2011 Year in Review

Another year down for Mik's Minis which means it's time for another award-winning YEAR IN REVIEW! Okay, maybe not award winning, but it's time to reflect nonetheless.

The first thing I am not going to do is dwell on last year (2010) compared to this one, constantly comparing the two. I'll say it just once, to sum up, 2010 was a much more productive year for me than 2011. There, we can move on now.

Keeping my 'totals' box to the left has been handy as always, but my HUD idea didn't motivate or keep me on track like I had hoped. I'll leave it up there for now, but it's more of a reminder of what I'm not getting done than what I should be doing!

Games Played: 121
Basically I played a game every three days. Not too shabby, and looking back there is a good deal of consistency to boot as well, something I've lamented in the past. My top slot goes to Blood Bowl, in which I raked in twenty matches of this timeless classic. I've been playing Blood Bowl for for a very long time, off and on of course but going on twenty years now. It doesn't get old, it really is an amazing game, and maybe why it has the lion's share of gameplay this year. Not too terribly far behind is Thunderstone with thirteen plays. Thunderstone is a quick and easy pick up game and always mixes things up game-wise, each time you play it's a different game.

But Blood Bowl and Thunderstone are more boardgame than anything else, what of the RPG's? Three roleplaying games logged in about the same amount of plays; Deathwatch and Fiasco both with five plays each and FATE's Legends of Anglerre with four plays.

You know what 2011 is lacking though? Miniatures games. Might of Arms and PKowboys both lead the minis games with lackluster three plays each and Gutshot is the runner up with two plays. All other minis games logged just a single play each (and there weren't that many to pick from). Wow, I just didn't spend any time pushing around little toy soldiers in 2011 huh? I may have to rectify that for 2012. Here's a link to all the various and sundry games that went down in 2011.

Miniatures Painted: 30
I don't have much to say in my defense in this category. Thirty painted miniatures is absolutely atrocious I will say that. Atrocious! Thinking back to the last category though, if you're not playing miniature games, you simply don't paint miniatures, that's all there is to it. Thirty minis painted, sheesh, moving on.

Miniatures Bought: 23
I guess the upside to not having painted that many figs this year is that I've saved a ton of money in money spent on figures! This means that I painted 130% of the figures I bought as well. A 130% rating is nothing to sneeze at! Still, twenty three figs in the big picture is what? Not even a platoon? I'll just have to tell the missus that in 2012 I need to spend a lot more money on figures.

Terrain built: 4
For some reason I didn't include a 'terrain built' wrap up last year, and with just four pieces done this year one might ask why add it now? Well it's in the box on the left, so in here it goes. I built four pieces of terrain. In a year. One per quarter. The sad thing is that all four of these were cd-based pieces, so they weren't very large at all. Terrain is what makes our world go 'round, it's what makes the games we play that much better. So what's a good goal for terrain making? One a month? I don't know, but four might not be cutting it.

2011, as judged solely by these totals, was something of a wash. Oddly enough however, it felt just as 'full' to me as any other year. Ah, but these are the things we do, not who we do them with. I wouldn't have been able to log in over a hundred games played if not for the other great players sitting around the table. I would've had zero need to paint figures if not for my buddies with their own painted figs of which to battle. Lastly, I wouldn't have even considered writing this blog if not for you, the readers, out there. It's because of all of you that I do what I do here. I think I'm ending it there, happy new year!

Holiday Loot Haul

I had said that this moment was coming, and that moment is upon us my friends...the holiday loot wrap up! Thanks to the amazing Amazon wish list, the giving gifts to Mik season is much easier. It may take some of the fun out of it but when you have hobbies as specific as ours any ole random present won't do! That being said, I was still in store for many a surprise this holiday season, one of which I'm wearing at the big family Christmas dinner party over yonder to the left. All right, enough, on to the loot.


