An April and May update

 Game wise that is...

The month of March has roared in and out with the majority of the damage from the tornado taken care of, life is kind of getting back to normal in our small Indiana town, (which is quickly growing).

As a result of all of this, my painting and gaming for the month of April came to a stop, and then for the most part May kind of did the same thing. Some figures got painted but not enough to my liking.

I did do a few things however, gaming wise and "other wise" (aka "Real life")...

Let's get to that first.

Soooooo....My wife was absolutely thrilled and then overwhelmed with anxiety when her BFF from high school and life in general announced that she was coming to visit us (all the way from Colorado no less!), and thus "we needed to get the house in order".

My wife decided that "We needed an actual coffee table".

Now I'll be honest. We haven't had one in the living room. 

So me in good old typical husband tradition, went scouring and found a table, that she approved of, brought it home and all was good. 

And now onto other things....

So we had company....

My wife's BFF and her husband were on a long road trip across the US, and made the return trip here back to us. To give my wife and her friend some "alone girls time", I took her husband to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, where we delved into "All things racing".

IMS has an amazing museum. In all of my years, this is probably perhaps the third time I have ever been here, and each time it is amazing. The cars they have on display, the history of the track and the races, everything. It's been well done and very easy to take in.

Some pics of the cars in the museum, along with some very famous names on them. (Click on photos for a larger version).

And of course, the trophy.

Odd Indy 500 Trivia fact....

Whenever a driver wins the Indy 500, he has a mask cast made of his face which is then reproduced in silver and added to the Borg-Warner Trophy here. This is the actual winners trophy, which is never awarded. The winning driver gets a silver replica of this for themselves. 

We also had a chance to play around on the simulators and my friend hit the wall at 234 mph, which would have been a spectacular fireball and sure to make the evening news.

And now....FOOD!!!!

A friend of mine says that "It wouldn't be a good post about minis and gaming, if I didn't include some "food" pics on it. So I often wonder "Just how many people come to read my posts and focus more on the food than the minis and gaming?" If you are a reader out there, please let me know in the comments.

Robbers Steak

So I decided to try out a recipe from a site based on the Robber Steak as written by Jonathan Harker in Dracula.  So with recipe and ingredients in hand, I went to it.

I had to use the oven version as my grill is not yet ready for summer cooking.

(Skewers full of meat going in the oven...)

(Looks good so far...)

(And on the plate...)

They were actually very good, and tbh, I can't wait to try them out on the grill.

I also had a chance to fix dinner for everyone and made my famous jambalaya, (complete with Cajun spices).

(Dinner is served!)

(A close up of dinner....)

And of course, dessert!

In this case, it was sugar sprinkled strawberries with bananas and vanilla bean ice cream.

After our friends left and went back home, I was also able to introduce my wife to this little delicacy.

Just a simple small whiff from the jar and it sent my mind reeling to "Back in the day" in South Korea.

(Oh yeah...)

(It's "an acquired taste" for us Americans...)

But it wasn't all "fun, games, and good times..."

So one day in early April I drove to Lafayette to do some business, and when I came out, "this" greeted me...

Ouch!

So my passenger side mirror got tagged and broken. Instead of filing an insurance claim, I hit up my friendly body part shop, who found one the same style and size in a junkyard for less money. A few days later, it's fixed and good to go.

And now I guess it's to the gaming and minis stuff....

What's on the table???

Knowing that I want to run a game for Little Wars next year, I decided to take out my Western buildings and do an experimental town setup.

Now the tables I use for gaming makes for an 8' x 4' setup, Each table being 8' x 2' plus I usually have an end table for me. with that being said, I wanted to get an idea of what "a small town setup" would look like. This will give me an idea of just "how big" this town could grow and become.  This would also give me an idea of what I need to build as well as to finish. 

(Click on the pics to get larger views).

(A test layout for my Western Town of Rimfire (Arizona, Territory). This setup is less than half of the table length.)

