Gone Orange .. Hope You Like It

My previous "Awesome Black" style template was just too much of a "Pain in the @$$" to read IMHO. Only took me five years to figure out!

Hope you like the readability of the new style :)

Just Another Day in the Space Marine Corp (4)

With the primary objective completed and no further Chaos minions to despatch it was time to exit before the computer operated (via a simple countdown timer) attachment clamps disengaged the Docking Ports back to the mothership. The Imperial Fists were situated close to their exit but the Ultra Marines had to traverse the whole length of the Space Hulk's sector. This lead to an amusing series of random event rolls whereby the Chaos Overlord (aka me) was hoping to get a Genestealer into play to 'make my day'. As 'befit to the fickle whims of Chaos' the Genestealer appeared only 'after' the last Ultra Marine was safely behind the bulk head door. Aw shucks! No amount of 'creative' cajoling by myself and the other Space Marine players could entice the brave Ultra Marines back out (see below, "I'll huff and I'll puff"):

Counting the Cost: The Deadpool

The Blood Angels:

Despite suffering 100% casualties the official report showed that The Blood Angels showed "Good Heart & Soul" [The Chaos Commander glibly added "and  liver, spleen and brain matter all over the floor and walls of the Space Hulk"] in their combat, but they faced overwhelming odds and unlucky dice rolls in combat. Fate favours "lucky generals." Zero Points. The Blood Angels are currently in the process of recruiting a new batch of Space Marines heroes for their next mission, apply within (see below, some Chaos kills but horrific casualties):

The Imperial Fists:

Despite losing two Space Marines the Emperor's Elite Bodyguard brought in the goods with an impressive bounty of kills, including the primary objective (aka, the Dreadnought, see below). The Imperial Fists were declared the game winners and the Space Marine Commander was promoted from the ranks of a lowly Sergeant into the bottom rung of the Space Marine Officer Corp. How this 'Sharp-like' character takes to the formality of the Officers Mess is still another matter. Still as a reward The Imperial Fists get plenty of extra equipment cards to play with on the next mission as well as a second Command Card, "Oooh!" Well done (see below, a haul of dead Chaos minions both major and minor):

The Ultra Marines:

A very 'canny' (as in clever if not cautious) performance that preserved force integrity (no casualties, not quite the Space Marine Corp if you ask my humble opinion). Clipping their way through the Chaos minions and taking out the dangerous Recon Android showed tactical prowess. Some would say The Ultra Marines were a tad risk adverse but they are at least are ready to "go again," now tooled up with some extra equipment. Their mettle will be truly tested next time  methinks (see below, the kill total really needed that androd):

Chaos:

Yes, all his (or rather my) minions were dead or destroyed, but already the strange Forces of Chaos were twisting and threading their parts together, reconstituting or spawning a new army of minions. Aided with plenty of new Space Marine biological matter, diabolical horrors will await the Space Marines. The toll of Space Marines [seven all told including a precious Space Marine Commander] greatly pleases the warped Chaos entity. The Chaos Commander has earned the right to pick a "Random Event Card" of their choice as a backup 'trump' so the Genestealer is now a definite for the next game [evil laughter] so he eagerly awaits the next scenario in anticipation, especially as it promises him an additional three androids to play with (see below, these Space Marines did not make it back to their 'mothership'):

All said and done a really good night of fun, dice and beer. Fab, cannot wait for the next one!

Just Another Day in the Space Marine Corp (3)

The ferocious Dreadnought unceremoniously pushes the inert body of the Blood Angels Commander, supported by the last Chaos Space Marine Trooper they engage in a firefight with the last two surviving Blood Angel Space Marines. Bolters versus a Plasma Gun and Autocannon. The Bolter bounce harmlessly off the armoured hide of the Dreadnought (see below):

Predictably the Space Marines are gunned down by the superior heavy weaponry of the Dreadnought. The Blood Angels true to the spirit of their cadre have taken 100% casualties (see below):

