fairly straightforward ones, while Anders got Triangulate and Collect that are a bit trickier.

• Anders started his turn by dropping all of the Zero's mines, practically making his right flank unavailable for me. Earlier we've been fairly conservative with our mines, waiting for that "perfect opportunity" that usually never comes. I think this might be a better strategy.
• In earlier games our play area has been fairly tight, about 80x100cm, but this time we had a full 120x120cm so weapon ranges mattered a lot more. This was really noticable when I air-dropped my HGM toting Tiger Soldier and he took down four enemies alone (five if you count the one he had to put down twice because of the medic!). Having +3 to hit at a range where a combi rifle has -6 means you rarely have to fear the return fire from most opponents.
• Doctors (or Engineers) feels like they could be worthwile investments considering their cheap price. In this game Anders only managed to revive a single Alguacile, but if he had managed to take out my Tiger Soldier with his Hellcat he could very well have been able to revive most of the casualties thus far.
• Flamethrowers are nasty! We had actually played it wrong in earlier games where we rolled for continued damage at the start of each turn (habit from Necromunda I guess) instead of right then and there when you get hit! This means that not only are flamethrowers an excellent counter to TO troops, but to multi-wound heavy infantry as well. My Domaru almost bought the farm when she charged the Mobile Brigada and got a face full of liquid fire! 
• Close combat is not all that common in Infinity, but it's very rewarding when you actually do manage to get one of your melee monsters into base to base contact with something! My Domaru did survive the flames (barely) and then simply proceeded to cut the Mobile Brigada into tiny little pieces.
• I had a TO infiltrator for the first time and I think I need to consider a bit more where best to place it in my next game. Now I just kind of plonked it down in the middle of the field.
• The important thing in Infinity is actually hitting with your weapon. If you manage that there's a good chance you will do some serious damage, no matter if you fire with a rifle or a heavy machine gun. That being said, range can play a big factor (see above) and not having any heavy weapons of their own really crippled the Nomads. I think a HMG or a sniper might be the next purchase for Anders, this looks nice... 

At the end of the fourth turn the last remaining woman standing was the Interventor who decided to hoof it. It was a fairly uneven battle but nonetheless a lot of fun. Around the time my Tiger Soldier had gunned down his Hellcat Anders said kind of off handedly "Why look for any other game when we have Infinity? It has the best rule system by far." And I had been thinking pretty much the same thing as we played. Returning to Infinity after a few months of not playing it felt almost like coming home - it really is such a cool system!

Me and my friends have this thing about classifying miniature games after how 'headachey' they are. 40k is probably the most headachey for us, but any game can get headachey, no matter how much you actually like it. Except for Infinity. A lot of it naturally comes from the fact that you don't have all that many minis to worry about, but also from the amount of choices you have as a player. It's not only the active-reactive turn system that does it, nor is it the large selection of different actions available to you - these are really great, engaging mechanics, but what really makes Infinity unique is the entire system with Orders and the resource management that single mechanic brings. It also allows you to sometimes do some really cool cinematic maneuvers that you simply can't do in other games!

Hmmm... I could go on but you get the idea; Infinity is excellentacular! Of course I'll be playing other mini games but I think Infinity will be the go-to game that I'll always be up for. Now I really should finish my Aragoto and get started on my Sù-Jiàn...

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Khurasan Lion Attack Transport 2.0

"We break for no one!"

Hello everybody! I'm back from Belgium and as summer madness is starting to wind down things are slowly getting back to normal here, so from now on you should see an increase in activity here on Fire Broadside!

As I mentioned earlier Jon, of Khurasan fame, approached me about painting a few upcoming releases. It seemed like fun and you can never go wrong with helping smaller companies like this.

There were a few different things, but my favourite is the new remodeled Lion attack transport. It's the same model but it has been cleaned up quite a bit, meaning the print lines from the 3D printing process has all but disappeared. If you look closely you can still see them in some recessed parts of the model, but the areas that actually matter are as smooth as you could ever hope for. Also the wheels that used to be metal has been cast in resin this time around and use a clever way of attaching them to the main body that I really like. No fear of them breaking off on you.

The completely new bits are the turret and its two different gun configurations. You might remember the old model came with a slightly retro looking ray/plasmagun looking thing. It has been  replaced by a separate turret (that is fairly reminiscent of the turret of a certain famous movie APC) and comes with two gun barrels; one twin autocannon (seen at right) and one larger railgun. Naturally I put magnets in the different parts so I can switch the barrel depending on what role is needed on the battlefield. I prefer the stubby look of the autocannons, but then again, you can never go wrong with a railgun...

I like this kit very much. The design of the vehicle itself is brutish and uncompromising which I find appealing and its size adds to this look (it's about 10cm long!). This new version is also very smooth and neat requiring almost now cleanup. And of course, more choice in weaponry is never wrong. My plan is to use it for my growing "sinister corporation" forces that will consist of Khurasan's Control Battalion and their upcoming transport.

Keep an eye on the Khurasan website for the actual release of this model. As for the other stuff Jon sent me, look towards the (dropship) horizon...

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Summer Update!

