Like many geeks, I'm a fan of a well-designed system. When I look at something and see harmony and cohesion and logical dependencies, I consider it a thing of beauty. I also enjoy a system that's robust, and built to last. It's why "my" edition of D&D will likely always be 3rd edition (in the form o...
Recently, Mantic Games released the PDF version of the Epic Warpath rulebook to Kickstarters. I appreciate this, because it means that while I wait for my game assets to arrive, I can start learning the game. As a player of Firefight, I predicted the rules would be at least a little familiar, bu...
In 2023, Games Workshop re-released the first edition (titled Rogue Trader) of Warhammer 40,000 to celebrate the game's 30-ish year anniversary. I'm a sucker for nostalgia for things I missed out on, so I bought a copy and now I'm reviewing it as I read. This post covers Chapter 4: The Advanced...
Back when I bought my first box of Warhammer 40,000 miniatures, I naïvely expected to open the box, follow the assembly instructions, and end up with a valid battle unit. What I found instead was that every soldier in the box could be assembled with any one of several weapons, heads (helmet and no...
Games Workshop re-released the first edition (titled Rogue Trader) of Warhammer 40,000 to celebrate the game's 30th anniversary, and I'm reviewing it chapter by chapter. This post covers the second half of Chapter 3: Age of the Imperium.
So far, Age of the Imperium has provided a little lo...
Imperium Maledictum is a skill-based d100 roleplaying game set in the Warhammer 40,000 universe. I purchased the PDF from Drivethrurpg and enjoyed it so thoroughly that I special ordered the hardcover (I even had to import it from the UK). This is my review of the book and the game system.
Cu...
Games Workshop re-released the first edition (titled Rogue Trader) of Warhammer 40,000 to celebrate the game's 30th anniversary. I purchased it upon [re]release, and I'm reviewing it chapter by chapter. This post covers the first section of the very long Chapter 3: The Age of the Imperium.
C...
I build a lot of dungeons for the tabletop games I play. They're not always literal dungeons, but conceptually almost every map layout with enclosed spaces is a game dungeon. The game dungeon is a way to enforce passage through specific points on the map (usually a door), to conceal surprises hidden...
Games Workshop re-released the first edition (titled Rogue Trader) of Warhammer 40,000 to celebrate the game's 30th anniversary. I bought a copy to taste the nostalgia that, as someone who started out in 40k in the 2000s, I never got to experience. I'm reviewing it chapter by chapter, and this p...
Within any gaming tradition, there emerges a myth that a "perfect" example of a game exists. A perfect game doesn't exist, of course, because we all have a unique definition of perfect. That said, if a game is close to being perfect, it's Firefight by Mantic Games, and here's why.
I'm a fan of...
In 2018, Games Workshop released the Warhammer Quest: Blackstone Fortress. A combination between a dungeon crawl, a roleplaying game, and a wargame, Blackstone Fortress is a campaign-based game with varied mechanics and an emerging storyline. I bought the game 4 years after its release, and it's...
Games Workshop re-released the first edition (titled Rogue Trader) of Warhammer 40,000 to celebrate the game's 30th anniversary. (I'm not sure about their maths. The book was released in 1987, and the re-release was announced in 2023 and shipped to customers in 2024.) What little nostalgia I hav...
A year after purchasing the Imperium Maledictum RPG rulebook, I had the chance to run the Chemical Burn adventure at the Kapcon gaming convention in Wellington. Then I ran it a second time with one of my weekly gaming groups. This is my review of the module, with no spoilers until the appropriat...
I'm watching the Kill Lupercal animated series on Warhammer+, and this is my review of it. There may be very minor spoilers, but ideally no more than you'd get from the episode description.
There are apparently 3 episodes in this series, so this episode is a full third of the series and I have...
I've been building a Vindicare Assassin for Warhammer 40,000. I have the rules for Assassins in the Imperial Agents 10th edition codex book, but by chance I saw the 3rd edition Assassins codex at a second-hand bookshop. It's only 12 pages long, so I picked it up, and this is my review of it.
W...
In August 2024, a rulebook called Boarding Actions was released for Warhammer 40,000. As an expansion for the game, Boarding Actions provides missions inside the corridors of vast space ships, which means that having terrain to build walls and doors is essential to the game. Without walls and...