Malifaux (I know, right?)

Well....I got hooked.

My FLGS (The Foundry in Huntsville, Alabama) had a mini tournament this weekend....but lets rewind a bit for the full story.

During the Flames of War Tournament last month I organized last month I was talking with Bethany (Store Owners wife and Malifaux aficionado) while the games were going.  She mentioned that there was a mini tournament that was noob friendly and that I should come out and play.

I had always viewed Malifaux as that "Wierd" game (It is a Wyrd game since they are the publishers of it) with really cool models.  I have a passing interest in Steam Punk....but Bethany's enthusiasm was infectious and she spurred by interest so that the next week I borrowed a rulebook (Big mistake I know!!!!!!)  Add to that the store has made some cool terrain for the game...first off is thier village board:

Well... I got hooked on the fluff and the weirdness (or wyrdness) of the game made since.  The game blends steam punk with daemons with zombies with goblins with cowboys....and soon with martial artists!  The mechanics are really slick.  No dice...random actions are determined by a deck of cards and deck manipulation is a big part of the game.  Each model is a character with special abilities and triggers based on the card suites.  Every faction and crew has a very distinct flavor and character.  I have to say it was a lot of fun.

Fast forward to this weekend...the Mini tournament.  I learned a lot about running a tournament. Tera (The lead organizer) and Bethany did a great job.  The prizes were themed and very slick.  There were 3 "qualifying rounds" and the top four of those went to the semi finals and the top two would play a final match on a new board (sewer board) made just for the tournament.  The games played also went to Wyrd's Dead Heat campaign.

Sewer Board

Well, suffice to say I was nervous.  This was my first tournament playing since 1990 (Yes I am an old fart).  I ran the Perdita Ortega crew...a cowboy themed crew with a hot chick leading her family.  Lots of shootie goodness. 

My first game was against Alex and a Seamus crew (Think undead pimp and hooker zombies).  Great opponent and surprise surprise...I won.  It boiled down to an initiative flip.  Who one that flip would get first action and have the first chance to win...I got the initiative and won my attack.

My Second game was against Angel...she ran a Victoria's crew.  Think steam punk street gang lead by twin girls with swords...but are they REALLY twins?  She was a lot of fun to play against and it was another close one.  Malifaux is all about your missions...not necessarily killing the other crew.  This mission was "Destroy the Evidence" where there are 3 objectives on my side that she has to destroy, 3 on her side for me and one in the middle for both of us.  she got the middle on and the 2 closest in my side REAL quick and I thought that was it.  But we still had 4 turns for sure (game ends at 6 turns unless the last person moving wants to go longer and flips a high card each turn thereafter).  My shootie crew started and I got some really good damage flips and cleared out enough of her crew so my guys could make a break for the objectives.  I got the overall mission (Strategy) and my 2 side missions (Schemes)...I won again.

My third mission was against Will who ran the same crew as Angel.  Hers was a quick and agile force, his was a beefy smash in your face version. He was great player and am still reeling over the beating. but get this....We are tied for third place...and we both advance to the semi finals.

Next game was versus Mike who ran Perdita as well.  Great opponent and I learned a lot from him...special thanks to him for taking time to teach along the way.  Our mission was "Deliver the Message" where one of your characters has to be adjacent to the other team's leader for a full turn.  It boiled down to we killed everything off except our leaders and they weren't going near the other one, but he was able to get one of his secondary missions (Called Schemes) and he went on to the finals.

At this point final totals were tallied and Angel won best theme (She also dressed up to match her crew), I got best Sportsman and cool themed leather ledger (had to say that)...and for third place it went to...what?  Will and I are STILL tied?!?!?!?  Well, first tie break was total victory points...we were still tied!  But, Will came ahead on the second tie break of head to head since he beat me in the qualifying round.  So, he got third and I came in a respectable 4th.

I had to leave after that and didn't get to watch Adrien (Store Owner and overall Game God) take on Mike.  But it was 2 Guild crews facing off....Mike's Perdita crew versus Adrien's Sonia crew (Think fire magic user and witch hunter).  I heard that Adrien was able to come out ahead in the game and take first place.  Guild wins!

So, I am hooked.  It is a great game.  Easy to get into as well with a low model count for games.  A Crew Starter box is roughly $35 on average and is what we played in the tournie for the most part...extra models are about $10 a blister.  Great community too....so I see myself playing some more for sure.

