I waste him with my crossbow - Knights of the Dinner Table - best RPG strip?

I have just received in the post my brand new edition of Knights of the Dinner Table issue 260.
KODT is the only vaguely gaming item that I have purchased consistently and regularly for many years. I think the first edition I have is number 21 and in real terms its format hasn't changed a great deal from that day to this.
The Knights themselves are an invention of Jolly Blackburn, written as a filler for Shadis magazine many years ago. The strip was actually syndicated by TSR for their own Dragon magazine - this is where most of us wil have gotten their first taste.

For those not in the know its a comic strip about the dysfunctional doings of a gaming group, and it's surrounding community including the local store, the Games Pit. Also involved are Hard 8 - the company that produce "Hackmaster", their game of choice and its many and varied execs including one Gary Jackson, a kind of rockstar games developer, with more than a few character flaws.
There are  a few off-shoot groups, itinerant gamers and assorted hangers-on, many of whom have played lesser or greater parts over the years. Some seem to drop in and out randomly, some you feel are bit-part players who take centre stage for a short while. The characterisation is the thing that makes KODT great (The art certainly isn't the greatest, though it has improved over the years). You really have an affinity for the individuals that make up the main group. I won't go into details as you should read it yourself but all of the gaming tropes are there - I'm sure we could all recognise many of these guys from our teenage gaming groups, warts and all.

Of course most people reading this will know that Hackmaster is a real, and quite serious game produced by Kenzer and co. I have no experience of the newer game but the older edition was a wonderful thing to behold - a direct parody of 1st edition AD&D (Not sure of the full details but their was a deal struck which had something to do with TSR or WOTC releasing the Dragon Magazine CD ROM but not getting Blackburn's permission to reprint the strips). If you can get hold of the Gamemasters Guide and Players Handbook I would thoroughly reccommend it - a great read - Nuclear Winter Fireball anyone?!

Anyway I won't go on terribly much - as I say I reccommend the magazine for the strips alone (The rest is mainly filler to me now) - The best thing you could do is pick up some of the Bundles of Trouble; anthologies of 3 or 4 issues giving just the strips - This would definitely be the direction I would take if I were starting buying them again now.

Until the next time - may all your hit be crits!!

Carl

Here's my 25mm KODT minis - There is a good chance they will never get painted!

 

Art for Arts Sake - Not a review of Art & Arcana

I have recently been considering posting pictures of my favourite rpg related pictures over on Twitter (@got_your_games) as a kind of ongoing thread to show some of the things I love. To be fair I have never really been that interested in the art side of things - yes there are things I like but I have never really followed particular artists or art-styles. (This is not because I don't see the talent involved here - it's just never been my bag).

So as I was ruminating the possibility of this the above book came to my notice. I investigated it pre publication and did a bit of research and decided I had to have one - after all what true D&D fan wouldn't want this artifact?

And then, out of the blue, I was gifted the item above! (I don't think I can ever thank the kind donor enough - safe to say I am VERY grateful).

I won't do a review - I can't do it justice with my poor artistic knowledge but will simply say that I strongly encourage you to go out and buy one. I honestly stroked the cover of the special edition box and muttered "My Preciousssss" under my breath when I first opened the parcel.

Buy it now, and follow me on twitter because I'm going to start posting pictures regularly now - I'm empowered by this book - plus it will give me quite a lot of the pictures.



Speaking of books, I have just got a couple of gaming  related books that may get a review. Designers & Dragons by Shannon Appelcline - Looks great with the leather cover but may be tough to read straight through. Role Playing Mastery by Gary Gygax is the other one - wow, just wow. I'm going to try and read it but this looks like being hard work. (Am I alone in thinking Gary Gygax wasn't actually a god, and sometimes had issues with perhaps being a touch "wordy"?!)

Any way, cheerio for now, more to follow.

2000AD - A brief update and some sad news

Obviously this is all over twitter but just a brief note concerning the sad death of Carlos Ezquerra.
2000AD fans will need no reminding of his influence and talent. I won't go on - others will be more eloquent and informed than I ever could be.


