First Gaming Action!

One of the best features of our new house is a big upstairs playroom that's perfect for anything from D&D to wargaming to action figures. Although I was fired up to resume our Shattered Realm campaign, the boys wanted to do some skirmish games, so first we set up an X-Wing scenario that took us all morning to play through. Here's a look at one of the initial engagements...

Note the red TIE Interceptor that came barreling in so fast that he overshot the Rebel fighters! He didn't fare much better in the later stages of the game, when an Imperial traffic jam allowed my Rebels to carry the day...

Next up, we shifted gears for some Tanks action. The battle has yet to be concluded, but this Panther appears to be in trouble...

Getting There!

I wish moving was as simple as lugging my crap from one house to another. Turns out, that was the easy part. Countless other tasks -- minor but often annoying -- have prevented me from getting back into my usual routine. A big part of that routine, of course, is gaming. However, last night, for the first time since we moved into the new house, I did something D&D-related: I cracked open my books and started mapping out the boys' next Shattered Realm adventure. It's a start!

Annnnnd...

...we're in the new house! Now comes the dreaded unpacking phase...

Farewell!

No, the blog isn't going on hiatus again. I'm instead saying farewell to the house where our family has lived for, lo, these past nine years. It wasn't a great house -- it was barely an adequate house -- but it's really the only home my boys have ever known. (Yikes!)

As we prepare to spend the weekend moving into our bigger, better, brand-spankin'-new house, I'm reflecting on all the fun we had in the old place. In addition to the countless board games we played there, it was the house where I introduced my kids to D&D -- and I suppose that fact alone will always make it kind of special.

For the record, the last gaming action to be played in our weird little pink house was a Skype-based, transcontinental Shattered Realm episode with Matt and his daughter. I look forward to seeing what our first adventure in the new house will be!

Idling

The boys looked at Idle Champions for about five seconds before they proclaimed it supremely lame. I'm inclined to agree...

Idle Champions

New official D&D video game, yo! Click here to check out Idle Champions of the Forgotten Realms on Steam. Bonus: It's free!

Huzzah for Technology!

Thousands of miles apart? Living in different countries? No sweat! Thanks to the miracle of the interwebs, we have a new Shattered Realm campaign going -- and it's not just me and the boys! Using Skype, Matt and his daughter have joined the fun from their home in Canada!

Monster Blues

The boys' Shattered Realm heroes had been fighting their way through a wight-infested ruin when they came upon a deep well in which a cry for help could be heard. After a few prudent skill checks, however, they began to suspect that the pitiful entreaties were actually a ruse. As we wrapped up the game session, a wraith emerged from the well to attack the party. With Matthew's rogue low on hit points, Nathaniel feared that one solid Life Drain hit would consign the rogue to an eternity of ghostly undeath. He pored over the wraith's stat block and, even after we tucked him in, he lay in bed stewing over the situation. I had to have a long talk with him about probability -- the odds of Matthew's rogue falling victim to the wraith -- before he agreed to go back to bed. Maybe (probably) this goes without saying, but it's not a good idea to let a six-year-old read the Monster Manual at bedtime...

More Minis!

Need more minis for D&D? Of course you do! Click here for a Kickstarter that needs some extra love as its end date is rapidly approaching...

Fun With Fireballs

Can you spot the sorcerer, the ranger, and the ranger's animal companion in this throng of skeletons?

When the boys' primary Shattered Realm heroes ran afoul of a vampire, the dastardly villain unleashed his horde of undead minions. The heroes lured the (literally) boneheaded creatures into a crowd around them, and then Matthew's sorcerer dropped a fireball in the middle of everything -- roasting heroes and monsters alike! The fireball did enough damage that it destroyed even the skeletons that made their saving throws, while the heroes had enough hit points to withstand the full force of the blast. It wasn't pretty, but it got the job done: 26 skeletons destroyed with a single spell!

