Straturday Height Feature

 A lot of wargames use terrain to block line of sight and provide a third dimension to gameplay. I thought it wouldn't hurt to have some generic rock formations lying around that I could plop down as and when

ft. the Harryhausen Gang

This escarpment is just a bunch of cardboard, plus a few bits of cork and a layer of papier mache and colours on top. Doesn't look like much, but for something that's just recycling and cheap glue and craft paint I'm not whinging. If I wanted to fancy it up I could add tufts or model bits but I like it as is

I'd recommend making a couple of these - cheap, quick and easy!

This week's hobby rec is Trent from Miscast's new channel where he's uploading a crafting video every day until he doesn't, then deleting them all. Trent does good stuff so worth checking these out while you can. Jeremy from Black Magic Craft is doing the same thing, inspired by Trent (although idk if he's deleting his). BMC is one of the original and best hobbying channels so on the off chance you don't know it, definitely have a look.

btw in between Straturdays I'm sharing recs over on my bsky, cool crowdfunding campaigns for minis games and the like. So make sure you're following me there too. ok peace ✌

Straturday Nice Easter

bad photo of nice minis

Just a short update this week, been putting together some of these Necromunda models. Here's a tip, don't start a blog series that comes out on the day of the week you're most likely to be busy doing other shit

Some of the models in this box are a lot of fun to put together. I tried to stick to the instructions where convenient but couldn't help doing some minor kitbashing on a couple. I'll take better photos and show them off once they're all done.

But man, those Van Saar minis... There are pieces so fiddly it's impossible to even take them off the sprue without bending them. And whose idea was it to give these inch high fuckers separate necks.

Anyway! Nice to just be working on a little creative project where everything's laid out and I'm not designing something from scratch myself for once. And it's fun to have the end goal of the game waiting for me once I'm done, that makes for a good hobby motivator.

On the flip side of that, it's kinda crazy that I'm only going to find out if I even like the game after the massive craft project. But I get that's how these games work and can be part of the appeal. Still. Imagine a minis game where you could play first and then do the crafting stuff later if you wanted? Hmmmmmmm 👀🤔 (Overcure coming soon from Possible Worlds Games, stay tuned)

Have a good weekend everyone, and happy hobbying x

Straturday Hive Creeper

 

Got this big old box for my bday! That's my hobbying time sorted for the foreseeable.

Necromunda is the problem child of the Warhammer world which suits me just fine. I won't do a full introduction here because even GW's nichest games have paeans written to them across the internet that could serve you better if you don't know what this is.

Absolutely still planning on hitting all the many indies I have in my sights, but this looks fun too. I won't comment on the rules until I've played but at the very least I'll have cool minis to play those other games with

Gotta put all the bits together first though! See you on the other side.

This week's shoutout: Magnagothica Maleghast is on sale for 100% off this weekend. This one has been on my radar for a bit, I don't know anything about it other than that the art is cool and I think you play it on a chess board which is fun. But hey it's free, jump on that

A bit of housekeeping: I chatted in my last post about doing some spring cleaning on the old gumroad store. As it turns out I went overboard - the store has closed down.

A few reasons for this. Chiefly, the guy who runs that place is a dick. I know every platform is run by some nefarious CEO, I'm typing this on a google-owned page, but this dude fucking sucks in full techbro fashion and I've wanted to divest for a while now.

Secondly, nothing on there sold any more. That's my fault, I don't self promote or whatever. But I get most or indeed all of my games income through freelance work these days (hire me! graverobbersguide at gmail dot com) and I prefer it that way.

I was only ever a publisher by necessity. I love working with other folks who do that shit way better and just focusing on my writing and design. Some very cool collabs are on their way out in that respect, btw

The unfortunate upshot of me scorched-earthing the gumroad is that some very cool stuff I made over the years is now no longer available. I'm looking for a way to share it that's as accessible and easy on me. I know itch is the place these days but I've heard mixed things and, like I said, I'm not a publisher or store owner at heart. Setting all that up again... eh.

