Archive for 2013

Narnia Fumetto 8

Narnia is not only a matter of chronicles. It is the old name of a city exactly in Italy geographical centre. It is a beautiful little town on a hill and inside walls, with a distinct medieval appearance, and now it is called Narni. Fun fact: the coat of arms of the town is not a lion but a red griffon!

This is the 8th edition of Narni Fumetto, a nice convention about comics. And this one is the access to the town council inside a ancient stone building raised on the more ancient Roman forum of the town. In the atrium there was the games section of the convention.

I stayed two days with Andrea to playtest some new rules, to assist
him with free game session, to visit the town and the convention. In the background a well and along the wall some volumetric food measures carved in stone.

We tested some new ideas for BattleSworn future supplements. I think that it is better to work on the rules that Andrea have to complete, but in the meantime more games are in our minds.
In the background our friends of “La locanda dei giullari”, a live roleplay group. Very gorgeous girls inside!

On the table, to assist our creative efforts, another weird soft drink that resemble a more famous one: the Ben Cola!

Archery is another passion for Andrea. He diverted attention from games to assist people using his long bow.

The main comics area was inside a deconsacrated church now a cultural centre. You could find vendors, authors and some presentation.

A weird view. An altar transformed in a comic vendor stand. And some iconic images from cinema and comics are superimposed on saints on the walls.

The church is huge. Frescos remains on columns and cellars.

Accidentally blasphemy! The central figure is watching a comic on the upper shelf on the left. A Totem comic magazine with a sex scene just on the cover.

More accidentally blasphemy! A Crucifixion scene and on the left a soft sex scene on a comic named “the wait”.

There was another vendors space for comics and some games in another pavilion along the road. Wonderful food at bargain prices was sold at the convention and in shops in the town centre.

Cosplay is a vital component of comic conventions of the last 15 years. But I was amazed of the large wings of this chap. Not very handy to have a walk along the narrow streets of this town.

Sparkling colours add a tone to the white stone walls of the town.

Photo sessions around the town for cosplayers. Here they can use an unique location for their costumes.

A cosplay contest was held inside a theatre built in 1856 among medieval buildings. A real gem! Pity, I didn’t take a photo of the inside.

Gundam is always a classic. There is a young man inside. An heavy costume, movement is very demanding with it.

Well, two relaxing days while living a little but international comic convention. And more holidays will follow in the next days…

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Nickstarter: Of Gods And Mortals

North Star, miniature producer and vendor, have started another Nickstater. It is a program to build pre-orders for miniature lines useful for new Osprey wargame rules. It gives free figures, discounts and free postage. If they manage to raise certain target amounts of money, they will release either free figures or new models into the design schedule. This time they are making sets of licensed figures for Of Gods And Mortals by Andrea Sfiligoi. When the game is released in October 2013, they will have eight box sets to accompany the rule book. These will be four different gods, and four different legends sets. This will give you the myth content of pantheons inside the book. If the rules and miniatures manage to get the attention they deserve, there will be more figures and additional army lists available. Maybe Osprey could even be convinced to give us a full supplement for OGAM. I am involved in this project (I am one of the playtesters) and I hope you like it!

To know more on this project or to pledge, go to the OGAM Nickstarter page:
https://nstarmagazine.com/OF_GODS_AND_MORTALS.htm

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Final monster

Another Ganesha Games’ playtest time in Terni. Andrea hosted us in his home for a day. The last part of Summer is full of meeting opportunities to play with the latest games by Andrea and Sergio. And to drink uncommon soft drinks. And a bottle of traditional Italian lemon syrup “Tassoni”. Add to them cheap snacks and a dinner in a Chinese restaurant and you can obtain an idea about our cholesterol levels.

This time we playtested the last scenario of the boardgame, the fight of the survivors against the final monster. As a videogame. After a lot of efforts and scenarios our heroes found the last obstacle to their liberty. A challenge that they resolved shrewdly. Some tweaks are necessary to this game to resolve some aspects, but the core mechanics are validated.

