So there was this one guy in the wargaming group who wrote a post that he’d already played Nevsky three times, and each play was boring, tedious, and he really didn’t like this game. Nevsky is one of my favorite board wargames, so I just smiled and repeated to myself: “De gustibus non est disputandum. To each their own. There’s beauty in variety.” I was surprised that this guy actually spent three sessions, each four hours long, on a game he didn’t even like. On the other hand, Nevsky isn’t the cheapest, so he probably wanted to be absolutely sure it wasn’t for him. I respect that.

But not even a month later, that same gamer, in the same group, was roasting the game called Almoravid. For all of you who don’t know what Almoravid is, I will explain—it’s Nevsky, but in Spain. The same genre, the same series, just a few changes in the rules. That’s when I started to wonder.

It’s been more than a decade since I’ve participated in a tournament. Though attending conventions is my job, I usually work at the Portal Games booth at those events and don’t have time to spend hours in competitions. Also, it probably doesn’t befit someone working in the industry to fight for main prizes with other competitors. At some point in my life, I stopped competing in wargaming. I didn’t join the fight for keys in Keyforge or road building in Catan. Tournaments are a thrill, a rush of adrenaline, but also a lot of frustration, when one of the competitors focuses too much on the prize and destroys the fun for everyone else, ignoring the rules of fair play. I haven’t experienced all of this in years.

Last weekend, after my decade-long break, I took part in a tournament. I was stressed out, of course! But I packed my Arkham Horror LCG cards and went to the small, local tournament organized in a board game pub in the city I live in.

Nothing works in this game. The mechanics based on k20 dice, just like the famous Dungeons & Dragons, completely fails on every step in this case. Contested rolls are ridiculous, attacking your opponent is extremely risky, and duels are so random that it would make more sense to take a deck of regular cards and play War. The balance of available spells doesn’t exist. If you put me on a scene, I would start roasting Frostgrave for an hour, and I wouldn’t list even half of the problems I have with this game. 

Also, I have to mention I’ve played it eight times already, I bought six expansions, and last weekend I also bought a second army so that I could play two campaigns simultaneously, cause one campaign is just not enough! I’m hopelessly in love with Frostgrave.

John Wick is one of the most important creators in the RPG games industry. I had the pleasure to meet him in person just once, for a short time, when he was a guest at one of the Polish conventions. I’m that guy from the board games industry, and he’s the star of the RPG scene, but we somehow always manage to pass by each other.

John designed some of the best games in the history of RPG—Legend of the Five Rings and 7th Sea. I had lots of fun playing both these titles, but what’s equally important, they heavily influenced my beginnings in the industry. John is also a great writer—his series of articles about Orkworld, published online in 2000, had a huge impact on my narration style and marketing of my first games. This legendary collection of opinion articles, printed and bound, proudly stands on my RPG bookshelf to this day. Right next to the Orkworld, of course.