The Next Evolution of Our Club

Stormskull Dave has Stormskull things
to say to your Stormskull tookis.

Greetings, folks!

You might have been wondering (or not) where we've been these past weeks.  Like always, we've been hard at work putting things together for you - this time with more of an eye on the future.  Well, the battles grind on...but we're taking a moment to assess ourselves and make improvements.

All games clubs evolve.  Over time, you can find yourself doing things you never thought of just because that's the way things are going.  We've been comfortable with the format of things for a while, as a club.  Yet, the shifts have been both sudden and subtle over the last few years.  Now that the dynamics of and around our tables have changed.

We have more folks on Game Day than any of the game stores around us seem to have at any one time, and are far more involved in the gaming as an entity.  We're a private club - we don't have a storefront (but we do have an eBay) and space is limited - but everyone invited is made to feel like family.  The finance plan of the club has also changed, and the Project Assessment Committee is helping us move forward in a great many ways.  So many, in fact - we've been preparing for weeks on the back-end without many articles.  This is a cardinal sin on our part.





We'll be changing venues as planned in a few weeks, and several changes will occur.  More on these later.  Suffice it to say that for the last three or four years we've been experimenting with a few different options for going forward, and we'll be rolling out more news on this in July and August.  During that time, you may notice strange things happening with the site.  Don't be alarmed, this is just us fiddling with the web.  Things will be back to normal soon - in fact, better than normal.

More importantly, I have another announcement.

Our good buddy and coordinator Skim has stepped up to help out with content and is now co-author on this blog and moderator across the Wargate's social media.   In addition, check out his new blog, where he'll be talking about the meta of gaming.  I look forward to seeing his thoughts on the state of our hobby, industry and other facets of gamer life.

Skim is most certainly a welcome addition to the web-team, he and I have been friends for longer than I can really remember.  It's been at least twenty, and one of the first solid players back in the dimly remembered days of high school.  He's been a frequent co-conspirator over the years and is a big fan of miniature wargames.  We're sure to see a lot of cool stuff from this new level of collaboration, and I for one am very excited.

A new and improved network map will be available this week.  Original images by our art team will replace many on the site as well, so look for a total restructure of this blog and it's nature.  Thanks to everyone on the PAC, and to Skim for helping make it happen.

Now, back to work on the next phase of interdimensional war...

The Wargate Project Assessment Committee

Greetings, Gatekeepers!

We're back at the helm after our extended absence from the blog, but casual readers won't know what we've been up to.  What could possibly demand our attention so much that we neglect our blog?!  Blasphemers!

Well, I'd like to tell you about that today.  Of course, some things are still under wraps (and you won't even get a hint) but overall, the organization of the club has had a fundamental change in the last month.

We have begun a new initiative to engage our members and restore participation levels across the board.  Participation?  What, man...like, no one's playing or what?

Would that it were so simple.

We've been droning on about the collective for a while now.  Now that the entire process is finished and we've seen the interesting dynamics the collective brings to the games, it's time to give more agency about things back to the players.  To that end, I have appointed a Project Assessment Committee from those members who are interested, motivated and invested in the Wargate.

The Committee has been given the resources and authority to aid the Project Coordinator with making decisions for the club.  This includes just about everything a club needs to have a stronger voice in to make the best moves.  From managing the budget, organizing Hobby Days and Events, dealing with member conflict resolution, and helping decide what games are on the table each season, the Committee itself is an important resource to the Wargate.

We have created a private forum for the members of the Committee to communicate easily throughout the week to resolve any issues between Game Days.  The Project Assessment Committee (PAC for short) also has access to the club's inner workings in the form of access to a Google Sheet that contains all the information from the club's spreadsheets that was previously only on the Wargate's computer, meaning they can access any and (almost) all relevant club information any time they desire.

There are currently ten members of the PAC, not including myself.  Some have special appointments and duties, others are voting members and contributors.  All of them have been critical to the club's existence in one way or another, before ever having been appointed to the PAC.  Now, they have the tools and authority to initiate projects, or vote to block them - whatever they believe is best for the club.

On Game Day this weekend, we will be conducting our first focus group survey in four years, the results of which will be posted after the surveys are collated and the information discussed by the Committee.  Afterwards, we'll have a clear plan for 2017 and going forward.  The PAC has already started planning for club events, and some are scheduled for later this year.

Thanks to everyone who's still around, and BIG thanks to the Project Assessment Committee for volunteering to listen to my crazy internet-based chatter while we plan the club's activities.  It's a good feeling to work together, and it makes me more confident that we now have a stronger voice for what the club itself wants.  2016 has been a resurgent year for us so far, and going forward I have no doubt that the PAC is going to be a critical component of our organization.

See you on Game Day!

Turn Your Off-Season Games Into Time Capsules! (...or Something Like That)

A recent conversation with a member brought up some very interesting questions about some of the games we've supported up until this year.  We've talked before about what's coming up this year and next, but what about all the other stuff we've put time and energy into?  What EXACTLY is going down with that, and when can we get to grips with stuff for other games we're acquiring now and in the near future?

It's true we could run one-off games, but we don't really seem to enjoy that sort of thing.  A four month seasonal game requires planning though, and we've planned pretty far ahead as it is.  If anything, however, our endeavor here is a long term thing, so let's talk about it.

First, what's going on with some of those lines we've moved to the wayside, especially what we consider staples?  Some of these games have had seasonal runs before and some have not yet had their run, but nonetheless the club has acquired the materials and means to run these games.  The most trying factor is time, in all cases...so sacrifices have to be made.


Most of this has already been discussed with the club, but in some cases further decisions have been made regarding the scheduling of campaign seasons.  So let's take a look at individual sections of the vault and the plans regarding them.  Note that these plans date from the beginning of the 2015-2019 schedules, they have only been fleshed out.

Warmachine, unfortunately, is probably ending it's run as a seasonal entity here at the club.  Without a GM working the RPG angle (building the nest, as it were) and the property being run as a seasonal game it has lost momentum on the last few seasons.  In fact, this section of the vault is probably the single biggest reason we've decided to focus on what we enjoy and avoid heavily IP'd game lines.  It could be argued that the Iron Kingdoms are just another D&D setting, and we are inclined to agree.  However, the whole thing has blossomed into an IP entanglement, and here at the Wargate we're seeing a lot less inclination to buy into these sorts of things.

The other major issue is simply interest.  There has been a dearth of interest in the Iron Kingdoms for a while now, and we even ran a season or two past when we should have hung it up.  As a result, Warmachine will be phased out.  We won't be making these sorts of mistakes anymore...but remember the reason we started to look at the line in the first place.  We liked the miniatures, and they could fit in several settings with ease.  We only started looking at the game as an alternative for GW games.  Therefore, we will assimilate the collection into the various milieu for which they are most suited.  We won't be keeping as many warjacks, but there will be a few in there for the Warcastically-inclined.

Warmachine Status - ASSIMILATED

Dead Man's Hand was at the center of this conversation as well.  We've been deep in the weird west for a few months, but we decided to narrow the budget for the remainder of the season.  Instead, Dead Man's Hand will be relegated to Time Capsule status and a new budget will be raised.  It is a dead certainty that we will be back to Smokefall Ridge again, but for now we've decided to focus on games going on right now.  That said, there are plans for more models and terrain specifically for this era, but unlike many of our other games this one will be relegated to a secondary role.  We'll put it away at the end of the season, and surprise ourselves with it again when we're ready to work on it in the future.

Dead Man's Hand Status - TIME CAPSULE

Ronin is nearly complete.  For Legend of the Five Rings gaming, we're just about set.  We have tons of models for all of the clans and many of the enemies specific to the Emerald Empire.  However, we're going to be giving this one the full treatment less than the other games.  It will be stored away until the club is ready to throw more resources at it, including terrain specific to the setting.  For now though, we'll have to wait while the GM's prepare a new long campaign.

