Why Game?

"I just flew in from the Chaos Lands and BOY!  Are my arms tired."
 - Stormskull Hawk, upon reaching the Tower of Night.

The real question here is “Why not game”?  Although gaming has become more main stream in modern times it is, by far, not a new hobby.  Dating as far back as 3500 B.C. Ancient Egyptians were enjoying games of Senet, a game which would later become Chess.  Proof of this was depicted in a painting from the tomb of Merknera who lived from approximately 3300 to 2700 B.C.

In ancient times these game would most likely have been played exclusively by royalty.   In modern times games are more accessible to the everyday person.  In simpler terms, everyone can afford to buy a game.

So what are the drawbacks that keep us from enjoying our hobby?  The most common complaint seems to be time.  We have so much hustle and bustle in our daily lives sometimes we just can’t find the time to relax and enjoy a good game.  Ancient peoples would have had the same dilemma, of course.

Where do you find the time to game there are wars to be planned and fought?  When you need to hunt for the days kill to feed your family or even your village?  It seems logical that ancient people would have also had very little time for a relaxing game.  Games would have been nothing more than a way to pass time when you were idle.

In our modern times we have more conveniences that make our lives easier.  Sure we have jobs we need to do, families to care for, but we also have more idle time then people who existed before us had.  We tend to use our idle time as a way to relax and drift in to our “me” time.  Sure, we would love to pick up a game and play it, but this idle time is for us to relax because we are tired.  We thrust our passions aside in the name of having just a few moments to ourselves.

Eventually this becomes our routine and gaming gets pushed to the side because we just don’t have the time.  If this is our passion then why can we not find the time?  If we want to game then why does the universe seem to forbid it?  The answer is crystal clear.  The reason we cannot find the time to game is because we spend more time making excuses for why we cannot game then we do making the time to game.  We are all guilty of this at some point, but this is our passion.

This is an open letter to all gamers, no matter what your genre of gaming may be.  We spend all day doing the same mundane tasks over and over.  We have bosses to please, wives or husbands to please, children to please.  We are tired.  We want to rest.  We want “me” time.

Gaming is our passion, we are gamers and nothing is more relaxing than a good game to end the day.  Games bring people together.  Families enjoy playing together as do friends.  Even strangers can sit and play a good relaxing game together.

It is up to all of us to embrace our passion and make the time to enjoy our hobby.  At the end of the long and mundane day noble gamer, how will YOU spend your time?  Idle or enjoying your hobby?

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!

Growing Into History

The club's shift in focus over the last year or so has had me pondering a phenomena I've observed.  It's been a steady occurrence since we first started considering Flames of War as a new game to invest in, but as the focus shifted away from Games Workshop it became more prevalent.  You see, as we have gotten past the GW bubble, we have actually gravitated more toward historical games than ever before.

There will always be fantasy and sci-fi staples at the Wargate, but we've added a third category - Historical games.  We might have been interested in history before, but since we've switched from GW publications to Wargames Illustrated for our hobby reading we've seen a much wider world of miniature gaming.  Since the blunders GW is making in it's final days as 300lb industry gorilla are steadily stacking up, more and more hobbyists are seeking egress from the clutches of their IP.


For many, similar games to the ones they left behind hold the draw.  Warmachine has called out to our local community as GW is slowly (but surely) rejected.  For us though, the draw has been to Flames of War and other 'real world history' games such as Hail Caesar!, Dead Man's Hand, and Ronin.  We even had to stop and take a serious look at all the options we had, researching miniature lines and rules for the American Civil War, Revolution, French & Indian War, Napoleon's campaigns, biblical history and a few others.

I'm fairly certain this is due to a 'detachment' from isolated intellectual properties that have to be explained to the casual onlooker.  Similar though it is, D&D needs little explanation, as does Star Wars.  People know what they are looking at when they see these things on the table, and seeing WWII equipment and soldiers brings an equal if not stronger familiarity.  We have found this to be invaluable to our aging demographic, but mostly because they have moved past being only interested in robots and dragons.  We have grown up, and are now interested in what inspired those things that inspired us when we were younger.  We have 'grown' into this new love of history that matches up with our fervor for gaming.  It's quite liberating, speaking as a hobbyist.

