28th April - 25th April Infinity vs The Brother

Headed over to The Brother's place for a few beers for ANZAC day and we managed to fit in another Infinity game. Both of us fielded slightly different forces to our original game.

Quickly consolidating our gains from our last encounter with a band of US Ariadna it was no surprise to find yet another band of Ariadna lined up against us, though this time the kilt wearing kind. Once again the battlefield was suddenly covered with smoke as hazy silhouettes advanced through the temporary cover. Suddenly a lone man from the 45th Highlander burst through the smoke blazing away with his chain rifle. However the Unidron Batroid covering the approach stood firm against the incoming fire and a few seconds later the impetuous soldier was left fallen to the ground. The half-breed Cameronian trooper followed around the corner and managed to felled the drone but suffered a shoulder wound from the distant Morat piloted Rachio.

Pushing rapidly up field the TAG exchanged a round of fire with the T2 sniper equipped Cateran killing the man. Again the Rachio pilot moved up splitting his fire between the Cameronian and another man from the 45th. His back turned another Unidron remote is activated and advanced sending multiple plasma bursts into the Dog-soldier until finally the trooper was downed.

Not willing to face the overwhelming might of the Combined Army TAG the Highlander Grey heads down the far side of a nearby building finally rounding a corner and taking out the poorly positioned Kurgat engineer. She then proceeds to harass the Rachio pushing the pilot further back as answering shots continually go wild until finally the pilot is maneuvered into the ideal position for the nearby leader of the Scots guard link team is able to put the machine out of action. Not leaving anything to chance the heavily armed and armoured woman quickly rushed in and performed a coupe de grace ending the pilots life, destroying the TAG beyond field repair and satisfying the classified demands of their superior officers.

Meanwhile the rest of the Combined force taking advantage of the humans momentary focus on pulling down the Rachio continue to advance and secure more of the battlefield. The Malignos finally having an opportunity to strike burst from cover taking out a SAS trooper, then quickly re activated his camo and moved up field opening a firing line on the current Scots guard link leader killing the man throwing them temporarily into disorder.

Sensing a need for heroics similar to that displayed by the Rachio's pilot the Scots guard quickly reformed their link and took out the Malignos, though not enough to prevent the activation of the Shasvastii's Seed-embryo. They then quickly pushed up through a gap in the cargo containers out drawing the Maakrep tracker leaving the turned Tohaa soldier dead but falling to the return fire of the waiting Umbra Legates and yet another Batroid.

With plenty of room to move the Combined Medtech moved up to assist in securing the quadrant and some horded intel gave them to edge to maintain control despite heavy casualties. The day ended with a similarly mauled Caledonian force retreating carefully back to base leaving the area to the alien invaders.

Another great game, which could have gone either way right up to the last turn. The final result was 7 to 2 but if I hadn't managed to secure the two areas it would have been a 4 to 5 win to The Brother. Troops wise there wasn't much between us with The Brother having 143 points left on the table to my 137. I'm hosting him and his family this Monday as we've got another public holiday so hopefully we'll get a game or two in again this week.

24th April - 21st April Guildball vs Toby

Got a game of Guildball in with Toby on Thursday night which was a nice change particularly as I hadn't gotten it on the table since I had a demo game with The Brother earlier in the year. My Morticians vs his Butchers. I won the initial roll and chose to receive the ball but gave Toby the first activation.

Graves moved quickly taking control of the ball and snapping a quick pass off to Silence before floating back across the field resuming his position. Meathook pushed forward joining Brisket on her movement toward Silence but Cosset slammed into her, leaving her barely standing at the end of the frenzied onslaught. Obulus gazed across the pitch at her and she suddenly felt her arms moving of their own volition and her teammate was suddenly under assault from her hooks but the plucky striker was saved by her armour. Silence began his movement up the sideline taking the time to drench both of the Butcher women with Embalming Fluid, leaving them lingering in searing agony.

The Butchers continued to be quick off the mark with Meathook trying to get her own back against the Cosset, Silence lobbed another vial over the female players this time managing to cover Princess the mascot as well. Under Obulus's sternly focused gaze Meathook again began attacking her teammate this time getting past the armour. Cosset continued her furious onslaught against Meathook. Ox charged into Obulus and the two team captains found themselves facing off. Obulus weathered the attacks until he finally made his move knocking the cocky Butcher down with a sudden counter attack. Graves quickly charged the downed Butcher captain leaving him bleeding. Boar continued lumbering up the field but in his haste to assist his fallen captain he left himself open and Ghast came in from the side doing some damage and knocking the big man down.

