Saturday, March 16, 2024

Mixed bag of painting

I finished a random assortment of things today. When I was using my Mageknight dungeon tiles recently, I realized I had no stairs. I had two idea to deal with this. The first was to take some of the "trap" tiles that had a centre cut out and use them to make spiral stair cases. This is one with the centre piece pulled out, a wedge of the piece cut as a step and the rest of descending steps painted in. This looks better in person than in this picture. I did two of these.

I also did the reverse to build stairs going up, basically taking centre pieces and cutting them to give the impression of stairs. Not playable in any way but a reasonable enough representation. The other approach is straight stairs that sit on tiles. I'll start these this week. 

I got this random sci-fi guy in a job lot. I had no idea what to do with him. His gun looked suitably impractical that he could stand in a Mr. Freeze in my super hero games.

Craig also kindly mailed me a couple of Heroclix figures over the holiday. On the left is Ra's alh Ghul' daughter (but will do as a generic gunslinger). On the right is the Ventriloquist from the campy 1960s/70s Bat comics but who could be a very dark villain if you wanted.


Up next: Some Russian Crimean Hussar Lancers are almost done.

Saturday, March 9, 2024

Fistful of Lead Batman, Game 4 Finale

Alright, a few weeks late but here is the last instalment off my initial foray into adapting Fistful of Lead for low-powered supers. In addition to bringing this mini-campaign to a thematically appropriate conclusion, I wanted to do something indoors, using the Mageknight dungeon terrain I've been collecting. And I wanted to see if it was possible to break Fistful of Lead using a min-max strategy. Consequently, I give you the Joker's Lair.


Highlights include the main doorway at the bottom right. At the bottom left is a secret alternate doorway (requiring a task roll to be found). Middle left is the Clown Gun (tm) which takes five turns to activate (with a successful task roll each time). The baddies are sleeping and distributed throughout the lair, so must cope with closed doors and distance. To even it up, the goodies must chance activating a trap any time they move in a hallway (five traps total).


The Joker starts in his study. Note in the background the secret exit he has, with a suitcase by the door. The Riddler (who is good at tasks) starts beside the Clown Gun.


Penguin and Harlequin were injured last time and were not available. Poison Ivy and a gang boss also died last time (!) so I had to fill out Joker's roster with five groups of street punks (three one-wound melee characters in each gang). Having 15 low-level thugs let me test out whether I could break the system by flooding the zone with bodies (spoiler: not really). They were mostly sacked out in their bedrooms while Catwoman was in the dining hall getting some milk.


Team Bats was without Batman (again...) because of some wounds so I added in a second group of rookie cops with night sticks. I assigned Robin and Batgirl and one set of rookies to the secret door while everyone else assaulted the main door. 

On Turn 1, Batgirl couldn't find the door but eventually Robin did and the rookies ran in. Meanwhile, Joker moves out of his office and next to the Clown Gun. There were  bunch of secret passages, access to which could be obtained by Team Bats on a task roll.
 

Meanwhile, at the front door, some rookies forced the door, providing a meatshield for the heroes. A hidden Tommy Gunner was behind the wall and felled two. Neither Green Arrow nor Black Canary could seem to hit him and Green Arrow repeatedly had to reload due to atrocious shooting rolls (he was a huge disappointment in this game after a great showing previously). The rest of the team burst past this antechamber and into the hallway, triggering traps and winding up in a first fight with the first group of punks, who were pulling the midnight shift in the armoury.


Catwoman and the rest of the punks bolted into action at the sound of shots but faced long corridors and closed doors that slowed their progress. I tried to keep the lair small but still allow for multiple pathways. In the end, that wasn't really all that successful as the location of the Clown Gun pretty much drew everyone to the main room. If Commissioner Gordon had not been rescued last time, he would have been caged and offered a diversion for the players.


Turn two saw Robin kick in the door to the Clown Gun room and batarang Riddler (who had successfully activated the gun a second time). His status was a question mark. (Apologies of the pun, Terry reads my blog and I wanted to throw him a bone.)


