Reflecting back on 2011

The end of the year, a time to reflect on the lessons of the year... What happened? How did things change in my life? What were the milestones that I reached this year?

Home Front

On the home front, things have been generally calm and good. The wife had some good health-related news, which makes every one happy. It IS true that "happy wife, happy life". The kids are growing (like weeds) and received their Pathfinder Beginner Box for Christmas.

Pathfinder Society

I cannot take the credit, but the Pathfinder Society community in Denver is growing and going strong. I must thank all the volunteer GMs and organizers who make me look good before my Paizo overlords. I am sitting on a number of awesome announcements I have to wait on before I can say anything. But again, Mike Brock and the Paizo folk are going to drop bombshells of awesome. Yes, I'm trying to avoid the NDA monster swallowing this post

NeoExodus

Last year at this time I had just started to talk with this guy, Louis Porter, not knowing how close he and I would become. I was writing an adventure for him (that we are still sitting on, called "Origin of Man"). My experiences writing that adventure, read "my frustrations writing that adventure" resulted in me throwing my hands in the air and telling him. Note the decisive tone, I told Louis that we needed a campaign book for NeoExodus. Something that would allow someone else (not him or me) to take the setting, write and run their own campaign. Most of the content that made the final book already existed in a number of smaller books: The World of Exodus, Races of Exodus, Magic of Exodus, and Hostile Environment I among others. The time consuming work of gathering information from all these sources into a complete, single book, took months.

But the final result is there. It's an awesome book! One I am very proud to have done. I really need to run more NeoExodus! I will be running some at Genghis Con this year.

Oh! And a big thank to all of you who have purchased the book and who talk about it! It's very gratifying. Keep giving you some feedback we want to hear it!

Miniatures

If you've been following this blog at all, you know that I have been sucked into the Warmachine game by Privateer Press recently. I really like the way the game plays, the quality of the sculpts, the ease of painting. As I told my friend Ed at Gamers Haven yesterday, I love the fact that the minis do not have thousand little extra crap on them. They are clean and nice, unlike the more recent miniatures by Games Workshop which have turned me off (I don't think I bought a single NEW GW mini in over 2 years. I bought all my stuff secondhand.

I am thinking of making terring to go with my Rhulic (dwarven) army. I need to make some time to get that done. But what? The background of those dwarves is that they are all mercenaries and they work for others. So I'm still thinking about what I'll do. When inspiration hits, you will all know about it right away!

Another little sideline that I really did a lot on this year was commission painting: from RPG minis to armies, it has kept me busy and out of trouble for a number of evenings. Some of the newer painting techniques I developped this year have changed my style. Thank you magic dip! But the dip itself is not the only thing... trial-and-error have given me something I like. My Warmachine stuff and the Malifaux I did for Stephen really showcase this change in technique.

Real Work

I still have my job and was given some positive mid-year reviews by my bosses who noted my efforts and hard work. It is very rewarding and encouraging. I hope to stay there longer as it is very family-friendly.

Music

This year, I discovered a few new bands I like, namely Altaria and Fairyland, both metal bands. My love affair with other bands I like continues. I still listen to a lot of classic Rush, Marillion, Sonata Arctica, and Avantasia/Edguy. No good shows coming the ass-end of the world for European metal (aka Colorado).

Non-Gaming Books

This year, I read a number of non-gaming books. Here they are in no particular order: (okay, the order in which I dug them up from my book drawer).

• The Original Illustrated Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthus Conan Doyle
• Les Mémoires du Diable, Tome 1 by Frédéric Soulié Re-read of this philosophical/ critique of society
• La Scandaleuse Nouvelle-France by Guy Giguère; a collection of court cases in New France (now prov. of Québec)
• At the Queen's Command by Michael Stackpole; a fantasy re-do of the Seven Year War/ War of Independance (I won't keep reading the series)
• Chronicles of the Black Company by Glenn Cook; the first three books of the Black Company (thanks Todd)
• Les Courreurs des Bois by Jeanne Pomerleau; a view on the fur trade in Canada from New France through the ealry 20th Century

Other RPGs

This year, there were good and bad times with other games systems.

I did not play or opened any 4e books for the whole year, a good thing.

Arcanis released their new system. I talked about it a lot on this blog and it generated some interest from you, the readers. There are a number of things I don't really dig about it, but I do enjoy playing with Lenny and Tena. I'll go back and play some more.

