tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-51491584115204083802024-03-06T03:02:38.694-06:00RPG DiehardOccasional thoughts on the art and science of gaming, from people who enjoy both.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger221125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5149158411520408380.post-73323679264881884022011-10-07T08:45:00.009-05:002011-12-31T13:39:33.253-06:00After-action report: Tomorrow's War<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV76uIGtAwXrGnobTqmQ8gp8P-uwyQE0ss2piWOwBVwwncqNs4TJ9PMCH_4G0oSKAgq-hqHognmMbmKYFRESka5WY58oEnxKjJpKcBe8rLEgYFnl6roRLGeEnO9b1qec-Mcobl6AJ95qUA/s1600/IMG_3069.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV76uIGtAwXrGnobTqmQ8gp8P-uwyQE0ss2piWOwBVwwncqNs4TJ9PMCH_4G0oSKAgq-hqHognmMbmKYFRESka5WY58oEnxKjJpKcBe8rLEgYFnl6roRLGeEnO9b1qec-Mcobl6AJ95qUA/s320/IMG_3069.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5660750931120041698" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">After a supply ship was brought down by Neo-Soviet recon elements on the desert world Fornacis V, the decision was made to send in a retrieval squad from Markham's Skybolts, a well-known mercenary company operating dirtside on the planet. The pilot bailed out and made landfall, offering vague details about the Neo-Soviet platoon that was mustering in the dry woodlands around his position. He sought refuge in a nearby colony hab-unit and waited for rescue.</span><br /><br />My local club gathered this week to try out <a href="http://ambushalleygames.com/">Tomorrow's War</a>, the highly anticipated "hard" sci-fi ruleset from <a href="http://ambushalleygames.com/">Ambush Alley Games</a> and <a href="http://www.ospreypublishing.com/store/Tomorrow%E2%80%99s-War-%28Science-Fiction-Wargaming-Rules%29_9781849085311">Osprey Publishing</a>. We had been hearing about this game for the better part of a year, as it debuted a while back as an add-on to an existing Ambush Alley title. Now it's being released as a standalone hardcover book — a gorgeous tome, I should add, replete with tons of color photos and example illustrations.<br /><br />The folks at Osprey were kind enough to send me an advance copy to read and review. What follows here is a battle report of the Skybolts' attempt to extract their pilot from a Neo-Soviet ambush. I'll offer a more substantive review of Tomorrow's War in a future post.<br /><br />For this game, I ran a scenario straight out of the book. Four players showed up, so I opted not to run a squad and instead perched on a stool spewing rules minutiae for the entire two-hour game.<br /><br />The photo at the top of this post shows the battlefield at the outset of the game. The three 4-man Skybolt fireteams entered at the bottom of the picture and had to reach the building, grab the pilot and exit the map by Turn 8. Four Neo-Soviet squads were waiting in ambush in the scrub woods surrounding the building.<br /><br />The first two turns saw the Skybolts players rush their mercenary squads forward, using the rapid move ability to grab some cover on the flanks.<br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-SXcKe0-zjFo/To8G_iwTd7I/AAAAAAAAAzg/7KvMaQoey5Q/s1600/IMG_3074.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-SXcKe0-zjFo/To8G_iwTd7I/AAAAAAAAAzg/7KvMaQoey5Q/s320/IMG_3074.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5660750945358935986" border="0" /></a> The Neo-Soviet players responded by moving a few squads out of ambush and advancing forward, prompting a couple firefights. In Tomorrow's War, a unit that is being fired on can choose to react by either returning fire or moving away. Moreover, a troop quality check made at the outset of that exchange means that sometimes the targeted squad is able to shoot first, inflicting casualties on the enemy squad before it has a chance to shoot.<br /><br />Lots of these little firefights — called 'rounds of fire' in the rulebook — erupted as the various fireteams jockeyed for position on the tabletop. The Neo-Soviet troops were low quality but numerically superior. The Skybolt mercenary soldiers were high quality, but few in number. Both sides inflicted a few casualties before the Skybolts managed to charge into the building in the center of the table, quickly locating the missing pilot. From there, they used the comparative safety of the building to pour fire into a Neo-Soviet squad, all but wiping them out.<br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1RovObccnDk/To8G_3a-igI/AAAAAAAAAzo/b9LwM8FVcaY/s1600/IMG_3077.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1RovObccnDk/To8G_3a-igI/AAAAAAAAAzo/b9LwM8FVcaY/s320/IMG_3077.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5660750950906628610" border="0" /></a>By this point we were on turn 5, and the mercenary players knew they didn't have much time to dither. They hustled the pilot back toward their edge of the table as fast as possible — which wasn't very fast, considering that squads escorting dependents (the pilot in this case) can't use the rapid move ability! Seeing this, the Neo-Soviet players charged their squads out of cover and began a full-on pursuit across the windswept battlefield. Here they go!<br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-B0aQ3FPIr74/To8HAZNhU1I/AAAAAAAAAzw/DF1lzdbhax4/s1600/IMG_3080.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-B0aQ3FPIr74/To8HAZNhU1I/AAAAAAAAAzw/DF1lzdbhax4/s320/IMG_3080.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5660750959976993618" border="0" /></a>The Skybolt squad in the lower right corner has been 'wiped out' in game terms. The soldiers aren't dead, but there isn't a healthy trooper available to make a first aid check, so the unit stays tipped over until its casualties are assessed. As it happened, this squad wasn't reached by a healthy trooper before the end of the game, so the tipped-over models counted as captured soldiers for the scenario. This particular victory condition put the Neo-Soviet players over the top when we tallied up points at the end.<br /><br />Anyway, the Skybolts slogged through a fearsome hail of gunfire as the Neo-Soviets enveloped them with superior numbers. Luckily Skybolt one squad that had spent pretty much the entire game on overwatch proved very useful at disrupting the Neo-Soviets advance. With just 3 combat effective soldiers, this little fireteam held up at least twice their number of lower quality Neo-Soviet troopers. This sacrifice allowed the main squad to escape with the pilot at the end of Turn 8. Here's the squad (with pilot) as they make their exit off the battlefield. The rearguard fireteam is just visible in the distance; those soldiers were honored posthumously for their dedication to the mission.<br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Dh1hy_siSqE/To8HJdqFkEI/AAAAAAAAA0A/mmcAZ9Y7yTc/s1600/IMG_3082.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Dh1hy_siSqE/To8HJdqFkEI/AAAAAAAAA0A/mmcAZ9Y7yTc/s320/IMG_3082.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5660751115789373506" border="0" /></a>So, the Skybolts won, right? They accomplished their mission? Well, they did, but the Neo-Soviet players also had their own mission objectives. Chief among those were "inflict casualties" and "capture wounded," both of which they did in spades. The Neo-Soviets were able to squeak out a victory based on the specific parameters of this scenario. A marginal victory at best, as one of the Skybolt players pointed out.<br /><br />Here's a picture of the final positions of the units on Turn 8. The Neo-Soviet players' squads are badly mauled but still active; the Skybolts also suffered proportionate casualties.<br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GHBtL3U3NsQ/To8HJqCjeoI/AAAAAAAAA0I/xDDBV1VJjvQ/s1600/IMG_3083.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GHBtL3U3NsQ/To8HJqCjeoI/AAAAAAAAA0I/xDDBV1VJjvQ/s320/IMG_3083.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5660751119113222786" border="0" /></a><br />Overall I was very pleased with how this scenario turned out. Tomorrow's War doesn't have a point system, which makes it extremely important to craft well-balanced scenarios. This game was an example of that. The forces were evenly matched even though the Neo-Soviet player put about twice as many miniatures on the table as the Skybolts player. The mechanics supported this as well, with the Skybolts using their improved troop quality and weaponry to counter the numerical superiority of the Neo-Soviets.<br /><br />The victory conditions meant that although the Neo-Soviet players were rather demoralized to watch their troopers die en masse for most of the game, they were still able to accomplish their objectives and win the day. This was a nice departure from so many games, where if you lose a big pile of figures you're pretty much guaranteed to lose the game as a result.<br /><br />We made a few rules blunders here and there, of course, but overall the game played out quite well. I've played in horribly one-sided scenario games that were just no fun to play. This game moved along briskly and victory wasn't assured until the very last turn of the game! It was "a real nail-biter" as one player pointed out at the start of Turn 8. This game will likely become the go-to squad sci-fi game for our club.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAnCQIp-MPYmjgwo6tSaC36xPvB0c4IwvePrWmsfvnTFRGQpmUbbl5wTwDhR2Vz-gk8zKiuEmdBBwVQyN99ZfOg92YtRe7sIVkgGmg0u10KFcd0Zou_tpKJctkez7q9fwyNfNO8eZfGwb3/s1600/skybolts-4.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAnCQIp-MPYmjgwo6tSaC36xPvB0c4IwvePrWmsfvnTFRGQpmUbbl5wTwDhR2Vz-gk8zKiuEmdBBwVQyN99ZfOg92YtRe7sIVkgGmg0u10KFcd0Zou_tpKJctkez7q9fwyNfNO8eZfGwb3/s320/skybolts-4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5692379370369862130" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsl1ddKQipBfuQDTGmxMZpUJQgHaSr7MlINVuKHmqzdpF-9fTSFZbi34FDhqASbJPlMz-zwAkCQJc_HYnGnvifmNWEC-QTPVoafqr_7rdXaan9mz3JskWSEOckeninlMJ4N7xoKthcUxpZ/s1600/skybolts-3.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsl1ddKQipBfuQDTGmxMZpUJQgHaSr7MlINVuKHmqzdpF-9fTSFZbi34FDhqASbJPlMz-zwAkCQJc_HYnGnvifmNWEC-QTPVoafqr_7rdXaan9mz3JskWSEOckeninlMJ4N7xoKthcUxpZ/s320/skybolts-3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5692379359642408818" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ZERO_EnW9UA/Tv9k3pMSEoI/AAAAAAAABUw/5pqYWjjxxlY/s1600/skybolts-2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 234px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ZERO_EnW9UA/Tv9k3pMSEoI/AAAAAAAABUw/5pqYWjjxxlY/s320/skybolts-2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5692379361132548738" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BwnWO_EziXM/Tv9k3XYXaqI/AAAAAAAABUo/8-B9HqcKS3U/s1600/skybolts-1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BwnWO_EziXM/Tv9k3XYXaqI/AAAAAAAABUo/8-B9HqcKS3U/s320/skybolts-1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5692379356351392418" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqljAsrNRMi-ktHjfFYaNVAPyVM8QckaB0rui07Stp5GjQV7Dr8qQ8z0GIS3tsMOGXVRH4rNp3ixbodpSbLvSaxqWYrdGP7Bmn2jBCdhBSG5iMNaJu82yveXD_dVZm7b6p_lUADQ5BcinI/s1600/skybolts-5.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqljAsrNRMi-ktHjfFYaNVAPyVM8QckaB0rui07Stp5GjQV7Dr8qQ8z0GIS3tsMOGXVRH4rNp3ixbodpSbLvSaxqWYrdGP7Bmn2jBCdhBSG5iMNaJu82yveXD_dVZm7b6p_lUADQ5BcinI/s320/skybolts-5.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5692379374848043698" border="0" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5149158411520408380.post-4755223142371879692011-09-20T10:36:00.004-05:002011-09-20T13:03:58.314-05:00After action report: 5150 Star Army<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4N21j6DXQtNaTY44TjybreoMeTbhmAAHt0bs5DugAuh5Q-7M3QxIbTNkU2LRRT47E-1rIcV13ONcSV5-2g0FRhKPTasyYOnI-7gJfSS88V6KXdw1_-UnN0WvrDHzvxX6CGKj78Ifhcpjm/s1600/IMG_3061.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4N21j6DXQtNaTY44TjybreoMeTbhmAAHt0bs5DugAuh5Q-7M3QxIbTNkU2LRRT47E-1rIcV13ONcSV5-2g0FRhKPTasyYOnI-7gJfSS88V6KXdw1_-UnN0WvrDHzvxX6CGKj78Ifhcpjm/s320/IMG_3061.