Chatter Of The Squirrel

The Black Spot #5

Who is a Press Ganger?
This is Norman, your local Press Ganger.

I’m the guy judging tournaments, and being roped in by gamestores to do demos for WARMACHINE and HORDES. [These games kick so much ass, they have to spelt in all CAPS].

“But what is the Black Spot, Captain?” - Jim from Treasure Island
I’m starting up this newsletter as a means to get word out to the small crew of Privateer Press fans out there. I’ll use the newsletter to keep everyone updated on the local WARMACHINE and HORDES scene. Especially notices for demos or tournaments happening locally. When new stuff comes in. What kind of new stuff to expect.

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Tournament Reports
On the night before the postponed HORDES event, the bulk of the players messaged me that they’ve gotten sick. Seems that there’s a bad bug going around Settler’s Cafe… I myself was crippled by two different germs in a row.

So, that tourney is so DONE! It’s not meant to happen. And we’ll just let everyone throw in at the Guts & Gears events at Cineleisure. Hope that one will be blessed with greater success. More details below.

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Upcoming Tournaments
15-17/12/06 Cineleisure
Sci-fi & Fantasy Con in honour of the launch of Eragon.

Wolf’s Game Shop was invited and promised a lot of tables. Wolf is planning to throw in a lot of effort and resources for this one, but we’ll need everyone’s help to make it a successful con too.

There’ll be a fair bit of Warhammer Fantasy and Flames of War happening. Confrontation and Privateer Press will have tournaments.

We’ll have a large space to fill, so we’ll do one big event to pull in EVERYBODY.

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16/12/06 (Saturday) Cineleisure 1pm
350pts HORDES + WARMACHINE RUMBLE

This is the Guts & Gears event. Beasts will fight Jacks and vice versa.

We want everybody to come and participate. I’ve made the point cost low, so that new players will join in, so please do not disappoint me. These tournaments are not about who wins. It’s about who PLAYS!

Wolf wants to make this a pre-registration event. We need to count heads. We need to know how many tables to prepare. We need to plan how much terrain to make ready. So, if at all possible, please register for the event at WGS before the 10th Dec. Very short notice, yes… and chances are that some of you won’t even read this email by then… But well, them’s the breaks I guess.

Either register or RSVP me at my email (ratatosk@pressganger.com).
Or you could turn up on the day itself unannounced, just because we’re Malaysians, and we’ll fit you in anyhow… But it will seriously help everybody out if you can pre-register or tell me if you’re coming or not.

Entry is a mere RM5. There’ll be Best of Faction certificates for both WARMACHINE and HORDES.
And hopefully we can get hold of some freebies from the organisers to give away too.

The Eragon event will probably start running way before noon. But the tournament will begin at 1pm.

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17/12/06 (Sunday) Cineleisure
750pt WARMACHINE

All those who are ready, and will be able to make it for a 750pt event on this day, please RSVP me. Then we’ll see if it’s worth running or not. At my current count, I’m probably looking at 2 tables only, which is fine enough for a game, but it won’t do justice to the event venue. We might be able to hook some S’porean players up to compete with us, but I can’t bet on their coming and build an event around that possibility.

Anyway, if enough people can RSVP, then we’ll just have a small event on the quieter Sunday.

And throughout all this, I’ll like to have some WARMACHINE and HORDES demos going too.
A show of hands who’ll like to help me out?

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The Crow’s Nest
To follow-up on the previous Figmentia Saga… Someone just threatened to nuke the writer. That’s on top of the bomb and arson threats already.

Anyways, one of us had written a letter to the editor, and we won’t know if it gets printed or not, but the letter was shared with me. Here’s a fascinating snippet from the impassioned writing.

“A casual observation of those involved in this hobby will reveal an astonishing fact, most of us are male, most of us are single and most of us are lacking looks and figures above average.”

*sigh*…

The truth stings, doesn’t it?

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Phat Lootz
Had a discussion with Wolf, and he’ll bring in P3 paints, if enough people place orders for them.

