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Aeanagwen ([info]aeanagwen) wrote in [info]fandom_wank,
@ 2007-08-22 03:12:00


Previous Entry  Add to memories!  Tell a Friend!  Next Entry
Entry tags:fandom: warhammer, tabletop gaming, think of the fictional children

War Gaming: Can't We All Just Get Along?
You may notice my phrasing below touch on the vague side. This is because I'm not actually in this fandom; my guyfriend modeler directed me to it.

So, there's this subset of tabletop games called war games. It involves using little tin-sculpted figures to play out strategies and battles and objectives and the like. One of the systems for it is called War Machine, put out by Privateer Press. Geared to be a brutal, violent, and above all MACHO affair, every War Machine book has a page near the start which espouses its philosophy in one glorious page of over-the-top fappery. The content of this page (Page 5, specifically--yes, it's the same in every War Machine book ever) can be summed up in one phrase, also the motto of the scenario:

Play Like You've Got A Pair.

Now, a cousin-system for War Machine is called Hordes. One of the races in Hordes is called the Skorne. With a vaguely Asian armor design which appeals to many, the Skorne are savage nomads with an exceptionally harsh, militaristic way of life developed to match their harsh native environments. They also torture animals in order to get full use out of them. Giant elephant-like beasts called titans are kept in control with hooks and chains by a class called Paingivers; the Skorne are said to have raised the methods and results of torture to an art. It's one of the race's main themes, in fact. Now, it's no secret that War Machine and Hordes have a history of putting out very twisted fluff (extra material) for the races of the fantasy world in which the systems are set, the Iron Kingdoms. As sure as D&D Monster Manuals get more horrible with every new installment, there's a certain kind of war game that probably pays its developers more for every horrified shudder that they can evoke.

But now? Oh, now they've gone too far.

A new figure is announced. An infant titan, its premise is that it is tortured to the point where its latent psychic energy manifests as an aura of pain around it, presumably with associated effects to enemy troops. And the place explodes!

Except... well, not really. Possibly the most amusing thing about all this to me is that the wank is fairly mild, but apparently a huge to-do by the standards of the board. There are many words typed about how ugly and heated the thread has gotten. (Really? Where?) They don't even hit Godwin until the last of 11 pages, shortly after which the mods finally lock the thread after several warnings. For the first several pages, it's mostly one-liners and quips one way or another about the quality of the figure and whether or not it's over the line or inappropriate. Some like it, some dislike it, some love it because others dislike it, etc.

About 40 posts in, the serious business gets underway.

"You don't like it because you're jealous!"

"If you don't like it, fine; you're too pansy for the Skorne anyway!"

"We have to consider what the public at large will think! What about our image?!"

Many thoughts about yaoi the image of war-gaming are exchanged, though the real tl;dr is a while in coming, with direct personal slurs not being made until about the 120 mark.

Best typo: "accpet that people have divirgin views on this"

And remember, kids! Even Walt Disney made his fortune, "By burning Bambi's mother with a forest fire!"

(First wank, hurt me gently, etc.)



(Post a new comment)


(Anonymous)
2007-08-22 02:26 pm UTC (link)
Don't click on the epilepsy link in the sig line of this comment, (http://forums.privateerpress.com/index.php?showtopic=119873&st=50&p=1816246&#entry1816246)if you actually have epilepsy.

(Reply to this)(Thread)


(Anonymous)
2007-08-22 02:28 pm UTC (link)
Wow cool. Code that automatically switches brackets to parentheses!

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

(no subject) - [info]mindset, 2007-08-22 08:12 pm UTC

(Anonymous)
2007-08-22 06:00 pm UTC (link)
Holy crap. I don't have epilepsy, but I might have a seizure anyway.

Idgie@LJ

(Reply to this)(Parent)


[info]iapetus
2007-08-23 07:06 pm UTC (link)
It's the famous banned Porygon episode!

Isn't this the episode that made all anime have to have the warning of "Make sure you watch TV in a well-lit room and a safe distance from the TV" or something along those lines?

(And the idea of little children watching Pokemon in a dark room so close to the TV is kinda creepy.)

(Reply to this)(Parent)


[info]crankylex
2007-08-22 03:06 pm UTC (link)
WHY DO I ALWAYS CLICK?

Poor baby elephant, er, titan.

(Reply to this)(Thread)


[info]kittenmommy
2007-08-22 11:55 pm UTC (link)
I agree. The people who enjoy that stuff are sick.

