Liebster Nomination.

Grateful

That is the first word that comes to my mind knowing that Richard @wrkbnchwarriors and the writer of the fantastic, useful and inspiring http://blog.workbenchwarriors.com/ chose me amongst only three other bloggers for his Liebster Nomination.

Totally new to what 'Liebster' is even about, I discover that it's an award given to bloggers with less than 200 followers by other bloggers to spread the word and as the tagline says "discover new blogs!".

With this nomination I get to nominate some bloggers myself and give them some questions to answer about themselves and their blog.

This means first though, I better answer the questions Rich had for me.

Question Time

Q: What single movie, book, game or event got you into gaming in the first place?

A: This question is a goodie as I can see that different generations may answer this in different ways, I'll cheat with my answer but hopefully that will at least make it somewhat interesting.

The way I started to game was with Warhammer 40,000 during 2nd edition, my two best friends at middle school both had older brothers (of similar age) who were already fairly deep into 40k and as soon as they showed me my imagination sparked and like any young boy once I had my heart set on it I had to do it.

A sidenote to this story is although Steve and Luke my two best friends I am not in contact anymore both Mike Howlett and Matt Evans I have semi-reconnected with again through Malifaux (what this blog is all about) and Aaron Bailey.

Anyway, I guess that was the single event, seeing some Blood Angels fighting Space Orks on a carpet planet was enough for me.

Bugging my mum the first thing I actually got was a box of marines and a paint set which we bought in Scotland. Odd right being I'm as Southern English as I can be, but we were seeing family.

Bringing it back from my nostalgic tangent, the reason I said I would cheat is I think what got me into gaming, like most, really was a combination of things.

One of the main factors has to be my Mum, she always has and will be my biggest inspiration in life and although I guess I didn't notice at first, she's a huge geek, but you don't really place tags on people as a child.

Through her I watched Star Trek as a child, loved Quantum Leap, was interested in Dragons through Anne McCaffrey's Books and when I was young anything I could get my hands on including classics like the Hobbit.

Now, not to get all gamer elitist or anything but I feel in general the average one is pretty smart, if you've been doing these hobbies from a young age you probably read a lot, worked with numbers a bit and were quite creative. I know my mum could see that and she made sure to encourage this.

Final silly strange sidenote, my Uncle (on my mother's side) bought me "Dragon Quest" a Dungeons and Dragons boardgame (not the JRPG video game) when I was a kid.

I opened it, looked at some bits and that was it, I never played it.

I loved the TV show Knightmare as a kid, but for some reason it didn't appeal to me, maybe the box was too daunting, it is pretty full.

This though was before I started wargaming and had been in a cupboard up until a few months ago when I dug it out. It's funny that I never played it as now it would be something I'd definitely want to get out. D&D is something I also have never done and the first time I did an RPG I was in my twenties.

Maybe it's just because I'm more of a sci fi guy at heart?

Q: Thanks to crowdsourcing and other factors the gaming industry seems to have reverted to its diverse 1980's model of hundreds of companies of varying quality and longevity sharing the market rather than just 3 or 4.. Do you believe this is a good or bad thing? And why? And is it cyclical?

A: For the most part I think that having more companies, more games on the market is good.

Competition breeds quality, companies can't just sit back when there are many others nipping at their ankles and this means sculptors have to try harder be more creative, games designers have to test more, balance things, be imaginative and so and so forth.

Even things such as art work and for the most part background stories are better, more creative than they were 10, 20 years ago as long as you can lift those rose-tinted glasses for just a second to see.

Too many games can be a problem though, possibly diluting communities down and simply too much choice can be a headache.

However the best games simmer to the top and thrive and grow. 

Malifaux is a fantastic example of this, just look at tournament attendances over the past few years.

I would say in general wargaming itself has had a resurgence, this in itself could be the increase in variety, but the popularity allows more variety to exist, it is all very chicken and egg.

Also though, a big part is that "geek culture" is very much a thing now and a lot "cooler".

Is it cyclical? Quite possibly, but I don't believe we will ever shrink down to lots less systems, just maybe more games under a single banner with company merges etc.

Q: Which song in the history of music do you secretly wished you had written? You will not receive royalties.. This is an aesthetic choice.

A: This is difficult, taking the money out of question I guess it has to be something that is inspirational and has inspired other artists, a sort of legacy.

That and something that is clever, if I wish I had come up something (not about money) I would hope it was smart.

Part of me wants to say "Under Pressure", Queen are amazing, David Bowie is a legend and the combination of styles and the power and emotion in that song can be overwhelming.

