Infinity Neon Lotus Scenery Pack

With Rogue Stars coming out in December my thoughts have part wandered towards Sci-fi gaming. For the game I have enough painted figures to put together a force or two, but terrain was slightly different. I wanted a change from the Industrial\Necromunda style and was presuming that the clean Infinity look was where I'd bee heading until someone on the Rogue Stars Facebook page shared the Infinity Neon Lotus Scenery Pack. For me this tied into the oriental feel that Blade Runner cultured and I knew it was a must buy. Especially as it costs around £8. And with Christmas conveniently approaching, well you can guess the rest!

Warhammer 40k Legends Book Collection

After seeing it advertised on TV last week my curiosity had been raised by the new Warhammer 40k book collection. So when I found myself in the vicinity of an appropriate outlet (W.H.Smiths) I popped in took the plunge for the first release (£1.99). Thought I'd give a quick first impressions review here.

Tablet Tabletopping

Many moons ago, when the second edition of Two Hour Wargames Gladatorial ruleset, "Red Sand, Blue Sky", came out I had a bash with Adobe Flash to make an online-ish board. Some of the functionality did not work with touch devices though. I have just bought an app that will let me play on my Kindle Fire (also on android and ios).

Deep Cut Studios Cobble Mat

Since starting playing "In Her Majesty's Name" I'd started to become unhappy with my terrain options for playing in that period, having too many similar "old house in the woods" tables set up.

Having a decent looking surface on the table was a stumbling block. My fantasy town games had made do with an earthy ground in the past, and I'd tried to do some cobbled streets on the reverse of my modern roads (made from vinyl tiles) but the edges curl annoyingly. I've looked round the web at some home made cobble tables, but on pricing it up the costs were not that different, and with so many other projects on my list I decided to take the plunge and get a cobbled cloth mat from Deep Cut Studios. My gaming table is 6' x 3' and I really only play skirmish games so I went for the 3' x 3' option.

Graffam Sci-Fi #5

As a quick little kit I built Dave Graffam's first Sci-Fi Bunker SF-01. Truth be told I'd never fancied this model, but after building the previous models (which had all turned out much better than I expected from the website) and one of Dave's frequent sales I decided to pick it up.

Graffam Sci-Fi #4

 Going back to my first Graffam Sci-Fi build (or part build), I've made the entire kit proper this time. The Watchstation.

15mm Pop-Up Terrain - Shrubbery

Shrubbery Tile fromn

Completed the first Stonehaven Miniatures pop-up terrain piece in 15mm - The Shrubbery.

Graffam Sci-Fi #3

Third of my Graffam Sci Builds is now done. This was a complicated one. a large footprint and flat roof, with cover.

Fat Dragon Modern Buildings

During my Hobby Shed tidy-up I had call to check out my box of card stock modern\near future buildings (free from Germy and still recommended ). They haven't had a lot of use recently but were looking much the worse for wear all the same (especially as these were the first card stock builds I made - a bit of a cowboy job, even for me!).So I've been casually looking around for replacements (especially since Zomtober).

Graffam Sci-Fi #2

The second of my Graffam lunchtime builds: Observation Tower v2.

A pretty simple build. The gun\observation ports were a bit fiddly for my big tattie howker hands. All fingers and thumbs to get them on the side. The version 1 of this model just has the flat textures of these, and despite my best\worst efforts these 3D additions look worth it. No recognisable door it has to be said, not that you'd be putting anyone inside for gameplay.

Here is a comparison shot next to the previous model.

This build was actually finished a couple of weeks ago. I'm about 75% through the Delux Bunker kit, which will hopefully be presented before Christmas.

Graffam Sci-Fi

If you have been glancing at this blog for a wee while you'll know that I'm a big fan of the products of Dave Graffam. I have numerous Ruin and Fantasy card terrain kits of his (some are even built!) but I've never ventured any of his small Sci-Fi collection. Why? Well they've never really grabbed me on the website the way the other kits do. However, the pictures of that some other fans\clients have put up on his Facebook page had me re-evaluating this stance, and as he has a sale on for November I took the plunge and bought a few kits.

