Going into the New Year... Resolutions!

Resolutions are always difficult.

 

You want to choose one that will work for you... and yet make you just uncomfortable enough to actually do it.

 

As a whole, my... track record of resolutions is not actually that great. I usually make it about half-way though January, then tap out. Or, better yet, I make my resolutions too abstract.

 

Not this year. No Sir. This year, I am going to make it.

 

I am tying to avoid as much quantity as I can.... I don't want to say I will run 5 days a week in order to get back in shape. No. I dont want to do that. What I will do is give myself managable goals that will set myself up to succeed.

 

As such, here are my Resolutions.

 

 

I resolve to change my Fitbit goal steps to 15,000 steps, and resolve to meet that goal 4 times a week.

 

I resolve to stop drinking Coka Cola for the duration of 2016.

 

I resolve maintain and update this blog, and stay active in my Hobbies.

 

I resolve that I will only purchase more models once I have completely painted an equivelent model/number of models.

 

I resolve to finish atleast one unit a month, or one model a week.

 

 

Pretty steep in some parts, but I think I can do it. I suppose let me explain a bit. I, of course, want to get in better shape. Hence Resolutions 1 and 2. I have had a Coke problem (Drink) for a number of years, and it is about time I did something about it. And the nice thing is that I dont actually like any other Sodas, so... should work out ok. The last 3 resolutions are a... call to arms, if you will. Like I have stated, I have an enormous stack of plastic just waiting for some love, and by God I better take care of it. I am not the quickest painter by any means, so I decided Low and Slow was the way to go.

 

Do you have any hobby related Resolutions you would like to share? 

 

Or just resolutions?

 

Feel free to comment Below!

 

-Rob-

Origins - Part 4 - Books

This Origins part is one I have been thinking about for a while now, one that, in particular, drives my creativity.

 

Books.

 

Books sustain me. Drive me. Titillate and Stimulate my brain 

 

Books introduce me to ideas... I could never grasp otherwise.

 

Books teach, books expand, and books push.

 

I have a passion for books... all types. I go through phases of books... Fantasy, Science Fiction, Historical non-fiction, will everything in between.

 

Books have given me a prodigious vocabulary, and a drive to write. Most of all, books give me Imagination.

 

When I was younger, I was slow to pick up reading. it took me a long time, I was too easily distracted. I wanted to play outside, I wanted to play with Legos, I wanted to play on the computer. I did not want to read. Well, it would appear the problem was my book choices. When I was 6 years old, my parents got rid of our Television. Decided they did not want it in the house. Spending 11 years, 11 Formative years without a television was the greatest gift I think my parents could have given us. We had to find ways to entertain ourselves. The first book I remember being truly excited to read was Harry Potter. I was in 3rd or 4th grade, 8 or 9 years old, and my mom gave me Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone. I was entranced. I couldn't put it down. I sprinted through the book... then did it again. and again. I got the second book, devoured it, then the third... until there was no more out... I had to wait for Mrs. J.K. to release more books. Truly, a test in patience, that. For the next 5 years, as soon as a Harry Potter was released, my entire family would scramble to read it first. Usually it was my sister, followed by my mother, followed by me, and then my father when he wanted to. That was a true bone of contention between us, who got to read Harry Potter first. I will say, thankfully, spoilers were never an issue. I guess we respected each other enough not to spoil the book for each other.

Books just became a way of life for me. I would read in class, read before bed, get in trouble because I stayed up reading till the wee hours of the morning on a school night... it was just my way of life with books. Another book, and series that changed the way I looked at reading, and writing, was the Hobbit, and the Lord of the Rings.

