So the New Year is upon us and in many parts of the world 2010 has already been ushered in, but to all I wish a Happy New Year! For me, this has been a fun an interesting year particularly in gaming. Many new games were played and many old favorites found themselves to the table. But for the past few years I bought games at an alarming rate where it felt like for every three games I bought I managed to get one to the table before I bought my next three, but this past year I have started to really focus my tastes and start to ask myself “What do I really want from gaming?” And to that question I developed a lot of different answers but through those answers, I realized that about 50% of my collection really needed to go. That was my resolution for ‘09 - To trim down and focus my collection, which for the most part was a success, though I didn’t hit my 50% goal. An amendment to that resolution was to not buy so much, which again has succeeded where a few years ago there’d be two or three “must-have” titles but this year it seems like a “must-have” title for me only came around about once a month.

So again this year I’m looking at doing much of the same - Ship out more games than I bring in. The bringing in part shouldn’t be a problem because my answers to “What do I want from gaming?” really helped in focusing and limiting my purchases. The problem is I know there’ll be games next year that are “must-buys” and the games to ship out are getting fewer and fewer. But this is my problem to deal with (and really not that much of a problem) but this has always been the time of the year to set some goals and I plan on following suit. So if I were to sum it up in one phrase, the 2010 mantra for me is to: Play more of what I own and buy only the games I know will be played.

‘Til Next Time - Happy Gaming
And a Happy New Year
LvT

Filed under: Games - Editorials, New Year's Resolutions by LordVonTush
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A few days back I posted some thoughts I had regarding the recent round of Cease and Desist letters that Games Workshop has issued to a lot of major online communities. Dragon712 posted the following in the comment section: “Any suggestions on any good fantasy/future tabletop wargames with as good or bettera diversity in armies?” I started to write a response to in the comments section, but it was growing a bit too long and I thought I’d take the time today to properly answer the question and share some knowledge that I have about some other game systems. All that I list below fall into a range of “Hands on Experience” to “I’m aware of the game”.

To answer the question directly though: No. In my opinion there isn’t another game out there that has the amount of history or diversity of Games Workshop. With over 25+ years making and developing their worlds (both 40k and Fantasy) there really isn’t a company out there that is GW’s equal in terms of variety. Many companies out there don’t match GW in terms of quality either, but in both cases there are some companies that are catching up.

The main question I have to ask though is “What are you looking for out of a miniature game?”

That is a question that is personal for each individual since miniature gaming encompasses so many aspects of the gaming hobby. Is it the army list building? The spatial relationship of having models on an open table/battlefield? Is it the painting/conversion/modeling aspects? Is it collecting models? Is it reading about and interacting through the game with a different world? Miniature gaming, unlike many other types of gaming, capture much more than just interacting via a set of rules.  

PRIVATEER PRESS (PP) - PP is the company that I feel comes closest to the bar that GW has set. Their WARMACHINE/HOARDS world is developing nicely from what I understand. I really have never been a fluff guy, but the stories that I have read in the rulebooks are some top-notch prose from a game company. Their models are consistently stellar and the quality of their output is superb - It helps having Mike McVey leading their miniatures department who was one of the higher-ups on GW’s ‘Eavy Metal team. Now I could throw out a lot of speculation and some rumors that I’ve heard about the company, but I want to keep this to what I know. I haven’t looked at the game for some time now because it went in a direction that I didn’t like. What I was hoping for was a game with giant hulks (the Jacks) slugging it out and few if any troops. As the books came out with what appeared to me to be a focus on troops I moved away from the game. Now I hear rumors that the new rulebook (yes they are going the GW route and revamping the rulebook, but I don’t know to what extent) and the new rulebook will have a more Jack-focused game play. If that is the case I’ll be jumping back onboard because the core rules are sound, the models are amazing and the quality and presentation is at worse on par with GW. The main plus for PP in my opinion is that they have a big enough fan base that finding opponents shouldn’t be a problem and much like GW games you should be able to walk into a store and find an opponent.