I'll let you know! In the meantime, if you're desperately seeking a pdf of Journeylands, Graverobbers, or a Paradice Arcade game or whatever else, just email me and we can work something out all right PEACE x

Straturday, Slight Teaser

 Just been away for a week so no real hobbying time lately. On the flip side the much needed break has got me re energised to get back into making cool shit. Ain't that always the way.

Some news happened while I was away: as part of their slate of awesome upcoming games, Possible Worlds (who I've worked with before on the new edition of GoGoGolf! have announced my next game with them: Overcure! You can check out the full press release and a great interview with Tyler over here on Rascal. Love Rascal.

Overcure is a tabletop miniatures game. Ish? Definitely enough that it warrants a post on Straturday (the Lord's Day). More info and cool stuff will come out about it as development continues and the release approaches.

For now, I'll say that Overcure is a solo tabletop strategy game focused on accessibility, instant setup and arcade-inspired fun.

In a world where most minis games involve hours-to-months of researching, learning, collecting and hobbying before getting to the gameplay, you can go from starting Overcure to finishing your first game in under 20 minutes. And randomly generated level elements based around real-world wifi networks mean you can keep coming back for more. Play slots as easily into your regular schedule as a mobile game.

Don't get me wrong, I love big chunky wargames that demand ever more of your brain and time. This is something new.

Recommendation this week goes to Colonel O'Truth's Miniature Issues, a youtube series I've been storming through lately. Very relaxed, classic terrain building, where each episode is about making a new part of a constantly evolving 10mm wargames diorama/board. Incredibly simple and accessible, with a focus on understandable techniques and cheap tools and materials, but the overall project slowly builds into something wonderfully intricate. Worth watching from the start.

Straturday Snipe Preacher

 Trench Crusade minis are starting to go out to backers soon, so I'm going to need an opposing warband to greet my Azebs when they arrive. Kitbash time baybee

These are a sniper priestess and a trench cleric, made from odd bits I had lying around attached to my partner's gracious sacrifice of a couple of WH40k sisters of battle. That and a bit of plastic glue from the bottom of an old bottle, plus some very past-its-prime green stuff that came free with an army painter basing starter set, back when I had Big Plans to get all the way into wargames. That's all you need! I even added extra green stuff where it wasn't needed for some bonus jank

I'm pretty happy with these - the cleric's head in a reliquary cage (majestic!) and dual weapons akimbo gives her a lot of character. And the priest's over the top (pun intended) weapons are a great fit too.

They're not done - painting, plus there are bits to tidy up like the extra hand still clutching part of the priest's rifle - but a New Antioch warband has begun to take shape.

Only issue is, now I'm out of bits. Reinforcements will have to wait for another time.

Elsewhere in wargaming, you've got to check out Chris McDowall's scrapheap starter set for space fleet games, and watch quadra make amazing terrain while recounting the fantastic backstory behind it. Don't miss these.

More Straturdays to come x

Rough Terrain Cards

I posted on bsky a little while ago about the Trench Crusade kickstarter, I’d followed the project for a while and was happy for their success but mentioned it wasn’t really my vibe

Well for something that’s not my vibe I’ve been doing a whole lot of hobbying around it already lmao

A lot of games have a rule for rough terrain, moving over particular surfaces affects speed and can incur penalties or damage. I think in TC it’s called difficult terrain, and then there’s also dangerous terrain

I thought an easy way to create some scatter pieces that could be used to implement this rule would be with old plastic cards. I used an expired cinema membership and train card. Idk if there’s a standard size for these for legal reasons or if every company uses the same manufacturer but they’re the exact same size, I reckon most cards will be. Not that it matters but it ends up looking nice and uniform whatever you use, and it’ll be easy to make more later

