My D&D Origin Story

My other passion, beyond wargaming, is roleplaying games. In particular, I have been a D&D player for over 40 years and from the very earliest days I have painted miniatures to accompany my games. If it were not for D&D I probably would never have become a wargamer. So do you have a similar backstory, or was your entry to historical wargaming more 'traditional'?

The Golden Age of Geekdom

Today's video is inspired by a blog post I wrote twelve years ago. It was itself inspired by an earlier article I read in a gaming magazine which asked when was the Golden Age of gaming and if it is different for everyone. I have had several Golden Ages across several genres of geekdom, and I argue, I'm living in one right now.

Return to Ravenloft

Social distancing has meant gamers of all stripes have had to resort to the internet to keep in touch and play games. I've played a couple of wargames games now with the Rejects using Zoom but my hobby activities have extended far beyond just wargaming. For the first time in a very long time, I'm roleplaying again. And not content with one game I'm taking part in two separate campaigns with two groups! 

Last year my eldest daughter (the original Padawan) and her Partner invited my youngest daughter and me to play the Stranger Things themed D&D game. Perry had bought the special edition box set and over the course of three sessions, we played a very enjoyable mini-campaign. I loved it, I hadn't played D&D in years and it was good to get behind a character sheet again. The Young Padawan also really enjoyed it so Perry suggested we get together regularly for a 5th Edition D&D game in the Ravenloft campaign setting. We started using Discord to run the game but quickly switched to Roll20 and this has worked really well. 

Meanwhile, my old school chum, Andrew suggested running a short game with our original D&D group, using Discord as our means of communicating and rolling dice. We are playing the Red Box D&D rules from the 1980's... in fact, I'm using the same books I used for our first ever game over 35 years ago!

Probably the main reason our roleplaying group disbanded was the difficulty in getting everyone together on a regular basis. Our jobs were pulling us all in different directions (literally into different parts of the UK and beyond) and work and family commitments made game nights problematic at best, particularly when you are playing a campaign that needs a certain level of commitment by all the players. The advent of internet tools like Discord and Roll20 has suddenly made some of the problems of geography less of a problem, although work commitments still play havoc with scheduling. I for one hope we can make a go of this new socially distanced campaign because it has been great to see and chat with the guys again after our prolonged break. 

Back to wargaming, the Rejects have played a couple of Zoom enabled games recently and both I and Ray are working on some more so despite restrictions on gatherings still being in place, we have managed to see and chat with each other, and play games, almost as much as we did before. Its a Brave New World...and I think it's going to be around for a while. 

Spelunking and other pursuits

The last couple of weeks have been exceptionally busy for me. I'm still working pretty much full time, only part of which is working from home, so it's been... let's call it 'challenging'! And I've also been very busy on the hobby front. I have been quietly getting on with some figure painting for frostgrave and working on a couple of small terrain projects for my 15mm Normandy setting. One of these is nearly finished and I'll be posting some pictures soon and I'm putting together a tutorial video on my YouTube page for the end of the week, but more on that later.

The Internet has been coming to its own for my hobby at the moment because I've been using it to stay in touch with the Rejects via Zoom enabled 'paint and chat sessions' on a Monday evening. These have been highly enjoyable because when we're playing a normal game we very often don't get a chance to just chat about how things are going. Most post-game conversations tend to drift in the direction of politics and that can get a little heated because we are pretty a diverse group! The P&C sessions mean we have had a chance to catch up with a few of the rejects alumni in the form of Fran, Ian and John so it's been good to see them and catch up, especially in these difficult times when social connections are more important than ever. I hope these painting chat sessions become a regular feature well after social distancing comes to an end because for me they have been a bright point in what has otherwise been a dark period. 

The wonderful and terrible Interweb has also facilitated getting back into some role-playing games for the first time in years. A few months ago my daughter and her partner asked me to join them in a 5th edition Dungeons and Dragons game based on the stranger things TV series. The Young Padawan and I joined Sarah and Perry in this short campaign and we had a great time. So good in fact we decided we would play a regular ongoing game of D&D in the Ravenloft campaign setting. We had a couple of sessions before the shutdown began and have been exploring ways to continue playing despite social isolation. Later today we plan to try the Roll20 site for the first time and It'll be interesting to see how this works.  

I've also been playing Dungeons and Dragons with my old gaming group, some of whose members I went to school with! We decided to play the old red box classic D&D and have been using Discord as a way of keeping in touch rolling dice and seeing each other. It's been a mixed success but that has nothing to do with the game and more to do with technology and bandwidth. My ageing laptop struggled a little bit in the session on Friday and in the end, I opted to play the game via my phone and tablet because they just worked so much better. Everyone is 'winging it' where technology is concerned at the moment, and gamers are no exception.

