The Farstriders: x2 Showcase

Greetings to another Death By Die showcase! This time, its two Shadespire warbands... don't worry you're not seeing double, this is two alternate schemes I did on the Farstriders. 

Even though gold is the predominant colour on both, the secondary colours give off two very different vibes.

See how the blue gives a cooler look, as if they may have been fighting near watery or icy areas. The red however is much warmer, and I think this makes them look more aggressive.

Deciding what secondary colour to use for a warband or army can theme your army despite what the main colour is. Even if the main colour on these were silver, the seondary colours would still give the cool or warmer feel to the miniatures. These Shadespire kits are fantastic by the way, easy to build (akin to the easy to build series GW has been successfully putting out recently) and I'd never in a thousand years thought I'd enjoy painting gold.

But here I am, enjoying painting gold! 

Which of the above schemes do you prefer? How has a secondary colour choice changed how your army feels? Do you regret picking certain colours? Leave a comment and pictures!

Rolling a Natural One: 2017

Often, as one year closes and another one starts, we become reflective and look back at the year that was. After 6 years of gaming pretty much weekly, I've had to take some time off due to various events and my own mental state. 2017 is the year depression and anxiety has kicked my arse.

It did'nt start well, personal life hit a shitter straight after Xmas, and a few months later my photography studio, also the then home of our gaming club, was hit with a break in. I lost my Space Marine army, Genestealer Cult, Daemons... Several of the club members lost armies too and this hurt me more than my own items being pinched. Knowing how many hours I'd put into painting, but more so how much time others had put into their collections broke me plain and simple. three or four weeks later I received a phonecall from a local second hand shop, and luckily most of the things that were taken were returned. But at this point, I still felt done.

I considered selling it all, as I'd already given up and seeing it ever again and just wanted away with it. The thought of continuing to paint what had now been tainted just affected me more than I could have imagined. Suddenly the hobby that had been my escape from depression became the source of it. Thats a world turner right there I can tell you. The thing with depression is the lack of feeling anything. When I would game I'd become passionate, inspired, creative... without that I had little to do, no motivation to do anything and literally just wanted the world to swallow me. I'd wake up, and immediately want to go back to sleep, or not wake up at all. Any little thing that goes wrong feels like you've been defeated for days, lose a fiver, drop some food, thats it. Day gone.

Things people would say to me would be analyzed beyond need, negative thoughts resulting from the smallest of comments even if they'd be reaching out to try and help. I would things in forums or threads and even if it wasn't aimed at me, I'd look into it far too much and believe things were. When people and gaming are driving you into deeper depths of depression you shy away from all things related to them, not going to see friends, not conversing with them online, I didn't paint for several months and I probably forgot how to roll a dice.

Getting back into the hobby has taken a lot of time. I'm still not 100% back to where I was before this all happened, but I'm getting there. I still take things to heart, I still don't always feel motivated to pick up a brush and theres certainly days where waking up is the last thing I want to do. But the thing to remember? This is all okay. I've suffered depression at various levels throughout most of my life, and I've been through this before but never had it affect me with something I love doing.

The first models I painted since the burglary were these and a new human Blood Bowl team I picked up at UKGE 2017. They're still not finished to this day, but Blood Bowl is what got me into the hobby, and its whats kept me going. In recent weeks my enthusiasm has come back, as you've seen from previous posts on this very blog. Necromunda has helped fuel my passion, 40k is also making its way back into my hobby as I'm currently painting some scenery, namely the Armoured Containers (which I'm enjoying painting). 

No matter who you are and what you do, if you suffer from depression, try to learn how to cope with it. I've never found a true way of dealing with it, as its always there in the back of my mind and any little thing can trigger its implosion and rear its ugly head. If you need someone to talk to there are onlive services that can help, even feel free to give me a shout. I feel experienced enough to offer advice or even just listen/read what you have to say and tell you, 'you're not alone'.

Its funny to me that we often look at numbers to tell us where we are and think 'when it goes up one, things will get better'. But as 2018 I truly believe that. 2017 has been an absolute shitter, and while I know there will be more moments to come where solitude seems like the best thing, it will not be another 2017. This coming year will be different and Death By Die will be a much more active place going forward.

May your 2018 not be my 2017, be safe everyone!

