A day of reading Rex Stout

Well the weather has become cooler, and I've been enjoying the change.

So I've in typical fashion done nothing! Well not really, I been reading. Since my acquisition of 14 Nero Wolfe novels I've been reading, and reading...

As of today I've polished off two of them, and am now reading "Champaign for One".

Getting lots of ideas for my Pulp Fiction games that I'll be gearing up for soon.

Blood Bowl Gurgling

I'm continuing my loosing streak. The second team I'm managing, Gang-Green, an Orc Team are not winning. But at least they aren't dying. Still on 12 players.

I got a Magical Helmet today with I gave to my important St4 Orc Blitzer. And just as well I did, first turn he got clobbered by an Ogre and almost went to the bin if not for that +1 Av. In the end I managed to nail one Ogre (proud of that) and 4 Snotlings (sad isn't it). So Gang-Green continues to languish at the bottom of League A Ladder.

Good fun though. I must continue to thank all my opponents in the league who come and game at my home. I really appreciate it.

Did some painting this afternoon

By this afternoon I had recovered enough to continue with a bit of painting. I've got Malifaux on the table in quantity, so that's what I painted.

I've now added Ramos and his crew to the completed, as well as the Brass Arachnid, and six bases worth of Steampunk Arachnids.

So that's it painting wise for the day.

Rex Stout favourite author of the moment

I popped into the second-hand bookshop today, searching the reference section for books to add to my library. My wife went to the cooking section this time, not the romance section. After about 5 minutes perusing the shelves and picking a few books I out of curiosity I asked the owner if he had any books on the crime solver Nero Wolfe. I've previously found that a lot of the pulp authors you just can't access, so I was not expecting a positive answer. To my surprise I found Rex Stout and his novels. Fifteen novels where promptly bought, ranging in price from AUS$3-$5 a piece. So I'm off reading, and have almost finished the first book "The Final Deduction". Having listened to the Radio Plays I've got the feel for the characters voices in my head, and they seem to fit nicely.

So if you haven't read any, give them a try. I've just done a search of iTunes and have found a few of Rex Stout's books available as audio's. So I'm happy till I run out of books and audio's.

School Photo's on Facebook

I've been searching through my photo's, at least those that I managed to salvage from my mother. She destroyed a lot of documents and photo's prior to her hospitalisation and death, so I've got gaping gaps in my history.

Anyway I'm posting the school photo's on Facebook for those who may be interested.

I attended:

St Bernards Catholic Primary School
Clairvaux College (Catholic Boys School)

John Ross Update

John Ross would have to be one of my closest and dearest of friends. I guess that we must have known each other for over 20 years now. While many friends have moved away or ceased contact, John has remained a constant companion.

John has already had one kidney removed and this coming week he will be going back into hospital for work on his remaining kidney. They will be attempting to remove the tumors, but leave as much of his healthy kidney behind.

I'm sure that those who know John, will remember him as a cheerful and friendly chap, and I'm sure that you will all extend to him your best wishes on a successful operation and speedy recovery.

If anything more comes to notice I shall leave messages here on my blog spot.

Horrible Heat Claims A Victim

Yes I've fallen foul of this continuing heat. A combination of affects has forced me to pump my body full of drugs (yes they are the legal ones). This has meant that I've not come alive until late afternoon or evening. Not that the night temperature has been much of a relief.

So today has been a bit slack. Wife had her kitchen floor laid. Looks good. Only thing to worry about is that the slate colour is the pretty much the colour of Tara our cat. So certain blind family members need to check where they put their feet when entering the kitchen.

Tomorrow will be a slow day of recovery. Hopefully I will be "alive" again by Sunday.

Family History

Since I have been conscripted to Facebook it has provided me with an interest in compiling my family history. Now while most of it is sealed at least the declassified information on me can be actioned.

It's amazing that I have better photo's taken in the old black and white than with colour. I've found my old school photo's and the colour photo's have not fared too well. The wash, for want of a better word, has really made the photo's almost unviewable. I just wish that I or my mother had written the names of the classmates on the photo's. It's really hard jogging a memory that's as leaky as a sive.

Not that I shall publish any of it. At least it will give my children some information.

Heat continues...

Sigh, the heat continues to plague me. Not sure what temperature we got to, but I had the chap who mows my lawn turn up and he was hot, dusty and very brown.

Did the shopping today with the wife and I think that the airconditioning didn't seem to be working at optimum performance. While I was absent from home (one of those very rare occassions) my Copplestone order arrived. A note was left for me to collect after 3pm. What a long wait. In the end though I was really happy with the figures. I have stayed with the Pulp Era figures and they mesh nicely with the figures I have from Pulp Figures.

So I did absolutely nothing. Sat in front of the fan, drinking more water (12l) and wishing for winter to come with a vengence.

Damn this Heat!

Phew, 34C they said for Brisbane, but I think it was closer to the 37C that Ipswich had.

My daughter started High School today. Out of all the houses she got the one that had the airconditioned room. She was most happy with that outcome.

