Update: "And June slips into July"...

This post was supposed to be called, "End of June Update #2", but we all know who these issues go with this hobby and life...

Okay, so the month of June, slipped into July and my feverish painting frenzy has dropped down over the last couple of weeks due to the ever increasing travel I am having to do for work. But there are a lot of things I did get done, and I can at least show you some of them.

Running Out of Room:

Egad, I had hit the mark recently!

While adding in my latest collection of figures, I realized that my current storage drawer in the dresser that I had was essentially full up for figures.

Each drawer is for a certain scale or certain items.

Drawer #1: is for 15mm

Drawer #2: 25-32mm (mostly 28)

Drawer #3: Scenic pieces

Drawer #4: Molds, etc.

I also had Cabinet #1, (Models, kits, etc), and Cabinet #2, (Molding and Casting Supplies).

So with the addition of the new figures, suddenly I was out of room.

Egad! Where are these figures going to go????

An overview of the 28mm drawer...sigh

Foundry, Crusader, Dixon, Bolt Action, Eureka Reaper Bones and Dark Heaven, among so many others...

Mostly Reaper, a couple of RAFM, and some others in there also...

So indeed this was a situation that needed to be solved...and fast.

But that was for another time.

Now it's onto "What I have painted!"....

What I have painted:

So between massive trips for work, I've been trying to keep up with the painting vs the acquiring.

First up to be complete are some "Arrogant Nazi's; (Are there any other kind?)...

I'm especially proud of these guys as Crucible Crush displayed them on their Facebook page and said "Excellent job!"...

The figures come from Bob Murch's excellent "Pulp Figures" line.

Nazi's....When you care enough to send the very worst...

Johann takes aim with this trusty Luger, at a cute, little, fuzzy, kitten (not pictured in photo), while egged on by his comrade Dieter. Remember folks; these are EVIL, Arrogant, Nazi's and we all know that Nazi's NEVER do "cute"...
We hate these guys...

The debate between "Whether or not Frau Blucher makes the best Apfel Strudel in Hasserburg" between Wilhelm and Hans  continues as they wait for orders to "round up the usual suspsects and get the answers that they want."  We really hate these guys...

Gerrhart Finklehauser is an evil Nazi spy; (really, is there any other kind?).  While not as arrogant as the others, he makes up for it by being twice as sneaky, oily, and weaselly. With a thin, raspy, voice and thick silver rimmed spectacles for his poor eyesight, he doesn't seem to be the cold blooded murdering agent for Der Fuehrer, but that always seems to work to his advantage. It was his sneakiness that allow him to get the secrets of "Project L" from England and back to Berlin., as well as breaking up the ring of Dutch jewel merchants in Rotterdam. His actions,, smile, voice, and essentially everything about him makes people very uncomfortable, and no one really likes being around him for any length of time.

And moving on to other figures....

One from the Foundry Range...I think their 19th Victorian Street Gangs Line....
The fact that he seems to be in the same color outfit as a certain "Walking Man" on a well known bottle of Scotch is entirely coincidental mind you...

Lord J. Waler on one of his usual daily strolls, reacting typically to yet another group of small children approaching him smiling and perhaps hoping to get a shilling or a pece or two from him.

And then from Foundry's Western Line, we have "Ol' Chuck Wagon Charlie".

Chuckwagon Charlie has been around a while and can fix a pot of beans or a bucket of Bunkhouse Slop Stew faster than most cowboys can write their name. But, he's got a secret....

And then onto some gangsters from Pulp Figures once again....

WIP: More gangsters for the city...
"From L to Right: "Roosevelt "Chopper" Johnson, Donnie Malone, and Stan "Da Polack" Dumbrowski"

Roosevelt "Chopper" Johnson, doesn't let things get in the way of what he needs to do. With a fiery hot temper to match the red scarf he wears, he is suspected of killing 11 men so far; including being involved in the Dewey Park killings last April.

Donnie Malone is one of those "Strong Silent Types". He doesn't make a lot of noise and keeps to himself, He likes baseball, and is a die-hard Yankee's fan. He's also suspected of being the trigger man behind the hit that sent Louie "Chimp-Ears" Olvetti to cool his heels at the city morgue last month. But as usual, there's no witnesses or proof.

Stan "Da Polack" Dumbrowski, came over on the boat, and within 15 minutes of stepping ashore was beating some guys head into a concrete pylon. Needless to say, he easily found work, and although his English is limited, his skill with a Chicago Piano is excellent. He is also commonly seen with a cigarette dangling from his lip. He says it keeps him calm when he is murdering someone in cold blood..."

From L. to R: Stan "Da Polack" Dumbrowski and Donnie Malone...

Roosevelt "Chopper" Johnson...

