This is the Quadcycle that was destroyed a few weeks ago by my puppy.
Actually, it's the Quadcycle that Elderac very kindly sold to me to replace the one eaten by my puppy. I changed the paint a bit to match my existing minion forces and put it on a base.
But from tragedy comes renewal - I finally got that piece finished and it's ready to grace the table as soon as I stat it up for either GASLIGHT or IHMN.
This handsome gentlebeing is known far and wide as Uncle Thulhu. His opera cape and top hat show he's a being of quality. Don't let the tentacles fool you.
I've been painting, a bit. I've also got a new camera, so I am working the kinks out of it still. But here are a few snaps of what I've been up to lately.
First is another Empress British NCO. I love Empress's minis, and this guy has been sitting about waiting for his final touches for months. He's now ready to join the rest of the 30th Foot on Mars, defending the Empire for Her Majesty (God Bless Her).
Also a Bull Snapper, a light warbeast from Hordes' Minions faction. He joins his larger cousin the Blackhide Wrassler as an experimental subject for Doctor Vardu. I made a puddle at his feet, just like the bigger one. Venus is a dreadfully swampy place, after all.
Finally, there is a pair of Razor Boars, more Minions warbeasts. I have another pair of these that I will paint soon, giving me - er, Doctor Vardu, that is - four of the aggressive piggies.
I've decided after many years that I have simply too many ideas and not enough time. So I am evaluating all of my projects, and determining which ones I shall carry on with in an attempt to complete them and which shall be abandoned in the interest of achieving the previous goal.
For status, I shall use 'planning' (want to buy minis), 'active' (not playable but I am currently working on it), 'inactive' (unplayable but on to-do list), 'dead' (can't play, not doing anything, don't plan on it), 'playable' (enough to play, still adding to it), and rarest of all, 'finished' (can play, no plans to add to it). Thus far, I have decided:
25/28mm
VSF Eureka Pond Wars: dead
VSF Lizardmen: inactive
VSF/Colonial British: playable
VSF German: marginally playable
VSF Automaton: finished (lacks one thing from Parroom Station to replace the dog-eaten one)
That's a grand total of 46 projects, including terrain in each scale. Of them, only four are 'finished.' And only about half of the rest are playable. I've definitely decided that eight are dead projects, as far as I am concerned. That means I have about 34 projects still on the boil, either playable or not.
I love the daft little puppy (he's only ten months old) but...
Public Service Announcement:
Do not leave your English bulldog puppy alone in a room with figures on a table. Especially figures that are no longer available and were almost finished. Like two Parroom Station vehicles.
AAARRRRGGGGH!
One was a little Martian Stinger ship, like the one I found a photo of on TMP:
The other was a Minion quad cycle, possibly part of the Secret Science line rather than Parroom, but still. I can't even find a photo of that one online.
I picked this up on sale at the Imperial War Museum in London a couple of weeks ago. Why? Because zeppelins! So far - and I am only about 30-40 pages into it - it's a good read.
British subjects and Texican citizens on Venus may breathe a little easier, sleep a little more soundly tonight, as additional pylons for the Anti-Saurian Galvanic Barrier have been completed and are ready for emplacement. These additional pylons will significantly increase the area of protection from pesky carnivorous dinosaurs, lizardmen, Germans, etc.
Four repeating posts. (Two more already finished elsewhere)
Whilst journeying through Great Britain the last two weeks, I had the opportunity to attend the Joy of Six gaming show in Sheffield. It was a nice little show, with several interesting demo games, and a good set of vendors, including Baccus, Brigade, and Heroics and Ros.
The most interesting games I saw were a Star Wars game using X-Wing rules for ground combat (an assault on Hoth with truly awesome AT-ATs), and SAGA being played with bases of 6mm figures in place of the single 28mm standard. As far as I could see, there were no other rules changes, though I didn't play in it. It did make it seem more like warbands than the dozen or so figures involved in a standard game of SAGA.
I purchased some figures of Victorian interest from Baccus while there, principally a set of Imperial French for Franco-Prussian Wars. Or, as the case may have it, for my own use as a Legion Extraterrestriale, the extra-solarian forces of La Belle France. I also picked up some Mahdists for use as Martians and some more British for use as, well, British.
I will, of course, get those painted straight away... I figure you will get to see photos sometime around 2021 at the current rate of production. I really need to get some brush time in.
Shed Wars: The Colonial Wars - Zulu Part 1: Having recently completed my English Civil War project and loving the image of big battles with 28mm figures I am going to kick off another ...
