Republique Free in the App Store; Super Famicom Gaming is Go

I just had a quick post to put up. Two things. First, the other day I got Republique for iOS for free from the US iTunes store. I'm not sure if it is still like that, but I got the impression that it was a limited-time-only kind of thing. I had my eye on that game for a while when it was getting made and it looked really cool, but I didn't want to buy it when it did come out. Heck though, for free I'm happy to download and sit on it until I can get around to playing it. Supposedly it is really good, so if you're inclined give it a look.

Second, I've been playing the heck out of Final Fantasy V on Super Famicom and was thinking I'd like to write something about it when I'm done. I played 4 and 6 when they came out in the US and was absolutely fanatical about them. During the gap between the two I wondered what happened and where the next one was, so right now I'm filling in a gap in my SNES childhood that sort of puts some long-lost puzzle pieces into place. There are a lot of games that only came out in Japan that I have always wanted to play, so now that I have finally gotten off my butt and bought what I need to change the batteries in the cartridges I can finally get to them. Some games I want to play because I haven't seen the original Japanese (like Chronotrigger,  Secret of Mana and FFVI), but others like Front Mission, Romancing SaGa 2 & 3, or the SNES Fire Emblem games never came out in their original format back home. Rather than bumbling through my first experience with SNES-era classics on an emulator, I've waited until I could do them right. It's a project that's a long time in the making and I'm really excited to be moving ahead with it now.

That's something to look out for while I am waiting on my 7th Ed rulebook to arrive. I played a game of 6th the weekend 7th came out (on my birthday, actually. Thanks for remembering, GW!), and it was a great time. Definitely a good way to send off an edition I honestly feel was unnecessary considering it only last two years and wasn't that different from fifth. But until it comes in and I've gotten a chance to read and play with it, I'll be more likely to post about modeling and video games than actual 40k battles.

Publishing Weekend Followed by Welcome to Wargaming Weekend

This weekend I finally published my children's book to Smashwords. It took a while to write, draw, paint and compile the thing. Still, it might have taken even longer to register for the international book numbers I needed to publish it how I wanted to. I'll post some details on my other blog, but for now I thought I'd share over here since my other audience has heard plenty through the facebook page. The kids that have read Bear with Me and those that have had it read to them have all loved it and asked it to be read a number of times in a row. The parents who have read it liked it too. I put a lot into making it appeal to both, because having become a dad this year I know what it's like to read kids' books that make me roll my eyes. Or that get boring to me quickly. Or that just kind of suck. It's pretty cheap at 3.99 and the first half is available as a free sample if you want to get a feel for the art. Really though, the story comes together at the end (as any story should). For now it is only available through Smashwords, but once it clears their vetter review it will be available through Apple, Sony, Kobo and Barnes & Noble. I'll be uploading to Amazon myself later this week. The Japanese version will be coming this week as well. Smashwords is best if you just want to show your support as the royalties rate is much better, but you do also get access to every available file format, so it's a win/win for us both.

On the 40k front, next weekend is the Welcome to Wargaming event! God I can't wait for it. There are going to be a lot of tables set up for a lot of different games. There will be representatives from a lot of the hobby shops in Japan and I heard that Steve Parker of Black Library fame will be around too! I'd love to get a chance to talk to him. I had no idea any of the BL authors live in Japan.

For gaming, I opted to play a little demo game of Necromunda and 3 games of 40k at 1500 points. I haven't played 40k in a while. The last games I did get in were with Seer Council/Dark Eldar mech list variants. I picked up a few new lessons with my favorite unit in the game. Allying in Dark Eldar and using Wave Serpents, War Walkers and GJBs lets me shoot pretty darn hard in addition to having a truly obscene beat stick.

Good lessons, but I'm not sure if they're one's I'll be leaning on next Saturday. I have three different lists in mind: two competitive ones and one that is experimental. The experimental one has lots of aspect warriors and a mix of vehicles. One competitive one is my Council DEldar list and the other is a mech list that is tough as nails. I forget how well I can pack everything up. I'm pretty sure I can bring all three and then play each once since there are three games (it's not a tourney).

