Static Grass (Prussian) Blues

Hello! Long time no see!

I've been working on some Napoleonic Prussian Landwehr off and on (mostly off) since mid-2016 and am determined to finish them in short order. I'll give more details on that project in a later post, but they're going to be Silesian Landwehr from the Battle of Leipzig in 1813. 

But while picking up the project again, I noticed that the static grass I'd been using was out. Unfortunately the place that I'd ordered it from had gone out of business, so I got some Gale Force Nine grass thinking it was the same color.

It was not the same color.

It was not the same color, and my OCD would not allow me to just ignore it and use the new stuff. So I actually spent several months trying to find the original grass before finally saying "forget this" and adapted with what I had.

Thankfully I'd used good old Elmer's white glue, so all I had to do was soak the figures in water for a bit before peeling off the old grass. I was relieved to find that it came off pretty easily.

Enjoying some "Champagne of the North" while working! Totally appropriate as Prussia's King Frederick William I described it as "best for our climate" and had his son, the future Frederick the Great, learn how to brew it. It was supposedly a hit with Napoleon's troops when they went into Berlin after the Prussian military disasters of 1806. 

It was pretty tedious doing this for 30 figures in one sitting, but it had to get done. Berliner Weisse and Prussian marching music certainly helped speed things along.

A visit to the basement from my cat Jimmy also helped make things bearable.

After taking all that grass off, it was time to put on the new stuff. Tedious Fun times ensued.

But it was worth pushing on! Here the finished battalion is awaiting a final spray of Dullcote. Now the rest of the regiment can proceed as planned! 

Stay tuned for more updates on these dudes.

And to make sure this doesn't happen again any time soon, I bought all the grass that Huzzah Hobbies had in stock.

Campaign Against Cancer: X-Wing Miniatures Event 2018

This year's Campaign Against Cancer took place on April 7 at a new location: Huzzah Hobbies in Ashburn, VA. This was just one of several locations throughout the world (the event's gone international this year!) to host an event dedicated to raise money for cancer research. This year's proceeds went to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in the United States and the Kids with Cancer Foundation in Australia.

It's an event near and dear to my heart as I lost my grandpa, Bob Abel, to cancer on September 15, 2010. He served in the US Navy from 1944 to 1976 and flew all manner of naval aircraft during his career. Grandpa was also an avid model builder and helped me paint my first toy soldiers. I've been playing the Campaign Against Cancer in his memory ever since I first learned of the event in 2016.

Although I was sick as a dog and not feeling well, I pushed myself. Following my disastrous performance at Han's Holiday Hangover in January, I hadn't played X-Wing at all prior to this. I hadn't even bothered to unpack my box afterwards. Although I was still flying the same list (Lt. Karsabi and two Rho Squadron pilots in Assault Gunboats with an emphasis on cannons), I had a much better time. Seasonal affective disorder is a real thing, folks.

Loaded up on cold meds, Zicam, and ibuprofen, I hit the tournament! I realize now that I only took two photos during the whole event. I blame the cold medicine and the overall fatigue that set in around Round 3.

Once the cold meds wore off, I started feeling pretty bad. I could barely stand at one point and played most of one game seated, which is something I never do. Thankfully in Round 6 I got a Bye, which meant I could leave 75 minutes early. It was an opportunity I took advantage of.

Although I probably should've stayed home, it was a fun time! Mindset is everything when it comes to games like this, and I think I was probably getting a little too competitive there for a bit. This event was a reminder to me to not take things (especially tabletop games) too seriously....the whole point is to have fun! I can't wait to take part in next year's event!

APRIL 21, 2018 UPDATE

It was just announced that globally we raised $37,058.78 total! That's significantly more than last year! Ashburn, VA contributed $777.01 of that final amount.

READ MY 2017 CAMPAIGN AGAINST CANCER REPORT HERE.
READ MY 2016 CAMPAIGN AGAINST CANCER REPORT HERE.

Han's Holiday Hangover X-Wing Miniautures Tournament 2018

On January 7, Labryinth Games in Washington, DC hosted the Han's Holiday Hangover X-Wing Miniautres tournament. In attendance was much the same crowd as December's Holiday Starkillers Strike Back, and there were once again trophies and prizes to be won.

I decided to fly Lt. Karsabi and two Rho Squadron pilots in Assault Gunboats with cannons. But the day was a rough one: I had a pretty bad headache and the snowy weather wasn't helping to my mood (I really miss those sunny SoCal winters at times). But I made an effort anyway. 

