Snake Eyes November 2013

GARAGE GAMERS GROUP

ISSUE # 1

Astorath - Blood Angels Space Marines

NOVEMBER 2013

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GARAGE GAMERS GROUP

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Garage Gamers Group (GGG) SPECIAL POINTS OF INTEREST:

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Garage Gamers Group. What we are all about

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The games we play

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Game reviews

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How to make the most of terrain

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Garage Gamers Group started like everything else does, as an idea. “I wanted to game at home, not have to pack up everything and take it to a shop to play there.” claims Nick Chase, originator of GGG. “The ideal solution was to host games at my home. It meant more work from a setup point of view, but as a collector of games and armies over the years, I had everything here that I needed. I just needed the other gamers. This began with the occasional game of Warhammer 40k that was already being played here. That and the boardgame ‘Battlecry’. I thought, wouldn’t it be great to round up some old

club members from my earlier days of gaming and form a like minded group to play games together. No clubhouse but all from home.

GGG members in the middle of a session of WFRP... I had the space, equipment and games and gaming aids. I then built 4 more tables in my garage. I was ready.

been talking about Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay and how good it would be to start a game going. That was the catalyst point I guess, as a group of ‘Adventurers’ were wanting to join straight away. I define Garage Gamers Group as a group of like minded individuals who for whatever reason prefer to play at home locations. I don't want to detract from shop locations understand, but it wasn’t for us. We get to enjoy a variety of games, including tabletop and board games, and promote the games that we enjoy.”

My son Darian, and I had

Members current & New

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Sales page

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Members Gallery

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Hints & Tips

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Contact

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SnakeEyes

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Promotions

Snake-Eyes resurrection Snake Eyes the newsletter was first created in 1997 as a club newsletter for the ‘Warhounds’. The Warhounds or Queensland Miniature Gamers Club, was formed in the previous year to support the gaming community as a not for profit entity. Unfortunately no longer with us

today, the club finally suffered its demise under inept leadership decisions at the time. The club newsletter, still under the ownership of its creator went into hibernation. Discussion with early Warhounds club President Glen Taylor in 2013 renewed the

impetus of bringing Snake Eyes back to life for what it was created for, as a promoter of gamers and their games. This electronic version of Snake Eyes is the first of what plans to be many, sharing pictures, tips and lists from all over. By the gamers for the gamers...

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GarageGamersGroup-The Games We Play A GGG discussion supported any miniature based game could be promoted by the group. To date the following lists the games to be played and currently playing in GGG.

Warhammer 40k roleplay

Game Spot-BattleCry

American Civil War

BattleCry is a boardgame based on historical battles of the American Civil War. Each battle represents an actual battle including dates and details and the original outcome. The game comes complete with hard wearing battle board, cavalry, infantry, artillery, and generals for both sides of the conflict. Dice and tactical cards are included as are terrain hexes. Game scale is 1:72 and each game lasts approximately 60-90 minutes.

Apocolypse AD & D Arkham Horror

Current games include:

StarWars X-Wing

“Roleplay is immersive for the players and allows them to expand on their creation of a single entity in the Warhammer world”

Warhammer 40k

Games coming soon include:

Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay

Necromunda

BattleCry

Wings of Glory

StarWars X-Wing

Flames of War (Open Fire)

Old West

Warhammer Fantasy

Zombiecide

Mordheim

Axis & Allies

Axis & Allies WW1 edition

GarageGamersGroup-The Members Simon Manchee

Sean Federoff

Sam Corvi

Nick Chase

Steven Azzopardi

Jamie Federoff

George Elliot

Courtney Halverson

Zachary Seib

Chris Taylor

Darian Chase

Martin Dorney

Zac Mehta

Michael Orton

Glen Taylor

Sean O’Hanlon

Tim Prenzler

Abby Federoff

Craig Federoff

Demi Federoff

Membership to Garage Gamers Group is free. You can be approached by a member and asked if you wish to join, or turn up and play in one of our games. Locations, dates and times are in this newsletter. Contact the Editor for more information. See the back page of this publication for contact information.

Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay GGG started Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay in April 2013. The gaming sessions are from the 1st edition of WFRP, and the group are currently making their way through the Empire using the Enemy Within campaign. Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay puts the gamer in the hot

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seat, as opposed to standing over an army controlling it as the unseen commander. Roleplay is immersive for the players and allows them to expand on their creation of a single entity in the Warhammer world, including race, class, occupations, skills etcetera. Thus, working as a group to help thwart evil in the

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Empire and sometimes beyond. Sessions are entertaining as the players act out their characters where necessary, creating sometimes unexpected events, and generally keep the Gamesmaster on his toes. Sessions run every third Sunday from 1300-1700.

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Miniature Art When does a good well planned photo or drawing of a miniature make the difference between what you buy?

and visualize what those colours might look like on my miniatures…or be inspired to go home and paint some more.

I would say pretty much most of the time.

Not all of the time but certainly a lot. Look at the picture with this article. Definitely Chaos, maybe Tzeentch or Night Lords fighting Tau...if you have either of these armies doesn't it evoke a “want to game” want in you…?

Most sellers use it to their advantage, be it the artwork on the box, the magazines and the posters. The benefit to a gamer is a nicely painted army on a fully painted table of terrain.

Ok maybe it does and maybe it doesn’t but...it’s got you thinking...even if your thought is only why is the blood on his blade red and not blue???

I see a nice table and want to play on it. I play a nicely painted army

mainstream miniature sellers are not

Hints & Tips As a gamer for many years, I have always tried to combat the ongoing conundrum of what you want verse what you’re willing to spend. I hate the rising costs of miniatures and good terrain and rulebooks as much as anybody, therefore am quite mercenary when it comes to the purchase of these items. I present this column to all of those gamers looking for that other option. When the mainstream miniature sellers are not in your price range, there are alternatives. Milsims (www.milsims.com.au) in Mel-

“When the

in your price range, there

bourne have at least 10% off on GW miniatures and more on other brands. They charge a flat $7.50 shipping fee and the miniatures are shipped as new in box. War & Peace games in Sydney have a good range for online ordering and offer reasonable discounts. When the AUD was better to buy overseas The Trolltrader and Discount Games Store, both on Ebay are good for a bargain. DGS sends items out of box but still on sprue, and you can swap items after purchase. Mailing can be high but get a decent lot and its more

likely worth it or order with friends. Finally Aliexpress online. A little like Ebay and if you type Warhammer in the search bar it will display a list of resin, plastic and metal miniatures. Most of the items are resin. These need a little more work and mailing time is long but with miniatures at a quarter of the costs of the original it’s a bargain. In the next issue of Snake Eyes I will pass on my best locations for that elusive out of date rule book or painting guide that you’ve been looking for.

are alternatives”

From the Collector’s Vault If I had any advice for the collector just starting out, and something I wish had of been said to me it is this...start your collection with NO MORE than 2 armies. If its 40k its your favourite 2. Same for Warhammer, Flames of War and so on. The reason for this, is that armies and games get a re release, usually with nicer looking miniatures that you will want to add to

your collection. After shelling out the big bucks to buy it all to find some of those miniatures are now defunct. (Chaos Dwarves come to mind-Ed) If you stick with the 1-2 army selection at a time, your purchases can be more selective which is better for your painting, gaming and wallet. Pre select what you want in your army/armies, purSNAKE

chase and assemble it, game test it, then paint it up and add it to your collection. The added bonus is you will have two armies for when you have a friend come over and you have an army for them all ready to play. Then you get to see how your armies go against each other. Why not swap sides and play both? With this method you can complete your collection in a reasonable time, unlike me ;)

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The Collector is a gamer with 24 years in collectable games and wargaming...

