Another Oldhammer WE Debriefing by a bloody french...

So here we are, it's been a month since I last blogged and a tad longer since I painted anything...

Why is that ? Well just throw moving house, holidays, business journeys and the fact I still don't have internet at home and you rapidly come to that sort of results.

Does that mean I haven't been doing anything hobby wise all this time, noooope ! I certainly haven't been painting much (but that's going to end soon) but I've had the occasion to make myslef anothr hobby place (probably the only upside of moving home) PLUS I've had the occasion of attending BOYL 2015 (aka Bring Out Your Lead, the Oldhammer event in Newark) this year.

This year, I made myself a little present by staying 3 whole days there and I can tell I never got a minute spare or got the chance to get bored.

As usual, it seems the only games I have are abroad, last one was in Montréal in Febuary with the most Excellent Iannick. This year, just like last year, I managed to get 5 games in the WE and all were very different and yet very fun.

Let's have a look at those games :

GAMES I PLAYED :

Inquisimunda : The quest for the Golden Phrogg

This game was a spin-off for the Campaign organised by Andy Hoare from Tales from the Maelstrom, and it was the occasion for no less than 9 players to gather around a table for a huge Royal Rumble.

The Game took place at the Warhammer World which I had never visited before and was organised by Job from Magpie and Old Lead and it was extremely nice to game on such a lovely table with vintage lead (you could see some people being very intrigued).

Players were divided into 2 groups : Graham (Greater Harlequin) and his genestealer cult, John (or Just John if you want) with Space Santa and Chris (Antipixi) with his ash waste nomads. Facing them were Gadge with his rogue trader, Colin (Whiskey Priest) with an inquisitor, Paul (Cheetor/Sho3box) with another inquisitor and Myself with my trusted Sensei warband.

Great table, great guys in a great venu, what could go wrong ?

Lucas Stern and his crew get ready to complete their mission.

How can that guy even consider himself as a servant of the emperor ? (that's Jon's warband btw)

The redeemed chaos champion has found a prey for his long rifle, time to get shooting

MWAHAHAHA

No time to be shy, everyone heads for the central tower where the objective lies...

That moment when the enemy psyker fails a psychic test... (Jon's astropath)

That's the likely result of underestimating the danger of sniper rifles in the hands of ratlings...

As the end of the game nears, I guess it's time to play my trump card, funnily enough, Graham and his genestealers played the very same but he did so very early which explosed him to the wrath of all the other warbands...

With only the 2 weakest members of the warband up, time to try and win my objective by taking down the genestealer trying to hack the portal computer (yes, you read well, that's how silly this game was) ...

A little group shot with all the main protagonists (represented by the miniature of their leader here).

Oh and here's a shot to show you how original we oldschool guys are...

 Do rogue traders Dream of Electric Goats ?

This game is one I organised via the Oldhammer forum. The idea was to recreate the cyberpunk ambiance you get from Blade runner and Iron Maiden's "somewhere in time".

The game was based on the Rogue trader rules for conviniency with all models sharing the exact same stats (standard human with a stub gun) apart from Replicas (androids) who had slightly increased stats.

There were 5 factions :

- Cops/blade runners (played by Colin (Whiskey Priest)

- Corporate agents (played by Paul/Cheetor/Sho3box)

- Mafia Agents (played by Jon/Axiom)

- Replicas, (played by Chris/Antipixi and Ashley/Littleleadperson)

- Cyberpunks (played by James/Captain Crooks and Geoff/Fimm Mc Cool)

Only the cops and cyberpunks were identified at the start of teh game and the rest of the teams has secret IDs as well as NPCs. The players could try and determine the true identity by pasisng a Voidt Kampf test during the CC phase to see who they were facing.

The game suffered from me not playstesting it and somehow losing my notepad here most info was written (lesson learnt here) but the easy going and friendly nature of my gamers somehow made this secondary.

The board realised with the combined efforts of Jon and Colin

Some rioters start demonstarting but they seem to ignore the kind of troubling they're about to face...

While a drunken metlhead flees from the fights, the cops start interogating some of the protesters

Part of the action focuses on the center of the table, involving many teams...

As Geoff's kind hearted punk saves one of theReplicas, James' (probably blinded by jealousy) tries to run over them... to fail.

The poor mafia agents have been mowed down by Ash's Replicas

I have to say this game was a treat for the eyes as it gathered models from 8 people with all their own style and yet I think they all blended perfectly with each other on a table using elements from 2 modellists too.
I've come to realise I really need to prepare my games more than I do (I've had great examples to learn from during this WE) so I'll try and come up with something better next time. However I think it was a nice appetizer and a splendid opportunity to gather so many good looking models on a lovely board to get the exact vibe I was hoping to get.