WWPD Articles and Status

Just wanted to share a few of the recent articles I have done for WWPD in case you aren't a regular viewer at WWPD (which I recommend you do daily as they always have good articles). 

These articles are reviews of the models used in the Raiding Aces campaign he held at our FLGS here in Huntsville Alabama. For the articles so far we covered the forces that I played (the Autosahariana), that Adrien played (he LRDG) and that John played (the SAS).  The models shown were painted by the people that played them (except the SAS, I painted those).  The articles also include some tips for playing those forces. So far the articles done are:

Autosahariana AS42 Article
LRDG Article
SAS Article

I plan to do at least one more on the raiders...the OSS that Michael ran.  That should be up in a few weeks.  That is a cool force among other cool forces.

Other than that I am knee deep in the commission for Luke from WWPD and am swimming in US Infantry and Armored Rifles. Working through that and have already sent him back 2 Armored Rifle Platoons with all the fixings as well as seated GIBs (Guys in Back) in the halftracks.  Luke is going to make a post on WWPD when he gets them all based (he is basing them them himself to keep a common theme across his forces....remember an earlier post I had on that?  :-)  ).

Oh well back to the grindstone!  As long as I dont get sidetracked by any.......ooooHHHHH?  what's that?  Malifaux?  That's that wierd game right....but the models are so pretty.....prettyprettypretty

GRRrrrrrrr!!!!!!

Tournament Results

The Foundry Firefight was held the last weekend in July and a lot of fun was had by all.

The Firefight was a 3 round, 1750 point, Late War, Flames of War tournament held at The Foundry in Huntsville, Alabama. 

Format: 

- Forces were restricted to any list from an official Flames of War Late War Version 3 compatible source (book or PDF).  Force could not exceed 1750 points.

- 3 rounds (1^st round Mobile Battle, 2^nd round Defensive Battle,  3^rd round Fair Fight).  Players decided mission or rolled for mission from those available for that round if they could not come to terms. 

- Round lengths were 2.5 hours with 30 minutes between rounds

- Initial pairings were be based upon player’s estimated strengths while trying to keep as many matches Red vs Blue as possible.  Remaining rounds pairings were based upon player tournament standings.

- Matches were randomly assigned to a table.

- Tables consisted of a variety of terrain (urban, desert, wadi, village, light forest, streams, hills, etc…).  The Tables used:

Rules clarifications were announced early.  Specifically, we used the following clarifications:

            - “Ambushing Pioneer Supply Vehicles (PSV):”  PSVs that are in ambush reveal their obstacles when the unit is declared to be in ambush.

            - It was preferred that aircraft be on the “new” Battlefront standard oval aircraft bases.  In the event aircraft were not, we measured to a spot 2.5 inches up from the table to determine the aircraft’s location. 

            - Hills.  Several tables had “sculpted” hills.  These tables were identified as such and “hulldown” status is earned from true line of sight.  On tables with “flat topped” hills, players claimed hull down concealment if the hull was just behind where the crest of the hill would be if it were not a flat game hill.  The crest was defined as an imaginary line running along the center of the hill. 

            - Terrain types for each board were identified with a handout at each table

Well, no plan survives first contact…and this was no exception.  We had expected several out-of-towners to attend, but alas they did not show.  So, we were down to the core of our local players.

Steve Toth's Hungarians

Michael Raper's US Tanks

Mark Kilness' Panzer Grenadiers

Paul Applebaum's British Guards Infantry

Results:

Round 1: 

    Steve vs Michael:  Hasty Attack     Steve was the victor 4-3

    Mark vs Paul:  Hasty Attack           Mark was the victor 6-1

Round 2:

    Steve vs Paul:  Pincer     Steve was the victor 4-3

    Mark vs Michael:  Surrounded           Michael was the victor 6-1

Round 3:

    Steve vs Michael:  Dust-up     Steve was the victor 4-3

    Mark vs Paul:  Dust-up           Mark was the victor 4-3

Final Standings:

                        R1       R2       R3       F

Steve             4          4          4          12
Michael          3          6          3          12
Mark               6          1          4          11
Paul                1          3          3          7

Tie breaker was the painting competition that was held during the lunch break.  The judge was Clay Williams of The Foundry.  Clay is a Gold Daemon Award Finalist and has judged numerous other painting competitions to include several Games Workshop Grand Tournaments.

