ETC in Prague

www.etc-events.eu

Last week ended for me quite surprisingly with watching the livestream of the European Team Championship event in Prague. The event consists of 3 team tournaments in Flames of War, Warhammer 40K and most likely the last time this year Warhammer Fantasy Battles. It is paired with the ESC (the Singleplayer Championship) which I didn't follow.
"Bastion" or "Saper" had a really big bulk of equipment in Prague and made an awesome coverage of the event on Twitch. At the moment it looks like he is uploading the matches and stuff on his Youtube channel, so if you are interested please pay him a visit.

I was quite fascinated because I already lost interest in the GW games but the presentation of the event and the nice mixture in the reporting kept me looking and returning to the stream.

The Flames of War table which was shown was absolutely fantastic and looked more like a diorama than a gaming table. It is only shown partially on the picture stream of the events Facebook page but you can guess how the whole thing looked like:

Flames of War

The stream itself is full of random geekiness and tournament impressions so it is worth a look.

This year Germany dominated in Warhammer 40K and achieved a new points record and  took home the first place. Also in Warhammer Fantasy Battles the team placed first (after some unbelievable close final matches) and in Flames of War they achieved a respectable 9th place. Congrats to all of the players and also kudos for playing in those rough conditions. It was extremely loud and roughly 40°C without working AC.

For the next year there is already a discussion taking place what game they will take instead of WHFB. Kings of War is handled here as follow up, which would be quite cool.

Hope you enjoyed and have a good start into your week!


So long
Paradox0n

MMM - No system is safe! Who am I O.S.T

A wonderful morning to everyone. After a weekend of fun and party (yes it was my birthday, so I had a reason!) I return to my Monday Morning Music and Musings series with the playlist of an O.S.T of a movie I recently watched: Who am I - No system is safe a German movie about a hacker group who wants global fame.

The film struck me a) because of the fitting music and b) because there was much stuff in there which I (as "professional") had do acknowledge the makers of doing their research, which (sadly) isn't done too often.

As you may know, normally electronic music is not my thing, but this O.S.T is quite nice especially since it really suited the movie.

And for some musings today: While watching the latest Age of Sigmar reports and the growing interest for Kings of War here in Germany, I am more and more excited about the arrival of the first wave from the 2nd Kings of War Kickstarter. Also the weather gets nicer (temperatures below the 38°C mark). So maybe this could be the turning point for my motivation :)

Have a good start into this week!


So long,
Paradox0n

MMM - So many things I got to do

"Gotta keep my sanity" is the first line of today's song and this should be my daily motto at the moment :) I already missed so much great new issues of the magazines I normally read and all your great posts of the last weeks. But hey first life, than work, than blogging :)

So I can finally yell: Jippieiaeeeeh! Vacation is coming. Next week I will travel near the border of Germany/Austria to hopefully get some nice hiking days in the Alps.

So while listening to the song "So many things" from Macka B I wish you a good start into your week:

So long,
Paradox0n

MMM - Anyone alive out there?

Another episode of my Monday Morning Musings (and Music). Today I am asking myself if anybody is still reading the stuff I post. There was not much feedback on the last stuff I posted which dampens my motivation for posting a bit at the moment.
As you all know, comments are a bloggers best friend (also like/shares etc.pp. help to keep a good mood). So if you still read my stuff, I would be happy if you find some time to post a small comment from time to tome, even a "sucks" or "great" if you have not much time.
I see that I have lots of visits (increasing from month to month) and sometimes up to nearly 300 a day but no active participation like comments or likes/shares in the social media.

Therefore I shout out in the blogosphere: Is anybody out there?! with some hardcore music from Neophyte:

Warmachine/Hordes battlereport Nr. 3 is already done and will be posted this week. I also had a fourth game last Monday. Sadly I took no pictures but I will give you a short summary nonetheless.


So long,
Paradox0n

P.S.:
And another new follower. A warm "Welcome!" to Alejandro Lii. Take a seat, grab some tea and enjoy the ride. If you have a blog, please tell me, that I can add you to my blogroll.

MMM - Farewell T.P. and Melting the Ice

© The Smiling Grouch

Welcome back to another Monday Music and Musing episode! Before I really want to start my musing, I have to start (again) with some mourning: Last week one of my favored authors of fantasy (comedy) novels died: Terry Pratchett.

“DON'T THINK OF IT AS DYING, said Death. JUST THINK OF IT AS LEAVING EARLY TO AVOID THE RUSH.”

Many artists made drawings and paintings to honor the creator of the Discworld and writer of many many fantastic novels. The picture shown by me is from The Smiling Grouch. On the Tumblr page you can also find some other interesting pictures.


But now let's continue with something not so sad: On the weekend I had the chance to play two Warmachine/Hordes matches with my Legion of Everblight against NumbDice's Khador. First a Mangled Metal with only one battlegroup to learn the rules and then a 25pts scenario game with the complete content of the 2-players box. I don't want to spoil too much because I will try to write down some short battle reports. But since I am still owing you some music:

Power of the Dragonflame by Rhapsody of Fire (formerly Rhapsody), an Italian metal band.

