Hobgoblins and some terrain

Just a quick fantasy painting update his week. First up are some hobgoblins (I think). These guys ended up a bit pinker than expected (a lesson I learned doing washes on some AWI tunics with cherry red only to create an entire 54mm unit of militia in pink (arrrrgh!) but, apparently, promptly forgot). Anyhow, pink is as legit a colour as any in fantasy.

These are more of the figures Chen gave me and they have really good details, at least for my style of painting.

I also messed around with a fire elemental, trying to do washes with lighter colours. Meh. It's okay.

I also had to do some quick terrain making for a game. I needed some magic symbols (in this case, basically light switches for the button punchers in the party) so I filled in six washers, painted a rock pattern, used a sharpie to put some black lines down, and then painted blue over top. Good enough for the girls I go with.

I also needed six brazers, which I fabricated out of sculpty and baked before painting. And I needed like 20 coffins so I cut, etched and drybrushed some foam core. Not perfect but it conveys the gist of what I was after.

Up next: I have some adventurers on the paint table. They have been stuck there awhile since I vapour lock whenever I look at them and try to make colour choices. I may just need to sit down and not get up until they are done one day in order to move on.

Fistful of Lead Fantasy rules

A few weeks back, Bruce kindly let me take him on a play through of Wiley Games' Fistful of Lead fantasy rules. I'd been keen to give these a try, mostly to find out if they were a suitable set of mechanics to run some kind of Dungeons and Dragons game. The rules span three booklets (melee, magic, and monsters, respectively) and basically treat magic-use like a task role in the basic FFoL game engine.

To give these a test, I used The Barrows dungeon from Dire Den (link is a video explaining the dungeon, there are links in the comments to the maps) since this looked like a sensible dungeon crawl for low-level characters. I then banged up four basic characters (warrior, magic user, cleric, rogue), making them all level 1, except of the magic user, who I made level 2 using the premise that he'd brought together a new group after his old group suffered a TPK (total party kill).

The dungeon starts at the entrance with three doors to choose from. They all lead into a burial crypt wherein there lie zombies. The basic rules work just fine. We had to figure out some house rules about passing others in narrow places (-1 movement per crowded hex) and movement when there were no monster visible (a la Crossfire) but that was about it. The zombies are an easy encounter to explain the combat mechanics. And, unlike most FFoL games, it was mostly melee (there was more magic use in my playtest than in the game I ran with Bruce).

Once through the main level, players drop into the basement where more and fiercer baddies lie. One feature of the rules is that melee is competing d10 rolls and that can create some really swingy results (e.g., a healthy fighter attacks a downed skeleton and rolls a 1 to a 10, then the skeleton rolls well on the wound table and poof, your fighter is out of action). This effect can be attenuated a bit with magic (potions or spells). Whatever you think of that, it is dramatic and the effect runs both ways.

We skipped through the roleplaying aspect (since neither of us is really into that) and just tested the movement and combat mechanics. We had three fights (zombies, rats, and the big boss) done in an hour including me explaining the fantasy chrome to Bruce. I'd guess with some role-play, you could move through this dungeon crawl in two hours.

Bruce's observation was that role-players likely wouldn't be all that interested in the miniature gaming elements of the rules. I'd agree that you'd need a group that was at least a bit oriented towards miniature gaming (versus storytelling). I'd think the rules would work just fine if you wanted to have two players skirmish with separate armies (and are likely meant for this).

In both games, the adventurers won, once convincingly and one barely, relying on a fireball spell cast in the same room they were in (cough, cough)! Now maybe we know why the magic user was a veteran of a TPK!  Overall, the vibe was very reminiscent of the 1977 D&D basic box set (which I liked), with low-powered characters, basic monsters, and not a lot of chrome.

Undaunted 2200: Callisto

For Christmas, Bruce kindly bought me the new game Undaunted 2200: Callisto. This is a sci-fi variant of the Undaunted series (I think we've played Stalingrad, Normandy, and North Africa) based around a labor conflict (exploited miners go all deny, defend, and depose on the bosses).

While it comes as a complete board game (eight scenarios), cardboard isn't really our style, so Bruce included some mechs (bosses quick resort to mil-tech to keep control) that I painted.

He then added a bunch of bases for the bosses, as well as the equipment the workers repurpose.

And some infantry bases for those. So I hope together this on the table sometime soon! If you can zoom in, the bases Bruce did are pretty good.

Up next: Maybe back to fantasy figures for a bit.

