“Nasty wound you’ve got there, Potter.”

And now for something completely different....

I’ve just recently bit the bullet and started work on some Zulu War figures. While looking at some of my spare parts the other night, I was reminded of a scene from the Monty Python film Meaning of Life. For those who aren’t familiar, the scene opens to Zulu and British troops fighting each other in a Rorke’s Drift-type battle. After the Zulus retreat, John Cleese and Michael Palin walk among the cheery wounded and slightly-less-cheery dead. 

Private Potter is one such cheery casualty. Cleese comments on his wound, to which he happily replies, “Thank you very much, Sir!”

Potter was cobbled together with a spare head from the Warlord Games Zulu War British set. The Martini-Henry was from the old Wargames Factory set. I finished him just a few hours and was giggling to myself the entire time. This piece had another purprose beyond self-amusemen: I wanted to try my hand at some South African basing.

Perhaps I’ll use this as a morale or shaken marker for future games? Regardless, it was a fun piece to make!

On the Workbench: The Army of the Dead

One of my favorite scenes from the Lord of the Rings trilogy involves the Army of the Dead, where they turn the tide of battle in Gondor’s favor at the behest of Aragorn. Games Workshop has had these mdoelsnfor a few years now, and I’d decided that I needed to do another army. It also helped that these guys are quick and easy to paint: primed white, basecoat white, two coats of the new Hexwraith Flame Technical paint for that ghostly glow, and then drybushes with Ulthuan Grey. Base, and then done. 

I also decided to make the Stone of Erech as an objective marker. It was cobbled together from a ping pong ball, superglue, and green stuff. I tried to give it some marble veining, but mostly ended up stippling it with various shades of grey and white. It's a little smaller than I envision the stone to be, but I think it'll do for now.

Here are my completed figures so far! I have about 20 more sitting on my workbench that are primed and ready to paint. There are maybe 20-25 more that need to be assembled. I’ll be sure to get a finished shot of everyone together when the time comes. 

Campaign Against Cancer: X-Wing Miniatures Event 2019

For the fourth year for the fourth year in a row, I’ve participated in the Campaign Against Cancer X-Wing event. It’s a wonderful international tournament where players raise money for children and families struggling with this awful disease. As with last year, the majority of the proceeds went to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in the United States, but portions also went to the Telethon Kids Cancer Centre in Australia and the German Children's Cancer Foundation.

My sister Jessica, Grandpa, and I in 1991.

My grandpa died of melanoma in September 2010 and I’ve been playing in his memory since I learned of the Campaign Against Cancer in 2016. Even though I’m not as avid of an X-Wing player as I used to be, this is the one event that I make sure to attend every year. 

As with last year, the DC area event took place at Huzzah Hobbies in Asburn, VA. It's a bit of a trek from where I live, but it's always worth it as it's one of the best hobby shops in the area. But that's a post for another time! The event was to kick off at 11 am and run until about 9:30 pm with six rounds total in a pod format. 

With the onset of X-Wing 2.0, my beloved TIE Swarms are viable again! So I chose to fly a six ship formation consisting of Howlrunner with Swarm Tactics and Hull Upgrade, Iden Versio with Swarm Tactics and Hulk Upgrade, Wampa, and three Academy Pilots without any upgrades. It’s a list that I’d used a few weeks before at a local mini-tournament and had pretty good success with (winning two out of three...that's never happened before). I knew going in, however, that it’d been a while since I’d flown a TIE Swarm and that that rustiness would likely play against me. But this is an event to raise money for an awesome cause and to have fun. So I was determined to have fun and do my best!

As is usual for these sorts of events, I got absorbed into the games and didn’t get a whole lot of pictures. It worse this year as my phone has been on its last legs for a while and I tried to conserve as much power as possible for the ride home (my phone serving as my GPS). 

In fact, the only actual photo I got of game play was of this epic furball in Round 1. To make a long story short, I didn’t win that one. In fact, thanks to the new half points rule in 2.0, I narrowly lost all my games until Round 4. I had a Bye and took the opportunity to go back to my car to take a power nap as well as charge my phone.

These guys showed up during Round 5. This was the first year since I've been playing that we've had members of the 501st come out! I thought it really added a fun bit of flair to the event and I really hope they can come out again next week.

I narrowly won my Round 5 game, and decisively won in Round 6. I didn't finish dead last this time! I don't do this event to win, but it's nice to know that I can still win once in a while. And as per usual, I had a fun time and can't wait for next year's event!

JUNE 24, 2019 UPDATE

The final numbers have come in, and participants worldwide raised $47,389.01 total! Our location contributed $988.76 through entrance fees, challenge coin sales, and t-shirt sales. This is hands down our biggest year so far! 

