Pre-Vasion: The Lists

Team OB:Screamer after running away with the
team title at Autumn Invasion 2015

It's here, oh god it's here- I think I'm hyperventilating, quick someone hand me a brown paper bag. Okay, it's okay, it's only a tournament, you've done these before. But it's huge! Invasion is the king of all Dropzone tourneys! Just calm yourself Dan, and you'll be fine... Probably...

It's Invasion time everyone! Tomorrow the whole OB crew (all six of us) will be swooping in on Croydon, to participate in Hawk's flagship tournament and indulge in their open day which runs parallel to the main event. Normally we would record a podcast to run through our lists for your eager sound canals, but due to life and a lack of time (it's too soon! Let's not get into that though...) you're just going to have to make do with this post.

This is not just an ordinary post though, oh no. I have managed to snaffle the army lists and squeeze a paragraph or two's worth of words from most of my partners in crime; an incredible feat really, considering that Joe and Ed seem almost allergic to words.

I will be doing my best to live tweet the event on our tweeter @OBDZC, but don't expect as thorough coverage as last year, as I believe Tech Boy will be scrap-booking the weekend! We have a scrapbook of our trip to Warfare on our YouTube channel, so be sure to check that out for an example of what to expect. If you see us, or more likely if you hear us, come over and say hi!

OB: The Game Zone

Ladies and Gentlemen, Cyborgs, Hosts, and Hedgehogs, do we have a spectacle for you tonight! (Do we?) Yes, we absolutely do! Grab your popcorn and take a seat, while we present to you our very first game show; The Game Zone!

In a crazy change to our normal podcast, we have brought in two special guests to face off against the motley crew of Mike, Ed and Joe in a no-holds bar, Dropzone themed show! Who are these mystery contestants? Why, none other than James and Simon of Hawk Wargames! My scouts tell reports that Dave wasn't available because he was terrified of playing against the Testosterone Trio.

Lone Drone's gonna get ya! Star-sprites forever

Sunday, bloody Sunday........

First tournament of the year has been done. I awoke on Sunday morning with a mouth tasting like a badgers arse and a splitting headache. A concoction of Tiger beer, warm Sake and rum based cocktails were just fond memories.
I dragged my sluggish behind out of bed knowing I needed more of that sweet embrace known as "duvet" and to my horror, discovered snow......everywhere.

Joe met me at mine (including a bit of Tokyo drifting) and we set off to round up the OB team from the frozen wastelands that are Chessington and Ewell. TechBoy (Ed) and Epitude Rusk (Alex) aboard we headed off down the motorway to darkest Crawley for Tilgate Tactical.

Tolworth First Founding - Home Of Team OB

The OB Bunker - St Pauls Hall, Chessington (courtesy of Google Maps)

There is a dark, sordid, and slightly damp place in Chessington, where only the brave or foolish venture. Buried into the broken ground next to the Great Park of Hooks, and just up the road from the Circle of Aces, the bunker of Team OB ominously bulges. This lair is filled with the rotting bodies of the fallen, echoes sharply with the laughter of the mad and confuses all with the multitude of arse-less chaps and a particularly greasy sex swing (stamped 'Property of The Gimp').

Melo-Horror ehy, got to love it. Is that even a thing? If not, coined it, ya'll who make melo-horror films and novels in the future owe me bucks! Anyway, I refer of course not to some kind of weird house of debauchery, no, I speak of Team OB's home club; Tolworth First Founding! We have mentioned our games hut every so often, but thought it time to spread the good word of our home stadium! The shrewder of you may have noticed that it is based in Chessington, but named Tolworth. Like the St Louis Rams, we've been forced to relocate to a better space for our needs (as a Wimbledon fan franchising upsets me deeply, but luckily we're only 10 mins from our old hall) but it would have been a ball-ache to change our name. Also the FA won't allow that silly shit to happen anymore either way. Wait, we're not a football club. Get back on track Dan.

The short version of this post, in a nut shell if you like, is:

Come to South-West London and play some games with us!

First tournament of the year....

Wow you lucky devils - 2 posts in 2 days! 

The lovely people who frequent the Sussex UK Dropzone Commander group decided to have a bit of Invasion practice in the form of a one-day tournament. Obviously it would be rude not to go.....right?

Tilgate Tactical Dropzone Commander Tournament - 17/01/2016

I haven't actually played a game of DzC this year (yes, I know it's only a couple of weeks old) and I've had only one game since Christmas. This, then grants me the perfect opportunity to carry on my UCM 6 troop list idea.

A Sudden Invasion

"Admiral Stone sir, we're under attack."
"What?! I've only just finished my G'dam turkey left overs, and you're telling me there's another G'dam invasion already?"
"That's right sir, no rest for the wicked and all that."
"Who you calling G'dam wicked!? I may be a bad G'damn ass, but I'm not G'dam wicked. Tomlinson, fire up the laser!"
"Yes sir..."

Woah, where has the time gone? Is this how pensioners feel? I mean, one minute I'm polishing of the pigs in blankets during Christmas lunch (this isn't 100% true, I have some frozen for emergency consumption) and thinking about playing some alternative systems for a bit (the shame!), and then a second later Croydon is about to be invaded again!

That's right folks, it's tournament time, but of course not just any tournament, the first instalment of 2016's big-daddy Invasion! After battling hard in September we have another weekend of mirth and mire at the end of January, just four months since the last. Too soon? We think so, but Hawk have a busy calendar, so what's a fan-boy to do... Play five awesome games over the 30th and 31st, that's what!

Walking the Grid

Come here Often?

So after much promising and false starts here's a post with more pics of my Tron PHR. Some things have changed since I last posted about these guys, some techniques have altered a little. I also started the practice of having my command units in the MCP (Red bad-guy) colours to differentiate them and give a nice variation to the army. I also used the red scheme to make my two Medusa look different. The only thing in the MCP colour scheme I changed was the red power lines which really are closer to oranges than red. I kept the coal black highlight on the body the same which I think looks really nice and gives great contrast to the model.

Anyway I also wanted to use a better technique for taking pictures of my models hence why it took so long as I had to research how to 'Focus Stack' while not perfect I think I managed to get some good images. But mainly to my eyes it shows up where I've skipped a little in the rush to get the job done!

Anyway hope you enjoy!

Establishing A Force: PHR

So, you've just graduated from Sphere Academy, and you're ready to face the galaxy head on. Your monthly subscription to Bionic Bonanza means you are up to date with all the latest electronic implants, and the 'No Oil, No Spoil' diet has helped you lose that beer gut and slip snugly into your all-purpose PVC jumpsuit. Basically, you're the personification of cyber swag.

So why is it that when you jump in your Zeus and prepare yourself to take command in your first non-simulated battle, your body starts to shake uncontrollably? It turns out that even androids get the jitters! Well never fear young cyborgs, an experience implant is here! Simply plug it in to your neck socket, but be careful not to cross the stream of your quantum spoonificator.

As promised before our festive break, here is the first edition of my new series; Establishing A Force. In this and the following articles, you will find lists to help give a little direction to the spending of your Christmas bonuses, and the reasons and tactics behind the build of the rosters. I'm going to be running through the different factions alphabetically (not alphaspaghetically this time), which starts us with the all-spherical PHR!