My first resolution, to post at least twice per month on this blog, is already off to a good start as this is my fourth post this month (fifth if you count my New Year's Eve post on resolutions)... the key will be to keep it up.
But now, onto resolution Number Two...
As posted earlier, one of the steps I need to take in order to make the most of my gaming is to simplify - concentrate more time on fewer games! I have been giving a lot of thought to the games I am interested in and I've come to the conclusion that there are just way too many. (I am sure I am the only gamer ever to have this problem...) So I did something I am not very good at: I gave up!
I surrendered and admitted to myself the reality that my time, talents and treasure have limits - and my gaming desires do not. So I need to discipline myself and concentrate on the games that appeal to me the most.
There is a reason I titled this post "Simplifying - Part 1." This will be an ongoing process, and changes in focus are inevitable. There will be updates as I refine and change my list. I know myself well enough to know that my interests are varied. Simplifying is meant to be a way to be able to enjoy more gaming, not a strait-jacket that will restrict me from anything not on my list. But since adding anything to my gaming repertoire will necessarily take time and money away from something else, I want to be sure I am adding games that will add value to my gaming. It does me no good to devote myself to a ton of great new rules if I never get to actually play them.
The games or companies that I will initially concentrate on (or re-concentrate in most cases), and why:
Song of Blades and Heroes (Ganesha Games) - This is a terrific set of fantasy skirmish rules, and Andrea has translated the basic mechanics into a host of other genres and historical periods. The beauty of SoBH is that, like Force on Force, it is not dependent on any one manufacturer's figures - they'll all work, and you can mix and match to your heart's desire. In fact, one of our favorite ways to play SoBH involves using Lego minifigures for the warbands. Stay tuned for several upcoming posts on Lego and gaming.
In particular, I plan to concentrate on creating Lego and 28mm warbands and terrain for basic fantasy battles (dwarves, elves, humans, undead, etc.). I also want to model some small Napoleonic units to use with Song of Drums and Shakos. Skirmish-level games are about all I have the patience for when it comes to Napoleonics - painting 500+ figures to field an army is not my cup of tea. And, I will work on modern-day and/or post-apocalyptic warbands and zombie hordes to use with Fear and Faith and Flying Lead. Andrea has many additional settings and genres under development right now, all using the same elegant mechanics, and I am looking forward to seeing them as they become available.
Dystopian Wars (Spartan Games)
- this is a beautiful game, and has very elegant mechanics in my
opinion. It is not overly complicated, which means that I can play with
the kids. The miniatures for Dystopian Wars are beautiful! I am very
much looking forward to getting some painted and on the table, as I already have a good start on an FSA fleet for myself and a Blazing Sun fleet for my son.
And, as Spartan Games has shown with month after month of new releases,
the game is expanding and they are continually adding new models to it.
I also love the new look of the models Spartan is re-releasing for Uncharted Seas.
From what I understand, the mechanics of the two games are similar, so
sliding into Uncharted Seas should not require learning a totally new
set of rules. But that is for the future - first I will concentrate on
painting up the models I have for Dystopian Wars, and getting in enough
games to feel comfortable with the rules.
Flames of War (Battlefront Miniatures) - I've long been a student of World War II and its engagements, and the few times I have played FoW I have really enjoyed it. I think the scale is perfect for WWII gaming that includes armored forces as well as infantry. I already have the Second Edition rules (yes, I know they just announced Third Edition!) and many of the supplements, and I have a ton of models that need painting. I may need to add some small units here and there as I build my force, but for the most part I don't think I'll have to sink a ton of (more) money into this game right away (sorry Battlefront!).
Force on Force (Ambush Alley Games)
- This is the latest ruleset I've bought, and I am very eager to try it
out with some real games to see how it all goes together. My goal is to
try this with 20mm figures. I don't have any yet, but I have started
putting together a typical Middle Eastern-style building to see how the
scale compares to 28mm and see how much actual terrain I'll need to fill
a gaming table.
Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game (Games Workshop)
- As a long-time fan of the Tolkien books, as well as the movies, this
is a must for me. Especially as Peter Jackson is releasing the Hobbit
films in December 2012 and 2013, which I hope will spur new releases and
expansions for this game. I already have most of the rulebooks I need,
and a ton of models to get me started painting, so I can get stuck in
without a huge investment of additional gaming capital. Since Games
Workshop prices are generally quite high, this is a very important
point.
