Dan's Contribution...

Dan has found an awesome site for 25mm miniatures... I checked it out, and I am nearly envious (trying not to break the 9th commandment...) concerning the fact that he has purchased some of his own moulds with which to cast metal figures! Wow! Looking forward to seeing your casts, Dan!

Here's the site...

http://www.princeaugust.ie/

The prices are in Euros, but I'm sure that Wargamer money is just as good... ha ha... :)

Heroscape: The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly...

Well, Ryan asked for it, and since I've become a little more of an expert on this one in the past few months, I'll talk about it a little bit.

First I'll tell why I think I'm qualified to talk about it...

I've bought both of the starter sets, you can still get them at the Hasbro site, along with many of the expansion sets. I've also listened to a couple of podcasts where the whole show was dedicated to the game. I have also played a couple games with my wife and by myself. I like the game, so I want to talk about it a little...

Let's start with the good.

First, I have to say that the miniatures are well done. They are pre-painted (which is confusing to some... Basically that means that you get them ready to play, out of the box). They come in dynamic poses, and they rarely repeat within units. The miniatures are large, I suppose the size for the human soldiers is somewhere around 35-40mm, foot to eyeball (that's how miniatures are classified -- by a measurment of miniatures from foot to eyeball...)

The conflict resolution system is good too. It is extreemly satisfying to roll 8 dice at a time and have 5 of them come up skulls (i.e. hits).

The many various units are a mixture of history and fantasy, and they have unique special effects that are well thought out.

Now let's talk about the bad... (Not the cards, they're pretty cool... but the activation...)

Frankly, at first I thought the activation system was good. But now, it really lacks something. Basically, in the rules you place tokens on the units you are activating that turn. Then you activate your units in order. But this means that only 3 of my guys can shoot at one time. That doesn't seem realistic. It also means that you can't move all your troops at the same time. While it is true that you probably can't get away with this in real life, the activation system puts more restrictions on the player than a general would expereince in real life.

There have been some attempts to fix this, basically leaving activation up to card draw. I think this could work. Therefore, in stead of putting order tokens, you would draw specially designed cards that would have things like "Activate any two adjacent units" or "Activate any three units" or "Fire all ranged units in range" or stuff like that.

Now let's talk about the ugly.

At first I really liked the terrain, but now I've got a better idea... The terrain is hexagons, and you know that as a wargamer I just love hexagons. But to tell you the truth, I think a miniatures game ought to be more "free form" movement. This means ditching the hexagons and going with terrain pieces on the tabletop. I've got some trees that are just the right size, and some hills that are really good at blocking line of site. Just multiply all of the movement numbers by 2 and do the movement in inches on the tabletop, and change a couple of engagement rules, and you've probably got a better game.

Finally, to answer Ryan's question...

I am not bothered by the collectibility factor. My experience has been that if you buy the master sets, you have a lot to play with. They both retail at 40 bucks a pop, but I got my master set 2 for half that because of a sale at my local Target store. If you can catch a sale, I recommend it.

It is true that there are some expansion sets that are "out of stock," but I really don't think that they will ever tell you that your miniatures are "fased out" like some other popular miniature games. Take a look at Hasbro's site below...

http://www.hasbrotoyshop.com/ProductsByBrand.htm?BR=746&ST=SO&PG=1

Also, here's the official heroscape site address...

http://www.hasbro.com/games/kid-games/heroscape/

Heroscape is the intellectual property of Hasbro. It is also a pretty cool game.