It's been really good to play with these guys again because the last time we had any sort of regular gaming session was probably 6 or 7 years ago as it became increasingly difficult to get together as members of the group moved away and got jobs in other parts of the country or indeed overseas. One of the group joined the session on Friday from Los Angeles while others dialled in from various locations around London and the Dungeon Master was based in Lincoln. When my technology held up it was very good we were all able to see each other on video and on the other half of the screen we had a text chat session going where we could roll dice and write silly messages to each other (none of us has grown up!). Again this is a session I hope we continue into the future because it's been great fun to see the guys again and overcome the issues we've had in the past with gathering together.

In addition to all this gaming, and as I've mentioned here a couple of times, I've been doing some videos for YouTube. It's been a thoroughly enjoyable experience and I think I'm going to come out of this quarantine situation with a whole new skill-set as a result. Step-by-step I've been learning about presentation skills; talking to camera; scriptwriting and editing; and of course filming. I'm hoping each video is slightly better than the last one and so by the time we get to September I might finally have a product I'm happy with! I really enjoyed doing these videos, although it is very time-consuming. I'm currently working on a tutorial video that probably won't last more than 5 or 6 minutes but has taken up the best part of a day and a half just for the filming and I haven't even got to the editing part yet.

In order to fit in all this stuff, I'm trying to be a little bit more disciplined with my time. As already mentioned I'm still working and that's been taking up a lot of time. Most of my colleagues are furloughed at the moment and until this week I was the only one taking calls. I work for a small charity offering benefits advice to local residents, so you can imagine I have been exceptionally busy with the current set of circumstances that most people find themselves in at the moment. It's rewarding work, but it has been very distressing at times. Combined with the ever-present existential threat of Covid-19 to my family (particularly my Daughter and Brother-in-law who are nurses on the front line), I really need my hobby to get my mind off of negative things.

So in order to fit in as much as possible, I have been scheduling my free time in much the same way as I would schedule my work time. This means that as far as possible I'm going to try to stick to a fixed timetable for publishing both on the blog and for videos on YouTube. I need to allow time for the planning and execution of what I'm working on and I can't make it up as I go along. What I don't want is for the writing of the blog or the production of videos to become a chore or something that interferes with gaming time or paint and chat sessions and all the other things I've been enjoying recently. My aim is to continue posting once or twice a week on the blog depending on whether I have something to talk about, and the YouTube videos will start to be published on a fixed weekly schedule. This means I can do most of the filming I need over the weekend and the editing and new scriptwriting on a Tuesday and Wednesday. I hope to improve the quality of the videos I do, and I don't want to be in a position where I'm rushing to publish something, so planning is key.

I'm still working on a few other projects... like I haven't got enough to do! I have been working on my Zulu wars rules but I've also been given some serious thought about skirmish gaming for world War II. I'm really enjoying What a Tanker, but for a while now I have wanted some rules to include infantry. I've been doing a little bit of reading about what's available right now - and I'm sure most gamers will have their own preferred set of rules and could make their own recommendations  - however, I really like Too fat Lardies stuff and so I've bought a copy of Chain of Command. I think it's a cracking set of rules and I've really enjoyed reading it. I still have some 15mm second world war infantry figures from when I played Flames of War and I don't think it would take much effort to re-base them singly for use with CoC. I'm not in any rush however and I need to give some thought to this before adding it to my ever-growing to-do list!

So as you can see I'm being an exceptionally busy boy. I'm spelunking again after many years away from role-playing. I'm exploring technology to stay in touch with all my friends. I'm playing new games and adding to old collections. And despite the lack of any trade shows my hobby expenditure seems to be as much as ever. But that's a discussion for another day.

Assorted Frostgrave Debris

I have been collecting together all manner of bits and bobs and now have an eclectic collection of 28mm 'fantasy' debris that I can use in my Frostgrave games. Some of this is the stuff that I have made myself; some bits are leftovers from other kits; a few items I bought without any particular use in mind (oohh Shiney! etc); and a few items are freebies given away with other purchases. I decided I needed to have a big clearout of this growing hodgepodge of items and paint them up. No idea how to score them so I'll leave that particular conundrum to the unlucky minion on duty today! 

Bits from Spellcrow 

I bought a few items from Spellcrow late last year and after some issues with Royal Mail I ended up with two sets of stuff. So you'll see there are two ruined building corners in duplicate. They also sent me a few freebies with these parcels, including useful items like the Ladders, and some more eclectic stuff like the Mushroom! I'll find a use for it all one way or another. 

Collapsed Walls

I saw something like this on another website (sorry can't remember where) and decided to make some myself. I can use these around my other buildings to block roads, create cover and provide little elevated positions for line-of-sight. All are made from offcuts of foam as I'm trying not to waste anything that could conceivably be repurposed at a later stage. Incidentally, I have run out of my usual 'frosted' grass tufts so I found some similar shaped tufts, recoloured them and dry brushed the frost on them. They match pretty closely the commercial ones I bought and won't look out of place on the table. 

