I had been merrily beavering away, gathering the necessary troops, fauna and terrain to get everything ready for my first game in mine and Steve’s shared world project entitled The Age of Unreason, when I was made aware of some information that effectively scuppered my plans.
Apparently, Steve had already prepared and been playing a long-term campaign based in and around Maine and Massachusetts, set in this particular era, and had detailed locales, characters and adventures on file.
And did I find this out from Steve himself? Nope. A mutual friend made me aware of this, as Steve was far too polite to tell me himself, although he did try and drop various veiled hints regarding this…
People who know me well are aware that subtlety is wasted on me. I’m a pretty straight-forward guy and if you want to say something to me, just say it. Understandably, these ‘hints’ went over my head.
So, here was me, waxing lyrical over what my plans were for my Dark Haven thread, not realising that I was effectively breaking into his house, making myself at home and tracking mud all over his nice clean carpets.
Not cool, Jez, not cool at all…
Now, I could continue as I had initially planned, but that would be both inconsiderate and selfish of me, and that’s not who I am. The whole point of a shared world is that it’s shared, so everyone collaborating within it should respect the work and effort put in by other parties and not tread on their toes.
So, what does this mean for my part of this project? Well, it means that you will no longer see a small detachment of the Massachusetts State Militia being sent to into the North Maine Woods, to investigate the strange happenings in the township of Dark Haven.
Instead, Captain Nathaniel Hunt will be leading a small unit of the Virginia State Militia on various missions across the state – dealing with escaped slaves from tobacco plantations who have ‘gone native’, cursed coal mines in the Blue Ridge Mountains, raids from members of the Powhatan Confederacy, Appalachian black panthers, sasquatch and the most famous cryptid of the region…Mothman.
Whilst the latter has not yet had a figure made by any of the various companies out there, I do own my own scratch-built miniature of this creature;
And now I have an ideal excuse to use ‘him’ in my games! Yay!
Now, whilst tomorrow brings the beginning of the creative juggernaut that is Forgotten Heroes 2018 (details of this can be found here), this does not mean that I will be solely focused on creating my ‘Forgotten Hero’ – I have Virginia State Militia to assemble and paint, in their hand-me-down Virginia State Regiment uniforms. Good thing I have plenty of red and blue paint… 😉
Until next time…
Carrion Crow's Buffet 
This is simply superb stuff and has me quite excited at the idea of a second setting based in the somewhat notoriously eclectic state colonial administration of Virginia. I have images of The Culpepper Cattle Company, Mad Maxine and her Winchester gang, Calamity Kate and Wild Bill Hershaw (Wilderness Bill they call him)… mind you I`m sure Kate and Bill are Black Hills of Dakota, not Virginia hehe.
But it is our Mothman that most grabbed my attention, not only the idea of him. and the mental image, but it is the home made model which caught my interest. I have always been most impressed by anyone who can make their own personalities, monsters and general unique pieces for their games, rather than go out and buy someone else`s rendering and charging you for it. Why should an official piece have any more game worth than a one off homebrew creation? No, Mothman strikes the bell, raises the inspiration a notch, and makes me go Ooo enough to feel inspired to get down to something sitting on my table which I need to finish (i.e. Shelob of Cirith Ungol ). Your Mothman looks just right, and somehow sparks the imagination in just the right places. I`m rather dash darn it impressed actually <– *said in best Calamity Kate drawl, while slapping her thigh for emphasis and chewing on a stale cheroot*
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Thank you, Hils. Once I found out himself had already mined that particular area, it was just a case of finding somewhere ‘else’ to stamp with my own peculiar brand of weirdness. I looked at the various States that were around at that time and started reviewing their suitability. Kentucky was first on the list, but didn’t grab me. However, Virginia had the right mix of terrain and history, so that’s where I picked. I will have to read up a bit more on it, to ensure I get the flavour right, but it’s looking like an ideal spot.
As for Mothman, this was my first attempt at sculpting – way back in 2006! I had to look it up, as I knew it was a while ago, but didn’t realise quite how long ago it was. Blimey…12 years ago. I think it as compared to the Loony Tunes character ‘Gossamer’ and the Yetis from DW at the time, but most agreed it did look like the illustrations made from eye-witness accounts.
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Well golly gawd damn it, you made me wish I was playin` in the good ol` cotton pickin` South now as well.. I know the name my officer would have… Colonel Sanders (finger lickin` good) lol. Cotton Plantations, tobacco fields, runaways and truculent in`jins, all makes for the most perfect setting. I shall have to look to my laurels I think, and get to work bringing my Massachusetts alive and kicking into the game – with a bang (maybe a small whimper lol).
I simply LOVE Mothy, wow did you really make that yourself? I`m dead impressed actually. Well done Jezz. Now where`s mine, I want one too hehe. Hey if this were a game of Clix we could be sitting round now going “Bet my Pennywise could waste your Moth… man?” “Can`t!” Could too!” “Yeah well Captain Hunt would beat them both, so there.” *chuckles*
Love it.
