February Recap

Well, I got a little bit more of hobby mojo rolling for the month of February.  Just a little though.

At the recent game day at Rocket Republic I got my first taste of Star Wars Armada in.  Despite owning a lot of Armada stuff already, this was my first game ever.  We threw down with full 400 point lists and I quickly, I think, caught on to the game.  Well, except for the fact that I had one of my ships move off the board.  I still managed to overcome the oppressive might of the Empire though.  I found the game a lot of fun and I am a bit excited that some of the local group are picking it up (6 of us total I think, just enough to play the Corellian Conflict campaign hopefully).  Of course it helps that I am a bit of Star Wars junkie.  Unfortunately I didn't remember to take any pictures.

I also continued to knock out assembly of more Dropfleet Command Scourge ships.  I'm down to my last sprue of Scourge frigates (unfortunately there are 4 ships per frigate sprue) and a cruiser sprue.

The Scourge fleet had to be aside though, because some parts finally came in for my Adepticon project:  Devil's Run.  I did not back this kickstarter but I'm anxious to try it out as I am somewhat obsessed with the vehicle combat genre.  For the event you are supposed to bring one modified Hotwheels car, which feeds nicely into a theme project that I've wanted to tackle for awhile.  So, with the bitz order in I have devoted myself to modifying hotwheels.  Hmm, yes, I only technical need one but I am working on 4.  It's going to be a tough slog to get through though, as I have discovered what a pain in the ass die-cast metal is to work with.  Anyway, eventually I post something up regarding them.

Lastly, I got this in the mail:

As one would have guessed, that is indeed the first edition box set.

My bitterness toward this game (now) is so sad.  Deep inside of me I wanted to tear it open and start assembling me some Aliens and Predator miniature goodness.  And the spiteful me wanted to take it to backyard and burn it.  As a compromise, for now, it has been relegated to sitting on my shelf in clear view with a self promise to stare at it for 5 mins before possibly backing another kickstarter of any kind.  Oh, included in the box was this too:

Your kidding right!?

Some "fun" quotes:

1. "It's been a difficult ride for the last 24 months..."  WTF are you talking about?  24 months?  Are you that lazy that you can't even update this form letter every couple of months? 
2. "Nonetheless, I would like to assure you that every action that Prodos Games has made was to assure that we will be able to fulfill KS rewards as soon as possible."  Really?  What about deciding to use Prodos capital to develop the second edition of this game?  Seems like that money could have been used to get people their kickstarter pledges sooner.  Just saying...
3. "...find enclosed 25% discount voucher to our Online store..."  OMG, you want me to give you more money!?  

To be clear in case anyone happening to read this is wondering:  I only backed the base game.  Not a bunch of crazy add-ons that were allegedly tied up in FOX licensing hell.  My pledge netted some free add-on options, none of which were subject to the additional issues with FOX, to my knowledge.  

*sigh*  Despite this, if Prodos at least has the common sense to send a free download link for the second edition rules to all backers, I may some day play this.  Or maybe I will burn it...  But I will promise to "try" not to talk about this anymore, unless it is something (somehow) positive.  

Anyway, that was February.  Probably won't have much for March until Adepticon, which I can't wait for.

Speechless (Language Not Suitable for Young Audiences)

Hmmm, wow.  I am absolutely speechless right now.  You really have to admire talent.  And this is some serious talent I am about to talk about.  So almost 4 years ago a company runs a kickstarter, for a pretty hot IP.  And to this day it still appears a non-trivial amount of backers still have not even received the core content (myself included), let alone everything they backed.  There has been a complete lack of proper communication and a number of faux pas.  Seriously, sending me email coupons for 25% off an order of the stuff I backed in the kickstarter but still have not received!? Also saying if I bought something from the webstore, they would ship my kickstarter along with it!?

So after 3 years (I'm giving a 1 year grace period for immediately after the kickstarter) of this type of behavior, it requires incredible talent to drop something on me that leaves me speechless (if it isn't obvious by now, I'm not really speechless).  Who and what exactly am I talking about?

Oh yeah, that's right:  Prodos Games and the Aliens vs Predator kickstarter.  But see, you might not have noticed what exactly that picture above is of.  Click on it for a larger image, you might have to zoom in on the box.  Go ahead, I'll wait.

