Phew, okay—I’ve mostly recovered from Salute. This year was definitely one of the more exciting ones, and I actually was there for the vast majority of the show, which is unusual for me. Again, I want to thank Brad Sanders for inviting me down, introducing me to folks as an expert hype man, and giving me a chance to chat about all things Ultramodern. I also managed to chat to a good few people, which is always a plus as someone who has struggled to make time for the weekly club – sometimes wargamers just need a good natter.

Like every show, I get a good hobby motivation hit once I return to The North. I’ve already pulled a few figures off the “to-be-painted” pile and got them on the desk, as well as getting the filament printer refilled with material and back to work printing out a MENA battlespace courtesy of Urban Scatter Gaming.

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However, this year’s trip (and the two separate car journeys enjoying the delights of the A1) also had me thinking a lot about ChargeBlog. The blog has now been running for 10+ years, and like anything that’s lasted that long, it’s survived by changing and adapting as the years go on. From the Ultramodern Comparison Guide that is probably why most of the readers are here, to multiple posts a week back in the day (God’s I was strong), to Wargaming Weekly to the quiet times of 2020/2021 and then the return with The News Stand, the site has kept going by shifting to what is the best way to show my interests.

With us now having lasted over 10 years, it’s time to think about what it is I really enjoy in the hobby. From some introspection, I’ve worked out the three pillars of ChargeBlog, the three elements that make up what this blog provides:

Personal Hobby

The reason the blog has lasted so long is that it changes based on what I’m interested in. Projects like The Old World or BattleTech or Fantasy Skirmish are the sort of stuff I do because it’s what is currently interesting me, or because it’s what myself and the Regular Opponents are currently getting up to. This is (and should be) the most common category of post on the blog, forming the bulk of my writing – ChargeBlog’s tagline is literally “My Adventures in Wargaming” after all.

This concept isn’t going to change – forcing myself to just do stuff that I think will be popular but I don’t want to do is the fastest way to find myself wishing for death and the blog coming to an end. What is going to change is how much I manage to do – the aim is to push for more hobby time each week to keep a steady drip of SITREP and PAINT-REP posts.

Development Projects

This is a bit of a catch-all for anything longer-term, be that lore writing for ChargeReal, development of my own game Project Elements, or my attempts to learn 3D sculpting to bring the figures I’ve been scribbling about from idea documents to printable objects. Development projects are the long-term goals of the blog, letting me flex my creative muscles and open up potential new avenues for myself.

The problem with this is that every one of them takes a chunk of time. Even writing, something I’m reasonably skilled at, takes time to make it right, with each piece requiring iteration after iteration. The other side is that there is a lot of skill growth in this section – it’s taking time to learn graphics design for the writing, games need hours of testing, and it takes even more time for sculpting. I can’t promise that Development Projects are an ever-giving font of content – some weeks I can dedicate multiple evenings to it, sometimes I’ll be lucky if I get more than a couple of hours. Stuff moves slowly, especially as I’m working across several projects at once.

Ultramodern News and Thoughts

At the moment, “The News Stand” is a unique piece on the blog. It doesn’t fit into either of the other pillars I’ve mentioned previously – it’s neither my own personal hobby nor is it me building something for myself. And yet, it is the most successful post series on the blog, both in terms of views and comments I’ve had in person and when talking to people at events like Salute. It is also something I very much enjoy doing, capturing the state of the current industry as it grows and changes, as we see new tech and concepts enter this niche of a niche.

As well as continuing the News Stand (we’re at issue 81, that series is AT LEAST getting to 150 before I reconsider its existence), my other plan is to expand posts that take a deeper look. I’m probably not going back to doing tons of reviews (my days of aiming to buy everything coming out don’t quite make sense as someone trying to slim down how much stuff I have lying around) but there is definitely a space to look at what’s coming out with a more critical but constructive eye. If you can capture what something does well, then you can illustrate the useful elements within it to someone, while being productive around what it does poorly or could be improved.

