Fan Publications?

[Stormborn]

Could the eventual publication be used to develop a Bolter and Chainsword skirmish rule set and Campaign setting?

[Teetengee]

That would be cool, although perhaps we need a separate pure homebrew edition with all of these homebrew requests ;)

[Dolchiate Remembrancer]

I dont see why we couldnt have xenos related publications. They could just be human or imperial themed to introduce them.

[maverike_prime]

Yeah, I never meant to say we shouldn't start here, but having it on the back burners to eventually expand would be important to me if I were to help.

Yeah, I never meant to say we shouldn't start here, but having it on the back burners to eventually expand would be important to me if I were to help.

My first assumption would be to have an occasional release of a sister-magazine to showcase Xenos content (which I'd love to contribute to), using the same assets as the regular mag, but without the B&C advertizing.

Now that I've used up my long-term planning/discussing for the day, I'm going to go back tomy usual pushing for relatively fast creation/release of a quick and dirty first issue.

Could the eventual publication be used to develop a Bolter and Chainsword skirmish rule set and Campaign setting?

That would be cool, although perhaps we need a separate pure homebrew edition with all of these homebrew requests

I dont see why we couldnt have xenos related publications. They could just be human or imperial themed to introduce them.

Down the line I see no reason we couldn't produce a sister publication to deal with non-human/imperium based material, but again DOWN THE LINE! That is most certainly not going to happen right out of the gate unless we basically get 30 writers, 10 editors, and 6 dedicated artists right away. Same situation, but even more so, on the topic of home brew rules, campaigns, army lists ect. Could we do that? I'd love to think so. But as it stands right now we're not even in a position to talk about putting out 1 issue, let alone getting anywhere near the organization to facilitate anything on the scale of a home-brew army list, or campaign.

Limiting ourselves isn't a bad thing per say. Being associated with B&C does limit us to the Imperium based armies and the Chaos renegade armies... which is like 66% of the entire game right there. I would say having that limit early on is actually a good thing. As was already stated, B&C would give us a built in audience and potential talent pool to draw from and grow over time.

Agreed - the inherent benefits of B&C association outweigh the limitations, and that's speaking as a collector of full-spectrum Eldar, Kroot and Hrud. As we go along we'll probably collect interest, and even article drafts, focused on Xenos, which can later be published in an appropriate manner, but right now the focus of 'Humanity Resplendent' is more than sufficient to build the first issues around.

Also agreed that homebrew rules would be the sprinkles, not the ice cream.

Edit: Also, in agreement with Brother Tyler's comment about focusing on methodology while assuming we use the standard B&C format/association. Perhaps simply sourcing articles in the same manner as the painting/modeling pledges? Produce a reasonable first issue from this thread, use that to drum up interest/contributors for the following etc.

So, let's get down to the brass tacks:

Ideas for names

• • Shell Casings
  • Spent Casings
  • Bolter Shells
  • Shells & Chips
  • Adeptus Apocrypha

Any more suggestions?

I'm gonna do either a Space Hulk or Kill Team game I'm gonna do a in-world Bat-rep on. So that's 1 Battle-report/quasi-fluff article.

Who else can commit to what sort of article?

Publishing Schedule:

Issue 1: September 6th 2015

Issue 2: October 18th 2015

Issue 3: November 29th 2015

Issue 4: January 10th 2016

Issue 5: February 21st 2016

Issue 6: April 3rd 2016

I want to get 5-7 articles in issues 1-3 preferably with 5 in #1, 6 in #2 and 7 in #7. Which brings me to my next point: What articles do we want in each issue?

Issue 1: September 6th 2015

For issue 1, we really need to show case the types of articles we will be putting out so I want to avoid having more then 1 examples of each type of article.

1- Introduction Article

- This should really be written either by, or with the direction of the... senior editor? Chief? Big guy on campus? What title do we want to use? You know the guy who's

really the point man for maintaining the flavor and character of the publication. The Chief Editor I guess is the title I'm thinking of. Anyway, this should be the "Here we

are, and here is what you can expect to see from us every issue with the occasional stuff like this" sort of article.

2- in-world Battle report/quasi-fluff (My Kill team/Space hulk bat rep)

- The story version of the battle report. Rather then talking about special rules and dice rolls, the report would talk about close hits and inconsequential damage results.

