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Wednesday, June 9, 2021

Come to the Dark Side

It has been a long time since any progress was shown on the Star Wars Legion front. Today I finished off the last of the Imperial Storm Troopers from the Star Wars Legion Starter Set.  Seventeen Imperial troopers completed in all.
The Rebel AT-RT (see here) completed late last year has been joined by a handful of Rebel Troopers.  The Rebel Trooper contingent will receive a pass-in-review once I complete the remaining Rebels present in the starter set.
Why the sudden resurgence in this fledgling, little project?  Well, we spent this past Saturday with our eight year-old grandson treating him to a day of hiking, shopping, and dining to celebrate his recent birthday.  One of the stops was a game store.  The store was lined ceiling to floor with Warhammer, Flames of War, and Star Wars figures.  Spotting the Star Wars figures, he made a beeline to that section and quickly picked out a couple of sets.  The new sets chosen were Clone Troopers with a separate leader.     

Today’s requested after-school activity was the assembly of the figures picked up over the weekend.  We occupied ourselves for several hours building the eight figures in the two packs.  Next week, we plan to lay down the primer on the figures before turning to painting them.  With him having never used a spray can before, it will be interesting to see how this exercise pans out.  He has mastered figure assembly.  We will see how spray painting works for us.  Soon, we will be be considering a small game.

I have finally committed to taking my first step in hosting a remote wargame.  I will be on deck for next Tuesday's session in which I hope(!) to muddle through hosting my first remote game.  On the docket is an ECW battle.  While I initially fielded about 20 units per side for the planned game, reason surfaced and I cut back each army by five units.  Each of the combatants will field a more manageable 15 units.

Below is a view of the game table, before force reductions, showing the big screen display at the end of the 12 foot table viewed during a solo testing session.
That is it for now.  Next time, a battle report but which one?

42 comments:

  1. Love the colour scheme of the speeder bikes

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  2. good looking troopers Jon, your tech set up looks very professional as we would expect. Hope the game runs well, makes my simplistic single iPad look rather old school !

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    1. Thank you, Matt!

      I hope I can make it through the game unscathed or at least not too badly bruised. Your remote setup has been an inspiration to me. Your use of multiple cameras and viewpoints is superb. Nothing Old School about your gaming environment.

      You will likely be my next Test Case for this operation. Stay tuned.

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  3. These look great Jonathan.
    Hope you and the grandson can have some memorable battles.

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    1. Thanks a lot, Paul! If I can get him interested in using these figures for some simple battles, it will help his learning development a lot.

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  4. Very nice looking Star Wars figures Jon - although I have only seen one or two of the films, I have always liked the stormtrooper uniform! Good luck hosting the virtual game - what rules will you be using FKAP?

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    1. Thanks, Keith! I am in the same position as you having only seen a couple of the films. Surprising that this franchise has been going strong since I queued up in front of the local theater to watch the debut back in '77.

      Rules in play will be some of my own work. I may need some luck!

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  5. Looking good (and bad of course) Jonathan.

    All the best. Aly

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    1. Much appreciated, Aly! The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.

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  6. Great looking star wars figures and good news about your grandson, even if he's only involved for a bit! Your remote set up looks very posh!
    Best Iain

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    1. Thank you, Iain! Grandson really enjoys sticking the figures and all of our fingers together with super glue. He looks forward to a try with the spray can. Wish us all good luck on that front.

      I put the big screen up on the table so that I can see what is going on and monitor the players and what they can see. Taking commands from audio may require a trial or two before I become comfortable with this format.

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  7. Looking good, a fine looking set up. Grand to see the grandson involved. Stormtroopers look very handsome, I would have to play those has I never hit anything either🙂

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  8. Your Star War figures have come up a treat, and good luck with your remote wargame hosting.

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  9. Great work Jonathan! Love to see SW minis on your blog :)

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  10. Sounds like your grandson has a good attention span. Must be a nice experience for both of you.

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    1. His attention span is not great but we are managing to keep him engaged. He is really excited about Star Wars and tells me the background about each of the different troops types as we put the figures together. This is a fun experience and enjoyable for both of us.

