Not much to say. It is the year of the rabbit.

We had twenty-twenty, twenty-twenty-won, and twenty-twenty-too.

I for one welcome our new annual overlord and hope that 2023 will be a hoppier, fluffier, and cuter year of the bunny.

You know how there are universal kind of 'Dad' sayings? You know the ones I'm talking about. Maybe parent sayings, more than dad ones, but same idea.

"Close the fridge door, you'll let all of the cold air out."

"Stop hitting your brother, he's your brother whether you like him or not."

"Stop fighting with your brother! One day he might be gone and you'll be sad you were mean to him!"

"No running in the house!"

"Hey, stop playing with your food!"

That kind of thing. I always knew I would be saying those one day...

...

...

...

...what I didn't know is that I would be saying them to my cats. That first one, especially. I don't know why Raja seems to think he needs to stick his nose in the fridge every time I open it. S'not like new cheese will magically appear, but getting him out of it again so I can close the door is... well... I say that first one a lot.

Hmm. Last year I made a simple one. Buy a waffle iron and actually use it.

This year, we're going for something a little more complicated. See the details of my challenge here: http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/9363532/

To summarize, it is simple. Paint 100+ points of minis each month and post pics on FA. Doesn't matter which army, doesn't matter which game. AoS, 40K, Kings of War, WFB, ANYTHING. We pick a theme each month, and paint at least 100 points of minis to that theme. That's it.

Anyone else want to give it a try?

I will be the first to admit that I'm not a big fan of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic. I managed to watch almost the entire first season, but there was something about it that just didn't click with me. And that's okay. Doesn't change the fact that Magic: The Gathering is apparently doing a charity release of three MLP:FIM cards.

https://www.ign.com/articles/2019/1.....et-for-charity

I don't play Magic anymore, and I don't really want to get these, but there are people out there who do and will want to, so heads up!

Seriously, people, it's for charity and a decent cause.

So I'm finally over the last of the Shingles virus as of last week, and what happens? I catch the cold going around work. Apparently the Shingles virus did a number on my immune system. Yay me.

Anyway, between Shingles and this cold, I haven't been doing much for the last few months. My big bad Wauugh machine has been put on hold while I try to figure out how to design and build the front end. I am back to tinkering with my Space Skaven, a.k.a. the Skaviir Dominion. If people are interested, I may post a spoof Codex (which would, alas, be sans pictures because I can't draw for beans and have no money to commission pics) here on FA.

I am also back to working on the Laughing Pack, my not-quite-Beasts of Chaos army. If anyone has any suggestions for a mini that works as a Gnoll Shaman, I would appreciate such suggestions. Couple of quick notes: I have all the Reaper gnolls, they're too big. The old D&D Chainmail gnolls are still a little on the big size, but closer. However, no shaman-like mini that I'm aware of. I have the Gnoll Apothecary from Frostgrave. He's actually too SMALL. Next option: try to scrounge up the money for the Otherworlds Miniatures Gnoll Shaman.

Seriously, any other suggestions?

So there's this annoying commercial on television that plays all the time, trying to convince people to get the Shingles vaccine. Never really gave it much thought, honestly. I'm beginning to think I should have. About two weeks ago, I woke up from a nightmare at 3 in the morning with my back on fire. I honestly thought I'd slipped a disc. It wasn't until two days ago, after developing an odd rash on my chest, that my doctor explained reality to me. That back pain was the initial sign of the shingles virus, embedded in the muscles in my mid-back. I've got a rash that wraps from mid-chest, in a band about three inches tall, across my right side to my back. Apparently, it infects a band of muscles on your body, and if not kept in check quickly, can spread even wider than that. Now, I've had other injuries and illnesses. I've dislocated my shoulder, broken bones in my feet, had arthritis and ACTUALLY slipped a disc before. So far, I think this is more painful and unpleasant than ANY of those.

