little mens

muthaf#ckin' sea monsters...

2012-02-03T15:25:00.000-08:00

way back when, i used to work for games workshop. during one late night of hobbying with several other employees at the chicago battle bunker, the topic of a recent white dwarf article came up. veterans might remember when gw put out some very cool warhammer rules for conducting sea battles.

out of that conversation came the opinion that of all the ships and such to be made, the best would be "muthaf#ckin' sea monsters". it became a meme of sorts. when asked what folks were working on, inevitably someone would answer "a muthaf#ckin sea monster". even to this day there are folks i greet at conventions or get togethers with "muthaf#ckin' sea monster!" rather than "hey!" or "what's up?"

so where is this going? well, if you watched the privateer press video teaser about colossals released earlier today, you saw one:

that's right. it looks like cryx is getting a colossal called "the kraken". and it's attacking a ship at anchor in port. in other words, it's a necrotite-fueled, undead, muthaf#ckin' sea monster.

and i couldn't be happier.

image of that muthaf#ckin' sea monster is property of privateer press.

wowzers! some interesting game previews out today...

2012-02-03T08:49:00.000-08:00

one of the first things i saw today is that fantasy flight games has put up a pdf of the rules for this:

rex is their adaptation of the really, really old skool avalon hill dune rule set. the big difference is instead of republishing dune (a great idea in my book, but they allegedly couldn't get the rights from the herbert estate), ffg has set the game in their twilight imperium universe.

it looks like that ffg has kept the basic rules pretty intact. there are still the battle dials with the slots to drop in your leaders, each of the 6 factions have their own victory conditions, treachery and betrayal are tools at your command, and there is a progressive destructive event that discourages camping/turtling.

it's a bit ironic, because twilight imperium is one of my least favorite games. i know for a fact that i'd rather have a root canal than play it, but i'm eagerly awaiting this one.

in other crazy-ass gaming news, privateer press just posted a 10 minute video "leaking" the release this summer of colossals! pp gets kudos for showing the khadoran and cygnaran colossal models. i guess that the cryx, the protectorate, retribution, and mercs colossals weren't quite ready yet, though there are some really great images of them.

it definitely looks like this is going to be a big summer for warmachine. that being said, sit through all of the video. there's a teaser at the very end for hordes.

you can check out just how massive things look to get this summer below.

rex box image is property of fantasy flight games, and the video is all privateer press baby!

Happy New Year!

2012-01-01T12:59:00.000-08:00

little mens wishes you and yours a very happy new year, and many happy returns!

hope you all have plenty of collard greens and black-eyed peas today!

man-o-... what? it's not? dreadwhat? are you f'n kidding me?

2011-09-23T08:59:00.000-07:00

blood angel brother deino by laundryhamper

two years ago, gw rereleased it's standalone big box game space hulk. initally, i was rabidly opposed to the idea. my list of pros and cons were as follows:

pros:

gorgeous models
re-release of a great rules mechanic with only the slightest of tweeks to the system to make it even more playable.

cons:

card components. with all the advances that gw has made to its plastic terrain i was hoping for some cool plastic modular hulk corridors as and rooms and the fact that it didn't seriously irked me
cost
splash release with no pre-release play or demo opportunities.

while the cons didn't outweigh the pros significantly, i felt the lack of demos and pre-release game opportunity was gw simply assuming that they could produce any sort of drivel and sell it to the rabid masses. in fact, when i worked at the u.s. hq in glen burnie, there was a running joke that gw could put a pile of dogshit in a 40k or fantasy box and hobbyists would buy it.

don't believe me? have you seen the original range of dark eldar?

in the end, space hulk did pay off for gw and completely sold out. despite my initial protests I did, indeed, purchase a copy, and today an unopened copy of space hulk can sell for more than twice as much on ebay.

all-in-all it was a good gamble for gw. so good they're gonna do it again...

image property of games workshop

only this time it's something different. according to rumor, this isn't a rerelease of man-o-war, but a completely new game, and like space hulk "this product has been produced in limited qualities and is only available while stocks last - make sure you get it quick..."

from the gw press releases, i like the way the models look, but gw has consistently produced amazing models. my biggest question is: how does it play? there's a slickly produced video with phil kelly and his sideburns showing the contents and highlighting the play, but i can't justify dropping $115 on a game i can't play/demo first.

i could continue to rant about how i feel about dreadfleet, but duke's inferno does a much better job.

workbench update!

2011-09-08T11:22:00.000-07:00

wow. it looks like it's been a while since i've updated little mens. so here are some new warmachine images for you to enjoy.

'jack #7 (juggernaut chassis), 43d assault battalion, 5th border legion:

the juggernaut is a minor conversion. normally the legs are exactly like the ones on the destroyer below, but since the juggernaut is a close combat 'jack, i wanted it to look like it's striding forward about to grab hold of something and plant that ginormous axe into the middle of it.

so i cut the toes off the left leg, then i angled the remaining plastic, and pinned and glued the toes back on. this allowed me to glue the left leg in place well behind the right. after that is was just a matter of hunching the upper body forward a bit (you can really see the difference if you look at the smokestacks on both 'jacks), then angling the left arm forward and the right arm back.

all-in-all i think it came out pretty nicely. it definitely has a bit more of a sense of speed and menace than it did squared up on the base.

'jack #3 (destroyer chassis), 43d assault battalion, 5th border legion:

as always, comments and questions are welcome!

workbench update!

2011-08-09T10:15:00.000-07:00

last time we posted up some photos from the workbench we had cryxian brute thralls and pistol wraiths in process. here they are completed!

enjoy! and feel free to leave feedback in the comments!

"the politically correct need not apply." really?

2011-07-29T08:03:00.000-07:00

much to the hew and cry of all the trolls, stump-thumpers, prognosticators, and end-is-nighers, games workshop has released it's annual report. you can find it at their investor site here.

it's an interesting read, especially the following:

mark wells (the gw ceo) mentions that in finding the right employees: "the politically correct need not apply" (i envision plenty of serious human resources conversations coming from this one).
the enormous amount of spin put on the release of citadel finecast (or as some call it: fineco$t)
tom kirby (the gw chairman) gives himself a 20% pay rise (don't deny, you'd do it too if you could)

for a clearer and more in depth look at the report from someone who knows how to read the damn things, jump over to dukes inferno and read his translation.

more work on the workbench...

