Digging around in the basement... Found one of my relics from the 80's. An old Armorcast (I think) Tempest class Eldar Grav Tank... In the old days it was a "super heavy" tank, but these days it would make an interesting Wave Serpent probably, the scale has grown a bit since then...
Mostly X-Wing... Some real life/job stuff here and there... Oh, and motorcycles too!
Tuesday, July 21, 2015
Thursday, July 16, 2015
X-Wing this weekend and Gen Com coming up...
Bigger X-Wing tournament coming up Sunday at Titan, so I’ll
fly something at least familiar to me and that I think has a chance against the
current “top lists”… Right now, the
scariest things are the 2 big turreted ships (Usually the Millennium Falcon x2)
or the like loaded out to be annoyingly survivable or the Imperial equivalent with
the one big ship and either a mini swarm or a few top notch fighters to
escort. Swarms of many small ships are
still a danger, but becoming less so with more people looking ahead to Wave 7
and the probability of good Ordinance based squadrons being able to handle them
easily… That is one thing I REALLY like
about this game, it is slowly evolving, not EVERY month a batch of ships, cards
and the good chance that something in there is “poorly tested” and has some unforeseen
combo that breaks the game a little bit more (or a lot). Frankly pretty excited for Wave 7, looking
like ¾ ships are going to be good for my fleets, and the Rebels get an
excellent support bomber in the K-Wing. https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/news/2015/7/13/wave-vii-rebels/
says it FAR better than I. Both the
K-Wing and the Firespray with Emon in bomber configuration are looking VERY
nice with new bombs and tricks to deploy them.
So, looking at fielding the following:
Boba Fett (Scum) — Firespray-31
|
39
|
Predator
|
3
|
K4 Security Droid
|
3
|
Engine Upgrade
|
4
|
Ship Total: 49
|
|
|
|
IG-88B — Aggressor
|
36
|
Lone Wolf
|
2
|
Sensor Jammer
|
4
|
Heavy Laser Cannon
|
7
|
Autothrusters
|
2
|
Ship Total: 51
|
Pretty simple really, the Aggressor is hard to take down and
has the potential to land up to 4 hits each turn… Yes, not great odds of course, but it will
likely hit for a few each turn even against crazy high Defense with its reroll
ability. MAKING people Focus to fire on
it negates the turret’s ability to just throw out a shot hoping to ping for a
hit here and there. The 2 defensive
additions can almost guarantee 2 dodges for someone firing at long range or
outside of their 90˚ firing arc. And I
still have a base 3-4 Defense dice to roll.
So, it will likely survive. Fett’s
Firespray is set to essentially move slowly, take pot shots with Predator
allowing re-rolls (and Fett’s ability if they get close)… Not 100% sold on this configuration honestly,
it has the potential to simply be swarmed and die without doing much of
anything.
Other option is a fairly standard Dash/Corran list for the
Rebels:
Dash Rendar — YT-2400 36
Heavy Laser Cannon 7
Navigator 3
Engine Upgrade 4
Outrider 5
Ship Total: 55
Corran Horn — E-Wing 35
Veteran Instincts 1
Fire-Control System 2
R2-D2 4
Hull Upgrade 3
Ship Total: 45
Nothing subtle, nothing really exciting, but potential to
survive and do a fair bit of damage on the way…
Probably stick with the S&V (first build) as a “fun” one… I found 3 of my “Debris” markers so can use
them instead of the verdammten Asteroid markers… Last few times I parked on an Asteroid and
lost several REALLY important rounds of shooting, but with this at least I get
a shot… Yes, a Stress and potentially a
Critical Hit, but… Better the 1/8 chance
of a Crit than the 1/2 chance of a hit and loss of action/shooting…
So, one last big event this month at Titan, Gen Con at the
end of the Month… Looking like a Star
Trek Attack Wing tournament or two for me as they are what is scheduled when I’ll
be around J… Will need to get to “Will Call” probably Thursday
when we get into town and get my badge/tickets…
Else, head in early Friday…
Guessing Saturday will be the day the girls and I wander about the Con… Hoping we all have a better year than last,
but staying at the Embassy Suites on the edge of Indianapolis, so at least a
few meals, etc. will be included and we have a nice suite…
Wednesday, July 15, 2015
Overflowing basement, vehicles breaking and it is mid July already?
