Conan...Ish

I can't say it has been a great day for gaming. It was my intention to set up a game of The Walking Dead: All Out War. Last night was not a good night for sleeping for me and I ended up on the sofa in front of the TV a little before six a.m. after going to bed at around two a.m. So my day has been a bit blurred with tiredness. Not a day for boardgames.

Not wanting to do much of anything I settled for playing a game on the computer. So I have played Conan: Exiles most of the day. It's a crafting and survival game and I quite like the genre. It's been a while since I read the stories (I'm thinking thirty years) but I do have a soft spot for them. It was after watching the Conan The Barbarian films and someone telling me the books were much better. They were right.

Anyway, the game is an early access and whilst it has a number of interesting features it is a little bit buggy and still has some work to do on the development side. I have found it a frustrating day. It does have a lot of nice ideas and it could become an excellent game. Hopefully it will  not be like 7 Days to Die which, whilst it regularly gets better has been regularly getting better for years.

What it has left me with is a passing idea to do a Conan or probably more likely a Conan like game. I know that there is a d20 version by mongoose but d20 is not my thing. I am guessing that there is a Conan module for Savage Worlds and as that is my go to RPG I wouldn't have to worry about rules just the figures.

I am sure that I can find figures for the game. Some suitable ancients figures are out there and I was thinking that some arabic style dark age figures that would do for one of the races. There are a lot of animals in the computer game and a few in what I remember from the books. There are also a number of monsters that would be usable. I dare say that I could get by with less than a hundred figures. I know someone who has some ancient Egyptians that would do as a starting point.

I am sure this is just a passing fancy. I am watching the Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny and I am thinking about the ancient Chinese/Japanese/Monkey/Journey to the West that I have always said I would run.

Still tomorrow is the start of a new week and there are figures to paint. I have a feeling it will involve zombies Frostgrave and Titansgrave. I am confident that I will make my figure painting target bit next week is going to be a tough week for me so I am not going to try to over face myself. Still Monday is a bank holiday and maybe I will have enough time before things start to prepping for the funeral.

Too Much On The Workbench

My mum brought me up not to waste anything, especially paint. My usual painting process involves having something I am concentrating on and at least one more miniature project on the backburner that I call the background project. If, whilst painting, I have a little extra paint left over whilst working on the current project, I use it on the stuff in the background. The trouble is I have developed a number of background projects. The "main" background project is supposed to be the Blood Bowl Orc Linemen. The trouble has been that there is a prescribed colour scheme and a lot of what I have on the go uses a different colour palette altogether so I started a second background project. Then a third, then a fourth and so on.

My problem now is one of paralysis. There is so much on the workbench that I don't know what to do. I know some of these are more or less finished but..well there is always more to do. No project is ever finished, it's only abandoned. So to prevent the problem of not being able to focus on anything, I am going to have to have a bit of a cull.

Medium Constructs For Frostgrave

As well as finishing the heroes for The Walking Dead and the four Large constructs I have also finished the medium constructs. Everything I said about the Large Constructs here applies to these as well. I think of these in terms of golems so there are wood golems, does such a thing exist? I would like a few more constructs of different materials iron and clay spring to mind.

To me they have more of the magic of childhood stories that fantasy RPG but I like that. As they are nice figures I will find a way to make them fit into a game.

The New Cruelty demands five figures per week and I would kind of like to manage ten a week. This brings me up to twelve figures. I am expecting to finish another five smallish 28mm figures before the end of the weekend. This would put me at nineteen figures. I have also done a few bits on some other figures This is perhaps my most productive week for a very long time.

This Will Soon Mean the Passing Of An Old Friend / The True Meaning Of Miniature Painting

A busy day again today, not much painting but there has been some and it has not gone well. I am contemplating big moves and changes and I am getting a bit of a mind f%&k because of it. Changes may be coming that make The New Cruelty  look like a trip to the sauna with a nice cup of tea afterwards.

It looks like I am about to part with another very old friend. This friend has been a part of my life for almost twenty years. He has certainly seen better days and the years have taken a significant toll. Which is a shame because for the last ten years or so we have worked very closely. This may be a bit of an odd eulogy for a t-shirt but it has been the one piece of clothing that I have used for painting in for donkey's years. It is covered with all types of paint, ink, pen and glue and has more than a couple of holes in it. Although I love it and as far as I am concerned it still has another ten years in it, my other half has decided it is time to go. This may have something to do with the egg stain on the front of it from a well deserved bacon and egg sandwich. There is something of the same feeling I had when I cleared out my paint brush collection/hoard.

