Is Airsoft LARPing?

Adam's M4, Dave's Ak-74 and Elijah's MP/STG 44

Two weeks ago we had our first airsoft game with the JADE crew. We were unprepared and ill equipped but we still had a blast! We went to a friends property out in the bush of Southern Ontario where I grew up, had our first round of target practice, and our first very informal match with 4 players in total. All in all a great day.

Airsoft is a big departure for JADE since we normally keep our gaming to the tabletop. But with the success of our #characteroftheday dice we decided to reward ourselves, and expanded our idea of "Gaming" as a whole. So we started looking into somethign a little different to do, and Airsoft was the most interesting thing we could come up with.

We started off balancing our teams by the type of gun: each team has an Assault rifle, and SMG etc, etc. But that fell apart pretty quickly, and country based teams started to materialize. It was no longer about teams using which ever gun they wanted, it became whether you were on the NATO Team or the Soviet Block Team. And it was this change that started the great debate: is Airsoft Live Action Role Playing?

My Bizon PP19

The argument started around the specific design of each of our guns. While Airsoft is in the same family of games as Paintball, Laser Tag and Nerf Guns (replica/toy guns that actually fire a projectile), in Airsoft you can only get replicas or close-to replicas of actual firearms. So unlike Paintball or the others, right off the bat the you are making a "Roleplay" decision: which gun do you want to pretend you are actually firing.

Now of course you can get Paintball guns that are replicas of actual firearms, but in Airsoft that is your only choice. Your first decision is a costuming one; where you ask "what gun do I find aesthetically pleasing?"

The gear needed for the game.

After selecting a gun (I went for the Bizon PP19) we started looking at other gear. And again what started out getting gear out of necessity turned into costuming choices. I was even looking at actual Spetznas gear to use while on the Soviet side of things. With so many options for any army kit that you are interested in using, you can pretend to be part you chosen armed forces for only a few hundred dollars.

It was starting to seem more and more like maybe Airsoft was LARPing. But costuming and aesthetic decisions does not make it a Role Playing game. For that you need some actual game rules, which Airsoft has. From Death Match to battle re-enactments, to capture the flag, Airsoft has a trove of different game types with distinct rules for you to follow.

So, Airsoft has custom choices, an element of pretend or "Play Acting", and a set of rules. In my books that makes it Role Playing Game.

Out in the field with our helmets on.

Now we didn't have our full costumes for our first time out, and not everyone was as convinced as I was that Airsoft was LARPing. Among some other arguments, the strongest and most common was the counter point  revolving around the idea of the "Player Character".

Essentially the argument is that you never created a proper Role Play Character. Instead, you simply picked a gun that you liked and could imgaine yourself using. This made it more of a equipment choice for somethign like Sport rather than an RPG.

Now if we were in a large league that had ranks, and was actually recreating different battles (Like WWII conflicts), etc. That would be one thing. But since we did not create a character and we were not recreating an specific time we were not Role Playing, we were just playing a game.

Jeff's MP40

That being said, there are a number of Role Playing Games were you play as yourself with a fictional occupation. A good example of this are the games from Fantasy Flight's End of the World Series: which do just that.

So on a technical point, in Airsoft, are you not at least Role Playing as a user of your chosen firearm in the given scenario? Is that enough to qualify it as a Live Action RPG?

Started with a full bottle, and almost killed a full 5000 biodegradable rounds.

Either way, Airsoft at least walks a fine line between RPG's and an outdoor game. It certianly has the physical activity for both, but perhaps lacks a certain imaginative element that makes for LARPing. But I think arguments can easily be made on either side

So what do you think, is Airsoft Live Action Role Playing, or is it just another outdoor game?


Written by: Andrew Gregory

Zeugo Subbuteo Figures

After countless games of frustration with the standard Subbuteo pieces that came with my 2012 Starter Set, the guys and myself had finally had enough. We needed nicer pieces that would actually let us play a game without the figures rolling around.

So I order new bases for my 2012 teams, and tried out a couple new manufactures beyond the standard Subbuteo Brand, hoping to find some tabletop football pieces that we liked, and to get a sense of the market. So, I present the first of the teams that I acquired: Poland's World Cup Team by Zeugo.

As I understand it, Zeugo is considered the cheaper option in the Subbuteo world, but has managed to stick around due to the popularity of their bases; which are a little nicer than your standard figure. Though the box they come in and the over all paint job are not the of the highest quality.