There are plenty of places to get more information but here is a link to get you started from the Guardian.


https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/oct/01/judge-dredd-co-creator-carlos-ezquerra-dies-aged-70


In other news, and also all over twitter and the internet in general is the "Judge Dredd and Worlds of 2000AD" Kickstarter.
Looks absolutely wonderful, funded in under an hour and a very short lead time for a Kickstarter.
I still haven't pulled the trigger - mainly because I simply don't play games!! It does say a lot about this though because I am still wavering!! My problem is I like physical books so the PDF is of no interest to me - we'll see how the bank balance is doing nearer to this items close.


https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/enworld/judge-dredd-and-the-worlds-of-2000-ad-roleplaying


Until the next time,


Carl

Dredd - and my lack of nerd cred.

I have just watched the documentary "Future Shock:The Story of 2000AD" which is frankly wonderful. I was spurred into reading this by my purchase of "Be Pure, Be Vigilant, Behave", which I am now even more excited to receive and read, as I had absolutely no idea of much of the behind the scenes stuff that went on at the only comic I have ever bought with any kind of regularity. (Even if I haven't brought a new prog in many years.


Not knowing about this stuff maybe says a lot about me and my own fandoms - I like lots of things, and have a decent grip on the minutae of much of the stuff that I do love but there are huge gaps in my nerd credentials.


Examples of these omissions -


I have only ever read one HP Lovecraft story, and no Conan ones at all.
Star Trek episodes, except those on at tea time in my youth, are a closed book to me.
I have only ever watched Dr Who with Tom Baker or Peter Capaldi.
Walking Dead, Farscape, Buffy - again, a mystery to me.
Almost all "Appendix N" literature - nope, not been there.


The list goes on and on, these are just some of the highlights. Does this make me a bad person? Will my opinions be ridiculed and dismissed because I am not a proper geek? Who knows, I guess it doesn't really matter and in certain cases I am trying to fill in specific blanks. (I watched, and loved, Firefly and BSG is wonderful though I am only trawling through it slowly).


But back to 2000AD. I have always loved it and have been up and down in my immersion levels over the years. I was always a Dredd fan rather than the other strips because I liked the whole Mega-City/ post apocalypse dystopian future thing. (Even when I didn't know what dystopian future was).
I had loads of the old Titan Trade paperbacks in my teens (because they were often advertised in White Dwarf) and am currently having a shot at buying up the Judge Dredd:complete Case Files Series as they are a decent way back in.


Few other bits and bobs.
The blockbuster movies - nice and easy this - pretend the Stallone one hadn't been made and just wish they had have used slightly different language in the Karl Urban one. (Fuck instead of Drok just grated on me a bit).
Favouite story arches - Cursed Earth/Apocalypse War always fun, Democracy was interesting and the Judge Anderson/Orlok the Assasin/Hour of the Wolf was a goodie too. My most loved though are the Chopper tales - from scrawling right though many Super-Surfs - wonderful stuff.


So that's kind of it for a hasty blogpost - let me know if there are any story arcs to hit up so I can get the right books and your own background in the Universes favourite comic.


Until the next time (still, possibly, a review of a charity shop find that hasn't happened yet!)


Carl

White Dwarf 40 - A classic of our time?

White Dwarf 40 was the first issue I brought back in the day. It was released in April 1983 so I would have been 13. (I honestly thought it was earlier than this, I must have been in secondary school when I got this, much to my surprise.)

I have recently decided to rebuy my collection of White Dwarfs (Dwarves?) and make a dedicated effort to read through them all and understand what I saw in them back in the day. So what follows is a review of a 35 year old magazine based on my 2018 eyes.

 

First things first, the cover. I’m not an art guy so pictures pretty much pass me buy, so whilst this cover is very familiar to me, I have never really looked at it. So it’s pretty dull really; 2 long headed alien type figures, looks like one male and one female. Fairly basic stuff, an inauspicious start.

 

Inside we’ll look at the layout. At this time all of the articles were sandwiched between pages of ads at the back and front. So we have a full page ad for the Judge Dredd boardgame – dull but having something of a renaissance at the moment. Then we have a page of ads featuring Games Workshop Mail order and Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks. The FF books are only up to number 3 and the GW ad has special prices on a couple of items – Scorpion Hall  for £4.95 and Tomb of the Lizard King for £3.95. (This will not be the last time I wish I had a time machine!).

Next up, ads for a couple of game stores (One of which was my LGS, Not Just Stamps – see a previous blog post) – both long gone I’m afraid.

