Hi all, well, what a week. Last Sunday I was up at Comicon in Wrexham for my last outing as a GCN rep. The day was good, with plenty of interest in the games we ran, especially the Lord of The Rings.
In life sometimes we find that you have lots of spare time and at other periods you have none. I am currently in a no spare time section of my life. I have therefore had to step down as a rep for the GCN. I do this with a heavy heart, but I feel that I have made change in Cornwall. I just feel that I could not comit to the travelling any longer, and to become a static rep was something I never would become. I believe that anyone who is a rep should be a real driving force, so trying to do this from behind a computer screen goes against my personal view of being a representative of an organisation like the GCN.
I shall continue to work within the GCN, but very much behind the scenes. My first role will be completing the Reps guide which I have started to write. I would like to thank all of the GCN, for making my 2 years a very happy time.
So there you go, a short post today, but a sad one.
There is however, things that I am working on, and hopefully good news to come.
Lucky dice
Thursday, 9 June 2011
Friday, 20 May 2011
Change is coming!
At the end of a week that has brought us yet more strange decisions by Games Workshop I feel that the time has come to step up and be heard.
Generally speaking I believe that GW's current announcements will in some part be good for the gaming community (certainly within the UK). They are effectively making people choose what to buy in these tight financial times, and this can only increase the sales of other better priced and more economically savvy products. The likes of Privateer Press and Mantic Games, for instance, will gain on the back of their decisions. Over the course of the last 18 months I have seen a marked change in army composition within my club and other clubs in Cornwall, with people mixing in more and more non GW figures. I think people will continue to play their rules but we'll see a lot more converted models and/or models from other manufacturers on the tabletop.
I must say that I cannot remember the last time I made a direct purchase from a GW store, and in over 20 years of gaming I have only ever bought three times directly from them. I do however own nearly 7,000 points of Dark Eldar, and several necromunda gangs and bloodbowl teams. I also have 3,000 points of sisters of battle which do get used on and off.
The biggest concern I have is that yet another price hike and a move to a cheaper material, which it has to be said should improve detailing, will mean that newcomers to the hobby will have a misconception that this is the cost of war gaming. So it falls to us seasoned hands to pass the news that there are other fish in the sea, other games, other manufactures and many of them are also within the UK.
A very important thing that needs to be said is that people may think that these decisions are bizzare and arbitrarily brought in by greedy suited folks sat in their Nottingham ivory tower. That is nonsense; at some time a group of said suited folks, who earn very large salaries, have talked at great length about their marketing strategies. These decisions are thought about, they're planned, and are never done on a whim just to drive people away. Whatever their reasoning and whether it works or not is irrelevant, the decision has been made.
So let's not get caught up on burning GW for their decisions; let's rejoice in all that is good within the UK gaming scene. Games Workshop have never been anything other than very supportive of the community with the great work they do on the schools league and the support they've shown the GCN over the years cannot be faulted. I do fear tho, that the line between doing good in one area and negatively impacting on that from decisions elsewhere is becoming increasingly blurred.
So, let's not burn, but inform. Spread the word; change is coming.
Lucky dice
Gonks
Generally speaking I believe that GW's current announcements will in some part be good for the gaming community (certainly within the UK). They are effectively making people choose what to buy in these tight financial times, and this can only increase the sales of other better priced and more economically savvy products. The likes of Privateer Press and Mantic Games, for instance, will gain on the back of their decisions. Over the course of the last 18 months I have seen a marked change in army composition within my club and other clubs in Cornwall, with people mixing in more and more non GW figures. I think people will continue to play their rules but we'll see a lot more converted models and/or models from other manufacturers on the tabletop.
I must say that I cannot remember the last time I made a direct purchase from a GW store, and in over 20 years of gaming I have only ever bought three times directly from them. I do however own nearly 7,000 points of Dark Eldar, and several necromunda gangs and bloodbowl teams. I also have 3,000 points of sisters of battle which do get used on and off.
The biggest concern I have is that yet another price hike and a move to a cheaper material, which it has to be said should improve detailing, will mean that newcomers to the hobby will have a misconception that this is the cost of war gaming. So it falls to us seasoned hands to pass the news that there are other fish in the sea, other games, other manufactures and many of them are also within the UK.
A very important thing that needs to be said is that people may think that these decisions are bizzare and arbitrarily brought in by greedy suited folks sat in their Nottingham ivory tower. That is nonsense; at some time a group of said suited folks, who earn very large salaries, have talked at great length about their marketing strategies. These decisions are thought about, they're planned, and are never done on a whim just to drive people away. Whatever their reasoning and whether it works or not is irrelevant, the decision has been made.
So let's not get caught up on burning GW for their decisions; let's rejoice in all that is good within the UK gaming scene. Games Workshop have never been anything other than very supportive of the community with the great work they do on the schools league and the support they've shown the GCN over the years cannot be faulted. I do fear tho, that the line between doing good in one area and negatively impacting on that from decisions elsewhere is becoming increasingly blurred.
So, let's not burn, but inform. Spread the word; change is coming.
