Tuesday, June 30, 2015

Terrain Tuesday - Public Domain Maps, Torchlight Fantasy, & Diorama Workshop

Over on britishlibrary.typepad.co.uk, work continues apace identifying maps among the many images uncovered and digitized from "the pages of 17th-, 18th-, and 19th-century books."  Learn more about the ongoing project here and keep up on the tagged maps here.


Also, on torchlightresin.webs.com, they have a line of dungeon terrain products that I think are merely being presented as old school rather than having a long pedigree.  They appear that they will fit with other systems and the accessories look particularly inviting.  See more here.


Finally, on dioramaworkshop.com, someone dug up a shared a photo from a 2002 article on "Celebration II : Mos Eisley Diorama Workshop" from "Indianapolis, IN - Sunday May 05, 2002 - Final Assembly."  Check it out 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, June 29, 2015

Minis & Modeling Monday - Textured Plasticard, Shriekers, & Questing Pics

Three from the excellent Lost and the Damned blog today starting with "Using Textured Plasticard On Your Bases" here.


Also, Mortis teaches us how to "Make Your Own Shrieker Mushrooms" here.


Finally, check out the many figures in the images from his "MortiS Quest highlights - 2012-14 (lots of dungeon pictures)" 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, June 28, 2015

The Sunday Miscellanea - All-Over Shirt, Wooden Cards, & GMing Dice

Check out the All Over Print Shirts of artists Claudio Pozas here and Eric Lofgren here.


Also, bibelotgames.com has some very cool hardwood playing cards here.


Finally, there is a sale on some nifty GMing dice here.


Essentially, a clearinghouse for topics on MFWARS.com
not covered elsewhere or wanting a particular focus.
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Saturday, June 27, 2015

Systems Saturday - RPG Naval Combat, Sensory Heirarchy, & Old School Mechanics

Over on tribality.com, they take a stab at "Naval Combat Rules for D&D 5th Edition (Part 1)" here.


Also, on campaignmastery.com, they suggest you make sure you are "Taking advantage of the sensory heirarchy" here.


Finally, on Gaius Ludus, they venture a "Deep Analysis: Rpg mechanics model and the Old School effective range."  Check that out here.


A look under the hood of various Games, Rules and Systems.
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Friday, June 26, 2015

Tabletopper Friday - Awesome Dad, Caverna, & Gen Con Releases

Over on thenextweb.com, "Forget the iPad, this dad created a board game that took his son 4 hours to complete" here.


Also, on mechanics-and-meeples.com, "Anatomy of a Revision: Caverna" here.


Finally, on boardgamequest.com, "Gen Con 2015 New Releases" here.

Mostly about card games and board games,
unless they have a decidedly wargamey feel.
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Thursday, June 25, 2015

Nostalgia Thursday - Dungeon Crawl, Shadowrun, and Chivalry & Sorcery

Did you know that over on initiativeone.blogspot.com, you can get the first issue of Dungeon Crawl Magazine for free, then maybe get some more here?


Also, on battlegrip.com, Phil Reed shares how a "1993 Newspaper Article Describes the Shadowrun RPG" here.


Finally, from mesmerizedbysirens.blogspot.it, they share an old article penned by Edward E. Simbalist in which he discusses Chivalry & Sorcery.  Read the full article here.



Focusing on the roots of current tabletop gaming
with an eye toward the last century and before.
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Wednesday, June 24, 2015

Wargaming Wednesday - Pax Britannica (1985)



Pax Britannica (1985) is a Greg Costikyan wargame published by Victory Games.  It depicts the "Great Powers" of the world as they "vie throughout the world for the wealth and esteem conferred by vast colonial holdings in the far-flung corners of the Earth."

The full description on Board Game Geek is as follows:
A multi player game of empire, diplomacy, and global confrontation. The Great Powers of Great Britain, France, the US, Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy, Russia, and Japan vie throughout the world for the wealth and esteem conferred by vast colonial holdings in the far-flung corners of the Earth. Each player maneuvers his administrative and military assets to establish control over the choicest and most strategic areas, keeping a wary eye toward encroaching opponents whose colonial ambitions are every bit as great. Conflict between national wills is more often resolved through peaceful negotiation than through war; but when national honor is too severely tried, war can occur- on a scale that threatens to evolve into the War to End All Wars!
Time scale = 4 years per turn; Map scale = abstract; Unit scale = Corps/Fleet, Division/Task Force, Regiment/Squadron; Playing time = approx 4 to 7 hours
Includes 666 counters, 2 22" x 32" mapsheets, 8 player sheets, 1 administrative pad, 2 six-sided dice, 1 counter storage tray, and rules booklet
The maps for this game are pretty damned nice and plenty large enough to give that big game feel.



This a big game, and a long one.  Not as long as some I've played but certainly longer than most gamers of today will deign to play.  BGG says "300 minutes" but unless you've played a few times expect it to run longer.  I've asked a few friends to join me in it and have gotten a few to agree.   It suggests a minimum of four players and up to seven.  The players sheets are double-sided and packed with information.



But, of course, you can often count on YouTube's calandale to have a video for a long wargame and he did not disappoint.  That's not a criticism.  The man is thorough and for my time, I'd rather it be well-spent with thoroughness than spent on a dozen shorter videos of a game like this that tell you next to nothing.  So, to calandale, I say, "Huzzah!"  I've made a YouTube playlist of his Pax Britannica videos and the whole thing lasts about four hours.  You can check out the last one for his review, if you like, though after watching the full set of videos, you'll get more from the review.  I share just that review video now.


