Another year, another June where I misappropriate International Gnome Week for my own nefarious (and non-monetized) needs!
From sculpting, to painting, to just some whimsical sketches, with or without digital help, Mike's very talented at just about everything. His picture of Winkiestink, the old gnome telling stories (or giving information) for a drink or some coins is a perfect reminder to support you gnome veterans. It was easier for them, before the Gnome Wars, where the ill and infirm where simply dropped off by the mole tunnels, or scooped up by some rogue owl....
"Tales From an Old Gnome" original art by Mike Lung
It can't be #InternationalGnomeWeek, if I can't post at least one new gnome painted up!
The problem is, I've done a good job keeping the Gnome pile low, so I experimented with some different colors for this Holy Gnoman Empire Centurion
One of the famed heroes of the Gnoman was Ronadulus Iavorski, the "Vandal Vision" himself. First gaining recognition for his accuracy in the bow and sling, Iavorski was bribed to join the Legion, and worked his way up to be the Centurion of one of the foulest Legions of all: the Aquilae Amoris Fraterni. One of the rowdiest units in all of gnome kind, they jeered when they needed to show respect, punch horses of their enemies, mid-charge, beat-up natives for fun, terrorize herders and rustlers, even turning their trebuchets onto Santa!
.... and to be honest, I'm a Giants fan. Painting up a figure Kelly Green just ain't right...
Next: Shanties and gnomes, maybe the never-ending supply of Star Wars figs.
Project 350: It's been a month since I tracked the drafts and scheduled posts hiding behind the scenes at the blog. I'm actually pretty satisfied that I'm at 456 (292 drafts/164 scheduled) up from 452 (289/163) a few weeks ago. Looking back at last year, we were a little higher, but managed to finish July strong before #RPGaDay always skews the numbers.
When gnomes hit the BBC, it's either a crazy old lady in a cottage... or it's drugs.
"Officers in the southern Netherlands have found a garden gnome weighing nearly 2kg (4lb) and made of the drug MDMA. "Drugs appear in many shapes and sizes, but every now and then we come across special things," Dongemond Police said in a translated social media post.
The gnome was found among suspected narcotics during a large drug search.
"In itself a strange place to keep your garden gnome," the force said. "That's why we decided to test [it] for narcotics".
"The gnome himself was visibly startled," police said, referring to the gnome having its hands covering its mouth....
MDMA - which is an illegal substance in the Netherlands - is a synthetic party drug also known as ecstasy."
That's a double-over redundancy... all gnomes are ecstasy!
"NORTH FORT MYERS, Fla. (CBS12) — A North Fort Myers woman got quite the surprise last month when her lawn gnomes suddenly went missing, and deputies say the culprit made a memorable getaway.
According to the Lee County Sheriff’s Office, the theft happened on May 19, when the homeowner noticed several of her decorative gnomes had been taken from her yard. Luckily, her Ring camera caught everything on video.
The footage shows a man pulling up on a distinctive tricycle, getting off, and casually walking into the yard. Deputies say he then picked up multiple lawn ornaments before riding away with the gnomes.
Detectives quickly got to work trying to identify the suspect, using both the video and other investigative leads. Their search eventually led them to a homeless camp in North Fort Myers.
On June 2, deputies say they found a man matching the description from the video. That man was identified as John Ramey, and investigators say he was still in possession of a tricycle that looked just like the one seen in the footage.
Authorities say Ramey led detectives back to his campsite, where all of the missing lawn gnomes were found. Investigators confirmed the items belonged to the victim, and the statues were returned to her.
Ramey was arrested and charged with petit theft with two or more prior convictions. He was taken to the Lee County Jail.
As for the gnomes, they are back where they belong, bringing the quirky case to a close."
I've got to admit that sometimes I'm the problem. With a blog called Gaming with the Gnomies, I like to fill up the pages with gnome art (or tomten... or nisse). As much as I cover a whole range of gaming topics, gnone-adjacent or not, the art makes more sense than a post about the best fantasy football picks coming out of the Raiders.