(An oblique shot of the town. I've noticed that I still need to build a corral for the livery stable, some hitching posts, a few more residences, and here I can see that I need to finish a roof for one of the shops.)

(Here we can see the unfinished jail... Man I gotta get off my duff and finished that thing.)

(Looking from the sheriff's office/jail down the main street.  So much more to build.)

(Looking from the cemetery. It looks to be getting pretty crowded in there.)

(Looking down Main Street from the Sheriff's office and the unfinished jail...)

(Looking from the filling up fast cemetery....)

(Good old Wun Hung Lo's Chinese Laundry...)

(A shot of Main Street...)

(Looking across the opposite site of the street.)

So the Western town is coming along nicely, but as always there is so much else to build:

Church

Gunshop

1-2 more saloons

Dance Hall

Corral for the Livery Stable

Hotel(s)

Bordello (s)

Grocers

And the list goes on and on and on and on....

And I also found out that I ran out of color, (Apple Barrel Craft Paints), and only then discovered that it is no longer made...(sigh)

(Anyone have a spare container of this, let me know...)

Other than that, I just did some building plan drawing on some foamcore. Getting some ideas to build a 28mm Brownstone and an adjoining cafe for some gangster gaming.

(Some plans for da "urban redevelopment dat da boss has in mind...")

So that's about it for now. 

Right now it is June and I am busy working on some dungeon monsters. I'll finish those up, and jump back either onto pirates or some pulp/gangster figures and who knows? I might even get the design for this building cut and assembled.

Keep your eyes peeled for more to come!

Thanks!

End of March Update...

 March has come and gone, and April is right around the corner.
With it comes the "Spring Storm Season".  As I write this right now, my local area is under a severe tornado, storm, and wind watch and advisory. 
But let's not worry about the clouds in the sky shall we? Let's get on with things.

Painting

Well, I continued on with the process of "Four Figures A Day", or at least I attempted to. Many times I was called away for real life, and one day was spent simply shading, flocking, and sealing figures. 

However my end of Month Count goes something like this.

MARCH 2023:

Figures Purchased: 0 (Again with this Zero madness! What will the neighbors think?)

Painted: 38

This breaks down to:

Townsfolk/Fantasy figures: 3

Dancer: 1

Sailors: 2

Pulp: 7

Gangsters and G-Men: 13

Cowboys/Gunfighters: 5

Mule and Burro: 2

Ox: 1

Barrels: 4

If I were to add this to my 58 for the current year, I am standing at 96 figures done. Not at the goal point I wish to be at but not too shabby either. 

So YTD Total is:

Bought: 0

Painted: 96

YTD: +96

Lets take a look at some of them shall we?

Also, none of these figures are as "Shiny" as they look in the pics. This is a combination of the lighting that I have when taking the picture and how my crappy Iphone camera makes them look "shiny".

(An overall look at the completed figures for this month.)

(Foundry Old West Policeman. Just walking his beat...)

(Another Foundry Town Defender. Armed with his trusty shotgun, he's ready to deal with dangerous drunks, ne'er do wells, crazy women, and that barking dog down at the McCreedle House...)

(Another Foundry Town Defender...Dressed for a night on the town. Walking stick and revolver, both highly polished and ready for the evenings events...)

So then I switched over to some Fantasy figures...

(Just you're average everyday guy wandering through the village, looking for a group of adventurers that could use his skills and talents...all for a few coins...)

(And there is always the "Mysterious Pale Skinned Stranger that wanders into the village right after the sun goes down...)

(And well....gosh darn it! Sometimes you just need to see a pretty dancing girl. The way her....her....veils shimmer....yeah....that's it.)

(Pulp Figures, WW2 French Resistance Fighter...Just the gal you need to provide cover fire on "Le Boche", while you detonate the explosives and blow the bridge...)

I then slipped over and started painting up my figures (G-men, (actually Government Prohibition Agents), and Gangsters for "The Chicago Way".

