Hiya!
Another cycle around the sun complete and so it’s that time of year where we kick at the dying embers of 2015 and take a minute to reflect upon the changes the year has wrought, the soldiers we lost upon the way and what lays ahead of us in the not so distant future.
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Earlier this year I resurrected my hardcore fanzine Harder They Fall. I had written the two previous issues back in the early 2000’s, when my involvement in that scene was far more active. In 2015 I felt like I wanted to flex some creative punk rock muscles that had cramped up and so I recorded some punk songs with my friends Jamie and Kieron which became the Severed demo and I interviewed some other friends and Harder They Fall issue 3 became a thing. The issue sold well, certainly well enough for to convince me that doing a fourth issue might be a nice idea. And sadly that’s where we come unstuck. Life got busy again and my plans to publish another issue had to get dialled back. Anyhow, I DID manage to conduct a couple of interviews for issue 4 before I ran out of steam and rather than let them languish I figured I’d throw them up on the ol’ Hammer. First up is an interview with my old friend Jason Frye. We’ve been allies for over a decade, we’ve played in bands together and he’s patiently endured more of my belicose ranting than most. With a new Harrowed split EP with Art Of Burning Water on the horizon courtesy of Secret Law & Superfi Records I thought it was high time that the quiet man of Kent’s hardcore/metal scene had his say….
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“One unbreakable shield against the coming darkness,
One final blade, forged in defiance of fate.
Let them be my legacy to the galaxy I conquered,
And my final gift to the species I failed.”
– Inscription upon the Arcus Daemonica,
attributed to the Emperor of Mankind.
Before starting this, I looked at my previous Oath Of Moment article… dated June 2014… bollocks. Despite the best of intentions I haven’t written any regular updates even though I have been chipping away at painting the army over the past year and a half.
So what started as a small army to pass some time has spiraled into 2000+ points, which I’m actually totally chuffed about. It’s my first good sized army and also the first fully painted army I’ve ever owned. It’s a nice feeling being able to throw down a selection of stuff and try some different things in games.
5 months down the line after the great sundering of Warhammer Fantasy Battle, and the reverberations are still being keenly felt. The End Times was the herald of the new age, and the clue was in the name. Communities split, armies were shelved or even burned on Youtube, popular WHFB podcasts ground to a halt, and a torrent of rage was directed at GW. Some of the nonsense posted on forums and social media was so ridiculous a Facebook page was created to laugh at the sheer absurd nature of the finest comments, I give you the Rage Of Sigmar. So, where are we at now?
If you can look beyond the sheer negativity attached to it, and accusations of being GW apologists flung at anyone championing it, you will find that some people are actually enjoying the new game and setting. Games are more scenario-focused, with more emphasis on the narrative and scenery, and a better scope for alliances and mixed armies. These are things that I enjoy from the 40K side of things, with the tactical objective cards, and whilst kill points/push it forward were good for learning the game or a quick pick-up, they always lacked depth. Round bases and the loss of “rank and flank” has opened up modelling options with more room for elaborate poses and basing schemes, and a dynamic looking table. Simplified rules help avoid looking up endless charts and flipping back and forth through a telephone book. The depth and synergy can be found in the warscrolls though, and as you play more games you find there are tactics with things like order of combat, direction of pile-ins, retreating, and gambling on the double turn. If you don’t believe me, head over to Youtube to check out Ash Barker’s channel Guerrilla Miniature Gaming and you’ll witness some fun games Continue reading
December, month of the best albums of the year lists. Endless lists of pretty much the same thing, with no explanation beyond “it’s cool because I like it”. So, to mix things up, we’ve got a few of the crew to give us their top 5 picks of the year, but thrown it wide open and not limited it to any one thing. The notable exception from most of these, as we haven’t had time to gather our thoughts, will be The Force Awakens, which I’m guessing everyone will be losing their shit over right now. So, get comfy, grab a brew and find out what’s been getting us excited
“I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend.” – J.R.R. Tolkien
I was introduced to RPG’s at a reasonably young age by two little shits on the school playground. It was the very end of the 1980’s and I was an introverted 10 year old at a new school. At lunch I overheard two kids talking about killing some form of demonic wolf creatures that couldn’t be seen without a magical spell. Now being a fledgling fantasy fan who had watched the Ralph Bakshi ‘Lord of the Rings’ at least 20 times, this sounded supremely interesting. I edged closer and closer hoping to enter the conversation through some weird form of social osmosis, willing them to notice me. They finally stopped talking and looked at me in unison.
“What are you guys talking about?”
“Roleplaying” came the brisk reply
“What is that? Sounded cool.”
“We play a game were we’re warriors and wizards who kill all kinds of monsters and get magic. It’s called Dungeons and Dragons.” The words sort of escaped in a lazy rambling manner as if this was the most boring question I could have ever asked.
“Can I play!”
“I guess” was the reply with barely hidden distaste for the tedium. Continue reading
Quite some time ago (14th July 2014), I made an initial post about my Daemons of Nurgle project. Obviously, the moon has waxed and waned many times since. I’m happy to say, that they are finally finished (for now – everybody knows armies are never finished). In fact they were finished a while ago.
