Review: Laughing Jack Games Containes

Greetings everybody!

Since I decided to breath some life back into this blog,
here is the first review of  a few to come.

Today on the table: the relative quite fresh Containers from Laughing Jack Games...

Laughing Jack Games Container

so, let's dive in...

1. Packaging

As all LJGs products and shipments, all has been wrapped up neatly with bubblefoil, further more the MDF sheets are hold together by a foil, is nice as well. If a company should send out the MDF sheet or just the parts can be discussed. I prefer this way more, since you can easily use the left overs for other terrain projects or the empty MDF sheets as spray stencils.

When LJG started to produce their terrain, their instruction sheets have been... let's say, a bit confusing. As you can see, they have put some real work into that, with some easy to follow and clear to understand instructions.

Nothing to mourn here...

2. Construction

Well... making little wood cubes isn't that  hard, I have to admit, but there is one thing I would recommend...

The "walls" of the container are separately. Giving the containers a bit more dimension is one effect. The other is, you don't have to glue them in place. I found that really positive for the paint job. I simply didn't glue the lid in place and painted the wall apart from the "cage".

As you can see, the containers are still colorfull, without being too bright on the table. The white of the walls gave them some sort of uniformity.

All in all, you get really fast a good amount of cubes together, no nicks, no nags.

3. Design

the thing that irritated me a bit, was that turn wheel. For the aesthetics in the Batman game totally fitting, but, I had the feeling, they felt a bout out of place for infinity. Therefore I simply left them away. There will surely be a better place to use them!

A funfact, is that the ladder can actually be used (if you don't have too much going on on your bases...)

When you build these containers you can see that the lower side has also some texture. The cross beams are really cool looking (in case Hulk smashes them aside...) and have a great effect on the stability. I could help but test that a bit...

Nope, these are not all full...

... but these are butting some serious weight on a rather little surface.

Finally: the use. I bought these containers in the hope of getting something to go with the MagLev train. Since the containers from Terrakami are looking gorgeous as well, but being not sooo cheap... I was looking for an affordable alternative. Yes, until now I have used the paper thingies from the OP:Icestorm box, but honestly, I am no big fan of paper terrain.

To my delight, the containers fit no just so so, but they fit perfectly.
As you can see here, they not just fit perfect on the train but perfect next to each other. Even the small crates... here are the possible layouts.

Finally, it is quite obvious, but should be mentioned non the less... the stack great. In all kind of directions, which means, with the 3 compartment long container you can build a bridge. And they stack quite firm. So, no wobbly bobbly ground for your favourite sniper to stand on.

As you probably have noticed, I am a big fan.

4. Price

I have bought a Container Set and a pack of M-Containers for under 25€. Which is in my book a really fair price for what you get: a train full of containers, that even vary a bit in size. One should never compare and there is always some doing it cheaper, but if you look at what you get, the price is out of competition. If you want to stack your train with the original terrakami stuff and are looking not for the wooden boxes (that have so little texture, you can go back to the cardboard boxes) you are quite above that price.

What do you want more than affordable, good looking cargo containers?

 5. Conclusion

What other can I say than: I am a fan of containers.

 I love the container harbours in the region and can hardly keep my fingers from buying more and more containers (maybe this is an over compensation from all the skulls in my former gaming live?)

And here we got everything you want to have: Quick and easy to assemble, good looking and well thought through design meeting a fair price? 

What else can I say then: If you are looking for containers, these are the ones you are looking for.

Period.

See you next time! 

Nostalgia in all its ways

*Pock pock*

Is thing thing on?

*pock pock*

Is there anyone still listening?

Apparently, since you are reading this.

The wonders of the interwebs have pointed out, that I haven't written anything here for quiet a while. And i have to say, I am going to change that. I have some stuff up the pipe that I am going to share with you soon.