Anyway I just slapped some texture paste and paint on one side of each card and stuck down some bits, cardboard and lolly sticks from the recycling plus some citadel skulls. The idea was to make them still basically flat so that I can store them easily and models can stand on and move through them. But using these as bases for terrain with more height to provide cover would also work ofc

 also ended up using some resin which I hadn’t before, got mixed results but I’m p happy with how it all turned out. Idk how well they show up on camera but these look great in person. I was going to add more colour and pick out the details but I kinda like the monochrome effect of base coat/drybrush/wash. These are background after all. And I can always go over them later with more detail if I want

girl, same

It was a fun little project that didn’t take long at all and should be useful in games, I’d recommend giving these a go. You can even slip them back into your wallet to transport them

Oh and I ended up backing the ks after all, the rulebook’s a mess but the basics look fun and I expect they’ll clean it up before release, plus those Sultanate minis were too good to pass up. But it’s all free online and you can use kitbashed models anyway if you want to get stuck in

Straturday, Light Breather

Got to admit I’m really not feeling it this week. I know one option would be to just not post, but it seems a shame to let the weekly posting streak die and also I think there’s value in sharing when you’re just not into it or up to much

Hobbies should be fun! Nobody’s making you do homework. Take a break, do something else or nothing at all. You’ll come back to your projects with a clearer mind and stronger drive, or you might get new ideas entirely

I think we all understand this, but make sure you actually do it. Relaxing can sometimes be something you have to actively do. (And because I know we’re all hobbyists and DIY folks here, make sure the things you do to relax are not just more work lol)

Just… stop. Schedule the time in, and make sure you use it unwisely. We’ll all be here when you get back.

While you do, my zinequest project is looking rough atm. That’s ok, I’ll live, and I know it was a slightly out there proposition int he first place. If you do want to support there’s still time, so check it out.

Take it easy ✌️

Straturday Knight Reaper

Another chill one today! An artefact of these being weekly is that some weeks the weekend is just a weak end and there’s not much straturday to go around. I’m going to be recouping and playing some splatoon, how about you?

Ok, one cool thing. I sold off some old DS games over Christmas, but one I held onto so I could replay it was Valkyrie Profile: Covenant of the Plume. It’s a strategy rpg spin off of a series I never played, but I remember coming across it on sale in a game shop and picking it up on a whim, back when that was a thing people did.

Anyway, it’s a small, solid Square Enix title with hit-and-miss graphics and a very melodramatic, dark fantasy story about an emo boy getting revenge on the valkyrie who took his father to Valhalla. The central conceit is that as you progress through the various stages and gather allies, you can sacrifice them to further your personal goal. Said ally gets super powerful for that one battle, and then gets a somber death scene at the end, permadead. It’s an interesting decision, and one you’ll be forced to make as the game is decently challenging.

My favourite mechanic from this game though is Sin, which you “reap” by dealing damage over an enemy’s total HP. A defeated enemy disappears at the end of a battle round, but until that round ends you can keep doling out hits, generating Overkill which gets converted and fills up your Sin meter (doing the sacrifice thing auto-fills it).

This makes for really good gameplay! Now even weak enemies provide interesting decisions, you’re not just mowing them down because you know how easily you can kill them, but thinking about how much you can kill them. You have to think about which unit attacks when, based on their damage output. And do you leave that stronger enemy alive for one more round just so that you can overkill them next turn, or take them out while you have the chance?

Each level has a Sin threshold you’re encouraged to reach which gets you bonus items from the buxom french maid who accompanies you on your quest (accurate to the Norse sagas? Historians, weigh in below). And while there’s no penalty in the moment for not reaching a level’s goal, miss the target too many times and you’ll unlock the bad ending for the story.

Inspired by this mechanic, I tried to fold in something similar to the solo miniatures fighting game I’m working on. Feels like something with a lot of potential juice to it.

Hopefully a bit more hobbying time next week. In the meantime, have you looked at my zine quest project yet? Nearly 1/3 funded already!

