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Martian Metals
Martial Metals was a company that produced miniature figures in the 1970s and 1980s for science-fiction tabletop games. Company history Martian Metals was founded in 1976 by Forest Brown to provide metal miniatures to the burgeoning fantasy role-playing game industry. Miniatures produced by the company had a distinctive six-sided base designed to fit the standard hex grid map used in many miniatures games. The company became the licensed supplier of mkiniatures for games such as '' Ogre''/'' G.E.V.'', ''Traveller'', and '' RuneQuest''. Martian Metals rapidly became one of the premier miniatures companies in the RPG industry, winning several awards. A major fire in the mid-1980s destroyed everything in the company shop, forcing Martian Metals out of business. As Matt Irsik recalled, "this was one of the up and coming companies in sci-fi wargaming. At the time they were just getting going." Brown would later start up another miniatures company, Deimos Design Studio, that was acti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Martian Metal Miniature Hex Base
Mars, the fourth planet from the Sun, has appeared as a setting in works of fiction since at least the mid-1600s. It became the most popular celestial object in fiction in the late 1800s as the Moon was evidently lifeless. At the time, the predominant genre depicting Mars was utopian fiction. Contemporaneously, the mistaken belief that there are canals on Mars emerged and made its way into fiction. '' The War of the Worlds'', H. G. Wells' story of an alien invasion of Earth by sinister Martians, was published in 1897 and went on to have a large influence on the science fiction genre. Life on Mars appeared frequently in fiction throughout the first half of the 1900s. Apart from enlightened as in the utopian works from the turn of the century, or evil as in the works inspired by Wells, intelligent and human-like Martians also began to be depicted as decadent, a portrayal that was popularized by Edgar Rice Burroughs in the ''Barsoom'' series and adopted by Leigh Bracket ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Miniature Figure (gaming)
In miniature wargaming, players enact simulated battles using scale models called miniature models, which can be anywhere from 2 to 54 mm in height, to represent warriors, vehicles, artillery, buildings, and terrain. These models are colloquially referred to as miniatures or minis. Miniature models are commonly made of metal, plastic, or paper. They are used to augment the visual aspects of a game and track position, facing, and line of sight of characters. Miniatures are typically painted and can be artfully sculpted, making them collectible in their own right. Pre-painted plastic figures, such as ''Clix'' miniatures produced by WizKids and unpainted plastic figures for '' Warhammer'' by Games Workshop, have become popular. The hobby of painting, collecting, and playing with miniatures originated with toy soldiers, though the latter were generally sold pre-painted. Materials Traditionally, miniatures were cast in white metal, an alloy of lead and tin. A small amount of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Forest Brown
A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) defines a forest as, "Land spanning more than 0.5 hectares with trees higher than 5 meters and a canopy cover of more than 10 percent, or trees able to reach these thresholds ''in situ''. It does not include land that is predominantly under agricultural or urban use." Using this definition, '' Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020'' (FRA 2020) found that forests covered , or approximately 31 percent of the world's land area in 2020. Forests are the predominant terrestrial ecosystem of Earth, and are found around the globe. More than half of the world's forests are found in only five countries (Brazil, Canada, China, Russia, and the United States). The largest share of forests (45 percent) are in th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dragon (magazine)
''Dragon'' is one of the two official magazines for source material for the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' role-playing game and associated products, along with '' Dungeon''. TSR, Inc. originally launched the monthly printed magazine in 1976 to succeed the company's earlier publication, ''The Strategic Review''. The final printed issue was #359 in September 2007. Shortly after the last print issue shipped in mid-August 2007, Wizards of the Coast (part of Hasbro, Inc.), the publication's current copyright holder, relaunched ''Dragon'' as an online magazine, continuing on the numbering of the print edition. The last published issue was No. 430 in December 2013. A digital publication called ''Dragon+'', which replaces the ''Dragon'' magazine, launched in 2015. It is created by Dialect in collaboration with Wizards of the Coast, and its numbering system for issues started at No. 1. History TSR In 1975, TSR, Inc. began publishing ''The Strategic Review''. At the time, roleplaying g ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
TSR (company)
TSR, Inc. was an American game publishing company, best known as the original publisher of ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D''). Its earliest incarnation, Tactical Studies Rules, was founded in October 1973 by Gary Gygax and Don Kaye. Gygax had been unable to find a publisher for ''D&D'', a new type of game he and Dave Arneson were co-developing, so founded the new company with Kaye to self-publish their products. Needing financing to bring their new game to market, Gygax and Kaye brought in Brian Blume in December as an equal partner. ''Dungeons & Dragons'' is generally considered the first tabletop role-playing game (TTRPG), and established the genre. When Kaye died suddenly in 1975, the Tactical Studies Rules partnership restructured into TSR Hobbies, Inc. and accepted investment from Blume's father Melvin. With the popular ''D&D'' as its main product, TSR Hobbies became a major force in the games industry by the late 1970s. Melvin Blume eventually transferred his shares to h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ogre (board Game)
''OGRE'' is a science fiction board wargame designed by the American game designer Steve Jackson and published by Metagaming Concepts in 1977 as the first microgame in its MicroGame line. When Steve Jackson left Metagaming to form his own company, he took the rights to ''OGRE'' with him, and all subsequent editions have been produced by Steve Jackson Games (SJG). Game description ''OGRE'' is an asymmetrical two-player wargame set in the late 21st century that pits a single giant robot tank called an "OGRE" against the second player's headquarters, defended by a mixture of conventional tanks, infantry, and artillery. The game components of the 1982 edition published by Steve Jackson Games are: a 14" x 9" map printed on glossy paper, counters representing military units and machines printed on sheets of cardboard (but not die-cut), and a 40-page rulebook. The hex map depicts a battleground of barren terrain with only ridgelines and large, radioactive craters as obstacles. Setu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Space Gamer