Imagine this: Take that area affected by the virus. Now, pick 20 spots in that area, mostly on my chest but some across the back, under my arm, and so forth. Those spots feel like someone is jabbing a thick needle into my body at random intervals. When they don't hurt in sharp jabs, any area with the rash has that low-grade painful burning kind of feel you get when you scrape a few layers of skin off. ADDITIONALLY, the entire area also ITCHES like nobody's business! Unless you SCRATCH it, then all the itching turns into that painful burning, only more so.

Now remember that this started in my back. Directly opposite the rash on my chest is a muscle in my back that has been infected by the virus. That muscle is tensed up and won't UN-tense on its own, sending spikes of pain through my back when I try to move, and exhaustion and a deep throbbing ache when I'm not moving.

If THAT wasn't enough, remember this is a single muscle group - at random intervals, the pain spikes from the rash on my chest will sync up with the pain spikes from the muscle in my back and send a sharp jab of pain directly THROUGH my body, from front to back, going directly through my right LUNG. When that happens, my breath is forced from my lungs in a gasping burst of shock that makes my wife think I'm annoyed or irritated, when in reality I'm having issues catching my breath.

To summarize: Painful, itchy, bleeding rash on chest; deep ache in muscle on back; rash under my arm; spikes of pain in my lungs. Anything else? Oh yeah, I can't SLEEP more than four hours at a time because of this, so I'm exhausted and sleep deprived on top of everything else. The shocks of pain through my lung is mucking with my asthma as well.

So given all that, you'll understand what I mean when I say that muscle relaxants, however mild, are my friend right now. The doctor gave me a big freaking horse-pill to bring the actual virus under control, which does seem to be working. He also gave me a mild muscle relaxant. With the tensed muscle in my back relaxed, the pain in my back is mostly gone. The shocks through my chest are mostly gone. Most importantly, I can SLEEP now. Really, it is amazing how much better a good night sleep will make you feel. :)

Dere was storiez. Den... den I tried ta make a GROT story... whuttaya fink?

So I finally managed to get interested in working on the Grot army again. I tried to work on the Skaviiri, but I just... can't... I don't know why.

So as you can see, I have started my new Age of Sigmar army: A brayherd made of gnoll miniatures. It is coming along slowly due to lack of funds, but I'm not in a hurry to add to it.

As for the grots, right now I'm trying to finish projects I'd started earlier. That means finishing the zepplin (done except for paint now), making/obtaining 4 more squigs (to put dakka on their heads), and other fiddly things.

I re-discovered a pile of old metal Warhammer Fantasy (night) goblins that were in deep deep storage (at my sister's house - I'd forgotten about them), and will be adding them to the grot army, because I can. Lots of fun minis in there. Each grot infantry (troops) unit will include its own banner bearer, and it turns out I still have Gubbinz da Goblin Jester! Not sure what he'll be, but it'll be a character of some kind. I'm open to suggestions.

Hmm... that is a good question. The Grot Wauugh has been put in storage for the time being (largely because my brain associates that army with food poisoning at the moment - don't ask). I'm tinkering with my Skaviir, but... something is missing.

I haven't really played Warhammer Fantasy in over a decade. I think the last time I played was 5th edition? Maybe 6th? Since it isn't even Warhammer Fantasy anymore, that kind of dates my fantasy wargaming a little. :P

So I've decided to make a new army, this time for Age of Sigmar. Some of the people at the gaming store are tinkering with it, so I should be able to find an opponent for the occasional game. I'm not going to go overboard with this, largely as I can't afford to. I contemplated several options. I tried remaking a Dogs of War army for (the fanmade) 9th edition of Warhammer Fantasy, but that kind of fell apart. I tried making a Tzaangor force, but while the minis look nice and have nice stats, they're kind of a pain to build, they have limited conversion potential, and I don't like painting them either. (double :P )

So for the last week, I've been perusing the Deathrattle. Undead skeligtons with wight commanders. Huzzah. Went to the game store today to BUY some. THAT was a waste of time! No GW skeletons, or battleboxes, or starter boxes (all sold out). Mantic Games make some nice skeletons (which are a better deal), but my local stores have them as special order only. Turns out it isn't a good plan to start a new undead army when they're bringing a new expansion out for that force. Go figure.

