(Kickstarter) #ZineQuest2024 - Tiny Fables

Tiny Fables is an oversized zine of 60 pages of sandbox style adventure for the Mausritter rules, but easily usable for any small anthropomorphic animal RPG you can see fit.

(Mouse Guard) Gethin - #CharacterCreationChallenge - Day 11

Name:   Gethin

Age:   20

Home:  Shaleburrow

Fur Color:  Gray

Rank:   Mouse Guard

Cloak:

Parents: Frankie and Alicia the Brewer

Senior:  Ian the Brewer (Usurer)

Mentor:  Carwyn of the Guard

Enemy:  Bailey the Woodcutter

Friend:   Aaron 

Raw Abilities

Nature (Mouse)    3

Will                       4

Health                   6

Special Abilities

Resources             5

Circles                  7

Belief: A guardsmouse needs to set a firm foundation before they proceed with any task.

Goal: I will discover where Ian's "contacts" have disappeared to.

Instinct: Rashness will end one's life.

Skills:  Brewer 3, Cartographer 2, Deceiver 3, Fighter 4, Hunter 3, Pathfinder 3, Scout 2, Scientist 2, Survivalist 3, Lockhaven-wise  4

Traits:  Cunning, 

Gear:  Sword 

(Kickstarter) Mausritter: Box Set & Adventures

The first ten days of #RPGaDAy2021 was pretty quiet outside of that exercise.  Now it appears that Kickstarters are vying now for the "extra" money the government want's to throw into my account on Sunday.

Losing Games is teaming up with Games Ominvorous to produce not only a reprint of the Mausritter hardcover, but a second printing of the boxed set and a brand-new adventure collection

#RPGaDay 2017 Day 12: Which RPG Has the Most Inspiring Interior Art?

And welcome to Day 12:

"Which RPG Has the Most Inspiring Interior Art?"

As an adolescent who survived with using the interior art of the D&D Basic/Expert Sets, plus the cover art of whatever was in stock at Waldenbooks, I can certainly work with a minimal amount of material. 

That being said, the Mouse Guard RPG wins. 

Yes, the RPG is derived from a visual media (Seriously, read the Mouse Guard graphic novels) but to use the artwork in conjunction with explaining mechanics, and just general inspiration for those who haven't read all the material, is brilliant

From David Petersen's Blog

Unofficial Mousling Stats for Hackmaster 4th Edition

With all the Mouslings I have collected and painted, it would seem reasonable to use them in a FRPG, whether it was an all-Mousling game similar to Mouse Guard, or a traditional fantasy game with the menagerie of races.  I've previously provided the basis for Mouslings that I've used in Savage Worlds, and in the interest of constantly remembering the good times in Hackmaster, it's time to provide the basis for a 4th Edition Hackmaster Mousling. 



www.reapermini.com

Mouslings

Ability Prerequisites

STR 6/17  DEX:8/20, CON 6/17, INT 3/18, WIS 3/18, CHA 3/18, COM 3/18.

Age:

Base 5+d6.

Middle Age is 13, Old Age is 22 Venerable is 28

+20 Bonus to Table 4K: Number of Siblings

Racial Bonuses:

• +1 bonus to be surprised
• Able to move through undergrowth like open terrain.
• Mouslings may climb at double their walking rate.

Initial Languages: 

Common, Mousling, Burrowing Animals

Talents:

• Acute Sense of Smell

Allowable Classes:

• All

Allowable Multi-Classes:

• None

Attribute Modifiers:

• Mouslings gain/suffer the following bonuses/penalties:  Dexterity +2, Strength -1, Constitution -1

Building Point Bonus: 

• 8

Additional Talents Which May Be Purchased:

• Mouslings may buy any Talent a Halfling is able to.

The Downside:

• Mouslings have a shorter lifespan - generally twenty to thirty years
• Mouslings don't get the twenty hit point kicker other characters receive at first level, instead only receiving a ten hit point kicker.  They do receive full hit points per level.
• Mouslings are considered small creatures and must use medium sized weapons with two hands.

Despite the picture above, these are not Mouse Guard stats   If you really wanted a game of appropriately sized mice, the Mouse Guard RPG is perfect for that.  Reaper Mouslings are typically half the size of a human mini, so we've taken that into account.
With the variety of figures available, Mouslings are essentially tiny humans with a few benefits.  I would cap all core (fighter/cleric/magic-user/thief) classes at 12 and the rest at 7.

And with the legalese:  Each individual product mentioned is the property of their respective owner and post in no way attempts to circumvent such ownership.  I just want stats for mice, people!

The Reaper Mouslings Have Finally Arrived!!

Miracle of miracles occurred yesterday.  A small box from Texas arrived at my house yesterday, it's contents being twenty small mice creatures.

The Bones II Mouslings are finally in my possession. 

A couple of things.  First off, I'm going to need to "Bone" up on the best techniques for handling and painting them.  Don't want to melt them or be left with pock-marked mice.

 

Second, the details on the figures is just enough, even if my pictures aren't great.   

 

Third, when my next Apathy of the New Releases column comes out next week, you can understand why Reaper is selling the blistered Mouslings in pairs.

 





Princess and the King of Blurry Picture-dom



Fourth, the figures are pretty clean.  One of them does have a noticeable casting line all around the figure, and longer the tail, the larger the flash will be.   With the metal minis, I worried about bending or breaking pieces off.  With the Bones material, I'm more worried about cutting off the tails with a carving, I mean, X-Acto knife.  

Fifth, and finally, outside of the King/Princess and Sorcerer/Samurai packs, every other Mousling is dressed down enough to be well-suited for a Mouse Guard game.

Despite the added delays and regardless of whether or not they shipped to my old (April 2014) address, even though I changed the information in June 2014 and confirmed it twice, thanks to update emails, I'm quite happy with my pledge and the rewards.  I will grab a few more individual figures at the FLGS (via special order, they only stock GW) for advanced painting lessons with the girls later this year. 

