Wednesday, February 23, 2005

 

Baseball Talk, All Day, All Night

If that headline doesn't give you the warm fuzzies, then you're not a baseball fan. Fair enough. Skip a couple of paragraphs and you'll find a tidbit about the miniatures.

(I always wonder how many of my readers come to read about the Giants, as opposed to miniatures wargaming or Final Fantasy XI. I think it's about two for the Giants, and one each for the others. Let me know if I'm wrong.)

XM Satellite Radio just started a brand new all-MLB channel. It's Channel 175 on your XM dial, and it's called MLB Home Plate. All you need to know, really, is that right now I'm listening to Larry Bowa hosting and producing a baseball talk show. I mean, come on. Go subscribe. Now. I promise you'll get every single MLB radio broadcast for free if you subscribe to XM. Do I need to twist your arm? It's more baseball than you can possibly listen to in one lifetime! To quote Jack Bauer from 24: "DO IT NOW! THERE'S NO TIME!!"

If you don't subscribe, Barry Bonds will say some very bad things about you. And we wouldn't want that.

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Okay, if you're wondering about the Lord of the Rings minis event I ran Friday night, heads up. It went great. I took a bunch of pictures, and I will be posting a turn-by-turn battle report over the next few days. I'm still recovering from Dundracon, but look for the first part tomorrow. Unless I get to it Friday.

Jefferson 8:29 AM

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Tuesday, February 22, 2005

 

Robb Nen Retires

In Norse mythology, a group of warrior maidens called valkyries, in the service of the god Odin, chose special warriors. Warriors worthy of serving Odin forever in the halls of Valhalla would, in battle, feel a tap on their shoulders. Turning, they would see a valkyrie, riding a winged horse. At the moment, the chosen warrior knew three things:

First, he was about to give his foes the fight of their lives. Disregarding all danger, the warrior would fight with all the energy and spirit he had.

Second, he would not survive the battle. Despite being chosen, his time was up.

Finally, his legend would live forever. So would he, drinking and fighting forever in Valhalla.

Before the 2002 playoffs, the baseball version of the valkyrie visited Robb Nen. Knowing he had a horribly torn rotator cuff, knowing his career was at risk with every pitch, Nen battled on valiantly. In the end, in that horrible Game 6 of the World Series, he and the Giants fell short. Nen never pitched again.

I think we all knew he was never going to come back, but it wasn't official until the other day. Robb Nen retired a Giant, and he will always be remembered as one of the best pitchers the team's ever had. Few gave up more than he did for the team, and none earned greater honor.

Jefferson 1:21 PM

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Wednesday, February 16, 2005

 

2005 Skaldheim Knucklehead Award Nominee

Ladies and gentlemen, we have the first nomination for the 2005 Skaldheim Knucklehead of the Year Award. Won't you please give a warm welcome to...

Gary Bettman!

He has been nominated for galling stupidity above and beyond the call of duty; for turning down massive and unprecedented concessions from a major sports union; for being more interested in winning a pissing match than competently managing an industry.

Congratulations, Gary!

Jefferson 11:48 AM

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Tuesday, February 15, 2005

 

NYT on GW

In case you have been scratching your head at all these reports on miniatures wargaming, check out this article from the New York Times website. It's a very good story talking about the most popular miniatures wargame, Warhammer by Games Workshop.

(Note: the New York Times site requires that you register in order to read their articles. If you prefer not to register, visit bugmenot.com first to get a password.)

While I don't play Warhammer myself, I have come to realize in recent years that it is an excellent introduction to miniatures wargaming. Games Workshop deserves a lot of credit for emphasizing all the different things that make the hobby fun--collecting, painting, sculpting, scratch-building models, and best of all, tactics and sportsmanship. I've often been critical of GW's high prices, but their products are usually very high quality.

Jefferson 11:46 AM

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Monday, February 14, 2005

 

More on the 2005 Shield Gaming Conference

Continued from yesterday's post.

I have a couple of criticisms of the convention. Being laid-back is good, unless it extends to the event scheduling. The program seemed to be more of a guideline than an actual schedule. I wanted to play in three different events that simply never happened. Perhaps the referees had cancelled, but if so the convention organizers didn't tell us. There was no bulletin board announcing last-minute schedule changes, as is the custom for gaming conventions.

I'm not even sure the organizers themselves were aware that these events didn't happen--they were pretty busy playing games. Next year, I hope the organizers will make sure events go off as planned, and that attendees know about any changes to the program.

Conversely, I saw three or four different events that ended up with no players. This is always sad to see. I certainly would have played in one or two of these, had I known about the cancellation of the events I was trying to find.

That being said, everyone seemed to have a really good time. It's very difficult to find the space and time to play miniatures wargames. Conventions are often the only times we can play. Therefore, any convention at all, even a flawed one, is a huge improvement over none at all. Getting to try out or watch new games is great. Finally, seeing the incredible painting and modeling work on display is inspirational.

