A2- Secret of the Slaves Stockade – Old School AD&D Thoughts and a Review

NOTE: Way back in 2011 I reviewed the entire Slavers series on Dragonsfoot. As I now improve my blog, I'm moving all my content from around the web to here. This is the second review in the A Series for AD&D.

A2 Secret of the Slavers Stockade
By Harold Johnson with Tom Moldvay
An adventure for characters levels 4-7

A2 is part of the much-loved A-series and is written by Harold Johnson with Tom Moldvay. The last page notes “Special thanks to Tom Moldvay, without whom this module would not have been finished.” One wonders what production headaches led to that line. My guess? It ran into serious issues before it went to print aka deadline crunch.

At 40 pages this one is a bit bigger than the rest of the series, and it just might be my favorite of the lot. Along with A1, A2 represents some of my first forays into AD&D — and it’s personal. I still have the character I adventured with back then: a ranger named Leif Garwind. (We were studying Vikings in school at the time, so sue me.)

Let’s start with the outside: Roslof cover art? Check. That gold-ish tone instead of A4’s unfortunate pink? Check. Erol Otus cloaker on the back cover that actually makes sense? Check. With the presentation and the maps inside, we’re off to a strong start.

The PCs arrive outside the fortress thanks to the hook from A1 - Slave Pits of the Undercity. Getting in is no easy matter. There’s essentially one main entrance staring you in the face (barring the obscure Area 39 route). The gate guards are nothing special, but the anhkheg at Area 5 combined with guards on the walls and flaming oil from Area 6 is a recipe for a very quick TPK aka ("Total Party Kill). As a Dungeon Master I love anhkhegs for item saving throws and general chaos, but this opening gauntlet is brutal.

Assuming your party survives the meat grinder (or sneaks in another way), the rest of the compound opens up, though it’s rarely easy. Area 13 can mean instant capture if you’re not careful. Area 19 has that classic old-school wackiness (supernatural events that are actually ruses), which I enjoy in principle but felt a bit forced here. The cloaker at Area 25 is legitimately cool and can absolutely ruin a party’s day.

The half-orcs, hobgoblins, and slave-taking flavor build a nasty little ecosystem. Then you hit the real bosses: the Executioner (Area 32), Icar the blind fire-loving swordsman (Area 5), and especially Markessa in her laboratory (Area 22). Markessa is properly unhinged — chaotic evil experiments on slaves to create the “perfect” servant. The fight there, with its owl bears and body horror, still stands out.

Below ground the slave pens and caves add another layer. The varied prisoners (including potential future allies) give the module real campaign depth. The whole place just feels lived-in and nasty in a way that rewards multiple reads.

Notes

• Less Jeff Dee is generally better, though I do like his Icar piece. His stuff works for other games, less so for fantasy in my opinion.
• Otus and the other interior art  (minimal as it is) still carries the module.
• The maps are some of the best fortress layouts in early AD&D. They are clean and clear and are believable for the environment.

Strengths 

One of the greatest strengths of A2 is the detail of the maps. If you’re like me, A2 represented one of the best early examples of a fully realized castle/fortress in published AD&D. It was fascinating to my eight-year-old self; back when my friends and I were figuring the game out with no one teaching us. The map is dense, with lots of ground to cover and a believable, lived-in feel. The crumbling, partially repaired construction of the fort adds atmosphere, and little touches like the madman playing mind games with the hobgoblins (climbing around in areas 16a-f) give the place real personality. 

This is the module that feels the most like a real, functioning evil outpost. The NPC leaders have personality (especially crazy Markessa and fireproof Icar). The mix of monsters, traps, and role-play opportunities is strong. It oozes atmosphere and has that slight Warhammer-adjacent grimness I loved even back then.

An overlooked part of A2 in my opinion is that it introduces a number of iconic AD&D monsters: boogle (obviously an homage to Gollum), cloakers, phantoms, and haunts. This wasn't suprising for early TSR modules: new monsters and magic items were par for the course.

Weaknesses A frontal assault is borderline suicidal for a typical 4-7th level party. The defenders are well-positioned, and reinforcements or alarms can snowball fast. Some of the traps and set pieces (the swinging chandelier, for example) feel a bit contrived. Loot is better than A1- Slave Pits of the Undercity, but still modest for the risk unless you’re running the whole series.

