Saturday 31 August 2013

Warhammer: Halflings - proper 8th ed update out now!

Scarily fast, I know! I guess the prospect of Rome II consuming all other upcoming free time means I subconsciously feel a need to work my ass off until then, but I think the results should very well be worth it!

Anyway, this new, full colour version of the Halfling book features the following:

  • Much improved layout and formatting for better readability, the amount of repetition in the text has been toned down considerably. The sections of the book are much better laid out in separate parts with better in-dispersing headlines as well.
  • Full colour, most of the art is entirely new.
  • No more empty space on any pages.
  • Tons of re-balancing: prices for most infantry have gone up 1 pt, but the cavalry has generally gotten cheaper. Magic has been nerfed considerably to a more supporting role in keeping with the background. Their Magic Lore has unfortunately gone, but might reappear at some point in the future when I have a good idea of how to deal with it.
  • A new special character, Hisme Stoutheart (who really should have been in the army from the start!).

Oh, and don't let the new "dark" cover frighten you, they are still as much a "comedy" army as ever ;)

Anyway, enjoy, and let me know if I've totally ruined the army by hitting them with the nerf-bat too hard!

Google Drive Download below:






 

Friday 30 August 2013

Bretonnia removed from Scribd a̶n̶d̶ ̶I̶s̶s̶u̶u̶

It appears Bretonnia has been flagged by their systems, because both got instantly removed when I uploaded the recent update (already available on Google Drive) about 15 min ago, so you are unlikely to see it appear on these sites again. Not to fret though, the book is still available through Google Drive as normal, and will hopefully stay there until we get an official update at least!

Edit: Weirdly enough, the book just became available on Issuu again! So, gone from Scribd, still on Issuu and Google Drive.

New Kingdoms of Ind update out now!

The usual first bug-fix patch, this takes care of some spelling issues and some minor rules balances.  Kalaratri now has 3A basic instead of Extra Attacks (2), and Marus do not have the armour piercing rule.
That's pretty much it, not too shabby considering it's practically a new release.

Wednesday 28 August 2013

Details for upcoming Halfling update

Time for the short furry-feeted ones to get colorized! I'm not gonna put a date on it since I do intend to make room for other things (mainly video games, plus that thing called "work"). However, this shouldn't take too long to get done with mostly editing needed, as opposed to having to add/rewrite a ton of fluff.
The book will most likely not see any new units, but there will be a few more special characters added at least, including the famous Hisme Stoutheart. Overall, it will mostly be a major facelift with much improved layout and formatting (can't believe how much progress I've made on that front since early 2012) as well as some re-balancing (expect prices to go up). I would guess September, but I'm not promising anything.

Current Progress:

Contents/credits - in progress
Society - done
History - done
Timeline - done
Geography - done
Bestiary - done
Special characters - done
Magic Items - done
Army list - done
Summary - done

Update 1: Lot of progress has been made already as you can see! I've done some major editing in their background section, so you should see a lot less repetition in the text compared to the old version, and every it much better laid out for easier reading.
The special characters will take a while though as they need a lot more fluff to fit a whole page, and their magic lore will probably be rewritten completely. The army list too needs to be re-done, since I'm using different templates for it in the newer books. Still, a mid-September release looks very much plausible now, if not sooner.

Update 2: Turns out "sooner" means "this weekend". Writing fluff for Halflings turned out to be surprisingly easy, meaning I now only have the army list left to do really. I will probably finish that part later today or tomorrow, so you can expect to see the new version on Sunday at least.

Monday 26 August 2013

Warhammer: Kingdoms of Ind proper 8th ed update out now!

Done faster than expected, and I didn't even have to rely on Stefan to help finish it (some sacrifices to the Holy Toaster was enough). The book isn't quite finished just yet though, page numbers are yet to be added to the Summary page, and there will most likely be added another Special Character; these changes will probably be added in a week or so. Apart from that, the book is pretty much finished, sans all the spelling errors and bugs I'm sure are littered all over the place (volunteer proof-readers; go nuts!).

Clocking in at 86 pages, the complete Kingdoms of Ind book now finally has a complete background section along with the 8th ed update, so for those of you who have been wanting to read up on Ind, you can now finally do so! I went with a heavy emphasis on the Mahabharata and Ramayama för parts of the fluff, which I do think could have been Warhammer-ized a bit better; so I might go back to the fluff at a later point and improve upon it. Even so, Ind's history is far from being just a rehash or real India's history, instead drawing much more upon myths and fictional work. Overall, the book mixes Ancient India with the Vedic Pantheon, as well as a bit of the Mughal Empire and the Sikhs. Should be something for everyone, I hope.