IMO of course. ;)

(Reply to this)(Parent)


[info]esclaramonde
2007-08-22 03:18 pm UTC (link)
But that's not how Bambi's mother died! MAN was in the forest!

(Reply to this)(Thread)


[info]seiberwing
2007-08-22 07:29 pm UTC (link)
And that I find fitting for this wank.

(Reply to this)(Parent)


(Anonymous)
2007-08-22 03:44 pm UTC (link)
"We have to consider what the public at large will think! What about our image?!"

Wait...wait....tabletop RPG players are concerned about the image they project?

(Reply to this)(Thread)


(Anonymous)
2007-08-22 03:54 pm UTC (link)
Yeah, something about that line is just a little...I think hilarious is the word I'm looking for here.

--Mousie Janella

(Reply to this)(Parent)


[info]demonbean
2007-08-23 05:58 pm UTC (link)
That was my first thought, too! And I'm getting into playing Warhammer 40,000 ...

But I mean, come ON, you're doing ... and you're worried about ...

I think the word I am looking for here is, "FOOLS!"

(Reply to this)(Parent)

(no subject) - magpiggles, 2007-08-24 01:11 am UTC
(no subject) - (Anonymous), 2007-08-24 06:54 am UTC

[info]kadath
2007-08-22 04:24 pm UTC (link)
Privateer? OMG I know those people. They're actually some of the mousiest guys on the planet. Hee. :D

Wargamers are incredibly wanky, but in a tl;dr Comic Book Guy sort of way.

(Reply to this)(Thread)

(no subject) - [info]anon_a_mouse, 2007-08-22 04:45 pm UTC
(no subject) - [info]exit_chrysalis, 2007-08-22 05:26 pm UTC
(no subject) - [info]wtf, 2007-08-22 05:52 pm UTC
(no subject) - [info]miraba, 2007-08-23 02:05 am UTC
(no subject) - [info]sashenka, 2007-08-22 11:21 pm UTC

(Anonymous)
2007-08-22 05:07 pm UTC (link)
But Bambi's mom was SHOT! With a GUN!

(Reply to this)(Thread)

(no subject) - [info]polygamouse, 2007-08-22 05:12 pm UTC
(no subject) - [info]nehelenia, 2007-08-22 06:23 pm UTC
(no subject) - [info]derryderrydown, 2007-08-22 08:36 pm UTC

[info]dragonfangirl
2007-08-22 05:11 pm UTC (link)
Am I the only one who thinks that "Play Like You've Got A Pair" is actually an invitation to female war games? I mean, it can be assumed that guys playing the game will, in fact, biologically be in posession of a pair; so that call for pretending can only be aimed at the rest of us.

(Reply to this)(Thread)

(no subject) - [info]napalmnacey, 2007-08-22 05:28 pm UTC
(no subject) - [info]erototoxin, 2007-08-22 11:16 pm UTC
(no subject) - [info]amaltheia, 2007-08-23 10:47 am UTC
(no subject) - [info]tsubaki, 2007-08-30 06:19 am UTC
(no subject) - [info]faemageforsaken, 2007-08-22 06:02 pm UTC
Boobies! - [info]dragonfangirl, 2007-08-23 01:00 am UTC
Re: Boobies! - anaerobica, 2007-08-23 04:18 am UTC
Re: Boobies! - [info]aerobot, 2007-08-23 04:10 pm UTC
(no subject) - [info]hinoema, 2007-08-23 10:49 am UTC
(no subject) - [info]aerobot, 2007-08-23 04:10 pm UTC

[info]rubyseeds
2007-08-22 06:24 pm UTC (link)
What in the hell?
...I thought the wank was going to be about how the armor designs are "vaguely Asian", but apparently people have ignored that. Yay Orientalism etc.

(Reply to this)(Thread)

(no subject) - [info]frau_eva, 2007-08-22 08:14 pm UTC
(no subject) - [info]vzg, 2007-08-22 09:47 pm UTC
(no subject) - [info]brown_betty, 2007-08-23 04:24 am UTC
(no subject) - [info]t_boy, 2007-08-23 05:07 am UTC
(no subject) - [info]wildskyrider, 2007-08-23 06:44 am UTC

[info]honorh
2007-08-22 07:25 pm UTC (link)
Even I don't know what a "divirgin" is, and I'd prefer not to contemplate it, thankyouverymuch.

