Happy 4 – Role Playing

Len O’Grady is an artist, colourists, comic book artist and dedicated gamer. Among other things he works at every child’s dream job, “colouring in” and is more than capable of doing it in between the lines. I couldn’t even tell you half the stuff he’s worked on so just take a trip over to his website and have a look for yourself. The guys good. BTW the article on Cypher a week back featured some exclusive art from a number of years back (16) he did for me at a games con.

Anyhoe on top of this Len is a dedicated role player and I caught up with him (online) to ask him to tell the nice people at home what it’s all about and why he obviously loves it. He was good enough to take the time to answer some of my questions and send me on some of his tasty art work.

Role playing, what’s that all about?

Role playing games, as the name suggests, is a story telling game where a group of players take on the personas of characters and have adventures set for them by one special player, a narrator if you will, called the GamesMaster. The most well known game of this type is Dungeons and Dragons, or D&D, but if you’ve ever played a fantasy game like World of Warcraft or Skyrim on a console or PC, you’ve played an RPG with a machine as GamesMaster. The rules of a game like this define the basic parameters of the world the players will inhabit, with dice providing the random element. Players can be a Wizard like Gandalf, a Vampire Hunter like Van Helsing or a Gangster like Tony Soprano, depending on the genre and type of game you all want to play. It all comes down to a group of friends hanging out, eating pizza and throwing some dice about while telling each other a story

How did you get involved in gaming?

Well, I was around twelve, and had just devoured The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings when I was given my first Fighting Fantasy book- it was basically a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure solo game books where you flip around numbered paragraphs and try and get to the end without meeting a gruesome fate. Fighting Fantasy was a bit different in that they had a very simple game mechanic that allowed to to fight monsters, gain treasures and magic artifacts- you were interacting with the story. You have to remember that this was rural Ireland in 1984- no one I knew had anything beyond a Sinclair, so this was a revelation. I’d seen copies of Dungeons and Dragons in the Toy Shop in the Crescent Shopping Centre, but hadn’t paid them any mind- the concept was just outside my experience and the books were way too expensive. It wasn’t until Corgi Books brought out an RPG called Dragon Warriors that things really took off, once I got my head around the concept that you could make a story for your friends, that was it. I think we met a few months later when a Games Club was launched in Limerick. I set up my own group out of my English Class in the Crescent every Wednesday afternoon, playing in Middle Earth, Arthurian Britain, and a Horror game called Call of Cthulhu. Luckily for us, Ireland mostly missed out entirely on the “D&D is a form of Satanism” furore that swept the US, spearheaded by religious zealots and various prigs. As time has proven, all their various claims have proved to be utterly false, and more often then not based in demagoguery and the desire to make a quick buck from rubes.

What is it you enjoy so much about role playing?

It’s the social aspect- you get to immerse yourself in a world of the shared imaginations of your friends and create memories as vivid as any you actually experienced. There’s an element of the oral tradition, that need to share a really good yarn with others around a campfire. You get to be take on another persona, solve problems, employ strategies and deal with social situations. I’ve seen deeply shy, introverted kids just blossom, learn useful social skills and sharpen their numeracy and literacy. I’ve seen kids avoid going down some dark paths and make bad choices by gaining a love of reading and history while creating adventures for their pals. Now the kids I played with have kids of their own and are rediscovering the hobby again with fresh eyes. It’s a hobby of imagination, so by definition it’s not passive, it’s powered by participation, is fired by quick thinking. At it’s best, it makes better people.

If you could pick one rules system what would it be?

Okay, that’s tough- games go through fashions and fads as much as any cultural phenomenon, but if you were to press me, I’d have to go for the Top Two: Dungeons & Dragons or Pathfinder. Both offer excellent introductions to the games, though I’d have to admit that Pathfinder’s Beginner Box noses ahead by dint of the wealth of material it offers- there’s literally months of games in there. Now, if you were to ask me what my favorite Rules System is, that’ll be Castle Falkenstein- a Victorian Fantasy Game that’s a cross between The Prisoner of Zenda and The Princess Bride. Players create little journals where they keep their characters, and play with decks of playing cards with each suit representing a facet of the character (dice are disreputable, the province of foreigners and scurrilous ne’r do wells). You get to play dashing Hussars, Mad Scientists, Sidhe Ladies and more, all while chewing up the scenery and twirling mustaches- it’s immense fun you’d be amazed by the one-liners people can come up with.