This new update of the book features the following:
  • Background on the Indan society; the caste system, their religion, and their relationship with the rest of the world.
  • History of Ind; the war of the Deva, the creation of the Kingdoms, heroes of legends, civil war, war with Cathay and Tilea, Ind today, and a timeline.
  • Geography of Ind; descriptions of flora and fauna, the 7 kingdoms, and a map of Ind.
  • New units: Vishkanyas, Urumi Swordsmen, Snake Swarms, Thugees, Maiden Guard, Holy Warriors, Bengal Riders, Ganeshans. Some of the older units have been renamed and/or replaced by the new ones.
  • New Special Characters: Lord Darahma, Karishna, Urjana, Parashuruma (all based on famous Indian heroes). Akbar the Great, Farah and Malik are gone.
  • Full colour update, with tons of new artwork and fluff for the units.
  • Rules updates and changes to bring the army into 8th ed properly.

So there you have it, the finalized Kingdoms of Ind as promised. Only took about 2 years ;)
Enjoy, and let me know of any bugs and errors as usual!

Google Drive Download




Monday 19 August 2013

Large update wave out now!

Having gotten some proofreading help on a large part of the books, this update consists of fixing spelling errors, formatting errors, improves the layout, and clear up ambiguous rules, which should eliminate most, if not all, question marks regarding how to resolve certain situations.

Updated books:
  • Albion
  • Amazons
  • Bretonnia
  • Dogs of War
  • Kislev
  • Nippon
  • Norse
  • Pirates of Sartosa
  • Empire Knightly Orders
Because of these generally being smaller scale updates, they are only available on Google Drive for now.

Monday 12 August 2013

New Pirates of Sartosa update out now!

As per usual during the first week of bug-hunting, updates are to be had. This one takes care of the following:

  • Naval Bombardment can now only be used once per game.
  • Pirate Crew can take boarding pikes (halberds)
  • Various spelling errors fixed. 

Edit: Another new update posted, fixing the following:
  • Ghost Pirates are gone.
  • Dead Man's Chest now allows one unit to be transformed into Undead for the rest of the battle.
  • Some minor spelling issues fixed.

Edit: New update posted (Google Drive only), fixes the following:
  • Sea Dogs now have correct movement.
  • Fixed contents table.
  • Fixed Summary table
  • Dead Man's Chest bumped to 65 pts

Development Update: Kingdoms of Ind

Best be working on this one right now, because it's unlikely I'll have the time once Rome II: Total War comes out, when life as I know it will surely cease to exist in favour of conquering the world in an expected stroke of megalomania.

Anyway, the Kingdoms of Ind are progressing rather nicely, with most of the bestiary already being done, along with the society and geography sections. History will take longer to go through, but I have a decent idea of what I want to include at least.

It's not very likely the book will be finished this month since it's so much new background to be implemented, but it might see a September release. It will most likely depend on how much support I can count on from Stefan (who co-wrote Sartosa with me). Regardless, you can finally look forward to having a complete Kingdoms of Ind book in the near future.


Current Progress:

Contents/credits - done
Society - done
History - done
Timeline - done
Geography - done
Bestiary - done
Special characters - 5 done, probably 1 more to add.
Spell Lore - done
Magic Items - done
Army list - done
Summary - done

Update 1: Finished the Bestiary. A few units are gone, but have instead been replaced with new ones, and several more have been added. Special Characters will lose 3 of the old ones, but will gain at least 3 new instead. Magic Items will be divided into 2 sections; one for the Devas, and one for the human characters. History is progressing rather nicely as well, and is currently about halfway done.

Update 2: Not much left to do on the book now! Need to finish the section detailing the war between Ind and Cathay, their spell lore, and hopefully have yet another special character to add, and then I'm pretty much done! With one week still left to go until Rome II, it might be possible to see this one out first.

And just 'cause I feel like it (and need to upload it eventually anyway), here's a sneak peak at the cover:

Saturday 10 August 2013

Arrr! Warhammer: Pirates of Sartosa finally out now!

Yarr me mateys! Shivers the timbers, raise the sails, and other pirate slang! After almost a year in on-and-off (mostly off) development, I (Mathias) and Stefan Wolf are proud to present: Warhammer: Pirates of Sartosa!

