Moving preps and tears

Well the house is up for rent and the moving preps are in full swing for our removal later this week.  Most sad though was selling my baby - a 1965 Austin Healy Sprite Mk3 in British Racing Green. I owned her for 10 years so the rain and miserable winter weather seemed very appropriate as she was taken away...

Moving...again!

The Man Cave all loaded up!

Some exciting news - in two weeks we will be moving across the world to the USA for 18 months!  Yes, the Man Cave will relocate yet again, this time to the New England region. 

Naturally, any major shift in circumstances generates both opportunities and challenges, and the biggest challenge seems to be how to make the most of the opportunities while I am doing post grad studies.  Between us, we have a large list of things we want to do while we are there so it will no doubt be a busy time as we try to make the most of it.  I have never been to New England but it looks beautiful and has wonderful history so I cant wait to explore it in detail.

In addition to continuing our Scouting adventures with Boy Scouts of America, the Lad has his eye on some Blood Bowl tournaments like Chaos Cup and Three Die Brawl which will be fun.  I'd love to hear from others what they think the wargaming 'Must Dos' are.  GenCon? Historicon? Adepticon?  Inevitably, we wont be able to do everything and need to pare it down to a manageable list.

Exciting times indeed, but in for now its back to the raft of preparations - no rest for the wicked !

Battle of the WarBands

Comrade James and I got together with a few of the Lads to have a big SAGA game.  With 6 point war bands each, Jason and I each took Normans and teamed up against Comrade James with his Anglo-Danes and Andrew with Anglo-Saxons.  We played the Sacred Ground scenario and it was the first time I'd used my Normans.  It was a bit different getting used to them and was a fun afternoon.  Here are a few highlights:

At the end of the day the Anglo-Saxon Warlord fell attacked the centre hill and the Normans claimed the Victory.  But gaming and fun were of course the real winners!

Putrid Player's Guild

Comrade James found some more details from FFG on the upcoming expansion Team Manager expansion: Foul Play
http://fantasyflightgames.com/edge_news.asp?eidn=4875

Well, Jim, we’ve certainly had a lot to see so far from the new teams of the Putrid Players’ Guild.

You’re absolutely right, Bob. Between the Nurglings’ disease, Chaos Dwarf riots, and Goblin cheating, this upcoming season might be our most interesting yet.

The fans certainly agree, and opposing teams are racing to adapt to some of the PPG’s more… unconventional tactics!

Foul Play introduces the Putrid Players’ Guild to the Team Managers’ Union and to your games of Blood Bowl: Team Manager. The PPG’s new teams distinct play styles and unorthodox techniques are sure to make a splash, and the best talent scouts are already investigating what these new teams can offer. In today’s preview, we’ll bring you an update on the newest teams to take their positions on the pitch.

Nurgle’s Rotters

As the team devoted to the Chaos god of disease, Nurgle’s Rotters rank as the most odorous players in Blood Bowl – no mean achievement! In fact, few players can use noxious disease as a weapon the way Nurgle’s Rotters can. ThePestigor, and other key players in Nurgle’s Rotters, have the Spread Disease ability, which allows you to place a disease token at midfield. When another player is committed or moved to a matchup with a disease token in midfield, that player immediately receives the disease token, lowering his Star Power by one.

In addition to spreading disease, Nurgle’s Rotters make excellent use of the downed skills first introduced in the Sudden Death expansion, especially regeneration. Whenever a player is downed, he immediately resolves any downed skills he may possess, including cheating, passing, or even regeneration. When a manager attempts to regenerate his downed player, he rolls two tackle dice. If a die shows the “Tackler Down” result, you may immediate stand your downed player, bringing his full Star Power back to the matchup.

Whether you stop your opponent’s passes with the Beast of Nurgle or use a star player like Pusbubble to spread disease, Nurgle’s Rotters have plenty to offer.

The Zharr-Naggrund Ziggurats

Masters of destruction and revenge, the Chaos Dwarfs love to walk the ball to victory over a field littered with the bodies of their former opponents. With players like the Bull Centaur and Hthark the Unstoppable in the Zharr-Naggrund Ziggurats’ roster, it’s not hard to see how they’ve gotten a reputation for fighting to the last breath and beyond. Chaos Dwarf players feature a massive amount of cheating and tackling skills, helping them crush any opponent that stands in their way. If an unfortunate player downs a Chaos Dwarf, however, he’s certain to get more than he bargained for in return. Nearly every Chaos Dwarf player has at least one downed skill to get revenge on your opponents.

