Necromunda campaign will kick off on Saturday 30th June 2012 at around 13.00hrs after a brief meeting.

Rosters must be submitted by not later than Saturday 23^rd June 2012 (i.e. 1 week before kick-off).

The campaign is open to everyone (however note my comment on commitment below).

W.A.R.S will be organizing an ongoing training and tutorial games starting from 1^st June.  All those interested in a game get in touch (contact information below).

Campaign format will be 1 game against each other participant, to be played as 1 game per week or 2 weeks depending on the number of players (in a pre-determined roster, which will be announced round by round). If the number of participants is over 12, I will consider splitting the players in two groups, with a final Gang fight between the top player/s from each group. Gang ranking will be determined by gang rating and not by winnings

A post battle sequence form will need to be filled in, per battle played. This will enable me to update rosters. My version of the gang roster is the official one in case of arguments, so it is in the interest of all players that the post battle sequence sheets are filled correctly. These rosters will be collected from W.A.R.S or sent to me via e-mail by Sunday following.

Some custom house rules will be used ( these are not modified rules but rule clarifications)  we will also use the new skill table. Both the rules and the skills will be sent on a later date.

One issue of note is COMMITMENT. Players who can’t commit to playing at least once a week (or the schedule planned), please do not apply. You’ll ruin the flow of the campaign and generally be considered a pain … by the other players.

For more clarifications feel free to contact us on info@warsmalta.org or pierre.briffa@gmail.com

Entrance fee for this tournament is free for W.A.R.S. members and €2.50 for anyone else.

Thanks

W.A.R.S

Club Annual Dinner 3rd February 2012

Click here for the Menu2012-club-dinner

You are all welcome to come join us at the W.A.R.S. Premises on Saturday 18^th February from 9:00am for a day of Terrain Building and Model Painting Session.

We will build together a “shanty town” for modern/ SI-FI table-top games. Materials, props and tools will be provided.

You can also bring your own models to paint during the event. Feel free to bring your models and paint for a pleasant afternoon sharing painting tips and techniques. Ideally the models would be already undercoated so you can get down to business immediately.

The terrain will ultimately remain at the club for the enjoyment of all, however if you would like to “show off” your own terrain you are more than welcome to do so. The idea is to have a good time, share ideas and do something constructive together.

Even though the Club will provide the necessary raw materials, should you have any surplus materials you have been hoarding for a while and never got around to do anything with it, now is the time for sharing!

Hope to see many of you there and bring along all the creativity you possess!!

W.A.R.S.

This could get messy

Many people have the impression that swordplay, particularly swordplay with medieval and early renaissance swords, relies mostly on raw physical strength. To give just one example, Dungeons and Dragons and several other old school role-playing systems base the chances of hitting a target on strength. This idea is certainly not unique to the gaming community, being advertised as it is by the typical movie scene; you know the one, it’s when the two fighters hack their way through a sea of underlings, swinging blades the size of hatchbacks until they lock swords and try to push each other over. In reality, such weaponry and maneuvers are not only spectacularly inefficient, but also extremely risky. One needs only look at the amount of surviving literature from centuries past to realize that close combat is not about bashing the other guys as hard as possible with something that could pass for a support beam. If that were the case, there would have been little scope for the many masters of defense and their schools, nor would so many potentates have employed them to help ensure that they and their progeny could learn how to stay in one piece.

In many discussions concerning hand to hand weapons, we sometimes forget that people in conflict generally have motivations beyond the actual fighting and killing. In other words, if you ended up in the middle of a battle, your first objective would be to survive it; killing your opponents is only a means to that end. Now, attacking wildly would work against you; not only does it leave you open to attacks, but it also tires you out very quickly, making you an easy picking.

The idea, then, is to save your energy, use your weapon to protect yourself, threaten your opponents to keep them at bay, and finally, find or create an opening through which to attack safely; the operative word being ‘safely’.

Moving out of the way of an attack is usually a good idea, more so in a fictional setting where everything is at least three times your size.

Protection itself is not, as depicted in many movies and plenty of artwork, a straight block. That might work if your opponent is much weaker than you, but in reality, even that is an unnecessary risk. Consider a lever. The further away from the pivot you are, the easier it is to manipulate it. The same principle applies to swords, with the sword being the lever and your hand being the pivot. If you catch your opponent’s blade close to your hand, then you’re pretty stable. If you catch it close to your tip, on the other hand, it’s very difficult as the principles of leverage work against you; in this case, it’s far more likely that even a weaker opponent will get through. It takes a great deal of strength to hold off an attack, whereas simply diverting it takes very little, as it relies mostly on your opponent’s momentum. A trained swordsman would try to catch the blade near the base of his own blade, and direct it away from himself, letting it slide off, as he moves in the opposite direction. This puts him out of immediate danger, and in position to strike back at an undefended flank – simply put, if your opponent’s sword is still traveling left, it cannot protect his right, and vice versa.

