Cromak Returns!

Yes, gentlefolk, Cromak has returned to the ring!  His latest bout is featured below.  Cromak's opponent is Niobe, a Hykarian female warrior with a two-handed axe, a Savvy of 4, Strength of 4, and a Speed of 5!  In addition to the warrior attributes, she has Guile! And she is a 6 pointer.

Cromak is a slow mover, so she will probably always move first, and win more Maneuvers.  Their weapons are equal, but her lesser Strength could tell in the long run.

Right off the bat Cromak moves from his gate to the heart of the arena, as does Niobe.  But then, Niobe, apparently afraid of Cromak's reputation, hesitates.
                                 

She hesitates again, drawing boos from the crowd, and abuse from Cromak!

Then Niobe slips past Cromak's guard, but is unable to strike home.

Her greater speed and agility keep the two of them bouncing back and forth, unable to connect with each other, until Niobe steps out of Cromak's way, and gives him a slight belly wound as he charges, and he goes down.

Elated, Niobe does a victory dance instead of charging in while Cromak is on the ground, and he regains his feet!  (NPG movement)  By this time, both Cromak and Niobe are out of bonus dice.

Cromak charges in and nearly severs Niobe's right arm, pushing her backing her back!

But even wounded, Niobe's speed and Guile make it very difficult for either to gain an advantage.  They go round and round, slashing and hacking, dodging and feinting to no effect.  But time is beginning to tell on Niobe as her life's blood reddens the sand!

Niobe knows there's no surrender and continues to fight, even as little sparkles outline her narrowing vision!  With desperate swings, she forces Cromak back to the wall, but cannot overcome his defense.

And suddenly, she collapses, robbing Cromak of a killing stroke, as her blood ceases to flow from her wound.

Cromak is the victor, but Niobe's vigor had kept him out of the center of the arena, and backed to the wall.  It is not a pretty, manly victory, as Cromak would have wanted, but he consoles himself with another point of Fame, his earnings, and his returns on his bets!  Little cost for a good return, but nothing to brag about over a mug of ale.  But the barmaid salves his cut on his belly, and he tries unsuccessfully to increase his speed with a Fame point.

Because the fighters were so evenly matched, there were many retakes, and the NPG table insured that Niobe would use her bonus dice quickly, though not quite as quickly as Cromak.  He now has a total of 8 Fame points, with 6 useable, having failed to increase his Speed twice.

We're goin' on a Lhurgg hunt, Oh, lookie...

It's been quite a while since I was able to do an AAR.  The nature of my job requires quick reaction on a phone call, so I didn't have a way to set up a game without upsetting the house, either using the dining table, or setting up a large table in the living room.  I went to Sam's Wholesale Club and got a 4' round folding table that I am able to set up in the computer room, and leave set up if I am called out.

So here we go.

Captain Gauche: "Lt. Newman, we need to get out to that farm and find out what the situation is.  Police Lt. Marn, a retired Star Army soldier, gave me to understand that there's been a Lhurgg attack in his jurisdiction.  Follow me so far?"

Lt. Newman: "Yessir!"

Captain Gauche sighs: "I need you to take a squad and do a recon of the area.  RECON!  I need to know what's out there so I can send appropriate force.  You'll hear that two women have been kidnapped by the Lhurgg.  You know what the Lhurgg do to women, but this is not a search and rescue.  I need info on the Lhurgg infestation.  We have to wipe them out!  You understand? RECON!"

Lt. Newman: "Yes Sir!"

Captain Gauche: "Take your support squad and a full squad.  Dismissed."

Captain Gauche puts his head in his hands, and mumbles to no one in particular: "That young jackass is going to get someone killed."

Lt. Newman is a Rep 4, as are the 3 squaddies who tag along with him.  The squad is lead by Sgt. Masters, Rep 5, with a Rep 4 assistant leader, and a Rep 4 squad.  Sgt Masters got rid of his sub-machine gun long ago, and packs the same assault rifle as the rest of the squad, as does the Lt.

The farm buildings have been burned down.  There are no remains, either human or Lhurgg, to be found.

The farm land is off the bottom of the table.  Badlands with some ruins that have never been investigated cover the area behind what used to be the farm.  There are 3 PEF's Reps 6, 4, and 3.

