Happy Birthday, Texas!

July 4th

An oldie but a goodie...

Happy Christmas... well, Boxing Day.

HAPPY CHRISTMAS, Y'ALL!

   And now, to the loot! My younger son, who is a mini me, has begun DMing his own friends in D&D 5E, so I bought him a  ton of the prepaint minis and some dungeon tiles from Paizo. He also got some Starfinder stuff to help with that, including the hard to find Incident at Absalom Station adventure... but that's his toys, not mine.

 Merry OGRE-mas!

  I received several boxed sets for OGRE, as well as four singles of the Combine "Minotaur" Howitzer, and a Cigar Box Battle Mat marked in large hexes... That's three more OGREs and sundry smaller vehicles to help pad out the forces.

Leather Bound Limited Edition Hardback of two MHI books

   I lost a lot of my books in the flooding of Harvey here in Houston. So my family is working on replacing them for me! Good family. I got several Larry Correia books, which are a lot of fun, and some David Eddings novels (the Belgariad, original editions in paperback, just like the ones I had before). My mom also pledged a custom "Book of the Month" for me - I just send her a title once a month and she orders it for me! Yay!

   I also got an expansion for SmashUp, which brings me very close to having all of the factions for that wacky game.

181 Years

The Republic of Wales Wishes You...

...a very happy St. David's Day!

   Oh, the Free Welsh project. Wow, is it languishing. Too many other things going on I suppose. There was some initial enthusiasm for Very British Civil War in 28mm amongst my friends but they all tapered off from it. I think I might still get one or two guys interested in it. I think Zach has a fair number of 28mm Condor Legion figures which we figured would work as a Fascist force in England as well as they did in Spain. The Fasco-Royalist oppressors invade our sacred Welsh homeland again! 

   One of the big sticking points is a lack of suitable terrain in house. What a shock, right? I have exactly one piece that would work, besides generic rivers, roads, and trees. Heck, most of my trees are really too small, especially the deciduous and conifers (as opposed to the palms, where I have a few really tall ones). So... I have a nasty suspicion the Free Welsh will languish further.

45 Laps and more

   Well, I made it around again. That's 45 consecutive laps of the third orbital. And my time is great - right on target - exactly 45 years for 45 laps. Woot woot! What a pace!

   Anyway, I'm celebrating with a game of Pathfinder tonight. Already did the dinner with the family and friends back on Saturday night. Yummy German food and good beer (Spaten Optimator).

   I also got a few things finished up on the painting table over the weekend. I now have a second full platoon of USMC riflemen ready to assault the beaches. I'll take pictures soon and post them here. I also finished up the light mortars for my SCW rifle platoons and two 37mm antitank guns, and a new company command stand that only lacks it's banner:

   Finally, I have an additional nine 15mm sci-fi figures finished with painting, just waiting for a little basing and a clear coat. Six of them are security robots from Khurasan. I painted four of them in the same blue and yellow scheme that I used on the previous robots. But the other two are painted as renegade robots - joining the star viking crew. Ah... those motley pirates are growing in leaps and bounds!

Happy Mexican Beer Day

Hellboy here seems to like the Tecate.

This may have something to do with his preference:

But I think this tastes better:

And almost anything is better than...

Happy Easter!

And while the eggs are beautiful, and the hunt is fun, and all of that wonderful stuff, please don't forget the real joy of Easter: the Risen Christ, who suffered, died and was buried, but rose again on the third day, in accordance with the Scripture, that all may know that He was truly the Son of God, the Messiah, the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Amen.

Texas Independence Day

   On this day, in 1836, the representatives of the people of Texas declared independence from Mexico. At the time, the defenders of the Alamo were besieged by the Mexican Army.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TEXAS

Happy Saint Daffyd's Day!

   CAERNARFON-- Today is, of course, the feast of Saint Daffyd, patron saint of Wales. Across the Republic of Wales, hundreds of thousands of Welshmen are celebrating. Here at the Castle, fireworks are planned for the evening, and a salute from the great guns of the battery.

Top 10 Christmas Movies

ANOTHER WORLD FAMOUS

TOP TEN LIST

CHRISTMAS MOVIES

   These are my Top Ten Favorite Christmas Movies. To qualify, they have to meet the following very stringent criteria:

• They must have a Christmas theme in some way.
• I have to think of them, right now.
• I have to like them a lot.

   There is no real sense of order here. Happy Christmas!


10. Die Hard

Because nothing says "Our Savior is Born!" like a rogue cop whacking terrorists/bank robbers in a half-completed building in LA. 39 F-bombs, 19 dudes with mustaches, and 22 bad guys taken down with extreme prejudice. Yippee-ki-yay...


9. Lethal Weapon

Yep. Set at Christmas time. What is it with criminals in LA? Have they not learned the rogue cops all bust loose at Christmas?

8. Bad Santa

Billy Bob Thornton as the most grotesque mall Santa ever.

7. Miracle on 34th Street (1947)

Edmund Gwenn as the best department store Santa ever. Oh, and it has Maureen O'Hara in it, too.