The attacks themselves are controlled. An overly-energetic blow may well strike down your target, but it will probably leave you unbalanced into the bargain. What if the target has friends? What if the target avoids it? What if you miss? All these situations would leave you wide open for a return blow which you would be hard pressed to defend against.

A better calibrated blow, by contrast, will probably *still* finish the target, but will not compromise you. Bear in mind that a sword weights between 0.9 and 1.8kg  depending on its type and construction – obviously many examples fall outside that range, though the the D&D weight rating of 6lb, or 2.72kg, for an average bastard sword is way off. Swung at speed, though not necessarily hard, that weight generates a lot of momentum with which to drive a sharp edge, without you expending much energy or losing control of the blade. Needless to say, you don’t have to cut someone in half to take them out of a fight, or at least, to take the fight out of them.

Though extremely common in media, this kind of block is not a good idea. Also not a good idea: trying to have a quiet chat while doing it.

In any case, a good attack is never placed randomly; it is usually directed towards an opening, of course, but it should also be positioned so that you’re well covered from a counterstrike. Mortal wounds are not always instantly fatal, or even incapacitating. If someone stabs you in the face, the fact that you’ve run him through would be little consolation. A constant defense becomes more and more important when you consider the context in which these fighting techniques evolved. Humans cannot spend blood points to regenerate, nor were there clerics with cure spells at hand. Healing those nicks and cuts would take time, if you were lucky enough to avoid infection.

So where does that leave the cleaving blows of the muscle-bound hero of film and game? Despite their inaccuracies, movies are still fun to watch and games are still fun to play; they are meant to give a good show, entertain, not to teach the arts. In this case though, I do find that fiction falls somewhat short of reality; I’ve yet to find a movie where the actual, non-gimmicky swordplay is close to the awesomeness of a properly executed exchange in real life.

Karl is an occasional Warhammer (Empire) player, semi-retired RP gamer, and practices historical swordfighting with the Mithras Swordfight Club.

We are currently playing World War 2 war games, based on the Operation Overlord rules set.

These rules are available for free download from www.alzozero.com.

You don’t need a huge number of figures to play, and you can buy the plastic tank kits very cheaply from K-Hobbies.

The rules are easy to learn, but represent battlefield conditions very well, with rules for smoke, suppressive fire and concealment.

If you are interested in checking out one of the games contact Justin Tonna or Stephan Swain for more details.

(Justin Tonna)

How does a good rpg campaign begin? What ingredients must be there to make a roleplaying group and an enjoyable roleplaying session? Well, judging by the fun the roleplaying group I just joined had on the very first session I think that the latest rpg to start at W.A.R.S. has all the right ones!

Named “The Winds over Barsaive” this campaign is based in the Earthdawn Roleplaying Game (2^nd Edition) and is GameMastered by long time experienced Gm Adam Brimmer. Playing in this new campaign is a great mix of experienced, newbie and out of practice players. These 3 items, a good setting, a good Gm and a good mix of players are definitely the main ingredients for a good game, but what do you need to make a Great game?

First of all the setting must be shaped in such a way as to avoid the daunting task of having to go through piles of books and piles of rules just to get going. This is quite important since there are new roleplayers in the group, and also because most of the players have limited free time. But how then do you avoid the pitfalls of having too much grey area before you even begin? “Easy” says the GM, “You start with the core rules only, and the geographical area you will be playing in only and you make sure all the roleplayers start with young and world-inexperienced characters. That way the players will learn about their world at the same time as their in game characters ‘discover’ the world through their adventures. This also means removing the more exotic races and classes from the game to limit powergaming from the experienced players. Also as the game progresses you add in the finer details of gaming, like a bit more complex skill rules, a bit more complex combat etc at the same pace as the players get used to the rules.”

As a rules-lazy and time limited player I found this tactic perfect and so did the new players. But what about the more experienced players in the group? “It definitely makes it harder to min max the characters which sort of comes as a habit after years of roleplaying. I also had played in an Earthdawn campaign previously, so it was even more difficult for me.” says notoriously munchkin player Alex. ‘But this could be a turning point to role-play a better character! Or wheedle out those extra bonuses through unashamed GM butt-kissing!” he finishes of with a grin.

Last ingredients to start off the campaign in style? How about organizing a mini ‘quiz’ about the setting and about the fellow player characters? The quiz night (with small character rewards) was a great relaxed eve enjoyed by all and certainly made sure to at least have all the players cover the basics of the game and be aware of the other characters’ histories.

Last but not least “Make a great Prelude, and nothing beats a great Prelude than a prison break, with recorded saga style musical overdub as the characters escape their prison and literally start off on a new page.”

By the end of the night all the ingredients where there and everyone left the club out eager for the next session.

(Simon Caruana)

We also know, or maybe not, that the greatest and most famous march of the Napoleonic Wars, was that of the British light brigade, en route to Talavera, covering 42 miles in 26 hours, plus a few more miles past Talavera.

