Spring Clean: Rising Sun

So I spent an afternoon working to just get these table ready. I used the nice shiny new set of Scale75 Instant Color paints designed for that express purpose (you can read more about my thoughts on them here if you’re interested). In the end, however, I decided two things:

1. While the Instant Colors are perfectly adequate it’s not a look I’m really keen on.
2. The best way to finish this project is to move the game along to a new home.

Now, as often happens I came to the decision to let this go and then watched the XLBS discussing when to let games go. So, here are my thoughts on the topic in this instance:

• I already have Blood Rage, a game that is by all accounts quite similar to Rising Sun. I know how to play it, know I enjoy it, and have painted the whole thing up. Blood Rage doesn’t hit the table all that often in my current game group so I really don’t need another game in that space.
• I’m largely moving away from board game minis to more tabletop minis. Don’t quite know how to express this. I started the painting hobby through board games with minis. I then, largely through OTT, discovered the wonderful world of devoted miniature games (Infinity, Relic Blade, Moonstone, etc.) and the higher quality sculpts and casting. The result is that painting up a whole mess of similar sculpts just to play a game is…no longer my thing. I’ll certainly make some exceptions for games I currently have and love (Hellboy, Core Space, Mythic Battles) but it’s not my focus anymore.
• COVID caused me to shift the focus of my collection. It used to be that I sought to curate my collection to cater to most any gaming taste. There’s no real gaming store/gaming community where I live so to a large extent I served the role of having a depth and breadth (theme and mechanic) for pretty much any taste. With the lockdowns and social distancing that really ceased to be an option–now I game with a small, select group of folks and, more often, solo. Granted this will change now that I’m vaccinated but for a game to stay in my collection without a solo mode, it has to be something I very much love.
• I’m working on switching my gaming/hobby focus from acquiring to appreciating what I have. And yes, I will continue to buy way too much Infinity, ArcWorlde, Drowned Earth, Bushido, etc. However, when it comes to board games I’m trying to shift from owning to playing. In many ways, if it’s not getting to the table, there’s not a nostalgia reason to keep it, or there’s not a way to really use it for hobby focused activity…I’m working to cull it.
• I find that past a certain point, too much stuff/games and the reality that I shan’t ever get them all to the table is oppressive rather than exciting. I dove deep and wide into board gaming and that stage was grand. Now, however, I have a pretty good idea of what I like and it’s time to focus down on those things and trim the excess.

So…if any of you want an excellent KS copy of Rising Sun, with a beautifully finished wooden case and an excellent organizer, let me know. I’ll probably go ahead and strip these folks that I started painting just to get everything back to where they started. That’ll give me an excuse to play around with different methods of stripping minis as I haven’t really done that. (And also let me know if you’d like my Scale75 Instant Colors set as I’m letting those go too).

Edit: I realize double posting pics across projects is probably bad form. In this instance it seems warranted, however.