Scored a Copy of Survive: Escape from Atlantis!

I tried out Survive: Escape from Atlantis late last year and liked it enough to put it on My List of Stuff to Get When I Have the Money. Unfortunately, by the time I got through the Holiday Season with some gift money burning a whole in my pocket, I heard that the game was sold out. Word from Stronghold Games was that it would be reprinted sometime in 2012.

This blew a hole in my post-Holiday plans. Survive: Escape from Atlantis struck me as a good family game. Getting it was to be a step towards getting a regular family game night going. Now I would have to look for alternatives while keeping an eye out for the new printing. Checking online came up empty. The game made My List of Titles to Check For Every Time I Set Foot in a Game Store.

I resigned myself to a bit of a wait.

Imagine my pleasant surprise when I saw some copies at Barnes and Noble. I had already sold my wife on the game awhile back, so a copy got rung up with a book for each member of the family. (My book was Erwin Rommel's Infantry Attacks.)

I unwrapped the game and set to reading the rules. My wife, daughter, and me started up a game after dinner. We all had a good time and it looks like it will be a staple once we get family game night going again.

I guess you just get lucky, sometimes.

Matchbox Finds For 15mm #1

The Oshkosh HEMTT A4



The Oshkosh HEMTT A4 in box, out of box, and with a 15mm ARC Fleet rifleman for scale. From the Matchbox Real Working Rigs line. HEMTT is short for an even bigger mouthful: Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Truck. The real thing is made by Oshkosh Defense and is in service today.

My plans for this pair involve a repaint to match my existing collection. Although they are modeled on a current design, they should serve well as generic space military trucks. And there is an added bonus – the container in the back is removable. That simplifies customizing the truck to carry other loads or simply using the containers as terrain.

Stealth Launch



The Stealth Launch in box, out of box, and with a 15mm Arc Fleet rifleman for scale. From the Matchbox Sky Busters Missions line.

The Stealth Launch is available in gray and black. I felt that the gray was more “military” looking than the black with racing stripes look of the alternative. At least I could pass the orange racing stripes on the gray ones as warning markers of some kind. I might touch these up a bit, maybe put a wash on them to bring out the details, but they do look good out the package. I have a scenario involving a raid on an airstrip in mind, but that's pretty far down my “to do” list.

Tucker Sno-Cat



The Tucker Sno-Cat in box, out of box, and with a 15mm ARC Fleet rifleman for scale. From the Matchbox Real Working Rigs line.

These are likely to see use a civilian vehicles. They look similar to some real life amphibious all-terrain vehicles, so they could serve as colonial exploration vehicles after I remove the plow blade. Or I could use them as technicals after adding some weapons and painting them up with a “Road Warrior” look.

Matchbox For 15mm

Matchbox vehicles are promising to be a handy addition to modern and sci-fi 15mm miniatures wargaming. They will never replace the variety of vehicle models available online, but work well to supplement a vehicle collection. True, they're not perfect, but their limitations are manageable.

Cons

• Scale can vary from vehicle to vehicle. You'll want to take a close look at each potential purchase while still in the store. Nothing is worse than bringing something home and finding that it's too big or small. Fortunately, the clear blister packaging makes this pretty easy.
• The paint jobs vary from glossy and garish to flat and uninspired. Many vehicles will need complete repainting to match the look of everything else on the table.
• Not every need is covered. There aren't many armored vehicles on the market, for example.

Pros

• Matchbox is widely available. Most of the big box stores that carry toys have Matchbox available.
• The level of detail is good.The prices are reasonable compared to metal and some resin models.
• Civilian vehicles are common, a niche not filled by many 15mm miniature vehicle lines.

Next: Matchbox finds.

Painting By Numbers #4 – ARC Fleet Test Batch

As promised way back in November, here are some pictures of the 15mm ARC Fleet miniatures I got from Critical Mass Games. I wanted a simple, fast paint scheme that I could use to get them done as quickly as possible.



For this test batch, I mixed up a batch of watered down Liquitex Payne's Gray for use as a wash. The first layer of wash was applied over a light gray basecoat. The faceplate and shoulders were painted on and a second layer of wash was applied. After touching up the details, I used sand and static grass to complete the basing.

Painting By Numbers #3 – Cygnar Battle Box Completed!

February wasn't nearly as productive as I hoped. I only made progress in a couple of projects, but I'll take “some” results over “no” results.

Here is a project that I really wanted to get done. It's Commander Coleman Stryker from Privateer Press. Keen eyed fans of Warmachine know this as a variant miniature. I picked it up after an unfortunate accident occurred to the Commander Striker that was in the Cygnar Battle Box. It's just as well, I like this pose better, anyway.



Commander Striker completes the Cygnar Battle Box I started awhile back. These were all painted using techniques (loosely) based on the ones Matt DiPietro described in No Quarter #35.



Of course, I have the Black 13th Gun Mage Strike Team around here, but they can wait until some other miniatures get painted.

2012 – Looking Forward

I'm not in the habit of making New Year's Resolutions, but I do have plans for early 2012. Bear in mind the old saying about how long plans survive in the face of opposition, though.

Quarterly RPG Campaigns

Divide the year into quarters and run a new game every quarter. This puts a hard deadline on story lines and promotes more variety.

I ran this past my regular gaming group and they all approved. Now comes the tough part – what to run first?

