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Episode 29 is massive. We just had so much to squeeze in. But if it helps, think of it this way.: The D6 Generation is not a 4 hour show released every two weeks. It’s really just a two hour weekly show released bi-weekly. :-)

In this episode we interview Curt Covert, the man behind Smirk and Dagger games and creator of Cutthroat caverns. Curt gives us a lot of great insight into what it takes to start a game company and some of the pitfalls one should try and avoid. Later in the show we dive into the details of Cutthroat Caverns and give an in depth review of the game.

All that and our usual 'not too horrible' humor, with features such as:

- Rapid Fire
- The Hollywood Minute
- When Wives Attack
- The Score
- & More

To check out this episode: http://thed6generation.libsyn.com/index.php?post_id=454258


Link to discussion about prior episode: http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/235031.page

Neato thingy I discovered:

In doing research for box art for the Cutthroat Caverns show notes in Ep 29 I discovered something. Did folks know there is only 1 degree of separation between Dakka Dakka and Cutthroat Caverns? (and no, I don't mean me)


It turns out that Tim Wollweber (aka GrimTeef here on Dakka) did the character artwork for Cutthroat. Smirk and Dagger has a page on their site dedicated to the game artists: Link. Tim, of course, is the man responsible for the wonderful "Orkmoticons" that grace Dakka Dakka.

It's a small world after all. Great work Tim!

(Bonus points if you get the above small world reference)

Listening to the show now.
Achievement for Mr. Covert for mentioning Wiz-War. That game is a ton of fun and could use a re-print with very nice artwork.

Craig: Awesome "Did'ja ever notice". Just awesome.

To paraphrase Mickey: "You're gonna eat lightning claws and you're gonna crap thunder hammers!"

That "Didya ever notice" was just amazing!

Agreed, Craig as Rocky = ftw.

Methinks Craig's gonna start quoting a certain Malcolm Reynolds now?

tyr

Thanks, guys, actually, that was all Karen, believe it or not. Not only is she not a gamer, she's not an actress, either.

She found the clip, the script, and everything.

And the Grimteef thing is crazy! Very cool.

Thanks for listening, guys!

~Craig

Enjoyed the episode even if it was a little Welsh-shy . Love to get me a Cutthroat caverns, anybody got any idea where to get it in the Uk?

Owen

Hey guys. I loved the show. The D6 Gen is possibly the most entertaining gaming podcast (now that PA is done with their D&D series). I really enjoy Hollywood more when he's in studio. Please make the attempt to broadcast live, Hollywood!

I'm hoping that The Score will make a more regular appearance, but most of all, why can't we get a list of recommended songs on the D6 Blog? I'd rather listen to the samples on the podcast and go have everything spelled out for me, than to listen and try and write down song names and artists.

Chrispy wrote:I'm hoping that The Score will make a more regular appearance, but most of all, why can't we get a list of recommended songs on the D6 Blog? I'd rather listen to the samples on the podcast and go have everything spelled out for me, than to listen and try and write down song names and artists.

Chrispy: Thanks for the kind words. I'm settling into a "once every other episode" schedule, so as not to over-commit myself. As for song titles, I will list them here for you, and will chat w/ the D6G about putting them on the site.

From Episode 1: "Fighting 17th" by Hans Zimmer, from "Backdraft", "Hymn to the Sea" by James Horner, from "Titanic", "The Sea and Sinbad's Ship" from the "Scheherezade" suite by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, "Boadicea" by Enya, from "The Celts", and "The Battle" by Hans Zimmer, from "Gladiator"

Episode 2: Theme from The Magnificent Seven by Elmer Bernstein, L'estasi dell'oro (The Ecstasy of Gold) by Ennio Morricone (from "The Good the Bad and the Ugly"), "Wheatfield" from "Twister" by Mark Mancina, "Battle Without Honor or Humanity" by Tomoyasu Hotei from "Electric Samurai" and "Kill Bill Vol. 1", and "End Title/Respect the Wind" by Mark Mancina and Edward and Alex Van Halen from the "Twister" score (Note: Both Twister songs are from the "Original Motion Picture Score" album, NOT the "soundtrack" album).

Loved the new episode, great job all around. Props to Craig and Karen for a great scene!

Quick question about Cutthroat Caverns. To make the game shorter, can you cut down on the number of monsters or is there a mechanic which only works if you do the full nine encounters?

The Fifth Dentist Report

Before I launch - great show again as always. Congratulations and kudos to all involved.