This year, I got into Shadowrun and lo-and-behold! Santa seemed to have found a second-hand copy of the SR4 rulebook at his local RPG shop! WOOHOO! I have to play some of that. However, there is no Missions being played locally. And NO, I already run one local game, I won't do two.

On a sad note, I had to drop out of Mario's Warhammer Campaign... It was a great one but work got crazy for a few months and it became impossible for me to continue. Too bad, I really loved the group we had. Oh well, maybe some other time!

Blog Milestones

This year, the blog exploded.

• Posts: 176 times (including this one)
• Most prolific Month: October with 21 posts
• Most visited Month: June with 3,744 individual visits
• Most popular post: Death of 4e Announced on Twitter?
• Top 3 Readers Origins: USA, UK, Germany

Finally

All that is left is for me to wish you all a happy new year! May it bring a lot of dice rolling at the table, calm at home, and a lot of work!

Thank you Lord for 2011. It was a good one!

JP

PIRATES! [Warmachine, Legends of the High Seas]

On this end of year, I offer you more minis. This time, these minis I painted for myself. A lot of non-tourney-legal mercenaries, but fun to paint/build and assemble. The thing that had me most worried was how would these miniatures from a wide variety of makers, size and design would look together. There are about 5 different makers used, some are true 25mm, some 28mm and a few 30mm. However, once painted, assembled and put together, they work quite well actually. The very mix of sculpts and looks actually makes the whole ensemble work. I really like putting a horde of pirates together.

So here are the minis, I'll let you judge for yourselves.

Special Characters

First two characters: First Mate Hawk and Mr Walls. Hawk is a Reaper Mini while Mr. Walls is a Foundry model.

The Crews

This crew can be built two ways, either as Press Gangers (why I built them) or as Sea Dogs. The Lass is a Foundry model while the crew is a mix of Old Glory, Mega Miniatures, and Foundry.

This crew was the first one I painted up - and the one that got me the idea to do this army. Most of these guys are from Foundry, the flag bearer from Grenadier and the torch bearer from Old Glory.

This crew is perhaps one of the most mixed group. Again a lot of Grenadier, Mega minis, Foundry with a Reaper captain. If you count correctly, this crew numbers 11. The extra guy, can be moved to the press gangers crew as a replacement or as a extra crewman, replacing the Lass.

Unit Attachments

These longgunners are from Grenadiers and painted so they can be attached to any one of my crews.

Weapons

These cannons I bought years ago in Dublin in that little shop in a basement on the south bank of the Liffey. The name escapes me now, but they used to have a bin full of Foundry stuff, and I raided the snot out of that bin. These cannons were sold in their boat building supplies. They are just the right size for 28mm battles. With the Grenadier mini, they are a great size!

So... these are my pirates! Fun thing is: I can use them for Legends of the High Seas or in Warmachine!

Sweet...

JP

My Imperial Guard Army [40k]

This is a catch-up. I've been meaning to put these guys up for a long time, but have never got to do it. Enough with the procrastination and on to the minis!

Two and a half years ago, I blogged about my "new" Imperial Guard army. All that was before the most recent codex and my interest-drop in 40k and non-Historical GW products in general. I painted these guys two and a half years ago and they have been collecting dust since.

I am thinking of selling them. If you are interested, email me. I will flock these guys before selling them.

JP

More December Commissions [Pathfinder, Malifaux, Cygnar]

I've not been idle in spite of being on vacation all week! Can't believe it's already been five days. Been doing a lot of writing, playing some Warmachine, and painting. Which is why you are here... Pictures of minis!

Pathfinder Society Characters

This first mini was requested by my good buddy Brad one game night up at Enchanted Grounds. He has a human magus with severe scars on his body. The problem I had with that is that one of the character's coolest aspect (the scars), was almost impossible to do because the mini had very little exposed skin. Still the face came out very nice. I had to do it through a three-step process. First paint it "skin-colored", then I used a watered-down black paint to make the black less opaque and more organic. Then bright red for the scars in a lightning pattern.

This is another Pathfinder Miniature by Reaper. It's another one of those minis that paint up very easily and very well. I give a big kudos to the folks at Reaper for bring to life the art of Wayne Reynolds.

