Summer Break

I'll be taking a summer break from posting again this year. The good weather is just too short to spend much time at the paint table. I expect I'll be back come September with new stuff and more enthusiasm! have good summer!

-- Bob

Fistful of Lead

In early May, Bruce hosted two games of Fistful of Lead. The first one was a pulpy 1930s adventure. Nazis have stolen a bomb from America and are trying to get it back to the Fatherland aboard a zeppelin. The US rocket corp must board and either grab the bomb or take control of the blimp and fly it home.

This game was fought in very close quarters on two levels (gondola and gas bag) and was extremely bloody, taking almost an hour. In the end, the rocketeers prevailed, grabbing both the control room and the bomb.

The second game was a 1920s/1930s gangster game. (Bruce may have run a version of this at the Trumpeter convention.) The cops need to arrest Mr Big. Both sides have an opportunity for reinforcements and there is a random end game (probably 9-11 turns until starts starts).

The paddy wagon rolled onto the table and disgorged five cops. There was a brief shoot out between the fellow son foot while the driver tried to run down a gangster (twice!).

Using the trolley car as cover, the cops managed to corner and arrest (posthumously) Mr. Big. This game took maybe 20 minutes and had all sorts of tension and hilarity.

Overall, this is such a flexible system that it is hard to find fault with it if you are looking for a light game.

Xenos Rampant WW2 AAR

Bruce and I played two games of Xenos Rampant recently. He hosted a 28mm Vietnam game (for which I cannot find the pictures) set in an urban location. Charlie carried the day. I then put on a 1/72-scale WW2 Sicily game (mostly to get a bunch of figures on the board for the first time). I've no idea why this paragraph in centred (stupid Blogger bug).

This was a 50-point game with two commands for each side. Axis were split German and Italian while the Allies were split infantry and tanks. Three hidden value objectives were placed (town, hill on left, hill on right) and deployment side by die roll (we ended up coming in perpendicular to one another).

The Axis used their superior position and auto movement to grab all three objectives quickly. Above the Italians approach the Brits. Below, the Allies sent infantry against the closest objective (left hill) and the tanks to hook right to move on the centre objective. Bruce positioned his 88 on a hill with good fire lanes, which partly drove the Allied strategy.

A bit of tank jam. I will thrilled to get these model on the table final (some are for Tim in Saskatoon; others a built; a mix of plastics and metals).

The allies also set up their Grant on overwatch support the infantry advance.

This Panzer 3 (sitting atop an objectives) took a real pasting all game long and just kept shaking the hits off. Bruce proposed an alternative hit mechanism where every hit above the armour value adds an additional hit (official rules are every multiple of the armour adds a hit). This would allow for a tank to get a quick kill on a luck set of dice. We'll try that the next time we bring Xenos out.

Below we see the battle taking shape. The Italians are on the hill to the left but are taking casualties from British indirect fire (mortar teams). The Germans are in town and on the hill on the right, with the British tanks cowering behind the hill from the 88.

The Italians were eventually routed and the Allies captured the left hill, which swung the battle (only one German command versus two British).

As the game moves into overtime (rolling each turn for dusk), the British tanks advance up the hill, finally KOing the Panzer 3. In the end, the middle objective is contested and the British eek out a narrow win on points (the British infantry took a beating and most of the Germans lived to fight another day).

Overall, a pretty fun game. I could spend some time further differentiating the tanks a bit. It felt like WW2 in the Mediterranean and we were forced to use historical tactics. Plus, I was thrilled to get these troops out onto the table (I started out with 1/72 figures 45-odd years ago) after years of having them ready and tucked away in a drawer.

Even more sci-fi terrain

Terry traded me some additional sci-fi terrain so I decided to paint it up while I still remembered the colours I used for the last batch!

The five pieces he gave me include two tables (one map and one gear) as well as two projector screens and a computer bank. These certainly help break up LOS.

The projector screens are double-sided, which increases their flexibility. They came with recessed graphics etched into them but I decided to cover them with some images I nicked from the web.

They fit in pretty much perfectly with the terrain I already had, which is awesome.

Up next: Maybe some Xenos Rampant AARs.

More sci-fi terrain

And a bit more sci-fi terrain today, this time some bridge pieces. I dithered between bright white and grey and eventually just decided grey was easier to match later on.

There were some cool computer databanks and a bunch of bridge consoles. The large screen above is a printout of the 1979 BSG graphics. These will work with pretty much any race/genre, even with the Cylon below posed like he's giving a powerpoint presentation.

I also got eight of these map tables. They are nicely done with interchangeable planets.

I experimented to try and get a 3-D translucent projector effect on the Death Star (meh, almost). But who needs eight of these? Fortunately, I was able to trade away four to Terry.

Up next: Maybe some Xenos Rampant with Bruce.

Sci-fi terrain

Three-D printing has really revolutionized terrain for me. I had an unexpected windfall recently and dropped it all on some generic sci-fi terrain. This came printed in a hard, white plastic. I finally finished painting the first batch.

I picked up a canteen set, which included tables, dispensers, and such. i think I may have missed an opportunity to paint up one of the garbage cans as R2D2.

There was also a bunk house set, which included shower and toilet pods and sinks.

The set also included lockers and bunks.

The couches. tables and planters were a part of the canteen set.

Overall, a super fun project and I now have some stuff to fill out a sci-fi skirmish set-up.

The bridge set I also ordered just arrived so it is next on my list of things to paint.

Undaunted 2200: Callisto

Bruce and I have played the first two scenarios in Undaunted 2200: Callisto. This game is the sci-fi adaptation of the Undaunted WW2 series and centers on a fight between miners and mine bosses in outer space.

Callisto is a boardgame that you can play right out of the box but, of course, Bruce was keen to miniaturize it. He even did a set of troops and then replaced them with even better sculpts! The only thing we haven't done (yet) is to physically represent the different elevations (we're just using the visual cues on the game boards).

Overall, this is an easy game to learn and involves tough choices about building your card deck versus taking action on the table. 

There are some changes versus Normandy and Stalingrad, including the use of elevation (which affects the size of the dice you roll: d8, d10, d12). The scenarios also can be won through control of objectives or through attriting the other side (attrition does not carry forward into future games like it does in Stalingrad).

Of the three games we've played, they have all been closely run. The ability of the units to perform different tasks takes some time to learn but rewards careful play.

Below, you can see the elevated walkways joining the rise portions as well as the mine pits (which vehicles cannot get down into).

Overall, a fun game and maybe the first game I've played where a labour dispute is the heart of the game narrative.