2011-07-26T14:27:00.000-07:00

having had my cryxian forces shot up excessively in most of my last few games, i've decided to add these fine fellows to send against my foes:

you can see that most of the block coloring is done. the finished paint scheme will be pretty dark, grimy, and dirty, as i want my pistol wraiths to look like gunslingers exhumed and reanimated with dark powers. while the scarves here on both look pretty bright eventually they'll be dimmed down with a couple of ink washes merely hinting at the fact that these wraiths were cygnaran gun mages forced into unlife to wield their weapons and skill in service to the dragonfather.

some work in progress...

2011-07-26T08:50:00.000-07:00

last november i added a new hobby game to the mix: warmachine. i've really come to like the models and the really fast paced play of the game. i've built up quite a cryx army and starting today and for the next few days, i'll be updating little mens with some photos of new stuff and maybe even a how-to!

so without further delay, here are some brute thralls in progress:

hopefully i'll have these completely painted this evening and ready to be based!

well, it was bound to happen.

2011-07-07T23:25:00.000-07:00

so a friend and local gamer has started this strange combination of tumblr, humor, and wargaming: hot models with fugly minis. basically, felix photographs the two fugly models above (a cygnaran long rifle and a space marine) with other models or in strange wargaming situations.

like a flameguard toga party.

don't ask.

it's a relatively new blog/thing and there are a couple of slightly scandalous (perhaps even impertinent or down right inappropriate) situations that are amusing as hell.

you should spend time there. the fugly minis would want you to.

++ updated with new photo of my stuff with felix's ++

geek alert! how to manage your role playing game in 2011...

2011-07-05T09:11:00.000-07:00

a friend of mine recently turned me onto a very cool website that allows role players to organize, update, and manage the game on both the player character (pc) and game master (gm) side of the house (or screen as it were)!

obsidian portal allows a gm to build a world and keep track of all the cool bits and bobs online.

you can add maps, build out non-player characters, create and add unique items for the players, as well as continually update the wiki part of the campaign with notes, hints, and information.

additionally, there are secret buttons that provide a gm with a way to share information with one character while keeping all the others in the dark, and a gm with an ipad or other tablet pc could easily have obsidian portal open and running during the adventure to keep gm-only notes, items, and npcs at their very fingertips.

clever players can add their characters, complete with bios, links to adventure sights, and specialty items.

the really interesting thing about obsidian portal, is that it's pretty much only limited by the imagination of the gm and players. if you're a role player at all, get your group to check it out!

happy 235th!

2011-07-04T12:17:00.000-07:00

be safe! have fun! don't blow off any of your fingers!

happy 4th of july!

flag image is a public domain image created by zscout370

some interesting new stuff over at wargames factory

2011-06-30T10:04:00.000-07:00

back in may of this year, wargames factory released a preview of the work they had been doing on their line of shock troops:

as you can see it's an equal mix of futuristic gribbly bitz and gothic accoutrement. i like the additional helmets, the french style kepi, the fur collar on the officer/command(er/ant). i also love the mauser-style pistol and the extra set of hands that has the cigarette. though how one is to enjoy the pleasure of what i am sure is a "galactic gauloises" while in full protective gear is still beyond me...

like many of the other internet opinoineers, i felt the single claw foot of the tripod was a bit much, but all-in-all the models work for me.

today wf has released a cool 3d rendered preview of the heavy energy cannon, and it looks great! it looks like they took onboard all the feedback that was provided and went to town on it! you should check it out here: new shock troops heavy energy cannon preview.

preview image property of wargames factory

30 days later...

2011-04-30T11:36:00.000-07:00

today marks then end of 30 games in 30 days. so far i've only played the following 26 games:

albion

alhambra

beowulf: the movie board game

carcassone

cartegena

cold war: cia versus kgb
dominant species

dominion

fearsome floors

mystery of the abbey

neuroshima hex

power grid

race for the galaxy

the merchants of amsterdam

ticket to ride

death angel

7 wonders

colosseum

el paso

illuminati

mansions of madness

pick picknic

pirate's cove

raj

not exactly a victory, but i think that it's been a damn good effort, and i've had a blast playing all these games and finding out how many game lovers are out there in my circle of friends.

sharp-eyed readers will notice that of these only about 17 of these 26 have been chronicled so far. i am a bit behind in posting the games, but I hope to have all of them done in the next couple of days!

and if i can get those last 4 games in today...

who's up for a game?

"we shall have to teach perfidious albion a lesson! - the scarlet pimpernel

2011-04-28T20:26:00.000-07:00

albion is a game that i picked up during a tanga special back when tanga still ran daily game specials, and i'm pretty glad that i did.

created by klaus-jurgen wrede (the same game designer that created carcassonne) and distributed by rio grande games, albion is a game of territory building, area control and influence, and worker placement. the basic idea is that each player represents an emissary from the roman empire looking to conquer and settle the fair isle of albion (britain for those of you who may not be familiar with one of its proto-celtic names).

the trick to albion is to balance expansion of your settlements and fortresses with the build up and collection of existing and new resources. meanwhile each territory has native picts that may be friendly or hostile. expand too fast and you may find yourself surrounded on all sides by angry naked aboriginal brits painted blue.

first turn, travis has build his first settlement right off the bat!

starting in southeast britain, each player automatically starts with two resources (fish and lumber). as you progress north, there's opportunity to begin quarrying stone and mining gold. both of which will be needed to improve your existing settlements and fortresses. settlements allow you to recruit legionnaires (to protect your territories from hostile picts) or settlers which allow you to build multiple times a turn. fortresses increase the speed at which your legionnaires and settlers can advance.

here you can see alan and chris analyzing their conquest of albion.

each turn, a player can either move and build, or collect resources. so once the rules are learned the game moves pretty quickly.

only a few turns after the previous picture, the board looked like this!

i felt pretty confident about my expansion and conquest, but in the end, alan was the winner of the game with some savvy movement, a clever fortress placement (for some speed at the end of the game), and the fact that he managed his resources better than i did.

the winnah!

i like albion a lot, though i feel that the hostile native/angry pict mechanic doesn't pose enough of a threat. though to be completely honest, they are more of a spoiler for the players rather than an objective all their own. what really surprises me is that albion is rated pretty low on boardgamegeek. the rules are pretty tight, simple, yet elegant. the components are all of good quality, and everyone i've ever played it with like it and would consider owning it. it's just one of those games that fell through the cracks.

if you get the opportunity, give it a try. i bet you like it too.

mystery of the abi

2011-04-28T18:25:00.000-07:00

days of wonder is a great little game company that regulary puts out clever games full of bright colors and great themes. one such game is mystery of the abbey.

