Infinity Watch Terminators and Dreadnought!

Howdy folks!  Thought I'd make a quick post this evening before I got started on some prep work, so we're going to show off some of Captain Video's burgeoning Infinity Watch chapter of Imperial Space Marines!  Today we're going to check out some of his elite units - terminators and his dreadnought!

These units were painted in the same fashion as the other models in the army...a drybrush of gold, a metallic highlight and Quickshade Strong Tone!  It really works to set off the highlighting done in various parts of the model, and adds a lot of definition to the details.  Totally worth the extra step!

The larger model benefits from having the Quickshade applied as well.  All of these were done with a 'splash-on' method, as Captain Video painstakingly applies the medium to the model with a brush.  All in all, beautiful units for a tabletop army, and I'm sure they'll see action in our next Warhammer 40,000 campaign!

The Vendetta Round begins this weekend!  It's your last chance to impact the narrative on planet Nokk!  Get your last hits in this month!  Vendettas end on September 1st, so don't delay - you can still change the way your army fares in the campaign!

Gang Briefing: Band of Basterds

Band

Of

Basterds

By Chief Scrivener Hannan

Vae Salubrious Subsector, .M41

Deep in the darkest recesses of some of the seediest places in the Imperium, there are those who live permanently beyond the reach of the law.  For some, this is a welcome freedom, and for others it can be a death sentence with no hope of reprieve.  Unsurprisingly, in some of the most lawless reaches, folks take action into their own hands when the time comes for fighting.  Others hire mercenaries.

In the Vae Salubrious subsector, mercenaries roam all over the space lanes.  Recently there has been a surge in the number of available mercenary companies, but these are usually limited to a single world or system.  Alarmingly, at least one company of drifting mercenaries seems to have been spotted all over the subsector, appearing in documentation across no less than seven worlds.  These are the outlaws the Adeptus Arbites are keenly interested in – the Band of Basterds.

Mercenary Vendettas

            The Band consists of several ex-guardsmen who have banded together after their unit was granted settlement rights after it was almost wiped out.  Only a few dozen remained after the carnage of their old battles, which may have been the wars of heresy on Lucruzu Primus.  They possess several weapons, and the skill to use heavier, Munitorum issue arms and explosives.  The skills of the various fugitives combine to make a quite effective team that is entirely for hire, anywhere in the subsector.

            This is the most alarming problem.  It seems the Band of Basterds is able to move about the Vae Salubrious subsector.  They have been pursued by authorities on Abraxia, Attono Vittium, Praesaepes Caementum, Corgarth Contineo, Lucruzu Prime, Velan Thracia and even Vae Salubrious itself.  How this can be is uncertain, but what is certain is the fact that the Inquisition would be highly interested in their activities especially where warp travel is concerned.

            It isn’t entirely known where the Band’s loyalty truly lies.  They have committed crimes against Imperial Law and do not seem to be repentant.  Last known activity for the Band was around Velan Thracia, but it is suspected by the Judges pursuing them that they have made it offworld to parts unknown.  The full extent of this threat has yet to be determined, but in some places the stories of mercenaries being hired to attack Imperial authorities are becoming legend.

Prep Work Isn't Homework

Howdy folks!  Sorry for my absence for nearly a week, but the Wargate is back in session this week with some serious fun for everyone!  All our current games are running strong, and I have a little less time to write these days.  Interestingly, that's going to be today's topic - the work we put into our games.

Every Game Master knows by now that they have to be truly into the game in order run one.  GM's will devote more of their "real time" to the game than any other player, simply by virtue of having to prepare a game.  Preparing the game takes time, but it's not that much out of our weekly schedule - unless you're just pouring details onto the page.  Nevertheless, it's still something that has to be done on a weekly basis by a Wargate GM.  The bad part is that players who haven't GM'd don't always understand this.

Unless you're using a published adventure, it can take a long time to sit around coming up with ideas.  A brainstorming session is always the best way to start a new campaign or adventure, and I for one know that my brainstorming is best done under certain conditions - that is, when I'm completely alone.  Sometimes I listen to music while I write notions down, sometimes I need the silence to help me concentrate.  It's critical for me to come up with all the ideas I can before distilling them into new RPG stories.  