The rookies followed Robin into the room and rushed the Joker, hoping the three-to-one odds would help them. It did not, although they did drive him away from the Clown Gun. Batgirl hurried to catch up.


Over at the main entrance, Back Canary and Green Arrow could just not get it together and were jammed up for another turn. The detective and remaining rookie braved more traps and waded through the rest of the first punks. A beat cop rushed ahead to pop the door and himself got popped by a gangster. The remaining thugs were still running towards the sound of battle (so many doors). Black Lightening threw a bolt through the open door, disrupting a group of punks.


Turn 3 saw Batgirl finally show up and hit Joker with a batarang. Joker used one of his traits to assign the wound to Riddler. This was a questionable play since, with only two wounds, the Riddler expired.  Again, apologies for the pun. Another rookie fell victim to the Joker.


The main hallway was full of traps, which took their toll. The beat cop and the rookie managed to get to the main room and hold the door against an approaching group of punks. Black Lightening got KOed. But Black Canary's sonic scream helped even up the losses.


On Turn 4, a gang of thugs turned up to help Joker. Catwoman also appeared, hoping to activate the Clown Gun. Batgirl managed to run out of batarangs and the last of the rookies was KOed.



There was quite  a lot of mayhem in the main hallway, but lBack Canary managed to throw a sonic scream over some downed coppers and force a pathway into the main room. The Tommy Gunner abandoned his position and rushed to cut her off.


Turn 5 saw Catwoman complete a task roll and move the Clown Gun one more step towards activation. Thugs attacked Batgirl and Robin and were repulsed. Robin then KOed the Joker with a very lucky batarang so Batgirl rush a thug and then Catwoman and knocked her down. This was the turning point of the game.


The hallway fight spilled into the main room. The Tommy Gunner stepped around the corner to hose down Black Canary at short range but forgot his drum was empty. Robin dashed to help Black canary but somehow lost a melee and went down wounded.


Turn 6 saw Batgirl continue to kicked Catwoman on the ground.  But the rest of the baddies failed recovery rolls and the turn was simply a mop-up operation for Team Bats.


Team Bats picked up 5 reputation points giving them a total of 22 for the campaign and a clear win. Team Joker got 2 points for a total of 16. Things could easily have gone the other way if the Clown Gun had been successfully activated. To conclude this, in case I decide to pick it up again, some terrible end--of-game rolls meant Team Bats got Black Lightening back but Robin died from his wounds. The Joker was also wounded and will need to select a permanent negative trait. Catwoman was also wounded.

The Mageknight terrain as functional enough: a bit finicky to assemble and probably not ideal for a club game. I would think that some floor tiles made from extruded styrofoam (with a black cloth to create negative space) and some stand-alone doors would be more functional, durable, and much cheaper. That said, I was happy to have gotten this stuff on the table finally.

Saturday, March 2, 2024

More colonials

A long time ago, I bought some metal Cylons. And then I successfully supplemented them with some plastic 3-D prints. I also had some metal Colonial warriors and bridge crew. To fill out their numbers, I bought some 3-D prints on Etsy.


Overall, these were pretty good for digital sculpts (the hair is a bit lame). There are 10 poses with bit of variety. They painted up well enough and could easily be used as new recruits or generic grunts.


They give me quit a mess of Colonials and I should be able to run games using skirmish or gang-level rules (I'll probably try these with a Fistful of Lead, but Xenos Rampant is also possible).


The one issue is that the prints are way short on identical bases. They are about 28mm from foot to top of head. The metals are probably 32mm to top of head. That doesn't sound like much, but it is about a 12% difference in height and volume which, as you can see below, is noticeable. Maybe a washer on the bottom of the base would help?

I'm not a scale purist by any stretch. This is, however, a recurring issue with Etsy prints of Big Mr. Tong files (even when advertised as 28m foot to eye). I think the solution is to look for vendors offering 32mm prints. Although, at this point, I'm not sure I really need any more figures.

