Hello, my name is Don, and I’m a Descent Junkie.

A few months ago, I purchased the Road to Legend expansion for Descent, and now I can honestly say I’m suffering from an addition to it akin to what some folks have claimed to have for World of Warcraft, gambling, or freebasing Heroin.  In other words I’m hooked.

So seeing as how I’m putting in on average 8-12 hours a week playing the game, I’ve decided to put in the effort of make the game look really nice - by making a custom board, and painting up the miniatures.  I mean after all, I’m playing this game way more than any of my wargames, so it goes to reason that if I’m going to spend time painting little plastic figures, it should be for the game that will see the most use.

After seeing the directions on how to make a 3D game board on the Hirst arts website, I had to have one.  I’ve never been a fan of the dungeon board sections that come with the game, with their ill-fitting puzzle piece connections, and drab colors - not to mention a 3d board is just too cool.  Now I have no illusions - pouring all those pieces will take some time, so while I’m doing that, I will pass the time by painting the hordes of beasties that will inhabit my new dungeon.

Some of the monster miniatures kindah suck - so I will be replacing them with other models of my choosing.  Namely, the Demons, Blood Apes, and Trolls.  I’ll be scouring the net for the best miniatures to fit the bill - if you have any suggestions, please write in a comment. 

Setting goals for such a task is a bit tough until I try casting up Hirst arts molds for the first time - I really don’t know what to expect.  Lamenter makes it look pretty easy, so hopefully it won’t be too hard, just time consuming. 

I’ve already got a jump on painting up the Kobolds - the most numerous of the monsters, so keep checking in - I’ll have an update on this beast of a project soon!

DEACON

Filed under: Galleries - Project Blogs, Project Descent by DEACON
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A few days back, while taking part in a conversation on another website, we were discussing the advantages and disadvantages of using a gridded (i.e. Hex based) vs open table in miniature games. The people advocating the gridded system were telling how they don’t play miniature games because of arguments they’ve heard about 1/2″ or 3/8″ and some of the general “sloppiness” that an open table cultivates. What really got me thinking though were the people who were advocating an open table. They started talking about realism and how a gridded system reduces the illusion of realism that the open table provides. The conversation was dying down at that point, but I couldn’t help but ask myself “Why?”

Why is the illusion of realism important in miniature games? To try to answer that question I started to think about what other qualities of miniature games raise realism to a high level. Everything tied to the aesthetics of the game relate to realism…When a conversion or paint job is praised, the subconscious criteria that the piece is judged on is, “How well does the piece capture a scaled and 3d representation of how it would look if in real life?” Scenery is scaled and given dimensional depth to create more realism (that is why you rarely see felt rivers or forests).

Sit around a miniature game table and the arguments you’d hear will often times start with the defense of “if this was really happening X would happen…” or “That is not realistic”. Hell, I’ve had arguments like that myself more time than I care to remember. I remember this one argument specifically from about 9 or 10 years back. My buddy and I were playing a Space Marine (him) vs Tyranid (me) 40k game. I had my Lictor parked behind a rock with a portion of his claws poking above the piece of scenery. He wanted to take a shot at it and my defense, which I’m not really proud of, was “Well if this was really happening, at this position (one of hiding and cover) he would have his claws tucked closer to his body and not waving above the stone wildly, therefore you should not get a shot at it”.

When that brief story popped into my head my answer to my question of “Why?” started to come into focus. Miniature games are light role-playing games for people who don’t like to role-play. Well perhaps that isn’t entirely true, I know many miniature gamers who have played or tried role-playing games, some who really get into them, but there is a lot of cross over between genres. So perhaps the better answer to my question is: Miniature gaming is a form of light role-playing.

As I sit here and type I think to all the times I’ve started the argument with “In real life…” or think about every time I’ve stooped over to get a model’s eye view to take in what the model would be seeing “in real life”. I’ve thought about a game like Warmaster where, when playing it, I feel like I’m general trying to issue orders and maneuver my troops to form a battle line and suffering the same communication problems ancient generals may have encountered. Often I find myself empathizing with the model thinking “If I was in this situation, what would I do?”

And when you think about it the question of “What would I do?” is the heart to every role-playing game. When confronted in a crowded room of an Old English Inn with the feeling of hundreds of eyes burrowing through your body, what would you do? When walking through the woods and get ambushed by a band of rogues, what would you do?

Which leads me back to miniature games; Realism for models is highly praised to help create the illusion of a real setting, so while playing you’re able to see what the model sees and how they would see it. No amount of words from a dungeon master can capture the location of enemies or cover with the details that miniatures do. Miniature games do lack the emotional and atmospheric side of pen and paper role-playing though. With miniature games you don’t get emotionally tied to your models because you’ll have new recruits next time. You also don’t get the eerie feelings from being in a crowded room or the surprise of being ambushed that only a game-master can provide. The emphasis on visual realism is the way that miniature games create a role-playing like atmosphere minus the emotional and atmospheric ties that are typically tied to pen and paper role-playing provides.