You can see in the picture above that I am keeping this team in one of the old card board team boxes. These boxes lightly hold the figures, and won't scratch or damage the bases like the plastic packaging that they come in. For around $5-$10 a box it is worth the money, and you can get one for almost any team.

As I mentioned breifly above, though they have nice bases the Zeugo figures leave something to be desired. They are larger than their Subbuteo counter parts, and are poorly painted by comparison.  So if want a really good looking team, Zeugo is not the company you want to be looking at. However if you want a solid team for around $15-$20 Zeugo is a great option.

Despite Zeugo's cheap looking figures, the 00 Scale Footballer minis are really just icing on the cake. In reality, Subbuteo is all about the bases. This is the part that will be interacting with the ball and thus I feel should be your most important consideration. To that effect, the Zeugo bases really are awesome. They are a little heavier thatn the standard Subbuteo figures, and their shape seems to stop them from tipping over as much as the standard figures do. It makes them a joy to use, and having accurate game pieces will make it easier to win.

Overall, despite their slap-dash figures, Zeugo table soccer teams are great Subbuteo Figures to play with, and if you must have those nicer figures on top, with some mixing and matching it is possible to mount standard Subbuteo figures on Zeugo bases, allowing you to combine both style and function.

So if you are looking for new Subbueto team, or want a cheap good team to get started, check out a Zeugo team and feel the difference a quality base makes.


Written by: Andrew Gregory.

The 15mm Minotaur

Elijah painted an absolutely amazing Minotaur for his Maze of the Minotaur Campaign some time ago. However it was far to gigantic for our 15mm figures. So I did some looking and found this 15mm Minotaur from Ral Partha Europe’s Demon World line.

Though no where near as cool as the old one, he stands a good half centimetre taller than his foes: Robert and Raymond E Howard, which makes him an intimidating figuring, and large enough for boss status.

I quite like this mini, however, as with all of the Demon World miniatures, it really came to life and the details became apparent once painted. I find the Dwmon World Stuff looks quite dull until it gets a slap of paint.

Hopefully the Barbarian brother's will have no problems with their first 15mm encounter... Though rumour has it that this Minotaur is flying a dragon!


Written by: Andrew Gregory

Typhus Redo

A couple of years ago, my younger sister Sarah and I started playing Warhammer 40k again. I used to play well more than a decade ago when I was in high school, but as I entered university and then the work force, I fell away from the hobby. However when I got back into it, I found that I still had most of my Death Guard Chaos Space Marine Army; at the head of which was Typhus.

This mini is a pewter version of Typhus (like all the minis used to be), not the modern resin version that they have now. Of course, 16 year old me was not much of a painter, but luckily with some patience I was able to dismantle the figure and repaint him as you see now.

My original pictures when he was freshly painted, weren't very good, and predated a time we used a backdrop on each photo (oh those were the days). So I thought that Typhus' photos could use a do over.

He is a little more worn these days, as I often use him as my HQ in large battles. Though quite expensive point-wse, Typhus' abilities (at least in later versions) make him a powerful figure. While he used to die in many of my early games, recently he has been surviving the entire fight, often taking many enemies out in the process.

So there he is in all of his glory: Typhus, Host of the Destroyer Hive.


Written by: Andrew Gregory

Strat-O-Matic Baseball: The Original Fantasy Sports Game

After a Blue Jays game last year where they crushed it at the Roger Centre, I went home, and my mind was racing. I wanted to play out a baseball game: to really understand the variables and everything that can happen... But I am not much of an athlete and I wanted to experience more what being a manager was like rather than an individual player. So I started looking into baseball board games.

From my uncle I learned that baseball involves a decent amount of strategy, but more importantly it was all about crunching the stats. Using those alone you could play out an entire season of baseball with stunning accuracy. I knew that somebody had to have thought of this before, and not wanting to seek out a fantasy league to play in, I went onto BoardGameGeek and started my search. Almost immediately I found Strat-O-Matic Baseball. Using stats and dice, Strat-O-Matic lets you play through a game, or season of baseball, and it has quite a history.

Created in 1962, and still going strong today, Strat-O-Matic Baseball is considered by many to be the first Fantasy Sports game. It is much like modern Fantasy Sports Leagues where players take control of the team as the manager, setting batting orders, start/relief pitchers etc. And Strat-O-Matic thought of it first.

The 1967 box art... Which I kind of like better.