Cats went to the vet. Their last shot until next year. Desexing to occur in mid-March, at a cost of $269 for spading and $37 for the chipping. Not a cheap exercise for a pair of tabbies. All up with the cost of the desexing&chipping two cats have cost me $1300.

It was far to hot to do a lot today. I mucked about moving furniture (silly thing to do in the hear) and culling my filing system. So no figures painted. Maybe tomorrow.

Blood Bowl Woes Continue!

Well my luck continues to elude me. The poor old Banshees are lanquishing at the bottom ladder, as are the Gang-Green Orcs I'm managing. Sigh, I continue to loose players on the cusp of getting a skill, and manage to have the Most Valued Player award given to a new "man".

Old Nobbly Knees was rewarded for his plucky spirit (-2AV) by being resurrected to take part once more with his team. Knighted, and trotted out onto the field, his antics were rewarded with an MVP. Sigh, I don't know why out of 16 players the "man" who gets the MVP is the one who has never earnt one to date.

Well I shall continue to plod along. Perhaps I'll retire the team at the end of this season and start with a fresh one instead.

A day of physical labour!

It really was far to hot to work today. It was hot, did I mention that! And what do mad dogs and englishmen do in the midday sun! Gads it was miserable.

However, work I did. Bookcases, you can never have enough bookcases I say. I've managed to clean out the middle room and it is slowly becoming a decent library. Honestly if I could afford a leather period chair and a smoking jacket, I'd be the epitome of my esteemed anachronistic peers. However the old lounge suit is now firmly emplaced, and a decent fan will allow the air to circulate nicely. Bring on winter I say, if it would only snow!

So not much in the way of painting. It was too hot, oh... I have already said that. I tinkered with Malifaux, built a few more figures. Prepped Ramos' Crew for painting. Choose a paint colour for my additional Rotten Belles.

So it's Start of School Eve and I'm much in the mood to celebrate. Peace and quiet will return to my household. I guess that it will only mean that the other hours will be as noisy and unpleasant as usual.

Prussian uniform problem solved.

I dug and dug until by the off chance I remembered my last second hand bookshop purchases. Sitting amongst this lot was "Battledress: The Uniforms of the World's Great Armies - 1700 to the present."

What a little gem this book is. Apart from it now being a good read, it has solved some of my problems I had with equipment. The illustrations aren't the quality of Osprey publications, but they are good enough to help out the uninformed.

McMourning Box finished

I've finished the McMournings today. I've been using the Malifaux textured bases and I'm pretty chuffed with the results. Once I work out how to post pictures I'll do so.

So there are a lot of figures sitting on the table now. I'm happy with the results.

Next lot to be done will be Ramos, who I've been putting off for some time now.

Australia Day tomorrow, nothing happening, so it'll be all hands to brush and paint.

Facebook, hmmmmm

Well I weakened after an old school chum dropped me a line about this medium. So I'm now there. Not that I really intend to share a hell of a lot on there. Too many horror stories etc.

However it is an interesting option to reacquire old friends.

Wargame Museum

It's been playing on my mind of late, what will happen to my collections when I do leave this plane of existence? Will my children keep it all? Will they sell it all and make a small fortune from it all?

I can't take it with me.

I thought of a Viking send off and having the whole lot burnt with me.

I thought of melting all the metal figures and using the metal for the door to my family mausoleum.

I'm going to investigate making it all a museum! Are there any in existence? There most probably is? I'm a collector of all things gaming wise. So I think that's what I'll do. I'll set up a trust to administer the "estate" and frustrate my children if they dissappoint me. Hopefully one of them will show an interest.

So if you got old rules or games you no longer want let me know. Donations gladly accepted.

School holidays almost over!

Yes, as all parents would agree, hippee! Get the little buggers back to school. Have our food budget return to normal. Save money for extra activities you didn't plan for. Resumption of school couldn't come fast enough.

This year my daughter finally enters high school and that means both of them are going to be at the same school. My old school, which merged with the girls school next door to become Clairvaux MacKillop College. It brings back memories to walk in that school, to see the ghosts and touch the past.

Malifaux resurging

Having lost a bit of enthusiasm with my Prussians I have returned to my Malifaux figures. I've gone and cracked some more "blisters" and consequently there is more Malifaux on the table awaiting painting.

Today was just a but of this and that. I finished Seamus, Copycat Killer, Zombie Chihuahua and Grave Spirit. Just saving up the figures before I varnish them.

Looking at other companies Prussians

Today I spent some time getting to know my Prussians. After an initial burst of enthusiasm, I lost some of my wind. The infantry in March Attack pose are lack lustre now that I've done my first regiment. The cavalry have also proven to be a dissappointment. Having researched my uniforms from my Osprey collection I find that I don't find a lot of commonalities that I had hoped to use. I've had to guess a bit on some of the equipment, which really annoys me. I'm sure my opponent will tell me that I've gotten details wrong, but at this stage I'm just going with my gut reaction.