CORVUS BELLI - Based out of Spain this is a company that grabbed my attention back in 2006 when they released the 28mm game INFINITY. What grabbed my attention was the quality of the core rulebook and the miniatures themselves. Now, I have never played the game so I cannot comment on how good or bad the rules are, but from what I heard from other people at my local game shop the game was awesome. Back in ‘06 was a strange time for me since I was moving from Chicago down to Kansas City so I never got to play a game up there during the fading weeks of my time and when I moved down to Kansas City it didn’t seem to hit the smaller city with as much gusto. I did read the core rule book from front to back and the back-story behind the world was very good (perhaps not that original but GW’s worlds don’t scream original either) and the quality and presentation had what I felt was a fresh approach. A word of warning though, this game requires some dense scenery. Ranges on weapons are long and it appeared shots were brutal and the impression that I got about this game is it rewarded players for setting up fire corridors and strategic placement of troops.

ASMODEE - HELLDORADO was a game that I was really, really looking forward to. Skirmished based with what looked to be a unique religious twist everything about it just looked awesome. Sadly though Asmodee decided not to translate the rules or more accurately release an official English translation (they did release an English translation of the rules but they didn’t include army lists). And since I don’t speak French I haven’t followed the game lately. It sounds like some fans are working on an unofficial English translation but I don’t know where that stands or how far along they are. But that said if we can spread the word about the game perhaps Asmodee will change their mind and market the game in the US if enough buzz or demand is built up here.

BATTLEFRONT - The makers of FLAMES OF WAR (FoW). Since this isn’t a fantasy or sci-fi setting I won’t dwell on this game too much, but if you like miniature games and like WWII this is THE miniature game. I have a few models myself and though they aren’t the greatest (I’m personally not a fan of resin) they are average and get the job done. The rules are a bit daunting (not in complexity but the pure number of books out there) but they seem to be pretty consistent since they are historical there isn’t a whole lot that they can change without rewriting the history books.

CROCODILE GAMES - Makers of WARGODS OF AEGYPTUS (imagine the A and the E connected to form a letter that I don’t know the name of or how to accurately pronounce - Like Tool’s Aenima Album). For me, this has to be my favorite alternative 28mm game. Though I only managed to play it once (since sadly this game is a hard one to find opponents for) it was a game that had me engaged from start to finish due to a unique activation/orders system. What I really like about this world is once a book is released I get the feeling that for the most part it is “done” as in it won’t be rewritten a few years from now to keep up with new releases. Part of that though is because Crocodile Games is SLOW! They aren’t a company that moves fast with updates only happening about once a month (so on par with this site at times for a little bit of self-deprecation). Models are sometimes hit or miss depending on the sculptor, but again they do have the talents of an ex-GW guy Chris FitzPatrick (who did the Dark Elves for WFB and Dark Eldar for 40k) so he does have creative oversight but sometimes I get the feeling that he had to settle. Out of all the games on this list, this is the one that I really hope has the legs to stand over time. It is tough to say what the overall vision of the company is because their newer releases like a Yheti race as well as the Spartans seem like a different approach was taken compared to Aegyptus.

CATALYST GAMES - The chaps over here have been doing tons of work cleaning and consolidating the classic game BATTLETECH. BT has been out for decades so there has been piles upon piles of books detailing new mechs and new organizations within the BT Universe. The game was also taken to different scales like AeroTech which is a space-ship battle system, then people wanted to tie the two games together. People wanted to take it off the grid-map based system so alternative rules for an open-table battlefield were developed. Over time the game collapsed in under its own weight. Rules conflicted with each other and were scattered over many books. So I was really excited to see Catalyst put together some amazing work and effort to clean this amazing system up. One thing is they have for the most part removed the option of playing on an open battlefield and instead attempt to bring the focus back onto paper-maps. So perhaps not a miniature game in the true sense, but wait until you see my next entry. The thing with BattleTech though is they are every bit as rich as GW in terms of stories and fluff. Variety is endless due to a nice and comprehensive Mech Consturction rules.

