tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35145276002668238402024-02-07T19:15:11.277-08:00A Year of Frugal GamingSpend less, game more...Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger187125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514527600266823840.post-17143726868526995922011-12-19T23:13:00.001-08:002021-01-11T04:01:00.616-08:00The End of the Frugal Year(s)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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As you may have noticed I haven't been posting on the blog too much recently. This is, in part, to it's success; I've been playing too many games and getting too many models painted to actually blog about it!<br /><br />As I don't have as much time to dedicate to the blog as I'd like, I'm going to close it. What this means is that no new posts will be be added, but the content will still be up for all to view. I'll also still be out on the streets; gaming, painting, modelling and generally geeking out. <br /><br />The blog has proved to be very successful and I'm certain that it wouldn't been any good without the fantastic input from Von, Pete and Arabian Knight who all produced great articles and helped make the site very successful.<br />
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All the feedback and input I've received from you, the readers, over the years has been invaluable and has really made me part of a wide community.<br /><br />Since starting the blog, my gaming has increased and my painting has improved in both speed and quality, I've also made some good friends along the way. I've probably spent a bit more than I planned, but hey, nobody's perfect.<br />
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Happy Gaming!<br />
<br />DaveUnknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514527600266823840.post-46669593474514766872011-11-07T00:12:00.000-08:002011-11-07T00:13:34.082-08:00V for VondettaOi!
This is the final week of the <a href="http://www.houseofpaincakes.com/2011/11/hop-idol-finale-voting-now-live.html#more" title="HoP Idol Finale Voting">HoP Idol</a> contest over at the ol' <a href="http://www.houseofpaincakes.com/" title="House of Paincakes">House of Paincakes</a>: last week I managed to <em>creep </em>over the horizon by the skin of me wossnames and a similar performance this week will spell triumph, readership, modest acclaim and a cessation of interruptions to your regularly scheduled bloggery.<br />
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<img alt="" class="aligncenter" height="472" src="http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y178/kaptainvon/von/fnord.gif" title="VOTE FOR VON" width="318" /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514527600266823840.post-79291849669521469592011-10-23T02:20:00.000-07:002011-10-23T23:17:19.120-07:00VOTE FOR VON<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I know, I know, I've been neglecting you. I've spent the last couple of months actually, y'know, being Frugal. It's the not having any money that does it. Most of the hobby I've done has been other people's, for money, although I did find the time for a quick <a href="http://warhammer.org.uk/phpBB/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=92298">Warmachine tournament</a> and I do have a <a href="http://kaptainvon.wordpress.com/category/lizardmen/">NEW PROJECT</a> on the go too. Incidentally, if you happen to have some models that you want painted and can't be bothered with doing yourself, drop me a line here or via <a href="http://kaptainvon.wordpress.com/">GAME OVER</a> and we'll have a chat. I'm no <a href="http://www.destroyerminis.com/aboutme.php">Marike Reimer</a>, admittedly (she's better looking), but I'm cheap, quick and <a href="http://kaptainvon.wordpress.com/category/commissions/">tabletop quality</a>.<br />
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Anyway.<br />
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I'm doing a <a href="http://www.houseofpaincakes.com/2011/07/become-first-hop-idol.html" title="HoP Idol">thing</a>, over at the <a href="http://www.houseofpaincakes.com/p/vision.html" title="House of Paincakes">House of Paincakes</a> blog network, sort of a contest thing where the winner gets a weekly series in front of a larger readership than I have ever <em>dreamed </em>of amassing. Have been for a while now. Didn't want to talk about it on this blog because Posting About Blogging is something I try not to do. Content uber alles, and all that.<br />
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On the other hand, failure to leverage available resources in a competitive endeavour is the mark of a nebbish who shouldn't have signed up in the first place. And I do have a credible shot at winning, which was... unexpected.<br />
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AND, AND AND AND, if I win, I'll never write a post about 40K. Everyone bar Loquacious on the ol' HoP does that, as do most of the blogs on the roll, and it's getting boring. I won't cheat and do Warmahordes either. Vote for me, and be guaranteed a shot of <em>something </em>different every week - might be WFB, a historical, a Specialist Game, an RPG, a board game, a book review, <em>something that isn't 40K</em>. A vote for Von is a vote for diversity - and that's not something this straight white able-bodied British bloke ever thought he'd be able to say with a straight face.<br />
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<a href="http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y178/kaptainvon/von/fnord.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt=""Fnord" is also not something I can ordinarily say with a straight face." border="0" class="aligncenter" height="472" src="http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y178/kaptainvon/von/fnord.gif" width="318" /></a></div>
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<br />
So I suppose you should pop over to the <a href="http://www.houseofpaincakes.com/2011/10/hop-idol-round-4-voting-live.html" title="HoP Idol Round 4">International House of Paincakes</a> and vote for me in this week's <a href="http://www.houseofpaincakes.com/2011/10/hop-idol-round-4-voting-live.html" title="HoP Idol Round 4">HoP Idol</a>, so I can say more things like <a href="http://www.houseofpaincakes.com/2011/10/hop-idol-round-4-best-of-boxtree-books.html" title="Von's Round 4 - The Best of Boxtree Books">this</a>, <a href="http://www.houseofpaincakes.com/2011/10/hop-idol-von-interviews-loquacious.html" title="Von's Round Three - Interview With The Store Owner">this</a>, <a href="http://www.houseofpaincakes.com/2011/08/hop-idol-blaggers-guide-to-painting.html" title="Von's Round Two - The Blagger's Guide To Painting">this</a>, and <a href="http://www.houseofpaincakes.com/2011/08/hop-idol-lead-us-not-into-nerdrage.html" title="Von's Round One - Lead Us Not Into Nerdrage, But Deliver Us From Opinion Pieces">this</a>. No SPESS MAHREENS, ever. Promise.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514527600266823840.post-84760904721280712292011-09-29T12:37:00.000-07:002011-09-29T12:37:28.706-07:00The Giant’s Lair<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Rejoice, rejoice!<span>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Good news people, your prayers have been answered and the Gods have
finally smiled on the South West of England.<span> </span>This Saturday will see the grand opening in Plymouth of ‘<a href="http://www.thegiantslair.co.uk/">The Giant’s Lair</a>’<span> </span><span></span>the South West’s Premier Gaming Venue.</span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfUCqEqwPcUuMVy4nLDzii_8lIVRHixwVcbRNxMDk39V4j9DuyySZy6MK5jt-mLZPB9_Y3R0RmDn9WCCgERq2I1WOqSNllXmT3saoqRZWFMXkff2M4Xt_oK8o7evulUjc6PO3FVht4HVs/s1600/logo.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="209" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfUCqEqwPcUuMVy4nLDzii_8lIVRHixwVcbRNxMDk39V4j9DuyySZy6MK5jt-mLZPB9_Y3R0RmDn9WCCgERq2I1WOqSNllXmT3saoqRZWFMXkff2M4Xt_oK8o7evulUjc6PO3FVht4HVs/s320/logo.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">From the venue's website:<span style="font-style: normal;"> </span></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-style: normal;">Opening 1st of October
2011</span></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: small;">The open day allows players and potential players to
check out the Lair and to see what all the fuss is about.</span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-size: small;">Throughout the day we will be running:</span></i><br />
<ul type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-size: small;">Apocalypse sized 40k madness</span></i></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-size: small;">Warhammer monster mash up</span></i></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-size: small;">Space Hulk missions on giant 3D board</span></i></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-size: small;">Demonstration games of WWII tank battles</span></i></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-size: small;">Talisman board game bash</span></i></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-size: small;">Tables set up to come and play on</span></i></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-size: small;">Raffle where you can win some great prizes</span></i></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-size: small;">Membership sign up with the chance to win a
massive replica sword!</span></i></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-size: small;">Spot prizes on the day</span></i></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-size: small;">Food and drink available in our bar and
kitchen area </span></i></li>
</ul>
<i><span style="font-size: small;">Come and get involved in the mayhem or just pop by for
a coffee.</span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-size: small;">Open from 0900 onwards.</span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-size: small;">We can't wait to see you at the Lair.</span></i><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Having been for a sneaky look around last weekend, I can
confirm that it is officially awesome with loads of purpose built gaming tables, a bar and even a working toilet. If fact, I would give it my seal of approval,
if I actually had one.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">You can look at some of the photos of the Lair being prepared on the <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Giants-Lair/175416262527669">book of faces</a>, and you can find directions <a href="http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?daddr=50.368716,-4.114045&hl=en&ll=50.371744,-4.139528&spn=0.041824,0.077162&sll=50.36874,-4.114313&sspn=0.001316,0.002411&vpsrc=6&mra=mift&mrsp=1&sz=19&t=h&z=14">here</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Anyway, make sure you get down there this Saturday for the
grand opening, and make sure you tell them Frugal Dave sent you!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Happy Gaming</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514527600266823840.post-66177032838513066922011-09-22T10:43:00.000-07:002011-09-22T10:43:14.328-07:00Haterz an Fanbois FTW. LOL!!!!!!1 B-)<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;">You can tell if a person is racist, they generally start
their sentences with ‘I’m not a racist, but…’ before saying something
racist.<span> </span>It was this thought that
stopped me from starting this post with ‘I’m not a GW hater, but…’.
</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">I would like to make it clear that I’m not a GW hater (or a
racist for that matter); I love loads of their games including the 8<sup>th</sup> edition of <a href="http://www.ayearoffrugalgaming.com/search/label/Warhammer">Warhammer Fantasy</a>, I’ve been buying GW products for years, I paint their miniatures using
their paints and I play their games in my spare time.<span> </span>I’ve joined a club where I can play GW games with other GW
fans, I’ve even spent three years of my life writing a blog mostly dedicated to
playing GW games.<span> </span>To me GW is one
of the best games companies out there and I even divert my journeys up and down
the country to pop into Warhammer World on occasion.<span> </span>I am not a GW hater.<span>
</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">This brings me neatly onto Dreadfleet, and why I’m not going
to buy it.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnD3m2Y_9834i-yLEM3PsjfFuSxOOuwJ-6FeDrachsm5bf1NLB1MlMLm4-xpnPUhQdo4wAfc_Xf3od4RFaPyYsqIJpPEKrztr3AbT-0ApsnyOZ1hgJuXpCZ1U8ZVp2wrziQhm8Qal8H8Q/s1600/pic1097066.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="236" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnD3m2Y_9834i-yLEM3PsjfFuSxOOuwJ-6FeDrachsm5bf1NLB1MlMLm4-xpnPUhQdo4wAfc_Xf3od4RFaPyYsqIJpPEKrztr3AbT-0ApsnyOZ1hgJuXpCZ1U8ZVp2wrziQhm8Qal8H8Q/s320/pic1097066.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">In case you weren’t aware, <a href="http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/catalog/productDetail.jsp?prodId=prod1350015a">Dreadfleet</a> is the new GW boxed,
standalone, limited edition game, recently made available for preorder.<span> </span>There has been a lot of love and hate
on the internet about this, but one thing that is clear is that people are
buying it.<span> </span>I’m not going to, for a
number of reasons, but the main one is:</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I haven’t seen any reviews of it</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Sure, there are videos out there, lots of pics of the
components, even promises of gameplay descriptions.<span> </span>But no independent reviews.<span> </span>To me this means that I am being asked to part with my money
for a game that could turn out to be rubbish.<span> </span>I’m pretty sure it wont be rubbish, but why should I buy it
when I could spend the same amount of money on a boardgame that has got rave
reviews?<span> </span>If I had £70 to spare
(which I don’t) and I had lots of gaming time going free (I don’t) then I’d
look at some of the following instead (all available for £70 or less each; all
text and photos from <a href="http://boardgamegeek.com/">BoardGameGeek</a>):</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiLKFOb7epI2sQjnQDhy9YJF3JKFuc3jasZfvtDGHTxxVCUjjA4NyZtJX6OHl4n0Lyfaj1nV_UX_J718I9zy9kLc8bK8tPtuCSoM9NDS9MbSQ55Q11OdDiVcYdmOSJHCpwaXEIgIYrQjs/s1600/pic1089443_md.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiLKFOb7epI2sQjnQDhy9YJF3JKFuc3jasZfvtDGHTxxVCUjjA4NyZtJX6OHl4n0Lyfaj1nV_UX_J718I9zy9kLc8bK8tPtuCSoM9NDS9MbSQ55Q11OdDiVcYdmOSJHCpwaXEIgIYrQjs/s320/pic1089443_md.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/83330/mansions-of-madness">Mansions of Madness</a>:
Horrific monsters and spectral presences lurk in manors, crypts, schools,
monasteries, and derelict buildings near Arkham, Massachusetts. Some spin dark
conspiracies while others wait for hapless victims to devour or drive insane.
