PERSONAL NEWS: Happy 2007 New Year!

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Hi Everyone,

So, I decided on my 2007 New Years Resolutions:

------PROFESSIONAL / BUSINESS / FINANCIAL:
- Get the next promotion and raise in my career path by the end of the year.
- Pay off all my outstanding consumer debts by the end of the year and go debt-free.
(My car's already paid off and almost everything else)
- Work out a new schedule with my new boss to get out early on Wednesdays so can join the guys for gaming again.

------PERSONAL:
- Go on 4 to 6 or more dates.
- Add at least 50 to 150 sit-ups, crunches or other abdominal exercises to my gym work-outs.
- Keep a cleaner house by doing a major clean-up at least once a month.

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HOBBY:

- Build 6mm urban metropolis terrain structure bases of at least 1'x1' area or more.

- Run a Monster Island game using the new urban metropolis terrain.

- But a new digital camera that works well for miniatures photography and photograph the Godzilla City Stomp'in Games.

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Have a great New Year celebration and all the best for 2007!

Shalom,

Maksim-Smelchak.

P.S.

Here's a handy dandy flow chart in Russian if you need directions how to celebrate New Years:

If you can't read Russian, pretend it's Greek and say "It's all Greek to me!" ...or just ask me later and I'll translate.

Notes regarding photos / pictures: These are not all my images. I am using various images from around the web, mostly from public sources and/or private sources used with permission. I have tried to include only images under public domain, creative commons, or fair use. If I have inadvertently violated any copyrights, please inform me and I will remove your image/s (if it is indeed an infringement).

HUMOUR: Mercenary For Hire?

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Hi Everyone,

Every now and then, you come across something that should be shared... like the above photo.

If I ever get to be the grand poohbah of an evil empire... she's hired!

On a more serious note, I'm working on my New Years Resolutions... how about you?

I plan to post them later today.

I hope everyone is having a good one!

Shalom,
Maksim-Smelchak.

P.S.
I got a chance to play Perikles yesterday... liked it. It was a fun little bidding game with a combat element based on Ancients History.

Check it out here:

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/21954

Notes regarding photos / pictures: These are not all my images. I am using various images from around the web, mostly from public sources and/or private sources used with permission. I have tried to include only images under public domain, creative commons, or fair use. If I have inadvertently violated any copyrights, please inform me and I will remove your image/s (if it is indeed an infringement).

FUN VIDEOS: Christmas Lights & Music!

Christmas Lights


Hi Everyone,

The above video has been making it around the 'Net... and it's pretty impressive.

For another impressive local house, check out the below URL:

http://www.lightupxmas.com/

Merry Christmas to all my friends and visitors who celebrate it.

Shalom,
Maksim-Smelchak.

Notes regarding photos / pictures / videos: These are not all my images and videos. I am using various images and videos from around the web, mostly from public sources and/or private sources used with permission. I have tried to include only images and videos under public domain, creative commons, or fair use. If I have inadvertently violated any copyrights, please inform me and I will remove your image/s (if it is indeed an infringement).

GAMING NEWS: Ancients Wargaming, Channukah & A Little Fantasy!

. Hi Everyone,

It's been an interesting week or so since my last post... lots of gaming to report:

The big game to keep an eye on for the past two weeks has been "Battlelore," another in the Richard Borg game series that started with "Battlecry" (American Civil War) and later gave us "Memoir '44" (World War II) and "Command & Colors: Ancients" (Ancients Warfare). I've seen "Battlelore" all over the place... it's been a big hit with local gamers.

"Battlelore" uses the same basic system as the rest of the series:
- Point to point movement
- D6 dice-based battles
- Simple terrain modifers
- Units with limited numbers of hits
- Historically-based scenarios

Where "Battlelore" differs from its predecessors is in the following details:
- A somewhat random card-based magic system
- Magic points (lore) and spells that are gained every turn
- Combat based on medieval warfare
- Weapons are adjusted from other games (bows have a slightly longer range than C&C:A)

Overall, I like the game, but still prefer "Command & Colors : Ancients" although I like the Medieval historical theme of "Battlelore"...

Who wouldn't like Scottish Highlander dwarves and Goblin Saracens?

And who couldn't say that an Orc cleric looks out of place?

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I stopped by my sister's place a weekend or two ago and visited with her, my brother-in-law and three of their five children. I helped out with wrapping gifts for the little ones until the kids arrived home from their mother's place (they're my sister's stepkids). My two nephews from my sister's first marriage were with their father... they have a complicated family arrangement. We dined on pizza and had family game / movie night. I'm rather proud that they have a family game / movie night... you see, because it used to be simply family movie night. After many months of playing Settlers of Cataan, Settlers of Canaan, Formula De and most recently Ticket To Ride, I finally got them... and their friends... hooked! Don't say that I'm not doing my part to create the next generation of gamers!

