Mary Shelley Invented RPGs
Thanks in large part to the bros actively re-inventing and reshaping RPGs through experimentation, session reports, analysis, and (sometimes heated) discussion, the hobby has cycled back to the age old question of, “Who invented role playing games?” Other lesser factors contribute, of course. The upper midwest Boomer Crew is...
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...
Hyde’s Reach: The Forces
The northern nation on Hyde’s Reach is just a generation or two older than its rival, giving it a bit of a head start in the economic development department. Add to that the extensive agricultural lands and relatively recent discovery of rich silver mines in a mountain valley down...
Hyde’s Reach: A New Campaign
There’s a new wargame campaign in the House of Wargaming, and it’s in a genre that I’m not too familiar with. Luckily, you don’t have to be to get started. You can learn on the fly, which is a lot easier when you’ve got a guide like Henry Hyde...
On The Nature of Braunsteins
This post feels a little, as the kids say, sus. There’s a whole lot of journalism going on right now that is nothing but trawling social media and scraping comments from the bottom feeders in order to engage in information laundering. Here’s the process: Identify a narrative that runs...
By Semi-Popular Demand
First of all: big new project in the works. Expect a busy July. Second of all: Hitting the five-thousand subscriber mark over on the Wargame Channel marks a significant milestone. The interest is there, and growth continues at a steady pace of a thousand new subscribers every seven months...
Red Letter Norms
The RLM guys are experts at one particular species of cultural tree, but have spent so much time looking at the one tree that they can’t see how the health of the forest is killing that tree. Naturally, that tree is cinema and the forest is the wider culture....
Homestead Hobbying
This is an RPG post. I promise. For the last few years the family has slow-walked a low-key advance on the homestead front. This past month we added another notch on the victory post by throwing what probably should have been an investment in the hobby wargame channel into...
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...
Once More, for the Peanut Gallery
It’s very hard to break out of forty years of bad practices. Especially when everyone around you is convinced that they can make the bad practices work if they just buy one more supplement, maybe one more Gygax copypasta ruleset, or one more setting book. Especially when the guys...