Tales & Tactics

In This week's Rules as Written episode, we dig into BattleTech: A Time of War's detailed character creation, sprawling skill system, tactical combat, and tendency toward troupe style play. We explore a functional and ambitious RPG whose greatest strength and greatest weakness may be the same thing: its determination to provide rules for nearly everything. A Time of War sets out to let you play al...

In this episode of Tales & Tactics: Beyond the Book, we step back from any single title to take a broader look at the tabletop industry in our Wide World of Games discussion. We examine the growing influence of live play shows and roleplaying media on the hobby and how actual plays and streaming content have brought an enormous wave of new players to the table, while also instilling habits and...

In this special 100th episode of Tales & Tactics, our Rules as Written series turns to the world’s most played tabletop roleplaying game: Dungeons & Dragons 2024, the significant revision to fifth edition released by Wizards of the Coast as part of the game’s 50th anniversary. Our verdict is one of measured appreciation but honest critique that D&D 2024 is a polished, accessible, and a...

In this episode of Tales & Tactics Beyond the Book, We ask one of tabletop design’s oldest questions, how do you capture the chaos and decisiveness of close combat at the table? Inspired by the charge and shock mechanics of GMT’s Men of Iron: Norman Conquests, we explore how wargames and roleplaying games have approached this challenge from fundamentally different angles. From the momentum dri...

In this episode of Rules as Written we ride into the age of Norman expansion with Men of Iron: Norman Conquests from GMT Games. Covering battles from Civitate in 1053 to Evesham in 1265, the game explores the rise of the Normans and the military legacy they left across Europe. We examine the Men of Iron system's approach to command, activation, shock combat, morale, and battlefield momentum, and d...

In this episode of Beyond the Book, we look at a growing trend in tabletop gaming: the rise of the "vibe game." From art punk RPGs and rules light indies to beautifully designed passion projects, vibe games prioritize mood, aesthetic identity, and emotional experience over complex mechanical systems. But where is the line between elegant minimalism and incomplete design? At what point does a game...

In this episode of Rules as Written, we dive into MÖRK BORG, PIRATE BORG, Forbidden Psalm, and the rise of the modern “vibe game.” These visually striking indie RPGs helped define a new era of tabletop design built around mood, aesthetic identity, and fast improvisational play. But beneath the doom metal art, apocalyptic prophecy, and brutal minimalism lies a major design question: how much proced...

In this episode of Beyond the Book, we dive into what happens when players must commit to plans before the action begins. From classic hex and counter simulations of naval warfare and air force games to the game Diplomacy of 1959 and more modern board games, pre planning systems force players to think like real commanders. Orders are written, actions are locked in, and once the turn begins, events...

In this episode of Tales & Tactics, our Rules as Written series covers Talon from GMT Games, a tactical sci-fi fleet combat game pitting the human Terran Confederation against the alien Talon Empire across a series of ship to ship engagements. We discuss how the game’s impulse based turn structure creates a tense and interleaved flow of action that will feel familiar to veterans of Starfleet B...

From dugouts and playbooks to stat sheets and dice rolls, this Beyond the Book episode dives into the world of tabletop sports simulation. We look at how designers have tried to capture the drama and strategy of real world sport without requiring players to throw a single punch or swing a real bat. From classic replay games to modern fast play designs, we explore what makes a sports sim feel authe...

In this episode of Rules as Written, we step up to the plate with Deadball by W.M. Akers, a fast, elegant tabletop baseball game that turns statistics, scorekeeping, and a handful of dice into a tense pennant race drama. We dig into the history behind the term Deadball, explore the real life Deadball Era of baseball, and look at how Akers translates that low scoring, small ball style into tabletop...

In this episode of Tales & Tactics, our Beyond the Book series turns to hidden information and randomness as design tools in tabletop gaming. We explore how fog of war and hidden unit mechanics in board wargames create authentic battlefield uncertainty, forcing decisions under incomplete information, and how random tables and GM driven dice outcomes in RPGs produce genuinely surprising results...