Well beyond needing a wash

So I have been looking for a replacement. I found a Star Wars Rouge One t-shirt today. It was cheap and I thought big enough. The major redeeming aspect of the shirt I have been using is that it has been washed so many times that it is big and baggy. I got a 2XL short and it just lacks the length and the ability to be worn over the clothes I wear underneath it. I also quite like it and I have what could almost be described as a collection of star wars t-shirts now.

The True Meaning Of Miniature Painting? No that's not just clickbait. I guess it's the closest thing to a passion that I have. My other half tells me it's a comfort thing. It's my comfort zone and this t-shirt has become part of the comfort. As The New Cruelty seems to be taking a firmer place in my life, the comfort of the old and familiar seems even more important.

Frostgrave Large Constructs

Ooops... something went wrong.

Somehow I ended up with four of them. Somewhere along the line I got a couple at a show then I forgot then I got a couple more. It will be a very bad day for some poor unfortunate party when they eventually come out to play.

Frostgrave Large Constructs

Not the most complicated paint job. I am debating doing some object source highlighting around the eyes. I should probably do a bit more edge highlighting but to be honest once they are on the table you don't notice it's absence.

The Walking Dead: All Out War - The "Heroes"

Although I haven't quite finished the characters from The Walking Dead box set yet, I am about ready to call them done. There are a few details that need highlighting, like anything that is black or dark brown but that is a ten minute job. I will probably put a bit of flock on the bases before spray varnishing and then I'll put on a few finishing touches. That said, I have just looked at the pictures and I am thinking maybe there is a bit more work than I think.

Carl Rick and Derek

The only real problem I have with this is that I want the figures not the fluff but the game comes with fluff. When the game was coming out they were talking about producing around one hundred and thirty figures. I haven't worked it out but I am guessing the current figure is closer to thirty than it s to one hundred. So I am waiting for some more to come out.

Sandra, Patrick and Liam

I have run out of zombie figures from the game now and I'm unlikely to get any more until the next time I go to a show. I have a couple of quick projects that I want to do but I am thinking that I would like to do some more zombies. I have a few Cold War Miniatures zombies to do and some zombie crawlers from a manufacturer I can't remember.It has to be sad that I don't really need any more zombies but what the hell.

The New Cruelty is going well. I have to keep to it going but it's not proving too difficult so far.

Second Batch Off The Walking Dead Zombies - All Out War Are Done

Well with a bit more effort I have managed to get the last six of the zombies from The Walking Dead: All Out War box set done. They were finished before midnight so I guess that counts in last weeks totals. Another quick post today because I have a busy schedule.

The Walking Dead All Out War part  2: The boys

The Walking Dead All Out War part 2: The girls

It looks like I am going to finish the heroes from The Walking Dead. Whilst working in the zombie I have done a bit of work on the survivors so getting through them this week should be no trouble at all. Although the Blood Bowl troll (and the last six orc linemen) are still looking like something I want to do, there is a bit of work to do on the troll. The orcs for Titansgrave would be nice but I can't find any bases and I have some Ratling snipers on the way which will do for what I want for Titansgrave. There is also a bit of Frostgrave stuff floating around, rats and constructs mainly. These would be a quick fix as they would be mostly brown so a quick paint job sounds easy. So I am still in a bit of a predicament.

The New Cruelty

I have been using the phrase the New Cruelty a lot on the blog and in my life. The phrase comes from the film L.A. story, a Steve Martin film and a personal favourite. In the film there is a Nazi themed restaurant where the maitre'd, Mr Perdue (played by Patrick Stewart) used or referenced the phrase several times. It just seem appropriate for my current situation.

So rather than just taking a phrase and using it to give itself meaning I thought that I would write it down.

1) Paint five 28mm figures (minimum) in a week or the equivalent there of in other scales. Exceptions can be made for nothing.
2) Participate in at least one game of something per week.
3) Surf the net for less than four hours a day. Tough one but anything relating to my blog does not count.
4) Take some sort of vigorous exercise at least three times per week. The aim to be one hour sessions of running but for now I will do as much as I can.Take the dog for a good long walk every other day.
5) Write one blog post per day.
6) Stop intending to do things and do things instead.
7) Work out and stick to a morning and night time ritual.
8) Take vitamins etc.
9) If there is something that I need to do, write in a blog post so that it will get done (this is perhaps the most painful aspect of The New Cruelty).
10)
11)
12)

The New Cruelty in action

The trick to The New Cruelty is to carry a mental picture of the three men above. Whenever I think about wimping out on any of the above, I am to imagine being sat in front of these three men. Whenever I think of something else that should go on the list, The New Cruelty demands that it should do so (expect the list to get added to hence points 10-12). Over the years I have become a big believer in the fact that if I say that I am going to do something, it probably won't get done but if I write it down, it will happen. Maybe not today or tomorrow but it will happen soon.