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5654466672109577650" border="0" /></a>A large group turned out last week to try out <a href="http://store.twohourwargames.com/scifi.html">5150: Star Army</a>, the latest revamped release from <a href="http://store.twohourwargames.com/">Two Hour Wargames</a>. Our club had tried out 5150 (previous edition) earlier this year with mixed results, mostly owing to the fact that we weren't sure if we were playing the game correctly.<br /><br />This go-round was much, much cleaner. We organized two side-by-side games on Karl's excellent desert wastelands table. I refereed (and played in) a 2-vs-1 game pitting two Free Company mercenary commanders against a single Star Army commander.<br /><br />As is the spirit of 5150, we eyeballed the opposing forces and tried to come up with balanced armies. The two Free Company players each brought 15-20 figures to the table, organized in two squads each with one or two support weapons per squad. The Star Army player brought three squads with support. As this was a demo game meant to show off the rules engine, we didn't bother with a scenario. All future games will use scenarios, though, because it's more fun that way!<br /><br />Anyway, the game played smoothly. As the referee, I had no problem at all leading the players through the various reaction tests as they maneuvered their guys around the table. The open-ended nature of the reactions meant that some turns were quite brisk while others turned into epic back-and-forth firefights. This was exciting for me, but the other Free Company player didn't seem to enjoy it as much.<br /><br />Here's a photo of how our game shaped up. The Free Company squads are on the left side of the photo, approaching under the cover of some boulders and trees. The Star Army, on the right, is scaling the rocky hill in the center of the table.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVaR7lY5B8Uz-4zQa1blfaMKLt4oWyLaOOtsEjgSX3w9x-uoCZureqnnjiG_2ioqLJ1Sw1o_rYnx1glwFeQuKfcokH_AhQqhXj-BSX7_qhy7YNSx-NLoFWl9OFZ-csQ6CdtNm3_QdJZFW7/s1600/IMG_3056.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVaR7lY5B8Uz-4zQa1blfaMKLt4oWyLaOOtsEjgSX3w9x-uoCZureqnnjiG_2ioqLJ1Sw1o_rYnx1glwFeQuKfcokH_AhQqhXj-BSX7_qhy7YNSx-NLoFWl9OFZ-csQ6CdtNm3_QdJZFW7/s320/IMG_3056.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5654466676564401778" border="0" /></a>They seized the high ground early on, which allowed the Star Army support weapons (rocket launcher and grenade launcher, mostly) to rain death down on our approaching troops. We got to learn A LOT about the outgunned rule while fleeing from these weapons. At one point two opposing squads were perched on opposite sides of the hilltop lobbing grenades at each other!<br /><br />The game itself was a glorious meatgrinder, which was of course the whole idea in the first place. Nothing helps you learn a game like dishing out (and absorbing) heavy casualties.<br /><br />In this pic, the Star Army player presses the attack with his badly mauled squads.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPMgg75ipQJGfChg32tzzdhE0xP4qF7DQJGr8ffRON3dVX09IE4RAY9MNzmkDIhEuZ7_Ggy0gifTZQQVDoBPWFURrJS6xGpwnxNMYdEy0bH_WkSlm0atC3ARmFFhDH5GribM0Nuqgf6Eyw/s1600/IMG_3058.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPMgg75ipQJGfChg32tzzdhE0xP4qF7DQJGr8ffRON3dVX09IE4RAY9MNzmkDIhEuZ7_Ggy0gifTZQQVDoBPWFURrJS6xGpwnxNMYdEy0bH_WkSlm0atC3ARmFFhDH5GribM0Nuqgf6Eyw/s320/IMG_3058.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5654466680104554626" border="0" /></a>By the end of the game we had a good grasp of the rules. What's more, I had learned quite a bit about the differences between the various army reaction tables. Star Army is much more apt to shoot accurately under pressure, while Free Company is liable to panic and snap-fire an entire magazine.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5149158411520408380.post-74000088982733990502011-08-26T12:26:00.003-05:002011-08-26T12:34:12.415-05:00Fully painted: Pachydon sci-fi elephant troopers<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoRb1fuBagG4XAyjc5CJCatqpBK02i39pIrSOdPM8e1idC38mYpiLJZk28JTls3GGXz_3INCMppwnResJb_eleVSZJKAS6kXQJOd1GUSFEr8Ox5YAy_ScP_RuFV1BRFdyGXt6N4Q2IFWe-/s1600/IMG_2927.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoRb1fuBagG4XAyjc5CJCatqpBK02i39pIrSOdPM8e1idC38mYpiLJZk28JTls3GGXz_3INCMppwnResJb_eleVSZJKAS6kXQJOd1GUSFEr8Ox5YAy_ScP_RuFV1BRFdyGXt6N4Q2IFWe-/s320/IMG_2927.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5645219107149084818" border="0" /></a>
<br />Back at Little Wars I picked up a pack of Pachydons, which are these bipedal elephant-men with laser rifles, part of the <a href="http://www.blastedplanets.com/">Blasted Planets</a> sci-fi line. Yes, they are awesome, and completely zany as well. The rest of the line includes gator-men, moose-men and various other genetically modified critters, all armed with the latest 22nd century battle equipment.
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<br />These dudes are also a bit small — they are true 25mm figures, so they're a bit runty next to my heroic 28mm stuff. Luckily, all it takes is some imagination to figure out a reason why they're short... obviously, they're from a high-gravity world!
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<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9uH9PzWtcJIwORwPFuNzxYp0XdEp849xeHWE4rsmE8LLUG_5yhR-zdqKSdEBJOWGklqfJFXxeBIsbkyq6U2UsKw62Y8Ga-UMtt4h7qAO0FMKHgoKBcr8GELrtdO4daa3hz3mgMLir7OeQ/s1600/IMG_2931.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9uH9PzWtcJIwORwPFuNzxYp0XdEp849xeHWE4rsmE8LLUG_5yhR-zdqKSdEBJOWGklqfJFXxeBIsbkyq6U2UsKw62Y8Ga-UMtt4h7qAO0FMKHgoKBcr8GELrtdO4daa3hz3mgMLir7OeQ/s320/IMG_2931.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5645219114881498258" border="0" /></a>
<br />I imagine these guys will hit the field as a mercenary company hired to fight on myriad wartorn world...
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5149158411520408380.post-63137434955418801752011-08-24T20:43:00.008-05:002011-08-25T11:15:57.400-05:00Wastelands Meltdown: Post-apocalyptic miniatures gaming goodness<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pPpQaxiM9j8/TlZzTPog9PI/AAAAAAAAAwY/dm4DYdHe-sc/s1600/IMG_3019.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pPpQaxiM9j8/TlZzTPog9PI/AAAAAAAAAwY/dm4DYdHe-sc/s320/IMG_3019.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5644825957406668018" border="0" /></a>
<br />Though this blog went totally silent through much of the summer, plenty of gaming was going on. Actually, I rediscovered Magic and have been enjoying the heck of out that game lately. I also took a break from miniatures for a few months ... until GenCon, that is. That got me revved up again, as it always does.
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<br />Anyway, on to the substance of this blog post. Last weekend I went to Karl's house to play <a href="http://s1.zetaboards.com/Post_Apoc_Wargames/topic/4047419/1/">Wastelands Meltdown</a>, the latest iteration of quick-play post-apocalyptic skirmish rules. <a href="http://rpgdiehard.blogspot.com/2010/11/battle-report-for-wastelands-post.html">We've enjoyed Wastelands v1.2</a>, but this edition promised some upgrades and clarifications.
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<br />Of course, the rules took a backseat to the spectacle of gaming on Karl's excellent desert table. We set up a quick scenario — a supply stop for one of my wastelands traders, who was escorted by several heavily armed mercenaries. Karl's raiders (each outfitted with a souped-up mutant vehicle) were split into two groups, which both entered opposite table corners to ambush my merchant and his retinue.
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<br />Here's my setup in the center of the battlefield. Karl's terrain looked just smashing when we got it all out on the table.
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<br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WLpv4e9yDXA/TlZzGTRephI/AAAAAAAAAvo/5ZHbneeb9i0/s1600/IMG_2979.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WLpv4e9yDXA/TlZzGTRephI/AAAAAAAAAvo/5ZHbneeb9i0/s320/IMG_2979.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5644825735045490194" border="0" /></a>
<br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8Upm1ngiq4Q/TlZzHqrsRbI/AAAAAAAAAwA/zGRe6_QH2Qw/s1600/IMG_3007.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8Upm1ngiq4Q/TlZzHqrsRbI/AAAAAAAAAwA/zGRe6_QH2Qw/s320/IMG_3007.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5644825758509319602" border="0" /></a>
<br />Karl's objective was to disable 2 of the 3 vehicles that I had clustered around my trading post in the center of the table. My goal was to break Karl's warband by inflicting enough casualties. Here's the table before the game started; Karl's forces will arrive on the top left and top right of the board.
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<br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Mr8FBqMnpt0/TlZzF3tvljI/AAAAAAAAAvg/HEwQG1kERWA/s1600/IMG_2978.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Mr8FBqMnpt0/TlZzF3tvljI/AAAAAAAAAvg/HEwQG1kERWA/s320/IMG_2978.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5644825727647847986" border="0" /></a>
<br />The game was a bit of a bloodbath for Karl. In a foolhardy attempt to try out the vehicle rules (including accelerating and colliding) we both drove our two heavily armed trucks directly at each other, building up quite a head of steam before slamming into each other on one flank of the table. My truck was beefier so I survived; Karl's truck exploded and incinerated most of his survivors, though one chaingunner piled out unscathed.
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<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_qXvE_U9CKF39-pu7z0llkdyc7l2c27_250KuU5DbKUOqy8BvEb5SqnxKK06Y304Or386bupInabXN1UNhADJTxwQcC8u8GhTN8AdPl4eY3KpCj5TndDBKSYnTiplEFnyfU6SVRRYW1Cq/s1600/IMG_2992.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_qXvE_U9CKF39-pu7z0llkdyc7l2c27_250KuU5DbKUOqy8BvEb5SqnxKK06Y304Or386bupInabXN1UNhADJTxwQcC8u8GhTN8AdPl4eY3KpCj5TndDBKSYnTiplEFnyfU6SVRRYW1Cq/s320/IMG_2992.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5644825739930504466" border="0" /></a>
<br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5hURh0FVt0w/TlZzHBlLawI/AAAAAAAAAv4/LoI78LEbCOc/s1600/IMG_2993.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5hURh0FVt0w/TlZzHBlLawI/AAAAAAAAAv4/LoI78LEbCOc/s320/IMG_2993.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5644825747476146946" border="0" /></a>
<br />After that it was just wetwork by my power armored infantry. I had two on the table, and they were the toughest single figures in the game. Of course, they cost about double the points of a typical wasteland raider.
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<br />A few highlights from the end of the game follow, with photos.
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<br />Karl's truck rammed (and killed) my mercenary commander.
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<br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1dp6gqr8gko/TlZzTW5qL8I/AAAAAAAAAwg/AmjcmQoQCbQ/s1600/IMG_3022.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1dp6gqr8gko/TlZzTW5qL8I/AAAAAAAAAwg/AmjcmQoQCbQ/s320/IMG_3022.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5644825959357624258" border="0" /></a>
<br />As part of the escape, this gnarly cargo hauler motored up and over a small ridge before running down some hapless wastelands raiders.
<br />
<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrXThA7kmkEX9J9IY_TF3rBdmCkjSq2WYd5RizlCPsvfGRwhsUjzllPDdSAHt5cqEAjWEhWQu61uPXRC28JOSVCKDL_Cx2nxICmPxrw6nV_hbamXAADkqHBoy9xswIjjnCdD08DLcKXz7m/s1600/IMG_3010.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrXThA7kmkEX9J9IY_TF3rBdmCkjSq2WYd5RizlCPsvfGRwhsUjzllPDdSAHt5cqEAjWEhWQu61uPXRC28JOSVCKDL_Cx2nxICmPxrw6nV_hbamXAADkqHBoy9xswIjjnCdD08DLcKXz7m/s320/IMG_3010.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5644825947465100402" border="0" /></a>
<br />Bill the Tracker, armed with his hunting rifle, seized the high ground and spent the entire game taking potshots on any raider brave enough to venture close enough to his position.
