Rogue Trader: RPG

Before leaving for GenCon, I had one last member of the Rogue Trader crew to complete: Arch-Militant Dekko. This former Imperial Guardsmen is heavily trained in the art of close combat, particularly with twin chainswords!
He ended up being a great character on the table, and the gentleman who played him really got into the spirit of charging forward and letting flesh fly!  However, he had the worst luck I've ever seen during a four-hour game. No matter then number of re-rolls, he couldn't kill a thing!!  Everyone else in the party got at least one kill shot, except the man trained since birth to kill!  It was awesome... everyone at the table had a great laugh every time Dekko rolled the dice.
The head was a simple swap with some plastic kelt models that appeared in my swag bag from Adepticon.

I don't know how or if he will ever see the 40K table as an Imperial Guardsmen. Perhaps a stand-in for one of the named characters in a friendly game.

Isn't this a painting site?

Well after a long summer of vacations, family illnesses, and well GenCon... this site will soon return to what it once was- a painting blog. Its funny how the seasons of life also carry over into my hobby time. The summer, it seems, is often set aside for board and role play gaming, while the rest of the year is dominated by miniature gaming. But anyway, the Commisar says back to work!

GenCon was a blast and while I didn't update my blog as often as I wished, I had a few twitter updates to keep up with the action. In all, I played 30+ hours of games in a mere four days, and it was wonderful.  Sadly, I was too busy gaming to get much detailed information on any of the miniature events at GenCon. However, I did get a chance to play with the Malifaux terra-clips. And well, my final take on the project is that they need some time to get their material just right. Its just too early to tell how helpful this product will be. The biggest issue I see is that while its reasonably priced, I can get detailed plastic pieces from GW for about the same price... considering that most of the terra-clips is 'ground' with some elevations spread about the footprint. However, for the gamer that is just starting out collecting terrain it looks to be a great alternative to the GW plastic.

Mantic games is going to be a force for at least the next few years. I love their models for the fantasy line. The sprue of ghouls they gave out at Adepticon were pure magic. Furthermore, they are positioning themselves as an alternative miniature supplier for GW games, at about half the price. Its going to be interesting how both companies respond to each other over the course of the next year. And as I doubt that few people reading this blog play in 'Citadel' model only events, it will be interesting to see how many Mantic armies we see on the WFB battlefield this next year.
You have probably heard- but Mantic Games does have Alessio writing their core rules for them, and they will be free (ala the Confrontation mini-rule book).  It will be available online and in their blisters this fall. Don't expect to see their product to heavily in stores, as skipping the end retailer drives up the price... and they want to keep that price point as low as possible. I wonder how many manufacturers will start to consider this as a business model (the internet is pretty powerful you know!).

Lastly, my gamer nutrition was a success. In fact, after finishing my gruelling 15 hour day of gaming, I hit the Tower of Gygax to relive some awesome first gen DnD memories. I died about 10 mins in to a Save versus Death roll. I rolled a '4'. I needed a '6' or better. Oh well. :)

You can view my Gencon/Cosplay pictures here.

GenCon Day 1

Well day is in the books. My first time DM'ing turned out to be a blast. We all had a great time fighting vie xenos and trying not to blast holes in the bulkhead with plasma weapons. Shooting your ship from the inside out is generally not a great idea.

Here are a few tidbits from the show floor:
Wizards od the Coast have a big announcement tomorrow. No official word, but it looks like something for DnD is coming.
- White Wolf had no product on the floor, anywhere. Insteed they had a bar scene set up (kinda cool)that was announcing their special event in one month in New Orlenes to make a big announcement about the "World of Darkness". Ok, this is dumb. A month after gencon... Not good.
- Fantasy Flight Games had a huge presence again this year. They took over the middle part of the hall and constantly had huge lines to buy their stuff. I didn't have the patience to wait in line, but the new 40K role-play stuff looks great. I hope to pick some up in the morning.
- Lots of collectible card games showing up everywhere. It looked like the years after Magic the Gathering, all over again.
- I found new (to me) miniature companies that are doing great work. Dark Haven has been out fir a bit, but seeing their stuff in person was great. They have some world class talent working on their models. I also found Dark Sword Miniatures making some great single models mainly for fantasy rpg's.
- Malifaux and Pathfinder are growing their presence at the con and lots of people like their stuff. I am one of them, but nothing new that we didn't know was coming.
- the Tera-Clips terrain on the Malifaux web site was interesting in person. They are in very early production, needing thicker card stock, clearer clips, and less shiney pieces (bad glare under the lights). That being said, you get a three-foot section of terrain for $50. Perfect for a new gamer, less perfect for someone with plenty of scenery at home.
- Less Cos-Play today than I hoped to see. Perhaps tomorrow.
- Ill have pictures up on Twitter as I take them, and full pictures up when I get home early next week.

It's GenCon time!

As I type this, I'm heading tO Indianapolis for GenCon Indy 2010! The excitement has been building for the last few months and now gamer/nerd nirvana is close at hand. I'll try to bring as many updates as possible from the dealer floor as well as game updates. Follow me on twitter if you like: Twitter.com/drgabe

Tonight I'll be running a game of Warhammer 40k Rogue Trader RPG. Here is the crew of the Reed of Darkness. They are due for a tough night tonight. I can only hope they survive.



Here is the link to the more of the crew: http://www.flickr.com/photos/drgabe/sets/72157623426028800/