Christmas Loot & Workbench Update

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!..  Gamers with Christmas loot aren't any different from 1st graders at show and tell - we do love to talk about out toys!

For Christmas my son got me me some Armada Wave 2 stuff and my secret Santa really hit the mark with some great AWI miniatures from Fife and Drum!

Both presents are deeply appreciated.

I just finished a Portuguese Cacadore regiment and some Napoleonic naval (all in 28mm) which will hopefully soon be posted on the AHPC site. Up next on the work bench are some 28mm Perry Native Americans.  I'm about 3 hours into these guys and experimenting with different skin tones and war paint designs.

More Armada Fun - With a Space Mat!

 Yesterday's mail brought a very welcome surprise - a space gaming mat made by Steven M from WWPD.  Apparently seeing my son and I play Armada on our dining room table was too much for his aesthetic sensibilities.  In order to "stop the madness" Steve sent us one of the gaming mats he's made.  It was a very generous and deeply appreciated gesture.  The first game on the mat had Sean as the Rebels and me as the Empire.

 The end of turn three - it's setting up to be a bad turn four for the Star Destroyer!  The next few turns had the Star Destroyer blowing up and both the Rebels Assault Frigate and Neb B driving off the board.  The fighters effectively canceled each other out and it was down to a lightly damaged Gladiator vs a very speedy Rebel Corvette

We maneuvered a few turns and my gladiator was lining up for a perfect shot when this happened - off the board and hence out of the game!  Another win to Sean!

Armada is proving to be a real go-to game for us and our new mat makes it an even better experience - thanks Steve!

Armada and Mulberries

 Last weekend was so-so weather wise (no wind = no sailing) but Sean and I did get in a few games of Armada.  The one pictured featured our core set with each side reinforced by a Gladiator (Empire) and a Assault Frigate (Rebels).  I got to play the rebels and Sean was the evil empire.  We're still learning the rules so we didn't add of of the special ability cards to the ships.

 I managed to get both my Assault frigate and corvette behind the Star Destroyer which ended that threat - at the cost of the Neb B.  Sean then brought his Gladiator back into the fray but it wasn't enough - victory to the rebels.  We are both really getting into this game - the maneuver tool adds some real depth to the play style.

 The only other thing of note is that our mulberry trees were ready to be harvested.  We got a bucket and a half of berries after a few hours work.  It was worth the effort, as they've been turned into a few pies and a 2.5 gallons on mulberry chocolate chip ice cream by my lovely wife.

 How does one harvest mulberries?  Lay out a big tarp under the tree, throw a weighted line up to grab a branch and shake.  The berries pop off when they're ripe.

It's a pretty messy affair as mulberries stain everything purple.  Of course you only discover this the hard way - the first year we harvested I forgot to take my shoes off and left a trail of purple foot prints on a carpet.  The carpets been replaced but my wife never seems to tire of reminding me of the incident....

Star Wars Armada and Yet More Wild Life

 My son and I have been playing a lot of Star Wars Armada and I must say it's a fantastic game.  Easy to pick up but with a lot of nuance.  The picture shows one of my Imperial Star Destroyers just seconds before being blasted into dust by the Nebulon B Frigate on her tail.  The Neb had no shields of my Tie's would have gotten her if Sean rolled badly - what a great game.

To put it mildly we are hooked!

 As I was driving down the drive the other day I was greeted by someone taking a nap under our Crepe Myrtle tree - you can see her head poking out of the grass.

 Our visitor was a bit miffed ay being awakened and trundled off into the woods.  If only it was Deer season.....

 We were also visited by a terrapin on he way to lay some eggs.

 Some of my wife summer flowers have started to bloom - summer is a very nice time here on the Eastern Shore of Maryland - especially with Star Wars Armada out!