The siege engines have arrived and I'm giving them a very quick paint job to get as many as I can ready for battle this evening!
There are manganels, siege towers, battering rams, mine heads and covered wheeled carts (rams with no ram) which I'm going to at some point probably turn into cannon but until then can just be used to more safely get men to the walls.
Those pesky Hundred Years War English lead by King Paul thought they'd try their luck besieging my new lovely French town this evening.
Thankfully the fool only brought ladders, incompetent miners and dysentery with him.
To greet him, my followers heated everything they could and welcomed those who climbed the ladders with 'hot presents from above".
Very good fun, only now he's got it in his head to go for a walking tour through my lands starting with another siege at Harfleur and this time I'm sure I hear a lot of sawing, hammering and swearing... I wonder what he's up to 🤔.
Using Dan Mersey's Arrowstorm rules with some home made WiP siege rules influenced by some other bits I found.
Captured pretty well both the drain that waiting around brought, as well as the high risk of trying to scale the walls.
Good fun indeed, a campaign following some guy called Henry 5 to follow.
Finished up forces of French and one of England 3mm hundred years war units. Various things I might have done differently in hindsight but they're done enough and really that's all that matters.
On the back of each unit is a visual code of what type they are, though I've also tried make things like colour and design of the mini consistent for ease of reference.
I intend to use with Arrow Storm and Super, Tiny Giant Battles.
The latter didn't have enough scope for the slightly wider range of unit types so bodging some small amendments, and thinking of a small map based campaign to use.
My friend uses Playmobile pirates, Gauls from a certain village and Romans... I am pleased to be an enabler for this mainia lol.
I came back from seeing the performance of The Swamp Dwellers by Wole Soyinka, directed by Dr Mojisola Kareem, buzzing!
Everything from the performances by the cast, the use of set, space and the tech came together to transport you to a different time and place but with a strong sense of the familiar.
From the opening of the performance as Makuri (Jude Akuwudike) and Alu (Urielle Klien-Mekongo) gaze out of their house into the rain, and bicker like the old married couple they are, the theatre melted away.
All the ingredients, like the use of sound (Rob Hart), the set (Sarah Lewis-Cole), lighting (Chris Newsome), scene logistics and installation (Anita Adams and Matt Stirk) the costumes (Emma Walker) and of course stage management (Victoria Lewis) had been mixed in such a fabulous way that every small detail added to a glorious whole.
The arrival of Begger, played with such calm power by Obi Maduegbuna, brought a character filled with a profound sense of earnest honesty. Even when not speaking his presence was an essential contrast to the big emotions of the other characters.
The heart warming back and forth, so naturally played by Makuri and Alu, continued until the arrival of Kadiye (Theo Ogundipe).
After the show, my friends and I pondered as to how tall Theo is because although naturally of a decent height, the power of his movements and expressions meant he easily seemed to exceed 9ft!
Part of the presence of Kadiye however is the support of his Attendant (Omobolanle Akanbi), a quiet but essential compliment to his master, and Drummer (Ayan De First aka Mr Culture) who, with great skill, beats out a rhythm which helps to underscore the professed unworldliness of Kadiye.
It is here you again see the masterful work of the whole team as direction, tech and performances come together to take us, the audience, to not only the space of this village as mentioned above, but it's culture, social norms and troubles. These again have the familiarity of challenges common to all people but unique to this time and place.
The final cast member to arrive is Igwezu (Joshua Roberts-Mensah) the son of Makuri and Alu.
Initially I was not sure what to make of his unassuming arrival. "He seems so withdrawn and quiet," I thought, fearing that his character might be overshadowed by the others... but how wrong was I to have any doubt!
The performance Joshua gave escalated steadily and powerfully, taking my breath away and then startled me with this performance's Chekhov's... well it had nothing to do with guns but certainly made me jump!
The close of the performance had each audience member in a stunned silence until the cast emerged and their deserved applause began.
A fantastic performance from everyone on and off stage, I am very much looking forward to what Utopia Theatre does next, and am disappointed to have missed what they have done before.
Side note: I write this review while not in a good place mentally. On the walk down the idea of seeing people felt too hard, yet on I went.
Seeing the show, and meeting some of the cast and crew afterwards were a joy.
This honest review is my thank you to everyone at Utopia Theatre, you were a bright light in my dark rainy swamp.
Hello,
Not sure who to direct this to, mods I assume but I don't know how to contact them.
I recently posted about a game design event, specifically about the designing of games by those who do or are interested in this topic... and it doesn't seem to have been approved to posting.
As far as I could see it ticked all the criteria boxes so not sure what I'm missing - any one any advice?
This is not my event but very much seems to vibe with this group and comes from a team who do a lot of pondering on games and game design.
18th and 19th July 2026, Sheffield UK.
Games for Crabs is a weekend retreat for game designers based around the concept of Inhuman-Centred Design.
Inhuman-Centered Design is an experimental attempt to hone game design skills through defamiliarisation: finding perspectives on how we design games for humans by designing for non-humans.
It is also an opportunity to discuss and collaborate with fellow designers, in a relaxed and friendly environment.
Hello Everyone,
After the previous two groups have been really positive, and thank you to everyone who was able to make it, the group will be continuing 🥳.
Every two weeks from this Wednesday, 13th May.
11:00ish to 12:00ish
Norfolk Park Medical Practice, S2 3TA
We also have an email address if you have any questions:
SheffieldFNDSupport at gmail.com
No need to bring anything or book just rock up.
Hope to see you there.