Category Archives: Games

Games, Rule Sets, When Imagination Fails

Finally revised my star ship fleet combat rules

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I finally revised my star ship fleet combat rules with the comments from the last playtest.  I added a few more changes to the mechanics and a number of additions as well.  Expanded the number of ships for which I have stats, though they will need to be revised as we play with them. 

I also wrote a summary sheet that players can use to keep track of their ships during a game.  Each ship is on a single line which is an idea I got from A Fistful of TOWs.

Here they are:

We will do another play test and then I will release it to a wider set of folks. I plan to keep it to two pages, if at all possible, though I may add one more page with my design notes and motivation.

Suggestions for a name for the game are most welcome.

Games, Miniatures, Rule Sets, When Imagination Fails

Third play test of star ship rules

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We ran another play test of the star ship rules for fleet sized games we are working on.  It was Deisho vs Whitestars.  The Deisho proved to be more powerful than they should have been, raining missiles and fighters on the Whitestars and losing far too few ships considering their technological level.

I put up the pictures I took of the game.  The Deisho ships haven't been fully detailed yet.

Lots of good feedback on improving the rules.  I'll post them once we have another playtest, but if you want to see them now, email info at whenimaginationfails dot org and I will send you the version with the latest edits when I add them.

Miniatures, When Imagination Fails

Always paint your ships all at once

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Last weekend I prep'd and primed a whole bunch of star ships from Ravenstar's Cold Navy line in a medium gray. I finally got the chance to paint the base coat on a set of six Deisho ships to complement the nine other ships I had painted.

Unfortunately, it had been about half a year since I painted, and the base color, a Floquil dark gray, proved to be darker than the previous attempt and I must have put the color on too thick. The new ships came out in a far darker and more green than the previous try. I compensated by making a wash with water and the Floquil concrete, which lightened the base color but, as expected, left more of the concrete color in crevasses. I solved that problem by painting the crevasses with a dark gray wash.

The effect will be nice once I detail the ships, but I didn't get the base color to match well enough. Hopefully, when I apply the base coat to the third group, it will look more like the first group and not the group I am working on now.

By Will Alone, Games

Working on By Will Alone rules, contact me if you want to help play test.

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I am planning to start a gaming space in the basement (if my son doesn't beat me to it), which will allow me to setup a table on which I can run By Will Alone games. More opportunities to test the rules should hopefully lead to me finishing the By Will Alone rules by the end of the year.

If you are in the Boston, Massachusetts area, and want to help me play test the rules, just call or txt me at: (617) 863-0385

By Will Alone, Current Affairs, Thailand

Thai government begins crackdown

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The Red-Shirts' accepted Prime Minister Abhisit's offer to dissolve parliament and hold a November election, but demanded that Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban to
face criminal charges for his
role in the April 10 crackdown.   Abhisit rejected the Red-Shirts' demand, rescinded the offer of a November election and announced that his government will expel the Red-Shirts from their encampment in the business district in Bangkok.  The Red-Shirts have called for reinforcements.

According to Voice of America, the government crackdown has begun with the shooting of a Thai general who is supportive of the Red-Shirts in their encampment.

Other reporting: Christian Science Monitor, BBC, Times, Al Jazeera, New York Times.  I would have included the Bangkok Post, but I couldn't get to their articles for some unknown reason.