So… What to do with
“too much stuff”… As it is appearing a
pretty darn good bet that several of my GW armies can be downsized with the new
WFB being… Well, not Warhammer Fantasy. Read over the rules and it is a “no” for me
at this point. 40K is also going in a
somewhat silly direction, and it is another good bet I will not be playing the
game any time soon again, if ever. That
one is a real shame, as I’ve played off and on since the late 80’s and I have
amassed WAY too many armies over the years:
Wolves, Dark Angels, Fleshtearers (Blood Angels), Crimson Fists, Generic
Marines, Grey Knights, Imperial Guard (Praetorians, so think “Zulu”), and
finally Eldar… Oh, and a Warhound class Titan and a Knight... Just SO many models
everywhere. Nothing particularly
valuable individually, and of course not really looking at just dumping the
lots on e-bay to get next to nothing back for them… Just seeing too many of the people I knew for
a long time walking away from the game, and frankly haven’t played either of
their games now in quite a while (measured in years for WFB). So, I don’t know if someone were looking to
pick up a bunch of stuff, get in touch I guess…
The basement is feeling more and more like a tomb of
ancient/dead games. I have WAY too many
dead games down there, but just can’t seem to get rid of them. 1st Edition Space Marine/Adeptus
Titanicus (sp?)/Epic stuff mixed in with WizKids MechWarrior and BattleTech
stuff in one corner. Shelves full of
Confrontation and related minis… Then
the 40K sprawl begins J… So, I guess it is time to start packing some
of it away. Loads of ancient firearms
there as well, should probably clean those and finish the armory closet… Maybe get the painting station moved and set
up a real “Hobby Area” for my wife and I complete with work bench, etc…
Waiting on payday, then ordering a few things for the bike I
think… REALLY missing the windshield,
and yet another speedometer cable as I think I have installed them incorrectly
with them dying so soon… The Escape lost
its exhaust flange, so the catalytic converter and the muffler are no longer
attached. Bolts rusted out, so that will
be something I look at I guess. The
repair looks simple enough (thank you YouTube), so I guess I’ll give it a shot. Need to pick up some more industrial strength
break free (WD-40 is NOT enough) to get the rusted bolt head out of the flange
and re-attach to the muffler…. Assuming
I CAN and it does not break, this should be easy enough, but just saying that
reminds me of the Clausewitz quote about “the easy things are the most
difficult (in war)” … So, we’ll
see. Might be a winter project, but may
wind up getting a titled wreck/frame for the Magna and transferring everything
that way… Or just sell it as a “parts
bike” and let the next buyer worry about the title. In any case want it gone. The Silverwing is running fine, but is just a
tad too small for me to be comfortable taking it anywhere but in town, and I
would very much like to go on longer rides…
So, I’ll probably get a Goldwing in the next iteration, can remove the
trunk as I really just want saddlebags and a luggage rack to strap my ruck to
if I am carrying more cargo. Saddlebags
need to fit my laptop and game stuff though as the Silverwing lacks in that
area… Probably get the "big bike" eventually, something in a Harley, Indian or Victory in a heavy cruiser with the nice hard side saddlebags... But the Bluetooth headset my wife got me is working great as a comm unit for the helmet :-), so I am set there in the short to mid term... And for the record, "Bat out of Hell" is an excellent soundtrack to cruise the back roads here in central Illinois....
Job search is a bust so far.
