Gailbraithe

Yeah, it's second hand. The bigger problem is that I didn't actually buy it -- my step-dad owes me a lot of money, and he put it on his credit card as a partial repayment, so there's basically nothing I can do except wait for him to deal with it. Plus, even if he does get the money back and I can get a new one quickly, there's the problem of moving this 400 pound hunk of garbage out of my shop and disposing of it. I had to pay a crew of guys just to get it in place, and now I'm going to have re-hire them to move it out, then move another one back in. This is just eating up money in a bad way, but I'm way too invested to abandon things at this point. I am starting to worry this is going to do long term financial damage though.

Son of a bitch. I got the extension cord for the vulcanizer only to discover that the platens don't heat up, the jack that supplies the pressure is missing parts, and worse the jack has been discontinued by the original manufacturer and new parts aren't available. I'm going to have to buy a whole new vulcanizer, and because the goddamn electricians lied to me about how soon they could get my shop wired for power, I'm already past the return-by date so I don't know if I can get my money back for this $1500 piece of crap. I am so pissed off right now.

Yeah, I'd be down to play on the 3rd. I've been wanting to get back down to the store for a game, but I haven't had any time to work on models and stuff, so a board game would be perfect.

Check it out! Vulcanizer, meltping pots, casting centrifuge, and air compressor, plus tool board. I'm almost ready to begin making my first molds, but I encountered a mind-bogglingly stupid problem once I got the vulcanizer in place: The power cord is too short to reach the outlet. By, I kid you not, THREE INCHES. So I had to order an extension cord and it hasn't shown up yet (240v extension cords are hard to find). It was either that or tear open the wall and move the outlet.

What is it?

Don't know the guy. Don't want to.

Finished my workbench!

Not planning to right now, but I might if I don't see any traffic from my initial press blitz. Maybe if/when I decide to launch an actual game I'll do a kickstarter

It's called a "Vulcanizer." I found this one in Canada: The single biggest hurdle left before everything is done and I'm ready to start casting is actually going to be getting the damn thing in place. Right now its sitting in my carport still on the pallet it was deliver on. It weighs 600 pounds. I'm going to have hire a whole crew of dudes to move it into the shop.

No, a miniatures line. Remember these guys: Everything should, I hope, be up and running by the end of May at the latest. I'll be launching with 11 figures, and hopefully adding 1 each month for the rest of the year, then slowly ramping up to 3 new models per month. And I'm talking with the guys who publish 7TV about maybe licensing their rules and using them as the base for a revamped RAGE.

Sorry I haven't been down at the club recently. I've been swamped getting Gailbraithe Games up and running, and still have a lot more work to do. The shop building itself is finally done except for painting the trim. It's got power, insulation, interior walls, everything you want in a shop. Even air conditioning. The next step is assembling this mess into a functioning workbench: The machines for casting are all here, as are the initial molds, so once the workbench is done and the machines have been moved in place -- which should be by the end of next week -- I'll get started on making the first molds and doing some casting. I'm going to be really happy when I can finally work on a miniatures project again. I recently picked up some awesome stuff to add to the store's terrain collection: And also this: I might try to make it down this next tuesday, especially if someone is interested in playing 7TV, but I might just wait until the week after because I have to be in stupid traffic court at stupid early in the morning next Tuesday.

Someone tell Casey I am going to be running 20-30 minutes late, definitely will be there by 7.

Okay, I misunderstood. I thought you had to have a pedestrian specifically devoted to watching the prisoner and a seat for the prisoner. Still, it'd be nice if future scenarios didn't screw bikes over. And yeah, you can go as fast as you like with passengers hitching a ride, they'll just take craploads of damage if they jump off at high speed.

Oh, and there is absolutely no way I can possibly win this new scenario. With the rules as written none of my vehicles can capture locals. My buggies have one seat and can't carry any pasengers, let alone two, and my bikes can't carry anyone either. My only option is going to be to put all of the scrap I earned in the last battle into a single truck, which will allow me to pick up 2 locals, since I'll have to include two pedestrians to watch them. I'm pretty sure this scenario is impossible to win with that little capacity, especially when Nathan only has to kill one vehicle to make it entirely impossible for me to score any points at all. So I'm just going to cede the game right now, roll my 2d6+5, and ask that in the future you please stop writing scenarios that punish us for taking bikes. (Also, the nature of the scenario suggests this is not an action the Red Army would engage in.)

