Society of Accruement

Challenge

Bring me MOAR MODELS!!!

Have you ever looked at your collection and thought "Sweet unholy FUCK I have a lot of stuff"?
It struck me the other day just how much stuff I have, sitting about, not being used any more. Old projects started and forgotten, items I meant to 'come back to'. Finished projects I'm no longer happy with. I have so many old singular painted models that just sit in their cases, un-used, un-loved and un-given-a-shit-about. And it occurs to me, many people probably have this same problem. Models just sitting about collecting dust, basking in their fading glory lights, placidly awaiting their next trip to the table which, in all honestly, will never happen in their current incarnation.
Thusly I have resolved to do something about this.
Each month I plan on going through 1 box/case/pile of old models, select 10 models and either strip and (re)paint them or donate them to someone deserving (most likely my old gaming club/FLGS). I'm doing this in an effort to reduce the vast amount of individual and single miniatures I have floating about between my apartment and my mum's place. As I have sold most of my armies via the Ebays to make some quick cash, I have little in the way of cohesive units any more, and it's too much of a hassle to get rid of individual models that way (usually because the rose-tinted goggles will get in the way of pricing and I'll have an issue parting with them for anything less than a greatly inflated sense of worth and therefor be "that guy" on E-bay... which will ruin my rating).
If done correctly I should be able to cut the chaff of my hoard and bring it down to a nice lean, and more importantly, PAINTED collection.
 Let's see if I can do this.

Until next time,
scrub scrub scrub
Bean out~

Brick by Brick

Tuesday Tutorials

This is How I build things... WITH EYE LASERS!

I was puttering about other day when, with sudden terror, I realized something shocking: Other than my trusty green flocked mat, I have absolutely NO terrain to play wargames on. NONE. Zip. Zero. Ziltch.
My gorge rose into my throat.
My stomach fell out.
I broke into a cold sweat.
I'll even admit... there were tears... teeny tiny bitter tears of a sad sad man.

What caused this sudden realization?
A clutch of my friends were coming out to play said wargames at my apartment THE NEXT DAY.
There was only one answer:
Cancel games night  Oh NAY NAY!
TO THE DIY STORE! (Staples, natch~)

Warning! Warning! Warning! Warning! Warning!

What follows is but one mans ill-conceived and fevered attempts to build a 4'x4' tables worth of terrain in 6 hours! MADNESS WILL ENSUE! (also backpain)

Tripping the Rift(s)

Roleplaying

I've recently had a revelation of sorts in regards to roleplaying games. Many games out there are, simply put, not Newbie friendly. Too many older games are not designed for an easy introduction into it's fat, bloated awesomeness and, due to this, have garnered a rather awful opinion from the hobby player-base. I aim to fix this with a few of my favored RPG systems starting with Numero Uno on the Internet Hate List: Palladium games' Rifts.

This game has been around since August 1990 and has been added to, quarterly, since then. That is 23 years of material NOT including the various other Palladium Games systems THAT ALL TIE INTO THE RIFTS SETTING. After the Bomb, Beyond the Supernatural, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and other Strangeness, Nightbane, Palladium Fantasy, Heroes Unlimited, Dead Reign, Robotech, Chaos Earth, The Mechanoids AND MORE all create the MEGAVERSE, a realm of infinite possiblities.... and infinite BLOAT. This game is FAT as hell. There is over 60 books just for Rifts let alone the other systems and the Rifter Magazine (Palladium Games' quarterly magazine) which all add more material for the players and GM's to use. HOLY HELL that is a lot of material to sift through.

Which is an impossible task for the starting player.

*I have a special relationship with Palladium Games. They were the makers of the first roleplaying game I ever played (Robotech)... back when I was 7. I've been a fan ever since. I also have many varied opinions about the palladium system, some bad, some good, and am always willing to discuss them. Suffice to say I'm a fan, but not a fan-boi and if anyone wants my opinions, please ask... I love a discussion.

Who loves you and who do you love??

Behind the Screen

KILLIAN!!!

I've been thinking about games recently (Duh!) and came up with this interesting little time waster while sitting about wasting time. The idea is a quick to begin, simple to play, roleplaying game to play 'off the cuff' if something happens on a regularly scheduled gaming night (Such as the GM running late, multiple people forgot their characters, etc. etc.). The concept is based (torn savagely/plagiarized/stolen, borrowed heavily) from THE RUNNING MAN, a most excellent and awesome Arnold Swartzeneggar movie from the 80's written by Stephen King(!). The story is as follows (From ImDB): 
 The year is 2017. The world economy has collapsed. The United States has sealed off it's borders and has become a military controlled police state which controls TV, movies, art, books, communication and censorship. In the police state America has become, criminals have a choice. They can serve their sentences in prison or they can take part in "The Running Man" a government owned violent game-show where contestants running for freedom are pursued by "Stalkers" wrestler-like bounty hunters. "The Running Man" is the top rating show on network TV and Damon Killian, the creator and host is the most popular entertainer in the US. But one man has yet to play... Former L.A. police officer Ben Richards, framed for the massacre of innocent people, when disobeyed orders is recaptured, after escaping from prison. Ben is forced to appear on "The Running Man", joined by resistance fighters William Laughlin and Harold Weiss and Amber Mendez, (a network employee who Richards took hostage and she turned Richards into the authorities) are chased by The Stalkers, as they search for the secret base of the resistance, as they bid to broadcast the truth about the government and prove Ben's innocence.

Thaco is Wacko (If you're a teen)

Dungeons with a small order of Dragons

Over the last 3 months I've been playing a large number of RPG's with ye olde gaming group. Dark Ages Vampire, AD&D (2ed), Rifts, Pathfinder, Deathwatch and more... And I 've noticed something... peculiar. Published modules, barring those from an earlier age of D&D (namely AD&D and many OD&D/1st edition), are not roleplay friendly. Don't get me wrong, they are fun (mostly...), but they are NOT built for players who want to decide their fate.
With a few rare exceptions, modules published within the last 15-odd years tend to be closed-ended and written with specific player interactions in mind. The games have a story that the players follow, step-by-step, like an animal following a carrot on a stick.

336 hours in...

It’s week two of my 90 day challenge and I can’t believe of the changes and challenges that have happened in just a 14 day period.  So far I’m really enjoying the majority of them but others not so much. I intend to follow the course and see where this ship leads….

Sedition Wars!!

Unboxing

AWWW YEAH!! HAPPY DANCE.

  Today has been a very good day. Today, the start of my Sedition Wars Kickstarter items arrived (better late than never!). I also had an awesome steak for dinner, but that's beside the point. This has taken a bit to get to me, and I have been waiting with baited breath ever since the kickstarter ended. Alas none of the additions have made their way out yet, so I must make due without all of the awesome extras I paid for (Exo-suit, Carapace Armour Kara, The FIREFLY CREW, Riddick, that dude from Dead space, Ripley & Newt & Vasquez, That chick from Battlestar Galactica, et all~). Thus I shall show you all the magic that is the main boxed set along with a few of the initial shipment extras I recieved and let you all see what an impressive product this is.

 Note: This is going to be a long post.

Droooooool.

AAAAAAnnyways, Join me now as I unbox this awesome new game!

Warning! PICTURE and WORD HEAVY!!