For those of you who are new to the hobby, and don’t already have a huge collection of GW paints, these P3 paints are great value and worth buying.

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Also, Wolf is having a 10% sale on ALL Cryx products until the end of the year.

Where are our Cryx players?

At present, there’s still some Harrowers, Leviathans, Satyx Raiders, Epic Skarre, Reapers, random blisters on the shelves.

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Wolf is also trying to encourage some HORDES action at his shop.

Play HORDES there, and earn 1 pt. The points can be used to redeem free HORDES merchandise later.

Remember that there’s a table rental charge at Wolf’s now. This applies to all games, even card games and boardgames. These table rentals pay for the electricity. But for HORDES players, the money you pay for table rental just goes into a piggy bank for you to redeem that free mini later.

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The Bilge
This issue has been a little late coming out cos I was busy playing Bookworm Adventures Deluxe .

And after I’d conquered that, I was reading http://goblinscomic.com.

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Epilogue
Please help get the Black Spot around. Let our community grow.

Back issues of The Black Spot will now be here, and here.

Lich Lord Terminus

Starting the most visually stunning of Privateer Press’ miniatures.

The idea is to turn it into :

But in a cheerier colour maybe… The effect on the sword is very nice, but I’m afraid I’m no where near the artistic level to replicate that…

Lich Lord Terminus, favoured lieutenant of the DragonFather Turok of the Nightmare Isles. Disfigured and empowered by centuries of immortal service.

Came across an interesting technique using air-brush and glazes to paint and highlight the wings quickly. Will see if it works…

The Black Spot #4

Who is a Press Ganger?
This is Norman, your local Press Ganger.

I’m the guy judging tournaments, and being roped in by gamestores to do demos for WARMACHINE and HORDES. [These games kick so much ass, they have to spelt in all CAPS].

“But what is the Black Spot, Captain?” - Jim from Treasure Island
I’m starting up this newsletter as a means to get word out to the small crew of Privateer Press fans out there. I’ll use the newsletter to keep everyone updated on the local WARMACHINE and HORDES scene. Especially notices for demos or tournaments happening locally. When new stuff comes in. What kind of new stuff to expect.

Tournament Reports
The last HORDES event had a 50% better showing than the first one.

Yeah, 3 people showed up. So we opted to postpone it to the coming Sunday instead.

Upcoming Tournaments
3/12/06 (Sunday) Wolf’s Game Shop
HORDES Box-set Rumble.

Come to WGS this Sunday, before 2pm.

We’ll have a HORDES boxset battle. Those of you who have bought your second or third Warlock already, feel free to sub them in. But those who have bought up Dire Troll Maulers, sorry, no dice!

We’re playing with the WarBeasts in the boxset only. No solos or infantries yet. I know some of you have furious beasties just raring to see battle, but let’s give the community some time to grow. Don’t bully those poor factions who haven’t got their Titan Cannoneers, or Seraphs, or Woldwardens yet.

Back to the tourney….
Entry fee is RM10.

You’ll win store credit, Best of Faction certificates. And the champ will also receive a voucher to redeem Gold bordered stat cards from Privateer Press.

x/12/06 (Saturday) Wolf’s Game Shop
750pt WARMACHINE Epic Battle

This event will be moved. I may want to get this to happen at the mini-con at Cineleisure.

Wolf is thinking of inviting the Singaporean players up again. It’ll be easier to tempt those guys to come with 750pt games. And we’ll need more players to make 750 more interesting anyway.

It’ll likely be Steamroller 2.1 format. And I’ll want to time the turns to 15min per turn. I’ll release the Steamroller rules on request soon.

Players I hope I can count on for this:
Saleem
Brian
Rahman
Khairul
Kuok? or will you be working?
And can somebody get hold of K.J. ?

15-17/12/06 Cineleisure
There’ll be a mini-con for the launch of Eragon.

Wolf’s Game Shop has already been invited and promised a lot of tables. There’ll be a mix of Privateer Press, Games Workshop, Rackham games there. And Dark Age? Even some WWF it seems. And a display case full of dragons.

