WordPress 2.3.2 Update

The CWF Game Cast will be updating from its 2.3.1 version of WordPress to 2.3.2 today. Why do this, you may ask. Instead of trying to explain it all to you, the WordPress people did a great job of it already.

Please read WordPress 2.3.2 at the official WordPress blog. That explains all the reasons why we are updating.

During the upgrade the blog will be unavailable. We expect this to last 30 minutes. But, check back at the blog for further updates. We’ll have the usual Site Unavailable for Maintenance Mode message up during this process.

CWF-2007-12-27 Cases for Collectible Minis, Welcome Back Podcast, and December Wrap-up

CWF GameCast features Cases for Collectible Minis, Welcome Back Podcast, and December Wrap-up.

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1) Theme, Zombie by Devin Anderson (Electronic)

2) Thursday December 27, 2007, CWF GameCast, Cases for Collectible Minis, Welcome Back Podcast, and December Wrap-up on 12/27/07.

3) Our Website = www.wargamingforums.com

4) Welcome Back Podcast

Merry Christmas ^Mr. Raven^ or why the podcast is back.

5) Cases for Collectible Minis

Stanley 2 sided 46 compartment Tool Organizer Model #14266 $19.99 @ Home Depot
This case is perfect for individual models such as SW Minis, Axis & Allies, Horror Clix, and Hero Clix. It works great for smaller models such as characters. It has central trays that pull out where you can store rare minis, or entire teams to use in your games and league play. I use this for my SW Minis and Axis & Allies War @ Sea minis. Keep it mind it has a max load of 44lbs.

Stanley 24in Tool Box Model #240123 $15.96 @ Home Depot
This case is perfect for larger models such as SW Minis Starship Battles, Axis & Allies: War at Sea, Horror Clix, and Hero Clix. It works great for larger models such as vehicles, starships, AT-STs, and the like. It has central trays that pull out where you can store rare minis, or entire teams to use in your games and league play. My friend Steve uses this for his thousands of Hero and Horror Clix. Its internal tray is perfect for commonly used minis, playmats, or rulebooks. It also has two compartments on the top that are great to store teams, cards, or dice.

6) December Wrap-up

December 2007 Articles

7) Closing comments, next cast will be week of December 30, 2007.

8 ) Please give your feedback on the show. We live off it and it helps us to make the show better. Send your feedback to the Contact Us Page

9) Our Website = www.wargamingforums.com and it has all the shownotes and updates

10) Exit Theme, Pop Science by Devin Anderson (Electronic)

Next cast will be week of December 30, 2007.

Merry Christmas Mr ^Raven^

Merry Christmas and 1 day to all you wonderful gamers.  By now you’ve opened your toys, looked them over, played with them a bit and can’t wait for more.  This Christmas I didn’t receive any games but I did receive a wonderful, brand spanking new, iMac.  Hurrah!  This will allow me to get back into podcast, it has iLife and therefore GarageBand.  For the time being I took a few pictures of my new computer to share this wondrous occasion with all of you.

Please enjoy the photos below.  Everything was set up in no time.  But Windows had almost 100 “high priority” security updates.  It took a few hours to install Windows and do all the updates.  I got sorta used to not dealing with that while using the G4.  I’ll be using both machines now with my iMac as my main.  I can boot into XP for playing games or using Office for school.  Or, I can use OS X for other things.  While I game or am in Windows I can use my G4 to search the net.

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The monitor on the left is a Dell LCD.  I got that a few years ago for Christmas.  It is hooked into my Mac G4, which is under the desk.  The big monitor on the middle is my new iMac.  In front of that is my new Mac keyboard.  To its left are my Altec Lansing AHS headphones that I use for podcasting.  To the far right is my Dell notebook.

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This picture shows my entire computing workstation.  The drawer is pulled out and you can see my G4 keyboard to the left, the new Mighty Mouse in the center, and a Walmart mouse pad I got free in college with my new Logitech mouse on top.

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This is a good close up of my G4 setup.  In front of the monitor is my Buddy Christ, from Kevin Smith’s Dogma.  To its right is a Mallrats Inaction Figure of Brody Bruce that my fiance gave me.  Under them are two batteries to replace flashlights for when I read manga at night.  To their right is a small Transformers Starscream figure from the Armada series.  Next to my headphones is a blue CD case with a Pepsi logo on it.  I got that from an old Pepsi points program.  It is filled with every Dave Matthews Band album I can get my hands on.

