T'was the Swap Meet Before Christmas...

(Image from: Boardgame & Miniature Quarterly Swap Meet #13) 

A few days before Christmas I ventured up to the Angel of the Winds Arena for the 13th Boardgame & Miniature Swap Meet hosted by OOP Games & Hobby.

The venue was nice, large enough to accommodate all the vendors and easy to get to once off I-5.

Since I left 30 minutes later than I planned, I rushed off without my cameras, so I don't have any "man on the street" pictures to post.

My usual quest at these affairs is purchasing items I don't have to cut-out, paste together or paint.

For the most part I was successful in this endeavor.

One vendor, I'm afraid I didn't get his name, was selling off spare items from the several Warhammer 40K Rogue Trader Kill Team Starter Set.

 For a mere $10, I obtained the rulebook...

...the supplement guides...

...the double-sided, mounted playing board...

...and the status counter sheets.

Okay, that's one item I have to punch out and trim, but there's less than 50 counters, unlike many boardgames which contain hundreds of them. Even over a thousand if you consider monster games.

I've never been good at haggling.  But when I asked another vendor about these near-future, pre-painted figurs, he said it was $25...

...But then added prices could be negotiable.

When I offered him $20, he accepted.  Upon my return I conducted  a quick Google search an extensive on-line research and found these figures sell for about $20-$33.

So I got another deal.

The most expensive item I bought turned out to be this WH40K-ish looking dice tray made by Carrie Emmerich, artist and proprietor of Omnibusy.

She also runs a Tumblr blog called Iris of Ether.  The dice tray cost me $30.  But as we concluded my purchase, some of the furniture figures on her display table caught my eye.

Specifically, these wine/beer casks:

Carrie originally wasn't planning on sell them, but offered them to me for $5 each.

Unlike previous swap meets there were a number of non-gaming vendors, specifically artists and authors.

While I spent some time chatting with these folks, along with other game vendors, I didn't spend any more of my money.

I always feel rather bad when I don't help out small/at-home business owners.  My late mom was an artist and attended art & craft shows throughout her life.  Plus I'm a wannabe writer myself.  So I know how hard it can be to make a profit at various shows, conferences and conventions.

However, I couldn't bring myself to buy anything else I was interested in, or something I have no room for, like this:

(Image found on eBay, not from the vendor I spoke with)

One vendor did have this Star_Wars_Miniatures AT-AT but I had to pass it up due to lack of shelf & storage space.

Here's a list of the game vendors, artists and authors I talked with and picked up business cards from before departing:

Authors 4 Authors Publishing

Almost Critical

Moon Dragon Games

Arcanum Miniatures

Ink Gasket

Ford 3D Printing

This has been the second swap meet I managed to attend. The last one two years ago, which I didn't even get a chance to write about. What keeps me away is my rotating work shift.

Hopefully it won't be another two years before I can attend the next one.

Happy New Year everyone!

Warhammer 40K Webcomic

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Author's Notes:

I got the idea for this silly, gender-bender story while rummaging through my miniature collection in preparation for the Chaos Cultists Pass in Review post.

I thought:  What would be the "worst" that could happen to a bunch of evil, vengeful fighters?

While their fate may not be as horrible as their previous lot in the "...grim darkness of the far future..." the story was fun to write.

As to the "behind the scenes" of this webcomic's imagery:

About half of the female figures were from an older line of D&D Miniatures from Wizards of the Coast.  The other half, including the male bartender were another set of pre-painted figures that I can't remember who manufactured them.  Googling the images hasn't helped.

I was also frustrated at attempting to find the source of the "Inquisitor Faustina" images.  I downloaded it from Tumblr years ago, but am unable to relocate it, even when I typed-in the HTML, my search came up with zilch.

Here's what I can tell you about the other products used during the creation of Suitable Servants--

--The badlands scenery is a terrarium backdrop I purchased from PetSmart.
--The ground is represented by Cigar Box Battle Store's Arid Lands Terrain Mat.
--The mysterious Chaos Temple is the Altar of Evil by Pegasus Hobbies, I purchased years ago.

