Friday 13 December 2013

The original story that sparked my interests that I finished in 2008 (holy cripes, thats years ago!) is now in with the downloadable file called

Full Draft: Alexander Lukin and the Lazarus Compound.

Written for a teenage-ish audience I got twenty thousand words into the second book before breaking off. I have plot ideas for the next 2, so a total of 4 in the series if I ever write them all.

Hope you enjoy!

Monday 4 November 2013

It's been a fair while but I have simply compressed all the game related files into .rar archives for distribution.

Please note that many of these images were sized/resized using Word/Gimp/Acrobat till I was happy with how they came out. If you are printing these files it would be best to test them first to account for my low-tech skills.

http://www.mediafire.com/?xib6atjjth67g

I will be making changes from time to time as life permits. I have added a player mat and changed some costs.


So the message is,
Download, print, play, critique, test, hammer, bash, make changes, argue, make up, revel, commiserate and hopefully have some fun.

Wednesday 2 October 2013


Setting Part 2 

The Islamic Nation
A union of common religion has drawn much of the Middle East and North Africa into a multi-country entity whose expanding capital at New Babylon is the envy of the new age. The Islamic Nation is still experiencing the growing pains of unequal development but the immense natural wealth and populations of the countries it encompasses and its relative freedom from conflict make it the first global power.

Russia
Bouyed on hopes of stunning military success of its rapidly mobilised armies, Russia expected to march into the early years of the century as a vibrant and powerful player in world politics. Instead, hard on the heels of military reversals and massive population displacement, the monarchy was destroyed and Russia dissolved into warring states. There are a dozen powerblocks in Russia at any given time and dozens of warbands and petty kingdoms. Only one territory has retained any form of permanence, the Warlord Stainslav’s Sevatopol island fortress.

America
The Re-United states left the civil war behind and set records in modernising and railroad development that even the Islamic Nations were hard pressed to match. By the turn of the century the landscape was reshaped and military might was on the rise. Pursuing an involvement with the world policy as a defender of freedoms, America looked to spread her influence across the globe. Where the existing powers were waining America would be the shining light of the new era. Triditional roles were challenged and new scions of business and industry rose to prominence.
The call to war, to save the allies and rescue a subjugated Europe from the grasping Prussian Empire, would be the tolling of the bell on the old world and the emergence of America as the new.
The Radium device changed everything.
In the green firestorm hundreds of thousands of men were turned to white ash. Dozens of Airships and millions of tones of supplies joined them in the darkest day of the Great War to date.
America has withdrawn her manpower but pledged her industrial might. Ships guns and ammunition sails across the ocean to Europe, but perhaps never again the American soldier. 



 Setting Part 1

Europe is battered from a war that should have ended years ago but that flares and smoulders sullenly.

Britain
Girded for total war and with a people hardened to deprivation and sacrifice Britain is the closest it has ever come to losing its identity. All industry is nationalised, all freedoms curtailed and the government in the hands of a brutal industrial committie manned by the Iron Lords. Success in the Dunkirk landings bought prestige and influence and strengthened the Iron Lords grip.  
As long as Germany refuses to surrender, Britain will stand defiant.

France
With swathes of land turned into battlefields and massive casualties in the first weeks of the war, France is barely treading water. From Verdun via Reims, Amiens to Lille and on to Dunkirk the front lines bleed armies daily. The French soldier has proven dogged and brave to a fault but lessons are filtering through and the French army has become second only in experience to the Germans. With the help of Britains armies and the industrial might of America, France intends to win her country back.

Germany
An industrial giant before the war and eager to test it’s military might, Germany didn’t wait for the deadlines to pass. On July the 25th the military machine rolled into Serbia and Russia. The Balkins collapsed in days and a series of hammer blows to the barely assembling Russian army shattered it into routing hordes.
A massive rail and air lift saw the German army shift fronts in time to stem the beginnings of the French response.
Britains landing on the Dunkirk beaches shocked the Germans back tens of miles but new trench lines and fortifications contained the retreat.
Germany has the industrial might and manpower for a protracted war. It has the military leadership to back it up but, it is the people who may ultimately determine how long the conflict continues.

Saturday 14 September 2013


In between next post

First game

I was fortunate enough to secure the services of 3 others on the inaugural test drive of “Airlords” Alpha.

The Bad

Too much time spent not doing anything makes for bored players, also playing late in the evening. I either need to make the turns more interactive or faster and smoother.

Clearer formatting on the map to establish boundaries, names and cargo numbers. Give colour to the oceans. Even though the geography should be clear, it may help.

Shuffle the deck more.

Get printer ink because when you want to print out a copy of the turn sequence for everyone, you can’t

The OK or expected

Counter and tokens; people love them. Being able to make piles of denominations, lines of tokens and abstract shapes keeps people happy. We are an odd bunch.

Not everyone gets the idea the first time around and it is good to have one person explaining the rules

The Good

Shafting other players is fine. 2-3 Search and Seizure cards were played in the first few turns though this did set players back to early.

WAR broke out several times, as did declarations of PEACE. Both worked nicely.

Moving your Airship one territory and taking actions or two and not doing so was a good call before the game started.

Combat was easy to understand and relatively quick.

Changes to make

Discard mechanism and card type rebalance to stop handfuls of redundant cards.

Cargo Unload at the start of the turn, Cargo Load at the end. It takes too long otherwise.

Fame/Infamy to be introduced.

Create a Player mat with all the costs; turn sequence and structures for quick reference.

Monday 2 September 2013

Steampunk!

....is extraordinarily exciting.

As such I have begun designing an Airship Trade themed boardgame that is now in it's very Alpha stages. What I want to do is make it available to anyone who would like to try a copy for playtesting and constructive critque.

There are a number of differing games out there that share the theme of exciting Victoriana/mad technologies/airships and personalities that are larger than life. What I am trying to do with my game is present ALL of these in one game.
You can carry cargo to the many countries of war torn Europe and the Middle East for profits, build cargo facilities and employ Commerce Agents.
You can outfit your Airship for war and hunt down rivals, either forcing their surrender in an honorable fashion or burning them from the skies in utmost skullduggery!
New models of Airship can be purchased, crew employed and Captains put in command.

Next post: An Overview of the setting

Things to do
Playtesting
Secret Victory conditions
Playtesting
Some form of Reputation / Infamy accumulation    
Playtesting
Some form of Economic manipulation?