Well Told Tales offers audiobooks of pulp fiction stories. From the website:
Every Monday, the Well Told Tales podcast brings you an original short story—either sci-fi, horror or hardboiled. Think of them as audiobooks, only shorter—15 to 35 minutes, the perfect length for your commute, workout, whatever. And did we mention they’re FREE?
Clockpunk is like Steampunk—except it’s set in the Renaissance. The science fiction sub-genre is set in a Renaissance where technology that was invented many years later comes into play. Here’s a new blog called DaVinci Automata dedicated to the genre. Plenty of ideas here—especially if you already (as many of us do) own Renaissance era figures.
I remember playing a game at a Chicago convention some years ago called DaVinci something-or-other that involved a large number of Leonardo DaVinci’s war engines. It was a lot of fun.
Swedish Gamer Sven Noren has come up with one of the most original wargaming ideas that I have ever seen: battles between gingerbread men. And, of course, you eat the casualties.
Miniature Wargaming is part of the "adventure games" hobby, which includes r ole p laying and board games. Wargamers recreate battles on the tabletop with toy soldiers, like a more complicated game of chess. Models range in height from 6mm to 28mm tall, with 15mm and 25mm being the most popular. There also is a growing interest in toy soldiers and military models, such as the 1/32 and 1/35 scale plastic soldiers from Conte, and Marx.
The most popular miniature wargames are fantasy and science fiction based, such as Warhammer, Warhammer 40K, Warmachine and The Lord of the Rings. World War II games such as Flames of War and Axis and Allies are new favorites. Other favorite historical periods include Napoleonics, the American Civil War, and ancients, such as Romans or Greeks. Other gamers enjoy miniature naval wargames, recreating battles like Trafalgar, Jutland and the Coral Sea.
Hobbyists research historical periods and paint their tiny soldiers in accurate uniforms. Others develop "historically realistic" rules sets or build scale battlefield terrain using model railroad techniques.
For pictures, visit the gallery.
Some of the bigger hobby companies are Games Workshop, which produces Warhammer, Wargames Foundry and Old Glory Miniatures. Wizards of the Coast produces several lines of pre-painted miniatures games, such as the Star Wars and Dungeons and Dragons miniatures games, and a historical game with pre-painted miniatures: The new Axis and Allies game. Wizkids produces a fantasy collectable miniatures game, such as the Mage Knight and Heroclick fantasy games, the science fiction games MechWarrior and Rocketmen, as well as the quasi-historical Pirates of the Spanish Main.
