Here's some unexpected news about my FLGS, Eagle and Empire.
It was announced on Facebook yesterday that the store's owner will be retiring on October 1st. It's certainly well earned! The shop has been serving Northern Virginia gamers and hobbyists since 1987...a good run to be sure. While Doug (the owner) is working with someone to reopen the store elsewhere, it seems like the shop as it is now will cease to be.
A screenshot of the announcement on Eagle and Empire's Facebook page.
I know I'm leaving for New Mexico next week, but I'm not going to lie: I feel pretty sad about this.
The storefront today.
I started going to Eagle and Empire shortly after I moved to the DC area in early 2013. My friend suggested we check it out one day and I've been coming ever sense. When we moved to our current place in 2017, it was just 10 minutes away from the shop (much to Teresa's chagrin at times).
Eagle and Empire has been my most-frequented FLGS of all time and holds a very special place in my heart. I've spent countless hours (and countless dollars as well) here over the years. I'm going to miss it dearly.
But, all of my sentimentality aside, I wish Doug a very happy retirement! He's absolutely earned it after 34 years in the business.
It's become a common sight over the last couple weeks to see boxes of discards sitting outside our house. Pretty much all of this stuff has been coming from the basement, and I'm pleased that so far everything has been taken (I really hate throwing away perfectly good things). Even an unopened, rolled mat of model grass was snatched up within hours; I was really convinced that no one would want that. Thanks for proving me wrong, Jefferson Manor! It also really helps that we live on a fairly busy street too.
The big thing now is the mini fridge. It's served more as an extra table in recent years and I don't feel that I'm going to need it in our new place. It might take a while for this to find a home....but if my old, slightly used set of Mount Vernon Christmas cards can find a new home, I'm pretty certain that this will too.
Look at that...I have space now!
And hey, it's cleared out some more space in the basement! That's particularly good since the movers are coming next Monday. So we have about a week to finish sorting, organizing, and purging stuff before it gets packed up and shipped to New Mexico.
UPDATE
So yeah….the mini fridge got picked up in the middle of the night. 😂 That’s dedication.
I mentioned in my previous post that I've been working on some figures for a new game called Sludge. It's been a nice little creative outlet between cleaning, packing, work, etc. during this time.
But what is Sludge about?
In short, it's an ahistorical game set in a doom age of black powder. It's all about "gore, horror, brutality, and faith" as the official website states. It's all very grimdark. There's a heavy emphasis on kitbashing to create unique armies using historical and/or fantasy miniatures. It really doesn't matter what figures you use for Sludge. For me, it's been a nice way to use up bits from my pile(s) of shame and bit boxes. I've been wanting to make up my own nations for wargaming for a while anyway, so this certainly scratches that itch!
The Duchy of Lürren is made of Perry Napoleonic Austrian bodies and more Foot Knight heads. I was initially unsure of their colors, but I tried the yellow and green look on a whim and was pretty pleasantly surprised by how it turned out. Their steel helmets are slightly rusted, in contrast to the verdigris of the Marconians. My wife says that these guys have a look reminiscent of the Rebel Alliance in A New Hope and Rogue One and I have to agree.
All told, I had a lot of fun working on these guys! They were also really simple to paint up too: just an undercoat of GW Dryad Bark over a black primer, the respective basic colors, a generous drybrush of GW Zandri Dust, and then a bath of GW Agrax Earthshade all over. After a few additional details, that was it!
It always amazes me what a simple drybrush and wash can do!
The rules for Sludge are found in Blaster Volume 3, which is made to order and takes a little bit to ship. Considering that we're leaving for New Mexico late next week, it just makes sense to wait (yes, I could get a PDF version....but I like having something physical to look through).
And so, I've finished my last-ever figures in the DC area. I'll pick up this project again once we're settled in the Land of Enchantment, and also start working on terrain as well. But for now it's time to finally pack away the paints, brushes, bits, and whatnot for the next few weeks. I just hope none of these guys break in transit (the wargamer's ultimate fear!).
Here's hoping that everyone (and everything) arrives to the new place intact!
UPDATE
Shortly after publishing this post, Guerilla Miniature Games posted a YouTube video on the basic gameplay and mechanics of Sludge. You can check it out below!
Yeah, I'm pretty excited about giving this game a try!
