Still Alive

I am still alive, just have been uber busy between work and other things in real life. I am planning on posting some actual content here soon (as in someday, LOL). Right now I am debating whether to post some pics of the Copplestone Bio-Chem squad and Zombie Troopers I have or some of my scratch built scenery (and the background fluff for said pieces), which consists of a couple of signs for some fictional businesses in my initial outbreak campaign, that is set in Mayhem City (in my campaign Mayhem City is located where Flint. Michigan is, and Genesee County is Mayhem County, the rest of the state for the most part will remain as is, with maybe one or two exceptions, such as a large military base and city outside of it located where the real world communities of Fenton and Holly are). I have already posted one of the signs over on the Post Apoc forums http://s1.zetaboards.com/Post_Apoc_Wargames/topic/4242944/1/?x=90#post373415 Though now the sign does have some additional details on the base.

I might also continue posting some of the background fluff for my initial outbreak campaign, fleshing out the Mayhem County area and Liberty City/Fort Liberty (the above mentioned Military base which is named after a fictional Civil War Colonel, Col. Ebenezer Liberty, that commanded the fictional 33rd Michigan Volunteer Infantry Regiment (at least as far as I know the unit is fictional), who also used his own land (where the base is located)  for the training of his regiment). I might also include some of the major groups in the area such as the Mayhem County Gun Club and the pro sports teams in the area.u

Stylish Blogger Award and an update to my Blogs Apperance

Well I needed to repost this since for some reason the initial one was lost in cyberspace after i hit publish.

Stylish Blogger Award

Thank You
Well just seen over on Adam's (Zombie Ad) blog http://theleadwillwalktheearth.blogspot.com/ he is nominating me for the Stylish Blogger Award. First of I would like to say thanks for the nomination.

Now for the award there are a couple things one needs to do upon receiving the nomination and the rules are as follows:

1. A thank you and link back to the nominating blog.
2. Share seven things about yourself.
3. Pass the award on to 10 or so other deserving blogs.
4. Let them know of your nominating them for the award.

.
Well on to the rest of the list since I did #1 above.

Seven things about me:

1) I was born and raised and still live in the Flint, Michigan area, and yes it is how the news actually makes it out to be.
2) I am a child of the 80's, born 1980 and prefer the music from that era (and earlier) over the stuff released in the 90's and later.
3) I am a Technogeek. I love gadgets such as my iPod (160 GB iPod Classic, and 8GB iPod Touch) my Android OS phone (Motorola Droid), my computers (desktop and laptop), etc...
4) I have worked for a small student owned and operated landscaping company while in High School, at a Scout Summer camp during high school, a Fast Food Restaurant, the US Army (basic Training, ended up injuring shoulder then getting discharged), a Gentleman's club (Strip Club) as a bartender, and currently as a Sales Rep for a photography studio.
5) I am an avid Photographer, going to school for photography, and have been paid to to some portrait sessions and modeling sessions (mostly friends and family).
6) I spoil my cat as though he was a kid, bought him stuff like his own fleece throw blanket (a $20 blanket), numerous toys, and am always buying him moist cat food and giving it to him as a "treat" just because I like to spoil him.
7) I am an avid Zombie movie fan and reader of Zombie fiction. I have read World War Z by Max Brooks a good 100+ times from cover to cover, and am always noticing things I had previously missed in past readings. Another book I read regularly is Robert Heinlein's Starship Troopers, I try to read it at least twice a year , once in May/June then again in Nov/Dec.

And the Nominees are:

1) Vampifans World of the Undead- A great Zombie Blog run by Bryan, a great guy. Would love to have him sitting at my game table any day of the week. Like me a fan of the Two Hour Wargames game All Things Zombie.
2)Obvisouly Dead- Anotehr great Blog, plus Oliver like Bryan is a great guy, and another ATZ fan, who I wouldn't mind sitting at my table for a game or two or 20.
3) Tactical Miniatures Gaming _ Willy, aka LTL Dad, aka Veloci, is a great guy and I always look forward to bat reps. A great guy who can sit down at my gaming table and join in any time he wants.
4) Chez Ebbles- Christopher Roe's (aka Mel Ebbles of Ebbles miniatures fame), a great cardstock model designer. I am a big fan of his models and have been building some of the vehicles and his Folding Unit Structures for use in my ATZ games.
5) 2 Hour Blog- The blog for Two Hour Wargames, nominated this sicne I am not sure if the THW Yahoo Group would qualify. If you play ATZ or any of the THW games, the yahoo group is the place to go if you have any questions, if Ed doesn't answer the one of the many knowledgeable group members over there will answer and 99.99% of the time they will give you the same answer Ed would.
6) Zed Storm Rising- Darrell, while he hasn't posted in almost 2 months, does have a great WIP of a scale model of his actual house that he is making for his zombie games.
7) Down Among the Zed Men- Colin (CMNash) is the guy I stole, borrowed, the PEF miniature idea from. Another great guy who can sit at my gaming table for some sessions of ATZ.
8) Rebel Miniatures- The blog for Rebel Miniatures, a great source for 15mm zombie figures.
9) Quick and the Zed- While a fairly new blog, I have been following Spartan117's work on a couple forums for a bit now.
10) Akula's Blog- A great blog with links to Akul's various project blogs. Akula is the creator of Akula's Rules: Skirmish Edition (AR:SE) and its variants that he originally created for FU:UK forums Salute hosted a couple of years ago.


Again I would like to thank Adam for nominating me for the award, it is the first award I have been nominated for that I know of. Now I might have to have an Awards area on my blog.

Edit 26May2011: I decided to fiddle around with my blogs appearance. It may be changing again in the next couple weeks. I finally got around to adding more links to Manufacturers and a couple of gaming forums. I do have more written down on a list to add as I get the free time.

