This Was Prairiecon XXXIII

 

As threatened, last weekend (1-3 June) Conscripts Greg B., Mike F. and me made the trek out to Brandon, Manitoba for Prairiecon XXXIII. We were happy to see Conscript ("Chemical") Cam out as well, having come down from his new home in Minnedosa.

Greg and I ran some game there too. On Saturday morning I rolled out a Star Wars Starship Battles "Hoth" game, using some extra rules additions to the basic game. They worked out pretty well. My wife made the papier-mache ice planet!
 

Space carnage abounded and I think the 5 others who played had a good time :-)

Prairiecon was back at Assiniboine Community College this year and I think it worked out great. I used to be very involved with Prairiecon when I lived in Brandon (and have the "President-in-Exile" t-shirt to prove it ;-) and I try to go out every year to run a couple games and help where I can. For a long time now I've been involved in the used game auction which is great fun - "Yes, it's compatible with AD&D! Copyright date? marred and illegible!" Cam apparently stole bought a bunch of 40K stuff for cheap cheap after the auction... got that stuff painted yet Cam? It's been a week!!

Some of the miniatures gaming (including Warhammer 40K and Fantasy) went down in the gym. Lotsa space but really hot down there.

Greg's Robotech game was a hit, as usual. Amazing figures and terrain surface. He always seems to be able to design a good close scenario - something I aspire to but often fall short of...

I ran a Star Wars "Hoth" ground battle game as well. It was a fun time but a bit of a walkover for the Rebels. "Recall the Transports...!"

I spiffed up the terrain a bit by faking up a hangar at the Rebel end of the table.

New Shield Generator looked pretty decent.

"Suck on some Dak! AAAaaaaaaa..."

This young feller was the Rebellion's star asset. Here he is posing with the critical hit he scored on the hapless Cam's Imperials...

All in all, great times at the 'con. One's brain is always fried after a weekend of gaming and this was no different. It's good fun to roll out your stuff and put on a game for a convention, and it helps the 'con out too. Highly encouraged if you've never done it, and if you have, I salute you!

Another Poll Winner

Well, the latest poll has concluded, and it looks like 15mm Bavarians are the winner.

Regular readers of this blog will recall that we typically pressure/abuse fellow conscript Cam into painting something - indeed, anything. Cam, while we're on that topic, I understand the modern Chinese have arrived. I look forward to photos, uploaded via Iphone!

But for fun, it was time to pressure Mike F a little bit too. Thanks to our abuse of Mike F, he now collects British troops for, what is it, five different periods? And he's been great about it. His modern 25mm brits are awesome, as are the WW2 ones, and his 6mm modern brits have dished out (and received) quite a bit of abuse to my Warsaw Pact chaps. And who can forget Future Gordon Brown?

Seeing Mike F's strong progress along the path to the dark side, it's time for him to take the ultimate plunge. Come on Mike....I need to order some 15mm Austrian stuff anyways, so let's get some 15mm Bavarians from AB miniatures via Eureka, track down an Osprey book for painting reference (pictured above for convenience), and your journey to the dark side will be complete!

And I guess it's time to think of a new poll...

New Poll

Well, it was getting to be high-time for another Fawcett Poll, so I have switched them up. This one will help you provide input into a very important question - which faction should we pressure Mike F into collecting and painting for Napoleonics? After all, I've been pressuring him for some time, but he has always been able to say back "well, where should I start?". A fair question. This poll should help close down that avenue of escape, and push him toward something that will help our overall Napoleonic gaming efforts.

As for the last poll, which dealt with "what should happen next" on the friendly planet Toxo IV, the winner was "brutal street fighting". Watch for a game invite before the end of the year that will provide for this.

Now let the pressuring of Mike F begin!

And Cam, FYI - don't take this as a signal that we're letting up on you in any way. You had better paint a platoon of modern PLA - and soon...

Famous Model Soldier Painters Gather Tonight

Since I just got back to town after a business trip (and subsequently am too lazy to set up a game) tonight will be a "painting night"...

So bring out your Tau, GuenSchwarm, Tesla Coils, Space Orks, or whatever else you're working on, we will have a beer and slap a bit of paint on. Usual place, 7:30pm.

Cheers,

Dallas

Progress? What is this "progress" you speak of?