YOUR MOVE GAMES - Now this one I might get a little flack for since BATTLEGROUND: FANTASY WARFARE is a “miniature game” without miniatures. The game has all the feel of a rank and file fantasy wargame, but units are made with cards and as units die a dry-erase marker is used to mark the loses. There are a variety of races that the game offers but they are pretty generic and the game doesn’t have the depth of fluff that people come to expect from miniature games. The best selling point though is you and a buddy can go in for $15-30 apiece and walk away with a full army and rules.

Well those listed above are games that I have some level of personal experience with. There are others out there like ALKEMY or GW’s range of Historical rules (which include a rule set for an Old West Cowboys skirmish game. There are also other scales and settings like UNCHARTED SEAS and FIRESTORM ARMADA from Spartan Games which cover fantasy naval and Sci-Fi space ship battles respectively. There are also an abundance of historical games that cover Napoleon to Civil War to Revolutionary War. Or Civil War naval games or Age of Sail naval games. Mongoose Publishing as a WWII rule set for naval battles which I don’t know much about other than they are supposed to be of a high quality. Then there are also rule sets from Ral Partha. So like I mention above, it really is a factor of what you want out of your miniature gaming. Though not apparent at first there are many, many alternatives but they just don’t have the presence that GW has.

‘Til Next Time - Happy Gaming
LvT

Filed under: Games - Editorials, Miniature Game Systems by LordVonTush
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With the holidays are fast approaching and we here at DrunkDwarves thought it would be a good idea to put together a short list of a half dozen games that we feel make excellent gifts this holiday season. As budgets are often tight this time of year price was our main criteria and these games we feel pack a lot of punch for a reasonable price tag. One other perk of these titles are many of them will work well to bring the family together during the season and bond over some “friendly” game play.

FAMILY BUSINESS: Our first game is also our most inexpensive game coming in with a MSRP of $15.00. FB is an aggressive card game of mob warfare where players start with a number of mobsters under their control and through play of Contracts order “hits” on opposing gangsters. Once a certain number of Contracts are issued then the Mob War begins and gangsters start feeling the warm embrace of a metal slug. This game is pretty cut-throat but with a large group negotiation comes into play and a feeling of running a mob family starts to come out. This will work especially well if your family is very competitive. You can check out our full review here.

HELLAS: For me, this game packs the most game play in a tiny box that I have ever seen. It is the most streamlined and basic war-game you can make that incorporates aspects of popular Card Driven Games like Twilight Struggle but contains it all in a 45 minute game. Though I will say, out of our Gift Guide this year, it is what I’d consider to be the “gamer’s game” out of the bunch. It takes a few plays to really get a grasp as to what is going on and to get a feel for the various card decks. So I would recommend this to someone looking for a gift for someone with the gamer “gene” as I like to call it. MSRP is $24.95 and you can check out our full review on this game here.

CITADELS: In my opinion Citadels is the title that helped Fantasy Flight Games become the juggernaut that it is because of it’s exceptional game play. Players look to build up their realm by building various buildings that are worth different amounts of points. Once one player has ten buildings the game goes into the endgame and whoever’s buildings are worth the most at the end wins the game. But that is not where the game really exists. The true heart of this game is role selection. There is a hand of seven characters (with alternate characters available via the Dark City expansion which is included in newer copies of the game - look for the purple logo stating such). Players take turn picking characters that all have various abilities. One will gain you gold, one will give you the power of the first turn, and one will destroy other people’s buildings for a few examples. The game here is trying to guess what your opponents have picked and plan your strategy for the round from there. I personally have always enjoyed games that try to get you “into the head” of your opponent and this one is no exception. It is a little bit more “gamey” than others on this list, but overall a fairly accessible game as long as the receiver is open to different game types other than standard mass market offerings.