So instead... well... I'll let the pics tell the tale...

WAUUUUUGH! (Hoo... hah...) Wot iz it good for? Keepin' ORKSES BUSY!!!

Heh.

Seriously, I have officially been working on the Grot Wauugh for about 6 months now. I'm having a lot more fun making these little conversions than I thought I would! So far, I have almost 1500 points of Gretchin-y Wauughness. Well, 1481 anyway. 19 points away. Oy. I need to find another squig or two.

YES, I have squigs in the army! I made up some homebrew rules for using Squig Herds in 40K. They're not the most useful things in the army, but they're a good distraction for my opponents, who seem to think the squigs are more dangerous than they actually are. If I had MORE of them, it might be different, but right now I only have 4 squigs and 2 Squigherders. Oh well.

The next pics of the army I post will (hopefully) be of painted minis. 1500 points is a good stopping point for now. This is partially because I have FINALLY worked through most of my stocks of sheet and rod styrene that I've piled up since the late 90's. I have to buy more before I can build anything, and I'm not in a hurry. When I do build more, I'm toying with some Biker conversions. I turned two of the grot tanks (the old #s 11 and 12) into Zzap Gun tanks and have the gun to build another, so that's in the works, along with at least one more Killaphract.

But don't think I'm going to avoid actual furry stuff! I'm working on an AoS army of Tzaangor, as evidenced by the Old Goat! I'd like to get some actual painting done on them before posting anything, but I plan on posting those reasonably soon!

Alas, for now my Skaven in Space are on the back-burner. As I found out in a recent game, it doesn't do you a whit-load of good to have 15 Command Points if you don't have anything to SPEND them on! Renegades and Heretics are technically IG, but most of the Strategems in the IG Codex don't work on my Skaviir, so... *shrugs*

Oh, and stories. I do have some SFW stories I should work on for posting here at some point... auuuugh, so much to do, so little time.... ^OO^

An Ode to Thanksgiving...

Harvest time has come and gone
We've gathered in our crops
Tho in times past it meant much more
Now we eat till we pop.

Long ago, we gave our thanks
For those who helped us live
We feasted to toast the harvest time
An' plenty it did give.

Now though the meaning is slightly lost
In shopping and Football
We kept the feasting and thank our stars
When our team doesn't fall.

With family we gather, or maybe friends
And manage best we're able
To give some thanks for what we have
While gathering 'round the table.

Some time I fear we all forget
Just where tradition hails from
'Cause after feast and game are done
We raid the malls to get some.

But I'm not bitter despite my words
Traditions change with time
I just think we should all give thanks...

...but preferably not in rhyme. ;)

I'm working on a conversion for a new Big Mek character. I want to make a mekka-grot to be my Big Mek, and have been trying to source some orky-looking mechanical legs that aren't too big to look good with a goblin. Preferably a four- or six- legged chassis of some kind. If I have to, I'll "orkify" the bottom half of a Reaper drider and add some gears and mechanical bitz...

Zo today da boys an I waz drivin trou sum rooins, roight? When we found dis funky circle fing, like a weird door. Den dese poncy gits come outta nowhere an' attack us!

Grots vs Eldar:

This was a very even match. I had my 2 units of tanks, 20 grots, a big mek with oiler, a wyrdgrot, and the megatank.
My opponent went classic Eldar. 1 Warlock on a jetbike, and 5 each of the following: Striking Scorpions, Swooping Hawks, Howling Banshees, Rangers, Dire Avengers, and Warp Spiders. Seriously. Some might call that Elite-heavy or something, but that is a CLASSIC Eldar formation: Lots of Aspect Warriors. VERY traditional Eldar army. I highly approve.