Legend of the Five Rings / Ronin Status - TIME CAPSULE

Star Trek: Attack Wing will also have to wait it's turn.  Thanks to our Texas Chapter, we've acquired a large set for this line.  Hey...we like it...but it comes back to the thing about 'not enough time'.  We'll see where this goes in the future, but there are currently no immediate plans to put it on the seasonal schedule.

Star Trek Status - TIME CAPSULE  

Small Scale Future Warz (for lack of a better term) will describe our ongoing fascination with...just exactly that.  We recently received the fulfillment of our CAV Kickstarter pledge, and we've got a smattering of Robotech RPG Tactics miniatures as well.  We really love all those models, but that gives us a bunch of cool stuff...but really we now end up possessing three different scales.

We can disregard the IP shenanigans...but the larger problem comes from the fact that 6mm, 10mm and 15mm just don't always look good together.  There are many pieces that DO fit well with one another, and we'll have to sort through things until we find what looks good.  Further, we'll probably have to develop our own ideas for the setting no matter what ruleset we end up using.  In the coming weeks, this is sure to be a hot topic of discussion and development early on Sundays.  We'll continue to explore this in our weekly meetings until a real solution is calculated but know this - those CAV tanks are SWEET BRUH.

Future Warz Status - CALCULATING

A few last notes.  It might seem like a lot, but at some point we WILL get bored with the current schedule.  That's where the Time Capsules come in.  Currently, there are three of those, and if we begin to do one per year...either as a swap in or a fourth season...you'll see that's not the overwhelming variety and endless work it might seem to be at first.  In any case, when a game is swapped into the seasonal rotation, it's highly unlikely that any such seasonal switches will replace "Summer D&D".

Any of our project Time Capsules can be opened (or re-sealed) at any time for any reason, so long as the club is ready to begin with the associated hobby tasks.  It is also possible that one or more of these off-season games will be entirely liquidated instead of followed through on, but them's the breaks.  Be sure to get to Game Days early to help steer the ultimate fates of your favorite project!

Dungeons & Dragons & Miniatures

For the past few years, the Wargate hasn't done much with miniatures.  In the heyday of Games Workshop's rule, games were going all the time and projects marched out with due speed and reverence.  Since then, we've tried lots of different games, each one of them requiring the normal buy-ins, considerations and other investment we put into our games.  Sadly, though they are great fun, other than Flames of War very few of these games have had all that we demanded from it.

What exactly have we been looking for?  It's not like Ronin sucks as a game...far from it.  In a word, immersion.  The 'nested' effect of the games we had played previously provided a common backstop for everyone to inhabit, and create that shared narrative we enjoyed so much.  However, intellectual properties being what they are, the game companies that have provided us with so much fun over the years became inimical to said 'fun'.  I'm happy to report that we bucked that trend.

So we've set some long term plans into motion that's going to bring the focus back to miniatures.  We've talked about our plans for Dungeons & Dragons before, but things are heating up as we close in on Season 2.  So it's time to get real, as it were...and put the rules where our collective mouths are.


Frostgrave will start in Season 2 alongside Dungeons & Dragons Attack Wing.  These, like the others we've had lately, will be linked (at least in setting) to our RPG game.  All the rules and the campaigns will be discussed when the season begins, because that's not what this article is about.

What I'd like to address instead is how this has opened up our selection of models to include pretty much anything and everything we want.  For our new fantasy battles, we'll be using the myriad worlds of D&D...including, if we wish, homebrew games.  At first I was skeptical about this, but I realized something -  D&D was essentially just a battle game.  Sure, it's got a lot more depth now...but that's how it started.

We now have the ability to literally create any army and run it in a battle game...literally anything.  Derro, yuan-ti...whatever.  However, the army still has to be built.  Style choices still have to be made.  For example, most of our orcs going forward will be Mantic Orcs painted grey, and a few bright green Pathfinder minis.  To that end, we've finally finished organizing most of the fantasy / medieval models into the system we now use.  Once you get used to the new categories, it should be very easy to find exactly the soldiers or monsters you want.

We'll also be taking this time to go about updating the gallery with an ACTUAL gallery consisting of shots from our current collection...probably as we do each unit's rules.  This gives us a great opportunity go back to our collection and really get some use out of our new photography equipment.  The goal here will be to get each painted miniature on the site, creating a reference point for our game masters to see each model available in the collection!  We can finally get this blog back on track for being a great place to see miniatures.

I also want to mention, our club has great rules writers.  As of now, the Wargate's ruleset for these miniature games will be the ONLY one we need concern ourselves with, as we are our own 'general assembly' as it were and support ourselves.  We'll be making all our rules addendums for the various games we use available online (hopefully in pdf format once most are done) as Kings of War and Hail Caesar! will need certain unit's information.  The final number of lists and force selections will be as numerous as our miniature boxes...

We have such freedom now to game as we wish without being on a rulebook treadmill.  My own enthusiasm for miniature gaming and the hobby in general has burned bright since this new revelation.  We are taking responsibility for the rules that are used at our tables, and will be a proper steward for fun and games.  Certainly, we can't go back to the way it was before.

D&D has been the cornerstone of this club since it's beginnings more than 20 years ago, so let this be a lesson to all of us.  Remember not to overlook resources that may have been there all along.  Anyway...don't let IP and product brand loyalty get you down.  There are alternatives.  Do your own game.  Use whatever is at hand, and don't get discouraged.

Gamesync 2016!

A Shot in the Dark, 1964

Greetings and Salutations!  A recent internet outage has kept me from adhering to the schedule so far this year, but now we seem to be back up and running after multiple visits from the polite internet people.  So, let's get on with it!  Today we're going to talk about 2016!

The biggest deal this year is that we have moved from four 3-month seasons to three 4-month seasons.  The main reason for this is to create longer roleplay seasons, and since we've focused on what can really be called three "theaters" this is a schedule that makes sense from a gaming perspective.  Each season will comprise multiple games, and the rulesets are subject to change each year.  For example,both Kings of War and Hail Caesar will both be used at some point to conduct fantasy battles in Dungeons & Dragons season.

One piece of this initiative is a concept we call "nesting".  A series of campaigns in different rulesets are tied together to form one large narrative each season.  This is something we've done in the past to lesser extent, but this time it's part of the mission statement.  In 2016, we'll have not only more rulesets played than ever before, but it will all be part of only three narratives.  This will help bind the games together and generate more excitement, as each session will count toward the overall narrative.

The details of each game will be noted as normal during the beginning of each season, but there will be no more huge milieu jumps for the foreseeable future.  Broadly speaking, there are now three categories the seasons will fall into.  The exact rulesets will change, but roleplaying and miniature battle games will be categorized as Historical, Sci-Fi and Fantasy...each of which comprises a season at the Wargate.  Each season's games will all be the same category and share the overall narrative, whatever the individual setting is.

2016's three seasons are mapped out as follows:

1. Historical
• World of Darkness
• Dead Man's Hand
2. Fantasy
• Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition
• Kings of War
• Attack Wing
3. Sci-Fi
• Star Wars D20 Revised
• X-Wing
• Armada
• Tomorrow's War

2017 will follow a similar pattern, and we intend to keep this model until further notice.  In addition, we are working with the larger community to amp up the organized play in Ada for all the Flight Path games we support, as well as D&D Encounters.  More information on that as it becomes available, but be advised that's on the agenda as well, effectively making a lot of our games yearlong events!  That's something we've regrettably had to forego in the previous years, but our new organization and event plan makes it all localized and easy to integrate into our current schedule.

Thank you for the last year's worth of awesome gaming!  It's time to kick 2016 off to a bangin' start!  Dragons, spaceships and cowboys...

