FUN VIDEOS: "Dance Off With the Star Wars Stars 2008" (18 June 2008)

Hi All,

First of all, I'm sharing the above video, which I thought was really amusing. If the first two dance numbers are a tad annoying, please hold out for the third, Lord Vader comes out to do one of my all-time favorite Michael Jackson numbers (Forward to about the 3:00 minute mark if you want to skip the first two dance numbers). It worth it for no other reason than to see Lord Vader's head bobble in that characteristic Michael Jackson way...

I've also been keeping busy lately... but haven't forgotten gaming. The June MWS meet went really well with almost twenty attendees AGAIN!

We had three games:

1. Starmada
   (...in "starship scale" or some ridiculously puny number such as 1/3,000)
   [Vince had set up a scenario between Chinese and German future fleets.]
2. Advanced Squad Leader (ASL) for Miniatures
   (...in 6mm or 1/285 scale)
   [Eric set up a WWII Western Front scenario with Americans confronting dug-in Germans.]
3. Hordes of The Things (HOTT)
   (...in 15mm scale)
   [Joe set up a cool little series of games with Orcs battling Dwarf Kings laden with treasure.]

And despite not playing in any of the games, I had a great time. Gaming, for me, has always really been about friends, camaraderie, and having a good time. And the MWSS (Miniatures Wargaming Society of Sacramento) has really been delivering lately.

We have a new schedule too:

The new schedule for the Miniature Wargaming Society of Sacramento is:

Day / Date /Time:
Sunday = 7/13/8 = 10am-6pm
Sunday = 8/10/8 = 11am-7pm
Saturday = 9/27/8 = 11am-7pm
Saturday = 10/18/8 = 12am-8pm
Sunday = 11/16/8 = 11am-7pm
Saturday = 12-20-8 = 12am-7pm

All meetings at the Carmichael Library located at 5605 Marconi Ave in Sacramento

I'm looking forward to gaming much more this year with MWS AKA MWSS. I hope to host a few more 28mm pirate games, maybe a few 28mm WAB games, and possibly a 6mm Kaiju / Godzilla game soon among my other wishes and long shots!

I'm also excited to be going on a vacation trip to New York in the first week of July. I'll be visiting my uncle, some old friends, and even, perhaps, getting a choice game or two in. Here's hoping...

And one other quick news tidbit:

My buddy Tas in the land of Oz has re-started his old OGRE web site as a blog... find it here:
http://ogrerecognitionmanual.blogspot.com/

So, good gaming to you!
And 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).

MINI WARGAMING: "DCP Is Almost Back!" (Lucky 13 November 2007)

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TOP: DCP's new Desert Mat System...

...pictured with 28mm Starship Troopers minis from Mongoose Publishing.

Hi All,

If you're a long-time OGRE player (...a classic 6mm sci-fi game with a cult following originally designed by THE Steve Jackson) then the name Daryl C. Phillips probably rings a bell... and if not, DCP or Detail Casting Products almost invariably does. DCP cast the resin terrain that was incredibly popular when OGRE Miniatures came out in the 1990s. And now Darryl is gearing up to return to the miniatures gaming zone such as his new Desert Mat System prototype pictured throughout this post which will hopefully soon come into production...

TOP: The Desert Mat System is compact for storage and travel.

This was the DCP line for SJG's OGRE:

DCP created resin structures for Ogre in 1992 and 1993. It was a one-man company; modeling, moldmaking, casting, and everything else was done by the incredible Darell Phillips. It eventually became more work than he could handle. The masters and molds now belong to SJ Games, and someday this line may be available again.

Command Post (Paneuropean) (DCP-151).
- Top: Design by Winchell Chung as interpreted by Darell Phillips; sculpting by Darell Phillips.
Hardened Command Post (Paneuropean) (DCP-152).
- Top: Design by Winchell Chung as interpreted by Darell Phillips; sculpting by Darell Phillips.
Jamscreen (Paneuropean) (DCP-153).
- Top: Design and sculpting by Darell Phillips.
Satellite Dish (Paneuropean) (DCP-154).
- Top: Design and sculpting by Darell Phillips. Uses the same base as the jamscreen, but the dish is round and the jamscreen is basically square.
Laser Turret (Paneuropean) (DCP-155).
- Top: Design by Steve Jackson, sculpting by Darell Phillips.
Laser Tower (Paneuropean) (DCP-156).
- Top: Design by Steve Jackson, sculpting by Darell Phillips.
Crater Pack (DCP-157).
- Top: Design and sculpting by Darell Phillips. Two large and eight small craters.
Small Bridge (DCP-158).
- Top: Design and sculpting by Darell Phillips.
Highway Bridge (DCP-159).
- Top: The same length as the small bridge, but double the width - wide enough for an Ogre. Design and sculpting by Darell Phillips.

And here's Darryl's bio:

I have been in the hobby of miniatures gaming for about 30 years...

...and crossed over into the "supply-side" of the hobby as one of the early sculptors of masters for Star Fleet Battles miniatures. For fans of that game, I made up the Klingon D5, the Neo-Tholians, some of the Andromedans (Conquistador & Python) and Romulans (Skyhawk & Seahawk), Fed Starbase and a few others.

