Review of the Year

Hi guys, hope you all had a great Christmas and are looking forward to an awesome New Year!

The last twelve months have been really good for our little club, picking up new members and introducing existing members to new game systems. You'll all be pleased to know that the big chipboard tables will be phased out and replaced with some much lighter, two-piece ones, and we also intend to have some uniformity with table covers as well - I've priced up some material, and Neils wife has kindly offered to overlock it.

I would also like to thank Blair for the donation of a bunch of terrain earlier in the year, and Neil and Sheila for donating containers to keep it in. Also a big thanks to the Masterton Croquet Club for letting us use (and continue to use) their facilities - far more convenient than shipping the tables and terrain between peoples garages!

We'll be starting up again towards the end of January - more on this later - and in the meantime, may you dice always roll sixes!

James

Campaign Results

Hey guys, how are you all? As most of you know I've been running a small Warhammer campaign (1200 pts) in the lead up to Vermintide III. Well, here are the results:

1st. Neil
2nd. Simon
3rd. James
4th. Peter
5th. James
6th. Jake
7th. Aaron
8th. Raynor
9th. Sophie

I hope everyone enjoyed themselves, and I'll be looking at running some similar ones for both 40K and Fantasy in the future!

PS I apologise about the lack of recent activity on the blog - work and family commitments have meant that just keeping the week to week business of the club has been a challenge! I will be posting shortly on the last couple of months and also club members performance at Vermintide III (a one day Warhammer Fantasy tournament in Wellington).

September Round-up

Another good month for the Marauders, with decent turnouts at both the Thursday and Sunday meetings. Wills' Necrons are becoming quite a force to be reckoned with, and Ghazkhull Thraka (ably commanded by Simon) and the grand companies of the Space Wolves (Jacob) are also sweeping the galaxy. Jakes Chaos Marines are wantonly spreading disease and destruction through the galaxy, Toms Dark Angels are striking from the shadows, and Jonathons various armies of doom are also doing their best to set the galaxy ablaze.

In the Warhammer world, things are a little bit quieter, but from next week I will be running a short campaign (until the end of November). It's very simple to get involved - make a 1200pt list, complying with all the usual rulebook restrictions (50% troops, 25% heros, etc) and play some Warhammer! Then email me the results (or even better, play them at the club and I'll just write them down), and at the end I'll add up your points, divide them by the amount of games you've played, and announce the winner!

My Warriors of Chaos are looking for opponents, so dust your armies off and bring them down!

I would also like to thank Vince for bringing along his DBA armies and rules to the last Sunday meet. DBA is a surprisingly simple, and also extremely tactical historical wargaming system. It allows you to pit either historical opponents (or anachronistic armies from different time periods) against each other in a very balanced manner where your tactics on the field decide the entire game (rather then your selection of magic items or the size of your wallet, as it seems sometimes in the other games we all play!).

Vince made up some very nice handouts, and was patient enough to teach both myself and Harley to play, and was also kind enough to let us both win! We both really enjoyed the games, and I cannot recommend trying them out enough! Vince has said he will bring his armies back next time, and I encourage everyone to try this system out - it's not going to replace the whizz, bang, crash of Warhammer and 40K for me, but it surely is a hell of a lot of fun!

Until next time, may your dice always roll sixes!

James

Approaching Games Day

Hey there guys, long time no see! This Sunday is shaping up to be a doozy - Vince is bringing along some Ancient Quick Play rules, as well as armies and everything you need to play for anyone interested in Historical wargaming - you can bet I'll be lining up for a turn!

I will also be taking names for a 1200pt Warhammer campaign I would like to run through October and November - I'll have the details on Sunday for anyone interested.

See you then!

Overview of the year to date

Hey guys, how's it all going? Well, for the Masterton Marauders, it is going freaking great!

I was seriously thinking of abandoning the Thursday night meetings a few months back, as they generally consisted of me, and one or maybe two other diehards, and it was actually costing me money to keep them going. Now, however, the Thursday nights are almost as big as the Sundays, with our most recent one having three tables going (two 40K and one 28mm World War II skirmish) plus having another 3 or 4 spectators!

The Sundays are going great as well, with each one having a full complement of gamers and everyone having a good time.

I'd also like to take the opportunity to welcome the historical gamers to the club - guys like Vince and Craig are coming along with their armies and giving us fantasy/sci-fi gamers a taste of something a bit different. I had the good fortune of playing a game of Malifaux against Craig, and it was extremely entertaining, and a welcome change for me from the usual big unit company level gaming that is Warhammer.

I am very pleased to say that as well as our devoted Warhammer players (which after all, are the core and driving force that started the club in the first place!), that we have expanded to include Warhammer 40000, Warmachine, and also have Historical and World War II gamers. I would encourage any of you who are interested in a game you don't play to talk to the players on the Games Days - both Craig and Vince are very knowledgable and more than willing to explain the intriciacies of Napoleonics or Ancients, and all of our Fantasy or 40K players are also very approachable if you're keen on checking out a different system. Most gamers have extra armies that you can borrow for the day to take for a spin.

Also, for anyone interested in small scale World War II gaming, Toyworld in Masterton now stocks Battlefront products - this is for the Flames of War wargame, a New Zealand designed 1/100 scale game. They only have a small amount in stock, but can order in whatever you need.

Until next time, may all your Ld dice roll snake-eyes!

James.

Pictorial of the last couple of months

Okay, here's a bunch of photos taken over the 26th June and 14th July Games Day. They show battles in progress and just some models that I thought looked really good (like Neils Green Knight and Bens Elven Griffon). Hope you guys like them, and that they inspire you as much as they did me!

31st July Battle Report

Big thank you to Aaron for taking the time to type up this Games Day report and take the photos! Hope you all enjoy it.