But for now, I want to share my thoughts of the past with you. Why? Because I have been asked to do that. The is this website doing "crates" with funky stuff in it for the big boys to toy around with. Most of the stuff seems rather... "nice to have" but, oh, would I love to lay my claws on a "DIY Pipe Set".
In case you are interested or are looking for a (honestly not really cheap) special gift check this out.

http://www.mancrates.com/

So, these nice people asked me to write about my first hobby experiences and what I think would trigger a feeling of back then.
To be perfectly honest, I think they go the wrong guy... I am not into arcade gaming (at least on this blog) nor into video gaming. We are doing the old fashioned gaming here. With moving actual stuff around.

But the question, how this all had started, triggered in fact a rush of memories, I want to share with you.

*Dreamy voice*
It was back in the days...

When Independence Day came into the cinemas (fitting, as it is coming back, isn't it?)...

... I remember that pretty well, because it took a key role in the few little steps of getting me into tabletop.
Back then, I had a girlfriend. And we were dropped off by her mother in the big city to go to the cinema to watch "Independence Day". But since she dropped us of way ahead of the start, we had some time to kill and started wandering up and down the street. Around a corner and a bit further down the street, we stopped in front a store with big black, red and yellow letters. Inside a lot of older Boys and Men we doing incomprehensible things... but the posters and pictures up every where were addressing the topics scifi and fantasy quite openly.
I remember that we were standing in front of the shop for quite a while, marveling at the things on display. I was fascinated, but shy and hesitant and if it hadn't been for Laura, I would have left the store where it was. And my life would have been quite different from now.

But Laura saw me torn between being to shy from entering the store and being fascinated and insisted on me going in and at least getting a flyer.

Games workshop and the people there we quite different from what you have today. And let it be put this way: It was better then. Would I have been addressed by those uber-eager "What can I do for you today?" super sales men, I would have stepped right out of the store again. No, back then, you were friendly greeted, left by yourself for a while and the cautiously approached. I left the store not with a starter set or a box or empty pockets, but with the feeling that these guys were the coolest I have ever seen and a flyer.
I vividly remember the red carped they had back then in the store...

Long story short, we went to the movies and watched Independence Day (which therefore will forever be linked to me starting tabletop, along side with pop corn :D ). Laura and I split up a few months later, but stayed friends...

The following weeks until Christmas were filled with me sitting in front of that flyer, staring at it and hoping that my parents would get me that starter set.

My wet dream back then...

Guess what... they did.
And my soul was sold to Games Workshops Warhammer 40.000 (2nd Edition). The weeks that followed were willed with building the stuff, infecting the neighbour kids and spending the whole holidays in the cellar of a friend, battling through the days with rules we hardly understood (terminators can be unbeatable if you think the rules for armoursavemodification are too complex to understand and therefore useless. Since we didn't have a table of terrain, we used little clay houses my friends mother had build and played on judo matts. It was anarchic, very imbalanced and the end of all our savings. And it was fun. Fun as hell, a time wouldn't miss for the world.

Ahhh those days...

There you go. Nostalgia in its purest form.

I hope this was entertaining for you. Next time... more hobby and more pictures :)

How I survived RPC Open 2015

Greetings everybody!

Well the weekend is over and while I am still quite tired, I will try to write down my experience and impressions from this years RPC.

 

Prelude

 For those of you unfamiliar with the subject, most people go for some reason to the RPC (Role Play Convention) ... to admire the great costumes and have fun with other LARPers.

For me there was another reason for the trip to cologne: the RPC Open Infinity Tournament.

But before I start with the event itself, let me start a little earlier. 

I am no big tournament fan. "Back in the days" I was wearing the red shirt, people went to tournaments as nice, polite and fluffy gamers and came back as cold hearted, ruthless rule-lawyers that had lost all sense of story and fluff.

Last year I was invited to the RatCon Infinity Tournament and I realised, that tournaments can actually be fun. When they are Infinity Tournaments.

So my "meta" decided to go the RPC Open and I decided to stick along. And since we were 3, we had enough to build a link team. Here is shot of us:

But since we wanted to be recognised as a team, we created some shirts, that looked like this:

Since I am a pretty "irregular" gamer, I had a tactic bootcamp with M and Argent and the convinced me, that, although I am collection since one year only nomads, I did not have enough miniatures to have a list, that would stand a chance. So I had not only to make new models for the ones I had proxed so far (I will spare that rant about this here, but believe me, I was pretty pretty angry about this.... nope... I still am...), but full up these units, I didn't have enough of.

