Not the post I planned

So, this post was supposed to be about my adventures at Neverbourne 2, the Malifaux Tournament at Beachhead in Bournemouth.  Long story short, I had an amazing time, met some very nice blokes, and came out with a 1-2-0 record, winning nothing.  I was going to talk about that.

Then I woke up this morning, and some fucking whoreson had broken into my car overnight, and stolen the bag that had all of my stuff from the tournament in it.  All of the models for my dreamer crew, all of the cards for them, plus the cards for Collodi and his crew, that being the next crew that I was working on.  3 fate decks.  All of my home made counters and scheme markers (By home made, I mean custom designed, printed out, and then fixed to mdf discs).  That they have stolen my Tablet is almost incidental to that.

So, I have decided that I am going to do something else.  I am going to write the scumbag a letter.  I am posting it here, not because I have any thought that the scumbag who stole my stuff is one of my readers, but because I think that it says something about what our model collections mean to us.

Dear Thief,

When you idly smashed the windows of my car (and I hope that hurts, by the way, and by hurts, I mean has somehow cut you so much you bleed to death or at least have permanent disfigurement), you probably had no idea what you were taking.  In fact, you almost certainly still don't.  You were probably just taking a punt that the contents of the bad that I carelessly dared to leave locked inside, outside my house, were going to make you a few pennies.  Well, the tablet is old, and not worth very much.  The models, worth less to you.  Yet to me, they represented something.  They were valuable.  And you have sought to take that from me.
Those models represented some of the first purchases I made when I had freed myself from a bad situation.  I was able to buy them guilt free.  They were amongst the first models I painted when I got back into Wargaming in a real manner.  They represent a lot of years of collecting, and painting, and work and dedication.  You don't know that.  You just saw them as "there", and you took them.
They represent a decision that I made earlier in the year, to put some much needed effort into playing Malifaux, rather than just hoarding the models.  I've played for years, but these were the first crew where I sat down with the intention of actually getting to play them well.  I concentrated on playing nothing but them.  I concentrated on learning how to win with them.  I devoted time and energy into these models, and, when it came to the Tournament yesterday, I didn't win, or even do well, but that was the culmination of the efforts that I had put in.  I repainted stuff that needed it.  I painted a few extra models.  I tidied up paint jobs.  I worked on them.
There were also the cards for my Collodi crew in there.  He was next, given that he shared a lot of the Dreamer's hiring pool.  He was going to be the next master I learned, and for the last 2 weeks I have been painting models and planning for working on him next.  I don't know what tournament it would have been yet, but he was going to be the master I took, along with the Dreamer.  Now all of his cards, and a lot of his models are gone.  Stolen because you don't understand the seperation of Yours and Not Yours.
It may seem silly, but I was ready to just give the whole lot up.  Sell all of the models, burn the books, get out of the game completely this morning.  Hell, I'd have probably put all the other models and systems in the same boat.  Get shot of the whole lot.  I was that demoralised.  Yet, there has been some light, and some help.
Firstly, there are people.  People empathising with the loss.  People who I know and people I don't, who play this game and who understand the loss that this actually is.  The people who have wished well, and the people who have offered more practical assistance.  The people who have read this far into this post.   Every single one of you is a fucking hero, and a reason why I am going to keep going.
Then, there is my Wife.  She is always wonderful, but today she has gone above and beyond.   She wouldn't let me get rid of the models, she has insisted that I will be replacing them, and she has even offered to go walking round the streets in case they have been dumped locally.  This woman, who doesn't play, and never has, has totally grasped the emotional enormity of this, while going through her own stuff.  I love her, and I always will.  Basically, everyone else has gotten stuffed, because I really do have the best wife ever.

So, I have decided.  For the moment, Neverborn as a faction are on hold.  There is no point in even trying when so many of the core models that I would want to use are missing.  So, in a bid to diversify my local meta a little, I shall now be scouring the big pile of Malifaux models for Ms Criid and friends.  I may have to miss my #Playitpainted target for a few weeks, but I will get there, and Criid will replace Collodi as my next master.

So, in summary, you have stolen my models, and you have stolen, briefly, my plans for the game.  But, you are not stealing my hobby from me.  So, you lose.  And I hope that Lord Chompy Bits somehow magically becomes real and you find out about 6" Teeth and 10" claws.

So, if you have gotten this far, anyone know how to use Sonnia?

Not that Brutal

So, I have spent all of my Malifaux play time this year playing The Dreamer in order to try and get a handle on his playstyle.  I've played (and lost) lots of games, but, on the Monday before the tournament, I aimed to take him to, I finally managed to hit a winning streak, and have now won 3 consecutive games with him.  I have learned some lessons, including that I get on much better with Support Dreamer than I do summoning Dreamer, and that Teddy dying turn 1/2 is a big hit to my game.

My hope had been to try and get a second Master prepped and played before the tournament, and I had aimed for this to be Collodi.  Time has run out for me, but I have at least managed to paint a chunk of the models that I will need when I do finally get around to starting to play him.  Without further ado, I present, (all but the brutal, cause I haven't been able to get him yet) the Effigies.

