What I Can Say…

Yesterday’s post was really just to let you know that I’m still doing stuff… just that most of it’s got to remain under my hat for a while.

However, that’s not true of everything.

ValhallanOne thing I’ve been helping out with recently is Age of Tyrants. This is a 6mm SF battle game designed by a friend of mine called Mark Brendan (you may remember him as one of the White Dwarf crew back way when I was editor). It’s set in a universe that’s already seen much conflict as the setting for Urban War and Metropolis – so if you’re familiar with either of these then you’ll immediately recognise the warring factions.

Big guns

Except this time instead of a 28mm skirmish or small battle, you get to command the huge tanks and other war machines of the full armies. And some of the tanks are enormous.

So there’s that coming along. They’ll be running a Kickstarter sometime fairly soon as they’ve taken it about as far as they can on their own and need the community support to finish it off. The chaps behind it have promised me a couple of early test shots of the models so I’ll be able to show you a few of the tanks 🙂

Other things I’ve been doing that I can talk about include a skirmish game I started messing about, and which I may end up publishing myself. I originally did it as an amusement and design exercise for myself. What I’ve found though, is that every time I tell anyone about it they want to play too. Maybe I just hang around with an eccentric crowd.

Don’t answer that.

GrumpyThis skirmish game is probably worth its own post to explain in detail, but the potted explanation is that it’s a retro style 28mm SF skirmish game, designed as if I had written it in the mid 80s with that period’s style of rules, sensibilities, and expectations. I’m thinking Laserburn, Combat 3000 and Traveller, if that helps.

This was inspired by a combination of the Colony 87 miniatures (like the one on the left) that were Kickstarted earlier this year, and the Macrocosm figures (like the Diggers below) which are on Kickstarter now. This last Kickstarter is interesting as Chris (the fellow behind Macrocosm) has gone a slightly unusual route. Instead of starting from nothing and diving straight into a Kickstarter, he’s self-funded the first two races so you can get them now. Anyone who’s been to a game show or two in the UK this year has probably bumped into him at one of those, showing off his Malignancy and Digger Corps factions. That’s where I got a load of models from both of those ranges. The Kickstarter is called Macrocosm: The Next Races, and as its name suggests is about expanding the game with more factions, and so far he’s funded some great new stuff – you should go and have a look for yourself. I’ll do a review of some models later.

DiggersReally, I’ve waffled on long enough for the moment. This is just to say that I’ve not forgotten this blog, it’s merely been sleeping 🙂

Posted in Kickstarter, Random Thoughts | 11 Comments

Don’t Tell Anyone

Seems I’m up to my ears in secret projects at the moment.

For example, I spent yesterday in a very enjoyable meeting (which for me often includes playing games) with the owner of a company you’ll all know, about a game which isn’t yet public. That’s one of several projects I’m working on that dare not speak their names out loud, at least not yet. The contrast between now and the later stage (when everyone on the planet will need to be personally buttonholed and indoctrinated into the life-saving wonderfulness of the product) always makes me smile.

Apparently these particular beans are going to be spilled at Essen Spiel, in about a month, so that’s not too long to wait. Some of the other ones will have to wait till next year… maybe… or perhaps even later. A few will doubtless never make it to the public eye at all, and they’re even odder.

Sometimes this makes me feel really detached from the world of Facebook and forums I watch roll by. I know it’s the same for other writers and designers. By the time something you’ve worked on it in the hands of the people it was made for, you’ve almost forgotten what it was all about.

I wonder if this is the way spies feel, carefully guarding all manner of things that supposedly must be secret, but which really want to be out there in the world.

Posted in Random Thoughts | 20 Comments

When Will He Stop?

Tabletopia logo

I’m afraid I have another Kickstarter to mention. Only bumped into this one just now, so it’s not part of a conspiracy to empty your wallet. Honest. However, this one was just too good to pass up on. I’d say it was worth at least a cursory look by any gamer: Tabletopia.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/tabletopia/tabletopia-the-digital-platform-for-board-games/widget/video.html

Can’t work out how to make the video appear, so I’m afraid you’ll just have to click on the link above.

If they manage to deliver what they promise then it will be a really worthwhile development, and rather exciting for both players and designers.

Posted in Random Thoughts | 4 Comments

Yet Another Kickstarter

Today’s Figone newsletter included a mention of this book, which looks very much up my street. As I suspect many of you chaps have a similar interest in this sort of stuff, I thought I’d wave it under your collective noses too 🙂

TrudvangNothing to do with me professionally – just looked cool (and I’ve pledged for one).

Posted in Random Thoughts | 4 Comments

So Who’s Going?

Just had to post this.

Posted in Random Thoughts | 1 Comment

Has It Been That Long?

Yes it has.

Apologies all round. As ever it’s simply the workload that’s getting in the way of posting. Fingers crossed I can get the DS articles finished soon. Not promising anything though as that never ends well.

