Michael A. Stackpole’s “The Rules of Writing”

July 3rd, 2009

Michael A. Stackpole is a fairly prolific author, having penned a large number of fantasy-themed books, Star Wars novels, Battletech novels, and other works of fiction. He’s had a long and successful career. In other words, the man knows a bit about writing. He runs a web site, stormwolf.com, where he shares (and sells) what he knows and writes. He hosted a seminar at Origins 2009 entitled “The Rules of Writing”, in which he shared his top 5 tips to help aspiring fiction writers improve their craft.

I signed up for one of his sessions. After attending, I wished I had signed up for the others. Stackpole not only understands what beginning fiction writers (and experienced ones) struggle with, he also knows how to communicate solutions to those problems effectively. I think I learned more in the 1-hour session with him than I’ve learned in all the other creative writing education I’ve had. To give you an idea what to expect, I’m going to share some of what I learned from Stackpole during his Origins 2009 session. Out of respect for the author and a desire not to infringe on his copyrights (he sells a document with his 20 rules of writing) or affect his attendance at seminars, I’m only sharing part of the information here. If you want to learn more, and get more detail, I would encourage you to visit his stormwolf.com site or attend one of his seminars.

Stackpole’s first “Rule of Writing” is “Show, Don’t Tell”. This is something you hear in many creative writing classes, but Stackpole did a great job of illustrating the impact of doing it right. For example, a beginning writer will “tell” you what is going on, such as “Tom was mad.” That definitely tells you what’s going on, but you don’t have to actually think about the words. It’s better to “show” your audience how mad Tom is, by saying something like “Tom’s face turned red. He gritted his teeth and slammed his fist on the counter.” In the second example, you have to visualize what’s going on. Not only do you get the point (”Tom is mad”), you can also picture just how mad Tom is.

Stackpole also tells writers to use “Continuity Bolts” in their work to hold the story together and make it seem real. For example, if the main character in your story visits a local bar and has a conversation with the bartender while waiting on a friend to show up, use that conversation and the bartender character elsewhere in the story. Perhaps your main character needs to go to the post office to pick up a package. While he’s waiting in line, he might see the bartender buying stamps. This makes your fictional world seem more real. Similarly, if a television in the bar talks about some news story, the main character might hear people talking about that same story in line at the post office. These elements of continuity make your fictional world seem more complete and consistent, and reward readers for paying attention.

The rule that stuck with me the most was “He said, she said”. This refers to something I’ve always struggled with when I write fiction. I knew it sounded horribly awkward, but I just couldn’t see a way around it. In about two minutes, Stackpole pushed me right past that block and helped me understand what I should do instead. Lots of beginning writers construct dialogue in their stories like this:

“I don’t like it,” Tom said. “You spend too much time at that night club.”

“Don’t be jealous,” Jane told him. “I’m only dancing and hanging out with my girlfriends.”

Tom asked, “Then why did Fred tell me he saw you sitting with that guy from Accounting?”

All that “said”, “told”, and “asked” stuff gets repetitive and irritating after a while. But how do you make it obvious who’s doing the talking? Stackpole explained that one way you can do that effectively is to give your characters a unique style of speaking. Perhaps one character never uses contractions. Maybe one uses a lot of big words, while another chooses smaller, one-syllable ones. The above example might be rewritten as:

“Ticks me off, you goin’ clubbin’ like that every night.”

“That’s silly! I only go to dance and hang out with the girls.”

“Fred saw you sittin’ with a jerk from Accountin’. Why?”

In that example, Tom tends not to say the “g” at the end of words. He also likes to use shorter, more gutteral sounding sentences. Jane uses more complete sentences and a more formal speech pattern.

Another way to identify speakers is to have them name one another, as in “Oh Tom, you’re always saying things like that.”

You can also illustrate who is speaking indirectly, by showing actions they take while they’re speaking, such as “Tom picked at his fingernails.” right before he says something.

You can also hide clues in the context of the characters’ speech, such as “Being the chief of police has its advantages, eh?” If three characters are speaking and only one is the chief of police, you know who they’re talking to. It’s also likely that the next person to speak will be that “chief of police” character. These little clues help the reader figure out who is talking, who’s listening, etc., without having to explicitly use the words “he said”, “she uttered”, “she asked”, etc.

For example, another way you might rewrite the original scene:

He gritted his teeth. “Ticks me off, you goin’ clubbin’ every night, Jane.”

“Oh, Tommy! I only go to dance and hang out with my girlfriends.”

“Fred saw you sittin’ with a jerk from Accountin’. Why?”

In the first line, we know the speaker is male, and he is talking to Jane, even if we don’t know who that speaker is. In the next line, Jane tells us it’s Tom. Now that we’ve established that Tom and Jane are talking, the third and subsequent lines can just deliver dialog until someone new enters the conversation or an existing speaker leaves.

(My examples above aren’t intended to be great writing, just quick illustrations to get the point across.)

Stackpole also shared suggestions for making scenes and dialog do “double duty” and explained the importance of researching the topics you write about. During the seminar, he recommended authors whose work provides good examples of different areas of fiction writing, such as dialogue, plotting, characterization, and

At his seminars, Stackpole sells CD-ROMs which contain PDF (Adobe Reader) files. I purchased the disc for this particular seminar. The PDF contains the 5 rules Stackpole discussed in the seminar, along with another 15. The disc also contains a copy of a back issue of his “The Secrets” newsletter that covers “timely and classic” writing issues. For example, his June 19, 2009, issue (122) discussed how to prepare documents for the Amazon Kindle device

I’m looking forward to attending Stackpole’s seminars at Gen Con Indy 2009 in August and wish him continued success in his career.

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Impressions of Infernal Contraptions by Privateer Press

June 28th, 2009

If you’ve read this site for any period of time, you’ve probably heard me talk about how cool I think Privateer Press‘ miniatures look. Their WARMACHINE miniatures are some of the coolest looking miniatures being cast today, and whoever does their paint work makes me very, very jealous. I also like the mechanics of WARMACHINE based on the demos I’ve played in the past. Having said all that, I don’t own WARMACHINE or any of their miniatures. That’s because I’ve already invested in at least two or three other miniatures games, and those miniatures, and still haven’t painted or played with any of them. So I decided I won’t buy any more until I’ve made use of what I have.

