A hobby weekend

Last weekend was looking to be a tame, stay at home and not do much sort of affair.  That lasted until 5th Monday (sometimes known as Friday in places that aren't my work) kicked in and the work crew decided we needed beers to help ease the pain.  So far, a not uncommon tale for the end of a week.

Several of us gathered at the local tavern for some food and drinks.  Our wives and children and in one case boyfriend, showed up.  It was cold and dark and the tavern was full so we all re-convened at my house.  This is when I discovered that one of my co-workers, who lives all of three miles from me, was a gamer.

Once all of the non-gamer riff-raff went home we discussed gaming, models, the wonders of the hobby that are not "The Hobby" (tm).  We sat down and played a game of X-Wing.  Here's hoping he gets sucked back into this most wholesome of hobbies.

Saturday morning I assembled a bunch of models and got them primed.  It actually got to 60 degrees F, While this is normal for November in Colorado, this November has seen a constant cycle of arctic cold fronts hitting us.  Sure enough Sunday was freezing and snowing again.

This is one of my favorite games right now.

Saturday afternoon another friend and his wife came over.  We served in the Marines together and he is also a gamer.  Since this was a family weekend we would not be playing any tabletop wargames but I thought some Lords of Waterdeep might be in order.  My friend's wife was not keen on the game, especially when she saw the Dungeons and Dragons logo on it.  Much muttering about DM's and dice followed as we got set up.

This is a worker placement game that is fun for all ages.  My seven and nine year old play it.  My wife loves it.  It's simple with great re-playability.  The D&D finish is pretty thin, to the point where people talk about needing "three oranges" instead of three warriors.  The game mechanics are solid and fun.  If you've never played, give it a shot.

The hesitancy lasted less than the first game.  We played three that night and she wanted more but we needed sleep.  First thing in the morning we fed the kids and played two more games before they headed home.  She was addicted and planning where to get the best deal on the game for Christmas.

This is a can of spray paint.  It's used for priming models so acrylic model paint will stick better.

The rest of Sunday was spent building more minis for the painting challenge.  I'll have to hope there is another warm spell so I can get them primed.  I now have all but two of the models I need for the bonus rounds as well as the regular models I plan on painting.  I have a couple of very ambitious goals queued up.  I didn't push the points a lot this year but I am pushing modeling skills.

All in all, the best gaming weekend in a long, long time.  Between actually playing some games and the excitement of the Challenge, I'm back in the groove in a way that I've been missing for a long time.