So I'm going to try the Old Glory range now. I must admitt that I did consider them to start with, but thought I'd try supporting an Australian supplier. Old Glory I can buy for about US$20 for 30 infantry, which beats $1.90 from my current Australian supplier. So I'm testing the waters to see how these figures compare. Hopefully I can find a happy medium.

Prussians are a russian!

Yes the Prussians are a rush'n out. First regiment done, as well as a start on the Dragoons.

Been a quiet day. Just mucking about, researching uniforms from my reference library, and taking it easy.

My gaming schedule was thrown out of kilter with my wife going out today, and my daughter having a friend sleep over. I am hoping to get a clear run soon so that I can learn the game of Malifaux.

What am I watching/listening to?

At present I'm working my way throught the X-Files. Made it to Season 6 so far. I guess that I really listen more than watch the DVD. I've got the DVD player sitting on a shelf in front of my painting desk. I only look up when I find interest in a particular scene or episode.

Listening wise I'm still listening to The Shadow, but have picked up an audiobook on Jack the Ripper, and as I think I've listed previoulsy I've downloaded Agatha Christi's Hercule Poirot.

Friday completed tasks

Well I have cleared the game table.

I've finished the Rotten Belles and Madam Sybelle.

My Prussians are on their way. My first regiment is almost finished. I'm using the WRG rules (can't remember the exact title, it's the one that goes from 16?? - 18??). I'm planning my Prussians to be 20 figure Regiments and my cavalry to be 9 figure units, mainly because that's what my opponent generally uses. I'm looking at Russians as the next addition, as my opponent likes his French. I personally despise the French and refuse to even consider playing them, even with sever coaxing.

So I'm breaking up my painting day betweeen Malifaux, Prussians and Pulp Fiction.

Lots to do...

Game Table cleared!

I undertook a major task today. I have for some time, at least since November, been loading my game table with terrain building projects, figures and brick'a'brack. Needless to say, I have been embarrassed when people mention playing a game at my place. So rather than look for further excuses, I decided to clear the table.

When you house is already crammed with books, boxes and figures, it hard to find a spare space to move things to. I had popped into a storage business to buy some archive boxes and have, to date, filled almost 40 of them with books and papers. I can't believe that I had that many novels and paperwork. Mind you with over 30 years worth of accumulation I guess that it does all add up.

So apart from a few loose items on the table, it's now cleared and I'm "officially" open for gaming business.

Prussians started

As a minor break to my Malifaux painting I'm working on my Prussians. These arrived today with my EPT, so I was very happy with my shinny new toys.

So I should have most of the troops painted in the next week or so.

Empire of the Petal Throne

Happy days are here again.. (we all know that song surely)

My order from the US for the last EPT (Empire of the Petal Throne) books has arrived. I now have all the publications (excluding fanzines etc) for EPT now. I'm ecstatic!

So what arrived?

Missum! Miniature Rules for Tekumel
Qadardalikoi (another set of miniature rules)
The Armies of Tekumel: Volume 1 - Tsolyanu
The Armies of Tekumel: Volume 2 - Yan Kor and Allies
The Armies of Tekumel: Volume 3 - Mu'ugalavya
The Armies of Tekumel: Volume 4 - Salarvya
The Armies of Tekumel: Volume 5 - Livyanu and Tsolei
The Armies of Tekumel: Volume 6 - Shenyu
Deeds of the Ever-Glorious: Histories of the Tsolyani Legions
The Tsolyani Language Part 1
The Tsolyani Language Part 2
The Tsolyani Language - Pronunciation Guide CD
War of the Wizards

My Tekumel figures from Eureka are here, all I need to do now is slot them into assembly line.

Painting achieved.

I received the last of my Malifaux order today. I've one more order in the wings, but most of these are for John Ross and his Outcasts.

I spent the morning assembling Rusty Alice, Convict Gunslinger, Killjoy and the McMourning box set. I got the graveyard bases in that order so I was able to enhance the figures.

In the end I finished two Rotten Belles, Madam Sybelle and three Necropunks.

I am really enjoying this project and will be sad when I finally finish painting all there is. I just hope that Wyrd continue to release more figures at a steady rate.

Blood Bowl Loosing Streak Continues

Playing my game tonight against Chris (Bradders) and his Wood Elf team.

It was a great relaxed game and Chris was really good company. His Wood Elves literally ran rings around my Undead.

The Banshees couldn't harm the brittle buggers. I'd breach the armour only to stun or knock them out. Which is good, I hate killing an opponents players. The only casualty Chris suffered was by his own hand, knackering his player with a -1MV.

Poor old #10, Nobbly Knees died tonight. After sustaining two -1AV penalties from injuries, poor old Nobby finally fell apart. The Coach will now be able to spend a little more time properly putting Nobby back together again. So Nobby will be back, have no fear! This time he may stick together a little longer.

Dungeon & Dragons 4th Ed

After much internal debate I've decided to start running D&D 4th Ed games.

Why do you ask?