It’s up to a handful of brave investigators to explore these cursed places and
uncover the truth about the living nightmares within.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijV3UL7tnrXcMci1o2Rg81Ag0MdISz1EyD8O5QPNHCuY8Mc7jpzZDCaI0uuh6XjgqPxgeA7YD_ZtOSJqoeeoAItXBoyM9p6hm_QJQ567QdfsgKZEO9QnFzzeGkMI2Hnn1jWg9k_u6Mn7w/s1600/pic709014_md.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="158" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijV3UL7tnrXcMci1o2Rg81Ag0MdISz1EyD8O5QPNHCuY8Mc7jpzZDCaI0uuh6XjgqPxgeA7YD_ZtOSJqoeeoAItXBoyM9p6hm_QJQ567QdfsgKZEO9QnFzzeGkMI2Hnn1jWg9k_u6Mn7w/s320/pic709014_md.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/63543/horus-heresy">Horus Heresy:</a><span><a href="http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/63543/horus-heresy"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none;"></span></a></span> In the Horus Heresy board game, the most legendary battle in the
history of the Warhammer 40,000 universe unfolds across the razed plains of
Terra and in the frozen orbit above. Deadly fighting ranges from the Emperor’s
golden Inner Palace to Horus’s flagship, the Vengeful Spirit.<span> </span>Taking the side of traitor or loyalist,
two players control either fearless Space Marine legions or deviant Chaos Space
Marines, mighty Titans, Imperial Armies both loyal and traitorous, and a
fearsome array of other units, including the Emperor and Horus themselves.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmQd_PH-MzGeUVsvDEJ7PhdHwlDv07SQu2BUD1QTjh_hyphenhyphenF4iND_gnIBgMFhzyRVIfg6Gu6p-ddOQdWI9QAAhwiyBC0BPNKsiPWAcwOM5ruSFejviUpJRcGy9W7iOrMGwBzb-PNq1h-CBE/s1600/pic140479_md.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmQd_PH-MzGeUVsvDEJ7PhdHwlDv07SQu2BUD1QTjh_hyphenhyphenF4iND_gnIBgMFhzyRVIfg6Gu6p-ddOQdWI9QAAhwiyBC0BPNKsiPWAcwOM5ruSFejviUpJRcGy9W7iOrMGwBzb-PNq1h-CBE/s320/pic140479_md.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_619718406">
</a><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/22825/tide-of-iron">Tide of Iron:</a><span><a href="http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/22825/tide-of-iron"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none;"></span></a></span> (see my review <a href="http://www.ayearoffrugalgaming.com/2011/06/tide-of-iron-review.html">here</a>) Tide of Iron is a
game of World War II tactical conflict for two to four players. The components
in this base game allow players to simulate the dramatic struggle that took
place between American and German forces in Northern Europe during the years
1944 and 1945.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8NlB3qsEFZQ9ufbEbn2BbBA8q__6zVkS5TynatrHDAUYr07kdoAZZIEAva_jbC0WtokvjVvOINVn3JkhQOqHqoUVCiBVRb5cEqKgvn-CMPom4VufjqTmjyJ1JPMM4TslCZ-2vm-9vAt4/s1600/pic424067_md.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8NlB3qsEFZQ9ufbEbn2BbBA8q__6zVkS5TynatrHDAUYr07kdoAZZIEAva_jbC0WtokvjVvOINVn3JkhQOqHqoUVCiBVRb5cEqKgvn-CMPom4VufjqTmjyJ1JPMM4TslCZ-2vm-9vAt4/s320/pic424067_md.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/17226/descent-journeys-in-the-dark">Descent: Journeys in the Dark</a>: <span><a href="http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/17226/descent-journeys-in-the-dark"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none;"></span></a></span> Descent: Journeys in the Dark is a semi-cooperative game in which two
to five players will take on the antagonistic roles of heroes and Overlord. Up
to four players will choose characters with a wide assortment of skills and
innate abilities to be the heroes who will explore dungeons in search of
treasure and adventure. One player will take on the role of the Overlord and
will control the dungeon's many traps, puzzles, and monsters.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Of course when Dreadfleet gets released, it may get the
greatest reviews ever, turn out to be one of the best boardgames of all time
and I’ll have missed my chance because it sold out.<span> </span>But I’m not prepared to bet £70 on that happening.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Happy Gaming</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514527600266823840.post-3105896687107166492011-09-16T13:55:00.000-07:002011-09-16T23:50:13.144-07:00Where I hide my Naughty Space Pixies …<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
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<span style="font-size: small;">‘Conan! What is
best in life?’ </span>
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<span style="font-size: small;">‘To crush your enemies; see them driven before you, and to
hear the lamentation of their women.’</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">‘Conan! That’s great but you need to get your chores done
first…’</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZyyoK4RIqOKYwJvxaOoR6MbcN0hUJiS2r_CxraWWs-Cq7oovk_M5H8oeadfjwwQTBzIt1wCCFk8gMlV5jy1Okz720jzpax9cSotv_CR3q8XesDM01CaL5BJxGqmROcTbJsPV8PAG36-M/s1600/conan-the-barbarianarnie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZyyoK4RIqOKYwJvxaOoR6MbcN0hUJiS2r_CxraWWs-Cq7oovk_M5H8oeadfjwwQTBzIt1wCCFk8gMlV5jy1Okz720jzpax9cSotv_CR3q8XesDM01CaL5BJxGqmROcTbJsPV8PAG36-M/s320/conan-the-barbarianarnie.jpg" width="251" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Ah yes, there are things we all enjoy, but unfortunately we
have to get the boring stuff out of the way first. For the last few weeks, I have been in the library of Frugal
Towers; researching, writing and getting rather stressed as I put the finishing
touches to an academic project I’ve been working on. However, the work has now been sent off and I’m free to
paint, game, generally geek out and then write about it in a mildly amusing, but
ultimately badly planned way.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVoEOxD6KUN1QmO22vRhT9zqEF1JEX1wtFj6d0GxcUsErgwCPTvGe1VXDI0p9Levw2QcM36JwZBwNqU32bWH7DgZ14Av3gDRJbGOjdd9GAfWcduVm_N8Y0CWH00ktzmdnL_BRq0wccjbw/s1600/Dark_Eldar_Raider.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="207" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVoEOxD6KUN1QmO22vRhT9zqEF1JEX1wtFj6d0GxcUsErgwCPTvGe1VXDI0p9Levw2QcM36JwZBwNqU32bWH7DgZ14Av3gDRJbGOjdd9GAfWcduVm_N8Y0CWH00ktzmdnL_BRq0wccjbw/s320/Dark_Eldar_Raider.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Old School Raider with an old school finger attached</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;"> The main news of the past few weeks is that I have finally
completed my Dark Eldar. I bought
my Dark Eldar (or as I like to call them ‘Naughty Space Pixies’) a couple of
years ago and left the box gathering dust on a shelf. When the new Naughty Space Pixies Codex was released last
year, I got them out of the box, assembled them, painted a couple and then put
them back on the shelf to gather dust.
Eventually I had to paint them all so went for a quick scheme of
basecoat, wash and highlight, with minimal detail. So now I have approximately 1000pts of NSPs on the shelf
gathering dust.</span> </div>
<span style="font-size: small;"></span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBEemd_GClZzUYQpa-B2DgcezsGjeM8LAyipZQoGy_rAhl2WBaBX-5cZwovQitD0hn-5GbewLL13z2Fiq5ZANpymx1ulyCDG8lrjMCftUL2DPD7W4PgbEK6tWYpFbLotfw1pH23uZSP-U/s1600/Dark_Eldar.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="155" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBEemd_GClZzUYQpa-B2DgcezsGjeM8LAyipZQoGy_rAhl2WBaBX-5cZwovQitD0hn-5GbewLL13z2Fiq5ZANpymx1ulyCDG8lrjMCftUL2DPD7W4PgbEK6tWYpFbLotfw1pH23uZSP-U/s320/Dark_Eldar.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">The (semi) interesting fact about these NSPs is my storage
technique. I ordered some 25mm self adhesive magnetic discs from <a href="http://www.hasslefreeminiatures.co.uk/pack.php?pack=1812">Hasslefree Miniatures</a>, at £10 for 100 though smaller packs are available. Like a lot of gamers out there I’ve experimented with a few
different methods of storing my Pixies, Gnomes and Galactic Knights, but I
think that these magnets are the way ahead. The discs only take a second to apply, and once in place are
pretty robust.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw6nCfgJh11fIQG1DqBfT4J1IE67yCPz5sdcs8le1cIDp4Url7ad8NEg_R5h1imn6Lgfl9RB6HKKBVnm6ck-e97Y1hl416Don8U3RYReBxFKQ0cJh4UIO2i1Hliuc4hQXY3NeRGmX_aJs/s1600/Sticker.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw6nCfgJh11fIQG1DqBfT4J1IE67yCPz5sdcs8le1cIDp4Url7ad8NEg_R5h1imn6Lgfl9RB6HKKBVnm6ck-e97Y1hl416Don8U3RYReBxFKQ0cJh4UIO2i1Hliuc4hQXY3NeRGmX_aJs/s320/Sticker.JPG" width="267" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Once the figures are stickered, it’s simply a case of
finding a suitable receptacle to keep them in. I’ve gone for a metal tool box that I got from a carboot
sale for a couple of pounds, but for another unit I’ve used a boxfile with <a href="http://www.magneticdisplays.co.uk/magdisp4.asp">self adhesive steel paper</a> in it.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWkIjX1fqLpcOtb3ncPLY83Ctd5yDdFLLKSfqqejyTr_VMYJZelMl2aBIgZCBG_GXEFCnkqGP6F0Ox7gYB7tSozHCMnzhNJ1VSsuEXpYUHY8P23HQv3rIrzL6P27kEdvkmMBIxHJDnH0A/s1600/Tray.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="194" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWkIjX1fqLpcOtb3ncPLY83Ctd5yDdFLLKSfqqejyTr_VMYJZelMl2aBIgZCBG_GXEFCnkqGP6F0Ox7gYB7tSozHCMnzhNJ1VSsuEXpYUHY8P23HQv3rIrzL6P27kEdvkmMBIxHJDnH0A/s320/Tray.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Even the smell of ginger hair cannot dislodge the magnets.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-size: small;">For me, one of the main benefits of magnetic bases is the
ease that the figures can be put away, no messing about shoving the figures
into foam holes, just stand them up in the box and they hold themselves in
place, winner!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">As I rarely travel too far for gaming I think these are a
good (Frugal) option for storage.
Anyone who regularly flies or takes trains to tournaments may want to
consider something more robust, but then if you’re the sort of gamer who flies
to tournaments then you’re probably not the type to worry too much about Frugal Gaming.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">So, I’m back, I’ve completed an army and I’ve adopted a new
way of storing figures, what more could you possibly ask for?</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">If you're interested in magnets, you may like to check out my <a href="http://www.ayearoffrugalgaming.com/2009/05/magnetic-blood-bowl-base.html">Blood Bowl article</a>. </span></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514527600266823840.post-78381432341506664572011-09-06T08:08:00.000-07:002011-09-06T08:08:58.518-07:00Frugalnomics: Increasing Cost, Decreasing Value<a href="http://bloodofkittens.com/dickmove/2011/05/20/friday-night-internet-fight-round-2-12/">Price rises</a>, <a href="http://bloodofkittens.com/dickmove/2011/05/06/friday-night-internet-fight-round-2-10/">price rises</a>, all I seem to hear about these days is <a href="http://theback40k.blogspot.com/2011/05/open-letter-to-gw.html">price rises</a>! Personally I think <a href="http://d6wargaming.com/post/5806728786/a-price-increase-whats-it-in-retrospect">everything's more expensive these days</a>, but Dethtron (first and second links) has a point when he establishes that GW's prices are in fact behind the rate of inflation (whether they were marked up to the point of lunacy to begin with is perhaps another matter). Still, that's not what I'm here to bore you about today.<br />
<br />
I have, in the past, been heard to discuss the notions of cost and value; that having low point cost kits and making them both essential to building an effective force and expensive to purchase in terms of real money is the gaming company's road to profitability. Dethtron has been caught remarking that you don't want your ubiquitous and essentially mandatory <a href="http://youtu.be/cO3MttgvHUY">METAL BAWKSES</a>, included merely to transport models across the board and provide an additional layer of insulation against the rain of hot lead/laser/microwave death outside, to eat up huge chunks of your army's points that you could be spending on cool stuff. I say that I prefer spending my money on transport vehicles that contribute something else to the game, hence my love of anything Fast with good guns that can move and still shoot, Land Raiders and even, at a pinch, the Ork Battlewagon, but that's <i>still </i>not the point that I'm trying to make here.<br />
<br />
My point is that price increases are only half of the way that gaming companies can, if they so wish, diddle and fiddle you out of your hard-earned wonga. The other way they get you is by devaluing what you already own. We are familiar, I hope, with the <a href="http://kaptainvon.wordpress.com/2011/03/15/meta-gamingread-and-respond-on-closure/">various justifications for new editions</a> that invalidate your previous rulebook purchases; some of these are more valid than others but I think that by the time you're on, say, the third edition of a game you're either a bad designer or a deliberately poor designer trying to set up pendulum swings and/or release bloat for business reasons (which, as I keep saying but will continue to restate every time lest I be considered a ninny, is <b>a valid business model</b> and not something unethical and vile that it's worth starting a protest march over. Go on the ones to preserve teachers' pensions instead and at least do me a favour while you're there...).<br />
<br />
What some of us are perhaps less familiar with is the really obvious under-your-nose phenomenon that I never see emerging from discussions of How Things Were Better Value In The Mid-Nineties. <i>Stuff was worth more then.</i> When I started playing, a Space Marine squad cost 300 points for ten lads before any upgrades. Buy them a Veteran Sergeant with weapons and wargear, special weapons and a transport and you'd be running something in excess of 400. With 1500 points established as the Holy Grail of game size, that means an 'army' might comprise three of those squads, the mandatory Captain and, I don't know, a Chief Librarian or a couple of Predators or a Bike Squadron (the New Hot Sexy Release during the month I started playing, sixteen years ago...) or something. <br />
<br />
Third edition 40K slashed the points value of that squad - and it's interesting that we talk about 'points value' as often as we do 'points cost', don't you think? - in half while continuing to present 1500 points as the 'standard' game size. Suddenly you 'need' twice as many d00dz in order to roll up to your games night, unless you're the sort of person who asks insightful questions like "what's so special about 1500 points anyway?" The later editions of 40K have been nudging the game toward a sweet spot closer to 2000 while continuing to gently nudge point costs (Ork Boyz dropping from 10 to 8 or 9 to 6 over the course of three Codices, anyone?) to the point where your old stuff, even if still <i>playable</i>, won't amount to what people are conditioned to expect.<br />
<br />
Now, lest I be accused of favouritism here, let's take a swing at a couple of other companies. Privateer Press managed to pull off the double whammy when they released Warmahordes Mark II, changing the entire points system in order to revalue pieces <i>and </i>change the expectations about what constituted a game. Alas, rummage as I might I can't find any of my Mark I lists anywhere to run an Edifying Comparison, but there was a <i>lot </i>of effort sunk into creating a formula that would unpick exactly how the points costs and values converted between the two systems, and it was at first rather tricky to establish how much you now had and whether you'd been played like a stringed instrument or not - which, a cynic would argue, is what they wanted. Wyrd, meanwhile, set out with two different game sizes and, while I don't follow the Malifaux gossip too closely, I'd npt be surprised if their first expansion brought with it an emphasis on the larger of them. Changing costs is only half the game; sometimes companies change the value of what you own as well.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514527600266823840.post-40481983971191579382011-08-30T03:52:00.000-07:002011-08-30T03:52:10.459-07:00Making Plastic from Milk?I've just been searching the interweb and came across this hobby site. The article I had originally followed was for using pink and blue foam for terrain, but on the main site (<a href="http://www.stormthecastle.com/">http://www.stormthecastle.com/</a>) this article and video caught eye - <a href="http://www.stormthecastle.com/how-to-make-a/how-to-make-plastic.htm">making plastic from milk</a>. To be fair he uses vinegar as well. But that's it. Apparently the idea was from Leonardo Da Vinci.<br />
<br />
<br />
In a hobby where resin and plaster are commonly used to create scenery how good (and cheap) would it be if we could use milk & vinegar instead? More investigations are needed...<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="345" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/CGxPhW06Jvg" width="420"></iframe>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514527600266823840.post-4484855760846444552011-08-13T12:02:00.000-07:002011-08-13T12:02:19.757-07:00The dreaded [War]-Jack Frost strikes again.When the pictures of my new <a href="http://weeblokes.blogspot.com/2011/05/marines-start-to-arrive.html">Space Marine Dreadnought</a> were being taken, the model had not been varnished yet, due to a period of wet weather in up here in normally sunny Scotland (yeah, I know!). Finally I looked out of the window one breakfast time last week and saw it was dry and sunny. Excellent! So I rushed out to give the piece and quick coat.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVi6jtHUaTPApR9d2JBykCDDLqFCG9_syeuxDPRr_c11p6NV7QWveFleqm8xsxFG8GIXlM8_CBh81wEADuK8im-xeeSQgPbviT4v-9mkslvvVFyJxtqK5UFQg0vBjJRvDqw5qU2dxC14E/s1600/SAM_1278.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVi6jtHUaTPApR9d2JBykCDDLqFCG9_syeuxDPRr_c11p6NV7QWveFleqm8xsxFG8GIXlM8_CBh81wEADuK8im-xeeSQgPbviT4v-9mkslvvVFyJxtqK5UFQg0vBjJRvDqw5qU2dxC14E/s320/SAM_1278.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The dreaded frost</td></tr>