What’s the most memorable event in a game you’ve played?

Now you’re fishing- I could talk of Tayto, the Ogre Slaying Mage and his misadventure with a shape changing Mimic, but no one needs to hear about that. To be honest, there was a game I ran with Dave Stafford out of my flat in Rathgar in the late nineties- the party got split into to groups- and God bless him, Dave took over and ran both groups at once, jumping from scene to scene with a fifteen minute timer, ala. The Empire Strikes back. It was insane- during our fifteen minutes off, we discussed how to handle our dilemmas, so had no clue what was happening to our friends half a continent away. Then the timer went beep and it was on like Donkey Kong. Things got seriously epic by the end- we saved a kingdom from being destroyed from within by brain devouring psychic monsters and our friends defeated an vast supernatural army led by giant cannibal hags; and there was excellent chinese food. One of our friends was completely new to the hobby, and his wife later told us that he used to dream about his character having adventures- it just gave a massive adrenaline shot to his imagination, and that’s hugely gratifying.

In the age of high technology do you think roleplaying still has an audience?

Oh, absolutely- the age of austerity has raised all boats when it comes to tabletop games, and RPGs are no exception. A console game runs to about fifty quid- you get maybe a few weeks out of it and then it’s on the shelf or down to the shop for a pretty poor trade in. I have games I’ve run and played since I was a teenager- you just need the rulebook, some dice, pencils and paper, and you’re good to go. Everything else, the playmats, the miniatures, the other supplements, these are entirely optional; what matters is the human interaction- that’s the engine that runs a role playing game. Every option available in a console game has been anticipated by it’s designers, so by definition is limited. Pen and paper RPGs have no such restrictions- being a GamesMaster means being able to roll with the zany left field stuff your players throw at you- that’s where some real exciting stuff happens- utterly unrepeatable but unforgettable. I just have to say to you- Mersen the Bard, seducing the barmaid- and Wham! you’re right back there with me, even though that game we played is about twenty five years ago. That’s something technology is going to be hard pressed to emulate, that sense of a shared experience crystallized in the mind’s eye.

What would you recommend to people who want to start Roleplaying?

Baby steps- if you’ve played console games like Skyrim or even Zelda you’re already half way there. The cartoon Adventure Time had D&D in it’s DNA, and Dan Harmon, has had a few great D&D episodes in his show Community.

The best thing is just how easy it is to start playing now- Wizards of the Coast, the publisher of D&D, offers the basic rules for FREE. It’s bare bones and without all the flavor text and copyrighted material, but it’s all there for players. On top of that, Wizards is in the process of rereleasing their back catalogue digitally and at a very reasonable price, so if you’re returning to the hobby, you can pick up your iPad and get cracking. If D&D isn’t your thing, DriveThru RPG offers other genres and game systems, many for free and covering all ages, from very small kids to old veterans.

So pick up a copy of the Dungeons and Dragons Starter Set and remember what the hobby’s creator, Gary Gygax said;
“The secret we should never let the GameMasters know is that they don’t need any rules”. Just play it through and expect to get better next time. Take a look at this comic based around a weekly session of D&D- it gives a pretty good flavor of a typical game

A phenomenon that’s popped up over the past decade is that of games being recorded for Podcasts or for sites like Twitch. The better ones are:
Titansgrave
Critical Role
HarmonTown
Nerd Poker
The Adventure Zone
and the granddaddy of them all that Wizards of the Coast put on: Acquisitions Inc.
Apart from Titansgrave, these have varying degrees of adult language and themes, so check them out before passing them your kids

Don’t worry about getting everything right or being self conscious- concentrate on having fun and making sure your friends have fun too- it’s a game with no “winners”, the winners get to survive for the next adventure and watch their characters become more heroic and powerful- maybe become legends themselves. it’s really just cops and robbers with an actual plot and a mechanic to say when you’re dead- don’t sweat it and have fun.
Thanks Len.

