Conflicts in Torchbearer and Mouse Guard

I ran Torchbearer for the first time with a new group of players practically unfamiliar with the system yesterday. If you've read any of the games that comes out of Burning Wheel HQ you know that Luke and his partners in crime create games that are very unique and don't really fit into most of the rpg moulds already out there. Yes, BW and its siblings are "indie roleplaying games" in the sense that they are produced by a small group of people who make games because they love it and it has unconventional rules. But if there's one thing I think that modern indie rpgs have in common it's a very light and quick system that is used to promote both storytelling and player agency. And while some of that is true for Torchbearer and Mouse Guard as well, the systems are, while not actually complex, really quite crunchy!

There quite a bit of moving parts which can be overwhelming for a newcomer to the system, but all of the parts are moving in the same direction: pushing you to play the character you created and making sure the story always keeps evolving. I won't be discussing the entire system today (read my Mouse Guard review for a rundown of the basics) but would like to focus on the mechanics of the conflict.

After our Torchbearer session we sat down and discussed the system and what the players thought of it. I think the general consensus was that some parts felt a bit strange and "unrealistic" but that other parts were pretty cool, and everyone wanted to keep going to try and get a better understanding of how it all fits together. One of the elements that felt odd to a couple in the group was the conflict system. I think it's party my fault as I only briefly explained the interactions between the four different actions you can choose but also I'm sure it stemmed from the fact that it's so different from any roleplaying game they have played before that it just felt alien and they had a hard time seeing the point of it. As I was starting to write down my take on the conflict system, and why it is the way it is, in an email I thought I might as well make a blog post out of it.

When you get into a conflict in Torchbearer or Mouse Guard, be it a fight with swords a battle of wits or a chase on horseback you use the same basic system. You roll for disposition as a group. This is basically your conflict "hit points" and side who first goes down to 0 loses. There are four actions to choose from - attack, defend, feint and maneuver. The players and the DM secretly choose three each and who should perform which action, then each is revealed and resolved in turn. The cards interact in different ways and depending on what weapons/tools are used you can modify this interaction in meaningfull ways. If both choose the attack action each side get to test independantly and both are likely to take damage. Attack against defend on the other hand is a versus test where the attacker can inflict damage on the defender or the defender can regain lost disposition, depending on who wins the roll.

Jacob, one of the players, likened it to rock, paper, scissors and in a way he's right - but it's a lot more complex and nuanced than something as simple as that. But being new to the game and not really seeing those nuances (I think the players more or less picked actions at random) I can see why it felt simply abstract, random and slightly frustrating. So why use a system like this? What's wrong with the good old BRP way of rolling under to hit and then the defender can try and roll under to parry/dodge? Well, the way I see it this way of handling conflicts aims to solve a bunch of problems that often pop up in roleplaying games and here is how it works:

All Conflicts Should be Equal.
Every Roll Should Count.
Tactics Should Matter.
It Should be Fast.

Below I'll discuss these four concepts. First just let me say that I will mostly use actual combat as the go-to example when writing, which is ironic considering All Conflicts Should be Equal, but I'm doing it simply because it's easy to picture for most of us. I'm also refering a lot to "traditional" roleplaying games which is just as loose a moniker as indie, but if you think games with an aim to simulate real life as the basic concept you're not far wrong.  So here we go:


All Conflicts Should be Equal
I'm not saying that every conflict should be literally equal, but rather that a conflict where you try to rally a group of frigthened villagers, or when you try to lose the wolfriders that are tracking you, or when you argue with the Duke about the inheritance should be just as important and detailed as a battle with a band of slavering frogmen! In the vast majority of roleplaying games the chapter on combat will probably be one of the most rules heavy, while the chapter on social conflicts are simply... non-existant!

Using the same conflict system for any conflict worthy of that name (that's to say, something larger than a simple versus test) will make sure that an argument carries just as much dramatic as well as mechanical weight as actual physical combat. It's a way of saying that they are all equally important for the game. There are other systems these days that do similar things, most notably FATE, but it still bears mentioning.

