Motivation

I didn't really get any hobby stuff done this past week so thought I'd take a post to discuss the state of where I am with the hobby.

So it used to be that 40K, especially marines, was what kept me really motivated to model and convert and even to paint (the part which I don't enjoy).  Then the last edition came out and hit the local game group about like the Hindenburg crashing down on top of the Titanic with Pompeii in the background to set the mood.  I've only seen a few 40K games played since then and it's pretty nonexistent right now.

There is still BattleTech and I love expanding my Eridani Light Horse, but it's very hard to get a game of that in.  I'm still working on this, and with a vacation next week should start making a dent in that huge list of primered models.  With close to a hundred mechs primed, I gotta start making progress soon.

 

I've also got some Bolt Action, both US Army and British paras, but again, it's not being played much and thus hard to get motivated to make progress on either army.  Both armies need some purchases to round them out some more, but they're both back burnered.

So next is X-Wing, which I enjoy, but the first love is off them and I need to find that again.  I've not played it much lately due to an Infinity league so getting the models back on the table more should be a step in the right direction.  Hopefully this next Saturday I can wrangle a game or two.

So speaking of the Infinity league, this has been my game time for pretty much the last few months.  I went with a Myrmidon themed list converted to look very Greek hoplite.  There were a few issues with this.  First being the aesthetic issue where it took pretty much the entire league to get most of my conversion bits which meant I got the army converted and primered, but none of it painted to score points.  Gameplay wise the list suffered from the theme which caused low numbers of orders, next to no specialists for the missions, and the need to close against armies that could take most of my models out at range.  All in all I didn't do very well scoring in the games which fed the lack of hobby points.  Infinity is an interesting game, but it just doesn't pull me in and I'll probably not be playing it often at all.

I've also got SAGA on the back burner due to no real opponent and then 15mm with the Gruntz ruleset which while it's interesting to assemble the models and ideas for it, has been a real pain to figure out how to point units up.  It's borderline calculus.  Neither of these is making fast progress and are slow projects right now at best.

It's kind of odd, now that I'm the most relaxed on the work front in a long time, have a schedule that is giving more time for hobby, and I've got multiple projects available to work on .... that I'm finding it the hardest to motivate myself to make progress on the hobby front.  Hopefully it's just a lull that will soon pass.  I think a lot of it is due to the frustration on the Infinity front.  There is talk of Mordheim in the coming months, and that's always a fun way to spend time converting and getting creative with group ideas.

So that's where it all stands right now.  I've got lots of options yet seem a bit lost on the hobby front.  If there are any good tales out there or sage advice from those who have been there before, feel free to chime in as always.

Mainly Fluff This Week

So I've not really made any progress on painting or assembling this past week.  What I did get done however was to flesh out the background of my 15mm Gruntz force.

As various groups were begining to leave Earth to colonize and settle out among the stars, one such group was the Scottish Clan of Claiborne and two smaller clans that had sworn allegience to them, Clan Tulloch and Clan Forsythe.  They found a lush mountainous world with numerous islands scattered across it's several oceans.  They named the world New New Caldonia and the system as a whole they named Hebrides  New New Caldonia's two orbiting moons gave it a harsher tidal and weather pattern than Earth's but the Clans prospered and built up their local industries.

As the galaxy showed itself to be a much harsher place than expected with pirate bands, aggressive opposing factions, and destructive aliens, Ian Claiborne, the leader of the Clan and thus the planet at the time, began a reoriginational period that emphasized the military and martial endeavors.  Several small military academies were founded as well as the Highlander Military College.  Claymore Military Designs, New Glasgow Aerospace, and Culloden Arms were also founded during this period to become the core of New New Caldonia's arms industrial complex.  These changes allowed the planet's population to continue to thrive while strict adherence to the ancient clan honor codes earned Clan Claiborne a well deserved reputation amongst their friends and allies as well as their enemies.

Decades later the elders of the clan were approached by representatives of the East Hyadum Trading Company.  Over the course of several weeks, an agreement was finalized where the East Hyadum Trading Company would assist in improving New New Caldonia's industry and merchant fleet while making available a wide range of products and resources.  In return Clan Claiborne redefined itself slightly to be known as a warrior house sworn to protect the East Hyadum Trading Company.  The new access to various power plants, metals, armors, and other technologies has lead to constant advances in the planet's arms industry, which only makes the Clan Claiborne military forces that much more dangerous.

The current government is lead by the clan elders Matthew Claiborne, William Forsythe, and Sarah Claiborne.

Sorry there isn't much this week, but I've got a fair amount of stuff to make progress on, just need to find time to get it all done.  That's all for now and I'll see you all next week.

Now It's Getting Fun

So first off let me just say 4 for 4, and I'm doing well with this schedule so far.  Now, let's get into the fun stuff.

New 20th Arcturan Lance

Original 20th Arcturan Lance

 I've continued to work with a guy up in Vancouver that I met on a BattleTech buy/trade group.  In the middle of last week I got my 2nd lance of 20th Arcturan Guard in the CamoSpec book winter camo.  So that adds a Mauler, a clan Nova, and 2 Fafnirs to the first lance of a Thug, Battlemaster, Zeus, and Atlas for a Lyran scout demi-company.  I've got two more lances of Heavy and Assault mechs to make it a full company at some point in the future.

These arrived in great shape and went together so easily

Next, my first wave of Gruntz models from Brigade Models arrived for 15mm gaming this past Saturday.  I've got both tanks, the motar carrier, 2 APCs, and 5 IFVs assembled.  I'm currently messing with the artillery/anti-tank guns which do NOT want to go together and keep gluing themselves to everything BUT the other parts.  I'll also be starting on getting the infantry models on bases this week as well.