THE ISLE OF DR NECREAUX: Players take the role of a special ops team looking to infiltrate the isle base of The Evil Dr Necreaux who is hell-bent on world domination through genetic engineering and it is your job to rescue the scientists that The Dr is holding captive on his island before your agency comes in nuking the island, with perhaps you on it. The game is a cooperative game for 1-5 players (hey who says you can’t buy a gift for yourself this season!) and takes about 30-45 minutes to play. It is brutal and in three games now I have yet to even find the scientists before either a Giant Genetic Cyber-Ape kills everyone or just getting flat out nuked. If you know someone who likes games that have character and enjoys a game for the experience they provide then this is one to look into. My one gripe about the game though is it is very bland in terms of color. A little bit of color other than the blue for good cards and yellow/brown for enemies, with a smattering of green for items, would have gone a long way to make this game really stand out.

LOST CITIES: Buzz for this game seems to have died down a bit as it gets longer in the tooth, but for me, this is still the game that I’m confident that anyone will play. For me it calls back to traditional card games like rummy but with a few added twists on it. Though it has gone up in price over the years (I think I originally got it for $19.95 or so) it is still reasonable with a MSRP of $24.95. By far and away this game has seen the most miles of any purchase I’ve made within the past six or seven years because of the accessible nature of the game. Anyone who likes traditional cards games will more than likely enjoy this game. See our full review here.

RED NOVEMBER: Rounding out this list is another title that rings in at $24.95 (which to me seems to be the new standard for starting game prices). RN is a fun and often funny (if you don’t mind laughing at gnomes getting drunk as death approaches) game of gnomes running around a sinking submarine attempting to slow down systems that are going critical until help arrives. Much like Hellas this game offers a lot in a tiny box but this is more in reference to game materials. Unpacking the game reminded me a lot of unpacking Warhammer Quest where getting everything to fit into the box is like solving a Tetris puzzle. The game is very light hearted and good natured even though does deal with a pretty dark topic. You can check out our full review here.

Well hopefully these offerings will help you figure out what you want to get for that gamer friend or family member of yours or if you’re like me games to thrust upon unsuspecting family and friends as you attempt to share (force) your love and passion for the hobby with others.

‘Til Next Time - Happy Gaming
LvT (with game suggestions from Deacon)

Filed under: Games - Editorials, Holiday Gift Guide '09 by LordVonTush
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Well it appears the GamesWorkshop lawyers are at it again sending out another round of “Cease and Desist” letters. Years back I would have found myself frothing at the mouth, feeling scorned and a ball of ill will building in my gut. Surprisingly to me, I find myself absolutely neutral on this last round. I frequent BoardGameGeek a bit and I’ve heard numbers tossed around about hundreds of files being deleted off of their servers. The popular BloodBowl site TalkBloodBowl had to change their name and their site now redirects you to TalkFantasyFootball. There have been other sites as well that have been contacted by GW Lawyers but as I’ve mentioned I just don’t find myself interested this time around. Years ago I would have surfed the net for hours looking to see who was affected and what sites had problems. But now I’m a little bit older and just don’t find myself with the energy to get upset, but since others have I thought I’d mention a few things.

First a little story and a word of warning: I read on a few sites something that I thought was interesting and a little unbelievable. For those looking to tatoo their favorite army or race icon/emblem on themselves, they best learn how to ink themselves otherwise they open themselves up to a GW IP lawsuit. From their legal page: “This also means that we cannot allow tattoos as an acceptable use of our IP as a thrid party necessarily has to perform the “service”". I couldn’t help but smile at this one, but it does go to show that GW is very serious about their IP.

But back to the point at hand. As I’ve been interested in GW games for many years now I have seen the rounds of C&D letters before so perhaps the past round was nothing shocking to me as even this site here was hit with a C&D letter at one point. It had to do with a polical cartoon that was posted using the GW logo as the head of a body that was butt-fucking a bent over “customer” as he held up a model with a huge pricetag on it as commentary on one of the at the time recent price increase announcements that GW made. Now I’ll admit that I was on the sideline of this one but from my understanding GW claimed that it was an illegal use of their IP and logo. I believe our response was along the lines of “It falls under ‘fair use’ and in addition “parody”. Now I’m not going to pretend to be a lawyer so DO NOT take that as any sort of advice. But I will say we were able to keep the cartoon up.

