Hell freezes over

As I’ve spent much of the last week looking back at the past year of Soulstone Train, it was kind of inevitable that at some point I would end up looking in the other direction.  When it comes to the hobby I like to play the long game and have long term plans of where I want to get to and what I want to achieve.  In the coming year I want to achieve something that I’ve not done before and that is to have a fully painted army for a large scale game.

The first decision to make was what game this army would be for.  As far as I could see the main options were;

·         Warmachine/Hordes

·         Bolt Action

·         Flames of War

·         Warhammer Fantasy

·         Warhammer 40,000

Each of these has pros and cons;

Warmachine/Hordes

Pros: For the most part the minis re actually very nice, especially on the Hordes side of things.  Some of the Colossals are really nice.

Cons: The game sucks balls.

Bolt Action

Pros: There’s some interest locally so I’d probably be able to get a game.  The rules look pretty decent and the models aren’t too expensive.

Cons: There’s a lot of painting one colour and there’s not much variety between minis.  As a hobby project I’m not sure how enjoyable it would be.

Flames of War

Pros: My SST co-host Shane is really into it which suggests the game is pretty decent and I’d be able to get a game.

Cons: The minis are tiny and multi-part, I suspect that my hobby enjoyment would be near zero.  Also, it’s a lot of painting one colour and the final result would not be that impressive on the table.

Warammer Fantasy

Pros: There’s lots of local players so getting a game would be easy.  The minis are generally pretty nice and there’s variety to make the hobby side reasonably enjoyable.

Cons: It’s made by the devil.  It costs a fortune to have a tournament ready army.  Large units mean painting a fair few of the same mini making the hobby a bit of a chore.

Warhammer 40k

Pros: It’s the dominant game at my local club so games/tourneys are easily accessible.  The minis are generally nice.  I used to play 20 years ago so totally know the rules.

Cons: It’s made by the devil.  It’s expensive (although I think not a bad as fantasy).

If this was a gaming project, Bolt Action would have been the clear winner.  Unfortunately it’s not a gaming project however, I can see myself buying in at some point.  As it is a hobby project, I’m sorry to say the winner was Warhammer 40k.  In my youth I owned three armies for 40k and never got around to painting any of them.  As I want to correct an oversight from my past, it makes sense for me to revisit one of my old armies.  This narrowed down the choices to Eldar, Chaos Marines or Dark Angels.

Of those three, one stood out to me as being a bit more varied in terms of the hobby side of things, that being the Eldar who were also my first 40k army.  Since making that decision I’ve heard rumblings that they’re completely bent but, as I have no plans to put effort into an army list, I’m pretty sure they’ll not be in my hands.

I’ve started by ordering the battle force box with the intention of buying extra stuff only when I’ve fully painted what I have.  From there I’m going to just buy what I like the look of (Striking Scorpions are high on the list!) and then pad it out later if I can’t make a legal army list.  The plan is to buy, build and paint a legal army to a decent standard in time for York Garrison’s annual Summer Solstice tournament which is the biggest event the club currently run.  I have no doubt that I’ll come last and ebay the army straight after the event but it’ll be one more thing scratched off the hobby bucket list.

A year of train travel

Another episode of Soulstone Train has been recorded (should be online tonight) and in planning the next episode we realised that it’s been almost a year since we first recorded.  As you can imagine this has somewhat changed our plans for the next episode.  If you listen right to the end of the episode being released later, there will be a brief (and probably quite shocking) preview of what we are planning for our next episode.

Looking back over the year since we started recording was a slightly odd experience as a hell of a lot has changed.  I listened back to our first episode and realised straight away why I had taken it down, it was bloody awful!  As much as we have learnt a lot about gaming in the past year, we’ve learnt a lot more about podcast recording and editing.  We’ve also progressed a lot as a gaming group with many more of the local gaming club getting involved in recording sessions and more varied games being played on club nights.

The major changes that we’ve seen as a podcast are;

·         Move away from Malifaux – this is something that I really didn’t see coming, we were all heavily invested in the game (me especially as a henchman) and we were in it for the long haul.  I do sometimes miss the verbal jousting with the Malifools (not that much though as you may find out later) and being part of that community but that change was overall for the better.

·         Changes in hosts – most people have forgotten that the very first episode was just me and Baby Jake, I didn’t even meet Shane until the week after.  Now we have a rotating set of hosts that all play different games making it a rich tapestry of nerdy goodness.  We are still looking at getting a few more locals involved so watch this space for more.

·         Sound quality – we now have actual recording equipment rather than just using the microphone on my laptop that picked up every time Jake scratched his nuts.  The sound quality has improved a huge amount since making that investment.

