It's time for some lighter fare.
For those into wargaming with minis, I'm a huge fan of the simplicity of Crossfire. Another system that can be cheap to start in, but I haven't had a chance to try the rules out, is Combat Storm - a set of rules for using little green and tan plastic army men.
Introducing COMBAT STORM, the definitive wargame that uses your own collection of plastic army men as game pieces and a large playing area such as a large table or living-room floor as a battlefield.
For terrain, you can use common household objects to represent buildings and obstacles (e.g. books, wooden blocks, boxes, etc.) or use the included print-and-play papercraft terrain to build your own awesome cities and environments.
With the Combat Storm rules, your battlefield comes to life as you issue orders to your squads, by controlling their movements and attacks, in an effort to overcome the enemy and complete the mission at hand!
While we're on the military theme, Future War Stories did an overview of what it considered the best mil-SF comic series, Dynamo Joe.
Honestly, I’ve never read a comic like Dynamo Joe, let along one that deals with bedrock military sci-fi of themes of mecha, space warfare, and the complex nature of allies during wartime. While space warfare using mecha is nothing new in the realm of comics or animation, this presented a challenge to the creative team of DJ on how to create a universe where these mecha could live and be intriguing enough for the buyer to pick up this comic from the magazine rack for a higher price than the average comic at the time. One element greatly helping the cause of Dynamo Joe to stand apart was it setting. The enemy of DJwas not another mecha-using government, but a single-minded super-organism species that designed all manner of nightmare creatures. In addition, the battlesuits were updated several times in the series and were not magically war machines that came out victorious against the alien enemy, but many were lost, along with their crews, and they are a tool, an effective tool, but a tool none the less. Space warfare using mecha is nothing new in the realm of comics or animation and presented a challenge to the creative team on how to create a universe where these mecha could live and be intriguing enough for the buyer to pick up this title from the magazine rack for a higher price than the average comic at the time in the 80's.
While it's been a while since I've paid attention to anything over at Hoyt's, there's a post worth reading by Dr Tanstaafl.
Why do some people shake off bad news and keep smiling? How does something that happens to all of us, derail some individuals? Is it all genetics? Is it all luck? Is it parenting? I think part of the difference is in the stories we tell ourselves. Our internalized stories give us the blueprint for our reaction. I can’t fold to a misogynist because great-grandmother stood up to them. Dad never whined when the call went against him, so I can’t either. I can find a solution because our family is good at thinking outside the box. If I get lost, I will be found again, and this is what dad always did.
Last but not least, a nifty tool for GM's who neeed an insta-dungeon, called Donjon. it allows you to create dungeons of various sizes and shapes.