Now to the topics that piqued my interest in the show. And yes, I'm really long-winded - I beseech your patience, as I have a lot of things that I think about. If I inspire a reply - PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE do not quote this entire message. Cut-and-paste as needed - or PM me if it's something I said that you want to talk about privately.

All: Um, is this a DIFFERENT contest from Episode 28, or did you retool the contest from the E28 "Give us your best in-character betrayal line" description to ACTUALLY betray those people who entered early (and thus satisfied the contest hurry-hurry-step-right-up intro in E28 - "we're kind of under the gun here, okay - 'cause this is all of a sudden out-of-the-blue, and we want to get this to you now. It just became available, like five days ago, or a week ago. So we want to get this into the hands of one lucky listener as soon as possible")?

(And never mind that the two examples you gave - "Could you hold this for me for a second?" and "Thanks, buddy - but I don't want you to leave empty-handed." - aren't exactly lines that can be separated from their contexts and retain their impact.)

To quote both episodes:

E28: "...and we want you to leave your best in-character betrayal line, on a voicemail."
*later*
"You want them to leave what?" "Your best in-character RPG betrayal line."

E29: "...and we want you to leave what would be the last thing you would say as you killed the last member of your party to take all the loot yourself."

Betrayal can be about far more than money, and a single line out of context often suffers from SBZIS (Sound Bite Zero-Information Syndrome). So I would put it to you that the E28 contest has fundamental differences from E29. A-hemmmmmm.

But then you say "One of the lucky winners"? Um, what? How many sets of CC are there to win? Having entered in E28, am I eligible to enter in E29 separately? Or would the E29 entry overwrite E28? Or, as happened last time, would the E28 entry short-circuit any further entries?

I'm more just confused than upset - but it was sorta jarring to hear an intimation that the contest was being reseated.

Craig: You should be a -guest- on Rapid Fire. Here's how:

A) Have an independent party (say, either a 40K Radio host or a fan like me) write a batch of questions. (Yes, you'd have to spoil some of the show topics. But this is a bonus! )
B1) Have said independent party privately record the questions in Rapid-Fire language.
- or -
B2) Have some third independent party (wife, actor) privately record the questions in RF language.
C) Play back the questions, and record all three hosts' reactions to the questions.
D) Splice in a properly executed Geekly McNerdigan VO.

Yes, it's a very Patty Duke Show answer, but just seems unfair that Mr. Gallant never has the opportunity to prove himself in the Rapid Fire gauntlet.

Raef: Let's say that my local friendly gaming store is 0.5 miles away and is in my neighborhood, while Myriad Games is 0.6 miles away and is across a county line. Does -Myriad- still want me to visit my local FGS? And what if my FLGS is a front for a mafia money-laundering operation (but they're still friendly)? What then?

All:

A) I CANNOT believe that Raef did not read my shout-out beforehand. Even ONE BLEEDING SECOND beforehand. "Achievements in Gaming is brought to you by, quote, 'Achievements in Gaming is brought to you by..." REALLY? REALLY? And this is the guy who was doing theater work?

B) Hey! The hosts thought my shout-out idea was so good, they took it! Achievement for GamerInterface! Bleep bloop! (Let's see who gets THAT.)

C) But you know what? I'm so utterly not offended by any of this, because I got a shout-out during the most hilarious and wonderfully goofy Achievements in Gaming intro in the show so far. Screwing with sound boards is both the most juvenile prank on a broadcast show, -AND- the funniest.

As long as you don't overdo it.

Russ: Caught your Ghostbusters reference.

Russ: Would you hold up that promise to play GW games if they send you an Epic-scale pallet of ten-dollar-bills?

Raef, Craig: How does forcibly dropping the nickname "Shifty" over and over again reconcile with the no-hate provisions of the show?

Raef: A gamer that likes change. You should respect how RARE that is. In fact, I start to suspect that gamers hate change only because it restricts their ability to whine about a game's broken spots because they have to re-find the broken spots.

Russ: Have you found the high-end electronics store with the great name?

BANG. and Olufsen.

Russ: How to describe Peggle:

"Peggle is a great game - it's light and relaxing. Do you remember the game Plinko on The Price is Right? Imagine a bunch of different boards like that, with pretty pictures. Every time your Plinko chip hits a peg on the board, the peg disappears and you score some points. Some of the pegs are orange, and you win the level if you clear away all the orange pegs before you run out of Plinko chips. Oh, and there are a bunch of special powers. You pick one for each level, and you can use it twice on that level if you hit one of the special green pegs. The game is just random enough to get insanely lucky shots that make you feel like you've been chosen by God for a sacred Peggle-winning mission. But it's just nonrandom enough that a skilled player will beat a new player 7 out of 10. The user interface is as solid and intuitive as a game ever gets. And even a few centuries later, Beethoven's Ode to Joy from the Ninth Symphony is just freaking great music, and it plays when you clear a level. Peggle appeals to a very wide spectrum of gamers."