Closing A2 isn’t perfect, but it’s the strongest of the A-series for me. It has the best mix of atmosphere, memorable villains, and that lived-in slaver-fortress vibe. If your party is smart (or lucky), it becomes a nasty, rewarding crawl. If they’re not…well, bring spare characters.

The original review can be found here on Dragonsfoot.

Have you run or played A2? Did the fortress assault go as badly as I suspect it often did? Let me know in the comments.

The Greatest Warriors of the Westeros- #5 Daemon I Blackfyre, The Black Dragon

Daemon Blackfyre by Amok ©

 

Back in 2011 I originally created a Top 10 list of the Greatest Warriors of the Westeros. What began as a Top 10 expanded to a full 20 in light of the additional material and perspective we gained rom new books and sources. Because of that, certain characters did not appear in the list and are now added to the overall Top 20. 

Also note that because of the tie at #3 with Jaime Lannister and Barristan Selmy, there is no number 4 on the list.

The overall Top 20 Greatest Warriors of the Westeros can be found here. 

#5- Daemon I Blackfyre, The Black Dragon

Daemon Blackfyre is one of the most fascinating warriors in all of A Song of Ice and Fire. He could have been written as a one-dimensional villain or usurper. Instead, George R. R. Martin presents him as a figure whose martial excellence is respected by friend and foe alike.

His parentage is not surprising for a Targaryen, and it all starts with is mother Daena Targaryen. Before we get to his father, its important to discuss Daena's first husband, her brother Baelor the Blessed. Its enough to know that their marriage was never consummated due to Baelor's piety, despite being married for a number of years. She eventually escaped the Maidenvault where Baelor had kept her.

Art by Marc Simonetti ©

Now enter Daemon's father who was Daena's cousin ending up becoming Aegon IV "The Unworthy", the most monstrous and cruel King to ever sit on the Iron Throne. His vices and gluttony were legendary in the annals of the Seven Kingdoms. No woman high or low could slake appetites. 

It would be the legitimizing and knighting of Daemon by his father (plus gifting him Blackfyre) over his own true born son Daeron that would set the stage for much misery to come in the form of the Blackfyre Rebellions.

In due time his elder half-brother Daerin II ascended to the throne.. right after Aegon IV legimized all his bastards on his death bed. Dropping the name Rivers, Daemon took Blackfyre as the name of his house. For time the peace held.

The 1st Blackfyre rebellion did not come immediately but when it did it was a year of violence culminating with the Battle of the Redgrass Field. Daemon fought Ser Gwayne Corbray of the Kingsgaurd in a masterful duel and eventually defeated him only to be undone by a storm of arrows  at the behest of Brynden Rivers, The Blood Raven. 

The Blackfyres vs the Targaryens  by Gary Gianni ©

Character

Unlike many legendary figures from Westerosi history, Daemon's reputation is particularly compelling because it survived despite the politics of the Blackfyre Rebellion. He was the losing claimant, the rebel whose descendants would wage generations of failed wars against the Iron Throne, though none as successfully as the first. If anything, history had every reason to diminish his accomplishments. Instead, he is consistently remembered as handsome, charismatic, courageous, and one of the greatest warriors of his age.

Daemon was more than a gifted swordsman. He was a battlefield commander who inspired fierce loyalty from some of the finest knights in the realm. Wielding the Valyrian steel sword Blackfyre, he embodied the image of the ideal warrior-king, and his personal magnetism was a major reason so many rallied to his cause. Its remarked that he is "The Warrior himself" upon the battlefield.

Martin also uses Daemon as one of his favorite literary devices: contrast. The son of arguably the worst Targaryen king became one of the greatest warriors in Westerosi history. His cause ultimately failed, but his reputation as a fighter endured. That says as much about the man as it does about the legends surrounding him. History is written by the winners its said, but in this case even though he lost he has near universal acclaim a century later.

As a leader of men he is also universally praised through history and thus gains additional standing in this list because of it. 

Verdict

Had Daemon been born legitimate, he might have made a great king. He had all the hallmarks for it. The smallfolk and highborn alike remarked that he looked and acted like a king, that he was everything a king should be.

But alas, his mother’s schemes to become pregnant derailed that. And if we look at it honestly, the fault can be laid at the feet of Baelor the Blessed driving her into the arms of her cousin, Aegon. Had he not, it’s interesting to ponder how much bloodshed and misery might have been avoided. In a way this parallels the choice Rhaegar made when he passed over his own wife to crown Lyanna Stark the Queen of Love and Beauty at the Tourney of Harrenhal a century later as told through the thoughts of Ser Barristan.