I'll use this silver and blue scheme for the whole force

Destruction stalks the battlefield, yes one is a chaplain for a command version

 Now with an assault Battlemech model working out as a medium mecha at best for my commander, I definitely wanted to find something to be an assault mecha cause ... big huge robot attack!!!  So with actual 15mm models now to judge against, the perfect idea for assault mecha hit me.  In 40K among my favorite models are space marine dreadnoughts and they look to be the perfect assault mecha chassis.  So I'm going to use the paint scheme on my two Contemptor dreadnoughts for the whole force and it give me about half a dozen regular dreadnoughts to use as well.  Nothing says that you want to crush your enemy, drive him before you, and hear the lamentations of opponent like a force of huge mecha striding across the battlefield.

The paint que .... with Gruntz still to add

So that's where it all stands right now.  I've got plenty, as in like 70+ BattleMechs and all the 15mm gaming stuff, to get painted.  I don't enjoy painting to I'm really trying to get myself in the mood for that so I can start making a dent in it all.  So everyone out there keep your game on and I'll see you all next week.

Still On Track

So this past Friday my Gruntz rulebook arrived and I was able to get my ideas for what to field and some of my army fluff fleshed out since then.  I've decided on creating the Warrior House Claiborne on the planet New New Caldonia in the Hebrides System which is sworn to allegiance and service to the East Hyadum Trading Company faction in the Gruntz rulebook.  This faction is based loosely on the old British Empire's East India Company.  I like the idea of the faction and making a Scottish decedent warrior house aligned to it allows me to get a little creative as well.

So while waiting for my shipment of miniatures to arrive from Brigade Models, I've been digging in the bits box as well as made a purchase from Walmart when I saw something easy to convert to use.  So I've got what looks like will be a Medium Mech for my commander since I agree with Cheef that 9 wounds is way too much for an infantry model.  I also found an armless Bear Cub clan mech that I added some missile pods to for a light or scout walker.  The last item for now is a pair of assault gunships.  I found a couple Star Wars flyers that I added some gun and missile bits to before priming.

So I was also able to flesh out the organizational ideas for the force.  The main force of vehicles and tanks will be detachments of the 4th Royal Scottish Mechanized Regiment (Claiborne's Highlanders).  The mechs will be from 7th Battlemech Battalion (the Coldstream Guard), and the fliers will be from the 53rd Highlander Air Wing.

4th Royal Scottish Mechanized Regiment (Claiborne's Highlanders)
Regimental Command Company
CO: Colonel Andrew Claiborne

1st Battalion (Armored)
CO: Major Duncan Tulloch
A Company
Captain Jacob Fisher
    Command Tank and 4 Platoons of 4 Tanks each
B Company
Captain Reg Tamsin
    Command Tank and 4 Platoons of 4 Tanks each
C Company
Captain Michael Galloway
    Command Tank and 4 Platoons of 4 Tanks each
D Company
Captain James Donegal
    Command Tank and 4 Platoons of 4 Tanks each

2nd Battalion (Mechanized Infantry)
CO: Major Sean MacIntyre
A Company
Captain William Kirkland
    Command IFV, 1 Platoon Mech Infantry in IFVs, 3 Platoons in APCs
B Company
Captain Richard Powys
    Command IFV, 1 Platoon Mech Infantry in IFVs, 3 Platoons in APCs
C Company
Captain Conner MacDuff
    Command IFV, 1 Platoon Mech Infantry in IFVs, 3 Platoons in APCs
D Company
Captain Matthew Stirling
    Command IFV, 1 Platoon Mech Infantry in IFVs, 3 Platoons in APCs

3rd Battalion (Mechanized Infantry)
CO: Major Ian Mallory
A Company
Captain Charles Fawkes
    Command IFV, 1 Platoon Mech Infantry in IFVs, 3 Platoons in APCs
B Company
Captain Seamus Maguire
    Command IFV, 1 Platoon Mech Infantry in IFVs, 3 Platoons in APCs
C Company
Captain Donald Claiborne
    Command IFV, 1 Platoon Mech Infantry in IFVs, 3 Platoons in APCs
D Company
Captain Edward O'Leary
    Command IFV, 1 Platoon Mech Infantry in IFVs, 3 Platoons in APCs

4th Battalion (Artillery)
CO: Major Francis Trevayne
A Company
Captain Patrick Forsythe
    Command IFV and 4 Platoons of 4 Mortar Vehicles each
B Company
Captain Jon Mycroft
    Command IFV and 4 Platoons of 4 Mortar Vehicles each
C Company
Captain Thomas Moriarty
    Command IFV and 4 Platoons of 8 Anti-tank Guns each
D Company
Captain Colin Byrne
    Command IFV and 4 Platoons of 8 Anti-tank Guns each

7th Battlemech Battalion (The Coldstream Guard)
CO: Major Lloyd Knowles
A Company (Recon)
Captain Charles McCrory
     4 Lances
B Company (Support)
Capain Michael Sullivan
     4 Lances
C Company (Assault)
Captain James Patrick
     4 Lances

53rd Highlander Air Wing
CO: Colonel Sean O'Connell
1st Squadron (Fighter)
Major Kevin Baird
     12 Superiority Fighters
2nd Squadron (Ground Attack)
Major John Tawney
     12 Attack Fighters
3rd Squadron (Transport)
Major Peter Foorgate
     12 Transports/VSTOLs

So that's all there is for now and hopefully my Brigade order will be here this week and we'll be able to continue on.  See you all next Tuesday!