The LotR gaming system has been exported to pirates (Legends of the High Seas) and cowboys (Legends of the Wild West),
so once again, I can play several themes by learning one basic system.
Besides, as you can tell from the title of my blog, I have a thing for
pirates, and modeling ships is one of my favorite things to do. I've got
LotHS and all the LotOW books, as well as bunches of models to paint up
already in addition to some ships that just need painting and detailing
to be complete.
That should be
more than enough miniature wargaming goodness to keep me busy in 2012
(and beyond). Just before Christmas I picked up the Pathfinder Beginner Box, so I'm also planning to do some more role-playing gaming with the kids. I'm also hoping to play more board games ranging from Survive! Escape from Atlantis, to Lego Heroica, to the Dungeons and Dragons games Legend of Drizzt and Wrath of Ashardalon (we don't yet own Castle Ravenloft).
As you can see from the list, I tend to prefer systems rather than games - learning lots of different rules can be time-consuming, complicated and confusing. I like learning a system once, then apply the basics of that system to different themes and genres. Also, I tend towards skirmish level games, rather than army games. While I love the visual appeal of having hundreds of minis on the table, the reality is that at this stage of my gaming life that is just not feasible.
What games do I own that didn't make the cut? (Please keep in mind that none of the statements below are intended as a knock against any of the games mentioned. They are purely my opinions in relation to my particular gaming situation. And since my opinions and my situation are subject to change, I may revisit any or all of them in the future.)
Warhammer and Warhammer 40K - first of all, I think Games Workshop prices are too high. The overall consensus of the reviews I have read for their new Finecast line of resin models has been negative. Also, I find that their world is too dark for my current tastes. This may be because my views have changed, or because their fluff has changed, or because now I am more interested in games I can share with my kids. But I do know that I am no longer comfortable with a lot of the backstory to their games.
I have a ton of Warhammer and Warhammer 40k rulebooks (going back to the original Rogue Trader) which I will likely sell off or trade. I will likely hang on to many of the models, since I can use them with several other game systems.
Malifaux (Wyrd) - This is a tough one, but it boils down to the fact that I do not want to invest the time to master a new gaming system, coupled with the fact that the world of Malifaux is very dark as well. First the system - the use of cards rather than dice is a fantastic innovation, and I like it a lot. But in addition, every model has special abilities and triggers that play off of other models. At this stage of my gaming life, I don't have the desire or time to invest in learning all of the possible combinations and maximizing them to my advantage. Second - as I mentioned above when talking about Games Workshop, the world in which Malifaux is set is quite dark, and while that is not necessarily bad in and of itself (a zombie-pocalypse is dark too, and can be quite fun to game), it is too much for my kids and me. All of the characters cater to their dark, evil side in some way, with some being outright serial killers.
However, I do love the look of the models, in particular the Guild guardsmen and some of the Outcast figures, and I plan on using them in other gaming systems rather than as their intended Malifaux characters.
Now that I have begun the process of simplifying my gaming, I can turn to the next step - organizing!
Showing posts with label Song of Blades and Heroes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Song of Blades and Heroes. Show all posts
Friday, January 13, 2012
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Lucas' Egyptian Undead Horde for SoBH
My son, with the intent of kicking my butt in Song of Blades and Heroes, has slowly but surely been collecting an unstoppable horde of Lego undead Egyptian mummies (Tomb Kings minifigures, basically). They are from the Pharaoh's Quest theme of Lego sets. Like me, he puts as much importance on the background story for an army as he does on the composition - fluff rules!
So, without further ado, I present:
(Lucas used Ray Forsythe's awesome SoBH warband builder to create his characters, and he wrote the descriptions himself.)
Pharaoh Amset-Ra is the cruelest, most powerful mummy of them all. With his animated jackal statues, he will stop at nothing to rule the world of the living.
