Looks Like battleMETAL Will Fill Some Mechwarrior 2 Nostalgia

Just came across this cool video and project which aims to implement a Mecha game and SDK on the Quake1 engine (Darkplaces specifically):



You can find more details on their website and the Github repository.

Art assets are apparently not available yet due to some non-free placeholders, but I hope this will be changed soon. Also no multiplayer, but that might be possible to fix.

Also really cool would be a Occulus Quest VR port via the already available and quite awesome Darkplaces VR port called QuakeQuest.

Leave a comment on our forums.

This post was retrieved from freegamer.blogspot.com.

Troops On Parade - 28Mm Italian Desert Force

It's time for another episode of the occasional "Troops on Parade" feature here at Yarkshire Gamer in which I look at one of the various collections of figures here at YG HQ. This week it is the turn of my 28mm Desert Italians who have been a regular feature in the ongoing Op Compass Campaign reports posted here.

I've just completed a final batch of vehicles for the army and (stop laughing at the back) I think the army is finished, so what better time to do a review than now. In fact with no expense spared below is a hard hitting YouTube documentary where I drone on for 20 minutes about stuff.

For those of you without super fast broadband  😉 to download the video below is a more leisurely stroll through the various units involved.

First up are some Bersaglieri, instantly recognisable from their helmet plumage (which is beautiful). A random purchase from the local Recon show a few years back when I couldn't find anything else to buy, there are 3 Squads of 10 men plus some command.

Followed by a big chunk of regular Italian Infantry, all metal from Perrys Miniatures, the Infantry had a strange organisation 1 squad of a Sgt and 11 Rifles and another of 9 men with two 3 Man LMG teams, I have 8 squads plus some spares for use as snipers etc.

The final Infantry type, the Giovanni Facisti, a home conversion with Perrys plastic Afrika Korps as the base. Heads from the plastic ACW plastic box set , a total of 6 squads and command in the collection.

The dismounted support weapon includes 3 47mm Anti Tank Guns, a couple of 20mm Anti Tank Rifles, 2 HMGs and a Mortar. I'd like some 65mm Infantry Guns but no one makes them.

Artillery support comes from 2 x 75mm Field Guns from Perrys and a 100mm Gun from Warlord.

A motorcycle Bersaglieri Squad, love these figures, avaliable from Dog Tag Miniatures.

Command of the army comes from this rather swift Italian Command Car avaliable from Perrys.

Soft Skin transports are a bit of a cheat, these are metal "collectors" miniatures from a Company called Days Gone By. They are a bit small but can be bought on eBay for a couple of quid each, which is a lot better than 20 or so for a 28mm truck (If you can find an Italian Truck), so this lot was 15 to 20 pound instead of £140, that's the tight Yarkshire Man !

The models come with company logos on etc but nothing that a light sanding and some black primer won't sort out. I have just painted them as normal and added an Italian Divisional symbol to the doors and there you go.

The type of truck I have used is a Fordson as the front grill resembles a Fiat 626.

There is a bit of a beast lurking around at the back of the group, a 90mm Breda Anti Aircraft gun mounted on a lorry with crew. Used in an anti tank role similar to the German 88, it's an old model which has yet to see action on our table. The model is from Company B which used to be imported into the UK by The Wargames Command Post, I'm not sure if they have a current UK distributor.

Moving onto the "armour" starting with the tiny L3 Tankettes, 6 of them. 5 have standard armour and 1 with a 20mm Anti Tank Rifle. Sold by the Perrys, having stood next to one in the Tank Museum I have no idea how two blokes got in one.

A couple of odds, a flamethrower version of the Tankette from Empress Miniatures, seriously who would get in one of these, not only are you cramped into one of the smallest poorly armoured vehicles of all time, you're towing a bomb !

Being that is a 47mm Semovente Tank Destroyer, a bit after our time frame but a nice model from Perrys.

A pair of Italian self propelled 75mm Semovente, they arrived in North Africa in Dec 1941 (just within our cut off point) but didn't see action until 1942. These are the Warlord Games version.

Proper armour next, on the right is the M11/39 tank, the first proper tank for the Italians, a twin MG turret with a 37mm gun in a pivot mount in the hull, great for colonial warfare not so great against British Tanks. They had their first outing on the table recently, report coming soon.

I have 7 of the 11/39 tanks, 6 Blitzkrieg Miniatures 1/56 versions and one from Company B, the latter is considerably bigger and is closer to the Warlord Games 28mm scale.

