The Sunday Miscellanea - Cookies, Dice, & Foam

Over on geeksaresexy.net, check out the "Critical Hit Cookie Cutters" here.

Also, on thinkgeek.com, have a look at the "Squishy 7pc Polyhedral Dice Set" here.

Finally, on thefoamcave.com, you can get all sorts of ideas and help making foam costume pieces here.

The Sunday Miscellanea on MFWARS.com 

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Terrain Tuesday - Pee-wee's Big Holiday (2016)

One of the treats to come out of Pee-wee's Big Holiday (2016) is not one but two miniatures displays.   Spoilers coming for those who are concerned, so turn back now!

Early in the film when Pee-wee befriend's Joe Manginello,

Pee-wee gives Joe a tour of his hometown, Fairville,

by showing him his HO scale model of the town.

It's a small town so the full place can fit on what looks like

a 12' x 12' display in Pee-wee's backyard.

It includes Dan's Diner where Pee-wee is employed as a cook.

There's a model of the Fairville Library where

one of Pee-wee's many admirers, Emily, works.

The Tire Repair . . . of Fairville.

The Barber of Fairville.

The Fairville Fire Department.

The Garage where Pee-wee's former singing group, The Renegades,

used to rehearse before their untimely, nasty breakup.

There's Pee-wee's house with a tree house

in the backyard tree that has yet to be realized.

It's a lot to admire.

When Pee-wee eventually makes it to Joe's B-Day party in NYC,

Joe returns the favor by showing Pee-wee a scale model

of his own on the roof of his New York residence.

Joe's model is more extensive

and mostly made up from his imagination.

There's even a Dinosaur World section.

It also has a Glitter Mountain

complete with Pixies!

Joe's model includes Fairville and even Pee-wee's house

with a miniature model of Pee-wee's backyard miniature Fairville!

It's great to see a new Pee-wee Herman movie after so many years and fun to see some cool model work in it.  See it on Netflix if you get the chance!

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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The Sunday Miscellanea - Tom Wham's Greedy Billionaires

I've had the pleasure of playing Tom Wham's Greedy Billionaires a few times before and have written about it on this blog a couple of time here and here.  Tom has told me this game was originally conceived decades ago and then sat for some time before being rediscovered and rewritten several times since.  It was recently featured at Gary Con VII and a couple of new rules adjustments went into effect there as well.  It's a humorous send up of Monopoly-style games with some fun quirks all its own.

The description is as follows:

Each player takes turns collecting business properties and attempting to get them to pay out as often as possible to finish with the greatest wealth.

Each time I've played, there have been some improvements but, honestly, this game played very well the first time I tried it.  The well-known Tom Wham humor shines through in the artwork and naming conventions.  There is plenty to keep players busy between turns and the dice mechanics sidestep the old roll-and-move problem of similar games (you roll 3d6 but first call whether you wish to move the total or just the number on the single lowest or single highest die).  It's good fun and I recommend it if you get the chance to play.

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Tabletopper Friday - Pirate Fluxx (2011)

Although little could sound less appetizing, last time at Culver's we played Pirate Fluxx (2011).  The Fluxx line of games gets complex but as long as you can read the cards, they can often be silly and fun.  The artwork of Pirate Fluxx certainly gives that impression though I think the Monty Python version was even more so if you're a fan of their movies and television show from nearly half a century ago.

The description from Board Game Geek is as follows:

Fluxx with a pirate twist. Getting the Captain's Hat allows you to have a good bit of control, but watch out for Scurvy and Shackles, which will keep you from winning. Grab lots of Booty keepers, maybe some Ships, and expect a few new Surprise cards along the way.

A pirate themed variant of Fluxx, this game is much like the original. Simply follow the rules that are currently in play. Start by drawing a card and playing a card, but even those can be changed. There's no way to win at the begining, but once a Goal card is played, you have to play the appropriate Keeper cards in front of you or play other cards to keep them away from everyone else, like Steal a Keeper or play a new goal card to replace the old one.