Well I can blame Shaun (BabblCommish) for his enthusiastic postulation of 4th Ed. I was struck with curiosity. I had bought the rulebooks and placed them on the shelf, first because I love collecting rules for any game, and secondly on the assumption that I'd eventually get around to playing the game.

So play the game I will.

I'm going to start DMing again. I'm going to have a party of no more than 4 people. So if you want to be one of these people, then let me know.

Once I've achieved that number the games will roll out. I'm partial to the Eberron Campaign setting, and it's one I'm more familiar with. I just need to pick up the 4th Ed campaign book.

Plunging on

So today was a hell of a lot cooler than yesterday. A nice breeze and was refreshing and cooled the slight sweat generated by the heat of the day.

What did we get up to today!

Tinkered with Malifaux some more. Finished the Mindless Zombies, and started on the NecroPunks. Was a bit listless in my direction. Had to go to my Doctors appointment at 12pm which always leaves me fatigued and directionless.

However my afternoon was lightened up with a vist from Juliet, Mark and Bailey. So before I knew it time had wisked away and they had to leave to collect Oliver. I did however do a little shopping and bought the Ammo Tin, Cybo Skull and Skull Chest dice containers. I loved the dice that came with the Cybo Skull, the numberal "one" have a cybo skull symbol. Considering my penchant for rolling 1's I think I'll enjoy using these dice. The Ammo Tin I liked, small and compact with 30 d6's, two white dice for random direction and a turn counter. All very handy. The wooden skull engraved chest was well built and will be used for my RPG's when I get around to it.

Tomorrow I expect to receive my latest Malifaux order, and with luck my Prussians for the Napoleonic period.

Yes its hard for some people to understand my love of all gaming periods. I'm fascinated by all periods, more so the esoteric or least considered conflicts. I love boardgames, cardgames, role playing games and tabletop games of any description. Finding companions to enjoy my interests is another matter, but hope springs eternal.

So till next time...

Swealtering Away

Gads it was hot today. They say 36C but I felt as though it was hotter than that, certainly the humidity was high.

Due to the heat I didn't get up to too much. My workshop's wall faces west and I get the full heat from the sun in summer. I only have a single brick wall, which means the sun heats it up real quick and passes on that heat into the room. I have found that by glueing 50mm thick foam sheets to the wall, I've managed to reduce the temperature by a few degrees.

I've continued working on my Malifaux figures. Nicodem, Mortimer and the three Punk Zombies are now finished. The Silurid Slaves are having their bases "swamped". Just Seamus to go (until I get my McMourning box).

I did get in the post today my Gladiators from Old Glory. In that order were the chariots, which I was keen to see how they would fit into planned Roman Gladiator Pit and Hippadrome. I'm happy with them, so much so that I'll probably buy a few more and then see how they may be adapted to my Avalon Hill Game Circus Maximus.

So I'm off to find a cool place somewhere and have a bit of a kip.

Tinkering and toil

Today has been hot and a bit sticky in the workshop. I decided to spend the day assembling a variety of Malifaux models, namely Resurrectionists, and a bit of Neverborn. Apart from some Silurid Slaves I've painted up all my Neverborn now.

I had a long chat with my old mate John Ross. He's keen as mustard on Malifaux, and I've committed myself to painting them up for him. He's decided on Som'er Teeth Jones and the Pigs and Gremlins. Nice figures and I'm planning on a lot of interesting bases for them. Swamps are fun.

Ramos still sits on the table. I've a feeling he may be the last crew to be painted,although the Viktoria's may hold that title. It all depends on how enthusiastic I feel.

Tomorrow is a medical day, with visits to my Doctors. My mood has been fairly flat of late and I'm finding it harder and harder to really care about my health. Nothing changes, nothing improves, at least it doesn't get drastically worse.

I've had a look at the new Tyranids from GW and bought a little of the new stuff. They'll sit on the shelves until I decide on what I want to do.

Been hooked on The Goons of late. Dug up my early records, yes I still have that antique medium. Found my turntable, but then realised that it required a stero system to. Dug deeper and found that I had the first to volumes on CD, then went shopping on iTunes and acquired the next five volumes. Nobody produces shows like this anymore. If today's youth are any indication, they don't listen so this is probably wasted on them.

Tomorrow will be what tomorrow brings.

The Radical's Handbook

Last night I took possession of "The Radical's Handbook", a sourcebook for Dark Heresy and essentially for Rogue Trader.

The Dark Heresy game and sourcebooks are what Games Workshop should have done with Inquisitor. That and Inquisitor should have been for 28mm not 40mm (is that right?).

I really enjoy the background information that has been developed for the Calaxis Sector. I ran the first part of the Harlock Legacy, and have found the adventures to be a great read. I am waiting for the second book to arrive before I continue on with the adventure.

I've got the Rogue Trader game and was dissappointed in the book. In my opinion it should have been a sourcebook to address the Rogue Trader Letters of Marque rather than a seperate RPG book. Nevertheless the book has been a good read, even with the inevitable double-ups from Dark Heresy.

