Today I picked up the first issue of No Quarter Magazine, a periodical by the notoriously-tardy Privateer Press. I’m highly interested in whether they’ll be able to keep up with the inherent deadlines, as previous publications have suffered some rather disappointing setbacks.

First, the bad stuff. I know this is a terribly sticklerish thing to bring up, but the contributing writers to this title could use some more firm editorial filtering. Small grammatical errors and stylistic foibles slip through in nearly every article. This is acceptable in obscure weblogs (hi!) and web fora, but I wince when I see such errors in a magazine. I rarely catch them in Time or Newsweek, and I am confident that the Privateers are at least twice as smart as those douchebags. Also in the “bad” column is the possibly-intentional inclusion of references to unpublished rules. A prime example of this would be the mysterious “Khadoran Conscript” feat listed with the example Iron Fang NPC. Another minor complaint is the recycled artwork in the Professor Pendrake section. Stylistically, the font being used for the cover masthead needs to be used more sparingly. It is practically illegible at smaller sizes. These are trivial annoyances, which I will set aside as subjects for expected improvement and growth.

Now to the rabid fanboy gushing of praise and such. No Quarter is doing a fine job of mixing the tabletop miniatures game WARMACHINE and the Iron Kingdoms roleplaying game setting. With the preponderance of miniatures-gamers on the Privateer Press Fora, I had some concern that things would be more one-sided.

The artwork, as is to be expected from these folks, is fantastic. The full-color artwork for Karchev and Terminus particularly stand out. The full-page picture of an Iron Fang in repose takes the cake. My previous typography complaint aside, the magazine itself is lovely. The page layouts were clearly put together by people that simultaneously understand the benefits of consistency and the desire to be able to flip through the pages and find an article quickly. Without garish 3rd-party advertisements, articles are uninterrupted and read smoothly.

No Quarter additionally made good use of Privateer Press’s online resources, pointing folks to web enhancements and fansites liberally. As a frequent forum-monkey on their site, I can see that they take the recommendations and ideas of their fans seriously, and are putting forth a strong effort to give us what we want. Within reason.

If you have USD$5.99 handy and a local hobby store that carries it, pick it up. Folks that play both WARMACHINE and the IKRPG will get the most value out of it, but enthusiasts of either will get their money’s worth.

I’ve been playing a Bodger (an Iron Kingdoms-specific character class). Bodgers excel at working with all things mechanical. They’re able repairmen, are skilled an improvising tools for whatever occasion may arise, but aren’t the most capable death-dealers in the world. I intended for this character to use a variety of tools and clockwork widgets to help an adventuring party overcome the sorts of problems normally tackled by a traditional D&D Rogue.

My Bodger has been adventuring with three Fighters, so combat has been especially challenging for me. As the party is Fighters get an excellent BAB, and tend to emphasize dealing copious amounts of damage with the single swipe of an over-sized blade or hammer of some sort. After a few sessions of flailing around, I found the following to be good tactical approaches to a violent situation:

• Manipulating initiative: this is vital when playing a character that doesn’t have a lot of magical abilities. When you do something can be just as important as what you do. By readying an action until a teammate or opponent is in position, you can accomplish much more, faster.
• Flanking: with a low-BAB character type, fighting a high-AC opponent can be frustrating. An extra +2 attack bonus can be of great assistance in actually delivering a little damage to the enemy. This is especially important for Rogues, who can deal additional Sneak Attack damage when flanking his target. Initiative manipulation is very important here, as you want to set up your flanking situation to optimal benefit; if your Fighter is probably going to hit even without the flank, let him move in first, then move the Rogue into position for the Sneak Attack. If the weaker melee combatant isn’t likely to land a blow even with the bonus, and especially if the stronger melee combatant is having trouble hitting, get the weak character into position first. Even if you feel you are doomed to miss, you can provide your teammates with a bonus this way.
• Attacks of Opportunity: especially useful against spellcasters and opponents with good ranged capabilities, attacks of opportunity are wonderful. If you cannot get to an enemy Wizard with a Charge action (move twice your movement rate in a straight line, followed by a single attack at +2 to hit), run up next to him anyway, hoping for a free attack on his action, possibly interrupting whatever he was doing.
• Readied Actions:Once you’re in close, ready an action to perform a Partial Charge on a spellcaster or ranged combatant’s initiative, hoping to force a Concentration check. This prevents a clever opponent from simply taking a five-foot adjustment and casting spells from outside your reach. Readying a partial charge limits your character to a single attack, which is somewhat of a disincentive at higher levels, but against a difficult opponent this tactic can turn the tide of a battle.
• Communication: if you’re moving somewhere just to set up a flank, or readying an action for later, let the other players know why. Team tactics require teamwork, and teamwork requires communication.

Note that this doesn’t just apply for Bodgers. Other characters with low BAB progressions, such as Sorcerers, Wizards, and Arcane Mechaniks can make a substantial contribution when they’re out of spells through these means.

Last weekend, the folks at Privateer Press set off an avalanche of forum activity and chatter amongst their internet-intensive fanbase by publishing not only previews of the Harbinger‘s model for WARMACHINE, but also a number of previews pertaining to the much-anticipated Liber Mechanika and a cryptic sub-site featuring a Winter Guard watchman demanding a password.

The Liber Mechanika is expected to have all manner of crunchy goodness, including rules for creating and using steam-drive power-assist armor, mechanikal limb replacements, and just about anything else you may need in order to go on an adventuresome rampage through Western Immoren. Though I’m still basking in the afterglow of the IKWG, I’m very much looking forward to August. Arcane Mechaniks and Bodgers are about to get about twenty times as useful, I suspect.