Sep 6th, 2021 by Precinct Omega
So, earlier this week I accidentally deleted, just... hundreds of files.
OK, so technically I had intended to delete the vast majority of them, but a mis-click ended up with me basically deleting my entire archive of podcasts and videos.
For most purposes, no biggie. They're all uploaded to the Interwebz if I need them and, to be honest, I mostly don't. However, I kept them around because it makes it easier to copy and paste elements from earlier shows into later ones, like intros and suchlike. Yeah, well... those were some of the things I managed to delete.
But part of the challenge of running a business is taking setbacks and turning them to one's advantage. So I spent a large chunk of a day this week creating brand new intros for podcasts and videos, so you get a brand new intro and outro from Bernard, with awesome brand new music and - to top it off - an whole hour-long interview with Five Parsecs from Home author, Ivan Sorensen.
(And, for the record, it's EE-van, technically; but since he moved to the US he answers to EYE-van as well.)
Aug 30th, 2021 by Precinct Omega
In this episode, I revisit the apparent demise of Guild Ball. No, really, it's dead. But only... kind of dead? Stuff happened. I talk about it.
Also, Secret Weapon Miniatures is dead. Probably. Again, kind of. I talk about that.
And Asmodee. Definitely not dead, but responsible for other things maybe kind of dying. But not really. Let's talk about that!
Aug 23rd, 2021 by Precinct Omega
This week, I turn to the sticky topic of command and control. I explain why I've resisted tackling the topic until now, take apart the relationship between IRL C3I and miniatures wargaming, and dissect the different ways games can and do handle the various challenges of abstracting the relationship of leaders and subordinates into stats and mechanics.
I also touch upon the much-commented-upon "Fog of War" and explain why I think most people's understanding of the term is flawed and why it is so rarely handled correctly in miniatures wargaming.
Aug 16th, 2021 by Precinct Omega
I can only apologize for how long it took me to get behind this story. I was on holiday when it first broke and I thought it was a non-issue, so I ignored it and recorded a different episode, then I went away on another short holiday and the story continued to snowball. I got home and recorded this episode immediately, but I already had episodes lined up to cover my period away.
So, finally, here's my detailed look at the astonishing news about Corvus Belli moving to partial manufacturing in plastic.
Wait? What? There's something else going on? A boycott? Seriously? Again?
Well, OK, I suppose I can talk about that, too.
Aug 9th, 2021 by Precinct Omega
9th August was the arbitrary date I set for getting back to social wargaming and, with no sign on the horizon yet of anything radically apocalyptic to change that plan, it is time to make plans about what I'm going to play. Other than Horizon Wars games, obviously.
So, with that in mind, how can I choose from the plethora of excellent games out there which ones I'm going to focus on for the next 12 months? I think there's room for a maximum of three, but which three? Well, after a lot of thinking, I whittled it down to a long list of:
In this episode I rate each of these based on how much fun I think it will be, how innovative I think it is, how much money I would have to spend to play it, how good the local scene is and how easy it will be to find tournaments to play in around the UK. And, based on that, I make some qualified assessments of what I'm going to try out.
Aug 2nd, 2021 by Precinct Omega
In this episode, we re-visit the subject of tax and VAT in the light of new EU rules and this strange beast, IOSS.
DISCLAIMER: I am not a tax specialist.
But because that's very dull, I also took some time to look at the news emerging about Games Workshop's complete re-write of the Kill Team rules, due for release soon, and Mantic Games's new sci-fi arena combat board game, Overdrive.
A full transcript of this episode is available to subscribers on the Precinct Omega Patreon.
Jul 26th, 2021 by Precinct Omega
Inspired by my conversation with Gav, I thought I'd do an episode on "emergent properties" - where this idea comes from and what forms they take in miniatures wargames.
My first effort turned out to have corrupted after 12 minutes, with no sound recorded, so I had to re-do it and the second effort honestly wasn't quite as good as the first one, but I think I covered most of the same material.
Jul 19th, 2021 by Precinct Omega
Please note that I am now posting the scripts of scripted episodes like this one as exclusive bonus content on the Patreon. So if you'd rather read this episode than listen to my voice, you can get access to scripts at patreon.com/precinctomega from as little as £1 per month.
Please consider supporting the Patreon as it makes a huge different to my ability to make it through the month!
In this episode, I look at new releases from:
Wyrd Games
Westfalia Miniatures
Victrix
GCT Studios
Corvus Belli and, reluctantly,
Games Workshop
And discuss how these use (or don't use) the idea of "starter sets" to draw new players or re-engage old players with their game or games.
Jul 12th, 2021 by Precinct Omega
Gav is the third patron I've been delighted to welcome on to the podcast.
We spend some time on his GW career, with an emphasis on the internal workings of the business from his perspective. Obviously, we also talk about Inquisitor, because I couldn't not do that. And we - eventually - get to the subject of narrative and how mechanics can create the experience of narrative events in a miniatures wargame.
There is a YouTube edition of this podcast but, for technical reasons, my conversation with Gav is entirely audio, so the video section is really only my last 20 minutes, wrapping up my learning from the interview.
Jul 5th, 2021 by Precinct Omega
This week's news looks at:
It covers over a lot of different subjects, with no intentional core thread. But I realized afterwards that, what I was really talking about, was how the industry is changing itself in response to a new relationship with the digital future.