Which comes to my admission: That I do a horrible job citing artists for their work.
Like this one.
It's totally awesome, so awesome, in fact, that I'm using it for a concept I just thought for the #CharacterCreationChallenge all the way in next January.
But for the life of me, I can't figure out who made this. I've placed this in an image search, and it keeps coming up with an artist but a name to a completely different piece of artwork.
Most of the artwork and postcards I use are public domain, but feel free to call me out if I miss it.
We're a day early, but using some classic gnome art to celebrate summer is a perfect time to reintroduce #InternationalGnomeWeek
It would be foolish for a man who posts to a blog called Gaming with the Gnomies, to ignore IGW, but I'm still a wee bit bitter that is originally had nothing to do with "real" gnomes. Rather, International Gnome Week was originally set up by Wikipedia to celebrate the WikiGnomes, the selfless volunteers who keep the site up, accurate, and largely professional.
Still powering through a clean-up of my email that started Memorial Day weekend. I'm still not a 100% fan of 3-D minis, especially since for every time I here a great story about figures, or most notably terrain, I here ten stories of the hours of set-up, resin issues, or so forth that could be me putting in a fewer hours in overtime just to have the equivalent produced and sent to my door.
But friend of the blog and AWARD WINNING GM Mike Lung mentioned these gnomes from Red Nebular for proper sci-fi Swiss gnomes for his Mousling Cheese Planet game, and I can't support these enough.
Mike did give me a number of other pictures that I can't find on the site, so I assume they might be available via their Patreon
The figures are suitable for 15 or 25mm, a more intimate set of figs compared to the hunks o' metal that Gnome Wars makes.
It's a good time to mention that Alternative Armies is in the middle of their Spring Mega-Sale, running till May 6th. Orders automatically get 20% off!
I'll be honest, December has been a large pile of suck. A handful of job interviews, a larger pile of rejections for mostly "filler" positions, and a LOT of driving to see the kids up in Albany. There's a moment in those drives where the Spotify playlist just soothes my black heart and fractured soul.
Additional bummers?
No children around this year helping me make my Kjottbollar (Swedish Meathballs) and Limpa and other breads.
Nobody coming over Christmas Eve for dinner (Christmas Eve is always the superior holiday to Christmas Day), then me transporting them back to their Mother after pancakes Christmas.
Christmas Eve: With my sister visiting her in-laws in the Great White North this year, I packed up the food and drove down to Easton to visit my mother. I took care of stuff around the house, ran her errands, including a trip to Wal-Mart I never thought I'd return from, and we ate. Basic. Simple. She enjoyed the food but did NOT have a good day. Sixty years of smoking have caught up like gangbusters.
We didn't exchange gifts, but one arrived when I got home on the perfect day to count it as one.
Palladium had a Kickstarter for a new, expanded edition of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Other Strangeness. Two years later, eight months late, and a $25 flat shipping charge for the core book, my copy of the rules arrived two days earlier than projected. Trust me, I'm well aware of Palladium as a whole, and their Kickstarter history, so I'm not surprised, just miffed enough. But it's in my hands, and if that's not a Christmas miracle, nothing is.
Early Christmas morning, I recovered from a night of full-strength egg nog, and trekked the three and a half hour drive to see the kids, with a cooler full of bread and meatballs, two stockings, and a single wrapped gift.
I almost miss those early days of K-Mart/Wal-Mart Layaway, paying off the balance, and figuring out the logistics of it all. Most of it nowadays is Ulta, Sephora, and Barnes & Noble, so most of it fits in the stocking.
Paints. I had specifically requested Citadel Seraphim Sepia wash, since I recently had an accident with one of the older, big bottles, and could not find it in stock at the last four stores I frequented. They actually have a Warhammer store within twenty minutes, and every was on stock (and allegedly on sale... although thirty-five years of history might bias be on believing that claim from the girls.