I am starting to realise that I have a life to live. It would be better for me if I actually went out there and did something a bit more fulfilling. Then, when my time comes around, I will be able to look back and smile.

First Batch Off The Walking Dead Zombies - All Out War Are Done

I have my six The Walking Dead All Out War zombies done so just a quick post today. I have worked on them a bit and I have made fairly rapid progress here and here. The New Cruelty dictates that I have to finish five figures a week. This is six miniatures down and with a bit of luck I will finish another six tonight. I will probably touch up the black of the bases and add some clump foliage when they have been spray varnished.

All Out War part 1: The boys

They look okay. Just to look at the original resin I would have said the detail was just a little bit soft but the end result says otherwise.

All Out  War part  2:  The girls

The obvious next project is the characters which is the next probably target. I got some Blood Bowl stuff this week. As well as finishing off the zombies I have been putting together the orc team troll but more about that in another post.

Gnomes And Gnome Miniatures For RPGs

Gnomes? I mean gnomes? Well I suppose Tunnels and Trolls got away with leprechauns and faeries so gnomes can't be all bad as a player race. When I think back, I can only think of one gnome character ever being played in any D+D game. "No gnome characters" is usually rule three in my tabletop law (with rule one being no use of inappropriate quotes from star wars, hitch hikers, super hero movies star trek etc and rule two being no quotes from Gimli or Legolas). This rule three is there because there are no suitable figures in my collection.

I have two problems with gnomes in RPGs...

Gnomes, in my head, have no real image of what they look like. Dwarves are stubby and bearded, elves are lanky and hobbits are short, not so beardy and have stupid looking feet that won't feet into shoes. Gnomes seem to be be just short people who maybe have a big nose. Similarly there is no personality standard for gnomes. They are gem obsessed tinkerers and mages. That is about all she wrote for them. As NPCs they are difficult to make feel different than anyone else. When I have been forced to run them they end up like goblins from Harry Potter. Regardless, they always seem to be illusionists or assassins. In my head, all gnomes look like Tim The Enchanter (and yes someone does a figure).

All gnomes look like this...no really

My second problem has been that nobody does a good range of fantasy gnomes for RPG games. One of my biggest gripes about mini manufacturers is that it no one produces niche character figures. You can get an all but uncountable rage of human fighter figures, fewer mages, fewer still bards and clerics and even fewer thieves. That said, there is major no problem getting figures for both males and females. If you want a female dwarf mage, you have your work cut out for you and if you get lucky it won't cost six or even twelve pounds for the figure. Now being realistic there is little cause for a female halfling barbarian but on my tick list for all things RPG miniature figure related, I sneakily want one. This is not because I am an OCD nerd, it's just because. Obviously manufacturers want to make money and no one is going to make such a niche figure. It's a pressing thing for me as I want to do some stuff for Titansgravethat, I just cannot enough find figures for a lot of the races. The same goes for fantasy. But gnomes, gnomes are really hard work.

I have three gnome figures all are from the now ancient Games Workshop/Citadel C11 Gnome range I think. They were badly painted and oddly sized I would guess that they are about half the height of a contemporary human 28mm figure. A few manufacturers do odd figures most of which are variable in size and style Reaper being about the best of a bad lot. Brigade do loads of gnomes but only f you want the, in a 19th or 20th century style. In my Northmen Viking game it has been an easy thing to bypass them but they are one of the main races in Titansgrave and I have just had to cut them out for lack of figures just like I have done in fantasy games.

For the sake of argument, I suppose I should say until now. I noticed today that CP Models were doing some gnome figures. Not a huge range but perhaps the biggest I have seen and there are four female figures. There are definite gaps but I am pretty sure that I could work to fill them. A drill, my bits box and some green stuff and I could have a figure for almost every character class. With a bit more jigging around I could even have gnomes for Titansgrave. Who would have thought that it would be easier to get gnome figures that I can make fit for Titansgrave than elf figures.

Just in case you are asking yourself this, no I am not getting paid for this although I would dearly love to be. I am a gamer and absence of gnome figures and those for other D+D races just seems glaring. However, I would love to see some more. Clerics and wizards perhaps, some with swords and cloaks maybe even a bard....How will I get to sleep now (and no, I am not being serious).

