Tomorrow's the Day!

Tomorrow afternoon, my sons and I will board a plane for Philadelphia, PA. We are off to Historicon in Lancaster! We are all very excited about the trip, but I am the only one feeling nervous about it as well. I sure hope my game goes off well.

An update on the Masked Minion minis: they have all been painted (finished that Saturday night). Despite a terrible migraine yesterday (all better now, thanks!), I managed to get them Dipped so that it would have a chance to dry for at least 24 hours before I dullcote and base - which are this evening's projects.

I'm looking forward to seeing the results of the poll I posted a couple of weeks ago. There's been a lot of participation. Thanks for that. Right now, it looks as if I'll be working in 25mm for a bit, either on Martians, Minions, or Germans. The results are very close between those three - so vote quickly if you haven't already, as the poll ends in about 13 hours!

Finally, for today, I want to announce that I should be able to blog FROM the convention. That's right! I should be able to post from Historicon, complete with a few pictures of the various sights and games. This is made possible by the wonders of technology and my wife wanting a new Dell Mini laptop, which I agreed to if I got to take it to Historicon.

Wish me luck!

Masked Minions Unveiled!

These are two prototypes of the masked minions, one of the regular riflemen and an officer/NCO type. They are mercenaries working for Professor Maton, at least next week at Historicon they will be. A month from now, who knows? They are masled mercenaries, after all.

The coat is brown, as are the trousers. Helmet is steel, mask is brass. Leatherwork is reddish brown. Green epaulettes and collar (on the officer)

Obviously, still need to add the Dip and base work. Before Tuesday. Yikes!

The minis, by the way, are Regiment Games' 15mm Prussian Kanaltruppen from the Mars or Die range.

Pre-Historicon Notes

Okay, so we leave for Pennsylvania in a week. Both the boys and myself are pre-registered for the convention. I have reservations for Lancaster hotel room and rental car, and plane tickets to Philly have been purchased.

I've talked with TSA at the airport about the best way to transport my minis. They said carry-on was fine, but it would probably be a good idea to inform the screeners what was in the bag before sending it through the x-ray machine. As far as terrain is concerned, I guess I am going to have to pack it in one of our bags. It's mostly just bulky, not heavy, and I think all the pieces I am bringing will fit conveniently into one bag. So I gotta get that packed up. I was hoping for maybe one more playtest, but that's just not gonna happen at this point I don't think. And I am still not happy with my cheesy felt road, but maybe I can find something affordable to use instead on Thursday in the vendors' hall.

So what am I missing? These first time game-presenter jitters are driving me crazy. I'm glad my game is Friday at 1 PM, so that I will get it out of the way and I can enjoy the rest of the convention. I know I am missing something in my preparations. But I can't think of what it is!

On the blogging front, I should have internet availability during the convention, so I am going to try to post each day. Well, each night, is more likely. And I have a photo of the annoying hunter from Jim's Venusian Tales to post as well. But not right now. Got to give you something to look forward to, after all!

Independence Declared!

Okay, so maybe it was 233 years ago... it still rocks!

Happy Independence Day!

Now go out and shoot off some fireworks, barbecue a nice brisket, and drink a few cold beverages.

New Month, New Poll...

So, the poll question is this: After Historicon, what VSF project should I concentrate on next?

• 15mm Germans - I have about twenty or so Aetherbattalion [OG Boxer Seebattalion] to paint up already, plus I need to get some regular line infantry, artillery and probably some cavalry as well.
• 25/28mm Germans - I have a few (5-6?) Aetherbattalion KFG troops [GW Mordian Iron Guard] left to paint. Need to buy 8 more fliegerjaegers [Eureka Minis], plus a good twenty Seebattalion to turn into Aetherbattalion regulars, and another twenty or thirty line infantry. Plus artillery, vehicles (already have some hulls for that), and again, thinking about cavalry. Yes, I like cavalry. I just hate painting horses. I could put them on my steam horses, which are already painted [Mage Knight].
• 25/28mm British & Sikhs - Need to finish the R&D Platoon (4-5 left to finish) [GW Praetorians], plus seriously considering the Empress Miniatures to replace my older Minifigs redcoats (20-ish). I have ten or twenty Gurkhas [Ral Partha?] and about 17 Sikhs [Foundry] in bare metal as well. Oh, and 9 more Martian sepoys [RAFM Space 1889]. Get some Bengal Lancers, and mount them on some mechanical cats I already have [Mage Knight], perhaps painted like Bengal tigers?
• 25/28mm Martians - I have ten shield gunners, ten Gashant riders, and twenty archers [All RAFM Space 1889] in need of paint. Plus the previously mentioned sepoys. I want some sverdlinker fanatics [Parroom Station], maybe 20 or so of them. And some plain sword-toting Martians.
• 15mm Texicans - I do need to work on them some more. I have some minis already [Freikorps' SAW American Infantry], but will need more if I am going to fight real battles using the Texicans.
• 15mm Papal Troops - Also not a high priority. I have the lead, but not the focus on them right now. Should I reconsider?
• 25/28mm Masked Minions - These are human mercenaries, originally for Professor Otto Maton. I have ten of them, making one GASLIGHT unit [Parroom Station minis], all bare metal as of now. I want to get ten more, plus an artillery crew, the machine gun team (maybe 2) and some of the weird artillery, and 8 more Clockwork Soldiers [also Parroom Station]. If I do this, I need to get the Weird Scientist artillery crew as well, so I can use the weird science artillery for other armies. While I'm at it, I ought to get more steam spiders [Wyrd Miniatures] and toolbots [Reaper Miniatures, Chronoscope line] for Maton's mechanical menaces. And a vehicle (or two) of some sort.
• 2mm Aeronef - I have about 27 of these in totally bare lead. [Brigade Models] I have five painted up for the Papal States, 2 more almost done (just need flags and dullcote).

Give me your opinions please! Or should I concentrate on something totally different?