I swear weekends are shorter and shorter. It’s getting to the point where I feel the weekend is almost over by Saturday morning.

This past weekend I was a guest at local Seattle show Conquest Northwest, hosted by the always effusive Mondo Vega. I went the first year of this con and it was nearly its last. Monda has really turned it around though and Conquest is now a vibrant and fun con. A key, I think, was getting a lot of tournaments organized that would draw people to the show. There were Warhammer and 40K grand tournaments, a Flames of War tournament, and even an Advanced Squad Leader tournament. The Warhammer/40K room was hopping, with 30 odd battles going on at once.

Saturday afternoon I played in a Flames of War game put on by Chris Ewick from Tacoma store the Game Matrix. The scenario took place during the Battle of Kursk, the largest tank clash of WWII. Chris puts on a real spectacle, with over 100 tanks on the board. I ended up playing the Germans with a guy named Steve. Our objective was to take a Russian town. After several turns using long range fire to thin out the Russian ranks, I launched a classic blitz to try to seize it. The Russians blew away my Stug platoon but my Panzer IIIs got into town. The continued pounding of the Tigers, Panthers, and Elefants then caused the Red Army to break and flee. Victory was ours. Here’s a picture of the blitz. There are more on the Facebook page.

After that I stopped by the Bucephalus Games demo table and chatted for awhile with Dan Tibbles, Anthony Gallela, and James Ernest. Then Chris Ewick appeared and offered to set us up with DBA armeis and ref a game for us. Well, how could we turn that down? So Anthony and I played Western Romans vs. Eastern Romans in a tense game. I thought I had him when I killed his general, but I could not finish them off before my mounting casualties spelled defeat. Next time, Gallela.

Today I felt like crap. Conquest is not a big show, so you’d think I wouldn’t have to worry about con crud. By the afternoon though I was feeling really run down, had a headache, and was congested. I wanted to head home but I had a business dinner I could not miss. So I made it through that and then came home to chill out. On the upside the oyster po’ boy was excellent.

I have a theory about Iron Chef America, which is mine. It goes like this. Bobby Flay is in more battles than any other Iron Chef for the same reason you groan when one of his episodes comes on: he’s a dick. I suspect that when these chefs agree to be on the show, they think, “God, Flay is such a dick; I want to crush him!” Really, who wants to lay the smack down on sweet Mario Batali or original Iron Chef Morimoto? No, they want a piece of Flay. That is my theory.

Last week Battlefront announced Open Fire, a starter set for their Flames of War miniatures game. It contains an introductory booklet, a mini-rulebook, 3 American tanks, 2 German assault guns, and dice; everything you need to get started. I thought this was a great idea. Flames of War is one of the few historical miniatures game with good penetration into game store stores, and Open Fire may help recruit a lot of new players into a part of the hobby that could really use some new blood. Really, who could complain about that? Historical miniatures fans, that’s who! The bitching began immediately. Flames of War, they say, is already dumbed down, so what’s the point of dumbing it down further? The (large and intimidating) hardback rulebook already is newbie friendly so what’s the point? If your puny mind can’t handle a game as simple as Flames of War, you should find a different hobby anyway. Etc,etc.

It is so short-sighted it makes me furious. Hobby gaming, and especially historical miniatures gaming, needs to bring in new players. It’s that simple. Here we have a leading company in the field recognizing that and doing something about it, and all the trolls can do is fling crap at them. I guess that’s fine if you want all historical miniatures conventions to be held in retirement homes in 20 years, but I’d prefer to keep the gaming hobby vibrant. I’d like to see us old hands passing down to the next generation the lore and the fun of tabletop gaming. OK, so you may not like Flames of War. You may prefer a game that better takes into account the sloped armor of the T-34 when calculating armor penetration. Great, there are plenty of games that do that. But at least try to recognize that when Battlefront recruits new historical minis fans, we all win. It means more people to play with, more attendees at cons, and more consumers to help keep all the game and minis companies in business in the years to come. Well done, Battlefront.

I was amused to see how many people responded to yesterday’s post about a family RPG campaign with suggestions of games I had designed or published. Believe me, I am well-familiar with them! Here’s the thing though. When I play a game I worked on professionally, I find it difficult to detach myself from the job and just enjoy it. WFRP2, Mutants & Masterminds, Blue Rose, Faery’s Tale, and Dragon Fist are all great games I am proud of, but playing them makes me think about work and that’s not what I want on my mind on family game night. That’s why when I’m going to run a game for fun, I usually pick something from another publisher. Plus I just like trying out new games.

I know some designers are the same way, but others are the exact opposite. I’ve met folks who love their games so much they will play them anytime and anywhere. That’s never been me though. There’s work time and fun time and I’ve found it helps my sanity to keep them separate. This isn’t to say I don’t get some enjoyment out of running playtests or convention games, but such situations require me to be in an analytical frame of mind. It’s different than just relaxing and having fun with your friends and/or family.

Thanks for all the suggestions though. It was interesting reading. If we get the campaign going, I’ll blog about it.

