Ceawlin: The Man Who Created England

I love the British Dark Ages. It is a time and place where history, myth, and legend truly collide. There is just enough historical information to assemble a cast of characters, but not enough to really say what they did or when they did it. In fact, so many of the names are actually a form of nickname or title, or appear in both an 'English' and 'British' form that it is often not even possible to be sure if you are talking about two different people, or one person under different names.

It is a historical period that allows for all kinds of plausible, and semi-plausible, theories. In many ways, the writings about the Dark Ages are similar to those about Jack the Ripper, except expanded to cover 200 years! With that as a background, I dived into Ceawlin: The Man Who Created England by Rupert Matthews.

Although short, Mr. Matthew's book is a thoroughly enjoyable read. It begins with a long look at the last years of Roman rule in Britain and takes that through, as best as can be determined, to the writings of Gildas, covering all of the main sources. It's a very good introduction to the period, and one that should be easy to follow for those who are new to the Dark Ages. From there on, things get a lot more theoretical.

Mr. Matthew's central premise, although one that isn't clear until over halfway through the book is that Ceawlin, an early king of Wessex, and a one of the men to hold the title of Bretwalda, was actually the last 'British' (read Celtic, Welsh, or Romano-British) ruler to hold sway over most of southern Britain, and that his defeat lead directly to Anglo-Saxon domination of the island.

I'll be honest, it takes a lot of questionable steps to get from A to B, among them: we don't know if Ceawlin was actually British, we don't know how far his authority extended, we don't even know if the Anglo-Saxon 'takeover' of Britain really occurred around the time of Ceawlin's defeat (or even if it was an 'event' instead of a slow transition). Still, to Mr. Matthew's credit, he generally states when he is making a leap of logic, or when there is no specific evidence to back up his claim.

In the end, the book is just a theory of what might have happened during those dark years between 410 and about 650 in Britain. As a theory, it is neither the best nor the worst I have seen. It is, however, presented in an easy-to-read narrative that I found thoroughly enjoyable.

In fact, my only real complaint with the book is the title. If we believe the central premise of the book, calling Ceawlin 'the Man Who Created England' is a little bit like calling Robert E. Lee the man who created the modern America...

Still, authors often don't get to pick their titles, and it detracts only a little from what was a fun read.

Biking for a Bike

Apparently, these days, when having a second child, it is considered appropriate that the first child receive a gift from the new baby. While I am suspicious that this might be another win for consumer marketing, I am willing to accept there might be some psychology behind it as well. In fact, it comes at a decent time anyway, since I have been thinking that it might be time to get my daughter her first bike. She is over two years old!

Now it has been a long time since I’ve been interested in wheels for toddlers. When I was young, it was all tricycles and training wheels. These days, it is balance bikes. For those (like me) who have never heard of balance bikes, they are basically little bikes without chains or pedals, something between a bike and a scooter. The though being that the kid learns to balance on it and can skip the training wheels when she moves up to the real things. We shall see.

Since I wasn’t in a great rush, and saw no reason to buy a brand new one, I began searching gumtree. Well, a couple of days later a listing came up for a Puky (the Porsche of balance bikes) for £25. I jumped in there and called dibs. The bike was located in Abingdon, the town about six miles south of my house.

Now, one of the reasons I like biking is that it means I don’t have to drive. It saves money, doesn’t cause pollution, and it’s just darn fun. So, I figure a bike for a two-year old must be a pretty small thing, surely I could carry that on my own bike.

Well, it turns out I could. I stuffed the bottom wheel in my bag, and strapped the rest of it up with a device I call ‘the spider’ (I don’t know what it’s actual name is, but it’s basically eight hooks attached to elastic). It was a tad awkward, and I had to pedal with my left foot more forward than usual to avoid hitting the bag, but I made it the six miles without too much trouble (helped by a nice tailwind).

So, I got a high quality bike for half or less of retail price, and even managed to save a few £ on driving. True, I turned a 20 minute car trip into a 90 minute bike trip – but more importantly I turned a boring, routine task into a little mini-adventure.