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Virginia does give a few more options than Maine regarding the type of things I can bring into play. I had been eyeing up some plantation houses from Sarissa Precision, but felt they weren’t appropriate for Maine. Now I can have plantations AND cabins in the woods. Will need some tobacco fields though…I’m sure I saw a tutorial somewhere to make really cheap ones.
And I thought the Jersey Devil was top of your list of cryptids? *makes note – “add Mothman to Steve’s want list”.
Captain Hunt could possibly beat them, but has other more dangerous stuff to deal with first.
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{{{ I thought the Jersey Devil was top of your list of cryptids? *makes note – “add Mothman to Steve’s want list”.}}}
Oooh yes, want both, that’s true.
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Fancy traipsing mud all over the carpet Jez, you’ll have to get the vax out ! LOL
Your mothman sculpt is fantastic, and as you’ve made it yourself I’m sure you’ll get more enjoyment out of using it. The mothmen are a very interesting inclusion, as there have been sightings of them world wide and one of the oldest was Aborigine cave paintings in Australia
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Thanks Dave. The first time I’d attempted to sculpt ANYTHING. I didn’t know what was possible or not, having no frame of refetence, so just kind of went for it. Constructed purely from paperclips and Milliput and sculpted with a wooden toothpick. Not bad for a first attempt.
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Oh gosh yesssss, I`d forgotten about the Aborigine cave paintings Dave, very true very true.
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Actually, I wasn’t aware that it had cropped up in Aboriginal art. I shall have to check that out.
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Oh well the best laid plans as they say, it’s so easy when enthusiasm is high to get carried away and forget someone else is in the mix, especially when you aren’t actually there with each other to bounce ideas about. This looks like it might end up the ultimate game of “play by mail” ever, even though you aren’t waiting for each others turns (if you see what I mean).
Mothman is great, you’ve shown him on here before haven’t you?
Seriously might have to make one of them myself, after FH
Cheers Roger.
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Hi Roger, haha that’s right, its sooo easy to work blindly in the dark when a big sea separates our continents and islands with miles of bumpy waves.. and various sea monsters abound. It was quite funny actually, he had absolutely no idea I had been puddling about in his proposed setting for years (check out Emperor Versus Elector Imagi-Nations hehe) but he had so many good ideas and such enthusiasm, that silly old sod here (i.e. me) didn’t have the heart to say “errm, Jez, its been and is being done, in fact here are al the maps and everything *chuckles*. But I must say his speedy jump to the south and his letters to me telling me snippets of his plans, has inspired me no end. Sooo many good ideas he`s got up his sleeve. Hmmmm, he Jez! Fancy switching with me, I`ll have the south and you have the north east coast?
Play by mail might not be such a bad idea either ^^
And once again, yeah Mothman is simply SUPERB He`s perfect in fact.
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Ha ha, so right Steve, one thing he doesn’t lack is enthusiasm (or mad ideas!)
Oh hell, the more I see that Mothman the more I want to make one now!
“Must resist till July,Must resist till July, must resist till July, must resist till July”
Cheers Roger.
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Mad ideas? Me?! Yup, sounds about right…lol
And you know you WANT to…what’s one more sculpt done during Forgotten Heroes? Although, I am speculating that we might see a certain winged MOTU figure being done on your blog. Of course, I could BEE wrong… *tee hee*
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Flight yes, of the bumblebeb, though sadly no.
Cheers Roger.
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Intrigued now…but I guess I don’t have long to wait to find out what/who you’re doing.
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The slight problem with this was Steve’s used to people picking up on his subtle hints, whereas I expect people to just tell me if there’s issue. He’s just too polite.
Still, it’s all turned out alright in the end.
And no, Steve. Virginia is MINE now. You’re welcome to visit, but probably best not to carry a lamp after dark – apparently the wildlife is attrated to open flames…lol
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Not just a tiny switch, maybe…… Massachusetts is lovely this time of the year I`ve heard *hands him an apple*
eyes the fly repellent spray carefully.**
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Ayuh, Mister Stevie, them blackflies kin be a real pain in the ass this time a’year. Heard the clam chowder is mighty good eatin’ tho’
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Bummer you have to switch. Great you are already running. Perhaps with scissors. Can’t wait to see more!
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To be honest, Harry, all the models I have so far wil work just as well in Virginia. As the wolves I have are relatively small, I’ll just paint them up as Coyotes instead.
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hehehee
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Best laid plans and all that, still lots of new ideas to work on now and great to hear that Motorman will be playing a part in all the wonderful madness.
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Thanks Michael. The new setting does give me a few more options…i am tempted to see if I can work Laurel and Hardy into it somehow.
And I think you’ll find that Motorman (half man, half car) haunts the car plants in Detroit, Michigan rather than Virginia.
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