In my drafts, I’ve got the start of several series that will cover some topics around figures, range constructions and ruleset requirements. This is, much like the article from earlier this year about hobby time, capturing the thoughts that bounce around my head regarding the stuff I’ve been keeping an eye on. These articles are usually just an excuse to get people thinking about what they actually want from their hobby as well as providing tools to better articulate those wants when discussing. It would be better if we could, as a hobby, be better at how we discuss rulesets and figures, mostly to try and avoid suggesting stuff to newcomers that doesn’t match to what they have requested. If this sounds familiar, then yes, I’d like to fill the gap that The Great Big Modern Wargaming Rules Comparison once filled but on a larger scale and across multiple elements of the hobby.

I’d also like to offer the knowledge I’ve gained from staring at these tiny men and rules for over 10 years out to other people. I don’t want to start trying to wear the analyst hat but having spent a chunk of time on this niche of a niche, you start to see what works, what doesn’t and what can be done to improve. I’m not going to hunt down people and randomly offer them my opinions (there is too much I haven’t had experience of to be kicking in the doors and shouting at people) but if people want to chat about the Ultramodern market, it’s something I love to do. You can either message me on Facebook or drop me an email via the link in the top bar.

Something else that needs to be mentioned is the Patreon. It’s going reasonably well! At the moment, I’m happy to say that it covers my monthly website hosting costs and my more regular Patreon outgoings. It would be great to get a little growth (and add a bit more to the hobby funds) and so for that reason, I need to work out better perks for the patrons at various levels, to make it a more attractive proposition. I’d love to get over 50 patrons and get the cash incoming to a stage where it’s slowly building up rather than disappearing off to keep Combat Octopus’s files appearing on my hard drive ready for projects. I think many of my analysis posts will start off available only to the higher-tier patrons, before unlocking a little bit later. My eternal problem is wanting to make sure people actually read my writing versus the need to charge an amount for it.

With all this in mind, here is what’s going on in the near terms:

1. Rebranding – the blog is looking old and creaky, with a theme that looks aggressively “okay” on mobile – luckily I’ve already got a theme planned out, I just need to assemble the pages using the WordPress Block Editor. The same goes for the various header images for the blog, patreon and socials – they need an update overall
2. Back-end fixes: there are a few bits of optimisations to the blog I need to do on the tech side. Some of you may have seen issues with the featured image in the last few posts, and I think this is due to the type of database guff that builds up when you run them for 10 years. There will be some more tweaks, all with the aim of keeping the site up to date.
3. Clear up my desk: I have several sets of figures on my desk that are either painted and waiting for a PAINT-REP or are a few coats away from being done

However, from now on, you’re going to be seeing more posts. I picked up several rulesets at Salute, as well as several pieces that have been lying around. I’ve got a pile of stuff in progress and quite frankly, I need to get back to playing games and writing up those battle reports. My intention is that by the time we get to Salute next year, I’ll be able to write up another planning post for the next year and talk about what actually went well. But for now, I’m looking forward to what I do with ChargeBlog next.

Currently, my hobby area is a complete mess. There are piles of assembled and undercoated models waiting for painting as well as several sets waiting to be finished. There are several sets still in box and sprues lying everywhere. Printed buildings, some undercoated, some bare plastic, are littering the shelves and floors. All three printers are sitting quiet, waiting for a new project to launch. In multiple boxes scattered around the house, partially painted armies stand waiting for the sudden rush before some future event to get them ready. And perhaps most concerningly, my own custom wargaming setting, along with a few other written projects some of which are almost ready to move to the next stage, but just haven’t quite got there.

To put it mildly, this year hasn’t been that great for me. I mentioned last year feeling empty by the end of it and that feeling has got worse, worse in a way that (if I’m honest) I’ve been slowly going down all the way back to 2019. Lots of stuff that I’ve been excited about in both my professional life and my hobby life is just not hitting the same with motivation in the toilet to do anything productive or even ducking out of social events such as going to play games because I just don’t have the energy for it. These symptoms point towards a certain mental health condition – not one I feel confident self-diagnosing, but it does feel like something needs to be changed to help myself feel better and healthier, and return to the level of focus I used to have. This year has felt like it’s been a year of decay and a year like this can not happen again.

