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While I was heads down at Genghis Con XXXIV my blog rolled over the 50,000 mark for hits. Compared to some of the other gaming blogs out there 50,000 is pretty insignificant number. For me I still find it pretty exciting, it means people are coming and finding it worth reading. I'm getting better about staying on target on at least one project and I hope that continues as I push forward with my old west town of Calamity. What I do find interesting is that it took almost exactly 10 months to get the first 25,000 hits but it only took 5 months to get the next 25,000. I'll try to keep everything moving and maybe I can hit 100,000 in 2013.

The main reason I didn't notice rolling over the 50,000 mark was I was curled up in the fetal position while I came off that convention high. I do love going to Genghis Con though and I haven't missed a single one and in fact I have managed over a third of them over the years. I think the first one that I was completely in charge of was Genghis Con IX, we only had a $1,000 left in the bank and the convention was down to about 250-300 attendees and there was a very real chance that this would be the last show. For some reason we hit a chord with the RPG folks and attendance shot up to about 800 or so. I managed all the shows from Genghis Con IX through Genghis Con XXI. We also started the second convention, Tacticon, in 1989 and I ran those from 1989, through about 1999 or so. The peak attendance for Genghis Con while I was running it was 2100 or so (that's unique individuals), I think they are starting to close in on that number again.

These days I'm happy to just run the auction and the painting conference and competition. I'll try and get pictures posted of the painting competition shortly some here but mostly on the CMPA website. The top end was very, very good, but the competition seems to be growing again and I saw a lot of new people take that first step into competition painting. I also got pressed into teaching a blending class this year. I don't normally teach at conventions but everyone seemed to be picking it up and enjoyed the class. I didn't have any entries in the competition itself, nothing was inspiring me on an individual level and the key component I needed for my vignette didn't arrive until the week before the con and there just wasn't enough time to get it done properly. Hopefully, that will be finished for ReaperCon which will be in April this year (18th-21st)

Which brings up some thoughts about the differences between conventions here in the US and those in the UK. I am just amazed at how truly different they are. Genghis Con is a 4 day convention, featuring lots of boardgames, RPGs, and table top miniature games of all kinds. Most of the miniature games are run by individuals rather than clubs. We also have a lot of tournaments as well as one-off games. Of course there is an exhibitors' hall but most of the dealers are catering to the role-players and boardgamers and only to a few of the miniature gamers. Typically if a dealer has miniatures its going to be Flames of War from Battlefront or Games Workshop. The UK shows seem to be opposite in just about everyway. Yes, there are one-off games but most of what I see are demo games setup by clubs to show off stunning scenery and miniatures not necessarily to play. The exhibitors' hall though is just stacked to the gills with different miniature companies hawking their latest releases. I need to go someday just to experience the difference for myself. Oh, and near as I can tell we have a lot more women at Genghis Con than any show in the UK, must be the RPGs!

So thank you to everyone that has stuck with me through this first year and a big welcome to those that have joined up recently. Hopefully there will be more good stuff to come!

A shot from ReaperCon 2012 of the Warlord Tournament in progress. I didn't take my camera to GC XXXIV this year and I just have a couple of poor shots on my phone.

CMG has decided to take their ZAS mercenaries and expand them into a full range through Kickstarter. Talk about bad timing for me! With Traveller5 getting ready to ship by the end of February I know I'll need some kind of major military force (not really) to go along with the miniatures that I have been slowly working on for the RPG campaign. And then there is the Tomorrow's War rules that have just been sitting around gathering dust but I have been itching to crack open and work up a game or two. So I'm jumping in on this Kickstarter. I'm in at the mechanized company commander level, which includes £56 of vehicles, so its looking like a pretty good deal especially as stretch goals get hit and more stuff is added.
And because you know you want to look: CMG ZAS Kickstarter

I received an email newsletter last week that definitely got my attention. North Star Games is essentially doing an inhouse version of a Kickstarter which they are calling a Nickstarter for a new, licensed, miniatures line that will support the release of Osprey's In Her Majesty's Name Steampunk Skirmish Gaming by Craig Cartmell and Charles Murton.

What's the difference? First off this is not a Kickstarter but it is, in its own way another form of crowdfunding. This is not being done through Kickstarter it is a pre-order for the miniatures and the rules. The core miniatures for all of the factions have been completed and additional "Nickstarter" only miniatures are being sculpted based on stretch goals based on the amount of pre-orders raised. Basically you are seeing a pre-order system setup like a Kickstarter project. Its a neat idea and we will see how it goes.

I like the project, I'm not sure I will jump in on it but it lets North Star take advantage of the Kickstarter mania and still maintain control over everything.

So far they have already achieved their first goal of adding another adventuring company; the Scotland Yard Company, and the second goal of adding a miniature for a master criminal. The Nickstarter closes on April 18th



Here is the link to the site so you can check out the details. In Her Majesty's Name

I have a ton of buildings at this point, 24 built, 12 of those have received their initial weathering treatment and 1 has actually received paint. The remaining 12 have been primed and are ready to be weathered. Now that the painting stage is rushing towards me I need to think about the board.

There are a few things I know already:
1) 6'x4' table (I have two tables rescued from the closure of Attactix, which I had designed and built for the store).

2) Semi-modular; only in the sense that I want to be able to transport and store the boards so I will build it in 3 2'x4' sections. This will also give me the ability to expand if I want to.

3) Buildings will be removable; Right now I'm thinking that each building will be built on its own 'sabot'. If I can keep the sabots down to a couple of different sizes I should be able to re-arrange the buildings to a certain extent and introduce new ones. That will change the look of Calamity. Maybe I'll take it as far as having brick building replacements for when the massive fire sweeps through town (not an uncommon occurrence in western history).

4) A river or stream; mostly to provide a terrain feature below the level of the table surface. This requirement will be the one that really determines the thickness of the foam I'll need to use for base. If the sabots are on 1" foam I'll need at least another 1" layer underneath that, maybe just go for 2" for a 3" thick board.

5) A railroad; Since I have already been acquiring S Scale equipment and track the railroad is definitely in.
6) Bridge; The citizens of Calamity are going to be a frugal bunch so rather than build and maintain a gallows they will be hanging folks from a the railroad bridge as a cheaper expedient.

7) Alignment and locking mechanism of some kind. I don't want the boards to separate during play and I want them to stay lined up correctly. This especially important since a number of the buildings are going to be located across the seams. Right now I'm thinking something simple like pegs to handle this job.

8) Hide the seams. I know that players aren't likely to be disturbed by the seams very much but I'm looking at a lot of seams if I go with the sabot concept. I'll definitely have to work in scenery to hide those as much as possible.

And here are a few concepts that I have been doodling with: