The Ugly Phase
There’s an ugly phase in everything. It’s that liminal moment in time when everything has gotten worse before it can get better. In painting it looks like this: In fitness it looks like zero improvement after a month of work. It takes months to change your body and a few weeks of effort never go as far as you want them to. It’s supremely unfair how hard it is to make gains, when it’s BEOYND easy to lose fitness. In cleaning it’s when the room goes from “boy, I need to clean this up” to “uuugghh, I’m two hours in and it’s worse than when I started. Don’t quit! Just don’t quit. Keep going. It’s so easy to throw in the towel right now. It’s not going your way and surely never will ever again, right? WRONG! It’s time to buckle down and plow through the ugly phase. Keep running,…
Gotrek & Felix
March 25, 2024 was the day that I brainstormed a TON of blog topics. Those ideas are winding down. Note: Mild Gotrek and Felix spoilers ahead! I first became aware of Gotrek & Felix in 1992 or 1993 through White Dwarf magazine. I was already an old gate-keeping gamer at heart and I distinctly remember not liking named-characters in the universe. For some reason that rubbed me the wrong way and I wanted purity in unnamed denizens living, scraping, and dying in a merciless old world. Not sure why I was like that. But something piqued my interest in them a decade later when I used some birthday money to buy the G&F first omnibus in 2005. What spurred me to do that? No clue. I’d been out chasing cars and girls for years by then. I was living in a new city and maybe I was just looking for…
Ral Partha and my unredeemed gift certificates
Gather ’round the fire younglings and I’ll tell ye a tale of ages gone by. In an ancient land there was once a magic school, with a magic building, where wizards from near and far gathered to share their magic and sorcerery every year. This gathering of minds no longer occurs, but the bounty from the past still glitters today. They’re more trophies than anything. Way back in 1994 and 1996 I won two small prizes in miniature painting competitions. I though quite a bit of my painting skills, and some of it is really quite decent, when compared to contemporary 90s style painting and minis. I’m almost a bit locked in there in my own head, though I’ve tried to branch out the paint style a bit. Back to the prizes! I still have in my possession two unredeemed (and expired) gift certificates for Ral Partha miniatures. Being a…
What’s on the Table?!
Cursed City: Gorslav Decapitation! We did a better job of sticking to the rules this time. It’s easier without the Ulfenwatch and all their layed buffs. We were trying to get to the philactries, but were waylaid in the first room. So we just wiped out all the hostiles and were super lucky on reinforcement rolls. By that time, Gorslav came to us, Morrvahl Olbrecht lit him up with his spells and Dagnai finished the job! Yes, we’re pretty much speed-running the quest. But we only get to play once a month (roughly) so I’m OK with it. Let’s ask Glaurio if everything went according to plan… Oh wait, he’s six-feet under (see the obelisk below)! I’m really appreciative of my gaming buddies. They’re the best. Fun night!
My gamespace. Game space. Games pace?
After a couple years of weekly hobby-blogging, I’m down to only four remaining ideas from the original brainstorming session. This is one of them. “Gamespace” like headspace, only gamey-er In my head, I’m still really into this stuff. I’m currently reading Callis & Toll. It’s OK so far, not bad, not amazing. It’s no Road of Skulls, but also far better than City of the Damned. I’d like to finish reading the 4th edition Warhammer Fantasy Battle rulebook, and the 10th edition 40k rulebook. I had a good reading stretch there when I was home sick and couldn’t do anything else in January, but the busyness has picked back up again. No clue why, but trying an army style game has some amount of appeal now, when it never has in the past. “Game Space” where the magic happens That saying isn’t just for MTV Cribs anymore! What’s MTV you…
Why everything and everyone are absolutely right and totally fine
Sometimes it’s hard to not sound like a grumpy old person. “Games used to be different back in my day”. OK, sure grandma/pa, sure they were. And they were. And it was fine. But they’re different now and that’s OK too. Older games were frequently tougher. Your characters died frequently. Maybe that was a hangover from back when people had to have a dozen children just so they could have one or two make it to the ripe old age of 30 before succumbing to old age. OK, so in-game perma-death is less frequent. What’s the big deal? What? Now the minis are too detailed? They’re spindle and breakable too? That’s a hill I might take my last stand on… But, the good news is that old minis are still largely available on the secondhand market, as well as old games. And, if you’re so inclined, there are some (not…
Why I think Warhammer Quest (1995) is one of the best games ever made
So much. The traveling, the settlement adventures, the heroes, the skills, the leveling up. There’s just so much! But I think the ability to have a Game Master-less experience that rivals a true RPG is what makes WHQ really shine. Warhammer Quest was intimidating Maps don’t have to be pre-generated to be interesting. Set up the boss fight somewhere near the end and you’re all set. It’s an added bonus that the objective room might not necessarily be the last card in the deck. It keeps you guessing, especially when you have multiple T-junctions. I think WHQ really holds up because the game can be what you want it to be: Plus, the system is big enough that you can play as big or small a game as you want, and you’re still playing WHQ. As much as it pains me to say it; my first love (HeroQuest) doesn’t have…
My Favorite Minis
All miniatures are pretty great, but some are greater than others. I really can’t start talking about my favorite minis without starting where it all began… Britains The classic toy soldiers are absolutely where my love for these little people started. A local specialty toy retailer stocked Britains and my brother and I spent lifetimes drooling over the catalogs and peering through the display cabinet glass. Debating about which figure to get. Cowboys? Soldiers? Knights? Space aliens???? Sadly, Britains have been gone for a while. But I still have most if not all of them. I’m pretty sure some mounted knights were lost to the ravages of childhood play. As much as that pains me a bit, that’s what they were designed to do. To be loved and potentially lost. These were the days that I pined for “Indian in the Cupboard” to be a true story. Playmobil The next…
Warhammer 40,000
A few weeks ago I wrote about something strange happening (being interested in perhaps playing Warhammer Fantasy Battle). It happened again. One of my offspring has developed a real and growing interest in acquiring and playing a 40k army. I have not discouraged this. It’s made me reconsider all the 40k minis I’ve had since my own childhood. So I fired up a list at https://www.newrecruit.eu Turns out I have a roughly 1,000 point Space Marine army. Painted. 😳 Including unpainted minis, it’s approximately 1,800+ points counting everything that forms up into a proper unit. That’s just the ‘Marines. I was really surprised. Shocked even that I’m sitting on a whole army. Though I have ABSOLUTELY no idea how these forces would turn out in a game. I’ve never read the Quick Start Guide, much less the full rules, despite being an original paperback Rogue Trader co-owner. I was always…
What’s on the Table?!
Cursed City: Halgrim Decapitation! We (I) did make one, kinda big mistake. I constantly forget to buff the Ulfenwatch attack while Halgrim was on the board. Woops We’re here for fun, not to be bothered by silly rules that might make us lose!