When Privateer began talking about its “Infernal Contraption” card game, I couldn’t help but be curious about it. I saw it on the Origins schedule this year and decided to try it.

Infernal Contraption is described as a “stand-alone card game where goblin mechanics race to assemble nigh-uncontrollable magical machines.” That’s the concept. You’re a goblin engineer trying to build the best machine you can.

At the start of the game, each player has a hand containing 7 cards, a “parts pile” containing lots more of the same cards, and a card on the table in front of them called a “power core”. Some cards contain “contraptions” or devices which make your machine do something. Other cards contain “power cores” which provide power to the contraptions in your machine. Each contraption must make contact with a power core in order to function. “Upgrade” cards can be attacked to contraptions to make them better. Other cards have a one-time effect that occurs when the contraption is activated. With “Infernal Contraption 2” you also add Sabotage cards which damage an opponent’s machine. (The good news is that this isn’t a “collectible” card game. If you buy a set, you get all the cards. If you buy the expansion, you get all those cards in one set. None of that irritating sifting through boxes of cards to get what you want.)

There’s a little more to the mechanics than this, but that’s enough to understand the game. On each turn, you play a card from your hand onto your machine (or an opponent’s in the case of Sabotage cards). After you’ve placed all the cards you want to play, you attempt to activate your machine. You do this by reading the cards in order from top to bottom, left to right, down the machine. If a contraption card is powered and not sabotaged, you do what it says.

The object of the game is to get your opponents to run out of cards in their “parts piles” without doing so yourself. The cards you place into your machine will force your opponents to do things like draw cards from their parts piles into their hands, allow you to remove cards from the scrap pile (discard pile in the center of the table) to your hand or parts pile, etc.

Strategic use of your cards can make all the difference. I ended up losing the game because I didn’t read a sabotage card clearly enough. It finished off my dwindling parts pile when it activated. The sad part was that I had a card that would have “undone” the sabotage, but I wasn’t worried about it because all the earlier sabotage cards just deactivated the attached contraption and I knew I could win without that one. If I’d disabled that sabotage card, I’m positive I’d have taken one of my opponents down. The other one wasn’t a threat. (In the end, that guy “won” the event because the guy who was actually still standing was the GM.)

Infernal Contraption is an easy game to learn. Young children could very easily pick it up, I think. Still, there is enough strategy in it to keep adults interested as well. My only complain about the game, and this is a very minor one, is that it requires a lot of space on the table for each player. As the game progresses, you’re adding more and more devices to your machine (i.e., laying more cards on the table). By design, devices and power cores can only be added to the machine by matching the top or bottom edges (the sides are reserved for upgrades and sabotages). This means that your machine becomes very long. Even if you split it up into multiple lines, it still consumes a lot of table space. My machine at the end of the game, end to end, was roughly as long as my arm span.

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Impressions of Bootlegger by Eagle Games

June 28th, 2009

At Gen Con Indy 2008, I spoke with someone who said that Eagle Games’ “Bootleggers” was one of the best board games she’d played in a while. I wasn’t able to play it there, but I did manage to schedule a game at Origins this week.

Bootleggers is set during the Prohibition era of American history, when making and selling alcohol was illegal. In the game, you play a crime family boss who tries to profit off bootleg alcohol. Each player starts the game with some cash, a truck, and a still. With these, you attempt to earn the most money possible. If you reach $100,000 before turn 12, you win.

On each turn, the players roll a die for each still they have. This represents alcohol production for that turn. If a player has enough space in his trucks, the player can haul the alcohol to a speakeasy and sell it. If the player has more alcohol than the trucks can haul, deals can be negotiated with other players who have available truck space. The exact nature of those deals is up to the players.

After the production and hauling phases take place, the selling begins. One speakeasy will buy all the alcohol the players can produce, but pays a low price for it. In the beginning turn, this is the only speakeasy that’s open for business. To open others, the players have to spend “influence” tokens they receive as they play. When enough influence tokens are in place, the speakeasy will begin buying alcohol from players. A speakeasy will buy first from the player with the most influence tokens there, then from the one with the second-most, and so on. Just how many units will be purchased depends on one or more random die rolls. The smaller speakeasies may only purchase one die roll worth of alcohol, while others may purchase four or five die rolls’ worth and pay more for it. In true mobster fashion, if you have the majority influence at a speakeasy, you collect additional money for all alcohol sold there - no matter which player sells it.

That’s the basic mechanic, though there is a lot more to it. There are cards which give players more influence, allow them to upgrade their stills to produce more alcohol, acquire additional stills, more trucks, etc.

It was a pleasant enough game to play, and at a current retail price of $20, it’s a relatively inexpensive hobby game to acquire. That may explain why it was sold out at last year’s Gen Con and at Origins this year. My quick take on it is that if you have some unlucky die rolls during the early phases of the game (which I did) it can be almost impossible to recover. By the fourth turn I was in last place and just couldn’t make and sell enough alcohol to compete with the other players, who had multiple stills and trucks in play. Other players had better die rolls early on and were able to leverage that early income very effectively in later turns.

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Impressions of Goodtime Games’ “Code War”

June 28th, 2009

I’ve seen the “Code War” game in Origins and Gen Con programs in the past and thought it sounded like an intriguing idea for a board game. The event catalog describes it this way:

Program a robotic tank to traverse a rally course, passing check points as you go. Bump other players’ tanks or blast them with your cannon to gain a competitive advantage. The player who completes the course first wins. Ten minutes to learn. One hour to play.

That’s a pretty good description of the game. You play on a board which has 5 checkpoints placed on it. There are also several brick walls which serve as navigation obstacles that your tank must maneuver around. A number of orange cones are placed randomly on the board as well.

Each player has a tank, which starts the game on one edge of the board. On each turn, the players compile a “program” to run the tank for that turn. This is done by arranging the following seven card types in any desired order:

Move 1: The tank moves forward 1 square in the direction it’s currently facing.

Move 2: The tank moves forward 2 squares in the direction it’s currently facing.

Back Up: The tank moves backward 1 square in the direction it’s currently facing.

Turn: The tank turns 90 degrees to the left or right (at the player’s discretion at “run time”).

Fire or Lay Mine: The tank fires its gun or lays a mine (at the player’s discretion at “run time”).

Side Slip: The tank shifts left or right one space without changing the direction it’s facing.

