Birthday Break

Last year about this time, I was celebrating my birthday by hosting a contest and giving stuff away.

I had a blast- it was wonderful. I truly enjoyed giving goodies to folks that were inspiring me and causing me to think in new and creative ways. I gave away over $100 worth of models, which made OTHER people happy, and I sort of live to make people happy.

This year has taken a very introspective turn, and for my birthday, I am giving myself a little break. I will be back after the weekend- and it's possible that the crazy Xeno and his Hamster will be causing trouble over here while I give myself a rest.

Cause the Hamster doesn't get any love...

Be back soon!

SinSynn thinks about tanks

Hey folks, SinSynn here.

So I realize this might totally be a guy thing, but...
How cool are tanks?
...pretty cool, amirite?

I dinna care whether they're like, sci-fi floating tanks...

*Somewhat useless, but still hella kewl. Yes, I have a buncha magnetized Skyray turrets, too*

They can be conventional style, but still sci-fi, and I'll probably still like them.

*I like to see these with Railgun holes in 'em, or covered in Genestealers*

Heck, we can even jump back in the past, and you'll still find me going 'wow, that's friggin' cool.'

*Micheal Wittman, in his Tiger 1E, from Flames of War. He was da man*

Tell ya what- you can take the treads off, give a tank legs of some sort, and call it a 'mech,' or some silly word that basically means the same thing (like, I dunno...how 'bout 'warjack'?), and I'll probably dig that, too.
I'm not sure if it's genetically encoded into all male creatures in the universe, but I'm pretty sure we all think massive machines of war are friggin' cool.

*shrug*

Waddayagonnado?
Embrace it, I say.
:)

Adventures of Boss Lady : Convention Report

You may have heard from around the web that there was a gaming convention in my neck of the woods this past weekend.

For a game store owner, going to a con is a whole different experience than that of the average attendee. Whether it's in your home town or far away, there's a lot of work that goes into 'doing the con'.

Attending a convention as a vendor requires stock, staff, transportation, food and lodging. At this particular con, we have an advantage over other vendors because we live less than 10 minutes from the convention location, so lodging is covered gratis.

Stock, transportation and food were stuff TheDude and/or HiSign (our employee) took care of in one fashion or another. My job was to take care of the "staff".

Our store has a very distinct advantage - we have an incredibly loyal base of customers. It's honestly almost criminal to call these folks customers, due to how passionate and dedicated they are to our business and our community.

My title is HR Director- that means I manage people. Every year at convention time, I put out the call for volunteers to help TheDude and I pack all our stock into boxes.
I usually "plan" for 5 or so people to show up based on in person, email or FaceBook replies, and I almost always get closer to 10-12. I roll with it, and get people working very quickly.

At the beginning of the process.

In the middle of the insanity that is the packing process...

In the van, ready to go to the convention hall.

Packing it only part of the process for our store. We also have to set everything up at the convention site. The convention provides us with tables, and that's all. We're "smarter than the average bear", and we bring shelves with us. Then, we fill them with stuff to sell. 

We bring it on on carts, first.

A volunteer fills the shelves while I direct traffic.

Almost done!

Once we're set up, it's time to sell. And talk to people. TheDude and I have been around for a long time, and we know many of the attendees of this con personally, so this is kind of like a "family reunion" for us.  We usually walk the room a few times, give a few hugs, chat with some friends and so on. 

I usually see great games and have a fabulous time with a big crowd of people I know and like. This year, I saw one of the best sights I've seen in a LONG time. 

She's walking! This was the highlight of the con for me.

Well, that's the people. But what about the GAMES, you ask??

There were the usual "conquer the X" board games. Lots of those. 

There were also a fair number of resource management games. Agricola, the one featured above, is very popular. 

And there were more than a fair share of reasons to play with little toy soldiers. 

A little bit of roleplaying, too. 

And last but not least, a wonderful time with friends- a chance to BS, chit-chat, talk a little hobby, and be around people that 'get' playing with little toy soldiers.

After the con is over, vendors get to do the whole process all over again- in reverse. The pack up and move out happens again, due almost entirely because of volunteers (and HiSign, our effing awesome employee)- and I am in charge of them for the breakdown, too.