Painting 101

Today I attended a fun painting class at my local Games Workshop store (Warhammer - The Summit in Reno). I got the chance to practice dry brush, wash, and other techniques, but I don't necessarily think the mini turned out any better or worse than the ones I painted a few months ago.

Once our house situation is sorted out, I look forward to painting the models from the First Strike and Know No Fear sets that I picked up a while back.

Game Balance

We were discussing 5e wizard cantrips the other day -- typical dinner conversation in our household -- and then Matthew switched gears to ask which classes get access to the legendary Wish spell. With no PHB handy, I speculated that the sorcerer and wizard could get it.

"As a cantrip?" Nathaniel piped up.

Heh. Wish as a cantrip would present a few game balance issues, don't you think?

Curses!

We wrapped up our brief Eberron adventure this evening, but not before the boys got their first taste of a true D&D classic: cursed magic items. Matthew's fighter put on an enchanted cloak that turned out to be more than he bargained for. Now the objective for our next adventure will be to find someone who can cast Remove Curse. As an alternative, Nathaniel suggested: "Don't worry, my paladin will be able to cast that spell in just five more levels!" Yeah, Matthew wasn't on board with waiting quite that long...

Starfinder Review

Click here for an early review of Paizo's sci-fi version of Pathfinder, Starfinder!

Our Visit to Eberron

Whether as a player or as a DM, I've never participated in an adventure set in Eberron. I must admit a somewhat fraught relationship with that campaign setting. Maybe it's the magic robots, or the fact that the main continent of Khorvaire makes me think of an old-time Chevy, but it's probably the history of the setting itself.

Eberron was created as the result of a contest held back in 2002, when thousands of gamers submitted ideas for the next great D&D campaign setting. Naturally, I jumped on that opportunity as well. The Shattered Realm setting was in its infancy, and the Druid Cycle world seemed too hard to distill into a one-page overview sheet, so I opted to submit the setting now called Torchlight, which in those days was known as Woden's Gallows. For those who haven't seen it, Torchlight is a low-magic, dark fantasy world based on the literature and mythology of Anglo-Saxon England (the focus of my graduate studies). I still can't believe I (and so many others) lost to a setting whose primary "hook" was magic robots, but...whatever.

Anyway, as the boys are crazy for D&D these days, I've cracked open a free Eberron adventure that I picked up years ago. I'm ignoring all the stuff about Dragonmarked houses and whatnot, and pretty much running it as if it's in a generic D&D setting. Even so, the boys want to take a ride on Eberron's infamous magic train, but I told them it doesn't have any stops in the Shadow Marches...

Red Box Redux

The boys have two characters apiece in the Shattered Realm setting, so when they decided they needed still more characters, I figured it was time to break out some published D&D adventures to help pick up the slack. We started with a Fifth Edition mod of the original solo adventure from the 1983 edition of the Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set -- the legendary "red box" edition. The boys enjoyed partaking in a bit of D&D history, but they also recognized just how primitive those early adventures could be. "It's just a bunch of rooms filled with random monsters!"

Reiver Madness

Okay, okay, the title for this post is a really lame pun. Moving on! The Reivers are a new type of fear-inspiring, close-quarters combat squad for the Primaris Space Marines. Here they are taking on some bloated, festering Plague Marines.

I love that the First Strike starter set includes a detailed battle map and a simple but effective piece of 3D scenery. Games look great right out of the box, even before the minis are painted.

First Strike

I picked up two of the new 40k starter sets (First Strike and Know No Fear) today at the Games Workshop store in Reno. (You should've seen the guy's face when I told him I was going to paint the minis with paints from Michaels!) Here are the sprues for First Strike, the smaller of the two sets.

As you can see, the models aren't molded in the usual dark gray plastic; instead, the Primaris Space Marines (think Ultramarines on steroids) are in blue and the Death Guard forces are in green. This way, even for folks who don't want to paint the models, it's easier to tell which side is which. That's handy for me, too, because it may be a while before I get around to painting the minis for either starter set, as we may have some big news to report in the next couple of weeks! (No, Amy isn't pregnant...)

