The Updated Three Plains Rulebook

I already have written about the ever-evolving and already pretty excellent free-to-grab fantasy wargame that is Three Plains. Well, time then to let you know that the updated version of the Three Plains Rulebook (that would be version 2.3) has been released and that you can grab its 87-pages long PDF over at Epicwargaming. Then grab all those lovely army books and ready-to-print figures and start gaming.

Now, instead of describing the game myself, I thought I'd ask its creator to enlighten us. He kindly agreed and here's what David L. Sholes has to say:

Epicwargaming.com is my attempt at earning some money and doing what I love at the same time. Or, in other words, Epicwargaming.com is a private company, which is based on the internet.

So far I have achieved the fun side hands down, but the making money side... well... the wargaming market is not a very big pond and there are already plenty of big fishes in there. I started Epic because I love wargaming, but I’m not a fan of painting and the cost of it. So, that left me with print-and-play wargaming, but I soon found there isn't that much of it out there and thus decided to write my own game: Three Plains. 

Three Plains is an old-world fantasy setting with Orcs, Elves and Goblins all fighting it out. Why? Because that’s my thing. 

Three Plains is game not too different from Warhammer Fantasy Battles, but has more depth and realism than WFB, or so I believe. Characters and elite troops in Warhammer just dominated the field and as I got older I wanted to see more realistic games, where troops get tired and characters can be slain by the hands of commoners, and that’s what Three Plains is  all about really. I know that mixing the words realistic and fantasy together sounds silly, but that's what Three Plains is. For instance, take the 'March Over Rule': it means you can march straight over characters which would otherwise hold up entire units of men.

Reading this you might think it’s all my own work, but you would be wrong, as many people have put something in the game over the years now; far too many to mention. Then again, the game testers Tom, Alex, Matty and Trish have really shaped the game and brought it on. 

At the moment I would say the game is half finished, as I have some massive plans for it next year, like adding 3 more armies and adding a siege game on to it as well. So, we have our work cut out for us and, eh, better get back to it.

Related @ Gnome's Lair:

• Space Hulks and the joys of murdering Tyranids
• A session of Chill
• Dreadfleet: Not a Review
• Little Wars by H.G. Wells

Dreadfleet: Not a Review

I was actually thinking of writing a review of Dreadfleet, the latest limited edition (was that really necessary?) board game by Games Workshop, but, thing is, I really can't. It's not a board game; it's a miniature wargame that comes in a box, and miniature wargames cannot be judged after one game. Nor after two for that matter. They really should be deeply explored and played to exhaustion till a concrete conclusion can be reached, and that, dear reader, is why I will not review Dreadfleet. I'm out of time and by the time I've fully made up my mind, chances are, the game will already have sold out. That's why I'll simply write down my impressions on the thing instead.

So, let's get the basic and pretty obvious stuff out of the way first. Dreadfleet is a fantasy, naval wargame set in the world of Warhammer that has been designed for two players, but can apparently be played by up to ten. It pits the Dreadfleet, five monstrous ships crewed by a variety undead captains and their minions, against the Grand Alliance, a five pirate ships fleet of men, elves and dwarfs. Everything comes in a lavish box, that you can grab over at the Games Workshop site for the not so modest price of £70.

Then again said box is indeed filled to the brim with 10 extremely detailed and downright stunning miniature ships, a selection of smaller vessels and sea monsters, dice, some beautiful islands and shipwrecks, a full-colour 98-pages long manual, rulers, quite a few extras and a truly stunning seascape - the board of sorts on which the two fleets get to battle it out.

Besides the obvious quality of the miniatures and seascape and the fact that the box contains everything you need to play -it really is a wargame in a box, and that does suit us time- and money-poor, former  Warhammer gamers- the setting is also very well written and thoroughly presented. It's a battle between all sorts of undead characters (and, yes, that does include both Skaven and an almost chaotic, but not Chaos, dwarf) under the command of a powerful Tomb King against a vengeful pirate and his unstable alliance, taking place on the waters of a turbulent, extra-dimensional, aquatic graveyard where everything that dies in the ocean ends up in. Each ship and captain are thoroughly detailed, and even the twelve available scenarios and the rules are compatible with the overall plot.