                                    

Turn 1:  PDF 2, PEF 1

The Lt. moves to the edge of the heavy undergrowth to the right of the farmhouse, and the Sgt. leads the squad to the left.  The PEF move as far toward the soldiers as the cover will allow.

Turn 2: PDF 4, PEF 6

The squad moves to the PEF's cover behind the farmhouse, revealing it to be breeze in the leaves.  The Lt. moves forward.  The PEF 4 moves towards the soldiers.  The PEF 3 can move no farther without exposing itself.

Turn 3: PDF 4, PEF 1

The squad is only able to make a half move due to going through the heavy undergrowth, but it allows them to reveal the PEF 3, off to their right, which also turns out to be nothing.  The Lt. moves forward. PEF 4 splits, and anew Rep 5 PEF is formed.

Turn 4:  PDF 2, PEF 3

The PEF's cling to their cover.  The Sgt.'s squad moves forward, and reveals the PEF 4 to be nothing, but the PEF 5 is a small Lhurgg herd, consisting of Rep 5 leader with a Rep 3 herd of 3, and a mutant Rep 2.  Since it is the human's activation, they take the In Sight Test and pass with flying colors, gunning down the entire herd, though one squaddie goes Our Of Ammo, all out of action under the hail of bullets.  Two are OOF, one OD, and the leader is KD, as is the mutant.  The Lhurgg are Hard as Nails, and so roll 3D6 on the Recover From Knock Down, the leader is merely stunned, but the mutant is OOF.

Turn 5:  PDF 3, PEF 2

There are no PEF's on the table.  The squad caps the prone Lhurgg, and the Lt. yells, "Let's save the women." and sends the squad up the left while he takes the right.

Nothing of any consequence happens on Turns 6 through 8, so I'll just add the pictures.

Turn 9:  PDF 5, PEF 4 (no PEF's)

The Sgt. is making better time than the Lt., who isn't too happy about it, so he gives the Sgt. hell.

And this breaks up the squads formation, since each figure rolls its own Fast Move.

Turn 10: PDF 2, PEF 4

The Sgt. slows down to regroup the squad, and the Lt. having seen all there is to see ahead, turns around and heads back down the board.

Turns 11 to 13 consist of more fruitless searching, with the result that the squad is back where it began, and the Lt. is in the heavy overgrowth to the right of the farmhouse.

Turn 14:  I CHEAT  PDF 5, PEF 2

Deus ex machina, another herd appears behind the Lt.  Rep 4 leader, Rep 4 herd, and Rep 3 mutant.  Following the NP Movement chart, half stay to shoot and the other half attempts to flank the Lt. on the right. Those who stood fire on the back of the Lt. and his group with no effect.

The left-most soldier is out gunned by the mutant's heavy machine gun, and goes to cover.  The rest turn and fire with better effect than the Lhurgg, taking out 2 of the firers.

                                     

In the ensuing firefight, one soldier goes down OOF.  But then the firefight dies down as no one standing has anyone to return fire to.

Turn 15: PDF 3, Lhurgg 4

The Lhurgg group flanking the Lt. charge, and due to the fearsomeness of the Lhurgg, the 3 soldiers get off a single shot each, all missing, and the Lhurgg charge home!  In this uneven contest, the soldiers go down OOF.

However, the squad under the Sgt. hasn't activated yet.  They come up behind the Lhurgg, and blast them very effectively, even though all can't fire.

The Lhurgg fail their Man Down test, and their Cohesion Test, and leave the board.  This was critical, since the Lhurgg would have chopped the downed soldiers into mincemeat, since they want to kill all downed male enemy.

Turn 16:  PDF 4, Lhurgg 3

Even had the squad not been able to save the downed soldiers last turn, their activating first this turn would have allowed them to attempt it before the Lhurgg could activate.  As it is, they move forward and cap all the OOF Lhurgg.  A subsequent search found the women, who had been hiding in the undergrowth nearby.  They then took the Captive Recovery Test, resulting in one recovering completely, and the other recovering physically, but incurably insane.  The only good thing about being captured by Lhurgg is that they do not intentionally kill females, but leave them behind when they move on.

