Setting the Scene

Working through my blog roll tonight I found a treasure of a post by Sidney Roundwood.  I'm going to point you in his direction for two reasons.  Firstly, this post has some great ideas and even if you only use one or two, I think they'll improve your games.

Secondly, I want to be able to find it again, and now I have a permanent link.

With no further ado Being There, by Sidney Roundwood.

I didn't go to Salute (or Adepticon, or Reaper Con)

Anne, of Anne's Attic has started a new meme, or at least she's started one if it takes off.  She did not get to go to Salute, or any of the other big shows going on right now.  Her suggestion is that all of us in that situation tell everyone what we did do.

I've taken the liberty to expand it from just Salute to also cover Adepticon and Reaper Con, since they are both going on this weekend as well.

March and April

March was a complete failure for my hobby.  I didn't play a game.  I didn't pick up a brush.  I didn't assemble so much as a single 15mm figure.  Nothing.  While I have valid reasons (vacation, new job) I am still feeling down about it.

My plan for April is ambitious, probably too much so, but I have to pump it up to get my mojo back.

March.  This says it all.

Brigade Models Sale! 25% off

Brigade Models are having a 25% off sale.  (Bugger, I said that in the title too).  This is bigger than most any sale in our little industry, and it is this weekend only.  They only announced it on their blog, so I'll throw this up in case you missed it there.

Commission work - Necrons

I do some sub-contracting from time to time.  One of the guys down at the shop has a painting service.  He has tried everything to stay ahead, raising prices, refusing requests, he's still booked to the eyes.  When he gets behind he throws assembly work my way.

The whole army. 

My 2012 Ouptut - For posterity's sake

These are my Assembled/Painted numbers for 2012.  I'll be keeping them here, just so I can compare, year on year.  Using Curt's point system for the Analogue Painting Challenge this is 934 points painted.  That's for a whole year, mind you.  Some of his contestants are closing on that after a couple of weeks.  I guess I'll need to try a lot harder this year.

Painted models just look so much better, I'm not sure why it's so hard to get motivated to paint them.

2012 In Review and 2013 Plans

How's that for an inspiring title.  I love seeing what everyone else plans for the year, and how last year's plans panned out (or more often did not).  Since a large part of my keeping this blog is to keep track of my hobby, I also look forward to seeing what the last year held for me.

This was the biggest accomplishment of the year.

Final assembly

That's it.  I'm calling it a year.  No more hobby will happen before the 1st.  I accomplished most of what I was aiming for the last few days though.  The pile waiting for priming has grown.

Auxiliary Command from Warlord.  Very nice models.

End of year frenzy

I've been out of action for the last two months.  The blog's been quiet because I have not done anything hobby-wise.  My shoulder is starting to feel better, at the same time that I have a week off of work.  I'm trying to get a whole bunch assembled so that if the weather gets nice enough, I can get it primed.  I have a fair bit primed already, but most of it is not for any current project; rather they are artifacts of past attempts to paint armies.

Several of my kickstarters have come home to roost in the last two weeks.  First through the door was Fanticide.  This was the rules, cards and a Liberi war band, as well as a sample pack and the unicorn.

Five Worthy Blogs

I have been given the Liebster Award by Jonathan over at The Inevitable Spark.  So Thank You Jonathan.  This is a meme, started I know not where, that has been making the rounds the last few weeks.

This award is a way for our community to share, by picking five of your favorite blogs to pass the award to.  I find it a little ironic that I received it after not really managing any hobby for a month, but I'm grateful.

In the end this is nothing more than a chance for us to share some of the blogs we enjoy.  That's a worthwhile goal and well worth the effort.

The five blogs I'm going to showcase below are the ones that I look forward to reading the most.  Some that I might have chosen have already received this, very, prestigious award.  If you are not one of these five, know that every blog on my blog roll is there because I consider reading it worth my time and I gain something I value from it.

First up is Rear Guard Action.  J. de Jong is all about board games.  I have quite a collection of board games, but nothing like him.  This is a part of my hobby that was critical during my formative years, but that I don't get to spend much time on these days.  This blog has been helping me to get back in touch with the world of board gaming.

Tim K. Actually wrote this.  I've actually played games with him.  That's pretty awesome.

Next up is Cursed Treasures by Tim Kulinski.  I've met Tim a few times; played several games of Lord of the Rings against him, one of which is even covered on this blog, back in the mists of time.  Tim is the author of Legends of the High Seas.  His blog is an eclectic blend of genres, along with a fair amount of disenchantment with a certain company that used to give him joy.  I'm in touch with that emotion, so this blog resonates with me on several levels.

Roundwood's World is a blog by the very talented Sidney Roundwood.  While there are a lot of interesting posts on this gem of a blog I'll sum it all up in one word; TERRAIN.  Sidney's terrain boards have inspired me.  I'm just working up the courage to get started on some of my own, though the step into WWI gaming will have to wait.  Incidentally, I can't believe I'm the first one to put him up.