Currently, we've decided to focus on World War II's Eastern Front, or The Great Patriotic War as it's known in some parts.  Specifically, Bolt Action and Flames of War.  In addition, the Wild West has us building a collection for World of Darkness and Dead Man's Hand.  However, we're slipping in a provision that will allow us to build armies of miniatures that will be used in many different ways for several different games.

Dungeons & Dragons at the Wargate will be receiving firearms.  Greyhawk, Forgotten Realms, Ravenloft, Spelljammer and Mighty Fortress will be receiving the tech upgrades, with the availability of gunpowder weapons in each campaign setting in rising proportion in that order (i.e. Greyhawk has the least availability, Mighty Fortress has all the guns of the Age of Empire).  This will encourage the building of some line infantry and other 'Renaissance' level technology without damaging the established campaign too much.  We can then use these troops for other games that would utilize the same sort of troopers.

Going further back, it's even easier to diversify this way.  Ranks of Wargames Factory Greek Hoplites represent Milenian troops from Mystara, while Warlord Games Romans represent Alphatians.  You can see where we're going with this - once you add in the myriad campaign settings of D&D and the star systems of Star Wars you can use pretty much any miniature in ONE of our seasons each year.  No more benching for years!

It's going to be a great year for modeling projects at the ol' 'gate.  We'll have some pics and articles on miniatures, paired with how we intend to use those models in different game systems and settings.  Saturday is now home to 'Project Afternoons', so lend a hand to building and painting models and terrain and help us crank out some awesome new units for all our games!

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?

Age of Smegma

Pictured:  Your financial investment in GW.

Last March, we enacted an Embargo on Games Workshop.  This was our Spring of Discontent.  The club has a strong Anti-GW bent, 16 months later.  Today's long-winded and pompous rant speaks (for the first time) about the Wargate's stance on GW, why we have decided on this course of action, and where it has taken us.

In the beginning (for me), GW games were the holy grail of sci-fi / fantasy miniature gaming.  It was a graduation to GW from non-miniature table games such as Dungeons & Dragons.  I made this transition together with many of you that are with us today as Gatekeepers, and I'll treasure the memories of our adventures through the Imperium and the Old World forever.

It was truly a golden age...but 21+ years later, GW has become a three-headed monster that believes it is king of all gamers.  Now, one of those games / settings has literally been destroyed by the company itself.  This is completely unforgivable.

GW Sales Rep / Game Designer

The beginning of the end came early for us, but now even the fanbois that hated on us two years ago are starting to get the idea that GW is taking a huge piss on you.

I am happy to say that our club was one of the first ones I know of to move AWAY from GW.  it was painful, expensive and it drove some people to quit gaming, period.  We caught a lot of flak, but eventually everyone saw the light.

Seemingly happy to vindicate all we've done, GW publishes Age of Sigmar.  This isn't our game and I'm so glad we have no part of this.  Yet we're not the only ones in the community.  GW should see where we are now.  You have seen the insanity and resentment toward GW on the internet.  It's not just a couple of guys now, but this doesn't matter to the manufacturer of "the worlds' greatest miniatures".  No - they still have a lot of folks over the barrel.

Pictured:  Top Hedge Fund Shareholder of GW

GW Apologists are out there.  Of course you're going to want to defend your investment - we all used to love hearing stories about Space Marines and Witch Hunters.  The apologists' think that GW has some sort of master plan, and that it will all turn around.  This is all claimed while they watch the communities deteriorate or simply switch to a new game based on the level of investiture they have with GW products and the IP association - and that's why GW knows that they have you.  The apologists will buy everything until they wisen up.

We hear that the game is "so cool" but how many of these are shills, I'm not sure.  The one demo we watched of the new game featured guys having to invent rules because the ones in the box were stupid and didn't make sense.  Thanks for the broken piece of manure, GW.  Glad you've not gotten any of my money in a long time.

GW got rid of all the guys we grew up with.  Andy Chambers, Alessio Cavatore, Fat Bloke.  None of those guys really want to comment on GW's practices these days, but read the subtext of Tuomas Pirinen's view on the subject.  Tuomas was with us for a long time in the '90's and '00's, and left GW many years ago along with all the other good developers.

