Commodore Vic 20, ZX Spectrum, Choose Your Own Adventure and Fighting Fantasy gamebooks, copious boardgames, table-top wargames (40k, WFB and Battletech), role-playing games (Warhammer Fantasy, Call Of Cthulhu, D&D), CCG’s (Star Wars, Middle earth, Mythos, Call of Cthulhu), PC gaming and now the PS3.  I think that’s covers a lot of them.  Bound to have missed some.

I can’t say I’m a brilliant gamer, especially these days.  I’m losing more than otherwise but I can’t say I mind much.  For me if it’s a game I like, then it’s playing the game with good folks that I enjoy the most.  Of course, winning has it’s own joy… 

Recently I’ve been tanked a lot at Warhammer 40K by Graeme and his Chaos Space Marines.  I’m telling myself it’s because I’m biding my time.    more accurately I’ve been working on different tactics using different units.  Each defeat teaches me a different lesson, a different way to try to play the game.  Mostly I’ve been changing weapon load-outs and unit composition and sending them back into the fray.  (The guy over at Yes The Truth Hurts has a good attitude that losses can only make the player stronger.  Has a lot of good articles too.)

I’ve been using my Grey Knights.  I’m sure I’ve banged on about them plenty before.  We have a new codex (the army book for that force) and with it comes a whole new list of changes.  New units, new technology and new rules.  And getting used to that (and remembering the changes) has been a slow process.  I’ve not had a game for a few weeks, work hasn’t allowed it, but I might see if I can get something organised for this Thursday.  (I’m feeling lucky. )

- Alistair

Graeme brought (IIRC) 2 daemon princes, 2 obliterators, 4 squads of marines (three in rhinos) and a vindicator.

I brought 1 Brother-Captain with 4 Terminators, three squads of Grey Knights (one with 2 psycannons), a Grey Knight Dreadnought, a Land Raider, an Ordo Malleus Inquisitor, a Vindicare Temple Assassin and a small infantry platoon of 25 guys.

Graeme deployed first, I challenged initiative and failed so he took first move.  He moved the bulk of his troops just forward enough to take advantage of the tower in the centre of the board, the woods and wrecked Gargant to my left.

I edged my guard forward (one the edge closest to the bulk of his guys), spread out my Knights, moved the Land Raider forward to the right flank.

I can’t remember much of the turn by turn but I’ll give the main points.

The guard were destroyed.  At one point three guardsmen, the remaining three, assaulted one of the daemon princes.  They died (unsurprisingly) but they went out in style at least.  One Grey Knight squad took out a rhino (long after the occupants left) in close combat, losing one in the resulting explosion.

The assassin wasn’t particularly impressive to start with but took a daemon prince down a few wounds.  The terminators were the knockout, taking out an obliterator and a unit of khorne beserkers.

Other than that, the Grey Knights were tabled.  It was pretty embarrassing.

I had problems with uncooperative dice, dodgy tactics and bad initial deployment.  Bit of a shambles really.  Still, it was only my second game and it reminded me of a few ways that Grey Knights should have been played.  Keep them on the move, blast away at the squads I have a better shot at killing (which is a bit of an obvious one but tanks and monsterous creatures can be distracting), and avoid the big targets until later.  GKs don’t have much in the way of anti-tank and I lost sight of that.  Bit of a noob mistake there.

But, as I said, it was a second game.  Confidence is higher with using the rules, and with the army, so I’m sure I can find ways of improving.

And it doesn’t hurt that the new Grey Knight army book is a few weeks away from release.  Not having to use a 3rd edition army in a 5th edition system should get the Knights back on an even footing.

Of course, a new army book isn’t just the answer.  Practice won’t hurt either…

Scores on the doors: Grey Knights, Won 0, Loss 2, Draw 0

-Alistair

So I arrive at the GW Glasgow store, set up my finely painted (!) Grey Knight Space Marines (two 5-man squads of Grey Knights, 4 Terminators led by a Brother-Captain, a dreadnought and five stormtroopers and an inquisitor, topped off with an Assassin.)  Steve, the store manager, set up his Deathwing (a mix of bikes, terminators and a dreadnought.)

This was meant to be a ‘getting to know the game’ game, after all there is only so much you can read the rules.  Sometimes you just have to get a game under your belt.

It lasted five turns, capture and control if I remember correctly, and I narrowly lost.  His last squad of terminators managed to best my own terminators and stalked on the capture the nearest objective.  It was tight though.  When the GKT finally arrived they mangled the bike squad and laughed off the dreadnought assault cannon before charging for Steve’s terminators.

Other high points included the rain of storm bolter fire on his other terminator squad and land speeder and the triumphant skills of my dreadnought.  And the Inquisitor, who only took out one of the enemy, but it was enough. 

Lows included the hopeless stormtrooper squad which only fired once before being wiped out.  And the assassin who killed no-one at all.  Back to assassin school for you matey.

Still, it was a great game.  I remembered loads about the game, and learned a good few details about army list design, like actually having weapon choices that do damage to the heavy armour of terminators.

Currently: Grey Knights, Won 0, Loss 1, Draw 0

When the weather clears up, back down to the store on one of their gaming nights for more. 

