A helpful map

This is the world my brother William and I have been working on as a background for our 20mm Hordes of the Things project. I've been reading the original Conan stories of Robert E. Howard lately, so this world bears a less-than-coincidental resemblance to his Hyborian Age. (Dad claims we should call this one "Myboria.")

It's also a handy guide to most of our existing 20mm plastic projects--past, present, and planned--as most of them have fantasy counterparts. There is a general divide between the "classical" and the "medieval," marked by the Mystic Mountains.

In the East, Dad's Punic War figures double as Meshkalon (Carthage), Taresso (various Carthaginian allies), Dumbrovii (Gauls), and the Volscian Republic. (Rome, of course.) Herculios and Damavand are reserved for his theoretical Greco-Persian Wars troops. The Antediluvian Cities are home to my newest army, while their opponents the Dinotopians live on the mysterious southern continent. The southern desert is full of isolated oases where lost cities inhabited by the last decadent remnants of vast prehistoric empires and sinister priest worshipping dark gods. (Like I said, I've been reading a lot of Robert E. Howard lately.) These can incorporate my Bronze Age troops; Dad's Egyptians have a home of their own in Amunabeb.

The West is a little more speculative. William wants to get some medieval Spanish and Moors for Valencios and Alqabar, and we've started painting up some fairly generic medieval fellows for the fairly generic medieval states of Jouncelle, Brandarth, and their neighbors. Until then, Dad's old Airfix guys will have to fill in. The Lichwood is home to my brother's undead army and a few of their barbaric allies. We have quite a few medieval Russians sitting around unpainted for Varislova and Novgobirsk. Kurmiz and Tarkhaan are my Mongols, who I am thinking about upgrading. (The originals were done seven or eight years ago, and are no longer up to my current painting standard. The Dreadmoors are full of orcs, goblins, and miscellaneous unsavory types. Elariëa is the home of the engimatic Elves, who Dad may paint someday.

We managed to get to the store today, so I have some more wire--that means more Antediluvians in the next few days. (I also found a set of machine guns for some more Mbotese technicals, so it was quite a successful trip...)

Catching up

It's been a few weeks since I put one of these together, but it's been a busy few weeks. First I was up in Lake Placid, New York, for my brother's ice dance competition. Then I turned right around and headed out to New Mexico to visit my mother and grandmother. All well and good, but it hasn't left me much time for miniatures work.

Above: Kayaking on Lake Placid.
Below: Hiking in New Mexico.


One figure I did get done before heading out was this guy, intended for a dinosaur-themed army for Hordes of the Things.

Here he is with a couple of other stands. The tyrannosaur and the riders' raptors came from a Jurassic Park III boardgame. (Incidentally, if anyone has a copy of "Jurassic Park III Island Survival Game" sitting around, let me know--I could use a couple more raptors.)

Finally, we have a couple of stands of Mbotese militia. I picked up a few scruffy die-cast trucks on Ebay to build additional technicals, but I'm seriously lacking appropriate heavy weapons to arm them. In the meantime, these guys are pretty entertaining to paint.

So what's next? Well, the Hordes army is almost done, so I may end up playing a bit of that. Mbotu needs more work if it is going to have any shot at liberating its unsuspecting neighbors from counter-revolutionary oppression. And I have a second Bronze Age army to finish up as well--I haven't painted a chariot in a while...

Testing the atmosphere

It's a blank place, a lifeless surface without even an impact crater to draw distinction to its face. An entire world to be filled with the hodge-podge of my life, from the trivial to the profound. Not too much of the latter, probably.

So who am I, the current sole inhabitant of this place? To be honest, if you're here you probably have some idea of who I am, but I'll throw this out here anyway.

My name is Norman. I was raised on the banks of the Susquehanna, in half of a house which held more books than the local branch of the public library. That's where I am right now, as a matter of fact. I earned a degree in chemical engineering at UMBC; my diploma should be here in the mail any day now.

I enjoy reading, cooking, games (of many sorts: board games, card games, paper-and-pencil roleplaying games, and miniature wargaming, to name the most significant), leisurely walks through interesting scenery, and wearing hats. Other interests include airships, prehistoric creatures, and the history of the Hittite Empire. Any or all of these might get discussed at further length somewhere along the line.

That's probably enough to go on for now.