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Kereminde

@kereminde.bsky.social

160 followers 50 following 3.4K posts

"Temet nosce" This is the only warning: I'm into a variety of games and writing. I post weird stuff here as an amateur, mature stuff elsewhere. BattleTech, tabletop roleplaying, Pokémon, and similar hobbies are fair game to be represented/discussed here.

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Kereminde @kereminde.bsky.social · 7h

I think... it's a good examination of Theodore and how things shaped his life.

It is not necessarily a good narrative on the setting.

Kereminde @kereminde.bsky.social · 7h

The saga of short stories about Mountain Wolf BattleMechs is also very good. And has a couple landmines in there.

... but still good reads.

Kereminde @kereminde.bsky.social · 7h

Ah but even that one is rooted in what came before...

The (not real) history in BattleTech follows similar principles. That's what happens with forty years of work and no resets get you :)

Kereminde @kereminde.bsky.social · 8h

You're maybe in the minority but take heart... there are always good works which are just not for everyone. Be it books, films, or games - there is something for everyone, but the converse is not always true.

Kereminde @kereminde.bsky.social · 8h

I should clarify.
The story was great. I loved it.

But oof did it leave a mark.

Great reads will do that.

Kereminde @kereminde.bsky.social · 8h

One snag: Heir to the Dragon *requires* a great deal of other reading to make total sense.

Kereminde @kereminde.bsky.social · 8h

Currently reading through En Garde now.

... it is slow only from not having a comfortable place to read!

Kereminde @kereminde.bsky.social · 8h

But I would certainly say the major events needing covering which I have read are the Blood of Kerensky trilogy (for Invasion Era), Ghost War (for Dark Ages), and Marauder (for the hell of it).

... oh and maybe Voidbreaker.
And some Shrapnel magazines.

Kereminde @kereminde.bsky.social · 8h

First novel? If they want up to speed on the current era first? Fox Tales. If they want to get a feel for how it started? Decision at Thunder Rift. (With the caveat it is certainly an 80s action piece.)

After that? I haven't read enough novels yet to pick a definitive five.

Kereminde @kereminde.bsky.social · 8h

(Russel Zimmerman. "Second to None" in Shrapnel 15.)

Kereminde @kereminde.bsky.social · 19h

This is like, one of the three fights going on for that scenario... it also was the most nerve-wracking because I didn't want to lose the Thunderbolt pilot.

(Or the Wolfhound pilot, but she's survived worse odds.)

Kereminde @kereminde.bsky.social · 19h

#BattleTech campaign play

A little peek at "how it was going" this morning when my brother and I picked up our campaign scenario...

That Zeus has already lost its large laser, and that SRM Carrier is too far to hit well. I'm sure everything will be fine. It's fine. It's *fine*.

An image of a Classic BattleTech game in progress. A Thunderbolt and Wolfhound closed to close-range with a BattleMech much heavier than either of them, with a couple fire-support missile-laden vehicles having a clear line of fire to either of them.

Mistakes were made.

Kereminde @kereminde.bsky.social · 1d

I think this is also one of those things people don't talk about much with how the French Revolution turned around AFTER the "remove the king" happened.

It got *messy*, because the loudest voices wound up guiding things. Which... is how things are being done NOW.

Kereminde @kereminde.bsky.social · 1d

I hoped something like this was here... and I was not disappointed.

Kereminde @kereminde.bsky.social · 1d

Still, if you haven't read the collection... :)
(I am reading "En Garde" now. Well... as much as I can not having a comfortable place to read in my house. I might have to start spending time outside my house JUST to read at this rate.)

Kereminde @kereminde.bsky.social · 1d

Well, how could you not?
For others: read @michaelastackpole.bsky.social 's Kell Hounds Ascendant, the brothers Kell are a fun ride while they set themselves up. And the stories don't require you to know that much before you get started.

The book cover of "Kell Hounds Ascendant", a collection of BattleTech stories by Michael A. Stackpole. The cover art is of a bipedal "Archer" BattleMech firing missiles at some unseen target(s). It is painted the customary red-and-black of the Kell Hounds unit.

Kereminde @kereminde.bsky.social · 1d

Now the other issues are painting the rest, which is going to take me some time...
... and figuring out where to store the damn boxes now! :)

Kereminde @kereminde.bsky.social · 1d

Or... I can make my own... but that is a task I'm not remotely ready to do yet. But hey, those Large anti-tarnish boxes were back in stock last week-

Overall, if it weren't for it being "unreliable" for me to get a supply of these other boxes, I'd be singing their praises. With the foam padding.

Kereminde @kereminde.bsky.social · 1d

Then I got one, and the problem became apparent. Much like my "scrapbooking containers" I use to store the patches, dice, and pins for BattleTech? Too wide for my cube shelves. I'd need to replace my shelves, or buy the ArtBin cubes made for the SuperSatchels. At "whole cheap shelf" pricing.

Kereminde @kereminde.bsky.social · 1d

Browsing solutions to store my paints, I came across the ArtBin SuperSatchel system. It worked for storing some of my mom's old Prismacolor markers, and I could use them to store other art tools she keeps around. Hey, and they make a slim one with removable dividers which should suit my minis!

Kereminde @kereminde.bsky.social · 1d

Now, several players use one of these Jucoci boxes, it's just that moving it around is a little unwieldy... and I only plan on taking SMALL forces. (The local club really tops at like 10k force sizes and a maximum of 8-12 units.) Also, expensive and required me to magnetize bases.

An image of the Jucoci Miniatures case. It uses removable metal trays to slide in, and magnetized miniatures can sit on them safely.

Kereminde @kereminde.bsky.social · 1d

Storing them back in the Force Pack blisters was one thing, but it was getting onerous to start FINDING them. So I bought more ArtBin-
... out of stock locally. Had to import from a supply warehouse overseas. For reasons I won't get into, this is no longer a viable option.
I needed something else.

Kereminde @kereminde.bsky.social · 1d

This worked, but to connect it back to the top?
I started painting the plastic minis more often while playing at the local shop. (Mostly because they have a uniform look, so players who don't have them can know what packs to buy for what I had just used that night.) And I needed more boxes...

Kereminde @kereminde.bsky.social · 1d

Of course, using these for the metal minis wasn't a problem when I didn't travel or move them all that much. I threw them into a fruit box and that was all. Until I did move, once, and had to repair a few. And again. And again. Finally, I got foam sheets for packing dishes while moving to pad them.

Kereminde @kereminde.bsky.social · 1d

Once I *did* start, figuring out a scaleable solution became an issue. Up until now I was using the "ArtBin 6857AG Large Anti-Tarnish Box" as a cornerstone of my storage. I grew up using similar for 'bits' with my mom... the style has changed in the last 10 years, and they're harder to get now.

An image of the "ArtBin 6857AG" box. It has a number of removable dividers in it, and is divided into four long compartments where you can slot things in for different sized compartments.