Deathwatch: Overkill - acquired

I was finally able to save enough to get a copy of Deathwatch: Overkill. It took a lot longer than I had hoped due to the spike in gas prices cutting into my discretionary funds. In the meantime, Gangs of Commorragh has been discontinued and has disappeared from the shelves and online.

I was in the area, so I had popped in to the local Games Workshop. I would have picked up the Gangs set now and pushed back the Deathwatch but they no longer had the Gangs set. The Deathwatch: Overkill had been boxed up to send back to the main office but he dug it out for me. It had a bit of shelf wear on the corners but at least it was here.

Gangs of Commorragh was going to be the next on my list but, if it’s out of print, I may try to save up for the Horus Heresy: Burning of Prospero or get some of the other Blood Bowl teams. Or I might try to get some more figures from Knight Models for the DC Universe Miniature game.

Books read January - April 2018

Jan
Rogue Stars by Andrea Sfilogoi
The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves, and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History by Robert M. Edsel with Bret Witter
Presto!: How I Made Over 100 Pounds Disappear and other Magical Tales by Penn Jillette
Dark History of Hollywood by Kieron Connolly
Gaslands: Post-Apocalyptic Vehicular Combat by Mike Hutchinson

Feb
Warzone – A Fast and Furious Miniatures Battle Game by Bill King
Diablo III: Book of Cain by Flint Dille
Dracula’s America: Shadows of the West by Jonathan Haythornthwaite
The Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game by Alessio Cavatore & Matthew Ward
Old Sword Play: Techniques of the Great Masters by Alfred Hutton

Mar
Future City edited by Roger Elwood
Turtles All the Way Down by John Green
The Queen’s Doll House by Lucinda Lambton
Molly’s Game by Molly Bloom
American Pickers – Guide to Picking by Libby Cullaway, with Mike Wolfe, Frank Fritz, and Danielle Colby

Apr
The Geek Dad’s Guide to Weekend Fun by Ken Denmead
The Art of Horror Movies: An Illustrated History by Stephen Jones
Small-Scale Modelling by Caroline Osborn
Handmade Book: Binding, Folding and Decorating by Heather Weston
Haynes Star Wars Millenium Falcon: Modified YT-1300 Corellian Fighter Owner’s Workshop Manual by Ryder Windham, Chris Reiff, and Chris Trevas
The Hero’s Closet: Sewing for Cosplay and Costuming by Gillian Conahan

spring spray

With spring being delayed a bit this year, we haven’t been able to get outside and start the yardwork. We did have a nice weekend so I was able to get outside and spray some foam.

In an effort to make our house a bit less mouse-accessible (or mousessable), we bought some of the low-expanding Great Stuff foam. I have heard of people using it for terrain and props/costuming but have never used it before.

I had concerns about how much of a mess it would make but it seemed pretty well contained. In addition to some of the gaps around the pipes and windows, I also used it to spray some foam into the chicken wire we have on the tree in the front yard. It puffed up pretty nice. It will to be painted to blend the yellow color and may need to be trimmed a bit. I will also need to get a second can to finish the job.

Gaslands compared to Car Wars

Gaslands is much simpler than Car Wars in some ways. The record sheets for the cars are much more streamlined, it doesn’t have the bloat of components that are available, it uses special dice, and it has templates instead of a turning key.

Instead of the detailed record sheets from Car Wars with the armor locations by side and all the components represented with hit points, the Gaslands sheets seem very simple. They have Hull Points which replaces the armor and components, and the weapons are simply noted.

The Gaslands rules allow for 11 vehicles and 21 weapons. This isn’t far off of where the original pocket boxes were for Car Wars. Car Wars soon added all the Uncle Al’s Catalogs, and later editions for more variations in components by weight and spaces. In the pre-spreadsheet days, it was a bit more of a challenge to fine-tune a car.
One simple rule that Car Wars always had (in the first and fifth edition rules) was the ‘drop the counters from a foot off the board’ rule for collisions. I hated that rule. I much preferred the (granted more complex) rules from the Car Wars Rules Screen. Gaslands has rules for collisions that are simpler than the CW screen but still have enough meat on them to still satisfy.

Where Car Wars just used regular six-sided dice, Osprey has six-sided dice with special faces. You can purchase them directly from the author, make your own, or even use regular D6s and consult a chart. Considering the amount of dice rolling in this game, I recommend buying or making the specialty dice.

The original Car Wars had a turning key to make maneuvers. It took a little bit to get used to but it was elegant once you learned it. Gaslands has many multiple templates for maneuvers but people may be less intimidated as they are now familiar with this from X-Wing, and Wings of Glory. These can be bought or made but are definitely needed in order to play. There is a copy in the back of the rulebook and can be printed out from the website.

While waiting for the new Car Wars edition

We played a lot of Car Wars back in the day. I played from the original pocket box sets, through the bloated 4th edition. We spent a lot of time designing cars. We played at conventions and even ran races and arenas at conventions. I played through the Convoy solo adventure a few times. I still play the Car Wars Card game.
I even played the old video game on my Apple IIc.

Even though we don’t play as much anymore, I had picked up the 5th edition booklets when I found out about them and we actually played a game of it – upsized at WinCon.

We also played a bit of Games Workshop’s car game, Dark Future. I have Avalon Hill’s RoadKill but didn’t ever manage to play it. I never played Thunder Road but would pick it up if I find it.

There is a new version of Car Wars in the works which should be out shortly. I’ll most certainly pick it up when it comes out. I’m still in the target market for it.

In the meantime, I picked up Gaslands by Osprey. It seems very simple compared to Car Wars but still interesting enough to give it a try. I’ve already picked up some cars to use, and will need to make dice and templates before we can try it. It should be fun enough to keep us busy.

Figure Painting Total - February

I finally got a Bommerz over da Sulphur River. It only has 6 figures - planes, and 4 of those are Orks. I look forward to playing it. If it is even passable, I should be able to paint up the planes and get a few in the painted column.

I was also able to get my hands on two of the Games Workshop painting handles. I've heard good things about them, so anything that makes it easier for me to start actually getting some paint on the figures has got to be a good thing.

Bommerz over da Sulphur River – 6

Feb figures bought - 6, figures painted – 0

Running total 2018 – figures bought 6, figures painted 0

Pokemon Go! -- level 25

I won a raffle for an ipad mini back in September. I don't use it for much, as I only use it with wifi. But I am playing some games on it. Pokémon Go is one of those games.

I joined team Mystic when I got the chance. My daughter, who had been playing since it launched up here, had joined team Instinct, and my wife is on Valor. They both have data plans on their phones so they are able to play it more than I, although my daughter isn't playing much anymore. My wife still plays to keep ahead of me.

I'm liking it enough to keep playing it to keep my streaks alive. Currently, I've only caught 164 separate Pokémon and seen 272. I've only used my coins to level up my bag and storage and can now hold 450 Pokémon and 400 items.

Are you guys still playing? What teams did you join?