Everybody's Playing on the Weekend...

It was a rainy and dreary weekend in Northeast PA, perfect for catching up on laundry, some minis painting, and a little gaming.

Saturday and Sunday were both kids' birthday parties, gah!   Luckily, only Maja was invited to Saturday's, so I got an afternoon with Millie.  After cleaning the Master Bedroom to the screams of the vacuum, we got down to some painting.  Millie did a nice job on a Russian gnome, and the full Skittles treatment on a Leprechaun.  I finished the rehab on my Swiss 3rd Training Company and  re-base-coated two additional Swiss for that unit.  Once I put new flock on the new mdf bases (and find the missing St Bernard, that unit will be 100% complete.

After we cleaned up our projects from the dining room, I rolled out the "old" track and cars from the "The Race Game" we played last year.  The track was wrinkled, and I've lost two of my Dad's toy cars into the lead pile on the workbench, but a quick two lap race with a four-year old went splendidly.  She enjoyed rolling and counting the dice, and moving everyone's pieces (on her side of the table).  She ran a conservative race, forcing me to try to bump my way to the front.  That was not wise, as I consistently spun out right before a majestic success!  The rules adjustments I added made things worse (for me)

• Movement was 2d6, instead of 1d6.
• Spin-outs became 1-2 on a d6, instead of 1-5 on d20.   
• If you spun out, you lost your turn, but still rolled a d6 on get back into the race.   A second fail was a continued spin-out and turned off engine.   A third fail meant the car flipped over.  A fourth?  The car burst into flames

Guess who failed four times with one of his cars?  

A preliminary Race before the 2015 Laurel Lakes 500, Sponsored by Shopkins

Sunday was the one millionth birthday we've been invited to for a one-year old, so I got a  "grown-up" playdate down in Allentown.  Although it was just Steve, Brian, and myself, there was much rejoicing (and microbrew beer consumption).  It looks like the three of us just needed some time outside of family/work obligations to hang out with like-minded crazy individuals.  I ran another mini- CoC episode of Masks using the New Adventures of Steven and Francois and then Steve broke out Axis and Allies: D-Day and his Germans swept over the board, creating a 2nd Dunkirk for some stranded Americans.

In between was more beer, more snacks, and a lengthy conversation about Kickstarters.    

If I'm the miserly Kickstarter pledge, Steve should be going to meeting in church basements to help deal with his addiction.  He has so many KS he has received or are still pending, that once he's alerted to one shipping, he will mark the box when it arrives, with the pledge level doller amount, and throw it into a closet without even opening it. When his wife needs a present for Fathers Day, Christmas, or his birthday, she goes to the closet, finds the appropriate value, and wraps it up.  

Steve's biggest boon he recently received were the stretch goals for for Fairytale Games: The Battle Royale, a fairy tale card game that exploded with stretch goals of forty miniatures.

This one is a perfect case of a man getting in over his head, as the minis are the first thing to arrive, the cards for the game are nowhere getting completed,  and the creator is working per diem jobs in his field to help finance simply shipping these items out.  

Guess who just found with Wizard of Oz Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Jack Pumpkinhead? 

Along with Beowulf (top center), Pinnochio (bottom center) and Quasimdo (bottom right)

I thought it strange that I completely missed such a crazy campaign. I chalked it up to me ignoring the card game concept and missing out on the minis.  Through further research I discovered that this campaign launched in June 2013, a full four months before I even pledged toward my first KS (Reaper Bones II).

The realistic portion of Steve admits that the cards that started his $65 pledge may never materialize, but these forty minis are a nice parting gift.  In fact, I may inquire as to how one could acquire individual figures (the 6-8 figure pack are way too random for my needs).

The other fantastic revelation on Sunday was that Steve had painted most of his his gnomes!    Pictures forthcoming with week (his man-cave lighting is horrid).  Outside of his eye work, the minis are beautiful, and even a bit inspiring.

Brian may come up on the weekend of the Fourth, but for now I anticipate a lot of Blogging, a lot of painting, and hopefully, the 2nd Annual Laurel Lakes 500 .