This does of course lead to some problems; the chaotic nature of the graveyard's winds for example makes for an overtly randomized wind direction, that definitely doesn't help with strategic planning. Then again the rules are incredibly easy to grasp and almost intuitive, especially for those that have already had some experience with either naval or miniature wargames. Also, and not unlike Warhammer, it's a game that's based on movement and -despite its strong random elements- ultimately relies on each player's tactical and strategic decisions.

Oh, and assembling the ships and islands is a pretty straightforward and relatively fast procedure. Properly painting and gluing them together is -as is customary- another matter entirely. 

Related @ Gnome's Lair:

• Space Hulk: a Games Workshop board game review
• Guillotine - off with their heads!
• Warhammer 40000: Fire Warrior
• The Battles of the Three Plains

The Battles of the Three Plains

Seeing that this blog's favourite elderly person has escaped the terrible (yet oddly wine-filled) dungeons of the Lair  and is back in the land of the blogging, I thought I'd celebrate by writing something about wargames, thus reviving an almost forgotten Gnome's Lair tradition. Handily, it was only (very) recently that I ran into the pretty impressive and impressively free to grab Three Plains fantasy wargame too, which you dear and above all cunning reader can also grab by visiting the previous link and providing the site with your email. Haven't received any sort of spam myself just yet, so I do believe it's pretty safe.

Then again, such a tiny risk is definitely worth the enjoyment you'll be getting, especially considering this is a pretty lovely and obviously Warhammer inspired game that doesn't require miniatures, but appropriately demands a table to game on. Three Plains comes complete with all the soldiers, heroes, monsters, war machines, counters and bits of terrain required to play out some glorious battles in equally glorious PDF; all you have to do is print them, stick 'em to paper bases and avoid paying the exorbitant prices miniature manufacturers have been asking those past few years. Not that you -or for that matter I- can't use proper fantasy gaming miniatures should you so wish, but the papery ones do look surprisingly nice...

As for the game itself, well, it really feels quite a bit like Warhammer, meaning you'll have units (complete with flanks and rears) charging each other, heroes tipping the balance and a variety of magic users, fantasy races, mercenaries, magic items, exotic poisons and catapults to spice things up. Three Plains, you see, is already quite a rich game; the well-written main rulebook and more than a few expansions/armybooks such as the Orcs of the Blank Lands one are already available to download and are all that you'll need to start playing. Well, okay, some dice too.

Now, have a look, will you? I'll wait and open a champagne to further celebrate Elderly's return while you're reading and playing with them scissors.  

Related @ Gnome's Lair:

• A glimpse at a gnomic train
• H.G. Wells: Little Wars
• Brikwars!
• Maziacs: The Boardgame

Brikwars does to Lego Wargaming what Lenin did to bicycling. And its absolutely free too!

The Download Munkey had always been a most excellent of blogs, but its recent move to spanking new servers has really made it shine. Brilliant! Visit it @ downloadmunkey.net preferably by following this gamey link, thank Roys for taking the time to please you Internet people and -who knows?- you might also bump into a certain Brikwars post.

Brikwars, should you fail clicking any of the above links, is in its simplest form a freeware wargaming rules system, that let's use your Lego bricks and figures to ..uh.. play war with your mates. It is thus what some would call a tabletop strategy miniature wargame. Further inspection though, reveals a truly fantastic game that has been evolving for over a decade and is both simple (make that elegant) and deep enough to actually challenge Warhammer. As for the quality of the core rulebook and supplements, the top-notch humor and utterly jaw-dropping artwork, well, you'll have to visit the Brikwars site and impress yourselves. You wouldn't believe me otherwise.

Related @ Gnome's Lair: Mighty Empires for free, Chronicles from the Warzone issue 1, H.G. Well's Little Wars

Chronicles from the Warzone issue 1 (PDF)

Back in 1996 when the Warzone sci-fi (with a healthy splash of fantasy) miniatures wargame was released, even Warhammer 40,000 was but a youngling. Yet, the later got featured heavily in the already established -since 1977- White Dwarf magazine. Not so, with Warzone and that's what led now defunct Target Games to release its very own miniatures mag: Chronicles from the Warzone.