Every Roll Should Count
With a background in "traditional" roleplaying games I'm used to systems where combat is divided into rounds and every round you get to do your attack and you roll the die, and the opponent parries or dodges and then the next person rolls and it goes around and around. Nothing wrong with this per se, it's more of a simulationist approach to gaming that is/was very strong in Europe I think. However it tends to lead to combat situations where you roll dice a lot and most of the time nothing interesting actually happens during an attack. In an entire combat sequence perhaps only four or five rolls really have everyone at the table excited and invested in the outcome, while the large majority are of the less interesting attack-dodge-attack-parry-attack-2hp damage-attack-miss variety.

So why not try and distill a conflict down to those exciting rolls that actually mean something?! Most conflicts in Torchbearer and Mouse Guard involve relatively few rolls. It could all be over in just one or two action volleys, although most of the I imagine it being more like five or six. Still, this is far from the dice rolling orgy of many traditional (read simulationist) roleplaying games. This means that every roll is important as a certain victory could turn into bitter defeat at any turn! Basically there is no "combat filler", you cut straight to the juicy stuff - which is very much in theme with the whole Burning Wheel methodology: only roll when the outcome actually matters.

Tactics Should Matter

In a traditional roleplaying game combat (or any other conflict) tactics can be a difficult thing to quantify. Sure, your players can lay ambushes or try and flank the enemy which might give them a bonus here or there but there is still the matter of the GM trying to have his NPCs act in realistic ways to the player characters actions without being influenced by meta knowledge and table chatter. I hear you say that any GM worth his salt should be able to differentiate between player (or GM in this case) knowledge and character knowledge, and I'd be inclined to agree with you. However, how often has it happened in a traditional roleplaying game that you as a player has simply outwitted the enemy through clever tactics and manuvers? And I mean from turn to turn actions rather than starting the combat as ambushers or something. In a game involving projectile weapons I can see it being a little bit easier, but if it's good old stick-him-with-the-sharp-end type of combat it invariably comes down to attack-dodge-attack-parry-attack-2hp damage-attack-miss with no sense of tactical depth beside trying a different attack now and then.

With this kind of hidden scripting it really becomes a contest between the players and the GM. The players need to seriously consider the capabilities of the opposition, their own abilities as well as the mind and machinations of the GM. Imagine a group of murder-hobos squaring off against ten angry kobolds in Torchbearer:

Jimmy: "Hmm... that is a lot of kobolds, and together they roll a lot of dice. But they're only one hit point each so if we start with an attack to try and take out as many as possible in one fell swoop and then defend to recover lost disposition I think we would be in a position to take them out in a final attack!"
Claes: "Sounds like a plan! Give me the first attack action and I'll go at them with my battle-axe."
Jimmy: "Sure, then I'll take the defend action and use my shield."
Jacob: "Are we sure we want to make the last action another attack? I could use my sling with a maneuver to help set up for a strong attack by Fiord in the next round."
Nicke: "Normally I'd agree with you as I'm not that strong a fighter, but I have cast my Eldritch Dart spell and I'm Angry, giving me an extra die... I can handle it. Give me that second attack action."
Claes: "I just hope the GM's second action isn't a feint..."

In most traditional roleplaying games this dimension of cooperation and round to round planning would be missing. Sure everyone would do their little thing to try and kill the enemies but for the most part it would boil down to individual attacks without much coordination. Of course, I'm generalizing here but I think you understand my point.

Caveat: I've never properly played D&D but I'm quite aware that, in later editions especially, tactical combat is pretty much all that is left of that roleplaying game. While I enjoy the added tactical dimensions of the scripting system I think that D&D goes too far and becomes something I would rather play as a board game or at the computer.

It Should be Fast
This goes hand in hand with Every Roll Should Count in that the system tries to make sure conflicts don't take up the greater part of a gaming session. I can remember many times when a combat encounter (it's always combat!), even a small one, has taken two or three hours to resolve, simply because of all the dice that needed to be rolled and how many of those rolls that didn't really have much of an effect. You can get a lot of roleplaying done instead of drawing out a three minute in-game event two two hours!

