PTS 97-99 + Hero Quest + Space Crusade

A distinguished gentleman + Ducati.

At last, Painting Table Saturday episode 97 (98 and 99). It has been a month to remember, with struggles and triumphs. There hasn't been a lot of painting though!

As an ambassador for Blue September, I have been to various fundraising events as a speaker, mc or performing with my blues band. This year's campaign was amazing. I am always inspired by the people I meet during Blue September.

Marti Wong with Sagittarius. 

Yet another inspiration was seeing my friend Marti prepare for an art exhibition. It opens on the 1st of October and he was working long hours to make the deadline. Marti is a keen gamer (mainly Warhammer 40k) and a fine musician.

Marti's workbench.

His exhibition of metal sculptures is called Mythologica and is much like a D&D monster manual, with fantastic creatures. There is a centaur and a minotaur, even a dragon! Steel work is exhausting and I am sure October will include a well deserved rest.

Karl and I used to 'hurry up and wait'
on film sets back in the day. 

A first time life experience was the Crossfit Masters at Dynamite Onehunga. It was a day of personal bests! Mainly because I had never competed in anything like it. A day of unexpected pain and joy. An awesome event. The atmosphere was that of a music festival but with healthy food. I met a few old friends and made some new ones.

Training for the Crossfit Masters was made more difficult because I was also battling the flu. I'm not sure if I have ever been so sick for so long. This made my day job (teaching music) hard also. Around four weeks with three different phases of sickness. I felt for my family and many in the local community, as they came down with the flu too. I am happy to be in good health again!

After a great gig at MOTAT for the Distinguished Gentlemen's Ride I caught up with my cousin Aaron during his sound check at The Kings Arms, the last date of his Nation of the State Aotearoa Tour 2015. If you haven't heard of AHORIBUZZ then do a Google and get your freak on.

So what of my painting table? For the last few weeks it has mostly been gathering dust. This partial neglect hasn't been all bad. After all, it's not as though my life is lacking creative expression. I do enjoy the quiet peace that comes with painting though, so expect some photos for Painting Table 100.

However, it wouldn't be a Painting Table Saturday post without some miniatures to look at, so here are a few photos from the last few weeks. Oh, thanks also go to Lewis for the gift of Space Crusade. More miniatures to paint!

God bless you and have an awesome day!

Wizardry + Bards Tale

Often I'm reminded just how awesome the 80s were. Especially when it came to gaming. I'm writing this post on a smart phone but computers were way cooler back then. On the Apple II, my friends and I were playing Wizardry! The pioneer of computer role-playing games! Later would come The Bard's Tale, and a host of other classics. Wizardry was the game which inspired all the others.

A dungeon crawl with a party of characters, exploring a (pseudo) 3D maze (which you mapped yourself with pen and paper), with monsters, traps, treasures and puzzles. A quest to slay an evil mage and save the world!

It also was like playing D&D. You could roll up characters for your party from familiar classes; fighter, thief, mage and priest. They could be a human, elf, dwarf, hobbit or gnome. Their attributes were close enough to be familiar too: Strength, I.Q., Piety, Vitality, Agility, Luck. Later you could upgrade characters to one of the elite classes: Lord, Bishop, Ninja, and Samurai!

I also played the next two titles in the Wizardry series. Completing each was difficult but you could import characters. Cool. Then Electronic Arts brought out The Bard's Tale. And you could import your Wizardry characters! More adventures! More mapping!

Which makes me wonder... where did I find the time? School, paper run, brass band, orchestra, swimming, lifesaving, soccer, lawn mowing, wood chopping, scouts, odd jobs, Tae Kwon Do, painting, drawing, writing, running, gaming, break dancing... er, anyway, misspent youth?

Wizardry was worth it.