·         Sponsorship – early on we were sponsored by Little Star Miniatures run by local gamer Carl.  Unfortunately Carl had to take a break from the business for personal reasons however, hopefully he will be returning soon (both as a business and as a host).  Following the end of that arrangement we had a few offers but the prospect of Carl returning was always a sticking point for us.  In my mind Carl will always be a friend above anything else and as such, we would not do anything that could potentially have a negative effect on his business (i.e. being sponsored by a competitor).  We received an offer from OG Games and, as they stock completely different things to LSM, we jumped at the chance to get involved with a company of their quality and reputation.  Having a proper professional relationship with a company that isn’t run by a friend has been a big step and has worked out well for us so far.

·         Less alcohol – that’s actually a bit misleading, the alcohol is still there but the editing just cuts out most of it.  As a general rule I don’t even listen to the last hour or two of recording, some of it might get cut in as out-takes though.  Our legendary tangents also still occur but, in the interest of good taste, any discussions about chat roulette and the like are now removed.

·         Discovering more games – for me, this is the single biggest change that we’ve seen.  We started off concentrating on one game and now we are exploring new games for each episode.  It turns out that variety really is the spice of life as I’ve never been happier with my gaming life.

That is a lot of change in a year, I can’t wait to see what the next year has in store for us!

What's in a name?

Often when I’m trawling through Twitter, I find myself considering the meaning of people’s user names.  Some of the user names are pretty straight forward (e.g. Old Man Myke) but some are a little more cryptic.  For example, is Doctor Loxley really a doctor, is Sassy Lady really sassy and/or a lady and is Nepalese Ninja really a ninja?  Also, what in the blue hell does SSSK stand for?!

There are many theories about where my own user name comes from which range from being excessively hairy to a love of flinging poo.  Although those are totally legit, sadly the true source is a bit less interesting.  My secret shame is that I used to date a southerner (please don’t kick me out of Yorkshire!) who used to regularly call me a northern monkey and it just kind of stuck.

If you have an unusual twitter username, I’d love to hear what inspired it.

The prodical son returns?

It’s been a very odd couple of weeks for me.  As some of you will have seen I’ve put my name down for MCC (the Malifool’s summer tourney) and am down as the co-organiser of the Malifaux tourney at next year’s Vapnartak.  Many people have assumed that these actions mean an impending return to the world of Malifaux, I’m sorry to say those people are wrong.

For months I have been waiting to see the final version of the book before deciding whether or not to dip my toes in again.  Having now spent some time with the book, I’m now certain that the version that is here to stay is not something that I am going to be playing.  To some, this will make my recent actions seem quite odd so it’s time to shed some light on the matter.

First up is MCC which is going to be the 4M of next year (presumably minus the swag bags, etc).  For me, the decision to enter this was an easy one because I like spending time with the sort of people that will be at the event.  Quite frankly, the event could have been for any game and I would have signed up in a heartbeat just because it would provide an excuse to hang out and drink with people that I respect and have genuine affection for (and Mickleburgh).  Just to clarify, this does not mean that I’ll be trying to leg hump Conrad, I’ll leave that to Baby Jake!

The decision to help run the next Vappa tourney was a bit more difficult and to understand it, you first have to know what happened in the run up to last year’s event.  Running a tourney at a big event like Vappa is a very different prospect than running one at the local club, there are all sorts of organisational and logistical nightmares that can occur.  As the local club runs the 40k tourney and has a limited amount of scenery, none of that was available for the Malifaux.  The event is also run by a different club so trying to get things sorted out can be a bit of a pain and means trusting in people that you don’t know (they also don’t know you which can also cause issues).  In the run up to the event I didn’t sleep for 3 days and on the day the only thing that was keeping me upright was enough Monster and Relentless to kill a horse.

For the 2014 Vappa the demand for a tourney was there and local guy Chris (of Soulstone Train fame) contacted me about wanting to run something.  He was asking questions about the venue and who to contact, etc and it made me remember what a ball ache it had been the previous year.  As this will be Chris’ first event as TO, I offered to take some of the burden to hopefully make it an enjoyable experience for him.  I think Chris has the potential to be a great TO and I wouldn’t want him to be put off because his first event is the one that was the most complex that I ran.  This is definitely Chris’ event, I am only chipping in to ease the pressure and be his bitch on the day so don’t come to me with any TO questions!

So now that we all know I’m not coming back, what will I be doing instead?  I’ve been working on trying to bring a bit more variety to our gaming group and the local club (the latter has sadly been limited recently due to work issues).  I’ve also been working hard to refine what the new Soulstone Train is and there’s exciting developments coming on that front.

DFTBA

Monkee

Future of tournament gaming?

Since giving up Malifaux I can honestly say I've not missed it that much, what I have missed is the people an organising events. With that in mind I've been mulling over some ideas in recent weeks and now have a plan that I think will work.