Reaper Funerary Sculpture

Back at the end of November, I went to Dragonmeet in London with my daughters. This show is primarily aimed at roleplayers but it has always had its fair share of miniatures to buy. I bought myself a new set of dice for roleplaying (one never has enough dice!), and also picked up models and these excellent graveyard sculptures from Reaper. 

It's school half term next week so I'm taking my stressed teacher wife away for a short holiday to the wilds of Sussex. Little does she know I have a list of museums that I want to visit, but I'll broach that subject when we get there! I won't be getting any painting done but I will be spending some time assembling a load of plastic 28mm figures for the latter weeks of the Challenge. Not six millimetre and they are fantasy figures for Frostgrave...Ray's going to love them! 

Ral Partha Sorceress

As previously mentioned I'm going to be playing a lot of Frostgrave with the Padawan this year and have largely been able to repurpose my old Dungeons and Dragons figures for use in this setting. However, she did note that my collection didn't include many (or indeed any) female wizard figures. I did wonder if this was a sad reflection on the nature of figure design in the 80's and 90's (ie lots of chainmail bikini's and little else) but looking back through old magazines I see plenty of female figures that I could have bought. So I guess this 'gap' in my collection says more about me than it does about the availability of figures when I was buying them!

Feeling a little stung by this realisation I decided to see if I could find some suitable female figures online and in particular on eBay (a wonderful source of old mini's) to correct the imbalance. I eventually bought several models, some of which will be featuring later in the challenge. This female sorceress, however, was not only the oldest model in the batch it was also one of the best looking sculpts. The base stamp shows this to be a 1977 Ral Partha figure and when stood next to other '28mm' figures its a perfect example of scale creep over the decades. This magical female is best described as slender, but despite this, there is plenty of detail to be found in the design making it fun to paint.

Given that I plan on using this for Frostgrave, I decided the character needed some additional warm weather clothing and so I added a fur stole across her shoulders. I was going to sculpt this using greenstuff but inexplicably I couldn't find it (must have been lost or misplaced when I moved into my Operations Room). In the end, I used a product I have not used before, Plastic Putty by Vallejo. It's not strictly designed for sculpting but for little details like this, it worked perfectly. I applied a thin layer across the shoulders of the figure and as it dried over the course of half an hour I shaped it with a small brush.

Now if my math is correct this little figure will net me quite a few points. A base 5 for the figure, 30 points for completing the location and a further 20 bonus points because it's a 1970's miniature. I'll leave it's to the umpire to decide if I have also earned the additional ten points for the backstory on how I acquired this figure. So this could net me up to 65 points, and all because my choice of figures from my early days of gaming was a little bit misogynistic! 

Frostgrave - A new (and old) adventure

When I was at Salute I bought several sets of rules including the popular Frostgrave by Joseph A. McCullough (published by Osprey). I bought it because I'm trying to settle the young Padawan down on a set of rules that are easy to play but will also afford her the opportunity to paint miniatures that interest her. Lets face it, starting her painting off on 6mm figures just isn't going to work! We will continue to play other games such as To The Strongest and FOW but I wanted a new game that would give her a 'way in' to the hobby both as a gamer and a painter. She'd already expressed an interest in something with a Fantasy element and Frostgrave fits the bill completely. 

I bought the rules to read with no guarantee that we would use them but I'm quickly coming round to the idea that this will be a good choice for skirmish wargaming with the Padawan. Now that I have had a chance to read the rules thoroughly (and for a change I did, end enjoyed reading it as well) I'm even more convinced this is the right set of rules. They are elegantly simple and don't come with some of the complicated 'baggage' that some systems carry with them. 

My Ral Partha Ice Giant

For a start I have a large collection of suitable fantasy miniatures already. Although I haven't played D&D for years I still have most of my figure collection boxed up, including a lot of terrain, dungeon debris and miscellaneous items such as treasure boxes, tables, carts etc. It won't take much effort to convert my models to fit the Frostgrave setting with a little 'snow and ice' added to bases etc. I also have a wide range of 28mm scale terrain that can be dusted off and put back into service after years in storage.

Another reason these rules work for me (and hopefully also for the Padawan) is that they are suitable for two players on a small table as small as 2'x2'. Our issues with lack of space are well documented and are the main reason I moved into 6mm several years ago. This rule system means I can largely use existing figures on my small pop-up table. The only thing I need to buy is a suitable game mat.

Another good thing about these rules is that they are designed to be 'up scaled' to include more participants on a larger table. I may even be able to convince my old D&D Group to get together again for multi player session of Frostgrave... hell the last time we played D&D we were using 4th edition and the game felt more like a skirmish wargame than a role-play game so these rules should feel pretty familiar to us.

Ice Worm, I think this is a Reaper miniature that I bought years ago.

40 Years of Adventure

My job has been exceptionally busy over the last few weeks and as a result I have had very little opportunity to write anything for the Blog or paint anything for the Analogue Challenge. I'm still very busy but I am slowly getting to grips with my suddenly increased workload and hopefully things will return to some sort of equilibrium over the next couple of weeks. I'm hoping to have a new entry for the Challenge by the end of the week (I've already submitted my Casualty bonus entry) and I am trying to catch up on the huge back load of Blog Posts that I haven't had a chance to read. I'll get there eventually, but it may take a couple of weeks! 