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<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghql0Q_QICdmu3MoxLdER6kzGoPv2sNnOv4aRwwkmpmbrP6w0bAMMOs1cBzATnQps74nZzuAx4mgWVmR9xrcVIhGxai588PdR1fP8HXQL99nHChR7QKLD6TgbOMTYHp5hRlmDLyLAO-hA-/s1600/IMG_3016.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghql0Q_QICdmu3MoxLdER6kzGoPv2sNnOv4aRwwkmpmbrP6w0bAMMOs1cBzATnQps74nZzuAx4mgWVmR9xrcVIhGxai588PdR1fP8HXQL99nHChR7QKLD6TgbOMTYHp5hRlmDLyLAO-hA-/s320/IMG_3016.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5644825940689433394" border="0" /></a>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5149158411520408380.post-44661011808947300432011-04-28T08:07:00.000-05:002011-04-28T08:07:00.673-05:00Auditioning for a sci-fi skirmish rule setThere's a reason my local miniatures club is called <a href="http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/chicagoskirmish/">Chicago Skirmish Wargames</a> — it's because we like collecting small, unique groups of cool miniatures rather than vast, homogeneous armies that take eons to deploy onto the table.<br /><br />As a result, we've been drawn to small, skirmish-scale rulesets for various genres. We've got fantasy covered with <a href="http://www.ganeshagames.net/fantasy/">Song of Blades & Heroes</a>, but sci-fi has been a bit more troublesome. The club has spent the last half a year trying out many different sci-fi rulesets, with varying degrees of success and failure. What follows here are my own thoughts (not the club's! I don't speak for everyone) about the rulesets we've sampled, what works and what doesn't.<br /><br />The ground rules: we were only interested in games that encouraged us to use generic, non-brand-specific miniatures. So, Necromunda (despite being an alright game) was out.<br /><br /><a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.ganeshagames.net/modern/">Flying Lead</a> — Published by Ganesha Games (the folks behind Song of Blades & Heroes) this game adds another level of complexity onto its super-simple game engine. Unfortunately, this added complexity proved to be a turnoff to me. The beauty of SBH was that it required virtually no rulebook-flipping once you understood how your warband worked. Flying Lead required considerably more cross referencing, plus we needed to use little counters or tokens to mark the condition of a particular figure (prone, fallen down, etc). I don't like tokens — they clutter up the battlefield and must be removed prior to taking glorious game photos. It's also worth noting that Flying Lead isn't really a sci-fi game — it's more of a modern combat game, with assault rifles and grenades and whatnot. Trying to graft it onto a sci-fi setting might have been our first mistake.<br /><br /><a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://s1.zetaboards.com/Post_Apoc_Wargames/topic/1897596/1/">Wastelands</a> — This free PDF is sort of a stripped-down RPG where you assemble a squad of dudes, trick them out with all sorts of equipment and weaponry and send them into battle against each other. The game system itself is functional and decently generic, but not particularly innovative. The best part of this game is that although it's nominally a game about post-apocalyptic battles, you can easily adapt it to a variety of sci-fi settings and genres. We've played this game quite a bit over the last year or so.<br /><br /><a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.angelfire.com/az3/twohourwargames/pages/5150.htm">5150</a> — Two Hour Wargames' sci-fi title is pretty well-known, and we were excited to give it a try. As expected, the game played out differently than any other system we'd yet encountered. Basically, your little guys don't always do what you want them to do, and sometimes they flat-out disobey you. It was refreshing, in a way, and of course this sort of ruleset lends itself well to solo play. My only gripe is that 5150's point system is a bit wonky — veteran players will just tell you to play scenarios, which is all well and good, but I need a starting point of some sort.<br /><br /><a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://warengine.darktortoise.com/index.php?title=Main_Page">WarEngine</a> — This is the rules engine that powered the now-defunct game ShockForce, which was first published back in the 1990s. It's a strong, generic system that's been lovingly husbanded by its original creator, Aaron Overton, over the years. It lives on now as a thriving wiki (!) and is 100% free. Of all the games we've auditioned, this one felt the most like what I was after: a true wargame experience that took me back to the halcyon days of playing 40k in high school, but presented in a fully updated, fully supported website that's easy to navigate and totally free of charge. The game itself lets you build units from the ground up using generic statistics and game effects, which really juices my imagination. Once you've got your units built, the engine also has ways to create balanced army composition lists so you can pit your forces against your opponent.<br /><br />If I had a gripe, it would be that this game seems designed for slightly larger battles than we've played lately. WarEngine games don't feel like much unless you have at least 3-4 maneuver elements (squads, characters, etc) and squads should really be 5+ models to get the full command & control stuff going. So you're looking at 20-40 models — that's almost a 40k army! Right now my club prefers games with 6-12 models per side, but I'm sure we can scale up as needed. Part of that is because we want to keep the buy-in threshold low for new players who might wander over when we're playing at our local store. "Sure, you can play, and if you want your own guys you only need to buy one box of miniatures." That sort of thing.<br /><br />But still — after many months of discussing, planning and playing, I'm very excited to have found WarEngine. It's the game that I'm most excited about playing right now.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5149158411520408380.post-40320179394255278152011-04-15T10:01:00.004-05:002011-04-15T10:15:20.648-05:00April pledge: painted Predators<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NtSpePOvs5Y/TahfxfUCjhI/AAAAAAAAAtw/qQMC5r0hhvM/s1600/IMG_2746a.jpg"><br /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GhtdZ2gUakg/TahfxOzgokI/AAAAAAAAAto/suCEIOMrNts/s1600/IMG_2746.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 193px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GhtdZ2gUakg/TahfxOzgokI/AAAAAAAAAto/suCEIOMrNts/s320/IMG_2746.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5595827836400214594" border="0" /></a>"If it bleeds, we can kill it." — Dutch<br /><br />Looking back on this month's painting pledge, a theme emerged: I painted sci-fi miniatures inspired by action movies starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. Last week I <a href="http://rpgdiehard.blogspot.com/2011/04/april-pledge-painted-terminator-robots.html">posted pics</a> of four Terminator-style robots from EM-4 miniatures. Today I've got photos of four newly painted "Hunter Aliens" from Copplestone Castings — of course, we all know them better as Predators.<br /><br />These guys were a lot of fun to paint up. After much thought, I painted their skin the same spotted yellow color (inspired by a pic I saw on the interweb) and made their armor look slightly different. These miniatures look a bit shinier in these photos than in real life, but that's OK. They'll hit the table soon, ready to deal death and destruction to future governors, action movie stars and hapless space marines around the galaxy.<br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NtSpePOvs5Y/TahfxfUCjhI/AAAAAAAAAtw/qQMC5r0hhvM/s1600/IMG_2746a.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 314px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NtSpePOvs5Y/TahfxfUCjhI/AAAAAAAAAtw/qQMC5r0hhvM/s320/IMG_2746a.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5595827840831622674" border="0" /></a>And now, a bonus: this was the sci-fi lizard dude I picked up at the paint-and-take table at <a href="http://rpgdiehard.blogspot.com/2011/04/song-of-blades-heroes-play-report-from.html">Little Wars last weekend</a>. I can't remember the minis line he comes from, but he's really cool — he's got a laser rifle slung over his back and a vibro-sword in his hand, ready to plunge through the jungle after his prey. What's that in his left hand? Whatever it is, I painted it red, so it's probably a bit of flesh or something. Again, he's much less shiny in real life.<br /><br />Painting up this lizard guy has inspired me to do a mercenary squad of oddball sci-ci miniatures to use in multiple game systems.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5149158411520408380.post-73168709621103485862011-04-11T10:13:00.005-05:002011-04-11T10:42:40.352-05:00Song of Blades & Heroes play report from Little Wars 2011<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1Io4xc475JM/TaMbbnWNVVI/AAAAAAAAAtg/S-BsMZtvxio/s1600/IMG_2721.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1Io4xc475JM/TaMbbnWNVVI/AAAAAAAAAtg/S-BsMZtvxio/s320/IMG_2721.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5594345323356837202" border="0" /></a><br />At the height of the fun at Little Wars last weekend, our game table was full of players rolling dice, moving miniatures and generally having a great time. Our local club hosted an introductory scenario for Song of Blades & Heroes, and we had a packed house — all spots were taken, and we briefly had a waiting list of players who wanted to jump in.<br /><br />As we had hoped, the simplicity of Song of Blades & Heroes meant we spent about 10 minutes explaining the basic rules before turning the players loose to battle each other. The factions were the Forces of Good (Knights, Gladiators and Celts) versus the Forces of Evil (Orcs, Undead and Mycenoid Mushroom-Men).<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-A-Rg7gE5c0s/TaMbbHDar2I/AAAAAAAAAtY/HBc-9eB-aZY/s1600/IMG_2732.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-A-Rg7gE5c0s/TaMbbHDar2I/AAAAAAAAAtY/HBc-9eB-aZY/s320/IMG_2732.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5594345314688085858" border="0" /></a><br />As you can see from the photos, we had some young players at our table. This was by design — we intentionally listed our event in the "Parent and Child" section of the Little Wars convention program, in an attempt to attract some younger players. And they showed up! Maverick, age 5, got some help from his father Matthew, but guys like Aaron (pictured above) mastered the rules with virtually no assistance!<br /><br />The game was a wonderful success. Big thanks to David, Aaron, Adam, Maverick, Matthew, Robert, Claire and Liam for coming out to play!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5kmpCZEqKUh-urXh3VnVFyg_jJDJZsTQeCNYQQ50w4P4QRuBfLlrG831Ah5PWnxEgN9Y0gcD_CHrYEXBXUQCjz6Bnbwd8Iw0LTMfmgyUV6UBpFcFGYFhiVv8QbIy1Uew6vjNiezmX73jS/s1600/IMG_2733.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5kmpCZEqKUh-urXh3VnVFyg_jJDJZsTQeCNYQQ50w4P4QRuBfLlrG831Ah5PWnxEgN9Y0gcD_CHrYEXBXUQCjz6Bnbwd8Iw0LTMfmgyUV6UBpFcFGYFhiVv8QbIy1Uew6vjNiezmX73jS/s320/IMG_2733.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5594345312569569234" border="0" /></a><br />Tim's ruined church proved to be a wonderful centerpiece for our table.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Ykhrr9qGdvY/TaMbamWcmvI/AAAAAAAAAtI/-QTzHpQsp9c/s1600/IMG_2734.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Ykhrr9qGdvY/TaMbamWcmvI/AAAAAAAAAtI/-QTzHpQsp9c/s320/IMG_2734.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5594345305909533426" border="0" /></a><br />Here's the group shot: 6 players plus onlookers, all battling it out on our fantasy tabletop.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-z5FnY41WjIs/TaMbaJHcchI/AAAAAAAAAtA/J0IO4wnqATw/s1600/IMG_2738.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-z5FnY41WjIs/TaMbaJHcchI/AAAAAAAAAtA/J0IO4wnqATw/s320/IMG_2738.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5594345298061980178" border="0" /></a>Ryan (red shirt, but not a <a href="http://memory-alpha.org/wiki/Redshirt">redshirt</a>) officiates a game taking place in a small medieval town.<br /><br />We're already brainstorming ideas of games to run at other conventions. Personally I'd like to do some sci-fi skirmish, as I think that particular sub-genre doesn't get a lot of representation at conventions. Generally, it's either 40k-style big games, or nothing at all. So a game of 5150 might work, or Wastelands, or WarEngine, or some other fun ruleset we've yet to try out.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5149158411520408380.post-54866769899610760072011-04-06T15:13:00.004-05:002011-04-06T15:24:37.331-05:00April pledge: painted Terminator robots<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IRuKP8i7s-E/TZzK435CXzI/AAAAAAAAAso/ZwsTzJZrYdM/s1600/robots.