The general vibe seems to be that the hedge funds that run GW are insistent upon strategies that other toy companies use instead of the traditional "game company" model that has to actually provide a good product.  GW worked hard and made something of themselves, then they sold out.  Plain and simple.  And now the faceless financial institutions that are the primary shareholders have turned it into a toy company.  There are no more games.

Instead, they've replaced it with watered down and "simplified" versions of the game to appeal to milennials...and to an extent I understand this.  For us loyalists, however...it was very obvious that we'd been put on a treadmill of buying re-written textbooks that are only useful for about 1 season.  The expense to an individual is incredible, nevermind a collective like ours - and the necessity of owning the material to playing the game showed us that GW considered us to be literal cash cattle.  We were in a pen of our own devising - infatuation with GW's IP, which they have latched onto as the only thing that binds their customers to them.  So began a campaign by GW to tighten that grip.

The last straw came last year, when we realized that there is no justice and that they only want our money.  I had a similar experience with the U.S. Justice system.  Call me Mr. Disillusionment, and mail me some hate mail.

So, our final stance on GW is this:

We had thousands of dollars of GW models, both painted and unpainted.  There WILL be GW models featured on the website here, but mostly these are models that have been painted already or were bought and thrown into the Hoard.  These will be models that we have deemed usable in other milieu, and since we already own them there was an easy leap to make.  This mostly applies to old fantasy models, since the 40k models are so heavily IP'd they are completely worthless as anything but what they are.

No matter what models our members choose to paint, we do not support GW.  Our chapters can decide to promote whatever they like, and will probably continue to support GW - at least in the form of playing games, because we are making it possible for them to get what they need from the Hoard without giving GW a nickel more.  We will support our clubs in whatever they wish.

As for GW...we will not be mentioning them or naming their products - whether or not we choose to feature the models on the site.  For us, Attack Wing, X-Wing, Warmachine and Flames of War has taken the hallowed place in our gamer hearts that was once exclusively occupied by GW - and we're very happy.

It's like talking about an ex-girlfriend.  It was good for a while...but we were unhappy.  We had to break up with GW.

Yet, like Pirinen says - we have never had more choice.  And that's the crux of the matter.  When GW was good, they were the only kid on the block.  It's been a long time, honey.  We are never, ever getting back together.

Introduction to Miniature Painting, Lesson 5

Lesson 5 - Detailing I

After finishing the basecoat and drybrush on our Goblin Archers, it was time to start showing techniques for bringing out the details of the models.  Keeping it simple should be a priority if you're just beginning, and these models had just enough detail to get done in one session as a group.  Using some contrasting colors and very small brushes, we put our flow control skills to use on a much smaller area to finish off this outstanding set.

Won't you take me to ... Goblin Town?

Your mix of water to paint will normally be less water as you do details, as you don't want the color to run anywhere except where you're putting it.  Be very mindful of the amount of water your brush is retaining going into the detailing stage, as even a small amount can be too much and cause all sorts of havoc to your carefully rendered base colors and highlights.  After finishing each application of a color or finishing an intricate detail using multiple colors, fix the mistakes and move on to the next stage.

Eyes are hard, but you should do those first.  If you make any mistakes, you can reapply the base color and drybrush after the eye has been painted, carefully concealing your mistake and "locking in" the eye behind the highlights of the face.  Don't worry too much about mistakes at this stage though, as it's very easily fixed once the paint dries.

Claws are easy.  A swipe of paint and you're done.  Fixing an overbrush mistake is as easy as letting paint run into the grooves of the fingers.  Same for the teeth, which we did with one color here as this lesson was focused on application technique rather than artform blending.

There was a few other details to bring out, such as the fletching on the bows.  Overall, they turned out fantastic and the class did a bang-up job all around.  We'll have an update on this set very soon, with a complete color guide to the finished models...you know, in case we want to do it again.

Introduction to Miniature Painting, Lesson 4

Lesson 4 - Drybrushing I

The drybrush technique is a ubiquitous tool that you will use throughout your career as a hobby gamer.  It's easy to do, easy to practice and after a few minis you'll begin to see how you can use it in your projects.  This is one of the best ways to provide highlights or a two-stage basecoat for your models, and is a very quick method for assembly line painting.  We had our class practice on several goblin models to get used to how it works.