I just hope my daughter can find as much fun in cycling as me!

And the Winners Are...!

Last week I promised to give away two Frostgrave prize packs, and today I am ready to announce the winners. The first winner is James Rawsthorne for his comment. The second winner is Matthias Schafer for following this blog. Could I ask that both of these gentlemen get in touch with me (you can find my email address through this blog) so that I can learn where to send your prizes.

Thanks to everyone who commented on the post or started following this blog. I hope you will stick around. I've got a lot more Frostgrave thoughts and content to come, as well as some personal ramblings which you are free to ignore if you want to!

Frostgrave: The Two-Weapon Question

Frostgrave Treasure Hunter painted by Kev Dallimore

A couple of months ago, I wrote a blog about Experience in Frostgrave, and asked for feedback from players on how they thought it could be improved. I got a lot of great answers, and I’m still digesting it all.

Today, I would like to talk about a smaller point in the rules, but one that I’ve never been completely happy with. The rule concerns figures that wield two-weapons. Basically, a figure that wields a hand-weapon and a dagger receives +1 Fight. Now, I’m no expert in hand-to-hand combat, so I admit that I don’t really know how much having an off-hand weapon helps when fighting for your life. However, it seems reasonable that it does offer some advantage if you know what you are doing.

For soldiers, this isn’t a big deal. The +1 is already worked into their stat line, and their capacity to improve that stat line is severely limited. For wizards, apprentices, and captains however, it can be one of many ways to improve Fight. On a side note, that +1 Fight does also increase a figure's defence against missile weapons. This is really just an unfortunate side-effect of a simplistic set of combat rules, but it is slightly annoying.

So, the question is, should I change the rule? Are we seeing too many wizards fighting with two weapons? I think we all agree that this should be a rarity and not a common occurrence.

Thinking about it, there is slightly more to the issue than just the +1 Fight. Any spellcaster or captain who is carrying two weapons is suffering a penalty in that he has essentially used up an item slot that could be filled by some other magic item. On the other hand, the figure gains a slight advantage in that if one of its weapons is destroyed, it still has a back up.

Two-Hand Weapons

+1 Fight & back up weapon / Takes up an Item Slot

Is that a fair trade-off, and if I did change it, what would I change it to? I considered giving anyone with the extra weapon +1 damage, but then there seems little reason to take it over a two-handed weapon. Potentially I could say it only gives an advantage when fighting multiple opponents, but that is perhaps getting more complex than most people want.

Opinions please!

The 50 Banana Challenge!

I am a notoriously picky eater. I don't like most vegetables, a lot of fruit, and, well, flavour in general. For whatever reason I have always preferred bland food. In general, this also means I prefer food that is bad for me, or, at least, isn't good. There is no clear reason why this is the case. My family are pretty open eaters, and my sisters seem to have turned out more or less normal in their eating habits.

Still, I made it to age forty without getting scurvy, and if my growth was perhaps a bit stunted, I still managed to just make it in on the short side of average.

One item that has been on my 'don't like it' list for as long as I can remember is bananas. I never liked the taste; I never liked the squishy texture; I never liked they way they all seem to come with black bruises all over them. Nope, I just don't like them.

The problem is, bananas are just so ridiculously good for you! They are loaded with vitamins, give you a good shot of carbs before/during/after exercise, and have been linked to lowering blood pressure, reducing cancer risk, and helping with mood. Plus, all the cool athletes eat them!

I figure it is about time I gave bananas a chance.

Now, just the other day, my wife told me about an article that said you have to eat something fifty times before you know if you really like it. That seems strange to me. I already know I don't like bananas... Maybe though, fifty bananas would change my mind?

Today I am starting my own fifty banana challenge! I'm going to eat fifty of those suspiciously-shaped yellow suckers and see if it will change my mind. My plan is to eat them directly after cycling. I'm usually ravenously hungry at that point and more willing to eat anything.

***

The first banana has been consumed! The taste wasn't great, but it was tolerable. It was the texture that that caused me problems. It's just really unpleasant. Hopefully that is something that will go away over time. I'll let you know how it goes!

