RPG & Wargame Newsletter #45
Feb 12, 2024
Greetings, Gamers!
I always write this part of the newsletter the night before it goes out… tonight, it’s Super Bowl Sunday. I am watching it (sort of), but I’m also doing some last minute writing on a game adventure for an upcoming zine I’ll be Kickstarting in March. I’ll be (hopefully) playtesting it with my playtesters this coming week or the next.
I hope you had some time this weekend to play some games. Alone, with family or with friends… or maybe even strangers? I got a chance to play a game yesterday (Saturday) with some friends and then I came home to play a solo game. Pretty productive day (although it was raining and there wasn’t much else to do).
My point is this… we all have to find time for our hobby, whatever that may be. I hope you find some time this coming week for a game or two. Or ten.
Now, on to the fun stuff.
RPGs
I don’t play 5th Edition D&D any longer, but it doesn’t mean all these new 5e rulebooks don’t catch my eye. While I’ve managed to avoid buying any of them to this point, today at the game store, I saw this new Dr. Grordbort's Scientific Adventure Violence hardback and I’m thinking I’m going to have to drop some money. I have always loved steampunk, but the idea of playing an RPG in that setting doesn’t really appeal to me. This is more of just a Fun-to-Flip-Through book… a quick look at the artwork inside convinced me. Even if I wanted to play, I don’t know if I could find enough interest locally to play it… plus, I’d much rather be a player rather than whatever the GM is called in this game. I’d love to hear from newsletter subscribers their thoughts on this one, especially if you’ve played a game of it. More info here.
WARGAMING
If you’re not familiar with Relicblade by Sean Sutter, you REALLY need to check it out. I’m prepping my minis for a solo campaign (coming soon!), and I was glad to hear from Sean that he’s got restock of all his stuff. Sean wrote the game’s rules, designed its minis, creates it art… he does it all. It’s one of the more unique looking and playing skirmish wargames, and the metal minis match his art style. I’m a huge fan of the game, and you can find out more info here.
MINIATURES
Newsletter reader Karl sent me over a link to this wargame called BLKOUT. Anyone tried it? From the webpage: With Models being Destroyed with the single roll of a die, Players must rely on their wits, precise positioning, and equipment to win. Forget about special rules and army building; in BLKOUT, it's all about raw tactics.
It SOUNDS interesting, and the digital rules are apparently free. I welcome a quick review from anyone who has played it.
TERRAIN
Battle Systems has some of the BEST cardboard sci-fi terrain that is customizable. I own a BUNCH of their boxes, and they are, hands-down, some of the best terrain for getting a quick game set up and going. The stuff is also very portable. Apparently, Battle System is relocating its warehouse, so they’re offering a 10% discount on their stuff between now and Feb 22. Use the code Relocate24. (Battle System’s fantasy terrain is also very good stuff, and I have some of that as well that I use often.)
(Update: Edited to change Mantic to Battle Systems. My apologies to both Battle Systems and Mantic for the confusion.)
CROWDSOURCING
I am a HUGE fan of solo games, and I have a soft spot in my heart for this little sub-genre of solo games that come in little mint tins. I currently have about 4 or 5 of them, and I find it hard to say no to new ones. They are fun, with simple rules, and, obviously, very portable. I usually keep one or two of them in my laptop bag (or luggage when I travel) to keep me entertained on flights or whenever I just need a small diversion. The latest one to catch my eye? Doom Tin Crawler — looks and sounds right up my alley and was an easy back. You can find more info here.
CONVENTIONS
If you know of a local and/or independent gaming convention, email me at jimsworkshop@fastmail.com to get it listed. The Conventions listing will alternate weeks in the newsletter, appearing every other week. Next list appearance will be in the Feb 19, 2024 newsletter.
ZINE QUEST 2024
Here are some zines (updates are below *) that caught my eye or the creator reached out to me to list in the newsletter:
Gas! Gas! Gas! (Mothership scenario)
Old School & Cool 5 (OSR adventure)
Secret Vault of the Windswept Island (OSR adventure)
Life-Paths - A Shadowdark Supplement
ARKVYR (Mothership supplement - for ZineMonth)
*
52 Pickup (Triple zines!)
Subterranean Fightin’ Freaks (Mutant RPG in Chicago)
Be Kind. Rewind: A $1 Video Store Journaling Game
The Wizard Sea Chronicles - Volume 1
LOVECRAFT MYTHOS
Fantasy Flight has just announced the new packaging (Investigator box and Campaign box) for The Dream Eaters for the Arkham Horror: The Card Game. This was the 5th cycle (campaign) that has been repackaged to follow the new AH format of two boxes and not one box and six packs. May 2024 release for the Investigator box and June 2024 for the Campaign. More info here.
YES! Graveyards of Arkham cosplay of Call of Cthulhu has begun! I was a backer of the project, and the first episode is now on Twitch! You can watch that episode here.
GASLANDS VEHICLE OF THE WEEK
This week’s amazing toy car conversion for Gaslands is from David Barroso Cáceres. Wait, Doc… are you telling me… you made a Gaslands vehicle out of a DeLorean!??? Now I’m on the hunt for a DeLorean car to make my own.
YOUTUBE
YES! This design concept has been something I’ve used for years - I treat every part of my campaign world as explorable with hidden dangers beneath and links back and forth between locales/scenes. Great video - give it a watch.
LIFE GAMIFICATION
Just so you know, apparently the distance from Hobbiton (the Shire) to Bree (the first checkpoint in the Lord of the Rings Challenge is 145 miles. Those hobbits were in good shape! I’m 22 miles into the challenge, with 123 more miles left before I can start the next phase to Rivendell and the elven city. I’m averaging about 2 miles walking per day (hoping to increase soon to 3 miles per day) and that doesn’t include moving around my house, up and down stairs, to the mailbox, and out and about… so I’m sure I’m walking probably 3-5 miles per day, but I’m only tracking the time I dedicate to walking for the challenge. And yes, this challenge is definitely motivational and keeping me in the game :) Screenshot below is from the Conqueror app that tracks my results.
CLOSING THOUGHTS
Over the last few days, I’ve had a chance to play quite a few games, solo and with some friends. Early in 2023, I stopped watching the news. Local and national. (I still keep an eye on it with my phone, though.) I basically freed up about 2 hours a day that I was spending watching the same’ol same’ol. While I do use those extra hours for work sometimes, I also tend to use it for personal time. I have no regrets. I hope you find time in your day for some games. I don’t know why games appeal to me, but I also don’t know what I’d do if I didn’t have access to them. People read books, play sports, watch movies, etc… whatever their hobby, people tend to find things that make them happy and seek more time to do those things. For 2024 I do hope that you’re finding time to play those games that make you happy. See you next week.
Jim
TO MY SUBSCRIBERS
If you know of a local and/or independent gaming convention, email me at jimsworkshop@fastmail.com to get it listed.
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 game play-through videos can be found here.
The YouTube Channel name is The Tabletop Engineer Plays
Dang, sorry I missed that Battle Systems discount by a few hours. Glad to find this excellent resource here in Substack, anyway.