It always rains in Nuln

Yeah, I know that I was supposed to review "Ironclad", but stuff happened and y'all get something else. Almost five years ago I've managed to finish the first "Warhammer Quest" on the PC, and now I'll tell you all that you need to know about its sequel! Let's not beat around the bush here - this title takes place during the End Times, the final death troes of the venerable Warhammer Fantasy. Now, as most people I consider the finale of WFB to be some of the worst written fiction of all time. Fun fact, I haven't read a single positive comment about it! Really, not even one. There were a few people who liked the army lists they've prepared in the ET books, but I haven't met a single person who said: "Yes, the End Times were fantastically written. Can I have some more, please?" That said there were a few good things about them, mainly the "Vermintide" games. "Vermintide" 1 & 2 are seriously some of the coole...

Yeah, about that official adventure review - it ain't gonna happen. At least right now. For you see, I've finally read "There are no Such Things as Skaven" by Sami Uusitalo, and have fallen in love with that scenario. Metaphorically speaking, of course! This 2nd edition scenario is probably in my personal top 3 WFRP modules of all time, and the fact that I haven't GMed it yet is a travesty. Fortunately that will change in 2 days, as I'm about to unleash this masterpiece on my unsuspecting players who've just entered Averheim (the change in location is the only alteration I'll make here). Anyway, what is this scenario about, exactly? Skaven! Skaven, and all of their vile schemes! A prosperous town of Ashendorf, near the great city of Nuln, was visited by the evil ratmen some 150 years ago. The mythical beasts brought with them a horrible plague that decimated the populace of the city, and its ruling elite decided to make a devil's bargain. In order ...

Welcome to the brand new RPG series - Beat the boredom! What is it about, exactly? Well, stick around and I'll tell ya! Since most of us are currently hunkered down, waiting for that whole COVID-19 shite to pass, boredom became a very real issue. One of the best ways to beat it is to engage in some fin TTRPG experience with your friends. Naturally I'm talking about playing exclusively online. Roll20, Digital Playground, Skype and Discord - these are some of the perfect tools, one might need to organize a web RPG game. But there's also the issuse of WHAT to run. To this question I only have one answer - Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay! I've been on a huge WFRP drive lately. I'm reading everything about the new edition, running two Roll20 games simultaneously, and can't enough of the Old World! I've figured that starting a new series, focused on easy to run scenarios (and maybe even short campaigns) would be a decent idea. That's how "Beat the bored...

Those of you with eyes of a hawk no doubt noticed that I used the singular term "character", in the title of this post. That's because it's going to be about a single hero - one that I've RP'ed almost 12 years ago. If you're reading my blog for some time now, you know that I'm not particulary fond of participating in roleplaying games as a player. I'm the forever GM-kind of guy. I like the creative control, the world building possibilites and, of course, the power of life and death over my players... Errrr... I mean, the chance to see them evolve and become the heroes that they were always destined to be! What I want to say is that I'm not too fond of playing RPGs. The last time that I was a regular player, was in 2017, back when I've participated in a Vampire: The Masquerade game as a Brujah DJ with a thing for baseball bats. Since then it was only a couple of one-shots, but nothing too serious. That said, back in 2008 when I've...

This year's Grimvember is almost over, but there I still have a couple of scenarios to cover. Today I take a look at Brian E. Kirby's "For Love or Money", which can be found in the 2nd edition's "Plundered Vaults" anthology. This is a tough one to play. Not because it's overly hard, or badly written - quite the contrary. Kirby made a fine job of weaving a tale of a father who hires a bunch of heroes to find his missing daughter. No, it's the ending. I'm not a squeamish person, and I don't mind "difficult" topics in my games, but "For Love or Money's" ending really got me shuddering with unease. But first things first... The heroes have been hired by one Bela Dustermann, a noble living in a Wissenland village of Mittleresdorf, who needs them to find his daughter Julianne. Apparently the girl ran away with a young, handsome rogue, Rudiger Kaltblut. Herr Dustermann really wants his daughter back, and is willing...

I can safely say that 2018 was very for me. Although the full summary will be written soon, I'd just like to say that I'm most happy for the bunch of interviews that I've managed to secure this year. Now it's time to present you to the last one - with David Guymer. Mr. Guymer has written a bunch of fantastic stories. He's the man who has finished the Slayer saga and pushed it into the Age of Sigmar with the "Realmslayer" audiobook, in which Gotrek is voiced by Brian Blessed himself! He's also a real Skaven aficionado and his portrayal of the Iron Warriors in "The Beast Arises" series is simply awesome. On top of all of that, he also penned the "Ferrus Manus: Gorgon of Medusa" book for the "Horus Heresy: Primarchs" series! I was very lucky to have Mr. Guymer answer a couple of my questions and so here they are, for all of you to enjoy. This is one, fine-looking cover! Xathrodox86:  I will start with a rather ob...

