Trudging Forward into the Future!

One of the problems I have trying to write these blog posts is decided what to write about.  It’s always been a problem of mine: too much choice.  I mean, battle reports are a good and obvious choice, but I’m wary of writing them too often, as there is a definite limit as to how much actual information they can impart to any situation other than the battles themselves and they can come across as either ego-stroking or self-pitying (depending on battle result of course).

Rants were another option, but I’ve found out that I don’t feel particularly comfortable writing them.  Make no mistake, I can rant in person, in voice, but when it comes to formulating them as a written bellyache, then they lose some of their immediacy and (for me at least) that is one of the key parts of any verbal rampage.  Some writers can convey that very well, but I think my writing is probably to clunky and formal to properly express those views, cathartic as they may be.  I still might write one every now and again but they’re unlikely to be a staple of the blog as I don’t think they’re entertaining or informative enough in my style of prose.  Ho hum.

I definitely plan on doing more Recommendations because it’s nice to write something that can be fairly analytical but also unabashedly positive.  There is the distinct possibility of me running out of things to recommend or at the very least repeating myself, and unfortunately a lot of things I really enjoy are things that I’m sure the overwhelming majority of geekdom enjoy (or at the least have heard of).  I mean, if I were to recommend ‘Firefly’ I’ve no doubt that that will be met with a shrug and tacit agreement.  It wouldn’t achieve anything.  I may still do a few ‘No Shit Sherlock’ recommendations every now and then, but will probably not be spending too much time on them as there is nothing I can add that hasn’t already been said or recorded a lot better somewhere else on the net.

However, recently I’ve hit upon a couple of seams of rich blog fodder that will be ideal for me.  I have one 40K side project going and a new one that I plan to start some point soon.  They seem to be the perfect things to while away the too-short lunchtimes at work.  The pre-existing 40K project is the Iron Hands Codex that I started over a year ago and have revised a couple of times since.  Unfortunately it’s been lying fallow for far too long since my new job hit and took away a lot of my idle computer time.

I’ll go through various units that I’ve created and explain the reasoning behind them and pontificate on where they work, where they don’t and try to improve them over time.  With any luck, my tiny team of imaginary readers may have an opinion on them and help me out with ideas and criticism.

The new project I mentioned is basically taking the form of a Specialist Game like GW used to do.  Now, I don’t create things from scratch typically.  It’s part and parcel of the ‘too much choice’ thing I mentioned earlier.  I tend to take existing things and tweak them; giving my ideas form in that way and building on solid foundations.  Basically, this project is under the working title of Commorragh and will be a Necromunda/Mordheim style of game set in and around the Dark Eldar home city of the title.  Necromunda was (and still is) and very good little game, as was (is) Mordheim.  Both games focussed on gang wars and low-level skirmishes rather than the larger battles of their respective parent systems and are pretty much designed to be played campaign style over a long period of time.  I’ve just realised that Gorkamorka comes under that category as well.  I was seriously remiss not mentioning that earlier (it’s one of my top 3 specialist games).

Now, the pitch.  I think that Commorragh would work really well because of the variety available for really weird stuff going along in the city.  In basic Necromunda you had six gangs (and a few others in expansion) but they were all human (or shades thereof), with a couple of very rare alien mercs available.  In the Dark City, you’ve got the distinct variety of the DE populace, but also any number of alien mercs, slaves, engines of pain and daemonspawn.  Realspace raids could be introduced.  Long-term scheming could be introduced if I can find the right mechanics for it.  The haemonculi give you a wide variety of customisation to your gang (or whatever they’ll be called) much like the Mad Doks of Gorkamorka.  The possibilities are great and I hope to explore them and (hopefully) making a playable campaign game at the end of it.

Anyway, that’s the pitch for Commorragh and the end to this meandering post.  If you have any ideas for either of my projects, let me know.  With luck I’ll bore the pants off you with 40K design talk tomorrow.

But you can never tell.

I am very lazy, after all.