RIP Carrie Fisher

(Image from:  Entertainment Weekly)

Yesterday, when I woke up from my nightshift nap, my wife asked me if I heard about Carrie Fisher.
My wife doesn't follow pop-culture and I hadn't gotten around to checking the day's headlines.  So I thought she was referring to Carrie Fisher's hospital stay over the Christmas Weekend.

When I mentioned this, my wife said:  No, she's dead.

The Seattle Times ran this article:  'Star Wars" Actor Carrie Fisher, known for her acerbic comic flair dies at 60.

I'm usually don't go ga-ga over the handful of celebrities I've met, or weepy when the ones I haven't met pass away.  But I must admit Carrie's passing surprised me.  I thought she pulled through, and compared to the average life-span here in America, she died relatively young.
 
Of course, like every other hetero-male fan, I'll always remember her this way:

(Image found on:  Rob.Nu)

Where as Chewbacca will remember this tender moment:

(Image from:  Ink Tank)

Rest in Peace Carrie.

Preventing Being Labelled an "Orphan Series"

The other day, I was trolling the internet for tidbits to add to my post about the TV series Castle that my wife and I just finished binge-watching.

While on the site TV Tropes I came across the term orphaned series.  That is, an abandoned storyline, series, etc.

I'm trying not to have Breakout from Bongolaan fall into this category, which webcomics seem highly susceptible to.  Yes, even mine.

I know I haven't posted anything about the webcomic for several months now.  My wife's nephew has been residing with us for nearly a year as he out processes from the Army.  This is relevant because the room I would use to do my photo shoots is his bedroom.  I hope to resume shooting next year, when my nephew-in-law moves out and the Holidays are over.

No, I'm not going to declare this as my New Year's Resolution, since such promises become orphaned in their own way.

But having physical creative space isn't my only issue.  I was planning on posting pages of Breakout from Bongolaan on to Tumblr, which seems to be a more picture/comic-friendly site than Blogger.  The problem is that I've been using the program Comic Life that converts pictures into a bmp file, which is a format Tumblr won't accept.

So I'm looking into using another comic program.

I've also made a tiny, but I think significant change to this blog.  This started out as a Star Wars Legacy Era Campaign journal.  That is, I'd post about any Star Wars games and role-playing sessions my friends and I'd play.  Unfortunately, the gaming group broke up a while ago.

So I thought I'd expand this blog to cover all types of sci-fi gaming, and decided to change the sub-title to:  Ted Henkle's science fiction gaming blog.

If I think of a catchier subtitle I'll change it.  But until inspiration hits me, I'll keep this boring, yet practical one.

In the meantime, I'll troll TV Tropes' orphaned webcomics list to make sure Breakout from Bongolaan isn't on it.

That is, if TV Tropes even knows this exists.

Thank you for your continued interest and patience.

Star Wars Games at Enfilade 2016

A star-fighter "furball" during the First Day's Star Wars Armada game.

Shortly after my last post on this blog--four months ago--I've been busy with another project.

Our regional gaming group, NHMGS, hosts its annual convention, Enfilade!, every Memorial Day Weekend.  This year, I was asked to be the Event Photographer.  To prepare for this task, I bought a new camera, a XXX, and spent a few weeks getting familiar with it.

I spent the entire three days during the convention prowling the game room floor snapping pictures--
1,163 usable photos to be exact.  Of this grand total, I transferred 923 via Dropbox to our group's Event Coordinator and Website Administrator.

The NHMGS website will be updated shortly and will include the massive gallery of the pictures I took.

But as a "sneak peek" for you readers, here are some sample photos of the Star Wars games played during Enfilade 2016.

Scott hosts a Star Wars Armada game on Day 1 

A traffic jam--IN SPACE!

On Day 2, Chris hosts The Battle of Hoth (As It Should Have Been) game using Star Wars X-Wing.

Imperial fighters and shuttles approach the Rebel Ion Cannon and defensive positions.

The Rebel Ion Cannon is from an vintage Battle of Hoth Playset made by Kenner.

On the last day, Scott hosts a "youngling-friendly" Star Wars Armada game.

Scott instructing a couple of padawans.

The Rebel Fleet closes with their Imperial opponents.

Two New Tools of the Trade

(Image from Amazon.com)

Back in February, I announced on my Stern Rake Studio blog that I got a new camera, which I'm still trying to figure out all the functions.

