I have a problem. I like too many things.
My interests run the gamut from things like playing fantasy baseball to watching American Idol with my wife to developing software to painting miniatures to reading books & blogs to designing tabletop games and playing them to spending time with my family to playing the drums to chasing my 2 cats to finding a great new restaurant to eat at to whatever else excites me at the moment. I'm exhausted just thinking about it all.
Maybe you're like me. Maybe you've come to the frustrating conclusion that there are just so many things to spend your time on that you're an ideal candidate for cloning. I mean how else are you going to find the time to do all that stuff? There needs to be 5 or 6 of you.
Let's set aside one Sevy for work and business. He can develop great software and bring home the cash. Hell, you know that the rest of us clones don't want to work for the man anyway.
Clone #2 can serve as the Font of All Knowledge. His job is to voraciously read everything and soak up every worthwhile scrap of knowledge that he comes across. The group will go to him when it needs guidance and answers to difficult questions. Better get him a Kindle, because we're not gonna have enough bookshelves to store all those books he'll be reading.
Clone #3 can be the Socialite. He'll happily flit back and forth amongst family and friends, spreading love and joy, lending an ear to the troubled, offering a hand where needed, and making sure the bonds of blood and friendship remain strong.
Clone #4 can be the Uber Geek. He'll organize boardgame nights, run the local rotisserie baseball league, serve as gamemaster and secretary of the ongoing miniatures wargaming campaign, organize outings to game conventions, spend countless hours reading BoardGameGeek and The Miniatures Page, and listen to 20+ podcasts from the geek community at large.
Clone #5 will be the Artist (or artiste for you French buggers). He'll paint. He'll draw. He'll pick out cool patterns for his wife to cross-stitch. He'll select the color of frame and matte used for all the pictures the family decides to hang on the wall. He'll stroke his imaginary beard at the art show and discuss impressionism, cubism, pointillism, art-deco, and whether Frank Frazetta was a greater artist than Boris or Larry Elmore. He'll leave Frank Lloyd Wright and I.M. Pei architectural books on his coffee-table.
And on it goes.... Clones will be generated and sent off to focus on a specific area of expertise. They'll convene once a week in the great Clone Convocation, probably in my living room. Each will be required to bring a covered dish. It gets expensive feeding all those clones every week. After hours of swapping stories, they'll retire to their separate bedrooms on the 2nd Floor, for as we all know too well, my clone sleeps alone.
And maybe, just maybe, I will finally achieve peace and happiness. I will have mastered and learned everything there is to learn; at least the stuff that I give a rat's ass about. I will finally be satisfied. Until I uncover the next cool thing...
Showing posts with label eclectic moments. Show all posts
Showing posts with label eclectic moments. Show all posts
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Monday, April 28, 2008
Frustrated Incorporated
It's time for me to vent and let off some brain-steam. I'm frustrated. About what you say?
Well, truth be told, none of these bothers are earth-shattering frustrations. Rather, they're smally niggly bits which are eating away at my patience; a patience which most friends and family members claim that I have an enormous amount of.
Let's take them in turn...
#1 = WORK
I'm in the process of changing gears work-wise, switching my day-to-day emphasis on baseball related activities (data development, sales, tech support) and returning to a heavy immersion in wargame design, development, and playtesting.
I'm excited to change gears and am really looking forward to doing new things. The preseason and early-season baseball rush always causes me to suffer a bit of burnout, so switching to something radically different is a big boost to my mojo.
The niggling frustration I'm having right now is that I want (and need) to become like Butter. I need to get "on a roll" with my game development & playtesting, but I haven't found that steady flow of inner-brain magic yet. Oh, I'm working diligently and making progress. I just need to get in the zone. That's something that software designers, programmers, artists, architects, and even athletes can probably relate to.
I can't explain how to make it happen. It's not a switch that you simply flip and suddenly, you become inspired and enormously productive. But if you focus on something long and hard enough, eventually magic happens. Ideas flow like cheap wine. You do three days worth of work in one-day. Inspiration bubbles up. You find yourself thinking up brilliant ideas right before dozing off to sleep and while in the shower the next morning.
Anyway, that's what I'm missing right now. I want it to happen... NOW. I guess I'll just have to keep plugging away and stay focused. Sooner or later, it's gonna happen.
#2 = ROTISSERIE BASEBALL
I have never finished dead-last in any fantasy baseball, football, or hockey league that I've participated in. And I've been playing in various leagues for well over 20 years. I'm used to finishing in-the-money, and I've won my fair share of league championships. But currently, in my HARL Baseball league, my favorite fantasy league of all time, I find my Sevy Rhinos team in dead-last. Yikes!
As frustrating as being in last place is, I have faith that things will improve for my ballclub. Experience tells me that you cannot really gauge the strengths/weaknesses of your rotisserie team until 6 weeks of the season have elapsed. On paper, I was pretty happy with my team when I looked it over post-draft. The offense looked very strong, and the pitching seemed decent, although there were a few question marks to consider. But man, has my pitching staff totally sucked so far! Their total implosion is the major reason I'm dwelling in the cellar right now.
My starting pitching staff (this is an NL-only league) consists of Jeff Francis, Oliver Perez, Tom Gorzelanny, Randy Johnson, Joel Pineiro, and Shawn Chacon. Of my top four hurlers, only Oliver Perez has been any good. Francis started off poorly, but his last 2 starts have been solid, so he fortunately appears to be returning to form. Gorzelanny may be hiding an arm injury. His control has been dreadful, and that's very unlike him. The Big Unit missed the first 2 weeks while resting on the DL. He's been decent so far, and I'm hoping he returns to his form of 2005 and leaves his 2006 Yankees season as an aberration. Arizona has a good young team, so the Unit can't help but benefit from that.
The rotation hasn't been my only worry. Prior to this past week, my bullpen had been lit up. Jose Valverde and Tom Gordon have been like kerosene matches standing next to an open flame. Ryan Madson hasn't been much better. Only Kevin Gregg has kept his ERA down and helped my club. Fortunately, things appear to be turning around, as all four relievers combined to bolster my staff last week with Wins, Saves, and quality outings.
So things are improving. I even stuck SP-Odalis Perez into my flex slot to get more Innings Pitched and hopefully whittle down my bloated ERA and WHIP with some quality statistics. Of course, banking on Odalis Perez to be reliable is like hoping that Paris Hilton disappears from the tabloids. But hey, when your options are slim, you gotta gamble sometimes!
#3 = BOARD GAME CLUB
Getting my local board game group to show up and play games on a regular basis has been a major point of frustration for me. I have played a bunch of board games with my friends over the past 8 months or so. They've been extremely enjoyable gaming sessions. I just wish they could happen A LOT more often!
Let's face it, organizing anything is always a big challenge. It's especially tricky when you're dealing with adults who have very busy schedules and kids. Plus, since this is just a fun thing and not a formal event like a class or work project, or participation on a sports team, people tend to blow these things off when squeezed for time. I can understand, but it's still frustrating, especially for the person (me) who arranges everything.
Plus, some of the problems with maintaining a steady gaming schedule has been my own fault. I was extremely busy working overtime and doing other activities during off-hours in February through the first half of April. Nobody else picked up the ball and ran with it, so the game club basically went on hiatus for a few months.
On the plus side, I haven't given up hope yet. I love board games, wargames, and card games. And I have a bunch of new games (at least to me) to try out, as well as many old favorites to continue to bring to the table. Despite my disappointment in not getting enough traction going amongst my gamer-friends to put the game group on auto-pilot, I still think it can be done. It's just going to take time and plenty of patience. The fact that I own a bunch of cool games and don't want to see them languish on the shelf for eternity is a driving force behind my continual efforts to light a fire under people's butts.
So I shall start again. People need to come to the realization that having FUN with family and friends is a critical component to a healthy, happy life. It's too easy to get overly caught up in work and day-to-day trifles which are not important in the big scheme of things. So I'm trying to do my part in spreading the joy. Hopefully it will work!
#4 = WRITING TO THIS BLOG
I have three blogs going right now. There's a private one dedicated to the development of my tabletop miniatures wargame called And On the 7th Day They Created Severnia. That's where the project team members and I post our thoughts, ideas, and observations about the Sword of Severnia fantasy wargame we're involved in developing.
I also maintain a blog for my HARL Baseball league, where I write about my fantasy baseball league and share information with the league members. There's also an associated website called HARL Central where members can download weekly stat reports and view online reports.
And then there's this blog, a personal journal where I discuss board games, card games, miniatures, wargames, software development, fantasy sports, and anything else that strikes my fancy.
Keeping all 3 blogs up-to-date can be a challenge. Of all three, writing to this one is the hardest. Experiences designing software/games and with my fantasy baseball league help to generate articles for the other two blogs without much of a problem. But writing to a personal journal is different.
While I almost always have something to say, sometimes I wonder if it's really worth saying. I mean, there's only so much people can read while surfing the net. So I frequently ask myself the question, "what makes this blog worth reading?" Why bother writing at all if I don't have anything interesting, informative, or captivating to say?
That's probably something that a great many bloggers struggle with. Sure, you can use blogging as a pure ego trip, gaining satisfaction in the simple fact that your voice is on the internet somewhere. Or perhaps, you just want to write for cathartic purposes; because it makes you feel good to share your feelings and get things off your chest. They're both valid reasons I suppose.
For me, I want to inform and entertain. The thing that I hope for is that a reader learns something and has fun doing it.
I know that I don't always succeed. I'm still learning what makes a good blog post, what's useful to write about, and what people enjoy. Truth be told, I'm probably overthinking this. Perhaps that's why I'm frustrated about not writing to this blog often enough. Four or five posts per month is not enough. I want to be more prolific and not let things get too stagnant. Posting 12-16 times per month would be oh so much better!
