Crappy New Year!

Alright, it's been over a year since I posted this article where I set a goal for myself as if that year's gaming endeavors were a game. So how did I score? 13.75: Minor Victory. Callooh callay!

Let's break it down:

1. Blog More

Well this one just barely made a dent in the score. To be honest, I could've done better. Some months had only one post and the biggest gap was four months of not posting in June, July, August, and September! I'd like to keep this resolution for this year, but try to do so at least once a week. I think there's a lot of things I could post on, and a bit more self-discipline could maybe be the beginning of something more productive.

2. Paint 1000pts of Capitol for Warzone

Yup, didn't do this. More on keeping this resolution into 2017 later.

3. Run a three-session Mutant Chronicles campaign

I actually did more than this! It was fun, and I'd love to do it again (especially since Modiphius ported over the Venusian Apocalypse campaign to 3rd edition). More on keeping this resolution into 2017 later.

4. Play through the Age of Sigmar Path to Glory campaign

Nope... Didn't do this one either. Campaigns require a lot of commitment from everyone involved and my group didn't have that last year. Maybe I'll give it a shot again...

5. Speaking of campaigns: Run a Kings of War campaign

See above...

6. Attend at least one KoW and Star Wars: Armada tournament

I did two of one, and none of the other, though I did run the Star Wars: Armada regional tournament this year (note: I didn't count that in the score). I'll keep the Armada resolution, but maybe scrap the KoW one. I imagine if I get the impetus to play KoW again this year a tournament shouldn't be too hard to come by considering the traction the game has with my friends.

7. Paint an elf Kings of War army

Did not do this...

8. Play four new mid-level Eurogames this year

This year I played Kemet, and Isle of Skye (and correctly predicted that one's victory in the Kennerspiel). I'll keep this resolution for 2017

9. Play a serious game of Battlelore 2nd Edition

Sadly I didn't do this. I still love Battlelore and will keep this resolution, but it looks like Fantasy Flight Games might be stalling out on support for the game in favor of the Runewars miniatures game they're releasing this year (which I will probably give a miss to).

10. Just to make it an even ten: Run The Enemy Within Campaign for WFRP 1st or 2nd Edition

Nope. But I am playing in a 2nd edition WFRP campaign right now (The Thousand Thrones). I'd like to try this in 2017.

So what's in store for this year beyond the repeat resolutions above? Well it occurred to me while I was perusing the new 2nd edition of Warzone: Resurrection (which I love pedantically mentioning would actually mean it's Warzone's 6th edition) that there are a lot of Mutant Chronicles-based games available in 2017. There's Warzone and Mutant Chronicles RPG already available, with Siege of the Citadel and Doom Trooper on their way. This presented me with an interesting objective for this calendar year: I'm going to make 2017 the year of Mutant Chronicles!

I'll be checking in a least once a month to see what experiences I've had in that universe. Whether it's something as mundane as painting a Warzone miniature, to going to a tournament or running (or playing in) a Mutant Chronicles campaign. Even if I've done nothing I'll write about why that was, or how I plan to rectify that fact. Personally, I can't wait. I'll use the label "MC2017" to mark all the posts. See you all on Venus!

+++END TRANSMISSION+++

O brave new year, That has such games in't

I'm not one for New Year's Resolutions—they tend to just get forgotten—but a fun activity a friend and I do at the end of every year is make gaming-based resolutions for the coming one. Now I can't remember too many that I've actually followed up on, but I figure I have a clever mental gymnastic routine to make sure that this year I complete as many as I can.

I figure if I treat the resolutions like victory conditions in a game, I'll try my hardest to complete them. I'll assign each goal a point value ("VP" for Victory Points), and then create a table that determines a loss/victory score at the end. At the end of 2016 we'll see how well I've done. It's with this thought obfuscating logic in my brain that I present the following list:

1. Blog more (0.25VP/post)
Of course this is something I say almost every post after a month or so of inactivity (the average length between posts on this blog, I reckon), but let's try and get at least four posts a month—that's one a week.

2. Paint 1000pts of Capitol for Warzone (6VP)
For as huge a fan of Warzone and Mutant Chronicles as I am I sure don't have a lot of painted figures for it. I must admit, Prodos Games makes a fine model, but some of them are difficult to paint due to excess detail (a weird complaint, I admit), or just strange casting (I still have first wave Kickstarter figures. The sculpts and castings have improved since then). I'm hoping to overcome these shortcomings and get 'er done!

3. Run a three-session Mutant Chronicles campaign (2VP)
I should be getting my Mutant Chronicles 3rd edition book in the mail in spring, and I'd love to run a small arc (or longer if my group likes it).

4. Play through the Age of Sigmar Path to Glory campaign (10VP)
Black Library released an Age of Sigmar Chaos campaign as part of their 2015 advent calendar special, and I managed to convince three other people to join me in it (one player for each Chaos god). I'd love to go from start to finish in this thing, but I've had many a campaign flop so that's why the points value of this victory condition is so high.

5. Speaking of campaigns: Run a Kings of War campaign (8VP)
This goal has a pretty high VP as well, mostly for the same reasons as the last one, but a little lower because I have so many more KoW opponents than AoS, but it's still a campaign so that could just end up nowhere.

6. Attend at least one KoW and Star Wars: Armada tournament (2VP ea. for KoW; 4VP ea. for SW:A)
This year I'm going to get into Star Wars: Armada. I'm not a huge Star Wars fan, but I am feeling the bug (probably because of the new movie and the fact that I travelled to Japan this December and watched Episodes I–III on the plane (don't judge)). I also really like the SW:A rules and have a plethora of opponents. The score is higher for SW:A because I actually have to build a fleet to play, while I have tons of KoW-compatible stuff.

7. Paint an elf Kings of War army (12VP)
From start to finish, 2000pts. I already have the models purchased and primed, I just need to paint 'em!

8. Play four new mid-level Eurogames this year (2VP ea.)
By "mid-level Eurogames" I mean Kennerspiel winners, or higher (e.g., Istanbul, Serenissima, etc.). This is one per season (and I want it to include 2016's Kennerspiel winner).

9. Play a serious game of Battlelore 2nd Edition (4VP)
By "serious" I mean a game against someone who's also played a handful of games and will give me a run for my money.

10. Just to make it an even ten: Run The Enemy Within Campaign for WFRP 1st or 2nd Edition (15VP)
This is a big one, but I have a willing role-play group. We just need the time to fit it in.

