Uuurrrggghhhh…….so alarm clocks are ringing all over the country to signal a return to work for the masses. Christmas and New Year are over and I sit here trying to formulate the first talesfromthemancave update of 2015.
Firstly I hope the Christmas holidays brought you all happiness and cheer and that Father Geekmas and his Elves (no not the High, Dark or Wood varieties) delivered you all sacks bulging with geeky goodness. It certainly brought me more work to get cracking with over the next few weeks.
Starting with Necromunda…..well after a good rummage in the loft some 18+ year old scenery was discovered loitering in a stack and store box so I resolved to clean it up and take stock. I now have 82 original Plastic Bulkheads and the scenery from two Necromunda boxes and an Outlanders box. This should be enough to get a decent sized game going. I do need to flatten out some of the cardboard components as some have warped slightly over the 18 years. Not a huge problem though!
This also meant that other goodies were found. A whole heap of older miniatures which will need a good clean up but can be used or will fetch a few pennies via Evil-Bay. A 11 player Naggaroth Nightmares Dark Elf Blood Bowl Team, a full 5 man squad of Adeptus Arbites for Necromunda, three Catachan Imperial Guard troops which will sub in as Orlocks and join the Orlock Heavy with Heavy Bolter. I also found some very badly painted Skaven Blood Bowl players, an original Commissar Yarrick model, two Eldar Warpspiders and some Dark Angel models (a Captain and a Deathwing Terminator).
Some old school boardgames were found in various stages of completion and to be honest the only salvageable ones were MB’s Battle Masters and Waddingtons Key to The Kingdom. I’m going to try and get the kids to play these at some point.
Santa (courtesy of my girls) brought me some Star Wars X-Wing Minitaures to add to the Mancaves collection. I was lucky and received a Starter/Core Box, an A-Wing and an E-Wing for the Rebels but knowing me very well the bulk of my goodies were Imperials. I got a TIE Bomber, a TIE Defender, a TIE Phantom, a TIE Interceptor and the Imperial Aces Expansions. So I was a very happy geek. I also received some pennies to go and get a good deal on some other ships so I managed to add a Decimator (£23), a Lambda Shuttle (£18) and a further TIE Fighter (£9.50) expansion.
It seems that every geek who didn’t already own a copy got a copy of the game of 2014 left in their stocking too….Cards Against Humanity. My stocking was no exception as it contained a copy of the core game and the first expansion. Lessons have been learnt. Played a couple of games and my only advice would be never play it with your parents and definitely never play it with a recently remarried parent. I am going to need therapy. Cheers Dad!
I didn’t manage to get a great deal done with regards to advancing the many projects I currently have but I certainly managed to expand existing collections and start new ones. Courtesy of an Amazon Wishlist and relatives who cant decide what to get you I managed to end up with some X-mas pennies and some Amazon Vouchers. Knowing that 2015 will bring me some PRODOS Crusading to be getting on with I invested some of these pennies in a Warzone Resurrection Starter Force Boxset (Cybertronic) and a rulebook which over the coming months I shall be adding to and bringing you reviews and more information on via this blog. My aim is to add a unit every month until I have a well rounded force to use in demo games and against more experienced players who will be teaching me to play along the way. More about this in a later entry.
I received a 3ft x 3ft gaming mat from Gale Force 9 from my better half and kids too. So I will now be able to take some better pictures of the items I receive and update my Star Wars and Star Trek collections with so look out for that!
In terms of games played well we visited friends and had family visit so we managed to get a few games in. The game of the moment Cards Against Humanity was played lots and provided me with a therapy inducing insight in my fathers private life. We also managed to teach my Dad and his new wife Smash-Up. We had Bear Cavalry Spies vs Magical Monstrous Creatures vs Vampiric Ghosts vs Zombie Ants. After 4 hours of playing the Vampiric Ghosts came out on top closely followed by the Zombie Ants and leaving the Bear Cavalry Spies trailing in third with the Magical Monstrous Creatures in last place.
I attempted to teach my daughter (and Step-Mother) Family Fluxx and Munchkin. Whether the gin made this prohibitively difficult or she genuinely didnt get the premise I dont know but Munchkin was a disaster. Family Fluxx was easily taught and small enough to carry other places and take on holiday etc. So that was successful.
Overall a happy restful and enjoyable Xmas break at Hairy Gamer HQ. I feel refreshed and ready for the assault on my various gaming projects.
Bring on 2015, bring on AvP, bring on Warzone Resurrection, bring on the Necromunda and bring on Star Wars & Star Trek. Happy gaming guys and gals!
talesfromthemancave 