Pathfinder: Kingmaker

Wow, I just found out about Pathfinder: Kingmaker, a single-player computer RPG in the style of Baldur's Gate and its successors. Click here to see the Kickstarter page -- but there's only a few hours left!

Beast Mode

With apologies to Marshawn Lynch, there's a new Beast Mode in town. The boys started up an adventure with new characters in the Shattered Realm setting this past weekend, and Nathaniel's shapeshifting druid has been the bane of low-level villains everywhere. Whether as a tiger, dire wolf, or giant hyena(!), he's running rampant over his foes. Matthew's assassin rogue may be dealing more damage per round, but there's something viscerally satisfying about watching the druid clawing down hapless kobolds and orcs.

Starter Set Madness

Aye caramba! The new edition of 40k has not one, not two, but three starter sets! I swear I'm only going to buy the cheapest one...

Twisty Plots

I love throwing plot twists at the boys in their Shattered Realm campaign, and they love trying to figure out what's going to happen next. Last weekend, they learned that one of their half-dozen closest NPC allies was secretly a traitor -- but they didn't know which one. What followed was a lengthy discussion of NPC actions and motivations, and a review of all the available evidence. It took a few leading questions on my part, but ultimately they realized that the main NPC of the campaign was also the master villain! Long story short, that treacherous NPC suffered a swift and ignominious fall from grace.

Then, last night, the boys were gearing up for peace talks between an embattled border town and the goblinoid army that was about to lay siege to it. (I have enough D&D minis to put over a hundred goblins, hobgoblins, and bugbears into the field -- so when I say "army", I really mean it!) A key part of the peace negotiations was an exchange of prisoners. The invaders insisted that the town give up a hobgoblin who had switched sides and joined with the heroes. The town's leadership refused, but the noble hobgoblin agreed to return to his people and face whatever punishment would be meted out to him. The boys were devastated. They're assuming, of course, that their pal will be executed, but would I let a great NPC go to waste? Never! Some time will pass, and then I'll find a way to bring him back into the story.

After all, it would make a great plot twist...

Epic Save

Over the many years and many players of Druid Cycle adventures, it seems to me that Jason was the one guy who always had great rolls in clutch situations. (Apologies to Kevin, whose mantra was "I roll 1s like it's my job.") These days, in the Shattered Realm campaign that I'm running for the boys, it's Nathaniel who scores the big roll when he needs it. And in today's game session, he really needed it. The heroes were beset by a mind-controlling witch who was on the verge of turning Nathaniel's beloved animal companion against the party. (Protip: How do you scare the crap out of a six-year-old gamer? Don't threaten his own character -- threaten his pet!) Nathaniel needed to roll a natural 20 for his animal companion to succeed on the save, and doggone it, he made that save! He and Matthew and I all cried out so loudly that poor Amy -- who's laid up with a fever -- came hobbling out of the bedroom to find out what the heck was going on!

Countdown to 30

The first Front Porch campaign -- the superhero smackdown antics of Earth Commanders -- started just about 29 years ago in the summer of 1988. Next summer, then, will mark 30 years of Front Porch gaming action. For the 25th anniversary I did a series of posts on the subject (see the label "Countdown to 25"), so I might as well do the same for the 30th. 2018 will be doubly significant because it also marks the 25th anniversary of the Druid Cycle campaign setting.

Bears vs. Babies

Our latest Kickstarter purchase has arrived!

Yeah, that's one furry box! From the makers of Exploding Kittens, behold the glory of Bears vs. Babies. The object of the game is to assemble armies of bears and other creatures, like this guy...

...and this guy...

...to do battle against hordes of demented babies, like these little buggers...

The player who eats the most babies wins! Three out of four Suttons agree: This game is a winner!

Free RPG Day Today!

