Frostgrave painting...

Well, as promised I kept going with the Frostgrave figures and have mostly completed a couple of Wizards and Apprentices....there's still work to do on the bases but the figures are largely done.  I'm not planning to go for the snowy theme of the rule book for the bases though as I'd prefer to have a wider range of options for terrain.

Thaumaturge and Apprentice

Witch and Apprentice

There's also just been a new deal announced at Northstar Miniatures with a new 'Nickstarter' deal for the forthcoming Thaw of the Lich Lord supplement.  As this includes the new Cultists box set as well as assorted new figures it does look tempting.  More details here.... Nickstarter

Breaking news...

In shocking news from our reporter in the dining room, it is represented that I have actually picked up a paint brush for the first time in months...more news as this story develops!

Armada, #2

I played my 2nd game of Armada at the club this week, with Princess Leia leading the attack against 2 Imperial Destroyers with a Corellian Corvette, an Assault Frigate and a host of fighters.

I'd hoped that my advantage in fighters would enable me to drive off the opposing TIE fighters and that my bombers and Ships would then be able to get to work on the enemy destroyers but I sadly forgot a couple of factors.  One was that my opponent, Andrew, had put more thought into his fleet design than I had and has a better grasp of the rules and was able to use his fighters far more effectively.  His fighters were able to swarm round my fighters and pick them off one by one before they could get into an effective position.  My only fighter than proved his worth was an A Wing Squadron that managed to take on Darth Vader and almost (but not quite) destroy him before succumbing to his attacks plus fire from an Imperial Destroyer.

The 2nd factor was the fact that I'm rubbish at steering the ships and, just like in the previous game, managed to crash headlong into one of the opposing ships with my Assault Frigate.  This didn't cause much in the way of damage but did leave me stuck right in front of him and I quickly paid the price.

With both ships destroyed and having narrowly failed to claim some kind of moral victory by killing Vader we called it a night with a comprehensive victory for the Empire.

I enjoyed the game although I did repeatedly get confused by the sequencing of actions: at points in the turn ships either move then shoot, or shoot then move.  This caused me no end of problems as I never managed to get the ships and squadrons in the right place at the right time.  I'm obviously blaming the rules here and not my rubbish tactics!

The other issue with the game is the huge range of cards and counters that are used.  They do add lots of flavour and a huge variety of bonuses, tactical choices etc, but it meant that there was a lot to remember and of course we tended to forget things that could have helped either side.  I'm not sure we missed anything that was game-changing though.

All in all it's a great game despite the plethora of rule, cards and tokens and I'm sorely tempted to get a set at some point.

Harlech Castle

No posts for a while...lots of goings on in the household and then a couple of weeks away have meant little time for games or painting.  Hopefully things will settle down a bit although I've just started a new job but hopefully this won't eat into important gaming time.

At the end of August we went off to Glasgow for a few days visiting family and then had a week in North Wales, on the Llyn Peninsula near Anglesey.  It was a strange break as this was the first holiday we've spent without our son...he'd decided that a week back home on his own seemed much more appealing than spending it with us.  He's nearly 18 so that seemed fair enough and we packed him off on the train from Glasgow and then drove south by ourselves (with just the dogs for company).

We stayed in the same place as last year...a dog friendly cottage in the middle of nowhere with lots of beaches within easy reach.  Last year I was able to blog about visiting several castles but this time round I only managed one.  Towards the end of the week we went along the coast to Harlech where I was deposited at the castle while wife and dogs went off to terrorise the holidaymakers on the nearby beaches.

The Dog assault team establishes a Beachhead!

It goes without saying that Harlech is pretty stunning and the view as you approach it makes it clear why it held such a strategic position.  Along with the nearby castle at Criccieth it pretty much dominates the northern end of Cardigan Bay and access into Snowdonia.  The castle itself is pretty ruined apart from the external walls but is still very impressive.  Sadly it was also full of small children as it was the school holidays....

Anyway,  here are an assortment of photos of the castle

The view out towards Cardigan bay...originally the
sea came up to the castle

Looking down at the Watergate

The main Gate House.  This was the castle's strongpoint rather than the normal Bailey

Later that day we stopped at the beach and found a small chapel which was built around the 13th century but has some remnants dating back to the 5th C.  This is the church of St Tanwg at Llandanwg..apparently he was the son of Ithel the Generous of Armorica.

5thC stone found at the Church