It's "Dispatches"' birthday, but the presents are for you!

***********************************************
URGENT URGENT URGENT URGENT URGENT
PRIZE NEWS UPDATE!! PRIZE NEWS UPDATE!!
************************************************
Thanks to the generosity of Andrew Taylor and Antediluvian Miniatures, the "Lost World" prize has been augmented by an Iguanadon and a Megalosaurus. While the explorers will ship from my place in the States, the dinosaurs will ship from Antediluvian central in the UK.
************************************************


July 8 is the third blogiversary of "Dispatches from the Rim," and I've decided to do a giveaway to celebrate. It's also a celebration of my upcoming birthday (next Wednesday) and a milestone that I overlooked about a month back -- "Dispatches" passed 50,000 pageviews!

There are going to be there different prizes, each geared toward different areas on which we steampunk skirmish wargamers tend to focus.

· MARS
A boxed set of Games Workshop Adeptus Mechanicus Skitarii. They can be assembled as either rangers (hoods) or as vanguard (helmets).

I know plenty of us are planning to use these figures as some faction on Mars. Here's a chance to get a jump start.

· THE LOST WORLD
A set of the three new Lost World explorers from Antediluvian Miniatures. Who doesn't want Peter Cushing, Doug McClure and a fur bikini-clad Raquel Welch fighting dinosaurs in the Earth's interior?

· GOOD OL' BLIGHTY
A set of five Victorian firefighters from Brigade Games. Set to defend Trumpton or wherever you decide, these firemen bear a certain unkempt dignity. Are they putting out fires or setting them? Up to you!

So, how do you get in on this giveaway? Simply comment on this post and tell me which order you would rank them as your favorites, or which you would want most. You don't have to be a public follower of this blog, but it would make me very happy if you were. We're nearing 100, and it would be cool if this were the event that pushed us over.

On July 15th, my birthday, I'll randomly select three commenters and award the prizes as best I can in order of their preferences.

All the minis are brand new, unpainted plastic or white metal.

When you comment, don't forget to tell me the order in which you would prefer the prizes. All you have to put is "Lost World. Blighty. Mars." for example.

Feel free to share this around on your own blogs, Facebook pages and groups, or other social media. The more, the merrier.

OK, back to the boards, everyone, and I'll see you across the table soon.

"The Miniatures Man" hit 100K pageviews

Joakim Ström over at The Miniatures Man blog is celebrating 100,000 pageviews with a giveaway.

The post detailing the prizes and method of entering is here:

http://miniatyrmannen.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/100-000-pageviews-its-time-for-give-away.html

I plan to do something similar when I finally hit 50,000 pageviews, or 100 public followers, whichever comes first.

But as we await that glorious day, go check out Joakim's blog. Definitely worth it.

Laughing Ferret is celebrating 200,000 pageviews!

And he's having a massive giveaway to celebrate, with a selection of 11 prizes. Eleven!

Laughing Ferret Giveaway

Deadline is Sept. 1, so head over there quickly and get in on the action.

In addition to the zombies and steampunk games that capture my fancy, I'm also a big Blood Bowl fan, and I've always appreciated LF's efforts in that regard. While you're there, check out the many great BB posts, including this one, which uses Privateer, Reaper and Khurasan figures to make a counts-as-Ogres team, except their totally MECHANICAL:

Robot Blood Bowl 1

Trust me, you'll love it.

Back to the boards, everyone, and I'll see you across the table soon!

It's Welcoming Wednesday, and a milestone!

Welcome to Wednesday, and welcome aboard to our three new members. We have Kris Marquardt of the wonderful "Wargames and Railroads" blog aboard now, and Edwin King, who my web fu tells me maintains the erudite and interesting "Thoughts of a Depressive Diplomatist" blog. Derek Robertson has also joined this journey, but I'm unable to verify at first pass if this is the same Derek Robertson of hotmilkydrink fame.

Also, at some point while I was distracted by something shiny, "Dispatches from the Rim" passed 10,000 page views! Since I write such a niche hobby blog, this has really surprised me, happening even before my first year as a gaming blogger has passed. My sincere and heartfelt thanks to all of you out there who have helped me reach this milestone. In honor of the growth of the blog, I am going to hold myself to a more regular publishing schedule. I see no reason why I shouldn't be able to inflict my views on you share my opinions, discoveries and hobby efforts with you at least twice a week, on Wednesdays and Saturdays.

I know I should run some kind of contest as so many others have or are, but I'm really not in a position to right now. I tell you what: We have 43 members who have seen fit to join this blog as followers. When we hit 100 followers, I'll run a drawing with multiple prizes. Mostly minis, but perhaps some books mixed in there as well.

Back to the boards, everyone, and I'll see you across the table.

Big birthday giveaway over at "Wargames and Railroads"

Kris Marquardt over at "Wargames and Railroads" is having a big birthday giveaway. You can put in for your choice among 12 different assemblages of minis, books, or model railroad cars as prizes. Just comment to enter the drawing.

The contest runs through May 29th, so go over and visit and help push Kris past the 100 follower mark.

Here's a direct link to the post you need to comment on: Birthday Week - Giveaway

Anniversary giveaway

Seb over at Back to the Minis is having a celebration of his blog's second anniversary. Log on and check out the fantastic giveaways he's having!

Inquisitor giveaway

Muninn's Brush is giving away a delightful 40K Grey Knight Inquisitor with a combi-weapon.

Read all about the steps you need to take to enter the giveaway here. I don't play 40K any more, but I sure wouldn't mind having this cybered-up soul in my collection.

Here's the actual unpainted mini:

So for all who enter, good luck!

Reaching out to help

Hendybadger is coordinating a breast cancer fundraiser that needs our participation to help. Paint a Pulp City mini in a pink theme for an auction and be eligible for prizes from the large pool he's gathered.

