The Problem with the Clans

 Hey Game Fam, this is an article about Battletech, but it isn’t a product review. It’s more of an essay on where the Clans are, and what they represent in Battletech. Note, this is my opinion, but I have supporting facts taken from a variety of sourcebooks. The Clans are a problematic topic, (although they have one caveat that I think is interesting) for a host of reasons. Let’s dig into those problems point by point. If you’re unfamiliar with the Clans, check out their article on Sarna.net here.  

The 1st Battle of Emporia (Battletech)

 Hey Game Fam, today I’m going to look at something dear to my heart, Battletech. I love this game and want to see it flourish. This is a first idea for an introductory campaign for Battletech. This assumes you're familiar with the core rules of the game using either the BattleMech Manual/Total Warfare system or the Alpha Strike: Commander’s Edition. Let’s dive into the campaign’s mechanics.  

Shattered Fortress Review

 Hey Game Fam, we have another book review for you today. Today’s creature feature is Shattered Fortress, for Battletech. Offered by Catalyst Game Labs, Shattered Fortress covers the events transpiring in the Inner Sphere during the years 3146-3150. It is a precursor to the IlClan book and sets up the events in that book. Let’s inspect Shattered Fortress and explore the Inner Sphere.

IlClan Review

 Hey Game Fam, everything old is new again, and that feels like a very appropriate attitude for this article. Today I’m going to talk about the IlClan book for Catalyst Game Labs’s Battletech. I have a long history and love for Battletech, and I did back the Kickstarter for their Clan Invasion Boxed set. I have reviewed the first wave of those over on my YouTube, and I will review the second Wave stuff in the coming months. That, however, is not today’s key event. Today we’re going to talk about IlClan and what it means for Battletech and the game’s next steps.  

Mega Dungeon, Week 3

 Hey Game Fam, we’re back with week three of our Mega Dungeon Dev Blog. If you’re new here, thank you for stopping by however you got here. If you’re a little confused, that’s ok. Check back to the start of these articles here and you can catch back up. For the quick review, we’re working on filling out more of the dungeon and seeing what else this beehive needs. To see what the dungeon looks like when we start, here’s a link to the map over at Inkarnate, and we’re going to dive right in.  

Mega Dungeon Design, Week 2

 Hey Game Fam, we’re back with week 2 of our development cycle on the Mega Dungeon Generator. If you want to see where we are after last week, check back here or here, and get yourself refreshed. If you’re completely new, I suggest you check back at the links above to get an idea of what’s going on. This is a look at the design and development of your very own Mega Dungeon using my Mega Dungeon Generator. Let’s dive in.

Dev Blog #1 (A New Dungeon Approaches!)

 Hey Game Fans, this is a new feature for the blog. Today I’m going to walk you through using our Mega Dungeon Generator to build your own dungeon. So, for the next... I’ll say six weeks, I’ll walk you through the steps of putting together a dungeon, and then if y’all are interested, I’ll add monsters and treasure from a sampling of other RPGs so you can feel what it looks and plays like in your favorite game. Let’s spin some dice and see what happens, Friends.

Product Feature: We Are All Children

 Hey friends, we’re back today featuring something a little outside or normal coverage. Today we’re going to talk about a new game that’s dear to our hearts because it’s a game we wrote. We Are All Children is a game of young people struggling against existential crises. Set in a surreal world where physics is a suggestion, We Are All Children is a new entry to the fantasy RPG market. Let’s dig a little deeper into the system and show how you things run. 

On the Creation of Murder Hobos: A treatise on balancing backstory elements with forward moving content in Role Playing Games

 

Today we’re going to discuss the ideation of Murder Hobos (and their creation). These are a bizarre phenomenon in the role playing game hobby but they come from an easily understandable place. We’ll look at the root causes of their existence and how to manage them during the game (and between sessions). Let’s start with the first question that comes to mind. What precisely is a Murder Hobo?

Combat Patrol: Necrons

 The new combat patrol format of entry level products for Warhammer 40,000 has given us some interesting choices so far in how to construct an army for new players. The Necrons are on the march with a brand new combat patrol. Stirring from their ancient tomb worlds, the Machines have risen to reclaim the galaxy that slipped away from them during their long slumber. Let’s take a closer look at what’s in the box.

(Photo Courtesy of Games-Workshop.com )

Combat Patrol: Adeptus Astartes

 The new combat patrol format of entry level products for Warhammer 40,000 has given us some interesting choices so far in how to construct an army for new players. The Adeptus Astartes are on the march with a brand new combat patrol. The servants of the God Emperor are back with more Primaris Marines and Phobos arrmor. Let’s take a closer look at what’s in the box.

(Photo Courtesy of Games-Workshop.com )

Combat Patrol: Adeptus Mechanicus

 The new combat patrol format of entry level products for Warhammer 40,000 has given us some interesting choices so far in how to construct an army for new players. The Adeptus Mechanicus are on the march with a brand new combat patrol. The servants of the machine god are back and bringing their advanced weaponry and esoteric combat doctrines with them. Let’s take a closer look at what’s in the box.

(Photo Courtesy of Games-Workshop.com )

Hobby on a budget

 Hey Game Fans, we’re back to give you some excellent ideas for places to get into the hobby on the cheaper side. Notice we’re not saying the Cheap Side, because this isn’t exactly an inexpensive hobby. However, there are a few tricks to save you some cash when you are buying your minis.  

