Another Zero Month - But Not Dead Yet!

First of all, an announcement of crucial importance:

THIS BLOG IS NOT DEAD

I am truly beginning to hate this time of year. I am so busy, every night after work and all weekend long, between football with the boys and church commitments...

I haven't done anything but wish I had time for gaming activities. Not a drop of paint has been used. Not a single game played. the closest I have gotten to gaming in the past 30 days is bitching about not having any time to do it with my friends.

As for blogging, well, with no gaming going on, the blogging has slowed down. My small amount of free time has been wasted on Facebook, which is evil. And addictive. Ought to be a controlled substance.

This blog is NOT dead.

I promise it will be revived. My thirteen year old did paint up some of his Eureka frogs he bought from Nic at Historicon (Hi Nic!). I'll try to get a photo or tow of them posted. They are very nicely done, especially considering his relative lack of experience at painting. Honestly, much better than my stuff at the same age. MUCH better.

And I have actually thought about priming some of the Space 1889 High Martians I got at Historicon. Plus, a good buddy locally has been hinting we should paint up the 100 15mm Zulus I have laying about so we can play some TSATF colonials. Gotta get the juices flowing again!

Well, ladies and gents, all for now, but please come back around in a week or so and see if I have made any progress. And if not, let me know about it!

-J

End of Month Update.

Nada.

Is that too specific for you? I finished absolutely nothing in August. Its been two weeks since my last posting here and I haven't done a thing. Facebook is evil.

That and the start of a new school year.

But I hope that September will be better. I pledge to finish at least twenty minis by the end of September. Considering how busy September is already shaping up to be, that may be ambitious. But I will try to get something done so that I can make interesting posts about it rather than this dull dreck which is probably costing me many followers.

Would it help if I mentioned midget soldiers as the troop of choice for my students as they go exploring the New World? They take up less space on the ship and need less supplies, you see. At least that's what one of my student groups is trying to convince me.

He's Back!

I know it has been a while since I last posted on either of my blogs, and I apologize for that to those of you who find either site a source of entertainment and/or enlightenment.

To be perfectly honest, I have done practically nothing gaming related since returning from Historicon. Throw in a week long bout of the crud, and even less was accomplished. Mix in a bit of 'back-to-school/work', and top it all off with a hefty dollop of analysis paralysis and there you have it: the recipe for a total lack of progress.

That's not entirely true, of course. I did do a bit of sorting on projects. Showed my oldest son how to clean up a mini before painting (careful - those X-Acto blades are sharp, boy!), and even got in a game last Saturday (Napoleonics). I did manage to get the three artillery pieces Dane bought at Historicon's flea market based up, and they look pretty nice. Two for Martians, one for the Venusians (catapult).

The paralysis involves basing. Once upon a time, I had the idea of basing troops that were not capable of close order drill on round bases, and troops that were capable on square bases. So, for example, Martian militiamen on round, British regulars on square. I still think it is a great idea. So we come to execution. I have about 100 15mm Martians based on round bases. I used Litko's 0.8mm plywood and then added the flexsteel sheet under that. I like that Litko's stuff is precisely cut. But the flexsteel just doesn't seem to have the 'grab' that something like a plain old washer does. I have lately been using the square steel bases from Wargames Accessories for the square bases, and they grab pretty well. I think what I am going to have to do is rebase all my Martians. This also appeals because I have changed my Martian base material about three times in the last year or so, and rebasing would tie them all back together. I am just hesitant to pull the trigger on a fairly big job that will cost a bit of money (not a lot, but its that much less I can use to buy more lead).

Another new project that is about to take up some of my time is a school project. I am semi-seriously considering a wargaming club at the junior high school where I teach. It will probably have to wait until the spring semester, though. A friend has kindly donated a good number of Napoleonic plastics (1/72 scale, ESCI, Italeri, that sort of thing) and I think I can make it work. I'll need more figures (a little heavy on the French cavalry - anyone interested in some swapping?) and some sort of simple rules. And basing. Painting is going to be very simple at first. I'll spray paint the French a flat blue and the British a flat red. I might go so far as to paint in faces and hands with craft paints, and perhaps even black shakos and boots. I want to go cheap and fast, not hyper accurate. These are for young teens who have little respect for other peoples' property. Once I get a few hooked, maybe we'll do a painting session or two.

Does anyone have any suggestions on rules or anything for this project?

Enough blathering for now. Please let me know if you have any ideas to help get this club off the ground in the spring.

July Monthly Wrapup

Sort of a busy month, July.

The biggest event was attending Historicon, obviously. Purchased a LOT of lead there. And I have started a bit on painting some of it. Call it 14 or so minis about 90% done except for bases (which I need to order more of - they rean out of the size I needed at Historicon!).

Got to play some games at Historicon, too, and that was fun. The game that I ran went pretty well, so no complaints on that score. Do wish I had been able to get another game on Saturday, but those are the breaks at the busiest con on the busiest day, I suppose.

Other game related progress was low. I did finish up 20 15mm Masked Minions in time for the game. No progress on the Aphid-class clone. A bit of terrain finished up, again for the game. Have been working on finishing the bases for about twenty minis painted by White Ape Studios for me, and almost done with those. Then they just need some dullcote and they're ready for the display cabinet and the battlefields of Venus.


So, projects for August:

• Order more bases, plus some Reaper master Series paints for my son's frogs.
• Finish lizard dogs, pigs and werewolves.
• Finish bases for explorer, and lizardmen.
• Prime, paint, and base High Martian box set (20 figures)
• Finish at least 20 15mm Aetherbattallion troops and officers
• Finish Martian masked leader.
• Finish 10 Martian sepoys (25mm)
• Prime paint and base prototype Gashant rider.

It's a tall order. Wish me luck!

Regarding Historicon Poll vs. Purchases

The results of the Historicon poll were very close. 25mm Martians came in first, followed by Masked Minions and then Germans. All the rest lagged behind a bit.


So, let's compare that to what I bought at Historicon.


As far as Martians go, all I purchased was a box of High Martians (the flying guys) [RAFM]. My son also bought some Mage Knight cannons that will probably be pressed into Martian service, as they are sort of primitive looking and bulky and just look 'right.'


For the Masked Minions, I purchased a 4 figure gun crew [Parroom Station]. I also bought a Smoke Launcher [Parroom Station] for them to crew. The gun may be used by others, of course. And it may not always be a Smoke launcher. Suppose I need rules for the poisonous cloud that it fires off. Maybe a blast template that wanders with the wind? Green-sprayed battening on an old CD base? Bears thinking about.


For our third place contestant, the Germans, I bought infantry and a massive artillery piece. Again, the artillery piece could be used by anyone, really. It is the Steampunk Cannon [JR Miniatures]. Having a stubby, mortar-like appearance, I also want to make a barrel extension for it (removable, of course) so that it can be made to look like a big fortress piece. Shouldn't be too difficult, as the barrel of the original mortar is tapped quite deeply. I'll explain my idea for it when I get around to doing it. The infantry I chose were the Prussian infantry of Parroom Station.

So, that's it for now. I have gotten a few minis primed and hope to get something painted up today or tomorrow so that I can work on those Pledge numbers I can already see I will be needing more bases. But that's going to wait at least a month for my bank account to recover from our show purchases and travel expenses.