Space Crusade (1990): In the Grim Darkness of Table Top Gaming, There is Only War

I promise to catch up with Eric on the Reverb Gamers posts, but first I have to share a bit of awesome.

Some of my fondest gaming moments are the years I spent playing the various editions of Warhammer (Fantasy and 40k) before moving down to the Los Angeles area.  My friends and I would meet every week to do battle with our half-painted (or at least all "primed") armies for hours on end.  We were devoted fans who not only played the "hard core" miniature battles games, but also most of the "Specialist" games released by Games Workshop in support of their war games.

Games Workshop was, and pretty much still is, on a rotating schedule of providing a new rules edition for their war games every 3 years or so.  During the year prior to a new rules release, they would roll out a Specialist game that covered a related theme.  If a new edition of 40k was coming out, we'd see "Gorkamorka."  If a new edition of Warhammer Fantasy was around the corner, we'd see "Mordheim."  It was great fun.

In the late 80s and early 90s, Games Workshop teamed up with Milton Bradley to create a couple mainstream adaptations of their signature games.  For Fantasy, those games were Heroquest and Battle Masters.  I own both of these games and they are prized possessions that have provided many an hour of entertainment. 

Sadly, as passionate as I was about these games, I somehow missed out on Space Crusade.  Space Crusade is a popular market adaptation of Games Workshop's signature Specialist game Space Hulk.  I say adaptation, but the more I look at it the more it looks like an "improvement."  I desperately would love to get my hands on a copy, but alas and alack they are rare and expensive.  When I see the components, I can see why.  Unlike Space Hulk which focuses solely on the conflict between Space Marines and Tyranids (Genestealers), the Space Crusade game includes Orks, Eldar, and crazed Androids who look suspiciously like Necrons to the mix.

 

Reverb Gamers 2012 #4

Are you a "closet gamer?" Have you ever hidden the fact that you're a gamer from your co-workers, friends, family, or significant other? Why or why not? How did they react if they found out? (Courtesy of Atlas Games. Visit us at www.atlas-games.com)

Addendum: Do you know anyone who is? Would you ever "out" another gamer? via Twitter

No. Definitely not. It's my primary social network. At my day job I let everyone know that I'm a gamer. I may not wear distracting gamer attire but I let my words and actions communicate that "I am a Gamer". I had a co-worker who totally wore gaming shirts all the time. It was okay with the people at our work so I guess sometimes it's okay to let your gamer geek flag fly at work, it just wasn't for me.

As a a game designer it's in my interest to let people know about the hobby and to try to spread the word. How else will anyone know about my work and the awesome work of my friends and colleagues.

I've known a few people who like to play it off as if they don't game when we got socially, but I wouldn't out them. It's a personal thing. They shouldn't be embarrassed by their hobby but I understand it. Just like you shouldn't be embarrassed about anything that you genuinely are.

Reverb Gamers 2012 Prompt #3

What kind of gamer are you? Rules Lawyer, Munchkin/Power Gamer,Lurker, Storyteller/Method Actor, or something else? (Search "types of gamer" for more ideas!) How does this affect the kinds of games you play? For example, maybe you prefer crunchy rules-heavy systems to more theatrical rules-light ones.


Role-Player not Roll-Player with a nice side of Storyteller. I am into story and theatrical combat. I try to bring what my friends call the 'awesome'. Christian's daughters rightly capture my play-style by shouting "Boom!" at the table.

I think Ryan Macklin does a good job of pointing out that this prompt "It's a trap!". I feel like all of these lavels for types of gamer apply to me depending on the game. sometimes more than 1 label at a time.

I enjoy mastering the rules for my PC when playing D&D so crunchy rules/Rules lawyer. But when I run D&D I care more about facilitating fun for everyone else and don't let things like rules get in the way of everyone's fun.

In Savage Worlds the rules are so simple that I find myself lurking in most games and occasionally trying to play the 'troublemaker'.

For Do it's a storytelling game so it's all about telling silly stories for me.

In the big picture I would say that the rules of a game and its themes will dictate my play style.

Reverb Gamers 2012 Prompt #2

REVERB GAMERS 2012, #2:
What is it about gaming that you enjoy the most? Why do you game? Is
it the adrenaline rush, the social aspect, or something else?

