30 March 2015

Of Mars bars and miniatures

Over on the Oldhammer Facebook page, Rusty Gouldman posted a flyer from the (I think) early 90s showing a genestealer cult army (52 presumably metal figures, including a magus, patriarch and 40k beastmen) for a trifling $80. This got me thinking about what that would cost in today's money, and how to work it out - should I try and use inflation? Relative earnings? House prices? And all that before the USD/GBP exchange rate.

Then it struck me - I should use the most reliable economic indicator of all, the Mars bar!

20 March 2015

Knights' Quest ready for playtesting



It's here! After months of playing around with formatting, honing the aesthetic and, far more importantly, turning what is now a good couple of years of playtesting into a game that is ready for a wider audience, I'm finally pleased enough with Knights' Quest to release it for a formal playtest.

Since about Christmas I've been tinkering pedantically with phrasing and the like, changing a sentence here, or a word there - lots of time spent for little actual change. What I realised I needed to do was to get it out there and played with by other people, get feedback and make any necessary changes based on that, and get on with illustrating the darn thing.

So, why should you playtest Knights' Quest? What's my "elevator pitch"? Glad you asked...

Knights' Quest is an exciting adventure game for two or more players, set firmly in the world of medieval romances or high medieval fantasy with a strong medieval aesthetic. One player - the Minstrel - runs the adventure, while the other(s) - the Quester(s) - strive to complete the quest which is played out using miniatures, gridded terrain and polydice. Although players with a nostalgia for the adventure boardgames of the 1980s and 90s will find much that resonates with those happy memories, Knights' Quest also has at its core an innovative dice system which models the effects of fatigue and injury, as well as the gaining of experience leading on to character progression between games. Simple enough to be played with your children, challenging enough to be enjoyed by experienced gamers, Knights' Quest really can be for anyone!

If that sounds like it is the game for you (and, frankly, how could it not be?!) then I need your help. I would like to have an initial set of a dozen playtesters who would be willing to:
  • play at least two games of Knights' Quest between now and the 31st May 2015
  • fill in a simple feedback form and send it back to me
  • share any fun you've had playing on your blogs or forums you are members of (linking back to this blog in any posts), but letting me know privately of any problems you've had so I can make the rules clearer and/or better
  • not share the files around

What will I provide to allow you to do this? An email with the following attachments:
  • the rules (!), both in the look I intend for them, and with clear background so they are easily and cheaply printed if you prefer rules on paper
  • a set of plain character, item and spell cards for printing if desired
  • a sample quest
  • a feedback sheet file
So, who's in? Let me know in the comments below or on this thread on the Lead Adventure Forum. I'd be delighted to hear from you.

Thanks in advance,
Rab

16 March 2015

KQ - Potion pilferers

The king's enchanter, Marlin, was distraught. He had returned to his chambers in the white tower (safely distant from the great hall so that the unusual aromas from his experiments didn't spoil guests' appetites!) to find them ransacked. Sorting through the mess, he had found that four of his most unusual and powerful potions had been stolen! The only clue was a set of footprints that headed down towards some unused store-rooms under the castle. Bare footprints that weren't quite human...

Another weekend, another game of Knights' Quest with my two little proto-geeks. Hurrah! This time both Knights had learned from their previous adventures and used their accumulated Hero Points (HP) to acquire Skills. CJ took Charge and Weapon Master (sword), while EM's knight had learned Parry and Grapple, solely because he wanted to be able to throw his foes off bridges or cliffs. I worry about that boy sometimes...

Anyway, the two knights set off following the footprints (with the wizard) down into the bowels of the castle... where they encounter a small band of imps enjoying a meal of doubtless stolen goods. 

Check out the newly painted black board we're playing on - it made the tiles 'pop' for us while playing. Ten minutes well spent!

12 March 2015

Eleven from eleven

Normally I'm a pretty slow painter. I take ages to get the basics done on a figure, then get frustrated at how long it's taking and wind up bodging the last bits... So, it was a pleasant surprise this morning when it came up in a meeting that it was the eleventh week of the year and I realised I've painted eleven figures already! One for each week so far! I wonder if I can keep up the pace?