The first conflict yesterday, against some Tomb Guardians, I think lasted four or five actiond and took all of ten minutes to play through - and yet it managed to be an interesting conflict with meaningfull choices.


That's how I look at the system. It's different from what we're used to and while it's more abstract in some ways it also has a lot more tactical depth to it and it makes sure that every roll is relevant. It's not better than a more traditional approach per se, we're all different after all, but I certainly think it's a well thought out alternative that can be even more exciting and rewarding than the systems we grew up playing.

It's tough just picking it up on a fly during your first session but I think after having tried it a couple of times and now having the chance to read through the conflict rules in privacy in preparation for the next session, future conflicts will prove very interesting! No more handing out actions on the fly... instead thinking ahead and strategizing will win the day. I would love to hear your thoughts on the system and what you percieve as good or bad.

I should have a proper Torchbearer session report up within the next few days...

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Future - 2014

Alright, so the end of January seems like as good a time as any to write about what I'm looking forward to and what games I'd like to play during the coming year. 2013 and its accomplishments are behind us, let's have take a look ahead...

Board Games

Here I'll talk both about board games that I'm looking forward to trying as well as games I already own and am hoping to play more of. Generally I've come to the conclusion that I really would like to play fewer board games more often - that is to say, not just mark one play and move to the next one but instead play the game several times to really experience it properly.

While I mentioned earlier that my interest in co-op games have waned as of late, I still couldn't help pre-ordering Plaid Hat's upcoming game Dead of Winter. In it you play as a group of survivors after a great apocalypse and you need to work together to keep your community going. However each player also has a secret personal goal that they need to pursue and their is a kind of traitor mechanic as well as there can be a "separatist" among the survivors. So far it sounds kind of like a mix between Battlestar Galactica and Robinson Cruose, but the story elements seem to be a lot stronger than any of those thanks to the "Crossroads" mechanic that Plaid Hat has introduced. It's a way of creating personal experiences for the different characters in the game, usually leading to a tough choice. Also, there are zombies in the game but it's not a zombie game.

Descent makes the list again this year! Which is kind of weird, but seeing as we didn't manage to get our second campaign going last year I think we should redouble our efforts this year. We have the large Labyrinth of Ruin campaign yet untouched and the upcoming Shadows of Nerekhall looks pretty cool as well, with the city theme! We really had a great time playing through The Shadow Rune from the base game and with that experience I think the heroes will make very different choices when questing and building their charaters this time around. Hopefully I'll actually get to switch seat and try out the hero side of things, but even if I don't I'd be happy to simply play more decent (and paint some minis!).

Next up is a game that I learned about for the first time yesterday. It's called Greenland (sorry, no link as it's
not on BGG yet) and is Phil Eklund's next(?) release. I had the fortune to meet the man himself and watch a prototype of Greenland being played. It's a card game and shares mechanics with both Pax Porfiriana and Origins. Thematically it's about the struggle of the three different cultures living on Greenland starting in the year 1000: the Thule, the Dorsets and the Norse. Instead of trying to amass victory points or actively knock out your opponents it's actually a survival game and the last player standing is the winner. As you play the climate gradually changes and makes it tougher to hunt and live off the land meaning that if you can't keep up you'll find your population dwindling!

Although the game is built on the foundation of two fairly complex games I think Greenland will actually be pretty quick to play once you've learned it. An hour or so is probably doable in the games current state, which is really cool as most of Phil's games are longish affairs. It's also worth mentioning that his paragraph might just as well have read "Any Phil Eklund game" as I really enjoy all of them, but I thought it best to focus on one... Greenland! Quite excited for this one!

Terra Mystica was one of those games that I thought looked pretty neat in previews etc, but by the time it was released I had forgotten all about it! However I've got my eye on it now again as I really like the combination of what is classically an Ameritrash theme and the mechanics of a solid Euro. Kind of like what Lords of Waterdeep did, and that was well received even by mostly Ameritrash players in my group. Speaking of Euroes I'd like to get Caverna as well, but seeing as Terra Mystica is a fair bit cheaper and don't have that tell-tale Uwe Rosenberg box layout it might be an easier sell. Hehe!



