What the WHAT???

So I was surfing the net, and found something that made me go whaaaaaaaaaaaaat? Over on the Games Workshop website, they are advertising an entire chapter of Space Marines for sale, the Astartes Ultra. For only $11,500 you get close to 1,200 miniatures. Really? Even if I had that much money there are so many other things I would rather purchase.

Now if I had money to blow I would consider making the purchase, but then I would have to paint them! UGH. That's a lot of minis to paint. How much primer and paint would that take, and brushes? I really wonder how many, if anyone will buy this? I would have to win the lottery, to even consider it.

I also noticed that like on most website's where you make a purchase there's the quantity option. So yes, if you are so inclined you can buy up to 10! HEH... 10 chapters of Ultramarines. Over 10,000 minis! HUZZAH!

Okay, I just noticed that the Ultramarines Paint Collection is $156. I wonder if that's enough for an entire chapter of Ultramarines? Maybe you would have to purchase two of them?

Oh yeah, you can also add this to your gift list. Maybe I need to start a gift list on their website? What are the odds?

I know I haven't posted in a while, but I'm going to try and post more often.

A New Year

Happy New Year everyone!  I hope every one's holidays were great, and I'm looking forward to 2013.

It should be of no surprise to anyone that the world didn't end, on whatever date some people thought it would.  Of course, the power to my bedroom went all wonky, as in... I have no power, so it's been a sort of "little apocolypse' for me.  The rest of the house is fine.  I don't know what the problem is, and I've replaced the breaker.  Not that big a deal, just limits my Internet time.

My laptop has also been giving me problems.  I think it's time to break down and get a new one.  I was using it to back up some files, and suffered some kind of failure, and I lost some files.  I was transferring them from my desktop, and unfortunately I deleted some of them, but due to the power problems I haven't checked what all was lost yet.  I have some files backed up on Cd's so the loss shouldn't be so bad.  I reinstalled everything, and it's working, but it's still kind of acting weird.

I really hope this doesn't indicate what this year is going to be like.  I'm ready for a good year.  With all the problems I've been having I put all my gaming/writing projects on hold, until I can get this chaos under control.

I really hope I can get some gaming in this year.  2012 wasn't a good gaming year for me.

'Tis the Season

I continue to have Internet connection problems, and it's irking me to no end.  Hopefully,  I can stay connected long enough to get this post up.  It's been a while, but wanted to post something today.

Hopefully today I will finish putting up the Christmas lights.  It's a chore I never enjoy.  Bah humbug...

When I do get connected I've been viewing YouTube videos, and wow, are there a lot of them!  I've been watching videos about making terrain, vblogs about wargaming in general, batreps, and other things.  Watching certain videos has really been synergestic and has given me some ideas.  ( Not like I don't have enough of those already! )  In fact it's inspired me to want to make videos to post on YouTube!  Of course this is going to be a project for next year.

On Black Friday, I want to Half Price Books, and picked up a copy of WarLord Core Rules, it's a ruleset for miniature gaming created by Reaper Miniatures.  I've skimmed through the book, and it seems okay.  A few interesting ideas, and I'm intrigued by the campaign system.  The nice thing is that the book cost me just a little over 50 cents, thanks to the $5 gift card for being one of the first 50 people in line.  Some lucky person won a $100 gift card.  This was my second year getting up early to go do this.  This year I was the second person there, but when more people arrived, I didn't  like the idea of being second in line so I hung back.  Oh well, maybe next year...

Since I've lost the connection once already I will close for now, and get this posted.  Again posting is going to be sporadic for the remainder of the year.  Partially due to computer problems, and partially because I want to get a good start on next year.

I received some bad news yesterday, and it's really put a damper on what little holiday cheer I had to begin with.  Needless to say I trudge onward.

Technical Trouble... Please Stand By...

My main computer has decided to develop some kind of problem with software, and I can't browse the world wide web.  I can connect, but can't load webpages.  So until I can sort out the problem, I'll either surf at the library, or on my laptap, at places with free wifi, which is what I'm doing now.  It's also put a kibosh on frequent blog posting.

A week or so ago, my digital camera also decided to go all wonky, and not take photos.  I can turn it on, and get the menu, but I can't take any photos.  Not sure what the problem is with it, but it may meet the business end of a sledge hammer.  I mean, if it can't be fixed cheaply, then I might as well, have a little  fun.  I'm not sure if these things can even be repaired.  We live in such a disposable society these days.  I once found a VHS and DVD player that someone had thrown away, but I checked it out, and it worked.