Xmas Wishlist

Good grief, Xmas is just 2 days away! I was pondering about what I fancy getting myself for Xmas as the old biddy asked so picked up a couple of the small scenery kits for 40k, the containers and the plasma engine thingys. But it made me wonder, what would I REALLY like for Xmas, if money wasn't a problem and it was hobby related? 

Lets start small. An entire Chapter of Space Marines please. Cause who doens't want the 100+ Space Marines, various HQ models and vehicles? I'd also like them painted ready for use in colours of my choosing please. 

Ah a Leman Russ. But, I don't want a Leman Russ. I want a company of these bad boys! 9, to group in threes, along with a Tank Commander. I'll paint these myself though, but perhaps include a few Basilisks to go with? Failing this Epic scale Leman Russ tanks to paint up so I can have a couple companies of them and play those massive tank battles I always dreamed of as a kid.

Next up, I'd like a Forge World voucher because there will be a lot of Necromunda and Blood Bowl models released I want in my hobby needing clutches.

Also, Games Workshop store birthdays to bring back the buy two get one free deals they used to have that I remember so fondly. They were good days!

A personal Land Speeder for general use getting around. I know it'd be cold and the wind insane, but imagine speeding over the roads not caring about roads? Thats living the dream! Also if theres some twats about blasting them with a multimelta shot surely isn't a bad thing.

Storage space. Lots more storage space and cases to put everything in! I've got limited room as it is and running out of space its getting difficult, so perhaps a complex to store everything and play games in would be nice?

A good white paint. I know they exist, but I always seem to get a bad pot. It dries too quickly inside the pot, goes lumpy, and I weep like a Blood Angel going through the red rage. 

No Xmas would be Xmas without some cheese. And quite often cheese visits us in our tabletop games too. So for Xmas, NO CHEESE! I'm done with competitive gaming, when people take lists to obliterate others with its just no fun. I understand the tourney scene but what happened to having fun? Over the past couple of years my gaming time has gone down as a result of this. Its not even spam lists, but rules that seem a little ott and when people take advantage of that then grumble if said rules get nerfed somewhat. 

A job at Wizards of the Coast working on campaign ideas for Dungeons and Dragons. Self explanatory really, but I have so many ideas swirling around in my head for campaigns in D&D that they're falling out before I can write them down. A party accompanying awell known Bard touring Faerun, visiting all the big cities as he performs for the rich and powerful. A Shadow of the Collosus style compaign where a party of monster hunters are tasked with destroying a number of monsters that themselves are absolutely massive. There are so many, and one day I shall write them down and detail!

I think for now thats it. That'll do for now but whats on your Xmas list, fantasy or realistic? Let me know down below!

The Glory of D&D

Welcome, to a somewhat rambling yet glorious honouring post dedicated to one of the most iconic tabletop games of all time. 

Dungeons and Dragons.

Over the last few years it has regained an incredibly popular following like much of the tabletop scene. Geek and Sundry has helped with its Critical Role series, a weekly show starring voice actors playing Dungeons and Dragons and putting on an entertaining 3-4 hour session. Stranger Things has also placed the game in the public eye after capturing the imaginations of millions on Netflix. Celebrities like Vin Diesel, the late Robin Williams and Kevin Smith also among those being fans.

Its popularity is also strong at our club, the Gwent Reavers. We've gained new members through it, after myself, Gav and Bam started the Mines of Phandelver around a year and a half ago. Its always been something I've personally been interested in, just didn't realise others were too. So we got together and now we have three different sessions run by three different Dungeon Masters going on currently. And thats with a variety of different players too. Some have come to the dark side of tabletop gaming, be it miniature games or board games, some are dedicated to the D20 and the roleplaying aspect. 

So what about Dungeons and Dragons is so captivating? The depth of narrative and background are certainly an aspect that draws people in. There is such a wealth of information out there, be it tips to playing, background to set your adventures in and even guides as to how to create your own world. 

This leads on to being able to create. Like open world videogames you have a lot more ability to do what you want, even more so in tabletop roleplay as it really is just your own imagination that limits you. Not only do your stories get told, but those of the players who create characters that are a huge part of the stories being told. In fact, when dm'ing my own campaign I try to let the players tell the story while guiding them through certain events. You can plan how a certain event will play out, for example how a battle will go with a great beast but the players will always come up with ways that surprise you as a DM and have those events change. Its incredibly fascinating to see how your friends will solve different problems and ace different creatures in battle. 