Amset-Ra - 120 points
Quality: 2+
Combat: 3
Special rules: Evil, Leader, Magic-User, Undead, Unique
Jackal Guardian - 39 points
Quality: 4+
Combat: 4
Special rules: Artificial, Evil, Stealth
Amset-Ra's armies are led by his general, Ramses. His impressive scorpion statue, his swarms of scorpions, and his incredibly loyal mummy underlings are a force to be reckoned with. Though not the brightest mummy in the graveyard, Ramses will stop at nothing to impress the Pharaoh by murdering scores of his enemies.
Ramses - 103 points
Quality: 2+
Combat: 4
Special rules: Evil, Hero, Savage, Undead, Unique
Scorpion Horde Mummy - 27 points
Quality: 4+
Combat: 3
Special rules: Evil, Undead
Stone Scorpion - 136 points
Quality: 3+
Combat: 5
Special rules: Artificial, Huge, Long Move, Slow, Terror, Tough
Golden Scorpion Swarm - 12 points
Quality: 4+
Combat: 1
Special rules: Animal, Clinging, Poison, Short Move, Swarm
Scorpion Swarm - 5 points
Quality: 4+
Combat: 0
Special rules: Animal, Clinging, Poison, Short Move, Swarm
Lord Hotep the snake charmer is feared amongst the citizens of Egypt. With two deadly minions, he wreaks havoc among the living. Rumor has it that he has recently awoken a fearsome cobra statue.
Hotep - 90 points
Quality: 2+
Combat: 3
Special rules: Evil, Hero, Poison, Undead, Unique
Serpent Guard Mummy - 27 points
Quality: 4+
Combat: 3
Special rules: Evil, Undead
Heqet is the aerial master of the pharaoh's mummy warriors. Highly intelligent, he devises many techniques and strategies. No mortal man has ever seen him and lived to tell the almost indubitably gruesome and horrific tale.
Heqet - 96 points
Quality: 3+
Combat: 4
Special rules: Evil, Flying, Hero, Undead, Unique
Flying Mummy - 42 points
Quality: 4+
Combat: 3
Special rules: Evil, Flying, Undead
Fresh from the grave, the Pharaoh animated them and now they are his slaves. The lowest of the low, the mummies of the Osiris Horde take comfort in messily and violently killing anything that comes their way. When set upon their prey, they never give up until it is no longer living.
Osiris Horde Mummy - 12 points
Quality: 4+
Combat: 2
Special rules: Evil, Slow, Undead
Secondary Egyptian citizens turned undead, no one ever bothered to mummify them. But do not sell them short, for any reason. They are quick to shoot, and when they do, they almost never miss.
Skeletal Archer - 26 points
Quality: 4+
Combat: 2
Special rules: Evil, Shooter: Medium, Undead
Riding ahead before the initial force, these heartless horrors are harbingers of imminent doom. Their main task is to bring down the opponent's defenses, if not the opponent himself...
Scarab Rider - 59 points
Quality: 4+
Combat: 4
Special rules: Evil, Long Move, Mounted, Undead
My dwarves have issued, and Lucas' mummies have accepted, a challenge to combat! I'll try and get the battle report posted soon.
'Til next time.
So, without further ado, I present:
The Undead Legions of Amset-Ra!
(Lucas used Ray Forsythe's awesome SoBH warband builder to create his characters, and he wrote the descriptions himself.)
Pharaoh Amset-Ra is the cruelest, most powerful mummy of them all. With his animated jackal statues, he will stop at nothing to rule the world of the living.
Amset-Ra - 120 points
Quality: 2+
Combat: 3
Special rules: Evil, Leader, Magic-User, Undead, Unique
Jackal Guardian - 39 points
Quality: 4+
Combat: 4
Special rules: Artificial, Evil, Stealth
Amset-Ra's armies are led by his general, Ramses. His impressive scorpion statue, his swarms of scorpions, and his incredibly loyal mummy underlings are a force to be reckoned with. Though not the brightest mummy in the graveyard, Ramses will stop at nothing to impress the Pharaoh by murdering scores of his enemies.