But for an increase in posting to occur, I'm going to have to take a new approach to this blog. Perhaps I should be willing to write shorter posts? Perhaps I should feel free to just brain-dump and not feel guilty about it? Perhaps I need to stop worrying about being informative and just starting writing? It's very possible that could be holding me back.
So I'm going to try something new. I'm just going to LET GO and WRITE and see what happens. At least I can't be frustrated about lack of posting any longer if I take that approach!
Until next time... BE GOOD.
Well, truth be told, none of these bothers are earth-shattering frustrations. Rather, they're smally niggly bits which are eating away at my patience; a patience which most friends and family members claim that I have an enormous amount of.
Let's take them in turn...
#1 = WORK
I'm in the process of changing gears work-wise, switching my day-to-day emphasis on baseball related activities (data development, sales, tech support) and returning to a heavy immersion in wargame design, development, and playtesting.
I'm excited to change gears and am really looking forward to doing new things. The preseason and early-season baseball rush always causes me to suffer a bit of burnout, so switching to something radically different is a big boost to my mojo.
The niggling frustration I'm having right now is that I want (and need) to become like Butter. I need to get "on a roll" with my game development & playtesting, but I haven't found that steady flow of inner-brain magic yet. Oh, I'm working diligently and making progress. I just need to get in the zone. That's something that software designers, programmers, artists, architects, and even athletes can probably relate to.
I can't explain how to make it happen. It's not a switch that you simply flip and suddenly, you become inspired and enormously productive. But if you focus on something long and hard enough, eventually magic happens. Ideas flow like cheap wine. You do three days worth of work in one-day. Inspiration bubbles up. You find yourself thinking up brilliant ideas right before dozing off to sleep and while in the shower the next morning.
Anyway, that's what I'm missing right now. I want it to happen... NOW. I guess I'll just have to keep plugging away and stay focused. Sooner or later, it's gonna happen.
#2 = ROTISSERIE BASEBALL
I have never finished dead-last in any fantasy baseball, football, or hockey league that I've participated in. And I've been playing in various leagues for well over 20 years. I'm used to finishing in-the-money, and I've won my fair share of league championships. But currently, in my HARL Baseball league, my favorite fantasy league of all time, I find my Sevy Rhinos team in dead-last. Yikes!
As frustrating as being in last place is, I have faith that things will improve for my ballclub. Experience tells me that you cannot really gauge the strengths/weaknesses of your rotisserie team until 6 weeks of the season have elapsed. On paper, I was pretty happy with my team when I looked it over post-draft. The offense looked very strong, and the pitching seemed decent, although there were a few question marks to consider. But man, has my pitching staff totally sucked so far! Their total implosion is the major reason I'm dwelling in the cellar right now.
My starting pitching staff (this is an NL-only league) consists of Jeff Francis, Oliver Perez, Tom Gorzelanny, Randy Johnson, Joel Pineiro, and Shawn Chacon. Of my top four hurlers, only Oliver Perez has been any good. Francis started off poorly, but his last 2 starts have been solid, so he fortunately appears to be returning to form. Gorzelanny may be hiding an arm injury. His control has been dreadful, and that's very unlike him. The Big Unit missed the first 2 weeks while resting on the DL. He's been decent so far, and I'm hoping he returns to his form of 2005 and leaves his 2006 Yankees season as an aberration. Arizona has a good young team, so the Unit can't help but benefit from that.
The rotation hasn't been my only worry. Prior to this past week, my bullpen had been lit up. Jose Valverde and Tom Gordon have been like kerosene matches standing next to an open flame. Ryan Madson hasn't been much better. Only Kevin Gregg has kept his ERA down and helped my club. Fortunately, things appear to be turning around, as all four relievers combined to bolster my staff last week with Wins, Saves, and quality outings.
So things are improving. I even stuck SP-Odalis Perez into my flex slot to get more Innings Pitched and hopefully whittle down my bloated ERA and WHIP with some quality statistics. Of course, banking on Odalis Perez to be reliable is like hoping that Paris Hilton disappears from the tabloids. But hey, when your options are slim, you gotta gamble sometimes!
#3 = BOARD GAME CLUB
Getting my local board game group to show up and play games on a regular basis has been a major point of frustration for me. I have played a bunch of board games with my friends over the past 8 months or so. They've been extremely enjoyable gaming sessions. I just wish they could happen A LOT more often!
Let's face it, organizing anything is always a big challenge. It's especially tricky when you're dealing with adults who have very busy schedules and kids. Plus, since this is just a fun thing and not a formal event like a class or work project, or participation on a sports team, people tend to blow these things off when squeezed for time. I can understand, but it's still frustrating, especially for the person (me) who arranges everything.
Plus, some of the problems with maintaining a steady gaming schedule has been my own fault. I was extremely busy working overtime and doing other activities during off-hours in February through the first half of April. Nobody else picked up the ball and ran with it, so the game club basically went on hiatus for a few months.
On the plus side, I haven't given up hope yet. I love board games, wargames, and card games. And I have a bunch of new games (at least to me) to try out, as well as many old favorites to continue to bring to the table. Despite my disappointment in not getting enough traction going amongst my gamer-friends to put the game group on auto-pilot, I still think it can be done. It's just going to take time and plenty of patience. The fact that I own a bunch of cool games and don't want to see them languish on the shelf for eternity is a driving force behind my continual efforts to light a fire under people's butts.
So I shall start again. People need to come to the realization that having FUN with family and friends is a critical component to a healthy, happy life. It's too easy to get overly caught up in work and day-to-day trifles which are not important in the big scheme of things. So I'm trying to do my part in spreading the joy. Hopefully it will work!
#4 = WRITING TO THIS BLOG
I have three blogs going right now. There's a private one dedicated to the development of my tabletop miniatures wargame called And On the 7th Day They Created Severnia. That's where the project team members and I post our thoughts, ideas, and observations about the Sword of Severnia fantasy wargame we're involved in developing.
I also maintain a blog for my HARL Baseball league, where I write about my fantasy baseball league and share information with the league members. There's also an associated website called HARL Central where members can download weekly stat reports and view online reports.
And then there's this blog, a personal journal where I discuss board games, card games, miniatures, wargames, software development, fantasy sports, and anything else that strikes my fancy.
Keeping all 3 blogs up-to-date can be a challenge. Of all three, writing to this one is the hardest. Experiences designing software/games and with my fantasy baseball league help to generate articles for the other two blogs without much of a problem. But writing to a personal journal is different.
While I almost always have something to say, sometimes I wonder if it's really worth saying. I mean, there's only so much people can read while surfing the net. So I frequently ask myself the question, "what makes this blog worth reading?" Why bother writing at all if I don't have anything interesting, informative, or captivating to say?
That's probably something that a great many bloggers struggle with. Sure, you can use blogging as a pure ego trip, gaining satisfaction in the simple fact that your voice is on the internet somewhere. Or perhaps, you just want to write for cathartic purposes; because it makes you feel good to share your feelings and get things off your chest. They're both valid reasons I suppose.
For me, I want to inform and entertain. The thing that I hope for is that a reader learns something and has fun doing it.
I know that I don't always succeed. I'm still learning what makes a good blog post, what's useful to write about, and what people enjoy. Truth be told, I'm probably overthinking this. Perhaps that's why I'm frustrated about not writing to this blog often enough. Four or five posts per month is not enough. I want to be more prolific and not let things get too stagnant. Posting 12-16 times per month would be oh so much better!
But for an increase in posting to occur, I'm going to have to take a new approach to this blog. Perhaps I should be willing to write shorter posts? Perhaps I should feel free to just brain-dump and not feel guilty about it? Perhaps I need to stop worrying about being informative and just starting writing? It's very possible that could be holding me back.
So I'm going to try something new. I'm just going to LET GO and WRITE and see what happens. At least I can't be frustrated about lack of posting any longer if I take that approach!
Until next time... BE GOOD.
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Babble On My Wayward Son
I'm sure that everyone who blogs, whether for fun or profit, frequently faces that nagging question, "what the hell do I write about today?" Sometimes, there are a zillion different topics floating across your mindscape and it's really difficult to latch on to one that really suits the mood you're currently in. For instance, when I sat down tonight to write to my blog, I sifted through a myriad of jumbled topics including:
I'm going to tuck these ideas away as potential future posts. For now, I'm not going to write about any of them. Sometimes, you just feel like babbling on about an assortment of things that don't really fit together as a cohesive whole. It's kind of a cross between Sanford & Son unloading the junk out of the back of Fred's pickup truck and a congressman engaging in a fillibuster (but without the politics). So anyway, off I go.....
Only 19 days until Cold Wars! I can't wait! I'm signed up for a full weekend pass and I renewed my HMGS East membership which expired at the end of 2007. This is the most exciting thing on my event-calendar horizon, and I'm saving up my discretionary dollars to buy some new toys at the wargaming convention. Which leads me into...
AT-43 or Confrontation? I picked up the AT-43 boxed starter set at the Fall In convention in November but haven't gotten the chance to play it yet. It was a big departure for me.
You see, I'm mainly a fantasy wargamer with a secondary affection for ancients/medievals, so the wargaming miniatures that I typically buy are trolls, orcs, reptilians, beastmen, elves, ghouls, knights, vikings, romans, spartans, crusaders, and the like. While sci-fi has always appealed to me, the cost and time of getting into it big-time scared me off. But I finally took the plunge when AT-43 was released by Rackham and became distributed by Fantasy Flight Games here in the states. The fact that the models come pre-painted really appeals to me because it's a huge time-saver; you can game right out of the box. Plus, it's a fast-play, skirmish level game, so the number of models you need to play a decent game isn't backbreaking and the rules aren't too difficult to learn. So AT-43 has become my Sci-Fi game of choice.