The first game of the night was "Channelsurfing," which was a blast. In this game, there are two teams and each takes three turns receiving a batch of twelve cards with various topics like plant, underwear, beast, blinds, counter, etc. At the beginning of each turn, a timer is started and each team "channel surfs" trying to find the items on the cards across the boob tube. My team, the two little ones and I, handily beat my sister, her husband and the teenager. It was fun.

Next we played "Simpsons Clue," which my brother-in-law handily won. The two little ones tried guesses, but were off a bit. And of course, it ended up being me "Witherspoon" who did the deed with the jelly donut! It was fun and I've obviously forgotten how to play. The clue to "Clue" is to make guesses where you have two of the three clue items identified... Doh! And, of course, the highlight of the game was getting to say all of our favorite Simpsons sound bites... I had no idea my sister could do such a good Marge... let alone my brother-in-law!

I think that I'm going to bring "Command & Colors: Ancients" and "Memoir '44" by this weekend to see if I can get the nephews and niece interested... and maybe the brother-in-law too!

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And lastly, the holiday season is here: Christmas is around the corner and Channukah is already here. I was lucky enough to celebrate one of the eight days of Chanukkah on Saturday with my friends Mike, Donna and Donna's "adopted Jewish family." The Latkes (potato pancakes) were good and the company was even better! Thanks, Mike and Donna!

I looked around for a short synopsis of the Channukah story and found it here thanks to Chabad:

"Chanukkah In a Nutshell"

Chanukah, the eight-day festival of lights that begins on the eve of Kislev 25, celebrates the triumph of light over darkness, of purity over adulteration, of spirituality over materiality. More than twenty-one centuries ago, the Holy Land was ruled by the Seleucids (Syrian-Greeks), who sought to forcefully Hellenize the people of Israel. Against all odds, a small band of faithful Jews defeated one of the mightiest armies on earth, drove the Greeks from the land, reclaimed the Holy Temple in Jerusalem and rededicated it to the service of G-d.

When they sought to light the Temple's menorah, they found only a single cruse of olive oil that had escaped contamination by the Greeks; miraculously, the one-day supply burned for eight days, until new oil could be prepared under conditions of ritual purity. To commemorate and publicize these miracles, the sages instituted the festival of Chanukah. At the heart of the festival is the nightly menorah lighting: a single flame on the first night, two on the second evening, and so on till the eighth night of Chanukah, when all eight lights are kindled.

On Chanukah we offer praise and thanksgiving to G-d for "delivering the strong into the hands of the weak, the many into the hands of the few, the wicked into the hands of the righteous."

Chanukah customs include eating foods fried in oil such as Latkes (potato pancakes) and Sufganiot (doughnuts), playing with the Dreidel (a spinning top on which are inscribed the Hebrew letters Nun, Gimmel, Hei and Shin, an acronym for Nes Gadol Hayah Sham, "a great miracle happened there") and the giving of Chanukah Gelt, gifts of money, to children.

That's the story told with a few religious overtones, but nevertheless the Chabad "Chanukkah In a Nutshell" really captures what Chanukkah is all about:

- Celebrating the triumph of light over darkness
- Celebrating of the triumph of purity over corruption
- Celebrating the triumph of of spirituality over materiality
- "Delivering the strong into the hands of the weak, the many into the hands of the few, the wicked into the hands of the righteous"

In other words, it's a right/wrong story saying that it's wrong to impose one's faith on others.

And this ties back into my gaming hobby / obsession since the Maccabean Revolt was one of the most important battles of the ancients time period for this reason:

The first time elephants were used in battle was by the Syrian-Greeks during the Maccabean War; but, to everyone's amazement, Elazar the Maccabee killed the lead elephant single-handedly.

How's that for ancients warfare trivia?

Do you think that "Command & Colors: Ancients" needs some Maccabean Revolt scenarios?

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Have a great Tuesday!

Merry Christmas!

And Happy Chanukkah!

Shalom,
Maksim-Smelchak.

P.S.
Many thanks to the Chabad organization and Boardgame Geek!

Notes regarding photos / pictures: These are not all my images. I am using various images from around the web, mostly from public sources and/or private sources used with permission. I have tried to include only images under public domain, creative commons, or fair use. If I have inadvertently violated any copyrights, please inform me and I will remove your image/s (if it is indeed an infringement).

GAMING NEWS: Two PATs, Tamales, Pearl Harbor & Silly String, the Secret Weapon (7 December 2006)…

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Hi Everyone,

Welcome back to another installment of “6mm-Minis!” The past week has seen me keep busy, but enough of that and on to the content…

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PEARL HARBOR DAY!