Won't you take me to - GOBLIN TOWN?!

In order to use the technique, you need to prepare your brush.  Get it wet, then put some paint on it and dab out all the moisture and paint on a paper towel or some other surface.  Once it's dry, put a little more paint on it, then dab away all the paint until there's almost nothing on the brush.

Pull the brush across the raised areas of the model and the pigment that is left will begin to collect on the surface. The more you brush, the stronger the highlight will be.  You will have to practice with your flow control to get to where you are comfortable, but generally more is less.  You can always add more depth to the drybrush by going over it again.

We used the goblin's skin and robes to practice our drybrushing on.  The dark green of the skin gives way to the light raised tones.  The black of the robe is highlighted by drybrushing on just the hint of grey.  When drybrushing two different areas on one model like this, make sure you clean up the overbrush (where one color "goes out of the lines").

Be sure there's no water in the bristles before you actually put the drybrush on your model, as that could have disastrous consequences.  Make sure to have some sort of surface to brush out the water and paint on, as you'll be getting most of your paint on this scrap surface.  I use a normal paper towel as it's quite absorbent and will pull the water right out of the brush.

The class picked this up fast, and are ready for the next session.  The projects are finishing up quickly with so many hands on them.  Thanks to everyone who helped out, and who are pitching in with painting models going forward!

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!

Introduction to Miniature Painting, Lesson 3

Our 10-part introduction to miniature painting continues this week with our last session.  Our students are starting to churn out some really nice stuff for the club!  By the time this is over, they will have lots of practice under their belts - enough to get some of those nice Wargate commissions!

Lesson 3 - Ink Washes

An ink is a heavy pigment in a thin medium that has the consistency of water.  Since ink contains heavy pigment, it tends to gather in the recesses of the model, shading it (making it darker). There are numerous techniques to using inks, but today we're just going to introduce them into our repertoire by examining a very basic technique:  washing.

Are those dogs?

To perform an ink wash on a model, simply brush the ink over the entire model.  It will shade the figure, as well as provide a color hue.  Even though ink gathers in the recessed portions of the model, a color tint can will left on the raised portions as well depending on how many coats of ink were applied.  You can also apply ink to only certain portions of a model, shading it and changing the hue as needed.

On one set of models, we used a light ink over the entire model, followed by a darker ink over the main body.  This produced a nice, natural transition in tone for the simple models we were using.  By leaving the face, paws and tail alone during the application of the dark coat we see an instant and very fetching effect occur.

You can darken an ink by applying it in multiple layers.  Like all paints, make sure the first layer is dry before applying the second.  The lighter rats below were simply inked a second time, leaving the face, paws and tail alone as before.  The natural looking gradient is very easy to achieve, and with time and practice this will become second nature.

No such luck.  Those are giant rats - because of course they are.

Like all the models we're painting during this class, we'll be showing the completed project off in our Gallery section ASAP.  Lots of great stuff coming up for the galleries, for all categories.  We've got a lot to show off, so our next photo session is going to be swamped!

One last thing:  this is the Wargate's three-hundredth post!  March 13th, 2010 we launched this new blog, and it's been an absolute pleasure to have been with  you this long.  In just a few months, we'll be a full five years old at this location, with this name.  I want to send a huge, heartfelt thank you to all our Gatekeepers for all for your hard work and support for the last four and a half years.

It looks like we'll be around for quite some time, barring any incidents involving monsters or swords (or other implements of destruction).  With so many things coming up, we're not going to just evaporate - the Wargate is only growing stronger.  So, with that I'll just say one more thing:  it's good to feel loved!

Format Changes!

By now, you've noticed the site has changed appearance quite significantly.  This is the result of a number of extraneous factors, which I will now share with you here.  I have meant to make this post for a few days, but as many of you know, I've never been accused of having ADHD - I got carried away finding and fixing bugs, adding new features and perfecting the layout.  Not to mention reorganizing our publishing schedule and changing the entire color scheme...and a thousand other things so mundane and banal I do not wish to recall them (or my compulsions to manipulate them).