Saturday, February 24, 2024

Crimean Cossacks

As I slowly work my way through the last of Crimean figures, I finished off some 28mm Foundry Cossacks with lances. Nice models.


I experimented some with building up washes to get a nice dark colour that did not absorb all of the light. These turned out okay.


I wonder if the lances need pendants? The command group was nice enough.


Up next: Russian Hussar lancers, some 28mm colonial warriors, and some random Batman villains are all in various stages of painting. 

Saturday, February 17, 2024

Fistful of Lead Batman, Game 3

So, picking up the storyline in this series of linked scenarios, the Joker had destroyed enough of Gotham's communication infrastructure that he was able to kidnap Commission Gordon! Unfortunately, during the dust-up, Joker was seriously injured and had to sit out a game, as did Green Arrow. 

I wanted to see how well the game played with four players as well as use some of my outdoorsy terrain so the scenario is that the Joker's gang has to get Commissioner Gordon from the far corner of the table to the near corner, and then into the Joker's liar. This requires going through Gotham woods, which is bisected by a stream and a marsh. Harlequin and various gangsters start with Commission Gordon. For support, a team of four specialists marches out of the Joker's Lair.


Batman is back from his rest break and comes on the table from the right side with three beat cops. More cops can join him on a die roll at the end of each turn. On the left side of the table, Black Lightening and Batgirl enter. They can be joined by Robin and Black Canary on a die roll. I played each side with a separate hand of cards.


Turn 1 sees mostly movement on the far side of the board, as Harlequin grabs Commission Gordon and hauls ass. Penguin, Catwoman, Riddler, and Poison Ivy advance, only to run into Batman. A Batarang takes Poison Ivy out on the first turn!


Turn 2 sees Riddler try to confuse Batman and fail, only to get hit twice by batarangs and pick up two shock markers for the trouble. This effectively suppressed the Riddler. There was more frantic movement on the far side of the table as Batgirl and Black Lightening tried to control the ford over the stream.


Turn 3 saw reinforcements begin arriving for Batman and a huge bunch of melees. Catwoman took a beating at the hands of a bunch of cops before Penguin waded in with his umbrella sword and thinned the cops out. Riddler got further suppressed.


Meanwhile, back on the far side, Black Lightening and Batgirl turn to face a bunch of gangsters while Harlequin sneaks past them with the Commissioner. Robin arrives on the far edge of the board.
 

Turn 4 was rough for Team Joker. Penguin called in some thugs for help but was promptly KOed by Batman in melee. Riddler and Catwoman are also so beat up as to be useless.
 

Mid-board, Batgirl took out some thugs only to be gunned down by some gangsters. Harlequin snuck across the river into some willows with the Commissioner, and Black Lightening left Batgirl to follow Harlequin.


Turn 5 saw Harlequin sprint across some open ground before Black Lightening could react and got the Commissioner into some trees. Black Lightening blasted her and ended up shocking her and Commissioner Gordon! Catwoman routed, Riddler got KOed, and Batman rushed into the melee. A beat cop ran to try and block Harlequin's exit. On the far side of the Board, Robin got wounded and Black Canary finally arrived.


Turn 6 saw Harlequin get within inches of the board edge, slowed by the shock she'd picked up. The beat cop plowed into her and KOed her, rescuing Commissioner Gordon!


Batman, maybe still suffering from his past wounds, got beat in melee and was wounded.

And, in the middle of the board, Black Canary took out a mob boss while Robin ran out of batarangs. Black Lightening also ran out of juice, but the fight had largely gone out of the remaining mobsters and they bolted.

At the end of the game, Team Bats scored 10 points (for a total of 17 so far) while Team Joker picked up 4 points (for a total of 14 so far). Both teams had a lot of figures injured who will need to test to see if they are available for the last fight, deep inside Joker's lair (giving me a chance to haul out my dungeon terrain).

