Author: Chris S.

Posted on

Over-Overload

After spending the morning lamenting about not getting a Affleck Batman figure, I went ahead and ordered that Suicide Squad Starter Box that I originally passed on a week ago.  The difference is that this online edition comes with that Batfleck figure, the one at the store didn’t.  Yay!

Besides the figures shown, this set comes with scenery, specifically a couple of buildings, which I’ve found to be pretty pricey on their own.  There’s also other figures and tokens/markers/dice/etc. that would cost a lot more than this box, if purchased separately.

Quite a deal, even with all the other stuff that I’ve already picked up.

Posted on

Solitaire Wargaming Organization Revisited

I think I’m going to shift around that list I made, with the print-and-play games at the bottom of the list.

  1. Phantom Leader
  2. Warfighter
  3. Hornet Leader
  4. Gato Leader
  5. Corsair Leader
  6. Philippines Ablaze
  7. Carrier Strike Force

I’m gonna revisit Phantom Leader right away, since I screwed the pooch in the game play of that AAA Site mission.

Evade.  Must remember to have pilots evade.

Warfighter will be next, to break up the 2 aircraft games back-to-back, as I had originally listed.

And all this will be broken up with with table top sports and skirmish games.

Posted on

Overload II

I’m making up for not getting the Batman Miniatures Game sooner than I did, by picking up a lot of product for it.

Like this guy:

I’m nicknaming him ‘Dammit, Barry!’

Posted on

Overload

I received so many items for so many different games yesterday, and stupidly tried to go through all of them last night.

Big mistake.

I couldn’t focus on one thing or another, in addition to attempting to play the second mission of the Phantom Leader campaign that I started.  It was a total failure, all planes shot down, but only because I forgot to employ a couple of rules, like pilot EVADE.  Whoops.

I guess I’ll rerun the mission sometime soon.

I sorted the cards and punched the counters for Warfighter.  I skimmed the rules.

I attempted to figure out how to run a fight in the Batman Miniatures Game.  I also found a box to store all the miscellaneous markers and templates for the game.

I opened up the Starfire Gorm-Khanate War expansion.  I almost punched the counters.

I assembled and primed the miniatures that I got from Crossover Miniatures, including the one I’m using for The Koala in Mutants and Masterminds.

Meanwhile, I was watching the Warriors/Thunder game, Supergirl and 24: Legacy.  Good to see Oded Fehr back on TV.

There’s simply not enough time in a day to do everything that I’d like to do.

As a side note, this morning I ordered a few counter trays for all the wargames that I’ve picked up in the last couple of weeks.  Odd that you’d have to pay extra for counter trays, they used to come with the games, back in the day.

And Knight Models got back to me regarding the Superman miniature defect, they’ll be sending me a replacement part in a couple of weeks, so I’ll just put off assembly until then.  Yay!

All this with baseball approaching.

See why I can’t podcast?

Posted on

Phantom Leader Playthrough

Keep in mind that I’m still learning how to play.  I’ve run two missions in the USAF 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis campaign.

MISSION  1
Target: Ammunition Depot
Pilots: Echo (Skilled), Splashdog (Average), Smokes (Green)
Aircraft: F-4 Phantom x3
Result: Target Destroyed; no aircraft lost

MISSION 2
Target: AAA Sites
Pilots: Boomer (Skilled), Papa (Average), Cajun (Green)
Aircraft: F-4 Phantom x3
Result: Target Undamaged; all aircraft lost, pilots Papa and Cajun MIA

So I went from total success to total failure, in the span of two missions.

I’m abandoning the campaign, writing it off as a training exercise.

Posted on

Trinity

Down the rabbit hole I go…

So I caved and picked up a few more minis for the Batman Miniatures Game.

Kal-El
Princess Diana
The Dynamic Duo

I foolishly didn’t realize that there were no stat cards for Superman or Wonder Woman, just a card with a picture of the miniature in the package.

Superman came with a defective left arm, so I emailed the company to see if they’ll send a replacement for it.

I probably won’t assemble either of those two until later, when/if I pick up the DC Universe Miniatures Game.

As for Batman and Robin, the guy at the counter at Game Kastle did mention that it was a good pack to get, because of the synergy between the two characters.  I didn’t realize that he actually meant that in game terms, with each character receiving certain bonuses while in the game, and each receiving a negative stat modifier if the other is eliminated from the game.  Clever!

I also got another Batman because the Adam West figure isn’t as awesome in the game as other Batmen.

Each character has a ‘reputation’ rating, which is used to assemble your ‘crew’ or ‘team’ for a given game, and represents the effectiveness of the character in question.  Most crew have a 150 reputation rating, give or take a few of points.

Adam West has a reputation of 75.  Though he does have Shark Repellent Bat-Spray listed under his equipment.

Riddler alone has a rating of 80.  His crew, together, is 148.

In that Dynamic Duo pack, Batman (modern) is 100, Robin is 65.

Alfred Pennyworth is 30.

I found a couple of eBay sellers that carry marker tokens, templates and some terrain for the game, so those should arrive soon.

Now, to find a time and place to play this game!

Posted on

Review: Kong: Skull Island

Best non-Star Wars movie I’ve seen in a few years.  Though except for Rogue One, it’s probably the best movie I’ve seen in quite a while, which surprised me.

As I said elsewhere, I was in tears during the fight scenes.  They were beautiful to watch.

If anything, this movie reminded me why I love giant monster movies, and in this case, Kong.

I remember seeing the original 1933 movie when I was little, and while it was scary, I was more scared when the biplanes attacked Kong.

In King Kong vs. Godzilla, I recall how upset I was at Kong when he beat Godzilla, but later realized that Godzilla was the villain in that movie.

I remember my aunt bringing us to see the 1976 film at the old Serramonte 6 theatre (now a BevMo) and how annoyed I was that Kong wasn’t as big as he was in the movie posters.

And then the poster idea was copied…

Heh.  But I digress.

Then came the Peter Jackson film, which was actually 2 films in one: Kong on Skull Island and Kong in New York.  I don’t think I’ve ever watched it more than once, not because I didn’t like it, but because it’s such a long movie.

Except for the last one, I think I’ve seen the others many times.

Oh, and then there’s this one…

I may have seen this one… once?

Anyways, Kong: Skull Island is a good movie, with a fantastic cast.  I thought I’d be annoyed with John C. Reilly, but I wasn’t, and even Samuel L. Jackson didn’t phone in his performance.

Corey Hawkins is much better in this than he is in 24: Legacy.

Also, it’s very weird to see Nick Fury, Loki, and Captain Marvel all on screen together in a non-Marvel film.

I look forward to what comes next from Legendary and their kaiju/monster movies.