D&D Red Box - My Introduction to Adventure

One event that almost passed me by unnoticed was the 40th anniversary of the Dungeons and Dragons roleplaying game. My own involvement with this game started over 30 years ago when I was about 12 or 13. I was first introduced to D&D through a friend - after a very brief apprenticeship in fantasy gaming through the Fighting Fantasy solo gaming books by Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone. It was a short step from these adventure books to proper roleplaying when I and some of my friends bought the now famous Frank Mentzer 'Red Box' rulebooks. We played the sample scenario given in the Dungeon Masters booklet and I still vividly remember my first combat victory against a Carrion Crawler. My character was a stereotypical Barbarian hero called Vulcan the Slayer (facepalm!) and that first game was a simple monster bashing adventure, but I loved it, and I was instantly hooked for life.

This was also the time when I painted my first model - a Knight in black armour with gold edging - using the only paints I had available at the time, some Humbrol enamels. It was an awful paint job but at the time I was very proud of it. I was one of only a handful of player's to use a fully painted miniature in those early games and although the techniques and materials I use have changed a lot since then, I still hold true to the principle that I never game with naked metal! Unfortunately that first mini was lost a long time ago and its only now I look back and wished I had realised that this was a special possession marking the start of a lifelong hobby. I can't remember where I even bought the model, but back then there seemed to be plenty of small independent games shops to choose from. 

A picture of me before I became 'BigLee' circa 1985
(clearly 'Selfies' are not a new phenomenon!)

Our small group consisted mostly of friends from school and although the composition of the group changed a bit over the years the core members continued to play together for nearly three decades more. In the early years we would meet for games at least once a week and we even ran a charity game in school with some of the teachers joining in! When University or jobs beckoned we played less often but for many years we still managed bi-weekly games and it was D&D that kept us in touch with each other more than anything else.

Most of the group have run games over the years and I have twice adopted the role of Dungeon Master for short campaigns. This picture shows me preparing for a game sometime around 1985. We were still using the red box 'basic' rules at the time but we had also bought the Blue 'Expert' box and the Black 'Master' boxes as they became available. I would happily spend hours planning out huge underground complexes, stocking them with all manner of monsters, traps and treasures.

Most of the time we would create our own 'dungeons' but we would also reach for inspiration in the pages of Dragon magazine and even the earlier editions of White Dwarf. One such dungeon complex I developed was based on an article in WD43 called The Hive of the Hrrr'l which featured creatures called the Flymen. I expanded the original maps into a huge complex of rooms and chambers which kept us busy for many many weeks. In later years, using the 3rd edition rules I designed an entire world setting called The Isles of Ethos and my players fought their way through two long story arcs before we moved on to the 4th Edition rules.

Nearly all the members of my first D&D group are
pictured here. 

D&D and painting inevitably and rapidly led to our involvement in other games and our first flirtation with wargaming in the form of Warhammer Fantasy Battle, WH40k, and Epic 40k. This of course was in the days when my friends and I still had disposable incomes (student loans mostly!) and before careers and families nibbled away at our spare time. For a long time we wargames and roleplayed simultaneously depending on who could attend a game and where we were playing. If we had space to lay out a wargame on a floor we would play WFB and if we didn't we could happily pick up where we left off in our D&D campaigns. 


Over the years many of my early gaming buddies have moved on and moved away and as far as I know I'm the only one still playing with toy soldiers on a regular basis. But although we are not gaming on a regular basis most of us still keep in touch - through the wonders of social media - and we still occasionally gather for an impromptu board game or one off RPG game. I credit the strength and endurance of our friendships entirely down to the hours we spent 'adventuring' together as young adults. Yes we were socially awkward geeks but through the enduring power of collaborative roleplaying games like D&D we became slightly less socially awkward adults... and I wouldn't trade a minute of it for anything else. 

Second (third, fourth and fifth) Bites

On Thursday last week I received the latest edition of Wargames Soldiers and Strategy in the post. I really look forward to this magazines delivery and in particular the regular columns by the likes of Rick Priestly and Dan Johnson. Ricks article this month is all about second chances and in particular new editions of well loved games. This Gaming Life - A second bite was of course talking about the news that Warhammer 40,000 has been re-launched for the sixth time - but his article struck a cord with me because I immediately thought of the imminent 5th Edition re-boot of the Dungeons and Dragons Roleplaying game rules. 