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ACW at Glens Garage Earlier in the year I had the opportunity to join in on a game of American Civil War at member Glen Taylors place. I have had very little to do with ACW so this was a first for me. The figures were 15mm metal range from Eureka miniatures. Martin Dorney kindly loaned his terrain for the game and my opponent was Chris Taylor, brother to Glen. Chris had played a little more than me, however Glen and Martin were the ACW gamers after all, so they maintained a close hand in the game as rule adjudicators. The ruleset used was one the Glen had purchased online from the author called Command Combat. The layout was 3 inch foam sheets 6 x 2 feet, with hills and roads modelled onto the terrain. I took command of the Confederacy and Chris took the Union. The game allows for extra terrain so we both used this to our advantage, adding a creek, fences and trees to the base layout. The battle directive was to reach an objective in each others deployment zone. Both armed with a mixture of infantry, artillery and cavalry we faced off against each other. The game incorporates an amount of realism. Artillery unless set up unlimbered must be moved from the limbered when travelling, to the unlimbered to utilise their effectiveness so the tactic of when is the best time for this to happen is paramount as the cannon have a good range. The battle was set in 1861 so most of the weaponry especially for the Confederates were basic. Command stands must be used to enforce any orders to their maximum effect however this puts your commanders at greater risk of enemy fire. Infantry regiments are very unstable under fire and will rout if they come under too much fire. I sent my cavalry across the board only to have them turned back by cannon fire, and spent the rest of the game trying to roll well enough to bring them back into the game as an effective unit. In the end this was the common element on both sides however Chris managed a win getting his troops closer to the objective by end of game. The game itself plays over 20 rounds. We had managed 7. It was enjoyable though time consuming. It did however give me an incentive to start collecting 28mm Perry Miniatures ACW so I am happy with that. For anyone wanting to collect 15mm metal ACW both Eureka miniatures (aforementioned) and Stone Mountain miniatures have a great range.

Picture on left shows Confederate Cav about to charge into Infantry...some artillery hurrying down the road to back up the Johnny Rebs, whereas Union artillery is already entrenched upon the hill…

Picture on the right shows the view of the cavalry 2 turns before as they move into position...

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Off The Palette I’ve never been much of a painter, always settling for a style that was quick and easy to get my miniatures onto the gaming table. Going to a tournament always gives me some motivation, even if most of my army was painted the night before. Several characters of mine were completed well before the tournament in question, which allowed me some more time to spend on these figures. Astorath is a nice looking figure and deserves the extra attention, and having great detail, commenced the following. I always start with a black undercoat. Some swear by GW undercoat but too expensive for me so I just used the cheap brand and GW colours.

Astorath comes in 5 pieces as a finecast model. These are the body, two wings, the axe and the jump pack. I mention this because they are best painted separately. The wings, I dry brushed with shadow grey. The scrolls on the jump pack I base coated with bone and then ink washed with brown. After that had dried I then drybrushed with bone again. The body is drybrushed crimson over the black, then I applied a mix of crimson and bright orange to lighten the colour. This was then drybrushed over the higher points of armour leaving the darker colour as the shade. The axe was painted using the red and bone method above. The base coat on the blade was ultramarine blue then lightning bolt blue to create the marbled lightning effect. The lightning was highlighted with white and then inked with blue and re highlighted.

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I used bronzed flesh for the face, and inked the face with brown ink. I allowed this to dry, then, leaving the shadowed effect around the eyes, lightened the face using bronzed flesh again. The jumpack was painted identically to the body with the exception of using a layering technique on the red. The scrolls on the body and skulls were coloured with the bone scheme already mentioned. Gold was base coated onto the belt, knee pads, jewellry and pauldron edging, then inked with brown wash and highlighted with shining gold. The blood drop imagery on Astorath’s left pauldron was highlighted with an orange/red mix brighter then the armour highlight. Lastly the purity seals on the armour were painted red, and the base and sand were coloured with snakebite leather and drybrushed. I use course beach sand on all of my bases. All in all it was a fun miniature to paint and nowhere near as daunting as I first suspected.