Other things are changing, so I guess we’ll see what shakes out when
that gets settled. Plus side I have some
substantial things on the current resume that were not there in previous
rounds, so my chances I would think are a bit better… REALLY looking forward to next week ending as
I can wash my hands of the one Department that I intend to have nothing to do
with ever again…. Silly me volunteering
to chair their search, but I think they have cured me of that.
Monday, July 6, 2015
Memphis trip, etc... A great way to start July...
So… Took a long
weekend trip to Memphis with my wife…
Was the first trip without the kids in a LONG time. Had a great time, had great food, etc… A few observations:
- Was VERY clean and well maintained where we were. Now, this was pretty limited to Main Street and Beale Street between the big Government complex (Federal Bldg, City Hall, Courts, etc.) and Beale itself… Part of the clean and well maintained was due to the HIGH number of private Security personal on the ground there. Almost every business it seemed had some or “Staff” that reminded me of our “Goon Squad” we had back working at Joe’s Brewery in the old days… Very orderly, and the high visibility of what appeared to be competent Security staff helped that impression.
- Beale St was pretty much like my impression of the French Quarter in New Orleans… A lot of themed bars, most of which had window service so that you could get a drink and walk outside. We decided not to go in to places with cover charges, and the drink prices were quite high… Or at least they seemed that way to me, I don’t really drink anymore, so it’s been a LONG time since I last ordered myself anything in a bar other than the rare Guinness… The crowd on Beale seemed a mix of “Frat Boys” and “Tourists” for the most part with a few more obvious local predator types mixed in… As I mentioned above a LOT of Security, and I tend to be able to avoid issues with all of those crowds… Am told I can project that “Just leave me alone if you want to live” feeling quite well.. Memphis PD had the street blocked off each night, so the place was very pedestrian friendly…
- Food was AWESOME overall… We hit “South of Beale” the first night for our first “As seen on ‘Diners, Drive-ins and Dives’” meal. Was probably the best meal we had there. Certainly was the best we’d had out in a VERY long time. Their Pimento Grits (I’d have called it “Polenta” coming from a more Italian background cooking wise) were the highlight for me…
- BBQ was REALLY good overall… Rendezvous I thought had the best ribs I’ve had in a LONG time… Their Brisket was also quite good. The sauces that they had mixed well for my wife and I, so that was another winner… Blues City Café was another place we tried… My wife liked the ribs there better, I found them to be a bit too “fall off the bone” tender as they tended to disintegrate on me… The lack of sauce was disturbing to me as a Yankee as well J… She loved the fried catfish (not one of the things I like particularly, so I’ll take her word that it was among the best she’d had), and I REALLY liked their “Delta” style tamales and BBQ sausage… Those had an excellent flavor and certainly made that meal for me… So for me Rendezvous for the Ribs/Brisket and Blues City Café for the sides… But certainly both were far better than anything I’d had locally in Champaign as I’ve been thinking the general BBQ quality here has been bottoming out for a long time… Another one of those “If I can cook it better, I am unlikely to enjoy it out” things…
- The “Bass Pro Shop Pyramid” was amusing… We visited more as tourists than shoppers… Neat building, but the fact that the roof was leaking in several places on the 25+ floor building was a tad disturbing to me…
All in all, though we stayed in the well-marked “safe” zones
for the most part it was quite nice…
Stayed at the “Sleep Inn”, quite reasonable rates, nice place and RIGHT
there on Main so we could park the vehicle and walk almost everywhere…
Took the ancient bike out for a ride last night, missing the
windshield… Got hit by my first bird… Was riding among the cornfields and going
maybe 20mph coming out of a turn, so not a big deal, but the shield would have
been nice. Also had to clean out the
helmet’s screen with the bugs hitting it pretty hard… Got to ride into work today, but looking like
my last ride for a while as we reenter monsoon season here in Illinois…
Off to play STAW at the Gopher this evening, and I have my