Reading And Painting - Scrappers And The Walking Dead

At about six this morning I woke up and started reading the Scrappers Rulebook. I haven't read that much of it and I am reserving comment until I have read it through. Many of the Osprey rule books, with the exception of the Ambush Alley stuff has been okay (both Force On Force and Tomorrow's War being excellent pieces of work) could use a bit of polish. Frostgrave is okay and I have almost everything they have done but I still haven't played a game and I am not sure I will. The more traditional format for Osprey books (the ones with the dark blue covers in the standard Osprey size) have some nice ideas but I can always find big niggles with them. When I have read the Scrappers book, maybe played a game of it and had a chance to consider it, I will do a proper review.

I have continued with The Walking Dead miniatures. I have done a lot of work on the first batch of six and a little bit on the second batch. The New Cruelty demands five figures a week. If I can proceed at the pace I have managed today over the weekend I might get the full dozen zombies done. Maybe they might need some varnishing and some work done on the bases but the paint should be done. As simple models lacking a lot of equipment the number of colours required is limited. You can bet that the character figures will take much longer. As far as these figures go, I expect they are more likely to end up in a Savage Worlds RPG than their intended purpose first.

I can't find any round bases. I have a box of the things in my garage somewhere but I still can't find them. I would like to be doing the orks/orcs but without the bases this is not possible. Now that I have a troll for my orc bloodbowl team, I can see that my interest is peaked with that as well. I am guessing that I am going to side with anything I think I can get a game with.

I have tried to write this post a few times today. For some reason it is proving really difficult. There is obviously a lot going on in my head at the moment. Having had a terrible nights sleep and a busy day there has been no time to catch up with myself. Hopefully, tomorrow will prove to be a better day. There are a lot of calls to make so maybe not.

Shopping, Bloodbowl, The Walking Dead And Other Things

The New Cruelty continues and today it has involved going to a game shop, spending money in a game shop and doing some painting. So with a few other things that have made up the day, it's been a day of progress.

As part of The New Cruelty, I have to be a bit more proactive. Currently I am trying to put a figure on what that means. Ten figures a week is what I would like to achieve. That would be five hundred in a year. I am not sure that I have ever achieved this. Five figures a week seems more achievable. My current feeling is that if I make it a half a dozen figures that I would have a bit of grace. Plastic figures have some nice aspects to them but they do take an age to put together.

So I have done a bit more work on The Walking Dead figures today. They have a basic coat and some ink to give the paint a bit of depth. As they are zombies they need to look pretty battered. dust and dirt underneath blood and black bile give them some variety. These minis are pretty simple so only a few base colours are needed. Although there isn't much in the way of equipment or fashion accessories there is plenty of depth to the surface and textures. I have to say that I have found the flash to be a bit more present and more of a pain to get rid of than I was expecting.

I walked away with a lot of the newer bloodbowl stuff today. I will paste more of this over the next days and weeks (i.e. when I haven't managed to make any progress with achieving my five figures in a week pseudo goal). I have also got a copy of the Malifaux rules and the Osprey Books Scrappers rules. Again I will have a look at these but will give them a good reading first.

The other things, well they are not sure good but I guess that they mean progress. Steps have been made towards sorting things out for my mum and getting my home back to normal. Tomorrow is the day I speak to the funeral directors. I have a feeling that this is going to give me an uneasy night.

I Need A Post Title

Not a bad day, some painting and some failing to buy anything hobby related. I went out with the intention of spending money and managed to spend money on a pasty and nothing else. Despite wanting to spend the money I couldn't even talk myself into buying a wargames magazine. The last of the big spenders then went home and had a nap. Rock and roll.

I did manage to get a bit of painting done. The Walking Dead stuff is on the table so, as I am not really wanting to put myself to too much effort, they are the current project. I have been looking for some round bases for the plastic orks/orc I have for Titansgrave but I have no idea what I have done with the. I got some ratling snipers on eBay the other day which are in their way. Along with the ones I already have, the even older ones, this should be a good start for hobbits for Titasgrave.

It has been another hard day. Lots of phone calls from Doctors. Tomorrow is all about getting things collected. Then it's a trip to the Co-op and I am not going for a loaf of bread and some milk.

Changes Afoot - The New Cruelty

The first day of the rest of your life right? I have promises to keep to myself, or as I am putting it, The New Cruelty. I came across the phrase from watching (a rewatching multiple times) L.A. Story. Today, it seems sort of the right things to do. Sadly there is no rolling skating through galleries for me today.