Brilliant!

September 24, 2015 1

Courtier

Courtier is like a very complicated dance all explained in words on paper. The rules are simple but the execution is a different story.

The Tempest games are a clever idea. A story arc played out as a number of board games. The first of which, well the prequel really is Love Letter. You’ve probably played love letter at this stage, if you haven’t it’s worth gambling a tenner and picking it up. A number of the characters in the game appear in courtier with the same artistic style. It’s noteworthy, like the finding cadburys fingers in a mini market whilst on holidays.

Courtier is like Steve Jackson’s Revolution. In fact I think it’s by the same designer. The game is all about placing influence cubes on various courtiers, (members of the court) each of which are themselves members of a grouping like the church, the merchants, the royal court and so on. Having the most influence in a group grants you some special abilities like placing two cubes rather than one, gaining one bonus point per turn and so on. Some of these are more valuable earlier and later in the game.

Each player starts with a secret petition and a communal pool of four visible ones each of which involves having control of a number of specific courtiers.

Completing these Petitions scores points. This part feels a bit like ticket to ride or Lords of Waterdeep.

The game IS pretty simple rules wise however keeping everything in your head, abilities, other players abilities, your moves, what others are angling for, what could happen, completing petitions before someone else… It’s hard work requiring a sharp brain and a number of replays. It’s certainly way beyond the normal gaming decisions of should I have crisps or biscuits

I like this game. It’s neat. It’s tidy. It’s not exceptional but it’s a solid game and if you’ve never played revolution it’s definitely worth a look. The game has charm and the whole story arc idea is something I like. I do think revolution has the edge but I believe they both need a good replay to be sure. Which I’ll do

Huzzah!

Vic

September 22, 2015 0

Dags of War

I don’t know a whole lot about wine. I tend to like the red sort which in my experience comes in “nice” and “not as nice” variety (at least for the first glass, after which it doesn’t really matter and now it’s time to sing), I don’t get hints of cherry, earthy flavors or robust bouquets. I do know a bit about boardgames and I can detect game flavors and traits very quickly. Dogs of War (or Dags if you prefer) has got hints of several games but still manages to be unique and cheeky.

There’s a touch of Imperial in there (no bad thing), Modern Art (I like modern art), War of the Roses and a few other notable games, none of which overpower the flavour or make it a clone. Dogs of War stands on it’s own two armoured feet and is a great fun game

The box is quite imposing and you’d be forgiven for thinking it another map based conquest game, it’s not, there’s no map. At it’s simplest it’s a tug of war game betting game.

One of the things I like about this game is you get it straight away, or at least in the first game. There’s no hidden gotchyas, you don’t need to play a half dozen games before you’ll have a hope of winning, you just need to play and watch out for everyone else. Tricking them into helping you win helps too.

Each player starts with a screen behind which they hide their money, troop cards, event cards, house cards, victory points, lint and boiled sweets.

There are four rounds each a little longer than the last in which you

1. Buy troops
2. Play your 3-5 captains
3. Fall for your opponents ploy
4. Fail to gain points that looked so easy to get at the start

There’s optional crying but mandatory swearing, threatening and parentage questioning.

After buying troops with your meager funds. you then have to decide on which side of three battles you want to place your men. This is done one at a time by each player around the board. The battles themselves are fought for the six houses in the game each of which you hold ‘shares’ in. Sticking your captain on a particular side has the effect of moving a pointer either one direction or the other (like a tug of war) depending on how good (and expensive) the troop card is you’re going to commit.

The scoring for a battle is tug of war style like twilight struggle. So every plus for one side is a minus for the other. Figuring out what everyone is up to before you commit is key. Alliances are flimsy and opportunistic, last minute placement of troops can swing battles, falling into a ruse by other players would have Admiral Ackbar horse by round two.