I killed: 5 Swooping Hawks, 1 Striking Scorpion, 2 Dire Avengers, and 1 Warp Spider, in addition to putting a wound on his Warlock.
I lost: 1 Grot tank. Two others had 2 wounds each, and my megatank lost a wound. The megatank worked wonderfully! It was single- handedly responsible for wiping out the Swooping Hawks and hurting the Scorpions.

It was a VERY close match! I was kicking his butt in shooting, but he was getting me back in melee. We only got two rounds in before I had to leave due to the time. If you want to be technical about it, Eldar won. When we had to call it, the Warp Spiders were closest to the objective marker (4" away). 6 markers, random 1 in 6 chance for it to be the right one. I guessed wrong and was out of position by the time we found out which was the correct objective marker.

Mind, that was only two rounds in. It could have gone either way if we'd had more time. Ultimately, I had to call it due to time, but up until that point it was one of the BEST games of Warhammer 40K I'd played in almost two decades! It. Was. AWESOME.

Roight. So da boys... er, grotz... whatevva. We wuz testing out da tanks for da foist time, right? Annyway, dem sparkly 'humie grey knight gits tellyported in an' shot everyfing ta pieces!

Wull, cept for da skorcha tank. Dat took sum damage but survived...

Seriously. Grey Knights with Celestine AND Daigo in 1000 points? Ouch. I need more grots and more ... well, just more. Gonna make me a Gorkamorka-style Big Lugga kitted out as a Battlewagon for the next build. At least, that's the plan.

Oh, and I finally managed to get some PAINT, so I can paint da tanks! Wauugh. Now, where did dat bottle 'o red paint go?

So after two weeks of tinkering, scratchbashing, kitbashing, and five broken hobby knife blades, I have created the nucleus of my new ork army, Wauugh Zodoff!

Zodoff was an ork Big Mek who worked for one of the Warbosses fighting with Gahzgull Mak Thraka on Armageddon. During one battle, he fired a shokk gun at a titan at the same time the titan fired a big zappy gun back at him. The two beams collided, and everything went black. Zodoff figured he'd died, so it was a surprise when he woke up again! He was on a new world, a place where Orks had long since defeated the Imperium forces.

But when he woke up, he couldn't remember who he was. All the ork Warbosses he approached told him to 'zodoff,' so he assumed it was his name. Eventually, he hooked up with a grot mek named Lugnut, who guided him to a secret place in the mountains. It was an abandoned 'humie racetrack, where the grots had been gathering to hold tank races!

Zodoff fit in great there, helping the grots with their tanks and building the occasional killa kan or dread shell in between races. After a while, he began to invite local ork warbosses to watch the racing (which, btw, involved contestants shooting at each other during the races). Betting arose, and with Zodoff's help the grots run a popular betting track and black market for salvaged parts.

Recently, some of the warbosses have begun to hire Zodoff and some of the grot racers as flanking support during attack runs against Imperial (and other) forces in the sector, so it isn't uncommon to see them shooting at Imperials, Chaos, or Tau, instead of each other...

Right.

So after 24+ years of working on my Skaven in Space, I have decided to try my paws at working on a new army. In light of this information, I wish to point out three important things.

1: Having played Astra Mili... IMPERIAL GUARD, Marines, Chaos Marines, Eldar, and Tau over the years, I have opted to do something I've been toying with for almost 5 years now.
2: I don't play Warhammer 40K to win. I play to amuse myself.
3: This army is NOT meant to be taken seriously!
4: In other words, I'm in it for the laughs.

With those four things in mind, Have fun and a few laughs looking over the start of my new Ork army. One unit of Grot Tanks!!!

Huh...

So I finally get my Renegades and Heretics army ready for 7th edition, and what happens? GW puts out 8th edition. Not a big deal. I got the books, reworked my army, played a few games...

...and came to five conclusions.