3- Analytical battle report.

- More of the typical battle report format people do where they talk about the special rules and the dice rolls.

4- Fluff article

- Since this will be a primarily a B&C publication we will need to have this article either connected to humanity in some form. Chaos Space Marines, Cultists, Inquisition,

Imperial Guard, space marines, and their human based allies would all be acceptable topics of coverage. Non-human species can be talked about, but the articles needs

to be from a human/imperium perspective.

5- art/painting/conversion article

- Some form of hobby and model article. Conversion projects, painting guides.

Issue 2: October 18th 2015

1- ?

2- ?

3- ?

4- ?

5- ?

6- ?

Issue 3: November 29th 2015

1- ?

2- ?

3- ?

4- ?

5- ?

6- ?

Issue 4: January 10th 2016

1- ?

2- ?

3- ?

4- ?

5- ?

6- ?

7- ?

Issue 5: February 21st 2016

1- ?

2- ?

3- ?

4- ?

5- ?

6- ?

7- ?

8- ?

Issue 6: April 3rd 2016

1- ?

2- ?

3- ?

4- ?

5- ?

6- ?

7- ?

8- ?

9- ?

So next big thing: Are we doing a website or a single file per issue PDF? If the later who is going to handle production? I know enough to kind of screw up with producing a PDF but not enough to be the 'producer' for the production.

So to recap:

What we need to get started:

• Editor and Chief- The person in charge. Responsible for determining themes of issues, article assignments, and final production decisions.
• A name for the Publication - See below for suggestions that have been submitted so far
• Decision between producing a web site, or a single file per issue PDF - Will need someone who can work with PDFs if the later.
• Artist for Publication- For stuff like logo, page graphics

What we need for issue 1:

• Battle report author - A more analytical approach to the battle report. Might even be worth looking at doing a 2-writer approach to it with each author being one of the players in the game.
• Fluff Article Author
• Hobby Article
• Graphic designer- (I Swear someone said they could do this but for the life of me I can't find it now) Small graphics like for the battle report or for back grounds for article inserts

So who's gonna handle what?

[Rev. Tiberius Jackhammer]

I'd vote for .pdf based issues, with the website portion being handled via subforum as Brother Tyler mentioned as a possibility. I have casual experience with .pdf creation (a pamphlet or two, some some homebrew codex partial drafts) so could handle that aspect if noone more experienced is in the room.

 

Still working on an illustrated fluff article.

 

I can happily produce a mix of icons and backdrops that could be used to create a top-down field-map for Battle Reports. Vassal could also be used in a pinch, but has some limitations. This could be expanded to include logos/page graphics, but I'm not sure if I'm accomplished enough as an artist to carry the day myself, here. If I do wind up working that angle, hopefully I'd be supplemented/replaced as the releases continue and interest increases.

[Teetengee]

Would we want a Your Mission, Soldier section where we could provide a mission rules sheet, I would be willing to work on one of those for each of the articles.
(although the level of seriousness would probably vary from week to week).

[HenricusTyranicus]

Sorry for the delays in responding, I was out of town all weekend.

 

I completely understand that homebrew rules are to be the sprinkles and all that, I just talked about them for a while because somebody asked me specifically about them.

 

Can we put a strategy or tactics article in the first edition?

[Dolchiate Remembrancer]

suggestion:

 

Regular articles will be needed. Think WD when it was good. You always had 1 battle report, 1 index astartes/inex xenos article, a regular army showcase, then some dedicated game related articles, and some kind of preview article.

 

So for this, as its 40K based only, I would say 1 battle report, 1 conversion report(with a converter showing off a how to, and discussing where he got the idea/bits), 1 painting article(with a painter discussing different techniques or tools or inspirations to painting), 1 index styled article(maybe taken directly from the Fluff forum), 1 report on the happenings of the B&C and then you can have the submittals so fluff pieces, model/army showcases, and maybe Q&A?

 

that would give us 5 regular articles to depend on and then the submittals could bring that number up to 7 or 10 depending on how much community input we can get for those issues.

 

What say you?

 

EDIT: on the point of the style, can we do both PDF and web-based? Or add PDFs later when we find someone who can do them?