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Dark Heresy is a role playing game set in the grim darkness of the 41st millennium , the decaying dark future of Warhammer 40,000. Players take the role of an Acolyte in the service of a powerful Inquisitor . Your mission to root out and confront threats to the Imperium , standing with you is the rest of your cell or party made up by other players. The Inquisitor will task your group with all manner of missions and you will encounter mutants, witches, aliens, traitors and even Daemonic powers all while knowing that failure could doom millions of people or more..... Each PC (player-character) has to select a career path (similar to D&D class) which determines your starting gear and skills. Each career has different skills , talents , strengths and weakness. Also there are many alternate career options that you can take as you gain in rank. Once high enough in rank PC's can then ascend to 'Throne Agents' . Where before the PC's were Acolytes following orders, Throne Agents have far more personal power and authority , but the dangers are deeper and a miss step can doom worlds. Dark Heresy is a game of desperate fights , dark corruption , mystery, sci fi horror and consequences . The players work for big important people , and must face horror and death while wielding big guns with big explosions and the whole 40k galaxy as a background.

"Innocence proves nothing"

Zach Seib runs a Dark Heresy campaign every second Sunday at Sam’s Garage. According to the GGG members that played in the first session, they had a blast, taking down everything Zach threw at them. I get to join them in their second outing, having rolled up a Commissar, and managing to fluke an armoury requisition of a power fist...now I just have to learn how to use it. More on Zach’s game next issue.

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Members Gallery

15mm American Civil War - Confederate troops part of Glen Taylors contingent...

Western Town at sunset BattleCry pre battle set up at Craig Federoffs’

Two examples of Simon Machins’ painting, the Ork Stompa left and Battlewagon

One of many to come examples of attention to detail. Pic shows laundry coppers in western laundry building by Martin Dorney see also upper right shows grocery store

A game of Zombiecide in play with the GGG members... SNAKE

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MAGEKNIGHT & MECHWARRIOR FIGURES BULK LOTS GOING CHEAP

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Garage Gamers Group

GGG or Garage Gamers Group is a collection of gamers with similar ideals about what makes a game fun and how to have fun with it… Snake Eyes is the GGG newsletter, available for free to members and selected organisations… Phone: 0419 729794 E-mail: [email protected]

GGG supports a gamers for gamers attitude

Facebook: Garage Gamers Group

Trademark names in the newsletter have been used without permission & only used for promotional purposes for the GGG. They include: Games Workshop & associated trademarks, Milsims, Aliexpress, BattleCry, StarWars X-Wing, War & Peace Games, Avalon Hill, Arkham Horror, Wings of Glory, Flames of War, Zombiecide, Eureka miniatures, Stone Mountain miniatures & AD &D. Picture are the property of the editor & have been used with the permission of members of the GGG. Other pictures have been used without permission but for the same reasons aforementioned above.

Members Spotlight - Craig Federoff Hi. I come from an Army background and have always been interested in some form of tactical games. As I had never been introduced to varieties of games outside chess and perhaps monopoly, these were the only games that I played. I have always been a lover of history and with that historical battles. When a good friend of mine, Nick Chase introduced me to a game of BattleCry I was hooked. We randomly selected the sides. I ended up with the Union Forces and Nick with the Confederate.

It became a challenge to get through all of the missions in the book but in the end we did. The Union winning roughly 40% of them so it has now set the stage for Nick to take the Union forces while I return as a Confederate. Will keep the group updated as events unfold.

(BattleCry) is an American Civil War Avalon Hill game available from various suppliers at a RRP $75

The boardgame itself has about 30 missions, all with historical briefing. The rules suggest that after each battle that players swap sides and play the same mission again. We didn’t however and, at my insistence I stayed with the Blues. Although I have an adequate grasp of tactics, the game still gave me a workout, with me winning one in three battles. Each battle usually lasted an hour to 90 minutes, so at most when we did play, we usually only had time for a few games.

Game of BattleCry set up and ready to play...

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