Gaming on a budget – The Challenge (Month 5 – Part 10)

So Mancavers, this months update sees me give you some very quick and dirty match reports for two games this week.

On Monday evening my Fishermen Team of Shark, Salt, Jac, Greyscales, Sakana and Siren took on Mark Southerd’s Alchemists which consisted of Calculus, Compound, Midas, Katalyst, Vitriol and Flask.

I forgot so much in this game. Once Salt was removed I completely forgot the +2 Bonus MOM, +2 TAC and +2″/+2″ MOV per player which might have helped.

Glad I swapped Kraken for Greyscales, I do like him. Should probably drop Siren if no Kraken so will go with Angel next time around. I remain to be convinced about Sakana but I’d need a bigger threat than him as an option. Maybe Fangtooth? Maybe Gutter?

Mark was patient as ever and deserved his win if for no other reason than putting up with my stupid questions and changing the damage I apply when I read things properly.

6-4 to Marks Alchemists. His team took out Shark, Siren and Salt. I scored with Greyscales following a Shark knockdown on Midas and Salt stealing the ball before passing to Greyscales using a snap shot.

Tonight saw my nemesis Andy T come over for a game with his new Engineers team.

The newly rejigged lineup for my Fishermen took to the field against Andy’s Engineers tonight.

The lineup was Shark, Salt, Jac, Sakana, Angel and Greyscales. Sakana and Greyscales on the wings with Angel and Shark up front with Jac and Salt sat in behind sweeping up.

I think Andy had Ballista, Mainspring, Colossus, Velocity, Ratchet and Salvo.

We didn’t grab any pics as we got straight into it tonight.

Back to winning ways! 12-10 to my Fishermen. I think I’m finally getting to grips with my preferred team and tactics. My first turn was shaky as having kicked off with Salt I dragged him back with Jac’s activation and waited for the smoke to settle to strike. Shark quickly engaged and stole the ball from Ballista before scoring early in turn two. 4-0 Fishermen.

Andy was unlucky and was whiffing rolls allowing me a chance to not take damage and keep mobile. Sakana was keeping Velocity at bay and under threat from his range 2 melee on the left. Immediately after kick off the ball scattered into range of Velocity who activated next. Despite an attack of opportunity on Velocity an unopposed run and an open goal meant Velocity struck back immediately. 4-4

I kicked off hoping to gather with Angel and score again but the scatter from the goal was unfriendly and snapped to Ballista as soon as he activated.

Shark activated his legendary and really slowed the Engineers who were all caught with it. Jac and Greyscales did some great work on the right flank to rob the ball from the Engineer captain and did enough to tackle and dodge away. Using Greyscales remaining influence to run and shoot plus the momentum I was generating he scored again with a screamer to take extra momentum which he used to run the length and get away from the Engineer defence and back into the wing. 8-4 Fishermen.

Yet again the kick off placement and scatter favoured the Engineers and yet again the ball was close to Colossus. Jac stripped him of it and Salt gathered before advancing down the right flank hiding behind Jac and Greyscales.

Now not shackled by Sharks legendary play Balliata threw some nastiness at Salt killing him. 8-6 Fishermen.

Theball was dropped and scattered off the pitch. Restarting from the centre spot the ball conveniently fell within a few inches of Velocity who again activated next, ran, collected the ball and had another easy unopposed shot at my goal to take the lead. 8-10 to Engineers.

This time the ball scatter was kind of in my favour as it landed between Colossus, Angel and Jac. Colossus and Ballista had been busy doing what they do best knocking my players over making it hard to keep mobile and leaving both Jac and Angel knocked down.

It would be hard to score without using my bonus momentum from Salt and then somehow generating more for a shot. Now buffed by extra MP and +2″/+2″ from Salt being taken out by Ballista it wad left to Jac get up and clear Colossus out for Angel. He spent a momentum to get up, activated Ramming Speed and jogged 7″ at Colossus pushing him away before attacking him to get a momentous 1″ dodge. Using his Heroic play, Trident Tested he shoved Collosus even further away from Angel. Now she was out of strike range of any unactivated Engineer so whoever Andy activated couldn’t do anything to her or the ball. Angel could activate next. I had 2 momentum thanks to Jac’s earlier momentous dodge.

Angel spent a momentum to stand up leaving me 1 for the shot. Thanks to her 3 influence and Salts demise she could sprint 10″ grabbing the ball on the way before using her play Super Shot to shoot with 5 dice from 10″ out. Threat range of 20″…..19″ away. Goal fishermen for a 12-10 victory and game!