[Stormborn]

Format I will leave to wiser heads. 

 

Spent Casings is the name I like best.

[Teetengee]

To associate more strongly with BnC and 40k, can we possible get something more specific?
Perhaps something along these lines?
Reload and Refuel
Blade and Casing (added bonus of same acronym?)

Apocrypha Pattern Boltgun
idk, I can't really think of anything good right now
I do like the Apocrypha sort of thing, since it also helps imply the fan produced aspect of it.

[Stormborn]

Isn't apocrphya used by GW in white dwarf weekly for a phil kelly column.

 

I think you may be on to something with tying the name in the BnC, although best I could come up with was bangs and clashes.  How about Chooom?

[Teetengee]

I feel like Choom is still too associated with the Age of Darkness rather than the BnC as a whole.
But yeah, maybe sound effects could work?

[Dolchiate Remembrancer]

well if were going BnC related name, Written Rites?

[maverike_prime]

Okay what the hell? I know I typed out a fairly detailed response to several things in this thread last night and now it's gone! Anyway, in regards to any sort of "Can we do...." questions. The answer is going to be "Yes, we probably can do that." However the situation isn't weather or not we can, but weather or not we have the resources to do it in a timely matter. So far Here is our staff standing (By Staff I am referring to individuals who have explicitly stated that they are inboard and declared that they are willing/able to do in support of the publication)

Myself: Web design, non-competitive Battle reports, Conversion articles, some graphic work
Rev. Riberius Jackhammer: Battle-report Graphics, Basic sculpting tutorials,
Aquilanus: Copy Editing
Dursa212: Copy Editing, the occasional fluff- article
HenricusTyranicus: Homebrew rules (Will need to discuss that before we actually do anything), Battle Reports, Fluff and said he's willing to touch on strategy articles.


The maybes (People who have said they would like to contribute but haven't actually said "Sign me up for this job..." or have been kind of vague as to what skills they would bring to the project)

CommodusXIII: Fluff stuff? Just said he'd love to resubmit his works [from the FanAnthology]
Brother Tyler: Might be our go-between for the B&C back-end... if that's needed.

That's our current staff situation.

Our publication situation... is even less sorted then that. We need to decide if we are going to start this as a single file per issue downloadable PDF or as a Website. This is not some arbitrary decision where we just decide one way or another. Depending on which one we start with, it will change what need to get up and running.

If we do a website:
I can function as publisher and start getting things set up. I have a server and I can either register a domain or we can talk about Brother Tyler about getting a sub-domain set up to point to my server. Between Rev. Riberius and myself, I feel fairly confident we can get the graphics taken care for a web page. Once the website is set up and configured we can bring on other people as acting web masters so I can step aside. Using a Content management system for the back end means the people who need to set up the article for publication don't actually need to know how to code or design a web page, they just need to know how to operate in side the management system, which is honestly not-too dissimilar from Microsoft word. So it would be fairly easy to prepare a document about how to publish stuff and handle graphics and the like.

The website route also gives us the ability to make the articles individually searchable. Looking for a Conversion article you saw but don't remember when it was published? Just view all the conversion articles. Want to see all the articles published by Henricus Tyranicus? Just look up his author page and it'll have a list of all the articles he is listed as author on. A website also gives the ability to include multi-media content as well. If someone creates a video tutorial we want to include in an article, we can include the video.
 
Thus far I think we have had 1 person say they would prefer to see it as a website.

If we do a .pdf file:
I don't know as much about PDF files as I do about web design. There is some over lap between the two but not enough to make me feel comfortable to function as the publisher. I do know a PDF file would have the advantage of being fairly universally accessible. the Absolute dimensions of a PDF would also allow to pull off some graphical tricks like 2-page spread background images, or spacing out reference tables for easier viewing. If we go with a single file per issue pdf we will need someone who knows how to work with PDF files to act as the publisher. From the little bit I do know about the medium I suspect they will need to know how to work with Adobe In-Design and have a copy of the program. Neither of which I have. So again, we would need to find someone to function as the publisher in this case.

Thus far I think we have had 1 person say they would prefer a single file per issue pdf approach.

