May Update: "Gaming, Minis, Painting, and a New Experiment!"

It's May 2021. 

Think about that.

We are almost at the halfway mark for the year already.

Where has the time gone?

And of course that means it's time for another irregularly timed entry into my blog that keeps limping along like an old dog going down a path in the woods.

This one, dear reader is a bit photo intensive, so please be patient as it loads. 

A NEW EXPERIMENT!!!

Okay, so being the owner of a house, I noticed that outside of our dining room and living room windows we had two large window boxes...with dead plants in them.

"Hm.." sez I.

I discussed this over with my wife and while she isn't big on flowers, she is big on herbs and such. So I went and dropped a few dollars, and am now trying my hand at "gardening", (to a degree). I researched up "best simple easy herbs to grow in Indiana", and then went with that. As I am an amateur dirt digger, I decided to go with something that was A: Easy to work with, B: Didn't require a lot of maintenance, and C: Well....easy to work with and lived in this Zone (Zone 5). 

And here's the results.

Box #1: This is Chives, Rosemary, and Lemon Balm...

Box #2: This is Chives, Rosemary, and Spearmint...

Not only are these "easy" herbs for beginners, they are also natural insect repellants.

I look forward to seeing if I have a green thumb or a black thumb...

And on beautiful spring days around the house, the flowers keep blooming...

An amazing assortment of flowers beautifully arranged around our home.

But...

That's NOT what we are here for. 

It's back to the "war room"...

GAMING...

Now that the game room has been established, we have gone ahead and broke it in with gaming, and every two weeks I am running a AD&D 2nd Edition Campaign.  We just finished our third setting, and the party is beginning to explore the ruins of an old haunted house. 

The Adventuring Party: (From L to R): Hanibar, Rakerzon, Mearig, Fargrim, Timos, and Caedrynn. All figures except for Fargrim the Dwarven fighter were painted by me.

The PC's discuss a course of action over what they should do about the "rumors of the old haunted house..." (*insert spooky music here*...)

No fancy vid screens and online "purty stuff"...This is Old School RPG'ing...

The party finds a mysterious clue!!! (*dun dun dunnnnnnhhh!!!!*)

Handouts and maps...Old School D&D...

The mysterious parchment fragment piece that gives a possible clue....What could it mean? What COULD it mean?!?!...

The D&D game weekends are especially fun because we get to visit with good friends, and have good times together and eat good food. This last game, my wonderful wife (Gawd bless her!), made chicken stacked enchiladas and they were scarfed down.

Always keep the game room fridge stocked...

But the game room is for more than just RPG's...

THE MINIATURES TABLE IS SET!!!

So the following Monday I cleared off the RPG stuff on the table and decided to set up some miniatures. Looking around, I decided to break out some of my Bongolesia stuff, as I haven't done an AK47 game in my third world African hell-hole in a number of years. I've been itching to do a cross border skirmish as I had been slowly building up a force for the country known as "The Fandango Republic", and decided to set it up for this. I also wanted to play more armor intensive this game, as well as test play some homebrew rules I am working up right now to see how they run.

So with a little flourish and some moving things around, I set up Bongolesia's Southern Border.

Looking at the table The border is visible. Bongolesia is on the left side and The Fandango Republic is on the right side...

Looking North from the Fandango side towards Bongolesia. One can see the checkpoints, and the UN monitoring station as well as the small Bongolesian Town of "Bungatown" and the current object of content, the facility known as "Charlie's Chicken Farm"...

Looking North into The Fandango Republic from Bongolesia. Bungatown is closest to the edge of the table.

The UN border monitor site, and the border area along known as "Checkpoint Chester", (named after amateur English ornithologist Chester Wellerfuller, who was reportedly eaten by ravenous hyenas in this area in 1907), which is currently manned by a mixed contingent of Danish and Pakistani UN troops.

The view of "Checkpoint Chester", from the Bongolesian side, including the Bongolesian Govt. border station across the road which is currently manned in this photo by National Police.

The actual border of Bongolesia and The Fandango Republic with the UN Station "Checkpoint Chester" and the Bongolesian border post visible. The current UN contingent on site is a mixed unit of Danish and Pakistani troops.

The UN conducts a border patrol operation while the Bongolesian National Police watch from their positions.

The UN Patrol moves out...what WILL they find???...

COOL STUFF!!!

I will admit that I was surprised this past weekend as not only did my good friends show up for another fun session of gaming but my "Bruddah frum anudda mudda" Dan Merchant brought me a pack of Wiz Kids Deep Cuts Pre-Primed Bugbears Minis, and my good friend Bryan Carter brought me a copy of  "Tank Duel", from GMT games, (still in shrink wrap). I was surprised, humbled, and honored by their generosity.