 

Tolkien forged a world through his writing, a world that millions of people discovered and explored. I was one of those people. For me, it all started with the Hobbit. Now, the Hobbit is a book that follows Bilbo Baggins as he travels from the Shire to the desolate lair of the great dragon Smaug. but you all know that. Tolkien's way of writing truly painted the pictures for me, presented the characters with their flaws and assets. He immersed the reader in his world... and guided them along the path of his choosing. It also helps that the movies are some the best screen adaptations of books, but who really cares about movies anyway. (Just Kidding)

 

Once I went to college, I began taking classes that relate to literature. I wanted to know more about what made a good book, and how I could eventually write a book of my own. Once I started learning about literature, I realized I had to completely restart how I read books. I was not looking for connections or social commentary. I was not even looking at the emotional evocations that came from within me as I read. I realized.... I had been reading wrong.

 

Since that transformative moment, I have strove to pick up as much as I can in each book I read. I look for what I connect with on an intellectual level, as well as an emotional level. I began to notice that if I could not find the book relatable in some fashion, I could not finish it. Mind you, I do not find many of those. I have only stopped reading one book in the last two years because it was almost too relatable... it was talking about abortion as my wife was pregnant with our son.

 

The last book series I want to discuss is one that... frankly, is not the best, but it has had a profound impact on me. That series is The Wheel of Time Series, by Robert Jordan. Now, this actually offered the best juxtaposition between before and after college reading experiences. Before college, I thought it was a great series, awesome story, deep characters... a bit dense in places, but really stinking good. Favorate book series, without a doubt. After college, I realized a few different things. Firstly, the story really is awesome, well thought out, and immense. Secondly, the characters are particularly two dimentional, meaning they do not have a whole lot of personality. In that same vein, the women are written... well, they are cookie cutter copies of the same woman having different experiances. That lack of depth is alarming. Thirdly, and a particularly important part... the flow of the story is glacial at parts. for example, you could skip the ninth book entirely and not miss a thing. Mind you, I still love the series, and listen to it on audio book regularly, but I cringe when I hear certain parts.

 

As of now, end of 2015, I am on a Science Fiction kick, reading everything I can about it.

 

How did you get into books? What are some of your favorites?

 

-Rob-

Origins - Part 3 - Card Gaming

Welcome to Part 3 of my Origins Series, Card Games!

 

There are many aspects to being a Nerd, but in my mind, the collecting and playing of card games ranks pretty high up there. As such, it is only right to dedicate some time and blog space to my own experinces as such.

 

As a kid growing up, card games were a huge part of how my family taught me various skills, particularly in regard to winning and losing. A sore loser or a bad winner do not get invited to play many games, where as a gracious winner or loser will consistantly be a part of the group. Beyond that, the types of games I grew up on fostered strong addition skills, as well as developing particular strategies for the order in which cards were played.

 

I started simple, with the basic Go Fish, Slap Jack, and Solitaire, moving eventually into Poker for pennies, though I had a hard time understanding that. As time went by, I moved into more complex games, Cribbage, Pinochle, and Hearts. Cribbage in particular had quite a bit to do with my ability to do relitively simple math quickly. Pinochle and Hearts are both games that are guided by team play, so understanding when and how to play the cards you are dealt is particularly important.

 

Moving into College, I got into a game called Euchre, a very fast paced game, team based, with a concentration in short hands, where mistakes cost you... a lot.

 

But enough about generic, regular card games. Lets get down to the real meat of this post, the real why it is important to understand about me. Trading card games.

 

When I was around 8 years old, Pokemon took off like a rocket. I was young, impressionable, everyone was doing it... so I was too. I remember, my very first pack of cards, I pull a Kangaskhan... I remember being so excited... then realizing that... kangaskhan really is not good. Now, remember, 8 years old, i knew next to nothing about the game.I had no idea how to deck build, so my decks were... everything I had. I tried to play the game itself with my Father, my sister... but we usually devolved down to making up rules because neither of us understood them. Pokemon cards, for me anyway, were my true Icarus. They rose fast, flew high, and crashed and burned. I bought way more boosters than I knew what to do with, and ended up giving most of my cards away. I actually went looking for them the other day, and all i found where the commons I had. I realized, as I was exiting the hobby, I gave away all my rare cards to one of my friends... and sadly, those cards would have been worth quite a bit of money now. Well, live and learn.

