Happy New Year everyone!

Yup, pretty accurate.

Well, there was no apoc and we're all still here.
Awesome.

Looking back at 2012, I wanted to ask you guys what more do you want from this blog?  Yes, I know I know, activity would be great, but I can only write based on the events that unfold around me.  There's work, the family, the house, all that great adult stuff that keeps you away from your hobbies.  And then of course, there's motivation.

I can't really force myself to play games, it must happen naturally.  Lately with holidays and seeing family, there's hardly any room to break out the minis and get games going.  However, I've been doing some research into The Hobbit SBG and that might be something I get into.  I don't know, only time will tell.

What would you guys like to see in 2013?  More WHFB?  40K?  The billion other games I play?
How about another writer to help keep the site active?

Feel free to let me know.
Happy New Year everyone!

The Hobbit - LotR minis game?

LotR, anyone a fan?

Alright guys, now that most of you have seen The Hobbit, I think it's time to talk about the Strategy Battle Game.  It's been a long time since I did anything with LotR (last game I worked on was Battle for Middle-Earth II).

I haven't bought the rulebook yet, but I'm thinking about picking it up and checking out the rules.  I'm fairly convinced I'm going to play either the Galadhrim and Rivendell Elves.  Maybe even some units of the High Elves, I'm not really sure.  Whatever the case is, I'm looking at Elves although Gondor and Dwarves look pretty nice as well.

Does anyone own the rulebook and/or play LotR the Strategy Battle Game?  If so, can you tell me some stuff about the game?

I don't think I'm going to get into War of the Ring because my big fantasy game is reserved for WHFB.  However, a small skirmish-style GW game with my favorite LotR stuff sounds pretty kick ass.

Game Design Series - High Elves and ASF

There's no way my HE looks like this.

Hey guys, it's been a long time.

I've been pretty busy over the last couple of weeks and it hasn't been minis related.  First it was work, then it was thanksgiving.. I've been traveling a lot and I just came back from a friend's wedding over the weekend.  I'll also be AWOL in the next couple of weeks due to Christmas break.

This is going to be the first article in a new series of articles I plan on writing.  It might not be the first of its kind, or similar to some of the other ones you've seen around the web, but it will be something special.  I'm calling this particular series, the Game Design Series.  It's basically a series that'll touch upon the finer points of gaming; breaking down the facets of why certain things are the way they are, who thought of them, or why did it originate in the first place.  I'm a huge fan of game design, most notably in the field of balance design, and I make a big deal when something just doesn't work.  I love the idea of originality and creativity, but not at the expense of game imbalance.  However, there are times where something works so wonderfully that I have to talk about it.  This is one of those times.

We'll kick this series off with why I think ASF - Always Strike First, is the best thing to happen to High Elves faction design, ever.