Looking forward to trying this one out!

And I can't wait to get some paint on these guys!!!

There's a heckuva lot more I can go about right now (including our plumbing problem with one of the bathroom sinks), as well as some of the work on my painting table, but I think I am going to call it quits for now. More cool and fun stuff to come!  

And as always, thank you for reading!

Update!: Of figures and paint, and things of this hobby....

June is upon us already and moving into the second week!

Egads!

Okay dear readers this post is a little long and pic heavy, so you might want to get yourself a drink and relax before going on.

OF WORK and FIGURES.... (Part 1)

So there I was...

In the last two weeks, I have been doing quick dash about roundabout trips to my other two sites to coordinate shipping out some equipment and making things happen.

This has given me a chance to do some brainstorming while driving, and while up at each site, to hit a  local game store and see what it is that they have on their shelves.

And that usually means making purchases.

The first one was "The Soldiery" up in Columbus.

I'll admit it right here and now, I really, really, want to like this store, as it has so much of that "80's game store feel to it; (all the way down to the Index Card taped to the counter where it states in BIG, BOLD, BLACK LETTERS: "Do NOT lean on the glass, it will break."

Obviously someone has done this while trying to impress whatever counter-chickie that was there at the time with tales about their "40th Level Character" and probably trying to sneak a look down her low cut shirt at the time.), but in reality, I don't think I can. Trying to get to the minis is hard. It's up a set of awkward stairs on a rickety balcony-style second level, and my knees just don't seem to like those stairs. 

And well, in true typical fashion, the service almost always hovers between "Sucks" and "Non-existant".  I walk in, counter monkey suddenly darts off to ""Arrange old Magic Cards". I'm looking for something, (obvious that I am searching), and counter monkey heads off to the little back room behind the counter where they can still see the shop but be out of visible range to actually make contact and assist the customer.

Plus there is the usual fanboy contingent that just is "there", as it is their "hangout". I'll get more into this in another post as I am starting to derail onto this subject.

*ahem*

So I swallowed my pride and checked it out. While there I picked up an AD&D 5th Edition Adventure book, and an accessory.

(I'll get more into the AD&D 5th Edition Book later on but needless to say, I posted a review of the first 30 pages on a Facebook site and I stirred up "The Wrath of The Fanboys").

While there I also picked up two Reaper BONES figures:

A female pirate?...Arrrr.....

And a Water Weird...

I have a few of the translucent BONES figures in my possession right  now, and have been reading on how to "light them up" using LEDs, and this one might be my first attempt as it already has a nice hollow base in which an LED can be inserted. This is a project though "For the future".

Oh and while there, I maintained the tradition and bought a set of Chessex Dice for my wonderful wife:

I'll admit...these are nice and her collection is coming along very well....

Coming home later that week, I did some painting and some sealing and actually accomplished a lot of smaller things that had been waiting for a while to be finished up. At long last I was actually "FINISHING THINGS", and clearing out my "Completed" queue and making space on my work area where the finished projects set.

The weekend was absolutely beautiful with good temps, a nice, steady, easy breeze, and made everything just right for sealing.

So I did...

But first....breakfast!

Served to me by my wonderful wife (Gawd bless her!), Melodie Murphy.

Yum...

And after some watermelon....

It was off to the table....

SEALING and "Git 'Er Done!"....

So I wandered into the work area, and got a nice idea of what needed to be done.

So for sealing I took a hodge-podge of stuff just needing to be done and sealed.

Sealing results for this batch:

15MM:

2 M48 Tanks

3 M41 Tanks

1 M42 "Duster" AA Vehicle

1 M577 Command Vehicle

28MM:

1 Stack of Barrels

2 Candelabras

1 Stack of Gold Bars

3 Wooden Coffins (courtesy of Knuckleduster)

6 Giant Rats

2 Coca Cola Machines 

Hey..even 28mm figures can get hot and thirsty after a hard day of gaming!

I was pleased with the result...

And with this, all of the hard armor assets from Bongolesia's "Mysterious Neighbor To The South; The Fandango Republic"; is done.

Yeps, they are ready for action, and I sense some "border dispute issues" coming up real soon...

OF WORK and FIGURES (Part 2)...

So the next week saw me off to another site for a few days, and while it was kind of a frustrating week, I was able to do some purchases, (in fact waaaaay too many I do believe, but let's just consider it an "insurance policy against dying" for now), of stuff.

