Tuesday, 16 February 2021

Boardgames Should I Punch It or Punt It?

Having a bit of a tidy up at Roleplay Geek Publishing HQ and I dug out these two unplayed boardgames.

The big question is should I punch it out and play it or punt it out on eBay? 

Civilization (Gibson Games)

The original boardgame that didn't launch a million computer games or make Sid Meir a household name.  This is infact the earlier boardgame version by Francis Tresham and is complete, unpunched and minty fresh.  

Clearly an unwanted Christmas gift from circa 1988.  The giftee must have opened the box looked at all the tiny pieces of cardboard and smiled back saying "thanks I can't wait until they bring out a version of this on my MS DOS PC."

eBay-ability: £5 to £20

Civilization (Gibsons Games) circa 1988
Civilization (Gibsons Games) circa 1988

Soldier Raj (Avalanche Press)

One for the real Grognards.  Soldier Raj is a traditional counter wargame simulation of the British Raj period between 1767-1848.  I'm not one to cast aspersions about the people who like to play these sorts of heavy wargames.  

My introduction to gaming was through my father who was a dedicated wargamer back in the 80s.  He gravitated from Napoleonics to Ancients, dabbled in a bit of micro-armour gaming and even converted the Pony Wars game to the Condominium of Anglo-Egyptian Sudan 1899 - 1956.

Sadly, playing this sort of game comes lower on my bucket list than poking my eyes out with red hot pokers.  Never mind "The Struggle for India" I'm struggling to stay awake and I've only just opened the box.

eBay-ability: Unknown

Soldier Raj The Struggle for India 1767-1848

Monday, 15 February 2021

Reaper Bones #27 - Grave Wraith & Labella DeMornay, Banshee

More translucent minis again this week. 

Grave Wraith - Bob Ridolfi (SKU: 77097)

I'm starting to develop a sort of technique using progressively darker washes and then dry brushed highlights.

Labella DeMornay, Banshee - Julie Guthrie (SKU: 77096)

Controlling the amount of light leak is very difficult and if you overdo it you lose the transparency effect.  Sometimes it's difficult to actually see what you are painting on these minis as the raw transparent plastic doesn't create shadows which define things like facial features.  A blackwash to begin with really helps.  

A much better painter friend of said I should really be using inks so maybe on my next transparent mini I can throw some 30 year old Citadel shade on it.

Big shout out to Daniel of dhump3.com for the tips.  If you are looking for some quality graphic design for your company or a fantastic digital painting give him a shout. 

Sunday, 14 February 2021

Newsround - Feb 7th to Feb 13th 2021

In the best tradition of John Craven's Newsround here's my rundown of "What I Learned" on the Internet this week.

New Easy to Use VTT - Owlbear Rodeo

If you are ovewhelmed by the likes of Fantasy Grounds or Roll20 then this relative newcomer in the Virtual Table Top (VTT) space might be more your kind of thing.

Owlbear Rodeo is entirely free to use (although Patreon funding is welcome) and browser based promising all the usual map sharing functionality that GMs demand of their online game experiences.

I was very impressed with the feature set as reviewed by WASD Roleplay so if you have tried it out let me know in the comments below what you thought of it.

Alan Tudyk Stars in New Alien Doctor Murder Mystery Comedy - Resident Alien

Resident Alien - Alan Tudyk
Resident Alien - Alan Tudyk
Yes, you read it right the inimitable Alan Tudyk (Firefly / Doom Patrol / Dale & Tucker vs Evil / Rogue One) stars in this new SYFY original and they have covered all the genre bases and then some.  Set in a small ex-mining town in the Colorado mountains this show has all the vibes of Due South but instead of a mountie, it's an alien.  

Tudyk of course is a joy to watch and his comedic character acting chops are in full view as the alien on a mission to destroy humanity but having to masquerade as the towns new doctor.  His arch nemesis and the only resident who can see his true form is a 10 year old boy.

Throw in some mysterious paranormal researchers and you've got a recipe for some serious shenanigans.

This is not a laugh out loud (there is no laughter track) joke-a-minute show, more a gentle comedy about messed up people with messed up lives.  Resident Alien is full of pathos interspersed with some fish-out-of water and cultural confusion moments keeps you engaged throughout.

Avatar Gets a New Roleplaying Game

Viacom CBS Consumer Products and Magpie Games have signed a deal for a new roleplaying game based on the popular noughties Nickolodeon animated series Avatar: The Last Airbender and the sequel series The Legend of Korra.