Today is Pearl Harbor Day, that “Day of Infamy” on which a secret attack by the Japanese Empire on December 7, 1941 that sunk nine American ships, damaged another seven, destroyed or damaged over three-hundred aircraft and thus brought the United States into World War Two.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attack_on_Pearl_Harbor

This may be the last time that the Pearl Harbor veterans meet too. It’s a sad day. Their generation was a great one that didn’t shirk their duties and their sacrifices paved the way for the prosperity of later generations. I’m grateful to them.

Check out this article about their possibly last reunion if you get a chance:

“Pearl Harbor survivors gather, maybe for last time”

http://tinyurl.com/ykun77

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YOU DO WHAT?

In other news more personal to me, my work is having a “team-building day” next week… when I heard that, I almost groaned out loud. I had terrible visions of sappy exercises where you have to fall down backwards and hope that your teammate will catch you… sort of like I had to do when I became a public educator. Without too much dithering, I hated those exercises… with a passion!

So, to my surprise, I asked my co-worker what we’d be doing and found out that… we’ll be making tamales for team-building… TAMALES? Yes, tamales. I guess that’s what happens when you work in a shop full of Latinos. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not complaining and my family does make tamales, but I never imagined being paid to do it.

What a pleasant surprise!

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TWO PATs:

In gaming related news, I have to tip my hat to the Two Pats! The two Pats I’m talking about are Patrick Smyrl of the Patrick's Hobby Shed blog and Patrick Sweeney of Firefly Games. Patrick Smyrl writes one of my favorite blogs, Patrick Smyrl's Gaming Blog, and recently volunteered to help create material for another friend, Tas, an Australian Naval officer who is unfortunately deployed and unable to tend his blog, another favorite of mine, Yours in a White Wine Sauce!.

You can find both Patrick’s and Tas’ blogs here:

http://pshobbyshed.blogspot.com/

http://pauljamesog.blogspot.com/

The other Patrick I’m talking about is Patrick Sweeney, the head honcho over at Firefly Games, maker of the ever popular Monster Island tabletop game. Patrick launched a new game earlier this year called The Faery’s Tale, which is simply an outstanding game, a sort of simply roleplaying game for children. Patrick specializes in simple, easy-to-play games suitable for children or adults. In an industry that tends to focus on adults, Firefly Games, is remarkable for producing games to introduce your favorite young people to.

Check out Firefly Games here:

http://www.firefly-games.com/index.php

And unlike this Pat:

These two Pats are assuredly male!

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SILLY STRING, THE SECRET WEAPON!

STRATFORD, N.J. — In an age of multimillion-dollar high-tech weapons systems, sometimes it's the simplest ideas that can save lives. Which is why a New Jersey mother is organizing a drive to send cans of Silly String to Iraq.

American troops use the stuff to detect trip wires around bombs, as Marcelle Shriver learned from her son, a soldier in Iraq. Before entering a building, troops squirt the plastic goo, which can shoot strands about 10 to 12 feet, across the room. If it falls to the ground, no trip wires. If it hangs in the air, they know they have a problem. The wires are otherwise nearly invisible.

Now, 1,000 cans of the neon-colored plastic goop are packed into Shriver's one-car garage in this town outside Philadelphia, ready to be shipped to the Middle East thanks to two churches and a pilot who heard about the drive.

"If I turn on the TV and see a soldier with a can of this on his vest, that would make this all worth it," said Shriver, 57, an office manager.

Check out the full article here:
http://tinyurl.com/saby6

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Have a great Thursday!

Shalom,
Maksim-Smelchak.

Notes regarding photos / pictures: These are not all my images. I am using various images from around the web, mostly from public sources and/or private sources used with permission. I have tried to include only images under public domain, creative commons, or fair use. If I have inadvertently violated any copyrights, please inform me and I will remove your image/s (if it is indeed an infringement).

GAMING NEWS: Snubfighters Debut & Maks is Preoccupied With Large-Scale Miniatures!

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Hi Everyone,

Life is still rolling along for me!

I've been keeping busy at work and with Thanksgiving rolling by, I've had my hands full.

I did get the opportunity to test out the new WOTC Star Wars collectible miniatures game the Friday after Thanksgiving and wasn't impressed with it. Chris spent a few bucks to get the starter set and some booster packs and we weren't too impressed with it. It was basically a dice fest with not too much going for it. Maneauver didn't seem too important... just pull your capital ships up in line and hack away at each other... sort of like W.W.I dreadnoughts without the excitement of the Star Wars movies.

Here are links to two of the biggest Star Wars Yahoo E-group forums:

http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/swmb/

http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/SSSW/

I did like the minis, but minis don't make a game as much as rules do.

