Hobby Nemesis Pt. 2

Spring is in the air and that can only mean one thing in Canada; playoff hockey.  Unfortunately , the amount of time I watch hockey is inversely proportionate to the my hobby time.  Many people  say that I should just watch the game while I hobby.  With some games I can do that, as the CBC streams all of their games.  However, when my beloved Blackhawks are playing, I cannot multitask.  I am either watching or not. 

This year, the playoffs come at a terrible time.  The Journeyman League is happening and I need to get as much time in at the hobby table as possible.  I managed to get the bases done for my Mage Hunter Strike Force done this weekend, but I don’t see how I’m going to get all ten members plus the UA painted by Friday.  Add to this, the fact that Chicago plays on Friday.  A gut wrenching decision awaits.

*Did I mention that I’m watching hockey as I write this?

Hobby Update

I haven’t really accomplished as much as I would like on the hobby front in the past week or so.  My problems are many.  I thought I would be able to get both of my heavy jacks done in a week.  I was delusional.  I am way too detail oriented and quite frankly anal, to rush through the jobs in order to get them both done in a week.  Secondly, I got busy around the house and was crossing things off of the honey do list, which is never conducive to hobby time.  Lastly, I got side tracked. 

Cats wreck everything you love, then tell you to F-off.

My little side adventure involved photography.  I decided to break out the old light box and take a few pictures of the two Retribution minis I had finished.  On a side note, my lightbox suffered from a cat thinking it should be able to walk across tissue paper.  He was misinformed.  From there, I decided to take few pictures of the Menoth models I had finished but never photographed.  That was the better part of an afternoon pissed away.  However, I was not happy with burning an afternoon.  My path meandered toward Lightroom to do some post processing on the pictures to see what I could accomplish.  I managed to get them looking mostly like I had envisioned.  Mission accomplished.  Welllllllll, at least until I decided to play around with Photoshop Elements.  Photoshop came with my computer and I had never taken the time learn how it worked.  What a perfect time to learn a new program.  That whole Journeyman thing will probably take care of itself.  Right?
Anyway, here is what I managed to accomplish over the weekend and the beginning of the week.  It’s a damn good thing that I’m running the league and can’t win anyway.  At least I have an excuse for being rubbish.

Technorati Tags: Warmachine,Retribution,photography,hobby

Journeyman League: Week 1

Saying it was week 1 of the Journeyman League is a bit misleading.  In the actual first week, hardly anyone showed up due to several schedule conflicts.  So, I made the executive decision to extend week 1 for another session.  Last night we had five players show up playing Cryx, Khador, Legion, Circle and Retribution.  Nearly everyone got two games in last night and two of us got in three.  I played one game last week as well.

I had a rough night with my Retribution.  I won my first match against the Legion player.  I was up against Thagrosh, a shredder and a carnivean.  I spent a lot of turns and focus taking out the carnivean.  Fortunately, Thagrosh got himself just a little too close to the action and I was able to get a myrmidon in on him and chop him up.

After the Legion it was all down hill.  Against Khador, I just couldn’t bring down the juggernaut in less than several turns.  My poor damage output was partly due to poor rolls and partly due to the low power of myrmidon weapons.  I had to commit both jacks on the juggernaut and that left my caster exposed to Sorcha’s gun and spells.  One dead Ossyan was the result.

Finally, I went up against the Cryx battle box.  This game was like playing with one hand tied behind my back.  With a heavy and three lights, all of which are arc nodes, I just didn’t stand a chance.  I couldn’t keep my caster out of range of all of the lights and eventually, my opponent had a light Ghost Walk through my cover and eat my face.  Of course, I spent most of the game with my heavies killing nothing.  Again, part of the problem was craptastic rolling on both to hit and damage rolls, part of it is those myrmidons hit like sissies.

I am having a tough time getting used to my new faction.  Part of the problem is not having anything to buff up my stuff.  I’m used to playing Menoth and having ways of making my stuff beat face effectively.  I’m hoping as things ramp up I’ll be able to find some synergies that can make my beatings less painful.

* Sorry for the lack of pictures.  I just had a big brain cramp.

Hell ya, I'm a nerd!

I'm pretty big nerd, as is evidenced by the fact that I build, paint and play with toy soldiers and robots.  However, I have hit a new level of nerdiness this fine day.  The postman delivered my scale model of an X-Wing ordered from Japan. 

I haven't built a scale model since high school, but I am really looking forward getting into this project.  The moulding is beautiful and very highly detailed.  There are multiple versions to choose from and two sets of decals you can apply.  I think this project will be a nice palette cleanser from all of the miniatures I have been painting over the past few years.  I'm not sure when this project will get off the ground, but if you stay tuned, you'll be the first to know.

I can foresee one small technical difficulty when assembling this model.

Thank You Mr. Postman

I thought I would have a lot more time for hobby this week than I actually did.  My wife had meetings after school a few days this week and I had meetings on the days she didn't.  Since my wife and I work at the same school, I don't leave until she does and vice versa.  It all added up to a shortage of free time in the evenings.

Luckily, the postman made me feel happy on two separate occasions this week.  First, I received my first ever reward from a Kickstarter project I backed.  It wasn't the first project I backed, but it's the first reward I've received.  I got my Dice Vault from Wyrmwood Gaming.  It turns out to be a beautiful dark walnut dice case with magnets at either end to keep the lid on.  It is completely frivolous, but good for the gamer's soul.

Yesterday, I got home late, but there was a present for me from the postman.  I had bought myself an airbrush a few months ago and have been slowly toying with it.  I decided I wanted to start using it in earnest.  The problem for me is the lack of a local seller of paints that are appropriate for use in the airbrush.  Our local store only sells Citadel paints and really hasn't restocked those in quite some time.  So, I took matters into my own hands and bought a case of 72 Vallejo Model Air colours.  I had a few VMA paints that I liked using a lot, both in the airbrush and hand brushing, so I went all in.  I had Meeplemart special order them in and they got sent out right away.

Now, if I can only find some time this weekend to use my new treasures for gaming and hobbying I will be in a happy place.