HELP TEAM MASON

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In honor of World Alzheimer’s Day, Please make a donation to support Team Mason in its fight against Alzheimer’s disease. By helping to fight Alzheimer’s disease, the most common form of dementia, we are getting closer to helping fight all of the many different types of dementia.

Team Mason is participating in a Walk on Oct. 2 to help keep memories alive for those with Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.

Please make a donation online by linking to the page at http://2011walktoendalz.kintera.org/dubois/marybethmasonbaughman322

Poetry Needed

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Simone Drinkwater of Casemate Publishing writes: This year sees the tenth anniversary of U.K. forces deployed in Afghanistan, and many thousands of us have been affected by events over the last decade and saddened by the casualties suffered by our forces serving there. Whilst our thoughts go out to their relations and friends who have shown immense dignity in the face of great personal loss, we can be proud of the positive contribution that our servicemen and women are making, in conjunction with our allies.

This new poetry anthology entitled Enduring Freedom takes the name from the U.N.-authorized, NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) mission as part of the U.S.-led Operation Enduring Freedom launched in 2001. Since operations began, over 80,000 personnel have been deployed to Afghanistan from the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth. The debt of gratitude owed to our young men and women, and to their predecessors, is indeed profound.

The charity Combat Stress has seen an increase in referrals, over 70% since 2005. With our personnel involved in operations across the globe under immense strain, we have perhaps only reached the tip of the iceberg in cases relating to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. In this year marking a decade in Afghanistan, this book aims to help increase awareness of these problems whilst raising vital funds for Combat Stress.

Have you been inspired or motivated by reading poetry old or new?

Have you written something yourself whilst on operations?

Does poetry help you or anyone you know during difficult times?

Calling all serving or ex-serving HM Armed Forces personnel, friends, family or colleagues!

We need your help to complete this exciting new publication. Please send your contributions, recommendations or suggestions to: enduringfreedom@tommiesguides.co.uk by 31st July 2011.

MIZPAH III

Copper Rivet

♦♦♦

Jared flung himself to the side as the advancing man swung wildly at him with the large wooden club. He felt the glancing blow and the warm dullness on the side of his face. Eyes still shut, he stumbled to a stop before ramming into the cool wall of the morgue. He realized his mistake too late, however, as he felt a sharp pain in his right side.

Two of them.

The sharp pain turned into a flood of warmth running down his hip.

Blood.

He didn’t remember falling down. He forced his eyes open, seeking out his attackers. It was a natural response. Instinct from a more primal self. He squinted, and forced through the dizziness and pain.

Jared saw a tall, lanky man standing over him. He was wearing a sports shirt, jeans, and a ball cap. Despite the danger he was in, he couldn’t help but notice that the man was wearing it cocked to the side. Jared always thought that was idiotic. The further the cap cocked to the side, the more idiotic the person wearing it tended to be. At this point, however, the idiot was also holding a large wooden baseball bat. And it seemed to be painted a dark red…

Not paint. Blood.

He winced, not sure which injury hurt worse. His side was gashed open, and his head throbbed wildly. He could feel the cooling blood pooling under him, and his eye was already beginning to swell.  He squinted at his leering attacker, realizing he was talking to his partner.

“Home run.” The voice came from behind him. Probably the one who had stabbed him in the back.

The one with the bat laughed. “Yeah, third take today.” He thumped the bat in his hand. “Too bad he fell out like that.”

Jared felt the man he couldn’t see kick him hard in the side. He groaned, and twisted. He tried to push himself up off of the cold stone floor. The world was spinning, and although he could tell that the two were talking, he couldn’t make out much of what they were saying. He looked to the side, trying to focus his failing eyes on the second man who had stabbed him.

The man was small, bald, and hunched. He was wearing a black t-shirt, blue jeans, and brown boots. In his right hand was a large hunting knife. “He looks bad,” said the man as he wiped a red handkerchief across the knife’s edge. “Real bad.”

“Did him good,” explained the larger man. He dropped his bat, sending it clattering across the floor. “He ain’t no good for blood, I bet.”