a la umberto eco's the name of the rose, a murder has been committed. you and your companions arrived during the previous evening, looking to take advantage of templar abbey's hospitality. this morning brother adelmo's lifeless body has been found at the bottom of the monastery cliffs. did he fall, or was he pushed? the abbot has asked you and your companions to investigate!

helping me solve the murder this time are dave, abi, jacob, and addam.

mystery of the abbey is a deduction game that combines area movement, card management, and set collection to determine which of the monks at the abbey committed murder most foul. there's no need to determine where the murder was committed or how; your time will be spent determining who did it. after all, there are 24 different suspects of three different ranks in three different orders! to further complicate matters, some of the monks are fat while others are skinny. some wear their hood up. others wear their hood down. finally, some are bearded while others are clean shaven.

each turn you can move your monk around the abbey and search for clues. some rooms (like the scriptorium and crypta) can provide assistance. if you're feeling really bold you can search the rooms of your fellow players to take cards from their hand; just don't get caught! you'll be sent to the chapel for penance.

our game was of moderate length (new players and all), but as it came down to the wire, it was pretty much a race to see who could get to capitulium and make an accusation. as you can see from the picture above abi (the green monk) got there just before i did (i was playing yellow). her accusation was correct, it was, indeed, brother jacques who pushed brother adelmo to his death.

so congrats abi on your victory at mystery of the abbey!

all images property of little mens, save for the box image. that one belongs to days of wonder!

o.m.*

2011-04-28T16:42:00.000-07:00

the really interesting thing about trying to do something like 30 games in 30 days is the amount of excitement it's generated among my friends who i had no idea liked board games. so for everyone that's helped out this month: thank you from the depths of my geek-driven heart!

now onto the next game!

this one is a classic from way back in 2000! carcassonne!

playing this one with me are jacob and addam!

for those who are unfamiliar with carcassonne, it is a tile-laying and area control game inspired by the roman and medieval influenced city/fortresses of carcassonne in the french region of languedoc-roussillon. each player takes a turn selecting a random face down tile and putting it into play. the only limitations are that it must be placed so that features remain contiguous (i.e. a road can't just run into a wall, field or city section, nor can an internal city section be played next to a field). my copy of carcassonne has "the river" expansion which is used to begin the game.

above you can see the first tile played off the river is a road tile that matches up with the bridge crossing the river. as the game progresses, the cities and fields begin to take shape, and players vie for points by placing their meeples.

here i've claimed 2 road sections and a monastery (i'm playing yellow). jacob (green) has a farmer in a field and a knight in a city, and addam (black) has a robber claiming a road and a farmer as well.

each player scores points during the game for completing a city, a road section on which they have a robber, or place 8 legal tiles around a monastery. here is the scoring track about mid-game:

addam is in the lead, with jacob and i hot on his heels!

eventually, we completed the game and here's what the end board looked like:

thanks to several farmers and completing a monastery, I was able to leapfrong past jacob and addam (who were tied for second place) and claim victory.

with its simple tile laying mechanic and scoring, carcassonne is another great eurogame that can be used to introduce folks to truly intelligent and skill based boardgames. thanks to jacob and addam for playing!

*original meeple

box photo property of rio grande games. all other photos property of little mens!

"for what we are about to see next, we must enter quietly into the realm of genius."

2011-04-27T13:37:00.000-07:00

one of my favorite lighthearted "beer & pretzel" sort of games is freidemann friese's fearsome floors:

helping me out with this one was chris, jeff, jacob, addam, and abi dubs!

fearsome floors is a racing game where the goal is to get out of the dungeon. each player has several tokens that they move each turn in an effort to escape clutches of the monster furunkulus. sounds easy right? just wait until he shows up!

oh, there he is!

unlike the players tokens who can move a set number of space but in any direction (except diagonal), the monster has restrictions on his movement, and will always pursue the closest token it can see. the scary part is that sometimes the monster moves only a few spaces. other times furunkulus will chase the interlopers until he has killed one or two of them! it's all down to chance!

as the game progresses the players scurry to the exit tile on the opposite side of the board with the monster in hot pursuit.

above is the near the end of the game. if you look in the far corner you can see that addam (playing the black tokens) is the first to make it out, while my purple token was second. as you can see below addam is about to move his second black token off the board ensuring victory, and dooming the rest of us to the monster's gut as snacks.

so thanks to all my players: chris, jeff, jacob, abi dubs, and addam, and congrats to addam as the victor!

all images property of little mens save the box image. that one belongs to rio grand games!

it's zee germans!

2011-04-20T10:10:00.000-07:00

die kaufleute von amsterdam (the merchants of amsterdam) is a game that i had never heard of before i came up the idea of 30 games in 30 days. originally a german game made by jumbo games, it was imported by rio grande games, but is currently out of print. so if you find copy snatch it up!

the basic premise is that you are one of amsterdam's many merchant princes during the explosive exploration of the new world and the subsequent explosion in trade that followed (1579 to 1666)

each player takes a turn choosing three cards from the play deck. one card will be discarded, one card will be auctioned, and one card will be kept by the player. each card does one of several actions. they advance the timeline, provide an expansion your trading houses, and develop colonies around the world. as each player builds their merchant empire, the resources of sugar, spices, gems, and silks increase.

here melisssa is trying to decide what to keep, what to throw away and what to auction off.

spaced regularly around the board are opportunities to gain more florins to use in the auctions. the auctions are interesting in and of themselves as it is a timed affair using dutch rules; as the timer counts down the cost of the item for sale gets cheaper, and with the ability to stop the auction at the beginning and double the cost of the auction item, means that savvy players can drive up the cost of things for their opponents.

amsterdam is a clever little game that is easy to learn and with the right crowd, nice and cutthroat.

all images property of little mens

alli-alli-alhambra

2011-04-20T09:15:00.000-07:00

this one is an interesting little card management, tile-laying game based on the andalusian moorish castle, the calat alhambra. each player is building one of the may palaces that makes up the alhambra by managing placement of tiles, each worth a certain number of victory points during the game and at the end.

to acquire more tiles each player has to pay a cost for them in one of four denominations (depicted by 4 different colors, orange, green, blue, and yellow).

each turn, a player can take one of three different actions:

draw a currency card. a player can take one card of a denomination above 5 and any combination of cards so long as the total denomination doesn’t exceed 5.
purchase a building tile. if a tile is purchased for the exact amount, the player then gets another chance to take an action. no change is given for tile purchases, so if a tile cost 5 yellow coins, and all you have is an 8 yellow coin card, then you pay 8.
rearrange or exchange a tile. players can move a tile from their reserve or to their reserve, or they can swap a tile between their alhambra and the reserve. the only constraint is that the new tile has to legally fit into the space of the tile sent to the reserve.

playing this game with me are jacob, jeff, and dave.

here is jeff looking dapper and debating the cost and placement of a tile...

