Cursed City – Reduced vs Ignored
Unlike many/most games, the average Cursed City hostile does not make any type of defense roll. Some hostiles in Cursed City are especially nasty. They can reduce or ignore damage dealt by heroes. Here’s the explanation on page 27 of the Rulebook. Here’s the rundown of Reduce/Ignore from the base game Sometimes there may be additional rules in the Questbook for how to handle damage, or what to do when a hostile is defeated. Hostile Unempowered Empowered Radukar the Wolf Reduce by 1, min of 0 damage taken Reduce by 2, min of 0 damage taken Vyrkos Blood-born Ignore on 9+ Ignore on 9+ Kosargi Nightguard Reduce by 2 on 10+, min 1 dam. Reduce by 2 on 9+, min 1 dam. Vargskyr Reduce by 2 on 10+, min 1 dam. Reduce by 2 on 9+, min 1 dam. Bat Swarms Reduce by 2 on 10+, min 1 dam. Reduce…
White Dwarf (Grombrindal) Collection Update
I’ve been a fan of the epitomous “White Dwarf” for a long time. My first White Dwarf magazine was issue 138, back in June 1991. Which is right around when I received Heroquest for Christmas. And that wonderful game came with a fellow that bears a striking resemblance to Grombrindal, the White Dwarf on the cover of the magazine. I was hooked. Stuff of Legends has a great page that is nearly up to date. Since then, my collection has grown a bit. This is where it stands so far: The White Dwarf at 90 (Second Iteration) White Dwarf XXX (with Gotrek & Bugmann) The Vampire Hunter Grombrindal The White Dwarf (an oddly simple version) Grombrindal 40 (Space Marine) Grombrindal (the newest iteration) Heroquest Dwarf (honorable mention since he’s not really a WD)
It’s the 21st century, why are we still playing in dungeons?
The age old question: why are there so many fully stocked treasure chests in the labyrinthine corridors? What is it about a romanticized semi-medieval setting that fires up the imagination? There have been plenty of medieval revivals over the years. The Wikipedia page on Medievalism is quite interesting. It ranges from what is now classic literature, to Danny Kaye in The Court Jester, to contemporary Renaissance Fairs and Larping. I think it’s because the fear of darkness, the unknown of rounding corners, mysticism of magic, and a general love of swords. Lots of kids go through a fear of the dark, it’s primal. We can’t see in the dark. There’s monsters there! We can’t see around corners either. There could be treasure! Also, there’s monsters there! Magic, fairies, wizards, and enchanted objects. That stuff goes back a loooooong ways. Just check out the Clan MacLeod fairy flag. Swords. So much of…
Follow-up on mini painting priorities
Back in November I revamped my hobby priorities. No more hoarding unassembled models… So now, six months later, I have a bunch of assembled, unpainted models. Which, I actually feel better about that a bunch of stuff still in the box. I can touch and see them, even throw them into a game if I want (sure, that doesn’t happen much, unpainted minis! Eww!). Since I just finished painting everything (except for a few expansion stragglers) for Warhammer Quest: Silver Tower, I don’t have any really pressing hobby demands. So here’s my updated, current priority list: Games workshop display pieces I have a number of nice GW minis that aren’t necessarily ones I’d use in a game. They are however, very cool, in my opinion. These are the minis I’d be sad if I never painted, even if they’re not particularly “useful”. Gotrek, Felix, Grombrindal, and Jakkob Bugmansson XI. Double…
What I’d like to see in the next Warhammer Quest
I think it’s universally agreed that the most magical part of Warhammer Quest 1995 is the Roleplay Book. That’s what I’d really like to see in the next iteration of Warhammer Quest. Since the ’95 version, the game has shrunk. Monster, treasure, actions, and adventure types have been reduced. And that’s OK for the most part. But eventually the beauty of running a GM-less game that nearly rivals a full roleplaying experience has slipped away. I’d really like to see a Roleplay-like book make a comeback. The Soulbound Ulfenkarn source book is somewhat along those lines. It provides a lot of flavor and adventure prompts. I’ve flipped through my copy, it’s very cool. Game Master (GM) needed though. One of the best parts about Warhammer Quest 1995 is that everyone can be a hero, no GM required. And, I’d say that we’re due a new installment: We’re currently in the…
