Friday, October 31, 2014

Tabletopper Friday - Port Royal (2014)

There are tons of new reworked games being heralded in the wake of the Essen Game Faire and one of them is Port Royal (2014).  I am particularly intrigued by this one because of the mechanic of using the same deck for two mechanics, one side of each card have a portion of the game on it while the other all have a single coin image, the latter being used for currency in the game.  I've seen this elsewhere, as in the game Oddville (2012), and find it pretty neat.  The game is currently getting good momentum with German and Japanese language versions and English coming out as we speak.  Below, I am including both the Board Games Geek demo video from Essen as well as a German language video from Pegasus Spiele themselves.


Here is the game description from Board Game Geek:
The merchant players in Port Royal, which won the Austrian Game Designers Competition under the title Händler der Karibik, are trying to earn as much as they can out of the Caribbean Sea, but if they set their goals too high, they might take home nothing for the day.
The 120-card deck depicts a coin on the back of each card — with players earning and paying coins throughout the game — and different items on the card fronts. On a turn, a player can first draw as many cards as he likes, one at a time from the deck, placing them in the harbor (an area near the deck). Each card shows one of the following:
  • Person, who stays in a face-up row next to deck.
  • Ship, which the player can attack immediately if he has enough swords on his people cards, after which the ship is discarded; otherwise, the ship stays in the harbor.
  • Expedition, which remains above the harbor until a player fulfills it by discarding people who have the items required for the expedition.
  • Tax Increase, which forces everyone with twelve or more coins to discard half their money, after which the card is discarded.
If the player draws a ship with the same name as a ship already in the harbor, he's spent too much time dilly-dallying and his turn ends (after using the ship to attack, if possible), with all the cards in the harbor being discarded. Otherwise, the player can stop whenever he likes, then use/acquire one card if three or fewer ships are in the harbor, two cards if four ships are present, and three cards if five ships are present. Players rob ships, collecting the number of coins shown on them, then discarding the card, while they hire people, paying the number of coins depicted. After the active player takes his 1-3 cards, each other player may pay the active player one coin in order to take one card in the same way.
When one player has at least twelve influence points — which are on both people and expedition cards — and has fulfilled at least one expedition, the game is played to the end of the round, giving everyone the same number of turns, then the player with the most influence points and at least one Expedition wins. Alternatively, a player can win without fulfilling an expedition, but he needs to have more points in order to do so.
• Port Royal differs from Händler der Karibik in that it includes ten more cards to allow for play with up to five players and players can win without fulfilling an expedition.



Mostly about card games and board games,
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Thursday, October 30, 2014

Nostalgia Thursday - Bruce Galloway’s Fantasy Wargaming

If you haven't read it, check out the article on the Swords & Dorkery blog titled "Bruce Galloway’s Fantasy Wargaming."  See more here.


Focusing on the roots of current tabletop gaming
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Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Wargaming Wednesday - Miniature Minions Blog

Over on the Miniature Minions blog, you can find all sorts of great photos of minis painted up for tabletop battles.  While the initial description states "Miniature Minions is devoted to my armies based for De Bellis Antiquitatis and its Napoleonic variant DBN." I have discovered that the site also caters a bit to Hordes of the Things (HOTT), a fantasy miniature wargame, published by Wargames Research Group, based on the DBA rules, and a particular favorite of my own.  Check out the blog here.


A closer examination of board and miniatures Wargaming.
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Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Terrain Tuesday - Green Leaf Terrain, Elf Terrain, & Just Plug Lighting

On his YouTube channel, Miniwargamer Jay is highlighting Green Leaf Terrain.  Nice.



Also, Dream Spirit Wargaming's YouTube channel has a fresh video on a Wood Elf Terrzain set.  Good stuff.



Finally, Woodland is showing off the Just Plug lighting system on their YouTube channel.  Enjoy.



For purposes here, the term Terrain is used broadly
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Monday, October 27, 2014

Minis & Modeling Monday - Bits Boxes, Bases and Banners, & Battling Boats

James Wappel, on his Wappellious blog, recently reminded us to "Always eat your leftovers" as he showed us a way to make something from the bits box here.