I think I’m finally getting to grips with the playstyle I want to use with the Fishermen. Every game I learn something new and until my Union Ringers arrive have a settled team line up.

Again muchos gracias to the very patient Andy T who puts up with silly questions and me taking too long over who to activate next. Cheers buddy! Great game!

Next up are my purchases for this month.  It was my intention to start buying the members of the Union team that can play for the Fishermen this month.  They are as follows:-

Avarice and Greed

Hemlocke

Gutter

Snakeskin

Fangtooth

I reckoned for my £30 I could grab 2-3 of these guys and boost my options for my Fishermen but something came up that made me change my mind.  Whilst looking around eBay I stumbled upon a full Masons Team for sale.  The Masons are another of the Guilds that occupy the world of Guildball.  This seemed a good idea to me as it meant I would have two teams so could play at home with people who didn’t have a team, could teach others and generate local interest and most importantly practice and refine my Fishermens tactics.  They were a completely different style to the Fishermen.  Where the Fishermen are the Guildball equivilent of Blood Bowl’s Elves or Skaven the Masons are the equivilent of the Humans.  They don’t excel in any particular area and are good all rounders.

The Masons’ play style is all about balance and subtle flexibility. They have strong but not outstanding offensive and defensive options available to them. With a good mix of buffs and debuffs forming the foundation of their combo play, they need each other to excel.

They are equipped to play well during all phases of the game without a definitive focus on any key area, which is why they are the most flexible of teams to play. They have the tools and the play style to adapt to every situation, as long as you can piece them together properly.

Mason rewards players who can see and build play to effect combos, and then take advantage of any situation.

I was very lucky because the auction I was watching included all players in the team and wasn’t being watched by many people.  I silently watched and waited and at the last second put in my bid of £33.  With so little time left no-one could counter bid and it was accepted.  I had won!  So within a few days my full team would arrive courtesy of eBay.  I now had:

Honour

Harmony

Brick

Mallet

Marbles

Tower

Flint

Now this wasn;t in fact the FULL team as during October a Season 2 player was added to the Masons line up.  I had previously bought Sakana the Season 2 Fishermen and had a full and complete line-up.  It didnt feel right to now have a complete team so rather than be missing one I decided to push the boat out and really overspend this month by purchasing the metal miniature Chisel from Element Wargames for £8.95.  I felt justified in doing this becasue I had saved so much on my Masons team.  Rather than pay the £60 odd for a full Season 1 Masons line up I had in fact only paid £33 including shipping.  Happy days!

So total spend this month was as follows:-

Masons Season 1 Team – £33.00 (including shipping)

Chisel – Season 2 Mason – £8.95 + £2.95 shipping

Total spend – £44.90

Ok so I overspent but I can recoup it next month or simply write it off as a one of occasion like a birthday or bonus from work.  Im happy with my purchases and feel I can now make some strides forward in Guildball.

Happy Mancaving!

Gaming on a budget – The Challenge (Month 4 – Part 9)

Just a short update today as last night saw my second game of Guildball.  I had Andy T over to the Mancave for some medieval low fantasy football as his tried and tested Butchers took on my rejigged Fishermen.  Previously I had a game against Mark Southerd at NAGA where my Fishermen beat his Alchemists/Union 12-2.  Last night I changed my team knowing that they’d face a far tougher prospect in the Butchers.  I couldnt afford to give away easy kills with some of the squishier members of my team so I swapped out Angel for Sakana.

Here’s a bit of a report of the game as it went:-

Well that was painful.

Four takedown and a goal versus a goal from me. Ouch! Fishermens team was Shark, Salt, Jac, Sakana, Siren and Kraken.

So I had only my second game tonight against a very tanky Butchers team managed by Andy Thomas.

Shark, Salt, Jac, Sakana, Kraken and Siren vs Ox, Princess, Tenderiser, Brisket, Boar and Shank.

I received and secured the ball first activation with Shark who passed to Siren generating momentum and my team swept from the right flank down across my goal towards the left flank. The Butchers were brutally taking down my guys removing three (Kraken, Shark and Sakana) before I could score. Shark was first being soundly ganged up upon and beaten by three Butchers including Boar, Shank and Brisket.  Butchers 2-0 Fishermen 6-0

I managed to bring Shark back who came back close to Jac and Salt, who was now carrying the ball, on the left wing.  In the melee in the middle both Sakana and Kraken were beaten by Ox and Boar allowing my other teama members to use the pitch and keep out of trouble. Now with Shark back and in striking distance I loaded Shark with influence.   Running to about 9 inches out he then used his Tidal Surge Character play for 3 INF to dodge rather than Advance into Tenderisers area of influence to stop him getting his free charge. Shark shoots with a clear line of sight, Shark scores before spending some influence to dodge back out of the arc. Butchers 6-4 Fishermen.