1: Harlequins are back to being nasty opponents again. They haven't been THIS elite since 2nd ed.
2: Don't let Harlequins go first, if you have the option.
3: SHOOT THEM!!! A LOT!!!
4: Actually, I like the new rules. They're a little simpler, don't get me wrong, but it does streamline gaming! The games I've played in the last few weeks (1000 pts) would have taken 2+ hours in previous editions. Took all of an hour to play the first, INCLUDING setup, and a little over that for the second game.
5:.... I've been playing Renegades and Heretics (well, my Space Skaven not-IG army) for a long time. I started this army in 1993. That means I've been working on it, off and on, for over 20 years. I'm getting a little tired of Astra Militarum/Renegades and Heretics. I'm not going to get rid of them, don't get me wrong! I've got over 2000 points of army, fully converted! But... I need a change, away from Chaos and the Imperial Guard.

Expect something different here soon... once I figure out what different is, anyway...

It is official, I am a published author!!!

The Mask of Bone, Otherworlds Book I is now available for purchase through Amazon, Barnes and Noble.com, and the iUniverse Bookstore! Currently only the print version is available, but an ebook version is coming!

http://bookstore.iuniverse.com/Prod.....k-of-Bone.aspx

*does a happy dance!!!*

The holidays are upon us! That means it is BAKING SEASON!!!

So, today I tried to make pumpkin bread. Pumpkin, raisins, gluten-free flour (I do actually have a mild form of celiac disease), and many others went into a bowl in the proper order. I suspected something was wrong when I mixed the batter.

It took fifteen minutes longer than expected to bake, but it DID bake. I de-panned the loaf, let it cool, and then tried to lift it from the cooling rack on to a plate to slice it.

The loaf broke into three pieces. :(

Taste-test:
On the PLUS side, it tastes quite good. Hint of cloves and cinnamon, lovely pumpkin flavor, and the raisins are a good accent.

On the minus side: It melts in your mouth. You take a bite, and the insides are so moist it practically melts. Now, this might SEEM like a good thing, but I consider the texture to be an important part of a loaf of bread, and bread shouldn't have the texture of pudding on the inside!!! ^o0^

Lesson learned: Too much moisture in the batter = pudding bread. Still edible, still tasty, but feels weird on the tongue. :P

Ah well, on to experiment #2 (next week sometime - I'm hosting Thanksgiving, so Thursday my oven will be full of turkey).

So...

Several people brought something important to my attention recently. I am getting a novel published.

A PG-13 novel.

As a result, it was suggested that I probably SHOULDN'T have mature/adult-themed stuff on the FA page associated with a character from my stories. Therefore, I will be moving all such stories (and the relevant pictures) to my new account for such things.

Should you wish to read those stories, look for my alt  Felarr_Lenasi

I have begun to repost Lioness in Leather there as of today, and posted a chapter of a new Blackrock Station story as well.

But first, an apology.

There has been a slight delay in getting out chapter 8 of Bookstore Blues. I try and post a chapter of SOME story every other week, but have been distracted by something rather important in my life. For those who don't know, back in 2001 I started writing a story called Otherworlds, which eventually turned into an almost 800-page monstrosity of a novel.

At the time, I was working closely with  mjriv1 and posted the story on his story website, the Raccoon's Bookshelf. We did a small-press publication (spiral-bound) of Acts I and II back almost a decade ago, but never managed to get further in publishing the story.

Well, my wife decided that I've been sitting on that story for too long, poked me with a stick, and I spent five years doing a slightly more massive re-write and compilation of Acts I and II into a new story format, which is in the process of being published professionally. It will come out in book form (I hope) by the end of the year as The Mask of Bone: Otherworlds Book I.

Wish me luck, I'm going to need it...........

A couple of people have offered conversion advice for my Space Skaven. I appreciate the suggestion, but I really don't need them. You have to keep in mind that I've been working on this army for almost two decades now. I started the army in 1994 or so (when I was in High School) by giving laspistols from a Necromunda weapon sprue to some of the single-pose plastic Skaven Clanrats, and I've been converting minis for the army ever since.