If that wasn't enough, I thought I'd use the funds in my tax return to buy a new laptop.

The influx of funds wasn't the only factor in this decision.

For years I've been using a Toshiba Satellite a305-s6905, which actually got a decent review on CNET--back in 2009.

But it wasn't the age of my laptop that was bothering me.  Starting about a month ago, anytime I logged on to the internet, I'd get a message along my toolbar notifying me that Google Chrome won't be supporting Windows Vista.

So I was presented with choice to either upgrade my laptop to Windows 10, or buy a new laptop.  (Later I found out my old Satellite doesn't seem compatible with Windows 10).

When I began my search for the best laptop for my needs,  (or as any computer illiterate like me could fully fathom what I need), I discovered that every laptop, along with just about every other techno-gadget on the market, were better than my current model.

Based on the performance statistics--and the price discount Amazon.com offered--I decided to buy an HP Pavilion Flagship with a 15.6" screen.  I was thinking about buying the version with a 17.3" screen, but I liked the handiness of the 15.6" screen my Satellite has and thought the larger one would be too big.

My New Tool of the Trade was hand-delivered to me two days after Easter.  Seriously.  The UPS guy arrived just as I was heading to the gym that afternoon.

Since then I've been transferring files and learning the ins & outs (mostly outs) of my Flagship.  While I'm certainly experiencing "growing pains," I'm happy with my purchase because even if I don't learn everything there is to know about my Flagship, I can at least tell it's a better model than my Satellite.

Webcomic Chapter 15 Posted

Chapter 15 (pages 438-479) of Breakout from Bongolaan is now available.

For this chapter's theme song I chose Love & Loss, by Two Steps from Hell.

I thought this song, which I found rather quickly, fit the "big reveal" made my one of the characters in this story.

The way I have the rest of the story plotted-out, there's eight chapters left.  However, it seems like nearly all my previous chapters end up multiplying into two or three scenes.  So for now, let's just say there's eight more plot-points to go.

I'm still in the process of learning about my new Nikon CoolPix P530 camera.  I hope to start using it by the time I start taking pictures for Chapter 16.

In the meantime, I  hope you enjoy the latest chapter.

Webcomic Chapter 14 Posted

Chapter 14 (pages 424-437) of Breakout from Bongolaan is now available.

For this chapter's Theme Song, I chose Prepare for the End uploaded by xDarkLegacyx2. I think this tune fits the epic, space opera aspect of Star Wars, while it's steady--almost monotonous--beat, implies impending danger.

I'm now in the process of re-writing Chapter 15, which is giving me some trouble narrative pacing-wise.  Once I'm satisfied this chapter is good enough to post, then it's "back to the drawing board" for the Chapters 16 onwards.  That is, I'll need to snap a batch of new photos.

In the meantime, I've been looking at some webcomic hosting sites to determine which one I'd like to join in order to make a "second home" for Breakout from Bongolaan.

Until then, I hope you enjoy this latest chapter.

Webcomic Chapter 13 Posted

Chapter 13 (pages 383--423) of  Breakout from Bongolaan is now available.

Since I wrote Chapters 12--14 in one fell-swoop, which took me several months to complete, the "only" thing I had to do was some editing on Chapter 13.

For this chapter's theme song, I chose two pieces of music.

Since our heroes are still dealing with the aftermath of the initial attack in a planetary coup, I thought the Coruscant Thug Boss Fight Music from the game Jedi Power Battles, Episode I, fit the overall mood.

And for the last few pages, I felt the "traditional" Imperial March was appropriate for the chapter's finale.

Webcomic Chapter 12 Posted

Chapter 12 (pages 364--382) of Breakout from Bongolaan is now available.

The pace at where I work didn't slow down any since my last chapter posting.

Not only that, but Chapter 12 was originally much longer than it currently is.  As the page length lengthened, I ended up dividing the narrative into more chapters as I found more appropriate stopping points.  So this part of the story grew from Chapter 12 and 13, to Chapter 12--14, and finally to Chapter 12-15.

By the time I reached this point, I decided to quit writing additional material and work on editing and revising.

By the time I was satisfied with most of my recent work, I did some final tweaking of Chapter 12.

My "cunning plan" is to do the similar tweaks to Chapters 13 and 14 within the next couple weeks and then post them.

Which brings me to Chapter 15.  I'm not currently happy with it.  I feel this portion will require some major re-writing, but I'll wait until Chapter 14 is posted before I even start.