Apathy of the New Releases (Mar '15)

Viscount Eric's Want List
Nuttin'

Viscount Eric's Money-Is-No-Object Want List
Diamond Comics Distributors
Mouse Guard Role-Playing Game HC (2nd Edition) PI
Mouse Guard Role-Playing Game Boxed Set (2nd Edition) PI
My only concern about the new edition is the fact that they're distributing through Diamond, and with a non-standardized pricing, this could get pricey.

The Imaginary Store List
Action Sports
Moto Daiken Playmat
Schrei Playmat
Tomb Raider Playmat
 No prices... let's assume $20-25.

Ares Games
Wings of Glory Fokker E.V (Lowenhardt) $14.90
Macchi M.5 (Arcidiacono) $19.90
Macchi M.5 (Hannover Cl.IIIA (Baur/Von Hengl) $19.90
Fokker E.V (Osterkamp) $14.90
Fokker E.V (Sharon) $14.90
Macchi M.5 Hannover Cl.IIIA (Hager/Weber) $19.90
Nieuport NI.28 (O’Neill) $14.90
Nieuport NI.28 (Rickenbacker) $14.90
Macchi M.5 Hannover Cl.IIIA (Luftstreikfrafte) $19.90
Macchi M.5 (Haviland) $19.90
Macchi M.5 (Welker) $19.90
Nieuport NI.28 (Hartney) $14.90

Asmodee 
Formula D: Expansion 6 Austin/Nevada Ride $29.99

Chessex
This month they’ve listed the a number of reference packs which aren’t necessarily set up for direct consumer sales, but are a very nice assortment/display of the various dice products. Nice items to help choose a restock of the store’s display, a nice way to solicit special orders for dice, and after everything is set up, I believe they can be sold piecemeal. 

Catalyst Game Labs
Shadowrun: London Falling .................................................................................. $19.99

CoolMiniOrNot
I usually avoid CoolMiniOrNot like the plague, due to a number of factors, usually price and presentation, but Kaos Ball intrigues me. Very little description, but a variety of Blood Bowl-esque teams for twenty-five bucks 

Cubicle 7
CALL OF CTHULHU: CTHULHU BRITANNICA - THE CURSE OF NINEVEH CAMPAIGN
CALL OF CTHULHU: CTHULHU BRITANNICA - THE CURSE OF NINEVEH NEVES JOURNAL
CALL OF CTHULHU: CTHULHU BRITANNICA - THE CURSE OF NINEVEH THOMPSONS JOURNAL
Beautiful new CoC campaign from Cubicle 7, including two fiction/handout books.  The only problem?  No pricing!
CALL OF CTHULHU: WORLD WAR CTHULHU – LONDON.................................... $24.99
DOCTOR WHO RPG: THE ELEVENTH DOCTOR SOURCEBOOK HARDCOVER.. $39.99

Evil Hat
Fate: Save Game $10.00
FATE RPG: THE AETHER SEA $10.00
SPIRIT OF THE CENTURY: DINOCALYPSE FOREVER PAPERBACK $15.00

Fantasy Flight Games
Star Wars RPG: Force and Destiny Beginner Game …… $29.95

Fun to 11
MISKATONIC SCHOOL FOR GIRLS: HOLIDAY BREAK EXPANSION ................. $29.95

Gale Force Nine
D&D: TEMPLE OF ELEMENTAL EVIL - AERISI KALINOTH/WARRIOR/PRIEST .. $30.00
D&D: TEMPLE OF ELEMENTAL EVIL - AIR MYRMIDON   .......................................$30.00
D&D: TEMPLE OF ELEMENTAL EVIL -  ELEMENTAL NODE OF AIR GAME MAT $20.00

Games Workshop
WFB: Skaven Thanquil and Boneripper ............................................................................ $93.00
WFB: Skaven Verminlord ................................................................................................. $90.00
Skaven Thanquol ............................................................................................................... $80.00
Twenty years ago, I had a crazed desire to build a Skaven army for WFB.  Fortunately for me, I realized the hundreds of dollars it would cost to collect and build Stormskaven and Slave skaven units.  The one thing that was not some insane price was the Verminlord.  The 300% increase might just be a wee bit extreme.

Mantic Entertainment
Deadzone: Brokkr Booster Set ........................................................................................ $19.99
Deadzone: Forge Father Faction Starter Set .................................................................... $34.99
Deadzone: Forge Father Support Booster Set ................................................................. $19.99
Deadzone: Forge Father Urban Iron Ancestor ................................................................ $24.99
Deadzone: Forge Guard Booster Set ............................................................................... $19.99
Dreadball:  Beauties and the Mob, Cheerleaders and Fans ............................................. $29.99
Dreadball: Martian Team ................................................................................................. $24.99
Dreadball: Neodruim Knuckle Draggers All Star MVP Pack (4) ....................................$29.99
Dreadball: Rotatek Rockslides, Brokkr Team  .................................................................$29.99
Dreadball: Season 4 ......................................................................................................... $24.99
Dreadball: Unincorporated Rebs Team ........................................................................... $29.99

Mongoose Publishing
Traveller RPG  2300 AD Liberty - Fighting crime in America's Off-World State ......... $14.99
Traveller RPG 2300 AD Libreville Corruption In the Core Worlds ..............................  $14.99

Monte Cook
The Strange RPG:  Cypher Chest ..................................................................................... $29.99

Osprey Publishing
ACROSS A DEADLY FIELD: THE WAR IN THE WEST .......................................... $34.95
FIGHTING SAIL ............................................................................................................ $17.95

Paizo Publishing
PATHFINDER ADV PATH: GIANTSLAYER PART 4 - ICE TOMB OF THE GIANT QUEEN ............................................................................................................................ $22.99

