The Mage Knight Project, or My Plastic Obsession...

I spent most of yesterday on the Mage Knight Project, i.e. doing an inventory of every single miniature.  I started with the first release, Mage Knight Rebellion, and spent many hours sorting through plastic bags.  I created a spreadsheet to track numbers and value, which is much better than writing it all out on paper.  I'm not sure if I got them all counted but, I know I'm close.  There may be a few scattered in the other bags, which I'm sure I'll find once I start on the next set.

So far the total number of Rebellion miniatures is 613.  That doesn't count the 50 or, so I sold on eBay last month, or the 54 I just listed there.  The annoying thing is that's not even a complete set!  Aaarrggg...  There are lots and lots of duplicates.  I could field quite an army on the table.  Of course NOW I'm getting obsessed with completing a set.  ( Actually the goal is three sets, one for me, one for my brother, and one to sell or trade. ) Which shouldn't be too difficult, except for the unique figures, which after a bit of research, can be quite pricey!

Next up is Lancers.  I already have the list entered into the spreadsheet, and sorting and counting this set should be easier.  Not so many to sort through.  Of course if I had more space, and a better way to store them it would be so much easier.

I know many gamers don't like Mage Knight, but I do.  I've been reading the rules because it's been a while since I played, and they're nice and simple for the most part.  It's a shame that they don't produce the game anymore.  I look forward to playing again.

Many of the miniatures are available and cheap, and of course can be used in RPGs and other war games.  I'm thinking of using some of them to create a Hordes of the Things army, or for fubar.  Many people rebase, repaint, and even customize them.

I need to network with some other collectors so I can do some trading, and if I keep this up I think a Mage Knight blog may be necessary...

the Dragonbone

Mage Knight figure added for scale.

I'm surprised this ancient gaming artifact has survived, and is in working condition.  I bought it in the mid-1980s.  Well, as near as I can remember, that's when I bought it.  My brain cells aren't good at making their saving throws, and thus my memory suffers...

Anyway, if you don't know, or weren't even alive when these came out, the Dragonbone is an electronic dice roller.  It's got eight settings on a sliding switch, i.e. you can set it to "roll" a three, four, six, eight, ten, twelve, twenty, a percentile dice.  It uses light-emitting diodes, that light up by the numbers printed on the case.  The photo above is not that great, and the details can't be seen.

I used it quite a bit when gaming, whether I was playing in a game, or running one.  I liked it because, it was silent.  I could hit the button behind the screen, and the players wouldn't know I was making a roll.  If they heard dice rolling they would get more alert, or paranoid ( take your pick ), and start scaning their character sheet, or whatever.  I liked being sneaky about rolling dice.  Sometimes I would roll dice just to keep them on their toes.

Now, I didn't use it exclusively.  There's something intrinsic to roleplaying about rolling dice.  It just feels right. I'm a gamer.  I like dice.

I don' think I would use the Dragonbone anymore.  I don't actually think it is all that random.  I've thought about making some "rolls" with it and entering them in a spread sheet, and do the same with analog dice, and make some kind of statistical comparison.  However, I think watching grass grow would be more exciting. Plus, I know nothing, or well, very, very little about statistics.  So... don't hold your breath.

What's Next?

I think I can finally get back on track concerning this blog.  I lost focus the past few weeks, mainly because I was kind of busy, and the heat just sucks the life right out of you.  I'm going to start working on the Kinship project again.  It's one thing I really want to concentrate on, and get completed.

Another thing I want to work on is creating stat blocks for Mage Knight miniatures, in the Rolemaster Standard System.  Now, don't get me wrong, Mage Knight is fun, but it lacks the chaos that RMSS would have at a skirmish level battle.  I literally have access to hundreds, if not over a thousand Mage Knight figures.  Some were mine, and the rest are my brothers.

I'm also getting this itch to create a superhero game using Rolemaster rules.  Why?  I just think it would be fun, but I'm not sure it would work.  It's just an idea, and also I'm not sure if I will work on it.  If I do I would call it Powermaster!

So that's all for today.  I hope most of you are still reading this old gaming blog of mine.  Now, I really want to go see Captain America today, or maybe Conan... or Rise of the Planet of the Apes?  There are too many movie choices!  I hope everyone has a great day!