Back in the Saddle

Well, it's been forever since I've posted, mostly because I haven't had anything interesting to say. That comes from not gaming. However, this past weekend I got started in new campaign of a game I never thought I'd be playing again: Live Action Vampire the Masquerade.

I've probably mentioned that I'm an experienced Larper, but I haven't been involved in a Vampire Larp since the mid 1990's.  It took me a while to refamiliarize myself with the World of Darkness setting, and the live action rules (we are using the Laws of the Night revised). It's nice to be able to have all the rules available in PDF on my phone!  The game stood out for a number of reason: A good, interesting and complex story, great players and lots of them (40+), and the fact that got to play in nightclub.

The reason for my post is actually the rules from Mind's Eye Theatre. There's a nice system that they use that I'm guessing most OSR gamers aren't familiar with that I think would work very well with a rules light system. Characters have 3 general stat pools: Physical, Mental and Social  Instead of just assigning numbers, players pick adjectives that describe their character. For example, physical traits include quick, brawny, dexterous, fast, stalwart. Mental traits are things like knowledgeable, observant, determined etc. Social traits are things like seductive, witty and commanding. Characters can also have negative traits.  For each negative trait you can get another positive trait.

Conflict, or challenges, are resolved by each side declaring a trait that is relevant to the task, and then playing rock, paper, siscors. The winner succeeds in the task, and the loser fails and loses the use of the declared trait for the rest of the session. Ties are resolved by looking at who has the most traits in that ability pool. There are some other intricacies to the system, but it is still fairly simple.

In game systems that don't use a skill system, like most OSR games, we often default to test against one of the basic stats. I'd like to come up with a hybrid system that uses stat adjectives along with the stat check. I think it would give more life to the characters, without adding a complex skill system.

So goal for the next post; come up with a simple workable system.

Fanticide!

While everyone in the miniatures worlds was talking about the Reaper Kickstarter and the impending release of the new 40k starter box, I' thought I'd take a moment to talk about a new game called Fanticide being produce by a company called Alien Dungeon.  There have been a slew of new miniature wargames and companies in recent years, but this one stands out for a number of reasons.

1. The game is being produced by a local small business: Alien Dungeon, and its sister company Architects of War, are a small business located in Ellicott City Maryland.  That's less than an hour from where I live now, and very close to where many of my friends live.  I believe in supporting local businesses, as I know how tough it is to compete against large corporations.
2. Rick Priestly, Alessio Cavatore and Andy Chambers wrote the game: With these blokes on the job, you know the rules are going to be solid.  From the previews of the rules, it looks like they are a bit different than some of the other games the guys  have worked on.
3. A Fantasy setting that isn't a Tolkien clone:  Instead of producing another fantasy game with elves, dwarves, orc and dragons, Alien Dungeon is producing a setting that seems like a cross between L. Frank Baum and Clive Barker.  One eyed things with big nasty teeth?  check.  Killer trees?  check.  Flying monkeys?  You betcha.  The game world, cleverly titled "Nowhere" seems like a crossroad of the multiverse where anything could happen.  The most feared creature in Nowhere is the Unicorn.  Anyone who saw "The Cabin in the Woods"  knows what I'm talking about.
4. Skirmish/Warband gameplay:  I'm not really interested in getting into another game that will require 100+ miniatures.  Fanticide appears to focus on warbands of 25 to 50 figures.
5. Simple miniatures: Alien dungeon is partnering with Eureka Miniatures to create the miniatures for the first 4 factions in Fanticide.  They state that their goal is to create good quality miniatures that are quick to paint.  I could do a whole post on this point alone.  Think of what an original space marine models for 40k looked like, or even one of the plastic models from the last starter kit.  Simple miniatures, easy to paint, but cool looking.  Now look at some of the stuff that is going into the new "starter" boxes.  How is a beginning painter supposed to paint that stuff?  How is an experienced painter supposed to get that stuff painted in a timely manner? Finely detailed is great when you only need to paint a few of them, but for an army or even a few squads, simple minis that are easy to paint are probably preferable for most wargamers.
6. Use what you have: If you don't like the miniature that are being offered by Alien Dungeon, you can use your own miniatures and create your own warbands!  This may be one of the best parts of the game.  I've seen other games that offer "generic" rules for whatever sort of army you want to put together (Hordes of the Things for example), but I think that this is the first one I've seen that has created its own unique factions and still allows for players to create their own.  Early versions of Warhammer and 40k Rogue Trader allowed for this sort of thing, but that was 25 years ago.  I'm really excited about using the minis I have purchased through the Reaper and Red Box games kickstarter.

Check out their kickstarter for yourself, and follow along on their blog.

Moving

So I've been in the process of moving the last 2 weeks.  Yet another excuse to not write anything.  The good news is that my new living quarters will have much more space, including room for a full size gaming table and work area!  I'm also excited about finally being able to take all of my books out of storage and putting them on a proper bookshelf.  There's bound to be RPG and wargaming books that I haven't looked at in 15 years hiding in there.