Our publication problem goes even further then just deciding what format to go with, we don't even have a name for the bloody thing. So far the following names have been suggested:

• Shell Casing
• Spent Casing
• Bolter Shells
• Shells & Chips
• Adeptus Apocrypha
• Reload and Refuel
• Blade and Casing
• Apocrypha Pattern Boltgun

Over all, I like either "Reload and Refuel" or "Blades and Casings" (minor mod of suggested title I know). Since we're going to be connected to the B&C at least for the foreseeable future I think having a name that connects back to it will be helpful and beneficial. Reload and Refuel ties back to "Bolter and Chainsword" because you would reload a bolter and refuel a chainsword. It's a bit a stretch but you can consider providing inspiration and alternative hobby views as a sort of "reloading and refueling" of the hobby experience. The "Blades and Casings" like wise appeals to me because of it's connection to Bolter and chainsword. It would give the same Acronym of B&C, and it references the same items as a Chainsword is a blade, or many blades depending on how you want to define it while a bolter uses casings (even though the fluff has on numerous cases stated that bolters use caseless ammunition while the art work has repeatedly showed bolters expelling spent casings). There's also the point that you can show the blade and casing motif in various ways. Ever see the movie Wing Commander? The pilots who spent shell casings from their fighters to build a chess set. In the movie Ultramarine, one of the marines carved the word "HERETIC" on a shell and then we see that shell as it hits a traitor marine's face. Remember that "special edition painters set" GW released a few years ago? the wash cup included with it was meant to be a bolter shell casing. So there's lots of ways we can render the idea of Blades and Casings.

But like the question of format we need to decide.
 
There is also the point of what to include in each article. Dolchiate Remembrancer made a good suggestion:
 

suggestion:

Regular articles will be needed. Think WD when it was good. You always had 1 battle report, 1 index astartes/inex xenos article, a regular army showcase, then some dedicated game related articles, and some kind of preview article.

So for this, as its 40K based only, I would say 1 battle report, 1 conversion report(with a converter showing off a how to, and discussing where he got the idea/bits), 1 painting article(with a painter discussing different techniques or tools or inspirations to painting), 1 index styled article(maybe taken directly from the Fluff forum), 1 report on the happenings of the B&C and then you can have the submittals so fluff pieces, model/army showcases, and maybe Q&A?

that would give us 5 regular articles to depend on and then the submittals could bring that number up to 7 or 10 depending on how much community input we can get for those issues.

What say you?

 
1 Battle Report, 1 Conversion article, 1 painting article, 1 back ground article, and then 1 article from the B&C (I admit I'm not totally sure what this article would include but that's something else we need to discuss)

That is indeed 5 regular articles each issue. That's a relatively solid starting base, But I would really like to see the publication grow from 5 articles per issue to 10-12 per issue.

Still to even get started, we need people dedicated to sourcing out the needed articles. So just for the starting 5 we would need:

1 Battle Report Writer
1 Conversion Article author
1 Painter who is willing to do an article
1 Back ground/fluff article writer

erm... and then whatever the B&C article would be about.

I know I get fairly busy and I will sometimes not touch my hobby stuff for a month at a time. So while I Can act as a battle report writer and a Conversion Article writer, I know I can not commit to either on a regular basis. If we do the 6 week publication schedule I had previously suggested I could probably commit to doing one or the other every other issue. So with that in mind, what we would then need is:


2 Battle Report Writers
2 Conversion Article authors
2 Painters who are willing to do an article
2 Back ground/fluff article writers

and that is at the absolute bare minimum. I would really like to see it be something more like 2-4 for each type of article just so we can have a regular influx of articles and be able to pair up articles based on themes and connections.

Which brings me to my next point. Publication dates. Here is what I'm suggesting:
 
