Hope for Anglalond

For some time now the men of Rohan have defended the lands from the increasing incursions of Scandinavian invaders.  Their blood has been spilled on foreign soil fighting savage northern heathens when they should be back in the Riddermark protecting their own folk from the forces of Saruman.  But they are an honorable people and refused to leave the field of battle ere reinforcements arrived.

That time is now.....

I've finally gotten my hands on a couple of boxes of Saxon warriors for my Age of Blood games.  I've been playing several scenarios (in between watching massive marathons of Tour de France footage) using my warriors of Rohan to represent the Anglo-Saxons in their struggle to resist the raiding hordes of Norsemen.  While the Rohirrim proved to be an acceptable proxy, the games simply did not feel right without proper models on the table.  That is soon to be rectified however.  Only one more night of cycling before I can get back to painting and hopefully get these brave warriors on the field before the next wave of longships appear on the horizon.

Speaking of the Tour de France, congratulations to Cadel Evans.  Well played Aussie.  Well played indeed.

March Hobby Matrix - Hobby ADD

It's that time of the month again when I get to plot my hobby flights of fancy.  Fortunately, this month was fairly easy due to the lack of change on most items.  March is historically a very busy month for me and this one has certainly lived up to expectations.  It seems like every spring-breaker in the world has come to the Keys to escape the winter blues and I feel like I have somehow taken every single one of them offshore to dive or snorkel.  With little free time available for hobbies, not much could possibly change... or could it?


Looking at the matrix, most everything dropped or remained the same.  I am not sure if the lack of upward movement was due to the changing winds of fortune or simply the fact that I was so busy and tired during the last thirty days.  Almost half of the original nineteen categories saw decreases with LotRO dropping the most.  I have not been online the entire month and do not foresee doing so for another week or two at least.  While I would like to blame my absence in Middle-earth completely on work, I would be dishonest with myself if I did so.  The truth of the matter is that I have been burned out for quite some time on the game.  While I've never logged more than a few hours a week behind the keyboard, even that has been a burden.  I hope my hiatus from the rapidly deteriorating RP on Landroval refuels my love of the game and my kinship.

Only two items saw gains this month and both were big winners.  With the long awaited start to HBO's adaptation of George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series less than a month away, anything and everything related to Westeros is finding favor with me.  Not only have my Wildings and Jon Snow miniatures finally moved forward in the painting queue, I have also dusted off both versions of RPG's based in Martin's world - the out of print A Game of Thrones from Guardians of Order and A Song of Ice and Fire Roleplaying from Green Ronin.  If the series is anything like the trailers, I can only see this category continuing to rise in the rankings.  

Starts April 17th on HBO.

 The other gain is actually a new item and could quite possibly become a new obsession.  I have been reading about one gamer's creation of a viking raiding party for several days now and have been green with envy over the miniatures.  Those that know me well are aware of my love for all things viking and anglo-saxon. They also know my tendency to favor skirmish style wargaming over larger set piece affairs.  Well, when said gamer posted the rule set he was using with his viking warband, I was suddenly caught in a perfect storm of dark age bliss.  Age of Blood will no doubt become a favorite of mine in short order.  I have already ordered small warbands of Anglo-Saxons and Vikings and have started the planning process for a model longship. Damn that fateful post!  

Without further ado, here is this month's hobby matrix:
 

Current Obsession - Scenery and Terrain
Past Obsession - Legends of the High Seas
Looming Obsession - Age of Blood


Lord of the Rings SBG = 7*
Warhammer Fantasy = 4-
Warhammer 40K = 5-
Pathfinder RPG = 4*
A Song of Ice and Fire RPG = 8+
Flames of War = 3-
Wings of War = 6-
D&D 4ed = 2*
D&D 3.5 = 4-
D&D old school = 7*
Axis and Allies War at Sea = 5-
Legends of the High Seas =9*
Terrain and Scenery Design = 8*
Miniature Painting (general) = 8*
Lord of the Rings Online = 3-
Pirates of the Burning Sea = 3-
Pirates of the Spanish Main = 5*
Pirates of the Spanish Main RPG = 6*
Ambush Alley = 5*
Age of Blood = 5+

(The scale is 1-10 with one being the lowest on the current interest scale and ten being the highest.  "-" indicates a negative trend and "+" indicates a positive while "*" signifies no change from the previous month.)