Five Parsecs from Home: Mission 5 - The Monorail Ambush

    Capt. Alistair, Zorina, and Doc maneuver through the wintry woods to spot their ambushers

As the crew of the Inconceivable rode back from Dichelles' capital to the spaceport on the warm, comfortable monorail, they teased new member Seon Vogalia about his celebrity status. Many news services on the planet had picked up the story about the "Man Rescued from his 20-Year Sleep" in his escape pod. He had even been interviewed by one of the stations, reflecting back on what he remembered of the icy planet before departing on his fateful mission two decades ago. All this new-found publicity for his rescuers, the Inconceivable crew, made Gunny a little nervous, though.

"Relax, Gunny," Capt. Alistair said. "It will make scaring up clues about the lost treasure easier with Seon being famous. Now everyone who remembers anything will be talking about how that ship, too, departed Dichelles 20 years ago before disappearing. The captain seemed animated, now that the quest for the treasure was officially underway. 

    The surface of the icy planet of Dichelles -- where the Inconceivable crew's quest has taken them

"What if some people made those ships disappear?" Gunny asked. "And what if those same people are still around? And let's say they're still here on this iceball and don't want us searching for it." Gunny folded his arms. "All I am saying is it puts a big target on our backs, captain." The rest of the crew grew quiet, looking from one of the old friends to another. Finally, Alistair chuckled.

"You know, if B61 were here, he would say that the trail we are following has...ahem, grown cold here on Dichelles." Several of the other crewmen laughed, knowing the Security Bot's fervent efforts to understand and utilize human humor. They'd left SAS B61 back at the ship to watch over things while the rest of the crew explored the capital city of icy Dichelles. Gunny finally sighed and shook his head.

"Well, I understand a cold trail, but B61 also wouldn't want things to get too...hot, right?" He paused, letting his friends have a laugh. "That's why we brought along these duffel bags, isn't it?" Gunny patted his duffel that contained his rifle. Similar bags were carried by most of the other crew members, containing their weapons and ammunition. If the authorities questioned them, they figured they could always produce the official letter from the Varxian Foreign Service warning them that a terror group from their planet was tracking them and planning an attack. "Speaking of which, I am a tad worried we are the only passengers on this monorail. Shouldn't there be more people headed to the spaceport? People looking to get off this icy rock? Or workers headed to their jobs?"

All the crew fell silent at that, glancing around the interior of the monorail, then outside at the snow-covered trees and rocks rushing by. The dim orange sun was setting, and it would be dark in about an hour or so. The crew had taken this departure because they wanted to get back to their ship before nightfall. Riding a shuttle around the sprawling spaceport to the Inconceivable in the dark seemed like a bad idea after what had happened in their last mission. 

    The battlefield for the monorail ambush -- the smoke and flames marking the wreckage of the vehicle

"What the...?" Gunny barked, pointing at a trail of sparks arcing towards the monorail from a patch of woods. "Everybody down! Brace yourselves!" A muffled explosion sounded ahead, then the piercing screech of metal on metal. The monorail tilted to the left, paused, and then rolled over on its side with a loud bang that seemed to go on and on. The left side of the monorail was now the floor, and its thick plexiglass windows shattered. Intense cold, snow, and debris rushed into the compartment. The lights flickered and went out. The passengers were tossed around despite their best efforts to brace themselves or hold onto something. The slide seemed to go on for minutes, but eventually the monorail car ground to a halt.

Blue light filtered into the car from the right-hand windows, above. Snow and debris covered the inside as the passengers began to check themselves for injuries. And then another noise began. Metallic pinging along the monorail's undercarriage began slowly, then picked up in intensity. The pings coincided with loud popping noises from outside. "That's gunfire" Gunny shouted. "Everybody up and out! Grab your bags, we're under attack!"