Galleries Redux

Astute perusal of this site would alert the reader to the fact that a few days ago, a lot of articles were gathered together under a new 'Galleries' section, accessible from the nav-bar above.  This has been a feature long requested, but we weren't sure how to implement.  There were a few considerations to keep in mind while we deliberated on this, but the end result was we put everything in there anyway.

You'll note some differences in both how things are labeled and (most notably) the variable quality of the photographs.  It's been several years since we started this and we've gone through about four cameras so far, but we obtained new equipment not long ago.  We considered starting the gallery from this point on, using the newer hi-res photos to make sure it all looked good.  In the end though, this wouldn't be right - everyone deserves to have their stuff shown, and putting it in the organization we have allows us to show a timeline of work.

The Galleries are now broken into four sections.  The first is the Terrain section, showing the terrain we've managed to catalog and eventually expanding to all past and current projects.  We've got a whole new table planned and the materials ready to go for "Grey World"!  The miniatures sections are now split between Historical, Sci-Fi and Fantasy to help categorize our seasonal games despite the rulesets we choose to use or the manufacturers we choose to purchase from.

Here's the thing - the Galleries are still seriously incomplete.  All the showcase blog articles from the last five years have been included, but what of all the stuff we've been doing that hasn't made it to the site yet?  We've done a ton of work that has yet to be photographed, mainly because we play a lot more games than we manage to catalog in this journal.  Now we'll have a showcase for the latest Gallery articles on permanent display.

We've almost perfected the process for turning out group projects in a reasonable time.  Format has been the largest concern over the last year as we buck the wargaming trends that have been in place for decades.  We've found our stride, however.  2015 will go down as a low point in blog activity for the Wargate for a lot of good reasons, all real-life related.  2016 is going to be an entirely different story, however...and we're looking forward to it with much gusto.

Krampusfest 2015!!

Ah, Krampusfest!

Last weekend marked the sixth year we have celebrated our new favorite holiday, and the celebration was grand indeed!  Friends old and new pitched in to make it one of the biggest Krampusfests we've ever had, and I want to take a moment to thank everyone who came out to make it so.  The girls especially worked really hard at all the grub and presentation and lent a gravitas to the situation that could not be denied.

"It's dangerous to go alone. Take this..."

We marked the festivities with a grand feast, as per usual.  This year were the proverbial Indian Tacos (sic) and a plethora of other goodies.  There was even vegetarian fare, as has been the custom the last few years.  We asked folks to stop by our photo booth, and nearly 200 pictures were taken last Sunday.  We'll show a few here, mostly because I'm lazy.

The 'Whovian' Delegation, after swapping super-deformed Time Lords.

This year has been a marker for Krampusfest, not the least of which being the release of a new movie.  I haven't gotten to see it yet, but I hear good things.  The pop-culture mainstream is catching on to Krampus, and we couldn't be happier.



We're considering putting together a podcast for the community, and right now we're exploring how to best expand our horizons.  We've got some definite goals for the near future, and we'll talk about that at a later date, but the short of it is that the format of the club is going to change to something far more dynamic than the hermitage it has been the last year.  It's time to branch out!

"In this general direction.  Here.  Over yonder."

The fun and festivities carried on into the night.  There was such good fun and cheer in the air that no one even noticed we weren't playing any games.  That's right - nary a single die was rolled this Krampusfest, for everyone could not stop eating (even for one round of combat).  That's how you know we're doing it right.

To everyone who came out, to everyone who helped organize, and especially to those who helped prepare the feast, let me give a collective "Thank You!" on behalf of the entire club.  Every year you've outdone yourselves and this year is no different.  I really felt the energy and enthusiasm welling up in everyone despite there not being any games this Krampustag.  I know my own drive to game and complete projects has been ramped up to a new degree, and new projects are in the works!

Though the roster and games may change, Krampusfest is our yearly reaffirmation of our community and club-spirit.  It's absolutely essential for the club to celebrate this holiday, and now I think it's more than just a quirky ritual.  It's become part of the Wargate tradition.  Who knows what Krampusfest 2016 will hold?

Can You Feel the Hand...of the Empire?

It's finally time!

Star Wars has arrived, and with it has come all sorts of awesomeness.  This season, we present a nested campaign for the Galactic Civil War.  Star Wars Roleplaying Game D20 Revised forms the RPG basis for our campaign, but with X-Wing and our own new miniature battle game system thrown in there's going to be plenty of interplanetary mayhem to keep us occupied!  We've been looking forward to this for a while...and now that we've had the season opener, let me tell you - the club is jazzed up and having a blast already.

We're going to be developing the Wargate Battle Game (presently untitled) to do a lot of different things.  There is a basic ruleset that covers both skirmish and company level battles within an easy rules system.  We're going to run this through it's paces with what we're tentatively calling "realms" - and the first one to go full bore is Star Wars Uprising!  More on this to come, and we'll happily provide the text for our fans to use in their own games as it's developed.

Two new campaign sections have been added, one for the RPG and one for the nested battles.  We're planning on a lot of these type campaigns in the near future, and we're settling into the galaxy far, far away pretty hard.  I can already tell we're going to spend a lot of time on the hyperlanes, whisking to the Core Worlds to the Outer Rim and back again.

Just watch out.  Maybe there's no one named Solo or Skywalker around to help our heroes...but someone named Fett has been helping the Imperials hunt down the rogues near Roon.  On Game Day, we'll be eager to see what happens to this rather dashing looking fellow...

Krampustag 2014!!

Well, much like the last few years, the Wargate's Feast of Krampus occurred once again this year!  The 4th Annual Krampusfest went over so awesome...we totally forgot to take pictures!!  Who's responsible for this??  They shall be flogged!!

Wait a minute...oh yeah...it was me.

I charged the camcorder, and even put it in a place that I "wouldn't forget it".  I guess I'll be getting flogged this year for sure.  Woe is me!

Yet, there was plenty of merriment that accounts for that lapse in judgement!  We got to see some of our parental units, who stopped by for various bits of awesome.  We sent food home with everyone we could, because try as we might - there's just no eating that much food.

We had Hungarian Chili, Spinach and Rice Pie, Bake Cauliflower for entrees.  For dessert, Wendi made German Chocolate cupcakes and apple struesels - of which I appropriated as many as I could to stuff down my gullet later in the evening!  (Hint:  all of it is gone.)

Big thanks to the girls for the awesome spread!  I'm pretty sure they even told me once that I hadn't taken pictures of anything yet, eager to preserve their handiwork on film.  I deserve the flogging that Krampus will give me for not giving the day the proper due!

Next year we'll be back on the proper hype, pomp and glam we normally have for the Feast of Krampus!  I can't believe I forgot pictures ALL DAY LONG...but if you think that;s bad...we forgot to game as well!  All in all, this was a Krampusfest to remember, and I'm so very happy everyone turned out to make it as cool as it was.

Thank you for becoming part of our Yuletide tradition!

Legend of the Five Rings and Clan Strife

Clan Strife is new to the Wargate, but we're starting to have a lot of fun with it!  The Ronin ruleset is very flexible, and we've been able to add a lot of material on the Clan Strife blogspot.  We're setting up some nifty project logs to go along with this, but the upcoming RPG games set in the Emerald Empire are sure to generate a lot of enthusiasm!

We like to layer our games with as much narrative as possible, and we had our eye on the Legend of the Five Rings setting for a while.  We've got a lot of the D20 material, but we've also been collecting 4th Edition of the popular eastern fantasy RPG.  Later this year, Skim will be taking us to Rokugan to explore the realm in greater detail.

Using Clan Strife in conjunction with Legend of the Five Rings will help us get to grips with the extremely large world and massive background.  We're going to have fun going through all the minutiae that make Rokugan it's own living, breathing setting.  There's even talk of pan-chapter RPG sessions.