 
Issue 1:  September 6th 2015
For issue 1, we really need to show case the types of articles we will be putting out so I want to avoid having more then 1 examples of each type of article.
              1- Introduction Article
                  - This should really be written either by, or with the direction of the... senior editor? Chief? Big guy on campus? What title do we want to use? You know the guy who's
                    really the point man for maintaining the flavor and character of the publication. The Chief Editor I guess is the title I'm thinking of. Anyway, this should be the "Here we
                    are, and here is what you can expect to see from us every issue with the occasional stuff like this" sort of article.
              2- in-world Battle report/quasi-fluff (My Kill team/Space hulk bat rep)
                  - The story version of the battle report. Rather then talking about special rules and dice rolls, the report would talk about close hits and inconsequential damage results.
              3- Analytical battle report.
                  - More of the typical battle report format people do where they talk about the special rules and the dice rolls.
              4-  Fluff article
                  - Since this will be a primarily a B&C publication we will need to have this article either connected to humanity in some form. Chaos Space Marines, Cultists, Inquisition,
                     Imperial Guard, space marines, and their human based allies would all be acceptable topics of coverage. Non-human species can be talked about, but the articles needs
                     to be from a human/imperium perspective.
              5- art/painting/conversion article
                  - Some form of hobby and model article. Conversion projects, painting guides.
 
 
Issue 2:  October 18th 2015
              1- ?
              2- ?
              3- ?
              4- ?
              5- ?
              6- ?
 
Issue 3:  November 29th 2015
              1- ?
              2- ?
              3- ?
              4- ?
              5- ?
              6- ?
 
Issue 4:  January 10th 2016
              1- ?
              2- ?
              3- ?
              4- ?
              5- ?
              6- ?
              7- ?
 
Issue 5:  February 21st 2016
              1- ?
              2- ?
              3- ?
              4- ?
              5- ?
              6- ?
              7- ?
              8- ?
Issue 6:  April 3rd 2016
              1- ?
              2- ?
              3- ?
              4- ?
              5- ?
              6- ?
              7- ?
              8- ?
              9- ?


Now, with the idea of a publication schedule in place the point of production schedules need to be addressed. With the idea of a 6-week publication schedule in place I would suggest the following rough break down of a time table for production per issue.

Week 1: (July 26th - August 1st)
(Week 1) Final article assignments are complete for Issue 1. Everyone who is doing an article knows what article they doing and they have made arrangements for any sort of special
              materials they will need to accomplish the article such as Cameras for taking pictures, or getting someone's email to coordinate for a game, deciding what special mission to
              use, whatever is needed. They start working on the article no later then August 1st.
              Cover artist is given direction for cover art work for Issue 1.
Week 2: (August 2nd - August 8th)
(Week 2) Articles are getting turned over to the editor(s) and first revisions are completed. Articles that need to be so, are sent back to the authors with any notes regarding the
                content, corrections are made as needed. The authors communicate with the artist(s) to coordinate production of needed graphics for their article(s). Graphics such as
                header titles, Battle report maps, art inserts ect. It would be the responsibility of the author to ensure the artists are aware of what graphics are needed for their articles.
Week 3: (August 9th - August 14th)
(Week 3) Articles get their final revisions. Graphics should be entering their final stages.
Week 4: (August 15th - August 21st)
(Week 4) Articles are finalized with the editors signing off that they are ready for publication. Graphics are finalized. Final production run of articles for issue 1 begins.
Week 5: (August 23th - August 29th 2015)
(Week 5) Any problems with any articles for issue 1 get address right now!
Week 6: (August 30th - September 5th 2015)
(Week 6) Last minute problems for issue 1 are getting dealt with. The articles that comprise issue 1 are set to be be made public (if website)/Ready for download (If PDF) at
              Midnight EST the morning of September 6th.
 

[HenricusTyranicus]

Yeah, the site crashed today and stuff got deleted.

 

I responded to this previously something along the lines of "What about strategy and tactics articles?"

 

I'd be happy to do a fluff article for next edition. Or another one if circumstances dictate it.

 

I'd recommend getting Brother Tyler to approve Blades and casings if we go with that.

[Teetengee]

So, my offers of assistance were also eaten.
I can do the very occasional battle report (of either variety) or fluff article (small vignettes probably though).

Homebrews and modeling things I can probably due more frequently, but still not on an every issue basis.
I can also commit to writing a new mission for each article if you would like in a sort of a Your Mission, Soldier section if you would like.

 

Also, I think a website allows for more utility, but a PDF feels more like the old school white dwarf we are trying to emulate.

[Dolchiate Remembrancer]

Hey Mav, glad you liked my train of thought!

 

As I may be the only person who knows what I'm talking about when I mean a B&C article, I can volunteer for that but I would love to have a member be my assistant in this as real life can often take me away from the hobby as well, however I have seldom left the B&C since my return over a year and a half ago.

