Things of Beauty

Ah.. we've had a sparkling day weather-wise this week..
And as usual it gets me thinking about things and places of beauty.


View Larger MapTop of the list comes SWMBO (she who must be obeyed - my smarter cuter half, the perfect compact package of Ordnüng, Sweetness and Sudden Death with Frozen Fish) she's  valiantly enduring Frankfurt weather and we would spend a day such as we had here this last Thursday  with a newspaper, thermos of coffee a blanket and possibly an ipod and speaker, soaking in the sunshine under a tree somewhere here in the Darling Gardens in Clifton Hill opposite my place.

The park's big enough to largely deaden traffic noise and while browner than usual these days due to the drought that's hit Oz for the last few years, it's still a lovely place to go to get away from the Keyboard.

"..the  world is an arch."   "ssh, that is a secret"

Objets also of note are possibly the only RPG is achieve Clarke-like levels of what J.R.R. Tolkien ("On Fairy Stories, 1938) called "sub-creation", presenting fantasy with "an inner consistency of reality", "as if it were true"

That RPG is Chaosium's Ringworld, based on Larry Niven's  Known Space novels, novellas and short stories.


This RPG is the Silmarilion to Larry's vision and John Hewitt,  is the collato, preserver and dare I say weaver bringing the worlds of Man, Kzin, Pak Puppeteer and Dolphin together in an unparalled whole.

Admittedly, the vastness of the subject, when you consider only the Ringworld, its size and the deep contemplation and purpose of the Pak project underlying it, shows a panache, elan and arrogance that you simply don't see in SF these days. It is a tour de force.

Hewitt's done an amazing job creating a Billions of years long Tapestry from Niven's threads and the Cover Painting by Ralph Mc Quarrie, who brought you the Sky mines of Bespin, matte work for almost every significant genre film youve ever seen, conveys the majesty of the artefact that, Wu, Speaker, Nessus and Teela explore and that they only explore a chasteningly small portion of.

You walk away knowing reverently without doubt that in Sagan's words,  we "live on a pale blue dot".

All roads lead back to SWMBO an as far as Frankfurt goes a hot day  shoes off dangling or walking in the Fountain outside the Alte Oper   is superb and refreshing.

The Germans keep the  fountain beautifully and the fountain is clean and free of debris.

I'd have proposed to her there but for the irresistable temptation to drag her under the water curtain, in which case it would have been a combined funeral.

An Army marches on its stomach and I'm no exception.

The exquisite  and simple pie floater.

I've only ever had one a few years ago  at Pie in the Sky at Olinda on Mt Dandenong outside Melbourne and it was heavenly.


And lastly the thing of beauty is the look on SWMBO's face when she reads this (in which case its been nice knowing you all)

if you waste 5 minutes of your life today, waste it here at http://www.nothinglikeaustralia.net/.

Invasion of the Space Grognards!

Are you a Space Grognard?

Oh dear, It's an Imperium week it seems..

I pull my finger out and put the SSDs up and the next thing I know..

It's Invasion of the Space Grognards!, Holy Klono and by the scorched nose-hairs of Noshabkeming! pass me another bottle of Rhysling's Rotgut..

I stumble across another group of Imperium addicts:

A Yahoo group that was hiding under my nose in a link off Imperium's entry at BGG, when I thought that the WarpWar group was the only one offering refuge to Missile Boat Maniacs..

Timbo74 pops up and declares himself Marc Miller's lovechild and wants a PBEM game of Imperium  he's dashed out and got the PDF download  at wargames vault. (now who said blogging is a usless and pointless exercise? It got me an opponent!)

Keith Frye reminded me to "Keep the Flame!" on the Stargrunt-Full Thrust Yahoo Group.

Don Hawthorne and I exchanged curmudgeonly reminiscences via email about FT in the good old days and I observed about the Fleet books and "FT3" that:
"..as an old geezer I understand but there is a "toad syndrome"  that
insists on the newest latest shiniest and fastest amongst the youth ;) .."

You could almost hear us going "..I remember when Four firing arcs were good enough for anyone.."

As a good Space Grognard, I do a bit of scouting and evangelizing for FT tracking down Google alerts for "Full Thrust" and  connecting with the many pockets of the 'Net and wider world that don't seem to be part of the "in" crowd of GZG-xCC attendees or GZG-L denizens..

You'd be surprised how many people "heard" of FT and got into it on their own or haven't hooked up with many other players. Newbies or returnees.. all need a helping hand and light shone onto the FT/GZG Community.. that's one reason I setup the GZGfinder.

