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3D Printing Wargame Fantasies
3D printing the superb Hexton Hills terrain tiles. Move over plastic! Resin printing is here.
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Stanley Plane Restoration
Restoring a ’60s era #4 Stanley plane.
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Tyrants of Lothal: Imperial Assault Swan Song
Tyrants of Lothal, does the Imperial Assault product line end with a whimper or a bang?
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Alien RPG: A Near Perfect Organism
ALIEN: The Roleplaying Game. A near perfect organism.
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Vallejo Airbrushing and Weathering Techniques: Buy it Again?
Because Vallejo’s Airbrushing and Weathering Techniques offers a feature and photo rich format that curates everything beautifully into one place it’s well worth considering for your own collection.
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Masking camo on a PSC 15mm StuG
Blue Tack masking on PSC 15mm StuGs. WWII camo needn’t be painful!
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Heart of the Empire: Played and Reviewed
Imperial Assault Heart of the Empire big box expansion. Played and Reviewed.
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2018 Hall of Game
2018 Hall of Game. Kids and adult’s gaming groups get the year in review treatment.
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MonsterPocalypse: The need to know about 2.0
Here’s what you need to know about Monsterpocalypse 2.0
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Battlegames Guest Post: Bricking It
I’m happy to once again contribute a guest post to Henry Hyde’s @Battlegames This time: Bricking It!
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Review: AK Interactive Wargame Techniques Magazine, First Issue
AK Interactive’s Wargame Techniques Magazine, First Issue. Is it worth buying?
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Gadgets Galore! Scratchbuilt Foamcore and Styrene North African Buildings.
Gadgets Galore! Scratchbuilt Foamcore and Styrene North African Buildings.
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Art of the Brick Lego Exhibit
Art of the Brick Lego Exhibit is a fantastic display of using Lego to create impactful art – far more than the sum of its thousands of parts.
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High School Games Club, 2018: A Banner Year
This was year 16 for the Games Club I run at my high school. It reflected the trend in the larger gaming community: numbers were up overall, girls attended almost as much as boys, and the preferred type of game shifted decidedly from cardboard, dice, and counter to games focussed on more social interaction.
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Desert Terrain: Village Well Tutorial
Henry Hyde’s Battlegames Patreon campaign continues to deliver excellent editorial and strategy pieces. I’m very pleased to have contributed another terrain making guest post for Henry to highlight the scenery aspect of our hobby.
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What a Tanker: Full Metal Dashboards
What a Tanker! WWII tank combat game by Too Fat Lardies. Making magnetic dashboards with built in QRS.
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CanGames Ottawa 2018: Show Highlights
CanGames Ottawa 2018: Show Highlights
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Terrain: Mud Brick House by Renedra, Part Two
Building and painting Renedra’s Mud Brick House, part 2 of 2.
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Why patronage? The case for funding quality content
The Case for Funding Quality Hobby Content, or: The High Price of Free
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Middle East and African Terrain: Mud Brick House by Renedra, Part One
Let’s have a look at Renedra’s Mud Brick House terrain piece and how to convert it for maximum versatility.
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Archangel: William Gibson’s Gripping Graphic Novel
Let’s open up William Gibson’s graphic novel “Archangel” and see if it’s worth a look.
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Desert Terrain: Palm Trees Tutorial
Scratch built 28mm palm trees tutorial. Guest post on Henry Hyde’s Battlegames website.
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Smash Up! Free Sheep and Big in Japan expansions
Smash Up! card game free Sheep faction and Big in Japan expansion. How do they measure up?
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Jabba’s Realm: Campaign Wrap Up
We’ve just finished a four month Imperial Assault: Jabba’s Realm campaign. A leap of faith that paid off! Here’s some commentary by our veteran players and Imperial GM.
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Building Warlord Game’s Modular Terrain
Building Warlord Games and Sarissa Precision modular terrain board. Trial, many errors, and triumph.
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Mansions of Madness: A Walk Through the Streets of Arkham
The first Mansions of Madness big box expansion takes us to the Streets of Arkham. Let’s take a walk through the streets to see if it’s worth the trip.
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Painting Wargaming Figures by Javier Gomez, Should you Buy it?
“Painting Warming Figures” by J. Gomez is about getting a uniform quality set of playable minis on the table in a reasonable amount of time with techniques that everyone can understand and employ.
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What I Learned From My First Year of Blogging
A year ago I set out to write one post per week about gaming. Mission accomplished! Here’s what I learned from a year of blogging.