What it does show is that GW does tend to swing a heavy lawyer hammer and in a pursuit to protect their IP they often overstep and claim something as illegal use of their IP when in reality it is not. The sad truth is that GW knows fan sites and even large sites like BoardGameGeek do not have the pockets to put up a legal defense. When one company has the receipts to support hundreds and hundreds of employees and their families where the biggest online sites are able to support perhaps a dozen employees and their families, there really isn’t a mystery as to who is set up for a prolonged legal battle. And sadly until someone is able to step up to the plate and actually have a court decide what is legal or illegal use of GW IP, GW will continue with the heavy hammer in pursuit of protecting their IP. And sadly every few years, if you stick with GW enough you’ll see more rounds of C&D letters until someone has the wherewithal to actually put up a defense when accused of illegal use of IP.

Now, I’m not calling for a boycott like others have. What I do want to say though is if you have had problems with GW in the past in terms of armies that you’ve spent money on being outdated or feel the heavy hand of the GW lawyers on your fan site, one of the best things you can do is vote with your wallet. Just stop buying, supporting, posting or doing anything related to them. If you feel that much passion towards the cause, then make sure GW makes you break. Personally over the years, yeah, they’ve pissed me off and over time I have cut them down to a small percentage of my gaming efforts. When I first started gaming it was GW or nothing, now I have seen more of what the gaming hobby has to offer and now GW products account for less than 10% (perhaps even less than 5% - I haven’t been keeping accurate records) of my gaming time and effort. GW itself has made approximately $100 from me over the past few years (I just had to get Space Hulk 3rd Ed). Does just one person like myself matter to GW? No. With sales in many countries over multiple continents one person in Kansas means nothing to them. The best thing I can do for myself and my soul is to educate and inform.

GW has gone to great lengths to isolate themselves from the rest of the hobby world. By spending hundreds of thousands if not millions of dollars in rent and store build outs they have created a hobby shop which keeps people isolated from what else is around them in the hobby market and as I mention above there is a reason behind this. Proven by their track record, if you stick around with GW long enough, the chances are good that they’ll do something that pisses you off. Be it outdating an army (I’ve had that happen not once, not twice, but three times), or outdating a rule set (I still play the SpaceMarine/Titan Legions version of Epic), or in general pissing you and a community you might be a part of online (such as the recent events at BoardGameGeek). This record has shown that retention is not a large part of their business model. New customers with virgin views of GW seems to be their target. They want people who are new to GW and not familar with their past transgressions. They want people who are uneducated about the greater gaming hobby and keep them focused on just the GW hobby. Any of us “loyalists” will eventually hit a point like I have where outside of an odd purchase here or there GW just doesn’t get my money.

So if you want to hit GW where it hurts take it to the streets, take the time to educate new gamers within your community, provide them options in terms of games, worlds and genres. Now, I’m not saying camp outside GW stores telling people not to come in, or put up websites that tell part truths or try to slander GW. What I am saying is be part of the local gaming community and share your knowledge and experience. GW is doing the exact same thing by coming into your community and opening their store. They’re looking to educate new gamers within the community about the virtues of their products so if you have strong feelings towards GW then I suggest you do the same. GW has a track record of doing and conducting business a certain way and though the past does not always predict the future, it does provide a pretty good idea as to what is likely to happen. As for me, this is about the most effort I’ve put towards GW in recent times and chances are will be the most for some time to come. I understand that they have a business model of cycles to try to perpetually keep people buying their models. I also understand that they have to be diligent to maintain protection over their IP. Myself, the GW world is still rich and interesting but I have squelched the desire to have multiple armies for games. I am happy with what I have (with the exception of a few items to round out a few of my armies) and perhaps one day I’ll actually buy those models, but seeing as how I’m more interested in a lot of the other options out there in the hobby market, those purchases might be for some years to come.