Consider it my wargaming equivalent of  the CoDominium Oath of Reunion...  theres a lot of "outies" that need  connecting up!

One such is a thread on RPG.net. at the moment:
The First post in this thread convinced me that as a Space Grognard I have a meta-duty to fledgling players to welcome them and bring them along, especially if I want to keep playing the stuff I enjoy in my dotage.

so far we're up to...

Privateer:I actually prefer having a stable platform of rules that doesn't change on a 4-5 year compulsory basis.  That goes the same for Dirtside 2 and Stargrunt 2.

Agreed I dont like Rules churn either., 

FT and Jon's approach to gaming and rules is in many ways a bit of a test, but one I find refreshing.

its flexibility and "nothing written in stone" approach is great unless you are a "rulebook" guy or game with people who arent prepared to be flexible with house rules/mods  or simply aren't of the experimental or "suck it and see" bent when it comes to fiddling wih rules.

That FT gets used as a competition set of rules and has a design system will always tempt people to break/bend/test/minimax the rules

sometimes getting wargamers to agree on anything is like washing cats.. some people will concede houserules or mods here and there to get a game rolling, some people will fight to the bitter end as if violating "the book" was an affront or heresy.

that having been said, I enjoy FT and want to keep playing it, keeping the game alive and giving it a public "pulse" is important  and while fan sites and support helps, *nothing* works for a game (and a newly introduced player) like the adrenaline of a newly acquired  rulebook..

the "unborn" next generation of Full Thrust players who perhaps have been bought up on a dihorrea of editions and expansions of Ginormous Workshop games have been spoiled by the visual riches thus published to some extent..

the "try out" or "suck it and see" experimenatlism where youd find a set of rules a few pages long in the latest "Miniature Wargames" and try them with your mates seem to have withered...

Wargaming doesnt have its "Young Turks" but  but rather "young anoraks" mumbling  "but the new 9th edition codex says  the Space Wombles Chapter Librarian doesnt get a storm bolter, you can't kitbash figures, that's  like  ..wrong"

Ahh new rules...

I just bought Bag the Hun 2 and Might and Reason for Seven Years War..  its always a buzz, getting into new stuff or revisiting old stuff again.


all this Imperium stuff tends to get me singing Mel Brooks thanks to song entry in a BGG Contest that got me some geekgold last year:

Vilani were having trouble
What a sad, sad story
Needed some new planets to restore
their former glory
Where, oh, where were they?
Where could that land be?
They looked around and then they found
The stars for you and me

And now it's...

Springtime for Dingir and Vilani
Vland is happy and gay!
We're boosting to a faster pace
Look out, here comes the master race!
Springtime for Dingir and Vilani!
Vland's a fine land once more!
Springtime for Dingir and Vilani
Watch out, Terra!
We're going on tour!
Springtime for Dingir and Vilani...

Look, it's springtime once more!

Winter for Barnard and Sol

Springtime for Dingir and Vilani!

Come on, Vilani
Go into your dance!

I was born in Guusmegraguul und that is why they call me Cool.

Don't be stupid, be a smarty, come and join the Solomani party!

Springtime for Dingir and Vilani
Goose-step's the new step today..

But the point of my Post is that if You're a Space Grognard then you have to give something back,

• welcome a newbie
• let them reroll that Damage control roll
• get those house rules you've thought a about a try 
• or better still shared and posted on the net, 
• organize a  game at your club  rather than turn up expecting  someone to have organized something.

Do that now, by Klono's Boranium Bollocks, so that you can play what you love in the times to come.  you mightn't get direct benefit for your efforts, but someone will and the hobby will be better for it.

Altruism works especially in the wargaming hobby, so work for it!

"...Then you make the sacrifice willingly? No fame. No armies or banners or cities to celebrate your name?...How do you know the Chosen Ones? "No greater love hath a man than he lay down his life for his brother." Not for millions…not for glory…not for fame. For one person, in the dark, where no one will ever know or see. I have been in the service of the Vorlons for centuries, looking for you. Diogenes with his lamp, looking for an honest man willing to die for all the wrong reasons. At last, my job is finished. Yours is just beginning. When the darkness comes, know this: You are the right people, in the right place, at the right time..."
    -Sebastian, Comes the Inquisitor.

Full Thrust / Imperium SSDs and Integration Packet.

