George Barker

Tabletop Gaming - A Short History of the Force in Star Wars Board Games What really is the force? George Barker investigates how game designers have presented their answer to this question in their games over the years.

Didn't mean for this to turn into a thread but if you want to read me go into way too much detail on how board games try and capture the Force then here's this: www.tabletopgaming.co.uk/features/a-s...

It was the first time trying Rebellion's team variant and it really is the tabletop equivalent of handing your second player a controller that's not plugged in.

There are a lot of naff Star Wars board games but underlying brilliance of Memoir '44 and the tense cat-and-mouse that underpins Rebellion make these two bangers.

Star Wars Rebellion board game laid out, mid game on the table. A big galactic map board covered with small plastic figures and space ships.

Rebels coming out as back to back Hoth champs in games this weekend after a game of Battle of Hoth followed by Rebellion.

It also falls into nearly every seasonal cliche 😆

🎃 Halloween 🦇 Party 2022

A few soundtracks to start then songs picked for their name. Gets less Halloween in the back half before I just start throwing everything at the wall to make sure there's enough music for the evening.

open.spotify.com/playlist/7ja...

Painted miniature of Luke Skywalker holding a pistol and lightsaber while posing on a rock in a fly jacket.

One fresh faced farmboy ready fight the Empire.

The detail on the new @atomicmassgames.bsky.social models for #StarWarsLegion is so good.

Even painting the eyes is a treat the way they're sculpted.

That's this afternoon music sorted. Made a big playlist for a Halloween party a few years ago and it's stuck as my favourite playlist since. October really is the best month.

Schnozzam?

Watched Three Days of the Condor and now joining the long line of people convinced they need a pea coat.

Photo - Padawan Ahsoka Tano charges forward ahead of Anakin and Rex (Three Painted Miniatures for Star Wars Legion)

Photo - Padawan Ahsoka in focus, Older Ahsoka in the background (Painted Star Wars Legion Miniatures)

Padawan Ahsoka ready to lead some Clones in #StarWarsLegion.

Two Ahsokas down and another still to paint!

You Should Play HOLE It was made for me! – Hole Video Game Review

Sorry to post HOLE on main, but I picked up this gem in the Steam sale and it's been a treat to play the last few evenings. Even liked it enough to get me writing again.

bitsandpieces.games/2025/10/04/y...

Tostig the Dormouse scout, joins the Silver Claws.

#BurrowsAndBadgers

Playing with miniatures at work is serious business.

A bag of conkers

It's a good haul

Painted miniature of a Bow Street Runner. Miniature made by North Star Military Figures for their The Silver Bayonet line.

"You got a license to be undead?"

Bow Street Runner ready to investigate graveyard goings on.

#TheSilverBayonet

My perfect d6 table of potential Octopus names.

▶️▶️ Learn all about character creation for our new anthro sci-fi RPG Untamed Worlds - out this week - in the author Jack Norris's design diary on our website blog: bit.ly/46JN2Ov

Normans and Danes return to haunt battlefields of The Silver Bayonet while distant howls, signal the approach of a monstrous wolf. Looking forward to actually playing against some of these models - should have the models to work on my warband next week.

This mushroom is still wearing the rubble of the tarmac it punched its way through overnight. 🍄 💪

And then a goblin.

Watch out, they've got a pointy stick!

Two painted miniatures. Two men in ragged garments. One, wearing a top hat holds up a torch and drags a musket, the other, wearing half a skull across his face, weilds a pistol and a rusty blade.

'We're just innocent men'

Pair of freaks for #TheSilverBayonet

The Duke of Skellington and his entourage. My first minis painted up for #TheSilverBayonet.

Stanhill, Lancashire, 1764. Wear and carpenter James Hargreaves invents the Spinning Jenny, the first practical spinning-frame, to make the tedious task of producing cloth a little bit faster. He doesn't know it yet, but this will destroy the world. Spurred by inventions like his, the industrial revolution will transform everything -- work power, the wealth of nations. Society as we know it began here, and it wasn't great for everyone. But a group of weavers and textile workers saw this future coming. And did their best to prevent it.

"Curse you spinning jenny, you ruined everything!" The standard narrative does that LUDDITES were foolish lunatics who, in fear of technology, decided progress was bad, and started hitting it with sticks. But the truth is entire ways of life were being destroyed. Previously, skilled craftsmen were respected for the time and effort it took to do their work. The entire family usit would form a cottage industry - creating something valuable, and command a decent living. But when a machine can work 10 times faster its owner can charge less for the prodcts- craftsmen couldn't compete and were left out of work almost overnight. And as factories became a fixture of the british landscape, these now unemployed labourers often ended up working the factories that had just destroyed their way of life. Britain was the most prosperous nation in history, factory owners became extremely wealthy and influential. But the people doing the actual work saw almost none of it.

Factory work paid little, since "the machines" did "the real work" human labourers were deemed unimportant and replaceable. FUN FACT!: Factory owners preferred to hire ORPHANS since less people would notice if they were maimed or killed on the job! Now the owners quickly realized the workers might notice they did all the work for almost no pay. If they went on STRIKE or ARGUED FOR HGHER WAGES, this would threaten their tremendous wealth. In 1799, Parliament passed the Combination Act, which made FORMING TRADE UNIONS, COLLECTIVE BARGAINING, AND GOING ON STRIKE ILLEGAL. Organizing against the rich became a crime.

If you were living through it, opposing the industrial revolution wasn't techno-phobia. It was SELF-DEFENSE. The combination act forced unions underground into secret societies. And the greatest secret of all was their leader - Ned Ludd. Ned had been a folk character for years. In one version after being whipped by his master, he smashed two knitting frames in a rage. In more fanciful versions, he then escaped to the Sherwood forest, here he lived among the animals as their king. Some versions specifically call him 'Much Better Than Robin Hood'.

Happy Labor Day!

Today we're bringing you The First Union, as told by HBomberguy (@hbomberguy.bsky.social) and illustrated by Skutch (@skutchdraws.bsky.social) It's the dawn of the industrial revolution, and of the way many of us work...

Have you ever heard of the term "Luddite" from an elder?

A painted Star Wars Legion Miniature of Devaronian (A red alien with horns) pointing and holding a futuristic axe.

A painted Star Wars Legion Miniature of Devaronian (A red alien with horns) pointing and holding a futuristic axe.

A painted Star Wars Legion Miniature of Devaronian (A red alien with horns) pointing and holding a futuristic axe.

Quite pleased with this cheeky devil, ready to swing his vibro-axe into some fascists.

#StarWarsLegion

This is great, looking forward to more 😀

Competitive Innovations in Star Wars: Legion In our first look at Competitive Innovations in Star Wars Legion, sebezra takes a look at four big competitive events from the last month of summer.

In our first look at Competitive Innovations in Star Wars Legion, sebezra takes a look at four big competitive events from the last month of summer.

The beginnings of a new hobby project taking shape.