What are we doing when we play Gaslands?

Gaslands Refueled is game based in a post apocalyptic setting on planet Earth. The premise of this game (as far as I am concerned) is carnage, destruction of your opponents, mayhem, and more carnage! 

You can get many of the resources needed to play Gaslands for free on the Gaslands website this is in part what attracted me to this game, it is accessible to so many people through it's free resources. The other aspect which caught my eye was the fun little rule 'The Rule of Carnage' which has now become the mantra for many a Thursday evening's gaming at BIG.

There are also some great products created by Friends of Gaslands which you can find here

Noxious plumes of smoke are par for the course in every game of Gaslands

The rules, however, suggest that winning a race between yourself and your opponents is the objective! They imply that if you can beat all the other vehicles to the finish line, if you can avoid their Remote Control Car bombs, their Oil Slicks and their constant blasting of your vehicle with whatever big fat gun they have decided to employ, then you will win a ticket to Mars, you will be elevated to a place of luxury and clean air. But as anyone who is anyone knows - Mars is a lie! So why do I still race you ask? Because I know nothing different now, in this wasteland we call home, hope is all I have. So I will race!

My First build!

I had fallen for the concept big time, so I arranged for an expert in all things Gaslands to come to Bristol Independent Gaming for the day and teach the rules to me and a small group of destruction hungry gamers.

With a pile of guns, wheels and skulls at our disposal our imaginations were the only limits imposed!

So we proceeded to glue on random bits from the bits box at Bristol Independent Gaming, a couple of 3D printed guns, some mesh from a box of locusts bought to feed our resident Beardie and, well just lots of random bits really!

A star was born

Meet M-L-C

My first Build, I will admit, has come under some ridicule. It has a unique silhouette, with its big fat rear wheels, it's smaller front wheels and it's uplifted nose. It is a CAR! NOT a buggy, NOT a golf buggy, a CAR! My skills are minimal when it comes to creating a vehicular masterpiece, but I love my little M-L-C (mid-life-crisis, the only name for a sports car bought, modified, and raced by someone of my age in my opinion).

Here are some of the other fabulous creations from the day

A quick spray by the lovely Jim with some red, gloss finish lacquer that happened to be close at hand and a touch of green class from me and my car was table ready!

I am sure many seasoned hobbyists and miniature painters will recoil from what I called a bright (maybe Orkish?) paint job, but for me this is an achievement! I have built and painted a miniature that will be used in a game that I have fallen in love with. For me that is what the hobby is about, whatever table-top miniatures game you choose, if it gives you pleasure, skill is not important. I don't play to win, I didn't paint to wow the crowds, I do both because I enjoy being a part of a community that is accepting of everyone and is a safe place to socialise.

That is all for now, I am further on in this journey and am excited to tell you all everything I have learned along the way but for now I shall leave you with what my mum always told me and I told my children too, 'it's not the winning but the taking part that counts'