From the workbench of the esteemed Horati0nosebl0wer

I’ve had time to stop and think how disturbing time without something to do is both boring and irritating. Time without input or stimulation is painful. Given that I have quite a bit of time on my hands I’ve put my hands to work on hobby. I do not like the act of sitting about and having no purpose. I’m tired of doing no thing.

The meditation is merely mental masturbation and a crap placebo for treatment. Zen (Chan) is cunning to deal with this and says that’s about the right way of looking at life. I’m also finding guidance to sit in that very same discomfort to “feel through” the experience. This is crap.

Urgh.. between lying in bed looking over hobby stuff and being up making things by hand I am trying to deal with being unemployed. If I were able to use my skills and energy for profit in a manner I enjoy like hobby I’d feel much better. It seems to me that I can only spend resources in to get joy. Chop wood, carry water… gotta keep thinking that and find contentment in the moment. Existence is suffering and perhaps the trick is to think less and just do the actions that solve the emotional distress. One’s head gets in the way far less often when on autopilot. Atleast I know here misery loves company and we all suffer the effort of making hobby as best we can.

Is this the reality of those who have retired or injured severely and forced into inactivity; is this like your moment of rediscovering a reason for being?

On the heels of the other ideas I was inspired by the Black Friday sale email of Epic Basing and seeing their desert theme elements. Numerous styles of cactus and thinking dry, relative to the recent rain herein Texas, my brain slid sideways. A new interpretation on dry undead was born. I started thinking that a combined force of spectral and material undead was possible with Native American figures and various skeletons. This is possible if you were to take the idea of The Ghost Dance and shoehorn it into a fantasy environment of SAGA Age of Magic. My mind extended the thought from the American West to the rest of the continent with Mythic Americas and Paymaster Games. It didn’t hurt that there are also branches and other deadfall to play with some more places and terrain material is plentiful if one decides on a location to build up.

There are plenty of companies with historical figures to pressgang into service here as well. The question that needs to be addressed is what list to run.

• Undead Legion is easy enough said and done if you bring in skeletons and do ghostly paint jobs. Undead/zombie animals are figures available in plastic and even metal/resin (see Gamezone, Bad Squid do, etc.) with stls being ever present. Mythic Americas can be pulled in for some Hearthguard units just for numbers and make for an excellent fantasy selection (double up regular purchases for units to make Warriors).
• Masters of the Underearth might make sense if you want to incorporate firearms. Make an story addition that there are “ghost guns” being used and you’re in business.  I see issues with trying to incorporate any sort of warmachine though unless one goes the route of Ewok indomitable tree trunk technology.
• The Horde might even be able to get away with something like a herd of buffalo or stags when making up a chariot.
• Lords of the Wild the optional Levy unit can be made out of any small animals/vermin at hand. Wildlife otherwise is easy enough brought in and used for both Warrior/Levy bases on foot and mounted. Creatures can be moved in with the same thinking. Hell, consider the mystic/dire form of an animal and it works in a simple story build. Beyond that the use of bows by this list makes mini purchases easy.
• Great Kingdoms could be a list that people overlook until Central and South America are drawn in. Formal armies in uniforms using battle formations sit right with this thought and can make for some interesting armies.
• The Otherworld might also make sense considering the available models for the story build. The downside is being niche and low in number of creations. There is also the deep dive of research should you want to really flesh out your head canon *shrug*.

No idea on how anybody else might build a Native American army for Age of Magic but these are some ideas on how I got sucked into that line of thinking.

Another army idea popped into my head over the course of checking the list of models I have in my library. I’ve decided that just like my physical models I am going to put use to the figures I have in the cloud. This also comes after cleaning my room, putting up my copy of the Legend of the Five Rings novel “Night Parade of 100 Demons” and seeing amazing ai video of yokai (Japanese monsters).

This compulsive army building and getting it out of my system into the project system really is a boon to my wallet. I’m not continuing to just shell out cash at every instant I feel inspired. It also helps that I can push these ideas onto others that might build and paint. I still have the desire to see the final product in person but I don’t need to be the one creating it.

Print using Titanforge minis 

4 komainu rider (Hearthguard)

8 samurai w/ naginata (warrior)

8 samurai w/ katana (warrior)

24 ashigaru w/ yari (levy)

1 warlord on kirin (mount)

1 huge dragon

Additions/optional unit builds:

8 Shinobi or samurai kitsune (warrior)

1 kitsune sorcerer

Wanyudo (a flaming wheel demon)

2 tengu (beasts)

2 oni w/ tetsubo (beasts)

8 jorogumo arachno-cav warriors (kitbash)- this part of the army would be a split between the Wargames Atlantic spider kit and getting some geisha printed from the waist up. What kimono that would feature on the spider-ladies would be sculpted with green stuff. Carried items such as shamisen/other instruments or weapons would need to be part of the print and might be an issue to sculpt around. The Parabellum sculpts of jorogumo are a possibility as a monster as their bases is so large and would only work as a single figure.

The Genya No Yokai from Parabellum is great to use as a buy-and-build plastic kit since it would be a fitting giant. The visual aesthetic fits in using the same horror element from the Onimusha series of games.

I’ve collected gaming thoughts and other mental detritus but haven’t had urge to set them to post from overall being worn out. I’ll  unload them as I have time again to post and ponder.

I had some random learning about warfare from considering what match ups we don’t often consider. This was sparked off a conversation with a friend who complained about how in Bolt Action Finns and Imperial Japanese could square off.

