Bolt Action Chasseurs Ardennais FRC47mm anti-tank gun

 And here we have it, my very first foray into the world and game of Bolt Action.

And it only took 3 editions to pull me over...

Now, the army I picked, being Belgian, was of course the Belgians.  No, not the Italians, that might be a project if I like the game, I'm going into the second world war with the small army of my birth.

And the first model as such completed was the blister I picked up for a measly 3 euro at a TSA Bring and Buy last year, the 47mm anti-tank gun.  The Chasseurs being veterans, I of course opted to pay the hefty price for this small gun, coming in as such at 91 points.

On the plus side, that means I'm almost 1/5th down the path to get the 500 points ready for this year and try to learn the game that way.

The Haul Report 414: Warlord Games mystery box!

The mainliner for loot this week has to be the Warlord Games mystery box, part of their Bad Santa sale end of december.

 

The box is said to contain double it's cost in value, and I grabbed a Pike & Shotte range based box, in the hopes of boosting the collection for the Empire and other fantasy projects. 

So when it arrived, it was time to see what I received inside the box!

More unboxing time, as my order from Archonia also arrived, adding some more manga to the collection.

I also got some items from Vinted, namely the Blood Bowl dice of the Chaos Dwarfs, and a very fitting peasant Halfling to make the slave regiment member after the Blood Bowl match win.  

From StartSpeler I got the pitch for Blood Bowl of my Chaos Dwarfs, so now we can be brutal in style.

And through Etsy, the "gunpowder department" arrived for my Empire of Man force in the Escalation League.

I also picked up my Combat Patrol box, meaning I now have about 4 months to build and paint it before the tournament in may, that should be do-able in between other projects.

Another parcel came in, from a Kickstarter this time.  Lewd Adventures is an erotic rpg for couples, and now they made a card game version for some evening fun with your partner... or various couples if you dare.

 

 

A trip to the local warhammer store later, and I got these nice little classic fella's for Blood Bowl.  More a collection addition then an actual "they will be in the team soon", but never the less a fun little Made to Order addition out of pure nostalgia.

And I finally picked up my Malachite Mystics figures for Moonstone at my mate's place, so at least now I have all the models to play, just need to get round painting them!

So that is another hefty addition to the pile of shame, but rest assured, I will beat lead mountain this year in the Battle Against the Gray... or so I hope at least... it's still early in the year after all.

On the Painting Desk 315

 Well, this has been a good week of finishing projects on the table.

With not only the Blunderbusses, Mortar and Halfling done, but a movement tray for the tournament in April as well together with the small wall section.

So that means focus now will be divided by said tournament with the Sneaky Gitz on one hand (albeit the banner is painted extra, they currently can't take one along).  But also starting to paint on the Pistoliers (again, the banner is purely esthetic) for the third round of the Escalation League.

The second unit of Handgunners is also brought forward to the table, to expand the said League force either this or the next round, as to bump up the Core points a bit.  

A final fresh addition to the table is the Flamethrower model, who will be for an Emmisary exchange on Chaos Dwarfs Online.

So, that is the work cut out once again, let's see how far we go this week...

TSA Escalation League 2025: Giacommo Di Merlo, Empire Captain

 Having served well as a general for the first round, it is time for my hedgewizard to relinquish command to a true general.

Or well, that is what it looks like...

My Captain of the Empire now takes command of the force, and what better model is suitable for a Marienburg army then the classic Imperial Noble from Warhammer Quest, still one of the coolest models around in my opinion.

He is only equipped with light armour though (and of course a pistol) as that is just what the model looks like.  For magic items it was all dependant on my battle result from round 1, as I was low on points, but he goes to war with XXX.

Now the plan is that in later rounds a true general of the Empire will take over command from the captain, but that will all depend on how the points acquisition will go during the course of the League.  For now, this foppish nobleman will lead the army of Marienburg in battle though!