PATHFINDER CAMPAIGN SETTING: INNER SEA MONSTER CODEX ............... $19.99
PATHFINDER FLIP-MAT: WARSHIP ......................................................................... $13.99

Pinnacle Entertainment Group
Savage Worlds RPG:  Hell on Earth Companion SC ........................................................ $19.99
Savage Worlds RPG:  Shaintar Legends Arise.................................................................. $39.95
Savage Worlds RPG:  Hell on Earth: The Worm's Turn .................................................. $19.99
Savage Worlds RPG: Shaintar Legends Unleashed .......................................................... $39.95

Pokemon USA
Pokemon TCG:  Double Crisis Team Aqua and Team Magma Mini Set  ........................ $ 7.80

Reaper Miniatures
1” HEX PLASTIC GAMING BASE (20) .................. $5.99
1” ROUND PLASTIC RPG BASE (20) .....................$4.99
2” ROUND PLASTIC RPG BASE (10) .................... $4.99
3” ROUND PLASTIC RPG BASE (10) .................... $5.99
GRAVEYARD DISPLAY BASE (RESIN) .............. $12.99
For inch bases, that isn't a bad price.

Death Dog .................................................................. $12.49
Hobgoblin Sorceror ................................................... $ 6.49
Qualanar, Human Wizard .......................................... $10.49
Stitch Golems Lesser (2) ........................................... $12.49
Tengu Rogue ............................................................. $ 5.99
Animal Companions Goat Pig Cow .......................... $ 5.99
Temple Dragon .......................................................... $ 9.99
Vonsalay Female Half Orc Wizard ............................ $6.99

Steve Jackson Games
Munchkin:  Dopple Spyke Vinyl Figure .................... $19.95

Troll Lord Games
Castles and Crusades RPG:  Death in the Treklant ....  $ 9.99
This covers Vakund, Dzeebagd, and Felsentheim that were initially released for d20 3.0 D&D and I used as a ho-hum storyarc for Hackmaster. 

Castle and Crusades RPG:  Night of Spirits ................ $ 7.99

Wizards of the Coast
MAGIC THE GATHERING CCG: DUEL DECKS ELSPETH VS. KIORA DISPLAY ...... $19.99

Wizkids
D&D Attack Wing Blue Dragon  ........................................................................................ $19.99
D&D Attack Wing Pegasus ................................................................................................ $19.99
D&D Attack Wing Warrior ................................................................................................ $14.99

 

 

 

RPGaDay #25 Favorite RPG No One Wants to Play

As someone who was once given the title of "Games Guru of the Lehigh Valley" by more than one person, there have been a LOT of games that I've been interested in that have netted zero players. Once you get out of the D&D/Big License umbrella that covers 95%+ of all gamers out there, anything else is "weird."

Today I'll drop a list of stuff I'm definitely not going to be playing anytime soon.  These will include "Once and Future Games" where I may have run successful campaigns using the system before, but the chances of convincing the current or other group to play it are slim to none.  It also includes campaign concepts that are outside the realm of  "normal" gaming. It would be bad enough to put up a traditional tear off sheet at the FLGS looking to run a Castle Falkenstein game.  Make it a CF game set entirely in Australia, and your options usually dwindle to less than nothing.

#7 Gamma World
I haven't played it in two decades, and I only own scraps of the 1st edition, but Gamma World is so wacky and gonzo that it's a blast, once you get going.  I would hunt down a copy of 4th edition (which is also known as 3rd Edition D&D done right, a decade before it was made.)  There's still a feel of 2nd Edition, mixed with sci-fi, mixed with some of the mathematical corrections, such as an armor class that goes up.

#6 Mouse Guard
I ran this once to try it out years ago, I love the system, and if someone else can buy into it, it would make for a great troupe-style campaign, with multiple people taking over the GM reins.  Alas, anthropomorphic mice who are to scale are lower on the list than Adolescent Blackbelt Hamsters. After the Reaper II finally lands, and a few packs of mice warriors from Eureka, I'd like to make this the lazy snowbound winter afternoon game for the girls, but they each need a few years before they're old enough.

#5 Talislanta
It's been 15 years since the last successful campaign, which was a summer interlude between semesters in our college game.  The traditional AD&D tropes were thrown into Tal, characters converted, and most survived unscathed.  It was great because I could throw out some completely wacky modules that had no place in a "real" D&D game, tweak them to logically fit into Talislanta, and no one even blinked.  I still have my complete run of books up through the WotC era, and I'd probably use Third Edition and play a lot more with the open magic system

#4 The Gnomish Space Marines
Still trying to hammer down the correct system (definitely percentile), but taking the old parody song out of Dragon Magazine, converting to the "tough" space opera style we used in TWERPS (yes TWERPS), and giving it a healthy dose of nostalgic sci-fi modules and some Rogue Trader era flavor.  It's a mish-mash of tropes that I'm trying to avoid using d6 Star  Wars or Star Frontiers, but I want this to be a hoot.

#3 Call of Cthulhu: Cult of Nevoz
I know, I play this more often than all other RPGs, combined, but this campaign never gets any traction, with the limited info I provide to players. This is a CoC modern campaign that's a bit more Ghostbusters than Delta Green or X Files, and my reading in the genre is lacking but here goes.  The world has already experienced the Ghostbuster movies in real life and have come to accept the supernatural in some ways.   In return, some of the creatures of myth and legend have emerged from the shadows and have joined the fringes of society.  No, unlicensed nuclear accelerators are frowned upon, but you could have a headless Thompson gunner or a werewolf in London, and all of them could be gambling in Havana.   Oh yes Nevoz = Warren Zevon and a catalog odd songs that could be used for some very creepy roleplaying.