The central premise of the article is that while it is almost inevitable that games designers and publishers might want to update, revise and improve on successful rules systems this process nearly always fractures and divides the existing community of players. Warhammer 40,000 appears to have bucked this trend but I suspect this is more to do with the business model of GW and its relentless supply of teen and pre-teen players feeding into the hobby and moving on as they get older (yes, I know this is a stereotype and probably inaccurate, but its my perception of the business). But for games like D&D, which have always had a broader audience of players the result of each subsequent re-boot has been the inevitable and painful division of its core player base. Old farts like me hanker for the game they knew in their youth while newer players are brought into the fold by the latest glossy edition of the rules.

There are still players out there that have resolutely stuck with the Basic Rules, or AD&D or 3rd Edition etc. With the possible exception of 3rd Edition (which introduce the popular d20 system) every other reincarnation of these rules has had a painful birth that has left some players behind. Ever since the acquisition of D&D by Wizard of the Coast many players have been suspicions of the over commercialisation of the brand. WoTC are essentially a publishing house and they make money by selling books, so it was no surprise when supplement after supplement began to be churned out for admittedly eager players and GM's. As a player during that period it sometimes felt as if there was a storm of reference works being published, many by companies other than WoTC. So while the D20 system arguably revitalised the brand it also sowed the seeds of its own demise at the same time. 

The problem with supplements - especially the 'unofficial' ones, is that with each new set of the rules the flaws in the core rules became more and more obvious. A common complaint during that period (and still today) was "the maths are broken". Thus the pressure for a new edition (beyond the need of a publishing house to publish another book) became inevitable, resulting in yet another splinter group undermining the core fan base of the game. This cycle is being repeated once again with 5th edition. I've read a lot of pro-5th edition rhetoric about how this version is inspired and developed by the fans and will usher in a new golden age for the game. I've been around long enough to have heard it all before. Sooner or later a new set of supplements will start to be published and the whole downward spiral will start again. And in the meantime a few more players give up, move on or abandon the 'new' version for the one they prefer the most.

I should state that I don't subscribe to the rather pessimistic view that 'real' D&D is dead. Although I have my preferences regarding which edition of the rules are best (duh! Basic of course!!) I don't see the splintering of the games player base as a necessarily bad thing. We are all essentially playing the same core game, with the same principles of co-operative storytelling that Gygax and Arneson forged way back in 1974. Ok so the rules systems have diverged with each edition but when you put the rules to one side its clear that the respective systems have more in common than they have in conflict. If you put two D&D players together its not the rules they tell anecdotes about its the 'adventures' they had with their characters.

So will I be buying 5th Edition D&D? Probably, but only out of curiosity and not because I expect to play the game. And if my group decides to return to the best RPG in the world I expect it may be using an earlier edition... with a healthy dose of house rules thrown in. At the end of the day the rules are unimportant; the adventure's the thing that really matters. 

Death of a Leviathan

The Delvers met on Friday night, minus the Evil GM, which means that yet again we didn't play our by now moribund D&D4E campaign. I think the life has gone out of this particular beast and when we talked about it we realised that the last game was so long ago none of us can actually remember what we did or where the story was heading. But while one great leviathan breaths its last (at least for a while) others are bursting with new life. As several members of the group were in attendance we took the time to discuss the future direction of the Delvers, including a couple of alternative RPG's. 

The first of course is the Hollow Earth Expedition RPG that I have mentioned here before. I'm almost ready to run the first game (been a bit distracted with my new 6mm tanks!☺) but I wasn't quite comfortable to 'wing it' last night. I want a chance to play-test a few solo combats first, so I can be sure I understand the mechanics of the Ubiquity system properly before I try and run a game. Its one thing to improvise storytelling during a game but quite another to pretend you know the rules when you don't. Most of the group were quite positive about giving this game a try and hopefully we can have our first game session sometime in the next few weeks.

The other RPG we looked at was the Fantasy version of the Marvel Heroic RPG we played a few months ago. The core mechanics look to be the same and it seems like a very easy system to improvise with. It should be fun and will be a refreshing alternative to the increasingly rules-heavy system we play now. Both these 'alternative' RPG's are much simpler in design than D&D and require far less investment of time (and money) in order to just sit down and play. 

I've long been an advocate of going back to a much simpler and basic version of D&D in our group (the Basic system itself in fact) where the emphasis is on actual roleplaying rather than power gaming and rules management. I'm sure I've just committed some sort of heresy saying that (I expect the D&D community to dispatch an  angry mob forthwith) but as someone who has played this game in all its forms, for over 30 years, I think I have a valid opinion. Part of me hopes the 5th Edition currently in development will be simpler and more 'old school' but the realist in me knows that will never happen. 

A Ral Partha Giant by Tom Meier

This Ral Partha Hill Giant dates from 1977 and has spent a long time languishing on my desk in a semi painted state. Its an early Ral Partha figure by Tom Meier and was one of three Hill Giants that were available back when Ral Partha were still a basement business, this one being Version 1 (Reference ES/01-052 v1). Because this is an early Tom Meier Ral Partha figure it was part of its 25mm range ('Heroic' scale or 28mm hadn't appeared yet) but being a Giant it actually stands 50mm from Base to Eye level or 57mm to the top of its head. 