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 180px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IRuKP8i7s-E/TZzK435CXzI/AAAAAAAAAso/ZwsTzJZrYdM/s320/robots.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5592567915711979314" border="0" /></a><br />In a novel attempt to motivate each other to finish various miniatures, my local club has decided to try out a monthly painting pledge, whereby members can voluntarily declare that they will complete <span style="font-style: italic;">X</span> project during the calendar month. By adding a modicum of accountability we hope to transform our large collective pile of unpainted lead and plastic into a nice bunch of new miniatures to put onto the battlefield.<br /><br />I played it safe and picked two small projects to work on: my <a href="http://www.em4miniatures.com/acatalog/ROBOTS.html">EM-4 Terminator robots</a> and some <a href="http://underthemountain.files.wordpress.com/2010/05/fw32.jpg">Copplestone Predator warriors</a>. The Terminators are done (and it's barely April?!); you can see them in the top row of the photo. The bottom row includes similarly painted robots from Legions of Steel, which I picked up at an auction (all 4 of 'em, unpainted) for the bargain price of 25 cents. Together, they'll be my cyborg warband for whatever sci-fi or post-apoc skirmish game we play next.<br /><br />By the way, I obeyed the cardinal rule of painting Terminators by including a human skull on the base of one cyborg. Respect.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5149158411520408380.post-47355354973370185222011-04-05T10:19:00.005-05:002011-04-05T10:35:04.269-05:00Running my first convention gameMy <a href="http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/chicagoskirmish/">local miniatures club</a> is going to run a miniatures game at <a href="http://www.hmgsmidwest.com/main%20LW.html">Little Wars</a>, a wargames convention that takes place April 8-10 outside Chicago. This is our first time doing anything like this, so we played it safe and decided to host a game designed to introduce players to <a href="http://www.ganeshagames.net/fantasy/">Song of Blades & Heroes</a>, our current favorite for fantasy skirmish battles.<br /><br />Since SBH is quite easy to learn and encourages RPG-style warbands, we chose to list our game in the "family friendly" convention category, which means we'll likely have some parent/child teams at our table. This is 100% great — the hobby needs ways to fire the imagination of younger players, and SBH is definitely an excellent introductory game.<br /><br />I found out last week that our event filled up during the pre-registration period. Again, this is a good thing — we can count on a full table. We're already brainstorming ways to accommodate walk-ups...maybe we'll grab some space on an adjacent table and squeeze in another couple players? SBH requires a comparatively tiny play area...you can play on a 2 by 2-foot square if necessary, though the author suggests 3 by 3 for 28mm gaming.<br /><br />Anyway, wish me luck as I attempt to give back to the hobby that I enjoy so much!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5149158411520408380.post-47573766138506453312011-03-01T11:15:00.005-06:002011-03-01T11:48:38.130-06:00Painted Pig Iron: Kolony Ferals and Heavy Infantry<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DhEp27sNLIo/TW0sHzhFgZI/AAAAAAAAAr0/Z03AyNWDkPw/s1600/IMG_2634.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DhEp27sNLIo/TW0sHzhFgZI/AAAAAAAAAr0/Z03AyNWDkPw/s320/IMG_2634.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5579164025981600146" border="0" /></a><br />Recently I picked up some excellent miniatures from <a href="http://www.pig-iron-productions.com/">Pig Iron Productions</a>: the <a href="http://www.pig-iron-productions.com/heavy-infantry-c-5.html">Heavy Infantry</a> and the <a href="http://www.pig-iron-productions.com/kolony-ferals-c-3.html">Kolony Ferals</a>. Both miniature ranges showcase the unique style of Pig Iron's sci-fi stuff. The figures are big without being chunky, hefting weapons that don't look 100% ridiculous compared to their stature.<br /><br />Compared to other well-known sci-fi miniature lines, the Heavy Infantry troopers have believable armor and equipment, something that looks like a distant relative of the battle armor worn by the Colonial Marines in "Aliens." This inspired me to do a camouflage paintjob, the first time I've ever tried to do camo on a squad of sci-fi miniatures.<br /><br />I think it came out pretty well! These guys were quick to paint up, and it's hard to describe how different they are compared to traditional sci-fi miniatures. They're not posed heroically; they're standing like a normal guy would stand if he were wearing 80 pounds of armor. I like that you can get a little glimpse of their faces behind those half-helmets...it adds a little humanity to the squad.<br /><br />They'll soon face off across the table from my new Kolony Ferals!<br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TMnDge-zYHs/TW0sIYAFcPI/AAAAAAAAAsE/nVco-6fawsc/s1600/IMG_2638.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TMnDge-zYHs/TW0sIYAFcPI/AAAAAAAAAsE/nVco-6fawsc/s320/IMG_2638.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5579164035775295730" border="0" /></a><br />These dudes are just gnarly. Dressed in rags, with creepy cybernetics poking out everywhere, they're obviously the dregs of society, living on the outskirts of civilization and sifting through the accumulated effluvia of some gritty, futuristic colony outpost. They're among the most unique miniatures I've painted in a while, and I've got some more on order!<br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qDe38hrJrU4/TW0sIMW8SbI/AAAAAAAAAr8/UXafjrE_cNQ/s1600/IMG_2637.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qDe38hrJrU4/TW0sIMW8SbI/AAAAAAAAAr8/UXafjrE_cNQ/s320/IMG_2637.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5579164032649939378" border="0" /></a><br />My group is playing around with 5150, the generic sci-fi skirmish ruleset from<a href="http://www.angelfire.com/az3/twohourwargames/index.html"> Two Hour Wargames</a>, so these figures will likely hit the table soon. Pictures to follow!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5149158411520408380.post-55581847033891447912011-02-08T10:51:00.004-06:002011-02-08T11:13:19.369-06:00Introducing 5 new players to Song of Blades & Heroes<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_pQe9BnE6UdE/TVF5EHIYb4I/AAAAAAAAArA/nUNg_v15nGo/s1600/IMG_2567.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_pQe9BnE6UdE/TVF5EHIYb4I/AAAAAAAAArA/nUNg_v15nGo/s320/IMG_2567.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5571367325574655874" border="0" /></a><br />Normally introducing just one or two new players to miniatures gaming is a weighty task — there's the rules overview, the introduction of the miniatures and the explanation of the stats, plus turn-by-turn questions about various situational stuff.<br /><br />Last month I introduced not one or two, but FIVE new players to <a href="http://rpgdiehard.blogspot.com/2010/07/play-report-song-of-blades-heroes.html">Song of Blades & Heroes</a> in one epic slugfest game. It's a testament to the strength of the SBH rules engine that the game 1) played fast 2) didn't bog down despite most of the players being relatively new to tabletop minis gaming and 3) gave us the kind of "oooooh man, did you SEE that?!" moments that really define a fun miniatures game.<br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_pQe9BnE6UdE/TVF5EyA0zOI/AAAAAAAAArQ/qFmbLt7-oB4/s1600/IMG_2574.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_pQe9BnE6UdE/TVF5EyA0zOI/AAAAAAAAArQ/qFmbLt7-oB4/s320/IMG_2574.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5571367337085684962" border="0" /></a>Anyway, we threw together a quick encounter pitting three undead warbands against an alliance of two human and one elven warband. The classic good guys vs. bad guys scenario. As for terrain, we just threw everything I had on the table without much consideration to the layout. It was no big deal, but one look at these photos and you'll agree that our terrain didn't really make sense. Walls led to forests, which were on top of hills and linked by bridges. Ha! It was a glorious mess, and we had fun.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0mJNgozVOwnxbpn8-vdxM5Gp3Mrzmo7LOrePq7v6rZUhldephmDM9c5Ec6utuydm0voq04qEFKMTKnN_-ylf6h7yv5ypd_wIXHrMqNshl8piwSLPNPDLKhulAm_1qiKSy32EXtAB2MXv3/s1600/IMG_2570.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0mJNgozVOwnxbpn8-vdxM5Gp3Mrzmo7LOrePq7v6rZUhldephmDM9c5Ec6utuydm0voq04qEFKMTKnN_-ylf6h7yv5ypd_wIXHrMqNshl8piwSLPNPDLKhulAm_1qiKSy32EXtAB2MXv3/s320/IMG_2570.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5571367332713898962" border="0" /></a>The game ended early, but the players all got a good taste for how the system runs. Outnumbering and swarming your opponent is key! When we stopped playing, the undead had scored an impressive series of victories against the elves and were threatening to surround the beleaguered humans. In short, it was the perfect fantasy storyline!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5149158411520408380.post-19812478751293768732011-01-26T11:33:00.006-06:002011-09-14T12:55:54.670-05:00Aliens vs. marines with Flying Lead<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_pQe9BnE6UdE/TUBdfDAcnQI/AAAAAAAAAqs/rwgf-GNO65w/s1600/IMG_2562.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_pQe9BnE6UdE/TUBdfDAcnQI/AAAAAAAAAqs/rwgf-GNO65w/s320/IMG_2562.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5566551927394442498" border="0" /></a><br />We tried out Flying Lead from Ganesha Games recently, with mixed results (mostly owing to my own mistakes in the rules). Ganesha also publishes Song of Blades & Heroes, our club's current favorite fantasy skirmish game.<br /><br />Flying Lead is built on the same rules engine, with each model having just two stats plus a few special rules. You'd think this would make for a speedy game, but I must admit that Flying Lead required a fair amount of rulebook-flipping to get through a basic combat. The multitude of special rules was also a big hindrance...rather than making each figure unique, it caused headaches as I tried to remember which of my identically painted Colonial Marines had the Hitman rule, and which had the Elite rule, and which had the NCO ability, etc. Better to minimize the special rules, perhaps, and only give them to one or two key models? But then, where's the fun in that...?<br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_pQe9BnE6UdE/TUBdfRIIv3I/AAAAAAAAAq0/Rt444pruR9E/s1600/IMG_2563.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_pQe9BnE6UdE/TUBdfRIIv3I/AAAAAAAAAq0/Rt444pruR9E/s320/IMG_2563.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5566551931184791410" border="0" /></a><br />Anyway, we played an aliens vs. marines scenario on a dustry, dry wasteland planet strewn with boulders and scraggly trees. It looked pretty sharp, considering we threw the table together in a few minutes without much effort.<br /><br />This was the second time our group tried Flying Lead, and I made the same mistake in this game that I did in my previous game. It was just a misreading of a rule, and as a result, my marines were slaughtered by the encroaching aliens before they even got out of their deployment zone. Here's an example of how the game went for me:<br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_pQe9BnE6UdE/TUBdeiOMpjI/AAAAAAAAAqk/ZXgOlU5Ljbc/s1600/IMG_2560.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_pQe9BnE6UdE/TUBdeiOMpjI/AAAAAAAAAqk/ZXgOlU5Ljbc/s320/IMG_2560.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5566551918593746482" border="0" /></a><br />Our second game, a 3-player scenario where the aliens were deployed in the center of the table and had to fight against both marines and Predators, went a little better. But Flying Lead still seemed far less intuitive than Song of Blades & Heroes. I don't understand why...perhaps the nuances of a shooting-based game causes the whole rules engine to slow down a bit?<br /><br />Anyway, the search continues for the right sci-fi skirmish game. Up next is 5150, Future War Commander Skirmish, Wastelands v.3, and perhaps Nuclear Renaissance. We'll find the ideal ruleset or die trying!<br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_pQe9BnE6UdE/TUBdeQhT0WI/AAAAAAAAAqc/io0_qP4ASAw/s1600/IMG_2559.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_pQe9BnE6UdE/TUBdeQhT0WI/AAAAAAAAAqc/io0_qP4ASAw/s320/IMG_2559.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5566551913842069858" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-opnDA6WpfPw/TnDqmoQQLdI/AAAAAAAAAxA/YUegnZGIaXQ/s1600/bugs.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-opnDA6WpfPw/TnDqmoQQLdI/AAAAAAAAAxA/YUegnZGIaXQ/s320/bugs.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5652275481711488466" border="0" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5149158411520408380.post-15242032139990160392011-01-26T11:23:00.004-06:002013-05-02T10:02:19.052-05:00First blood (literally) for these freshly painted miniatures<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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It's always awesome to see new miniatures hit the table, especially if they've been painted by folks new to the miniatures hobby. Two players at last night's Song of Blades & Heroes game fielded their own hand-painted warbands, the product of hours of painting, modeling and finessing. Congratulations to Ryan and Chris! I remember painting my very first miniatures back in 1997, and the thrill of placing them on the tabletop (followed by the heartbreak when they got blown to pieces by a plasma gun or a sword thrust or whatever).<br />