When I want a meatier, longer, more engrossing game, I'll play Sword of Severnia instead, the tabletop fantasy wargame that I'm developing for Rhino Software. Sword of Severnia is a card-driven, computer-assisted, mass-combat fantasy wargame which lets players use any models they have. So if you want to mix your nicely painted ancient/medieval historical minis with your figures from Warhammer, Hordes, HeroScape, WarGods, Erin, Hundred Kingdoms, Dwarf Wars, and Reaper Warlord, then you're completely free to do so. Use the minis you like and already own -- the whole wide world of wargaming miniatures is your oyster!
That's why I've got a dilemma. The new Confrontation pre-paints are softly calling to me. While I have no intention of actually playing that game itself, I can easily see myself buying the minis to add to my fantasy forces. The Wolfen are particularly cool and mesh nicely with a race that's included in Sword of Severnia. So do I buy the base Confrontation starter set just to get the models? Or do I buy some of the new Karmans (space apes) for AT-43, and wait until some expansion figure packs come out for Confrontation in a couple of months? Decisions decisions...
The other night, I finally listened to an episode of a new podcast called What Are You Working On? and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The show is basically a bunch of gaming friends sitting around talking about hobby games and sharing their insights and experiences. The guys seemed very relaxed and didn't take things too seriously (the emphasis was on fun, rather than the overanalyzed psychoanalysis crap that a few self-important podcasters sometimes put out). It was a fun listen and I'm looking forward to hearing another episode soon. Check it out.
On another note..... I need to start following through on one of my New Year's Resolutions: paint more figures. It's easier said than done, especially now that baseball season is almost upon us, which keeps me very busy both business-wise (I sell a somewhat sophisticated fantasy baseball program that I developed and run a stats service) and free time-wise (I'm the commissioner and statistician of a long-running rotisserie league). I think the only way to achieve this is to set aside 1 or 2 nights per week for painting/modelling. The fact that I need to get some new troops onto the table for upcoming sessions of Sword of Severnia should spur me on a bit. It wouldn't hurt to back away from the PC a little in the evenings -- more crafting and less reading is good for the right-side of my brain.
Speaking of painting, I'm considering taking some of my unpainted lead and sending it to Sri Lanka to get painted by Fernando Miniatures. Their stuff looks gorgeous, they've gotten great reviews from the wargaming community at large (especially over at TMP), and their prices are extremely reasonable. I have never used a painting service before, which is amazing considering I've been collecting minis for over 25 years. I'm going to talk with the guys in my wargaming group during Cold Wars to see if we can gather some models to ship there.
Moving into the board game arena, I got to play Lord of the Rings: The Confrontation (the Deluxe version) with my friend Kevin last night. What a truly excellent game! It's an easy game to learn and plays very fast (games last only 30-40 mins), but the strategic options are deep, the theme is nicely melded into the mechanics, and the variants and extra components provided with the game give it tremendous replayability. The best thing that you can say about any game is that you're really looking forward to playing it again, and that certainly holds true for this classic by Dr. Reiner Knizia.
A handful of recently released board games are on my radar including Age of Gods, Last Night on Earth, Hannibal: Rome vs Carthage, Cutthroat Caverns, Kingsburg, Neuroshima Hex, and the updated edition of Colossal Arena. When I say recent, I mean in the last 6 months or so. I'm not an overtly crazed boardgame geek that has to buy every new game within weeks of its release. Heck, there are a few games that I bought at Origins 2005 that I have yet to get to the table. Such is life when you're a 40-year old with multiple interests and run your own business. Still, I'm on the measured path to increasing the number of boardgames that I play per year and that, coupled with my desire to purge some older titles that I don't forsee playing again, leads me to seek out new games. I'll talk about these games in more detail soon, but if you want to find out more about them go to BoardGameGeek, or check out the following websites providing video reviews of tabletop games:
- Recapturing Lost Enthusiasm -- New Ideas for Fantasy Baseball
- The Overblown Steroids Debate in Baseball
- NL Rookie of the Year Watch
- Analysis Paralysis in Fantasy Baseball Drafting
- Programming is NOT the same as Software Design
- Computers and Tabletop Wargaming
- 5 classic Wargaming Books worth adding to your collection
- My Cold Wars 2008 Shopping Guide
- Going Ape -- the Karmans have arrived for AT-43
- Historical Wargaming Buzz -- Field of Glory and Wargames Factory minis
- 90mm Wargaming
- LITKO: The Holy Grail of wargaming accessories
- Point Costing Systems: Is simpler better?
- 10 cool board Wargames that I'm looking to purchase
- Tournament Gaming vs. Gaming Just for Fun
- How many games is too many?
- The Best Gaming Podcasts
- The Lack of Patience -- A Disturbing Trend in Hobby Gaming
- The Top 20 Board Games I'm Dying to Play
- Origins or Essen?
- Finding the Time to Paint Miniatures
- Creativity is Sorely Undervalued
I'm going to tuck these ideas away as potential future posts. For now, I'm not going to write about any of them. Sometimes, you just feel like babbling on about an assortment of things that don't really fit together as a cohesive whole. It's kind of a cross between Sanford & Son unloading the junk out of the back of Fred's pickup truck and a congressman engaging in a fillibuster (but without the politics). So anyway, off I go.....
Only 19 days until Cold Wars! I can't wait! I'm signed up for a full weekend pass and I renewed my HMGS East membership which expired at the end of 2007. This is the most exciting thing on my event-calendar horizon, and I'm saving up my discretionary dollars to buy some new toys at the wargaming convention. Which leads me into...
AT-43 or Confrontation? I picked up the AT-43 boxed starter set at the Fall In convention in November but haven't gotten the chance to play it yet. It was a big departure for me.
You see, I'm mainly a fantasy wargamer with a secondary affection for ancients/medievals, so the wargaming miniatures that I typically buy are trolls, orcs, reptilians, beastmen, elves, ghouls, knights, vikings, romans, spartans, crusaders, and the like. While sci-fi has always appealed to me, the cost and time of getting into it big-time scared me off. But I finally took the plunge when AT-43 was released by Rackham and became distributed by Fantasy Flight Games here in the states. The fact that the models come pre-painted really appeals to me because it's a huge time-saver; you can game right out of the box. Plus, it's a fast-play, skirmish level game, so the number of models you need to play a decent game isn't backbreaking and the rules aren't too difficult to learn. So AT-43 has become my Sci-Fi game of choice.
When I want a meatier, longer, more engrossing game, I'll play Sword of Severnia instead, the tabletop fantasy wargame that I'm developing for Rhino Software. Sword of Severnia is a card-driven, computer-assisted, mass-combat fantasy wargame which lets players use any models they have. So if you want to mix your nicely painted ancient/medieval historical minis with your figures from Warhammer, Hordes, HeroScape, WarGods, Erin, Hundred Kingdoms, Dwarf Wars, and Reaper Warlord, then you're completely free to do so. Use the minis you like and already own -- the whole wide world of wargaming miniatures is your oyster!
That's why I've got a dilemma. The new Confrontation pre-paints are softly calling to me. While I have no intention of actually playing that game itself, I can easily see myself buying the minis to add to my fantasy forces. The Wolfen are particularly cool and mesh nicely with a race that's included in Sword of Severnia. So do I buy the base Confrontation starter set just to get the models? Or do I buy some of the new Karmans (space apes) for AT-43, and wait until some expansion figure packs come out for Confrontation in a couple of months? Decisions decisions...
The other night, I finally listened to an episode of a new podcast called What Are You Working On? and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The show is basically a bunch of gaming friends sitting around talking about hobby games and sharing their insights and experiences. The guys seemed very relaxed and didn't take things too seriously (the emphasis was on fun, rather than the overanalyzed psychoanalysis crap that a few self-important podcasters sometimes put out). It was a fun listen and I'm looking forward to hearing another episode soon. Check it out.
On another note..... I need to start following through on one of my New Year's Resolutions: paint more figures. It's easier said than done, especially now that baseball season is almost upon us, which keeps me very busy both business-wise (I sell a somewhat sophisticated fantasy baseball program that I developed and run a stats service) and free time-wise (I'm the commissioner and statistician of a long-running rotisserie league). I think the only way to achieve this is to set aside 1 or 2 nights per week for painting/modelling. The fact that I need to get some new troops onto the table for upcoming sessions of Sword of Severnia should spur me on a bit. It wouldn't hurt to back away from the PC a little in the evenings -- more crafting and less reading is good for the right-side of my brain.
Speaking of painting, I'm considering taking some of my unpainted lead and sending it to Sri Lanka to get painted by Fernando Miniatures. Their stuff looks gorgeous, they've gotten great reviews from the wargaming community at large (especially over at TMP), and their prices are extremely reasonable. I have never used a painting service before, which is amazing considering I've been collecting minis for over 25 years. I'm going to talk with the guys in my wargaming group during Cold Wars to see if we can gather some models to ship there.
Moving into the board game arena, I got to play Lord of the Rings: The Confrontation (the Deluxe version) with my friend Kevin last night. What a truly excellent game! It's an easy game to learn and plays very fast (games last only 30-40 mins), but the strategic options are deep, the theme is nicely melded into the mechanics, and the variants and extra components provided with the game give it tremendous replayability. The best thing that you can say about any game is that you're really looking forward to playing it again, and that certainly holds true for this classic by Dr. Reiner Knizia.
A handful of recently released board games are on my radar including Age of Gods, Last Night on Earth, Hannibal: Rome vs Carthage, Cutthroat Caverns, Kingsburg, Neuroshima Hex, and the updated edition of Colossal Arena. When I say recent, I mean in the last 6 months or so. I'm not an overtly crazed boardgame geek that has to buy every new game within weeks of its release. Heck, there are a few games that I bought at Origins 2005 that I have yet to get to the table. Such is life when you're a 40-year old with multiple interests and run your own business. Still, I'm on the measured path to increasing the number of boardgames that I play per year and that, coupled with my desire to purge some older titles that I don't forsee playing again, leads me to seek out new games. I'll talk about these games in more detail soon, but if you want to find out more about them go to BoardGameGeek, or check out the following websites providing video reviews of tabletop games:
- Bookshelf Games - by Lawrence Spode
- Boardgames with Scott - by Scott Nicholson
- Obsessed With Gaming - by Colin Sherman
- Stignei's Game Reviews - by S. Stignei
- The Games Rules Show -
Time for some shout outs to a couple of gaming-related companies that have provided excellent service to me lately. Way to go Litko Aerosystems, your custom acrylic tokens are very cool, your prices for high quality laser-cut wargaming bases are excellent, and your customer service is superior. I just can't recommend Litko highly enough. They have become THE place that I go first for wargaming accessories.
