All Day Talking

Posted on July 9, 2011 by Quirkworthy

Well I just got back from the Mantic open day where I had a jolly time. Lots of excited and enthusiastic folk, which is always nice to see. Ronnie and I gave a seminar/talk/Q&A/general waffle this morning about Dwarf King’s Hold, and had some very interesting questions. Mostly at this sort of thing you get the same questions repeated, but today there was a poser or two. At least some of it was recorded, so with a little luck you should be able to see this on the Mantic blog soon. I’ll pop a link up when I find it. It also gave me more ideas for articles like the one on scenario balance (see the tab), which is good. Just need to make the time to write them all now 🙂

In the morning there was a big Kings of War battle, and in the afternoon I ran a Dwarf King’s Hold game continuing the story. That was really entertaining, as I had four necromancer players all fighting against me, trying to get my Dwarf King out of the Hold in one piece. Now Dwarf King’s Hold is a 2 player game (officially), but those of you who have seen any of my rambles and interviews from Beasts of War, or at the UK Game Expo or elsewhere, will know that I’ve been planning for more players from the start. There’s lots built in to the rules that hasn’t been fully exploited yet, and it was nice to give part of the currently unpublished extras a run out with some willing victims. Everyone seemed to enjoy it, and there were several clever and underhand schemes tried by the necromancers to keep me on my toes. A fun afternoon.

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Mantic Open Day

Posted on July 8, 2011 by Quirkworthy

Another weekend, another convention! Well, an Open Day. Tomorrow Mantic Games are having their second Open Day and I’ll be there running demos of Dwarf King’s Hold and  taking part in a couple of seminars about what’s new and where it’s going. Actually. I think it’ll probably be mainly a Q&A cos that’s more interactive and generally more fun. They end up with about the same information, just in a different (more interesting) format. More info on the Mantic Blog.

We’re also going to be running a linked game of Kings of War and Dwarf King’s Hold. In the morning folk will be battling it out on the big tables with sizable armies, and depending on who wins that we’ll play one of a couple of different multi-player games of DKH in the afternoon. Everyone against me, I think is the plan. Uh oh! Best leave my persecution complex at home for the afternoon then.

There will also be some limited models and possibly even a few early copies of DKH2. Not 100% sure about the latter, but it’s just possible. Like me, you’ll only find out on the day. Knowing Ronnie there will also be lots of sneak peeks of Warpath and all manner of upcoming goodies, so why not pop down. See the website for tickets, location and other details.

It’d be great to see folk there, but even if it’s too far to come there are things you can join in with online and the seminars are going to be filmed and put online too, so you can mail in questions (if you’re quick) and hear the answers. The magic of technology.

Posted in Board Gaming, Dwarf King's Hold, Events | 5 Comments

When is Terrain not Terrain?

Posted on July 6, 2011 by Quirkworthy

When it’s scenery, of course.

What exactly is the difference between scenery and terrain, and why should anyone care? Let’s take that in 2 steps: definition and use.

Dictionaries are only a little help when it comes to defining words in such a specialised context as tabletop gaming. However, the basis seems to be clear: terrain is the lie of the land and nothing else, whereas scenery encompasses not only that, but also the details that are scattered over it. Think about the use of the word scenery in theatre: for stage dressings. That’s more the sort of thing we are doing when we set up a nice tabletop to kill each other over. Terrain then is our tabletop itself, the flat surface, modular boards or whatever that form the backdrop onto which we place scenery in the form of buildings, trees and phone booths (depending on your game).

Does this distinction matter? Clearly not to most rule writers as the term “terrain” is almost ubiquitous in modern rulebooks, and taken to mean scenery (using the above definition). In a more general sense I deplore the loss of subtlety in language, and here there is some that is being ironed out by careless usage. At the same time I am ashamed to say that I am part of this ironing crew. Perhaps I need to try harder. On the other hand, perhaps it really doesn’t matter. A professor of English once said to me that the purpose of language was to communicate, and if we all understand the word terrain to mean houses and trees too, then that serves its purpose. In terms of rules and so on, is there any value in the distinction? Not a great one that I can see.

What do you guys think? It’s a bit of an odd burble today, but I’d like to know your opinions too. Why not post your thoughts below 🙂

Posted in Metagame musings, Tabletop gaming, Terrain | 17 Comments

How Often is Often Enough?