It's deliberate that I make no secret of my two favourite boardgames: GDW's  Imperium and A House Divided 
Now available from Marc Miller of farfuture.net through your friendly PDF supplier

Or Dark Nebula? Random Geomorpic maps? exploration? 

Be tempted at USD4.95 its a baargain.. if only other publishers kept their back catalogue on the front burner as well..

So imagine my delight when a few years ago I found Don Hawthorne's Full Thrust integration packet with Imperium at Chris Weuve's website.
(Chris, like me, is also a Stellar Conquest and Triplanetary fan as well)

I'd tracked down some SSDs (I know I'm sorry I'm a recovering SFB player!) on the internet archive but the IA doesn't archive image files consistently..alas

Mark Drake recently posted on  Boardgamegeek that he had some SSDs but no hosting space, having started this blog, a light globe (Black Globe? ;)  moment ensued an I offered to rehost them here..

I've emailed Don Hawthorne who has hapily agreed to allow a z9m9z link to Don's Ful Thrust/Imperium Integration packet

Don replied "..I'm happy there is still enough interest in both games to warrant my little effort being kept available..."

Well so are we, Don! thanks!

If you love Traveller and Full Thrust,  look no further than British Isles Traveller Support's (BITS) Power Projection:Fleet - which has a fabulous Campaign System and Full Thrust Based Combat system and a conversion to Full Thrust from the High Guard and. Other Traveller ship design Systems..
(the Imperial Tigress class BB SSD is truly scary)

So here are Mark's Full Thrust SSDs for the Ships of GDW's Imperium

Terran Capitals, Monitors and Cruisers.

Terran DD, MB and Scouts

Vilani Capitals, Monitors and Cruisers

Vilani Cruisers, DDs and Scouts


I must ask Mark if he washed his ship designs through the PP:F conversion system or if these were "windage/RoThumb" FT designs,

On the other hand if you have stats for the ships of Imperium in another Traveller design system, please pass them along as washing them through PP:F would be an interesting exercise.

NB: if you'd like a PBEM game of Imperium, do get in touch :) or A House Divided

Now if only I could get a game of WARP WAR!

NB EDIT: Mark advises he got them off a bloke named Doug Evans way back when on GZG-L. thanks Doug! 

EDIT 2: Don Hawthorne has responded and is happy for the IP to be linked here.. he sounded rather chuffed that people are having fun with it!

Why I play Full thrust and my gaming origins

Now I have to Apologize upfront for earlier posting unpainted Full Thrust Lead and tempting poor Timbo74 with new things to clog up his painting table, given he's got lots of Luverly Tumbling Dice stuff to do for Bag the Hun..

His poor wallet's vibrating like one of Sauron's Rings!

The SSD above is why I abandoned StarFleet Battles and Starfire and sought out the Oasis of Full Thrust and why BTH is so appealing to me!

"Play the period, not the rules"  a revolutionary sentiment and not before time!

I started gaming in 1982 with RPGs like D&D and Traveller - which I'm
still fond of, especially the GDW boardgames of all genres, like A house divided and Imperium.

In 1983 I put an ad in a local games shop to play Star Fleet Battles
with someone and I met someone with whom I found a Club, The Knights
of the Square Table.
that person didnt stay the distance but I did and the club played more
games and periods than I knew and was my first experience with
miniatures (WRG 6th) and
serious boardgaming, Civilization, Diplomacy, Risk, Empires in Arms,
Starfire, Kingmaker, Machiavelli, Blue Max, Railway Rivals/Dampfross, A
house divided, Imperium, and panzer pusher games like Europa as well
as beer and pretzel games like illuminati and Naval War, Settlers and
great Euro games like Shark, El Grande etc

We also played a great campaign of "En Garde" now published by paul
evans at engarde.co.uk.. hybrid RPG/semi boardgame lots of fun.

my boardgamegeek.com profile is at http://www.boardgamegeek.com/user/gurubob

these days I mainly played two player boardgames(house
divided/Imperium RAF:1940) as players and time for large multiplayer
ones are hard to find.
If I have time for a boardgame, I'd rather it was a "wargame" and not
a family one unless its settlers of catan

I loved Blue Max and anyone willing to teach me Wings of War will hae
an opponent.

I only ever did 15mm..I had a small Republican Roman Army (lost or
stolen long ago) and have Austrian an Prussian Seven Years War Armies,
which have seen all sorts of rules come and go,
WRG 6th, 7th, DBM, now DBA on the one hand and WRG 18th Century Rules,
Age of Reason and im looking to perhaps get back into Seven Years War
with Sam Mustafa's
"Might and Reason" for which a friend in Melbourne is a playtester and
contributor. I'm a terrible painter!