And I'll take on any of 'em - I've been playing Peggle for close on three years now. AND, I also own and have played Die Macher.

Craig: Chicago (my neighborhood) isn't quite a Pepsi town. Go to St. Louis if all you want is Pepsi. I think Chicago maintains a nice Pepsi-centric hybridization of Pepsi and Coke (both of which I gather under the rubric of "brown" or "diet brown" since I've never gotten so snobby^H^H^H^H^H^Hsophisticated as to work up a preference).

Curious - do you guys see Vault Zero in your grocery stores? Here in Chicagoland, the only place to find it consistently is (oddly enough) Target.

Russ: Yes, Giardino's is good Chicago pizza. Uno's is also good Chicago pizza (oddly enough, it gets better the further away you get from Chicago). But you want GREAT Chicago pizza? Gino's East. You want GREAT Italian food, Chicago style? Buca di Beppo. (That chocolate cake with Sambuca sauce is lethally delicious.)

Craig - Yep, we Midwesterners run our game tournaments with precision and professionalism. That's why we get the two big game conventions (GenCon and Origins). GenCon So-Cal never had a chance - even with William Shatner, it still died.

All: When you look at the historical games (and I think even Battlelore), there are degrees of victory like Major Victory, Minor Victory and Contested Victory - or terms like that. Yet, when you win a game of 40K by basically having time run out before your guys were *gonna* get wiped out - Steve "runs away with his tail between his legs"? Kind of extreme, hmm?

(On the other hand, his description of the preparation for the roll that ended the game reminded me of Beni trying to ward off the Mummy in one of ten different religious flavors.)

Craig - You have to ask CURT FREAKING COVERT to establish his gamer cred? Why should he say anything other than "Hey - you know that game you've been talking about for a year now on the air? Yeah - I did that." Asking his gamer pedigree is a far more accurate (and respectful) way of introducing Curt's history as a gamer.

All: The Interview with Covert was great - as always, you're asking a lot of the questions we gamers want to know about, since you're just as much gamers as we are. You have a knack for picking the right guests who have not only great information on the flip side of the game industry (whether that be design, business or convention organization), but are intriguing and interesting people as well. Looking forward to every interview.

Raef - Your Hollywood Minute is both provocative and full-on correct. My own adage - "People make time for what they enjoy." And this applies to social interaction - people who complain a lot or rant a lot *LIKE* to complain or rant. If the issue in question was resolved, they might not actually be happier, since they can no longer shout to the world that they know better.

Nicole and Karen: Great segment, as always. My note regarding Rick's comment on gateway games: Not EVERY game that isn't Pandemic is Warhammer 40K. Pushing your luck from Pandemic to War Machine isn't pushing your luck, it's torching it and trying to cash in the insurance policy. Pushing your luck from Pandemic to Puerto Rico is actually reasonable, after a few games of Pandemic. However, I think the concept you were dancing around here is sound - patience. Don't push your luck - but do build on your successes. If a game was introduced to your spouse and was well-received, play it a bit more - then look around on The Geek for some similar ones. (Or your own collection.) The world of gaming has way more colors than just Pandemic's red or orange and WH40K's ultraviolet. Stalling a gaming romance at Pandemic might be doing it a disservice, if true gaming passion can flower.

N/K: Regarding Carcassonne, each expansion probably adds all of twenty tiles. And if you've added the sixth player with Inns and Cathedrals, that nets out to four extra turns apiece. Not exactly the duration of a dental appointment. (On the other hand, now that my set has all non-sucky tiles, playing basic Carcassonne on XBox feels really short.)

However, if you are interested in slightly speeding up a game of Carcassonne, try this: Each player has a private hand of three tiles. When they play a tile, draw one into your hand. This makes the game a little faster since each player has more down time to consider where to play, and can make the game a bit more dynamic as players get more chances to play pivotal tiles.

N/K: Can the Facebook Chat system be used between non-friends? I know we can post on walls and so forth - but chatting is a specific verb within Facebook.

N/K: Ga-mer. n. One who engages in interactive dynamic activities of a recreational nature.

There are sports gamers - otherwise known as jocks.

There are also sports meta-gamers - the folks who play fantasy football, NCAA pools, and so forth.

There are video gamers - who are either engaging in interaction with other players (Halo 3) or interacting with the ideas of the game designers (Fable 2).