For the past couple of months I’ve been thinking about starting a family RPG campaign. Kate has long watched our roleplaying sessions and wanted to participate, but we rarely even got started before her bedtime when she was younger. She’s had a few cameos, like her duck with the “quack attack” who was working towards an invisible bill, but hasn’t really been part of a campaign. She’s 13 now, a night owl like her step-dad, and clearly interested in doing some roleplaying. Not a surprise I suppose when it’s our family business. And by her age I had been roleplaying for three years already.

The idea is that I’d run the game for Kate and Nicole. It’d be something we could do on off nights without having to worry about whether anyone else could show up. It’d be fun family bonding too. This, of course, led to the eternal question: what do I run? Nicole asked that we avoid any flavor of D&D; and that was fine by me. I considered games like Big Eyes, Small Mouth, Faery’s Tale, and Prince Valiant but decided they weren’t quite what I was looking for. After digging around in my collection, I had three serious contenders.

Star Wars (West End Edition): This used to be my standard recommendation to people as a starter RPG, because it was fairly easy to pick up and featured a setting that everyone knew. Unfortunately, the whole prequel trilogy has really soured me on Star Wars. Those movies were ultimately so shitty that it takes something on the level of KOTOR to make me feel even a glimmer of the fondness I used to have for Star Wars. Nicole and Kate were both lukewarm to the idea, so this was a no go.

Savage Worlds: I’ve wanted to try Savage Worlds for awhile but haven”t had the opportunity. The flavor I’m most interested in is Solomon Kane, but adventuring like a Puritan witch hunter doesn’t exactly scream 13 year old girl. No other setting leapt out at me so I put this on stand by. I could always make something up, of course, but I don’t have a whole lot of time for prep.

Marvel Superheroes Adventure Game (Saga): This is the second Marvel RPG, the one WotC published in the 90s. Kate likes comics and loves the X-men, and I always liked the card-driven design of the game. I was working at WotC when it came out, so I have everything that was published for the game. And letting Kate and Nik play established Marvel characters means we don’t have to deal with superhero character creation. The downside is they both asked about playing Wolverine! This is currently the leading contender.

I’m still considering options, but Saga is looking pretty good. If there’s something you think I’m totally overlooking, make a suggestion. Just realize that if you tell me to run Exalted or to use Dogs in the Vineyard to run the Chronicles of Narnia, I will punch you through the internet.

2008 was like a psycho ex-girlfriend. Sure, there was some great sex but in the end I’m relieved to have escaped the relationship alive.

Hello 2009. I hope you’re not as a crazy as your sister.

At first I wanted nothing to do with Facebook. I was already using several social networking sites and didn’t see the need for another one. Nicole started using Facebook though so I decided to give it a shot. I didn’t care for it for many months. All the stupid poking and vampire games were not for me. Scrabulous, however, I really enjoyed and that kept me using Facebook (but boy was I pissed when Hasbro got Scrabulous pulled; thankfully the lawsuit has been dropped).

Lately my attitude has changed and I’ve been really enjoying Facebook. That’s because it has somehow succeeded in doing what none of those other sites have: attracting casual internet users. I have found so many old friends on Facebook, many of whom I haven’t seen in 20 years. Some I had Googled over the years and always come up empty. They just didn’t have a footprint on the internet. These people are signing up for Facebook though and I’m glad. It’s gotten me back in touch with a bunch of people I had been wanting to reconnect with.

I’ve also been enjoying the photo application. I’ve created a bunch of albums and have been uploading pics frequently. This has encouraged me to dig out 20 years worth of photos and start scanning in the better ones. So if you want to see pictures of punk bands (including my own), my first GenCon, my appearence in Details Magazine, and much food porn, friend me on Facebook and mention this blog.

I’m not the religious type but a holiday on which people are nice to each other, families get-together, and everyone exchanges gifts is OK by me.

For the hell I’ve it I’ve decided to put together a personal top 10 for 2008. This is cool stuff that happened to me, affected me, or that I just enjoyed.

10. Going to Game Cons for Fun: Most of the time when I go to a game convention, it’s for work. This isn’t to say I don’t enjoy shows like GTS and GenCon, I do, but working the show is a lot different than going as a player. This year I had several opportunities to go to cons with no other agenda than playing games and having fun. In March I went to Trumpeter Salute in Vancouver, BC for a day and played some minis games. Then in May I spent the whole weekend in Olympia at Enfilade, a historical minis convention. Enjoyed playing everything from the Russian Civil War to Victorian Scifi. Lastly, in October I went to NYC for BillCon, which was a get-together with my college game group. OK, so that was a pretty informal con but we packed in a lot of gaming in three days and had a damn good time.

9. Getting Healthier: This year I made some great strides in getting myself healthier. The insurance I get from Flying Lab allowed me to see some specialists, like a sleep doctor, and identify some problem areas. Nicole and I started doing yoga at a great studio in Georgetown and we recently added strength training to that. I am now sleeping better, eating better, and exercising better than I was a year ago.