Repeat/Repair: If your tank has been disabled because it ran into a wall, cone, or mine, this instruction will return it to operating status. If your tank is in operating status, this card will instead repeat the previous instruction it performed.

You only get one of each card. Depending on your position in the race through the checkpoints, you may choose from 3 to 5 of the instruction cards to use in your tank’s program. If you’re in first place, you may only use 3 cards. If you’re in last place, you may use 5 cards. Everyone else uses 4 cards (or less).

At the start of each turn, all the players arrange their instruction cards into a program for the tank. For example, I might compile a stack like this:

Move 2
Repeat/Repair
Move 1
Fire or Lay Mine

This program would have my tank move forward two squares, then move forward two more, then move forward 1 more, and fire its gun (or lay a mine). However, the reality is that my tank may not get to do these things. On each turn, a different player moves first. If I’m the one who moves first this time, then my tank is almost guaranteed to do what its program says it should. If I’m the last player to move, however, that may not happen. For example, if another tank moved first and bumped mine next to a wall, my “Move 2″ instruction might disable my tank for that turn, preventing it from doing anything else.

That’s part of the strategy in this game. When you move first, you have the option to pretty much do whatever you like. If you move second, or third, or last, you have to try to anticipate what the players before you might do. If you think they’re going to push you in front of an obstacle, you might start with a Turn instruction instead of a move. If you think one of them might wind up in back of you, you might want to drop a mine.

With a name like “Code War” you might expect this to be a violent game, but it’s actually not. When one tank shoots another, all it does make the tank spin around a bit (the player who fires gets to decide which direction the tank faces after being shot). When a tank runs into a wall, it’s flipped onto its side and damaged, not destroyed. In reality, this is a race game with a “wargame” name.

Code War is an enjoyable, simple to play game. It would be suitable for children or adults, and doesn’t require any computer skill to understand and play. I recommend checking it out if you find it on a convention schedule and have an open slot available. GM and creator Tom Cleaver does a great job explaining the game and the mechanics are simple enough that you can focus on your strategy rather than making sense of the rules.

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Impressions of Battlestations Fleet Action by Gorilla Games

June 28th, 2009

Matt and I played through a two-player, two-ships-per-player version of Battlestations Fleet Action at Origins 2009. I’d like tell you a lot more about it than I’m going to be able to do, but I can’t. I can’t tell you more because even after spending a couple of hours at the table with this game, I don’t really understand much about playing it.

I have to be fair from the outset and explain the situation. Although Matt and I were not more than a couple of minutes late getting to the table, it appeared that the GM had already set up the game for three other players and had given them an introduction to the basic rules of play. He set the two of us up on our own board, effectively creating two separate instances of the game that he would have to GM. We (my table and the other one) were constantly pulling him back and forth to explain what to do. Since the game seems a bit rules-heavy, both tables needed the GM’s help constantly, even for the most simple actions. A “cheat sheet” of the core rules would have made things a lot better, I think. We couldn’t remember from one turn to the next how things worked.

Here’s what I mean by “rules-heavy” since your mileage may vary. Let’s say that you have ship A and I have ship B. It’s my turn and I’ve decided to fire my guns at you. (Bear in mind as you read this that the actual description might be wrong because I have an incomplete understanding of the game, but the gist of it should be pretty close to reality.) First, I have to look at how many squares we are apart. Then I add to that my shield level. Then add your shield level. Then subtract some other figure. I roll two dice to tell me if I’ve hit or not. Let’s say I do. Now I have to determine where I hit you. I roll the dice again. I look at the numbers on a chart representing your ship. I compare what I rolled to that chart. If I like where I hit, then we damage your ship in a straight line from front to back. If I don’t like where that hit, I can use character actions to re-roll the dice until I run out of actions or hit something good. Now, you have to add hull damage points to a chart in front of you. If your total hull damage is more than a certain number, you have to roll a die to see if your ship stays together or blows up. For each section of your ship that was damaged, we roll another die to see if the damage destroyed that section and/or the people in it. If it’s hit dead-center of the ship, we might be rolling 6 or 7 times.

Ship movement is also rather complex. If you want to turn your ship, you add your current speed to the size of your ship to get the number you need to beat to make the turn. You can reduce that number by using up crew actions. But it’s definitely not easy. We attempted to turn our ships several times but only managed to make one successful turn each, and that wasn’t enough to keep our guns pointed at each other. The smallest ship (which should have been the easiest to turn) was never able to execute a turn. I think changing speed might have even required a skill check, but I don’t remember for sure.

Combat in the game, apart from all the math and dice rolling, has rather a lot of interesting elements. You can fire a cannon, which basically cuts a hole through the ship from front to back. You can launch a missile, which takes time to get to the target, but does a fair amount of damage. You can use your teleporter to teleport a bomb to the enemy ship, or a crew member. The bomb explodes inside the ship and damages it. The crew member rampages through the enemy ship, attacking enemy crew members and possibly destroying modules. We were able to try out all these different options and they’re all variations on the same theme.

When I talked with the Gorilla Games representatives at a past convention, I was really excited about this game. It sounded like it would be a lot of fun and would give a “look and feel” of space battles from shows like Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica, and Babylon 5. In fact, I wanted to buy the game on the spot, but stopped myself because has a $59.95 MSRP. For that kind of money, I wanted to be sure I actually liked it first. I’m glad now that I didn’t buy it.

I’d like to tell you this was a fun game, but I can’t. I’ve never even considered getting up and walking away from a game at a convention before, but I was very much ready to do so about 10 minutes into this one. If I hadn’t wanted so badly to like it, I would have. I can’t tell you there is anything really wrong with Battlestations. If you know the rules, it may well be an extremely fun game. But when you don’t know the rules and your only reference source is a GM who is busy explaining a different rule to players at another table, it’s an incredibly frustrating, seemingly complex, uninteresting game.

Having said that, part of me still wants to like this game, enough so that I will try it at least once more at a future convention. Maybe it will be there at Gen Con Indy in August. But if my next experience is anything like this one, it’ll be thumbs down for this game.

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Impressions of Munchkin Quest by Steve Jackson Games

June 28th, 2009

Wednesday evening at Origins, I played Steve Jackson Games’ new Munchkin Quest board game. For those not familiar with the Munchkin series of games, they’re card-based games loosely based on the roleplaying game concept. The objective of the main Munchkin card games is to collect loot and advance your character to level 10 before anyone else does.