Frostgrave: State of Play and Contest!

It is now almost exactly a year since the release of Frostgrave: Fantasy Wargames in the Frozen City, and what a year it has been! With this anniversary, I thought it would be a good time to take stock of all that has happened, talk a bit about what is coming up, and to have a little fun by giving a few things away!

Frostgrave Triumphant

Well, by almost every measure, Frostgrave has been a huge success. As of a couple of months ago, the main rulebook has sold over 16,000 copies in English, and is currently on its eighth(!) printing. It has also been translated into French, German, and Japanese with a Spanish translation coming soon. I have no idea how well it has sold in those markets. The first supplement, Thaw of the Lich Lord has sold just shy of 8,000 copies in English and has also appeared in French and Japanese. Three ebook mini-supplements: Hunt for the Golem, Sellsword, and Dark Alchemy have also been released, but I don’t have any numbers for those.

The game has received tremendous fan support. The main Frostgrave Facebook page has nearly 5,000 members (wow!) while the dedicated Lead Adventure Forum is very active. This fan support has also been crucial to Frostgrave winning two awards: Miniatures Game of the Year from Beast of War and Best Miniatures Game from UK Games Expo. It also received a nomination in the Origins Awards.

Coming Soon

In the next couple of weeks, the second full length supplement, Into the Breeding Pits will be released. Unlike Thaw of the Lich Lord, this book is less about specific scenarios and more about new rules to give new options for wizards and new play experiences.

In September, there will be another ebook mini-supplement entitled Arcane Locations which will contain some new scenarios designed to be played with slightly unusual table set-ups.

This will be followed in November by Forgotten Pacts, another print supplement which focuses on demons and the barbarian tribes that live in the mountains to the north of the Frozen City. And yes, the rumours are true, the book will be supported by a new box of plastic barbarian miniatures. (I have seen the 3-ups and they are awesome!).

The Future

In March next year, all of the mini-ebooks and a bit of new material will be collected into a print supplement called The FrostgraveFolio.

And there, until recently, was where things ended. However, I can now happily announce that Osprey have commissioned me to write three further supplements about the Frozen City! I can’t reveal any details at present, but there is certainly more Frostgrave coming! Also, although it is top secret at the moment, they have further commissioned me to write a ‘Frostgrave related product’...

So, the truth is, I’m booked up for the foreseeable future!

The Contest

It has been a darn good year for Frostgrave, and a really good year for me professionally off the back of it. So, as a little thank you, I’m going to hold a contest and give away a few things! I’ve got two ‘Frostgrave Gift Packs’ to give away. Each pack includes a signed copy of Into the Breeding Pits, one each of the two printed Wizard Cards, a Frostgrave Ruler, and a resin cast of the Zombie Troll!

I will be selecting winners for each of these packs next week. One winner will be randomly selected from among the followers of this blog. The other will be randomly selected from anyone who comments on this post (make sure to include your name!).  Check back next week when I announce the winners!

Robin of Sherwood - Returns in Audio!

How did I miss this?

It appears one of the greatest, and most underrated, fantasy shows of all time is returning in an audio drama!

For those not in the know, Robin of Sherwood was a British-made television show that ran for three seasons in the mid 1980s. It aired in the USA on PBS. It was a gritty and grimy show, in which Robin 'the Hooded Man' was the chosen soldier of Hern, god of the forest. While most episodes featured Robin taking on his traditional foes, the Sheriff of Nottingham and Guy of Gisborne, over the course of the show he would also battle a necromancer, a coven of witches, and other slightly horrific fantastical foes. The show had its issues, especially its sometimes dodgy soundtrack and lighting, but for a fantasy fan in the 80s, it was one of the best things going. A few of the episodes are pure genius.

Anyway, thanks to a crowd-funding campaign, it looks like they've gotten the whole cast of regulars back together to do a two hour audio drama. Okay, I'm not sure about the title, The Knights of the Apocolypse, but it is still exciting news.

I would love to read some reviews of this or hear from anyone who has a copy!