I'm not a huge fan of technology right now.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving, and enjoys the holiday.  On Friday I will be heading to Half-Price Books EARLY to get in line for a chance to win the $100 gift card.  Even if I don't win, if I'm one of the first hundred in line I will get a $5 gift card, with that and with the 15% off coupon I have I will get a really cheap gaming book.  I'm not sure what I will get yet, but it may be Warlord, the Reaper's Miniatures rules.

Once again everyone have a safe and happy Thanksgiving!

[ Kinship ] The Dromedary Part Two

The smell of fresh popcorn filled the lobby, as the small group entered the theater.  The snack bar was self-serve, since it was free anyway, although one or two people usually served everyone else.  Otherwise it got a bit crowded behind the counter. 

The candy selection seemed to change every week, and at times it could get very weird.  No one knew what a chocolate covered Meklo was, and no one wanted to find out either.  One thing that never changed was the popcorn.  It was always ready, and always fresh.  No one seemed to question who prepared it.

Fred the Nerd was the first one into the theater, but as the others gathered their snacks, he came back out.

"Someone is in there!  I don't know who it is!"  Walking backwards, Fred stumbled over a kink in the carpet, spilling soda and popcorn everywhere.

Verna walked over to the doors, and glanced inside.  "Oh no worries.  I know who it is.  He's not dangerous... at least not to us.  However, don't sit next to him, or bother him.  He likes his solitude."

The small group of Kinship citizens sat in the back rows, and many of the newcomers wondered who the man was.  The movie wasn't that much different from the original, except the small girl was a boy in this version.

About halfway through the movie, the theater light's flashed on and off.  The projection of the movie vibrated, got blurry, and eventually froze.  A burning spot appeared, and then there was a high pitched wail.  Then a strange, vibrantly colored vortex appeared on the screen.

Larry got to his feet.  "Maybe we better leave?"

A loud roar came over the speakers, and everyone jumped to their feet, except the man in the middle row.  Popcorn, candy, and soda was either dropped, or discarded.

Verna was clutching her hands together.  "This isn't right.  We better get the sheriff."

The vortex grew in size, and something... monstrous was moving through it, into the theater.  The man stood, and in his hand he held an Uzi.  Raising it towards the beast, he started firing, a stream of glowing bullets hitting the beast.  It roared in pain, and a tentacle reached out, and knocked the firearm out of the man's hand.

The man looked back, and most who recognized the man, gasped in surprise.

"You folks better leave now.  I'll handle this."  A sword then appeared from somewhere, and the man turned back toward the monster.  He jumped up on the seat, and leaped towards the monster.  Covering twenty feet easily, the man landed on the monsters chest, and shoved the sword into the monster.

A dagger appeared in the man's other hand, and he began stabbing the tentacles that were now writhing around his body.  The monster reeled, and fell back into the vortex, taking the man with him.  With a whoosh and a pop, the vortex closed.  The monster and the man were both gone.  The movie resumed playing.

Larry, a newcomer, scratched his head.  "Was that? I mean, I've seen the photos, but..."

Verna chuckled.  "Yeah, that was Elvis, not sure if it was Elvis Prime or not, but it doesn't matter.  He always seems to show up when he's needed.  It's a shame that his movie night was interrupted.  Think I'll go tell the sheriff what happened.  I need some coffee now anyway..."

Awesome Dice

Which comes first?  A gamers love of dice, or the love of the games you use them in?  A sort of chicken and egg question.  Of course I think gaming dice are cool.  I like all sorts of dice, specialty, and the plain jane variety.  The very large and the ultra-tiny.  Dice are just cool.

A few months back I received an email from Brian Wood with a request to plug his website, which has a dice store and a blog.  Unfortunately life was a real pain at the time, and I never got around to plugging his site.  I keep seeing the email in the Inbox folder, and finally decided I needed to mention the site.

It's Awesome Dice.  On the blog is a cool article about the "History of Dice".

There's a very cool black Dragonscale dice bag that he sells in the webstore that I am now coveting.  It's a bit pricey at $49.95, but I need a new one, because my ancient, trusty Crown Royal bag finally fell apart.  Unfortunately it's out of stock, which is just as well.  I can't justify buying one right now, but eventually I will.

So if you're looking for some new dice check out Brian's website.