December, and The Christmas Loot!

 I do have to apologize for yet once again another delay.

The December holiday season slammed into us like an oncoming freight train.

My wife and I were overwhelmed by all that was (and still is), going on.

But with Christmas, I DID score a bit on the gaming stuff.

And Christmas was good to us both...

"The Old Girl"....

Diligent readers of the past entries will know that our house (aka: "The Old Girl"), is something "of her own", and this is especially true at Christmas, when she takes on her own special magic.

A wonderful friend of mine has nicknamed our house "The Hallmark Christmas Movie Set House..." because well, as he says "It looks like a set for a Hallmark Christmas Romance Movie".  I couldn't agree more. And to be honest, she is so beautiful. These pics don't do her justice.

("Mr. Bear and the Stuffies" sit patiently next to the tree peering out the window and waiting for "you know who" on Christmas Eve...)

(Looking into the dining room from the foyer...)

(Ready for the entry scene....)

("Mr. Bear and The Stuffies" are sitting in the chair next to the tree, patiently waiting and peering out the window for "You know who...")

("The warm, steaming glow of electric sex...."  Well, you have to admit that it DOES slow down traffic on our street...)

And even my game room in the basement got it's very own Christmas Tree!

(Hmmm...I dunno....Does it really say "Christmas"?) 

We also got a chance to host a December dinner for some friends of ours. Food, friends, fun, fellowship, and gift giving...

And the Hallmark House did it's magic....

("Now this is the scene where we meet the family....")

(Insert charming Christmas dinner music here...)

Christmas!!!!!

Christmas Day came and my wonderful wife's (Gawd bless her!) stocking was (as usual) stuff to the gills and overflowing with goodies.

She deserves it for putting up with me.

(Stocking envy? Naaaaahhhh.....)

(Soldaten's Gunther and Hans guard the German Candies. They do their duty as all good German soldiers do.)

Also, if you like Sweet Tarts candies and can find these, get them.

They are indeed that good.

Oh and our dinner dessert with our friends was mini-chocolate eclairs.

(Need I discuss in devilish dialogue their delightful deliciousness?) 

Christmas morning came around....

(Mr. Bear waits to open presents...)

(Yeps. He got a candy cane! He's happy!)

(Look at all the surprises beneath the tree!!!, and um...get a look at those two German soldiers guarding the boozy chocolates...)

And the present opening trashed the house...just like in a Hallmark movie.

(Mr. Bear looks like he is passed out from too much eggnog!)

And then we ate!

(Ham, sweet potatoes, scalloped potatoes, asparagus, cranberry sauce, and Italian bread...) 

And then we had wine...

A 15 year old bottle of Ruby Port....

And we had a lemon thingy for desert also....

After that, we watched football....(also known as "How the Houston Texans got overwhelmed and spanked hard by the Baltimore Ravens....)

(Mr. Bear doesn't understand football, but he likes to watch it....)

("A Man and His Bear...." As you can tell this isn't going well for the Texans....)

After the game, I went outside and in true tradition, got pics of the old girl on Christmas night....

Her 107th....

My Christmas Loot....

And so, we made it through Christmas Day, and the day after, (Boxing Day).

I took inventory of my loot and for gaming stuff, made out pretty well.

First off was some 3D printed buildings 28mm from Ender.

There are really nice and detailed 28mm scenic pieces that fit in with fantasy/historical settings, and should paint up quite nicely. The rooftops are not removable, so they are solid pieces.

(These will look good in my pirate, fantasy, and witchfinder/horror/pike and shotte games...)

She also got me the Sarissa English Timber Frame Manor.

This thing is pretty big and intimidating looking.

(Gonna look great once it's done and on the table....)

(That's a lot of pieces there...)

And then she scored big points by getting me the 6' X 4' Countryside mat from Cigar Box Battles.

A quick measurement shows this to be a little more than 4' wide, but I am not complaining.

This is beautifully done and very high quality.

(This is very high quality. I am impressed and it will look awesome on the table...)

She also scored for me the basic dock set and market place set from Things from the Basement.

And I got the Osprey "On The Seven Seas" book....

And finally she picked up some figures from Eureka.

These are the four 18th Century Vignette Sets that I have been eyeing for a while.