READ MY 2018 CAMPAIGN AGAINST CANCER REPORT HERE.

READ MY 2017 CAMPAIGN AGAINST CANCER REPORT HERE.

READ MY 2016 CAMPAIGN AGAINST CANCER REPORT HERE.

Norwegian Gem

Ahoy folks!

The day after the wedding aboard the Queen Mary, my wife and I embarked on a 7-day cruise to the Mexican Riviera aboard Norwegian Gem. Neither of us had been on a cruise before and it was the time of our lives! I was able to get a few shots of the Captain around the ship, but was paranoid the entire voyage that I'd accidentally drop him overboard. The above photo was from our first full day at sea.

Our first port was the lovely city of Puerto Vallarta. We went zip lining and I didn't die (which is something that I thought was surely going to happen).

I realize now I didn't get a shot of the Captain at our next port, which was Mazatlan. None of the shore excursions looked too exciting so we stayed aboard a bit longer than most and checked out an independent craft brewery just a few blocks away from the port. Definitely recommended! 

Our final port was Cabo San Lucas. We did a whale watching cruise and weren't disappointed! At one point we found ourselves in the midst of a dolphin pod and were surrounded by no less than 30 of them! It was sooo cool!

Also, here's a lovely shot of the Gem from the whale watching cruise trip.

Not a photo of the Captain, I know, but this was one of the most incredible sunsets that I've even seen. It also happened to be from our last night aboard.

Early the last morning, just as the ship was coming into the Port of Los Angeles, I was able to quickly take the Captain for a few photos in areas that were normally packed with people.

We also met the real captain, too! Captain Marin was kind enough to invite us to his VIP reception on the second night after I gifted him a book about the Queen Mary with a note saying how excited we were to be aboard the Gem for our honeymoon.

Of course this brief description and photos don't do the trip justice. But I think I'll make it a tradition from here on out. My wife and I have already booked a cruise for our 1st Anniversary. You can bet that the Captain will be coming with us!

The Queen Mary

Ahoy everyone! 

It was a busy few days (what with the whole getting married thing and all) but I managed to snap a few shots of the Captain around the Queen Mary! 

The Love Boat(s)

Greetings everyone!

Next week I’m getting married aboard the Queen Mary in Long Beach, California! For those who may not be familiar, she’s a British ocean liner that saw service from 1936 to 1967 with the Cunard Line. The ship was also a troop transport during World War II and transported thousands of soldiers to Europe (my Great Uncle Howard among them). Upon her retirement, the City of Long Beach bought the Queen Mary and turned her into a hotel and tourist attraction. I myself served as a tour guide aboard her from August 2009 to December 2012.

The day after the wedding, we’re embarking on a 7 day cruise to the Mexican Riviera aboard the Norwegian Gem. We'll have three full days at sea and three stops. It should be a blast!

But what does this have to do with miniatures, you may ask?

I finished a ship’s captain figure specifically for the ship-theme we have going on for our wedding and honeymoon! We’ll be taking photos of him around the Queen Mary, the Norwegian Gem, and our ports of call. Because why not? 

Initially a Darkest Africa Belgian command figure from Foundry, I painted him up as a ship’s captain instead. I've had the figure for probably 15 years or so and was happy to finally do something with him. The base was made about 10 years ago from coffee stirrers to simulate decking. As happy as I am with how he turned out, it only confirmed to me that painting white is not fun. 

I used white Vallejo surface primer instead of my usual black gesso and was happy with the result. This was also the first time that I've ever pinned a figure, which was considerably easier than I thought it'd be. I also used some Vallejo gloss varnish on the shoes to give them that "spit and polish" look. The recess lining is something else I don't usually do, but in this case I think it really makes the figure pop. I probably should have used a lighter grey, but I do tend to like vivid contrast in my figures (for the most part). 

Stay tuned and see how and where the Captain shows up!

3rd Battalion, 4th Silesian Landwehr Regiment Drummer

I finished off my 3rd Battalion drummer last night, which means his Dullcote is finally dry. So he’s finally ready for photographing!

I have to admit that I’d been putting him off for some time. In all my years of painting I’d never painted a drummer before and was agonizing strategizing over the best way to paint him up. Like my officers and NCOs, I went the extra step and gave him a bit of highlighting on the coat and trousers. Figured that eyes are going to be drawn to him so I might as well go the extra mile.

He also ties the battalion together quite nicely!

So with that, the 3rd Battalion of the 4th Silesian Landwehr Regiment is done! It only took about 2.5 years is all. 

Now moving on to the 1st and 2nd Battalions of the 14th Silesian! My goal is to have at least one of them done before the shutdown ends and I go off to my wedding and honeymoon (which is 1.5 weeks away...ack!!).