Uninformed opinions on legal matters...

For those of you who haven't read about it yet, Games Workshop's legal team spent their Thanksgiving sending out another round of "cease & desist" letters. This time the target wasn't a simple blogger with an unfortunate URL or someone stealing artwork for a message board - the target was Boardgamegeek.com, a major all-games review and playaids hub.

Needless to say, the online communities hosted some lively debates on the subject. As with most internet arguments, people jumped to conclusions without exploring the details. Personally, I'd rather have all the facts before I weigh in, so I dug a bit deeper into exactly what had to be removed. See here for a complete list.

Normally I err on the side of the copyright holder, but some of these takedowns were absolutely silly. Currently "supported" (stocked) games such as Blood Bowl, Necromunda, and Five Armies... this I understand. Abandoned minigames like Brewhouse Bash, The Lost Patrol, Doom of the Eldar, etc... This seemed harsh as these never received more than an initial release from GW, but they are still part of the 40k universe and its IP. So I can forgive this with a simple rolling of my eyes.

But also on that list are Judge Dredd, Warlock, Rogue Trooper... all games from the early 80s, when GW was an independent games publisher and not dedicated to the Warhammer hobbies. These games haven't been produced in decades, aren't supported, aren't announced as future releases... and GW feels the need to "protect" these games? After this many years, I don't understand what they are trying to accomplish. Their legal department seems to be operating without any real guidelines, boundaries, or common sense. With the GW studio falling incredibly silent over the past few years, the company has very little interaction with the general public (especially in North America, where hobby centers are few and far between). When the only "voice" or "face" on a company is its legal department demanding takedowns of fan-created content for 30-year-old games, that company's reputation should suffer accordingly.

GW needs to quickly change into a company that is far more supportive of its veteran (ie: long-term spending) gamers. I would offer the following:

1 - Developers' Kit. Buried deeply within their website are their personal-use guidelines and disclaimer requirements. These are the disclaimers you see on major message boards, FTW/BOLS downloads, etc. If I was a kid entering the hobby today, wanting to start a blog, I'm not sure how easily I would find this information.

GW needs a PROMINENT link on their main website - something like "developers' resources," "fan content creation," or "blogger toolkit." On this page should be plain-English guidelines for how to post your disclaimers, what is forbidden by copyright and what isn't, etc. They could even devise a set of "public domain" logos that fans could put on their homemade content. This would keep fanmade content from being "mistaken" for official works, and show tremendous support to their long-term gamers. They could even host a database of current fan websites - it wouldn't be as good as an official forum, but it would be something.

2 - Release of abandoned games. Those 1970s-1980s games that aren't related to Warhammer, 40k, or LOTR? Release them to the public. They aren't making money off of them, nor do they have the manpower or resources to try to profit from them today. They should simply have a "History of GW" page on their website listing Judge Dredd, Warlock, Dark Futures, Dr. Who, and their other "abandonware" properties and their release years. Collectors could use this information to find these games on the secondhand market, and those who still play them would be free to develop their own resources (as was on BGG until yesterday).

3 - Release of out-of-publication WFB/40k games. Awhile back, GW released Battle For Armageddon and Chaos Attack as PDFs. Why not do this with all those one-shot games? Brewhouse Bash, Doom of the Eldar, Advanced Space Crusade, Advanced Heroquest... the list goes on. These games are either print-and-play, or are rules that could be used with current-line miniatures. They could even do quickie stories about the mini games... such as how to use modern WFB miniatures with your downloaded Advanced Heroquest rules, missions, and counters. A little work with publications they already possess could easily sell a few more current models.

GW could be very clever with these games, just as many of their customers have been in the past. "Heading to a friend's place for the weekend, but can't take your 40k army? Just take a few Tyranid Warriors and Space Marine Scouts with you, and introduce them to Advanced Space Crusade. Maybe you'll find a new permanent opponent!" Many veteran gamers were introduced to GW by Space Hulk, Heroquest, Space Crusade, etc. There's no reason they couldn't do that with another generation of gamers... just using a slightly modernized distribution model.

