It can't be said better X

"The first reality is that the occupation of Iraq has disintegrated into mere US presence. We no longer have the political, military or economic ability to frame terms of debate, let alone dictate them. The second reality is that Iraq has balkanized, and in fact two of its political divisions are engaged in a low intensity conflict against each other. The third reality is that the current US political leadership is out of touch with both economic and military realities in Iraq, and is going to pour gasoline on the fire for at least another year."

Stirling Newbury, The Agonist, Full Post

Another Pile o' Treasure

What this really proves is that you really MUST go through your stash every once in a while. While going through mine (shrunken considerably by the move to San Diego and back), looking for something else entirely I found, and I must woot!, 8 blister packs of original Off The Wall Armies figures. Four packs are OTW BunRabs. 3 packs are Highland Badgers, including one pack of the Heavy Cavalry Lancers, which with the one figure that Steve Jackson Games had in stock gives me figures for two more stands of riders for the Badgers.... Plus there's a 3 pack of the Heavy Cav Officers I've been using for riders (I must have had a total of 3 packs of that figure).

However, the OTW BunRabs do not look at all like the BunRabs I have, so now I have no idea who made the ones I have painted, but maybe they CAN be found somewhere. I know the OTW BunRabs are long gone.



At the bottom of the picture is one (alas, just one) blister pack of the "Frateri Diversi Romuli Remique" which, if I get the Latin is (I guess, more or less) "The Changeling Brotherhood of Romulus and Remus", three footmen with spear. But at least now I know what to search for. ;o) IIRC, they were a werewolf Roman analogue, the figure looks like it might be intended to be Auxilia, but spear?!?.

Heh. I just had a thought. I could put two lancer figures and an officer each on two stands and call them Knights. More beef for the Badgers!

Kim

It's starting to look like an army....

A dismounted Union Cavalry brigade skirmishing on the right. Two brigades of infantry and a battery form the battle line under a general officer with a provost guard. It's starting to look like an army, though still a very small one.....

Fighting lies (no they are not 'spin') with truth

Enforcement of the EU antitrust ruling will not 'stifle innovation'. It will free it from the death grip of an 800 lb. gorilla who has gotten lazy. It might even motivate the 800 lb gorilla to actually make its stuff work better.

Make no mistake, Microsoft is lying and the lies are all over the place in the media and being accepted and repeated as news. I recommend reading the full article, link is below.

"Despite what Microsoft and its partners would have you believe, monopoly abuse is not good for you. It only benefits the monopolist at the expense of competition, innovation and society at large. Antitrust law was created to address this issue and to protect the interests of society.

If a monopolist tells me that antitrust law harms innovation, I have to clearly state that I am not convinced.

Neither should you be."

George Greve, President, Free Software Foundation, Europe (FSFE)

Full article

Kim

It can't be said better IX

Bradley Whitford

Click on the name.... ;o)

This has toget spread around.

Send this link to everyone you know who appreciates music. If anybody knows or can find out who the lead violin for the Skidmore College Orchestra is, please tell me...

More completions

I finished the Old Glory dismounted Cavalry brigade I started on last June... I took a side trip into Hordes of the Things and piddled a lot at a lot of other things, but finally, here it is:

Still having a little trouble with the autofocus. Took these outdoors in evening light. It looks ok, until you blow it up. I think I need to consult the manual....

Since the infantry and artillery are different manufacturers, here is a comparison photo. Looks like they will fit together just fine.

I have a few more miniatures now, so I'm going to put more figures on the next infantry brigade, I have to paint a couple more and I have an artillery battery in production. I'm going to try to get them done in the next few days....

Kim

It couldn't be said better VIII

The last word on SCO's Chapter 11 comes from Eric S. Raymond, co-founder of the OSI (Open Source Initiative). Raymond, doubtlessly speaking for many Linux users, said, "couldn't happen to a nicer gang of scum-sucking leeches."

Complete wrap up of comments from Open Source luminaries at Steven Vaughn-Nichols. LinuxWatch, EWeek

Sparky, the Aerial Hero

You may remember that Andrew really wanted to field his Dragonfly that he made in day program as an Aerial Hero in the Hordes of the Things games we played at Eighth Day last weekend. We also have Dinosaurs not yet mounted for the rest of the army....

Delusions

The Bush administration keeps pushing the delusion that the occupation of Iraq is comparable to the occupation of Korea... or even more far-fetched, Japan or Germany. A moment of common sense demolishes any such comparison.

"We garrisoned troops in these three countries for half a century, as we did in Saudi Arabia for about a decade. The periods of military government in Japan and Germany were relatively brief. And most importantly we never mounted counter-insurgency operations in any of these countries." Josh Marshall at Talking Points Memo (my bold)

The VietNam analogy works much better, both as a picture of a lost counter-insurgency and what will happen in the end. In the end, we will have to withdraw, because no government that we support can survive, because we support it. 57% of Iraqis think it is a good thing to attack US Troops. 93% of our new allies (according to Petraeus), the Sunnis think so.