Now I for one think this is long overdue and am looking forward to seeing what results.  Magpie are already slated to release a ROOT RPG based on the art of Kyle Ferrin’s in LEDER Games very popular ROOT Boardgame.

No scheduled release date yet but fingers crossed it will happen and happen soon.

Avatar The Last Airbender - Ang
Avatar The Last Airbender - Ang

Blacklist Miniatures - Fantasy Series 1 Unboxing & Fantasy Series 2

Those lucky backers who managed to get in on the Fantasy Series 1 Kickstarter way back in May 2020 are about to receive their rewards.  

Flush with success the Kickstarter for Series 2 is expected to launch on 30th March so put that date in your diary and get your wallets ready people.

In the meantime here's an unboxing video from Guerilla Miniature Games to whet your appetite

Saturday, 13 February 2021

Sector 55 Blues - Prog 2 - Hair Today Gone Tomorrow

Sector 55 Blues is a Judge Dredd Campaign using the Savage Dredd unnofficial Savage Worlds Expansion.  This is an online only game with members from Dragons Keep Roleplay Club.
 

Rock Dwayneson's Apartment

The Judges descend to the 7th floor of Trump Tower and exit the elevator.  The decor is distinctly shabbier and it looks like these apartments are reserved for the tower's lower income citizens.  The tranquility of the upper floors is replaced by the smells and sounds of people living cheek by jowl.

The carpet in the corridor is decades old hasn't seen a cleaner in many years judging by the filth ingrained into it's bizarre repeating pattern. The judges overlook the designers horrific choices and locate apartment 738.

After a full sweep of Mr Dwayneson's apartment the judges find nothing out of the ordinary.

Lower Rent apartments in Trump Tower

In the bedroom there are a series of 5 mannequin heads on a shelf wearing wigs and one empty head.  The heads all have sharpie labels, the missing one reads "The Magnum", the one matching his ID Card photo reads "The Black Mamba" 

A message hand-written in sharpie on the dresser mirror reads. 

"A HAIRY YOU IS A BETTER, MORE CONFIDENT YOU!"

In the trash is a plastic packaging for a Trend Topper Toupee "Magnum" hairpiece. 

Meet the Blunders

The screaming and shouting from the apartment 740 nextdoor intensifies.  It sounds like whoever lives there needs to blow off some steam in the Agrodome.  The apartment is registered to Brandon & Betty Blunder a married couple of 30 years.  

Brandon & Betty Blunder
Brandon & Betty Blunder a well adjusted married couple

Betty politely answers the door in curlers and a dressing gown.  Her husband Brandon is watching the Vid and tells his wife

"Get rid of the roz luv I'm trying to watch my COVID!!"

Mr Flowers is watching the new hit show CO-VID-55 which is sweeping the sector.  Celebrities caught in their own homes on hidden CCTV cameras.  

The Justice Department doesn't take a position on censoring Vid shows until there is clear evidence of criminal activity.  As a result most Vid Shows either keep it clean or don't get a second season.

Betty tells the Judges that her next door neighbour is a lovely man, very quiet and in fact a model citizen.  She last saw Mr Dwayneson a couple of days ago and he was in high spirits as he had just purchased a new toupee and was eager to try it out. 

If questioned Mr Blunder reveals that he used to have a management job at Resyk in charge of the team that operated the sludge-o-matic 3000 but was made redundant when they upgraded to the sludge-o-matic 4000.  He hasn't worked a day since.  He remarks that they used to live on the 300th floor and had a window in their apartment, but welfare didn't cover the rent and so the had to move further down the block. 

    "Drocking robots taking everyones jobs!!"

Judge Teal notices Mr Blunder is clearly suffering from future shock syndrome making him a powder keg of negative emotions.  He way be okay today but he could blow at anytime and go on a killing spree.  He contacts Barney and orders a psyche evaluation just to be on the safe side.

The Judges move on to Apartment 736 which is unnocupied.  The bedroom is full of the detritus of the last occupant who clearly used it as a workshop for some electronics repair business.  A residency check reveals that the last occupant was a Freddy Slump who is currently serving 5 years for robot tampering.  Judge Hammer requests a criminal record retrieval from MAC.  

They continue their house to house enquiries but the other residents have nothing further to give.

They decide to follow up on the Robo-Vend lead and head out to the factory located in the Elon Tusk Industrial Park.

The Fat and the Furious

Cruising along the Yes Way heading South Judge Uthred is hit in the face by a half eaten munce burger.  300 feet up ahead are three fatties riding souped up mobility scooters.  