(More figures and more painting in the future...)

So that was my gaming loot for Christmas. I scored on other loot also including a pretty awesome metal detector and some much needed other items.

Christmas was once again a wonderful time, even with the Texans getting stomped.

I made wonderful memories with my wonderful wife, and treasure them.

I do have to keep this in mind and once again pass this onto all of my readers out there, (and feel free to pass it on yourself.)

So at this point, I am happy and blessed and am at peace. One of these day in the future, I myself will be "one of those that didn't make it", and I am hoping that this blog and these words and pics will continue, and those can't take enjoyment in it.

(My Santa hat....Las Vegas style....)

And of course I save the best for last.
The reason for the season.
May the light of our Lord and Savior shine upon you and your loved ones for this year and the coming years ahead. 
For he is indeed, the light of the world...
Merry Christmas....

Thanks for reading this year and for all the years. There's more to come and please let me know if there is anything you'd like to see.

My 2024 Little Wars Loot and Swag...

To all of you that read and commented on my Little Wars 2024 review, I want to say thank you.

I didn't include these pics or entries because simply put the blog post was already a longer than expected mess. 

But I DID promise a run down of my Little Wars Loot.

So here we go!

THE STUFF....

I knew that Bones VI KS was going to blow my "Painted figures vs bought/acquired figures count/pledge" all to hell and half of Georgia, but I really wasn't expecting that count to be wiped out at LW. 

Well, tbh, I kind of feared that may have been the case.

So, on the stuff.

First off was a gift I got for my LW friends that came to meet up with me, (JW & MB).

I went to the Father and Son team of benshot.com and purchased each of us an 11 oz tumbler; each with a .308/7.62 mm slug in it. I had them engraved, and given to each member.

I plan on each year doing "a gift" to friends that are willing to join me, game with me, have fun with me, and put up with me for the convention. It's my way of saying "Thank you" to my friends for simply being my friends.

I am honored by them.

(They really hold bourbon well, and make a nice piece...)

The company makes a wonderful product, and shipped it out very quickly. I was very pleased with their service and recommend them.

So first off....

The Free Stuff...aka "SWAG"....

I will admit (or should that be "confess"?), that I kind of "made out like a bandit" during this convention. 

One of the things I had been hoping for up there was to get a Caribbean water battle mat, (the kind offered for sale by Cigar Box Battle) at either the Flea Market or from a retailer. I was unlucky on both, so I will have to order directly from them which is no problem.

I did get a lot of "Free stuff" though.

Upon confirming my pre-reg, I was given my first piece. A KODT issue. 

 

(An older issue but still something nice to read between games and downtime...)

After that I was given some free stuff from a friend; a couple of items created by "Things From The Basement". I had always wanted to see how their stuff was, and now this gives me an idea on whether or not I want to do future orders with them. 

The Phalanx Consortium made up some nice wooden measuring templates. I was able to get a couple of these. I'd love to have about 10 more. 

 

(Very hand to use in games...)

I was lucky enough to be graced by HMGS-Midwest with a copy of the print "First to Fight" which was also the copy of the raffle print.

(This will be going into a frame and hung soon....)

Another gift I was given was a set of HMGS-Midwest 2024 Game Master dice.

These are beautiful and I am so honored by the gifts. 

All in all, for "Free" swag, I did pretty good. This is my "Free Swag/Loot Table", minus two items I will be discussing later on in this blog...

(Not a bad free haul...)

One of the other things I was able to get was a "Wounded Warrior Project Pin", for donating to the project by buying raffle tickets.

This is a nice piece and I will be proud to have it on my convention card holder.

I was actually able to score two of them, so one will be on the my card holder and the other will be going on my American Legion Service Cap. 

(It's a noble cause and a good thing that HMGS-Midwest works with...)

From the Flea Market....

I hit the flea market on both days. 

I was lucky enough to score some really good deals, however I didn't get as much as I feared as I am not that much of a WW2 guy and a lot of it was WW2 stuff, or genres that didn't interest me. I also was hoping for some more scenic and terrain pieces than what was there, but with flea markets, it is what it is. 

That being said.

On Thursday night I picked up these....