That said, it’s not all bad – I did actually manage to get a few things done this year:

January saw the end of one thing, but there was also a massive escalation in what I could do with my hobby. My Neptune 4 Pro finally got online and started churning out items all ready for the tabletop, such as the Hexengarde buildings. It also saw me giving Warcry a try with a few of my friends. It hasn’t stuck as much as maybe I would have liked, but it was still a fun diversion.

February saw The Great Swan game run over at York (the scenario I set up using What a Tanker) as well as a first dive into What a Cowboy in its operator form. It was also the month I started playing around with increasing the scale of all my figures, digging in first with some prototypes for the Shyluz infantry using Combat Octopus’s parts.

March saw a few more games of What An Operator, getting some dice rolling on the table. It also saw some more fun with FDM printer, including my first board where all the structures were printed by me (in the form of the Russian houses from Patrick Miniatures). I also started playing around with Bobmack3d Hind, starting to look into emerging resin and FDM printing.

April had me learning to use Blender, taking something (as simple as it is) from an initial plan to something physical in my hand. It was also the start of The Old World project as I took a trip up to Darlington to begin rolling dice and move trays of figures around. I also started the refresh of my collection, scaling up the latest Spectre releases to 110% to match with more recent releases such as BPRE.

May saw another step in the Old World journey, as I started rebasing my collection and then took them out to the battlefield against the Creative Regular Opponent. There was also a minor blip – the Saturn went down for a month or two and I only got it back up and running in May after replacing the lamp unit.

In June I managed to evolve my building plan with the first version of a multi-segment build (letting you play with half-height walls, full walls or fully enclosed buildings) that I need to get back to. I also started a campaign of Undaunted with my Corporate Regular Opponent, before painting up some of Black Site Studio’s figures from Breacher.

July was very much a hobby in-progress month – It saw me printing a lot of the Modern Miniatures vehicles, beginning the process of selling off my MDF collection and finally bringing my block of 30 chaos warriors up to full size.

August was mostly a summer break, but the hobby train didn’t stop. I added the entire collection of Old World books to my collection, and I got a chance to play my first full game against the Dastardly Regular Opponent. I also started printing a Necromunda board, something I’ve wanted for years.

September saw my hobby space get a few upgrades with peg boards on the walls to save me using stacks of MDF for all my paint and tools, I got started on my Spyrer gang but most importantly – we ran a full day of Old World, getting in a good set of games and bringing the group together.

October saw the start of a downturn in productivity, with no games played and only two figures painted. However, I did start printing out some terrain elements, with the rough idea for games in the future.

November was similar with very little finished. But I did manage to get out and play games with the Dastardly Regular Opponent, as well as getting a few things printed out such as the Rangers from Combat Octopus and the two small houses from Patrick Miniatures.

December is still ongoing but as you can probably see from lack of weekly updates, it has not been the best. But despite this, I still love wargaming. I spend so much time thinking and writing about it, planning models, preparing prints, and beginning painting but then nothing crosses the finishing line. What has to happen now is a refocusing on why I hobby and how I want to spend my time, all in favour of getting it across the line and written about. The focus for me has always been about the playing side and it’s to that I must return. I’m already thinking about how I can put this into action, with a few key areas I’m already looking at improving:

1. Reduce Collection.
2. Prepare for Tabletop Action.
3. Play More Games, Play More Often.

In admin news, I’ll be pausing the weekly articles (The Week In ChargeBlog and The News Stand) until the new year after Monday’s release. They will be coming back, although I plan to adjust how they are written in order to help fix my schedule around them. Over the Christmas break, I’ve got a few things planned (although sadly it seems my usual games will be taking place in the New Year as we’re all busy) and I’ll be planning to write SITREPs on the stuff I get up to.

Well, it’s been a while since I’ve properly sat down and talked about the hobby desk huh?

The fact of the matter is that I’ve been busy. Not even hobby project busy, just life busy. There is always stuff on the house to do, as well as work and life getting in the way. There is of course also another giant piece of work that’s really been taking up my time (and filling in the gaps in the posting).