I'm not sure how this Hill Giant came into my possession but it had clearly had a hard life prior to its arrival in my hands. It had been painted and based by another painter but the quality of the finish was poor to say the least. It had taken quite a battering in its prior life and what paint remained on the figure was chipped and worn leaving the model in a very sorry state. It wasn't therefore a hard decision to strip the old paint off and give this model a new lease of life. 

I stripped the model by soaking it in a simple solution of washing-up liquid and warm water. I then gave it a gentle scrub with a soft brush. This process was repeated several more times until all the old paint had been removed. I them made sure the figure was thoroughly dry before priming the whole figure - including the underside of the base - to stop any potential damage from Lead Rot. Because this is an old figure the lead content is much higher than modern figures and therefore much more prone to corrosion. Painting the figure seals the surface and is a very effective means of conservation. 

During the clean up process I not only removed the old paint but also broke off a large clay base that had been added by the previous owner. The clay came off quite easily, pretty much in one big chunk. With the metal base cleaned the makers mark was revealed as Ral Partha 1977. I would have been 7 or 8 at the time this venerable old man first hit the shelves and he therefore pre-dates my introduction to D&D and a lifetime of gaming! 

Although this miniature started life as a Hill Giant I decided that I wanted to paint it as a Frost Giant instead. At the time when I acquired the figure I was writing a Dungeons and Dragons campaign to be set in the Frozen North of my Campaign Setting, The Isles of Ethos. A benign Frost Giant was required and this model fitted the role perfectly. But that campaign never came to fruition and the Giant remained semi-painted for a long long time.


In the intervening time I have painted a lot of 15mm WWII figures but now and again I feel the need to paint something completely different just to add a little variety to my art. I've come to a temporary halt on my Panzergrenadier project and was casting around for something quick to paint just for fun when I remembered this model.

Its a beautiful sculpt with lots of character and was really fun to paint. I don't know if this will ever see the surface of a games table but for now its taking pride of place in my rather small display cabinet.

Games that define us Meme

The Frontline Gamer kicked off an interesting Meme that has started building momentum on various wargaming blogs (check the posts on Ferbs Fighting Forces and The Wargaming Site). Games that Define Us was his Sunday Sermon a week ago and I responded with my own list of 10 games that have defined my gaming heritage. Far be it for me to ignore a good meme so here's an expanded version of my reply to his post.

Fighting Fantasy - In my original list on the Frontline Gamers Blog I didn't list the Fighting Fantasy books partly because I discovered them just prior to and simultaneously with D&D. But over the weekend I was thinking about my list and realised that I shouldn't have left these off because without the Fighting Fantasy series I might never have got into D&D and from there into a lifetime of other great games. One the first (if not the first) I read was the classic Warlock of Firetop Mountain. It opened my eyes to a whole new way to play games and I remember sharing books excitedly between my group of friends. I have long since lost that original copy but a few years ago I bought a new edition of the book in a revamped boxed set and started playing these with my youngest daughter instead of a regular 'boring' bedtime story!

Dungeons and Dragons (Red Box) - Discovering Dungeons and Dragons was life changing, without a doubt. My group of friends at school had just discovered the Fighting Fantasy books  and then someone suggested this game called Dungeons and Dragons. I had a vague understanding of what it was - based mostly on negative press about this supposedly dangerous game - and jumped at the chance to give it a go. We bought a copy of the Red Box version of the game and played the scenario that was presented in the DM's book. I’ll remember my first ‘kill’- a Carrion Crawler - for the rest of my life. That first character wasn't particularly well rounded or even original (a hulking barbarian with a passing resemblance  to a certain Cimmerian) but he sparked a love of the game that still burns strong thirty years later!

Risk/Diplomacy - I played both of these boardgames obsessively for six months while I was in the 6th Form of my school. I probably should have spent those 'free study' sessions studying because I flunked most of my exams as a result! But instead of learning Biology or English Literature I learnt an important life lesson - success or failure was in my own hands and nobody else's. Somehow I managed to scrape a place on a University course and with the experience of failure still burning brightly within me I decided to buck up my ideas and work hard. I probably had the most boring and well behaved University years of any student, but I came out the other end with a 1st Class Honours degree thanks in no small measure to the lesson I learned playing Risk!

Warhamer Fantasy Battle - My group flirted briefly with Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay in between D&D but we then moved on to WFB and our first venture in Wargames. For me this was an important time because this was when I really got into painting miniatures in a big way. Up till this point I had only painted a few models for replaying with and these had been done with enamel paints and little or no skill! But with WFB I suddenly needed to paint large numbers of troops and special character models meaning I needed to buy a proper set of paints and brushes. I chose Citadel paints mainly because they were the easiest to get hold of, and I stuck with these for years. I always fielded a fully painted army but would invariably get my backside whooped by masses of unpainted miniatures.

