Back To Work!

 Well after a weeks much needed but not very restful holiday, I'm back at work! 

Its been really busy but i have managed to sneak in a couple of small skirmishes of an evening.

With most of my terrain and miniatures still packed away following the guests visiting, I didn't have much to hand but threw what I could find onto the table.

The isolated mining outpost of Sigma 12 lies in the slime forest that girds Farpoints equatorial region like a smelly green belt. The miners extract valuable Promethium and Chobite from the slimy terrain while fighting off bands of outlaws, mutants and Orks, not to mention the scaly denizens of the slime forests. Unfortunately many of these outposts are unregistered and unscrupulous corporations have been squeezing many of the independent outfits so they can get a monopoly on the region. 

Combined with the shaky political situation in Freeport City where the new Governor General Laars von Dorn is still trying to wrest power from the disgraced former ruler, Alexandr Vosk and the crime cartel led by Lucius Goldburg, the boondocks of the Slime Forest have become a low level battleground between mining teams and corporate goons.

Now a corporate asset stripping outfit has arrived at Sigma 12 to make the yokels an offer they cannot refuse.

Bauhaus Asset Retention Team

The corporate goons are well armed and equipped and in theory should make short work of the poorly armed and equipped miners (one of whom is wielding a crossbow for pities sake) but will the miners doughty resolve and determination to keep their mine hold out against the might of corporate greed?

Gunderwick Mining crew

I didn't manage to take many pictures of the action unfortunately, simply enjoying playing a fin little game but surprisingly the miners trounced the corporate goon squad.

The goons, over confident rather brashly marched into the heart of the mining camp only to be ambushed from three sides.

The ensuing gun battle saw the miner with the crossbow go down but only after he'd managed to stalk and kill two of his opponents. Seeing they're facing stiffer resistance than expected, the goons withdraw under the cover of their heavy stubber. Surprised by the result, i played the game a second time and the same thing happened, the guy with the lowest tech weapon killed two opponents, this time my rock miner got blasted into rubble by the goons heavy but the miners still held their camp.

Brilliant fun and so good to be back to wargaming after an enforced break!

Hopefully I'll get chance to play some more games in the coming month but until then, All the best!

Five Parsecs From Home Mini Campaign - Initial Thoughts

 Hi!

In an attempt to get myself out of a bit of a hobby slump caused by lots of work, floods in the flat and having the lurgy that refused to clear up, I decided to have a bash at Five Parsecs From Home.

I've had the book for quite a while now and I've watched quite a few battle reports and campaigns of folks playing the game on Youtube and I quite liked how it looked so rolled up a crew and got gaming.

I used a couple of name generators to help me develop the crew and the worlds they will be fighting in as well as the assorted denizens they will be meeting. This did result in some interesting names and helped flesh out the campaign as it went on.

Setting wise, I'm using a bit of a hybrid of the Void and Kryomek settings so the only alien menaces are going to be the Kryomek while the assorted human or cyborg factions will be making up the bulk of the rest of the encounters.

My initial crew of six consisted of five humans and one robot and I was quite lucky with both firepower and patrons so right from the get go, the crew of the Polaris have found themselves thrust right into the centre of the action on the megacity world of Meerut.

Meerut has turned out to be a gloomy place with every battle having limited lighting thanks to random rolls on the Five Parsecs charts so I'm going to keep it that way throughout the campaign with the sun casting a feeble glow on a twilight city of neon, rain and broken dreams.

Their first job came from a wealthy individual known as Brother Yako Tino, a member of the somewhat secretive Kin who hired the team to secure a remote data core which was being held by a group of mercenaries called the Vicious Riders or VR's (this was one of the random generator results and its pretty lame but it does lend itself to the VR's being a bunch of puffed up buffoons who will make for good rivals!).

During the confrontation, the crew of the Polaris succeeded in securing the core but the ships captain, Finnegan Alucard was badly wounded and much of the cash payment from their patron was spent on medical bills to stop him from dying right from the get go. 

Handily their operation went well enough that Brother Yako has become a persistent patron, meaning that even if we leave the planet, he will follow us (or possibly another of the shadowy members of the Kin will turn up!).

The Vicious Riders, stung at being driven off from a lucrative contract of their own and their pride somewhat deflated have sworn vengeance and have become my crews first rivals in the campaign and I now need to flesh out who they are and what motivates them and indeed why they have such a stupid name (something my crew will no doubt mock them for at every opportunity).

