Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Wargaming Wednesday - Fief: France 1429 (2014) Rewarded

About a year ago, I mentioned a Kickstarter project heralding the wargame Fief: France 1429 (2014) here.  As it happens, several of my friends jumped in on that one and are now receiving their rewards.  As such, I thought it time to take a closer look at this promising game.


The description from Board Game Geek is as follows:
Fief: France 1429 is a game of dynastic ambition in which players assume the roles of nobles in the 15th century kingdom of France. Each player strives to become the most powerful ruling force in the kingdom by gaining control of Fief and Bishopric territories. In turn, they acquire Royal and Ecclesiastical (church) titles which give their families influence to elect the next Pope and King. Players strengthen their positions by negotiating marriage alliances between their families, setting the stage for love, treachery and deception!
Fief is a classic French-language game and is being re-introduced by Academy Games in English with updated rules, new units, a new and larger consolidated map, and more. This edition also includes additional components, which enhances game play.
The game board represents a portion of the Kingdom of France in the Middle Ages. Villages have square outlines that are connected by roads that allow Lord and Troop movement. The villages are grouped into eight colored background areas that represent individual Fiefs, which are domains given to Lords to preside over. Fiefs have different colored backgrounds and Bishoprics have heavy bordered outlines that include several different Fiefs. Each village also belongs to one of five church Bishoprics; each Bishopric is outlined with a heavy border line and is numbered between 1-5 along the edge of the board inside a Bishop's Mitre.
Each player controls up to four family members, comprised of male and female nobles. These family members will rise in power by gaining Royal and Ecclesiastic Titles.
In Fief: France 1429, a player may attempt to gain control of all the villages in a Fief to gain the Royal Title of Baron, Earl or Duke. For each Fief a player controls, he gains 1 VP. These Titled Lords may now take part in the election for the next King. They may even be a candidate to become King, thus bringing 1 VP and more power to the family! Other members of your family may follow the calling of the Church to gain the Ecclesiastical Titles of Bishop and then Cardinal. These titles allow you to Tithe Bishoprics, taking the Church's (i.e. "your") fair share of income from other Fief Lords! The highest goal your clerical family member can attain is to be elected Pope, bringing 1 VP and special privileges to your family!
You win the game as soon as you have 3 VPs. This is easier said than done and you may need to form alliances with other players through diplomacy and marriage to obtain your goal. When one of your family members marries a noble of another family, the two of you become allied. You now win the game together with 4 VPs and cannot win alone, unless your marriage is annulled by the Pope or your spouse is "mysteriously" murdered or dies of some other foul means!
In addition to being wary of your fellow players, you may draw event cards that can quickly change your destiny. Bounty Event cards are beneficial to the Player and include "Good Harvest", "Good Weather" and "Added Taxes" cards. But some cards are Disaster Cards that can randomly effect all players in specific Bishoprics. These include "The Plague", "Heavy Rain", "Famine", and "Peasant Uprisings"!
Income can be increased by players imposing church tithes on their opponent's villages or taxing their own Fiefs. Players may purchase new Fief titles, improve their village incomes with mills, and fortify their cities.
Players will also need to protect their land and castles. Men at Arms and Knights can be purchased, as well as Siege Engines. If you feel that other players are not running their Fiefs as well as you can, you may try to invade their territories! But you must risk one of your family members to lead the troops into possible battle, where they might be killed or taken prisoner. If two opposing armies are in the same village square, a Battle may be initiated. The players assess the size and strength of their armies, which determine the number of Battle Dice each may roll. Each "f" rolled is a hit. Men at Arms are defeated with one hit, while Knights require three hits to be removed from the battle.
That's a fairly extensive description and I don't have much to add other than I hope to play a game or two this month and will make a Systems Saturday blog post after I do so.  I hear the game looks wonderful and the components do not disappoint.  It is nice to be able to give a glowing report to a completed and rewarded Kickstarter as well.  The timing on this being shipped is also good since BGG has just posted their Spiel 2014 interview video with Uwe Eickert of Academy Games just yesterday.  Enjoy.



A closer examination of board and miniatures Wargaming.
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Tuesday, December 30, 2014

Terrain Tuesday - Tolkienized Modern Cities, JST3P.com's Snow Day, & Kobblestone Minis

Earlier this year on io9.com, they shared some "Maps Of Modern Cities Drawn In The Style Of J.R.R. Tolkien" here.


Also, on JST3P.com, there was a "Snow Day!" with an "Update on Wargame / Table Top RPG Terrain Projects" here.


Finally, if you've never seen them, you'll be impressed with the wares on Kobblestone Miniatures website here.


For purposes here, the term Terrain is used broadly
to cover 3D and 2D maps, foam, felt, and such.
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Monday, December 29, 2014

Minis & Modeling Monday - Baba LEGO's Hut, Paint Racks, & Wappel's Fire Golem

Check out "Baba Yaga and her Chicken-Legged Hut" over on the LEGO fan site brothers-brick.com here.