THE RED ARMY In the wake of the Big Collapse, when society fell apart and the world went to hell, a band of survivors came together under the leadership of Tobias Johnson. Tobias was a mechanic and machinist by trade, and a subscriber to a strange hodge-podge of radical anarchist politics and conspiracy theories. Before the Big Collapse, most folks had written off Tobias as a loon and a crank, but when everything fell apart his dire prognostications about crony capitalism and the military-industrial complex seemed almost premonitory. It didn't hurt that Tobias had spent most of his adult life preparing for exactly this eventuality, and consequently had valuable skills to share and something resembling a game plan for the apocalypse. He organized the survivors who gathered around him into a commune, establishing rules for the division of labor and communal property, and the survivors began to thrive despite the destruction around them. Tobias named the growing community New Catalonia, in honor of the Spanish anarchists that had inspired him. Unfortunately, the thriving community drew attention from marauding gangs of ravagers who had given up hope of rebuilding, and began suffering heavy losses to constant raids. Tobias had rejected violence and what he called "the tyrannical police state" and resisted the idea of creating an army, but the young men of the community were hell-bent to take the fight to the marauders and secure the peace by any means necessary. Though he warned everyone that a standing army would lead to feudalism, he was forced to relent or risk threatening the democratic processes he had insisted govern the community. However he was still leader of New Catalonia, and as a final act of defiance he gave the newly established fighting force the name "The Red Army." When asked why that name, he replied only "cuz the Reds'll always betray you." Among the New Catalonians there were many veterans of the wars that plagued Earth in the final days before the Big Collapse, and Tobias recruited from their number the leadership of the Red Army. Chief among them was Lt. Col. Richard Helman, ret., who Tobias tapped to be the General of the Red Army. Helmen organized an initial force of 30 young men and began training them, while his Quartermaster Capt. Debra Ann Taylor began laying the groundwork for the impressive support services that maintains the Red Army's fleet of vehicles. The Red Army experience a number of early victories in sorties and defensive actions against the marauders, but their true test came at the Battle of New Madrid. New Catalonia had grown larger enough to found a second community, called New Madrid, but the fledgling town was poorly defended -- lacking the fortifications the New Catalonians had built to defend their city from the marauders. This made it a ripe target, and several of the marauding gangs united into a single army to sack New Madrid. Leading the marauder attack was a massive, nigh invulnerable war truck known as The F*ckmachine. Timely warning allowed the entire Red Army to assemble and meet the attackers outside the town's limits, but the smaller vehicles preferred by the Red Army were no match for the massive F*ckmachine -- until Will "Spazoid" Harper, now know as the Hero of New Madrid, managed to perform a miraculous slide under the belly of the beastly rig and slap a limpet mine on its axle. Spazoid was critically injured in the attempt when the wheels of the F*ckmachine rolled over his bike and crushed his legs, but the war rig was immobilized, and with that single sacrifice Spazoid turned the Battle of New Madrid to the New Catalonias favor. Still, the battle raged on for days as the Marauders made quick attacks and retreated, but the Red soldiers gave no ground. Soon supplies were running low, but a convoy of fuel trucks lead by Captain Taylor made a daring assault on the marauders siege and broke through. Freshly fueled, the Red Army was able to wipe out the remaining marauders and win the day. Will "Spazoid" Harper, now in his early 50s, was promoted to Captain and continues to serve in the Red Army, though he no longer enters battle on the back of bike, but instead mans the turret of the Red Army's prize war machine, The Eliminator. He still doesn't have to buy his own drinks, and is beloved by younger soldiers under his command. A year after the Battle of New Madrid Tobias Johnson suffered a fatal heart attack and left New Catalonia without a leader. General Helman was nominated for the job, and while many of the older citizens of New Catalonia were concerned that Tobias's predictions were coming true, the General was supremely popular with the younger generation that had grown up after the collapse, and his election to the Presidency of New Catalonia was inevitable. Captain Taylor took over his position as General of the Army and life continued on. In time Helmen passed away and Taylor was elected in his place, establishing a continuity that has persisted. Taylor is very aged now, and the New Catalonians know she has little time left on this world. Already they are looking to her General, Tim "Maniac" Manners, as her eventual replacement. Manners, at age 32, is still very young and its is expected that he will remain the leader of New Catalonia for many years. Recently it has become clear to the New Catalonians that they must expanded the borders of their control, and they have begun absorbing outlaying farms and small villages, bringing them under the protection of the Red Army, which more and more has come to resemble the feudal overlords that Tobias warned they would become. The recent opening of the western lands has provided an opportunity for New Catalonia to expand and establish new farms and potentially recover more lost technology. In order to capitalize on this opportunity, President Taylor empowered General Manners to put together an expeditionary force. While most of the Red Army must remain in New Catalonia, as marauders are an ever present threat, Manners is able to send a steady stream of parts, fuel and young soldiers to what is now being called The Western Front. Leading this force is Captain Declan "Wildboy" Taylor, the grandson of President Taylor. The initial Red Army consisted of a large number of motorbikes, whose fuel efficiency and speed made them effective scouts, and numerous buggies and off-roaders that could be rapidly mobilized. These vehicles still form the core of the Red Army's force, but over the years a number of specialty war machines have been constructed, such as the aforementioned Eliminator. The expeditionary force resembles the initial Red Army, and includes several bikes and buggies, though back home in New Catalonia mechanics are working overtime to add new, larger and heavier vehicles to the force. Tobias insisted on a high level of professionalism from his soldiers, and made political education a core part of their training. The Red Army takes great pride in this sense of being a professional army. They are not marauders, and go to great lengths to demonstrate this. They wear matching red uniforms and maintain their vehicles to a very high standard, routinely repainting them in the deep crimson that is their official color. Lt. Col. Helmen served in the Air Force, and there are many oddities within the Red Army's organizational structure and culture that reflect this, the most notable of which is the heavy use of irreverent callsigns by the drivers and gunners within the army. These callsigns, such as Spazoid, Maniac and Wildboy, are often wildly at odds with the supreme professional and nearly monastic character of the Red Army soldiers.