The major repercussions of that tourney would have huge consequences. And so it would be that the decisions of Baelor the Blessed outlived him.

 

Judge's Guild - Deluxe Collectors Edition Volume I

 

Talk about a post lingering in a draft state, that would be this one...

I got my copy of Judge's Guild - Deluxe Collectors Edition Volume I in late spring 2018, but I didn't fully "receive it" till Christmas. And in true fashion of the delay surrounding the book, I just finally got around to blogging about it… in 2026.

That alone probably tells you something.

I’ve got some conflicted feelings here, and they didn’t start with the book itself. For years, I’ve listened to grognards go on....and on....endlessly about the supposed glory days of Judges Guild. About how their products were "the greatest thing ever!"

You know the type. Everything modern is garbage, everything old is genius, and if you don’t agree, you “just don’t get it.” Normally, I tune that kind of noise out completely. But this time? The sheer, relentless insistence got through. Not in a convincing way, but in a “fine, I’ll see it for myself” kind of way.

And that’s the key point here: I didn’t come to this book fresh. I came to it carrying years of secondhand hype, contrarian instinct, and probably a bit of irritation. That matters.

So when I finally cracked open the tome, I wasn’t looking for validation, I was looking for clarity not someone else's, my own.

First impressions: the layout is exactly what you’d expect from a “best of” compilation. Because let’s not kid ourselves, that’s what this is. It’s a curated slice of early material, framed with just enough historical context to give it weight. The opening section does a solid job walking through the early history of Judges Guild, grounding the reader in that late-70s moment when tabletop RPGs were less an industry and more a frontier.

And that’s really the lens you have to use here: frontier.

Once you move past the intro, you hit the actual content: the early modules, the raw material. And this is where things get interesting. Not because it’s polished. Not because it’s elegant. But because it isn’t.

This stuff is rough. Not “bad” rough, but unfiltered rough. You can feel that these were written at a time when nobody had figured out what a module “should” look like yet. There’s a looseness to the structure, an almost improvisational quality. Organization can be spotty. Key information isn’t always where you expect it. Some encounters feel like they were dropped in because they seemed cool at the time, not because they serve a larger design.

And yet…

There’s a kind of energy here that’s hard to ignore.

You start to see what the grognards are actually responding to: not the execution, but the possibility. These modules don’t hold your hand. They don’t try to balance every encounter or script every outcome. They assume a Dungeon Master who is willing, expected, even to fill in gaps, make rulings, and shape the experience at the table.

It’s less a finished product and more a toolkit. Or maybe more accurately, a box of parts.

That’s both its greatest strength and its biggest weakness.

If you come to this expecting modern standards: tight layout, clear encounter design, balanced progression, you’re going to bounce off hard. There’s no way around that. But if you approach it as a snapshot of the hobby in its formative years, it becomes something else entirely. Not better, necessarily, but more revealing.

And this is where I land, at least for now:

The book didn’t convert me into a Judges Guild evangelist. Not even close. But it did cut through the noise. It stripped away the myth and replaced it with something more useful: a direct look at what these products actually were.

Not sacred texts. Not forgotten masterpieces.

Just early work. Messy, ambitious, uneven…and occasionally, genuinely interesting.

And honestly? That’s probably more valuable than the hype ever was.

A end note, if you've never seen this thing in person? its a beast of a book, 18x13x1 1/2 inches. Not sure of the weight but if swung as a weapon it could certainly do some damage, maybe a footman's mace, 1d6+1 vs Small/Medium, 1d6 vs Large.

Warhammer - A Mighty Fortress...Sort Of...

It is important to first note that this is not that Mighty Fortress.

In fact this castle came about from missing out on that terrain piece back in the day and even recently on eBay... at least at a price that I'm willing to pay.

This Empire style castle originally started out as my attempt at recreating Castle Wittgenstein from Death on the Reik. In the end life got in the way and it wasn’t really going to be practical for anything other than playing the module. I got as far as the part which would become the gatehouse seen above, which corresponds to The Guard Tower (areas 28-29 / page 70 of the module).