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  11. Great painting on the figures and good luck with the game:)

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    1. Thank you, Steve! I hope fortune shines down on me on Game Day...

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  12. As always …. Excellent whites! Your Grandson is halfway to wanting / needing his own blog :-).

    The experiment in the remote game and associated practicalities is interesting. I visited my local chemist today and picked up some free lateral Covid test kits (don’t know whether this is just a UK thing), so that Mike and myself can test before we meet, making f2f hook-up that bit easier.

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    1. Norm, you are very kind!

      I cannot imagine picking up a COVID test kit and administering it before playing a game. If that was the situation here, I would be a virtual gamer forever more.

      I have a F2F game scheduled for Saturday at my buddy's in a neighboring town. There will likely be four in attendance and at least half of us are fully vaccinated.

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  13. Very cool SW figures and impressive gaming table, Jonathan. My youngest son was really into SW figures when he was about your grandson's age (and younger) - he still has them with him while in the Army, but I kept his big AT-AT model here to be sure it wasn't broken or lost.

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    1. Thanks you, Dean! Your son took his Star Wars collection with him into the army? That must be an interesting story.

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  14. Ach Jon…. Posting up Star Wars stuff makes me want to buy some . Shame on you. :)

    Paint jobs are smashing (tho might I offer that the stormtrooper sergeants right pauldrons should be orange or black?)!

    Great work getting your grandson on board with the hobby. Hope he enjoys painting as much as the assembly!

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    1. Thanks, Dai! I do not know much about proper uniform colors for these troops so took a guess based upon the box art. Next time, orange/black right pauldron! I suppose, I could go back and repaint them.

      As for painting, I will be doing most of that. His manual dexterity is not that refined. With luck, he can handle the spray can for primer and white base.

      Sorry to tempt you into more figures...

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    2. Funny thing was my wife was looking over my shoulder as I was drooling over your minis and even said “why don’t you get some?”!!! I would’ve too if I hadn’t ordered a new tank for my ww2 project just yesterday! Lol

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    3. Don’t let this opportunity pass. Act now!

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  15. Great figures, do the rules have built in problems for the short sighted troopers I wonder.

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    1. I have yet to look at the "official" rules. I will keep my short-sighted eye out for them...

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  16. Lovely work and an unexpected change of pace. I still remember with great fondness the trips to the shops with my grandparents on both sides and being able to buy a box of Airfix soldiers of my choosing. I still remember the price, at 18 pence a box. Great memories.

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    1. Those are terrific memories, indeed, Lawrence. Hopefully, my grandson will carry similar memories. I am surprised you still remember the price. Do you still have the original boxes laying around with the price sticker stamped on?

      This was a fun little diversion.

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    2. I do still have them all in their original boxes packed away downstairs, but I remember the price because I used to get 20 pence pocket money which was enough to buy a box with 2 pence left over for some sweets. I can vaguely remember being an outraged eight-year-old when the price when up to nineteen pence.

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  17. Can’t believe you got through the post without one Star Wars quote. Thats a nice time with your grandson. Does your son do miniatures or is the passion skipping a generation?
    Good luck with the virtual set up. Experience will create improvements.

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    1. Well, the title had a reference!

      Neither son is much interested in miniatures gaming. Son #1 would occasionally play when he was a teenager mainly to try to beat my gaming buddies. Does it skip a generation? Only time will tell on that front.

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  18. I do not dare dip so much as a toe into Star Wars minis.Hard to believe that next May it'll be 50 years since I first saw it!

    I wish you joy of your first hosting!

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    1. Hi Ross. I would not have dipped my toe into this genre without my grandson's interest. Fifty years? I saw the first movie in 1977. What did you see '73?

      I appreciate your encouragement in my first remote hosting gig. Maybe if it works out, I can host you for a game some day? I don't have any 54s though.

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  19. Come to the Darkside we have cookies -V

    I saw this on a T-shirt once and thought it was a great reason to support old Darth.

    And getting your grandson into the hobby through Sci-Fi and popular culture is a great avenue. And besides we all know the inner roll from Christmas paper will always be a lightsaber.

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    1. Excellent observations! Even before Star Wars, the wrapping paper tube was a saber; just not a light saber.

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