The ball was kicked off and Andy dropped it dead centre of the pitch with all of his Butchers between my team and the ball.  Very quickly after kick-off the Butchers secured the ball with Brisket whilst Sakana and Kraken were off field.

Jac and Salt were doing good work on the wing supported by Shark and Siren.   Brisket dodged away, ran, set-up the supershot and scored before Sakana could drop the Smoke bomb to hide the goal. Sakana and Kraken just returning to play behind thier goal. 10-4

The ball was kicked off and I was hoping for some luck.  I tried to kick it into an area that I could hope to recover quickly.  Whilst not the greatest kick distance wise it was close enough to Jac and Salt that one of them might be able to recover.  Siren was very close to getting removed so attacked Shank to generate a dodge and left his melee area.  Spending he last INF to run she moved around the back of Jac and Salt and come back into the centre of the field and attempt to get to the ball. Following kick-off the ball ended up with Jac who didn’t have the range to pass to Shark on the wing so punted the ball to open field for Shark to grab it he then spent his remaining INF attempting to Goad Ox into moving towards him rather than charging Shark. He whiffed his roll and failed. Before Shark could activate and fire off his legendary play Ox charged him and brutally chopped Shark up over 3 attacks doing just enough damage again resulting in a take down, Sharks second of the game. One less damage or a successful Goad roll and things may have appeared closer in terms of final score but alas it was not to be

Final score12-4 to the Butchers.

I think I have a handle on getting around Tenderiser. I wasn’t that impressed with Sakana and I certainly missed the goal threat of Angel but in terms of survivability Sakana was better than Angel and did a fair amount of damage to Ox.  My difficult choice is which one from three to use…..Sakana, Angel or Greyscales.  Based on his Unpredictable Movement, Where’d he Go? and Ball Gone! Character plays he may be a better option.  I lose the Supershot of Angel but gain a slower, tougher, harder hitter with a bigger melee area to boot.  So in terms of controlling the pitch and taking the ball Greyscales may be the best option for me.

I didn’t get to take any pictures as Andy T was playing photographer and commentator via his phone.  I’ll ask him to share his pics with me.

**EDIT – here is a gallery of T’s pictures from last night. **

Gaming on a budget – The Challenge (Month 4 – Part 8)

Evening Mancavers!

So a few days into October and I can update the progress with my “gaming on a budget” article.  As followers of this blog will know I pledged to spend no more than £30 each month on a new game that I hadn’t ever played before.  I chose to invest in Guildball by Steamforged Games, a low fantasy medieval football game where each team is built up from Guild members.  The Guilds included the Alchemists, the Butchers, the Brewers, the Masons, the Morticians, the Engineers, the Union and the Fishermen.  I opted for the Fishermen a team all about movement and speed.

Last month saw Steamforged Games update their Season 2 information for Guildball and release information on some of the new players for each team.  My team, the Fishermen, will be getting Sakana.  Firstly he is a stunning looking render and with any luck when my Sakana arrives the miniature will be equally as impressive.

Sakana

Sakana Card Front

Sakana Card Back

Looking at Sakana in detail;-  Pros:

– Fast, even without influence

– Relatively durable (similar to Shark, just good DEF/ARM/HP).

– Actual momentous damage (hurray!)

– That push/dodge in column 5 could be very strong- if you can get Gut And String or a Knockdown on a 2+ defense player (even one with armor) you could get 8 inches of push on them for 4 influence. Pity it isn’t momentous.

Cons:

– Doesn’t really bring any control ability (knockdown, movement, debuffs)

– Poised means he’s gonna get knocked down a lot, which will probably get him killed

– Solves a problem that the Fish don’t really have in my opinion- I guess he can set up for a playbook result chain pretty well with Weak Point, but the best damage dealer the Fishermen can play at the moment is Gutter (Union) who already has Anatomical Precision and Fangtooth (also Union) could be pretty effective with it.

With all this in mind I was pretty much sold so Sakana was my first purchase this month.  He was £10-95 (in resin) and £8-95 (metal) directly from the Steamforged webstore but £8-05 from Element Wargames.  Both would incur me shipping of £2-95 so Element won out here.  Sure I’d love a resin version but as this is gaming on a budget I’d take the cheaper option.