Now, on to the point.  We have been talking lately about having multiple game levels for our settings, and how they work into the club.  For instance, we have Clan Strife (a miniature skirmish game) and Legend of the Five Rings (a roleplaying game).  Those two games are in the same setting, and complement each other well.  One allows us to fight hordes of samurai, the other allows us to explore the fictional lives of those samurai.

Eventually, our narrative in Rokugan will converge, and both games will be in season.  We're going to be doing this more often from now on, as it's very rare that an RPG game coincides with it's miniature wargame counterpart in the club's schedule.  However, this level of involvement will only be possible with everyone's cooperation, otherwise we'll be rather limited to only a few settings.  The major shift will be to impose harder time limits on certain RPG games - they will have to lock up with the wargame at some point.  Look for this to change in the next few seasons as we wrestle with those time constraints.

Tomorrow is a big Game Day!  We'll be visiting both Rokugan and the Imperium, so make sure you're well rested.  Bring your katana, and be ready to draw at a moment's notice.  The tides of fate are choppy on the Isle of Lies.

Maintaining Momentum

It's been a rough few weeks.  The antics of GW has actually presented a lull in enthusiasm, and while we've worked to reach a solution that's amicable with everyone attendance at these meetings has dropped dramatically.  The way we perceive GW has changed fundamentally - we have always been seen the Design Studio and tournament organizers as a benevolent authority over gamers, now we see them as the actual dearth of our game club.

However, all that's behind us now.  It's all ahead full at the Wargate - and a new community revolution is in progress.  Nothing as toxic as GW's policies toward games, rules and models will keep us from enjoying Warhammer as we want to.  We claim control of the rules for the Gatekeepers.

So, a new action plan has been implemented.  A grand reorganization has occurred, and GW is not on the 2014 or 2015 schedules.  However, the years pass quickly for we ancients.  In two shakes of a newborn's breath, it will be 2016.  It's very possible the embargo will be lifted by then, but when GW returns to the schedule it will be us controlling the rules, not GW.

We should have already learned from experience not to sell off stuff we want.  In light of this, despite what you've heard or what has been previously discussed at council we will not be liquidating the entirety of our GW collections.  When GW games are reintroduced to the schedule, all of your armies will still be there - some may even benefit from painting in the meantime.

We will be introducing an eBay store here on the site as well.  Our reorganization has changed the plan for the store as well, so if you've missed the last couple of council meetings you're probably far out of the loop.  We will be partnered with a few other collectible stores as well, and aim to bring you the best gaming material we can at the best prices as well.

So, now that we're building momentum again, how do we maintain it?

Clan Strife will continue until June 1st, when we begin our new Warmachine campaign!  That runs until September, when Flames of War begins to finish out 2014.  After that, we have a brand new initiative we'll be taking on - Star Wars X- Wing!  Chapters interested in joining any of these need only contact the Project Coordinator.

However, the RPG section is a big draw as well.  Dark Heresy will continue starting this next weekend.  Sorry for the delay in posting and gaming, but we had a lot of work to do.  Now that all the cases have been sorted through, we're ready to get back on track.

A few other changes as well.  We've talked about how we're going to handle new players and 'floaters' in the club as well, and investing in models is no longer an issue.  Trust me, members of the Collective have plenty of awesome stuff to do from now till doomsday with no further investment.  To that end, Hobby Days will become a more prevalent part of Game Day going forward.

Updates will come more frequently now.  It's all been ironed out, and this post is to assure you we have not forgotten our true mission.  If you've been absent, now's your chance to hop back in and not miss a beat.  That's what the rest of us have decided to do.

Welcome to the Dungeon: Texas Edition!

 Our Lord of the Rings campaign, The Halls of Moria, is running strong in both Oklahoma and Texas!

Today we wanted to share some pics from The Smith, of our Texas chapter, showing off some dungeon terrain they have been using in their campaign.  These dungeons are fully 3d, and make use of some nifty sets you might not have thought to use. The dungeons look cool, and the chambers and corridors are clearly demarcated.

Our tandem campaign looks to be working out great!  We'll be rolling out more campaigns in tandem with the Texas chapter later this year.  We'll be sharing their progress as well as ours - and the Wargate's titles for those campaigns can be won by players in any chapter!

For this campaign, the forces of darkness are currently losing - even though Zkud's Elf-Killers have the most treasures, the Delving Dwarves have the current high score.  This means that the forces of Good are in the lead currently, but we've got a long battle ahead of us.  Both of those teams have done a great job representing their chapter during the competition so far!

As we plan and complete more campaigns with our chapter, we'll be updating game systems and implementing new rules as well.  The guys at the Texas chapter have been enthusiastic and were quite boisterous when we met for lunch at the beginning of the year.  They have some cool events and interesting plans coming up as well, and we're very excited to share some of these projects with them.

In Moria, blades and bows are drawn and ready.  Treasures are rare, and the battles are bloody.  Will the forces of darkness win, and thus gather strength across the lands of Middle-Earth?  Or will the forces of Good maintain their lead, stifling the corruption where it gathers?  This campaign will affect our ongoing 3rd Age narrative, and will be reflected in future rpg and wargame scenarios - so fight hard, and win the campaign for your team!

2014 Campaign Schedule

Howdy folks!

2013 is wrapping up, and so is the last season of the year.  The Toropets-Kholm Offensive has been great fun, and this last year we had five total wargames campaigns.  We had 3 RPG campaigns, 4 if you count Greyhawk as two!  That's a pretty good haul for the year!

So what's in store for next year?  We've got a ton of awesome games coming up, that's what!  We're excited about the upcoming games, and the projects are ramping up.  In order to help facilitate some of those, we're posting the 2014 schedule so everyone can see it.

Wargames Seasons

1. (January -February)  Lord of the Rings (Schedule 1) and Flames of War (Schedule 2)
2. (March - April)  Clan Strife
3. (May - June)  Warhammer 40,000
4. (July - August)  Warmachine
5. (September - October)  Warhammer Fantasy Battle
6. (November - December)  Flames of War

In addition, there are two major RPG campaigns planned for 2014 as well.  In March, we begin a Dark Heresy campaign that will cover the next few months.  We're really going to put some time into that one, and stretch the system as far as we can before adding any of the other 40krpg books to the mix.  After that (November) Legend of the Five Rings, 4th Edition will be on the table to go along with all those clans - what with their strife and all.  I personally am looking forward to that one - with GM Skim at the helm, I'm sure the samurai swords will all be sharp.

Signups will be required for most campaigns coming this year, and we'll get your Lord of the Rings signatures this coming Game Day.  Also, we're excited to be working with The Smith and our Texas Chapter to get some serious gaming done in 2014.  We love working with other game clubs, and to that end there's a lot of potential stewing up.  There's wars and rumors of wars on the horizon, so don't take this schedule to mean this is ALL we're doing next year.

You should still get your giant robots ready, though.  You'll probably need those.  Dragons, samurai and Nazis are all optional.

Krampustag 2013!

Yummy Krampus cookies from Wendi!

You didn't think we forgot about Krampusfest this year did you?  As you probably know, Krampus Day proper is December 5th - and here we are on the 10th!  Well, this year our Game Day closest to Krampustag fell on the 8th, so Sunday we had a huge feast and the biggest (and most) battles for Flames of War yet!  Yea, though the ice storm cometh, and the trek be treacherous, many of our close supporters braved the icy conditions to bring festive cheer to the Wargate once again!

Death Kommando sez:  Stay in school or they'll put you in the sappers.

We didn't have a visit from Krampus this year, but we did have Death Kommando on hand.  He brought his sappin' toolz to get a lead on the opposition, and personally led a grenadier platoon into combat outside the wire.  I'm sure the kids appreciated his lessons on munitions, but I think they feel that Krampus is scarier even than Death Kommando, and we have to respect that logic.  We're sure to get a proper, authentic Krampus sometime soon!