It's definitely the social aspect. I have met many great friends through gaming. One bit of statistics based evidence for you. It was pointed out to me by the Face Book that more than 25% of my friends on Facebook are fans of a little FLGS(Friendly Local Game Shop) called EndGame. This also doesn't include more of my friends who game but aren't local to Oakland. So they only know about because I talk about it so much. Gaming is definitely a social thing for me(also I love telling stories; to people, with people, for people; the collaborative story telling that RPG play allows for is another major reason that I play games).

Reverb Gamers 2012

Atlas Games is starting a new RPG blogger group called Reverb Gamers 2012. You can follow the results at their website and also on Twitter @ReverbGamers. For each day in January they are posting a prompt for RPG, MMORPG, and LARP players to discuss. I will endeavor to write a response, however brief, to each one.

Prompt for the 1st:

REVERB GAMERS 2012, #1: What was your first roleplaying experience?
Who introduced you to it?
How did that introduction shape the gamer you've become?

How should I answer this one? Do they mean formal roleplaying experience like with rules and stuff? Everyone's first roleplaying experience is when we are little kids and we imagine that we're the 'police' chasing down our 'robber' friends or some similar game. Do I count the Milton Bradley published Hero Quest, which is really a boardgame now that I look back on the experience? You know what? that's it.

Hero Quest 1989



It was designed by Stephen Baker, according to boardgamegeek.com. HeroQuest was developed by GamesWorkshop, you know The Hobby Games guys. It was released in 1990 in North America by MB so I must have first played this game when I was 8 or 9 years old. It was the go to boardgame for me, my brother, and our best friend Chris. We would all imagine we were our characters and take them on each quest in sequence in the game. We'd take turns playing as the evil Zargon. Eventually we upgraded the game and got the two expansions as they game out. Kellar's Keep and Return of the Witch Lord. And when we finished those we started 'hacking' the game. We made up new heroes using the stats for the other characters mixed up. I think one of the characters we made was really weak in dice rolling but had access to Zargon's spell cards. We also made a ranger. And we upgraded some of the characters so we could play the game with fewer heroes and really roleplay one character at a time(in the three player games we usually played two heroes per player for balance reasons).

It is the earliest in my life that I considered game design as a career path. I think I was 10 or 11 at the time. I always dabbled with the idea in middle school and high school. Turn the clock forward 20 years and I'm finally starting a career in game design. Just last week I was looking through some old notebooks and found card designs for MtG from the mid-nineties that I wrote while I was in high school. So I guess the lesson is pay attention to the career dreams of your 10 year old self.

My copy of the game is pretty beaten up. It is not at all like the video I posted above. My heroes and a few goblins are painted but are chipping badly. The box is not holding together and some of the cardboard furniture is missing. This game was a gift from my parents so thanks Mom and Dad for making sure I was a lifelong hobby game enthusiast. It is something of a treasure that I will never think about parting with though.

Happy 4th Day of Christmas -- A Belated Merry Christmas

I meant to put this cartoon up on Christmas Eve, but alas I was too busy getting the house ready for Santa Claus.

Second Battleship Preview Leaves Me Wishing They Made "Battleship Galaxies" Into Film

Yesterday I tweeted that I might be the only person in America who is excited to see the upcoming "Battleship" film directed by Peter Berg. I think that Berg has a talent for both the artistic and for the popcorn, and think that his "Battleship" film looks like pure popcorn. Ridiculous popcorn.

Like, doesn't make any sense popcorn.

Not only that, but popcorn that follows the typical invasion story formula.

1. Earth encounters alien force
2. Earth gets owned by alien force -- the "Footfall" moment
3. Earth keeps fighting against hopeless odds
4. Some change/shift occurs
5. Earth wins/Aliens quit

In Footfall the aliens stop when they realize that humans are crazy and won't ever give up.  In "Independence Day,"  we create a "virus" to even the odds.  In War of the Worlds, the aliens catch a cold.  It's a common formula, tried and true.  A little staid perhaps, but I don't mind if the film is pure popcorn.  Heck, even "Skyline" followed this formula even though it ended just as the shift toward "human" victory begins.




Regardless, after seeing the alien designs in this film, and having played the "Battleship: Galaxies" board game, I personally wonder why they didn't just base the film on that game.  It would still have the transmedia marketing tie in, and it would make sense to include the aliens.