Thanks for the feedback!

I'm so glad that followers contacted me if I'd messed up or missed their blogs in the previous post. Those that I missed have been added. What's embarrassing is that I was following almost all of them, but I just couldn't connect certain avatars or usernames to those blogs. And Blogger doesn't always make it easy, not giving you the information you think it should.

We're up to speed now, though, and I also get to welcome my newest follower, pulpcitizen of Pulp Citizen. This supers-centered blog focuses on the game Pulp City and is filled with good hobby content that's applicable across a wide range of genres and to a variety of pursuits.

So we begin the chant, "Gooble-gabble, gooble-gabble, one of us, one of us!"

Welcome, pulpcitizen. Enjoy!

Empire of the Dead vampires

My wife has decided to field a vampire warband with a female Graefin for Empire of the Dead. While she hasn't worked out the stats yet, I did write up a little fluff for her, in the same manner I did for my Army of the Abandoned.

Francesca Annalyssa Alford Stonavorja Diamanté Delamere (a name for each husband she survived) holds no illusions about what she has become. Seductive, beautiful, stylish and at the height of fashion she may be, but the undead Lady in Red knows she is a scrap of velvet and a twist of flesh wrapped around a neverending hunger.

While she has gathered around her the thralls and servants typical of a powerful vampire, Delamere does not play the courtly political games of the other Lords of the Night. Her coterie are a means to an end, an aid to her hunting and, in an emergency, food.

When Delamere and her followers are seen beyond the grounds of the dilapidated mansion they inhabit, all others had best flee before them. They are fast and aggressive, flushing their prey from its hidey holes and running it to ground.

They then devour their victims in the field, heedless of watchers or witnesses. If sustenance is plentiful, Delamere may truss or captivate survivors and remove them to stock her living larder. Her whole band will then melt into darkness, leaving drained corpses and body parts littering the battlefield.

Real life has kept me from much hobby activity, even painting up minis for Hendybadger's Paint the City Pink charity effort, but maybe I can bid once the auctions start and help that way.

"Super J" lands at my house

I stopped by the P.O. box Friday, and I was greeted by a tiny, wonderful visitor. Brain Cottrell produced these "Super J" minis in honor of his son, Jason. You can read my earlier post about it here, and Brian, whom many of us know as WeirdWWII, tells the story here on the Lead Adventure Forum. The proceeds from sales of the mini are going directly to the Friedreich's Ataxia Research Alliance.

Brian said the first batch sold out in a matter of hours, but he is expecting another shipment shortly.

Like many, I was glad to help out and delighted to receive such a mini. Every time it graces my table I'll think of Jason, and of other children who could use some help as they soldier on against the heavy burdens life has placed on them. The warmth it engenders in me will, I'm sure, push me to make other donations later. Thank you, Brian, both for letting us share in helping out your son, and for helping me be a better person by sharing of what I have, now and in the future.

One thing I wasn't prepared for, though, is the size of this figure. I know Brian said he was 18mm high, but I certainly didn't look on a ruler. He'll scale right in with my 25-28mm minis, but seeing him IRL is a shock. The excellent paint job by Simon of Stone Cold Lead must have been done with a scanning electron microscope. Super J is so (to use a good Southern word) tee-ninsy!

(That's a long i in the second part of the word, by the way, for those of you unfamiliar with Southern dialect. Watch "Here Comes Honey Boo Boo." They play up, exaggerate and exploit that family plenty, but those ARE authentic (mid)south Georgia accents. Even I need the subtitles sometimes.)

Here's my copy of the mini:

"Super J" mini from Brian Cottrell, sold as a fundraiser for the Friedreich's
 Ataxia Research Alliance. (Sorry it's a little blurry. Still learning
 to use this camera phone. And yes, my desk is always that dirty.) 

And here is he up against a U.S. penny.

That penny is sitting on his base with him and is tilted
 back slightly to rest against the keyboard base.

I doff my invisible cap to all those involved, and I hope Brian and his family raise a great deal of money for the charity through their efforts. I am eager to get Super J and his ever-present pal Snakey fighting the menaces in my own particular Neighborhood of Make-Believe.

Coming up soon: More Empire of the Dead ideas. I actually wrote a few paragraphs of background for a new warband I plan to field using the Lycaon rules. My wife has decided to go for Vampires (as if there was any doubt. My wife is an evil mastermind.)

Weird WWII: "SUPER J" Charity Miniature

Brian, whom I know from the Lead Adventure Forum, has crafted a mini honoring his son Jason. In real life, Jason faces plenty of challenges and a bleak prognosis from Friedreich's Ataxia, and the proceeds from sales of this mini are going to research into the genetic disease.

I'll let Brian tell his own story, but suffice it to say in my dealings with him, he's proven to be one of the jewels of the wargaming community -- a true talent and a hell of a stand-up guy. That his efforts here are about providing hope not only for Jason but also for others who suffer from this currently incurable disease show you how big his heart is.

Brian is behind the excellent WWII-era Cap and Bucky minis you've seen floating around, and he's just done a Princess Diana of Themyscira that I'm eager to get into my mountain of unpainted lead.

The "Super J" unpainted mini is $10 with free shipping, and the proceeds go directly to the Friedreich's Ataxia Research Alliance.

Brian, my best to you and your family! Here's a link to Brian's post from his own blog:

Weird WWII: "SUPER J" Charity Miniature: This gaming mini was made in the image of our son Jason and his sidekick, Snakie.  Jason was born with a rare genetic disease called ...

Follow-up question

OK everybody who read the description of my character Farraday Kage's powers, I have a question for you.

What miniature do you think I should use to represent F.K. On the tabletop?

Keep in mind that he's not your typical spandex-clad super. So we're talking contemporary male, youngish (late teens to late 20s, I'd say), wielding energy-based powers (both negation and projection).

Any suggestions?

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.

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)!