It's Been Over 5 Years!

 Well fellow Addicts, it's been over 5 years since my last post. January of 2019. How time flies.

I haven't stopped or gone away for that matter. I just had many other things pulling me away. But after running a fun couple of games this weekend at March To Victory Con 2024 in Independence, Missouri, I do miss all things mini.

 A little update. For about 15 years we have been roleplaying again. My first love and the thing that got me into miniatures in the first place. We started very infrequent. Usually only on an occasional weekend, with a wide variety of those who wanted to play. When the pandemic started in earnest in March 2020, we decided since we couldn't mini wargame we would roleplay. A lot. We backed away from minis and devoted our old wargaming time to RPGs. Many of us still painted. Some stopped. But playing roleplaying games just were funner than wargaming.

We were all still involved in the Basement Generals, supporting Wiley Games, and all of the mini cons and game days that were a part of it. Hell, Ze Baron owns and runs Wiley Games and it is still putting out great games all the while RPGing too.  

And that brings me to March To Victory 2024. A nice weekend of gaming hosted this year on the downtown square in Independence, Missouri. It's a mini gaming event started by the Ze Baron and Wiley Games since our local con was going to die. A fun but chill event that at Game Cafe in their gaming rooms. There was a nice mix of games going on. Historical, Fantasy, Sci/Fi, Weird World, Post Apoc. Some Wiley Games games and some others as well. 

I put on a Post Apoc game of Wasteland Warriors with my Old Town scenery and bits. We played two games of 6 players. Much fun was had. And much chaos was started, and loot was found.

The game won the Most Unique Game, as voted by the attendees. Thankful for the win. Thanks to the players who seemed to have a good time. The Wastelands are cruel, but some survived.

Here's some pics:

 

Excelsior!

Been a While...

Well, dear readers, it's been a while. I was going at a pretty good clip there, but spring finally sprung and the Rat Race is in full swing, so I have had Zero time for anything gaming related(almost). Just a few things and thoughts til I get back to it:

Zonmbicide - I received Phase II of the Zombicide Season One extras. Great stuff. Same as first release. Quality components and well done by Guillotine Games. I was not pleased that my Not the Girl from Kill Bill, and my Not Samuel L Jackson characters had to be changed so much because of a rights issue wth Paramount, but they are still nice. I didn't get season two. But may when it comes out.

Dwarven Forge Kickstarter - Well we got together as a group and wet all in and got a big set of the painted stuff. A great value if you were wanting a dungeon environment. Good for 28mm and 15mm.  I'll have to create some 15mm doors and furnishings, but with my Hirst Arts, that will be easy.

Reaper Bones - Still waiting on shipments from China. I couldn't have gotten them painted cause I need to finish my Demonworld Empire guys, but would like to get my grubby little mitts on them.

15mm Fantasy - I hope that next week I can get back to painting them, cause I want to finish them so I can move on and paint something else(28mm Spanish? 28mm Sci Fi? 28mm Supers?). I need a break from the 15mm fantasy, but I am going the finish the 2 units of medium cav I have left, and then I will base and flock everything so they are done.

Consolidation - Still really thinking about consolidating my collections. But sinceI have had no time to think about it, no progress has been made.

Terrain - Look at these pics. A Rob Hawkins on the Privateer Press forums did these boards. They are simply amazing. Makes me want to work on Post Apoc or Mordheim terrain.

Trees- So I have been wanting to do a magnet system for my forests for a while. I think the self same modeler who did the Warmachine table has figured out my quandry. He uses earth magnets in short lengths of plastic tube and then in the forest base has a larger tube with a magnet in it. put them in for the game, pull them out when you move troops in, pull them all out for storage. Nice and Simple.

Gaming - Have been playing some board games with the boys and the wife lately. Zombicide, Wits and Wagers, Sword and Skull. Fun and light stuff. And played Poker with Mom on mothers day. See, I was raised that after Sunday dinner/lunch, you broke out your money and the cards and played poker til it was dark. It was a lot of fun, and I knew poker, odds and a lot of card games when I was 6-7. No mercy for the kids either. My grandpa played straight up and that's how you learned to bet, play and be careful with your money. So we have been doing the same with our boys and at 10 and 13, they have been playing cards for about 4 years. And they also got to play poker with their Grandpa before he passed away. They will always have that memory.

BAsement Generals - The BG's march on. Quality gaming every thursday is the slogan. and it always delivers. I have been absent more than not as of late(football, work, life), but got a really fun game of Supersystem 2 last night (we don't like how vanilla SS3 got). Golden Age Brawl with the Allies against the new Supermight of the Japanese Divine Wind. And the Allies destroyed them. Some tweaking and some additional Archetypes need to be filled in(shooter, healer, mind controller) but they will be a force to reckon with once worked out. I always forget how much I love this game when we don't play it for a while, and how utterly frutrating you can be by certain power combos. Its the beauty of the game. Find a way to beat them or come back next time with a better plan. Its really the classic comic story. thanks for hosting Baron and thanks for a fun game BG's. I think Scott and I won together, on the same team, for the first time ever.

Enjoy the spring and summer, keep playing and keep painting. More when something is going on.

Lead Addict

Arrgh!!!!! I hate you snow. And random crap.

Forget In like a lion, out like a Lion, It's just been all Lion around here in the Midwest. I'm sick of cold and wet and snow, and snow and snow. And this weekend, its another 5-10 inches for us in good ol KC. I hate you snow. I am tired of shovelling.