It's time to take a look at the last DLC for "Vermintide", a game that took a lot from "Left 4 Dead" and mixed it with good, old Warhammer Fantasy sauce. The end result is more than excellent. However I'm not going to talk about how much I love this game (100+ hours clocked in already). Instead I want to take a look at the last DLC released for the first part of "Vermintide". A few months ago Fatshark has released "Warhammer: End Times - Vermintide 2" and yes, I will review it at some point in the future. I finally have the rig to do that, so you know - good things are coming. As for now, let's take a look at "Death on the Reik". I had a lot of expectation towards this one. The title itself is a big deal, being a clear reference to the original "The Enemy Within". In fact "DotR" is my second favorite part of this campaign, right after "Shadows over Bogenhafen". The makers of this DLC ev...

Fatshark just dropped the brand new "Vermintide 2" trailer and it looks insanely good! Join me for a quick rundown and a wishlist from yours truly. Now it's no big surprise that I love "Warhammer: Vermintide". I have more than 100 hours clocked in this game, bought every, single DLC and generally think that this is one of the better co-op titles, which arrived lately to PC's and consoles. Will its sequel be just as good, or even better? First of all, the trailer showcases a completely new enemy in the sequel - the Northmen! Yes, Chaos comes to "Vermintide" in the form of Marauders and Chaos Warriors, dedicated to Nurgle! There will also be a Chaos Spawn mini-boss, akin to the Rat Ogres of Clan Fester. They will supposedly be able to grab the heroes, and throw them across the map. Awesome! Chaos shall not be denied Fans of the Skaven need not fret, since our murderous ratmen will also get new reinforcements. Stormfiends will bolst...

I'm a huge fan of "Vermintide". This game helped to rekindle my affection for Warhammer Fantasy. A few weeks ago, the good people from Fatshark released another DLC for this grim and perilous title - "Stromdorf". I really liked the previous two DLC's for "Vermintide". Both "Drachenfels" and "Karak Azgaraz" brought new content to the game and I did not felt that I've wasted my money on them. So how's "Stromdorf" looking in comparison to them? Is it worth your money? The titular town is a miserable, rainy place, which evokes that unique feel of Warhammer Fantasy. It's dark, gritty and generally depressing. I love it. As a side fact, the town of Stromdorf has been futured in "The Gathering Storm" campaign for WFRP 3rd edition. Check it out, if you want to learn more about this wonderful shithole. Anyway, the Skave are up to something, as usual, and Franz Lohner, the not-imperial-intelligen...

I'm still in the camp for AoS haters. I think that the Age of Sigmar is boring, uninspiring and generally a crappy legacy for the venerable Warhammer Fantasy. That's why I can't wait to read the upcoming role-playing game, set in this universe. I know that Age of Sigmar has come a long way, since its premiere in 2015. New models, new rules and new books from the Black Library are definetly helping in the developement of this setting. For me however, AoS still lacks that one thing, which could it actually make it interesting and worth checking out – the everyday factor. What I mean by that, is that I don't want to constantly read about Stormcast Eternals battling generic Khornate dudes in crimson armour, or Aelfs (sigh) duking it out with servants of Nurgle. I want to know how everyday life looks in this universe. I want to know how people live their lives in every one of the kingdoms that comprise the world of this game. I want to know what they're eating, what a...

As the current year is slowly coming to an end, I am writing the last article for 2016. Fortunately it's about a very good DLC for a very good game. Last time I reviewed "Warhammer: End Times - Vermintide Drachenfels", the first DLC for "Vermintide", a fun game about killing Skaven en masse with your friends (or bots). Now it's time for the second paid addon - "Karak Azgaraz". "Warhammer: End Times - Vermintide Karak Azgaraz" (released December 15th 2016) That's one, gorgeous looking logo! Taking place in the titular dwarven hold, and in the areas around it, this one offers a tad different experience, than the other missions, both in the core game and "Drachenfels". The main reason is becuase it's actually snowing! Yes, finally we have our first snow missions in "Vermintide" and I must say that they look magnificent. The devs really made an incredible work on the whole "frozen landscape...