Also, on the Fencing Frog blog, they treated us to a photo array of "Dark Age Bases and Banner."  See more here.


Finally, on the Monsieur le Rosbif & Johnny Frog blog, there are a boatload of photos from a recent wargaming naval battle from last month's "Against all Flags! - Pirates in September 2014 Event."  See more 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, October 26, 2014

The Sunday Miscellanea - How to Make Ink

Over on the Epic Fantasy StormtheCastle.com YouTube channel, there is a video from earlier this month showing us "How to Make Ink fast and easy."  This might be a fun crafting project for gaming groups and Halloween enthusiasts.  Enjoy!




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Saturday, October 25, 2014

Systems Saturday - Shipyard (2009)

I've played Shipyard (2009) about a half dozen times and find it to be a complex but enjoyable game.  There are a lot of working parts in the game and not all of them are pulling in the same directions, like several machines sitting side by side, open to the eye, all necessary to the manufacturing plant, but needing different kinds of expertise to make it perform at top efficiency.  So, the massaging of the various Shipyard mechanics needs to happen in concert but requires a level of multitasking to lead to victory.


From the description on Board Game Geek:
We’re in 19th century, sea transport is more and more important. Both corporations and naval forces require newer and newer ships. Try to put yourself in the role of their manufacturers. Hire employees, buy accessories, get favour of evaluating committees. Don’t forget to rent a canal and you can heave anchor.
Players take turns, beginning with a randomly selected player and continuing around the table clockwise. On their turn, they will choose one of the available actions from the Action Track. The action will get the player something they need to help build their ships. On the player's next turn, they will move that Action Card ahead of all the others and choose a different action.
If a player completes a ship on their turn (ships consists of little cards depicting bows, sterns, and (preferably several) middle pieces with several options to add equipment or crew), it is taken out for a shakedown cruise in a canal, during which they may score points for speed, crew, equipment, or safety.
As players take their turns, the line of Action Cards will advance around the Action Track. When the lead Action Card reaches the Starting Space again, the countdown marker moves down one space, and play continues.
The game ends when the countdown marker reaches the finish space. (It can also end early if the players run out of Ship Cards.) Bonus points are scored for Government Contracts, and the player with the most points wins.
It's not a long game, taking under two hours for a few players, and that's part of the charm and frustration of Shipyard.  While you will be pleased with your successes, it's one of those games where you always will feel you could have improved your management, even when you win.  This is a keeper game for folks who like complexity and replayability in a base game that I don't think needs any expansions.  There is but one modification we've made to this game, and it seems to be a near-universal one, in that there is a ship building contract in the game, a hidden victory point mechanic, and we treat it as if the number "32" simply is not on it.  I think some folks pull the whole contract from play be we find this more moderate adjustment to be plenty enough.

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Friday, October 24, 2014

Tabletopper Friday - Wil Wheaton's TableTop Schedule

Some time ago, some of the games to be played on the upcoming season of Wil Wheaton's TableTop were revealed, but now a more complete schedule has been put forth here.

