Friday, January 10, 2014

Working: Texas Rangers, Tennessee Volunteers, and a Colonial Frame House




     Currently on the table are my mounted rangers, some additional Texian Infantry and a frame house I knocked together.  The mounted rangers, at least, have been on the table for a while.  Part of my problem was I didn't have enough horses in full gallop.  Finally found a few more and added the fur saddle blanket, portmanteaus and bedrolls with putty.  Also, in keeping with the 1830's theme, I wanted to mix it up with the head gear, cutting off coon skin caps and round hats.  I replaced those with the wheel caps below.  I will paint these in civilian drab colors, however, it is hypothesized that some may have been surplus blue U.S. Army M28 caps on deserters. 


 
 
 
 
 
 
The frame house is made of birch coffee stirrers glued to foam board.  The stone foundation is foam insulation board.  Still needs further painting and the mat board shingle roof.  This will be the main house for a farm that also includes a barn and smokehouse (already complete).

 
 

Thursday, January 9, 2014

X-Wing: The HWK-90, or, Why Boba Fett should not own a police scanner.



My son received the HWK-90 blister pack for the Fantasy Flight X-Wing game this past Christmas.  So, of course, we broke out the TIE fighters to test it out.  The scenario involved two smugglers (the Millennium Falcon and its consort, the HWK-90) that trip sensors, thereby alerting a nearby Imperial garrison. 



Two sections of TIE fighters scrambled to intercept the smugglers, which quickly escalated into a dogfight.  The HWK-90 as a fighter is a poor ship.  It is not fast, nor is it maneuverable nor powerful.

It redeeming quality is the fact that it is a combat multiplier for the ship to which it is attached.  My son was able to effect multiple rerolls with the Falcon.  Considering the Falcon's 360 degree firing act with turrets.  This made it a hard bird to take down, with two TIEs splitting off to harass the HWK-90.



Very quickly I lost one TIE to the falcon, but by turn 5 Boba Fett came on the scene in the SLAVE-I.  Having listened to the Imperial chatter on his Type-I, Mod-2 Corellian Police Scanner, Fett heard the description of the ships involved in the action and joined in...much to his disadvantage, however.



Tight maneuvering brought the SLAVE-1 in close to the Falcon and sadly, Fett collided with the larger ship, sustaining significant damage to his hull, now that his shields were gone. 



To add insult to injury, in turn 7, a lone Incom X-Wing came on the scene, piloted by Cdr Skywalker.   The section on the HWK-90 pulled off to engage the X-Wing...about the same time that the Slave-1 and a second TIE were left dead in the water.



By turn 8, I was down to one TIE, which bugged out. I have no idea what explanation he would have for his squadron commander upon his return to base.



So, in the end, the HWK-90 should under no circumstance be your go to ship if you need a fighter.  As a consort, however, it is a valuable addition to a squadron, able to augment the attacks and saves of its sister ships.