Strat-O-Matic Baseball is a very simple game. Both players have two types of cards: Hitting Cards, and Pitching cards. Hitters have 3 columns numbered 1-3, while Pitchers have 4-6. Each column then has results numbered 2-12, with the occasion modifier on those result numbered 1-20. Whoever is up to bat, takes the hitting card for the current player in their batting order and places it in front of them, while the other player places their current pitcher in front them. The batter then rolls 1 white d6, 2 red d6's and a d20.

The white d6 gives you your column on either the Hitter (1-3) or Pitcher (4-6) card. The two red d6's determine the result in that column, and the d20 occasionally modifies the result of the 2d6's. Rather than focusing on individual pitches and swings, Strat-O-Matic condenses each batter's time at plate into one roll, giving you the result for their entire play. And so, back and forth, you play through a whole game. Needless to say, if you don't like baseball and you don't like dice games, Strat-O-Matic is not for you.

For JADE... It was just the sports game we were waiting for.

Some of the results you can roll send you to other charts and look up tables, but again, it is all very straight forward. Anyone used to playing 2nd Ed AD&D will find the tables a breeze (and simple by comparison).

But what really makes Strat-O-Matic great is its attention to detail. On their website, they claim to do around 1200hrs of research ever year to update stats for each team and player, and their research spans decades. They have stats for entire seasons ranging from the early 1900's to modern times. They even cover the old and now defunct American Negro League, which Strat-O-Matic's research into represents some of the first major statistical research into that league. True to the sport, throughout their history, Strat-O-Matic has made a serious commitment to the accuracy of their research, and obviously take a lot of pride in what they do. I think it shows.

We went for the 1920 Season. What with it being Babe Ruth’s first year with the Yankees and all.

Strat-O-Matic Baseball can be a little expensive however, so if you are not sure if the game is for you, then you have a cheaper option: Strat-O-Matic Express. Express is a condensed version of the game, that is a fantastic introduction for those unsure. It covers most of the mechanics, and gives you a sense of what the full version might be like, without throwing you into the deep end.

Of course for those that want to jump right into the deep end, the full version of Strat-O-Matic Baseball has three types of rules, Basic, Advanced, and Super Advanced. Mostly these rules add in more tables, but also cover things like pitcher fatigue, Left Handed/Right Handed stats, etc.

Thankfully, the Advanced rules are modular so you can add in as many as you want... But be warned their are a lot of Advanced Rules.

As much as I enjoy the game, Strat-O-Matic isn't perfect. The game truly just involves rolling dice and looking up results on tables. Which for some can be dull and tedious. Another common criticism I have heard is that the split between rolling on the pitcher's card and the hitter's card is 50/50. And of course as anyone who follows the game will know, baseball is a pitcher's game. Many people feel that the pitcher should have more control in the game then they currently have. That being said, most results you can roll result in a out, and it is still unnerving to pit any batter against another team's best pitcher. 

So if you like baseball, dice games, or just want to check out a really interesting piece of gaming history: Strat-O-Matic Baseball is the game for you. And of course if baseball is not your game, they also make Strat-O-Matic Hockey, Football, College Football, and Basketball.

So find your sport and play some Strat-O-Matic!


Written by: Andrew Gregory

15mm Robert E. Howard

JADE's switch from 28mm figures to 15mm required a few changes to some of the standing player characters. Thankfully most of the 28mm party member figures were from deprecated campaigns, that we have long since moved on from, and so there were only a few to replace.

However, one of the longer standing parties has been the Barbarian brothers Raymond and Robert E. Howard. I finished Raymond E. Howard's 15mm mini some time ago, and with us picking up our Maze of the Minotaur campaign once again, it was time for Robert to get miniaturized as well.

This mini comes from Ral Partha Europe, in the very same pack that I got the mini for Raymond. You can find him in their Demonworld line which is a pretty interesting looking 15mm fantasy war game. Not that I have tried it.

Anyone know if it is any good?

Currently standing at level 14 in Dungeons and Dragons 3.5, Robert and his brother are certainly a force to be reckoned with. These days we are decked out with magical items, including the Axe of the Sea Reavers, and a Vorpal Sword. Which is just the kind of equipment we need for the non-stop action packed game that is Maze of the Minotaur.

Despite being loaded with some pretty awesome equipment, when it comes down to it, Robert likes to use his hands. Wrestling, punching, kicking, and throwing are how he prefers to fight. In fact Robert usually will leave his sword buried in a fallen foe after only a couple of swings before grappling the rest with his bare hands.

As I write this, Robert and his brother are battling their through a thick monster infested jungle, hunting down their 7th Minotaur, and the only one to have ever escape from their labyrinth. And they couldn't be happier.

Written by: Andrew Gregory