I have spent most of the day on the phone. When I haven't been on the phone I have been trying to keep busy. By way of a distraction I thought I would do a bit of retail therapy. My other half drove me to a shop in St Helens. What a mistake that was. Possibly the worst gaming shop ever and the only thing that made it worse was the smell. It was like a heavily used gym bag with the damp gear, after a real beasting, having been left in the bag of a car over a long hot weekend. I got a pot of paint, as it also cost me a McDonalds for everyone, it was perhaps the most expensive pot of paint  have ever brought.

The New Cruelty involves a number of thing. This is basically a way of holding me to account. There will still be time for sitting around on the laptop, watching YouTube and playing on the X-Box (have just downloaded Frank Rising for Dead Rising 4 (which seems oddly appropriate). The new regime of cruelty involves getting some exercise and doing something practical everyday. The practical stuff means doing something I like doing and doing some jobs around the house that mean progress. It also means keeping up with the daily posts. The New Cruelty extends to you, my readers as well.

Work in progress

I got an hour to myself at the end of the day. I got a bit of time to work on the Titansgrave Saurians. These are almost finished. It's just detailing now. I have done a bit of painting on The Walking Dead Minis. This was just bits of paint that I had left over from the Saurians coupled with a bit of tidying them up (there is oddly a lot of flash) and putting some sand on the base. The models of the zombies do look nicely detailed and I am looking forward to painting them up.

Whilst I have done the calls to family today, there is more work to do tomorrow. It's odd that the next few days, even the next few weeks, are looking like very hard times. There are a lot of things in my life that need to be put to rest.

A Post I Have Not Been Looking Forward To

My mum died earlier today. She died from a secondary cancer from the bowel cancer that she fought off several years ago. I guess I am in shock and I have no idea what to do. People tell me that things are sent to try us but this is just a joke. Others are telling me that it's just a time of life thing. Your grandparents go, then your parent and then eventually so will you. This was meant to console me. The best that can be said is that my mum is no longer suffering. Now there will be family hell to look forward to after the funeral. I have been feeling numb for days because I knew it was coming. I guess that numbness is my best friend right now.

Nothing To See Here

I have made an undertaking to post every day. This hasn't proven to be a problem so far. If you have been reading the blog you already know the situation I am in. Today has just been a day of sitting around waiting. It has been a day when things were to happen and they haven't. The day is nearly over. I'll have to see what tomorrow brings.

Stranger Things (Than This)

There aren't many stranger days than this. I'm with my mum now whilst my sister has a break. I have had old friends over for a bit today which has helped me a bit. Nothing I can do so the day was looking mighty  long when I left earlier. We played Star Wars Rebellion for a  bit but my heart wasn't really in it. Don't really feel like talking about that now but maybe another time.

Although today is probably not my mum's last it, is probably the last time I will have spoken to her and for her to recognise me or my sister. This morning had a real sense of an end of things if not the final end. I have spoken to my Auntie as well today. My mum, who is a very private person, has not said much even to her so getting the news today was a bit of a shock for her. The two have not been on the best of terms for some time. I think my auntie was hoping to get a chance to sort things out as I know my mum was. Not going to happen now. I guess there is a lesson there for all of us. What else is there left to do but sit and wait.

A Mixed Bag Kind Of Day - With Boardgames

When it comes to boardgames, well today I rule. It started with two outright wins at splendour and Roll for the Galaxy. We played a bit of Castle Panic. The first game and the third game we did not do so well (the first game we gave up at the start of turn two). Then we played Dead Of Winter. I love this game, so much going on and competing for attention, it feels a least a little like a real world problem solving situation. We actually beat the game on the last turn. I made my objects so I was arguably a joint winner with Jim.

After years of playing boardgames I am never really sure why I like boardgames. It's not monopoly, cluedo or scrabble that got me started, maybe it was Escape From Colditz. The only thing that I can think of is that it is about seeing whether I can come up with a startergy that t is better than someone else's. Games with historical benchmarks like Quartermaster General 1914 tend to leave me cold. I did much worse than my historical counterparts did and still won and what it has to do with being a quartermaster is still a puzzle.

So on to the not so good stuff. My sister has been with my mum today. She seems to have failed to grasped the situation that my mum is very ill. I am getting blamed for this. it is really difficult to know what to tell people. None of the medics have a straight answer to give. the time keeps shortening. One month ago it was a year plus. Three weeks ago it was up  to a couple of months but probably not that long. The phrase weeks to months was being mentioned and this is what I have told my sister. She seems to have heard months not weeks and this is apparently my problem. So after arriving this morning, I got the attitude from her. Well she is supposed to be off tomorrow, I kind of hope she is.