Secondly, here's a hearty shout out to Neil of The WarStore.com. For two Christmases in a row, Neil has delivered on large orders made by my wife somewhat late in the holiday season. Anna raves about how nice he is to deal with, and I'll second that having met him in-person during Fall In in Gettysburg, PA last November. Great guy, great selection of games, great prices, and great service. There's nothing else to say other than buy from the War Store and you won't be disappointed.
Speaking of war, the venerable game of Warhammer is now 25 years old this year. Say what you want about Games Workshop and its less-than-popular business practices and often head-scratching decisions (see the recent hacksaw that they took to Black Industries if you need recent proof), but Warhammer has a fond place in my heart. It is the game that really got me into wargaming and it has done much to bolster the wargaming industry for many years. There are, in my opinion, much better game systems out there from a game-play and mechanics perspective, but nobody offers the combination of (1) wide-scope of high quality models, (2) lavishly illustrated books, and (3) rich & colorful background world that Warhammer offers. Even if I don't play Warhammer any more (I'm focused on my own self-produced game), I still buy the beautiful models and am constantly inspired by their fantastic production values and the neverending source of ideas they bring to the wargaming community. People love to bash GW, and rightly so at times, but I'm happy they're still around and making cool toys for us older boys!
On a down note, not everything fun lives forever. It seems that Ragnarok magazine is in its death throes, as there hasn't been a new issue for close to a year. I'm a previous subscriber, but let my subscription lapse because of the long delays between issue releases and content that really didn't appeal to me as much as I would have liked. I would have liked to have seen Ragnarok be the fantasy/sci-fi equivalent of Battlegames, my current favorite wargaming magazine with a heavy slant towards historicals and only a smattering of fantasy, but with plenty of generic, broad-brush articles that appeal to a wide range of wargamers. Perhaps the promised new magazine from Polymancer Studios will fit the bill, but they're currently recovering from a hacker-attack that devastated their company website and thus have other concerns at the moment aside from getting a new magazine off the ground.
Last year saw the end of Wargames Journal, an oustanding print magazine that had a great mix of historical and fantasy/sci-fi topics, plus gorgeous eye candy. It had a fantastic start, but petered out for whatever reason. It's a damn shame. I was willing to pony up over $100 US for a 1-year subscription, so obviously, I thought very highly of it. I got a portion of my money back on the subscription that I had signed up for. The folks at WJ said they were moving back to their original online, PDF magazine format, but that was a longtime ago and their website is basically AWOL at this point. I'm hoping for the best, but expecting the worst.
In the world of podcasts, it looks like both the All About Miniatures and Solo Wargaming Show have taken an extended (perhaps permanent) hiatus. I hope the hosts of these two fine shows return with new episodes in the future, because there is a real need for quality podcasts related to miniatures. The only minis-based show that really shines in that regard is the terrific Meeples & Miniatures show by Neil Shuck, but perhaps the What Are You Working On podcast that I mentioned earlier will help fill the void as well.
And that's the babble for now. I'll hopefully return with some 1-topic articles in the future. Maybe I need some frozen orange juice so I can concentrate better? Eww... I know, it's an oldie and a baddie!
Cheers!
Friday, January 18, 2008
5 Stupid Things I Want for My Birthday
Today (January 18) is my birthday. I'm going out to dinner with my family at a classy Victorian era restaurant to celebrate. They specialize in Tuscan cooking and make some of the best damn food I've ever eaten in my life. And looking down at my ever-expanding belly, I must say that I've eaten a lot of things over my 44 years of life! Anyway, I'm sure it will be fantastic.
I'm not entirely sure what my wife is getting me for my birthday. I'm sure that I'll like whatever she gets me. I'm easy to please. Really, I am. I'll probably get cologne or something practical. Which is fine by me. But ya know, I would even be happy with 5 stupid gifts like these:
COCKTAIL DEMONS
I don't really drink martinis. But if I had some cool little red cocktail demons to hook over the edge of my glass well you can bet your bippy that I would start drinking like Lindsay Lohan on a weekend bender. These little devils are just too cool.
Of course, the fantasy wargamer in me sees an immediate use for these little demons. They're 1.75 inches tall and only $10 bucks for a box of 50. Hmm, with a little paint they would make most excellent demon troops for my Sword of Severnia wargame. Brilliant! I must get some.
PIRATE MINTS
Fresh breath is always important. I mean seriously, is your wife going to kiss you if your breath smells like six week old bacon? I don't think so. So if you're going to wise up and get fresh breath, then why not make sure that your little mints contain GROG! Arrrr.... Now there's a mouth worth kissing me laddies!
And at 2 tins for $5 bucks, well, what self-respecting pirate shouldn't have these!
FLYING MONKEYS
What's my favorite part of The Wizard of Oz? Besides the Wicked Witch screaming "I'm melting... aahhh", well it has to be the flying monkeys. They're the best henchmen in all of fantasydom. They are cute and irrationally frightening all at the same time.
Well for a mere $6 for a set of 4, these little monkeys can find a spot in your beautifully decorated home. Like the cocktail demons, I think they would make great fantasy wargame figures, or great pawns in a monkey themed board game. But then, I'm weird like that.
MARIE ANTOINETTE LOLLIPOPS
Off with her head! After a tiring day of software development, there's just nothing better than kicking back and ending the day with a lollipop. Well, I imagine it would be a great end to the day anyway. But man, how much better would it be if you were licking the pretty little head of French Revolution babe Marie Antoinette? And she's cherry flavored to boot.
Licking everyone's favorite decapitated French lass will cost you $28 for a box of 24 lollies. I know, I know, really only the upper-crust can afford that, but sometimes you need to indulge yourself once in awhile.
ST. ANTHONY
I'm not entirely sure what my wife is getting me for my birthday. I'm sure that I'll like whatever she gets me. I'm easy to please. Really, I am. I'll probably get cologne or something practical. Which is fine by me. But ya know, I would even be happy with 5 stupid gifts like these:
COCKTAIL DEMONS
I don't really drink martinis. But if I had some cool little red cocktail demons to hook over the edge of my glass well you can bet your bippy that I would start drinking like Lindsay Lohan on a weekend bender. These little devils are just too cool.
Of course, the fantasy wargamer in me sees an immediate use for these little demons. They're 1.75 inches tall and only $10 bucks for a box of 50. Hmm, with a little paint they would make most excellent demon troops for my Sword of Severnia wargame. Brilliant! I must get some.
PIRATE MINTSFresh breath is always important. I mean seriously, is your wife going to kiss you if your breath smells like six week old bacon? I don't think so. So if you're going to wise up and get fresh breath, then why not make sure that your little mints contain GROG! Arrrr.... Now there's a mouth worth kissing me laddies!
And at 2 tins for $5 bucks, well, what self-respecting pirate shouldn't have these!
FLYING MONKEYSWhat's my favorite part of The Wizard of Oz? Besides the Wicked Witch screaming "I'm melting... aahhh", well it has to be the flying monkeys. They're the best henchmen in all of fantasydom. They are cute and irrationally frightening all at the same time.
Well for a mere $6 for a set of 4, these little monkeys can find a spot in your beautifully decorated home. Like the cocktail demons, I think they would make great fantasy wargame figures, or great pawns in a monkey themed board game. But then, I'm weird like that.
MARIE ANTOINETTE LOLLIPOPS
Off with her head! After a tiring day of software development, there's just nothing better than kicking back and ending the day with a lollipop. Well, I imagine it would be a great end to the day anyway. But man, how much better would it be if you were licking the pretty little head of French Revolution babe Marie Antoinette? And she's cherry flavored to boot.
Licking everyone's favorite decapitated French lass will cost you $28 for a box of 24 lollies. I know, I know, really only the upper-crust can afford that, but sometimes you need to indulge yourself once in awhile.
ST. ANTHONY
I consider myself a good Catholic boy. I go to mass every Sunday. I try to be a good example to others. I open and hold the door for little old ladies and everyone else. But I guess I don't read the bible or listen to the Pope enough. Frankly, I had no idea that St. Anthony was the patron saint of bacon. Really?
C'mon... Bacon... That is just TOO COOL for words. And some people say that religion is nonsense. To those people, I say "hope you don't choke on your bacon... sinner".
Hey Saint Tony, I'd like mine extra crispy! Yummm.
By the way, if you're interested in more cool products like this, then do yourself a favor and surf on over to Archie McPhee's. Maybe next birthday I'll luck out with some of these.
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
The Christmas Blitz
It happens every year about this time. I'm talking about the Christmas Blitz. We are inundated by a frenzy of home decorating, shopping, fighting through crowds & traffic, wrapping, party planning and attending, cooking & baking, and all the other myriad of things associated with the biggest holiday season of the year. For those of us who live in the Northeast, we also get to deal with periodic snowstorms and ice storms. It's enough to drive a brother bonkers!
All this craziness hasn't left me much spare time to post to this blog. There are tons of things I could write about, but trying to assemble some coherent thoughts from my jumbled mind isn't the easiest thing to do right now. Of course, I could do a stream of consciousness piece. Oh what the hell, let's do that!
I'm going to make it a point that 2008 will be a year in which I play lots & lots of board games and miniature wargames with my friends during my free time. Trying to organize regular gaming sessions during the last quarter of 2007 was a nightmare, but I can do better, I just know it!
