"Kick Ass!" 5th birthday blogparty#1. Prizes! Prizes! Prizes!

"Lights... Cameras... Action!"
Alighting on this page as you have dear reader, be welcome to the 5th anniversary of "Roll dice and kick ass!". Yes, it's been 5 years to the day since I launched myself into the geek blogosphere with a report on Interaction, the 63rd Worldcon. I took to blogging a hobbyist wanting to write. What I didn't bargain on were the technicalities of creating an illustrated webzine: hunting down links and references, image work, layout; all suprisingly labourious and time-consuming. Enough already with my blood, sweat, toil and tears. Feast your eyes, dear readers, on the booty below...

Matt Forbeck
Hot off the presses, Ghosts of Ascalon — "the first original Guild Wars novel" — is Matt's and Jeff Grubb's spin on the popular fantasy MMO Tyria. I am told that Guild Wars- soon to see its first reboot, disposes of that WoW-grind by the simple expedients of a level cap and rapid character progression; which reads to me like a recipie for playing more characters having more adventures which play out more quickly. That sounds thrilling and action packed. Expect no less from messieurs Forbeck and Grubb.

Prize #1
Signed author's copy courtesy of Matt.

-#!#-

Bill KingSpecially for my European readers:

• Las aventuras de Gotrek y Félix.

1. Hardback Spanish editon of the first Gotrek and Felix omnibus.

• Der Dämonengott, Volume I of Die Legende der Terrarch.

1. TPB and mass market German editions of the first volume of the Terrarch trilogy.

Prizes #2-4
Three signed author's copies courtesy of Bill.

-#!#-

Mike Cobley
It's a little known fact that Mike Cobley sent me my first editor's rejection letter. In his guise as major domo at Shark Tactics — "a snotnosed paperbased knot of erratic but always heartfelt brickbattery" Mike confesses — Mr. Cobley subjected me to that first short sharp shock horror of writers' nightmares. An'd'y'know? I suspect that's news to Mike after all these years.

• Seeds of Earth, Volume 1 of the Humanity's Fire trilogy.
• Shadowmasque, Volume 3 of the Shadowkings trilogy.

Prizes #5 & 6
Two signed author's copies courtesy of Mike.

-#!#-

Sioux Jackson
Hard at work since last May's launch of her career as an illustrator, Sioux's been regularly adding new pictures in aid of her good cause. 'Shrek's Dragon'- right, is an A3 print suitable for framing which Sioux thought an apt choice for RD/KA!'s 5th anniversary prize draw.

Prize #7
A3 pen and ink print courtesy of Sioux Jackson.

-#!#-

Paul D Selman
Paul was a freelance artist until May, when he got a "paying art gig for a movie production company" about which he can tell us nothing more. Readers new to Paul's work can't go wrong by checking out the iL-Logic webcomic, for which Paul put pictures to Adam Di Stefano's scripts.

Paul has found two suitably grisly pieces from his sketchbook for this ass-kicking prize draw:

• 'A Moment's Respite': full size.
• 'And The Blitzer Is Toast!': full size.

Again, both would frame nicely.

Prizes #8 & 9
Two original artist's sketches courtesy of Paul D Selman.

-#!#-

Academy Games
Publishers of award-winning WW2 strategy boardgames.

Academy Games' Conflict of Heroes series- Awakening the Bear! – Russia 1941-42 and Storm of Steel! – Kursk 1943, has won awards, and fans sufficient to see several new games in the series already under development. The latest addition to the series- Price of Honour – Poland 1939, will be hitting retailers next month. Note that Price of Honour is not a complete game: it is an expansion to Awakening the Bear! and you need AtB to play PoH.
Prize #10
One copy courtesy Uwe Eickert.

-#!#-

Q-Workshop
Producers of fine designer dice and related gamers' accessories.

Remember the elves?
Well it seems their strike is now official, if the new Q-Workshop banner is anything to go by. I'm pleased to say too that the elves must've appreciated my little message of solidarity, because I recently recieved a package secretly smuggled out of the Q-Workshop vaults: 3 sets of Q-Workshop dice.

There was a note asking me to give the dice away to my readers to popularise the elvish cause:

• White & black Celtic 3D. New!
• Green & black Forest. New!
• Black & white Classic.

Prizes #11-13
Three sets of dice courtesy of Q-Workshop.

-#!#-

Static Games
From its origins as a pitch in an indoor market through several incarnations to today's two shops at Glasgow's geek street central, Static Games has been around a long time, offering:

• A wide range of new and current games.
• Extensive 2nd hand stock.
• Regular bargain sell-offs.

A great place to browse for those curios games afficionadoes can't resist: old editions; forgotten small press ventures; games which for some reason will probably remain unplayed but which attract your interest anyway; all the kipple of the geek life in other words.