First up, "The Good Guys"....

(Here's the leader, Badge on display and trust .45 in hand, Elliott Mess fights a never-ending wave of hoodlum activity in his city...)

(Buster Sinclair; Overweight, socially inept, and smells of cheap aftershave; but he's dependable, and ready to go after the goons. He always wears his lucky yellow shirt (a present from his wife Doris), whenever he goes on a raid..."It's my protection." He says.)

(Bill Devers. Dependable, loyal, good with a Thompson, and a diehard White Sox fan...)

(Henry "Hank" Roosevelt. It's hard to work in a segregated force, but his boss Elliott Mess doesn't see color; he sees performance. And because of this Henry won't let him down...)

(Rick Morran; His eyesight keeps him from using the long range weaponry, so he keeps it up close and personal with his sawed off double barreled shotgun...)

(Sean O'Boyle: Brought out of retirement to help keep the city from busting loose. He's seen both sides of the law in his career as a beat cop.  He knows what to look for and how to handle it.)

Naturally, you gotta have some gangsters and goombahs....

So here's da lineup...

(Sammy "Shaky" Dennis. Hired flunky gunman, Sammy got his nickname from the way his knees always shake and knock during a gunfight....It doesn't show a lot of confidence in him moving up in his criminal career, but he takes orders and gets the job done.)

(Sporting a bright, lime green necktie, Al Barbieri waits for his orders to go dispense automatic forty five caliber enforcement of his bosses orders.)

(Carlo Rossi: Quiet, loyal, good with a .45 to vent a fink, or to give a rat a .22 short behind the ear. He dresses well and smells of fresh hair oil...)

(Frankie Vero, let's loose with a short rip on his Chicago Typewriter....)

(Jack White was once just a flunky. But his ambition, and ability to double-deal, and dirty deal helped him climb the ladder. Now he's a lower manager of some goons that do some dirty work. He's still got higher ambitions though, and his snappy green and purple wardrobe should help people remember who they are dealing with...)

(With white dinner jacket and freshly cleaned and oiled pump shotgun, Dino Martini, is always ready for a night on the town...)

And of course, you can't have goons and goombahs without a boss....

(Boss Sal Monella makes a point of note to his boys about "What he needs to have done...")

Then it was a wild jump to some Western figures....

(Foundry Old West  OWW: "Town Toughs and Staunch Defenders:"Sneaky Pete" figures. aka: Brothers Seamus and Danny McConnell...)

And then a bit of a blast from the past, as I repainted my old OG Voodoo Master.

This was the guy that ran the voodoo zombies on Skull Island, from my pirate game 20+ years ago.

It was time for him to have a new, (and better paint job)...

(The Voodoo Zombie Master!!!! Making the zombies do his bidding...)

And then it was back to some more Pulp Era figures...

(Well to do, Gentleman Explorer/Adventurer waiting for the train to Edinburgh...)

(Davey McGirts, was a riverman. That is also to say he was a river rat, a river pirate, and river scum. Plying his trade along the steamboats, tugs, and barges along the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers, he didn't have any qualms about killing.  After all, the money went into his pocket, and the body went overboard into the river.)

(Captain Oswald Bender, with Broomhandle Mauser, and lucky talisman; ready for whatever he thinks he is ready for...and usually isn't...)

(Captain Lora Lanyard; she runs a good, honest, clean vessel. She keeps it that way and expects her crew, cargo, and passengers to be the same. Unfortunately for her, that is so often, NOT the case...)

And finally I finished up the painting this month, by going back to fantasy and finishing up my first Drow. A nice "evil" Drow Cleric with magic flail in hand, ready to do some serious hurt on those bothersome surface dwelling adventuring types.

("All for her greatness, The Spider Queen...")

Okay that's it for now, let me know what you think, and yes, there is more to come, including " A NEW PROJECT!!!!"....

Stay tuned!