  • Tokaido – Jason Wishnov, J. August Richards, Chris Kluwe
  • Concept – Joseph Scrimshaw, Rett and Link
  • Roll For It and Sushi Go! – Jason Ritter, Jennifer Hale, John Ross Bowie
  • Forbidden Desert – Felicia Day, Alan Tudyk, Jon Heder
  • Love Letter and Coup – The Fine Brothers and Felicia Day
  • Hare & Tortoise and Council of Verona – Jessica Merizan, David Kwong, Alison Haislip
  • Sheriff of Nottingham – Meredith Salenger, Ashley Clements, Derek Mio
  • Stone Age – Nika Harper, Jesse Cox, Jordan Maron
  • Geek Out – Anne Wheaton, Bonnie Burton, Clare Kramer
  • Five Tribes: Jenna Busch, Richard Garriot, Satine Phoenix
  • Epic Spell Wars: Jonah Ray, Emily Gordon, Veronica Belmont
  • Mice & Mystics, Chapter One – Anne Wheaton, Ryan Wheaton, Nolan Kopp
  • Dread – Molly Lewis, Ivan Van Norman, Laura Bailey
  • Catan Junior – Emily Anderson, Brett, Baligrad, Adam Chernick
  • Libertalia – Karen Gillan, Seth Green, Clare Grant
  • Kingdom Builder – Yuri Lowenthal, Tara Platt, Paul Scheer
  • Dead of Winter – Dodger Leigh, Grant Imahara, Ashley Johnson
  • Legendary – Allie Brosh, Mark Fischbach, Brea Grant
  • Tabletop After Dark: Cards Against Humanity – Aisha Tyler, Ali Spagnola, Laina Morris


Mostly about card games and board games,
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Thursday, October 23, 2014

Nostalgia Thursday - Visiting GW in 1979

Over on the excellent blog Dear Tony Blair last month, David Wood posted a series of scans of some literature from May of 1979 focused on Games Workshop.  See more here.


Focusing on the roots of current tabletop gaming
with an eye toward the last century and before.
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Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Wargaming Wednesday - Sid Meier's Civilization: The Boardgame (2002)

Just last weekend, I finally got a chance to play Sid Meier's Civilization: The Boardgame (2002).  As a fan of the mother of all Civilization (1980) wargames, I was glad to finally get the chance to play it.  While there is definitely more combat complexity to the Sid Meier game (and that doesn't mean there is a lot at all), I was struck by how the balance of the game could be quickly upset by a few combats and quick acquisition of the technologies cards.


The description of the game from Board Game Geek:
Please note: This article covers the 2002 release of Sid Meier´s Civilization: The Boardgame by Eagle Games. This game is unrelated to the similarly named 2010 FFG game Sid Meier's Civilization: The Board Game.
Finally, a boardgame version of this award-winning PC strategy game. Create a civilization to stand the test of time! The game begins in 4000 BC where the players found a pair of villages of a fledgling people.
Each player’s civilization :- Explores the world around them, discovering resources and the native people that defend them.- Expands by sending settlers out to create new cities.- Researches new technologies to gain advantages over the other players.- Builds unique “Wonders of the World”.- Increases the size of their cities (4 sizes from village to metropolis) to increase production.- Builds military units to defend what’s theirs, and to conquer what’s not. 
Features:- 2 sets of rules (standard, and advanced) allow anyone to play the game.- 784 plastic pieces featuring 22 different, professionally sculpted playing pieces that represent cities, settlers, armies, navies, artillery, and air units from 4 different eras.- Over 100 full color Technology and Wonder cards.- A giant 46” x 36” gameboard featuring the artwork of Paul Niemeyer.
It's a good looking game and maybe it just requires a larger number of players than the three we had to make sure everyone is kept in check.  I'd give it another try at some future gameday or convention.

A closer examination of board and miniatures Wargaming.
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Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Terrain Tuesday - Medieval Maps Quiz, Custom Fantasy Terrain, & Tabletop Workshop Castles

Over on the medievalists.net, there is a quiz you can take to guess 15 locations based on Medieval maps.  See more here.


For someone who prefers pre-made terrain but cannot find exactly what they want, check out Custom Fantasy Terrain here.


Tabletop Workshop is giving folks a final notice that if you wish to pre-order your Modular Castle and get it in with the first wave of shipping, now is the time.  Do so 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, October 20, 2014

Minis & Modeling Monday - Dwarven Fort Diorama Banners

The work on the Dwarven Fort diorama at quidamcorvus.blogspot.com continues apace with this installment showing some techniques for making excellent banners.  See more 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, October 19, 2014

The Sunday Miscellanea - Conan: Hyborian Quests (2015)

Conan: Hyborian Quests (2015) is a game I am looking forward to seeing published.  It would appear it will combine some of the best elements of tabletop RPGing with miniatures skirmish gaming all wrapped up in a Howard-esque theme.  The Kickstarter is slated for January of 2015 with a general public release planned for Gen Con later the same year.