The next blog is Analogue Hobbies.  This one just blows me away.  The WWI in grey scale is one of the greatest things I've ever seen in my life.  The sheer insanity of it is an inspiration.  Curt also posts up a periodic series of scenarios, which we should all appreciate, as gamers.

The final blog is The British Army at Waterloo.  Following my theme, which seems to revolve around a certain level of insanity, even for we hobbyists, this blog is documenting the effort to collect and paint the British army at Waterloo at 1-1.  I find the concept beyond imagining.  I'm not certain I could even contemplate such a project, but it does make me feel a little bit saner.

As I said above, I enjoy and value each blog in my blog roll, but each of these is something different and unique, for either personal reasons or just the content of the blog.

I hope you all check them out and enjoy them as much as I do.

Bring the Pain

I finally had my follow up appointment this week.  I won't bore you with details, but it turned out they had to rebuild the entire front of my shoulder.  The good news is that it should be good as new, in about three months.  The bad news is that It's going to take awhile to get better; about three months.  I'm hoping to be able to hold a paintbrush long before then, but right now I guess I'll be reading rules and surfing blogs.

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?

Mini gaming with the Wee

I was recently directed to this post about gaming with small children.  I have had three posts on my search for games to play with Rhys.  In the first one I talked about a home grown dungeon crawl game.  It quickly lost its appeal.  Owyn got bored after the first session, Rhys stuck with it for a few more but was, obviously, not really interested.

My second go around was Lego Castle Fortrann.  This never got played.  Rhys has discovered the online version on the lego web site and he plays that from time to time.  When last reported, we were planning on playing the following weekend.  The boys decided to take all of the pieces and mix them in with the rest of their legos.  That didn't work out so well, then.


The third go around saw me buying one of the Dungeons and Dragons board games.  While this game doesn't scale very well with two players, a couple of modifications have us playing it successfully.  This game was a hit and Rhys loves his "Dungeon Game".  Every couple of weeks we pull it out and have a go at it.

Incidentally, in the post above, I mentioned that we were going to see a 3/4 scale X-Wing.  That did happen and it seems churlish of me not to include a picture.

This thing lives at the local airplane museum, Wings over the Rockies.

So.... to make a short story long and interminable, while Rhys is enjoying his Dungeon Game, it is not the ultimate answer because it is not playing Lord of the Rings, which is what he really wants to do.  In addition to the complexity of the rules I am reluctant because of the way he plays with the models.  They tend to end up getting banged together in combat.  This is fine with squinkies or lego guys, but not with my painfully painted minis.

The post that started this whole story off has a good answer.  A miniature game using any and all miniatures, with simple rules and very little math.  Army size is determined by number of dice.  "We're playing a twenty dice game tonight".  Each troop/dinosaur/robot/whatever is one dice.  Each General is two.  Vehicles or large monsters are more, up to four.

Movement is in inches and every unit gets a free reform; this gets rid of fiddly maneuvers that little boys would not dig at all.  Shooters move 2", fighters 4" and cavalry/vehicles 8".  Fighters hit on 3+ and wound on 4+.  Shooters and vehicles/monsters hit on 4+ and wound on 5+.

Once you've bought your troops you divide them into units, though we may play it as a skirmish game with single models.  Models are either fighters or shooters.  Fighters hit and wound better, shooters can shoot from a distance but have a harder time hitting and wounding.  Vehicles can't fight.  Terrain is simple.  Roll dice and move around until one army is destroyed.  "Ferb, I know what we're going to do today".

This is going to be a winner.  We'll pull out the lego guys and build some armies and start fighting.  I can hardly wait.  The inventor of the game calls it Tourna.  While that is a grand name and all, I'm going to Rhysicize it right now and call it Lego-War.

By the way, there are at least two other Lego wargames out there that I am aware of, though neither is appropriate to my target audience.

The first is BrikWars, which has been around for a long time.  The key thing with this game is that anything goes and if you are thinking about it too hard then you are missing the point.  I highly recommend a read through the rules.  This is how Legos should be played with.

The second is Mobile Frame Zero.  This is a lego mech game.  The rules will run you about $20.  They sell kits for the mechs, though anyone with a Lego collection should be able to build their own.  Rhys and I will be checking this one out a bit down the line.

Commission work - Saurus

In addition to the demons I also put together a unit of sixteen Warhammer Saurus Warriors.  These are old models and they are showing their age.  They are good looking but the difference between them and the new demons is huge.

Good looking, but simple.

Commission Work

My hobby output is going to be dropping off here for the next couple of weeks.  I'm assembling a Warhammer Demons army for a guy at the local shop.  He makes his living painting armies for people.  In fact, he had so much work he raised prices to lower demand, and just ended up making more money.  Assembly takes a lot of time, but not much skill, so is not a great use of his time.