Some of you may have noticed we started having problems with the blog late last week.  The server that hosted the images we used for the old layout apparently went offline, the event which prompted all this to begin with.  If you were one of the lucky few to encounter a blank white page with invisible elements, congratulations, you found the Negative Zone...and I'm sorry about that.  Getting the blog up and running (and looking good doing it) became my top imperative.

I managed to find a similar template and put it in place...but IntenseDebate was having problems with it.  Try as I might, I could not find the issue, and several hours into that debacle decided to run a test using my Disqus account.  The ease with which everything was taken care of during that test made me change my mind on the spot - the Wargate now uses Disqus for handling comments.  I highly recommend you head over and make an account, it's the easiest discussion system I've ever seen.  It does insist on taking you to the post page to make comments, but we'll try to bring back the drop down menu so you don't have to scroll down after clicking to comment on some of the longer articles.

With IntenseDebate acting up, and since we didn't host the images for the template ourselves anyway (or build the template for the blog) I decided it was time for a complete change.  Overhaul was overdue.  However, to completely code a blog template that contained all the features we wanted and included an artistic backdrop would take more time than I'd like to spend on it, with everything going on with gaming lately!  So, for now, we've went with customizing (corrupting) one of the templates provided by Blogger, so I can get back to the real business at hand - generating campaign material and coordinating the many related projects we've got going on.

So, now that all this is in place, what else is changing?

Well, the new template provided a number of neat opportunities.  First, the bar at the top will house all the links to what used to be called States of Play.  Since these are more visible now, we're doing away with the huge introductory text section that used to contain those links, freeing up a LOT of space.  This is cool.  We're going to add a number of pages there that will house galleries to pictorial articles like various models and terrain.

Also, the display area for pictures and such is much greater, as is the text size.  That's important to old people like myself.  It will probably only get bigger from now on, as the years turn to Alzheimer's.

Labels have now been split up into two different sections.  Battle Index will serve to keep track of all our current games and features, while Battle Archives will contain material from old games we currently do not support on the schedule.  In many cases, a lot of this old stuff will be reclassified as we comb through the Archives and reformat relevant entries, such as the aforementioned model articles.

Another big thing was optimization in the new template for mobile devices.  The old template was from years back, and didn't include a lot of that code.  Now, even this basic one had all of that information already built in, which should make accessing the articles much easier on our friends who carry those blasted cyberdecks...er, I mean cell phones.

The site will continue to mutate for the next few weeks, regrowing any features that were lost.  In a few cases, new features will arise - the plan is in place, now we just have to comb through it all and put it on the right shelf.  However, this is basically the design we'll be looking at for the foreseeable future as it provides a lot more wiggle room than the old one did.  We're able to add website functionality that the old format prohibited, and that's a good thing.

Give us some feedback!  What do you think of the new layout?  Color scheme burn your eyes?  Does your cyb -...uh, cell phone interact with the blog any better at all, or is mobile optimization a cruel hoax?  Leave your comments below!

Introduction to Miniature Painting, Lesson 2

Welcome back to our Introduction to Miniature Painting class log.  It's been a moment since we've been able to actually write this stuff down, but the class has been rolling along strong!  A few days of good weather gave us enough time to get over a hundred models prepped and ready for use in the class and by the club! 

Lesson 2 - Base Coating and Flow Control:  Assembly Line

After getting the first set of archers done, we sat down for the second set.  We'll have a unit of 20 when they are all finished, and just in time:  our player characters in Dungeons & Dragons are already attempting to conquer an untamed land and bring civilization to a savage wilderness.  We all know how that goes - you're probably going to need a ton of soldiers, and I'll wager at least 20 of them will be archers.

Reverend Greg has already turned in a list of units he wants to hire...

We concentrated on the same pattern we used on the first set, but these models were slightly different.  However, the class was instructed in the "Assembly Line" technique and put to work completing a larger number of archers in the same amount of class time.  The class immediately caught on and in no time we had all of these guys ready for the QuickShade treatment.

We'll all be dodging arrows eventually...as soon as she's finished with her nails.