Finally despite several attempts at patching her up on field Meathook finally succumbed to the linger agony from the embalming fluid and was taken off the pitch. Ox sprung to his feet with a cry of "Get 'em Lads!" and began swinging wildly at Obulus who again after taking minimal damage knocks the man from his feet once more. He then seemingly drifted across the field and the barely standing Cosset finds herself laying into Brisket not that she would take offence to her captains mystical influence. Brisket then swiftly sends the Mortician player into the first aid tent. Grave puts some more punishment into the again down Butcher captain before sprinting down field. The two mascots faced off as the Butcher dog runs around yapping and chasing Dirge. Silence moved further down pitch hitting Princess with more Embalming Fluid and sending a pass over to the waiting Graves. Boar managed to regain his feet but Ghast was waiting over the man and quickly put him back down to the ground. He continued his assault and The Unmasking sent Ox and Boar hurtling across the pitch. Shank charged the masked Mortician but his counter attack put yet another Butcher player down.

Meathook returned to the field in an attempt to protect the Butcher goal. Cosset also regained the field still shaky but eager to return to play. Ghast began by laying into the downed Shank before sprinting across the pitch to protect Graves's back. Brisket moved and tried to throw her Dirty Knives at Graves, but Dirge's constant fluttering and cawing distracted the young woman though her angry attack left the bird barely in the air. Obulus moved across the field toward the covering form of Ghast, then in another mystical attack Boar suddenly lost what little momentum he had leaving him on the grass again while Graves seemed to suddenly gain a bit more energy. Princess tore a few more mouthfuls of feathers from the Mortician mascot. Graves finally finished his approach to the Butchers goal. The kick was straight and gave the Morticians a one nil lead heading into the last stages of the game. Ox regained his feet just in time to see the ball rebound off the post and head back down into the field.

Brisket took her frustrations out on the Morticians mascot, before Ghast suddenly came up from behind her laying damage into her and more importantly Princess. Ox charged Silence knocking the man down and laying into the Mortician Vice Captain with his cleaver. The man sensing a Mortician victory quickly regained his feet and began laying into the Butcher mascot until the dog was left whimpering on the ground, securing victory for the Morticians!

Another great game. I've really got to get around to making some rough and fast/slippery ground at some stage to add an extra element to my Guildball games. Heading out to The Brother's tomorrow hoping to get a game or two in while I'm there.

19th April - Finished Malignos Hacker and Speculo Killer

Finished off some more Combined Army infantry this week, namely my Malignos Hacker and the Speculo Killer. Not sure how much play time they'll get once the new Onyx Strike Force sectorial drops but my next game they'll both be featuring :). I've still got another Umbra Legates on the table at the moment (the hacker version with the boarding shotgun) and I've been gluing some more of my Relics Britanans together lately so might try get them up on there soon.

Malignos Hacker

Speculo Killer

I realised just after I took the photos that I hadn't quite finished them off yet, nothing major just hadn't put the water effect on the bases. Also in the background you can see the crates and barrels I got as part of the Forward Base kickstarter which I've been using to play around with the airbrush, basically trialing some pre-shading and things.

The completed force so far

12th April - Dreadball vs The Wife

It's been a while but we decided to dust off Dreadball and start up a family league of that as well as our Frostgrave campaign. So far only The Wife (Brokkrs) and I (Veer-myn) have begun but hopefully The Daughters can fit a game in this week around school and such. I also got another Infinity game in against The Youngest which you can read here, and I'm hoping The Eldest and I can fit another one in this week at some stage.

The Labrats (Veer-myn)

B Brokkrs (Brokkrs)

Player	Position	Player	Position
Push	Guard	Protor	Guard
Shove	Guard	Stone	Guard
Dash	Striker	Avalanche	Guard
Dodger	Striker	Brute	Guard
Ducker	Striker	Dribble	Jack
Weaver	Striker	Stubb	Jack
Scrounger	Striker	Brimir	Striker
Joe	Striker	Blainn	Striker

Hey there sport's fans and welcome to the first game of the season, pitting the home team The Labrats vs the B Brokkrs. There's the launch and we're off. Shove slams into Protor knocking him down over the waiting back of Joe and he's out looks like it'll be a few rushes before he returns. Oh the fans are going wild, they love this stuff. Weaver grabs the ball and sends a pass flying between the Brokkr players and.... it's caught by Joe absolutely flawless, something you don't often see with these Veer-myn players and he's heading down the pitch to the three point strike zone, but oooh yep that's more in line with what you'd expect it's off the rim and scattering down deep in Brokkr territory. 

