Cancon For Hippos: Bookings now open!

As mentioned previously, I will be running some master classes at Cancon 2015. Well, the Canberra Games Society have beaten their website into submission with a large whacky-stick, and the ability to book into these sessions now exists!
You can go and check out the sessions on offer here (towards the bottom of the page)
You can go an book sessions here.
Places in each masterclass are limited to ten rabid patrons (non-rabid patrons may be turned away), and you can sign up on the day, although that costs more, and there may not be enough materials, depending on how much I can cram into Greg's car, while still leaving room for the Cookie Monster and Pete, and (more importantly) a change of clothes.

For those who cannot be bothered clicking links, these are the sessions that will be running:

Saturday Morning: Concrete Bunkers
Saturday Arvo: Corrugated iron slum shacks
Sunday Morning: Timbered cottages
Sunday Early Arvo: Topiary
Sunday Late Arvo: Creepy trees

UPDATE:

The Victorian school year starts unusually late in 2015, which means I can run sessions on Monday.
Monday Morning: Fantasy Watchtower
Monday Arvo: Steampunk Factory

Thanks to Pete the Scatterlaser for wrangling accomodation and allowing this!
Rousing cheers all round.

2014 Critmoose Special: Critmoose Treeses

Hail oh Hippo Fans! Have you been thinking of buying a christmas tree only to realise they cost more than the gross national product of a small European nation? Do you wish you could put your terrain building skills to decorative use? Are you seeking a way to introduce the little hippos to terrain making? Behold! Grot in a santa suit with the solution!

And there you have it Hippo fans! Sorry about the image quality, I was experimenting with taking the photos on my phone, which struggles with taking pics of my cat for some reason...

Gippsland Geekfest 2015

I am now basically beholden to mention

mostly because it explains what I have been doing lately, but ALSO because you should go. Oh yes you should. Even if you are not from Gippsland. Or Australia. Or Earth.
Okay, maybe if you are not from Earth you can give it a miss.

Gippsland Geekfest 2015 is something I agreed to help organise after I got fed up with the literary festival. I mean, a literary festival does not give one enough opportuntity to throw things at other things and build scale replicas of things which do not exist.
Geekfest does give one many opportuntities to do these things. Behold the immortal words of our mission statement-ish thing!

 For countless eons of time the geekly population of Gippsland was without form and purpose, without organization and without a single, unifying event to bring them together to glorify and praise all forms of geek culture. And then into this darkness strode a shining colossus of colossal shininess, and looked upon this dreary situation and declared ‘Let There Be Geekfest’ in words which bore almost no resemblance to thunder.            And there was.            And it was good.            And Geekfest was dedicated to the glory of all things geek in Gippsland. A place where learned and scholarly debate on which doctor is best, which captain is supreme and which fantasy is worthy of being considered final could happen. A place where men and women of all ages could dress as fictional men and women of all ages and be greeted not with cries of derision, but with rousing applause. A place where a man could wield 40,000 Warhammers. A place to debate the merits of different spandex-clad heroes. A place where the Lion-o could lie down with the LAN. A place for all punks, be they cyber, steam, diesel or atom. A place of geek pride.            And thus it shall be on Saturday 17^th of January, 2015, when Coal Creek Community Park and Museum hurls open it’s portals and extends it’s welcoming arms to the massed hordes of Geekdom, and the inaugural Geekfest commences. Events of great moment and magnitude shall occur; demonstrations of Wargaming prowess; participation role-playing sessions, displays of cosplaying excellence, steampunk sartoriallity, and medieval mayhem. And they shall occur in an atmosphere of supportive and all-embracing tolerance. And they shall be family friendly and shall inspire coming generations and grizzled elders alike to take up that greatest of mantles which is the title; Geek.

Enough beholding! Go check out the website!

Oh yes - I said this explained what I've been doing lately instead of posting ishoos...

Well, apart from the recent comissions, I have also been working on making a 2 foot square full modeled up terrain board replica of part of Coal Creek. Which you will have to attend Geekfest to see.

Or wait for me to post photos online. 

Which I will not do till AFTER Geekfest.

So I guess you're back to going to Geekfest again.

Terrain For Canconists: TFH masterclasses at Cancon 2015

Those notorious tournament-y convention-y thing running men, the Canberra Games Society have asked me to come and run some masterclass-y workshop-y things at Cancon 2015! We still finagling details with powerful finagling sticks, but so far, it looks like the following will be happening:

• Concrete Bunkers (with removable roofs and interior detail)
• 40K Orky ramshackle huts/slum huts
• Timber framed cottages
• Topiary
• Creepy Trees

Students (their term, not mine!) will need to provide some of the materials and tools used, since I will be traveling many hours to reach the workshops, and space in my luggage is limited. Places in each session are limited, and they also cost monies. A quantity of monies as yet undetermined. Who knows, actual meatspace Grot might even put in an appearance!

The Campaigner Issue Ten

Behold mere Earthlings, I have risen from my grave (ie: remembered about my blog) and bring news of the Tenth collection of the utterances of Mr. M. Lee esq. among other men of ill repute, published under the corrupting cognomen of 'The Campaigner'. Yes indeed, dear reader, once more can you read my words on the printed page and with far too many footnotes! Let the joy bells ring!