It's not all guns and gore...Sometimes there's music and dancing!  Dwight Beaverton plays his cross version of "Turkey in The Straw/Bonaparte's Retreat" while Johnny Davidson does his best to "Walk like an Egyptian"...(Figures by Dixon)...

Meanwhile at a truck stop near I-88 outside of Des Moines, Iowa....As the old saying goes; "One man's trash is another man's treasure..."

"The Boys", (aka Crooner and Mulligan), in between sets of their latest motion picture "The Road to Kookamunga" (produced by Miracle Pictures; "If it's a good picture, It's a Miracle!").

What's a setting without scenery? Some "cargo"....

Stuff I am working on...

While it is nice to have things finished, there are always more figures to be painted, more scenery to be worked on, more "stuff",...and more and more and more..

Including some figures that have been languishing for a while.

Here's one of those. He's the Long John Silver figure from Foundry's Old "Treasure Island" set.

Still being worked on...but there's an adventure nearby me boy....Arrrr...

And then there are witches...

This is from Reaper "Dark Heaven-Legends"

It was only after painting her up that I noticed how creepy and unsettling her eyes were, and how "that stare" just seemed to make you go "brrrrr!"

Yeaaaaah.....whatever you do, DON'T get caught in her neck of the woods late at night...

Well that is it for now, and as usual, July is now moving into August....
Gen Con is next week...so lets see what happens then!

Thanks for reading and more is one the way.

2015: A Year in Review, and 2016: The Shape of Things To Come....

Good morning dear reader, and Happy 2016!
2015 is behind us now like, well....history, and 2016 awaits us all with whatever surprises it has in store for us.

This little blog o' mine seems to be slowly growing. From 2014 when I had 27 followers and 23K page-views to 33 followers now, and 31K page-views. I appreciate all of the support.  I'll be honest, sometimes after a long week, or weekend, or project, or painting session or just "life in general", sitting down to scribble up an entry into the 21st Century version of "Dear Diary" is one of the last things on my mind.
But enough about me waxing philosophical...lets wrap up 2015 and look towards 2016.

2015 in Review....

Of Cons and Men....

2015 saw me run my first convention game in YEARS...really, almost 10 years I do believe.  Although I had been attending conventions as I always have been...2016 will be the 38th year of my gaming/convention experience, (having started gaming in/about 1978 and cons in 1980), the actual games I run at them are few and far in between. I guess I like being the attendee more than a runner, but I think it's also due to the fact that I see all of the big old beautiful tables and think,,,,"Gawd, I can never get to this level of awesome." and deep down I believe that a lot of us are intimidated by that feeling. We want to be "that guy" that puts on those games where people go "WOW!". It helps our inner Napoleons, and feeds our little ego monster.
I will admit, that when I have people compliment me on games I ran for them 2,3, 5, 10+  years ago, and they are still talking about, well...it does humble me and warms me, because I did something for them that was enjoyable and that they liked so much that they remember it so well.
It's a good feeling.

But anyone can really run a good game. The basic formula is this:
A = Fun for all
B = A chance for everyone to win
C= Simple, easy rules, and judgement calls that won't destroy a persons chances simply "because".
D= Nice figures, and Terrain. (this equals the most time really)....\

So A+B+C*D= Fun and a good game....

I will admit that I was very nervous about Chili Verde but I had played it out and tested it. And when I set it up at Little Wars, it well....went off pretty dang well.....

I also feel sorry for poor El Capitan Empanada as he is the ONLY figure to die in both the test game and the REAL game....

The Little Wars convention had me wanting to do it again this year, and I look forward to it...

Things that happened...and didn't happen....

So 2015 also saw me jump into two new genres....

For the last year or so I have been floundering between the Witchfinder General Rules, and "All Quiet on The Martian Front".  The elements and story-lines of each was what got me going on them.  Friends of mine know like Victorian/Gothic style horror games, or games where I can run stories to give "flavor".

I got a chance to play AQotMF while at Little Wars, and while it was an okay game, it didn't impress me as much as I thought. I think simply because the game was too big to be run by a single game master. Some smaller games would've been nice.  The models are very nice though but are indeed pricey. I do believe also that due to the recent shenanigans of AoW/AD and how they just seemed to implode, that we shall see a lot more of their stuff on ebay.

I'm thinking this year I might take the plunge for the rules-set for WG and start sending men off into yon English countryside to root out witches and what not....

2015 also saw me completely withdraw from Bongolesia.

What's that you say?!?...Did I abandon it?

Heaven's no.

I will admit that I do enjoy my precious 15mm minis and my little third world African hell-hole has become something of a quasi-legend. It's just that for the year 2015 mostly, I focused on my 28mm figs for the convention game, and for other things. In my head I have been playing around with Bongolesia for a bit, but I wanted to take a bit of a break from it. But it wasn't all dust and quiet. I did  paint up some armor for Bongolesia's mysterious neighbor to the South, The Fandango Republic.

