Sudan Blog

Have not been doing much with Cavenderia the past few weeks, I have been focused on weight loss and a new infatuation, the Sudan Campaign. I have started a new blog www.captainverbeek.blogspot.com if anyone would like to check it out. I will be playing my first Sudan campaign battle this evening and will post about it there. I am thinking of projecting out the history of Cavenderia to the 1880's and perhaps having a fictional Cavenderi Colonial Campaign. In the interim I have base-coated a couple of regiments of Austrian Infantry and French Cavalry to paint up the wife works this weekend so maybe I will get IR-Christie painted and some photos up this week. Promises, promises, I imagine this Cavenderi lull will be over soon.

ciao,

Visit to CharCon 2009

I visited my local gaming convention this past weekend, CharCon, in Charleston, West Virginia. The convention has grown every year and I believe this is the fourth year. I was only able to go to the convention on Sunday but had a great time.

My friends Mike and Keenan were there and I made a few new friends and some possible future opponents. The con is mostly board games and card games but there were some miniatures as well. To the left is a photo of a nice D-day Flames of War game presented by the Kanawha Riflemen gaming club.

I did not play any miniatures games but did play several board games, Wasabi, a puzzle game for up to four players who compete to make different sushi items, very fun but made my head hurt with all of the possible combinations.

Primordial Soup, you are in control of a bunch of amoebas and watch them evolve, fun game but with not much replayability.

I picked up some old Wargames Illustrated magazines, I have been bitten by the Colonial Bug, (thanks Steve and Steve :))and spoke with some great people. I ran an American Civil War game a couple of years ago and am planning to run a Seven Years War game next year.

I have included a few pictures of the con, all housed in one room. If you are ever in West Virginia in October I would definitely suggest you stop by.

I ran into some old friends as well Gary, from the hobby store Danzig Corridor located in Ashland, Kentucky and some gaming friends from the old Huntington Store.

Here is a link to the official web-site.
http://www.charcon.org/ I am sure you can find out much more information there.

I have been painting a little and hope to get some pictures of Cavenderi Regiment Christy up soon.

On a personal note I have lost about 20 pounds and am thinking of starting a new blog about the first Mahdist War.

Ciao

Update

Have been neglecting the blog for a bit. I have started a new weight loss blog and have been updating it daily with exercise, diet, etc. Blogs tend to focus me and allow me to set goals. So here are a few goals for this blog.

1.) Weekly posts at a minimum.
2.) More Cavendarian painting, I have been painting up ACW and medieval 10mm lately
3.) Start working on some terrain
4.) Complete more Cavenderian fiction
5.) Finish the movie of the Reich Dukes visit, old news now but need to complete.

As stated above I have been painting but not SYW, since my trip to Gettysburg I have been painting 15mm Battle Honor ACW and I have been working on some 10mm Old Glory medieval halberdies for a game. I have a new pack of 15mm SYW Austrians ready to paint up as Infantry Regiment Christie so hopefully more Cavenderian units are on the way. I also hope to put up a tutorial on how I paint 15mm figs per a couple of requests. Finally, I need to start planning what 28mm regiment or squadron to paint up for the 2010 SYW convention. I have been enjoying reading all of your blogs in the interim and hope to start contributing again starting now.

One last note, after hearing a newsman refer to Somalian pirates as Somali, I am wondering if the plural of Cavenderian peoples should be Cavenderi.

ciao,

It's here! It's here!!!

It is like Christmas here in Cavenderia. I large brown envelope from Italy arrived today and inside my Dadi&Piombo war games journal.

I was contacted last winter about publishing my "How I Paint 10mm" article and at long last the article is in the magazine. This is my first published article concerning miniature war gaming and I could not be happier that it is in this very fine journal. www.dadiepiombo.com

The editor, Lorenzo Sartori, was great to work with and seeing the article beautifully displayed and translated into Italian is very exciting for me. I was married in Italy so this has been fun for my wife as well.

I hope to publish more articles in the future and this will be the first in my portfolio. Grazie mille, Dadi&Piombo.

Update

Has been a while since my last post, quick update. I have been working on a movie to document the Reich Dukes visit to Cavenderia, as a first attempt the film is taking a while but I hope to have something up soon so the entourage can move on to other imaginations. The Dukas game was played to a satisfactory outcome and I will try and post some fiction this weekend. I have been busy sending out figurines to fellow gamers in Europe and have been working on some American Civil War (ACW) figures for a Brother vs. Brother scenario for Charcon, the SYW western theater stuff will not be ready in time. I will continue to paint the French, Brunswick, etc. for next years SYW convention and am planning on putting together another big battalion for that event, probably Crusador Hungarian Infantry painted as IR-Prinz Geoffrey and maybe a small Hussar unit. I am headed to Blacksburg, Virginia this weekend to help the wife sale T-shirts for the Alma mater (Marshall University) and watch the Herd play the Hokies, free ticket perk for selling merchandise. We will also be going to Cincinnati for our anniversary in a couple of weeks and I look forward to meeting Mark of www.deepfriedhappymice.com fame and Scale Creep minis. I am also starting two (2) new endeavours 1.) a weight loss blog 2.) a gaming company with some pals. The weight loss blog is not for the weak stomached masses as I will be posting photos of my progress, but if you are fat like me I encourage you to take up the challenge. The game company will be mostly small PDF family type games, no war games planned for now and working toward a stable of quality, quick fun board, card and mini rules. We are treating the company as an importer example, if you see our label and liked a previous game you will probably like this one. Sorry for the digressions from Cavenderia. I am also going to try and increase my Cavenderian output both fiction and figs to at least weekly posts. Hope everyone is doing well. If you are ever in Huntington, West Virginia shoot me an email, we will have a drink. Almost forgot my article for Dadi@Piambo is out with the fall issue excited to get my copy.

ciao,

Trapped in Fairmont

After having a wonderful time in Gettysburg this past weekend my lovely wife dropped me back at the hotel in Fairmont for one (1) more day of work here. However, do to unforeseen circumstances I will once again be staying in Fairmont, the hotel staff and I are on a first name basis. Hopefully my work will be complete tomorrow and I can return to my wee castle were stacks of metal figures are begging to be painted.

Once I am able to return home I can proceed with Cavenderian reports. I hope everyone is well and at their homes.

ciao,

Trip to Gettysburg

Quick update, I have been working out of town in Fairmont, WV this week. I am currently in my hotel room typing up a quick update. I will be going to Gettysburg, PA tomorrow and am very excited. I have been to the battle field once before but this time we are going to have a battlefield tour and visit with family from New England who have journeyed down to meet us. I have been reading Gettysburg a Testing of Courage by Noah Andrea Trudeau. It is an excellent read and has refreshed my knowledge of one of America's most famous battles. I highly recommend the book. I will be back working in Fairmont next Monday and home Tuesday, I hope to present the Reich Dukes visit pictorial and a story on the Rescue attempt of Dukas next week. I will also be checking out the hobby store in Gettysburg I have read about on line, forget the name right now. That is all. I have missed painting this week, forgot to pack some minis and paints for the hotel. Oh well, time to get ready for dinner. If you are ever in Fairmont I highly recommend Murial's Italian restaurant http://www.murialesrestaurant.com/ that is were we will be feating this evening.

ciao,