My first miniatures were for Star Fleet Battles and I guess as my dad
was in the USN as a kid the naval thing stuck and I also got a few
1/1200 scale Sailing Ships for !8th century and Napoleonic periods. with those I played with S.Burnie's "action under sail" from Navwar, Heart of Oak rules were
around but not played.

We did a few carribean pirate campaigns..
it wasnt until 5 years agoI found Rod Langton's eautiful ships and his
great rules, "Signal Close Action" and "Fast Play" I havent looked
back, Though I will be checking out Toofatlardies, Kiss Me Hardy.

I recently began looking at Pre-Dreadnought Naval battles in 1/3000
and have bought small German and US cruiser fleets from wtj.com to use
with David Manley's "Fire when Ready" and "Perfidious Albion" rules. perhaps also DBSA!

As SFB and Starfire got too complex and expensive, I was looking for
fun and I certainly found it with "Full Thrust", I have quite a few
fleets and unpainted lead too.

I ran a few SFB and Full Thrust competitions in the 90s in Melbourne,
but now play Full Thrust with GZG fleets and also some Babylon 5
fleets too.

Space/SF gaming is a love and Imperium from GDW was my first, I play
"Stars!" an old 4X computer game by email and love the old Microgame,
"Warp War" and "Stellar Conquest", along with Travellers "Trillion Credit
Squadron" and "Fifth Frontier War" are great inspirations for
Spacefleet campaigns.

I play "Diplomacy" occasionally on one of the many internet servers
and am trying to learn to play GO with my fiance.

At the time I began, in 1984 the KOST club rented a house, one person
lived in it and it was a riot! after those great days in the 80s we
changed venues a few times and KOST moved from a high school to two
scout halls and became the NSGA.
The club split and folded in 2007 when some idiot agreed to let LAN party games in and they didnt pay their way.

A few wandering years and one of our number, a greenskeeper,
relaunched KOST early last year at a local lawn bowls clubrooms, as
social bowls members, we have a bar and nice tables,
although not the plovely purpose built ones the Spieltrieb has. in
Australia, Melbourne Anyway, no club has exclusive permenant rooms and
tables apart from DBA tend to  be ply/chipboard 6' by 4' tabletops painted green on top of any suitable table over which blue/black/green cloth is thown if someone
has it.

The club I play at in Melbourne is the Knights of the Square Table.
to get an idea of the scene back in Melbourne, have a look at
http://homepage.mac.com/sfinlay/australian_clubs_vic.htm.

http://conquest.asn.au/ and cancon http://www.cgs.asn.au/index.html
are the two conventions I played at.

Bag the Hun by Toofatlardies has grabbed me as has the Tumbling Dice 1/600 miniatures and the 1/285 Raidens sold by Dom's Decals.  I also splahed on some Leading Edge Boulton Paul Defiants and Dornier Do17s sold by Museum Miniatures.

The new BTH2 rules are fabbotastic!

more unpainted lead!

the firestorm armada vs Full Thrust brouhaha lets build connections, not throw brickbats

[really useful discussion started completely offhand by accident by servitob at 6 inch move comparing FS:A to FT]


despite all the bullets I REALLY would LOVE a review of FS:A
mechanics, gameplay, where its stodgy, where its quick, where players can contribute to the game creatively ie are there design rules etc, im no FT taliban but the thing that is different about FT is that Tuffley taught us to fish rather than giving us a fish each. the basic frameworks been provided and its been adapted to just about every genre you can think of from steampunk to sail to manga to BSG to B5 and Star wars, the cross over dimensions rulebook only recently compiled has that and more.

as far as  availability goes well  theres a difference as im sure you know  between brand presence/marketing and supply of goods.

GZG is a one/two man business and they are almost totally devoted to making miniatures churning out new casting designs thats literally where their bread and butter is Jon simply doesnt have the time/funds  to spend on marketing or rules development which is left to a cadre of unpaid playtesters who have FT3 in a looong beta until jon can review/proof/typeset/arrange artwork for somethng he can send to a printer

tuffleys approach to rules is akin t the glorious days of the 70s when anyone and everyone ran off their own rules on gestetner in a no fuss no hype way.

 the problem is mass-market rulebooks have become picturebooks and that's what the younger, more visual readers  think the hobby is about.

as an FT player who wants to bring new players to the game, I know the importance to a newbie of being able to hold a rulebook in your hand to feel like the games alive and "yours". its a point ive highlighted and pushed (I think playtesting of FT3 could be more visible, but alas its all close-hold)  but ultimately its down to Jon.