The bald one giggled. “We can use him for parts.”

Parts? Jared was up on his knees now, clutching at his side. Blood smeared between his fingers. His eye throbbed, shooting pain every time he moved.

“How much do you think he’s worth?”

The big man clapped his hands together and rubbed them. “Depends. I hear they are paying over a thousand for a good kidney.”

Jared moaned. He pushed himself into a sitting position. He tried to focus on the two thugs, and willed the room to stop spinning around him. His vision was clearing slightly, but he suddenly felt like he was going to vomit.

“Let’s finish this,” said the smaller one. “You get the girl unhooked,” There was a short pause. “I’ll get the guy on ice.”

Jared grimaced, and clenched his fist.

I have a bad feeling about this …

♦♦♦

 

 

 

CARRION CROWN BEGINS

The first volume of the Carrion Crown Adventure Path is here!

It was only a matter of time before they set a Pathfinder Adventure Path in Ustalav. Managing Editor Wes Schneider staked his claim on Golarion’s gothic milieu at the very outset of the Golarion campaign setting, and given that the second-ever Pathfinder adventure, “The Skinsaw Murders,” played with the horror theme to high praise from GMs and players everywhere, I’m surprised it took three and a half years for Wes to assert his managerial control to usher in an entire horror-themed Ustalavic Adventure Path.

But the wait is over! The new Carrion Crown Adventure Path is a tour-de-force romp through the various counties of Ustalav, taking in a bunch of classic horror monsters along the way. You begin by getting ghostly in Pathfinder Advent ure Path #43: Haunting of Harrowstone!

When Harrowstone Prison burned to the ground, prisoners, guards, and a host of vicious madmen met a terrifying end. In the years since, the nearby town of Ravengro has shunned the fire-scarred ruins, telling tales of unquiet spirits that wander abandoned cellblocks. But when a mysterious evil disturbs Harrowstone’s tenuous spiritual balance, a ghostly prison riot commences that threatens to consume the nearby village in madness and flames. Can the adventurers discover the secrets of Harrowstone and quell a rebellion of the dead? Or will they be the spirit-prison’s next inmates?

FREE Carrion Crown Player’s Guide PDF!

Ryan Dancey Speaks

 

Ryan Dancey’s latest EN World column, Who is Sitting at Your Table?, discusses WotC’s Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary, psychographics of player types, and the resultant segmentation study and applies it for DM/GM use to take a look at what types of players are in your game and how to accomodate them.

COSCON XXIII 2011

March 18-20, 2011 for COSCON XXIII 2011 is approaching fast!

Pre-registration discount ends March 4th!

Location:

Days Inn, 139 Pittsburgh Road, Butler, PA, 16001

(724) 287-6761

Be sure to make your reservations soon to get the convention rate!

Registration is still open, and you can register online, by mail, and on-site for a discount.  Pre-registration discounts are available until March 4th, so if you know you’re coming, register now!

The following links might be helpful:

COS Main Site (Online Reg to register online)

COSCON Info Page

PayPal Shopping Cart

Events @ warhorn.net/coscon23 (once you’ve registered)

RPGA & COS Living Campaigns

RPGA Living Forgotten Realms D&D 4e  (COS Staff)

RPGA Living Divine Special Event  (Jay Babcock and Annie Erbacher)

COSWORLD D&D 3.5

Pathfinder D&D 3.5  (Cody Knotts)

Miniature Events

Fire & Fury American Civil War (Chuck Schnur)

Mr. Lincoln’s War ACW (Brad Pflugh)

Disposable Heroes WWII  (Brad Pflugh)

The Sword & The Flame NorthEast Africa  (Gwyn Reeves)

French & Indian This Very Ground  (Brad Pflugh)

Modern Combat Disposable Heroes  (Bill Hallam)

Star Wars Starship Battles/Miniatures  (Lucas Kelly)

Warhammer Historical: Old West  (Lucas Kelly)

Marvel Heroclix  (Lucas Kelly)

