I'm a Kickstarter junkie.

I've really got to get it under control. Shiny, shiny! I want to support ALL the great miniature company Kickstarter and Indiegogo projects I see going on right now. But I'm not made of money. On the contrary, I'm made of old receipts, ticket stubs and dust.

I showed the unboxing for Zombicide, which was the first Kickstarter I got behind in a big way, but not the first one I contributed to. I first kicked in support for It Came From Beyond the Still, also known as Aliens vs. Hillbillies. I'll show some of my models for that later on,

What I want to share with you today is the result of what support I could put behind a project from Impact, called Little Urban Achievers. My rewards arrived today, and they look fantastic. The goal of this project was to produce minis with the look of the cast of a certain film involving bowling, carpet, and a Dude who Abides. I didn't have much spare cash as the funding period wrapped up, but I did have about $20, so I scored three figures from the initial run. I chose El Duderino, The Vet(eran) and Chino. Impact already had the Valkyrie figure available, so I figured I could grab her any time.

Chino, El Duderino and The Vet(eran)

 I plan on using them for my zombie table. Once I have a zombie table. Oh, I've got plans, but no table yet. Soon, oh my brothers and my sisters, we will viddy well a real horrorshow table for my zombie kriegspielen. Yes we will.

What you see behind the figures (and underneath them) was my other acquisition today, the limited edition strategy guide for Capcom's Resident Evil 6. I'm getting the game for Christmas, but I'm a patch collector, so I wasn't going to let these get away from me. I already had one of the BSAA patches you see behind Chino there, since it was included with the limited edition copies of the Resident Evil 5 game. But the other two are new. When I say I collect patches, let me be more specific. I collect patches of fictional groups or organizations and imaginary events. I have the patches for some of the Clans from Battletech, the factions in

Warmachine and Hordes from Privateer Press, one from the Miskatonic University 1930-1931 Antarctic Expedition detailed in Lovecraft's "At the Mountains of Madness," by Propnomicon, who is a propmaking mastermind and artisan without equal, the Ishimura Planet-Cracker patch from the original Dead Space video game, several more. I haven't added any of patches for units from the Infinity game yet, but I'm sure I'll get some in time as I get more into that game. I read "Campaign: Paradiso" over my vacation and really enjoyed it. The writing was top-notch, the production values are off the chain, and the painting and art are breathtaking. Love, love, love it.

Enough rambling. So here's the other two patches, along with the BSAA one:

One cool thing of which I was unaware was that the strategy guide's cover is the box art for the Japanese release of the game. The U.S. edition just has that funky giraffe-looking weblike No. 6 on it.

Has me all excited! I hope all my friends and readers in the States enjoy their Thanksgiving, however they get to spend it. And I hope all my readers and friends elsewhere enjoy the next few days as well. I've got to come into work on the infamous "Black Friday" this year, but I'm actually off on Thanksgiving Day, which hasn't happened in a while. Not sure yet what Tracey and I are doing.

Check back in a few days and I'll give you a rundown of the kickstarter and indiegogo projects I am backing and the ones I wish I was backing.

Oh, and I think I disabled the Captcha on the comments, at least I tried to, but who knows?!? Somebody try it and tell me how it goes. I really want people to feel free to comment, and I'd rather spend my time deleting spam than hearing only the sound of crickets because I've made it difficult.

Thanks, everybody, for stopping by and spending this bit of time with me. You, my friends, and this hobby we share (these hobbies, more like, for which of us is ONLY a wargamer) are some of the things for which I am truly thankful this year.

Cheers!

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.

Another worthy pursuit

The amount of news surrounding gamers doing good is almost overwhelming these days!

It snuck up on me, but apparently it's time for the 4th SemiAnnual Frothers Charity Thingy. This charity effort rewards your donation to one of two charities (or to both!) with a fantastic mini, this time a sculpt by Hasslefree's Kev White of Judge Minty (with whom I was unfamiliar until today, although I've long been a MegHead). (Is that a term for fans of Judge Dredd? If not, it ought to be.)

There are lots of places on the Interwebz where you can find the details now, like Frothers itself, the Lead Adventure Forum, and others.

Here's a link to the Facebook page, which is where I ran across the effort, that has all the details on how to donate and where to send your information. The amount you donate is up to you, but it will certainly be put to good use. I'm glad I was able to get in on this effort this year! So go check it out, why don'cha?

FB page for The 4th SemiAnnual Frothers Charity Thingy

A worthwhile endeavor

Please check out the following. So many of us have lost loved ones to cancer, and this fundraiser that Hendybadger is running has so many ways we all can participate and help.

Paint the City Pink

I fully intend to paint at least a couple of minis for this, if not more. I'm just so notoriously slow that I don't want to overpromise and underdeliver.

Thanks for your time and attention.

They made it!

Effigy's kickstarter reached their funding level, plus a couple hundred dollars! Great going, Tom, and thanks to all my fellow backers who helped this happen. To answer any nascent questions readers may have, I am in no way connected to Effigy Miniatures other than as an enthusiastic fan. My rabid touting of their Havoc Protocol project has been purely out of my own self interest, because I really wanted those Founder figures to join my household in February.

Down to the wire for Effigy's Kickstarter

There's less than two hours left in Effigy Miniature's kickstarter for their Havoc Protocol miniature line. While the line is an anime-influenced set of both male and female sci-fi troopers, there are other add-ons available, like their earlier specialists and the aristocratic civilians called the Founders. That's what I'm in it for. Here's the concept art for the Founders, by Aaron Minier.

The line is around $225 from its funding goal. If you're interested at all, now is the time to make sure Effigy can bring this great line to fruition! Thanks for taking the time to read this and take a look at Effigy's great effort.

Effigy's Havoc Protocol Kickstarter ends in a few days

As I write this, there are about 70 hours to go in Effigy's Kickstarter for their Havoc Protocol science fiction minis.

I bought their three specialist minis a while back and absolutely love them, so I'd really like to see the rest of these get made.

Effigy is about $800 from its funding goal. So if you like clean, strong sci-fi combat and civilian minis that have an anime edge but steer clear of the strong distortion you sometimes see in anime designs, these are for you.

Effigy's Havoc Protocol Kickstarter