4 Problems Every Village Suffers

Behind the Screen

BRAIN POWERZ!! PEW PEW!

As always, I've been working on a campaign for some friends to play in whenever I make it back to town to visit. Naturally, as I usually only am in tow for a few days, I have to make sure my games are resolved in a single night, since most players can't remember what happened in the previous game from 2 months back. This line of reasoning lead me to a concept that I want to share with you all:

4 Problems every Village Suffers

The concept is simple really. No matter where your players go in your gaming world, there are always four things that go wrong that the players can fix. Whether a tiny hamlet deep in the woods of a forgotten wilderness, or in some monolithic megacity in the far future, These concepts will always work. They are:

1. The Pest Problem
2. Strong Arm Tactics
3. The Quest
4. The Monster

How does this work? (Thanks for asking Mr.Strawman!)
Allow me to explain.

Armies Ala Bean: Chaos

Armies Ala Bean

Hi All, and welcome back to Armies ala Bean. This week I want to give you a taste of things to come, AKA the army I'm currently building for 40k 6th edition. This time out I'm working on a Death Guard list ably supported by the awesomeness that is Cypher and his Fallen Angels. Those guys really like to get around!
Anyways, on to the list!

My 10 Rules

Behind the Screen

I've had people ask me, more than a few times, just what rules I employ at the table while GMing/Refereeing games. The above is the card I and out to each player when I am elected to run games. Yes it contains strong language. Yes I know that's off-putting to some.
But seriously, Cowboy up and grow a pair. If you don't like it, then
A: What are you doing on the internet, land of trolls, porn and foul language, and
B: Don't click the image.

Honestly I run a pretty tight ship when I'm refereeing a game. You have to, otherwise things just don't get done. While I wouldn't say I'm draconian about my rules, hell, I tend to break rule 9 more than my players, I am pretty harsh about some of them. I've even thrown my brother out of game(s!) that he has hosted at his house. It happens.
I expect a comment from him in the c&c area below once he reads this ;)

Anyways, Those are my rules...
What are yours?

Until next time,
PUT THAT AWAY!!!
Bean out~

Liquid Green Stuff: Pretty decent?

Review

So A little while back I picked up a bottle of GW's liquid greenstuff. They're magic "solves all finecast issues" solution. While I personally know nothing about that, as I have yet to purchase anything in finecast (I have many, Many, MANY metal models to get through before I purchase anything in finecast), I have found it has a few uses that I've been struggling to deal with for ages now.

Universe 25

Saturday Potpourri

Mortality, bodily death = the second deathDrastic reduction of mortality= death of the second death= death squared= (death)²(Death)² leads to dissolution of social organization= death of the establishmentDeath of the establishment leads to spiritual death= loss of capacity to engage in behaviors essential to species survival= the first deathTherefore:(Death)² = the first death

What does this all mean? Universe 25 Is the concept that Utopia is impossible as, without outside interference, our society would loose interest in itself and fall apart. With everything provided for us, the perfect society would stagnate and, within a number of generations, dissolve into barbarity and terminal disinterest. Universe 25 is a concept about over crowding written by John B. Calhoun, and is a very interesting, if terrifying concept.

Give it a read...

If you're anything like myself, you'll find your mind consumed with the concept and want to force players into this terrifying reality via the medium of roleplaying. Who needs alien masterminds, or Arch-Liches, when you can let humanity itself be the enemy in your game.

Very very interesting stuff.

Fallen Angel

Thursday Theories

Cypher, Fallen angel. A legend throughout the Imperium as both a harbinger of chaos... and bringer of change. Every time Cypher shows up, major changes happen wherever he is, and despite the turmoil, the Imperium always comes out stronger than it was before. The Nietzsche of 40k.

Plus he's a dual wielding Space-cowboy badass.

With that all said, I found i have 3 Cypher bodies and no arms or backpacks... Most likely from the bitz grab-bags they sed to sell at the Canadian Games day (I also have about 30 blast-masters... ). So I've decided to make my own version, along with a Squad of 6 Fallen Angels to help him out. I'll be using them as Chosen in my Chaos army.

Base Instincts

Tutorials Tuesday

I've been asked by a friend to show off how I go about basing my models. There are naturally a few ways of doing this, but I'll outline my favorite (which is also the easiest) below.

