One thing the hobby game industry has never been very good at is tracking sales. Oh, people try, but most companies are privately held and they don’t want to share sales numbers. Many retailers still don’t have POS systems either, which only adds to the problem. So, industry folks talk amongst themselves and try to build a picture based on what they know (their own sales) and what intelligence they can gather by talking to distributors and clueful retailers. The closest thing we have to actual data is what’s gathered by Comics and Games Retailer. The trouble with their numbers is that they’re based on the retailers who chose to participate each month. Since sales can be weirdly regional and the pool is self-selected, what we get is an echo of what’s going on. Sometimes it’s right, but sometimes it’s very wrong.

I got the latest issue today and checked the Top 20 chart for RPGs. Green Ronin once again has two spots, one for miscellaneous d20 and one for Mutants & Masterminds. No surprises there. There is one thing that is glaringly absent though: Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay. I know from both internal and external souces that the game is selling like crazy. It outsold Mutants & Masterminds in this period by a wide margin (and M&M; is a very successful game) and it just keeps chugging along. Yet if you look at C&GR;, you’d never know it existed. Interestingly, I also got the latest ICV2 Guide to Games today. What was the headline of their RPG section? “Warhammer Fantasy Soars to Number 3!” It then goes on to talk about how WFRP left most of its competition in the dust and how after only a few months of release it only ranks behind D&D; and World of Darkness. WFRP has been the RPG success story of the past year and I was glad to see that someone got it right.

It seems like I just got back from Origins and tonight Nik and I are leaving again. This time, Trinoc*Con in North Carolina (http://www.trinoc-con.org/), where I am the Gaming Guest of Honor. This is a “speculative fiction” convention, so it’s not just gaming, but also scifi, comics, etc. I’ve never been to it before so I have no idea what to expect. Hopefully, it’ll be fun. If you are in the Durham area, do come see us. I may even have a preview copy of the Thieves’ World Player’s Manual with me (cue cursing from Australia…).

Naturally enough, things have been crazy all day leading up to our departure tonight (for yet another redeye; wohoo). Nik and I are trying to finish up dozens of niggling tasks, so no one starts freaking out while we are out of the office. So instead of doing the writing I desperately needed to do today I was emptying my e-mail inbox, filling out forms, writing checks, packing up samples, and just generally battening down the hatches. I left my laptop here on the Origins trip, but I’m taking it this time. I’m hoping for a least a couple of hours a day where I can take advantage of the quiet of my hotel room to get some writing done.

When I get back, I may finally write up the analogy I’ve been using lately to describe the current state of the D&D; rules and how that led me to design WFRP the way I did. Since the analogy is a bit rude though, maybe not…

Michelle Lyons asked me for my impressions of Flames of War, which is a World War II miniatures game published by a New Zealand company called Battlefront. I’ve been collecting a German Afrika Korps army based on the historic Ramcke Brigade of paratroopers, though it has been going slowly due to a distinct lack of free time on my part. My friend Rick is doing a British Desert Rats army, so we can (eventually) clash in the deserts of North Africa.

The game is probably the biggest thing to hit historical miniatures since Warhammer Ancients and the two share some features. This is likely no coincidence, since I believe several of the Battlefront staff are ex-GW folk. In any case, what Flames of War does is take the Warhammer approach and apply it to historical gaming. To whit:

· There is one core book and a series of army books. Some of these are specific to unit types (like the Diving Eagles book on German paratroopers), some of them are broader national treatments (like the Yanks book on the US Army), and some of them cover specific battles (like the Stalingrad book). The core book has a variety of army lists from the mid-war period so you can play with just that, while the army books present many other army list options.
· All the books have a very high level of visual appeal and excellent graphic design. In the historical minis industry, this is more rare than a Bush administration hawk that actually went to Vietnam. Most companies in that business either don’t see it as important or can’t afford it. The Flames of War books are beautifully put together, with full color pictures of painted miniatures, archival photos, and a small amount of original art.
· The hobby side of miniatures is played up, with sections on painting and modeling. These often include color schemes for the uniforms that tell you what paint from a variety of lines is most appropriate, which is a nice touch.
· Then of course there are the minis. Although there are many 15mm WWII minis to choose from, of course Battlefront has its own extensive range. They do both unit and army boxed sets in addition to blisters, and the army sets in particular make it easy to jump into the game. The sculpting is generally of high quality and done in pewter. The tanks and vehicles are usually a mix of resin and pewter.
· Flames of War also has an excellent website, with constant updates. These include previews and battle reports, but they also have a nice series of historical articles as well. These include army lists for more obscure forces (Greeks, for example).
· The game runs off the familiar six-sided die. The rules are fairly straight forward, particularly if you’ve played other minis games before.

