I’ve set up a Facebook page for this blog, mainly as an experiment and to provide a way for people to stay up-to-date without requiring an RSS reader. All you have to do is “like” the Facebook page using the widget on the right-hand sidebar, or click on this link: Jodrell Plays Games. Enjoy!

Craig Cartmell, founder of Forge Of War and author of the Warhammer 40,000 skirmish game In The Emperor’s Name, has been commissioned by Osprey Publishing to create a steampunk themed version called In Her Majesty’s Name:

The year is 1895, and the world is in turmoil. The wondrous inventions of Charles Babbage have launched a scientific revolution that has given the world miniaturized steam engines, electric lights and motors, arc weapons, hydrogen and helium dirigibles, road trains, calculating artillery engines, and sea and land dreadnoughts. The one thing these marvellous advances have not brought is peace. Every Great Power has been jostling its rivals for resources and the latest technology.

Although there have been few open conflicts between the major powers, a state of undeclared and secret war exists between them all. Instead of traditional warfare, governments employ small, ‘adventuring companies’ to strike against their foes, raiding factories, stealing technology and artefacts, and kidnapping or rescuing persons of importance.

In Her Majesty’s Name allows players to assemble their own adventuring companies of 4 to 15 agents, and pit them against their opponents in a tabletop battle. A small game can be played on a 24” by 24” table and typically lasts about 45 minutes. Larger games can be played on any table size and tend to last 2 to 3 hours. The game has been designed to allow maximum versatility for the players – if they can imagine it, they can create it within the system. There is, however, a wealth of material in the book that covers weird science, mystical powers, and a range of pre-generated adventuring companies, including the British Explorers’ Society, the US Secret Service, the Prussian Thule Society, the Chinese Black Hand and Ancient Egyptian Cults dedicated to the restoration of the Pharaohs.

In Her Majesty’s Name is a complete game in one 64-page book. It is due out in March 2013 and will retail for £11.99/$17.95.

Polyversal is a forthcoming 6mm Sci-Fi game being developed by ken Whitehurst and published by Collins Epic Wargames. It’s quite an innovative format in that they are going to ship a boxed set containing rules and miniatures produced by a number of different manufacturers. Those familiar with the world of 6mm will recognise names like Exodus Wars, Dark Realm Miniatures, Brigade Models, Plasmablast Games and MicroWorld Miniatures.

I love the idea of these manufacturers working together to create a product that’s greater than the some of its parts. While each manufacturer creates some fantastic stuff, none of them on their own has a wide enough product range to compete with Epic, or produce an “out of the box” experience that’s likely to draw new gamers to the 6mm scale. But together, they could produce something really cool. I’m very inspired by the artwork that’s been announced for the cover of the boxed set:

There’s a lot of enthusiasm for this product on the Tactical Command forums about Polyversal, and I’m pleased that my suggestion of including terrain from GameCraft Miniatures is being looked at. With rules, minis and scenery in a single box, this game could go a long way to bringing 6mm Wargaming to a wider audience.

I just went through every post on the site and reuploaded any missing images.

One of the problems was caused by WordPress: when I migrated away from WordPress.com, only images explicitly linked to from within posts were transferred. Any images within a “gallery” tag were ignored. Fortunately I have backups and it was pretty easy to find the missing files and upload them.

Normal broadcasts will resume shortly!