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I came back to the US (form Guyana) last June and this June it's off to Red China.

I had a pretty ambitious agenda so it's nice to review progress:

1 Play 40k - Well I played 3 games... 2 of them this month so that was a wash.  Just don't have the will to learn 4th edition, redo army lists and all that.  Doesn't help that the nearest gaming stores are 30 miles away.

2 Build my own gaming table - complete success!  But see item 1 for how many times I used it...

3 Build terrain - complete success!  I build an entire (non ruined) city using the Pegasus Gothic building kit.  Painted almost none of it but at least the building is done.  And it was a blast.  Didn't get much use out of it though...

4 Finish Solid Gold Space Marines - success again!  Even got the rolling temple done!  And used them in EVERY game of 40k I played this year!

5 Finish SWAT IG - complete failure, never even painted one in the last year.  The new SM codex just killed my enthusiasm for doing a cameo IG army.

6 Play Supersystem - Supersystem is a superhero mini game that lets you create your own profiles and rules.  Looks like a lot of fun and I did a lot of painting for it but never got around to learning the rules or recruiting players.

In all an odd year, got lots of modeling done, some painting, did some figures I'm really proud of but just didn't play.  Weird.  Anyway I found a (possibly defunct) wargame group in Beijing but odds are I'll be hiatis for the next 2 years as far as gaming.  Probably still paint when I have time.

Wonder if I should bring the table and terrain?

Depends on what the See Eye A wants you to do. Oh, I mean, your
government agency.

Kyoto-sama delivers Chinese take out, Jack Bauer style.

I'd bring them, unless you're going in as a Splinter Cell, then all bets are off.

*high five time!*

Well congrats in general anyway, getting stuff done is always nice, and I've played more warhammer in the last 9 months here in PA than I did in all the time I lived in VA. As to game stores around the Tomb City, I found that almost all of them are 30+ min away, not really miles. The Game Parlor in Chantilly was the best I went to, but for the driving time and all I'd generally just go to Glen Burnie and be harassed by Black Shirts about my unpainted armies ...


But best of luck in Red China, and who can say, maybe rapid industrialization will bring wargaming with it o_O

- Boss Salvage

Or maybe the Chinese Overlords will see your wargaming as tactical
maneuvers within their borders and send the Red Wave to confiscate
your figs.

Well, there are RPGs and TMGs in Israel now, so why not China (Israel is not exactly the kind of place where one plays wargames. For fun, at least). I'm sure there's a crew of expats/people educated in the US who have some kind of club.

Kyoto-san was a humble government worker. Everyday he shuffled
from his house to the embassy, bearing documents to be signed by
great public officials promising big promises between his native land
(so far away) and "the Red Land" (where all government officials learn
their trade). He did not meet the eyes of those that signed or sent him
with orders to get signed. His eyes remained low, bowed, respectful,
and Kyoto-san only ever saw the folded hands, the desks, and the
feet of those men in power above him.

In this way, Kyoto-san lived.

Now this matter of the bowed heads did not apply between the couriers,
and so Kyoto-san greeted his fellows as equals. He was pleasant, but
not overbearing, comfortable, but never crude. It was in this way that
a group among them noticed his unnoticeable manner, the way he
slipped between offices of the men in power without them ever noting
his garish native accent or his red, blue and white American tie.

"Kyoto-san! Greetings!" one worker hailed him one day. This was Bob-san,
who used to do as Kyoto-san did. He once made the mistake of commenting
on government policy when his only job was to carry the papers the policy
was written on and now his only courier duty was to carry laundry lists and
deliver meals.

It was all one to Bob. After all, he was a spy.

"Good morning, Bob-san." Kyoto-san was polite, but distant. He knew
Bob-san's reputation and so he was friendly, but reserved. It would never
do to turn cold to a fellow worker. "How is your day?"

"It is well, it is well. And yours?"

"I still exist."