The second campaign turn saw my captain stuck in the infirmary and another patron, this time a governmental toady names Alejandro Ortiz who introduced himself as a member of the Meerut Planetary Relations Council, or MPRC and requested our help in investigating a science station on the nearby moon of Barling-1 which had for some reason, lost communication with the MPRC. 

As the pay was good and my crew needed the cash to pay off the medical expenses of captain Finnegan and their ship debt, they agreed and a reduced crew travelled to the isolated outpost only to find it in ruins and seemingly abandoned. As their job was to secure the site, they set to work doing so when they encountered the reason the facility was in ruins. 

The Converted are rogue AI's that fled the Syntha and seek to enslave humanity by turning them into mindless slaves and a shuffling horde of tech zombies promptly attacked them. During the ensuing desperate firefight, the crews robot Qiao managed to outflank one of the groups of attackers and blast the leading zombie with her pistol but was in turn knocked out of the fight by a hail of return fire and in the swirling chaos, another crew member, Nivian was killed by a lucky shot. 

The remaining trio consisting of Laurinda, Aylin and Onu managed with a mix of luck and insane courage to destroy all the remaining Converted acquisition zombies and secure the site.

Unfortunately in the final moments of the skirmish, Onu was taken out of action and would spend three campaign turns stuck in the sick bay. 

Mourning the loss of their crewmate, bloody and unbowed, the crew then strong armed a profusely sweating Ortiz to pay up, including danger pay and with a little gentle persuasion to provide a friendly Doc to patch up Onu and Finnegan. 

Following the game, Laurinda and Aylin have levelled up and my robot Qiao was undamaged and even managed to repair the kit that the Converted had damaged.

At this point I'm two games into the campaign, have no doubt missed quite a few rules and steps in the campaign system itself but having a great time!

The game itself has a lot going for it for a solo gamer and is very narrative driven and once you get into the swing of how it works, its really quick to play and great fun too. 

I'm adding quite a few little narrative elements to the process to bring the game to life a bit and give each of my crew and their ship as well as the setting a bit more depth but Five Parsecs is a great option that is generic enough to use in pretty much any setting but provides a surprisingly deep amount of engagement. I'm still mourning the loss of my crewman Nivian who only lasted two games but its really giving me the much needed boost to get back into some serious gaming.

The first two games were played using tokens on a pinboard with some scenery thrown on but I do intend on getting some proper crew and opponent figures done but may end up using standees as the casualties do mount up and the number of varied opponents are pretty numerous so collecting and painting a full range of figures for the gam is probably beyond me at present.

I've just rolled up the third campaign turn and it looks like I'm about to mix it up with a squad of enforcers from the VR's so I'm looking forward to playing the game and giving them a damn good thrashing. I've also recruited a new team member called Norm who will be replacing the lamented Nivian. Also with captain Finnegan back on his feet its going to be a really interesting campaign to continue.

Each skirmish lasted 30 or so minutes and was pretty action packed and really encourages you to stick to cover and its worth remembering that your average human isn't going to cope to well with a bullet!

I do recommend folks give the game a try as it's such a fun experience and I'm now eying up my copy of Five Leagues from the Borderlands, the fantasy version of the game for possible miniature gaming!

In the meantime, All the best!

Planet 28, Death in the Throne Room Game 1: The Hothouse Heist

 Hi!

I've played the first game in the Death in the Throne Room campaign which sees the Cult versus the Loons Goons.

Scenario

Using a mixture of psionic divination, and having some handy informants in their congregation, the cult has set up an ambush on the Loons Goons who are patrolling a pleasure garden to the south east of the Throne Room.

The cult has been investigating the hothouse in search of healing herbs due to several of the congregation beginning to show worrying mutations due to warp exposure while the Loons Goons have been dispatched to loot the same herbs whose hallucinogenic qualities will allegedly ease the Loons raging case of Ythargian Syphilis.

Unfortunately for both sides, the pleasure garden is a toxic hothouse, brimming with deadly vegetation. To make matters worse, the fertilisers for said vegetation is highly explosive so stray shots may set off an explosion and attract unwanted attention.

The Board

The board represents a rather untamed hothouse with lush vegetation and arcane items of agricultural machinery and tasteful statues. 