There are tabletop gamers - who are interacting with the other players. This includes face-to-face RPGs, board games, collectible games (Magic), or constructible games (War Machine).

All: The Score continues to be a great feature, and a welcome addition to discussion about gaming. Atmospheric elements make a great contribution to mood, which contributes to game flow. Many gamers ignore game music, to the peril of their enjoyment of the game. Just remember that game music is like Countrytime Lemonade when properly applied - not too loud and overbearing, not too soft and irrelevant. And try not to use it at cons unless you have a private room - your game's atmosphere probably *ISN'T* going to mesh well with thirty other games.

Russ: Your use of the word "shizzle", while cute and (to *ME*, a white guy) inoffensively innocent, raises a question I've contemplated from time to time recently - was Resident Evil 5, in your opinion, racist just because a Caucasian main character shot many African zombies? Do the scenes where the Africans are dressed in tribal clothing and wielding colonial-era spears and shields make a difference in this determination? If raising the Stars and Bars above a college football stadium is in support of a racist regime, what should a Confederate player in a civil war boardgame do? What cultural artifacts do or do not legitimately entangle in racial issues?

Russ: Great review on Cutthroat Caverns - but Raef's comments during the rating discussion strike a note. "Lurk around somewhere in mid position, not tork people off, jump in and win." And you concurred, verbally. But with your primary objection being that you couldn't hold onto your commanding lead because of the character swap effect, wouldn't that just be a consequence of ignoring this precept? As a cunning player desirous of victory, wasn't your rampant lead a bit too high a bet that nothing disruptive would happen?

All: The mini-scene at the end? PRICELESS. I'm a sucker for radio drama anyway, and this was just too cool. As a show closer, it's like the Andes mint at Olive Garden - I love those.

And again - great show. I've been following for a few shows now, and I'm liking what I hear. I feel comfortably experienced enough now to talk about the show with the community - whether that is an advantage or not is up to all you folks to determine.

owenrufus wrote:Enjoyed the episode even if it was a little Welsh-shy . Love to get me a Cutthroat caverns, anybody got any idea where to get it in the Uk?

Owen

Googling kicks up a couple of results:

http://www.gameslore.com/acatalog/PR_Cutthroat_Caverns_Card_Game.html
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Smirk-Dagger-Cutthroat-Caverns/dp/B000WA6HYG

Its around £22 in the UK.

Almost 4 hours! Are you frakkin' kidding me????? What are you trying to do to your audience?

Well I know. It is a plot even more sinister than the Hulu aliens. Designed to turn D6G listeners into drooling zombies who promptly shuffle off to their FLGS/FPGS/FLPGS to buy the latest shiny thing promoted by the D6G Masterminds (probably Russ).

Well, I'm not going to fall for it because I already own CC. Now I'll go cleanse myself with some quality family time -- playing Left 4 Dead with my kids.

BTW, your review of CC was spot on and I enjoyed the interview. The fact that my entire family likes CC makes me wonder about my kids' upbringing and I'm sure they will like Smirk & Dagger's take on "Candyland".

The Adepticon segment with the 40K radio boys was pretty funny.

GamerInterface wrote:The Fifth Dentist Report

Before I launch - great show again as always. Congratulations and kudos to all involved.

Wow! What an epic response. Thanks for taking the time and I'll try to answer what I can. BTW, "The Fifth Dentist" is the name of one of my bands in Rock Band. In case I forget to say it later, thank you very much for the kind words.

E28: "...and we want you to leave your best in-character betrayal line, on a voicemail."
*later*
"You want them to leave what?" "Your best in-character RPG betrayal line."

E29: "...and we want you to leave what would be the last thing you would say as you killed the last member of your party to take all the loot yourself."

We're just looking for any kind of great betrayal lines. Don't read too much into that. If it's funny, and about betrayal, you've got a shot. As for the number of "Winners" I think what Craig meant is that you are a "winner" if you get your voicemail aired on the show, and you're THE grand prize winner if we send you the game. We're only giving away one copy. Of course, Raef would tell you that anyone who doesn't get the grand prize is a looser.

All:

A) I CANNOT believe that Raef did not read my shout-out beforehand. Even ONE BLEEDING SECOND beforehand. "Achievements in Gaming is brought to you by, quote, 'Achievements in Gaming is brought to you by..." REALLY? REALLY? And this is the guy who was doing theater work?

B) Hey! The hosts thought my shout-out idea was so good, they took it! Achievement for GamerInterface! Bleep bloop! (Let's see who gets THAT.)