"Ha! That much is so! And today, I notice your existence!"

"I thank you for that, Bob-san."

There was a pause, then.

"Is there anything I can help you with?" Kyoto-san asked.

"Ah, the matter. Yes. Yes there is, Kyoto-san. If you would but
indulge me more moments of your time? "

"My work is all," Kyoto-san said, "I do not know when such will
happen. Is it a matter of great importance? Or personal interest?"
He separated the two so much in his head that he had asked the
question before realizing the rudeness.

Bob-san started. "I am sorry, Kyoto-san. I realize that you work hard.
I should have known that such matters would not be of great importance
to you. I bid you good day."

As Bob-san walked away, Kyoto-san bowed his head to consider. He
had delivered 33 signatures that morning, he had not used a single
minute of personal time nor had gotten sick, and he had not so much
as spent a minute of his outside time with Bob-san. Kyoto-san had kept
distant from Bob-san because of political reasons, but he had never
given Bob-san the benefit of any doubt.

"Wait."

"Hmm?" Bob-san paused.

"Later we will meet. I have personal time that will not, as they say, use
itself. Perhaps in the hour after dinner when all the statesmen have gone?"

Bob-san smiled as he straightened his back. "Indeed! After dinner and after,
as you say, the statesmen! I thank you, Kyoto-san! I hope you will not
regret it.

Nor I, Kyoto-san thought, but did not speak aloud.

***

Later, when the statesmen had left, Bob-san lead him out of the offices in the
Embassy. But they did not leave the compound.

Instead, they stood before a door that, Kyoto-san realized, he had not marked
until Bob-san had pointed it out to him.

He wondered how that could be. In his duties, kyoto-san's work reached every
corner of the building, from the statesmen's rooms, to the official's offices, and
even to the secret recesses of his native land's spy monitors. With his eyes
down, he had been given access to everything.

Except the brown door before him.

"Tell me, Kyoto-san, how can such a door exist?" Bob-san asked, as if reading
his thoughts.

"I... do not know what you mean." He was suddenly afraid.

"I mean, how can it be? You must be wondering why it never existed to you
before, and indeed, it never did."

It never did? What nonsense was this? He had not seen any workers on the
compound, nor was the door or whatever lay beyond on any floorplans he
had access to.

"And...why might that be, Bob-san?" He was suddenly afraid of the nosy
diplomat's power.

"The door never existed to you, because you were never asked to enter it. You
are the perfect government worker. You do not see that which no one wants
you to see. And up until now, you did not see this door.

"At least, you did not, until I invited you to."

"And what exists beyond that door?"

"All the things that the statesmen wished they had. Come."

So Kyoto-san went.

***

The door opened to a stairway that lead to a tunnel. The stairway
was dim, but not dark, and the tunnel was lit, but not bright. At the
long end of the tunnel the single-file hallway broadened into a room
where existed yet another, brown door that Kyoto-san immediately
saw.

It had a rectangle hole in it.

"Business," a mouth spoke from the hole.

"Affairs of state," Bob said.

"Identity?"

"Bob-san and introducing Kyoto-san."

The hole slid shut, and the door opened to reveal another of Kyoto-san's
co-workers, Kevin.

"Welcome to our den of despair!" the loud mouthed worker exhaled. "You've
finally joined the only party of note in this miserable place."

"There are many parties above," Kyoto-san replied. He had attended to more
than a few.

"Indeed there are, indeed there are, but none such as this! You have served
the leaders of the world, no doubt, and that is impressive for even among
our den-brothers and sisters, there are few of us so trusted."

And in the dark, Kyoto-san saw that there were many of his co-workers talking
about tables. But their stances obscured the work on those tables from view.

"But now that you are here, we can begin the real work, if you so choose to
join us. Please, approach the table with Bob-san."