Galactica 1980 motorcycles

If you're old enough to have been devastated by the cancellation of Battlestar Galactica and disappointed by its subsequent resurrection as Galactica 1980, you'll recognize these bikes, which are 3-D prints from Etsy.

I got six bikes, three with wings stowed and three with wings extended. Alas, there was no Wolfman Jack figure, but there was a rider-less bike included.

They are not a bad match for my Tangent Miniatures figures. It would have been easier to paint them if the rider torso had been separate.

Overall, kinda cool, not hugely useful, but, then again, this is toy soldiers so utility is not really a criterion. Now I have some outriders for my Landram and probably enough figures to a game of Xenos Rampant.

Up next: Some more sci-fi.

Dragon's Rampant

A few weeks back, Bruce and I dug out some fantasy armies to give Dragons Rampant a go. It has been a while since we've played this game. I used some old 15mm figures from the first edition of Battlelore. Bruce used some 28mm lizards he got from Kevin Barrett's estate.

We each worked out 36-point armies. First up were some dwarves versus the lizards. Most of the game went down on the right flank, with Bruce's war beasts charging some dwarven foot. Neither of us could get the left flank to move much.

Eventually the giant lizard bit it but he took down a couple of dwarves unit. An enormous dinosaur came up the middle and I could not get my heavy shooters going worth beans.

Then the left flank came alive. My giant bear (which I also think was a gift from Kevin years) munched a bunch of lizards but eventually ran itself down.

I thought I had Bruce on the ropes at one point but he retreated just out of range for the kill. 

And then Bruce put it away on the left flank.

The game took about 45 minutes so we switched side and I pitted some medieval Arthurians against a second lizard army of five very high-pointed unit. Bruce initially creamed two of my units but subsequently got shoot and charged to pieces.

 

Overall, a fun game with almost nothing to look up and I don't think we used the QRS after the first turn, just some unit stat lists. Happy that the lovely figures Kevin painted got bloodied.

Fistful of Dice: Deathstroke vs the Teen Titans

Bruce dropped by a few weeks back to try out Fistful of Dice with some superheroes. I put together the most asymmetrical game I could manage in order to really give the rules a test. The result was one hero and a bunch of goons versus four specialists.

Scenario
Deathstroke has been contracted to kill the Teen Titans. To lure the Titans into the open, he’s staged a jail break, killing the cops in the precinct, and releasing into the streets four of the most fearsome gangs Gotham has ever known.

Team Death Stroke (leader plus 4 groups grunts)

Deathstroke d12 shooting/melee

• sniper rifle 16/32”
• sword (+1 in close combat roll)
• dead eye (+1 to shoot rolls)
• ferocious (+1 to wound rolls in close combat)
• tough as nails (4 wounds)

Smith’s Grifters 3x grunts d8 shooting/melee

• pistol 6/12”

8th Street Ladies Club 3x grunts d8 shooting/melee

• pistol 6/12”

Father Mark’s Boys School Photography Club 5 x grunts d6 melee only

• club (-1 to wound roll but add additional shock marker)

Sister Mary’s Girls School Field Hockey Team 5 x grunts d6 melee only

• club (-1 to wound roll but add additional shock marker)

Team Titans (4 specialists)

Robin d10 shooting/melee

• batarang 6/12” (shock result only; 2 shocks = 1 wound)
• staff (may attack from 2” away in close combat)
• master (roll 1 additional die in close combat and select best result)
• fancy footwork (win ties in close combat)

Wondergirl d10 melee only +3” to movement

• magic lasso (may attack from 4” away; wins ties; add additional shock marker)
• tough as nails (4 wounds)
• impervious (ignore wound penalties on movement, attack and recovery rolls)

Speedy d10 shooting/melee

• long bow 11/20”
• fists (-1 to wound rolls)
• sniper (once per turn re-roll shooting)
• eagle-eyed (extra range already factored in)

Cyborg d10 shooting/melee +3” to jumping

• electric shock 6/12”
• power fist (-1 to wound roll but add additional shock marker)
• armoured (roll 1d10 per hit, on an 8-10 the hit is absorbed by the armour)
• brawler (reroll close combat roll once per turn)

Set-up

1. Deathstroke sets up four gangs within 1” of the police station; Deathstroke may be placed anywhere within 1" of the station, including on the roof.
2. Titans are positioned at least 9” from the police station.

