Terrain Tuesday - Durin's Causeway

Over on Scott's Wargaming website, check out his rendition of Durin's Causeway inspired by the Lord of the Rings Moria escape.  See more here.

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For purposes here, the term Terrain is used broadly
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Minis & Modeling Monday - Heavy Gear Painting & Sargent Art No-Spill Cups

There is a fine tutorial article on belloflostsouls.net on painting Heavy Gear figures.  See more here.

Also, on eNasco.com, have a look at the deal they have on Sargent Art No-Spill Paint Cups here.

Minis & Modeling Monday on MFWARS.com 

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

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The Sunday Miscellanea - Gaming Hoopla Update

We interrupt your regularly scheduled Sunday stuff to make this gaming announcement: Gaming Hoopla continues to be fun!  See more in the form of poorly shot pictures by me on Facebook here and here as well as on Google Plus here and here.

If you are receiving this alert on Sunday morning, you can check out the details here and come join the fun!

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Systems Saturday - Belfort (2011) Revisited

Belfort (2011) definitely has the bells and whistles one expects in a modern boardgame.  Earlier in the summer, I did a quick write up of some thoughts on my first game (here).  However, a couple of things have come up that appear to be a bad trend in the two games I have played.  I'm playing a little later today, so I'll be keeping an eye these aspects at that time.

A few thoughts now include . . .  Dealing with taxes isn't all that problematic once one gets the hang of things.  I did notice, though, that the number of useful guilds that are drawn can set the later players in the early turn order off at a disadvantage.  Sure, you can change the turn order as part of play, but by the time you do, those who went ahead have already had that advantage and have moved on to capture other advantages while you play catch up.

One of the biggest problems I noticed was runaway advantage in population majorities.  It's a double-dipping reward bonus, in that you get points for numbers but also get more workers to do additional actions.  As a player starting later in this game (third), I even tried to get in on that action when I realized I was going to be boxed out of the better guilds.  There didn't seem to be a way to staunch the bleeding once it began.

I'll see how today's game goes but I am losing hope that the game's problem can be mitigated by players who, by early bad luck, come later in the order of play.  We'll see.

Systems Saturday on MFWARS.com 

A look under the hood of various Games, Rules and Systems.

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Tabletopper Friday - Battle Merchants (2014)

Battle Merchants (2014) is a two to four player game about fantasy weapons merchants.  It's tough for me to get too excited about most games that don't allow more than four players (or games that don't allow for less than three) because so often I find myself in situations where they cannot satisfy enough player (or just me and someone else when I need games for just two) but this one caught my eye.  Plus, it's always nice when Board Game Geek has a convention video with someone from the company, often the designer, to help spur my interest.

The description from Board Game Geek is as follows:

In a faraway land, the Elves, Dwarves, Orcs, and Hobgoblins stand on the brink of war. After years of failed peace negotiations, they have finally decided to take up arms and stand ready to fight – which is great news for you because you'll be selling them their weapons.

Battle Merchants is an economic game set in a fantasy land in which players manufacture four different weapons, then sell them to various warring races. Demand for each type of weapon differs throughout the game, but a well-crafted weapon will last longer.

On each turn, players can forge weapons, sell a weapon, upgrade craft (to build better weapons), or take a Kingdom Card (for special powers); for players with a high-enough level of craft, a fifth action is available: forge and sell a weapon in the same turn. Players earn money by selling weapons, and it's permitted (nay, encouraged!) to sell your weapons to both sides of the same battle. The game takes place over four seasons in one game year. At the end of each season, the races fight with the weapons that the players sold. Weapons are at risk of being destroyed in battle, and surviving weapons earn money for surviving. After all, someone has to get paid to sharpen all of those weapons...

At the end of the game, the player with the most money wins.

And below is the recently uploaded video on BGGTV's YouTube channel from Gen Con 2014.

Tabletopper Friday on MFWARS.com 

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unless they have a decidedly wargamey feel.

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Nostalgia Thursday - Mertwig's Maze (1988)

Mertwig's Maze (1988) is a Tom Wham design published by TSR.  I got the chance to play this with Tom and our friend Wendy late last week.  While it does have that old school roll the dice for movement mechanic, which can sometimes prove frustration, it also has some other very fun features.  There are definitely RPG-influenced aspects of the game as well.