Victory Points Chart:*
0–12: Draw
13–20: Minor Victory
21–40: Solid Victory
41–82: Major Victory
83+: Massacre!
*Based on the Warhammer 6th Edition Victory Points Chart (pg. 198)

Let's see how well I've done on December 31st, 2016!

+++END TRANSMISSION+++

Age of Sigmar Podcast

Just a quick post here, gamers.

I've been looking for more Age of Sigmar-positive media and forums lately and came across these blokes (am I saying that right?) from England (or the UK, or whatever you chaps call it).

It's a podcast called Heelanhammer (whose meaning is lost to me. You say you guys invented the language?), and it's great. It's very well put together, the hosts are informative and worth listening to, and I find it delightful (or as the British call it: football).

+++END TRANSMISSION+++

Of Kings and War 2: The Kingining

It's been almost two weeks since the release of Age of Sigmar (AoS) and the Warhammer world's still dead; just giving you guys an update.

So a lot of people are running around confused as to what to do now that their little square-based soldiers aren't supported by new Games Workshop releases (at least in the way they're used to). It's totally cool to not be satisfied with AoS, either. It's so vastly different that the very thing that attracted you to Warhammer: the Game of Fantasy Battles (WFB), may not exist at all in AoS. I think a lot of this confusion will dissipate as the months go on, and as various gaming groups and/or tournament organizers coalesce into one game or another.

I've said last post that I'm immensely satisfied with AoS, but I may not have stated my reasons clearly enough: I'm a very story-driven gamer, and AoS fits that bill nicely. I love tournaments too! I love the planning and play-testing that goes into them. I love staying up late the night before putting the finishing touches on my army in preparation for the event the next day. I love getting up early—wishing I hadn't put off my painting for so long—and triple-checking to make sure I have all my dice and templates and so on. I love milling around at the venue, and checking the time and wondering what could possibly be stalling its start. I love that it can be stressful, and that I can spend the day hanging out and rolling dice with my friends from the local gaming scene, and maybe meet some new opponents as well.

All that being said, tournaments are a place I like to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there.

I have friends who are hardcore tournament gamers. They go to as many as they can (afford), and they love the challenge of two players evenly matched (ostensibly) save their cunning and strategy. Never mind them, I have friends that don't do a ton of tournaments but rely on the structure that AoS doesn't emphasize to play pick-up games. I understand their dissatisfaction.

Luckily, it's never been a better time to be a fantasy gamer.

I'm a gaming mercenary. I like certain games better than others, of course, but I've never been one to sit on one game and one game only. Some people online (and in my circle of friends) are in the midst of an identity crisis, torn between staying with WFB 8th edition or moving to Warmachine and Hordes, or even Kings of War. For me, there's never been any movement; only expansion. I've played Warmachine happily since the softcover, black-and-white, Prime book alongside the many editions of WFB. They scratch different itches, and I like that. I don't ever want to just play one game.

So what the hell does this have to do with Kings of War (KoW)? Well, if you read my first KoW post you'll know that I gave it an okay review. I liked it, but thought it was a little too bare-bones when compared to WFB. Well, they've released a second edition and you can download it now; I did. While a lot of my initial thoughts still stand, I do see that they've added more spells, and more unique things to the army lists. I said in my original review that it won't replace WFB for me, but WFB's kinda been replaced for me.

Now I understand the irony of me espousing the idea that no game is truly dead so long as people still play it (there are still dudes playing Kriegsspiel), and saying that WFB has been replaced, but really I'm at the mercy of the gamers around me. I have some opponents who will never turn down a game of 8th edition, but if I roll up to a game club and no one has any red hardcover army books, I'll be pretty lonely with my scatter and artillery dice.

I have opponents willing to play KoW, and really I should embrace that. I mean, I have a million fantasy warriors on square bases. They'll need a home somewhere. Not to mention that the models are interchangeable. Anything I paint or build for WFB is automatically a KoW model as well, and vice-versa.

This all came about before any of us knew what AoS was going to be. I had my High Elves all ready to go, but stalled when I heard a new edition of WFB was going to be released. I didn't want to jump into a new project if the army was going to be changed or new figures came out that demanded my attention. Now that the Bloodbound models are occupying my paint table, my thoughts turned to packing up my High Elves for an uncertain future. But here comes KoW. Maybe now my High Elves have a future, and should KoW never catch on I have a High Elf force for WFB that I wanted to do anyway.

I can't wait to try out the new KoW rules. Now that my favorite regimental fantasy game is in limbo, and my attentions are turned to its round-based reincarnation, I feel that in my twisted gamer mind a space has been vacated that KoW could find a home in.

I have no idea where the gaming scene here in Vancouver will go. I have some suspicions, but I don't know for sure. I love gaming with the people in this city, and would like to take part in any tournaments or club days that go on, whether that's Warmachine, KoW, WFB, or (hopefully) AoS. All I know is that right now, you really can't go wrong painting anything with platemail and a sword.

+++END TRANSMISSION+++

What's Up?

+++EDIT+++
In the original post, I erroneously refer to The Bloody Reaver in Dreadfleet as a Dark Elf Black Ark. It's actually the vampire dude's boat. There isn't a Dark Elf ship in Dreadfleet. I'm still going to do a bit of mixing between Dreadfleet and Man O' War, but I'll have to start with the dwarf ship, Grimnir's Thunder.
+++END EDIT+++

Let's keep this posting thing rollin'!

So what have I been up to lately? To start things off, I'm the proud owner of a (mostly) complete copy of Man O' War by Games Workshop. I've always wanted this game, but it went out of print just before I joined the GW hobby. I managed to acquire a copy for free, and the only thing it's missing are half of the plastic ships. The half that remain are unpainted, and in excellent condition. It came with a bunch of stuff from Plague Fleet, but not everything. So in my madness (and utter disregard for financial stability), I purchased a copy of Plague Fleet off of eBay.

I plan to slowly build up a collection of ships ("slowly" being the operative word, seeing as most of them go for $17 a ship once shipping's factored in), and play some games. This looks like one helluva game, and I'd love to get it to the table. Normally naval combat games bore the living hell out of me, but this one looks simple and customizable. Of course I can't expect others to start collecting ships, as their price and availability is somewhat prohibitive, but I have no problem making this a pet project. I think I'll begin with a Dark Elf fleet, as their ships seem abundant on eBay, and I plan to use the Black Ark from Dreadfleet in place of the original Black Ark (I mean, Black Arks are supposed to be huge, so it would be somewhat thematic if I used a ship that's in a bigger scale. I'm toying with the idea of doing something similar with the other ships from Dreadfleet. After all, I bought the damned game and need an excuse to get those ships painted. I'll see how the Black Ark turns out first, though).