    Cephvarx Hul and Seon Vogalia were trapped in the monorail wreckage for the first 2 turns

Four of the six staggered out onto the snow and ice, emerging from the wreck of the monorail. The saw a snow-covered area of forest and rocky outcrops. Bright sparks of automatic weapon fire flashed in the distance like sparks before their dazed vision. Alistair looked around and saw Doc and Zorina nearby and yelled to them. "Into the woods - take cover!" Further down, obscured in the smoke, Gunny waited for a gust to temporarily clear his view. He saw the captain and two other crew running for the woods on his right. Good, he thought. To his left, he saw a small, rocky outcrop. When the smoke began to obscure his view of the distant woods, he marked the spot in his memory.  "Now!" he thought to himself, and sprinted for the rocks. He emerged from the smoke and behind the outcrop too quickly for the distant attackers to get off a shot. 

    Alistair leads Zorina and Doc into the closest woods, and then begin to fan out towards the far edges

Gunny crouched behind the rocks and shouted back towards the monorail. "Cephvarx! Seon! You need help?" He heard both call back, saying they were okay. It was just taking them longer to clear the debris off of them and get out of the monorail's wreckage. Gunny nodded, and squatted down to remove his rifle and ammo from his bag. He inspected it to make sure it was undamaged, loaded, and good to go. Crawling up on the rocks, he sighted through his scope at the largest patch of distant woods. Three muzzle flashes, and the sound of more shooting blocked by a nearer woods to his left. Sounded like one more rifle. A whistle and trail of sparks arced from behind the woods and then slammed into the woods the captain and other crew had disappeared into. Five attackers total, it seemed. "Well," he whispered, "now, time for a little payback..."

   Former Galactic marine Gunny directs his crewmates to fight back against the surprise attack

He sighted through the scope, making out the glint of bronze-colored armor coming from where the muzzle flashes were originating. Breathing slowly in and out, he made out the shadowy form of one of the ambushers. Deep breath, exhale half of it, s-q-u-e-e-z-e the trigger. BANG! One attacker fell to the forest floor, unmoving. "One down," Gunny called out over the communicator to Alistair. He sighted again and fired a second time. He saw another attacker flinch and hit the dirt. "Damn! Close..." Meanwhile, he could hear from Alistair's communicator the sound of the captain dashing through the woods, snapping twigs. The captain informed him the group was fanning out through the woods to get to the edge, Alistair would be closest on the left, Zorina in center and point, and Doc on the right. "Good," Gunny called. "If you're in range, just hunker down and fire. We can outshoot these guys. If Zorina is out of range, there is cover just outside the woods she can make it to and be able to fire her beam pistol."

    Ambushers in two groups - 3 riflemen in the trees to the left and a rifleman & grenadier in the rocks

Gunny continued to curse as he aimed and missed again. Meanwhile, on the other side of the battlefield, the attacker with the grenade launcher realized his predicament. "Blast," he called to his companion, "they have a sniper!" What's more, the three who had hightailed it to the woods were out of their sight, now. He and his companion had no targets from their position in the rocky outcrop. "Let's go -- to the trees straight ahead! Stay out of sight until we have an angle on the woods those guys are hiding in. Don't get in view of the sniper, yet -- we'll save him for last!" The two, wearing the bronze-colored armor of the Dichelles Colonial Defense forces, broke cover and darted for the trees. Snow flew as they crouched and ran forward, then angling to their left, once under the branches. Gunfire continued to echo. "Hurry," he shouted to his companion. "At least one of our guys is down!"

    Gunny's first shot takes down an attacker, who appear to be part of Dichelles colonial defense forces

Meanwhile, both Alistair and Doc had entered the gun battle with the two remaining attackers in the woods. Since Gunny's first kill, no one had scored a hit as everyone hugged the cover of the ground and sheltered behind tree trunks. Zorina's voice broke in on the communicator. "I'm at the edge and still out of range. I'm going to dash for the rocks to the front of me -- I will be in range, then. Cover me, please..." 

    The grenadier and rifleman in the rocks realize they have no shots and begin to move up

Gunny called out, "You got this, girl -- this is what you've been training for. Close down the range and show them what you got!" The Valkeeri darted forward, difficult to pinpoint with her shimmer cloak mimicking the snow and trees to observers. She heard her companions firing to keep the enemy's heads down and sprinted toward the rocks. She heard the snap of rounds missing her, then ducked down as she reached the rocks. She took a few quick breaths, hefted her beam pistol to her eyes and slowly raised up along the rocks. The first muzzle flash drew her attention. She could see the glint of bronze against the dark green of forest. She aimed, breathed as Gunny had taught her, and pressed the trigger. A brilliant red bolt leapt from the barrel of her gun, clearly illuminating the shocked attacker as it took him in the chest. He screamed in pain and pitched backward, unmoving. "YES!" Zorina crouched back down and pumped her fist as retaliatory shots ricocheted off the rocks all around her.