I have heard tonight that one of my mates dad's is in hospital in a coma, Steve if you do read this I am thinking of you and your family. Stuff seems to be going around.

So I think I am going to lay awake for a bit wondering how my mum is.

A Better Bad Day

I feel a bit more positive today and I have managed to get some gaming stuff done. I am gradually working on my Viking game's finishing touches. I have worked on the National and Regional maps for the game. I made a map when I set the game it up. This has changed a lot because I changed by idea for the world map. My national map now looks like a slightly warped Denmark (some would says that the place is pretty warped already).

This is causing me a lot of problems as I have had to requite the description of the areas a bit. This is a major pain. As I have also written some legendary sagas. These too will need to be looked at. This is causing a lot of retcon. Always a bad thing. Progress is always good but it is hard work.

There is just a possibility that I might have an evening off tomorrow. There is also a possibility that I might get a game in. We will see.

Slump Day

A bad day all round. I guess in part it seems worse because I thought things were going to be better. Initially I was hoping my sister was going to be here today to help look after my mum. She was supposed to be here for the Easter weekend. As she appears to have misread a text message this has been shortened to twenty four hours. I had already predicted that there would be some sort of problem as she has spat her dummy out already. So I guess I have broken one of my rules about expecting the worst and preparing for it.

The reason for her spitting her dummy out is that she wants her to go into a home near her. This is not what my mum wants but that seems to be an inconvenience to my sister. Specifically my mum does not want the pain of a big trip. She is already looking at anyone wearing green with suspicion (the colour of paramedic's uniform) and this obviously means that they are going to carrying her off.

I have spent some time talking to staff about getting her home. Last week I wasn't expecting her back as she seemed to be on the decline. After a few days of rallying, her coming home seemed more likely and someone has come round today to see what can be done to make it happen. If it is going to happen it will take a week to organise because of the Easter weekend. Today however she has declined even more, so the prospect of her getting back home seems remote and the hope that she will make it through the next week seems faint.

This post has just about taken it out of me so it's time for bed.

RPG Players Tin

As I have  kind of taken up gaming, as a player at least, I need something to keep all the bits together so I thought I would find a tin to put all the bits in that would easily fit in a pocket.I added to what my other half refers to my collection of tins (which she says in a boring Monty Python esque voice that I taught her how to do, the phrase hoist on my own petard springs to mind). Anyway,  I was talking about this the other day I was expecting it to be a project I would get into eventually. There is a lot going on at the moment, not least of which involves spending 12 hours a day is hospital with my mum. Getting anything done was probably not on the cards.

When I got in at 11pm last night I needed to find down. I thought the tin would be a nice easy project. It's not an old tin but it does have a few  memories. The thin foam liner is more about noise reduction. Dice make a he'll of a racket in a tin evey time you move. The slats are fixed in. I thought I'd have a play about with the tin to make sure the proportions are right. A little more padding around the figure is also called for.

This is a project I am going to revisit in the next few months.

I Know What Ash Wants For Christmas

Or I (potentially) know something you don't know. Steve Jackson has something in the pipeline and it probably doesn't come in a Ziploc bag or a blister pack.

My guess is that you are going to like it

Another Week, Another Milestone - Five Years Of Blogging

For some reason I seem to be hitting a lot of milestones this year. This is another bigger, the fifth birthday of the blog. Like new year It is an opportunity to reflect. Maybe not plan as things never seem to work as I plan them at the moment.

It was five years ago today that I started blogging but I had been thinking about it for a while. The phrase "What better place than here, what better time than now" kept apearing in my head. Although I hoped I would keep going I never thought I would.  It seems like a hell of a long time ago and it also seemed like a good idea at the time.

As far as it goes things are going well. Things as they are suggest that this is going to be the best year yet for the blog. There will be more posts and more hits than ever before at least. So everything on the blogging front is pretty upbeat. I have been doing the daily blog for a shade less than four months and I have the will to keep that going.

If you like what I have been doing, please follow the blog or follow me on Google +.

Short And Sweet

I'm with my mum today. She is doing better today than she has been all week but still not so good. I did get out of the house for a while this morning curtosey of the kids oddly wanting to see the smurfs movie. so being a man of a certain age I ended up in an antiques shop. Gamers out there don't click on another page just yet. I need a new dice and bits box for gaming. I was hoping to get an old tobacco tin. So I found an Old Holborn tin. My grandad was a pipe smoker and this was his brand so I guess it will do the job and maybe bring back a few good memories  (which will not be the smell of the stuff ).