Until next time, happy hobbying x

A Month of Straturdays

back babyyyyyy

First off, the newest issue of MNKRM is out now! Taking a much needed week off meant that I didn't have as much time to flesh out a full post for this one, so February is extra minimalist. It's free, what do you want. Read and subscribe here.

I played some board games with the fam while on holiday but decided not to write that all up here, that was just for fun. I did win Ticket to Ride Netherlands twice though.

I also played a little Lockpick Solitaire, which you can find somewhere here on the blog and also in my upcoming Kickstarter campaign for zine month! I was going to launch on the 1st of Feb but holiday came first, so I’m thinking of going live this coming Monday. Very small, fun little project, a bit different but that’s the stuff folks seem to like from me. Follow here so you don’t miss out.

Straturday time! I managed to play a little Sasquatchers while I was away, which is a very fun little turn-based strategy game a la Fire Emblem, except your units are the members of a cryptid hunting social media channel. All the usual mechanical language of strategy games turned to a new purpose, with a great photography system in place of combat. I’m all about strategy genre stuff that gets its juice from places other than violence! More on that soon perhaps??

This week’s strategy game creator or thing worth checking out is Mountainside Tabletop. These guys make battle reports for skirmish games on YouTube, mostly Kill Team. No interest in the game personally, I feel nothing when I look at a space marine, but these guys are clearly super chill, just two bros hanging out and having fun. That’s the energy I need if I’m going to watch someone play games. They elevate the vibes with some excellent audiovisual production (end of turn recap animations? crazy good lighting? each team has its own bespoke theme tune? come on). Recommend watching their stuff!

Anyway that’s all I can think of for now, I’ve still got holiday brain. Back to work on Monday, speak soon and happy hobbying

Splaturday

Playtesting! I lost

 This week I put the castle build on hold and went back to my main ongoing hobby project, which is making a game out of the random smattering of minis I already have.

For this project I’ve been trying a level of iterative design I haven’t really been able to accomplish before. With RPG stuff, playtest are multi-hour group sessions, but working on a solo war game means that I can knock out a test run by myself on a lunch break. The immediacy of coming up with an idea and then going straight into implementation has been really interesting and gratifying.

I’ve been trying to lean into this aspect of the design, finding the fun of the game through play first. To that end there’s still no real “fluff” for this game, no story to justify the maths. Of course a vague picture starts to form, but there hasn’t been much of the lore leading the mechanical development - again, a world away from RPGs where the lore is the mechanics.

Anyway, this week they announced the release date for the new Splatoon 3 DLC. Splatoon is an online shooter video game, on paper not to my taste at all, but the gameplay and theming are both hugely fun so I’m pretty into it. The new DLC actually looks like it functions a lot like this game I’m working on, a solo mode tackling an onslaught of AI enemies.

Enemies from the upcoming splatoon DLC. It’s like BLAME! with seafood

The reason I’m bringing it up though is that the developers of that game went through a similar iterative process when starting out. The first build of Splatoon had no graphics, or even an inkling of what its style and characters would end up being. Players controlled grey cubes in a featureless grey cube world, with the only aim being finding the fun of the gameplay. When the developers started finding themselves having in-office tournaments on their lunch breaks, they knew they were onto something.

If there’s a game you’re working on that you’re able to regularly test like this I’d really recommend it. That instant feedback on if an idea has legs has led to some surprising directions for this game, and remaining largely uncommitted to any particular setting or lore has made me focus on moment to moment gameplay in a way that really gets results.

With RPGs, maybe this could be something like character creation? It’s not usual for the kinds of games I chat about here but might be worth a try

Also, I want to start shouting out cool hobby stuff from other folks in these Straturday posts, games I like, creators i recommend, etc. Today it’s Gardens of Hecate, run by Ana Polanšćak, who does some of the coolest model painting and conversions out there. The post I want to link to though is her play report of TSPN, which is a solo miniatures game based on Tamagotchi. I’m all about gameplay outside the standard miniatures stuff and this looks way out there, definitely give it a read. And then look at her other work!

