Hello all! Welcome back 😉
Last week I visited my FLGS, Grognard Games, to meet up with my buddy Greg to play second ever game of Bushido. Since my last game, I had constructed a board to play games over, so this was a great opportunity to try it out!
Continue reading “Bushido Throwdown – Ito Clan vs. Cult of Yurei”Any excuse to have an intro by the mighty Bolt Thrower and I’ll take it! Anyway, it was the lead in to me posting the pictures of the Foul Blightspawn miniature that I finished last week for a painting competition at Grognard Games. He kinda looks like a Ghostbuster, or maybe a Grossbuster? I don’t know. I know I’m not much a fan of the name (some of the Nurgle character names are a wee bit silly) but I had a lot of fun painting him, and it reminded me why I’m such a fan of Papa Nurgle – lots of rust and decay and opportunities to make your miniatures pop.
My only gripe about this miniature, and maybe the newer Plague Marines, is that they have sooooo muuch going on with the miniatures to the point that it’s so busy when it’s done, it’s hard to see the wood for the trees. Sometimes less is more, but whatever!
Thanks for reading!!!!
Yes! another strike from the D20 list that I chatted about in my previous post – 3 PanOceania Fusiliers with Combi Rifles. I’ve ordered decals for the shoulder pads, but I don’t have them yet, but the paint is DONE! I’m really liking the overall feel I’m getting with these, and happy that my tabletop quality isn’t looking too bad:
Greetings all! it’s been a little while, but i’m back to talk about a game that I recently tried out at my FLGS called Arena Rex, by Red Republic Games. For those of you out there who are unfamiliar with the game, it’s essentially a 35mm figure system that is based on gladiatorial combat in an arena reminiscent of those you would see in ancient times. The difference with this game is, that while you have predominantly ‘human’ players (characters? victims?) you can also employ beasts into your ‘cohort’ or even gorgons or titans. The prospect of being able to ride a giant scorpion into the arena, or to have a colossal half snake/half human creature fighting for me was too much to resist!
The system is relatively easy to pick up. Games are typically played with 3-5 models each side. The opposing cohorts start off at either side of the arena, and the ultimate goal is to obviously emerge victorious by slaughtering the other side. Throw in hazards like pit traps (instadeath!), obstacles that can impede your movement or indeed beasts like lions that will bite off a chunk, and you have quite a quick paced game that is a lot of fun.
Character stats are all listed on cards that come with each miniature, as well as wound points and an interesting ‘damage tree’ system which can make for some unique, game changing moments when your’e successfully putting the hurt on your opponent. You also start off with a small amount of ‘favor’ – which is generated by the roaring crowds, slaughtering an enemy, trigger events that are listed on the stat cards and so on. These extra dice can be used to buff attack or defense rolls, but you have to use them wisely.
One thing I really liked about the game was the fact you had to think a turn or two ahead. It isn’t just a case of running forward swinging a sword, oh no. Each character gets a ‘free’ move, then anything after that causes them to either be ‘fatigued’ or ‘exhausted’, which can be fatal if you suddenly realize that you have a fatigued model in the open with no support, and a ‘fresh’ opponent within striking distance. You really have to be a little conservative, and a lot creative, with your positioning and timing until your tired models recover.
I only played one game against my buddy Joe, under the watchful eye of Todd who runs/owns Grognard Games in Roselle, IL. It was a lot of fun learning the rules and making mistakes, and seeing how the system works. Check out the video below to get a flavor of the game:
All that said, it was the miniatures that initially caught my eye and had me inquiring about the game. They are simply stunning figures. Cast in resin and exquisitely detailed, I knew I had to get involved. There are several different cohorts to choose from, though you can mix and match between them (although you do get bonuses for having exclusive cohorts). I chose Morituri, as I was really digging the Egyptian flavor they have going on. I have painted up my first character, Tiet-Khebi:
I’m going to go back in and repaint her weapons, because they look way too bland. She was a lot of fun to paint, and I love the dynamic posing that a lot of the miniatures for this game have.
The rules are available to download for free from the website HERE – but I would also encourage you to buy a copy of the rules too. Seriously, they are a meager $7.50! Also, do yourself a favor and go and look at the range of miniatures, like the Medusa…
You will not be sorry!
This game has been around for a couple of years, but I’m really glad that I found it. The low model count and quick learn rules are a win-win for someone like myself who doesn’t have hours and hours to play games. Couple that with beautiful miniatures and you’ve got yourself a winner!
Thanks for reading!
OK!! so last week I jumped feet first into my first (ever) tournament, which was held at Grognard Games. It was with much trepidation that I went into this, mainly because I’m not really interested in playing tabletop games in a competitive environment, I much prefer to have casual games with no pressure. Couple this with the fact that I’m still really a n00b and not familiar with the rules as much as I’d like to be, well it makes for an intimidating prospect. Had it not been for the fact that my fellow Infinity players had said “ah don’t worry about it, it’ll be a good learning experience for you” and that they are a friendly bunch, then I’d have had no part in it at all.
In my last post I put up the list I intended to use for said event, as I’d been playing it on the Thursday night games and wanted to test it a little further (but mostly to familiarize myself with how things work). It is a fairly straight forward list, nothing too crazy, and in my head I wanted to make sure I had good long range heave hitters (sniper rifle, missile launcher), good mid-range stuff (HMG, Combi-rifles – both of which can suppression fire), and then some good up-close stuff like boarding shotguns.
My first game was against Haqqislam, and held up relatively well, although I achieved no objectives (I took down the most troops though). My 10 orders against about 16 was not fun. Coordinated orders, targeting and other shenanigans kept me from getting to my objectives. My second game was against Tohaa I believe, and while I was quick to get guys down into the streets, securing one objective, I got literally slaughtered by a bunch of stuff that had some obscene ARO nonsense that just steamrollered me. Ouch.
Game three I fared slightly better than game two, but not much, and this time I was actually able to take some enemy guys down. I tried to learn from my previous losses and use my Aquila in a more aggressive way, which kinda paid off a little, but ultimately I was crushed under sheer weight of numbers. First lesson: Keep your cheerleaders (Fusiliers) to hold ground, send your heavy infantry to start putting the hurt on the enemy. Second lesson: TAKE A F*CKING HACKER AND SOME REMOTES!
Anyway. Despite getting my dangly bits served up to me on a plate, I had a bloody good time, and learned a lot about the game, so it was a winning situation for me ultimately. Some of the best games I’ve had are ones that I’ve lost. Your mileage may vary, of course.
When Cannons Fade... 