There are no set paths to victory (winning a lot of battles doesn’t hurt) and you will need to adjust your plans on the fly. What I really like about this game is you’re never left wondering what to do, it’s all very simple really. For what is in the loosest manner a worker placement game (very loose) there’s a massive about of interaction with other players, not just cock blockery, direct in your face, HA! sort of play.

There’s a number of neat little mechanics in there that make the game unpredicatbale but rarely luck based. Every mistake is yours to own, just like every victory.

The models in the game are lovely, each sporting a steam punky style. The artwork is good but not exceptional. (We’re spoiled by Fantasy Flights pristine designs). The build quality is excellent, everything is solid. it’s a fine construction.

Having played this once, I wanted to rush out and buy it. Since it was late at night and I live miles from anywhere that would have been a mistake. If someone didn’t have this game in our group I would rush out now and buy it. It’s the most fun game I’ve played since Knavecon 6. Well worth a look

Huzzah!

Vic

September 18, 2015 0

Happy 3 – Kids

In a continuation of our series on why we love gaming, I’m looking at gaming with your children.

Borys Zabinski is a gamer, blogger and manager of the kids corner at Knavecon and Knavekids. He’s a regular gamer at our Thur night gaming sessions and can be relied upon to pull out some weird and often wonderful Polish boardgame we’ve never seen before with a name only he can pronounce. He has a great knack for engaging younger gamers and I caught up with Borys and asked him a few questions on gaming from a family point of view

Borys, what was gaming like for you as a kid?

Just to give a little background: as a kid I was living in communist Poland in little town – there were no boardgames in early 80’s apart from Ludo (which was and still is called ‘Chinese’) and one really big hit: it was Monopoly clone called Eurobusiness. If you ask any Polish person in age bracket 35-45 to name his/her first boardgame, probably 90% will tell you it was Eurobusiness ;). In late 80’s few more boardgames were available with some Polish companies freely copying Western games like Talisman (called ‘Magic and Sword’) – nobody cared about copyrights those days. Some of those games were really big sellers with total prints of over 40 thousands per print! With limited access to computer games anything that had ‘game’ in title and looked like it was designed in (rotten) West was big hit and we played those games all the time. I am sure I have played Eurobusiness over 100 times…

Did your family have an interest in gaming?

My parents have absolutely no interest in gaming at all 😉 Except for Eurobusiness (which I think they have played over 50 times). This in mind I have to say that I have found my father’s Snake and Ladders published before WW2 😉 (must still be somewhere in the attic in Poland). They would consider games as childish even these days.

What benefits do you think gaming has for children?

I like to say educational but everything in life for kids is educational. Main benefit is entertainment and fun. I am all about having fun while playing games, other things like maths skills, reading skills, ability to think ahead etc. are there anyway and we all know about those ;). I am always trying to pass few interesting facts about game’s theme we play (be it videogames history if we play Boss Monster, geography and history facts if we play Tigris & Euphrates or who is Mi-go if we have a quick session of Eldritch Horror 😉 ).

What type of games do you think kids like?

Different kids like different games. I have three kids, each one different character. My two boys age 9 and 6 really like negative interaction and love to do bad things in games to their parents, problem is when they are a target. Daniel (9) really hates coop games, he likes to play and make decisions himself. Robert (6) is OK with coop and see no problem working together to win (and share a win!). Maja (4) hates any type of negative interaction in games or even any type of violence in games. Every family need to try few games and see what they like.

What age do you think kids should start gaming at?

As early as possible. Give them games to play with components. Let them punch tokens when you have new game. Show them cards. Play simplified rules, even play full rules for round or two (I have tried Through the Ages with Daniel when he was 6). Do all of this and you will have 24/7 gaming partner in 10 to 15 years! (well, unless you introduce them to Minecraft…)

How do you deal with kids of different ages and abilities all playing the one game?

ou just need to find a game that will fit everyone (even adults). Game like this would be famous Turtles game. Of course sometimes this is not possible and I try to simplify rules to fit youngest but still keep it interesting for rest of the group. Other option is just play with youngest and let him/her move pieces or roll dice – for 3 or 4 year old that would still be great fun (at least for those 5-10 minutes 😉 )

What is it you enjoy so much about gaming?