The planet Kalf does exist in the WH40K 'verse.  It's listed as a frontier world in the Calixis Sector that can be found on the inside cover of  Fantasy Flight Games "Only War" WH40K RPG (2012).

A more readable map can be found on the WH40K Fandom Wiki:

I picked this location for a few reasons.  First, the idea of a frontier world brings to mind a planet that's not the usual toxic waste dump, war-torn hell that WH40K games and stories take place on.  Second it's one of the border worlds, so it's close enough to main fighting that was portrayed in Fantasy Flight Games' (FFG) Only War series, without being on the front lines.  But at the same time, close enough for raids and incursions by xenos and heretics.  Finally, it's location fits in with both FFG's WH40K RPG and WH40k/Wrath & Glory's Imperium Nihilus or the Age of the Dark Imperium.

I hope you enjoyed Suitable Servants along with the background material that went into creating it.

Thanks!

Book Review: The Art of Total War

(Image from the book used by New Gamer Nation)

Most computer and video games make me ill.

It's not because of the quality--or lack thereof--of the products.  It's because I'm prone to motion sickness.

Despite my ailment, I've still purchased over a dozen games during the past several years.  Ones that I could play without getting sick.

However, I've hardly played any of my computer games because:

1. I'm too busy with my writing and "analogue games" (as boardgames and miniatures are now called).

2. I suck at playing computer and video games.

One of the game series I've heard good things about is Total War.

I've collected some of the titles in the series, starting with the original, Shogun:  Total War.

They're still sitting on my shelf, unplayed.

However, this didn't stop me from buying a copy of The Art of Total War at Half Price Books.

The Art of Total War is a lavish collection of concept sketches and promotional pieces, along with a short history of the series.

I finished reading the book in less than two hours and flipped through it one more time just to admire the artwork.

Someday I'll upload one of the games on my computer and actually play it.

The developers went to great lengths to maintain historical accuracy in their games. 

But the author, Martin Robinson, admitted they also allowed some Hollywood influence to creep in for entertainment purposes.

(Image from the 1963 film Cleopatra)

Apparently, there's a debate as to whether or not video games are an art form.

I'm no high-brow art critic, but after reading this book I'm convinced video games are indeed art forms.

Either way, The Art of Total War can be found on Amazon.com, with a well-deserved near 5-star rating from eight reviewers.

Book Review of a Bundle of Battlefields Graphic Novels

During the Thanksgiving Weekend, when I wasn't helping my wife decorate the house for Christmas, I caught up on some of my reading. 

I selected the remaining unread Battlefields graphic novels in my collection, all written by Garth Ennis.    

The first story, Happy Valley, is about a newbie pilot joining a veteran Wellington bomber crew in 1942. 

It might sound cliche, but this story made me laugh--and yes--made me cry.

 

I decided to continue with the air war trend and read The Fall and Rise of Anna Kharkova.  This story is actually book three in a trilogy about Anna.  The first being Night Witches followed by Motherland.

I haven't read the first two books, because I've been buying the Battlefields series haphazardly at Half Price Books.

Anna's Fall and Rise covers a twenty year time span where she experiences a double-whammy of cruelty.  First from her German captors in the final days of World War II, followed by her own country's cruelty to it's own citizens.

The final book in my ad-hock trilogy was Dear Billy.  

This story is an extended letter by Nurse Carrie Sutton to her pilot boyfriend Billy Wedgewood.  In her letter, she confesses to Billy how she was captured, raped, shot and left for dead by the Japanese during the invasion of Singapore.  She then goes on to explain how she exacted personal revenge--and her inability to cope with the impending peace.

I've always enjoyed war stories more than any of the other genres of comics, but I only vaguely recall any of the Sgt. Rock, or Sgt. Fury stories.  

Garth Ennis knows how to tell a poignant 5-star war story you never forget.

Another New Tool of the Trade

(Image from Amazon.com)

Back in February, I announced I got a new camera, which I'm still trying to figure out all the functions.

If that wasn't enough, I thought I'd use the funds in my tax return to buy a new laptop.

The influx of funds wasn't the only factor in this decision.

For years I've been using a Toshiba Satellite a305-s6905, which actually got a decent review on CNET--back in 2009.

