Desert of Zin

Fantasy Flight Games, makers of many fine games (including the Call of Cthulhu Card Game and the Arkham Horror boardgame), have been milking their Games Workshop licence in the years since they got it.  And all power to them, their standard of quality across all the games they produce seems to be consistantly high.

Well, they’ve been churning out a number of role-playing games on the licence (Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, Dark Heresy and Rogue Trader) and the next one to join the collection is Deathwatch, where you play a member of the secretive Space Marine chapter of the same name.

I haven’t played any of the other games in the series, although I have been seriously tempted, but the release of this particular game might be the push I need to get a copy and fire up a game.  I’ve been itching to get back into role-playing, time permitting, and I think that this might make a good evenings entertainment.

Bell of Lost Souls have a quick review and a video overview of the book.

And there’s a fancy collectors edition…  Not that I’ll buy it, but just head over to the FFG site to check it out.  It sure is pretty…

- Alistair

The five man squad of Grey Knights, mentioned here, have been finished only to be replaced with another five.  The Inquisitor and the Chimera have been joined by a Space Marine Sergeant (possibly painted in White Scars colours), a Grey Knight Terminator with Incinerator and a single Plaguebearer of Nurgle.

Oh, and 33 night goblins… 

Still on a look out for a camera that’s decent enough to capture detail.

- Alistair

Ages ago (October last year, I think) I wandered in to the Games Workshop in Glasgow and (because I am an unrepentant geek) I bought a single Grey Knight Space Marine Terminator with the idea that it would be fun to paint.

To explain, when in my teens I had extensively played Warhammer 40K (an Eldar army and a Genestealer Cult, but not at the same time), enjoyed Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay and dabbled in Warhammer Fantasy Battle (with my impressively unpainted Skaven army).

Recently I’ve been getting back into my gaming in a serious way with semi-regular Call of Cthulhu games with Guy Incognito and Charming Manipulator. Before that I spent some time playing Magic: The Gathering, Star Wars (very possibly the greatest Customisable Card Game ever produced) and Call of Cthulhu (the card game, not the role-playing game).

All good fun, but it’s just not table-top. Table-top gaming is just sooooooooooooooo much more fun. And it’s not just the playing of the game. It’s the choosing/painting/customising of the models that’s all part of it. And other forms of gaming just don’t compare.

Hey what can I say, I’m a geek…

I want to Static yesterday afternoon to pick up a few boosters for Call of Cthulhu and picked up a new RPG for the games I’m intending to run.

The final decision was between A/State, Children Of The Sun and Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay. Preferably I would have went for A/State but it wasn’t in and Warhammer was my third choice, so CotS won through.

Last night I had a flick through the book and it seems different enough to give the players a more unique experience than they may be used to. It also helps that no-one else is familiar with the game or setting so we’re all starting on the same level.

A/State and WFR will be picked up at some point but I’m wanting to see how successful the first game or two of Children is before subjecting the group to anything else.

With any luck in the next few week I should have the start of a new gaming group.

Recently I’ve had it in mind to dust off some old role-playing books and gather some like minded citizens to have a few games of whatever to help while away an evening.

Booze and snacks would help as well.

So I’ve got some vague ideas regarding what to run:

• Call of Cthulhu – A quality horror game in the “creeping evil” vein which can be set in the 1920′s or present day.
• Mechwarrior – Set in the Battletech universe. The system is good but the character generation is over-complicated.
• Delta Green – A Call of Cthulhu based setting in the present day. It involves U.S. Government conspiracies and Mythos-related investigations.
• Elric – Based on the Elric stories by Michael Moorcock. Doom laden fantasy.
• Children of the Sun – A dieselpunk game. Apparently bridging the gap between steampunk and cyberpunk. I don’t have this yet but I’m tempted to pick a copy up. Unfortunatly the company producing this are no more so getting a copy might be difficult but I’m sure Static Games have a copy.
• Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay – Given the choice between AD&D and Warhammer, I’d pick Warhammer every time. It’s considerably darker than most fantasy games. A strong possibility.

I think I have enough potential players for two separate (and comfortably small) groups but if anyone wants a game then send your requests to the usual address. (Which I’ve just realised is no-longer on the site. Must fix that…)