It's Sunday again

And that means it's gaming day.

I was late to gaming (again :) ), but this time it was due to popping into Ardmore airport on the way there. Battle of Britain commemorations were being held today and normally there is a flypast of the warbirds based at Ardmore. I had been hoping to photograph them taking off. This is the best I got...

... before they and the rest of the aircraft were returned to their hangars due to the crap weather.

On arrival at Mark's, Phil (USMC) and Mr Darling (British) were playing a game of Bolt Action. Darling was giving the USMC a good old thrashing. Great work for his first game :)

They were playing  maximum attrition and British firepower certainly made short work of the USMC forces. I snapped a couple of pics..

This was basically the turning point of the game.... the British artillery bombardment arrives at the same time as the USMC air strike mis-identifies its target and hits the USMC lines (Phil rolled a 1...). Look at all those pins... (the  unit hit by the air strike was also destroyed).

The game finished (with British victory) and none of us were that keen to roll out another game. I hadn't even realised that GuardCon was on this weekend. As it happened it was just down the road and a couple of mates had registered to play Saga. We decided to pop down there to have a look for the rest of the afternoon.

Now I had been wondering why I was struggling to take some good pics... just before leaving GuardCon I realised why... I had accidentally flicked the image stabiliser on the lens I was using to off! Whoops.... end result = not many good photos.

SAGA

I just admit that I am very curious about this game. The game play with the battle boards looks very interesting. I just haven't found a force yet that captures my interest to really draw me in, but who knows...

FOW

I really should seriously think about FlamesCon....

40K/WARHAMMER

The Titans on display looked cool. The rest of the armies... some interesting ones, but I just really do not miss these games at all.

But what did really stand out was this -

BOLT ACTION

It seems that these guys had been trying to get a tournament organised for GuardCon, but couldn't round up enough players. If only we had known! :) I wouldn't have had enough stuff painted anyway, but could be something for next year.

They had a very cool set-up. Unfortunately the pictures don't do it justice. 

Until next week. Thanks for popping in and having a look.

Something Different

Today is Father's Day here in NZ, so there was no gaming today.

Sooo... to make the most of the day (and since the weather forecast was looking okish)... Rob and I headed out to for a bit of a play around photography wise.

Neither of us had been out to North Head for a very long time. Now, North Head, for all my overseas friends (that includes you Southerners... :) ), is an old military site guarding the harbour to Auckland.

It was originally built in case of a Russian invasion in the late 1800's and it was then extended further during the world wars. Here is a PDF document showing the site in more detail. It's well worth a visit for some great views across Auckland, but you also get to look through some of the old bunkers and tunnels.

Rob's put a few photos from today up on his blog here. He remembered to change his camera back to autofocus when we were back in daylight around the main guns that are still in place...

It ended up being a fantastic day as the weather really turned it on (maybe Spring is actually here!). Bright, sunny and hot! I wish I had worn shorts... The great weather meant the views were fantastic.

The real reason we were here was to try out some photography in the tunnels/bunkers and play around with different lighting effects. The techniques used involved tripods, very long exposures (30s) and torches.... Rob also had some colour gels to play around with as well.

It all made for some great effects including light painting and ghosting. I was keen to try and create a few eerie looking photos, but my old mug just isn't that scary looking... :)

Finally, a lot of Tui were also out enjoying the sunshine... I enjoy photographing these guys as they have the most amazing colours.

I hope you enjoyed :) It was certainly good fun playing around taking all the photos today.

Until next time. Thanks for having a read.

Raw Strength

Today I finally took the plunge....

I'm going to give Crossfit a go.

It's been all the rage for awhile now and I have a few good friends already training hard in this box. It's been working well for them and they've developed a great community.

So... it's definitely time to change things up fitness wise and I'm looking forward to a new challenge. I can't wait to get started!

The intro course starts in a couple of weeks and runs for a month.... then I'll be into it! I expect there might be a few more Crossfit posts over the coming months.... :)

Dr Who

What more could you want.... a confused Scottish Dr.... Jenna Coleman... and a dinosaur rampaging through Victorian London :)

I enjoyed the season opener. It was a pretty good way to introduce the new Doctor and refresh the show.

I'll be keeping an eye out from now on for people with "attack eyebrows". Best scene in the show! :)

Still... I kept expecting an angry Malcom Tucker style tirade from the Dr... I learnt some new words from watching "The Thick Of It"! 

The new opening scene was very cool and I just read today that it was basically put together by a fan. Awesome work.

Anyway.. bring on the Daleks next weekend.... Exterminate! Exterminate! 

But.... not only is it great to have the Dr back on TV screens.... I was also amazed to see one of my favourite directors had directed the opening episode and next weekends episode. None other than Ben Wheatley...

Ben Wheatley of "Kill List" fame. If you love horror/thriller and can handle a bit of the old ultra-violence then this is a fantastic movie. I guarantee that your jaw will hit the ground in the final scenes and it will stay that way for a few days....

He's been involved in 4 movies so far, either as writer, producer and/or director.

Here's the others.... be warned... they are all very different, but good in their own right (I enjoyed them anyway).

A Field in England - a psychedelic thriller set during the English Civil War

Sightseers - black comedy. very black and dry

Down Terrace - a family of criminals. Michael Smiley as the assassin is great, but the movie is a little slow.

Oh and  his segement ("U") in The ABC's of Death was also awesome (one of the better segments).

Watch Kill List though! It is awesome.