One other side of D&D that is probably its strongest appeal, is the social side of it. Getting together with your mates to act out these crazy adventures is something you will absolutely love. Running jokes, how you remember certain events and recall those moments is something you have to experience. From deceiving a huge amount of cultists into following us to get out of a Dragon Cult camp, to new interesting ways to pull a kobolds body apart like a christmas cracker its been an absolute joy to partake in the game. 

Being a sufferer of insomnia, creating and adapting stories and guiding players through them has been fantastic. Character development is interesting to watch and hopefully as we play through sessions each player will see their characters grow, and not just through stat building and gaining new skills and feats. Having the characters personalities develop in front of you is incredibly rewarding as a dungeon master. 

Even though many times things you write about and plan for a session may not always happen, its still rewarding to be able to come up with these ideas, even if they never come to light. I've written backgrounds for npc's that the players have hardly talked too, but its helped me to put myself into their shoes better and react and talk more as I feel they should, and hopefully that comes across to the players immersing them even more.

In the future I may share certain ideas about the stories I've created on this blog, things that happen during sessions with other DM's (possibly even their own accounts if I can bribe them with rations and gold) and even ideas for you to use in your adventures.

Dungeons and Dragons, and many other tabletop RPG's are a hugely enjoyable and engrossing thing to do with your mates, whether you play or run the session. Go and try your hand, and have some of the best fun you'll have while rolling dice with your friends.

All Dayer Board Gamingasm

Last Sunday we, the Gwent Reavers, got together for an easter banquet of gaming. First of all... CODENAMES!

This game has a Minesweep/Battleship/Dixit feel to it. Yes thats three games, but this combines them perfectly with an almost Resistence theme of spies and agents. Each team has a spymaster, and they they have to direct his team mates to select the right cards, laid out 5x5, and the correct agents. Each card has one word on it, and the Spymaster may only say one word along with a number of guesses. The reason for that, is that if you can tie in more than one card with just one single clue, you can get more cards found. The first to 8/9 wins the game. However... if you select a card thats either the opposite teams or a 'bystander', you lose your turn and it passes to the other team. Find the assassin, and you lose. Outright. 

As you can see above, the Spymasters share the same card which tells you where the correct cards are. The game tests friendships and knowledge of peoples interest, especially in the more vague of clues! We played several rounds and it went down pretty well, a worthy game!

I picked up Evoultion a couple of weeks back and its another game that people have enjoyed. 

Each player is given a species, in itself shows you your population and body mass. Population helps earn you points at the end and the amount of food you can collect (another source of points), while body mass can defend against any species that goes carnivore. 

Theres a bunch of card upgrades to help evolve your species and give you skills from being able to collect more food or to help defend against those meat eaters. Its a lovely looking game too, being bright and vibrant.

The Resistence also got some play, and I got to be this courageous lass! Not a spy. No, never. Always good I am!

 

Also a few weeks ago, Morg picked up Skull. 

A little like Liars/Pirate dice but with lovely looking beermats, three of whic are illustrated with flowers, one with a skull! Each player puts cards down and then one can challenge to show over  cards upto a certain number, all must be flowers and you have to start from your own pile. You get some outrageous bluffs and guesses but its another game thats proven to be great fun, upto 6 players too!

As expected the classic Ticket To Ride got a playthrough, and Mike picked up a win. Despite its simplicity this is one of those games we love going back to swearing at friends for blocking routes then cackling maniaclly when we do it tot hem. 

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While not on the same day, (although some Xwing was played I'll dedicate that to its own post) Bam, Sturdy and Louis did play some Warmachine two weeks back, Bams been interested and seems to be really enjoying. Anything that makes him even almost raise half a smile is worth it!

So some Xwing posts to come, I'll be participating in the Welsh Regionals in Cardiff so plenty of practice games coming for that! We're also looking for more games to be recommended so please share the games you love!

Ghost and X-Wing Batrep

 So its been a quiet due to many reasons, but here we are with an X-Wing Battle Report. 100 pts, Rebels versus Rebels! Gav hadn't played for a while and wanted to give a K-Wing a go, and having painted up a B-Wing I just had to use it in a batrep. Heres my list!

Keyan Farlander, no upgrades.

