The Glory of D&D

Welcome, to a somewhat rambling yet glorious honouring post dedicated to one of the most iconic tabletop games of all time. 

Dungeons and Dragons.

Over the last few years it has regained an incredibly popular following like much of the tabletop scene. Geek and Sundry has helped with its Critical Role series, a weekly show starring voice actors playing Dungeons and Dragons and putting on an entertaining 3-4 hour session. Stranger Things has also placed the game in the public eye after capturing the imaginations of millions on Netflix. Celebrities like Vin Diesel, the late Robin Williams and Kevin Smith also among those being fans.

Its popularity is also strong at our club, the Gwent Reavers. We've gained new members through it, after myself, Gav and Bam started the Mines of Phandelver around a year and a half ago. Its always been something I've personally been interested in, just didn't realise others were too. So we got together and now we have three different sessions run by three different Dungeon Masters going on currently. And thats with a variety of different players too. Some have come to the dark side of tabletop gaming, be it miniature games or board games, some are dedicated to the D20 and the roleplaying aspect. 

So what about Dungeons and Dragons is so captivating? The depth of narrative and background are certainly an aspect that draws people in. There is such a wealth of information out there, be it tips to playing, background to set your adventures in and even guides as to how to create your own world. 

This leads on to being able to create. Like open world videogames you have a lot more ability to do what you want, even more so in tabletop roleplay as it really is just your own imagination that limits you. Not only do your stories get told, but those of the players who create characters that are a huge part of the stories being told. In fact, when dm'ing my own campaign I try to let the players tell the story while guiding them through certain events. You can plan how a certain event will play out, for example how a battle will go with a great beast but the players will always come up with ways that surprise you as a DM and have those events change. Its incredibly fascinating to see how your friends will solve different problems and ace different creatures in battle. 

One other side of D&D that is probably its strongest appeal, is the social side of it. Getting together with your mates to act out these crazy adventures is something you will absolutely love. Running jokes, how you remember certain events and recall those moments is something you have to experience. From deceiving a huge amount of cultists into following us to get out of a Dragon Cult camp, to new interesting ways to pull a kobolds body apart like a christmas cracker its been an absolute joy to partake in the game. 

Being a sufferer of insomnia, creating and adapting stories and guiding players through them has been fantastic. Character development is interesting to watch and hopefully as we play through sessions each player will see their characters grow, and not just through stat building and gaining new skills and feats. Having the characters personalities develop in front of you is incredibly rewarding as a dungeon master. 

Even though many times things you write about and plan for a session may not always happen, its still rewarding to be able to come up with these ideas, even if they never come to light. I've written backgrounds for npc's that the players have hardly talked too, but its helped me to put myself into their shoes better and react and talk more as I feel they should, and hopefully that comes across to the players immersing them even more.

In the future I may share certain ideas about the stories I've created on this blog, things that happen during sessions with other DM's (possibly even their own accounts if I can bribe them with rations and gold) and even ideas for you to use in your adventures.

Dungeons and Dragons, and many other tabletop RPG's are a hugely enjoyable and engrossing thing to do with your mates, whether you play or run the session. Go and try your hand, and have some of the best fun you'll have while rolling dice with your friends.

International Tabletop Day at the Reavers!

And so International Tabletop Day has come and gone, and my word was it a cracking event. Not only did we have members from the Tredegar Reavers and the Crow Valley Crusaders as usual, but we had a good dozen or so people who weren't members of a gaming club come for a visit to try some tabletop goodness, and judging from the comments everyone had a great time!

Above we have Morgan, Gareth and Alun playing some Magic the Gathering, of which I had a go later on in the day and although I'm still unsure of how it works, did enjoy and wouldn't mind a few more games to see if its something I want to get into. Excuse Morg scoffing his face, breakfast pizza. Lucky bastard!

The Crow Valley Crusaders brought some games and tables up, and set up this awesome looking Infinity display. The bottletop barrels were great, as were the use of toys for vehicles. 

Heres one of their members setting up Deadzone, a game I really wanted to try but didn't get a chance too. The scenery looks pretty cool and I've noticed Mantic have announced that they'll be bringing it out more widely soon... interesting!

One of my favourite board games of all time, Scrabble, got plenty of use and there must have been 5 or 6 games played in total. I lost one and won a game, but enjoyed both immensely. 