 

Article name: The Remembrancer Community Report

[Teetengee]

I would need to know more, but I am tentatively interested in helping you out Dolchiate.

[BlodVargarna]

I'm late to this discussion, but the idea is fantastic. Personally, I really love the idea of pdf that could be printed or saved for off-line reading.

 

I aspire to contribute an article in the not-so distant future.

[maverike_prime]

Yeah, the site crashed today and stuff got deleted.

 

I responded to this previously something along the lines of "What about strategy and tactics articles?"

 

I'd be happy to do a fluff article for next edition. Or another one if circumstances dictate it.

 

I'd recommend getting Brother Tyler to approve Blades and casings if we go with that.

 

Okay so yeah I wasn't hallucinating when I remembered seeing that response. I was sure I'd seen someone asking "Can we do this kind of article" and it was about strategy.

 

 

So, my offers of assistance were also eaten.

I can do the very occasional battle report (of either variety) or fluff article (small vignettes probably though).

Homebrews and modeling things I can probably due more frequently, but still not on an every issue basis.

I can also commit to writing a new mission for each article if you would like in a sort of a Your Mission, Soldier section if you would like.

 

Also, I think a website allows for more utility, but a PDF feels more like the old school white dwarf we are trying to emulate.

 

Yeah for offers of support being eaten! Wait... what did I just say?

 

As for the idea of writing a new mission for each article, let's put that one the back burner for now. Was said somewhere else, homebrew stuff should be treated as the sprinkles on the sundae, not the ice cream in the bowl.

 

Hey Mav, glad you liked my train of thought!

 

As I may be the only person who knows what I'm talking about when I mean a B&C article, I can volunteer for that but I would love to have a member be my assistant in this as real life can often take me away from the hobby as well, however I have seldom left the B&C since my return over a year and a half ago.

 

Article name: The Remembrancer Community Report

I'm afriad I'm not sure what you are actually referring to. Can you elaborate some when you say a "B&C Article" ? Are you talking about.... um interviewing the guys behind the running of B&C? Or like a history of the B&C? Or... what? I'm just kind at a lost as to what you are referring to.

 

 

I'm late to this discussion, but the idea is fantastic. Personally, I really love the idea of pdf that could be printed or saved for off-line reading.

 

I aspire to contribute an article in the not-so distant future.

 

Welcome to the discussion. At this stage we're still kind of feeling it all out and figuring out what we want to do so feel free to speak up if you have something.

[Dolchiate Remembrancer]

 

 

Hey Mav, glad you liked my train of thought!

 

As I may be the only person who knows what I'm talking about when I mean a B&C article, I can volunteer for that but I would love to have a member be my assistant in this as real life can often take me away from the hobby as well, however I have seldom left the B&C since my return over a year and a half ago.

 

Article name: The Remembrancer Community Report

I'm afriad I'm not sure what you are actually referring to. Can you elaborate some when you say a "B&C Article" ? Are you talking about.... um interviewing the guys behind the running of B&C? Or like a history of the B&C? Or... what? I'm just kind at a lost as to what you are referring to.

 

 

Well it could be that, but it can also be just a report on the happenings so interviews or reporting on ETL, Call of Chaos, Conversion Challenges, The Augustus Arena, basically like a community report of whats what at the B&C.

[Brother Tyler]

I've been sitting back on this, but it's time to jump back in.

As I've said, we (the B&C admin/mod team) enthusiastically support a B&C fanzine. We're absolutely for the idea.

A B&C sponsored fanzine, though, would be called the Legio Imprint. We can name individual issues differently, that's absolutely fine (and what we've done in the past, which is probably why nobody keys on the Legio Imprint name and only recognizes the individual issue titles).

Our site setup here supports forum-based development, including via e-mail and PM. Publication, though, would have to be via the forum setup and downloadable file (pdfs are easy, epubs less so). We can also support web-based presentation via the forum setup. That takes a little bit of admin work to set up special project forums and providing linking, but it's well worth the effort and would be done with no problem whatsoever.