We had a grand feast of German-style sausage and cabbage, or you could go the fire and get you some Trench Beans and Hardloaf (red beans and corn bread)!  There was plenty to go around, but being the holidays we had a lot of things for the sweet tooth.  Key lime pie, German chocolate cake (which we all know isn't actually German), gingerbread Krampus cookies and a huge vat of hot cocoa.  A merry Festivus indeed, brought to you by fear of monsters!

Hot chocolate and Krampus cookies for everyone!

It looks like Krampustag might catch on!  Every year, we see more and more evidence that Krampus Day is being celebrated in the west.  It's going to be mainstream guys - as more and more people learn about Krampus, it's spreading like wildfire.  A quick Google-ing of Krampus garners a lot of results, but look for the evidence in the mainstream media.  Years ago it was actually the plot of the Venture Bros. Christmas special, A Very Venture Christmas.  This year, it's on Buzzfeed.  Next year, who knows?  I better get a Krampus sweater.

Special thanks to our members who chipped in and made the feast a great and merry occasion for everyone, especially the gals who worked hard to get it together for us.  We are looking forward to next years' feast as well, and you can bet it will be a fun and educational project for everyone to get together on.  It's nice to have good friends, and I want to wish everyone around the globe a very happy holiday indeed!

Collecting Gaming Miniatures

Problems and Solutions

The Gatekeepers are so lucky, as a game club.  We have a unique dynamic, one that's  basically unheard of in the gaming world.  The regularity and stability of the club, coupled with the fact that we are as close as any family, gives us a lot of opportunities that other clubs simply don't have due to the disparity and unfamiliarity of most club members.  As a private club, we have cultivated the demeanor that we alone share the Wargate and everything that it is.  I can tell it means a great deal to everyone, simply by the fact that even though active membership isn't as high as it was last year everyone is much more willing to work together to solve our dilemmas.

Recently, there has been a lot of grumbling about Games Workshop and what they mean to us in the hobby.  We've considered many paths to alleviate the alienation they have caused us, including the extreme measure of removing GW games from the club schedule entirely.  After several months of deliberating the consequences of any choice we made here, we decided that more direction is needed in the collecting of miniatures and rulebooks.  It's not that we were spending too much money, but due to the fact that everyone feels they need everything we're getting a lot of redundancy in miniatures.  It is no coincidence that it is GW models and rulebooks that are being duplicated beyond any reasonable use.

Therein lies the issue.  Everyone is complaining about the cost of keeping up with the game.  Now, in reference to GW - we have decided that the club shall keep pace with the game as much as possible.  Yes folks...as of right now, we're on board with Warhammer Fantasy Battle, 9th Edition.  So what are we changing that makes this not only feasible (going forward), but agreeable to everyone in the club?

It's the dawn of a "New" era here at the Wargate.  We are formalizing the "Collective" that we have been talking about for the last three years.  We have already all been working together to create terrain, purchase miniatures and furnish supplies - so much in fact that it's already integrated into how we do things here.  So we're taking it one step further.  From now on, we have a realized agenda we are working towards together.

The Collective allows us to store and keep track of the thousands of minis, as well as utilize them to the fullest.  You already keep your miniatures, rulebooks and supplies here.  So after three years of trial and error, we've finally sussed out a better method where we can both save money and have more armies across more wargaming periods.

Okay.  What am I actually trying to say?  Well, I'm inviting all current members to voluntarily join the Collective, but I don't assume to speak for anyone.  For those of you wondering exactly what this means, let me break it down for you with a brief rundown of what we provide for the club now, versus what we'll be able to do in the Collective and what it will require of you, the individual.


Current Club Provisions

• Venue and Web Resources
• A place to game and a place to hang out on the web to keep in touch during the week.  Both of these form the most important facet of the club - a cornerstone that is always accessible.
• Voluntary (Non-Existent) Club Fees
• There are no club fees currently.  There is a tithe jar that is collected yearly, and there are special projects (such as the Bones Kickstarters) that members can contribute to if they wish.
• Shared Terrain Inventory
• The club provides all terrain needed for the games.
• Storage
• We currently store the overwhelming majority of miniatures that every club member owns.
• Guidance
• We teach how to play the games, what miniatures to get, help create army lists and discuss tactics, modelling, character building and every other facet related to our games.  Currently, members are responsible for acquiring the rulebooks that pertain to their armies and all miniatures for their armies.  
• Model Supplies
• All material concerns are addressed by the club, and all such materials are stored here for all members to use.  This includes paints and basing materials, but also specialist materials such as Quickshade.
• Shared Projects
• A old idea that will receive a new initiative next year, on some Game Days we will work on various projects as a club.
• Shared Rulebooks and Miniatures
• Rulebooks and miniatures stored here are readily available for use by club members.  We trust each other implicitly - no one's going to wander off with something that doesn't belong to them.
• Painting and Modelling Services
• Any assembly or painting of models is readily available for those who find themselves overwhelmed.  The painting is a little slow (because it's just me), but we're going to pick up the pace next year.  This is free of charge, except for any materials you wish to be used or if you wish a "rush" to be placed on the project.
• Purchase Power
• Though we are not a retail outlet, our connections mean that the club itself is the best place to procure the materials for your next project.  You can simply let the Project Coordinator (myself) know what you need, and we can probably procure it cheaper than a retail outlet.  In some cases, payment will be required before the order can be processed, but your piece will be here (most likely) the next game day.  We also handle eBay auctions for unneeded materials.

What Implementing the Collective Requires of Us as Individuals and a Club

• Acknowledgement
• Joining the Collective simply requires an acknowledgement that you are part of it.  From that point on, the Project Coordinator will pay close attention to your armies, narratives and characters in order to see the army completed, painted and on display on the web.
• Co-Operation
• Once you join the Collective, you will be prompted to a project of your choice (modelling, painting, terrain or web articles) from a list of what we need completed that season - every season.  This will allow us to spread our work around at the same time we focus our efforts.  This is a hobby, not work - but sometimes it's easy to get overwhelmed and stall in the face of the enormity of the task.  By cooperating on priority projects, we're going to make sure everyone gets the satisfaction of a job well done. In addition, this method will allow us to complete more projects next year than ever before.
• Minimal Mandatory Contribution Fees
• This one is tricky, but it's not as bad as it sounds.  First of all, let's clarify - the Wargate is funded primarily by two individuals, and our commitment to that is stronger now than ever before.  We have resolved to buy all relevant materials for the club for a lot of reasons, but the primary one is storage.  Multiple copies of the same book aren't doing anyone any good, and it doesn't do the club good to need those rules when we have the models, but they aren't here.  Therefore, the club will buy and retain the ownership of these rules.  The only mandatory fees we are instating is this:  a small donation during the pre-release of your army, and when a new edition of the game is released.  This spreads the monetary investiture around, and gives us all a sense of ownership.
• Answer the Calls
• Hobby Event days will occur once per season next year.  These will have associate articles called "Call to...".  Check out our upcoming article "Call to Paint:  Reaper Bones", coming soon.
• Team Spirit
• If you're not enthusiastic about this whole thing, you do not have to join the Collective.  All the benefits of being a club member will still apply to you, but the Project Coordinator will be focusing on completing the projects in the Collective exclusively.
• Storage
• Storage space will be reduced as armies owned by members of the Collective can share the same case.  For example, we have two Necromunda cases that carry all the forces for all members of the Collective - rather than having six individual cases with unused room, or placing the smaller forces in cases with larger ones (thus obscuring their location in the lockers) it will all be centralized and easy to locate.