My best friend these days. Jewlerysaw with 0,3mm blade. Perfect for cutting off metal parts that have to be used elsewhere again.

I literally painting to the last minute. But why should a tournament be different that any other big hobby event? I guess, I just need that pressure... If you want to see the steps I have made, check the in the international Infinity Forum here.

Here is another tip for everyone going to a tournament for the first time. Make sure, you have played the missions beforehand. I really helps to get a nick on the mechanics behind the different scenarios. And when the adrenalin-rush makes rational decisions close to impossible, you can always think back to that games.
Here is the burial ground of my Mobile Brigada Link Team... ehm... I mean the table we played the testgame for "biotechvore" on.

The Tournament

The main organisation for the tournament was done via T3 and the german Infinity Board O-12 , namely by ApokalypseTest and the famous Harlekin. I won't comment on how much sense the ITS rules, the scenarios and all that makes, since I have no clue about all these things. I am happy to play the scenarios I get served. I have to add though, that the choice of scenarios ApokalypseTest has made was discussed rather controversial. Someone stated even, that choice was of such odd quality, that we should make Tshirts, sporting "I survived RPC Open" (hence the title of this post :)).

Sunday morning, 5:15, I woke up, unable to sleep again, I got up and painted the pieces I needed for the tournament. At 8:15 we took off, a car, filled with three almost hysteric post-pubertal, namely M (aka Der M, or M-just M), Argent, and yours truly, Hydra. We arrived at about 9:15 and though we were way too early (pick up time for the tickets was 9:45), someone was waiting and handing over the entry tickets to the con. It was quite funny to walk past all these patiently waiting LARPer and their likes, waving our tickets :)

Early in the morning busy people were setting up the tables.

Playing at a Con:
The designated gaming area could not have been better. The whole area is rather dark (dark ceiling and dark floor swallows a lot of light), but we have been close to a big gate open to the medieval market outside. So we had fresh air and the smell of meat on a BBQ in our nose all day long. Another bonus for our location was, people were strolling in and out through the gate, which meant,m we had a goo view on a the great costumes strolling over the Con. With a nice chat here and there.
So, atmosphere: top!

One of the joys of playing Infinity is the cool terrain. The table in the front was for the other tournament, where atmospheric terrain was replaced by cut-out blue paper. It might be joy to play, but it was horrible to watch.

The tables are being filled...

Everybody was ready to go. Dices were heated, last advices traded...

Everyone threw a dice and the first pairs were made. Sadly, we were an uneven number and I was the one with no opponent at the beginning. Luckily, Norman, a very nice chap from Ulisses jumped in and we had our go at Biotechvore.

My first battlefield. A great mix of Laughing Jacks containers, some MicroArt Stuff and "other" terrain.

 
For those unfamiliar with the mission, here a short summary: Clash with the opponent in the middle of the board or die a horrible chocking death by Biotechvore-Virus in your deployment zone. Short: fun in short ranges.

Next to my table, Curundil, an old friend from  almost forgotten times. Playing also Corregidor. And also the as "pain Train" know Mobile Brigada Link Team.

A view along the ile.

My opponent played Haqqislam and his strategy pretty straight. He deployed several Impersonation Marker in my zone (Impersonation means "Hey Jonny! Have you been in the sun? And working out?" until suddenly "Jonny! What do you need the knife for? Jonnnnnniiiiiiiiiieeeeehh...."), which did good in killing two models of mine quite quiet. Sadly the whole thing swallowed so many orders, that my opponent had not enough orders left to bring anyone into a save zone. So, after I popped some shots at him quite harmlessly (his one Fiday dodged 2 Crazy Coalas, 2 LightFlamethrower Templates, 2 HeavyFlamethrower Templates and 2 shots from the Boarding Shotgun)...