FT is also highly fungible.. and that freaks some people out, who want "the rules" or "the universe" and all the backstory ready made but like I said GZG is a miniatures company and  theyve not the time to do so, the fans have filled the gap and you wil NOT see GZG  doing internet wide takedowns as others have.

for me FT is the best bang for your buck around when money is tight(and it is)

Jon doesnt want to be a Corporate Jabberwocky and thank god for that

your OP has been good,its highlighted that the hobby is wider than just one game and how new releases do stand on the shoulders of giants.

"Brand capture" a policy that a customer is only active in a  niche with  one company's products (for GW that means  their aim is that THEY *are* all of wargaming to their buyers) is antithetical to the wider hobby as it creates games-systems ghettoes and destroys communities and interchange between periods systems and genres.

it might be good for business but its bad for the "hobby", diversity Is great, but isolation and  systems bigotry isnt.. either as a commercial strategy or club policy

FT has two conventions  in the US and at least one in Oz., but alas keeping brand "mindshare" has been left to the fans who do their part, keeping the rulebook in print, is important even though its free.

Packed. Next Stop Melbourne.

Packed and passport in the pocket.

My baggage is borderline, so the lead I'e done up here will have to get posted back.. with a few books including the  prize of the trip: TCG James' RAF History of the Battle of Britain (Vol 1 of the air Defence of Great Britain)

I will miss the Bröt, I will miss the snow and I vill miss SWMBO. It's a long stretch this year. won't be  in her lovely clutches again til next November.

I will miss the tee und kaffee with the mixed bag of expats at CTK Episcopalian Church in Frankfurt, the glorious organ Postludes by a lovely Irish bloke named Simon.

I will miss one of the nicer quieter spots in the Gießen Seltersweg, the  Thalia Buchandlerüng..  nice spot to read and have a coffee, much quieter than your average Borders' back in Melbourne.

The Good news today is that Max the Guinea Pig is back from the vet and what was thought to be a nasty and final  tumour probably is now, something enlarged and onc he's over his infection a further X-Ray will find something far less fatal.

Speaking of Kafee, I am bringing back a 500g bag of "Orange Liquer" flavoured beans..  well I have my strange wargaming habit and SWMBO has her bizarre tastes in Coffee (OK, what else is bizarre about an Anglophile German anyway?), some undrinkable (to my taste) and some fabulous! (though I'm positive my Friends Nino and Rosa at Pellegrini's would scoff).

SWMBO is off picking up Küchen from her Granny in the next village and then we are off to stay overnght with the Parents closer to Frankfurt Flughafen, we haven't had much snow but the little we did hav yesterdaý caused chaos on the A5 south to Frankfurt.

This is supposed to be a wargaming blog so I'll pass on a link from one of my clubmates at the Knights of the Square Table a glance into the past at a year in the life of one of the Founding Fathers of our hobby, Don Featherstone from the very early 1960s.

Dave from Museum Miniatures just email to say they've posted my Defiants and .Dornier 17s. Yay!

I've put some stuff on the Ipod for the trip back as the movies coming ove were absolutely dire. Peter Ustinov recounting  his Biography, Dear Me,  a few of the old UK radio crime serials and Choral Music the lovely  SWMBO loves and the radio Series of  Absolute Power with Stephen Fry and John Bird by Mark Taverner.

Leaving Frankfurt.. reflections #3 Frankfurt Spieltrieb and the gaming scene here

[originally posted  to my Melbourne Club (Knights of the Square Table) Knights of the Square table yahoo group 13 December 2009]

"..i had my first taste of FoW yesterday too.
cossacks v germans/italians in the snow.

looks like fun, but ive always pushed ships around in preference to panzers.

the frankfurt scene is entusuastic , but dispersed.. people dont have space to play at home and  larger clubs as we see in melbourne dont seem to get started so there is no crossfertilization between the GW mob and the historicals..
where the next generation of historical amers/opponents is coming from Im not sure, they dont pay uder the same roof so they cant catch new players when they catch onto the GW scam.

