Lockdown 2.0 Project Log Day 88: Mechanicus Combat Servitor!

 Hi!

I've managed to get another figure finished for my Mechanicus force in the form of Cho-Shen Zero!

Cho-Shen Zero is an aged retainer of Maximo of the Mechanicus and still serves his master despite his great age. Bellicose in the extreme, Cho-Shen has had almost all of his organics replaced with tech and he lumbers into combat with a heavy rotary cannon and combat saw which he will inevitably charge the closest threat and attempt to destroy it before moving onto the next enemy.

Cho-Shen has accompanied Maximo to Farpoint and is intent on continuing his duty as long as his decaying organics can be kept operational.

He's originally a modified Heroclix Mechwarrior figure with the cab cut off and a plastic Ashigaru head glued on as I have the sprue from Wargames Illustrated still lying around.

I look forward to seeing how he operates on the battlefield as he's both big and shooty and has a big buzz saw. Coupled with him being a cranky old geezer who will move at full speed towards anything he sees and should make for an interesting addition to my Mechanicus force.

I've done a bit of reading of Bulkheads and Blasters too which is looking like it might be fun so will need to see if I can give it a bit of a shot in my next battle report but in the meantime, All the best!

Lockdown 2.0 Project Log Day 87: Bodging Rulesets

Hi!

I've got a load of figures midway through painting and sculpt just needing a coat of paint so I decided to have a look at some of my other rulebooks to see what I've got and what I can use to play some skirmishes.

Warzone

Warzone 1st edition is a great start for conversion into a small scale skirmish game as it has alternating activation, plenty of existing profiles which can be used and a good amount of customisation possibilities for characters to boot.

I've tried out a game using counters earlier in the year and think that I shall be using this ruleset for my first test as I'm reasonably confident of how to play it, despite only playing a single game in about 20 years! 

With the use of the Dark Legion gifts or the Art of the Brotherhood, I can easily introduce psykers, espers and all manner of interesting elements too.

While it doesn't have a custom force maker, it is a really great set of rules that allow you to play small skirmishes with shoot and scoot tactics, diving for cover and all manner of elements that lend themselves to a really dynamic game which I think could be perfect for my own small character based and scenario driven games.

Void 1.1

Void 1.1 is also a skirmish game at heart, although aimed at slightly larger scale than Warzone. It usually has a few squads backed up by a character or two and the odd small vehicle. 

It's also an alternating activation system and like Warzone, each model has a number of actions that can be carried out in whatever order they want making it a bit more dynamic than GW's games of yore. 

I plan on having a bash with a small force using Void once I have enough stuff painted as its more suited to a platoon level game than a single squad a side.

Again although it doesn't have a custom force generator, it does have a good variety of model profiles that can easily be bodged into whatever character one likes and I look forward to getting a game or two in using the rules!

Vor The Maelstrom/No Limits

Vor is a totally customisable game and uses action points rather than the two previous games that have a number of activations per model. Its spiritual successor, No Limits is a generic ruleset that uses the same mechanics but has refined force generation and I've played it a fair few times but not for about ten years or so.

It's a bit crunchier in style than Void or Warzone but I have fond memories of the rules and it will make a really interesting small skirmish game with only a few small modifications, such as giving characters more wounds and action points and having each activating separately.

Worthy of note, the terrain rules for Vor are really fun that allow you to roll all manner of interesting terrain and unexpected events (some of which are really destructive!) and can add a random and interesting element to games without bogging things down.

We Can Be Heroes

We Can be Heroes is a pulp style game that features bands of dashing heroes, dastardly villains and sidekicks, minions and whatnot. 

I've had the rules for ages but never tried them out and am keen to have a go of using them as the basis for a skirmish or two on the frontier. 

Having glanced through the rules, they seem to be fairly straightforward and well explained and could be just the thing for a fun character driven game.

I particularly like the fact that heroes act heroically and are able to do more than the sidekicks who in turn can do more than the lowly henchmen and feel that the system could lend itself to a really entertaining mini campaign but I need to re-read the rules and try them out a time or two before posting a battle report using them to make sure I get things right.

Aertherverse

Aetherverse came out in the early 2000's if memory serves right and I picked up a copy having read a few battle reports back in the day and it's languished on my shelves ever since.