..and here is dave contemplating his next action.

i like alhambra. It’s pretty easy to learn, game play is pretty straightforward, and it’s much easier to score than other tile-laying games like carcassone. i would recommend alhambra as a way to get new eurogamers to take the next step to something a bit more complex, but not overly so.

box image is property of queen games. all other images property of little mens.

neuroshima hex

2011-04-17T12:49:00.000-07:00

another board game that wasn't originally on my list for 30 games in 30 days. xenite from "little green monsters" introduced this one to me.

based on the polish role playing game neuroshima, in neuroshima hex, you control one of several factions battling for survival in the post-apocalyptic ruins of north america. in the simple one-on-one battle games, the action takes place within the black outlined area in the middle of the board.

between your specialist actions and your troops' abilities, the middle board area is just big enough for a battle or two in the space of an hour. here is the board at the start of the game:

xenite (who is playing the moloch, a vicious machine intelligence that specializes in armor and ranged combat) has placed his hq on the board edge and i've place mine smack dab in the middle. the reason for this is that my troops (the mutated borgos) are more deadly in close combat and my hq can improve their speed in melee, which is the reason for this deployment only a few turns later.

as you can see the number of forces on the board wax and wane as infrequent combat begins taking it's toll on our troops.

for most of the game, xenite controlled a good portion of the board and kept my forces contained with his shooting. if not for one of my troops allowing me to negate the power of his hq, xenite would have completely wiped me from the board.

but some clever deployment and sacrifice on my part in the late game meant that the battle was a draw, and my borgos would live to fight another day.

take that you moloch bastards!

even though our battle took place in just a small part of the board, the game designers actually encourage you to create your own scenarios to take advantage of the rest of the board, and with the variety of images beneath each hex, you're only limited by your imagination as to what sort of scenario you could create!

i liked neuroshima hex quite a bit, and i don't think i'd pass up an opportunity to play.

box image of neuroshima hex is property of portal games, all other image property of little mens

it's pretty much an homage to the entire sci fi ourve.

2011-04-13T08:12:00.000-07:00

before last night’s game, i had only played race for the galaxy once before, and while i enjoyed the game, i didn’t really grasp the way that the rules and the cards worked together. that point of view changed last night.

at its core, race’s game mechanic balances card management and action choice, but there is a synergy between the various cards that a player can have in their tableau and the actions chosen by all players at the beginning of a round that rewards smart choices and flexible planning.

playing are aaron, jacob, and i. here you can see aaron explaining the various actions to jacob.

as we started and the game progressed, i continued to get more and more development opportunities…

… while jacob made a run collecting alien-centric worlds and developments…

…and aaron pulled some military, but seemed to miss out on the cards he really wanted.

at the end of the game, jacob was the winner with a massive 54 victory points. i was in second place with 34 victory points and aaron had 32.

now that i’ve got a better grasp on how race for the galaxy is played and the various interactions possible, i think that this one will be a game that i play a heck of a lot more.

race for the galaxy is property of rio grande games. all other images property of little mens.

well, that was weirdly prescient...

2011-04-12T10:52:00.000-07:00

last night, i got in a game of cold war: cia vs kgb with dave p.

produced by ffg as one of their silverline games, cold war allows play as one of the two major intelligence agencies from the 60’s through the 80’s, the komitet gosudarstvennoy bezopasnosti and the central intelligence agency.

the game is pretty straightforward: a particular objective is revealed. both intelligence agencies choose an operative who works to recruit groups to claim the objective. each group has a point value and a special action that can be used as your agent tries to bring the objective into their sphere of influence. the winner of the round then gets to add the objective score to their running total. first player to 100 points is the winner.

here the kremlin has claimed the objective. which was a recurring theme for the entire game. another point in favor of the game is that savvy play can stop a runaway victory by one player. unfortunately, my play as the cia just wasn't good enough, and dave's kremlin took the victory.

while playing the game i kept getting a strong sense of déjà vu. over a third of the objectives being fought over during the game are still global hotspots today: libya, korea, egypt, et al. kinda makes you wonder, how much longer those particular places will continue to have such a strong influence on global politics.

like many of ffg’s silverline games, cold war is a a lot of fun, and the fact that it’s portable, has a neat game mechanic, and is quick to play means that cold war is definitely worth adding to your collection.

what a weekend!

2011-04-11T15:58:00.000-07:00

you may have noticed a dearth of posting this past weekend. fear not, fellow gamers! i was playing games, and i will be posting them in the next day or so.

but do you really blame me for being distracted by this:

or this?

yeah, that's right, i was at this:

and you bitches were not.

i am not beowulf!

2011-04-08T15:23:00.000-07:00

i’m lucky in that i have so many awesome gaming friends, and that every thursday night there’s a big get together at winston’s (a local café) to play all sorts of games.

last night was a good get together. i was able to get a couple of games in, one of which was beowulf the movie board game.

obviously, this game was designed to take advantage of the excitement of the 2007 film starring ray winstone, crispin glover, angelina jolie, sir anthony hopkins, robin wright penn, brandon gleeson, and john malkovich.

beowulf is an FFG game with a play style based on reiner knizia's kingdoms game structure with some tweaks to the board and the tiles.

The basic premise is that each player is a skald telling the saga of Beowulf. There are 3 acts, each represented by a different game board, where players place figures and tiles to take advantage of boons and avoid perils.

here we are early in the first act. of course, as the act progresses the board fills up:

once the first act is over, the tiles and figures are removed and the second act begins:

the second act has fewer spaces and some of the special actions the tiles allow you to take a much more cutthroat. once the second act is over the tiles and figures are removed yet again, and the third act begins:

as you can see, this act has nearly double the play area, which meant some contemplation on tile and figure placement.

as you can see some of the players (melissa and chris) took the third act a bit more seriously than others (i'm lookin' @ you jacob)...

when the game was over, chris was the victorious skald having told the best tale of beowulf, and collecting the most saga points for it. jacob was in second place, melissa in third, and i came in dead last. so much for my career as a wandering poet/bard reciting epic verse and norse eddas.

other games were played (like die kaufleute von amsterdam), so stay tuned for those posts!

sad news...