See it?  Second Edition...  All new models, protective foam inside the box, no assembly models, redesigned (aka "fixed", maybe) game modes, revised (aka "fixed", maybe) rules and improved art!  How much better are all these things than the original edition?  I have no fucking idea, since I still haven't gotten mine!  And since I recently received notification that mine was now in shipment, almost a month ago, I'm sure I'm getting the "old" edition.

You might be thinking this might not even come out till 2020?  Nope, they claim it will start shipping on March 17th.  Of this year.

I am fucking speechless.  You have to be a seriously talented asshole, idiot, or both to even come up with shit like this.  It almost requires deliberate intent to fuck people over like this.  And this is not even a fuck you to those that haven't gotten our stuff yet.  It's a fuck you to those that have already received their's too.  Perhaps even worse.  Because there is an outside chance (yeah right) that I may actually get the second edition.  And there is an even slimmer chance that if I did, the models might not suck more than the 1st edition ones (I'm going to go out on a limb here but I speculate that 1st edition multi-part models will "look" better than one piece 2nd edition models).  But at least there is that chance.  All that people that have already gotten theirs have to hope for is that Prodos offers the "upgrade" pack (15 pounds retail) to them for free.  And that is pretty wishful thinking IMO.

Now, I suspect that I am actually making this out worse than it is.  I suspect what you see above, advertised as second edition, is actually a scaled down version of the 1st edition game to hit a reduced price mark and to hopefully gain market penetration due to that price point and simpler components.  And it just happens to "utilize" updated rules.  But if that is really the case, the way this was announced is just another faux pas demonstrating how incompetent this company and it's leadership are.  And that still leaves me speechless.

No matter the case, it is important to realize one thing.  For this to have occurred (2nd edition box set with all the mentioned "improvements/changes") Prodos Games had to have had positive cash flow at some point (hard to imagine I know).  And at that point they face a decision:  1)  Dump cash into designing 2nd edition assets or 2) Fulfill their previous promises (ie, deliver their kickstarter).  They choose wrong.

Fuck you Prodos.

Naughty and Nice, the Kickstarter Kids

Under the illusion of "In the spirit of Christmas" I thought I would put together a naughty and nice list of kickstarters I have backed.  I think I will start with the negative (naughty list) and try to end positively (nice list).  Note, for my naughty list if they have managed to deliver to me, regardless of how late, they are getting a pass but sure as hell not getting on my nice list.  So, without further ado.

Naughty List
Robotech RPG Tactics:  What do I even say...

• Who:  Palladium Books
• Issue:  Where the hell is Wave 2/the rest of my stuff?
• KS Completed:  May 2013
• Advertised Delivery:  Dec 2013
• Last Update to Backers:  Sept 2016
• Last Update with Useful Information:  Who the fuck knows, maybe never?
• Longest Span without Update: 3 months
• Salt in the Wound:  Pretty much anytime I see their product.  Or when I try to assemble their product and have 20+ pieces to put together for a 2 inch tall mech, wtf!?

Journey, Wrath of Demons:  Wish I didn't have to do this...

• Who:  Marrow Production
• Issue:  Where the hell is Wave 2/the rest of my stuff?
• KS Completed:  Nov 2013
• Advertised Delivery:  July 2014
• Last Update to Backers:  Dec 2016 
• Last Update with Useful Information:  Who the fuck knows.
• Longest Span without Update:  6 months (wow, really?)
• Salt in the Wound:  None really

Shadows of Brimstone:

• Who:  Flying Frog Productions
• Issue:  Where the hell is Wave 2/the rest of my stuff?
• KS Completed:  Nov 2013
• Advertised Delivery:  Aug 2014
• Last Update to Backers:  Nov 2016
• Last Update with Useful Information:  Nov 2016
• Longest Span without Update:  3 months
• Salt in the Wound:  A new Kickstater, really!?

Alien vs Predator, The Miniatures Game:  Words can't describe...

• Who:  Prodos Games
• Issue:  Where the hell is any of my stuff!?  At least everyone else on the naughty list has gotten me something...
• KS Completed:   Late 2013
• Advertised Delivery:  May 2014
• Last Update to Backers:  Oct 2016
• Last Update with Useful Information:  Pretty much never.
• Longest Span without Update:  Un-calculable but I would bet on at least 6 months
• Salt in the Wound:  Sending me emails with a discount on this very product.  Seeing this very product in retail.  Seeing/hearing the name/word "Prodos."  The fact that I can't buy (their) Sci-Fi Samurai because of this BS.