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Anyway, Chris' Dwarves tangled with Ryan's Lizardmen twice last night, with the Dwarves winning out both times. These photos show the Dwarves, advancing in a tight cluster across the table, being slowly surrounded by the numerically inferior Lizardmen. The color palette for last night's game was particularly attractive, with a dusty red tabletop mat and some autumn-colored trees for scenery. Game on!<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_pQe9BnE6UdE/TUBaaYcKrHI/AAAAAAAAAqM/gafQYaYR23I/s1600/IMG_2554.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5566548548713622642" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_pQe9BnE6UdE/TUBaaYcKrHI/AAAAAAAAAqM/gafQYaYR23I/s320/IMG_2554.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 240px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5149158411520408380.post-91414679784065804632011-01-16T19:26:00.006-06:002011-01-16T19:35:52.786-06:00Asteroid defense stations for Full Thrust<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_pQe9BnE6UdE/TTOcbHIIvHI/AAAAAAAAAp4/mQUuI9yELBM/s1600/asteroid%2Bbattle%2Bstations.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_pQe9BnE6UdE/TTOcbHIIvHI/AAAAAAAAAp4/mQUuI9yELBM/s320/asteroid%2Bbattle%2Bstations.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5562961954316270706" border="0" /></a><br />After this past weekend's Full Thrust game, I finally made good on my intent to scratch-build a couple orbital defense stations for use in our games.<br /><br />I used lava rocks straight out of the bag, no repainting, and glued various Mechwarrior bits and bobs to the craggy surface (no repainting of the MW bits either...so the colors you see are from the original unit paintjob). Both took about 20 minutes to create, and that included sifting through my bits box for appropriately shaped stuff.<br /><br />I really like the idea of a space navy towing hollowed-out asteroids into orbit around various strategic planets, then filling them with power plants and weapons and gun crews to defend the system. I tried to point the guns and missile launchers in various directions, rather than all straight horizontal, since these defense stations will be engaging targets all around them. Hopefully we'll game with them soon!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5149158411520408380.post-5185295695849809532010-12-31T11:20:00.007-06:002010-12-31T15:46:19.279-06:00Future War Commander with rebased MechWarrior clix<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_pQe9BnE6UdE/TR4UGDVZ1WI/AAAAAAAAApI/q-X1f_Gw55M/s1600/IMG_2531.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_pQe9BnE6UdE/TR4UGDVZ1WI/AAAAAAAAApI/q-X1f_Gw55M/s320/IMG_2531.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5556901084428621154" border="0" /></a>After a few very successful online trades, Karl and I found ourselves with a <a href="http://rpgdiehard.blogspot.com/2010/12/rebased-mechwarrior-clix-in-action.html">surplus of MechWarrior clix</a>. Maybe surplus is too generous — we each snagged hundreds of mechs, tanks and infantry for the mostly-defunct game. Our plans are to rebase them as "proper" miniatures and play Future War Commander, the excellent mass battle game from the publisher of <a href="http://blitzkrieg-commander.com/">Blitzkrieg Commander</a>, and we tried our hand doing that very thing last night.<br /><br />I've played plenty of Blitzkrieg Commander, so there wasn't a learning curve at all for FWC. Karl picked up the game after just a few turns too.<br /><br />We played the Surgical Strike scenario, with two 2,000-point armies. I used the Reaper/CAV army lists to create both of our armies; this list, while not expressly designed for MechWarrior units, was nonetheless full of ideal surrogates for the tanks and mechs that we pushed around the tabletop. A MechWarrior Marksman M1 tank was easily statted up as a CAV Wolverine tank, for example. There are also several fan-made BattleTech lists floating around on the web for use with FWC.<br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_pQe9BnE6UdE/TR4WzUTOFtI/AAAAAAAAApY/g8OqxZnQMX8/s1600/IMG_2526.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_pQe9BnE6UdE/TR4WzUTOFtI/AAAAAAAAApY/g8OqxZnQMX8/s200/IMG_2526.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5556904061100234450" border="0" /></a>For the scenario, we set up two installations — Forward Hangar JX-7 and the Noonien Astrophysics Laboratory — as the objectives. I was the attacker; it was my job to push onto the table and infiltrate the two facilities using my infantry units. As the defender, Karl was allowed to deploy a small force near each installation while the bulk of his army deployed near his table edge.<br /><br />As the photos show, the two facilities were positioned on opposite ends of the table, with several built-up city blocks separating them. The buildings are actually <a href="http://www.dp9.com/index.php?option=com_jotloader&view=categories&cid=21&Itemid=165">superb paper models from Dream Pod 9</a> (perfectly in scale at 10mm), assembled by me and Karl and mounted on vinyl tiles to add stability. They're cheap, modular and stackable, so you can create multiple stories and entire city blocks with ease.<br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_pQe9BnE6UdE/TR4UFQrnRZI/AAAAAAAAAo4/XLFW9L15cg8/s1600/IMG_2523.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_pQe9BnE6UdE/TR4UFQrnRZI/AAAAAAAAAo4/XLFW9L15cg8/s320/IMG_2523.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5556901070831568274" border="0" /></a>I moved onto the table with my infantry-heavy force and immediately sent the bulk of my forces toward the Noonien Astrophysics Laboratory. For the remainder of the game, this sector of the table saw the fiercest fighting, although a few firefights erupted near Forward Hangar JX-7 on the opposite flank.<br /><br />I scored two lucky shots early in the game and destroyed two of Karl's three battle tanks. Behind a heavy mech and a tank bristling with weapons, 6 squads of my infantry advanced steadily on the Noonien Astrophysics Laboratory, led by an elite unit mounted in an infantry fighting vehicle.<br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_pQe9BnE6UdE/TR4UF8XLHPI/AAAAAAAAApA/_xzX3XcjEPI/s1600/IMG_2529.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_pQe9BnE6UdE/TR4UF8XLHPI/AAAAAAAAApA/_xzX3XcjEPI/s320/IMG_2529.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5556901082556996850" border="0" /></a>This spearhead surged forward under heavy fire, delivering its squad of battle-armored soldiers to the laboratory entrance — where they were met with a withering hail of fire from the defenders of the installation. My elite infantry was forced to fall back in the face of the entrenched defenders.<br /><br />But it was only a matter of time before I overwhelmed the Noonien defenders with sheer weight of numbers. Moreover, a lopsided turn of point-blank shooting by my armored vehicles on the opposite flank had crushed Karl's defenses, leaving behind two burning tanks and a flaming mech wreck. Unopposed, my remaining infantry raced toward Forward Hangar JX-7.<br /><br />By turn 7 I had moved four squads of infantry into the Noonien Astrophysics Laboratory, thereby allowing me to roll on a cool chart to see if my guys were able to carry out their mission. Indeed they were! Charges were set and the lab exploded while my soldiers evacuated to safety.<br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_pQe9BnE6UdE/TR4UGcZszHI/AAAAAAAAApQ/4zcqYWTk1Cs/s1600/IMG_2533.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_pQe9BnE6UdE/TR4UGcZszHI/AAAAAAAAApQ/4zcqYWTk1Cs/s320/IMG_2533.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5556901091157527666" border="0" /></a>It was a very fun game, and a good reminder of why I like the "Commander" series of games. Unit statistics are abstracted a bit, but the focus on command units ensures that players remain "in the game" turn after turn. Both Karl and I agreed that we could easily scale our game up to 4,000 points (or more) per side. We definitely have the miniatures to do that!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5149158411520408380.post-73909712116172961772010-12-09T19:08:00.006-06:002010-12-09T19:34:54.167-06:00Invading the solar system with Full Thrust<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI_0PqofABHIQkGdTvROz7y_JBmY3LHdiztRT2d5i3QPP7WyUO101M5Bgcz-GSKL2qpY7GABmWx2yEXsTIKcdt8QCU5mk1VjCmr7ZE4IkLU7__ISmWaZy4tuj3MySwEO3-oR3SF9XTk0XI/s1600/IMG_2358.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI_0PqofABHIQkGdTvROz7y_JBmY3LHdiztRT2d5i3QPP7WyUO101M5Bgcz-GSKL2qpY7GABmWx2yEXsTIKcdt8QCU5mk1VjCmr7ZE4IkLU7__ISmWaZy4tuj3MySwEO3-oR3SF9XTk0XI/s320/IMG_2358.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5548854612706521954" border="0" /></a>Tim and I found ourselves with a random weeknight free, so we got together for a game of <a href="http://www.groundzerogames.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=50">Full Thrust</a>. A couple months ago Tim picked up a fleet of Cold Navy ships at an auction, and this was his first outing with his newly painted fleets. They ended up being two separate factions: the brown/yellow asteroid pirates and the green/blue...somethings. Yeah, we haven't done much with the backstory yet.<br /><br />I managed to come up with names for my fleet of blue-and-gray ships — all Scandinavian names from various cultures throughout history. I have this idea that they're a quasi-Germanic far-future federation that's exploring the stars, etc. I definitely had a lot of fun saying stuff like "OK, the <span style="font-style: italic;">Rensselaer</span> is going to open up with its laser batteries while the <span style="font-style: italic;">Gothenburg II</span> tries a torpedo run."<br /><br />Tim had been on a planet-making bender over the last couple of weeks...he literally showed up with a dozen painted planets, so we put about half of them on the table and came up with a quick scenario: the invasion of an alien solar system. Our two fleets would compete to land ground forces on the planets in an attempt to conquer and subjugate them. To land a strike team, a ship (any ship, we said) had to enter orbit around the planet and spend a turn orbiting it to drop sufficient troops and supplies. We came up with some fast-and-dirty rules to accomplish this, based around the Full Thrust framework, and then went at it.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ3_EiRe9lAtbPfHcSVwxO1ycJgqbO6M7S6DHtNRhdtbcc5oAmRZUTYZk-qkpqg95IKjAmxcmMEr4_2_aZk7qo3Od3JG0g22KAaQh2AVQiBBxOoYgC9vboCuwSKTREC9-y_eTn0f0-I3jI/s1600/IMG_2356.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ3_EiRe9lAtbPfHcSVwxO1ycJgqbO6M7S6DHtNRhdtbcc5oAmRZUTYZk-qkpqg95IKjAmxcmMEr4_2_aZk7qo3Od3JG0g22KAaQh2AVQiBBxOoYgC9vboCuwSKTREC9-y_eTn0f0-I3jI/s320/IMG_2356.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5548854609202864370" border="0" /></a>My kitchen table is large and square, but it's only 5x3, whereas my space hex mat is 6x4. So we were playing on a slightly smaller area than <a href="http://rpgdiehard.blogspot.com/2010/11/full-thrust-way-it-was-meant-to-be.html">our previous game</a>. In retrospect, we could have compensated by changing all measurements from inches to centimeters, but we realized that midway through the game. Oh well — it just meant that our two fleets crashed together one or two turns ahead of schedule.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3nGyL4YMGs4vNryPTTd_PwTMt9a9AxIe4OqvhM3OYMIYZ2t3X62_-xBfCyizaafVvlEva1i0LqqbdnLYyYaWAaNxhz2-1hXcVEGWI_ZJYMC_nfCD_kXGpu0uafzDrFWH6AiE6yUq_SGtT/s1600/IMG_2359.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3nGyL4YMGs4vNryPTTd_PwTMt9a9AxIe4OqvhM3OYMIYZ2t3X62_-xBfCyizaafVvlEva1i0LqqbdnLYyYaWAaNxhz2-1hXcVEGWI_ZJYMC_nfCD_kXGpu0uafzDrFWH6AiE6yUq_SGtT/s320/IMG_2359.