2012 was a good year but 2013 will be better.

The stars aligned this year and I was able to get some games of Strange Aeons in finally. Events conspired against me a few times (called life) that has really thrown a wrench into my life with my mother in the hospital twice this year and my wife's mother early in the year plus the loss of one of our dogs. It has been a tough year to be honest and like facing the challenges of evil of Cthulu they build your character and you go on taking that next step!

The highlight of this year was taking second place in the Brushoff hosted by Uncle Mike Worldwide. I was shocked and very pleased with this as I don't consider my painting top class but just good table quality. To get an award is a nice acknowledgement to the hard work and hours I put behind a brush.

2013 already  holds some dark portents for my friend Ryan as he will soon get a dose of danger beyond his wildest dreams! Mhahahahahahahha....

I have a pile of miniatures on the work table that I plan to knock our soon then on to some cool scenery that is long overdue along with some scenes of horror.

Also, I hope to launch another story driven contest like last year. We had some simply amazing stuff and I want this year to be even better. With the growth of the player base among the cult of gamers I have hopes of some great reports to grace this blog again!

March is for Cthulu!

Saw the guy in full color on the Reaper Preview Site....mmmmmmmmm...nice for $10. You can rag it all you like but I think it looks pretty damm good!

Well the Mayans got it wrong, it's up to Cthulu!

Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas!

It has been a rough year for me, so I can say without a doubt to appreciate all the time with your family and loved ones. Enjoy times with your friends because you never know when they will be gone or things will change. Peace on Earth and goodwill until Cthulu calls....

Enjoy some funny shots....



Happy 200th Brothers Grimm!

Well, time to get posting here. My mother is doing better, time will tell in the end if the tumor removal was a success or not.

Thanks guys for the weird and morbid tales we grew up with! Take a moment to read about them on Wikipedia, very interesting stuff. I was shocked to hear that the Third Reich used their works as propaganda in World War 2! Wow! 

Read more about them:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brothers_Grimm

Lost in a bad dream...

I think this sums up my past week. My mother went into the hospital and had to have a tumor removed from her brain (one that was about 1/3 of the brain cavity). This explains a great deal of things going on and I have been in shock the past few days.

Those that have been there or something similar it is hard to be told that someone is going to operate on your mother's brain and the risks involved in the process. 

I hope to getting back to some regular posting again of some games and other good stuff at a later time.

Santa has visited Uncle Mikes!

Santa has hacked into Uncle Mike's website and slipped a special treat in the form of a PDF called "Season's Beatings" a special random holiday effects to you Strange Aeons games. Some could be bad, some could be good...

Enjoy!

http://strange-aeons.ca/sa/?p=491

Oh some background on the picture....I made that, I painted that Santa up long ago when I got him in a trade, still need to touch up the eye and such but overall he turned out very nice. I painted up some scatter decoration (the boxes) and added some body parts and beads to the tree as decoration. The background carpet and wall are from my wife's scrapbooking materials and the bookcases are from Heroquest I think. 

Wow! I won 2nd Place!

Well, I am pleased to find out last night that I won second place in the single pack category for the 2012 Brushoff! Hosted by Uncle Mike's Worldwide. I admit, it is rare I win painting awards, I tend to be what I consider middle of the pack painter and converter that looks good on the table. A very cool award to win indeed! Now I have to plot how to spend my winnings! Whooo!

Reaper Bones Update Teaser Shots

Can't wait until March 2013! Cthulu and other goodies!

The Horror of Hobby Lobby!

Well, found this gem for $3.99 at Hobby Lobby! Almost damm perfect, it is made out of cardboard (very heavy stock) and appears to have some great potential! This works well for both 1920's and WW2 themed house....

Detail shots with figures to scale it...

Front

Side

Back

Top off

had to put a base under the figures to stand even with the door cut.

Another shot

Inside looking out a window.

2012 Uncle Mike's Brushoff! Ends Nov. 30th!

Just a reminder that Uncle Mike's Worldwide is hosting their once a year contest and the closing date is quickly approaching! If you have some Strange Aeons figures from Uncle Mike's range post them up or paint them up quickly if they are sitting around unpainted! You still have a few days and a pack is just 3 figures on average!