From the description on Board Game Geek:
Conan: Hyborian Quests, designed by Fred Henry and based on the Conan universe by Robert E. Howard, is a scenario-based semi-cooperative asymmetric miniatures board game. One player is the Opponent, playing the Opposition forces, and the other players (1 to 4) play Conan and his companions: Shevatas the thief, Hadrathus the Priest/Sorcerer, Belit the pirate queen, Valeria the warrior, etc. The game is based purely on Robert E. Howard's novels and short stories (and not the movies or other non-Howardian material). The publisher has hired Patrice Louinet, a Howard expert, to make sure the art and the scenarios are compatible with Howard's vision.
Each game is a scenario, played on a map. There will be several maps — Pictish Village, Underground temple, Tavern, Pirate ship, etc. — and each map can have several scenarios set on it. The game is fast, one hour approximately. It's possible to play several scenarios in a campaign, but you can also play each scenario individually. There will be a dozen playable scenarios in the base box.
At the beginning of a scenario, players choose their team (Conan and two or three other heroes). The Opponent gathers all the miniatures (picts, Necromancer, skeleton warriors, monsters, etc.), tokens, cards from the chosen scenario. The game usually plays in a limited number of turns (ten, for instance). Each scenario can have very different objectives: find the princess captured by picts and hidden in a hut and leave the camp before the pict hunters return; find the magical key to open a sealed door, steal the jewel and leave; kill the Necromancer by the end of turn 10; survive by the end of turn 10; escape the prison; etc.
During their turn, the heroes can activate or rest. If they activate, they can spend "gems" from their energy pool to do all sorts of actions: move, fight (melee or distance), defend, pick a lock, reroll, etc. If they rest, they can move a lot of gems from their "spent" pool box to their "available" pool box. When they take an action, they throw a number of dice equal to the number of gems they put in their action. There are three different kinds of dice: yellow (the weaker dice), orange (medium) and red (strong). Each character has a color based on their specialty: Conan throws red dice in combat while the Sorcerer throws yellow dice in combat; the thief throws red dice in Manipulation actions, while Conan throws orange dice; etc. Each player can have equipment cards (armor, magic potions, weapons, etc.) which give them bonuses on their dice rolls.
The Opponent plays differently. He uses a board with eight slidable tiles, plus his own Energy gems. Each tile corresponds to one unit (1 to 3 miniatures) on the game mat, and all of the miniature abilities are written on this tile (movement, armor, attack, special abilities). The tile position on the board corresponds to the numbers 1-8. The Opponent has a pool of energy gems and each time he activates one unit, he needs to spend a number of gems matching the tile placement: tile#1 costs 1 energy gem, tile#2 costs 2 gems, etc. Whatever tile the Opponent chooses to activate, he spends the corresponding energy cost (moving his energy gems from the available pool to the spent pool), then takes the tile out and moves it to the end of the sliding track: If he wants to activate this unit again, it will cost him 8 gems, because the unit is now on position 8. The Opponent can activate a maximum of two tiles, and he regains only a certain number of gems each turn (depending on the scenario).
In a typical scenario, the heroes need to accomplish something and the Opponent wins if the heroes fail to reach their objective — but in some scenarios, the Opponent has his own objectives and the Heroes win if they prevent him from accomplishing his goal.
The following is a Board Game Geek TV video shot at Essen with a company representative and uploaded to the BGGTV YouTube channel:


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Saturday, October 18, 2014

Systems Saturday - King of Tokyo (2011)

I've only played it a couple of time but I find the intuitive mechanics and fastplay of King of Tokyo (2011) to be quite charming.  It's theme is fun and the artwork well chosen.


