Articles by Jay

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Always Something Good on TV?

I spent a better part of this morning chatting with a coworker about our favorite TV shows. We shared theories on Game of Thrones, discussed the ups and downs of Breaking Bad, and dissected the ending of The Sopranos. I’ve danced these steps a number of times with different partners and, as always, we eventually make our way around to The Wire. “You don’t like The Wire,” she said with wide eyes and a dropped…

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For Primarch and Primogenitor: Part 4

The Primarch Challenge This week we finish our Rogal Dorn primarch challenge and look at the final results for Dorn vs the last of his brothers. The rules of the challenge are as follows. Dorn will fight each of his brother primarchs one on one throughout 10 different combats, as if they were participating in a challenge. In 5 of those combats Dorn will get the charge bonus. In the other 5 combats, Dorn’s opponent…

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For Primarch and Primogenitor: Part 3

The Primarch Challenge This week we continue to look at how Rogal Dorn measures up to his brother primarchs on the tabletop. In an effort to gain insight into which of his fellow primarchs Dorn can go the distance with and which ones land a quick TKO, we organized a brotherly brawl. The rules are as follows. Dorn will fight each of his brother primarchs one on one throughout 10 different combats, as if they…

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For Primarch and Primogenitor: Part 2

Last post, I talked a little bit about my frustration with how Rogal Dorn is measuring up to his brother primarchs on the tabletop. Yet, regardless of how well or poorly he does in game, I intend to use him as often as I can. I just need to learn how to use him effectively. That starts by knowing which of his brothers Dorn can best, and which ones he’d do well to avoid. The…

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For Primarch and Primogenitor: Part 1

The most exciting thing about getting into the Horus Heresy game is the option for fielding primarchs. For decades these epic heroes were simply myth and legend, having no tangible presence on the Warhammer 40K tabletop. With the release of the Horus Hersey primarchs are finally able to make a tabletop appearance. Fist and Foremost A dedicated Imperial Fists player, I was overjoyed at the prospect of fielding Rogal Dorn. Throughout the breadth of novels and…

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Confessions of A Gamer Dad

I’ve long been familiar with the concept of Gamer Dad, but never understood what it meant until recently. About a month ago our daughter was born, and holy hell has my world changed. How You Want It I knew there’d be some period of adjustment. Wanting to be as hands-on as possible, I often offer to feed, change, and sooth our little darling as much as I can. Even so, I figured babies slept most…

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Games Workshop vs The ITC

Often I’ve complained that there aren’t enough narrative-based Warhammer 40K events out there. I’ve heard more than a few gamers fault the Independent Tournament Circuit (ITC). They’re an easy organization to blame. They’re large, popular (it’s easy to hate the cool kids), and founded on a competitive platform. In addition to nationally ranking players, maintaining an up-to-date list of upcoming ITC tournaments, and hosting annual national events, the ITC makes it easy for local game…

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OFCC Recap

The Ordo Fanaticus Club Challenge (OFCC) has come and gone, and for the first time in six years our team came out on top. Traditionally, the winning team goes home with the OFCC bucket filled with donated miniatures from each team from years past. It’s the responsibility of the pervious year’s winning team to bring the bucket back the following year. However, after nearly a decade of successful events, the bucket began to overflow. So…

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The Order of Fanatics

In this ITC-dominated Warhammer 40K culture, it can be difficult to find non-competitive events. While tournaments have their place and are important to keeping the hobby going, they only cater to one slice of the community, a subject we discussed at length in an earlier blog. Though narrative- and sportsmanship-based events are hard to come by, the ones that do occur eclipse any competitive format I’ve seen. Each year I regularly attend a regional event…

ITG

Enter the Virtual Dungeon

In a role-playing game (RPG), players assume the role of a specific character within a fictional setting, interacting with one another to create a collaborative story. The roots of modern RPGs date back to the 1970s with Dungeons & Dragons. However, the art of role-playing goes back as far as 16th century Europe with traveling improvisational theatre groups. Since inception, RPGs have thrived across a number of platforms, including tabletop, live-action, and most recently (and…