Last month Andy Thomas and Mark Southerd put me onto a webstore called Blotz http://blotz.co.uk/ this website sold MDF scenery and had a rather good deal on some Guildball Goals in the form of some gibbets with a target hanging from them.  They looked fairly sturdy and nice little extras to add to my cheap pitch from a few months ago.  Looking at them I knew Id want at least 2 to paint up as basic goals and I;d also like to use one as the basis for a Fishermen specific goal to use with my team.

Blotz Gibbet with Target Guildball Goal.

Blotz Gibbet with Target Guildball Goal with miniature for scale.

You too can grab yourself a couple of these by going to the Blotz webpage on the link below.  At a very reasonable £3 each I thought I’d jump in and grab 3 for the reasons set out above.  I have plans to make Fishermen specific goals to compliment my team.

http://blotz.co.uk/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=24_124_123&products_id=613

Lastly, having bought the bare bones of a Fishermens goal for a team specific project I needed to start gathering some fishy accompaniments to build it up.  I’d seen various goals by other Guildball players and thought I;d try some similar sort of styles.  Using the Blotz goal I wanted to hang some kind of trophy from the gibbet.  I hunted around and found a source of 28mm sharks from the Reaper Dark Heaven range sold by Noble Knight Games in the US.

Reaper Dark Heaven 28mm Sharks

The shipping was a little steep though.  I looked locally and on EBay for a similar deal but couldn’t find one so eventually after some umming and oooing and aaahing I went for them.  They were $11-95 with $9-10 shipping which totalled to £13-87 after conversion.  I’d love some cheaper source of them so anyone who finds them please do let me know.

Thinking I was nearly at my budget I stopped there.  This months spend came to a total of:-

Sakana – £8-05 + £1-00 (Shipping*) = £9-05

Blotz Gibbet with Target x 3 – £9-00 + £2-80 = £11-80

Reaper Dark Heaven 28mm Sharks – £7-87 + £6-00 = £13-87

Total – £34-72

Yet again this month shipping has killed my attempts to stay on budget and mainly that shipping from the States for the Sharks.  Hopefully next month things will improve in that regard.  This month I will be scouring EBay looking for Guildball deals especially on the five Union Team members I am able to ally with my Fishermens team.  If a good deal comes up on a whole team then I might invest in that so I have two teams to play with at home.  Who knows eh….the world is my oyster (fishermens joke!)!

Im hoping to have my team ready for use in time for Mark Southerd’s upcoming tournament in January 2016 “The Heroic Play Open”.  A link to this to buy tickets can be found here:-

https://www.tiebreak.co.uk/the-heroic-play-open-2016/feed

Happy gaming Mancavers!

Jase

Gaming on a budget – The Challenge (Month 3 – Part 7)

Last night at NAGA in Nuneaton I was treated to a Guildball demo by one of the local demo guys for Steamforged and Club Member, Mark Southerd.  He’d been around giving demos to other potential players at the club and I had requested one so I could see what all the hype was about and hopefully get to grips with my team, the Fishermen.  I knew Mark from the LARP scene too and we had mutual friends in some of the guys who had pointed me at Guildball to begin with.  He was familiar with my monthly “gaming on a budget” challenge and knew that I already played/owned Fishermen

Mark brought along his demo pitch “The Proving Grounds” (available from the Steamforged webstore for £34-95 and comes with a neoprene backing for durability and a specially marked bag to roll the pitch up).  It allows you to play games on a 2′ x 2′ area for smaller 3 man per team games or on a 3′ x 3′ area for bigger 6 man team games.

Proving Grounds – Guildball Neoprene Pitch

Firstly despite the price this pitch is far better quality than the vinyl pitch I had printed by Pixelart Printing.  It was more of a mousemat type material and for playing smaller games is better.  Sadly as part of my challenge until these items come down in price I wont be able to afford one.  I’m happy with my current pitch but it does limit me to bigger games only.

My Vinyl Guildball pitch

I had already requested that I could use Marks Fishermen team versus a team of his choosing as I already owned the Fishermen and wanted to try and get to grips with their play style.

Fishermen – Guildball

Mark chose the Alchemists and subbed in a Union player, Hemlocke.

Union – Guildball 

Hemlocke – Union

The Union are like mercenaries and each player will play for the Union Team AND some of the other existing teams.  For example Hemlocke will play for both Alchemists and Fishermen.  I opted to fill my roster with Salt and Shark (in bigger games both the team mascot and Captain must be chosen), Kraken, Jac, Siren and Angel.  Siren, Angel and Salt are a little bit squishy compared to other players in the game but they have good synergy within the team and allow me to pull off some rather clever plays.  The Fishermen are all about speed, maneuverability and quick scoring.  They can drag opposition players out of position and pull their team mates away and out of “engagement” with enemy players.  I’d be attempting to use these abilities a lot as I didn’t want to get drawn into a fist fight with Marks team.