All that said, I have one big caveat: I haven’t actually played the game yet. My army is halfway done but I need some free time to finish gluing my tanks together and to fill out my infantry with some specialized squads. The rules read just fine. Players alternate turns and there’s the typical Move-Shoot-Assault breakdown. Perhaps the most unusual feature is that hitting the enemy is based on his experience, not your skill. It’s much easier to hit poorly trained Red Army conscripts, for example, than veteran German grenadiers. I’ve only run across a couple of rules that made me scratch my head (the biggest one being that flame thrower units get to shoot once and then are removed from the game), but I’d have to see how those worked in play before getting too critical.

Flames of War is a company scale game, so the core of your army is either an infantry of tank company. Tactical units are platoons. The 15mm scale means you can field a real combined arms force, which is much more difficult in 28mm skirmish-style games. A typical army features infantry, tanks, and artillery. You can also add varying levels of air support. While it’d be unusually to see more than a couple of planes on the tabletop at any one time, it’s good to see air power represented in the game. And what’s a German army with a screaming Stuka or two?

That’s my brief overview. Hopefully, I can actually play a game soon and then maybe I’ll have more to say. If you are interested, I’d recommend taking a look at http://www.flamesofwar.com.

When game designers talk about games and game design, you may want to consider what they have to say. As this is their chosen vocation, they may actually know a thing or two about the topic.
When game designers want to pontificate about the business of the game industry, it’s best to just ignore them unless they are talking about specific experiences (the pitfalls of freelancing, for example) or they are also publishers. Unless they have real experience to back up their opinions and prognostications, they are almost inevitably full of shit. It doesn’t matter how many freelance assignments they’ve completed, how many hours they’ve spent hanging out at the Big Bar on 2 at Origins, or how many Ryan Dancey manifestos they’ve memorized. If game designers say they’re going to tell you how the game industry “really works” or tell you what’s going to happen to the business in the future, just keep on cruising down the information superhighway.

We have finally returned from Origins, after a somewhat arduous journey. We made it into Seattle last night about 11 pm, a time that is usually quiet at the airport. However, a huge number of people were returning from holiday excursions and we flew in just as the fireworks were finishing up. This meant an exodus to the ground transportation level that totally overwhelmed the airport’s capacity. Cab lines were horrendous due to downtown gridlock from the fireworks watchers and even though we had a Shuttle Express reservation, it was over two hours until we finally got assigned a van. Ugh. By the time we got home, it was 5 am to our body clocks. Then we discovered Kate’s hamster had escaped from his cage at some point and we feared him dead. Kate searched for him forlornly whilst weeping. Thankfully, Nicole found him alive under the downstairs couch, though Digger was clearly starving and dehydrated. We have no idea how many days he was out of his cage. It could have been many days. Hopefully, little Digger will bounce back after some food, water, and rest.

Origins was fairly subdued this year. It could be it only seems that way in comparison to last year’s rancorous politics, but there just didn’t seem to be that much excitement in the air. Our sales were fine and we got the marketing mojo going for Thieves’ World and Mutants & Masterminds Second Edition. The crowds in the Exhibit Hall were pretty thin though, particularly on Saturday, which is usually the best day. Since attendance was said to be up, this may have something to do with the move of the Exhibit Hall further away from the escalators. I certainly heard other exhibitors complaining about it. The Exhibit Hall was definitely smaller than previous years. Many companies were missing, either because they’ve gone out of business or because they were cutting their expenses to the bone. Many industry friends I’d expect to see were not there, which only added to the general sense of industry malaise that’s been the story of 2005 so far. Amusingly, our booth was as big as the WotC booth. Take it, Hasbro!

As expected the Origins Awards were a pathetic sham this year. Apparently, we as an industry don’t even have enough self-respect to merit our own awards ceremony anymore. Instead, the winners were announced to the largely disinterested crowd gathered to await the opening of the Exhibit Hall. This meant, of course, that most of the creators of these games couldn’t even be there because they were likely inside the Exhibit Hall preparing their booths. And even if you were there, you had no chance to actually accept the award or say anything. No, for that, you had to go to the “party” on Friday night. Winners got in free but others had to pay $30 if they wanted to attend. The whole thing was ill conceived, lame, and frankly insulting. In five years, the fan-created and -run ENnie Awards have far surpassed the Origins Awards in respect and prestige. I look forward to the ENnies at GenCon next month.

