The Kitchen - Part 3

Nearly there, all that remains to be done is a little boxing in around the pipes for the boiler. Should be a couple of hours work, then Sue can paint it and ... job's done.!

Ian

Targe 2008 - Update

We put on the "England Expects..." game at Targe as the AWI scenario was postponed for various reasons.

The game was well received - not bad for a two-day preparation game. See http://kirkleescrusaders.blogspot.com/ for some photos.

Not sure as yet what next year's game will be or even who will be available and where we will be staying. I will keep you posted as and when information becomes available.

Ian

Targe 2008

Targe is the name given to the yearly Kirriemuir War games show.
This year it's on the 1st November and I and a few of the Kirklees Crusaders will be attending to put on a demo game again; this time an American War of Independence "what if" scenario called "Race to the Dan". It tells the tale of the American retreat to avoid a frontal confrontation with superior British troops until a more suitable engagement could be orchestrated.
Full details of how it went will be posted on the KC Blog.
Links:
Targe... http://www.kirriemuirwargamesclub.co.uk/targe2008.html
The Dan... http://www.prizery.com/CrossingPage3.htm

The Aquilonian Civil War: Update

I have decided to include the game within the Kirklees Crusaders Blog rather than its own Blog.

The Kitchen - Part 2

Most of it is done and dusted (well not yet dusted, but definitely done).
There's a fair bit of ancillary stuff left: the pelmet, plinth, a few handles, the chrome leg on the end of one worktop, and a little door under the cooker.
I'm having a day of rest tomorrow to do some much needed figure painting for the Targe Show, but Sue and her mum are hoping to put most of the stuff back into the cupboards.
Must admit it looks nice. Dad and John did a really good job of the base units, sorting the electrics and water/plumbing, paving the way for Sue and I to put the wall units up and sort the doots for all of the units.
I'll post a few photos when its finally completed.
Which reminds me, the tiles need to be put on too.!
One day it will be finished... honest...

The Kitchen

The kitchen is in a bit of a state at the moment as we will be having a new set of units installed next week.
All (well, the majority) of the cooking and eating paraphenalia that normally inhabit the kitchen are ensconced in the living room or porch.
Were keeping the Fridge, Washing Machine and Cooker, but may aquire a new Hob.
So there are five base units of various sizes and five wall units of various sizes, an extractor and three lengths of unit to install - oh and a sink.
There is a bit of preliminary work to sort out re the water and electrics, but my Dad and his mate John are on hand to do all that for us which is very much appreciated.
All this means that starting on Monday, most of my normal self-centred gaming projects will be placed on hold until the kitchen is sorted.
Cheers
Ian

Highlander III

Yay, third attempt. Revised the rules again.
This time, there's...

• Two maps; one tracking the PC's through historical periods across the continents of the world, and the New York borough map that I used last week.
• 10 pre-generated PC's each with their own special ability.
• Set Quickening Powers and uickening Points to power them with.
• 60 Event Cards.
• Entirely d6 dice driven system (uses 2, 3 or 4 depending on power use and card play).

Should be fun.!

After tonight then, I can shelve that project and pick up on the final bits of the Empire Esquire campaign scenario's.

The Aquilonian Civil War

The Aquilonian Civil War is a blog that I am putting together that will track the developments of a play-by-email Wargame that I have been working on for many years and finally got round to doing something about...
Here it is... http://tacw.blogspot.com/

Savage Worlds

Savage Worlds is the name of the RPG system I will be using to run my campaign.
Today I bought the rules on PDF from these chaps... http://www.studio2publishing.com/shop/index.php?osCsid=28d809df452aa3aead6e899a30b254bc
...and no, I didn't borrow my "Studio" name from theirs - it's simply a coincidence - great minds think alike. =)

Highlander II

Gone back to the tabletop version.
There was quite a bit of interest but only half a character submitted, so *shrugs* I am concentrating on streamlining the tabletop version.
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Wing Chun Kung Fu

