Crisis part 1: Planning
When it came to shopping, the plan was short, I haven't had that "I need to buy..." or "OOOH, shiny" feeling for quite a while (if you ignore any of the Mantic Kickstarter campaigns, but that's another story). Ever since last year's Crisis, figure buying has been at an all time low, while in the few periods I got behind the painting desk, I kept pretty focussed on my 15mm Russian WWII force. So before the show, I came up with this little list:
- The Event/Gadget card decks for 7ombieTV and 7TV from Crooked Dice
- Maybe some of their Blake's 7 figures, for old time's sake
- The "Fall of the Reich" expansion for Battlegroup Kursk
- Terrain items (pretty general)
Crisis part 2: Plans vs Reality
Were my memories of last year's show a bit on the bright side? It seemed to me that last weekend the (same) venue was a lot more cramped than last year. More traders? More visitors? I don't know but I remembered more open space last year. Whatever the reason, it is still waaaaaay better than the previous location. And with the parking lot not being claimed by that Freestyle snowboard championship ramp like last year, getting rid of the car was a lot easier. To get an idea what the show looked like, go here.
So what did I drag away at the end of the day???
- The Crooked Dice card decks (no figures though)
- "Fall of the Reich" and the mini rulebook
- Terrain items: a 4Ground pair of ruined shops in 15mm, in 28mm a MicroArts three story SF building with interior wall set, and a fantasy/dark age building at the bring and buy (cost me a whole two euros) and a small buggy from Ainsty Castings (with literally the last pieces of change in my pocket)
Sounds good so far, now we get to the other stuff:
- "Of Gods and Monsters" rulebook
- The free figure given away at the door
- A free sprue of 2 Mantic Elf scouts
- A Zvezda KV-2
- After many years of resisting temptation, a box of Perry Miniatures Napoleonic Russians
- A pair of Foundry paint sets for those Russians
- Oh, and some laser cut casualty dials, nearly forgot those :-)
Crisis part 3: Aftermath, and beyond
Less than 72 hours later, both MDF buildings have been constructed, as is the KV-2. After opening the age old packaging of the bring and buy find, I discovered that the pieces were all severely bent ouf ot shape. They must have been stored somewhere pretty warm for a long time. But after a day or two on top of the radiator and with some weight piled on thay have now reverted to their original shape. And the Russians are now in my desk at work as my coffee break mold line removal project.
And where do I go from here? Continue working on those 15mm Russians for FoW, Bolt Action and Battlegroup Kursk... Start a new warband for Songs of Blades and Heroes using my Mantic Undead/general baddies that I got as part of the Kings of War kickstarter. Finish the assorted odds and ends that have been lingering on my painting desk for ages.
Wait for the unevitable thud of the Deadzone box to arrive next month. Yes, yet another Mantic kickstarter I couldn't resist...
Keep watching this space... You never know, I might be back with more... one day...
Happy gaming and painting everyone!