wee fleet packed away in the bike’s saddlebags…
Should be pretty decent as I just brought the 3 biggest ships I could
fit in for the Klingons and Romulans and plan to take and hold the center while
avoiding the terrain effects…
Waiting on a few things at work, did not get the last few
things I’d applied for, but looking out longer term… Well, it looks like a fair number of changes
are headed our way, hoping that some moves happen the way I want them to which
will open the way for me to move… Eh, no
hurry, I have a good job (at least it pays fairly well), family is doing well,
etc… So, there isn’t the sense of urgency
I might otherwise have, but… I do think
it is definitely time to look very seriously at changes, be they within my
current organization or another at the University… We’ll see I guess…
Wednesday, July 1, 2015
Klingon/Romulans for STAW, random games and motorcycle stuff to start July out
So, getting ready to play another STAW event at the Gopher
next Monday…
Klingon/Romulan Alliance
I.R.W. Avatar of Tomed (34)
Martok (6)
Cloaked Mines (3)
Ship SP: 44
Scimitar (38)
Mirok (2)
Romulan Helmsman (2)
Cloaked Mines (3)
Ship SP: 45
Negh'Var Class (28)
Donatra (4)
Ship SP: 33
Total Build SP: 120
Generated by STAW Builder
http://www.dracossoftware.com/STAWHome.html
The scenario is based on one of my favorite Star Trek: The
Next Generation episodes with Cmdr Riker being assigned to a Klingon ship as
part of an “Office Exchange Program”.
Their ship and the Enterprise both pick up some bacteria that eats away
their hulls until the crew of the Enterprise figures out the “cure”. The board for the event will a grid of 12
tokens placed leaving a narrow band in the center of the board without bacteria
waiting to latch onto a ship. Oh, and
your ships all start with the stuff on them, so everyone rolls at least once to
take damage (50% shot) before being able to clear the token by sacrificing an
action more or less… So, Fighters and
small ships are pretty much right out for this event. I’m going with straight joisting with big
ships and big damage with the plan of run up the middle where it’s clear, and
use the Cloaked Mines to punish the opponent for doing the same… Not playing subtle, and with 2 ships that can
heal along with the potential 9 Dice Attack from the Scimitar, it should leave
a mark.
Hockey season is over…
Really the only sport I even follow a little. The Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup, and with
the hard salary cap, the dismantling of the team has begun… A real shame, but if it prevents a NY Yankee
situation where one team is completely dominant in the league being able to
simply buy the best players, etc… I
guess I understand, and why it is impressive for a team to win the cup consistently. And with the Cup being the most difficult trophy
to win in any sport… Kind of sad seeing
the Hawks get broken up like this, but that’s the way it works I guess…
40K is gaining speed, but not I think in a good way. The Space Marines and Dark Angels just
released new Codices. After a quick read
through, I can’t really say that there is all that much new information in them
frankly. The Marines get a bunch of new
formations, which is “neat”, but this is something that could have been an
inexpensive web/e-book/whatever update, not another $60 hardback book to
replace one less than 2 years old. I
think that is what is bothering me so much about it, this situation is the same
as my experience with the University when I got here and took Chemistry… Professor Zumdahl (I think, been a few years)
was the instructor of record, and even usually did the weekly lectures… He also wrote the book we used, and every 3
semesters there would be a “new” version so that you’d have to buy the new
version and the used ones were completely worthless. Nothing really new in basic Chemistry in the
last 50 years certainly, just book royalties for the author who was also of
course the instructor… Getting that
feeling here with 40K, nothing major changing, just updates in the Marines cases,
but new and expensive book to play. So,
on one hand, it beats the LONG time between books for some armies (Orks,
Wolves), but trading that for the things like the new AD Mech where you need
something like 3 full books to play the army?
And knowing that the books are cycling out so quickly? Meh, I guess I’ll paint up my Wolves Legion
force and get ready for 30K games…
Eventually. Maybe.