Now if you want to go to a web-based presentation using a format other than that of our forums, that's your call, but it would necessarily separate from the B&C. We would have no problem linking to the site, of course, and won't stop you from doing that if it's what you want to do. We can't, however, create a web site like the one shown due to the limitations of the software. If you do this, though, that would imply that development would also be taken to that site. We won't stop you if that's what you want to do, though we would think it unfortunate from our perspective (maybe not from the perspective of an overall hobby-based fanzine).

Any B&C sponsored fanzine would generally be limited to the factions we discuss here. I'm sure that some degree of latitude can be allowed for xenos, but it wouldn't be a free-for-all. Xenos coverage would probably have to be provided from the perspective of our factions, but there's definitely some wiggle room. I don't want to provide black and white restrictions at this point because that would be unfair. We would probably have to discuss these ideas on an article-by-article basis in order to determine how we can reasonably include xenos factions while sticking to the B&C thematic areas. We already have a mechanism in place for this - developed specifically for this (I've just been waiting for the grass roots effort to start up ). This is a combination of the Special Projects forums and the Downloads. If you keep this here at the B&C, we can support both forum-based web presentation and downloadable files (and we can discuss the basic mechanisms later if that is your decision).

Generally, any B&C fanzine allows for all different kinds of articles. Just look at the range of things we discuss throughout the forum. All of those types of discussions can be turned into articles.

My suggestion is to work a few issues out (depending upon the size and frequency of the publication). It's great to have a longer plan, perhaps broad thematic ideas. Realistically, though, it just doesn't seem to work out.

If you decide to keep this here at the B&C, I'll manage the special projects forums. I can also create the pdfs. Depending upon the articles needed, I am also happy to contribute articles (time allowing, of course).

Now to address some questions/suggestions...

Well it could be that, but it can also be just a report on the happenings so interviews or reporting on ETL, Call of Chaos, Conversion Challenges, The Augustus Arena, basically like a community report of whats what at the B&C.

This would be very easy to do, and is something we've been keen to do every time the mods/admins have discussed a fanzine. I imagine we could discuss the results of recently concluded projects, ongoing projects, upcoming projects (when the project organizers know enough in advance and if they want to provide such teasers), changes here at the B&C (staff changes, forum organization changes, major forum rule changes, etc.), etc.

Interviews are fine, too. I'm pretty sure that the pool of potential interviewees would be all site members, not necessarily any specific subset.

I cant access The Dornian heresy project says i dont have permission?

Are you still having this problem? If so, I'll figure out a way to get the files to you.

I think that making Homebrew rules that made the Eldar a touch weaker could actually be welcomed, I know of multiple people who are playing with the old dex in order to make things actually fun. We'd have to be separate from B&C to do that, though. At least I think so. What say you, Brother Tyler?

This is beyond what we would do, not least because it would be perceived as exceptionally biased regardless of the source. Homebrew codices/army lists for new factions (i.e., those that don't currently have rules and which are within the remit of the B&C) would be fine, but nerfing existing codices, especially xenos, is not a good idea.

Could the eventual publication be used to develop a Bolter and Chainsword skirmish rule set and Campaign setting?

Absolutely. In fact, I've been working on a redux of my skirmish level rules. My own version, however, is an add-on to the existing Kill Team rules and based on Games Workshop rule sets (i.e., Necromunda, Legends of the Old West, Legends of the High Seas), so it shouldn't be perceived as the skirmish rules solution. There's no reason that we couldn't publish a variety of rules for the same sorts of things. As for campaigns, I'm all for a variety of campaigns and different sorts of campaign rules. I don't see this as something we'd restrict, leaving the decision on an issue-by-issue basis.

My suggestions...

Have a core team that takes care of the administrative side of things. These members, or a pool of them, would take care of the overall fanzine.

Each issue, meanwhile, might have its own team. The same member might work on multiple issues, and might also be a member of the core fanzine team. Trying to lock too many people in too many roles, though, is a recipe for failure as that most precious of resources, time, is in short supply. As we've seen in the past, people might offer their services up with the best of intentions, and then reality hits at some point down the road and their participation wanes or drops off entirely.

I don't see "homebrew authors" or "conversion authors" (or others) as being necessary when we have the whole of the B&C to pick from.

