The Mike Lung Gallery #94 - Fear the Dark

 A holiday weekend where the girls didn't come down and I didn't have any other obligations?  

I've got to admit it was enjoyable.  So much so that I straightened up the office, reprioritized the painting bench, and even started cleaning up texts and emails for the first time in forever. 

So I was a bit ashamed but excited to see stuff from friend-of-the-blog and AWARD WINNING GM Mike Lung that I had not shared here!  

Like me, Mike loves his mini-games, solo games testing out rulesets, and getting his immense and diverse collection of figures.  

Over the winter he ran a horror campaign using the "Fear the Dark" rules by Davi Suki. 

I highly value Mike's opinions on games, even if we don't always agree, so it's fitting to give his take on the Fear the Dark rules set: 

Not sure what my opinion of the rules are. I want to really like them, but they are a bit to basic and not crunchy enough. But the thought behind them is great. I think the old Strange Aeons system might be better. But that has faults, too. Really, what I want to do is take the mechanics from Rangers of Shadow Deep and merge it with elements of Fear the Dark, Strange Aeons, and even Silver Bayonet to get the rule system I want. Hmmm…need to retire now so I have time.

Space Gnomes? by Red Nebular

 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 Mike Lung Gallery #93 - Lego Zombie Napoleonics

 The one thing I love about our online Monday night Gamma World is that a bunch of guys from Boston to Virginia, can not only game, but shoot the shit as well.   And we certainly go on some crazy tangents while we wait for straggling players to waltz in.  

Two weeks ago, our conversation wandered everywhere, like a back country road with a tornado, and I know I casually dropped Napoleonic zombies.  I expected some conversation about Silver Bayonet, or stretching it to Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, but then friend of the blog, mutant-weasel playing and AWARD-WINNING GM Mike Lung shot these pictures to me.

Like me, Mike has too many rules sets, but I know we weren't going a Silver Bayonet-esque route.  

Now, getting him to put this on at a Historicon, that might be a horror scenario in itself, or another swaggy trophy for his shelf. 

The Mike Lung Gallery #92 - Fear of a Cheese Planet

Friend of the Blog and AWARD WINNING GM Mike Lung has returned to some interesting projects, a possible return to the Cheese Planet!  

He's dove into kitbashing and modeling sci-fi figures who could fit on my Death Planet Iota, but would have far more fun on a mousling mining colony.

He's also gone down the rabbit hole of re-basing his figures with clear bases, so they fit well in forest, plains, deserts, and even cheese planets.  

Historicon 2027?   It's a possibility!

The Mike Lung Gallery #91 - Casually Playing Fishing28

Back in November I finally discovered Fishing28, a set of rules for one man, a sea of fish, and a fight against nature. While I kept my games light-hearted, with a single Hawaiian gnome and a spear, taking his raft out to harvest Swedish Fish, I have found numerous blogs and posts from people custom making boats and fisherman for a high quality game. 

If I didn't expect friend of the blog and Award-Winning GM Mike Lung to fall in that latter category, I would have never mentioned it in pre-game during our Monday night Gamma World online game. 

First was a simple conversion, an extra German Peasant figure from Gnome Wars into a simple fisherman: 

And it has transformed into an entire world, complete with custom fish and the optional rules for rocks, birds, and predator fish. 

A good haul.... 

The Sea Monster 

I know he's gone done the rabbit whole (or frog hollow) when he sent me a second fisherman, customized from a Eureka figure: 

It's also a sign of a such a good but basic system, that, despite having such fabulous figures, his fisherman still drifted into the rocks, losing everything.   Let's hope that doesn't happen too often. 

(Painting) A Dog-Gone Wizard by Mike Lung

 We continue my end of 2025 clean-up of the painting bench with a random figure.

This is a personal sculpt by friend of the blog, Award Winning GM Mike Lung.  This is well over a decade old, and one of two of his early attempts at sculpting and casting in resin (Edit: I found mention of the wizard on Jim Stanton's Stout Smurf blog circa 2017, making resin copies of the wizard and Mike's infamous Tequila Worms).  I remember the other figure a bit more, a terrier dog in the same garb, and with the paw-like hands of this one, I kept with a brown/black fur under those robes.  The wand is just a toothpick added after the fact. 

In the Queue - Teddy Bears, Christmas minis, and looking into new projects for the new year. 

