Fireball Forward Brecourt Manor

Brecourt Manor, a photo by The Gonk on Flickr.

You may or may not have heard, but the upcoming ruleset Fireball Forward! has released a limited set of playtest rules and initial scenario. It appears the initial book will have a few scenarios following Easy Company, which is just up my alley with my FoW Airborne. So, I've set up the game and we're playing it this Friday. I played FF! at Fall-In! last year and Historicon this year, and I like it. There's really no reason not to play it given I already have the figures. One thing I like about FF! is the relatively small figure requirement-- here you see I only have nine and twelve stands per side. That ought to let you get into a period you have only minor interest in without too much effort and money invested. The "official" basing doesn't quite match FoW but isn't strict-- I'm using FoW command stands for individual leaders, medium bases for teams, and medium bases with larger sabots for full squads.

Amerikanische Burger Essen

Stuttgarter Hofbräu!

It's been a while since I had a food post on here, but I had a very nice little dinner the other day. It centered around this nice little gift brought back to me by my wife from Germany, a bottle of her local Stuttgarter Hofbräu. I grilled a couple of pounds of hamburgers, which is always fun. I tried a new dish for me, which was grilled broccoli. I mostly followed this recipe, leaving out the Parmesan, instead of our usual steamed. It was fine, not great. I fried some Onion Rings for Son Number Two, who really loves them. But the real pièce de résistance was my Brussels Sprouts. Yes, the Brussels Sprouts. I can't hardly get the vile things down when they are steamed, but during a recent trip to New York, I left a $50 steak on the plate and ordered a second helping of their fried Brussels Sprouts. Delicious, and this recipe is basically what I had. It's easy, and awesome.

The Decompression Chamber

DSCN0142, a photo by The Gonk on Flickr.

That's the new name for my "man cave." After five weeks of inactivity when the wife and kids were gone, they have been back now for a week. And in that week, I've finished an entire Flames of War M2A1 105mm artillery battery with staff team and spotter, as well as three Old Glory US paratrooper command teams I was lacking and most of a staff team! I love my family, but after a full day at work and then another five hours with the wife and three kids, I am definitely ready for a break. For whatever reason, I find retreating to the painting table very relaxing. That and my general lack of direction reminds me of "tinkerers" who work in the garage with no real purpose, just tinkering for the sake of relaxation. I tinker with miniatures.

Historicon 2011

Corner Kick!, a photo by The Gonk on Flickr.

Historicon 2011 was a lot of fun. The drive was very long, ten hours, but the facilities were nicer than the usual Lancaster Host (usual for me-- I missed last year, so this is my first HMGS East con away from the Host in ten years). I played in several great Piquet games, which have been spotlighted on Blunders on the Danube, as well as a game of Fireball Forward, which I'm looking forward to seeing published. I also finally made time to sit down for Bob Wiltrout's soccer game Corner Kick!. Ed: AND former local Brian met me for a midnight Blood Bowl 1-1 mauling of my Skaven by his Ogres, leaving 3 of my 4 Gutter Runners missing the next game-- one of which had to be retired-- and killing one of my players! All the games were really fun, and here you see my Number One Son (wearing his Germany jersey) back at home stomping my Argentinians in a game of Corner Kick! with his Subbuteo figures. I had two definite vendor purchases in mind-- D-Day bunkers from Armaments in Miniature and more Primaeval Designs prehistorics from Acheson Creations. Neither was there!! Naturally, I didn't let that stop me from blowing the budget in the vendor hall...

Five Weeks

Cybermonkey, a photo by The Gonk on Flickr.

Five effin' weeks my family is out of town. You know what all I got done in that time? This. Ammon Miniatures' Cybermonkey. Between being sick, being lazy and going to Historicon, that single miniature is the only thing I completed. Disgusting! This is the first resin gaming piece I've painted, and I have to say I think it's not really an acceptable material. Sorry, Citadel Finecast. Resin has been used for years in thicker and larger scale casting, but at this scale, it's just too flexible and fragile. Painting this guy, I snapped the radar dish off its stand. I shouldn't say snap, that implies something more like a plastic break-- this felt like chocolate cake coming apart. The reglue is probably a stronger joint. Resin can-- CAN-- deliver superior quality casts, and I figure most of these boutique resin castings are more for painting and displaying, rather than gaming. However, this figure was just too cool not to add to my growing super apes collection...