</tbody></table> <br />
Unfortunately, it would appear that it was still to damp or cold or at least clammy, as the dreaded varnish frosting hit my smooth clean paint-job. Now I've experienced this before on my <a href="http://weeblokes.blogspot.com/2010/10/warmachine-cryx-slayer.html">Warmachine Slayer</a> last year, so I was disappointed but not panicked by the prospect of trying to get it back to some sort of fit condition.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGJAp4rPiMAQK3mir2HZv7L1oiTZ9BTemENcrQ4YxTzSdbHynTmSxmKcEWeUTzF1QcYz4XI-ksl4aCaycEQeMdixXLZN2ZHaXmOhAiW8EyRY00S2bMQNfrdAU-aihKmZWMv1kWzO9LZZI/s1600/SAM_1279.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGJAp4rPiMAQK3mir2HZv7L1oiTZ9BTemENcrQ4YxTzSdbHynTmSxmKcEWeUTzF1QcYz4XI-ksl4aCaycEQeMdixXLZN2ZHaXmOhAiW8EyRY00S2bMQNfrdAU-aihKmZWMv1kWzO9LZZI/s320/SAM_1279.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">After a coat of gloss Varnish</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
So first job - hit the effected areas with some gloss varnish. This is what I did last time, and it fixed most the problems. This time - not so good. It has improved some areas, but not all. The effect is more visible, ironically, because of my simple faster paintjob, as the imperfections show up on the simple flat surface more. On the areas with more variation (such as the scroll on the left leg) the effect has decreased enough for me to leave it. I will however try a "Plan B" for the front surface, as it is most evident there and if the need comes to repaint it's just a coat of blue!<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8XXXuTIQUv6czzpA_CvpnCpH9q796xx60eDogUsQRGfP9bbOIYzHL5lkVUIfGZMZNBuHGpVsSoTWruIMe4_3ExL101DpNac5jPrY9hD_9nwx0DnbG8jo2Rj2uFngRQPe5m57ntxt_Wc4/s1600/SAM_1300.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8XXXuTIQUv6czzpA_CvpnCpH9q796xx60eDogUsQRGfP9bbOIYzHL5lkVUIfGZMZNBuHGpVsSoTWruIMe4_3ExL101DpNac5jPrY9hD_9nwx0DnbG8jo2Rj2uFngRQPe5m57ntxt_Wc4/s320/SAM_1300.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Post nail polish remover</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Plan B is nail polish remover on a cotton bud. As you can see it seems to have taken most the varnish off and some of the paint. This is why I have shyed away from applying it to a more detailed area. It's still a little rough though, so some light sanding will be needed.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpW1BZeqv3BPF8LiLer934E4V2tT2qVGE8Scjv8A7IaWpG_H6L61hZqeblStVL54Tl1DgsyeTdF3xxB91uNEJLOBVdS4o5jDjZBmjl_ESpq41zlahyiIvZ_gqNZL1anv8szWrcSO9pPlE/s1600/SAM_1323.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" naa="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpW1BZeqv3BPF8LiLer934E4V2tT2qVGE8Scjv8A7IaWpG_H6L61hZqeblStVL54Tl1DgsyeTdF3xxB91uNEJLOBVdS4o5jDjZBmjl_ESpq41zlahyiIvZ_gqNZL1anv8szWrcSO9pPlE/s320/SAM_1323.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Repainted</td></tr>
</tbody></table>I did a small amount of light sanding (with some wet & dry paper) but the finish was still a bit rough. I stopped there anyway and re-applied the blue paint. Not as good as the original silky smooth finish, but alot better than I started out with, and should be fine on the table. Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514527600266823840.post-284940746436517992011-07-15T06:34:00.000-07:002011-07-15T08:13:00.081-07:00The Dreaded 6 month ReviewGosh, hasn't it been quiet around here lately. "It's that time of year again" as the saying goes. Obviously its always that time of year for something. In my case it's Summer time (or at least what optimistically passes as Summer in Scotland) which means less hobby time, more garden tending time, more away days at the weekend (less hobby time), etc. So apologies for the lack of updates but here it is- the mid-term review.<br />
<br />
<div></div>We'll be quick here and move straight to the numbers: <br />
<ul><li>Cash Out: £243.46</li>
<li>Cash In: 349.42</li>
</ul> That's an average monthly spend of £40.58 which, if I'm honest is a bit disappointing, as I was looking for less than that. Just over £100 pounds of that was on the main painting/gaming focus for the first half (Warmachine and Space Marines) I suppose i shouldn't feel too bad. Also the spends on these two games/areas are just about finished, so a line can be drawn under that. On the plus side all my costs have been covered in sales from the hobby shed, with a bit extra (at the moment). This obviously helps me justify the other purchases of the year that haven't had any attention lavished on them (yet).<br />
<br />
<div></div>Which makes me look at the bought/painted stats:<br />
<br />
<div></div><ul><li><strong>28mm:</strong> Bought: 95 Painted: 53</li>
<li><strong>10mm:</strong> Bought: 37 Painted: 22</li>
</ul><br />
<div></div>Converse to the cash spend I'm actually quite pleased at the number of figures I've finished so far. It helps that 40k ones are all pretty quick to paint, but that's fine. I am am suprised at the numer in the bought column as I wouldn't have thought it added up to that much - funnily enought it does though. Just goes to show how your perceptions and real facts often differ (especially in accrued lead).<br />
<div> </div>2 days into the year I <a href="http://weeblokes.blogspot.com/2011/01/looking-forward-to-2011.html">set out my stall</a> with numerous plans (or dreams) for the coming year. Looking over this mighty document I can see that I've failed (or at least faltered in most of these). My Gladiator campaign lasted a few months until a new set of rules derailed me. My Songs Of Blades campaign still shows no sign of starting, I've not played with my 10mm dungeon (although I have been painting it), my 2 Sci-fi scenery projects haven't been touched, and I've painted zero modern era figures for my zombie gaming. And you can you add in the fact that the number of roleplaying sessions played can be counted on the fingers of Bugs Bunny's hand!<br />
<br />
<div></div><div></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghHD3rjPM5rKmBcbMAgRaoxNs_xLyJ5JhLFyJ4hvE86Wdn7YpeLDDGW2ztmB5frLylbLkADHI8r_Vp7qIcjKIbvpnMUjcmmZJFQZhRYBy5wAlARxND7odmlNqysGXMEEr0PP9vnYCiSlc/s1600/bugs-bunnyWWII.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghHD3rjPM5rKmBcbMAgRaoxNs_xLyJ5JhLFyJ4hvE86Wdn7YpeLDDGW2ztmB5frLylbLkADHI8r_Vp7qIcjKIbvpnMUjcmmZJFQZhRYBy5wAlARxND7odmlNqysGXMEEr0PP9vnYCiSlc/s320/bugs-bunnyWWII.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bug's reads up on his gaming tactics</td></tr>
</tbody></table>So the year's been a complete washout then? Well, no. If we look at the <a href="http://weeblokes.blogspot.com/p/gallery.html">gallery</a> page we can see a clue to something that has sneeked in - Space Marines (and Necrons) and using them toboot! Sci-fi gaming has hit the Hobby Shed with a vengence the last few months. It started with Arabiansquire's birthday present of some Space Marines of his own to paint, and he's been keen to play them ever since. Previous favourite fantasy gaming hasn't had a proper look in at all. To add to the Sci-fi feel of the year there have been quite a few <a href="http://weeblokes.blogspot.com/search/label/Star%20Wars%20Pod%20Racing">Pod Racing Sessions</a> over the last couple of months as well. Warmachine has also dominated the painting mat as I try to finish off my Cryx Army. Nearly there now though. I may actually get to play with them once it's done, as the local league play has somewhat stalled.<br />
<br />
<div></div>This seamlessly leads me into the next six months. I'm going to shelve (or box) my grand WWII plans. This fuse was ignited by Halo*Star, but he's not over so frequently just now and he <i>still</i> hasn't picked up any figures that I will leave it for later - I've a few other pots boiling at the moment anyway. I hope to replace it with something I go WOW! for - Doctor Who. This also has great playing potential, as the wee lad is Dr Who mad; in theory I need less figures (and I already own a few); being a time travelling adventurer I should be able to use many of my other figures; it's new and shiny (which lets be honest is why we all start!) But like all best laid plans we'll have to wait and see! I would also like to see a few more warbands (fantasy and Sci-fi) painted before the year's end, especially as I've bought a couple this year and it would be nice to see some more "bought and painted" figures rather than the usual "discovered and painted" variety!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514527600266823840.post-66911119327695988512011-06-28T02:29:00.000-07:002011-06-30T23:34:08.654-07:00Some Frugal Alternatives To Popular Spendy GamesEnough, I say! Enough!<br />
<br />
I wrote a post. It was about increasing prices and decreasing points values and the two-way gouge perpetrated by miniature wargame companies. It wasn't bad. I'm just sick to the back teeth of doing nothing but advise people on how to negotiate with these big bad corporate entities, how to play the popular games without being played for fools. It's possible to play that game and win, but a better way to win is to <i>not play.</i> With that in mind, here are some of the free or cheap things I've been painstakingly hoarding, in waiting for the day when I can persuade people to play them and not something you buy in the shops.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.moviemuser.co.uk/MovieImages/doctor-who-the-war-games-pic1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://www.moviemuser.co.uk/MovieImages/doctor-who-the-war-games-pic1.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><u><b>War Games</b></u></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><a href="http://www.kallistra.co.uk/H%26H%20Rules%20download.html">Hordes and Heroes</a>, by Kallistra, is a 10mm fantasy game revolving around abstract units made of several models on a single base. It uses a very clear, very clinical hex terrain system, which is probably the clearest set of rules I've seen for terrain pieces in a long while, but is perhaps incompatible with your existing terrain collection unless you're prepared to do a bit of work or invest in Kallistra's proprietary terrain sets. <br />
<br />
This is why I'm also going to recommend Hordes of the Things, by the <a href="http://www.wrg.me.uk/WRG/wrgindex.html">Wargames Research Group</a>. It's currently out of print (I bought one of the last paper copies, it would seem) but the WRG have been good enough to provide a <a href="http://www.wrg.me.uk/HISTORY/HOTT2.pdf">download of the current edition</a> as a stop-gap until they can bring it out again (and thanks to <b>arabianknight</b> for pointing that out!). Hordes of the Things is another very tight rules set with the advantage of working in a variety of different scales - the measurement distances and number of models that qualify as a 'unit' changes, but the actual mechanics don't. Both games use generic unit types that are wide open to choice regarding which manufacturer's miniatures you use, and both have a historical variant (Hordes of the Things is in essence a clone of major historical system De Bellis Antiquitatis, also by the W.R.G., with rules for dragons, gods and magicians bolted on) if that's more your bag than outrageous fantasy.<br />
<br />
On the skirmish side of things, allow me to big up Dave King's <a href="http://skulldred.blogspot.com/">Skulldred</a>. Skulldred is currently in beta testing and has been for some time, largely because Dave wants it pretty much as tight as he can make it when it does finally go to a commercial release. At the moment, it's free to download, and has the advantage of being open to use any set of miniatures in the same scale (although, as is my way, I recommend 28-32mm for anything where individuals matter and 10-15mm for anything that's more about regiments). You'll need to perform some jiggery-pokery with dice, either using the wraparound template Dave provides or investing in some blank d6s to make your own. Or you could use a look-up table, but that'll get a bit wearisome if you have to do it for every roll.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.recons.com/images/lc08.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://www.recons.com/images/lc08.gif" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u><b><span style="font-size: large;">Roleplaying Games</span></b></u></td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.swordsandwizardry.com/">Swords and Wizardry</a> is a free-to-download open-source 'retro-clone' of several early editions of Dungeons and Dragons rolled together (I confess to not being up on the game's early history to the point where I can tell you what's been rolled into it; furthermore, I confess to not caring). The point is that it can do pretty much whatever you want to do with Dungeons and Dragons - scale up, scale down, convert settings, make your own setting, imitate Basic, Advanced or Old Dungeons and Dragons - and it doesn't cost anything or come with the promise of splatbooks ranging out into infinity.<br />
<br />
If you find Marxist taxonomies of characters and rolling tons of dice to be faintly distasteful, meanwhile, allow me to point you in the vague direction of <a href="http://www.atomicsockmonkey.com/freebies.asp">Atomic Sock Monkey Press</a> and their excellent free-to-download Prose Descriptive Quality system for diceless roleplaying. They also make a few settings for that system to be used in which, while technically costing money, come with enough free downloads for you to bodge your way through it with a bit of imagination (and let's face it, you'd need at least a bit of imagination to play a diceless RPG). <br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2XuwxbguuKDwvuWGYXR-B64x4ANxw3WtW9p9SKenw59fLpNFKDvEfYBd7UtofYx3Q33MEPw2LpyZFvpT1C4cgCMVpd4aSLfwJiYJ7zsunKR0OV7p9Kg7sHTncZAqFbD2eQgQDYCJNEpFR/s1600/Invasion+8.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2XuwxbguuKDwvuWGYXR-B64x4ANxw3WtW9p9SKenw59fLpNFKDvEfYBd7UtofYx3Q33MEPw2LpyZFvpT1C4cgCMVpd4aSLfwJiYJ7zsunKR0OV7p9Kg7sHTncZAqFbD2eQgQDYCJNEpFR/s320/Invasion+8.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><u><b>Computer Games</b></u></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.wesnoth.org/">Battle for Wesnoth</a>! It's free, it'll run on damn near anything, and it's a charmingly addictive hex-based turn-based fantasy strategy game. I recommend Wesnoth doubly because of an active user base that's forever churning out new single-player campaigns and offering multiplayer if that's your thing. The only bad thing I have to say about it is that large battles with three or more computer players get pretty boring; you can skip the computer players' turns but then you'll start yours with half your units missing and no idea what killed them or what to avoid when you save and reload - which you'll be doing a lot, since the AI is intelligent enough to go after things that you don't want to die and very, very cut-throat in its application of attack probabilities.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.torchlightgame.com/">Torchlight</a> is in essence a Diablo clone. You remember Diablo. It was a one-armed bandit thinly disguised as a fantasy dungeon crawl game where you hit monsters to see what loot fell out of them. It was single player World of Warcraft, in essence, and it was <i>mindlessly </i>addictive. Torchlight did not set my world on fire, but the demo's free, the game's cheap, and it even looks suitably old-school. I've just been spoiled for single-player games by the chat-to-other-players aspects of MUMORPEGGERS, I think.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.guildwars.com/">Guild Wars</a> is one of those MUMMORPEGGER things, only it isn't subscription-based: you buy it, you play it, and the only money you need to spend is on expansion packs if you want to play through those. Looks like World of Warcraft with more sophisticated graphics and less bad pop-culture jokes. The former stopped me from really getting into it, as there was enough lag to break any sense of immersion or engagement before it really had the chance to develop, and I get the impression that it's a slow-burner anyway. Not designed to addict with quite the same cunning and effectiveness as World of Warcraft - definitely more of a make-your-own-fun kind of game that relies on you interacting with other players in some meaningful way, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. <a href="http://www.champions-online.com/f2p">Champions Online</a> is closer to WoW in terms of its early-game-hook design, although operating in a different genre, and is nominally free to play, although the free version is so cut-down that you'll probably end up spending some real money to unlock some options for yourself. Still no subscription fees, though. <br />
<br />
