G*M*S Magazine

The last episode before episode 100 (promise!).

This episode (a bit longer than usual, I warn you) we, as in Kara, Dr Mike Reddy and I,  have got together to bring you the latest Game Buffet with our list of best traitor mechanic games out there.

Being the sort of original humans we are, we’ve got some interesting and some downright strange selection. We put our case forward and then decide as a group in what place it should go. It sounds a lot more straight forward than it is!

Our list of proposed games is:

Paco:

• The Resistance
• Saboteur
• Paranoia: The RPG
• Diplomacy
• Cosmic Encounter

Dr Mike Reddy:

• Werewolf
• BANG!
• Pandemic: On the Brink
• Lord of the Rings with the Corrupt Hobbit Expansion
• Two Rooms and a Boom

Kara:

• Shadow Hunters
• Battlestar Galactica
• Fury of Dracula
• Bunny Bunny Moose Moose
• Scotland Yard

As usual, your feedback is most appreciated, so please do feel free to email us on podcast@gmsmagazine.com and let us know what you think!

Look forward to hearing from you and hope you enjoy the show!

Listen Now:

 Standard Podcasts [01:22:58m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download | Embeddable Player

Read Full Post »

The last episode before the centenary episode of the G*M*S Magazine Podcast. Episode 100 will be special. We’ve no idea how yet, but it’ll be special.

Meanwhile, I thought it’d be a good idea to interview Christopher Badell (yes, again), but this time not about Sentinels of the Multiverse, but about their new gaming venture; Galactic Strike Force.

In Galactic Strike Force, the players play cooperatively to build ships and join forces in a tactical battle system. Although it is a coop game like Sentinels, it doesn’t play the same, it doesn’t feel the same and it doesn’t look the same. This one even has minis!

Galactic Strike Force is now being funded in Kickstarter and you can take a look at the project page here.

But I shall say no more and let you get on with the interview. Enjoy the show! (please)

As usual, your feedback is most appreciated, so please do feel free to email us on podcast@gmsmagazine.com and let us know what you think!

Look forward to hearing from you and hope you enjoy the show!

Listen Now:

 Standard Podcasts [00:48:34m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download | Embeddable Player

Read Full Post »

Another episode of awesomeness with our much esteemed Dr Mike Reddy.

I’m not sure I want to give away a lot about this show because it was quite improvised, but you will probably like it. I mean… I hope so.

However there are two things that I want to mention in the show notes because they matter.

Firstly Standard Action. This is a web series done with little money and a lot of love by an incredible bunch of talented people in Vancouver. Although our next episode will tell you a lot about the series and the originators – because we have an interview – I wanted to give a shout about them now because they have a Kickstarter going on and they could do with even more help. Please visit their project page and help if you can.

The second bit is even more important. Goblinaid was created by Fenris Games not too long ago to help Kev “Goblinmaster” Adams and it is the hell of a cause to get behind. Kev is one of the most influential miniatures sculptors in the UK and his work creating the look and feel of goblins for Citadel is still current.

Recently he was very badly assaulted in his home and was badly beaten and stabbed. Although he’s recovering and will be able to return to work, the return is not going to be without its difficulties and Goblinaid has been created to raise some funds and help however people can.

Please visit their website and help if you can. It’s truly appreciated. Thank you.

Listen Now:

 Standard Podcasts [00:49:22m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download | Embeddable Player

Read Full Post »

One more episode and getting closer to 100!

This episode brings you an interview with Tom Nelson, the Midwest Miniatures Guy.

But before I tell you about that, two announcements. One small, and one very big one.

The first one is to give a shout-out to Standard Action, probably one of the best web series out there. It’s really funny, well written and extremely well produced. They are currently running the Kickstarter campaign to fund the third season, which means you can already see what they can do and how, so you’ll get a good idea of what sort of quality you’ll help fund. You can watch the episodes so far here.

