Life Work The Universe...... For You Christmas ist Verboten!!

.
The Xmas Silly Season is well underway! Workplace Christmas parties ahoy on every point of the compass - usually these days hosted at some organised "Bring a Drunk To A Party" event taking over hotel function rooms in a city near you - a sea of little black cocktail dresses, cloperty high heels, fake tan and glitter! All on a dancefloor the size of a pocket handkerchief.

Just as well, following announcements of additional job losses, plus the unexpected death of a colleague last week, we were instructed on Friday that under no circumstances were we to hold Christmas parties or celebrations in our offices, -6 on your Morale roll!

This scurvy pirate spent Friday night in the city partying with shipmates from various parts of the organisation till the early early hours. The flotsam of events of the past 6 weeks being washed away on a tsunami of Stella, Bloody Mary and Margerita!

Spent the night, or rather what was left of it in a 'posh' new hotel attached to a new shopping and entertainment complex in the city centre. This complete break from routine doing as much good for my NLP as the partying.

Saturday morning was surreal. The entrance to the hotel is on the first level of the complex and it was like stepping out into a scene from Mass Effect! Yo Sushi's neon signage cementing the Sci Fi feel. Breakfast was a latte at Costa, where I ran into Jacqui.

The train home rattled across a countryside settled in a deep frost, golden rays of sunshine glinting off a steel grey sea. When we turned inland the frost became heavier and at the entrance to my valley the breath of the Fire Dragon hung low and menacing like a living entity at the base of the hills.

Images of fantastical Dark Age armies, the Wolf Kings and Crow Lords ploughed through my head as we moved over an ancient rural landscape where lairds, kinship and tradition are still important. OK, OK, it's a sign - I MUST indulge in 'Dark Age' fantasy gaming next year. The Valley of the Fire Dragon WILL come to life on the tabletop using Age of Might and Steel! Which I haven't been able to get out of my head all week.....


Mark
.

The Lardy Xmas Special......Breaching atmosphere.

ETA for the Too Fat Lardies 2009 Xmas Special is just hours away and this year it includes a Sci Fi supplement for their innovative and fun IABSM (I Ain't Been Shot Mum) company sized WW2 rules called Get Your Flipping Tentacle Out Of My Face, or GYFTOOMF .

If you are not already a Lardy convert then take a look at the excellent review of IABSM by Leif Eriksson click here, and catch some inspirational IASBM games in action at Kev's webpage www.Fat-Wally.com.

DO YOU WANT TO KNOW MORE?

Course, you do. To play GYFTOOMF you are going to need a copy of IABSM. The rules themselves are light on both tech and the type of Sci Fi weapons a hard nosed Sci Fi gamer like myself and the Master Chef would demand, but they are deliberately designed to be a vehicle into which you can easily incorporate your own Sci Fi ideas into IABSM.

If you are into IABSM already or it's a regular down the club, GYFTOOMF provides a good crossover to introduce Sci Fi gaming with familiar systems.

Tthe best part of this supplement has to be the Example Force Lists and Scenario. Here you will find coherent army organisations for Zombiesmith Aphids, Khurasan Garn, Karkarines, plus Spriggan Miniatures' Spugs. Rob has managed to breathe life into these alien forces and create not just believeable forces but races you want to become your primary Sci Fi armies on the tabletop.

Finally, the scenario called Squash The Spugs pits Aphids vs Spugs on planet K’Ash Meer 6. Am looking forward to playing this one!

Once published on 11th December, the 2009 Xmas Special is available from:

WWW.TOOFATLARDIES.CO.UK

Cheers
Mark
.

Jungle Patrol for £4!

.

Dropped into a toyshop on way to the station this evening
and picked up these diecast hovercraft for just £1 each!

I a bought a patrol, ready to roll on the table for £4.00!

Wouldn't be too hard to give the windows armour protection and repaint them as required for different theatres/planets, perhaps with a grey-black-white scheme for artic/ice planet operations. Or blue-black-grey for a waterworld.

Cheers
Mark
.

15mm Space Trooper Jet Bikes from THE SCENE

.
Mike at The Scene has released a new pack of Space Trooper Jet Bikes today:

The Scene 15mm Sci Fi
16- STJBB: 3x Jet Bike Bombers for £3.50

The Jet Bike Bombers are armed with a laser cannon and 2 light bombs. Whilst ostensibly labelled as Space Troopers - the helmets worn by the bikers are non-canon and so could potentially mean these jet bikes can be utilised with any human/humanoid/Covenant Sci Fi force.

Available now from:

WWW.THESCENEUK.COM

Cheers
Mark
.

Eureka Sci Fi Germans - Support Weapon Choices?

.
My mate Eli of I See Lead People fame has received an email from Nic at Eureka regarding plans to extend Eureka's current pack of Sci Fi WW2 Germans with heavy weapons.

Eli has posed a topic on TMP here:

"New Heavy Weapon Troopers for Eureka Sci Fi WW2 Germans"

Nic is wondering what suggestions potential customers have for up to four heavy weapons, before the final decision is made and figures sculpted.

Eli himself suggests:

1) Panzerfausts armed troops.

2) Flamethrower.

3) Heavy anti-material/sniper rifle with scope.

4) "Death Ray"

Me? I think they'll be too vanilla for my Weird World War 2 tastes. But, a big F.O. retro flamethrower and a multi-headed or multi-exhaust Panzerfaust would be fine.

Pop over to TMP and have your say!

Cheers
Mark
.

Life Work The Universe...... I Am Spartacus and so's my WiFi

.

I am Spartacus!

Well Nicole, seen here on the cover of GQ, you could be couldn't you!

As a lay student of the human condition my workplace is a fascinating classroom at the moment. Actual work has all but ground to a standstill as we are nailed to the cross of redundancy one by one along the Appian Way of 'efficiency savings'. Everyone is struggling to come to terms with this. There is no "I AM Spartacus", daggers are out behind backs - it's survival of the bitchiest.

So, there was a welcome light-hearted moment today when my colleagues decided I was a GQ kind of guy, to which with a smile I openly admitted that yes, I did use to read the mag - but just for the articles you understand!

I enjoyed the regular column written by Alexis Sayle, zany neo-marxist comic turned novelist. There was one particularly piece that tugged at my funny-bone about him being called up to do National Service in the Albanian Army or similar whilst he was on holiday there - and from that my own imagi-nation of Slobenia was born.

Of course there were wry comments all round about my admission, but a scan of the other desks reveal a litter of STUFF, WHAT CAR, D-SLR MONTHLY and similar well-thumbed titles. So I'm happy being a GQ kind of guy.

Cheers
Mark
.