The Benefits of the Collective

• Improved Venue and Web Resources
• The Collective will see improvement of the most important parts of the club through the implementation of the other points on the plan.
• Individual Monetary Investment Decrease
• Despite there being the mandatory contribution fees, they don't always apply to everyone and are entirely subjective.  This means that if you don't buy any models, you'll only have to contribute $5 or $10 every couple of years.
• Improved Terrain Inventory
• We will be able to both purchase and build the planned terrain for the three current tables much quicker by splitting the costs for materials and sharing the projects.
• Improved Storage, Cataloging and Sharing of Models and Resources
• It will be easier to find models and we'll have more storage space in the lockers.  We'll never have duplicated codexes or too many of the same redundant model we can't find any more uses for.  However, we do ask that you donate cases of the appropriate sort when you need one.
• Coordinated Guidance
• In addition to the guidance we already give, we will use the guidelines currently in place to list armies in the Collective to enhance everyone's play by making everything ready to go at a moments' notice.  You'll receive a versatile set of tools you can modify your army with, by augmenting it with similar forces in the Collective. 
• Model Supplies and Other Shared Resources
• This remains largely the same, except that more tools, paints and materials will be available.
• Painting and Modelling Services
• Painting commission speed will increase, and members will have guidance in painting their forces up for the website.
• Purchase Power
• Under the Collective's ideas for completing projects, most forces you purchase will be listed long before you actually drop any cash.  In this way, we can reduce the painful process of collecting a new force to bite sized chunks that are themselves projects and showcases for the website.  Under this method, you will design an army with the Project Coordinator so he can build a timeline for your project and create a custom case.  Usually these will be broken up into three or four blocks to be completed one per season.  That means that from scratch, you'll go from an army plan to fully painted army in an absolute maximum of four seasons in that game.
• Subsidized Army Building
• There will be several options available to members who want to game, but either can't afford one, don't have the time to be here every Game Day, or are simply daunted by the prospect of modelling / painting.

All this mostly applies to wargames, but we also have a huge collection of miniatures for use in roleplaying.  We have to divorce ourselves from the idea that as a club we have to be "monogamous" to a company or game.  Nothing could be further from the truth, and I believe that focusing on one thing to the exclusion of any other is highly detrimental to a game club.

Games Workshop is the primary provider for most of our miniatures (especially those dedicated to wargame armies), mostly because of our long history with them, but they definitely aren't the only company out there anymore.  Going forward, we intend to introduce more house rules for gaming, but one I can tell you about right now is that armies for GW games need not necessarily be GW models.  Though on the whole they are nice looking models, most GW models have a stylized, cartoony look - and some are just plain stupid looking (I'm talking about you, Space Marine Centurions).  Couple that with the most disconnected public relations, and the most utterly illogical pricing schemes in the industry and you understand why people don't want to start new armies.

We're going to fix that.  There are many alternatives out there, and if you're looking for one the Project Coordinator will be able to suggest the best choices for your army.  If you're on a limited budget you can still start an army!  Here are some of the other companies we use for 25-30mm gaming (those scales are close enough they can be mixed).  I'll talk about scales other than 25-30mm in another post.  For now, know that Battlefront and Plastic Soldier Company are the primary producers of the 15mm models we collect.  Currently, the only game of that scale being played is Flames of War.

Wargames Factory is one of our top favorites.  We have a lot of these kits, and only want more.  There are a lot of models that suggest themselves as obvious alternatives to GW kits, but these kits are more historical in flavor.  However, the plastic material is great and lends itself to conversion really well.

Reaper Miniatures is another fantastic company, and their new Bones line is taking off enormously.  I don't recommend converting Bones, but Reaper also makes a large line of fantastic metals.  All of these miniatures are affordable and have a high standard of quality.

Privateer Press minis have seen a rise in popularity here, both as armies and as individual RPG characters.  We're sure to see more of these minis appear, as Warmachine is one of the most popular new games at the club.  However, there are also plenty of great minis that would be awesome in the RPG collection - there are already a couple of Iron Kingdoms minis in there already!

There are a few smaller companies that make up minority sections of the collection.  A few years ago when we began plotting for Clan Strife, we bought a lot of the Legend of the Five Rings models when Valiant reissued them.  Astoundingly, there aren't many Ral Partha minis in the collection, but there are a few good ones.  Even though they are old, those Ral Partha sculpts are classic and we pick them up when we can.  There are also various pieces from lots of manufacturers and games, such as a few blisters from the old Warzone, but they don't make up a significant portion of the collection.

I have long hated pre-painted miniatures, but for RPG's my stance has softened somewhat.  The old D&D prepaints were utter garbage, and I hate them.  That said, the new Pathfinder plastic pre-paints are of a much superior quality.  I love those.  We've been talking about a club initiative that would provide us with a large number of Pathfinder pre-paints as they are released.  These minis are ubiquitous for many games, and can function across a wide variety of rulesets and settings.  Also, they are pretty cheap for something you don't have to construct, paint and base.

There are others that are on our list as well.  Warlord Games has a fantastic set of lines, Perry Miniatures make some fine historicals, as does Osprey.  Mantic has some neat models that are sure to find their way to the game table in one form or another.  These are all alternative sources for GW models.  Check out the Links column to the right for a giant list of awesome manufacturers.

Our collection is huge, and it's only going to get bigger.  By putting ourselves on the same page (figuratively) we'll be able to progress through projects much faster.  Completed armies are a source of much pride to the owner, and hopefully we'll see a lot more of those (and an even higher morale for the club) by the end of 2014.  See you on Game Day!

Texas Chapter Raises It's Banner!

Today, we are pleased to announce the formation of a new Chapter of the Wargate in a neighboring state!  The Texas Chapter is helmed by The WarSmith, and he has submitted a short report on what's been happening in their neck of the woods.  The entire club is excited about the Robotech releases, and it seems the giant robot fever is catching on everywhere!  Now I'll turn it over to the WarSmith for some good Palladium news!

Hey everyone, This is the WarSmith, from your Texas Chapter of The Wargate. Today I would like to talk about our group, Palladium Books, & Robotech RPG Tactics. You can expect to see monthly updates on our battles, games, and projects we have been working on. We are still looking for members, as we are a small chapter.  We're sure to have more soon!

Some of the projects we have been working on lately are as follows. We have finished all of our Lord of the Rings scenery. We still have the Goblin Town for The Hobbit to complete. Work on Warhammer scenery is coming along nicely with an Arcane Ruins and Walls and Fences set nearning completion.  I change my focus to painting an adventuring party by Reaper Miniatures I purchased for Vincent's Dungeons & Dragons games coming up this Fall. We have fought several Lord of the Rings / The Hobbit battles. Mostly small skirmishes where the forces of good have seemed to stay on top.

When I was younger I used to always want to get a X-mas Grab bag from Palladium Books. I always seemed I ran out of money or flat forget before the deadline each year. The X-mas Grab bag is a sale Palladium has once a year around the Holidays. You send them a wish list of 10-12 items you would like and  $40. The nice folks down at Palladium will send you $80+ worth of product and at your request will Autograph it too. This seemed like a great idea to beef up the book selection at Texas Wargate.

We ended up with lots of great books, artwork, and extras. Through doing this I found out that I had just missed the opportunity to participate in the Kickstarter for Robotech: Genesis Pits Sourcebook. Through their weekly news letters I found out about the Dark Ages at Palladium a time in 2002-2004 when a trusted employee and friend stole 1.2 million dollars in cash & merchandise  This was almost the end of Palladium Books. But through their many fans and crowd funding projects they were able to stick around. I vowed to help them with whatever projects they had upcoming.

Robotech has always been my favorite Palladium game. I was a huge fan of the Anime as a youngster. Palladium books is the main reason we were all able to enjoy those shows as a kid. They were the sole distributer of the Series on VHS in the 80's. I could even go further to say that they sparked the love for Japanese Anime in America by paving the way with Robotech.  