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5548854623580047906" border="0" /></a>Tim sent his smaller ships to the planets nearest his side of the table, and I did the same on my side. Our largest battleships all converged on each other in an attempt to engage and destroy the most dangerous ships in the opposing fleets. Thus there developed a huge scrum between battleships in the center of the table, with little support ships flitting around on the fringes, landing troops and supplies in the middle of a huge firefight.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6wpd0Bqc7U7TmLiCNXlYI24WxmrKz30-W1KKZTR9oCul-z0FEKubNp3YTg-V3MS1vuWOKmvmqzkKINT8hKYpJb72OmwuFaiTrGFIgb8rVQ9lxW6BPjXYJ1mz9eGPkPELcjOA9Hdr2OQ_q/s1600/IMG_2361.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6wpd0Bqc7U7TmLiCNXlYI24WxmrKz30-W1KKZTR9oCul-z0FEKubNp3YTg-V3MS1vuWOKmvmqzkKINT8hKYpJb72OmwuFaiTrGFIgb8rVQ9lxW6BPjXYJ1mz9eGPkPELcjOA9Hdr2OQ_q/s320/IMG_2361.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5548854630466646466" border="0" /></a>This proved to be my undoing. I was doing fine at mauling his big ships, but I had trouble getting my smaller ships into orbit to land strike teams. In the end, both of our fleets were hurting badly — note the raging inferno engulfing the bridge of the battleship <span style="font-style: italic;">Ostrogoth</span> in the pic below — but he had claimed a decisive victory by occupying 4 planets to my 2.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgktKeski-qFwBJlzwcK7lFbJ846vWa7gRXctodscbwVMUjgu2nsLPbrrPZnnGJxZMEBmRftUeZKRLHpTxkwUzP_ufd-iv93bT701BUOO8VNWorLOc1uTRMVGOdrVezG_xfEJTPQzMSlpCy/s1600/IMG_2363.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgktKeski-qFwBJlzwcK7lFbJ846vWa7gRXctodscbwVMUjgu2nsLPbrrPZnnGJxZMEBmRftUeZKRLHpTxkwUzP_ufd-iv93bT701BUOO8VNWorLOc1uTRMVGOdrVezG_xfEJTPQzMSlpCy/s320/IMG_2363.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5548854635050668578" border="0" /></a>Interestingly, one of those planets was occupied by one of his strike teams <span style="font-style: italic;">and</span> one of mine. Full Thrust dovetails nicely with Dirtside and Stargrunt, two other sci-fi games published by <a href="http://www.groundzerogames.co.uk/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1">Ground Zero Games</a>, so it's possible that we could play out the fight between the two landing parties at a later date using either of those two other systems. Both include rules for orbital bombardment, which could definitely be interesting considering we both had ships in the vicinity of the planet when the game ended...Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5149158411520408380.post-10688791497115491712010-12-06T08:17:00.001-06:002010-12-06T08:17:00.220-06:00Rebased MechWarrior clix in action<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_pQe9BnE6UdE/TPwDzuCpiYI/AAAAAAAAAn8/dkc3Nr4kvkY/s1600/IMG_2352.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_pQe9BnE6UdE/TPwDzuCpiYI/AAAAAAAAAn8/dkc3Nr4kvkY/s320/IMG_2352.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5547313028080961922" border="0" /></a>For Karl's birthday last week, we got together to play <a href="http://armorgridgames.blogspot.com/2010/03/armor-grid-mech-attack.html">Armor Grid: Mech Attack!</a>, a fast-play skirmish wargame for sci-fi wargames featuring — you guessed it — BattleMechs, along with assorted infantry and tanks. The game is designed for paper miniatures, but you can just as easily use classic BattleTech figures, Reaper CAV models, or in our case a bunch of re-based MechWarrior clix.<br /><br />Karl has amassed an impressive collection of MechWarrior clix (infantry, vehicles and mechs) specifically for this game. These are prepainted figures from the WizKids game, and most of them look quite nice on the tabletop — especially when removed from the clicky base and put onto a proper miniatures base, complete with drybrushed desert sand.<br /><br />At 13 pages, Mech Attack is most definitely rules-lite. Like the other skirmish games that our group regularly plays — including Song of Blades & Heroes and Wastelands — Mech Attack is designed to be played with anywhere from 5 to 15 models, depending on the size of game. We played two games, the first being five mechs vs. five mechs, the second being combined arms with light mechs, a vehicle and a couple infantry squads.<br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_pQe9BnE6UdE/TPwDteDI2HI/AAAAAAAAAnc/G5zxhchQR8g/s1600/IMG_2341.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_pQe9BnE6UdE/TPwDteDI2HI/AAAAAAAAAnc/G5zxhchQR8g/s320/IMG_2341.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5547312920708831346" border="0" /></a>Both games were a lot of fun. Players take turns moving mechs and firing their weapons, which include lasers, cannons, machineguns and missile launchers. But be careful — moving and firing generates heat, which can cause your mech to overheat if you try to do too much in a turn. I never played classic BattleTech, but I understand that heat and heat dissipation was a big part of that game. As it was, heat is certainly a unique mechanic in Mech Attack, and it really forces players to carefully consider how they use their mechs on the battlefield.<br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_pQe9BnE6UdE/TPwDtytmP8I/AAAAAAAAAns/83dCggUQwSE/s1600/IMG_2348.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_pQe9BnE6UdE/TPwDtytmP8I/AAAAAAAAAns/83dCggUQwSE/s320/IMG_2348.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5547312926255628226" border="0" /></a>The most innovative part of Mech Attack is the armor grid (from whence came the publisher's name, no doubt). Picture a big grid of boxes, with each vertical column numbered 1-10. Each type of weapon (cannon, laser, missile, etc) does a different damage "shape" (I'm talking Tetris pieces here) that is applied to the armor grid based on a dice roll. In this way, you gradually fill up the armor grid columns by dealing damage. Once filled, these columns force critical damage, which in turn causes the mech or vehicle to lose weapons or get destroyed outright.<br /><br />Anyway, the armor grid was far and away the most interesting part of the game. Some weapons are good in combination with others, combining their shapes to create devastating damage patterns on the armor grid. Infantry weapons are applied to the armor grid as well, giving infantry a real chance of harming mechs by peppering them with relentless small arms fire. In the picture below, an Ocelot mech tried to assault a dug-in unit of light infantry, only to be destroyed by a lucky critical result on the following turn. (That made the game for me right there — I heart games where infantry has a valid role to play on the battlefield.)<br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_pQe9BnE6UdE/TPwDuRwGNmI/AAAAAAAAAn0/VTMPjwcgrrI/s1600/IMG_2350.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_pQe9BnE6UdE/TPwDuRwGNmI/AAAAAAAAAn0/VTMPjwcgrrI/s320/IMG_2350.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5547312934587610722" border="0" /></a>Overall, Mech Attack looks to be a great excuse to fiddle around with bucketloads of prepainted MechWarrior clix. For a slightly more strategic gaming experience, I'm planning to use these same re-based MechWarrior figures to try out Future War Commander (which has plenty of reference points for classic BattleTech players).<br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_pQe9BnE6UdE/TPwDtsza1MI/AAAAAAAAAnk/mxPlDACM-bE/s1600/IMG_2347.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_pQe9BnE6UdE/TPwDtsza1MI/AAAAAAAAAnk/mxPlDACM-bE/s320/IMG_2347.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5547312924669433026" border="0" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5149158411520408380.post-91440026401012790192010-11-12T09:25:00.009-06:002010-11-12T10:05:14.427-06:00Full Thrust, the way it was meant to be played<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_pQe9BnE6UdE/TN1iyo8AKCI/AAAAAAAAAmg/vw3RHmOafd0/s1600/IMG_2310.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_pQe9BnE6UdE/TN1iyo8AKCI/AAAAAAAAAmg/vw3RHmOafd0/s320/IMG_2310.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5538691738857646114" border="0" /></a><br />At GenCon last summer, I got bitten big-time by the spaceship wargaming bug. I demoed War Rocket and had a blast, but the pulp sci-fi setting didn't really resonate with me. I wanted more of a deep-space naval experience, kind of like Star Wars/Trek but without the added burden of a well-developed setting.<br /><br />Enter <a href="http://www.groundzerogames.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=50">Full Thrust</a>, the granddaddy of spaceship wargames that's still going strong almost two decades after it was first published. The game is officially in its second edition (<a href="http://www.groundzerogames.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=50">free on the Web</a>) but a fan-made, creator-sanctioned PDF offers an updated representation of the game. It's called <a href="http://members.ozemail.com.au/%7Elaranzu/fullthrust/rules/index.html">Full Thrust: Cross Dimensions</a>, and it's also available as a <a href="http://members.ozemail.com.au/%7Elaranzu/fullthrust/rules/index.html">free download</a>.<br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_pQe9BnE6UdE/TN1jjiMC4rI/AAAAAAAAAnA/6Epnk9kh0IE/s1600/IMG_2309.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_pQe9BnE6UdE/TN1jjiMC4rI/AAAAAAAAAnA/6Epnk9kh0IE/s320/IMG_2309.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5538692578859475634" border="0" /></a>The best part about Full Thrust is that players are explicitly encouraged to use any miniatures they want to assemble their fleets. There's an established universe for the game, and the publisher sells miniatures to go with this setting, but it's not essential for the playing experience. The creator notes several times in the rules that the game can be grafted onto any number sci-fi settings, including (of course) homebrew universes.<br /><br />So, in true Full Thrust fashion, I assembled two mishmash fleets using miniatures from 4 different game lines and manufacturers. For smaller escort ships, I'm using the starfighters from Silent Death. For medium-sized destroyers and light cruisers, I'm using a handful of BattleTech/AeroTech miniatures. Heavy cruisers and battleships were drawn from Starfleet Battles and Firestorm Armada, both of which have some beefy, cool-looking ships.<span style="text-decoration: underline;"><br /><br /></span>To a casual player who's more familiar with branded miniatures games, my fleets might look like a mess. But to me they're a perfect example of the Full Thrust ideal: generic fleets composed of the various miniatures, painted up and ready to hit the battlefield (er, space-field?).<br /><br />I'll make a little universe one day to go along with my fleets, but right now they're just the Gray Fleet and the Green Fleet. Original, huh?<br /><br />We played our first game of Full Thrust the other night. Thankfully my opponent had played the game a time or two before, so between the two of us we were able to get up to speed quickly.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0p0SQdTotQmEdqKEfxKRB7wJJ3TwvZzFRVJfle_hdPIO47cXq3lGp65I12IyIxgs1Iu7wCQjQxsgtr5CISKRL7YUYCjBY_Wi3T8140O1HlW5ZmwIMNqHNubp-WEcD2CXzVTTluw4o5LRs/s1600/IMG_2315.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0p0SQdTotQmEdqKEfxKRB7wJJ3TwvZzFRVJfle_hdPIO47cXq3lGp65I12IyIxgs1Iu7wCQjQxsgtr5CISKRL7YUYCjBY_Wi3T8140O1HlW5ZmwIMNqHNubp-WEcD2CXzVTTluw4o5LRs/s320/IMG_2315.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5538691744037086098" border="0" /></a><br />In Full Thrust, players plot each ship's movement on a piece of paper at the start of each turn. Then, all ships are moved at once. This puts players in the interesting position of trying to anticipate their opponents' maneuvers, and react accordingly. It's also possible that your ships will find themselves with nothing to shoot at because of your opponent's maneuvers. It took some getting used to, but by the second game I was really enjoying the movement system.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq8s0qM29k97dUZcBqn-pE2NoDwRr8h3hut_zBUSWOhe2fpNaHflOZiFfelMoYTWeZJ3uzP4g_vzsoFuDB7U25QXoLOc5jVxlXTTHY_G3rOR31-lzjJT4M4Jn8a3lH3c3W-RfQ54nFVIHp/s1600/IMG_2306.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq8s0qM29k97dUZcBqn-pE2NoDwRr8h3hut_zBUSWOhe2fpNaHflOZiFfelMoYTWeZJ3uzP4g_vzsoFuDB7U25QXoLOc5jVxlXTTHY_G3rOR31-lzjJT4M4Jn8a3lH3c3W-RfQ54nFVIHp/s320/IMG_2306.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5538692574483614642" border="0" /></a>Combat is fairly simple, with most ships mounting huge banks of beam weapons, or various missile/torpedo systems. I'm told the combat resolution system inspired similar systems in Uncharted Seas and Firestorm Armada.