A 'sequel' episode to the last one. In this podcast Games Workshop's Blood Bath at Orc's Drift is discussed and poured over with much more attention and care than when I first bought the game. I specifically remember seeing this game either advertised in White Dwarf, or on display in the old Games Workshop on Liverpool's Bold Street some time in the mid-80s just after its release. I must confess I carry a certain burden of guilt with this product for the twin reasons of only really wanting it for its card buildings and also for not properly reading (or understanding) the mini-campaign until some time later. The shame burns into my soul even now.

Alas, such follies of youth were a feature of much of my earlier gaming career in that I only superficially enjoyed the various modules, rule sets and other RPG / Wargame products I amassed in my early teens. 

Well, that's one of the reasons why I'm doing this podcast I guess - it gives me chance to correct past wrongs and give the games the attention and appreciation they deserve.

Grab your sword, climb up to the stockade's parapet and keep your eyes peeled for them nefarious green skins. Oh! And check your codpiece thoroughly before donning...!

It's been a while! Everyday life has meant I've not been so active with my efforts to get another podcast together so I thought it was high time I got my finger out and recorded something.

The candidate for this episode is Games Workshop's 1985 product 'Blood on the Streets'. A great little package designed for the Role Player or Wargamer to use how they please. I'm a big fan of this period of gaming or Old School Gaming as it's known, particularly Warhammer as it seems to hark back to a time when wargaming was a low intensity fun hobby. Not the crushing business model it has since mutated into. Now don't get me wrong, I appreciate businesses need to sell product to survive, but the near constant rules update, army list revisions etc. ad nuseum are things that send a shiver through my gaming soul.

Just give me a handful of minis, some simple scenery, dice and that's enough for me.

I also like this product, and its ilk, as there is humour a plenty throughout its pages. Something that seems to have been shoved aside with brutalist depictions of steroid pumped warriors wearing skull adorned cod pieces.

Before you press play, one error requires highlighting. I make reference to Bill Pertwee in this episode, please be advised I in fact meant John Pertwee aka the 3rd Doctor Who.

Enjoy.

Greetings listener(s) or indeed viewer(s) this latest episode is a bit different as the podcast audio comes directly from the video HERE The latest episode is a quickie for the board game I've currently got set up. A perhaps not so well known one by those Titans of gaming; Avalon Hill. Unlike many other of that great company's games, this one isn't about some detailed strategic or tactical situation from history, but rather a 'pulpy' adventure amid the dinosaurs and dangers of a lost world. It's a gas!

Welcome back listener(s)! 

In this episode I ramble semi-coherently about TSR's First Quest boxed set which was an introduction to role playing games using the 2nd Edition AD&D system. I remember seeing this product back in the day when my interest in the RPG hobby was starting to fade. Yet even so I didn't have any kind of idea how it fitted in to the larger AD&D gaming universe / multiverse and kind of wondered whether this was some kind of re-start attempt or even a means to bypass the expensive core rule books? I just didn't know.

(To be totally honest, at the time it looked like an act of desperation from a game and company that seemed to both be in decline)

Looking back on things, and having a general notion of the gaming hobby, I have to wonder if some kind of wonderful opportunity was squandered with this product? Rather than trying to steer new gamers into the TSR / AD&D fold, should they have made a clean slate situation and instead released something simpler and cheaper - a rules light or slimmed down AD&D if you like, instead of pushing this product expecting it to drive these people in turn towards the larger system. That's asking a lot of people don't you think?

Although for me the highlight of this set is the comical CD that came with it. While touted as a game aid to explain aspects of the game and having examples of 'actual game play' my mean cynical self was stunned into disbelief the first time I heard it. "Surely they didn't actually put this in an AD&D product? Oh, lordy!" No matter, by the time I'd first heard the audio, TSR was no more and thus the impact of this boxed set long since faded.

 In the episode I mention the Complex Games Apologist. Look him up if you can.

Welcome back listener(s).

Following on from my tour of my Two Shelves of Gaming and solo RPG experimenting, I'm switching systems this week and taking a closer look at Decipher's Lord of the Rings Roleplaying Adventure Game. Not just a role playing game, but a role playing 'adventure' game no less! Like many games in my collection this was a charity shop purchase I picked up for pennies and something that was many years old. Almost as if from another era. In many ways it was.