Project: 350 -  from 470 (281 drafts /189 scheduled)  from  470 (279 /191).  

The Historicon 2026 Gnome Wars Mega-Game is Back!

I recently announced that neither I nor my daughter will  be attending Fall-In! 2025 this year.  Our gnome-positive side of HMGS Next Gen will not be running any Gnome Wars games at Fall-In, and I'm unsure how much we're going to do for Cold Wars in February.  

This past week, we had a meeting after our weekly game session, and it's official as a blog post can make.  

Historicon 2026 (July 15-19, 2026) will see the return of the true and proper...

GNOME WARS MEGA-GAME!!!!!!!

It's been awhile since we had one of our multi-table spectacles...  It's will be over 14 years since the last three-table  game involving colonialism, volcanos, and a flotilla of gnome-helmed ships!  

The Island of the Cannibal Gnomes

The concept is pretty simple:  We have three separate tables, three separate events with their own objectives, running simultaneously.   The best part, figures, units, and armies can travel to and from each game...  Of course to get from one end of the other, one needs to commandeer a sailing vessel and traverse the sea, where a no-holds-barred naval brawl is taking place. 

The Sea board, between the Cannibal Island and New Providence

It might take the entire session, but I have seen figures to completely across the ball room before we call the games.

New Providence has their own problems...

I figured the south seas, pirate, cannibal theme game was good to return to, especially with the recent casting of the Hawaiian/Tiki/Pacific Islander Gnomes.    Each table will have 8 normal slots for players, with the Gnome Rule applying to all (Bring a fully painted Gnome Wars unit from Brigade Games, and we will find you a spot.) Obviously bringing your own Island Gnomes (or Pirates... or British Marines) might get you a better command/objective. 

As of this moment, we're definitely looking at a Saturday afternoon timeslot for the Mega-Game.   "But what about all the normal Gnome/Next Gen mayhem you guys in the cool baseball jerseys normally put together?"

Fear not gnome-believers! 

Of course there will be other gnome games, probably with palm trees for the Island Gnomes.  The joust is still Friday night (although we probably won't run overlapping ones like last year. Then again...).  

The newest game in our arsenal isn't new, just not as far a throwback as the Mega-Game.

Enter Palaeo Diet: Seafood Edition.

Palaeo Diet: Eat or Be Eaten is a fun rules set for playing prehistoric animal hunts. In one of his fever dreams, friend of the blog, and fellow Stout Gnome Mike Lung created an underwater version of the game, which did make an appearance at the rogue Historicon 2021 (In November in King of Prussia of that year).   Details are loose, but I certainly foresee gnomes games, and smaller games of Palaeo Diet entertaining attendees. 

Of course, all of this is subject to change... but it's an exciting start... and maybe I'll get the Island Gnomes finished by then. 

Happy St Patty's Day

 

(Gnome Wars) Mustard Gas and its Condimentation in Warfare

During the Great War, the use of chemical agents was a horrific evolution of modern warfare.

In Gnome Wars, it's a bit more of an overpowering flavor experience.

Painted by Mike Lung, circa 2012

Mustard Gas can be fired from large mortars and, if the scenario presents itself, off-board artillery.  It should be represented by a large piece of cotton, preferably colored yellow, which can be stretched and molded, and even divided to represent the cloud moving, filling in depressions, and even splitting off.

Shells from on field mortars create a cloud the size of a 3" blast template.  Off-board artillery is more powerful, creating a 5" blast template.  These shells do not cause physical damage like traditional ordinance.  They are ineffective against tanks and fortifications in the traditional sense.  Gas shells do NOT create craters.

Effects:  Mustard gas requires requires each figure within the cloud to flee d8 inches in a random direction. Terrain modifiers still apply.  All figures with the cloud at the end of a round are incapacitated for the remainder of the game and should be removed.   These cloud do not dissipate quickly, so they should remain on the board for the remainder of the game.

Gas clouds obscure line of sight.

Initiative:  Once on the board, all gas clouds should have their own imitative, whether at the same time as the artillery crew that fired, or all clouds collectively as their own entity.