I'm sure that a good chunk of time will be filled with games of Sword of Severnia, the computer-moderated fantasy wargame I'm currently developing. I'm writing a Quick Reference Guide to the core paper rules as we speak, and once that's done and the guys get their model basing ready to go, we should be scheduling battle sessions on a regular basis. I just got a whole slew of 80x60 masonite and metal bases from The Last Square, as well as 80x120 bases and peel & stick magnetic figure bases from Litko. I don't know if I have enough stuff to handle 500 models or more, but we'll see how my little basing project works out. One great thing about SoS is that you only need 50-65 models (scattered across 9-12 stands) to form an army. So I'll have multiple armies to play with. Very cool. Software development on SoS should start very soon. I've spent the past 2 years crafting the written rules, so I'm getting antsy to start playtesting them in detail with the guys and get the Troop Builder and Army Builder modules written.
I'm also hoping that I can get a HeroScape campaign going in 2008 using the rough draft campaign rules I've created for SoS. And I also want to try AT-43 on for size for the occasional sci-fi skirmish game, and Gnome Wars for pure silly fun.
On the board wargame side, I'm itching to play Battlelore, Tide of Iron, Wings of War, Hammer of the Scots, and hopefully Wizard Kings (if Santa Anna comes through for me!).
Wally and I played a great game of Hammer of the Scots a few weeks ago. The game was close at one point, but his slimey English scum (led by Edward I) eventually defeated my brave Scots, eliminating William Wallace in the final year of the "Braveheart" scenario. I was much too aggressive in the game. The Scots need to build up some forces, hit fast and grab enemy nobles at every chance, run away from big fights, and do their best to get the Scottish King and French Knights onto the map, something I failed to do.
Also looking to get some miniature planes for Wings of War (again, maybe a Christmas or Birthday present to me?). Who wants to play with cards when you can play with toy planes!!! Fokker Fokker Fokker...
By the way did I mention Battlelore? This is an awesome game and it looks to be something that will be ever-expanding over time. Gimme more monsters, and maybe some undead and mercenary forces!!
On the non-wargaming side of the fence, several board games are on my BUY ME & PLAY ME radar for 2008. These include Prophecy, LOTR Confrontation, Mr Jack, Condottiere, Hive, Colossal Arena, Manhattan, Through the Desert, Fury of Dracula, Tikal, El Grande (Decennial Edition), Fearsome Floors, Cutthroat Caverns, and Fairy Tale. I could go on and on. My personal wishlist that I keep in an Excel spreadsheet goes 105 games deep. If I got 10 new games between now and Christmas 2008, that would be more than enough, at least until regular weekly gaming sessions become the norm.
Two revamped board games that I have my eye squarely on for 2008 are Cosmic Encounter and Titan. I'm also looking forward to the Fantasy version of Piquet. Ya know, maybe I like games TOO DAMN MUCH?
Will 2008 be the year of Pre-Paints? Between Rackham's AT-43 and Confrontation games, Reaper's new Legendary Encounters range, more HeroScape stuff, Privateer's Monsterpocalypse game, Wings of War airplanes, the Mutant Chronicles CMG, and a growing range of quality 90mm toy soldiers from Schleich and Papo, it will certainly be a telling year whether the influence of pre-paints continues to rise or peter out. I'm predicting pre-paints will be on the rise. Our "I want it now, with little fuss" society is geared towards pre-paints more than traditional do-it yourself minis. DIY ain't going away, but the more pre-paints that come into the marketplace, the bigger miniature gaming will grow. Just look at all the new board games that include minis! People love the visual impact and tactile feel of playing with cool looking toys -- and no, it doesn't go away even when you're over 40!!
By the way, some idiot on BGG speculated that HeroScape may be dying simply because they couldn't find Wave 7 easily and there were delays in some upcoming expansion sets. Oh Bullshit!! This happens all the time with game companies, even the big ones. Delays are part & parcel to the game business. Hasbro came out with a new master set (Swarm of the Marro) and a new spinoff game (Marvel Heroes), plus new figure expansions. Cut them some slack for pete's sake! More goodness will arrive in 2008. It would be pure stupidity to kill off a game that's had as much positive buzz as HeroScape and which actually appeals to the adult community (something that few Hasbro products can boast).
Hey Black Industries... umm... how about Talisman (version 5) with pre-painted minis?
I may travel to Essen next year. I'm not totally sure right now. Would Anna really enjoy it? She's only a casual gamer. But she does love to travel and we've never been to Germany. Hmmm... If Essen doesn't happen, then I'm damn well sure to be going to Origins in 2008.
Once January rolls around I'll start thinking about changes I'm going to make to the 2008 edition of my venerable Rhino Baseball program. I have a few things leftover from my 2007 planned-to-do list that I could add. But to be honest, this program is so chock full of functions that there isn't much to add to the beast. I do have one or two "cool factor" things I could do, but lack of time may prevent me from doing them. We shall see.
I had visions of integrating some web tools with Rhino Baseball, but two things are holding me back. First, my ongoing design work on Sword of Severnia is eating up all my time, as it should since I desperately need new, non-sports products to help expand my business. Secondly, Rhino Baseball has always been a robust desktop program. Revamping the workings of a 10-year old desktop app is dicey from a technical perspective. Plus, if someone just wants a web-based league manager, there are other decent alternatives available. Rhino Baseball rocks because it's much more than a simple league manager. It does lots of different things that those web-apps don't do functionally (especially from a draft prep, in-season stats analysis, and custom reporting perspective). And it does those things in a desktop environment that's more graphically appealing, runs faster, and gives the user more hands-on control. Why mess with a good thing?
Four books I'm currently reading or in my to-read pile: Hobby Games: Top 100 (various authors); The Master & Margarita (Bulgakov), Ancient and Medieval Wargaming (Neil Thomas), and Fantasy Gaming (Martin Hackett).
In the reading queue for 2008: Dark Tower series (Stephen King), The Winter King (Cornwell), and assorted Discworld books by Terry Pratchett. I'm also considering Achtung Schweinhund! but don't know if an American gamer can really relate to a British author's childhood wargaming memories.
Resolution for 2008... PAINT MORE MINIATURES!
The #1 Cool Toy I got in 2007 was a video iPod. I wish I could use the video part more, but still, I have been listening to more podcasts than ever before. I think I've got about 150-200 different episodes of various shows on that darn thing. They're most gaming shows, but I'll be exploring some fantasy baseball podcasts come this Spring.
I'm not sure that I can pick one favorite overall podcast. Here are some I listen to regularly:
All this craziness hasn't left me much spare time to post to this blog. There are tons of things I could write about, but trying to assemble some coherent thoughts from my jumbled mind isn't the easiest thing to do right now. Of course, I could do a stream of consciousness piece. Oh what the hell, let's do that!
I'm going to make it a point that 2008 will be a year in which I play lots & lots of board games and miniature wargames with my friends during my free time. Trying to organize regular gaming sessions during the last quarter of 2007 was a nightmare, but I can do better, I just know it!
I'm sure that a good chunk of time will be filled with games of Sword of Severnia, the computer-moderated fantasy wargame I'm currently developing. I'm writing a Quick Reference Guide to the core paper rules as we speak, and once that's done and the guys get their model basing ready to go, we should be scheduling battle sessions on a regular basis. I just got a whole slew of 80x60 masonite and metal bases from The Last Square, as well as 80x120 bases and peel & stick magnetic figure bases from Litko. I don't know if I have enough stuff to handle 500 models or more, but we'll see how my little basing project works out. One great thing about SoS is that you only need 50-65 models (scattered across 9-12 stands) to form an army. So I'll have multiple armies to play with. Very cool. Software development on SoS should start very soon. I've spent the past 2 years crafting the written rules, so I'm getting antsy to start playtesting them in detail with the guys and get the Troop Builder and Army Builder modules written.
I'm also hoping that I can get a HeroScape campaign going in 2008 using the rough draft campaign rules I've created for SoS. And I also want to try AT-43 on for size for the occasional sci-fi skirmish game, and Gnome Wars for pure silly fun.
On the board wargame side, I'm itching to play Battlelore, Tide of Iron, Wings of War, Hammer of the Scots, and hopefully Wizard Kings (if Santa Anna comes through for me!).
Wally and I played a great game of Hammer of the Scots a few weeks ago. The game was close at one point, but his slimey English scum (led by Edward I) eventually defeated my brave Scots, eliminating William Wallace in the final year of the "Braveheart" scenario. I was much too aggressive in the game. The Scots need to build up some forces, hit fast and grab enemy nobles at every chance, run away from big fights, and do their best to get the Scottish King and French Knights onto the map, something I failed to do.
Also looking to get some miniature planes for Wings of War (again, maybe a Christmas or Birthday present to me?). Who wants to play with cards when you can play with toy planes!!! Fokker Fokker Fokker...
By the way did I mention Battlelore? This is an awesome game and it looks to be something that will be ever-expanding over time. Gimme more monsters, and maybe some undead and mercenary forces!!
On the non-wargaming side of the fence, several board games are on my BUY ME & PLAY ME radar for 2008. These include Prophecy, LOTR Confrontation, Mr Jack, Condottiere, Hive, Colossal Arena, Manhattan, Through the Desert, Fury of Dracula, Tikal, El Grande (Decennial Edition), Fearsome Floors, Cutthroat Caverns, and Fairy Tale. I could go on and on. My personal wishlist that I keep in an Excel spreadsheet goes 105 games deep. If I got 10 new games between now and Christmas 2008, that would be more than enough, at least until regular weekly gaming sessions become the norm.
Two revamped board games that I have my eye squarely on for 2008 are Cosmic Encounter and Titan. I'm also looking forward to the Fantasy version of Piquet. Ya know, maybe I like games TOO DAMN MUCH?
