The Next 59 Days......

To All,

I am in the midst of a break from 40K to work on the second edition of a set of rules I wrote called Gnome Wars. I have been running Gnome Wars games at HMGS conventions for nine years. (The miniatures that accompany the rules are available at http://www.brigadegames.com/)

For Cold Wars I am going to be putting on a Gnome Wars Event with Eric Jacobson and Kevin Jacoby.  On Saturday afternoon at 3 o'clock we will be running 3 interconnected games:

S-211 - Gnome Wars: High Seas

Sat. 3:00 PM, 4 hrs, 8 players

GM: Kevin Jacobi with Jim Stanton and Stout Gnomes

Sponsor: Brigade Games, Prize: Gnomes!!

Age of Piracy 28mm, Rules: Gnome Wars!

The landing parties have headed to shore to get the treasure. The

members of the crew that stayed on the ship must try to keep it

afloat and free from rival crews, ghost and zombie crews, and

pirates. Hoist the black flag and load the cannons!

S-210 - Gnome Wars: Treasure Island

Sat. 3:00 PM, 4 hrs, 8 players

GM: Jim Stanton with Steven Stanton and Stout Gnomes

Sponsor: Brigade Games, Prize: Gnomes!!

Age of Piracy 28mm, Rules: Gnome Wars!

Standing in the shade of the palm trees on this uncharted island,

looking down at the faded map in his hands, Lon the Lunkhead felt

a tad uneasy. Was the map real? The answer to his question was

just a few feet below his shoes. Lon drew a thin breath and ordered

his gnomes to start digging.

S-212 - Gnome Wars: The Raid on New Providence

Sat. 3:00 PM, 4 hrs, 8 players

GM: Eric Jacobson with Jim Stanton and Stout Gnomes

Sponsor: Brigade Games, Prize: Gnomes!!

Age of Piracy 28mm, Rules: Gnome Wars!

The British Marines are planning a raid on New Providence to look

for pirate scum. What they don't know is that there are more than

just pirates with "business" on New Providence and the marines

are just pissing them off.

Cold Wars is March 8-11^th. I usually pack on the Wednesday before the convention so that gives me 59 days until I need to be ready. Over the next 7-plus weeks my intent is to chronicle the preparation for these games.

My immediate concern is the High Seas game. My vision for the game is to have 10 or more ships battling it out. Of course the problem is that I do not have any ships at all. So my first step in getting ready was to get together with my buddy Chris Dubuque, known in the 40K world as Jawaballs, and come up with a quick ship. After a few hours of clay work we came up with something that will be serviceable.

Last night I started working on the Gnome Armada:

                                         The Mold:

                                         Smooth On:

                                         The Mix:

                                         The Pour:

                                         The Set:

                                         I made 8 ships:

Unfortunately I attempted to make all the ships in one night and ruined the mold (the side ruptured). Jawa told me that the mold needed to cool down between pours. He is (grumpily) working on another sculpt and mold for me.

The Stout Smurf