Overall, the game played fine with four players (perhaps even more interesting because the action shifted back and forth and more special cards came up). Batman might be a touch too powerful with his shooting and I wonder if the damage done by batarangs need to be downgraded to shock only?

Saturday, February 10, 2024

Fistful of Lead Batman, Game 2

Alright, so when we last left our heroes, the Joker and his gang had robbed a bank, making off with a bunch of loot to financs who knows what scheme. In the process, Batman, Joker, and Harlequin had all been injured enough to have to roll for adverse outcomes at the end of the game (this is a part of the Fistful of Lead campaign rules).


Joker and Harlequin were both fine and available for this game. Batman, though was out for a game, suffered a permanent wound reduction of 1, and slowed movement! So, for the second game, I pulled together four specialists (the B team) to contest Joker, Harlequin, and a bunch of goon. The baddies were busy around the Gotham stockyards, destroying phone booths to cripple Gotham's PD's ability to respond to their evil plan. 

Teams got points for phones booths destroyed/saved at the end of the game plus points for leaders and specialists knocked out. Gotham phone booths are built tough and could be destroyed by melee or bombs, fight with 1d10, and take three wounds. Baddies deployed first, coming in along the right side of board, Team Bats can come in from either side road but opted to all come in on the far side, giving Harlequin an easy run at one phone booth but thickening up the defences of the other two.


Turn 1 saw mostly movement-to-contact stuff. Batgirl and Robin slipped up the far side of the board to confront Joker. Black Lightening moved to protect the phone booth, and Green Arrow took up a sniper position on top of a tractor trailer. 


On turn 2, Joker got the jump and popped out from behind a dumpster to unload his submachine gun at Batgirl! She managed to dance away but took a shaken marker. She and Robin then retaliated with a barrage of Batarangs, knocking Joker out of the game!


Meanwhile, out of the street, Joker's enforcer KOed the first phone booth and a bunch of punks blocked Black Lightning's path to the enforcer. Green Arrow did nothing useful. This would be a theme and in stark contrast to his big role last game.


Black Lightening made quick work of the punks in his way. Out of frame, Harlequin and her goons got closer to their phone booth.


On turn 3, Green Arrow saw the far side of the board was under control and leapt up on a building to take Harlequin under fire. She threw a bomb and blew up the second phone booth on her first try! Back on the far side of the board, there was some inconsequential fisticuffs and redeployment to protect the last phone booth.


Turn four saw Green Arrow wound Harlequin who replied ineffective and ran out of bombs.


A brave punk managed to lock up Black Lightening and the Joker's enforcer rushed towards the last phone booth. Robin missed with his last Batarang while Batgirl lagged behind the fight with her shaken marker.


Turn 5 opened with Harlequin machine gunning Green Arrow and taking him out of action! Her goons then ran towards the last phone booth.


On the far side, the enforcer rushed back to KO Black Lightening! Robin jumped down and into combat (and bad match-up for him, even with some extra card help) and traded wounds with the Enforcer.


Turn six saw Robin knock out the Enforcer. Harlequin rushed to the phone booth, but Batgirl knocked out a punk and then Bataranged Harly out of the game!


At this point, it was Batgirl and Robin against three punks. Batgirl ran out of Batrangs and the punks gave them a turn's trouble. But, eventually, they were able to knock two punks out and drive the third off. 


At the end of the game, Team Bats picked up 6 victory points (giving them a total of 7) but will need to roll for the fates of Black Lightening and Green Arrow. Team Joker got 6 points as well (for a total of 10). They'll need to roll agains for the Joker and Harlequin. I'm not nothing to role of regular characters. They are generic enough to just be replaced from game to game.

I'm pretty sure this game system could easily take four players. I played both this and the last game in about 60 minutes each. I may try the next game with two sets of teams on each side. Probably an outdoor adventure for a change of pace (and to get some different terrain on the table).