The only problem was, I didnt learn well enough. From Pokemon, I moved into Yu-Gi-Oh. it was probably 2-3 years later when Yu-Gi-Oh got going, and I remember, again, everyone around me had cards. Gotta fit in! So, once again, I purchased cards. There is a pretty difinitate difference between my pokemon collecting and my Yu-Gi-Oh collecting... with Pokemon, most of the boosters were bought for me. Family, Grandparents, even friends... they bought Pokemon boosters for me. With Yu-Gi-Oh, that changed. It was me, spending my allowance to by boosters. Needless to say, once the hype started to die down, I stopped cold turkey. I did not enjoy the mechanics, I didnt understand the nuances to the game, so i did not have fun with Yu-Gi-Oh. So again, I gave my cards away. The only real good thing about my experiance with Yu-Gi-Oh was that i was about to bring my Pokemon experiance back..., and buy very few boosters. I primerally bought full starters because I knew I had a deck I could play with out of the box.

 

But now I have to move on to the mother of all card games... Magic the Gathering. I went into Magic the Gathering kicking and screaming... I remembered my experiances with Pokemon, and Yu-Gi-Oh, and knew that card games were not my style. The only problem is... card games ARE my style. I was approched about Magic the Gathering a few times in College... members of my Fraternaty played quite often. I resisted. I couldn't bring myself to even try. I knew my addictive personality would take over, and I would buy way too much. So I held off. But not for long. The year I graduated College, I was working with a very awesome dude named Jared... Jared was all sorts of into Magic, and he convinced me to give it a try. He let me play with one of his decks... and I was hooked. Perhaps the next day, I purchased the M14 Deckbuilder's toolkit. From it, I built my very first deck... a black green Festering Newt/Bubbling Cauldron/Bogbrew Witch Lifesteal deck. It was pretty terrible, but it was my own. Since that day, 2+ years ago, I have aquired a stupid collection of cards, built around 20 different decks, and played many casual games. Magic holds a much greater appeal to me for a few different reasons, the first of which being I am old enough to understand the true nuances and mechanics to the game. Secondly, the art one the cards themselves seem so... mature. Developed. Thirdly, and perhaps most importantly, Magic is fairly easy to teach. It is easy to learn, but hard to master.

Thus is my Background for Card games, I hope you enjoyed reading about it!

How did you get into Card gaming? What got you started?

-Rob-

Origins - Part 2 - Miniuture War Gaming

 

Welcome to the Second part of my... well, who knows how long series, Origins!

In this Episode of Origins, We will be covering my rise to Wargaming in a miniature scale!

 

 

It all started, as most of the time it does, with Legos. Legos for me were the ultimate expression of creativity. I could make whatever I wanted.... and after that I could make even more and SAY it was what I wanted. This pile of bricks there? That is the fort of the enemy brick soldiers. This pile here? Why, that is the super awesome radical transport for my superpowered soldier dude to attack the enemy base. The Best part about Legos was the ability to create whatever you wanted, then just imagine. Even now, as a 25 year old, I desperately miss that imagination of the 6 year old me. It was always interesting, looking back, that you could make these blocky, knobby creations look smooth, feel right for your uses. I remember building planes and cars that would be perfect for my uses, then keeping them for well over a year, seperate from my other legos, so they could be easily accessed and played with. In addition, the customabilty of the mini-figures themselves was... well, staggering. Once you have a few sets under your belt, you could make literally any number of combinations of little dudes, who were then your friends. Sometimes he was you, kicking baddie butt and taking baddie names, other times he was your best friend, kicking baddie butt and taking baddie names. And he always had a travelling armory... Sword, gun, torch, laser beam, a freaking plane with ALL the missles, no baddie could survive long. Regardless, and the point of this exposition.... Legos are AWESOME. And led me straight into my next Minifigure love... Mage Knight