New to Fluxx are the Surprise cards which can be played at any time to cancel certain plays or steal a keeper as played.

Being in control of the goal in this game is key to winning, as are having the cards to complete that goal and that ability to get them out on the table before anyone can stop you.  This is why it is also useful to be in charge of the rules as much as possible.  The problem is, there's no way no one else at the table is going to change some of that stuff, so once you're ready you have to strike quickly.  There's a lot of luck in this game, for sure, but they can still be fun with the right people.

Tabletopper Friday on MFWARS.com 

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

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The Sunday Miscellanea - LEGO Tolkien

Over on designtaxi.com, over 150,000 LEGO pieces went into recreating the Battle of Helm's Deep here.

Also, on Michał Kaźmierczak's flickr.com albums, he's got a LEGO version of Erebor here.

Finally, on the WBGAMES YouTube channel, check out the video they entitled "LEGO The Hobbit First Official Trailer."  Enjoy!

The Sunday Miscellanea on MFWARS.com 

Essentially, a clearinghouse for topics on MFWARS.com

not covered elsewhere or wanting a particular focus.

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The Sunday Miscellanea - Greedy Billionaires by Tom Wham

Tom Wham has been a fixture of game design in the industry for about four and a half decades with dozens of game design and artistic credits to his name.  You can see the full list of his work (not including the many advertisements he designed for magazines!) in game design here.  As an early employee of TSR in Lake Geneva, his easily-recognized artwork has graced boardgames, many on which he shares design credit, as well as card games and RPGs like Dungeons & Dragons.

I've had the pleasure the last few years of living in close proximity to him in Lake Geneva, WI, and gaming with him almost every week of the year.  It's been an education as a gamer and game designer, playtesting many of the games he currently has in development as well as playing scores of games he has worked on and those he loves from other creators that inspire him.  Recently, he broke out Greedy Billionaires, a game that has been in the works for a few years and which I have played with him on a number of occasions.

I don't want to give too much of this game design away but I will say it's like a bizarre version of monopoly on steroids with a humorous twist and some of Tom's coolest artwork and naming conventions.  Tom has his own website where he sells some of his games directly to the public.  These are handmade and sell at "boutique prices" but they are well worth it if you admire and love his work.  The website itself is a trip to visit, so check it out here.  Tom will be at Gary Con once again this year running some of his own designs including Greedy Billionaires.  Do yourself a favor and try to join him at his game table

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Nostalgia Thursday - Search for the Emperor's Treasure (1981) Revisited

I wrote about the cool fan-made version of Tom Wham's Search for the Emperor's Treasure (1981) that was sent to Tom and played by us here.  It was lots of fun and we decided to break it out again last Friday for what turned out to be a rather quick game.

I snapped a few pictures while we were getting the modular board together and sort the characters and spells, then dove right into playing.  One of our house rules when playing at Culver's has been that we play until one player draws a second Imperial Treasure and the winner is whoever has the most treasures overall.

As it turned out, in six turns, one player drew a second Imperial Treasure and had six treasures, one or two more than the others.  It was, perhaps, the fastest game we've played taking a little under an hour including set up.  We probably need to revise that game-end mechanism.

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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Tabletopper Friday - Doctor Who Minis, Fallout Monopoly, & Tabletop RPGs vs Video Games

Over on campaign-archive2.com, they herald a Doctor Who Miniatures Game here.

Also, on 9gag.com, someone "Made a Fallout Monopoly board & cards" here.

Finally, on writersdisease.net, they give us the "Top Ten Reasons Tabletop RPGs are Better than Video Games" here.

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 - Search for the Emperor's Treasure (1981)

One of the great things about moving to Lake Geneva has been getting the chance to regularly play games with legendary game Designer Tom Wham.  One of the bonuses is getting to play games he has designed or even games that are in development.  Then, sometimes, something happens that seems to top all of that.  Tom gathered a few of the Friday faithful at Culver's for a little boardgaming last week to show off a copy of Search for the Emperor's Treasure (1981) that a fan had sent him.  But it wasn't a copy to sign and return, which happens from time to time, but something rather more special.  A fan who loved the game, since finding it years ago, had wanted to teach it to his kids, to instill a love of gaming in them.  He did so but wanted to make sure they had something more, so he made a copy of the game in a sort of deluxe version but also made a third copy for Tom.