As 3 of those 4 kickstarter issues are "Where the hell is Wave 2/the rest of my stuff?" it is important to be clear that I believe in all of those kickstarters above (and the case with most kickstarters) they were not clear about what is Wave 1 vs later, in their kickstarter campaigns.  In fact, I believe most companies only figure this out months (years in some cases) later and "implement" waves trying to save face.

As I mentioned, there are several others that really deserve to be on this list but have been given a pass because they did eventually complete the fulfillment.  A couple of those really deserve to be on this naughty list regardless but I will get even more negative if I expand further.

Moving on...

Nice List

Happy Seppuku:  All of their KS that I have backed have been reasonably on time or just slightly late.  All exactly as expected.  

Albino Dragon:  I've got a soft spot for themed decks of playing cards and these guys always come through in quality and delivery dates.

Roadkill:  As I recall, pretty much exactly on time and as expected.  Great job.  

End of the Line:  As mentioned in an earlier blog post, a couple of months early!  WTF!?  Great job!

Relicblade:  Again, pretty much on time as I recall.  Good job.  Hope the same for the expansion.

This Is Not a Test:  Also pretty much on time as I recall.  Good job.

Hero Realms:  Maybe premature for them to make the nice list (Wave 2 is still pending it's planned ship date) but they pretty much nailed their promised Wave 1 ship date.  So given all my pessimism, I will give them the benefit of the doubt.

The Hobby Transporter:  I only backed the leaf punches but they were on time!

And that wraps up the Nice list.  I know there is a bit of a disparity between the companies in each of those groups.  One camp are the "big boys" that had huge successful kickstarters.  In the other, more mom-and-pop type companies that weren't as huge.  I realize there is a (bit of) dis-economy of scale effect between those two categorizes.  That being said, isn't dis-economy of scale the result of poor management/planning/execution?  And even if you don't think it is, they (naughty list) stepped up to the plate saying they were going to do X by Y.  Implicitly they said they would handle this dis-economy of scale.

Part of the disparity is also just my backing behavior changing.  I've begun to lean toward the mom-and-pop kind of kickstarters.  For a number of typical reasons that are not worth rehashing, but also because their products usually don't end up in retail, and/or in retail before KS fulfillment and/or in retail for less than KS prices.  Also because most of the big ones end up being stillborn/DOA.  Either because their delay caused so much strife with the community or simply because the hobby world has moved on.  I still succumb to the big ones every now and again though.

Anyway, I thought this post would turn out a little different than it did.  I thought it would be fun and I  could put a fun twist on it.  That kind of faded as I got into it and reopened old wounds.  Oh well.

November Recap

Late again with the November recap but there was not much activity to motivate me to get something written up.  As expected the month was again a bust hobby wise.  I miss my hobby time, so I'm hopeful I will find a way to carve out the time soon (hint, since this post is late I can tell you that I have managed to do some hobbying in December and am a bit reinvigorated).

There was a bit of hobbying by proxy (ie, acquisition), I spent way to much money on the Mythic Battles Pantheon kickstarter (ok, maybe it should be called a delayed acquisition).  Granted, I didn't spend as much as I could have/wanted to.  Speaking of kickstarter:  In a first ever for me, I received this early:

And by early, I mean a couple of months early!  The final version of End of the Line looks great and I can't wait to get it to the table.

Receiving it early has been a bit bittersweet though.  It has irritated me quite severely regarding some outrageously late kickstarters like Prodos' AvP.  Hmm, that reminds me I should update my address for the AvP kickstarter.  For the third time...  Third time since I could have bought a retail copy...  *sigh*

I did pretty much get my man cave/hobby space all sorted out, finally.  There are a few odds and ends left to deal with still, but it's done enough to show it off.

Let's not talk about what is behind that door in the corner.
At least not yet.  Note the unused cat beds on the far left...

There is another chair, for visitors and symmetry, that is on temporary
assignment.  Obviously the cat (Blue) thinks I need it back.  Another cat
(Cleo) is usually in the chair in front of the airbrush area, hence
the blanket.

Seems a shame that puny little TV doesn't fill  in that
opening better.  If you are wondering what is in all those banker
boxes, they are filled with shame.  Lots of shame.