Now KC can be beautiful in the winter with a blanket of snow, but I want spring. It's March Madness time, when it looks like Xmas time. Enough, alright? Give us some rain and 60 degree weather and some sun. Is it too much to ask?

On the bright side, my K-State Wildcats won the Big 12 Football Championship, shared the Big 12 Basketball Championship(Regular Season), and are in the NCAA Basketball tournament. Its been a fun year for K-State Athletics. Funny how good sports teams make you feel more attached to a place you love so much. Go CATS!!!

Modern Logo. Great Power Cat. Very Nice. Simple and Clean.  Stolen by every High School and Pop Warner team named the Wildcats.

The logo when I went there. The other one was a GIANT 'K'.  So you had this guy, who got beat up in the back alley of the Mascot convention, or a super original block letter as a mascot. He looks like the inbred idiot cousin of Tom Cat from Tom and Jerry. We deserved to lose every time we  played. And we did. Oh how I hate you 1980's Willie the Wildcat.

 And I guess with all this snow, its more painting time this weekend, and more games of Zombicide. I was thinking of going and picking up Small World at Target as well.

So I think I will have 3 more units of Orcs for Hail Caesar Fantasy!finished up over the weekend because of this, which aint so bad I guess. Here's what I hope to get done (THESE are the company shots from Ral Partha Europe, not my painted figs):

Here's a shot of the cards and card backs for each Unit.

I am putting on a Orcs vs. Wood Elves game at Recruits Convention the first weekend of April. Come on by if you are in the area.

This is a program cover from last fall that the Baron did. Inspired by the incomparable Jack Kirby. this marked the 10th  Anniversary of this awesome Con.

Finally, had a very fun game with the BG's last night. We had 9 people for a Nappy slugfest with Nick Wilkoxski and his Eagles to Empire rules. It was a minor victory for the Prussians after some shaky 'intel' deceived the French on just what was an objective. Much fun and consumption of spirits and ales was had and an all a round good time. Thanks Nick for the game and Ze Baron for hosting as usual.

Have a great weekend everybody. I will be building an igloo.

Gruntz, Pike and Shotte, SAGA, and Mutant Future Weekend Gaming 11-8-12

Had a great weekend at the BArons gaming Thurs-Fir-Sat.

Thursday was a mega Gruntz game. We had 8 players and 35 units a side. And it was the first time we have played it. It was a lot of fun. We played for 2 1/2 hours and with one more turn we would have had a full conclusion. It was a simple meeting engagement. armor, ifv's, mechs, specialists, power armor, infantry. On one side, the Aliens fron the Korden Quadrant, a hegemony of vicisious mercenary worlds. On the other, The Quick Reaction Force of the Humanist Protectorate. Lots of carnage. Pics below:

A lot of fun was had and Gruntz got a lot of positive reviews from the BG's. We will definately be playing more. And based on how monster a game this was, compared to all the other examples and battle reports I've read, I was impressed that by putting gruntz on a single base speeds up play. I am based on Flames of War bases so no individual bases for us. I can't fathom moving single 15's in a game this big. No way. Figs are a mix of GZG, CMG, and DP9. Terrain is homemade, Kato, and AT-43.

Next up was Friday Night. Just me and the BAron. That never happens. It was pretty fun. We played a game of Pike and Shotte with his gorgeous Italian Wars stuff. It was quick and deadly. And fun.Pics:

Pike and Shotte is quick like Black powder so you need a ton of troops. The BAron has a ton, but we didn't want to go crazy just yet. HE is also in the middle of the great rebasing, so no finished bases.

Once we finished Pike and Shotte, we broke out SAGA to give it a whirl. Honestly I had never read the rules, didn't understand them very well, although the booze at this point may have been clouding my judgement. I think they are a good set, I need to read them. They seem like a set that rewards you mightily for knowing your troops, the rules, and the game boards. Not a pick up and go sort of game for multiple people, or those who haven't read the rules. It was fun to see my horde of Vikings finally get on the field. Couple of Pics:

Finally, on Saturday we played Mutant Future. It is the Retro-Clone RPG of Gamma World nuttiness. We had a couple of new players, so we had to fold them into the story. Hope they enjoyed the chaos. I know that most of you are not interested in tales of RPG gaming, so I won't digress too far. In summary, the group, consisting of a Mutant Anteater, A Mutant Wolf-Eagle hybrid, A Mutant Sunflower who is a badass, a mutant human, and a Pure Strain Human, rescued a Mutant Bat-Fox hybrid and released a deactivated Combat Engineering Synthetic from his slumber since the 'big one'. They detroyed a hungry, floating, gamma ray shooting, Gamma Eye that was hunting them for food. Also they got further dragged into the territorial disputes of the goose stepping, jack boot wearing, facist, hated Pig Men Cabals. Fun was had by all. 

For me, as much as I love classic D&D(red cover basic, blue cover expert, or Labrynth Lord), I find myself falling back into easy tropes while game mastering. Mutant Future keeps me on my toes. And my great love and the vision I have in my head of the Post Apocalyptic setting really forces me to be creative. Its a lot of fun if you give yourself over to it. My style is no-prep. Everything is on thefly, with maybe a few whispy plot threads dangling around. A sandbox. Go play.

So it was a fun weekend. Much gaming. I am off gaming this week and next, until schedules for basketball settle down and the rhythn of the holidays is in full force. Happy Gaming.