Mage Knights were a random thing I found, browsing around in a Games Plus... Packs of 4 dudes, usually will little to no relation to each other... but sometimes you would get those really nice, rare heros and it would all be ok. This was the first actual game I discovered for miniatures... I think I still have a boat load of them buried in my house somewhere. I may dig those up, just to remember. ANYWAY! Mage Knight was a fairly simple game using D6 dice and a tape measure to run around about.... well, usually kill enemies. There was also a series of dungeons that came in the form of maps with the starter packs. I think my favorate thing about Mage Knight was the random little treasure chests you could get. Actually, I take that back. I had two more favorate things about this game... the first being the Fluff behind the game. The Lore for this game was fairly well expanded upon, giving rise to huge fan-fictions, spanning pages and pages and pages of content of random websites I would find. I spent hours absorbing clashes between The Atlantean Empire and the Black Powder Rebels. Lastly, Some of the sculpts and models for this game were truely incredible. For example, the Solonavi... were these beings made of... magical etherial powers formed together, and the model representation of that was a multihued translucent plastic that made them look SO AWESOME. You can actually see one in that picture above, bottom left corner.

 

A quick jump from Mage Knights was Mech Warrior, a very similar style game with huge mechs. Very cool, but I like this more for the models than the game. But again, I was young when I got into it, so I may not have really understood the rules. This was my first real brush with Science Fiction in the miniature, and again, the Fluff was really cool, particualarly because Mechwarrior had a ton of Stand alone content well before these models.

 

And then... I stopped it all. I purchased my last Mechwarrior Booster in... 2003.... and that was it for YEARS. For 5 years I had nothing to do with miniature wargaming. The friends I had at the time were not into it, and that is ok. But after my freshman year of college, it all came back

 

The summer after my freshman year of college, I was gainfully employed by a local Parks and Recreation Department (Still am). I met a Gentleman named John. Now this John, he was 6 years older than me, smart as heck, and one heck of a Nerd. Of course, through the course of our discussions, I asked him if he had ever played Dawn of War. He looked at me, scoffed a bit, and said, "You know that is based of a Miniature war game, right?" I was flabbergasted. I hadden't known that. What... what is this? What is that? What does this mean? As it happens, John actually played Warhammer 40k... though he hadn't in a long time, and was currently working on a project on the Blood Angels. Every time we worked together after that, all I could do was as questions about this game, about the Fluff, and about the models. If you could not tell, the Fluff behind games is what captures my attention. And, as most of you well know, the Fluff behind 40k is... Prodigious. Eventually, I purchased the Assault on Black Reach Painting set, 5 Space marines and some rudamentry paints to use. The end result was ... awful. But to me, they were everything I could have wanted. They were nostalgic and new at the same time. I still have some of those first models, and will eventually post a showcase of them. I was so excited and proud, my second marine I painted I made a Salamander, and gave it to John, because, you know, introduced me to the hobby and all. It has been nearly 7 years since those fateful conversations... My painting has gotten much better, though it could always use improvement, and my model collection has become absurd, grand majority unpainted and unassembled. And, as always with these things, ever expanding.

 

Now more recently, I have branched out of 40k, first into Infinity, then into Bolt Action, Warhammer fantasy/Age of Sigmar, and then, newly, Frostgrave. One of my biggest inspirations has been watching people play games on Youtube, big ones being Miniwargaming, and Guerrilla Miniature Games. These people have such a passion for what they do, and so really helps refresh the passion in myself.

That brings me to about right now, the Present, the end of 2015. From Legos to Mage Knight, Mechwarrior to Warhammer, Warhammer to Literally Everything else. I hope through this blog to share my... ever expanding delving into the Hobby of Model Building and Miniature War Gaming.

 

How did you get into Wargaming?

