My Comicpalooza Prep

So I thought I would post a little about what I will be doing at Comicpalooza in Houston on the May long weekend.

Mike Varhola of Skirmisher Publishing and d-Infinity Magazine and d-Infinity Online invited me down a while ago and asked if I would like to get in on running some the 40 or more gaming events that Skirmisher has planned for the Con. I jumped at the chance. Knowing my interest in skirmish level miniatures games and miniatures in general [if you have read my blog before, you might know that I sculpt miniatures for the gaming industry] he sent me a copy of Skirmisher's Chevauchee rules for skirmish gaming in the Hundred Years War. I read the rules and started to think about scenarios.

There was one little problem - I don't own any figures for the Hundred Years War. I wasn't even sure I could order a bunch and get them in time to paint them all for the Con. So I looked around at my selection of minis. Now you might think that, as someone who sculpts figures for a living I would have a lot of figures - you'd be right! I have hundreds, probably more like thousands, packed in boxes, in their original packaging, half assembled, or just lying forgotten on the sea floor.

OK, I am set right? Wrong. As just about anyone who turns their hobby into their living will tell you, it takes over your life and becomes something that you don't do as much in your spare time. Combine this with the fact that I am self-employed [which, in addition to working for a jerk, means that he never gives you any time off] and you can probably guess how many of those minis are painted.

So I had a little work to do. I decided that I would use a few of the monsters that I had painted up for various purposes [RPGs, displaying some of my work at Conventions, etc.]. To these I needed to add a bunch more and come up with at least one scenario to run. it didn't take me long to decide on a set of fights between some viking brigands and the hunters sent out to destroy them. I had a bunch of figures that I had sculpted up a few years ago and this would give me an excuse to pull out the paints again.

That much decided, I thought about the scenario and the forces I had, and worked out some special rules to tweak Chevauchee for viking mayhem. I added some basic magic use and spells, because I wanted to have a magic using type on each side - enter Groa the Seeress and Vald Wolf-Biter.

I had some monsters I was going to use to pad out my forces, and add some fantasy viking elements - I chose a werebear, a troll, a half-troll warrioress, and I happened to have a viking type hero mounted on a wingless drake. Fine, now I needed rules for all that. Chevauchee had nothing, since it is a historical ruleset, and here I was trying to shoehorn in fantasy stuff. But the rules the system does have are solid, so it was actually quite easy to manage. Adding some extras I came up with, like regeneration, to already extant troop types gave me the basis of the troll and werebear. Buffing the stats on other troops types accounted for the half-troll and the drake mount.

Finally, I wanted to add in an element of fate, something that was very significant to the mindset of the Northmen. So I came up with a basic rune power that each side could play once per battle, with an attendant cost, something that the Norse understanding of the universe suggested strongly - you get nothing for free.

Currently, I am part way through my painted and other duties. I have:

• painted about 15 figures, with another 4 part painted and 6 more to go.
• Begun work on a long hall model for one of the scenarios. I have a notion to make a few other settlement bits [fences, etc.] I'll see what I have time for.
• Sculpted the rune tokens for each sides Rune Power.
• Familiarized myself with the rules, and hopefully have written a set of add-ons for viking stuff that is evocative and playable.
• Sculpted and painted a treasure token for one scenario - a treasure chest that has a certain viking flair.
• Gather a bunch of terrain that I will take down for the sessions.

More I need to do:

• finish painting figures - berserkers, ulfhednar, Vald and a mounted hero.
• Find a way to stand up the trees that I have for wooded areas.
• find a figure for Groa the Seeress. I still have not got a figure for her. I do have a figure for her in raven form, which she can adopt through one of her spells.
• Finish the long hall, and any other terrain.
• Print out rule summaries and play aids for the players at the con.
• Pack all of it securely enough that the airline baggage trolls do not eat it.
• Playtest the scenarios and the rules. I really want to get to this one. but the other stuff has even higher priority.

I will probably come up with some more things to do and fret about. That is all I can come up with for now. I plan on posting pics of what I have done, as it gets done. Also, the Scenarios and special rules will be detailed in the upcoming issue of d-Infinity Magazine [issue 6].

Stay tuned for more. Of course, if youa re going to Comicpalooza, which your should if you are anywhere in the western hemisphere, drop by and chat, and play. I have events Friday and Saturday afternoon.

Cheers!