DrakenFyre's Blog

You know what the worst obstacle to gaming is? Work. So now that work is starting to slow down a bit for me I decided it was time to start posting some of the stuff I’ve been thinking about since I last posted, which up until last week was also the last time I did any gaming.

First up, Crypto. I am fascinated by cryptography and have for some time now been looking for a way to integrate it into a roleplaying campaign. The biggest problem with the way cryptography is traditionally handled in gaming is that it’s glossed over with a few dice rolls, after which the character either understands the message right, understands it wrong, or has no idea what it means. What if you want have your players more involved in deciphering the message. Well you could give them the sheet of cipher-text and hope they know some cryptanalysis techniques, or you could give them a Ceaser cipher and watch them break it with ease (especially if they have computers with them), but neither of those have any relation to the character’s actual skill in cryptography so you’ve removed all incentive for players to spend anything getting or upgrading those skills.

What we really need is some sort of system that is based on the characters’ skill but still has some involvement of the players solving the puzzle, and since I’m posting this I’ve obviously got a suggestion for use which I’m calling Cryto Cards.

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It’s been a while since I’ve done any gaming so I decided this weekend to play a solo battle of Future War Commander (FWC). Two of the great things about FWC are that you can play against yourself and each side has just as good a chance of winning even though they know what the enemy is doing, and that you can match up armies that would have no chance of ever meeting in any other system. So for this battle the combatants are:

Mark VI OGRE "Agamemnon"

As the attacker, an OGRE Mark VI from Steve Jackson games, which has been christened “Agamemnon” for this it’s debut battle. Defending against it are a tank company in 3 squads, a mechanized infantry force and an anti-tank gun battery of Imperial Guard from Games Workshop.

The brave Imperial Guard defenders

The scenario being played is a Hit and Run, with the OGRE trying to do as much damage to the defenders and then flee the battle field if possible. The battle is limited to 8 turns and the Guard may only deploy a portion of their force until they have detected or been fired upon by the OGRE. (continue reading…)

I’ve been looking at getting into VSF war-gaming for a couple years now but it wasn’t until earlier this year that I found a system that interested me. Actually it was two systems, Aeronef and Land Ironclads from Wessex Games, which along with the miniatures produced for them by Brigade Models looked like a good combination for was I was looking to play. I waffled back and forth about buying yet another system and more miniatures but I finally decided that trying something other than my usual sci-fi gaming would be a good change. So back at the begining of the summer I went and purchased a starter pack for both systems from Brigade.

I was impressed with what I recivied, to say the least. The rules were clear and consice, and were also simple to play but still gave lots of detail for individual units and lots of openings for tactics. Aeronef is a game of manuvering and broadsides, not the bigger hammer techniques that some sci-fi systems are prone too. The miniatures from Brigade are what impressed me the most. I’ve never had units in such a small scale (1/1200th) but these were simply amazing. The castings were crispy and really detailed, right down to believable portholes and wood decking on the ships, and there was much less trimming and cleaning required on them than I expected. If fact I was so impressed by the miniatures that when Brigade later had a sale on everything they make, I bought more, a lot more, an almost stupid amount more.

It’s taken me a while and I’ve only just now got the last of the Aeronefs assembled, but once I put them together to take pictures of the fleets I realized how truly massive and impressive these forces are.

The mighty British fleet patrols the Channel

The Brits are an impressive fleet with their array of escorts backed up by destroyers and light crusiers. At it’s core is a pair of battlecrusiers and a trio of battleships and the latest in flat-decked carriers.

The German fleet prepares for war

Opposing them are the Germans who will cause the skies to roll with the thunder of their mighty guns. Though they have near as many escorts as the British they lack the mid-sized vessels, but make up for this with heavy battleships and dreadnoughts. They may only have a captured French carrier for fighter support but they make up for it with the heavier triplane fighters.

I do also have merchant convoy for scenario play and a third fleet that will become a very special themed force, but more on them when they are painted. Which is the next step for the German and British fleets, the epic task of painting and basing all of them, maybe I’ll assmble all of my ironclads first though.