    'Shimmer suit' reflecting the terrain around her, Zorina prepares to dash to engage the enemy

"Good shot, girl!" Gunny called. The loud report of the former Galactic marine's rifle echoed through the trees. "Three down," he called. "All that's left is the two, I think, who were out of my sight. I haven't heard any firing from them, so they're probably moving to get a shot."

    Unaware they would soon be all that's left of their squad, the grenadier & riflemen move to get a shot

"Seon and I are here, now -- sorry it took us so long!" Cephvarx called over the intercom in his heavily accented voice. "We see you, Gunny. Where do you need us?" Gunny told them to double time to the large woods to his left and directly towards their front. There were probably two of their attackers making their way through those woods, now. He admonished them to be ready for close range fighting. "My pleasure," Cephvarx called. Gunny smiled. It was the right move to switch positions with the Varx warrior and make him the close-in assault element. He knew he wouldn't want to face an angry Varx in hand to hand!

    Finally free of the wreckage, Seon and Cephvarx Hul race to join the fight

Alistair's colony rifle rang out. "Make that just one left, Gunny." The captain watched the man rolling in the snow, clutching his side, then slowing and becoming still. The pilot shook his head. Had Gunny been right back in the monorail? Were these Dichelles soldiers attacking them to shut them up? Stop their questioning about events from 20 years ago? His musing was interrupted by a pop. He looked up and saw a trail of sparks headed his way. He threw himself flat just as the forest exploded around him. His ears rang and then went silent - he couldn't hear anything! All of his exposed flesh felt afire, like he'd been riddled with splinters from the wood...or worse? Shrapnel from the grenade? He lay in the snow, waiting for his hearing to return and the shock of the explosion to wear off. 

    The two ambushers open up on the crew of the Inconceivable from their new vantage point

"Alistair! That looked on target - you okay?" Gunny called. The captain heard nothing, though. Meanwhile, Cephvarx put on a burst of speed, ducking beneath larger branches and smashing through thinner ones. When the captain didn't reply to Gunny, the Varx pumped his legs even faster. Alistair also didn't hear the shout from Zorina as she broke from cover and dashed toward the grenadier. A red beam lashed out, bringing flames to woods, but missing the attacker. The grenadier reloaded and fired towards the Valkeeri woman, but fooled by the shimmer cloak, fired long, missing her. He reloaded and then looked up as he heard the crashing through the woods drawing nearer. Too late, he saw the Varx warrior barreling down on him.

    The grenadier's first shot fells Capt. Alistair, who falls to the ground stunned and deafened

Cephvarx bounded through the trees, boarding saber in hand. He swung. The grenadier blocked the first blow with his weapon, but the Varx was too quick for him. The second backhand slash caught him across the waist. He cried out and fell. Cephvarx stepped forward, placing a foot on the soldier's shoulder, pinning him to the forest floor. The boarding saber's point hovered inches from the man's nose. "You are now my prisoner, though honor suggests I should kill you for what you did to my comrade." The grenadier gasped in pain, eyes alternating between closing against the tears and staring cross-eyed at the sharpened point. He nodded. "Good. My friends are going to ask you some questions after we stop your bleeding. If you don't answer, we will rip off the bandages and watch you bleed to death. Understand?" The man nodded again, and sagged back against the ground, gasping at the pain. "Seon? Come here. I need you to bandage my prisoner."

    The fearsome Cephvarx Hul charging through the woods to engage the grenadier in melee

"Yeah -- just a second. I found something really interesting...be right there!" As the Varx warrior waited for their new crew member to jog up, he heard Gunny call out on the communicator that Alistair was alive -- just stunned and temporarily deafened by the close range blast. Varx smiled -- a horrific sight to the man beneath him. The alien decided to keep that information from the prisoner. Let him think he'd killed one of them...

