January ‘26 In Review

Let’s be clear. 

Fuck ICE.

Fuck Trump.

Fuck you if you support them. 

31 days in January, and approximately 31 of them felt like Mondays. The year end at work is always hectic and will continue to be so for the next 2 weeks. In spite of all this shit, I’m doing my best to keep myself sane and safe, and these ramblings and games and such are all an important part of that. 

In addition to my little hobbies and spending time with my family, I also completed 2 home improvement projects, insulating the front bay window and adding blow in cellulose insulation to the attic, all just in time for the bomb cyclone to descend upon the country. At least I got it all done before the cold arrived in force. 

Gaming
The work game saw the players complete their pilgrimage across the Painted Wastelands, and decided that they wanted to return to their home realm rather than stay in the lower … They returned to the Temple of the Whale God and used the portal to return home. Upon returning to the Keep on the Borderlands, they discovered that while only weeks had passed from their perspective, two and a half years had passed here!

The B team continued their explorations of the upper levels of Stonehell, focusing on the quadrant under the Korners where they discovered a tribe of Troglodites had taken over. It was an unpleasant and stinky discovery. 

And for the first time since October of 2023 I played another session of Stargrave Hope Eternal! The dice were overall kind and my crew can move on to scenario 4 after I level up and finish a few necessary terrain bits.  

Miniatures
Slow start to the year, but in the end it was productive. Even though I had a good selection of minis prepped, some started, it took a good chunk of the month before I found my mojo and could spend any time painting. 

Media 
Hacks
Farscape season 3
Star Trek: Starfleet Academy

Loot
I came across this match stick building kit at the thrift store for $5. 1050 match sticks, a cutting tool, and a big piece of 0.25” thick MDF! I have no idea what I’ll end up actually using the match sticks for, but it won’t be to build a plane. Somehow it’ll get used for some terrain… probably walkways and ladders. 


Goals for February
Finish prep for scenario 4 of Stargrave Hope Eternal
Finish October session reports

Stonehell B Team: Forensic Accounting

Session 299 was played on 9/7/25

Sonara, Wizard 3 (Rob)
Adorellen, Elf 2 (Me)
Glimmer, Kobold 3 (Lanse)
Kessaren, Cleric 3 (Cindy)
Loahn, Halfling 3 (Josh)
6 Kobold meatshields (iGor, Blar, 3, 4, 5, 6)

The kobold accountant Roi was thoroughly interrogated, both about the books, and where the money went from the Korners, but also about the fey masters. They learned a bit about the Fey Queen, and how the coinage was taken from the Korners and sent as tribute, how various fey merchants had taken over prime space in the market from ‘honest & hardworking’ kobolds, and how it was all because of a deal made by Nolti. 

All this told, without knowing Nolti has been brought back by Koltic after the removal of the fey parasite. Still bedridden, they bring Roi to see Nolti, and explain what happened. They’re thrilled to see each other, and Roi seems especially glad to have Nolti free of the fey control. But what of the future? They aren’t going to be welcomed back to the Korners, nor will they be very welcome with the splinter group in the Gatehouse Inn. The party’s kobolds were rather disinterested, as they were from Nick’s keep, and not involved in this clan’s issues.  

Stonehell B Team: Glimmer's Rash Act!

Session 298 was played on 8/31

Sonara, Wizard 3 (Rob)
Adorellen, Elf 2 (Me)
Glimmer, Kobold 3 (Lanse)
Kessaren, Cleric 3 (Cindy)
Loahn, Halfling 3 (Josh)
6 Kobold meatshields (iGor, Blar, 3, 4, 5, 6)

Returning to Stonehell, the B Team heads to Rocky. On the way they encounter 6 dwarves from the Hermitage and chat with them briefly. Moving on they get to Rocky and chat with him before getting to the questions. 
Q: How are you?
A: Good

Q: Where are the fey coming from?
A: When the Winter Court sits upon the throne, the mushroom ring will open

Q: Where is the mushroom ring?
A: In the hothouse where the dryad reigns. 

They thank Rocky, and head out to the Quiet Halls chopping skeletons and zombies as they go, and make their way down to Kobold Korners’ back door. The guards collect their weapons, and take them to meet with Attendant Sned, the new boss. They head through the Korners, and down to the old fighting pits and slave enclosure, both recently revived under Sned’s leadership. Within the slave enclosure they see 3 goblins, 2 kobolds (Nolti’s lackeys, Sned informs them), an elf and a human. Sned has his accountant Cogs bring out the books for the party to review on Borumar’s behalf. Glimmer, twitchy over the slave situation, backstabs Sned. The guards go for their weapons, but Morgana drops a Sleep spell, which takes out Roi, the guards, the nearby pixies, and the slaves! 

The party yells at Glimmer for his rash action, but decides to make the best of it. They stuff Sned’s body into a box, free the slaves, and wake Cogs to make a receipt saying the party bought the slaves. They then hog tie and gag him, and the sleeping guards. As non-chalantly as possible, they head back to the main entrance of the Korners to collect their weapons, taking the slaves with them, and then head quickly back to town. 