From the description on Board Game Geek:
In King of Tokyo, you play mutant monsters, gigantic robots, and strange aliens – all of whom are destroying Tokyo and whacking each other in order to become the one and only King of Tokyo.
At the start of each turn, you roll six dice. The dice show the following six symbols: 1, 2, or 3 Victory Points, Energy, Heal, and Attack. Over three successive throws, choose whether to keep or discard each die in order to win victory points, gain energy, restore health, or attack other players into understanding that Tokyo is YOUR territory.
The fiercest player will occupy Tokyo, and earn extra victory points, but that player can't heal and must face all the other monsters alone!
Top this off with special cards purchased with energy that have a permanent or temporary effect, such as the growing of a second head which grants you an additional die, body armor, nova death ray, and more.... and it's one of the most explosive games of the year!
In order to win the game, one must either destroy Tokyo by accumulating 20 victory points, or be the only surviving monster once the fighting has ended.
Despite getting my butt handed to me and being knocked out of the game quite early, I still had a blast as much with the game as with the good company.


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Friday, October 17, 2014

Tabletopper Friday - Asgard (2012) for Game Like a Viking Day!

For Game Like a Viking Day! yesterday, we opted to play Asgard (2012).  It's a delightfully complex game with some clever mechanics that presents options while requiring flexible tactics in the face of other players secret machinations.


Having watched some videos (linked below) on how to play the game, I found myself coming up with a few ideas about the best way to approach gameplay.  It seemed likely that ignoring the temple-building would leave someone in the dust and playing catch up in the latter stages.  After five turns of regular gameplay, there is also a final Ragnarok phase that requires some preparation to take full advantage of it.


From the description on Board Game Geek:
The end of days is close. Darkness and light will clash.
All Gods know what this means for them. Blood ties will no longer be respected, brother will fight against brother, and no man will spare another. Odin, Freyja, Týr, Loki, Hel, Thor, and Baldr forge their plans and promise great rewards to the ones who will help them prevail. Eventually Fenrir, Mímir, and Surtr will join the battle.
Ask for help at the right time, and the gods will grant you their powers. Will you ask Freyja to recruit the fallen warriors of Valhalla, or will you use the cunning of Loki and Hel to make an opponent's armies die or switch sides at a critical moment? Will you ask Týr to help win a decisive battle, or will you consult Mímir's wisdom in order to gain a tactical advantage?
In Asgard, you want to support the gods by erecting temples and by convincing brave warriors and mighty giants to side with them. You can influence which god will fight which during the final battle — Ragnarök — the outcome of which will depend on how well you strengthened their armies.
Beware, only a few of them will come out victorious. Will you side with the right ones? As a mortal, your place in the new world depends on it.
Our own game proved to me that not also spending some resources toward battles along the way cannot make up for simply dominating temple-building.  John, who best exploited ongoing battle was able to also dominate the Ragnarok phase and thus reap the lion's share of victory points and win the day.  We'll play this one again, hopefully on the next Game Like a Viking Day!


On Wednesday, I linked to the first video on the the Rahdo (Plays Through) YouTube channel but here is that video again, along with an extended play video from the same channel and a "Final Thoughts" video, the third in his series on Asgard.




Mostly about card games and board games,
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Thursday, October 16, 2014

Nostalgia Thursday - Splendid Little Wars with Duke

Over on the Splendid Little Wars website, there is a great retrospective on tabletop miniatures wargaming titled "Uncle Duke's Napoleonette," which is also the totle of the ruleset they group pictured used while gaming with Uncle Duke.  See more here.


Focusing on the roots of current tabletop gaming
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Wednesday, October 15, 2014

Wargaming Wednesday - D&D Attack Wing

A YouTube video from Board Game Geek last month highlighted "D&D Attack Wing."  Enjoy.



A closer examination of board and miniatures Wargaming.
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Tuesday, October 14, 2014

Terrain Tuesday - 260 Dwarven Forge 6 inch by 6 inch tiles

Over on the Dwarven Forge website, there is a pictorial-thread featuring a layout with over "260 Dwarven Forge 6 inch by 6 inch tiles!"  Below, there is also a video from the MrRyanDevo YouTube channel highlighting the setup.  See more here.



