DIstractions

My hiatus has been over for more than a week but I am just getting around to posting. My paper minis are ready for battle in medieval Francesia, but I have not yet got them onto the battlefield. You see, I've had some distractions that have been keeping me away from gaming (at least board/mini gaming). I thought I'd just mention them.

• Dagorhir - I have mentioned before (and mentioned that I mentioned) that I participate in a live-action role-playing game called Dagorhir. Recently, a couple friends and I decided to form our own order of chivalry, so I have been busy jotting down notes and making plans for it. I'll post more details as we progress.
• Video Games Live - Normally, Saturday night is game night, but last Saturday my wife and I went to a concert instead. It was called Video Games Live and it featured some of the best video game music, performed by a live orchestra (with game clips shown on screen). My favorite was the opening theme to Skyrim.
• Elder Scrolls Online - Speaking of Skyrim, I previously predicted that the new game in the Elder Scrolls series, Elders Scrolls Online, would likely tear me away from board/mini gaming. April was just too busy for me to try it out, but I finally downloaded it today. I haven't gotten very far in the game (the controls are a bit different than most MMOs so I am having a little difficulty adjusting). Nevertheless, it seems much more story-based than World of Warcraft, which is a good thing. Generally, new characters in WoW start by speaking to a quest-giver, who tells them to go slay a bunch of creatures wandering aimlessly in a field. In ESO, your new character is chosen by a Prophet to help save the world from the plots of a demonic lord. You then have to escape from a prison. It's a much more interesting start. I'm looking forward to more.

I hope to play a miniatures battle over the holiday weekend, but ESO might continue to be a distraction.

Paper Mini Inspiration

I should be packing but am procrastinating instead. I'm going to squeeze in one more post.

Earlier today I posted a picture of my Redgravian medieval army in paper. While doing a little surfing between chores, I came across the post of a paper mini game over at the Baron's Blog.

It looks really nice! I noticed a couple of things:

1. It looks like they colored the background sky blue. It looks much better than leaving it white like I did.
2. They used a cardboard exterior for a village, an experiment that I've seen on Bob Cordery's and Kaptain Kobold's pages. It looks nice, especially in combination with the paper figures. I may try it out at some point.
3. I can't tell for sure but it seems that the Baron's minis fold at the head. The ones I got from Junior General fold at the feet. In the future, I'd like to make them fold at the head. I think it would make basing easier by folding back the paper at their feet.

Anyway, I found the Baron's post very inspirational!

Quick Update - my army's paper strength

Before I head off on my excursions to DC and Disney, I have time for a couple of quick updates. I used some free time this morning to work on one of my medieval paper armies. Here is the result,

The Redgravian raiders

Leading the charge is a Lord with standard bearer. Following him are 5 warbands (swords = elite and spears = normal quality). Flanking are some knights (left) and archers (right). I plan to clean up the foamcore bases by painting the edges.

This is essentially a beginning Saxon force from the Dux Britanniarum with the addition of knights. When I went on my medieval kick a year ago, I mentioned the possibility of using Dux Brit for the campaign although I'm still looking for battle rules. I am currently considering some version of Command & Colors akin to the rules I'm using for Francesia. I'll be able to experiment in a couple of weeks.

Quick Update - Catan

I played Settlers of Catan with Elizabeth and Jimmy a few weeks ago. Here is a picture of the final board.

This was a really unusual board. You may notice that the hills, which are the source of bricks, are numbered 2, 3, and 11. This means that the probability of getting bricks was extremely low which made it very difficult to build roads and settlements. (If you are unfamiliar with the rules of Settlers you may want to watch Wil Wheaton's Tabletop session about it).

Because of the rarity of bricks, I changed my strategy. Instead of building, I focused on buying development cards, which can give you victory points. In this way, I amassed 2 vps + the largest army which provided another 2 vps. These points along with my 2 settlements and 2 cities helped me to the 10 vps needed for victory.