Well those be my ramblings for now.

‘Til Next Time – Happy Gaming!
LvT

Filed under: Games - Editorials, Mini Games - RPG Lite? by LordVonTush
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Today, I’d like to draw your attention to a cool, rather unknown game called Polarity.  Polarity is a game of dexterity - meaning that your success in the game is directly related to how well you carry out a physical task rather than a mental one as is case in most of the games discussed on this site.  Actually, one could consider this a “sport”, just like my favorite pastimes, frog giggin’ and curling - I currently hold the patent for a game which brilliantly combines the two into one awesome event, which I call Frog Curling, or maybe Curl Giggin’ - but that’s something I’ll go over later.

Polarity is played on a cloth mat, in the center of which sits an ominous red magnet.  Players are given a stack of magnetized discs, white on one side, black on the other.  Each player is assigned one of these colors, and this is the side that is turned face-up when they place their discs.

Play begins with the players taking turns placing discs on the mat, anywhere in bounds (within the big black circle).  After each player places 5 discs, or “foundations” (discs laying flat on the mat), the real game begins.

Taking turns, players take one of their discs, their color side up, and attempt to “lean” it against one of their foundations.  Leaning a disc basically means that you use the magnetic field of the foundation disc to push up against the magnetic field of the disc-in-hand, which makes an invisible cushion that keeps the disc floating nearly in mid-air.  The effect is really, really cool looking - especially once there’s a lot of discs in play.  A disc floating against a foundation is called a “Leaner”.

Lots of interesting things happen to Leaners and foundations as you continue to cram new magnetic fields into a limited space.  First and foremost, you’ve got to watch that red disc in the center of the mat.  During your turn, the red disc can move and slide slightly without any effect but if it ever slides completely off of it’s starting spot, or snaps to another disc, you loose - period.  If a leaner slides down to the mat, or discs in play start snapping together, you’ve just “Faulted”, and your turn ends.  The actions taken following a fault varies depending on the fault which occurred:

-If a Leaner slides down to lay flat on the mat, it stays where it is, becoming a new foundation - this can be done on purpose to make room for more Leaners if you’re careful enough.

-If discs leap off the mat and snap onto the disc you have in hand, you take all of them and simply add them to your stack.

-If discs are pushed out of bounds, then you add those to your stack.

-If discs snap together on the mat, they form a new “Tower”, and are claimed by the opposite player.  The claiming player must lift the tower off of the mat, and place it anywhere back in play, with the player’s color showing on the tower’s top.  Note that trying to get the tower off the mat and placed can cause further faults - if this happens the tower is claimed by the other player, and they must attempt the same.

Once one of the players places the last disc in their stack, the game ends.  Players then count all the discs that are located in the towers they own, and the player with the most is the victor.  Simple!

The game takes around 20 minutes to play, though it can easily take longer depending on how long players take with their turns.  It will take a game before the players get a good grasp on how to position Leaners and the general strategy of it all, but once you get it down, the game is a real blast.  It’s an awesome beer and pretzels game, but can be a serious venture if you’re into that sort of thing.  Most people I’ve introduced it to love it, some love to hate it, and some just loathe it - if you’ve got big ‘ol sausage butter fingers, stay well clear of it.  Obviously it’s not for everyone, but if you’re so inclined, give it a shot and let us know whatcha think!

DEACON

Filed under: Games - Dexterity, Polarity by DEACON
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Who doesn’t like saying that word? Fjords. It just rolls off the tongue. But, as fun as the word is to say the name alone doesn’t make or break the game. Fjords was designed by Franz-Benno Delonge. Typically the designer of the game doesn’t mean that much to me but I was surprised to find out once I started writing this entry that FBD also designed two of my favorite European Games as well which are Big City and Hellas. I don’t follow game designers or really care who designed what game, but perhaps there is something to a designer having traits, qualities or styles that form a following, but I start to digress.

Fjords is a two player game which takes place around the 9th or 10th century when Vikings started to explore the shores of Norway and settling farmlands. Once again though, like many European designs the theme doesn’t have a close tie to the actual mechanics. Does it feel like your fighting over farmland with other tribes…Not really but it works.

The game takes place in two phases. The first phase players take turns placing hex landscape pieces which often contain shorelines and mountains to create the Nordic landscape. Also during this phase players have four “huts” at this disposal which they can place on a tile they just placed to establish a farmhouse. There are specific rules for hut placement and tile placement but pretty typical stuff and nothing special to note.

