Happy Fourth of July!

My favorite commentator, Mark Steyn, delves into the origins of the song "God Bless American."

http://www.steynonline.com/content/view/3432/30/

Stern Rake Studio's 19th Movie

I uploaded my 20th You Tube movie this morning.  This one is a photo montage of the NHMGS (Northwest Historical Gaming Society) Enfilade 2010 wargame convention.  The above photo was used in the movie's closing credits.

Due to my work schedule, the only portions of the convention I was able to attend was Saturday night and Sunday morning.  So none of the games played on Friday or early Saturday are shown in the video.  What's also missing is Adrian & Dean's WAB (Warhammer Ancient Battles) game of Heraclea.  But their game will be getting its very own movie.

In the meantime, here's Enfilade 2010:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kk0Uv9jauGY

Happy Father's Day!

Micro-Terraforming: 1/3rd Complete

Above is the "before picture."  (Click on the images throughout this post to enlarge).

This is the micro-scale (1/285th, 6mm, 1/300th) terrain board I bought from my friend Adrian several months ago (see "Shipyard," 31 Dec 09 post).  It's a river valley set during an early/late winter, depicting a landscape speckled with snow and mud. 

In order to make the board more versatile, I made several changes.  Starting with the two end panels (seen at the bottom of the above photo), I uprooted all the individual, frosted pine trees on the valley floor and applied two coats of spray paint to the hill (flat white) and the valley floor (flat dark green).  I decided to give the river a glistening look, so I repainted it using gloss blue with some dashes of glossy dark green. 

Then I slathered on Elmer's Glue and doused the hill with Soft Flake Snow from Woodland Scenics, and did the same for the valley floor, using Woodland Scenics's Burnt Grass/Fine Turf.  Since I have modern road sections, I decided to keep the board's road network unpaved.  After I repainted the roads flat brown, I applied fine basing grit from Gale Force Nine.

The end result, for my initial two panels, is the entrance of an "alpine valley:"

I kept the valley floor bare of other features so I could add, remove, or change the type and location of the terrain, depending on what gaming scenario was being played:

While I couldn't change the course of the river, I felt I could still modify it to suit different scenarios.  Strips of tan felt, purchased at Jo-Ann's Fabric, are used in the photo below to create a dry river bed:

While strips of white felt are used to create a frozen river:

(But is it safe for troops to cross? Order the penal troops to advance!)

And if I don't need a river at all, then some strips from an old army blanket does the trick at filling in all that deep blue.  (I must admit, I need more practice at cutting and trimming lengths of cloth).  The gap in the road is filled-in using a piece of latex dirt road I purchased from Monday Knight Productions:

Oh, and the black curtain is part of a studio lighting and back drop kit my wife gave me for Christmas, that I finally got around to using!

Okay, that's two panels done, four more to go...

Happy Flag Day!

The origins of Flag Day:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_Day_(United_States)

Convention Report: Enfilade! 2010

This past weekend NHMGS (Northwest Historical Gaming Society) held its flagship convention Enfilade! 2010. Unlike previous years, where I attended the entire convention, I was only able to participate in one game.  I got off of work on Saturday and did a "fly-by."  That is, I stopped in, obtained my attendance card, wandered the gaming tables taking pictures, checked out what was for sale and chatted with friends.

The convention coordinators tried something new this year.  Those who pre-registered could sign up for one game during any period of the convention.  This cut down the length of the sign-up line that would form and snake around the playing areas prior to each period.  The convention planners intend to do the same next year.

Since I missed the first two days, I used my guaranteed slot to sign up for the  Sunday morning Warhammer Ancient Battles (WAB) refight of Heraclea, hosted by my friends Dean and Adrian.  Dean provided the Greek figures, while Adrian provided the Romans. 

My gaming partner, James and I, chose to play the Roman commanders, while Lawrence and his partner, (I didn't get his name), played the Greek generals.  Heraclea, fought in 280 BC, was the first confrontation between the Roman legion and the Greek phalanx:

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

Despite our attempts to avoid a head-to-head clash with the phalanxes, the outcome of our battle mirrored the historical result.  That is, the Romans were pushed back across the Siris River.  We also tried securing our own flanks with our cavalry.  My Roman cavalry on our left flank charged the Greek Companion Cavalry, resulting in both units being locked in melee for nearly the entire game.  Meanwhile on our right flank, the Roman allied cavalry had the devil's own time coming to grips with the Greek allied light cavalry.  The Greek horsemen dispersed and peppered the Roman horsemen with arrows for most of the game.

As if the Greek horsemen weren't bad enough, the Greeks had another critter, the Romans never saw before--an elephant.  Pachyderms were terrifying, yet temperamental and unpredictable beasts.  We tried wounding it, hoping the beast would go on a rampage against its own troops.  Unfortunately our plan backfired.  The elephant did go on a rampage, but cut a swath of terror and destruction through our own units.  This, along with mounting losses from Greek pikes, caused one Roman maniple after another to loose heart, and in a cascading effect, retreat across the river.

The game was a lot of fun and both sides had their tense moments.  Adrian, Dean and Dan (who was out of town during the convention) are part of the Puyallup Wargamers and can always be counted on to paint museum-quality figures and host highly enjoyable games.

Despite my short attendence, I took over 90 photos of various gaming events during my Saturday evening "walkabout."  For the Heraclea refight, I snapped over 220 pictures!  I just uploaded all the photos on to my laptop this morning and am going through the initial editing process.  Which is, using the computer to lighten each image, because with my current camera, a Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX01, it's best not to use a flash.