Final tanks are the more modern M13/40 tanks, 10 in all, all from Blitzkrieg.

So this is a project that started out as a "box of plastic" and a couple of Tanks and this is just the Italians, let this be a warning to you all 😂

Troops On Parade - 28Mm Italian Desert Force

It's time for another episode of the occasional "Troops on Parade" feature here at Yarkshire Gamer in which I look at one of the various collections of figures here at YG HQ. This week it is the turn of my 28mm Desert Italians who have been a regular feature in the ongoing Op Compass Campaign reports posted here.

I've just completed a final batch of vehicles for the army and (stop laughing at the back) I think the army is finished, so what better time to do a review than now. In fact with no expense spared below is a hard hitting YouTube documentary where I drone on for 20 minutes about stuff.

For those of you without super fast broadband  😉 to download the video below is a more leisurely stroll through the various units involved.

First up are some Bersaglieri, instantly recognisable from their helmet plumage (which is beautiful). A random purchase from the local Recon show a few years back when I couldn't find anything else to buy, there are 3 Squads of 10 men plus some command.

Followed by a big chunk of regular Italian Infantry, all metal from Perrys Miniatures, the Infantry had a strange organisation 1 squad of a Sgt and 11 Rifles and another of 9 men with two 3 Man LMG teams, I have 8 squads plus some spares for use as snipers etc.

The final Infantry type, the Giovanni Facisti, a home conversion with Perrys plastic Afrika Korps as the base. Heads from the plastic ACW plastic box set , a total of 6 squads and command in the collection.

The dismounted support weapon includes 3 47mm Anti Tank Guns, a couple of 20mm Anti Tank Rifles, 2 HMGs and a Mortar. I'd like some 65mm Infantry Guns but no one makes them.

Artillery support comes from 2 x 75mm Field Guns from Perrys and a 100mm Gun from Warlord.

A motorcycle Bersaglieri Squad, love these figures, avaliable from Dog Tag Miniatures.

Command of the army comes from this rather swift Italian Command Car avaliable from Perrys.

Soft Skin transports are a bit of a cheat, these are metal "collectors" miniatures from a Company called Days Gone By. They are a bit small but can be bought on eBay for a couple of quid each, which is a lot better than 20 or so for a 28mm truck (If you can find an Italian Truck), so this lot was 15 to 20 pound instead of £140, that's the tight Yarkshire Man !

The models come with company logos on etc but nothing that a light sanding and some black primer won't sort out. I have just painted them as normal and added an Italian Divisional symbol to the doors and there you go.

The type of truck I have used is a Fordson as the front grill resembles a Fiat 626.

There is a bit of a beast lurking around at the back of the group, a 90mm Breda Anti Aircraft gun mounted on a lorry with crew. Used in an anti tank role similar to the German 88, it's an old model which has yet to see action on our table. The model is from Company B which used to be imported into the UK by The Wargames Command Post, I'm not sure if they have a current UK distributor.

Moving onto the "armour" starting with the tiny L3 Tankettes, 6 of them. 5 have standard armour and 1 with a 20mm Anti Tank Rifle. Sold by the Perrys, having stood next to one in the Tank Museum I have no idea how two blokes got in one.

A couple of odds, a flamethrower version of the Tankette from Empress Miniatures, seriously who would get in one of these, not only are you cramped into one of the smallest poorly armoured vehicles of all time, you're towing a bomb !

Being that is a 47mm Semovente Tank Destroyer, a bit after our time frame but a nice model from Perrys.

A pair of Italian self propelled 75mm Semovente, they arrived in North Africa in Dec 1941 (just within our cut off point) but didn't see action until 1942. These are the Warlord Games version.

Proper armour next, on the right is the M11/39 tank, the first proper tank for the Italians, a twin MG turret with a 37mm gun in a pivot mount in the hull, great for colonial warfare not so great against British Tanks. They had their first outing on the table recently, report coming soon.

I have 7 of the 11/39 tanks, 6 Blitzkrieg Miniatures 1/56 versions and one from Company B, the latter is considerably bigger and is closer to the Warlord Games 28mm scale.

Final tanks are the more modern M13/40 tanks, 10 in all, all from Blitzkrieg.

So this is a project that started out as a "box of plastic" and a couple of Tanks and this is just the Italians, let this be a warning to you all 😂

Oceanhorn On PS4, Xbox One – Out Now!