6. Gremlins

Because it teaches you to follow the rules. Always follow the rules.


5. Trading Places

One of Eddie Murphy's funniest movies. Dan Aykroyd is is brilliant in it as well. "Is there a problem officers?" "Who's been putting their Kools out on my floors?" "Looking good, Lewis. / Feeling good, Billy Ray!"


4. Scrooged

A modern re-telling of Dickens's classic Christmas tale, starring Bill Murray. I remember taking a date to it, one of the first movie dates I ever did without chaperonage. We made out a lot in the back of the theater. Saw it again later, and enjoyed it.

3. A Charlie Brown Christmas

Charlie Brown, you're hopeless. Depressed by the rampant commercialism of Christmas, Charlie Brown is just trying to find his Christmas spirit. This is a movie I make my sons (now 16 and just shy of 19) watch with me every year. Highlight for me is Linus telling the Christmas story.

2. It's A Wonderful Life

The sappiest movie of all time? Perhaps. But I know I never really feel like its been Christmas until I see it and hear Jimmy Stewart saying "Zuzu's petals!"

1. A Christmas Story

Ralphie. Red Ryder BB Gun. Bunny suit. Leg lamp - "Fragile." I could say more, but I need to go watch it. Again.

Happy Independence Day!

Liberty, in the Luxembourg Gardens, Paris

   Even though we are in Paris today, it is still Independence Day! Sort of fitting, since the French did help us win our independence from King George III back in the 18th century. I believe it was the last time the French were of much help to the United States, but still...

HAPPY 4th OF JULY!

Happy Birthday, Texas!

   Today is Texas Independence Day. On March 2, 1836, Texas declared its independence from Mexico. Seven weeks later, on April 21, 1836, a treaty was signed by President Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna (the self-styled "Napoleon of the West"), recognizing Texan independence.

   Happy Birthday to my fellow proud Texans!

Boxing Day Gift Wrapup

First of all...

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

   This year, as usual, I got very little in the way of gaming-related items. But what I got was pretty cool.

    From my mother, I received two of the now unavailable boxed sets of Ogre Miniatures: Paneuro Set 6 and Paneuro Set 4.

   My lovely wife bought me the Ogre 6E Exclusive counter sheets from BoardGame Geeks. I particularly wanted the not-Godzilla and the radio tower. The Ogre Ninja and extra Mk. VI were nice bonuses to those.

   And that's about it, strictly gaming-wise. I got the boys some Munchkin cards and dice, so it was definitely a Steve Jackson Games bonus Christmas...

   In the comments, please share what gaming goodies you may have received this year.

Remember, Remember...

Remember, remember:

The Fifth of November - 

The Gunpowder Treason and Plot

I know of no Reason

The Gunpowder Treason

Should ever be Forgot!

And remember: Government should fear the citizens, not the other way around.

Rock the boat...

rock the boat baby...

Wonders of technology. I am posting from the middle of the Gulf of Mexico aboard Carnival Magic.

You won't hear from me again, probably, for the rest of the week. Unless the weather in the Bahamas or the Gulf really sucks.

Catch you gents on the return.

The Christmas Goodies

  I usually don't get a lot of game stuff for Christmas. The reason for this is that my hobby tends to confuse most of the family, and my wife never knows "what you want the most."

   This year, I received the following:

• Welsh-English dictionary. Useful for my Republic of Wales faction in our upcoming (hopefully) Very British Civil War games.
• Desert Fort, 15mm. From Battlefield in a Box. Originally for Flames of War (and still useful for that), I imagine it will see more use as a fort on Mars for my 15mm VSF games. For which it is darned near perfect, right out of the box. At $40, I recommend it.
• Aztec Noble's House, Granary and Protoceratops Tent. From Acheson Creations. Resin buildings for my VSF gaming. They are destined to be used on Venus, or perhaps Earthin (When the Navy Walked). Will need a few more pieces for a small village, but a good start.

   That's pretty much it, from a gaming standpoint. I am hoping to pick up a few minis this week with some Christmas money, but not too much going down in that regard.

  I hope everyone else got some gaming goodies too. Let us know!

Lest We Forget...

CDC: Guy Fawkes Night Celebrations

Remember, remember the Fifth of November,

the Powder, the Treason, the Plot!

I know of no Reason

The Gunpowder Treason

Should ever be Forgot!

Caernarfon -- Tonight is Guy Fawkes Night. Celebrated by England for the survival of their King James I, the Provisional Government of the Welsh Republic will instead hold celebrations in honor of Guy Fawkes, who was cruelly tortured and executed for his part in an attempt to overthrow the monarch.

  President Saunders Lewis will be giving a speech at sundown, followed by fireworks and a torchlight parade through the streets of the capital, culminating in a bonfire ceremony in which effigies of Edward the Adulterer and his Fascist pig of a Prime Minister, Moseby, shall be burnt.

Happy Independence Day!

A very happy Independence Day is wished to all of my fellow Americans.

I got the beer and the hot dogs!