Followed by a full page Car Wars advert – includes both Sunday Drivers and Truck Stop. Next 2 pages are more ads – for the new magazine from TSR called Imagine as well as Otherworld Artefacts and for a Mail Order Site, Poison Dwarf Games. For completeness I should say that I had all of the CW stuff and played a little, I bought Imagine up to about number 10 back in the day (I have subsequently had 2 full sets and sold them on – I’m thinking that after my WD phase I might have to go back to Imagine again!). Poison Dwarf games was actually a company I used a bit – their prices were very competitive indeed. Don’t know if Otherworld is still going but there are, oddly,  a few of their sets on ebay as we speak

Then a full page advert for a Citadel Miniatures Catalogue – no glossy photos back then.

 

Then to the real content. Ian Livingstone does the brief editorial, a brief comment over Fantasy or Science Fiction as inspiration for books and games. ( I prefer fantasy games and Sci-Fi movies fwiw).

Dave Morris writes a 2 page Runequest article Zen and the Art of adventure Gaming. Not very interesting to me but lots of nuts and bolts stuff mainly about weapons and combat. Doesn’t really add a lot to the game but I think this was when Ninjas etc were getting more frequent in popular culture.

3 page article on The Dungeon Master General – Mass combat in D&D – sort of a rules system but frankly you would be better going freeform on it – food for thought but not much else.

 

Critical Mass by Dave Langford – typical book review column which I always really liked. Langford has a very dry writing style and gave me a few pointers over the years for reading matter. (DL is still going strong – https://ansible.uk/ – well worth following). Foremost review is for White Gold Wielder the 6^th Thomas Covenant book from Stephen Donaldson (Could never read them.) I did read the Myth series from Robert Asprin following this column though, yes I agree the Pervect joke was overused but good fun  nonetheless.

Next up, Open Box, a 2 Page reviews column  – good stuff here. Scorpion Hall – awesome, bought it!

C1/C2/S2/I1 – a review of 4 classic AD&D modules – had them all too. Scores of 8 all round except for I1 Dwellers of the Forbidden City which got a 5 – Jim Bambra does give reason for this low score – I would personally have given it a 7 but maybe that’s a lot of nostalgia coming to bear.

Illuminati from Steve Jackson – no idea about a lot of these pocket games but they always seemed to sell well.

Last, but by no means least, with an overall score of 9 we have Starstone by Paul Vernon, enough said – if you can get hold of one do so, I simply cannot recommend it highly enough – though why the map was oversized to the book was always a mystery to me!

Letters page – Quite dull today – sorry not much in the way of meat here. (Over the years some of the ongoing debates in these pages was quite caustic – possibly some thoughtful editing coming in to play but interesting al the same).

 6 Page scenario from Marcus Rowland – Eagle Hunt. This is a classic – I really don’t know how so much information is squeezed into such a short space. MR wrote any number of solid adventures but this really is good stuff – the Detective aspect of it is a little forced but a great scenario.

Runerites – all about trading – nothing new here but a very workable system – It could get abused by an Issaries guy though just out to make Lunar if this was the way your campaign was going.

Assignment:Survey has a new ship for Traveller by Andy Slack – a nice thing this – a bit of a step up from the usual Type S Scout – well laid out and  very usable. (There is a scenario in issue 41 featuring this ship  - Off topic but the Snow Bird Mystery is another top drawer scenario for a magazine – frankly better than most of the Traveller LBB range.)

Inhuman Gods part 2 – Dull – all you need to know about the gods of Firenewts, Flinds, Flymen and Frog Folk – as pointless as you might imagine it to be.

Wowser – 2 pages of a computer program in BASIC to enable you to generate Runequest characters – how times have changed! I really don’t think many of us would sit at a keyboard and input this now. At least it’s for an Apple though – lord knows it could have been for a ZX81.

Magic Items – Standard fare – I can’t think of anything pithy to say here – I feel though, that back then I should have sent in magic item suggestions – I couldn’t write adventures but I think I could have got my name in print for an enchanted item – sadly a missed opportunity.

News page – Some Chronicle Hobgoblins – like these sculpts along with a set of treasure items from Torchlight.