What you'll need:
However many bases you intend to prepare.
Tape
White Glue. Elmers or whatever grade regular school glue you want. (I use GW because I have lots of it left over from my GW days, and it seems to break down really well in water.)
Sand, ballast or whatever you want to use to texture your bases (I use a few different grades of ballast: Fine, regular and large. This provides nice variation in size and texture but also guarantees total coverage)
Water
An old Paint brush
various random bitz from the bits box (below I've used some sprue chopped up into bricks, some skulls and some army painter razor wire)

I remember a time...

Saturday Potpourri

We all start our Hobby journey in different ways. Some with the old "Box" games, some via video games, some via movies, and even others via just walking into a store, seeing something cool and buying it.
Along our journey we all have our firsts. The first time we open a rulebook, the first time we build a model... The first time we paint a model. Well folks, I've been going through my extensive collection of stuff and came across an old gem. Or rather 5 of them.
The first Marine squad I ever built. These models came in a 5 man boxed set and my dad picked them up alongside the first paint set I ever got, as a way of introducing me into the hobby. Some day when I fully unpack, I'll find my first painted model (A one-piece Chaos Warrior from said paint set), but until then...
GAZE UPON THEIR VISAGE AND KNOW DISPAIR!

Yes, it seems even back then, in the heady days of 1991, I was attracted to the more Chaosy side of things and painted the models up as Legion of the Damned. Because if a Marine is hardcore, a Marine ON FIRE is much more so!

Anyone else have some of their old models they want to show off/humiliate themselves with?
Leave comments below.

Until next time,
use the side of your brush, not the tip (Just the tip..)
Bean out~

The Perfect Party

Thursday Theories

Being at my core, a Wargamer, I tend to build and paint models for all of my Roleplaying games. Whether it's CyberPunk, Rifts, Mutant Chronicles, or most usually, Dungeons and Dragons. Naturally, I have built, converted and painted dozens of models for my characters as well as for others in my various gaming groups. Beloved characters have come and gone, with literally hundreds of lesser cared for characters sacrificed to the dice gods... or the waste-bin.
Within the last year, gaming of all types has become a limited and precious resource, though I have found myself with a dearth of spare painting time and as such I've been working on various projects...
Or rather I should say, I've been flittering about between projects like a meth-addicted hobby butterfly.
AAAAANYways, one of these projects is something I've been thinking about for quite some time. The concept of "The Perfect D&D Party".

Horus Heresy: Betrayal a light review

Review

I'm baaaaack!

Happy days! I got my filthy little pig-hands on a copy of that most rare of tomes... The Horus Heresy: Betrayal book.
It is truly a gorgeous book.
Worth $117 CAD?
No.
I say this with a caveat, however. For the moderately hardcore and/or fluff-lord gamers, this book is a gold mine and worth every penny. I regret NOTHING about my expenditure on this book. It's beautiful. It's well laid out. The full colour illustrations and art we're started to get used to in the Imperial Armour books has been brought to a new level in this masterpiece. BUT... The leather cover, the embossed edging, the EFFORT put into this book... is lost on, what is supposed to be, a gaming book. This book is meant to be dumped in a bag, dragged out all the time to show your friends, to be leafed through by grubby, cheeto-sodden fingers... And anyone who owns this beautiful book, will have a shit-fit if it gets dusty, let alone carting it around for gaming purposes. This books lovely finish is a detriment to its use, and I for one will be mortified the moment someone mistreats it.
Which we all know will happen as soon as we let some unworthy's hands sully its filigreed pages.

Personally, I believe Forge World needs to release this book as a standard hardcover at it's usual price range ($65-$75 CAD). This would open the book up to more people (the price right now is mind bogglingly huge... akin to university textbooks) and is a real buy-stopper for newbies and veterans alike. It's aimed purely at the hardcore crowd, which, while I can understand the  selling power of exclusivity, is a loss to overall sales for the company. Plus, as we all know, the same people who bought this super deluxe edition, will buy a gaming copy as well.

GIVE ME A STANDARD HARDCOVER TO TAKE WITH ME WHILE GAMING.

/Rant
With that all said, I'll get on to the actual review.