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This is a close up of my iMac.  It is a 20 inch monitor with 1GB of memory and over 250GB of disk space.  It has a decent graphics card, it runs on OS X Leopard, and I used Boot Camp to install Windows XP Home on it too.  To the right of the monitor are some Protectorate of Menoth models from the Warmachine game by Privateer Press.  They are the ones in the core box for Menoth.

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This is a close up of my Dell laptop.  It is sitting on a cooler fan to keep the temperature down.  It gets really hot and without the added fans it could overheat.  On top of it is a printed out version of a PDF on J’t’p’tan from the new WotC d20 Star Wars RPG.  Plus, there’s some CDs I’m listening to and a remote for my stereo system where I listen to WBCN.

Happy Birthday ^Raven^ – Here’s Some Blood Knights


Since today is my 26th birthday I’m giving a gift to all of you. Normally I wouldn’t do this being an American where birthdays are about the birthday person receiving gifts.

However, I’ve already received an unexpected gift from VH1. This week they’ve aired their 100 Greatest Songs of the 90s as voted by fans at VH1.com. I’m a huge audiophile, as my Last.fm page attests, and spent my teen years in the 90s with Alternative and Grunge music flowing. Listening to the songs and the stories behind them was a treat and I am glad that Nirvana came on top beating out U2 (don’t get me wrong, U2 is a good band but too political however I won’t go there).

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CWF Holiday Gift Guide 2007

There’s snow on the ground, online stores are giving deadlines for Christmas deliveries, and at least one fight between disgruntled shoppers made headlines in the mall. Must be time for the CWF Holiday Gift Guide.

Last year the Holiday Gift Guide was presaged by coverage in the CWF Game Cast podcast. Of course that isn’t possible this year with the podcast on hiatus. Instead we hope to make this guide better than before.

Shopping for gamers isn’t as easy as one expects but is easier than you think. We broke our guide down into three price categories. Under $15 (or the Friends ideas), Under $50 (family and loved ones) and $100 and up (group gifts or treat yourself).

Under $15

  1. Sitting Ducks Gallery – $15.00. This is our #1 overall pick for this gift guide. Please see our review of Sitting Ducks Gallery for more info. FLGS, Amazon.com ($7.49).
  2. CCG Boosters – Price varies but usually $3.99-$4.99. Magic, Yu-gi-Oh, and World of Warcraft are most popular. Lorywn is a great new Magic set, there’s tons of new foils for YGO, and new WoW set called March of the Legion. FLGS, Online Stores.
  3. Warmachine Warcasters – Usually costing $6.99-$9.99. Nice looking figs and a requirement for every Warmachine army. Great combo gift with the latest No Quarter. FLGS, Online Stores.
  4. Chessex 16mm D6 – $4.50 for set of 12. This showed up at #1 in last year’s guide. FLGS, Online Stores.
  5. Zap A Gap Glue – $3.99-$12.99. All models need glue for assembly. This is a perfect stocking stuffer. FLGS, Online Stores.

Under $50

  1. Citadel Modular Gaming Hill – $25. Nice looking prefab, modular, terrain to help you get jump started with playing a game. FLGS, Games Workshop Online Store.
  2. Regiment/Squad Box – $9.99-$49.99 (depending on game system and item). FLGS, Online Stores, Games Workshop Online, Mongoose Publishing, Flames of War
  3. Video/Computer Games – Prices Vary. In particular Guitar Hero 3 for PS2 or Xbox 360. Online Stores, Best Buy, Target, Circuit City, EB Games.
  4. Warhammer 40k Apocalypse Rulebook – $49.99. This must have book transforms 40k into a game of epic proportions with thousands of models on the table including Baneblades and Titans. FLGS, Games Workshop Online Store.
  5. Manga/Anime – $7.99-$9.99/$12.99-$19.99. Gamers love anime and manga. Anyone who plays Tau knows this to be true. Pick up some Bleach, Black Cat, and Yakitate!! Japan. Or, get some old school Eva or Bebop DVDs. Best Buy, Barnes & Noble, Amazon.com.

$100 and Up

  1. Citadel Tool Kit – $120. GW created all news tools. Much improved and better than almost anything else. Comes in a nice case with clippers, files, hobby knife, pin vice, sculpting tool, vice, and razor saw. FLGS, Games Workshop Online.
  2. Paint Set (Vallejo, GW) – Prices vary. FLGS, Games Workshop Online.
  3. Nintendo Wii/Game Consoles – Prices vary. Best Buy, Toys R Us, Amazon, etc.
  4. Professional Paint Job – Price varies. Have your army professionally painted. Check our Blue Table Painting for an example.
  5. iPod – Prices vary. Great way to listen to music while you game or quick reference your army list that you saved as a txt. Online Stores, Apple.