Also is the news that Citadel Miniatures will be releasing a product that “marks a completely new direction for the company” – Warhammer!!! (Nuff said).

The news page - Truckstop is coming as is Scorpion Hall, Battlecars and yet more Fighting Fantasy books – the humanity, where will it end?

Small ads – I would buy all of the second hand stuff and would also be up for the fanzines; Quasits & Quasars, Journal of the Senseless Carnage Society, Wyrms Claw anybody? I tried the number of the guy selling WD 1-20 but it doesn’t seem to work!!

That’s the real content over with, the rest of the mag is filled up with  more adverts – anybody know anything about the PBM Vorcon Wars?

Ads for Salute at the Kensington Town Hall, Starstone as well as a game shop in Wales and the PBM Crasimoff’s World(Think this was one of the longest running PBMs).

There are full page ads for Star Fleet Battles, RQ and Traveller and miniature companys Chronicle and Denizen.

Game shops – 1/8 page crap ad for the Gameskeeper Oxford – still going and Esdevium, now trading as Asmodee as a game distributor.

Oh and Games Workshop only had 5 branches!!

 

So that’s it, in all its ancient glory. I really enjoyed re-reading this and it brought back some fine memories. I brought this months WD recently – side by side the 2 don’t really compare, though I have enjoyed both, for very different reasons – Warhammer really did catch on didn’t it?

 

Back soon

 

Carl

The same light reading - an update

Just a very quick update concerning Dice Men - the coffee table book that any gamer of a certain age should be buying.


https://unbound.com/books/games-workshop/

I have previously stated that I am in on this and it looks like we might be on the home stretch - 92% funded and still going strong. I actually think that I like this method of funding better than Kickstarter and its cohorts, it sort of feels a bit more serious and professional.

I have also boosted my own purchase to include the facsimile copy of Owl and Weasel number 1, which brings me to this fine fellow:--

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/OWL-WEASEL-Issue-1-GAMES-WORKSHOP-Feb-1975-pre-White-Dwarf-RARE/232842435730

Now even though this little item is SIX HUNDRED QUID a part of me thinks that it wouldn't be a bad investment. Clearly the price of many gaming items, particualry vintage ones has been rising steadily for a couple of years and this chap will surely one day be one of the most sought after items - and the releasing of the Dice Men book will only widen the group  of people who will want this.

If I had the disposable income and a (very) understanding spouse I would be inclined to buy this and squirrel it away for a few years and double my money.

(As a little aside, the seller is an absolute legend so there is no risk whatsoever if you decide to buy this)

TTFN - review of WD40, and a bit of discussion about my collecting habits to follow soonish.

Carl

A quick update - and confirmation that us men are pretty stupid.

Just a quick post to keep things moving along at a cracking pace, to follow up on a few previous posts and to just share a couple of articles that are well worth reading.


Firstly, I have still not managed to buy a single gaming item from a charity shop so no review forthcoming on that front. I have however just purchased, from Ebay, a copy of White Dwarf 40. This was the first WD I ever bought back in the day and I am looking to do a deep dive into it when I get a few hours to spend, so look out for that in the future - spoiler - it's actually quite good!


On the miniatures front I have managed to assemble one (1) of my Orks, which has since been undercoated by my son - maybe some painting going forward, who knows.


And in other, more serious, news please refer to these couple of links


From Musings of the Welsh Wizzard http://mikehobbs.co.uk/index.php/2018/07/08/the-devil-in-your-head/


From Chance of Gaming http://chanceofgaming.com/blog/uncategorized/thoughts-on-depression-and-anxiety/


There is lots of food for thought here.
 By now everybody in the world knows exactly how challenging mental health issues can be and should all know  that help is available, that we are not alone, that there is nothing to be ashamed of in admitting that we have a problem. So all this having been said why is it that we often don't seem capable of making sensible choices and in fact often make decisions which from an outsider probably seem utterly counter-productive? The reason is that men are, by and large, quite stupid, stuck in their ways and very likely to behave in a stereotypical ""stiff upper lip", boys don't cry kind of way.
I can only go by personal experience when I say this. I have had "issues" for many years (won't bore you with the details but safe to say medication has a place in my life and has had for a while). For a lot of this time my wife has been advising me, trying to help me and encouraging(/threatening) me to seek help, and to make lifestyle choices that will make all the difference to my mental health. Now in my work life I would take all such input onboard and make clever, well thought out decisions that make my life better and more productive. In my personal life - not so much. I know what I need to do, how I need to act and what decisions will improve my lot but for reasons that can only be described as middle aged man obstinacy I frequently fail to make these right decisions - Why? Who really knows, but maybe with time, with more input and with support and encouragement things will improve. I don't consider I will ever be a 100% fully functioning normal member of society but I am getting there, little by little, and I would advise anyone who recognises such traits in themselves to seek help, even if it is just a chat with a buddy or significant other. The more self aware we are the more likely we are to improve things.