US Government takes Zombie Outbreaks Serious

Just noticed a post over on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

http://blogs.cdc.gov/publichealthmatters/2011/05/preparedness-101-zombie-apocalypse/ (Warning may take a while to load)

This is also linked from the main CDC website down on the right side of the page under News & Events.

Now I am wondering if the other US Government Agencies such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will be following suit and posting about what they plan on doing in case of a major Zombie Outbreak.

Same Old Stuff, Nothing New, yet

Unfortunately nothing new yet. Been busy working, and unfortunately due to the weather going from being in the 80's for a couple days down to the 50's with rain, its playing havoc on my sinus's.

I did get the Copplestone Casting Bio-Chem Squad and Zombie troopers that I bought from Chris Roe (Mel Ebbles) when he had the cleaning out the closet sale before closing his site down (which is sad for the gaming community), finished. I had them basically done before, was just debating on how I wanted to paint a couple details. Pics hopefully will be coming soon.

Still no Surprise, but I will tell you what it should have been

Still no surprise, I was planning on, as a couple people had guessed, my first Batrep, but unfortunately the game I was playing ended up getting cut short due to real life and my notes I had taken on the part of the game I did play, seems to have grown legs and walked off, so I figured I would let you know what I was planning since I don't know when I will have a real chance to get a game, with pics and write up done,   luckily it was only the first 3 or 4 turns I got to play so it wasn't a total loss. I did forget to take pics of the game for all but the 3rd turn, so the fact that I cant find my notes and the game was interrupted so early on in it, means its not a big deal to start over from the beginning again.

I do remember a couple things I was doing wrong in the game, from a quick review of the notes, I was giving the Humans the wrong movement speed (giving them 12") due to some poorly written crib notes I was referring to so I wouldn't have to bring out the rule books as often.

The scenario I decided on playing is based around 2 members of the Military trying to make it across the board (Suburban setting) to their transportation (an APC), after receiving orders to abandon their post, one of about 6 check points meant to keep the infected on the island (the Island for background purposes is about 3 miles long at the longest point and 2 miles wide at the widest, 1/2 mile wide as the narrowest point) on the western side of a river, unfortunately the check points to the south were over run fell due to the onslaught of refugees trying to get off the island and away from the infected and the infected themselves. I did rule ahead of time that the 2 military members have seen zombies before and have seen them feasting, due to them trying to hold the check point, though any survivors they come across I will still roll for seeing the feast and Zed or No Zed, since up until just recently the military was able to keep the situation contained on the other side of the river and on the island.

When I finally do get a chance to play the scenario, I may have it take place after the lazarus Project was initiated and have Smarties and Ragers pop up. This scenario wont be an official part of my Campaign, though it will take place during the first half of it (in a different location then where the campaign will be centrally located), the initial days of the outbreak, the second half of the campaign will be my Mackinac Island campaign where it is a couple years after the outbreak.

Main reason I don't have anything yet is due to my work schedule, when I would be starting the game I am at work, since I do most of what I have to get done (yard work, errands, shopping, etc...) in the morning before work. I do have right now Mon-Weds off, though spent all of yesterday and most of today doing work around the house and in the yard since it has been nice out. Tomorrow I am planning on going over to the Local Hobby Shop for a couple of supplies to build my scratch built Fishing Trawler/Patrol Boat/Cargo Ship that I currently have mocked up out of card stock.

Sorry No Surprise Yet

I am sorry to say the surprise I mentioned I was hoping to post either this last weekend or today (April 26) has been delayed. I had some real life stuff come up that didn't allow me to finish everything. I will try to post what I am able to here in the next couple days or so, if I get the chance.

Ebbles miniatures Sale

I just scored me some Copplestone Casting Zombie troopers (1 pack of 5 figures) and a pack of the Copplestone Casting Bio-Chem Troopers over on the Ebbles Miniatures Forums. Christopher Roe (aka Mel Ebbles) is having a Clearing out the Closet Sale! on his forums to liquidate various miniatures he has no use for. You can find the thread here http://www.ebblesminiatures.com/forum/viewthread.php?tid=2503 The thread is already a couple days old, I forgot to post this the day he put the thread up. He requests you contact him regarding the figures you would like with an offer, he isn't accepting an offer of trades or gift certificates to other companies for additional minis, and if he feels its a reasonable offer he will let you know the total cost for the figure(s) you would like with the shipping.

Also Chris is currently liquidating his entire physical stock of supplies in his sites supply depot. He has a thread in his forums announcing the reason behind this which I will not go into here. Everything he has left is currently 50% off, other then the down-loadable card stock models, these aren't included in the sale. Also unfortunately he has suspended international shipping to Canada, since he gets very similar USPS (US Postal Service) shipping rates on both domestic (USA) and Canadian packages.

While I am happy I scored some figures I have on my wish list, i am saddened to hear that Chris is getting out of the physical inventory business, I would rather order glue and replacement Olfa blades from him then order them from somewhere else or even shop locally at Wal-mart, just so I could help out a small business owner here in the USA.



BTW this is not the surprise I mentioned in my previous post, that I am currently working on finishing up the last of the little details so I can post it here. I am hoping to either have it finished and posted tomorrow or Sunday, if not one of those two days, I am aiming for Tuesday April 26th. Everythign all depends on if I can as mentioned finalize the details and find time to post it between working at my job, eating, and getting house/yard work done.


Update: Chris is also going to be getting out of the direct to customer sales of his cardstock models. He will continue working on cardstock models for personal projects such as his Saga of the Uppity Robots (the models he currently has on his site for sale), though these will be through his blog http://melebbles.blogspot.com/ I believe he mentioned over on his Ebbles.com forums the models on his Blog will go back to the Free, but if you like please donate some money format, but please don't quote me on this I may be wrong.