And together with the command groups and the Doomseeker, that also rounds out the additions to the force for the second round of the League...

Obi-Wan Kenobi

 Time to work away some more on that backlog, and this time it is the 6 episode long series around Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Taking place after Revenge of the Sith, it follows Obi-Wan as he exiled himself to Tattooine to oversee the safety of Anakin's son, Luke Skywalker.

 

It has been ten years since Order 66 and the near extinction of the Jedi, as Obi-Wan, now going by the name of Ben, is living on Tattooine to watch over and protect one of the children of his former padawan.  Obi-Wan has lost his connection with the The Force,  and Owen, Luke's uncle, doesn't like him, thinking his presence is a danger for the boy.  Inquisitors, led by the Grand Inquisitor, arrive to hunt down a Jedi named Nari, but one of them, the Third Sister, is obsessed with finding Kenobi instead.

She even goes so far to have bounty hunters kidnap Leia from Alderaan, in an effort to lure out the ageing Jedi master.  Nari looks for help with Kenobi, but he refuses and tells the man to go hide instead.  But he is flushed out and hanged from a bridge in the city, and when Bail Organa visits Obi-Wan, he reluctantly agrees to go out and look for Leia.  He tracks her kidnappers to the planet Daiyu, but with the help of a con-man he manages to rescue her.

However, as the Grand Inquisitor learns of this, he puts the city in lockdown, but they escape with the help of the con-man Haja as the Grand Inquisitor is stabbed by the Third Sister, who doesn't want her leader to get all the glory for her hard work, but causing as such their quarry to get away, but not before she reveals to Obi-Wan that Anakin is still alive and is actually Darth Vader.

Vader instructs her to find Kenobi, promising her the rank of Grand Inquisitor is she succeeds in doing so.  About to be captured at the relay point, they are helped by a woman named Tala, who is a member of an underground movement to smuggle dissidents out of Imperial reach.  Vader arrives and orders the execution of innocents, drawing out Kenobi as such to confront him.  He is saved by Tala, but the Third Sister captures Leia and brings her to the Inquisitorial fortress.

Kenobi and Tala set out after her, and inside he finds a trophy vault of dead Jedi, including one of the younglings from the Revenge of the Sith.  They escape and Vader takes out his anger on the Third Sister, only sparing her as she revealed she had a tracker put on their ship.  They follow them and lay siege to the base of the underground movement, as Kenobi learn the Third Sisters name, Reva, who was a youngling in the Jedi temple during the massacre, and she wants his favor to come close to him and kill him for revenge.  Tala is killed in helping with the retreat, as Reva tries to take down Vader when he is not paying attention, but is quickly defeated by him.  Left for the dead, the original Grand Inquisitor arrives, reaffirming his status and telling how she was tricked.  

But she survives and learns of Luke's presence of Tattooine, setting course there.  Kenobi confronts Vader in an epic duel, and during the battle his true powers and connection with the Force reawaken, as he realizes Anakin is truly gone and taken over by the Vader personae.  He defeats Vader, but leaves him alive (why Obi-Wan, you could have ended a lot of misery... twice), as he sets course after Reva as he learns Luke is in danger.  Reva had managed to overpower Owen and Beru and take Luke, but can't bring herself to kill him.  She brings him back, throwing off the yokes of the Empire as she leaves.

Obi-Wan settles things with Owen and gets to meet Luke for the first time "really", before heading into the Sand Dunes to retake his watch, and reconnecting with the Force spirit of his master Qui-Gon...

So this was a fun adventure series, with an excellent Ewan McGregor giving a closure to his character, and some nice plot hole fillings.  Definitly one of the better Star Wars series released, and just good fun to watch for some space opera action.

Doctor Who special: Revolution of the Daleks

 Set between seasons 12 and 13, this special features Jodie Whittaker as The Doctor, and follows directly on the season 12 finale.

Which does make it a sort of required viewing between those two...

