We’ve just hit December, which means that the Good Games Ballarat Bloodbowl League will be running this month. Bloodbowl is a game of which I have little interest. It’s a miniature sport game by Games Workshop. Mind you, there are a fair number of people who do like the game. This Thursday, I wouldn’t be surprised if Sara and I end up playing BattleTech together whilst Derek, Popey and Nash wander off to play Bloodbowl.
Rich, Josh and I played the most recent in our series of BattleTech games on Saturday (along with games of Agricola, Galaxy Trucker and Thebes) and the Sabres team (Josh & Rich) did really well. I’m hoping that when Randy finishes his dramatic and musical work that we can get back to some more regular BTech games.
Catalyst Labs have released their list of products for the first quarter of 2010. It’s an interesting list, which I reprint below:
- BattleTech 25th Anniversary Introductory Box Set
- A Time of War: The BattleTech RPG [Hardcover, full-color, roleplaying game]
- Technical Readout: 3060 [Catalyst-branded reprint]
- HexPack: Lakes and Rivers [A Terrain Expansion]
- Record Sheets: 3060
- Record Sheets: 3075
- Historicals: Operation Klondike
- First Strike: BattleCorps Anthology Vol 2 [BattleTech: A selection of the best fiction from BattleCorps.com]
- Warrior Trilogy [BattleTech: Anniversary Omnibus, Author’s Definitive Edition]
- A Bonfire of Worlds [BattleTech: A Dark Age Era Novel]
The first three are “must haves” for me. The new boxed set is basically a reprint of the current Intro set, but with better board-quality maps, and two premium minis as well. The 3060 TRO is the only one I don’t have, and I really want the RPG. With any luck, I’ll get to run or play that next year. (Does anyone want to play it with me?)
The HexPack is very interesting: it’s a double-sided mapsheet, with a number of cardboard tiles that can be placed on it like overlays. It also has a scenario & rule booklet. I’m a little worried by its cost. Will it be worth it?
This weekend is D&D weekend, so the Greyhawk campaign on Friday and then the Paragon-tier game on Sunday. Greyhawk has been somewhat disrupted of late by my erratic sleeping patterns; I’ve not always been at my best for running it. There have been some good encounters, but the entire flow of the game isn’t where it needs to be. I think the game would benefit from a BBEG over a few sessions, so that’s where it’ll move now. We’ll have a defined plot thread for a bit – the next three levels is about the span I want to run – and when that wraps up we’ll take stock of where it is.
Meanwhile, I’m really enjoying running the Sunday campaign which is currently in P2: Demon Queen’s Enclave. This one is just fun to run (and, I hope, to play). The entire gang should be there this weekend, and I hope to have several good encounters.
After that, we’re moving up to my 37th birthday. The celebration of it will be in just under three weeks. Not sure what that will do to the D&D sessions on that weekend…
Star Wars RPG is moving towards its conclusion. I know Martin would like to wrap it up this year (and then move onto something different), but I’ve a feeling we won’t be able to finish until early in the New Year. I’m not going to be busy during January, and I hope that goes for my friends (and Martin) as well, so we can have a monster session to wrap it up.
It’s been an inconsistent campaign, but I think we’ve mostly enjoyed it. Miles is fun to play, even if he’s not always the right fit for how the game has progressed.
I have to admit that after reading the beta of the ToW RPG, I have zero interest in it. It’s too heavy for my tastes and the way I like to GM. I’ll probably stick to my microMechwarrior rules and flavor to taste from MW 1e/2e.
I am, however, going to get the new box set – more minis!