The Assembly Line is a fairly easy concept.  Each stage is repeated on a set of models, one after another, before going on to the next stage.  For example, you have five models on your paint table.  You start with stage 1, and the skin is painted on one model and then that model is set aside.  You then go to the next model and paint only the skin, setting that one aside and moving to the next when finished.  Continue on the same paint stage for all the models, then return to the first and begin stage 2...which in this case was the breeches.

Using this method can speed up your work, but it's only recommended you use this technique with models that are very similar in appearance to make maximum use of your color palette.  You will also find you will waste less paint preparing your brush and flow, as you will use the same color for longer periods of time.

You should try not to work on too many models at the same time.  I usually have a limit of five at a time, but then I spend a lot of time on cleanup and details for each one.  However, normal infantry like this can get by with a quick table-ready paint job, especially if you are going to be using QuickShade on them.

Class is moving along great!  Next week, we'll move on to more advanced techniques - though we'll still be using simple models to practice on.  The practice will definitely pay off, with what lies ahead for our intrepid painters once this class is finished!  We've got a huge job ahead of us getting all our models show-worthy, but it won't take long at this rate!

Finding the Wargate

Today's Community piece comes from Home Regiment's newest member, King Arthur!  He wanted to share a little about himself to our members, as he is also our youngest member and his experience with games is a little different.  A bit of a writer himself, it's likely that he will continue to contribute material here.

An eruption of memories reverberates through my mind as I begin to recall the many imaginary fantasies I undertook in the prevalent distorted daze that I dub my youth.  Adventures of evil magi threatening my land, and I, the eager hero ready to battle the waves of enemies in my mission to save the realm.  Post- apocalyptic worlds, filled with strife, as I, the curious scavenger, weave my way through the treacheries of the land on a very strange quest for love and glory.




My favorite was traveling thru dark and stormy skies, mounted upon the beast of flame himself, Asminoth, as I purge the world of the wicked spider-born and claim my title as a true Dragon Rider Hero.  I lived countless adventures in the free-roaming imagination of my young worry free life.  Consistently diving into novel after novel, to gain further inspiration for my own delicious tales.  The day did come though, and sad it was, that I lost the drive for the free and careless structure of my fantasies and I began to crave a more adequate design.

I began to write small stories, an aspiration to achieve the ability to let my stories unfold into something more, to give them the same pull and allure that so many authors writings had done for me.  Not only that though, I wanted to also employ a way to play the stories, and delve more into the deep universe I would eventually create around them.  My knowledge of Dungeons & Dragons and other similar table top games at this time was limited.  Merely that is was a roleplaying game, played with dice.

At this time I had established a small group of friends with an interest in roleplaying great fantasies.   So to entertain our ridiculous drivel, I bought a set of dice, and with that we commenced a journey into a small universe we had been expanding on.  We rolled some characters to undertake the feat of exploring our new world.  Rolling entailed of us describing our character, and what fantastic powers he/she might of had, then rolling to see if we qualify for our pick.  If the roll was too low to satisfy the majority of the group, the group would then harshly mitigate the roller's character, allowing him/her to keep their looks and origins, but attacking any special abilities they might of given themselves.   From their we would run random roleplaying scenarios, battles, and other random higlibliggs, with one of us deciding the general foes we faced and towns we encountered, or what really happened in the tale at all.

 I should note ,that member was still part of our party, and had his own character in the tale.  I encountered my first actual game of Dungeons & Dragons at the ripe age of 14 and don't recall much enjoyment from the endeavor.   The DM wasn't terrible, (an uncle of one of my compadres and of a much older generation of gamers), but perhaps due to the youth of his group, carried a look of boredom and presented our surroundings in a lack-luster fashion.  Though disappointing, the experience did introduce me to a way to add a slight bit of structure to our fantasies.

We introduced stats, as well as a fighting and interaction system that relied more on the dice rolls.  This was thus dubbed Role Playing with dice… Life moved forward and to my dismay, I lost my inspiration, distracted by the social overflow of our youth, my group of friends and I lost interest in our distinguished hobby.  I suffered a terrible lag in my world of fantasy as the old group of friends went there separate ways.

Years have passed now, and I find myself in a new town, a new state even.  The hills must have connected with my desire to lose myself in a world of fantasy, for the glorious pass known as The Wargate has thrown open it's barriers and let me have a peek inside.  A peek that turned into being served at the Warlords own table, and inducted into his personal regiment!   Among this regiment, I at last encountered a real taste of table-top games.

