500 Blog Posts And Weather

It seem I have been doing this blogging thing for nearly five years now, I had to check it myself. Old age and pain is probably playing tricks with my memory. I am a little surprised that I have stuck with over time. What I find more surprising is the level of commitment I am putting into it. At one point, a few years ago, my interest levels were dropping. Since then, not only have I turned that around but I am seriously considering this blogging every day thing.

This is 500 posts. Perhaps not the biggest total for a blogger, but for a gamers blog, I think it's pretty respectable. It's taken me four years to get here. If I stick with this, I could hit the thousand mark by Christmas next year. I think that this is something worth aiming for but this is a big chunk to break off and chew.

It's cold here. It has been trying to snow for the last few days. There appears to be another big storm on the way. All the worst weather without any of the pretty stuff. This is still putting delays on doing some spray painting. The paint queue is looking pretty slim at the moment. Terrain is still the focus but the next step really does need some space inside. This will need some good weather to sort out as well. March is traditionally a windy month in the UK so things are not promising.

Zombies, Millions Of Them

You know when you are facing a lot of a lot of zombies when one of the players downloads the theme for the film Zulu. This was the most we had seen in a game yet. Come to think of it, tonight we saw more zombies tonight than I think we have seen in the last four games. Three became thirty when we got to the corner of a corridor. Savage Worlds is a pretty good system for zombie games. The players have a chance of living through the game without dying, as long as they can fight, have a half decent parry and the ammunition doesn't run out.

Today has been a world of paperwork so not much to write about there. The rest of tonight is all set for watching the latest episode of The Walking Dead. Zombie are a good way to end the world.

Airsofting, Oh The Pain

I haven't been airsofting in a very long time. It had kind of lost it's allure. It's a pain getting all the stuff together. It takes the best part of a day to get ready. Then there is the day itself. The most fun part. My gun died. Then I hired a gun. This was a bit cack. It didn't fire more often than it did fire and it cost me money. It was in Wigan so it was full of pie-eaters. It's a rugby league thing, ish. The site was okay but the dodgy gun and my lack of energy (possibly through the consumption of too many pies) made the day a lot less fun. I remember the days when I used to be fit enough to run round all day.

After the airsofting comes the pain. Everything hurts, even after brufen and a shower. I am not looking forward till tomorrow. Things will really start to hurt. But it's game night tomorrow and the weather may even be good enough to do some spray painting.

I was bidding on a The Walking Dead:  All Out War box. Sadly, this didn't come off.I want the figures but I think I will wait until I can get them at the right price, which will probably be the next show I go to.

Britain At War And Airsoft Tomorrow

This morning is all about waiting around. I have spent much of the morning doing paper work. I am going airsofting tomorrow for the first time in about two years. I have spent a large amount of time sorting things out for this. This came as a surprise as I thought I had everything together. Then I realised that I couldn't get the gun box open as I couldn't find the key. So I had to saw it open. Then I couldn't find my magazine. I will be going out with one or two mags in the morning. I need a bigger garage so I can get organised.

Anyway. I saw something online about Vedrun, which fell to the Germans just over a hundred years ago. I know that was the French and the Germans but it made me think, what were we doing on that day.

Today was the first day that the British used poison gas, in this case chlorine, on the battlefield. Typical of the British Army using new kit they managed to kill a large number of their own men before embarking on a non-essential badly planned attack. This was the point that Field Marshall Haig replaced Field Marshall French. Another major move forward, with similar long term effects of using the gas. That was sarcasm for the record. I have been looking at the Peter Pig minis for years but the lack of an opponent has kind of put me off.

It is also the anniversary of the Battle of Stamford Bridge. Stamford Bridge was a major victory for the Saxons under Harold Godwinson, seeing the demise of the Norwegian leader Harald Hardrada and Harold's treacherous brother Tostig. This was a battle I was planning to use as the model for my Viking game. Not the time and the place, just the treachery, back biting and mayhem.

On this day the British surrendered Fort Sckville to the Americans during the American War of Independence. Not the biggest defeat they ever had but it did set in motion a chain of events. The world may have been a very different place if this had not happened. As far as I read it, this should be an object lesson to the designers of fortifications everywhere.

A bit closer to home was the formations of the Solemn League and Covenant. This was a turning point in the English Civil War. Although not an end in itself, the forces arrayed against the King and the shear number of men were now building up to an unstoppable army.

Perhaps The Least Required Blog Post Ever

I wanted to do a lot with the day. I really did.  But it started with a plan that was really about taking my mum out for lunch. Which became lunch in a cafe in Wales. Which I had to sell everyone on doing. Then my mum wasn't so good but everyone still wanted to go. Not exactly a day wasted but not my most productive day either. There was even some good weather whilst I was out which meant I should have been able to spray paint the last of the cars.

So Sunday is still about airsoft so tomorrow is going to be spent prepping for that first and foremost. The plan is also looking like it will involve a trip to go shopping. This means I will get to go to a few game shops. Maybe some more cheap cars.

With all that said and done, the number of posts I have made so far this year equals the total number of posts

With a bit luck I'll find some of the stuff on my wish list. Zombies may figure on that.

Small Steps And Zombies

Doing this daily blog thing is becoming a bit of a pain but I am sticking with it. It is keeping me motivated but maybe not to keep painting. As part of it inspires me to do something almost every day, even if it is only a little something. So here I am, two months down the line and still going. Even if the content has been a little light.

So today has been busy. I am still looking for something to do next. What I want to do here and now is still being frustrated by the weather. Storm Doris has hit hard today so even going out of the house was a bit of a challenge. The cars are still waiting to be done and I am still looking at getting some more.

My head is still being turned by zombies. I have the urge to watch all of the Romero films all over again. The second film was a really big influence on me and it was probably the defining film of my teenage years. This is mainly because I was big into horror films at the time. The remakes are good and some of them do some justice to the originals but they are not the originals.

I have a lot of zombie miniature. It could certainly be said that I have too many zombies. Most of these were painted a long time ago and my skills have improved a lot since then. So I think it would be worth doing some more. I am a big fan of the Cold Wars zombies and I am looking at the zombies from Studio Miniatures. This is along side all the All Out War stuff from Mantic.

Zombie games have been my bread and butter for years. Most of my mates just won't play zombie games. They like fantasy. Especially D+D which I think is the worst fantasy game of all time. So as I am am getting to play in zombie games now, I will look at doing a zombie game of my own.

What's Next

I haven't done anything miniatures related today. My workbench is now covered with part done cars. I have more to do. Most need another coat and some just need a first coat. Storm Doris seems to be proving us with endless rain so spraying outdoors with gloss paint is a bit of a no-no. This has created a bit of a log jam. Other stuff has also gotten in the way. The best part of a hour it took to get a prescription filled did not help.

So I have done some game prep. My current vibe is around The Walking Dead: All Out War. I am watching it on the TV and I keep looking at buying it online and painting videos on YouTube. This is on top of playing a zombie game on Monday nights which I am really enjoying. I have also had some more thoughts about X-Com.

It looks like I am off airsofting in the weekend and I need to start prepping that. I suspect there is a few hours work in that. Space is at a premium and I am thinking I am going to have to make some space in the garage prior to starting off on this. I used to like airsofting a lot more but I guess I feel I am getting to old for it. Odd then that it's one of my mates who is a bit older than me that has talked me back into it.