Combat Patrol: Drukhari

 The new combat patrol format of entry level products for Warhammer 40,000 has given us some interesting choices so far in how to construct an army for new players. The Drukhari are up this time around and they have a brand new box to get budding archons into the fight. Let’s look at the contents of this new boxed set so you can think about joining up with the Dark Kin to raid real space for fun and profit.

Armies on Display: Getting Started

 Hey Game Fans, today we're going to give you a bit of advice on how to get started with your Armies on Display project. First off, if you've signed up for it, wonderful, you'll get an information packet in the next few weeks and can get started with the project. If you haven't signed up yet, that's okay too, you have plenty of time. Now let's answer two major questions for this project and we'll branch out from those in the next few weeks. So, get out your notepad and if you have questions, please save those until the end. Ready?

2021-2022 Major Hobby Project

 Okay Everyone, we are going to do something splendidly ridiculous because it will be a major motivating thing of absolute awesomeness. We are going to be doing an Armies on Display (Legally distinct from Armies on Parade) as a community. I know, some of you are thinking why the hell would we bother to do something when AoP is right there and I’m here to tell you why in 4 or 5 easy steps.

Lasting Tales (First Impressions)

Hey Folks, we’re back with a quick one today. We just heard about the new Miniature game Lasting Tales from the fine folks over at Blacklist Games. It’s a new game from Mark Latham, who’s designed some absolute gems (including the Elder Scrolls: Call to Arms). Lasting Tales is a Cooperative tabletop miniatures game that looks like a functional hybrid of the traditional fantasy RPG and the tabletop skirmish game. Let’s take a bit of a closer look at it and see what we can see.

2021-2022 Armies on Display Project

 Hey Friends, Fans, Longtime readers, we're doing something a little different this week, we're going to preview the Armies on Display project we as a fan community are putting together.  It's a full scale army project with a display board. It's supposed to be fully painted, and it will be showcased in pictures, videos, articles, the whole kit and the entire kaboodle.  I know it sounds like a lot of work, and it absolutely is, but the good news is we're not expecting you to have completed submissions until November of 2022.  That's right, you've got 20 some odd months to prepare the project and get it ready for prime time.  

We're going to have worksheets, articles, and demos coming out regularly to help you get the process started.  This is open to everyone, and we welcome your participation. Guidelines and rules will go up next week, and we will be putting up some questionnaires to help you get started.  We'll see you all a little further down the road.  Until then, Have fun, be decent, and stay tuned for more updates.  Also share this post with your friends.  The More the Merrier.  

Gamma Wovles

 Gamma Wolves is the newest tabletop miniatures game from Ash Barker at Guerilla Miniature Games. It’s a post apocalyptic skirmish game that showcases Mecha scavenging the ruins of a broken, irradiated world for usable tech and resources. I got this game from a friend for my birthday, so I wanted to make sure you understand I got it for free. It’s published by Osprey Games as part of their expanding universe of skirmish gaming. Let’s dive deeper and see what we can see.

Combat Patrol: Dark Angels

 The new combat patrol format of entry level products for Warhammer 40,000 has given us some interesting choices so far in how to construct an army for new players. The Dark Angels, the 1st legion and one of the most storied armies in Warhammer have a brand new Combat Patrol to bring new players into this edition. Let’s examine what’s in the box.

(Photo Courtesy of Warhammer-Community.com)

What's a Meta?

 Hey Game Fans, we’re back with another article on getting into the miniature Wargaming hobby. Today’s article is going to touch on a topic that is divisive in the community, but it’s focused on the folks who play more heavily than the other pillars of the hobby, (Reminder, the three main pillars of the hobby are the modelers, the painters, and the gamers). Today we’re going to talk about the “Meta” and what it means to the average hobbyist and what it doesn’t mean. Buckle up, it may be bumpy.  

Tools of the Trade II: Painters Wild

 Hey Game Fans, we’re back with another article in our series on hobby tools. Last time we did one of these, we went over the basic tools you’d need to get started in assembling your new miniatures for your favorite hobby pursuit. Today we’re going to take a closer look at the tools you’ll need to get started with painting your minis. Buckle in, it’s going to be a ride. 

Combat Patrol: Death Guard

 The new combat patrol format of entry level products for Warhammer 40,000 has given us some interesting choices so far in how to construct an army for new players, but the new box for the Death Guard is a different sort of animal.  For the first time we are getting an entry level product built around a Special Character.  This is the first time I can recall seeing one of these style products built around a special character that didn’t come in a two faction ‘starter’ set. Let’s take a look at what’s in the box and where you can go from here.

(Photo Courtesy of Warhammer-Community.com)

Tools of the Trade (Miniature hobby tools)

 Morning Game Fans, we’re back with another article on getting started with miniature gaming.

This is a follow up to our article on New Years, and it’s going to continue the trend we established at getting you ready to put together your first miniatures.  We’ll cover the painting in another article (probably several as the painting could occupy entire volumes of work). Now let’s take a closer inspection at the tools of the trade that any prospective model builder should have in their toolbox.  

How do i get started with Warhammer 40,000?

 Welcome to the Blog for the first article of what i hope is a productive and insightful new year in the world of games.  One of our big feature events that is starting this year is our Armies on Display activity which we’ll go into much deeper in another article but this comes up every so often and is something that i think is important enough to get a blog post of its own.  How do I as a newcomer get started with Warhammer 40,000.  We’re using Warhammer 40K as a baseline because it is fairly ubiquitous in the hobby, but the basic premise holds true for most games.  Sit a spell under our learning tree and we’ll see if we can’t help you out some.