This Sundays battles were particularly varied and great, Four epic battles took place incorporating Fantasy, 40k and Napoleon wars???

The first battle report is from Craig and Ross Mabon.

British at Seringpatam (April 1799) vs French at Heliopolis, (March 1800)

The French camels charged a brigade of Bengali Sepoys who failed to form square. The Sepoys were supported by a brigade of Hyderabad irregulars and managed to rout the camels.

The Hyderabad cavalry then pursued into the Mameluks, uncontrolled and were promptly routed themselves. The Mameluks showed no more control and pursued into the Bengali sepoys who this time did form square, and duly repulsed the Mameluks.

In the centre there was an inconclusive encounter between a brigade of British Line and a brigade of French Combined Grenadiers.

The final act was the capture of a French 4pound battery by a brigade of Machras Sepoys.

There was a quick game of Fantasy Dark elves (Darcy) vs Vampire Counts (Blair). Through much cheating, lying and blatant disregard of the opponents wishes Blair got tell that he had won first and so was recorded as having done so.

A three way game of 40k with the uneasy alliance of Dark angels Space Marines and Chaos run by Tom and Jake respectively vied for control of three key structures against Wills who was in control of a Necron Horde.

First a Necron destroyer surged forward firing at the chaos rhino in a spectacular flash that did nothing, the loyal warriors teleported into battle with their Ctan lord to aid their immortal brothers and unleashed a salvo towards the general direction of the Chaos lord which landed harmlessly at his feet.

Five chaos terminators vaporised a unit of 20 Necrons with their powerfists, in retribution the Necron destroyers finished off the rhino.

The Dark Angels terminators repaid the debt by taking down the Destroyers.

Enraged the Ctan destroys all in his wake bar two units of chaos to tell a story of fear to others. Unfortunately in his rage the Ctan lost sight of the objective and the combined forces of Dark Angels and Chaos secured the objectives.

Special note for the Space Angels who had the brilliant tactic of hiding behind the Chaos forces so that they took the brunt of the attack.

The other Fantasy battle of the day was Neils Bretonnians vs Aarons Ogre Kingdoms.

There was a dawn attack with the Ogres believing they had the upper hand with the opportunity to move first. They soon found that they were no match for the shiny little men on their horses with pointy bits.

Neil and Aarons Favorite Bretonnian unit of his was the knights of the realm which cut a swath through Gnoblars on the right flank before destroying the annoying Scraplauncher and causing the Ironguts to turn Tail and run (with a roll of a double six I might add) to win the battle.

The favourite Ogre Kingdom unit was the Ironguts with butcher whose spells destroyed the Pegasus riders and caused fear in multiple units. They attempted to take on the knights of the realm but were no match for cursed dice rolls.

Year to Date

Well chaps, things are going pretty well on the wargaming club. The Croquet Club is working out very well as a venue (props to Neil for organising it all, and a big thank you to the Croquet Club for the continued use of their excellent facilities), and it's good to see everyone treating the facilities with respect.

There's been a couple of Games Days since our last one, with a pretty good attendance, and everyone getting in a game or two. Some of the new members are also keen historical gamers so if any of you guys are looking for a change from the usual GW fare they are the men to talk to - both Craig and Vince have extra armies for anyone looking to give it a try.

Last Games Day also saw Jon bring along his copy of Space Hulk (for those of you unfamiliar with it check out Space Hulk Wiki), which made for a pretty cool afternoon with three or four people taking turns at Genestealers or Blood Angels.

The thursday evenings are generally pretty quiet, and so we're using it as a 40K evening, but if anyone is jonesing for a bit of mid-week wargaming action bring your gear along and comandeer a table - you'll be very welcome!

Until next time....

April Games Day Photos

The last Games Day went pretty well, with the usual suspects turning up. Sion and Neill managed a whopping five hour game between the Orcs (Sion) and Neils Marauder Horde, with a victory for Neill. There were a couple of other games, and here are a few photos from the day:










Here's Jake with one of Toms Warp Engineers - painted up in a frenzy at the end of the day!


















Jake and Tom in a marathon painting
session.










Now that I've got a camera, I hope to post photos from each games day! Anyway, rock on, and may your dice always roll 6's. Except for your Ld.

May News - Games now twice a month!

That's right folks - we're now going twice a month! Dates are now confirmed for the second Thursday, and the last Sunday of each month for games.

Here's the details, for new members or if you've forgotten:

Location: Masterton Croquet Club (in QEII Park, next to Miniputt)
Time: Second Thursday of each month 6pm - 9pm
Last Sunday of each month 11am - 5pm

Table fees are $5 per person, we supply tables and scenery. All you need to bring is yourself and your army!

Games Day

Right folks, sorry for the short notice - this should just be a reminder for most of you. Games Day this Sunday, starts 11am, 1500 points (or whatever you have, if you can't get that), see you there!

Games Day 27th February

Well, as the title says, we're back! Games day this Sunday from 1pm at the Masterton Croquet Clubhouse, next to the Miniputt in Queen Elizabeth Park.

We'll be playing Warhammer, 1500 pts, with random missions and opponents, but all wargamers are welcome - bring your army and I'm sure you will be able to find someone there to game with. This will be a regular occurence now, the fourth Sunday of each month, so mark it on your calendars boys and girls!

For the first meeting there will be a charge of $2 per player. We will also be discussing (for anyone interested) putting the club on a more formal footing - having named officers and splitting the responsibility of organising the games days and general club business. This will hopefully avoid long breaks between games (like the previous one! You guys really don't want to know the arse year I have had!)

Future plans for the club I would like to discuss include expanding to include Warhammer 40000 as a regular game, as well as Warmachine. So, I would love to see you all there, as always direct any questions or queries to masterton.marauders@gmail.com or give me a call on 0226916511