Here is the rules straight from the website:

As always, we’ll be rewarding the three best painted packs of official Strange Aeons miniatures.  Any pack will do, but you must paint the whole pack!  And to make things a little more interesting this year, we’re adding a second category: Big Kits and Battle Scenes.  For this one, you can either paint one of our large kits (Godling, Dark Puppeteer or Crypt of Cthulhu) – OR – one Threshold pack doing battle with any one Lurker pack.  You’re free to enter into both categories as many times as you wish, but note that you may not submit the same models in both categories.

So, how about prizes?  Well, with double the categories, we’ve obviously had to double the loot, so here’s what each category will dole out:

• 1st Place: $30 UMW Webstore certificate, plus THREE unreleased models!
• 2nd Place: $20 UMW Webstore certificate, plus TWO unreleased models!
• 3rd Place: $10 UMW Webstore certificate, plus ONE unreleased model!

Want to get in on this bounty?  Well then get painting, and send photos of your entry to contests@strange-aeons.ca, or post them in the Strange Aeons area at Lead Adventure Forum.  We’ll add your photo to our Gallery, where you’ll be able to view your handiwork pitted against your competition.  Need some inspiration?  Check out the BrushOff! 2010 and 2011 Galleries, where you can still view all the entries from our past competitions.

You have until 11:59PM MST (GMT -7) on November 30th to submit your masterpiece(s).  Let the BrushOff! begin!

Product Review: Litko Mounted Horse Markers (duplicate post from Dice of Legends)

This was posted on by Dice of Legends Blog but I added it here due to the special rules in Strange Aeons to use horses. Now, the problem is finding some 1920's figures that are mounted...problem solved!

I got home from the Thanksgiving holidays and had a package waiting for me that included two Litko Character Mount Markers.

As you can see I put one together and left one in the package to see how you would get the product if you want to order your own.

Assembly was fairly simple, but does require a touch of glue to hold them into place. Unlike other plastic markers like Gale Force 9  markers that lock together, you need something to keep them stable. Is the glue required, no, but it helps.

The horse comes in two parts, the front and back with a central plastic clear disk that has two forks that connects to the two horse half's with a central slot that also holds a stem from both parts to a central part of the disk for more support. Overall  it is a well done design and a smart concept.

Here is one of the Litko Horses with a Foundry Old West Figure. The Horse I got is mounted on a 40mm round base.

Another shot with a Black Cat Bases Adventurer

What is nice about these markers is that you can use them for any game system from Fantasy, Old West to really anything else that could involve a figure needing to be mounted and helps avoid the work of having to make a mounted version of a figure to use in games. On the flip side, they are just that a marker, not as pretty as a figure would be and you have to make the call one what you would be willing to accept for your games. Personally, I like the markers....the only other downside I can see with these markers is needing several for a game as that can rack up in price.

FRP Games has them at $4.79 each. The downside with them is the shipping can get pricey unless you are getting a bunch of stuff which is nice if you are picking up a variety of gaming stuff for various games.

Litko has it for sale on their site also for $5.99 plus shipping.

Here is how you can get them in colors and base sizes:

Warhorse colors:

Opaque Brown

Opaque Black

Opaque White

Base Sizes and Shapes:

50x25mm, GW style rectangular base

2 inch square, perfect for fantasy grid gaming

40mm round, for skirmish battle games

50mm round, for use with the larger scale skirmish games.

Litko is having a 20% off sale until Cyber Monday. They have a variety of cool stuff, I keep eyeing the Cthulu Dice Tower!

Happy Thanksgiving and a Challenge for you folks!

Well, I want to take a moment and wish a Happy Thanksgiving to those that celebrate it today. Take a moment to be thankful about everything in life from your loved ones, family, friends as well as those that serve country. Count the blessings of health we have and the food we have been provided as we are more fortunate than many others in the world. Even those that perhaps live next door to us or those that may be in our life we don't know are suffering in some way.

My challenge is this, I had a moment at a store today. I started to buy something for scenery and I put it back, instead at the register I bought some Matchbox Cars for Toys for Tots. Instead of getting something for myself, I chose to give to others less fortunate. It wasn't much and my wife and I will do more in the future as we always do, but when your out and about, take that moment and do the same.

Liebster Award

A kind gent nominated this blog for the Liebster award! Mathyoo from the 28 Millimeters Later has been a great follower here keeping tabs on this seductive game called Strange Aeons and as he commented on his blog that my blog is proof his stuff is not all zombies! Still, if you want a great blog about zombies, zombies, zombies...good god I sound like a Cranberries song! Serious, go check out his blog it's pretty cool....

