What am I doing?

Well, I got a Kindle, and am having a lot of fun reading with that.  Just figured out how to get it hooked up to my Face book account this morning.

I got and painted up Acheson Creation's excellent log cabin with stone chimney.  Wonderful little piece with an interior.  They even did the interior of the roof, crazy people.  There was nothing to hold the roof section in place on the building, so I got the bright idea of making a post on each end to keep it from sliding around.  I drilled the holes off center, and then remembered that I had a bunch of strong magnet that I had bought from Bobbe's Hobbies at some recent convention, and enlarged the holes so I could center the magnets.  They are so strong that I can lift the building by the roof, or even turn it upside down without the roof falling off.  Ah, modern marvels (yeah, right)

I've been proof-reading a couple of new rule-sets Two Hour Wargames is about to release, and this has prompted me to finally replace the French & Indian War figures I lost in Katrina.
Here's what I have painted so far.
London War Room Spanish who will now be French (32 figures)

RSM Gage's Light Infantry (16 figures)

Old Glory Settlers or Militia (21 figures)

A mix of RSM and Old Glory Indians (16 figures)

Old Glory Rangers (2 figures)
Old Glory Courier du Bois (8 figures)

Women, a mix of Old Glory, Rafm (4 figures)

Still in the bag:
Old Glory Rangers
RSM Rangers (probably won't get painted - too much the same for skirmish)
Old Glory Franches de la Marine
Old Glory Indians with bows, the rest of the bag.
RSM Indians with muskets, the rest of the bag.
A few more women, all RAFM.

On the painting table
Old Glory Highlanders, gah!

In Transit:
Old Glory Couriers de Bois (from Jim Pitts)

Apes

As usual, I can't post a comment on my own blog.  Sigh.  Thanks for the comments on the apes, guys. 5150NB made me buy apes.  It's all Ed's fault!

Eureka Boilersuit Apes & Chronoscape Alice

I just got a bunch of the Eureka Boilersuit Apes, and the ones in space suits.  Really nice figures.  Since both my wife and I are oil field brats, I decided on bright coveralls.  The Eureka guns are so nice that I tried something different on them.  I painted them Ceramcoat Charcoal and washed them with undiluted P3 armor wash.  All figures were primed grey, block painted in base colors, and then given a brown wash followed by a thin black wash.  The faces were painted Reaper Pro Paint Ruddy Flesh, and washed with old GW Flesh Wash.  I suspect that P3 Flesh Wash would do as good a job.  The eyes were painted a very pale yellow, and given black pupils.  As always, click on the picture for a larger one.

Since I just finished reading "The Seige of Leningrad", they were all given Russian names.

I especially like the boss figure, so he's Leonid!

I looked at both US and Soviet spacesuits, and decided 5 figures with white suites would just be too boring to paint, so I harkened back to the old science fiction movie, "Destination: Moon", and used it for inspiration.

And, of course, I refound my Reaper figure of Alice.  I painted her as one of the stills on Google.  I am dreaming of replacing Carol Lee in the Two-Hour Wargames Risks & Rewards with Alice.  Let's see, Rep 6, Ambidextrous, Sidewalk Demon, has the Razor bullet-avoiding move, 2 BA pistols, and 2 khukri, which the axe stats can be used for.







Colonial Barracks

Well, Colonial Barracks is done and gone, and it was great.  Friday I was on call, and so just chatted with everyone.  Got to meet Chick Lewis, Ross Maker, and Tim Cheatem face-to-face after chatting with them for years on ColonialWars@Yahoo.com, or whatever the actual url is.

There were some beautiful games going on, Nick's ansar battle, and the fabulous terrain for Maiwand.

On Saturday, I got into Jim Pitt's Darkest Africa game, controlling a group of archers for the natives.  I managed to pretty well wipe out a group of Zanzibari slavers, get the peaceful villagers out of the village for the loss of only 2 villagers and a goat, but left a lot of goods in the village for the taxman!  My warriors who were in the village took out a couple of the taxman's askari, but elephants did a lot more damage.  The warrior leader tried a heroic charge against one of the taxman, but was shot down.  Jay Stribling and I gave the natives their only win on points, according to Jim.

