Current obsession

So for the last 7 or 8 years or so, I've been hooked on Heroscape.  This is a miniature wargame, but it has some added benefits for someone like me who has limited time to devote.


First, the figures are pre-painted plastic.  No painting or assembly required.  Painting figures takes a long time to do well, time that I don't have.  Pre-painted figures are ready to play right out of the box.  Which is great, because I don't want to spend hours painting figures before they are even ready to use in a game.


Second, the additional figures after the main set are not blind purchases.  Clear plastic on the front lets you know exactly what you are buying.  This way I don't waste my time getting a whole heaping load of some unique character that I can't use more than one of.  Star Wars, Warcraft, I'm looking at you!


Third, and this is really the best part of all, the game setting has a built in mechanism for using miniatures from other games.  The characters in Heroscape are all brought to this one world, Valhalla, by a one of a number of individuals (started out as 5 but grew to 7 over the development of the game) who use special powers to bring these heroes from worlds all across space and time!  So, while no characters created by Hasbro or Wizards of the Coast were tiny green, three-digit-per-hand masters of a mystical force, there is no discontinuity added by my bringing in my Yoda Star Wars miniature into the game.  All it takes is a little ingenuity for translating the stats for the figure in its original system to the Heroscape system.  Check out these images of the Star Wars "Yoda on Kybuck" stat card and the new Heroscape card I created.

Original Star Wars stat card

My Heroscape version, created using Magic Set Editor by Rusty Keyes (available on sourceforge.net) with a heroscape mod by BMacZero (also available on sourceforge.net), and images edited in Gimp 2.6.

Gaming without geeking out

Gaming has been a small part of my life, but for a long time now. I started when I was about 12 years old, and now, 19 years later, through high school, undergrad, and grad school, I'm still doing it off and on.


At the same time, it has never been a primary focus or interest. My education has always come first, and now that I'm a father, my primary focus is my family.

And yet, it is something I'm into, and it is such a rich area. But if your only sort of into it, it can feel overwhelming trying to keep up with things. This is my way of recording what I do and enjoy, with all the limits imposed by being a peripheral or casual gamer.