The description from Board Game Geek (and the back of the game's folio):

Wise and beloved King Mertwig lays dying. His only children, a twin boy and girl, were stolen by gypsies long ago when they were still babies. Mertwig, desperate that his kingdom not fall into evil hands, announces a contest: Anyone who can present to him a Royal Treasure and a Royal Birthmark will be named heir!

But treasures (not to mention birthmarks) are not exactly easy to find. And after a would-be Royal Heir tracks them both down, he (or she) must present them to King Mertwig - and that requires braving the dangers of Mertwig's Maze!

The Mertwig's Maze game is a lighthearted fantasy boardgame from Tom Wham, designer of numerous games published in Dragon magazine, including the classic Snit Smashing and Snit's Revenge. In the Mertwig's Maze game, you are the would-be heir to Mertwig's throne! Can you complete your quest, get past the Mystic Musk Ox in Mertwig's Maze, and reach the finish before the other players? More importantly, can you claim the throne before Mertwig passes on and the kingdom falls into the clutches of evil?

The Mertwig's Maze game contains a large game map, eight smaller maps, full-color counters, and hundreds of cards depicting hirelings, magical items, arms and armor, and random events to aid your quest - or hinder your opponents'! Mertwig's Maze game can be played by two or more players, and is recommended for ages 10 and up.

The map is colorful and delightfully Tom Wham-ish, with all the little touches his artwork brings to his games.

The Hireling cards are nifty and your main character as well as the Hirelings have Attack and Defense values that match up when you place the cards head to head for combat.  Mundane and Magic Item cards slip beneath the characters and add to one or the other value.

The various locations where your gathered party explore run the gamut of fantasy locations with tricks, traps, and monsters to overcome.

Each location is unique, so there is not a lot of repetition in the game.  We had a great time playing this classic and I look forward to tackling it again someday.

Nostalgia Thursday on MFWARS.com 

Focusing on the roots of current tabletop gaming
with an eye toward the last century and before.

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Wargaming Wednesday - Scott's Wargaming Website

Sometimes it behooves me to not focus on a single game or style of wargaming but rather to point toward another site that has a wargaming focus.  Today, I point toward Scott's Wargaming which has tons pf pics of minis and terrain which will all bring inspiration to your own gaming efforts and mine.  Enjoy.

Wargaming Wednesday on MFWARS.com 

A closer examination of board and miniatures Wargaming.

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Terrain Tuesday - Snack Tower & Lemax Halloween Supplies

Is it wrong to choose a snack product based on what you might make from the container?  I think not.

It's that time of year when stores are carrying lots of Halloween decorations and supplies.  Be sure to grab the coupons off of the Michaels website and check the Lemax website for what you might find in the store before you head over.

Terrain Tuesday on MFWARS.com 

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

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Minis & Modeling Monday - Elves Wappel Likes

Over on the Wappelicious blog, James Wappel shows off some Elves he really likes, paints wonderfully, and even the bases are inspiring.  See more here.

Minis & Modeling Monday on MFWARS.com 

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

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The Sunday Miscellanea - 275,000 Dominoes Toppled

There is a video from July of last year on the Sinners Domino Entertainment YouTube channel titled "275,000 Dominoes - Enjoy Your Life (Guinness World Record - Most dominoes toppled in a spiral)" which is just fun to watch.  And there are more topplings beyond the record breaker on this ten minutes tumblefest.  Enjoy.

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Systems Saturday - Spyrium (2013)

Spyrium (2013) is a game for two to five players that generally takes a bit under one and a half hours.  I've played this game about a dozen times, mostly with seasoned veterans of boardgaming, and have found it to be as fun with two as with five, and likewise in between.  Recently, playing with just Tom Wham and myself (seen below getting out a die to determine first player), I tried a new approach than usual, but more on that later.

The description of the game from Board Game Geek is as follows:

Spyrium is set in an alternate world, an England set in a steampunk-based universe. Players build factories, needing workers to manage the production of a commodity previously unknown to us called "Spyrium". Producing Spyrium in one factory, then processing it in the next results in victory points (VPs) for that particular player. Alternatively, Spyrium can be purchased, but the material is rare and expensive, and players are constantly scraping for money.