Ramses - 103 points
Quality: 2+
Combat: 4
Special rules: Evil, Hero, Savage, Undead, Unique
Scorpion Horde Mummy - 27 points
Quality: 4+
Combat: 3
Special rules: Evil, Undead
Stone Scorpion - 136 points
Quality: 3+
Combat: 5
Special rules: Artificial, Huge, Long Move, Slow, Terror, Tough
Golden Scorpion Swarm - 12 points
Quality: 4+
Combat: 1
Special rules: Animal, Clinging, Poison, Short Move, Swarm
Scorpion Swarm - 5 points
Quality: 4+
Combat: 0
Special rules: Animal, Clinging, Poison, Short Move, Swarm
Lord Hotep the snake charmer is feared amongst the citizens of Egypt. With two deadly minions, he wreaks havoc among the living. Rumor has it that he has recently awoken a fearsome cobra statue.
Hotep - 90 points
Quality: 2+
Combat: 3
Special rules: Evil, Hero, Poison, Undead, Unique
Serpent Guard Mummy - 27 points
Quality: 4+
Combat: 3
Special rules: Evil, Undead
Heqet is the aerial master of the pharaoh's mummy warriors. Highly intelligent, he devises many techniques and strategies. No mortal man has ever seen him and lived to tell the almost indubitably gruesome and horrific tale.
Heqet - 96 points
Quality: 3+
Combat: 4
Special rules: Evil, Flying, Hero, Undead, Unique
Flying Mummy - 42 points
Quality: 4+
Combat: 3
Special rules: Evil, Flying, Undead
Fresh from the grave, the Pharaoh animated them and now they are his slaves. The lowest of the low, the mummies of the Osiris Horde take comfort in messily and violently killing anything that comes their way. When set upon their prey, they never give up until it is no longer living.
Osiris Horde Mummy - 12 points
Quality: 4+
Combat: 2
Special rules: Evil, Slow, Undead
Secondary Egyptian citizens turned undead, no one ever bothered to mummify them. But do not sell them short, for any reason. They are quick to shoot, and when they do, they almost never miss.
Skeletal Archer - 26 points
Quality: 4+
Combat: 2
Special rules: Evil, Shooter: Medium, Undead
Riding ahead before the initial force, these heartless horrors are harbingers of imminent doom. Their main task is to bring down the opponent's defenses, if not the opponent himself...
Scarab Rider - 59 points
Quality: 4+
Combat: 4
Special rules: Evil, Long Move, Mounted, Undead
My dwarves have issued, and Lucas' mummies have accepted, a challenge to combat! I'll try and get the battle report posted soon.
'Til next time.
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Song of Bricks and Minifigs
I've already written about Ganesha Games' Song of Blades and Heroes, and what a terrific set of all-purpose skirmish games rules Andrea has put together. In addition there are now versions for modern combat, horror, science fiction, Arthurian mythos, swashbuckling and piracy, and more are coming out every month.
Since the game is designed to be used with any and all miniature lines and scales, there really is no limit to what figures you can use. Since my painting and modelling time is somewhat limited, one of the ways I play SoBH is with Lego minifigures.
I've been a Lego fan for a long time, and the variety, quality and just plain "coolness" factor of their figures has been increasing year after year. Minifigures are totally customizable. Want to give your fighter an axe instead of a sword? Go right ahead. Don't like his expression? Change his head! The possibilities are endless. The one downside is that after Lego retires a theme or a set, the prices can skyrocket on the secondary market. My suggestion is if you see a set with cool figures, buy it. You won't regret it.
Recently, Lego began releasing sets of individually bagged minifigures, priced at $3 each. They are currently about to release series 6. These come in a polybag, and you don't know which of the 12 in the series you are getting... unless you get to be an expert at feeling for particular components through the bag. My kids and I are now experts at identifying what makes each figure unique, and feeling for it. Lizardman - feel for the tail. Cavewoman - the club. Dwarf - short legs and winged helmet. We can go through a bin of these guys in record time and pick out exactly what we want.
I've gone ahead and created a couple of SoBH warbands, using some of Lego's recent releases and the stats in the Ganesha books. I have plans for many more, and I will share them here as I get them done.
For now, we have Lizardmen, Elves and Dwarves.
First up: the Lizardmen, evil minions of the Dark Elves. I envision these guys as supporting Dark Elf warbands, while at the same time being able to field a small band of raiders on their own.
We start with the grunts - they're armed with clubs and shields, as well as some missile troops with javelins and shields.
