Wednesday 29 February 2012

Nuclear Launch Detected (Part 1)

A little bit of history:

When I went to Gencon in 2010, there was this booth on my way to go to the Malifaux booth: the Mercs booth.
My fellow Gencon raider and friend Eric absolutely wanted to stop by and so we did.

A nice collection of minis with a gameplay using the cards for the models to move them...Interesting but I bought none at the time because I was on a limited budget and wanted to spend on Malifaux first. (On the other hand, my friend Eric bought their special deal and got all factions.)

Couple months later, the books for the game is released and we receive it at our local game store, being a curious one I picked it up...And was totally sold on FCC.
Played a ''quickstart'' game...And was really disappointed by how basic it was.
Played a game using all the rules...And was disappointed by how strong ''suppressing fire'' was.

And that was the end of Mercs for me.

Keiza Waza, a faction I eagerly was waiting for couple of months before, came out in 2011. You could see the unpainted models at Gencon 2011. But I had no more interest in Mercs.

Flash forward to early 2012: Yaum from  Club Chaos  is painting his KemVar and Tonio (also from Club Chaos) is painting his Yellow Jackets CCC at one of the Oldie's Painting Night at our local game store...
Listening to Paul, Yaum and Tonio talk about mercs wet my appetite, they were also telling me that apparently I misinterpreted the rules on suppressing fire and badly played against it...Seeing the incredible paintjobs was the spark needed to rekindle the flame of Mercs in my heart.
And when I learned a certain faction could launch a Nuke in-game...

Keiza Waza it was!!!

So you can find all the background needed for Keiza Waza: here or in their book 2 (not released yet but I know there will be one with it).
For those too lazy to click a link or too cheap to support a company and buy their book let me just tell you that Keiza Waza is a mega-corporation based in eastern Asia (Japan, Australia, New-Zealand), that they use nuclear-powered armors and that if 3 specific models are alive and can accomplish certain things in-game, they can...  launch a tactical nuke !!!! Awesome right?!?!

So in less time needed than to say ''my wallet is bleeding'' I bought 5 out of the 6 guys out for that faction (in that game you can only play with 5 guys max anyways) and decided to have a fully painted Mercs Keiza Waza army so I could play and say the Stacraft 1-2 ''Nuclear Launch Detected'' during my games.

Here's part 1 on my ''Nuclear Launch Detected Team'', painted with my favorite color of 2011-2012: Trollblood base (and Trollblood highlight for the beige).

The Keiza Waza Pathfinder





The Painting:
As you can see, this is tabletop level. I initially wanted to try and go to a more professional skill level but lacked the time and patience to do so.
Hazard stripes were a pain to paint and I'm still undecided whether I leave them there or erase them.
Overall I was extremely pleased with how enjoyable this painting experience was...Armour plates made it easy to paint and the size and just the right amount of details made it funnier to paint than infinity.
For the color scheme I wanted something ''military urban'' and something close to a starcraft 2 terran, although I didn't go full blue I got to use my favorite color of 2011: trollblood base.

The Model rule-wise:
The pathfinder has a weak armor, a really good movement and what seems to be a very decent shooting ability...He's one of the three models required to launch a Tactical Nuke and uses his laser-pointer to mark the target.

That's it for the pathfinder...This article was part 1 so you can expect a part 2 to follow soon as my pathfinder will be joined by the Satellite Observer.


Monday 27 February 2012

The Team // L'équipe

I am pleased to introduce JS as a co-author to this blog.
He's almost a co-worker and definitely a co-gamer.
He plays/played: Super Dungeon Explore, Star Trek Heroclix and Dystopian Wars...Add to that Magic: The Gathering CCG and various boardgames.

I am glad he accepted to team up in this blog as he will bring a different point of view/opinion to mine, talk about games I personally wouldn't try or didn't play and overall make this gaming blog more complete.

Breaking news!!

While JS is having trouble joining and finding the invite e-mail, I recruted two more co-authors to make this blog even better:

Cellular Ghost and Simon

Cellular Ghost is my assistant manager, he's also a good friend. His highlighting technique is quite cool. He paints almost everything that is 28mm from Infinity to Warmachine and Malifaux.

Simon is a fellow coworker, like Cellular Ghost he's a good friend. He paints mostly Warmachine but its only a matter of time before he starts playing/painting Dystopian Wars or other wargames under peer pressure.
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Je suis heureux de vous annoncer que JS sera un co-auteur de ce blog.
Il est pratiquement un collègue de travail et définitivement un collègue de jeux (si une telle définition éxiste).
Il joue/a joué: Super Dungeon Explore, Star Trek Heroclix et Dystopian Wars...Ajoutez à ça Magic: The Gathering CCG et plusieurs jeux de société.

Je suis content qu'il ai accepté de faire partie de l'équipe car il apportera un point de vue et une opinion différents des miens, il parlera de jeux que je n'essayerais pas ou n'ai pas eu la chance de jouer et dans l'ensemble rendra ce blog de gaming plus complet.

Information choc!!

Pendant que JS se débattait avec l'invitation envoyée par e-mail, j'ai recruté deux nouveaux co-auteur afin d'améliorer ce blog:

Cellular Ghost et Simon

Cellular Ghost est mon assistant gérant, c'est aussi un bon ami. Sa technique d' ''highlights'' est pas mal cool. Il peint à peu près tout ce qui est 28mm, d'Infinity à Warmachine et Malifaux.

Simon est aussi un collègue et comme Cellular Ghost c'est un bon ami. Il peint principalement du Warmachine mais ce n'est qu'une question de temps avant qu'il ne commence à jouer à Dystopian Wars ou d'autres jeux sous la pressions des pairs.

2nd Generation// Seconde Génération

Having entirely lost my password to Focus, Fury & Soulstones #1 I had no other choice but to create #2 if I wanted to continue posting about my minis, the great games I try/play and the events I attend/organize.

Hope this blog will have a better fate!

-Guru
Here's Miss Psycho, my Barbarian for Super Dungeon Explore
Voici Miss Psycho, ma barbare pour Super Dungeon Explore

Ayant complètement perdu mon mot de passe pour Focus, Fury & Soulstones premier du nom, je n'avais d'autre choix que de créer le #2 si je voulais continuer à poster à propos de mes figurines, les chouettes jeux que j'essaye/joue et les évènements auxquels je participe/que j'organise.

Esperons que ce blog subira un meilleur destin!

-Guru