A very big improvement over this.  Anyway, not much else to report.  December should be a bit more interesting at least.  If nothing else I will get a chance to review all of my hobby failures, I mean achievements, for the year.

October Recap

Well, just more than a few days late posting up my October activities but there was not much to report out regarding my hobby activities for that month.  Nothing done in just about every category imaginable.

I did manage to read the 3rd book in the Expanse series:  Abaddon's Gate.  I continue to really enjoy this series although there was a "twist" toward the end that almost felt as if the reasoning was "I can stuff another 200 pages in this book if I do this."  Maybe it's just me since I have been wondering why the "average" Sci-Fi book has seemed to grow from 300 to 500 pages.  But I can't help but have these thoughts after reading something like The Forever War, clocking in at 260 pages and spanning over a 1000 years of an interstellar solider's life.  Anyway, moving on.

Significant time was also spent ("wasted") playing video games this month.    I still haven't kicked my Overwatch addiction (BTW, why the hell isn't there an Overwatch miniature game in development!?) although there are signs that my obsession with it are almost over.  One of these signs was my purchasing of 2013 Tomb Raider reboot and immediate consumption of it.  I knew going in it was supposed to be "great" and I am happy to confirm those assertions.  Hmm, what should I play next.  Wait, I have another hobby and it's what this blog is supposed to be about...

There were also some new additions this month, of course:

New Rulesets, leaf punches, Alexander.  Wait, WTF!?

Hmmm, now to figure out priorities...  lol  Anyway, that little guy above poses some serious questions about where do I go from here concerning the hobby.  It was hard enough to stay "engaged" in this hobby the first time around when it was 2v1 (2 parents vs 1 child).  Now I'm in a 2v2 situation...  We'll see where things go from here.

That being said, you can see some new rulebooks in the acquisitions above.  So I will probably try to do review/overview of some of them (reading is about the only activity I can manage in the 5 min increments I get right now).

A few new/upcoming things under consideration:

I'm a sucker for Greek mythology.

Sci-Fi Frostgrave?

Pre-Registration starts Nov 21st!

Anyway, that is about it for now.

May Recap

Whew, May is over.  1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 family birthdays in this month, my mom visiting for my daughter's birthday, birthday party for my daughter, my wife getting sick, me getting sick, having to get up at 5am for work most days to offset the time off I have to take for all the birthdays and activities.  Ugh.

All these things considered, a pretty productive month, although I still haven't put actual colors onto my Guild Ball models (but I bought the paints!  lol) or worked on the Pegasus further (yes, the wings are still not attached - it will require some green stuff and I haven't felt like pulling that out).  So what did I actually manage to accomplish...

Well, I did get 2 different games of Guild Ball in with Mike over at Mini Mayhem.  Mike provides some nice pictures and a recap of the (partial) games here and here.  Both games dragged out a bit and subsequently called early.  Mike cites himself for the slow play but I contributed as well.  We were very rusty and also had to look up a couple rule things too, which was compounded by the new Season 2 rulebook and it's new layout/format.  I do have to say, I do like the new rulebook but it still nags me in the back of my head whether or not it could be organized better.  I suspect that there is not a great solution since you are dealing with so many disparate rules:  combat, different types of kicks, playbooks, 2 different sources of resources, etc.

We both would really like to see our games speed up too.  It would be nice to be able to either play multiple games or 2 different games in one get together.  We have decided to try implementing a chess clock, which is likely to make us more prone to tactical errors but maybe the burnt hand will teach best...

On the hobby side, I unearthed what seems like a butt load (to me) of Warriors of Chaos models that will be re-purposed for Kings of War.  It took a lot of work to get the models sorted out, repaired and modified for magnetic transport but it is pretty much done now.  If I just hadn't discovered a set of sprues for Mounted Marauders that I, of course, am compelled to assemble now.  Ok, there are few stragglers still left to repair and the heavy metal models appear to need an alternative transport solution that will somehow be compatible with the overall magnetic solution approach.

Light at the end of the tunnel

At least I don't have to paint most of these guys

Or these

Ugh that is a lot to paint, someday

More to paint, someday *sigh*

Some side notes regarding the Warriors of Chaos above.  These were all bought second hand, in two separate purchases.  What is painted, was painted by the previous owners.  That being said, even just glimpsing at the unpainted models compels me to think "who the hell signs up for this kind of madness."  Seriously.  Even thinking about assembling that many models for just one faction/game system, let alone purchasing that many models for one faction/game system.  And if a game system "requires" that many models, why at that scale!  I just hope (pray) that a viable army resides somewhere in there.