C) But you know what? I'm so utterly not offended by any of this, because I got a shout-out during the most hilarious and wonderfully goofy Achievements in Gaming intro in the show so far. Screwing with sound boards is both the most juvenile prank on a broadcast show, -AND- the funniest.

As long as you don't overdo it.

Well, that's Hollywood. The REALLY funny thing about the sound board gag was that it was an accident. I had dialed the wrong number on the board. What was even better? Later in the Cutthroat caverns review I was trying to fix it so I could make Craig's voice sound cool again when he read "Items of unimaginable power" but he THOUGHT I was trying to make him sound like a munchkin again and kept telling me to stop. Sometimes the simpilest mistakes make great radio.

Russ: Caught your Ghostbusters reference.

Russ: Would you hold up that promise to play GW games if they send you an Epic-scale pallet of ten-dollar-bills?

Ghostbusters is the shizzle, and no.

Russ: Have you found the high-end electronics store with the great name?

BANG. and Olufsen.

Russ: How to describe Peggle: [clipped great description of Peggle]

The store: Yes, although we don't have many up this way.

Peggle: great description. Due to the time crunch we were having with this epic episode, I didn't try to describe it.

Russ: Yes, Giardino's is good Chicago pizza. Uno's is also good Chicago pizza (oddly enough, it gets better the further away you get from Chicago). But you want GREAT Chicago pizza? Gino's East. You want GREAT Italian food, Chicago style? Buca di Beppo. (That chocolate cake with Sambuca sauce is lethally delicious.)

I should have mentioned Gino's East. I agree with you completly. Although I would argue that Uno's is really not that good pizza regardless of proximity to Chicago. We have Uno's up here, and ording a Chicago deep dish pizza in NH is like ordering NE claim chowder in Florida. It simply shouldn't be done. You will regret it.

All: When you look at the historical games (and I think even Battlelore), there are degrees of victory like Major Victory, Minor Victory and Contested Victory - or terms like that. Yet, when you win a game of 40K by basically having time run out before your guys were *gonna* get wiped out - Steve "runs away with his tail between his legs"? Kind of extreme, hmm?

Actually many Sci-fi and fantasy games do factor in margines of victory, WHFB in particular. However in Tournament play these things are often minimized.

Russ: Your use of the word "shizzle", while cute and (to *ME*, a white guy) inoffensively innocent, raises a question I've contemplated from time to time recently - was Resident Evil 5, in your opinion, racist just because a Caucasian main character shot many African zombies? Do the scenes where the Africans are dressed in tribal clothing and wielding colonial-era spears and shields make a difference in this determination? If raising the Stars and Bars above a college football stadium is in support of a racist regime, what should a Confederate player in a civil war boardgame do? What cultural artifacts do or do not legitimately entangle in racial issues?

This is a very interesting question and would make a great segment for the show, in fact some of the other Podcasts on the PulpGamer.com network have covered "controversial games." As an aside, one of the reasons I stopped playing Flames of War was because I was having trouble role playing my Germans. While it is cute to walk around town with a giant evil ork head on your game bag, the same can not be said for a swastika.

Shizzle: From a personal point of view: I do not restrict my vocabulary based on the color of the skin of the individual who invented the word. If a person invents a word and I think it is cool, I'll use it. In fact, the slang term 'cool' may also have been coined by an African American, I've no idea.

Russ: Great review on Cutthroat Caverns - but Raef's comments during the rating discussion strike a note. "Lurk around somewhere in mid position, not tork people off, jump in and win." And you concurred, verbally. But with your primary objection being that you couldn't hold onto your commanding lead because of the character swap effect, wouldn't that just be a consequence of ignoring this precept? As a cunning player desirous of victory, wasn't your rampant lead a bit too high a bet that nothing disruptive would happen?ki

Good question. It wasn't so much that I'd lost my commanding lead, I just don't like game mechanics that can do the following:

"you've been playing this game for 1 hour, but at this moment, everything you did in the last hour no longer matters."

So yes, it was arguable that I was not in the "winning position" when I switched places with Will, but all that I had done for myself was now rendered moot.

This is also why I prefer Shadows Over Camelot to Battlestar from a purly 'game mechanics' point of view. In Shadows you are always on one side or the other, always working to win or foil. In Battlestar, you can be a good guy for 2 hours of a 3 hour game, and only in the last hour discover you are a bad guy and must now undo your work.

True the show? Awesomely so. But a great game mechanic? Well, depends on your taste.

And again - great show. I've been following for a few shows now, and I'm liking what I hear. I feel comfortably experienced enough now to talk about the show with the community - whether that is an advantage or not is up to all you folks to determine.