Paint Competition:

1^st:  Steve Toth

2^nd:  Michael Raper

3^rd:  Paul Applebaum

4^th:  Mark Kilness

Final Standings:

Using the Painting Competition as a tiebreaker, Steve Toth was the Overall winner with Michael Raper coming in second.  Their games were close blood baths and it was only fitting that it fell out the way it did.  Great job done by all the players…The Foundry’s staff…and The Foundry’s other patrons putting up with us.  Thanks to all of you.

Lessons Learned:

- Advertise…Advertise…Advertise… You need to do more than word of mouth.  You need to call other game stores…visit other groups. 

- Strike up relationships with the people and groups you advertise with.  If you travel to their tournaments and visit them….they will be more much more inclined to do the same and visit you…and attend your tournament.

- Timing.  Start advertising at LEAST 3 months in advance and keep in touch with the places/people you are advertising with.  This will really help give people time to make plans, especially if they are out of town.  Follow up is also key…don’t want them to forget!

- If you have the tournament in your FLGS, make sure other patrons know in advance that you will have a tournament and gaming space will be limited. The store had several disappointed players of other systems show up to see that we had occupied the gaming areas they wanted to use…at least for a few hours until we opened some up to them.

- Be flexible.  We had 9 tables set up, based on initial estimates, but ended up only using 2 tables per round.  So, we opened up 3 of the tables part way into the first round and then opened up the tables we just played on as each round ended.  This allowed the other patrons of the store to get there game on….and helps you maintain that positive relationship with the store.

- Rules knowledge.  This is one area I was really worried about.  I felt at first that I needed to be a walking encyclopedia of Flames of War knowledge.  You can’t know it ALL.  You need to have the basics down.  Be familiar with the current hotnesses (Ambushing Pioneer Supply Vehicles for instance)…but know where you can get the info quickly should you need it.  I was asked maybe 2 questions for the whole tournie…the players did a great job handling things themselves.

Parting Comments:

Again. thanks to The Foundry for hosting the tournament and to the players who came.  I think everyone had a good time and were challenged.  Taking the lessons learned, I think the next time I do this it will be even better.

Breaking News!!!

I was a little slow in posting this week, but I had a some news to share that had to wait until today for me to post.

First, is that the gang over at WWPD have asked me ...little old me (old is right, but is 6'4" 260 lbs REALLY little?)...to write reviews for them.  After the humbling shock wore off, I said "Of course!"

...and my first article is up on the WWPD site today!  It is a review of the Autosahariana boxed set and their use in a Raiding Aces campaign.  It looks like the next WWPD campaign will be in North Africa and include regular battles as well as Raids, so this article is the first in a series of the raiding forces that were used in the Raiding Aces campaign we ran at my FLGS...The Foundry in Huntsville Alabama.

Check out the article at WWPD.

Second is that I have joined the WWPD network.  You can get to their goodness which includes the WWPD and Saga sites, forums as well as BUNCH of other great blogs that support the hobby we love so much.  You can get to them from this symbol:

This is also proudly displayed in the upper right of the blog.

All of this SHOULDN'T keep me from doing what I have been doing on the blog...actually will add to it as I will have access to products to review that I normally wouldn't purchase for myself.  I really look forward to sharing those insights with everyone.

Oh well...and we now return you to your scheduled programming

Painting Miniatures Declassified --- Model Selection

Just wanted to put together a quick note on figure selection. Do you have to have the exact representation of a certain figure to portray a specific unit?

Short answer is...it's up to you. Remember the post on "Expectations?" The key here is what "distance Army" are you trying to build and how best can you "disguise" that "off" figure. If you are building a 6 inch or less Army you will have to do more disguising than if you are shooting for a 2-3 foot Army.

Let's say I am build an SS Panzer Grenadier platoon. What makes an SS Panzer Grenadier different from a Heer Panzer Grenadier? The biggest visual difference is the black left arm cuff with white writing, the right collar tag with SS runes and lots of camo uniforms. There are more subtle uniform

differences... epaulets and camouflaged helmet cover design...and some I am most likely not aware. 

If I use Battlefront's GBX09 Panzer Grenadier Platoon with Halftrack can I use them to represent an SS Platoon? Well...look for yourself. The SS Panzer Grenadiers I painted earlier are from this very boxed set.

