Long ago, there was the source.

From it flowed all magic.

Its mages were called sorcerers, and they guarded their power jealously.

For with it, they dominated all things.

The empire of sorcery ruled over the entire continent.

Yet in time all empires fall.

–

The source was shattered,

From it came the Tempest,

and from the Tempest came the Winds.

Now the Winds have made mages of us all.

So begins the website for Magewinds, a miniatures agnostic fantasy warband game made by my friend Rachel where everyone is a mage. Designed to be easy to pick up, quick to play and packed with tactical gameplay, I can attest to all three being true. The rules are more importantly really fun to play – thanks to the card-based magic system, every activation with every character is packed full of possibilities, while the combat system keeps both players involved

I’ve never really been excited about playing big-battle Napoleonics.

To be clear, I have no problem with the period. I enjoy Sharpe as much as any full-blooded Yorkshireman is required to, and I can be suitably wowed by a large-scale display of massed ranks on the field of battle (I’m not an unfeeling monster after all). The problem I have is three-fold. One, I don’t want to paint that many troops. Two, my knowledge of the period tactics and strategies isn’t anywhere close to things post the invention of bolt action rifles leaving me with the instinctive knowledge of what I should be doing at any one time. Finally, and most controversially, most of the black powder era games I’ve played have been boring as sin – all those pretty units sitting and doing not much aside from rolling dice to remove a figure or two, moving blocks of troops

One positive of tidying up in preparation to move house is going through my workshop/printing room and finding things I’ve 3D printed but haven’t yet had a chance to actually paint and get on the tabletop. Having owned a 3D printer for almost two years (that’s also concerning), I have had one or two things fall into this category. Looking for some easy wins, I dived in on these two projects I had discovered and quickly hammered them out.

First up, we had these three Wood Elf monoliths from Last Sword Miniatures. These pieces were one of the things that really grabbed me about the Kickstarter they ran (alongside the lovely models that Last Sword are experts at hammering out). These pieces are something that would be really handy for any fantasy game either as background dressing for encounters or maybe even objectives by themselves (perhaps protecting their magical energy