A Storm's Brewing

Last week I mentioned that I was in a summer lull. Fortunately I feel that the lull is going to break soon. I haven't played any games yet but I have started some ancillary actions.

• I got back into painting my latest project. Still some work to do but made progress this weekend. (I'd do some painting now but there is a cat sleeping next to me so I can't get up.)

• I have a 4-day weekend coming up and I'm planning a game. Last Independence Day I played out a fictional American Revolution battle set in my home state. Thinking about a sequel!

From a PBS program about Florida in the Revolution
https://www.pbs.org/video/the-american-revolution-in-florida-hfcu7l/

• I should finish the War of the Emperor's Balls using Simplicity in Hexes, which I started last month.

• Finally, I have a hankering for some fantasy action. Thought about HoTT but just not feeling it. I toyed with the idea of creating a Simplicity in Hexes variant. That is still a possibility but I started looking at One Hour Wargames. One of my issues with those rules was tracking 15 hits but I thought of a variant where units take 4 hits. I would like to try it out. I may even pull my 3mm fantasy armies out of mothballs.

3mm Fantasy - Evil vs. Good

The Summer Lull

Given that it's been 3 weeks since my last post, I'd have to say that the summer lull is in full swing. I started painting my latest 3mm project but that has stalled.

I have been busy, however. Two things in particular have been commanding my attention.

LARP
A few months ago I mentioned that I was preparing for a new LARP. The concept was to take my regular Amtgard group through an immersive adventure. I even wrote new rules to streamline the game. People had fun but most were not interested in a repeat. By and large they prefer being stick jocks whereas I wanted something more flurby.

But not all is lost. A few people, including my wife, were interested in a real roleplaying LARP. We decided to reboot the campaign with a smaller group. Essentially it's like playing D&D but with acting out our actions rather than just describing them. I had to spend some time preparing the new backstory and developing quests. Last weekend we had our last adventure, which I describe on my LARP blog.

The group was quite pleased with the adventure and we can't wait for the next one (got to spend some time prepping for it). In the interim, we are looking to up our game. For example, we've been using Amtgard swords, which are essentially pool noodles on a stick. I purchased some weapons for my wife's character.

They are actually foam replicas. The cat is not a weapon.

Cross
I have also been spending a lot of free time working on a volunteer project for Cross International.

A friend works there. She asked me for Excel help (after 30 years or so of using Excel I'm pretty good at it). Well, that project has turned out to be more extensive than expected.

As a result of the above 2 projects, I have not had any time for wargaming. Hopefully the long July 4th weekend (I have that Thursday and Friday off) will give me a chance to play a game.

Generic Army Update

My latest project is underway. I received the figures from Magister Militum and have begun to paint.

I decided to start with a slightly reduced army for the 2 main combatants - red and blue. The initial armies will consist of 4 heavy / line infantry, 2 light infantry, 2 heavy cavalry, 2 light cavalry, and 2 artillery.

Heavy / Line Infantry (left) and Light Infantry (right). I cut down the pikes on the heavy infantry; the finished product will be able to stand in as either pikemen or musketeers.

Heavy Cavalry (left) and Light Cavalry (right)

Artillery crew and gun

I have begun painting the red and blue armies. Infantry

and cavalry

The project has stalled a bit due to work but I hope to get it going again soon.