Lucky dice
Gonks
Sunday, 15 May 2011
Girls in Primer
Well, as part of the new project for Cutlass by Black Scorpion Miniatures, I have been assembling my crew of female pirates. I have used all but one Black scorpion model in my starting crew. After swapping out some weapons and changing a few poses I have now sprayed them in primer ready for painting.
As per a Facebook (Ben) request here are some pics so far:
And a final picture of what happens when someone takes the terrain away and folks really want to play Cutlass.
Playdoh terrain, it's the next best thing!
Lucky dice
Gonks
As per a Facebook (Ben) request here are some pics so far:
And a final picture of what happens when someone takes the terrain away and folks really want to play Cutlass.
Lucky dice
Gonks
Wednesday, 11 May 2011
Cutlass by Black Scorpion
Hi all, well in order to keep my sanity at reasonably normal levels I decided to do a quick review of these new rules.
I picked up a copy of Cutlass at Legionary in Exeter at the weekend and I can say that on first inspection the book looks very nice with a good mix of colour photographs and artwork. The book is pleasing to the eye and at just over 100 pages it's a good investment for £20. The cover art is exceptional (and yes you can get "Her" as a figure) even though she is currently sold out......Bugga! Written by Gav Thorpe and Adam Clarke, it instils good expectations from the cover.
The game is a land based fantasy pirate skirmish game, a bit like Necromunda mixed with a turn system similar to bloodbowl. The players start a gang with between 5 and 8 models, so it's good as a break in game and for those who can just never seem to get an army painted. The models from black scorpion are also very nice, but the game allows for a very custom approach to your gang and weapons and equipment can be tailored to meet individual likes or dislikes.
Play is not by the normal my turn then your turn structure. Players roll their leaders Authority at the beginning of the game and this total is the amount of action points that player has. Players then nominate actions for their models to do, which could be move, shoot or combat. There are also several special actions such as reloading or hide, which can be undertaken by other models in the gang whilst some move for instance. A player spends one action point to make the number of actions equal to the current action point total. So for instance, a player rolls and gets 6 action points, he spends his first and 6 models can perform the nominated action, or a special action. The player can then spend his second point but this time on 5 can perform actions and so on until he/she decides to pass active status to the other player or they run out of action points. Some of the reports I have read have remarked that this system is to reliant on a good roll at the start, and situations when one player gets say 8 and the other gets 1 would lead to a bad game. Having played a few games now I can say that this very rarely happens, and when it does, you just have to say "it's a game, and next turn it might be the other way around".
According to Newton's third law of motion, for every action there is a an equal and opposite reaction. this is very much the case with Cutlass. As players perform action your opponent has a chance, within certain guidelines to react to the actions of their opponents models. This is a great part of the game and makes the active player think hard about the order in which they conduct their actions. Should your opponent react, not only do they get to perform an action with the reacting model but they also steal the activation. This is very similar to a "turnover" in bloodbowl, hence the reference earlier.
The combat and shooting actions are well thought out and work quickly, once you remember your stats.
Cutlass can be played as a one off game and so far that is all we have done, but it's true potential is in it's campaign system. Gangs will progress as they go through encounters and gain wealth, new members, skills and will either become more famous or infamous. I will be running a campaign throughout the summer down here, and will post updates here.
My only gripe is that between the different sections of the book, there are 2 pages of repeated filler artwork, which tends to just serve to get in the way, whilst flicking through to check rulings. This is a minor thing but worth mentioning.
So, all in all Cutlass from black scorpion miniatures is a worthy addition to any pirate lovers shelf and I would recommend checking it out.
Cheers for now
Gonk
I picked up a copy of Cutlass at Legionary in Exeter at the weekend and I can say that on first inspection the book looks very nice with a good mix of colour photographs and artwork. The book is pleasing to the eye and at just over 100 pages it's a good investment for £20. The cover art is exceptional (and yes you can get "Her" as a figure) even though she is currently sold out......Bugga! Written by Gav Thorpe and Adam Clarke, it instils good expectations from the cover.
The game is a land based fantasy pirate skirmish game, a bit like Necromunda mixed with a turn system similar to bloodbowl. The players start a gang with between 5 and 8 models, so it's good as a break in game and for those who can just never seem to get an army painted. The models from black scorpion are also very nice, but the game allows for a very custom approach to your gang and weapons and equipment can be tailored to meet individual likes or dislikes.
Play is not by the normal my turn then your turn structure. Players roll their leaders Authority at the beginning of the game and this total is the amount of action points that player has. Players then nominate actions for their models to do, which could be move, shoot or combat. There are also several special actions such as reloading or hide, which can be undertaken by other models in the gang whilst some move for instance. A player spends one action point to make the number of actions equal to the current action point total. So for instance, a player rolls and gets 6 action points, he spends his first and 6 models can perform the nominated action, or a special action. The player can then spend his second point but this time on 5 can perform actions and so on until he/she decides to pass active status to the other player or they run out of action points. Some of the reports I have read have remarked that this system is to reliant on a good roll at the start, and situations when one player gets say 8 and the other gets 1 would lead to a bad game. Having played a few games now I can say that this very rarely happens, and when it does, you just have to say "it's a game, and next turn it might be the other way around".