Oceanhorn has fantastic voice actors!

Oceanhorn: Monster of Uncharted Seas is out now on PS4 and Xbox One. Do not miss this opportunity to play the entry to the Oceanhorn franchise on your favorite console! Get your copy from Playstation Store and Microsoft Marketplace ($14.99 / €14.95).

We hope that these new platforms will bring Oceanhorn many new fans. Initial responses to the game have been very positive all around! People appreciate the smooth gameplay and nice visuals, but also the bug free port (FDG Entertainment, Engine Software) and Oceanhorn's great soundtrack (Nobuo Uematsu, Kenji Ito, Kalle Ylitalo).

On top of that, I want to present you the fantastic voice cast of Oceanhorn: Monster of Uncharted Seas!

Starring...
Ray Chase as Father. Ray has worked with us since Death Rally (2011) and his latest performance can be heard later this year in Final Fantasy 15 as the main character Noctis!

Co-starring...
Kevan Brighting as Hermit. Kevan is a remarkable and colorful voice actor of Stanley Parable fame.

And last but definitely not least...
Fryda Wolf as Princess Fin and Neeti. Fryda has done a lot of video game voice overs from Fallout 4 to Street Fighter V and Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII.

As the console versions are now out, the development team wants to thank everyone involved in Oceanhorn's story. Thank you for taking this amazing journey with us. We're looking forward to working with you all again in the future!

Knights of the Lost Realm awaits.

Simplifying Encumbrance

Ah, encumbrance. How I've loved to hate thee, but how I've found that thou art needed...

This is my simplified encumbrance approach. Many of you will recognize this as the approach from BX, but it's also the approach taken in Chainmail - encumbrance is based primarily on the armor worn, and then by what else the player is carrying.

To make it more simple, I've simplified that further into just number/type of weapons, amount of treasure or number of items in the pack.

This chart shows the progression of move rates, starting at what kind of armor they are wearing. Shield is included. Rates shift right as the PCs grow more encumbered and shift left as they grow less encumbered. (Note that I use the OD&D/AD&D rates of inches - roughly translated into tens of feet for folks using BX or retroclones.)

Unarmored	Leather/Chain	Platemail	Encumbered	Overencumbered
12"	9"	6"	3"	0"

With these move rates, I'm also assuming a small amount of equipment. A light weapon or two and a backpack with a few supplies and equipment (less than a dozen).

For each heavy weapon or every three light weapons, shift one rate to the right.

Heavy weapons include the pole arm, halberd, pike, two-handed sword, morning star, flail, and battle axe or similar. Light weapons include the spear, sword, mace, hand axe, and bow or similar.

For every 300 coins in treasure, shift to the right/heavier. (Alternatively, if they're carrying around sacks of gold - a small sack holds 50 gold, a large sack holds 150 gold).

I usually rule that more than a dozen items in the backpack/on the person requires a shift to the right. It's a rough guideline, if the items are large or bulky, it will be fewer items. If the items are small, I might allow double.

Strength counts! For AD&D, the damage bonus for Strength also counts how many shifts to the left (lighter) they get. For OD&D, Str 14 -16 shifts one left, 17 gives two shifts left, 18, three shifts left.

An example or two:

Kujo the Fighter is wearing chainmail and has a shield. He has a sword, and a backpack with a bedroll, 6 torches (I count the bunch as one item), a crowbar and ten days of iron rations (I'll count that as two items).  His move starts at 9". 

In town, Kujo buys a bow and a quiver of a dozen arrows. He's still at 9"

In the dungeon, Kujo recovers a halberd from a dead orc. He now moves at 6", with the heavy/bulky weapon. Later in the dungeon, he comes upon a treasure chest full of gold and silver coins. There's about 300 coins in that chest, so he's now moving at (a very slow) 3"! I hope Kujo makes it!

If Kujo has a Strength of 16, then for both OD&D and AD&D, he would start at 12" and after his dungeon adventures, be moving at a 6" rate. Go Kujo go! If Kujo had been at an 18 strength, he would have remained at 12" the entire time.

So the question comes up "What's a little vs a lot?" "Why do you rule that someone is carrying a lot."