I've also been working on my Americans for Bolt Action. This is an interesting paint project for me because I plan to dip the figures. As you may be able to tell from my lack of painting posts in the last little while, I haven't been inspired to paint much lately, and any attempts I've made to "dive right back in" have been met with the proverbial wall. I'm hoping by tackling a project that's simply base-coating a figure and dipping it into an instant-shading goop I'll be warmed-up to tackle a more involved project. I should also mention that the Warhammer club I frequent has been playing Bolt Action quite regularly, so there's even more inspiration. I, sadly, haven't attended the club in a couple months, so this is really killing multiple birds with one stone (good lord!).

I'm working on an original Cyberpunk RPG of my own design. Nothing much to say about it at the moment, but keep your eyes peeled.

As a perfect distraction to all these things, I bought, built, and primed my Capitol starter box for Warzone. I still have to finish my Brotherhood (which are so close to being finished), so this project probably won't see completion for a couple months.

And finally, this is something that's got me excited purely on speculation: Warhammer the End Times Chaos. I'm hoping this'll be my entry back into Warhammer. I've always loved Chaos in the Warhammer world, and if the rumors are true, and this book will allow me to integrate my Warriors of Chaos army with Beastmen, and Daemons, then I'm more on-board then ever. That's one of the changes I lament from the transition between 6th edition and 7th edition Warhammer is the separation of the Chaos factions. If I can stick them all back together again, then I imagine that I'll only want to from here on in.

Alright, that's it for now. I've had a remarkably infrequent stretch of three days off, and I plan to do even more hobbying tomorrow before I'm back in the coal mines that is game retail. Oh what a life!

+++END TRANSMISSION+++

O brave new world, that has such games in't.

"Hey!" you exclaim, "I hate new stuff. Why're you changin' yer blog around?"
"Shaddap!" I say.

Nah, fer realz: I just thought that the sombre tone and title of "The Wargamer" seemed out of step with what I really do for fun. I wargame, that's for sure, but I also play boardgames, role-playing games, and card games.

Really, I wanted to call the blog "I Love Games," but the URL was apparently taken for that, so I went with "Playing Non-Stop," which is a clever take off of an expression ("Those neighbors have Van Halen's 'Panama' playing non-stop!"), and also a clever take off of a Kraftwerk song. I wanted to call it "I Love Games" because I do. I immerse myself in the gaming world, and a byproduct of that is a healthy respect for games designers. Mark Rosewater (of Magic: the Gathering fame), often describes Magic creator Richard Garfield as "loving games" whenever he mentions him in his articles or podcast. I respect both those men, and I guess the name kinda stuck. Oh well, at least now I can't be accused of comparing myself to Richard Garfield.

I'm also hoping this slight change in tone will encourage me to blog more. It's a bit ironic, though, that the things I'm concerning myself with the most at the moment are miniatures games, which were right up the alley of some blog called "The Wargamer." Anyway, they'll be the first things I most-likely mention on here.

Just thought I'd pop by to make another empty promise about blogging more, but at least the place got a face-lift, and it's nice to know that there's a reason for it, I imagine.

+++END TRANSMISSION+++

A-Dungeonin' and A-Dragonin'

As a follow-up to last week's post, I managed to get A0 Danger at Darkshelf Quarry to the table last night.

To recap: the intent was to try and run an AD&D module using the current D&D rules. The purpose of this was to show off the simplicity and flexibility of the current system, and to prove to myself that it could easily be done. I define "easily" as: the DM preparing the module as s/he would normally, making up the DCs on the fly (but adhering to the DC scales listed in the rulebook), and subbing out monsters as necessary, as AD&D stat blocks don't exactly transfer over. Pretty much, I wanted to show that the most work one would have to put into running an AD&D module for D&D would be finding the current rules for the monsters within.

Overall, it worked well. I was playing with my usual RPG group, which is made up of four other seasoned gamers, with more than 60 years of gaming experience between us. They'd never played the current version of D&D, and I'd say by the end of it they were impressed, which is another goal I had (the sneaky task of trying to convert my closest gaming friends to my favorite version of D&D yet). They even liked the module, though I had some complaints:

Too Long. I was under the impression that this adventure was written to fall in line with the other tournament modules, but without being a tournament module itself. Whether I was wrong in that assumption or not, it didn't fit within the four hours I wanted it to. I had to rush the ending. One member of my group suggested that I cut some rooms out of the dungeon, as tournament modules were written with the intent to see how far a party might get through the dungeon, rather than make an adventure that gives everyone the experience of an adventure from start to finish (the players also could've ended the adventure in half the time if they went to the guard house instead of into the mine). I think this works well within a tournament setting, but like I said last post, it's just not something I want to roll out for the session I'm going to be running at the games shop.

Too much hackin' 'n' slashin'. I'm not one of those gamers that turns their nose up at a good ole hack 'n' slash adventure, but there wasn't much to go on here other than sword swingin' and arrow loosin'. One of the players was playing a preacher-type cleric, who tried to convert some goblins to his faith, and that was fun to role-play, but another group (especially one made up of strangers, and therefore less-likely to go as far outside the box as my player did) might just as easily start an encounter with the goblins instead.

Not weird enough. If I'm going to run an AD&D-style adventure, I want it to be full of Appendix N nonsense, and craziness. I want eccentric wizards beseeching foul gods for power, and strange groups of monsters committing even stranger acts of terror upon small medieval towns. I guess DCC has spoiled me in that regard, by doing an amazing job of capturing the proto-D&D feel that's been bred out of the game (or recessed).

All-in-all, I've proven it can be done; you can run an AD&D module for D&D with only some monster stat blocks on hand, a tiny bit more work, and some improvisational skills (and the confidence to stand by what you change). I just now need to find a more suitable module.

+++END TRANSMISSION+++

Slave to the Game

I'm back!

Oh. These balloons are all deflated... Ah well.

This post is about the new D&D, and a game I'm prepping, so if you wanna read about that just skip to the text under the bold, linked, title further down. If you wanna read a bunch of boring stuff about how I've been doing nothing in the last six-and-a-half months, then read on!

So what have I been up to? Well, to be perfectly frank, not writing. I've hit a bit of a phase lately where all I want to do is watch police procedurals on Netflix (if you've never watched Twin Peaks, then you definitely should, and if you don't like Twin Peaks then I really can't do anything for you. Sorry), and play Hearthstone (I can't stand World of WarCraft, but this game is so good). I'm trying to fight my way out of this slump, which is really the only way to do it. Slumps like this can't be beat with time alone. I just regret that it's taken me this long. So what's worth writing about so much that I dusted off this old blog?

Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition 

I'm not going to write a whole review here (or maybe even at all), but I have to say this this is quite possibly my favorite version of D&D yet. The rules are so simple to grasp, which is really what I want these days. I just finished a two-and-a-half year long Pathfinder campaign, and I can honestly say that while I'm still willing to play Pathfinder and D&D3, my days of DMing it are over, over, over. It's just too damn complex, and too damn high-powered.

I'm sure D&D will expand the game to a point where characters can turn invisible at will, and remain so forever, or that rangers will be able to fire five different magical arrows at once, but from what I gather these will be, mercifully, optional. The core of the game is an intuitive sword-and-sorcery system, that one will be able to season to taste. I, personally, will be taking a hard look at the rules for feats, before I agree to allow their use at my table, and while I love, love, love miniatures, I'm not running out the door to include their use either.

It's also a bit biased of myself to say that I'm a big fan of DM agency (fancy-schmancy way of saying the DM is always right and can veto stuff), but this edition seems to lean more towards that than 3rd or 4th edition, without going all the way to tyranny. I mean, it's shitty when you have a terrible DM and s/he's surrounding you with nothics like you're at some sort of nothic rave (really, Carmin?), or violating the "yes, and..." rule of improv every encounter, but for the most part, I like the DM to not be constrained by the rules. Whether I was valid in feeling that Pathfinder constrained me or not, it's just how I felt, and how I don't feel now with D&D.

So what next? I'll be running an event at the shop I work at soon that will involve D&D, and I've been wondering what adventure I'll run. Seeing as how Dungeon Crawl Classics (DCC) launched me on the classic RPG kick that I've been riding high for the last little while, I thought I'd run an old AD&D module and see how well it converts to the new game. I'm betting my reputation as a world-class DM (and a handsome one at that) that it'll run like a dream. 

I'd be a fool not to give it a test-run, though. To that effect I'll be hosting a game next week to give it a dry run. It'll involve four players who have yet to play the new D&D so it'll be the perfect arena to work out the kinks. The adventure will be A0 Danger at Darkshelf Quarry.

You may be grasping your computer monitor and shaking it with fury. "You simp!" you scream, spittle turning your Linux display into a corona of prismatic light. "A0 is not part of the original 'Against the Slave Lords' arc, but a mere imitator!" Well now, settle down. Sure, it's an AD&D module written in 2013 (and a prequel at that), but it's written by Skip Williams who used to work at TSR in the late '70s, and who's written many D&D modules in the past and so I have the utmost confidence that this adventure will provide the AD&D experience I desire. Besides, unlike the other A-Series modules, this one isn't designed to be a tournament module. I don't have anything against tournament modules, it's just not something I want to run at this moment. Besides, I already bought the damn re-print, and so far I've run neither Jack nor Squat of it.

So what's the battle plan? I'm going to run the adventure as it's displayed in the book, and sub in the monster stats from the new game (which can be found in the Starter Box, and the last D&D Next playtest document). That's it! If anything strange comes up during the game I will take notes, and adjust as I see fit. Great Gygax! How easy does that sound? No more templates or charts that I have to adjust to ensure game balance (a nebulous term for RPGs if I've ever heard one). I'm free, folks! I'm free.

I'll let y'all know how it goes next week.

+++END TRANSMISSION+++

The Wargamer's Gaming Timeline

Lately I've been putting a lot of stuff in storage and re-jigging my gaming shelves, 'cause they're huge. I try not to get rid of anything for good, as a couple of regretful sales have made me re-think selling my gaming stuff. All this handling of old gaming stuff has gotten me a bit nostalgic about my gaming past. I don't mean to brag but, with the exception of names, my memory is especially sharp. I can remember everything about where, when, and how I bought all my gaming items (as well as my records, but this ain't a record blog), and it's thrown me down a reminiscing mine-shaft that I'd like to drag you all down as well. So brace yourself for impact and bring a mine-shaft canary 'cause I have a timeline for y'all:

1995 
+ Introduced to Magic: the Gathering by a friend's brother. Bought myself a 4th edition starter and an Ice Age starter for my brother. For all intents and purposes, my gaming life begins.
+ Because of my new-found interest in Magic, I look for strategy guides at my local branch of the Vancouver Public Library (VPL). Some clever librarian sticks all the Magic books above the AD&D 2nd Edition books which are conveniently set at the height of a 9-year-old half-Neapolitan boy.
+ My first AD&D games begin at the lunch tables of my elementary school. We get everything wrong.
+ My interest in Magic and AD&D lead me to discover InQuest and Duelist magazines (for some reason Dragon and Dungeon magazines don't find their way into my hands until the D&D movie). These magazines begin me down the road of the million CCGs I eventually collect (Doom Trooper, Vampire: the Eternal Struggle, Star Wars, Middle Earth, Star Trek, and X-Files)

1996
+ Mom buys me the Introduction to AD&D boxed set for my birthday from a comic shop on Main st.
+ My aunt returns from Scotland with a couple blister packs of Warhammer High Elves and a catalog that lists a Games Workshop in Gastown.
+ Mom gets the Games Workshop confused with a different games shop in Gastown and we go there to get the 4th Edition Warhammer starter, and a Citadel paint set (note: the 5th edition starter was just released a month earlier, but I thought the lizardmen were stupid).
+ Because of Warhammer, the CCGs go into boxes and under the bed.

1997
+ Games Workshop opens me up to miniatures gaming, from which I've never looked back. I play every game Games Workshop releases from that moment onward.

1998
+ Baldur's Gate is released. I play the hell out of this thing, and periodically re-install it all the way up to today. I also play all the other isometric RPG computer games that there are (Diablo series, Icewind Dale, Fallout, etc.)

2000
+ I get the Internet and find out about other miniatures games like Warzone, and Chronopia.
+ I find out that there's a Wizards of the Coast retail store at Northgate mall in North Seattle (a 10-minute drive from my grandmother's house in Shoreline). I spend a summer in Seattle, playing Warhammer at the WotC shop. Find out about D&D Chainmail, and the Alternity RPG.
+ The release of the Dungeons & Dragons movie prompts the comic shop near my favorite theater downtown to display an issue of Dragon magazine. I buy it and begin collecting yet another paper-based thing.

2001
+ Games Workshop begins carrying the Hogshead re-prints of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay. Though I played AD&D in years previous, WFRP is the first RPG that I actually bother to learn word-for-word and I run the entire Enemy Within campaign for three friends. It takes a year of weekly gaming to get through, but it's still the most fun I've ever had role-playing.