Special Rules

The air in the hothouse is toxic so every turn each model must roll a d6 and on a 1 they take a point of damage.

The two forces deploy at opposite corners of the board. There are four locations that contain rare herbs which may be collected by spending an action and a fifth objective at the centre of the board which is an ancient and valuable relic that the old emperor confiscated from the church and the cult is desperate to retrieve it. By spending an action in contact with it, the cult can pick it up and will endeavour to recover it.

The Loons Goons are decidedly shady and if they retrieve a herb objective, roll a d6 and on a 1 the model promptly consumes it and cannot do anything but lie on the ground grinning vacantly for D6 turns.

Each herb objective recovered gives the player 1 victory point while the cult will get 3 if they recover the relic.

The cult also receive 2 victory points for each of the Goons that they take out of action. The Goons on the other hand get 2 victory points for each model that leaves the board via the cults deployment zone.

If a ranged attack misses a model in cover, roll a d6. On a roll of a 1 the shot has set off an explosion and any model within 5cm of the terrain piece takes D10+2 damage minus an armour save.

Complications and Sub-Objectives

To spice up the game, I added a couple of mini options. Murdoch Foyle will pay handsomely for the herbs and any player may sell him them for 100 credits but in their next game they will be facing Inquisitor Fisher who will want to ask them some rather pointed questions.

Secondly there is a chance that a gardening robot will turn up on a random table edge once the first herb has been harvested. Roll a D6 and on the roll of a 1-2 it will turn up and immediately move towards the nearest model, attempting to attack it with various gardening implements.

The Game

I set up a selection of scenery to give lots of cover to the two forces and had the cult deploy on the bottom left and the Goon squad on the top right.

Some of the objectives are fairly easy to recover but I tried to make things a bit more interesting by placing some of them in the middle of vegetation or on top of buildings that will require a bit more effort to get to and possibly throw a spanner into either sides plans.

I had contemplated adding in some dangerous vegetation but felt that I had enough special rules as it was so decided to go as is and possibly add extra elements and tweak the scenario as I went.

The Loons Goons

The Loons Goons are armed with a pair of pistols and medium armour and are better in ranged combat than the cult but don't have the best morale.

For this game I went with fairly generic profiles but will roll up proper characters once I've got a few test games under my belt.

The Cult

The Cult are lightly armed and equipped but they do have a power maul which will make a mess of pretty much anything as well as a slight numeric advantage.

The gardening robot (which sadly never turned up in the game!) and the central objective which has the cults relic concealed in it. 

The game played out in about half an hour and saw both sides manoeuvring to try and grab objectives but with an eye on also killing their foes or trying to escape.

The toxic environment proved to be pretty deadly as I rolled quite a few 1's on both sides which saw lots of coughing and choking as the toxins in the air began inflaming the eyes, noses and throats of the combatants. 

The Cult moves forward.

A lone cultist with a shotgun stalks his prey.

The Goon Squad spreads out and prepares to claim an objective!

As both sides got closer to each other, the gunplay began with a volley of shotgun fire from a lone cultist but he missed his target, narrowly missing causing an explosion in the process while in the centre the cult quickly seized a herb and made a dash for the relic.

Annoyingly the goon who collected the herb promptly jammed it into his face and would spend the next several rounds lying on the ground grinning like an idiot...

His compatriot, having been shot at by the shotgun wielding cultist returned fire with some surprisingly accurate pistol fire, resulting in two dead eyed hits which sent the cultist fleeing off the board.

Meanwhile a second cult member, having snatched the relic, also began making a beeline for the exit, clutching the holy sculpture to his bosom.

At this point I got carried away with the game and forgot to take more pictures! The cultist with the power maul trundled up to the stoned goon and proceeded to batter him around the head. Fortunately the maul failed to kill him and the blow to the head revived the fellow and he proceeded to begin blasting driving the cultist back.

The cultist with the relic managed to flee the battlefield giving the cult bonus victory points and the scrawny black clad cult sub leader screeched a warbling warcry and charged the Goons leader. Miraculously he got two perfect hits (in my mod of the rules using the D100 method, there's a 10% chance of doing maximum damage with a hit) and the surprised goon leader dropped very dead with a blunt dagger stuck through his eye.