Gains: 
Kills: Attendant Sned, skeletons and zombies 
Losses: 

Stonehell: Death of the Giant King

 Session 297 was played on 08/17/25

Morgana, wizard 10 (Rob)
Borumar, Triton Thief 11 (Josh)
Blotto, Goblin Fighter 8 (Lanse)
Nick, Fighter 8 (Me)
Koltic, Cleric 9 (Cindy)
Aroon, Fighter 8 (NPC)
Jameth, Fighter 8 (NPC)
Lor’Koth, Dwarf 8 (NPC)

Approaching the first of the Giant’s guard posts, the party finds 4 hill giants at watch. They crudely laugh and mock the party, threaten them, but are then forced to allow the party through when Morgana shows off one of the heads of the Plated Mage’s mechanical enforcers. Vrog the hill giant, leader of the bunch announces he will take the party to the king (and whispers in a not so quiet voice to the other giants that he’ll take credit for the party’s success).

Passing 2 more check points, the party is brought to the main hall of the Triclops King… which at the moment stands empty. Vrog tells them he’ll go get the king. The party waits, watched over by some stone giants. Soon enough there’s a fanfare and the main doors of the hall are thrown open. A full procession, full of pomp and pageantry, makes its way into the hall. First come the trolls, 4 of them, in matching outfits wielding great polearms, followed by 2 noble giants, and then the Triclops king himself. Close behind him comes an ancient hag carrying her head in a basket, and a 6 headed troll in jester’s clothes and caps. 

Then the screaming began. 

Morgana unleashed a lightning bolt that shot straight down the procession, followed by Borumar whipping out his scroll of Fireball. The giants were all stunned by the unexpected turn, and Morgana unleashed a Finger of Death spell on the King as he charged the party, with Nick in front. The amigos wade in, hacking down the giants that were still standing from the initial onslaught and making sure the trolls stayed down. The hag tries to Hold Morgana, but she shrugs it off. Harder to shrug off was the hit she took from one of the giant nobles. Koltic used Cureall to make sure Morgana stayed in the fight. 

Blotto’s fishing polearm swung wildly about and caught the Triclops King right in the lip, and hurt and distracted as he was, he fell victim to the rod’s paralytic magic. Meanwhile Morgana Webbed the fool, and then summoned a fire elemental to take care of the trolls. Blotto ripped the Triclops’ larynx from his throat, and the remaining giantkin decided to run for it. 

In the sudden calm, the party takes a moment to catch their breath, and look around. The king’s throne looks mighty inviting, and they check it out, finding, weirdly, a personal item from each of them. And that’s when the Hag, who had fled with the others, launched a fireball at Morgana. She didn’t much like it when the fire elemental launched itself at her.  

Following that, the party made a sweep of the Triclop’s hold, collected his treasure and watched the remaining giants flee in terror at the sight of the party (and their pet fire elemental). 

Gains: The Triclops King and various other giantkin’s treasures
Kills: trolls, ogres, giants, triclops nobles and King. 
Losses: 

---

 

Thus did the epic gaming weekend of 2025 come to an end... looking forward to our next one!

Stonehell: The Plated Mage

 Session 296 was played on 08/17/25

Morgana, wizard 10 (Rob)
Borumar, Triton Thief 11 (Josh)
Blotto, Goblin Fighter 8 (Lanse)
Nick, Fighter 8 (Me)
Koltic, Cleric 9 (Cindy)
Aroon, Fighter 8 (NPC)
Jameth, Fighter 8 (NPC)
Lor’Koth, Dwarf 8 (NPC)

4 Months Later…

Fully rested and recovered, the party sneaks their way into Stonehell, and makes their way carefully down to level 8, at the edge of the giant’s domain, all fully invisible. The prior encountered Stone Giants were not to be found, but a motley looking group of hill giants were on watch next to a small pond. They hear Blotto and see the light he’s carrying, even though they can’t see him. They call out to him, but he answers “Don’t worry about it” and then there’s several flashes of light and flame and a lot of screaming in pain from the giants as fireballs erupt around them. One manages to hit Morgana with a tossed rock before she uses her dagger to dispatch it. The tentacle creature in the pond is happy to take care of the bodies of the giants. 

Heading into the giant’s territory they next encounter some Stone Giants, and tell them they’re off to deal with the Plated Mage. The giants wish the party luck, but seem skeptical that they’ll see them again.

Further along toward the Plated Mage’s lair, they’re accosted by a pair of demon boars, but both are quickly slaughtered before they can do much to the party. The Plated Mage’s lair lay beyond.. But first the need to get in. Of course being the Plated Mage the doors were both mechanically complex and magically reinforced. Trying to open it dispells the invisibility of those members of the party who still had it. Further investigation on the door revealed that it was in fact a false door, and feeling foolish, they move on to the next door. A little more experienced with the Plated Mage’s tricks, they manage to get this one open, revealing a long corridor, with several large bio-mechanical drones and guardian constructs, and at the far end a trio of robed engineer-mages. 

Morgana barely began to try to talk to them before they attacked. A flurry of magical energy, fireballs and lightning bolts from both directions, and there’s mass casualties on both sides. The doors are slammed shut and Morgana activates her ring to zap them back to the bubble on level 6, and then to the manor. 

