Game Review - Knight Hack

Title: Knight Hack
Author: The Jogglers, Philip J. Viverito, Ed Backer, Richard Kohlbacher
Spearpoint Article: Lynne Viverito
Cover Art: Me
Rule Set: Hack Series
Year: 1991
Pages: 52
Setting: Europe, 1000 AD to 1250 AD
Number of players: 2+
Rating: ★★★

And now for something completely biased.

Way back in the 1980s I was very privileged to belong to a gaming group called the Jogglers. I wasn't even an official member, I was more like a mascot and computer nerd. I can't tell you how many games I played between 1988 and 1992. I recall a couple of occasions where a local mall was rented out for play testing, but then turned into mini-conventions to play dozens of rule sets. The Joggler's love their games. When I wasn't play testing this or that, I was editing clip art for the book. My brush with fame came from being able to use this:

The layout of the book was exceptional for the time. We used a Thunderscan and Imagewriter II to process photos. Clipart from 3.5 floppies were the source of much of the line art. The text was written in MacWord, MacDraw and MacPaint were the tools for maps and diagrams.

Knight Hack was born a fast playing historical miniature game. Initially, each turn takes about 15 minutes. After a little play, adept players can get this down to just a few minutes or less. Whole games can be played out in as little as 2 hours. The rule set allows for 15 and 25 mm figures. It was game made by players for players.

So why do I give a game that I play-tested and contributed to only 3 stars? The game evolved and improved with age. Second edition obviously merits 4 stars and Third Edition receives 5.

Drive Thru RPG carries the first edition rules here and Third Edition here.

The Research Game - Stave Churches

In my prior post, I began work on a building I could not identify. It turns out that this structure is a stave church from 11-1200 A.D.

I wasn't able to identify it specifically, nor was I able to place it the category of stave church. For some reason, I picture stave churches as having gracefully sloping walls and roofs, like so:

So, I am off to do some research. I have to say my dad, Philip J. Viverito, instilled a quest for knowledge in me. Using the internet, I was able to found some remarkable resources for this project in rather short order. I cannot image how my dad did it back in the 1970's and 80's with only books to work from.

One of the more impressive items I found was a short video filmed in 2000 at Uvdal Stave Church, Nore and Uvdal, Norway.

Not only is the church beautiful, the video itself is excellent. The film was put together by Erik Meyn, and the music was composed and performed by Ulf Meyn. The original publisher was Numedalsnett AS.

Although there is no speaking, this is a wonderful educational resource.

Back into Scale Models

It has been a very long time since I have worked on a model. My dad gave me a couple of his older buildings and I intend to fix them as they haven't held up with children and age. I started with some photos to get an idea of how to start.

Edit - This building is a stave church, which is different from my expectations. I picture stave churches as having graceful sloped components. Now I am off to research more on the topic. Please see my next post.

Front view (click image to enlarge)	Rear view(click image to enlarge)	Side view(click image to enlarge)

Looking at the damage, I wanted to make a copy first. I took some measurements and sketched out a plan.

Front view (click image to enlarge)	Side view(click image to enlarge)

I am using I intended to work with balsa wood, but bass wood was the only type available. It is much harder. So using the drawings above, I cut my lengths of wood for the frame and matched them up to the sketch.

Front view (click image to enlarge)	Side view(click image to enlarge)

And the first problem presented itself. I had measure, sketched, and measured again. The beams are 1/4 inch. I purchased 5/16 inch dowels. That is close, but no cigar.

Since I have a scanner, I quickly ran copies and corrected the sketches.

Front view (click image to enlarge)	Side view(click image to enlarge)

What I decided was to extend the beams inwards and upwards. Now I have an idea of where to go. 

Tomorrow, I will make a base and start gluing. Look for more updates shortly. 

Dramascape at Drivethru RPG

Dramascape is a group of arts and writers producing high quality maps and adventures for use with a variety of gaming systems. Dramascape's most recent offering is Fantasy 6 x 6 Tiles available at Drivethru RPG for the unheard of price of whatever you want. The suggested price is $1.99, which is a great deal on a quality set of tiles.

You can use the pay what you want model to give it a product a try and purchase it later. One of the advantages of using DriveThru RPG is their automatic system to deliver a product as a gift.

After going to checkout, all you need to do is enter your payment information and add the recipient's email address and DriveThru takes care of the rest. What a great way to share the gift of game.

Rifts on Google Plus

I haven’t played Rifts since 1995. One of the key elements of play is simplicity, and the highlight of the rules is the artwork. Palladium has been producing quality works for decades. 

I am tempted to pull out my old books and give it a roll again. But for now, I'll content myself by watching others in the Rifts Google Plus Community. 

The 2024 Update that should have come in 2019. Google Plus is gone and didn't even say, "Sorry for the inconvenience". 

J5T - Classical Hack

The links below are paid ads and will take you to DriveThruRPG, respectively. Funny that my site is missing a reference to Classical Hack.

Classical Hack is a full gaming system created and published by Lynne and Philip Viverito. As a kid, I watched epic battles play out in my living room, dining room, basement, garage, and bedroom. At first I was an outsider, then I was a participant.

My parents engaged me in creativity and gamesmanship from a very young age. Castles and knights lurked in every corner of our home. Every house and every apartment we ever lived had a game room. And if it didn’t, any room and every room could be transformed into one.

One of my earliest memories was of a convention in Lockport, New York. My dad had constructed an amazing castle of incredible detail, complete with a custom table to hold it. The whole construct seemed amazingly tall, I couldn’t reach the top standing on a chair.

I recall sitting on the edge of tables as dice were rolled and Romans met barbarians with swords and spears. People played, laughed, and cursed late into the night.

Which brings me to Classical Hack.

ClassicalHack.com is a website dedicated to historical miniature gaming, created by lifelong gamers.

The game system is very period-specific. The series includes:
Holy Hack Hacking by the Book Biblical Warfare,
Homeric Hack Warfare in the Age of Homer,
Classical Hack Warfare from 600 BC to 250 AD,
Hack In The Dark Warfare in the Dark Ages 250 AD to 1000 AD,
Knight Hack Warfare in Middles Ages 1000 AD to 1450 AD,
Pike Hack The Road to Dunbar Warfare in the Age of Cromwell.

To support these rules there are two scenario books:
Classical Hack Rome
Classical Hack Macedonia.

All books, even prototypes were written on Macintosh Computers typically using Adobe for editing and page layout.

You can check out ClassicalHack.com for updates to this great gaming system, or get it from DriveThruRPG.

My First Con

I found a brochure from my first con, from away back in 1977.

The Great Lakes Convention was presented by The Western New York Wargamers Association at the Sheraton-Lockport Inn.

Supporting the Story

Last month, TheseOldGames.com provided two raffle baskets to Boy Scout Troop 601. Each basket had a board game, a set of dice, decks of cards and two sets of Story Cubes. Funds raised allow the Troop to absorb some of the cost of outing and activities such as summer camp.

Rory’s Story Cubes are a great, family friendly way to break the ice.

Having given away 4 sets, I am dying to purchase one (or more) for myself. You can check out the story behind Rory’s Story Cubes over on Youtube or click the video below.