Lizardman Warrior (w/hand weapon & shield) - 52 points
Quality: 3+
Combat: 4
Special: Amphibious, Tailslap
Lizardman Skirmisher (w/javelins & shield) - 46 points
Quality: 3+
Combat:3
Special: Amphibious, Shooter: Short, Tailslap
We've also got a guy who can act as leader (if the raiding party is on its own) or as a champion if they are part of a larger Dark Elf force. They're both personalities, and they cost the same. The only difference is one has the leader ability and one has the tough ability.
Lizardman Leader (w/hand weapon & shield) - 82 points
Quality: 3+
Combat: 4
Special: Amphibious, Leader, Tailslap
Lizardman Champion (w/hand weapon & shield) - 82 points
Quality: 3+
Combat: 4
Special: Amphibious, Tailslap, Tough
With either a leader or a champion, the full warband of six models comes in at 330 points, with 25% personality points.
Next we have some Elves. These figures came out in series 3, and my regret is that I was not able to find more of them. Initially, Walmart was the only place we found them. With each succeeding series, they've been in more and more stores, and new we can get them at the grocery store, the drugstore, Walmart, Target, Toys R Us, and more...
Elf Warrior (w/spear & shield) - 38 points
Quality 2+
Combat 3
Elf Archer (w/longbow & dagger) - 55 points
Quality 2+
Combat 3
Special: Shooter: Long
Elf Mage (dagger) - 63 points
Quality: 2+
Combat: 2
Special rules: Magic-user
Elf King: (sword and shield, chainmail) - 100 points
Quality: 2+
Combat: 5
Special rules: Leader
The Elf King is a customized minifigure my son made for me. Thanks Lucas!
Elf Swordmaster (twin duelling swords) - 88 points
Quality: 2+
Combat: 5
Special: Combat Master
I am still working on getting the components to put together a full warband of Elves.
This brings us to my personal favorites - the Dwarves! I was lucky enough to get a bunch of the earlier, and now discontinued, Lego Dwarves at a decent price, plus the last batch of minifigures, Series 5, had a Dwarf character, and I was able to get a lot of those as well.
Dwarf Warrior (w/hand weapon & shield) - 34 points
Quality: 3+
Combat: 4
Special: Short Move
Dwarf Lord (w/two-handed weapon) - 88 points
Quality: 2+
Combat: 4
Special: Fearless, Leader, Short Move
Dwarf Elite Warrior w/two-handed weapon)- 50 points
Quality: 2+
Combat: 4
Special: Short Move, Steadfast
Dwarf Gunsmith (w/two handguns) - 40 points
Quality: 3+
Combat: 3
Special: Sharpshooter, Shooter: Medium, Short Move
Dwarf ThunderGunner (w/blunderbuss) - 41 points
Quality: 4+
Combat: 3
Special: Blast,Short Move
Dwarf Berserker (w/hand axes) - 48 points
Quality: 3+
Combat: 4
Special: Berserk, Fearless, Short Move
I am still working on equipping some with crossbows (I'll name them Quarrellers because I love the pun!), as well as a bear-drawn chariot for my noble.
My son has put together quite a force of undead Egyptian mummies, including flying mummies, scarab-riding mummies and more. I will dedicate a whole post to his army in the near future!
As for me, I will be working on adding more variety to my current warbands, as well as putting together my Dark Elves. I am especially eager to see if I can use some of the raptors from the new Lego Dinosaurs theme to make lizard-mounted Dark Elf cavalry!
'Til next time!
Since the game is designed to be used with any and all miniature lines and scales, there really is no limit to what figures you can use. Since my painting and modelling time is somewhat limited, one of the ways I play SoBH is with Lego minifigures.
I've been a Lego fan for a long time, and the variety, quality and just plain "coolness" factor of their figures has been increasing year after year. Minifigures are totally customizable. Want to give your fighter an axe instead of a sword? Go right ahead. Don't like his expression? Change his head! The possibilities are endless. The one downside is that after Lego retires a theme or a set, the prices can skyrocket on the secondary market. My suggestion is if you see a set with cool figures, buy it. You won't regret it.