Kim

Thumb leave for Nerd Without Thumbs

Userfriendly 09/10/07

Next con: TACTICAL SOLUTIONS GAMING

Northwest Historical Miniatures Gaming Society is a sponsor of Tactical Solutions Gaming Con. I expect they will make room for most anything as they are a fledgling con. If anyone is interested in attending or sponsoring an event, there is a contact page here. Another thing you could do to support the con is sprinkle links anywhere you can, 'cause a google search on "tactical solutions" gets you a bunch of arms dealers on page one and no sign of the con. If you notice a link in my labels for a while, that's why....

Kim

Update: Linkiness has The Miniatures Page's announcement and link to the con's page up to the last entry on the first page of google returns for Tactical Solutions. Still no sign of the con page itself. If any of you have a page, stick a link on it, and pass the link around in your e-mail until Google notices....

K.

Eighth Day a Success

Success #1: The event participation was a near break-even (even though a first time event and expensive). If you add in the dozen or so Pre-registrations for RadCon 5, cash flow was positive, though they don't really apply to the event. The video room was mind boggling: Console games with lounge chairs and 12 foot projection screens; a dozen pc's with 24" widescreen monitors and the graphics cards, ram and speed to play whatever, and all the games you could want.... None of the pictures I took show it off, since the room was darkened for a reason, but WOW!. Bryan and Phil said they almost got sucked into watching a game of Madden Football 'cause it looked like a live game....



Success #2: Andrew got interested in gaming with me and was quite successful in being a fun little gamer. I especially enjoyed his inspiration to field his dragonfly, Sparky, which he made himself as a dragon in a battle with Bryan (it required a bit of tolerance from Bryan and some improvisation on fielding an unmounted figure). Then in the big battle HOTT, Andrew spotted Phil's barker marker with the unbroken column and set it up on that and wanted to field him as an aerial hero. A bit of tape and voila! (See BigBattleHOTT, below)


Now I have to build him his own army, built around Sparky.... ;op

Failure #1: Never put the river directly in front of the stronghold when the attacker has an aerial hero. One of you will lose on a straight 6 v 6 combat, but the stronghold surrenders and there is nothing you can do to support it....



Success #3: The big battle HOTT was a boatload of fun and came down to who could get the last kill first. A very near run thing.... Undead and Goblin Hordes vs. Dwarves and Elves. Note Sparky, the Elvish Aerial Hero in front of Andrew (in the orange shirt)... ;o)



Success #4: We had a lot of fun with the horde armies and Bryan worked out a tactic whereby he was able to suck in 2 heros and 2 riders and envelop them with a dozen hordes. They are such crunchy little bits, you figure just stick it in with an overlap and they'll die. And they do, and they fall back past the newly arriving hordes who flank you and get in your rear (and drop in a lurker for grins) and then you die.... It was very scary to watch.

Success #5: Bryan's snowy battlefield for the Dogs of War scenario was admired greatly by all and the game was fun to play. The rules are speedy and reasonably realistic and your palms get all sweaty.




Failure #2: If you jump around the corner, and spray down the Russki commando with your trusty AK-47 .... don't miss. 5 d10 for a 6 or below and I roll 9,9,8,9,9. Game over.

In sum, much fun was had by all....

Kim

It can't be said better -- VII

The Iraq War has always functioned as bloody wishing well. You throw Americans down the hole in exchange for a wish: a fervent wish for a region transformed, and a country re-birthed, and a legacy untarnished. If it doesn't work, do it again. American lives continue to be the cold commerce of foreign policy failures, the spent loose change of patriotism.

Hunter, Daily Kos, 09-06-07

He coulda stopped there, but if you want to read the rest....

Were you telling the truth the first time, second time, this time?

Daily Kos Kagro-X

"The terrorists and the Baathists loyal to the old regime will fail because America and our allies have a strategy, and our strategy is working."
President Bush
November 1, 2003

"Our strategy is working."
Vice President Cheney
September 28, 2004

"That's our strategy. And it is working and it is going to work, for the good of the country."
President Bush
June 24, 2005

"Our strategy is working."
White House's "National Strategy for Victory in Iraq"
November 30, 2005

"This approach is working."
President Bush
December 7, 2005

"It is a concrete example of how our strategy is working."
Frm. White House spokesman Scott McClellan
March 20, 2006

"It took time to understand and adjust to the brutality of the enemy in Iraq. Yet the strategy is working."
President Bush
March 20, 2006

It can't be said better, uhhm VI, maybe?

As you all know, I have been known to rant on this subject. I know a lot about the stupid laws. Here's why I think the laws are stupid....

Uncle Sven says what he lived.

Kim

Close up

Finally got a close up to focus properly. The Badger Hero, bigger than life size!

Badger, badger, badger

The Highland Badger repairs are completed. I still have some more BunRab figures to paint, but I will have to buy some more badgers to fill out the army, since the Badger riding birds have an unfortunate tendency to break off at the ankles. I have enough footless birds to make a couple more stands of riders, but it would take a lot of repair.

Here is a photo of the BunRabs, and Horus investigates the armies.