RPG & WARGAME NEWSLETTER #113
June 9, 2025
Greetings, Gamers!
So, I’m a HUGE fan of the Arkham Horror Card Game and, for many years now, I’ve wanted to attend Arkham Con. This year, it’s Sept 11-14 in Minnesota, and looking at my schedule… it looks like this might be the year. They run an event called the IronMan where they pick a campaign and play thru the entire thing in one day (Saturday)… this year, it’s Path to Carcosa, one of my favorite campaigns. Even better, you get to play with people who love the game just as much as you do because it’s dedicated to just the one game. Any of my readers ever attend? I’m still pondering, but I’m close to signing up. More info here.
And speaking of conventions, this coming weekend is Southern Fried Game Expo in Atlanta. If you’ve never been, more info here… but think all things gaming — pinball and arcade games (how it started out), retro consoles, TTRPGs, wargames, dice games, card games, Werewolf-style games, and more. Lots of vendors. Good food. WWE exhibitions. 80s Prom dance on Saturday night. I hope to see you there!
Now, let’s get to the fun stuff.
RPGs
Would you like to try your hand at designing a one-page dungeon for Shadowdark to enter into a contest? If so, check out the Roll for Combat contest coming up soon. It will have cash prizes and you can get your dungeon published if it wins. More info here.
I just got my copy (hardback) of Colostle and it’s pretty slick. Set in a world where the WORLD is inside the walls of a giant castle (the size of the world? size of the galaxy? unknown…). It’s a solo RPG that uses a deck of cards to help you tell the story of an explorer inside this world. Rooms are entire continents… the sky is the roof but is just beyond making out any details… giant doors lead to new rooms that might contain an entire ocean or just a a small city. It’s a pretty cool setting, and even the baddies, giant castle-like creatures called Rooks, are fun to imagine fighting and running away from. I’m currently playing a game and taking video of my experience… my hope is to share it with viewers in the near future. More info here.
WARGAMING
Just when I think I’ve escaped… they pull me back in :) I’m talking about the latest expansion for Five Leagues from the Borderlands called Deep Below, of course. I wanted to take a good long break from Five Leagues before trying my hand at it again. It’s a difficult game (IMO), and there’s just so much to track and manage in a campaign… and now they’ve got this compendium of the first two expansions (Ancient Land of Dust and Paths in the Wilderness) for the game pulled into a single volume. Apparently it’s already been printed and is now shipping to US and UK ports, so it probably won’t be too long of a wait. I don’t have an exact pre-order start date yet (about two weeks from today) , but will try to remember to share it when it goes live. Maybe I need to give Five Leagues another try…
And, since I’m on the subject of Modiphius and Five Leagues from the Borderlands, below is my first combat encounter video with the new Forgotten Ruin skirmish wargame based on the Five Leagues mechanics. It was FUN! More info on it here.
TERRAIN
A lot of us already have plenty of sci-fi terrain files for 3D printing already, but if you’re just getting started and are looking for some easy to print files and a nice mix of structures, for $30US this Kickstarter project has just a few days left before it ends.
MINIATURES (FREEBIES)
You can get over 100 free STLs for the various Blizzard Warcraft Rumble minis here. They are awesome looking! Definitely for resin printers, but maybe some of them can be done with supports on FDM printers.
CARD GAMES
I’ve recently been playing Unstoppable from Renegade Game Studios… pretty fun game! It’s a deck builder (sci-fi) that uses sleeves to allow you to customize the cards you play (and fight against) with upgrades and more. One or two player, and one of my games is below (or here). I’m really hoping they add some expansions in the future… the game comes with 3 Bosses to fight and 4 heroes to play, but 100s of cards… but more is always good! Grab a copy here.
YOUTUBE
I am such a fan of the HeroQuest game, and I do love that many people use not only the 3D terrain included in the game (bookshelves, tables, desks, etc.), but I’m also impressed with those players who take it even further. Max DM Crafting has released a new video that starts at the very beginning of a game… the staircase. This is where the heroes begin each scenario, and I’m surprised no one has done this before. Great video!
CLOSING THOUGHTS
If you’ve made it this far into the newsletter, can I burden you for a moment and ask a HUGE favor? I suspect that a LOT of my subscribers have friends they play games with who are NOT subscribed. If you have one or more friends who you think would be interested in this weekly newsletter, would you take a moment and send them this link and tell them what you like about it?
This one… right here —→ rpgwargamenews.substack.com
It would help me continue to grow my newsletter and keep reaching out to game companies in the hopes of getting some giveaways and freebies for my readers. Thank you!
See you next week!
Jim, The Tabletop Engineer
TO MY SUBSCRIBERS
If you know of a local and/or independent gaming convention, email me at jimsworkshop@fastmail.com to get it listed.
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