However, Vanilla Ice has some what ruined it for me.

I have to start thinking about Metal, I like a vast array of music but metal is in my blood.

Iron Maiden are up there, but I find it hard to pick one song, I immediately move my mind to the other mainstay Metallica.

It would be easy to say "Master of Puppets" as I guess the general consensus is that it's their best song.

However for me, if I had to have picked something I would've written I would go for "One".

"One" is just such a fantastic piece of art, it shows that Heavy Metal doesn't have to be heavy throughout, it can be dramatic, haunting and still can have one of the (if not the) greatest guitar solo ever.

Yeah so that, or maybe Gangnam style.

Q: At what point does a game's background story become so written in stone that it becomes akin to historical gaming?

A: I don't think that even playing 30k or the like you can call it historical gaming. Historical gaming is based in actual history and essentially is the non-fiction to the fiction which is all the sci fi and fantasy nonsense out there.

I will say however, it is cool to see this happen with games. 40k still is my favourite world and I like the other people get a massive enjoyment from the heresy, even if I don't get why people are as wet for as they are.

It's just loads of Space Marines guys.

Q: Metal, resin (good quality), plastic, or restic?..And why?

A: Plastic, why stronger, can have the detail and will usually always be the easiest stuff to work with.

Metal chips and falls apart under it's own weight, Resin while detailed can be brittle, bend in heat and Restic, why is restic even on the list, who would pick that?

Q: At its peak which was the best show; Family Guy, South Park, Simpsons, or Futurama? Discuss

A: Well another tough one, to be picky I wonder whether or not the peak would be a single best episode? This though is hard to judge now without watching a marathon of best ofs from all four shows.

My pick will be the Simpsons.

It stands the test of time, even the newer episodes are not terrible and is grandaddy of all the others.

South Park has continued on to be great but after a while that show stopped being about South Park and was directly satire and jokes about current events in news and pop culture, things I think will be a lot less funny in a decade or two.

Also, I do love South Park, but that show does rely on shock and ridiculousness whereas Simpsons is simply just funny.

Futurama is great, loving Sci fi I love the themes but I was one of the people to hear each time it was cancelled who just didn't mind. I prefer things to have a natural end, so many shows can become terrible where they carry on for no reason.

Which brings us very nicely into Family Guy, still fairly funny but a lot of episodes these days are just crap and it has carried on for too long.

I enjoy American Dad more these days but The Cleveland Show, why, just why?

Simpsons and Family Guy will cross over soon which will be interesting though right?

My Nominations

Alright after answering those questions, here are my picks and why I think you need to check these blogs out.

I'm going to only pick 3 but I will also advise you to check out http://blog.workbenchwarriors.com/ and all the ones Richard recommends as I would do so equally.

My first pick http://thelostlighthouse.com/ @lost_lighthouse

Started up by my good friend Gary Hennessey and Adam Beech of the back of their podcast they wanted to start a geek community blog with themselves writing as well as some other regular contributors.

Partly this is cheating because I have wrote things for them, but it is fantastic without me.

Weekly polls, short snappy articles and big reviews, covering comics, video games, board games, wargaming and more The Lost Lighthouse is simply a fantastic little site.

Next it's http://fullsd.blogspot.co.uk/ my terrible friend George McStocker's mostly Dystopian Wars based blog.

I don't even like "totes 'stopes" but George @private_painter is very dedicated to his blog, updated regularly, full of top battle reports, good advice and great photos, even I can swallow it and it might just be your thing.

My last nomination will be @cheatedfatesjoe http://cheatedfatesblogging.wordpress.com/

Joe always writes interesting and genuinely thought provoking stuff, he also is one of top people who helps make the anglo-american malifaux relationship what it is, forever bridging the gap, even with that time difference.

Now Joe already has way over 200 followers, but I don't care, I'm a rules breaker I guess.

So much that I also advise you check his podcast partner in crime's @pfalcon83 blog also

http://pfalcons-nest.blogspot.co.uk/

Okay so that's 4 picks.

Better come up with some questions.

Answer Me!

1. What Movie was the biggest disappointment for you, not the worst, the one that let you down?
2. If you had to, would you rather lose you legs or your hands?
3. What property would you like to be seen made into a game, be it a board, video or wargame, that hasn't been done yet?
4. What's your choice of condiment to have with your fries/chips if any?
5. What is your favourite video game that most people won't have played?
6. Tell me your "guilty pleasure" movie, the film that you know is terrible but you still love.

I think that'll do for the questions.

Thanks again to Richard for the nomination and thanks again to you for reading this blog.

-Ben (@psientologist)