I love videogames (as any other gaming in general) but recently moved into boardgames ‘full time’. I love the real multiplayer aspect where you see all of the opponents, love those ‘in your face’ moments or back stabbing 😉 I like playing with kids as well but this is different as you need more patience, sometimes you need to let them win, sometimes it can be real pain in the ass (yes!) but in the end it’s very enjoyable experience (especially when you can see their progress).

What would you recommend to a family who wanted to start gaming with their kids?

First of all I would recommend to attend Knavecon or Knavekids where you can check different games to see which one suits your kids gaming style. Cooperative games are also safe choice as you do not play against each other and allows younger kids to participate in play and share win – Forbidden Island and Forbidden Desert are very good and easy to learn games with great theme. I like a little bit more of randomness while playing with kids as this will give them more chances to win – dice games like Zombie Dice are great example here and have proven to be perfect gateway games at previous Knavecons. If your kids love storytelling and have great imagination than Dixit or Story Cubes (there are many different versions) will be perfect – some of Dixit sessions with kids are amongst best we have ever played. Do you think your kids are more into maths, analysing, bluffing? Try some of Reiner Knizia designs, these might be out of theme and a little bit dry but I think some of his smaller games are amongst best kiddies games – Turtles (aka Ribbit), Bucket Brigade, Bee Alert and many more. Again, Knavecon and Knavekids are best places to go to check what your kids like or dislike, start easy with small and quick games and build you library introducing more complex games over a time.

Limerick Gaming Blog

September 17, 2015 0

Throwback Tuesday

I’m going to go back to a time long past. Imagine what you’re looking at going all uniformly wavy and wobbly and someone pressing one key on a Casio and BOOM you’re back to a time when games were broken, we had no sense and it rained a lot. (an earlier version of now)

Welcome to the 80s where we didn’t realize we were underprivileged until someone said it twenty years later. This was back when Games Workshop wrote games and we’d watch any old shite on TV If it had the whiff of Sci-Fi. about it. But enough of that the game I’m going to talk about is

Block mania

Block mania was a magnificent Judge Dredd story in 2000AD. If any of this sounds unfamiliar you owe it to yourself to read these progs. If you’ve read them already you won’t have forgotten them.

Short version. Two skyscrapers (blocks) full of drug crazed inhabitants are going to knock seven shades out of each other with whatever they can lay their hands on. The game will end when one building collapses or the judges (police) arrive and end the party.

Before that happens you’re going to roll up action points (Like it’s 1999) and activate your raging citizens and get them firing missiles, detonating demo charges, manhandling vibro drills and causing mayhem mega city 1 style.

The game now is old and possibly a bit moldy like a lot of old cardboard games. This is a game that’s played for theme and nostalgia, it’s a fun novelty cocktail game not to be taken seriously (like every other game). If you’re a fan of Dredd you’ll be in Mega City heaven. There’s a generous pinch of luck in this game but it doesn’t detract from its working

GW released an expansion for it called Mega Mania which allows four players, each with their own block to fight it out. Be warned adding more players can turn a quick game into a LONG game.

This game has odles of charm. Unlike a number of other games of the era it’s not just a re-skinned version of something else. There’s a lot of fun to be had here and to my knowledge it’s a pretty unique game. It wouldn’t hold up against a modern game as we’ve come to expect a lot of standards in modern board games but then again they’ve had 30 years of time to mature and improve.

I’ve been lucky enough to play it a few times over the years, well decades and it always brings a smile to my face (more so, if I collapse someones building)

As it stands BM is a unique, fun game thats definitely worth playing at least once and a fine throwback to some of the better games of the 80s

Huzzah!