I have seen a beautiful display of structure, made true by adventurers with many years of experience, and a good Warden of the games to boot!  I will journey with these adventurers as I seek my fantasies once again, and given time, perhaps I will break my own barriers and show these experienced hounds a torrent of youthful vigor.  The bud of my inspiration has been found, and with this, combined with my own desires for a fantastic world, I will allow it to blossom into something fulfilling, I hope.  All in all, this is the best introduction I have received to table-top dice slinging, and has me eagerly awaiting what other inspirations I can find beyond the Wargate!

Introduction to Miniature Painting, Lesson 1

We've started an irregular class at the Wargate designed to teach novice painters how to begin in the hobby from the ground up.  These introductory lessons will impart all the necessary techniques needed to begin painting gaming miniatures, and we've had a pretty decent turnout so far!  Today's article also begins a new section of the website:  the Paint Guide!

Some of our Gatekeepers hard at work during the class.

Lesson 1 - Base Coating and Flow Control

We began today on a set of old archers for medieval battles.  The models were cleaned and basecoated, and provided to the students to practice on.  They are old sculpts, and very "open" as it were.  Not a lot of hard to reach places and very straightforward color areas.

The most important thing you will learn painting miniatures is that the water on your brush tip can drastically affect how your paint behaves.  It is very important to learn this at the very beginning to avoid silly mistakes that almost all of us make when first starting.  It was a very simple session, designed so the students could practice applying the paint more than anything else.

The entire class painted one (or two, if slightly more experienced) of these archers to practice basecoating.  Flow control (using the water on the brush) was the watchword of the day, as all the students had to do was follow an easy, step-by-step order for applying each color.  Here, the class learned that sometimes light colors go on thin over darker base coats, and that multiple layers of thin coats of paint are how to achieve opaqueness in the color.

Hey bro, do you even camera?

Forgive our blurry, out-of-focus progress picture.  We'll have more updates on the class as it progresses, and we'll see what our students generate for some awesome games!  You can bet you'll be seeing these archers again...this time, finished and based by our staff.  The picture will be much better, I promise.

Introduction to Miniature Painting is held on Monday nights at 6pm.  The weather here might actually stop our progress, so the classes are informal affairs and attendance is not required.  We're going to make sure we have the best materials for you to practice with and learn the ins and outs of painting miniatures.

In addition, there will be some nifty opportunities coming up for painters around the Wargate, and if you're a brush for hire in the Ada area let us know.  We will soon announce we're looking for contractors to paint an endless stream of models, so get a jump-start on it!  That's it for today, and I'll see you for the next lesson soon!

Little Wars Adelaide

Today's article is a photo-fest brought to you by our own Drew Stearman, our correspondent from Australia.  A little over a week ago, Drew attended a convention in his home of Adelaide, South Australia and took lots of photos for us to check out the proceedings!  Big thanks to Drew for sending us these!

Little Wars Adelaide Australia Convention

Hello fellow gamers!

This is a short article of my experience (everyone loves XP) on the Little Wars convention, held on the 12th of July 2014 in little ole Adelaide.  Little Wars is run by a Melbourne group which have decided to branch out to Adelaide to build a better gaming environment.  My experience started well, the door man was very welcoming and polite (even had a few jokes for us).

Name tags were supplied to promote talking and interaction (we all know that gaming communitys can be very clique-y and shy).  The community hall was busy and a hive of activity.  People looked like they where socialising and having fun.  Majority of the gaming tables I visited acknowledged my interested and explained what the hell was going on.  There was a good mix of vendors and plenty of bargains to be bought.

Special notes of interest before i leave you to see for yourself from the photos taken:

• (Matthew thecampaignermagazine.com) The campaigner magazine taking great photos of the event.
• Warmachine press gangers putting on a massive game of warmahordes.
• Dr Who local gamers with life size darleks.
• S.A Colonial re-enacters.
• The hobby matrix laser cut terrain. (Support your Local)
• Carwars made from converted matchbox cars.
• People with smiles having fun. 

Thanks, Little Wars.  Hope to see you again next year!

- Drew