In case you aren't familiar, here is the description of the game from Board Game Geek here:

Originally published in issue #51 (July 1981) of Dragon Magazine. Republished as part of the The Best of Dragon Magazine Games boxed set in 1990.

A tongue-in-cheek version of "classic" Dungeons & Dragons (some even say Mertwig's Maze is a similar treatment of Advanced D&D). As such, players become a warrior, elf, cleric, or magician, then wander around the board collecting treasure and resolving encounters. The Emperor's six magic artifacts are both high-powered magic items and a countdown clock, as when enough have been found, the game ends. (Exactly how many depends on number of players.)

Treasure, encounters and equipment are all randomized with chits in three cups. Characters obtain them by fighting monsters or lucky die rolls on result charts associated with various board locations (e.g., castles, villages, The Wizard's Tower, The Pirate Lair, etc.). Not all encounters are monsters -- some are travelers who will bestow treasure upon completion of quests, others are annoyances, and there's even Imperial Guard patrols looking to confiscate the Emperor's Treasure.

Terrain types are a key strategy feature, as a player whose current location's terrain doesn't match the encounter drawn can bestow it on someone else who does. So a character in rugged forest or mountains can get stuck fighting several monsters in succession during other players' turns.

A surprising amount of flavor is included for a magazine game. There's an assortment of magic spells, ranged and close combat, magical weapons & armor, damsels in distress, evil wizards, a volcanic demon, even a wandering elephant.

The boxed version changes the encounter mix around, adds a deck of treasure clue cards, and expands the character selection with a dwarf and a "hairfoot." Counters are die-cut, but monochrome rather than full color. The nice Darlene Pekul map painting is traded in for a hexmap with generic terrain symbols that Wham suggests you mount to cardboard and cut apart, thus creating a new map each game a la Kings & Things. The cards force characters to move a lot more, and most encounters can no longer be given away, so this edition plays quite differently.

He put together two rules booklets and included some Tom Wham artwork from other sources to fancy it up a bit.  The Darlene map is included both in the original form as as the hex version.  He even made draw bags of Dice (and wounds), Encounters, Weapons, and Treasures.  It's a wonderful set and lovingly handcrafted.  More photos of the game can be found in my Facebook albums here and on my Google Photo albums here.  Quite the tribute!

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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Minis & Modeling Monday - Snow Globes, Bartertown, & Pledge Magic Wash

Over on dangerousminds.net, check out the "Snow Globes Filled with Sinister Scenes of People in Peril" here.

Also, I haven't been there to trade, but I hear good things about Bartertown.com here.

Finally, on Doctor Faust's Painting Clinic YouTube channel, here's one from a few years back on "How to Make Magic Wash - Pledge with Future Shine."  Enjoy!

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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Nostalgia Thursday - Dragon Mag #88 with Tom Wham's Elefant Hunt

One of the treats I have from living in Lake Geneva, WI, is getting the chance to play some games with legendary game designer Tom Wham.  Recently, on a trip down to Games Plus in Mount Prospect, IL, I snagged an old issue of Dragon Magazine #88, August 1984, which includes his game, Elefant Hunt.  Naturally, the very next chance I got, I asked Tom to sign my copy.  It's in great shape and was well-preserved in plastic.  Tom tells me he has a copy of this that we can play so mine can remain save and secure.  Thanks, Tom!

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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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.

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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Minis & Modeling Monday - Fossils, Pennants, & The Spanish Inquisition

Over on prehistoricstore.com, check out some of the cool things you can repurpose for your tabletop games here.

Also, on capitangames.com, they have some "Downloable Flags & Pennants" here.

You probably didn't expect me to post about what can be found on victoriaminiatures.highwire.com 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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