2002
+ Because of other life activities I stop going to my regular weekly game night at Games Workshop (which I had been going to since 1997). I don't stop gaming, though.
+ The combination of the Internet, and my pioneer spirit leads me to the discovery of other miniatures games in earnest, and deepens my love for Warzone. I begin collecting figures for Dark Age, VOID, Confrontation, more D&D Chainmail, Warzone, Chronopia, Warlord, Battletech, Warmachine, etc.

2003-2004
+ I play Axis & Allies with my friends pretty much every weekend.

2004
+ Having not gone for years, I stop by my local Games Workshop to see how things are going. I catch up with the manager who knew me from when I was younger, and he asks if I'd be interested in a job. At the time I was working at the local fair, and thought that this would be vastly better than getting yelled at by parents.
+ My interview consists of finding out when a good start time would be, and what size uniform I wear.

2004-2006
+ I work for Games Workshop as a redshirt, and have the time of my life. My amount of friends doubles, and to this day remain some of the closest friendships I have. Also my painting improves.

2006
+ Games Workshop manager leaves to open up his own game shop, asks me to come work for him.

2006-present
+ I begin playing boardgames that aren't Axis & Allies, and HeroQuest, and begin playing more role-playing games, including the World of Darkness RPGs which are some of my favorites to this day.
+ I start this damned blog.

So there you have it, almost 18 years of gaming at a glance. My gaming career can now vote and go off to war. It's a milestone year: not only does my gaming career turn 18, but the High Elves for Warhammer get a release (my first miniatures army ever), but the Dark Angels got a release this year (my first Warhammer 40,000 army), Wizards of the Coast re-released the AD&D 2nd edition books, and Warzone is getting a second life. Hell, if WotC begins opening stores again, and I get back into Magic it'll be a full regression!

Anyway, nostalgia can be "an empty thing," as R.A. Salvatore said, but he's not in charge of this blog, is he?

+++END TRANSMISSION+++

Update

So my tournament went great. I didn't do so well (18th out of 24th, but I was the only player who had all his opponents vote for him for "favored opponent"), but I had fun, and instead of burning me out on Warhammer, it instead got me wanting to play more. Unfortunately what it appeared to burn me out on was painting large armies.

I got home from the tournament full of resolve to finish my High Elf army I started when 8th edition came out, but I've been picking away at it like a kid with a salad. So what's to be done, huh? Well, I'm going to try and work on some "smaller" projects like my Dark Age Outcasts (who are coming with me to GenCon this year), and my SAGA Vikings. Totalled, these two armies amount to fifty-one figures, which is wholly achievable, and will probably ease me back into bigger projects like my High Elves.

Of course, there will be some Warzone painting in there as I work on some older figures that I've been dying to finish for years. Speaking of Warzone, go here and pledge. Speaking of pledging, go here also and pledge for Drake.

+++END TRANSMISSION+++

Warzone Returns (long post)

Praise the Cardinal (or Dark Soul—whatever your alignment might be)! Warzone is coming back! Now there hasn't been much word on their website, but if you troll a couple forums, you'll find all sorts of info being leaked. Here's what I've gathered so far:

+ All new models (no Heartbreaker/Target model will get re-used for better or for worse)
+ You can still use your old models
+ A lot of the art is staying
+ Novel(s)
+ The d20 is staying
+ The scale (both miniatures-wise (28mm), and army-wise (platoon-level)) are staying
+ The standard base-size for man-sized models is the 30mm Dark Age bases, not the 25mm Slottabases (apparently the rules will be balanced for 25mm bases, though)
+ Models will be plastic
+ Paradox (which still contains the originators of the Mutant Chronicles universe) have to approve everything before it flies
+ All the factions will be in there (Cybertronic and the Dark Legion have been the subjects of the teaser pictures)
+ New rules that capture the feel of the older games

All good news, methinks.

I should point out that this was brought to my attention by one of my competitors in the current painting challenge I'm engaged in, in a blatant attempt to throw me off my game. Well you know what? It sorta worked! Last night I was up 'till 2:00am re-basing my Capitol heavy infantry to use the new 30mm bases. Today I did the second coat (I also worked on my Chaos Warhounds, okay?!).

+++ASIDE+++
This brings me to a little mini-review right in the middle of all this Warzone glory: The Texture paints from Citadel Miniatures. At first I liked these things. I used them to base my Hobbit: Escape from Goblin Town set, and I thought they were actually pretty nice once they received a drybrush or two (the Dry paints from Citadel I have no complaints with). 

When I woke up this morning (who am I kidding? Afternoon) to look at the bases I so excitingly painted Armageddon Dust I noticed all the bald spots where the grit of the texture didn't hit. I wondered why this wasn't apparent on the Hobbit miniatures until I realized that the 30mm bases I used were the generic kind with smooth tops. If you look at the new Privateer Press-branded 30mm bases they have a texture sculpted on to the top much like the Citadel Slottabases. This works well with the texture paints, especially once you stick some static grass on it. Go ahead, grab a generic 25mm round base (if you have any), and see how the tops don't have any (or as much) texture sculpted onto them in comparison to a 25mm round that has the "Games Workshop" logo on the bottom. 

Anyway, I was less than impressed. I did a second coat this afternoon and once it's dry I'll see how I feel, but regardless I'm almost out of Armageddon Dust and I only painted nine bases! Now I'm actually a Games Workshop fan, and someone more cynical than I might say that this was their plan all along, to have me get hooked on the stuff then charge me $4.45cdn a squad to do bases. I actually chalk this up to GW wanting to do something neat like textured paint, and also wanting it to integrate aesthetically and retail-wise into their existing paint aesthetic. In any event, I'll stick with it for this squad, and then go back to my traditional sand method afterwards. I'll just use a finer sand.
+++END ASIDE+++

Back to Warzone. I love this game. It was the first game I got into that broke the Games Workshop paradigm (one I like very much, but by no means is the end-all for miniatures gaming). As such, it sticks out in my mind. I have a very large collection of Warzone figures (thanks in no small part for people just giving them to me, 'cause they're so damned old and iffy), and can boast an impressive force for any of the corporations except for Mishima. Let's just say that if I were to die or go missing, whoever has the grim task of going through my possessions will know how much I love the Mutant Chronicles universe.

