The End (of 2014)
This has been a good gaming year for me. I covered lots of ground, didn't waste much money, and had a lot of fun in the process. Early in the year, James and I got together for a rather entertaining game of Megablitz which is quite different from the usual games I play. He's been working on some Eastern Front units, so Megablitz may indeed get revisited soon.
I also put my space combat game StarDust through its paces and published it. I haven't put it on the table top recently but I have continued to work on it further, creating new ships, weapons and special equipment. I need to roll the updates into the main book and re-publish as 1.1. The rules are solid and it provides for a very good game.
In April, my son and I attended Gnomecon here in Savannah. We did very well in the X-Wing tournament and later that evening I played in a big nine-player Star Fleet Battles game. That game was one of the most enjoyable I've ever taken part in. I don't know if that magic can be re-created this year, but I'm sure SFB will be on the to-do list at Gnomecon 2015.
I played a great game of AK47 Republic in July, with my wife who normally does not play my games. We both had a good time and probably are due for another shoot-em-up. We played Dystopian Wars not long afterwards and she liked that too.
August was game-heavy. We played a lot of World War One games in honor of the 100th anniversary of the beginning of the war. There was a good deal of Games Workshop Great War and we also played Victory at Sea: Age of Dreadnoughts and some Wings of Glory. Some unusual games and some good times to be sure!
Also in August I put my sci-fi rules 1.0 to the tabletop test. The game worked very well but involved too many types of dice. Although part of me really enjoys d4s - d20s they don't really belong in a quick-moving wargame so I did a massive re-write and settled on d8s for all dice rolls, just like StarDust, in fact I have named it StarDust: Ground. Over Thanksgiving and the few days I was out with vertigo in early December I did a great deal of typing and have many pages of rules done. The system needs more play-testing but it is easily as good as anything you'd pay money for right now.
Throughout the second half of the year we played Star Fleet Battles regularly, at least once a month. We began with the Cadet's Rules but are now using the "Real" rules. For a game I've have for 20+ years and played only sporadically, it has been beyond awesome to get into SFB regularly. It's a complex game but very rich in all aspects - background, tactics, depth. There was some mention on another blog recently about "dessert" games and "meal" games. SFB is a meal game, much like Modern Spearhead. Neither game is "light" by any stretch of the imagination and thus are rather rewarding games to play. Dystopian Wars to me is a fine example of a "dessert" game - it is fun to play, but is more of a dice-rolling contest whose "tactics" rely more upon army-list selection than actual in-game decisions.
James and I got together for some HOTT in October - he'd been putting a dinosaur army together for a while and it gave me a chance to field my Romans for their inaugural battle. We had a good time with it and probably are due for another afternoon of HOTT. James, I know you read this blog - let's make it happen!
I've played a good deal of Dystopian Wars lately, mostly because Ziggy and I have had new toys to test out. We've gotten comfortable with the 2.0 rules which do work a lot better than the previous edition. I think we need to take a break from DW and put some other stuff back on the table - it's been a while since our last MSH outing and CY6:JA needs some love.
So, 2015, what would I like to do in the year ahead? Star Fleet Battles must stay in the rotation. I like having a dedicated SFB day once per month. We must get in at least a couple games of MSH. I need to work on a follow-up scenario to our last battle (The Bay). I want to play test SD:G and complete the writing process. I'm not sure if I want to GM anything at Gnomecon, but I'll do whatever needs to be done to get SFB on the menu. I may try dragging StarDust out again - I got hosed by work in 2014 and wasn't able to demo it. I'll do my best to avoid that this time around!
As far as new games go, the only thing that's eye-catching at the moment is Relic Knights, mostly because of the good looking minis. Saga is tempting but seems to be rather pricey, especially with the special dice, etc. One other potential project is micro- or pico-armor scaled WWII using GHQ's MicroArmor rules, but I've already talked myself out of that about six times in the last year and a half.
If I don't post again this year, have a nice NYE celebration - drink lots, be merry and be safe!
