Happy Thanksgiving or Thursday: Whichever you celebrate :-)

While it is a specific U.S. holiday, my wish to all of my readers is the same.  May your food not fight back, and may your travel plans not be thwarted by gigantic, mutant bird-monsters.  I realize that this is just a re-colored version of last year's picture, so I apologize for not having anything original this year.

Miniatures Monday

Well, the Silent Sorcerer hasn't yet managed to eradicate the undead infestation welling up from the crypts beneath the Tower, so this week we have a couple of photos of another skeleton.  This fellow has a pretty hefty axe, so normal doors aren't going to be much help!

Time is running out to back Astonishing Swordsmen and Sorcerers of Hyperborea!

There are only 56 hours left to back the Kickstarter for Astonishing Swordsmen and Sorcerers of Hyperborea by +Jeff Talanian!  For just $59, you can get a hardcover edition plus a map and a PDF.  For just $99, you can get the foil stamped special edition.  If you're into Wwords & Sorcery, what are you waiting for, a sign from the Elder Gods?  If so, consider this your sign!  If you would like to know even more about the game, check out the official website.

Miniatures Monday

Well, Halloween may be past, but the restless dead continue to infest the Tower of the Silent Sorcerer.  Here we have two views of an animated skeleton wielding a corroded greatsword.  Sadly, I can't remember who made the miniature, so I can't point you in the direction of getting one of your own.  Overall, it's a simple paint job, but I'm quite pleased with how the corrosion on the sword turned out.

Miniatures: Works in Progress

I've really been neglecting this blog lately.  No Weird Adventure Wednesdays, no crappy illustrations, and not too many miniatures.  This doesn't mean that I haven't been working on anything, just that I've been too lazy to post much.  My plan is to get back into drawing and other things, but in the mean time, here are some works in progress.  I've been using a lot of green paint lately. :-)

Miniatures Monday

With Halloween now past, it's time to return to some more corporeal miniatures.  I've always been a fan or orcs and goblins, and I've always felt that spears get short shrift in roleplaying games.  So this week, we have an orc warrior with a spear.  The miniature is from Reaper Miniatures, and you can get one of your own here for $4.99.

Kickstarter Ennui

So, my Conan board game Kickstarter rewards arrived on 26 October, and I have yet to open it.  I should be exited, but 20 months after pledging, I just really don't care.  I backed it for the miniatures, but even those fail to excite me anymore.  Given that the rulebook is by the creators' own admission, a mess, I'm unlikely to even try to play it until I have a printed copy of the new version in my hands.  This is my trouble with Kickstarter.  Many of them look cool and lure me in, but past a certain point, I lose interest.  Oh, well.  At least I have a bunch of new sword and sorcery miniatures (221 to be exact).   Does anyone else find themselves generally feeling blah about Kickstarters once they arrive?

Two Boxes.  I don't have room for this stuff.

Miniatures Monday: Beware the Barrow Downs!

Since it's Halloween, we will continue with the undead theme and also with a figure from Mithril Miniatures.  This one is a barrow wight, which sadly no longer appears to be available.  I bought this back when I was in college, but I just never got around to painting it.  The paint job was fairly easy, being mostly black with progressively lighter shades of grey as highlights.  I was hoping to make the sword look a bit eerie with a light coating of Nihilak Oxide, but that really didn't work out.  Overall though, I'm fairly happy with the results.

Jack Chick Joins Black Leaf.

Jack Chick, fundamentalist cartoonist and RPG hater seems to have died at the age of 92.  For those of you who might not be familiar, Chick wrote cartoon pamphlets known as Chick Tracts designed to be handed out by evangelist folks.  They cast dispersion on what he viewed as the evils of many thing.  One of his most famous (for the RPG Community) was Dark Dungeons, which focused on the evils of fantasy roleplaying games, however it is far from his most infamous.  I'd link to his site, but I have a rather strict no hate speech policy on my blog.

Miniatures Monday

This week, we keep with the Halloween theme for Miniatures Monday.  Here we have a restless spirit rising from its rocky tomb to haunt the living.  The miniature is quite an old one and is by Mithril Miniatures.  Back in the late 80s/ early 90s, Mithril Miniatures started producing a great line of Tolkien themed miniatures, and at the time, they were some of the best miniatures around.  Of course, back then I was in college, so I couldn't afford to buy very many, but I did snag a few and have decided to finally paint some of them.  Imagine my surprise to find that Mithril still seems to be in business!

Oh, Hell yeah!

http://www.cnn.com/2016/10/21/health/wonder-woman-un-ambassador-trnd/index.html

Astonishing Swordsmen and Sorcerers of Hyperborea 2nd. Edition Kickstarter is live!

The Kickstarter for Astonishing Swordsmen and Sorcerers of Hyperborea by +Jeff Talanian is now live.  For just $59, you can get a hardcover edition plus a map and a PDF.  For just $99, you can get the foil stamped special edition.  If you're into swords & Sorcery, you really owe it to yourself to check this one out!  If you would like to know even more about the game, check out the official website.

Wandering in Mirkwood (Photos)

Well not Mirkwood exactly, but perhaps as close as one can get in western Pennsylvania.  Something about the autumn always makes me want to walk in the woods.  Partly it's the chance to experience the fall foliage, but it also stems from my childhood love of the Hobbit.  I always feel a bit like Bilbo when I'm out walking, and the autumn always awakens within me a desire to see far-off places and to sing dwarvish songs.  So, on Saturday my wife and I packed a picnic lunch and headed up to McConnells Mill State Park to walk the trail to the falls.  It was a lovely day, and one could perhaps be forgiven for half expecting to meet some elves along the trail.

Following the stream deep into the forest

The water has carved a path deep into the rock

Sunlight on a calm pool

I think there may be a barrow wight in here...

The falls

Mysterious toadstools...

No elves yet... 

The stream disappears around a bend.
Perhaps that is where the elves are waiting?

The Hobbit at 79

On this day 79 years ago, the Hobbit was released.  The year that I was born, it had just celebrated its 32nd anniversary, and professor Tolkien was still alive.  My, my, how time flies.  I still feel that the Hobbit is the best of Tolkien's work.  Not as epic as The Lord of the Rings or as grandiose as The Silmarillion, nevertheless I think it's a better story, but then I'm a sucker for fairy tales. :-)

Miniatures Monday

This week, Miniatures Monday continues its undead theme with yet another incorporeal undead creature!  The miniature is 02148: Guardian Wraith sculpted by Bob Ridolfi from Reaper Miniatures, and you can get your own for only $5.49.  Once again, I'm pretty happy with the result given  the simplicity of the paint job.  My collection of painted undead continues to grow!