Also, as I set up a new workspace for minis painting, I have been exploring some different options for keeping the paints handy, paint racks of various design, as on gcmini.mybigcommerce.com here.  Post your own pics of your work space and give me some ideas, please!


Finally, there's always something new, interesting, and jaw-droppingly beautiful to see on the James Wappel Miniature Painting website, like his recent post on "Something to warm your heart on Christmas!"  See a full pictorial here.


A look at prepping and painting Miniatures,
crafting buildings and paper Models,
and other non-terrain stuff for the tabletop..
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Sunday, December 28, 2014

The Sunday Miscellanea - The Free House, Lords of Waterdeep, & the Gamehole

I was to be in Madison, WI, for much of the day last Friday, so Alex Kammer invited me to come by for lunch at The Free House pub, play a game of Lords of Waterdeep, and tour the famous GameHole playing space above the aforementioned tavern.  The GameHole game space even has a whole convention named after it here which takes place in November of every year.  It's often called the Sister-Convention of Gary Con and it includes a ton of Old School gaming but lots of modern-era gaming as well (go see for yourself!).  Of course, I took pictures and here are some highlights below, though there are more in a Facebook album here and on Google Plus here.  My thanks to Alex, Josh, and Andrew for their hospitality and good fellowship!









Essentially, a clearinghouse for topics on MFWARS.com
not covered elsewhere or wanting a particular focus.
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Saturday, December 27, 2014

Systems Saturday - Manifest (2014)

I was unaware of Manifest (2014) until a friend brought it up at the 4th Anniversary Lake Geneva Games gameday.  Several of us played a learning-game of it, which got us in the mood to play again sometime.  So, at the Franksville gameday the next month, the two of us were somewhat school gathered two others and taught them the game, then promptly played another right on its heels.  It's a solid game with fine components.  I obviously enjoyed it, to play it three times in a short period, and I would recommend it for anyone's collection who likes such games.


The description from Board Game Geek is as follows:
It's the roaring '20s and there's a fortune to be made steaming across the wild oceans. To succeed, you'll need a captain's steady nerve and the help of Lady Luck to land your cargo where it's needed. You have ships full of passengers and precious cargo, but can outrun pirate robbers, terrifying storms and a world depression that might devalue your goods?
Manifest is a game of cargo ships, sea scoundrels, and nautical mayhem. Win points for your shipping company by completing Contracts. Pick up certain goods or passengers at their source, then navigate the high seas to deliver them to a port where they are wanted. With a choice of private or public contracts and multi-purpose action cards, there are many paths to victory, and some "take that" options to make sure your opponents don't steal the limelight.
Manifest can be played in two ways: Standard and Expert. The Standard game is the introductory and family game. The Expert game builds on this, with a deck-buying and building mechanism replacing the blind card draw, thus adding another level of strategy that confident players may prefer.
Be the first player to complete Contracts to the point threshold (it varies by the number of players). When any player triggers the threshold, every other player gets one more turn to try and beat the score of the person who triggered the last round.

 There are a couple of levels of play.  The base game is the Pick Up and Deliver game with Point to Point Movement and a bit of Dice rolling in relatively limited circumstances.  Players get contracts to pick up one (or sometimes more) type of cargo or passenger from one or more potential locations and deliver same to a particular market.  There are some open contracts that anyone can fulfill but mostly the details are hidden from other players.  There are pirate waters which can almost always be avoided and the game mainly comes down to cycling some contracts to get the ones you can fulfill most quickly to achieve a victory point total ahead of rivals.  There are setbacks along the way for everyone, so nothing is guaranteed, and it isn't just the lucky draw player who will win.


The advanced game adds a Deck Building element that keeps the feel of the base game but increases the complexity.  It makes you feel more in control of your destiny but at the same time increases how dangerous your opponents can be to your plans.  It's quite sinister in that regard.  I really do recommend this game and will play it again soon, I hope.

Manifest (2014) was developed as a Kickstarter project in early 2014 here.  The publishers of the game have made the rules available through Board Game Geek here.


A look under the hood of various Games, Rules and Systems.
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Friday, December 26, 2014

Tabletopper Friday - Tabletop w/ Wil Wheaton, Bohnanza on GameNight!, & Claustrophobia on Starlit Citadel

Over on the Geek & Sundry YouTube channel, Wil Wheaton hosts another episode of TableTop while playing two games, Hare&Tortoise as well as Council of Verona with guests: Alison Haislip, Jessica Merizan, and David Kwong.  Enjoy.



Also, on the Board Game Geek TV YouTube channel, the GameNight! crew play Bohnanza.  Enjoy.



Finally, on the Starlit Citadel YouTube channel Kaja Sadowski and Joanna Gaskell review the Claustrophobia Expansions De Profundis and Furor Sanguinis.  Enjoy.