But it wasn't the age of my laptop that was bothering me.  Starting about a month ago, anytime I logged on to the internet, I'd get a message along my toolbar notifying me that Google Chrome won't be supporting Windows Vista.

So I was presented with choice to either upgrade my laptop to Windows 10, or buy a new laptop.  (Later I found out my old Satellite doesn't seem compatible with Windows 10).

When I began my search for the best laptop for my needs,  (or as any computer illiterate like me could fully fathom what I need), I discovered that every laptop, along with just about every other techno-gadget on the market, were better than my current model.

Based on the performance statistics--and the price discount Amazon.com offered--I decided to buy an HP Pavilion Flagship with a 15.6" screen.  I was thinking about buying the version with a 17.3" screen, but I liked the handiness of the 15.6" screen my Satellite has and thought the larger one would be too big.

My New Tool of the Trade was hand-delivered to me two days after Easter.  Seriously.  The UPS guy arrived just as I was heading to the gym that afternoon.

Since then I've been transferring files and learning the ins & outs (mostly outs) of my Flagship.  While I'm certainly experiencing "growing pains," I'm happy with my purchase because even if I don't learn everything there is to know about my Flagship, I can at least tell it's a better model than my Satellite.

New Tool of the Trade

(My Nikon CoolPix P530 camera, accessories, and of course, the multi-lingual owner's manual)

Other than my Valentine's Day and President's Day greetings, it's been almost a month since I posted anything of substance.

The reason for this literary lull is that I'm finally getting around to figuring out the new camera I bought early last month.  And yes, this includes reading the owner's manual.

For nearly eight years now, I've been taking pictures for my blog, YouTube videos, and webcomics with my trusty Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX01 camera.

I love the Lumix's handiness and ease of use, although I certainly haven't mastered it.

My biggest problem has been adjusting the light setting (natural daylight, overcast, or indoor lighting) for the environment I'm shooting in.  Once I've taken a batch of pictures I'd use the Windows Paint Program in my laptop, and/or the Paint.Net program I downloaded to adjust the color and brightness of each picture.

I certainly haven't mastered this technique either.

I hardly use the built-in flash because it seems like the subject, usually one or more miniature figures, would be in an over-bright "spot light,"  while the areas outside the "blast zone" would be darker than normal.

Despite my questionable skills with a camera, for the past year I've been wondering if it was time to "up my game."

When I finally decided to take the plunge, the choice was fairly easy:  The Nikon CoolPix P530 was one of the least expensive cameras available at the Base Exchange (BX) I usually shop at.

Getting a camera with a built-in lens is the proverbial double-edge sword.  On the one hand, it's convenient to have a permanently attached lens, but the flip side means that I'm limited to what this lens can do.

Right now, I don't see myself needing a myriad of separate lenses.  For the work do, I think one lens will suffice.

Besides, the learning curve on this camera is long, and steep enough as it is.

(Image from:  English Language & Usage--The Meaning of a Steep Learning Curve)

Jet City Comic Show

(Image:  Bomber Girl 2013, by Rebekah Isaacs)

I just found out the Jet City Comic Show is this Halloween Weekend, held again at the Greater Tacoma Convention and Trade Center.

This convention is now in it's fifth year, and I've yet to attend.

I'm already involved in family activities this weekend, but if I get some spare time, I may be able to do my usual event fly-by...

(Image:  Bomber Girl 2010, by Ben Hansen and Levi Skeen)

For those who are attending, or can attend, I hope all of you have an enjoyable time!

(Image:  Bomber Girl, by Don Brereton)

Book Review: Bunker Hill

 

 My brother has a keen interest in the American Revolution (aka The American War of Independence, often abbreviated by wargamers as the AWI).

 

After visiting him in New England, the "epicenter" of the Revolution, I remembered I had a couple books about the AWI taking up space in my "TBR File" (To Be Read).

 

One of these was Bunker Hill by Howard Fast. 

 

I must admit this is the first book I've read by the author of Spartacus, which I didn't know he wrote, along with a slew of other well-known works.

 

Which means I've got a lot of catching up to do--or at least more books to shove into my TBR File.

 

Anyway, getting back to the AWI...

