[WOD] Austin By Night- Our World As We Know It

Today, I celebrate my daughter's birthday. I made her favorite cookies (white chocolate cherry shortbread) and TheDude will play DaddyMoneybags and take her shopping later this morning.

My daughter turns 14 today. She's beautiful, fun, lively, absolutely adorable and an amazing person. I pinch myself now and then as I watch her growing into an amazing young woman. I'm astounded at how great she is. I'm pretty excited that not only is she fabulous and just downright awesome, she's turning into a gamer as well. 

Later today will be our WOD game, and we'll eat, laugh, and game.My daughter will get to play  Frank (I've given her permission to swear) and/or the Werewolve's totem, and/or any other NPC the ST wants to have her boss around.

Here is the map of our world as we know it.
[IMPORTANT NOTE- this map is a copyrighted piece of work that is not my property.All rights reserved.]

WoD_contactlist_B

Friday Fancy, Facts & Food

This is a somewhat random post, not as awesome as I'd like, but I have things on my mind.

Important fact: I'm a terrible letch and in addition, a pretty incorrigible flirt. I'm pretty equal opportunity in my leering. I have a type for guys, girls are hit or miss. I'm also well and truly married and beyond disgustingly in love with TheDude. [It's a little gross how much I adore him.]

I have a lot on my plate this weekend, with much of it gaming related in one way or another.

Tonight I'm making some great eats for our Saturday WOD game, which happens to be on my daughter's birthday. TheGirl, who is fabulous & fun, turns 14 tomorrow. I'm preparing some extra special goodies in her honor. The oven will be ON at my house...

When I'm not baking, I'll be painting- I got the jet/jump packs on all of the Mexi-Marines done last night and need to move onto the chest eagles.

I'll be scouring my massive music collection for quotes- I'm always on the lookout for quotes to use in conjunction with my RPG or Weekly Whimsy posts.

Got a great quote you can never find a use for? Want to expose a fabulous band? Have a TV show or movie with excellent dialogue or witty quotes? Send 'em my way. I have a quote file I'm filling with good stuff to use, but I'll always take suggestions and ideas.

Weekly Top X Shout Out- Be More Awesome

Those fabulous guys, Brent, Lauby and Dethtron made me part of IHoP's Weekly Top X! 

I have to say that this is a big step up from where I was just about two months ago, when I first saw the multitude of IHoP announcements pop up across the web. Nearly every 40K site I visited was proclaiming this "new idea" and these crazy guys who were trying to do something different in the 40K blogsphere and BUILD A COMMUNITY. (Anyone who knows me in real life knows this is a HUGE part of what I am trying to do gaming wise- so it struck a nerve. I had to be part of it.)

I read the announcement and marveled at the number of times they swore in a single sentence. I swear that much in real life, but rarely online (go figure). I knew my blog didn't have a focus yet, but I sort of talk about 40K (sometimes) and I figured that maybe the cool kids would let me hang out with them for a bit. I sent off an application letter (but failed in the essay), and they very kindly took me in as part of their nascent experiment.

I read quite a few of the blogs on the rolls and noted how much BETTER most of them were than mine. I knew I wasn't a bad writer, but I lacked anything resembling focus or cohesion. I decided that my blog needed way more awesome so that I could hang with the big boys, and started adding content at a furious pace. I also got some incredible encouragement and guidance from my buddy Christian around this time, and with a little thought and clarity, my blog began to not suck.

All this "blah blah blah" is an obvious and shameless suckup to the masters who have helped make me better. Since that jerk DaveHowitzer at Crew Shaken Not Stirred went and made frickin' COCKTAILS in the IHoP gang's honor, now I have to come up with something equally fantastic in order to stay on their good sides. (Just pointing out that I don't hate Dave- in fact I think he's pretty keen.)

I don't have a "theme" over here, really. I seriously struggled with how to define myself for the Members' Index Page. I'm not an Internet Personality (yet) and I don't have any gimmick to my thoughts or my space on the web. Trying to come up with something that's fitting to ME in order to honor the IHoP guys was a true challenge, but one I knew I could handle.

I ruminated for a bit and then it hit me like the voluminous volume of vocabulary I carry around-my name is my gig. I've gotten a multitude of comments on my online name, and its definition and appropriateness. What I find more than a little amusing is that these folks have no CLUE how much I talk in real life. My chattiness in the e-world is just a hint of what I'm like in reality, so I take a little perverted pride in getting noted for that talent. My haikus were worth notice, so I figured I was onto something.