Healing potions are purchased, and a day to recover is spent in the manor. 

Teleporting back to just outside the Casino, the party returns to the Plated Mage’s door. Morgana dispells magic on it, and using a rope, it’s opened. The scars of the recent battle still mark the hall beyond, though most of the various constructs remains have been removed, though a few bits and pieces are still littering the floor. 4 new drones however are in place on guard duty and quickly move to attack the party. Morgana destroys them, and the party moves deeper, coming to another locked door. Again Dispel Magic at least temporarily opens the door, but beyond it are more of the engineer-mages who unleash fireballs at the party. Morgana’s fireballs are bigger, though Nick and Lor’Koth are happy to have fire resistant magic armor. 

Pressing deeper into the Plated Mage’s lair, they find themselves in a room thrumming with a subsonic beat, pipes and wires running like bizarre rivers along the ceiling and down into strange devices. Morgana drops another Dispel Magic onto the largest of the conduits. As they’re cautiously looking around a voice calls out to them from the far end of the room. One of the engineer-mages tells them the Plated Mage wishes to speak with the party, and further violence and destruction of his property is unnecessary and unwelcome. The party accepts the truce, and they’re led to a large 2 story tall hall. 

The Plated Mage is a 12’ tall construct of nightmarish appearance, and his spiderlike appearance on the upper balcony is heralded with a dry mechanical laugh and a condescending tone as he “welcomes” the party into his laboratory. He’s annoyed by the destruction they wrought and death of several of his apprentices. Morgana and the Plated Mage discuss the Triclopse Giant King. The Plated Mage reveals that the Triclopse King’s visions are clouded, but he isn’t sure by what. Morgana asks how to stop him. “Blind it and kill it.”

The party is escorted from the Plated Mage’s lab after their audience and the doors firmly closed behind them. Borumar (not Blotto!) pees on the door. He then paints a big “X” on the false door. 

Off to deal with the Triclops…

2025 in Miniatures

2025 was an exceedingly productive year, with 146 minis in total painted, plus a bunch of terrain! As with last year, my goal was to paint about half non-reaper minis. I hit 40% with 58 non-Reaper minis, and 88 Reaper minis. That beats last year's total, which included terrain! 

 

It's hard to say exactly how many pieces of terrain I painted, as a good bit of it is modular.  

I'm not sure what my favorite thing to work on this past year was, but the Pepto Norkers are definitely up there.  

 

My goals going into 2025 were: 

BFG/Other Space Ships - Success!

More Frostgrave/Stargrave - Success!

LotR Sauron & Ring Wraith on Fell Beast - Sauron yes, Ring Wraith on Fell beast, no

~50% non-Reaper Minis - Close

Build & Paint some Sci-Fi Terrain - Yes! One scratch built, the rest 3D printed. 

For 2026 I'm going to have some similar goals:

BFG/Other Space Ships - Finish the original Tau fleet ships I have and then get started on... something else. Eldar? Forgeworld style Tau? Chaos Battleship? 

More Frostgrave/Stargrave - paint some minis and use them in a game!

LotR Balrog & Ring Wraith on Fell Beast 

~50% non-Reaper Minis

Build & Paint some Sci-Fi Terrain - Scratch build a few more pieces with all the junk I've collected, including another trashbash spaceship

 More jungle scatter terrain for my alien ruins?

Rappan: Fairy Party

 Session 295 was played on 08/17/25

Morgana, wizard 10 (Rob)
Borumar, Triton Thief 11 (Josh)
Blotto, Goblin Fighter 8 (Lanse)
Nick, Fighter 8 (Me)
Koltic, Cleric 9 (Cindy)
Aroon, Fighter 8 (NPC)
Jameth, Fighter 8 (NPC)
Lor’Koth, Dwarf 8 (NPC)

The party returns to the keep to rest a couple of days. Jameth acting like Lor’koth wasn't as annoying as it could have been, but it need to be addressed. They gear up and head north, crossing the river and head deep into the woods. 

The light begins to fade and the blinking of fireflies shines between the trees, giant fireflies! Light ahead brought the party to a glad full of fey, a fairy party was being set up! 

The adventurers are announced and welcomed to the party. A down on his luck Puck begs Borumar to help him. He's a bad Puck and needs him to laugh at his antics to impress the Fey King and Queen. Nick spends some time flirting with a little fairy, while Blotto gets involved in the badger races. 

As the night's activities begin to slow and the hour grows late, a rhythmic thrumming starts to beat from the north. Almost as one, all the fairies start to dance in time with it. Out of the darkness a huge shambling creature of bones and dirt emerges and moving with the beat. The fey dance around it while the Queen tells Morgana the beast is a guardian of a nearby ruined temple known as The Gut. 

The adventures join with the fey in dancing around the guardian until it shuffles away. The music fades slightly and the fey begin to disburse, but the guardian shuffles back and using the beat’s hold on it, the party destroys it. 

In thanks the Queen gifts an ointment for Jameth and gives Morgana a comb. The ointment heals Jameth’s addled mind. The party returns to the keep for more rest, and to give Morgana a chance to do some research and item creation.