Why are models fun, and what is nostalgia?
Toy soldiers are a very British thing. Britains began in late 1800s, and European tin soldiers date back to the early 1700s! These toys are famous the world over, though sadly out of production now. So it stands to reason that a British company currently leads the world in model soldier production. Games Workshop, consciously or not, is the modern standard bearer of a legacy that goes back hundreds of years. So why are they fun? What is nostalgia anyway, and why to people feel it and/or seek it out? It seems like nostalgia for model wargaming and GW products are talked about so frequently that you’d think GW produced nostalgia themselves. And in some ways, they do. I imagine any entertainment company deals with nostalgia in some form or another. Disney has to maintain and update their parks to bring in and entertain guests. But they can’t change it…
Blackstone fortress terrain
Also check out Cursed City Terrain. One of the keystone differences between Blackstone Fortress and other Warhammer Quest game family is that combat employs cover. To indicate cover, lines are printed on the game tiles. Here’s a video that explains it. The gentleman in the video is non-coincidentally the designer of most of the terrain that I use. I REALLY like using the terrain. Without it, I guarantee I would forget about cover effects every single time. I really need those vertical elements for me to notice them. I haven’t inventoried every single tile so there may be an enormous map that requires more terrain than I have. I’ll deal with that if it comes up. Me – 2023 The tiles have three themes: tessellating geometrics, rocky crystals, and sci-fi elements. I’m not particular about when I use them, and many are tile-specific. There are also some blocking hex elements…
Is your hobby escapism?
Diving into your interests and working on hobbies is a lot of fun, but what is driving you? The lure of imagination land is strong. There’s no boss, no deadlines, no school or homework. The only problems you have are pre-agreed upon. You know it’ll be hard to sneak past the dragon and use your ray-gun to “liberate” that treasure chest. You know the road home will be fought with hazards, brigands, and of course a murky swamp where you get stuck for three weeks and eventually die by vampire frog attacks. You opted-in to all that. You might not necessarily be running away from something in your real life. But for a bit, you don’t have to deal with it. It doesn’t matter about global or national politics, who your family is, or how much treasure is in the chest. It’s like watching a movie and forgetting for a…
The phantom rule that will make Blackstone Fortress a bit easier
As opposed to Cursed City, Blackstone Fortress doesn’t say what to do with your inspiration points between adventures. That omission is intentional. It is meaningful silence. I wish rules in Blackstone Fortress and Cursed City were more positive. Positive in that you can feel them click, that the rules say to do something, not that they don’t say to do or not do something. It’s easier to read the rules and see what they say, rather than look for what they don’t say. I feel like it’s rules writers being clever and conserving their words, but their unexpected novelty is easily overlooked and can dramatically affect gameplay. In Cursed City, you’re rolling a D12 to get Inspiration Points. In Blackstone Fortress, it’s a D20. We get Inspiration Points soooo rarely! How often are you going to roll a three or less on a D20? Not that much. Another example is…
How long have you been “in the hobby”?
How long have you been in the miniatures/painting/gaming hobby? For me, medium-ish, I’d say. Not as long as others, but the time since beginning to now is substantial. It all started when I was a wee lad in 1989 or thereabouts. There was a local hobby shop that carried trains, toys, squirt guns, model car kits, games, miniatures and paints. That is the origin story of my hobby experience. That store was pretty much all I could think about in those young dawning years. Ral Partha, Citadel, Grenadier, Marauder. Rogue Trader, Space Hulk, Advanced HeroQuest, Man O’ War, and many more. This was our mecca. From 5th grade to 9th grade were the gaming years. Not that I was a big gamer. I really wasn’t. I liked the art, painting, and building. Hobbying started to tail off a bit in middle school, then high school rolled around. 1993-1994 and that…
Modern miniatures and the uncanny valley
I’d like to revisit a topic I talked about a couple weeks ago. Modern Games Workshop models. This is a controversial topic because people are passionate about both old and new. It’s really great that people have found things they genuinely enjoy, and I do not meant to diminish anyone’s interest in anything. This is a longer article than I usual write, so if you want to skip right to the uncanny valley section, it starts in section 3. I’ve been trying to psychoanalyze myself as to what drives my personal preference in miniatures. Opinions and biases are 100% subjective. I am in no way saying something is right or wrong. I’m going to be talking about my own personal preference. I’m sure this won’t ingratiate me with anyone. To break it down, I’d say there are 3 factors driving my preference toward older miniatures. All of those are real…
What makes Blackstone Fortress so fun?
Is it the beautiful hex tiles? Is it the exotic space bazaar narrative? Is it the brilliant miniatures? Is it the intriguing characters? Is it the imaginative gameplay? Is it the vast unknown of the Blackstone itself? Or is it all of the above? I say it’s all of the above. The game has it all. Total package. But with all that going for it, it’s still not for everyone. It’s too boardgamey for hard core gamers It’s too RPGey for casual game players It’s not Warhammerey enough for Warhammer players. But it’s just enough for me, my friends and family. You roll fun dice. Explore exotic locations. Slay interesting monsters. What’s not to like? If I have one criticism, it’s the layer of abstraction laid over trading on Precipice. I think it’s there to avoid “gaming” the trading system. But I find it cumbersome, we leave it out. If…
Hand sculpted vs computer sculpted
Why do the new GW models look the way they do? Is Computer Aided Design (CAD) affecting the aesthetic? I don’t even have the words to describe how they look. They’re less-characterfull? They’re more generic? They’re overly uniform? They’re abnormally standardized? They’re too boardroom flowcharted? They’re too scale-accurate? They look like they the sculpting was outsourced and they’re designed to spec. Maybe they’re designed in-house, but the really look like they’re designed by a completely new staff. In some ways they’re great. In other ways, they do not look like a GW model. They don’t have a GW feel to them. Do I like them? Yes, I suppose. Do I own many of these? Not too many. Also, the Warhulk pictured to the right costs $55.00 USD. The days of finding an interesting GW blister pack for pocket money are long gone. I find that some of the magic, whimsey,…
Rogue Trader (My Brother is Awesome)
How awesome is this! I recently turned moderately old, and my world-class brother gave me the hardcover reprint of Warhammer 40,000 Rogue Trader. This book is so cool. It was absolutely formative in our early adolescence. Love the models from back then. Not only that, he got me a subscription to White Dwarf! Something old and something new!
White Dwarf 2024
I got my hands on the latest iteration of Grombrindal, the White Dwarf. White Dwarf 500 has rules for Cursed City, Age of Sigmar, Underworlds, and Warcry. I’m most interested in Cursed City and hope to try him out in the next week. Always Board Never Boring goes over his rules. He’s a Loremaster in Cursed City, which is interesting because his stats are very stalwart-ey and he has no spells. Oh but that axe! He’s going to do some damage. Admittedly, this is a splurge purchase and at nearly $40 US, it’s pretty steep for one single-little-itty-bitty piece of plastic. But, I’m a bit of a white dwarf collector, so I can stomach this one. Having game rules definitely helps too. I’ve been somewhat critical of the tiny pieces in some GW sets. Not so here! Look at these beautiful chunky pieces! This thing went together great, no fiddley…