While I did not finish the entire castle, I did set aside the work I had done, not knowing what I might use it for in the future. Seasoned terrain makers know this: never throw anything away. You never know when it might be needed.

It is also important to point out the timeline for this particular castle. I built it in January 2025 but have not blogged about it till now. After utilizing the same construction methods for the Guard Tower for T1- The Village of Hommlet I decided to go back and chronicle this one too.

In a way it was an idea to create an iconic castle from the RPG world in the same vein as the Moathouse from the fame of T1 - The Village of Hommlet that has come full circle. From the first attempt at Castle Wittgenstein inspired by the Moathouse to this to the Guard Tower in T1. As the band said, what a long strange trip it has been.

Materials List

• Cardboard
• Posterboard
• Crescent board (it is thicker than poster board)
• Balsa wood
• Thin card (from cereal boxes and cracker boxes)
• Foamcore (this is critical for keeping the weight down; used in the towers and walls)
• Popsicle sticks
• Toothpicks
• Finishing nails (rivets for the gates) 
• 1/2 gallon milk containers (towers) 
• White glue
• Super glue
• X-Acto knife
• Single hole puncher
• Saw tooth pattern scissors
• Coping saw

That’s it. it really doesn't take much more than that to create terrain pieces.

 

Finishing the Gatehouse 

When I did pick this back up the main task of the gatehouse was the upper wooden structure itself. I decided to make it removable and with vertical wooden walls inside and out. The six windows per side were an easy matter of cutting square toothpicks.

Gatehouse under construction

While the removable roof was a long process I actually enjoyed it. The roofing is standard and I have done it numerous times on terrain pieces. The only difference here was the angle. Simply cut some thin cardboard, overlap and glue. When I got to the inside roof however? For some strange reason I used Popsicle sticks and balsa wood to finish it off fully. While it will never really come into play during a game it does have the added benefit of having made the roof very strong and square.

The doors to the gatehouse were a bit of trouble as I bought some small metal hinges to make them swing open. The trouble from this arose in the fact that I had not initially intended for them to swing open. Rather they were going to be a solid static piece that would be removed for access. I wonder if that would have been the better route to go but on any event I made it work.

A special note is the jagged tooth scissors I had worked wonders for the patterns on the front gate. It was a simple matter of cutting them out of poster board and stacking several layers and later painting a rusty metallic color.

Construction

With the gatehouse roughly complete I was able to create the walls and towers easier. In a single night I was able to cut and assemble the foamcore basis of the walls and line up the four 1/2 gallon milk cartons that would become the towers.

Rounding to form

From there I figured out a way to make the battlements easier. Being that the walls were straight I simply made two posterboard templates. One was slightly taller than the other allowing for the angling of each battlement "tooth" echoing the Mighty Fortress kit. The key lesson was to only lightly score the bottom portion of each space between each tooth. This had the practical effect of making sure that each battlement section was a uniform width. From there it was a simple matter of placing the taller template in the back and the slightly shorter one towards the front edge of the wall with a slight overhang.

The overhang was needed for the machicolations which turned out to be easy to do. I simply measured
the length of the wall section in question, cut a piece of crescent board, and then used the single hole puncher being mindful of the spacing. Glued at an angle and done. I repeated this for the other three walls and two small wall sections near the gate.

One thing I wanted to do to add distinction to the towers was create a pronounced arrow loop on each external facing. These proved to be surprisingly easy to do and in the end added a lot of character.

Once the walls were complete I pondered just how to construct the walls themselves to look like stone. As a test I mixed up some concrete with a lot of glue. The results were less than impressive. The mixture did not adhere well and fortunately did not damage the walls. Even before I attempted this I knew I was going to have to cut and glue everything stone wise. I was simply looking for alternatives to the monotony of cutting and gluing.

WIP after the walls completed

About a week later I had barreled through the task of adding "stone" to the walls and towers. From there I tested the fit of each wall section and how they lined up before creating the balsa wood doors on each tower and double checked they lined up again.

Painting

After the failed attempt at the concrete mix I was a bit more alert on painting the castle proper. To start I used one of the smaller wall sections that flanked the guardhouse as a test. By this I mean I dry brushed it in succession: dark gray, medium gray and very lightly white. From there I did another dry brush of a very light mid orange and then washed it with watery black.

Once I had it down the next step was to repeat it on the walls and towers and add grass and rocks to the base of the walls.