Rogue Trader Vs Fallout :

As some of you may have noticed, I've been a Fallout fan for years and Rogue trader is obviously a huge influence for me. Having those 2 combined in a game made this game one of those I didn't want to miss.
Organised by Legiocustodes on the forum, this game provided even more than the great promise it was.
First of all, the table was absolutely brilliant, you could see the great care that went into it and all players were placed in places that made the game feel natural.

SOme little details like bottles of Rad-X and boxes of Mentats as well as Nuka-Cola bottle caps (used for rerolls) were only some of the little touches that made us feel in the proper mood. (I could almost hear Mark Morgan's Soundtrack at that time)

I set up my warband (a group of ghouls lead by a supermutant with his pet centaur) near a pool of radioactive slime that would prove previous in the end of the game...

The mutants scan the landscape, there will be blood... oh what a day ! what a loveley day !

After suffering heavily from the fire of teh laser gatling, the mutants finally engage their main targets : the Brotherhood of Steel... None of them can survive, the futur eof the mutants depends on it

Meanwhile a group of careless wanderers dive into the pool of radioactive mutating goo (despite all the warning signs) and they emerge as fresh ghouls and mutants (to my greatest pleasure).

This time, the mutants are going to take down  the city...

The supermutant and his centaur pet team up to erase all the remaining threats from the city...

Jeremy the Centaur gives its own pathetic life to take down the last Knight of teh Brotherhood (thus completing the band's objectives), that sacrifice will not be forgotten... 

In a desperate act of rage, Lenny the supermutant decides to clear all the area from human presence...

... Only to end up shot between the eyes by one extremely bold and lucky NCR ranger...

 War, war never changes...

This game was the perfect example of the kind of game I love. Everyone had their own objectives which created surprises as noone realy know what other people had to do and all players involved played their role perfectly. All players were there to "play" their part for the whole story to be as cool as possible, this kind of game can too easily turn up into a mass slaughter at the centre of the table but here, people tried to be cautious, some didn't a shoot even once in the whole game while others made decisions based entirely on the plotline and not any strategic consideration.

That was helped a lot by the tremendous efforts and energy that must have gone into preparation, that made this game enjoyabel for all the people around the table even though all players came from different horizons (gaming wise). PLeas ehave a look at the GM's review on his game, you'll read far more and better about it HERE.

Anarchy in the UnderHive :

This game organised by Jon/Axiom, involved 4 teams of gangers trying to rescue an VIP from a corner of the board to the centre of it where salvation took the form of an elevator to the upper hives...

Unfortunately, 2 other players controlled about 40 rioters and a couple of other nasty suprises to make sure noone would make it to the elevator safe...

I was very happy to be able to use my Venators in a game  set in Necromunda, it all made sense if you see what I mean. They were escorting my Slann agent (wanted to use that one as a wink since the game was all prepared by Jon)

Rogue trader Camilla Weis and her Venator mercenaries have been missioned to escort a Slann diplomat to safety by Lord Helmawr's authorities.

First encounters for the bounty hunters but the rioters are no threat to the well trained and disciplined mercs...

Graham commited his second treachery of the week end on that occasion and after ensuring me he'd take care of the couple of rioters threatening my left side, he just shot my group down (which turned out to be quite fun as he had done that with such talent)

 I had never played a game of Space Hulk before but the work Jon did on it amde it pretty easy to get into even for someone thick as myself. I'd like to point out that Jon also managed to get this all incredible board painted on his own along the 40 rioters that came with it and that all the work he put into it (modelling wise but also scenario sheets and the playtesting) made this game a very enjoyable and funny game.

DEATHRACE 40k :

A game a lot of people were expecting that one, 12 players and even more cars built for it, scenery coming from 3 people (and 2 continents), 

We all knew we were about to have greta fun and live a piece of gaming history...

All rides lined up before the race, look at Paul with his feet shaking in excitment and the look in his eyes saying "C'mon, C'mon, C'mon..."

The scene is set, teh actors are all here, let the show begin...

 Now I'd just like to add some proper music to let you people living this scene through pics alone get the proper vibe...

The Chaos D.O. grav attack make it to the first line...

The chaos D.O. throws a couple of rockets at the Dave Grigger to get its wheels to bits...

Colin offers some of his special FX skill to make his own car fly above the lava pit

In this scene, you can actually see The Bel-air (in red) caught by a chain harpooned by the twin mustang and trying to jump the ramp while the Dave Grigger runs through the chain and prepares to ram thr fornt of teh Killdozer (which for some reason is running the wriong way as the twin mustang) and while the Ramshackle buggy is being pushed by its driver to get back to the repair pit.