    Even Galactic marine Gunny would think twice about fighting Cephvarx in hand to hand combat!

As I was starting to roll up this encounter, I was worried it would be another walk over. Then I got to the enemy's weapons. With their military rifles and "shell gun", aka grenade launcher, they would actually outrange us. I set up the terrain first, then rolled to see which side each of us would deploy on. I was trying my best to give the colonial militia the best chance possible. I deployed them in two groups, like it dictated, one group of three with rifles at the edge of the woods where they would be in range of us from the outset. My three characters with Colonial rifles would need to advance to get within range. I was tempted to put the Shell Gun with them, but figured Gunny would target him first. So, I placed him and another rifleman in a rocky outcrop so he would be in range (30"), but Gunny would likely be out (24"). Gunny's rocky outcrop and the grenadier's terrain were j-u-s-t out of line of sight of each other, which I did not notice until the first round of firing. I rationalized the grenadier would redeploy after he saw Gunny snipe the first of the soldiers in the trees. 

    Seon Vogalia finds a peculiar item on the forest floor - "What's this...?"

 

The grenadier KO'd Alistair with his first shot. I misunderstood the rules and thought either Doc or Gunny, who I listed carrying the crew's two stim-packs, would have to run over and administer them. The rules author clarified that the figure must use it on themselves immediately when they "become" a casualty. However, you don't have to guess who might get shot. Five Parsecs lets consumables like stim-packs, which change casualty status to "stunned," are considered in a Stash, accessible to all anytime they're needed. It reminds of a game I played long ago with a rule called, "Who's Got the Grenade?" The rules said you kept track of a squad's grenades rather than individual figures. It rationalized, in somewhat Hollywood tradition, that whoever needed it would just happen to be the one carrying it. So, after thinking Alistair might be dead, he ended up being saved. Good thing! The Inconceivable is his ship and they are his crew, after all!

Post-battle, I rolled that the next encounter is the final one for this quest. So, I'll have to do some quick finagling to explain what happened to the lost gold of Amazonas Galacticus...! Stay tuned to discover the answer to the mystery!

Miniature Painting & Purchasing Tally for 2024

• Miniatures acquired in 2024: 226
  
• Miniatures painted in 2024: 214 

New Batch of Sci-Fi Figs - Criminal Syndicate?

    Six new Sci-Fi minis from a variety of sources intended for my upcoming Star Wars skirmishes

In my upcoming Sci-Fi skirmish games, I plan to have my players take on the role of various factions in the Star Wars universe. I recently painted my Imperial Stormtroopers, and have plenty of miniatures I can use as either "Corporate Security" or "Mercenaries." However, nothing I have painted up jumps out at me as usable for a "Criminal Syndicate." for this faction, I'm envisioning a half dozen or so individuals with no uniforms, similar armament, or even race. So, I dug through my unpainted miniatures and found a half dozen that I thought might fit.

    Closeup of the riding beast of one of the Wiley Games resin miniatures, 'Rall'

Three of them are from Wiley Games resin miniatures line -- Lord Ordus, Slugrr, and Rall. One of the others was a freebie convention figure from Badger Games -- a very cool looking alien with an elongated head and three-toe, claw-like feet. The other two were also freebie convention figs, but "Pig-man" miniatures from my Cincycon attendance through the years. I think one is supposed to be a superhero Iron Man type, while the other is a 40K-ish pig-man in heavy armor. In the end, there's a chance some of these may end up being used for other factions or even not at all. Still, I want my players to have some variety to select from.

    This Wiley Games fig is very 'Dark Side of the Force' looking to me, and is one of my favorites

One of my favorite figures in this batch of six is the Lord Ordus from Wiley Games. I will probably kidnap him for the Empire, though, as he definitely has the air of the Dark Side about him. His opaque metallic mask, bright green bolts of energy building up in his hands, and dramatic cloak seems to just say "evil" to me. I painted him in suitably sinister colors. I gave him a dark red cloak with orange and yellow trim and decorations. His body suit underneath the robes is a dark, cherry brown. I painted his helmet the darkest metallic I had -- Iron Wind Metals Steel -- with dark metallic red trim. I'm not sure what the apparatus protruding from his back is supposed to be, but I painted it in sinister steel and bronze to match the rest of the figure. As I mentioned, Lord Ordus may end up being a leader for the Empire instead of a criminal, but we shall see...!