Here are three pics of my brave archers in action!

Next, I ran my game using Larry Brom's "With Old Gimlet Eye", US Marines vs Sandinistas in Nicaragua, 1926.  Due to some fine shooting by Donna, and growing casualties, the Marines were forced to withdraw with their wounded, leaving behind their dead, whom the Sandanistas looted of maybe 10 Springfields, a Lewis gun, and a Browing machine gun.

They were not without losses, however.  They lost one Lewis gun operator for sure, and Jim's single Marine unit ran off 2 Sandinista units in hand-to-hand.  Marine bayonets are deadly!

I wasn't as up on the rules as I should have been, and so some points got overlooked.  Sigh.

That pooped me out, and though Nick's "Wind and the Lion" game was very tempting, I went home and to bed, since I was on call again.

Sunday, I played in Mark Steven's Maxmillian Adventure game, in reserve.  Didn't get to fire a single shot from my French Foreign Legion because the Juaristas spent too much time and units on the Mexicans and Belgians on the hill, and never got to the village.  Of course that meant that I got to fondle and ogle Mark's beautifully painted French Foreign Legion.  Wonderful job!

Oh, I forgot the raffle on Saturday evening.  I got Larry's Marines and Japanese, and a copy of "M-1's and Arisakis".  Of course, I got the best prize, and I'm sure all of the winners felt that they got the best prize!

It was a great little con at a really nice venue (one Bayou Wars should consider, hint, hint, BOD), and with a great groups of ladies and gentlemen.

Metal Maniac On The Loose!

Just got the new Two Hour Wargames 5150 New Beginnings that Ed released a day or so ago, so of course I decided to run a solo game or two.

This game has a ton going for it, and is the most immersive game since Legends of Araby, no longer available because it's too behind the current THW mechanics.
Because the game is very detail oriented, combat involves hit locations and cover, similar to Six Gun Sound: Blaze of Glory.  If you've played that game, you have a LITTLE leg up on this one.

I had intended to run a single game, but the first went so quickly that I reran it.
I did not assign any of the figures attributes, since this was really a learning game for me, and I wanted to keep it somewhat simple.

Here is the basic set-up.  It's mid-afternoon in a less fashionable area of New Beginnings.  There has been automatic weapons fire in front of a large apartment building, and initial reports are that a Metalhead has gone on the rampage!

A patrol car with 2 officers shows up, but the patrolmen quickly realize that they are seriously out-gunned and call for back-up.  It arrives in the form of a SWAT team.  The Law Level is 3.  This has to do with how many Possible Enemy Forces may show up.  I elected to have none on the table to start, but they can be generated by doubles on the activation dice.

Here are the 2 patrolmen on the scene.
Name                            Rep     Fitness    People   Savvy    Science
Sgt. Carter                     4             4              3           2              0
PC Doris Swan              4             4              3           2              0
Both are armed with BA Pistols, and have access to a single shotgun in their prowler.  They are both wearing bullet-proof vests

Swat Team
Sgt Mims                       5             5              4            3              0
Aaron                             4             4              3           2               0
Hughes                           5             5              3           2               0
Lowenstein                    4             4               3          2                0
All are armed with assault rifles, BA pistols.  All are wearing tactical armor.
All of the police force were rolled up on the Police chart.

Olga the Metalhead       5              5              0          4                3
She is armed with an assault rifle.  She has CyberLegs, giving her a normal move of 12", the ability to leap to the top of a one-story building, and 4d6 on the Fast Move roll.
She has a Cyber right arm, giving her a +2d6 in melee.  Because of this arm, she is left-handed.
And she has an Imaging eye, giving her the ability to see through concealment, but not cover.
She uses the Merc QRS.

Here is the setup for the first game:

Turn 1:  Police 1, Olga 4
Olga is happy where she is, having cleared the street of all passers-by.
The Swat team splits in two, the first group led by Sgt Mims heading for the near corner of McDoom's.  The second group, led by Hughes, fast moves towards the left rear corner.  The patrolmen move near the cab of the truck to give whatever help they can.

Turn 2:  Police 3  Olga 6

Sgt Mims and Aaron step out from the corner (Meanwhile Lowenstein and Hughes don't get far enough to get her in sight.)

