COOL STUFF: "Imagining The Undead" (30 November 2007)

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TOP: The undead hordes cover the land in darkness...

Hi All,

All gamers have quirks, and among the gaming masses, two groups have particularly fertile, perhaps over-fertile, imaginations: RPG gamers & miniatures wargamers. We get caught up on a theme and just go bonkers with it. My buddy Nils does. My Junkworld buddy Mark does. Cacique Caribe from TMP does. And I certainly do! I've been stuck on the undead for some time now...

TOP: "Liber Necris: The Book Of Death In the Old World"

And I finally got ahold of a copy of the Black Library Publication "Liber Necris: The Book Of Death In the Old World," which has been a fun read. Essentially the Liber Necris, is a compilation of all the wonderful background on the undead from the Warhammer Fantasy Battles setting. And the story after almost two decades of short stories and fiction is a rich one... from the rise of the first Necromancer Nagash to the the depredations of the Von Carstein Vampire lineage... However, what really got my imagination going was a discussion of the components of the undead as discussed from a quasi-alchemical, wizardly perspective:

The Seven Prime
Physio-aethyric Components of the Undead:

Kha
The physical or mortal shell. The body. Corpse.

Ka
Ego, reason, and abstract thought.

Ba
The subconscious self and emotion.

Ab
The conscious or ethical awareness.
Also thought to be the freedom of choice.

Sekhem
Life force itself; soul-fire or aethyric energy.

Ren
One’s true name.
The notion or idea of a particular individual.

Khaibit
The shadow. Proof of mortality.

And that prompted me to create a table of the undead components, which I haven't figured out how to port over to Blogger yet.

And that got me to start thinking of all the types of undead I could recall... from fairy tales, legends, miniatures games, board games, novels, short stories, RPGs, etc. ...which led me to the below list:

CHARACTERS:
- Demiliche (wizard)
- Dracoliche (dragon + wizard)
- Liche (wizard)
- Liche Master (wizard)
- Master Necromancer (wizard)
- Mummy Lord (warrior + wizard)
- Necromancer (wizard)
- Vampire: Blood Dragon (Traditional Eastern European Drakul Warrior Type)
- Vampire: Eastern Cathay (Mastermind / Sorcerer / Scholar Type)
- Vampire: Lahmian (Seductress Type)
- Vampire: Necrarch (Necromancer Type)
- Vampire: Southern (Earth Beast Vampire Type)
- Vampire: Strigoi (Wild Beast Vampire Type)
- Vampire: Von Carstein (Traditional Gothic Horror Dracula Type)
- Vampire Count (warrior)
- Vampire Lord (warrior)
- Vampire Thrall (warrior)
- Werewolf (beast + warrior)
- Wight Lord (warrior)
- Wraith Lord (warrior)

CORE-UNDEAD:
- Baneguard
- Carrion Flyer
- Corpseguard
- Deadites
- Direguard
- Grave Guard
- Leiberian Skeleton
- Skeletal or Zombie Beasts
- Skeletal or Zombie Wolves
- Skeletons
- Wights
- Zombies

CORE-MUNDANE:
- Bats (beast)
- Ghast (beast + man)
- Ghoul (beast + man)
- Gypsies (man)
- Peasants (man)
- Rats (beast)
- Villagers (man)
- Vultures (beast)
- Wolves (beast)

SPECIAL-CORPOREAL:
- Black Knights
- Chupacabra
- Corpse Gatherer (Animated Graveyard)
- Death knights
- Frankenstein
- Golem
- Grim Reaper
- Horseman Of the Apocalypse
- Mummies
- Nephilim
- Nightshade
- Revenant
- Skeletal Centaurs
- Skeletal Ogre, Troll, etc.
- Undead Chariot
- Undead Elite
- Zombie Ogre, Troll, etc.

SPECIAL-INCORPOREAL:
- Banshee
- Barrow Wight
- Ghost
- Nightmare
- Phantom
- Poltergeist
- Ringwraith
- Shade
- Shadow
- Spectre
- Spirit Host
- Will O' the Wisp
- Wraith

RARE:
- The Black Coach
- Bog or Fen Beast
- Skeletal Dragon or Wyrme
- Zombie Dragon or Wyrme

Hope you enjoyed my convoluted thought patterns!

Have a great Friday!

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).

