Been a while since I got any updates posted here. Head full of other things.

A couple of weeks ago, I stopped in at one of the FLGSes in Roanoke. They had a new section of shelves devoted to BLKOUT. The game had been on the edge of my radar for a while, but the last things I need are more unpainted miniatures and another game system played by no one I know. Also, the last time I’d looked at the publisher, Enemy Spotted Studio, they were still leaning heavily into dudebro/vetbro mouthbreathing idiocy in their advertising, with the owner/founder doing balaclavaed videos under the nom de tube of “Head Goon.” Ugh. Hard pass.

Having said that… I got to chatting with the shop owner, who indicated that the game was starting to get some traction with his regulars. I went home without more minis (but an as-yet-unread copy of Dolmenwood purchased in the name of supporting a good FLGS). I spent enough time poking around the net to come away with a slightly more favorable opinion of BLKOUT. The minis have always looked good (and they’re made in North Carolina, which is a plus these days), the *bro advertising schtick appeared to be dead, and accounts of play seemed pretty good. I reached out on the shop’s Discord server and made contact with a guy who’s been running demos in the area.

Last week, I wandered back up to Roanoke for one of said demos and came away more impressed than I expected to be. The game lore could use a serious professional developer’s hand to rationalize some of the more hyperbolic elements, but the rules are really appealing. My opponent and I were both novices who’d read the rules but not actually used them before, and we knocked out a 3-unit vs. 3-unit game on a 2’x2′ board in an hour. I’d expect experienced players to resolve such a skirmish in 30 to 40 minutes. The level of complexity is not overwhelming, and any given mix of units provides interesting tactical choices.

More to come on this if I don’t lose focus and can motivate myself to get back to the blog.