Oooh snap, is that actual paint being applied to actual figures? At this rate, 2 more reading weeks and I'll be laughing...

Still to paint:vehicles, vehicles and more vehicles and some battlesuits to boot (lots). I'll need to cannibalize some suits to build other units, I'm thinking (s'a lot of markerlight drones to scratch build).

Commander Farsight: 170
Bodyguard (HW Drone controller w/ 2 shield drones, HW multi-tracker, HW target lock, Shield Generator, Missile Pod, Fusion Blaster)x 4: 301
Battlesuit Team (Team Leader, Bonding Knife, Fusion Blaster, Flamer, Shield Generator) x3: 188
Stealth Team (Team Leader, Bonding Knife, Drone controller and 2 marker drones)x3: 275
Fire Warrior Team (Shas'ui, Bonding Knife, Devilfish w/Decoy/disruption/multi/SMS)x6: 190
Fire Warrior Team 2: 190
Pathfinders (Shas'ui, Bonding Knife, Devilfish)x7: 176
Broadside (Target Lock) x2: 150
Hammerhead (Decoy/disruption/multi/SMS): 180
Hammerhead 2: 180
___________
2000pts

Pig Iron Project

A while back I posted some "in progress" shots of my Pig Iron Kolony Militia project. Now that they are done (and have been for a week or so) I thought I'd post a final "portrait" of the crew with their converted SU-300 self-propelled assault gun. Since the last update I had finished the groundwork, painted the eyepieces using a simple "gem" technique and a gloss varnish and did some general touch up and matt varnishing. The standard bearer has yet to be given his "red rag" but Brian assures me it's coming and I know it will be top-class work - he is the man behind Vaubanner Graphics (http://www.mts.net/~homenic1/vaubanner/vaubandex.html), purveyors of top-quality historical wargames flags.

This was a pretty fun project and I think I will be adding to the "army" with another booster pack of ten models to fill out the platoon to a full strength of 32.

The Official Cam Painting Challenge

Example of someone who might suffer if Cam does not finish his Tau in time

So Dave V has stepped up the pressure on Cam to get his Tau painted in time for Mekanicon (sp? why can't these events spell things properly?). If Cam can get 1500 points of Tau ready for the tournament, Dave V will make a donation to a charity of Cam's choice, such as the Salvation Army. That means that actual improvements to society are now on the line, as well as just general having-fun.

Great idea Dave V!

Of course, as much fun as it is to pressure Cam, we can't have him feel the WHOLE world will suffer or something, so in addition to pressuring Cam, we will also provide updates on his progress, which will no doubt be impressive as he seeks to ensure young people, such as the one pictured above, do not go without.

And to help ensure Cam does not endure the pressure by himself, I will open the following proposal to Cam: Since I have (not quite literally) a ton of unpainted 40k Imperial Guard stuff, I will allow Cam to select for me any kind of Imperial Guard force, and I will paint it up for the tournament as well. I have unpainted Chimeras, unpainted Sentinels, many unpainted Steel Legion dudes, and unpainted regular plastic dudes, and I think even some unpainted Valhallans. So Cam, here it is - if you get 1500 points of fresh Tau, I will prepare 1500 points of fresh Imperial Guard at the same time.

So Cam, enjoy the holiday season, and starting in January, the process will begin...

The Cam Challenge

This will be simple - can Cam paint 1500 points of 40k stuff to participate in this tournament? Of course he can! And we can all have fun pressuring him!

I haven't played in any 40K tournaments (or, any tournaments) since the WarCon days, and from what I can tell, this "Mechani-Kon" seems to be organized by a couple of sprogs who used to play in the WarCon events. So I think I will get off my duff and roll out for this one, even if only to remind myself why I stopped participating in 40k tournaments. Nothing like having your clock cleaned by some 10-year old with a Chaos Terminator army primed that morning with some kind of Testor's metallic paint. But the 5th edition rules are not too bad (still can't shoot people charging at you, but anyway) and I have some 40k figs that need to get whipped by someone else other than Dave's V deadly Swordwing contingent.

Also, I understand they will be allowing some demonstration games on both days, so it might be fun to roll a game of Red Storm on the sidelines of the Warmachine/Hordes events on the first day. Hopefully Dallas and Mike will be up for that....

In the meantime, Cam - mark your calendar, and start painting!! With the miracle of black primer, you will be there in no time.