Victory Points (highest total wins)

• Deathstroke gets 5VPs per Titan OOA, 10VPs if Titan dies in post-game resolution
• Deathstroke gets 0.5VP per grunt exiting the Board (max 8) and 2 VP per building burgled (no maximum, buildings take 3 wounds to enter).
• Titans get 1VP per grunt OOA or captured and 10 VPs if Deathstroke OOA

Coppers Arrive

Roll 1d6 at the end of each turn and adding the following:

• +1 for gunfire having occurred in the game
• +1 for each building being burgled in the game
• +1 for each figure OOA in the game

When the roll plus mods equals 12, 1d6 cops from other precincts arrive at a random board edge at the end of each turn. After all play is resolved, the cops make 2 moves towards (1) any visible bad guys or (2) the police station. Any grunts contacted by the cops are arrested. Cops will not attempt to arrest Deathstroke or the Titans. Team Deathstroke can attack cops but OOA cops just recycle.

Game ends

• All Titans are OOA or off board or
• All Deathstroke grunts are off board, OOA, or captured.

Outcome

I ran through the scenario three times (Deathstroke won twice) and it poses some difficult choices. Deathstroke (with a d12)  is super powerful and can easily take out a Titan. But he's also vulnerable to bad rolls. The grunts are almost useless but, again, a bad wound roll can take out a Titan. and there are so many grunts.

Some gaming updates

So last fall, Bruce suggested we pool a list of games we wanted to play again and then work our way through them. There are about 20 games on the list with the sequence being randomly generated.

First up was Struggle for Europe, a reskinning of Lincoln (which I don't think we've played) by Worthington Games. This game focuses on WW2 in Europe and offers one of the best games at this scale that I have played. There are relatively few counters, only 30-some areas, with point-to-point movement and the game uses cards to drive play. There are three decks (representing the three phases of the war), the game ends when one player has exhausted all of their cards (which creates major opportunity costs plus creates a tactical "attrition" option for players), and you win by controlling key locations. 

The strategy for the Germans is to either win early or try to hold on and preclude an allied victory before the cards runs out. I think this is the third time we've played this and every game is a nail biter. This one ended up in a German victory just as the US was invading France (some luck in the desert and at Leningrad tipped it--otherwise, Germany was spent). 

Next up was Sam Mustafa's Longstreet. Other than the Union won, I don't recall much of the details of this ACW skirmish. This is another card-driven game at the brigade level. A few years ago, we played through the full campaign system (which sees the cards and armies change over the course of the war). This is a good game to be the defender in!

Then we played Sam Mustafa's Nimitz. We've done a couple of WW2 games of this but Bruce had bought some pre-Dreadnaught minis so we refought a break-out action in the Philippines between the US and German fleets (I think). Overall, this is a pretty solid game. Sometimes the amount of effort to resolve shooting seemed tedious but, if that were streamlined, there wouldn't be much left.

We then played the same scenario using the 1980s rules Fire When Ready on a hex grid. It was a messier game (no formations required) with preplotting and (I think) simultaneous movement. Not a bad game. Nimitz feels more modern in terms of gaming conventions and mechanics, though. I think the scenarios split one win for each side.

We continued with the naval theme using Mustafa's Halsey rules (basically a map game) of a British convoy run through the Mediterranean during WW2. This is a very solid game and was, I thought, much more interesting than Nimitz in terms of the decisions (I tend to prefer high-level games, I think). 

Once the fleets come to grips, the game has a small battle board mechanic. In the end, the Germans won on points (I could not roll worth crap that night). Overall, pretty fun and the use of blinds created enough fog of war on a shared board to make decisions tough.

We wrapped up the autumn gaming with Taskforce, a cold-war naval game with double blind movement set in North Atlantic. We played duelling convoy runs with surface and submarines (no fixed wing air to simplify the rules a bit). The author is better known for the Victory Games 6th/7th/2nd Fleet series that came out about 10 years later.

There is a bit of fiddly searching (such is double blind without an umpire) but that got easier after a couple of turns. Once there is contact, you switch to a battle board to resolve air, missile, torpedo and gunnery attacks, which is kind of cool. I don't recall who won (it was close). 

There were some interesting battles: a Soviet convoy getting stalked and repeatedly attacked by NATO frigates using guns (having used their SSMs to take out the escorts) and a NATO convoy being stalked and repeatedly attack by Soviet subs and surface ships. This created quite a lot of tension.

For a 45-year-old game, this was surprisingly good and the multi-step battle board gave an interesting feel. Your SSMs, for example, come in, face area AA, then jamming, then close AA, then they strike (or not...). You can decide how many missile from each volley drop at pickets and how many continue into the main fleet (which means being subjected to a second set of defences).