The game and the universe has always appealed to me, even if 50% of the miniatures did not. I always looked past the rushed, and amateurish, look of the early figures (the Brotherhood especially) to see the care and creativity of the studio behind them. In fact, one of my favorite things about Mutant Chronicles were the old Chronicles magazine. An organ like any other, it nonetheless had a fun attitude (a whimsy, if you will) about it that was infectious. Especially when the UK team took over in the late 90s, it mirrored the White Dwarf attitude when the staff were allowed to inject more of their personalities into it. Despite how people may feel about the 2nd edtition of the game, John Robertson, and John Grant, and the rest of the studio were talented and charismatic people who began to churn out great figures.

Here's a comparison:

Original Brotherhood Heavy Troopers from Heartbreaker Hobbies

Re-dos from Target Games UK studio (ca. 1999)

Target Games UK studio Captiol heavy Infantry

Heartbreaker Hobbies' Capitol heavy Infantry

So what happened? Rumors and speculation abound, but from what I figure it went like this:

Target Games (Swedish-based gaming company) bought Heartbreaker Hobbies (US-based miniatures company) à la a reverse Citadel Miniatures/Games Workshop situation. They expand by opening a UK design studio, to better create games for the titanic English-speaking gaming market, and a US branch (from what I understand this was just the old Heartbreaker Hobbies office). The UK studio is the creative branch and is in charge of all the games design and manufacturing. The US studio helps out, but is mainly there for distribution and promotion for that hemisphere. This frees up Target Games AB (Swedish original company) to do other things like launch a video game branch and—rumor has it—a candy company.

It's at this point that you'll hear from a lot of people that Warzone and Chronopia rivaled 40k and Warhammer. As much as I love the Warzone and Chronopia games, I highly doubt this was true. I imagine this is just the rose-colored vision of people who loved a game that was very successful in its own right. I have no doubt that Warzone and Chronopia were big, and I could even see that in many areas of the globe they were played more often than Warhammer and 40k, but based upon my knowledge of games companies and how they work, I doubt this. But you know what? It could be true. I'm sure only Games Workshop and Paradox Entertainment (the successor to Target Games) know for sure, as they don't release that kind of specific information. After all, the mighty TSR was brought low by a poor deal regarding their novels, and as we'll see later on, a similar fate happened to Target. Perhaps Games Workshop just had better management and better luck. Before we move on; my favorite story regarding the tensions between GW and Target has to be that when Target announced bankruptcy, GW celebrated with champagne the same way one might after getting a phone call from the governor. I don't believe this for a second, but I think the idea of the GW board of directors wiping sweat from their brows in a zero-hour situation—akin to the White House during the Cuban Missile Crisis—is cute.

So, I ask again, what happened? This is mostly rumor territory, but from what I understand the branch of Target Games that was aimed at a child market (either the candy branch, or the toy branch. I hear different things from different people) failed, and because Target management invested so heavily into it, they had to do some cutbacks. This came from the miniatures branches, and just ended up cascading through the company until they failed. I believe the Swedish company went first, then the UK studio, then finally (and surreally) the US branch. Rumor has it that the US team was left to their own devices for a couple months after the rest of Target went blank. 

Imagine that. You're a colonist on another world. You receive regular communication from the home planet. You take it for granted that this is how it is. Every day you can check the news and find out what's going on back on Earth. You receive orders, you execute those orders, and you report back. Everything's normal. Then one day the communication stops. Sure there were people who could read the writing on the wall, but the idea was so strange that it seemed unlikely. At the very least, you'd be told the truth and informed as to what's going on. Hell, you might've even thought you'd be the first to go if there was anything wrong, but you weren't. One day the communication stops, and you're left out in the void. Months drag on, and you wonder if it's even worth continuing on as if things will be the same or if you should just go your own way, and break off.

Obviously, I'm attracted to the whole drama of this situation, but in reality the US team supposedly went without pay for a month or so, until the office was just shut down. Paradox Entertainment (the video game branch of Target Games) was the life raft that the owners jumped to when the ship went down. They bought up (or transferred) the licenses from Target to them, and then pushed away. Target Games is now kaputt, and Paradox Entertainment are now, for all intents and purposes, is the current Target Games. Now they exist primarily as a licence-holder, making their money off Robert E. Howard stuff (which they strangely have the licences to), and whatever they thought they could make off the disappointing Mutant Chronicles movie.

I want to re-iterate that this is all rumor I've gathered from various sources. I did my best to cut the wheat from the chaff, and do some investigation of my own, but I am by no means saying that this is the definitive narrative. I also don't mean to slander, or place blame on any one, or part, of this history. I'm sure the decisions that were made were tough ones and were given much thought, and that no one wanted to see Target collapse, or these games go away.

This post is long, huh? 

I'm excited by the news that one of my favorite games is coming back. I've been wanting this for a long time, and a part of me always hoped this would happen. I hope everything goes great and that this new Warzone will be around for as long as I'm able to build, paint, and play in it. I don't care if it can rival Games Workshop or not, I just want to feel like I can take part in the drama that is playing out amongst the corporations and the Dark Legion again. 

+++END TRANSMISSION+++

Nappy Hew Jear!

Sadly, I will not be going to Lock and Load this year. This will mark the only year out of the three (so far) that they've been running it, that will lack my beaming face, and 40% win record. I enjoy this convention so much, that on the first year I had fallen to my knees on Yesler way and cursed at the gods above that Lock and Load shall never lack for Carmin.

However, this year I have bigger fish to fry: GenCon 2013.

I've been wanting to go to GenCon since I first heard about it, and this year—thanks to me being good and paying off all my credit cards— I finally have the means to go. 

On average, Lock and Load costs me $800 (Canadian, duh!) to attend, and while I had no compunction against this in the past, I think that this $800 would be better spent at North America's largest gaming convention instead. 

There are so many thing I want to do. I've never been to GenCon before. I feel that perhaps the best move might be just to go and walk around, and not commit myself to anything for fear of missing something else, but I know such luke-warm actions could cost my experience dearly. 

I'm entering the Dark Age tournament for sure. Dark Age is one of my favorite miniatures games (definitely top 3), and I won't miss a chance to test my skills in the unforgiving arena of a tournament. 

Well, that's what I have coming up. I'll be starting a Dark Age tournament journal here on the blog to chronicle my ascension to power in the wastelands of Attr/Samaria. I'll also be taking part in another painting challenge at work between some folks that involves painting 50 figures quicker than anyone else. I thought this might be a great way to start my brand-new High Elf army for Warhammer. You'll see some pics of those this year too. I'm on the fence about what I want to get done for 40k (Dark Angels, or Eldar) so we'll have to see how the year treats me, painting-wise. 

Anyway. Later.

+++END TRANSMISSION+++

Posting is the Reason for the Season

Hail, fair readers!

