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Gus playing air tee ball at Camden Yards, 8/22/2010. He was more comfortable with the poster he had been swinging all day and took off to run the bases.

I have been anticipating Games Workshop Gamesday 2010 since buying a ticket in January. Good times were had. Dice were rolled. Enemies of the Imperium of Man were crushed mercilessly like the insects they are.

I started off the day with an intense game of "Zombie Escape" hosted by the A Team Gaming Club. The players controlled 4 Imperial Guard characters who had crash-landed in the middle of a Cities of Death board infested with Zombies. It was slightly modified 40K. I started off with some hot rolls, killing many zombies and leading the points board with kills. My rolling cooled down later and I spent two turns failing rolls to get out of assault with a mob of zombies. My untimely death was typical of so many cliché sci fi movies. R.I.P. Sgt. "Bull" Johnson. Great looking terrain and minis, and a fun time.

I saw the Ultramarines Movie Trailer and it will be a cannot miss! This is the long-awaited first full-length feature film from Games Workshop. With Dan Abnett writing, some awesome voice talents, and beautiful looking CG, I am getting psyched to check this out when it arrives this Fall.

I put up with a really annoying dude while waiting in line to pick up the brand new Space Hulk: Death Angel card game at the Fantasy Flight Games table. Mostly everyone at the con was really cool, except for this clown, who I wanted to punch across the room.

Showcase Comics, my local shop where I game, put on one of the most fantastic displays. You can see "The Siege of the Emperor's Forge" in my pics gallery: it is the mountain-side castle which was under assault by the massive Ork tank. Huge props to Mike and crew for representing Philly-area gaming in a spectacular fashion... again.

I later picked up some books and did a meet and greet with esteemed Black Library authors. I bought Horus Rising, the first book in the Horus Heresy Saga by Dan Abnett, and Path of the Warrior by Gav Thorpe. They were friendly guys considering that they were sitting for hours meeting fans and talking fiction details. Gav also signed my Space Hulk: The Novel.

I arrived 45 minutes early for the Space Hulk Big Game and staked out a spot to play Terminators. They had 9 boards set up and inter-linked into a massive labrynth with a "reactor core" in the middle that Marines had to destroy for the win. 22 players participated in each of 3 games throughout the day. There were also various secondary objectives set up throughout the board. I made some tactical errors which led me to lose 3 Terminators early on. Lots of poor rolling, typical of my bad luck. However, when it counted (i.e. the game judge was watching) I took out 3 'Stealers in a row with rolls of 6's, for which I received my purity seal ribbon. After a considerable massacre, Sarge was the only Marine remaining, and he acheived the secondary objective of recovering the dead skeleton of one of his Space Marine bretheren. He was killed afterwards facing down a full hallway of Xenos filth. After the respawn I was locked in a stalemate with a group of 'Stealers which I bravely broke with some cunning tactics. End result was that Ultramarines took the reactor core for the first Terminators win of the day.

It was a good day and I met a lot of good folks who loved games. I didn't even bring any of my own minis and I had a blast with with what was provided. Lots of fun loot. Of course, Space Hulk is a favorite of mine and it was a blast to play on such a grand scale. Probably will not get out to Chicago next year, and GW is moving its headquarters out to Memphis, TN, so I'm glad I got to a Gamesday while I had the chance.

 

This past Saturday, at Showcase Comics in Media, PA I played in a 50 point Warmachine/Hordes tournament. I fielded 50 points of Cygnar using my nephew's figures and many graciously lent by Press Ganger and all-around good guy Marc G. It was a fun and educational experience, but the fact that I am naturally bad at games was strongly reinforced. The timed format (100 minutes, 12 minutes per turn, 1 extension per game) did not work in my favor for my first experience with an army of this size...

The first game I played Cryx. They swarmed their way into the control box and I could barely get my forces through terrain to deploy them effectively. I learned about the stealth ability, which consistently foiled my ranged attacks. The highlight of this game was when my Ironclad was transformed into a Slayer, who proceeded to walk over and whale on Stryker with death claws and tusks making for a quick and brutal death.

Next, was a civil war... er... training exercise against Marc G's Cygnar list. I had some problems using time effectively, such as not getting a chance to activate Haley on 1 turn and cast any spells. The game ended with Captain Haley getting meat-tenderized by dual hammers.

Finally, another civil wa... training exercise against Cygnar. This one was a "hold the territory" type scenario. I had one of the flags pretty well covered with Trencher Commandos, but a Stormclad, decimated them with 2 sword swings, combined with Siege's Ground Pounder ability. I had a last ditch chance to assassinate Siege with Stryker but failed repeated magic rolls and couldn't get the job done with the disruptor pistol. I ended up getting mashed by a Thunderhead. That's no way to go.

So, I went 0/3 but I continue to learn more and more about the game, and it's fun. Lots of good folks who aren't your typical "gamer" types. I've got lots more figures to build and paint and this definitely convinced me that I need to build my forces up to 50 points!

Riding the Hippo!