The games where lots of fun and really, really thrilling. I found it absolutely interesting how the game changes in scenario play. Can't wait for my other stuff to arrive to build a more balanced list.

Have a good start into your week!


So long,
Paradox0n

MMM - Live long and prosper

Today I want to start my Monday Music and Musings with some grief and loss: On Friday Leonard Nimoy died. Most of you will know him as Spock from the original Star Trek series. May he rest in piece or as he always said: "Live Long and Prosper!"

I think nearly noone coined a character so much as Mr. Nimoy did with Mr. Spock. Fun fact: He also wrote two books, one called "I am not Mr. Spock" and one "I am Mr. Spock".

I personally was very happy that he showed up in the newer movies of Star Trek and clearly he will never be forgotten by his fans.
Fitting to that the intro of the original series:

In terms of the hobby nothing new. I am still waiting for my Hordes stuff. Slowly I get pretty pissed because now its two months waiting. At least my epoxy stickers arrived. Surprisingly not from Hong Kong but from Singapore :)

So stay tuned. I hope soon some stuff happens again (e.g. Hordes Battreps).


So long,
Paradox0n

MMM - Long time, no see

Wow nearly two weeks since my last post... Time to start posting again with some Monday Music and Musings!

The last weeks where pretty insane. Not only did we do some great winter hiking trips, but I also was overwhelmed with work and had some health issues concerning my back. Thus painting wasn't so much on my table, because if you can't sit for too long, you can't really paint.
I am still waiting for my Hordes stuff (shame on you PP for having thus bad delivering issues). And I have achieved some milestones for the blog, but that I will write down in its own post :)

So this is more a life sign and some motivation music. Johnny Cash - I won't back down:

Enjoy and have a good start into your week.


So long,
Paradox0n

MMM - Random musings

After a long time I do again a MMM but switching from Monday Morning Music to Monday Morning Musings :) At least for today. I just don't want to post some music today (which I will do nonetheless) but also do some ranting and musing. Seems fitting at the moment because I just can't find the needed time for the hobby and even the blog is not traded as well as it should be (despite all the good intentions for this year). So I will at least start with blog care!

But as usual I will start this post with some music!
Woodkid - Conquest of Spaces:

MMM - Pump it up!

So I am back from my trip to Romania and had the muddiest hiking trip I ever had yesterday. Sometimes I nearly lost my hiking sticks/shoes in the mud... Nonetheless: I am back again!
And I will start this week with some Monday Morning Music: Danzel with Pump it up! I think this song is somehow fitting to the stuff I am writing about today.
So start the music and continue reading... :)

MMM: Frank Sinatra - Mack the Knife

After my weekends experience with knives I thought this song is somehow fitting :)

Hope the Doc tells me in 2 hours that everything is OK and I can return back to normal. Although tipping with one missing (because bandaged) finger is somewhat difficult. Normally I type blindly but now I miss more keys than hitting stuff.

Nevertheless, please enjoy the master Frank Sinatra with Mack the Knife:

To get this post some hobby relation: I just tested some stuff yesterday and I think I understood for the first time what glazing really is...
And I have a question to you: Skin for Chaos Dwarves skin tones with purple shadows or completely gray? Or maybe characters gray and units flesh... My problem is, that with my red/gold scheme the fleshy skin tones pop out too much I think.
If I get my camera today I will make some WIP photos and show you my problem.


So long,
Paradox0n

MMM: Heaven Shall Burn - Combat

Time for the music wakeup on Monday! This kind of music will either wake you up or make you run away from the noise :)
 I think this is a pretty depressing topic with matching video. Child soldiers are something this world should have never seen. I can't even imagine how the psych of these children is destroyed. I only know from dialogs with my grandpa (who was roughly 16 and more a teenager than a child when he had to fight in WWII) how bad stuff can be.

So why do I post the video? Because I think stuff like this needs some attention from time to time.

Heaven Shall Burn - Combat:

So long,
Paradox0n

P.S.: The cartoon characters remember me somehow of the Lulus of the Toughest Girls from Raging Heroes without judging that. That is why I though it somehow fitting for a tabletop blog.

MMM - Dan Bull 40 years of gaming and back from Norway

The leisure times are over... My vacation in Norway was way too short but with lots and lots of impressions. If you need ideas for your display bases or army displays Norway is the country to travel to. I live in a really nice area (Black Forrest in Germany) which has an incredible landscape, but Norway was even more spectacular since it combines all kind of landscapes.
I have been climbing the heights of waterfalls, wanted to explore caves, did some glacier hiking and some canoeing in a fjord. And took more than 1000 pictures which I will show you some of them as inspiration for your future projects as soon as I have sorted them.