Given my druthers, I would play all of these and not their more expensive counterparts, but the trouble with games and gamers is that they are in essence social pastimes and if you want to share other people's play time you often end up playing what they play. I can sit up here in my Frugal castle with my sense of self-satsifaction and full wallet but that's piss all use if everyone I know wants to play Pathfinder. That said, I still want to fly the flag for alternative games; they are cheaper than what people already play, they are often more flexible and freeform and imaginative than what people already play, and they are probably every bit as much fun as what people already play. I'd know, if I could persuade people to play them.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514527600266823840.post-48514151858545589832011-06-21T23:42:00.000-07:002011-06-21T23:42:11.367-07:00A gentle reminder...Hi guys, just a quick note to remind you that the '<a href="http://www.ayearoffrugalgaming.com/2011/06/grand-battery-book-review-and.html">Grand Battery</a>' book draw finishes at midnight tomorrow. Get your entries in quick!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514527600266823840.post-69862801856344377082011-06-17T00:55:00.000-07:002011-06-18T23:05:23.835-07:00Warmachine On The CheapA while ago now, <a href="http://weeblokes.blogspot.com/">arabianknight</a> posted about his <a href="http://www.ayearoffrugalgaming.com/2011/02/more-cygnar-proxies.html">proxy Trenchers for Warmachine</a>, and made <a href="http://www.ayearoffrugalgaming.com/2010/11/proxy-vote.html">a convincing case for the act of proxying</a> the more generic-looking miniatures in a Warmahordes army.<br />
<br />
Now, Warmahordes is my tournament game, insofar as I have one at all, and so the decision is largely made for me; whatever I want to take to an Official Event <span style="font-size: xx-small;">(TM) <span style="font-size: small;">more or less has to be Official Miniatures <span style="font-size: xx-small;">(TM) <span style="font-size: small;">as I can't rely on the discretion of the tournament organiser being in my favour. Nevertheless, I understand the case for proxying and accept that if you're never going to play in an environment where officialdom matters, th'art free to do as thou wilt.</span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></span></span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/50/Crowley_gentleman.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/50/Crowley_gentleman.jpg" width="280" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Aleister Crowley approves of proxying. <br />
No wonder he's the Wickedest Man in the World.</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: small;">This morning, I stumbled upon an idea for expanding a Warmahordes collection past the initial investment that seems to dovetail well with the proxy practice. I'll link to it in a moment, but first I want to brief the non-Warmahordes readership about a few truths. Those groin-yards among you who already know their Slaughterhousers from their Doom Reavers can feel free to skip a paragraph.</span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: small;">Warmahordes revolves around the one figure at the centre of your army; the warlock or warcaster. Change that, and keep the rest of your army list the same, and you change the way the whole army list plays. The pieces still do what they do, but they're supported differently and often take on different strategic and tactical roles (what was once a line-breaking destroyer of meat and metal alike can become a disposable beatstick, a screening piece or a tough objective taker, depending on context). The game also incorporates a variety of mercenary troops which can either join armies from one or more other factions or do their own thing as 'contract' or 'pact' forces with their own agendas. The nature of mercenaries is such that, barring a few excellent pieces, they tend to appear in armies of their own kind; it's very rare that you'll see a faction army including more than one or two mercenaries.</span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: small;">Which is odd, as <a href="http://raptor1313-warmachine.blogspot.com/2011/06/moonlighting-with-mercs-cryx.html">Raptor of Spite for the Unblighted pointed out this morning</a>. Building a solid core of generic mercenaries or minions and then adding faction pieces - mainly warcasters/warlocks and the warjacks/warbeasts that they control - to that affords a similar kind of variety to the change-your-warcaster-change-your-army approach described above, just on a slightly grander scale. It occurs to me that proxying that core of generic mercenaries and then adding small faction battlegroups - possibly even the discounted starter boxes, which tend to include something for free - would result in a satisfactory-if-not-brilliant Warmahordes army, certainly good enough to just play the game.</span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: small;">Warmachine probably affords the best opportunities for this, given the greater variety of mercenary troop types available to the steam-powered factions, and the fairly generic nature of those troops (there's not much demand for giant crocodile men or pig-headed rifle-blokes, you see, so cheap ranges are harder to find). Units of dwarfs with <a href="http://www.manticgames.com/Shop-Home/Dwarfs/Core-Units/Product/Dwarf-Shieldbreaker-Troop-10-Figures.html">whacking great hammers</a> or <a href="http://www.manticgames.com/Shop-Home/Dwarfs/Core-Units/Product/Dwarf-Ironwatch-Troop.html">rifles</a> plus <a href="http://www.letthedicedecide.co.uk/product/Bretonnian_Men_At_Arms_Shield_D_BTMA004">tower shields</a> aren't that hard to come by; neither are <a href="http://store.warlordgames.co.uk/parliament-infantry-40-plastic-miniatures-1455-p.asp">armoured infantry with polearms or firearms</a>, <a href="http://store.warlordgames.co.uk/parliament-cavalry-2093-p.asp">matching cavalry</a> and <a href="http://store.warlordgames.co.uk/pike-and-shotte-command-frame-1636-p.asp">a mounted officer</a></span></span></span></span>; and while the specific characters belonging to Privateer's proprietary fantasy species might be a bit tricky, <a href="http://www.leisuregames.com/acatalog/Pirates__Crusader_Miniatures_.html">pirates with cutlasses, pistols and rifles, plus a few gentlemanly character-solo-ish types</a> are less so. Build a core of faux-Rhulfolk, Steelheads or Privateers, with all the rules synergies that having broadly the same sort of stuff implies, and then add the starter battlegroups to create up to six different armies (depending on whether you can get hold of the old Mercenary starter sets or not) sharing a core of cheap proxied troops.<br />
<br />
Things might not match up perfectly in aesthetic terms and you'll get Privateer fanboys and tournament players looking at you strangely, but you can laugh them off as you go to sleep on your pile of scrupulously saved money. Except me. Don't laugh me off. I did tell you how to do this, after all. Just wish I'd thought of it first...<br />
<br />
<br />
ADDITIONAL: for those who care about the viability of this approach in terms of rules, Raptor is currently running a faction-by-faction breakdown of the various mercenary options available. Go and have a look.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514527600266823840.post-8309652836978192232011-06-16T01:29:00.000-07:002011-06-16T01:29:01.641-07:00Chronicles Of Blood - a review<a href="http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product_info.php?cPath=5578&products_id=92310">Chronicles of Blood</a> - Solo War Game<br />
<br />
<div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhANI9oEjb_hLh6u7majpuHeKwhIgJencABvBsiXmXgAyJ-QHBm5c3iDzxKAK4EAo7PCxyw61lZIJTV781l-VqhJP2ydjZj6WmSJquYlcx-qfJEkXPJC8sE_biWtJPFaLL-lTq9liJ1u_c/s1600/CoBcover.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhANI9oEjb_hLh6u7majpuHeKwhIgJencABvBsiXmXgAyJ-QHBm5c3iDzxKAK4EAo7PCxyw61lZIJTV781l-VqhJP2ydjZj6WmSJquYlcx-qfJEkXPJC8sE_biWtJPFaLL-lTq9liJ1u_c/s320/CoBcover.JPG" t8="true" width="226" /></a></div>First let me get something in the open. I never play massed army battle games (Warhammer, HotT, etc) so have nothing to really compare this game to, so bear that in mind whilst reading this. I picked up this game for a couple of reasons. I won't be shy and say the first reason was that the basic rule set (looked at here) is free. Further "premium" rule expansions will be released (one to date) for the princely sum of $1 (64p in real money!), so extra rules were not going to break the bank. next on the list of attractions is that it is a simple, solo, generic ruleset. This also grabbed my attention as Arabiansquire plays more often than I do, so it would be nice for him to have a simple rule-based opponent from time to time.<br />
<br />
<div></div>I will only be looking at the frugal free ruleset here. The army composition is pretty generic, as you'd expect, and focuses on a Good vs Bad force set up. This lets you mix Human, Dwarf and elven forces against Orc, goblin and undead alliances - very handy if you don't have enough of one race to fill and entire army list (as is my case). The "Units" are of regiment size, with each regiment having attack, damage, armour, health and morale stats by way of number or different dice types. So the weak goblins have an attack with a d4, where as the stronger Human Infantry have d6 attack. There are charge and flanking modifiers that can be added as well, and some ranged troops. The basic attack is just a comparative roll-off between meleeing regiments, winner rolls damage, anything more than the losers armour stat is translated into wounds until wounds get to zero. No saving throws, etc - pretty quick. <br />
<br />
<div></div>After each armies turn, any regiment that's taken wounds rolls a morale check (again on a d4, d6, d8, etc) and on a 1 flees the battle field. The rule led opponent rules are pretty simple, basically order of activation runs with the regiment strength and engages the nearest enemy. To make things more difficult for you (considering the basic rules for the opponent) , at the start of each turn you roll on a random event table to determine what happens - anything from rain halving your arrow range to one of your regiments turning against you!<br />
<br />
<div></div>After running through a game I have to say I enjoyed it. The different dice used as stats moves along quite smoothly and the enemy actions are simple and intuitive. The brutal morale system and random event table really try their best to put a spanner in the works. A drawn melee results in a wound and hence a morale check, and when rolling on the event table you really do "pray for rain". It does give a feel of the rules being "out-to-get-ya", but as long as you realise that (and the rules are so simple you can't fail to notice) it's a quick and enjoyable game. I'll definitely being trying to induce the young lad to the rules (assuming I can tear him away from his new Space Marine fascination)<br />
<br />
<div></div>As a sub note I've bought the first premium expansion which adds extra heroes, simple magic and leaders into the fold, which should give the regiments a bit more individuality on the table.<br />
<br />
<div></div>Test Battle Report. <br />
<br />
A quick run through the test battle for the above review. Hopefully the auto-changing gif won't be too quick and you'll be able to follow it. The eagle eye'd among will notice I forgot to apply the random event table most turns - it didn't alter the outcome I can assure you! Also you should bear in mind that I as I never play massed games tactics were beyond me! <br />
<br />
The graphics are from using <a href="http://www.battlechronicler.com/">Battle Chronicler</a>, which is an excellent free battle report program (which my first time fumblings below don't do justice to!), and <a href="http://www.gimp.org/">GIMP</a> (the open source graphics package - NOT the bloke in the rubber suit in Pulp Fiction)<br />
<br />
The forces were taken directly from the rulebook: <br />
<br />
The Golden Alliance <br />
<ul><li>MaA1: 10 Human Infantry, Men-at-Arms 1</li>
<li>MaA2: 10 Human Infantry, Men-at-Arms 2</li>
<li>MaA3: 10 Human Infantry, Men-at-Arms 3</li>
<li>DS: 12 Dwarf Infantry, Dwarven Stoneguard</li>
<li>SOTS: 5 Angel Infantry, Soldiers Of The Sun</li>
<li>KOTR: 5 Human Cavalry, Knights Of The Realm</li>
<li>ER1: 10 Elf Infantry, Elven Rangers 1 (Ranged)</li>
<li>ER2: 10 Elf Infantry, Elven Rangers 2 (Ranged) </li>
</ul>The Unholy Blight<br />
<ul><li>OW1: Orc Infantry, Orc Warriors 1</li>
<li>OW2: Orc Infantry, Orc Warriors 2</li>
<li>GW1: Goblin Infantry, Goblin Warriors 1</li>
<li>GW2: Goblin Infantry, Goblin Warriors 2</li>
<li>GW3: Goblin Infantry, Goblin Warriors 3</li>
<li>GW4: Goblin Infantry, Goblin Warriors 4 </li>
<li>BD: Demon Infantry, Battle Demons </li>
<li>DK: Demon Cavalry, Dark Knights </li>
<li>SH1: Undead Cavalry, Skeleton Horsemen 1</li>
<li>SH2: Undead Cavalry, Skeleton Horsemen 2</li>
</ul><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZJwb1HMAqrn33ZR3n_yX2s2YJCzSgoJOXUZvvoM9pEn3h4-SzWeVO2q0cfaoVBjQIrpU00LC_dNUttBrI0PBKGt4KIN58SXe-u6DoqESfd-Le-udYQ_1EZypt5lKvRi_LuD7wGzcEuLk/s1600/CoB_finalb.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZJwb1HMAqrn33ZR3n_yX2s2YJCzSgoJOXUZvvoM9pEn3h4-SzWeVO2q0cfaoVBjQIrpU00LC_dNUttBrI0PBKGt4KIN58SXe-u6DoqESfd-Le-udYQ_1EZypt5lKvRi_LuD7wGzcEuLk/s1600/CoB_finalb.gif" t8="true" /></a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514527600266823840.post-80208498847317328462011-06-15T14:32:00.000-07:002011-06-15T14:32:51.045-07:00It's finally come to an end...After a couple of years of posting on the subject, I’ve decided to call an end to it. After hours spent blogging about it, I’m done. I’m finished. It’s all over. <br />
That’s right, I’ve finally completed my Orc and Goblin army! I’ve now got 2400pts of tournament standard painted army ready to go, woo hoo! It’s been a large undertaking, it’s been a challenge and it’s been a pain in the arse, but it’s complete.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimA77sSZcNEsCdBedPLCOs4eMX6QH5_2sPT_uPJuytYJgpj8NPzRM_-RtkmGB7GUmsRL6ju2lUmRvnMbB76MVeSGtq5QHSEqkHj5oQvnrsUyRAqM4LNl0vNfXXAfDL92GuP5_GnBuoCD0/s1600/IMG_0352.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimA77sSZcNEsCdBedPLCOs4eMX6QH5_2sPT_uPJuytYJgpj8NPzRM_-RtkmGB7GUmsRL6ju2lUmRvnMbB76MVeSGtq5QHSEqkHj5oQvnrsUyRAqM4LNl0vNfXXAfDL92GuP5_GnBuoCD0/s320/IMG_0352.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The (proxy) Black Orcs get ready to do what they do best. Hit things. Hard.</td></tr>
</tbody></table> I’ve been painting for years, but it has always been figures for small scale skirmish games such as Necromunda and Mordheim, so I didn’t realise how much work would be required. It only took painting the first unit before I realised that my usual painting style was far too slow and detailed to get me through in a reasonable amount of time. I had to learn to paint a lot quicker, trying dips, all-over washes and loads of drybrushing in an attempt to get figures on the table. I learnt the importance of making sure that units rank up and I realised that when painting an army, it was the overall effect that was the most important thing, not each individual model. It took a while for me to get the idea, but I was happy when it finally happened!<br />
<br />
It wasn’t all hard work though, I had great fun making some of the pieces; the <a href="http://www.ayearoffrugalgaming.com/2010/09/building-catapult-sorry-trebuchet.html">rocklobber</a>, the maggot hoppers, the <a href="http://www.ayearoffrugalgaming.com/2011/01/oh-my-gob.html">spider riding boss</a> and my own personal favourite; the <a href="http://www.ayearoffrugalgaming.com/2011/05/making-rivets-and-snotling-pumpwagon.html">snotling pumpwagons</a>.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt2CJUXYaZVgfy_fba9tCf0x_8w_9BRvJlAr3ayl8BX4vz-cRzxhOl8vcWyyWDBtiztBwxuFZwZWu6zETIqEQJR9tigDJyIDkbIErh94k2MD8rDWXiQb84-0R45VjKjYCNeCBTPgtNoyI/s1600/SDC10375.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="247" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt2CJUXYaZVgfy_fba9tCf0x_8w_9BRvJlAr3ayl8BX4vz-cRzxhOl8vcWyyWDBtiztBwxuFZwZWu6zETIqEQJR9tigDJyIDkbIErh94k2MD8rDWXiQb84-0R45VjKjYCNeCBTPgtNoyI/s320/SDC10375.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Some of the rough sketches for my Rocklobber</td></tr>
</tbody></table>This is the first full army that I’ve painted so I’m feeling quite proud of myself. I’ve learned some good painting skills, and probably picked up some bad ones as well. I’ve already got plans in place for my next fantasy army, and I’ll be using what I’ve learned on the greenskins to great effect.<br />
<br />
Of course, I know that no army is ever fully ‘finished’ I’ll be repainting some of the units and adding the odd piece, but the rush is now over and I can focus on actually playing with it. I’ve got my first game with a fully painted full size army at the club tomorrow night (appropriately enough, against Dwarfs!) so I’m looking forward to seeing if fielding a finished army improves my luck at all. <br />
<br />
I’ll add a few photos from the battle in the next couple of days and let you know the result :)<br />
<br />
Happy Gaming<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