Don't suffer in silence - Help is closer than you think, and while there are no quick fixes, it's always better to take steps in the right direction.


Sorry for the stream of consciousness, I wanted to write a better informed and eloquent article but I'll just go with emotional and hope for the best.


Take care of you and yours,
Until next time
Carl

(Making) Father's Day

Traditionally my children are not huge gift givers. (At age 22,19 and 14 then I guess that ship has sailed). However, this year on Father's Day my middle child presented me with the box pictured here, much to my great joy.

The reason for this is quite obvious - at long last, and completely independently to me he's getting into 40K! I did try to get both boys involved when they were younger but their hearts were never really in it, my passions were never theirs and it just never really took off.
So anyway, young Evan has been buying various space marine boxes and starter sets and has been painting them with, I believe, a decent level of skill, even if he is just starting out. He's also tried a couple of basic games, both in store and with his long-suffering girlfriend. (Bless her, you can tell she's not interested but just trying to humour him - definitely a keeper there!) I've been "convinced" to have a go on a couple of occasions and rather enjoyed it. I have also spoken to him about armies and minis I like, hence the gift - a not so subtle attempt to get my hobby juices flowing. Who knows if this goes well I might be able to start a very small amount of gaming, and it looks I will almost certainly get a bit of modelling in.


If I'm honest I have always preferred fantasy to sci-fi gaming and frankly the new AOS set looks awesome, but I'm willing to have ago and see what happens 40K wise. The Ork minis are not the best GW make, and I think a new release of the range is quite imminent but I reckon these 5 minis are quite fun, with lots of quirky details - who knows, maybe I might even post some pictures if I get them painted.


(As a small aside the attached sprue reminds me of my Airfix modelling days - particularly the post war fighters that always had an assortment of weapon payloads that you could use - traditionally I would always try to load them all up, in defiance of logic, sense and possibly the Geneva Convention - happy days!)

That's it for now - next post still might be a review of a charity shop find - like I said before slim pickings recently.




Carl

Up the Garden Path, once again

Following my recent post this chap popped up on Ebay.


https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DUNGEONS-DRAGONS-UP-THE-GARDEN-PATH-ST1-MORRIS-BRUNTON-VERY-RARE-1986/163047127475?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT


Went for a little more than my £200 ideal price (My bid was over 4 times that - I knew I wouldn't win but it gives me a cheap thrill to bid silly amounts on auctions now and then!!)
Note the condition - slight rodent damage may put some people off - I wonder how much this affected the value?


I can't work out the winner from the fragment of bidder name, though cougar_rinard was second.






As a side note, a few items from this seller come up as "items you might like" - I can wholeheartedly recommend this chap - buy with confidence!!


https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/harami2000/m.html?_ipg=48&_sop=1&_rdc=1


RPGA3 The Forgotten King - A little bit rare!

Artistic License - Other peoples talent

Since my very earliest days in gaming I have always loved miniatures of all kinds - there's nothing better than seeing a well painted mini. My earliest figures were, of course, Citadel - pre-slotta because there was no such thing as a slotta base in those dim and distant days.
My favourites were FTD/FTG and FA, Dwarves, Gnolls (Goblins by any other name) and adventurers for the uninitiated. The Citadel catalogues were great - they never did show the complete range but just gave you a snapshot of what was available. Some of the ranges in those slim booklets were awesome, if not a little....odd.  Creatures that go bump in the night, an assortment of dungeon dressings, as well as a reasonably wide selection of female victims of various torture devices - racks et al (along with the dungeon mistress to go with them). I would never have been brave enough to ask the lady at Not Just Stamps for these, and in any case my budget was never big enough for such frivolity.