WEIRD NEWS: "Pink guns: Yeah, right? Right?" (16 October 2007)

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TOP: This image is a Photoshop mock-up...

Of an actual Asian military firearms competition.

Hi All,

I've seen alot of things in my time... the end of the Cold War, men landing on the Moon, Dan Rather getting hoisted on his own poetically just petard, etc. BUT... I never thought I'd see the day that pink guns acquired a share of the firearms market. But, they're here! There have always been options to have the metal parts of firearms anodized with various colors, but now a number of manufacturers see pink firearms as a way of attracting more women to the self defense and hunting firearm markets.

Who would have thought?

"Colorful firearms pop up to attract women hunters"
Link here:
http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=666096

"Pink guns for girls"
Link here:
http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_2524635.html?menu=news.quirkies

"2nd Amendment Sexy or Candy Coated Killas?"
Link here:
http://greensleeves.typepad.com/berkshires/2007/09/2nd-amendment-s.html

TOP: This is a REAL M-16! Technicolor polka dots and all!

TOP: Pink Glock, anyone?

Update (16 October 2007 at roughly 11:00am):
Mark AKA Old Digger, my friend, gives new meaning to the initials "HK" and firearms. Thanks, Mark!

TOP: Normally, I think of Hechler & Koch when I see the initials HK...
Now, I know that Hello Kitty's (HK) firearm of choice is an AK!

Have a great Tuesday!

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).

MINI WARGAMING: 28mm Government Teleportation Pad Complex (GTPC)!

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TOP: Government Teleportation Pad by Mark C.

Hi All,

Last month a bunch of friends got together at the MWS gaming club meeting on 21 July 2007 and had a great time gaming, the way it's supposed to be: a bunch of friends gathering, all having prepped some figures for sci-fi skirmish gangs (...I brought a robot gang), a well thought-out game scenario, and some gorgeous terrain. Mark C., Richard M., Mike O., and I built gangs to play in Richard's adaptation of Necromunda to the Savage Worlds rule set. The Savage-munda game was a good time for all who played in it.

One of the stand-outs from the terrain lay-out was the Government Teleportation Pad Complex (GTPC), which was made from three pieces:

1. A large two-story structure with an open passage through it.

2. An attached landing pad structure for aircraft.

3. A circular Teleportation Pad that could be placed on the landing pad.

It's Mark C.'s creation so please take a gander and admire his craftsmanship:

TOP: A view of HUD-po-ville, 28mm sci-fi scenery.

You can see the GTPC in the lower right of the photo.

TOP: Looking through the GTPC.

TOP: The Government Teleportation Pad with the attached complex structure.

The round semi-opaque domes make the "teleportation magic" happen!

TOP: The Government Teleportation Pad... with a former Government employee.

They get great salaries, but the death benefits really suck.

Ask him... or don't.

TOP: Mark's AT-43 gang laying the hurt on Mike's gang.

Please notice how Government employees don't seem to mind stepping on each other.

The skeletal remains of that Government employee sure don't get much respect.

TOP: Mark's AT-43 gang (top right) ambushed Mike's Necromunda gang (middle right).

It really sucked to be Mike.

In the game, it ended up being the death knell for poor Mike O. who snuck around in the sewers and ended up randomly popping up under Mark C.'s gang, which was slaughter... to be caught out in the open with a well-armed enemy in superior firing position... who also happened to have grenades. Mike O. was a good sport about it though. Good for him. He later reincarnated back into the game as some NPCs of the "Orkie" persuasion.

I really love these terrain pieces!

Have a great Wednesday!

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: MWSS Session Report (10 March 2007)

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Jarrod, Mike W. and Mike O. having a great time hunting zombies!

Hi Everyone,

Well, I finally got around to writing the battle report for the 10 March 2007 meeting of the MWSS (Miniatures Wargaming Society of Sacramento) gaming club. It was a fun meeting with lots of attendees during a very busy weekend. I didn’t keep track of victories this time… only who played. Without further ado, here’s what happened:

Dick and Mark chuckling as the zombies ran wild.

Attendance:

1. Andrew
2. Anthony
3. Charles
4. Connor
5. Dave S.
6. Don
7. Chris
8. Dick
9. George
10. Greg
11. Jarrod
12. Joe B.
13. Joe R.
14. Keith
15. Ken
16. Maksim
17. Mark C.
18. Mike O.
19. Mike W.
20. Randy
21. Mystery Guest #1
22. Mystery Guest #2 (Improved model)

Game (miniatures) #1:
Armati (15mm ancients historical game)
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/10266

Gauls (Germans) vs. Romans
(Hosted by Chris) 15mm Roman and Gaulish lines mix it up.