The general idea is that it is an achievement based event but with a bit of a twist. There would be a lot of different games (board/card/mini) and a short list o achievements for each. You could only get each achievement once so it would encourage people to play as many different games as possible over the course of the day (or weekend depending on demand).

It's currently in the early stage of planning, at the moment I'm just feeling out whether there'd be demand for this type of event? Let me know what you think, I really like to get a format that people want to play so any feedback would be appreciated.

Gaming's geographical differences

In one of my earlier posts I stated that, being a lifelong nerd, I had never played Dungeons & Dragons and this provoked a level of nerd rage from my stateside counterparts.  For me, this raised an interesting question of how the journey into nerdage varies depending on where you are from.  This entry is based on a comparison of UK vs US but if anyone from elsewhere wants to chip in, I’d love to hear how it varies in other places.

In the UK, most socially awkward teens find their way into gaming through the range of Games Workshop games.  I’m sad to say that my own journey also started this way with a brief look at the original Space Hulk prior to investing my pocket money in Necromunda.  For guys my age in the UK that is a fairly common story, the only real exception to that is Heroquest which was made by MB games (the miniatures however were made by GW!).

After speaking to my American counterparts, I understand that the journey for the majority there takes a different route in the form of Dungeons and Dragons.  Having now played a couple of sessions I really do see the appeal of the game however, it being the first game that people play is not something that I can understand.  I like to think of myself as a pretty well rounded nerd that can adapt to a number of different systems but I have to admit that the D&D character creation felt more like a maths exam than a hobby.

My journey started, like many others, with a friend and muddling through the rules as we got to them.  As much depth as some miniature games have, I am yet to find one that cannot be learnt with the rule book, half an hour and a lot of guess work.  As a grown adult with years of gaming experience, I muddled through the character creation at home, on my own and have never been so confused (half way through it even drove me to drink!).  Thankfully I had the benefit of our experienced DM to point me in the right direction (cheers Barry!) but I really can’t see how accessible the game is to teens with no expert on hand.

Obviously things are different now than when I was a kid (I’m rapidly approaching the grand old age of 35) with video games like World of Warcraft easing that transition to a certain extent.  Even taking into account the technical changes, I still feel that the majority of UK gamers have an easier transition into the hobby due to the evil empire.

Does that mean that I think UK gamers get the best deal when starting in the hobby?  No.

One thing that I have rapidly begun to learn when delving into the D&D world is that there is so much more going on that just the game.  Even before we had played our first session, almost all of the players had written a back story for their character and were thinking about how they would react in a given situation.  D&D seems to have made me think so much about my character development and the story that is unfolding which I have not experienced to that extent with any other game.

It has been nearly 20 years since my first gaming experience and only now do I feel that I am getting the most out of my hobby.

A knight rises

With the start of my very first Dungeons and Dragons adventure looming, I thought it was time that I got around to doing my character sheet.  During my first tentative steps into the D&D universe, I’d decided that I wanted to do a paladin, mainly because I had a really nice mini going spare and they like to hit things.

I’d printed off some character sheets earlier in the week (obviously not at work!) but hadn’t really looked at them before last night.  One quick peek at them as they came out of my folder and my trousers went on brown alert, I’ve done university exams less complicated!  Naturally, in true heroic style, I reached for the tequila and got stuck in.

As I already had a miniature and back story for my character (see my earlier blog entry for that disturbing tale), I had a fair idea of what I wanted him to come out like.  Straight away there was a sub-class that really took my fancy, it was the Ardent Paladin from the Divine Powers expansion book.  They seem to have a real wrath of god feel that I thought would fit well with my character’s back story.

I decided to go for a standard set of stats rather than rolling for them, based on my rolling skills lately I’d have ended up with a knight more Forrest Gump than Chuck Norris.  I also opted for the suggested feat and powers associated with an Ardent Paladin as a fair amount of time and tequila had passed by this point and I was getting impatient.

Next it came time to pick equipment, this was guided a lot by the miniature, meaning I would need a sword, shield and armour.  First up was the sword and the book recommended a 2 handed weapon for maximum damage.  I took one look at the weapon page and decided that the book was wrong.  Why the f**k would I pick a 2 handed weapon when there’s something so badass it’s called the Bastard Sword?!  It’s almost like Wizards of the Coast knew that one day I would play this game and put it in just for me.  Next I went for plate armour as it was closest to what is on the mini and a light shield to round out the look.  That left me with a little bit of leftover gold so I thought I should buy the adventurer basics kit (food seemed important for some reason).

I sent my sheet off to our DM, Barry, for checking and thankfully hadn’t done too much wrong.  Sir Cedric is now ready to enter the dungeon and smash monsters and Halflings alike in his quest for justice.

I’m really looking forward to getting stuck into this character and discussing the adventures of our group on future episodes of Soulstone Train.