#2  Recon

This under appreciated gem in the Palladium catalog was all about combat during the Vietnam War.  PCs had there roles in the squad and didn't have any non military skills, outside of possibly foreign language skills. They really weren't even expected to make through their tour of duty, so why bother?  Two decades ago, I used some of the rules in Advanced Recon and ran a micro campaign in West Africa in the late 70s/early 80s and it was phenomenal.  I'd like to run that again and make the mercs a little more colorful than meat shields with stats.

#1 "Home"
No one ever bit on my offer to run "Polynesian D&D" and that's a shame.  What  everyone dismissed as beautiful weather and men in grass skirts was in reality a reverse dungeon based off of the classic module X1: Isle of Dread.

PCs would be young natives reaching their coming of age ceremony and finding not only their place in society, but some of the secrets of the island as well.

System wise, I would keep basic D&D (Rules Cyclopedia) for combat skills, integrate BRP skills, and slap on Talislanta's magic system to cover the elementalists that live on the island.    All that, plus the Zombie Masters running amok and months of Dragon/Dungeon articles during the 3e era that could be mined for ideas?  I just need the interested group.

(Kickstarter) Mouse Guard Bricks!

After a wildly successful Kickstarter for Mouse Guard's Swords and Strongholds game, Luke Crane has teamed up with Crazy Bricks for a Kickstarter of Mouse Guard Brick figures.

Now, I have little knowledge dealing with Lego pricing or Lego-knock off pricing, but the initial pledge of $20 for four Mouse Guard heads  and a set of accessories seems high to my cheap mind.

As the stretech goals hit and a few more heads and accessories kick in, even my miserly self has to admit it would be awesome for some official Mouse Guard characters running around the gaming table.  Add cheaper prices per set when you increase the quantity, and a whole mouse village (or battalion) could pop up.

(Kickstarter) Mouse Guard: Swords and Strongholds

I have a certain routine when I come into work.   After I make sure all my work programs are operational, I grab a cup of coffee and alternate between work email and glancing over blogger/kickstarter for the first half hour.  The Kickstarter portion may need to be pushed back to lunch, as all the new campaigns seem to launch right before then.

David Petersen and Luke Crane have decided to make a real version of Swords and Strongholds, the game played at inns and taverns within the Mouse Guard world.

At first glance, it looks like a neat concept.  Mouse Guard fans should gobble it up, and it's another way to keep the brand active until the next series.  The pledge levels aren't too bad, either, with $12 for a print-and-play version, and $30 for the full game plus the print-and-play.  Then they should the basics of the game:

This is NOT the $30 pledge level. 

•The base set will include a wooden board, eight plastic mouse pawns, 30 cards (on 120 gsm coated stock or better) in a sturdy tuck box or sleeve, and a rules sheet complete with example illustrations. The game will be contained in a cardboard two piece box with a full color wrap.


A wooden board that I could make with the kids, eight pawns that could easily be replaced with Reaper mouslings, or the Mouse Guard PVC characters, and 30 printed cards that I could print similarly durable cards off a good printer with the print and play option?   I'm throwing in a buck for now, and will probably go the do-it-yourself route.

My Plans For 2014

With the review done, it's time to look at what projects I'd like to accomplish for the 2013-14 gaming "season."

Last year I had very specific things in multiple categories. This year I'll cover it in general topics and go from there.

1. The Second Samoan Civil War (25mm): This is going to get finished, on time, come hell or high water. Painting, painting, some figures, a little more painting, and a prayer I don't have to special order more Samoan flesh tone from England.  I need to organize some play testing as well, just in case I need more troops.  Here's hoping its just some late night painting sessions of banana trees. 

2. Call of Cthulhu:  Everyone's good friend, Jackson Elias, is dead, but unlike your standard version of the campaign, where people run a few softball sessions and then BAM! we're in room 410, we had twenty to harden the hearts of the investigators, make them badass, and possibly piss off every other cult in New York City.  I'll tell you what, no other version of the campaign in recorded history has had an eight-foot tall roided out Asian playing a mysterious role in New York.   Outside of an eventual copy of Tales of the Sleepless City, I can't think of anything else I'll need for a long while, even if we get a TPK and do something else. 

3. Gnome Wars:  After Samoa, I'll need to rebuild the lost Swiss forces, and perhaps flush out the French forces for the 100th Anniversary of the start of the Great War.  Maybe some Serbian-Roman action for Historicon to ignite the tensions?  Perhaps some Russians, and by some miracle, work on the Gnomish Gazetteer. 

4.  Mouse Guard:  I'm shelving the Mouse Guard game for Mepacon, rather setting up a Burning Plastic game on the world of SOM-ALI-A with some naval maneuvers

5. Burning Plastic:  See above.  Of course, I have to submit the event first. 

6.  The Kids:  I should probably list this as #1 due to its importance, but I need to play more games with the girls, both the silly Princess themed ones and the silly "serious".games.  I found my 25mm Brigade Games figs for Tanga, so we may play some practice CLA for Samoa. 

Or we can just play whatever they want...

Gaming Year in Review: 2012

Like a weird federal tax cycle, my gaming year starts in October of every year.  I've been doing it like that for 24 years now, deal with  it.

Despite financial and convention logistics issues, the gaming year was great!  I got just enough gaming in, and some of it was even with my girls, Maja (3 1/2) and Amelia (almost 2).

Let's start off with the closest item: The Blog
I got some spirited feedback from my Gnome Wars 2.0, as well as a quick review of Contemptible Little Armies.  The biggest post was pics from Historicon in Fredericksburg, even though I wasn't even there.  the GWTG special correspondent Mike Lung was a great on-site reporter.

From my gaming record for the year, I can extrapolate this:

Gnomes! We got the first part of the Tanga campaign finished, with an added scenario to see if the Germans were completely screwed. The Swiss had fought back hard and pulled out a minor victor. Now onto the battles around the actual port itself (time to paint the Sikhs!) We also had some great games at the HMGS cons. Heck, even my buddy Steve bought into Gnome Wars. Mind you, he also had a baby boy this past year, and the thought of him breeding surprises me even more than that!