Command & Conquer 3 Tiberium Wars for the Xbox 360

I have always been a fan of the Command & Conquer series. My first experience of it was playing at a bachelor's party (Dan was that yours?? I can't remember). We had 2 TV s and 2 Playstations, so we had to groups playing one each team (one could only do the controls). It was a blast. Of course my best experience was playing Command & Conquer Red Alert 2 on the computer. Real Time Strategy games are best on the computer. You can do every faster.
So when Command & Conquer 3 came out, the question was: Computer or Xbox 360? It came down to this: I would need a new computer to play this game! So Xbox 360 it was. I was leary about playing it on the console and even though my first experience with Command & Conquer was on the console, I know the great ease of playing it on the computer.
Well, after playing it for several months now I must say that the Xbox 36o version is great! They have helped try and take the ease of having a keyboard into a controller. Certainly it is not as fast but it is simple and fluid. Purist will not like it on the 360 but you still get that feeling of playing it. There are times when I play that I wish I had a keyboard because I know that unit wouldn't have been destroyed with my engineer in it! But to experience Command & Conquer again without purchasing a new computer, the 360 is perfect.
They stick with the Red Alert 2 like physical cutscenes which is fantastic. And the story is as thrilling as the previous ones (excluding Generals...ugh). So if I'd recommend you check Command & Conquer out on the console...you'll be surprised.

Wargames or Eurogames?

This has always been a conflict of mine: war games or euro games? To clarify war game are board/miniature games that usually focus on attacking or gaining territories. These games are similar to Axis & Allies, Samurai Swords, Heroscape (although that's maybe a 3rd Category), and your typical Risk game. Euro games are not just games from europe. They are called Euro games because many of the games from Europe do not have 'war' or the pieces are not destroyed but 'pushed'. Some 'euro games' are also from America. These games are similar to Settlers of Catan, Carcassone, Citadels, Game of Thrones and Ticket to Ride.
The big question is which one is better? Which one has the highest level of strategy? Why do you prefer one over the other? I have a feeling what "WargamerBert" will say!
Images: Fase Preparatoria Dello Sbarco Alleato by Pigliapost
Includes Free River Expansion by Brett L.

Heroscape

So, the question is, does Bert think it is OK to play a game that he has not made up? "Of course" is the answer. One such game is Heroscape. The figures are pretty good, and the terrain is OK too... however, I would like a more free-form style of movement (ditch the hexes and go with a ruler) as well as a different activation system. But, no game can be "perfect" not even my games...

Well, I was going to show you some images of a heroscape setup that I have on my table, but the interface is proving uncooperative. So, just wait a bit...

A Little Teaser...

Well, I've been hard at work today turning this...

Into this...

Click the Bertonian Blogosphere July 2008 link to the right and find out what I was doing...

Family Stuff...

I guess I could put a little bit about my family here... Here are some pictures of Naomi and Micah...

As you can see, Naomi is really doing well. She's a "big girl" and enjoys playing with her stuffed "friends." Clifford is her favorite TV show, and her favorite toys include the "Little People" (daddy's influence, I'm sure...), her "Et" (a security blankET), and anyone she can get to tickle her.

Here's Micah. He enjoys dreuling, cooing, standing at the water table and splashing, and crawling all over the place and chewing on anything that he can find. I found him beginning to chew on my computer cable when I first started to blog this afternoon. Anyway, I caught it in time... :) (let the reader understand "right away.")

Here's both of them playing the piano. I love my kids. Micah is ten months and Naomi is three years old. He weighs only 3 pounds less than she does. But they are both fun and a lot of work to boot. It's great being a dad. Just to let you know that I don't (at least I try not to...) let this wargaming hobby take over all aspects of my life... :) I did have a few pictures of Kristen, my lovely wife, too, but I'll save them for next time...

I'm Baaaaaack...

Ok guys... Yes, I know, I messed up. Mea Culpa. Let's get over it. And let's start talking about wargames again. Yes, lets.

So, I've decided to add another link to this site. I'm developing rules for 25mm Napoleonics combat. The link to the left will show you what I'm talking about. So... I'm back. Deal with it.

Anway, I also wanted to let you know that I'm going to be publishing a monthly magazine focused on having a get together sometime in, yes, you guessed it, 2009... :) It will be a monthly magazine posted as a blogspot dealy. Look for new coming out soon.

Sorry abou the Bert Bat Con 2008 deal, I guess I dropped the ball. But I also guess I'm a little busy. In August, of course, we added future wargamer Micah to our cadre of Muellers, and now the ten month old baby boy is allowing about 15 to 20 minutes a day for wargaming. So... Enjoy!