Their work done on the Blood Angels the Dreadnought and surviving Chaos Space Marine (now nick named 'Bud') hunker back into the 'Alamo' and await the Imperial Fists and Ultra Marine teams "to have a go". Time is on the side of Chaos as for every turn the Space Marines delay an "interesting" Chaos event card is drawn. The Chaos Commander eagerly awaits an opportunity to play a Genestealer on teh reduced strength Space Marines (see below):

Showing tactical brilliance along with bravery of the highest order the Imperial Fist Commander goes headlong into the fray with a Dreadnought busting Megabomb equipment card in hand. A spectacular roll of double three (6 damage points) and an additional one and three (four damage points) from his power sword in hand-to-hand combat splits the Dreadnought down the middle, leaving is a fused bunch of spare electronic parts, radiating noxious fumes. All hail to the Imperial Fists (see below):

The last combat act was the execution of the remaining Chaos unit on the table, despatched by a tooled up Imperial Fist touting an Autocannon (see below):

In the last few rounds Chaos' fortunes had crashed from the high of wiping out an entire Space Marine squad to being smashed up by a no-nonsense 'Alamo' clear-out. The Ultra Marines emerged from their tactical positions (being somewhat gun-shie after rolling a lot of double zeroes all game they deduced that discretion was the better part of valour! All the Space Marines had to do now was survive a series of random event cards until they got back to their 'shuttle entry points'.

Next: Run, Run, Run Away ... I mean Mission Accomplished Tactical Withdrawal in Progress

Just Another Day in the Space Marine Corp (2)

Space Marine teams penetrate deeper into the "Space Hulk Abomination". The Blood Angel team gets caught up in a vicious fire-fight with a renegade Chaos Space Marine Commander sniping down a Blood Angel grunt (see below):

Incensed the Blood Angel Commander takes out his opposite number mano-on-mano style (see below, scratch one servant of Chaos):

All three Space Marine teams had made excellent progress room-clearing minor Chaos minions. The Imperial Fists commander had taken issue with the Chaos Space Marine Heavy Weapons gunner that had taken out two of his troopers (see below) while the Ultra Marines had taken out the potentially deadly recon android. All that was left was to find the Dreadnought, kill it and then get out of "Dodge".

The Blood Angels were the 'lucky' team to find their "Primary Mission Objective" hunkering down in its "Alamo" bolt-whole, a Space Marine Trooper paying the price for the "reconnaissance by contact" strategy (see below):  

The Blood Angels reacted the only way they know. The Commander takes on the Dreadnought hand-to-hand with his power-sword. Alas, the Chaos Force effect was strong with the dice (evil laughter) and he fell "a hero to the corp", but dead nevertheless (see below):

Two remaining Blood Angel Troopers faced off against the deadliest of alien killing machines, the final Chaos Space Marines and a dirty "reptilian" Orc Grunt. The Imperial Fists and Ultra Marines teams were heading as fast as they could to the critical battle-zone but will they be quick enough to save the beleaguered Blood Angels?

Next: Face-Off against the Dreadnought!

Just Another Day in the Space Marine Corp (1)

I have been a bit slow on the 'practical' side of wargaming as of late, but here is the long overdue saga of a Space Crusade game played before Xmas ...

Everyone (aka read 'geek' of Big Bang Theory description) dreams of joining a Space Marine Chapter, "Don't they?". In the case of the undecided I offered 'free beer'. Even better they brought their own so it was obviously going to be a "good gaming night". The Space Marines deploy finding a small [Getchin] moving metal thing to beat up (see below):

Anyway, to go off hunting bug-eyed monsters and killing deviant followers of Chaos, as per the Emperors' instructions (or rather the semi-lucid incantations from his throne/life-support system). So therefore we find Space Hulk "Abomination" welcoming three rookie squads on a 'Hunt the Dreadnought' mission. The boys all tooled up with heavy weapons 'pile in' and start wading into the minor minions of Chaos (see below, a Blood Angels Space Marine Commander trying to look "hard and cool"):

As the going gets slightly tougher (as in the second round of combat) a "rookie marine" reports 'equipment failure' as in "Sarge my dice aren't working they keep rolling noughts!" (See below, a discussion on the merits of the d20 fantasy dice rolling a number but missing being more satisfying that "a pair" of zeroes):