In my opinion the color scheme works. I was surprised it was the light orange dry brush that pulled it together to echo field stone rather than plain solid gray. Too much gray makes a castle look fake and uninteresting. By doing it this way it pops more.

Taking Stock and Lessons Learned

Overall this was the fourth castle/fortress/tower I have built from nothing more than the material list above. In each case I learned something new and fair number of ways to not construct things.

The tally of castles, fortresses, and towers stands as follows:

• A castle for Warhammer Siege for my buddies back in our high school days. It is long since lost in various moves from the house I grew up in. I built this one around 1990/91. It was all one unit and not modular. From its bulky nature I learned not to do that again...
• A watch tower I made from a 1/4 milk carton (still have that one), circa 2001.
• The Nippon castle  for my Nippon army in 3rd Edition Warhammer. As documented on the blog from 2012 to finally finishing it in 2020. This is modular for the walls but the central keep is not.
• A Dark Ages fortress that started simply from me noodling around whittling sticks. Finished in 2021.
• In 2024 the simple Watch Tower from page 43 of the How to Make Wargames Terrain book from Games Workshop.
• The Guard Tower  at Area #31 in T1 - The Village of Hommlet, July 2026.

Through all these I have learned three simple lessons: make it modular, keep it light and keep the materials list simple. And again I can’t stress it enough: make it light.

Final Thoughts 

All in all the project came out well considering its stop and start beginnings as an entirely different terrain piece. One of the things I am most happy about is how everything fits together well due to making it modular from the start. That and the fact the long straight wall sections are also useful for role playing games like AD&D.

The color of the whole thing was a surprise but a pleasant one. If it is a bit on the orange side in the photos that is OK. In person it is fairly subdued and works well with the color of the gatehouse roof.

Maybe someday in the future I will try again with Castle Wittgenstein but not now. The scale of Castle Von Wittgenstein which I initially based the terrain off of? It would be massive. Based on the illustration on the cover of the module and the comparison of the maps inside (which do not really match up at all) it was a bit off.

The cover art for Death on the Reik is iconic in fantasy games but the grandeur of the castle does not really translate well to 25mm scale in my opinion. At least that is what I found with the initial attempts.

That said, who knows what the future holds.

The Word of Hashut - Part IV, All Good Things

 

Parts I, II and III detail in full each step of the way of the journey that was the Word of Hashut.

Perhaps now that I'm older I can appreciate the accomplishment that the Word of Hashut represented. Through Parts I through III I hopefully shed some light onto just what went on behind the scenes and everything that made it what it was. There is much more to it than that but I wanted to preserve a bit of history regarding it.

More so then an ezine, the Word of Hashut captured the essence of Chaos Dwarfs Online at the time: We didn't need Games Workshop, they needed us. We didn't need official rules, we could and would make our own. The talented painters, sculptors, amazing writers and the community as a whole was lightning in a bottle. I'm honored and humbled even now to have been part of it.

Time however for us mortals has cruel pace to it: sometimes a blur, sometime interminably long. The years march on and in come respects when I joined Chaos Dwarfs Online in 2007? Seems like it was only yesterday. A blink and now Ms Willmark is grown and graduated from college, Willmark Jr approaching 21.

Likewise, some of the graybeards like me have stepped back and the joints are a bit stiffer (a sorcerer turning to stone already?) and others have taken the mantle forward with the new site on  Discourse (Chaos Dwarfs Online)

This is entirely proper and how it should be.

The new replaces the old. And the old? They line the main avenue - chaos sorcerers turned to stone on the way to the Grand Ziggaraut in Zharr Naggrund. 

Speaking of which I want to thank everyone who worked on it. To list everyone would take some time and I don't want to miss or slight anyone. Best bet is to download copies and see just who did what each issue.

Until the next time we cross paths, just remember we Chaos Dwarfs never forget a grudge, nor do we forgive! For ours is a grudge eternal and maybe just maybe one of the most powerful forces that the Warhammer Community has ever seen!

To close, I know its a cliched saying, but for me it rings true when looking back on the ezine: "Don't cry that its over, smile that it happened."

Truer words have never been spoken.

One last part, I have to share again what is perhaps my favorite example of chaos dwarf miniatures and the corresponding paint job by Harvestmouse!

