The Basics of 2d Delves
The title 2d Delves does not, it turns out, refer to the number of dimensions involved in the game. That’s a good sign for a miniature wargame as those generally require the use of a third dimension. Instead, the 2d relates to the dice involved. Most of the melee and...
Pistols at Dawn
Alternative Armies’ En Garde includes not just one set of dueling rules, but three. Unlike the swordplay duel, which include everything from strength to reflexes to movement to endurance, the rules for the pistol duel are simple and streamlined. The duel itself is comprised of four phases, the first...
En Garde, Yourself, Mes Ami
It’s time. Your seconds stand in silent testimony. The trash talking has been silenced. The dancing is over. You and your 15mm opponent have finally reached the moment of the plunge into violence. In Alternative Armies’ En Garde, when the steel meets the flesh, the players have some important...
En Garde: The Alternative
My recent travels have led me to conclude that my collection lacks a suitable shelf of one-on-one combat games. If you think about it, these are a natural for the more mobile gamer who has to consider variables such as weight and portability. If all you need is a...
Vector Based Traveller Combat
The implementation of vector-based spaceship combat in Traveller is easy. It’s the strategy that results from the process that’s hard. Like chess, the rules are simple, but lead to a wealth of complex puzzles and potential pitfalls for the unwary. Marc Miller gives Traveller (1977) players two options: Just...
One Billion Suns: Printable Fleets and Tokens
NOT 3D PRINT FILES! Sheesh. A Billion Suns has been on my shelf for far too long. That’s Mike Hutchinson’s space shoot-em-up wargame built from the bottom up with an objective system that gives it more of an economics and shoot-n-scoot flavor than a line-em-up one. It’s been languishing...
AD&D Weapon Versus AC Adjustment
AD&D’s weapon versus AC adjustment table is the online recipe of tabletop RPGs. Everybody that talks about it wants to talk around it. Or talk about their houserules. Or talk about people talking about it. Or talk about how they calculated them better than Gary. Or sell you on...
The Game Changers
These are some very good looking aircraft. After four decades of tinkering with weight, aerodynamics, engine power, and a host of other variables, the US produced what many consider to be the finest prop-driven fighter in the world. These babies were designed for long range escort missions and still...
Don’t be a Rule Zero, be a Rule Hero
This probably looked pretty weird on the day it happened. Let me explain. The tabletop RPG hobby has ossified. The conventions have been established, and everyone that follows those conventions can only innovate around the margins. Or worse, they engage in a complete deconstruction without the re-construction necessary to...
Figure Catchup
Alternative armies has a great little selection of character models that I havne’t done justice. In addition to a nice fat demon lord, I’ve added a NotMing The Merciless and totally not Dejah Thoris to my collection. They also have a fun little collection of elementals. The air elemental...