Warmachine Hexcalation: The Game That's Already Obsolete

A few years ago, I designed a game that we called "Hexcalation".  Naming credits go to Dave Mallery because he demands credit for it.  He also demands money and other things too, but those won't happen.  Hexcalation was designed as a hybrid between a standard collectible card game and a board game.  It took mechanics that I liked from other game systems and blended them with the additional level of strategy of a board game.

Hexcalation was initially set on a arbitrary fantasy world that drew some of it's inspiration from the old Confrontation miniatures system.  A few of us played a few games and enjoyed it, but it was a lot of work making the cards, cutting them out, and generally balancing out the game.

Advance the time line to a few months ago where I am sitting around thinking about Hexcalation and it's future.  I had thought about converting Hexcalation over to a different environment.  I never intended the game to be sold or anything, so it would all be public domain and have a very limited audience so hopefully no one would ever sue me.  I thought about utilizing the rich background of Warhammer 40k, more specifically the Horus Heresy era.  The problem there is that Games Workshop would be the one gaming company that would throw out a cease-and-desist order at the drop of a dime.

Advertisements? In this blog?

It's more likely than you think.

I (Scott) signed up the COGS site for Google's AdSense.  I know that advertising can be annoying, but it doesn't have to be.  AdSense isn't (usually) overwhelming or massively in your face about things.  It (ideally) aims ads based on the content of the site.

I'm doing this not to make money, but to give COGS some ability to provide prize support for events without forcing participants to pay entry fees equal to the cost of the prizes.  I'm doing it so that when we send our crack team of reporters/bloggers to a gaming conference, they have a small budget to help them as they do their research.  I'm doing it for t-shirts and coffee mugs and strippers who will dress up like Lady Aiyana or a Sister of Battle.

Overall, I don't think it will matter.  We don't get a lot of traffic and therefore the ads won't be seen by that many people.  Google doesn't send out payouts until we reach a $100 threshold.  Even then, I get taxed as an individual on whatever we "earn".

But I did want to warn everyone: The advertisements are coming!  The advertisements are coming!

International Table Top Day

Hey everyone.  This is a reminder that Saturday, March 30th is the International Table Top Day.  According to the website (http://www.tabletopday.com/):

On March 30th, 2013, we ask you to go to your friendly local game store, neighborhood coffee shop, school auditorium, community center, or host a game day at your home and play more games.

Analysis: Drake MacBain

Some mercenaries fight for a lost home, for revenge, for adventure.  Drake MacBain fights for coin.  No mission too dangerous, no battlefield too bloody, he'll work for any of the warring nations of the Iron Kingdoms without moral qualm.  MacBain fights with the gritty determination of the hired professional and will let nothing stop him from the completion of his contracts.  He is the consummate mercenary and has the tools to finish any job.

And he has the best mustache in the Iron Kingdoms (no offense to Nemo or Kara Sloan).

In this episode of Analysis, I'm going to be taking an in-depth look into one of the mercenary casters that I'll be playing in this league (completely ignoring my previous post dedicating this year to Skorne).

GW Announces Tau Release Date

Games Workshop has announced that March 30th will be the big release date for the next Warhammer 40K release: the Tau.

To go along with this, they've released a video which you can view by following this link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Ug0aw5gRPkw

I am sure that the Tau releases will look spectacular and make me want to get back into Warhammer 40k, but I'm not going to.  I've pledged to stay away from GW (especially given the recent news about how they are handling prices/ordering/bits/whatever).

And this video... there's nothing I can say about it really because THERE'S NO CONTENT.  Just some sound effects, some fancy sounding phrases, and dark cutaway shots of what look like existing models.

Privateer Press Release Schedule

I thought it might be helpful to show off the upcoming release schedule from Privateer Press.  This information is available to the general public, but it's not always easy to find.

Android Netrunner: Deck Tech - Whizzard

"Whizzard - Kick em while they are down"

 

This deck is more than Kickin' the Corp while their down, its also getting them to go down in the first place. This Anarch comes with the 3 creds a turn he needs to trash all their assets. The goal is to trash any of their economy before they get a chance to reap a benefit and then clear out their accounts with vamps. I make it sound simple but there is a finesse required to pilot this glass cannon which includes only one ice breaker: CRYPSIS. 

Identity:
Whizzard: Master Gamer (What Lies Ahead)