 

Becuase it begins with the Doctor still in the Judoon prison, while back on Earth a reconnaisance Dalek shell is intercepted by Jack Robertson to fund a defence drone program.  Graham, Ryan and Yaz confront him about it, but they are revoked as it is for a government contract to make the UK safe again.

 

One of his scientists, Leo, discovers organic cells in the remains of the Dalek, and clones it into a creature which escapes and takes control of him.  In the meantime, the Doctor is sprung from jail by Jack Harkness and rejoins her companions, being away far longer then she thought she had been.  The Dalek's reveal their plan to take over Earth, causing the Doctor to send a signal and lead a Death Squad of Dalek's to Earth, who are only looking to make the Dalek race free of impurities.  They destroy the cloned models, but as Robertson tries to make a deal, he reveals the Doctor is on Earth as well.

 

 

The Dalek's give chase to her, but she manages to trick them using the Master's old Tardis, and sending them into the Void.  Once calm has returned though, Ryan and Graham say their goodbye's to the Doctor, having found their purpose and go off to pursue their new life goals.

 

And so we are ready for season 13 when the Doctor returns, and up to date with the changes that this has brought along compared to the season 12 finale!

Fabelzel 3D printed Blunderbuss additions and some odds and ends

 Time to boost the forces a bit with the upcoming tournaments!

 

And to that end, I painted up some more Blunderbusses for my regiment.

 

Like the initial "line of 10", they are 3D printed models from the excellent Fabelzel line, which gives an updated look to the old school big hat esthetic.

 

 With this addition, the regiment now features 20 strong, so we can go blasting away at short but deadly range, with a theoretical potential of 60 shots in The Old World for them.

 

I also finished some small things alongside them, in the form of a small wall section, and a movement tray for the warriors.  Nothing fancy, but it needs to be done in the end...

 

 

 

That won't be happining to soon, but one never knows after all...

Doctor Who season 12

 It's the second season of Jodie Whittaker as the Doctor, and this has been one hell of a rollercoaster ride season for sure!

Though, the downside is that it lacked some "lighter" episodes that are often around in seasons of Doctor Who, the 10 epsiodes brimmed with dark and gloomy arcs this time.

Because we get to see Jack Harkness return, but aslo the Cybermen, a strange unknown incarnation of The Doctor and the secret of the Timeless Child.  But it all starts when the Doctor is summoned to MI6, after secret agents from various agencies have been put in a coma that is rewriting their DNA.  Their only lead is Daniel Barton, the CEO of a multimedia company, as they seek out Agent O who has been monitoring extraterrestial life.  It turns out that the cullprits are an alien race called the Kasaavin, but that Agent O is in charge of it all, being none other then a returned and regenerated Master.  

Captured in the aliens dimension, the Doctor meets Ada Lovelace, and they both go back to 1834.  Through circumstances though, they end up in Paris during world war II, where the Doctor meets with the Master who tells her Gallifrey has been destroyed.  The Master is exposed to the Kasaavin, and they take him away as the Doctor goes to see the destroyed Gallifrey for herself, and learns from a recording by the Master that their lives are based on lies.

On an uninhabital world, the Doctor and her companions come into contact with Dregs, who are out to kill all the inhabitants of a spa located there.  Even though a few people are rescued by the Doctor, this was an episode that had serious "Alien" influences, and perhaps the grimmest of the series.  They next need to ward of an alien invasion with the help of Thomas Edison and Nicola Tesla, as later the Judoon arrive looking for a fugitive.  Her companions are snagged away to a spaceship, piloted by Captain Jack, who sends them back to the Doctor with the warning from the future.  As Ruth, the target of the Judoon, regains her memories, she and the Doctor unbury the Tardis near a light house, as Ruth is seemingly a reincarnation of the Doctor, but neither can remember the other, and the mystery of the two Doctors remains unexplained.