Something else to consider is taking existing topics and turning them into articles. So you might decide that the theme for issue Y is subject X. Then the core issue Y looks around the B&C and finds one or more topics that are appropriate and simply contacts the topic author (or authors in the case of collaborative projects) and requests that they be allowed to include the topic in an issue. The topic author(s) and issue team would then work together to turn the topic into an article. This is one of the ways in which we built the old Librarium.

As for homebrew rules, missions, etc., I second the motion that all such should be playtested to some level of balance first. I won't define a standard because "balance" is so subjective, but a good methodology is to have multiple playtesters that don't necessarily interact on the gaming table. This way playtester R might discover problem S, while playtester M might discover problem N; and then all playtesters would discuss and refine for subsequent playtesting. This is the ideal, but doesn't necessarily work out. And practically speaking, some things might be intuitively balanced as presented (usually small things or things that have a solid precedent in official rules). As I said, though, "balance" is highly subjective so you'll have to play this by ear and not get too wrapped around the axle.

If this takes off, you'll only need a few organizers to herd the cats - the article authors can be found based on the needed article types and what we already have. Believe me, this will help avoid burnout. This endeavor should be looked upon as a labor of love for the hobby, not as a job; plus, we don't want it to fail simply because individuals are under too much pressure to produce to often. The core team can carry the torch, but drawing material from our entire membership is a great way to make it a community effort in which everyone has some level of investment and pride.

I think that having a stable of article types is a good idea, including some "template" article types that are in each issue (e.g., site news). After that, perhaps having a pool of themes from which to select. There might be "generalist" issues that have a hodge podge of articles with no discernible theme, and there might be heavily themed articles (such as our Eye of Terror issue). And you might even have issues that are largely individual efforts. Whatever type you go with, figuring out the team for each and allowing them to work at their own pace will prevent burnout. Some level of drive and control needs to provided in order to ensure that issues are completed on a semi-regular basis. If you have enough issues in the works concurrently, but not too many, you're guaranteed to have them completed on a regular basis. I see two or three generalist issues with two or three concurrent themed issues as working, allowing the generalist issues to fill the gaps when themed issues aren't done. The generalist issues are easy to generate based on taking existing topics from the B&C, while the themed issues might have more focused teams.

Now if you decide to take this to an external site, that's your decision and we would respect that. However, that would prevent culling from B&C content as a matter of courtesy. You would have to take all development to that external site, including further basic discussion such as this one. Again, that's not what we would like, but we can't and won't prevent you from doing what you want to do. We would have no problem including a link to such a site in our links and members could "advertise" via their signatures.

[Aqui]

For my own part, since my last post my available time has become sorely limited. The proposed timelines for issues, whilst realistic overall, are a lot faster than I can realistically commit to. In short, whilst I'll be happy to help out in some way, it won't be as in depth as I previous stated. Apologies for that, but I thought it best to say so now, rather than later when things get more involved.

[Rev. Tiberius Jackhammer]

I've been sitting back on this, but it's time to jump back in.

As I've said, we (the B&C admin/mod team) enthusiastically support a B&C fanzine. We're absolutely for the idea.

A B&C sponsored fanzine, though, would be called the Legio Imprint. We can name individual issues differently, that's absolutely fine (and what we've done in the past, which is probably why nobody keys on the Legio Imprint name and only recognizes the individual issue titles).

Our site setup here supports forum-based development, including via e-mail and PM. Publication, though, would have to be via the forum setup and downloadable file (pdfs are easy, epubs less so). We can also support web-based presentation via the forum setup. That takes a little bit of admin work to set up special project forums and providing linking, but it's well worth the effort and would be done with no problem whatsoever.

...

We already have a mechanism in place for this - developed specifically for this (I've just been waiting for the grass roots effort to start up ). This is a combination of the Special Projects forums and the Downloads. If you keep this here at the B&C, we can support both forum-based web presentation and downloadable files (and we can discuss the basic mechanisms later if that is your decision).

Good to know there's already a title, that simplifies things. Personally, I'd be up for just being the "Legio Imprint", sans subtitle. Plus, being B&C associated deals with a lot of the infrastructure/advertizing problems, huge benefit.

[Teetengee]

I agree that starting BnC connected is a good plan, I would like a yearly review of the benefits and drawbacks though, just so we don't get stuck doing one thing, just because we have always done it that way.

Also, Legio Imprint does simplify things.