P.S. You can find all the stories of my work completing my army by clicking on the ‘<a href="http://www.ayearoffrugalgaming.com/search/label/Goblins">goblins</a>’ label.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">P.P.S. A big 'Hello' to all my fellow greenskin generals who may be visiting from '<a href="http://www.da-warpath.com/">Da Warpath</a>'. Check it out peeps!</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514527600266823840.post-10318104691623784672011-06-12T09:29:00.000-07:002011-06-12T09:29:57.320-07:00Tide of Iron review<div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">After weeks of planning, phonecalls and emails it finally happened; I got three friends together for a full day and we sat down to play a game. The three friends were Paul, Neil and Andy… and the game was Tide of Iron.</span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Tide of Iron is a World War 2 boardgame, focussing on tactical level combat in pre-set scenarios. It is designed for two players, but rules are included for four-player games (two per side). The game is complete in the box, with hundreds of plastic miniatures and cards, 12 double sided map tiles, loads of counters, a rulebook (also downloadable from the <a href="http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_minisite.asp?eidm=8">Fantasy Flight website</a>) and a scenario book with a variety of missions. </span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz-P5SUdSl93yNIZfWYWiKYNG6ey-zPNDmeykpV9NmqP6dwD-OTcZPwduMuwM8n6t2403caETaQ5qUvaE2qCbwL0pc3pOqAns-449R4FnXbI7XsJ527J9VPgKrvM957rAUdn4qOfkOpv8/s1600/SDC12882.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz-P5SUdSl93yNIZfWYWiKYNG6ey-zPNDmeykpV9NmqP6dwD-OTcZPwduMuwM8n6t2403caETaQ5qUvaE2qCbwL0pc3pOqAns-449R4FnXbI7XsJ527J9VPgKrvM957rAUdn4qOfkOpv8/s320/SDC12882.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">The game features a variety of units; standard infantry, elite troops, officers, mortars, machine guns, trucks, transports and tanks; each with their own specific rules, and very nice models. The scenario determines what troops you receive (which you then form into squads of your own choosing), </span><span style="font-size: small;">the map tiles and card decks used and the victory conditions.</span><span style="font-size: small;">On your turn you have a range of options for each of your troops: Move, Fire, Concentrated Fire, Opportunity Fire, Assault or Special Action (activating one of your Strategy Cards), </span><span style="font-size: small;">alternating actions until every unit has move</span><span style="font-size: small;">d. </span> It is the card decks which provide the best variety in the game, the scenario determines which deck each player gets (Reinforcements, Air Support, Morale, etc) and these give specific bonuses during the game. Cards are activated by using Command tokens, earned by occupying specific tactical locations on the board. For example, in the scenario that we played, there was a hill with a sandbagged emplacement at the top; the side that held it earned two command points every turn, which allowed us to purchase from our respective command decks, to represent the tactical advantage of holding such a position.<br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Combat is via opposed dice rolls (attack vs defence) and is generally bloody. The only exception is mortars which can choose to give suppressing fire which doesn’t destroy your opponents troops, but pins or disrupts them for a turn or two.</span><br />
<br />
</div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">(Even if you don’t fancy the game, check out the video below, it features some remarkable head/facial hair combos...)</span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="279" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/CXJcegCLKrk" width="448"></iframe></span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Paul, Neil and Andy are friends of mine who I’ve been introducing to modern boardgames over the past few years, so have played games of varying complexity. Tide of Iron is by no means the most complicated game out there, but it does require a bit of thought and there was frequent checking of the rulebook to make sure we played certain situations right, but overall the guys picked up the rules pretty quick. I went over the main points as we set up and then we talked through the riles on the first turn before the game got into full swing.</span><br />
<br />
</div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">In our game Neil and I took the side of the Germans and Paul and Andy assumed the role of the Americans. The Germans were in a strong defensive position and it was up to the yanks to prise us out. Neil and I made great use of our cards (from the ‘Morale’ and ‘Reinforcements’ decks - mainly the latter!) and managed to hold the Americans at bay until the end of the game. There were a few hairy moments, and we only just got away with it at the end, so a good time was had by all. Our game took about six hours to play, but that was at a relaxed pace with plenty of chatting and discussion. The next time that we play, I can’t see it lasting more than four hours, even allowing time for name calling and trading of insults in a variety of comedy accents.</span><br />
<br />
</div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">The rules provide a great balance of depth and ease of play that will suit most gamers, and provide a rich, deep gaming experience that all can enjoy.</span><br />
<br />
</div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">As always I must ask one single question: Is it Frugal? Well, it’s £55 (or crazy foreign equivalent), it’s fantastic quality, it’s great fun and it’ll provide you hours and hours of gaming. I can’t think of many other gaming products that will give you a complete system with such potential for the same price. Go and buy it now!</span><br />
<br />
</div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">P.S. You may know that when I review a product I give away my review copy if I received one. As this is my own personal (paid for) copy of Tide of Iron I’ve sent Fantasy Flight Games an email asking for a copy to give away to one lucky reader. I’ve not had an answer yet...</span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514527600266823840.post-43076746619798435802011-06-09T00:04:00.000-07:002011-06-09T11:37:07.467-07:00Grand Battery book review and competitionOne of the things I love about wargaming is the idea of total immersion; not only learning the fluff, and spending hours painting the models; but playing a long game and getting deeply involved in every move, discussing the tactical aspect of potential moves with my opponent, as well as trading the occasional piece of ‘trash talk’ or gentle mocking.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2q51P8-m0_LY5X1FWnAEClQtN5SKX9_NIX6XO5qbyWZR-fOq-zlEYh0bDe2CS5YNX7hN9tkj98Yq-MeVg473MMPlGMYpgUS24eQlItap2WfsFDHAEDJwbzGMFrMQNkXhe6kpyi1ysK1Y/s1600/SDC12898.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2q51P8-m0_LY5X1FWnAEClQtN5SKX9_NIX6XO5qbyWZR-fOq-zlEYh0bDe2CS5YNX7hN9tkj98Yq-MeVg473MMPlGMYpgUS24eQlItap2WfsFDHAEDJwbzGMFrMQNkXhe6kpyi1ysK1Y/s320/SDC12898.jpg" width="243" /></a></div>I have always been attracted by the idea of larger and more complex gaming, with orders, chains of command and lots of cross referencing on complex charts. This is the territory of the ‘old-school’ historical wargamer and, dare I say it, the Napoleonics wargamer.<br />
<br />
Recently I was sent a review copy of ‘<a href="http://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/?product_id=2597">Grand Battery</a>’ by husband and wife writing team Jon Sutherland and Diane Canwell (who you may have seen writing an excellent column in <a href="http://www.battlegames.co.uk/">Battlegames</a> magazine).<br />
<br />
The book is a standard (novel sized) hardback running to nearly 200 pages, with lots of photographs of models, mostly being used for games. As with all the <a href="http://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/?page=home">Pen and Sword</a> titles that I’ve seen, the book is well laid out. My only criticism is that there seemed to be a few spelling and formatting errors, which distracted from the content from the book a little. Anyway, with my history of spelling and grammar errors I’m in no position to get too upset.<br />
<br />
The book starts with a very warm and friendly introduction, which immediately puts the novice gamer (or n00b) at their ease, before getting straight into the good stuff. The first half of the book provides the background (what we modern gamers refer to as the ‘fluff’), discussing the history and main battles of the period, followed by a breakdown of the composition and armament of the various forces involves. The second half of the book introduces the rules.<br />
<br />
The rules are primarily designed for 15-28mm scale miniatures, but there is discussion of using smaller and larger scales on the table, and I don’t believe that this would impact on gameplay. The game is based around an orders driven system, assigning actions to units in advance, and ensuring that the chain of command is maintained (or else having to send couriers between units to pass orders!). This leaves players having to plan well in advance, fighting against the fog of war which will frustrate players as much as it did their historical counterparts. <br />
<br />
There is an unstated assumption from the authors that the two generals reenacting the battle are there to enjoy the gaming experience and discuss potential historical events rather than focus on winning at all costs, or using definitions of the rules that take away from the spirit of the game. The rules are clearly to be played for enjoyment, rather than in a competitive environment, the spirit of the game is on an enjoyable gaming experience, rather than smashing your opponent. <br />
<br />
The rules provide a great degree of flexibility which will allow a large number of historical battles to be refought with ease, a number of scenarios are included at the end of the book for this very purpose, though you could easily refight you own particular Napoleonic battle (if you have one in mind).<br />
<br />
If I had a friend or older child who fancied getting into historical gaming, or an interest in learning about the period, this book would be an excellent starting point; steering clear of the ‘rules lawyering’ that is present in other systems. Though I wouldn’t attempt to take this along to my local club or try to win over some hardcore 40k players, but that's just me and my group and is no way a reflection on the book.<br />
<br />
But the most important question; Is it frugal? Well, yes. If you fancy learning a bit more about the period or historical gaming, this book is reasonably priced and well presented, and will undoubtedly provide hours and hours of enjoyment. Combine it with a couple of boxes of <a href="http://store.warlordgames.co.uk/perry-miniatures-british-napoleonic-line-infantry-1808-1815-1548-p.asp">Perry Plastics</a> and you’ve got yourself a fantastic starter set for a really good price. If this sounds like something you'd like to try, I’d certainly recommend picking it up.<br />
<br />
The book also hints at future wargaming titles from Pen and Sword, and I’m looking forward to other titles in this series. The website already has ‘Blood, Bilge and Iron Balls: A Tabletop Game of Naval Battles in the Age of Sail’, promising both small and large scale fast play battles, on pre-order and if the quality is as good as Grand Battery, it’ll be a great read.<br />
<br />
As is becoming the custom, I’m giving away my review copy of ‘Grand Battery’, no matter where in the world you are. If you’d like to go into the draw simply <a href="mailto:thefrugalgamer@gmail.com">send me an email</a> with the title ‘Grand Battery Book Draw’ by midnight (British Summer Time) on Thursday 23rd June.<br />
<br />
Happy GamingUnknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514527600266823840.post-35506599173720525652011-06-08T00:28:00.000-07:002011-06-08T00:28:51.424-07:00EXPO-say: Von's Frugal Picks from the UK Games ExpoThere's nothing quite like attending a gaming convention with no money to sharpen the old critical faculties and make you consider the value of the beautiful, shiny objects being paraded about before your eyes. I'd recommend it to anyone. Leave your wallet at home. Take your ticket and a packed lunch. Just <i>look</i> at things and think about them. You might notice, as I did, that many contemporary RPGs are needlessly bloated behemoths that attempt to meld the best of four or more existing systems and disguise the stitches with glorious full-colour and glossy paper; you might notice that those very nice lizard-persons are glorious but at £10 for two owning sufficient numbers of them to use them in any sensible context is ludicrous; you might play and discuss the hot new skirmish game in town and finally work out how the design principles generate sales past the buy-in. I will talk about all of these things later in my usual meta-contexty way but first I want to talk about the bargains that you might find and endorse at such an Exposition, because I told these lovely people that I would.<br />
<br />
You might, at this hypothetical event, have a nice chat with the lads from <a href="http://www.arkenstonepublishing.net/">Arkenstone Publishing</a>, whose names are too Finnish for me to remember or spell (sorry chaps) and who are pimping out the Nordic approach to Old School Roleplaying and the rather curious <i><a href="http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/42368/inquisitio">Inquisitio</a></i>, which reminds me of the party game <i><a href="http://eblong.com/zarf/werewolf.html">Werewolf</a></i>, complicated by the idea that everyone is guilty of <i>something</i> and some amount of guilt <i>will </i>come out. They described the game as 'a race to not lose'; it sounds like it requires a lot of concentrating but apparently it's possible to play fairly randomly without paying much attention and still end up somewhere in the middle.<br />
<br />
You might encounter the excitable Benjamin Dale of <a href="http://tiedtoakite.com/">Tied to a Kite Games</a>, who produce the marvellous old-school D&D clone <i>Blackswords and Bucklers, </i>which strips out the hippy fantasy nonsense and replaces it with a grubby, low-fantasy Elizabethan English vibe that's pitched halfway between <i>Call of Cthulhu </i>and <i>Blackadder.</i> The core rules are fifty clean, accessible pages with a heavy emphasis on making the details up as you go along and not burdening the system with unnecessary personalising-my-special-snowflake cruft - the first of a range of supplements adding further classes and mechanics (usually one new class and one new mechanic per book, delivered in detail) is already out - and did I mention it's a fiver? Five quid for a roleplaying game that won't put your back out. Bargain.<br />
<br />
On the subject of bargains, they also make a came called <i>Numerix</i>, an 'abstract chance strategy' game that reminds me of <i>Go </i>with dice. It's easier to play than to explain and an explanation is helped by a picture of the board, thus:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ-KHxTRlULzZb7seYwTM5-PW3Ep0SZpr1lr3e2J9fMVhOVKZ0axE6Vzc55JpTlVqEsU0ps_m-Mb3dKhW3w-NV6_sD_huN9larLXDDZsePDV02UImrVBA8iGC-ty0kLH7vMEcJboiBER4/s1600/Expo2011+007.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ-KHxTRlULzZb7seYwTM5-PW3Ep0SZpr1lr3e2J9fMVhOVKZ0axE6Vzc55JpTlVqEsU0ps_m-Mb3dKhW3w-NV6_sD_huN9larLXDDZsePDV02UImrVBA8iGC-ty0kLH7vMEcJboiBER4/s320/Expo2011+007.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Action shot!</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ-KHxTRlULzZb7seYwTM5-PW3Ep0SZpr1lr3e2J9fMVhOVKZ0axE6Vzc55JpTlVqEsU0ps_m-Mb3dKhW3w-NV6_sD_huN9larLXDDZsePDV02UImrVBA8iGC-ty0kLH7vMEcJboiBER4/s1600/Expo2011+007.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7yxSieLpD72gHIFPC9KZt4PuUQ26K3AIgnrp87DLAoclKFuFMwdS6eBQPgOH1DEiE6zyI86x6fLEWOOaozrL3TgS7xYT0Vx2CxMjvZ85YHX4ZsZVUbaZ9ZJEi03VqELjeAjnQz5a0Rc4/s1600/Expo2011+009.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div><br />
Basically, the dice give you three options in the placement and moving of pieces (either place one piece on a square with that number, or move an existing piece into an adjacent square with that number). It's up to you which of those options you take, and the objective is to enfold the other player's pieces on three sides to remove them from play. There's a lot of control over what looks like a very random mechanic and the minimal number of pieces means it should be fairly quick to play. Again, it's very minimalist, without any unnecessary context of the sort that gets <a href="http://fightingfantasist.blogspot.com/2011/06/uk-games-expo-2011.html">Coop</a> so agitated and drives up the cost of everything with the need for pictures and stories and suchlike woven around it. The wooden one is a cautious £16, the laminated card and plastic one is a trifling £2.10! Lovely.<br />
<br />
In the act of endorsing Tied to a Kite, you might be noticed by Oliver Piotrowski of <a href="http://tablewarfare.com/">Table Warfare</a>, who present themselves as the ultimate frugal miniature manufacturer. After a good whinge about How Those Other Companies Think They Can Get Away With This, the chaps might present you with the notion of a free rules system with an open-ended time travel narrative that allows more or less any miniature or terrain to be slotted in around the Table Warfare factions.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7yxSieLpD72gHIFPC9KZt4PuUQ26K3AIgnrp87DLAoclKFuFMwdS6eBQPgOH1DEiE6zyI86x6fLEWOOaozrL3TgS7xYT0Vx2CxMjvZ85YHX4ZsZVUbaZ9ZJEi03VqELjeAjnQz5a0Rc4/s1600/Expo2011+009.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7yxSieLpD72gHIFPC9KZt4PuUQ26K3AIgnrp87DLAoclKFuFMwdS6eBQPgOH1DEiE6zyI86x6fLEWOOaozrL3TgS7xYT0Vx2CxMjvZ85YHX4ZsZVUbaZ9ZJEi03VqELjeAjnQz5a0Rc4/s320/Expo2011+009.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Now with 100% more reflections of your intrepid reporter!</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