Miniatures, Miniatures, Miniatures.

Recently I've haven't given much thought to RPGs:  I don't have a regular group that I'm playing with and with a busy schedule at home it is hard to set aside a regular time to commit to.  Mostly I've been focusing on miniatures.  I haven't done any gaming, for the same reasons I haven't been playing any RPGs.  But I have been reading, collecting, and painting.

The 6th edition of Warhammer 40K came out recently, so I've been going through that again and again.  I've also gone back and re-read the original Rogue Trader rules, just to put things in perspective.  The are some great things about the original rules, but the new rules really are much, much better.  The may not have the flexibility that the RT rules do, but I can look back and realize now that RT is really designed to create narratives, a sort of RPG/Wargame hybrid (the same sort of thing can be said for 1st and 2nd ed. WFB).  I've also taken a look at Warmachine and Hordes since that seems to be the new hot thing these days.  At first I didn't like the rules,  but they have grown on me, and I like the idea of a game with smaller armies.  I might pick up the Hordes 2 player starter box when it is released.

On the collecting front, I've been buying a lot of stuff on Ebay.  I like to paint (more on that later), but seeing as I had no miniatures 2 months ago, I wanted to get back into the swing of things without having to paint up an army from scratch before I could play.  While I may not always have the best painted miniatures, I refuse to game with unpainted minis, even for simple friendly games.  The painted minis I have purchased really vary in quality.  Some of them are barely passable, others are quite nice.  A lot of what I have purchased is older, OOP Citadels.  The great thing is, most of what I am buying is about 50% off of GW's current prices.  So I am saving money, and I don't have to paint them.  At this point I have close to 1500 pts of Imperial Guard, and over 2000 pts of Space Wolves.

I did buy a Space Wolf starter box unpainted, and I have been working on that over the last few months.  It's the first thing I have painted in over 10 years. The drop pod, 10 Grey Hunters, and 5 Scouts are nearing completion. They are table ready right now, but I'm going to add some more details to them before I call them finished. I have another 10 infantry that I am trying to decide how to configure.  I'll probably make them Wolfguard, as I don't need more Grey Hunters, and have no desire for Blood Claws.  I also have a couple of Rhinos to work on that currently assembled and basecoated.  I'll post some pics of these soon.

The other project that I just finished is a 15mm Viking army for DBA.  I haven't played DBA in years, but I had these minis sitting around and decided to finish them up.  I'm thinking about doing a Norman and an Anglo-Saxon army so that I can have all 3 factions for the 1066 invasion. They are small projects, between 30 and 50 figures, and pretty quick to paint, but I'm not sure when I'll ever get a chance to use them.

I've also been following some kickstarters from Reaper miniatures and Red-Box games.  Both companies are making some amazing looking miniatures at great prices, and their kickstarters have some great deals.  I'm not sure what I'd do with these minis, but they look like they'd be great fun to paint.  The thought even crossed my mind to use these as proxies for Hordes, or try my hand at designing some of my own lists.

A quick kickstarter plug

Whether you use miniatures for roleplaying for for wargaming, you should take the time to check out Red-Box Games.  Tre makes some of the most amazing sculpts I've ever seen.  Currently he has a kickstarter going to help him retool his production from metal and resin castings to a new hybrid plastic design.  It's already funded, but there are some great stretch goals, and it is a great opportunity to pick up some top notch minis at a great price.

If you are a fan of Chaos, you have to check these out!

Thoughts on 6th Edition Warhammer 40k

Again it has been far too long since I have posted anything.  Most of my gaming and hobby time has been focused on the new edition of Warhammer 40k, and it has taken me some timer to get my head around the the rules, and the over state of the game and hobby.  I haven't played 40 since 1st edition, probably 20 years, so my take on the rules is a bit different than those who have been playing the more recent editions.

The Book:  The 6th edition rulebook is rather nice, if a little pricey.  $75 for a 450 page hardbound book in full color is fairly expensive in my opinion.  I would have expected to pay between $50 and $60 for something this size, but overall the I still feel that you are getting your money's worth.  I'll be interested to see what sort of rulebook comes with the new starter set that will be released late summer/ early fall.  The book is divided into sections covering the rules, story, miniatures showcase, hobby information, battle examples, and appendices. Each section is pretty hefty and deserves a bit of an individual review.

Story: GW does a really good job with what they often refer to as "fluff".  For a wargamer that came from the Roleplaying community, the "fluff" is a lot more important to me than it might be to others.  I really enjoyed reading through this section.  It describes each of the main factions in the galaxy, spending most of the section on the human faction (aka the Imperium).  What really set this section of the book apart from other 40k books I had seen in the past was the timeline, and explanation of specific events.  The older books gave you a great sense of mood and what type of events could take place, while in contrast this book does a good job of detailing the major events of the last several millennia.

