Hobby ADHD

I think many of us have it: Hobby ADHD.  You know, the problem where you are so psyched about a project but then you see something new and shiny and suddenly you've put that other passion project on the back burner?  Well, that's how I've been feeling of late.  I have my "To Do" list: English Civil War, Land of the Free (AWI), Gorgon Studios figure painting, Fate of a Nation.  Then there are those little distractions that I just can't get out of my mind.  For instance......

An Empire Captain for Warhammer Fantasy!  I haven't played Fantasy in many years but the new End Times book "Nagash" along with some folks at the local GW had my mind pre-occupied with thoughts of the Empire and my Fantasy glory days.

OR....

 A Space Wolf Blood Claw!!  Now, I actually have played a couple of games of 40k plus I  have a 1500 Astra Militarum force assembled (and 5% painted).  But when the Stormclaw Starter Box was released many months back I had to scratch the itch.  I've always been interested in Space Wolves, loved the new models and my buddy was itching to buy it for the Orks.  So, we both purchased it and then traded each other so I got all the Space Wolves and he got all the Orks.

AND THEN THIS......

A fraking Imperial Knight!?!?  This one is thanks to a friend who is running some games at Adepticon including Adeptus Titanicus and a Imperial Knights Tournament.  He was trying to recruit me and although I attempted to resist, he made an offer I couldn't refuse.  Hell, who am I kidding?  It didn't take much for him to convince me.  OF COURSE I want to paint an Imperial Knight!

So there you have it. Three models I didn't need or plan to do at this point but there they are.  The Empire and Space Wolves will go back in the queue for another day but the Knight is now an ADDITIONAL project I need to complete for Adepticon 2015.  

And that, my friends, is what happens if you don't control your hobby ADHD. 

Fate of a Nation: Our First Game

When the Flames of War supplement for the Arab-Israeli War came out, I was inspired to paint up some forces for the conflict.  After talking to a couple of fellow gamers, we chose our sides and made a commitment to complete our first 1000 points.  Two of us managed to reach that goal, myself with a Jordanian force and Sam with an Israeli force.  Our first game was set at 1050 points (the amount I had ready).  Sam was joined by another member of the group (John) and to battle we went.

My Jordanian Artillery Battery

I had an HQ platoon and 3 armored platoons  all with M48 Patton tanks 

plus a mechanized infantry platoon with M113 carriers.

The Israelis had a n HQ Sho't tank, 3 Shermans and a Mortar Platoon on their left flank

On their right flank that had 2 Magach tanks plus priority air support

Things on my right flank went well as two of my M48's took out the Israeli Shermans over the course of several round.  This negated the Israeli left flank and made it impossible for them to capture their objective on my right flank.  Unfortunately, I had dismounted my infantry and then realized to late I had the opportunity to seize my objective from their depleted left flank.  I remounted and moved at the double to try and take advantage and rush the objective.

My left flank was ineffective in dealing with the two Magachs across from them.  The Israelis used smoke to force me to move forward and thus reduce my rate of fire.  This, coupled with air support and the Israeli mortars, slowly took its toll on my left flank.

Near the games end, I had destroyed two Israeli Platoons but had lost three of my own.  My left flank, which included my HQ tank was utterly destroyed.  With his forces depleted and my still having two tank platoons, a mechanized infantry platoon and an artillery platoon, I decided to rush the objective on the Israeli left flank.  We ended the game at that point with it looking like a win for the Jordanians but in reality it would have been close and might have come down to assault with his remaining forces.

I'm already planning my additions to my Jordanians for our next game.  Sam is looking at doing a UAR force so we will have all the sides available via the Fate of a Nation rules.

Rome Triumphant!

Another fun Ancients game at Mike's house.....well, fun for the Republican Roman commanders at least!

Republican Romans faced off against the Carthaginians and allies.  As usual at Mike's, we used Tactica as our rule set.  Before gaming with Mike I had never encountered these rules before.  As I learn more I like the rules. They are fairly simple compared to many rule sets so lend themselves to a easy game for people new to the rules.  The hardest part for me is movement, as the rules try to replicate the style of Ancient warfare by making maneuvers fairly difficult to perform.  This can make taking a flank difficult as you usually have to break some units first to break through and then turn on the flank.

As I alluded to above, the dice were not with the Carthaginians this day.  As for the Romans, things went much better.  In particular, my Roman cavalry (supported by skirmishers) destroyed Mike's left flank force quickly enough to bring their numbers to bare on the exposed infantry flank.  Considering how poorly I usually roll, I think Mike was stunned at my sudden good fortune.  The good new for Mike is that my luck never holds so it could be 2015 before I get another run of dice luck like this game.

My cavalry charging in to destroy Mike's light cavalry.

The right flank of the Carthaginian line.

The glory of Republican Rome.

Some beautiful Carthaginians (yet to be released) from Gorgon Studios.

Pikes, Elephants and More Pikes!

Once again I had the pleasure of playing in my friends Michael's ancients game.  This month was Macedonian Greeks with an awesome array of pike units.  The models looked great but I did manage to stick myself with several pikes in my arm and partial destroyed a stand of Greeks due to me catching the pikes and pulling the unit off of the table!

In addition to all the pike units, we had cavalry (light, heavy and Cataphractii) as well as some scythed chariots and Elephants.

My co-general, Bill, devised a plan of waiting back and letting the enemy come to us.  I held the right flank and was facing the Cataphracts which I was very nervous about.  I held up his lighter cavalry on that flank and positioned myself to be able to flank but all for nothing.  His cavalry broke through my wing and began to attack my infantry flanks.  My unit held a few turns but I failed to do enough damage in the center to break any of my opponents models (plus some damn good rolls on their part as well!).

We had broken through on their right flank as well but one unit of infantry held up our forces and bought their army enough time to break us in the middle.  In the end, it was a defeat for our side, but still a really fun and awesome looking game.

2014 Off To A Slow Start

It looked like my posting schedule was starting to pick up in the 2nd half of 2013 but sadly it all fell apart with the holidays.  So this is very late but I wanted to start 2014 with a look back at my hobby resolutions for 2013 and a look at what is ahead for 2014.

So below is my resolutions for 2013 and the indication if they were completed or not.

• Paint a Confederate Brigade (130+ figs) for the Guns of April project (DONE)
• Finish my Fallschirmjager additions for FOW (PARTIALLY)
• Finish my FOW terrain (FAIL)
• Play more FOW games (DONE)
• Play in a FOW tournament (FAIL)
• Paint two new 600 point LotR armies (DONE)
• Paint 1000 points for the Badab War project
• Play some 40k games (FAIL)

So 3 complete and one partial out of 8.  About the same as in 2012. The completed projects were really enjoyable especially the Guns of April ACW project.  I also have two new armies for LotR, something I sorely needed.  And I actually played 5+ games of FOW which is a LOT for me.

My resolutions for this year are mostly house cleaning for the things I failed to complete in 2013.

• Finish my Fallschirmjager additions for FOW
• Finish Jordanians for Arab/Israli war FOW
• Finish FOW terrain
• Play in a FOW tournament at Adepticon
• Paint a 750 evil force for LotR
• Paint 1000 points of IG
• Play 40k

I'll try and keep the list a little smaller and see if that helps me get my hobby list finished this time. To give you a preview of one of my projects, here is my first 600 points of Jordanian M48 Pattons for FOW Arab-Israeli War