They also make some rather nice fantasy figures which picked up the Best New Miniatures award, and well deserved it is too. Photographing them was a bit hard what with all those mirrors and Mr. Flash not being my friend, but I did my best.<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFKAq2QZDGePolaMqxXWue4kX4kpqGoYX0qUfX5I8DA2CPUIwMs41h4JWdPFdMs7f-1M8zI50LiSAxZKn_6zmcfVVriZf5dJNxuVy6fBaFcWowB_Nb2mWlloxDhgqkEtzqRfjVdwcnGTE/s1600/Expo2011+010.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFKAq2QZDGePolaMqxXWue4kX4kpqGoYX0qUfX5I8DA2CPUIwMs41h4JWdPFdMs7f-1M8zI50LiSAxZKn_6zmcfVVriZf5dJNxuVy6fBaFcWowB_Nb2mWlloxDhgqkEtzqRfjVdwcnGTE/s320/Expo2011+010.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Trust me, they're pretty.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Oh, and they price the whole lot at around £2 per infantryman and sell them in single blisters rather than the 'buy one for lots or buy more than you want' straitjacketing engaged in by other firms. It's a small range but it's definitely one to keep your eye on. Again, endorsed heartily.<br />
<br />
You might, finally, pass by the Mantic Games stand and see Jake Thornton, author of <a href="http://www.ninjabread.co.uk/2011/03/07/dwarf-kings-hold/">Dwarf King's Hold</a>, doing demos and explaining the future for what looked at first like a rather closeted little game. I like the idea of <a href="http://www.manticgames.com/Shop-Home/Dwarf-Kings-Hold/Product/Dwarf-Kings-Hold-Dead-Rising.html">Dwarf King's Hold</a>, but I frequently find myself needing games for more than two players; while team play seems like a viable option, it's always nice to have a sense of ownership over what your little mens are doing. Fortunately, it seems that Mr. Thornton agrees; after a similar start-up set involving Orcs and Elves, he has plans for a pseudo-roleplaying approach with named heroes and a multiplayer option involving multiple factions, all on the same dungeon-tile-based grid - part Warhammer Quest and part Song of Blades and Heroes or similar skirmish endeavour, it would seem. Interesting stuff. At £35 it's a little steep for a board game, and I'm not sure about replayability with six fairly tight scenarios and not much apparent randomly generated fun to be had, but I'd be interested to see how it develops and how it might synchronise with other Mantic releases (for instance, it could top up the armies from <a href="http://www.manticgames.com/Shop-Home/Getting-Started/Battlesets/Product/Mhorgoths-Revenge-Fantasy-Battleset.html">Mhorgoth's Revenge</a>, and adding another game to your collection <i>and </i>adding miniatures to your armies with one purchase seems like it might have some merit).<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9YwmVe2plyACPC9eBHan9cUZe3-CKKmubp1YiVgLrKsvYCFmF2Ww82G6A1oabnUe-4qfkdZuEwYySW1PAfwJUzBmc8kNUVwwVmZDoKSL9D4wZGsQ6YeEdHbpS6n9nTzzdVWwKAIt13y4/s1600/Expo2011+013.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9YwmVe2plyACPC9eBHan9cUZe3-CKKmubp1YiVgLrKsvYCFmF2Ww82G6A1oabnUe-4qfkdZuEwYySW1PAfwJUzBmc8kNUVwwVmZDoKSL9D4wZGsQ6YeEdHbpS6n9nTzzdVWwKAIt13y4/s320/Expo2011+013.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Also, the 3:1 scale demo figures Mantic take to shows are fit.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514527600266823840.post-15583453180553292532011-06-06T08:34:00.000-07:002011-06-06T08:34:02.113-07:00A Year of Open Accounting - May (with a bit of April)How Frugal is this - 2 months for the price of one. You didn't even have to pay me for the first 10 months either to get the first one!<br />
<br />
The numbers:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-5psCsDOaABPjWbxy1aqJm_PJ1GEFBKtCIzV5CId6VmG1BNxGWBwk1yivl8rK-NLrfD-dCxlNF-ZsGNj2eZ-Lt9ONweS5IkHWE518Dmao8Wn5Y4chcQCO82lc-MbCe5DcT2HbDONmKCk/s1600/MayAccounts.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-5psCsDOaABPjWbxy1aqJm_PJ1GEFBKtCIzV5CId6VmG1BNxGWBwk1yivl8rK-NLrfD-dCxlNF-ZsGNj2eZ-Lt9ONweS5IkHWE518Dmao8Wn5Y4chcQCO82lc-MbCe5DcT2HbDONmKCk/s1600/MayAccounts.jpg" t8="true" /></a></div><br />
I missed the April report as it was a quiet month and I got carried away doing other things so didn't get round to it. Money wise nothing was sold as I was looking to sell my wares at Carronade at the start of May (rather optimistically as it turned out). Purchase wise I kept it pretty tight, but managed to fall to a couple of naughty impulse buys. Well one, as "grass effect" mat was more of a chance discovery than impulse, but it's been a great bargain buy and I have no regrets. The other was an Ebay lot of 31 vintage figures. I'd just finished painting an old Ral Partha Ogre and was swept away in a fever of old school mini's. For the price they were still good, and although a few (most!) are unremarkable (elf archers, dwarves) the two Tree Shepherds and the Giant are great. I've been looking for some old Tree Ent like figures for a Forrester themed warband I've planned so very happy. I may even try to sell off some of the other figures to recoop some of the cash (and decrease that lead bought number as well!)<br />
<br />
May began with one of my highlights of the year: Carronade in Falkirk (Scotland). Something different this year, as I had along not only ArabianSquire, but also a non-gaming friend of his, so the pressure was on to find the entertaining games. I still wanted to shift so of the Hobby Shed surplus, though. So I booked a Bring & Buy table for the first session to get it out of the way and provide maximum flexibility during the rest of the day for game playing. The sales were not too forthcoming. Having just the first hour of the show to sell was not the best, as most people show up 30 minutes or later after the doors open, look round the halls and traders, THEN have a peak at the B&B hall. Really the 2nd or 3rd slot would have maximised the single hour of selling (I noticed a quite few people have tables for at least a couple of hours). A grand total of £14 was raised which at least paid the modest table rent, my unplanned purchases at the show and cleared a (very) little amount of shelf space. <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxwZ4rXja1DO1_pY0p44YlNRtXJGyIeXbmjqjwPNl7Z99R7A5SlyFm4ilnY6JMrSfxIHnNj2ZvDqlIJyyt1UN8qR0l4SVEJ2wqK5GTIc3WGR3gYZpQ5skZmBkftSai5zhKGJKfcKnVCaE/s1600/Bargainbeastmen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="245" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxwZ4rXja1DO1_pY0p44YlNRtXJGyIeXbmjqjwPNl7Z99R7A5SlyFm4ilnY6JMrSfxIHnNj2ZvDqlIJyyt1UN8qR0l4SVEJ2wqK5GTIc3WGR3gYZpQ5skZmBkftSai5zhKGJKfcKnVCaE/s320/Bargainbeastmen.jpg" t8="true" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bargain Beastmen</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
After the stall was packed up we had a proper look round the halls. Now ArabianSquire's friend had previously played Heroscape a few time (which had been very much enjoyed) and was the basis of his attendance. He managed to highlight a couple of things that make our hobby confusing to the uninitiated. The first was the statement in the car on the way "I want to buy a game". I had a bit of difficulty explaining that most games there didn't work in that way. Relative expense was a second problem, as the £5 he'd pulled from his piggy bank wasn't going to go too far. I did of course just try to get him to hold back his spend. He ended up with a bag of Halo Clix figures that I didn't sell as a gift as he was so keen, and the generous man at <a href="http://www.gatesheadgaming.co.uk/">Gateshead Gaming</a> didn't charge him for the 3d6 he wanted to buy. A very generous gesture to a young lad new to the scene that didn't go unappreciated. It meant that his carefully folded blue note went back home with him as well.<br />
<br />
As for games played, all 3 of us enjoyed a Great Escape game from RAF Leuchars and trying out Full Thrust, from the Glasgow Wargames club. Despite the fact we arrived 10 miniutes before opening and finished rolling dice 10 minutes after closing everyone had a really enjoyable day. I big thanks to all concerned at <a href="http://www.falkirkwargamesclub.org.uk/index.html">Falkirk</a> for their efforts again. Even the new boy was happpy at the end after over 6 hours in an unfamiliar setting. I'll have to come up with some simple rules for his new soldiers, and we'll have a new gamer in town - hopefully.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmhH7ewKdJrVgJlhdTJi2llaMGpLegSnBF-nO73j7dpIai11hKVTv_iCZWkAMiADivSVCioTdDK-JZF7VZ5qcy8apurY2ypsUARKKdjDwK2A6dYKjUEcm4hlvnBqPZR4rE7nB1Z_ih8xA/s1600/Bargainorcs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmhH7ewKdJrVgJlhdTJi2llaMGpLegSnBF-nO73j7dpIai11hKVTv_iCZWkAMiADivSVCioTdDK-JZF7VZ5qcy8apurY2ypsUARKKdjDwK2A6dYKjUEcm4hlvnBqPZR4rE7nB1Z_ih8xA/s320/Bargainorcs.jpg" t8="true" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bargain Orcs</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
Now obviously this is a Frugal Accounting post, not a show review, so let’s get down to spends. The bulk of the spend was taken up by a show pre-order from <a href="http://www.pendraken.co.uk/">Pendraken Miniatures</a> in the form of a 10mm dungeon booster pack and a couple of figure booster sets. The Bring and buy threw up a few bags of excellent old Orc and beastmen figures (which were marked down 25% on their already bargain price) and a bag old Space Hulk Genestealer pieces for 50p - enough to make a few 'stealers to add to my horde. To cut down on cost (and fussy 9yr old eating habits) we'd taken packed lunches - which was a nice break outside in the sun away from the claustrophobia of the show. My other wish list items never came up (or at least not within my price range) so that was it (barring entry, fuel & a quick snack).<br />
<br />
With a purpose I fell upon Ebay to fill the gaps in my want list. And a reasonably priced Dreadnought and fix-up Rhino both were in shed before too long. In fact I enjoyed my Super Smurfy marines so much I picked up some shoulder emblems (and a nice captain figure) to round off the force. This pretty much takes me where I want to be with my Space Marines (which are just really a pleasant quick distraction), bearing in mind I have at least another half dozen old Terminators in the Shed waiting for paint.<br />
<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbHGa6h7dK4QQCDnrsw2hwKNpms-z6EelJpxFkJpzrY3qNET0iIqFpXPMW16_GeRKH9k2LsVCaeeqEPv-7OsURv8wUkwMe1ZhcfxlTMgI-ovj97P1eBL2tsiSN_p5U8vuXbJAfRgog4V4/s1600/marines03.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="259" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbHGa6h7dK4QQCDnrsw2hwKNpms-z6EelJpxFkJpzrY3qNET0iIqFpXPMW16_GeRKH9k2LsVCaeeqEPv-7OsURv8wUkwMe1ZhcfxlTMgI-ovj97P1eBL2tsiSN_p5U8vuXbJAfRgog4V4/s320/marines03.JPG" t8="true" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bought and painted in the same month. <br />
We may never see its like again</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
So to sum up, May was costlier than usual, but not unexpectedly so. My net May bill still came to less than £50. Sales were a bit disappointing, but mostly covered the purchase of 2 fantasy warbands and a 40k Rhino, which isn't bad when you look at it that way. The "figures bought" column took quite a bashing with the vintage lot, a load of 10mm and the fantasy bargains, but in the run up I'd painted a bunch of 10mm (to justify buying the booster pack) and quite a few 40k quick paints, all of which have seen table time.<br />
<br />
In the coming months I really must extract a digit from my posterior and get some more of the dwindling Hobby Shed surplus out for Sale to get some more cash in, before the buying urge happens again...Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514527600266823840.post-75514215782387604492011-06-01T23:31:00.000-07:002011-06-11T04:50:19.660-07:00You am an Winnar!!!!<div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Well, after the debacle of me being recognised as ‘Not Too Bad at Blogging', by some other internetters last week, I was pleased to receive a <a href="http://theminiaturespage.com/boards/msg.mv?id=231607">number of compliments</a> from others out there who admire my work and appreciate my award: </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit; margin-left: 1cm;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;"><b>An Internetter:</b></span><span style="color: black;"> Laughable. I'm mighty tired of it being the latest post on <i>every</i></span><span style="color: black;"> damn gaming blog I visit. Sure is exclusive and prestigious.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit; margin-left: 1cm;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">The sooner this idiotic chain letter has worked its way through all the gaming blogs and has nowhere left to go the better, as I far as I'm concerned.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit; text-indent: 1cm;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;"><b>Frugal Dave:</b></span><span style="color: black;"> I did mention in my blog post that it was '…a chain letter with flattery'</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit; margin-left: 1cm;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;"><b>An Internetter:</b></span><span style="color: black;"> While the gaming blogs continue to propagate this Stylish Blogger drivel, I'm afraid <i>not</i></span><span style="color: black;"> reading them is the preferred option.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit; margin-left: 1cm;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">And while yes, you did mention that, you also decided to jump through all the Stylish Blogger hoops like a good little doggie anyway, and keep this crap going a bit longer. So it wasn't really worth mentioning it at all, was it?</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit; margin-left: 1cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit; margin-left: 1cm;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black;">(extract edited to ensure I look good)</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">It’s great to know that word of this blog has spread so far, that even those who have never read my work are familiar enough with it to give me the benefit of their wisdom. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Such priceless publicity now means that that the blog has reached the mighty pinnacle of over 200 followers. Once again, I would like to thanks the sterling work of Pete, AK and Von for all their writing efforts, and assure them that the cheque is in the post. I’d also like to thank all of you out there for being too lazy to unsubscribe. Thanks!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">To celebrate this momentous occasion, I have decided to hold another of my ‘fabulous’ <a href="http://www.ayearoffrugalgaming.com/2010/10/special-101st-blog-post-extravaganza.html">quizzes</a>, this time with wonderful free gifts for every reader. Yes, you can claim a sheet of ‘Frugal Gaming’ stickers. Details are <a href="http://www.ayearoffrugalgaming.com/p/free-stuff.html">here</a>, or just click on the 'Free Stuff!' link at the top of the page.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">As with the previous quiz, read the question, think about the answer and click on your best guess (no hovering!), if you’re right, you’ll be taken to the subject area (go back in your browser to return to the quiz). If you’re wrong you’ll see my namesake Dave Elsewhere <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2A0LGuCPqM">dancing for your pleasure</a>. Enjoy!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Question 1:</b> What kind of 40K monstrosity did I create using spare tanks parts, and the head of a giant?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJZP8G-vMyzs4TCPTvLPZYAqf2j1eEb27sLyDFRW0b72igMzwAHkZq4nd98u_6EV7Z0fZyoRf0F-Ol3GCHG_8rFb6o88JQP2GpErnKAJf7Jd0JFMcNS803PIJ6r22Yryp8YrHY9z5F1Ow/s1600/giant+head.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="309" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJZP8G-vMyzs4TCPTvLPZYAqf2j1eEb27sLyDFRW0b72igMzwAHkZq4nd98u_6EV7Z0fZyoRf0F-Ol3GCHG_8rFb6o88JQP2GpErnKAJf7Jd0JFMcNS803PIJ6r22Yryp8YrHY9z5F1Ow/s320/giant+head.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><ul><li><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2A0LGuCPqM">One of those fighter bomber thingies for Space Marines</a>.</span><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.ayearoffrugalgaming.com/2011/04/building-talos-in-week.html">A Dark elder Talos</a>.</span></li>
<li><a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_1051733997"><span style="font-size: small;">Some </span></a><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2A0LGuCPqM">Chaos Spawn</a>.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2A0LGuCPqM">A wife</a>. </span></li>
</ul></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Question 2: </b>Von suggested that playing the same opponents with the same armies could become 'stale and unfulfilling, like...'</span><br />
<ul><li><span style="font-size: small;">'<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2A0LGuCPqM">...an even-numbered Star Trek film</a>'</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">'.<a href="http://www.ayearoffrugalgaming.com/2011/01/time-and-motion.html">..the yogurt I had for breakfast</a>'</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">'<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2A0LGuCPqM">...the third season of Heroes</a>'</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">'<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2A0LGuCPqM">...keeping this crap going a little longer</a>' </span></li>