Arcane

Carrion

Hodge Podge

Lucky

Mysterious

Shadow

I usually say comments and criticisms welcome.  I do that when I post things on Facebook as well.  However, I am now going to add one Caveat.  The base rings are not up for discussion.  I accept that some people have views on this and that some of them are very much better painters than me.  I even take their advice and criticism on board.  But my intention has always been to use this criticism to improve my painting style, rather than slavishly try (and fail) to copy someone else's.  To that end, if you comment and I don't change things, please don't think that I am ignoring, putting down, or disregarding your ideas.  I have just decided that for my models, this time, it's not for me.  You will probably find it used in a later model anyway.

A Year of Contradictions.

This is an odd first post of the year, because I wrote it right back at the beginning of January, and never published it.   Having done that, I come back to it, and let's see how I am doing against some targets I set myself a month ago.

So, this is my first post of 2017, and it is a little bit different as it is going to be based on what I have done, and plan to do, and will not do.  I am not going to have a set of gaming resolutions, but rather some targets, some of which I know I will fail.  I will also hopefully try and talk about what has led to them.

1. Play More  This is the obvious one, but it needs saying.  I normally only get to game once a week.  When that happens, I go to the FLGS, and I hopefully play Malifaux.  But I also gossip, chill, demo Malifaux, and generally hang out.  I think that if I were a bit more organised, my one evening a week could probably support at least 2 games, rather than the one I tend to get now.
    Well, this one at least I have been getting better at.  I have played more Malifaux, more consistently, since the beginning of the year than any time previously.  I've been getting games to start earlier, I've started using Vassal to play games, and there has been a definite focus on getting number of games in.  I have also signed up for my first (ever) Malifaux tournament as a player.  The number of games is definitely increased and I am enjoying it.

2. Focus Less.  This also applies.  I have, at last count, at least 10 gaming systems that I am familiar with and have a variety of forces for.  In the last year, I have played 1, count them, 1 of those with any sort of regularity.  Some of that is because I am a bit of a Malifaux nut, but I think that with work, I could get to play lots of other systems as well as Malifaux.  Especially if I stick to point 1 above.
    I've done less well a this.  I have my first ever tournament coming up, and so i have been working on getting as much Malifaux played as possible so that I don't embarrass myself.  This does have the downside of meaning that I am not even trying to play other systems at the moment.  But I do have cases put together with all of the appropriate models for other games so that I can just grab a case to play Warmachine or X-Wing.  And Vassal makes this much easier in theory as well.  We shall see how this one goes.

3. Focus More.  I have a variety of forces for lots of games.  Particularly Malifaux.  This has led to me playing lots of games with lots of forces, and not really having a grip on any of them.  That needs to change.  I need to play with a force until I am familiar with it and then change, rather than jumping about.
    Nailed this one.  I've played nothing but the dreamer since the start of the year.  I've got a much better (read any) grasp of how he plays, which models work with him, and how to use him to smash opponents.  All I need to do now is work out how to add completing schemes and strategies, and winning games to that list, and I will be sorted.

The results of Focusing on Painting Malifaux

4. Paint Wiser.  I don't play with unpainted models.  I just don't.  Good luck to you if you do, but I can't bring myself to do it.  I also tend to paint whatever takes the mood.  The combination is bad for my gaming.  I intend to let my gaming inspire, at least a little, my painting so that I paint the things that will increase my chances of actually winning games occasionally.
    This one is working out OK.  Current painting projects have been focused on getting the Dreamer crew ready for the tournament.  Models all neatened up, bases finished, and a new Teddy, and work on the Avatar Dreamer for use as an Emissary.  Add to that the Effigies all in the paint crew, and the Bunraku so I can expand out to Collodi (he and Dreamer share a lot of models), and I think that I have definitely achieved the paint wiser.

Painted because a second Teddy is Scary

5. Paint for Love.  I need to make sure that I am painting models that I love.  That move me, even if they aren't part of some grand gaming plan.  I lost the love for painting, and for Malifaux a little when I painted nothing but models for the Malifaux Project.  A complete break in style helped to fix that when I painted some Bolt Action stuff.  I need to remember that.
    Less good.  Finished a chunk of the Konflikt '47 Stuff for the love of it.  And I have a couple of models lined up to be painted just because, including a Halfling Mage from a local company I plan to review on the blog shortly.

A distraction, or a nearly complete starter force for a new game?

6. Complete my Projects.  I have lots of part finished projects.  While I need to switch things up to keep things interesting, I need to actually try and finish some of the projects.
    This seems to be getting better.  I have started a To-Do list which should help me focus on this.  So far, I have finished a terrain project I started last year, and the Dreamer painting is coming near to an end. So I am getting better so far, but the year is young.

Finally finished and put on a table

But I'm obviously not THAT good at finishing projects.

So, let's see how successful I am in keeping to these.  Please, people who know me, feel free to call me on the ones I am failing at and to suggest any more.

Seems like so far I am making reasonable progress.  Let's see how I keep it going.