Now, Robotech RPG Tactics is set to be released by Christmas this year. This will appeal to collectors, role players, and table top battle gamers. The miniatures look incredible and are 1/285th scale. The Texas Chapter of The Wargate pledged the Showdown level which affords us 2 complete Boxed sets of the game as well as many extras we unlocked throughout the pledge period.

Together, Palladium / Robotech Fans raised 1.42 million dollars on the Kickstarter. There have only been 30 other projects in Kickstarter history to raise over a million and only one of them was gaming related. This is a huge boost for Palladium who would like to release miniatures for all 3 Robotech wars. We expect to have the Kickstarer in November or December!

Stoking the Fires of Warmachine!

Well, today our Warmachine campaign is officially started, even though the campaign page won't be up until later this week.  For this week, we're going to focus on practice games for new players!  I still wanted to talk about our latest push to get more folks involved in the hobby, which took a lot of time and a fairly good chunk of cash.

This year, we have two new players!  Joe Kool and Big Matt are in the game now, and a few of us got new units as well.  We've been officially gaming in the Iron Kingdoms for a little more than two years now, and this is our third narrative campaign.  Warmachine is fast paced, fun and despite what I said in the above paragraph, it's actually easy on the wallet as far as these things go.  Our local gaming scene isn't very receptive to it, but it's becoming increasingly apparent that we really don't have much to do with the gaming store here.  We tried, but we have as many players as the college game club and are much tighter knit.

We got the local game store to stock Flames of War and spent nearly a thousand dollars in one purchase for the club for our campaign last year.  Now, they have a nice section in the store for that game, but only a few of the "gamers at large" in town have made purchases and the gaming club hasn't bit into it at all.  Their loss, really.

I think this is the reason that the shop owner didn't appear very interested in either stocking Warmachine, but as the Gate Keepers know he didn't even seem interested in making a specialist order for us - even when I gave him a list of what we wanted...which with tax would amount to almost a four hundred dollar order.  Two weeks later, when he told me he hadn't even looked at it (a week before the campaign was to start!) it weighed heavy on me and the club made a decision.  More on that later.

I went home and ordered the items online in five minutes flat from Miniature Market.  The minis were here in the middle of last week, about four days after I ordered them.

Big Matt's got an army!  After considering joining one of the games for a long time, he's in a much better place now with his Scyrah Myrmidons.  He'll be playing Lord Arcanist Ossyan, with Hypnos and some Mage Hunters, including a Commander and Assassin.  The new campaign is building our collections up - this time it will be 25 pts as standard, and Big Matt got his in one go.

Joe Kool expanded his Drake MacBain theme list as well.  Armed with Gorman Di Wulfe, Orin Midwinter, two units of Steelhead Halberdiers and another Nomad, we'll all be dodging Jackhammers and combined melee attacks this campaign!

Skim is reigning champion with his Kreoss list, and to expand his force he added the Fire of Salvation and a set of Wracks.  He's the guy to beat, and with that nasty character warjack it will be hard to decide which to shoot first - those cursed Cinerators or the big 'jack!

For myself, well...I have a lot of miniatures.  I only needed two pieces to have a 50 point Lt. Caine list, so I got a third Hunter (probably the most hated of any unit in our little piece of the Iron Kingdoms, even if I always lose) and a Journeyman Warcaster to help Caine with his focus problems.  I love to Teleport.

So we're set, which brings me to an issue the club has decided upon.  From now on, most of our purchases will be collective ones based on the campaign rotation.  Every campaign, I'll be taking orders from the club and will handle all the shopping myself.  For a long time I talked about supporting the local game store, but the truth is most of the club members don't really care for the place.  They don't even like to go in there because of the "vibe".  It's only open two hours a day during the week (and only four days at that) and even though it's open on Saturday, on Sunday they are closed - which means when we have needed something on Game Day they have never been available.

So after the order debacle, I was really powerless to defend that position.  Especially after it became apparent that the savings created by not going full retail, over time, would be truly immense.  I hate it that it seems I'm diggin' on them, because I genuinely like some of them.  Yet, none of their players game with us - and they mostly stock only Games Workshop.  I have vowed none of us will have to pay their exorbitant retail prices again.  So other than Flames of War, they have nothing to offer the club now.  I will continue to get White Dwarf, Wargames Illustrated and paint/hobby supplies there, but that's because I consider the owner of the store to be at least a good, long held acquaintance if not a friend.

The club has spoken however, and I will uphold the decision.  We'll be saving a lot more money, time and hassle from now on.  Just talk to me on Game Day, and I'll make sure you get what you want for less than retail price (in almost every case) and still have time to work on it before the campaign starts.

It's a sad decision to make, because I genuinely enjoy supporting the local scene - but we're not part of the local scene, and never really have been.  I've tried to change that, but our schedules and the store's hours simply do no jive.  We've tried to (as a group) to find a time when we could do some cool things there for...well...at least ten years.  I've personally been shopping there since 1998, and played in only TWO events in these fifteen some-odd years - one was Warhammer 40,000 back in 2001 and one was the Worldwake draft a few years ago.

Yet, I am the sole member of our club that has ever participated in a store event, or even attempted to.  We simply don't need them, and only pay more for our materials by ordering things through them - when they can (and will) get what we want.  I'm still waiting on a Stuka I placed an order for last September, when I could have gotten one easily for under fifteen bucks literally at any time since then.

Since our long marriage to Games Workshop is on the rocks (due to their continual and ridiculous price increases) we've looked for and found alternatives.  It's a hard call to have to make, but it's done.

The kicker is, I think the club will only notice the savings.

2012 Season 4 Campaign Awards

Well, it was a massive undertaking but we just finished up two great campaigns, and I wanted to take a moment to congratulate the winners of our most recent battles!  Season 4 brought an end to Flames of War and our first team victory award has been given to the winning team, and the Second Half terminates an end to our Warhammer Fantasy Battles campaign for 2012.

In Flames of War, our German team walks away victorious from the Battle for Moscow!

Jerry Wargate and Captain Video have crushed the opposition, and the German team advances across the Moscow oblast in the wake of this historical upheaval.  Next year will prove even more bitter, as the trenches are dug just a little bit closer to the new salient.  We'll be looking for more mid-war combatants as well, and hopefully things will go a little easier for us in those campaign months than they did this year since the club was slightly disrupted towards the end of 2012.  Now we have everything back in place, and it's full steam ahead for this next year!

Accepting the award on the behalf of his team is Jerry Wargate,  shown here in appropriate regalia.

Yet, the big prize was given to the victor of the Warhammer Fantasy Battle campaign!  Incredibly, it was myself who managed to beat out the opposition with my dastardly Dark Elf army, the Tower of Iron Woe.  Vanquishing my mortal enemy, the High Elves, there was little left to do except battle those who dared set foot in the pass, and only the Tomb Kings had a chance at pushing the Dark Elves off the Firecrag at the end of the campaign.  I'm totally impressed with the Dark Elves, and will be building that army up to 2500 points...just a little shy of that yet.

Who's that guy?  How'd he get in here?

Oh, and there was a cash prize for Warhammer Fantasy Battle as well, which I put towards new terrain for the club's games.  More stuff specifically for Warhammer 40,000 and Flames of War in particular!  Watch out for other campaigns this year that will have a material prize as well, beyond the club acknowledging you as champion for an entire year!

So to close out today, I'd like to take a moment to thank Skim and Bignutt for their contributions this month as well.  We've all piled in and gotten a mountain of new Battlefield in a Box stuff which I'll be spotlighting in the coming weeks.  You guys are fantastic, and your enthusiasm helps propel the club forward.  2013 is set to be a great year to be a wargamer, but it will be a totally awesome year to be a member of the Wargate!

The Death Roll

What a long haul it's been!

Over two years ago we started a trend in our gaming club that remains one of the most popular features.  It's widely known that the games we run aren't shy about putting characters in the ground, and one of the most solemn and final things we do around here involves dead characters.  Yes folks, it's time to shed light on the Death Roll.

