2014 in Review and 2015 Plans

As it's the first day of the new year, it is clearly time to take stock of the year just passed and to do a little planning for the new one, just begun.  The place to start, of course, is with this same post from a year ago.

Rhys preparing to slaughter me at Gruntz.

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.

Updated Online army builder page

I've not had energy for much of anything gaming the last month.  I've played a couple of games of Gruntz with Rhys as well as a few X-Wing games.  Nothing worth blogging about.  I've also not picked up a paint brush in so long I'm not sure I remember how.

I did update the online army builder page on my Manufacturer links page, however.

I've got a couple of games scheduled in the next week so I will hopefully have something worth posting soon.  Perhaps they'll even get my mojo back.

In Her Majesty's Name - Manufacturers updated

I've been studying for a professional certification at work.  The kind where they fire you if you don't get it.  Pretty much all of my free time has been spent on that, oddly, however I did take a couple of minutes to update the links on my Manufacturers page, specifically for the Steam Punk / VSF sellers.

Please check it out, as well as all of the others.  If you have any to add that I have missed I'd be happy to throw them on there.

Bloggers for Charity

For anyone interested in the French and Indian War (FIW) or Queen Anne's war as it was known, this is a chance to pick up some very nice, painted, figures for a reasonable price.  Or, if you are awesome, to pay way too much for said figures as they are for charity.

Please go over to the Bloggers for Charity site and bid on one, (or more) of the lots and make this a success.

Here are some of the pictures on my painting table.

Edit:  Someone has bid 15 quid on my entry.  I'm pleased that they have been that well received.  I wish you well of them.

The XX Legion

I'm currently in the UK for a brief vacation.  We stopped in Bath a couple of days ago and one of the exhibits talked about the XX Legion.  Their symbol was the boar and there is the remains of a carving as well as a re-creation of what it would have looked like when it was created.

An actual boar of the XXth Legion, recovered at Bath.

The Police sketch artist version of the boar.

History - WWI Marine discharge papers

For Christmas my parents got me a discharge certificate for a Marine from WWI.  I just recently got it framed and mounted.

This is hand written, with the personal information added later.  It is signed by the Commandant, Major General George Barnett.

Major General George Barnett

I know nothing about Harry Haffner, other than that he served aboard Parris Island, so did not fight in France.  This is a fascinating piece of history and I'm pleased to have it.  Once the basement gets finished this will hang on one of the walls of the man cave.

Exeter or Bust!

In a week the family and I will be heading back to ol' Blighty for an eight day vacation.  It's hard to believe that we haven't been back in ten years now.  We'll be staying down around Exeter, except for two nights in London on the way home.  If any of my British readers have any "must see's" down in the South West, I'd love to have your recommendations.

Liebster Award

I'ts been a busy week with more social events than are normal for me.  Spending time with real people meant that I did not spend the usual time with you fine folks.  So imagine my surprise when I went through my blog roll and found that I had been nominated for not just one, but two Liebsters.

Memorial Day

It is Memorial Day in the United States.  It's a three day weekend and Americans traditionally go camping and have BBQs on this day.  It's also the day we honor those who have fought and died for us.  As always today I'll be presenting you with my friend John Maloney.

Astounded, Amazed, Awestruck - The tale of an Easter basket

Chris over at Sippin' On Paint Water had an Easter basket giveaway on his blog.  Please check out Chris' blog.  I don't say this because he gave me stuff and I feel obligated.  I say this because his War in Africa posts set the benchmark for building a story, setting a scene and tying it all together.  If we all go and study his methods then our blogs will all be more interesting to read.

It was the end of a very long day when I on his blog and saw my avatar staring back at me.  I have to admit to several moments of confusion.  I actually closed the tab and went back to my blog roll and clicked again.  When I saw the same thing staring back at me it hit me, I'd won.  After squealing like a little girl I set about sending off my address to Chris.  Several weeks later I received a fair sized box in the mail.  This is what was contained therein.

Chuckles was on the top of the basket.  His carrot was broken and he'd lost his head in all of the excitement.  Good as new now.

A worthy cause

There are many worthy causes in the world.  Some help those in serious need, such as Bloggers for Charity.  Others help to feed intellectual growth, and share the love we all have for this hobby.  This post is about the latter.

Off the rails

I'm going to go way off topic tonight.  It's not that I don't have gaming stuff to talk about, I do, and it's awesome.  It's just that several things have come together lately that I need to talk about.  This will not be pretty and it will not be the usual.  It will, likely, not be interesting for most of you.

The Analogue Painting Challenge Retrospective

The annual Analogue Painting Challenge is over.  It passed in a flash, and yet the beginning feels like it was years ago.  As is traditional, and true to my character, it's time for a quick retrospective of what I accomplished.

This year's banner.

Old Stuff Day

Today, March 2nd is Old Stuff Day.  In the blogging arena that means pulling out some of your old classics to share with a new audience, or share again with long time readers.

Paint Table Saturday 2

Here's my second entry for Sofie's Paint Table Saturday.  It's been a few weeks since my last one, so at least I've made some progress since last time.

Next Project

Tonight's just a teaser.  I don't normally show WiP pictures but it's been awhile since I had anything to show and my next entry in the painting challenge hasn't been posted yet.

What are they?

These were a quick bit of work tonight.  They'll get wrapped up in the next couple of days, then back to painting models for the challenge.

Colorful Colorado - Western Terrain

I'm not into Western gaming myself, but it seems very popular in some of the blogs I follow.  Since I live in the West I thought I'd post up some pics for those of you who want to work on terrain for those games.

The Western Slope of Colorado, near Grand Junction.

Painting Table Saturday - 8 Feb 2014

Jumping on the bandwagon a little late; but I do love a good bandwagon.  Here's the state of my painting table this Saturday.  It's a tale of woe and shame, but a good catharsis is called for under the circumstances.

So much shame in one square foot area.

Loki's Blog giveaway

Loki, of Loki's Great Hall, is having a very nice little giveaway to celebrate his blog hitting 100,000 hits.  Loki is a prolific painter and all round good guy, being one of the founders of Bloggers for Charity (click on the banner to the right for more info).

Give away or not, his blog is well worth your time to peruse.