The Greatest Warriors of Westeros- Revised 2026

 

I am a huge fan of George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire (ASOIAF). I’ve read the main novels multiple times, devoured Fire & Blood, and re-watched the various television series multiple times as well. Across the five published books, the companion volumes, and the broader history of Westeros, Martin has given us an incredible roster of warriors: shining paragons of knighthood, cunning tacticians, and downright devious (or monstrous) fighters.

Back in 2011, before the release of A Dance with Dragons, I originally compiled a Top 10 list of the greatest warriors in Westeros (see the orginal list below). With new material and years of additional perspective, it was clear the rankings needed a thorough revision. Some positions have shifted, a few names dropped off, and the list has now expanded to a full Top 20.

What follows is my current, updated ranking—part tribute, part analysis, and entirely my own opinion. Rankings are based on a mix of demonstrated skill, battlefield reputation, leadership, and overall impact within the world of ice and fire.

What Matters in This Ranking

• Warrior Ability First — Raw combat skill, proven feats, and battlefield effectiveness take priority. (Note: “Best knight” in the chivalric sense and “best warrior” are not always the same thing, as the Red Viper clearly demonstrates.)
• Prime Condition — Characters are judged at their peak, not in their current or declining state.
• Books Take Precedence — The novels are the primary canon. The television show is secondary. When both align (e.g., Ser Arthur Dayne), it strengthens the case. When they diverge (e.g., Brienne of Tarth), the books win. Example: Brienne is one of the strongest fighters in the current timeline, but her book feats (including nearly dying to Biter) keep her from ranking higher. The show version becomes somewhat inflated in later seasons.
• Reputation + Results — What other characters say about them, combined with what they have actually accomplished.

Note on Leadership: While this ranking focuses primarily on individual warrior ability and combat prowess, leadership is used as a secondary tiebreaker when two warriors are otherwise close. Ser Arthur Dayne needs no help here—his reputation stands on pure skill. For something like Jaime Lannister versus Barristan Selmy, Jaime earns a slight edge due to his battlefield command experience. Robert Baratheon’s leadership during Robert’s Rebellion (ultimately winning a kingdom) boosts him significantly. The same logic applies elsewhere when feats are nearly equal.

So with all that said here are the new updated rankings. It's also important to note the tie at #3. The daylight between the two is so small in my opinion its near impossible to say one is better than the other.

Map of Westeros by Arwo1f can be found here

 

Twenty Greatest Warriors of Westeros

1. Ser Arthur Dayne, The Sword of the Morning - Untouchable #1. Near-universal consensus as the greatest knight Westeros has ever seen.

2. Oberyn Martell, The Red Viper of Dorne - His fight with the Mountain alone and overall deadliness justify it.
3A. Ser Jamie Lannister, The Kingslayer - Perhaps the greatest natural talent and prodigy of his generation.

3B. Ser Barristan Selmy, The Bold, - Lord Commander of the Kingsguard - All-time great. Legendary longevity and skill.

5. Daemon Blackfyre - The Black Dragon. Fire & Blood confirms his strength as a warrior and leader.

6. Aemon the Dragonknight - Legendary Targaryen hero. One of the most revered knights in history.

7. Robert Baratheon - An absolute monster in his prime during Robert’s Rebellion.

8. Sandor Clegane, TheHound - Fearsome size, skill, and surprising conscience make him a standout.

9. Gregor Clegane, The Mountain - Brutal strength and terror personified. Westeros’ most monstrous fighter.

10. Daemon Targaryen, The Rogue Prince - Charismatic, daring, and exceptionally skilled in battle.

11. Victarion Greyjoy -Ironborn brute force and veteran of countless raids and battles

12. Bronn - The smartest fighter on the list. Survives by knowing exactly when and how to fight.

13. Brynden Tully, The Blackfish - Uncompromising defender of Riverrun and one of the most respected knights alive.

14. Garlan Tyrell - Skilled and often underrated warrior of the Reach.

15. Gerold Hightower, The White Bull, Lord Commander of the Kingsguard - Tower of the Joy legend.

16. Rheagar Targaryen - The Prince of Dragonstone. Warrior-poet with immense talent.

17. Mance Rayder - King-Beyond-the-Wall. Battle-hardened leader of the Free Folk

18. Jon Snow - Rising force with proven skill, leadership, and resilience.

19. Qhorin Halfhand - Elite ranger of the Night’s Watch. Legendary among the brothers.

20. Brienne of Tarth - One of the strongest current-timeline fighters, despite some early setbacks.

In time I'll be reviewing all of them fully and adding the links back here. Part of the fun of this its all 

For the sake of completeness the original list from 2011 was as follows. In all cases I've gone back and repurposed the exiting entries and updated rather than leave them as is. I did this to avoid confusion of having two sets of posts for the same character on the blog. 