For purposes here, the term Terrain is used broadly
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Monday, October 13, 2014

Minis & Modeling Monday - Spelljammer 3D Model Ships

Over on silverblades-suitcase.com, check out the Spelljammer 3D Model Ships.  A lot of the heavy lifting has already been done on that website, so maybe we will see a proper game (even if the serial numbers are filed off) some time in the not to distant future.  See more 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, October 12, 2014

The Sunday Miscellanea - Shadowfell Keep with Dwarven Forge & Terranscapes Boards

Over on the MrRyanDevo YouTube channel, there is a video from a few years back showing a rendition of the Shadowfell Keep using Dwarven Forge terrain and Terranscapes Boards.  Enjoy.



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Saturday, October 11, 2014

Systems Saturday - GM's Miscellany: Dungeon Dressing from Raging Swan

I don't often rave about any individual offering from any particular company, though I am keen to point out companies who do a great deal of great work, but this post will be different.  I have been keeping an eye for some time on the various Dungeon Dressing posts from Raging Swan and thinking about what a fantastic collection of tables and GMing tools they are.  Last week, I decided to plunk down the money for the PDF compilation "GM's Miscellany: Dungeon Dressing."  I have spent quite a bit of time with it since and it is page after page of fantastic material that can be used as is for quick dungeon/location preparation but also as multifaceted springboard to worldbuilding.  I cannot recommend this tome enough.  Check out the details here on the Raging Swan website where you will also find tons of sample pages and content breakdowns.



A look under the hood of various Games, Rules and Systems.
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Friday, October 10, 2014

Tabletopper Friday - Jimmy Fallon's Do Not Game

On the Tonight Show earlier this week, Jimmy Fallon presented a segment called "Do Not Game" featuring a number of boardgames that he said folks should avoid including the The Sinking of the Titanic (1975) game, Ring Around the Nosy (1993), the Bigfoot: The Giant Snow Monster (1977) game, and the Vanilla Ice Electronic Rap (1991) game.  Enjoy?



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Thursday, October 9, 2014

Nostalgia Thursday - SSI Dungeon Masters Assistant Vol I Unboxing

Jayson Elliot, Chief Cook and Bottle Washer for the excellent Gygax Magazine, had been searching for a Dungeon Masters Assistant from SSI to run on his Apple 2 for some time when he happened to get hold of one.  The only problem was that it was still in shrinkwrap.  That wasn't going to deter him from having his cake and eating it too.  In his own words as he cut into the shrinkwrap, "Collector value decreasing.  Fun value increasing."  Some of the best fun I have had watching an unboxing video in forever. See more here on his Facebook video (you might have to sign in to see it but it is a public video).



Focusing on the roots of current tabletop gaming
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Wednesday, October 8, 2014

Wargaming Wednesday - Derby World Wargames Show - 2014

The Terrain Tutor took a trip to the "Derby World Wargames Show - 2014" and snagged some video and pictures shared on his YouTube channel.  Enjoy.



A closer examination of board and miniatures Wargaming.
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Tuesday, October 7, 2014

Terrain Tuesday - Fat Dragon Games Terrain 25% Off Sale

Fat Dragon Games is having a 25% Off Sale on all of their PDF paper terrain offerings.  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, October 6, 2014

Minis & Modeling Monday - Reaper Bones Ogre with Doctor Faust

Over on the Painting Clinic YouTube channel, Doctor Faust is painting up the Reaper Bones Ogre.  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, October 5, 2014

The Sunday Miscellanea - Hand-Drawn Isometric Battle Maps

If you haven't seen them yet, check out a recent offering from Blue Boxer Rebellion called Ultimate Hand-Drawn Isometric Battle Maps.  Pretty amazing!


And if you love maps of this type, then maybe you should grab a copy of the Sleeping Dragon Inn from the clearance section over at Paizo for $1.00 and add it into your campaign.  "Originally included in Dungeon 81, this poster is a double-sided full-color illustration of the interior of a two-story medieval/fantasy inn complete with doors, windows, furnishings, and a subtle square grid."  See more here but if they run out, add it to your eBay searches here.