Of course No Quarter was played, Huw putting on another great game that got plenty of peoples attention. Huw scowling while mentioning Mikes name could become a new tradition at club!

Chaos in the old world, with a daemon dice!

The aim of CITOW is to get your Greater Daemons together for an intense hugging battle where the softest yet firm hugs win out. In truth, Morgan played a card from the Khorne deck making all the greater darmons in play jump to the same region to do battle... but before a weapon was swung I used a card to get my Lord of Change out of there! 

Scuse the mug, but my mate Louise... I mean Lewis popped over with his lady for a visit. 

Things getting serious as Byron and Shaun look to be in a good postion to win.... but who does?

Heres how the hall looked at mid afternoon, we had people come in and out all day, such a good turnout!

More No Quarter, but with a new cappin' on board! 

Dungeon Petz, a strange game that I didn't quite understand but the players seemed to be loving it. There were different counters for sand, grass, food, and poo. Yes, they were brown! I think you had to look after the pets and nurture them to sell them on. I could be wrong, but thats the sense I got. Louis and his lovely other half also brought Ticket to Ride which I didn't get to play and I really wanted, dabnammit!

So CITOW ended with Byron almost winning, only for Shaun to steal victory from him. The Skaven expansion added some cool elements to this and was a great laugh.

These guys were also part of Dungeon Petz, and I think they either help you or they live in the dungeons that the game takes place in. Cool little counters though thats for sure!

I pulled CubeQuest out for Alun to try, and it wasn't long before EVERYONE was having a go. We tried to set a league but ran out of time, it was hilarious though watching people going from just flicking the cubes over to them actually trying serious tactics out, some great moments fair play.

Five of our visitors had a great time playing Guards! Guards! I really like the look of the hexagonal board and even though I'm not sure what was happening, they players were well into the game and you could see them schemeing over their cards!

As you can see, getting down low to line up a shot in CubeQuest became a nessecity!

More Magic being played, this time between Byron and Morgan.

More hardcore Scrabble action, defiantely an all time classic!

Just some of the games that people brought to play. This isn't even half of them, we had over 30 games for people to choose from!

Heres my hand while playing Gloom, one of my favourite games to play with people new to tabletop gaming. My friend Cassie brought a couple of her mates over as they were interested, so I took them through a game. Some of the little stories that were told were fantastic, and a copy was bought on amazing when the game had finished!

More CITOW

More of Gloom being played by some of our guests.

You can tell when Louis forms a plan, he has that evil smile on his face! Probably about to make someones character happy in Gloom, devious man! 

Without a doubt, the most concentration I've ever seen on Byrons face was when we played CubeQuest. Such a great game, and its quick to play!

All in all then a great day, and one I feel should happen more than just once a year. Everyone seemed to have had a great time and so many games were played! It was incredibly rewarding seeing everyone enjoy themselves and be inspired by new games and meeting new people, and I can't wait til we put on another event like this. I have to thank not just our members but also the Crow Valley Crusaders, especially Byron who helped coordinate the event, organising these things are half the battle! Mainly though I have to thank every person who came and rolled a dice, drew a card, or flicked a cube at me from across the table, it was an amazing day and one we'll be having again!

For more info on our clubs, visit the Tredegar Reavers and the Crow Valley Crusaders or just give me a shout on here. Thanks for reading!

Negative Creeps.

I'm just gonna come out and say it. 

I'm getting pissed off at people who continually criticise Games Workshop.

Over the last 6-12 months more opinions are thrown around as to why Games Workshop are the devils.

"They make you buy loads to be powerful and make big games look good so you'll buy more!"

"Kill Team is terrible because its small scale!"

"Their pricing is terrible!" 

"Matt Ward!" 

"Ultramarines!" 

"Because other people don't like them I have to fit in too!"

Scuse the last one, but thats how it feels quite often. 