I also want to play more Expedition: Northwest Passage, Runewars, Archipelago, Earth Reborn, A Game of Thrones, Robinson Crusoe, Star Wars The Card Game, Dune and Twilight Struggle as well. To name a few!

Roleplaying Games

Every year I say in my Future post that I will play more roleplaying games, and I don't. Except... this year I will! I've pulled together a mixed crew and we've committed to playing in rounds of three or four sessions during a couple of weeks and then rest for a few weeks before the next round of sessions. Last time we played with any regularity it was once every fortnight and I always felt that that was too far between sessions, but at our age most of us can't commit to playing once a week. However, this way we'll be able to run through an adventure (or two, if short) and keep the energy level high while still having downtime in between to spend with family etc. Hopefully it'll work well and we can get a campaign going once we've narrowed down which system we all like best. Right now the lineup looks like this:

We'll start with Torchbearer this Sunday. I had a great time playing it last year and I want to keep exploring the game as I think it has a lot of potential. I'm not sure it's the right game for a long campaign as it's fairly narrowly focused, but then again... it might surprise us! Although Torchbearer is labeled as Advanced Mouse Guard I actually think it will be an easier sell to veteran roleplayers as the subject matter is so familiar. Some of the restrictions on when you get to roll that are in MG are also removed, except of course everything in Torchbearer takes time instead - a finite resource. One of the players didn't seem to keen on trying the game as it "seemed just like the D&D red box" which is ironic as he's right but also very, very wrong. Muahahaaa!

Then we have Star Wars: Edge of the Empire from FFG. I've talked about (and reviewed) the Beginner Game before and had been planning to run that at some point, but in the end I caved and bought the proper core book as well. This is certainly the most traditional of the four games on the line, and although that makes for easy running (but requiring more prepp) it also feels a little bit boring. Don't get me wrong, I really like what FFG has done with the Star Wars license and love the focus on fringe scum, but starting out I'd like to rock the traditional rpg boat a bit and try something different. Also, I really haven't had time to absorb the almost 500 page tome that is the core rulebook!

The One Ring has been one of my dream games to run (or play) since I got it Tales from Wilderland which has a bunch of loosely linked scenarios (getting more linked as they progress) that all really quite neat, but it seems it has been trumped by The Darkening of Mirkwood campaign that stretched over 30 years of game time! I haven't read it yet but people are saying it's the best thing since sliced bread so I'm getting excited. Apparently it's somewhat similar in scope to The Great Pendragon Campaign which is also very highly praised. Should hopefully get the PDF in the near future so I can check it out myself.
back in 2011 as it so expertly evokes the Tolkien feeling. I actually think TOR is probably the best candidate for long term campaign play as it feels like it was built for it from the ground up. I wanted to do it with

Finally we have Mouse Guard. The game that really made me realize the greatness that is the Burning Wheel! It's the game that every roleplayer should read, regardless of if they'll actually play it (or even like it) in the end. I thought it was funny that the player who is not that interested in Torchbearer most of all wants to play Mouse Guard - then again, they are quite different thematically. The reason I threw it in the mix, besides wanting to play it of course, was to have a low prep game available to me for those time where time might be short or one of the regulars is missing. It's a great game to simply pull out and play on the fly!


You might think that FATE, especially Diaspora, is missing from this lineup and well... you are right. Diaspora is also one of my (unplayed) cornerstone games but right now I want to focus more on actually getting to grips with the with Burning Wheel family. Although I think FATE is all kinds of awesome there's something about Luke's creation that really, really appeals to me and I want my friends to get that same feeling. I think this might take three or four sessions, which is why our round system is such a good thing! After the first round we'll talk about the next round and if we should continue with Torchbearer or switch to something else. I'm hoping for at least two rounds of TB to really get to grips with it, but of course it depends on how well received it is. Oh, and we'll play Mutant: År Noll for sure when I get that!

Miniature Games

Should I just cut and past from last year? Hmm... nah, there are actually a couple of changes!

