Precinct Omega

Job acquired

I start work on a two-month contract with the Royal College of Nursing on Monday. In a classic case of poacher-turner-gamekeeper, I'll be helping members (the RCN is the UK's nursing union) resolve conflicts with their managers and getting to hold business leaders and other HR professionals to account. What fun!

As a result, I'll suspend payments from the Patreon for two months after the next payment run at the end of October.

As it happens, not a lot is going to change as a resul...

A Different Proposal

I was inspired by a colleague to order some 300% prints of the designs we've made for the Zero Dark miniatures.

They're quite lovely, aren't they?

What are your thoughts, dear patrons, on the idea of running a modest pre-order campaign for purely display model versions of these and the other two designs?

Cost per cast wouldn't be small. Probably about £25. And probably a limited edition of, say, 50 pieces per design.

These have no real tabletop value (although I s...

News #50 - Intellectual Property in Wargaming

I didn't realize this was my 50th news episode until I was finishing up the formatting. If it had occurred to me, I would've done something more interesting... and probably more coherent.  Here are some links:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/thatevilone/roma-ad-astra https://www.northstarfigures.com/ 2021-10-22 14:43:23 +0000 UTC View Post

Ballmonsters! Beta 0.1 - And a chance to join in the playtesting!

Phew!

OK, folks. The Ballmonsters! beta is here... again.

Previous attempts at making this work as a game have been a failure, but I've been learning as I've gone and trying to get a better grasp of what I want - learning to clearly articulate my foundational goals - has been incredibly helpful in getting to this place for this version of the game.

To get beyond this point,...

Game Design Tutor #4 - Bells and Whistles

I'm not dead!

I've got a bit of a backlog of new video content to share and this is the first: the newest Game Design Tutor video is up for patrons! I'll push it out to the rest of the world probably next week.

Meanwhile, I had a fantastic talk, yesterday, with Lee Gaddis of Gaddis Gaming about how to adapt his existing GUARDS miniatures wargaming system to a new setting. Lee has already done two historical settings: Shattered Crown and Empires Fall both deal with the experiences ...

Design #23 - 3D Printing (Part 2) - How it will affect everyone else

I talked, two weeks ago, about how 3D printing would affect Games Workshop - TL;DR, they'll need to make changes to their business model eventually, but not in a way that will stop them being profitable.

This week, then, I'm turning to the rest of the industry and trying to explain why small manufacturers, designers, artists and consumers need to be aware of the coming change and how it will impact them far more substantively than it will the Big Names.

Feed the Trolls at Your Own Risk

Some of you have noticed that, in the comments below my recent video episode of the podcast about Dust Games there are some excitable fellows who think I was criticizing Paolo for a sexist representation of women in his miniatures (and although I absolutely would have criticized that, what I was actually saying was that the representation of women may have been a contribution to the business's failure).

Whethe...

Precinct Omega Podcast - News #49 - Another One Bites The Dust 1947

Paolo Parente announced last week that Dust Studio, the company behind Dust 1947 and related games is winding up.

In this episode I take a look at the history of Dust as a gaming IP, its influence and shifting fortunes and why I think it's ultimately failed.

Other related games:

AT-43 

2021-10-08 12:56:22 +0000 UTC View Post

Ballmonsters - We're back, baby! ...But I need your help

I might update the logo using my improved skills, but we'll keep it for now.

Ballmonsters! is taking shape pretty nicely. Its previous iterations all ended up being rather tactical, thinky games that were OK but not silly enough by half to being a far more random, swingy and silly affair. I think it has room for extra silliness, still, but we'll see how it goes. We're on track for pub...

Compendium - October 2021

As promised last month, just the one compendium, this month, showing all the available content - but some of it will be links to locked content if you're not the right patron level!

Later today, I will unlock one Rule of the Month per month to Elites, starting with the Rule of the Month from May: "capture" rules to allow heroes to tie up vulnerable enemies to stop them interfering with the plan or from raising the alarm.

I will unlock one Mission of the Month per month to Heavy El...

Rule of the Month - October - B&ABF Elves

As this month's Mission of the Month doesn't really have any new rules in it (and I've more or less exhausted the new rules in Operation Kurgan) have some experimental rules for Blood & A Black Flag, instead.

Elves

The fae races are diverse and perplexing. Millennia old (some are even said to be immortal), they pass through periods of racial ennui lasting centuries at a time, in which they slumber in states of strange hibernation, only for their spirits to ...

Mission of the Month - October - Abandon Hope

We're back to Operation Kurgan this month, with the fifth mission.

ZEUS himself has been captured by Bal Amun, a renegade Venusian X Team believed to be working on behalf of the mysterious Skylords faction. ZEUS has intelligence that must not fall into the hands of the Skylords.

But your mercenary allies reveal that they, too, are renegades from the Venusian mission - the same unit that's been a thorn in the Skylords' side since the Namib Facility was breached: Bal Anub. ...

OPERATION KURGAN - Fiction #3 - "Honey Trap"

ZEUS clapped his palms together and strode through the cloud of chalk dust that blossomed from the impact as he approached the bar, squatted with expert poise and took a medium grip, ready to lift. Although the three month journey to Earth had included acclimatization to the increased gravity from Mars, the shift from a 0.375G to 1.0G environment was hard on everyone for their first year or so. Showing weakness, though, was unacceptable and he had been weight training in his every spare momen...

Precinct Omega Podcast - Design #22 - 3D Printing (Pt 1) - What does it mean for Games Workshop?

I recently read/watched/listened to a few social media commentator types (a lot like me) who all seemed to be of one mind that 3D printing wasn't a problem for GW.

I very much disagree. Sort of.