I heard at UK Games Expo back in June that FFG is running down Battlelore to replace it with their Battles of Westeros. It's certainly true that the future of classic Battlelore is uncertain. Expansions like Battlelore Dragons might prove increasingly hard to come by. Don't let this chance to get a copy pass you by.

The Great War of Magellan? You what? So: Richard Hatch- who played Tom Zarek in Battlestar Galactica, came up with a big idea — "years ago [which was] filmed between 2000-2001 as a professional presentation trailer reel" — which apparently still only exists as a 17-minute trailer dated 2003. Three years later DGS Games published a 410-page Great War of Magellan RPG co-written by Hatch and Johnathan Bjork.

A second dead site confirms that the long odyssey of Richard Hatch and his dream project is over for now. You, dear readers, could give it a glimmering of life with this game. Or maybe it's one of those curios? Read this review and decide for yourself.

Prizes #14-15
Boxed boardgame expansion and RPG courtesy of Kenny at Static Games.

-#!#-

Kingdom of AdventureThe latest Scottish FLGS venture, Kirkcaldy's Kingdom of Adventure enjoys great facilities and an owner dedicated to his hobby community, as witness an in-store events calendar second to none.

Published last year, featuring — "a new class, new race options, paragon paths and epic destinies, character backgrounds, feats, powers, rituals, magic items, and new rules for dragonmarks" — the Eberron Player's Guide is essential reading for players in 4th edition D&D games set in this fan-favourite world, originally created by Keith Baker in 2002.



AEG's Legend of the Five Rings' main lines have long been the CCG and the RPG. Death at Koten- sample here showing the sumptious art, is AEG's first L5R graphic novel.

Prizes #16-18
One Eberron Player's Guide and two Death at Koten TPBs courtesy of David Wright at Kingdom of Adventure.

-#!#-

EMOTIONALLY FOURTEEN
I stumbled across E14 sometime last year, found the scabrous geek humour of its reviews entertaining, and stuck around. Soon enough I'd hooked up with Brad and Robert- two of E14's writers, on fB; where I fell in with the rest of the crew. What a crew. E14 has grown rapidly and now maintains a consistent output of cranky gonzo goofing and reviews covering a surprisingly wide range of geekery. And they get lots of stuff to give away to their readers. Worth keeping an eye on.

Nemesis
James Swallow's latest addition to the Black Library's popular Horus Heresy series, Nemesis sees opposing teams of assassins racing to take down Horus and the Emperor. Who is pulling the strings behind the scenes? Can the assassins strike quickly enough to prevent the conflict at the heart of the Imperium from erupting into all out war? Fast-moving, action-packed twists and turns to be expected.


Fireborn and Throne of Lies
Fireborn- featuring "the Firedrakes, peerless champions of the Salamanders", and Throne of Lies- featuring "the Night Lords... among the most feared Chaos Space Marines in the universe", are two recent additions to BL's range of 40K audio CDs. Expect chaos, death and spikey bits with added sound effects.

Prizes #19-20
One book and two CDs (counting as one prize) courtesy of Brad Harmer and the crew at E14.

-#!#-

From the vaults of my absent mindedness
Osprey Publishing has been the grognard's choice for concise reference for some 40 years now, with a list of titles so long that it can be difficult to remember what you've actually got in your collection. And so my bargain-hunting has left me with a few doubles:

• France 1940: Blitzkrieg in the West
• US Airborne Units in the Pacific Theater 1942–45
• US World War II Amphibious Tactics: Mediterranean & European Theaters

Prizes #21-22
These will be 2 prizes: 2 books and 1 book.

-#!#-

And finally for today...
Attentive readers might already be asking themselves the point of that rather contrived link right at the top of the article? Did you click through? Nope? Well if you're from Canada or the US you should because if you do you'll be able to navigate yourself away from the lighting department to the boardgames. There you'll find a range of products from major adventure gaming brands including:

• Days of Wonder.
• Fantasy Flight Games.
• Rio Grande Games.

One lucky north American winner will receive a $60 voucher. You can spend it on anything you like from any one of 200+ CSN|stores- including from the lighting department; but, well, y'know.

Prize #23
A $60 internet shopping voucher (Canada and US only) courtesy of Sean at CSN Promotions Team.

Tomorrow: how to enter
I'm going to leave all the finicky details until tomorrow. In the meantime I'd like to give my heartfelt thanks to everyone whose patience and generosity have helped me get the "Roll dice and kick ass!" 5th anniversary blogparty off to such a cracking start. Words fail me.

Thanks too to all my readers: you are the point of the exercise after all. Now on to year 10! Meanwhile, start thinking up your prize lists and get ready while I try to fill the next month with as many anniversary specials as I can. ;)

"Cut. That's a wrap."

Related@RD/KA!
"Kick Ass!" 5th birthday blogparty
- #2. Draw the first
- #3. First prize draw winners!
- #4. The final countdown