Legends of Anglerre is one of those books I've had on my wish list forever and just never saw myself actually getting. It's also one of those books I kind of need because we do so much with it, especially as of late. I get by with the PDF, but for roleplaying books I kind of prefer, well, a book. Needless to say, I was very happy to pick that one up. Next up is the Thundarr DVD boxed set. Thundarr! As a kid I loved Thundarr and as an adult gamer now there are so many nuggets and gems to extract from it, especially for post-apocalyptic settings. If you don't know about the world of Thundarr, Lords of Light! Get to it!

Assassin's Creed Revelations follows suit and since I just conquered all of Skyrim, it's pretty good timing. Having played a little bit so far though I can see why it got lackluster reviews, it's more of the same without anything new. Mind you, if you loved the previous Assassin's Creed games like I have, then it's no problem.

I got a mandolin book as well, though mandolin playing isn't something I blog about it is something that I do from time to time, and this book in particular has a bit of a personal connection as well, so I was quite happy to unwrap this one. I also got a movie, the New World. In this day of Netflix and cable and what-not it takes quite a bit for me to want to permanently add a movie to the collection, but this is one of those movies.



My wardrobe grew as well, including a Captain America shirt, a Green Lantern shirt (whose tag claims it glows in the dark), and a rockin' San Fransisco Giants ball hat. Finally would be a pair of Two Hour Wargames 5150 rulebooks, the pseudo-rpg/narrative skirmish game New Beginnings and the campaign/scenario book First Contact. New Beginnings at first glance looks incredibly detailed and is easily over two hundred pages. It seems to have a little bit of everything in it so you can make your games as detailed as you want. First Contact is basically a set of scenarios designed around a central narrative; rebels on Mars breaking away from their Earth benefactors. For what it is it looks cool.

That's it for the loot wrap up, which means this year is fast coming to a close. Stay tuned for tomorrow's post, the third annual Year in Review. Until then, enjoy!

The End of LEGO Thursday?

I can't believe this is posting at the end of December, the end of the year. Back when I started LEGO Thursdays I thought it might be good for, maybe, the summer. But the entirety of 2011? Forget it. I'm typing this in the middle of June, so it's kind of weird.

I joked with my wife that if some terrible fate should befall me that I've got LEGO posts queued up for the next six months, so I'll still be blogging from beyond the grave! Kind of morbid to think of, but also kind of neat that my geek legacy would be both this blog and LEGO content. Err, also kind of sad if that's the extent of my legacy!

But let's not dwell on that! Last week's Water Merchant and Bodyguard was the last of the archived images and content so I thought it would be a good transition.

I've always got Lego content, just because the archived stuff has dried up doesn't mean I can't keep it going with new stuff. I have nothing for this post but since it is literally the last Thursday before 2012, we have to have something!

A Cthulhu Christmas to You!

Happy holidays to everyone out there! I thought I'd share this pic before it got wrapped up, a friend of mine made this Great Old One cutie for my daughter and she did a great job. So to you and yours and whatever it is you're doing, enjoy!

I figure I'll have a "look at what I got" post or two, get through the holidays, and then get it on come 2012 with this thing back to what it should be!

LEGO Thursday: Water Merchant and Retinue

It didn't take long to port all the new (at the time) fantasy figs over to my preferred genre, that of sci-fi. Similar to a post-apocalyptic environment, I saw this as a chance to create something of a harsh, backwater world away from the prying eyes of the galactic center.

Here power and wealth boil down to who controls what commodities. I decided on water as the number one commodity, and the ghastly looking gentleman in the black cloak is the water merchant. Sure I'm using a skeleton head, but it could easily be some type of alien. For his bodyguard I went with the Orcs, they're brutish enough to stand in for hired muscle, and with the green skin and protruding canines, they're easily recognizable enough as any number of thick browed sci-fi staple, reptilian or otherwise.


The Water Merchant

Bodyguard and right-hand man with heavy pistol, armor, and data-slate

Praetorian with impact shields, assault rifles, and heavy armor


Standard gear of a house praetorian is as follows. They are equipped with heavy armor, flexible in movement but thick enough to stop standard small arms as well as blast damage with reasonable tolerance levels. It also has a built-in nutrient suite and waste recyclers.