Warhammer 40,000 : Rogue Trader - This was the first incarnation of the WH40K universe and was our first foray into Sci-Fi gaming. I loved the models as much as the game and still have the first Space Marine I bought. Despite all the versions of this game that have followed I still love the old Mk I  Power Armour of the Space Marines. I always felt that the original game still allowed for a little bit of the spirit of exploration and optimism that Sci-Fi embodies. Later versions feel like that have become increasingly bleak and dark and while I understand the creative merit of this path its not something that I find particularly attractive.

I still have the Rogue Trader rulebook amongst my treasured collection of old games and now and again I get it down just to admire the artwork in its pages. We didn't play this game for very long but it was important as it got our group into Epic which we stayed with for many years.

Epic - My group of friends played this for a long time. Once again I always fielded a fully painted army, and nearly always lost to unpainted figures! Darn-it!! This was my first foray into small scale miniatures (I think these were 6mm) although the Titans were significantly larger. The pride of my Space Marine army was a huge Emperor Titan that literally towered over everything on the table. Unfortunately my tactical prowess was still zero resulting on one game where I failed to turn it at a crucial moment denying myself the use of half its weapons.

Blood Bowl - Space and money were limited and Blood Bowl filled the gap. I wish I had kept my original box because this is a great game to play over an evening. It would serve our group well now when we can't play our regular campaign and need something quick and easy to fill the evening rather than cancel. I'm tempted to buy one of the newer versions but I may hold out for one of the original boxes if I can find one at a reasonable price.

Dungeons and Dragons 3rd Edition - Third Edition got me and my group back together after a few years in the wilderness. It got us playing RPG's again and for me, is still the best version of the game. Sure it had its flaws but if one thing is certain it is that any sufficiently complex game will be flawed in some way. But I always felt that for everything this game got wrong there were ten things it did brilliantly; which isn't a ratio achieved by 4th Edition IMHO.

Flames of War - My first venture into WWII Wargaming and 15mm. Regular readers will know that this game has ignited a long dormant passion for 2nd World War history in me. Personally the game system is secondary to the history, I just happened to stumble upon Flames of War first. The key thing about this game is that it gave me the impetus to get back into wargaming again after many years away from it. It has also helped forge a lasting friendship with my Brother-in-law who like me shares a passion for Second World War history.

Fire and Fury - Another set of rules I really enjoy playing are the Fire and Fury rule for the American Civil War. After WWII this is my favourite period and one I love to play. The first game I played with my current wargaming group – Posties Rejects - used these rules and I have enjoyed them ever since.

As I said in my original comment of the Frontline Gamers post this list may not be to everyone's taste but these are the games that have defined my gaming career and hold a special place for me. Of course I could add lots more to this list - such as Dungeon Quest, Talisman and Call of Cthulhu RPG - but I'm limited to just 10 choices!

The Delvers do it Differently

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The Dagenham Delvers met last night for a different sort of roleplaying game. The Evil GM pleaded overwork and lack of preparation so we didn't play our regular DandD 4E campaign game. Instead another member of the group, Dave, stepped up and introduced us to another game system suited to short one or two session games. So on Friday night we donned Lycra (metaphorically) and became Superhero's for an evening.

The Marvel Heroic Roleplaying game has a fairly simple but nuanced game system (known as Cortex Plus) at its heart. Roleplaying and combat are based on a simple set of attributes unique to the character of choice. Characters are pre-generated but can come from any part of the Marvel universe. Some basic knowledge of these comic book characters is useful but not essential as descriptions and histories are provided with each Superhero sheet.

Our stand-in GM is something of a Comic Book Geek so there was no shortage of background information when we needed it. This was useful as most of the rest of the group have a very patchy knowledge of the Marvel Universe and some members of the Delvers haven't even seen the Hollywood movies based on the characters. Despite this lack of background knowledge the game still worked well as pretty much all the information you need is on the character sheets.

I played Iron Man, the Evil GM took on the role of Spider-man and Derek became Wolverine for the evening. Even Andy - living in Lincoln 140 miles away - dialled in using Skype and played Captain America. The game was a relatively simple two act 'beat up the bad guys' scenario. Combat mechanics favour cooperative play, imaginative problem solving and story driven roleplaying. The result was a surprisingly fun and creative session without a miniature in sight.

Its been a while since we played an exclusively roleplaying game without miniatures and it was an enjoyable experience. Combat for instance involved building a dice pool utilising the various attributes on the character sheet. Because combat isn't restricted by simple "I hit with my sword" or "I shoot my pistol" the player is encouraged to be creative and much more theatrical in his/her actions.

For instance Iron Man makes a Solo Attack (Add d10 to the dice pool), and utilises his Cutting Edge Tech, ie his suit (add d8) and Superhuman Strength (add d10) to flip a chunk of broken concrete in the air before hitting it with his Repulsors (add d8) to create a concrete shrapnel blast (area attack add d6 for each additional target) to hit the Bad Guy and his minions. They then use their attributes to build a defence and we compare results to see who wins and how much damage is done. Its a little more complex than this description but its still a simple system that allows for an infinite variety of actions.

