Continual Conceptions

This is where I list the other projects I'm working on. Some are farther along than others. Some haven't been touched in over a year. But I will keep track of them here.

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​…Of Sword And Steam

"…Of Sword And Steam" is a Victorian Science Fiction miniatures war game, set in a world where a meteor shower has introduced a new mineral resource that brings forth industrial possibilities yet unseen by man, and with it, conflict to control it.  Played with 15mm scale models, the game thrusts players into the battles of the Great Powers, as they send forth armies of men and machines to collide in war.

Boasting simple and innovative mechanisms, immersing yourself into "…Of Sword And Steam's" colorful world of regal uniforms and steam-powered combat is easy to do. Rules for movement have been designed for fast, cinematic play and allow players to quickly maneuver their formations of soldiers, while still demanding plenty of tactical consideration. "…Of Sword And Steam" was  also designed to evoke the consequences of battlefield "friction," causing units to degrade in effectiveness and responsiveness as they come under fire. While other games often reflect this in a binary fashion, "…Of Sword And Steam" uses a graduated system providing not only a more granular result, but also exciting narratives as units try to hold their line as long as possible and leaders yell for their men to stay strong.

                               "In days of dust
                                and searing heat 
                                Our souls parboil'd 
                                in rusting pots,

                                We toil'd in bellies
                                of steaming beasts
                                To load and launch,
                                at least, our thoughts – 

                                We dream'd of nights
                                not beat by fire
                                Or shots and screams and 
                                dying words; 

                                Through all, we sought
                                (with ev'ry race)
                                some sweet escape from death 
                                We carried in our
                                – escritoire – 
                                    – our letters home –
                                        – our carapace – 
                                (In crannies of our waking dream 
                                we secreted away, you see)
                                This certainty that ev'ry scream
                                could be – would be – should never be -
​                                The dying breath
                                of men we knew

Our brothers on the beam 
whose songs of youth and hope and lust
were spent – as ever such songs must – 
parboil'd in pots of iron rust 

With friends both good and true 
Whose heart beat (black and blue) 
Shall ne'er gain sleep 
     but start awake,
          escaping from a dream 
Of days of dust 
     and glory! 
Of searing heat 
     and hope! 
Of love and blood and rusting pots
of shit and shame and tightened knots of dying words and parting shots
of broken men and Bergamot. 
We served on bended knee 
Her Majesty,
The misery:
In days of sword and steam."

- Capt. Edward Wallace Hightower

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Blast Zone

"Blast Zone" is a science fiction deck-building game, modeled after classic real-time strategy PC games. Choosing one of several factions, players battle over territory and resources, expanding fortified bases, training elite units, and building powerful vehicles  in order to conquer the planet Terra.

Players choose between one of three factions, featuring unique structures and units, and begin the game sending their workers out to harvest minerals and build structure cards  to add to their deck. In following turns, players can use these cards to deploy units onto the table or upgrade cards to become more powerful. Units move from their base, across three randomly determined  region cards, battling other units, until they can attack their opponent's base and it is destroyed.