Incorporating New Game Systems Into the Routine

"We must plan ahead for these large, incandescent explosions."

So, we've started up some games of Warmachine.  This is in addition to our normal dose of Warhammer at the time, be it either flavor.  We have been talking about playing several other games for a while and a few of us have already created armies for a few of the Specialist Games.  However, there seems to be an issue - not everyone is going to be playing every game, and at times this might cut into time they feel is reserved for their game.

We've had to split the RPG schedule up into two specific game days, but Sunday is going to remain the heavy miniature day at the Wargate.  Oh, sure - once every couple of weeks campaign games get played on Monday or Tuesday, but that's not as often as we'd like it to be, what with real life and all.  Even for those of us who don't really do much else, the strains of family, romance or other hobbies and activities keeps us from battling for three hours every single night.

Sometimes, a given campaign can be held up by the absence of certain players.  Players will stand around wanting to play, but we've largely abandoned the concept of non-campaign games.  Not that we discourage one-off games, but it's always better when it's part of a campaign.  We want to make sure there is a great variety of games being played, and that the tables are always full.  So, at any given time, there will be two wargames campaigns just as there are two RPG campaigns.

Players could generally take a look at the games we plan on incorporating into the campaign schedule and decide where they want to get in on the action.  Since wargaming is such an intensive hobby, requiring hours of dedication to collecting and painting, it's worth saying that attempting to take part in all these games would be daunting.  However, take a look at the games that are coming up and see if you can't make sure you have a campaign game on the schedule during each interval!

Wargames Campaign Schedule for the Wargate

• Warhammer 40,000 and Warmachine (Summer: June, July & August)
• Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game and Mordheim (Autumn: September, October & November)
• Warhammer Fantasy Battle and Necromunda (Winter: December, January & February)
• Flames of War and Clan Strife (Spring: March, April & May)            

This will persist seasonally until further notice.  This also addresses another notion:  some of the members of the club feel that if a game goes past 6pm it's cutting into RPG time, or that one of the wargames is not, somehow, correct if it's on the board.

If the seasonal time frame matches, and these games are on the board, then it's the "correct" game to be on the board.  The game on the board is not interfering with your gaming, I assure you.  YOU are interfering with your gaming for not taking part in a Wargate campaign!

It's all rather easy to get into a new system.  Most of the time these rulesets are very simple, not like learning an entire new RPG.  40-80 pages of rules, tops - and it's never that many since there are so many huge pictures and diagrams in each manual.  Learning new rules then, according to me, is a non argument.  The biggest worry then is new miniatures and all the things that means, specifically there are three things that have to be addressed.

Everyone has to somehow acquire their models, and for most of us that means spending cold, hard cash.  Kudos to you if you have a back door to a distributor and get all your stuff for free, but the generally accepted reality is that each new army will cost somewhere between $100 and $200 for an introductory force.

Yikes.  Does that sound bad?  When some people say this aloud, they almost say it in a tone that compares it to crack cocaine.  "OMG that new army would cost me almost two bills!!"  or my favorite "How much did this cost?! OMG you spent that much?!"

Well, this is a problem that can be easily circumvented with some very simple advice - don't buy the whole army all at once.  Each new unit costs only a fraction of that price, usually in the neighborhood of $20 to $25.  Even if you're living hand to mouth, and you can generally afford a 20-pack of whatever swill you're drinking every paycheck.  So unless you really need that extra beer, you can grab a unit once a month and be perfectly safe.

The second issue is painting and assembling models.  Well, that just kinda happens.  I love to assemble models, but never seem to have time to paint them.  Jerry, on the other hand, makes loads of painted models appear but has confided in me several times that he finds it tedious to actually construct them.  We're thinking of forming Voltron.

The last issue would be making sure your models have a home.  Guys please - buy something nice to put models in.  If you're worried about space - remember that most of the armies get stored here.  You can always leave it with all the others.

I have a separate article dealing with cases.

There is, however, one more issue - and that is time.  For those of you interested in joining the Flames of War and Clan Strife campaigns, make sure you're getting your forces together now.  It won't be long until those campaigns launch - and that's when you'll need your army!

New Phyrexia - An Excercise in the Aesthetics of Too Few New Ideas

Well, it's been a few days since it happened, but our club had a draft tournament last week.  New Phyrexia.  Those words make me want to spit.  Apologies for not getting it posted Friday, kinda had a hectic weekend here!

I want to say a little something about this block that has really bothered me, but no one else on the web has said anything like what I have been feeling.

The return of Phyrexia IS NOT WELCOME.  Not that it would be from a Mirran's perspective, but I'm talking about a design standpoint.  Why are we retreading this?  Almost half the game expansions have to do with Phyrexia, and remember how refreshing it was when Yawgmoth was slain and we could explore other worlds?

It's pretty much an egregious insult to anyone who fought and helped destroy Yawgmoth himself.

Well, I think it's high-minded hack that they brought this enemy back from the dead.  Phyrexia is OVER man. Now they apparently have run out of ideas and brought back an enemy we already defeated.  This entire block, I've had this feeling that they are literally scraping the bottom of the idea barrel.  Couldn't anyone have thought up something novel??  Something like Kamigawa, Ravnica, Zendikar or any of the others?  Couldn't something else have been lurking on Mirrodin?

Before you start saying "it's a neat story arc that will allow us to bring back a seminal Magic enemy and will reach out into the Multiverse, sparking new conflicts".

Shut your mouth.  Nicol Bolas is doing great as the main Magic enemy, and that storyline is MUCH BETTER  than what has happened on Mirrodin.

Phyrexia is OVER.  It was OVER years ago.  By bringing it back in the fashion that they have, the designers have literally told us that they have run out of ideas and must begin to retread material.

