Book Recommendation: White Terror: Cossack Warlords in the Trans-Siberian

White Terror: Cossack Warlords in the Trans-Siberian by Jamie Bisher is highly recommended. It is a comprehensive, detailed book that tells the story of the Russian Civil War in Siberia. When I read it, I made notes that I will someday turn into wargame scenarios.
It is compelling and horrific at the same time. By the time I finished it, I was emotionally exhausted. The cruelty of this conflict is well known, the intensity of that cruelty in the Russian Far East was astounding.
If you are interested in the Russian Civil War, Cossacks, or history in general, this book is for you. There are now soft cover and ebook versions, making it accessible to all.

My Unusual Dice

It seems that all the hip gamers are posting pictures of dice on their blogs. I learned this important fact from the Angry Lurker. Here are some of my unusual dice.

First, the special Origins dice from 1999, 2006, and 2008. My younger son has been banned from using the '06 and '08 dice; they always roll exactly what he needs! It's very unusual.

Next are the pewter dice that my Mother gave me as a gift. Bless her heart, these heavy things have never been rolled on a table containing any of my miniatures.

Lastly, a completely blank die. No matter how many times you roll, it always gives the same result.

Who else has dice pictures to share?

GenCon Visit

I was at GenCon today. I was actually in Indianapolis to attend a seminar covering virtualization and backup software. Lo and behold, the seminar was at the Marriott, right across the street from the convention center where GenCon is being held. As a matter of fact, the Marriott is connected to the convention center by a walkway and down the hall from my seminar was a room full of RPGer's. After the seminar, I walked over to have a look around. I have been to Origins many times, but this was my first time at GenCon. GenCon is much bigger, as expected. The registration line was at least 70 yards long, but moving along well. It seemed that there was a larger percentage of participants in costume at GenCon than at Origins. I wasn't registered so I couldn't get into any of the gaming rooms, but walking down the hallways and seeing the sights was fun.
I don't know if we will run up there on Saturday or not, but if not this year, then hopefully 2012.

More Bones

Following the advice of my fellow TMPer's, I went to Dollar Tree and picked up some of the dinosaur skeletons. I cut them into pieces and the results are below.



I have enough to finish some loose pieces to throw around.
I also used air dry clay to create the obligatory walk through rib cage.

The terrain for this game is really coming together. I still need to build a cave and some type of alter, and a bunch of trees.

Bone Yard

I am working on my first Pulp game. I have an outline and am working on the specifics. One thing it will have is a bone yard. I am working on it and yesterday during a trip to Hobby Lobby, I made a good find, Dinosaur Skulls in a Toob!



They look very well with 25mm figures.

I've also made a couple of pieces from air dry clay to help fill the space.


More to come.

Napoleonic Allied Command Stand

I am reorganizing the storage of my figures. I found this base in a box of Napoleonics waiting to be rebased. I had forgotten this one. It will come in handy for the 1813 games.
I wonder what else I'm going to find.

Mars Attacks Game Report

My friend, Jim, is running four miniatures games at Origins this year. Two of them are games with Martin invaders. We play tested one of the games recently. This scenario has the Martians in a small town, attempting to load the comatose inhabitants of the town into their saucer. The National Guard is racing to their rescue.




The rules are a variant of Dead Walk Again, which are written for Zombie miniatures.
The Martians have Ray Guns and Jet Packs. It was a terrible surprise for the humans when a Martian fired and vaporized a tank. The National Guard advance slowed at that point and they deployed for a slower, more deliberate attack.

The mighty saucer looms over the town.




A squad of National Guard, about to be zapped by a ray gun. I got all but one with one shot.




This tank pulled back, and prepared to fire across the length of the town. I had my final Martian riding on top of the saucer to chase it when he was picked off by a machine gun.

A very enjoyable game; even though the Martians were defeated.
If anyone is at Origns, I recommend this game.