With an ecological crisis averted next, they are faced by a nightmare inducing alien that claims to be an ancient god, and who tricks them into freeing his companion.  But they manage to turn the tables on them, as they go to 1816 afterwards meeting Mary Shelly.  

 

 

There the words of Captain Jack come into being, as a lone cyberman called Ashad is looking for the Cyberium, containing all the knowledge of the destroyed empire of the Cybermen.  Arriving at the last outpost in the future of humanity, they must face and stop the reawakening Cybermen empire, and they learn of a portal carrying people to safety.  Opening it, it brings them to Gallifrey, where the Master reappears and imprisons her in the Matrix of Knowledge.  It reveals to her that she is actually an orphaned child from another dimension, and through genome extraction her finder created the race of Time-Lords.  The Master absorbs the Cyberium as Ashad and the Cybermen arrive, and converts dead Time Lords into special Cybermen, the CyberMasters.  Ruth reappears, helping the Doctor escape the Matrix, and together with the last rebellion soldier from the Cybermen war the Master is stopped.  But as they return to Earth, Judoon appear, putting a personality crisis suffering Doctor away in a prison far in space...

And so the season ends, and it was one with a lot of twists and turns for sure.  Now seperated from her companions and in prison, the Doctor not only has to figure out a way to get back, but also to figure out who or what she actually is.

Guess we get to see some answers to those in the upcoming Christmas Special then!

Pariah Nexus

 Right, time to give another one of those Games Workshop franchise made cartoons a go.

Though I must admit, I liked Blacktalons for the story, the style of animation, for a "connoisseur" of the japanese anime style, isn't really down my alley.  Luckily, this series is a full CGI project, making it look more as an exquisite videogame cutscene movie of high definition.

But, never the less, I sat down and watched this short 3 episode series set in the Warhammer 40k universe.  Set on the planet Paradyce, overrun by Necrons, sister Danica of the Adeptus Sororitas is fighting a desperate last stand.  When teamed up with a guardsman, she runs into Sa'Kar of the Salamanders chapter, who is trying to save the civilians she seems unworthy of saving, fuelled by her hate for the planet to have fallen.

The Necron Illuminor Szeras activated a Deathmark assassin to hunt them down, and just when Danica comes through her hate-fuelled hallucinations, the assassin shoots her down before the Salamander destroys it.  Sa'Kan manages to save a children, sending them west, he goes to hunt Szeras.

But in true 40k style, when the children arrive at the next camp, they are gunned down by the military in order to prevent a brain affecting sickness infesting them...

So, short and grim, and fitting for the 40k universe.  The opposing points of view between Sa'Kar and Danica play out nicely though for such a short series, and it is worth the watch if you are into the game.  

After all, worst that can happen if you don't like it, is that you only spend an hour of your time...

On Tour to the Frituur 13: Don Potatoes in Wijnegem

 It was a wet and cold winter's day, when I wandered the streets of Wijnegem (okay, I had to drop something of at the MR point there), when the smell of fries filled my nostrils.

And following my nose, it brought me to Don Potatoes in Wijnegem, located on the mainstreet near the market.

The owners are chinese, so I knew the fries would be well baked, as they all seem to have mastered the art of the non-greasy, dry baking style.  I went in, and placed my order as such with the friendly lady at the counter, while her husband toiled away baking fries.

 

 

It has a wide selection of snacks, and a very ample sitting room to consume your food, making use of those electronic beepers to indicate when your meal is ready for collection.  

My Order

I went for the usual to start out, being a small fries with spices and fresh tartare sauce, together with a berepoot.  But I also took a curryworst special (I had asked a cervela but it seems she misheard), which is mayonaisse, ketchup and fresh onion sauce, and a can of coke.  All this put me back 13.00 euro, which are the regular prices all around here for that size of order.