The Wargamer is going to go dark for the rest of the month and come back at cha in the new year. December is a bad time for me to be hobbying (believe it or not) because it's the time that I'm most needed at work. Yes, the life of a games shop retail clerk is especially rewarding this time of year when I need to man the cash register and bolster my knowledge of gaming so as to make recommendations galore!

Fear not, I shall be back in January with some new stuff. Heck! Next year around this time, I might even compile some "gift idea" articles. Why not? I'm qualified to do so.

+++END TRANSMISSION+++

Broke and Literate

So out of that huge list of stuff I mentioned I couldn't wait for last post, I got all of it but the SAGA supplement (and Baldur's Gate, but that's 'cause the Mac version isn't ready yet). This is not because SAGA isn't a beloved game of mine, simply that I don't have any games of SAGA lined up, while I have a weekly Pathfinder game, Crusade of Fire is limited edition, and as a CMoN Legion Member I'm obliged to keep up to date on Dark Age's stuff (and this book was a long time coming to my LGS).

Oh, that and

So as you can see, I have my hands full—or rather my eyes full.

I'll keep you all updated as I get through this mammoth stack.

+++END TRANSMISSION+++

Gamer's Dilemma

You know, I'm tryin' ta save money, I'm tryin' ta be good, but whether it's an obsessive compulsion or a yet-undiagnosed mental condition that only gamers have (or only those that have it become gamers), I need to take a slight reprieve from my savings plan. Alas!

I won't lose a second of sleep.

I usually like to try and make posts of substance here on The Wargamer but the buzz of three cups of coffee and a slew of new releases from my favorite gaming companies makes this kind of post seem like a good idea.

Here's what's going in my shopping basket this weekend:

1. Dark Age: Devastation

Lordy-lordy I've been waiting for this since GenCon. I prefer to buy all my stuff from my local game shop, so I had to stare at the "add to cart" button on CoolMiniOrNot's website until they finally shipped to distributors. Now, it will soon be mine, and with it, all the cool new Core army list entries to drool over. Now I hope there's more to this book than just the Core and the Cult of Mutilation, because as cool as they are, I'm not currently working on either of those factions, and I'd like an excuse to pull the book out during a game of Dark Age and use something out of there. I also hope I'm still listed as a playtester. I did do a ton of playtesting during the first round of playtests, but since then, Dark Age has undergone a management change, and I might've gotten lost in the shuffle.

2. SAGA: The Raven's Shadow

This supplement to SAGA (an instant hit with my game group) introduces four more nations/tribes/empires to SAGA (Franks, Irish, North Gael, and Strathclyde Welsh), and some new scenarios and rules including some with the use of banners! Never did I think I'd ever get as excited about banners as I am now (+1 to combat resolution is great, but what would Vikings do with them?)

3. Pathfinder NPC Codex

Pathfinder is my favorite version of D&D, but it may surprise you to know that I view D&D4 as a worthy game system in its own right. For example, one of the things I love about D&D4 is that I don't have to spend hours before the gaming session making NPCs. Ugh! Who cares? My players are just going to kill them or interact with them through role-playing anyway. But what if they need to fight a bunch of palace guards, or they need (or want) to take out a bartender? The Gamemastery Guide had some good NPCs in there, but this one has 300 NPCs in it. If I need a town guard captain, I can just turn to one of the pages, add a name and mannerism(s) and BAM! I've got a new punching bag for my players.

4. Warhammer 40,000: Crusade of Fire

Now I've gone on the record as saying that GW's new hardcover codices and army books are top notch! As someone who's been playing GW games for ~16 years (and who's also a collector of the older games and as such am familiar with the rules of previous editions), I can safely say that these are the most balanced army rules they've ever put out. I'm also a huge fan of Warhammer's Blood in the Badlands. I think I can say that this book will be as good as that one, and as such I'm excited to see it. It claims to have new flier rules, which I think are just going to be the stats for the Fliers they released rules for in White Dwarf but not anywhere else. Either way, I'm stoked for the campaign.

5. Baldur's Gate

Now, I don't normally talk about video/computer games, 'cause I don't really play them. They're fun, and cool; I just decided years ago that my gaming time (and budget) is limited and that board/card/miniatures/role-playing games are my real passion. However, Baldur's Gate is still my favorite video game of all time, and the release of the "enhanced edition" is about a week away. I have to wait until the Mac version is available, which will be later than the Nov. 30th release date for the PC, but you can bet your boots, I'll be glued to my iMac until this game is finished twice-over (once with my original human thief, and once with my half-elf wizard)

Alright, the coffee's wearing off, I'm gonna split, and I also need to figure out where I'm going to get the money to buy all this stuff. You only need one kidney, right?

+++END TRANSMISSION+++

Down the Pipe

And I don't mean something gross by the title, either!

Here's what I got cookin':
+ Review of a Print on Demand (PoD) product from OneBookShelf
+ Some news on an old RPG that's getting a re-do.
+ The beginnings of a tournament diary once I figure out whether I'm gonna take part in the Warhammer, or the Warhammer 40,000 tournament at GottaCon.
+ I got a better phone with a better camera, so maybe some pictures already!

All this and more on this blog I periodically neglect and feel guilty about.

+++END TRANSMISSION+++

Update!

What a slow week last week, huh? Ah, I've just been busy.

What do I have coming up this week? Well, I'm designing my own wargame (the rules to which should fit on a single piece of paper!), so I'll have some things to say about that process. I also got a hold of the new Dark Vengeance kit from Games Workshop, so I'll talk about that, and I got my copy of the V20 Companion in the mail, so you can bet your boots I got something to say about that.

I got called into work today, so this does count as Monday's update. I also plan on being partied-out for most of Tuesday, so Wednesday's post will be good, and I'll even throw in a Thursday too ('cause I'm boss like that).

+++END TRANSMISSION+++

The Onyx Path

"Oh most glorious Carmin! Please will you step down from your golden throne of gaming and share your glorious opinion with the masses regarding White Wolf's change to Onyx Path?"
"HAHAHAHA! NO! You cannot begin to comprehend the wondrous sounds that I form regarding this pleasing news, for you are mere mortals, and are of the flesh! NOW GO!"
"Please, oh game master! We are aimless! We know not what to think regarding this news. Shall it usher in a new era for the World of Darkness both new and old, or is it but another sign of the end times?"
"SILENCE!"
"But oh handsome typer of game-related musings, we beg you! Tell us already."
"FINE! But I cannot be held responsible for what might result from your hubris. Now let me put on these fangs and this cape. I'm just going to... Climb down... From this... Throne... Ah, there we go! NOW HARK... I SHALL BEGIN:"

It was announced at GenCon this year (2012, in case you just woke up) that Onyx Path Publishing (OPP, but not the kind you're thinking of) will be the new publisher for White Wolf's (WW) properties. OPP is run by Rich Thomas, who has been with White Wolf since the beginning, as well as staffed by all the writers, and designers we've loved from White Wolf's heyday(s). They also own the properties to the Trinity universes (Adventure!, Aberrant, and Trinity (Æon)), and Scion. They've announced a new edition for Exalted, and are probably going to do a new edition for Scion as well. But don't take my word for it; check out their release schedule here.