So the plan is to pad it out with some thin foam. If I can make a space for a figure or two, a small pen and some dice. I am still thinking if there is anything else I should put in there. If you have any comments let me know. 

Being a natural hoarder I got a few more boxes as well and a hneftafl set for no really good reason. I thought I could use it in a game. I even saw some old dwarf miner minis but they seemed to be too expensive badly painted and a little bit shiny for my taste.

No Plan Survives Contact With The Weekend Or Titansgrave

I had a plan and at least in part to work on the Titansgrave figures today. I have managed to stick with the plan and there was a fallback for something to say if I didn't. Of course I never expected things to run smoothly, smoothly is for single people with no plans. I did have greater expectations of the morning and hoped that I might even manage to get some painting done before people started moving around. I mean what self respecting teenager gets out of bed before midday when they are on holiday?

So when I had got that done after the various jobs of the day done I got to do a bit of work on the figures. It's all about detailing. A spot of paint here and there. I takes ages. Worse still, I have made a lot of mistake that I don't think even the inking up will hide so that means that there is going to be some retouching to do which is my personal pet hate.

I had a few bits of paint left over so I ended up doing a few bits and pieces on other figures. A spot here and there, again. A couple of bits on The Walking Dead figures and even the few remaining half done Bloodbowl orcs. Nothing too strenuous but a step closer to being finished. The plan is to work on either The Walking Dead or the orcs for Titansgrave next. If no plan is going to survive the weekend then no much point planning for next week.

Titansgrave, The Walking Dead And Not Google Home

I was expecting to be talking about my new Google Home but I actually got some painting done, some Saurians for Titansgrave and I managed to get The Walking Dead stuff I got yesterday primed up. I wanted to work on The Walking Dead stuff but I needed more primer and when I got that the primer seems to have a massively long drying time. This is despite coughing up a lung all day.

The saurians / saurus / lizardmen are nice figures as GW goes. They are not the easiest to get the maximum of variety out the poses (I think the Imperial Guard holds that prize) but with a bit of work (chopping and changing with a bit of green stuff) they can be made to look pretty good.  

Although they are still a little bit off being complete, it should be quite easy to get them finished off. If I get a chance I would like to see them done by the end of the weekend, there are only five of them at the moment after all.

Then it will be on to The Walking Dead.

Some Talk, Some Action The Walking Dead: All Out War And Google Home

I went and actually did something today, amongst other things I got a Google Home but I also got a box set of The Walking Dead: All Out War. I will talk about the Google Home another time. Although I am a bit psyched about both, it's All Out War that has the bigger pull. Having just watched the end of Series 7 I guess I am pretty fired up for it all.

The figures are nice enough. I can say that even though they are plastics. They are on par with a lot of the metal figures from about ten years ago. The character figures are pretty close to the drawings in the comic. There could always be more detail but there s nothing superfluous about the design. The zombies are all nicely posed. There is a lot of animation there which is an odd thing to say about the reanimated dead. although there are only a dozen of them in the box they give a good variety of poses. the only downside from my perspective is they come on pre-cast bases. I know this is the way things are but it's a pet peeve. It might mean that I will rebase some of the figures I already have to fit with them as the older zombie I have are not that well base anyway.

The other components are also pretty good. The counters and terrain, of which there are plenty, are all on solid, thick card. The cards are pretty standard too. Nothing out of the ordinary in terms of material they are made from, the look however is pretty nice. The play mat could be a bit more robust though but is is made of fairly heavy paper. I would have liked more equipment cards but I think the schtick is to include cards with the expansion sets.

All in all, the is a nice box set and I am looking to find out what the other sets are like. I guess this is a bit of a diversion for me but what the hell. The next post is going to be about my new Google Home which is really not a good topic for the blog.

I Want To Talk About The Global Conspiracy That Is Crippling Me

I'm sure it must be a global conspiracy. Maybe it's God or Loki or gremlins or something. There is no way that so many things could happen at random so often. It must be a conspiracy.

I had a plan to go to all the gaming shops in town today and then come home at do some stuff. I was expecting to be free around 2pm but things transpired that it became 3pm. SO then it's off to do the school run. I got home and just had to deal with stuff. By the time I had dealt with that I was so tired I fell asleep and woke up just before 9pm. Time to eat, get the kids to bed and then move on to getting ready for bed after watching a bit of TV.