Being full of words, I decided to come up with acrostic/anagram tributes to IHoP, Brent, Dethtron and Lauby. I've got a couple for each one. One's sort of tongue in cheek and the other's supposed to hit on their qualities in a more serious way. Here you are:

I; "H", Opine Profusely
Internet Houses Outrageous Perspectives

Brent's Really Excellent;  Not Typical
BoK Regular, Exceptionally Noteworthy Typings

Long Address; Underrepresented Blog, Yanno
Laudible, Authentic, Understated; Best Yet

Defiantly Evanescent, Totally Hot, Thoroughly Rockin', Offering Nonsense
Delivering Evil To Hostile Trollers, Rips on 'Net

No matter how hard I tried, I could not get "Hugs & Gropings" OR "Stalks Jawaballs" into Brent's little tribute. I feel a little shame, but I figure pointing out that Dethtron isn't just an asshat; he's a hottie more than makes up for it. (Dudes in suits are HAWT. Drummers are additionally hot.The end.) Ok, I know that's weird for most of you guys, so I'll stop with the salacious silliness and throw down the challenge-

What will YOU do to make YOUR blog more awesome? It could get you onto the Top X, gain you recognition and fans, and improve the blogging community! Get on it!

[HS6E] Hawaii Action (Session 5) With Pics!

Whatever you're looking for
Hey, Don't come around here no more" - Tom Petty, Don't Come Around Here No More
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[I arrived at game just a little late. Here's what I saw when I showed up.]

 
But wait, there's more!

Our GM uses 40K terrain and other sundry items laying around the FLGS to create in depth, vivid worlds for us to explore. He's also got a great story going. We're just very happily ignoring it at the moment.

This session picks up pretty much at the end of session 4.

Jumpshot, Steel Warrior, Jerry Riggs and Freestyle are all on the side of the mountain just outside the city of Honolulu. [Whether there's one there in reality is irrelevant. There is one there in game.]

Diamond is still in Honolulu, trying to smooth over an unfortunate comment made to 'Nani. Diamond's....busy for the rest of the evening.

The general gist of the set up is that the "Heroes" saw the three "Very Fast Guys" messing with a tree at the very back edge of this board at the end of session 4. According to the GM's description, the Very Fast Guys are wearing power armor, and were messing with a tree that had some sort of access panel , revealing wires and circuitry. As the Ultras arrive on the scene, the Fast Guys in Armor close up the tree, and come out to stop the Ultras from investigating or moving in closer.

[Here's the tree in question. The little clear base represents that it's important.]

There were three guys at the end of session 4. When the Ultra group arrives at the mountain, it's dark. They are in the woods. Only one guy has night vision. So, only 1 Very Fast Guy  is visible. He's HUGE, and wearing very obvious power armor. He tells the "good guys" that they are not welcome, are trespassing, and to go away.

There's some dialogue back and forth. The big guy is short on patience and makes a pretty threatening gesture towards Jumpshot, who does not like it at all. Syphon has arrived on the scene independently, and can hear what's going on, but not respond. Discussion continues. Things get very tense. More dialogue goes on, with SteelWarrior making a fairly convincing delaying argument. It appears the situation will get resolved without violence, when a small hiccup makes for some interesting times.

The situation before the combat starts.

Jerry Riggs has been trying to check out the tree that the Very Fast Guys were playing with earlier. As he gets close enough to make a perception check on what's inside the tree, he gets tied up by an entangle. Jerry sends out an SOS on the mind link the Ultras are using in place of radios (because cell phones are not working right now, and no one HAS a radio).

SteelWarrior attempts to negotiate that the Ultras will go away once they pick up their buddy. Jumpshot makes a move to get Jerry, and the big power suit guy (Man O'War) moves to stop him. SteelWarrior doesn't appreciate this, and attacks.

Combat begins, with most of the Ultras focusing on Man O' War. There's some interesting action, with a double team one of the  more memorable moments.

The guy in blue=Steel Warrior. Man O'War in the middle. Syphon in rear.

The Ultras get Man O'War knocked down, and Steel Warrior decides that he needs to stay down, so SW hits Man O'War (repeatedly) while he is prone and defenseless.

Man O'War eventually gets up. He's not happy that he was attacked while he was down. Additionally, his team mate was nearby but none of the Ultras saw him- but the teammate (Orbital) saw the Ultras and attacked them in an attempt to defend his buddy.

While all this is going on, Jumpshot is attempting to get to Jerry at the back of the board. He's tossing around orange spheres of energy as he goes, assisting in the fight as much as he can while trying to get to his buddy. Freestyle is also present, hanging out in the background, waiting for an opportunity to be able to do anything (which is difficult because it is dark, he does not have night vision, and his powers are all based on LOS).