The first item, I had told myself, "I really don't need another set of rules.", but the price was too good. And later on I saw a vendor selling it for much, MUCH, more. So a good deal was had.

(This was my first purchase, and I picked it up for five dollars...)

And then I picked up a nice 28mm barn... This will go good with many different periods.

 

And on Sunday (San Jacinto Day), I was able to score some more stuff!

(First up was 10 28-32mm compatible street lamps. Perfect for lighting up those dark, spooky, streets of your town setting.)

And then I grabbed some Ospreys at five bucks each....

First up were a couple to help in my delving into the 18th Century...

(These should help with my painting dilemnas...)

Then it was a 2 part OOB series for Day 3...

And with it being San Jacinto Day, I HAD to get these. No questions ask. This was a mandatory purchase.

(April 21st 1835...."ME NO ALAMO! ME NO GOLIAD!!!")

And one last 18th Century one....

And then it was off to make my wallet cry with the vendors....

The Vendors loved me....and my money....

I made a few rounds of the vendor area each day starting with Thursday night. There were a few times that I stepped back because of "The dudes that barged in front of you wearing large backpacks", (this was honestly the first time I had seen this here at LW. At Gen Con this was common and expected.), or came back later when they had left the area.

The first thing I bought was from HMGS-Midwest.

A large sized pin that I shall have on my badge holder next year.

(This is really nice...)

The first thing I did was get some flags for my 28mm 18th Century Stuff...

British Flags and Pirate Flags.

ARRRRR!

("Arrrr matey! These will look good flying from the masts!)

(Flags for any of Her Majesty's troops...)

And then speaking of pirates, I made a purchase from an estate sale of some figures.

A gentleman had passed, and I decided to give some of them a new home.

(Some nice variations on figures. Some will be touched up, some will be repainted and some will be left the way the original owner had them.)

Over the next couple of days I made several purchases from two vendors.

The first was Knuckleduster, who I swear when Forrest Harris saw me coming, he broke into a smile before screaming "Here comes Murphy! Yee-Haw! I just bought a boat!"

And indeed, I made purchases.

The first few were some furniture sets for my buildings.

(Furniture for Thinglum's General Store...)

(Furniture for Barber Joe and his shop...)

(What's a saloon without a poker game or a faro game going on? You can always try to "Buck the Tiger!")

(Every fancy parlor, in a fancy house, needs fancy furniture, and Le Belle Rose is no exception...)

Then it was getting some actual figures.

First off three guys in black sombreros...

(Here to help from the depredations of the Notorious "El Guapo"....)

I also needed to pick up some more "Good guys" for a future game I want to run. 

(The "White Hats"....)

And I picked up a "Hot Single"....

("If you know, you know....")

And then I got another couple of squeaky clean good guys....

(You know who....)

And then on Sunday I came back and picked up, "The Band"....

(Coming soon to a stage near you....)

After this is was heading over to Badger Games and coughing up cash for figures.

In this case it was a bunch of packs from TAG ("The Assault Group") ling of miniatures.

And in this case it was pretty much all animals that I needed to get, except for ducks. They were missing ducks which made my wife sad.

(Cat's....meow!)

(Bothersome and noisy yappy dogs for ladies of high status to pamper...)

(I've decided that Geese are nothing more than oversized ducks with bad attitudes and loose bowels...)

And I needed some cattle, so I got some of the shaggy ones... Dairy cows to be coming soon I hope.

(Moo...)

(And pigs...all places need pigs...)

(As well as chickens....)

So yes I had dumped some serious money.

But that wasn't all.

So Sunday morning came around, and as places were shutting down, one vendor was getting rid of a lot of this 3D printed Demo Stuff. 

"Take what you would like." He told me.

So I looked over and found two items I got for free that would fit my 28mm games quite well.

(All pulp adventures need an airplane....)

(As well as a boat...and this one in stocks for maintenance in the yard!)

(Showing the boat and stocks...)

Not bad for a free haul....

Closing down I got home and looked at my stuff and took group photos of my loot.

Next up on all of this is storing it and cleaning up my messy game room.

(My "other loot" picture. Most of this, except for the two models, were purchased. I did some pretty good deals this convention. I hope for more next year!)

And so that's it for my "loot".

I hope you enjoyed it, and stayed tuned as there is more to come!