Seeing as the first of the month has become a bit of a dump of content, I thought I'd save this update until the next day. Apologies for that.
I'm still, even after two years, still getting to grips with Patreon and what it can and can't do. I've now worked out how to whittle the plethora of different compendia into a single post, but didn...
2021-09-02 11:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostI've unlocked the Capture rules for you guys to check out, this month.
Everything else is in the All Patrons compendium. As of next month, there will be just one compendium, so I didn't see the need to spell this all out for you guys.
2021-09-01 11:04:25 +0000 UTC View PostThis compendium contains all of the content available to Heavy Elite patrons.
Heavy Elites now have access to Publicity Stunt, a beta mission from Operation Kurgan in which the heroes must perform for the cameras to gain kudos with the media.
This compendium contains all of the content available to all patrons.
Later today, I will unlock one Rule of the Month per month to Elites, starting with the Rule of the Month from May: "capture" rules to allow heroes to tie up vulnerable enemies to stop them interfering with the plan or from raising the alarm.
I will unlock one Miss...
2021-09-01 11:01:02 +0000 UTC View PostThis compendium contains all of the content available to Mech-level patrons - Defence or Combat. And, by the way, why did no one point out that there was no compendium for you guys in August?? I only just noticed.
Free Rules!
Most people are here for tabletop wargames content, so these links are for you:
You may be unsurprised to hear that I'm running short of new rules to share with you every month. Possibly I over-played my hand in previous months when you got several, but as they were kind of inter-connected I felt like I had to go the whole hog.
So I hope you don't feel short-changed this month with a simple new Ally option in the form...
2021-09-01 08:01:02 +0000 UTC View PostBased on an original idea by Sacha Stand, I tweaked Sacha's concept a little, but I hope he can still see his work in the final(ish) version.
I've made a few suggestions on alternative ways to play this mission, but I think it's got a lot of potential to create a range of different missions, challenges and options built around the same cor...
2021-09-01 08:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostDraft work, subject to change. This is the fiction that introduces the first mission in Operation Kurgan, "Publicity Stunt".
‘Look, Major, we just need something we can deliver.’
Leon sighed and took another pull from his coffee mug. As he had expected, the X Team operators were coming together well. Every one o...
2021-08-31 23:01:01 +0000 UTC View PostOne of you emailed me privately to ask if they could see the current state of the FEAR rules and, in a moment of weakness, I agreed to share the Google doc with them.
No criticism of this enthusiastic supporter!
But I woke up this morning feeling guilty that I'd done that and left the rest of you out. So, listen, if you want pre-beta...
2021-08-31 14:24:33 +0000 UTC View PostIn this episode, I revisit the apparent demise of Guild Ball. No, really, it's dead. But only... kind of dead? Stuff happened. I talk about it.
Also, Secret Weapon Miniatures is dead. Probably. Again, kind of. I talk about that.
And Asmodee. Definitely not dead, but responsible for other things maybe kind of dying. But not really. Le...
2021-08-27 11:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostToday, I'm putting the finishing touches to Sacha Stand's mission concept, The Tower, for our October Mission of the Month, as well as pressing on with Zero Dark: FEAR. I hope to have a beta version up for patrons very soon.
Meanwhile, I'd like to start giving my patrons below the Defence Mech level a bit of a taste of wh...
2021-08-25 10:28:33 +0000 UTC View Post
This is an early-access video exclusive for patrons. This video will be publicly released later this week.
Tony, one of my patrons, asked if we could have a chat to help him get started conceptualizing a game he wanted to write - just for himself and his particular circumstances.
Tony has down-sized his life and wants to dow...
2021-08-23 12:19:40 +0000 UTC View PostThis week, I turn to the sticky topic of command and control. I explain why I've resisted tackling the topic until now, take apart the relationship between IRL C3I and miniatures wargaming, and dissect the different ways games can and do handle the various challenges of abstracting the relationship of leaders and subordinates into stats and mech...
2021-08-20 11:00:09 +0000 UTC View PostThank you, so much, for supporting Precinct Omega over the last year and more. By the end of August, I will have turned 46, which is a daunting prospect. But instead of looking inward, I prefer to share the love. So I'm offering a discount of 23% (that's 1% for every year of my time on this ship of fools) on all of my paid-for digital products.<...
2021-08-19 10:18:29 +0000 UTC View PostWednesday mornings are dedicated to Patreon content, but that doesn't always mean I necessarily post something. But I thought I'd let you know what I *am* up to.
First, Zero Dark FEAR is, in text form, basically finished. I've got a little fiction still to add, and I'd like to add a Versus mission of some sort, but the main body o...