2x Blue Squadron B-Wings with Fire Control Systems

Gemma Sojan with Chaardon Refit, and Lone Wold (I'd also taken the card that allows me to take an elite pilot talent)

Gav had taken Wedge in his X-Wing, Dutch Vander in a Y-Wing, and Esege Tuketu in the K-Wing. I forget the upgrades he chose, but there was a blaster turret and recon on the K, wedge had decoy, and I think the Ywing had a droid that gave him a free target lock when he did red moves and some photon torpedoes.

First turn we were both pretty cautious, but soon we were locked in action. 

Wedge got into range one of Keyan, and took four shields off with a torrent of fire. The K-Wing took another shield off and gave me a crit, a direct hit. Gav however rolled two blanks with Dutch and thankfully Keyan lived on for a round... but not for long. I stripped the shields of the K-Wing but no other damage. 

The next turn was just about getting out of the way ready to make another pass, although Wedge did a K-turn and finished Farlander off. Boo!

 

After a couple more K-turns and my B-Wings taking some damage the A-wing and a B-Wing took out the K-wing, then the B's swept in and took out Wedge. Needless to say with the Y-Wing out of position and three ships looking to gun him down, Gav conceded. 

So what did I think of the list? Keyan didn't get much use and its the first time I used him, my preferred B-Wing elite pilot is Ten Numb, Mangler cannon and a couple other upgrades so it maximises his ability to get those crits through. I do love Blue Squadron B-Wings though, even at pilot skill 2 they survive fire and then dish it back out, and Gemma with Lone Wolf also works well. Being in range one rerolling one blank with an extra evade dice is useful and helps her attack get some reliability too. I'm not sure what to make of the K-Wing and I'm unsure as to whether I'd get one, but they do get raved abotu so perhaps one day. 

Also, Gav being the darling that he is, picked this up for me from Firestorm Games who are based in Cardiff. I'm hoping to do an unboxing post soon, possibly in video! The cards look great though and I can't wait to use this, not only is it massive but with a native 4 firepower its gonna do some damage!

Gaming Aplenty

So thought I'd update you all the games we've been enjoying over the last couple of weeks at the Gwent Reavers Tabletop Gaming Club. I'll hopefully get a post up soon about our first D&D session but for now, heres what we've been playing!

A few weeks ago Gav picked up a few games, one of them being Dixit Odyssey. I'd played the original version and this is much of the same, and just as enjoyable as the first version. More beautifully illustrated cards to try and describe in a vague way yet that people may guess right to earn you some points. Its a difficult one to master but such an easy premise, really works well for new and old players!

Gav also picked up Francis Drake, a resource gathering blind voting point grabbing extravaganza. The first turn of the game we played was hilarious as we had no idea what we were doing, but as we got through the rounds seeing people realise what they needed was fantastic. 

Its also a gorgeous looking game with some awesome components, little chests to keep gems in, the lovely map to roam around yet containing so much strategy I can't wait for another game. I was winning for most of it but kept saying I was gonna be last, everyone didn't believe me but when we added up the bonus points I did end up in last place! Four of us finished with just 10 or so points between 5th and 2nd place, while Gav actually managed to win on his first attempt at his own game, leading by around 20 points. Highly recomend this one! 

With Louis puffing on his vape we couldn't resist adding some mist to the high seas!

Speaking of Louis, he also brought up two of these polystyrene structures. Now what to build with them! Im thinking some sort of cathederal structure perhaps, but we'll see. Something large and epic is certainly to happen however.

Another new game for the club, this time purchased by Morg, is Spartacus, by Gale Force Nine, who also made a club favourite, Sons of Anarchy. This is very much in a similar vein as SOA, but with a lot more depth!

Theres plenty of scheming to be done with the intrigue card system, plus each player gets their own special rules with their player card. Trading and deals can be made before being stabbed in the back, much like in SOA, but where this game takes it to another level is in its advanced combat arena. 

Here warriors are thrust into the fighting pit, where combat comes down to a 'trump off' system. I don't mean in the bum windy way, but in having to beat values of the dice. Each fighter gets different stats and rules, all of which make a difference.  Its still quite simple but adds a nice element that Sons of Anarchy could do with.

 

Alliances have been made and broken already in just a few games that we have played, and its been a joy to watch every single time. Another game we highly recommend!

Finally myself and James had a game of Xwing, 100pts rebels derby match! I fancied taking an easy to use list where I didn't need to remember rules, so everything I took was PS 2 or lower. 2 B Wings, 2 Headhunters (which I still don't like) and 2 Awings (which I adore!). James took an Xwing with Biggs, a PS 3 Ewing and Han solo. 