Don't forget, it's Free RPG Day today!

Free RPG Day 2017

I've soured a bit on Free RPG Day in recent years, but it looks like there's going to be a lot of cool stuff this time around. Check out your local game store this Saturday!

Shatter Up

It seems as though one or both of the kids has had a cold for the past month, so we've had a lot of quiet, indoor time lately. Aside from all the coughing and sneezing, it's been a nice change of pace after a hectic spring with Matthew's ice hockey and Nathaniel's baseball. The boys and I have been playing a lot of D&D in the Shattered Realm setting, and now Tim W is doing a solo adventure in that world with one of his Druid Cycle characters. It's fun to watch this world really come to life!

"For Russ and the Allfather!"

A massive new campaign just dropped for the mobile Space Wolf game. So much for Injustice 2...

The Lay of the Lost Horn

The boys were knocking around on Saturday with nothing to do, so Amy suggested D&D. I popped open my Shattered Realm file and I started a new campaign for them: "The Lay of the Lost Horn."

After a journey fraught with goblin raids and other dangers, the two young heroes -- Matthew's dragonborn sorcerer and Nathaniel's human ranger -- have reached the besieged village of Palisade. Pics below!

Not Feelin' It

I logged a lot of time playing the original mobile version of Injustice, but for some reason, I'm just not feeling Injustice 2. When I have a few idle minutes for mobile gaming, I'm instead turning to challenge missions in Space Wolf. Maybe I'll let Injustice 2 sit for a while and jump back into it the next time I'm on a business trip...

World Builders

The boys had a hankering to dip into my vast collection of four-inch action figures, so we've spent the better part of the last two evenings transforming our spare bedroom into a sprawling fantasy world. They each built up a "civilization", so I -- never one to miss an opportunity for world building -- asked them to sit down and write up some notes about the domains they created. I've added their notes to my master spreadsheet for the Shattered Realm campaign world, so one day, in a future D&D adventure, they'll be able to explore their creations in an entirely different way!

Injustice 2

Injustice 2 is out for mobile on both iOS and Android platforms. The screens are very "busy" (i.e., cluttered) in the menus as well as during the fights, and I'm still not sure what a lot of the icons and symbols mean, but overall it seems like a lot of fun and a worthy successor to the original game. My immediate source of frustration, though, is that the blocking control is entirely different from the first Injustice, so sometimes my heroes just  have to stand around and take a beating while I'm fumbling to hit the right spot on the screen!

FCBD Today!

Free Comic Book Day is today! Head over to your friendly local comic book store for some free stuff!

An End to My Torment

I finished up Planescape: Torment tonight. In the final encounter, I talked the main villain into submission and then my character was dragged down into some sort of horrible hell-dimension. Somehow, it seemed a fitting end...

FCBD 2017

Quick reminder: Free Comic Book Day 2017 is coming up this Saturday!

Progress!

I finished up the single-player campaign for the 40k mobile game Space Wolf yesterday (casualties were high in a scenario aptly titled "No One Lives Forever") and made some good progress on Planescape: Torment. I estimate that I'm about 80% of the way through Planescape. My goal is to have it finished up before Injustice 2 comes out in a couple of weeks...

Critical Mass

If I play a video game for long enough, I usually reach a "critical mass" point (or, to put it less charitably, the point at which I fall prey to the sunk cost fallacy) and decide that I'll actually finish the game even if I'm not really digging it. I think I've hit that point with Planescape: Torment. I still find it oppressively verbose, but as long as I can skim past the dialogue and focus on the snippets that are included in the main character's journal, it's bearable.

One criticism that is not likely to go away, though, is the setting. I'm about 20 hours into this game and I'm still traipsing around in Sigil. What's the point of using the Planescape setting if so much of the game is rooted in one city? Granted, Sigil is a cool and quirky location, but there's really no reason this game couldn't have been set in Waterdeep or Greyhawk or some other iconic D&D city. Are we actually going to see other planes in Planescape?