 

- Rob -

 

Origins - Part 1 - RPGs

Welcome to the First Part of a Series of Posts designed to help you, Valued Reader, get to know me, Innocuous Writer.

 

I call this series the Origins Series. I am particularly proud of how unique and innovative the name is, so please, appreciate. (Read also... Sarcasm....I see you, Hugh Jackman, put those claws away)

 

In this Inaugural Post, I will be talking about something very near and dear to my heart... RPGs

 

RPGs, or Role Playing Games, present a interactive opportunity to be someone else... to live another's life. The best modern examples are, of course, in the form of Video Games, and that is definitely where I got my start. My very first Video Game, and first RPG, was Pokemon Blue. When I first got Pokemon blue, I was astounded by the adventure. I was captured... stuck... entranced. The ability to control another character, Ash usually, or Blue... was a completely new experience, as was having a rival, Buttface McGee. (I Loved also that you could name him) In the end, it was the best 2D adventure game a 8 year old boy could hope for.

 

 

Fast forward to about 2003. Xbox.... Morrowind. I borrowed this game off a friend who told me it was incredible... and I played he living heck out of it. I sunk Lord knows how many hours traveling on Stilt Striders, running around unsure where to go, and getting bitten by Vampires. Heck, to this day I am not sure if I beat it or not. But Morrowind was immersive... enormous. I felt like a slave getting off that ship, entering a land of new hope and prospects... fearing for falling wizards with levitation potions. Everything about Morrowind was perfect for that time... I still remember the fear I would get from the uptempo music... I always knew I was a hairsbreath from death.

 

Of course, other amazing RPGS come and go, Mass Effect, Fallout, Oblivion, Dragon Age, Knights of the Old Republic.... but there was always something missing. No matter how many different responses you may have to a character, they are still pre-generated responses.

 

In College, it all changed. I had just started my Warhammer 40k Hobby... and discovered a little game called Deathwatch. Deathwatch lets you play as a superpowered, genetically engineered soldier, with two hearts and three lungs and the ability to spit acid. I mean, come on. I struggled to get a group to play, I had never played anything like this before... but finally... I managed to collect a small group of people, some with RPG experience, most with none. Our first encounter was... well, frankly, boring as hell. There was little to no threat, no way to lose. But the interaction that we as players go to embark upon with each other... that sparked something in me. A want to delve deeper. I eventually joined a group that was playing once a week... and i couldn't get enough. I wanted to play MORE! Heck, I am not even ashamed to admit I lost a girlfriend over it. (You want to play a stupid game more than you want to hang out with me...Yes? Also, not stupid, Awesome) Those experiences drove me to bring this gaming mentality back from college, to my local group of friends. I am happy to say we have formed a semi regular group for RPG Shenanigans.

 

How did you discover RPGing? Feel free to share below

 

- Rob -

A New Begining - Frostgrave

 

Frostgrave... A Small Skirmish Game using wandering monsters and a campaign system. What more could you really want from a fantasy wargame. Welcome to my most Recent Endeavor.

 

 

Frostgrave is a game that has captured my attention, and the attention of some of my friends, from the Video stylings of Ash from Guerilla Miniature Games, and Owen, from Gaming with the Cooler. Check out thier Youtube Channels... they are Awesome.

 

Rather than rolling a metric ton of D6 dice, for Frostgrave you need a single D20... for each Player. In terms of Models, there are several official models for the game, which i will talk about shortly, but a huge selling point for this game is that it explicitly says ANY RELEVANT MODEL WILL DO. You have a Thug for 20GP? cool... as long as it has a single hand weapon, you are good. The game play itself seems very quick, perfect if you have 30 minutes to run a quick match.  

 

Let me Clarify.... I have not Played.

 

But I am going to.

 

In order to get to that point, I need a few key things. A particularly important part of Frostgrave is Terrain.... so part of my project for playing this game will include making some old city ruins. Another huge part of the game is the warband itself... which i will go over shortly.

 

I have built the list I am going to start with... and have created a start of the Fluff I am going to use for it.