Gauls (Germans):
- Don
- Joe R.
Romans:
- Chris
- Randy

- In a fairly standard game of Armati, the Gauls were trounced by a more devious pair of Roman commanders, Randy Randulous and Christophero Christophicus. The poor Gaul commanders were more like Hanz & Franz from the 1980s Saturday Night Live television show than fearsome hulking Germans from ancient times! You can't win them all and Armati does have a learning curve...

Game (miniatures) #2:
Gaslight (15mm Victorian Science Fiction game)
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/7071

Prussians vs. Confederacy vs. Mercenary Spanish vs. Cruel World
(Hosted by Mark C.)

A huge 15mm British VSF vehicular contraption overuns a smaller brother.

Prussians:
- Dick
- Maksim
Confederacy (Tinkertons):
- Anthony
- Charles
- George
American Adventurers
- Greg
Spanish Mercenaries led by an Insane British Lord & Arab Allies
- Mike O.

- This was definitely a wildy and wooly game. Mark specializes in writing colorful and funny background stories as well as creating wacky special rules that often don't come into play. For instance, one of the Confederate characters was a mad scientist with a "pig zapper" gun/device that literally turned its targets into... PIGS! Mark also built a number of scratch items for the game including all of the vehicles and scenery pieces. It was a great game and we all had a blast playing it!

A 15mm Mad Sheik fights an Indiana Jones-like American adventurer.

- As a side note, I have detailed notes of this game and will create a separate battle report for it in the near future.

A beautiful scratchbuilt 15mm VSF robot, the "Firebelly," made by Mark C.

Game (miniatures) #3:
Xtreme Zombie Hunter (28mm Sci-fi)
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/20901

Zombie Hunters vs. Zombies
(Hosted by Nils)

A 28mm "chainsaw chick" is surrounded by marauding zombies.

Zombie Hunters:
- Connor
- Dick
- Jarrod
- Maks
- Mark C.
- Mike O.
- Mike W.
Zombies:
- Nils (The gamemaster)

- This amusing game of commercialized zombie hunting had all the best zombie themes: rednecks, store clerks, hopping zombie legs, crawling torsos, hot chicks, etc. We all had a good time hunting down the zombies and spouting one-liners... think of a mix of Duke Nuke'em and The Running Man!

An apprehensive Connor doesn't like what Nils is pointing out...

Game (board) #4:
Battlecry (Civil War Board Game)
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/551
Connor (North) vs. Mike W. (South)
(Hosted by Mike W.)

Another scratchbuilt 15mm robot built by Mark C.

Game (board) #5:
Iliad (Ancients Card Game)
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/21654
(Hosted by Dick)
Players Unknown

Two 28mm "redneck brothers," a crik savvy zombie hunting team.

Game (board) #6+:
- A number of board games were played after I left early.

MWSS Meeting Outcome:
- It was a great day… plenty of folks showed up! We had three major miniatures games hosted and all three were great fun. I played in two of them, the VSF adventure and the Zombie Hunting thriller! Everyone was a great sport and with the exception of a little vendetta between two players (…solved on the field of zombie hunting), we all got on fabulously. A special thanks to Mark C. and Nils who both put a tremendous amount of effort into their gaming set-ups!

Thanks again, Mark and Nils!

Joe Riddle showed off some of his finely painted 15mm HOTT Fantasy figures.

I took lots of photos of the session and they can be found here:
http://s44.photobucket.com/albums/f23/Maksim-Smelchak/Gaming%202007/MWS_3-10-2007/

Nils has his own blog here:
http://blackcavalierswargaming.blogspot.com/

And Mark C. keeps a gallery here:
http://s81.photobucket.com/albums/j213/MACarper/

The 15mm British roller tanks were particularly effective at running over infantry.

Have a great Tuesday!

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).

WEIRD NEWS: Quirky Star Wars Viewpoints!

.I think we ALL wish we were Han Solo at one time or another...

I wonder... do Wookies get hairballs?