    At first I didn't like this 'Jabba the Hut' looking figure, but now I'm happy with how he turned out

Slugrr is an unusual, snail-like alien. The lower half of his body has a very "Jabba the Hut" slimey snail look about it. I painted his flesh a salmon color with pink highlighting. He had more equipment festooned onto him than any of the other miniatures. So, I decided to go with a desert military palette with khaki, tan, and olive drab. I like how Slugrr turned out, though I admit that after I bought him I was thinking to myself, "I will never paint this figure up...!" The pictures on their website don't show the lower half of the body (the snail or slug part). I honestly don't know what the rectangular boxlike thing slung over his shoulder is supposed to be. Maybe some sort of rocket or missile launcher? The four holes in the top look like exit ports for projectiles or missiles. All in all, I think he'll make a suitably...should I say it? Slimy character for the criminal syndicate!

    Too big to be a player character in a skirmish game? Maybe...but still a neat miniature

Rall is one I may never actually use a character for a player. Instead, he may simply be placed on the board as "eye candy." Doesn't just about every Star Wars film have some grotesque creature being ridden through the streets? This boar-like riding beast certainly fits the bill. Its heavy flaps of skin, horns and tusks protruding, and tiny piglike eyes fit the Star Wars creature look, I think. The alien riding him also looks sinister. His goblin-like pointed ears and bizarre goat-like legs make the opposite of "warm and cuddly." No Ewoks here! One of the things I regularly struggle with for my Sci-Fi games is deciding what color to make the skins for the aliens. I want them to be distinctive from each other -- not all green, blue, or whatever. Thus, Rall's almost "Avatar" blue skin, Slugrr's salmon, my Five Parsecs character Cephvarx Hul's lavendar, and the Valkeeri green. I really like how Rall's blue skin turned out, accentuating his goblin features, but not making him look like he is a fantasy character that wandered onto the wrong movie set! Anyway, this is a great model, if very large and somewhat impractical to use as character in a Sci-Fi skirmish. Hmm...if I'm kidnapping Lord Ordus for the Empire and jettisoning Rall to be simply an "eye candy" extra, that leaves me with only four figs from this batch to use as the syndicate. I may have to draft my Five Parsecs crew for criminals after all! 

    Quiddo is a freebie convention fig from Badger Games -- I really like his color scheme & alien look

The Badger Games alien figure (nicknamed 'Quiddo') is very nice, and I'm glad I finally got a chance to paint it up. I really don't remember which convention I was attending when I received the figure. It is a Sci-Fi figure, so I can't imagine it was Historicon. However, that's the only place I tend to see Badger Games have a booth. Anyway, I chose to paint the alien's skin reddish brown and dry brush it Middle East Flesh from Howard Hues. I decided to paint his jumpsuit light blue, then figured it might be cool to use my Turquoise Metallic Paint for the reinforced metal portions. I really like how the color combination worked out and will have to remember that pairing. There were some trim pieces done in various other colors, but all in all, I like how this alien trooper looks. I have to come up with a name for him, otherwise my friends will give him something like "Moe" or "Darrel"...!

    Foxhurst was a Cincycon freebie fig that I modified with a laser pistol and chest gem

The final two figures that were part of this batch were freebie figures I picked up at Cincycon. Some of the Cincinnati group that hosts the convention were (or are still?) part of Ral Partha Miniatures. So, they know sculptors who each year design a new pig-man figure for them. The pig has been the emblem of Cincycon, through the years, so why not a pig-man miniature as a freebie? This is quite possibly the first two pig-men that I have painted up from all those years of freebies, though! I believe the first one is supposed to be an Iron Man style, superhero pig-man. His armor looks very futuristic, of course. It is very cleanly cast with great definition. You can see where each piece connects to its neighbor and was a snap to paint up. I did the entire figure in Iron Wind Metals Steel, then painted each piece metallic Chocolate Brown. I left the seams between the pieces Steel, though. Next, I added a bright gold highlight to each piece of armor. Once I put the black wash over it all, the blending of the three metallic colors looked great, I feel. I ended up going with a yellowish-tan skin color for his head (the only place you can see the skin). I gave him green eyes, black gloves, and once I was completely done flocking and sealing it, I glued on the yellow craft store gem onto his chest armor. One other modification to the figure was I added a laser pistol in his hand from one of my Stargrave sets. 