Posted on July 4, 2011 by Quirkworthy

Looking at the site stats, I always feel guilty if lots of people have come by and I haven’t posted anything new for them to see. Like a bad host. On the other hand, I also feel that it’s a shame when interesting posts and discussions disappear off the page before everyone can see them, so where does the balance lie? Do I aim to post every day so that the site always has fresh material on it, or pick and choose depending on the freshness and interest of previous posts? Hard to know.

What do you guys think? Come on now… don’t be shy 🙂

Posted in Uncategorized | 6 Comments

Terrain

Posted on July 3, 2011 by Quirkworthy

I was looking at the Micro Art Studios Infinity bases the other day. I’d seen them on the net before and was pleased to see that they looked even nicer in person (so to speak). Several of them have bits of smashed up Infinity models embedded in them, which allows you to tailor your bases to show you crushing your regular opponent’s forces. Just copy their paint scheme on the wrecks 🙂

The bases set me thinking again about how dowdy most battlefields look in terrain terms. Compared to the highly detailed and lovingly made bases we can now easily buy, most of our* terrain is simplified and characterless, generic and drab. Games are often fought over unpainted boxes or poorly thought out, randomly assembled clutters of AT43 containers, random fuel drums and crates. Of course, many of these things could be on a battlefield, it’s just unlikely that they would be the only thing you’d ever see. We can do  better.

High quality detailed terrain is, of course, no easier to make than miniatures, but almost everyone seems to shy away from even trying. This is understandable in a way, but only to a point. After all, isn’t the point of playing with miniatures rather than card counters so that we can see our battles in glorious 3D? Terrain should be a central part of a game, but most gamers I know (myself included) are reluctant to spend the time, money or effort in making their tabletop anywhere near the standard they aim for in their miniatures. If you marked tabletops out of 10 as people mentally seem to do with models, they would lag several points behind. All of which seems to me to drag the whole experience down to well below where it could and should be.

Over the years I’ve been lucky enough to be able to game over some incredibly nice tables, and so I know from experience what it can add. Is it just that most people haven’t ever done it, so they don’t know what they’re missing? Is it the expense? The effort? The lack of guidance? What do you think?

 

*by “our” I mean most gamers, including me. Having been to many conventions, gaming clubs, tournaments and other events, I’ve got a fairly good idea of the average level of painting and terrain, and neither of them are very high. I think this is a great shame.

Posted in Terrain | 18 Comments

Top of the Class

Posted on July 2, 2011 by Quirkworthy

Talking with a gaming buddy today, I was trying to explain the difficulty in picking which Smog figures to get. ‘The problem’, I said,  ‘was that they were mostly 11 out of 10, and you were left with discarding the ones that merely managed a 10/10 rating’. This is not a normal problem to have. Most ranges of gaming figures such as those by Privateer or GW manage a 10/10 every now and again, though you will often have to take a 5/10 effort to do a useful task in the game (even if the model is fairly minging). Variability is the norm. Smog have managed to maintain a standard that is quite exceptional, and is clearly modelled more on the quality levels of collectable figures such as Pegasus.

Hats off to them, I say. We could do with more of that in gaming in general.

Posted in Smog 1888 | 4 Comments

Mmmm… Zombies :)

Posted on July 1, 2011 by Quirkworthy

If you’re interested in Dwarf King’s Hold then you’re in for a fun time over the next few weeks. Not only have we got Dwarf King’s Hold: Dead Rising coming back into print (get ’em while they’re hot!), but we’ve also got the second starter set coming in too, fresh off the presses. Orcs anyone?

Mantic are doing some cool deals, and I’m writing a new scenario (14) specially to go with the free miniature. (This scenario will eventually be available to everyone, so don’t panic if you already have DKH: DR – you don’t have to buy it twice). Early sneak peeks and the miniature to go with it (normally rather limited in availability) go to those who get this package deal.