These figures can double for SS in a pinch for a 2-3 foot Army with no mods and with a little disguising pass for SS in a closer distance Army. Add an SS arm cuff here and there...paint the SS runes on the collars and paint some camo... the vast majority of people will never know. There will ALWAYS be "that guy" who will point out that the SS "ACTUALLY" had...... 

Now...how do you disguise a unit to make them fit in? 

The first thing you have to do is identify what makes the unit you are trying to portray unique. Polish dismounted Kawalerii for instance....the uniforms are most visibly characterized by the Adrian French helmet, baggy pants and knee high boots.

Dismounted Polish Kawalerii

So step two is figure how to make that disguise and make it believable. Hmmmm... what to do for a unit like the Polish Horse Artillery where Battlefront does not have a unique Polish gun for this unit.  If you stay with Battlefront figs, you have to buy a Finnish 75mm gun and for the gun crews use either the Finnish with German Helmets or regular Polish Gun crew with backpacks and the "Normal" Polish helmet. In this case, I am doing some head swaps with some extra Dismounted Kawalerii troops and stole their heads with Adrian Helmets and a couple extra Heads with Soft caps (Czapska) from the mounted troops then put those on the Finnish gun crew and at first glance no one bats an eye...they look the part.  A future post will talk more on headswaps.  The other option is to see if there is another manufacturer that makes the unit ...but then you have to pay attention to sizing issues between manufacturers.

If you file down the legs a little and make the boot look like it goes up higher or even just paint the boot so it goes higher it completes the illusion. Another option is to use Greenstuff and get your sculpting big boy pants on. Sculpting is another topic all together and one that I am pretty weak at (but always looking to improve). 

Step three is to work the disguise throughout the stand and then throughout the unit. Here is where a theme for the Army comes into play. If I have other figures that are the "correct" type and my "off" figure blends in with them, chances are he will go unnoticed...especially if he is not a central figure on the stand. Or...if all the figures are "off" figures, but have disguises that match and tell the story that works too. You can also add a few "thematic" items to the base...like for my Polish Horse Artillery Battery if I add a horse on a base that really helps sell the unit. If you have multiple stands like that in the unit it helps cement the illusion for the overall unit. Decals and unit markings play a similar role for vehicles. 

The German Nebelwerfer crew that comes with the set from Battlefront is basically a early/mid war uniform with the knee high boots.  For my Late War 5th SS Panzer I had to do a little disguising.  The biggest thing was the boots.  I took the easy road here and painted the pants a little longer, painted anklets and then the boot...on a few others I left the figure in the longer boots.  I read somewhere that some Germans that had been in a while cherished their older boots....these guys are the veterans of the early campaigns  ;-)

Longer Pants with Anklet and short boot

Mix of figs to complete the illusion (lower right has old style boots)

I hope that this helps you out....and modding units to fit into other units helps make your force unique and stand out from other Armies. 

Have fun!

Painting Miniatures Declassified - Decals

Welcome back!  This installment is all about applying decals to your models.  This installment also has a video you can here ==> (DECALS VIDEO).

But let me get into a little more detail on the process in this post.  The first you need several items to do this.

- A set of Decals

- A gloss varnished model

- A dish of water

- Fine cut scissors/sharp hobby knife

- Detail Paint brush (maybe 2)

- Gloss varnish

- Decal Set Solution

- Patience (lots of patience)

You can get a set of decals in several ways.  First is you can use the ones that come with the model kit.  Battlefront's decals are very nice and seperate cleanly. Secondly, you could buy a set of decals from a third party (Dom's Decals, Plastic Soldier Company, Model Dads, I94) are all great and offer some great variants that can make your model stand out. If you want to REALLY make your model unique, you could make your own decals.  This third option is a little more complicated than the "normal" decals, but you can make the decals exactly how you want and not be limited to the "standard" sets.