It's a generic skirmish game that is scaleable which is good and allows you to create whatever force you like and the battle reports I read of it made it look rather fun. There's also a small scale skirmish version called Aetherverse Upheaval which is specifically aimed towards small warband style games.

Sadly my knowledge of the actual mechanics are vague as I've not really done anything with it since picking it up but I aim to dust off my copy and have a bash!

Rogue Trader

Ah Rogue Trader! The original sandpit sort of game where anything is possible. 

It's a really retro system now which isn't going to result in a dynamic fast moving sort of gaming experience like some of the other rulesets I've mentioned but I don't feel I can skip it, if for no other reason than it's retro charms. 

I've used it for sci-fi and fantasy games in the past and it's always resulted in a good game and if memory serves, it's campaign system would be fun to use for seeing how my various warbands cope between games!

I doubt I'd be using the robot programming rules and random equipment rolls or some of the other esoteric stuff from the game but one of the charms of Rogue Trader is the fact that you can pretty much pick and choose or bodge stuff and it is flexible enough to work.

Fantastic Worlds

Fantastic Worlds is another Pulp themed game, this time aimed specifically at retro sci-fi and I picked it up at the same time as We Can Be Heroes. It uses an archtype system that looks interesting and I really want to have a go at playing a game or two with it, especially as it really focuses on character and story.

Interestingly, the game has hit locations that can effect how a model activates which looks like it could be fun and decidedly cinematic but the rules are a bit dense if memory serves correct so I suspect I'll need to give it a few read throughs and games before I get it correct.

I think Fantastic Worlds will be one to try once I've got into the swing of playing different game systems and ramp up the number of games I can play a week but it's definitely one I want to try!

Laserburn

Laserburn is the granddaddy of Warhammer 40k and I've got a copy lying around that I picked up some time ago, had a flick through and put down again.

It's typed layout really put me off back then and although I'm curious to see how it goes, it's a game I'm a bit cautious about trying. However it's been compared to Inquisitor so it could be an interesting game to try out if I can summon up the courage to brave the layout.

Like many of the other games I've mentioned, I suspect that once I get the hang of the mechanics and get a game or two under my belt, it may end up being rather fun (and may result in the appearance of the Red Redemption too!)

I'd love to hear of other folks experience with the rules so if you've actually played it, please feel free to drop a comment!

Rogue Planet

Rogue Planet is a game I've heard fantastic things about but when I bought the download was a little underwhelmed due to the slightly weird mechanics. Saying that, I've not actually played a game using it so I'm keen to give it a bash as it feels like it might be akin to Planet 28 which was great fun.

It's aimed at a science fantasy setting which is just my cup of tea and I'm going to see if I can find any battle reports from the interwebs to get an idea of just how it's played.

Chaos on Cronos

Chaos on Cronos is another pulp sci-fi game that uses the Herosystem which is in turn inspired by the old Trinity Battleground game by White Wolf (a ruleset that's well worth a peek in its own right!)

I've got quite a few of the themed games using the system such as Chaos in Carpathia and the Supersystem rules but haven't actually tried them out. They feature individuals backed up by groups of supporting troops and I think it could make for a fun game that leans heavily on characters doing awesome stuff while the supporting troops get slaughtered like all good movie extras.

I must admit that I've not looked at the book for over a decade now so it's high time I remedied it and gave it a bash!

Star Mogul

Star Mogul is a great little game that relies not just on killing one's enemies but also recovering salvage and with a little bit of work would make for a great basis for the likes of competing Mechanicus teams or mercs on the frontier or pretty much whatever you fancy.

The rules are good and the campaign system is excellent but I'll need to paint a few more miniatures for each of my warbands to make the most of the game.

The flexibility of creating your salvage companies is really good too as you can specialise in combat, recovery or any number of other skillsets that give each of the teams a real sense of personality and it will be fun to play again after over 15 years!

Nuclear Renaissance

Nuclear Renaissance is by Curtis Fell of Ramshackle Games and is a more post apocalyptic sort of game featuring a more Gorkamorka sort of gaming experience with small warbands hurtling around in bodged vehicles and shooting each other up. It's writing style is quite fun and is aimed towards having fun rather than super serious grimdark which is a big plus for me. 

I backed the Kickstarter for the original box game but sadly sold much of the figures and vehicles during my Uni clearout but did keep the rules and the supplement. 