That moment of solitude when heavy tanks and Killdozers have made it to the other side of the ramp and the Hovercraft hasn't... I can tell you everyone around teh table had tears in their eyes (only thing is one had tears of sadness instead of tears of laughter)

That moment when Colin's buggy falls into one of the lamest traps ever thus missing the ramp and faling from a cliff into a stone pillar...

That moment when my Chaos D.O. catches on with Harry's own Hovercarft to miss by a couple of inches...

Taht moment you think you won the race to then realise your first lap didn't count as it was not complete

That moment when you realise you haven't taken much damage even though you're one of teh lightly armoured ones...

And that moment when you're the fastest vehicle with only half a lap left and noone in front of you and you get shot by an angry ork with a f****** plasma gun...

So that's how the race ended for me... I have to say I've had chest tearing laughters during that game and many of my colleagues around did too I think, right from teh start at the beginning of turn one, you could see taht the game would be the most silly and funny game in ages with one car (Erny's Blorko's bullet) starting in reverse right from teh start to grab some weaponry, with Gaj's Killdozer getting off the tracks at the very start of the game and with people taking the loop in the wrong way right at the start.
The game was cinematic, full of perfectly crazy ideas with just the right amount of competition. I think I'm not far from teh truth when I say everyone who played it would play a seocnd one and all those that saw it would have loved to be part of it.
With The GM Captain Crooks coming from Australia for the occasion, this game was a real blast. Any Jealousy you might feel right now is totally normal and sane.

What I saw :

On top of getting gaming opportunities, making a trip to Newarkl and Nottingham has got to be an opportunity to get a full dose of miniature porn.

I had never visited Warhammer World before so I ceized the occasion as it seems the gallery had been remianed not long ago.

The first part suited me just fine as it was full of oldschool goodness :

One could spend hours just looking at that one diorama...

 Th efollowing parts though dedicated to newer stuff were still very enjoyable (as in all hoinesty good models are good models now matter what their age) and some of the dioramas are quite breathtaking...

An absolute vafourite of mine with Brettonnians, strange characters in the background and lot sof nice details...

I totally failed in taking any decent picture of this dirama but it is one of the best thought I've seen in ages, totally crazy (even some bits made us laugh like the dwarf slayer leaping about 10 feet high or teh dwarfs defending a rotten wood bridge they could just chop down to protect their stronghold...

There's always something weird being 1,9 m tall and having to look up to see all the details of a single diorama...

This one is undoubtedly the most insane diorama I've ever had my eyes upon, the market value of all the models displayed could erase Greece's debt, the number of painted models would probabaly be what I'd paint in 10 life times and the fact it's displayed over 2 floors is just silly  in an awesome kind of way.

 That day at the Warhammer World was really nice actually, The bugman bar was enjoyable as I got to :
- enjoy a meal with my gaming friends,
- shake Jes Goodwin's hand
- have a game
- See plenty of models (without buying any)

The gallery is a little expensive at 7£ the visit but that's a once in a lifetime occasion and in all honesty it is very well made. A few models are in poor shape and the music (some sort of pseudo war theme) kinda gets annoying at the end but nothing unbearable and even th eparts that didn't interste me (like most of teh Horus Heresy stuff) were still very nice to see).

The contrast was actually very fun with the Foundry where Cabinets are just here for everyone to look at :

 I think there were even more models on display than last year and it was really cool to see upclose some of the models we've been admiring for about 25 years or so...

Celebrity wise, after shaking hands with Jes on Friday I had to raise the bar even higher ...

Tany yates was here, drawing sketches to people for free...

 And I had this little surreal moment when I turned my head on the left and saw no less than 4 legends at once (Bryan was late and only got here afterwards).

I had this intense moment of joy when I sat with a bottle of cider to get my own head sculpted by Kev Adams, while facing Tony Ackland and with my Australian friend James... Just how more awesome can this get (I mean without involving female nudity).

James talking about the Luc Besson Taxi Franchise and the different Jason Statham movies while Bryan is sculpting orcs in the background...

One of the other very intersting things we we given to see was the actual casting of some models. Some of you may already be familiar with the process but I only knew the theory of it and had yet to see it with my own eyes.

The raw alloy bars that will get melt to be cast

moulds are put into the spinning machine after having beeen heated up in an oven...

The operator pours a spoonfull of molten lead into the mould and let it spin 

The mould can be opened after letting it cool for a while and the models appear all shiny and gorgeous !

Obviously apart from my own games and the activities you can find at the Event, tehre were many games which looked excellent and that gave the will to push some more lead (or cardboard tokens in some cases) :

 Now just look at that happy bunch of gamers :

And just look at this moronic bearded alcoholic teaming up with that lunatic galactic perverse ! (and check their models too)

That's right happy faces all the way...