Finally, there most likely won’t be a Straturday post next week as I’ll be taking a little time off! But I plan on playing games during that time of course, so expect all the more hobby nonsense once I’m back.

Cheers and happy hobbying x

Straturday III

 

Ye castle taketh shape

Happy straturday!

Not much of an update as this week has been slow going and I haven’t got much gaming or hobbying in. I do think there’s still some worth in checking in weekly when I can though, just to keep track. And it’s been encouraging me to find time to do stuff for fun when I can, which was the intention :)

Oh, and as of me posting this blog gives voting is still on for the ADVICE category. My nominated post went up against one of Arnold K’s, which was only going to go one way, but I’m now in contention for a shot at the bronze. Voting link in my last post!

Hope you get some time to spend on your hobbies this weekend!

Straturday Catch-up

The foundations. That doodle in the background is a spoiler for [REDACTED]

 Happy Straturday! i told you this was going to be a thing.

This morning I’m gluing some cardboard together in the hopes that it will eventually be a castle ruin. The only glue I have on hand takes a while to dry, so while that’s happening I thought I’d do a quick round up on my current hobby projects.

The first is a game I’ve been tinkering with since the end of last year, the idea that got me back into hobbying. I have a few models I’ve accumulated over the years but nothing resembling a full army, and none of the many rulebooks needed to play something like warhammer.

Then I remembered what I do for a living and decided to make my own tabletop wargame, the only criteria being that it exclusively use stuff I already have or could make from trash. It’s a solo game based on the chassis of Breckhelygan and some other long-discarded design ideas. I’m working out the mechanics, and it’s pretty fun already! Plays something like a mix of Bloodborne, Bayonetta and Vampire Survivors. Once it’s more concrete I’ll do a play report or something here.

There’s also a particular box of plastic knights I’ve had my eye on, and the need to justify the purchase plus all the Old World content I’ve been vicariously consuming have coagulated into another game idea about silly little knights on a quest. I’m excited about this one, no idea how it’ll play but once I’m able to afford these new toys I’ll test it. This is what the castle is for btw

Of course, these game projects are really just excuses for me to sit, craft, kitbash, design and play stuff for fun. So far it’s been working!

Anyone else got any fun projects on the go? Let me know in the comments or over on bluesky. Happy hobbying!

Straturdays

 Announcing a new blog series for 2024!

Straturdays is a weekly post about my strategy gaming hobbying. I’ve never really played any tabletop war games and the like, but I’ve accumulated a handful of miniatures over the years and towards the end of last year started dabbling in crafting terrain and designing my own game.

To be clear this isn’t a serious devlog and I’m not doing any big essay writing. This is all hobby for me, stuff I want to do more of in my spare time. These blog posts are partly a journal, partly holding myself accountable to playing more games for fun, and mostly just sharing stuff I think is cool.

So there’ll be battle reports, things I’ve crafted and kitbashed, plus updates on this game I’m working on if anything interesting happens. I also want to try a bunch of new games! There’s this huge rush of great looking strategy games coming out, I want to play The Silver Bayonet, Night Thirst, The Doomed, Gravetrigger, Bangarang in the Gutterlands, SLUDGE, Trench Crusades… definitely more I’m forgetting right now. These are all smaller-scale skirmish type games which suits me just fine (although I am eyeing up all this Old World stuff GW is putting out today…).

A lot of these games are easily accessible too, which is good for the exactly zero budget I have to put towards all this. I also want to include a few video games, but given said budget it’ll probably be me dusting off old ones I already have rather than anything new.

The only other thing to add is that I’d love to hear about other people’s hobbying! If you’re doing anything similar then share it with me in the comments or over on bluesky. #straturdays ? I don’t think I have the pull to start a hashtag but we’ll see.

Happy hobbying, and I’ll see you back here next week!

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