<br /><br />The deep space felt mat in these photos is from <a href="http://www.hotzmats.com/">Hotz ArtWorks</a>. It was a custom job, like almost all of his products, and it took about a month and a half to get to me in Chicago. But the wait was worth it...while playing at our local game store, about a dozen gamers wandered over throughout the evening to ask about our game, drawn solely by the gorgeous spectacle of two fleets exchanging volleys on the pretty felt mat.<br /><br />The asteroids were pieces of lava rock mounted on flying bases, and the planet was a decorative bamboo ball I snagged from a hobby store. It looked great as a storm-wracked gas giant looming in the middle of the battlefield!<br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_pQe9BnE6UdE/TN1iyrooL3I/AAAAAAAAAmo/AdAMjjIpG2o/s1600/IMG_2313.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_pQe9BnE6UdE/TN1iyrooL3I/AAAAAAAAAmo/AdAMjjIpG2o/s320/IMG_2313.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5538691739581689714" border="0" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5149158411520408380.post-36618353030689191352010-11-07T11:00:00.007-06:002010-11-07T11:33:24.651-06:00Battle report for Wastelands, the post-apocalyptic skirmish game<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ3oP8u5bOo_E9XF8CB3pPDofqbmcEpys1N_zMpl4_WDsQSljdDWtmAxxssjLd9Qm4fjn9_aZTRzHihvOzg_HBoV4-UZwojh8lHiMl4Wd7Sks5WDOVx0j_huIV4ZgmNPlcP3N_2QQecaxr/s1600/IMG_2268.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ3oP8u5bOo_E9XF8CB3pPDofqbmcEpys1N_zMpl4_WDsQSljdDWtmAxxssjLd9Qm4fjn9_aZTRzHihvOzg_HBoV4-UZwojh8lHiMl4Wd7Sks5WDOVx0j_huIV4ZgmNPlcP3N_2QQecaxr/s320/IMG_2268.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5536855650368012626" border="0" /></a><br />My regular wargaming group got together last week to try out <a href="http://s1.zetaboards.com/Post_Apoc_Wargames/topic/1897596/1/">Wastelands</a>, a skirmish miniatures game set in a post-apocalyptic world. The rules are philosophically similar to Song of Blades & Heroes — meaning they're simple, customizable and packed with RPG-like flavor — so we knew this would be an easy game to pick up and play. Plus, the game is generic enough to support all manner of post-apocalyptic scenarios and factions: Road Warrior-style highway raiders, Terminator machines, 40k-style shock troopers and everything in between. Games generally include anywhere from 3 to 10 figures, plus maybe a vehicle or two.<br /><br />Karl, one of the players in the group, had a fantastic desert board set up at his place, and we were able to get in two games, each lasting just over an hour or so. Each game was a three-way slugfest; we avoided crafting a specific scenario because we really just wanted to see how the game would play.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ0-ZncVsN8LiAQag2GrCSYmFit_xOCLl7cA4znCuUB3DVqWMqe3qFFqCFFBLjCyZHckNrB50oFSNjuU37cKmK4HT4q6uggO4e1DYYUG0L-BmnWGZMiPTPN4Zz6Jw6W3dGPFpgX8wukWYM/s1600/IMG_2267.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ0-ZncVsN8LiAQag2GrCSYmFit_xOCLl7cA4znCuUB3DVqWMqe3qFFqCFFBLjCyZHckNrB50oFSNjuU37cKmK4HT4q6uggO4e1DYYUG0L-BmnWGZMiPTPN4Zz6Jw6W3dGPFpgX8wukWYM/s320/IMG_2267.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5536855645693839922" border="0" /></a><br />The games were a lot of fun, but the suggested point value for each team (300 points) offered some wildly disparate teams. For example, 300 points got 6 Mad Max-style gangers, or 3 tricked-out shock trooper commandos, or 3 nomadic survivors plus a rustbucket police cruiser.<br /><br />The 3 armored shock troopers proved to be the most potent fighting force on the board that evening, owing mostly to their bitchin' body armor. They didn't have numerical superiority, but they were able to walk all over the nomadic survivors and the Terminator-style robot infantry, as seen in these photos.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQmdKUuwujABTN2ZhGBpRxE3TyG9u84uw6ecFzIJt2knYyborV_OXdmvXiwAIbTYdaugnT3QrPDyPP7-uCmyAf9AE5180fo2eOkwb4o9OufHufJDaMk8ica41aGKyvIdmtKw5vfrGMRYUJ/s1600/IMG_2272.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQmdKUuwujABTN2ZhGBpRxE3TyG9u84uw6ecFzIJt2knYyborV_OXdmvXiwAIbTYdaugnT3QrPDyPP7-uCmyAf9AE5180fo2eOkwb4o9OufHufJDaMk8ica41aGKyvIdmtKw5vfrGMRYUJ/s320/IMG_2272.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5536855653272195666" border="0" /></a><br />We all agreed that, despite the prowess of the shock troopers, it's just not that much fun to have a team consisting of only 3 guys, so we are definitely going to raise the point cap a bit higher next time we play, maybe up to 500 points or so. I mean, the point of playing miniatures wargames is to get fun toys on the table, right?<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWlHVokasATMrATw1EkhFV7OUJgrkWRPzaP-Bjde9vsqYI7dQ9iRzWl5W6i97-8yzMiIXPfx5nFUPGrpm575UIG4dTPOkEqbOeg5j1TjJ9Ds9dNU3oIjSjri_RssAbOF5i7LXYVrZTjUHH/s1600/IMG_2273.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWlHVokasATMrATw1EkhFV7OUJgrkWRPzaP-Bjde9vsqYI7dQ9iRzWl5W6i97-8yzMiIXPfx5nFUPGrpm575UIG4dTPOkEqbOeg5j1TjJ9Ds9dNU3oIjSjri_RssAbOF5i7LXYVrZTjUHH/s320/IMG_2273.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5536855658439100818" border="0" /></a><br />Also, the lone vehicle didn't really perform as we hoped it would. I didn't buy a gun for it, so all it was able to do was lurch back and forth, attempting to ram various enemies. It looked cool on the table, but it ultimately killed no one and was itself destroyed piecemeal in both games. I think the game will play much better with several vehicles zipping around on the board, rather than one big moving target that everyone shoots at each turn.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizY9siLrIFXUhUW4V_Mx8Txas16nknlGZEhfiCer7ABp3KhyphenhyphenYRqfIl3mqCxRRvI7RedtZGkVe2b3VCE2dnnxuh9lS3pOeazo31vN_8ABxVM3f0psynV3eSWx5evab9ZreQGZNgcDUkVjrM/s1600/IMG_2275.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizY9siLrIFXUhUW4V_Mx8Txas16nknlGZEhfiCer7ABp3KhyphenhyphenYRqfIl3mqCxRRvI7RedtZGkVe2b3VCE2dnnxuh9lS3pOeazo31vN_8ABxVM3f0psynV3eSWx5evab9ZreQGZNgcDUkVjrM/s320/IMG_2275.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5536856834160654114" border="0" /></a><br />Lastly, Wastelands had its share of inconsistencies and muddled rules. We ended up houseruling more than a few key things over the course of two games. This wasn't a big deal, and I understand that Wastelands is a DIY release that probably didn't benefit from an outside editor, but it's worth mentioning. I'm sure we'll codify our Wastelands notes in some sort of house rules addendum that we can all share.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5149158411520408380.post-67237881174332658352010-10-01T11:38:00.007-05:002010-10-01T13:38:17.005-05:00Pretty terrain for a Song of Blades & Heroes<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcYIaTMk4qFHSdnYRguDIJhcqUdXujo82oP3H2gpoEokjdIVKLoN9MuXFQ1YYzvqopu8E-vcvp7C4oHS6z6EvJ1gV3tx4F3BSIF735WjCEkBqTMA8m2IJj1aKus0oNeMqAgWVCfHvlsBLO/s1600/photo.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcYIaTMk4qFHSdnYRguDIJhcqUdXujo82oP3H2gpoEokjdIVKLoN9MuXFQ1YYzvqopu8E-vcvp7C4oHS6z6EvJ1gV3tx4F3BSIF735WjCEkBqTMA8m2IJj1aKus0oNeMqAgWVCfHvlsBLO/s320/photo.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5523148304256941746" border="0" /></a><br />I met up with my regular miniatures group (well, just the one guy this time) to play Song of Blades & Heroes. The folks at the game shop had recently built some gorgeous new fall scenery pieces, so we whipped up a quick battlefield featuring an autumn forest leading up to a brooding manor house.<br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_pQe9BnE6UdE/TKYqIIxaejI/AAAAAAAAAjs/ldVpe_z6zR8/s1600/photo+5.jpg"><br /></a>My barbarians were assaulting the manor house, which was defended by Karl's humans and elves. I expected him to sit tight behind the walls and wait for me to venture forth — but Karl denied me such satisfaction and instead sallied forth to meet my forces with a rain of arrows from his three archers.<br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_pQe9BnE6UdE/TKYqHxLBENI/AAAAAAAAAjk/3ttlcwZ28EQ/s1600/photo+2.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_pQe9BnE6UdE/TKYqHxLBENI/AAAAAAAAAjk/3ttlcwZ28EQ/s320/photo+2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5523148305963487442" border="0" /></a><br />We got to try out the group shooting rules, and they proved to be quite effective. In fact, that seems to be the best way to use archers in SBH: in groups of 2-3, rather than as single shooters. Combined, the elven archers felled my barbarian leader, which wreaked havoc on my loose formation of attackers. Some fled, others plunged into the forest to escape the steel-tipped storm.<br /><br />The game carried on, but I was on the ropes from the second turn. In retrospect, the attacker probably should have had more points than the defender.<br /><br />But damn! The game was so PRETTY! The autumn tree clumps looked just right with my marauding fighters mixed in there. And the defenders' keep was cool, too. It had working doors and everything. Overall, we were definitely able to stay faithful to the old adage of miniature wargaming: <span style="font-style: italic;">getting cool toys on the table</span>.<br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_pQe9BnE6UdE/TKYqIIxaejI/AAAAAAAAAjs/ldVpe_z6zR8/s1600/photo+5.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_pQe9BnE6UdE/TKYqIIxaejI/AAAAAAAAAjs/ldVpe_z6zR8/s320/photo+5.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5523148312298551858" border="0" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5149158411520408380.post-81283127078931491852010-09-17T12:34:00.004-05:002010-09-17T12:40:49.133-05:00The image that says "D&D" to me<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://mikemonaco.files.wordpress.com/2010/05/trampier3.gif"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 325px; height: 446px;" src="http://mikemonaco.files.wordpress.com/2010/05/trampier3.gif" alt="" border="0" /></a>I came to D&D late in my gaming career, only acquiring a copy of the AD&D Players Handbook last year, at the ripe age of 27. Thus this image, while dazzling to my adult self, didn't have near the impact that it would have had on my 12-year-old self had I seen it back then.<br /><br />Anyway, this is the image that <a href="http://grognardia.blogspot.com/2010/09/open-friday-imagining-d.html">says "D&D" to me</a>. Part of me wants to yell "Don't look at that freakin' mouth, there's some glowing eyes at the end of the hallway! Get your shields up!"<br /><br />Anytime I want to get juiced up for fantasy gaming, I take a look at this image. And whenever I need to get in the right mindset for D&D in particular (what with its adventuring parties, hirelings, 10-foot poles, secret doors and the like) I take a look at the following image.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVysU2SQW73MBDzZ3G759wPNy_Ioy-XpkFYSJzvET4fmuvc56Z28ZjY_z5LkRK2Cbi3XycNDEBI4DzT6VNhzG1a-VgakwcWGiKXbFNONMtQPndEMq330jF8rkfGlT5ezXzQGHkNp_yyhmg/s400/D&D-Dream-Party.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 325px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVysU2SQW73MBDzZ3G759wPNy_Ioy-XpkFYSJzvET4fmuvc56Z28ZjY_z5LkRK2Cbi3XycNDEBI4DzT6VNhzG1a-VgakwcWGiKXbFNONMtQPndEMq330jF8rkfGlT5ezXzQGHkNp_yyhmg/s400/D&D-Dream-Party.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5149158411520408380.post-14899846900451863852010-09-08T09:30:00.006-05:002014-04-21T10:01:03.060-05:00My ever-changing gaming interestsIt's been months since I've run a roleplaying game, mainly because I've been spending lots of time painting miniatures — and consequently I've been gravitating toward games that will give me an opportunity to actually <span style="font-style: italic;">use</span> those painted miniatures!<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_pQe9BnE6UdE/TIef5uf74FI/AAAAAAAAAi4/Y7BvYuQiqtA/s1600/photo+2.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_pQe9BnE6UdE/TIef5uf74FI/AAAAAAAAAi4/Y7BvYuQiqtA/s320/photo+2.jpg" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5514552082821800018" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 240px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 320px;" /></a>Lately I've found a group of guys in Chicago who play Song of Blades & Heroes, the excellent little fantasy skirmish game that I discovered earlier this year. We've been meeting twice a month, or thereabouts, to talk trash and move our little fantasy figures around the table. It doesn't hurt that the game shop where we meet is just 4 blocks from my apartment in Chicago!<br />
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The thing with Song of Blades & Heroes is that it's <span style="font-style: italic;">almost</span> a roleplaying game. You can choose unique-looking miniatures, name your characters, send them on specific tasks, etc. The game mechanic is simple enough that it can be adapted to handle typical roleplaying tasks.<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_pQe9BnE6UdE/TIegsPUKutI/AAAAAAAAAjA/CYsKthlDFWQ/s1600/photo.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_pQe9BnE6UdE/TIegsPUKutI/AAAAAAAAAjA/CYsKthlDFWQ/s320/photo.jpg" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5514552950624271058" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 240px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /></a><br />