2011-04-07T08:19:00.000-07:00

it's with a heavy heart that i share the news that chicago's gaming community has lost a member. brandon kutka, one of the owners of black sun games, has passed away due to complications from leukemia.

i didn't know brandon half as well as some others, but i have a warm fondness for him and a great deal of respect due to his previous military service. there were afternoons when we would sometimes sit around swapping crazy stories from our army days; laughing at some of the absurdities we had seen.

brandon was always sincerely interested in his customers and had a great vision for the chicago hobby community.

needless-to-say, he will be missed.

dominion

2011-04-06T06:02:00.000-07:00

yeah, so what? they can't all be super catchy titles. jeez.

at the risk of sounding like a shill for rio grande games, today is yet another one of their games: dominion.

a heck of a fun little deck building game, dominion has spawned several expansions, but the basic game is one that i would recommend to any gamer looking for a game that is both tactical and strategic yet quick to play.

the basic concept is that you are a motivated noble looking build the local area into your new kingdom (or dominion, if you will). this is accomplished by building a deck of cards (that represents the entirety of your kingdom). within this kingdom/deck are duchys, provinces, markets, villages, libraries, blacksmiths, and throne rooms, gold, silver, copper coins, et al.

this is all done by playing an action, buying a new card, and finally, cleaning up/discarding any cards in your hand and drawing new ones from your deck. simple as: a-b-c.

The cards are broken down into treasure cards, kingdom cards, and victory cards. the treasure cards are how you purchase other treasure, as well as kingdom cards (which have benefits all their own), and victory cards (which only give you vp at the end of the game).

to win dominion, you have to balance the acquisition of currency against the construction of helpful kingdom cards, and the purchase of victory cards. too many of any one type will reduce how effectively you can build.

dominion is one of those games that pretty much everyone that has ever played it, is willing and happy to play it again. and since a single game can be played in about 30 minutes (45 if there are new players), several games can be played in a get together.

in our first game, i was the winner, but during the second game where we substituted the militia cards with the witch and added in curses and gardens, jacob was the winner. just look at him. it's obvious. he's a witch!

thanks to jeff, jacob, and adam for helping out with 30 games in 30 days, yet again! and congrats to jacob on winning dominion!

next up is the game that kicked puerto rico out of boardgamegeek's #1 spot: agricola. this one will be played at chicagoland games (wednesday night is their board game night). hope to see you there!

escaping the factory...

2011-04-05T10:45:00.000-07:00

yesterday was scheduled to be rio grande games factory manager, but unfortunately i felt that between a long day of work followed by that sport of the gods (why, yes, i am referring to bowling!), i knew that starting factory manager around 10 pm would mean another long haul night of games...

...not that there's anything wrong with that. but after gaming late every night all last weekend, i opted for something lighter and easier:

cartagena? yeah, that'll do.

the game takes it's inspiration from the 1672 jailbreak of pirates from the prison-fortress in cartagena, colombia. the game uses cards to move pirate meeples through a passage from the prison to a sloop waiting to set sail. the players objective is be the first to move all six meeples to the sloop.

playing this time are ed, sarah, and i!

since the battery on my camera died, i had to rely upon the cell for pics. i know the quality is "meh", but that really is ed's face!

the rules are pretty simple. use the cards in your hand to move your pirate meeples to the next open space matching the symbol on the card (bottle of rum, cutlass, tricorn, jolly roger, jail keys, and flintlock pistol). if the closest symbol has a pirate on it, you can leapfrog the symbol and place yours on the next open one.

to get more cards, you can fall back to the last occupied symbol. if there is one pirate there, you get to draw one new card. if there are two pirates there, you get to draw two cards! a symbol can never hold more than three pirates. each turn every player gets to take three actions to move their pirates or collect new cards.

smart cookies that they are, both ed and sarah picked up on the rules quickly.

but in the end, they were just a bit short as i moved the last three of my pirate meeples into the sloop in one go, but they did have some constructive criticism about my playing style:

of course that could have been the pabst talking...

today's game? dominion.

moving ever more rapidly into the future...

2011-04-04T00:34:00.000-07:00

no plan ever survives contact intact...

2011-04-03T21:39:00.000-07:00

it's a mantra pretty much anyone that has ever served in any armed force knows, and it's particularly relevant here.

today's game was scheduled to be rio grande games' race for the galaxy. unfortunately, we had five players and race only plays four. so we decided to try out gmt games' dominant species.

if only we knew what we were in for at this point...

set 92,000 years ago, you control one of six different species evolving and trying to survive the rapidly approaching ice age.

boardgamegeek and the game itself claim that this one will take 180 minutes to play. this is best case scenario where everyone knows the rules and how the many actions you can take interact. when there are new learners (like me and pat j.), this game takes about five to six hours to play.

the initial set up is pretty straightforward as you can see in this pic:

but when you add the following actions:

and the fact that each player has four action points to spend among them, the board quickly gets to looking like this:

inevitably the object of the game is to collect the most victory points by becoming the dominant species in as many terrain types (sea, wetland, savannah, forest, jungle, desert, mountain, and due to the coming ice age: tundra) as possible all while fending off other species.

because of the dynamic action selection each turn, and the fact that every action has serious repercussions and impacts on the board layout, long-term planning is nearly impossible. hence the reference to "no plan ever survives contact intact".

this game rewards the player who can quickly change their mindset and adapt to a constantly evolving environment and circumstances. in other words, don't play this game if you suffer from "analysis paralysis" because someone will cut you.

here we are again, early in the game. notice the happy smiles and the light streaming through the windows...

yet another early game pic. see those pegs on the action panel? that's why both travis and pat look so serious...

and finally:

notice the dark windows and the super serious expressions? this $#!t is getting real! of course this is about 4 1/2 hours in and after travis dropped a cataclysmic catastrophe on the board and pretty much wiped out most of my species.

needless-to-say, i was not amused, but in all fairness, the name of the game is "dominant species" not "let's get together and sing kumbaya species".

all things considered, it's a fun game, that needs just a slight tweak or two to the play and the game-end criteria to help it to play faster, yet retain the need for flexible planning.

in the end it was travis who won the game, but at a much smaller margin than expected.

thanks to alan, dave, pat, and travis (who wanted me to call him "bubba" in this post) for helping out with "30 games in 30 days"!

tomorrow's game is scheduled to be rio grande games' factory manager, but due to the complexity and time requirement, there may be a substitution...

stay tuned.

all images property of little mens.

my cryx at adepticon 2011

2011-04-03T12:29:00.000-07:00

jumped out to lombard this weekend for adepticon 2011. got to see lots of old familiar faces from the gw days and reminisce. keep an eye out here for some ideas for adepticon 2012!