Yeah, it’s Gunslinger.

Okay, I’ve talked about it a lot. Like I say, it’s taken up a lot of my time recently (and probably explains why I haven’t been writing the weekly Secret Notes I’ve promised the patrons). On the other hand, it’s a unique opportunity that I wouldn’t be able to get anywhere else without either dropping tons of money to commission a sculptor (and it would be expensive to get someone as skilled/experienced as Anton) or try and learn it myself (which would take years of practical learning to get anywhere close and cut even further into my hobby time). These two options are just not practical, so I’m fortunate that someone decided it was worth letting me come on board to write a load of documents and send 2am suggestions/modifications to his sculpting.

At the moment Gunslinger is both incredibly full on in my mind and timewise. With it being early days, I’m spending a lot of time spinning up the planning side (what in the day job we call production) – what ranges are going to come out and when, how many figures a month we can do depending on the packs we’re releasing and checking the community to see the sort of things they are asking for. Plotting out what releases come out when feels a little bit of a game – we want the first year to really lay out the stall of what Gunslinger is going to provide, so picking the right themes to show off what we can do is vital. There is also an element of making sure what I’m planning is something we can hit – Flytrap isn’t just running Gunslinger, there are several other irons in the fire so making sure I’m not going to be putting the sculptor in a bind is a key one for me to think about. That doesn’t stop him from adding in extra little things when he feels like it! All this said though, I think we’ve managed to work out rough themes all the way through to December 2024, with a selection of theatres and gear to provide a wide selection.

The other side then comes into building the lore of Gunslinger. For us, the lore is somewhere we can work to help the figures stand out a little bit in the market and give them a bit of character, a bit of inspiration for how players could use them. It’s also something I enjoy doing – I’m not going to say it’s a bit of me making myself happy, but lore writing and coming up with interesting concepts is something I really enjoy. That said, the lore is never going to be so overwhelming it becomes the whole job – at the end of the day, Gunslinger figures are designed to be usable in both the present day and our setting, which acts as a nice grounding tool.

You probably won’t see it in the final products (because Anton is a stone-cold professional), but August’s releases (that came out earlier this week) have definitely been a learning experience for us, not helped by some real-world stuff that got in the way. For me, it’s the first month where I’ve been the one picking the layout of the packs and their gear before supplying the references and suggestions of poses to Anton, and as you’d expect there have been a few things to learn. I am very glad we’re both keen to keep the comms up and adjust what needs to be adjusted, so hopefully as the months go on this process gets better and better so we can avoid any little stumbling blocks along the way

You may also be shocked to hear that I’m really excited about the figures we’ve released so far. And not just for getting them on the board in 28mm – as you can see above, I’m experimenting with printing the figures at 54mm, just to show off and see all the details you can get. It’s also a chance to push my skillset forward, giving me time to paint larger models (as practise before I hit the Greater Demon waiting in my figure cases) as well as hopefully being some decorations I can leave on my desk at work without being too worried if they get damaged or go missing.

Now I just have to find some time to get the paint on them…

The second part worth talking about is the news or maybe just the blog as a whole. For a good month or so I was hammering out news posts every few days as stuff was revealed by the various companies, with Spectre and ESS giving me basically weekly updates to keep the views trickling in. I also got to speak my mind on a few things, one of which got more of a response than I expected.

There are now two problems that stop me from writing so much news. For one, having a foot in the pool with Gunslinger does cause some issues when it comes to taking a look at other people in the space. Within my own ethics, the moment I started having a hand in the game was the moment that I stopped being able to talk openly about issues I have with what are now my competitors – the figures Gunslinger makes need to speak for themselves (and I’m confident as we grow the range they will do that louder and louder).

The other is that news writing takes time. Each post requires gathering the basic information, reading it, understanding it and turning it into a blog post that is vaguely readable (along with grabbing all the graphics for it). I like to think I’m reasonable at this process having been doing some more for almost 10 years at this point but even I can end up spending way too long on each post which has a knock-on effect to the rest of the hobby world

But there is a flipside – I’m still keeping an eye on what’s going on (both for my own interests and as market research for what we’re doing with Gunslinger). As part of this, I think this is a space I can do that keeps the blog from being overwhelmed with news stories and still lets me get the word out. So, I’m moving to a once-a-week news post, probably on Saturdays, focusing on just delivering a consistent collection of the goings-on in the Ultramodern space.