</ul></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Question 3:</b> Which famous singer was spotted among the ranks of Chaos Warriors at Exeter Legionary in May? </span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4Wj-gPeO4QPnFpoTL06rmnyIqWloSyARfmD4qkjrLYo2XyjTIG1k2k0zYmtAYbwkmOTAKyJI2-sbnlGb9UEgZkuIiYxl9iDQHOi09hUk7AZPBTd1DKfGyHKMglkJX5k9h0nMrW6PFz8M/s1600/SDC12849.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="170" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4Wj-gPeO4QPnFpoTL06rmnyIqWloSyARfmD4qkjrLYo2XyjTIG1k2k0zYmtAYbwkmOTAKyJI2-sbnlGb9UEgZkuIiYxl9iDQHOi09hUk7AZPBTd1DKfGyHKMglkJX5k9h0nMrW6PFz8M/s320/SDC12849.JPG" width="320" /></a></div></div><ul><li><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2A0LGuCPqM">2 Pac</a>. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.ayearoffrugalgaming.com/2011/05/exeter-legionary.html">Amy Winehouse</a>.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2A0LGuCPqM">Susan Boyle (‘Su Bo’)</a>.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2A0LGuCPqM">A Singer Sewing Machine</a>.</span></li>
</ul><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Que<span style="background-color: white;">stion 4: </span><span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% rgb(255, 255, 255);">Von</span><span style="background-color: white;"> wrote a v</span>ery well received article entitled ‘50 ways to leave…’</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5iEL4fFoo6IuAUSqBR8iF5N9ElyKoH3ogVB14eD0SzOxJMTZlBHwWt2DvpESXBEKL5xKwAI9TS31EpT-miw7_s_OVH8XBsBm8N2DBi_iG1L5x5LVDuEFzmfOqGQ-32FtzveZJkE794uU/s1600/89794.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5iEL4fFoo6IuAUSqBR8iF5N9ElyKoH3ogVB14eD0SzOxJMTZlBHwWt2DvpESXBEKL5xKwAI9TS31EpT-miw7_s_OVH8XBsBm8N2DBi_iG1L5x5LVDuEFzmfOqGQ-32FtzveZJkE794uU/s1600/89794.jpg" /></a></div></div><ul><li><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2A0LGuCPqM">...a stain</a>.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.ayearoffrugalgaming.com/2011/05/fifty-ways-to-leave-your-gaming-company.html">...your gaming company</a>.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2A0LGuCPqM">...a lasting impression</a>.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2A0LGuCPqM">...before they throw you out.</a><span style="background-color: white;"> </span></span></li>
</ul><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit;"><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: small;">Question 5: <span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% rgb(255, 255, 255);">Pete reviewed the 'Order of the Stick' Game. But what is 'The Order of the Stick'?</span></span></div><ul><li><span style="background-color: white;">'</span><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2A0LGuCPqM"><span style="background-color: white;">...a method for arranging piec</span>es of wood</a>'</li>
<li>'<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2A0LGuCPqM">...a masonic organisation for glue makers</a>'</li>
<li>'<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2A0LGuCPqM">...a long lost Shakespeare play</a>'</li>
<li>'<a href="http://www.ayearoffrugalgaming.com/2011/03/game-review-order-of-stick.html">...a humourous webcomic, which lampoons tabletop RPGs</a>'</li>
</ul></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Que<span style="background-color: white;">stion 6</span><span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% rgb(255, 255, 255);">:</span><span style="background-color: white;"> Arabi</span>an Knight recommended some 'Free Reads', but what magazine did he NOT recommend?</span><br />
<ul><li><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2A0LGuCPqM"><span style="font-size: small;">The Ancible</span></a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.ayearoffrugalgaming.com/2011/05/free-reads.html"><span style="font-size: small;">Frugal Monthly</span></a></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2A0LGuCPqM">Portal</a></span></li>
</ul></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: white;">Question 7</span><span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% rgb(255, 255, 255);">: Arabian Knight</span><span style="background-color: white;"> wondered if it was possible to paint 3 terminators in the time it takes to watch a period drama. </span>Did he manage it?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVHkqrPD1AB8t2ZOSnfSLqgbw3huXXsZ6dqjBNR2hFtwWXTSWqfxPY7K2XfxxnXiiw4M7YbyiUViLs5e77ZiiY6D8bvZdoQEc3FTvTRj4LrXTXYToDNtNIS5fX5D17lbt45-q_SGkylMU/s1600/pdc02.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVHkqrPD1AB8t2ZOSnfSLqgbw3huXXsZ6dqjBNR2hFtwWXTSWqfxPY7K2XfxxnXiiw4M7YbyiUViLs5e77ZiiY6D8bvZdoQEc3FTvTRj4LrXTXYToDNtNIS5fX5D17lbt45-q_SGkylMU/s1600/pdc02.JPG" /></a></div></div><ul><li><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2A0LGuCPqM"><span style="font-size: small;">Yes</span></a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.ayearoffrugalgaming.com/2011/03/period-drama-challenge.html"><span style="font-size: small;">No</span></a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2A0LGuCPqM"><span style="font-size: small;">A what!?</span></a></li>
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Question 8: What did I use when making my Snotling pumpwagons?</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHWOjRtQTXaNBquLBfPe5QwcjlseYLswD6UTw2D2tplTg4dvky6Sb_Kvb92UqODVlqfLBV__B8tnTSyADSgI98Zzgv00RDD8mlwfLspbymmtAq5YC-qvqvkzHRyeXNbMAQOepMfDbLsIQ/s1600/IMG_0314.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="229" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHWOjRtQTXaNBquLBfPe5QwcjlseYLswD6UTw2D2tplTg4dvky6Sb_Kvb92UqODVlqfLBV__B8tnTSyADSgI98Zzgv00RDD8mlwfLspbymmtAq5YC-qvqvkzHRyeXNbMAQOepMfDbLsIQ/s320/IMG_0314.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br />
<ul><li><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2A0LGuCPqM"><span style="font-size: small;">Spare bits and bobs and the odd Snotling</span></a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2A0LGuCPqM"><span style="font-size: small;">A model train</span></a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2A0LGuCPqM"><span style="font-size: small;">Lots of Glue</span></a></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.ayearoffrugalgaming.com/2011/05/making-rivets-and-snotling-pumpwagon.html">All of the above</a></span></li>
</ul></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Question 9: I recently had an article featured in Unseen Lerker magazine. What was the subject?</span><br />
<ul><li><span style="font-size: small;">'<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2A0LGuCPqM">Knitting your own Citadel Battlemat</a>'</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">'<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2A0LGuCPqM">Writing your own Rulebooks</a>'</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">'<a href="http://www.ayearoffrugalgaming.com/2011/04/frugal-lerker.html">A Guide to Frugal Gaming</a>'</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2A0LGuCPqM">'Cycling Maintenance: The Basics</a>'</span></li>
</ul></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Question 10: During the royal wedding weeken<span style="background-color: white;">d, what did </span><span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% rgb(255, 255, 255);">Pete</span><span style="background-color: white;"> thi</span>nk that he could catch up on?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrElMKeveJoAG1l9sROU65xIZAXjpMhqspNv-EUsJZk8KPHH80XGMsl0J67rkHnZ9HUsTLZHqUDBVBn79WeD_mRHP2mRYkDnnzdRo7VRqvn1mB-ChhsXhu4qh_vcytIucDyda9zDUAngU/s1600/kate-william-royal-wedding.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrElMKeveJoAG1l9sROU65xIZAXjpMhqspNv-EUsJZk8KPHH80XGMsl0J67rkHnZ9HUsTLZHqUDBVBn79WeD_mRHP2mRYkDnnzdRo7VRqvn1mB-ChhsXhu4qh_vcytIucDyda9zDUAngU/s320/kate-william-royal-wedding.jpg" width="247" /></a></div><ul><li><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.ayearoffrugalgaming.com/2011/04/frugal-terrain-for-frugal-game.html">Painting</a>.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2A0LGuCPqM">Sleep</a>.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2A0LGuCPqM">Watching TV footage of posh people walking slowly</a>.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2A0LGuCPqM">All of the above</a>.</span></li>
</ul><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">How did you score?</span></b><br />
<ul><li><span style="font-size: small;">10 out of 10: Frugal Superstar!</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">7-9: Golden Demon</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">3-6: Snotling</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">0-2: </span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">'While gaming blogs continue to propagate this drivel, I'm afraid <i>not</i></span><span style="color: black;"> reading them is the preferred option.'</span></span></li>
</ul></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
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</div><div style="font-family: inherit;"></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514527600266823840.post-35698621509858796612011-05-28T00:13:00.001-07:002011-05-28T00:16:03.230-07:00Fraud, Babies, Excuses and Crowd-Sourcing<p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwyTMQidOcXZdgz7uu9HaX4iHrJaFkXEYB4jp7JaM8Q7EQFmrMFoWWJdi1RsC6HFe2Uw9kXurH1igmjMdSBGSY9bcIQSLvtYnl2egMXrWhDqhyBmq80eklRsDqvvlHQGHFgwef2Y9_4hU/s1600-h/SANY0010%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: right; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="SANY0010" alt="SANY0010" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdHN4BdAq0ukUr4Zb9sZTvPbw5a1YgA1ekpP_lWZArZQtSx1U1JXsyUnX_2_sRRfmCL_u-fHVxvJJcy0vNpfo3DlZXUqKc4aoSvqD1BCsRiamhsKQEoFMDQ2zD82cn_gnwLY3NqUNiim4/?imgmax=800" width="244" align="right" border="0" height="184" /></a>It’s all been a bit quiet on the gaming front recently. I was going to have a terrific article going into more detail about planning terrain, but it’s a little too dull and rambling at the moment. I’ll probably have to edit, re-write, and maybe completely ignore it before the end. Instead, I was planning to get on with actually building the terrain. Unfortunately, my bank account was targeted for fraud (didn’t lose anything, but my card was blocked) so my bits and materials order has been put on hold while I wait for a new card to come through. While this does prevent gaming-related expenditure, I’m aware that a certain minimum amount of expense is necessary in certain circumstances. Hence – no building, no blog post. Also, as this post isn’t going to be too interesting (it is mainly a list of excuses, but there is a point near the end) I won’t count it as my monthly quota of blogging and I’ll try to make it up in June when things get back on track.</p> <p>On the actual playing side, I’ve been unable to get in a proper long game for a while as a work deadline looms up (seventeen and a half hours overtime last weekend, whee), and home life gets slightly more hectic as we are expecting a baby any minute now (due date is less than two weeks now). And being nine months pregnant isn’t easy on a person, so I’ve picked up extra household tasks, and reduced my gaming time.</p> <p>The <a href="http://www.pagan-gerbil.net/blog/post.aspx?id=9a8de2fe-397a-4042-9e04-d51b7ae3933a">aforementioned conferences </a>are interrupting my weekly RPG session (we’re English and Scottish heretic hunters in a slightly homebrew RuneQuest game set in the 15<sup>th</sup> Century with demons and magic, chasing down French leper monks for the ampulet of anointing oil used to crown the French kings, if anyone is interested) – probably the first one I’ve missed – and last week’s was off as the GM and half of the players were in Italy at a medieval re-enactment event. I did manage to salvage that one with a game of Talisman with other non-combatants, which was surprisingly easy to remember the rules for and a lot shorter than some previous games – I thank Lady Luck for that one, as my wife’s Dwarf picked up a Talisman early in the first couple of turns, and my Wizard managed to engage in psychic combat and steal it (then grab an axe and sail off to the end, out of reach of retaliation).</p> <p>Now that all of that’s off my chest, I’ll get to the point of the post. In trying to get parts for my Necromunda scenery, I’ve gone to all of my normal ‘small plastic parts’ web stores, and even visited Antics in Bristol to get a better look at things. It occurred to me after reading <a href="http://shadowbadger.wordpress.com/">Shadowbadger’s blog</a> (recommended to me by <a href="http://twitter.com/#%21/Bjoyhoy">@Bjoyhoy on Twitter</a>) that everyone has a different set of go-to shops to get their hobby materials from. Where does everyone get their materials from? I’m not thinking of models themselves, but the plasticard, thin rod, tubes and chain that can be used for conversions and the like. Also, I’m not after the cheapest, just a range so that prices can be compared – an expensive shop may have a great deal on one thing or an exclusive item that’s perfect for a particular project.</p> <p>What I hope to do is to create a list of these shops in a separate post that we can keep updated as we find new shops and sources, to save raw Googling (with Bing), to be a reference to hobbyists like ourselves. Suggestions in the comments below, and thank you very much!</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514527600266823840.post-27956643324427741902011-05-24T04:53:00.000-07:002011-05-24T04:53:37.304-07:00Termite Art, Branded Materials, and DIY in the hobbyEvery so often, my blogging worlds (all this nonsense and <i>Doctor Who</i> fandom, in case you're keeping score) collide. It's been a while since the last one, in which I was <a href="http://kaptainvon.wordpress.com/2009/12/21/oo-ee-oo-da-da-da-dum-da-da-da-dum-wee-oo-oo/">chattering about the<i> Doctor Who</i> roleplaying game</a>, and so this has probably been a bit overdue.<br />
<br />
<i>Who </i>pundit Lawrence Miles has (unless he's deleted it, as is his wont from time to time) been pontificating of late about <a href="http://beasthouse-lm2.blogspot.com/2011/05/secs-sell-2-deadly-art-of-doctor-who.html">brands, making things, and TV spinoffs</a>. Specifically, the rather cool <i>Deadly Art</i>.<br />
<blockquote>But <i>Deadly 60</i> has its own pilot-fish programme, <i>Deadly Art</i>. This is the latest and most carnivorous offshoot of the <i>Take Hart</i> format (or <i>Art Attack</i>, if you're dead common), and you can probably see how it all fits together. We get a precis of the accompaying Deadly 60, and then two artists in the studio - usually young women, y'know, like with Tony Hart - make A GIGANTIC SODDING PRAYING MANTIS WITH GLOWING EYES OUT OF SCRAP METAL. Only pausing to run off a smaller version out of the sort of thing you might find, ooh, in your bins.</blockquote>I mention this less to rattle on about children's TV and more to pad the entry while explaining the term 'Termite Art'. Y'see, Miles goes on to make an Interesting Remark:<br />
<blockquote>If the Termite Art version of television provokes the viewer into going outside and poking around to see what's there (and I still hold that this is what most good telly does, especially children's telly), then this is more like siege conditions. Branding always closes the gates. This is your product, you don't need anything else.</blockquote>Now, you can probably sense where I'm going with this. Back when I was a lad, there was a lot of the miniature wargaming hobby that one was largely encouraged to Do For Oneself. Sure, Citadel made trees (they weren't very good) and produced their own paintbrushes and paints and clippers and stuff, but there was never a particular drive for everything to be Official. <i>White Dwarf </i>ran frequent articles on how to make modular chipboard battlefields, with terrain crafted from of bits of toilet and the ridiculous amount of white packing material that their larger kits came in, and they showed this stuff in battle reports; it was part of the Right Way to do the Hobby, and it was mostly pretty damn cheap. Names were dropped in painting articles - Humbrol, Tamiya, Airfix - and there was a culture of crossover and usage between manufacturers. Furthermore, it meant there were relations, however tenuous, between my hobby and the sort of shops my grandfather loved to visit. The hobby sent me off into the big wide world looking for <i>stuff </i>to do <i>things </i>with (or <i>things </i>to do <i>stuff </i>with, if that's what you prefer).<br />
<br />
Nowadays, of course, there's a Citadel-branded everything, and a definition of the Games Workshop Hobby that actively avoids mention of any other kind of Hobby. The terrain you see in <i>White Dwarf </i>these days is exclusively the stuff you can buy in kit form in your local GW. Mention of other manufacturers' paints and tools and miniatures and goodness knows what else is strictly off-limits. I'm going to be fair here and point out that Privateer Press tried to go this way as well - Formula P3 paints, their own brushes and tools and even brass wire for pinning, not to mention the ill-fated Warmachine terrain kits - that Battlefront makes its own proprietary terrain kits as well, and that every bloody gaming company ever does it with dice, templates, tape measures and other accessories to play.<br />
<br />