According to Newton's third law of motion, for every action there is a an equal and opposite reaction. this is very much the case with Cutlass. As players perform action your opponent has a chance, within certain guidelines to react to the actions of their opponents models. This is a great part of the game and makes the active player think hard about the order in which they conduct their actions. Should your opponent react, not only do they get to perform an action with the reacting model but they also steal the activation. This is very similar to a "turnover" in bloodbowl, hence the reference earlier.
The combat and shooting actions are well thought out and work quickly, once you remember your stats.
Cutlass can be played as a one off game and so far that is all we have done, but it's true potential is in it's campaign system. Gangs will progress as they go through encounters and gain wealth, new members, skills and will either become more famous or infamous. I will be running a campaign throughout the summer down here, and will post updates here.
My only gripe is that between the different sections of the book, there are 2 pages of repeated filler artwork, which tends to just serve to get in the way, whilst flicking through to check rulings. This is a minor thing but worth mentioning.
So, all in all Cutlass from black scorpion miniatures is a worthy addition to any pirate lovers shelf and I would recommend checking it out.
Cheers for now
Gonk
Wow, how time flies!
Just realised that it's been a while since my last post. Have been super busy with sorting out the first half of operation 'Carboot Courtyard', which is to be West Cornwall games Club's big summer game. The idea came from Martin, the bastard, I didn't know they could do that, Smith, after he decided that in order to properly satisfy his inner nerd we should reduce down 63 miles of Operation Market Garden ( Holland - September 1944) into a 16 foot by 8 foot table for his birthday at the end of July.
Having agreed to this extreme idea, it was tasked to me to do the following:
Build the board! Aaarrrggghhhhh!!!!!
I must say that at this point I decided that I needed help (fellow builders, NOT Psychological). I recruited Big Al and Smiffee to assist. So over Easter weekend we started with 16 linear feet of hedges and a few old woods that needed some repairs.
So we set to task turning this:
Into this:
Amazingly, we managed this over the long Easter weekend. Fuelled by wine and pizza we pulled 14 hour days, but what a result.
We have taken the board to Swmee (Shepton Mallet) and to Legionary (Exeter) and at both shows it has been well received.
Oh, forgot to mention the 2 platoons of Waffen SS (52 figures) that I had to build in a day, then get painted in 2 days for the shows.
That "Smiffee" What a bastard!
So that's half the board, next up is Nijmegen and Arnham, both with rivers and bigger bridges.
A final massive thankyou has to go to Big Al for scratch building Veghel bridge the same weekend, that man is a P-card dynamo.
Veghel Bridge:
Lucky dice
Gonks
Saturday, 19 March 2011
Doing a little bit to help out!
All the club subs from next weeks club meeting will be going to Shelterbox in Helston, Cornwall to help with their efforts in Japan. I would like to ask all members of West Cornwall Games Club to attend next week so that we can raise just a few quid to help out. We will obviously accept additional donations.
The Japanese authorities have officially accepted the offer of assistance from this little known Cornish charity. Shelterbox are often the first oversea's aid to reach natural disasters around the globe. They can pack and dispatch up to 1000 boxes per day from their Helston site, and they have teams of trained operatives ready to drop everything and go to these disaster area's.
It would be great if other games clubs and/or individuals would follow this and do similar.
God bless to the people of Japan, in their time of need
Neil
The Japanese authorities have officially accepted the offer of assistance from this little known Cornish charity. Shelterbox are often the first oversea's aid to reach natural disasters around the globe. They can pack and dispatch up to 1000 boxes per day from their Helston site, and they have teams of trained operatives ready to drop everything and go to these disaster area's.
It would be great if other games clubs and/or individuals would follow this and do similar.
God bless to the people of Japan, in their time of need
Neil
Wednesday, 2 March 2011
Sleeping Gods highlights
Hi all, for those who missed this excellent weekend, here is a short video which captures the highlights.
Huge thanks have to go to Richard for being head honcho on this one and to my other fellow (dis) organisers, Dan and Dave. A gooid laugh had by all, and without doubt one of the best campaigns by far.
Finally, it has to be said that the quote of the weekend must go to Smiffee when he uttered this brilliance " I didn't know they could do that" shortly after getting his caster ass kicked for the 2nd time. He later went on to win the award for most caster deaths.
Well, enjoy the video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZ67WQtFHqA
Neil
Huge thanks have to go to Richard for being head honcho on this one and to my other fellow (dis) organisers, Dan and Dave. A gooid laugh had by all, and without doubt one of the best campaigns by far.
Finally, it has to be said that the quote of the weekend must go to Smiffee when he uttered this brilliance " I didn't know they could do that" shortly after getting his caster ass kicked for the 2nd time. He later went on to win the award for most caster deaths.
Well, enjoy the video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZ67WQtFHqA
Neil
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