Greetings faithful readers! As you look at the past few months on the blog, content has been the usual fare. We've had some painting, some reviews, some new releases, and some battle reports. Just another year in a long line of years at Blood and Spectacles Publishing. However, things are going to have to change around these here parts. I have some big news that will impact the business side of things, as well as the personal side of things.
Many of you probably recall that last year my Skumgrod and main wargaming compatriot packed up and headed off to college. During that time, my family and I packed up a lot of stuff and downsized our lives. There was talk about moving the war room out of the workshop and even moving it inside. However, as time passed my wife and I decided on an even more radical choice. It was clear that we no longer needed a 3 bedroom and 2 bath house with a small homestead to go along with it. I had not gone into the upper story in months!
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| Mini versions of my wife and me. A gift from my RPG group |
Therefore, we decided to sell our house. However, that was not the radical change. We managed to do this in Mid-January and have been packing up and getting ready to move since. The content on the blog has been steady all through March. It is pretty normal as the content on the blog tends to lag behind what is actually happening real time by a month or two. However, in real-life we spent all of February and early March moving. There was almost no painting, gaming, or much of anything hobby related happening at all! The magic of the Internet!
Now, here comes the real radical part of the plan. Everyone is asking me where I am moving too. The answer is that I am not moving anywhere. I am going mobile for a bit. I have a converted shuttle bus. My real, everyday corporate job is remote. I have the luxury of working anywhere there is an internet connection. Now-a-days, internet connections can be mobile too. I am taking Blood and Spectacles Publishing on the road! I plan on doing this until I get called back to an office, I get sick of roaming around and being homeless, or I find a place I want/need to settle. I expect we will mostly be the RV equivalent of couch surfing with friends and family across the continent.
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| Just an ordinary looking Shuttle Bus |
Now, this means that my wargaming lifestyle will have to change considerably. Before I had the luxury of a permanent wargaming room with an 8 by 4 table with storage space below. I could set-it up and play whenever I had a chance. I had plenty of room to store and display miniatures, play games, and store terrain.
Nearby, I and a few others had started a rather successful wargaming group called the True Crit Gaming Guild. In that time, three local stores had sprouted up to help support tabletop gaming and painting. I also had a weekly RPG gaming session, and access to a Board Gaming Night every quarter. Going mobile would cut me off from all of that infrastructure that I had worked very hard to build. In fact, this would be the third or so time I had built up such a solid gaming support network local to me. It is not easy to do! Now, all of that is gone!
Of course, this big life change leaves me and probably you with a lot of questions? How will I continue to paint stuff? How will I be able to make games? How will I get to playtest and review games? How will I be able to do battle reports? All great questions that I do not know the answer to yet.
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| My WIP bin for travelling |
Well, the easiest way we can help each other is by becoming a Patron. One of the biggest issues I will have while on the road is getting help playtesting games. I normally had a tiered approach where my Skumgrod and Local club helped iron some of the details out. With access to those resource reduced or gone, that leaves me in a bit of a pickle. However, I have been posting WIPs and early releases to my Patrons. They have been very helpful with editing, playtesting, and other post-production feedback. Plus, I post a lot of playable games that will never get further than a draft stage for a lot of reasons.
In addition, I put together a "Mobile Painting Station" to help me stay on the backlog. I will probably feature that a bit more in future Blog content. However, suffice it to say I still expect to be painting even though I will be on the road. I also packed a few games to read and review while on the road. Plus, I am hoping to get more time writing as I spend less time doing chores on the homestead. We will see!
By being Mobile, I also hope that means I can figure out how to do some Meet and Greets, do some more events. go to Conventions and maybe meet some people "in the wild" to play more games! I would love to tour and visit various stores. I would love to partner and meet with various war gaming and RPG groups. If you have any suggestions as I post about where I will be, let me know!
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| The War Room all packed up! |