Will 2008 be the year of Pre-Paints? Between Rackham's AT-43 and Confrontation games, Reaper's new Legendary Encounters range, more HeroScape stuff, Privateer's Monsterpocalypse game, Wings of War airplanes, the Mutant Chronicles CMG, and a growing range of quality 90mm toy soldiers from Schleich and Papo, it will certainly be a telling year whether the influence of pre-paints continues to rise or peter out. I'm predicting pre-paints will be on the rise. Our "I want it now, with little fuss" society is geared towards pre-paints more than traditional do-it yourself minis. DIY ain't going away, but the more pre-paints that come into the marketplace, the bigger miniature gaming will grow. Just look at all the new board games that include minis! People love the visual impact and tactile feel of playing with cool looking toys -- and no, it doesn't go away even when you're over 40!!
By the way, some idiot on BGG speculated that HeroScape may be dying simply because they couldn't find Wave 7 easily and there were delays in some upcoming expansion sets. Oh Bullshit!! This happens all the time with game companies, even the big ones. Delays are part & parcel to the game business. Hasbro came out with a new master set (Swarm of the Marro) and a new spinoff game (Marvel Heroes), plus new figure expansions. Cut them some slack for pete's sake! More goodness will arrive in 2008. It would be pure stupidity to kill off a game that's had as much positive buzz as HeroScape and which actually appeals to the adult community (something that few Hasbro products can boast).
Hey Black Industries... umm... how about Talisman (version 5) with pre-painted minis?
I may travel to Essen next year. I'm not totally sure right now. Would Anna really enjoy it? She's only a casual gamer. But she does love to travel and we've never been to Germany. Hmmm... If Essen doesn't happen, then I'm damn well sure to be going to Origins in 2008.
Once January rolls around I'll start thinking about changes I'm going to make to the 2008 edition of my venerable Rhino Baseball program. I have a few things leftover from my 2007 planned-to-do list that I could add. But to be honest, this program is so chock full of functions that there isn't much to add to the beast. I do have one or two "cool factor" things I could do, but lack of time may prevent me from doing them. We shall see.
I had visions of integrating some web tools with Rhino Baseball, but two things are holding me back. First, my ongoing design work on Sword of Severnia is eating up all my time, as it should since I desperately need new, non-sports products to help expand my business. Secondly, Rhino Baseball has always been a robust desktop program. Revamping the workings of a 10-year old desktop app is dicey from a technical perspective. Plus, if someone just wants a web-based league manager, there are other decent alternatives available. Rhino Baseball rocks because it's much more than a simple league manager. It does lots of different things that those web-apps don't do functionally (especially from a draft prep, in-season stats analysis, and custom reporting perspective). And it does those things in a desktop environment that's more graphically appealing, runs faster, and gives the user more hands-on control. Why mess with a good thing?
Four books I'm currently reading or in my to-read pile: Hobby Games: Top 100 (various authors); The Master & Margarita (Bulgakov), Ancient and Medieval Wargaming (Neil Thomas), and Fantasy Gaming (Martin Hackett).
In the reading queue for 2008: Dark Tower series (Stephen King), The Winter King (Cornwell), and assorted Discworld books by Terry Pratchett. I'm also considering Achtung Schweinhund! but don't know if an American gamer can really relate to a British author's childhood wargaming memories.
Resolution for 2008... PAINT MORE MINIATURES!
The #1 Cool Toy I got in 2007 was a video iPod. I wish I could use the video part more, but still, I have been listening to more podcasts than ever before. I think I've got about 150-200 different episodes of various shows on that darn thing. They're most gaming shows, but I'll be exploring some fantasy baseball podcasts come this Spring.
I'm not sure that I can pick one favorite overall podcast. Here are some I listen to regularly:
- I love the detailed yet easily digestable game reviews done by Pulp Gamer.
- The Dice Tower is simply a classic with its Top 10 Lists, sheer breadth of topics, and friendly co-hosts. Tom Vasel seems to have similar taste in games as me and I've picked up several new games based on his recommendations.
- Mark Johnson's down-to-earth Boardgames to Go podcast is often very entertaining and I can relate to him well. He's all substance and no fluff. His recent look at light wargames was great, and his 10 year retrospective was fascinating.
- I'm also quite fond of Neil Schuck's Meeples & Miniatures podcast because Neil goes into great depth on his subjects and is never afraid to share his honest opinion. This has become my favorite podcast for miniatures related stuff.
- For sheer board gaming enthusiasm and inspiration (with The List, Truckloads of Goober, Game Sommelier), you won't find anything better than The Spiel. Steve and Dave, you guys rock!
- I've always liked the All About Miniatures podcast, but the guys have gone on hiatus and I wonder if they'll return.
- I wish the guys at Roll 2D6 did more shows because they're always fun to listen to, especially when they talk about board games.
- The stoplight review system used by On Board Games is great, and there's no better evangelist for gaming right now than Scott Nicholson -- okay, maybe it's a tie with Tom Vasel.
- There are other podcasts I listen to as well (Metagamers, Little Wooden Cubist, Boardgame Babylon, Point-to-Point, and Paul Tevis's show when he talks about board games -- I'm not into RPGs anymore). Maybe I should do a whole post about this...
Has anyone subscribed to MagWeb? Is it worth it?
If Games Workshop ever came out with pre-painted minis for Blood Bowl, I would start playing that game in a heartbeat. I just don't have the time to paint minis for that game, and teams are pretty expensive to buy on eBay -- especially considering all the other games and minis I'm trying to squeeze into my budget!
My personal wargame design Holy Grail: a workable solution to designing a robust Fantasy wargame (with lots of different creatures & races) without the need for a Point Cost system. Anyone with any great ideas, please respond to this post!
Is the Ragnarok fantasy/sci-fi magazine defunct? It seems like it has been stuck on issue 52 forever.... Speaking of magazines, I can't wait for Bayonets, Spears, and Blasters to come out (new mag by Polymancer). I will subscribe to it, just tell me how!!!
It's amazing how much my NHL and Flyers hockey viewing has declined now that I'm not running and playing in a fantasy hockey pool. I wish there were 48 hours in each day! Perhaps if I can start playing STIGA table hockey next year the hockey bug will return? At least I've got my Hershey Bears to watch -- even though they're very up & down this season.
I still don't have a Christmas Tree.... YIKES!!! I better get one today or else the house just isn't going to feel right. I've really been struggling with the whole Christmas spirit thing this holiday season. Since my Dad died in February, it's been harder to find the passion in several things that I used to get really excited about. Not having Pop around at Christmas is extremely sad. I miss him... every day.
What do you get your Cats for Christmas? Both Jinx and Sammy have their own stockings. Now I just need something to put in them. New cat toys? Catnip? A new blanket to curl up in? Pictures of sexy girl cats (PlayCat). I dunno...
Gotta go... I'm rambling... Until next time MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!
Friday, November 23, 2007
Scattered Brain Cells
How many of you have ever read Larry King's column in the newspaper? The famed talk-show host writes in a unique style consisting of short little snippets of opinion. Many people hate that style of writing, but many others find it refreshing. In the fast-paced world that we live in, sometimes you just want a few quick bites to satisfy your mental cravings. So in the spirit of Larry King, perhaps modified a smidge, I bring to you a little segment called Scattered Brain Cells.
Black Friday... I didn't go out and do any shopping on Black Friday. I know many people practically pee their pants with excitement over the chance to snag a sweet deal on electronics, jewelry, clothing, video game systems, home furnishings, and so forth. They get up at 4:00 AM so they can be at the store when the doors open. Not me. I'm in the middle of rapid eye movement. I hate parking in Bumblebutt, Idaho and fighting through crowds of rabid shoppers. There's really nothing that I need THAT BAD. And if there was, I'd probably shop online for it.
Amazon Specials... Many online retailers are having their own Black Friday sales. Amazon.com has a really interesting 6-day sale going on where visitors choose various deals, and the product that gets the most votes each day is then offered at the pre-set deal price. I think during Day-1, they were offering Nintendo Wii systems to lucky visitors for $79 bucks. Damn sweet! Even if you didn't really want one, you could probably re-sell it on eBay for a tidy profit.
Mystery Shopping... There are two cool things about deals like those Amazon.com is offering:
(1) You can shop while sitting there in your pajamas -- no stinking crowds to fight through.
(2) There's a little bit of mystery about what products are actually going to be the ones that are offered for the sweet pre-set deal price. That element of surprise is something that really makes shopping fun. In fact, that's one of the things that I believe is so enticing about eBay. You just never know exactly what's going to be available for sale and at what price. There's a distinct Thrill of the Hunt going on which is so often missing from most shopping experiences.
Which brings me to my next thing...
TANGA.com... For board gamers and tech weenies, you've gotta check out Tanga.com. This online shopping site is all about the Thrill of the Hunt. Each day, the website offers a single new product for sale at a steeply discounted price. You have no idea what product they're going to offer next, so you need to visit the site frequently and see what's for sale. And if you want to buy that item, you need to act fast. The phrase "you snooze, you lose" was never more appropriate for a shopping web site. Hot items sell out quickly.
Top 200 Board Games... Turning our attention to board games, esteemed game reviewer extraordinaire Tom Vasel (of Dice Tower podcast fame) recently released his list of the Top 200 Games (board games and card games) for 2007. Those folks yearning to learn about high-caliber games or wanting a useful guide to help with Christmas shopping, should check out Tom's list. It's a truly excellent list, with brief comments on most games and links to full reviews of many more. Since one gamer's definition of "fun" varies widely from another's, you'll find that very few game geeks will agree with all of Tom's top 200 picks. If everyone liked exactly the same things, life would be boring! But I've found that Tom's tastes generally match up with my own fairly well across several key areas. He generally loves heavily thematic games, especially with a fantasy/sci-fi twist. He also seems to like adventure and battle games a lot. And you can tell from his list that Tom values strategy & replayability a heck of a lot. Those are all things that are extremely high on my list as well. Anyway, check out Tom's list and be sure to listen to his and Sam Healey's engaging Dice Tower podcasts.