Miniatures:  This is pretty much what you'd expect from GW at this point.  Lots of pretty pictures of their miniatures, often engaged in gigantic battles.  While nice, this section is fairly redundant.  We see plenty of miniatures throughout the rest of the book, and these sorts of showcases are in even codex and in every issue of White Dwarf.

Hobby:  This section is nice for the new player that is just starting to learn how to paint their miniatures, as well as introduce other parts of the hobby such as the novels.  It doesn't go into too much detail, and is actually fairly short.  GW did the right thing here, and left the details to their "How to Paint Citadel Miniatures" book.  I really liked seeing the Golden Demons winners in here, but again, you can see these sorts of things in White Dwarf every month.

Battles: I haven't really had the chance to dig deep into this section, but it looks really nice.  Here GW gives some excellent examples of narrative battles with all sorts of custom rules and neat terrain ideas.  I'm glad that they included this in the book, and we'll probably see more of this in White Dwarf.  There is one problem with this section, which I'll mention in the rules section.

Rules:  The Rules are the first 130 pages of the book, but I saved it for last because there's much more to say about the them. I can't really compare them to 5th edition, as I didn't play 5th (or 4th, or 3rd for that matter).  The are fairly well written for the most part.  The are organized, clear, and there a a decent number of examples and illustrations.  However, there are times when certain concepts are not clearly explained, or examples are not given.  The "special rules" is of  special note, as this some of these rules refer to other special rules, which then requires a lot of page flipping.  The game is complicated, and lends itself to "Rules Lawyers", as they are fairly well written, but you have to know how to read the language precisely, and know where are the rules are in order to interpret them correctly.

Overall, to me, the rules are better than the old 1st edition rules I last used.  It is more complicated however, and there are certain areas of the rules that I don't.  I think that rules should be "Fun, Fast, and Fair"; Fun so we can all enjoy the game, Fast so that we don't get bogged down in the details, and can actually get the game moving and completed in a reasonable amount of time, and Fair so that we can have good, competitive games.  These rules are fun, but there are times when I question how fast they play, and how fair they will be.  The rules surrounding character models, picking targets, and wound allocations are particularly problematic.  Rules like "Look out sir" and "Precision Shots" can really slow down the game.  In addition, some of these rules are not explained clearly enough, and no examples if there use are given.  The Battles section of the book would have been a great place to do "An Example of Play" section.  Instead of describing what is going on in general terms, the details of the game, down to the dice rolls themselves could have been documented to show exactly how the game should play.  Almost every RPG book since 1st edition AD&D has done this, so it's about time that a wargame rulebook does so as well.

One of the major changes to the rules is the inclusion of Allies to the army lists.  As an old 3rd edition Warhammer Fantasy player, I really like this.  I enjoy having small collections of various armies that I can mix and match together for particular uses.  The use of Allies will serve to bolster some of the weaker army lists, but some think that it will leader to broken combinations and "Uber" lists. We'll have to wait and see about that, but it is certainly a possibility.

I think GW has done a good job with this book, but they had a chance to do a great job and missed it.  The rules are clear but could have been clearer, and they don't play quickly enough once you factor in character models.  For a friendly game, I think they'll be fine, but these rules are not tournament ready right now.  Of course, that's not really GW's (or my) main concern with the rules, though I understand that tournament and competitive play are big part of the hobby.  GW does a really good job of representing their hobby, but they still could learn a thing or two about organizing and presenting their rules.

Basic D&D Next

My other hobby, music, has been keeping me really really busy. I recorded an album a couple weeks ago, and now I'm working on mixing it. I've also been practicing a lot with my second band, as we have a series of shows booked for June. While I haven't had the time to post recently, I've been keeping up with the blogs I'm following.  Seems like there's been some renewed discussion surrounding D&D next/5e now that they are doing the open playtests.  I read a lot of things pro and con, and some details about the rules, but I haven't read
them personally.  I think the success of this edition will have a lot less to do with the rules and more to do with how they package and market it.

The one thing I take away from OSR blogosphere is a renewed respect for the Moldvay D&D Basic set.  The Basic and Expert rules were a fairly complete game if you have a good DM. I wasn't really a fan of the other sets that comprise the BECMI/Rules Cyclopedia, I instead moved to AD&D.  Of course as the 2 games weren't 100% compatible I felt a little confused. That's been a recurring problem with the D&D franchise; a basic game that isn't compatible with the Advanced or normal version.

While planning the release of D&D next/5e, WotC should plan to launch a boxed, basic version of the game that is 100% compatible with the full version.  For between $30 and $50, they could put together a box similar to the Pathfinder box set. Then they can leverage Hasbro's power to get these sets on the shelves at big retailers like Wal-Mart and Target.  I'm seeing Carcassonne and Settlers of Catan there, so why not D&D.  My first basic set was a gift from my grandmother.  I'd like to see more people get into the hobby in a similar manner.  That won't happen unless you have a complete and easy to understand game in 1 package that can be easily purchased from normal retailers.