Hex Games: Mars & Venus at War

The Year is 1939. Mars and Venus have been at war for thousands of years.

My first experience with Hex games was around 2002 at Archon, a science-fiction and gaming convention in Collinsville, Illinois. A (more or less) randomly chosen adventure... actually, I think we were waiting for a different game and got invited to join this one at the last minute. I guess it doesn't really matter. The GM (game master for the uninitiated, LOL) was a fellah named Colin Thomas, and the game system was one I'd never heard of before, Quags. (Quick Ass Game System) Living up to its name, the game is easy to learn and moves at a speedy pace. While there is room for more rules, the focus of the game is primarily on setting and cinematic storytelling, drawing the players into the experience rather than bogging them down in rules.

I was hooked.

Fast forward a few years to 2008. Once again I was attending Archon, this time with work in the art show, mostly showcasing Abigail and the Doom Crew, but there were a couple of other pieces in there too. By this time, I'd played in a few other games hosted by the guys at Hex, and I was going to make a point this year to talk to them about doing some work with them. After the first game called "Destroy All Squishy Humans!" (involving war between the self-aware robots let by the infamous N-I-L-8 and the humans.) I handed out my card to everybody at the table (You never know where work may come from) and Colin said I needed to talk to Leighton, the creative director for Hex.

Are you tired of hearing how I started working for Hex Games yet? Ha-ha-ha! I will be doing a "What You Talking About?" post on them in the future, so I guess I'll wrap it up. Mostly, I just wanted to underline the fact that so much of the work I do, and the work I get is about relationships. That's really true for anybody, but especially true for freelance illustrators and designers.

So, these three drawings are from my first assignment for Hex Games, "Mars & Venus at War". Set in 1930's New York, the people of Mars and Venus are in a state of cold war. Neither has the strength to decisively eliminate the other, so they have signed a tenuous peace treaty while they each stockpile weapons and soldiers for that final battle. Meanwhile on earth, an "incident" has occurred that threatens to bring destruction upon both of these great peoples... as well as the hapless people of earth.

If you're interested in learning more about Hex Games or buying any of their products, you can check out their website, or their online store.

Until next time, Take care and be good!
Your friend,
Jeffrey

Links:Hex Games Website
Drive Through RPG