In terms of my playing, the day was a complete disaster as I lost handily in every single game. As per usual, I only got a few photos.

For my trouble, however, I got the Jawa Junker Award! Even though its the last place trophy, I still put this up on my desk and have it proudly displayed beside my 2015 Force Choker Award. 

But still, I didn't have that good of a time overall (I want to make perfectly clear that this was through no fault of the event organizers...they were AWESOME). I just think I'm getting burned out on X-Wing. The current meta just isn't fun to play and I'm frankly tired of always losing. I try to practice as much as I can but life and work are starting to get in the way and I can't afford to stay competitive anymore. So I think I may take a break from the game for a bit and let the batteries recharge. 

Holiday Starkillers Strike Back X-Wing Casually Serious Tournament 2017

On December 9, X-Wing players once again assembled at the Anacostia Arts Center in Washington, DC for the sequel to 2015's awesome event. It took place within a larger art exhibition (some images of which I've included at the end of this post).

This time I decided to try my hand at a Rebel list: Wedge Antilles and Biggs Darklighter in X-Wings, and Horton Salm in a Y-Wing. I'd played this a few weeks before to pretty good effect, but a rules change just days before the tournament (that I only found out about the night before) meant that my list wasn't as effective as I was hoping it would be.

As with the 2015, there were trophies and other prizes to be had! 

My first match started off when I saw my opponent had some awesome debris markers. 

Through the course of the event, I had some successes but I narrowly lost most of my games. But I ended up finishing 20th, which was solid. At least I wasn't dead last...though the last place person did get a pretty awesome little trophy called the Jawa Junker Award. 

As promised, here are some examples of the Star Wars-inspired artwork on display:

READ MY 2015 HOLIDAY STARKILLERS REPORT HERE.

Campaign Against Cancer: X-Wing Miniatures Event 2017

MAY THE FOURTH BE WITH YOU!

On April 29, I joined others at the Island Games in Centreville, VA for the 3rd Annual Campaign Against Cancer X-Wing Miniatures event. Players raise money for the American Cancer Society in an effort to help find a cure. I found out about the event in January of last year and signed up almost immediately! My grandfather died of melanoma (which spread to his brain) on September 15, 2010 so I played in his memory. That was the case again this year. 

My grandpa, Bob Abel, served in the US Navy from 1944 to 1976, and was a naval aviator from 1948 on. He told me once that his squadron's nickname was the Green Angels, because they weren't nearly as good as the Navy's elite flight demonstration team, the Blue Angels. He also loved building models and helped me paint some Revell Civil War Union soldiers when I was maybe 5 or 6. So I wanted to do something special for this year's event.

I decided to name my squadron the Green Angels and base them off of Grandpa's old F4U Corsair squadron. I'd actually painted these ships up for last year's event but couldn't bring them out after misplacing some of the pilot tiles. They were a big hit! A lot of people thought they were pretty cool, especially so after I told them about the backstory. I ran them was Wedge Antilles. Wes Janson, and Biggs Darkligher. Perhaps this was a little more elite than the Green Angels should've been, but I wanted to give them a fighting chance in a game whose meta has not been favoring the T-65 X-Wing lately.

As I'm finding out is usual with me at tournaments, I didn't get a whole of photos and have forgotten what round these exactly were taken in. So just sit back and enjoy these photos of simulated space combat in a galaxy far, far away!

Now, I do remember the specifics with this! My opponent had laid mines in an effort to trap Janson, but only dumb luck skilled flying was he able to avoid detonating any of them!

Another example of the dumb luck skilled flying witnessed throughout the tournament.

 

What a great day of gaming! I never actually won any of my games, but several were close and came down to the last few seconds and less than 5 or 6 points. I didn't take this list to win anyway, so it was nice to see that it could hold its own.

Besides, I ended getting the raffle prize that I really wanted: a custom painted green A-Wing so I've got nothing to complain about. All in all, it was another successful event and I can't wait until next year!

MAY 10, 2017 UPDATE

It was our biggest year yet! X-Wing players raised a grand total of $22,597! Centreville, VA contributed $560 of that through tickets, challenge coin sales, and t-shirt sales. 

READ MY 2016 CAMPAIGN AGAINST CANCER REPORT HERE.