I have started with a partial build of the Watchstation - it is too basic a change of the original to call it a "kitbash". All I've done is built the ground floor and stick the top roof to the ground floor overhang section\first floor floor (if that makes any sense!)

So what do  I think now? Well really I like the textures and design. The colour options are distinct and varied enough for different feels (I've gone for a basic cold grey future example here). One option I would have liked would have been to have the choice of whether to have a side "blister" or not, much like Dave does with the Dormer Windows on his fantasy designs. The buttresses give some extra cover than just a usual flat fronted building with is nice.

I think my greatest hesitation is the size of the door-  it's huge. However, two counters to this opinion: Firstly the guide does recommend printing at 95% for 28mm figures (which these are) and I lazily didn't bother resizing ..And secondly, why not have a big door? You may be the most puny race using it, don't be so selfish!

Heroes, Villains and Fiends

The first "In Her Majesty's Name" Supplement "Heroes, Villains and Fiends" came through the door yesterday. On first quick flicking it seems a great addition.

The main bulk of the book concentrates on expanding the variety of companies (warbands). "The New World" (Indians, Wild West Outlaws, 7th Cavalry, Pale Rider, Mexicans, Mounties etc), Africa (Zulu's, Boers, Hunting Parties, etc), European Secret societies (Hellfire Club, Templars, Ottoman Secret Service, etc)  and more are detailed with ample description.

There are a few new rules, weapons and animals\monsters in there as well.

Also gives a few ideas for different landscapes with associated perils (Wild West town for example). Really useful stuff.

A nice touch is the end section that updates the companies from the core rule book to include new rules, etc set out in this new supplement to avoid any being left behind and disadvantaged.

With all these new lists the imagination is starting to run wild, and I've not even started on the project yet. Very recommended.

X-Wing 3rd Wave Tested

Was up at MacSver's battleshed to try out his newly purchased X-Wing 3rd Wave models in my second proper game.

X-Wing 3rd Wave
Imperial shuttle, HWK-290, Tie Bomber and  B-Wing.

We played a 250pt game (which was really probably a bit high for a rookie pilot as myself) which was fun. I commanded the Empire forces whilst MacSver donned his white shirt, black waistcoat and trusty blaster to lead the Rebel Scum.

Rebel Scum approach the Emperor's Glorious Fleet

Collected thoughts on the new ships (bearing in mind my lack of experience with any of them):

The B-Wing was a pig to manoeuvre, even by Rebel standards. Really poor agility - the proverbial 'flying brick'. But it more than makes up with 3 attacks, 3 hull and 5, yes 5 shields! Add in some really good upgrade options and this is an interesting ship!

The HWK-280 (aka Moldly Crow). Hmm. This ships stat line is nothing outstanding. 1 attack, not offensive at all. 2 agility, not really that evasive. 4 hull, okay, it can take a few hits. And 1 shield so you can negate a crit or just have an extra hit. Not the most impressive stat line.

After passing through the first flypast the shuttle starts its
long and laborious turning maneuver. 

The Tie Bomber is a moving missile platform on a (slightly less maneuverable) Tie Fighter. 4 or 5 missile\torpedo slots and a weapons enhancement slot (the slot titles may be wrong as I was just looking to match up card symbols). The one drawback is you need weapons locks to your target to fire any off. Potentially powerful - one set of missiles had 5 attack dice, and when teamed with the "turn all focus rolls to hits" card - boom!

The Shuttle is slow, unmaneuverable and turns like a barge (it was going to take around 4 rounds to turn 180!). It does have 5 shields and 5 hull points however. It may be the cards I picked out, but it seems like a defensive options machine, carrying abilities to draw in and hamper the enemy and hopefully add some targeting to the friendly ships. Favourite new card was the prisoner\hostage one that stresses the first ship each turn that fires on you! The other cards I'd picked out all had to do with managing and passing on weapons locks. I hoped to be productive in combination with the Bomber - only worked once.

MacSver added that he thought that these new shuttle ships aren't here for their power output, but their overall group utility. It certainly added an extra dimension to the gameplay, rather than just buzzing around dog-fighting as per the previous game.

10mm Stonehenge

I was making an order to Amazon the other day and decided to treat myself with one of those miscellaneous things you find and wishlist. In this case it was a "Build your own Stonehenge" kit which I'd read about ages ago on some forum.