The second shout-out is for Goblinaid. This is the initiative that the guys from Fenris Games to help out Kev “The Goblinmaster” Adams. A few weeks ago three youths broke into Kev’s home, stabbed him and beat him up quite severely. Doctors have been able to save his eye and he will fully recover, but he’s in need of help to get back on his feet. Goblinaid is trying to do just that; get a bit of money to help Kev while he recovers. Please head to the Goblinaid page now and help however you can. Thank you.

And the interview with Tom will give you a good idea of what to look for in a painted mini, why would you want to pain them and also how to find Tom so he can paint the minis you don’t have time for. At $10 per hour, I can tell you that is a steal!

Hope you enjoy the show!

Listen Now:

 Standard Podcasts [00:31:11m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download | Embeddable Player

Read Full Post »

Another episode of the podcast and Dr Reddy and myself since Kara has a “Family” to look after. It would appear a “family” is a condition that affects most humans at some stage in their lives and they are not always malign. In fact it would seem they can be benign. However I haven’t seen that in Facebook or in a photo with a cute kitten, so I won’t believe it right away.

So Dr Reddy and I had a good natter. One you’ll find interesting, we hope!

For starters we talk about my interview with Matt Buchholtz from Crit Juice. We discuss what makes that podcast successful and the work that goes behind producing something as polished at that, even if a bunch of guys drinking around a game of Dungeons & Dragons doesn’t sound like it.

We also talk about my recent trip to Edinburg, where I enjoyed a weekend of terrific talks at Conpulsion, Scotland’s biggest and best Role Playing Games convention.

During the convention, experienced Role Playing authors like Ian Lowson mingled with video games producers like Kevin Beimers or Luke Dicken. Of course they weren’t the only ones there and for a full list of the rather talented people present at the convention, please click here.

Of course the fact that they were truly enjoyable doesn’t mean I’d be able to remember the names of the videogames mentioned. No matter how many times Kevin mentioned Badge of Carnage or Schrodinger's Cat and the Raiders of the Lost Quark, you can count on me to forget the name when we’re recording!

Hope you enjoy the show!

As usual, your feedback is most appreciated, so please do feel free to email us on podcast@gmsmagazine.com and let us know what you think!

Look forward to hearing from you and hope you enjoy the show!

Listen Now:

 Standard Podcasts [00:35:46m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download | Embeddable Player

Read Full Post »

A bit later than I wanted and mostly because of work commitments not letting me publish this episode on time, here’s our first attempt to the Game Buffet!

But before we start on the buffet, though, we discuss what’s probably one of the most controversial Kickstarter project to date. The Emperor’s New Clothes. By now this project is well and truly over, but its quirky and unique approach to boardgames has meant is indeed not for everyone.

We also discuss, well… argue… about the qualities of the art direction in the latest series of games by AEG; Mercante, Dominare and Courtier.

And lastly, the Game Buffet. This buffet’s theme: Guilty Pleasures. This is a new thing we’re trying, so your feedback could be very much appreciated.

Each one of us proposes a series of games and tell the reasons why that game should be featured in the top 10 of the list. Then we discuss why the game should or shouldn’t be in the list, and if it should be in a high or low position.

As usual, your feedback is most appreciated, so please do feel free to email us on podcast@gmsmagazine.com and let us know what you think!

Listen Now:

 Standard Podcasts [01:34:59m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download | Embeddable Player

Read Full Post »

Squirmish games are that sort of games that fascinate me and scare me. They scare me more than they fascinate me, which is why I’ve never got into any of them. The huge tomes of rules, the tons and tons of rules to become familiar with (or so they look like to me) and the pretty huge amount of money some minis cost have put me off so far.

And then came Torn Armor. Firstly it was recommended to me by my friend Jonathan Roberts. Wen I looked into it, I was properly hooked. The lovely miniatures and the fact that is very easy to get to grips with were winners.

But this is a Kickstarter project and we all know that, no matter how nice they look, sometimes they don’t turn up to be as good as they appear, so I had to talk to the designer, Alyssa Faden.

Alyssa is a well known cartographer. Her maps are truly stunning and she’s been commissioned to do too many maps to mention.