The fries where baked just fine, but the spices (or salt if you prefer) are to be added yourself, and the pot was empty.  I didn't ask for a refill, for no other reason then that I was to lazy, so nothing against that for the matter.  The meat was also baked fine, though I can't seem to find another place like my homestretch frituur where they actually put a whole onion in a berepoot, being some slices here instead.

Conclusion

Nothing wrong to say about this place, but I must say also nothing spectacular standing out.  It is just a decent place, good food, normal prizes, ample seating... just how it all should be, no more, no less and as such I will give it a decent 7.5 score.

A fine spot to drop by as such, though on the midday hour it might get busy with a big school almost right next door, so keep that in mind for a quick lunch!

Warlord Games Bad Santa Pike & Shotte Mystery Box

 So I decided to try one of those mystery boxes Warlord Games releases every now and then.

And for Bad Santa, they had the option between a variety of them, so to have a look at what all this is about, I took the jump and ordered the Pike & Shotte one.

The boxes are priced at 60 euro (and 15 euro shipping to Belgium), and stated to have at least double the value in them.  Now, if it is not the epic scale stuff, that would mean a win in any case, as the full range can be used in my budding Empire force, OR if it are Feudal Japan sets they can go into the still someday planned to finish, Great Wall movie inspired Cathay army for 8th edition warhammer.

As they where released to the public on the 20th of january, my box duly arrived at the XXth, and let's have a look at what is inside!  In an ideal world for my Escalation League, that would be a box of Landsknechts with Zweihanders and some sort of Cannon or Mortar, while pure pike armed troops would be of the least use.

 

So those are the contents of the box, and that means it is time to make a little calculation of what the RRP of all the items together is, and it defintily was worth the value!

I will be buying more of these boxes in the future, and even while this box contained basically everything for a starter army in the English Civil War, the models will all be drafted into the Empire of course...

Plus-sized Elf Specials

 After the fun series, it is time for the two specials: Muffin Top Lovers and Calorie Lovers.

These bonus episodes where released on the Blu-Ray after initially being aired on the streaming service.

In the first special, Muffin Top Island, the girls are invited by Tomoatsu and his boss, Akiho, to a secluded island resort.  But while the girls are trying to enjoy themselves, mysterious things start to happen, like Laika being pulled down in the sand when she tries to capture a tentacle.  Later, they have a barbeque, a kraken emerges, responsible for the misschief caused so far.  The girls face off, but their powers are insufficient against a creature of that size.  

But Gonda, mad that the beast tries to ruin their island experience, angrily attacks it with her flaming dragon breath, inadvertently burning off the other girl's swimsuits.  The girls see the beast retreat and tend to Tomoatsu, who is in shock after witnessing Gonda's attack...

In the second special, Calorie Lovers, Tomoatsu finds himself in an alternate high school romatic comedy setting, surrounded by the girls all vying for his attention.  This even goes as far as Oeda, their teacher, trying to seduce him and the girls all pouring water over themselves to expose their breasts after they see him offer his jacket to Kusahanada.  It turns out he promised to marry one of them back when they where children, and they all still swoon over him for that.  But a new diet supplement has started turning people into zombies which shifts the romcom to a zombie survival... and it all turns out to be a nightmare imposed on him by Satero, and while she is defeated by Kuroeda, he wakes up finding both girls naked on top of him.

So, two more episodes in the trend of the original series: quite funny and quite ecchi, so I wasn't complaining hehehe.

On the Painting Desk 314

 This week's update is rather modest in progress, yet "behind the scenes" I got some serious stuff done.

Mainly glueing together models for near-future projects, like my Combat Patrol for a tournament in may.

Talking tournaments, the painting that did get done this week is on the blunderbusses, as these are the first in line to complete.  The mortar is just tagging along for the ride, as they share the same colours.

Once they are done, the little classic halfling will be done, before starting on the next tournament unit with the Sneaky Gitz, as well as the Pistoliers for the Escalation League.  Busy times ahead in other words!

Check back next week on how far we have got!