If I'm back home from the hospital in time, I'll definitely paint up something. Here's the latest link to Ian's blog, Tales of a Tabletop Skirmisher, about the contest:

http://pressganger.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/a-call-for-help-to-all-gamers-readers.html?m=1

Introducing Farraday Kage

I cannot believe it. Hendybadger's Create a Supreme Contest ended last week, and the winners were announced today.

The top winner was ... me! I'd entered a low-powered reluctant hero who's been stirring around in my cranium for a number of years, and the Pulp City-focused contest Ian ran was just the impetus I needed to get him out of my head and down on paper.

(Warning: The Pulp City link above plays music. The shut-off is at the top right of the screen, if you're viewing this from work or, like me, are listening to something else as you surf the Web.)

Here's the link to the announcement in Tales of a Tabletop Skirmisher. I love it that Ian wrote up a combat between my hero, F.K., and Terminal Velocity, the character created by proditor.

Proditor won a colletion of 12 Reaper Chronoscope minis, and I won the hero and villain starter sets for Pulp City, plus two individual characters, Kitty Cheshire and Chimp Chi.

The photo I used to illustrate how I see F.K.s powers working. The photo illustration
is by artist Chris Maverick. See his work at  http://chrismaverick.deviantart.com/

The quality of the entries was very high, and I was surprised to win the judges' decision because F.K. isn't a flashy, high-flying star-spangled hero. Of course, that's what I like about him -- he's a young guy dealing with powers he neither expected nor wanted and the side-effects of which have made him an outcast most of his life. But now he's coming into his own, I think, and the impetus of this contest win is pushing me to get some of his experiences down in writing.

Here's something else that helped inspire parts of F.K.'s creation:
Top Gear's Richard Hammond sitting on a Tesla coil while encased 

in a Voltrex suit, directing bolts of lightning with his hands.

As I told Ian in a private message I sent him, I've always been a writer, but by vocation I'm a journalist. I've always wanted to turn my hand to fiction, but I've been tentative about it. I've written poetry and plays and RPGs, but never narrative fiction.

So don't be surprised now when I foist my handiwork on you. And feedback is most welcome! My followers and readers on this blog are people whose work I myself admire, and I'd love to hear what you think once I get some fiction up here. I'll try and create a separate page for it so I won't clog up the blogging lanes if you're just here for gaming and the like.

Be safe, everybody.

Feast or famine, and it's FEASTING time

This is unbelievable. In addition to receiving Zombicide, I also received a really great prize that I won, in a manner of speaking.

I say "manner of speaking" because the contest at Chronowraith's Corner only had two entrants, and the other entrant won the big prize, which was a copy of the new 6th edition of Warhammer 40K. Kevin Dickens, aka Chronowraith, was gracious and generous, and he asked me to contact him by email. He decided, since his contest had so few people enter, that he would award me a prize as well.

I was left in the dark as to what the prize would be until it arrived. And what a prize it was! I don't have pictures, unfortunately, but Kevin sent me a new box of Games Workshop Warhammer Fantasy Skaven Clanrats and, best of all, the rulebook for Dystopian Wars from Spartan Games!

Now I have vowed to myself and promised my wife not to get involved in another scale, but if there was one that was tempting me, it would be the fleet-action scale of Dystopian Wars. Plus, it's steampunk! I LOVE ME SOME STEAMPUNK GOODNESS.

So that one's mine, but I may hold on to the Clanrats for my own contest later.

I also want to commend Kevin for his openness on his blog, talking about the process by which he decided to run a contest and his observations as to why he didn't get the response he anticipated. I recommend his blog highly, and as a novice gaming blogger I greatly appreciate him letting me learn from him.

So go sign up to follow him, especially if you're a Warhammer or Warhammer 40K gamer. His archives also have some great stuff.

Speaking of Hendybadger ...

Today I received the prize I won in an earlier Hendybadger contest: a collection of seven Pulp City postcards. Here's a picture of five of them (the other two didn't show any apes or monkeys; they're still cool, though). See my earlier post about winning a prize in that competition to observe my obsession with simians in action.

Thanks again, Ian!

Hendybadger's doing it again!

Want to win some excellent Pulp City prizes? Or a heaping helping of Chronoscope goodies from Reaper? Just love superheroes gaming?

Then hie thee hence to Tales of a Tabletop Skirmisher and enter Hendybadger's new contest. It'll take a little creative work on your part, but who doesn't like to show off their own superhero (or villain) ideas?

Why are you still here? Get to work! You've got a city to save -- or destroy (and swag to win)!

I won something!

I was one of the lucky recipients of a prize in in the Super 100,000 Giveaway at Tales of a Tabletop Skirmisher. Ian, aka Hendybadger, rustled up some great prize support and I won a set of Pulp City postcards.

Now I won't lie and say I wasn't hoping for one of the Pulp City sets of supers or the Ape-X from Reaper, but as the two Pulp City starter sets are already part of my lead mountain, I can't complain. Plus, I've rarely one anything in the past decade, so this was a delightful surprise. Here's a picture of what I won and my comment in Hendybadger's contest thread.

 Pulp City Postcards - set 1
Christopher Sheets
I should win this prize because there are monkeys involved. MONKEYS!!!! And Apes! I LOVE monkeys, and apes. All types of simians, from old-world, long-tailed critters to super-evolved examples sporting hats, cigars, chain-guns or cybergear. MONKEYS!!!

I love monkeys.

Yep, sure do. Monkeys and apes. Gibbons, chimps, orangutans, colobus, any and all. And Pulp City has some incredible examples.

Yep, I love me some monkeys.

MONKEYS!!!!

I can't wait to receive them.