My memories of my early childhood are hazy. Things half remembered or best forgotten, ‘splinters of the minds eye’ if you will. I recall one thing with crystal clarity though.The first time I saw Star Wars. I was only a year old when A New Hope was originally released in 1977. It wasn’t until ITV premiered it on national television on October 24th 1982 that a six year old Nathan Bean was first transported to the galaxy far far away…. Continue reading
“This is a chord, this is another, this is a third. Now form a band!” These iconic words, attached to a simple line drawing showed a movement, expertly boiled down to a pure essence and transmitted as a fucking good rallying cry. It appeared in the late 70’s, and contrary to the complications and excess of the contemporary music scene, this call to action was something different. Punk rock was about energy over experience, about creation over refinement and most importantly about doing over planning. After multiple obituaries, flirtations with mainstream audiences and co-opting by everyone from high fashion to low end retail, the vital energy of punk and the DIY movement still offers up lessons far above thrashing out chords in a shitty venue that smells of puke and alcohol. Life lessons that go beyond what you think of as the purview of punk rock. This music, this scene, this way of thinking influences those who partook, even sometimes for a short period, and changes their worldview for life. Punk and hardcore has the power to change people, and I find myself applying the lessons I learned on an almost daily basis.
Today’s lesson is about DIY (do it yourself) gaming. Now this isn’t about hobby projects done with power tools or scraps of construction materials. Plenty of more qualified folks will tell you how to make a gaming table or spray paint cool shit, this isn’t that kind of DIY. This is about capturing the spirit of making things new and applying it to how you game. This is about creativity and a “fuck it, I can do this myself” attitude that can both motivate you, and smash traditional views on gaming material that allows you to play what and how you want. The idea is about taking what is great about a punk scene, the closeness, energy, constant evolution and adaptability, and bringing that thinking into your gaming, whether it is Warhammer, some other miniatures game, RPG’s or whatever. This way of thinking exposes games for what they generally are, a tool kit. It empowers you to chop, change and expand whatever you’re playing possibly leading to the gaming equivalent of “forming a band.”
So why should you care? Maybe you shouldn’t. If you’re the type of person who has every want and need for gaming met by published products, then that is awesome for you. There is no judgement here, seriously. There is an incredible wealth of material out there encompassing the hard work of creative people from all over the world. Not only do we have a better variety of good stuff out there now than ever, primarily due to the global community of the internet, digital distribution, Kickstarter and the rising acceptance of gaming, there is also decent access to the entire modern history of gaming. Want to play Warhammer Fantasy from 1987? Do it. Want a go at rules for battling with toy soldiers on the floor written by HG Wells? Quick internet search will turn those up. Love a social RPG with vampires but also love the middle ages? Plenty of published source material for that game. We live in an age of plenty when it comes to nerdy dice games, so why complain? Simple answer, because we want something different, something that is ours. Continue reading
We’ve not had a look at what is interesting in the world of Kickstarter for a while so I’m going into the Tabletop Games category to sort through the hundreds of dull Fate RPGs, Board Games with terrible themes and inexplicably popular steampunk playing cards to find some gems that you might like.
First off, a stone cold classic, the second biggest role playing game of the late 70s:
RuneQuest second Edition
Your girl in the middle has upgraded to a breastplate from the 70s blue bra
One of the big daddies of the RPG scene and well loved by many. It’s a game I’ve never played but I am familiar with the setting, Glorantha, from some other games, mainly the excellent Kings of Dragon Pass (an absolutely amazing game that is part Choose Your Own Adventure and part Bronze Age village management game set in a fantasy world. If that doesn’t grab you as something you want to play, you’re on the wrong blog son.)
Anyway, back to the kickstarter, $30 gets you the reprint of the classic 2nd Edition RuneQuest Rulebook in Hardback with some added extras like a GM Screen. The campaign is already funded so any more money they get will go to the Stretch Goals (kickstarter lingo for “what we’ll do if we get more money”) to get other original material back in print. Not much in the way of freebies just a great price for the product, which always seems safer to me, too many campaigns over promise on stretch goals only to have gotten the sums wrong and end up up in trouble. Doesn’t look like that will be the case here as they have their heads screwed on and their eyes on the prize.
Next, a relative newcomer to RPGs:
Sly Flourish’s Fantastic Locations
Cover art looks really cool
Sly Flourish’s Fantastic Locations
It’s a book with 15 details locations to set Fantasy adventures while not being tied to any rules. Each one looks like it will be packed with detail, judging from the sample chapter on the campaign page. Check it out and see how how useful that book will be when your adventurers go off piste but you still want to give them somewhere cool to explore at the drop of a hat.
They’re funded and all extra money goes towards making the book better, adding colour, more locations and making it a much cooler product. Seems like another sensible bunch.
$15 gets you a .pdf of the book when it’s done. They’re doing it digitally because it’s 2015, I know we all like a physical book but those things are pricey to ship and a nightmare for a small company like these guys.
This next one gets a mention for making me laugh just at the idea:
Magic Missile Dice
For when adding one is too much work.
Do you play a wizard? Sick of having to add one to your dice rolls for Magic Missile? Here are the very specific dice for you.
In all seriousness, yeah it’s daft but it’s a funny and pretty unique addition to your dice bag and they’re being made by Q Workshop who make some very cool dice. They’d make a nice gift for the wizard in your party.
Again, its already funded so, unless something goes massively wrong, $20 gets you 5 of these dice. Bit steep for something you only use for one spell but totally custom dice aren’t cheap.
That’s all I saw that caught my eye as interesting, if you think there is anything I missed let me know in the comments. If you’re going to be running a Kickstarter that you think Corehammer readers would be into, shoot me an email with the details and we’ll check it out.