Let's take a look at the big newcomer first. Deadzone arrived just before Christmas and I've managed to put together the Enforcers at least, and even test painted one! Besides painting the rest I need to get cracking with the terrain as there is... loads of it. Anyway, Deadzone is nice since it's quick to setup and play and since there are now a bunch of people in my expanded gaming circles who have invested in it. While the campaign game is not quite as deep or detailed as Necromunda it looks like a fun romp to get the most powerful force together!

Although Dust Warfare is resting for a bit at the moment I have no doubt that we will play it during 2014. It's been our goto wargame but I wonder if Deadzone might take its place in that aspect. Then again, Deadzone doesn't have big tanks, helicopters and stomping mechas! Battlefront just to sort out the Warfare support and I'll run out and get some Steel Guard. Also, it seems like we'll see the release of the Japanese this year which could be a big boost for the game! Apparently the Vrill is still some ways off.

Infinity is still on the list even though it's been a long time since my last game. Just like my cornerstone roleplaying games I feel that Infinity is one of my cornerstone miniature games and it will continue to be a focus of mine even when it doesn't see all that much play. Things are ramping up around these parts though and I've decided to start a Steel Phalanx force as a counter weight to my Yu Jing. So far all I have is Diomedes, but more are to come.

Another potential newcomer is Dropzone Commander! I'm not entirely sure on this one quite yet, but I was thiiiis close to ordering the new core box last year after having read Ferb's great coverage on his blog. Besides, now that I've pledged for a Games & Gears DC gameboard I guess I would be stupid not to get the actual game. Haha!  The models are simply beautiful and the gameplay seems solid as well. What really got me interested in it initailly was the default urban setting of the battles as that is something you rarely see in wargames these days. It simply looks really cool fighting among sky scrapers! I'm kind of hoping that DC could be something of an Epic alternative as I miss that kind of gameplay. I've considered painting my unfinished Epic Eldar army, but these days I find the more hardish sci-fi looking DC models more to my liking.

Of course, we will also continue playing X-Wing (Corellian Corvette and rebel Transport coming soon!!) which we all like and I hope I'll get to play some 15mm stuff like Tomorrow's War and Gruntz as well as spaceship games like Lightning Strike, Starmada and perhaps the new edition of Firestorm: Armada!


Hmm... yeah, I think that's about it. Or at least those are my main aims for 2014. I guess we'll see how it went in my next Past and Future articles next year!

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December Releases for Infinity!

Let's have a quick intermission before I get into what games I'm looking forward to playing during 2014 and take a quick look at the latest Infinity releases! There was some pretty cool stuff released at the very end of the year and my resolve to go with ALEPH as my second faction is faltering a little. Hehe!

So what have we got?

First out is the resculpt of the old shotgun version of Uxia Mcneill for Ariadna. Although she got a new sculpt not too long ago the shotgun version was really in need of an update so I'm happy to see her. The last sculpt was a very dynamic action-y pose with her sliding along after having popped some baddies with her twin assault pistols. This is a bit more restrained, more looking like Uxia is just stepping around a corner going "a-HA!" or something. Which is pretty cool! I also really like her fatigues and the warm looking sweater and cap. In game she's a camo infiltrator with MSV1, a shotgun and some grenades. Not a bad little package for 28 points.

Next up we have the Celestial Guard re-pack for Yu Jing. This is not terribly exciting, but a smart move from CB's part. Boxes always looks better than blisters and it will help stores keep the stuff in stock more easily. I was going to get the hacker model in any case, but since I don't have the sniper and spitfire models either I'll probably wait and get the whole box. Having two smoke launcher models might actually come in handy!