A bit of history that I was not aware of was the conflicts between the Russians and the Tlingit people in Alaska. It makes perfect sense that fighting occurred as a matter of course but I was ignorant of the fact it had happened. Thanks to the random feed of YouTube I think that I will fend off another impulse purchase out of curiosity. I apologize to miniature creators now as they will not be making a sale on their Tlingit Warriors.

Speaking of impulse control, as a man, you should always avoid the urge to imitate “Night At the Roxbury” if you ever hear “What is Love” start playing on the background music while standing at a urinal. Aim is always important.

An American gaming phenomenon is happening alongside general nerd culture, the reclamation of the mall. The death of the indoor mall in American culture occurred and the zombies that refused to crumble remain through underserved commerce. I am surprised by one local venue that has one dedicated gaming store off the food court area and three anime related ones around the complex. There is another where a whole pub and wargame store merged in the space which had been retail clothing space. They have a smaller annex space which looks like it might’ve been a telephone shop that they set up for CCGs.

There are still the dedicated FLGS in the area which primarily cater to CCG players and GW enthusiasts but this is a difference in the commercial direction that I find interesting. The overall trend to bringing in non gaming merchandise to the hobby store space has been apparent for the past two decades. Comic stores started bleeding into game shops from the shared arena of people. Then came the associated plush figures, stickers, snacks (more so than before) and blind box collectible figures.

Right now I don’t know how to chart what direction these new commercial ventures might turn but its interesting to see. The ones I enjoy most right now are the gaming space/tavern. A few games and a friendly beer to bs over the results of grand command warfare on the tabletop promote great community engagement.

What do you lot in Europe and elsewhere think? Can a hybrid space like this thrive in your neck of the woods?

I came to a point of pondering. With all the hype over Konflikt ’47 lately I’ve found myself not really caring much. I like the idea of a Weird World War but it didn’t catch me to start into buying/collecting/playing. This is far different than Ancients or other eras. The preindustrial era had a certain fog of separation which allows for the mind to wander as to what was real. The realm of mythology can be woven into the historical wargaming.

Trench Crusade is the closest to what might qualify as a historical fantasy. I think this is, again, a point where the possible merges with what has not been and succeeds at building a player base spanning both camps. The fluff starts historically and builds a world to “game in the gap” of possibilities but distinctly retains a sense of impossible. With all this the simulation versus recreation fades. The same can be said of Konflikt as I doubt that many of the epic battles of WWII could have been played or played out the same as history shows.

Because of this, I think that the further away in history from today we play, the easier it is to believe the ludicrous.

I need a hero! (cue the 80s montage)

I have decided that if I were to do an army for SAGA Age of Chivalry I have a faction and leader picked out. I will field Codottiere led by Bartolomeo Colleoni. I was curious about hearts on heraldry in a passing thought and stumbled upon this man’s colors.

Apparently, from the Wikipedia entry, those aren’t upside down hearts but scrotums.

As with a number of things I do there is a great deal of sophmoric humor I write up and post. I enjoy taking this very serious topic of war and turn it into a ridiculous thing that isn’t serious at all. Growing up for a time in the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region of Italy, in Roveredo in Piano, I have an attachment to the country and culture. The fact that this man is so blatantly connected to a joke and is very much an icon of the age makes him perfect in my mind to model my army around.

The color scheme will be easy enough as it is in the heraldry. I might take some liberties with sub units of the company. I could also play with some other ideas I have from having traveled around the country. Who know? This is all pie in the sky for now.

The title came by sharp wit and satire the likes of “The Producers”. It comes to my present thinking of a way to introduce a Jewish friend to SAGA.

Since Hanukkah has eight days I’ll be doing an army of that many points. Each day will be another unit to add and overall a greater gift than just some silly little collection of tiny fighting men his wife can question about. These will be tiny fighting Jewish men and therefore beyond question as to what value they could have. Some 25mm scale waterslide decals from Veni Vidi Vici and it will be obvious who they were. I can even get a few different color options if I wanted to really go nuts.

Worst case scenario I can always try to sell a bullshit story as to it being a game to help teach their son tactical thinking under uncertain conditions. Really, its another push to Snag-a-normie and utilize asymmetrical thinking. With this I’d also put a feather in my cap to build and paint an Ancient army.

The overall problem I see is the lack of cavalry to the time period. Oh yeah there were chariots, but I really find them to be a pain in the ass to base properly. Other than The Horde for Age of Magic chariots don’t exist (maybe war machines if I look again).

Newline Designs would be my base for infantry and archers as they have reasonable costs for the troops I need. That’s four points taken care of.

I saw The Perry’s have some Assyrian cavalry I can put on the field for another point. Yes I said it was a pain to find the right figures. I say this as I try to keep the cost down as shipping costs can be horrendous.

The command would probably be the Early Hebrew Command from Warlord in their Hail Caesar line. Then again I think that Red Copper miniatures has some good sculpts and I could get what I need from Blitzkrieg Miniatures.

I think that maybe having Moses as the sorcerer might be a sticking point as to whether or not he was really the leader. Perhaps it would be better to go with a generic rabbi and have some armored wahoo as the head honcho. The Ark of the Covenant would definitely be the sacred terrain piece so I think all bases are covered up to the monsters.

Myminifactory has a great selection of angels so I think that will help my issue of needing bodies for the field. There is a seraphim and cherubim from Battle Yak Studios that would be keen to add the supernatural.

Yet again, an idea hits and I think it might be a good one.