Movement:  The gas cloud can move deceptively quick across the battlefield, but will settle in the lowest spot possible.    Determine a random direction for ALL clouds to move each turn.  Each cloud moves 1d6+6 inches each turn.  Once a cloud finds a lower elevation (downhill, trench) it will pool there and only move the path of least resistance (Ex1:  a gas cloud with a portion in a trench line will remain over the trench unless the wind moves it in a direction that allows it to follow the trench   Ex2: Clouds that fill in, then hover over craters, remain there.)

As I continue to review old correspondence, I found a discussion that each nation's mustard producers are notorious manufacturers of WMD "Weapons of Mass Deliciousness"    The German artillery crew from Mike Lung pictured above is actually from 2012, but I'm not seeing any rules for it.  

Remember, Gnome Wars should be fun and somewhat silly.  Chemical weapons and flamethrowers are graphic parts of war.  Spicy Mustard Gas and Cheesthrowers are devastating but fun.  

So that's it, feel free to model some artillery wagons sponsored by "Gulden's Spicy Brown"

You can also keep the culturally appropriate brands for your army (Loewensenf for Germans, Grey Poupon for the French, and amusingly French's Brown Mustard for the Americans.)

Yellow Mustard has no effect, but are being considered for training rounds for new recruits. 

(Gnome Wars) The Great Snail

This past Historicon, my Saturday night Gnome Wars game had an unexpected visitor: a D&D flail snail that a player had purchased at the flea market and I could find no good reason not to allow it on the table.  I made up some rules on the fly, and, as I planned, it proved more of a distraction to players than a game breaker.

Going through some ancient Gnome Wars correspondence with friend of the blog, Award-Winning-GM Mike Lung, I discovered he proposed giant snail rules way back in 2011!  

Great Snail (Wild or Unmanned)

• Moves Slow:  6" 
• Moves Randomly unless guided by gnome, guide gnome can also encourage the snail to use its acid spitting attack.
• Moves over any obstacle without penalty, except salt or fire.
• Hard to Kill: Only legal 6's with light arms wound the creature.  Heavier weaponry, treat as a tank.
• Wounds: 4 (Tank results supersede wounds)
• Weapon:  Acid Spitting  12" artillery, 3" diameter template
• Leaves a slime trail behind, effect lasts 3 turns.  Roll d8 for each gnome crossing, on a 1-3, the gnome slips and falls. Each roll to get up, the difficulty goes up by 1 (1-4 fails on first attempt, 1-5 on second, and so on.)  Gnomes that can't mathematically succeed are removed from the table. 

(Gnome Wars) The Rise of Gnomish Horology and the Red Cap Cults by Mike Lung

Gnome society is an enigma. They generally live a simple bucolic or woodland lifestyle, yet they also are great tinkers and inventors.

 

Depictions of a traditional simple gnomish lifestyle

 

Tinker gnome riding his invention

Gnomes usually live and dress in very traditional ways. The are often very slow to adopt new ideas or material items. Yet at the same time, they can be very progressive as far as accepting other creatures with different backgrounds and ideas. They generally are willing agents in helping and teaching other species and therefore promoting change within those animal societies. In fact, gnomes are often given credit for teaching the animals how to talk and act in a civilized manner.

 

Traditional gnome dress

 

 Gnome teaching animals how to read

The Great Gnome War and the rampant outbreak of the znombie plague decimated the gnome population creating a vacuum for civilized animals to fill. As the war progressed, many animals were called on to serve in the wars. At home, they were also used to support the war effort. This presented an opportunity for animals to take leadership roles in society. Animal doctors, lawyers, clergy, and politicians (positions once held almost exclusively by gnomes) all became much more common in the years proceeding the dual catastrophes. Recently, an animal, Hedgerow Wilson, was elected President.

 

Animal classroom taught be a cat teacher instead of a gnome.

Most gnomes were accepting of this change feeling this was the natural fruition of their own progressive ideas. However, some gnomes rejected this view and still held fast to their insular traditional beliefs. Many of these gnomes believed the world had gone completely crazy, and there was a general feeling that they felt lost with no role in the future. They yearned for a return to the good old prewar days. Others philosophized that the world was like a clock. Like a tooth of a cog, each member of society whether a gnome or an animal had a specific role to play. When everyone did what they were supposed to do, the clock runs smoothly to perfections. However, when the teeth of the cogs are reshaped or changed, or whole cogs are changed, the function of the clock is disrupted. It will no longer function too perfection, or worse yet, if there are too many changes or the changes are too significant, the clock will cease to function at all! It therefore was the duty of all gnomes to make sure that all the teeth and cogs did what they were intended to do. Order and structure hierarchy had to be restored. Those who wish to make or allow these changes to society were an enemy that had to be stopped for the good of all.

 

Animal run society gotten out of hand.  Order had to be restored under Gnomish leadership

Advocates of the philosophy of the world clock were collectively known as Horologists. This philosophy was highly debated by the citizens. Some openly embracing it, others denouncing it, while most paid not real attention to it as they went about their normal lives. While most of this discussion was theoretically, some secret societies of gnomes did start to form to carry out the mission of restoring the clock. While by mostly lawful means, these secret societies did at times cross the line. Likewise, some animals formed their own secret groups in reaction to advocate their own beliefs. While the government fought to suppress the growth of all of these movements, it was not always successful, and the actions of these groups furthered the cracks in society.

 

  

Imaginative depiction of Horologist fixing the World Clock

There were, however, some extreme members of the Horology movement that came to the conclusion that too much change had already occurred. It was impossible to repair the broken cogs of society by normal political or social means. The old clock needed to be discarded, and a new clock needed to be made with a completely new, unbreakable cog system. In other words, these cult-like groups advocated a creation of a new world order. Those members were collectively known as “Red Caps” and would stop at nothing to achieve their purposes. To build their new clock, the consulted long lost or hidden tomes of knowledge. There efforts to obtain these tomes and to advance their goals have no bounds. No animal or progressive gnome was safe from their depredations and their other terrible, deeds.

 

Sample of symbols used various horologist groups. The last two are variations used by Red Cap cultists.

(Notes from the Editor:  Gnomish Historiography is complex, even amongst the keepers of Gnome Lore, The Stout Gnomes.  Much of this article covers the post-Gnome Wars world, which Mike is excellent at with his "Gnömerdammerung" or "Twilight of the Gnomes."  His fantastic modelling and conversions have brought many a smile to the Gnome Wars table, but he's also brought about the znombies, the Cult of Urinitas, and has a lot of material for a far darker gnome world.)

The Mike Lung Gallery #90 - Homemade Gemrocks for Stalagbite

In his e-mails to me promoting the Stalagbite! Kickstarter, friend of the blog, Mike, sent me these little tidbits, and they might be more glorious than the Kickstarter itself.  

Inspired by a trip Disneyworld awhile back, Mike rode Snow White's Mine Train ride and noticed the barrels full of gems and other items.  Upon return home, he made rocks encrusted with gems for use in the original version of Stalagbite!  

The gems on the rocks were colored rhinestones.  

(Kickstarter) STALAGBITE! The Dwarven Quest for Gold and Glory by Midlam Miniatures

 It's a little late notice, as the Kickstarter has less than a day, but Friend of the Blog and fellow Gnomie Mike Lung loves the original version STALAGBITE! The Dwarven Quest for Gold and Glory from 2012 with laser cut components, so a new edition with all Midlam Miniatures metal figures seems like a jolly good investment. 

The game is for 1-6 players, where each player take on a role of a Dwarf, hunting for gold and glory in the caverns, beset by hazards, vicious creatures, and goblins. 

The Mike Lung Gallery #89 - The Adventures of Bernard and Cindy, Part Two

 Part Two of Mike Lung's "All Things Zombie" game with poor Bernard and Cindy.

The Adventures of Bernard and Cindy, Continued!

Emboldened by his success, in a moment of craziness Bernard rushed from cover to meet the remaining zombies! 

With his pistol and axe, he cut down two more of the undead.

However, Sally who was trailing behind was surprised by a zombie woman hiding behind the truck.  Instinctively, she swung her bat just like at a ball game.   With a gruesome “Crack”, the zombie collapsed at her feet.

Stan and Sally were forever united once again!   

Bernard shouted at Sally, “Come on!  We need to go!”  But she was too stunned to move.  

Two more zombies shambled out behind the truck and tried to grab her.  

“Crack! Crack!”  Both zombies dropped to the ground with their heads shattered as Sally wildly swung the bat!

With that, the campground went quiet.  Bernard and Cindy approached the camper in hopes of finding food and possibly shelter. 

One last zombie lurched out of the camper, but Bernard was ready and quickly put it down.  The young heroes were rewarded with some food and a bit of rest. 

Campground carnage!

The End