I studied Wing Chun Kung Fu 10 years ago for about 18 months.
I never finished my training (got half-way through the grading system), but let it slip as I had to commute to Leeds twice a week and just couldn't devote the time and effort - that's my excuse.
As they say, a little knowledge is a bad thing, and in martial arts that could be true. Learning how to fight is one thing, but learning how not to fight is another which I suspect would have come with the continuation of my training.
Ah well, never mind, I have never used my skills on the street and hoe I don't have to; they are there for that occasion when 'me or mine' are seriously threatened.
I still do the forms on occasion and there is a bag in the gym which works nicely for the single & chain puches and palm strikes, so I do a little there too.
It is a nice informal system of self-defence (as opposed to martial sport) and I would reccomend it to anyone really. One day I may find a club nearer home and continue my studies... maybe...

AutoCAD

AutoCAD is the name of a draughting software package which I have used in a professional capacity at work for well over 15 years mow - since Release 10 I think it was when I originally got involved.
It is quite habdy for other things than just drawing windows, doors, curtain-walling screens, etc... such as hobby-related charts, forms, character sheets, etc. I love it.!

Highlander

One of my other HUGS projects is a remote-play (play by email) game based on the Highlander movies (well most of them anyway) and the TV series (to some extent).
It should work for maybe 6 to 8 players.
The main objective, surprisingly enough, is to tbe the only survivor after cutting off the heads of the other characters in the game. There are a number of game mechanics to add spice and hopefully make it more than simply a combat game, but in the end that's what its all about.

I have set up a dedicated Blog here...
http://immortal2008.blogspot.com/
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Role-Playing

I am getting back involved with the Huddersfield University Games Society (HUGS) this year, by GM-ing a campaign set in the Victorian era, called "Empire Esquire".

Find out more about HUGS here...
http://www.hugs-site.co.uk/

Find out more about Empire Esquire here...
http://www.hugs-site.co.uk/public/EmpireEsquire/index.htm
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Wargaming

I am one of the founder members of the Kirklees Crusaders Historical Wargame Group.
We play many periods and many scales of figure. Our current main topic is the Napoleonic Wars in 15mm; Peninsula 1810 and Russia 1812.
See our blog here...
http://kirkleescrusaders.blogspot.com/
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Introduction

Hello, I'm Ian.

I have been meaning to get something like this off the ground for quite some time, and finally, I reckon it’s about time I did.

"Hobby and Interest"-wise I have a lot of things I can do to fill my spare time with - wargaming & roleplaying being the two instantly selfish options - but I have other strings to my bow which may well start to become more and more prominent in my life as time goes by.

Like I hinted at above, I am definitely a selfish bloke at heart when it comes to enjoying myself, but I realise the responsibilities I have too... My wife, Susan being the main one.

This leads nicely onto a series of Complimentary Medicine interests which I got involved with about 10 years ago now, when my job was in jeopardy and eyesight went through a sticky patch. I thought of a profession which did not rely too much on being able to see, and found one; I went to the White Rose School of Beauty (as it was then) to do a night class in "Physiology, Aromatherapy & Massage", and I also did their Reflexology course too.

So, back to Sue. Well it's pretty obvious that I had to have someone to practice upon and she was one of the guinea pigs. She enjoyed the prospect of having a masseur on hand (so to speak), but I must admit that I wasn't always happy with the prospect of giving a massage after a day at work (my job became secure half-way through the course but I carried through and passed quite adequately.

I still have the fold-away couch and we used it a few weeks ago at her request as she has had a little back trouble, was stressed-out at work and needed relaxing! It went okay and I remembered most of the moves, but do need to brush-up again. So I am going to put some time aside from doing 'gaming' stuff and concentrate on getting back up-to-speed on my massage.

I desperately need to replenish my stocks of oils as we only really have some base oil and Eucalyptus and the ubiquitous Lavender essential oils at the moment. I also have an idea for producing pre-mixed oil combinations for general purchase as I have some ideas from way back that never came to fruition too. If it all goes according to plan, I may see about doing some hands-on stuff for customers too - but that's a little way off in the future just yet.

Well, there you go, Ian the masseur is back in town!