Only those who from the beginning of the game manage to increase their regular income or their base of permanently employed workers (who can be used again and again to raise money) will be flexible enough to get their hands on the important end-of-game buildings to generate many VPs.

The circular nature of the game is flexible as each player can decide for himself when to move out of the placement phase and into the activation phase. With the two tracks in the game, those involved with delivery during the worker phase can then be used to raise money, to purchase an adjacent card, or to work on their own in an idle factory. All of these things are important, but in the end only the player who has dealt best with the lack of money, workers and Spyrium will win.

Often when I play Spyrium, I jump aggressively toward accumulating early Victory Points (VP).  This has often left me scraping for coin during at least two rounds.  This time around, I made sure I had enough coinage all the way through with the exception of the very last action.  I made sure to collect a handful of end-game VP buildings that also could keep at least two of my workers busy away-from-market each turn, adding some flexibility to how early I could switch from placement to resolution.  Although it was a tight game, and but for one or two plays could have gone either way, I managed one of my higher scores.

Systems Saturday on MFWARS.com 

A look under the hood of various Games, Rules and Systems.

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Tabletopper Friday - Caverna: The Cave Farmers (2013)

Caverna: The Cave Farmers (2013) came out last year and I've seen it played several times but have yet to get the chance to play it myself.  Perhaps I can rectify that at the Gaming Hoopla next weekend or at one of the two local gamedays this weekend.

The description from Board Game Geek is as follows:

Following along the same lines as its predecessor (Agricola), Caverna: The Cave Farmers is a worker-placement game at heart, with a focus on farming. In the game, you are the bearded leader of a small dwarf family that lives in a little cave in the mountains. You begin the game with a farmer and his spouse, and each member of the farming family represents an action that the player can take each turn. Together, you cultivate the forest in front of your cave and dig deeper into the mountain. You furnish the caves as dwellings for your offspring as well as working spaces for small enterprises. 

It's up to you how much ore you want to mine. You will need it to forge weapons that allow you to go on expeditions to gain bonus items and actions. While digging through the mountain, you may come across water sources and find ore and ruby mines that help you increase your wealth. Right in front of your cave, you can increase your wealth even further with agriculture: You can cut down the forest to sow fields and fence in pastures to hold your animals. You can also expand your family while running your ever-growing farm. In the end, the player with the most efficiently developed home board wins.

You can also play the solo variant of this game to familiarize yourself with the 48 different furnishing tiles for your cave.

Caverna: The Cave Farmers, which has a playing time of roughly 30 minutes per player, is a complete redesign of Agricola that substitutes the card decks from the former game with a set of buildings while adding the ability to purchase weapons and send your farmers on quests to gain further resources. Designer Uwe Rosenberg says that the game includes parts of Agricola, but also has new ideas, especially the cave part of your game board, where you can build mines and search for rubies. The game also includes two new animals: dogs and donkeys.

  A recent Starlit Citadel Reviews episode had me thinking about it again.  Watch it here or below.  Enjoy.

Tabletopper Friday on MFWARS.com 

Mostly about card games and board games,
unless they have a decidedly wargamey feel.

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Nostalgia Thursday - Dragon Dice Live!

A recent post on oldschoolfrp.tumblr.com featured an advertisement from TSRHobbies, Inc. for their set of Dragon Dice, a set of polyhedrals with a crayon for coloring in the numbers.  It reminded me of the Dragon Dice (1995) game, similar in name only, designed for TSR by Lester Smith, now of Popcorn Press (his own imprint/company).

This description from Board Game Geek:

Players use colorful dice to represent armies of different fantasy races which battle to control essential terrain in this fast-rolling game. Any number of players can join the struggle, although it's designed as a multiplayer game. The first player to capture two terrains immediately wins the game, or you may try to obliterate your opponent's dice. Spells and layered strategies benefit certain races as you try to control the odds in this dynamic game full of surprises!