Unfortunately I can’t tell you most of what I’ve been up to of late as it’s all still very hush hush. Suffice to say that there are a number of very exciting new projects in the works, which I will tell you more about as soon as I can.

So, stay tuned, subscribe if you haven’t already, and, as Arnie says, I’ll be back.

Posted in Random Thoughts | 32 Comments

15mil Loveliness – Last Day

White DragonIt’s not often I’m impressed by 15mm scale foot figures. In fact, it might be never. Until now.

Well, until the last Salute, when I first came across these gorgeous little offerings from the guys behind the previous year’s rather nice spaceships: White Dragon Miniatures. I bought a bunch of the pre-production test pieces they had on sale, and they’re really, really nice. Simply the best 15mm figures I’ve ever seen, for any period. The pic is not the best, but it is clickable and very big. Remember that these are only 15mm. Yes, it does say Prodos on the sprue. They are doing the manufacture for White Dragon.

15mil SF15mm squadsAs I type this they are in the final few hours of a Kickstarter for the production versions of these, plus some more goodies. Hurry along if you’re interested. Well worth a look if you’re into the scale at all. And, even if you aren’t, you might want to look at the big mechs who look like they scale well to 28mm too. The example below is painted by the very talented Dwartist who has a load of pics of all the White Dragon 15mms (plus lots more). The 28mm figure in the pic is a limited edition pilot sculpt from White Dragon.

Scale mech from DwartistPersonally, I’ve pledged for some more troops to bulk out a force. Been looking at 15mm SF for a while now, and finding these was a great piece of timing. They’ll be forming my core human infantry.

And they’re doing the Fiddler in 15mm too 🙂

Posted in Kickstarter | 2 Comments

Dungeon Saga Role Playing

Is DS a roleplaying game? It’s a question I’ve heard a few times now. The answer is very simple: no… and yes.

No, DS is not designed to be an RPG, and never was. It lacks any specific guidance or suggestions for a DM and differs from a pure RPG in the structure of what it includes and how this is presented. It was always intended to be a board game, and that’s what it remains.

However…

What is a roleplaying game anyway? Having designed DS as a board game and without thinking about how you’d use it as an RPG, I started thinking about what made it not. And, having thought, I don’t think there’s much, if anything, to stop you.

It’s been many years since I did any roleplaying, so I may be (= am) out of touch with what is considered normal these days, but the principle can’t have changed all that much. It’s about playing a role and telling a collective story, and a competent GM and players should have no trouble at all in using Dungeon Saga as a springboard for adventuring in the fantasy world of Mantica. In fact, thinking back to the early days of RPGs, what’s included in the box (and especially the Adventurer’s Companion) is a far greater source of plot hooks and guides than many early systems started with. Try playing T&T, for example. Even D&D was very spartan when it started.

You will have to use your imagination, and you won’t get spoon-fed with pre-written adventures. However, you should remember that pre-written adventures aren’t generally aids for good roleplaying, they’re useful crutches for the time-poor DM, and products to keep companies solvent. Having played many systems and more adventures than I can recall, I can happily say that none of my personal top 5 moments in RPGs were pre-written. To be honest, I’m not sure I can think of any really good moments that were. The whole style of gaming is about imagination, and DS provides all the hooks, hints, plot ideas and springboards for adventure that you need. It’s really down to the GM to make a game from that, and that’s more about his skill than anything I’ve written or not.

Posted in Dungeon Sagas | 15 Comments

Don’t Know About DS

What don’t you already know about DS?

I’ve been trying to write something interesting about DS and failing. Not because there’s nothing to say, just that I think I’ve already said it all already. A combination of articles here, Mantic blogs, interviews, seminars, podcasts and many, many individual conversations at events leave me feeling like it’s ground we’ve covered before. Obviously there are lots of details we’ve glossed over, but you want something left to discover when you get your shiny box(es) of goodies, right?

Given that there have been a number of events, seminars and interviews since I last asked this question, and given that I’ve entirely lost track of what you do and don’t know at this point (you may have seen all of my burblings or none of them), what do you want to know? What is there left for me to cover?

Posted in Dungeon Sagas | 60 Comments

Back At My Desk

Back to the routine (and a full inbox) again after a splendid time at the UK Game Expo in Brum. If you’re at all interested in board gaming, or just going in general, then you should seriously consider attending next year. It’s 3 packed days of all manner of gaming, and everyone’s there, from veteran gaming execs to inexperienced individuals playtesting their first ideas, and everything in between.

Although most of my time was spent in discussion with various folk about upcoming projects, I still had time to discover some great new games, a new gaming magazine, and buy some more games and a toy soldier or two. I’ll be talking about them as the week goes on. However, first thing I said I’d do is some more about Dungeon Saga, so that’ll be next.

Posted in Events | 11 Comments