Underappreciated YouTube channels
There’s no shortage of gaming content on YouTube. Here are some of my favorites: https://www.youtube.com/@52Miniatures https://www.youtube.com/@RandomMakingEncounters https://www.youtube.com/@magicdicemanufacturing https://www.youtube.com/@MattsHobbyHour https://www.youtube.com/@hammerthebacklog https://www.youtube.com/@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring https://www.youtube.com/@TheBattlinBarrowGaming https://youtube.com/@thedungeondive
Qulathis’s Oaken Arrows
For being integral starting equipment for a major character, little information is provided about Qulathis’s oaken arrows. These three little tokens are powerful totems. So what are these arrows? Why does Qulathis have them? And why are they special? It’s easy to miss the only mention of them in the rulebook. At the very bottom corner of page 16, in Step 3 of Getting Ready to Play: “If a player picks Qulathis the Exile, that player also takes the three oaken arrow counters.” There are only a couple other mentions of them in the books. The first is on Quest Book page 16. The Quest Book shares some juicy info about how Qulathis stole “an arm-thick splinter of the Oak of Ages Past… and split it into magical arrows”, thus becoming Qulathis the Exile. Then, on page 27; how to keep track of them in a Decapitation Journey: Not pictured…
Cursed city terrain
As a follow up to my Blackstone Fortress terrain post, I’m sharing the atmospheric terrain that I sometimes use in Cursed City. Unlike Blackstone Fortress, Cursed City doesn’t use terrain within the game. I’m fine with that, the boards look great. Also, what kind of ranged attack would rats, bats, and zombies have? Cursed City is a sword-forward game. I’ve seen some people completely wall-in their boards. For some reason that doesn’t appeal to me. I have other fully walled games, but I like the unclutteredness of the CC board. So I use a few printed files scattered around just for fun. Mainly tombstones. https://www.myminifactory.com/object/3d-print-halloween-diorama-pumpkin-head-and-more-for-28-mm-32-mm-miniatures-192316 (crypt-flat.stl) https://www.myminifactory.com/object/3d-print-modular-cemetery-set-214060 https://www.myminifactory.com/object/3d-print-gothic-ruin-185114 https://cults3d.com/en/3d-model/game/cursed-city-style-pillar https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3706098 https://cults3d.com/en/3d-model/architecture/headstones-for-tabletop-gaming Honorable Mention Halloween base: https://www.myminifactory.com/object/3d-print-halloween-base-188781
Da Red Gobbo
Not only did I print the cards for A Most Un-Silent Night, we got it on the table! Right at the end of the holiday season! There may have been some rule bending (breaking) to get us across the silly finish line. Not much paint on these minis, but we got a game in. I even whipped up some Gnawty Snufflers to have in the game. Pretty fun and even a bit stressful! Those reinforcements keep pouring in. Relentless! Here was my first look at it, last year: https://cutandassemble.com/a-most-un-silent-night
Radukar!
We did it! We beat Radukar! It took us years, but we did it! Spoiler alert below… Spoiler alert!! Don’t read unless you’ve completed the core game. There was definitely a difficulty curve to the game. The middle was where it was the hardest. We breezed through the Ven Alten triplets, and Radukar didn’t put up too much of a fight either. The final three vampires charged us on turn 1, and we chopped them all down. Second and third turns we got into positions, there were no reinforcements. Fourth turn we start shattering philactries. Radukar is now on the board. We smash 3 philactries, and attack Radukar, he’s down to one wound remaining. Radukar activates and attacks two heroes, stunning them. Jelsen is last. He rushes into the Nightguard room, smashes the philactry, runs out, shoots at Radukar and misses… With the final destiny die, he takes carefully aim…