 

(Image from:  Raremaps.com)

...Bunker Hill is an engrossing semi-fictionalized account of the actual battle, which was mostly fought on nearby Breed's Hill.   

 

By semi-fictionalized, I mean that the story follows the actual course of historical events leading up to, during, and after the battle.  However, Fast places historical figures in social situations that may, or may not have happened, along with providing dialogue that may or may not have been spoken.

 

And speaking of speech, the language used by our forefathers, both British and Colonial, was quite different from the eloquent and carefully preserved letters in museums and archives on both sides of the Atlantic.

 

Translation:  Their manner of speaking, especially when talking about war--or sex--was heavily laced with F-Bombs.  (One reviewer on Amazon.com gave the book a 2-star rating because of this).

 

Apparently, sex was foremost on the minds of William Howe, "Gentleman Johnny" Burgoyne and Henry Clinton, who spent as much time trying to hook up with Boston's Loyalist babes than dealing with "those damned rebels."

 

It was the "rebel scum" however, who snuck onto the Charleston Peninsula during the night of 16 June, 1775 and erected a redoubt.  

 

(Image from The Bunker Hill Museum via The Miniatures Page)

 

According to Fast, they managed to pull this off because His Majesty's Trysting Trio were dealing with erections of a different sort.

 

While scandalously delightful to think about, in actuality; the British were planning to re-occupy the Charlestown Heights, but a spy tipped-off the rebels, who stole a march on the redcoats.

 

The American cast of characters is much larger, featuring Israel Putnam, William Prescott, Joseph Warren, John Stark and Thomas Knowlton, just to name a few.  In fact, it was rather difficult for me to keep such a large cast straight and I had to refer to the Major Characters page quite often.  The American point of view often rested with a Dr. Feversham, a fallen Catholic and cashiered British Army surgeon, who finds acceptance among the rebels.

  

 Bunker Hill weighs-in at 223 pages, divided into a dozen chapters organized according to the date, or time.  The first six chapters take place from 12 June to the early morning hours of 17 June 1775. 

 

The first shots of the battle, which occurs on page 104, were fired by HMS Lively, when it's crew discovered the rebels toiling away at their redoubt on Breed's Hill.

 

Chapters 7-11 focus on crucial points of the battle, from 9 AM until 5 PM, when the rebels are finally driven off.

 

(Image:  Howard Pyle's famous painting, The Battle of Bunker Hill, 1897)

 While it seems like a lot of pages are devoted to everything but the actual fighting, Fast's prose easily conveyed how decisions were made and events unfolded, which lead to the Charlestown showdown.  The only thing that I found annoying was the author's repetitious use of the date in most chapters. 

 

The final chapter takes place the following day, when Dr. Feversham and another physician attempt to exchange, or at least provide medical care for the wounded rebels captured by the British.  They receive a cold response from the British, which convinces Dr. Feversham to continue his support of the AWI.

 

A lot of this had to do with the high number of casualties the British suffered during their three assaults...

 

(Image from Lora Innes' The Dreamer, Act I, Issue 14, Page 43)

 

I give Bunker Hill a solid 4-star rating.  While it was an entertaining tale, the narrative didn't strike any low notes, but neither did it strike epic high ones either, especially for a battle that had such lasting repercussions for both the British and Colonials.

 

The Bicentennial of the Battle of Waterloo

(Image from Oceans Bridge)

The "Horse & Musket" Era is my favorite period of history.  The pinnacle of this point in time for me is the Napoleonic Wars.  Basically warfare just before the Industrial Revolution took off.

Today historians, re-enactors and wargamers celebrate the 200th Anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo.  (The dual prelude battles of Ligny and Quatre Bras occurred two days prior to today).

This final battle of the Napoleonic Wars manages to earn entry into many "most decisive battles" lists.  Not all of them to be sure, but many of them and for good reason:  It cut down Napoleon's comeback to about a hundred days (111 to be exact).

(Image:  The situation at 6 PM, from Great Military Battles)

Last year, one wargamer, Steve St. Clair, made the news for his quest to re-create the Battle of Waterloo with 250,000 six-millimeter figures.  Meanwhile, Canada's Military Museum's will be hosting a "hands-on" Waterloo Project invloving a "mere" 10,000 figures.