I also put my space combat game StarDust through its paces and published it. I haven't put it on the table top recently but I have continued to work on it further, creating new ships, weapons and special equipment. I need to roll the updates into the main book and re-publish as 1.1. The rules are solid and it provides for a very good game.
In April, my son and I attended Gnomecon here in Savannah. We did very well in the X-Wing tournament and later that evening I played in a big nine-player Star Fleet Battles game. That game was one of the most enjoyable I've ever taken part in. I don't know if that magic can be re-created this year, but I'm sure SFB will be on the to-do list at Gnomecon 2015.
I played a great game of AK47 Republic in July, with my wife who normally does not play my games. We both had a good time and probably are due for another shoot-em-up. We played Dystopian Wars not long afterwards and she liked that too.
August was game-heavy. We played a lot of World War One games in honor of the 100th anniversary of the beginning of the war. There was a good deal of Games Workshop Great War and we also played Victory at Sea: Age of Dreadnoughts and some Wings of Glory. Some unusual games and some good times to be sure!
Also in August I put my sci-fi rules 1.0 to the tabletop test. The game worked very well but involved too many types of dice. Although part of me really enjoys d4s - d20s they don't really belong in a quick-moving wargame so I did a massive re-write and settled on d8s for all dice rolls, just like StarDust, in fact I have named it StarDust: Ground. Over Thanksgiving and the few days I was out with vertigo in early December I did a great deal of typing and have many pages of rules done. The system needs more play-testing but it is easily as good as anything you'd pay money for right now.
Throughout the second half of the year we played Star Fleet Battles regularly, at least once a month. We began with the Cadet's Rules but are now using the "Real" rules. For a game I've have for 20+ years and played only sporadically, it has been beyond awesome to get into SFB regularly. It's a complex game but very rich in all aspects - background, tactics, depth. There was some mention on another blog recently about "dessert" games and "meal" games. SFB is a meal game, much like Modern Spearhead. Neither game is "light" by any stretch of the imagination and thus are rather rewarding games to play. Dystopian Wars to me is a fine example of a "dessert" game - it is fun to play, but is more of a dice-rolling contest whose "tactics" rely more upon army-list selection than actual in-game decisions.
James and I got together for some HOTT in October - he'd been putting a dinosaur army together for a while and it gave me a chance to field my Romans for their inaugural battle. We had a good time with it and probably are due for another afternoon of HOTT. James, I know you read this blog - let's make it happen!
I've played a good deal of Dystopian Wars lately, mostly because Ziggy and I have had new toys to test out. We've gotten comfortable with the 2.0 rules which do work a lot better than the previous edition. I think we need to take a break from DW and put some other stuff back on the table - it's been a while since our last MSH outing and CY6:JA needs some love.
So, 2015, what would I like to do in the year ahead? Star Fleet Battles must stay in the rotation. I like having a dedicated SFB day once per month. We must get in at least a couple games of MSH. I need to work on a follow-up scenario to our last battle (The Bay). I want to play test SD:G and complete the writing process. I'm not sure if I want to GM anything at Gnomecon, but I'll do whatever needs to be done to get SFB on the menu. I may try dragging StarDust out again - I got hosed by work in 2014 and wasn't able to demo it. I'll do my best to avoid that this time around!
As far as new games go, the only thing that's eye-catching at the moment is Relic Knights, mostly because of the good looking minis. Saga is tempting but seems to be rather pricey, especially with the special dice, etc. One other potential project is micro- or pico-armor scaled WWII using GHQ's MicroArmor rules, but I've already talked myself out of that about six times in the last year and a half.
If I don't post again this year, have a nice NYE celebration - drink lots, be merry and be safe!
I've got another HOTT army on the way. I'll let you know when it's done.
ReplyDeleteBetween HOTT and Megablitz, we've got some gaming to attend to.
DeleteHere's to many meals and desserts in 2015! All the best to you, Aaron
ReplyDeleteGlad you had a good year. Hope 2015 is equally good for you.
ReplyDelete