Quirkworthy

Over the years I’ve heard a number of stories of people finding amazing deals in charity/thrift stores, pound/dollar stores, bargain bins and other cheap venues. Much to my chagrin, I turn out to be fairly poor at this sport, so I was especially pleased when I actually found some vaguely useful tat the other day. Of course, when I say “useful” I mean that my deranged gamer radar detects a potential use for something in a project that will probably never exist outside my mind. You know the kind of thing 😉

Anyway, 9 different dino skellies for under £4. Not the world’s best models, but as terrain elements for a Lost Valley of the Dinosaurs Pulp game…

Or, Lost Valley of the Zombie Dinosaurs. Hmmm…

And if I cut them in half to bury them in the floor then I’ve got twice as many 😀

What’s been your best bargain?

If you’re in the area, feel free to pop into Foundry for a game or a chat. I’ll be there from 10am when the doors open till everyone goes home. As previously mentioned, I’ll be trying out an early version of a campaign system which (oddly enough) is pinched from Eternal Battle 😉

For some reason my computer has been less than happy since I got back, which makes me less than happy too. I have, of course, tried turning it off and on again. Unfortunately it’s more serious than that.

That aside, I’ve been pondering various computing questions for a while. Partly this is which software is most useful for my daily work, and partly the more interesting question of what’s happening with the DreadBall apps being developed by folk and where board/figure gaming and the digital world can usefully interact in general. It feels to me that we’re on the cusp of digital versions of rulebooks becoming really useful, though I don’t think any of the attempts made so far have really quite fulfilled the promise.

I’ve been deliberately using some digital versions of rulebooks that I also have as hard copies to see how the formats compare, and have a few thoughts on what I’d like to see in a digital version. Now I’m asking you guys what you reckon.

Do you use digital rulebooks much (or at all)? If you do, then what aspect convinced you to make the shift? If not, why not, and what would make you consider them?

Apologies for the break. Been out and about sorting all manner of gubbins, plus the weekend was the Mantic Open Day and then some more filming with the Beasts of War crew yesterday. I am, however, back at my desk now so what passes for normal service should resume shortly 😉

I’ve got several new toys to review, the restic series to continue plus the Deadzone FAQ to catch up with, not to mention the articles I wanted to write about Eternal Battle design and so on. Might be more than one post a day for a bit to catch up.

Speaking of the Open Day, I spent most of it doing seminars with Ronnie, but from my brief forays into the main halls it looked like folk were having fun. Of course there were lots of people carting very large boxes of Deadzone away, so I expect we’ll see a lot of YouTube unboxings and blog posts about that on the net over the next few days. Do feel free to pop a link here if you spot anything particularly interesting on that front.

One comment we did have in a few of the seminars was that the Open Day was full of games, unlike the last GW Games Day. I can’t comment on that personally as I didn’t go to GD, but the Open Day was certainly buzzing with a DreadBall and KOW tournament as well as tables of Dropzone  Commander, Judge Dredd, Loka and more. There may even have been some Deadzone going on 🙂

The Open Day has grown massively since Mantic started having events to meet the fans and I think next time might need a bigger venue again. The car park that had accommodated all the attendee’s vehicles last time had overflowed and there was parking up and down the road outside too. It was heaving. All in all it was a tiring day, but a very good one with a lovely positive and enthusiastic vibe.

Next saturday I’ve got another of the regular God of Battles meets over at Foundry. This time I’ll be live testing some campaign rules I’ve been messing about with. As always, if you’re in the area you’re more than welcome to pop along and join in. It’s free to attend and the regulars are a very friendly and relaxed bunch. If you haven’t played GoB yet then you can still come and learn how it works. Most sessions will see me teaching one or two people the basics.

And it seems to be December already. Not sure where November went.