The new In Sight test now comes into play.  Basically, each figure in sight roll dice based on their Rep and the situation, looking for successes on rolls of 1,2, or 3 on each d6.  I didn't record the actual rolls, just the number of successes.  Olga has 4 successes, Sgt Mims, 3, and Aaron, 2, so Olga goes first, putting 2d6 on Mims and 1 on Aaron.  Not only does she miss, she runs out of ammo.

Since Mims and Aaron both have their firearms ready, they fire, getting 2 hits each.

Olga is hit in the chest, which OD's her.  She was also hit in the gut, the left leg, and a lesser hit in the chest.  Had she survived, there might have been damage to her Cyber leg.

Over in 2 turns.

Needless to say, this wasn't enough action for me (though I'm sure it was for Olga), so I played another game.  The setup was the same, except this time Olga was to theright, behing the taxi.  Her location is determined by the PEF location roll.

Game 2:

Turn 1: Police 6, Olga 6

Since this was over the Law Level of 3, it generated a PEF in front of the the apartment buildings front door, and in sight of Aaron. It was resolved a 5 Law Abiding Citizens. This intitiated a Challenge Test, which Aaron with a ready weapon won 4 successes to 1. The group took one look, and hurried back into the building.

Turn 2:  Police 5, Olga 5

Turn 3: Police 5, Olga 2

The Swat team moves forward 8".  Only Aaron and Sgt Mims break cover and see Olga behind the taxi.  This, of course, brings on an In Sight test!

Olga has 4 successes to 2 for each Swat team member.  She fires 2d6 at Mims and 1 at Aaron.

She hits Mims in his off arm which is a Knock Down, and the gut, and he is a bleeder, at -1 to all his stats.  She misses Aaron. 

 Both take Received Fire tests and both receive the Carry On result.  Since both are still in sight of each other, they take another In Sight test, and have the same number of successes, firing simultaneously. 

Olga his Aaron in the gut, bleeder, and gun arm, Knocked Down. 

 Aaron hits Olga in the chest, bleeder, and the off arm, which is cyber.  This knocks her down, Stunned, and any future action with that arm will be at a -1 to her Rep.

The other 2 Swat team members take the Man Down Test.  Hughes passes 2d6 and Carries On.  Lowenstein passes 1d6, and Carries On, only because he is with 4" of Hughes, who is Carrying On.

Both of them Fast Move toward Olga, since she is stunned, hoping to get there before she recovers.

Turn 3: Police 5, Olga 6

Hughes makes it to Olga, and captures her.

After the action is all done, and the perp is captured, it's time to do first aid.  Sgt Carter moves to Sgt Mims, and attempts first aid.  Obviously, he slept through that class, because he's no help at all.  Sgt Mims bandages himself, and regains  1 point to all his stats. He only had a single bleeder, reducing him by only 1 point to his stats.

Doris' hands are a lot better, and she has 2 successes on Aaron, so he recovers fully.

Hughes can't figure where to apply pressure, but Olga knows and saves herself.

I'm very pleased for a first game. 

Both times, Olga went down, but in the second game she gets to go to trial.  And her charges are: Brandishing a weapon Level 3, Endangerment, 2 counts of Mayhem Level 2, and Resisting Arrest.  The fact that she is a Metalhead will make her defense all the more difficult.  It looks like Hard Labor and deportation after her term(s) are served is the best she can hope for.

Obviously, there is much more here than any game Ed has released so far.  There are human and alien races, professions, jobs, and a million ways to get in trouble.  For instance, if they had not been police, all the figures would have been subject to various criminal charges.  You can have a pistol; you'd just better not draw it in front of witnesses you leave alive!  And people do call the cops at the sound of gun fire.  A great addition to the stable, that will keep you busy for many a rainy day.  Wow!

Thanks!

For some &^%$* reason, I can't comment on my own blog, or any others either, so thanks for the comments.  The comic book stuff is a fun way to relive the game without writing every move down!

TRUDY FINDS A CRIB!

It's been too long since I updated the former Miss Holly Wood's adventures.  So I decided that a romp in the countryside to find a safe house would be now Miss Trudy Holmes' new goal.