Munchkin Quest adds a game board element to the traditional Munchkin card game. The board consists of door and room tiles which are placed randomly on the game table as players choose to enter the room. A room may contain a trap, a monster, and/or treasure. As players collect treasure and kill monsters, they gain levels. When they reach level 10, they must go back to the entrance tile and defeat a randomly-selected “Level 20″ monster to escape and win.

The general sequence of play goes something like this:

  • You move your character on the game board. If you choose to move through a door with no attached room, one is randomly drawn and placed on the table. Door tiles are attached to the room tile.
  • If you’re the first character to enter a room, a card is drawn that may represent a monster or a trap. If it’s a trap, the trap’s actions are resolved and a monster card is drawn. The character may choose to fight the monster or run away.
  • When a monster is placed on the board, a special die is rolled which has sides matching the players’ colors. Whichever color is rolled determines which player rolls for that monster. It also determines which character that monster has an affinity for (that is, which player the monster most wants to fight). When a monster moves, if it passes through a room containing the player whose color matches the monster’s color, it stays in the room to fight that player on his or her next turn.
  • Players may choose to assist each other in fighting a monster. If they do so, they can negotiate how the spoils of victory will be divided. For example a level 5 player assisting a level 2 player may ask for all the treasure from the monster in exchange for assistance.
  • After a room has been cleared of monsters, a player may search the room for loot. A roll of the dice determines what is found in the room. Rooms can become “looted out” if too many successful searches are made in them.
  • Some rooms have bonuses or penalties associated with them. These can affect combat or cause trouble for the players.
  • To prevent another player from winning a battle, players may use certain cards they hold to affect the combat in different ways. A card might make the monster in the room tougher, add more monsters to the room, etc.

Up to this point, Munchkin Quest probably sounds like a typical “dungeon hack and slash” game. It is, and it isn’t. The Munchkin games are all very tongue-in-cheek, and Munchkin Quest is no exception. One of the room tiles is labeled “the ladies room” and female characters get a bonus there. One of the possible monsters you could fight is a “level 1 potted plant”. At one point, I drew a loot card depicting a weapon called the “two-handed sword”, which was an ordinary sword with two hands attached to it. This allowed me to wield the sword and two other weapons. A later “cheat” card allowed me to use a fourth weapon even though I had no hand to carry it in. By the end of the game, I was wielding something like 5 or 6 different weapons.

Munchkin Quest is silly in some other ways. On one hand you might play a card that makes you a warrior, which gives you certain benefits. Later, you might play a card that changes you into a wizard. Another might change you from male to female, which could be a problem if you’re using items that are meant for a specific sex.

It’s a fun, funny, and lively game to play - especially if you have several players. I recommend checking it out if you get a chance.

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Impressions of “Battlestar Galactica - The Board Game” by FFG

June 28th, 2009

Last year at Gencon Indy, Fantasy Flight Games demonstrated their upcoming board game based on the Battlestar Galactica television series. The tables running the game seemed to be incredibly busy, and the players seated around those tables clearly were enjoying what they were doing. Unfortunately, I never got to play the game - until last night, that is…

I signed up for a session of Battlestar Galactica: The Board Game at Origins. It was only of only two games I took part in that actually had to turn people away who tried to use generic tickets, showing that it’s still a very popular title. After playing the game, I understand why people like it.

For those who aren’t familiar with the television series, here’s a quick primer. Humans created mechanical robots called Cylons to assist in a variety of tasks. The Cylons staged a revolution and fought for their freedom. The humans defeated them and negotiated a truce. In secret, the very mechanical-looking Cylons began perfecting a version of themselves which could easily pass for human. These human-form Cylons infiltrated the various human colonies and worked together to weaken the human defenses, allowing a full-scale surprise attack to take place. Mankind was decimated, and few tens of thousands of humans escaped to space. The heart of this fleet of fugitives was the Battlestar Galactica, a massive military ship that was so old that it was about to be decommissioned. The humans in the fleet decided to head for a mysterious planet known as “Earth” in their old religious texts. A certain number of the human-form Cylons managed to slip into the fleet with the humans, working behind the scenes to sabotage their efforts. For quite a while in the show, no one (in the audience or a character on the show) really knew who was or wasn’t a Cylon. This is the period of time in which the show is set.

At the start of the game, each player picks a character from the series to play. Each character has certain abilities and benefits. Players are also handed a “loyalty” card which tells them if they’re human or Cylon. The human players try to get the fleet to Earth by completing hyperspace “jumps” to new planets. The Cylon players, naturally, try to prevent this from happening without being discovered. The sequence of play goes something like this:

  • At the start of your turn, you draw “skill cards” of colors matching the main skills of your character. These can be used to take specific actions, or as part of a “skill check” described later.
  • Your character may take two actions. These can include moving to another part of the ship where you can do something such as firing on a Cylon ship, launching Viper fighters, or sending a suspected Cylon to the brig.
  • After you take your two actions, you choose a “Crisis Card” and resolve it. These cards generally take one of three forms. They may require one of the players to make a decision (e.g., “lose 1 fuel or lose 1 morale point”). They may cause a group of Cylon ships to appear around the Galactica. They may also require the players to do a “skill check” to resolve the crisis. These skill checks are resolved by each player submitting colored “skill cards” into a pool. At resolution time, the cards of the appropriate colors are counted toward the total skill needed, while cards of other colors are counted against the total. This is one area where Cylon players can actively sabotage the humans with minimal risk of detection.

On the fourth turn, a second set of loyalty cards is handed out. When this happens, some human players may learn that they are actually “sleeper agents” for the Cylons. These players will now actively attempt to sabotage the game for the humans. Other players may receive “sympathizer” cards, which cause them to act in favor of the other side. Some will remain human. The game generally starts to go badly for the humans at this point.

After resolving certain crises, a “jump counter” is advanced. When the counter reaches an appropriate mark, Galactica can make a jump to a new planet, taking it closer to Earth. The card describing the new planet is tagged with certain actions the players must take (e.g., lose 1 morale), and a number indicating its “distance”. When the ship has jumped a total of 8 units of distance, the humans win.