Cthulhu: four sessions in a year!  I'm on fire!  We have enough of a base group now to survive the fatherhoods of Steve and Nate, and the distance of new players Bob, Aaron, and Josh.  After that first game with Jess and Phil, I finally got them to meet the core group and hilarity ensued.  I'm hoping for four sessions between now and June, or at least iron out a consistent schedule. The year 1924 has finally arrived.  No one's lives will ever be the same.

I also experimented with TIARA (Toddler Interactive Adventure Resolution... Adventure),  We enjoyed some quick 1-hour games and with a little time, and little more maturity, we can play Advanced TIARA.

Risus:  Our annual Day of Sloth IOU game was back up and running , with a great rehashing the old villains I had used previously.

Legions of Steel:  One of my gamer resolutions was to play this this year, and I got in one game.

Conventions: Fall in 2011 was a hoot.  Nice Gnome Mega-games, my Yellowstone game was a hoot, we had a freaky snowstorm, sucky rooms at the Host, and sleeping in a room with three kids under three was interesting.  Late night drinking with the stout gnomes at the bar was epic.  I've used the "heart attack joke" a good half dozen times with much success.  I returned to Mepacon after a year absence and threw in a new dynamic: my wife.  Cold Wars was epic, with the three table mega-game, the Canadians, Mike Lung's cannibal gnomes, and my first dabbling into the my new interest: The Samoan Civil Wars, real and gnomish.

Purchases: A lot of gnomes (surprise!)   I got American Gnomes, with lots of support staff.   MBA Customs House, and some Middle Eastern buildings, and wishing well add to my table nicely.   I've slowly recovered my LOS collection, at least book wise, although there are plenty of new figures way down on my painting list.  eBay has been good to me, picking up a bunch of random Warhammer figs which average $2 apiece after shipping.  And I almost forgot Contemptable Little Armies! 

Painting:  not impressive, but consistent.  This year's Gnome Wars unit was British Marines for the Cold wars mega game (and Samoa). Throw in 2 ships for the the game, my daughter's royal tower, and some mouslings, and that's just about it.  I did about the same as last year, just with no real terrain pieces. I do know I'm eventually going to need more storage.

And now my inconsequential awards my own accomplishments for the past 12 months.

Best Game: This has been keeping this post on the back burner since the 1st.  All the games I've played have been good, the Cold Wars games were awesome.  My Yellowstone game is either the most innovative thing in the last thirty years of historical wargaming, or it the idea of educating while playing got boring real fast back in the day.  The winner has to be my June  Rorke's Drift  game.  Historical wargaming with a fantasy twist, an inexpensive "Zulu" army, and my daughter chucking prodigious amounts of dice will trump just about anything.

Best RPG Purchase:  Outside of two Rifts books and Hero Old West I picked up for a buck apiece at a flea market.  I made no true new RPG purchases..  I will say then, for inspiration to myself and my daughter Maja, Mouse Guard Winter 1152 is the best RPG related product I've bought this year.

Best Miniature Purchase:  Despite the gnome explosion, the winner is the Warhammer Fantasy Undead Wolves pack. despite losing a tail on one, the other one stoked my desire to paint, if only for a bit.

Best Miscellaneous Purchase  The MBA Customs House may win on shear awesomeness to some, but the fact that I picked up Contemptible Little Armies plus book 3, covering Africa and the Middle East.

Best New stuff:  This whole Kickstarter thing, might just be the thing the keeps the hobby afloat, or it will be the final death knell to gamers using the brick and mortar system.  The idea that people  have hundreds of dollars invested in multiple miniatures Kickstarters might be great for them, but that money isn't going into the normal transaction circuit.  Plus that money could be tied up with the company for months before it delivers actual product.  We shall see...

Mouselings and a Wacky Goblin

The children are passed out at a manageable hour, the track events for the Olympics are done for the night...

My God! I have time to PAINT!

Sorting through three different locations for paints, supplies, etc was not the most efficient way to get things started, but I have paint onto lead and that's all that matters.

This week I should be finishing up a couple minis from the Reaper Mouselings line. Base coats are done, now it's just shading, highlights, and details.

The first I could punch out quickly were the heavily armored mouse dude, whom I call Sir Steelnut and Furry the Barbarian.

David the Gnome added for size comparison

I need to touch up the knights shield.  Apparently I didn't clear out enough of the spray sealer and it made it a wee bit gritty.  

What is best if life?  To crush  your enemies, see them driven from  you... and cheese. 

The final entry is a random goblin sitting in my box o' random figs. It looks like a small Warhammer fig (the base is GW 20mm at least), but I have no clue where/when I got this. It's got to be 10+ years old.

If anyone wants, I'll make a new post and try to put in some stats, a la Mouse Guard. Since the Mouse Guard games I'll be running will involve a three year old, sorry of this and future characters don't agree with continuity. It's a game about mice.

Next:  More Mice

Historia Rodentia

Somehow I either completely missed this, or they weren't in the Game Trade Magazines for my Apathy columns.

Mongoose is releasing Historia Rodentia, an RPG for their Legend system.  The Historia is is based on the Brushfire wargaming skirmish system/minis  produced by On the Lamb Games.



The last (and only) time I mentioned On the Lamb was almost two years ago, when I discovered Hamster Berserkers.  They don't have a presence at the HMGS cons, so like many of the British companies I've lauded, they fall off the radar. I do like the idea of a world of different animal races representing each nationality, however a number of the figs are a bit too... human looking for my tastes. But this is enough to let me investigate at least the Brushfire wargaming rules and do a bit of research on the Legend RPG.