Number three is another character, namely Bagh Mari Lt. Stephen Rao of PanO. Generally I'm not really a big fan of the PanO aesthetic, or at least not the whole knight thing they've got going. However, I love the Bagh Mari models! Some of the best in the Infinity range I think. So having a special character for them makes me happy! The helmest is unfortunately missing, but this is the norm for characters and Rao does look pretty badass with his little goatee and flowing locks. Hehe! The armour looks great - like an updated version of the old Bagh Mari armour. What has also received an upgrade is the combirifle and for that I'm very grateful! PanO had the weirdest looking weapons until this point. The characteristic backwards magazine is still there, but I'm mostly ok with that, it was the ugly barrel on the old guns I didn't like. This new one looks great though, and the assault pistol looks badass as well! In game he's not all that special, basically a souped up Bagh Mari... but the model on its own is good enough reason to have him in your army!

Now what's this big boy?! It's a Gorgos Squad for the Tohaa of course! There's been a bit of a debate regarding this guy but it seems like most people like him. Myself I'm... not sure. It's cool to have something different and a biological answer to the Cascuda but the model has not won me over quite yet. Well sculpted as always, but I feel the pose is a little off and the "bare" flesh looks a bit weird (yes, it's probably some kind of symbiont armour thing, but still). It's kind of cool in a way but also not so cool in other ways. As you can see I'm of mixed emotions. I do like the little chaksa that tags along and helps the big guy open doors and gives him a soda now and again. He looks neat!

In game it's a pretty standard medium TAG except it comes with two Flammenspeer which is a bit of a novelty! Only two shots might seem like a drawback but I don't think you'd get off more than that in a game anyway. Solid choice if you're into TAGs I'd say.

And finally, we have a new starter box - The Morat Aggresion Forces! I've had plans to get a Combined Army force for a long time, but my mind has always been set on the Shasvaasti. However with these new models I might make a reassesment. However, I'm not quite as head over heels in love with the models as the majority of the community seems to be. They are great looking in so many ways, but I feel they're starting to tread closer to GW territory with the weird body proportions of the new Morats. Yes, they are an alien warrior race so of course they're different from humans, but I can't help but get some bad GW vibes when their hands are as big as their heads! Still, apart from that little niggle they are spectacular! The new redesigned weapons look exactly like you'd expect Morat weaponry would look - blocky and brutish looking but still with a functional finesse to them. The Feurbach of course takes the cake and the Sogarat is my favourite of the bunch! Lovely box!

It's fun seeing some different heavy weapons making into starter boxes, like the rocket launcher and the Feurerbach. Seeing an Oznat for the first time is neat as well and she'll definitely come in handy with that smoke grenade launcher. Really great box that I will struggle not to run out and buy as soon as it hits the streets!


And that's it for December! A pretty good month I think although the Gorgos wasn't quite what I was hoping for. Solid looking Uxia and Rao, a decent repack and a top notch new starter box! The Morat are the winners this month, as far as I'm concerned, but Uxia and Rao aren't far behind.

Now... there's only a couple of weeks until the January releases are revealed. Woo!

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Past - 2013

Hello there and welcome to a new year! In somewhat late fashion (this is becoming a bad habit!) here is the first part of my new years posts.

Let's have a quick look at the past year and see what I've spent most of my time with. As usuall, board gaming is where it's at so let's start there.

Board Games

My top played "board" game (and actually top played game overall) was Star Wars the Card Game from FFG. I got early in the year and played it quite a bit with my friend Anders, who then bought a core set of his own. Then it lay dormant for a while until we picked it up again a few months ago. Unfortunately Anders feels he has had a hard time getting into it and hasn't invested in anything more than the core set. I've played it with a few other friends as well though who seem to like it well enough so I see this game living on in our group.

Next up is (drumroll...) High Frontier! Woo! Having a "proper" board game of this calibre at second place makes me so happy. Not only is it one of my all-time favourite games but it also takes quite an investment in time to play. I've made a couple of new friends who like Phil Eklund's stuff as much as I do, which helped of course, but I've also played it quite a lot with Claes. I think another game isn't too far off...

At third place we have another Eklund game, Bios: Megafauna! This has been the Eklund game that has been easiest to introduce to my more... casual/light gaming friends. I think it has to do with Megafauna not requiring you to plan ahead and play "the long game". While you should plan ahead, and you'll most likely do better if you do, the pseudo-chaotic nature of the game kind of allows you to fly by the seat of your pants but still get by. Kind of. Anyway, great game!