Seeing his minions fleeing, the cult leader decided that discretion was the better part of valour and legged it, but not before getting a face full of plasma from the revived goon whose shooting since imbibing the illicit herbs has been stellar. The badly scorched cultist scuttled off muttering curses and the game ended.

The Aftermath

The cult managed to retrieve the relic as well as one dose of herbs as well as killing one of the goon squad so ended up with 6 victory points while the goons, having been left in control of the hothouse managed to retrieve 2 doses of herbs and 2 escaped without being taken out so gain 6 victory points too.

I played the scenario twice and each time it ended up in a draw. I think if I was to play it again, I'd try to cause more explosions by purposefully firing at opponents in cover as there's still a chance of doing more damage through explosive destruction. 

Both sides did a good job of sticking to their objectives, although the Goons didn't try too hard to escape the ambush they found themselves in, relying on their superior armour and firepower to hold the day. If the cultist with the power maul had rolled some better damage, the game could have gone very differently.

As with my previous post, neither side took control of the pleasure gardens as they were either carrying out a raid or didn't outright win the game so it's still up for grabs.

The next game will feature Fisher and her Inquisition trying to infiltrate General Shunt's secret weapons lab that the illusive Murdoch Foyle has been developing something unpleasant!

Until next time, All the best!

Tiny Skirmish!

 Hi!

I fancied playing a bit of a game last night and not wanting to rummage out tons of 28mm scale terrain, I decided to play a small skirmish in 6mm scale using the first bits and bobs I found in my display cabinet.

Ultramarine Patrol

My Ultramarines would try and drive off the marauding Eldar who were seeking to raid the Imperial settlement somewhere on the border. The force was a bit adhoc, consisting of my command squad transported in a Rhino and supported by a pair of Centurion heavy power armour suits.

Eldar Warparty

The Eldar force had two squads of Guardians led by a Warlock and supported by a Wraithlord. Their objective was to occupy. the settlement and loot the buildings while holding off the forces of the Imperium.

The table was my small pinboard with a smattering of buildings and rocky outcrops and I pretty much made up the rules as I went, using a mixture of D6's and Havoc dice when I needed to roll for attacks and it worked out pretty well with the Imperials initially trying to drive out the Eldar with their heavy power armoured troops but taking fire from the Eldar dreadnought in return whilst the command team tried to outmanoeuvre the Eldar on the flank.

It looked like the Imperial troops were going to hold the field with the Eldar dreadnought taking damage and one of the Guardian stands wiped out but with some lucky dice rolls, the Warlocks raiding party destroyed both of the Centurions and it was left to the Rhino to suppress the Guardians occupying the building long enough for the command squad to get close enough but it was too late. Despite the stormbolter on the Rhino eventually shredding the Guardians, the Warlock then destroyed the vehicle with some Eldrich power leaving the command squad isolated and forced to retreat.

I must admit that I do really enjoy these tiny skirmishes in 6mm, especially as it reminds me of 2nd edition 40k and I will be playing some more games when I get chance with some slightly larger forces as its a great way to get some quick games in without needing a lot of space or time.

I'm actually thinking of making some more small skirmish forces in 6mm using GZG or Brigade Models as the basis with a platoon of infantry backed up with the odd vehicle or two or even throwing in a Battle Mech or two so I can play some small skirmishes in other settings too.

In other news, I've got the first half of my new warband for my Death in the Throne Room campaign painted and just need to add some bits and bobs to the bases before getting some pics so fingers crossed, I'll get them ready to update before I return to work tomorrow.

In the meantime, All the best!

Planet 28: Death in the Throne Room Campaign Part 3

 Hi!

Following Inquisitor Fisher's arrival on Neo Trantor and the skirmish at the spaceport I managed to play the next game in the campaign which features General Shunt's goon squad raiding a nearby hab zone in search of the smuggler who had escaped in the previous game.

The smuggler had been wounded by Fisher but managed to flee to the Glamour Heights hab block, a somewhat rundown mega structure controlled by Baron Thaddeus's gangers in search of both medical aid and to drop off his cargo of contraband. 

General Shunt, having been on the receiving end of a verbal smackdown from an irate Inquisitor Fisher has dispatched his goon squad to raid Glamour Heights and grab the smuggler to get the ire of the Inquisition directed at someone else.