Seems she remembers an old desanctified mission way out on a dirt road, and hoped it was still available.
She and Myron drove the VW microbus and H2 close to the location, but out of earshot, and hopped out and walked up the road.

After their initial move of 8" up the road, Myron advised Trudy that they had zombies off to their left.

Turn 1: Humans 3, Zombies 1

Trudy and Myron move another 8" up the road, and Trudy takes a shot at the nearest zombie, and kills it.  The other zombies follow the humans.

The gunfire draws no zombies.  Since this is a rural area, they only appear on a die roll of "6".

Turn 2: Humans 1, Zombies 6

Trudy remembers that the mission had a stout gate, and heads in it's direction.  The zombies stall.

Turn 3: Humans 3, Zombies 1

Trudy moves to the gate and finds it locked.

Myron noticed an open window to their right, so they move to it, having been only 2" from the gate at the start of their activation.

The zombies have lost sight of the humans, so they continue towards the sound of gunfire.

Turn 4: Humans 5, Zombies 2

Trudy sends Myron through the window first, since he is only Rep 4, but can activate on Trudy's Rep of 5.  I decided that the building would have 2 sections in the main room, so they scan the main room and see no zombies nor humans.

The zombies continue on their current path.

Turn 5: Humans 2, Zombies 1

Trudy moves to the second section of the building, and sees no one and no zombies.

Myron searches the first section, and comes up with a set of house keys.  (no vehicles in this game, so keys need to be for something else.)

The zombies are confused, seeing no humans and hearing no gunfire.

Turn 6: Humans 1, Zombies 4

The zombies move to the sound of voices.

Trudy searchs her section and finds nothing.  Myron moves into the courtyard and sees another door.

Turn 7: Humans 4, Zombies 4

Trudy moves to back up Myron.  Myron moves to the door, finds it unlocked, and pulls it open.  The room is empty.

The zombies move to the window where they heard voices, but sense no one.

Turn 8: Humans 3, Zombies 5

Myron sees a ladder in the room and Trudy sends him up it while she searches the room and finds a crossbow!  When Myron reaches the top of the ladder, he sees 2 zombies and fires!  The one he hits doesn't even notice the bullet from his puny SMG, and he and the other one cahrge him.  Myron ties one zombie and kills the other in melee.

Firing attracts no new zombies.

Turn 9: Humans 2, Zombies 1

Trudy searches the visible courtyard and finds food!  Myron melees the remaining zombie, and kills him.  The 3 zombies in the road, maddened by the gunfire attack the gate.  Since it was so stout, and barred from the inside, I gave it a DV of 4.  The zombies would roll 1d6 each, and each success would lower the DV by 1.  They get one success, lowering the DV of the gate to 3.

(Myron and the zombie bodies are not on the roof.  It was more convenient to put them there.)

Turn 10:  Humans 2, Zombies 5
Trudy turns the corner in the courtyard, and sees a girl pointing a pistol.  Trudy adds her 2d6 for Charisma to her 5 for Rep.  The girl is a Rep 4 Ganger.  She is beaten by only one success, so she joins Trudy's gang only for the duration of the mission.  (So much for Charisma!)

Myron moves to the roof and finds it empty.

Turn 11: Humans 4, Zombies 2

Trudy searches this little section of courtyard and finds another Food.

Myron moves to the edge of the roof, and kills 2 of the zombies attempting to break down the gate.

Trudy sends the girl to watch the gate, in case the zombies break through.

The one remaing zombie claws at the gate, to no effect.

Turn 12:  Humeans 1, Zombies 6

Trudy fast moves to the gate, and has Myron throw her the keys.  She intends to investigate a building that Myron has seen to the rear of the mission.  The girl opens the gate on Turdy's command , and there's a zombie.  Both Trudy and the girl take an In Sight, and pass.  Trudy fires her semi-automatic rifle, and rolls two "1's".  Click, click, out of ammo.  The girl fires her BA pistol, and misses.

All this firing attracts no zombies.

Turn 13:  Humans 1, Zombies 3

There are no zombies.

Trudy backs up and reloads.  The girl fires and misses.

Myron fires and kills the zombie.

Once again, the gunfire attracts no zombies.

Turn 14: Humans 1, Zombies 3

There are no zombies.