Certainly the RPG is a great enhancement for 40K.

Neverborn nearly finished

I've completed the box set for Lillith, and have fleshed out my Neverborn with Teddy, Cherub, Vodoo Doll, Silurid Slaves and Sorrows. All looking good.

My next job is the Resurrectionists. Followed by the Outcasts.

My style of painting.

I've been asked often over my many years of painting to paint figures for people. A number of my clients seem to think that I'm a fantastic painter. It's nice to think that I am in my own way.

My style of painting is minamilistic. I want to spend as little time as possible getting the buggers painted and out onto the table. As such I tend to use shades, highlighting and inks to enhance my work. I may spend some time putting a little more effort into my character or special characters, but on the whole it's the job lot to get the figures finished and out on the table.

I paint a lot. When I am well enough I can spend as much as 8 to 10 hours painting and preparation a day. Sometimes I can go weeks without picking up a brush, then I can litterally produce armies in days, that's how quick I am at what I do.

My figures are to be played with, used, not stuck on a shelf with the fear of being touched. People often ask me what I think of their painting skills and or other associated skills with wargame paraphenalia. My response is, "are you happy with what you have done?" In the end it is what you are happy with rather than the opinions of others that matters. I'll never be a Golden Daemon winner, not that I couldn't be one, it's just I don't have an ego that needs to bask in the adoration of the multitudes to justify my existence.

I'm happy with my work. I'm happy with my gaming lifestyle, and I don't need people to justify my work or existence. So do the best you can, your work will improve with time and practice. I'm still learning after 40 years, and my work is as good as ever.

Things I have learnt are:
1. Never force yourself to paint. If your heart isn't in it, then don't do it. I find that I am dissatisfied with my quality of work if I force myself to paint. I certainly don't paint commission work if this mood is upon me. I value my clients too much to do a shoddy job.

2. A good job of basing your figures goes miles towards enhancing your overall appearance. I've seen some very ordinary paint jobs that have been enhanced dramatically by a good base job. Consistency is everything. Make it all mesh together and you're on your way to success.

So enjoy what you do, and bugger the rest!

What's been up?

Not a lot. Spent most of the day setting up a home network for the kids and my PCs. Now considering that when I did computing I was still using mark sense cards, and high tech Apple II's (I think), my understanding of modern computing is rather limited. However I am pleased to say that I've managed to get everything all linked up without too many problems.

Rest of the day was spent restoring and finding email addresses and websites that I frequent on a regular occassion.

I did take a break to paint,just to break up my day. So Lillith is almost finished. More Pulp Figures have been based and prepared for undercoating.

Thursday's Ramblings

Quiet day of sorts today.

Received my latest "care" package from Luke at Phoenix Forge. Warmachine is now sitting in the wings awaiting time and a change in pace. I'm fleshing out my Cygnar, adding to my Mercenaries and buildling Retribution of Scyrah.

I've now got a small collection of Malifaux bases and spent much of the middle of the day preparing bases and fixing the Malifaux figures to their new home. The Neverborn are getting a nice spread of bases.

Bought the bulk of my childrens stationary requirements for the year. School shoes are just criminal in prices. Both children got a set of black shoes and white sports shoes. $350.00 for 4 pairs of shoes. Just think of the figures I could have bought with that money!

Blood Bowl Loosing Streak Continues....

I've had two games this week. The first againt Shaun and his Leaping Slann against my Undead. I did at least get a touchdown, and my S4 Ghoul got a skill.

The second team I'm managing, due to a drop out, is struggling as well. Went down against Dwarves, but at least two of my team will get skills. I now have 120K in the bank. Don't know whether or not to buy a troll (110K), or get some more green bodies on the table. I'm thinking 3 Goblins, as they are cheap and expendable. Decision, decisions....

Malifaux Arrived Today!

I'm on a roll at the moment, with much of my figure orders rolling in one after the other. I'm enjoying the uniqueness of Malifaux figures, and I've converted a old friend to the cause. He's rather taken with Som'er, as am I.

So I reckon that I've got enough figures to keep me occupied for at least a month, maybe less if I get into the zone.

Pulp Figures Arrived Tuesday

Joy of Joys! My second order from Pulp Figures arrived yesterday. I'm really, really enjoying these figures, The figures are simple, yet elegent. So far all castings have been clean, with very little flash or need to file ridges.

I've now got the Radon Zombies, Hooded Cultists, Precinct Cops, Gangsters, Gumshoes to name but a few. My next order will be to fill out the personalities.

Wild West Town to get a retouch

After having had another skim of the Malifaux rules book, I've been contemplating the Wild West.

Some time ago I built a 6'x4' table for Legends of the West, GW Historical Gunfighter rule set. It's pretty impressive, even by my standards of the day. I have a railroad that runs through the centre of the table (4' long) and there is an expansion that includes a fort (who can say F-Troop!).