I lost ships slowly as I slowly battered Han, eventually knock his shields off while losing two ships. It really felt like we were dealing clubbing blow after clubbing blow to each other, and it eventually came down to two ships. 

One B wing vs one X wing, James managing to dodge my shots and delivering the last of my hull points to the god of dead ships. He only had one hull point himself making this an incredibly close game and very enjoyable to play! Taking 6 ships was nice, although if I was take a similar list I'd drop the Headhunters, take another Awing and a couple of upgrades, fire control systems perhaps for the Bwings. 

So thats the last couple of weeks of gaming from us, we've got a few more games to get to play including an expansion for Dominion and Splendour to try, plus I think Spartacus wants to be played again. And if I get to try and gain revenge in Francis Drake I will be ready! 

So what have you guys been playing and would recommend? Leave your thoughts below!

APOCALYPSE!!! 11K Batrep and Timelapse!

I say its a battle report, its more a whinge about how I got the shit blown out of me in the first turn. Yikes! So the game... we aimed for 10k each, and ended up with 11k each. As you can see, Aluns artillery was scary!

So yeah I had that to face, was not impressed! What did I have? 

This. Battle company and some bits! 

We bid for deployment and Alun went for 4 minutes and I went for 8 minutes 20 seconds. I rolled a 6 to steal the initiative... then Alun informed me Coteaz was in his force and I had to reroll. Swine! This would not go well! And it didn't...

Yeah theres my first turn killed pile except for the marines to the right. Alun used a stratagem that allowed his manticores (all four I think) to fire several times each causing a lot of dead tanks. Among the dead were a couple of land raiders, a couple of predators, and my line breaker formation. Ouch! I did not have much confidence... I did aim to get points though as thats what gets you prizes!

I managed to kill Aluns Shadowsword, and capture 5 of the six objectives to give me a 6-1 lead at the first break, where a mixed grill happened! Thats teh way to get some confidence. Stratagem wise I'd used my first in the first turn to deep strike everything with 'Precise Coordinates'. I had an Orbital Strike from the Battle Company and had chosen reinforcements to bring back a formation which I kept in case those points were needed. Aluns second turn wasnt as brutal as the first.

Assassins fought each other, fliers fought flier, troops ran out of broken transports to capture objectives. I think the key fights were the Legion of the Damned and some thunder hammer termies ganging up on a unit consisting of Coteaz, another inquisitor, Stracken, Deddog and Yarrick, another thunder hammer unit fighting an eversor, my callidus and librarian in termie armour taking on Aluns warmaster Creed, my squads getting amongst aluns tanks to do some damage helped immensely too. But would it be enough?

We had to end at turn three, and it seemed I'd managed a 19-8 win. Had it gone on longer I'm unsure whether I could have held on, I still had some units to use out of my storm raven, my chapter master hadn't exited his land raider yet either, but alun still had a lot of tanks! I think he'd have definitely closed the gap but I may have just edged it.

So my favourite moments include seeing Aluns force on the table, hes built a lot of tanks over the last week and did well to get so much done. Scariest army I've ever seen! 

The Legion of the Damned were amazing again. Using the formation from the Armageddon section they with a couple of other units decimated Aluns infantry heavy weapons platoon. They're just so cinematic too! 

Killing the Shadowsword and only rolling a 'one' was disappointing, I wanted to see more destruction! Alun only improved it a little blowing the Stormlord up by rolling a 'two'. Next time!

Assassins battling each other was fun, Als Callidus cropped up in my Bastion so I put my Eversor in there to butcher her, and I placed my Callidus in Als Bastion next to his Vindicare who was about to charge him before the Stormlord unleashed a torrent of fire at him, chewing him up leaving her able to assault the command squad with the Librarian. 

Conversion Beamers. I have NO LUCK with them! I even borrowed Bams (who I'll have to show off when hes painted) and they didn't do an awful lot. 

Actually rolling for Terminator saves was fun, even though I rolled more ones than I should it wasnt rolling as many as I usually do... my power armour saves were atrocious though, consistently rolling half instead of two thirds. 

There were so many things I've probably forgotten about and Al will shout at me for forgetting too! Anyways, theres a timelapse below so enjoy the speeded up action!