The helmet of the praetorian is the most recognizable on the streets, and one of the most sophisticated pieces of equipment for a non-status individual around. The wealth and influence of the water merchant ensures that the soldiers under his employ have only the best. The helmet has a full-spectrum sensor suite with auto-weapon link-up and target assistance software. It also boasts an impressive HUD that maintains a constant link with the control room back at the merchant's compound where vital signs, communications, and other information are continuously monitored.

The impact shields are another sought after piece of high technology. They incorporate a small-yield repulsor shield similar to the type found on bulk cruisers. This extends the coverage beyond the physical perimeter of the shield itself to cover most of the user. An optional mode that can be utilized is where both shields are planted into the ground and can converge to create a force bubble around the users and have room enough for one or two occupants in the center. This mode will quickly drain their power reserves, but can provide for a highly protective shield barrier at a moment's notice.

Rounding out the kit of the praetorian is their assault rifles. Made of high-grade materials and of a quality standard unknown among standard small arms, these rifles are an effective and reliable asset in the field. They are equipped with HUD links that co-witness with the helmet. The rifle itself has a variable ammo hopper which can switch between two different types of ammunition with just the flip of a switch. Praetorians usually carry multiple magazines of various types of ammunition on their person. In addition to the variable ammo, there is also an underslung, high-yield kinetic slug-thrower useful for large targets, breaching entries, and the like.

The Bulwark

The Bulwark has stood time immemorial as one of the cornerstones of the city of Warsaw. Some say it stood ground when the city itself was a mere trading hub, when oral histories replace recorded works it is always hard to determine.

The Bulwark is home to the Sentinels of KORE, a warrior cult that have occupied its halls for as long as anyone can remember. The Bulwark is surrounded by a short but thick defensible wall with intermittent battlements. A curious feature considering it is within the confines of the city proper. It is assumed that it is an architectural remnant from an earlier time. Part temple, part training grounds, even part meadery, the Bulwark seemingly provides for the needs of the KORE Sentinels whatever they may be.

• The Hall of Heroes: The path leading to the Bulwark's main entrance is lined with stone statues venerating Sentinels of old. Within the hall are iconic weapons held in cases and on display as well as tapestries detailing the history of the KORE Sentinels.
• The main level also houses the living quarters of the leaders of KORE, as well as an enormous dining hall replete with a full tavern.
• The Barracks: The first level below ground is dedicated wholly to the living quarters for the rest of the Sentinels. At their fullest capacity the Sentinels number one hundred individuals and the barracks below are able to comfortably house them all. Quarters range from several bunks together to individual rooms for one occupant. Accommodations are made for those whose physical makeup require additional room such as half-giants, centaurs, and the like.
• The second level below the Barracks is home to only two entities; the Inner Sanctum and the Armory. The Inner Sanctum is a large, vaulted chamber with dozens of shrines to a number of deities far and wide. Sentinels come from an incredibly diverse number of backgrounds and cultures, and as such the Inner Sanctum sees all types of representations. A collective spirituality pervades throughout the chamber and it is not uncommon for warriors unaffiliated with any of the deities to spend time in the sanctum before embarking for lands unknown. The Armory is as it sounds, the area of the Bulwark that houses the bulk of the weapon stores. Mundane and unique items alike can be found within and with its location one would feasibly have to pass through the one hundred warriors above in order to reach it.
• The Underholme: There are chambers lower than the two levels already mentioned, but access to these are restricted even to a majority of the members of the warrior lodge itself. It is even said that there are access tunnels that connect to the catacombs beneath Warsaw.
• The Maul: Situated between the rear of the Bulwark and the natural rock outcroppings of the southern part of the city lie the practice and drill grounds. The surface of the ground is covered in the shields, helmets, and armors of fallen foes, all hammered flat. Nothing of the dirt below is visible. Other trophies of past battles and conquests exist in the form of hides, horns, skulls, and other totems taken from the many dangerous monsters that inhabit the Tainted Earth. These are kept in magically sealed glass coffers, displaying the remains within. The Maul is also large enough for all of the Sentinels to muster at once if need be.