boardgaming eurogaming is strong here and they hold regular meetings in cafes.. historical wargames called "cosim" here fights for a place and where it normally plays under the same roof as the rest in melbourne, cosim players  seem to struggle to find one another and play at home.

the mob I played/observed FoW with  Frankfurt Spieltreib meet in a  room  about twice the size of the FBC kitchen with 2 very nice tables  about 5x3.5ft it has the feel of a poolroom. its their rented room exclusively  members get a key for 250 euro annually.. they store and build terrain for shows (hamburg "tactika" is the german cancon mid feb)
their terrain is insulation foam modules 1x2ft.. theyre doing
the room is alas small and  no room for growth in members or a boargame  but they manage to keep a slab of beer around and a airbrush in the corner

not sure about the availability of public halls meeting spaces like we have in oz.. guess I'll sus that out when I move over here in a few years..."

What Games Workshop must do.

 [ed: there was a recent takedown request by GW to boardgamegeek.com
cf here, here(by BGG's owner) and here by Sudsy ]

GW have a lot to learn from the likes of Paramount, Warners and Lucasfilm.


They, like GW have substantial creative IP assets to protect.

Paramount/Desilu had in fact knockoffs being produced for profite while Trek was still in production.

What they DIDNT do was stomp on the fan based discussion, literature, craft, art, comics, costuming and community that kept their product alive and thriving in the public mindshare. I was part of that back in the 70s when I was the youngest member of Austrek, one of the world's first Trek fanclubs in Melbourne.

The boardgame parts of those days were knockoff copied scripts or photographs or badges, dolls or fan made stories or some fantastic comics surpassing TSOALR in quality and diversity.

Paramount (or in ths case their Oz affiliate) reacted in two stages, they extablished dialogue and respect with the fans and knockoffs which were egregious violations faded as fans themselves substituted product from a newly established parallel profitline by the IP owners or licensees.  They used fanclubs to police it. it worked and everyone understood why. There were no lawyers,friendly letters sufficed.

Secondly, after the Trek Franchise was re-launched in 79, in the mid to late 80s Paramount established a parallel "official" fanclub worldwide. they didnt compete with what was there both systems thrived for a while - the fans made the distance while the official clubs withered eventually, but did operate differently and they key difference here is they operated co-operatively. GW has not.

Warner with B5 and Lucasfilm with starwars have established examples of fanbases producing great work and keeping the dream alive through fiction, filmaking and craft, all policed through cooperative a clear and friendly relations with fans by creative and enthusiastic IP owners, who know the value of fan work to future product, its saleable lifetime and its contribution to re-licensing reproduction and editioning and resale. Trademark protection is a must, but copyright is a more fungible beast. These examples above show how it can be done well, in a community expanding way and profitably.

To gaming and Tom Jolly, Steve Jackson Games and GMT all offer difffering industry related examples of how gaming companies can work with fans and do things well and turn a profit.

Take Wiz-War. Tom Jolly made the little game that could and still does.
Fan based reproductions grew out of the snafu by the licensee, chessex to relably produce the gae and meet a need, so Tom gave his blessing to fan based reproductions while originals sell for ridiculous money on ebay. All this on the understanding tacit and otherwise that these will be taen down if relicensed, which apparently Tom is in the process of doing, with FFG if the rumours are true.
All this is possible becase Tom talked and stil does  with fans and got involved.

Steve Jackson takes what I'd call a tough but fair approach, his policy is clear, the support of the back end of the product line and OOP titles is there and he polices hi IP actively and personally, its a good approach that works and keeps his work protected and alive for re-invention and resale.

GMT, similarly, take a clear, communicative and personal approach, they decided sure, VASSAL is ok, but we host and approve it. They maintain living rules and supprt the back catalog through their P500 program, bringing even, I hope, Battlefield Mars back to life, through Joe Miranda and "Free Mars". Yay!

What's different about GW? No creatives as Directors. Tom Kirby is an GW accountant. I have yet to see proof that he's rolled a D6 in his life. In 1984 Ian Livingstone came an spoke to 10 roleplayers, personally in Melbourne, while over promoting his non GW adventure books. They cared. It still gets talked about.

Find the word "fun" or "enjoyment" in the GW annual reports. Go on, I dare you.
and to those who say that's not what they're for, Frankly, bollocks to you, the chairman's statement steers the ship in terms of tone and policy and that tone is one note: money.

GW need to go where everyone has boldly gone before.

They Stand on the shoulders and the work and legacy of Giants and they need to act towards their Customers and their games with Respect.