Two Shelves of Gaming

Happy New Year listener(s) and viewer(s), I'm back after a woefully long period of time. For a while I was starting to think that my podcast was going the way of many that have come before it - a few episodes every once in a while before the inevitable disappearance, never to be found again. Another lost soul down the proverbial digital well. Well, not so with me! I dragged myself to my camera...

Greetings pod listeners and welcome to another one man stream of conscious podcast. I'm dusting off a file that's a few months old having recorded this in the light and heat of Slovakia over the summer. Initially I was just doing this as a way to get the creative juices going with regards an article I was planning on writing for a wargames mag. Alas, the creative writing juices are still d...

Time for another video I think! I needed to test out my camera and microphone kit for an upcoming filming job, but rather that just filming me saying 'Testing 1-2-3, Testing 1-2-3' over and over, I thought I'd do something a tiny bit creative. So I got out my un-played Bloodsword books written by Dave Morris and illustrated by Russ Nicholson to give them a quick video outing. I've...

Painted giant. Check! Orcs and Elves. Check! Scenery ready. Check! Time for a game. In this episode I chronicle my, at times, confused and fraught plan to FINALLY play scenario 1 from the classic Games Workshop product 'Blood Bath at Orc's Drift'. A mini campaign from the 80s during the era of Warhammer 2nd edition. In a previous episode I talked about this product and not so long ago...

Not a full episode, but rather a quick aside that will barely do justice to this podcast's subject, namely the amazing artist Russ Nicholson. I was saddened to learn of his death just after I'd uploaded the last episode and I'm sure many long time gamers out there are feeling a similar sense of loss at Russ' passing. While I make no pretense to knowing the man, his work absolutely...

Greetings listeners. If any of you are confused by the opening, and closing, music for this episode please don't be alarmed. It's a reference to something I say later in the episode. OK, I could feel that guilt and internal pressure building to record another episode so reached for the Rode Wireless mic and set about turning my thoughts into a wav file. In my rush I don't think I adjus...

Greetings podgoers! I made a point today of setting some time aside to try and gather my scattered thoughts into a coherent podcast about what I've been up to regards gaming. Thus I attached a Rode Wireless mic to my collar and went for a stroll about town during a gap in the day's busy schedule to muse about being re-united with an old friend.  Namely the excellent Lone Wolf Game books writt...

Happy New Year folks! New Year, new podcast. Yes, an actual new podcast. Not the recycled one I uploaded last time. In case any of you were scratching you head about episode 17.5, let me explain. When working on a previous episode I saw a huge announcement declaring I could now upload videos. Seeing as I had an aborted attempt at doing just that a while ago, I thought I'd try again. After all why...

What's this? Another episode, so close to the last one?  Well, no. What we have here is a re-run, a repeat, re-used content getting a second airing due to the new functionality of my podcast hosting service. Let me explain. Way back during the planning for episode five, I thought I would dip into video for that episode and so put together a very basic two camera shoot for one of my adventure...

I'm back! It's been a while. I know I always say that, but it's REALLY been a while. The guilt of not being able to get my act together and record a podcast was eating me up and I was thinking of ways in which I could at least get a some audio recorded and uploaded. Should I just say 'hello' and chat gibberish for 2 minutes as a place holder? No. I thought I would wait at least a few weeks so ther...

Greetings podcasters - Thank you for your patience! I’ve put off recording and editing this latest offering as I’ve been under the gun regards our family relocation. The last couple of months have been a stressful blur of boxing household items, contacting international removal companies, deciding on schools for the children, choosing where to live and generally all the hassles that accompany such...

Greetings loyal listeners. Thank you for tuning in to another stream of consciousness podcast in which I cast my eye over my collection and talk about the things that come into my head. Hey, it's a system that works. More or less. Today I was inspired to get out the microphone as I picked up a brilliant game from the annals of tabletop gaming. Namely Avalon Hill's Diplomacy. Yes, the classic game...