Jac – Fishermen

Kraken – Fishermen

Salt – Mascot – Fishermen

Shark – Captain – Fishermen

Siren – Fishermen

Angel – Fishermen

Mark had chosen Hemlocke (Union), Katalyst, Mercury, Vitriol, Midas and Flask (all Alchemists).

Alchemists – Guildball

Flask – Mascot – Alchemists

Katalyst – Alchemists

Vitriol – Alchemists

Midas – Alchemists

Mercury – Alchemists

The Alchemists are all about control of space using Area of Effect (AOE).  they can throw smoke bombs, they can combo some nasty conditions, set your players alight using fire.  Theyre a good opponent for Fishermen due to the way they play.  They’re about denial of opportunities by restricting where players can move and attack.  They are quick on their feet and capable with the ball, but not as resilient in combat as other teams. They excel in the early to mid-game due to their ability to cover a good amount of space.

On offense, Alchemists can use their AOEs almost as additional models in order to restrict the counter play options of their opponent. No one wants to charge the Alchemist with the ball if you have to go through an acid cloud!  On multiple occasions Mark dropped smoke bombs in front of his goal to deny clear shots from the faster, more maneuverable and better kicking Fishermen.  Damn him!

The game started tentatively with both teams probing and prodding whilst I got used to the rules and my team.  I looked at the cards for each player and positioned my team in positions where I felt I may be able to get a benefit for the synergy between them.

The Fishermen set-up closest with the combined Alchemists/Union at the far end.

Angel collects the Kick off.

The game started with Mark’s Alchemists kicking off to my Fishermen.  Having assigned influence to all my players I was then able to activate one of them and get the game going.  My team advanced quickly and Angel collected the ball deep in my half.  Kraken and Siren advanced on the left flank and Jac and Angel on the right.  Shark moved forward into centre field where he could benefit my team most.  As Marks team advanced his bigger tougher players pushed up against Kraken and Siren as Mercury set Shark on fire causing him to take damage at the end of the turn.  Hemlocke advanced on my right flank only to be engaged by Jac and latterly Salt who was pulled in to support Jac as he attacked Hemlocke.

As Marks plan became revealed it appeared he was going to use his players abilities to disrupt and damage my team as much as he could.  Marks team were very strong and full of damage causing abilities.  When a player takes damage they mark it off on their player card.  Once a player has taken as much damage as their card shows they are removed from play.  Each player has a number 1 and 2 on their health chart.  When a player returns to play using 1 Icy Sponge token they come back with as much health as the number 1 on their health chart.  When they use 2 Icy Sponges they come with the health indoicated by the number 2.  its a simple but effective system.  Due to the lower amount of hits my players had the less health I couldnt be drawn into a prolonged fight with Marks players.  I had to score quickly and keep away from his heavy hitters Katalyst and Mercury.

Kraken and Siren engaged Katalyst and Vitriol on my left as Mercury and Shark went toe to toe in centrre field.  Flask swept along behind the Alchemists lines blocking Marks goal by dropping smoke bombs.  Once they had dissipated I used Kraken and Siren to move Marks players aside as Angel advanced and shot for the goal.  GOAL FISHERMEN!!!!!

I had the momentum and was now ahead.  Scoring gave me 4VP and I had to get 12 to win.  4VP for a goal and and 2VP for putting a player out of action so it wouldnt be hard for Mark, the better and more experienced player to close that quickly.  Some bad rolling had left almost every member of my team suffering some form of damage so I had to be careful not to commit recklessly and to choose my activations carefully.  The kickoff scattered into mid field and Mark again set about setting my players on fire and poisoning them.  The damage added up quickly.  Angel was taken out by a severe beating from Katalyst.  He poisoned her, set her alight and removed her from the game.  He was quickly building momentum.  I had to stop him collecting the ball or he’d get an attempt at goal.  2VP to the Alchemists for removing Angel from play.  I was more worried about the loss of her skills and influence so had to get her back in the game as soon as possible.  When a player is removed from play they are granted an Icy Sponge token.  This means that when they get to the Maintenance Phase you can spend an Icy Sponge to return your player to the game at reduced health.