The Brushfire rules can be found here.
A pdf of the RPG based Historia can be found here for $11.99.   There is a wargaming related version as well.
For a hard copy, I found rpgshop.com to have it for $17.99

Mepacon Spring 2012

ViscountEric... Has returned... To Mepacon.

It's been a full year and I've missed the two 10th anniversary galas so it's been too long. This time I added a new dynamic to the equation.

I brought my wife.

My lovely wife Michelle is most certainly NOT a gamer. Sure she has played Fluxx and Apples to Apples, and even figured out the basics of Magic, but she traditionally just rolls her eyes and lets me do my thing.
This time I had her come up with me use her sparingly to carry stuff for my Gnome Wars game, hang out for auction and raffle, grab a bite, and we could pass the hell out in the hotel room without any children to bother us for the first time in three years.

Going to a con with my non-gamer wife creates a whole new experience. She is a self-professed t-shirt whore and even though they are con t-shirts, six years of old Mepacon shirts beckoned to her. Finding out the t-shirts came in child's small and onesies meant Maja , Millie, and our friend's little one Alex, got ones too.

We got to the con at 1pm with just enough time to pick up my badge, unload the car, and set up my game. The problems began to arise. First, there was no GM badge. Second, my event was not even listed on the "muster wall" of events! Third, all senior staff were off site having lunch.

By the time 2pm rolled around, all was resolved, and we got center table in the ball room. The actual Gnome Wars write up will be for another post.

For the con itself, attendance looked to be a little lower than usual, or else I peaked into the Organized Play room every time they were on break. D&D, as expected, was the champion, although there was a Toon game that not only was full, but had three standby players.

From conversing with other players, Dreadfleet seemed to have a good following. There was also a very nice Mordheim city display, although I was unable to view it closely as they had renowned author, perennial Guest of Honor, and salesman extraordinaire CJ Henderson next to them, and that is a dance I only perform when I'm ready.  The second I spotted his table in the ballroom, I warned my wife, yet she did not heed my warnings.

Speaking of dealers, it was pleasant.surprise to see CJ, plus a full row of dealers:  The Portal, some guys who only focus on Fantasy Flight boardgames, and the Keep.  It's the first time I had seen the Keep there, and I was pleasantly surprised by the selection.  In general, though, LOTS of boardgames, and Portal had a full line of 4e and other items at 20% off.

The game wrapped up a half hour early, I snagged up some raffle tickets and an auction card for the famous "everything starts at a buck" auction.  I had brought up a box of stuff out of the garage to sell, but alas, I could not find anything to replace it with!  First off, the buyout prices were way too high.  Second, even when they were, like a complete 1st Edition Battlesystem boxed set with a number of extra photocopied pieces glued to chits for only $3, my practical mind overrode my gamer hoarder mentality by saying,
"when am I going to play with this crap?"

An early breakfast and no lunch caught up to us, and about 2/3 of the way into the raffle, I just handed my tickets and auction  card to my friend Tom and the Mrs.and I headed over to Damon's Grill for dinner.  More thanks to Tom, who gave us a $15.00 off voucher as we left.  An appetizer dinner, a few drinks, and a call to check on the kids later, and we were content with the world.

Even better, Tom didn't use my auction card to buy anything.

Up until 8:45pm, I was stuck with the embarrassing fact that my wife had spent more money at the dealers than I had! Middle of the afternoon, she came to the table with a copy of Family Fluxx and a giant d20!  With the auction over, my wife went into the above-mentioned t-shirt frenzy and I decided to possibly buy something.

The gentleman at The Keep was a nice guy and running a decent promotion: Buy one item at listed price and get a second of equal or lesser value for 50% off.  Even with that I had to suffer through some douchebags "haggling"  with him to get some higher end boardgames for below the distributor's cost, much less the dealer's.   Let's just say that I have their names jotted down and if they ever attempt to jump in one of my con games, I'll kindly ask them to go play something else.  Bragging about online prices will only ostracize you from the land of brick and mortar stores, and I think the fate of that store will not rest on the $2 profit on                a game that cost the dealer 15 times that to purchase at wholesale.

 The Portal, The FFG guy,and The Keep in the Corner

 The Auction/Raffle and the other side of  The Portal

Anywho, the spoils:

• A plush d20 and d10 "for the kids"  I'll throw in another giant d20 my wife purchased.
• Mouseguard: Winter 1152 and Legends of the Guard.  More "mouse books" to tell stories to my daughter Maja.

As I missed the morning session, I did miss the traditional paint and take, so here's a quick snap of some elementals that paint and take coordinator Tom Carpenter was working on:

As we planned this as a "weekend" away, this was the first time I had stayed at the Ramada in Clarks Summit.  Clean rooms, nice staff, sufficient towels, although I have had better Continental breakfasts at generic hotels before.

We did one more swing through the ballroom, dealt with CJ and picked up Central Park Knight, and we headed to an extremely loud Waffle House for breakfast, then some grocery shopping and then to return home to make sure the kiddos didn't burn down the house.

So that's right true believers, I got through a Mepacon without picking up any random RPG tome, rather a pile of t-shirts, some giant dice, two collected comics collections, and a mythos-related novel.  

Mepacon Fall 2012  (Mepacon XXV?) will be November 9-11 at the same location.  If I do go, I have requests to run a old Mepacon favorite:  Burning Plastic.

The Worldwide Jihad Against Fedex Has Been Cancelled... and other notes

First off, the FedEx matter with my friend Mike has been resolved. The sculpts were delivered a few blocks up the road and that person was nice enough to drive them to the caster's house. Please, no violence against FedEx employees on the part of Gaming with the Gnomies. Apparently, one of the drivers is already suffering from a traumatic brain injury.

Secondly, with my current camera on the fritz, I got two promises of photographic equipment for Cold Wars. With Mike's "Super-secret project #2" back on schedule. I'd love to have a special photoshoot of the finished product on the blog in the wee hours of Saturday morning. I'll be drinking heavily at the time, so the pics might be nice, but the words will be completely incomprehensible.