Hi Everyone,

Got a few posts in the works, but thought I'd drop off a few fun graphics (the one above and below) for your perusal:
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Darth Vader - "Truther" Conspiracy Theory Nut: "Need $$$ to build Deathstar!"

And to top that Darth Beggar photo off, check out this amusing "truther perspective" of how the Deathstar was really destroyed:

http://www.websurdity.com/2007/02/28/uncomfortable-questions-was-the-death-star-attack-an-inside-job/

Yeah, right!

------

I have a great weekend planned:

SATURDAY:

- Visit a bunch of friends at the MWS meeting and play games.

- Link to MWS Yahoo E-group:

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

- My old buddy Mark should be there who I haven't seen in awhile. Should be lots of fun.

- Mark is hosting a VSF (Victorian Science Fiction) game.

- A link to Mark's photo album (gaming miniatures):

http://s81.photobucket.com/albums/j213/MACarper/
- Nils will also be hosting a zombie game.

- Check out his blog (lots of photos) here:

http://blackcavalierswargaming.blogspot.com/

- Wish my bro-in-law Vince happy birthday!

- Chill out and work out.

SUNDAY:

- Go see the new movie "The 300" with a group of friends on an IMAX screen.
- Official "The 300" web site:

http://300themovie.warnerbros.com/

- The real historical Battle of Thermopylae that inspired the movie:

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

- A Wiki page for the comic book of "The 300":

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/300_%28comic_book%29

- A movie review by Debbie Schlussel of "The 300":

http://www.debbieschlussel.com/archives/2007/03/weekend_box_off_43.html

http://www.debbieschlussel.com/archives/2007/03/300_not_an_anti.html

- Possibly go pick up a new bed mattress from an old neighbor.
- Chill out and work out. It should be good.

I have mixed feelings about seeing "The 300." On one hand, I love the history of The Battle of Thermopylae, but on the other hand, the previous film "Sin City" was WAY TOO gory for me. Very tasteless, it was. On the other hand, my buddy Vynnie of RIF (Recon In Force) invited me and he should be there with a number of our other friends... and we get to see it on the giant IMAX screen... so, I guess, if nothing else, the company should trump the film if it's really bad.

Vynnie's web site:

http://www.recon-in-force.com/index.html

*** Any good weekend plans yourself? ***

Have a great Friday!

Shalom,
Maksim-Smelchak.

P.S.

Haven't posted a "gratuitous babe" in awhile so here goes:

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).

MINI WARGAMING: The Carper'ian Castle Wolfenstein?

. Hi Everyone,

Some of you may remember a classic old video game called Castle Wolfenstein...

Castle Wolfenstein was amazing for its time... it was the story of a WWII commando / GI sort of fellow who had to infiltrate a Nazi fortress... The original game had an overhead view and the sound effects were nothing short of amazing...

Later, Castle Wolfenstein turned into one of the first and best of the "first-person shooter" games...

The above view isn't the original "first-person shooter" version, it's from one of the sequels with fancier graphics.

I have many fond memories of slaying Nazis and uttering the classic Indiana Jones line:

"Nazis! I hate those guys..."

Why did I bring this up? Well, because my friend Mark Carper recently made an amazing piece of miniatures terrain... a castle that brought back fond memories...

Mark is an amazing terrain builder and miniature painter; when you can get Mark away from "The World of Warcrack TM," he's an amazing game opponent as well as pretty darn good company!

At any rate, I should stop blowing his horn and simply say that he's outdone himself and built one of the most impressive pieces of gaming terrain I've ever seen...

I've also added a link to his Photobucket over on my sidebar:
Mark's Photobucket Albums

While he only has his Carper'ian Castle Wolfenstein up so far, expect more good things from him in the future.

Mark has nominally scaled it for 15mm (...all of the minis pictured with it are 15mm) and it's made out of pink insulation styrofoam, ground cover, spackling, castle walls from some kind of cork board and who knows what else out of Mark's mad scientist laboratory...

Have a great Thursday!

Shalom,
Maksim-Smelchak.

P.S.
I also added in a photo of the Wolfenstein honeys... just because!

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: Fun two weeks culminating in the 10 December 2005 MWS weekend meeting!

Hi Everyone,

I've been blessed the past two weeks or so...

Last Sunday I had a chance to play Assyrian Wars by Udo Grebe with my friend Vince Blackburn AKA Vynnie at another friend's house, Dave Hanifan. George and Jeff also showed up and we all had a good time. The components could have used better color differentiation, but all of us had a good time upon final consideration.