As he passed the first table, Kyoto-san stopped in shock. The artistry on the
table was amazing. Whoever had worked on this table had replicated the landscape
of the country's sacred mountains! He recognized the paths and the trees, and
even the local flora that was exacted down to a scale where the moutains reached
to the middle of his gut.

"What is this?"

"Keep going," Kevin called, "you'll see your table in back."

So Kyoto-san kept going. He carried his feet to the far table and felt like he was
heading home. For in the distance, the contents on the table resembled the skyline
of his home town.

"The city!" he cried. "How is this possible?"

"Wait," Bob-san, "The table has yet to reveal its true secrets to you." He placed
some objects on the table.

Kyoto-san bent low over the table to see what Bob-san had hidden behind the
various buildings. They were miniature footsoldiers, every one. He recognized the
colored jackets of the local militiamen. They were well supplied, and had graysuits
capped off with metal helmets and black vision googles extruding from their faces.
Their suits were covered on the chest with reactive padded armor vests,
various explosives and an ammunitions belt. In their arms they all carried the high-
powered anti-personnel guns that Kyoto-san hated so much.

"Those are mine. These," Bob-san indicated to his hands, "are yours."

When Kyoto-san saw the small civilian clad figures armed with home-made bombs and
guns that would not have rated in the most backwater country on the planet, he
understood. This was a simulated conflict between the citizen-soldiers and the
citizens they claimed to protect. Neither side bore any insignia for the conflict
permitted none. Both saluted the same flag under the sun, but they could not
co-exist in this city, or on this land.

"I will go first, then you. I think you'll pick up the rules along the way."

Kyoto-san was pleased to see that though his men were unarmored and
undergunned, he could direct them about the detailed map much more quickly
than Bob-san could maneuver his militiamen. And in terms of numbers, where
Bob-san had five figures, Kyoto-san commanded fifteen.

Of course, any one of the militiamen could gun down the entire lot of them,
but Kyoto-san did not think on that.

The sound of his own thoughts was foreign to him, as foreign as his homelands
had become. When he was young, he had played these games, but he had
joined the diplomatic service in the hopes of escaping the violence at home.

With this table, he thought, I can at least pretend to do something about it.

"I thank you for this, Bob-san," he said. Then he proceeded to completely
dismantle the militiamen's force of murderous bastards.

***

It was morning. Kyoto-san awoke from one of the couches in the den. They
had spent all night in various scenarios. Though he was always fighting at a
disadvantage, Kyoto-san managed to take over a water purification plant, sabotage
the militia's hydroponics plant, and eliminate the security forces around their
torture centers.

It was very fulfilling.

The next day, Kyoto-san would learn, there would be news from the Homelands,
and from the City. The citizens were in revolt against the militia and had scored
major victories against the militia, the details of which would be surpressed out
of fear of reprisals.

Kyoto-san would vow to find the door again. He would play another game.

Kyoto-sama as Ender Wiggins, an unexplored avenue is shown. Thank you for the tale Malfred-san, it is well read.

- ???????

Malfred I have no idea what that was but thank you.

Tmorrow I'm off to Red China for a 1 week immersion trip, then for real on June 1. I feel like I should destroy a message board or something.

Posted By Kid_Kyoto on 04/19/2007 10:13 AM
Malfred I have no idea what that was but thank you.

Translation : POST TOO LONG. DID NOT READ.

You're welcome.

That was rockin', derflam.

You are truly the most prolific poster. I shake my head in general amazement.

Posted By malfred on 04/19/2007 10:24 AM

Posted By Kid_Kyoto on 04/19/2007 10:13 AM
Malfred I have no idea what that was but thank you.

Translation : POST TOO LONG. DID NOT READ.

You're welcome.

Nope I read it, if it was orginal it was awesome and off the wall, if it was a reference to something I missed it.

 

Thanks though.

 

Kid_Kyoto wrote:

I came back to the US (form Guyana) last June and this June it's off to Red China.