Early in the morning, a military flyer is dispatched from the space port crammed with troops and they jet towards Glamour Heights.

Again I used the scenario generator from Rogue Stars which gave me the idea for this scenario which requires the attackers to secure two rooms and the contents of them whilst fighting off the defenders who are scattered around the table.

The game began with Shunts transport opening fire on the 72nd floor of Glamour Heights, the suspected headquarters of Baron Thaddeus's gangers in the megastructure. The cannon fire from the transport blasted out the windows at the north west corner of the floor and Shunts goons, accompanied by a Killbot to give them some much needed muscle flooded in.

As the goons began to clear their way through the first room, they encountered the first signs of resistance as gangers began opening fire on them from several directions at once with small arms. In the ensuing firefight, one of Shunts goons was badly injured while the officer in charge was badly mauled by a cleaver wielding ganger and one recruit broke and fled back to the transport having taken a small amount of damage (half of Shunts forces are made of raw recruits who need to take a morale check each time they take damage and suffice to say, their morale isn't great. In the campaign I'm classifying them as raw recruits until they survive three games without being removed as casualties or fleeing)

Things were looking a bit bleak for the Goon Squad at this point but the Killbot lumbered forward and began blasting. Despite the fanatical resistance of Thaddeus's gangers, the armoured machine began to make short work of the lightly armoured crazies and buoyed by this, the Goon Squad redoubled their efforts. 

Sensing the change in the skirmish, Thaddeus's Gangers began trying to bring down the more lightly armed Goons and one of the recruits fell to a burst of autogun fire before the clown like gunman was blasted off his feet in return.

With the first room secured, the Goon Squad began moving forward, pushing through the cordon of gangers who were trying to hold them back and despite several heroic attempts by the gangers to hold them in one room, their losses meant that they found themselves outmanoeuvred and began to flee.

Hearing the desperate struggle outside, the gangers holding the first target room unsealed the door and rushed out to try and bring fresh fire at their foes but ran straight into the Killbot and despite managing to cause some damage to the hulking robot, were in turn hit with several accurate blasts, killing one and forcing the other to flee, badly wounded.

In the last room, the smuggler, having just been patched up by the Hab blocks medic, realised that things were looking grim and decided to make a run for it but one of the Goon Squad was waiting for him and despite a bit of a scuffle was soon captured having been given a few clouts with a shock baton.

With the capture of the smuggler, the game came to an end. Shunt's Goon Squad was victorious and have driven the Mad Barons gangers out of Glamour Heights (something the inhabitants have decidedly mixed views on) and the smuggler has been whisked away to face Inquisitor Fisher who wants to know what he was smuggling for Thaddeus.

So here's the results from the game, Thaddeus had five gangers taken out of play and three fled whilst his smuggler has been captured by Shunts goons.

In return, Shunts troops took one casualty and one fled. Many of his Goon Squad have been injured but will be available for the next game.

I rolled on the Planet 28 casualty table for each and while nobody died, one of my Gangers now has brain damage and another has a shattered hand whilst the rest have been shaken, giving them morale issues going forward. I also had one badly wounded who will be pretty fragile in future games and may end up needing cybernetic augmentation...

As for Shunt's cadet who was removed as a casualty is also shaken meaning his morale is even worse than it was before!

I did modify the game somewhat by halving everyones damage so I could play with fairly large gangs without taking ages and I had a really enjoyable time with the gangers giving a better account for themselves than I'd expected and what the end results really shows as early on it looked like the Goon Squad was going to get slaughtered but the Killbot really helped turn the tide in favour of Shunt's forces as the lightly armed gangers just didn't have anything that could stop it.

I suspect in future games, Thaddeus is going to shell out on some more powerful guns to kit out his crazy followers and will no doubt hold a grudge against the Goon Squad in general and the Killbot in particular.

My next game will involve some of the other forces of the Neo Trantor campaign but I also have the investigation of Inquisitor Fisher to deal with, especially as she now has the smuggler in custody, that is if Shunt will hand him over rather than using the information his goons will beat out of the guy for his own Imperial ambitions.
 

I'm really enjoying this campaign and can't wait to get some more games in as time allows and I've also managed to play another couple of sessions of my Colostle campaign so will be posting up the next update for that in the next couple of days once I've got the artwork done as its also developing into a really exciting campaign too!

In the meantime, All the best!