April Hobby Roundup and a Skully gift

Well what a month or two its been!  For many around the world it has been a very challenging times for a myriad of reasons. Great to see that some have had both the opportunity and inclination to do some hobby and I have enjoyed watching the various projects.

I have not been one of those - indeed, I have been very busy being part of the Government response here.  Extremely busy but wonderful to be part of the solution and helping the many State and Commonwealth authorities and agencies.  Along the way I have gotten a few little things painted and the odd game in too. Reilly and I have have been upgunning some of our Kill Teams to play narrative 40k games - particularly the incremental Path to Glory system.  Its been a hoot, pitting Ankhep the Unliving and his Necron horde against Chaos Warlord Drok the Blooded and his World Eaters.

This week I got something very special in the mail from Barks in recognition of my win in our AHPC X "Skully McSkullface" side challenge.  Most appropriately it was... a servoskull!  So awesome, thanks Barks - I love it !

There is only one thing to do when you get something this cool in the mail - use it on the table immediately.  We found a good scenario where the servo skull would be the focus of the whole game: the next adventure of Drok and Ankhep was afoot!  Ahhh, the joy of a live in opponent in isolation.

What followed was a tense tabletop tug of war in which I grabbed the Servoskull early and played keepings off for the rest of the game, staying very narrowly ahead of the Necron hoard that was after me. It was more like a game of Blood Bowl really!

My Warlord and his Red Butchers wade into the fray

My berzerkers made lots of blood flow (mostly their own it must be said) 

One must always play 'Duel of the Fates' on your phone when warlords clash like this

When they work, berzerkers are awesome. Mostly I cant make them work, so its a treat when they do!

My Rhinos made highly effective LOS blockers - then both exploded and killed lots of enemy troops. Cool!

 The game just didnt end, going for 7 turns in unceasing nail biting endgame. At the last, it came down to this - my last 4 figs (still with the skul) facing off against Ankhep the Necron Overloard.
If he only killed two of my guys in the upcoming melee I would win, 3 and it would be a draw, 4 and he would claim the skull for the Victory...

Barks - the basing on the skull even matches my army, how cool is that!

And he rolled double 1s for the charge, tripped over his own feet and I managed to crawl away with a win! A down to the wire nail biter! What a hoot, and all because of the new Servo Skull.  

Thanks Barks for the great gift and inspiring a really enjoyable game! :-)

Hope you are all well out there in blog-land. Stay safe!

ANZAC Day

ANZAC Day with a difference this year for my 30th year in uniform: distanced but not forgotten.

No masses gathering for the traditional Dawn Service. No Marches, no beers with mates at the pub, no playing 2-Up.  Instead there was a big push on social media to stand at the end of the driveway or be in a prominent place to stand and remember.  My family did so and I felt it was very genuine.

Dawn over Sydney Harbour from my balcony

It was a very still morning, and one could hear bugles and trumpets playing Last Post across the water. Very poignant.

Mrs Man Cave replicated the traditional post Dawn Service big slap up brekkie we usually have at the pub, God bless her

This is the ANZAC display at my current Joint Task Force - a small but meaningful spot to reflect on our Service and the Service of others before us.

Lest We Forget

Man Cave Renovations!

This month saw my Man Cave undergo a transformative process: from a garage for gaming, to a gaming emporium!  Its double size in length so I had lots of options.

Broadly, this was the starting point, though a few wall panels have been removed already in this pic

Key objectives for me were improvements in isolation (walls and roof) to permit year round gaming, as well as good overhead lighting.  What resulted was a full strip out, relining of the walls (enabling many more power points to be installed), and carpeting (using easy lay carpet squares). 

I didn't hold back on the insulation bats!

Importantly, nothing was done structurally that cannot be undone quickly to return it purpose to being a garage, should that be required.

Lining mostly up & Starting the paint

Lights going in

Everyone in the family chipped in with the labour and painting, thankyou! Big kudos to my Dad who was the brains behind the project - all done inside a week. As a result I feel set for many years of gaming fun in there!

Done!

Hobby stuff moved in with fancy new display cabinets too!

Reilly sets up the inaugural game: Warhammer Fantasy Battle!

AHPC X finishes with a splash

The splash of falling shot that is!  I managed to get a last salvo of an entry before the deadline ticked over - something a bit different this time.

At the start of the challenge, Miles (Lair of the Uber Geek) suggested a collaborating for a combination entry with fellow challenger Peter D (The Single Handed Admiral).   Aligned to his penchant for naval themes, we went with the legendary 1905 battle of Tsushima Strait
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Tsushima

Gorgeous little ships- spectacular detail in resin

The plan was for us to part of a part each in our US, UK and Australians lairs, and then send them to the Snowlord in Canada to celebrate the completion of his 10th year of the AHPC. Peter took the Japanese Fleet while Miles and I spilt the naval force of the Tsar (sometimes known as "The Fleet that had to Die"...).  Naturally, after 3 months of planning it came down to the wire due to real life - but importantly it got done!

We went with the War Times Journal range in 1/1800 scale - they are resin prints and wow the detail is incredible! Probably the best detail on any naval ship I have seen, even with all the funk pre-dreadnought deigns and overhangs.

p

You can see the other half of the Russian Fleet and the Imperial Japanese Fleet at the AHPC entry here:
https://thepaintingchallenge.blogspot.com/2020/03/from-paulo-peterd-and-milesr-battle-of.html

A really fun project that I enjoyed being a part of, and that I know Curt greatly appreciates. Thanks to Miles for putting it all together and doing the heavy lifting!

Next up: AHPC Round up and stats