I enjoy assembly and get either money or models out of it.  My Harad army was paid for by a commission to assemble a giant empire army.  What this means is that for the next couple of weeks I'll be spending my hobby time putting together other people's models instead of working on my own stuff.

I just completed 60 Pink Horrors.  In case anyone wants to know what a nightmare looks like, this is it.

60 Pink Horrors. 

This is a whole lot of waving arms.

Fanticide by Alien Dungeon

There is yet another miniature skirmish game coming our way.  This seems to be the flavor de jeur, probably due to the recession, but who knows.  Games like Infinity and Malifaux show the popularity of skirmish games.  They don't require very many miniatures, though usually lots of terrain.  The minis are, generally, expensive but beautiful.

The cover doesn't do a lot for me, but look at those names on the front there.

Truthfully, the market is saturated.  So why am I even bothering to bring up another one?  This is why:

 The rules have been developed and written by Rick Priestly, Alessio Cavatore, Andy Chambers and Ernest Baker.

So, yeah.  Sign me up as interested.  Those are some high powered names right there.  I'll definitely be following the development of Fanticide with interest.

They also have a Facebook page and a blog.

Since I typed this up they have also added a Kickstarter campaign.  I'm not sure if I'll support this one or not.  It will be a great way to get the rules/cards for less than retail.  You can also get good deals on armies if you are interested.  If nothing else, they have most of the information on the game in one place, on this page, so it is a convenient place to find everything in one long scroll.

Bones Kickstarter

There is yet another Kickstarter campaign going on that I was unable to resist.  I should really block the URL so that I can't even get to it.  As the title suggests, this is the Bones Kickstarter from Reaper Miniatures.  The value of this campaign makes it, pretty much, a no brainer.

Dux Brit Player's Notes

TooFatLardies have released some player's notes for Dux Brit.  They serve as a quick start explanation of the rules.  They are useful enough that I would recommend having them available as you read through the rules.  You can just glance over, "did I read that right?".  "Yup."

The cover art, because pictures make blogs better.

Dux Brit arrives

Dux Britanniarum from TooFatLardies was released this last week.  I'm still waiting for my hard copy and cards (and free miniature) but I was able to download the PDF and have a read through.  Here's my initial thoughts.

Sci/Fi Monday - Federation Marine Corps

The Federation Marine Corps is one of the elite forces of the Federation of Neu Normandie.  Formed out of elements of the Imperial Marine Corps, immediately following the declaration of the Federation, there are two main missions for the FMC.

The first mission is that of ships guards.  There are Marine detachments on all vessels of cruiser size and above.  These ships guards serve in two roles.  They guard against mutiny by the sailors; rare now but not uncommon in the days immediately following the withdrawal of the imperial forces.  In this role the Marines are billeted between the crew and officers with two Marines in power armor always manning the one hatch that separates officer's country from the crew.

The second role of the ship's guards is to serve in boarding actions.  The Marine detachment will both defend against enemy boarding attempts and, much more to their tastes, board enemy ships, capturing them for the Federation.

The second major mission area for the FMC is to secure a planet head on an enemy planet.  The transition from space to terra firma is, by far, the most difficult of all military missions.  The FMC specializes in dropping to a planet and securing a planet hold which can support the landing of larger Army forces.

The nature of the mission demands that the FMC be equipped with grav vehicles.  While grav technology is mindbogglingly expensive, it is the only way to reliably accomplish the mission of seizing a planet head.  The FMC uses dropships for follow on forces, primarily logistics and mechs, but the main force will be dropped from low orbit in grav vehicles.

The FMC is task organized into mixed air/space/ground task forces of battalion strength.  There are Marine Divisions but they are administrative rather than operational organizations.  The divisions are force providers for the fleet and the strike elements.

The basic building block of the combat force is the Marine Planetary Assault Unit (MPAU).  The MPAU, (pronounced M-POW), is built around a rifle battalion.  To this is attached a command element, an aerospace element and a logistics element.  The MPAU is capable of capturing a heavily defended spaceport and holding it long enough for the Army's forces to arrive by drop ship.

The MPAUs serve aboard ship, located close to the action.  As such they are often the first force available when a crisis erupts.  This fact has resulted in an additional, unofficial, mission being added to the mission set of the FMC's MPAUs.  They are often called upon to land on a planet under attack and add some firepower and elite skill to the local defense forces.  While this is not an official mission the pragmatic nature of the Corps means that all MPAUs are trained to conduct training of indigenous forces.

The FMC is the go-to force in the most trying of circumstances.  When the Federation needs forces on a planet immediately they turn to the FMC and it's aggressive infantry to accomplish the mission, whatever it is.