Podcast Mania... Speaking of gaming podcasts, they're popping up everywhere! My wife got me a 40 GB video iPod for our anniversary back in May. As fate would have it, I ended up getting her an 80 GB video iPod as my gift to her. Great minds think alike! Anyway, aside from watching some occasional videos (such as Boardgames With Scott episodes), I've mostly been listening to scores of gaming related podcasts over the past 6 months.
If you look in the righthand margin of this blog and scroll down a bit, you'll see a list of gaming podcasts. There are lots of very good ones. If I had to pick my Top 6 favorite podcasts based on overall quality and interest to me (after all, this is SIX sided Rhinoceros), I would choose in no particular order:
New Miniatures Games Magazine!... Polymancer Studios has announced that they'll soon be publishing a new magazine focused on miniatures wargames called Bayonets, Spears, and Blasters. What's got me so excited about this printed magazine is two major things:
(1) At least half the magazine (or more) appears to be devoted to Fantasy and Sci-Fi miniatures gaming. Those are my favorite genres. Since the majority of wargame rags focus on historical gaming and give short shrift to fantasy/sci-fi gaming, I welcome a magazine like this. Battlegames is my favorite wargaming magazine currently in print, but if Polymancer can come anywhere close to that AND include a heavy dose of fantasy stuff, it will likely become my favorite rag in short time. My expectations are high!
(2) This is a "general purpose" magazine which takes a broad view of the wargaming hobby as a whole rather than being focused on a single company's products. As eye catching as White Dwarf is, the house magazine for Games Workshop, or the magazines devoted to Rackham and Privateer Press products, I much prefer a magazine devoted to the WHOLE HOBBY and not just a specific game or segment of it. BSB looks like it will fit the bill perfectly.
Christmas List... With Turkey Day here and gone, it's time for everyone to start handing over their Christmas Lists to those significant others, parents, or Elves at the North Pole, who will be helping to fulfill your little list of wishes this holiday season. Screw the practical stuff, we geeks want GAMES for Christmas! So what's on my games wishlist this year? Well, I'll probably write more about that in a separate post, but here's a quick rundown of the games and toys that this 40-something will dish off to Anna Claus (a.k.a. my wife):
TOP 5 MOST WANTED:
And that's it for now... This ended up being a little heavier than a Larry King column. I'll do better next time!
Black Friday... I didn't go out and do any shopping on Black Friday. I know many people practically pee their pants with excitement over the chance to snag a sweet deal on electronics, jewelry, clothing, video game systems, home furnishings, and so forth. They get up at 4:00 AM so they can be at the store when the doors open. Not me. I'm in the middle of rapid eye movement. I hate parking in Bumblebutt, Idaho and fighting through crowds of rabid shoppers. There's really nothing that I need THAT BAD. And if there was, I'd probably shop online for it.
Amazon Specials... Many online retailers are having their own Black Friday sales. Amazon.com has a really interesting 6-day sale going on where visitors choose various deals, and the product that gets the most votes each day is then offered at the pre-set deal price. I think during Day-1, they were offering Nintendo Wii systems to lucky visitors for $79 bucks. Damn sweet! Even if you didn't really want one, you could probably re-sell it on eBay for a tidy profit.
Mystery Shopping... There are two cool things about deals like those Amazon.com is offering:
(1) You can shop while sitting there in your pajamas -- no stinking crowds to fight through.
(2) There's a little bit of mystery about what products are actually going to be the ones that are offered for the sweet pre-set deal price. That element of surprise is something that really makes shopping fun. In fact, that's one of the things that I believe is so enticing about eBay. You just never know exactly what's going to be available for sale and at what price. There's a distinct Thrill of the Hunt going on which is so often missing from most shopping experiences.
Which brings me to my next thing...
TANGA.com... For board gamers and tech weenies, you've gotta check out Tanga.com. This online shopping site is all about the Thrill of the Hunt. Each day, the website offers a single new product for sale at a steeply discounted price. You have no idea what product they're going to offer next, so you need to visit the site frequently and see what's for sale. And if you want to buy that item, you need to act fast. The phrase "you snooze, you lose" was never more appropriate for a shopping web site. Hot items sell out quickly.TANGATHON... Periodically, TANGA does something really cool, holding a TANGATHON. For a period of several days, they sell through multiple items. Some of these products are only available for 1 or 2 hours and then boom, they're gone and another product takes their place. TANGA makes shopping for games and gadgets exciting. Bargain hunters love it. Stop by this weekend and check it out. You'll never know what you might find there.
You'll Drool for these Ghouls... Miniature figure maker Crocodile Games has just released a new range of ghouls to support their excellent WarGods of Aegyptus game. These figures are absolutely stunning. The poses are dynamic, the creatures look fierce and wild, and they've got a uniquely different style compared to other ghouls I've seen. I will definitely be buying some of these in the future to use in my own fantasy tabletop battle game. The guys at Crocodile Games make some of the best and most truly original fantasy figures on the market. You can see a full-sized photo of the ghoul unit by going here.Top 200 Board Games... Turning our attention to board games, esteemed game reviewer extraordinaire Tom Vasel (of Dice Tower podcast fame) recently released his list of the Top 200 Games (board games and card games) for 2007. Those folks yearning to learn about high-caliber games or wanting a useful guide to help with Christmas shopping, should check out Tom's list. It's a truly excellent list, with brief comments on most games and links to full reviews of many more. Since one gamer's definition of "fun" varies widely from another's, you'll find that very few game geeks will agree with all of Tom's top 200 picks. If everyone liked exactly the same things, life would be boring! But I've found that Tom's tastes generally match up with my own fairly well across several key areas. He generally loves heavily thematic games, especially with a fantasy/sci-fi twist. He also seems to like adventure and battle games a lot. And you can tell from his list that Tom values strategy & replayability a heck of a lot. Those are all things that are extremely high on my list as well. Anyway, check out Tom's list and be sure to listen to his and Sam Healey's engaging Dice Tower podcasts.
Podcast Mania... Speaking of gaming podcasts, they're popping up everywhere! My wife got me a 40 GB video iPod for our anniversary back in May. As fate would have it, I ended up getting her an 80 GB video iPod as my gift to her. Great minds think alike! Anyway, aside from watching some occasional videos (such as Boardgames With Scott episodes), I've mostly been listening to scores of gaming related podcasts over the past 6 months.If you look in the righthand margin of this blog and scroll down a bit, you'll see a list of gaming podcasts. There are lots of very good ones. If I had to pick my Top 6 favorite podcasts based on overall quality and interest to me (after all, this is SIX sided Rhinoceros), I would choose in no particular order:
- The Dice Tower: http://www.thedicetower.com/
- The Spiel: http://www.thespiel.net/
- Pulp Gamer: http://www.pulpgamer.com/
- On Board Games: http://onboardgames.net/
- All About Miniatures: http://allaboutminiatures.libsyn.com/
- Meeples & Miniatures: http://meeplesandminiatures.libsyn.com/
New Miniatures Games Magazine!... Polymancer Studios has announced that they'll soon be publishing a new magazine focused on miniatures wargames called Bayonets, Spears, and Blasters. What's got me so excited about this printed magazine is two major things:
(1) At least half the magazine (or more) appears to be devoted to Fantasy and Sci-Fi miniatures gaming. Those are my favorite genres. Since the majority of wargame rags focus on historical gaming and give short shrift to fantasy/sci-fi gaming, I welcome a magazine like this. Battlegames is my favorite wargaming magazine currently in print, but if Polymancer can come anywhere close to that AND include a heavy dose of fantasy stuff, it will likely become my favorite rag in short time. My expectations are high!
(2) This is a "general purpose" magazine which takes a broad view of the wargaming hobby as a whole rather than being focused on a single company's products. As eye catching as White Dwarf is, the house magazine for Games Workshop, or the magazines devoted to Rackham and Privateer Press products, I much prefer a magazine devoted to the WHOLE HOBBY and not just a specific game or segment of it. BSB looks like it will fit the bill perfectly.
Christmas List... With Turkey Day here and gone, it's time for everyone to start handing over their Christmas Lists to those significant others, parents, or Elves at the North Pole, who will be helping to fulfill your little list of wishes this holiday season. Screw the practical stuff, we geeks want GAMES for Christmas! So what's on my games wishlist this year? Well, I'll probably write more about that in a separate post, but here's a quick rundown of the games and toys that this 40-something will dish off to Anna Claus (a.k.a. my wife):TOP 5 MOST WANTED:
- HeroScape Wave #7 = Yeah, I've got the Scape bug bad. Those knights look sweet!
- Wizard Kings = I just picked up Hammer of the Scots at Fall In. But fantasy is my first love and this block wargame is just too damn tempting to pass up.
- Prophecy = I loved Talisman as a youngster and I hear this new Talisman-like adventure game by Z-Man is even better. My game group should love this one.
- Wings of War Miniatures = I've got the base game, but I really don't feel like playing it until I get some cool looking bi-planes to use. Hey now, I'm a minis gamer!
- Attack! Expansion = I picked up Attack! on eBay a few months back and haven't played it yet. Those in the know say it's much better with the expansion. This one's a must.
THE NEXT 10:
- Colossal Arena = Monsters and Bidding. Nuff said.
- Hive = An attractive little abstract 2-player game that Anna might like to play.
- Manhattan = A euro with lots of eye candy and a Godzilla variant. Kewl!
- Mr. Jack = Interesting, fast playing deduction game with strong theme. Another game that I could see Anna liking to play.
- Condottiere = Got good vibes from the reviews I've read. And hey, I'm Italian too!