Mostly about card games and board games,
unless they have a decidedly wargamey feel.
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Thursday, December 25, 2014

Nostalgia Thursday - TSR Retrospective

A local Lake Geneva publication, At the Lake, recently published an article looking back at TSR during the 40th anniversary of Dungeons & Dragons.










Focusing on the roots of current tabletop gaming
with an eye toward the last century and before.
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Wednesday, December 24, 2014

Wargaming Wednesday - Dogfight, Modular Castles, & the Boardgaming Way

Over on the Killing Time blog, a recent posting discusses "Dogfight Saturday Night" here.


Also, holiday greeting are being extended by the fine folks at Tabletop Workshop, makers of the Modular Castle terrain, here.


Finally, if you aren't keeping up with Fred Manzo's The Boardgaming Way online magazine, you're missing out on a lot of good wargaming intel here.


A closer examination of board and miniatures Wargaming.
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Tuesday, December 23, 2014

Terrain Tuesday - Dragon Ridge Dungeons, Weathering, & Three Hearts / Lions Map

Keep an eye on the Dragon Ridge Dungeons Etsy store for listings like "Hand Painted Game Tile Set 34 Pieces for Dungeons & Dragons, Pathfinder, Warhammer, Dwarven Forge Earth Stone" here.


Also, over on The Terrain Tutor YouTube channel, there is a recent video upload on "Adding Frozen Snow, Ice & Sludge to your Wargaming Terrain." Enjoy.



Finally, over on the Dragonsfoot forums, there is a thread with some maps that would be excellent for a Three Hearts and Three Lions campaign based on the great Poul Anderson novel.  See more here.


For purposes here, the term Terrain is used broadly
to cover 3D and 2D maps, foam, felt, and such.
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Monday, December 22, 2014

Minis & Modeling Monday - Doctor Faust Paints Reaper's Dr. Orontius

Over on The Painting Clinic YouTube channel, Doctor Faust highlights "Painting Reaper Dr. Orontius for Pathfinder" in two parts.  Enjoy.





A look at prepping and painting Miniatures,
crafting buildings and paper Models,
and other non-terrain stuff for the tabletop..
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Sunday, December 21, 2014

The Sunday Miscellanea - Norm's Hobbit Village

My buddy Norman is putting together a Hobbit village with pieces from various terrain lines.  I've uploaded some photos to Facebook here and Google Plus here.




Essentially, a clearinghouse for topics on MFWARS.com
not covered elsewhere or wanting a particular focus.
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Saturday, December 20, 2014

Systems Saturday - Matthew J. Neagley's Tips on Dungeoncrafting

Over on Gnome Stew, author Matthew J. Neagley has an article sharing  checklist for designing a dungeon crawl here.


A look under the hood of various Games, Rules and Systems.
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Friday, December 19, 2014

Tabletopper Friday - Board Game Family Reviews Battlestar Galactica

Over on TheBoardGameFamily YouTube channel, there is a new review of Battlestar Galactica.  Enjoy.



Mostly about card games and board games,
unless they have a decidedly wargamey feel.
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Thursday, December 18, 2014

Nostalgia Thursday - Classic TSR Module Covers

Over on the Art of the Genre website, there's a wonderful list of the "Top 10 Classic TSR Module Covers from 1981-1987" here.  While you're there, take a peek at Scott Taylor's revamped Kickstarter for his 1E AD&D Folio project!


Focusing on the roots of current tabletop gaming
with an eye toward the last century and before.
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Wednesday, December 17, 2014

Wargaming Wednesday - Middle-Earth Army Lists for DBM

If you're a fan of wargaming using the De Bellis Multitudinis (DBM) rules, and also a Tolkien fan, then check out the Middle-Earth Army Lists for DBM webpage by Luke Ueda-Sarson here.


A closer examination of board and miniatures Wargaming.
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Tuesday, December 16, 2014

Terrain Tuesday - TerranScapes LotR Terrain

If you're looking to craft some Middle-earth terrain for a Tabletop RPG or wargame, one of my favorite resources is the TerranScapes YouTube channel here.


For example, he does some very detailed videos (shown below) on how to craft Weathertop terrain.



For purposes here, the term Terrain is used broadly
to cover 3D and 2D maps, foam, felt, and such.
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Monday, December 15, 2014

Minis & Modeling Monday - Picking Paint, Basing Kit, & Wood Elf Ranger Paint Tutorial

Over on the Painting Clinic YouTube channel, Doctor Faust examines "Picking Your Paint - What's the Best Paint for You?"  Enjoy.



Also, on the Eons of Battle YouTube channel, they look at a way to "Base 100+ Bases Easily with the EonsOfBattle Basing Kit."  Enjoy.



Finally, on the Awesome Paint Job YouTube channel, Lester Burley details "How to paint Wood Elves Wildwood Ranger Warhammer."  Enjoy.



A look at prepping and painting Miniatures,
crafting buildings and paper Models,
and other non-terrain stuff for the tabletop..
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