We’ll have meeting soon to plan out event schedules.

One of the days for the 750 Epic Battle. Another day for a 350 Guts and Gears. And demos when I don’t have to play.

Help~~~~ too many models to get ready before I’m ready….

The Crow’s Nest
Arzmi, our unfaithful Cygnaran, will be leaving for New Zealand in less than a week. He’ll be available at Settler’s this Thursday, for everyone who wants to meet the dude one last time before he spends his next two years abroad… Possibly without his army transport case.

Also,

Our hobby received some media attention sometime last week. I’ll like to draw everyone’s attention to The Sun U! on 21st Nov 2006. Page 6. I’m reproducing the article here without permission. Well, they published our Eric’s Cygnar Hunter on the papers without permission either, so fair’s fair. The link will take you to a pic of the article as it appears in the papers.

Have done a bit of Googling. Lainie is a blogger, and you’ll find her blog linked below. She’s also a frequent contributor to kakiseni.com. So she is a fairly good writer. But unfortunately, when she was writing about our hobby, her research only scratched the most superficial aspects and completely missed out the underlying passion. So there was an unflattering slant.

Several people have suggested responding with arson. But let’s make sure that our responses are mature.

It’s not that big a deal that she called us geeks. Which we are. Listen to yourself talk sometimes. We have the taint. But it was still insensitive of her to write about Figmentia. That wasn’t her word, nor was it her definition. Don’t blame her for that. But it’s like, you can’t use the word “{insert racial slur}” unless you are {insert racial colour} yourself. If spoken by a person of the wrong colour, it’ll cause offense no matter the situation.

If you are calm and mature about this, do write to the editor of The Sun (can someone source me the email?) and let them know how you feel. Lainie also responds to her Blog, so you might be able to voice your objections there. But please watch what you write, and don’t make us out to be vicious little rabid hamsters with a burning match up its ass.

Scrutinizing Small Toys
A few months ago someone linked U! writer Lainie Yeoh to CoolMiniOrNot.com, a website where users vote on the overall quality of painted miniature models. Since then, she has been exploring this unchartered terrain of geekery.

{Full article not available on the blog.}

Phat Lootz
Some great news for hobbyists.
The P3 paints have finally launched last week.
You may have seen write-ups about these in the last few No Quarter mags, and there has been mostly good buzz going around on the forums and the PodThrall’s podcasts.

Wolf is not bringing these paints in yet. But I’m sure if we place a dozen orders with him, that will get him to change his mind.

The official retail price is US$18 for 6 pots. Each pot is 18ml, ie 50% more than GW paints (12ml). At the moment, the only source of GW paints is Games’ Circle, selling at RM15 per pot. GW prices have gone up, don’t ja know it. I think this is the best value for miniature paints.

In a few days, I plan to order in some of these paints from an online retailer. I’ll like to try them out. Particularly piqued by the Blighted Gold in the Cryx set. Maybe even let P.A.W.S. (Painters At Wolf’s Shop) try them out, and see if that convinces Wolf to bring in some of these paints.

The Bilge
For those who need a quick rundown of the models in WARMACHINE, without having to slog through the noise in the forums, you’ll need to read Battle College, http://www.battlecollege.com.

This goes for those who’ve just joined WARMACHINE, or have been out of it for a while. This may get you a little bit more up to speed. And even for those of us who never stopped playing, it’s still good to read. Our player scene isn’t diverse enough yet, there’s bound to be a few things we’ve not seen.

Epilogue
Please help get the Black Spot around. Let our community grow.

Back issues of The Black Spot will now be here.

The Black Spot #3

Who is a Press Ganger?
This is Norman, your local Press Ganger.

I’m the guy judging tournaments, and being roped in by gamestores to do demos for WARMACHINE and HORDES. [These games kick so much ass, they have to spelt in all CAPS].