1. Ser Arthur Dayne, The Sword of the Morning

2. The Red Viper of Dorne

3. Ser Jamie Lannister, The King Slayer

4. Ser Barristan Selmy, Lord Commander of the Kingsguard

5. Sandor Clegane, The Hound

6. Syrio Forel

7. Gregor Clegane, The Mountain

8. Robert Baratheon

9.  Bronn

10.  Brynden Tully, The Blackfish

There you have it, the old list for historical purposes with the new updated ranking above. Opinions can (and will) be made as to why one warrior is better than another, but there can be some informed debate by reading the text closely and with the added bonus of the television show when it matches the character depicted.

Let me know your thoughts.

The Word of Hashut - Part III, In the Trenches

The word I used in Part II covering the Word of Hashut production period was insane. As I look at the word now it is no less true: insane. Looking back, it is hard to believe it has been 15 years since I worked on this. In a way it seems like it was just yesterday.

I think the biggest thing that made it insane? The release schedule. For two and a half years we released an issue every quarter and to not sugar-coat it? It was brutal. No sooner than one issue was out the door and I would have maybe a month to do other things related to the hobby of Chaos Dwarfs Online or for Dogs of War Online. All the while with young kids, two jobs and a dog.

Now with say a quarterly magazine this would not be too bad in the “real world” but this was a gaggle of volunteers delivering a free ezine every quarter. That pace is not sustainable. Do I miss the pace? No, not really. Do I miss the frenetic nature of creating the ezine? Somewhat. Am I proud of what the team and I accomplished? You bet because there is no way I could have done it without all of them. This was me sure, but I had help to get there.

But what also stands out? Around 2011 when Issue #12 was out and a bit before Games Workshop had finally released stuff for “Infernal Dwarfs.” Can we say that we caused it? It is not likely but at the same time GW had to have been watching what was going on and said “Damn, these guys are not giving up.”

If I had to pick a single issue as my favorite, it is Issue #5. It was not that it was a high water mark per se, but it showed everything the fan community could be if we focused. Even the later issues were still quality in my opinion, but #5 was near pitch perfect. The cover was great. The interior art perfect and a great balance of articles: Thommy’s Campaign Pack, a great Battle Report, several ridiculous hobby articles by Tjub and Grimstonefire and Baggranor’s excellent "Shadow and Flame" graphic novel just to name a few.

Likewise Issue #8 was another stand out for me. Swissdictator and I ran the “Arena of Death” and low and behold Astragoth wins? People wondered if we rigged it at the time. We did not. Each round that went by he was plowing through opponents!

In terms of covers and the interior art we were blessed with a ton of talented artists who selflessly contributed to it no questions asked. In fact looking back? I do not think either Maul (our Submissions Coordinator) or I ever had to badger an artist. It was as simple as “we need x by y date.” And time and again the artists delivered.

On the subject of covers? My personal favorites are #6, #7 and #8. But I can not say we ever had a bad one. Each time it was an awesome feeling when it was delivered to me. In a way it felt like the issue was “complete” even if I still had more work to do.

Another thing I am proud of is we hit our stride early and the quality was excellent from the beginning. That is not to say there were not any missteps; there were. But on the balance of it, our successes far out-shined our missteps. The goal from the beginning was to compete with Skavenblight Gazette and I think we did. And if I can be biased (hey I also did Gold and Glory so I think I get a say!) I think we surpassed it. The page count, the variety and the sheer audacity of the project. Add to this we had a handicap that no other army faction had: they were current? Chaos Dwarfs were wandering the Plains of Zharr looking for a morsel from Games Workshop.

It was a wonderful time and a great time to be in the hobby. But like all things it would not last. In the final installment I will talk about some of the overall lessons, and the long view of history. Stay tuned

As a bonus, here are the unreleased covers of what Issues #12 and #13 would have looked like had I continued with the project. Issues were plotted out all the way to #15 with cover artists assigned and themes somewhat developed.

What was your impressions of the Word of Hashut? I'm open to hearing them!