That work indeed reflects in Torn Armor, but she’s also shown to have a truly terrific taste for miniatures, which is also very reassuring. With some breath-taking Behemots and a gorgeous Clockwork Dragon from Reaper Miniatures, Torn Armor promises to be really, really cool.

But don’t take it from me, take it from the lady herself and listen to the interview. You might be surprised, and hopefully inspired, by what you hear!

Listen Now:

 Standard Podcasts [00:32:52m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download | Embeddable Player

Read Full Post »

Plenty of people think that zombies are done to death, and considering that zombies are walking dead, it kind of fits nicely.

What I think people mean though, is that too many games with a zombie theme have been published to date. I guess that means that for someone to want to come out with yet another Kickstarter project for a game wit a zombie theme is, to say the least, brave.

Yet, that’s what Jeremiah Lee has done. He’s set up Stupid Awesome Games and launched Zombie House Blitz, a fast paced card game in which you have to get out of the house to survive, even if you  have to leave your grandma behind…

Dr Mike Reddy interviewed Jeremiah to find out more about this project… see what you think!

Also our dear doctor has had a nostalgia attack and he muses on games long gone from his childhood (also long gone).

Listen Now:

 Standard Podcasts [00:23:16m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download | Embeddable Player

Read Full Post »

Another episode of the podcast in our new format of just one topic or segment per episode to make them a bit shorter.

Having said that, this episode is nearly 50 minutes, but I assure you is well worth it!

Tabletop Day is the latest initiative from the Geek and Sundry team, who are hell bent on making sure as many people as possible are aware and, hopefully, join the board and role playing game fan-base.

Tabletop Day invites gamer to get out and play games in a public space. At your local games store, your library, a pub, in the street… Any game you like (be sensible!) and that you think people will like. Get it out there and start enjoying the crowd.

To hear and learn more about it, I interviewed Boyan Radakovich, associate producer of the show Tabletop. I got to talk to him about the how and why of Tabletop Day, the genesis and the ideal future the whole production team would like to see coming true.

And a couple of announcements about some very special places where some games could be played. And I kid you not when I tell you some are out of this world!

For the last few minutes, we have a message from our site and I explain what to do if you’d like us to take a look at your game and review it!

As always, we’re more than happy to receive your feedback and to do so you can email us on podcast@gmsmagazine.com or leave a voice message by clicking the tab to the side!

Look forward to hearing from you and hope you enjoy the show!

Listen Now:

 Standard Podcasts [00:49:18m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download | Embeddable Player

Read Full Post »

Once again we put word to microphone and, with our tongue so stuck in our cheeks that we’re amazed it doesn’t pierce through our faces, we bring you another episode of the podcast with much hilarity and a very healthy dose of silliness.

And a lot more, of course.

We have a good discussion about Tabletopday.com and Kara gives us her opinion from the point of view of someone who works in a games shop. Just in case you don’t know, Tabletop Day is the initiative that Felicia Day, Will Wheaton and their team have come up with to encourage and incentivise people to get out there and play games in the open. A pub, a library, a restaurant… if it has a table, play a game. If it doesn’t have a table, get a deck of cards out!

Me, having played Cosmic Encounters for the first time a few days ago – even though I’ve had the game for two years. Don’t ask… – and I was quite taken by the simplicity of the game and how easily it can turn anyone (and everyone!) around the table into a ruthless negotiator thirsty only for colonization. Tremendous!

Dr Reddy, on the other hand, has been playing X-Wing and he’s hooked! All my fault, I have to say. I was the one who told him that the UK Championships will take place at the UK Games Expo and now he wants to win. But he plans on doing it in a different way…

And talking about Star Wars, we mention the full size Millennium Falcon project, which is something I didn’ tknow about and the people behind the project deserve a huge amount of credit. It’s truly terrific!

Lastly, we answer a question from one of our listeners, Joe Salinas, about the game Nuts.

As always, we’re more than happy to receive your feedback and to do so you can email us on podcast@gmsmagazine.com or leave a voice message by clicking the tab to the side!

Look forward to hearing from you and hope you enjoy the show!

Listen Now:

 Standard Podcasts [00:40:23m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download | Embeddable Player

Read Full Post »