Well, new owner, new forums, new thread!

Strange Assembly will continue on during the hiatus from L5R. If you've followed us you know we've broadened over the years from an L5R-only podcast into a website and podcast that covers both L5R and a wider range of tabletop gaming (plus that one episode about comic books). As you will hear, we are kind of at a loss of how to talk about L5R going forward (e.g., what do our reactions to path votes matter if those paths will never happen?), but we will continue to cover L5R as it is during the hiatus, and other games as well, and we eagerly await GenCon 2017 and the rebirth.

Strange Assembly - Episode 179 - FFG Loves L5R

Note on a question you may have after listening since we didn't know off the top of our heads: a ninth faction is on the way for WH40K Conquest and it is, as I put it, the "space zombies" (aka Necrons).

You guys already cover the Star Wars and Netrunner LCG from when I listened to you guys in the past so it feels natural listening to what you have to say moving forward.

Can't wait to keep listening to you guys.

Just noticed a little earlier on my iTunes that the new episode downloaded. Glad to see you're not missing a step. Probably going to give it a listen here in a little while.

Glad you guys are around =)

Keep the flame burning, guys!

Rock on! Great to hear you're sticking with it. Here's hoping there's a new card titled Strange Assembly to keep the wink at your name alive, LOL!

Got to remember I have a new place to post updates! On Episode 180, Fred Wan joins me to talk about the transition for L5R.

Strange Assembly - Episode 180 - Weird Deconstruction

*stretch* It has been a while, Daramere. It really has. Nice to see you're still doing this stuff. I'll probably try to be present, come 2017 as we prep for re-starting of the brand.

Got to remember I have a new place to post updates! On Episode 180, Fred Wan joins me to talk about the transition for L5R.

Strange Assembly - Episode 180 - Weird Deconstruction

Good episode...I wish Fred the best in his efforts to get hired on by FFG.

I'm glad to hear Fred Wan say that the execution of the Dragon temptation and Heaven's Net could have been handled better. It helps ease the sting. Considering how diplomatic Fred Wan is during these discussions, I take his statements regarding hindsight with a lot of weight.

Also, I appreciate the clarification about the tattooing substances versus methods discussion. I heard there was some retconning, but it sounds like that was a communication issue between AEG and the players rather than a real retcon.

Finally had another L5R episode drop, with Fred Wan appearing again for one ?last? look at the AEG-era story.

Strange Assembly - Episode 188 - The Return (But A Little Bit Further North)

This episode is a little out of order, as our most recent was actually 193 . But the intervening episodes have been about non-L5R topics.

Great to get some more L5R content! But man, to be honest, Onyx sounded kind of like a mess and had a really high potential of being bad story wise. Maybe they would have pulled it off, but I don't know.

But man, to be honest, Onyx sounded kind of like a mess and had a really high potential of being bad story wise.

I wonder if Fred Wan ever wandered over to the Spider site ( http://spiderclan.net/ ). What he spoke of so casually was what they were freaking out about last year. The eight on one dogpile. Them losing everything about being a great clan. Etc.

Maybe they would have pulled it off, but I don't know.

I doubt it. Half of the Spider players would have rage flipped the table and quit and who knows if Mantis would have ever fully come back.

Fred visited the Spider forums (and all of the clan forums).

Only a little bit of looking ahead to the new L5R in this one, but I wanted to flag our 'milestone' 200th Episode. Because round numbers = yay!

Strange Assembly - Episode 200 - SuperHero Girls

It seems we had at least one more L5R Classic episode in us, as we're joined by final L5R Classic lead designer Bryan Reese for a 100+ minute discussion.

Strange Assembly - Episode 204 - Guess Who's Back?

It seems we had at least one more L5R Classic episode in us, as we're joined by final L5R Classic lead designer Bryan Reese for a 100+ minute discussion.

Strange Assembly - Episode 204 - Guess Who's Back?

It seems we had at least one more L5R Classic episode in us, as we're joined by final L5R Classic lead designer Bryan Reese for a 100+ minute discussion.

Strange Assembly - Episode 204 - Guess Who's Back?

Very interesting. Hindsight is truly 20/20.

i'd be curious to get a synopsis. i've got a 4 month old and a release thats in critical stage, so i haven't had time to listen to the architect of the game's demises try and justify his stewardship of the game's ccg twilight, but i'd be interested how he did it.

i'd be curious to get a synopsis. i've got a 4 month old and a release thats in critical stage, so i haven't had time to listen to the architect of the game's demises try and justify his stewardship of the game's ccg twilight, but i'd be interested how he did it.

It is not much but two of the major things that caught my attention where that only about 2.75 people at AEG were working on the L5R CCG during Celestial and that Emperor was pretty much designed and playtested by Spike players for Spike players.

Emperor was pretty much designed and playtested by Spike players for Spike players.

I thought it was more general than just Emperor Edition. Isn't this just a statement of Bryan's tenure up until Ivory?

It seems we had at least one more L5R Classic episode in us, as we're joined by final L5R Classic lead designer Bryan Reese for a 100+ minute discussion.

Strange Assembly - Episode 204 - Guess Who's Back?

Very interesting. Hindsight is truly 20/20.

i'd be curious to get a synopsis. i've got a 4 month old and a release thats in critical stage, so i haven't had time to listen to the architect of the game's demises try and justify his stewardship of the game's ccg twilight, but i'd be interested how he did it.

You are entitled to your personal opinions of Reese, of course, but since this is a new board where not everyone is a transplant from old L5R, it is perhaps worth noting that while Reese was, obviously, the lead designer of the game when it was sold to Fantasy Flight (although I am not aware of any reasonable basis for labeling the cause of the game's end), he was also the lead designer of the game at its high points (from both a gameplay and, I think, although can't say for sure, from a sales perspective). Frankly, almost every part of the Reese era was better than almost every part of the pre-Reese era, from a game design standpoint.

i started a long post laying out why i disagree with you etc etc but i think arguing about Reese is probably a topic best left for dead on the AEG forums, and resurrecting it here is my bad. I'd rather just focus on the new game, and let the past lie.

(in my defense, at time of posting my 4 month old had kept me up for 26 hours, so crankiness was involved)

Well, it's been a little bit, but we're still here! In the latest episode of the Strange Assembly podcast Jay and I discuss the recent information provided by Terra Ludica from the Festival International des Jeux, including the seeming confirmation of seven factions in the core set and the conflicting reports out there about the status of the story.

Strange Assembly - Episode 206 - Seven Factions

Probably should have asked this sooner ... any particular aspect of the new L5R that folks would like to hear Jay and I talk about when we record tonight?