To make your own decals you need 3 things.  First you need an idea of what you want to print ;-)... Ok, ok, ok...You need a Printer, decal paper that you printer supports and finally Decal Bonder. I have an inkjet printer and use Testors Inkjet Printer Compatible Decal Paper.  Most home computers and printers do not print in white, so decal paper comes in 2 types for us common folk...either clear or white.  This is very important and your first decision is made here.  If you dont need any white in your decal use the clear paper.  The clear allows you to have a little clear"edge" around your design like a storebought decal and are much easier to cutout as a result.  If you need to have white in your decal thing gets a little more complicated.  You could use clear paper, but you need to make sure your design is set to print as "clear" and you paint a white patch on the model where you will apply the decal.  This can be complicated as you have to make sure the white paint is covered by the colored portions of the decals.  This area needs to gloss varnished as well before you apply the decal (more on that in a bit).  A lot of the decals you will make will need to use white though and here you need to use the white decal paper.  This gives you another decision you need to make as you design your decal.  Do you want to leave a little color border around the white or do you want to outline the white in black and cut the decal right to the white edge. 

Both have their own issues... cutting close to the white is easy on simple designs (i.e. German Balken Kreuezs) but is nigh impossible (or time efficient) on complex designs like lettering (vehicle names or registration numbers) or US Stars in a circle.  The trick here is making sure the background/edge color around the white in your design matches the color where it will be placed on the model.  Trial and error here and best to use normal paper until you get that color match.  You need to get as close as possible to the shade, but you can touch up paint around it to better blend it in.  Also, when you print, use the highest qaulity print setting on your printer and the software you are using.  Otherwise you will get the "jaggies" where the edges aren't smooth around the lettering or borders.

So...your design is made and all your colors match.  Now you just print your design on the  paper... ensuring you print on the correct side of the decal paper (follow printer and paper guidelines).  Next step is to let the decal dry COMPLETELY.  The paper is a little shiny and,  especially on an inkjet printer, the ink will smear if not allowed to dry completely.  I try to let them dry over night before I go to the next step, so 5-6 hours at least.  Once the printing is dry, you spray on the Decal Bonder over the printed sheet.  This provides the clear "plastic" top layer of the decal. The ink we printed earlier binds to this layer and stays with it when it seperates from the paper backing.  The trick here is to spray "JUST enough" and not "TOO much".  If you dont spray enough, the ink could run or the decal could tear easier.  If you spray too much, the decal is thicker and wont fit into detailed areas very easily.  Now, let the sprayed decal sheet dry thoroughly.  I usually let it sit over night (say 5-6 hours).  One trick I do when I make my decals is to print in the morning; let it dry; spray it with the sealent after dinner; let it dry overnight; and then apply the decals the next morning.  You can also make them in advance.  The key here is to not let the printed sit around too long with sealent being applied.  Until the sealent is applied, the decal could be smeared.  Once the sealent is applied and dried, you now have several months you can store the decal before use.  I haven,t gone beyond 6 months with a homemade decal being stored at room temperature after being sprayed with sealent so the ultimate length of time is unknown.  I have been able to use Battlefront Decals that were sitting at room temperature/humidity for almost 2 years with no ill effects.  I just had to soak them a little longer in water for the paper to seperate. 

So, now you have your decal sheet in hand.  The process from here on out is the same whether the decal is from Battlefront, 3rd party or homemade (although homemade does have one extra step).  Now you want to make sure the model is gloss varnished...at a minimum the area where the decal will go should be gloss varnished.  Decals adhere best to a smooth surface and gloss varnish provides a very smooth surface for which the decal can adhere. Let the gloss varnish dry completely before applying any decals! 

Now you get to apply skills you learned in Kindergarten or Pre-school.  You get to use scissors (No running now!)!  I recommend some really sharp scissors that can be manuvered easily.  Scrapbooking scissors work like a charm here.  Hobby Knifes/Exacto Knifes can be used too, but you can leave "pressure" marks on the decal where you place the knife down to start a cut.  When you cut the decal out you want to leave an "edge" around the decal.  On "Professional" decals, you can see the actual edge of the decal.  For these your want to leave a paper edge around the actual decal.  For homemade decals on clear paper, your edge is a little sliver of "clear" around the actual design.  For homemade decals on white paper, your edge is typically the color background you used that matches the color of the model.  If you used a black outline as an edge and dont want the black to show, you need to cut carefully to the inside edge ofthe black...which can be VERY tricky.  I tend to only cut the decals I need for a specific model at one time and once those decals are applied I move to cutting out/applying decals to the next model. It is easier to organize the decals while they are on the sheet as opposed to wrangling down a bunch of loose decals....some of which can be small.  Nothing worse than cutting everything out and have to stop mid-process and run the risk of those decals getting blown/moved around and all jumbled up....or even lost!  If they stay on the sheet till you need them this doesn't happen.