In the case of the print-and-plays... these should only be released if Fantasy Flight has decided completely against selling them. Print-and-play would also work great for the old White Dwarf card sections. In fact, why not release as many of those as possible? Some of the scenic bits were very nice. They might be enough to keep beginners around long enough to actually buy Citadel terrain.

These steps would clearly define GW's level of IP protection, open the door to former customers who have walked away because of their legal practices, and expand their potential customer base by using current veterans as marketing representatives. What do they have to lose, other than a few weeks at the scanner and blogging terminal?

Alternative Rules - Forge Of War

And now for one of the more controversial subjects of the Games Workshop hobby - alternative rule systems.

By their own admission, Games Workshop is a miniatures company above all other things. The mechanics of the game we call Warhammer 40,000 haven't actually changed much since 1989 - it has always been IGO-UGO, separate rolls to hit, wound, and save. Through four-plus revisions and editions, these mechanics have evolved into a comprehensive set of battle rules. But they are still cumbersome, and do not represent the flow of battle. To most 40k players this isn't an issue - they want a universal game they can play in a store or club, that is supported by a major corporation, and that will always have a steady stream of new models. But a handful of players aren't interested in a universal game they can play with strangers, and are more interested in finding rules to support the models they have (whether produced by Games Workshop or not).

Many free alternate rules exist, and have for years. And I have investigated them on several occasions, only to go back to 40k every time. The reasons for this vary tremendously. Some are systems like Stargrunt, which are free and supported, but really aren't any less complicated than 40k once gameplay actually starts. Others have been gaining popularity, like Two Hour Wargames and Fast And Dirty. Both are pretty good systems which seem to have been created around fixing specific problems with 40k, and play much faster. But both of these have charts for everything. I'm tired of consulting so many charts! A quick reference sheet should be one or two pages, not four to eight! Also, neither system seems capable of supporting 100+ model games. So none of the alternates jumped out as being viable in my mind.

Until I discovered Forge Of War.

This ruleset is absolutely fantastic. It has an initiative/command system loosely reminiscent of Epic:Armageddon, which has been widely recognized as GW's best system. It introduces a D-Marker system similar to Epic 40,000's use of Blast Markers, so that might be why I enjoy it so much. And it resolves fighting/close combats with a single modified roll, with modifiers very intuitive and easy to remember after your first few games. Best of all, the Yahoo group has very playable stats for most 40k units. One of the group members created a very complex calculator to automatically convert stats - balance is maintained at GW codex levels. I have played a variety of games using Imperial Guard, Orks, and Space Marines - all function exactly as they do in 40k. In fact, I've played two test comparison games; playing a standard 40k game, then replaying the same mission/armies using Forge of War. In both of these comparisons, Forge of War produced almost IDENTICAL results to 40k - in about half the playing time.

So here is my challenge to anybody interested in trying something different. Download Forge of War from The Game Shed, join the Yahoo group, get the most updated 40k stats, and play a demo game or two. I'm not saying you'll never play 40k again... but you will be pleasantly surprised by the gameplay of Forge of War.

Scratch-built Killa Kans

For some time, I've been inspired by (Bell of Lost Soul's) Bulwark's great article about scratchbuilding Killa Kans cheaply:

http://www.belloflostsouls.net/2007/04/making-killa-kans.html

Since there are no heavily-supported rumors of new plastic Kans coming out soon, I decided to try my own scratchbuild for my new Bad Moon army. I didn't want to completely copy Bulwark's design, but figured it was a good place to start. So I set aside a few other bits from my collection to use (mostly Rogue Trader Ork heavy plasma guns), and was ready to hit Home Depot for button-drippers (see Bulwark's article) when I looked down at my workbench and saw the humble Citadel plastic barrel.

I immediately began to smile.