Marines from Khurasan, APC from Konami and (unpainted) mat from Zuzzy.

Hello everyone!

Yes, it's been a bit quiet here recently. I think it's a case of summer catching up with both me and my gaming buddies. The last couple of weeks have been very quiet gaming wise and I've been busy with a friend from Japan staying with us. It's not all quiet though and I thought I'd make a bit of an update post about what I've been doing (or planning to) and some general ramblings. Business as usual as you know by now.

First off, today I got my Despoiled Reaches rubber gaming mat from Zuzzy and I have only one word for it: spectawesome! The detailing is excellent and I really think this will make a great looking Mars table. Also Jim was kind enough to send along a smaller 28cm x 35cm mat as well that I'll likely use for small skirmishes, photography and perhaps for Diaspora gaming. The sulphur mounds look good as well and will give me some heavy cover on the table top. More on this when I start painting it later on.

In other miniature news I've slowly been painting my UNSC and you will see more of that later. My recent games of Earth Reborn has really made me want to paint that bunch of minis properly. I also got the Exterminators from Khurasan and they look good indeed! Especially combined with the Konami APC. Speaking of Khurasan, Jon has asked me to paint a couple of upcoming releases for him so those will show up here or on Dropship Horizon in the near future.

With no one to play board and miniature games with I've gone over to the digital realm. First off I played Dragon Age: Awakening which I thought was an excellent expansion. It's almost an entire game in it's own right. I've been reading the Dragon Age rpg and the first Dragon Age book (The Stolen Throne) as well recently so I thought I might as well keep the ball rolling and bought the sequal for the Xbox when I found it for a good price. So far I miss the greater tactical combat of the first game. I love Mass Effect for its action (well, besides the story I mean) but I loved Dragon Age: Origins for its deep tactical, almost turn-based combat. I hope they go back to it in the third game. I've also played Beyond Good & Evil HD. Great game with great world building. Definitely worth the small amount of money needed to download it. Got the last chapter left right now. Finally, yesterday Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet was released on Xbox Live and I really enjoyed the trial game so will have to get the full version. Love the graphic design! And the music! And the name!

As I mentioned above I've been reading the Dragon Age rpg from Green Ronin and I would like to give it a whirl when we can get the group together. I like the world and the written adventures seem good, but what's really attracts me to it is the simple fairly old school rules system. It's fairly simple but with some interesting twists (Stunts!) but having run WFRP3 for some time now I look forward to playing something more... minimalistic. I like the cards and the bits of WFRP3 but sometimes a few character sheets (that are eerily reminiscent of the first edition of WFRP's sheets!) and three dice is all you want to bring. Other rpgs I'm considering are Diaspora (as always) and 3:16 - Carnage Among the Stars.

Then I have some random thoughts and doodads that I don't think will go together very well so here's a list of bullet points:

• Listening to A Dance with Dragons at the moment. I'm almost half way through and I've finally started to get used to Roy Dotrice's narration. He has a great voice but only three modes: 1. insane pirate, 2. gruff senior citizen, and 3. toothless old crone. It's hard imagine the nubile Daenerys Targaryan when she sounds like Terry Jones in drag. Been a year since I last read anything GRRM-related so all the names made my head hurt and I found myself a little lost. So today I tried to find some kind of portable companion guide and lo and behold: A Game of Thrones Companion for Android! Yes, I could have just used The Tower of the Hand, but having it as an app is very conveniant. It really enhances your reading experience to be able to quickly look up people and places. Highly recommended!
• Started watching Breaking Bad  and I love it (yes I know, I'm late. But in good company at least)! About half way through season three.
• Getting more and more excited about the Gears of War board game which is just around the corner. Reading through the rules the other day clinched the deal and I've pre-ordered it from Maelstrom (who have started selling more FFG board games recently!). The rules seem to be fairly straight forward and easy to comprehend but with a quite a lot of depth in them anyway. I also like how FFG has managed to keep token and card count down. Feels elegant.
• I keep wondering if they're going to stop faffing about in Falling Skies and it will become actually good. 
• The number of different 15mm projects keep growing in my head. Will have to get them organized somehow.
• O-Yoroi Kidobutai!
• Speaking of organizing, I will put together a master plan akin to Gyro's HUD: Project's 2011.
• Also considering a regular (bi-weekly perhaps?) series of posts where I just mention stuff I've done, seen, read or played. Kind of a catch-all thing.
• Too many cool looking video games on the horizon! Just to mention a few: Deus Ex: Human Revolution (pre-order!) this month, then Battlefield 3, Rage and Skyrim later this year and Mass Effect 3 (Spoilers!) and Prey 2 early next year. And then I still haven't played stuff like Dead Space 2 or L.A. Noire!
• Glad to finally see it become official: FFG has the Star Wars licence (although, not for board games?). Like the looks of the Wings of War-esque X-Wing and intrigued about the Star Wars LCG, although worried it might be too similar to the (admittedly great) LotR LCG.
• Happy Curb is back on the air!

There is a lot more to write about but it will have to wait. Now it's time to grab a quick bite to eat and maybe watch the continued adventures of Walter White.

Oh, one last thing; flowing water on Mars! How cool is that?!

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