FoW Mission Design. If You Want Something Done Right...

Hey folks, SinSynn here.

For the longest time, I've been aching to try my hand at mission design for Flames of War. I honestly believe that every mission in the rulebook, with the exception of Free-for-All, is awful.
Here's why:

- Forced reserves.
Oh dear Lord what an awful idea. Ten of the eleven 'standard' missions force one or both players to put 'more than half' of their armies in reserve. A roll of 5up is required to get units in reserves onto the table, and some missions don't allow even that to occur until turn three.
Ugh. Just....ugh.
The most pronounced effect this has on the game is known as Front-Loading, where the 'more than half' of one's army will consist of cheap, virtually useless units, simply because that half will see little to no action. Maybe they won't even arrive at all, since Defenders can be overwhelmed prior to receiving them. Whoops- I couldn't roll a 5up. I lose. Sure...that seems fair. Boy, that was fun!

*Opponent wins on turn four? NOT IMPRESSED*

[RPG] Dissonance

I know, without any real preface or explanation, that I don't like OSR and/or old school stuff. It's just not for me. That doesn't bother me. I know what I like... it's pretty simple stuff.

What's simpler than 4 chords and incredible attitude?

Jeff had a really interesting post recently about the apparent lack of a first level as he sees it in the Next iteration of D&D. He went on to talk about what he DOES like in a game, which generated a metric crapton of comments. His follow up post had a real eye opener for me. One of the guys responding made an off the cuff remark about CoC, which struck me in a very particular way.

I don't enjoy a fragile first level character for a D&D game. It makes me all kinds of mental to consider that my D&D dude might die the first session out of the gate. (I don't like a D&D game at all, really; but that is beside the point.) However, I fully enjoy (and expect!) a fragile " first level"character for CoC. I LOOK FORWARD to the inevitable decrepitude, insanity and/or mangling of any character facing the Eldritch horrors, but not for D&D.

The question of the day for me boiled down to: Why?

What makes one character being a meat puppet unconscionable, while the other is gladly given as grist for the mill? I have absolutely no illusions that if I were playing, my CoC character could live long enough to gain a lot of experience or make a prestige class; and I am totally ok with that. Reconciling that against my angst about a D&D character's prospects becomes something I want to do, just to keep my head from spinning.

I have a thought or two, but I'm hesitant to put it out there right yet. I'd love to hear whether any of you have similar dichotomies, and if so, how you reconciled them with each other.

[Weekly Whimsy] Lola is My Lady

[Welcome to Weekly Whimsy! Lovely, lethal, long loved- Lola; angel of annihilation. Also, actively analyzing the adoration of armies.]


swing swing swing
chop chop chop

My axe is my buddy- ICP, My Axe
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Earlier this week, the talented J Croxford was featured on FTW's Top ten for this lovely piece:

Seeing it really struck a chord with me. I had forgotten what originally drew me to Khador and their frozen wastelands, their harsh women, and their furry hats. I'd forgotten all about Lola.

Lola originally caught my eye, and then I was drawn to her faithful escort, Butcher. His manic, brutal mien was as alluring as her strong lines and great curves. I knew the moment I saw those two, I was hooked. 

[Weekly Whimsy] Show Some Skin

[Welcome to Weekly Whimsy! Making a minor change this week. Going to paint pictures with pictures today, rather than words.]


Show Your Scars- Metallica, Broken, Beaten & Scarred

Tattoos have become more and more commonplace in society lately. With shows like Miami and LA Ink, we've been expose to the business of the trade and seen the many varied stripes of folks that pursue  modification of their bodies. With Kat Von D and Jesse James appearing as top gossip fodder in tabloids, and style magazines devoting sections to celebrity skin, American culture has begun to see ink as common place.

It used to be that ink was reserved for felons and fighters (ie, soldiers of some type). Now markings and color have crossed into safe territory, and we're seeing things like this regularly:

I don't really mind a well done tramp stamp- it's kind of refreshing in comparison to the many ill-considered permanent additions to a person I've seen.