[I know posts here have been less frequent than Bigfoot sightings, but with the new year on the horizon, as well as new RPG campaigns kicking off, hopefully I'll start getting back into the swing of things. The above is part of what should be a slew of little write ups for a pending FATE campaign. Rock on.]

LEGO Thursday: Adversaries

You can't always be fighting dragons or goblins, sometimes you just have to duke it out with oppositely-aligned people of your own race.

A single, tooled-up and skilled bad guy can sometimes be a handful for a whole party if done right. Here on the left is just such a character, an Elf assassin. He's just as deadly with the bow as he is with his saber. He's got all kinds of stealth and can pick a pretty mean pocket if need be.

Don't let the smile fool you, these sellsword mercenaries are relentless in their pursuit and once signed to a contract, cannot be swayed. The human is an exotic weapons master and knows a thing or two about hand-to-hand combat. The Dwarf doesn't speak, but defines his actions by sword and prowess. Both have an obvious eastern vibe going on.

Pike and Shot: Battle of Coutras

The Battle of Coutras, fought on 20 October 1587, was a major engagement in the eighth and final war of the French Religious Wars between an army under Henry of Navarre (the future King Henry IV of France) and a royal army led by Anne, Duke of Joyeuse. Henry of Navarre was victorious. -Wikipedia


So I'm scrolling through my 'edit posts' the other day and ran across a draft, gasp! This thing got buried and only now has it resurfaced, embarrassingly enough it was a playtest for a Fall-In! game that has long since come and gone.


Using the Pike and Shot variant of Might of Arms we lined up our 15mm forces on a whopping ten foot table and duked it out. It is usually in games such as this where I don't go into it with any sort of preference of which side I play on or what-not.

Okay, I lied. This time around I did have a small request; I wanted to play some cannons!

The game pivoted on what all of the cavalry on both sides were doing




I have to admit, it is kind of hard to accurately report on a game a couple of months after it took place. For my part, I inched my foot troops forward, not wishing to fully engage but also avoiding a charge, my focus was on the cannons. Once I found my range with them, I unleashed volley after volley into the enemy foot, whittling them away.

We did call the game early because the middle of the table was the most decisive as Henry of Navarre's cavalry began to get rolled up. Had we continued, my unscathed foot would have been able to tear apart the remnants of targets my cannon batteries kept pounding. I would've secured my end of the table, but I can't stress enough how it was the cavalry, both heavy and light, that became the real factors in the game.

This game traveled on to Fall-In! with tweaks and changes derived from this playtest and all accounts told it was a success. Until next time!

Winter Garden Signs of Life

So even though the gardening season is long dead, some of you may recall that I tried my hand at winter crops this year. Above you have the two groups I planted; broccoli and Brussels sprouts, and yes, "Brussels" is a proper name. I'm pretty excited because looking at them they seem to be doing exactly what they're supposed to even though we've had had multiple mornings with frost and a few nights with temperatures dropping below freezing.


Hey! It looks just like broccoli!


I know what a Brussel sprout looks like, and although these plants seem to be as healthy and vibrant as the broccoli, I've seen hide nor hair of the actual sprout. Too bad because I have a great recipe in mind for when they finally do get here.

Overall I've enjoyed tinkering around with these plants and it is kind of neat to keep the garden going after the 'big' garden has withered and died. Maybe next year I'll try potatoes or onions. Until then, enjoy!

The Homage Autobiography

When I posted my "Terrible Tower" a couple of weeks ago my buddy Spacejacker of Tiny Solitary Soldiers sent me this hilarious image. If I were to write a book, well I have no idea what it would be about, but with this self-fulfilling prophecy I guess I would have to name it "I Wanted to Build a Tower, so I did." Anybody know any desperate publishers?

LEGO Thursday: Some More Castle Sets

First up is the small set of the 2007 Castle line, it was just a single human knight. He came with a ton of stuff however as you can see. If you had a spare mini-fig laying around you could put all the extra gear on them and have two figs. With the breastplate and full-faced helm, you wouldn't be able to tell if the extra was from the City series or whatever.