Mega City One is a tough place to police and low level civil disobedience like littering is the start of the slippery slope to recidivism.  The Justice department take a dim view and a guilty citizen can wind up in the iso cubes with a 6 month sentence.  

Illegal Fattie Street Racing is one of the newer crazes in Mega City One.  Fattie juves with a need for speed souping up their mobility scooters and racing each other for kicks has become a real menace to the law abiding citizens.   

The Judges give chase but the fatties don't come quietly weaving dangerously in and out of traffic.  Inevitably two of them lose control of their scooters.  One lurches into the path of a mopad and is instantly crushed to a pulp by the 50 tonne behemoth.  The other spears off the skedway and crashes into the plasteel guardrail erupting in a fireball.  The third pulls out a spit gun and sprays a hail of lead behind him.  Bullets pepper the windscreens of several vehicles between him and the Judges but miss their intended targets completely.

The surrounding traffic begins to veer out of lane and a huge pile up begins in slow motion.  Uthred and Hammer slam on their brakes to avoid colliding with vehicles and skid to a halt.  Teal remembers the words of his Justice Academy Driving Instructor Judge Talladega

"If you see a car spin ahead, aim directly for the smoke, when you get there, it won't be" 

Teal bursts out of the smoke into clean bright sunshine with 100ft between him and the last fattie.  He opens up with his Cyclops Laser Cannon carving a trench in the road up ahead.  With no time to react the fattie scooter hits the gouge with its tiny wheels and comes to an abrupt halt.  The fattie is thrown forward and cut in two by his handlebars.  The top  half of his body landing 100ft further down the skedway.  Judge Teal mutters to himself "Well that only half worked" 

Typical light traffic on a Mega City One Skedway
Typical light traffic on a Mega City One Skedway

Carnage on the Yes-a-Bout

Judges Uthred and Hammer radio in the incident and Sector Control tells them to begin triaging the scene, Emergency Response Crews are 10 minutes out.  They go from vehicle to vehicle assessing the damage.  7 dead and 14 seriously wounded.  

Among the dead is registered mime artist Brittany Little.  He was thrown from his vehicle which has plowed into a tanker truck.  Highly flammable CHOO2 has leaked into the cabin of the vehicle which could explode at any time. 

Mr Little has lacerations over his body consistent with being thrown from a moving vehicle.  Judge Uthred spots what appears to be a human bite mark on the man's bald head.  His newly issued ID card photo shows him sporting a full head of shocking white hair.  

Without a care for his own safety, Hammer climbs into the CHOO2 sodden vehicle and searches for the missing wig.  

He can't find it but retrieves a hold-all containing a stripy turtleneck sweater, a black beret, a pair of white gloves and some face make up.

Unregistered Miming is a crime in every sector in Mega City One with the unique exception of a small area surrounding Mitterand Maisons block in the Euro Zone.

Brittany Little's Apartment

With Med and Tek judges on scene at the Yes-a-Bout the Judges resume their investigation but decide to visit Brittany Little's apartment in Thatcher Tower.

Thatcher Tower was the focal point for an unsavoury politically motivated crime a couple of years ago - You can read more about this in the case files: Tales from Mega City One

The apartment is of typical pre-Atomic construction but Mr Little has done his best to recreate the atmosphere of a 20th Century Parisian apartment complete with Toulouse Lautrect ballerina print and framed reproduction adverts for something called Absinthe.

In the bedroom the Judges find a collection of wigs and an accounts ledger.  A recent tax deductable expense for $99.99 has been entered with a description of "The Boris".  Uthred puts his access card in the bedroom comp terminal and pulls up the Trend Toppers Toupee website.  He searches for "The Boris" and "The Magnum" and finds product pages for each.  The wigs are in stock available direct from Trend Toppers or through numerous high street vendors.  Uthred recalls that he has a contact card for Dapper John and gives him a call.

Dapper John is initially reticent to reveal confidential client information to a Judge as he could face a confidentiality lawsuit.  When he is informed that the clients are now dead he divulges that The Boris was sold to a Mr Little a couple of weeks ago at his boutique in Trump Tower.  He explains he is not in his office so will get his people to look into Mr Dwayneson's purchase history.  He promises that they will "search the records with a fine toothed comb" and he'll get bake to Uthred Tomorrow.

Hammer, Teal and Uthred conclude their investigation in Thatcher Tower and head out to the Robo-Vend Factory.

Robo-Vend  

The Robo-Vend factory is located in the Grimesy Wing of the Elon Tusk Industrial Park campus right  next door to the Sector 55 RESYK facility.