Ergo, I have posted pics of the "complete" army. I say this, because no army is ever complete. Obviously, this one needs paint, for example. My goal is to "fill" a force deployment chart for a standard "Mixed Arms" doctrine. Right now, I have: 1 HQ, 1 Elite, 4 Troops, 2 Fast Attack, and 2 Heavy Support. I am waiting on a pair of Heavy Mortars I ordered online, but that will just swap one heavy support option for another. To fill out that deployment chart, I need: 1 HQ, 2 Elite, 2 Troops, 1 Fast Attack, and 1 Heavy Support. If I can scrounge up one more Rat Ogre to convert into a Chaos Spawn, that will give me 3, which is enough to field a unit of Chaos Spawn as an Elites unit.

Now for the sad part. See that picture? That's 170 rats, JUST in the Troops units and HQ!

The really sad part? All of that? 1892 points without the Rat Riders, and swapping the incoming Heavy Mortars for the Support Squad in the pictures. Rough army total: 2000 points.

I am in need of shotguns. Specifically, the shotgun arms that almost NOBODY uses from the Space Marines Scouts plastics. Anybody have some they don't need?

I have a model railroad.

Kind of...

Right now, it is mostly in boxes, save for those things I am tinkering with. The wife and I have moved three times in 8 years, but we're finally settling down in one place, so having tackled most of the major repairs on the house (leaving only minor ones that I can do gradually), I will be setting up the trains soon. I have already bought the benchwork supplies, and am working on the space the layout will go in, on two walls of the game room - not a BIG space, about 8.5 feet long and 5 feet wide in an "L" shape, but better than nothing, right?

I am modeling in On30. For those who don't know, that means "O" scale (1:48 or 1/4"=1'), (n)arrow gauge, 30" track centers. Standard gauge is something like 56.5" between railheads. 30" gauge isn't common in the states, but was used fairly regularly in Europe (sort of - 760mm is close to 30"), and especially in British Colonies around the world. Sierra Leone's entire railway system was 30" gauge at one point. REALLY wish I could find some pictures or a book about THAT. :P

I am freelancing, which means I made up the background for my railroad, or railroadS in this case. The Faux Islands (pronounced Faw-kiss in the local dialect) are somewhere in the Pacific Ocean. They were colonized by the British, who built several small railroads on the Islands. Colonial narrow gauge (30") was chosen as the required standard, and most railroads built were industrial in nature. The Faux Islands were a hereditary Barony in the British Empire, but after the Second World War, the population dropped off and most of the railroads were mothballed, excepting the one connecting the capital settlement of the Islands with the big fishing port on Greyhaven Island.

In modern times, the new Baron has decided to take a more open hand in trying to revitalize the islands. The Greyhaven Tramway (GHT) is still running a mix of steam and diesel (but mostly steam as oil has to be imported), and the Cassaberry Area Traction System (CATS) was electrified long ago to serve the Fortress-town of Cassaberry, the Island chain's capital. There was a small line running to the town of Aberfelinya (currently mothballed and heavily storm-damaged), several lines running into the interior (mostly mothballed but some damaged from storms, rockfalls, and so forth), and two private industrial lines that still run sporadically: one to the sugar cane (or beet, I haven't decided which) plantation on the big island's North coast, and one from Cassaberry's port to the island's main electrical power station.

As the Faux Islands have no domestic oil production, diesel power is not a cost-effective solution, and steam locomotives are still in use on the Greyhaven Tramway. However, they are old and parts are hard to come by. As the island chain DOES have a good supply of native copper ore, the new Baron has decided to electrify the rail system and tying them all together, starting with the CATS (which as a trolley line was already electrified) and adding various other lines as resources permit. The Greyhaven Tramway will be electrified LAST, if ever, and may be kept under steam as a tourist attraction.

Now, you might ask yourself, "how is this Furry in any way, shape, or form?" Well, honestly, I have a lot of non-human miniatures I want to use on my model railroad, and the Faux Islands had another name, long, long ago. The Islands of Doctor Moreau. There will be cat-people, kobolds, jackal-folk, crocodile people, and so forth on the islands, though they tend to restrict themselves to the big island, in the town of Aberfelinya.