Author Archives: Mark

The Stiletto

Concealed Carry Names are goofy things. A bayonet was originally a folding knife from Bayonne that had nothing to do with firearms. (Kind of like the “Swiss Army Knife” of today.) Similarly, the stiletto seems to have been a particular … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged | Leave a comment

Workbench: Speedpainting Ancient Orcs

So I was in my friendly local game store when I ran across this collection of paints. Besides all the spaceship minis, I have an occasional Napoleonic Army habit, so I’m always looking for new ways to speed up my … Continue reading

Posted in Paint Review | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Review: Hero Forge Color Plastic

Kinda-sorta bonus content, here. I’m running an Eberron campaign, and Leanne wanted a miniature of her character (a warforged artificer). Of course, it’s not a character type that’s that common, and hard to find at the local brick-and-mortars. (I don’t … Continue reading

Posted in Mini Review | Tagged | Leave a comment

Why I Often Say “Use this Existing Stat”

Damage Slash Pierce Bludgeon 1d4 Sickle, Whip Dagger Club, Light Hammer 1d6 Handaxe, Scimitar Javelin, Spear, Shortsword, Trident Mace, Quarterstaff 1d8 Battleaxe, Longsword Morningstar, Rapier, War Pick Greatclub, Quarterstaff, Flail 1d10 Glaive, Halberd, Longsword Pike 1d12 Greataxe Lance

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged | Leave a comment

The Messer

Malicious Compliance “Messer” means “knife” in German. The sword it describes looks like a knife, for good reason (which we’ll get to later). It’s a one-handed sword, with a single edge. The straight blade is a bit wide compared to … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged | Leave a comment

Other Japanese Swords

Or, “clearing my notes.” Japanese scholars talk about three sword-making periods: the Shintō (“new sword”), the era of the daishō, which corresponds closely (but not exactly) to the Edo period (a.k.a. the shogunate); the Kotō (“old sword”), the period preceding … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged | Leave a comment

The Daishō

Legality, Practicality, and Gentility Daishō literally means “big-little,” and refers to the pair of swords worn during the shogunate. “Big” in this pair is the famous sword, the katana, and “little” is the wakizashi, or “companion sword.” In swordfighting, it’s … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged | Leave a comment

State of the Blog

I live! Which isn’t really that different from before. What is different is that I’m back to having a live gaming group, and that’s having a positive effect on my creative juices. As a result, I’ve got some ideas stacked … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged | Leave a comment

Final Playtest Fleet Lists: All

So here they all are, in alphabetical order. Keep in mind there are two BFG Imperial lists, because I had so many different ships of theirs laying around. These are all PDFs for download: I don’t think I’ve posted the … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Playtest Fleet List: Chaos

The Chaos list, in PDF form. More to come.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , | Leave a comment