::: Crabbiness Rant Alert Warning :::

I am sickened by narrow mindedness. I refer to those who do not stray out of their comfort zone. Those who denigrate others for trying something new while snickering under the umbrella of nostalgia or expedience. Those who show disdain for something they never tried or experienced. It fosters an elitist attitude that is oddly counterproductive to the point of gaming – that is having fun.

Sadly, and indeed it is so, this mentality also applies to some in the gaming community. Whether it is gaming with computers or lead miniatures there are those who slavishly follow one game, one rules set, or one company above all others. This devotion allows no deviation nor brooks dissention of any kind.  

Now this is not to say that there’s anything wrong with playing just one game as long as you are willing to try other games and be a good sport about it.  If only one game does it for you, that’s fine and more power to you. The rub is when someone adamantly refuses to ever try a new system, miniature company, or whatever. They game with blinders on and often times it’s evident in how they play and what kind of sport they are.

In the gaming community, specifically the small segment of board and miniature wargaming, narrow mindedness is the bane of growth, success, and longevity. Certainly playing successful and fun games is completely what the hobby is about. But surely if there’s one great game chances are there probably is another.  And chances are it’s published from a different company. If we want the hobby to not only survive but flourish creatively and financially, the more diverse we are the greater we are.

One ring may rule them all but one company could be the death knell of us all.

Dystopian Wars: Where does he get those wonderful toys?

Received my initial load of FSA forces and trying to get a color scheme in mind for the naval units.

Here's the first attempt:



Thoughts? Anyone?

Warhammer Invasion: The Empire Strikes Back

Played an incredible game of Warhammer Invasion todaywith One Angry Gamer. He played those yucky and over powered scum-buckets Chaos while I chose those stalwart and true blue lads from the Empire. He mixed in some VC units in his deck while I played the Empire straight up.

The game went down to the wire with each Capitol having one zone burning and another with multiple damage.




But with clean living prevailing (as well as two well timed tactic cards) the Empire pulled out a victory.

This was just the kind of game I needed after the total drubbing my Dark Elves took the last game.

Both of us are trying to get a feel for the game. I think One Angry is doing better considering his extensive MTG background (i.e. he's a bigger nerd). This means I need to spend more time deck building and trolling forums.

Dystopian Wars: WIP

First attempt at a plane token using US colors from The Great War.

Thoughts?

Dark Elves Suck

Based on the title of this blog some of you may have already guessed I am normally not a happy camper. I'm lucky to be content most days, Zoloft be damned.  It's exceedingly rare that I find a board game or miniatures game I really enjoy right out of the gate and want to keep playing like a great PC game. You know the kind -- the "just one more turn" syndrome which is a hallmark of an exceptional computer game.

I have found such a game, a card game in fact, in Fantasy Flight Games Warhammer: Invasion (http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_minisite.asp?eidm=85).

I am not going to review the game here. You can check out Boardgame Geek for that. But simply put, this is a terrific card game filled with deep strategy. Like all good games, the design affords you an abundancy of choices that truly matter and dramatically effect game play. Certainly there is an element of luck involved that is inherent in any card game, but Warhammer Invasion is so full of different playing options that even losing is a hoot.

Case in point my game last night with One Angry Gamer:

It was his tree hugging hippie High Elves (and by high you know what I mean) vs. the unfairly maligned and super-nice, good to their mother, Dark Elves.

Suffice it to say it was a train wreck for my noble and peace loving Dark Elves (check out One Angry Gamer's Twitter feed) who just couldn't get things rolling against those savage, bright colored brutes (I mean really, who dresses like that?).

Regardless, fun was had by all and Mr. Angry can finally chalk one up in the win column.

Sidebar: Today the Dystopian Wars shipment might deliver with my initial FSA force. I won't hold my breath since it was shipped via the USPS. D'oh.

Terrain and Objectives for Dystopian Wars

As far as I've read Dystopian Wars doesn't use terrain objectives to measure who won a given scenario. Instead players fulfill Field Orders by capturing and destroying enemy units. Each unit is worth X number of points and thus the player with the highest total of enemy destroyed units wins the game.

Boring. And actually a little too Warhammer-ish for me.

Being old school, I prefer terrain objectives. Something more tangible and immersive for my feeble mind to wrap around. Since the scale of the game is around 1/1200, 2-3mm scenery should do the trick. Rummaging about the lead mountain, I found I had a stash of these from Irregular Miniatures www.irregularminiatures.co.uk:

Once properly painted and flocked, these should do the trick and at the very least bring some visual pop for land battles. After all, why fight over an island in the middle of nowhere if there's nothing worthwhile on it?

Thoughts? Comments? Rude remarks?

"Aft torpedoes...fire!"

Fellow crabass One Angry Gamer finally wore me down after a year of prodding, threatening, and pleading. Thus, I have entered the world of Spartan Games' Dystopian Wars (http://www.spartangames.co.uk/).

I chose the Federated States of America faction and he chose those godless devils The Empire of the Blazing Sun (blazing as in that's how their planes are going to fall from the sky).

I am starting to read the rulebook and understand the background (yes I know fluff is important) and paint miniatures and terrain. I hope to have a few WIP posts up in the next few days.