But, for sustained pace, the French could not be equalled

For example, Ulm, the Grande Armee, moved from the Rhine to the Danube and east in 11 days. Saults corps covered 275 miles, Davouts, corps marched to Austerlitz, covering over 70 miles in a little over 48 hours, Davout entered Berlin on the 25th October 1806, after marching 166 miles, and having fought the battle of Averstadt en-route, all in 14 days.

Marching in Russia (1812) two young guard regiments covered 468 miles in 23 days.

In his 1796 campaign Napoleon fought two battles in the week of 5^th to 11^th September, during which time Massena’s division covered 100 miles including crossing a river by ferry!

Augereau and his troops covered 114 miles in this time, a remark by Yorck von Wartenberg, “It is only a genius who can compel ordinary humans to perform such feats.”

But one must remember that this genius, was well matched by another genius, that being Wellington.

(John Snow)

The term, ‘powergaming’ for those who are unfamiliar with it’s meaning, is used to refer to an army that is very strong, nigh unbeatable. It refers to that kind of force that, even though it is made within the restrictions allowed by the rules and the relevant codex or army book, is so strong that gamers deem it to be unfair, and therefore anyone who uses such an army is labelled as a powergamer.

But does this distinction really exist, or is it just an excuse conned up by those who are not capable of stopping the so called powered up army, or who are not capable of coming up with an original and effective winning army?

Warhammer is a game of tactics, luck and good decision-making. This decision making process is not only limited to the couple of hours actually spent playing the game, but it has to be extended to the countless hours spent thinking of an effective army. Many people think that a non-powergaming army should be a force that is ‘balanced’, which in layman’s terms means using a couple of rank and file units, some cavalry, a few missile troops, a handful of skirmishers, and an average amount of magic. But, that is not the intention behind Warhammer.

Each army in Warhammer is distinct and has its own strengths and weaknesses. Granted that some armies may be easier to win with since they come pre-packed with a wide variety of devastating combinations, but each army has the potential to create havoc when given proper thought. If this were kept in mind among fellow wargamers, then the issue of powergaming would scarcely arise. Each army has its own limitations and strong points: dwarfs are slow yet sturdy; ogres lack ranks and numbers but make up for it with brute strength; elves are brittle yet highly skilled; and so on.

Therefore, one should concentrate on one’s army’s strong points and build on them. It’s useless having a ‘balanced’ force when you cannot bring the full potential of your army’s strengths to bear.

At this point, games will not only be decided on how capable you are at recognising your army’s potential and using it to the full, but also at how skilled you are at discovering your opponent’s weaknesses and using those against him, thus effectively negating your opponent’s strong points.

(Jonathan Thompson)

When I started this hobby ten years ago, I was a student in 6^th form, which is to say that I pretty much had more free time than I really needed.

My stipend bought me White Wolf’s Werewolf series (2^nd Edition) and I spent my free classes reading them, and my lessons scribbling adventures for the upcoming sessions.

Alas, such beatific distractions no longer exist. I work in publishing and the art of meeting deadlines has become a part of me like some parasitic symbiote, and thus most of my campaigns tend to have the material prepared rather late in the day. Most of the time its in a café an hour before session time.

Late? I’m ok with it – my best stuff happens when the clock is ticking. But sometimes you need a few tricks to fill in the gaps when your players are unexpectedly efficient with the storyline.

Combat. Everyone likes a good fight, and in my experience players like to triumph over great odds. Gather some low grade opponents, aim for quantity not power. Lots of opponents mean a lot of die rolling, weak opponents mean they won’t do much in the way of damage and players just love a miniature genocide.

By the way. Sometimes I ask players where their characters stand on certain points. Often I gauge replies to tailor the upcoming plots and NPCs, but they can also serve as good filler time.

E.g. GM: Suljin is a paladin, why does he accumulate some much wealth?

PC1: Well I earned it no?

PC2: Dude, that may be so but if you’re not going to start acting more like a paladin I’m keeping the vampiric blade

PC1: The hell you are…

Food. Gms deserve to be fed and it is the players responsibility to make sure that his thirst is quenched and his hunger sated. Send Mallia a player to get food and drinks. Politely wait until they return before resuming the session.

Talk Shop. Mention something everyone is interested in. Like a popular movie or series and the conversation just never ends. Cite World of Warcraft at your own peril.

Any one of these tips can buy you at least a half hour, combine them for more effect. But remember to always have an idea of what is going to happen next in the story, or your filling gaps will just become a hole you’ll fall into.

(Adam Brimmer)

This week I am going to start with the most basic principle of all: Mission.

What is “Mission?” This simply means that the first step to winning a wargame is understanding what you have to achieve.

Many players do their utmost to simply destroy the enemy – but if the mission is to capture a house then you will lose unless you do it.

Before you start a game assess exactly what gets you victory points, and decide how you can best rack these up. Keep that aim in mind as you play each turn, and before you make a move ask yourself “Does this help me to achieve the mission?”

If the answer to that question is “no” then reconsider the move and refocus your eye on the prize.

Remember that although winning isn’t everything – it sure as hell sucks to lose.

Always Roll High.