One of my favorite game magazines is actually not a magazine. Blaster is described by its creators as a games anthology. Each beefy PDF issue ($19.99) contains articles and stand-alone games by some of the most talented designers of indie tabletop skirmish games. There's Joseph McCullough (the man behind Frostgrave, Stargrave, Rangers of Shadow Deep), Sean Sutter (Relicblade, Sludge War) Ash Barker (Last Days: Zombie Apocalypse), Mike Hutchinson (Gaslands), and Joey McGuire (This is Not a Test, Reality's Edge). Everything is beautifully put together and designed by editor Greg Horton.
Blaster is a games anthology because, in every issue, each of these designers either publishes supplements, adventures, or expansions for their existing games or rules for entirely new games. Last issue (Vol 3), Sean Sutter published the rules to his exciting new age of black powder game, Sludge War (in the current Vol 4, Sean adds a huge expansion to Sludge).
In Volume 4, there are also two new standalone games. Joseph McCullough's Deathship One is a solo/coop sci-fi/horror miniatures game. Your mission is to survive an alien death trap of five rooms on a ship, each designed to kill you in different and horrible ways.
The second game in the issue is a "beer and pretzels" tank combat game by Joey McGuire, called BRUTL! Tank Arena. The idea here was to create a quick and… well brutal tank combat game so miniatures gamers could have more fun with the many tanks in their collection. And what treadhead doesn't want even more tanks in their collection? So, Blaster (and the other concerns involved) have launched a Kickstarter to fund a line of 3D printable (STL) files of tanks for the game. The tanks are customizable, with different turrets, chassis, treads, and other accessories. There are only a few days left in the campaign, so hurry if you want these tank model files.
If you play any of the games from these designers, you really should check out Blaster. If you're not playing Frost/Stargrave, Gaslands, Relicblade, and the rest, I cannot recommend them highly enough. These are some of my favorite game titles of the last few years.
Image: Screengrab