It's a good fun game to play and I suspect it would be a great way of representing vehicle combat in a scenario too and it also has the notorious Giggles Clan who will be making more of an appearance in my future games too as they are rather fun!

Now the list above isn't by any means all the rulesets I mean to try out this year as I've got at least a dozen others in my collection that really deserve a try out but these will be my initial objectives to play along with more games of Song of Blasters and Planet 28 (as well as Brutal Quest when it arrives!).

If anyone has any experience with any of these rulesets or can suggest a good battle report to read or watch, please feel free to drop a comment or link but in the meantime, All the best!

Lockdown 2.0 Project Log Day 86: Encounter at Warehouse Epsilon

 Hi!

I managed to play a quick game last night so without further ado, onto the battle report!

The Background

Following the skirmish at Way Station 13, Vash has followed his colleague, Maximo into the badlands of Lowe and as a new day dawns, Glitterberry’s sharp eye spots a crumbling industrial base amid a distant mesa. Deciding to investigate, Vash, Glitterberry and Master Lee make towards the structure. 

However as they get closer to the base, they see a group of red clad figures burst from a nearby gully and rush towards the building. Realising that they too are intent on plundering the structure for whatever interesting and long forgotten tech it may contain. 

Shouting encouragement to his companions, Vash breaks into a run, determined to seize the buildings contents for himself as whatever lost tech it contains may be vital in his research.

Vulcan is one of Maximo's foremen (the very people Vash has entered the badlands of Lowe to find) but his master has unknown plans of his own and Vash is an unwanted nuisance who must not be allowed to gain access to the tech that Maximo wishes for himself. As such, Maximo has sent Vulcan and a small retinue to deal with Vash and take the lostech he has heard rumour of being in the ancient industrial ruin.

The Forces

Vash armed with power armour, a stub pistol and thunderhammer and is accompanied as usual by Master Lee the martial arts master who has light armour and Glitterberry the Eldar who has medium armour and a shuriken catapult.

Vulcan is armed with a flamer and has heavy armour and a cybernetic arm. GX776 is equipped with a grafted powerfist and Grizelda is armed with a grafted powersaw and combat drugs. Neither of Vulcan's underlings has any armour.

The warehouse itself is defended by a trio of security droids armed with short range blasters and medium armour. They begin the game offline and only roll to activate if someone enters the building and will move towards the closest visible enemy, firing as they do so. Due to their great age, they must roll each turn to see if they activate.

The Setup

The battlefield itself is strewn with scrub, fungi and ruins with the warehouse being a large structure with two doors, one on each side. The doors require a test to see if those attempting to gain access can figure out the ancient controls. The other option is to rely on brute force to break them open.

Vash and co enter the battlefield from the East while Vulcan's party enter from the South. 

The Game

Vash wins the initiative and makes a run towards one side of the large warehouse with Master Lee easily keeping pace with him. Glitterberry, showing a bit more caution fails to activate.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the building, Vulcan, the leader of the mysterious group runs towards the other doorway with Grizelda loping alongside him. Seeing the distant Eldar, the Grafted Xenos GX776 breaks away from the others and stalks through the ruins towards Glitterberry, intent on killing and devouring the Eldar.

Turn two starts with Vulcan trying to figure out the rusted entry hatch but the stubborn controls refuse to cooperate. Grizelda moves forward to protect her boss, her combat senses tingling and her buzz saw idling…

Vash manages to open his door without any problem at all but becomes distracted by the arcane operating system and spends the rest of his activation scribbling notes onto a data pad (gamewise, Vash tried to activate a second time and failed his activation test and it's becoming rather in keeping with the easily distracted Mechanicus!).  Rolling his eyes at his bosses shenanigans, Master Lee drifts past him and plunges into the shadowy interior of the warehouse.

Glitterberry, sensing the approach of the xenos, moves forward cautiously, his shuriken catapult covering the nearby broken ground.

Deep within the warehouse, long sleeping systems begin to boot up and a trio of security droids begin to come online. Their sensors, now badly degraded cannot determine exactly what the threat is but aware that something has entered the warehouse.