had a chance to set my cryx models up on one of privateer press' sweet tables and take some pics (thanks felix!). here they are in all their undead steampunk glory!

cryx 'jacks under the control of the war witch deneghra

deneghra, a reaper helljack, and some bile thralls

a cryx necrosurgeon and one of her stitch thralls supporting a unit of mechanithralls

bile thralls shambling forward to spew their caustic spray on the enemy.

bonejacks ranging in front of advancing helljacks. black iron and burning necrotite death comes for the enemy!

the necrosurgeon looks on, ready to remake any of the destroyed mechanithralls.

mechanithralls pouring from a defensible position, their steam-powered fists ready to crush limbs and rend 'jacks!

dark and deadly bane thralls advance up the flank.

no ticket

2011-04-03T09:54:00.000-07:00

actually, i'm lucky in that i do have a ticket... a ticket to ride that is!

ticket to ride is a quick to learn card management game where your hand of cards help you build train routes across all of north america. the challenge comes in that taking time to build a better collection of cards to claim routes gives your opponents the opportunity to claim the very route you want!

playing this one with me was adam, dave, jacob, and jeff. we got a bit of a late start due to a wedding i couldn't miss (congrats mike and mikey!) but wound up rollicking along pretty quickly. unfortunately, that meant that i couldn't post this until the next day (as we wound up playing games from 9:30pm until about 3 in the morning!). so there should be two posts for 03 april!

here we are after the first few rounds. dave (red), jeff (blue), and adam (black) have started working the middle american routes, while jacob and i watch...

this is early in the middle game. i'm still not on the map very much (i'm playing yellow), but notice that dave and jeff have started battling for the midwest, adam is working a midwest north/south route and claiming a nice long route from sault st. marie to montreal. meanwhile, jacob (green) has started an unopposed run up the west coast.

here are jeff and jacob looking so serious as they consider their next few moves...

...and here is dave mugging for the camera looking like he's caught a face full of cinders and dirty steam from a smokestack!

here's the end of the game. it was a close run thing thing up until the end, with most everyone thinking they had a victory, but it was my last two routes (duluth to toronto and charleston to miami) and the fact that I had all of my destination tickets completed that put me over the top for the win and the longest route.

all-in-all, it was a great game, and fun was had by all. the general consensus is that ticket to ride is a great, lighthearted game that is easy to learn, challenging to play, and just cutthroat enough.

next game up is rio grande games' race for the galaxy, a card game that chronicles your efforts as one of earth's colonies to settle the galaxy and build your galactic empire!

indiana jones and the last crusade is property of paramount pictures. ticket to ride is property of days of wonder. all other images are mine!

this may the most foolish idea I’ve had in a while…

2011-04-01T22:24:00.000-07:00

kicking off the first ever “little mens 30 games in 30 days” event is rio grande games' power grid. one of friedmann friese’s most popular games, power grid allows the player to enter the exciting world of power generation!

yep, that’s right. you get to be the electric company. trust me it's a lot more exciting than it sounds, and it's also funny to see how fast your friends become profit driven corporate power mongers...

at the heart of the game, you balance resources (your power grid, power plants, fuels, and cash) better than your opponents all while trying to provide service to a growing area on the map.

for this game we used the benelux (belgium, netherlands, and luxemburg) map.

one thing i find refreshing about power grid is that one person taking the lead early in the game doesn’t automatically translate into victory at the end, and actually being in the last place can provide some pretty good advantages.

here is jeff making sure his corporate profits dwarf those of exxon, while abi looks a little concerned about her early map position.

thanks to jacob, jeff, and abi dubs for helping me out with kicking off “30 games in 30 days”! you guys rock! and congrats to jacob for winning the first game played!

tomorrow's game will be day's of wonder's ticket to ride, played in the evening at my place!

all images are mine save for that first one of the box cover, that's property of rio grande game.

who's the biggest fool of all?

2011-03-29T10:59:00.000-07:00

that might just be me. in order to push myself to post more, and to include some of my favorite board games, i've decided to document my descent into madness, aka "30 games in 30 days"

starting on 01 april, i will play a different boardgame everyday and post the evidence here for the world to see! the schedule for the imminent insanity is below:

01 april: power grid
02 april: ticket to ride
03 april: race for the galaxy
04 april: factory manager
05 april: dominion
06 april: agricola
07 april: beowulf: the movie board game
08 april: the settlers of cataan
09 april: cold war: cia versus kgb
10 april: albion
11 april: roborally
12 april: alhambra
13 april: fearsome floors
14 april: chaos in the old world
15 april: beowulf: the legend
16 april: red november
17 april: carcassone
18 april: puerto rico
19 april: cartagena
20 april: pirate's cove
21 april: chinatown
22 april: pandemic
23 april: citadels
24 april: mystery of the abbey
25 april: colosseum
26 april: memoir '44
27 april: space hulk: death angel
28 april: clue
29 april: mansions of madness
30 april: tigris & euphrates

as i post the results daily, i'll also go ahead and include where the next game will be played (my apartment, black sun games, northside chicago game night, etc.) if you want to be a part of the madness feel free to show up!

electralux in the 41st millennium?

2011-01-19T12:45:00.000-08:00

the advance orders for the blood angel stormraven gunship went live today.

as far as i'm concerned the jury is still out on this one. personally, i think it looks like someone added wings to a vacuum cleaner, but blocky is the style for space marines.

regardless, gw is getting really good at these second wave releases.

now if only they could perfect their pricing...

+edit/update+

thanks to xenite for his link to this image:

which correctly identifies the aerodynamic inspiration for pretty much all space marine vehicles. of course, any suitably inebriated rocket scientist will inform you that even a brick will fly provided you strap enough engines to it...

all images property of games workshop except for that last one which is all xenite, baby!

take a moment...

2010-11-11T08:54:00.000-08:00

...and thank a veteran for their service today.

i'd say "just like a rat"...

2010-11-03T13:08:00.000-07:00

...only the ship's not sinking.

i am, however, jumping ship. i've been a little bored with the stuff i've been working on for games workshop for a while now. that doesn't mean that i won't pick it back up later, but right now i've got to do something new.

so i've decided to build a force for privateer press' warmachine.

even though bad guy (insert air quotes) armies don't usually appeal to me, i picked up the new plastic cryx battlegroup,

one of the new plastic helljacks,

and the rulebook.

i've already got the battlegroup painted and ready to play. and i'm going to make a vow with this game:

"i do solemnly affirm that i will not purchase more warmachine products until i have what i currently own fully painted and have played at least 5 games."

here are pics of my cryx battlegroup thus far:

the battlegroup cleaned and assembled:

here is the warwitch deneghra and a couple of deathripper bonejacks:

here are the reaper and slayer helljacks. i did a bit of extra work to the brass "hood" around the head to give each a bit of a different appearance:

the funny thing is that i was able to pump these out pretty quickly, but it's not like the paint scheme is too difficult.

keep an eye out here for future warmachine updates!

is that a space hulk in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?