For me, it always comes down to this: did the convention make me more eager to play wargames, or less? The verdict on the Shield Gaming Conference is a resounding "more!" I came out of the weekend inspired and energized. Whether this is because of the hard work of the convention's organizers, or despite it, is something I can't figure out. Either way, I will be back for the 2006 Shield Gaming Conference.

Jefferson 9:54 AM

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Sunday, February 13, 2005

 

"So Timmy, Do You Like Movies About Gladiators?"

I attended a convention this weekend. Not Dundracon, which is next weekend, but the Shield Gaming Conference. It's like the convention before the convention, if you will--an intimate gathering of a hundred or so afficiandos of historical miniatures wargaming.

This was the second year for this convention. Last year, it had the rather dry moniker of "Ancients & Medievals Conference." Along with this year's crisper title, the convention expanded its focus to all historical periods, up to the 20th Century. I'm not certain if the expanded focus directly led to the greater attendance this year, or if word-of-mouth did. Whatever the case, the show was easily double the size of what I saw last year. The gaming overflowed from one large room into a second and sometimes a third. Additionally, the small dealers area was triple the size of last year, with a much greater variety of things to buy.

Unlike last year, I actually got into a game or two this time. On Saturday, I played a game of Roman gladitorial combat called "Habet Hoc Habet." I'm sure that means something really cool in Latin. Sadly, in my Tolkien-infested brain, I kept calling it "Hobbit Hack Hobbit."

Anyway, the game was run by Rod Thompson, who designed the game. It's a fun beer & pretzels romp with a decently robust combat system. The real stroke of genius in the game's design is this: the players aren't playing the role of the gladiator. Instead, each player is the owner of several gladiators. The goal for the players is to amass as much money as possible. While you can win money by having your gladiators win their fights, there's even more to be made by wagering with your fellow owners.

Rod ran us through two rounds of combat, but first, we had to create our gladiators. This was fun, if for no other reason than we got to think up silly pseudo-Roman names. I rolled up two gladiators. The lousy one I named Ludicrus, and the more studly one I decided was his brother Dudicus. Some of the other gladiators were named Bleedicus, Patheticus, Nudicus (a naked raving Celt), and Smaktum.

The first round was a venatius, which pitted the gladiators against a pride of hungry lions. The betting was fierce. I bet that Smaktum would win (that is, remain standing at the end). I knew that Ludicrus had no chance! I would have won the bet, too, but Patheticus decided that the better part of valor was to run away as much as possible. Smaktum acquitted himself gloriously, cutting down no less than three lions single-handedly before he fell. Ludicrus did not last very long at all. Patheticus indeed was the last man standing, much to our dismay.

The second round was a gladiatorial free-for-all. Except for Patheticus, all the gladiators were fresh. I put in Dudicus, but I placed two hefty bets. One was on Bleedicus to win; I knew Bleedicus was easily the best fighter in the game. The other bet was a side bet with Rod that Patheticus would not survive the round. (After all, everyone was mad because he ran away!)

Of course, in the very first round, Dudicus very nearly decapitated Bleedicus! Somehow Bleedicus survived, but it was a very near thing. My own gladiator was ruining my plans! Luckily for me, Bleedicus then dispatched Dudicus, for which I was very happy. I stood to make more money with a Bleedicus win than if my own gladiator won. And that's how it worked out--Bleedicus took down Patheticus and, despite many wounds, won the day. Since all my bets paid off, I finished the game with more money than I started with! I ended up placing third in the money count, which was good enough for a prize of a gladiator miniature. It was a great time, with lots of laughs.

Enough for now--I'll talk more about the Shield Conference tomorrow or the next day.

Oh, and if you're wondering how I'm doing with the preparations for "True Meaning of Haste"--I finished the painting last night. I created some player handouts tonight, and there's nothing but little tasks left before Friday night. I wlll borrow someone's digital camera for the weekend, so you can be sure there will be lots of pics!

Jefferson 8:17 PM

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Tuesday, February 01, 2005

 

I Wouldn't Exactly Say He's Missing It, Bob...

Barry Bonds is an old old dude. He has old rickety knees, with arthritis and other aches and pains. He had one knee cleaned out back in October, and now he's had the other knee 'scoped too. Word is he'll miss about half of spring training, but he'll be ready for Opening Day.

Hopefully, this means less attention paid to Bonds during March, and more attention paid to the pitching staff. You read it here, folks...the pitching is going to be one of the two vital keys to this season. (The other key is Stan Conte keeping the old guys tuned up and running smoothly.) If the pitching doesn't improve over last year, it'll be another painful year.

Now, I'd like to announce that I'm going to have someone 'scope out my sinuses. These damn things have been bugging me since New Years, and I'm ready to put the crevice attachment on my Hoover and shove it up my nose. Is this the worst winter for colds in a long time, or what? I'm tempted to head to the desert for a couple of weeks to see if some dry hot air might help, but I can't afford it this year. Blergh.

I desperately need to update my links here. Will attend to that soon, I promise!

Jefferson 10:27 AM

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