Now then, lets clear one thing up. You can hate Games Workshop all you want, it doesn't mean I may hate you. But, if you keep typing about why GeeDub is the spawn of satan on the internet all the time chances are, I have no respect for you. Its all too easy for people slag other people or opinions off. I've recently been involved in a couple of threads where I've been chatting to people about the creative aspect of GW, for instance the Necromunda campaign I want to get going, and people seem like they have to comment negative things about Games Workshop. Why be so negative when others are being positive about the hobby? I don't hijack other peoples threads saying why certain other companies don't appeal to me, and there are a lot out there that are incredibly popular that I just don't 'get'. If people are enjoying talking about the games and hobby aspects they love who am I to preach otherwise? So why then do people insist on doing this to Games Workshop based subjects? 

Perhaps its easier for people to be negative about something they hate or dislike, than it is to be positive about the things we love. Perhaps they go both together, where to praise something, we must first knock something down thats competition. It could relate to human instinct, that its easier to lash out than it is to embrace, but surely, as an 'evolved species', we're beyond that now? Far from it, it would seem. But thats getting too deep, and I'm no expert on delving into the human mind. 

Theres argument that Games Workshop are targeted for being the biggest wargaming company in the world, and therefore open to criticism. Does that mean anyone who becomes successful should be questioned and laughed at? What happens when the companies you admire so much become more successful and start doing things you don't like? Will they become targets for insults also? 

The thing is, Games Workshop has been around for so many years and influenced so many generations, that people will be fans of certain eras. Therefore, certain editions of games, models etc will be loved by some and hated by others. The same goes for how the company runs also. When it first started, GW sold many different games. As they started making their own models they wrote their own rules, and gradually were able to sustain themselves on purely the games they themselves have produced. Shouldn't this be the target for all companies? 'Oh but they're money grabbing bastards'. Well, heres news for you. To be a successful business you have to make ways of grabbing the money. Without it, you can't grow or sustain what you do, its simple. Even I have questioned some of the decision making of GW in terms of pricing, but then I compare it to other companies and for myself, the higher price point comes with a better quality of model.Obviously the aesthetics of a model can always be questioned, but arguing over opinion is the most wasteful consumption of time two people can have. Who cares what we like and don't like? Enjoy what you like and matter not what others do. 

The other thing that irritates me about people slagging off GW, is the fact a lot of them may never have even heard of wargaming had it not been for a Games Workshop store. There still isn't enough gaming shops in towns, and its a shame. I'd love for there to be some sort of store nearby to go play, buy models etc, but the fact of the matter is, we're in a niche hobby. Not being in the mainstream means getting new people involved in what we love doing can be difficult. So when someone walks past a GW store and see the models and tables inside, intrigue perks up. This is how many of us got into the hobby, its our first taste of wargaming and opens up a whole new world of hobby goodness. 

 See my main problem is that I've become so passionate about this hobby. almost 20 years ago I was introduced to this world, and after having around 15 years away I found a group of people nearby and have been firmly embedded into the hobby since. Everytime someone takes a jab at the aspects of the hobby I love, I feel like they're being personal. Someone in the hobby who is highly respected recently brought this up too, and likened it to religion, and he's right. We've all been the subject to someone who is passionate about their beliefs and preach to us why we should feel the same, well thanks, but no thanks. But they keep trying, on and on. And thats where it gets truly annoying. Why spend so much time preaching to other people about the negatives of what they believe in when you don't give them reasons to believe in your own passions?

I'm sorry if this has seemed like an inane ramble, but if you're a regular reader you'll be use to this by now. I'm sure you can all relate to this, even if you don't like the GW side of the hobby. What would you rather listen too or read...

"This game I've got into is amazing, theres some cool background, minis aren't too expensive but look pretty cool and its fun to play".

Or...

"Play this instead, GW games are shit, expensive and the rules are crap. Its all about the latest models that are always overpowered and then something else comes out that beats that in a couple of months so why bother."

Which honestly sounds more appealing? Theres probably a lot of points I've forgotten to mention, but I think this will do for now. I've seen a lot of hypocrisy where people have said things to slag off GW then use things from those worlds to benefit themselves to get a few more likes and attention over social media.

I'll tell you why I love Warhammer 40k.

Its tactical, while people see new units come out being overpowered my brain enjoys the challange of finding a counter to new threats, and despite whatever outcome on the table, whether its a win, loss or draw, I always learn something new.