Recently, Lego began releasing sets of individually bagged minifigures, priced at $3 each. They are currently about to release series 6. These come in a polybag, and you don't know which of the 12 in the series you are getting... unless you get to be an expert at feeling for particular components through the bag. My kids and I are now experts at identifying what makes each figure unique, and feeling for it. Lizardman - feel for the tail. Cavewoman - the club. Dwarf - short legs and winged helmet. We can go through a bin of these guys in record time and pick out exactly what we want.
I've gone ahead and created a couple of SoBH warbands, using some of Lego's recent releases and the stats in the Ganesha books. I have plans for many more, and I will share them here as I get them done.
For now, we have Lizardmen, Elves and Dwarves.
First up: the Lizardmen, evil minions of the Dark Elves. I envision these guys as supporting Dark Elf warbands, while at the same time being able to field a small band of raiders on their own.
We start with the grunts - they're armed with clubs and shields, as well as some missile troops with javelins and shields.
Lizardman Warrior (w/hand weapon & shield) - 52 points
Quality: 3+
Combat: 4
Special: Amphibious, Tailslap
Lizardman Skirmisher (w/javelins & shield) - 46 points
Quality: 3+
Combat:3
Special: Amphibious, Shooter: Short, Tailslap
We've also got a guy who can act as leader (if the raiding party is on its own) or as a champion if they are part of a larger Dark Elf force. They're both personalities, and they cost the same. The only difference is one has the leader ability and one has the tough ability.
Lizardman Leader (w/hand weapon & shield) - 82 points
Quality: 3+
Combat: 4
Special: Amphibious, Leader, Tailslap
Lizardman Champion (w/hand weapon & shield) - 82 points
Quality: 3+
Combat: 4
Special: Amphibious, Tailslap, Tough
With either a leader or a champion, the full warband of six models comes in at 330 points, with 25% personality points.
Next we have some Elves. These figures came out in series 3, and my regret is that I was not able to find more of them. Initially, Walmart was the only place we found them. With each succeeding series, they've been in more and more stores, and new we can get them at the grocery store, the drugstore, Walmart, Target, Toys R Us, and more...
Elf Warrior (w/spear & shield) - 38 points
Quality 2+
Combat 3
Elf Archer (w/longbow & dagger) - 55 points
Quality 2+
Combat 3
Special: Shooter: Long
Elf Mage (dagger) - 63 points
Quality: 2+
Combat: 2
Special rules: Magic-user
Elf King: (sword and shield, chainmail) - 100 points
Quality: 2+
Combat: 5
Special rules: Leader
The Elf King is a customized minifigure my son made for me. Thanks Lucas!
Elf Swordmaster (twin duelling swords) - 88 points
Quality: 2+
Combat: 5
Special: Combat Master
I am still working on getting the components to put together a full warband of Elves.
This brings us to my personal favorites - the Dwarves! I was lucky enough to get a bunch of the earlier, and now discontinued, Lego Dwarves at a decent price, plus the last batch of minifigures, Series 5, had a Dwarf character, and I was able to get a lot of those as well.
Dwarf Warrior (w/hand weapon & shield) - 34 points
Quality: 3+
Combat: 4
Special: Short Move
Dwarf Lord (w/two-handed weapon) - 88 points
Quality: 2+
Combat: 4
Special: Fearless, Leader, Short Move
Dwarf Elite Warrior w/two-handed weapon)- 50 points
Quality: 2+
Combat: 4
Special: Short Move, Steadfast
Dwarf Gunsmith (w/two handguns) - 40 points
Quality: 3+
Combat: 3
Special: Sharpshooter, Shooter: Medium, Short Move
Dwarf ThunderGunner (w/blunderbuss) - 41 points
Quality: 4+
Combat: 3
Special: Blast,Short Move
Dwarf Berserker (w/hand axes) - 48 points
Quality: 3+
Combat: 4
Special: Berserk, Fearless, Short Move
I am still working on equipping some with crossbows (I'll name them Quarrellers because I love the pun!), as well as a bear-drawn chariot for my noble.
My son has put together quite a force of undead Egyptian mummies, including flying mummies, scarab-riding mummies and more. I will dedicate a whole post to his army in the near future!