Dragonfire

Wellity, wellity, wellity...

It looks like D&D is finally joining the deckbuilder craze. (Is it still a craze, though? I was actually thinking not long ago that this type of game was playing itself out. Anyway...) With a product that's sure to evoke endless comparisons to Paizo's astoundingly awesome Pathfinder Adventure Card Game, Wizards is partnering with Catalyst Game Labs to release a D&D-themed deckbuilder game called Dragonfire. (Cue the scene from late-'80s Doctor Who when the freezing dude's face melts off.) All snark aside, I will play the hell out of this game!

Voices In My Head

I won't get into the details -- it's a long story -- but Tim W came up with a great use for a non-combat spell. Facing a foe who was unfamiliar with magic, the wizard Cathbad (of Druid Cycle fame) used a Sending spell to put strange voices in the guy's head. I love it!

New 40k Edition

A new edition of Warhammer 40,000 is on the way. It's hard to believe that my Dark Vengeance boxed set is now going to be several editions out of date!

It's Torment Indeed

So I ended up shelling out twenty bucks for the PC version of Planescape: Torment: Enhanced Edition, and I can't say I'm in love with it. I'll try anything that resembles Baldur's Gate and Icewind Dale (this game is built using the same engine as those two classics), but Torment is turning out to be slow and talky. I'm a couple of hours into the game, and I'm now wandering around the slums of Sigil (all the while killing the same bandits that keep respawning in exactly the same places) in search of information. Each new map brings about the same grim exercise in identifying every named NPC, initiating dialogue with them, and scanning through reams of text to figure out if they have anything truly useful to say. Not sure how far I will get with this game, especially with my copy of Tales From the Yawning Portal scheduled to arrive today...

Time to Torment Myself!

The enhanced edition for Planescape: Torment is now available. Can't wait to download it for my tablet!

Moral Panic

I've been playing D&D (or modified versions of RPG games) for decades now, although not as heavily involved as my friends, it has always been an escape that I've enjoyed, allowing me to create a fictional narrative that I have always been unable to do so on my own.

We were probably at the tail end of the first generation of D&D players, or perhaps the very first of the next generation so a lot of the hysteria had subsided by the time we were playing. I recall there was a little bit of reluctance on the part of the schools that we attended to allow us to use "dice" in the classroom and I am sure that is part of the lingering effects of the hysteria. Most of our gaming activity occurred either at home or on the local BBS's.

With that being said, the "moral panic" and hysteria around the first generation of D&D players has always fascinated me. This is a great article about an early Tom Hanks vehicle, Mazes and Monsters.

"...it's a cautionary tale about the supposed impact of RPGs on delicate young minds - and perhaps best remembered as the first feature role for a young Tom Hanks."

I haven't had a chance to watch this crap-tastic sounding made for TV-movie, but the article does give a nice summary of the era and the movie itself.

Battle Scene

Okay, before I put these guys away, here are a few shots of the completed armies, along with the terrain pieces that I painted as part of this project.

For the Emperor!

Here we go...the last three Ultramarines models! First we a veteran Space Marine clad in Terminator armor, toting a storm bolter and power sword.

Next up is a fearsome Dreadnought!

Finally, the most difficult model of all, the Space Marine Captain. This guy gave me a lot of trouble (especially that stupid flag!) and he didn't turn out great, but he's good enough to carve up those pesky Orks!

Today brings my grand adventure with Warhammer 40,000 painting to a close. Well, at least until Shadow War: Armageddon is in stock...

We March for Macgragge...

...and we shall know no fear!

The first batch of Ultramarines is done -- or, at least, as done as they're going to get! I was pretty satisfied until I looked at the close-up photos and saw all sorts of areas for improvement. However, with other gaming stuff coming up soon, I've decided to put these guys aside. We've reached the point of diminishing returns.

Anyway, here they are! The photo below shows a trio of Space Marines armed with bolters.