Vic

September 15, 2015 4

louis cypher

I like these card games in a bag genre that’s appeared in the last few year. They’re starting to become a bit samey but it’s a new enough device so I’m willing to indulge it. Love letter is a great game. I really like lost legacy and I do like Cypher.

I first came across this game at last years Gaelcon. A buddy* had bought it and I got to play a few games of it having played a lot lot of love letter (mostly badly)

Cypher features 19 cards this time and sees up to four friends* trying to end the game with as much influence as possible visible from up to three cards in front of them.

Each turn sees players in turn play a card and execute its action, draw a card and then reluctantly discard down their hand by giving the excess to their opponents. It’s a little bit like Tichu where you hope to offload your trash and not help your opponent. Remembering what your opponent did last turn and guessing what they might be up to is key

It’s a neat little game. The artwork is dacent. The theme is good (I do like cyperpunk), the mechanics are tidy. It’s pure filler material but it does have some skill and you will want to play it again

I was able to secure a copy of it for a good price at the last Knavecon and I’m delighted I did. Looking forward to more of these. I have not quite slaked my thirst for bag games.

Huzzah

Vic

September 14, 2015 3

Happy 2 – Why we Game

David Stafford or “MrSaturday” as he’s better known as (by at Least half a dozen people) is an avid gamer and highly skilled artist. Dave is the brains behind the Knavecon artwork and variety of other projects I’ve roped him into over the years. (I’m sorry Dave for everything, you were told don’t trust Vic.) I HIGHLY recommend a visit to his blog before you read further, it’s ok, I’ll wait….

See I told you he was good didn’t I?

So as a continuation of why we game and why it makes us Happy I caught up with Dave and asked him a few questions, but this time it’s from the angle of someone who paints and someone who for want of a better term. Likes the pictures..

Dave, what’s your earliest memory of gaming?

My memory is ropey at the best of times. Must have been all those lead miniatures I cast as a kid. Aaaahh… lead fumes. Who are you again?

So, earliest memory of gaming. I reckon it would be in 1^st year in Secondary school. I would have been twelve. I recall playing 3^rd edition Warhammer, Heroquest and 1^st edition Spacehulk soon after discovering Prince August and Citadel miniatures. I was lucky enough that several other students enjoyed gaming, which was regarded as pretty odd at the time. ‘Satan is a roleplayer!’ and all that. The school I went to was like a miniature Hogwarts, complete with towers, abandoned dormitories and eccentric wizards, or priests, as they were known at the time. We used to hole up in a room in the abandoned dorms and game. I still recall that Warhammer 40k/Paranoia mashup fondly.

When did you first start painting and more specifically, “tarting up” gaming pieces

The miniatures were the first thing that drew me to gaming, and that remains true to this day. I remember catching sight of White Dwarf, issue 95 in the bookshop, back in 1986, I think it was. (I still have it) It literally stopped me in my tracks. It was the 3^rd edition launch issue, so it had lots of pictures of fantasy armies beating the bejesus out of each other. It imprinted pretty irreversibly on my twelve year old mind. Soon after I got a box of the plastic skeleton warriors, and that was that. I’ve been going ever since.

You obviously love what you do, why? Why is painting such a joy for you?

It quite literally stops me from going insane. I get pretty grumpy if I haven’t been painting for a few days. Nobody wants that.

I get an unfeasible amount of satisfaction from painting. I tend to paint for gaming, even if I rarely play that game. It gives a structure to my choice of models. Choosing the miniature, the colour scheme, the techniques, the basing style, it ticks all my relaxation boxes. Adding the finished miniature to the cabinet gives me that staring into a magnificent sunset on a quiet beach kind of ‘Aaahhhh…’ feeling.

Gaming is a very social hobby, but painting is the opposite, it’s a more contemplative, introverted endeavour. The two meld well I find, as showing off the fruits of your labours to your peers is the cherry on the cake of painting, and it gives you a lot of mojo for your next project when you see other people’s work. There’s nothing that stirs a painter’s blood than seeing well painted gangs/armies on great terrain.