2010-08-13T05:27:00.000-07:00

i didn't go to gencon. everyone of my friends rave about how awesome it was. it's kinda annoying really, but i'll probably wind up going next year. even though all the footage online show huge lines of fat bastards wheezing over copies of games that no one else can buy yet.

and i can only image the magnitude of gamer funk and steampunk costume desperation...

but one good thing did come of it. i had a friend (thanks mike!) pick up a copy of fantasy flight games' death angel.

the game is a cooperative endeavor for 1 to 6 players, who take on the role of imperial space marines tasked with clearing a xenos infestation from the space hulk sin of damnation.

folks familiar with the games workshop property that inspired this little silverline game will know all about marines versus genestealers (or 'stealers). for the rest of you, imagine this: space men fight nasty aliens in a derelict ship. sold yet? you should be.

i tried two solo games today, and i have to admit it's a helluva challenge and a lot of fun!

here are my thoughts broken down:

pros:

small and portable like the rest of the silverline. great quality in the printing of the cards and all components. as usual.
nice length of game (about an hour to play)
gets the environment of space hulk right. great atmosphere, art, and very tense gameplay. unlike the board game, the card game has location cards that are marked to illustrate areas where 'stealers are more likely to appear than others, but this doesn't reduce the amount of tension, and as you start to lose marines, it really does become harder and harder to manage your fire lanes and kill the 'stealers before they eat your face.
simple gameplay that is pretty straightforward and easy once you learn the way the cards work.
a nice cooperative mechanic that allows for a variety of choices for actions that are resolved in a particular order. fail to be a good team member, and you could be killing not only yourself, but the rest of the squad as well.
nice variety between the various marines allowing a team that is good at shooting and close combat.

cons:

the rules booklet. the layout is awkward and requires some flipping back and forth in the booklet to get a grip on the way the various cards work within the rule system.
would like to have either a small zip top bag or tuck box for the components included.
would like the marines have more than a 50% chance of killing something when attacking. imperial space marines are genetically engineered killing machines. i would probably suggest having the kill pip (a skull) on 4 of the 6 faces (taking it to 66%) of the die. to compensate for this the blip piles could contain more 'stealers and each location could "spawn" an additional 'stealer during the event phase.

overall, it's a lot of fun, and definitely worth your hard earned gaming dollar!

"in the quiet words of the virgin mary... come again?"

2010-07-20T19:06:00.000-07:00

when someone told me the cost of the new warhammer fantasy eighth edition rulebook, my first reaction was the quote above.

my next reaction was that $74.25 must be the cost for the uber-cool collectors edition. eventually i realized that games workshop truly intended to sell it's basic warhammer rulebook for $75.

i felt that if gw were going to attempt to separate me from my hard earned cash, it would only be fair if i blogged about the event and what i thought about it.

so here are my initial thoughts: heavy (literally and figuratively), nice quality (amazing color throughout and great paper), monolithic, good rule updates, and speeds up the game.

i read through the rules and gained an appreciation for the changes throughout, but the question “is this worth $75?" remained.

as a conscientious consumer and hobbyist, i have to consider my budget; especially in this economy.

to be fair, contemplating the worth of games workshop products can be a effort in futility. after all, the company seems to price its product according to the unit’s worth in the game as opposed to the actual cost of the product produced.

is there any other way to explain how a 10 model bestigor herd ($41.25 and 92 pieces in the box)...

...costs 60% more than a 10 model gor herd ($24.75 and 74 pieces in the box)?

need more evidence? fine. the bestigor box costs 60% more than the 10 model ungor herd that costs $24.75 and contains 98 pieces.

some readers may feel the compunction to defend gw’s pricing practices and this is your right. i've heard it all. it's a luxury hobby, i can play other games, i don't have to play with the new rules, etc.

but before you blindly and blithely ride to the defense of gw's pricing consider the following:

the typical vendor discount on gw product is about 40% of the retail price; meaning that you pay $74.25 (plus tax) for the rulebook while your friendly local game store pays about $45. this pricing structure is one that gw has had in place for a long time, and ensures that the company can realize a profit while selling the rulebook at $45 each.

food for thought.

the other problem i have with the rulebook is that out of the 512 pages i only need about 150 of them. meaning that i'd be using only about $23 of my rulebook's worth

so i’ve come to the conclusion that the warhammer fantasy rulebook is not worth $75. you’ll be better served by shopping the internet and finding a better deal for it.

all images property of games workshop

warlord games is such a tease

2010-07-19T11:21:00.000-07:00

not content with teasing us with some great images of the 3-ups of their late war german infantry sculpts, warlord games has released an image of the body sprue for the set:

that combined with this earlier image:

gives us an opportunity to drool over the various combinations available!

"protection from what? zee germans? - snatch

2010-07-12T12:49:00.000-07:00

for those of you not in the know, warlord games has released some sneak peeks of their new their new line of german troops in 28mm. and boy are they hot! check ‘em out below:

to be completely fair, these are “3 ups” of the sculpts, but there’s some sexy detail on ‘em!

not content with putting out some great looking jerry models, they’re also releasing a 28mm scale tiger i.

and michael wittman too!

i love the zimmerit on wittman's tank. a nice western europe olive green and brown camo scheme with 212 in red and white on the turrent and this bad boy's ready to deal some damage at villers-bocage!

update!

for those of you salivating like hungry dogs, you can order your tigers online here. it looks like only wittman's is available for order now, but for only £22 it's a steal. additionally, warlord games is currently running a special on free shipping during the month of july.

and if running only tigers isn't your thing, warlord games also has some panzer iv models for you. armor up bitches!

now just to order some of these tanks, bitz 'em up with some gw gribblies (like stuff from here, here, and here) to make 'em all imperial and this shock troop deal, well, that'd be on helluva cool lookin' 40k imperial guard army...

all images property of and courtesy of warlord games.

shock troopers mount up!

2010-07-09T12:25:00.000-07:00

for those of you who have been eagerly awaiting the arrival of these guys:

your wait is almost over. wargames factory has announced that their new shock trooper models are in the process of being boxed up over this weekend and will be shipped on monday to fulfill their preorders.

additionally, the previously unreleased armored and unarmored saxons are shipping immediately!

now you can have those viking and saxon raids you've been dreaming about!

all images property of wargames factory

happy fourth of july!