Now that my main 28mm purge is behind me, I will be focusing some time on my little African Paradise and get back into the adventures of P'hat Daddee....

2015 also saw me working with more advanced painting techniques, and inks for the first time in any real amounts as to add to anything. I do say that I believe that my painting skills have increased.  

2015 also saw me experimenting with the Reaper Bones plastics. Overall my opinion of them is pretty favorable, and they are more cost effective.

Adding to the lead pile....

2015 saw me make some serious additions to the lead pile. Mostly in the realm of 28mm however my 15's did get some love also, but mostly it was a 28mm frenzy.
Purchases from Bob Murch of Pulp Figures, and Blue Moon, OG, Crusader, Dixon, and Knuckleduster; as well as a score on some ebay figs.
It's a slow steady process but I have been cranking out the painting..but not half as fast as adding onto the amount of lead.
For the final days of 2015 (in fact "the final day" ,  I made my last 2015 purchase from Foundry. I was able to get the following:

(Yeps...picked up the whole lot of them....)

(Just the group of proper gentlemen I need to go hunting in the dark, deep, woods...hellhounds or werewolves be damned!)

Foundry was running their 20% off Christmas sale, and well...I jumped on it....so I got $120.00 in purchases down to $96.00 AND FREE SHIPPING FROM THE UK!!!  Something tells me that Royal Post isn't going to be happy with that.

So in a week or two or three or sixteen, I will have my little packages coming in.

Plans and Schemes for 2016.....

So with 2015 behind me and a ton of paints, and figures patiently awaiting the brush, and terrain to be built, I am looking at what I want to do for the upcoming year.

Now I could go about and make plants and outlines, but I know I will never follow them. 

That being said however, here is what I would like to do...

1: Run a game or two of "Fury of Dracula".  

2: Get a couple of basic Hirst Arts Molds and start to work on my Egyptian Temple/Tomb Complex.

3: Finish the 3rd incarnation of The Bongolesian Presidential Palace.

4: Finish painting up the rest of what is needed for my invasion game....

But most of all, play and run more games with my friends....

Because deep down, that is what it is all..."really about"....

So for all my friends and readers out there, here is hoping that 2016 will be good and bright to you, and that the dice roll in your favor....

End of December and end of year (almost) update....

Well dear readers, it is almost the end of December and with it the year 2015 goes out of the window and 2016 comes staggering in bleary eyed and smelling of cheap rotgut gin, (or something like that).

I'm hoping to make my 2015 "Year in Review" post here real soon.

And happily enough I was actually able to break my post records for 2008, and 2011-2014....

I promise that I will do more posts next year...I really will try, including some game reports and more scales and scenery and terrain.

But that is for next year, and for today it's "What I got for Christmas"....

My wonderful wife (Gawd bless her!), was able to make a good purchase in cahoots with Bob Murch at Pulp Figures again and in doing so, I got a nice box of lead....

Here's what I got...

From PULP FIGURES, courtesy of Mr. Bob Murch.....

(PWM31: Arrogant Gestapo: Yeah right, like there's any other kind of Gestapo...)

(PWM5: Cultists: The Fill-out crew for "The Evil Jade Cult....)

(PWM6: Evil Cult Leader and staff....Every baddie needs assistants....)

(PGJ1: Agents of Justice: Agents ready to dispense Justice....hence...Agents of Justice...or something like that....Masks to hide their identity and .45's to dispense....Justice...)

(PGJ2- Masked Avengers:  Avengers with masks....and ready to avenge those that cannot avenge themselves...)

(PHP-15- The Istanbul Constabulary, complete with Hookah, they are ready to enforce the law (or their version of it), in Istanbul, (not Constantinople now)....)

And so that was it for the Pulp Figs purchase.....
Then I got noticed of my Reaper presents!!!!
WOO-HOO! My wife rocks!!!!

Oddly enough, most of these figures seem to follow a peculiar and particular pattern....

 

 

 

I'll admit that I do enjoy the Reaper figures. They give me the same type of joy that the old RP figs did back in the 90's...and now that Ironwind Metals is redoing them that joy can then return.  

And then in the box, I noticed this....

 

I didn't remember ordering paint....

So I checked the invoice and there at the bottom in the fine print was what it was....

Cool! So I was randomly selected!!!!!

I'm a WINNER!!!!

And then finally....FINALLY, I got this from my wonderful wife...

FFG's Fury of Dracula 3rd Edition Boardgame.....and now I smell an adventure coming up.....

Needless to say I did a pretty good score in the gaming stuff and am happy.

But now I have lost count of my 28mm inventory, and well...I'll have to start all over again......

Next year....