The various painting groups online are also gold for miniature painters. No matter what game you are into, there’s a group of folks out there who paint and game for it, and are more than happy to see your work.

You’re a bit of a collector, I know you’ve amassed a wealth of gaming material over the years (don’t worry I won’t give your address out), specifically older games, what’s the attraction of the older stuff?

There’s a heavy dose of nostalgia in there for sure. Games and miniatures I missed out on as a kid and sought out as an adult. Some aren’t even that great. I spent years looking for a copy of Curse of the Mummy’s Tomb, which is essentially 3d snakes and ladders. On the other hand, Fury of Dracula is brilliant. The art style of the period is very appealing too.

Another draw, miniature-wise, are specific artists and sculptors like Ian Miller, John Blanche, Bob Olley, Jes Goodwin, Bob Naismith and many others. I find miniatures from mid to late 1980s era, specifically Citadel Miniatures, are loaded with character. The Jes Goodwin chaos champion or Aly Morrison undead ranges are exemplars of the period, with each miniature an individual. The later plastic ranges, while technically excellent, lost some of that individuality. It’s even more apparent with the advent of 3d sculpting. The model is taken out of the hands of the sculptor, and it makes a lot of the 3d constructed models look similar. It seems more difficult for a sculptor to implement their own style through 3d modelling, but as technology advances I imagine this will change.

Then again, I love the original plastic space marines, which are about as detailed and individual as staples, so what do I know?

With the retro thing being in fashion right now, and the formation of the Oldhammer community over the last few years, I’m starting to see a lot of miniatures coming that hark back to that early style. It’s a bit of a golden age right now in fact.

What has been your favourite project to date?

Ooooh, I’d say my fimir army. I had the idea rattling about in my head for years, and it was very gratifying to get it out of my brain, built, painted and on the table. There were very few fimir models to choose from, so it’s mostly converted or in some cases sculpted from scratch. It picked up a few awards, which was pretty damn nice too, after all the work. I do have another project coming to a close now which was something I’d wanted to do for years, which was work with one of my personal heroes, but I can’t say too much more about that one for now!

What do you friends and family think of your hobby?

Well, most of my friends and family are, or have been gamers, so it’s not much of a thing. As for the rest, at this stage it’s regarded as a mildly eccentric obsession that’s best avoided lest I talk about it for several hours.

If you could do anything for a living, put money aside, what would that be?

Oh, I’d love to develop some model ranges, maybe do some game development.

Or be a space pirate.

Actually, probably a space pirate.

With the increasing digital world we live in do you think gaming outside of computers has a future?

Course it does, it isn’t an either/or thing. Gaming with a bunch of mates of an evening is a different beast to online gaming. There’s all the paraphernalia of traditional gaming too, the box, the models, the counters, the snacks… lordy, that sound good.

Also, new game smell. You guys know what I mean.

Finally, what advice would you give people starting out in gaming and painting?

Find a group if you can. If not, find one online. Gaming thrives on social interaction, even painting needs feedback from others. I’ve made friends through gaming that have become close, life-long mates. It’s a bigger hobby now too, so it’s easier to find like-minded folks at game shops, cons and events, such as the awe-inspiring KnaveCon.

It’s a tremendously rewarding hobby, so roll up your sleeves and dive in, there’s honestly never been a better time.

September 11, 2015 0

Bang! Bang! you dead!

Keeping with the western theme (by pure chance) we played Bang! The Dice Game last thur

I’d plays a good bit of Bang! The card game. Truth be told I’d played a lot of it and it’s expansions. I was in fact over it. Quite a while back, so it was with morbid curiosity I approached the dice version. I was pleasantly surprised

Bang! The dice game (BtDG) is a filler game similar to the original but lighter and quicker. The game sees up to eight players duking it out with secret roles either helping the Sheriff or trying to bump him off.