The next miniature was done for Eric from the Springs. He has a female Tian witch (a character I really hate BTW, stupid re-rolling of good rolls). This one is a Larry Elmore miniature, the first one I got my hands on. Very minimalist in terms of equipment (a belt with a few pouched hanging from it). I really like the art and the mini itself. To make this mini work, I would have to do something to really draw the eye. I used this flower pattern than I like (green/silver/red) for the dress. That plus a nice face (which I paid special attention to) makes for a nice, simple mini.

Malifaux

This one is a little special I did for Stephen. I am a big fan of objective markers as they really make it interesting to play for rather than a dice or a chess piece. I chose "Perdicíon" on it as it captures the impression I have of the dark gothic nature and feel of Malifaux.

Warmachine: Cygnar

Okay, this one is not a commission. It's the caster Nemo for my Cygnar army. It's for me, (though I have been debating about selling these on Ebay). If you are interested in a painted Cygnar army, let me know.

Merry Christmas, I doubt I'll post again until AFTER the Doctor Who Christmas special... I'm already missing the Doctor...

JP

Update and Merry Christmas

Things have gone silent on my end... That's because I'm extremely busy. You'd expect my taking the last two weeks of the year as vacation time would mean I get to lounge around the house, watch Jerry Springer, play with the kids and basically watch the fuzz grow from my navel.

That would be too easy.

No. Instead, I have packed my time with a number of writing projects. I mean a lot of them.

First, I am working on something I plan to submit to my Paizo overlord. Something I've been working on for over a month now. If you follow my twitter (@jpongaming), you know that my first effort was rejected. This second effort is massively different. It did take me some time to get a basic idea. I've moved forward a LOT on this and plan to spend more of my day on it today.

A few days ago, I blogged about a NeoExodus adventure for Free RPG Day. Well, today I am happy to report that LPJ and I are moving forward with this project! We are offering a number of awesome goodies. To help us make this a reality, we have created a Kickstarter to cover the art and printing costs, so we are turning to you to make sure this becomes a reality. Please pledge! There are a number of awesome rewards to unlock! Our idea for that is awesome, and we want to share it with you. LPJ's rewards are very creative and can give YOU some direct input into the adventure - and the world beyond - itself.

I really like this idea! A lot of good rewards for you there! And a chance at putting YOUR imprint on NeoExodus. Check it out.

I have also advanced my paint jobs, moving forward on two commissions, my own Rhulic army (for which I got an extra two boxes including steelhead halberdiers and another gun infantry) and my Cygnar warcaster. All of those have advanced forward and are nearing completion (the dwarves need basing).

This week (the week before Xmas), I have only a few games to play: some minis. Next week, I have a few events: I'm going to Total Escape Games for the first time (its usually too far north for me to go to) and will play in a Slot Zero for Genghis. Hopefully a few Warmachine games, and NeoExodus, which I've been meaning to run for a long time.

So, in all a lot to do and a lot already done. Those are gonna be awesome vacations!

What are your plans?

JP

PS: Merry Christmas to all my readers.

Start of my Cygnar Army [Warmachine, Cygnar]

It's been a while since I posted about some minis for ME. Well today I've got some Warmachine I painted up. Actually I painted them MONTHS ago, left them kinda unfinished and finally did a push on them (as the Malifaux Mexicans were drying)...

These are Cygnar warjacks. I traded them for some misc minis. When I first got them, I was not into Warmachine and only wanted the jacks to use as part of NeoExodus. However, after a few purchases, Dale's help, and a desire to play something other than 40k (The destruction of my Sisters of Battle army has removed all interest I had in the game). Maybe I'll get back to it when give us girly-players a Codex written by someone who actually played the sisters, not a Space Marine player going "they're about the same". Idiot.

The Lancer at the bottom was painted red because I thought he was a Mercenary, but then found out... Oh well! I kept the paint job VERY simple on these. I don't know what I'll be doing with them: sell them or keep them.

I have a few more pieces I want to add to this force, namely I have a Nemo and want to find some gun mages. The gun mages because I can use them as part of my Highborn commission Mercenary army too... Dual-purpose rocks!

Over the Xmas holidays, I plan to do a few objectives for my armies. A treasure stash for my mercenaries and large banners for the Cygnar (and maybe the Rhulic too).