The Board Game Geek link to Assyrian Wars is here:
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/8626

Last Tuesday, I found out that one of my favorite local gaming shops "Hobby Monkey" is taking a turn for the worse... less operating hours and several cancelled game tournaments including the immensely popular Formula De tournament, which really irks me because my racer had one of the top standings. The owner wants to close by 9:00pm on weeknights now (...sometimes 8:00pm) which really reduces the amount of time for gaming. Bummer...

I showed up on Tuesday at Hobby Monkey to find the poor Flames of Wars guys from Yuba City walking into an empty shop. We played a Formula De game, which they all liked. I was in first place until my car blew up in an unfortunate accident. Eric-Chern of Epic-Armageddon and Babylon-5 fame came in last place, but he finished unlike THREE of the rest of us! There were seven racers... pretty lethal race.

Yesterday, MWSS (Miniature Wargamers Society of Sacramento), had our monthly games day. Three games were hosted:

- 10mm (N-scale) WWII Eastern Front game with adapted ASL rules...
- 6mm/15mm HOTT Fantasy campaign...
- 15mm War of 1812 with Guns of Liberty rules...

I played in the 6mm/15mm HOTT Fantasy campaign and had a great time. I played two smaller HOTT battles (1 decisive win, 1 moderate loss) and played on the winning side of a Big-Battles-HOTT game which featured six armies (three a side) battling it out. General HOTT Dick Mitchell's "good consortium" (Elf army, human army and my magician's army) carried the day against Ork despot General Carper's hordes (Orc behemoth/archer band, Orc blades band and Orc shaman band).

I tried out an interesting HOTT army of eight spearmen supported by two magicians in the last game. It was fun although my sides didn't do much more than have my magicians toss spells at the enemy (which scared a key enemy behemoth which was forced to flee) and have my spearmen hold part of the line looking tough.

While the games were technically part of the HOTT campaign, we won't officially kick off the campaign until the January meeting so the games were really "practice" ones. I'm already afraid of the really tough Orc armies. Marc Carper really knows his game. And what a beautiful miniatures painter he is!

Photos of his minis and all three of the games can be found in a folder labelled "12-10-2005" at the MWSS E-group here:
http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/M_W_S/

After yesterday's game, Diana and I were invited to a wine-tasting by our friends Roger and Grace. Roger's my idea of a good guy to taste wine with, a former 82nd Airborne paratrooper with an attitude! He's also one of the world's premier miniatures painters and his work is regularly featured in gaming magazines in the UK and USA. We had a good time even though we weren't behaving according to "wine-tasting decorum!" We both got in trouble with his wife at one point so we mellowed out. She takes "wine tasting" much more seriously than we did... at the time! Although I still insist that a few of the wines we "sampled" wouldn't have been good for lubricating even a Peugot. More like pee-eeuhhh!

We tried three French wines and three Napa Valley wines. I much prefer the Napa Valley wines from California. The French wines almost all had a bad aftertaste and I was happy to toss the rest of them in the "slops" bucket.

After the "wine tasting" there was a "white elephant" gift exchange. It's Murphy's Law that if you're Jewish, you will always end up with a Christmas ornament at a "holiday" (really Christmas) gift exchange. We (Diana and I) ended up with a set of diet books (The South Beach Diet Book and The South Beach Diet Cook Book) along with a... yeah, guess again... a Christmas ornament. I might just make a vow someday to make a version of Frosty with a Yarmulke! Dagnabit!

We gave the Christmas ornament to Grace and were able to swap our "books" for some kind of a "fancy shmancy" lemon liqueur from Italy. It's called "Limoncello" (spelling?). I haven't broken it open yet.

I've decided, all in all, that wine-tasting may not be my thing. The husband host was good and has started his own wine label, but the wife host, was bit shmarmy and her red thong underwear were hanging out in the wind. I wasn't going to say anything though... However at the first glance of her red thong, I vowed to not imbibe generously of the wine... get my drift!

Besides enjoying the company of Roger and Grace, I met someone who was an appreciator of Russian literature so I had a good time. Diana talked Baltimore football with the host and a few other folks.

All in all, the past two weeks or so have been good to me.

Shalom,
Maksim-Smelchak.