Each player starts with a random character with terrible names like “Willy the kid” or “something else” each with a non imbalanced special ability such as immune to Gatling guns or able to regain health at below 4 and so on. They also start with a secret identity like bandit (wants to kill the sheriff), deputy (wants to help the sheriff), renegade (wants to be the last person standing) or just plain old bullet magnet sheriff who starts visible to everyone.

People then quickly roll dice and the shooting starts.

The sheriff who starts with two more life than normal needs to figure out who’s on his side and who’s out to get him. Here’s a top tip. If they’re shooting at you they’re not your friend

Each player takes it in turn to roll the half dozen dice which allows you to shoot someone either one or two players away, drink beer and recover health, explode by rolling three dynamite or dishing out damage to everyone else with a Gatling gun. Finally and here’s where it rises above the norm. You can roll and gain arrows from a central pile. Once the pile is exhausted the Indians attack and everyone holding arrows take that many wounds.

Games are snappy. The special ability means it’s quite varied and guessing who’s who is fun. Unlike Colt Express shooting someone means something and it’s the big roundup in the sky once you lose your dozen or less health points.

This game reminds me a bit of zombie dice. There’s a push your luck element and it will appeal to kids. Kids who like shooting each other.

Compared to the original bang it’s a shorter game and much simpler. Personally I prefer the original but this is a perfectly acceptable filler game. Plus it’s got Cowboys in it

Yehar!

Victor

September 6, 2015 0

Bloodbowl 2 League

What say you fine people to a Bloodbowl 2 League, since we’re all going to rush out and buy it (PC)?

Might even televise a match on the big screen at the next Knavecon

Vic

September 5, 2015 1

We don’t like your type around here

Colt Express sounds like a cleaning product Barry Scott would be proud of. Don’t be fooled it’s not, it’s a “cowboy train robbery, program ’em up.”, quite a small genre all said.

This game has been on my radar for a while and I was eager to get my farm hand mitts on it…. it’s good, but it’s not exceptional.

With any game a good judge of it’s merits is the urge to play it again. I had no strong urge to replay Colt Express having played it once, which is a pity because it’s got a lot of good things in there.

The game itself sees up to six bandits trying to steal as much loot as possible from a very nicely realized 3D train. It’s absolutely not co-op.

The pieces are lovely. The game needs some assembly and fits together to form six snug carriages and a locomotive. The artwork is nice, not amazing but more than adequate if a little cartoony for my liking. The whole thing is sturdy and the assembled pieces fit neatly back in the box.

Gameplay see you draw a number of cards and program your bandit to perform tasks in a sequence, the length of which is visible for the current section of the trip. Each player takes it in turn to place an action so you can make out roughly what’s going to happen. Your bandit is programmed with between 3 and 5 actions in advance and then thus instructed, takes you literally and all hell breaks lose . Actions like, move from one carriage to another, pick up some loot on the floor, punch someone, shoot another player, move the lawman and so on are what it’s all about.

If you’ve ever played RoboRally you’ll know what to expect. Bandits get knocked out of the way and your original plans go awry. Better options open up through other’s unexpected interactions. It’s a bit like riding a horse where you’re partially in control.

What I do like is the actions something come with options. So a move for your bandit when it pops up allows you to choose which direction you move. Ditto shooting where you choose whom to shoot unlike RoboRallys strict wind up, sit back and watch it helplessly unfold style.

It’s fun, it’s pretty quick and it’s easy to learn. What I don’t like about it are two things. One. It’s a bit random, which is fair enough and two it’s a bit mild. When you shoot someone you don’t really do that much damage to them, you just dilute their deck with bullets making their next turn a bit more difficult. There’s no real sense of screwing over the other players which for me is key. (Maybe that says more about me than the game).

This is a excellent kids game. I’m fond of kids games as a lot of them (like Ribbit) work really well as an adult game too. For me I found this game was lacking something, I couldn’t say what and I think it was as good as it could be, just not good enough to demand regular play. It’s a funny beast insofar as it’s neither a filler game and yet it’s too short to be a main course.

Good enough but not exceptional I reckon.

Yehar!

Vic

September 4, 2015 0