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!

Hell Bend (Session 12)

This session was originally recorded 12/27/2015.

Dec. 27, 6:18pm

From the Journal of Josephine Maxwell
November 3rd, 1875

We talked about how we were going to handle our situation.  we tried to bandage up Jakey Wales so we could take him with us.  Barton says that he doesn't want to leave until the next day.

November 4th, 1875

We left the next morning for Round Bend.  When we got to the town, a native approached us and told us that "three are in town and three have fled", referring to the demonic entities of Table Rock.  We deduced this to mean:  The Kinleys and Reverend Revenant were in Round Bend.  Farmer O'dell evidently WAS possessed, and had killed himself.  The wolf had been banished by the spirit following Jakey Wales, and Burke had left Smokefall.

When we entered the desolate town, we went to the cornfield to talk to Jed Kinley.  Jed asked if we wanted to buy some corn, so we went with him to the shed.  When the Doc saw the corn, he proclaimed the corn was made of human teeth!  The man continued to say that the corn was not strange at all.

Then Juan grabbed him and started to try to excorcise him.  They started fighting.  All of us worked with Juan to complete the ritual.  I got knocked out, and Juan ended up having to shoot Kinley.

The sheriff, Tanya Kinley and Rusty Shackleford went with her to the house, and apparently she fought with them as well.  She was stabbed, and died.

We went to go find the Reverend in the church.  He tried to coax us into the church.  We wouldn't go in, so he came out.  We looked around to see a group of three wolves.  He fought with Juan and the Doctor, but ended up getting shot.  The wolves disappeared.

We then went to the pit at Table Rock to help Barton.  When we got there, an Indian war party was waiting.  They took us to the pit where Barton lie dead on the ground.  The feeling of the demon did not seem to be there.

The old white haired indian they called White Hawk told us we could keep the town.

No Oath, No Spell Chronicle Begins!

Wow!

More than four years ago, we started a journey together.  We've done a lot of different games and settings, but historical games were a foreign entity to us until a few years ago.  Now I feel confident saying that Smokefall Ridge & The Indian Territory is one of our favorite campaign settings.

It's the blend of the wild west, The Twilight Zone, Tales from the Darkside, Tales from the Crypt, Outer Limits, etc...together with the wider World of Darkness mythos we all like.  However, when you blend all that with the added eeriness of the setting near our homes you get that sense of immersion that few other settings can match.  Tapping into this was the lucky strike of this game, and I can't tell you all how good it makes me feel that you have enjoyed your time with this one.  I worked hard on this one, and it has really paid off in terms of how everyone has truly become invested in the game and the ongoing story of the Settlements.

We had never done a wild west game, but from the very beginning it was something everyone was interested in.  Originally, it may have been out of my comfort zone, and when originally writing the setting I questioned my understanding and portrayal of several points.  Practice makes perfect though - and now I feel as home as Storyteller for the Territory as I do as Dungeon Master for Castle Greyhawk.  That's not a boast I could level at many other settings...Smokefall Ridge has become a real place for me.

 I'd like to thank everyone for allowing me to take the club into an area unfamiliar to it at the time.  I did my research however, and everyone's portrayals of their characters has added a lot to the sessions.  We don't often have time or inclination to roleplay in D&D like we do in WoD...the situations and approach to the game just don't lend themselves to that level of interaction.  However, I'd like to tell you guys how much I enjoy watching your characters interact with each other - the roleplay level in WoD, and the lines that are delivered by the troupe literally make this my favorite weekly black comedy.

Check out the Chronicle page for No Oath, No Spell, available on the nav-bar at the top of the page.  Season 1, 2016 lasts four months, until May 1st.  So, there's about three and a half months of play time for Smokefall Ridge before we complete a four and a half year story cycle.  Congratulations, Gatekeepers ... some of these characters may yet see the Honor Roll!