Wining and Winning

My wife, Kitty, and I love wine tasting. Our favorite destination is the Adirondack Winery in Lake George, New York. It’s not just a stop for us; it’s a tradition. We visit four times a year. We try once a season and hit the mark almost every year. 

Adirondack Winery has an impressive lineup of over 40 wine varieties. We’ve proudly or shamefully sampled and purchased every single one. It’s no surprise we’re members of their Case Club, which comes with a variety of perks for those who purchase at least 12 bottles a year. For us, that’s easy. During each visit, we usually leave with a case in hand, and we keep going by adding three more bottles to our collection every month.

We are rapidly running out of room for wine. In our living room, we have a wine rack with about a dozen bottles. In the dining room, the legs of our dinner table have slots for 12 more bottles. Since we are gifting a bunch of bottles, we have at least a case of bottles waiting to be wrapped. 

Maybe you noticed that I had an ad for wine.com on my blog. It didn't work. No one clicked it. Not even once so I took it down. The link provided in the post is informational only, I don't receive anything from ADK for promoting them. 

The bottles are shipped in excellent packaging, a type of form-fitted cardboard. They use FedEx so the wine can be directed to a secondary drop-off point like Walgreens. In NY you need to show ID for wine deliveries. 

This growing collection has led to my latest project: designing a wine cellar. Kitty has officially put me in charge. To that end, Kitty selected a special Christmas gift that will be used to make this happen. I can't wait to start showing that off next year. 

But you know what I really want? 

Toys. Models. Buildings. Spaceships. 

I missed Mecha Monday this week, but I did make two posts this week to make up for it. If you like to order wine or know of a winery, you might be able to pick up some of these bottle-form containers. 

If you cut them apart with a pair of scissors and slap some paint on them, they start to look like buildings. This one looks a bit like a hanger or bunker to me. They have that old adobe Star Wars look, like Mos Eisley. 

I realized I don't have any grass or sand, so I will need to pick some up to texture the bottom edge. 

Depending on your paint job, you can deck them out for many different scales and themes. The slab-like arches can be painted to look like garage doors or regular man-sized doors depending on need. I have to say the Commando looks massive and threatening next to this thing. 

Since my last post was about Star Wars, I hope to do a campaign using a lot of Star Fighters. My pick for these are either Bandai 1:144 scale models from my local comic shop or small metal models from Studio Bergstrom. I have purchased a few ships from Studio Bergstrom and I suspect I will amass a lot in the future because I like models as much as wine. 

The three or four dozen ships I already have are going to be the focus of a lot of Miniature Mondays. I will be mixing that up with Mecha Monday, because a good mech is like good wine. 

Star Wars D20 - The Donations of Palpatine

I am creating a Star Wars D20 campaign using the Star Wars Role-Playing Game I reviewed here. Unlike my last foray into the world of Star Wars, this series will be heavy on Jedi, Manolorians, and star fighters. This post contains many of the ideas I will present in Session 0. 

The system Meneth is in the Outer Rim. It has always been unaligned with any galactic power due to the array of ion cannons defending it. Novema and Seguna are the two habitable worlds in the system. Novema is the seat of power in the system with Seguna producing most of the food for export. 

I hate the Star Wars timeline for its numbering convention, but the story starts in 19 BBY, with Order 66. Five Nu-class shuttles were on Novema for resupply for a trip to Coruscant. Four shuttles carried 20 clone troopers each. The last shuttle carried 3 Jedi Counselors and 3 Padawands to escort 4 force adepts and 6 children who were potential candidates for the Jedi order. 

As they made for orbit, Order 66 came in. 

Chaos ensued with a 4 on 1 dogfight in the upper atmosphere. The Jedi ship danced between several incoming freighters, including several operated by Mandalorian refugees. From the ground, it looked as if the Clone Troopers went nuts and were gunning for each other, which was actually the case. After several tense minutes, the order to fire on every ship was given. The ion cannons were very effective, 

Three-quarters of the Clone Troopers died as the ships crashed, along with two Jedi and one Force Adept. Most of the remaining Clone Troopers were seriously injured. Most tried to integrate with Menethian life, but a few joined the criminal underworld, fled the system, or joined the Silver Blades. 

Fast forward to 5 BBY. A fleeing group of Battle Droids attempted to take the planet. By this time, Meneth was protected by a vast array of deep-space ion cannons. Three Droid ships crashed on Novema while one was trapped in orbit around Seguna. None of the Battle Droids were able to activate and attack either planet. 

A fifth fully activated Droid ship crashed on an asteroid and has become a horrible thorn in the side of the Menethians. They prevent full coverage of the system with the ion cannon array and allow pirates into the space lanes. 

One final time jump to 5 years after the Battle of Yavin. There are five factions in the Meneth system: 

1. The Jedi,
2. The Silver Blades, 
3. The Menethian government, 
4. The remnants of the Droid Army,  
5. and a small Rebel base. 

The Menethians allow the Rebels to refurbish older fighters and small ships on Seguna. It is a tiny port among many, protected by the Ion Array. The Rebels assist in the defense of the system with their elderly Y-Wings, and faster A-Wings, plus a few X-Wings. They are not allowed a bigger presence. The Rebels will not bring "hot" ships known to the Empire into the system or new items like B-Wings. 

The locals have been providing old speeders to the Rebels, which are being converted to special operation vehicles for harsh environments. Their tactical value is dubious. 

The Silver Blades are the remaining Manolorians plus a handful of Clone Troopers who are headed up by one of the Force Adepts who declined to join the Jedi. They act as an independent force on Novema, usually opening the way for the remaining Jedi to negotiate peacefully. They all wield Silver lightsabres that stun as opposed to wound. They are not as skilled as Jedi when using them, a Silver Blade cannot block blaster fire, but their armor makes up the difference. 

Silver Blade: (Light Saber) Damage: 1d4 stuns DC 15, 1 kg, size medium, simple group. 

The Jedi have a small temple on Seguna. While they do not see eye-to-eye with the Silver Blades, they often accompany them on missions when negotiation is necessary. Most people believe the Jedi are old, wiser counselors for the Silver Blades. Everyone is inclined to keep up this appearance. 

During the planting and harvest seasons, the Jedu will offer their manpower to the local farmers. It is very boring, but it allows the Jedi to get their ears to the ground while trading for necessary items. The Jedi generally don't have much money.  

The Imperials want to smash the Meneth System but are stymied by the five factions. In one case, a Star Destroy was attacked by all five factions at once, the distress call sent was worrisome, to say the least. Their next attempt was another disaster. Believing the Droid base was the front-line defense, they bypassed it and flew into the teeth of several fighter squadrons backing up the Ion Array. 

The fleet limped out of the system and resorted to guerrilla tactics and civilian ships to get spies and saboteurs into the system. The player characters will investigate the Imperial interference while also helping the local fighter squads beat back hit-and-run raids by the Imperials. If they can, they are also charged with dislodging the Droid Army from their asteroid base.