As for stuff, I kept it light this year (I can’t fit all my crap in my office as it is). The guys at Aberrant, a new company with a nice looking scifi minis game called Rezolution, were old WFRP fans who were so happy with the new edition that they gave me a copy of their game. That was quite nice of them. I also traded for a new Avalanche wargame called Gazala. It’s WWII North African action that apparently uses an updated version of the old Panzergruppe Guderian rules from SPI. Speakig of the DAK, Don Perrin also gave me some of his company’s Stuka and ME109 minis for my Flames of War army. As for purchases, I picked up a copy of the old Avalon Hill minis game Napoleon’s Battles for a good price and an Osprey book on the Battle of Austerlitz. I also bought Kate Woolly Bully, a tile laying game about sheep that she asked for. If she likes it, maybe I can teach her Carcassone in a year or two.

Well, I’ve got tons of work to do, so other Origins thoughts will have to wait until later.

Like most people in the game industry, Nicole and I have been prepping for the Origins convention in Columbus, Ohio, which starts on Thursday. Our flight was scheduled for tomorrow night at midnight. Redeyes suck, but at least, I’d have all of Monday and Tuesday to get things accomplished before leaving. Particularly because we are expecting some books here tomorrow, which we planned to take with us to debut at the show.

Well, imagine our surprise when Nicole discovered that our flight leaves tonight. This revelation was made about two hours ago and we have to leave for the airport in four hours. Arrrggggghhhhhh, this is not how I planned it! Now it’s time to scurry around and try to get everything in order. Certain tasks I know I won’t have time for, which means delaying them for a full week. Oh well, guess I better get packing. See many of you in Columbus shortly.

If I could sum up modern American culture with one sentence it would be this: we want it all, we want it right now, and we want it for free. You can see it in the ridiculous Republican strategy of never ending tax cuts. Like starting two wars while cutting taxes is fiscally responsible? And you can see this attitude throughout the prosecution of both wars. Rummy was so convinced that these wars would be fought “on the cheap” that Osama bin Laden (remember him, the guy Bush swore he would hunt down four years ago?) was allowed to escape from Tora Bora. Despite the recommendations of the military that way more troops would be required on the ground in Iraq, the Rumsfeld plan was followed again. Oh sure, we heard all the assurances: the war will be quick, it won’t take that many troops, and it won’t cost America much in lives or money.

Well here we are, two years since we were told “mission accomplished.” But it wasn’t accomplished, was it? There is chaos in Iraq, American soldiers are continuing to die at a rapid clip, and we can only wonder how many Iraqis have been killed. Nonetheless, Cheney gets on TV to tell us that the insurgency is in its “last throes.” Yes, indeed, we have turned a corner alright and it won’t be long now until Iraq will be the democratic beacon of the Middle East.

Seems to me that America has heard this before. Let’s cast our minds back to December, 1967, when LBJ’s national security advisor Walt Rostow said he saw “light at the end of the tunnel.” The invitation to the New Year’s Eve party at the US Embassy in Saigon even read: “Come see the light at the end of the tunnel.” One month later there was fighting inside the embassy as the Tet Offensive was unleashed. Seven years and tens of thousands of deaths later Saigon fell.

I bring up Vietnam because after only two years in Iraq, you can see how Americans are getting sick of it. And not just lefties but an increasing number of moderates and even some right wingers as well. Bush’s approval rating is sinking, as the cheerleading of his administration contrasts sharply with the news coming out of Iraq. Two years later some people have finally woken up to the idea that this will be neither quick nor easy. And it certainly won’t be free.

So let’s take a look at Vietnam. The US had troops there for over 10 years but even that doesn’t tell the whole story. The Vietnamese first fought the Japanese in WWII, then the French after that, and then the Americans. They struggle against various imperial powers for over 30 years, at a huge cost in lives but with undiminished ferocity. This just goes to show how much of a fight an angry and determined people can offer, no matter how many tons of bombs you drop on them. So what reason do we have to think that the situation in Iraq is getting better? What reason do we have to think that fighting will end this year or next year or the year after that? None, apart from the American desire to have it all, right now, and for free.

Last week Kate very proudly gave me a birthday gift that she had made herself. She had created coupons with magic markers that I could use to get her to do things around the house. There was a whole stack of them, with all the things I’m regularly trying to get Kate to do: clean the living room, shut off the lights, put dirty dishes in the sink, etc. While she was, as my friend Mitch astutely pointed out, only offering to do things she should be doing anyway, I nonetheless enjoyed the gift and thought it was a pretty clever.

Yesterday, I was surveying the destruction that is our living room, which is Kate’s central play area and thus almost always a shambles. “I know,” I thought, “I’ll use one of Kate’s coupons. I bet she’ll be pleased that I remembered them.” So I go through the pile and find the one that says “Clean the Living Room” and I give it to Kate. She looks consternated but accepts it.