Quick scale shot with Pendraken 10mm Dwarf and Barbarian

Here is what I pulled out the box. The base is a thin jigsaw with markers on to place your stones. Aside from perhaps a rough guide it is of little use to me. A more durable one piece base will be used.

A view of the whole kit

The stones themselves are surprisingly solid and tough plastic. I doubt it they would chip or break without some serious effort.They are unpainted but should take paint well. Whether to completely base coat and paint or to just add a few drybrushed highlights will be the question.

I know that some of you will be happy to make a simple terrain piece from scratch, but for under £5 (including delivery) I doubt you can really go wrong.

Chain Reaction 3 - Final Version Trial

It's been a few years since I last played any Two Hour Wargames game. To be honest I'd stopped playing as they kept changing their core mechanic - the In Sight test, and I kept falling behind on rule revisons. But with the release of their free Chain Reaction 3  - Final Version there was a statement of intent that the mechanics were now finalised and future development was to be on genre, etc only.

Time to step back into the fold then and check out the new workings...

Arabiansquire and myself set up round a table at our local club. For simplicity we had small and similar squads:

AS (Space Marine figures):

• Leader: Rep 5, Machine Pistol
• Grunts x3: Rep 4, Assault Rifle
• Heavy: Rep 4, Rocket Launcher

AK (Urban War Viridians):

• Leader: Rep 5, Machine Pistol
• Grunts x3: Rep 4, Assault Rifle
• Heavy: Rep 4, Squad Automatic Weapon (aka S.A.W.)

We had a busy table, as the majority of weapons had a 48" range, which was pretty much the entire table. One of the good things about even these basic rules is that some of the solo play mechanics leak into the Head-to-Head. Right from the start the P.E.F. (Possible Enemy Forces) mechanic comes into play. Players secretly split their force into two or more groups and then use tokens to move around the table until the token come into sight. Decoy tokens are allowed and act as "false alarms". I like this "Fog of War" mechanic as I've never like the way we can see the opposite forces (heavy machine gun or leader for example) right from the off.

Enemy forces move and take position - or do they?

First squad resolution -  a 3 man squad (with Rocket Launcher) come onto a roof top...

spotted by a 2 man crew in another building (with S.A.W.)

Despite fire going between the buildings no-one was hit. The effect of the Rocket Launcher was still felt in the reaction tests as the Marines ducked back out of sight due to being outgunned.

A second group of marines moved to flank but were spotted. Another nice "real life" aspect of the reaction rules is that models can continue to move an extra 2" once spotted, giving the effect of a "fleeting glimpse" or delay whilst guns are levelled  Here it meant that the first member of the group activated the enemy, but only the rearguard was involved once the bullets started to fly.

Another change from the old rules is that every figure takes the insight reaction test at the same time and an order of reaction is established, although the stationary figure does still retain an advantage in deciding the order. Gun fire can quite often go back and forth for several shots before someone goes down or is beaten back into cover. In this case the Space Marine on the building top came off worse going "Out of Fight" (effectively dead for the purposes of a single battle)

With the reaction fire concluded, the flanking group then continued the rest of their activated movement round the corner.

Meanwhile the Marine S.A.W. was fairing less well against the Space Marine Missile Launcher. Despite firing off a few rounds at his opponent, the Marine soon found that when the Missile does hit, it's not a good thing!

We ran out of time for any other action, what with all the looking up of rules, etc. As with most rulesets, but especially Two Hour Wargames ones, they really do have to be played to see what they do. THW rules always seem very clunky with tonnes of table references, but in reality when the action starts flowing there are only two or three tables used, and the outcomes become known very quickly. there is still a bit of deciphering to be done on certain reaction effects (ducking back being one) but we'll get there.

To be played again...

A New Case in Town

With Arabiansquires Space Marine force growing transporting it (and all the associated gubbins) has become more and more of a pain. I'd cobbled together a figure case a few years back with an Ikea case an a couple of foam trays from Kaiser Rushforth, but the lad's vehicles were left to worryingly be stuffed into a shoe box and the books etc piled on top of that on the way to the gaming club. So eventually I realised that a proper case was no longer a luxury but a necessity.

