Analog Space Invaders

I've been spending my staycation decluttering, expanding the shelving space in the the theatre room, hanging art, and just generally trying to make our spaces more organized and liveable. 

That's how I rediscovered a cheap "Space Invaders Bowling" game I've never played. I don't even remember where it came from. I was going to throw the whole thing away, but then I decided to prime the neon "pins" black and dry brush the alien images green. Now I can create or enhance some gaming terrain with them. 

I think these are the first things I've painted since Mom first went to the hospital last year. 
 

Whitemud Flood

Pete, Jeff, Mike, and I enjoyed a hard-fought but ultimate futile battle against the forces of evil in a rousing game of Dark Tower Returns. 

I chose my route home poorly, for tonight's storm flooded the Whitemud, adding an extra 45 minutes to my drive home from Mike's place. 
 

First Landing

Jeff was kind enough to walk me through setting up my flight stick and throttle for Microsoft Flight Simulator tonight, and he also gave me a quick flying lesson. My first landing--an attempt at Leaf Rapids airport--was a near thing. I thought I was going to make it, but I came in a bit too high and too fast and ran out of runway, hitting some rocks and flipping my Cessna upside down. It was a survivable landing, but not elegant. 

My second try, captured above, was much more successful. True, I used up almost all of one of the runways at Edmonton International, but not only did I walk away from this landing, I was in a decent position to taxi to a parking spot. And flying with the sun in my eyes, no less! 

I really wish Dad could have seen both landings. He certainly would have laughed at the first! And I think he would have been pleased with the second. 
 

Giant Killer Robots: Heavy Hitters

Earlier tonight, Jeff, Mike, Stephen and I engaged in a kind of cyberpunk gladiatorial combat by way of the board game GKR: Heavy Hitters. The arena: the ruins of a nuked city. The combatants: four pilots driving giant killer robots. This was only my second time playing the game, but it's as fun as I remember; both strategy and tactics are crucial, but luck, of course, plays a role too. I made a couple of dumb mistakes, but enjoyed an exciting go-for-broke last stand sort of maneuver that let me go out with some semblance of pride, if not a victory. (Indeed, I was eliminated.) Jeff eked out a one-point win over Stephen, but it was close all around. A fun night. 

 

That Miniaturized Director I Like Is Coming Back in Style

I used Hero Forge to design and print a 28mm-scale David Lynch, complete with coffee and cherry pie. 
 

Ms. 38

 

Cheeky Jackbox

"Why is Earl like that?" Good question, wrong answer. 
 

It's a-Me, Earlio!

And Sean-io. 
 

DC Boardwalk

One might toss some jacks; caltrops for kids
Bounce ball on boardwalk
Grab jack
Second ground, grab two
And so on
Bonus points: ball colour
Perfectly matches wall colour
Ghosts peer through obsidian panes
Nails squeaking against glass
But the kids don't hear
They've reached tensies
And Harpreet has one chance to win
She scoops--she scores. 
Time for ice cream--the wall inspires Neapolitan
"We're all out of chocolate strawberry vanilla ice cream" 

Burger Barons

What if there was a video game in which Sean and Earl had to satisfy long lines of customers at a local Burger Baron? 

DANGER LIVE BRAIN MAD HUMAN

In this jar a living brain
A silent scream its one refrain
While I consider, stern and smug
My floating captive in its jug
"This would give me
A whole lot of negative karma in Fallout: New Vegas" 
 

Two Views of a Glow-in-the-Dark D6

 

Ballerino

 

From 3D HeroForge render to sorta photorealistic Gemini image. 

Bush League

In Villains and Vigilantes, you create characters by assigning a certain number of character points to your primary attributes (strength, endurance, agility, and so on) and by rolling on a series of tables to randomly determine your age, background, species (!), sex, super powers, and weaknesses. Then you're given some flexibility to change the results around a bit to create a hero that fits a certain theme. 

For the next V&V campaign I'll be participating in, I've created Bush League. Fresh out of high school, Preston Spender is a tall, strong, good-hearted kid; he's a natural athlete and enjoys spending time as a volunteer for  local search and rescue services. But then, one day, everything changed...(I don't know how Preston got super-powers; that will be revealed by the game master). 

Preston rolled the following powers and weaknesses: 

Experience levels (gives him an edge in succeeding at certain tasks) 
Heightened endurance
Armor
Willpower: pain resistance (difficult to knock unconscious) 
Physical ability: inertia (can't be knocked backward, so I made him a catcher on his high school team) 
Special weapon: baseball bat
Prejudice (many of his peers think he's a dumb jock)
Poverty 

The combination of my random dice rolls have resulted, I think, in a potentially interesting and capable hero. Maybe he's bush league for now, but he's just getting started; the big leagues might not be far off. 

 

Maximus, Helmet in Hand

Maximus, helmet in hand
Crossed the nuke-blasted desert
Wrapped in a cloak of steel
Not his own; 

Maximus, hammer in hand
Fleeing his conscience
Chasing glory
Every ghoul and mutant and raider
Just another nail in his coffin

Wasteland Minuteman

Soda Can Turrets

I painted a pair of 3D-printed turrets made to incorporate soda cans. Cute! I'll use them for Star Schlock objectives. 

False Paladin Maximus

 

Bad Dog, No Biscuit

Here's the Fallout: Wasteland Warfare version of Dogmeat inspired by the one we see on the recent television adaptation. Here we see him feasting on a human hand and wrist. You eat what you can get in the wasteland. 
 

Gatorclaw

Here's something I painted a while ago but never shared: a fearsome gatorclaw for Fallout: Wasteland Warfare. 

Someone didn't read the sign.