The background is just out-fucking-standing. It competes with Star Wars in terms of depth, I mean how many scifi worlds can match that? Star Trek is probably up there I'm sure, but little else comes near to how many stories are told in that one universe, and what that means is its incredibly immersive. Not only do I enjoy reading about things that have happened in these worlds, but I love creating new stories through games. Little events in games isn't just 'this space marine rolled a six on overwatch'... its 'Brother Radimax quickly swung around while reloading his heavy bolter as a genestealer bolted towards him. Ditching the heavy weapon he quickly unholstered his boltgun leaving the genestealer with a gaping hole in its cranium.' I just love coming up with little stories for things that happen in games, and with such a rich background its not difficult to then be inspired from these to create stories for more games.

The models. This is where personal opinion comes in, but the quality of the plastics is amazing. I absolutely love cutting bits up and changing things, and the GW plastics are probably the best for this purpose. If you don't like the armies in the GW universe, then thats fine. Not everyone will be pleased by what a company can produce and thats true in so many mediums like films, music, videogames etc, Personally, I love the look and feel of the worlds and cannot ask for more.

The social aspect. I've met some awesome people since getting back into wargaming, and the laughs and tears we've shared are incountable. From amazing comebacks and close fought draws to getting thrashed or having insane random dice moments, they've always been entertaining. When I joined the Tredegar Reavers, I didn't just meet some fellow gamers, I met some new friends. This, is what the hobby should be about.

Its simple ladies and gents. Show passion for the things in the hobby you love, not disdain or hate for what other hobbyists enjoy no matter your opinion.

Saturday Salvo: Vs Chaos Marines, Xwing Wave 4!

Welcome to another Saturday Salvo, with some 40k and Xwing updates. Myself and Chris played some 40k last week, with the Krohmus Guard taking on long time rivals of the Khorne Warband Chris controls. 1500 points, and you can see the table below!

Moments of note... My land raider getting blown up on Chris' first turn, captain and termies not doing much. Sternguard failing to blow anything up, although they did dent a predator and Chris' land raider. T

The Scorpius Whirlwind is pure awesome, as long as you deploy it well. Getting those extra shots can be devastating!

Khorne bikers made a dent in my lines and I couldn't finish em off. The champion, while not overly effective, did kill several marines over a prolonged combat and survived. 

I need to better use the Chapter Tactics I choose... or at least remember to use them and anticipate when to use them better. Cause at the moment I don't use them well!

Missile Launchers are still good stuff. Power Armour hates Kraks. 

A debate I've had on occasion with Bam about overloading Tactical squads, he always upgrades his sarges, I rarely do. I think I'm gonna do it more often when against power armoured foes, it would help on combats having someone reliably kill enemies a bit more.

Aquire targets better!

In the end it was incredibly close, with me just winning 10-8. He'd killed my termies and captain later on and I just managed to instant kill his lord with a well placed krak. Good game though! 

Also, below I've started work on my first proper piece of terrain, which will be a sort of generator building. Its based on some polystyrene I've had for a while and the part on the left reminded me of a bunker/generator sort of thing. The bottle is some sort of fuel container, with a wacky thing on top possibly doubling as a void shield. I'm gonna add some small raders and more details to it, along with some small pieces of Imperial decoration and anything else I can find!

Another thursday has come and gone also with myself and my Nephew doing battle in X-wing. We attempted using all the ships I had, 5 Imperial and 4 Rebels, with plenty of upgrades. I think we had about 133 points each, with about 110 being spent on the ships. Bit ambitopis but we had a laugh trying to remember our upgrades and pilot skills!

We're both starting to see some decent combos of skills and upgrades, although remembering them isn't easy! R2D2 on Wedge has been useful, and I've found myself doing a lot of green moves because of it! 

The game finished with just Wedge, Saul in his Ywing and Darth left. I managed to get a hit on Darth with the Ion cannon making him move onto an asteroid and making him vulnerable to fire next turn from both of my surviving ships. I'd suffered a lot of damage though! 

As if playing some more X-wing wasn't exciting enough, Fantasy Flight announced this. 

Hells yes! The E-wing looks amazing, can't wait to get one or two to try out and my Nephew is drooling over those new Tie Defenders. Should add some interesting tactics to the game! We can't wait to get our new purchases but now the excitement is even greater!

So far, I'm getting close to 40,000 views, and with that being a significant number I'm debating doing something to celebrate. I think a better header and logo is needed... but perhaps something else too... We shall see!