I had a pretty ambitious agenda so it's nice to review progress:

1 Play 40k - Well I played 3 games... 2 of them this month so that was a wash.  Just don't have the will to learn 4th edition, redo army lists and all that.  Doesn't help that the nearest gaming stores are 30 miles away.

2 Build my own gaming table - complete success!  But see item 1 for how many times I used it...

3 Build terrain - complete success!  I build an entire (non ruined) city using the Pegasus Gothic building kit.  Painted almost none of it but at least the building is done.  And it was a blast.  Didn't get much use out of it though...

4 Finish Solid Gold Space Marines - success again!  Even got the rolling temple done!  And used them in EVERY game of 40k I played this year!

5 Finish SWAT IG - complete failure, never even painted one in the last year.  The new SM codex just killed my enthusiasm for doing a cameo IG army.

6 Play Supersystem - Supersystem is a superhero mini game that lets you create your own profiles and rules.  Looks like a lot of fun and I did a lot of painting for it but never got around to learning the rules or recruiting players.

In all an odd year, got lots of modeling done, some painting, did some figures I'm really proud of but just didn't play.  Weird.  Anyway I found a (possibly defunct) wargame group in Beijing but odds are I'll be hiatis for the next 2 years as far as gaming.  Probably still paint when I have time.

Wonder if I should bring the table and terrain?

Congratulations, you have finally found that defunct wargame club in Beijing.. lol...
We have recently just started forming a real gaming club. So far we've ordered a table-tennis board to serve as battle field. We don't have any proper terrains yet... Some of us don't even have a real codex(haha.. yeah .. I know... I will get one eventually.. but as of now I am still trying to get my tau army up to full strength.)

In the past we just meet up in some magic & might club to play some games with crude terrain pieces(eh... alright I'll be honest, we've even used card board boxes to substitute for bunkers and alike..) Personally I own a 2000~3000 points tau army(poorly painted, mind you that.. so no laughing, alright? sheesh.. lol..) We also have necron, marines, guards, witch hunter armies but not all of them are avaliable at this time(some of these players are studying or working out of town/country.) After May, we will have a lot more people reuniting with more varieties of armies(daemon hunters, black templars, dark angels, orks and more.)

If you are interestead in playing with some amatures, feel free to find me via msn @ orsonfahn@hotmail.com

Cheers

I can't cite you for threadnomancy, as I was happy to see and re-read Malf's kick-butt story. Hopefully you and Kyoto can do some gaming.

Good news! I got some PMs on this too, thanks.

Np, we await your arrival, inquisitor Kyoto. hehe

I expect pics, Kyoto-san!

E mail sent.

Y'know I'd completely forgotten Malfred's story... it's so... distrubing.

For those who wish to see China's answer to Dakka:
http://bbs.warac.cn/forumdisplay.php?fid=33

Kid_Kyoto wrote:E mail sent.

Y'know I'd completely forgotten Malfred's story... it's so... distrubing.

For those who wish to see China's answer to Dakka:
http://bbs.warac.cn/forumdisplay.php?fid=33

Eh, which addy did you send the mail to? My hotmail inbox has not recieved any new mail yet =\

teos40k wrote:

Kid_Kyoto wrote:E mail sent.

Y'know I'd completely forgotten Malfred's story... it's so... distrubing.

For those who wish to see China's answer to Dakka:
http://bbs.warac.cn/forumdisplay.php?fid=33

Eh, which addy did you send the mail to? My hotmail inbox has not recieved any new mail yet =\

Give it a few minutes, I used the one in your private message.

Hmm.. my inbox is still empty.
Do you use MSN?
Anyways we are gathering up again this Saturday. If you are interested in coming, drop me a line here.

Oh, and btw.. Do you read Chinese?

我知会看一点汉字. 太难了!

私の日本語は中国語より良いと思います。

But honestly English is best of all for me.

Why?

If the email doesn't make it try me, kidkyoto@hotmail.com

email sent~