2010-07-04T07:31:00.000-07:00

here's hoping that your holiday is safe and fun from us here at "little mens"!

Furioso Update

2010-06-10T19:36:00.000-07:00

been doing some painting on the furioso dreadnoughts. as you can see i got the second one built, and most of the effort has been in priming and washing with some basecoating and blockcoloring.

i used the army painter red spray primer to start with, and after achieving a nice even coat, i let it dry and cure for about 24 to 36 hours. after that i applied a 50/50 wash of games workshop's badab black and devlan mud.

once the wash was dry i began working the red with vallejo's blood red. the metal is a base of vallejo's tinny tin. the front armor plates and the legs are tinny tin with a thinner than usual coat of gunmetal over it (i like the depth that thin layers of metallics create). the blood talons are mordian blue.

more work forthcoming soon! please feel free to comment and if you've got questions, i've got answers.

the great storm wardens collaborative army build and charity drawing

2010-06-01T07:36:00.000-07:00

over on his blog (dave taylor miniatures), dave taylor and several great hobbyists across our nation are hosting a charity event that deserves your attention and help: the great storm wardens collaborative army build and charity drawing

dave and a collection of other great hobbyists and several retail organizations are working together to support medecins sans frontieres/doctors without borders.

for a simple donation of a $1, you will be entered into a drawing to win a space marine army painted in the livery of the storm wardens, a new space marine chapter created by fantasy flight games for their new rpg: deathwatch.

donations can be made via paypal linked on the event page.

little green army men

2010-05-26T09:49:00.000-07:00

nope. not these guys...

these guys:

a lot of folks that know miniature wargames immediately think of historical wargaming like flames of war or warhammer ancient battles, or even sci-fi and fantasy wargaming like warmachine, warhammer, and warhammer 40,000.

some think of games like heroclix, star wars miniatures, or monsterpocalypse.

some may even consider the use of miniatures during d&d and role playing games as a form of miniature wargaming.

and personally, as long as you're playing a game and having fun, i'm all for it.

but today, i'm going to chat about one of my favorite historical miniature wargames: memoir '44.

for those not familiar with the it, memoir '44 is produced by days of wonder and they describe it as a...

"unique historical game where players command a horde of little plastic Army men facing-off in dozens of ww2 battles on an oversize hex game board.

each battle scenario mimics the historical terrain, troop placements and objectives of each army. deploying forces through a variety of command cards, the smart commander uses the unique skills of his units - infantry, paratroopers, tanks, artillery, commandos and resistance fighters - to its greatest strength."

one of the major reasons i really enjoy playing memoir '44 is that i can buy the basic box game and be playing within 15 minutes of getting it home. i don't have to have dozens of different troops and rules to play (though there are some pretty sweet expansions like eastern front and the winter/desert board for when you absolutely have to bloody the german warmachine by making them pay for every inch of stalingrad).

another reason i really enjoy the memoir '44 system is that it's flexible enough to allow both tactical and strategic battles.

starting with a small tactical scenario for the taking of pegasus bridge at midnight on 06 june, 1944, the basic rule set includes 16 scenarios recreating ww2 battles from june 1944 to december 1944, including the liberation of sainte mere-eglise, both sword and omaha beach landings, the liberation of paris, arnhem bridge (the "bridge too far"), and even an "overlord" version of omaha beach that is suitably enormous, requiring two memoir '44 sets (good reason for both you and a friend to have a copy). the various expansions include additional terrain and scenarios to play.

all of the scenarios appear to be well-researched and feel accurate to the historic deployment of forces.

since the game system itself is a combination of command cards (to move and affect both your and your opponent's troops), and dice (to resolve combat), it rewards both good command and control of your forces and a bit of daring.

finally, memoir '44 makes me feel like a kid again. i'm playing with little green army men. the only thing missing is firecrackers and the "pew! pew! pew!" sound effects.

okay, i'll admit to making the "pew! pew! pew!" sounds when playing. who doesn't?

so if you like ww2, and you want a quick game that you and a couple of friends can pick up, play several scenarios in an evening, and put away, then consider picking up a copy of memoir '44.

you can purchase memoir '44 at most local games shops (or they should be able to order it for you), or online at days of wonder's online store

american and german plastic army men by louis marx and company. photo by j. corey butler, 2007
memoir '44 board and figures by days of wonder. photo by cliff etters, 2010

furioso dreadnought

2010-05-20T13:20:00.000-07:00

one of the really scary things in the new (2010) blood angel codex is the furioso dreadnought. so i've decided to add two of them to the force. here are some early assembly snapshots of the first of them...

as you can see, i've added a lot of extra bitz and gubbins to the new venerable dreadnought chassis. i've always felt that a marine's armor should be a shrine to himself and his chapter. i can see a dreadnought being a shrine to the chapter and the imperium.

the piece i like best is the set of blood talons that i picked up from paulson games. well cast, easy to clean, and nicely detailed, they are a breeze to fit onto the model.

i'll add more content as i continue to progress on this dreadnought and the other.

space hulk expansion

2010-05-20T07:47:00.000-07:00

not really an expansion to the games workshop boxed game, but fantasy flight games has just released a teaser page for it's newest release in the silverline series of games: death angel.

a card-based, co-operative game for 1-6 players, it allows you to take command of a team of superhuman space marines fighting the terrifying genestealers aboard one of the most dangerous environments in the warhammer 40,000 universe: a space hulk.

scheduled for release this summer, death angel will retail for $24.95.

now you can purge the xenos during your lunch hour.

image source: fantasy flight games

a brand new day?

2010-05-20T06:58:00.001-07:00

really? that's all i could come up with?

what makes this a brand new day? is it new and improved? probably not.

is something great going to happen? i'm sure for someone the answer to that question is "yes!".

unfortunately, i'm just as sure that for someone else today is going to suck like an electrolux.

so here's the extent of my promise. i'm going to try to entertain, inform, and for the other toy soldier fans out there: inspire.

though you're probably better served jumping over to dave taylor's blog or little green monsters if you're truly seeking inspiration.

nope. i'm going to try to share the stuff that i've learned from over 2 decades of mucking about with plastic and funny smelling glue.

some of the techniques may be old hat to you.

some of them might be something you can use for your models.

some of them might make you wonder if i've been sitting too close to that aforementioned "funny smelling glue".

along the way i'm going to introduce you to some friends and their little mens, and we're going to try to have some fun as well.

this is the little mens' manifesto.