The magazine eventually evolved and significantly grew to cover fantasy wargame Chronopia and a variety of other Target Games products, but its premier issue remains as important as any first issue could ever hope for. Grab it here for free in all its PDF 16-pages glory, gawk at the lovely pictures and get a taste of this lovely OOP game.

May the Cardinal of Luna protect you!

Related @ Gnome's Lair: White Dwarf issue 1, The Dragon issue 1, Warzone: an update, free PDF & e-books archive

Digital magazines for analog gamers

Freeware PDF magazines are to wargamers what bicycles are to fish: essential. So, uhm, be the fish and ride the Fictional Reality March 2007 issue. Its 89 decently laid-out pages feature many miniature reviews, 2 battler reports (Rezolution and Viktory II), quite a few game reviews including new Warhammer RPG and Warmachine products, some painting advice and absolutely no pr0n. And in case you're more of a Blood Bowl fish, then let me introduce you to the EndZone magazine and its first four excellent issues.

Related @ Gnome's Lair: a Blood Bowl novel, H.G. Wells' Little Wars, White Dwarf 327 review

Related Tags: Blood Bowl, Miniatures, Warhammer, PDF magazines, Fictional Reality, EndZone, Free PDF, Games, Free, Wargame, Wargames, Game

The Strategies of Risk

Risk (BGG entry), according to sources that prefer to call themselves voices and are not to be taken seriously, is one of the most successful, imitated and thus influential board games ever devised. It also is a particularly enjoyable game, that comes in a variety of flavours ranging from Star Wars to Lord Of The Rings to Classic, with the added bonus of being less prone to shatter friendships than Diplomacy. Also, also, Risk has the dubious honour of being the first truly mainstream wargame.

With wargaming, though, come tactics and strategies. Strategy guides too. Some of the best can apparently be found over at the rather specialized RISK, Strategies Explained... website. It even has a basic beginners guide. An advanced one too, obviously. Try them out in battle (for free), over at netRisk or by downloading the very Risk-esque Dominate Game.

Related @ Gnome's Lair: Talisman is coming back, vintage board games for free, SA games


Related Tags: Risk, Risk tactics, Risk strategy guide, free games, board games, board game, wargame, games, game

Feeding the fetish: Wargaming, Warhammer and RPG PDF mags

Glorious freebies. Glorious PDF gaming mags, that actually decide to ignore the realm of digital entertainment. Brilliant magazines such as Fictional Reality, or to be more precise such as the 27th issue of Fictional Reality, that can be happily downloaded (for free of course) at this nice place. Expect to find 82pages crammed with news, miniature, roleplaying and game reviews, a preview of Dark Age, interviews and two lavishly illustrated Battle Reports (Pulp Heroes, Infinity).

If on the other hand Warhammer (a.k.a. WHFB) is your thing, then why not try downloading the tenth issue of Irresistible Force, simply by clicking here and then by irritatingly registering @ the IF website. Anyway. This rather excellent 46-pages long issue includes -among other fancy stuff- a 7th edition Orcs and Goblins review, an army building article (Chaos Mortals should you need to know), the Chronicles of a Dark Elf Army piece, quite a bit on the tournament scene and lots of bright pics.

Related @ Gnome's Lair: Dungeons, maps and dice, Little Wars by H.G. Wells, Space Hulk 2nd edition



Related Tags: gaming magazines, PDF magazine, PDF magazines, Wargaming, RPG, Warhammer, free PDF, weblog, Games, Game, free, Dark Age

Little Wars. Or how H.G. Wells created pop wargaming.

Playing with toy soldiers is apparently as ancient a hobby as playing with ones self (well ... almost). Ancient Egyptians did it, the Romans did it, Indians did it and the Chinese must have surely entertained the thought.

Playing with toy soldiers in a modern context, on the other hand, is -as expected- a rather more recent development, and as such a more cruel one too. The whole thing, you see, didn't start as playing per se, but more of as a way to train Prussian military officers in the subtleties (?) of war (Kriegspiel they called it, and it used dice to simulate random battlefield events). The concept didn't actually evolve into something less blood thirsty till H.G. Wells decided that a game for boys from twelve years of age to one hundred and fifty and for that more intelligent sort of girl who likes boys' games and books would be a nifty idea.