After a bit of shopping around for a god price I eventually plumped for one from "Gifts for Geeks" (who trade on Ebay under their bricks and mortar name of Tabletop Tyrant.)

I plumped for their own brand Tyrant Figure case with "standard load-out", meaning 5 infantry trays and a 3 depth vehicle tray (with pinch out foam) for £41 + £5 postage.

The case material is a light polyester feel so should be water resistent (quite important in Scotland!) and the case opens round the two sides for ease of access.

The foam trays are a a bit less soft and floppy than my KR multicase ones but no way near as stiff as the ones that I've seen from the Figures in Comfort range. The tray components are stuck together tight enough although there is the odd bit of dried glue on the side of the odd tray and the  sometimes the base isn't exactly aligned to the body. Whilst this isn't a problem it does detract from the aesthetics of the package.

The pinch out foam worked well, although care had to be taken when removing columns at the side as the glue from construction had leached onto the inside, threatening to tear the outside wall/floor of the tray if care wasn't taken. The system is pretty flexible though and removed columns can be re-positioned to give an extra bit of shoring up when the vehicles are in place.

So happy? Yes. With one of the unused trays removed there is room for all the 40k rulesbooks/codexs, all the figures and vehicles are together protected in one (slightly awkward for an 11 year old) carry case. The wee lad has mentioned a few times after we'd filled it that "It's a pretty good case", so that's also good. Recommended.

Teenage Zombie Hunters coming

Like most of you I suspect I'm on quite a few company mailing lists. The other day the latest newsletter from Hasslefree Miniatures came through. As usual there are nice sculpts in the letter that I'll admire but never get round to buying due to cash, projects, indimidation, etc (I already have too many of their figures sitting in the unpainted box...). But for once as set of pictures roused my excitement (steady on there!), a preview of a certain meddling teeanage gang beafed up for zombie hunting (probably)

Can't wait until these come out. I've been longing for some kick-ass Mystery Machine occupants ever since I found this picture on the interweb - love it!

Tales Of Blades GM book arrives

The GM book for Ganesha Games "Tales of Blades and Heroes" RPG came out yesterday, and I've  purchased and downloaded a copy today. First thought was that "Tales of Beasts and Perils - Vol. 1" doesn't obviously link itself to the first core book (other than a quick reference on the back cover). This isn't really a problem though as it mentions it just fine on the product page, and as a download you'll be there first, but would have expected a "Tales of..." mention on the front page. Included in your downlaoded .zip file are font and back cover pages and the rulebook text in full colour (47pgs), ink saving (47pgs) , and condensed ink saver (28pgs) format.

Anyway, this supplement really makes the system playable in giving example and guidlines form monster/opponent creation (including basic suggestions for converting profiles from the "Songs Of Blades and Heroes" wargame). There are a few other standard pieces for GM books: advice on running a game, item generation, etc, but the meat of the book is about what the characters will meet on their adventure, including standard race traits.

This book answers most the questions I had after reading the first core book, and gives enough examples and ideas to fill quite a few of the remaining blanks. I'd say it was an essential purchase if you are thinking about using the "Tales of..." rule system. It'll certainly save you alot of work from using the core book alone

Ambushed!

I had been meaning to show off my latest completed Terminator squad before the end of the month, but a sudden ambush occurred by way of me buying (and playing) the WWII game "Battlefield Academy" for the PC.

Now, as ever, I'm not going to tread old water and give a full game review. There is an excellent one at strategycore.co.uk. But like my Bloodbowl for the DS post, I can give a quick, gamers perspective of it.

First of all I'll just say that I really like the game - it (like the Bloodbowl game) is pretty much tabletop on the PC. The action is turn based, with forces at unit (or vehicle) level. Each unit has a certain amount of action points and firing actions to spend each turn. One aspect I especially like, much like one of my favourite game systems - Chain Reaction, is that the non active forces get reaction shots at the enemy. This can result in automatic exchanges of fire and units retreating, or being suppressed as they come into view or are ambushed by hidden enemy. Suppressing units is another major part of the game. Peppering a Nazi Panther tank with fire may not penetrate, but enough of it saps the moral of the crew and their fire will be suppressed, or they may even retreat all together. This is the same for all units, be they gun positions, tanks or infantry. The control system is all right or left mouse click, and very easy to pick up.