The Citadel barrel looked like it was just the right size to hold a Grot and some controls. I looked around the Bunker for a few more ideas, and saw the 90-degree pipes on the Imex Power Plant scenery kit. A few minutes with an Exacto knife, some files, and some superglue, and this is what I produced:

Junkyard constructs meets 1960's sci-fi robots. I love 'em. The parts I used:

• Body - Citadel barrel
• Hatch - Imex Syberclicks set (useless as a whole, but a great source for individual parts)
• Armor - from the original plastic Rogue Trader battlewagon, re-released during the Gorkamorka days in a parts bag.
• Arms and Legs - piping from the Imex Power Plant (a great set, both as a whole and for parts)
• Hips - old Epic Ork wagon gun turrets
• Feet - plastic Epic stompa feet (though almost anything would work for feet)
• Close combat weapon - Rogue Trader power klaw
• Grotzooka/Mega Blasta - Rogue Trader heavy plasma gun

Kans 2 and 3 followed the same basic formula. The only difference was that instead of a hatch, I left both lids open and inserted plastic Grots (one was a 2nd Edition Grot, one was a broken Space Crusade figure). I also used different close combat weapons on each... one was a modern buzzsaw, the other is also from the old Epic wagon sprue.

All in all, it was an inexpensive, quick, and entertaining way to produce a Heavy Support option for my new Bad Moon army. My next scratchbuild will probably be a battlewagon... I'm just not a huge fan of the new Citadel version. I'd rather make something like the old epic Battle Fortresses or the Forgeworld gunwagons. If any readers have created major custom Ork jobs like these, let me know and I will post links to your work.

Starting the Waaagh - two takes on 500-point Ork forces.

'Oi lads!

First, let me apologize for the lack of recent updating. I spent over a week in bed with our wonderful new strain of Influenza, while helping my girlfriend recover from an emergency appendectomy.

But even while resting, I've been doing some work. I needed a break from my power-armored forces (all three flavors of Dark Angels, plus Executioners for the Badab campaign), and decided to re-start my Orks.


I haven't done anything with non-Epic Orks since Gorkamorka was in publication, so that should tell you something. Those Gorkamorka days, combined with a few sets of Black Reach Orks, gave me what I felt would be a great core for a new Evil Sunz army. As with all things, I started with 500 points:

HQ: Mek with twin-linked shoota, power klaw, bosspole (Black Reach boss model)
Troops: 4 Nobz with Big Choppas (Trukk with Red Paint and Wrecking Ball)
Troops: 9 Slugga Boyz, Boy with Big Shoota, Nob with Big Choppa (Trukk with Red Paint)
Fast: 3xDeffkoptas with Rokkit Launchers

I'm fairly certain that I was already under H1N1's thrall when I made this ridiculous list. You're reading this correctly - only 16 greenskins at 500 points. But it seemed like a good enough idea for me to get painting:


I like the basic color scheme... it only took me three days' recovering time to paint those 500 points. In any case, last Friday evening I was able to put this army list (and I use that term very loosely) to the test against my buddy's Cadians. And by Cadians, I mean two full platoons and a barebones Leman Russ. The results, as you can well imagine, were completely laughable.

As I mopped several green puddles from the streets of my ruined city, it occurred to me that maybe, just maybe, I should be more concerned with numerical superiority at low-point games than with mobility. I shelved my fresh new Evil Sunz, opened my cabinet, and dug through my Rogue Trader and 2nd Edition plastic Orks.