Sometimes, a Cylon warrior (the mechanical variety) will board the ship as part of a crisis. This warrior will attempt to make its way through the ship to destroy it. Each time a certain type of Cylon ship is activated (used), the warrior advances another step. If the warrior counter reaches the end of the line, Galactica is destroyed and the humans lose. The boarder can only be stopped by moving a character to the armory and making a roll of 7 or 8 on an 8-sided die.

There are also four dials the count the number of different resources the ship has. These include food, fuel, morale, and population. If any of these reaches zero, the crew dies and the Cylons win. Resources are lost (and sometimes gained) as part of crisis resolution.

Cylon players have the option of revealing themselves. When they do so, they have to leave the ship. On their way out, they may have the option of performing some acts of sabotage. This can cripple the Galactica at a critical time.

According to “Kevin” our game master, the humans generally do not win the game. At least 80% of the time, the Cylons do. I think there are some pretty obvious reasons for this. First, in our game of 7 players, two were Cylons at the start. After the fourth round, one became a Cylon sympathizer and another became an awakened sleeper Cylon. This effectively meant that the Cylons outnumbered the humans at the table. Add to this the fact that the board is heavily stacked against the humans anyway (e.g., population can be lost be generally not regained, Cylon boarders are nearly impossible to repel, etc.), and the proverbial deck is very much stacked against a human victory.

When I played, I chose Admiral William Adama as my character. I was also given a loyalty card telling me I was a human. Soon after the game started, someone played a “martial law” card which made me not just the Admiral of the fleet but also the President. I found myself having to make a LOT of the crisis decisions. I think I did pretty well because the GM told us the humans were in great shape at the start of the fourth turn. At this point, I received a new loyalty card indicating I was now a Cylon. This was very bad news for the human players, as it meant they had a Cylon in charge of the military and the government, but they didn’t know it. Now, I had to start taking actions to sabotage the game for the humans while trying not to do anything so obvious that they caught on. I must have done well enough, because I actually remained undiscovered until the game was over (and we, the Cylons, won).

Fantasy Flight Games has done the Battlestar Galactica name proud with this game. It definitely incorporates elements of the television series in a meaningful and appropriate way. It takes a little while to learn, but once you learn it there’s a lot of replay potential given the wide variety of characters and the possibility that you might be a Cylon one game and a human the next. The artwork is attractive, and the materials seem to be well-made. Even though it takes hours to play through a game, the time actually passes pretty quickly because of all the action taking place. If you enjoy a game with some intrigue, or are a big fan of the show, you’ll very likely enjoy this game. A few of the people seated around the table with I played it were unfamiliar with the show but enjoyed the game, so it’s clearly not necessary to be a fan to appreciate it.

My brother Matt played also, and walked away wanting to own a copy, but Fantasy Flight’s booth was sold out. He’s planning to send me an article about the game for this site later, which I’ll publish when I receive it.

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Origins 2009 Report

June 28th, 2009

As I write this, the Exhibit Hall at the Columbus Convention Center is being dismantled, the vendors are packing up their stuff, and the gamers are probably finishing a last few games. Origins 2009 is over. It always seems to pass so quickly. Sadly, tomorrow morning I’ll be getting up and going to work as usual. No more fun and games.

You can definitely see the impact of the economy on the gaming industry as you walk around Origins. The lines I saw at the registration desk and event ticketing were less than half of what I’ve seen at the same time in past years. The exhibit hall (or “vendor room” had huge walkways, several tables to sit down in, and one or two empty booths. It felt almost desolate compared to a few years ago.

In the miniatures hall and the board game hall, there were huge numbers of empty tables no matter what time or day you were there. Very few of the games I played were full, and getting event tickets was eerily easy. I had no problem getting tickets to any game I wanted in on, and only one or two games had to turn away those with generic tickets. In some ways, it was nice. In others, it made me wonder if there will even be an Origins in a few years if things keep going like this.

This year I took part in a couple of seminars and several game events. My schedule included all of the following:

  • Munchkin Quest - run by Amorphous Blob Games
  • The Rules of Writing - a seminar by author Michael A. Stackpole
  • Battlestations Fleet Action - run by Gorilla Games
  • Bootlegger - run by Rogue Judges
  • Stargate Silent Scream
  • Code War - run by Goodtime Games
  • Self Publishing Crash Course - a seminar focused on self-publishing your own games
  • Battlestar Galactica The Board Game - run by Fantasy Flight Games
  • Infernal Contraption - run by Rogue Judges

I’ll write more about each of these events in separate posts, to make it easier for readers to find the titles they might be interested in.

The Origins Game Auction

The auction at Origins seemed rather sparsely attended compared to five or six years ago. I blame that on three separate things.

  • Ohio law changed a few years ago to require the presence of a licensed auctioneer at events like the Origins game auction.
  • The company running the Origins game auction changed in the last several years.
  • The economy has taken a downturn in the past couple of years.

The most significant of the above events to me is the change in auction management. The group running the auction in 2001 knew a lot about hobby games. They knew who designed them, who published them, what they were like to play, and what their approximate value was. They also took great care to share this in-depth knowledge with the auction audience. This made the auction more than just a “buy and sell” affair. It was actually quite an education in gaming history and economics. The group running the auction today may know a lot about games, but not much of that is shared during the auction from what I saw. This makes it a fairly bland event.

The requirement to have an “actual” auctioneer at the event introduces the familiar “auctioneer chatter” into the event. Personally, I’ve never liked the sound of an auctioneer prattling on and find it irritating and hard to follow. Even if there were some games I wanted to bid on, I wouldn’t sit there very long because I’d have to listen to that.

As for the economy, there isn’t much I need to say about that. In bad economic times like these, the prices will naturally be down compared to years when they’re better.

Conclusion

Don’t get me wrong. I love going to Origins and always have a good time. It’s great to be able to sit down and actually play games you’ve only read about, learn new things from people in the industry, and spend a little time away from home with other gamers. (Though Origins is only minutes from where I live, I don’t go into the downtown area very often so it’s like a mini-vacation where I sleep in my own bed at night.) I would strongly encourage anyone into tabletop games to go at least once. Although I’ve been a little troubled by the (possible) lighter attendance this year by gamers and vendors, disappointed by some screw-ups in registration and event ticketing, and upset that the auction seems to be dying a slow death, these are relatively minor nits in the big scheme of things and shouldn’t be taken to imply there is any serious problem with the convention. There isn’t.