A more life-like project has also been underway.  With the help of re-enactors, photographer Sam Faulkner attempts to picture what the Battle of Waterloo really looked like.

There's books galore, both fiction and non-fiction, one could read, not to mention 1970 film by Dino De Laurentiis. 

 

I practically wore out my VHS tape watching this movie.  Unfortunately, according to one reviewer on IMDb, there's no plan yet to put the movie on DVD here in the US.  Which is too bad, because this would be a great moment to release it.

Despite the lack of a Waterloo DVD, there are plenty of alternatives to read, watch, re-enact, wargame, and otherwise learn about the great battle that occurred 200 years ago.

GeekGirlCon 2014 Panel Discussion #4: Ethics in Comics

(Image:  GGC Logo)

 

We now come to the last panel discussion I attended at this year's GeekGirlCon (GGC).  

 

Ethics in Comics was hosted by:

 

Steven Reece Friesen

 

Rebeca Jimenez

 

Tanya Keenan, and

 

Walter Garre

 

While the term ethics is often described as "moral principles that govern a person's or group's behavior," Reece referred to ethics as "the space between people."

 

That the differences between individuals will get in the way of respect.

 

(Image:  Reece, Rebeca, Tanya and Walter)

Comics are escapist entertainment, but there are few stories of heroines for little girls.

Which leads to what the panelists refer to as the Twelve Questions of Ethics, the first one being the concept of "skin."

The skinny on skin was led by Rebeca--

--Women's clothing looks like it's painted on.
--A female superhero's powers are related to her femininity.  Power Girl and Wonder Woman are prime examples of this...

(Image by James Denton)

(Image by Dan Oliveira)

--Women are drawn in poses that highlight the contours of their body, even when in combat.

--The orientation of a woman's image is based on the "male gaze." 

 

In case you're wondering, here's a reminder of a proper gaze when encountering women cosplayers at conventions, like GGC:

 

(Image by Alexas Rosa)

 

Now let's turn our gaze back to the Twelve Questions of Ethics, moving on to #2, the market. 

Walter, led the discussion on this--

--Most authentic are is like lightning, that is, it's fleeting and people try to tap into it.
--People will consume products, even art for the namesake, or brand loyalty.
--The market panders to an audience.
--However, artists can't make a living as artists without the market.
--Therefore, one must find a balance between creating art that's authentic, and art that's marketable.

Then the discussion veered off a bit into some tangential, but relevant subjects.  While we didn't get to the other 10 Questions of Ethics, here are snippets, which I'm sure relate to them--

--We tell stories to tell us who we are.
--Readers become invested in stories because they see a little of themselves in it.
--Pandering makes an audience feel betrayed.
--Try to find more than a single story for a character, otherwise you could be stereotyping.
--Art gets through people's psychological and emotional defenses.
--Art becomes a legacy that pushes the boundary of established perimeters.
--Art can assign values to life.
--You can't talk about an issue unless you acknowledge, or display the issue.
--When people become a symbol for a cause, then they stop being a person, even when they're a fictional character.  (Apparently, Batwoman caused a stir for being a lesbian who proposed marriage to her partner, only to have DC Comics put the kibosh on the wedding).

There was only time for a couple of questions at the end.

The first woman asked how the panelists could talk about race relations, when they're all Caucasian.  She was also irked that one of the panelists made a joke which she thought was sexist.  (I couldn't remember the joke/comment).

The panelist apologized and said the topic of ethics is something that is in a constant state of trying to improve itself.

Reece had a good response, in that as artists there will be people who will love your work, while there will be others who will hate it.  The question is:  What ethical choices will you make on what you create and can you live with those choices?

The second woman was also irked and asked:  But what if a woman artist wants to portray heroines in a sexy, alluring manner?  Not to mention the women cosplayers who dress this way.  She felt women "couldn't win" the Ethics Wars.

Before the panel could come up with an answer we ran out of time.

As you can see, we didn't solve any issues, such as racism or sexism in comics, within 50 minutes.  We probably couldn't if we were given 50 years.  But most the panelist have hosted ethical discussions in the past and plan on continuing their work.

This ends my GGC coverage.  I hope to make next year's con.  See you then!