- Lord of the Rings Confrontation (Deluxe) = Frodo lives! I can see this one getting to the table a lot, especially with my wargamer buddies who need a light diversion from those much deeper and longer playing miniatures games.
- Through the Desert = Like the pastel camels, the strategy, and appeal to the non-wargaming crowd.
- Fairy Tale = light card games with good theme & art make great games for those casual players we all play with.
- Battlelore Goblin Marauders and Call to Arms = 2 expansions that will go nicely with the ones I just picked up at Fall In.
- Ticket to Ride 1910 Expansion = Going on Tom Vasel's recommendation here.
And that's it for now... This ended up being a little heavier than a Larry King column. I'll do better next time!
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
Rhinos and Soldiers and Planes, Oh My!
My mind is racing with several different things right now. So rather than write one meaty, in-depth post about a specific subject, I'm going to swipe a couple of quick brush strokes across a variety of topics tonight. Call this one my Eclectic Moments post.
Rhinos
Why are rhinos on my mind? Or more specifically, what in the Hell do rhinos carrying baseball bats have to do with me? Well, I'll tell ya. Rotisserie baseball nuts across the world are likely experiencing a mixture of anguish, euphoria, and relief this week. Why? Because the Major League baseball regular season, the one that counts for roto geeks, just ended on Monday (October 1st). As it turned out, my rotisserie baseball team, the Sevy Rhinos, just won the coveted HARL Championship. Yesssss.... Wooohooo.... Who's the Man now Dog? So I'm squarely on the euphoria end of the spectrum.
The HARL league is one that I've been playing in and running for 21 years. Yes, you read that right, TWENTY ONE YEARS. It's a crazy love affair to be sure. And this year's HARL championship marks the 7th time that I've won the league. That's really, really hard to do, especially in a competitive and somewhat advanced league such as ours. So I'm basking in the afterglow of a great season. Thank you to those stud Rhinos who helped drive me to victory this season. Take a bow Jimmy Rollins, Matt Holliday, Carlos Beltran, Pat Burrell, Kaz Matsui, Todd Helton, Jeff Francis, Oliver Perez, Tom Gorzelanny, Kevin Gregg, and the rest of the cast who slugged and hurled their way into the fantasy promised land. We'll be handing out golden horns soon enough. Now if my beloved Philadelphia Phillies can just do the same thing!
Toy Soldiers
I just received the HMGS East newsletter in the mail a few days ago. It's hard to believe, but the final miniature wargaming convention of the year, FALL IN 2007, is just over 5 weeks away. Fall In is being held in Gettysburg PA, at the Eisenhower Convention Center from November 9 through 11.
I've gone to this convention for many years, although I missed it last Fall because I was away on a European cruise (Oh the pain! err... NOT!). I fully intend to go to the con this year. For those of you who have never been to Fall In, I highly recommend making the drive down to Gettysburg for at least 1 day and checking out the fun. Unlike Historicon in Lancaster PA, which is always super-crowded and often stifling hot, Fall In is a more laid-back convention with smaller crowds and the benefit of cooler temperatures. There are still plenty of games to play and watch, and a sizeable Dealer's Hall (which is the main reason I go to HMGS East cons to be honest).
Having just been forced to shell out beaucoup bucks on car repairs last week (needed to get my A/C compressor replaced), I need to find a way to scrounge up some spending cash for the con. Maybe I'll eBay some old board games that I don't play anymore. I've been wanting to unload the Russian Campaign, Gettysburg, Dark Emperor, Blue Line Hockey, Rogue Trooper, and some other titles for awhile now but have never gotten around to it. Maybe this will spur me on. Or maybe I'll sell my plasma. Yaneverknow.
Planes
I'm not talking about Physics 101 -- a ball rolling down a plane. And no D&D'ers, I'm not talking about the Ethereal Plane or the Nine Planes of Hell. I'm talking about airplanes. Up until this point in my life, I've never gotten involved in gaming with miniature airplanes. I've always thought that air combat games looked pretty cool when I've seen them played at conventions. And I even owned a few tiny, diecast planes when I was a kid. Heck I used to play the hell out of that oldtime classic Red Baron arcade game in the 1970's. It was before true video games came into existence. The more planes you shot down, the more Red Baron tokens the machine would spit out. Ah, the fondness of my youth!
Anyway, plane-based wargames were something that just never caught my eye long enough to really pay attention to. But my thoughts on this are changing. That's due in large part to two games centered around airplane combat that have been recently published.
The first game is a World War I air combat game called Wings of War, by Fantasy Flight Games. This is a card-driven wargame of tactical airplane combat where your goal is to shoot down enemy bi-planes such as Fokkers and Sopwith Camels. Kewl doobs! What's even better is that the game has a line of pre-painted miniature airplanes (in 1/144 scale) that are quite attractive.
You can buy these planes for roughly $9 bucks apiece from ThoughtHammer. Each plane comes with its own customized "maneuver deck", so getting game cards & model plane for under $10 bucks seems like a very fair deal to me. I'm very tempted to take the plunge.
The second game is a board game called Duel in the Dark, by Z-Man Games. This is a World War II era wargame that pits British bombers making bombing-runs over cities in Germany. I won't get into all the nitty gritty details of the game here, but the reviews that I've read of the game have been overhelmingly positive and the mechanics of the nighttime bombing raids are very slick and make for a tense game. Plus, it only takes about 45 minutes to play a game, so that's quite attractive for a wargame. Check it out.
That's all for now.... Expect more eclectic ramblings to come!
Rhinos Why are rhinos on my mind? Or more specifically, what in the Hell do rhinos carrying baseball bats have to do with me? Well, I'll tell ya. Rotisserie baseball nuts across the world are likely experiencing a mixture of anguish, euphoria, and relief this week. Why? Because the Major League baseball regular season, the one that counts for roto geeks, just ended on Monday (October 1st). As it turned out, my rotisserie baseball team, the Sevy Rhinos, just won the coveted HARL Championship. Yesssss.... Wooohooo.... Who's the Man now Dog? So I'm squarely on the euphoria end of the spectrum.
The HARL league is one that I've been playing in and running for 21 years. Yes, you read that right, TWENTY ONE YEARS. It's a crazy love affair to be sure. And this year's HARL championship marks the 7th time that I've won the league. That's really, really hard to do, especially in a competitive and somewhat advanced league such as ours. So I'm basking in the afterglow of a great season. Thank you to those stud Rhinos who helped drive me to victory this season. Take a bow Jimmy Rollins, Matt Holliday, Carlos Beltran, Pat Burrell, Kaz Matsui, Todd Helton, Jeff Francis, Oliver Perez, Tom Gorzelanny, Kevin Gregg, and the rest of the cast who slugged and hurled their way into the fantasy promised land. We'll be handing out golden horns soon enough. Now if my beloved Philadelphia Phillies can just do the same thing!
Toy Soldiers
I just received the HMGS East newsletter in the mail a few days ago. It's hard to believe, but the final miniature wargaming convention of the year, FALL IN 2007, is just over 5 weeks away. Fall In is being held in Gettysburg PA, at the Eisenhower Convention Center from November 9 through 11.
I've gone to this convention for many years, although I missed it last Fall because I was away on a European cruise (Oh the pain! err... NOT!). I fully intend to go to the con this year. For those of you who have never been to Fall In, I highly recommend making the drive down to Gettysburg for at least 1 day and checking out the fun. Unlike Historicon in Lancaster PA, which is always super-crowded and often stifling hot, Fall In is a more laid-back convention with smaller crowds and the benefit of cooler temperatures. There are still plenty of games to play and watch, and a sizeable Dealer's Hall (which is the main reason I go to HMGS East cons to be honest).
Having just been forced to shell out beaucoup bucks on car repairs last week (needed to get my A/C compressor replaced), I need to find a way to scrounge up some spending cash for the con. Maybe I'll eBay some old board games that I don't play anymore. I've been wanting to unload the Russian Campaign, Gettysburg, Dark Emperor, Blue Line Hockey, Rogue Trooper, and some other titles for awhile now but have never gotten around to it. Maybe this will spur me on. Or maybe I'll sell my plasma. Yaneverknow.
Planes
I'm not talking about Physics 101 -- a ball rolling down a plane. And no D&D'ers, I'm not talking about the Ethereal Plane or the Nine Planes of Hell. I'm talking about airplanes. Up until this point in my life, I've never gotten involved in gaming with miniature airplanes. I've always thought that air combat games looked pretty cool when I've seen them played at conventions. And I even owned a few tiny, diecast planes when I was a kid. Heck I used to play the hell out of that oldtime classic Red Baron arcade game in the 1970's. It was before true video games came into existence. The more planes you shot down, the more Red Baron tokens the machine would spit out. Ah, the fondness of my youth!
Anyway, plane-based wargames were something that just never caught my eye long enough to really pay attention to. But my thoughts on this are changing. That's due in large part to two games centered around airplane combat that have been recently published.
The first game is a World War I air combat game called Wings of War, by Fantasy Flight Games. This is a card-driven wargame of tactical airplane combat where your goal is to shoot down enemy bi-planes such as Fokkers and Sopwith Camels. Kewl doobs! What's even better is that the game has a line of pre-painted miniature airplanes (in 1/144 scale) that are quite attractive.You can buy these planes for roughly $9 bucks apiece from ThoughtHammer. Each plane comes with its own customized "maneuver deck", so getting game cards & model plane for under $10 bucks seems like a very fair deal to me. I'm very tempted to take the plunge.
The second game is a board game called Duel in the Dark, by Z-Man Games. This is a World War II era wargame that pits British bombers making bombing-runs over cities in Germany. I won't get into all the nitty gritty details of the game here, but the reviews that I've read of the game have been overhelmingly positive and the mechanics of the nighttime bombing raids are very slick and make for a tense game. Plus, it only takes about 45 minutes to play a game, so that's quite attractive for a wargame. Check it out.
That's all for now.... Expect more eclectic ramblings to come!
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