Something else that has been taking away from my hobby time is the house.

No wait, come back!

It’s taken far too long for me to actually get stuff into my main display cabinet that sits in my lounge (along with another one just off to the left of the image). When I moved, these cases were filled with my unpainted figures to assist with the packing. This then meant I had to unpack and shuffle around their contents once I was setup, refilling my figure cases with things needing to be painted up and leaving the good stuff out on display.

One thing that’s come with sorting out these models is the realisation that I have way too many models. Lots of sets that I picked up back in that phase of needing to collect every release that companies released, without actually planning on how to use them. For this reason, I’m going to start clearing through my collection and selling off chunks of it, being quite aggressive with my cuts. This isn’t just for my Ultramoderns – I have a big box of space marines I’m never going to paint so they may as well get off the lead pile and into someone else’s hands.

Of course, the other advantage of clearing my figures up from the lounge is that I’ve got my dining table back. Ideal for running games on!

That’s it for now – I’ve got a project to finish off very quickly (alongside more gunslinger work) but I’m hoping to get paint on figures sometime soon, as well as getting into a better rhythm of using these figures in some form of tabletop game. Keep your eyes on the blog as I’m hoping to get some battles in soon.

I absolutely detest being ill.

Yes, I’m sure this concept is shocking to everyone, how daring to not enjoy being ill. But the main thing I hate is just the lack of ability actually to progress on the stuff I want to do. I have a small pile of things at the moment that need to be done as soon as possible and worse, things I was just getting momentum on.

Basically what happened was that on the Tuesday after Salute, I suddenly started feeling really off. After struggling through the day, I had an early night. For the rest of that week, I was basically KO’d with flu like symptoms. The following week I was still pretty rough and struggling to focus on anything more mentally involving than solo DMZ runs. I’m now back up and on my feet so luckily I’m over it all

So yeah, that’s my excuse for why I haven’t been doing much hobby stuff. Or posting here. Maybe it’s time to fix that.

First up, Patreon and the Secret Notes. I’m really happy people are still wanting to support this side project, even when it’s way too long between me doing stuff of actual length. As I’ve mentioned before, Patrons over at https://www.patreon.com/ChargeBlog actually get little weekly updates that go into more detail on things, as well as covering stuff that might not be technically wargaming exactly. A big chunk of the content from them will eventually end up being covered here but for a little look behind the scenes, come join the Patreon. Minimum support is only £1 a month and it helps me cover all the little bills for the hobby (such as sharing the love with other creators on Patreon that I get to then write about!).

Salute! Well apart from making me horribly ill, it was a pretty good time. I got to meet a few people I haven’t seen in age, discover that Paul at Empress is still reading my blog (mostly by saying my big post at the end of the year was wrong but hey, he still read it!) and wander around seeing things.

I do have a load of pictures which I’ve assembled into slideshow. This weekend I’m going to record some voice over and FINALLY get my coverage of the show up. Finally.

Necromunda has returned to this town.

My former housemate has decreed that his gaming group (which he slowly built up through recruiting friends at work by having enough Necromunda figures to shove in their face) are to play a campaign. We’re currently in the first three weeks of grabbing territory so it’s time for lots of challenging opponents and getting my ass kicked. I’ve played the first game, so expect a blog post on that soon.

Speaking of blog posts, above are just a few of the figures from the force I’m making. I’ve gone down the Outcast route, building up an Orlock aligned gang of pissed off space miners accompanying their new Priestess/Wyrd Psyker lady. Using the Genestealer cultist bodies gives you a good set of gear that is ideal for Necormunda but the main problem then is making them look less like the alien/human hybrid. As well as swapping out heads (I went for the new Cadian upgrade spure as well as the Hive Scum and other bits from the bits box) and carefully picking out the arms to avoid the giant talons, I’ve also got a few little tweaks I’ll want to show off. It involves masking tape.

