Opening Post; The remit

Why another gaming blog? There are hundreds if not thousands of them and some of them are very good, so why another?

Firstly a wide spectrum, but many niches is my answer. There are many blogs that cover the latest Fantasy Flight or Rio Grande board game, and there are plenty that will review Pazio's latest Pathfinder tome. In this blog I will over old school rpgs,, indie rpgs, retro clones, hex and counter war games, board games from Avalon Hill or SPI's heydays, and anything else weird or interesting I find. I will cover some newer items but I will try to create a left field emphasis.
Secondly analysis. I like writing analytical pieces and will attempt to draw out why a game does or doesn't work for me, or how it compares to similar items in the genre.

How often will I post?

Depends, I will try to maintain once per month, I might manage twice weekly at some points.

Whats with the name?

I cycle through a fair few handles on internet forums, The Great Lestrade (of Sherlock Holmes fame) is one I've recently started using and seemed suitable for this blog ( i will incompetently investigate old or less known games).

Will you discuss anything other games?

I will probably do what most people do with their blogs and occasionally mention films or books I've read or even mini review them, but this definitely isn't the main purpose of the blog. I will keep the blog free of political or social commentary.

What about video games?

Loads of people already cover them far better than i can, even in their more niche areas, i might occasionally comment on a video game but it will probably be Dwarf Fortress or a Roguelike.

You say old school rpgs, will you post any original content?

I intend to. I write most of my own material so i will post maps, tables, plot hooks etc from time to time.

Why does your grammar suck?
I am dyslexic so sometimes my spelling or grammatical abilities might fail.

Comments

Mutant Future RPG, and thoughts on retroclones

I've started GMing a campaign using Mutant Future by Goblinoid games. My campaigns usually only last 2-6 sessions and we are now two sessions in. I've seen many of the games mechanics in action and feel comfortable committing my thoughts on the game to the screen. I say I am using Mutant Future rather than running or playing it, because like many older school RPGs experiences and interpretations of the rules of the game will vary widely from group to group. Equally interpretations of the game setting can vary a lot. I'm not really that into the Fallout, Mad Max, dudes with sharp bits of metal and tentacles protruding from their bodies type of post destruction world. I either like the very grungy A Roadside Picnic, Stalker, or Metro 2033 type world with grimy guys climbing around in rain coats and cheap anti radiation suits with sawn off shotties, or a more low fantasy approach like Nausicaa Valley of the Wind (A great Manga/Anime). For this game I decided to set it in a m...

Quick Looks: Cimean War Battles - Tchernaya River

A quick one today I traded off Across the Narva by Revolution Games (should post something on this) for an oldish (2000) copy of an S&T magazine. The mag came with two battles reprinted from the 1978 Quad game on the Crimean War. The full Quad also contained Inkerman and Balaklava, this magazine version just has Tchernaya River and Alma. Initial setup Early SPI games (and actually GDW and AH come to think of it) of the 70s tend to have lots of rules you already know. I go, U go, movement, fire, melee, rally, and most of the rules are standard. Command and control rules and friction of war arrived a lot later. To couter this I have added a simple house rule. For each division (units are brigates and regiments, about 2-8 per division) roll. On a 1 in 6 movement is halved unless the unit can charge, in which case it must charge the nearest enemy. A simple easy to apply rule for generating those light brigade charges. You could also easily convert this to a chit pull game by...

Jena Campaign - Debrief - Lessons learned.

On the last Saturday of this past June I enjoyed one of the best learning experiences I have had in wargaming to put a positive spin on it. The day did not start well in character as General von Ruchel I arrived to the field 3 hours late having boarded the wrong train. When I arrived I discovered that my colleagues had spread our forces in a long thin line between the Fulda gap and Gera with no reserve. Control's game map The Jena campaign megagame, designed by Rupert Clamp was devised as a double blind map game. Each side of 10-15 players wrote orders for each division ordering it about a large map of central Germany. When battle was joined a divisional commander collected his regimental level counters and played a simple face to face tactical game. A step up the chain of command it was the army commanders (generals) role to devise the overall strategy for then the divisional/corps commanders and their chiefs of staff teams to implement. Or if you were on the Pruss...

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