X-Wing, WIP Honour Guard and more

X-wing has taken up a good little roost in my large self, where myself and my nephew have had several games and really enjoyed it. So much so that he, and also Bam have ordered starter sets and will hopefully have sizeable Imperial fleets with which to crush me. Much thanks to Jason for getting us into this! 

I've got a nice little collection now, 2 X-wings, a B-wing and a Y-wing for the Rebels, and for the Imperials I have 3 Tie Fighters, one Tie Bomber and an Advanced Tie Fighter. This allows us to have some games with a bit of variety in and see what ships everyone likes. So far, I want more X-wings, although I'm slowly discovering just how good Ion Cannons are. 360 degree firing arc is very useful!

Ladies and Gents, this is Belle. It seems shes intrigued in X-wing too... although she was more interested in napping on the table. Gerrof Belle-end!

I'm still getting to grips with B-wings, but they do sponge up a lot of attention. My nephew tried the ships below against this with various character pilots, and I had trouble against him.

Tie fighters are just fast and their ability to evade can keep them alive more than their 3 hull points would suggest. Josh, my nephew quickly blew up an X-wing and from there numerical superiority won him the game. 

I dd cause a fair bit of damage, most of Josh's ships were damaged and close to being finished, but him having numbers made it hard concentrating fire as he dodged about the little bugger!

In the end I was wiped out. The Ties caught up behind me and just put the final nail in the coffin. Asteroids add a lot more to the game, and I think some of the damage to both sides was caused by flying into the rocks. No fun! I think it'd be cool if you got to roll a dodge dice too, just to add to suspense.  I think Josh is yet to get the best out of the Tie Bomber, judging when to use the bombs doesn't look easy so I dread to think how much more he'll kick my ass when he does learn to use them!

 Also, I took the plunge and decided to repaint an X-wing to see if I wanted to do the whole fleet. Its a WIP but I'm liking the orange and grey combo, and can see myself doing all my ships this way. I've ordered myself a few more ships too, 2 more X-wings and the Millenium Falcon, which I also plan on painting. I may got for something different on the Falcon though, as its a bounty hunter ship I think you can go a little more varied on the ship. Should be interesting to paint too! I've got these ordered in with Adam of Putrid Painting, there should be a link somewhere on this page as soon as I've figured out how to do it.

 Of course, I've been working on some Marines too, this time my Honour Guard. Built by kitbashing the Sternguard and Vanguard bits with a couple of others too, I really like how they've come out. They're not finished, but they're not table worthy and look from a few feet, which is important! More images when finished of these Krohmus Guard veterans.

I'm planning om doing a blog in the week too about the new White Dwarf and Warhammer: Visions. I've had my copies and I've a lot of mixed feelings, not just about the look and content but what it actually means by having this new format. I'm waiting til then as I'd like to get some feedback, so we'll see what the general consensus is before I go into it myself. Also....

Games Workshop have released some of the new Dwarf range, and the models look great. The Hammerers and Longbeards look great, although I'd hate having to paint them. This guy however, the Dragon Slayer, is quite possibly going to become one of my top ten favourite models of all time. I love the pose, and the detail in the face is just astounding. I'll be getting one either just to paint up or more like... Squat Cyber Slayer conversion! I'll hopefully be posting about a Necromunda inspired campaign I want to run at the Reavers soon, where I'll be giving members a lot of creative say as to what models/factions/gangs or anything that they want to use. Imagine a Cyber Slayer you can hire? I've already got some Cadians I've been working on I need to blog about and the idea behind the Necromunda campaign so expect plenty of blogs in the coming weeks!

Sunday Salvo: White Dwarf, WIPs and Hobbits.

Welcome to another weekend chunk of hobby love on todays Sunday Salvo. White Dwarf was released yesterday, and theres some interesting bits in there I'll be talking about. Can I just start off with these guys though? 

These miniatures are simply awesome. I've not been interested in the LOTR or Hobbit ranges before, but these look so fun and full of character I'd love to play this scenario. I'm gonna keep a look out to see if my local GW puts on the scenario, I'll be there in a shot! 

Next up, a Fantasy Flight release caught my eye. 