Thanks again for all your kind words and your feedback. And most of all, thanks for listening.

Happy Gaming,

Russ

Wow! What an epic response. Thanks for taking the time...

A) You're welcome.
B) That's my problem - I just tend to spill this stuff out like the spring-snake-in-a-peanut-jar gag.

Twitter has been VERY hard for me to master, I assure you.

BTW, "The Fifth Dentist" is the name of one of my bands in Rock Band.

Great minds think alike - I've said it once, I'll say it again. And you know what other commercial afterthought I love? Formula 410.

We're just looking for any kind of great betrayal lines. Don't read too much into that.

Gotcha. If it isn't obvious, I'm very good at reading wayyy too much into things. I'm bad at scavenger hunts because I spend two hours in the entirely wrong part of town. :( I will leave my current entry alone and hope for the best.

Of course, Raef would tell you that anyone who doesn't get the grand prize is a loser.

Raef will be Raef. (Which is 'fear' spelled backward. Sorta seems satanistic or something.) Let's ask him that about his name.

The REALLY funny thing about the sound board gag was that it was an accident.

OMG. And ambrosia gets even better with cinnamon.

Sometimes the simplest mistakes make great radio.

Perhaps - but only when made by great radio hosts.

>> Russ: How to describe Peggle...
> great description. Due to the time crunch we were having with this epic episode, I didn't try to describe it.

Gotcha. I must admit that, since I listen to your show at work, I treat it sort of like an epic painting like Guernica, a truly boundless canvas - and thus believe there's time enough for everything, even reading a page out of a NH phonebook if it were funny. (THERE is a challenge for ya.) But as other responders have indicated here - some people are pressed for time. I'd say Raef would say their squawking says something about their time priorities, eh?

>> you want GREAT Chicago pizza? Gino's East.
> I should have mentioned Gino's East. I agree with you completely.

Aww, thanks. But honestly, it was Craig's story - it's not like you drove him to Giordano's. I'm just adding that bit of food advice as a Chicagoan. (Not actually FROM Illinois, but moving here over a decade ago puts me in the artificial category.)

I would argue that Uno's is really not that good pizza regardless of proximity to Chicago. We have Uno's up here, and ording a Chicago deep dish pizza in NH is like ordering NE clam chowder in Florida. It simply shouldn't be done. You will regret it.

Fair comment. My evidence is that Uno's here in the northwest suburbs of Chicago is kinda only okay, but Uno's in Ann Arbor, Michigan (my alma mater) was awesome. Apparently, it's the pizza equivalent of standing under a fountain - too close or too far, you get no water at all.

However in Tournament play these things are often minimized.

Oh heck yah. Played me a bunch of tournament games that went to time. This was more a rebuttal to "tail between his legs", but then again, it *WAS* an ignominious loss by a 40K Radio host.

A shameful, humiliating, absolutely soul-crushing loss of biblical proportions that will ring in their ears forever and go down in history as the defeat of ego by the brilliance of mind and determination of spirit.

Mad props to D6G for kicking tail outside their demesnes!

>> was Resident Evil 5, in your opinion, racist...?
> in fact some of the other Podcasts on the PulpGamer.com network have covered "controversial games."

Just downloading the PulpGamer 'casts on iTunes today - I'll keep an eye out for it.

As an aside, one of the reasons I stopped playing Flames of War was because I was having trouble role playing my Germans. While it is cute to walk around town with a giant evil ork head on your game bag, the same can not be said for a swastika.

Wowzers. Good for you. It's an interesting counterpoint to a few older Penny Arcade comics about video gamers playing WW2 first-person shooters - seeing things like Germans bouncing around in jump-dodge madness like they'd had ten of that mana-potion cocktail. (There was another one about second-generation immigrant Asian-Americans playing scenes from the War in Pacific that might have involved their parents or grandparents in real life.) The comparison makes for the case that the nature of discrimination and prejudice may be BOTH cyclical -and- passed from generation to generation - stronger as it gets stronger, and stronger as it gets weaker. In this case, we're seeing a little evidence that being born so far after WW2 and the Holocaust can make the impact of their terrible deeds far less easily felt.

(Though honestly, another reason may just be that gamers, being well-read and educated on their subjects, have become so inured to the shocking atrocities of the Holocaust that they can't really get worked up about it any more, either. *shrug* )

Shizzle: From a personal point of view: I do not restrict my vocabulary based on the color of the skin of the individual who invented the word. If a person invents a word and I think it is cool, I'll use it. In fact, the slang term 'cool' may also have been coined by an African American, I've no idea.