More time available, so some BattleSworn games were played. The game is published so it was not a real playtest, only a way to run in the rules with more people. Now is available the printed version on Amazon (CreateSpace) here: https://www.createspace.com/4413049

Narciso reached us later for more fun. Other playtest meetings are scheduled in the near future. Photos and reports will follow…

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100 dice and sleep

Another day in Terni for playtesting. This time alone, because Diego had a bad time with family. Sad.
However I played a match with Andrea, playtesting for the second time a new game by Sergio, a game system where you use a dice pool to act. Andrea writes games very better than he plays them, so I could easily obtain a great victory: at the start he put too many forces behind the front line and there was a gap in the middle of the deployment. Then I fell asleep… Sergio in the aftermath insulted me for this. He reminded my past victories in tournaments, whereas during this game I had fear to move every single piece. Sorry chaps, I’m tired because I sleep only 6 hours a day and moreover with this heat my pressure is fatally low. However it is all my fault… The game is good, it is a fast and easy game system, always revolutionary as all Sergio’s games. But if you are a moron… However I suggested some crucial marketing ideas about the publishing of the game.

In the afternoon, after the dinner, more sleep for me… And a playtest about our boardgame campaign. I skipped a couple or more of matches so I refound my playing characters with more experience and weapons. This time it was a run towards the final goal. I had a better performance and fought hard. Only an error at the last killed a character of mine. Pity! The next stage is the final battle with a magic monster, only a matter of naked violence.
Next time the 24th of August, with more people and more games. And a big cup of coffee…

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Female armours

Today is Ferragosto time again! This day is dedicated to holidays at sea and pig out with really heavy food, sometimes dangerously deadly for the extreme temperatures of the day.

Bikini is the dress for girls during these days. And I have to confess that I saw the last Star Trek film only after I saw this picture. I don’t mind about pointed ears, this is better. The right advertising campaign, I believe.

Always on the girl dressing, I wish to speak about female armour. How we know it from comics and films it is obviously useless. But crucial if they want to have a male public who read comics and watch films. Yes, these female armours are unreal, but even females that wield a sword is an inconceivable thing. Please, turn off your political correctness and enjoy the spectacle.
And now a fun video about the protective capabilities of a female armour!

For a more deep debate on this topic go here.

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BattleSworn – bid for victory

BattleSworn is a simple set of rules for fantasy skirmish actions. Using a handful of miniatures in any scale and six-sided dice, two players can bring a game to a conclusion in around one hour. Table size is irrelevant. Distances are determined by terrain and by the position of enemies: no inches, no centimetres, no measuring sticks.

BattleSworn is not your typical “I go, you go” system. The ebb-and-flow of initiative is represented by a bidding mechanic. Players bid for initiative and reveal their bids at the same time. The lowest bidder acts first, with as many characters as the number of his bid. The highest bidder reacts with as many characters as the difference between bids.

Combat uses the same mechanic. Combatants roll a number of dice equal to the amount bid. Lower bids are resolved before higher bids. This forces players to take decisions: do I attack fast, sacrificing accuracy and power for speed, or do I let my opponent go first to hit him later with a harder blow?

Character profiles are not encumbered with detailed statistics. They are defined by 14 classes (Fighter, Shooter, Sniper, Tank, Brute, Leader, Rogue, Warmage, Sorcerer, Healer, Cavalry, Flyer, Arquebusier, Rabble) each with its special traits.This allows you to play with minimal preparation.

BattleSworn includes two sample scenarios, a mini-bestiary, 28 sample forces, 15 spells, guidelines to adapt the rules to other genres, and 11 pages of play examples and FAQs.

This is a stand-alone game. No other purchases are necessary.

40 full-color pages, including table of contents, cover, play sheet and a one-page play summary.

Pdf version available for only 8$ on Ganesha Games website.

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TerranScapes arena

Resin, a lot of heavy resin. This arena is a pretty anonymous and huge ring with few decorative elements that felts a lack of stairs and terraces. The exterior part reminds me of the railway buttresses (maybe the maker utilised some sheets for railway modelling to cast it). The interiors are more Medieval oriented. From this description it is clear that I do not like this arena so much? However, it is still a impressive-looking arena. You can find it here.

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After four years since I started to work on it, I have got the complete text in Italian of the first part of my Ferrum et Gloria gladiator rules!!! Now the editing work will start with the help of Andrea. After, he will translate the text in English language. In the meantime, during the spare time, I will start to write the second part. Some things are ready some are not. I have to playtest some ideas about chariots and beasts. A lot of work in progress, but another step ahead.

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