Precinct Omega

Precinct Omega Podcast - Design #13 - Armour

I take apart the question of armour - both personal and vehicle armour, and with a look at both historical and futuristic warfare - and how game designers frequently miss opportunities to embed the realities of armour into their game designs.

 

This week, I have attempted to record a video version of the podcast, which will be posted on YouTube. This is just the audio and you will lose very little from just listening to the audio, but I do refer sporadically to to the fact that I'm now speaking to a camera. Just FYI.

Precinct Omega Podcast - News #39 - Crowdfunding

When a microenterprise wants to create something new, how do they do it? In the modern age, crowdfunding has become a core part of the business plan of any small creative business, and in the tabletop industry, Kickstarter is the colossus.

 

I use this episode to try to take apart the alternative options, look at what kinds of businesses are going to want to use what kind of approach and, ultimately, try to decide whether Kickstarter is right for Precinct Omega.

 

Precinct Omega Podcast - Design #12 - Close Quarter Battle

Another unscripted ramble through my brain, as I talk about my personal experience of CQB (spoiler: none) and how my understanding of it is informed by my studies and training. I have a bit of a go at mostly Warhammer 40,000 but also Infinity the Game for how they handle CQB, and obviously talk about how my games do it better (YMMV).

 

But seriously, I articulate four take-aways for anyone wanting to write CQB into a miniatures wargame which I think are important and which I think most miniatures wargames overlook.

Precinct Omega Podcast - News #38 - One Year of Podcasting!

A short episode, this week, because I'm taking it a bit easy.  Back to normal service next week. But as (a) I'm taking it easy, and (b) it's 12 months since I started this series of weekly podcasting, I thought it would be a good opportunity to review the stats of the last 12 months and talk about my hopes and plans for the next year.

There's still news, though, with new releases from:

Brigade Games 

Wargames Atlantic 

Rubicon Models 

Great Escape Games 

Atomic Mass Games 

TTCombat 

Black Site Studio 

Precinct Omega Podcast - Design #11 - Aotrs Shipyard

I met up with Alex Handley of Aotrs Shipyard to discuss his work designing an enormous range of spaceship miniatures as 3D sculpts, and his experience of getting them to retail through third-party printing services.

Precinct Omega Podcast - News #37 - Cursed City

This week I look at some interesting news from:

 

Minitaur Gaming 

Mantic Games 

Privateer Press 

Battlefront Miniatures 

Games Workshop (Not a link to GW, btw)

 

I take a look at the events surrounding the release and recent news regarding their Warhammer Quest: Cursed City boxed game, and then - as ever - turn it back on the industry to look at how different business models affect how companies communicate with their customers... And how customers "communicate" with the companies.

Precinct Omega Podcast - Design #10 - Shooting & Ranged Weapons

Shooting is a critical part of most tabletop miniatures wargames, but it is frequently given woefully little consideration by designers who think in narrow terms about the experiences of the soldiers they represent. Players, too, often think purely in terms of "hit" or "miss", without engaging creatively with the imaginative space of the tabletop.

In this episode, I think about what designers can do to more effectively communicate the experience of shooting and range combat, be it with historical, modern or science fiction weapons.

Precinct Omega Podcast - News #36 - Recovering Business Models

I take at look at:

Bad Squiddo Games 

North Star Military Figures 

Wyrd Games 

Avatars of War 

Antenociti's Workshop 

DGS Games 

All of these business have faced or are facing challenges to their market relevance, either through personal circumstances, shifts in the market, technological drift or commercial miscalculation. And each has addressed or is addressing these challenges in different ways. I take a look at different approaches small businesses have taken and consider what Precinct Omega and other businesses in the industry can learn from their example.

Precinct Omega Podcast - Design #9 - Spaceship Combat Games

A couple of weeks ago, I got to meet up virtually with patron Andy Strauss, whose input into the development of Horizon Wars: Infinite Dark was really insightful and informed from a lifelong obsession with spaceship combat games.

We had a chat about the culture of wargaming in Brazil, and walked through the evolution of spaceship combat games over the last few decades or so.

Precinct Omega Podcast - News #35 - Is wargaming unsafe for women?

I'm going to get some flak for this one. *braces self*

News from:

Khurasan Miniatures 

Warcradle 

Para Bellum Wargames 

Mantic Games 

Steamforged Games 

Dark Sword Miniatures 

DGS Games