Moe Lane

…because when I saw this:

I just wrote an Illuminator that will probably annoy some people. I’ll get over it somehow. Should post tomorrow, I think.-SJ

— Steve Jackson Games (@SJGames) May 10, 2013

…I immediately assumed that it was going to be political.  Turns out Steve Jackson simply wanted to make a professional point about the benefits of disclosing the state of one’s business, both the good and the bad: (more…)

Dear God, I’ve been impressing people by telling them that it was going to be twelve.

The result is a board game that is almost stupidly ambitious, being sold at well below market value. The numbers are hard to wrap your head around.

“The final box will be 24” × 20” × 5.75” and will weigh 24 pounds. It will have five huge maps and more than 1,000 counters, many of them 3-D constructible Ogres and buildings. It will probably never be equaled in sheer size and awesomeness,” Jackson said.

Each box will be shipped in its own carton, Jackson told [PA Report's Ben Kuchera] almost a year ago. Retailers were worried about it fitting on their shelves at all, so they had to trim it down somewhat. Think about that for a bit; the dimensions listed above are for a smaller box than they had planned.

Go ahead and read the whole thing (it’s got some good thoughts about the problems with insanely-successful Kickstarters): I’m just going to be basking in the thought that I – thanks to reader generosity, mind you – get to actually have one of these things.  From the start.  For once.

Moe Lane

My post about Barack Obama as a power gamer was referenced in National Review Online, with my use of the term ‘munchkin’ quoted (as well as the meme of The Gun Is My Skill List).  By the way, both terms originate[*] in the seminal and influential work Munchkins Guide to Power Gaming…  wait a second: sixty-three bucks new?  Steve Jackson Games should do a reprint.

Anyway, this is a moment of quiet pride for me.  It’s like I’m rust!

Moe Lane

*For the sake of accuracy, this point from @sjgames is well-taken:

@moelane Minor correction: “munchkin” as a gaming term predates the Munchkin’s Guide by at least a decade. -AH

— Steve Jackson Games (@SJGames) February 27, 2013

…although as I noted in my response, the Guide really is what at least popularized the term.

OGRE War Room is Steve Jackson Games’ released app for, well, Ogre: and the youngest approves of it.

Hey, you gotta start ‘em early, you know.

…Somebody did an interview with Phil Reed of SJG about the status of the game.  Take a look:

…apparently, the box is even larger at this point.

Can’t wait.  Heck, I might even have the minis painted by then.

Moe Lane

PS: Also: I need to hit a gamer convention.  I haven’t done one of those in a WHILE.

As all men know, thanks to the benevolent consideration shown me by my most excellent readers I was able to participate in Steve Jackson Games‘ OGRE Kickstarter to the point where I scored the game and a bunch of stuff besides.  But with great wargames come great responsibility: since I asked for the game, and I was given it, I had darn well better play it.  Properly.  With all the respect that the allocation of large sums of money for a wargame deserves.

In this case: that means minis.  Both the acquisition, and the proper assembly thereof. (more…)

This is how it goes, people: they get to $700K on the OGRE Kickstarter, then SJG will start a Car Wars Kickstarter.

This I want, for two reasons:

1. I’ve been buying Car Wars since it came in little plastic boxes.
2. If they Kickstart Car Wars, maybe they’ll Kickstart… In Nomine.  Which was and is my single favorite roleplaying game setting of all time.  More than Castle Falkenstein, more than Unknown Armies, more than Feng Shui, more than Paranoia, and yes, more even than Delta Green. And it may take a Kickstarter to get a Second Edition.

So… well, three days to go on that, huh? I’m already in at the $100 level (not quite able to hit $150, but that’s just swank at this point), myself.

Dear GOD.

Dear, dear GOD. THAT IS FOURTEEN POUNDS OF OGRE.  FOUR. TEEN.

Two weeks to go on that Kickstarter, and it’s funded to a fare-thee-well, so all I have to do is figure out how to:

• Buy it ($100 is a lot of money, BUT LOOK AT THE SIZE OF THAT BOX);
• Find people to play it with.

You may have noted that I’ve put up the fact in the sidebar that I’m part of the Drive Thru RPG affiliate program. These guys do PDF publishing, which is actually a pretty handy way to get access to roleplaying game material that’s: a, obscure; b, out of print; or c, privately generated. I bought my copy of Ken Hite’s Dubious Shards there (very good combination of analysis of the Cthulhu Mythos, with a Delta Green adventure added in); I’ll probably pick up Tour de Lovecraft if/when I ever get the money together to get away with buying it.

Also, check out e23, which is Steve Jackson Games‘ own electronic publishing store.  I don’t see anything from that, but it’s got a lot of good stuff in it anyway.