Turn three has Vulcan seize the initiative and finally manage to get the door open and enter the building. Hearing the door creaking open, Master Lee launches himself from the shadows and proceeds to beat the tar out of the startled Mechanicus leader and taking him out of action. Seeing her boss go down, Grizelda screams incoherently and throws herself at the martial artist. The ensuing combat is brutal but Lee is driven back, wounded but unbowed. 

Vash is still distracted by the doors OS system and fails to activate and GX776 hisses and busts into a loping charge at Glitterberry but finds himself just out of charge range of the Eldar. Restraining a shriek, especially at the unlovely nethers of the vile xenos that has appeared in front of him, Glitterberry opens up with his shuriken catapult and is horrified to see the beast shrug off the first volley but the second manages to knock the creature off its feet.

The first of the security droids trundles out from its concealed niche and its sensors pick up Master Lee and opens fire on the injured martial artist taking him out of action.

Turn four saw the Imperials win initiative again and Glitterberry, closing his eyes at the horrors of the sight of the sprawling Xenos, opens fire with his shuriken catapult riddling the beast with fire and holding down the trigger until the ammo disc runs empty and the grafted alien is very dead.

Finally realising that his companions have been fighting, Vash stirs himself and moves into the warehouse, skirting the wall to avoid the attentions of the activated security droid. Seeing Grizelda standing over the downed form of Lee, he opens fire with his stub pistol but the lead projectile bounces harmlessly off the cyborg. Grizelda snaps her head in the direction of the gunshot and sees Vash lurking nearby with a foolish look on his face. Snarling, her combat drug dispenser delivers a kick of adrenaline and she hurls herself at the imperial. Despite his thunder hammer and heavy armour, Vash is driven back and sorely wounded by the insane cyborgs spinning blade.

The second security droid moves out but cannot see anything moving while the first droid suffers a short circuit and fails to activate.

Turn five has Vash summon his courage and take a flailing swing at Grizelda but is knocked senseless by the frothing cyborg.

Hearing the conflict inside, Glitterberry moves forward cautiously and peers into the warehouse, seeing the hulking security droid, he opens fire again and reduces it to scrap. 

Grizelda, having taken down her foe, remembers that her master charged her group with securing a certain item held in the red shack on the upper floor of the warehouse. Skipping back towards the ladder, she finds herself in the sights of a security droid and is badly shot up by blaster fire but must continue with her mission!

Turns six and seven sees Grizelda win initiative and dash towards to the shack and victory while Glitterberry downs another droid and moves towards his downed companions.

Vash comes round to see Glitterberry bandaging the badly cut Master Lee who sits stoically, meditating on how he can deal with a foe who uses dishonourable enhancements in combat. Looking around he notices that the flame thrower wielding foe has vanished along with its psycho companion with the saw. 

Resigned to the fact that whatever secrets the building contained have been stolen from him, he wanders over the the smouldering ruins of the security droids with a thoughtful look on his face. The secrets of the warehouse and his foe can wait as there is work to be done!

Whee! Another fun game played and it did not end how I was expecting it but it's giving me all sorts of plot hooks for the next game as what will Vash have made of the salvaged security droids and what does Maximo plan to do with the unknown Lostech that his party recovered from the warehouse? 

I used my own rules for this game and quite liked how it turned out! I'll be using Planet 28 for the next game and will also try to use a completely different ruleset for the one after to introduce a new system for me to try out. I'm also keen to get more stuff painted for both Vash's party and indeed the forces of Maximo and have begun work on Maximo's right hand lady, Mistress Vex...

I'm also keen to add another faction to the mix and am not sure if it's going to be more Orks or some desert nomads as yet. I'm also keen to try and get more games in so will try to post another on Wednesday of each week as well as Sunday but in the meantime, All the best!

Lockdown 2.0 Project Log Day 85: More Chronopia Previews

 Hi!

The folks over at the new Chronopia project have previewed a couple of new sculpts, this time Lotus Guard for the Elves of the Crystal Lotus!

Lotus Guard are the special units assigned to commanders and dignitaries within the Crystal Lotus and are armed with twin longswords. 

I'm rather liking the dynamic sculpts but feel there's something not quite right about the flow of the fabric of their loincloth's but it may just be the angle of the render and will have to see what the actual miniatures are like. Either which way, I'm excited to see what other previews we can expect to see in the coming months, especially the Dwarves.