- Alistair

And part of that having a game of Warhammer 40K, something I haven’t played in years but have wanted to if the opportunity presented itself.  It has, an army of wee metal and plastic space men have been painted (almost), and the game will be in the local Games Workshop store (Glasgow).

Problem is, I have the least competitive army choice: The Grey Knights.  They’re a similar flavour of genetically enhanced super-human (the ever popular and present Space Marines) but their codex (the published army book you draw their rules from) is currently one of the oldest still in current use.

While the majority of the game has seen significant updates, the Grey Knights have not.  (Although a new codex has been rumoured for some time.  I’ll believe it when I see it.)

Also, I have my writing.  The ever present joy of bashing words into place… 

The time off, bearing in mind that Aurora will be at the child-minder 4 days out of seven, will give me a chance to dig in to the NaNoWriMo attempt despite not officially doing the WriMo for the rest of the month.  This evening I’ve been digging out all the crap I’ve already written and already I’m feeling better about it.

- Alistair

Oh, and 33 night goblins… 

Still on a look out for a camera that’s decent enough to capture detail.

- Alistair

Anybody have a decent one I can borrow for a while?

Thing is, as far as gaming is concerned, I have an odd selection of miniatures to choose from.  I’ve only ever bought those I fancied painting at the time with no regard to whether or not it made a coherent army.  Oh, well.

- Alistair

• The Railman, part two, is practically ready for arrival on Friday.  Got a little bit to tidy up with it but otherwise it’s good to go.  Not sure where the story is going.  It might only last three parts, or it might go on for ages.  I’ll just let it wander as it wants.  Probably for the best.  My last attempt to force a regular story was The Bandstand and that’s fallen into some kind of limbo.
• Catching up with the Writing Buddies.  These are a group of guys I met through the last two NaNoWriMo attempts.  A good bunch of guys with a range of skills and tastes.  Makes for an interesting group.  Always a joy to spend time with them.
• Get a new job.  You may have picked this up from my last post.  It’s becoming a matter of urgency now but I’m sure something pop up.  It usually does.
• Grey Knights.  I’ve almost finished painting them.  And in a colour I’m happy with.  I’m sure I can get them done by the end of the year.    There may even be photos of the great job I’ve done.
• Other general gaming.  I like gaming, it’s a passion but I spend very little time indulging in my hobby.  I’m going to try and rectify that.
• Other writing.  There are many unfinished stories and I have to do something with them.  If I can get one story published then I can get others.  I just have to persevere.
• Find a new church.  My faith is at a pretty low ebb and has been for a very… long… time.  It would be nice to find a place I can find some peace and where they can accept me for who I am.
• Summer’s End.  Providing that there is another Summer’s End prog festival this year, I’ll be there hopefully with Neil and Bruce.  Last year we had capes.  This year it might be full wizards robes…

That’s a list of things I have in my mind that’s not Ruth/Aurora centred.  I know it’ll change as time progresses and as free time deteriorates/becomes available.

- Alistair

At the moment, adhering to Ruth’s new Task Centred Therapy, we are sitting at the computer table painting miniatures.

For the last few days I have been stripping the paint of a number of old Grey Knight models (Games Workshop’s finest) and have been trying to set them to the current paint scheme.  It helps that I had only ever finished six of the beggars in the old scheme, a turquoise and silver theme that isn’t particularly grey or knight-like.

But they have all been under-coated, base-coated and dry brushed with the new style (pics to follow) and I’m embarking on the details tonight.

And in a spirit of encouragement Ruth has joined me.

Ages ago I had my hands on a box of Eldar Guardians, sitting on the shelf, unbuilt and unpainted.  She had painted one in the past and decided that she didn’t want to do any more.  That’s fine.  But now she has the challenge to paint each of the figures from the box (sixteen in total) in a different style to the one before it.

Hey, at this rate most of them might even be done by the time baby arrives…

- Alistair

Now I can have a full Grey Knight army! Whooo!!!

To explain my excitement, in the Warhammer 40K universe the Grey Knight space marines are the ones brought out to fight the insidious hordes of chaos and are among the hardest troops in the game. And now some good lads have brought out a mod for Dark Crusade that adds them to the game as a playable race.

The mod rocks, but it’s just for multiplayer/skirmishes so no rampaging about the game map with the Emperors finest.

The mod can be found here.

To explain, when in my teens I had extensively played Warhammer 40K (an Eldar army and a Genestealer Cult, but not at the same time), enjoyed Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay and dabbled in Warhammer Fantasy Battle (with my impressively unpainted Skaven army).

Recently I’ve been getting back into my gaming in a serious way with semi-regular Call of Cthulhu games with Guy Incognito and Charming Manipulator. Before that I spent some time playing Magic: The Gathering, Star Wars (very possibly the greatest Customisable Card Game ever produced) and Call of Cthulhu (the card game, not the role-playing game).

All good fun, but it’s just not table-top. Table-top gaming is just sooooooooooooooo much more fun. And it’s not just the playing of the game. It’s the choosing/painting/customising of the models that’s all part of it. And other forms of gaming just don’t compare.

Hey what can I say, I’m a geek…