Orbital was in a tree, and was taking potshots (with lasers) at the Ultras from above. Steel Warrior wants Orbital out of the tree. But he can't fly, doesn't have enough leaping, and doesn't have anything to throw at Orbital. So he decides to bring Orbital down to earth another way.

The Flash=Freestyle. On the other side, you can see Steel Warrior's arms.

Steel Warrior didn't take a lot of lessons in physics or geometry. He failed at understanding the consequences of knocking down the tree from the angle he was using.

Steel Warrior DID succeed in getting Orbital out of the tree. As well as knocking himself silly with said tree.

A few moments after this, another Jimmy John's Delivery Dude (look it up if you don't get it) arrives and begins blasting away at the Ultras.This guy (Ricochet) is pretty effective and knocks the Ultras around a little. Jumpshot has retrieved Jerry Riggs from the entangle and Jerry brings Jumpshot back to the action. All four Ultras engage in combat, with Freestyle doing a LOT of the heavy lifting in this fight- because once he discovers how well his powers work against the Armored Super Fast Crew, they all go down pretty quickly.

The Ultras have a group of heavily armored guys laying at their feet. Jerry decides to go BACK to the crazy tree with circuits and wiring growing in the middle of it to check it out. Freestyle takes a moment to "go fish" in the unconscious dudes' brains to determine if they are really out or just playing possum. After Jerry discovers that the tree is a satellite antenna, but is not sending or receiving, he comes back to the group and starts fishing around to see if he can get the armor off the guys. Freestyle also does this, but with mental powers. As everyone is pretty much focused on Man O'War and Orbital, they fail to notice that Ricochet got up and left - QUICKLY. Jerry sees him far off in the distance a moment later, but it doesn't seem like a big deal.

The Ultras decide they need to involve Agent Williams of H.U.R.T. in the situation. No one has a phone or a way to get ahold of him quickly, so Syphon takes off to go get him. However, she doesn't TELL anyone this and isn't involved in the mind link. The guys quickly figure it out and wait.

While they wait for Syphon to come back with Agent Williams, things get a little dark up on the mountain. It's not a big thing- it's just-- weird. Steel Warrior wonders if it is localized, so he climbs a different tree to see if he can view the lights of Honolulu in the distance.

Once he comes determines that everything is fine, he comes down from the tree, and everything goes dark. Some jet engine noises are heard, and when the lights go back on, there are NO guys in power suits anywhere to be found.

They talk to Agent Williams about the situation, and he informs them that there's almost nothing he can do. He has no way to know if the property is private until he goes to the records building (of course this event is on a weekend), and there's no probable cause to justify a warrant even if it isn't. There's no proof that anything happened because of "dudes in metal suits" and it's best if they all leave. Jerry and Freestyle have the ability to describe the guys in suits in tremendous detail, so they agree to go down to the station and get an artist to draw it - later.

That pretty much wraps it up for the night. Here's what the board looked like after the fight was cleared.

[40K] A Newer Player's Q's: Army Building

I'm thinking this might be a series until I get a better handle on what the crap 5th Ed is all about.

Yes, I think I have * FINALLY * decided what army I'll play. I just have to get figures. And that leads me to the question of the day:


What comes first in army building: the figures or the list?

I don't possess any figs of my own yet. I'm of the opinion that I shouldn't just buy crap willy nilly- I should have a purpose and an army or list in mind. However, there's been some encouragement to use available figs as proxies, building a list to suit them.

Going with the first option gives me control over what goes in my list, what I like and don't like, as well as what flavor or type of army I field. Going with the second limits me to what I have available, but I get to see if I really like the intended army before spending a metric crapton of cash.

Either way, I've discovered that I need one of those Army Builder things (I just happen to be testing one out right now) because it's not the math -it's the details and the math combined. I know I'll get better, but at the moment, I can't keep track of all of it at once.

So at the moment, I'm playing with numbers and imaginary dudes, trying to get a handle on point allowances and Force Org (you're supposed to have a lot of troops, right?) . See you at the next installment.

[40K] Phase I Complete

All of the Space Marines, Scouts, Terminators, Dreads, the Rhino and assorted bits for The Dude's army now have green and red laid down. I'll be putting white down next, then the chest eagles, and then all the fun details.

I have a lot of cleanup and detail work ahead, and I'm trying to break it down into manageable chunks. I'm sure once I have a brush in my hand it will make more sense to me, but right now all I have is :AH! That's a boatload of minis to paint! 

Sorry, no pics right now.The Mexi-Marines are too busy trying to look Italian and are not camera ready.

[Weekly Whimsy] Dark Thoughts

Welcome to Weekly Whimsy, where wild, wacky, willful, and worthy words are wound and whipped at wondrous works of  wit from the web.