I haven't been up to date on all the Space Marine rules, but from what I've heard they sound in line with the newer books. I'll have a look before the event, but I can't imagine a solid TAC Eldar list suddenly can't hang just because SMs got some price adjustments and new toys. It should be a great time!

Changes to my Blogs and What's to Come

I have a lot coming up in the near future and in preparation of it all, I have decided to finally link my Blogger account with my Google+. So, nice to meet you, I'm Dan. Were I still only going to be writing 2d6D, I don't think I would link them, but it's all or nothing on Blogger.

I've just started a new blog that I will be using as my professional page as I release my self-published titles over the course of the next few months and it's for that blog that I linked my accounts. The first release, a children's picture book, ought to be done and available at all major eBook retailers around the end of August or beginning of September. The one to follow that will be an interactive picture book and educational tool for learning English and Japanese.

News articles and cool links that regard writing, 2D art and other topics that relate are going to be posted over here, on a blog that I have not yet configured at all. I'll also be blogging about works as they progress.

What does this mean for you, the reader? The first is that there will be more content, more articles and links. But more importantly in my opinion, they will be more sharply focused because non-40k material that relates more to writing, art and translation will be siphoned off to my other blog. So if you're only interested in one or the other, this should help filter out content that isn't pertinent to you.

There is still a lot of work to be done, but I'm really looking forward to it all because I think it will lead somewhere fun and interesting. Keep an eye out as there will be developments and updates all along the way. Cheers!

Wargamers in Japan and Details on our First Event

Here is the official logo for Wargamers in Japan. It's hard to call it a group as that would defeat the purpose of the thing. Really it's more like a confederation lol. It's a group of all the 40k groups in Japan that we can get involved. So far we have groups in Zama, Atsugi, Yokosuka, Yokohama, Chima, Saitama, and Tokyo. I'm trying to get the Nagoya guys involved as well and hope to get them in on the meetings soon.

It's an open group and our basic philosophy is the more people, the more gaming, the more fun we'll all have. We have lots of people already involved who are all into a lot of different kinds of gaming.

The first event is scheduled for September 27th, 2013. We're definitely going to have tables for 40k, Fantasy, Bolt Action, Space Hulk, Necromunda and some historical war games that I know nothing about personally. There are details and Facebook contacts in the group. Please feel free to get in touch with us if you are in Japan and want to game or if you even know anyone who is moving out here and could use some community support for gaming or even getting adjusted to the country and lifestyle.

Wargamers in Japan: Stuff and Things In the Works

Got some awesome plans in the works with Wargamers in Japan (join the FB group if you haven't yet)! Basically we're looking at putting together events with the intent to draw together some of the localized groups across the country. Big events quarterly and small gatherings more often than that.

The first big one will be August and will feature lots of different games. Board games, demos and 40k battles for sure! I'm really excited about all this. Looks like we have a lot of very fun gaming ahead of us!

I'll be posting about events regularly, so bear with me if you don't live around. Or better yet, help me spread the word =) Especially if you have a friend in Japan who just doesn't realize there are people to play with.

Good news everyone!

 

2d6D reached over 5,000 views today! Thanks to everyone for checking out the site. It's a relatively new project, so I'm pleased to reach this many people this early on. I hope you enjoy the content and the topics I've been covering. As things settle down when the Eldar are released, I'll be posting less obsessively about what's coming out and more obsessively about what we can do with all our new toys =D I've got some BL novel reviews, hobby product reviews, modeling and painting tutorials, and some tactics articles in mind as well, so there ought to be a lot of cool content coming in the near future. Keep an eye out for it

If you're keen, like the Facebook page on the right-hand frame and share/+1/delete the site from your history cache. Y'know, whatever feels right. Thanks again guys =)

Oh and if there's anything you'd like to see more or less of, just let me know and I'll take it into account in future posts.