Eyes front, mister

Today I got an email to one of my online accounts that someone had left a comment on my blog.

Only not this one. This was on a blog I had back in the heyday of Livejournal. (I used to have a Myspace page as well. Good Lord!) It was a response to a post I wrote about the alleged "War on Christmas" that has been waged, apparently, ever since, well, Christmas. I wrote that piece back in 2005 and had no idea it was even accessible anymore. Here's the link, if anyone wants to check it out.

My "holiday" musings

I used to write a lot of stuff like that, slightly political, embarrassingly personal. Loads of fun.

I am much happier doing this, sharing my interests and my passions and sharing, usually to those of you who are my friends on Facebook, the real events that impact my life, normally dealing with Tracey's and my health challenges. Thank you all for your support, attention, and prayers during the tough times we've had during 2012.

Oh, and I passed a milestone the other day. Or was that a kidney stone? Actually, this blog passed a milestone, not a huge one, but one I'm proud of and didn't think I'd hit so soon. Sometime around Dec. 8th or so, Dispatches from the Rim passed 5,000 pageviews. Too cool!

I couldn't have imagined back on July 8 of this year that so many people would've looked at my writing here. Thanks, everybody, for the time and attention you've given my corner of the Interwebs. I promise it's just going to get better from here. More posts, more pictures, and some actual PAINTED miniatures -- newly painted by ME -- in the new year!

More soon. This is Christopher Sheets, over and out from the closing minutes of 2012 and looking forward to sharing 2013 with you, all my amazing, talented friends.

Last few hours for Zombie Plague kickstarter

Everybody loves Zombie Plague, which has been around as a free downloadable game for a number of years. Now Brian Roe (Roebeast) has incorparated the game into a double sized comic book and created minis for both the survivors and the zombies. There's about 5 hours left, and he's only a few hundred dollars away from reaching his final stretch goal, which is scenic bases for all the minis. For a $50 pledge, you get the four survivors and the stretch goal zombie minis, the comic with game rules inside, and there are great add-ons to choose as well. C'mon people!

My wife surprised me with this. I'm quite fond of it. Oppa!

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

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.