In the first of a two-parter, I take a look at how 3D printing may affect GW's business model and why, look at why people think it "isn't a problem" and why they're wrong, and what GW could and should do to adapt their business model to 3D printing.

In the second part, I'll look at t...

October Rewards - Slight Delay

I got distracted by Blood & A Black Flag. Rewards this month with be a bit delayed, but they are coming.

Blood & A Black Flag - Where next?

First up, Horizon Wars fans, don't worry that I've dropped all my plans for the series. They are still very much online, just... delayed to let me get perspective and rediscover my enthusiasm.

Meanwhile, Blood & A Black Flag is out there, now, and I don't plan to leave it alone. No schedule on any of this, but I have a number of directions in which I'd like to take it, in no particular order:

- Blood & A Black Dragon: a fantasy supplement for 2021-09-30 08:01:01 +0000 UTC View Post

Design Tutor #3 - The Peripheral Core

Following some feedback from a patron, I tried to cut the length of this episode back a bit and kept it to around 20 minutes.

Exclusive for you guys for the next few days.

It sounds like a bad sci-fi novel, but recognizing and tackling the peripheral core in your game is an essential development step. If it's not your core rules, but the game won't work without it, it's peripheral core.

My job hunt is going well. I've had one interview but it's for a UK public sector body wh...

Defence & Combat Mech - Free Copy of Blood & A Black Flag

It's up and it's out there and you guys can get your free copy with the following link:

https://www.wargamevault.com/browse.php?discount=9fb418ae4b

There are 29 of you and 29 uses of this link permitted, so if you don't want yours, you can always send it to a friend - I really don't mind!

Precinct Omega Podcast - News #48 - Sci-fi Skirmishes

EDIT: I forgot to include the script for patrons who don't have time to listen to the podcast or who don't like podcasts. Added now, at the end.

Deadzone 3rd edition appears, as if from nowhere! What's going on and is this genius or a horrible misstep by Mantic?

Meanwhile, other microenterprises are releasing cool stuff!

2021-09-24 11:01:02 +0000 UTC View Post

Blood & A Black Flag

It was a delight to dust off some of the classic art that Nicolas Giacondino did for Skrapyard back in the day and re-use it in Blood & A Black Flag.

I was also pleased to get permission from Iain Lovecraft (yes, really) to use his pirate designs to illustrate the example diagrams in the rules. Hopefully a picture will tell a thousand words and make everything a lot clearer.

Anyway, the up-shot is that Blood & A Black Flag is - by my estimation -...

Precinct Omega Podcast - Design #21 - Editions

All miniatures wargames seem to go through multiple editions, one way or another, but why?

Why are new editions of miniatures games so different to new editions of other games and/or books? Why do we get so many, so often? Is it bad for the community or bad for the hobby? How often is *too* often for a new edition?

I try to answer these and other questions in this week's (slightly delayed) episode of the podcast.

Podcast may be a bit later than normal

I have a job interview today for a three-month contract on good money, so I'll be focusing on that.

I'll either record this afternoon or tomorrow morning and get the episode up for you guys ASAP.

Blood & A Black Flag - Beta Edition

So here it is.

Yes, that was quick, wasn't it?

I guess this is sort of a proof of concept in terms of what I'm going to try to do with future releases, but this was especially quick because I did all the play-testing for this game, like, ten years ago so I'm pretty confident of the coherency of the rules.

I agonized over the title a bit, but not a lot because I don't have the time ...

Patreon Wednesday

Yep, still here.

Quick update:

First, I'm OK. My frustrations and stresses are professional, not personal. Your support and encouragement are hugely appreciated but you do not need to add me to your own list of worries and concerns.

Second, taking the decision to postpone FEAR and the other Zero Dark supplements has been a very good one - a weight off my shoulders and a fire under my imagination.

I have been working a little on the game I'm building f...

State of the Precinct

Don't you just hate it when you write a long and complicated post and then it gets eaten by a technical glitch?

I'm going to do my best to recreate it but, annoyingly, I've just come off a 43-second-long livestream in which I basically fell apart before ending the livestream, which means I'm in a very different place mentally than I was when I first wrote this update which I had planned to release to you guys on Monday. But due to the livestream I feel like I need to send it in earlier....

Precinct Omega Podcast - News #47 - In and Out

In this business, companies enter the market and companies leave it with a depressing regularity. But what motivates them to start and what leads to their departures?

With the news that Impudent Mortal is back, IDW Games is gone and Freebooter's Fate is, ast...

Game Design Tutor #2 - Core Mechanics

Following up on my first video going public on YT, I thought you guys might like the next one.

No idea if this will be weekly. I do have other things going on, but working on this new game is a really pleasing palette cleanser and I don't want to get too far ahead in the work without recording my thoughts and experiences.

Game Design Tutor #1 - Foundational Goals

My first video is the GDT series (not counting the dialogue with Tony) looks at foundational goals: something Tony got brilliantly right and which made the process 100 times easier when we say down to talk.

I'm sharing this with you guys at least a week early. I've already got the notes done for the next episode, but it might take a few takes to get it right.

Precinct Omega Podcast - Design #20 - An Interview with Ivan Sorensen

 So, earlier this week I accidentally deleted, just... hundreds of files.

OK, so technically I had intended to delete the vast majority of them, but a mis-click ended up with me basically deleting my entire archive of podcasts and videos.

For most purposes, no biggie. They're all uploaded to the Interwebz if I need them and, to be honest, I mostly don't. However, I kept them around because it makes it easier to copy and paste elements from earlier shows into later ones, like ...

KB3 - First Pose Design

I need some feedback on this robot/drone design. Quickly.