We played out the two 'acts' of this scenario which has set up a follow up game for another session. Hopefully next time we can get a little more done as we have a better understanding of the rule mechanics and have fewer technical difficulties (our Skype connection to Lincoln kept crashing). Overall it was fun and challenging which is all you need in an RPG. For more info about the game check out this great review on RPG.Net.

Apparently there is also a fan produced Fantasy RPG conversion utilising the same mechanics and we might give this a try in future.

Error 404 - Game Not Found

Another Friday game night and another no-show.... sigh. The Delvers were due to gather tonight to continue our long (so long) standing 4e campaign. Its just occurred to me that if we keep going at this speed it is quite possible that we will have played a single campaign for the entire lifespan of this edition of the rules! Of course that's becoming increasingly easier as the period between new editions gets shorter and shorter...but that's another issue!

The cancelled game is unavoidable (the EvilGM is away on business) but it's damn frustrating. It's a bit late notice to throw something else together so the evening has sort of fizzed out. Of course the up side is that it is now 'open season' on the GM. He can hardly cancel at such late notice and not expect some pee-taking!

So it looks like I'll be sitting at home alone and twiddling my thumbs like Billy-no-mates...

Or I guess I could just get on with the half dozen painting projects that litter my desk.

Battling on with 4E

The Delvers met up on Friday after a four week hiatus. We missed the last session because the Evil GM was away on holiday (shocking!). The rest of the group had decided to get together for a different game, but it was not to be. In the end I was too busy in work, and too damn tired to play and we called the evening off. I hate missing our bi-weekly game nights but its a reality we have all had to get used to. On the plus side it does mean that when we do get together we have a lot to talk about and the banter is fast and razor sharp. Last night was no exception with jokes (and some alcohol) aplenty.

Our party of adventurers encounter two Gargoyle sentinels which immediately sweep in to harass us with nasty claw and talon fly-by attacks. 

...then two Bulette burst from the ground and rampage through the melee, generally bringing chaos to the battle.  These beasts are tough as nails and very very angry. 

Our battle plan follow its usual path, with the Mage trying out some new moves on the enemy. 

The Gargoyles take a long time to dispatch because they don't stay still long enough to be killed. It was universally agreed that this was most unsporting of them. 

Inspired by the Mage the Barbarian also try's the combat stance universally known as "the Orthadontist"

We did eventually defeat the Gargoyles and Bulette but it took most of the evening to do so. So in game terms our party progressed about 10 yards further along on their quest. If we were disposing of the One Ring the story would have taken a dozen books, not three, to reach a conclusion!

First game of the year!

The irony of the fact that I'm writing about my first game of 2012 at the end of January hasn't eluded me but needless to say all our group have busy or unusual jobs and getting together is a challenge at the best of times. First let me start by saying that the Dagenham Delvers gathered for a resumption of our D&D campaign after a prolonged Christmas break. Longs gaps between games are very difficult, especially when the games form a sequence and there is a story to follow. Fortunately we keep a detailed campaign Journal and were able to pick up quickly from where we left off.

This game saw our party of adventurers begin by fleeing the scene of our last battle with the Gnolls of the Valric Forest. Heavily outnumbered and seemingly surrounded we ran as fast as we could to reach the nearest Sealy Hill (these are semi mystical hills with links to Fey magic). We managed to stay ahead of our pursuers - just -and made it to the crest of the hill in time to see the Gnolls massing on the treeline surrounding the hill. On top of the hill was a large stone altar stone, but little else by way of defensive terrain. We searched the hilltop in desperation and found a rune or glyph etched into the side of the stone which when pressed opened a secret stairway leading down into the hill.

With little other option we proceeded down and closed the doorway behind us. However we soon found that we were in a small series of chambers, rigged with explosive traps and no exit other than a disabled Portal with the keystone missing. Next to the portal stood twelve chests made from various materials including wood, metal and stone. Each had a lock or mechanism and one possibly held the missing keystone. After tripping one trap we immediately suspected more traps when we found a garbled note next to the Portal. It was a message, clearly in code and maybe it held a clue to the location of the keystone.

The coded message kept us happily occupied trying to decipher it for at least 20 minutes and eventually we were able to locate the keystone just as we heard the Gnolls opening the secret doorway to this underground chamber. We passed quickly through the portal and removed the keystone on that side thereby deactivating it and blocking our pursuers. Of course this also means our route back is blocked so we have little option but to go where the Evil GM directs us!

Our group explored the underground rooms we appear to have entered looking for a route out but eventually could only find a spiral staircase leading down into a series of flooded rooms. With little other option we decided to swim through the flooded section to reach another series of rooms above the water level. However we never expected this short swim to be uneventful and true to our expectations we had to fight some bad tempered Sahuagin before making it to safety.

All in all a pretty good game with an interesting mix of puzzle solving, skill challenges and combat.