A game that would be the first modern miniature wargame not intended for being used in slaughtering actual people in particularly gruesome ways. A game Mr. Wells would cunningly name Little Wars. Also a game (published in the most traditional of book formats) lovingly preserved by the good people of Project Gutenberg and thankfully available in full and for free right here. Go on. Read the thing. It's brilliant and you'll get to feel all 1913 too. Seems pretty playable, mind you.

Related @ Gnome's Lair: Mutant Chronicles Update, Dungeon Dark and Dangerous, Class Struggle: the board game

Related Tags: Wargame, H.G. Wells, Wargames, Little Wars, Games, Game, Free, Free e-book, Miniatures, Gaming

Mutant Chronicles: Warzone. Updates and freebies.

(Disclaimer: This is a silly post, part of the imagined massively-link-to-places online compo, where only gnomes are allowed to participate)

(A plea: Please ignore the disclaimer above. Thank you.)

Warzone, the sci-fi squad-based wargame of the Mutant Chronicles universe and my fondly remembered entry point to the world of miniature addiction & pain, has been rather dead for quite some time. Painfully dead. Excelsior's brave efforts didn't save it, brilliant Italian fan-sites didn't help and neither did the extensive cataloguing of the game's all three editions at Boardgamegeek.

All though is not lost. Not yet.

Matt Forbeck, one of the few -the happy few- people that originally shaped the (English version) Mutant Chronicles, keeps providing us with crucial info. Oh, and apparently an excellent and quite unpublished Warzone related PDF: Mutant Memories. Info highlights include:

-The new Mutant Chronicles RPG.
-The aptly named Mutant Chronicles Movie.
-The last Warzone miniatures stash (well, stockist).

Not bad. Quite reassuring actually. Who knows... Warzone edition 4 might someday live...

Related @ Gnome's Lair: a nice wargaming freebie, RPG sex, Space Hulk 2nd. edition


Related Tags: Warzone, Mutant Chronicles, RPG, Wargames, Movies, Movie, Mutant Chronicles Movie, Matt Forbeck, Free, PDF, Game, Games, Excelsior, Miniatures

Another free mag: Fictional Reality

Yes, more free stuff! For free! Again! What a shock! And this time it's a magazine on wargames, miniatures and RPGs. A 66 pages long PDF magazine to be precise, that likes to call itself Fictional Reality. This issue, the 25th, features two impressive battle reports (Horde and Babylon 5), tons of miniature and game reviews, terrain building advice, a nice Sidewinder: Recoiled RPG scenario and quite a bit of general eye-candy.

Oh, and you can apparently download it right here.

Related @ Gnome's Lair: Dungeon Hack: a freeware fantasy wargame, pure RPG sex, Wraith: The Oblivion

Related Tags: RPG, Game, Wargames, PDF, Free magazine, gaming, Games, RPGs, Roleplaying, Babylon 5, Horde, Fictional Reality

"Οι γνώμοι": gnomes in Greek

(We few, we happy few, we band of brothers)

It's already been three (thr33 in ninja speak) whole years since us, the gnomes, an eclectic mix of gamers, artists and fantasy aficionados, managed to publish the first (and apparently only) issue ever, of the almost legendary magazine called the gnomes. The fact, of course, that the mag was quite a bit in Greek meant it's actual name was "οι γνώμοι", two words crudely pronounced as "i gnomi", which oh-so-happens to sound exactly like the Greek word for opinion.

And opinionated it was. And gaming centered. And sporting an excellent cartoonist and a half-mad painter. Also two lawyers, a porny chemicals expert, a crazy person periodically working in China, a pure Heavy Metal fan, a rural and surveying engineer and yours truly. Also, also, lots of gnomes and an Epicurean reference.

Actual content included reviews of the Lord of the Rings and Engel RPGs, a miniature painting guide, interviews, a sarcastic glance at the Greek version of Dungeons and Dragons 3rd edition, a Bards' look at the music of Willow, book reviews, a ludology article of sorts, more DnD stuff, Game Mastering stuff and more stuff in general.