Brimir enters the pitch scooping the ball with ease and motor's down the pitch..... well relatively quickly anyway. Brute charges into Push knocking the rat down and he's off, looks like a busted buckle so we'll be seeing him back soon. Stone rolls over Shove knocking the Veer-myn guard back a little. Blainn sprints ahead, the pass is good and the Brokkr's have penetrated the Veer-myn half.

Weaver moves up to Blainn and it look's like... oh yes he's got the ball. Joe is heading back up the pitch hoping for another attempt. Dodger heads up putting pressure on the now empty handed Brokkr. The pass is looking good... oh he's got it but that ball almost got away from Joe there. He steadies himself and yep he's headed back to that strike zone, he throws..... Bang! off the the rim again it's just not his day today.

Brute pushes Dodger back, Brimir sprints backfield towards the spilled ball. Stone slams Shove again but the rat finds some leverage and yep that's another Brokkr down and out, that Veer-myn is on fire today. Stubb takes the pitch giving the Brokkr's another pair of hands for the ball. Brute continues his assault on Dodger..... Ooooh!! That's going to hurt, wait, wait, yes! That's one dead rat, absolutely brutal play, the crowds on it's feet.

Shove comes across the pitch too late to save Dodger but the Brokkr braced and is only knocked back a couple of paces. Pusher streams back onto the pitch and hits Brute from behind and he's out... but he'll be back soon enough. Despite the added pressure from Brimir the ball just seemed to float into Joe's hands there, and he's going back for a third attempt....... It's in!! Hear that roar from the home crowd, three points for The Labrats!

Dribble sprints to pick up the freshly launched ball, but oh! The pressure has got the the diminutive player and he's fumbled the pick up!

The Labrats aren't going to let this opportunity go, Scrounger heads for the ball and it's shaky but yes, yes he's got it. Dasher is on the field now bringing the Veer-myn back to the full six players on the field. There seems to be some conferring in the Veer-myn coaching box and yes it looks like there's a new play on the board, let's see how this goes. Shove slams into Blainn knocking the Brokkr and he's off but it looks like just an equipment change, he'll be back. Scrounger's heading to the one point strike zone..... he's loading the ball into his tail!?! It's in!! Oh my god the crowd is going wild over this. Four points to the rats!!

Dribble is smacked in the back of the head by the launching ball sending the unfortunate players head, he's off to the bench and I bet he's seeing some flying Teraton's in his vision right now, haha! Brimir begins a slow rush up the pitch as Protor and Stone return to the field. Stubb moves up and collects the ball giving the B Brokkrs possession again!
Dasher moves up, yep another easily stripped ball for The Labrats. Joe again turns to receive and yes it looks like that hastily made play is coming into action as Dasher takes direction and heads up the pitch, it's an absolutely beauty of a pass people dead on and yes! Joe has the ball, and is heading back to his favourite strike zone! He throws the ball and..... it's in!! The Labrats win by a landslide, after the temporary shocked silence the crowd is on their feet again, just listen to them roar!!

It was great game, I'm quite happy we decided to pull it out. Both of us had the rules down again by the end of our first rushes. Hopefully the girls get right back into it as well and we can get a decent league happening.

7th April - Frostgrave vs The Youngest

So we decided to start a new run at Frostgrave. We've all re-made our wizards and we're aiming to get in one game a week until one of our wizards manages the Transcendence spell.

For the first round I played against The Youngest, while The Wife played The Eldest. Both games ended up drawing for treasure chests collected. The Eldest managed to take out The Wife's apprentice though the after game roll saw the man narrowly escape.

I managed to kill one of The Youngest's Archers but her Infantry-man while seriously wounded managed to survive. I didn't get a chance to take any notes as we went as I was busy refereeing both tables and refreshing myself with the rules but I managed to get a few photos.

My warband advances

The Youngest's warband

The Youngest gets caught up in skeletons

My apprentice manages to blind an attacking undead

My wizard miscasts his attempt to blind The Youngest's thief 

The Youngest's Elemental Ball fizzles

My warband retreats with treasure chests in hand

So the first round finishes with my wizard in the lead at 280xp followed by both The Eldest and The Youngest at 240 and The Wife finishing up at 200. I've also had another game of Infinity against The Wife. She did quite well this time and though I managed to win it came down to the last turn. I've got a write up on the Flamia Island campaign site here. The Youngest has challenged me to another Infinity game this weekend so should be getting that in hopefully Saturday night.