Johnny the dirty Dancer

... the Biotechvore attacked everything in its reach at the beginning of my opponents 2nd turn. The dancy Fiday couldn't dodge the hazardous fog and died.

In the tactical display of my lieutenant quite a long signals turned from red to green. No one complained about that...

...aside from Betty. She felt discriminated. But she always felt discriminated, so no one cared.

 As did a good deal of the big link team and some others. Those left standing tried to attack my Mobile Brigada Link. I said tried and I mean tried. Running into the waiting gun from someone who needs a 19 on a D20 to hit is suicide. And I thought the Haqqislam had left those times behind...

Anyhow. I was blessed with a 9:1 and quite surprised of how well this went.

"Hey boss." "Yep?" "Do you think there will be more coming?" "The green fog looks rather thick. I don't think so..."

The 2nd Round

My opponent was another blast from the past, a guy I know from the time back at GW. We had the joy of playing Beaconland (Harlekin, if you are ready this, think about the bacon-marker!). The mission objectives are pretty easy. every specialist hast a beacon. And the further you carry (and deploy) these beacons from your deployment zone, the better. 

To the right, S's Neo Terra units packed with beacons and eager for action. To the left, my nomads, sporting 2 Intruder and a bag full of crazy coalas.

My opponent, let's call him S for now, had a pretty nifty idea. His Fusilier Link Team, packed with specialists, darted forward, dropping these beacons as if being the Easter bunny. Sadly this bold "onwards" led them straight into 2 coalas, resulting in a pretty decimated link. The rest was pretty quickly mobbed up by my beloved Lunokhod and the beacons were turned into my own.

This all was the left flank. 

A quick look to my team mate M, showed, that I wasn't the only one doing good...

 

On the right, my Link Team was scrubbeling through the garbage mountain (dirty nomads, that they are...), pushing onwards and forcing their way into the enemy territory.

With the assistance from the Intruder Sniper, there was little that could stand against a well filled order pool.

In the end I managed to gain a 10:1.

After a quick lunch and stroll over the Con (again... some of these costumes are really really awesome. Others make it hard to concentrate on small miniatures...) my beloved enemy M and myself had managed both to get the ticket to the finally.

M is normally not bothered, when he has to play against me. But my brand new dice had brought me this far, he had to discuss his tactics with other wizards.

So, the FINALE!

We played Nimbuszone, a fairly common concept of an scenario for Infinity. Run to the middle of the board, activate/hack/manipulate some consoles/antennas etc. and survive as long as possible (you find very rarely a mission that simply states: Kill the enemy. If you do, play something else :D)
After a already long day, this was probably the most exhausting game of Infinity I have played so far. It was not, that we were highly competitive, but we didn't want others to have the impression that we were giving away anything.
So, we did our best.
It started with M loosing his Garuda (a heavy armed robot with a jump pack) to a critical hit. We traded blows, M trying to evade my coalas, me trying to evade his Fusilier Sniper. It is already a hard to remember game, since so many things happened and I won't bore you with details.
In the end, we counted victory points and realised, that it was a tie.
So, after victory points 5:5, with M killing slightly more points than me (158 to 167 in his favour).

The two tournaments I have attended so far have ended the same way. With a trophy table. But where elsewhere medals or the like are handed, here you get stuff you can actually use for something...

Ulisses sponsored the miniatures and Infinity stuff. But have a look at the Laughing Jack Containers. There was easily 300€ in products lying on the table. IIRC everyone could at least score some nice piece of scenery for his/her table.

Harlekin announcing the winners.

The cheerful crowd.

Resume

First of all I want to thank everybody. Starting with my team mates (Kuhattrappe...), the Tournament Org (ApokalypseTest and Harlekin), my opponents, the other participants, the sponsors and everybody who helped to make this day so enjoyable.

I had a great day. Well, winning 2 in 3 games has helped a lot, I guess. And placing 2nd on my 2nd tournament probably too. But in the end the UNDO Link Team did pretty well as a team and I would always stand at your side again.

And to everybody, wondering weather to participate in an Infinity tournament or not. Do it. It is great! :D

Until next year!