[Ok, I got my word-nerd fit out of the way- onto today's topic!]
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I'm bringin' sexy back- Justin Timberlake, Sexyback

The fine folks over at GW have finally decided to show us the magic behind the curtain, and revealed their new project; the Dark Eldar. Once the sneak peeks were out, the 40K blogsphere lit up with chatter, discussion, commentary and other general talk.

The first discussions were purely aesthetic- because really, all we got to see were pictures at the beginning.

Lelith is completely gorgeous. She's lithe and deadly, a combination of lethality and loveliness that's perfect for the Dark Eldar look and feel.

GW got the DE aesthetic absolutely right in the previews so far. The figures I have seen are haunting, beautiful, alluring, otherworldly and absolutely breathtaking in their stunning elegance. The eery, siren-like quality of these figures is better than most of us imagined, and they are magnificent.

As a woman, I have no problem saying that I think Lelith and the wytches are knockouts. I really appreciate the women of the DE world- they're toned as hell and can kick my ass. I'm actually a little jealous. I think the girls exemplify the savage hedonism of the Dark Eldar universe in spades, and show what you can do with imagery that fluff simply can't convey.

I also find the quality and shape of the ladies' chests to be absolutely stellar.

It's completely refreshing to see breasts in a fantasy setting that are actually realistic and physically possible.

I understand that I'm a sheep among wolves, a voice in the wilderness, and a very unusual viewpoint on this regard. I know that the majority of the gaming universe is male, and the population is even more testosterone laden in the miniatures world.  I understand that sex sells, and that making the gratuitous T&A as fantastic as possible increases the likelihood a man will pick up a product and buy it.

I don't really have a problem with that. I want the companies I do business with to do well so that they stay in business, and then I can buy the products I enjoy. I want the guys around me to have things that tickle their fancy, so that I have people to play with and against.

I also understand the desire as a geek to have some outlet where you are a rockstar- a place where you have the ability to command and possess the world around you. I get the goofy Dark Helmet tendencies, too. I GET IT that it's nice to have some eye candy, so that your dorky, nerdy hobby isn't so dorky and nerdy all the time. [I'm blessed in that the eye candy I enjoy is alive, and walks, talks and is pretty interesting. And then I have The Dude- bonus!] I have no real issue with wanting to make playing with little dollies (or boring books, or pieces of cardboard)  a bit less ridicule worthy.

I don't even really have a problem with the crass and vulgar descriptions of the gals. I'm pretty desensitised to coarse language. I have three brothers, all younger, and I game. A large majority of my friends (85% or more) are men. I personally take part in some pretty rough and dirty language, all because of how I'm wired. I'm usually one of the first to take a slightly off color remark to the farthest point, and I'm pretty likely to take a perfectly innocent remark and twist it on its ear into something raunchy.

I just wonder how many of these guys were making 'sexxxxxy' comments when BA came out. Those dudes are all full of beauty and grace, plus some massive murderizing thrown in form shits & giggles. Don't the sanguinators deserve some ego (or other) stroking too? What about the Bugs? All I heard was a lot of cussing when the new 'Nids 'Dex came out, it seemed.

So, I'm all for giving the girls their props, but I'll be an equal opportunist and adore on all the stuff that rocks, and not just the ladies.

[Killzone] Everyone Starts Somewhere

I am a former 40K player. I played back in 2nd edition, in the most half-assed, ridiculously lazy fashion possible. I loved the game at the time, because I did not take it seriously and had a blast.

I'm looking at getting back into 40K, and it just so happens that within a week of seriously looking at the rules again, I happened across BigJim's Special Operations:Killzone project.

A small, fast, fun game that wasn't 500+ pages of rules? This was the thing for me! Killzone appealed to me as a player rediscovering the game because it seemed to be aimed at the point of 40K- having fun. It appeared to be deceptively simple, with incredible depth and elegance under those pretty, shiny covers of "fast".

Thanks BigJim, for making my reentry to 40K so exciting.I haven't played a game of Killzone yet. I haven't made an army list yet. I haven't designed an awesome Killzone Table or scenario yet. I haven't done anything tangible towards actively being part of the Killzone movement- but I feel like I've taken  huge steps towards being a fan of this very cool looking game.
I've picked an army, so that I CAN build a Killzone SOP team. I've passed the Killzone link to 4-5 people in my local circle, as well as plugged BigJim to the best of my ability. I've talked to folks about both the rules and the community aspect of this great idea, and done what I can to get people on board with something very fun and fresh.

I can't wait to see how things actually go once I have dudes on the table and someone to play!