The eleventh figure, by the way, is this lovely Spacelords "Phagon Beastman" sculpt who will be leading the little band of anthropomorphic goats with laser guns in my Rogue Trader's retinue. When I finish the next four (currently WIP), I've got some blether to share about how I see them in the RT universe, organisation, and the like. Until then, here's the photo:

Razak Pen, methul of a full raaz, consisting of two cyrn 

11 March 2015

Who follows whom? Part the second.

At the time of writing this there are one hundred and three four people who have publicly signed up as followers of this blog (thereby showing their exquisite taste!), many of whom have blogs of their own. My way of celebrating breaking the one hundred mark is to list their gaming blogs and give a quick comment as to why you should go and check them out. I've no idea how blogger decides how to order followers in the list it provides, so I shall start at the back and work forwards.

If the blog hasn't been updated this academic year (since 1st September 2014), I probably won't list it unless it has plenty of lovely archive material. I've also noticed that quite a few people don't have their blog as part of their Google profile, so if I've missed you out it's not because I don't like your blog, it's because I don't know the address!

The fist part of this round up can be found here.

Let's get cracking with the next set!

8 March 2015

Necr-OGRE-munda



Last night I took my first step into a larger world* and played Necromunda with three of  the other OGRE boys (Erny, Snickit, Whiskey Priest) and two more decent seeming chaps (Al and Peter?) who aren't online as far as I know. It was a blast! Especially as I had no real idea of how the game worked apart from about twenty minutes scanning through the rules file that used to be freely available to download from the GW website. Hand-to-hand combat and the pinned/down rules took me a while to get the hang of, but... the company was good, the miniatures were lovely, the scenery was proper old-school cardboard from the boxed sets - one set of tower sections had even only been punched from its frame that morning. Such old-school goodness!


7 March 2015

Luthor's Peacock Co.

Ahead of tonight's OGRE games of Necromunda, I've got my Guilder gang finished and based - and even with one spare ganger ready to swell numbers if needed. Handily they also form the start of my Rogue Trader and retinue for some retro RT/40K action in the future. Introducing the final three...

Finish the job, don't get killed, get paid, don't drink or gamble it away. That was Tyler Watson's mantra and he stuck to it fervently. See, he'd been above the Line once, and that had been enough. Now every waking moment went towards The Plan - buying the bio-signs and passes to sneak across and set up in a new life where the air was barely 'cycled, no-one was trying to blow your head off, and the food wasn't just nutri-sticks. Finish the job, don't get killed, get paid, don't drink or gamble it away.


6 March 2015

Who follows whom? Part the first.

At the time of writing this there are one hundred and one people who have publicly signed up as followers of this blog (thereby showing their exquisite taste!), many of whom have blogs of their own. I thought it would be a nice way to celebrate this three-figure-milestone if I were to list their gaming blogs and give a quick comment as to why you should go and check them out. I've no idea how blogger decides how to order followers in the list it provides, so I shall start at the back and work forwards... with one exception. First spot goes to my 100th follower, warfactoryuk.

Name: Scalene Warfactoryuk
Blog:   http://www.warfactory.co.uk/wp/
Why:   A seriously fabulous Biblical city under construction, as well as 3d printed weapons for Rogue Trader

Oh, and if the blog hasn't been updated this academic year (1st September 2014), I probably won't list it unless it has plenty of lovely archive material. Here are the first lot:

5 March 2015

Stuff from the interwebz #6 - Ewal Dwergar

Some of you that read this blog will already be aware of the self-professed Pickford-o-holic, Clam. He's been working with sculptor John Pickford to commission a truly great set of oldhammer-esque chaos dwarfs (the Ewal Dwegar) over the last couple of years - here is a unit of them, beautifully painted (as ever) by Blue in VT:

What sculpts! What smooth brushwork! What fun!

1 March 2015

Nico and Dean, the Marl Brothers

Dean inhaled deeply and appreciatively, rolling the smoke around his mouth before exhaling gently and regarding the glowing tip of his cigar as if it contained all the answers to all the questions in the universe...

The crash of falling masonry and his brother Nico yelling for him to get up and start blasting snapped him out of his reverie and back to his day job - shooting the people Luthor told him to shoot. Life could be worse, eh?

The brothers from the front (Dean on the left with the stogie):