Now I just have to venture into the shed, avoid the Red Backs, jump when I hear reptilian noises and hope that it's not at the very back.

Web Cam

My daughter made me get it! Yes she did! I didn't want it, after all who would want to look at me? Well apart from an undertaker.

So my PC is now "LiveCam", whatever that is. All I know is that my daughter has been showing off my cats to all her friends.

Well at least someone is keeping up with technology.

Malifaux Cards to A4

I've started to scan my cards for Malifaux and transposing them to A4.

Why have I done this? Well the print is too small, and constantly flipping the cards really annoyed me.

The end result is quite pleasing. Each card to a plastic pocket page, which makes it easy to record the wounds with an appropriate eraseable marker.

My next task is making a token wound counter to keep track of damage models take.

A Quiet Day Recovering

I spent it going slow today. Saw the Doctor and have managed to loose another 1kg,I'm (according to my Dr)at my lowest weight in 3 years. Still a medical anomoly.

So I've taken a break from my Malifaux, and started work on my Pulp Fiction. My 18 Rocketeers are done and based. 10 Zepplin Troopen with Gas Mask have now been added to the list. Another 10 Troopen to follow. The Gyro crew (Packs 1 & 2) have been undercoated.

I've bought a lot of 3/8" and 1/2" washers to use as bases for my figures. I'm using the old cereal and figure boxes (guess which company?) cardboard as a surface on the washers. Looking good so far, and the cardboard bottom saves wear and tear on my terrain pieces.

Been watching/listening to the X-Files. I confess that I seem to have almost perfect recall of episodes, but can't remember a rule set for the life of trying.

My Boardgame Collection Part 1

So, I've started to catalogue my boardgame collection and posting it here in the hope that someone may be interested in having a game with me. Hey even bring some friends would be great.

So here's the list:

Runebound 2nd Ed
Britannia
Arkham Horror
Battlestar Galactica: The Board Game
Battlestar Galactica: Pegasus expansion
Descent
World of WarCraft: The Board Game
Robo Rally
Risk: God Storm
Monsters Menance America
Risk: The Lord of the Rings
Diplomacy
Axis & Allies
Axis & Allies: Pacific
Talisman: The Magical Quest Game (1st Edition by GW and 4th Ed. FFG)
Lord of the Rings: The Confrontation
Ticket to Ride
Samurai
Heart of Africa
El Grande
Doom: The Board Game
Memoir '44
Fury of Dracula
The Fury of Dracula (1st Ed from GW)
Shadows over Camelot
WarCraft: The Board Game
Betrayal at The House on the Hill
Lowenherz
Age of Mythology: The Board Game
Kings & Things
Curse of the Mummys Tomb
Circus Maximus
Enemy in Sight
Blood Royale
Warrior Knights
Rogue Trooper
Judge Dredd
Chainsaw Warrior
Block Mania
Mega Mania
Chaos Marauders (1st Ed. GW)
Zombiegeddon
Star Commander
The Loney Mountain
Dawn Patrol
The Settlers of Catan
Star Fleet Battles
Federation Space
Creatures & Cultists
Family Business
Munchkin Cthulhu
Encounters
The Awful Green Things from Outer Space
Wreckage
Colossal Arena

More to follow when I get the time.

I hate being sick!

Yesterday I was all geared up to have my first crack at Malifaux. And as usual my ailing body decided to ruin my planned activities. I've only now recovered enough to get posting again.

So I guess I should point out to any people who don't know, I am very sick. The C word is never mentioned, nor is MH or ID. I can be fine one day, and have a complete degredation of health in a very short time period. This means that I let down a lot of people when I attempt to leave home and attend events.

So bear with me people. I'm not dead yet, well at least not enough that anyone will notice.

Hercule Poirot

What can I say but I love this time period and Agatha Christie is a great novelist. I find that with age I am going back to the books I read as a youth, and those books that predate me. Although my children tell me that stone tablets are hard to come by these days!

So I've added

The Mysterious Affair at Styles
Murder on the Links
Poirot Investigates
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd
The Big Four
The Mystery of the Blue Train
Black Coffee
Peril at End House

More to come in due course.

Friday's Journal

So what did we get up today?

Went shopping with my daughter for a new computer. Went to Carindale, Garden City then Kessels Road. In the end my money stayed in my pocket.

I found that JB Hi Fi had 20% of DVD's so I finally relented and bought the first three seasons of X-Files. Dana got Season One of Friends (yick).

Painting wise I just tinkered around with what was on the table. Pandora is finally finished, Zoraida is almost there, it's just the bases to do. Still trying to get the snow effect right, but I'm trying a product supplied by LDP http://lovediceandpaintbrushes.com.au/index.php .

Met Mark and Juliette of LPD and their two beautiful children Oliver and Bailey. Lovely people and I hope to foster a good gaming friendship with them both.

With our new kitchen came a new oven. Talk about minamilistic instructions and button function. I almost needed an interpreter to read the manual, all eight odd pages. Poor Michelle is having kittens as she attempts to decode the Da Vinci code of instructions. As for the kittens they almost decided to be basted and grilled, silly bloody cats. In this case curiosity will kill the cat.