I have a few of my own.  How about a Native American block?  Or a Persian block?  Or something weirder, like the original Mirrodin block??  How about a return to Ravnica or Kamigawa, maybe with a new enemy??

The mechanics and design of New Phyrexia (and the entire block in general) are complete idiocy, and a step backwards for all planeswalkers this side of Dominaria.  From Infect to Phyrexian Mana, this insult to our intelligence will not go unpunished.

The designers have blogged about how the feel of the new block is basically forcing you to feel raped.  This is infuriating, and no game should make you feel that way - but when a 10/10 Infect creature that your opponent paid for with Phyrexian mana (when you thought it was tapped out) wins the game on turn 4, something has gone wrong.

Not to mention the fact that our confidence in the designers has recently been shaken by the announced bans in Standard on July 1.  I'll blog about that in a few days.  For now, I'll just say...

I want Phyrexia UTTERLY DESTROYED.  All the designers whose idea this was need to be fired.  That includes Mark Rosewater, who has proven once and for all that we need to change out Magic designers faster than D&D designers.

I hope you are listening, Wizards of the Coast.

Phyrexia needs to be FORGOTTEN.  Something new, please - or this particular club will playing Legend of the Five Rings on card game nights.  When Magic 2012 and Innistad are released, if I see even one "Phyrexian" card I'll be super-enraged.

We already did this.  Yawgmoth is dead - unless the designers really need to resurrect him and rehash the whole first decade of the game with more ridiculous mechanics.

A vision of "compleation".

Yeah, I have a serious issue with the aesthetics of this block, but like any warrior worth his blades I dug in and fought using the powers of the Phyrexians (like I was forced to by the Magic designers).

White was a huge draft color, and Bignutt took home most of the packs with a Phyrexian life gain deck.  Dirty Greg drafted nearly the same deck and both of them took a long time to die.  Everyone else won two matches, save for myself and Skim (1 each) and Big Matt, who is a novice at Magic.  He would have done better, I think, if the mechanics for this new expansion weren't so counter intuitive.

The number of questions that popped up during the tournament was higher than average even among experienced players.  Some of the star cards were Karn Liberated, Suture Priest, Thundering Tanadon, Shrine of Endless Rage.  The other shrines were also present and contributed a lot to the battles.

Personally - I'm seriously glad this block is over.  I'm also glad our club got to fight in the war for Mirrodin.

I'll be even happier if I don't ever see another Phyrexian - but I know there will be at least one more block where we must destroy them once and for all.

I'll allow that, Wizards of the Coast.  However, when we destroy them this time, you're not allowed to resurrect them even if you run out of ideas.

Welcome to Ft. Grant!!

This summer, the Wargate starts off what will become a staple of gaming in these here parts. I'm talking about the full on Western rendition of the new World of Darkness that we've been working on!  Check out the scenario State of Play right here!

Our player characters arrive in the fictional town of Ft. Grant, where they have already had a run-in with the law - deputized and ordered to help protect federal prisoners!!  It's already been pretty exciting, and it's only going to get better.

Today, I'd like to talk about a few other things that have been on my mind since beginning this project.

I actually live in what was the Indian Territory.  I am also a card-carrying Native American of the Muscogee Creek Tribe, Alligator Clan.  I felt that I seriously needed to start writing in this genre for a great many reasons.  I have spent the last year and a half researching various items in the field for their minutiae, and feel that I'm in a good position to put pen to paper, and dice to the table.  History will be well represented.

In the World of Darkness, however - things have a slightly different bend.  Our "history" didn't quite go as we "expect" it to.  The Wild West of Darkness has a few things slightly different, however events and names were thoroughly researched to provide a strong basis in actual history.  Thus, I'll be staying far away from "real history" as possible to tell the story - think of it as canon.  If I ran Star Wars, you'd probably not meet famous figures from the movies.  Likewise, you won't be meeting Wyatt Earp in the Dodge City in the World of Darkness - at least not when Dave's running it.

I have changed some of the behavior of the Indian tribes from their historical analogue in order to create a more dangerous locale, albeit entirely fictional.  Any racism or bigotry that arises in any text associated with this game should be taken lightly - it's the Old West.  It is what it is - you just have to learn to laugh at stereotypes and misconceptions.  Have you seen Mad TV's Eddie Thundercloud??  On the one hand that's deeply offensive to me to the point where I wish I had a spear, a tomahawk and whoever was responsible for this.  On the other hand - it's pretty hilarious and I want to share it with people.  To be honest, I'm not that embarrassed by certain stereotypes.

Enough about that.  I'll close up saying I'm going to make as many white people jokes as native jokes.  Writing in the western genre has been a rewarding experience for many reasons, not the least of which being I am finally digging into material that is literally laying all around me.  I hope it's as fun for our players and readers as it has been for me.  As I get to reveal more about the game during the sessions, we'll see more actual game logs from me here on the blog.

One more thing to keep in mind, gamers.  In this rendition of the World of Darkness, you better be careful with guns going off.  There isn't any magical healing, and gunshots take days to heal properly.  Even a light wound might put you off for days, and a doctor may or may not be available.  You have been warned, so try not to get shot or stabbed.  Fistfighting is an acceptable alternative to drawing guns everytime someone slights you in a saloon - this isn't the Kingdom of Aquilonia, you know.

Special thanks to Marky Mark for his grand expertise on firearms!  Not only was his advice instrumental in bringing to life the firearms of the time, he actually brought me a few pieces similar to what would be used in the period and demonstrated their use.  Now I actually know how long it takes to load a cap & ball pistol - so don't think you're gonna get one over on me (or Mark!).

See you on game night!