Notably, Descent has dropped off entirely and was only played once! Of course, this is very much tied to campaigning and after a year of resting I thinkthe heroes might be up for another go. Some other runner ups are Firefly, Earth Reborn, Robinson Crusoe, Panic Station, Archipelago and Twilight Imperium. Some games that I played but regret not getting to play more are Twilight Struggle, Origins: How We Became Human, Battles of Westeros, Powergrid: The First Sparks, Rex: Final Days of an Empire and Pax Porfiriana. But that's what 2014 is for!

Roleplaying games

You know the drill by now, there hasn't been much roleplaying... although there is light at the end of the tunnel! In June we played a couple of short session of Dungen World. This was on a whim after having read through the system and talked about it with a couple of friends. It was a short story about a group of adventurers fleeing from an undead terror into a mine that had found its way into an old tomb. It's a pretty neat system, very flexible, but in a way almost a bit too loose as well. We did have a lot of good laughs though! Hmm... should write about this further on.

I did write about our first experience playing Torchbearer, and you can read about it here. It was actually while I was waiting to read Torchbearer that I got Dungeon World. The whole idea of going back and doing a dungeon crawl but with new modern rules appealed to me! Unfortunately we only played Torchbearer once, but I had a great time with the system and am looking to playing it again during 2014. Just need to find the right group of people.

Finally I was invited to test the upcoming reboot of the classic Swedish roleplaying game Mutant. This new edition is called Mutant: År Noll (Mutant: Year Zero) and is a much more gritty take on the game and it takes place 15 minutes after the great apocalypse, rather than hundreds of years after it. The traditional BRP has been replaced by a kind of system more familiar to modern "indie" roleplayers, which is a good thing in my book. The crowdfunding campaign for it was very successfull and hopefully we'll see the game around April or so.




And that's it! No more rpgs. However, the light at the end of the tunnel is that I've been expanding my gaming circle, so have more potentials and I've decided to take decisive action and start a game in the next few weeks. More on this in the Future - 2014 post.

Miniature Games

This list is very similar from last year, with X-Wing taking the top place. It's not my favourite miniature game, but the solid rules, easy squadron building and quick playing time (not to mention pre-painted minis!) really makes it the game to reach for when you want something actiony without the hassle of setting up terrain and calculating army lists. The wave 3 releases have been a lot of fun, especially as I've always been a great fan of the B-wing, and the upcoming releases of the rebel transport and blockade runner has me all giddy! I even sat down and used a proper tackle box kind of thing to organize my collection. No more ziploc bags!

At second place sits Dust Warfare. I would say comfortably, but the move from FFG to Battlefront Miniatures has been a little rocky and we haven't played it since our Dust 150 project drew to a close. I really like the new heavy infantry for the SSU, but have yet to buy some. I'm sure Battlefront will work it out in the end, but I think my SSU might rest for a bit while they get everything sorted (and we're busy painting Deadzone).

I'm happy that Infinity is still making the cut every year as it's still my favourite miniature game! However, it does take more energy to play Infinity than Dust Warfare or X-Wing - not only from a painting perspective, as I want the models to look good, but also from a gaming perspective as Infinity is very deep with many possibilities during play. There seems to be some local events popping up during 2014 and I'm aiming to take part in at least a couple of them!

Besides these three I've played some Deadzone Beta games and a couple of games of 5150: Star navy. As I'm trying to narrow down my miniature gaming I don't really see this as a bad thing though. Hrmm..


Yepp, that was my gaming in 2013! I've not had quite the same wow feeling this year that I got from High Frontier last year, so there's no clear Game of the Year for me. Had I played Pax Porfiriana more that might have been it, but I don't feel I've grasped it quite yet. I really like Star Wars the card game as it's quick (but not too quick!) to play, makes deck building easy and has some really cool mechanics in it! I also enjoyed Torchbearer a lot - the Burning Wheel system (the Artha system?) really clicks with me for some reason so that was a gaming high point for sure.

In my next post I'll be writing about what the future (hopefully) holds during 2014!

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