In other words, a regular blog post.

Third, tonight, per special request of my daughter Maja, we're breaking out "The Mouse Book" (Mouse Guard), as well as all of the mouseling/mice warrior figures we can find. Don't know what we're doing, but since her "David the Gnome" ongoing bedtime story has involved Bad Guys, the Land of Oz, and cupcake eating Martian Babies who live on the moon, I can't wait to see what gem she produces.

And finally, with the tax return to be submitted tonight, I need to plan by Cold Wars shopping list. A lot of those "If Money Were No Object" items from my monthly Apathy of New Releases posts need to be considered for purchase, like the Warlord US Army MPs on Motorcycle. If somebody's going to stock them, they better be in the Cold Wars dealer room.

(12 Days) #10 Lessons of Maja

For starters, doing this for twelve straight days, making stuff up, rather than a mixture of news and reviews, and opinions, is absolute madness! Doing this at Christmas borders on sheer stupidity! I only have one more post to compile after this (Christmas Day was set up about a week ago, I just need to add some comments).

Today we cover that wonderful little sprite in the house, my daughter Maja. While my youngest Amelia is the one dressed as a gnome on my Facebook page, Maja has demonstrated a love of the gnome and a penchant for silly sayings.

Maja, like all kids, says some ridiculously cute things, but since I don't want to hear most of the things you think are "cute" about your kids, I won't bother you with mine. I will, however, point out the "cool" things she says, that are almost gamer-appropriate.

Arguing with my wife about the difference between Christmas and Christmastime? At home... won't bother you with details.

Explaining that the royal carriage of the prince and princess, when not in royal use, is used for delivering pizza in the kingdom, is a lesson of Maja we all could use.


Calling a Mark I Assault Fiend from Legions of Steel the "Angry Gnome"? A lesson of Maja for all.


Between the lack of minis being painted at the kitchen table and Maja just growing up, there have been fewer and fewer gaming related lessons. Now, that's not a bad thing. She is starting to communicate cause and effect and summarize "stories". She's great with the Wizard of Oz, much to my wife's chagrin. And my favorite part? She can follow along with a made up story, with only a few pictures for visual aids.

Last month, she grabbed my copy of Mouse Guard off the shelf and wanted Daddy to read her a story. I assumed she didn't want to read about dice pools, and just kept a simple story through the pictures in the book. We got about half way through until it was time for baths, and Maja's lesson?

"Mice walk in the snow a lot."

Mouse Guard: a game of epic adventure, fantastic storytelling... and mice walking everywhere in the ^!#$%!@# snow.

I've talked about Candyland before, but having a child has completely changed my gaming perogatives. Not that I don't want to play everyday, because I do... I just prefer to stay married and not have my cajones placed in a decorative container in the living room.

Now, I'm staring at the Wizard of Oz going, how can I turn this into a a multi-session campaign battle with a movable battlefield between sessions? What materials would I need to build Munchkinland? Oz? Can I justify another Swiss gnome unit just to paint them like the Munchkinland Army? When can I order the Flying Monkeys from Eureka? What body parts of my neighbors can I sell to afford them?

Heck, the new Alice in Wonderland was on, I was pondering where exactly Wonderland was located in regards to Oz, or any other fantastic book/story. It would take a little work, but she's still into it, I could put together a game for Tangled (some people like the story, dialogue, and balanced approach to Rapunzel, I just like the brigands and royal uniforms.

And on top of all of that, she'll kick all our butts in a game of Apples to Apples, far sooner than anyone is willing to admit.

Christmas is coming and I am blessed to have two of the best little girls God has put on this Earth. Amelia's still trying to figure things out, but I will do my best to make sure that outside of all the important lessons my wife Michelle and I try to teach her each day, she keeps two of the more important rules true: Always try to be yourself, and have fun doing it.

Her Ladyship

GenCon... who needs i...er... NEW MOUSELINGS!

I am not a huge fan of GenCon. Perhaps it's my Origins experience telling me there is a level of gamer funk and swamp ass that should not pushed beyond. Perhaps I like my triumvirate of HMGS (East) cons plus Mepacon to better suit my gaming/purchasing needs. Maybe I've already had lunch with Steve Jackson, and praise be to Jeebus, we didn't discuss Munchkin (it didn't even EXIST yet! Boo-yah!).


But I've been subject to two pics from there that whet my appetite:

Minnetonka Mouse and Gold Globe of Gouda perks my interest into pulp gaming, or even a TMNT-esque game with turtles, bears, and *gasp* jungle frog warriors. It was meant to be!

Greens of a bunch of carousing mouselings make my heart all aflutter, images of drunken brawls in mouse guard, more minstrels to be eaten by a snake or scorpion... good times.

And no, the Indy Mouse is not really named Minnetonka, although if I ever use him, I'm calling dibs right now!

Thanks to Jess Carson for providing me the pics, in return, please have a read of her writing(Pathfinder related, but nobody's perfect):

http://www.pathfinderchronicler.net/?p=3174

My Master Plan for 2011

After reviewing 2010, I tried to consider some goals for 2011. I have a radical change in hours coming at work this Fall, and my second child should be arriving in January, so opportunities to game are drying up.

Cons:
Mepacon Fall ’10 and Spring ’11 should be one-day definites. Less than an hour away and I get in for free by running a game or two. Cold Wars & Historicon may be Friday or Saturday day-trips.

Purchases:

Reaper Mouseling Boxed Set (it's too neat to say no to). The rest will be directly related to Longido Mountain campaign. Foamboard insulation, Teddy Bear fur makes great tall grass, a few barren trees/palm trees, and a few miscellaneous German figures to fill out the scenario requirements. Once our FMLA leave for the baby is up, I may look into picking up a few more Miniature Building Authority buildings to prepare for Tanga. The big splurge/birthday present would be “real” WWI Africa figures through Brigade so we could run the Longido/Tanga campaigns twice.

