Blogging 101

Well, this is my 101st blog post.

Huh.

What elements have been emphasized in the first hundred? Looks like 23 battle reports, 22 posts on solo gaming, 21 on books, 19 on colonial warfare, 16 on gaming at the library. Only ten on role-playing games and a handful of my favorite, The Sword and the Flame. I've done a lot of "one-off" and "two-off" games, mostly to test rules, but haven't had the chance to focus on anything. Even my Jacobite campaign has had a different ruleset for each game. Stand by for the next one, which will stand by that "tradition" but be a remote game - another thing I've tried a couple times but haven't gotten to do as much as I'd like.

I've done much less fantasy or roleplaying than I expected or hoped. Work in that sense has been... weird. The teens are always busy, and I'm no longer in the children's department so it's less easy to just walk over there and break out the dice. Gaming is mostly a relaxation after work these days. I spent a couple hours yesterday teaching a couple young boys to play chess; one was so enthusiastic that it was hard even for his dad to keep him on task. I'm unable to play conventional DnD partly because of my schedule, partly because my Friendly Local Gamestores are in the next county. I could try online, but Roll20 is pretty confusing.

Eighteen months of blogging so far. It feels like a chore sometimes, which is why I'm glad I didn't commit to a specific update schedule or theme. I do still have that Jacobite campaign to finish, and actually have committed to do so with a fellow on Facebook. Glory:1861 and Over the Hills and Far Away have... not gotten far. I should at least play the latter more frequently because it's more an RPG; the models rarely need to be set down.

It's less of a chore than work, though; or housecleaning. (Err...) A relaxing diversion when I get to it. Something I've noticed about hobbies; I have trouble starting. But once I've started writing, or painting, or whatever, I can go on for quite a while. Also like my gaming activities, I've found that even a little bit of something every day can make me feel better, or even kickstart the work. Just a sentence of writing, or one link.

My Thursday RPG program collapsed since there was always an event going on at that time. With their present lack of programming, perhaps I can get it going again? We'll see. A couple months ago, two of the players recommended switching to Mondays. Honestly, though, work has been, well, so much work lately that I haven't had much time to play, even though the Thursday program is still on the official calendar, and no one, including me, has really noticed. I play chess a lot on Saturdays, though; possibly because I brought in No-Stress Chess, a beginner's set for kids, I'm the go-to person for teaching new players, though the adults members of the club are happy to do it. I've tried a few chess puzzles, chess variants and gridded wargames, and turns out you really can't teach an old dog new tricks.

With the teens I'd like to try 40K or Fantasy again, better yet would be if I can get some painting done with them. I am increasingly of the belief that gridded games work better with newbies, so the Perrys' Travel Battle may also make an appearance.

I am considering a couple Civil War games for February, as now is the time to schedule and start promoting events for that period. The best choice would be the Fort Wagner game, except that Fort Wagner has been covered up repeatedly by supply boxes over the last month or so, and I've misplaced the figures I constructed for it. Another option is Olustee, but if I use Black Powder minis I will need some cavalry. Also something to represent a forested battlefield. I'm torn over whether this would be worth the effort - on the one hand I haven't had much success this year, but on the other if I could promote it heavily with flyers etc...

Another game postponed by missing minis was Picacho Pass. I've since rediscovered the figures, and like the library, next year's club events are currently under consideration. I'll definitely try to make more games next year, and hopefully the Orlando conventions.

Lots of plans. What will come of them?

No idea. See you soon!