''The Space Gamer'' was a magazine dedicated to the subject of science fiction and fantasy board games and tabletop role-playing games. It quickly grew in importance and was an important and influential magazine in its subject matter from the late 1970s through the mid-1980s. The magazine is no longer published, but the rights holders maintain a web presence using its final title ''Space Gamer/Fantasy Gamer''. History ''The Space Gamer'' (''TSG'') started out as a digest quarterly publication of the brand new Metagaming Concepts company in March 1975. Howard M. Thompson, the owner of Metagaming and the first editor of the magazine, stated "The magazine had been planned for after our third or fourth game but circumstances demand we do it now" (after their first game, ''Stellar Conquest''). Initial issues were in a plain-paper digest format. By issue 17, it had grown to a full size bimonthly magazine, printed on slick paper. When Steve Jackson departed Metagaming to found his ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Steve Jackson Games
Steve Jackson Games (SJGames) is a game company, founded in 1980 by Steve Jackson, that creates and publishes role-playing, board, and card games, and (until 2019) the gaming magazine ''Pyramid''. History Founded in 1980, six years after the creation of ''Dungeons & Dragons'', SJ Games created several role-playing and strategy games with science fiction themes. SJ Games' early titles were microgames initially sold in 4×7 inch ziploc bags, and later in the similarly sized Pocket Box. Games such as ''Ogre'', '' Car Wars'', and ''G.E.V'' (an ''Ogre'' spin-off) were popular during SJ Games' early years. Game designers such as Loren Wiseman and Jonathan Leistiko have worked for Steve Jackson Games. Today SJ Games publishes a variety of games, such as card games, board games, strategy games, and in different genres, such as fantasy, sci-fi, and gothic horror. They also published the book '' Principia Discordia'', the sacred text of the Discordian religion. Raid by the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Traveller (role-playing Game)
''Traveller'' is a science fiction role-playing game first published in 1977 by Game Designers' Workshop. Marc Miller designed ''Traveller'' with help from Frank Chadwick, John Harshman, and Loren Wiseman. Editions were published for GURPS, d20, and other role-playing game systems. From its origin and in the currently published systems, the game relied upon six-sided dice for random elements. ''Traveller'' has been featured in a few novels and at least two video games. Design Traveller is a tabletop role-playing game. Characters journey between star systems, engaging in exploration, ground and space battles, and interstellar trading. One player, the game master or referee, oversees task attempts and guides events as the players explore the setting. Characters are defined not by the need to increase native skill and ability but by achievements, discoveries, wealth, titles, and political power. Influences and inspiration Marc Miller lists a number of books that influen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
RuneQuest
''RuneQuest'' (commonly abbreviated as RQ) is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game originally designed by Steve Perrin, Ray Turney, Steve Henderson, and Warren James, and set in Greg Stafford's mythical world of Glorantha. It was first published in 1978 by The Chaosium. Beginning in 1984, publication passed between a number of companies, including Avalon Hill, Mongoose Publishing, and The Design Mechanism, before finally returning to Chaosium in 2016. ''RuneQuest'' is notable for its system, designed around percentile dice and an early implementation of skill rules, which became the basis for numerous other games. There have been several editions of the game. History In 1975, game designer Greg Stafford released the fantasy board game '' White Bear and Red Moon'' (later renamed ''Dragon Pass''), produced and marketed by The Chaosium, a publishing company set up by Stafford specifically for the release of the game. In 1978, The Chaosium published the first edition of ''Rune ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Glorantha
Glorantha is a fantasy world created by Greg Stafford. It was first introduced in the board game '' White Bear and Red Moon'' (1975) by Chaosium and then in a number of other board, roleplaying and computer games, including '' RuneQuest'' and '' HeroQuest'', as well as several works of fiction and the computer strategy game ''King of Dragon Pass''. The Gloranthan world is characterised by its complex use of mythology, heavily influenced by the universalist approaches of Joseph Campbell and Mircea Eliade, its sword and sorcery ethos, its long and distinctive history as a setting for role-playing games, its community development and expansion, and its relative lack of Tolkienesque influence, which is uncommon among early American fantasy role-playing games. Stafford first wrote about in Glorantha in 1966 as a way to deepen his own understanding of mythology. He founded the company Chaosium to publish the board wargame '' White Bear and Red Moon'' in 1975, which was set in Glo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Striker (miniatures Game)
''Striker'' is a science fiction miniatures wargame, designed by Frank Chadwick, and illustrated by William H. Keith. It was published by Game Designers' Workshop in 1981 as a boxed expansion to the ''Traveller'' role-playing game. Although ''Striker'' is a 15mm miniatures ruleset, GDW consider it their eighth Traveller boardgame. It was republished in 2004 as part of Far Future Enterprises ''Traveller: The Classic Games, Games 1-6+''. Gameplay It was notable for attempting to cover a broad range of technological levels and having an intricate "engineering" style of vehicle design by the player using formulas and tables. The game also had an innovative command system that forced the player to lead a force and execute a plan with limited time/command pressure and constant communication/morale to maintain. The combat rules were an elaboration on the rules introduced in the Azhanti High Lightning game, using a 2D6 mechanic very different from the original "Traveller" rules. In 199 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
