Violent Dark (1) - Intro and Other Games April

 Hello

No secrets here that I'm sort of a fan of Black Site Studios. I think the stuff they make is neat. Our game of the year on the podcast the year it was released was Don't Look Back (second edition preordered already) and I have most of their games. There's a neat push right now through several content creators for what is being referred to as "Other Games April" this Miniac video sums it up but basically its a spotlight on indie games. In honor of the event and because I never touched this stuff after the first week, I decided I wanted to focus in and try and get my Black Site Games on the table this month if at all possible. DemonShip is coming (not soon enough) and we're going to start with Violent Dark

I backed this project through the BSS Backroom program which is a sorta-kickstarter program. I backed the second highest tier as I didn't think I needed the mdf terrain. At adepticon last year I picked up most of the other releases I didn't have. Here's the haul

Violent Dark is a co-op and solo focused space thriller in the vein of aliens. You control 4 crew members, theres missions, its got fun looking rules that I'll cover once the game's hit the table. 

Aparently I got as far as assembling the core set and getting paint on two pieces. It looks like I printed the bases for most of the crew but as the FDM printer is currently down, I've got a back up plan for the rest. 

The aliens we're a very slight disapointment. Mostly, I wish they fit on the bases provided. The resin is a touch spindly and bendy and they just don't sit nice on the slightly too small bases. I'm not sure how I'm going to paint these yet. You do get a ton of bits for them which is neat.

As a part of the initial buy in, and available later, there are a few expansion type pieces. One of these is rogue synths which adds a new type of threat. 

There was also a vac-suit and xenos hugger type of expansion

The xenos one comes with new rules for the threat. These are almost definitely my favorite sculpts in the set.

These expansions came packaged in the same bags as the bonus minis. The bonus minis were a few more crew, some turret guns and this cat.

After digging everything out I got most of everything built save for a couple aliens and the turrets. I also opted to leave the synths in the box for now. The plan is to get this on the table soon so we're going to start with an alien and two more crew as a minimum. 

Will report back soon

Happy New Year, Analogue Challenge, Some Bookkeeping

 Happy New Year Everyone. This last year has been a roller coaster. Unrelated to the hobby and blogging and podcasting, I've had a super busy year and as a result my hobby time has been severely limited. I've decided to forgo the usual year-in-review post until things regain some normalcy. The analogue challenge has started up and I'll copy my first submission below before we dive into plans for the new year.

" Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone! Sorry for the late start this year but the Holidays were surprisingly busy this year. I started seeing someone before the pandemic started and who would've guessed that having a significant other would make the holidays worth celebrating. Forgoing my usual tradition of Christmas Day and New Years day marathon Painting has put me a touch behind but I certainly think it was worth it. Apologies in advance for this batch of photos, I've been staying at my girlfriends during the break and didnt bring my photo booth.

First up I have two "Ornaments" painted for my Girlfriend for Christmas. This was a file I found on My Mini Factory and printed and screwed an eye hook into.

They were painted to look like the two family dogs, Sammi and Koda and went over well enough that they went right up on the tree.

These were the last two figures I painted in 2020. Kicking off this year, today I decided to get started on my Aliens Collection with the new Gale Force Nine Board Game. I painted all 16 aliens in the base game. Super simple paint jobs but I'm super happy with them. I have the marines and both expansions to work through still, as well as the Prodos games game and some extra odds and ends. One of my big plans this year is a Bug Hunt game for whenever conventions return. 

The pugs are a bit bigger than a standard 28 but the paint jobs were simple so to keep everything easy lets call it 18 x 28mm figures for this submission, for a total of 90 points. I hope everyone had a good holiday season. I plan on adding to my Necromunda collection and fleshing out some terrain for some games I have planned. "

2021 Plans

First of all, I want to paint more this year. Obviously this wasnt a normal year and I have my reservations about this year but I'd like to stay optimistic. In no particular order here are some of the things you can expect to see on this blog this year.

Aliens-
I've wanted to do a "bug hunt" style convention game for a while and although theres no conventions right now, I'd like to be prepared for when gaming can resume in earnest. I've started to work through the new GF9 Another Glorious Day in the Corps boxes as you can see above and am planning on finishing up my zone mortalis board this year and hammering out some rules.

Lord of the Rings-
I have been talking about this for all of 2020 but this will be the year I play through Quest of the Ringbearer. I've been chipping away on things here and there but almost have enough stuff to actually begin playing. Expect a lot more on that this year.

Skirmish Games-
Long have I talked about playing This is Not a Test, but lately I've also had my eye on Zone Raiders, Moonstone, Bushido and a couple others.

Terrain-
I've actually been making a dent in the terrain collection. Expect the first article on that as soon as next week.

Housekeeping

I was cleaning up the game area the other day and came to a bit of a roadblock. Though I did far less actual gaming than in years past, the amount of kits I've purchased has stayed pretty steady. I found myself a little overwhelmed at where to start and began setting aside a few kits here and there to get rid of. For most of my time in the hobby, I've adopted a "if you want it, buy it, because you don't know if it will still be available when you want to paint it." I think this has worked out generally, and I have quite a few kits in my collection I'm super excited to own. I consider myself a collector pretty high on the list of interests but this year might've gotten the better of me. As a result, I'm going to try something new this year. 

I'm going to adopt a rough, 2 out 1 in policy. Ideally, before I buy a new "whatever" I'm going to finish 2 "whatevers"

Buy a new figure kit? Finish 2 that I have. Before I buy that new box of VanSaar special figures, I'll finish the Orlocks and their upgrade kit. That sort of thing. I'm not going to define the rules super close, but I'll keep a tally of what gets done and attempt to stick to that. There's no prize of course but the prospect of moving this year has really made me want to get a handle on my collection.

So thats all for now. Happy new year everyone!