    'Trooper Rimlee' is a very 40K looking freebie figure from Cincycon who finally got painted up

The final pig-man is probably my least favorite figure of the batch. He was easy to paint up in his 40K-ish armor. I gave him a base of Iron Wind Metals steel and highlights of bright bronze. I think one reason I don't like him much is because I have never caught that 40K Imperial Space Marine bug. Too much like Mechs, maybe -- ha, ha! Anyway, he will definitely work for a heavily armored bad guy for the criminal syndicate. I guess I need to name him, otherwise he'll become "Trunk Monkey" or something like that...!

Final look at this batch of 6 Sci-Fi figs that puts me 12 away from evening up my Painted vs. Acquired

With the criminal syndicate completed, there's only one faction left to paint. The Rebels! Can't have a rebellion with the rebels, right? This morning, I took six figures from the Stargrave Crew and Crew II boxes and assembled them. They were primed this evening, and they'll be the next batch of figures I paint up. Stay tuned to see how they turn out!

Miniature Painting & Purchasing Tally for 2024

• Miniatures acquired in 2024: 226
  
• Miniatures painted in 2024: 214

Scavenging Among the City Blocks - Post-Apoc Scenario

 

    From left, Allen, Mike W, and Keith check out Mike S's ruined city block terrain

It had been since April that I'd run a game in my post-apocalyptic campaign using Wiley Games rules. My friend Mike S has been working hard on terrain for his own "Fallout" style games and was wondering if he could use his terrain for a scenario. All I would have to do is GM it -- he'd bring the terrain and set up his tabletop at our usual meeting place at Mike W's "Brewpub" basement. I knew it'd been too long since a game, so said, "Sure!"

    Allen's 'Followers of the Dark Prophet' move into the ruined shell of a building nearest them

Mike's terrain is mostly downtown city blocks buildings. All of them were fairly tall with several (or more) partially destroyed floors. Obviously, lots of work went into creating these. Some of the details are very surprising -- gargoyles on the outside of buildings, wires protruding from wrecked walls, and more. I'm not sure how many of them are "in progress" or if some or all are completely done. It was an impressive layout, for sure. Personally, I would have dirtied them up more with rubble, black-washing on the walls, and ageing the wood pieces showing. But then again, I probably never would have gotten SO much assembled like he has!

    With heavy cover and many windows to shoot from, each city block building was like a fortress

I was a bit worried how "fortress-like" Mike's layout was. My guess was it might minimize interactions between the five survivor gangs investigating the downtown. Mike placed a LOT of objective markers -- more than I usually do. I wanted to give him as much control over the scenario as possible, though, so said nothing. Once the game began, most of the factions advanced into a ruined building, climbing between the partially collapsed floors, and scavenging supplies. My guess turned out to be correct. There were only four gun battles that took place between the factions (plus four additional ones seeing factions firing on investigating Scout or Sentry Bots and the denizens of the "citadel." Mike had a very large building that looked like it began as a Gothic Warhammer piece of terrain. He crafted it onto a post-apocalyptic shell of a building, with ruined and crumbling walls. He said he didn't have a preference what was inside the citadel and told me to put in there whatever I want inside.

    Keith (in green) moves one of his miniatures while Mike S to his left enjoys the look of his tabletop!

I decided to make this even more of a joint scenario design. I extended an invitation to our friend Keith to come up with the bad guys or monsters that would be in the citadel. I asked him if he had any figures he'd been wanting to play with but hadn't had a chance to get on the table yet. He said he did, and sent me a link to his Orca Finn's Basement blog and pointed out the post-apoc denizens he wanted to use. I created cards for them and printed them off so they'd be ready if anyone investigated the citadel. I even offered bonus Renown Points to any faction that went inside. I didn't want to tease Keith and promise him his figs would get in a game and not have it happen!