Next up, a flamer! (Yes, that's really what it's called. Yikes.)

And now we have an Ultramarine toting a missile launcher.

Last but not least, here's the chainsword-wielding sergeant -- the leader of this squad.

In the next post, I'll share photos of the last three Ultramarines models from this starter set.

Confrontation: The Age of Rag'Narok

So...what the hell is this?

Apparently, it's Confrontation: The Age of Rag'Narok (their spelling, not mine), a decade-old miniatures wargame from a now-defunct French company. I picked it up sight unseen on Miniature Market for twenty bucks as a clearance item (click here to see if it's still on sale!). The box arrived today, and, as you can see, it comes with a lot of cool bits.

Not sure if I'll ever play the actual game, but I'll certainly make good use of the miniatures, the cool terrain piece, and the double-sided battle mat. At this price, maybe I'll pick up a second box!

Planescape: Torment

Yeah, so, I guess I'm going to have to get this...

40k Weekend

It's been a 40k kinda weekend. I've played Space Wolf, I've read a couple of issues of Titan's relatively new Warhammer 40,000 comic book series, and I've worked a bit on my Ultramarines painting. Perhaps by next weekend I'll be finished with the painting and will be able to rope one or both of the boys into playing a bit.

Orkz Iz Dun!

Tonight I finished up the final two Ork units, the Deffkopta and the Warboss. First up, the Deffkopta!

And last but not least, the bad-ass Warboss!

Now I'll turn my attention back to the Ultramarines. I still have a lot of detail work and touching up to do, but I think they're coming along well. Stay tuned for more pictures!

Hawkman Facts

This has nothing to do with gaming, but I just need to give a quick shout-out to my favorite superhero, Hawkman, who's featured on Comic Book Resources today!

Nobz Ahoy!

And here are the beefy Ork Nobz. Next weekend, I'll see if I can finish up the Orks and then get back to work on the Ultramarines...

First Batch

First batch of completed minis...the Ork Boyz!

At some point, I might go back and add more detail to the bodies (such as the brown leather straps that crisscross their clothes), but this is probably good enough for now. The Boyz are ready for a fight!

Less Artsy, More Fartsy

To the surprise of exactly no one, I'm not very artistic. Painting my Warhammer 40k miniatures has been a challenge, but at least I'm making progress. I'm not finished with any of them yet, but I will post photos of all the Orks and Ultramarines when I'm ready to call it quits.

From Gray to Black...

After several years of hemming and hawing, I've finally made the commitment to attempt painting Warhammer 40k miniatures. Over the weekend, I sat down and applied a coat of black primer to all the Ultramarines and Orks from the Battle for Vedros starter set. For good measure, I also primed (primered?) four pieces of Citadel scenery that I've had lying around for the past fifteen years or so. Next up, I'll paint the Ultramarines blue and the Orks green. Then, at the very least, they'll be more visually distinct on the table. I will try for additional detailing (e.g., gray or silver for the guns and swords), but my artistic skills leave a lot to be desired!

Lego D&D?

Remember those D&D-themed Kre-O guys that I was nuts about a few years ago? The mini-figs were pretty awesome, but the bricks didn't hold together very well, making it difficult for the boys and I to stage epic battles without entire towers crumbling at the single jab of an orc's spear. Well, it seems that we may be a step closer to a true D&D-themed Lego experience. Click here for details!

Rock Paper Wizard

My boys are going to love this...

Vedros Action

I've conducted a few small-scale skirmishes to learn the 40k rules, so now I've put all the Battle for Vedros miniatures out there for a larger encounter. Here we are after four turns...

The Orks have lost their mighty Deffkopta (helicopter) and only one unit has managed to close distance with the sharpshooting Ultramarines. The humans' leader, Captain Trajean, now finds himself in a furious melee with a horde of Ork Boyz. Check out the image below -- you can see the captain's flag sticking up from the frenzied press of warriors!