Welcome podcast listeners to another episode of Two Shelves of Gaming. As usual I felt a gentle internal pressure to get another episode out there, but as per normal the eternal question of what to talk about stumped me. Luckily I was contacted by a listener called Mark to who had heard about me from the Bedroom Battles podcast and answered a question I had from episode 12. Namely the title of a g...

Greetings podsters! It has been a while since my last offering so I was feeling the slight pressure to get something recorded and edited before time stretched out any further. A combination of procrastination and not knowing what to pick off my book shelves next created a perfect storm of indecision - and talking of storms, Eunice was battering the Dutch coastline as I recorded this episode, you c...

Warning! This episode contains a couple sections of poor audio and a mnemonic malfunction. Greetings podlisteners, I thought I would try something a bit different for this episode. I thought I would try and record things in the great outdoors. ‘But, why?’ I hear you ask. Today’s episode scratches the surface of fantasy game books with some passing attention given to the Fabled Lands game book seri...

Seasonal Greetings folks! Yes, it's that time of year again, with Christmas just around the corner I thought I'd get my finger out and record another podcast before things got to busy. But what subject should I choose this time? Well, I thought I'd start out easy and re-cap what I've been up to since last time. I've been busy in my own way; some painting, some wargaming and some rules learning. It...

Greetings folks! I thought it was high time I recorded another podcast and the inspiration for this episode is a holistic assessment of my miniatures collection - the ones I've painted, the ones I hope to paint and the ones - gulp - I may never paint. But first the backstory - last weekend marked a milestone in my wargaming activities; I actually finished painting all my Pendraken 10mm miniatures...

Greetings all! It's been a while. A few things have conspired to keep me away from recording my random musings about my gaming collection; being away on holiday, not being able to decide on which game or product to talk about and wanting to get hold of a decent microphone. All these simple things have conspired to delay me getting my act together and making the latest episode. Another conspirator...

It's been a while! I've been absent from the podwaves on account of the weather being so nice - with the beach being but a ten minute bike ride away I've been catching up on my body boarding or honing my SUP skills. Also I was a bit of a loss about what I talk about next. Having quite a few games to choose from gave me a case of what I gather is now called 'choice paralysis'. However, fear not. Du...

A 'sequel' episode to the last one. In this podcast Games Workshop's Blood Bath at Orc's Drift is discussed and poured over with much more attention and care than when I first bought the game. I specifically remember seeing this game either advertised in White Dwarf, or on display in the old Games Workshop on Liverpool's Bold Street some time in the mid-80s just after its release. I must confess I...

It's been a while! Everyday life has meant I've not been so active with my efforts to get another podcast together so I thought it was high time I got my finger out and recorded something. The candidate for this episode is Games Workshop's 1985 product 'Blood on the Streets'. A great little package designed for the Role Player or Wargamer to use how they please. I'm a big fan of this period of gam...

Greetings listener(s) or indeed viewer(s) this latest episode is a bit different as the podcast audio comes directly from the video HERE The latest episode is a quickie for the board game I've currently got set up. A perhaps not so well known one by those Titans of gaming; Avalon Hill. Unlike many other of that great company's games, this one isn't about some detailed strategic or tactical situati...

Welcome back listener(s)!  In this episode I ramble semi-coherently about TSR's First Quest boxed set which was an introduction to role playing games using the 2nd Edition AD&D system. I remember seeing this product back in the day when my interest in the RPG hobby was starting to fade. Yet even so I didn't have any kind of idea how it fitted in to the larger AD&D gaming universe / mu...

Welcome back listener(s). Following on from my tour of my Two Shelves of Gaming and solo RPG experimenting, I'm switching systems this week and taking a closer look at Decipher's Lord of the Rings Roleplaying Adventure Game. Not just a role playing game, but a role playing 'adventure' game no less! Like many games in my collection this was a charity shop purchase I picked up for pennies and someth...

Welcome back listeners! Thank you for taking the time to click on this podcast and listen to my attempts to try and effectively solo an RPG game. Carrying on from last week's episode, the sketch map is delved into, wanderers encounters, hazards braved, creatures fought and foes battled - it's all going on! Upon reviewing the episode I realized I'd probably omitted a few game mechanics in the proce...