So, anyway, here are the rules for the award nominations:

1. Copy and paste the award on your blog linking it to the blogger who has given it you.

2. Pass the award to your top 5 favourite blogs with less than 200 followers by leaving a comment on one of there posts to notify them that they have won the award and listing them on your own blog.

3. Sit back and bask in the warm fuzzy feeling that comes with knowing you have made someone's day!

4. There is no obligation to pass this onto someone else but its nice if you take the time to do so.


In no order here are some great blogs to check out and are my nominations to pass it on!

1) Noble Pursuits a new blog to my blog roll that I have been following but also has some very excellent posts about scratch building scenery. Well worth taking a gander at!

2) Mike's Wargaming and Modeling another new face to my blog roll but has some excellent posts and simply an amazing painter, very inspiring when I found his blog and added it to my list to keep track of.

3) Scotts War-gaming again I seem to be on a theme of new arrivals that has inspired me of late in my readings of blogs. Scott's stuff has a variety of posts that will no doubt fit anyone's palate when it comes to wargaming!

4)Hobbyworker is yet another new blog to my roll that I found while looking for great material for Bolt Action. This blog has a variety of great material from battle reports to scratch building scenery. A great blog for those that are historical minded.

5) Sippin' on Paint Water this is perhaps the oldest of the 5 nominations I am giving out on my list. What is great about this blog is the variety of wargames that is covered and the fresh quality it breathes into the hobby.

When your cult needs a ride...get one with style!

There was a funny and annoying story to this rather cool 1912 Model T, Captain Morgan truck.

I bid on this just right before my cruse last month, when I got back around the 4th, it turns out I won it. Which I didn't expect. I also had a "claim" filed against me by Ebay as the seller did not get payment in 3 or 4 days, something like that. Yea, I was like 2-3 days behind paying on the deadline. No message asking me what is going on, just a claim. Well, that first night I was back, I paid it promptly, emailed the seller that I was out of the states and had no Internet access (my wife and I left our tech at home, that cruise was about us) and the claim was closed out.

I wait, then wait....nada...mind you I paid for Priority Mail for this baby. Then finally after the week it said to wait on Ebay for delivery I sent the seller a message. He told me he was mailing it Thursday. I finally got it today on Monday, cheaper rate on the box than what I paid also.

Well, I wanted it and it was cool. Yes, I paid a little more than the average price of my other classic cars (about double) and postage for a single car instead of a group of them being mailed. It just makes me laugh that this could be a cultist vehicle hiding horrors beyond the realm of the human mind! If anything, after a hard won battle they can have a drink with the captain, no matter who the winner is!

\

Shot of the vehicle with a figure from Black Cat.

Did Cthulu sink the Titanic?

Well, this was an amusing thought I had while walking through the Titanic exhibit today with my wife. Perhaps it wasn't an iceberg! The era was right you know!

Oddly, I am not the only one with these ideas...

It was a good weekend, hobby work has been going along but slow due to this weekend (being away and all) but  I am picking back up but Thanksgiving and a trip out of town may slow me down more but I hope to have some great stuff ready to shock and awe Ryan with terror beyond his hopes and dreams!

Stay tuned for some fun stuff to turn up in the near future!

3rd Week of Gaming, Bonus Pictures!

Ryan's Lurkers from Game 1

The Mummy clashes with the character over his fallen Agent!

The table..

random shot from game 2

Random shot of the table with cars..

another shot of the table from game 2

game 2 table

Game 1 table setup

Game 1 deployment Threshold

Game 1 Deployment Lurker

The mummy hides behind the pillar to avoid being shot.

Threshold advances into cover.

Ryan's Lurkers stalk their prey...

Havoc with the Mummy again..

A closer shot..

Game 2. Ryan's Character hidden in a building.

Agents with Tommy gun and Rifle take the high ground.

Lurkers linger in the ruins...

More shots of the field...my last Lurker advancing...

Game 3: Ryan's Mad Science Lurkers

My deployment from game 3.

Ryan's Lurkers advancing

Mad Scientist leads from the rear!

More shots of game 3

Scientist uses cover...

Captain Jack spies danger...

More shots of the carnage of game 3...

Game 3 more shots as the game gets near the end.

Game 3 towards the end again...

That's all folk!