There’s a game in the Alea Big Box range called Chinatown. It’s recently been reprinted by Z-Man games. The game is a fairly simple one: you trade with the other players to get sets of buildings which you then construct on the map. The more sets of similar buildings you have, the more income you make. What struck me about the game was how few rules … Continue reading Elegance and the Development of Game Systems
I spent a fair bit of the weekend watching season 1 of Fringe, which I recently acquired on DVD. Fringe is a series that didn’t get much of a chance on Channel 9 in Australia before it wandered on to parts unknown. This isn’t entirely surprising, because the first few episodes of Fringe aren’t really very good. They feel slow, which is a cardinal sin … Continue reading Fringe, season 1
Tonight, I got to play Space Hulk for the first time in several years. Well, in over a decade. I never actually played the game much – one or two games at most – but I broke down and bought the recent Games Workshop rerelease of the game. Randy played the Genestealers (appropriately, his username on BGG is genesteeler), and I played the marines. How … Continue reading Playing Space Hulk 3e
I probably should have spent this weekend at the Magic: the Gathering Grand Prix in Melbourne. Instead, I spent it playing games up in Ballarat. I had a fantastic weekend – two D&D sessions, and a lot of boardgames, but, on the other hand, I didn’t get to see Daniel place 52nd in the Grand Prix (and win $200). That’s 52nd out of slightly over … Continue reading A Nice Weekend – Magic, Martian Rails, D&D and Space Hulk
Well, my acquisition of BattleTech stuff continues apace. Arriving today… Notice anything about it? You probably don’t. It’s subtle. Here’s the previous one in the series: Do you see it now? Yes, it’s no longer “Classic” BattleTech; it’s just BattleTech again. BattleTech Strategic Operations offers the following options to BattleTech games: A new abstract air-to-air combat system (and air-to-ground), which means a much easier integration of … Continue reading New BattleTech stuff
I finally managed to get around to reading The Light of Burning Shadows by Chris Evans on the trip to Melbourne on Thursday. Yes, a book I ordered especially in from Amazon/America because I wasn’t sure if I could get it yet in Ballarat, which had been sitting on my bedside table for a couple of weeks as I kept finding myself otherwise occupied. Go figure. … Continue reading The Light of Burning Shadows – a review
Eep. I’ve just had one of those action-packed weekends that really had just a bit too much action. Thursday, I went down to Melbourne to see my brother and his new house. He’s bought a small house in Hawthorn, where he is living with his wife and their two dogs. The weather was mostly fine – one pretty bad rain shower as I was leaving … Continue reading A big weekend
Well, I had a lot of fun on Saturday as I first played and then DMed at the D&D Game Day. My first game as a player of 4e D&D ever! And, yes, my halfling barbarian was a lot of fun to play. Rather effective too! So, if you got to the Game Day… what did you think? Continue reading D&D Game Day thoughts
It’s getting closer to the date when the latest (4th?) edition of the BattleTech RPG will be released – “A Time of War”. Catalyst Labs have posted the Quick-Start Rules for the game, but – alas – no adventure yet. I’m getting very interested in running a BattleTech RPG campaign or minicampaign. I’ve been picking up a wealth of information about the Jihad Era, which … Continue reading A Time of War – BattleTech RPG 4E
“You don’t just put in a race of shapeshifters then ignore the tension of people wondering if someone they know has been replaced. That would just be irresponsible.” – Brandon Sanderson I’ve had a good time reading books recently. The big ones have been by Brandon Sanderson (designated heir of Robert Jordan): Elantris, and then the Mistborn trilogy. Elantris had something of a messy ending, … Continue reading A few thoughts on some fantasy books