That is pretty much it.  June will see some colors on those Guild Ball models and maybe either a game or two of Frostgrave, Kings of War or Mini Mayhem (Mike's homebrew system).  I will also be attempting to index (and share - as part of public self-shaming) my started but not completed hobby projects, so that I can begin to knock those out.

And as a parting note:  FUCK PRODOS GAMES.  3 years since the AvP kickstarter and nothing but occasional excuses, smoke screens, offers to (basically) pay for your own shipping (again, IMO) or picking your shit up at some convention.  Meanwhile, they continue to sell this shit, develop and release new shit and distribute all their shit to retailers (including AvP!).  Seriously, I've been ripped off (completely ripped off) on just one kickstarter yet this Prodos/AvP is an even worse experience!  Sad since I desperately wanted some Warzone Mashima models but you (Prodos Games) are now on my manufacture shit list.  Congratulations on joining such a small, elite group.  Oh well.

February & March Recap

Not much to report or recap from February and March.  Pretty much all my spare time as been spent dealing with the house and moving in (and out of the apartment):  packing, unpacking essentials, cleaning and getting all our other non-temporary housing stuff moved from storage in VA to here.  Starting to see a light at the end of the tunnel though.  Well, except for my new man-cave:

Don't forget all the boxes over here >>>>>>>>>>>>

It pretty much takes a back seat to everything else in the grand scheme of things, esp when you gotta get beds set up to sleep in AND find the sheets for those beds!

In any case, I did manage to get a few board games in with co-workers at the mostly-regular Wed lunch group.  I think maybe 3 sessions of playing 7 Wonders.  Pretty good game and I think very accessible to new people once you get them to understand that it really doesn't "hurt" you to ask questions (ie, asking what a card does really doesn't give away your strategy or anything).

Ok, ok, ok.  There has been some sins committed, so confession time I guess...

I fell a bit off the wagon in regards to kickstarter (I've personally been very anti-kickstarter lately and even have a partially written post on the subject, but I keep re-writing it).  Anyway, 2 particular kickstarters really grabbed my attention and caused me to waiver.  The first, End of the Line - Post-Apocalyptic Family Survival hit too many sweet spots for me to pass:  screw your neighbor (actually, screw yourself to screw your neighbor), post-apocalypse and a really great sounding creator.  It really was the creator's, Seppy Yoon, interviews on the D6G and Nerdherders that sold me on backing this game.  The interviews can be found here and here respectively.

End of the Line - Post-Apocalyptic Family Survival

The second was called RelicBlade and I only backed for the rules and cards (not the miniatures, I figure I have enough stuff to field a decent enough proxy army).  I really loved the art style and the gameplay, seen here on Guerrilla Miniature Games, really sold me as something I could maybe one day introduce to my daughter (if she shows an interest or curiosity).

RelicBlade

Also part of the reason I was willing to back these support these projects is that they really felt like projects that would not have come about without a platform like kickstarter.

And lastly, I cashed in a big amount of credit with CoolStuffInc.  It is an old credit from when I traded in my Vs CCG collection.  This was back when CSI used to sell (some) miniatures.  As you may or may not know, they no longer sell "miniatures."  So a few compounded factors lead me to go ahead and spend it all:  my credit was nearly two years old, they do have FFG "miniatures" (aka X-wing, Armada, Imperial Assault, etc) and that the new Asmodee distrubtion rules are about to take affect (which may have an affect on FFG online pricing).  So now I have Mice & Mystics (see previous comment about something to introduce to my daughter), a bunch of new Star Wars Armada (ok, everything thru Wave 2, with some repeats and absolutely no idea what I will ever do with it - but it's Star Wars!) and a bunch of new Star Wars Imperial Assault (again, no idea what I will ever do with it - but it's Star Wars!).

Anyway, I'm off to Adepticon next week for some much needed fun!  This year, I'm back to my rotation where I am taking nothing!  Everything I am participating in is either a one-off, with materials supplied, or a hobby seminar.  I don't really know why I ever deviate from this approach at conventions as it provides me the most enjoyment (tried and true).  It should be a great way to get back in the hobby-ing spirit after the two month moving lull.