When the hobby hurts

I haven't posted much this month.  It's really come down to health issues.  My shoulder has been bothering me for years but has gotten really bad in the last few months.  I finally had surgery last week.  What does all of this have to do with anything?

Sometimes the hobby hurts.  Physically hurts.  For the last month, and especially, the last week, almost all hobby activity has been painful to perform.  I can game, which may be part of why I'm so excited about X-Wing right now.  I can't hold a brush, or a file.  I can't hold two little pieces of plastic together while the glue sets.  Most of the hobby is outside my reach, both figuratively and literally.

I spent a couple of days staring forlornly at the models on my desk.  There's so much to do and I'm not accomplishing any of it.  Then I started to consider how I would adjust if my temporary disability were permanent.  What could I do to allow me to paint and assemble models?  How would my collecting change if everything became harder?  This was purely an exercise in "what if" since I am expecting to recover fully.  It was really something to keep my mind occupied while I sat here and drooled on myself.

One result of all of this thought is a new found appreciation for all that I take for granted.  It's good to have things taken away from us sometimes; it helps us realize what we have and what we value.  The prospect of re-gaining full use of my right arm is something that fills me with great pleasure, above and beyond the hope of living without pain.  I definitely find that I am a person who wants what they can't have.  I'm surprised at the sense of loss I feel right now.

I am obsessive about miniatures and gaming.  I think about them way more than I should.  They have helped to keep me sane through many military deployments.  I need to keep my brain actively engaged.  I haven't watched TV in years and have a hard time sitting through a movie.  Miniatures are the balm that soothes the savage beast, so to speak.

I'm going to wrap it up here, both because I'm sure this is rambling (stupid pain killers) and because typing hurts too.  But I do have a question.  What disabilities do you guys suffer from and how do you compensate? It could be as simple as failing eyesight or as difficult as a certain sculptor's missing hand.  I'd be fascinated to hear all about it.  Or are we all insufferably healthy?

Battle Report - Isengard vs Gray Company

I am planning on running a campaign for the club come January. In preparation I've come up with 21 new scenarios.  A couple are based on some from the book but most are new, and therefore in need of testing.  A couple of weeks ago Tony and Jonathan kindly agreed to help me test one out.

The flanking force arrives

Mumak on the loose

With the Lord of the Rings campaign coming up, in January, I need to expand my army a bit, to give myself some more options.  This is nice because it is giving me motivation to complete models that I've had sitting around but that don't have a place in my normal armies.

I'll prime and paint him like this and do the howdah separately.

Painted Romans

For Valentine's day my wife bought me five boxes of Warlord Games' Early Imperial Romans.  Great woman.  I finished off one of the boxes here.  The second box are not much different, to be honest.  I now have two Cohorts of Rome's finest.  One more unit and I'll be ready to try out Hail Caesar with Jonathan in November.

Command.

Battle Report - Lego Wars

Last weekend Rhys and I tried out Lego Wars.  This is a much simplified version of wargaming, based on rules found here.  The beauty of the system is that we can play with any toys that Rhys wants to.  We, of course, played with Legos.

My fierce army, lined up and ready to go.  Shooters on the right, fighters on the left.

Sci-Fi Monday - Battle Report - X-Wing

The other night I arrived for our Thursday night game and Tony was running Jonathan through an introductory game of X-Wing.  They both had bought starter sets, and I had brought mine with me.  After the intro game we decided to play a big game of X-Wing instead of the scheduled LotR.  100 points each side, and nine ships on the table later, we were ready to go.

The brave and scrappy Rebel line prepares for battle.

15mm Wind Energy

Sci-Fi games need scenery.  Some needs to be playable, some needs to block line of sight (LoS) and some is just there to make the table look great.  I started the year with not a single piece of 15mm terrain.  This made perfect sense as I didn't have a single 15mm model or any intention to collect any.

Finished Wind Chargers.  Mechs and infantry sold separately.

X-Wing Follow up

I've had X-Wing for a week now.  It has been a huge success.  Not only has Rhys been asking to play but Owyn has played a couple of games.  They both love the models and understand the mechanics.  They are a little hazy on the maneuvering part but they love rolling dice and moving their ships.  They smoked me in one game and much rejoicing, and dancing, ensued.

Rhys still wants to learn Lord of the Rings, but he is in love with X-Wing.

This one is definitely going in the Win column.