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Publication in Wargames, Soldiers, & Strategy Magazine, #94
I’m thrilled to have an article published in Wargames, Soldiers, and Strategy Magazine #94. This edition’s theme is Tank Combat During WWII. My ‘how-to’ article is about building Renedra’s Mud Brick House terrain piece for use in a Western Desert setting. Take a look!
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Merry Christmas Everyone!
From everyone who gathers around my gaming table to all the other gamers and bloggers out there: Merry Christmas! See you again early next year. Stay well!
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Smash Up! Munchkin & The Big Geeky Box
Let’s continue our exploration of Smash Up by looking at the two releases that are different from the slew of regular expansions: The Big Geeky Box, and Smash Up: Munchkin.
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Blitzkrieg Miniatures DAK Vehicle Review
I came across a range of WWII vehicles by Blitzkrieg Miniatures while perusing the Perry Miniatures website and thought I’d take three of them for a test drive. Here’s how the resin Blitzkrieg vehicles worked out.
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Smash Up! A game done right.
I clearly remember playing Smash Up! when it was first released. What a great idea! Does Smash Up! remain a game done right?
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Why Visit The Hairy Tarantula North?
The Hairy Tarantula North in Toronto is the kind of store only a diehard gamer or comic fan could love. Here’s why I still visit The Hairy Tarantula North despite its flaws.
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Vallejo DAK Airbrush Paint Set
Let’s have a look at Vallejo’s DAK Airbrush Paint Set to see if it’s worth the purchase.
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I Remember Wilfred Patrick Souter
On Remembrance Day I will remember my father Wilfred Patrick Souter who survived WWII, and parenthood, to become someone I continue to look up to and admire.
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Push Your Luck Dice Games
The humble six-sided die has kept intellectuals, gamblers, families, and sailors entertained since we figured out how to push our luck and roll the bones. Let’s have a look at push-your-luck dice games.
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Space Hulk by Games Workshop: Buy It Again?
A good look at Space Hulk 3rd Ed. by Games Workshop on the way to answering the question: Would we buy it again?
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Eldritch Horror: Collaborators Against Cthulhu
Eldritch Horror remains my favourite game in the coop genre because it allows a very complicated set of mechanical checks, balances, and challenges to disappear into the background so teamwork and a compelling story can remain the central focus.
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Kick the Kickstarter Habit
Do gaming Kickstarter projects deserve our money or are we allowing products to bypass proper development and testing before being brought to market?
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Cthulhu Between the Sheets: Fact and Fiction
Cthulhu Between the Sheets: Fact and Fiction. Here’s why S.T. Joshi’s edited Cthulhu anthology; Achtung! Cthulhu: Dark Tales from the Secret War; and The Dark Waters Trilogy by Graham McNeill deserve a place on your bookshelf.
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Imperial Assault: Jabba’s Realm Campaign Startup
The new heroes and Imperial class deck from Imperial Assault: Jabba’s Realm hit the table as we took a leap of faith and started up a new campaign.
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Roll Call Sci-Fi Double Feature: Roll for the Galaxy + Ambition; Star Trek Fleet Captains
Roll for the Galaxy:Ambition and Star Trek: Fleet Captains feature in this Roll Call Sci-Fi double feature. Retro-Game Night edition.
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Terrain: Build & Paint Wargame Walls
Terrain: Building and painting wargame walls for the WWII Africa campaign, and the why and how of keeping a painting notebook.
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Painting Nightmares: Mansions of Madness 2nd Ed. Monsters and Storage
Painting Mansion of Madness monster figures and how to store everything, neat and tidy.
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Axis & Allies: Global 1940
Does Axis & Allies: Global 1940 scratch the A&A nostalgia itch and is it worth the considerable investment in time?
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Retro-Game Night: Loving What You Have
Once a month we’ve made a conscious decision to do a “Retro-Game Night” where an older game hits the table. Here’s how and why it works.
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Tangent: MosaiCanada 150 Topiary Gardens
Bring on Tangents, a new place on this blog for the eclectic to get some very occasional airtime.
Today, we’re looking at imagination in action. I’m sure the same creative instinct that drives people to re-create history with miniatures on a tabletop also spurred the MosaiCanada Topiary Garden, an art installation that’s part of Canada’s 150 birthday celebration. It literally brings Canada’s history to life through flights of fancy. -
Roll Call: Machi Koro, Roll for the Galaxy, and Vengeful Impulses
Roll Call summarizes the past week’s gaming exploits, and who was doing the exploiting. This past couple of weeks we’ve had 4 players at Thursday Night games which has allowed for a couple of long neglected 4 player games to hit the table. Friday night Madness with 2 players. Spoilers at the bottom of the post.
