Out of the blue, Sean of
Sean's Wargaming Corner has nominated this blog for the Liebster Award! Which is rather flattering as nominating is the same as granting in this case, as there is no committee that meets to present the award.
The Liebster is a bit of Internet fun in the form of a Bloghop, where you can share links to blogs you have discovered and enjoyed. Having new readers suddenly discover your blog through the recommendation of one of your readers is always very encouraging for a blogger, especially if you are new to blogging, or your blog doesn't see a lot of traffic. The recognition of one's peers in the bloggerverse does tend to bring a sense of acceptance and accomplishment.
The conditions of the award are that a nominee must also nominate 11 other blogs, of under 200 followers, and link back to the nominating blog. I have linked to Sean's blog above, and have really enjoyed the
Rally Round the King battle reports he has posted on the excellent
Talomir Tales campaign blog as well.
In choosing my nominations for the Liebster, I decided that as well as having under 200 followers, I should also select blogs that had posted within the last two months. Therefore, I hereby present my 11 nominees, in no particular order. (and if I didn't nominate you, my apologies, I tried to get to those who haven't already been nominated and whom have posted recently).
Highlander Studios. Rodrick Campbell is a talented miniatures sculptor and his work is sold both through a webstore attached to his blog, as well as through such fine companies as
Rebel Miniatures. It's always interesting to see what he is working on so I enjoy following his blog.
I Fly By Night. Clash Bowley designs roleplaying games. Like Rod Campbell of Highlander Studios, Clash has that wonderful ability to take an idea and bring it to life. Clash very much marches to the beat of his own drum, but I enjoy both the thought processes he describes in working on a game and its setting, as well as the game play descriptions of those fortunate enough to test his games.
Glue in the Carpet. GJD posts on both wargaming and painting. Always worth a look.
Crawdads and Dragons. Doc Grognard hasn't been posting as often as his want, but he still has his
Traveller/D&D beta rules available on his blog for folks who like
Traveller game mechanics, but prefer Fantasy.
Ancient Faith in the Far Future. Library Bob is a Librarian and a
Traveller player/Referee. Recently, he has been casting a critical eye over the
Amber Zone adventures that were a feature of the
Journal of the Travellers' Aid Society, back when it was an actual paper magazine. Very shrewdly, he points out both the strengths and weaknesses of each adventure, as well as exploring how he might change them to incorporate them into his
Traveller campaign. Bob's insights reveal a lot about what works, and what doesn't, when approaching scenario design. Bob has had several of his own
Amber Zone adventures place well in the annual
Zhodani Base Amber Zone competition.
"It's Them! Blast 'Em!" Black Widow Pilot, as well as being an enthusiastic contributor on TMP, and an excellent painter, is an inspirational scratch builder. If you've ever wondered how to build space ships, landers, or tanks out of household offcasts and craft bits, check out this guy's blog.
Colony 13. Nicholas has recently started playing
5150: Fighter Command and has posted some battle reports. He also blogs about other THW games. Reading about other people's games is almost as good as playing them - almost.
Delta Vector. evilleMonkeigh is a very experienced table top gamer. His reviews of various rules sets are well worth reading in that he often succinctly encapsulates in a few short paragraphs what others take pages to write. I don't always agree with his conclusions but I have learnt about the style of game he likes from what he has written. He has also posted some excellent terrain-on-a-budget articles which are always worth reading.
Gypsy Knight Games. Gypsy Knight Games produce 3rd Party material for the Mongoose version of
Traveller. While Gypsy Knight has a presence on both Facebook and G+, this is the site to follow if you want a headsup on material they are bringing out.
Jay's Miniature Enterprises. Jay is a painter and gamer and storyteller. There are at least two story threads running through his games, and I'm beginning to suspect that the threads will come together in the future. Jay is also a very nice guy and often makes positive contributions on TMP and in comments on other blogs.
John Bear Ross. You can't look far amongst 15mm Science Fiction vehicles without coming across John Bear Ross' work - particularly mecha. Most recently, his work with
Critical Mass Games and
Rebel Miniatures have been high lighted. John's blog is always worth a read and he often talks about the design work behind his creations as it is being released for sale.
My answers to this particular award's list of questions are:
Why did you start blogging?
To motivate myself to keep painting, and to share the fun things about my hobby. And sometimes, someone says something like, "wow, that's cool, thanks for the inspiration" and that makes it all very special.
If you could change one thing about the wargaming hobby, what would it be?
Accentuate the fun stuff - that's why we do this, to have fun.
What is best in life?
Fame or fortune?
As "Fame is but fleeting", I would have to opt for fortune - as then I could buy more shinies..
What miniatures are you most proud of having painted?
Of the many figures I've painted, these
Kaamados Dominion Draco Aganath Battlesuits are amongst those I'm most happy with.
How do you deal with burn out?
I tend to try and do something else, and different - hence my current foray into 15mm Fantasy - though.too many projects can have its own negative effect.
Why is a raven like a writing desk?
"Poe wrote on both" is my favourite answer, even though Lewis Carroll did state quite firmly there was no real answer for the question.
Star Wars or Star Trek?
Star Wars - I still vividly remember the scene aboard the
Millennium Falcon where Han and Luke man the turrets and fight off the Tie fighters. Star Wars, to me, is
Traveller - the way I like it.
If you could only buy from one miniature company from now on, which one would it be?
Most likely
Ground Zero Games as I can get space ships, vehicles, aliens, droids and troops from one shop. And Jon's service is still the best.
What is your favourite takeaway?
We don't eat a lot of takeaway any more, but a steak burger and chips from an old style Fish and Chip shop is still my favourite.
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