Battle for Vedros

Forces are assembled! The Orks outnumber the Ultramarines by a substantial margin, but I'd never bet against the Space Marines. For the Emperor!

Here We Go Again!

A little gift to myself to celebrate my cool new job.

This time, I'm going to sit down and learn the rules, and I'm going to paint the damn miniatures!

(War)hammer Time

I guess all this time spent playing Blood Bowl and Space Wolf on my tablet has given me a hankering to try 40k again. I've ordered the most recent starter set -- apparently this version, Battle for Vedros, includes simplified rules that I might now have the patience to learn.

Injustice 2

Bring...it...on...

Worlds of Warhammer

I've been looking around lately for good mobile games (I ain't got one of them fancy-dancy console game systems) to tide me over until the sequel to Injustice comes out later this year, and I've stumbled upon a couple of Games Workshop gems: Warhammer 40,000: Space Wolf, a turn-based game of Space Marines tactical action, and Blood Bowl: Kerrunch, a game of fantastical football-themed combat and part of GW's long series of Blood Bowl titles. Both are free and highly recommended!

Phun With Phasma

With the rain continuing to fall at an Old Testament pace, the boys and I finished up the Star Wars mini-campaign this afternoon. We ended up fleeing rather ignominiously during the final battle when Captain Phasma (of Force Awakens fame) showed up, but we got away without being captured or killed, so...victory!

Both boys seem to like this system better than I do. Matthew would like to evolve his character into some sort of Force-wielder, as in the Knights of the Old Republic video game that he enjoys. Nathaniel just can't wait for the next chapter of the story. Although the Force Awakens-era game doesn't currently have any other adventure books, at least there's a free downloadable adventure module (A Call for Heroes) that we can check out.

Escape From Jakku

Like much of the country, we're experiencing ridiculously bad weather here in western Nevada, so the whole family has been cooped up at home. However, it's been a great opportunity for the boys and I to crack open Star Wars: The Force Awakens Beginner Game and give it a whirl. Today we ran through about two-thirds of the introductory mini-campaign, and we'll probably finish it up tomorrow. The adventure takes place on Jakku, and thus far we've helped some friendly nomads repel an attack by local gangsters, discovered vital secrets buried in the bowels of a downed Rebel Alliance corvette, and made a harrowing escape from the desert world during a second enemy assault.

What's the verdict? Well, of the three of us, Nathaniel is the only one singing its praises. Of course, he's an easy sell -- he loves learning new game systems and he loves anything related to Star Wars. Matthew and I have a more lukewarm impression. I'm not sure either of us would be keen on picking up another of the Star Wars RPG books any time soon, especially with Tales From the Yawning Portal coming out in a couple of months to get us roaring back into D&D.

There's nothing inherently wrong with the Star Wars RPG system, it's just that it plays kind of slowly. For example, when it's time for an attack or a skill check, you roll a fistful of dice and sort them according to the symbols that come up. (There are no numerals on any of these dice.) At the most basic level, you need to have more Success symbols than Failure symbols (just like the attack rolls in X-Wing). In addition to Success and Failure symbols, you also have Advantage, Threat, Triumph, and Despair. Regardless of whether or not a check succeeds, an abundance of Advantage symbols allows you to "buy" useful side-effects from a list options, whereas Despair symbols allow the Gamemaster to screw you in some way even if your check succeeded. So, for every check, there's a non-trivial follow-up period where everyone is interpreting what just happened. It's fine if you're rolling to fix a broken hyperdrive engine or hack (sorry, "slice") into a computer system, but for combat encounters, the action moves so slowly that players (especially a couple of six- and nine-year-olds I know) tend to wander from the table when it isn't their turn.

If you don't mind the pace, though, the system gives you a fine Star Wars fix. We all cheered heartily when Nathaniel's character clambered into a rusty old turbolaser turret and blasted a landspeeder to smithereens with a single shot. The Force was with us on that one!

