RPG & Wargame Newsletter #2
April 17, 2023
Greetings, Gamers!
Things tend to catch my eye and lead me down a fast rabbit hole. I am a rabid reader and will often find myself doing deep-dives into subjects, games, and new skills. (I use a project management tool called Notion that’s always running on phone, laptop, and tablet and it allows me to easily capture things for later examination.) I tell you this so you’ll understand that there’s no pattern or theme to these newsletters — just things that interest me and that I want to share with others. I hope you find something in here to make your gaming time more fun.
RPGs
I recently ran a one-shot for a small group and they loved it. It’s called Tartarus Gate and it’s a self-contained little sci-fi horror adventure with its own rules and fast play - no experience required by the players or GM. Perfect for a convention or just something different for your gaming group. I keep it on my iPad so I can always run it at a moment’s notice. Available in print and digital format. If you like it, PLEASE email the author and ask for more! I would love to see this format gain traction…
WARGAMING
Adepticon 2024 -March 20-24 Schaumburg, IL
Age of Sigmar Tournament - Southern Fried Gaming Expo - July 28-30 Atlanta, GA
War Games Con XIII - June 23-25 Austin, TX
Stargrave: Bold Endeavor, a new expansion for Stargrave, releases Jan 2024. The new book will provide rules for what happens between adventures and during travels as well as new ship upgrades. This sounds like great news for Stargrave fans as seems to be moving the game closer to the storytelling aspect of Five Parsecs from Home.
I’m currently investigating micro-RPGs and micro-skirmish wargames, and it’s another rabbit hole. But there’s micro and then there is nano - you can play a 2 inch x 3 inch footprint wargame called Demon Van from Black Site Studios. Only $0.69, 3 pages long (PDF), and absolutely no playtesting. You play a passenger… in a van… on their way to a gaming convention. There you go.
MINIATURES
This could fit in a few other categories, but I’m going to drop it here. The War-Ganizer. A set of files to 3D print a carrying case for miniatures. The seller also sells accessories for it. I don’t transport large amounts of miniatures like other gamers, but if I did… this would be a likely option. Choose colors, customize emblems, etc. Visit the Etsy store and you can see all sort of color variations and mods and customizations that buyers have done to their Warganizers… I may have to print one in the near future.
CARD GAMES
A great article over at FFG on building a deck for Marvel Champions. I play this game every Monday with my youngest son and have grown to absolutely LOVE this game. Solo or up to 4 players vs a Villain and minions. The game has an incredible fan base and continues to release more and more hero packs (around $16) that are ready to play right out of the box.
KICKSTARTER
Elegoo is raising funds for a pretty slick little laser engraver/cutter - the PHECDA. I own an industrial laser, and I can tell you that the specs on this little thing are impressive for its size and cost. Costs will continue to drop on lasers (like they did with 3DPs) and if you’ve been waiting, this may be the time to pull the trigger. It cuts through 3mm wood which is what most terrain makers who use laser cutters use. KS ends on May 24, 2023 and fulfillment is stated to be Summer 2023.
This is a pretty cool idea for paint storage… and while it does require a 3D printer, they’re also selling commercial resale licenses so you might be able to order the custom parts on places like Etsy and have them delivered… probably in whatever color you like. It uses the OpenLOCK system for connectivity.
CRAFTING
Make your own EPIC SHIP using John Lombardi’s plans. Video is here. I’ve watched this video numerous times. The design is quite impressive.
LOVECRAFT MYTHOS
I’m slowly but surely catching up with the Arkham Horror book collection being published by Aconyte Books. For fans of Arkham Horror: The Card Game, you’re going to want to grab a copy of Lair of the Crystal Fang by S.A. Sidor. Of all the AH books released by Aconyte (13 so far), this one has, by far, the largest count of Arkham Horror investigators (or allies) included or mentioned in one story. Rex Murphy, Wendy Adams, Ursula Downs, Jake Williams, Carolyn Fern, and Charlie Kane. (And I could very well have forgotten one or more.) As a fan of the game, it’s cool to get some more background and stories with these characters. (Stella Clark and Winifred Habbamock paired up to solve a mystery in The Deadly Grimoire, and other books focus on at least one Arkham Horror investigator or ally as a main hero or sidekick).
New Arkham Horror novels/books releasing this year:
The Ravening Deep - Aug 2023
Welcome to Arkham: The Complete Guide to the World of Arkham Horror - Oct 2023
Bootlegger’s Dance - Nov 2023
The latest stand-alone scenario for Arkham Horror: The Card Game is Fortune & Folly that dropped on April 14, 2023.
TERRAIN
If you’re like me and have a bunch of empty 3D filament spools sitting around, point your browser over to Digital Taxidermy. They have an entire line of STL file products that use those empty spools. I just bought the Temporal Displacement Agitator file and will be printing it this coming week. Look at this thing! It’s going to look great on the table with my next game of Stargrave or Five Parsecs from Home.
FREEBIE: Grab a small collection from Txarlifactory.com called the Last Temples. These are great for a Frostgrave table or other fantasy wargame.
CLOSING THOUGHTS
If you’re enjoying the newsletter, would you do me a HUGE favor? Would you please forward the following link to your gamer friends if you think the newsletter would be of interest to them? - https://bit.ly/rpgwargamenews
THANK YOU!
1985 Games is looking for investors for its company. You can get more info here. If you’ve ever thought about owning a piece of a gaming company, here’s your chance.
Did you miss out on getting one of those giant d20 popcorn buckets sold during opening week of the D&D movie? Got a 3D printer? For $2, here you go.
I’ve begun work on my StageTop Gaming Table. If you’re not familiar with it, check out its original Kickstarter here. I’m going slow (I only have one 3D printer) and building a very small test table - 2x2 frames in image below. If everything fits and seems right, I’ll continue with more frames. I’m going for a roughly 2’ x 4’ table. I’ll be documenting the build here. FYI - each of the frames (there are four below held together by frame locks) took about 10 hours to print. The frame locks are about 1 hour each. This isn’t going to be an overnight project :)
My goal with the table is to give myself a lightweight and portable table that I can pick up and move (without having to clear away a game in progress) to reveal my worktable below. I also like how there is a growing community of modders who are creating new and unique tiles that can be snapped into the tabletop… I’ve seen dice towers (that are under the table but the hole is in the tabletop surface), card holders for holding cards vertically or at an angle, and a lot more. It’s gonna be a cool table to modify as needed.
Mythic Con - November 10-12 Charlotte, NC - What was MACE is now Mythic Con. This is one of the conventions I look forward to the most. Boardgames, wargames, RPGs, crafting… a great time.
TO MY SUBSCRIBERS
If you know of an interesting game or gaming product that you believe other subscribers might like to know about, email details to jimsworkshop@fastmail.com
You can find my zines and laser-cut terrain at thetabletopengineer.bigcartel.com - 10% off to newsletter readers with code RPGWGNEWS.
Digital copies of all my zines can be found on DrivethruRPG.
My Patreon is currently focusing on a year-long project (started in Jan 2023) called Guild Collections. Patrons receive three weekly OSR PDFs (and a higher tier receive a monthly adventure PDF) that will be collected and printed as four OSR-compatible zines at the end of 2023. More info on the Patreon here.
My game play-through videos can be found here.
The YouTube Channel name is The Tabletop Engineer Plays.
WotC must have made them pull the file for the D20 :(