Passengers have a 180° arc along the right or left side: The rules don't specify when you have to declare what side a passenger is firing from, nor do they specify if a passenger can change sides during the game. Since it seems reasonable to suggest that a passenger could move from one side of the car or truck bed between turns easily enough, and since their ROF is limited to 1, passengers effectively seem to have a 360° firing arc. Also, I just realized that all my spud-autoguns have the ROF limited to 1. Dammit. Now I get why the LMG is 1 point more despite having the same stats.

We're posting lists? Okay. RED ARMY (200 points) BOSS BUGGY (36 points) Off-Road Special, 2 Seater (1) -- 8 points V6 Warrior (1) -- 3 points T4 Off-Road Rebel (1) -- 3 points LMG -- 5 points Plow Ram -- 6 points Hero -- 7 points .50 Cal Rifle -- 0 points Driver (1) -- 2 points Gunner (1) -- 2 points 3 BUGGIES (63 points) Off-Road Specials, 1 Seater (3) -- 18 points V6 Warrior (3) -- 9 points T4 Off-Road Rebel (3) -- 9 points LMG (3) -- 15 points Driver (3) -- 6 points Gunner (3) -- 6 points 5 BIKES (101 points) Off-Road Specials (5) -- 30 points Dune Roller (5) -- 15 points T4 Off-Road Rebel (5) -- 15 points Boss -- 6 points Drivers (4) -- 8 points Warriors with SMGs (5) and Grenades -- 27 points

Sorry I didn't make it. I fell asleep watching TV.

You should give it a shot, it's a really great skirmish wargame. And it doesn't have to be Scooby Doo, I just painted up a Scooby Doo cast to demo the game because Scooby Doo as a wargame is hilarious to me. If you want to wait til after the Warlands tournament I'll demo it using Star Wars. I do have a slight interest in Armada though. I dunno, 7TV plays very fast and a game usually takes about an hour and half, we can probably do both. I'll bring my models down and we'll play it by ear.

I'd like to get in one last game of 7TV/Scooby-Doo before the Warlands campaign kicks off, mostly so I can take some photos of the action. I can ref a game between two people or play anyone. Game takes about hour and half, so we can do two games in one night.

That's kind of what I figured, it was just a noticeable with all the talk about how awesome Fantasy Flight is and the Star Wars theme. Though I suppose it doesn't lend itself nearly as well to the compare-contrast that X-Wing vs Armada allows. I kind of feel I undersold how much I enjoyed this podcast. I've listened to a lot of gaming podcasts, and with a lot of them you really feel the hour go by. You can have two good hosts and then one guy who just annoys, and the whole show ends up annoying and over-staying its welcome. A lot of people try way, way too hard to be "funny" or "entertaining," when what you really want is relaxed, informed people having a conversation that doesn't drag or falter. You guys nailed that dynamic, and were funny and entertaining without feeling desperate for laughs, and the eighty minutes didn't even feel like an hour, it felt like 30 minutes tops. It reminded me a lot of D6 Generation, which is my favorite gaming podcast. Also, whoever wrote the comedy intro, about Brad being from the future, etc., that was actually really funny, and I loved the callbacks to the joke. Good job.

Nicely done. Maybe not so much intro music next time. But the rest of didn't drag, kept my interest, and got a few chuckles out of me. Feels like you should have covered Imperial Assault as well.

Joey said he'd demo X-Wing for me, but I don't think I'm going to make it.

You can join any time you want, but you may have to play an NPC. I don't think we'll be playing Christmas Eve, but week after that should be on.

My inertia is leaning towards no game.