Captain Gauche: "Well, Sgt. Masters, this didn't go exactly like I planned.  But at least we know the Lhurgg are moving around in the country.  Lt. Newman will not recover.  The enlisted men will.  Thanks for getting everyone back, oh, and rescuing the women. Now I'll have to write a letter, and find someone to replace him.  Have you considered officer's training, Sgt.?"

Sgt. Masters:  "Yessir, but I don't think its for me.  Pardon my saying, sir, but someone's gotta protect them from wet-behind-the-ears Lt.s"

Captain Gauche: "Hmmm. Dismissed."

The Lt. did not survive the after battle roll, but the 3 enlisted men did.

I cheated because the first encounter with the Lhurgg didn't give me a chance to use them at all.  They are a vicious and headstrong foe.  In the first encounter, I had no chance to use the Scent Of A Woman Test, and I forgot it in the second.  Oh well.   Two Hour Wargames will have the Lhurgg sheets up pretty soon.

The PDF figures are by Rebel Minis, the Lhurgg by Khurassan, and the two women, by Astro Miniatures.  Alack, I have no nude 15mm females.  Sigh.

Pathans!

My Ral Partha Pathan "army" has been suffering from a lack of bodies for a very long time, so when Al Maurer of Askari Miniatures http://www.askari-minis.com/ decided to get rid of some of his old treasures, Ral Partha Pathans that he had painted, when, like me, "I could paint them with unaided eyes".

There were 36 painted foot and 1 mounted for just a little more than buying unpainted figures from Great Endeavours http://www.greatendeavours.co.uk/colonials/rp_list.php where I get all my new Ral Parthas, I jumped on them!  Since I have 20 figures to a unit with 1 leader included, I ordered a pack of 10 Pathans firing rifles to add to them, and replace figures in existing units that have gone missing over the years.

Al's figures were mounted on 1/2" bases made of card, so I rebased them on 3/4" pennies and washers to match the rest of the army.  It was fun trying to match Al's paint jobs and mine from 25 years ago.

So, without further ado, here are the pictures of my 3 tribes.

Al's are the front two units in the beige outfits.  When I did these, I didn't realize that there was so little info on Pathan standards, so all my standards are completely fictional!

Al's unit front and center!  The blue that you see is because the moving trays (not bases!) are from the electrical box covers that I was put onto Al Reis when we we doing Soldier's Companion.  The reason I say "not bases" is because I run lots of convention games, and open order is a base apart, not a moving tray!

These are the oldest paint jobs, and reflect the Revision 1 The Sword And The Flame idea of identifying units with different colors.  I needed to add a single figure to each unit, and matching paint colors from 25 years ago is difficult.

These are the Bunnerals, often mentioned in Winston Churchill's "The Story Of The Malakand field Force".
You may notice that there is no cavalry, and probably won't be.  I have Al's mounted figure for the ubergrouppenfuhrer for the Pathans, and that's it.  I did have a gaudily painted mounted figure that seems to have gone missing.

These boys will give my Scotties and Indian troops a hard time, as they have already defeated the Indians alone in 2 convention games, without the 2 extra units!

Churchill says that the Pathans had a great fear of cavalry if they were caught in the open, and I'll have to incorporate that in my future Colonial Adventures games.

Thanks for looking, and I will attempt to do better in replying to your comments!

Buildings for The Governor's Daughter

The latest $3 for 2 scenarios included The Governor's Daughter, in which the player attempts to rescue her from pirates!  This inspired me to build a bunch of buildings that have been sitting around as a PDFs since 2006.  These are from Miniature Wargaming.
 http://www.miniaturewargaming.com/  Here's the direct link to them.
  http://www.miniaturewargaming.com/index.php/mwg/comments/bamboo_hut_paper_models/

They're pretty simple, with two pieces for the walls, and one for the roof.  However, they also have ruined walls that the unharmed building slips over.  A VERY tight fit.  That's why all mine have a base of black mat board underneath them; to aid in removing the ruined building from inside the complete one.  The ruined building has two pieces for the walls and one for the floor.  The walls fold over to give inside and outside details.

Here's all I built. (I realized later that The Governor's Daughter has 12 huts, not ll.)