A few minutes later she’s looking at the calendar in the kitchen and asks me if today is Father’s Day. I told her that it was indeed and that her dad would probably appreciate a phone call. She dashes off to the living room but doesn’t call her dad. Instead, a couple of minutes later she appears again and says, “Oh, Chris, I forgot to tell you about the special condition of my coupons.” She hands me back the coupon I gave her, on which she has just scrawled “Not Good Until After Father’s Day” on the reverse side.

Ah, Kate, the littlest rules lawyer. I wonder what she’ll come up with now that Father’s Day has passed.

I’ve been meaning to write up the rest of the SIFF films I saw, as well as the Minutemen documentary We Jam Econo, but I’ve been too busy. Origins is coming up and things like WFRP, True20, and Thieves’ World demand my attention. And of course the usual litany of things I can’t yet talk about. Somehow day after day slips by and I can’t find time to write a few movie reviews. So, in place of the more detailed reviews of previous SIFF films, here are some quickies.

Mysterious Skin: Gregg Araki’s latest is a tale of two 8 year olds molested by their baseball coach and how the experience affects them as they become teenagers. While I thought his Doom Generation flick was terrible, this was pretty good.

A World Without Thieves: Stylish HK flick about a pair of scam artists and what happens when one of them gets pregnant. Most of the action takes place on a long train ride across China. While story and character are the focus, it does include some cool action sequences as well.

R-Point: This is a Korean horror film set during the Vietnam War. A patrol of South Korean soldiers is sent to a remote location to find any survivors from a lost platoon. No one mentions that the area is built over an ancient massacre site. Whoops! Hauntings and freakouts ensue. While not exactly groundbreaking, this was fairly entertaining.

El Crimen Ferpecto: Another triumph for Álex de la Iglesia, the “Ferpect Crime” is a vicious black comedy set almost entirely in a large Spanish department store. It centers on Rafael, a suave ladykiller who only wants to live in elegance. When his dreams of being floor manager are shattered, he accidentally kills his rival. He is saved by a mysterious guardian angel, but she traps him into the type of common life that he abhors. Funny and biting.

We Jam Econo: This is the story of the Minutemen, one of the great punk bands of the 80s. Like the Gits, the Minutemen’s time was cut short by the tragic death of a key member, in this case guitarist, songwriter, and singer D. Boon (killed in a van accident). Lots of great live footage of the band, interviews with everyone from Flea to Richard Hell, and the heart wrenching earnestness of Mike Watt, who still clearly misses his best friend even 20 years later. Recommended.

Batman Begins: Treated myself to the Bats on my birthday. You probably don’t need me to tell you this, but this is by far the best big screen adaptation of Batman. The franchise lives again.

Ten years ago this week, I came out to the Pacific Northwest for the first time. My friend Dave AKA “Jabone” had moved to Seattle a year earlier and having a place to stay was about all the excuse I needed to take a vacation out here. At the time I was in grad school, freelance writing in the game industry, singing in a punk rock band, and working retail in a coffee store on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. I decided a break was in order and arranged the trip for early summer, which was good timing. The weather was absolutely gorgeous (unlike June so far this year), sunny, temperate, and pleasant.

I stayed with Dave and his girlfriend Rachel in Seattle and they showed me around town. We went (to the Crocodile, IIRC) to see the Boss Martians, a cool garage band that have kept at it and have been getting some attention over the past couple of years. Rachel’s sister, who I had also known in NYC, was acting in a Star Trek parody musical (later shut down by Paramount) so we checked that out and it was pretty damn funny. I also visited the old corporate offices of WotC. This was when they still had their old roleplaying division and they were preparing the release of Everway.

After a few days in Seattle I took the bus up to Bellingham and visited another friend there for a day, getting to see a bit of the rain forest. Then I went on to Vancouver, where Nicole was living at the time. This was when she was pregnant with Kate too (little did I know at the time what in store for me!). I had timed my visit well because the Subhumans, one of the Vancouver’s greatest punk bands (not to be confused with the also great English band of the same name), were doing a reunion show and I managed to get a ticket at the last minute and catch an awesome show. Nicole also introduced me to Tojo’s, a kickass Japanese restaurant that we still patronize when we go to BC.

I returned to Seattle for a couple more days with Dave and Rachel and then flew home. I had had a great time and thought to myself, “I could totally live in the Pacific Northwest.” And only two years later I moved to Seattle. That trip laid a lot of groundwork for me, though I didn’t realize it at the time, and it seems weird that ten years have gone by already.