I created Detailed Casting Products in 1987 and offered terrain accessories and 1/285 structures compatible with the Geo-Hex terrain system. I made several 25mm structures, both for fantasy as well as sci-fi gaming.

I worked with the old FASA gang a few years later casting up detailed "posing models" of 1/48 Omnimechs, mastered by Sam Lewis. Just for reference, these were not related to the later 1/72 scale Armorcast models, but were intended for photography and promotion of FASA's products. The Battletech Compendium is a prime example, as using computer generated art was too crude then (my, how time flies!).

I also worked with Steve Jackson Games on his retooling of the classic games of Ogre and GEV by me offering a line of licensed structures for Ogre. In Steve's award-winning "Ogre Miniatures" rulebook (a real gem), I was given credit within the glorious full-color pages and for making up a special "traditional" hex board in 3D relief. Steve used two of these maps to play his famous "Exercise K" scenario on that he demoed around the globe.

TOP: A bird's eye view of some mesas on the Desert Mat System.

Suffering a bit of "burn-out" wearing the sculptor hat, production hat, and business hat, I backed out of the industry as a manufacturer and placed the company in "carbon-freeze" as it were.

I've recently decided to broach back into the supply-side of the hobby, pacing myself slowly on a gradual comeback. Stay tuned for more of my "attempts at creativity". 8^)

And the good news is that Darryl is back... or almost so. He's been primarily working with 28mm scenery for the moment, but hopes to branch out to other sorts of goodies soon. Right now, one of his big projects is a Desert Mat System that is scale-less although Darryl has the prototypes pictured with 28mm Starship Troopers miniatures from Mongoose Publishing. Photos of this Desert Mat System are posted throughout this blog entry and Darryl also shared them over at TMP.

TOP: Another view of some mesas on the Desert Mat System.

TOP: Yet another view of some mesas on the Desert Mat System.

And now a few links:

The DCP commercial web site for now:
http://www.detailedcastingproducts.com/

The TMP post where Darryl first shared more about his new Desert Mat System prototypes:
http://theminiaturespage.com/boards/msg.mv?id=124572

And a Photobucket album where Darryl keeps many photos from his work among others:
http://s31.photobucket.com/albums/c385/SSTforumpics/

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: New Blog From Tas!

Hi Everyone,

My friend Tas has created his own blog now called "Yours In a White Wine Sauce!"

YIAWWS is primarily about Victorian Science Fiction (VSF), which is also called steampunk among other things.

Here's an intro from Tas:

Whats this humdrum all about Chaps?

Well, it's this new Officer's adventures in 2mm VSF wargaming and general ramblings about Aeronefs, Land Ironclads, Terranefs and all manner of contraptions and steam conveyances. It may not make sense, but there will be large quantities of claret and a nice cheese board at the end.

Tally-Ho!

It all looks like good fun and I'm happy to announce his new blog here!

http://pauljamesog.blogspot.com/

Tas is an old friend as well as an Australian Navy officer and is best known to the gaming community for one of his previous web sites about SJG's OGRE game.

http://panpacalliance.tripod.com/index.htm

Watch out for the pop-ups at PanPac Alliance... it's an older free site that pays for itself though pesky advertizing. It hasn't been updated for several years and has some bad code, but Tas hopes to rebuild it someday.

Shalom,
Maksim-Smelchak.

GAMING NEWS: TMP Gladiator Contest! Part #1.

Hi Guys,

I'll be leaving in a bit to visit my friend Andrew in Hercules, California, a suburb in the Bay Area a short ways from the city of San Francisco.

Andrew asked me awhile back if I would be his partner for the TMP Gladiator Game contest and I readily agreed.

Here are some details of the contest:

http://theminiaturespage.com/contest/entry/hailreventry.mv

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Andrew and I have known each other for several years and we originally met at an OGRE game he hosted at his house many years ago. We're both members of the SF-Bay-OGRE E-group and both enjoy Steve Jackson Games (SJG) products such as OGRE! I'm am certain that Tas knows him as well and Andrew has additionally has several of his gaming articles published in different OGRE books as well as a great OGRE cartoon.

Andrew also has his own OGRE web site:

http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Castle/9645/Ogre/index.html

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Last year at KUBLACON (2004), I played in his SJG Awful Green Things From Outer Space (AGTFOS) game and won with Diana as my partner. We had a good time and vowed at that time that we should get together more often. As all too often works out, our busy schedules have prevented our getting together since last year so I'm really looking forward to visiting tonight and using our partnership in the TMP Gladiator Game contest as an excuse to get together more often (He only lives about a half hour away from Diana, my girlfriend).

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We're planning to take a group photo for the contest, play some games with his kids (Probably Settlers of Cataan, but who knows?) and share a meal. We'll also be planning/strategizing how to go about the contest and planning an arena for the playtesting. Andrew has a garage full of dowels, foam sheeting, glue, etc. and he's sure we can build a simple but effective arena for our gladiators! It should be a lot of fun and I'm greatly looking forward to the get-together!

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Shalom,
Maksim-Smelchak.