In this episode of Tales & Tactics, we take a close look at Modern Tactics: Afghanistan from VUCA Simulations, a hex and counter wargame designed by Shayne Logan covering Coalition operations in Afghanistan from 2001 to 2021. We walk through the game’s core systems, including its alternating impulse structure, terrain and movement rules, and the unique challenges of fighting through walled com...

This week on Beyond the Book, we zoom out to explore the world of superhero tabletop RPGs as a genre, tracing their evolution from early simulation heavy designs to modern narrative driven approaches, and asking what it actually means to play a superhero at the table. We examine how different systems handle power scaling, team dynamics, and comic book logic, while digging into the tension between...

This week on Tales & Tactics: Rules as Written , we dive into the Marvel Multiverse Role-Playing Game to examine how Marvel built its own superhero RPG from the ground up and shaped it into a system focused on accessibility, structure, and brand consistency; we break down the d616 resolution system and explore Rank based power scaling, character creation through Powers and Traits. All while as...

In this episode of Tales & Tactics: Beyond the Book, we step back from individual rulebooks to explore how games represent movement and space on the tabletop in an episode we call “On the Grid.” From square and hex grids to broader area movement and point to point networks, we discuss the different ways designers structure how units and characters move through a game world. Looking at examples...

In this episode of Tales & Tactics: Rules as Written, we turn our attention to Commands & Colors: Samurai Battles, focusing on the second printing of this feudal Japan themed entry in the long running Commands & Colors system designed by Richard Borg. Drawing on several playthroughs, we discuss how the game captures the feel of battlefield command while remaining approachable and fast...

In this episode of Beyond the Book, we crack open the Cold War file cabinet and examine the golden age of espionage RPGs, from the procedural tension of Top Secret to the tactical grit of Mercenaries, Spies & Private Eyes and the cinematic brilliance of James Bond 007. Why did the early 1980s produce so many spy games at once, and how Game Masters might solve the core design challenge of espio...

In this episode of Rules as Written, we dive into James Bond 007: Role Playing In Her Majesty’s Secret Service by Victory Games and examine how a 1983 licensed RPG mechanically captures cinematic espionage without relying on GM improvisation or narrative hand waving. We break down the Quality Rating system and its graded success structure, explore why the chase rules are the true engine of tension...

In this episode we explore “The Long Game”. Why some tabletop campaigns fade quietly into memory while others endure for months or even years. We discuss the hidden factors that determine campaign success: pacing, player investment, scheduling realities, emotional momentum, and knowing when to bring a story to a satisfying close. From burnout and overreach to flexibility and shared purpose, this c...

In this Rules as Written episode, we take a close look at Dragon Rampant 2nd Edition by Daniel Mersey, examining how the updated rules build on the strengths of the original while refining clarity, balance, and flexibility. Designed for fast playing fantasy battles with a strong narrative slant, Dragon Rampant continues to offer an accessible entry point into mass fantasy wargaming without sacrifi...

In this Rules as Written episode, we dive into Paranoia , the tabletop RPG where the rules are unreliable, the GM is your enemy, and knowing how the game works is a capital crime. Focusing on Paranoia XP , we examine how the system deliberately weaponizes mechanics like hidden target numbers, arbitrary modifiers, mutant powers, clone death, and secret societies to enforce mistrust and institutiona...

In this episode of Tales & Tactics, we take a close look at Pillage, the 2025 tabletop wargame release from Victrix. Designed for fast, aggressive play with a strong historical flavour, Pillage delivers decisive clashes, clear battlefield roles, and a ruleset that rewards momentum and bold decision making. We break down the rules as written, examining how the core mechanics function at the tab...

In this Beyond the Book episode of Tales & Tactics , we examine how turns and timing shape play in RPGs and wargames, from rigid "I go you go" structures and phased turns to initiative systems, simultaneous actions, and narrative timing. We explore how different approaches to sequencing time affect pacing, tension, fairness, player agency, and cognitive load, and why certain genres demand prec...

In this Rules as Written episode we take a deep dive into Star Fleet Battles , one of the most detailed tactical starship combat games ever published. Using the Cadet Training Handbook and Captain’s Edition Basic Set as our primary sources, we break down how secret energy allocation, simultaneous action, and subsystem level damage create a tense, simulation driven experience. From disruptors and d...