In my last webcomic update, I said I'd launch a new format for Breakout from Bongolaan by 4 January 2016.

Well, I'm afraid I have to postpone the launch date.  With the little time I've had to spare, I devoted it all to getting these chapters written.  I'm hoping the delay won't be more than a month.  I appreciate your patience.

For this chapter's theme song, I chose Home by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros.

You might think this is an odd choice for a chapter's mood music, especially since Star Wars is and epic  space opera, not a space western, like Firefly.

But I think the song fits for a few reasons.  First, in this chapter Callithea expresses her desire to return to her home planet.  This segways into a hint of what society on Callithea's home world, Tarsus, is like.  Finally, our heroes are essentially planning for a "road trip--IN SPACE," and depending on what list you read, Home ranks anywhere from #13 in Paste Magazine to #1 on BuzzFeed.

The Force Has Awoken!

(Image from:  Star Wars.com Theatrical Poster)

By now, thousands of fans have probably seen midnight showings of Star Wars:  The Force Awakens.

From initial accounts at the premiers in Hollywood and London, audience response has been enthusiastic.

It will be about a month before I see it due to my wife's and my own work schedule.  But at least we have reserved seats in a deluxe theater!

In the meantime, I submitted my picture of my Tantive IV fighting a couple of TIE fighters to the Seattle Times.  It was included in the gallery of an article asking Star Wars superfan? Share pictures of your favorite collectibles.

(Image:  From my Tantive IV product review, and Picture #3 in the article's gallery)

For those who'll see the movie before I do:  I hope the movie and the big-screen experience was everything you hoped it to be.

Upgrading the Millennium Falcon

Part of the appeal of science fiction in general, and Star Wars in particular, is the ability to roam the galaxy at ludicrous speed.

So for a Star Wars role playing game (RPG), acquiring a starship, but not necessarily "buying" one, is a critical goal for player characters (PCs) starting out on their misadventures.

If you're involved in a game which relies heavily on miniatures, representing a starship can be difficult.  While two-dimensional deck plans or graph paper, while effective, loses "cinematic appeal."  Models specifically made in typical "RPG Scale" (usually 15-35mm Scale) are invariably scratch-built by talented modelers, like Maker.e2oGame.

For those of us lacking talent and patience to construct our own ships, we turn to toys.

For my, now dormant, Redshift Chronicles Campaign, my friend Joe placed his Millennium Falcon Playset in my care, which was utilized on a couple of adventures.

(Utilizing the same Ink-Sketch program as in my Breakout from Bongolaan webcomic)

The playset isn't exactly to scale as my Star Wars Miniatures, but I figure starships are suppose to be big anyway.  Besides, there's enough room inside to get interior pictures.

(Han Solo and Chewbacca making last-minute repairs before taking off)

I've had Joe's 'Falcon for a few years now.  During this time, I've made half-hearted inquires about buying my own, but have balked at the "Collector's Edition Prices."

However, two events motivated me to acquire my own 'Falcon.

First, we're just 10 days away from the premier of Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

Which means Star Wars merchandise has deluged the market long before the movie appears on the silver screen.

And second, Joe is now the father of two little boys.

I reached my decision point a couple weeks ago, when I stumbled across Hasbro's "Force Awakens" Millennium Falcon, while Christmas shopping with my wife.  (Isn't it amazing how you manage to find gifts for yourself when shopping for others?).  I was hesitant to buy it, but my wife assured me it was okay, thus salving my guilty conscience, and the Base Exchange (department stores on military installations) was knocking off $25 for purchases of $100 or more as part of their "Black Friday Weekend Sale."

The price tag on this new 'Falcon alone qualified me for the discount.

I haven't opened it yet, since we've been busy putting up Christmas decorations.

Yes, at the risk of loosing some of the collector's value, I do intend on opening the box, because I want to have the ship "ready for flight" for any future Star Wars RPG/skirmish adventures.  But my "cunning plan" is to open it carefully and keep all the parts I won't utilize, in order to maintain a decent portion of any possible collector's value.

One possible point of concern is the new 'Falcon looks smaller than the older one, but I'm hoping it may be more appropriate for my Star Wars Miniatures I use.

In any case, I have a new 'Falcon, Joe gets his old one returned and he'll get to experience all the parental joys of watching his two boys fight over play with an iconic toy.

Everybody wins!