UPDATE: New 2-Player Starter Sets, including completely rewritten rules, were released in 2007. These rules are available online at [www.sfr-inc.com]. The new Starters have perfectly paired racial armies, not random assortments like the old retail packaging, plus four terrain dice, two dragons, the complete rulebook, and new army placement cards. The races are paired up as Coral Elf/Lava Elf, Dwarf/Goblin, Feral/Undead, and Amazon/Swamp Stalker. Hybrid Dragons were offered in 2008. Acolytes of the Eldarim (a large expansion of the Eldarim race) was released in August 2009, along with a re-release of the Dragonkin. The Battlefields expansion (new major and minor terrains) was released in August 2010, adding exciting new options and strategies. The Dragoncrusader and Dragonzealots (new Eldarim Champions) were released in 2011. Dwarves and Goblins were re-released as kickers in 2012 and now include a 5th monster for each race. Magic Items were also re-released in the Battle Chest expansion in 2012. Coral Elves and Lava Elves were re-released as kickers in 2013 and now include a 5th monster. Amazons were re-released as kickers in 2014 and now include a 5th monster.

Interestingly, a group called the Windy City Rollers gets together regularly (and has for years) at Games Plus in Mount Prospect, IL, to play Dragon Dice.  Their next meeting is at the store at 6 pm on September 27th (as noted here if you scroll down).  Roll well!

Nostalgia Thursday on MFWARS.com 

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with an eye toward the last century and before.

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Wargaming Wednesday - Ars Victor (2013)

Ars Victor (2013) has been around for over a year but seems to be getting little press.  Until I saw a recent review on Play Unplugged, I was unaware of it.  It came from a Kickstarter project that funded at the beginning of June last year.  Stephen DeBaun of Ventura, CA was the project creator and saw it fund decently above its initial goal, though they only managed to get to the first of five stretch goals.  The Kickstarter seems very well put together and aside from the iconic artwork for the units, which doesn't appeal to me personally but looks like it will serve well enough, everything had a professional and unified theme and feel.  There are some excellent videos tied to the Kickstarter and the Rules and Quick Reference Sheet can be downloaded through there as well.  I'm going to have to get a closer look at this one.

Wargaming Wednesday on MFWARS.com 

A closer examination of board and miniatures Wargaming.

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Terrain Tuesday - Red Kobold's Blue Dungeon Tiles

After running a very successful Kickstarter that funded last April, Red Kobold has been fulfilling their funders' backing this week and even put their wares up for sale through their website here.

Terrain Tuesday on MFWARS.com 

For purposes here, the term Terrain is used broadly
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Minis & Modeling Monday - Painting Reaper Ranger Kieron for D&D

Over on his Painting Clinic YouTube channel, Doctor Faust has a two-part video series up on how to "Painting Reaper Ranger Kieron for D&D."  Enjoy.

Minis & Modeling Monday on MFWARS.com 

A look at prepping and painting Miniatures,
crafting buildings and paper Models,
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The Sunday Miscellanea - How to Make a Sword Tutorial

Over on the epicfantasy (StormtheCastle.com) YouTube channel, there is a nifty video titled "How to make a Sword - Complete tutorial."  Enjoy.

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Systems Saturday - Skallywaggs (2005)

We played a nifty card game yesterday that has been around a while but of which I had been unaware.  Skallywaggs (2005) isn't a quick game, in my opinion, when first encountered but I could see it getting much quicker once players get to know the deck and know which cards to hold in their hand for the end game.

Here is the description from Board Game Geek:

From the publisher:  Be the first to set sail by building a crew of rascally rogues before your opponents can complete their own collection of misfits. You'll need both luck and skill. But beware! This is Skallywaggs, and every pirate worth his parrot knows the tide is quick to turn. There's Scurvy, Hurricanes, and Cursed Sailors aboard, and if you can't batten the hatches your skallywaggs may be hauled off in irons or sent to Parley with Davy Jones.

The game comes complete in one box, with all 120 cards, and instructions for two to four players. The deck consists of 90 unique, wonderfully illustrated body parts (30 heads, 30 chests, 30 legs) that fit together to build thousands of different characters, and 30 event cards that add peril to every turn. Skallywaggs is a sure hit for hours of cutthroat fun.

I think that the way we played the game was more tentative than typical.  We were so busy working out how to create pirates that were less likely to be stolen or destroyed that we failed to realize that such things can happen fast and often in this game.  It's seemingly better to build fast and move forward to victory with a recklessness that pirates would appreciate.  Next time, I plan to do so anyway.