It went just as well as setup- so much so that TheDude and I took everyone out for dinner and went to bed at a somewhat decent hour.

I never in a million years imagined I would be a good manager. But I am really, really getting to be excellent at delegating jobs,  giving direction, praising, and motivating people-in a game store related setting.

I am glad it's over, but always look forward to the next year. 

SinSynn: OMG, GW...WTF?....smh...

Hey folks, SinSynn here.

So, following the rumors of changes to their paint line, GW made another announcement recently.

They're rebooting the Lord of the Rings franchise, and re-releasing a bunch of the models in Finecast.
...
...

If an announcement is made in the woods, and no one friggin' CARES, does it make a sound?
Maybe the sound you heard was my wail of frustration, as I watch the company that pulled me into this hobby do one stupid thing after another.

*My failure senses are tingling*

The recent Vampire Counts book featured a character sure to draw some dumb attention.
While I find it somewhat amusing that folks are complaining about it while NOT returning the books in protest, GW has us talking 'bout it...

I won't even discuss the rumored 40k 6th Edition 'leak.'
Not even gonna talk about it.
Plenty of other people are doing that, so...whatevs.

I hear GW will be switching manufacturers for their line of paints...this does not bode well.
You can bet we'll see a price increase, smaller, more annoying pots, or whatever.
Now you can bet that the colors won't be precisely the same, either, if this is true.
...
Personally, I hope they screw the pooch on Ultramarines Blue and whatever shade of red Blood Angels use.
Smart Grey Knights players prolly use Vellejo paints anyway, since their metallics are way better, so I can't hope for relief there...
Blah.

Frankly, at this point I am entirely used to GW having their way with me, and not offering a reach-around.
I am also used to paying for the privilege.
Up until the release of the Grey Knights codex, maybe I was even cool about the whole thing.
Sure, I was a bit butt hurt, but I still had faith, sorta.

*Mmmm...Faith. Wait...where was I?*

Of course, the GK codex was OP on a level that made the Imperial Guard release seem downright friendly.
One day in the GW store, my Tyranids got into a lil' scrap with a bunch of GK Termies, and my opponent and I spent about half an hour figuring out Grenade effects, Initiative order and Wound distribution.
For one lil' skirmish, which I lost, of course.

Subsequent matches against the Grey Knights made me pack my 'Nids away, and I went virtually 'hobbyless' for several months.
Until I got hoodwinked into a 'demo game' of Flames of War, of course.
Thank almighty Cthulhu for that.

I would never admit it to the Ultimate Rival, but I am eternally grateful.
...he's still a big dumb jerk, and I HATE his friggin' American tank list of DOOM, but whatevs.
I'm pretty happy with FoW.

So I've slowly had my faith eroded by a serious of facepalm worthy decisions from GW, and in the last month or so it's only gotten worse.

Am I surprised that GW is wasting more resources on a system I've NEVER SEEN PLAYED?
On models I've NEVER SEEN PURCHASED?
At this point, no. Not at all.

They managed to virtually ignore the Xenos races for most of 5th edition, and the three Xenos books we got seemed perfectly calculated to be underwhelming, and not a threat to the Imperial status quo.

They may have overshot on the 'Nid book, but both the D'Eldar and Necrons are just shy of actually being kick ass.
Sigh.

*Maybe just a teeny, tiny bit*

Regardless, here I am talkin' 'bout GW...
In that regard, they've been quite successful, haven't they?

In truth, I think GW has a tough road ahead of them in the next few years.
Chinese companies are making cheap knockoffs of their stuff now, and those copies will only get better.
Other gaming companies are making smart use of the Internet, and have release schedules that make GW's look laughably slow.

I'm gonna mention this again- I'm still stuck with the VERY SAME army book that I bought my first week into the hobby.
IT'S SEVEN FRIGGIN' YEARS OLD NOW.

I've gotten more books outta Battlefront in 6 months than I would get out of GW in...what?
A quarter of a century? Half?
THINK ABOUT THAT.