Gaming:

PRIMARY GAMES

1. Gnome Wars: Longido Mountain is my primary gaming for the year. The campaign is my only reason for painting (I’m quite happy with the 14th Swiss TC in the HMGS Gnome Wars games).
2. Call of Cthulhu: The coal crackers have arrived in New York, but for how long? Perhaps they can investigate the disturbances in Red Hook? Will Professor O’Hara be tempted by the knowledge he possesses of inter-dimensional physics? Will Dr. Bowsfield be involved in nefarious activities? Will Nichols be allowed to read the damn books? Beyond the campaign, I think some of the Blood Brother-esque one shots for larger groups.
3. Hackmaster/D&D: Always dependent on players, I can offer the “Home” Polynesian game, Cynicea (role-playing as members of a lost city), and Hukutaan Traldar (role-playing in the lost valley of B10).
4. Risus-IOU: The two word theme of Day of Sloth game is “Radioactive Spittoon”
   
   SECONDARY GAMES
5. Intro CoC: I do have three short scenarios to teach CoC to newbies. I’d love the chance to just run one of them this year.
6. Mouse Guard
7. Con games: Talislanta 3e, and perhaps more of Toon “Cthulhu Comes to Springfield”. Of course, I’ll also take requests
8. Battletech: I don’t own any stuff anymore, but I’m always ready for game, or a trip to Wooly’s.

Of course, everything is subject to change (The ATKM offer for Cold Wars mentioned previously is seriously tempting).

Beer and Pretzels Gaming at Steve's Man Cave

After a five month hiatus, I finally got some of the guys together for some at home gaming. We managed to get five to agree to meet at Steve's ManCave/Basement/Bar in Allentown.

We started with a slideshow of my Historicon pics. My picture taking skills are mediocre at best, but apparently a slideshow presented on a giant HD flatscreen TV makes everyone's pics look spectacular.

Next we moved down to the bar, cracked open some beer, and fiddled around with the Mouse Guard RPG. Playing a mouse might seem silly, but the second a milk snake appeared to interrupt their mission, the guys were all business. My guys were impressed and pleasantly surprised by the system. It's simple: (multiple d6 4+ is a success), it promotes player narrative actions (no just "I attack the snake", but "I jump on it's back and stab it!"), and it also actively encourages cooperation and teamwork. We will try it again.


Due to our late start, a long drive home, and the lack of true wargaming space in the Man Cave, I chose to run Burning Plastic to wrap up the evening. Burning Plastic is a simple game where green army men represent robots, and, as advertised it is "A Game Wholesale Destruction".

The Set-up

General Brian set up his tan army to the south of Rold Gold Mountain, General Adam set up his red army far down the Bar Plateau, and Steve (pictured above) set up the blue army right in the middle. Each had similar units 20 Aluminum Grenadiers (slow troops that can dish out and take a lot of punishment), 2 Scout Floaters (represented by the jets), and one Dreadnought (think mini-Ogre).

The first two turns had the blue and tan armies in vicious fighting, with the red army lumbering along. Most of the damage was done by morale checks. In Buring Plastic, each officer and vehicle can force a d6 morale check on any one figure or vehicle within in its range. Make the check, no effect. Fail it, the figure moves back half its move. Roll a 1 and the unit charges a full move and gets a free attack. Roll a 6... hehehe, the unit's cpu overloads and it retreats its full move and self destructs in a blazing atomic fireball. The blue and tan armies' dreadnoughts were not destroyed so much as they were the focus of multiple morale checks and if you roll enough dice, eventually a 6 will come up. The wreckage of the tan army's dreadnought can be seen in the picture above, it failed its check and took out three of its own guys before exploding.

It looked like a close battle until the GM-controlled air strikes were called in. To use the radio operator/walkie talkie figures, Burning Plastic has spotters, who can call in airstrikes. A regular airstrike is conducted as follows: (1) Any figure within twice the shooting range of the spotter can be targetted. (2) Grab a normal (ie boardgame) d6. (3) Take two steps back from the table. (4) Chuck the die at the troops. Any figure, vehicle hit by the die until it stops is considered destroyed, with the exception of the dreadnought which requires to hits to be destroyed, no matter what. To spice things up, I called in random airstrikes from my bar stool at the far end of the bar. The first couple missed, but around round five I hit the blues and tans hard , and got one good strike on the red army's dreadnought.

Mid-Game

The Epic Battle of Steve's Man Cave (they advertised!)

The tans continued to press on, the blues troops had managed to destroyed the red army's damaged dreadnought with just overwhelming firepower and a little luck and fell back in between the two bags of chips. General Adam split his red army: half to fire at the blues and tans, the other half hiding behind a bottle of Leinenkugels to stop a flank attack if the blues decided to move between the bags.

End Game

Osama bin Plastic: The lone survivor of the Blue Army hides out in the caves of the Snack Mountains.

In my last act as GM, I attempted one final air strike, aiming for the blue army moving down the Snack Pass. I missed, but I hit the bag, causing the Pass to "collapse" and cutting off one blue army trooper who valiantly, but immediately was gunned down by the other armies.

The red army's stretched forces caused its downfall; its fascination with the blue troops hiding in a "cave" of popcorn. Caused numerous casualties. The tan army took its time whittling down the rest. Despite numerous disasters, General Steve's blue army took second place with one dude hiding in the mountains. Hopefully in twenty years, somebody will inform him that the war's been over for awhile...

For a hastily organized game day with one no-show and couple of us showing up late due to race day traffic (stupid NASCAR!), it went off pretty well. Can't wait till September when we should be able to start our Tanga campaign for Gnome Wars.... time to start painting!