Trudy and the girl move out of the gate, and come face-to-face with Charles Many, Rep 3 Survivor with a bolt-action rifle.  Trudy suceeds so well, even though she loses 2d6 for different philosophies, that Charles joins up.

Turn 15: Humans 6, Zombies 1

No zombies

Turn 16: Humans 5, Zombies 2

Trudy's group moves toward the building.

Turn 17:  Humans 5, Zombies 6

Trudy tells the girls to try the door.  It's locked, but Trudy's key fits the door.  Trudy and the girl enter the room to find a single zombie.  Trudy passes 2d6, the girl 1d6, and the zombie, 1d6 on the Zombie Surprise test.  Trudy fires and kills the zombie.

Trudy's fire attracts one zombie, in the woods to the left of the building.

Turn 18: Humans 6, Zombies 1

The zombie in the woods moves towards Charles, the only human he can see.

Turn 19: Humans 3, Zombies 1

Trudy searches the room and finds even more food!  Myron moves to the ladder to get down from the roof.  Charles fires at the zombie in the wood, and misses.  The zombie charges, and Charles kills him in melee.

Turn 19: Humans 2, Zombies 3

There are no zombies.  Trudy and the girls move into the back room, and face 2 Survivors, both male, a Rep 4 with an SMG, and a Rep 5 with a bolt-action rifle.  Trudy passes 1 more D6, so they join for the duration if the mission, but the mission is acheived, so they and the girl leave.

After the battle:  Trudy has gained her safe house, not to mention 3 supplies of food and a crossbow.  She has gained a gang member.  Myron advanced his Rep to 5, and gains the attribute Empathy. 

Keeping it together:  Trudy scored 6 successes.  Myron scored 3, and Charles scored none.  So everyone is fat and happy, and Trudy's group has increased to 3.

Paint jobs

Since I've been so remiss in updating my blog, I decided to upload a few pictures of some of my painted figures.  There's no rhyme or reason, just various figures I've taken photos of.

Here's a skimmer I made out of a toy cell phone from the Dollar Tree, inspired by the "Heart of Gold" episode of Firefly.

Some Nasty Hishen that I got from Two Hour Wargames, now available from Acheson.

RSM colonial British light infantry.

A Dixon western figure in front of Fiddler's Green store, enlarged from HO scale.

E. Johnson, Five-fingered Jake, a Grenadier car, and a 1/48 model of a Piper Super Cub, all used in my Cherry 2000 game at Bayou Wars.

And 15mm Kurgen (not-Mangalores) from Rebel Minis.  Lovely figures, and so easy to paint!

More on Brother in Arms

Chris Swearingen graciously assented to my use of his email to the Two Hour Wargames Yahoo group on my blog, so without further ado, here's his admittedly biased report!

Ken Hafer ran a great SCW scenario, with Italian Rep 3
troops on both sides!

The Fascists were atop a hill with tankette support
(oh, and a mortar)

Our loyal brave dedicated anarco/communist/freethinking
Italians had snazzy motorcycle infantry,
some stylish foot sloggers, and 2 heroic HMG teams.

The clever Motoguzzi troops drew the Tankettes out in
the middle, while our valiant infantry squads swept wide
to the right to outflank the Fascists.
The remaining motorcycle troops then started a sweep to the left
(most survived, as the Rep3 tankettes just kept making them
duck back)

The HMG teams finally set up behind a farm wall,

started laying down fire support on the tankettes,
and actually managed to knock 2 of them out!
(right after I finished putting together my new
Litko "Burning Wreckage" markers!)

The surviving tankette, with guns constantly running
out of ammo, twice tried to overrun our infantry
sweeping left, and both times our valiant comrades managed
to jam the tankettes treads with their otherwise useless
Rep3 bodies.

The squads on the right managed to completely outflank the
Fascist left, took out the mortar team,
captured wine and prisoners in the smaller building,
and laid down a withering volley of "pitiful shots"
to pin down the Fascist reserves in the main hacienda.

With the last tankette still immobilized by valiant motoguzzi volunteer Pedro, the remaining cycle troops stormed the hacienda and
finally downed the Fascist Tenente.

A great game and great fun!