Terrain Projects

Look into low-cost alternatives to commercial terrain pieces and kits. Not that there is anything wrong with well-made, good-looking terrain being produced these days. Many of them are available for reasonable prices. However, limited funds are forcing me to choose between buying terrain and buying miniatures. Given the difficulties of playing miniatures games without miniatures, I'll be trying my hand at creating terrain rather than purchasing it. Not that I'll pass up good deals on commercial terrain if I find them.

For the immediate future, this means preparing more trees for the tabletop. I picked up a package of plastic pines suitable for 15mm or 28mm scale at Home Depot's after-Christmas clearance sale. A little paint, some flock, and new bases will make them ready to go.

There are also some odds-and-ends that I've collected that would be good for creating futuristic terrain. That will be a little further down the road.

Painting Projects

Knock down the amount of unpainted models in my collection. No more impulse buys. If I have no immediate plans to put it on the table, I don't buy it.

Clear off the desk. There's a couple of models that were repeatedly pushed aside in favor of other projects last year. Got to get them done before moving on.

Base and paint my 15mm ARC Fleet troopers from Critical Mass Games.

Base and paint miniatures appropriate for upcoming RPG projects – pirates and sci-fi at the moment.

2011 – Looking Back

2011 brought changes in how and what I play. There wasn't as much gaming as I wished for, but that's something that I've come to accept as time passed. Getting more out of the limited time and funds that I could put into gaming inspired me to look for new options.

Role Playing Games: I was planning on running more RPG campaigns and one-shots in 2011. Some of them stalled out in the planning stages, others ran aground on conflicting schedules. I've got some thoughts on how to address these issues, but the basic principle is to simplify. Long running campaigns are out, campaign ideas that can be developed in a mini-campaign or one-shot are in.

Miniature Wargames: The chance to play Tomorrow's War at Millennium Con has left me wanting more. 15mm wargaming is going to play a bigger role for me in 2012.

Board Games: Give to Game, the Board Game Bash, and (most of all) the board gaming group that took me in showed me that board games can deliver a satisfying game experience. Part of my Christmas money went to Arkham Horror and Pandemic. More will likely follow in 2012.

Post Holiday Clean Up

It never fails. I manage to catch whatever is going around almost every holiday season. This despite getting a flu shot, monitoring my diet, and getting better about exercising regularly. Maybe it has something to do with living in one of the allergy capitals of the world.

The good news is that I'm getting my energy back. It was taking everything I could muster to make it through a day of work. Now, I can get some things done at home before looking for a place to lie down.

The first order of business was digging out my office and hobby area. Something about a flat surface tends to attract every loose paper around it. Cleaning up turned into re-organizing. My hobby tools and supplies are back in place. Next up will be the bookshelves – I haven't even looked at some of that stuff in years. It might be time for a trip to Half-Price Books to sell some of it off.

Painting By Numbers #2

This set of curious little aliens (Reaper Chronoscope, 50130: Gray Aliens) was intended to be a quick and easy project. The idea was to complete something fast to generate the momentum needed to keep working throughout the holiday season.

Well, they painted up pretty quick. Once I got around to them, that is. There's not much to these guys. One thing I wish I was more careful with was trimming the mold lines. The sculpts are very smooth, so everything I missed shows up with close inspection. It's a good thing I was only shooting for tabletop standards.



Overall, I like this set. There is a tongue-in-cheek approach to the details. The leader is making a promise with his fingers crossed behind his back. The doctor is putting on his gloves with a flourish. The scribe is taking notes on an old-fashioned clipboard and has a suspicious zipper on the back of his head. The soldier and his rifle are fairly straightforward, but still fits right in. These miniatures might not fit into a dark and serious campaign, but should find a home in a game with a sense of whimsy.

The Austin Gaming Scene

I've called the area in and around Austin, Texas home for the past several years. It's the home to a fair number of gaming stores and events. A little research on my part led to this handy list.

Gaming Stores:

(From north to south, for no particular reason.)

Rogues Gallery in Round Rock has a variety of RPGs and board games. In-store gaming is mostly D&D Encounters and Magic the Gathering due to space limitations.

Wonkos hosts game nights on a rotating schedule. The selection is focused on collectibles and Games Workshop products.

Dragon's Lair has a good mix of RPGs, board games, and miniature wargames. Their gaming events calendar is online. They have a good amount of space for gaming, but it can fill up fast.

The main focus of Great Hall Games is on classic games, board games, and historical miniature wargaming. They have a dedicated play area in the back.

Tribe Comics and Games prides itself as the only comic and gaming store in south Austin. They have a variety of games for sale. The owner sometimes manages to get some out of print or rare stuff, but it goes real quick.

Gaming Events:

South Austin Game Night is a board gaming meet up held every Tuesday night in south Austin.

Give To Game is a charity board gaming event usually held in April, but recently threw together an impromptu event to benefit the Bastrop County Food Pantry. Show up, make a donation, and jump into a game.

The Austin Board Game Bash is a board game convention scheduled for August. It started last year and attendance was high enough to send the organizer looking for a new venue. Their website has a list of board game groups in Austin.

Millenniumcon is a miniatures wargaming convention in Round Rock. The main emphasis is on historical wargames, but fantasy and science fiction wargaming take up a fair chunk of the schedule.

I hope this list comes in handy for those new to the area and long time residents alike.