So long and thanks for all the fish...

Just kidding, well sort of. I'm going to change the format of my blogging so that is a general gaming blog instead of game specific. As much as I love Dystopian Wars, I'm currently not doing anything with it. In fact right now I'm painting up Eldar models that I've had for over 20 years. Go fig. So a new blog will be coming soon, and I will update these old ones with links. Hopefully I'll get back to DW soon.

Playing Games

So a few months ago, I started this blog because I wanted to get back to playing games again. I've been doing hobby stuff like this for my whole life and have gone through several different phases. Right now, I'm in the "I want to play, but play what I want" phase, which isn't a bad place to be. And when I started this, my game of choice was Dystopian Wars. That is what I wanted to play.

So the hope there was to try to kickstart the DW community in my area and get some games on the tables. Well to be blunt, it didn't quite work out. And it really is my fault. You see I let myself get sucked into other games again. Games which had momentum and people playing them. Or, it was a great game that I also wanted to see get some support. These things are never really as simple as they should be.

On the one hand, DW has a few issues with it, the largest being time required to play. A good sized game can take a long long time to finish. Even just a battle box game takes a good bit. So a good part of me is really hoping that V2.0 streamlines the play so that it goes faster. When you have this big flaw in a game that you perceive, it is pretty hard to get motivated to play it....it comes off as "its a great game, but..."

On the other hand, I have two games that are pulling me away from my DW time. Warmachine has appealed to me for a long time, but I never liked the rules. Well the rules are much better now and there is a strong community here. Bolt Action! is a fantastic game, and I have a friend who is spearheading its introduction here locally. I have to support him because I'm the one who got him into the game. And it really is an incredible game.

So yesterday I packed up my Dystopian Wars forces and put them away. I hope to get back to them soon (ie early next year) because it too is a good game. And it is a game I want to play, and a company I want to support. So thank you to all my readers. I hope you enjoyed this blog. It will be going on hiatus until further notice.

Brother G.

p.s. after packing up all my stuff, I found four trays of stuff that I had missed. :)

I'm back!

Hey Sports Fans,

Well I am back from vacation. I took a cruise down to Bermuda with the family and had a great time. Unfortunately, I was pretty much cut off from the interwebs (cost too much to keep my phone connected). So wanted to get a post up now that I'm back home. Thank you to everyone still checking out the blog. You guys are troopers.

My lastest Dystopian news is that I came within inches of buying a ton of stuff. Miniatures Market is having this huge sale on DW and Legions stuff. However, I was on the boat and thus cut off from making purchases. Once I got back home, the things I really wanted were already out of stock. Still, I had over a $150 in my cart but then decided against it. I already have lots of models still in boxes, and it just seemed silly to spend more, even on such an amazing sale.

But damn, had the stuff I had wanted been in stock, I'd have easily dropped $200 on that sale. I just love Spartan's line. Hopefully I'll be able to get back to it soon.

Once again, thanks guys for checking out the blog even with lame updates such as this. I promise better stuff will be coming soon.

I'm a bad blogger

So I just realized that I have not blogged here for weeks! Granted, I've not been doing anything with DW, but still, I didn't have a clue that I wasn't talking about it at all.

Well locally, I have no clue what is going on with Dystopian. I'm not playing it, and I'm not painting. August came and went with basically zero progress on my forces. How did that happen? I spent my time playing on my computer. That's how. Just being honest. Those darn moving pixels get me every time.

There was one guy who was trying to get a DW night over at Guardian Games in Portland. Fantastic new store and I really hope he is getting some interest.

So then what is Spartan up to? Well it seems these guys are just guns a blazin' with all sorts of stuff. They just released bundles for Dystopian Legions. Now I own Prussians due to a sweet deal, but I'd really love to own the Blazing sun group. I've read the rules some but haven't gotten a game in. But it looks good. I have typically enjoyed the Spartan gameplay mechanics. I have no fear that DL would be any different. Just gotta find the time.

Also, Spartan has been previewing their plans for Planetfall, which seems to be their Firestorm Armada version of Dystopian Legions. People must be buying their stuff somewhere, and I wished I lived there. This has them creeping up to five game systems. That is pretty unbelievable for such a new comer to the market. But based on the Legions models, these guys are not slacking off in the quality department, so I expect the Planetfall stuff to be just as amazing.

Well that's it for this edition of "Dead Blog Walking". I'll try not to be away for so long next time.

Still here

Hey Sports Fans,

So I'm still here, and the blog is still going...but its more like on life support at the moment. We are waiting for that kidney to come in. Or something like that. I've not been doing anything at home and not even reading web sites this week. It has just been a monster at work and at home.