I'm planning a series of posts about my endeavors into Infinity, although due to some slightly overzealous holiday spending I'm a bit behind schedule.
A Haqqislam starter set is on it's way, and I've already got my Combine under construction.
Do I need to mention that Infinity has MONTHLY releases?
How awesome is that?

What's GW doing?
More of the same.
And at this juncture in time, I'm starting to wonder why I care.

The reboot of the LotR games is a giant pile of fail.

*Box cover art for the LotR starter set*

Look, I know that riffing 'bout GW is tiresome, and I sorta apologize.
I'm not gonna do it again for a while, I promise.
There's so much good stuff, so much cool stuff, so much stuff that's actually full of win in this hobby, that I'd much rather focus on that.
Sadly, GW isn't part of the 'good' in the hobby anymore, I believe.

People don't like being told what they want, they don't want to wait interminable amounts of time for what they want, and when they get something, they'd like it to be good.

I imagine if I was a Space Marine player, these would be awesome times.
Buy I'm not, so there ya go.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm tweaking my Grenadier list for FoW (I hate you, Ultimate Rival), and slowly ingesting the Infinity rules in preparation for my first games (totally psyched).
In truth, I'm happier with my personal hobby adventure than I've ever been.

I'm just disappointed that GW has nothing to do with it.
In some weird way, I thought they'd always be there...and maybe they will.
Just not in the way I thought.
*shrug*

Sigh...waddayagonnado?


Until next time, folks- Exit with catchphrase!

-SinSynn

[RPG] Destroyer of Fun

I had a weird dream last night that my version of Ultimate Rival showed up at the FLGS.

Instead of being someone I want to destroy in game, my particular guy is the guy who ruins all my fun. What's really frustrating is that it's very subtle and I seem to be the only one that has him figured out as a ruiner of fun.

What makes it worse is that everyone else really likes him and thinks he's "great".

But he's not. He's a creep with a really good ability to disguise it.

So when I woke up, I checked to make sure he is still where he is supposed to be, and then giggled at the idea of turning him into a BadGuy in a game that I'm working on (I hope to be ready by summer).

Ultimate Rival, Destroyer of Fun, Closet  **&^%- what are the names of your opponents? Is it a joke, or is it for real? It'd be fun to hear your stories....

Adventures of Boss Lady

I am now a Boss.

This is, in many ways, the direct opposite of my usual way of operation. I'm accustomed to asking people to do things, or suggesting in a way that makes people think it is their idea. So the concept of TELLING people outright what to do is pretty foreign to me.

I am also notoriously nice. This has been one of my downfalls for many years-not being so good at being a badass and letting people get away with murder around me. Many of my essential duties as a boss are being wrapped in fluffy nice. Which, maybe isn't so good for my business.

This is my first week at being a boss, and I know I have a lot to learn. Like how to give directions rather than make suggestions (or ASKING Employee what he wants to do). I also have to work on addressing concerns and giving praise.

It is definitely an adventure. Tune in soon for reports from the field....

SinSynn dinna trust GW no more

Hey folks, SinSynn here.

There was a time, it seems quite long ago now, when GW would make an announcement for some upcoming thingy or another, and I'd be all like, 'Oooh- cool. this is gonna be da awesome.'

Heh.
Remember those days?

Nowadays, of course, whenever GW makes an announcement, they're usually pretty awful.
Or laughably bad.

Case in point:

*What were you thinking, GW?*

When Dread Fleet dropped, it pretty much killed any positive vibes I had remaining for GW.
Nobody asked for Dread Fleet, and I don't know anyone that purchased it, or even cared about it's release.
Personally, I wanted Blood Bowl. I was kinda surprised when it wasn't Blood Bowl, actually.
Blood Bowl would've been big, I think.
I mean, it seemed like a no-brainer to me. But then again, I have no brains, so...

Instead we got...well, whatever.
No one cares.

The reason I got kinda miffed wasn't all Dread Fleet's fault, however.
No, it was a culmination of things, and Dread Fleet was just the capper. The straw that broke the Xeno's back.

Years of looking in from the outside as the Imperials got spiffy new Codexes, while I STILL HAVE my 4th edition Tau book.
Price increases, Finecast, blah, blah, blah.