This saddens me, and it does so beyond the <b>staggering </b>expense of the stuff (<a href="http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/catalog/productDetail.jsp?catId=cat440158a&prodId=prod730814">this blasted thing</a> is a particular offender). I like to keep the gates open and to have a steady flow of people outwards as well as in. I like initiative, and re-use, and re-cycling. I like putting things to strange new purposes. I don't like having the Official Product and being told that I don't need anything else. Especially not when it's four times the effective price of <a href="http://kaptainvon.wordpress.com/category/terrain/">what I've come up with</a>.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514527600266823840.post-17732111095328202552011-05-23T08:01:00.000-07:002011-06-01T12:01:32.708-07:00The Stylishly Frugal BloggerBlogging is a terrible job. All I do is put in a minimal amount of effort in every week or so and I get loads of positive feedback from complete strangers. I spend an hour or two every week jotting down rubbish and I have people coming up to me and thanking me for writing the blog. I hate it.<br />
<br />
Things got even worse a couple of weeks ago, as I was informed that I'd been given a 'Stylish Blogger Award' not only once, but TWICE! It's a nightmare.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbtJazPOBkgYeFQSWQTuf12aS2zXKbp8SJSMslDmsEOCm9-n4NmDfHZYx8ISNl6Cymy08VbjTyQNcl1dUpduHRlqwKtxuCiPZ0Rh5uNHipVEOV-PZee3waq7y3F6cRsdl62PWsSdCeq9g/s1600/Super+blogger+award.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="227" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbtJazPOBkgYeFQSWQTuf12aS2zXKbp8SJSMslDmsEOCm9-n4NmDfHZYx8ISNl6Cymy08VbjTyQNcl1dUpduHRlqwKtxuCiPZ0Rh5uNHipVEOV-PZee3waq7y3F6cRsdl62PWsSdCeq9g/s320/Super+blogger+award.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">There's not actually a trophy to go with it. But if there was...</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
Apparently the rules of the award mean that I've got to answer a few set questions, link back to the poor deluded individuals who nominated me, and then link to a number of of other blogs that inspire me. Yes, it's less an award and more a chain letter with flattery, but hey it's a chance to talk about me, and some of you of course.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8wnSSduUjzsfoxqG9BdIG8oLh3FrcwcWiJhyRacNFEU_Hbg0AZB-2pHXD1XRrZhekWnRnyIHLS65reVjXK6dEwh2UTdlWx4GhEkQqjFT81-asFrWsLb8XKqMe58pMRG622-tNB0LQBz0/s1600/stylish_blogger_award8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8wnSSduUjzsfoxqG9BdIG8oLh3FrcwcWiJhyRacNFEU_Hbg0AZB-2pHXD1XRrZhekWnRnyIHLS65reVjXK6dEwh2UTdlWx4GhEkQqjFT81-asFrWsLb8XKqMe58pMRG622-tNB0LQBz0/s1600/stylish_blogger_award8.jpg" /></a></div><br />
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<span style="font-weight: bold;">1. Thank and link back to the person giving you the award.</span><br />
Mucho thanks go to Ruaridh at <a href="http://ooh-shiny-complex.blogspot.com/2011/04/stylish-blogger-award.html">The Ooh Shiny Complex</a> and Tristan at <a href="http://gwpertinent.blogspot.com/2011/05/im-stylish.html">GW Pertinent</a>. Thank you!<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">2. Share seven things about yourself. </span><br />
Do they all have to be true? Okay, one of them is made up. <span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />
</span><br />
<ol><li>I'm a Dad of two lovely children, who I'm currently training to be gamers (I have a number of other children, but they're horrible and not interested in gaming), </li>
<li>I'm one of the best wargamers that I know, hardly ever losing games,</li>
<li>I have earned the right to wear the Green Beret of Commando forces,</li>
<li>I love<a href="http://www.ayearoffrugalgaming.com/2009/05/batch-painting.html"> cycling</a> and often compete in Triathlons (but not as often as I'd like),</li>
<li>I live in Plymouth, but I'm originally from Yorkshire (USA readers: A part of northern England, very similar to ancient Sparta). </li>
<li>I've almost completed a degree in Engineering... in my spare time,</li>
<li>I'm a proud member of the <a href="http://www.cross-swords.co.uk/acatalog/gaming_club.html">Cross Swords</a> gaming club. </li>
</ol><b>3. Select 10-15 blogs who you think deserve this award.</b><br />
10-15? That's a lot, so I'll just go with the creme de la creme (US readers: That's how people from France say 'Shit hot'): <br />
<br />
I must first point to the excellent work undertaken by the contributors to this blog, on their own sites; <a href="http://von-gameover.blogspot.com/">Game Over </a>by Von, <a href="http://www.pagan-gerbil.net/">pagan-gerbil.net</a> by Pete and last (but by no means least) the wonderous <a href="http://weeblokes.blogspot.com/">Wee Blokes</a> by Arabian Knight (US Readers: AK lives in Scotland, and 'Wee Blokes' is Scottish for 'Little Dudes'). Before you check out any of the other geeks I've listed below, make sure you visit these geeks first.<br />
<br />
As to the others, a blog I really like is <a href="http://doctormerkury.blogspot.com/">Doctor Merkury's Lab</a>. I've mentioned this blog before when I built a <a href="http://www.ayearoffrugalgaming.com/2010/04/building-ruined-defensive-wall-part-1.html">ruined wall</a>, and I often check back to see what the good doctor has been up to.<br />
<br />
If you're a fan of 40k, Epic, Space Marines, Sharks or really rather good cartoons, you should pop over and visit <a href="http://www.ninjabread.co.uk/">NinjaBread</a>, run by Curis. Just don't tell him I sent you as it'll go to his head.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://studiocyberlab.blogspot.com/">Studio Cyberlab</a> has to be seen to be believed, it's just insane. It features some of the best conversions I've ever seen.<br />
<br />
There's some interesting work going on with toys over at Nathan '<a href="http://ironworkersminiatures.blogspot.com/">Ironworker</a>' Miller's site, gaming related profanity at <a href="http://bloodofkittens.com/dickmove/">Dick Move</a>*, and some fortifications being built at <a href="http://sharpbrush.blogspot.com/">The Sharp End of the Brush</a> which are shaping up to be very impressive. <br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRb-fHknLEwsiT3noSPcQFQ5V6efaajlNRjmun15QleQFmfcqhfmIw1PfTMZ8IUgzV3k4adUQjOHvk89ACxlQJ_WA7zXpERHW_BFGheJu52XxN1pKe-nnNwA1a9Q42qvanlIkiaufhtDI/s1600/IMGP1355.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRb-fHknLEwsiT3noSPcQFQ5V6efaajlNRjmun15QleQFmfcqhfmIw1PfTMZ8IUgzV3k4adUQjOHvk89ACxlQJ_WA7zXpERHW_BFGheJu52XxN1pKe-nnNwA1a9Q42qvanlIkiaufhtDI/s320/IMGP1355.jpg" width="320" /> </a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fortifications being built at The Sharp End of The Brush</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
And finally, one of the best blogs out there and not in any way gaming related; the New York based cycling blog: <a href="http://bikesnobnyc.blogspot.com/">Bike Snob</a>. Fantastically funny.<br />
<br />
That's all for now, please visit these other blogs and say hello from me, just make sure you come back. Okay?<br />
<br />
Happy Gaming.<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">*I've just noticed that 'Dick Move' has been nominated a number of times, his response to the whole idea is much better than mine. <a href="http://bloodofkittens.com/dickmove/2011/05/12/the-bloggers-of-blogging-putting-some-swagger-in-the-stylish-blogger-awards-the-art-of-obnoxiously-long-titles/">Check it here</a>.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514527600266823840.post-25175156241366008032011-05-20T02:30:00.000-07:002011-05-20T02:30:18.387-07:00Fifty Ways To Leave Your Gaming Company<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_1628927657" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv-r5k1Gkw5ZxOCXhyat1PodJx9wF5hBI0KX7FDBcOeU4Yw8MnlAbtt54E1GuZAAaghOrgPVwoDtrq9kPdNXlHlFN9h040L_CNw8M8S8NjM-hbBGgC_3WcJC0PkUCPUxxG96MNO8yHAxI/s1600/9_76.gif" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.superseventies.com/1976_9singles.html">Okay, not fifty, but I'm sure Paul and I can manage a few.</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>Imagine, for a moment, that you're a gamer. Shouldn't be too hard; you're reading this. Now imagine that you buy most of your gaming gear from one company, and that that company isn't necessarily offering the value for money you'd expect. Hopefully, you don't want to indicate support for their decisions by continuing to spend money on their products (we've <a href="http://www.ayearoffrugalgaming.com/2011/01/to-all-ultramarines-fanboys.html">already discussed</a> how that works) but you still want to play their games. I have a few suggestions in that line.<br />
<ol><li><b>Know what you want. </b>What's your actual problem with the company? Can you continue to play their games in good conscience, or is your seething righteous fury at the injustice they perpetrate too much? What is it about their games that makes you want to keep playing them? Is it story, scale, mechanics, funky miniatures, funky gamers, gamer funk or simple habit and ignorance of the alternatives? You need to know why you're doing or not doing things before you can make an informed decision about whether or not to keep doing them. If you like sword and sorcery skirmish games, do you really need that huge army of flying space tanks?<b> </b></li>
<li><b>Stop and take stock.</b> What do you own? What is built and ready to go; what has been sitting in a box since New Hot Sexy Release Day and never looked at since; what can work with what at a pinch and what's mutually exclusive? Work out what you've got, what you can do with it, and how much work and expense it would take to do something with it if you need to make an investment. I tend to find the people with the biggest dead lead piles and collections of mouldering, dusty sourcebooks are the people who only buy from one company but have lots of projects going on within that - who buy Company X's complete new release every time but never really get very far with it before picking up the next one. The downside here is that all those projects require ongoing investment, and if you're suddenly unable or unwilling to continue making that investment, you have a pewter mountain on your hands that, in many cases, would embarrass the European Union.</li>
<li><b>Diversify.</b> Once you know what you're most likely to continue using, sell the rest. Go on. Get rid of it. Use those resources to explore new games and new environments, to boldly go where no nerd has gone before... or at least where you've not gone before. You're not going to dissassociate yourself from the company if you have no idea what the competition has to offer.</li>
<li><b>Use the secondary market, Luke.</b> Unless your name's not Luke (metaphorically speaking, that means 'unless you have some pressing need for as-new material', like a wargamer who likes to kitbash and thus won't be as keen on assembled and painted kits), the secondary market is your friend; it enables you to complete and extend projects without directly supporting the company with your own money. This is, of course, psychological double-talk to an extent - that eBay bargain has, at some point, been purchased from the company who made it, and the money you spend on it will like as not find its way back to them, so this isn't one for the ideologues who've decided that the company is run by Satan and all his little wizards. If your problem is simply "man, I can't afford the new Cyber-Knights, they are too spendy at umpty-seven pounds for two, but I still really like Star Pogrom and what it's about", you'll probably be more comfortable with this.</li>
<li><b>Avoid prescriptive environments. </b>Many companies have officially designated spaces in which they control what can and cannot be used there, whether it's "Dungeon Bash 8.4 is the only edition that's on sale at the event, therefore the only edition that can be used here, and official dice, character sheets, measuring implements, status tokens, floorplans and pencil shavings are a requirement" or "you must use branded Nerd Emporium paints, brushes, glues, pins, chewing gum and wishful thinking to build your Cyber-Knights in the Nerd Emporium". Fie on this nonsense, says I. Fie on it! Such policies are nearly always designed to burden the consumer with expensive and unwanted purchases - get out of the environments that force those on you and find or create an environment where you're allowed to do things your own way, substituting in cheaper equivalent miniatures, homebrewed rather than supplemental rules, and materials that don't cost the Earth.</li>
<li><b>Disengage from what you've left. </b>Try not to get excited about Sexy Hot New Release Day for a game you don't play any more. Don't let yourself be seduced back in. Remind yourself <i>why you quit</i> - it doesn't matter how pretty that new book/miniature/dice block/paint-pot/staff member is if it doesn't fix what drove you away in the first place. Likewise, fight the urge to get into Internet arguments (or, goddess forbid, actual arguments) about how rubbish Dungeon Bash is compared to Castle Brawl, or how Nerd Emporium is secretly controlled by the New World Order. You're still thinking about something you were supposed to be getting away from, and that's the sort of behaviour that will see you sucked right back in.</li>
</ol><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-6ze9AAg6wFY4q6Q_0rEaEnirLJKsvLB9GAOguGemXTiNru36du5TavXvypogz-xBm6JPlbnpsjpRwgRt0bBP8Kf_55KQNVHXBK1T02aJrGXaWqHIwy27fwdWynVlhe84S1Tz5vbKgWU/s1600/tumblr_lhpzqbDpEK1qhirk8o1_400.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="261" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-6ze9AAg6wFY4q6Q_0rEaEnirLJKsvLB9GAOguGemXTiNru36du5TavXvypogz-xBm6JPlbnpsjpRwgRt0bBP8Kf_55KQNVHXBK1T02aJrGXaWqHIwy27fwdWynVlhe84S1Tz5vbKgWU/s320/tumblr_lhpzqbDpEK1qhirk8o1_400.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://nerdygirlsftw.tumblr.com/post/3715564521/i-work-at-a-gamestop-those-girls-do-not-exist">Yes, she's lovely, but that doesn't mean she isn't trying to sell you devil droppings in a blister pack.</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table> For those of you who are still reading and haven't slavishly followed the above link, it might be worth you pointing your browser toward <a href="http://www.houseofpaincakes.com/2011/05/gaming-on-budget-saving-time-mondy-and.html">this week's Gaming on a Budget</a>, which has some excellent advice on avoiding hobby burnout and, possibly, avoiding the kind of conditions that lead to you needing <i>this </i>sort of advice in the first place.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514527600266823840.post-5049566401193054822011-05-17T02:20:00.000-07:002011-05-17T02:20:52.209-07:00Free ReadsTo keep you entertained whilst <a href="http://www.ayearoffrugalgaming.com/2011/05/silent-running.html">Dave is moving</a> I thought I'd best chip in with a post - especially as I missed my April accounting update (quiet month anyway!)<br />
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This week (already) has seen the release of two of my favourite free pdf publications.<br />
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<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge71vNNyi63ItKOOES2lRrz8sTLjYuV8xGduouwWLugWfdE-p_MNJ-q-DT6Z23asy9cRexU6VLJ-HAb5IOfV9ShyphenhyphenE0E_B2sHPkvcGqBqqOvxy4IODdgWsZuEFnQmJlKHIgwzSYh05fxr0/s1600/issue9_cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge71vNNyi63ItKOOES2lRrz8sTLjYuV8xGduouwWLugWfdE-p_MNJ-q-DT6Z23asy9cRexU6VLJ-HAb5IOfV9ShyphenhyphenE0E_B2sHPkvcGqBqqOvxy4IODdgWsZuEFnQmJlKHIgwzSYh05fxr0/s200/issue9_cover.jpg" width="146" /></a>The first is the bi-monthly "<a href="http://www.the-ancible.com/">The Ancible</a>" - a magazine that specialises in Sci-Fi and Fantasy gaming, with no fixed game of manufacturer to promote, which is refreshing. This wee beauty started off as a pay-for product, but the plan has now fallen on advertising to pay the costs. The quality hasn't deminished however, and the adverts do not get in the way of the magazine. The new copy (Issue 9) has a walkthrough totorial of building and painting the mighty Warmachine Khador Battle Wagon, a couple of nice painting tutorials and interviews and much mech madness with an article on Metal Gear Arena and an "out the box" review of the new Battle Tech Intro box. I'm also eagerly looking forward to the next issue which the spoiler seems to feature some Aeronef action.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixKLQlRcwylNHKCyy_dJWWB7Sl2k-4uN4X2eJrHk4tReE4jzks6A2to8iV0SI2j5fJjiv2TMuOcSvgrCm3dbUwtMeUI8WMPMhaEWVKnTN7BD4iRrBjgkWUoe3BP8ArRW2Z-_sN8rQKM1g/s1600/Issue-10-Promo-Image.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixKLQlRcwylNHKCyy_dJWWB7Sl2k-4uN4X2eJrHk4tReE4jzks6A2to8iV0SI2j5fJjiv2TMuOcSvgrCm3dbUwtMeUI8WMPMhaEWVKnTN7BD4iRrBjgkWUoe3BP8ArRW2Z-_sN8rQKM1g/s200/Issue-10-Promo-Image.jpg" width="162" /></a></div>The second publication is the monthly e-zine for the friendly painting forum <a href="http://www.wamp-forum.com/">WAMP</a> - <a href="http://www.wamp-forum.com/VB4/downloads.php?do=cat&id=1">Portal</a> .The magazine is a bit of a monthly forum highlights magazine, so there are loads of nice gallery pictures that have been put up and some great tutorials as well, along with figure reviews of all sorts.<br />
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Really my descriptions don't do these justice, so give them your support and download away. It'll cost you nothing!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1