Not one for just getting an $8 jar of paint, they also got me
Zandri Dust - A Desert-y Tomb Kings color. I'm half-tempted to use it on my American Teddy Bears.
Mournfang Brown (Air-brush sized pot) - Brown is my favorite painting color, in all its shades, so I'll try it out. A little miffed the GW guys didn't question them (a simple "Do you have an airbrush machine?") but perhaps that is gatekeeping... from the hobby or the profit margin.
Nihilakh Oxide - A Necron corrosion color. All of the paints I can certainly use. (Michael's has been rubbish this past year, and they are strongly anti-Hobby Lobby, so I can't expect other sources.)
Christmas Playing Cards - When we played our Christmas Game this year, I mentioned my displeasure with the Gilded/Pulp style playing cards we were using for Fistful of Lead. Millie took that to heart and got me "Home for the Holidays" Bicycle deck. Very clean, gently themed... and guaranteed to be used for the Christmas games in the future, and hopefully more.
Glitter Ducks - We certainly had a bit of a duck theme this year (with one more discovered and added t other painting queue, see one of next year's posts for that one. Apparently I missed the Glitter Quacks at Five Below, but Millie did not. They're cute, plentiful, and after discovering Fishing28, I'm certain we can make a Duckin' 28 game. Worst case I'll collaborate with the young lady running a larger scale duck game at HMGS/Historicon.
Oh, and despite me packing a tote-full of games, we kept ourselves busy (and bruised) playing Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizaa repeatedly.
Outside of grabbing another copy of A Place for All My Books for my sister and husband after their return to Canada, I'm satisfied with my haul....
Scratch that, despite the distance and irregularity of my visits, my Dad Christmas List has never changed.
Underwear
Gold Toe Socks
Undershirts
My undershirts have held up, I just got replacement socks last year (and not moment too soon, as the older pairs are disintegrating.
I did not get my underwear (and I wanted a smaller size to boot after all these years! Huzzah!). Time to venture forth into the retail wasteland after our ice storm is finally cleared up for a pack of two.
(They did through a gift card in my stocking for said underwear... I just felt like ranting).
With the way this world is, I'm happy the Weekly World News is back on my radar.
Unfortunately, I'm also burying the lead. The event listing is finally getting published for Fall-In! 2025 over at Tabletop Events. I regret to inform the gnome masses that I will be one of many Stout Gnomes not in attendance at the con, as a player or GM. Our "Gnome King" himself, Jim Stanton, is currently working on a new title "Crokinole King" by organizing tournaments at the convention (sponsored by the Connecticut Crokinole Club), so as of this time, there will be no Gnome Wars games.
I know we're still making decisions regarding Cold Wars and the February dates, so I guess we need to triple down on a classic Mega-Game for Historicon 2026. I'm thinking a return of the three table Treasure Island game from Cold Wars 2012! A perfect warning for everyone purchasing the Tiki/Hawaiian/Pacific Islander/Easter Island units from Brigade to get them painted up and guarantee a spot on the tables.
Just a happy note, that I found an link on a Patreon covering Clerics of Baervan Wildewander for Greyhawk. It appears to be publicly accessible information. I personally love the artwork.
In the enchanted woods, industrious gnomes and chill-yet-surprisingly-clever capybaras clash over resources, land, and influence. Will diplomacy or fur-flying combat win the day?
Gnomes vs Capybaras is a 2 or 4 player strategic card game for ages 12+. Players gather resources like Courage, Berries, and Crystals, deploy quirky Workers, Soldiers, and Diplomats, and face off in locations alive with magic and mischief.
Every card brims with charm, from gnome inventors muttering about “experimental features” to capybaras who insist “every day’s a hammock day… until it rains.”
International Gnome Week is back, baby! What originally was something completely different for Wikipedia (so much so that Wikipedia removed most references to it), it's time for a week of gnomes, garden gnomes, painted gnomes, and some Gnome Wars related stuff.