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Origins 2009 - Day One and Two

June 26th, 2009

I’ve just attended the first two days of the Origins 2009 Game Fair here in Columbus, Ohio. I’ll be going back in a little while for day three, and wanted to share some quick thoughts and experiences.

While we’re still looking at mid-week attendance (Wednesday and Thursday), it seems to me like attendance is down a little this year. One of the game masters I spoke with last night expressed the same concern. On the other hand, I’ve never noticed the attendance on these two days being especially high, probably because people are working and don’t want to burn too many vacation days. I’m told the exhibit hall felt a little light, too, though I’ve not been in it yet.

I have to vent a little and say that things don’t feel like they’ve been as well run at Origins this year as in years past. About two weeks ago I received a call from GAMA telling me that there was a “payment problem” with my event tickets. Since I placed the order online and provided payment at the time, that seemed odd but the call was legitimate. When I picked up my tickets I was asked to confirm that they were correct. I went through them quickly and they looked right. Later, I found that I had been issued two tickets for the same timeframe but different games. Since I couldn’t be in two places at once, it appears something in the system screwed up. Later, I found that one of the games I had planned to play wasn’t among my tickets. I’m guessing a mistake somewhere caused me to end up getting one ticket instead of another. One of my friends wanted the other ticket, so it wasn’t a total loss. Then, when I went to go to my first game at 1pm Wednesday, a miniatures game named “Border Patrol”, I arrived at the correct table only to find it wasn’t there. I couldn’t find anyone in the hall who knew where it was, so I ended up being unable to play. Not a great start to the con.

Wednesday evening I had the opportunity to play Munchkin Quest by Steve Jackson Games. It was run by the Amorphous Blob group. The GM was excellent, as has been the case with other of their events I attended. Munchkin Quest differs some from the standard Munchkin card game but is similar enough that you’d be comfortable with one if you’ve ever played the other. I was one of three people who “won” the game at midnight and received a copy of “Munchkin Fu” as my prize.

Thursday I attended Michael Stackpole’s “Rules of Writing” instructional session. I honestly don’t know if I’ve read any of his books in the past or not. Regardless, I found the session to be extremely beneficial. He helped me to see fiction writing in a new way, and helped me to resolve several things I have struggled with in the past when attempting to writing fiction.

Thursday afternoon my brother and I played Battlestations Fleet Action with the folks from Gorilla Games. I had wanted to try the game for a while, so I was happy to sit down and have a go at it. Unfortunately, our GM was divided between two groups of players and we were having trouble getting his attention when we needed it. The rules to the game aren’t especially complex but they are significant in determining how things play out. There were no quick reference sheets, so when we got stuck trying to remember what to do next, we were in a holding pattern until we could free the GM’s attention from the other group. The game is probably fun, but to be honest, I just wanted it over with.

Thursday night before coming home, I played Privateer Press’ “Infernal Contraption” with some other attendees, run by Roger Snow of Rogue Judges. As I’ve probably mentioned before, Rogue Judges (like Amorphous Blob and Red Shirt Games) does a great job running their events. You can tell they want people to learn the game, but more importantly they want things to be fun and fair. I’ll share my impressions of the game later, but suffice to say it’s fun, silly, and does require some strategic thinking. It incorporates a number of elements I’ve not seen in a card game before, such as cards you play once and remove from use for the remainder of the game.

Today, the plan is to play the Bootlegger board game and Stargate Silent Scream. I’ll let you know how that all turns out later.

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New Titles at Wargamedownloads.com

June 22nd, 2009

The following titles were recently added to the catalog at www.wargamedownloads.com:

Battle of Ayrene’s Woods
Little fantasy game is another free introduction to the world of TCS games
$0.00
Fear & Faith - Horror Skirmish Rules
Fast-playing horror miniature rules
$8.00
Fear & Faith - Horror Skirmish Rules (+ $1 donation)
Fast-playing horror miniature rules
$9.00
Somewhere far beyond: Prairie Grove 1862
ACW battle fought on 7th December 1862, over the hills of Arkansas
$6.00
Song of the Splintered Lands
Campaign Sourcebook for the Origins-nominated Song of Blades
$8.00

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New Martin Wallace Games from Mayfair

June 22nd, 2009

The Mayfair Games web site recently announced the availability of two new Martin Wallace games for Summer 2009. The first, Martin Wallace’s Steam: Rails to Riches(tm) is already on store shelves as of June 18. Mayfair’s web site says that “this culmination of Martin Wallace’s classic railroad game series contains a brilliantly balanced standard game, and a very rich, elegant basic game”. This title will be part of the Mayfair Demo Program along with an “extremely limited edition” title called Martin Wallace’s Totally Renamed Train Game(tm).

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Matrix Games Announces WW2: Time of Wrath PC Game

June 22nd, 2009

From the Matrix Games web site comes the following press release/announcement:

Coming soon, a greatly improved sequel to WW2: Road to Victory!

Matrix Games and Wastelands Interactive are thrilled to announce WW2: Time of Wrath, a beautifully crafted World War II grand strategy game and sequel to the 2008 release WW2: Road to Victory! Customers who already purchased WW2: Road to Victory will be able download WW2: Time of Wrath from our Members Club free of charge when the new game is available for purchase.

David Heath, Director of Operations at Matrix Games, said “WW2: Time of Wrath is a turn-based grand strategy game that fully models all aspects of strategic-level World War II decision-making while keeping a hex scale that allows for more of an operational warfare feel. We think it’s a great mix for wargamers of all levels and the improvements made in this new release are way more than skin deep. We at Matrix Games and Wastelands Interactiveare also happy to provide current owners of WW2: Road to Victory with the mega update that is Time of Wrath free of charge!”

From the front lines in France and Russia to the deserts of North Africa and the airfields and convoys of Britain, the campaigns of World War II are yours to command in WW2: Time of Wrath! This turn-based grand strategy title, the highly improved and expanded sequel to WW2: Road to Victory, puts the player in charge of the political, economic and military decisions of one or more Axis or Allied nations, including minor nations. A diplomacy system based on political points allows you to sway possible allies to your side. An upgraded and expanded naval combat system includes fleet engagements, combat patrols, massive aircraft carriers, elusive raiders and U-Boats as well as a convoy system.