The Fishermen aren’t the hardiest of teams but their armour does help.  Siren was attacked by Mercury and the moment she activated she would be set alight…so I attempted to not activate her until I had a chance to either force Mercury away or dodge Siren away using the abilities of my other players.  Kraken used his influence to push Mercury away which granted a Momentum token too.  Shark advanced towards the Alchemists goal and used his Legendary play to affect all 5 of Marks Alchemists players who were all within 8″.  Now with their movement reduced my superior speed could be used.  Siren lured one of Marks defending players aside leaving a gap for my captain to move through.  Shark was now unmarked and upon activating rushed forward to grab the ball, he collected it and having evaded the AOE’s of Marks players fired a speculative attempt at the goal.  GOAL FISHERMEN.  That goal took the score to 8VP Fishermen versus 2VP Alchemists.  I was one score away from securing a victory.  I would first need to retrieve the ball and then find a way through the mass of players blocking the goal.

I used Angels Icy Sponge to return her to play.  When a player is returned they begin play at the edge of your teams deployment zone and can jog into play immediately.  I didnt want to gift mark an easy 2VP by making Angel easily caught by one of his players.  Salt and Jac were dealing with Hemlocke on my right and the left flank was advanced way upfield.  I re-entered far from any other player to preserve the influence she brought.  I would need her additional influence if I was to get the ball and score again.  Having secured the activation Mark grabbed the ball with Vitriol and threw down some smoke grenades to make it difficult to see of affect her.  Shark and Siren advanced chasing.  Flask was lurking nearby providing support and making it hard for Shark to affect Vitriol.  Siren had one last trick up her sleeve.  She was able to seduce Vitriol into passing her the ball.  With no intervening players it was a simple roll to take the ball from Vitriol and within close range of the goal I spent my momentum and final influence point on Siren to shoot at goal.  Score!  GOAL FISHERMAN!!!!  12VP to 2VP.

I had secured a difficult and costly win for my Fishermen.  I was reasonably happy but knew had I played a more “fighty” team I may have lost more players.  I was happy with how the Fishermen played and satisfied that I could happily use them again in the future and had invested in the right team for me.  Shark was awesome, Siren had been worth using and despite my love of Kraken I hadnt seen him live upto the potential I hoped he had.  Salt and Jac proved a useful combination when tag teaming against a lone isolated attacker in Hemlocke.  I had spread the goals around and seen some of the useful abilities my team could do.  Sharks Legendary play had really turned the game by trapping all 5 of Marks Alchemists in a net and reducing their movement.  This reduced movement had allowed my faster team to move through and past them and to isolate the ball carrier beforre stealing the ball.

I had a great evening and props go out to Mark Southerd who had taken the time to talk me through the finer points of Guildball.  We had a good chat about the future of Guildball both in general and at the club.  With Season 2 approaching and at least 4 new players coming up for the Fishermen I would be kept busy going forwards and have plenty to spend my “Gaming on a budget” pennies on.  We also discussed which Union players may suit the Fishermen and give me more play options.

The futures bright…the futures Fishermen!

Jase

Gaming on a budget – The Challenge (Month 2 – Part 5)

Morning Mancavers,

Last month we started our “gaming on a budget” feature with the aim of spending no more than £30 per month on a new game we hadn’t invested in before.  I decided to get involved with a low fantasy Medieval football style game by Steamforged Games called Guildball.  Having taken a look at the teams available and gotten some advice from friends and forums I opted to purchase the Fishermens Guild.  With their combination of maneuverability and speed they would be the best option for me.

Last month I bought the Fishermens Guild Season 1 Starter Box which came with 3 miniatures (Angel, Siren and Shark), a ball and some data cards for each player the miniatures represent.  I really really wanted one of the other team players called Kraken so I bought him too.  At this point I had slightly gone over my planned budget of £30 and I think including postage it cost me a total of about £34.80 leaving me short this month.

Starting out I only had about £25-26 to play with.  I initially decided to add in two new players to give my team more flexibility in terms of tactics and options.  I went for Greyscales and Jac.

Jac – Fishermen’s Guild

Greyscales – Fishermen’s Guild

Also to get my team going I opted to purchase some MicroArt Studios bases.  The only option I feel really matches anything like the feel I’m looking for my Fishermen is:-

Wood

These are nice and look like a ruined jetty or pier.  I picked up a set of 40mm bases (for Kraken) and a set of 30mm bases for everyone else.

