Various musings about current stuff: civilised edition

Quite a lot of things is happening right now in our fandom. The 4th edition ofWarhammer Fantasy Roleplay is right around the corner, Zweihander will recieve yet another expansion and Titanicus is making everyone sweaty!

I will try and cover it all in no particular order, but first we must talk about some very sad news. After many years online, the fantastic Strike to Stun forums will be closing down this year. It's all because of the European Union's privacy policies, potentialy aimed towards the social media giants like Facebook. In reality, as is often the case, the main victims of such a law are relatively small internet communities, like StS. It's very sad to see it go. For many years it was home to people who loved WFRP, as well as those who created various editions of this venerable game. There are alternatives, like the Ratchater's Guild Discord server and the Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay reddit community, but Strike to Stun is one of a kind. It will be archived for some time, so at least that's a plus. A small one. I plan to spend as much time as possible on this site, before it closes forever, as I'm afraid that with it gone, we won't see another one like it, ever.

Farewell. You will be missed

With that sad part of our post out of the way, let's move to the angrier one. Namely the WFRP 4th edition and the constant delays that are plaguing this game. Some time ago Cubicle 7 have released the "beta" version of the 4th and the reactions to that have been rather mixed. I, for one, really appreciate the devs making such a move. The unfinished book has enough material for us to sink our teeth into, as well as some fantastic art to look at! However, for the love of Sigmar, why are you so uncommunicative C7!? Why!? Wrath and Glory, which sucks, at least has a dev team that is in constant communication with its fanbase and buyers. Meanwhile, there's almost nothing from the Cubicle 7 about the final date of the 4th edition's release, not to mention the heavily anticipated physical copies. Please, this is a terrible way of marketing your newest, and probably one of the most important, products to us, your buyers, your fans. I don't want to be a false prophet, but this doesn't bode that well for the final version of the game, especially since a lot of people are already complaining about great many things, which are wrong with the 4th edition...

Release the damn game already!

To change the tone slightly, why not watch Graeme Davis' seminar on the legendary "The Enemy Within" campaign from this year's Gen Con? It's certainly worth it!

Finally we have the fantastic Zweihander RPG by Daniel Fox. Daniel is the exact opposite of Cubicle 7 when it comes to communicating with his fans. He tweets regulary with people, he announces stuff, he shows that he's incredibly enthusiastic about his magnum opus and it works. It works, because people see that he cares. I'm a huge fan of the Zweihander and its "Dark Astral" sci-fi addon, so I was ecstatic to see the annoucement of "Main Gauche", another expansion, this time focusing on the cultists! You know, when I hear the words "grim" and "perilous", I immediately think about shady looking motherfuckers in long robes, carrying wicked knives and chanting eldritch nonsense. I can't wait to get my hands on the "Main Gauche" and use some of the ideas presented there (or maybe all of them) in my own games! Especially since "Tome of Corruption" didn't really covered the cultist stuff all that well. Sure, there were motivations and structures of this kind of organisations, but what I always found lacking, was the absence of a table or a chapter, which would help people create their own cult. I hope that "Main Gauche" will have this kind of thing among its many pages.

It has been funded in 7 hours!

Dan, if you're reading this, keep on being awesome! Your work is an inspiration to us all, and congratulations on winning the 2018 ENnies. You and your entire staff deserved it.

The long and fantastic trailer for "Main Gauche" can be watched here:

Oh, while we're at it, let me just say one thing about Zweihander and Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay: you can like both of these games. I know, that's crazy, but admiring one, doesn't make you a traitor to the other. I've seen a lot of people online, mainly the fans of WFRP, dissing the Zweihander as a "hack" game or a badly written copy of Warhammer Fantasy RPG. I honestly think that it's incredibly fucking stupid to say things like that, as they're simply bullshit. Zweihander is a love letter to old school WFRP-like games, while at the same time making it it's own, unique thing. Daniel is a fan of Warhammer Fantasy, which he proved often enough (he was a regular on the Strike to Stun forums), and he made his magnum opus as an homage, of sorts, to this venerable game. So, yeah...

You can like both. There's no shame in that. Also - no. Daniel does not pay me for advertising Zweihander. Wish that he would, as my finances could really use a boost.

Anyway, that's it for today. Just a quick recap of all the major, hobby-related (in my opinion) things, that are happening right now. Next time... there will be another interview.

The Hunt never stops...

Oh yeah.

Until next time!

Xathrodox86