For today I will just show you a nice music video from Dan Bull: 40 years of gaming. I am curious how much of the stuff you know, my first video game wath Ataris PONG in the living room of our neighbours and since then hasn't stopped :)

Hope you enjoy it!

So long,
Paradox0n

MMM: Bülent Ceylan - Nichts besondres

Todays MMM has a special reason: Last weekend I enjoyed the new program of Bülent Ceylan, a german comedian, which was a gift from my wife for my birthday a week ago. I knew him until now only from TV or DVD but Live on Stage he is even better!  And this song really surprised me the most.
Since the audio is in german, I think it could be a bit disappointing for my english audience but maybe you can grasp the feeling of the song:

Its a song about being nothing special and taking life as it is, be it good or be it bad. The chorus struck me (roughly translated):

"Many laugh only because they don't want to weep,

what did the life do to you?

Do you want a better the world,

start with the one you see in the mirror!

Every tear contains a rainbow,

only in the darkness you can't see it.

I know the stars are above,

and a small shine is enough for me"

So long,
Paradox0n

MMM - Elder Scrolls Online Music

Wow long time since I wrote my last Monday Morning Music post. So time for a new one! You could suppose I would post something concerning our 5th season of the year, the "Fasnet" or "Fastnacht" as its called in my region. But since I am not into this festivity anymore I chose something different.

I had the luck to get a Beta Key for the stresstest weekend of The Elder Scrolls Online which I really enjoyed. Something which flashed me (besides the awesome graphics, the free character development and the cool stories) was the music in the game. Everytime I came near a tavern or a campfire and a npc bard was present they really performed songs! Not just some other music, real songs. That immensely pays in the general atmosphere of the game and therefore I will give you two examples from Malukah:

Hope you enjoy it.


So long,
Paradox0n

MMM - Vacation's over

New year has just begun and it is Monday morning, so I think its time for a new Monday Morning Music post.

Today is my last day of the christmas vacation (in Germany the 6th January is a day off (a day for the "Kings of the East" I think they are called in english) and we even had some carol singers at our door yesterday (for the first time since we live in our flat here).

I found a song which I think fits pretty good to this Monday: Vacation's over from Faron Young out of the late 50ties.

Have a good start into your week.


So long,
Paradox0n

MMM - Woodkid

Wonderful Black and White art in his videos and very cool music in a way I haven't heard before: That is Woodkid.
Maybe you know Run by Run from an advert campaign of a big mobile provider (which itself is also very nice especially the start with the animated cat/robot).
I came across his music a while ago and my wife really liked the song on the advertisement and immedeately bought the album :)

The videos are really great and take you into a very unique black and white world.

Woodkid "Iron" from WOODKID on Vimeo.

Woodkid "Run Boy Run" from WOODKID on Vimeo.

Hope you enjoy them as I do and have a good start into your week!


So long,
Paradox0n

MMM - Sunshine Reggae

Winter is coming! Yesterday evening we had 6°C and I didn't worry too much about the cold but in the morning I had to unfreeze my car because it had -2°C. De-Iceing the windows isn't fun, really. At least I get my winter tires today.

And to get some warm feelings on this bitter cold day I thought of posting some summer feelings: Sunshine Reggae from Laid Back.

Have a good start into your week.


So long,
Paradox0n

P.S.: Welcome aboard Zab. Take a seat and enjoy the journey.

MMM - Way Back Home from Danny MacAskill

Todays Monday Morning Music is a bit of mixture between really nice music and incredible Thinkbike skills. It's Danny MacAskills: Way Back Home. The music is from Loch Lomond "Wax and Wire" and The Jezabels "A Little Piece".

Have a good start into your week.


So long,
Paradox0n

P.S.: And a new traveller onboard our airship. Welcome czaki. I couldn't identify if you have a blog yourself, if so please drop a line and I will add you to the blogroll.

MMM - I don't want to set the world on fire

As someone who played Fallout a lot I also am a fan to the Fallout radio music. One of the favorites (and one I loved to head while playing Fallout 3) is: I don't want to set the world on fire from The Ink Spots.

I really love the moody and lonely feeling you get while playing the game(s) and at the same time the game(s) give you the feeling of hope and perseverance. It is really seldom that a game can achieve transmitting such feelings while playing.

And something on my own behalf: I forgot a rather important point (for me) on my DVD review for Painting Buddha Season 1.1 and therefore updated the article (added something about the shipping costs). So if you haven't read it already just have a look :)

Have a good start into your week!


So long,
Paradox0n

MMM - The Doctor's Wife

Picture from Mike Savad

After visiting the Dentist once again today (lucky me only for a follow up check) and getting examined by the "doctors wife", which does the substitute at the moment, this song nearly immediately came to my mind for my (unregular) Monday Morning Music post:

The picture is "Waiting for the dentist" from Mike Savad. Check his page he has some more nice pictures there!

"The Doctor's Wife from The Clockwork Quartet"

Yes I know the text doesn't match my morningly visit but I really like this song :)