Tough Mudder!

Well... this is getting close now. Very close and I'm getting nervous! That is until I realised that it is on the day after ANZAC day. What I go through on Saturday will be nothing compared to what our boys went through at Gallipoli in 1915.

What am I talking about? Tough Mudder is on this weekend.....

Honestly.... I'm actually getting pretty amped. It will tough. It will be long. It will be wet and muddy.

It will be awesome!

There is a team of 11 us from the gym I go to heading out to do it. A good bunch of people. 

I'm quietly comfortable with where my fitness is at. Running long distance is hard, but I'm picking there will be some good breaks at each obstacle. Here's hoping!

Strength wise.... I got out a set of bench press at 90kg and a rep at 100kg on Monday. Cranked out some good sets of pull-ups on Tuesday with a 5kg weight attached (perhaps my strength goals were a little soft this year.... :) )

For interest, here is out course map and list of obstacles. Look them up and have a good laugh.... along the lines of "he's doing what!? that's crazy man!" :)

Oh and Rob has decided he wants to photograph the event. So, keep an eye out for some photos on his blog.

Easter Gaming

Another weekend has arrived and this time it's a nice long weekend. Thanks Easter :) The longer break has been needed.

I was a little late to gaming yesterday. It was a slow morning after a late night out on Saturday night with a couple of mates from the gym. Turned into a very random night. I'll never be able to look at pineapple lumps in the same way again... (sorry you had to be there...)

We'd decided on some more Kings of War gaming, but Lee and Paul had also arrived and were playing a game of Saga. Certainly looked interesting. Both Paul and Lee have done a nice job painting the models. If I recall correctly, I think it was Welsh vs. Anglo-Danes.

Here's a few pics:

For my first game, I would be playing Phil in Kings of War. I used a Twilight Kin force whilst Phil ran Basilean(?) force. At a 1000pts, both forces were pretty small. Some regenerating Angels seemed like they would be trouble, but a quick couple of Zzaps sorted that out. It looked a little worrying early on as I lost a few units, but I soon started to knock off the Basileans. In the end it was a pretty convincing win for the Twilight Kin.

Rob and Mark then had a game (Twilight Kin vs. Goblins).... not sure who won that one. Then Paul was keen to try out a game, so he and I played using the same forces as Rob & Mark. Our game came down to the wire, but the Giant stomped around the battlefield finishing off my units. Only the Giant and the 2 Goblin hero's remained on the table.

Both Mark and Rob supplied the Twilight Kin and Goblins for the games.

I took a few pics of the 3 games:

  

So, all good fun as always. 

Unlike Rob... I have caved and bought a few minis. As soon as Warlord Games announced a competition to win their Pegasus Bridge set.... I couldn't resist, so I ordered some Bolt Action mini's :) Oh well.... more toys.

Now its time to focus on next weekend and Tough Mudder. Getting a little nervous now....

4Ground Property Investments

After being tenderised by my massage therapist this afternoon, I thought the best thing to do would be to have a quiet afternoon doing a short review of some 4Ground Buildings (http://4ground.co.uk/).

After seeing some pictures, I just knew I had to get some of their Victorian range to go with my existing Sarissa Precision buildings. I've now got a pretty awesome set of buildings for Empire of the Dead (must try out a game soon!).

I decided to go for the 4Ground police station and a set of terraced buildings (including one from their WW2 range to mix things up). I also got a few of their furniture items to check them out, but forgot to photograph them! Whoops... will make sure I include some photos of the furniture when we use the buildings in a game.

It took me about 3 weeks to assemble the 5 buildings!! They're very involved, but definitely worth the effort. Luckily the instructions are easy to follow. I was very impressed to find the police station kit also included a big bag of rubber bands and wooden pegs. A very nice (and useful) touch.

Only downside is that some of the internal walls have a very tight fit. It was difficult to get a couple of them to line-up. A couple of the doors also have gap. The finish of the buildings also looks awesome, but one layer of each bricked terrace looks a little different (I assume painted separately). Not that I mind, just helps mix them up and give them a bit of character. There are also some nice touches inside the buildings too....

Here's a few photos next to some EotD & Malifaux models:

The police station:

The terraced houses:

I'm pretty happy with my purchase. Well priced, free shipping (which didn't take long) and no painting required! They've got some awesome looking new sets coming out as well, so a company to watch. I can see that I may be spending more money there in the future!

"You will taste man-flesh"

Cried Saruman as he unleashed his hordes of Urak-hai against the forces of Rohan and Gondor.

The war cry of the mighty Mumakil (courtesy of Lee....) put fear into our foes as the forces of Evil were unleashed against those of the Good in a mighty mega Lord of the Rings battle today.

"Leave none alive. Too war!"

As it was Mark's birthday during the week, we decided the best way to celebrate was to play a large scale game. The game of choice would be Lord of the Rings. There was also beer, V (the best energy drink) and loads of bad food (as in bad for you)... a perfect gaming mix.

Pretty much all the models and terrain were supplied by Mark, so he got the job of figuring out the lists. I have no idea of the detail, but it went something like this...

Good

Riders of Rohan with Theoden, Eomer and Eowyn

Men of Gondor (swordmen, spearmen, archers and some with banners)

Men of Gondor (mounted) with Faramir

Rangers

Some other dudes

A few Captains here and there

Evil

Heaps of Urak-hai (mix of swords(?) and pikes)

A massive horde of Urak-hai Beserkers (with a banner and a shaman)

2 Armoured Trolls

2 Mumakil

Some Easterlings

Saruman

Grimer

Some Captains

I was fighting on the side of Evil with Mark, Rob and Lee. The forces of good were commanded by Phil, Paul and James. 

And best of all, everything was pretty much set-up by the time I arrived :)

I would command a portion of the Urak-hai, some berserkers, a troll and Saruman.

The set-up and some of the forces:

Forces of Evil deploy on the left, while the Good are on the right

As it was such a large game, it is difficult to do a decent AAR. Basically, the Mumakils had fun trampling the Riders of Rohan, but archers from Gondor (with some of the Rangers) killed all the Easterlings on one of the Mumakil so it would stampede most turns. On our flank, the Urak-hai just headed straight for the forces of Gondor whom Gandalf ordered to stand firm. Faramir foolishly charged a large group of berserkers and a troll.... he and his men didn't last long. Soon a mighty battle for the bridge commenced.... would the numbers of Urak-hai make the difference or would Gandalf....??

Here's a few pics of the game....

Mark clearly focused

The weary forces of Evil...

You want to do what!?

Theoden, Eomer and Eowyn survive most of the battle, but even they cannot take down a Mumakil.... the end draws near as the Mumakil squishes them.

Only a few of the forces of Good still stand....

A dark shadow crosses the battlefield as Saruman approaches Gandalf. Urging his Urak-hai forward.... their numbers swarm around Gandalf where the berserkers show no fear and bring him down.

Soon, only a small force of Rangers and Men of Gondor remain holding a hill. But not for long.... the Urak-hai approach. They will feast well tonight.

So the end result.... the forces of Evil are triumphant!

A good day and good fun. Thanks to Mark for providing all the awesome models! Mumakils are awesome! Having one with no riders was interesting as it rampaged around the battlefield (not that it did a lot). Oh and Urak-hai are mighty tough. The Men of Gondor certainly stood firm, but just couldn't really put a dent into the hordes.

I'm currently crashing after all the sugar, so will leave things there for today.