Clark Jeremy Head of Operations
Clark Jeremy
Head of
Operations
They are met by head of operations Mr Clark Jeremy.  He is more than happy to show the Judges their Business Operations Network Control Center (The BONCC) where they monitor the operations of the half a million vending machines distributed throughout Sector 55.

Whilst he is giving the Judges the grand tour a technician tries to interrupt him struggling to hold a cascading pile of computer printouts.  The technician wears a name badge W. Kidde - Area 51.

W. Kidde Technician Area 51
W. Kidde
Technician
Area 51
Jeremy shoos him away saying "not now Kidde! can't you see I'm busy?".  Faced with this intimidating and dismissive tirade of poor people management, the berated technician retreats  in a grovelling fashion.

Jeremy is very cooperative and shows the Judges the feeds from the cameras installed in the 3 vending machines in the alleyway.  He explains that the cameras are programmed to only operate in 2 circumstances; 

  1. when the machines have a cred stick or a valid MC1 ID Card inserted in them
  2.  If they are being tampered with or vandalised.   

Jeremy runs purchase checks on Rock Dwayneson, Victoria Nobody and Dapper John.  All three have prior purchase records at both the machine in the Alleyway and other machines in the sector.  

  • Dapper John's purchase history is consistent with an intern being sent out to collect large and myriad assorted Caf orders using a company cred stick.  Every order includes a Mocha with a shot of hazelnut.

  • Rock Dwsyneson's caf consumption reveals a pattern of consistent use of the machine in the alleyway and the same double cappuchino.

  • Victoria Nobody is an occasional buyer but always seems to purchase when she is running late for work and uses the same machine in the alleyway buying a skinny latte every time.

Prog 3 - It's Ugly Out There

Back Issues

Friday, 12 February 2021

3 Boardgames with a BIGGER Brother

Sometimes a boardgame mechanic or theme is way too good to let it languish in just one game.  Here are just a few boardgames which have spawned big brothers or little brothers.

Ticket to Ride / Ticket To Ride The Card Game

Alan R Moon's classic train set collection game was released in 2004.  It is often seen as a gateway game and an introduction into the world of modern "Euro" boardgames.  

It's little brother was born 4 years later in 2008 and is a pretty neat little 4 player travel version of the original.  It does away with the board and all the little carriage meeples replacing it with the "railyard" and "on the track stack" to represent the cards you have at your disposal and those used to fulfill your route tickets.  

It's a different and faster way of playing Ticket to Ride and makes a nice change.

Ticket to Ride / Ticket to Ride The Card Game
Ticket to Ride & Ticket To Ride The Card Game

Citadels / Mission Red Planet

Bruno Faiduti really knocked it out of the park when he came up with the action drafting / variable powers mechanism for the game Citadels.  He's used it in a bunch of games since including Mission Red Planet which replaces the city building concept with area control.

These play like two very different games and there's a lot more going on in Mission Red Planet and more opportunities for Player vs Player shenanigans.  The additional secret missions aspect can lead to some surprising end games with noone really sure who's won until the final scores are tallied.

Citadels / Mission Red Planet
Citadels & Mission Red Planet

San Juan / Race for The Galaxy

Whilst some will say "Hey wait a minute! San Juan and Puerto Rico are brothers!!" and indeed that is a fair point as they are both by Andreas Seyfarth.  I think the similarities in mechanism are much greater between San Juan and Tom Lehman's Race For The Galaxy.  In fact I usually introduce people to Race for the Galaxy by first playing San Juan.

There are so many similarities; the turn order role order mechanism, the action drafting and the concept of playing cards into a tableau and paying for it with cards in your hand make these spiritual siblings.  Race for the Galaxy is one of those rare games where the expansions really take a game to the next level and don't break it.  The inclusion of missions and prestige in the 3 main expansions; The Gathering Storm, Brink of War and Rebel vs Imperium, add so many new combos and ways to win that I now only play the game with those expansions. 

IMHO Race for the Galaxy is the greatest card game ever invented as it has so much replayablility and there are so many different ways to win and strategies to adopt.  It has consistently been high on both BoardGameGeek and The Dice Tower All Time Rankings and having won numerous awards including the Golden Geek and JoTa Best Card Game in 200.  

Infact I've played over 2,000 games of the Race for the Galaxy iPad version and I'm still coming back for more.  The game is also available on Android Play Store, Steam and on BoargameArena.

San Juan / Race for the Galaxy
San Juan / Race for the Galaxy