Off to troll the web. Who knows what I may post next.

Thursday's Accomplishments

So what did I do today?

Bought a car boot full of cat litter, and yes it is for my cats.

Continued mucking about with my Malifaux. Pandora is now finished, just the bases to complete. Zoraida is the last model to be done before they too have their bases touched up. Lillith is waiting for my bases from Phoneix Forge before I do much more. I really like the bases that Wyrd produce and can see them gracing all my models in the future.

I broke up a bit more of the day by starting on my Pulp Figures miniatures. The Rocketeers are on their way. I ordered a heap of extra packets from Pulp Figures to flesh out my 1920's Gangsters. I confess that listening to The Shadow episodes puts me in the right frame of mind when painting.

I decided on Agatha Christi's "Hercule Poirot" books as the next audio downloads to add to my collection. I just really enjoy that time period.

I've ordered the Miniature Rules for Empire of the Petal Throne.

Cooked tea for the family.

Now sitting back and "surfing" the web.

My favourite Role Playing Games

My first and foremost roleplaying game would have to be Empire of the Petal Throne, by Prof. M.A.R. Barker. The first man in my opinion to create a world that was literally awe inspiring. My copy is the TSR edition printed in the 70's, and I still have it, as well as each of the new versions that have been released over the years. It is one of the most intricate and detailed worlds that I have every come across. A timeless classic.
Eureka Miniatures has released figure for Tsolynai and Yan Kor. All very nice, and the figures will eventually grace my shelves.

The second favourite would be Call of Cthulhu. I've enjoyed H.P. Lovecraft for decades, and Chasiom has done the genre well.

My third favourite is Runequest. This is another RPG that has had many incarnations, and like Call of Cthulhu has been well developed.

Other RPG's that I've enjoyed playing in were Top Secret which was run by my old school chum Michael Mulhern. Lots of fun, the fantasy cross over he engineered was brilliant and hilarious. Space Opera, I can't quite remember who ran this, I'm thinking David Kennedy, but I think a number of us ran with the system.

Painting progresses

I've tackled the ice effect again on my Rasputina Crew. I've painted white on the snow, as the prevous varnish turned it all to a yellowish tinge. I've now tried water effect to see if I can achieve "snow". If not, then it'll be into the dip and a retry.

So all The Guild are done. Marcus has been completed. Ramos has been assembled, but will wait for the missing swarms to arrive.

I have since assembled The Neverborn. I decided that "plagarism" is the best form of flattery and have put Zoraida on a jetty as the sample picture portrays. Looking good so far. The Silurid Slaves needed a bit of attention. I found the tails to be the biggest problem. I have needed to apply putty and a file to fix the missmatched proportions.

So tomorrow it'll be back to the paint table, with a fresh batch of The Shadow episodes to listen to while working.

Gladiators

One of the ongoing projects boiling away on the stove of inspiration is my Gladiator School. Crusader Miniatures have a nice range of Gladiators (which I've just ordered from Old Glory USA), as well West Wind (also available through Old Glory USA)have a range that include beasties and chariots (my chariots are on their way). I have on hand Gladiators from Foundry which I bought as part of their "army pack".

My aim is to build a hypadrome (may have misspelt that word, can't find my dictionary) and gladiator arena.

The Shadow

As I've posted previously I have been captivated with The Shadow Radio Drama from the 40's. I've been deligently buying episodes over the last month or so. I now have 81 episodes, which will take be 1.5 days to listen to (according to iTunes).

Highly recommend these shows to those who enjoy the old days.

Addendum: (6/1/10) I know have all the episodes as published on iTunes, 104 episodes, 2 days (48 hours) of listening enjoyment.

Great TV Viewing

I'm looking foward to watching (at long last) Supernatural Season 4, Being Human and Red Cliff.

I've always had a liking for the Supernatural genre, probably because of my love of H.P. Lovecraft and his Cthulhu mythos.

"Being Human" caught my attention some time back when it was being played on ABC2, but it always seemed to clash with other programmes. I liked the Vampire, Werewolf and Ghost sharing a flat. Cool concept. Watched the first episode today, and it has whet my appetite.

Red Cliff is one of the amazing oriental epics that I saw some time back, it's a massive 4.5 hours in viewing time. Something to watch when I can get the TV long enough not to be kicked off.

Blood Bowl

I'm playing in my second season with BABBL

Check http://www.brisbane.bloodbowlleague.com/

My Team is the Banning Barrow Banshees. I'm at the bottom of the ladder for Division B, but hope to improve my lot in the second half of this season. I intend to run the Banshees for another two seasons before I retire them. Not sure what I'll run after them, but I'll probably choose a flighty and fast team as opposed to a "bashy" team.

Lots of fun any way.