I'm currently working on an Age of Conan game report.  Once that's finished, I'll start work on movies for both Enfilade! 2010 and our WAB battle.  In the meantime, I'll post some sample pictures on the Puyallup Wargamers Yahoo Page as soon as I can.

Memorial Day

Thank you to our men & women in uniform and the families who support them.

Book Review: 20 Master Plots (and how to build them)

King Solomon once lamented:  "What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun"  (Ecclesiastes 1:9-14 NIV).

If this is true, then today's writers face a daunting task in getting published, especially if their stories are viewed as mere regurgitations of older tales.  However, the reason why such tried & true narratives remain popular is because they've resonated with people since the beginning of recorded history--and probably long before cuneiform was scratched on to clay tablets.

Ronald Tobias, author of 20 Master Plots (and how to build them) settled on 20 "best selling" plots to help writers strike the right chord with potential readers.  The first 6 chapters of 20 Master Plots... deals with the dynamics that make a compelling story, such as the 3-act play, increasing the level of conflict in each act and establishing relationship triangles, (or quadrilaterals, or whatever), just to name a few.

The remaining chapters, minus the last "Parting Shots" chapter, go into detail of each plot type.  So this book doesn't have to be read cover-to-cover if you already know, or at least have a good idea where your story fits in.  Each of these plot chapters run from 3-13 pages and discusses key elements of the protagonist, the antagonist and the structure of each act, along a short checklist at the end.

So where does your story fit?  It could be:  Quest, Adventure, Pursuit, Rescue, Revenge, The Riddle, Rivalry, Underdog, Temptation, Metamorphosis, Transformation, Maturation, Love, Forbidden Love, Sacrifice, Discovery, Wretched Excess, Ascenscion and Descension. 

I found 20 Master Plots...to be an enjoyable and informative, although I thought the actual plot chapters more interesting to read.  I give this book a solid 4-stars and makes an excellent reference book for plot structure.  Ten other reviewers on Amazon.com also rated Tobias' work with 4-stars, while 18 others liked the book better than we did and awarded 20 Master Plots...with 5-stars.  However, not everyone is happy with Tobias's work.  Two reviewers give the book 3-stars, while 4 give it 2-stars and another 4 bestow a mere single star each. 

These detractors feel the book is an incomplete guide, that's poorly written in an arrogant tone and that better "how to" books on writing are available.  One reviewer even has an issue with what he calls "pronoun equality," that is using "he" and "she" interchangibly.

I stand by my rating.  I expected 20 Master Plots... to be a general guide on story structure and Mr. Tobias didn't dissappoint me.

Amazon.com's page on 20 Master Plots...: 

http://www.amazon.com/Master-Plots-How-Build-Them/dp/0898795958

The book is available in paperback through F+W Publications:

http://www.fwbookstore.com/product/86/writing

Wretched Hives of Scum and Villainy Completed

Based on suggestions from my friends Adrian and Dean, I redid my sci-fi pre-fab buildings using textured paint.  The buildings in the above image were painted with ColorTex's "Quarry," for a gray, city-like environment.

As I mentioned in my earlier post, these structures were made from two models of Sterilite trays:

#1605 (6 1/4" x 5" x 2 1/8"
#1606 (9 5/8" x 6 1/4" x  2 1/8")

I wanted to diversify the color-scheme a bit, so for a desert or frontier environment, I chose two colors.  The first was "Desert Bisque" by Rustoleum:

And the second frontier color was "Santa Fe Sand" by Volspar:

For all the buildings, I used black construction paper for the windows.  I chose black for versatility, so the windows can be considered darkened, tinted or completely blown-out.

I downloaded images of blast doors from a gaming/miniature website.  At this time I'm afraid I can't remember, or find, what that site is.  When I do, I'll be sure to post it to give the creator(s) proper credit.

I may add some more details to these buildings, like access hatches to the roofs, or antenna arrays, etc.  But these are wargaming "chrome" and I can use these buildings now as they are.

Book Review: Who Dares Wins, The Green Beret Way to Conquer Fear and Succeed

This is a self-help book for guys!

Bob Mayer is a former member of the US Army Special Forces, who used what he learned while in the "Green Berets" to become a successful author. The core premise of this book is that people are inhibited to succeed by their own fear. That only by overcoming fear can one be truly successful, in writing, or in any endeavor.

To drive this point home, the author uses examples of brave men in combat in the face of overwhelming odds. Unfortunately, not every battle fought by our special operations forces resulted in victory. Often, it is through failure, the author points out, that we learn our most valuable lessons.

The book also contains numerous self-analysis exercises to determine your character, what forms of stress you're most sensitive to and what goal(s) you should establish in order for you to overcome your own fear.

Only two people provided ratings for this book on Amazon.com, but both of them gave it 5-stars.  Despite some typos, especially towards the end and some syntax errors, I added a 3rd 5-star to the book's Amazon rating.  This book is not your typical business-model plan for success in the corporate world.  Instead, Who Dares Wins opens the world of unforgiving battlefields to the readers in order to give them the character-building tools they need to succeed in their own lives.

In December 2009, Bob Mayer launched his Who Dares Wins Publishing company, specialising in military fiction, military non-fiction and military science-fiction:

http://whodareswinspublishing.com/home/

Happy Mother's Day!