In other news, I'm busily sculpting and painting stuff for my upcoming game and am not sure if I'm going to get it done this evening or tomorrow but will get the battle report posted up on Sunday afternoon but in the meantime, All the best!

Lockdown 2.0 Project Log Day 84: Space Crusade Terrain Part 1

 Hi!

As I mentioned yesterday, I've been working on some Space Crusade themed scenery, a process that has been somewhat derailed by the unwanted appearance of a leak coming through the ceiling today...

Still, I did manage to get the basics done starting with the modular walls:

The walls themselves are made from mounting board, foam sheeting and paper with a decent amount of gribble, graffiti and symbols painted on to make it interesting.

Each piece is a smidge under 30cm long and handily fit my vinyl floor tile terrain boards and I've got a decent selection of designs to represent either indoor or outdoor layouts.

Here's a basic layout:

I'm keen to keep my terrain from taking over what little space I had so I've attempted to make sure it can all be flat packed away. The pieces are held together using the boards themselves and a small clip made from some MDF bases and while it's a bit ad-hoc, it seems to do the trick!

I'm planning on making some more modular walls to allow different floor layouts on each quarter and will also be needing to make some indoor terrain for my adventurers to fight over and generally trash but said leaky ceiling has put a bit of a delay on getting on with it (handily the landlord for upstairs has offered to do the repairs for free as it was their flat that caused the damage!)

I'm also going to make some doors, barricades and whatnot to liven things up a bit and also need some automated security types to defend the place...

I'm hoping to get a bunch more bits and bobs done tomorrow which will allow me to fully populate the board with terrain and it may get a try out for the weekends game!

In other news, I've discovered that my old Game Craft acrylics are still available and have placed a small order to replenish my depleted stock. While there are undoubtedly better quality paints out there, I do have a soft spot for them as they've got some really handy colours and were the original Warzone paints to boot!

I still haven't found a decent boss for my Mechanicus but will keep looking and have an eye on one or two different sources for said unhinged mechanical madman but in the meantime, All the best!

Lockdown 2.0 Project Log Day 83: Space Crusade Style Skirmishing

 Hi!

As part of my ongoing Sci-Fi Skirmish rummagings, I find myself in need of a spaceship/building interior to run some scenarios in, be they trawling through catacombs or some rusting hulk on the frontier. 

This got me to thinking about using a Warhammer Quest style random board setup approach but I also quite liked the idea of a Space Crusade type of board for quickly representing a building complex for my warbands to fight over.

Random Space Crusade Layout

I've spent much of today mocking up stuff with paper to see how it will work and made a rough wall array using foamcore and had spent a fair amount of time detailing it before realising that I'd made the doors too small for the layout I needed. Coupled with the fact that I'd glued it all together and had a 2 foot square X that would prove to be a pain in the backside to store anywhere, I sat down and had a bit of a rethink.

Going back to the drawing board, I settled on using thick card and made sure I made the doors big enough and have spent the rest of the day detailing it and have started painting it this evening. Sadly this means that I've not got it ready to showcase for this evenings update but hopefully it will be worth the wait.

I'm also working on getting some more Adeptus Mechanicus stuff painted which I'm hoping to have finished later this week but it's kind of taking a back seat at the moment as I'm trying to get the basic terrain built and ready!

Hopefully I'll have the basic structure built and ready for tomorrows update but in the meantime, All the best!

Lockdown 2.0 Project Log Day 82: Frog Frenzy!

 Hi!

I've got more odds and ends on the paint table, aimed towards getting a decent sized mix of figures for my Adeptus Mechanicus force but I've finished another couple of giant frogs!

I've really enjoyed painting up these guys and now have a trio of Giant Ushun Frogs which will allow me to play some entertaining Frog hunting games. I am still after some smaller frogs to play the part of frogling swarms and a massive bull frog to add an extra level of peril for a scenario!

As I mentioned before, I'm really surprised by the quality of the cheap plastic models and it's amazing what a fresh coat of paint can do. I've got a couple of other styles of frogs and am sorely tempted to paint up the rest of them to add variety to my games as one can never have too many frogs!

Inquisitor Fisher swears to never let Vash choose the holiday activity again...

In other news, having read the government guidelines, its looking like it's going to be the end of April before work will be opening so I'll be making the most of the time to get as much stuff painted as I can but in the meantime, All the best!