I think I’m getting back in the mood for Ultramoderns. Maybe it’s Call of Duty, maybe it’s hanging out more with the guys over at the Ultramodern Discord, maybe it’s people like InCountry showing off new releases that give me ideas of games and scenarios I want to play.

I’m going to break into the pile of InCountry figures I got from the starter kit and get them painted up and give that game a go. But I’ve also cast my mind back to the ChargeReal, planning for some games and getting excited again about the world building for it. I’ve recently printed off some of the Humvees from the Modern Miniatures to add to the collection, including a set with bench seats that would be ideal for a paramilitary force.

There are a few other things I’m going to post but they will be getting their own articles rather than simply an entry here. Now I’m feeling better I’m champing at the bit to get some more done – especially with certain Kickstarters now delivering their STL goodies.

For now though, I’ll see you all around with hopefully more progress next month.

The biggest problem when running a wargaming blog is deciding the pace and tempo of blog posts you want to do.

Okay, that’s a lie – the biggest problem when running a wargaming blog is knowing when not to add new projects to the pile. But that’s impossible to fix so I’m going to focus on the tempo thing.

For some people, their rhythm of posting is hammering out lots of small posts, often with one picture and a load of text – I love Jim’s Wargames Workbench for this very fact as you get to see how projects develop at every stage, see the thoughts, track the start of ideas that blossom into new things. On the other hand, you have people like Tactical Painter where you wait for the blog post of the latest battle report and get to enjoy the finely crafted end result, a battle report that makes you feel like you’re there.

My own output has varied back and forth, between single post months to several posts a week. During my time away, I started thinking about my own tempo, how I wanted to portray the hobby I take part in. I’ve done weekly posts, I’ve done lots of small posts and I’ve done monthly updates covering hobby and everything else. Going forward, I’ve decided to focus on at least one monthly update (inspired perhaps by the good old “Letter from the Editor” that is a feature of many magazines) without being chained to it – sometimes you get to post WIP things excitedly.

With the tradition of rambling out of the way, let’s start off with this first Letter from the Hobby Desk.

First things first, I’m writing this after having just finished painting the last room in my new house (yep shutting up soon about it). It’s a good stage to reach, no longer having to keep moving things around or see the big chunks of exposed wall where the wallpaper had been pulled off during the refit.

Of course, the more important thing about hitting this milestone is I have more time to get things set up for the hobby! With Patreons and Kickstarters bringing more and more STLs to print, and with a need to actually get my FDM printer properly dialled in, I’ve quickly got the forges back up and working. The next thing is going to be working out where to put a load of my terrain, which will end up in the garage once I finish tidying out all the detritus removing pre-existing built-in wardrobes generates. Luckily this has left me plenty of material to make some handy shelves and maybe even a workbench for stuff I don’t want to work on in the house.

But hopefully, this will be the first and last time one of these posts has to mention the house!

My big project at the moment is the Desert Rats (or Operation Drop Bear). I had originally intended to try and do this sneakily and then deploy it as a surprise at our first game. But I am terrible at keeping secrets, especially when it’s something I’m excited about and want to show off/write about. The blog post covering them has plenty of details about the kit and my plans so give it a read.

Speaking of plans, let’s take a quick look at the list of stuff I’m actively working on for the near future apart from a platoon of WW2 Aussies:

• BPRE Phaseline – I still need to paint up the figures and the doors, then I’ll get some games in of the new mode and be able to come back and talk about it.
• Necromunda – I’ve gathered all the bits I need for my Eschers and should get my starting gang together. I also have enough parts from Hive Scum boxes and a Genestealer Cults box (thanks to the former housemate for the present) that I can either make some Badzone Enforcers (tempting as I already have some Enforcers) or make an Outcast gang for shenanigans.
• InCountry – Starter box is on the way, I’m looking forward to getting some games in so I can take a look at both the ruleset and the figures being released for it. It might be a little bit of a delay before I have it in hand, but I’m hearing good things about
• WW2 Brits – while getting ready for my first Chain of Command game back, I realised I have a few pieces left over that I need to get painted up. Two Vickers MGs, my jumping-off points and even two familiar-looking chaps all ready for the brush to get them onto the tabletop. This is less about getting them ready for use soon and more about finishing off a collection sooner rather than later. Although Empress’s current Kickstarter will add some similar coloured figures…