Concentrate precious industrial resources on building, training and upgrading a wide variety of combat units from airborne soldiers and armored divisions up to nuclear weapons! Historical leaders enhance the performance of your armies and hundreds of historical events like the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, Lend-Lease and more give you choices that can change the course of history. WW2: Time of Wrath is fought across turns that vary in length by season and 25 km hexes with divisions and corps, giving the player a broad strategic picture of the war while still leaving enough room for operational decisions.

Features include:

  • Four Grand Campaigns (1939, 1940, 1941 and 1944) cover the full war in the European Theater, lasting up to 1948 for maximum flexibility
  • Two Scenarios (Fall Weiss and Overlord)
  • Simple and intuitive user interface with engrossing historical gameplay
  • Hundreds of historical events such as Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, Vienna Dictate, Lend-Lease, and many more.
  • Play as any nation and as any combination of countries to experience the war through a unique perspective.
  • Air and Land Combat, including Sieges, Interceptions, Strategic Bombardment, Air Recon, Fleet Air attacks, Bombardment.
  • Enhanced naval system that includes Aircraft Carriers, Battle, Patrol and Submarine Groups. Managing fleets, convoys and raiders in Sea Zones.
  • Air forces now extend their power over nearby sea zones.
  • Advanced weather system simulates spring and autumn / rainfall and snow. Beware of General Winter! Weather conditions have a different effect on each country.
  • Any combination of move and attack is allowed as long as Action Points are available.
  • Technological race in research of new more powerful units.
  • Mulberry harbors now available as a helpful and powerful tool in preparation for huge landing operations.
  • Paratroopers conduct airborne landings help to take distant key point locations.
  • Fully historical, detailed orders of battle in all scenarios with historical names for hundreds of land, air and naval units.
  • Land units divided are into Divisional and Corps size allowing the player to choose what best fits his economy and play style.
  • Historical commanders boost the effectiveness of units under their care.
  • Improved A.I. to perform better at the strategic and tactical level.
  • An innovative naval combat model and realistic supply convoy attack system
  • A simple yet immersive political point system for diplomatic relations - alienate enemies and solidify ties with allies
  • A healthy variety of combat units to command from armored and airborne forces to strategic bombers and battleships - even nukes!
  • Random historical events that can guide and shape the course of the war

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Decision Games Needs Play Testers

June 22nd, 2009

The Decision Games web site announced today that they are looking for play testers for some new games they’re working on. Testers will receive pre-production copies of the games and will be required to provide feedback to improve the game play and rules clarity. Play testers will be expected to play the game at least six times to completion over a 2-3 month period with reports once every two weeks. Play testers must have at least one regular opponent. They are also expected to be subscribers or regular buyers of S&T and/or World at War games. For more information, see the Decision Games web site.

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Crocodile Games Overstock Sale

June 22nd, 2009

The folks at Crocodile Games have announced an overstock sale. They apparently have found several cases of extra WarGods miniatures from last year after ordering their restock for this year. They’ve begun offering the stock at 25% off. See the ON SALE section of their site for more information and ordering details.

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Avalanche Press Wargame Deals

June 22nd, 2009

Avalanche Press is trying to clear the final games out of its storage facility to “cauterize that massive financial bleeding” so it’s offering deals on a number of its titles (as of this writing on 06/22/2009):

Alamein
Retail Price: $199.99
YOUR Price: $140
Gold Club Price: $126

Second World War at Sea: Leyte Gulf
Retail Price: $199.99
YOUR Price: $140
Gold Club Price: $126

Panzer Grenadier: Road to Berlin
Retail Price: $74.99
YOUR Price: $50
Gold Club Price: $45

Great Pacific War
Retail Price: $64.99
YOUR Price: $45
Gold Club Price: $40.50

Third Reich
Retail Price: $64.99
YOUR Price: $45
Gold Club Price: $40.50

Panzer Grenadier: Afrika Korps
Retail Price: $64.99
YOUR Price: $45
Gold Club Price: $40.50

Panzer Grenadier: Desert Rats
Retail Price: $64.99
YOUR Price: $45
Gold Club Price: $40.50

Great War at Sea: Mediterranean
Retail Price: $59.99
YOUR Price: $40
Gold Club Price: $36

Great War at Sea: U.S. Navy Plan Gold
Retail Price: $59.99
YOUR Price: $40
Gold Club Price: $36

Second World War at Sea: Strike South
Retail Price: $59.99
YOUR Price: $40
Gold Club Price: $36

Second World War at Sea: Midway
Retail Price: $59.99
YOUR Price: $40
Gold Club Price: $36

Tiger of Malaya
Retail Price: $59.99
YOUR Price: $40
Gold Club Price: $36

Great War at Sea: Cruiser Warfare
Retail Price: $49.99
YOUR Price: $35
Gold Club Price: $31.50

Second World War at Sea: Eastern Fleet
Retail Price: $44.99
YOUR Price: $32
Gold Club Price: $28.80

Rome at War: Queen of the Celts
Retail Price: $39.99
YOUR Price: $25
Gold Club Price: $22.50

Red God of War
Retail Price: $29.99
YOUR Price: $15
Gold Club Price: $12.50

Austerlitz
Retail Price: $29.99
YOUR Price: $15
Gold Club Price: $12.50


In addition to the above deals, they have low prices on a number of unboxed games they discovered when moving to a new location. As of this writing, this includes:

Panzer Grenadier: Airborne
$9.99

Tears of the Dragon
$9.99

Winter Fury
$9.99

Great War at Sea: U.S. Navy Plan Red
$14.99

Soldier Emperor Special Edition
$39.99

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Red Sash Games Two-for-One Deal

June 22nd, 2009

According to the Red Sash Games web site: “For a limited time only, RSG is offering a two-for-one special: buy a copy of Heirs of the Golden Horde and receive the additional components needed to play Turkenkrieg for FREE. The HGH box contains everything necessary to play TK except for the counters and maps. For $200 you will receive a boxed copy of HGH plus a set of TK maps and die-cut counters. This saves you $159 off the cost of buying both games complete.”

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0One Releases Dungeon of Terror #4 : The Maze

June 22nd, 2009

0One Games has released another title in their Dungeon of Terror line, “Dungeon of Terror #4: The Maze”. This product details the west part of the Dungeon of Terror, an old maze designed by Infidus the Black and roamed by spectral minotaurs seeking revenge. It contains a referee map and 22 customizable times.