Then all these other new systems start gaining momentum, and they show me you don't HAVE to wait YEARS to get an army update, or a new figure for the collection.

Wait- they let you get free stuffs, right off their website?

For the love of- I paid good money for Army Builder!
These other cats built me a fancy flash webpage to design my army in...and it's FREE!

Sigh.

Hey, does anybody else get the feeling that GW is making Imperial Armour books part of the main system in an attempt to appear like they're...doing something?

Companies like Privateer Press, Spartan, Battlefront, Corvus Belli and a host of others are churning out new material, expansions and models at quite a clip.
In all honesty, they're making GW look really antiquated and sad.

When GW announced that the Imperial Armor books were getting integrated into the main game, and would be 'tournament legal,' I totally made this face:

*That EXACT face, in fact*

Part of me was like, 'Oh, I see what you did there, GW.'
This was GW's method of emulating the new guys, in a way.
'Oh, look- we can adds new stuffs! We can be all edgy and hip, too!'

Sigh.
It's like watching some old dude try to talk 'street' while they lecture you...about like, nutrition, or something.
It's just...sad.

-_-

I'm sure folks in Europe are kinda amped about IA books being table ready now (Ha! There's a stamp, sucka! No more 'opponent's approval required!'), but here in the US, well...

We don't really have access to Forge World stuffs.
You can't pick it off a shelf in a GW store here.

Let's just gloss over the fact that Forge World stuff is expensive, as are the Imperial Armour books.
Or that they're mostly pretty lame, competitively.
No surprise the most recent one has the first decent list in years- Eldar Corsairs.
After all, the books ARE available here now, and GW wants them to sell.

Ultimately, the whole 'Imperial Armour is Approved' thing is almost a good idea.
If Forge World stuffs was made in plastic, readily available and reasonably priced, or if Imperial Armour books were actually really good.
But...they're not, so...

Waddaya wanna bet that the next IA book is totally OP, though?
;)

So just a lil' while ago I read that GW is preparing to make an announcement about their line of paints.
It's gonna be exciting, they say.

Excuse me while I make this face:

*Not quite as cool as this guy does it, but whatevs...I try*

Like I said, a long (long, long...really long...super, crazy, stupid long) time ago, I woulda been a like, 'Oooh!'
Now I'm like, 'Oh, gee...price increase is coming. What favorite color of mine will they kill off and replace with something worse? How bad is it gonna be this time?'

I'm not sure if my somewhat reticent attitude towards GW in recent times is a result of being won over by a few of these up 'n' coming mini games companies (Battlefront and Corvus Belli- I heart you), or what.
Maybe I've just been treated like a 3 dollar hooker by GW for too long (my Tau Codex sure is old, you rotten sons of-).

I suspect it's a combination of both things.
*shrug*
Waddayagonnado?

Damn, I really used to dig GW, and now, well...
I kinda think they're lame.

I'm not even gonna front, and pretend like I'm happy about it, or anything, cuz I'm not.
I'm not a hater, out to wish doom upon them- I love my Tau. I love 40k, too.
It's the company, and their dumb-ass method of...whatever the hell it is they're doing.

Does anyone understand whatever it is they're doing?
The lack of marketing, the seemingly counter-intuitive decisions, the blatant disregard for...pretty much everything- from the internet, to modern methods of generating anything but scorn.
That they seem pretty good at.

Ugh...Riffing 'bout GW gives me ageda.
:P

Now if you'll excuse me, I hafta go find the Vellejo substitutes for my (formerly) favorite GW colors, washes and stuffs.
I'm not even gonna hang around for this most recent GW round of baloney, thanks.

Here ya go, GW...dedicated to you:

*Time to convince Lo' to add a 'multimedia explosion' label*

Sorry for the complaining, folks...it's just that every time I see that GW's gonna actually do something, or release something, or whatever...I just get all annoyed and whatnot now.
I feel like I've been waiting outside in the cold and rain for a bunch of years, just waiting for a friggin' army book update.
Worse yet, I have this feeling that when I finally do get one, it's gonna be 'meh.'

Sigh, GW.
Just...sigh.


Until next time, folks- exit with catchphrase!

-SinSynn