The large hut is in the foreground.  They're pretty simple, as they should be, having a door, and a window in each side wall for the small hut, and a door, and two windows in the front and rear wall for the large hut.

This is the large hut from the front.  The only "accessory" is the red door hanging to glue over the tan one.  The figure is a Front Rank FIW British officer on campaign.  The building's footprint is about 4-1/2" x 3-3/8".

This is the small hut.  It's about 3-3/8" square.  As you can see, the door on the small hut is on the low wall and the door on the large hut is on the high wall.  The windows on the side wall of the small hut are like the ones on the large hut, but there is only one per side.  There are no openings on the rear of the small hut.

This is the ruined insert for the small building.  There is smoke damage starting at the floor and decreasing as it rises up the wall.

And here's an interior shot.  The windows and door could be cut out, but I don't know if I would recommend it, since the fit is so tight, and that would add to more fiddlieness!

If you choose to make these, here are a few tips that helped me.
 
When you make the ruined walls there is a gluing tab on both sides on the left end of the wall piece.  Remove one.  You can slip the still attached tab inside the other wall it you leave about 1/4" at the end unglued.

Fold and glue the ruined walls before cutting the irregular to edges.  You can never match them perfectly.

I put a bead of glue around the bottom of the inside of the walls, and then slipped the floor in from the top.  It's easier that way.

The small hut's ruined walls are a very tight fit.  I recommend that you glue a base with a tiny bit of an overhang to the bottom of the floor to keep from having to crush the inner walls slightly to slip them out.  The large hut has no such problem, and will slip in and out very easily.

So that's it.  It took me a little more than a day to finish all of these.  I printed them out Saturday evening, assembled one small and the large hut and their interiors.  Then on Sunday I assembled the rest with plenty of stops to rest my back, and a 3-hour visit from my Mom, and cut and glued the bases in about an hour on Monday.

Zombie Vixens!

...in which I give a realistic look at Wargames Factory's "new" zombie girls, know as Zombie Vixens!
http://wargamesfactory.com/webstore/dark-futures/zombie-vixens

One gripe I have heard in a couple of places is that they are Barbies.  I have a daughter, and 2 sisters, who have 3 daughters between, and one of the daughters has a daughter.  All have or had Barbies.  These figures ain't Barbies.  They are nowhere so developed, nor do they have ultra-tiny waists, incredibly long legs and gigantic heads.  They are all pretty well formed females.

First, let me explain how my zombies are painted.  They are primed in the cheapest grey primer I can get. They get skin painted in Reaper Pro Paint Ghoul grey.  Any exposed bones and teeth are painted in Ceramcoat Ivory.  Clothes are block painted.  Then they are washed with undiluted Windsor Newton Nut Brown ink.  When dry, the eyes are painted a soft yellow. They are dull-coated because the ink is shiny. I have over 100 zombies, and that's how they are all painted.

Why?  Zombies could be replaced in any game with coins, markers, what have you.  They are the mindless enemy; they are all the same, and want only one thing: to tear apart living humans apart, and Braaaiinns!

Now, on to pictures of the creatures themselves.

Here are the first six from the front.  We have the torso (and this head resembles Andrea from The Walking Dead) Suzy Homemaker, the cheerleader, the party girl, the executive, and the waitress.

And from the rear.
And more girls.

Here we have the bridesmaid, the surfer, the crawler, the crawler upright, the slip girl, and the jogger.

The crawler and the crawler upright are the same torso.
And here's the last torso, the one-footed girl.

Now you get 12 torsos per sprue, more heads than you can use, and lots of arms, and partial arms.

What do I like about these figures?  First, of course, the price.  They are well cast, and designed.  You can do a bit of difference by changing the arms and heads, like the following 2 photos.

Their poses are quite dynamic, and the faces are really good.  They come with 10 25mm bases per sprue, so you have to choose who you want to use.  They are not slotted bases.  You glue the feet to the base.  Patience.  The arms are quite thin.  I don't know how they will stand up to hard use.  Some of the arms and torsos and tiny joining areas.  There are a couple of purses (both the same) and 2 arms with shopping bags, and 2 with briefcases.