This is really different for me and something I'd love to try. Chaos in the Old World was such a great game and if this recreates half of the enjoyment I had in that it'll be a good laugh. 

Ho. Lee. Shhhhh..... Well you get the idea... A graphic novel set in 40k? They haven't done one of these in years as far as I'm aware! The artwork looks absolutely stunning, and is by Neil Roberts, more about him and his highly talented hand later however! The problem I have, is its £75 asking price. Yeah its leatherbound, but damn, I wanna read this so much without having the luxury of leather. The other release is a new version of Visions of Heresy, the first of which I have. This looks great with tonnes more new artwork, more writings from Alan Merrett, but again, the price is rather steep. £150 for this bad boy, its definately making the Horus Heresy range a very costly part of the hobby to get into. Shame really!

In terms of Parade Ground, Blanchitsu and Kitbash theres a lot to take in this month from Wraithknights and Riptides to Space Marine Dreads and some Armies on Parade from the Memphis Games Day, including the Chaos Dwarfs above who are absolutely stunning. Some great conversions in there and the display board is well done, the magma in particular really draws the eye in. I've always been a fan of the Chaos Stunties so this does appeal to me!

Neil Roberts, the artist behind the new Graphic Novel also shows this off in WD. A great follow up to an older Emperor Horus depictions from many years ago this really does a good job of updating the old art, and gives us a good idea of how FW may create the Emperor and Horus in 'miniature'. They're a wee way off yet, especially the Emperor but I will look forward to seeing them. 

So us 40k fans are 'spoilt' with two new expansions this month. Escalation sees us being able to use a 'Lord of War' in our games, so a Nicholas Cage model? No, as in Harridans, Baneblades and some other superheavies. Do I like this? I'm unsure, depends how their rules have been adapted and just how hard they are. I hope people can't just rock up to a tourney using one, and its a bit like 'Oh mind if I take a Lord of War?' thing where players are happy to ask their opponent if they mind them being used just so they have fair warning. 

Stronghold Assault sees expanded use of Fortifications, with rules and missions based on them. This interests me a little more, as something that can encourage people to build, paint and model terrain is a good thing, but again its all about how the rules work. Unfortunately, theres not much in White Dwarf to tell us about these supplements so we'll have to wait and see. I'm interested, but very unsure as to whether I'll get either. 

Onto some WIP goodness, the Bikers, Vindicator and Land Raider have all got some paint on em!

Nothings 100% done but they're all at the point where I can stick em on the battlefield. They look a little patchy and need some tidying, but my army is certainly growing! Grav guns on bikers are great, especially against large beastly things or elite infantry. It'll be great to use them in more games to see how effective they'll be. 

The raider on the left is the new addition, a Redeemer no less. Still holding a capacity of twelve this has a wee edge on the Godhammer pattern, being able to carry 5 termies and a character, and its redeemer cannons are S6ap3, which we all know is awesome against power armour!

I've also got this guy, he's almost done just some tidying up needed. Thats two newer mark Vindicators plus I do have an old one who is in a bit of a bad shape but its a linebreaker squadron if I need it!

This week, while painting I've been listening to Deliverance Lost. Fair dues I've really enjoyed it too, and its mad me absolutely fascinated with the 'Cabal'. This strange collection of Xenos agents have perked up my imagination and I can't wait to find out more about them, hopefully even seeing some miniatures when FW do the Alpha Legion. The Raven Guard are a great read too, Corax having to deal with losing many of his legion and rebuilding only for the Alpha Legion to cock things RIGHT up. I'd always heard a little about them having some mutated members but hearing about them in more detail and how they came to be in existence was really interesting, and a great idea for modelling. I've always had a thing for the Raptors too, sort of being a Toronto Raptors fan so a Space Marine chapter named the same would interest me, even if the subject is slightly different. They also fight to my playing style which was cool. I also liked the small mention of the Golden Throne when Corax questions the Emperor for advice, some nice little teasers there!

So next will be Know No Fear, looking forward to listening to that while doing some more modelling projects I've got in my head. I'm hoping to get to my local GW for a game of 40k too, I've not played for a couple of weeks and thats not good. Do I build a second Thunderfire cannon or not... do I convert a dreadnought... do I hear the pat of paws on the door? Hmm... Rats...

All images copyright of Games Workshop where applicable