Containing pretty much every pirate stereotype imaginable, this book finally allows you to play an all-pirate list in Warhammer! Cutlasses, pistols, bucklers and blunderbusses are at your disposal, supported by cannons of all sizes with different types of ammo and upgrades. And naturally, since this is a fantasy game after all, there's quite a few sea creatures to go around as well. Were-sharks and sea giants anyone?

The book comes in at a total of 100 pages, with a ton of background on Sartosa, the pirate life, famous pirates and the story of Dreadfleet, all surrounded by high quality artwork. So enjoy pirate fans, I think you are going to like this one!

P.S. In regards to the poll, I intend to reset it once all books receive their proper 8th ed updates, thus giving each book a fair chance in the voting.

Edit: First revision is up, taking care of some rules clarifications and fixes some spelling errors.

Google Drive Download 






Wednesday 7 August 2013

New large Nippon update out now!

Expecting Sartosa were you? Do not fret, it's till being scheduled for the end of this week. In the meantime, I've finished a rather hefty update for Nippon, containing the following:

  • Improved layout with new page backgrounds and graphics.
  • Some minor rules-changes and tweaks, katanas gaining a slight buff.
  • Edits in the background section for better consistency.
  • Plenty of new artwork throughout.
  • Timeline increased to 2 pages. Try to spot all the movie references if you can!
  • New rare unit: Ryujin - water dragons. Now you can stop nagging me for them ;)
  • File size down to 10,7MB.

Friday 2 August 2013

Regarding Uploading

Something I've wanted to bring up and that has been known to me for quite some time, which is frankly a bit of a pet peeve, are people uploading my books to Scribd and Issuu (and to a smaller extent Rapidshare and the like). Now, there's a pretty simple reason for this; namely that all books are already on both Scribd and Issuu to begin with, meaning that there are now multiples of each book floating around on the same website.

Why is this a problem? Well, mostly this is an issue since these other uploads are not being updated like my original versions, meaning people might download and use them by mistake instead. Sure, they are still my books, but there's a reason why I keep updating them, and with 10 different versions of just my Nippon book floating around on Scribd, people can easily get confused. Luckily it's usually my latest versions that show up first in the search results, but this is not always the case despite them having the most reads.

If I for some reason would be unable to keep updating the books and they would eventually be removed, then by all means re-upload them, but until then, there's no point in uploading yet another [outdated] version of my books to one of these sites. If you are reading this and have done so, I would appreciate if you would delete any such document. I'm not going to start chasing people with C&D letters or claim breach of copyright (how hypocritical that would be!), but I'm rather politely asking you to not confuse people needlessly.

In regards to uploading these books to different file sharing sites I have less of an issue with since this has mostly been done to allow people to download them without having to register to Issuu or Scribd (which has been an "evil" necessity), but again, this means people will get their hands on outdated rules. With the new download option on Google Drive, you no longer need to register at all, so these types of services won't be needed as long as the books remain there.

Some New Blog Features

Using the awesome power of trial and error (sans the error) I managed to figure out how to put the Google Drive links in the title of the books of the top and bottom of the page in order to save space. So, to view or download the books, you can either:

1. Press the cover to read and download on Issuu (if you can find the secret download button that is)
2. Press the army's name above the cover to read [the smaller file versions] and download without registration on Google Drive.

In regards to Google Drive, it's unfortunately not an ideal solution, since the syncing will stop and the files will be deleted from the cloud if my hard drive should crash (not too likely since it's a new SSD drive which should last about 10 years or so), but as long as I can remember to stop the syncing before that happens or before reinstalling windows it should be a-okay. So in case the files should suddenly be unavailable for some reason, you can assume they will be re-uploaded rather soon. In case I might not notice it myself, feel free to shoot me an email.

Which brings me to the second new feature: a proper contact form.
Hidden deep within the second page of Blogger's gadgets, I found a better way than just list my email on my profile, which have probably made it rather easy for spambots to reach me (I really don't need any viagra, honest! Though I do appreciate winning the lottery without entering and being the heir of so many Nigerian princes...). As such, you can now easily message me with any questions, feedback and what have you directly through this website instead. Pretty nifty!

Oh, and I've also changed the language of the blog to proper English, meaning it will read "comments" rather than the Swedish "kommentarer" etc. from now on.