Over the years I have vaguely dipped in and out of figure painting. My sons did a (very) small amount of Warhammer when they were younger - definitely encouraged by me so I could live vicariously but to be honest their hearts were never really in it. Just recently my younger son (who is 19) has just purchased himself a little lot of 40K minis and has begun painting them - which means I'm probably going to have a little go myself. I feel that my skills might be greater now then they ever have been - if only because of the number of you tube idiots guides out there - but mainly because I have seen that it is a good idea to wash and then highlight your figures - something that would never have occurred to me in the past! (Photos may follow if they come out ok!)


I have a selection of books on the subject - I like a "coffee-table" style tome - such things as GW Fantasy Miniatures books as well as assorted Dallimore books. It's interesting to see how style and standards have changed over the years - we don't see as much of the early 80's block colours that Citadel loved so much, a shame because it's pretty timeless.


Anyway, as previously stated, my talents are rather limited but the internet is full of examples of painted figures by people who have got some talent - Some of the entries to GW's Golden Demon and the Crystal Brush in America frankly beggar belief - I simply cannot comprehend the level of details that go into these things - would that I had a tenth of the talent.
So last up are a couple of my favourite examples, both Crystal Brush winners as it happens, but Google searching of such things is a time sink of links and pictures - well worth it if you want to feel vaguely inadequate!


(Anyone know good sites to go to for this nonsense, drop me a line. (Or idiot proof tips to improve my painting without making any effort whatsoever!)


2016 Winner by Kirill Kanaev - just ridiculous!

Sergio Calvo 2018 Silver - not good enough for gold wtf!?



Roleplaying again? No, not really.

For the past week or so I have been playing a role playing game again, mainly while out walking the dog. That's right, on my lamentable smart phone I have been playing Tunnels and Trolls adventures!
Back in the day I did play a (very) small amount of T&T, at the time I was too po-faced  and serious to appreciate the sillier aspects of the game. I just couldn't seem to get over the daft names of spells  - I liked my rpgs to have a certain level of "realism" and names like 'take that you fiend' and 'poor baby' spoiled my immersion. (Who knew - you didn't have to stay with these names but I just couldn't get past it and stuck with my preferred AD&D).


So, back to TTA, as you might imagine it's a pretty basic solo rpg - using some of the old standard solos (Naked Doom, Circle of Ice etc) as well as several newer ones. It's pretty user friendly, simple to play, and generally quite solid. It is also, however, when all is said and done, totally tedious.
Perhaps when the developers extend it a bit it might have a bit more to draw you back in but until then I'm afraid my latest rpg adventure is pretty much over. (Can someone let me know when they have a marketplace for spending all of that gold you accumulate - my lead character definitely needs better armour).


Give it a try for free - you might not want to invest too much money in it though.


Cheerio for now,

Carl

Lack of Charity

My luck in charity shops just recently has been utterly atrocious. At one time a trip to Windsor or Maidenhead might have been reasonably fruitful but it seem that there is simply nothing available at the moment. I guess that these shops are being cherry picked by their own professionals to get the good stuff, which I can understand from a professional point of view, but it's simply getting  to the point where it's not even worth bothering anymore.


The good old days have definitely gone, I remember when you could regularly pick up D&D books and boxed sets without trying too hard but I can generally say that I haven't found a single TSR product for sale in the last 6 months at a charity shop, not even the Isle of Dread, and everyone has one of those!


So  after the school holidays are over and some normality returns I have decided to redouble my efforts, and as a special treat I will do a review on the first product I buy from  here on in just to show that my efforts are not in vain.


Farewell until the next time, when the chances are I will be doing a review of an obsolete 40K codex.


Carl

ST1 Up The Garden Path - A question of worth vs value

It's one of the holy grails of D&D collecting - ST1 Up the Garden Path. It is a matter of some debate how many survive, a few have been auctioned over the years and I'm pretty sure that the same ones have come up more than once. Photographs of them are common on t'internet and it's pretty easy to get hold of a "reading copy"(wink wink), if you can be bothered to look.


I did have a copy of this which I got in an auction for a Silver Anniversary box set along with a copy of R1 To the Aid of Falx as freebie extras. It was a bit of a heartstopping moment as I'm sure you can imagine. Sadly my heart restarted again as I quickly realised these were literal copies - presumably done on a colour photocopier at someone's place of work!


