Partial Review of Slant by Greg Bear

Author:  Greg Bear.
Title:  Slant.
Publisher:  TOR.
Copyright:  1997.
Price:  $6.99

Overview:
Greg Bear is an excellent writer.  I enjoyed his stories about Mars.  I picked up Slant from my younger sibling's collection to read when I waited in a local ER this week.

This is a partial review of Slant.  I read the beginning and the end of the novel.  It's awful.  There's no way to hide it.  Bear must have written it for the money.  Basically, its a story about nano-technology, Michigan militia types in Idaho and an evil cryro-genetics institute.  Basically, cyberpunk meets Heaven's Gate in the land of radioactive potatoes.

Much of the book's premise is dated in a post-9/11 world.  It's very 1990s.  Unlike a bad movie, I can only stomach so much of a bad novel.  It's like moldy potato salad.  It'll only make you sick.  There're no redeeming qualities like comic badness or over the type acting  like Sharknado.

I threw it down and watch Sponge-Bob Square Pants for a hour while my father slept.  I cursed myself for not taking the current book by C.J. Cherryh I'm reading with me.  I want to get several hours of my life back.

Slant is definitely not recommended.  

Warlord AAR, 21FEB14

Glenn Wilson (Warbeads) and I played an army of High Elves against a combine 25mm Mongol/GW Empire army ran by Don Cox and Kevin Joyce.  The usual mayhem occurred last night at Game Nite in St. Louis, MO.  Alas, I have no photos.  I left my camera's battery to charge along with the camera at my house when I left yesterday afternoon.

The game was an arrow fest.  I lost several infantry units to archery.  Kevin's Mongols suffered a similar fate on the left flank of the High Elf army.  I was never able to close with Don's Empire infantry.  Glenn got into combat with Kevin.  That turned into a bloody mess.  Kevin was down to one cavalry unit and Glenn had two infantry units at 50% losses.  Glenn had to leave.  We called the game at that point.  I conceded the field of battle to Don and Kevin (smelly humans).   Not a good day for the arrogant fairies in blue...

 However, we're still using an OOP rule system by Max Carr called Warlord.  I've added some black powder modifications.  We'll play test them at some point.  However, we haven't used the magic in all the years I've played (some 25 years).  But there are rules for siege warfare and some simple campaign rules, too.

I'll be sure to have photos of next month's game...
Blake

WIP, Protectorate of Menoth Warjacks, 09FEB14

Here are photos of some of the painting I accomplished this weekend.  Namely, three Menoth Heavy Jacks:

             Two heavy Warjacks I've used in my battlebox games along with a an Avatar of Menoth.

                                         Another shot of the three WIP Warjacks in need of basing.

Painting bug got to me this weekend... Along with the flu!

I came down sick Thursday evening/Friday morning.  I spent the afternoon in bed.

However, I got up in the evening and painted.  I focused on my "big" painting project; namely, a 180 figure 28mm 1870 Bavarian infantry brigade and command.  I worked on the regimental colors for the cuffs, collars, and shoulder pads.  I got four battalions completed today.

I then moved on and finished up painting 30mm Warmachine Protectorate of Menoth heavy warjacks.  I stayed up until the wee hours finishing those.  Now, I need to flock bases and eventually seal them when the weather get better in March.  I looked into my Menoth bag.  I have dozens of figures to prime, or strip and prime, and then paint.  This's what I get for my trouble when I traded away a 30mm Warriors of Chaos WHFB army away for a Warmachine collection.  Ugh...  It will eventually get paint.  I just don't know when.

I have all this 28mm FPW armies to complete.  Along with my remaining 40K armies.

Regards and best of luck painting,
Blake  

How would the Death of GW affect your gaming?

I'm just curious.  How would the death of GW affect your gaming?  Do you have lots of many sunk into GW figures and armies like I do?  Do you use them for other gaming systems?

I'm curious to learn what other people do with their figures.  I'm using GW High Elves for a generic fantasy game this afternoon at a local gaming shop.

Regards,
Blake

28mm ECW AAR - 18JAN14

I ran a 28mm English Civil War game at Wargamers Cave in Granite City, IL on Saturday, January 18th.  My players were Glenn Wilson (Warbeads), Steve Hood (Combat Colours), Kevin Joyce, and Don Cox.  Glenn and Steve were the Royalists.  Don and Kevin were the Parliamentarians.  I didn't bother to let them have cuirassier or cannons this game.  It was infantry and cavalry.  We used Warhammer ECW for rules.

The jokers had fun at my expense.  I was told I didn't want to do "serious" gaming like certain people in St. Louis who still play Empire.  The jokes went downhill from there.  However, the battle see-sawed until the Parliamentarians lost both their horse regiments and an infantry regiment by the end of turn 5.  The game was then conceded.

Here are some photos of the Royalists and their "commoner" opponents:

                                         Beginning of the battle.

                                          Parliamentarian and Royalist cavalry in melee.

                                          Parliamentarian infantry try and reform in the face of the Royalist advance.

                                          Near the end of turn 4.

28mm Darkest Africa AAR: 27DEC13

The British fought the Germans in a Great War in Africa game using The Sword in Africa.  A company of British regulars took on a platoon of German marines and a platoon of German askaris.  It was a downhill for the Germans.  Lance Western ran the British and Don Cox ran the Germans.  Here are some photos of the game:

                                          British and German firing lines at the beginning of the battle.

                                          Lance moves up his company of British regulars.

                                          What's left of Don Cox's units break on army morale.