The (Yellow) Emperor's Bodyguard (aka The Imperials Fists) poked a solitary Space Marine out as point, to which Chaos reacted violently (albeit ineffectively). The 'ambushers' were in turn ambushed by Imperial Fist reinforcements (see below, both photos):  

However never underestimate a Chaos Space Marine armed with a Plasma Cannon, the straight beam cutting down two Imperial Fist grunts. The merits of spreading your figures and avoiding clustering became apparent! The fighting was getting 'down and dirty' (see below):  

So far the three units of Space Marines had covered a lot of territory but the bulk of the Chaos counters seemed to be bunched in protecting "Sector 4" where the priority objective of the mission (aka a 'Chaos Dreadnought') had to be!

Next: Into the Devils Den 

PS4: AIR CONFLICTS - Pacific Carriers

If you cannot beat them then join them!

The 'family' (ahem, eldest son with his elbows to the fore, but the others make sure he does not get it all his own way as we all have 'our own' games) got a PS4 as the big Xmas present. The sounds of action packed "Lego" fights (Marvel Super Heroes and Lego Dimensions) along with the mandatory shuffling sounds of heaps of small Lego pieces (quite evocative) echo through the house for most of the weekend! When the tired kids are off to bed and the wife thinks she'll get a bit of piece and quiet I slip away into WWII Carrier Combat (see below, WWII PS4 game and a custard tart, does it get any better?)

So far I have made it to Midway on Rookie setting with the easier Arcade control settings (call it a need for easy gratification) but the Cap and AA keep shooting me down as I try and take out the Kaga and Akagi.

What no more Shelfari after March ... What is GoodRead?

To quote Han Solo from Star Wars "Chewy I have a BAD feeling about this!" ..

Oh no did I hear the word MIGRATION, no software orientated person likes that word as it just spells TROUBLE. Expect to see a dozen posts or more complaining about loss of data and "feature drift"

That is the GLASS HALF EMPTY interpretation of Googles announcement but the first "Book Export" to GoodRead looked pretty, ... well, incomplete ... missing lots!

 :(

STOP PRESS ... UPDATE: Message received after I sent a query to the Amazon HELP or FAQ section ...

Hello,

I'm sorry about the inconvenience caused.
Please be informed that we are experiencing a technical issues. We apologize for the inconvenience this causes.
Errors like this are usually corrected shortly after they're reported. I request you to please try again after a 1-2 business days.

We appreciate your patience and understanding while we work to resolve this technical issue as quickly as possible.

Did I solve your problem?

ONLY TIME WILL TELL ... I can now add a new book to my old Shelfari but I fear this is merely the start of a long SAGA!

A Cunning Crafty Plan

It has been a rather slow wargaming start to the year with more mundane life practicalities taking a higher priority, sniff. However after clearing up after Xmas there came the need to restock the family's "Arts and Craft Box". During the trip to the various 'bargain basement' stores I spotted a couple of objects with 'wargaming potential' or so methinks! (see below):

The small canvas squares have the potential for town terrain pieces and the coloured lollipop sticks have a certain Napoleonic flavour (at least to my delusional mind).

Watch this space ...

Star Wars X-Wing Xmas Gift

One of the coolest things I got from Santa was a Resistance X-Wing (see below):

Although it was clip-together it was technically in my eyes still a model as it came from Revell, bless them. Ahem, with the added bonus of "sound affects" (while the batteries last)

:)

2016 off to great start start with a new Horrible Histories cup!

Replacing the MIA enamel WW2 British Army "tea" cup (suspicion falls on the wife as she didn't like putting it in the dishwasher or me leaving it some remote corner of loft/shed/ garage [delete as applicable]) I splashed out and bought myself to an impulse 'January sale item' when visiting the Scottish Museum in Edinburgh (see below):

Panther tank on the front (see above) and a "Screaming Eagle" US 82nd Airborne on the rear (see below):

I shall be happy with my hobby-time brews in 2016!

:)