When a player dies (for real and without any hope of resurrection), the Game Master will draw forth the Death Roll.  In this tome is inscribed the name of the slain and the date and nature of his demise.  The other players intone "DUHN-DUHN DUHHHHhhhnnnn...." and the GM, in his own hand, illuminates the text with another entry.  So, every character at the Wargate who has met their untimely demise exists within this "tomb", interred with the memory of their existence.

Now, the Death Roll is so big it requires another volume.  We will continue this tradition until we can't any longer, that is, until the Wargate itself ceases to exist.  Hopefully, that time will not come soon (and it's not even on the horizon)!

So, as the first volume of the Death Roll is closed and a new one is opened, we take a moment here on the club's blog to take a look at the entirety of the Death Roll and see what has transpired since we started this morbid tradition.  What follows is the text of the Death Roll, with what game system the character belonged to added for the clarity of our online audience.

Take a look and compare the games and their lethality.  Only once have characters entered in the Death Roll been returned to active duty, their "seeming" death overturned by the DM as he revealed they had survived...but this is the lone exception to the standing rule that once a character is commended to the Roll, he is dead.  Truly and forever.

We now take a moment, and remember the Wargate's fallen.

1. Cephous of the Hold (Greg H.) - 08.01.2010:  Fell to Death (WFRP)
2. Imhol of Laurelorn (Henry) - 08.01.2010:  Fell to Death (WFRP)
3. Simon Doan (Dave) - 09.19.2010:  Shot by PC's (nWoD)
4. R. Spencer Fleming (Dave) - 10.24.2010:  Mass Suicide (nWoD)
5. Wyatt "Earp" Roberts (Skim) - 10.24.2010:  Mass Suicide (nWoD) - 
6. Ralph Wiggins (Greg H.) - 10.24.2010:  Mass Suicide (nWoD)
7. J.B. Anderson (Mark B.) - 10.24.2010:  Mass Suicide (nWoD)
8. Jay Calavero (Jaime) - 10.24.2010:  Mass Suicide (nWoD)
9. Randy Ball (Shawn M.) - 10.24.2010:  Mass Suicide (nWoD)
10. Kaliv Valdiz (Henry) - 10.24.2010:  Mass Suicide (nWoD)
11. Gigi Lamour (Ellen) - 10.24.2010:  Mass Suicide (nWoD)
12. Guisseppe Puzzo (Joe K.) - 10.24.2010:  Mass Suicide (nWoD)
13. Able (Greg H.) - 01.02.2011:  Head Crushed By Servitor (Dark Heresy)
14. Heinrich (Henry) - 02.27.2011:  Electric Lizard Pool (Pathfinder)
15. Art Vandelay (Shaun A.) - 02.27.2011:  Electric Lizard Pool (Pathfinder)
16. Chronyak (Joe K.) - 02.27.2011:  Electric Lizard Pool (Pathfinder)
17. Harska (Greg H.) - 02.27.2011:  Electric Lizard Pool (Pathfinder)
18. Nameless, AKA Steve French (Dave) - 02.27.2011:  Electric Lizard Pool (Pathfinder)
19. Feulgi Devito (Josh) - 02.27.2011:  Killed by She-Wolf (Pathfinder)
20. Sir Gregorious the Ugly (Greg H.) - 07.17.2011:  Killed by Hydra (Palladium RPG)
21. Slurg (Shawn M.) - 10.30.2011:  Killed by Dwarf (D&D 3.0)
22. Shartiz (Matt H.) - 10.30.2011:  Killed by Dwarf (D&D 3.0)
23. Scarlok (Greg H.) - 11.13.2011:  Killed by PC Snurg (Dave) (D&D 3.0)
24. Snarl the Skar (Greg H.) - 11.27.2011:  Killed by NPC Uri (D&D 3.0)
25. Darr'sloth (Jake B.) - 11.27.2011:  Killed by Giant Spider (D&D 3.0)
26. Snurg the Droop (Dave) - 12.04.2011:  Killed by PC Ching (Shawn M.) (D&D 3.0)
27. Karnarth (Greg) - 12.04.2011:  Killed by PC Targ (Dave) (D&D 3.0)
28. Targ (Dave) - 12.04.2011:  Hauled away by Mordor (D&D 3.0)
29. Talakus (Greg) - 01.01.2012:  Killed by PC Slikk (Josh) (D&D 3.0)
30. Blitz (Mark) - 01.01.2012:  Killed by PC Zrakh (Joe K.) (D&D 3.0)
31. Ching (Shawn M.) - 01.01.2012:  Killed by PC Slikk (Josh) (D&D 3.0) 
32. Skinner (Matt H.) - 01.01.2012:  Killed by PC Slikk (Josh) (D&D 3.0) 
33. Black Lorc (Jake B.) - 01.01.2012:  Killed by PC Slikk (Josh) (D&D 3.0)
34. Crumpwit Tumblewine (Shawn M.) - 02.26.2012:  Killed by PC Olo (Jerry) (WFRP)
35. Amendil (Shawn M.) - 05.20.2012:  Volcano Cave In (WFRP)
36. Jacque Chaucerez (Jake B.) - 05.20.2012:  Volcano Cave In (WFRP)
37. Olo Buttercreme (Jerry) - 05.20.2012:  Volcano Cave In (WFRP)
38. Stricken From Imperial Records
39. Stricken From Imperial Records
40. Stricken From Imperial Records
41. Stricken From Imperial Records
42. Ilsa Gustav (Ellen) - 05.20.2012:  Volcano Cave In (WFRP)
43. Grudal Skorgrimsson (Henry) - 05.20.2012:  Volcano Cave In (WFRP)
44. Exander Tul (Skim) - 05.27.2012:  Killed by Man-Feller (Pathfinder)
45. Angbornh Ingbaran (Dave) - 05.27.2012:  Killed by Kobold King's Mistress (Pathfinder)
46. Arjac (Dave) - 06.03.2012:  Killed by Angry Mob (Pathfinder)
47. Bonjon Loveleaf (Jerry) - 06.03.2012:  Killed by Angry Mob (Pathfinder)
48. Boris the Beautiful (Joe K.) - 06.03.2012:  Killed by Angry Mob (Pathfinder)
49. Carlyle Browning (Skim) - 06.03.2012:  Killed by Angry Mob (Pathfinder)
50. Elle McElferson (Jake B.) - 06.03.2012:  Killed by Angry Mob (Pathfinder)
51. Bilxob Xilbor (Dave) - 07.15.2012:  Burned Alive by PC Ralmarth (Jerry) (Pathfinder)
52. Lorcc Mac Dubh (Dave) - 09.30.2012:  Martyred to the Cause by NPC Chuin
53. Flarnagan of Fharlanghn (Josh) - 11.18.2012:  Killed by Moathouse Bandits (AD&D 1e)
54. Mac Olyn (Mark) - 12.02.2012:  Slain by Moathouse Zombies (AD&D 1e)
55. Sir William (Josh) - 12.02.2012:  Slain by Moathouse Zombies (AD&D 1e)
56. Em Cee Stubbs (Mark) 12.02.2012:  Slain by Moathouse Zombies (AD&D 1e)
57. Mannfred Finch (Skim) 12.09.2012:  Slain by Moathouse Bugbears (AD&D 1e)
58. Kran Stone (Shawn M.) 12.09.2012:  Slain by Moathouse Gnolls (AD&D 1e)

58 deaths in two years.  That's a little more than one death every two sessions, with some games (notably D&D and it's derivatives) being much more lethal than others.  Well, hopefully it will take two more years to fill the second volume of the Death Roll, but the current game is claiming lives quicker than any other game so far...while it might not have as many as some, it's certainly in the running for most lethal game.

Consider all that, and I'll see you on Game Day!