I didn't want to repeat the same scheme and theme with two radically different model sets, so I decided to build my Orks 2.0 as Bad Moons. A lucky eBay find landed me about sixty well-painted Rogue Trader boyz, which gave me this scheme (along with a dozen others):


I'm going to retouch the yellows and browns with modern Foundation paints, and redo the base once I finalize my new desert-table scheme. Other than that, I'm more than satisfied with this appearance, and will use it to produce my Bad Moon army. The new 500 point list:

HQ: Mek with Shokk Attack Gun
Troops: 29 Shoota Boyz (3 with heavy shootas), Nob with power klaw
Troops: 8 Slugga Boyz, 1 Boy with heavy shoota, 1 Nob with big choppa (Trukk with red paint)
Troops: 18 Grotz, Runtherd

60 greenskins at 500 points. I playtested it against my own 500-point Executioner list on Monday. The results were far more satisfying than using the glorified Gorkamorka mob from last week's sessions, and each 500-point increment I add to this force will include one more shooty mob. I have over a hundred Rogue Trader boyz to use in this army, along with tons of great 1st and 2nd edition models (two original plastic Battlewagons, some old Power Armor Nobz that will be my Meganobz, etc). An unsatisfying portion for now is the Grot Mob. In terms of models, I have eighty 2nd Edition mono-pose Grots... and nothing else. And the Rogue Trader boyz are so much more high-tech in terms of clothing and equipment (compared to modern Orks) that the new Grots would look out-of-place. For 3-point models, I think I'll allow boring to win. My test scheme for the Grot Mob:


Nothing fancy - Black spray, Adeptus Battlegrey drybrush of the entire model, Boltgun drybrush of the blasta, Gretchin Green on the face, ears, and arms, and Iyanden Darksun on the helmet and belt. It'll never win a Golden Demon - but the entire thing, from the time I picked up a brush to the time it was done, took less than five minutes. So it will be very easy to knock out a mob or two of these as I rebuild my army.

Tomorrow's post will feature the development of my 1000-point army, along with some conversion goodness. Stay tuned!

Fog of War Expansion Preview: Force Selection

After some debating, this is the trial version of the Fog of War force selection rules (extract from the in-progress book):

Fog of War uses a variable army size for each mission. These are deployed in increments of 500 points, with a total army size of 3000 points. The first 2500 points should be chosen from a single codex, but may use allies when standard rules permit (Inquisitiorial ally rules, Kroot mercenaries, etc). The army is constructed as follows:

• 500-point Vanguard (explained below).

• 1000-point army. This army must combine the Vanguard with a 500-point addition to create a legal army (one HQ and two Troops choices).

• 1500-point army. This force must be a legal army (one HQ and two Troops choices) and include the Vanguard. This can be accomplished by adding 500 points to the above 1000-point army, or by creating a completely different 1000-point addition to the Vanguard.

• 2000-point army and

• 2500-point army. The remaining additions are restricted only by the standard Force Organization Chart, created however the player desires.

• 500-point addition which will create a 3000-point "apocalyptic" army. This remaining addition can be chosen freely, and may include flyers, super-heavies, additional units from the army's codex (or codices), or units from another codex (subject to the Apocalypse ally rules).
  

Vanguard Composition

The Vanguard is the core force used in all Fog of War missions. It consists of the following units:

• One mandatory choice from Troops
• One mandatory choice from Troops OR Elites
• Maximum 1 HQ unit
• Maximum 1 vehicle with a total armor value over 33 (sum of front, side, and rear values).
• Other units can be chosen from any Force Organization Chart entry, subject to the above restrictions.

Sample Army - Dark Angels

Vanguard: Belial, Deathwing Squad, 5-man Tactical Squad in Rhino
1000 points: Vanguard plus Vindicator, Ravenwing Attack Squad, and Devastator Squad
1500 points: Vanguard plus Interrogator-Chaplain, Mortis Dreadnought, Deathwing Squad, Ravenwing Attack Squad, and Land Raider
2000 points: Vanguard plus Interrogator-Chaplain, Deathwing Squad, Tactical Squad with Razorback, 2 Ravenwing Attack Squads, Devastator Squad
2500 points: Vanguard plus Interrogator-Chaplain, Mortis Dreadnought, Two Deathwing Squads, Tactical Squad with Razorback, 2 Ravenwing Attack Squads, Devastator Squad, Land Raider, and Vindicator
3000 points: 2500 points plus Deathwing squad and Land Raider Prometheus