Author Archives: Mark
The Stiletto
Concealed Carry Names are goofy things. A bayonet was originally a folding knife from Bayonne that had nothing to do with firearms. (Kind of like the “Swiss Army Knife” of today.) Similarly, the stiletto seems to have been a particular … Continue reading
Workbench: Speedpainting Ancient Orcs
So I was in my friendly local game store when I ran across this collection of paints. Besides all the spaceship minis, I have an occasional Napoleonic Army habit, so I’m always looking for new ways to speed up my … Continue reading
Review: Hero Forge Color Plastic
Kinda-sorta bonus content, here. I’m running an Eberron campaign, and Leanne wanted a miniature of her character (a warforged artificer). Of course, it’s not a character type that’s that common, and hard to find at the local brick-and-mortars. (I don’t … Continue reading
Why I Often Say “Use this Existing Stat”
Damage Slash Pierce Bludgeon 1d4 Sickle, Whip Dagger Club, Light Hammer 1d6 Handaxe, Scimitar Javelin, Spear, Shortsword, Trident Mace, Quarterstaff 1d8 Battleaxe, Longsword Morningstar, Rapier, War Pick Greatclub, Quarterstaff, Flail 1d10 Glaive, Halberd, Longsword Pike 1d12 Greataxe Lance
The Messer
Malicious Compliance “Messer” means “knife” in German. The sword it describes looks like a knife, for good reason (which we’ll get to later). It’s a one-handed sword, with a single edge. The straight blade is a bit wide compared to … Continue reading
Other Japanese Swords
Or, “clearing my notes.” Japanese scholars talk about three sword-making periods: the Shintō (“new sword”), the era of the daishō, which corresponds closely (but not exactly) to the Edo period (a.k.a. the shogunate); the Kotō (“old sword”), the period preceding … Continue reading
The Daishō
Legality, Practicality, and Gentility Daishō literally means “big-little,” and refers to the pair of swords worn during the shogunate. “Big” in this pair is the famous sword, the katana, and “little” is the wakizashi, or “companion sword.” In swordfighting, it’s … Continue reading
State of the Blog
I live! Which isn’t really that different from before. What is different is that I’m back to having a live gaming group, and that’s having a positive effect on my creative juices. As a result, I’ve got some ideas stacked … Continue reading
Final Playtest Fleet Lists: All
So here they all are, in alphabetical order. Keep in mind there are two BFG Imperial lists, because I had so many different ships of theirs laying around. These are all PDFs for download: I don’t think I’ve posted the … Continue reading
Playtest Fleet List: Chaos
The Chaos list, in PDF form. More to come.
Leanne
Mark