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Saturday, October 4, 2014

Systems Saturday - SOS Titanic (2013)

SOS Titanic (2013) combines the frustration of solitaire with the challenges of a modern cooperative card game.  Personally, I find this sort of game fun from time to time and recently I had the chance to play at the 2014 Fall Gaming Hoopla.  We saved the vast majority of passengers, so we felt pretty good with the outcome.  It's fairly simple, though I think the icons on the special action portions of the cards could be a bit more intuitive.   Aside from being cooperative, it is also a game for one to five players, and plays fast, so it fills some niches a lot of games do not.


The description of the game from Board Game Geek is as follow:
At 23:40 on April 14, 1912 in the North Atlantic, the R.M.S. Titanic strikes an iceberg. Water immediately floods into the liner's compartments and the ship is listing to starboard in a worrying way. There is no hope about the outcome. On board, there is widespread panic.
Alone, or co-operating with other crew members, you must show presence of mind and do the right thing to save as many passengers as possible. Time is short...
The card game SOS Titanic uses a mechanism similar to Patience, with the cards representing passengers who must be arranged on the decks, then placed in the lifeboats in a particular order. As one of the crew members, you and your teammates need to move and arrange these passengers as quickly as you can. Each section of the Titanic holds a pile of cards of which only the first is available.
On his turn, a player draws a few cards from the main deck and tries to move passengers out of the sinking ship onto the lifeboats. Failing to move at least one passenger or needing to reshuffle the main deck might cause one section of the ship to sink, thus reducing the number of piles available as well as the hopes of those still on board. Players can also use action cards to step in at fateful times when things otherwise seem lost. The game ends when the ship has sunk completely or when all remaining passengers have been saved.

A look under the hood of various Games, Rules and Systems.
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Friday, October 3, 2014

Tabletopper Friday - Incan Gold (2006)

Incan Gold (2006) is a simple game that plays just as well with three players through eight players, though somewhat differently at the extremes.  Ultimately, it is a game where you need to make judicious decisions about how long to press your luck within the temple.  Stay long enough to get the most you can but not so long you run afoul of some hazard.  It plays fast and is easy to learn.


From the description via Board Game Geek:
Incan Gold is a quick, fun and tense game in which you and other adventurers explore an old Incan temple in search of gold and treasure. In each of the five rounds, you secretly choose if you want to continue exploring the temple in search of more treasure or retreat to the safety of your camp with your share of the treasure that has been discovered so far.
Each time that an explorer braves new territory, more treasure or a danger appears. When a second card of the same type of danger is turned over, all exposed treasure is buried, leaving the remaining adventurers with nothing. Do you flee the dangerous temple with your portion of the treasure that has been uncovered so far or do you venture into the exciting temple in search of more hidden valuables?
After five rounds of exploration, whoever has the most treasure is the ultimate explorer and winner!
From the publisher: "You and your fellow adventurers travel to Peru to find a ruined Incan temple and its treasures: turquoise, obsidian and gold. There are also rumors of valuable Incan artifacts. Will you chance dangers like giant spiders, mummies and fire during your search, or will you escape back to camp and safety, carrying out your loot?"
Mostly about card games and board games,
unless they have a decidedly wargamey feel.
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Thursday, October 2, 2014

Nostalgia Thursday - Simulations Publications, Inc. Commercial

Over on YouTube, on the ClockMonsterLA channel, you can view a commercial from the 1970s from Simulations Publications, Inc. (SPI).  Enjoy.



Focusing on the roots of current tabletop gaming
with an eye toward the last century and before.
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Wednesday, October 1, 2014

Wargaming Wednesday - Dungeons & Dragons: Attack Wing (2014)

Dungeons & Dragons: Attack Wing – Starter Set (2014) is featured on the Board Game Geek YouTube channel.  Enjoy.



A closer examination of board and miniatures Wargaming.
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