Systems Saturday on MFWARS.com 

A look under the hood of various Games, Rules and Systems.

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Tabletopper Friday - Scotland Yard (1983)

Not long back, I had the chance at a gameday to try out Scotland Yard (1983), a classic family boardgame that is more challenging than one might imagine.  While on its face, it is a chase game, the mental twisting and turning one does while trying to locate the villain keeps you involved at all times during play.  My friends Laura and Al had the 2004 edition but it hasn't essentially changed.

The description from Board Game Geek is as follows:

In Scotland Yard, one of the players takes on the role of Mr. X. His job is to move from point to point around the map of London taking taxis, buses or subways. The detectives – that is, the remaining players acting in concert – move around similarly in an effort to move into the same space as Mr. X. But while the criminal's mode of transportation is nearly always known, his exact location is only known intermittently throughout the game.

I'm not sure this game would hold up to a lot of repeat play because it is a bit repetitious but I think I would be fun for a growing family to break out from time to time.  Below is a recent review of it from the Board Game Family YouTube channel.  Enjoy.

Tabletopper Friday on MFWARS.com 

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Nostalgia Thursday - EN World's Ryan Dancey Interview

Morrus of EN World has produced an informative interview taking at Gen Con with Ryan Dancey that looks back the the history of TSR's acquisition by Wizards of the Coast, and much more.  Enjoy.

Nostalgia Thursday on MFWARS.com 

Focusing on the roots of current tabletop gaming
with an eye toward the last century and before.

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Wargaming Wednesday - Sparker's Wargaming Blog

A buddy recently linked to Sparker's Wargaming Blog, a bastion of miniatures wargaming and great pics of the same.  The bunch Sparker, a retired Royal Navy man, games with pull out all the stops.  Take for example this blog entry from July 27th, "Towton 1461 Game."  See more here.

Or July 20th's "The Battle of Watling Street."

Or his celebration of the "199th Anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo."

Wargaming Wednesday on MFWARS.com 

A closer examination of board and miniatures Wargaming.

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Terrain Tuesday - Giant Doors, Terrain Carpet, & Mapmaking Links

Dungeonmaster Mark has a new video showing off the "Griffin Tamer Studio- kickstarter pieces."  Enjoy.

Over on the San Francisco Intl Airport website, they have a brief feature on a "digital, aerial image (. . .) woven into a woolen carpet displaying 50 miles of the Sacramento River and recalling the experience of flight."  Would be a heck of a place to play a wargame.  See more here.

Over on Tumblr, there's a repost of mapmaking links that I believe was first compiled by elizaabennet, though I was a bit confused by the crediting on the page.  Check it out here.

Terrain Tuesday on MFWARS.com 

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

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Minis & Modeling Monday - Woodsy Wappel, LotR Minis Painting, & 10mm Warmaster Beastmen

On his Wappellicious blog, James Wappel has a pictorial tutorial on how he incorporates bark and branches in his basing efforts.  See more here.

Over on Kevin Clay's YouTube channel, there is a fun and easy tutorial video on "Painting War of the Ring Miniatures for Dummies" showing how to approach painting the over 200 minis that come with the boardgame  Enjoy.

Finally, over on Nik Harwood's blog, he's got some pictures of his "10mm Beastmen for Warmaster" that he's painted up for play.  See more here.

Minis & Modeling Monday on MFWARS.com 

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

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The Sunday Miscellanea - d20Pro Unlimited Virtual Tabletop Kickstarter

One particular Kickstarter I missed sharing yesterday, as part of the Crowdfunding Roundup that ends early before the next one, is the d20Pro Unlimited Virtual Tabletop project by Mesa Mundi Inc.  Given the nature of the project, it makes sense to add it in on the corner of the CMG Blog Triad to make sure it gets in front of the eyes of those potentially interested in it.  It's already well-funded but getting in before it is over affords a patron many benefits at a great savings.  The image below is from the legacy edition but gives a good idea what sort of virtual tabletop is in the works for those looking to join in the funding.  See more here.

The Sunday Miscellanea on MFWARS.com 

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not covered elsewhere or wanting a particular focus.

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