While the majority were Reaper BONES figures, I also got a Chronoscope Figure as well as some of the older Reaper "Dark Heaven" figures and one of the "Legendary Encounters" figures.

So here is what I picked up during Week #2:

Thou cannot ever have enough witches for ye olde Witchhunters to pursue...

A Geisha..I am actually looking forward to the challenge of painting this figure. I can see all sorts of uses for her in games.

And Mouselings!  (Don't ask...)

Oddly enough, no slave girls, dancers, wenches, or "damsels in distress"...

How odd...

And then some more....

A future project I shall do for my wonderful wife (Gawd bless her!) since she loves Buckbeak from The Harry Potter movies...

A nice healthy piece of cannon fodder right here. Just a generic dungeon crawling goober that is trying to kill monsters, get treasure, and go up in levels.....I sense a violent, horrible, bloody death in this ones future....

One of the rarer Reaper P-65 minis. A fighter and his wolf companion. Yes I will need to fix the bent sword but I liked this pack and it needed an owner since it had been sitting on the shops racks since 2003....  .

But no slave girls, dancers, wenches, or "damsels in distress"...

How odd.

And yet, I DID get females...

Female Elf fighter type. Maybe she is out to try to assist the male fighter posted previously....or perhaps trying to save his bacon...

A female vampire... Perhaps she is dealing with the male fighter, (that shouldn't be too hard for her really...)

And a female assassin...

And another female fighter...(Are we noticing a pattern here?)

And a female bard, who will play some nice lovely tunes to help drown out the hideous screaming of characters being torn asunder by evil creatures...

And a female dwarf fighter, (with no beard)...

And a female paladin. To be honest, I like this figure and may get another one to make it into a worn graveyard statue...

But no slave girls, dancers, wenches, or "damsels in distress"...

How odd.

But I DID get this fellow: 

He actually looks pretty good for a pre-paint. I'll probably touch him up some, maybe put a sparkly gem in his staff, base and flock, and seal and be done with it.

So I didn't get any slave girls, dancers, hookers, wenches, or "Damsels in Distress" this time, but with the last picture right above, I think that putting him on the table with change that situation reeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaallll  easily...

Oh and I also go some paints and a copy of a recent WI, (but that is coming up in another post as this on has gotten way too long), for reading and discussion.

So that is part of what came home with me. More to come!

Thanks for reading!

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....

And now....a break from pulpy stuff as Battlefront comes through!!!

Well, I am taking a bit of a break from the 28mm Pulpy stuff to squeal with joy like a porked piglet over the recent arrival of my Battlefront order!

Back in April, BF ran a Vietnam sale in which they dropped the prices of their Vietnam stuff down; I mean waaaaaaaaaaaaaay down. Now, me loving modern-isque 15mm stuff, and definitely needing some armor and some "combat stuff" for Bongolesia's neighbor to the South, The Fandango Republic, (FR), I decided to partake in it.

So BF sent me my order....

Cobras, Bulldogs, and a Duster....oh my!

But I couldn't let the FR have ALL the fun, so I order some BTR-50's for the NDF. This will round out the last of the NDF equipment.

They may not look purty, but they'll get you from "Point A to Point B"...as long as they don't get hit with heavy weapons fire first....

But I was disheartened because a good portion of my order didn't come in.

So about a week later BF sent out an email explaining that the sale went "so well", that it went a little "too well", and they were out of stock of lots of things...and would be filling back orders as soon as possible. A couple more updates like that, and then all went quiet.

So about two weeks ago, after a four month wait, I sent them an email. A CSR responded back to me that "yes they had bit off more than they could chew with this sale", and that due to a PC crash they had lost a lot of orders.

I sent him back a response and a copy of my invoice and showed him what was missing.

In good faith, they replied and sent everything that they were supposed to.

So I got home the other day and ooooooh!; a nice package for me.....

With much salivation and eager fingers, I opened it and this is what I got.....

M48's, Armored Kiddie Cars....errr....I mean M113's...an M577 to try to give some type of Command and Control, a RR team, and crew and passengers for the M113's..... Life is indeed good!

So needless to say I am very happy as I have gotten my latest "OOH SHINY!" fix.....

BF's communication was good, professional and they honored the issue. You really can't go wrong with this type of service. If only more companies out there in the industry could do this, then there wouldn't be as much grief....

I see some potential "Border Disputes" between Bongolesia and The Fandango Republic, coming up real soon....

And my quest for decently priced 15mm/100th scale CH-47's goes on.....