 

Without Further Ado.... and no Pictures.....

 

Veritas Adventure Company

 

E'Vereta Becot - Elementalist

Saval Dormier - Apprentice

Nathaniel Beracome - Archer

One-Eyed Sue - Archer

Sir Oric Velantes - Knight

Dorin Doricson - Man-At Arms

Bob - Thug

 

So I have decided I am only going to buy two models... for now at least. The Elementalist and the Apprentice come together in a Blister Pack from North Star Miniatures. North Star also sells a pack of 10 or 20 Figures to be assembled as various other members of the party. My idea, however, was to fill up the party in other ways. For Example, my two archers are going to be pulled from a Bretonian Peasant Bowmen Group, and a random High Elf Archer I have floating around. As for the knight and the Thug, I happen to have a Paladin Character Model for D&D which I think will fit quiet well, as well as... I hate to say this... my own personal character representation of my D&D character... my bard. Everyone Knows Bards make great Verbal Thugs, so this really makes a whole lot of sense. And Lastly, the Man-At-Arms is going to be a Bretonian .... well.... Man-at-arms. Pretty Linear, Right? I aim for Simplicity.

 

 

- Rob -



What My Nerdism Means to ME

Hello.... My Name is Rob, and I have been a Nerd for 18 years.

 

It has been about a minute and a half since my last Nerd Reference,

 

And about 12 hours since my last Nerd Gathering.

 

I am a Nerd... And I am embracing it.

 

I am Loving it.

 

Being a Nerd makes me who I am today.

 

 

Please, allow me to take a moment to Enumerate what my Nerdism means to me.



 

My Four Points of Nerdism

1. An Appreciation of topics that relate to pop culture and yet are less than mainstream.
2.        The Desire to learn more about imaginary creations and worlds to further the enjoyment of my own reality.
3. The Creativity to form my own constructions to fit within the context of not only my own imaginary worlds, but others as well.
4. The Camaraderie that comes from shared interests with those around you, and the Enjoyment you get from talking about such shared interests. (Geeking out)

 

 

I mean, Sure, that definition really boxes in my own Nerdism... but at the end of the day it all comes down to Enjoyment. We all have that movie that we watch over and over again. We all hae that book that we can never read too many times. That is what really defines your own personal Nerdom.

 

Does any of this apply to you? Do you have any personal definitions you would like to add to mine? feel free to comment below

 

 

-Rob-

Welcome to My Nerd Experiance!

Hi there, [Insert Personalized name here]!

I am glad you stopped in! Welcome to my Blog of all things Nerdom related!

As you begin browsing, [First name], I hope you will not be turned away by the mish-mash of topics and concentration you may find here. My whole purpose for this blog is to reorganize my Nerd Related Thoughts into some semblance of continuity. Frankly, [Personal Name] I don't want to lose all the awesome stuff I think about on a semi-regularly basis.

I suppose you may want to know a bit about what may be covered in this Blog. Well... I would love to tell you, [First name], that I have a plan to follow a set of guidelines for this blog, that I have a plan that will reflect beauty and simplicity in style and layout for this blog. But... that would be a Lie. This blog, [Insert Name], is a mental puking of all the random crap that floats around my head. There will be posts about RPGing, posts about Video gaming, the occasional rant about Dragon Ball Z. There will be posts about Planning, Building, and Painting Models. There will be posts about my own rise to Nerdom. There will be discussions about the metaphysical plane of existence as it regards to Fantasy and Science Fiction. There may even be... a book review! But more than anything, there will be Posts about Nerd Things. No Boundaries. 

So as you can see, [Personal Name], I have no Plan

I have no idea where this will lead. 

But if randomness speaks to you

If you have not been scared away yet

Then..... [Personal name]...

I beg you

Take the Red Pill

Jump Down the Rabbit hole

Enter into the mind of a man who knows not where to start.... 

..... nor where to end.