A fellow linguaphile, true and true. I won't restrict my vocabulary based on the cultural origin of the term - but I *do* embrace the idea of communicating to the audience in tailored format, and in a way that more easily communicates not only the ideas, but also the atmosphere or environment. For instance, when I speak or write as myself, I tend not to use adult language. But in my RPG writing, it comes almost naturally to me as long as it's appropriate to what the *character* would say. So while I feel no personal -restriction- on the shizzle, I'd probably attempt to pick up shizzle from my verbal toolbox only in situations where it was part of the mutual communication dynamic.

Word.

It wasn't so much that I'd lost my commanding lead, I just don't like game mechanics that can do the following: "you've been playing this game for 1 hour, but at this moment, everything you did in the last hour no longer matters."

Agreed - which is why you guys started talking about villain #1 in this regard, Killer Bunnies. It is the longest game in which the ending is "okay, pick a card". (In many ways, this makes it a two-hour game of three-card monty.)

In Battlestar, you can be a good guy for 2 hours of a 3 hour game, and only in the last hour discover you are a bad guy and must now undo your work.

Agreed that this *DOES* get in the way of a comprehensive game strategy. But there are quite a few games where it really is fundamentally impossible to put together a strategy that will last longer than two turns. From Traders of Genoa (where all turns are negotiated with players) to even Race for the Galaxy (where you can turn on a dime based on drawing a particular 6-cost Development).

But now, go read Machiavelli's The Prince. (It's short, and it's almost required reading for gamers.) His advice on managing situations between principalities rings true here. Help those who are behind you, hinder those who are ahead of you. In games with barriers to long-term planning, where quick thinking and the ability to turn on a dime is crucial - keeping all the players in a basic dead heat is actually the *long-term* strategy to choose. It's a bit of step back in game strategy from something like a Power Grid or an Advanced Civilization, where you can basically plan from turn 1 what you'll be doing on turn 20. (And if you fall behind at all, you can simply adjust your plan to "lose".) If you've got a game group where analysis paralysis is a big factor, playing this long-stretch strategy games is a bonus, because your long-term planners only have to go through their algebra once.

Me, I like games where being quick on your feet is its own reward. I find such games to be a more intense comparative test of mental acuity and experience. So I'll certainly pick up CC - but not for at least three weeks.

thanks for listening.

I accept your thanks, but it really is a privilege that you share with all of us.

(And while I am a passed master at toadying, I can also say the above with absolute earnestness as well - as none of US are podcasting. Thanks go out to everyone involved with your show, on-air or not.)

Just now finally finished this EPIC episode. I have to say that it was one of my favorites, by far!

First, congrats to Craig on your Adepticon win!

The Adepticon postmortem with the 40K Radio guys was fantastic. I think their sense of humor meshes well with yours and there were several laugh out loud moments for me through this bit.

Curt's interview was great, albeit a bit long. I had to laugh because every time I kept thinking that he was rambling a bit he would give out another interesting bit of information.
As a side note, having worked in the industry for a while as a buyer for a distribution company, it made me smile when Curt mentioned Aldo Ghiozzi of Impressions. I tell friends that I met a lot of great people in the game industry during my short tenure and Aldo was certainly one of them. Just a great guy to talk to.

Raef, I know you don't get on Dakka much but I think I liked this Hollywood Minute more than any other so far. Very insightful.
I've been wrestling with the issue of how I spend my free time and trying to stay focused on my gaming a lot lately. I loved the marble idea! Can't wait to hear how you're able to balance your game time with your family, work, etc.

The Wives' segment was enjoyable as always. I had to join the facebook group after they mentioned it, of course.

Ken, this episode's The Score was fantastic! You fixed the sound issue from your first go and I thought it came out perfectly.
You do a great job with picking out stuff that maybe wouldn't be obvious. I mean, the Twister soundtrack? Wow!
Having never seen the movie, I wouldn't have ever guessed it would be good for gaming and certainly not for Bang! But it's a great fit.
Bonus points for making me laugh with your comment about how 'western' Battle Without Honor or Humanity is.

I really enjoyed the Cutthroat Caverns review! As always, in depth and thorough.
I bought the game after you guys were talking about it constantly, but I had yet to break it out during a game night. Not that there was an issue with it. It just kept getting pushed aside for other games. Now it gets pushed to the top of the pile! I can't wait to dive in now

Finally, to Craig and Karen, Awesome. Just awesome!

Keep up the great work! Can't wait for the big 3-0!