I really miss my old workspace or the man cave as just about everyone calls it. The background image for my blog is my old man cave. I probably should have changed it as it has had to change a number of times since. I keep it because it reminds of what I had and what I want. As a gamer I think it's important to keep one eye on the future. I want a workspace, not the pokey little thing I have, but a decent space where I can work on a slightly bigger picture. Somewhere I can put up tools and keep things out whilst I am working on.

More importantly, as I am a bloke, who is a gamer and a tinkerer, I want somewhere to hide. I keep looking at this post on One Man And His Brushes and think envious thoughts.

Tommorrow And Today

Tomorrow  I get a day off, well half a day at least. Getting a day off never  seemed so unappealing. The time has gone all too quickly today. I am typing this whilst watching the Create and Craft TV channel with the sound off whilst my mum doses off. This has been her favourite pastime for a few years now (without the dozing off bit). She loves it because of all the card making ideas it gives her. Oddly I am not so keen.

Today has not  been so bad. My diet has consisted pretty much of nothing but sausage rolls and tea. A proper wargamers diet if ever there was one. If this keeps up my belly will get so big I  Will no longer be able to use my laptop. I will have to get a bellytop instead. On the plus side the cold is on it's way out and I have got better pain killers today.

Having failed to win anything on eBay I guess I am going to have to go to a shop and actually buy something. I think I might get some painting done tomorrow too. As 10pm (or now as I am typing this) is my peak time for output at the moment I am resigned to not  getting anything done today.

Negan - Still Not Dead Or The First Day Of The Rest Of Your Life

Negan Lives...Shock Horror...The man has more lives than a dozen cats nailed together. No matter how hard you try somethings just don't end up the way you want them to. I have enjoyed this season of The Walking Dead as much as any other. This is odd for a show that has been going on for seven seasons. A bit like the comic, it keeps coming back with enough original ideas to keep me coming back for more.

After the last season you were expecting a big finale. Who is about to go out? Well who knows. I won't say. But schemes, betrayals and the cavalry for one side or another. Although I hate the season break, it does allow for a change in flow, mid season.

I hear that Andrew Lincoln did a jig  when he read the season's final script. I think I can understand why. There was a lot of stuff set up in the last few shows. The payoff comes out well enough to completely blindsided me a few times. It made for an enjoyable evening. Given that all out war is now on the way, I hope that season eight comes a lot earlier this year.

What I Have Taken From Today...

...I'll get to the ... bit in a moment. Another not so good day. All the stuff to help my mum out seems to be arriving just a day or two to late to be of any use at all. If it had been here a week ago or better still a month ago it would have helped but not now. Doing the best with what I have has been something that I have always tried to look at achieving. I don't always hit the mark but today I have tried and if not failed, I haven't walked away with what I wanted. Due to the delieveries I have had to close up the workbench to make space. Worse still, due to the fact I am coughing up a lung, I have had to stay away from my mum for fear of giving her what I have. Hell. I even failed to win a load of stuff on eBay.

My heart was just not in the day.

So the ... bit. Sleep appears to be optional. Between the coughing and the worrying it's okay not to sleep. I'll get there is the end. There is no point in worrying but you just have to do it anyway. Without wanting to sound too zen about it what else can you do, worrying is not going to change a damn thing. So tomorrow I will spend in the present and make the most of that present and enjoy some time with my mum.

Tomorrow there is another plan. Not a gaming plan just a getting through the day kind of a plan.

Kind Of Missed It

Although it's technically the 2nd of April here, thanks to blogger I am still posting on the first. I had got to a hundred posts this year yesterday and I was afraid that was going to be that when I realised that time had passed me by. Still I managed to get there in the end.

Today has been a day where I have slept nearly as much as my mum today This is down to a terrible nights sleep and a heavy cold. Coughing really does keep you awake. I won't call it flu because I will get stick for that.

All this means that there has been no work done today. I have been searching eBay for something to buy but with no joy.  I have done a bit of work on the stuff for my post apocalypse game. I am thinking that as soon as I feel better I might do some work on the Titansgrave minis. I have a found a few more that I can use. SOme of the first and second generation of Imperial Guard have turned up. These I plan to make the core of my human forces. There is enough variation in the minis that they will do well painted up as armed civilians rather than a military force. It also includes a few ratling snipers which might do well as hobbits in the game. Throw in a few old Judge Dread and Paranoia figures should do fine. Apart from the need for female figure and elves although I am tempted to do away with elves altogether.