Check AusBowl for national coverage. http://www.ausbowl.com/index.php

I love second hand bookshops

I think I am lucky to have one of the best second hand bookshop near me. It is a massive shop and it supplies my wife and I with all our reading material.

I shop there for all my reference books. My recent purchases were these:

Battledress: The Uniforms of the World's Great Armies 1700 to the Present.
Hard Cover. 235 pages
Cost: AUD$15

The Big Guns Artillery 1914-1918
Purnell's History of the World Wars Special
Soft Cover. 64 pages
Cost: AUD$2.50

1914-1918 The Great War and the Shaping of the 20th Century
Jay Winter & Blaine Baggett
Hard Cover. 432 pages
Cost: AUD$15

Artillery
John Batchelor, Ian Hogg
Hard Cover. 158 pages
Cost: AUD$7.50

Air Aces
Christopher Shores
Hard Cover. 192 pages
Cost: AUD$12.50

World War I

I also received today my order from Old Glory http://oldglory25s.com/ of my British for the Great War.

I recommend these figures for their cost effectiveness. They also have resin vehicles and tanks. I've picked up a Whippet and MkIV Male Tank.

So the British are now here at last. The Germans are on order and should be every indication arrive in the next fortnight.

Pulp Fiction

I have had a strong interest in this genre for some time now. Until recently all I have been able to do is look but not touch. However I've recently been able to access online purchases and have finally been able to get my hands on this product.

I received in todays mail my order of figures from Pulp Figures http://www.pulpfigures.com/main.php

What can I say except that they are brilliant figures which look even better in the flesh. I only bought a sample of ranges to see if they would match in with the rest of my figures I have for that time period. I can say that they certainly do.

I've bought the Rocketeers, She Wolves, Zepplin Troopers, to name a few.

I recently accessed DriveThroughRPG http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/index.php
and picked up .45 Adventures which are a simple set of miniature rules for the period, they also have a number of expansions for that period.

The Listened Word

I have not been that fast in adapting to new technology. Having two children who are in this modern world, they introduced me to iTunes. While downloading their latest "music" I discovered that they had audiobooks.

What can I say, I couldn't help myself. For the past several months now I have allocating a small portion of my pension to purchasing audio's. I just love it. I can now enjoy two of my greatest loves now where before they were mutally exclusive - painting and reading. Reading now being supplanted by audio.

I have found David Weber's Honor Harrington, Fritz Leiber's Fafhrd & Grey Mouser, H.P.Lovecraft, to name but a few. What I have enjoyed the most are the old radio plays for The Shadow and Nero Wolf. There are about 100 titles for The Shadow of which I've only purchased a third, while I have downloaded all of the Nero Wolf and wishing there was more!

If you haven't tried this medium, then I highly suggest you do.

Family Increases By Two

The latest additions to the family are two female kittens called Bella and Tara.

We have been wanting to buy cats for some time now, but while I still had relatives that could call upon me I kept putting it off. Now that my family unit is reduced to just the four, we decided to buy some feline company.

Both kittens were bought on November 1 last year, and both are females. Both were the only females in the pride of 6.

Bella is a black tiger. By that I mean she is black but she is also light black, which gives the effect of strips. As she gets older the stripes are getting a bit clearer. Bella is a real cat as opposed to her sister.

Tara is the "garfield". She was the runt of the litter and is not as fast a developer as her sister. She loves attention, food and collapsing whereever it is most inconvinient. She has almost been sat and stood on by being in places you didn't expect her to be. Before we found out the correct way to feed them, Tara would just plop herself down next to the food and water bowl and not move from that spot, unless it was to move the few inches to feed and water herself.

Both cats are a joy, and bring much happiness to the house.

Latest Boardgames added to the cupboard

I've added the following games to my cupboard:

(all are from Fantasy Flight Games, all obtained through my good friends at WarPuppy)

Chaos in the Old World.
Tannhauser (with most of the expansions).
Wings of War.
Talisman upgrade and expansions.

I have ordered the British and German aircraft to add the "touch" to Wings of War.

Arkham Horror

I weakened and have bought each of the expansions for the Arkham Horror boardgame from Fantasy Flight Games. So friends can expect a lot of Cthulhu in the coming months.

The Guild

Having finished Rasputina, and had a somewhat limited success with the application of ice effect to the bases and models, I have started on The Guild.

I started with Lady Justice. The Guild are nice "western" gunfighters. I made each of the Death Marshalls different. I even gave one of them a white hat. Basing uses a lot of cork bark, and I'm happy with the effect. The application of bristles from a shoe brush add the look of a dead land.

Criids Crew is now done. The bases are waiting to dry before they are finished and can be added to the completed Crews.

Awaiting work (most likely tomorrow)are the Ortega's.

Assembled are Marcus, with Ramos next. Although I have to wait for some missing models to arrive before they are complete.

Malifaux

I caught a bug. A bug called Malifaux. Lots of lovely figures, and the rules and short stories are truely addictive. I'm much anticipating expanding my collection in this range over the next few months. All I have to do now is work out how to post pictures and such with this blog.