Major Nathan W. Anderson '02, USMC
Captain Ernesto M. Blanco '98, Army
Second Lieutenant Peter Burks '03, Army
Lieutenant Colonel Doctor David E. Cabrera '92, Army
Major Shawn M. Campbell '01, USMC
Captain Todd Tyler Christmas '00, Army
Lieutenant Colonel Todd Clark '94, Army
Second Lieutenant Zachary R. Cook '08, Army
First Lieutenant Timothy Cunningham '04, Army
Lieutenant Colonel Jerry Don Dickerson '92, Army
Captain Brenton Dodgen '09, Army
Specialist William Edwards '06, Army
Specialist Daniel Gomez '08, Army
Captain Lyle Gordon '97, USMC
Sergeant First Class Merideth Howard '76, Army
First Lieutenant Doyle M. Hufstedler III '01, Army
Airman First Class James Adam Lassiter '08, USAF
First Lieutenant Laterron Lee '12, USMC
Captain Dario Lorenzetti '92, Army
Captain Sean Edward Lyerly '98, Texas National Guard
Sergeant William Meeuswen '03, Army
First Lieutenant Jeremy Ray '04, Army
First Lieutenant Jonathon Rozier '01, Army
Captain Blake Russell '98, Army
Chief Warrant Officer Richard Salter '85, Army
First Lieutenant Ryan Sanders '01, Army
Captain Sean Patrick Sims '94, Army
Staff Sergeant Christopher N. Staats '01, Texas National Guard
Lieutenant Colonel Mark Stratton '91, USAF
Lieutenant Colonel Roy Lin Tisdale '92, Army
First Lieutenant Matthew R. Vandergrift '03, USMC
Staff Sergeant Jason Scott Wallace '09, USAF
Corporal Christopher West '04, Army
Sergeant Graham Woody '08, Army
Major Matthew Worrell '94, Army
Lance Corporal Luke Yepsen '08, USMC
Today is Camerone Day, the anniversary of the Battle of Camerone. On this day in 1863, three officers and sixty-two men of the French Foreign Legion exemplified stoic determination in the face of overwhelming odds.
Surrounded by as many as two thousand Mexican troops, the Legionnaires under Captain Jean Danjou made a stand in an old hacienda. When called up on to surrender, Captain Danjou replied, "We have munitions. We will not surrender." In the ensuing battle, nearly all of the Legionnaires, including Captain Danjou, were killed. When the last five unwounded men ran out of ammunition, under the command of Lieutenant Maudet, they loaded their last round, fixed bayonets, and charged the enemy.
My family and I will be returning to the UK again this summer. Booked airfare last night. Our itnerary is less focused than usual, as yet.
We will be in London on July 11-12. My son has a tour of a college campus (University of East London) that he is interested in attending.
We will be in Edinburgh from the 13-17 July. After that, Momma heads back to the US and the boys and I go... somewhere. Considering a day or two in Weymouth again, as it was lovely, and I'd like to see the Goddards again and stay in that lovely little hotel from last time. The owners were wonderful.
Also considering a visit to northern cities. Any suggestions?
Finally, I would love to meet any gamers in the areas in which we visit. Just give a shout!
I've been busy. Real life. Job, kid's sports, new puppy, and travel. And travel. And travel. I've already been out of town five times this year, including once out of the country and twice out of state. And while it's been fun, it has rather dampened my hobby time.
I'm still interested in VSF, and gaming in general. I'm just so darned busy right now...
So, my apologies. I have posted once or twice on my other blog (The Scattergun Gamer), but not on VSF-related items.
Once things settle a bit, I'll get back to it. I always do... *grin*
For the past couple of years, I thought interest was climbing. The In Her Majesty's Name rules surely seemed to have injected some life into the genre. But it seems to me that perhaps we have reached the summit of interest, and other genres of gaming are replacing VSF. Much the same thing happened with pirate and zombie gaming in the past, so the historical precedent is absolutely clear.
I know that I am spending less time working on VSF projects. Part of that is because I feel very much as if my creative juices have been wrung dry in this genre. Note, if you will, the failure to produce even a single issue of The Aethergraph this year as an example. I have had a few submissions from other writers and artists over the past issues, but the majority of the content has always been my own. Partly this is a result of having a bit more work to do this past year with my new job and then the change in texts and so on, but mainly - I'm just not producing much.
Maybe it is this failure to produce that has me pessimistic today. Maybe it's just the end of a year and the start of a new that has produced this melancholy.
I gamed only a bit in VSF this year. Perhaps two or three small Dystopian Wars actions, and a couple of IHMN skirmishes. That's about it. I did paint the Bobbies, and put together (as you most recently saw) one structure. So a bit of project progress, I suppose. A couple of small vehicles half completed (one Martian, one Maton). A couple of large creatures for Doctor Vardu's yet-to-be-seen forces painted. I suppose I could stat them up for IHMN and field a small Varduvian force, just to get them on a table.