‘Til Next Time - Happy Gaming
LvT

Filed under: GW's C&D letters, Games - Editorials by LordVonTush
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Simulation: “How strong is the game at accurately recreating real life situations?”
Games very strong in this aspect would be wargames. Take a game like Advanced Squad Leader that takes the kitchen sink approach and includes everything that was used during WWII (even down to bicycle regiments). Balance, or rules simplicity take a back seat during design and making sure the results simulate what would have likely happed given the conditions. As a design process these games often start with a specific situation and attempt to recreate it by developing the system. A game like Ogre takes traits from wargames but adds in experience by creating this new world, this new setting and new vehicles and machines to use.

Experience: “How strong is the game at providing the player with a “role” to step into?”
AmeriTrash Games are often the ones that I feel provide a strong experience, sometimes at the expense of the other two categories. A game like Twilight Imperium III makes me feel like I’m in the roll of a Galactic Emperor controlling and directing my people when to expand, when to build up an army, when diplomacy is the best action…etc. Miniature games are another experience game where you take on the roll of a general outfitting your troops, telling them what to defend and where to attack. But miniature games also have a simulation aspect to them. Intricate worlds are created, entire races are developed and the technology and fighting style are all supposed to represent and reflect the back-story and history that these particular races have.

Balance: “How strong is the balance between players?”
This one was a little harder for me to define or come up with a word for but I think balance fits. Euro titles and Abstracts would fall into this category. Abstracts often put players on an equal playing field with a minimal set of rules and win/loss comes down to the player’s skill and ability to execute strategy within a given system. Some of heavy Euros would fall into this like Caylus and Through the Desert. Both of those games I don’t think do a good job at simulating anything. They don’t do a good job at giving me the experience (I don’t feel like a caravan leader in Through the Desert nor a builder in Caylus). What they do a great job at is creating a framework, which can get very complex at times, which tries to find out who has the better skills at working in and manipulating in a particular system. A game like Mississippi Queen gives everyone the same starting resources and has everyone floating down the same river, but also adds in things that add to the experience like ramming and river obsticles.

The reason why I feel the classification system should change is because as I mentioned the current terms are restrictive. Games are fought over by people who identify with the different camps or genres of games when in reality the majority of games do not fit nicely into one of the three current categories. By boiling it down to what I feel is the defining trait of each respective genre it allows you to classify games as being strong in experience, above average in simulation but weak in balance (Like TI3). Or weak in experience, strong in balance but weak in simulation (like TtD). Or strong in experience, average in simulation but weak in balance (like the majority of miniature games).

I see these traits on a sliding scale. Think of the back of a wargame box where it rates difficulty or solitaire suitability on a sliding scale…That’s how I see the traits I define. To me it provides the consumer with more and better information on what to expect from a particular title. If a game is high on balance but low in everything else (these would be “Heavy Euros”) chances are it is not for me. I tend to value experience highly so a game like Fury of Dracula which I feel provides a strong experience but is pretty low on balance rates high on my list.

Perhaps my definitions aren’t correct, but I am correct in saying that our current classification system is wrong and of minimal use. The current terms have no clear definition. As games that share traits with Euros or AT or Wargames come out these definitions, often defined by the groups that identify with them, are dynamic and continuously get redefined, but not refined as games we want to call AT or War or Euro (and could really be argued for multiple sides) call the old definition into question and that definition gets morphed to defend a particular title. Then when a game really can’t be classified as one or the other and is a true hybrid or melding of traits terms like Waros pop up further proving that the current classification system just doesn’t work since nothing is as clean cut and we all want them to be.

‘Til Next Time - Happy Gaming
LvT

Filed under: Game Categories, Games - Editorials by LordVonTush
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