Wednesday, July 3, 2013

Hot fun in the Summer time

Hi All,

  You may have heard of the heat wave in the Western US. Here in Phoenix it got a little hot.

Screen caps from 6/28 and 6/29.
I think it only got to 119F on  June 29th, but it was pretty damn hot.

I'm back into the full swing of Exercise, except the running has taken a back seat in all this heat. As such my aches and pains have gone back to the usual places. The only new thing is my ribs hurt from being punched in them and I may have to admit that it's more than a minor injury.

Astute readers will notice that I have been playing quite a bit of Elder Signs: Omens. I got it on the Kindle and it is addictive. I've beaten three of the four Elder gods in the basic game, but cannot beat Azathoth. Playing the app has given me a greater appreciation for the boxed game and I have learned the rules better. I may look into getting the expansion in the near future.

Several blogs I follow have been putting up mid year progress reports and I thought I would do the same. I had meant to take a bunch of pictures and snazz it up, but I'm at the point where I want to post something rather than put it off for another day.

So here is the project list with notes:

2013

Add blog pages
  • Pile of Shame – haven't started.
  • Figures/ Models Completed – haven't started page (1 figure completed)
  • Games Played 12/31/12
  • Project List 12/30/12


Fantasy
  • Finish Tereken Figs – 30 foot 50% complete, 4 cav 20% complete
  • Finish Mirholme Figs – 17 foot 30% complete
  • Finish Naz-Goth Figs – 29 foot 50%, 2 foot 10%, 4 cav 10%
  • Finish Treyine Figs – Taken off sprue, washed?
  • Refurbish old terrain – Not started
  • Build water feature terrain – Not Started
  • Heraldry and Banners – Preliminary designs only
  • Card stock buildings – Not Started
  • card stock dungeon – Tried to adjust to 1/72 scale


Ancient/ Fantasy Naval – Not Started
  • Play War Galley
  • Build Roman Seas paper ships
  • Read and Play Roman seas
  • Go through other naval rule sets


18th Century Imagi-nation -Basic ideas roughed out only.
  • Create Map – Got ideas for using Brain and Internal organs for maps.
  • create back story
  • Read Muskets & Mohawks, Long Rifle rule sets
  • determine terrain needs
  • paint up figures


ACW – 20 figures cut off sprue and washed
  • Paint 10 Union figures – 5% on 10 foot
  • Paint 10 Confederate – 5% on 10 foot
  • Work through Rifles & Rebels ex of play
  • Asses terrain needs/ figures


Wild West – Some Western Figures cut off sprue
  • Finish reading Six Gun Sound Rules – Did I finish reading, got pretty far.
  • Build Western card stock buildings
  • Paint Cowboy and Indian figures


Pulp – Found a lot of resources, need to finalize
  • Continue research into Cthulhu
  • Figure out stats for Larger Than Life
  • Asses terrain and buildings
  • Source more figures


WWII – Not much progress
  • Finish reading NUTS!
  • Paint Billy V Americans and Germans
  • Look through Not Quite Mechanized
  • Revisit Squad Leader in Miniature


Sci-Fi – Not much progress, added Star Navy and Fighter Command
  • Read 5150 rules
  • Source Figures
  • Play the damn game


So as you can see a lot of work still to do. I've decided that I need to focus on the work instead of the results. In that way I will have something accomplished.

Off for a quick Holiday weekend. Have a happy and safe 4th of July. If you celebrate it that is.

12 comments:

  1. I don't reckon anyone can properly function in 118F heat (48C as we call it in Kiwiland). The thing to do there is find a shady spot and chill out with a few cold ones. That's progress enough for any reasonable person.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Ion. You're right. I actually chose to do some yard work that day. I think I made it out at 6AM and worked until around 10AM. By then I think it was 100F. But just staying awake in all the heat is challenge enough.