Started painting again, my Warmachine Dwarves (Rhullic) are
getting base coated… Still have some of
their light Jacks in the package, and never really DID finish any of the army,
so… It looks OK, not professionally
painted, but will look decent on the table I think. And consistent with the same colors, etc… Might get back to playing that game eventually… Liking how it plays, but the Attack Wing
stuff is just easier to pack up and get in some pickup games, so… Looking like STAW at Gen Con unless somehow I
can get into the X-Wing event on Thursday…
That sold out quick, so not really all that much a chance, so a nice
slow trip over and Friday playing STAW/wandering the center… Guessing the girls will want to come
Saturday, so keeping the day clear…
Hopefully my kilt will be back by then J…
Motorcycle is still running, but apparently we now have a
monsoon season in Illinois… But have a
nice new Bluetooth device that allows some background music to be played, and
it is AWESOME to have that… An amazing
gift from my patient and understanding wife J… Workouts are starting to come along, still looking for a new job I guess... We'll see how things work out...
Saturday, June 13, 2015
Engine, Diesel, One Each
Engine, Diesel, one each….
It is very important to be specific when you are asking for
something. The Engine comment is
something that I ordered back when I was in the Army. See, we just got back from our first combat
deployment and we were engaged in a major overhaul of our equipment. Now, I got bored pretty easily and we had
access to the “big book of things” that did contain pretty much EVERY thing we
could possibly order. We needed to
replace the engine pack for our M-113.
Well, in reading the big book of “stuff” I did come across a listing for
“Engine, Diesel, One Each”. The 113 A2
was in fact powered by a Diesel engine.
So, it MIGHT have made sense that one could order just the engine. You couldn’t, there was an Engine Pack with
the differentials, etc… So, I was
wanting to see just how far it would go before someone caught the “error” when
I ordered the Engine. If one were to read
the whole description in the book, one might have made the connection and
realized that there was something else called a Diesel Engine. A train for instance. So…
Nothing came in for a few days, then Division HQ called our CO to let
him know that, “Yes, we do have one.
Where would you like it delivered, and by the way, why does a line
combat Engineer Company need a train?”…
Never did get the train J… CO had a darn good idea who actually ordered
the train, and as punishment I was promoted to the “Training NCO” for the
Company…
So, applied for a few other jobs at the University. Things with “Director” in the job title. Guess it is about time I actually get an
actual “Management” job since I’ve actually been doing it for a few years now
and have been in formal training and schooling (MS in IT). There is a great deal of talk about a lot of
the IT on Campus going to a more central model.
From my perspective iiff this is done right, it will work. Problem is that I feel like “Big Joe”, Telly
Savalis’ character from “Kelly’s Heroes” yelling at Kelly about him “counting
on the Artillery to be ON TIME and ON TARGET, when they have yet to be”… So, since there is pretty much nowhere to go in
my current organization until things shake out with the new “Executive Director”
for us… If it ends up being the one I
hope, then there is a possibility of moving up here… Assuming of course I do not end up taking
another position elsewhere before… Since
EVERYTHING moves at the speed of committee here… We’ll see I guess. I know I am a finalist for one position, and
thinking my resume at least looks good for a few others…
Gaming wise, in 40K the Space Marines are getting another
new Codex… Not really sure how much has
changed really… Free transports if you
follow the Force Org chart for Companies and Demi Companies (?), so I expect
there will be some broken builds involving that. So, my
Crimson Fists could hit the field again and probably have a decent chance… Eh, I may get around to painting again
soon. The 30K Wolves I had been painting
are looking pretty good, and I hear that Book 5 or the Horus Heresy series is
out… Still Wolf free, so not really all
that excited about it. So, thinking that
painting and perhaps gaming cycle will begin again soon. The basement cleaning will continue and will
see about building a shared hobby space for my wife and I…
Pool opening soon…
Filter basket did not survive the winter, so that has to be replaced… I really do not like swimming these days… I did once, but some of my time playing Army
killed that as well for me… And looking
for the weather to clear so I can ride the Silverwing again…
But all things considered, things are going quite well…
Tuesday, June 9, 2015
STAW, and is it June already?
