After a few months of work we can present you our new website. It's lighter, faster, cleaner and more modern than previous script and it allows to add new content very easy, which can simplify our work and allow more frequent updates.
Read MoreI've just made a little rules Starts and Steel update. The main rules was updated to version 1.11. This is the minor balancing update which changes only Point Defence parameter of corvettes (page 12, update to from 3 to 5). It makes them attractive choice after changing the damage rules and other ships parameters in version 1.1 from September 2020.
Read MoreGustav glanced left and right, eyes sweeping along the front rank of his unit, and his spirit soared. He felt invincible. In the distance, the Orc horde massed, but he had no concern. He shifted the spear in his right hand, finding the centre of gravity as his unit stood on the left flank of the mighty army. There was no noise, but something in the air shifted. A tension intensified. They were coming. His commander bellowed, incomprehensible, but the unit had drilled until they could do this in their sleep. As one, a grunt emerged from every man in the front rank as they shifted their weight forward, driving the haft of the spear into the dirt at their feet. A second order followed and the second rank spoke as one, and spears interlaced between each pair of men at the front.
Read MoreA big day today! Stars and Steel were released and can be downloaded from our section at Wargame Vault!
Read MoreWell, that was a longer break from blogging than I was expecting. I think that my posts will become a little less frequent for a while, as life gets busy. I would rather save the post for something that I feel I wanted to talk about, than try to talk about nothing just to fill a post. If you have any ideas or suggestions for this stream of consciousness, please do let me know! This week, I want to start with a question..... Why do you play tabletop wargames?
Read MoreWe have become playtesters for PMC 2670, having befriended Marcin while playing the previous edition, PMC 2640. This is the after-action report left by the 2nd Company of the Varuna Legion after their encounter with the Rebels of the Movement Zen on Ariadnne III.
Read MoreThe military have an expression - The first casualty of any battle is the plan. This might as well have been the theme for my 2019. I made the mistake of checking the project tracker on the Assault Publishing website recently..... What is it that they say about good intentions?
Read MoreAs you can predict, in PMC 2670, the merc forces are some kind of stars of the show. The army has a lot of minor changes comparing to PMC 2640, but as mentioned in one of the previous articles, our goal was to do not mess with the existing miniatures collections, so if you had Merc army it should be playable in 2670 as it was in 2640. We listened to the players and made the merc army not as conventional as it was before. It's still hard sci-fi style, but some future toys were added and new unit categories was created.Note that this text is more useful for players who know PMC 2640 and is focused mostly on the changes between editions.
Read MoreA week ago I played test solitaire (again!) battle in PMC 2670. These time I wanted to try not only the new, improved OpFor algoritm, but also MyMiniReport app installed on my mobile phone. I played "Decapitation" scenario, where players objective is to eliminate OpFor HQ squad and I prepared comic-style report. Enjoy!
Read MoreNearly 6 years ago, we have boldly released PMC 2640, which successfully found its place on crowded 15mm sci-fi wargames market. Now, it's high time to leap forward!In the last few months, we have worked hard on PMC 2670, which is much more than just a new edition of the game! As you can probably guess, the action takes place 30 years later in the same dirty, gloomy PMC-verse – but it's also indirectly connected to Shadows in the Void, which takes place much later in the same timeline. The story was moved forward: humanity developed new technologies and improved older ones, encountered an alien threat (or rather the aliens encountered a human threat...) and made the galaxy an even more turbulent place.
Read MoreI wanted to spin off something from last weeks blog post today - the 'creative process'. Now, I don't pretend to know how 'the great designers' go about writing and setting out their rules... I don't really always understand how I do it. But, I did want to shine a light a little on my own process. Most players have something that they are 'working on'. In most cases, this is a small project such as a new army list for a favourite game, or a new scenario for their local group. I am primarily interested in how rules translate to gameplay, and vice versa how gameplay can be captured by rules. For better or worse, any set of rules - even the most details - are an abstraction. We can't, or simple don't care to, simulate the sun in the eyes of the sniper at 8am or how recent rain has affected the siege engines of Ancient Rome. So, accepting this means that the role of a designer is to capture the most value, in the least rules. What is relevant to you? Do you want your troops to be likely to disobey all orders and flee at the first gunshot? Is that 'more real' or 'less fun'?
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