In anticipation of a revamp of this game (Greg Costikyan has mentioned on Facebook he is revising Pax), I picked up the original.  I dabbled with many games of this type back in the early 1980s but by the mid-1980s I was leaning toward limiting my hex-and-chit-board-wargaming and my miniatures wargaming to Ancients and Medievals, with an exception for games with a Tall Ships theme.  So while I was aware of this game and saw it played at events, I never sat down to a table with it myself.  Until now.  Recently, I happened upon a copy of the game for a reasonable price on eBay, so I snagged it.  I'll do a run-through of the game on my own before trying to teach it to anyone else, of course, as it will be a long enough day with only one of us knowing the rules.  Did I mention it has a lot of counters and I need to sort them due to spillage in transit?  No matter, as it is a good way to become familiar with a wargame, I have found.  I'll post again about this game further down the line as I learn more.


The sun always sets on a guy sorting counters . . .  Thank goodness the counter sprues were included in the game to aid me!


A closer examination of board and miniatures Wargaming.
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Tuesday, June 23, 2015

Terrain Tuesday - Medieval Church, Fat Dragon Sale, & Mapping Tutorial

Over on Paul´s Bods blog, check out his "Medieval timber framed Church.. (..and a Barn with house attached)" here.


Also, on RPGNow.com, Fat Dragon is having a sale of all its wonderful papercrafting terrain stuff here.


Finally, on steffenbrand.deviantart.com, Steffen Brand shares his "Mapping Tutorial for Cartography" 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, June 22, 2015

Minis & Modeling Monday - Footsore, Dark Sword, & Storm the Castle

Over on Fencing Frog, they take a look at "Dark Age Reinforcements Footsore Miniatures" here.


Also, on the thedungeondelver YouTube channel, a recent video shows "Episode 4 - Dark Sword & Studio Miniatures review!"  Enjoy.



Finally, on the epicfantasy YouTube channel, Storm the Castle shows "How to Sculpt a Miniature."  Watch and learn.



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, June 21, 2015

The Sunday Miscellanea - Screening, Dicing, & Casing

Are you familiar with the GMing screens over on hammerdog.com?  I knew of the Portrait and Landscape versions but not the mini screen.  See more here.


Also, on thediceshoponline.com, I ran across some nifty dice where the pips were swapped out with skulls here.


Finally, on dogmight.com, check out the cases, boxes, chests, and dice towers they have here.


Essentially, a clearinghouse for topics on MFWARS.com
not covered elsewhere or wanting a particular focus.
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Saturday, June 20, 2015

Systems Saturday - D&D Errata, Potent Poisons, & Pointcrawling

Just sharing a few system updates today with the first being an article on Tribality on the errata release for WotC's D&D 5E Player's Handbook here.


Over on the Hills Canton blog, the Pointcrawl Series Index is shared here.


Finally, on koboldpress.com, we're taken to "Plaza of Dark Delights: Potent Poisons and Forbidden Fruits" here.


A look under the hood of various Games, Rules and Systems.
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Friday, June 19, 2015

Tabletopper Friday - Realm of Wonder, Swords And Bagpipes, & Kingdom Builder

From the GMS Magazine YouTube channel, comes a video Unboxing: Realm of Wonder (2014) from Mindwarrior Games. Enjoy.



Also, from the Bower's Game Corner YouTube channel a Swords And Bagpipes (2014) Review.  Watch and learn.



Finally, from the Geek & Sundry YouTube channel, Paul Scheer, Tara Platt & Yuri Lowenthal join Wil Wheaton in a game of Kingdom Builder (2011) on TableTop! Also, over on his blog here, Wil discusses the difficulties they've had with the rules this year.


Mostly about card games and board games,
unless they have a decidedly wargamey feel.
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Thursday, June 18, 2015

Nostalgia Thursday - Magic River Bear, Twin Cities TSR, & WWI Camo

Over on cooldorks.com, they mock "11 Hilarious Magic: The Gathering Cards" here.


Also, on Jon Peterson's Playing at the World blog, he takes a look at "World At War, the TSR of the Twin Cities" here.


Finally, on the Imperial War Museums website, they share "5 Facts About Camouflage In The First World War" here.


Focusing on the roots of current tabletop gaming
with an eye toward the last century and before.
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Wednesday, June 17, 2015

Wargaming Wednesday - Gallipoli, WotR, & Phat Cats

Over on the Mustering the Troops blog they show off the "First pics of massive Gallipoli diorama at The Great War Exhibition" here.


Also, on aresgames.eu, we get a look at Warriors of Middle-earth the second expansion for the War of the Ring here.


Finally, on the Wargames Illustrated website, they feature a "Rules Showcase and Another Day with the Phat Cats" here.


A closer examination of board and miniatures Wargaming.
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Tuesday, June 16, 2015

Terrain Tuesday - Random Diversions, Big Map Blog, & 3-D Port Royal

Check out the Random Diversions blog and their ongoing dungeon tiles project here.


Also, on The Big Map Blog, you can find all sorts of charts and cartography here.


Finally, on archaeology.org, they shared "Jamaica’s Port Royal Mapped With 3-D Images" 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, June 15, 2015

Minis & Modeling Monday - Demon Idol, Mini Soda Cans, & Pencil Tip Carving

In case you didn't know, over on otherworldminiatures.co.uk, you can pick up a very familiar diorama kit of a certain Demon Idol here.


Also, on tutofig.com, they show us how to make miniature soda cans here.


Finally, from the Art Fido.com YouTube channel, check out the "WALL-E Pencil Tip Carving by Salavat Fidai feat Livingston!"  Wonderful!



A look at prepping and painting Miniatures,
crafting buildings and paper Models,
and other non-terrain stuff for the tabletop..
Please Like, Share, Plus, Tweet, Follow, and Comment!