Warhammer Open Gaming

MAGIC: The Gathering (Sunday)

Sponsored by New Dimension Comics (http://www.ndcomics.com/)

Super Standard Sanctioned Tournament (Dan Regewitz of NDC)

8-Man Drafts (Dan Regewitz of NDC)

LARPS
COSVAMP Vampire: The Masquerade (COS Staff)

Serenity (Paul Kaczmarek)

Other Events

GURPS Supers (Paul Kaczmarek)

GURPS Traveller (Paul Kaczmarek)

QAGS 2^nd Edition (Ian Engle)

New To COSCON This Year

Gamers’ Flea Market (Saturday)

Bring your gaming merchandise you no longer want and find it a new home!

Set your price, shop around, and pick up your money and unsold items later that day!

Win-Win!

Local Artist Charles Urbach

www.charlesurbach.com

• Fantsy/Sci-Fi illustrator who has worked on a variety of card and tabletop games

ARTEMIS: Spaceship Bridge Simulator (by Thom Robertson)

http://artemis.eochu.com

• Video of play in the (small) open gaming area at Con-on-the-cob:
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uP7iUOJHfLc

Please also help us support these local charity organizations this year at COSCON 2011!

This Year’s Highlight Organizations:

The Wilbert Family

Long-time members of the Circle of Swords Gaming Guild

Donate to the charity through:

COS Charity Flea Market (profits go to the charity)

COS Quest Raffle ($1 per entry)

Shiloh Food Bank

Bring non-perishable food items to the registration area!

Each item gains an entry in a raffle to win $25 in COSBucks or 5 COSQuest LARP Points!

Military Support Collection Drive

Bring approved items to be shipped to our soldiers overseas!

For a list of suggested items, please check out the lists on these sites (for ideas of what’s typically shipped)

Operation Shoebox

Give To The Troops

If you would like additional information, please email cons@circleofswords.com or visit our website!

Thank you!

The Circle Of Swords Gaming Guild

FREIGHT CAR SHOPS

By Delano, Jack

 

Freight cars are the hardest working equipment on any railroad. Every line, and many industries with large car fleets, operates a car shop to handle repairs. At yards, inspectors check cars for defects. Simple repairs are done without removing the car from the train. If a major problem is noted, and the car can be moved safely, it will be routed to the owner for repair. If the damage is serious, the car will be moved to the railroad’s shop and the owner billed for the work. Car shops are specialized buildings for fast movement of cars between workstations. Sufficient clearance between tracks provides room for scaffolding or materials. Many also have a light-duty overhead crane. The shop may house several departments, handling brakes, trucks, wheels and other fittings.

When railroads maintained passenger car fleets, the work was done in separate shops. Passenger cars required more specialized repairs of plumbing, electrical equipment, steam heating equipment, upholstery and more, which needed a cleaner environment. The car shop is still very much a part of railroading, as repairs and upgrades to existing equipment are frequently cheaper than buying new cars. Through mergers, some railroads have consolidated duplicate facilities into one shop, and there are contract rebuilders who also provide similar services.

Mechaniks in the Iron Kingdoms are busy. They not only have to keep trains and warjacks up to snuff, but they have to maintain the tracks, shops, and buildings. Playing a game of WARMACHINE can be a little more interesting if you include some scenarios or objectives dealing with railroads. Try your next game by setting up terrain to create a freight yard, or car shop. Battling in and out of the various tracks and cars can be a lot of fun.

Idea #1: Set up several rail cars in a freight yard like the picture above. Set deployment zones as you wish. Now use some scraps of paper (4-6 pieces) marking all but one of them “Empty” and the last “Loot!” Mix the scraps up and then use the scraps to mark freight cars on the battlefield. The idea is that neither player knows which one is the loot car. Carry out the game as usual but with a win condition of finding the Loot. In order to “Search” the railroad car, at least one small or medium based model must use it’s action that turn to declare a “Search Action.” Finding the Loot scores a win for that player. What is the Loot? Whatever you choose.