Apparently I'm not the only one that felt that way either, variants of the rules are appearing across the Internet like wildflowers. Chris and I discussed the possibility of bringing some other rulesets out of mothballs with which to play the game. We have a number of options between us... Star Warriors, Rebellion In Space (RIS), Mongoose ACTA, Renegade Legion, The Last Starfighter, Aerotech, Full Thrust, Silent Death and others...

Here's a link to my friend Zac's mod on the new game:

http://tinyurl.com/yf28vv

I must be a Super-Geek to be able to recite all those games off the top of my head! Talk about wasted brain cells!

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I have too many miniatures projects as the moment and of those, too many of them are from heretical larger scales:

- 28mm Dollar Tree Ninjas
- 28mm WHFB Undead Pirates
- 10mm ASQL Sci-fi
- 6mm Command Horizon Sci-fi
- 6mm E-A Jopallis and others...
- 6mm DBA / HOTT
- 6mm Nappies
- 6mm Starfighters

Although right now, my major project (...and also the largest one to boot!) has been:

- Dating a life-size (Bigger than 54mm scale!) woman...

We had a nice date yesterday for her birthday... took a drive down to the Napa wine country. We ate a big meal and just whiled the day away. I remembered to bring flowers and chocolate, which I'd been advised are an important part of successful dating experiences... they worked!

That's the most expensive and time-consuming project I have...

Sometimes I miss just getting a little superglue on my fingers... LOL

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LOCAL GAMING NEWS on 2 December 2006:

1. Meanwhile my MWS mates back in Sacto, did a little DBA & HOTT miniatures gaming:

http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/M_W_S/

http://www.freewebs.com/mwssacto/index.htm

Joe B, Joe R, Richard, Jarrod, Keith and Keith, Tony, and Jarrod's nephew (?) David showed up at our alternate site for a couple of games. While Joe R set up the HOTT battle, Richard and Joe B battled for control of Rome.

The main event was Joe R and Richard squaring off against Jarrod for a two on two army fight. Richard's dogs sacrificed themselves while Joe crossed the river and won the war of attrition. Jarrod manfully pressed his artillery heavy force forward, and managed to kill three units through fire (Doubled up two). The highlights were Richard's killing of one of Jarrod's heros in a mano-a-dogo battle, and Jarrod shooting Richard's wolfen hero down with his egg-shooting chicken artillery. The fight went back and forth before being decided by army losses.

Joe.

Just in case you're wondering, Richard runs a 15mm HOTT army composed of Werewolves and other beastly creatures... We all call them "The Dogs," which has been fodder for many a joke! ...almost as many as the nickname for "Richard," which Blogger keeps censoring from my posts.

2. Meanwhile Kimbo and some other gaming friends got together at A-1 Comics on Sunrise for some board gaming...

http://www.a-1comics.com/main/

3. And Kevin E. with yet another batch of gaming friends got together at Great Escape Games also for mostly board gaming...

http://www.greatescapegames.com/

http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/sacboardgames/

4. And my friend Susan hopefully got in on a Scrabble day... at least we chatted about it. I've really noticed lately that Scrabble is a popular game among women. I wonder why...

Where: Starbucks in Arden Town
610 Watt Ave
Sacramento CA 95864

Event Description: Scrabble fans, we have another event for you! Come out to the Arden Town Starbucks (Watt & Fair Oaks) for coffee and Scrabble, 6:00-8:00 pm every Sunday. All skill levels welcome, from rookies to tournament players. If you have a Scrabble board, bring it along; otherwise, just show up and play! High scorer for the night gets a coffee drink on the house.

5. Also in local gaming news, a new Yahoo E-group has been set up for local miniatures wargaming here:

http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/Sac-WG/

The new group is called Sacto-WarGamers and here are its motto and purpose:

Motto: All Gaming, all the time!

Purpose: This group is dedicated to the gathering of like-minded wargamers in the Greater Sacramento area. To meet and game in good fellowship. One of this group's focus games is WAB (Warhammer Ancients Battles) although we are not exclusively limited to that game alone. Everyone's welcome!

I encourage everyone to join and give the group a whirl... who knows? It might even help you find some new gaming opportunities!

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Have a great Sunday!

Shalom,
Maksim-Smelchak.

P.S.
Many thanks to Heather who gave me some 2 for 1 discount cards for Mervyns that were going to expire after December second. I used them yesterday evening and received yet another bonus... Mervyns was giving a $15 discount bonus on all purchases over $50! So, I bought ten towels, three sweaters and a linen set for only $61! How cool is that!

Notes regarding photos / pictures: These are not all my images. I am using various images from around the web, mostly from public sources and/or private sources used with permission. I have tried to include only images under public domain, creative commons, or fair use. If I have inadvertently violated any copyrights, please inform me and I will remove your image/s (if it is indeed an infringement).