“But what is the Black Spot, Captain?” - Jim from Treasure Island
I’m starting up this newsletter as a means to get word out to the small crew of Privateer Press fans out there. I’ll use the newsletter to keep everyone updated on the local WARMACHINE and HORDES scene. Especially notices for demos or tournaments happening locally. When new stuff comes in. What kind of new stuff to expect.

Upcoming Tournaments
25/11/06 (Saturday) Wolf’s Game Shop
HORDES Box-set Rumble.

Come to WGS this Saturday, before 12pm.

We’ll have a HORDES boxset battle. Those of you who have bought your second or third Warlock already, feel free to sub them in. But those who have bought up Dire Troll Maulers, sorry, no dice!

We’re playing with the WarBeasts in the boxset only. No solos or infantries yet. I know some of you have furious beasties just raring to see battle, but let’s give the community some time to grow. Don’t bully those poor factions who haven’t got their Titan Cannoneers, or Seraphs, or Woldwardens yet.

As early as next month, I’ll give those Maulers a chance to do battle.

Back to the tourney….
Entry fee is RM10.

You’ll win store credit, Best of Faction certificates. And the champ will also receive a voucher to redeem Gold bordered stat cards from Privateer Press.

Remember, it’s Saturday, 25th November. High noon!

2/12/06 (Saturday) Wolf’s Game Shop
750pt WARMACHINE Epic Battle

This will be a tournament for the more veteran players.

We refuse to let 2006 pass us by without establishing a new landmark. And we want to do this by upping WARMACHINE to the next level.

I’m counting on the veterans for this event. We’re hoping to get 6-8 people for this.

15-17/12/06 Cineleisure
There’ll be some kind of mini-con for the launch of Eragon.

Details are still coming in. But I’ll probably be running demos there.

And we may have a Guts & Gears event. A grand melee of both HORDES and WARMACHINE together. Details being ironed out.

Phat Lootz
I’m getting a big fat loot of Cygnar next year. Not counting my chickens yet, but all signs are good for the moment.

So for me, that’s like, a bunch of Cryx, a sample of Khador, some Legion, then maybe Trollbloods, and hopefully a buttload of Cygnar and Mercs next year… I think I’m biting off more than I can chew…

The Bilge
http://www.shamusyoung.com/twentysidedtale/?cat=14.
Hilarious LOTR comic.

And some lame joke contribution from Saleem.

What Is Politics?

A little boy goes to his dad and asks, “What’s politics?”

Dad says, ” Well son, let me try to explain it this way:

I’m the breadwinner of the family, so let’s call me Capitalism. Your Mom, she’s the administrator of the money, so we’ll call her the Government. We’re here to take care of your needs so we’ll call you the People. The nanny, we’ll consider her he Working Class. Now your baby brother, we’ll call him the Future. Now, think about that and see if that makes sense.”

So the little boy goes off to bed thinking about what Dad has said. Later that night, he hears his baby brother crying, so he gets up to check on him, he finds that the baby has severely soiled his diaper. So the little boy goes to is parent’s room and finds his mother fast asleep. Not wanting to wake her, he goes to the nanny’s room. Finding the door locked, he peeks in the keyhole and sees his father in bed with the nanny. He gives up and goes back to bed.

The next morning, the little boy says to to his father ” I think I understand Politics now.”

The father replies, “Good son, tell me in your own words what you think it is.”

The boy promptly answers, “Well, while Capitalism is screwing the Working Class, the Government is asleep, the People are being ignored, and the Future is in deep shit.”

Epilogue
Please help get the Black Spot around. Let our community grow.

–
Listen — strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government. Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical aquatic ceremony.

Powerpuff Girls

Here’s the Witch Coven of Garlgast. With a more interesting colour scheme than the official ones.

It’s received a few fair comments here.

They’re one of the more interesting Warcasters in the game. Mostly staying back and buff things up, make things ninja, mess with opponent plans and math, and when the opportunity finally presents itself, Checkmate!

A WM fanatic has written up basic strategies for most, if not all, WARMACHINE models at the Battle College.