There are also the blog projects I have on the go. I’m getting started with the BPRE Interview, cutting up the answers into something usable. There is also the Spectre post I keep talking about and I will actually get around to it. The problem is every time I get a chunk of it worked on, Spectre does something that means I need to pause and see how it’s going to shake out. However so far, the key points I wanted to make haven’t been covered so there is still a point I want to make. Now I just need to hurry up and finish it.

If you’d asked me a few months ago about my interest in Star Wars and Westerns, I’d have probably given you a frown. Due to my day job, I’m not rushing to get involved with wargaming involving the Wild West (I have this odd twitch you see, picked it up a few years ago) and with Star Wars, for a long time it wasn’t something I liked; as I’ve said in the past, leave the hokey religion at the door and hand me the blaster. Okay not that bad, but Jedi and force users are always better when there is just one or two on each side – the first film or Mando season 2 early on show it best in my opinion.

So why on earth am I so excited about both Too Far Lardies’s latest ruleset What a Cowboy and SkullForge’s Patreon releases?

Well, I’d put a lot of blame onto shows like Mandolorian and Andor for bringing me back into the fold of Star Wars by being actually good. Both shows definitely lean more towards the original influences rather than the Jedi/Force-focused films of the last few years – Andor is a WW2 spy/commando story while Mandolorian is all about lone wanderers through the wastes. There is also something about the post-Imperial phase that is so evocative for a skirmish game; Imperial Remnant avoiding the New Republic, criminals attacking exposed settlements, all while mercenaries and Mandolorians fill in the gaps. Another bonus for Star Wars is that lots of people like it – so when you talk excitedly about wanting to play something with Clones and Droids, it’s easy to find other interested parties.

As for What a Cowboy, I’ve been in the mood for a game that is more cinematic than realistic, even to the point of scribbling some ideas. However, the coverage for What a Cowboy has piqued my interest, with its Action Dice mechanic providing the potential for some of the utter madness you get in Star Wars blaster fights. I’ve been very excited about the possibilities and can’t wait to get my hands on the book.

Luckily, Multiverse and SkullForge have just what I need for any such shenanigans. In addition to the Mando figure my Creative Regular Opponent got for me, SkullForge has added all the Rebels, Imperials and Mandolorians you can shake a stick at. Multiverse is even partway through a new Kickstarter, giving you plenty of crashed spaceship parts to place in the desert sands. However, you can also get the Ord Ferrum kits as add-ons. This is the frontier town featured in Andor, which is perfect for the style of gunslinging I want to do (and a good alternative to going back to Mos Eisley AGAIN for the 1000th time, another Star Wars pet peeve). They seem well designed for arranging in various ways and making a dense urban environment with lots of rooftops to fall off and low walls to hide behind. Combining the town and the crashed ship parts would be ideal for some kind of Outer Rim scrap world – the ideal melting pot for all the factions.

So, look forward to some “What a Nerf Herder” on the blog. I’ll be putting it together over the next few months, especially once the Kickstarter I mention above finishes and I get my rewards.

The final news for this month is I’m going to Salute on April 22nd! I missed off a few over the last few years (as we all did for several of them) and it’s been just long enough without being to a show that I’d like to go see stuff physically. I am going to be trying to save money this year and do it all in one day – not looking forward to the 6am jumping-off time from home but it’s still plenty doable.

So if you spot someone looking tired while collecting a “What a Cowboy” set from Too Fat Lardies, it’s probably me! Looking forward to seeing people there though – the last few years have been pretty hard, so it would be nice to catch up.

Well, I’ve spent an evening typing away rather than hitting the hobby desk for the proper purposes so I should return to it. I’ll post up something new when exciting things happen, but for now, I hope you enjoy whats coming next.