Thursday, July 10, 2008

Watch out for poison cats

My oldest daughter, at 8, has assembled a fine collection of Littlest Pet Shop creatures. When my brother-in-law was visiting recently, we used some of the houses and playsets from the line as props in our Warhammer 40,000 games. They were really just about a perfect size, with large windows. The only problem with them was that they were brightly colored and full of flowers and hearts. Not a skull or a chainsword to be found among them.

I think Warhammer overdoes the macho stuff sometimes, but that's part of its charm. Some of the figures are walking around wearing capes and armor, with chains hanging off of them, and skulls hanging from their belts. Spikes on every elbow and knee. Motorized chainsaw swords. The milieu behind Warhammer is dominated by an empire, but it's an empire whose uniforms were designed by bikers.

After a while, Chloe decided that she wanted to play Warhammer. And we noted that the Littlest Pet Shop toys are just about the right size for a large Warhammer figure. She began talking about wanting to play with us.

So we formed the idea of rating her toys as Warhammer figures and playing a game. She immediately decided that her several cat figures should be Poison Cats, with leaping moves and poison attacks. I think we're in trouble.

It's okay if she wins, though. If she wins a few games we might make a permanent wargamer out of her.

Also, I noted that if you filed the hearts and flowers off of one of the toy playsets and spray painted it, you'd have a quick and durable piece of handy Warhammer scenery. You could probably glue some skulls on. So I'm going to keep my eyes open for something like this at garage sales. I don't think my daughter will let me have hers.

Although if we get a game going with the poison cats, they'll fit right in with no repainting required.

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