For our most recent game, we set up some dungeon blocks to create a full-on tabletop labyrinth, and then we rolled up a "quest for the magic item" scenario that pitted a squad of dark elves against a marauding crew of gladiators and a patrol of evil snakemen. Badass!<br />
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Since GenCon, I've become enamored with sci-fi miniatures gaming — starships in particular, probably a direct result of me <a href="http://triblocal.com/Batavia/detail/205409.html">sitting in on an excellent demo of War Rocket</a>, the pulp sci-fi starship game from Hydra Miniatures.<br />
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During the drive back to Chicago, I realized that I loved the <a href="http://warrocketgame.com/">War Rocket ruleset</a>, but I decided to collect a more "generic" looking set of starships, so I could potentially use them for Full Thrust, Starmada or any of the other fleet-action rulesets out there. <a href="http://www.groundzerogames.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=category&sectionid=9&id=29&Itemid=50">Full Thrust, by the way, is available for free on the web from Ground Zero Games</a>.<br />
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I'm just a week or so away from trying out my first game of Full Thrust (or War Rocket, depending on the group). For now, I'm trying to create my own sci-fi milieu, rather than use a published setting. (Aside: Starship minis games seem to have this disturbing tendency to make all their factions into fascimiles of political blocs that exist today on Earth. So we have space Russians, space Japanese, space Germans, space Americans, etc. Weird, that. How about some aliens?)<br />
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I'm also deliberately building my starship fleets using a variety of models from different manufacturers. This is explicitly encouraged in Full Thrust, much to my delight. So far, I'm using models from Silent Death, Firestorm Armada, Star Fleet Battles and AeroTech. Check back for photos soon!<br />
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My sci-fi bug hasn't stopped with starships, though...I'm contemplating getting some old MechWarrior click-base figures to rebase and use with Future War Commander or Dirtside. I priced out some pieces last night, and it looks like I can get two armies for $30 or so. And of course, they're prepainted...<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5149158411520408380.post-36133880443239071642010-09-01T10:33:00.003-05:002010-09-01T10:56:45.262-05:00Flying Blind Down the Railroad TracksWe played our second session of ICONS last night, and I was not a fully prepared GM. I had miscalculated. I was completely ready to finish the previous (published) adventure (The Skeletron Key), to simply show up and play Heroclix, or to play some combination of the two. But throughout the day before the game, I started to get the feeling that the players who showed up for this game wouldn't have a strong overlap with players from the first game. So, I downloaded the second (published) adventure for ICONS (Sins of the Past) and read/skimmed about 3/4 of it on the el on the way home from work.<br /><br />Surely enough, we had four players, but only one from the original game. So, we played the new adventure. Like the first adventure, Sins of the Past was a real railroad. I'm generally not into railroading my players, but I understand that non-sandbox adventures tend to be railroads, and the GM just has to deal. When I've run railroady adventures in the past, I feel like I've done well on the fly modifying the adventure to fit what the players do. But this time was different: I simply didn't know the adventure well, and I hadn't read the ending before we started playing. <br /><br />I think I did alright at the beginning. Within literally the first 10 minutes, the players had left the tracks. They were supposed to form a friendly relationship with the Golden Agents - a classic superhero group from the WWII era - and the Golden Agents would help lead them through the adventure. But the relationship didn't work out this way. This was partially because of my actions. In the earlier game, one of the characters threw a helicopter into a skyscraper, and the one repeat player wasn't very popular as a result. The Golden Agents reacted accordingly. For the most part, this worked out fine, and we managed to progress through set scenes in the adventure with a plot reconstructed on the fly.<br /><br />But I made a bad decision at the end, right as we got into the part that I had quickly skimmed/not read at all. The characters by all rights should've captured a super villain (a talking monkey with a tommie gun!), and I didn't let them. My actions were a little believable, given the capacities the villains had shown in the past, but they were way too facile - a probability controlling teleporter snatched the hostage away in a single turn. In retrospect, I realize that I did this out of desperation - I simply didn't know what was coming next, and a hostage was the railroaded outcome of the scene (which in turn would lead the PCs to the next scene). Now that I've thought about it and read the full adventure, I know that I clearly didn't need to do this. So, I'm thinking about a retcon to even things out in the next game. <br /><br />But I still feel like I made a rookie mistake: I railroaded the players with a bs move to further the pre-existing plot. I know that kind of thing can grind. Just goes to show that you shouldn't fly blind down the railroad tracks.Supahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18436226237333436435noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5149158411520408380.post-41031633557921563832010-08-23T08:52:00.008-05:002012-02-26T19:29:23.334-06:00Stuff for sale - fantasy and scifi<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqzfx1_YbULcHGlq0RvE_n4HrsHmYVSrF7gndqVXe2cSQda3cPdvmswtHOAgPPrEXWbSqVbexUat98uTngZOqw76bsUte5j71SALi_Gx_koatXkg5KDf0X9LPbqM9u4-8AJo0PABMIEgYw/s1600/ww2-10mm.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 281px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqzfx1_YbULcHGlq0RvE_n4HrsHmYVSrF7gndqVXe2cSQda3cPdvmswtHOAgPPrEXWbSqVbexUat98uTngZOqw76bsUte5j71SALi_Gx_koatXkg5KDf0X9LPbqM9u4-8AJo0PABMIEgYw/s320/ww2-10mm.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5713621422186139714" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin7U39dEZWsf4RllD516B0PAkHhaZd9FAsk0UcmUMIGPrOOn4JLtEdrtRKPnyH29GnJgj79LKIKa5NP6ZpMMHIQ6uOvaT9vw2b-C-bb10zhU4iUlpvFq-NHu9ALpWHTBCo2UAnjI74MjU4/s1600/tanks2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin7U39dEZWsf4RllD516B0PAkHhaZd9FAsk0UcmUMIGPrOOn4JLtEdrtRKPnyH29GnJgj79LKIKa5NP6ZpMMHIQ6uOvaT9vw2b-C-bb10zhU4iUlpvFq-NHu9ALpWHTBCo2UAnjI74MjU4/s320/tanks2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5710512594405078466" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8TogxKNQ9Qi6XZlYmrIruYrs3y2T9I_ZljRYQHRTYJqLosqeCySTZ-ry3jkBIqSWSBbxH1wm5fZtTxu4yGwnKuigMjhA3lqlHv20yrK6XzVQ7tTa6u3cloJtwTSwS7q2GSwsoKT_8xdw1/s1600/tanks1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8TogxKNQ9Qi6XZlYmrIruYrs3y2T9I_ZljRYQHRTYJqLosqeCySTZ-ry3jkBIqSWSBbxH1wm5fZtTxu4yGwnKuigMjhA3lqlHv20yrK6XzVQ7tTa6u3cloJtwTSwS7q2GSwsoKT_8xdw1/s320/tanks1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5710512590000276738" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNrZOLSwFR1VH2TZpriWVghqXjRwk7lumFLrjcV6LThynuQiRVRhb4yLpzQ8DDva3oVMHH0itRrqxx39RElOXKsjlF0_QZXqZ1rGWz0Ec9jfOicIjnJfPX0WJ0SgO0FXOWKJnE0Vnej9Qf/s1600/tanks3.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 198px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNrZOLSwFR1VH2TZpriWVghqXjRwk7lumFLrjcV6LThynuQiRVRhb4yLpzQ8DDva3oVMHH0itRrqxx39RElOXKsjlF0_QZXqZ1rGWz0Ec9jfOicIjnJfPX0WJ0SgO0FXOWKJnE0Vnej9Qf/s320/tanks3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5710512602755693442" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPJs4VPUKAPEjp04OsyXTw__4POVx4qrmALPRnjCOyT7HuPKRcfuBBE9tJiDECIEih3L4Sh_UoUr1SEOdRBAbNu3_itxO92utUJfAvTRe5ExeVoyhIPuPMjQDEtj7UefnkvXAwt0a0tIg_/s1600/pulpie.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPJs4VPUKAPEjp04OsyXTw__4POVx4qrmALPRnjCOyT7HuPKRcfuBBE9tJiDECIEih3L4Sh_UoUr1SEOdRBAbNu3_itxO92utUJfAvTRe5ExeVoyhIPuPMjQDEtj7UefnkvXAwt0a0tIg_/s320/pulpie.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5708365868794312850" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhamTz97PjQDvOMJqODIIAmJNaFpEsmEoiLX-NbJ7UL2nDBrBlCrt6y03l-Rz54aj5-m82VpwyDBV5vkEsQ6fLUSe7kGEBjidJFcFjQXw89q2YKqLONoyA-H0zNwd_kveZbM4G4Xs0Wg5a5/s1600/IMG_3355.jpg"><img style="display:block; 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margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGRlamnIgxi_aeyZLq5y9jr_7nrX1RXVFXW6hXpozKV1f4wFvY3RYz4FMbDf9omuIpftautKKyTsPkM0-JD_EfPvaJYb3kiHskIgPxgYoGDW5HIHJWuZ9q-lHERJJ7555S2IsC6H4jq4Ev/s320/IMG_3352.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5707538238802039010" border="0" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5149158411520408380.post-54775854726513794222010-08-20T08:12:00.004-05:002010-08-20T08:38:45.049-05:00ICONS and the Adult Gamer: Actual Play/ReviewA couple days ago, four of us got together to play ICONS - the new superhero rpg by Steven Kenson et al. The game is a cross between a cleaned up, old school TSR Marvel supers game and the more narrative and modern Spirit of the Century. The game includes information about several powers, but it's not crunchy - ICONS is heavily tilted toward random character generation and being able to sit down and play quick-like. While I love Mutants and Masterminds (Kenson's other, much ballyhooed supers game), ICONS is a different beast. It's not for the munchkins. Really, it's not for the gritty old schoolers or vampire narrativists either. It's for some goofy, quick fun with a splash of dynamic play and modern cool.<br /><br />And that's how it actually played. Which was perfect for this particular night. Here's the origin story of said night:<br /><br />My friends and I are late-20s/early 30s gamers with wives, long term relationships, careers, and in my case, a kid. We're not as grizzled as <a href="http://oldguyrpg.blogspot.com/l">Old Guy Mike</a> (glad you're back on the blogging scene!), but time is still scarce, and it has empirically proven near-impossible to have a steady campaign going. So, we've decided to make a set, biweekly game. Whoever shows, shows. At our first meeting, we had about 8 people (WOW!!!). Our second was sadly cancelled because of attendance issues. At our third meeting, Pat was supposed to continue his long-running old school, fantasy, sandbox, gritty, savage worlds campaign. But he bailed at the last minute because he had professional responsibilities (you know, like editing fantasy flight rpg books for real money).<br /><br />I had ICONS sitting on my desktop, and it looked quick and fun. I downloaded the first adventure the night before our game, quickly skimmed the ICONS rules, read the adventure, and showed up with some makers mark for the game the next day.<br /><br />The game was great. We randomly generated characters in 45 minutes. We played through about 3/4 of the adventure in a few hours. This was quite fast indeed. Much of this speed is due to the simplicity of the system: The GM doesn't roll dice, and only compares PC rolls against NPC stats. (A couple times, muscle memory kicked in and I caught myself reaching for dice when it was the NPCs' turns to attack, and rolling is FUN, but it worked well regardless.) The system was simple enough that I didn't really explain it to the players. I just translated the results of their die rolls for them. In the end, we had a few pretty cinematic combats, some cool between combat scenes, and ended up with what turned out to be some morally ambiguous superheroes (e.g. they wouldn't help a dying CEO/inventor live without a promise that he would sell his entire company - that he grew from his garage in the 80s- to a rival CEO... who was also player in the game.) Good stuff was generated in a limited period of time.<br /><br />So here's the verdict: ICONS is goofy as hell, but it's also cool and surprisingly dynamic. It's a really nice blend of old school mechanics and new school narrativist ones. If you want a supers game built for long campaigns, you probably want to look elsewhere (like at Mutants and Masterminds). But if you're looking for a fun pick-up-and-play game with little prep needed, this is a great game for you. With our schedules these days, it was the perfect game for the perfect time.Supahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18436226237333436435noreply@blogger.com1