TSA Escalation League 2025: Round 1 - Civil War

 And so we are off in the Escalation League, as the lines are put down for the first battle in the campaign for my Marienburg force.

And opposing me in the 500 points game was Jason, who also brought along the Empire of Man, so a civil war is the ideal skirmish to begin the campaign with...

So my force stood ready for battle, though "efficient" might be something else, as I wanted the feel of a ragtag band of local soldiers, not even carrying colours or the likes as they are taken aback by a roving hedgewizard shouting they are under attack.

Opposing me was another Empire of Man force from Middenheim, which consisted of a level 2 wizard with Ring of Ruin and Battle Magic, 5 Knights, 10 Crossbowmen, 5 Outriders and 2 units of 5 Archer scouts.

Generating my spells, I got Summon Elemental Spirit, so I would be able to use my vortex model, and Wind Blast.  The scenario was a straight Open Battle, and the campaign bonus objective was Hold the Ground, so from turn 2 onwards scoring units (on my side only the general, for him the general and the knights) needed to be within 6" of the central skull to generate tokens.  Most tokens at the end would claim the bonus objective.

I had first turn, and my force advanced forward.  My wizard managed to manifest the Summon Elemental Spirit in front of his knights, blocking their route to the heart of my force.

I did some minor casualties, with one scouting archer unit reduced to a single member, and the other losing only a single one.

The knights moved sideways to evade the spirit, as the first handgunners where shot down.

Combined fire from those spooky Outriders, Fireballs and Crossbows wreaked havoc on my Greatswords, nearly half their number falling but they remained steady.

With turn 2 now on, it was time I tried to do some real damage though, or this would be a very swift defeat.

My wizard casted Wind Blast, causing a panic test on the crossbows with his general.  They where first pushed back 2 inches, then failed their panic test and ran away a further 11 inch.  As they had deployed 12 inch in, this meant they ran off the battlefield, taking his general along with them!

His knights readied themselves to charge my crossbowmen though, as my Greatswords where obliterated.   My general decided to leg it as a result, as a unit was destroyed within 6 inches...

He failed to rally in my turn, and the crossbows couldn't take down a single knight in front of them.  But then they charged, and as a result of the stand and shoot lost one of their number.  They failed the panic, running through the Elemental Spirit but taking no loss from it.  

 

On the other side, the Handgunners where all shot down by the sick amount of dice the Outriders throw out, and they hit rather easily as well.  I think lady Margritta needs to send a fat paycheck to the Engineers guild in the nearby future...

My halberdiers charged on his knights, pushing them closer to their own edge, but my wizard failed to rally, running onwards.

In his turn the knights had rallied, and I moved my forces closer to receive the charge.  In the meantime, my wizard had rallied and he re-cast the vortex in the hope it would become an annoyance for his Outriders.  The inevitable charge of the knights came on the halberdiers in his next turn.

My wizard was then (just) gunned down, but the halberds managed to draw combat in the first round, taking down his standard in doing so, while in my turn they killed the last remaining Knight for no loss of their own.

His missile fire dwindled them down a bit, but as the game kept continuing, they charged the Outriders and the archer.  The Outriders Fire and Fled, but where shot down by the crossbows as they did so, while the lone archer was hacked down by the halberds.

In the final turn, his last two archers where taken out, leaving the field to the forces of Marienburg.  

Victory was my part to kick off the campaign, and I had scored the bonus objective thanks to the turn my general and his greatswords had lingered next to the objective.  The Wind Blast was the moment of the match, but the real winner for me was the Crossbowmen, who got, admittedly, lucky on the Stand and Shoot, but eliminated stragglers afterwards as well.

 

This means that all the available bonus points for round 2 have been scored, and the force will be boosted to 740 points for the next game, which will be against the Orcs and Goblin tribes of Patrick.  Now to go on a shopping spree to bump the quality up this time round instead of the numbers...

But that will be a tale for next month!