27 August 2010

Links List

You may (or may not) have noticed a few links just under the header for my blog.

I have started taking advantage of Blogger's "static" web pages, and have begun collecting a list of manufacturers. Right now I am mainly concerned with 25/28mm ancients and medievals. I may expand in the future.

If anyone has any suggestions for anything I may have missed, please let me know.

25 August 2010

Games!

I may have a heart attack... I've officially committed to not one, but two days of gaming in the next two months.

Black Powder in September. WAB in October.

Not only that, but I actually painted last night. Granted, not anything of mine. But the point being, I sat down and put brush to miniature.

A new day is dawning, I tell you!

22 August 2010

Reading

Still not much to mention in terms of painting or games.

I've done a bit more reading lately than I've had time for in a while.

I had picked up Tom Holland's Rubicon after reading some reviews and being a bit curious. I started reading it a short time ago, because I got sick of lugging around Peter Green's phone-book sized Alexander to Actium. I'm halfway through the latter, but since most of my reading time comes in small doses at lunch or any other time I can grab 20-30 minutes, the lack of portability has slowed me down.

Rubicon was (mostly) familiar territory for me (later Roman Republic) but I enjoyed the way in which he wrote so much that I ran out and picked up a copy of Persian Fire the day after I finished Rubicon. I'm much less familiar with the topic (early Achaemenid Persian Empire and their run-ins with the Greeks) and am enjoying it as much as the first book. I'm about half way through Persian Fire, and I'm already debating whether or not to give Millennium a try.

Of course (to relate this to wargames, somehow) in the midst of reading of Persians and Greeks, Immortal Miniatures has sent out a tasty looking email regarding their next few sets of plastic figures... Greeks and Persians, naturally.

03 August 2010

Treachery and Greed

The Treachery and Greed campaign page and forum are now open.

What is Treachery and Greed? It's this year's online campaign sponsored/hosted/run by members of the Warhammer Empire community.

Previous campaigns include the Crisis in Marienburg and the Ostermark Succession.

All armies welcome. This years campaign is set in Tilea, with roaming bands of mercenaries, bandits and other ne'er-do-well's seeking fortune and power. Check it out...

01 August 2010

Grillfest '10


This weekend was the annual Grover's Grillin' Cheesefest. Not so much a cheesefest this time around, as much as it was testing out some games of WFB 8th ed. with late night board and card games.

This year, deluxe accommodations were provided by a larger tent and more lights. We were out front this time...


I played my first two games of WFB 8th ed. I'm going to leave some of the comments about 8th for another entry.

I played my Marienburg (Empire) army for both games. I wanted to try them out, as I think they're a lot better in 8th than in 7th, where Skaven were already good in 7th. I've generally done very well with Skaven in 7th (and 6th), but have lost so much with Empire in 7th that I feel I need to keep at them until I win more games!

My first game was 2800 points vs. Ogres. Bloody game, and close through most of it. I pulled off a late game win. Barely.

Second game was 2500 points vs. Dark Elves. Again, bloody game. This time I lost at the end, in spite of a massive early game advantage.

So far, I think the 2500-2800 point range is a good size for 8th ed. I think once we all get the rules (and spells, etc.) down as well as we knew 7th, 6th, etc. the games will fly by quickly even with larger point values.

Later I played a couple games of Betrayal at the House On the Hill, which, it seems will be re-released by Avalon Hill. I'm thinking of picking it up as a "gateway game" to convert friends who are not normally into gaming.

I even tried making food for the cookout. I tried making an Asian cold noodle salad. A couple people said they liked it, and so does my fiancé. But I think it was pretty bad.



And because J, my Ogre opponent harrassed me about it, here's my only good photo from the South Park tournament. He was my Skaven opponent in that game, too, and accused me of hiding evidence of his doomwheels annihilating steam tanks. Even though, as I pointed out, one of my steam tanks lived and both of his doomwheels died. ;) In truth, though, it's like the wheels were meant to take down STanks -- at least in 7th ed. The STank getting bumped up to S10 will make it a bit more wheel-resistant now.