They sound is fine and not over stated, the graphics simple but characterful in isometric (which can be rotated and zoomed near/far for a better view. And I daren't mention the excellent background music that'll be in your head long after you've finished playing (Great Escape style).

There are plenty of scenario led campaigns to play - Desert, Western Europe in different stages of the war, with a couple of extra expansions to buy, or download fans made ones. Multiplayer is on a Play-by-Email type of system, so you can play with anyone whenever you have the time for a turn and not have to sit for ages in the small hours of the morning for a game!

Quite frankly I just recommend this. Available for download from the makers - Slitherine

The Dreaded Six Month Review

Gosh, hasn't it been quiet around here lately. "It's that time of year again" as the saying goes. Obviously its always that time of year for something. In my case it's Summer time (or at least what optimistically passes as Summer in Scotland) which means less hobby time, more garden tending time, more away days at the weekend (less hobby time), etc. So apologies for the lack of updates but here it is- the mid-term review.

 

We'll be quick here and move straight to the numbers:

• Cash Out: £243.46
• Cash In: 349.42

 That's an average monthly spend of £40.58 which, if I'm honest is a bit disappointing, as I was looking for less than that. Just over £100 pounds of that was on the main painting/gaming focus for the first half (Warmachine and Space Marines) I suppose i shouldn't feel too bad. Also the spends on these two games/areas are just about finished, so a line can be drawn under that. On the plus side all my costs have been covered in sales from the hobby shed, with a bit extra (at the moment). This obviously helps me justify the other purchases of the year that haven't had any attention lavished on them (yet).

 

Which makes me look at the bought/painted stats:

 

• 28mm: Bought: 95 Painted: 53
• 10mm: Bought: 37 Painted: 22

 

Converse to the cash spend I'm actually quite pleased at the number of figures I've finished so far. It helps that 40k ones are all pretty quick to paint, but that's fine. I am am suprised at the numer in the bought column as I wouldn't have thought it added up to that much - funnily enought it does though. Just goes to show how your perceptions and real facts often differ (especially in accrued lead).

  

2 days into the year I set out my stall with numerous plans (or dreams) for the coming year. Looking over this mighty document I can see that I've failed (or at least faltered in most of these). My Gladiator campaign lasted a few months until a new set of rules derailed me. My Songs Of Blades campaign still shows no sign of starting, I've not played with my 10mm dungeon (although I have been painting it), my 2 Sci-fi scenery projects haven't been touched, and I've painted zero modern era figures for my zombie gaming. And you can you add in the fact that the number of roleplaying sessions played can be counted on the fingers of Bugs Bunny's hand!

 

Bug's reads up on his gaming tactics

So the year's been a complete washout then? Well, no. If we look at the gallery page we can see a clue to something that has sneeked in - Space Marines (and Necrons) and using them toboot! Sci-fi gaming has hit the Hobby Shed with a vengence the last few months. It started with Arabiansquire's birthday present of some Space Marines of his own to paint, and he's been keen to play them ever since. Previous favourite fantasy gaming hasn't had a proper look in at all. To add to the Sci-fi feel of the year there have been quite a few Pod Racing Sessions over the last couple of months as well. Warmachine has also dominated the painting mat as I try to finish off my Cryx Army. Nearly there now though. I may actually get to play with them once it's done, as the local league play has somewhat stalled.

 

This seamlessly leads me into the next six months. I'm going to shelve (or box) my grand WWII plans. This fuse was ignited by Halo*Star, but he's not over so frequently just now and he still hasn't picked up any figures that I will leave it for later - I've a few other pots boiling at the moment anyway. I hope to replace it with something I go WOW! for - Doctor Who. This also has great playing potential, as the wee lad is Dr Who mad; in theory I need less figures (and I already own a few); being a time travelling adventurer I should be able to use many of my other figures; it's new and shiny (which lets be honest is why we all start!) But like all best laid plans we'll have to wait and see! I would also like to see a few more warbands (fantasy and Sci-fi) painted before the year's end, especially as I've bought a couple this year and it would be nice to see some more "bought and painted" figures rather than the usual "discovered and painted" variety!