What don't I like about these figures?  The poses are so dynamic that it is difficult to make 3 figures different enough.  Since the minimum offer is 3 sprues, it could lead to problems.The evening dressed girl can only be a bridesmaid.  Why else would 3 girls be wearing the same strapless gown (lots of fun to watch catching the bouquet!).  By the by, that's why mine have that unflattering color of gown  The girl in the suit has limited applicable arms.

The surfer can be done as a girl in panties and bra; just don't use the arm with the floatie attached.  I would have preferred to have them made like the male zombies that were released a while back; with separate torsos and lower trunks.  I don't like the large bases, necessitated by the wide stance.  I have to use expensive Litko flexible steel bases to add them to my magnetic bases (all of my zombies are mounted on 3/4" washers).

So, overall, what do I think?  They are a good bargain at the price, but limited in their application.  Because I have so many zombies, I can disperse them in the crowd, so their sameness won't be apparent.  And with the same dress, different arms and heads, the bridesmaids can hunt like a pack!

...And a skirmish building!

I play mostly skirmish games, and it occured to me that the rectangular buildings I've been making don't have any nooks and crannies to give cover or concealment.  I mean, you can hide behind a rectangular building and shoot around the corner, but you can't advance from cover to cover.

I was getting gas in Conroe, TX, a few weeks ago, and saw a small office building that gave me an inspiration.

So I delved into Model Builder and came up with a building with a few extra angles.  This was done completely in Model Builder, and any evident mistakes are the fault of this arcitech.

It's a bit larger than I intended, having a footprint of 11" x 9".  It's made of  110 lb (199 g/m) index card, laid over black foamcore.  Black foamcore is much less likely to gouge out at the edges than white foamcore.

Here's an overall shot with a Star Wars miniature for scale (28mm)

The roof is just a piece of flat foamcore with a metal pattern on the top.  The ends are sandwiches of card and foamcore.  The entry overhangs were designed in Model Builder, and wanting to save ink (fool!) I made white squares where the overhangs were to be glued to the front of the building.

Here's a shot from a little higher angle showing the roof.  The ground is a speckled matt board that my wife found, and keeps concrete from being totally boring.

Look!  A little protection from incoming fire!

And around back, the cheap manufacturing of the building becomes apparent.  That's either an elevator shaft or an emergency staircase, and gives yet another bit of cover to shoot around.

And the roof has some cover, thanks to the elevated ends and the elevator shaft.

The interior is spartan, basically the bottom floor has just enough to hold up the second floor, and the second floor has a notch to indicate stairs, and an "X" of foamcore walls in the center to give you a lifting handle.  The roof just lays on the top of the building.

It's a little bit bigger than I intended, and the rush job is a bit apparent, but I plan on doing more buildings with nooks and crannies.  Sure, the rectangular buildings are fast and give cover.  But you just can't sneak up along the 8" rear of a flush wall!

As always, click on the pictures for larger shots, so you can see my mistakes better, and not repeat them yourselves.

Hey, it's been a long time!

Well, It's been way too long since a post, but that's been because of long days, lots of rain, and having a cold.  Enough excuses?

All I have to show are a few painted figures.  I finally finished my 42 Gunga Din highlanders.  21 were finished a while ago, and I just up and finished the rest so they could get off my painting table.  I added a piper who has no use whatsoever in the game, but hey!  The Gunga Din is one I painted a while back.  All figures are Ral Partha.

I also have a creature that I bought on sale from FRPGames.  It was called "Nightmare Beast", and reminded me of a poem I wrote during my college days that got published in the UNO yearly poetry book.  The poem was written to make fun of a friend who always had doom and gloom poems.I added male genatalia, because he just didn't seem nasty enough.  It's an Elmore Masterworks "Nightmare Beast"
http://www.frpgames.com/cart.php?m=product_detail&p=44912

Nest is a Chronoscope mechanic who I painted up sweaty and dirty.  I have the same figure to paint to use the assault gun that also came in the pack.

And lastly, a Pinnacle figure that I converted, adding his rifle, for a Deadlands game for my character, also a while back.

Currently I am working on a group of nude and semi-nude figures, NWS, that I hope to finish soon.  Unfortunately, having time to paint or play means work is slow, which it will be with the upcoming holidays.