      Delete
  2. the Mid-Year Progress Report sounds like something I should do. Luckily my list is only consisting of two projects the Zombies and the Starships

    Luckily on the zombie front I only have a couple of Wargames Factory Zombie Vixen that need to be painted, just trying to find a new zombie skin color since the Reaper Ghoul Grey is now out of production, and I am not to keen on the current Reaper Undead Skin colors (have the triad of the three colors). As for minis completed, all my Hero/Horrorclix figures have been rebased and the ones I wanted repainted have been repainted. All but a couple Zombie Vixen are painted, the Reaper Chronoscope, Crooked Dice and West Wind figures are all painted.

    All starships I currently have are painted and based, though some (the ones I had issues with mounting onto the flight stands initially) are getting rebased using magnets from Primal Horizon. I do have a set of the eM4 ships and more flight stands ordered, can never have to many bases (25mm round slotted and flight stands). I also have my custom starship gaming mat that I made with help from a friend (she told me we need to make more just so she can play with the paint and get messy again, lol), along with some lava rock asteroids, and some escape pods and mines I am working on.

    Play wise I have been slacking, only 2 games of ATZ (solo). Now games of Fluxx and Munchkin, don't even ask, I lost count after the first couple dozen games with friends. Still going over the 5150 Star Navy rules, have played a couple "test" games. Currently debating on getting 5150 Fighter Command now or wait another month or so.

    Don't worry about having a lot of work still to do, this hobby it always seems like you have more work. You are always going to see that new Shiny mini you want for this group/army/faction or that group/army/faction, or decide you need more scenery for this game or that game. I know I feel I need to either purchase or scratchbuild some stations for the Starship game, along with build the fleets up some more and start on a couple of other fleets so its not always going to be Fleet A vs Fleet B or Fleet A Guards the Merchants while Fleet B attacks Merchants for the games.

    On a different note, Stay Cool and drink plenty of water (along with gatorade/powerade to replace the salts/electrolytes you are loosing while sweating), I have been noticing the temps there out west, making me glad that I am here in Michigan where at least if its hot out I know I cam easily hit one of the many lakes around here that have a beach to cool off. Back in 99 I was down in South Carolina during the summer for Basic Training with the Army before blowing my shoulder out and getting discharged and it sucked because of the heat (100+ everyday combined with high humidity). I think your high temps are worse because its a dry heat and your sweat evaporates quicker.

    Doug

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Doug, yes the "ooh shiny" has got a hold of me. I have actually base coated the klingon ships and a few others, starting more rather than finishing some. I've gotten used to the low humidity after 13 years here so I'm pretty good on that front. I still probably don't drink enough water for AZ but I drink a lot of it. We're off to San Diego to beat the heat this weekend.

      Delete
  3. It was on the BBC yesterday saying that worldwide temperatures are expected to rise again this year, Death Valley which is the hottest place on Earth is set to reach even new higher temperatures, the mid year report is a good idea Sean.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Fran, yeah it seems pretty hot here this Summer. Death Valley is a beautiful place in the winter and Spring. I would never go there in the Summer.

      Delete
  4. My word that is hot! Looks like a fair bit to do then, but some great progress made. I love the idea of a pile of shame page - genius!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Michael, thanks. Yes even I will admit that the temps here were hot. I hope to have some photos of the progress, or lack thereof soon. Glad you like the Pile of Shame idea. Feel free to appropriate it.

      Delete
  5. I have a shelf of shame too. Right now it's full of Dark Sword Miniatures that were above my skill level. And there's this one gobbo that I lost interest in. It's good to hear that you are back to exercising.

    That heat must be dangerous to people and animals. The Hubby lived in Phoenix when he was young and he speaks highly of it. But he did say that "it's not the heat, it's the humidity" was bollox. 110 is hot enough to fry a brain he'd say.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Anne, I didn't see your post until after I'd left for vacation. I was too busy to answer properly.

      I think figures are like books, sometimes you have to be in the right mood to make progress on them.

      Humidity is a big factor in comfort. I'm much more comfortable at 100+ and low humidity than 85 - 90 and high humidity. But lets face 110+ is just damn hot and not safe to be out in unless you have a lot of water and some shade.

      Forecast high of 111F today.

      Delete
  6. That's a lot of work! But I think we all have this problem! So many things to do and so less time!

    Greetings
    Peter
    http://peterscave.blogspot.be/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Peter, I think you are right. Thanks for stopping by.

      Delete