I mean I am barely getting in my League of Legends game a day! The insanity! For realz though (heh), I really have been super busy. Spent the whole weekend carting my daughter to various fields for her soccer tournament (her team took second). We didn't even cook a single meal at home the whole weekend. Now I'm a cheap bastard...and my wife really doesn't like to eat out frivolously, so you know it had to be bad for that to happen.

School is also about to start. My son is a senior in HS and has his first football game this week. The kids have a little over a week and a half before hitting the books again. And soccer cranks into high gear around the same time. So I'll be putting on my taxi cab hat if you know what I mean.

Still, there needs to be me time. I shall return to DW soon. Just not today though.

Monday morning update

Hello True Believers,

Today is another small update. My models moved from one desk to another. Beyond that, the only Dystopian Wars stuff I touched was my KoB fleet, and that was only to take a picture of it for a potential trader.

There she is in all her glory. I've only had the fleet for a few months truth be told. Never even got in the water unfortunately. However, she was my fifth fleet, and the smallest one at that. In a slight breaking of the fourth wall, I have gotten into Warmachine and am actually starting up a blog there. This fine set of ships is being traded for a bunch of Cryx models to fill some gaps and give me more options for my Denny list.

Heck, just looking at this fleet, you can't help but think, "that's cool." That carrier is just crazy-sauce. Last night as I was putting away the models I noticed how the AA guns on the carrier matched the guns on the escorts. That made me smile. What a wonderful bit of detail that really helps tie in the ships together. Just one of those things that I love about Dystopian Wars models. Hopefully the new owner will get some good use out of these. I also didn't mind getting rid of them as Robert already has KoB on lockdown. No need to show him up with his own fleet. ;)

Also thinking about letting my French fleet go. I have to say I'm not a huge fan of France in general (though full props to them for helping us win our independence from England. Thanks Lafayette.) so I don't have a huge incentive to keep them. Plus, getting the Chinese fleet keeps me at three, which is not a bad number to have.

Besides, my hope is to trade/sell it locally and gain another Dystopian Wars player in the area. Stranger things have happened. But back to the status, the models are on the table, space was cleared, paint was moved. Now all I need is some motivation and time, and we'll get some more paint on my Blazing Suns. Until next time gentle readers.

Dystopian Wars in August

Hello sports fans. This is my first new update since the revelation post a few days ago. Whether or not this holds your attention remains to be seen. But here we go anyways. :) (as a slight aside, my typing has gotten so bad....)

In the last few days, I have actually looked at my Dystopian models...I even picked up the heavy walker of my Blazing Sun and made it do a little dance on my desk. Beyond that though, no real progress on the painting.
Booo Hisssssss
However.....I did actually make a few purchases with them in mind. My main hobby shop recently moved into a much larger space and so I had to go check it out on Friday during lunch hour. I picked up a few new basing materials from the Army Painter line for the express purpose of basing the Dystopian Wars models. So I'm pretty excited about them and just need to figure out how I want to use them. At first I was drawn in by the Gale Force 9 basing stuff, but the Army Painter was like a buck cheaper per flock.

I also had a discussion with Robert about where I'm at currently with the hobby. He has been working on his Bolt Action red devils. Both of us go a bit bonkers for the casual historical gaming systems (bolt action and flames of war). And that is okay that he is working on them. Just like it is okay that I'm looking at Cryx stuff right now. I think it will help to break things down into smaller goals that are quicker to obtain. This way I can mix up my hobbies and still get things done. (typing mistake counter is at 20 I think)

So the new plan is to finish up the Blazing Sun force by the end of August. That means finish the walker, and then finish the rest of the tiny tanks. That is completely doable. My hope is, that by the time I get that stuff done, I'll have secured a trade for some Cryx models (I really don't want to buy as I have so much stuff, trading makes lots more sense). That way I can get some time to make the Cryx models dance on my desk top and then set a new Dystopian Wars painting goal.....Prussian land starter..hint hint.

Now on the Dystopian Wars news front, you should all go read the community forums at Spartan Games. Neil has made some pretty big announcements recently. The big one is that DW 2.0 should be out just after Christmas I think. They are also working on an aerial version of Armored Clash and maybe then go in for a naval game. I like AC and so that sounds really cool. The downside of it though means that 2.0 probably won't use the color dice mechanic. Which is a shame because I think it add so much more depth to the game. I'll keep my fingers crossed and hope that they add in an option stat set that uses the CDM.

On the gaming in general front, I just saw images of the new SM Centurion models. Ugh, could they be uglier? And how are they supposed to walk in those things?? or do they just waddle? Even though I own a large SM army, I might just skip the book on pure silliness alone.

Well until next time folks (which hopefully will be later this week), keep painting and keep playing.