Johns Rhinos

Hey guys, had an email from John the other day - he doesn't get down to the club very often, but really enjoys the modelling side of our hobby. He just wanted to show off his two completed Blood Angels Rhinos, so I thought I'd put it up where everyone can enjoy it!

A very nice start to a Space Marines army, John! If anyone else has pictures of models or armies, or battle reports they'd like to put up on the blog, simply contact James or Vince on masterton.marauders@gmail.com.

March 25 meeting

A gorgeous, autumn day in Masterton - we left the big, sliding doors open at the croquet club to let the balmy, breeze blow! I would love to post some photos from the meeting and of the autumnal shades across Queen Elizabeth Park but I (Vince) forgot to bring my camera, again ;-(

Craig brought his growing collection of World War 1 and World War 2 planes including the colossal Handley Paige, biplane bomber. Craig, Ross and James played several games of Wings of War.

James brought along his "SS" Celtiberians. They are black undercoated, Ancient Spanish, LOL. He, Ben and I played 15mm DBA. Ben used one of my Greek hoplite armies while he is painting his Aetolian League army. Thracians were also in action.

Simon, Ross and Calan played 40K using Necrons and Space Marines. Calan also spent some time assembling his new Space Marine scouts. Sniff that glue!

Playing Fantasy Battle were William (Dwarfs) vs Raynor (Wood Elves), and Aaron (Ogres) vs Sophie (Beastmen).

Assorted others dropped in during the afternoon and a good time was had by all.

See you at the next Friday meeting and diary Sunday, April 28 for a Fantasy Battle event at the club. Watch this space for more details.

WarmaHordes hits Masterton!

Hey guys, James here. Just doing an update on the big visit from Chris and Sean. First of all, I would like to thank both of those guys for taking out their Sunday afternoon to play some massively violent wargames with us!

The lads bought up a selection of battleboxes for both Warmachine and Hordes, to help introduce us to the games.

WarmaHordes is quite a different system to those of us who are used to venerable tomes of GW. For starters you can play a game with as few as 3 models (the starter sets come with between 3 and 6), making it far cheaper to get into then most of the other games out there, and both Chris and Sean assure me that there is quite a sizeable community in NZ, meaning that tournaments and people to play against are pretty common.

The meat of the system is pretty straight forward - you have your Warcaster or Warlock (who is both your strongest model and also the most important - think Vampire General in your VC army important!), and then several Warjacks or Warbeasts. You can also grow your army with infantry etc., but that's a bit beyond our level at the mo! Play alternates in a simple I Go-You Go system (much like 40K or Fantasy) and involves each player doing his damndest to smash the opposing players leader. Combat is a simple matter of rolling 2D6 and adding the relevant statistic, and comparing them against your opponents - Privateer Press has nicely supplied handy reference cards to make it easy for you. This is also where the Warcaster/lock comes in, allowing you to boost the attack or the damage. This is brilliant, allowing even smaller 'jacks and 'beasts to nail the big ones, with some cleverly applied focus/fury at the right time and place.

Everyone seemed to have a good time (I played against Peter in Hordes and Chris in Warmachine, got my bottom savagely beaten twice), and I was inspired to glue up my Protectorate boys! Now I just need some people to play against.....

Date Change for Next Meeting

Hey guys, we'll be having the next meeting on FRIDAY the 9th rather than Thursday. The reason? The Thursday nights were not really popular with people gaming, and as table fees are the only way that the club pays the bill to keep the lights on, I was more often then not having to shell out of my own pocket to pay the shortfall. We're going to try Fridays for a little while to see if we get any more people coming along.

James

Warmachine and Hordes at February 26 meeting

Chris Otton and Sean Lincoln came over from Wellington with several boxes of Warmachine and Hordes to put on participation games. Sadly, I forgot my camera and these photos are from my cellphone. Don't ever believe anybody who tells you a cellphone takes pictures just as good as an SLR ;-( Sophie, Peter and Sean playing Hordes .

The models and terrain looked great.












As well as the two Warmachine and Hordes tables, Vince and Harley played some games of DBA, Wargames Research Group's quick play Ancients rules. Harley had his first win! Didn't he do well? (Yay! crowd goes wild!)














Simon and Neil played Warhammer Fantasy, getting in some practice for Runefang in Wellington next weekend.














Callan and William played 40K, and Jacob and Raynor played Warmachine with Sean.


James was of course at the meeting and played Warmachine and Hordes, and a good number came through during the afternoon to see what was happening and to talk toy soldiers.

Many thanks to Sean and Chris for making the trip over the hill to the sunny Wairarapa. We had a great time ;-)

Vince

Be afraid, Warmachine is coming!

At the February 26 meeting, Chris Otton and Sean Lincoln will be coming over the hill from Wellington and bringing their Warmachine and Hordes armies. They are both genuinely nice guys and it will be great opportunity to learn from them. Warmachine and Hordes are fun, quick rules for small armies. Go to Chris's blog for pix and information http://www.thrallblacks.com/ You can use stuff like Thomas the Battle Tank!





If you want to play demo games of Warmachine and Hordes at the February 26 meeting please let James know, 022 691 6511, and we will make sure you get a go. And do feel free to just come along to the meeting for a look.

ValleyCon 2012

The Hutt Valley Wargaming Club hosted its annual ValleyCon on January 28-29. About 28 people played War Machine (http://www.thrallblacks.com/), 20 played early war World War 2 using the Flames of War rules (http://www.flamesofwar.com/), and 11 played Ancients using Wargames Research Group's DBMM 2 rules. I ran the Ancients competition and the results were:

1. Richard Foster (Thames), Wars of the Roses English, 70 points
2. Andrew Bennetts (Auckland), Marian Roman, 63
3. Alastair Duncan (Wellington), various armies, 60
4. Vince Cholewa (Carterton), Early Imperial Roman, 59
5. Dirk Heinsius (Hong Kong), Early Achaemenid Persian, 55
6. Gary Lewis (Upper Hutt), Russ, 51
7. Brent Senior Partridge (Ming Chinese), Wellington and Craig Ellison
(Wellington) Marian Roman, 49*
8. John van den Hoeven (Upper Hutt), Pre-Feudal Scots, 44
9. Mark Pickup (Wellington) Marian Roman, 43
10. Paul Graham (Wellington), Middle Imperial Roman, 5.
* Brent and Craig played as a team, with Brent playing the morning games and Craig playing in the afternoons.

Best sport: Paul Graham
Best army: Andrew Bennetts
Et tu Brutẻ (most generals killed): Mark Pickup, 3
Patrick McGoohan Special Award (first to register is, clearly Number 1 - anyone else remember The Prisoner TV show?): John van den Hoeven


Macks Track sponsored the convention and had a stand of their products.



The DBMM 2 prizes, sponsored by Wargames Supply, including the coveted horses a***e awarded to the last player. The acetate measuring sticks were made by Dopey Dog (http://www.dopeydog.co.nz) and given to each player.

Vince