I dunno. I turn away for 5 seconds and when I get back my inbox is overflowing again!

As you may have noticed, apart form the odd comment from my iPad, I’ve been AFK for the last couple of days, sorting dull RL rubbish. This weekend I’ve got lots of playtesting and gaming booked, so it’s going to be a little while before I catch up again. I keep saying that…

To dump some more random thoughts, I’ve been thinking that it might help if I introduced a little more structure around here. Folk seem to like having regular topics on specific days, so I thought I’d give it a try. Might make me more organised, and it might not. We’ll see how we go. Here’s the plan:

Tuesdays

This day is named for the god Tiw, who was probably the original father of the gods, back in the mists of the (s0-called) Dark Ages. Over time he was gradually demoted to a son of Woden/Odin and was somewhat marginalised, though he was never entirely forgotten. His appearance as one-handed harks back to his courage which allowed the gods to bind the great wolf Fenrir (a jolly useful thing to do). He is also known as the sponsor of the althing. This makes him a funny mix of wisdom and courage.

Starting to paint again after many years of not, and picking a whole army to do it with, is an act of foolishness akin to sticking your hand in the mouth of a giant wolf. At least, that’s my tenuous reasoning to put articles about building, painting and similar army diary entries here. Basically Tuesdays will be for anything to do with making both models and board game components. The link is the making.

Thursdays

Thor is the god in question here, and he is best known as the brash and dramatic god of thunder. Loud and brash? Hmm, what fits here?

I’m going to use Thursdays for reviews, starting a series that will look at games and gaming goodies in a rather more in depth way than is common on the internet. You’ve seen the sort of thing I mean with Dreadfleet – my coverage of which runs into many thousands of words. I don’t expect or intend to cover many different games, but when I do look at something it will be over several stages and from different angles. Doubtless I will like some and dislike others. We’ll have to see.

I read many reviews online and most of them are too brief and superficial for my taste. Of course, it takes very little time to write 50 words about the art in the new rules being pretty, and repeated plays over several days to write a proper review, so it’s obvious why there are fewer of those about. However, as a gamer I want to know what something is really like before I buy into it, and that means something deeper than a precis of the rules and “it looks really good”. Lots of games look really good. Let’s hear about what it’s like in play, and in detail? What are the best bits? Where have they let themselves down? is it easy to learn? Can you find a rule when you need it mid-game? Are they clearly written in the first place? What about support? Do they seem to care? Have they produced a full game with terrain, QR sheets and all the other gubbins that’s needed? Are all the models out yet? Are you left to fend for yourself and finish off their good ideas for them? Just a few of the questions I think a really good review should answer.

Sundays

The day of the Sun was the late Roman day of rest. The invincible sun, Sol Invictus, is the one honoured here.

The plan is to use Sunday as a day to provide some support for one (or more) of my published games. Whether this is expanded rules or (more often) an updated FAQ, a tactics article or something else entirely, the aim is to provide an additional free resource for the handsome, charming and generally talented and lovely folk who play my games. Granted, if I’m feeling obscure it might be for Lost Patrol or even Battle of the Halji – you’ll never know till you drop by to check 🙂

In General

Even though I am going to try these specific days, I’ll still be posting the odd thing in-between, as and when I feel the urge. This post, for example, wouldn’t fit those categories. Perhaps that is why I am posting it on a Friday 😉

In other words, the regular days are intended to provide a framework with which I can provide a bit more clarity for both you and me. It won’t stop me from posting other things, but much of what I do will fit into those broad categories.

Let’s see how we go.