As for me, I will be working on adding more variety to my current warbands, as well as putting together my Dark Elves. I am especially eager to see if I can use some of the raptors from the new Lego Dinosaurs theme to make lizard-mounted Dark Elf cavalry!
'Til next time!
Monday, August 9, 2010
I'm Back
Wow - it's been well over two years since I last posted on my blog!
That absence can best be explained by - life happens! At the time of my last post, I'd been unemployed for nine months. Since that time. I accepted a job in a city 600 miles away, moved myself (without family, as we were unable to sell our house) to said new city and began a new career. I devoted myself to learning a new job in a new industry and working my tail off, as I was suddenly the "new guy" again.
After nine months of living alone, we managed to sell the house back in Maryland, and we were able to buy a new home in Atlanta and move my family down to be together again. In the year and four months since that time, I've worked even harder, continuing to learn as much as I can and do as much as I can at work, but now while working to take the best possible care of my family and make up for those nine months spent apart.
Obviously, gaming has suffered. During the nine months of living alone, I was able to tackle (and most surprisingly) complete some gaming projects. Nothing major, but at my glacial speed of painting/modeling, it was darn near miraculous. Now that I am once again a full-time husband/dad with a full-time job, my gaming time has dwindled. Don't get me wrong - I would not trade either for more "me" time, but the facts are as they are.
So, I now content myself with even smaller projects, working on warbands for the excellent Songs of Blades and Heroes skirmish rules by Ganesha Games and whatever else strikes my fancy at the time. I am a "flitterer" - flitting from project to project, genre to genre - and the end result is that my table is covered with half-finished, half-painted figures and terrain. I have come to accept that fact about myself, and it no longer makes me crazy. Eventually, some projects will get completed while others will continue to gather dust. And for me, that is okay. I do not game regularly, so my painting and modeling serve one purpose - to amuse me. As long as that happens, I am happy.
As for the blog, my ambitious plans are likely to never be achieved - bi-weekly (or even monthly) in-depth posts detailing every aspect of my latest scheme are unreasonable, especially in light of the fact that many weeks I don't even get a chance to work on said projects.
But I do plan to continue dropping in from time to time and sharing my thoughts and some photos (starting with replacing the pic of the primed white pirate at top right on my blog with a photo of one of my, finally!, painted pirated crew). Hope to see you back as well!
That absence can best be explained by - life happens! At the time of my last post, I'd been unemployed for nine months. Since that time. I accepted a job in a city 600 miles away, moved myself (without family, as we were unable to sell our house) to said new city and began a new career. I devoted myself to learning a new job in a new industry and working my tail off, as I was suddenly the "new guy" again.
After nine months of living alone, we managed to sell the house back in Maryland, and we were able to buy a new home in Atlanta and move my family down to be together again. In the year and four months since that time, I've worked even harder, continuing to learn as much as I can and do as much as I can at work, but now while working to take the best possible care of my family and make up for those nine months spent apart.
Obviously, gaming has suffered. During the nine months of living alone, I was able to tackle (and most surprisingly) complete some gaming projects. Nothing major, but at my glacial speed of painting/modeling, it was darn near miraculous. Now that I am once again a full-time husband/dad with a full-time job, my gaming time has dwindled. Don't get me wrong - I would not trade either for more "me" time, but the facts are as they are.
So, I now content myself with even smaller projects, working on warbands for the excellent Songs of Blades and Heroes skirmish rules by Ganesha Games and whatever else strikes my fancy at the time. I am a "flitterer" - flitting from project to project, genre to genre - and the end result is that my table is covered with half-finished, half-painted figures and terrain. I have come to accept that fact about myself, and it no longer makes me crazy. Eventually, some projects will get completed while others will continue to gather dust. And for me, that is okay. I do not game regularly, so my painting and modeling serve one purpose - to amuse me. As long as that happens, I am happy.
As for the blog, my ambitious plans are likely to never be achieved - bi-weekly (or even monthly) in-depth posts detailing every aspect of my latest scheme are unreasonable, especially in light of the fact that many weeks I don't even get a chance to work on said projects.
But I do plan to continue dropping in from time to time and sharing my thoughts and some photos (starting with replacing the pic of the primed white pirate at top right on my blog with a photo of one of my, finally!, painted pirated crew). Hope to see you back as well!
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