Dear Craig,

You are a bastard. Seriously. I was listening to Ep. 29 whilst walking to and fro my classes Friday morning. I step out of my biology class, pop in my headphones, and hit "play" only to be treated to this episode's "Did Ya Ever Notice?"... and I broke down. I spent the entire walk across campus back to my Volvo trying not to laugh but only making myself look like I had some sort illness. I can only imagine what my fellow students thought as they observed my awkward attempts to control my urge to just sit down in the grass and have a good chuckle.

Well played,
Brother Atrox

PS: If you guys haven't checked out Kobolds Ate My Baby and Gloom - I would highly reccomend them for funny, beer and pretzels games.

Gamer Interface Wow that was some loooong post. Gamer Interface Wow that was some long post.

Jack of all games, thanks for the kudos. I've been known to lurk.

Hollywood.

Call me chatty. But it really just is the way I think and write. I look down, and there's three pages gone by. But I'm glad my efforts combined with Jack's comment to summon you forth from the shadows of lurking.

GamerInterface wrote:Call me chatty. But it really just is the way I think and write. I look down, and there's three pages gone by. But I'm glad my efforts combined with Jack's comment to summon you forth from the shadows of lurking.

LOL! It's like an incantation. Talk about Hollywood enough and he pops in!

I listen to my podcasts during my commute and I finally reached "Did Ya Ever Notice" this morning...

BRAVO!!

Great episode! I'm might want to try Cutthroat Caverns next boardgame night at my LGS.

Sorry if I missed this and it was discussed but I can't find the little metal men you were discussing on the show as possible crew for Uncharted Seas. Do you know where they are available? I really like the idea of using them for my ships.

Would also like to know about those 1/600th scale dudes.....

8-Bit Ace wrote:Sorry if I missed this and it was discussed but I can't find the little metal men you were discussing on the show as possible crew for Uncharted Seas. Do you know where they are available? I really like the idea of using them for my ships.

I've e-mailed Paul Owen (the gentleman who sent them to us) requesting he give us some info on where he found them.

They are pretty neat, and quite small.

I've just ordered a Human Imperial fleet for Uncharted Seas (I've had lotsa lovin' out of my Dwarf fleet, and can't wait for the Sky Pirates to come out, so I've ordered these as an interim fix while my latest Uncharted Seas magpie-fixation plays itself out...), so I was interested in these, as the deck do look a little sparse, and I don't fancy snipping small pieces of fiddly wire to make little men for them!

I already own some 2mm scale stuff which I got from Irregular Miniatures (http://www.irregularminiatures.co.uk/ - click on the hard-to-see 2mm link at the bottom of the page), which I use for the Land Ironclads and Aeronef games from Wessex Games (http://www.blease.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/WG.homepage.html). But their infantry come in blocks of around 20 or so men, and it would be impossible to carve out a single "man" from the block.

As an aside, inspired by gaming at small scale, I can highly recommend Aeronef as a quick and fun game in the same spirit as Uncharted Seas. Land Ironclads is a bit more meaty a game, but Aeronef is much quicker playing an at £5 for a PDF of the rules and £18 or so for a fleet (http://www.brigademodels.co.uk/NoFrames/VAN/index.html) they are priced similarly to Uncharted Seas. The only drawback I can see is in relation to Russ' prediliction for pretty rules books. The rules are monochrome and have limited artwork - very much old school in that regard - although they are written well and have quite a high fluff-to-weight ratio, which makes for good inspiration to play!

EDIT: Update. In my continued research for individual 2mm figures I came across some in my mate Lloyd's webspace: http://www.lloydianaspects.co.uk/models/2mm.html



Apparently these are skirmishers from Irregular Miniatures (although I can't find any on IM's website in their own pictures, and the Barbarian Skirmishers are listed at 5 per unit, not 6 so I'm not sure if these are the same guys). I guess an email to IM (ian_kay@sky.com) might clear things up. Personally I'll be visiting the IM stand at the Durham Wargames Show in June to see what they have in person.

I asked Paul Owen (the gentleman who sent us the little guys) for more details. Here's what he sent along:

Little metal men available from Xyston (link is: http://www.xyston.com). Use the "Select Section" drop down box at the top of the page to go to the online shop and then select 1/600th Scale Miniature Galleys to get to the page with the crew and marines. Their overseas postage is very reasonable as I remember.

"Grapples away, able seaman!"

Thanks Paul!

Nooooooo! Episode 30 is suffering from the sad panda of doom!

I like that Panda's face it makes me smile, almost worth a late episode him.

Sorry lads, Ep 30 should be up late tonight.