Idea #2: Set up a rail car storage yard. (Think modern day shipping container storage yard for reference.) Make it like a maze. The objective of the game is to get through the yard and assassinate the opposing Warmaster/Warlock. This should be carried out like a Grudge Match between Stryker and Magnus. You can create rules about how the containers provide cover, elevation, or whatever. Maybe you can make it that the containers can be blown up, or moved. I suggest placing a few cranes (like during the Leagues dealing with the Broken Coast) that would allow players to use the crane to move models, or even railroad cars around the battlefield.

Idea #3: My favorite was the game I played against my wife. We set up a length of track running through of the board at a slight angle corner to corner. I played Cygnar, and chose to Defend the Train. My only prerequisite was that my choices had to each have at least one ranged weapon to fire from the train. (No problem!) We started the train at one end of the track with the engine and three cars. I deployed my army throughout the train. My wife chose to be the Attacker, and set her army up with a 10″ deployment zone from her chosen table edge (although she could not choose the one where the train was currently sitting.) The Defender has to shoot the opposing team as the train moves down the track. (We rolled a d6 and added 2″ meaning that the train would move between 3″ and 8″ a turn.)  The Attacker not only gets to use the standard weapons to attack the Defenders, and the Train … but also may declare one small or medium based unit to have control of a bomb that may be used to destroy the track and derail the Train. We made it that the model setting the Bomb had a skill of [5] when installing the Bomb in a hurry on the battlefield. Rolling 1-5 means the bomb will go off and derail the Train, making the Defender have to fight to protect the wreck. Rolling a 6-12 means that the bomb fizzles and the Train will keep moving. If the Train makes it the whole way off the board without being derailed or destroyed, it’s a scenario win for the Defender. Either side assassinating the opposing Warcaster/Warlock wins as normal. Although there are rules for the DEF/ARM of a train in No Quarter somewhere, I think we went with a simple 10/25 for the stats for the Train. Why ARM 25? Cuz we wanted to give it a fighting chance when a Heavy Jack stepped on to the tracks in front of the engine and charged with a huge spear or axe.

You can come up with your own ideas for scenarios. Remember, this is fun so go crazy and come up with some wacky stuff to play. If all else fails, play through a Great Train Robbery.

Click here to read more of my Blog articles about railroads and railroading.

While we’re talking about railroads and railroading, check out Walthers.com today. Walthers is currently offering free standard shipping on domestic orders of $150 or more, and $3.95 shipping on orders of $100-$149.99. Offers are good only for in-stock items and standard shipping to addresses within the United States. Also, head on over to Walthers Winter Sale for great scenery materials and details to create your own unique winter landscape, as well as the perfect Valentine’s Day figures to add a dash of romance to those cold winter months.

TEENIE TINY INDUSTRIAL BUILDINGS

♣

Kieran from the TerrainMakers forum posted a link to his new 6mm Industrial Terrain including buildings, roadways, and electricity pylons.  Although these pieces of terrain are super tiny compared to WARMACHINE terrain, they are nicey painted, and worth a look. Maybe they would even serve as inspiration or reference material. Enjoy.

 

Escenorama’s Guard House

Spanish gaming site Miniaturas y Wargames have posted photos of Escenorama‘s new fantasy scenery.  The one pictured is the Guard House, but they are going to be making a Church, Elven Houses, and Duty Station. These will not be kits but instead will be fully assembled and painted. They are 28mm. Check them out.

 

Dungeons & Dragons Security Risk!

Back in the 1980′s when I started playing D&D and AD&D, it was common for television shows (especially the 700 Club) to run focused programs on the evils of role-playing games like Dungeons & Dragons. Apparently, D&D is evil again. So that’s kind of cool. Apparently, prisoners who are role-playing are security risks. Yet another reason to stay out of jail, I guess.

Dungeons and Dragons Threatens Prison Security, Court Rules

A three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit weighed in Wednesday on a matter of grievous import to the nation’s prisons: Dungeons & Dragons. And the Court’s ruling was bad news for naughty nerds nationwide, concluding that the innocent-seeming board game was inviting trouble.