Next...get you a little dish and put some water inside.  I find a saucer works very well.  The sides angle to the top and this helps me move the decal around easier.  The water used is nothing fancy.  I use filtered tap water...some will recommend distilled water.  All depends on where you live as to what you can get away with...the fewer impurities in the water the better.  Place the decals you cut out into the water.  I like to place them face up...helps me see the next step better.  You leave the decal in the water until it slides off the paper backing EASILY.  If you rush the process you could tear the decal.  Some decals need longer in the water than others.  I find it best to use a size "0"  paintbrush with 1/2 inch long bristles.  This allows you to under big decals and keep them from curling as well as lifting up the little decals.  For very small decal decals a smaller detail brush is better.  The key is to have the entire width of the decal fit on the brush...not just a corner.  Use the bristles to slide the decal off the paper. The bristle are soft enough so cant apply too much pressure and tear the decal.  Just don't press so hard where the ferrel (the metal part on the brush holding the bristles) hits the decal...you will tear the decal this way.  

While the decal soaks, you have a couple of minutes to prep the surface.  Remember...we shouldn't even be at this step if the surface doesn't have a gloss surface.  To prepare the surface for the decal, take a little of the Decal Set Solution and apply a light coat where the decal will go.  This gives you a liquid base to place the decal and will allow it to slide around into place.  Nothing worse than putting the decal down and you can't slide it into place.  If thi does happen though, apply a little more Decal Set,especially around the edges of the decal...this should be enough to get it floating.  Sometimes water is enough to do this as well.  The setting solution also helps the decal "melt" into any detail on the model.  Again, practice makes perfect in knowing when you have enough decal set down as a base.

Once you have the decal set down, it is time to get the decal and place it into place on the model.  A great tool for this is the trusty "10/0" or GW "Detail"  paintbrush.  Give the brush a good point and start to slide the decal from its paper backing.  If it slides onto the bottom of the dish just try to lift a corner and get it to float.  Now, it is just a matter of lifting the decal from the water and placing it on the model.  You want it to be a little wet still, but again...not TOO wet.  Dab any excess water off with a paper towel.  If it rolls or curls or gets out of shape, just place it back into the water and gently work it back into shape.  As I said you need patience for this.  Once you get it on your brush, slide the decal into position on the model.  As you position it, make sure you get rid of any airbubbles.  Once it is in place, you can GENTLY dab any excess water away with another brush, paper towel, cotton cloth, etc...  Once that decal is in place, repeat the process with the next decal.

Once you have the decals in place you are ready to "work" the decal into the detail of the model.  German tanks with Zimmerit are the worst case, but you can still apply decals there.  Take some more decal set and apply it to the top of the decal.  GENTLY use the tip of a soft paintbrush and dab the decal into the detail.  How thick the decal is determines how long it will take to work the decal into the detail....also how much decal set you will need.  Somethimes you might need a second coat of Decal Set (or third)  Here is where not putting TOO much Decal Bonder on your homemade decals is important.  Care really needs to be taken here as if there is any point where you will rip a decal...this is it.  Between the decal set softening the decal to the paintbrush dab (stabbing) the decal...the rip-o-meter has moved into the red zone for sure.  Sometimes, I will put a drop of decal set on top of the decal and let it sit for a few seconds then work it in.  This is one of those techniques that require a lot of practice to master.

Once the decal is worked into place and dry (allow a few hours at least). It is time to seal it with gloss varnish.  Put a coat of gloss varnish over the top of the decal and over the edges.  This SHOULD prevent any air getting under the edge and cause the decal to lift off the model and cauese it to have a silver background.  All the steps we took to this point are our best attempts to minimize this silvering. 

The decals should be firmly set and worked into any detail at this point..."but SonBae they're glossy!"  No worries.  Just hit them one time with some Flat Matte and you are good to go...the shine will be gone.  And if you hit them with a Flat Matte finish now, you are in a perfect position to have you first requirement to apply pigments!

That's all there is to it. Hope this helps and as allways, let me know if you do something a little different...I am always looking to expand my skill set.

Happy Painting!....or should I say Happy Decaling!