In many times, it's the duck test - if it quacks like a duck, then I'm pretty sure they're carrying too much. Often, I'll ask the player... are you carrying a lot?  Many times, they'll own up to their own encumbrance. If it "feels" like a lot to me, I'll have the player convince me that they're not carrying a lot. To me, "a lot" is a good amount of equipment, bulky books, weeks of food, etc. If I could go either way, I'll go in favor of the player, but honestly, we all know when we're probably carrying too much.

What do you think?

Toy Soldiers, Part 2: Gaslands

Gaslands is another in Osprey Publishing's line of miniatures rule books that exist on their own, without a particular line of miniatures or accessories to go with them. In this case, the game is about post-apocalyptic vehicle combat, so naturally it is designed to be played with Matchbox cars.

The game uses a template-based system for movement (similar to X-Wing) and a rather ingenious way to simulate speed, with cars in higher gear getting to move more often in a turn. The rules are simple and straightforward, aided by an over-arching "rule of carnage" that states that if any rule is unclear or open to multiple interpretations, always go with the option that does the most damage.

The simple rules make it a fast-paced game, which is what you want from a game about speeding cars. Each round is split up into "gear phases" in which cars moving at that gear or higher get to move and then attack (either by ramming or shooting). Going faster gets your vehicle more chances to act, but it also reduces your choice of movement template, which could see your car unexpectedly careening into a bit of terrain, or even off the board all together.

Players are presented with a number of options for creating their cars, including different types of vehicles such as buggies, motorcycles, performance cars, pickup trucks, and even the dreaded War Rig. Cars are then festooned with armaments ranging from basic machine guns to land mines and oil slick sprayers. There is even one faction armed with mad science lighning projectors and EMP pulses, and another that uses jury-rigged catapults to lob bits of junk at their enemies.

While the game is undoubtedly a lot of fun to play, the real joy for most players is in customizing their toy cars, adding machine guns and rams along with dents, scratches, rust and weathering. An entire community has popped up on places like Etsy, providing accessories for players to stick to their toy cars, and in most Gaslands forums there is a lot more discussion about modeling the cars than there is about actually playing the game.

One of my criticisms of Ronin was the lack of accessories such as stat cards, but that's less of an issue with Gaslands, mainly because the game is a lot more popular and there are numerous online resources providing everything from plastic movement templates and custom engraved dice to reusable blank vehicle cards.

Rating: 5 (out of 5) A terrific high-octane vehicle combat game. It may take a bit of prep time if you want to create custom cars to play with, but that really is half the fun (at least).

• Gaslands official website
• Gaslands on BoardGameGeek
• Gaslands Facebook group (very active)

Introducing IESF’s International Esports Referee Academy Instructors

International Esports Federation (IESF) is pleased to introduce the trainers for the debut session of the International Esports Referee Academy.  Combined, the three instructors have accounted for over 20 years of national and international Esports refereeing experience and over 50 years of global Esports insight.  They look to pass that knowledge on to the next generation of Esports leaders at IESF International Esports Referee Academy, which is set to kick-off its first session later this month.  

Introducing IESF International Esports Referee Academy instructors.

Sungwon Lee 

As a member of the F1 Amateur StarCraft Team from 2005 to 2013, Mr. Lee competed in all levels of events as an athlete.  Building on that experience, Sungwon began his career as a referee with the Korea Esports Association in 2009 as a referee for the StarCraft competition. He joined IESF''s team of international referees in 2017.  To date, he has refereed over 400 StarCraft and Special Forces matches, and has accumulated a depth of experience in Esports communications and event management through his work with the World Cyber Games, World Cyber Arena, Spotv Games, and VSGames.

Seonghee Sinnara Bae

Seonghee Sinnara Bae has been an Esports referee since the 2011 World Cyber Games in Busan.  She has worked with IESF since the 2012 Esports World Championship in Cheonan, and has worked with the Korea Esports Association since 2014.  She has overseen countless national and international competitions in the StarCraft, League of Legends, and DOTA 2 arenas. Her lectures around regulations and referee behavior will be a key component of the program.

Colin Webster

IESF President Colin Webster began refereeing esports events in South Africa in 1998 and has refereed and organized events at every level from regional through to national and international events.  He brings 30 years of leadership in the global mind sports and international Esports industries to the classroom, where he will lecture on topics of ethics, communication, and event management.

IESF International Esports Referee Academy is one of the three pillars of the Global Esports R&D Center in Busan, South Korea.  Through the dedicated support from both the City of Busan and Busan IT Promotion Agency (BIPA), IESF is able to develop initiatives designed to elevate and promote Esports.