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Mayfair Releasing EuroRails 4th Edition on June 25th

June 10th, 2009

Mayfair Games plans to release the fourth edition of its epic railroading game “EuroRails” on June 25, 2009. This game offers over a million variations. Players decide where to lay tracks, with their only obstacles being rival tracks and Europe’s mountains, channels, and rivers. For more information, see the Mayfair Games web site.

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Three New Titles from HPS Simulations

June 10th, 2009

According the “What’s New” page on the HPS Simulations web site, three new titles have been released:

Squad Battles: Dien Bien Phu
This game covers the period of 1946-1954 when a force of Moroccans, Senegalese, Algerians, Legionnaires, Vietnamese, Those, and others sought to retain France’s hold on Indochina and were opposed by the nationalist communist forces of the Viet Minh. It’s currently available for the introductory price of $39.95 until August 1, 2009, after which the price will increase to $49.95.

Total War in Europe: War on the Southern Front
War on the Southern Front is the second installment in HPS’ Total War in Europe series. It focuses on the ground and air campaigns fought in the regions surrounding the Mediterranean in 1940-1943. It includes the Italian invasion of Greece in 1940, the German invasion of the Balkans, Rommel and the Afrika Korps, and the Allied invasion of Sicily. Each scenario covers a campaign or major battle, such as the battle for Tobruk. It’s currently priced at $39.95 until August 1, 2009, at which time the introductory price will expire and the new retail price will be $49.95.

Ancient Warfare: Alexandrian Wars
Alexandrian Wars is the third title in the HPS Ancient Warfare series. It features 44 scenarios, including 20 historical, 16 hypothetical, and 8 from the tabletop series. The scenarios cover actions such as Chaeronea, Pelium, Gabai, and Hydaspes. A scenario editor is included to allow players to create their own scenarios from scratch, edit existing scenarios, and created their own Order of Battles. It’s currently offered at the introductory price of $39.95 until August 1, 2009, at which time the retail price will increase to $49.95.

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Paradigm Concepts Sends “Blessed and the Damned” to the Printers

June 10th, 2009

Paradigm Concepts has reportedly sent its “Blessed and the Damned” book, pictured below, off to the printers. It will reportedly be available at Origins 2009 and in stores later in the summer. This Witch Hunter supplement features character backgrounds, talents, rites and traditions, fighting traditions, and more. Witch Hunter itself is a role-playing game of adventure and horror set in a world similar to our 17th Century.

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Omega Games 25th Anniversary Sale

June 10th, 2009

Omega Games, publishers of Ranger, Paper Wars, Eastern Front Solitaire, 1864, and Line of Battle (among others) is having a 25th anniversary sale. Those customers who order an “OMEGAPak” of any six games will save 30-35% off the normal prices and be eligible to pick two free gifts. These savings even apply to as-yet-unreleased games in the pipeline, though you won’t be charged for those games until they ship. For more information, including information about the re-release of Ranger, see their web site.

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BSG: Pegasus Expansion Coming

June 10th, 2009

At Gen Con Indy last year, there was a LOT of interest in the Fantasy Flight Games “Battlestar Galactica” board game. I wasn’t fortunate enough to get to sit down and actually try the game myself, but my observations indicated that people who were sitting down and trying the game were enjoying it immensely. There was a lot of laughing, trash talking, and excited shouting around the table, which usually is a sign of a good game. I hope to get to actually sit down and try the game this year, though the “buzz” may prevent it this year as well… Fantasy Flight Games is planning to release an expansion to the Battlestar Galactica game featuring the Pegasus battlestar encountered during the series. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Fantasy Flight tables at Gen Con are just as busy this year with people trying out this new expansion set.

The Pegasus expansion adds two new supplemental game boards featuring the Pegasus and the planet New Caprica. It adds seven new characters, a new Cylon locations overlay, two plastic Battlestars, along with new cards. The Pegasus board can be used by itself or together with the New Caprica board to adjust the game.

For more information about the game and the expansion, see the Fantasy Flight Games web site.

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Red Shirt Games at Origins and Gen Con Indy 2009

June 10th, 2009

According to a June 9, 2009, post on the Red Shirt Games web site, General Glen’s Showdown will be released at Origins on June 29. They’ll have a booth across from Dwarven Forge, and will be running games Wednesday night through Sunday at noon. Showdown is their latest D12 game, which pits gunslingers, hombres, soldiers, and warriors against each other in a wild west shootout.

General Glen’s Modern Combat is also releasing at Origins. This is a successor to General Glen’s WWII skirmish game and contains all the rules needed to run a modern combat game on the tabletop.

I always make it a point to sit down with the Red Shirt Games crew and play at least a game or two during Origins. They take their games seriously enough to keep them fair and challenging, but lightly enough that you have a lot of fun with them. I’m planning to try out Modern Combat while I’m at Origins, and hope to get in on some of the other games they offer as well. I’m also hoping to spend time at their tables at Gen Con Indy in August.

If you enjoy lighter miniatures gaming, without heavy rulesets that bog down the action and ratchet down the fun, you’ll enjoy what Red Shirt Games is all about. They usually run science fiction, fantasy, and historical style miniatures combat games. So far, I’ve always enjoyed my time with them.

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More Game Deals at Avalanche Press

June 10th, 2009

According to the Avalanche Press web site, more unboxed copies of some of their games have surfaced during an inventory check. These games, lacking their original boxes, are being offered at a significant discount while supplies last. Offers of free or reduced shipping, buy two get one free, and other discounts apply. Items and discounts available as of this writing are:

Panzer Grenadier: Airborne
$9.99

Tears of the Dragon
$9.99

Winter Fury
$9.99

Great War at Sea: U.S. Navy Plan Red
$14.99

Soldier Emperor Special Edition
$39.99

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Battlegroup Panzer Grenadier 2nd Edition Released

June 10th, 2009

According to the General de Brigade blog, Battlegroup Panzer Grenadier 2nd Edition is available. This new edition is “firmly based on the original fire and movement mechanisms however there are differences in several areas, especially command and control.” The new command and control rules allow players to attempt wider activation of units and combat groups within their battlegroups. The first edition’s reliance on command points has been replaced with an activation table which relies on command units activating combat groups and allowing for HQ points to assist in these activation attempts. Other rules changes increase uncertainty, adjust artillery rules to account for differences in armies, and more. It’s available from Caliver Books for GBP 19.50.

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