Tales From the Yawning Portal

Holy shite!

THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT I WANTED!

Star Wars RPG

It's a new year, so I thought it would be a good idea to kick things off with a post about a new game. Well, it's not exactly new, but it's new to me!

I recently picked up Star Wars: The Force Awakens Beginner Game, the latest entry in the Star Wars RPG game line. This series is produced by Fantasy Flight Games, the makers of Star Wars: X-Wing, arguably my all-time favorite miniatures game. It's obvious just by looking at the dice that the RPG and X-Wing share some DNA in their core mechanics, but I won't have a good feel for how the game plays until I succeed in getting a few players on board. Amy has zero (or even less than zero!) interest in anything related to Star Wars, and the boys are focused on increasingly complex feats of Lego engineering, so it may be a while before I can give this one a proper assessment. Stay tuned!

Holiday Fun

I hope you're all having a great holiday season! Ours has been pretty quiet. Bad weather in the Sierra Nevada mountains whittled down our Los Angeles trip to a mere few days (including driving down there on Christmas Day), but Santa brought us a lot of fun new game stuff, including a Pershing and a Panther IV for our Tanks armies, the fantastic Forbidden Island (the predecessor to Forbidden Desert, a family favorite), and Poop: The Game (it's a real thing).

See you in 2017!

Made It to Willamette Valley!

For the first time ever, we've won a game of Oregon Trail. A measles-ridden Amy was our only survivor, but she made it all the way to Willamette Valley, Oregon. Once again, I died from dysentery -- which has been my fate in every single game we've played!

D&D Is a Hall-of-Famer!

Dungeons & Dragons has been inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame in my beloved second home of Rochester, New York. Click here to read all about it!

Revenge!

The boys and I have spent most of this dreary, rainy Sunday building models and playing Tanks battles. The U.S. Sherman tanks (Nathaniel and myself) have largely had the upper hand over their German Panther or Jagdpanther (Matthew) foe. Below is a photo of the final turn of our most recent battle. One of our Shermans was temporarily disabled -- although completely undamaged -- so Matthew drove his Jagdpanther right up and destroyed it at point-blank range with a single shot. Our other Sherman, hiding in the forest, then immediately blew up the German tank with a well-placed side shot. It's been a lot of fun, but we definitely need more tanks!

Tanks

Tanks is a hot new World War II miniatures skirmish game from Gale Force Nine. People usually describe it as Star Wars: X-Wing but with tanks instead of spaceships. Indeed, the mechanics are similar enough that if you know how to play X-Wing, you basically know how to play Tanks.

Here's a look at all the goodies that come in the box...

As you can see, the models come unpainted and unassembled, which is great for artistically-inclined Warhammer 40k fans, but not so great for folks (like yours truly) who prefer their games to be playable right out of the box. In any case, a core set gives you enough bits to build two American tanks (Shermans) and one German tank (Panther). Other tanks (including those from the UK and the USSR) are available in reasonably-priced expansion sets.

And now a closer look at one of the two identical sprues containing the Sherman pieces...

Finally, here's an image of one of the sprues that contains the pieces you can use to build either a standard Panther or a Jagdpanther...

Amy and the boys come back tomorrow after a week-long trip to Los Angeles, and I can't wait to introduce them to Tanks...as well as Oregon Trail! How about that? Two games to help teach the boys about history!

Oregon Trail!

As a Gen-X kinda guy, I have fond memories of playing Oregon Trail on Apple II computers in elementary school. Now, as if in answer to a prayer I didn't know I'd made, there's an Oregon Trail card game!

As you can see, the design adheres to the old-timey graphics of the '80s computer game. I picked up a copy (it's a Target exclusive) on my lunch hour today, and I can't wait to play it with Amy and the boys. Amy, sadly, does not share my enthusiasm. She had never heard of this game. What the hell were they teaching in those snooty California private schools, anyway? Where else were kids going to learn about dying of dysentery?