The Chaos Dwarfs also showcase the new skill introduced in the Foul Play expansion: fouling. One place you can find this skill is as a downed skill for the Hobgoblin Thrower. If you choose to use a player’s fouling ability, you choose an opponent who has a player at the matchup. Then, you take one card from that manager’s hand and secretly look at it, before choosing to discard it, or replace it in your opponent’s hand. By using the fouling skill, you not only gain knowledge of your opponent’s players, but if it’s one of your opponent’s best players, you can discard it. If it’s a lowly Lineman, however, you can replace it in his hand, keeping him from drawing better cards!

The Lowdown Rats

For sheer insanity on the field, there’s no team that can match the Lowdown Rats. With typical goblin ingenuity, they’ve contrived entirely new ways to break the rules, whether by using pogo sticks, chainsaws, or bombs. You can use aLooney to take down your opponent’s best players with his trusty chainsaw, his Dauntless ability, and his array of offensive skills. On the other hand, maybe you prefer the wide-spread damage of the Bombardier. By pitching bombs around the field whenever he successfully tackles another player, the Bombardier can cut a swath of destruction through your opponent’s team.

Other goblins stay ahead of rivals by just being faster than anyone else. A Star Player like Scrappa Sorehead has well-developed sprinting abilities, even after being downed. If one of your opponent’s players is unlucky enough to miss a tackle on Scrappa Sorehead, you may use this player’s superior mobility to move him to safety at one of your other matchups. Whether you rely on crazy plans, frantic cheating, or chainsaws and pogo sticks, the Lowdown Rats have the tools to bring in fans and get you to the top of the Team Managers’ Union.

The Blood Bowl Awaits

The three new teams of the Putrid Players’ Guild offer unique skills and powers to any manager who can control them. There’s more to discover in Foul Play than new teams, though. In our next preview, we’ll look at some of the new mechanics introduced in this expansion, including penalties, stadiums, and a corrupt ref.

Mis-drop!

A short (13min) SF film, this delivers intense action all portrayed on the face of a drop trooper.
Great stuff!  http://www.mis-drop.com/

Taking stock

Packing lots of toys away at the moment and took the opportunity to snap some pics of my classic Blood Bowl collection as a record of what I have. Thought some of you might enjoy this nostalgic interlude!

Who's a Clever Boy Then ?

I'm taking the opportunity of having sole access to the ManCave (whilst Paul's computer is packed up for his impending removal) to blog Paul's recent award of the Distinguished Service Medal, the second highest award for leadership in operational service in Australia. I won't embarrass Paul too much but will say the citation included reference to his skilful diplomacy during his command of his Frigate on recent anti-piracy operations. You can find his full citation with a bit of Google fu....Congrats mate, its a mighty fine addition to the bling!

Taken to Heaven and Back one Last Time- Vale, Rik Mayall

It's with great sadness that we learnt of the recent passing of an iconic figure in our wargaming and military lives, Lord Flasheart, or in real life, Rik Mayall, who passed away aged 56.
Paul and I have spent many hours laughing at our timely use of quotes from the Blackadder series throughout our current and former military careers, and Rik Mayalls' portrayal of an egotistical World War 1 flying ace was a personal favourite. Vale Rik, Wooooff!

Australians at D-Day

Being heavily committed in the Pacific Theatre, the Australian contribution at D-Day was very limited and restricted to individuals serving in other Allied units at sea, on land and in the air.

Overall there were around 3,000 Aussies involved in the landings, a large proportion of whom were aircrew.  Small biscuits in comparison to the hundreds of thousands of Allied servicemen involved, but it is good to know there was an Aussie presence at this key moment in history.

The Royal Australian Navy historical pamphlet series Semaphore has this week published a small piece detailing key Aussies who were part of OPERATION NEPTUNE.  You can d/l it for free here:
https://www.navy.gov.au/spc/publications/semaphore

There is more information regarding Australian servicemen at D-Day here:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_contribution_to_the_Battle_of_Normandy

Of course, erudite readers will know that today is the 70th Anniversary of the planned D-Day landings, the actual operation being delayed by high winds and heavy seas until 6 June.

Officer Murphy Mk II

Watched the Robocop remake over the weekend.  Being a big fan of the original, I wasn't sure how I was going to like it.  Still set in Detroit, there are lots of nods to the original including some classic one liners ("Dead or Alive, you're coming with me"), the same theme music and very nicely updated ED-209 models. The result? Big Thumbs up!