I first saw the Decipher's LoTR game back in the early 00s when I was working in Manchester. I would regularly wander around the large Waterstones on Deansgate during my lunch hour and while away the time leafing through books on the many floors inside. One of the areas I would peruse was the sizeable rpg and gaming section. However, at this time in my life I wasn't an active gamer yet still carried with me a residue of interest in the hobby. Thus I would take a look at things and 'umm' and 'ahhh' about maybe making a purchase. Anyhow, one of the products was said game, however as I wasn't up to speed with contemporary developments in the hobby I assumed that ICE's old MERP system has been re-skinned with flashy a production and stills from the Peter Jackson films. I didn't realise it was an entirely new game. In either case I didn't buy it and that was that.

Fast forward over a decade and a half when I picked up the boxed Two Towers set. I assumed it was a starter set or introductory set of rules connected to the larger game system. While it is, the core rules and other Decipher products aren't called out or clearly highlighted in the product. I find that a huge shame and mistake on the part of the company. Only a small line contained inside states the contents are a condensed version of the main rule book - blink and you'll miss it. There's no 'If you like this, then buy the full rules!' emblazoned on the box. Shame.

For this podcast I'm trying to get in the mindset of original owner of my game in an attempt to suppose what they thought of it all - so excuse me if things come across as negative or cynical. That's not what I'm trying to be. Was the original owner a superfan of the films? Someone with zero experience of knowledge of RPGs? Did they even know what the game was when they opened it? I can see from the unpunched counter sheets that the game was either never played or not tested out as fully as it could be. Also the actual adventure itself within the box may have lead to much head scratching or confusion. 

This is a quick skim through things and I dare say I may have gotten something wrong or misspoke in the heat of recording, yet overall it's an honest take on things. So without further ado, sit back and lets all go to Middle Earth for a while.

(Special thanks to Purple Planet Music, track 'Free Spirit')

Welcome back listeners!

Thank you for taking the time to click on this podcast and listen to my attempts to try and effectively solo an RPG game. Carrying on from last week's episode, the sketch map is delved into, wanderers encounters, hazards braved, creatures fought and foes battled - it's all going on! Upon reviewing the episode I realized I'd probably omitted a few game mechanics in the process of playing through things, not to mention a house rule I had come up with - alas, this is what happens in the heat of the moment when claw clashes with flint axes and the dice start to roll. So rather than go back and edit in various fixes etc., it is what it is. 

Toward the end of the podcast I quickly set-up what's happening next time. Oh, and below are links to some of the talented and creative YouTubers who have inspired me to fly solo, look 'em up:

"Stoneaxe Tabletop Gaming" & "Me, Myself and Die!"

(Special thanks to Purple Planet Music, track 'Free Spirit')

Hello folks, Tom here, I've been tabletop gaming since the early 1980s and love the hobby. It's been something I've carried with me (both literally and figuratively) through all the crazy twists and turns my life has taken. Sure there was a time when my interest in RPGs, Wargames and Adventure board games waned a while, but fortunately new life was breathed into it a few years back and this carries on to the present day. My collection is a mix of games bought back in the 80s and 90s, ebay transactions, lucky finds in thrift stores and modern games be they new releases or re-workings of classics. In my current abode my games are semi-neatly stored on two shelves - hence the name of this podcast. I'll say from the outset, my podcast set-up is basic, nay primitive, and my technicalities only allow for my voice and some free music added at the start and end. Maybe in the future I'll see if I can achieve the lofty heights of actually featuring a conversation with a fellow gamer! I thought I'd set out making a podcast as I listen to so many great shows out there that explore every fascinating nook of this encompassing hobby. It made me think: 

"I've got a load of games, there's a story behind each one. Hmmm, maybe I may just talk about random themes connected to them and see if anyone listens?"

If there is any kind of structure of comprehensibility to this episode it's as follows:

So with that out the way. Thanks for visiting.

(Special thanks to Purple Planet Music, track 'Free Spirit')