8. Return to the Herbfarm: A couple of years back Nicole took me to the Herbfarm, a legendary foodie destination in Woodinville. This year I returned the favor for her birthday. There had been a change of chefs since our last visit, but the food was just as wonderful. The blue cheese ice was mind-bogglingly good. If you’re interested, you can check out the photos of the full meal on my Facebook page. The Herbfarm is not cheap but it’s an experience I’d recommend to anyone who loves food.

7. Hobby Games: The 100 Best Now Award Winning: HG100 is one of my favorite titles Green Ronin has ever published. Basically, we got 100 designers and industry notables to each write about a great game they were not personally involved in. Jim Lowder did a great job putting the project together and it was terribly cool to publish a book with contributions from so many designers whose games I grew up playing. It was thus pretty pleasing to see the book win an Origins Award and a silver Ennie Award over the summer. Jim is currently put together a follow-up that should be out next summer too.

6. 13 on the 13th: My stepdaughter Kate turned 13 this month and she’s really grown up this year. The first time I met Kate she was crawling around a hotel room at GenCon when she was 6 months old. It’s hard to reconcile that with the poised and mature teenager I now see in front of me. Kate gets more awesome every year and I am proud to be the stepdad of the smart, funny, creative, and sweet girl she’s become.

5. Burma Performs Vs: Mission of Burma is one of favorite bands of all time and their best album is the mighty Vs. It was amazing when they got back together and didn’t suck. It was more amazing when they put out new albums that rocked. This year to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Vs., they did a tour in which they played the album in its entirety from start to finish. This show made me so happy.

4. GDC Is Go: I’ve been wanting to go to the Game Developers Conference in San Fran for many years and this year I finally got the chance. I’ve come late in my career to the computer gaming side of things and there’s a lot I don’t know. GDC was a chance for me to learn more about the computer game industry and meet folks from other companies. It also turned out to be an excellent opportunity to catch up with old friends from the tabletop gaming industry who made the jump years ago and who I hadn’t seen in some time. As a plus I had time on this trip to stop by Endgame in Oakland, one of the best game stores in the country, and hang out with Chris Hanrahan and crew. Too bad the podcast we recorded got corrupted.

3. Pirate Booty: Speaking of the computer game industry, my first title in that arena shipped this year. Pirates of the Burning Sea is a MMO RPG set in the Caribbean in 1720. If you like kickass naval combat and swashbuckling swordplay, Pirates is a lot of fun. I was one of the lead writers on the game and now I’m the Creative Director at FLS.

2. Throwing the Bastards Out: Eight years of the most criminal and corrupt administration in memory is finally coming to an end. I am so delighted that Bush and Cheney are almost gone and the party that put them there was soundly drubbed in November. What do I want for Xmas next year? Trials for the war criminals. Too bad Obama is almost certain to let them go scot-free.

1. Finland!: Without a doubt the best and most fun thing I did in 2008 was go to Finland for Ropecon. Nicole and I were able to spend a week in Finland, and our excellent hosts took such good care of us that I’m ruined for American cons now. We had time to see the sites in Helsinki, ate delicious food, and then spent the con making some great new friends while drinking ungodly amounts of alcohol (go long drink!). So thanks to Jukka, Katri, Mikko, Timo, Outi, Ville, and all the other crazy Finns who made this trip such a blast, as well as my fellow guests Peter and Greg. As General MacArthur once said, “I shall return!”

I must admit that I’ve been enjoying being snowed in these last few days. Kate is up in Vancouver visiting her dad, so Nicole and I have had the house to ourselves. We have enjoyed the quiet, particularly as the snow and cold have kept the world’s lamest gangstas out of the kiddie park next to our place. We were able to make a supermarket run just as the snow was starting again on Saturday, so we haven’t wanted for anything but a snow shovel (Lowe’s had none). It’s been nice spending some time alone in a calm environment. I shared Love and Death, still my favorite Woody Allen movie, with her last night. Today we took a pleasant walk down to the library. It was icy but the sun was out and the snowy vistas were beautiful.

I’ve gotten a lot of work done on the game I’m designing as well. I’ve written down enough of the thoughts that have been swirling around in my head for the past several months that the basic framework is in place. Now it’s a matter of building on it and refining it.I’ll be doing more of this on my days off over Xmas. Hopefully we’ll be announcing the game in January.

I’ve also been trying to get caught up on GR mail orders. We had a lot come in because of the d20 blowout sale we’ve been running. Orders backed up and the snow has made it worse. We got five bins to the post office on Saturday before the storm. Today I spent an hour in the cold garage picking more orders. Soon this will be handled at our warehouse and I’m so looking forward to that.

My only problem right now is that it’s 2:30 am and I should be asleep. I’m going to try to bus to Flying Lab in the morning and I need to get an early start. I was saying to Nicole earlier that although I’ve been working every day I’ve been home, I still felt more relaxed than usual. She smirked and said, “That’s because you’ve only been working one job.” Good point.