A selection of DS Round 30mm “Wood” by MicroArt Studios

A selection of DS Round 30mm “Wood” by MicroArt Studios

In total my spend came to:-

Greyscales – £8.05

Jac – £8.05

2 x MicroArt 40mm DS Round “Wood” Bases – £3.60

5 x MicroArt 30mm DS Round “Wood Bases – £3.60

All in all I spend £23.30 + P&P which rounds me off to roughly £26 this month.  I should now have enough miniatures to give me options when putting together a team.  I really need to get involved and start playing with the Guildballers locally (the Andy’s, Pam, Jason W & Mark S) and have a read of the rules and build a pitch.  One of the things that really draws me to the game is the fact that I dont have to spend a lot of money on a fancy rulebook.  Its free to download!!  If you have been following this little endeavour of mine and have been thinking you too would like to get involved then why dont you download a copy of the rules and take a look for yourself.

http://guildball.com/Guildball_QPR_Public1.0.pdf

I can also go onto the Guildball Forums to pick up tactics and general Guildball advice.  Here is a link:-

http://guildball.com/forums/index.php?/index

Oh the hobbying never ends in the Mancave!  There will be more updates to share with you guys soon.

Ive been very busy making my Alien Versus predator minis and building an Aerial Hunter Killer from Pegasus Hobbies for my Terminator Genisys…..but more on these in a later update.

Gaming on a budget – The Challenge (Part 4)

So as part of my “Gaming on a Budget” series of articles Im going to be attempting to buy, within my budget, and paint some miniatures every month allowing me to get involved in a new game.  The new game I chose was SteamForged Games Guildball.  I decided to invest in the Fishermen’s Guild team.

In Part 2 I assembled and primed my minis and over the last two days have decided to attempt to paint my first miniature in over 18 years.  I started with Kraken.

Kraken, Fishermens Guild Centre Back.

Kraken, Fishermens Guild Centre Back.

The parts of the Kraken miniature from SteamForged Games.

Kraken, assembled and primed

The gangs all here.

After priming him Matt White I started to look online for some inspiration for colours and to a relative painting novice like myself it was a bit daunting to see so many excellently painted examples of my miniature.  I wanted a dark gritty look unlike some of the brighter examples I had seen.

I would be using Army Painter Paints and had settled on a plan to block out some areas before applying a Quickshade wash over everything before hitting the highlights with some basic drybrushing.

I wanted to prime the miniature with Barbarian Flesh over everything to get good coverage on the skin but couldn’t find any at Black Dragon Miniatures in Hinckley so settled on Matt White instead.

Flesh – Base Barbarian Flesh > Soft Tone Quickshade > Barbarian Flesh/Skeleton Bone 50/50 > Drybrush Skeleton Bone > Highlight raised areas with Skeleton Bone/Matt White 50/50

Trousers and Right arm gauntlet – Base Ultramarine Blue > Blue Tone Quickshade > Drybrush Crystal Blue

Rope – Base Desert Yellow > Dark Tone Quickshade > Drybrush Skeleton Bone

Metallics – Base Shining Silver > Dark Tone Quickshade > Drybrush Shining Silver

Fur – Base Uniform Grey > Dark Tone Quickshade > Drybrush Matt White

Leatherwork – Base Leather Brown > Dark Tone Quickshade > Drybrush Leather Brown/Skeleton Bone 50/50

He’s still not entirely finished as he requires fixing to a base, to have his coil of rope painted for his Harpoon and a spot of varnish just to protect his paint but I’m happy enough that he’s a tabletop level for gaming.

What do you think?

Let me know what you think.  C&C invited and appreciated.  Not too shabby for 18 years away from painting minis.  I like the limited palette which should give my team a dark unified look on the field.

Gaming on a budget – The Challenge (Part 1)

Some time ago I reviewed Tabletop Gaming’s first issue of its magazine and whilst discussing this review with Hairy Gamer Tris we decided that an article about gaming on a budget would be a great idea.  Tabletop Gaming hadn’t done it so we resolved to set a budget and start a new project.

I had also spoken to some old LARPer friends of mine Andy Bridgwater and Andy Thomas who had just invested in Guildball from Steamforged Games.  This game appealed to me because it was a low fantasy american football style game.  It was to Fantasy Football as Game of Thrones is to Fantasy Fiction….no Elves, no Dwarves, no Orcs or Goblins.  It also fit quite nicely with my project to game on a budget as it wouldnt take a huge investment to get involved.  With all this in mind I asked around on the Guild Ball Supporters (Gu.B.S) page on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/groups/669287583117414/) and spoke to the Andy’s and took advice from Alex Cairns who all affirmed my belief that it might be the project I was looking for.

Andy Thomas was kind enough to write a review to give me some idea what it was all about:-

“So it’s Sunday, I’m sitting at a table and looking back is my best mate and we are about to kick the living bejesus out of each other!

I’ll explain… At the UK Expo we met up with the creators of a fantasy football game called Guildball and we liked what we saw. I really wanted Dreadball but when we asked for a demo… Mantis weren’t keen so we decided to go back and chat a little further… £60 each later and 4 of us now have full teams and a rule book.