2021-08-18 08:01:01 +0000 UTC View Post
We picked up a new patron, recently, on the back of an email chat I had with them about Horizon Wars and my plans for Midnight Dark, which kind of sent me back to the drawing board to push this project along a little.
Now, a lot of people - myself included - have described Horizon Wars as "abstract" in the past. ...
2021-08-16 13:48:41 +0000 UTC View PostI can only apologize for how long it took me to get behind this story. I was on holiday when it first broke and I thought it was a non-issue, so I ignored it and recorded a different episode, then I went away on another short holiday and the story continued to snowball. I got home and recorded this episode immediately, but I already had episodes...
2021-08-13 11:01:02 +0000 UTC View PostIf you play digital RPGs or, indeed, ever read a Fighting Fantasy gamebook or any of their myriad imitators, you'll be familiar with the idea of a branching plot in a game. This is where the player or players make a decision that pushes the story in a particular direction. Other options for the story are then closed off and the story fo...
2021-08-11 10:29:30 +0000 UTC View PostHaving put a lot of effort into consistent monthly content, I feel like I've somehow lost touch with the "soul" of this Patreon, no longer really giving you guys the behind-the-scenes insights into my gradual mental deterioration* that you're here to enjoy.
With that in mind, some of you - if you follow 2021-08-09 08:02:31 +0000 UTC View Post
9th August was the arbitrary date I set for getting back to social wargaming and, with no sign on the horizon yet of anything radically apocalyptic to change that plan, it is time to make plans about what I'm going to play. Other than Horizon Wars games, obviously.
So, with that in mind, how can I choose from the plethora of excel...
2021-08-06 11:01:02 +0000 UTC View PostAll that follows is subject to change, but is an early sight of the work I'm doing to create the story behind Operation Kurgan.
'This whole situation is just a complete shit show.'
Leon had to agree with the Colonel. What had started out as a straightforward rescue mission with some equally straightforward ulterior motives t...
2021-08-01 11:01:01 +0000 UTC View PostIt's another twofer, this month. As you'll have gathered, Operation Kurgan has a big emphasis on the role of the media in warfare, so we get a new specialism for your heroes to choose: the XJay.
Like an EmJay, but better, XJays have proved themselves not only reliable, but tough, resourceful and willing to get their own hands ...
2021-08-01 11:01:01 +0000 UTC View PostThis month's Mission of the Month might look like a bit of a cheat, because it's a hybrid of the last two months, but you should find it has its own feel.
In Honey Trap, the heroes had no option but to head towards the static objectives, and in Catch the Pigeon, the Infiltrator would get away if you didn't make a beeline ...
2021-08-01 11:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostThis compendium contains all of the content available to all patrons.
In July, I added the EWOp patron level, so I will be unlocking new content for Elite and Heavy Elite patrons. As of 1st September, I will unlock one Rule of the Month per month to Elites, starting with the Rule of the Month from May: "capture" rules to allow her...
2021-08-01 08:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostOh, Lordy, we have to talk about tax again.
On 1st July, the European Union introduced new rules regarding the payment of fees on goods imported to any of their member countries. Obviously, this no longer includes the UK. However, other than the fact that UK-based companies importing to the EU are also affected by this, this h...
2021-07-30 11:01:04 +0000 UTC View PostInspired by my conversation with Gav, I thought I'd do an episode on "emergent properties" - where this idea comes from and what forms they take in miniatures wargames.
My first effort turned out to have corrupted after 12 minutes, with no sound recorded, so I had to re-do it and the second effort honestly wasn't quite as good as the first...
2021-07-23 11:01:02 +0000 UTC View PostI'm away from the studio and my laptop for the next week.
That doesn't mean I'm not working and I've already prepped content for you lot that will pop up when it's due. Nor does it mean that I won't respond to questions or suggestions. But it does mean that this will mostly be restricted to evenings; answers may be brief; and my Internet ...
After discussing this with you guys not long ago, I thought I'd make the script for scripted episodes a Patreon-exclusive piece of content and post it at the same time as the episode. This also means that I'm going to stop making the podcasts public content via the Patreon (they'll still be available on Podbean and YouTube, of course).<...
2021-07-16 11:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostThe Horizon Wars range of miniatures games have, of course, not had to be written from scratch since I've been using the mechanics from the original game as starting points for each new design. This has been a tremendous boon for me, but not necessarily helpful for people wanting to write their own games and not sure where to start.
I've b...
2021-07-15 08:01:01 +0000 UTC View PostGav is the third patron I've been delighted to welcome on to the podcast.
We spend some time on his GW career, with an emphasis on the internal workings of the business from his perspective. Obviously, we also talk about Inquisitor, because I couldn't not do that. And we - eventually - get to the subject of narrative and how mecha...
2021-07-09 11:00:05 +0000 UTC View Post