Once all the tiles are placed players are unable to place any more huts if they have any remaining and the next phase of the game then begins. At this point players alternate taking wooden disks and placing them on tiles which are empty. These can only be placed next to huts or other disks of your color and must be placed on green fields (note that two hexes divided by either water or mountains do not count as adjacent when placing farm disks) . Once all the disks are placed in the proper positions and no more disks are able to be placed, the game is scored. Players score a point for each farm token they have on the board.

Now at this point the game recommends repeating these two steps a total of three times and after the third round the final score is determined. Personally I feel this is not needed. One round lasts around 15 mins and three rounds I feel is a bit much for what the game offers and feels like it was tacked on at the end to allow a longer playtime to be posted on the box.

Fjords combines elements from many other popular games and manages to tie them all into one compact and tight little title. The tile laying segment has commonalities between another Rio Grande Games title Carcassonne where tactical placement of both tiles and huts could really mess your opponent up but you are just as likely to get screwed over as you and your opponent draw random tiles forming the lands. The farm placement has feelings of Go or Through the Desert where you’re looking to block areas of open farmland from your opponent allowing you to control the most of farmable areas at the end of the game. Though neither aspect on its own is anything to write home about, the combination of the two create an interesting two player filler game when you just want to squeak that one last game in before the night is over, or if players want something light to start the night off with.

Now this is an interesting game for me to rate. On one hand the game is fun, but not great. It has a lot of mechanics which feel very familiar so originality is lacking. But I cannot help but recommend this game. The box can be ditched (which is a small box by the way) and the parts tossed into a cloth bag making it an excellent travel game because all that is needed is a flat surface to play on. It is quick playing and serves as a good introduction game to basic mechanics found in Euro-style games. What Fjords lacks in depth it more than makes up for in fun and accessibility.

Rating: 3.25 out of 5

‘Til Next Time - Happy Gaming
LvT

Filed under: Fjords, Games - Board Games by LordVonTush
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Ah Space Hulk…You wonderful overpriced bastard! Space Hulk is one of the few “self-contained” games put out by Games Workshop. Coming up on its 20th anniversary, Space Hulk has a dedicated core fanbase online which keeps the game going strong with house rules, custom missions, as well as original rule compilations. A series of computer and home console games came out based on this game since its first release back in 1989 and has reached almost “cult” status in the miniature gaming world.

Space Hulk is set in GW’s 40k backdrop where derelict spaceships and space stations are drifting in the void of space. Contained within these hulks the alien threat known as the Genestealers lurk, spreading their geneseed throughout the galaxy. One player plays as the Space Marine Terminators sent to explore these wrecks and eliminate the other player who plays as the Genestealers.

Contained within the box is everything that is needed to play which is rare (actually non- existent) for a current GW release. Overall the components are adequate for what they need to do. The graphics are pretty good for the technology available for mass production at the time. They would be sub-par by today’s standards but for me the slightly simplistic look adds a level of charm and character to the game that no re-release would ever capture (no I don’t know about any re-release rumors so don’t ask me).

I’m going to bypass the typical rules rundown because GW has produced two expansions for the first edition of the game and the second edition of the game had a rule overhaul. When combined with the player created mods and rules and other information you find online this is a game you really can pick apart and tailor it to your gaming groups needs.

For now though I’m going to talk about the magic which is contained in the first edition box. First edition Space Hulk is a game that in reality had a short shelf life. The first edition rules came with six missions which were based on either “Move from Point X to Point Y” and “Destroy Point X and/or Y” and “Survive X number of turns”.  So overall they are pretty cut and dry and basic. Each mission is set up in a way to create a puzzle for the Space Marine player. The first few times attempting a mission the odds are usually stacked in the Genestealer’s favor.  After some time though the Marine player will learn where and how to position their troops to maximize their potency.  Once those tricks are learned on a mission the going usually gets much better for the Marines.

This is where the game has problems. The replay value really is not there when looking at the components right out of the base box. Once the tricks are learned for a particular mission the game starts to lose the replay value for that mission because the game play becomes very mechanical where the same things happen just about every time for the Marine player.  There just isn’t enough variety in the base game to constantly keep the game fresh.  There is enough there to keep going for a long time though - with the online community there is more than enough rule additions via new unit types, weapon types, races even…

There is enough to keep people coming back for more, but the game, as printed, contained within the box - falls just short of perfection.  As it stands, this game and its ability to be tailored to fit the game group’s needs could easily reach the level of group favorite.

Rating: 3.75 out of 5

‘Til Next Time - Happy Gaming
LvT

Filed under: Games - Board Games, Space Hulk by LordVonTush
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