But that’s not all. No, a packed box of shiny new toys, cool art and a spanking game isn’t enough. I’ve also done some rules for using Zombies in your games alongside the other minions of the Necromancer, and have put together what I’m calling a (Not Very) FAQ to deal with the few things I’ve been asked once each, and to cover the one genuine error that crept into Dwarf King’s Hold: Dead Rising. Then there’s the other new scenario (13) I did for Journal 4 which isn’t out yet, and a bunch more goodies I’m going to tell you about later. I have to stop now cos your drool is getting all over my site…

 

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More Shinies

Posted on June 30, 2011 by Quirkworthy

The second expense my Irish escapade added to my shopping list was Smog 1888. Smart Max (who are the bounders responsible) started out making insanely detailed and finely made 50mm (ish) figures for the painter and collector. Smog – the 13th Hour is their game. Now I’ve been holding off from buying any of these delectable morsels as they are not cheap and I generally don’t buy things I can’t put on the table in a game. I don’t have the time to paint anyway, and certainly not just for display. I thought I’d escaped their temptations as I had fairly low expectations for the long-promised game. However, I was happily surprised when I played it with the Beasts of War guys (a video of our first go should be available soon to folk with back stage passes). It’s great! Far from the also-ran effort I was expecting, it’s a simple, but surprisingly involving diceless boardgame with loads of character and a simple set of rules that belies the tactical options. We played with one model a side, and that appeared to leave me with few options. However, the more I think about it, the more I can see. A normal game would have 2-4 models (I think they mention 1-6 a side, but different scenarios have varying sizes) and the way in which characters interact gives them all sorts of extra tricks and considerations. The rules are available as a free pdf, so you can check out those and the exquisite models online at their site. Let me know what you think.

Posted in Smog 1888 | 4 Comments

Shiny Toys

Posted on June 29, 2011 by Quirkworthy

When I said that I had stoically resisted temptation, I was only talking about what I’d spent on the day. As well as being on panels, running lots of demos of DKH, appearing on Beasts of War live  and so on, I also spent a lot of time at Q-Con talking to gamers, watching and playing demos and generally immersing myself in the warm and friendly gaming atmosphere. Now I played Infinity when it came out, but sort of broke the game a bit with my first army and at that point there wasn’t enough released for anyone to be able to stop what I’d concocted. Reliably killing 60%+ of my opponent’s force in my first turn was good for a win ratio, but not much fun for either side, so I dropped it. I wasn’t interested in playing something where I had to deliberately take a second or third best force because the best one was just broken. The one I’d chosen was full of models I liked (mainly why I’d chosen it) and I didn’t want to have to pick things I liked less just cos the rules let me down. I like picking armies (in games in general), and think that the process of balance and decision is all part of the enjoyment of a game. Can you get the carefully selected force to perform on the table as you imagined? Does it need tweaking or improving? How do you respond to different threats, and so on.

I think things may have changed. Infinity have done their 2nd edition, added their Human Sphere book (with linked teams and sectorial armies among other goodies) and released loads more models, which equals lots more options. Couple more choice with more experience among the many Infinity gamers I know and hopefully it’ll be an interesting challenge again, where my broken army list won’t just obliterate everyone. Actually, I doubt I’ll play the same army list, and will be starting from scratch as I sold my old Infinity stuff on Ebay. So… a clean slate.

Posted in Events, Infinity | 17 Comments

Back From My Travels

Posted on June 28, 2011 by Quirkworthy

Back from the Emerald Isle this afternoon after a fun time at Q-Con and with the Beasts of War guys afterwards (filming videos for DKH2, Urban War 2, etc).

Q-Con turned out quite busy with something over 1,500 people attending ever the weekend and a mix of wargames, board games, RPGs, LARP, cosplay and console/arcade gaming to amaze and amuse. What a mix! Personally I’m very happy with this sort of mix of gaming as it lets me have a peep into all manner of corners of the wider gaming world that I wouldn’t see if I had to go to a convention for each aspect on its own. Over the Saturday I gave a talk and sat on a couple of the panels of (alleged) notables speaking about game design, and the future of gaming among other things. That was an interesting experiment which was new to Q-Con, but which I expect to see back next year.

Accidentally bought myself a copy of Power Grid (I’ll explain why later) only to discover that it was a few mm too wide to fit in my case to carry home. Oh bother. Many other temptations were stoically resisted from the various traders at the event, and I got to feel virtuous (relatively) as well as entertained. All in all, a good convention and one I’ll be happy to go back to if I can next year.

Posted in Dwarf King's Hold, Events | Leave a comment