A bit of background: In 2006 White Wolf merged with CCP (Crowd Control Productions. The makers of Eve: Online). At first it was great, because it injected more capital into WW and allowed them to do cool stuff. However, the cracks soon became apparent when CCP had to lay off a huge majority of WW staff because of the shortcomings of Eve. It soon became apparent that while passionate about WW's stuff, CCP was just not fit to publish pen-and-paper games. So, Rich Thomas decided to start his own company and called it Onyx Path Publishing. He's licensing the rights to make pen-and-paper products of the World of Darkness (current and classic), and Exalted (these games are still owned by White Wolf, which is a division of CCP... Try and keep up). He also bought Scion and the Trinity universes.

So where does that leave us today? With much optimism. OPP is still banking on the digital production model, which I have mixed feelings about. However, One Book Shelf has stated that they're looking into ways to include the retail channel in their model, which would be stellar. Really, I'd just like to see the core books and the storyteller screens kept in regular supply through the traditional means of distribution, at least, but I'm no businessman.

OPP is also promising a slew of new stuff! Of course, I'm most excited about any Vampire: the Requiem stuff, including the new campaign/update to the game system, but I think I'm going to fall for the new WoD stuff, and the new Mummy stuff. I don't think I'll contribute to the Mummy Kickstarter, but I'll get the books through Print on Demand (PoD, or Now in Print, as they're calling it, despite the fact that it abbreviates to NiP. What's with White Wolf and these fairly tame sexualized abbreviations?).

I'm most excited for the revisions to the WoD and VtR games. I like how they're not going to a new edition, despite the fact that I normally back new editions pretty faithfully. I'd just hate to have to do extra work to bring my old books up to speed, and I dislike the stigma that a new edition evokes amongst gamers. They're also releasing more fiction, which will be a definite buy for me. I'm reading through the Clan Saga from the Masquerade days, and really enjoying it, and I've always thought the fiction in the gaming books was fantastic.

It does seem to be an ambitious schedule, especially for a company that's going through some pretty ambitious changes. As one of my favorite gaming companies producing one of my favorite games, I wish them the best, and hope that all the huge decisions they've made in the last few years turn out to be fruitful.

+++END TRANSMISSION+++

P.S. I've had 18,000 viewers as of me typing this!

Happy Birthday Vampire: the Requiem

Eight years ago today, Vampire: the Requiem and the World of Darkness was unleashed upon the gaming world. I wasn't involved in the game at the time, but it has since changed my gaming. Now, Vampire didn't change my life, or have me meet my beloved the way that some testimonials claimed (which are touching, as any passionate gamer might agree), but Vampire had a profound effect on my gaming life. So I guess insofar as gaming is a part of my life, I guess it did change my life... No beloved, though.

Anyway, here's what I typed, ad hoc, on the White Wolf forums. It's a short birthday wish to one of my favorite games of all time.

I was a huge D&D player in the '90s, but an even huger CCGer. Vampire: the Eternal Struggle still occupies a top 3 spot for my favorite CCGs of all time. I never got into Vampire: the Masquerade because I always thought there was too much there, and it would be too huge a jump (I was also in my teens in the late '90s/early '00s so the idea of a role-playing game with gothic imagery was out of my comfort zone). So it went largely ignored.

In 2006 I began working for a game shop and we stocked the White Wolf role-playing games. It wasn't until a year afterwards that I thought I'd just give the World of Darkness a try. I had played every other RPG I could get my hands on, except this one, and thought I'd give it a shot.

I can surely say that Vampire: the Requiem changed the way I feel about role-playing games. It was refreshing to be free of plot, and given ultimate reign in a role-playing game. Not to say that others are constrictive, but Vampire told me I could be as free as I want. It was the first game I'd seen that suggested I use certain rules in the main body of the text instead of in a sidebar.

Ever since 2007 I've "embraced" the other WoD lines, and even went back and gave the Masquerade a shot. Nothing has replaced the joy and the excitement I feel for the Requiem, though.

Today it sits on my top 3 role-playing game list just like its card game cousin sits on my top 3 CCG list. Thanks a ton, White Wolf (Onyx Path), and Happy Birthday to VtR!

So that's that. Just something short, sweet, and fanged for today's post. There's been a lot of news coming out of GenCon (natch'!) and I'm not going to comment on all of it, but I will comment on Onyx Path Publishing in Wednesday's post, because the World of Darkness is so near and dear to my heart. So come back tomorrow, (blood)suckers!

+++END TRANSMISSION+++

Daemons and You: Addendum

So, I've had some time to digest the new daemon stuff (gross!) and I'd like to give a couple new opinions on the revised lists.

I think all my opinions regarding Daemons in 40k still stand, however, I've looked over the Flamers of Tzeentch in Warhammer again and I'd like to re-iterate that I don't think they're "nerfed" (as common gaming nomenclature), nor do I think they're "broken." I had problems with them in the 7th edition book, and those problems were somewhat addressed. They're still a good choice, but they're not as unbalanced as they used to be.

Also, the Exalted Chariot of Slaanesh isn't as bad a choice as I thought. I'm ashamed to say I only got as far as the points cost in the army list, and got scared that I'd have to dig into my Rare choices to get it. Daemons don't have a ton of rare choices (especially now that Flamers are Special), anyway, and I neglected to see that it gets to bring twice the number of Steeds of Slaanesh, and Daemonettes to the party, as the other chariot. Combined with the 8 Wounds it has, and the fact that it does 2d6+1 Impact Hits for only double the points cost of the lesser chariot, makes me do a 180, opinion-wise.

Alright, now on to more pressing news: I'll be away this whole week on a mystical island somewhere in British Columbia, Canada. Therefore I won't be posting anything here. I'm not bringing my laptop, and I won't get much hobby time in anyway.

However, I hope to have read the majority of the High Adventure Role-Playing (HARP) rulebook so I'll have something to talk about when I get back.

See you (on August 6th), space cowboy!

+++END TRANSMISSION+++