So, we finished up the "Resistance is Futile" arc for STAW... We wound up getting some more players who used to play at the game store in town that just closed... So, 7 of us and the group is getting back up to close to where we were at our height... I wound up running a Dominion (Cardassian) fleet since the scenario was pretty much "half the table, no terrain" with the Borg automatically attacking anything that ventured into their half... So, a straight joust really. I fielded:
"Shoot like Voting in Chicago"
Resource: Fleet Captain Independent (Klingon) (5)
Koranak (26)
Gul Dukat (5)
FleetCaptain (0)
Unnecessary Bloodshed (0)
Adm. Gul Madred (5)
Boheeka (1)
Breen Aide (1)
Ship SP: 43
Reklar (26)
Sar (1)
Ship SP: 27
Dominion Attack Fighters (20)
Ship SP: 20
Total Build SP: 90
Generated by STAW Builder
http://www.dracossoftware.com/STAWHome.html
The Koranak is a 5 Dice attack that is almost guaranteed to hit with all 5. The Reklar is "just" 4 Attack, but both have 180 degree firing arcs. Fighters are starting at a 6 Attack, are HARD to kill and are just really quite good on the table (thanks to my amazing wife for working with the Gopher to get those during the Christmas season :-))... The build is pretty much my "A" game build, ruthless and effective. I wound up sweeping the field in each of my 3 games, but they were all close games against pretty good opponents... Ironically, the one ship that survived in all 3 games was the Reklar... Not as much a threat, but solid ship. Glad this is the last of the blind buys though, got pretty old with this round of them being ships I had no interest in... So, won the Cardassian ship AND the Borg Cube, but traded it off to be sure that Joe got the Cardassian ship as well... Wanted to be sure that all of the regulars who play the faction have the ship...
But looking good for STAW at the Gopher... X-Wing is even heading in the right direction there... Overall looking quite good gaming wise...
Just got back from Universal Studios in FL with the family... An excellent vacation, highly recommend if you have teenagers to entertain :-)... Otherwise, moving along with school and job searches... And still need to replace the windshield of the ancient Silverwing... Looking forward to riding again at some point...
"Shoot like Voting in Chicago"
Resource: Fleet Captain Independent (Klingon) (5)
Koranak (26)
Gul Dukat (5)
FleetCaptain (0)
Unnecessary Bloodshed (0)
Adm. Gul Madred (5)
Boheeka (1)
Breen Aide (1)
Ship SP: 43
Reklar (26)
Sar (1)
Ship SP: 27
Dominion Attack Fighters (20)
Ship SP: 20
Total Build SP: 90
Generated by STAW Builder
http://www.dracossoftware.com/STAWHome.html
The Koranak is a 5 Dice attack that is almost guaranteed to hit with all 5. The Reklar is "just" 4 Attack, but both have 180 degree firing arcs. Fighters are starting at a 6 Attack, are HARD to kill and are just really quite good on the table (thanks to my amazing wife for working with the Gopher to get those during the Christmas season :-))... The build is pretty much my "A" game build, ruthless and effective. I wound up sweeping the field in each of my 3 games, but they were all close games against pretty good opponents... Ironically, the one ship that survived in all 3 games was the Reklar... Not as much a threat, but solid ship. Glad this is the last of the blind buys though, got pretty old with this round of them being ships I had no interest in... So, won the Cardassian ship AND the Borg Cube, but traded it off to be sure that Joe got the Cardassian ship as well... Wanted to be sure that all of the regulars who play the faction have the ship...
But looking good for STAW at the Gopher... X-Wing is even heading in the right direction there... Overall looking quite good gaming wise...
Just got back from Universal Studios in FL with the family... An excellent vacation, highly recommend if you have teenagers to entertain :-)... Otherwise, moving along with school and job searches... And still need to replace the windshield of the ancient Silverwing... Looking forward to riding again at some point...
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