The next, the name I forgot, was a small/medium set pitting two humans with a catapult against two Undead behind a barricade. There were basically four factions in this series. The Dwarves and humans were the good guys and the Undead and Orcs were the bad guys. This gave plenty of variety too, maybe too much so. There were hints of a Wood Elf race to be introduced later but that may have been left on the cutting room floor.


A larger set, the Skeleton Ship Attack was pretty cool as well. It featured a good-sized human fortification and an awesome skeletal pirate ship, complete with skeleton pirate captain. Because they were cramming two things into one box, the ship wasn't the largest it could be, nor was the human fort.


The Troll Battle Wheel is a great set as well. I like to call it the Orc Battle Wheel, but whatever. It's a giant wheel of doom, rolling, crushing doom! It also has some kind of rocket that fires out of the middle, dunno about that. It has some very cool build features too, making the wheels were kind of neat. First you build them flat, like train tracks, but most of the pieces are joints. Then you just roll them up into a round shape around the center spokes and voila, instant huge Orc wheels of doom. It also came with an Orc hero looking fig.

This and That

It's almost like I can kick back and let LEGO Thursdays do all the work for me! Unlike the break-neck end of the gaming year of 2010, the end of 2011 has a steady pulse, albeit a weak one.

There's still signs of life at Mik's Minis, not that *you* would know it though. I'm happy to report the game room is coming along quite well. When you're shouldering all of the work pretty much by yourself, not outsourcing it to a contractor, it's both slow going and not exactly professional. It might have something to do with the fact that production has been entirely to the tune of Miller Lite and Black Sabbath. Other than the slow going part I gotta say it looks pretty darn good. New paint, new carpet, the works. Now I need to start cramming it full again with gaming stuff!


I mentioned back during Thanksgiving that I was thankful for Skyrim. That still holds, but it's a double-edged sword you know? It's the type of game designed for a player like me from the ground up, but that means I can happily get lost in the tiniest morass of minutia for hours and hours and hours. Hours that should be put to finishing the game room!


I plopped a cover image of the Pathfinder RPG up top for a reason. It's no secret that Pathfinder is gaining momentum around many roleplaying tables as we speak so we jumped in just this evening. We played a very short introductory adventure with pre-generated characters, but it felt great. After looking through the core rulebook and the Inner Sea sourcebook I can say this is something I personally would like to visit again. As you can see, we've already made the adventuring party out of LEGO figs, so we're ready for more.

In other RPG news, we have a couple of sessions building a world for another campaign. We used the Microscope rules and had quite a ball with them. There is an excellent corkboard mockup of all of our work that can be found here. It was an easy process to get to know, and the world we made has a lot of promise, plus it spans such a gap chronologically there are many options in style and potential gameplay. FATE is a system we keep coming back too, and this future campaign, The Tainted Earth, is no different. We're kind of throwing convention out the window, so anything goes, such as my kilt-wearing Yeti bounty hunter armed with a necromantic energy rifle! Sculpt that one Eli!


I'm still posting leftover and prematurely hatched material to the Mik's Minis sister twitter account for those interested; cygnus46 is the username. Still just photos, still 95% gaming related, and still no text, just the way I plan to keep it.

Until next time!

LEGO Thursday: They Call it a Mine...a Mine!

When the Dwarves' Mine hit the scene it was a pretty amazing set. It came with scads of Dwarves, a decent showing of Orcs, and a big ole Troll. Not to mention the set itself was pretty cool and captured the Dwarf feel rather well.


The mine itself is very well thought out. It has multiple levels, different sections dedicated to different facets of the mine itself, and even a cool mine car track.

Weapon and armorsmith working at the anvil

A Dwarf miner by the lode cars

The Dwarf king with golden goblet and giant ruby

A warrior by the hearth, above is the ore tramway

Dwarf catapult (that really fires) for defense

All new figs, helmets, beards, swords, shields, the works...

The Dwarf mine showing you its backside