Blueprint Vocational!

My latest book, Blueprint Vocational, has been out for several weeks now. I still haven't been paid for it. Grr.

You can buy it here: http://www.adlibris.com/se/product.aspx?isbn=9147092165.

Oh well. At the end of a grinding rewriting period, I really started to hate this book. I can't even read it now.  However, it should be a better teaching tool for all the hard work Christer, Monica and I put into it. I think it's the best textbook for vocational students in Sweden, but then again, I'm a little biased. :-)

Video Review #7

Island of Wak-Wak #7 Space Hulk Death Angel from TS S. Fulk on Vimeo.

Back from vacation!

I tried to sneak this review in while all the kids were out. Marek came back in and wasn't happy with his papa.

See why we think Fantasy Flight Games's Space Hulk: Death Angel the Card Game is a total dude and the winner of the 2010 Turkey Award.

Maybe we just don't grok this game, but for us it is absolutely no fun and a frustrating waste of time.

Cthulhu Hex Prototype

Here is a sneak peak at the first prototype for Cthulhu Hex. I'll make color prototype in July when I have access to a color laser printer.

Overview

The high priest for the secret cult Cthulthu’s Dreams approaches you with a mischievous smile. “Acolyte, I need to talk to you,” he says while putting his arm around your shoulder. “Now is the time for you to show your worth to our order and your willingness to further Cthulhu’s great will. You have been chosen to enter the Dreamlands to recruit creatures for our cause. When the stars are right, there will be a great battle and we need to make sure our forces will come out on top.”

“B … b … but … how can I do that?” you ask while hoping that the high priest doesn’t notice the large drops of sweat that have started dripping down your forehead.

“Easy, my son. You’ll convert them by force.”

Cthulhu Hex is an abstract game between two players. Each player fields a force of monster tiles to place on a hex map, trying to convert each other’s tiles by inflicting enough damage to make them “see the light.” When all the hexes are filled, the player with the majority of tiles in play wins.

Playtesters Needed

Let me know if you want to playtest this game.

Video Review #6

Island of Wak-Wak #6 Tannhaeuser Equipment Cards Challenge from TS S. Fulk on Vimeo.

Marek and I take a light-heart approach to seeing how much time is saved when using the Equipment Cards to set-up the game.

This isn't really a review, but a light-hearted look at the Equipment Cards that should have come with the base game. If you play Tannhäuser, you really need to get this pack to speed up set-up and game play.

Okko Era of the Karasu review and more

Here is a link to Marek and my video review of the expansion for Okko (Era of the Karasu).

Island of Wak Wak #5 Okko + Era of the Karasu from TS S. Fulk on Vimeo.
Marek and I give our opinions on how Era of the Karasu improve the tactical miniatures game, Okko, which is based on Hub's graphic novels (Okko, the Cycle of Water, the Cycle of Air, etc.)

Next we'll be going over how Equipment Cards affect Tannhäuser.

I've also received many custom-built hex tiles that I'm using to make a protype for a new game: Cthulhu Hex. I'll post a how to play video about the little abstract game soon as well.

Video Review #3

Here is the third boardgame video review. This time I'm taking a trip down memory lane and revisiting a game that I bought when I lived in the Czech Republic—Vladimír Chvátil's Arena published by Altar in 1997.

Island of Wak-Wak #3—Arena from TS S. Fulk on Vimeo.

Here's a quick look at Vladimír Chvátil's first game.

Modular Terraformation Tiles

Hell Dorado has some very interesting terraformation rules for setting of the terrain before the game begins in earnest. You divide the 30" x 30" table into nine 10" squares and bid on which squares you wish to terraform. The player with the highest bid for a given 10" square gets to spend terrain points on some terrain feature (a well, rain of frogs, crevasse, lava, etc.).

Game maniacs were selling 1' x 1' EPS boards (actually it was 30 cm x 30 cm) that were 70 mm thick. So I ordered 9 of them. A foot is close enough to 10" in my book (plus, that extra length helps my Westerns against Marek's Lost, hehehe). I didn't realize how thick 70 mm was until I saw them, however.

So now I've been sawing the boards in half, which will eventually give me 18 double-sided modular playing boards. I'm making one set a typical desert/underground setting with one side blank and the other featuring a river. The other set is going to be more hellish, with a black basalt on one side and a river of lava on the other.

To make the modular rivers work, I marked off 2 cm in the middle of the sides the river would flow to. Then I drew the river and cut it out with a knife.

It's taking a long time, but I hope to have one set read by the time the rule book is released.

Here are pics of the work in progress.