Forward wind to our first game, a 3 on 3 between the Brewers guild and my Butchers! I’m having a strange feeling like I’ve been here before and it’s awesome, but ask me what the something is… I have no idea. I’ve read the rules to death and been mostly confused, tried to learn what my players can do and chosen the three that I’m sure can get me to the 6 victories points I need for a win! At this point I’m still confused how stuff works but armed with my rule book and cheat sheets… I’m ready as I will ever be! 6 points later, I’ve put his leader off the board and his quick player off twice and it’s taken around 30 minutes of non stop action where neither of us had to watch the other move 11 players, resolve 11 actions…fall asleep.

The rules I thought were complicated are actually streamlined and easy to follow, allowing the game to flow like a game should. Because of the turn system where 1 player activates a model then it switches to player 2, you never feel like you are in downtime and for someone with the attention span of a gnat, this rocks!

The players I chose had abilities that complimented each other and by knowing what each could do and how that can buff my other guys or rebuff the opposition I had a range of interesting plays I could bring to the table. Again, my non existent attention span is pleased that it has lots to do but at the same time not get overwhelmed. Then it hit me… That feeling I had been here before, I recognise it as the first time I played Bloodbowl. That little child inside me who loves the idea of fantasy football but doesn’t have 2 hours to play a game just got the cake and ate it.

That cake is called Guildball and if you love Bloodbowl or Dungeonbowl, there’s a new cake you should buy and eat…. It’s called Guildball”

 

Well anyone who knows me knows that I LOVE Blood Bowl and have done since it was first released by Games Workshop many many years ago.  I have complete and untouched copies of 1st Ed, 2nd and 3rd ed plus multiple teams.  I also all love all things contact sports.  This sounded just like the game for me.  Having spent many years playing Blood Bowl and primarily the Humans, Skaven and Elf teams I knew I’d favour a team that were fast and agile and quick to score.  I’m not so much of a bash’em’up sort and like flair and speed.  Reading some reviews online and the article in Tabletop Gaming it sounded like the Fishermens Guild would be the guys for me.  So it would be my “gaming on a budget” project.

Fishermen Guild

Having made the decision I went to my FLGS in Coventry to grab a Starter set.  When I enquired the store volunteer hadn’t ever heard of the game and had no idea what I was talking about, which left me rather at a loss.  I would have to go online to try and find what I was looking for.  I try to support my FLGS whenever I can but on this occasion the Internet would need to come to my rescue.  I asked the members of the Gu.B.S. group on Facebook about where was best to buy from and the general concensus seemed to be Element Games, based in Stockport and the same building as Steamforged Games:-

http://elementgames.co.uk/wargames-and-miniatures/cult-steampunk-other-miniatures-games/guild-ball

Looking at the website I had a budget of £30 a month which I would need to buy at least a Starter set.  So I picked up:-

Fishermens Starter Set Season 1 (Shark, Siren & Angel) – £19.76

Fishermans Guild Starter Set.

Shark, Angel & Siren.

Kraken – £12.10

Kraken

Total – £31.86

I was a little over my original intended budget but I figured I could recoup this next month by spending less.  Once shipping of £2.95 was factored in then I was at a total of £34.81.

For a similar price I could invest in many similar skirmish level games that I had considered in the past such as Judge Dredd by Warlord Games, Batman by Knight Models, a new Corporation for Warzone Resurrection (I already have Cybertronic, Imperial and Mishima) by PRODOS Games Ltd.  I was happy with my final choice.  Now all that remains is for the postie to drop a box of goodies from Element Games through my letter box and for me to get them assembled and painted ready to bring some fishy hurt to the Andys (Thomas and Bridgwater), Pam aka Mrs Andy B and Jason W who had all invested at UK Games Expo.

I should only ever need 7 models to play the Fishermens Guild and once my package arrives I will have 4 of those so I’m a happy, little, lazy painting, budget gamer!

Im now off to download the free Rules PDF so I can read up before my team arrives.  That was another selling point.  Whilst I like a glossy shiny looking rulebook on the shelf in the Mancave the fact that I can get free rules and put off that purchase for another month was a huge advantage for me.

http://guildball.com/Guildball_QPR_Public1.0.pdf

I can also go onto the Guildball Forums to pick up tactics and general Guildball advice.  Here is a link:-

http://guildball.com/forums/index.php?/index

Thats about all for now.  Thanks to the Gu.B.S guys on Facebook, Alex Cairns, Andy B & Andy T for the inspiration and ideas.

Jase