Chalk Festival, Ingenuity & More Mystery Sculpting

More non-wargaming or miniature painting stuff... (but don't worry, more of that soon!)

Last year I posted about the Cleveland Museum of Art Chalk Festival, along with some pics of past chalk drawings. This year I ran down for a quick afternoon of drawing. My fiance (wife in a couple weeks!) was sick and had to bow out. I feel bad, as she's the one who got me into the festival in the first place and I know how much she enjoys it.

This year I sort of got stuck with a small space to work in. So it was about 1/2 the size as usual, and I finished in a very short time, had to sacrifice some of what I had planned & some of the detail. A bit disappointing, but trying not to let it bug me.



I stuck with the same cartoony theme I've done since the first time. I've got to admit, I like it when the kids recognize the rabbit & snail from the previous years. :)


While on the topic of festivals & public artsy stuff, I will be part of the Line of Sight
"mural" project at the Cleveland Ingenuity Festival this year. I (and a number of other artists) will be painting a "mural" on a big 8'x4' board throughout the festival. It's a really cool festival, and this year it has moved to the location of last year's Bridge Festival, on the lower level of the Detroit-Superior bridge, in Cleveland. A great site!


Came home and after some other things and a nap, I've been working on the "mystery sculpt" again. Here's part of it (1 of 2 pieces.)



The other part is curing under a lamp (I hope), as I want to work on it more before going to bed.

Mystery Sculpting

More work in progress on the mystery sculpting project.







No, nothing to do with toy soldiers, strictly speaking. Except that it's helping me blow through all my too-old green stuff (frustrating as it is to work with...)

War of 1812 (Black Powder)

I played my first game of Black Powder. A friend put together a small battle from the War of 1812, an American incursion into Canada after the Battle of Lake Erie.

As the British, we were outnumbered and on the defensive, but with a slight advantage in quality.

In the photo below, the Americans are on the left, British on the right. I was in command of the British left & center. My partner had the British right and some ambushing Native Americans in the woods on the flank.



Middle of the game, you can see how bad things were, in terms of numbers. Still, my meager line regiment and skirmishers managed to hold off the superior numbers for most of the game.




I have read the rules a few times, but this was my first game. My impressions?

First, it's an easy game to learn, and plays out quickly. I generally don't like games that are too simple, but I think that Black Powder (like various flavors of Warmaster, etc.) capture all the important points of a large game without getting bogged down in details.

I also think it would make a good game for convention events, for this reason.

I do have a few minor criticisms. As with the assorted Warmaster based games, movement seems a little too easy and simple sometimes.

The counterpoint to that, which, as the GM pointed out, balances the movement issue a bit is that it's way too easy to become disordered. Becoming disordered can really lock down parts of the battle.

Personally, I'd prefer if both ease of movement and becoming disordered were toned down a bit, so instead of a balance of extremes it was a balance of moderation. But the game is still very enjoyable and I'm hoping to play some more.

Sculpting, Campaign, Registry

I've been thinking about the "Imagi-Nations" concept that some of the 18th century wargamers (and/or just history enthusiasts) indulge in. It got me thinking about something similar for an ancients campaign. Would that be "Imagin-Ancients"? If no one else lays claim to that, I declare that I've officially coined the term.

When I have time to start gaming again in another 4-6 weeks (oh, I see the sun rising on the horizon!) I may work up a map and some simple rules as an excuse to try to organize a small campaign.



Not really wargame or miniatures related, but I've started working on a small but long overdue sculpting project. I formed out some of the massing last night. I'll reveal more as it evolves.




And lastly, earlier this week when we were working on some of our wedding book-keeping and tidying up our online registry lists, I was suddenly inspired and asked my fiance:

"Hey, can I put Arkham Horror (board game) on our Amazon wedding registry?"

The reply: "Sure."

:D

Stuff for Sale (SOLD!)

Figures are SOLD!

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.

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!

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.

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...

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.