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National Air & Space Museum, Washington, D.C.
Come tour the National Air & Space Museum, Washington, D.C.
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Top 5 High School Club Games for 2016/17
With the full school year of 2016/2017 just over we’ll look at the five most popular games at the high school lunchtime Games and Chess Club for the school year. There’s something to be learned about running a games club from each of the top five games.
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Roll Call: Niagara – Over a Barrel; Elder Sign: Unseen Forces
Roll Call summarizes the past week’s gaming exploits, and who was doing the exploiting. With the busy end of the school year rush, games have been fewer and farther between. Here’s what did hit the table: Niagara and Elder Sign: Unseen Forces
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Imperial Assault: Jabba’s Realm Class Decks, Fun for Everyone?
Imperial Assault: Jabba’s Realm Imperial class decks. Fun for GM and players alike?
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WWII Africa Campaign Map Part 3: Envirotex Water, Airbrush, Graphics
How to build a WWII Africa wargames campaign map. Part 3.
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Resin Runs Through It: Building a Wargames River
How to build a wargames river using Envirotex Lite.
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CanGames Ottawa Convention 2017
Every year on the Victoria Day long weekend miniature gamers attend CanGames in Ottawa. At 40 years old this convention still has a lot to offer miniature gamers. Come check it out.
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Ottawa ComicCon 2017: Worth the Price of Admission?
Ottawa ComicCon 2017. Was it worth the price of admission? See the costumes and swag right here and decide for yourself.
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International Spy Museum: Washington, D.C.
If you think espionage, treachery, and backstabbing are intriguing this is the place for you. The International Spy Museum in Washington, D.C. documents spies and their craft. Come take the tour.
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The Chicago Way Scenarios: Double Shot
The Chicago Way from Great Escape Games hit the table a couple more times. Here’s a look at the scenarios.
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Roll Call: Kemet, Kessel Run Games and Mansions of Madness: What Lies Within
Roll Call summarizes recent recent gaming exploits, and who was doing the exploiting. Kessel Run gaming store, Mansions of Madness: What Lies Within, and Kemet all hit the the table in this special “Was it worth it?” edition of Roll Call.
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How to Build a Successful Games Club: High School Edition, Part 4
You don’t need a Tardis to fit a 3 hour game into a 40 minute lunch break.
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The Canadian War Museum Highlights
Canada’s War Museum, a quick tour. Well worth a visit for budding historians and wargamers alike!
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Meeplemart: Best Gaming Store Ever?
Meeplemart’s a great store, but is it the best gaming store ever?
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The Clarion Call of Cthulhu: How I Learned to Love the Beast, Part 2
H.P. Lovecraft’s Cthulhu mythos owes its gaming popularity to a free IP that can be added to any genre or time period: past, present, or future.
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Roll Call: Chicago Way x 2, Spyfall, Betrayal at House on the Hill w/ Widow’s Walk, Mansions of Madness
With a week long holiday there was a ton of gaming this past week or two. Excellent!
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WWII Africa Campaign Map: Resin Casting and Prep for Envirotex Light
How to build a WWII Africa wargames campaign map.
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The Clarion Call of Cthulhu: How I Learned to Love the Beast, Part 1
Why the Cthulhu mythos makes for great gaming.
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Roll Call: Guillotine, Dead of Winter, Mansions of Madness
This past two weeks had 6 gaming sessions and saw Dead of Winter hit the table again. Fun!
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How to Build a Successful Games Club: High School and Youth Edition, Part 2
How to put the “Games” in “Games and Chess Club” and broaden the membership base.
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Imperial Assault: How to Tweak a Campaign to Make it Better
How to tweak Imperial Assault campaigns to make sure they stay balanced and enjoyable for players and GM alike.
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Imperial Assault: Class Decks that Keep Campaigns Fun
The Imperial GM sets the tone for Imperial Assault campaigns. Don’t let your choice of class decks suck out the joy.
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DAK Profile Guide by AK Interactive: Would we buy it again?
Would we buy AK Interactive’s “DAK Profile Guide” again? Come see the verdict and vote for yourself.
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Game On a New Continent!
An ambitious new WWII Africa campaign map and why a gamer would need to start a new army to go with it.