I remember seeing one of these advertised for £200 (iirc) in a second hand games flyer about 17 or 18 years ago and thinking that it was daylight robbery - hindsight is, of course, a wonderful thing.


When I first considered this blogpost I was going to do an in-depth comparative review between ST1 and X1 - rarest against the most common, but on reading ST1 I decided not to bother - to sum up just go and buy Isle of Dread and play that, your players will thank you.


The thing that strikes me most about Up the Garden Path is that it is remarkably "English" - it couldn't be more English if it was wearing a bowler hat, eating fish and chips in a queue while complaining about the weather.
The puns and in jokes abound, names and descriptions are often cringeworthy and the overall affect is all a bit self indulgent.

That been said it is reasonably written, has good layout and a very professional overall finish - If it was designed as a one off bit of nonsense it certainly fits the brief. It could be a companion piece to EX1 & 2 from the other side of the pond, though I didn't much like those either.

That's it really, no surprises or spoilers here, just a fan pointing out the obvious to those already in the know. (And if anyone does want to sell one I have £200 ready and waiting!!)

I would be interested in what the going rate for one of these is as the price for rares seems to be shooting up.

A few links for your delectation

A decent blog here.

https://ttgamingdiary.wordpress.com/2016/12/02/going-up-the-garden-path/

The Acaeum - you knew this already.

https://www.acaeum.com/ddindexes/modpages/st.html

A Little More Reading

Folowing my last post I need to mention another book that may well pique your interest.




Dice Men: Games Workshop 1975 to 1985 is a coffee table book that we should all own - any boy of a certain age should own this and I would recommend that you order one immediately. (Particularly as this means I will get my copy quicker!)




I don't suppose that there is anything new here but it looks absolutely wonderful. The add ons are a bit of a mixture, I really want the Owl & Weasel but the Warlock of Firetop Mountain leaves me a bit cold. (And lunch witt the authors might be a little outside my paygrade.)




Do yourself, and your 12 year old self a favour and get one now









https://unbound.com/books/games-workshop/

A little light reading

I have, over the years, read a few of the books written about games and gamers and I'll list here as many as I can recall off the top of my head, giving a brief review and recommendation.


The Elfish Gene by Mark Barrowcliffe
Just awesome - I've read this numerous times. One man's childhood in Dungeons & Dragons.
Mark's book is an easy read that will make you laugh, cringe and nod in agreement in equal measures. Stories and anecdotes from a guy on the fringes of reality - I really can't recommend this enough.


Empire of Imagination, Gary Gygax and the Birth of Dungeons & Dragons by Michael Witwer
Ok(ish) - reads like a bit of college English project if I'm honest. Lots of re-imagined dialogue in places that does become a little irritating. An easy read but nothing new here.


Of Dice & Men - David M Ewalt
A bit of a modern spin on gamers. Not as heavy on the origin stories of gamers as I might like but worthwhile none the less.


Playing at the World - Jon Peterson
This is the real deal - a full (too full!) and in depth history of wargames and roleplaying. This is, at times, heavy going and has a tendency to read like a text book but is a work of absolute genius - go and buy this book!


Hawk & Moor Trilogy by Clark David Kent
Nice history of the early years of D&D - very well researched timeline of releases and publication. For a book so deep on detail it is a very easy read.


Hunters of Dragons by Ciro Alessandro Sacco
Really just a list of D&D products - perhaps one for the completest!


Fantasy Freaks and Gaming Geeks by Ethan Gilsdorf
Another nice "Geek Journey" (Gilsdorf is a bit of an Uber-Geek and has written quite a lot about the culture over the years). This is a great book - not all specifically game related but all very relevant to our interests.


Achtung Schweinhund by Harry Pearson
Not at all D&D related but one of my favourites - a boys-own story of war and war-toys - excellent.




And a few I haven't read but are on the list to read in the future -


Rise of the Dungeon Master: Gary Gygax and the Creation of D&D by David Kushner.
Designers & Dragons by Shannon Appelcline.


and an honourable mention - it's not gaming but it's good stuff.


Watching War films with my Dad by Al Murray






It's well worth hunting out a few of these and I welcome recommendations for further reading