Our first issue, unexpectedly dubbed issue 0 can be downloaded here and its cover along with a polemic article versus anti-RPG bigots here. The online only (thus cheaper to produce, thus featuring extra articles) version can be found here. It might be in Greek, but the layout is top. Just like the prose actually...

We actually gave 1000 printed issues away. For free.

Then we went on and built ourselves a website. It was quite a nice one mind you(gnomoi.com), but now it's been snatched by a porn provider, which I happen to find a suitably appropriate upgrade of cyber space. Still the WayBackMachine can be helpful. Have a look here...

That's about it, really... I'm off to cry tears of nostalgia now. You go on, have fun, keep on with your lives. See if you can decipher the Greek alphabet. Enjoy your insensitive selves.

Sniff... Seufz...

[UPDATE]: To download the PDFs of the magazine follow this link. It works and always (well, almost) will.

(there you go Mr. Elderly, now you know all there was to it)

Related @ Gnome's Lair: Spooky RPG music, White Dwarf issue 1, Wraith the Oblivion


Related Tags: RPG, Magazine, Fantasy, Reviews, PDF, Greek, Gnomes, Gnome, Weblog, Blog, dungeons and dragons, DnD, Engel, Wargames, Free, RPGs, Game, Games, review, pen and paper, d20

Dungeon Hacks are Dangerous ...

.. even more so when acted out,not on a safe-little PC screen, but in real life. We gnomes, being the rational beings we are, usually opt for the middle solution. We don't rot playing Diablo, we avoid facing any actual danger whatsoever. No! We go play miniature based dungeon hacking wargames instead. No mutated mice, no creepy Jellies, no chance of breaking a nail, just miniatures, lots of dice and of course free rules. Oh, and let me stress this last bit.. Free rules, as (for example) found here, at the Dungeons Dark and Dangerous site. Visit it, it's a nice cozy and safe wargaming haven. No Kobolds are to be found ;).

Related @ Gnome's Lair: Matt Forbeck's Blood Bowl, Oblivion's essentials, a cute dice rolling inspired video

Related Tags: Dungeon Hack, Free games, Wargames, Wargame, Fantasy, Dark, Dungeon, RPG, Miniatures, Free, Freeware

Fictional Reality issue 24

I had started doubting its existence, but evidently I was simply over-reacting. Fictional Reality, the best (and admittedly only) wargame, RPG and miniature related PDF magazine, is back. Download issue 24 @ fictionalreality.org and stay happy. It even has an Albrecht Duerer cover! On the other hand, the World Cup is getting more and more interesting...

Related Tags: Fictional reality, fantasy, wargames, miniatures, PDF, free, magazine, fictional, reality, ezine, e-zine, RPG

Fictional Miss

Happy news #1: The March issue of Fictional Reality is already available for download, and it isn't even April yet. Hooray. Hop over to fictionalreality.org and download a 23mb pdf magazine, that includes 80 pages of RPG, wargame, board game and miniature related reviews, previews, how tos, battle reports and more importantly nice and well thought-of ads. It's free, nice and definitely not so funny.

Happy News#2: The 10th issue of the amazing, ueber, extra and all that jazz webzine Critical Miss is available (right) here. Apparently has been for quite some time... Seems that the Magazine for Dysfunctional Gamers hasn't died yet. Great, and definitely hilarious. An absolute must-read.

Old news: Vintage D&D review, a silly RPG related video and a review of Zombies!!!

Related Tags: Miniature, Miniatures, Fictional, Reality, Critical Miss, ezine, e-zine, Magazine, Magazines, pdf, free, RPG, Wargame, Wargames, Game, Games, Board Games, webzine

Fictional Gaming Reality

Video games are definitely a decent way to murder your free time. But why not try other methods too? Like Role Playing Games (the pen and paper ones -doh!), Wargames or miniature painting. If you feel intrigued or are a seasoned gamer take a peek at one of my favorite online pdf magazines. Fictional Reality.

The current issue is full of reviews, news, battle reports, gaming and hobby tips. And there are more than 20 archived issues for your reading/gaming pleasure.

Enjoy this mag by clicking here.