(Reply to this)(Thread)

(no subject) - [info]wal_lace, 2007-08-22 07:29 pm UTC
(no subject) - (Anonymous), 2007-08-22 07:32 pm UTC
(no subject) - [info]honorh, 2007-08-22 07:46 pm UTC
(no subject) - [info]ghostmaster, 2007-08-22 09:41 pm UTC
(no subject) - [info]honorh, 2007-08-22 10:33 pm UTC
(no subject) - [info]diane_duane, 2007-08-23 01:52 am UTC
(no subject) - [info]honorh, 2007-08-23 03:55 am UTC
(no subject) - [info]diane_duane, 2007-08-23 07:59 pm UTC
(no subject) - (Anonymous), 2007-08-23 02:06 am UTC
(no subject) - [info]erototoxin, 2007-08-23 03:42 am UTC
(no subject) - [info]honorh, 2007-08-23 03:56 am UTC
(no subject) - [info]freckles42, 2007-08-23 10:51 pm UTC
(no subject) - [info]honorh, 2007-08-23 03:55 am UTC
(no subject) - (Anonymous), 2007-08-23 04:13 am UTC
(no subject) - [info]cmdr_zoom, 2007-08-23 06:15 am UTC
(no subject) - [info]seiberwing, 2007-08-22 07:30 pm UTC
(no subject) - [info]maureenlycaon, 2007-08-23 08:30 am UTC
(no subject) - (Anonymous), 2007-09-02 11:52 am UTC

[info]catmoran
2007-08-22 07:31 pm UTC (link)
I <3 your icon.

(Reply to this)(Thread)

(no subject) - [info]aeanagwen, 2007-08-22 09:16 pm UTC

[info]anon_a_mouse
2007-08-22 09:31 pm UTC (link)
On second thought, needs more boobies icons.

(Reply to this)


anaerobica
2007-08-23 04:14 am UTC (link)
That doesn't look even close to a baby elephant. More like a mutated toad.

(This comment isn't condoning the torture of mutated toads.)

(Reply to this)(Thread)

(no subject) - [info]kookaburra, 2007-08-23 04:18 am UTC
(no subject) - [info]danceswithelvis, 2007-08-23 06:12 am UTC
(no subject) - [info]wrazn, 2007-08-23 12:29 pm UTC

[info]tytania
2007-08-23 04:48 am UTC (link)
Why did I click that link? WHY?

So, if this thing is sending out pain waves because you've been torturing it, how exactly do you ensure that it only sends them to your enemies? How exactly are you going to get it to your enemies? Won't it inflict a crapload of damage on your own army while you're trying to transport it? Wouldn't the first person to get smacked upside the head with pain waves be, oh, I dunno, the person tormenting the dang thing followed by everything else in the immediate area- namely, your stupid pretend army? What happens if you send it towards the enemy and it gets confused and ends up heading straight for your own lot?

Whoever came up with that one was either a total moron or working for the other side.

(Reply to this)


[info]lcsbanana
2007-08-23 05:09 am UTC (link)
see, i have nothing against over the top gore porn and the like, but this doesn't even make SENSE. torture does not increase productivity! i want to make their elephant department bring in a consultant or something.

(Reply to this)(Thread)

(no subject) - [info]cmdr_zoom, 2007-08-23 06:16 am UTC
(no subject) - [info]skarrow, 2007-08-23 10:06 am UTC
(no subject) - [info]taktuk, 2007-08-23 11:32 am UTC

[info]skarrow
2007-08-23 10:05 am UTC (link)
"Torture animals to get full use out of them."

I'm fairly sure pain doesn't actually work that way. And I'm this close to making an obscure fandom macro to say so.

...mmm, Koscuisko macro.

(Reply to this)


(Anonymous)
2007-08-23 07:42 pm UTC (link)
For the past few months, hasn't fandom been trying to say fiction =/= reality? So what's the big deal? A baby titan is being tortured. It's not even a real CREATURE, let alone real life.

(Reply to this)(Thread)

(no subject) - (Anonymous), 2007-08-23 10:27 pm UTC
(no subject) - [info]dragonfangirl, 2007-08-25 12:38 pm UTC

[info]freckles42
2007-08-23 10:46 pm UTC (link)
Play like you've got a pair... of shoes? Of panties? I've got quite a few of both, thanks!

Divirgin... Is that the kind of person who believes that they can be half a virgin?

(Reply to this)(Thread)

(no subject) - [info]honorh, 2007-08-24 03:20 am UTC

[info]anonyrat
2007-08-24 10:41 am UTC (link)
Warhammer people: because even the Vampire LARPers need someone to look down on.

(Reply to this)


 
   
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