It also helps clear a little bit of the confusion left by reading certain passages.

That said, I usually brainstorm long before I actually write an adventure.  Getting everything you want to explore in the game out on the table (of your mind) prior to when you actually sit down to write can speed you along when it comes time to start planning encounters.  I have several "Story Workshops" in an Excel spreadsheet (many of you who know me know of my predilection for spreadsheets) and write outlines there for specific campaigns.  I wrote the outline for The Rough Edge of Night almost a year ago, and a printed version of that outline now accompanies my composition pad for the game.

That is to say, I only brainstorm and blog on the computer.  There's just something about putting pen to paper for me, I use composition pads to actually write adventures in.  It helps to organize things long before you sit down, and having a general idea of an story can help you develop a further outline for the adventure without having to spend time brainstorming week to week - other than taking last week's character actions into account.

Most GM's have something similar - a spiral notebook, a trapper keeper, it's all the same: A Game Tome.  It's a place to work and keep ideas.  The Wargate has a lot going on, and I have several spreadsheets to keep track of all the festivities.  However, for those of you working only from the notepad - carve out the first few pages of your Game Tome with outlines and ideas for your campaign.  Having thought out the whole plot through key points, you can guide the campaign by writing your weekly adventures as you go.  You have a point of reference, a plot idea to go by and your player characters to guide the action.

Even with all that in place, it still takes time to do the work.  With the proper preparation, you can reduce the amount of time you spend on a game, but nothing is so important as your work area.  You'll need space to write in your Game Tome, of course - but you'll need space to open important reference manuals as well during that time.  A large table where you won't be disturbed is best.  Get all the manuals you need for the adventure, your outlines and your Game Tome.  Then put the pen to paper.

The Wargate has regular gaming schedules, so you can plot your adventure by your time slot.  Each of our game days have a certain time and length they normally run.  Sunday's Schedule 1 games begin at 6pm, and last 3-4 hours on average...but we've had sessions that run 6 and 7 hours.  Thursday night Schedule 2 games also begin at 6pm, but only last 3 hours normally and 4 or 5 hours maximum.  So generally speaking, we'll be doing RPG's on Sundays and Thursdays from 6-11pm.

Using this as a rule of thumb, you can now determine how long your adventures will take.  The way in which the club approaches these sessions is actually conducive to building games, since it lends itself to an episodic manner but is frequent enough to RP day by day, depending on the nature of the individual game.  These methods mean it takes me about three to five hours during my week to write a night's worth of gaming.  If I'm ready to write, the encounters and game minutiae flow easy.  Having an established idea, with a well planned outline and enough space to work in a comfortable and quiet spot - that's the best time for me to write an adventure.

It's important that each GM have a real passion for his game, since he'll be spending the most time within the world as he writes his adventures.  As players, it's important we understand and appreciate the amount of time that goes into developing the games we play.  If  players abandon an adventure when you were sure they would follow through, or a game night gets curtailed for some reason, can be harrowing to a new GM.  While we're in GM's game, we should play the game they want to play, whether that's heroic adventure against an evil order or evil backstabbery in the land of Mordor.

In general, open sandbox games at the Wargate do not work.  There are too many players, and they can come up with some wild agendas in the context of a certain plotline - never mind free rein to do whatever they wanted.  Don't be angry if you're not doing what you want to do in a game - it's just not possible in all games, or even most of them.  Most of them will have a narrow focus, like on a band of warriors or mob of orcs.

It goes without saying that GM's enjoy the game they are running - for those with a passion for gaming, the prep work is not homework at all.  It's a great experience to design a run a game, and more fulfilling than simply writing a story for a great many reasons.  It takes a lot of passion to keep coming back with a game week after week, especially when everyone tries so hard to bring something new to the table with every campaign and adventure.

If you don't like a game or for some reason don't want to follow along with the story, wait until the GM and game changes or run a different game.  After all - there's always another game on the Schedules...and there's always room on the Schedules for another GM.