    F Troop's Pvt. Hippie searches an objective marker (suitcase with pom pom) - the goal of the players

With five players on a 6'x4' table, I had two each deploy on the long edges, nobody on the citadel's short edge, and one on the opposite edge from it. They had to deploy all four of their survivors within a foot of the spot I indicated. I gave them extra deployment depth because I wanted to push them forward in the hopes of getting more interaction. Mike W's Bass Reeves deployed on the short edge opposite the Citadel. He groused a bit that there weren't as many objective markers near him compared to the others, likely a valid complaint. Nevertheless, his four figures advanced directly towards the building closest to their zone and began to scale it to reach the objective markers. Mike S had placed most on the upper floors. So, before the game, I asked the players how they wanted to handle scaling the interior of these buildings as there were no stairwells modeled. We came up with a system which was probably very generous. Keith likened his Nightstalker's ascent to"a group of Chinese acrobats." 

    Cpl. Killer climbs onto the roof of the citadel - modified Warhammer (?) building he incorporated

To the Bass Reeves' right, Allen's Followers of the Dark Prophet similarly moved into a city block building. They began to ascend to the second and third floors, where several markers were scattered. To his right, his brother Joel marched his F Troop forward, climbing the Citadel's roof, as well as moving alongside the building the Followers were exploring. Across from him, Mike S's Bucknuts entered the building to their front or moved down the street alongside it. We tease Mike S for his invariably aggressive play, and true to form, he fired the game's first shots. His leader Coop (yep, same figure from the Zombie RV games) squeezed off a shot at Pvt. Killer of F Troop, immediately knocking him out of action. Next, Coop fired through the opposite building's ruins and picked off Allen's Yeshua, who fell three stories to the ground, unmoving. Yep - same Mike, aggressive as ever!

    Two Bucknuts - Earle & Wrich - investigate a rubble pile in the lobby of a ruined building

Coop got his comeuppance immediately after, though, as another F Trooper climbed onto the roof and blasted away with his assault rifle. Coop toppled to the ground, wounded. The next thing to happen shows the advantage of playing a campaign over a one-off battle. Rather than firing at the shooter, Coop's compatriot Jackie dragged her wounded leader inside the building and out of line of fire. Mike knew that Coop was his team's best weapon and didn't want to lose him to a poor post-battle roll if he was knocked out of action. However, the two out of action figures meant the threshold had been reached for the Machines to be drawn by the sound of firing. In my version of the world of "Terminator," each 10% of out of action players draws a chance for the arrival of a Scout Bot. Because I was afraid the action would be limited by the terrain, with each city block a mini-fortress, I had increased the chance by an extra 10%. Sure enough, a Scout Bot rolled onto the map between Keith's Nightstalkers and Mike W's Bass Reeves.

   Scout Bot rolls onto the table drawn by the sounds of gunfire and dispatched by 'Skynet' to investigate

Seeing no Nightstalkers, it rolled in the direction of three of the Bass Reeves sheltering behind a burnt out car. Mike seemed unconcerned and was instead focused on payback against Allen's Followers of the Dark Prophet. Allen had knocked out one of the Bass Reeves last game, as well as a member of F Troop. He would pay for it as Mike sent nearly his entire force to pick off Napthali, who was actually on an errand of mercy. He'd jumped down from the second floor of the ruined building to check on Yeshua, and then carry him off-table. I give a bonus to the post-battle roll if an out of action character has been carried off the board by his comrades. Three members of the Bass Reeves squeezed off shot after shot at the black-robed survivor. He fell to the ground wounded, and then was shot again, while he lay there. Mike was relentless, though, and kept firing until Napthali had accumulated three wounds which takes a character out of action. In fact, that may be the very first time a player was taken out in one of our games because it reached its wound limit of three! Usually, a fortunate roll on the wounding table knocks them out, instead.

    Joel, Allen, Mike W, Keith, and Mike S enjoy the chance to get their survivor gangs out onto the table

This brought another Scout Bot onto the table. It ended up by Mike S's Bucknuts -- probably not a good place as his band is loaded with particularly lethal shooters. Sure enough, it was blasted several times before finally being knocked out of action. Shortly thereafter, a replacement came on board, though. This time it was a Sentry Bot clomping its metallic heavy feet in the path of the Scout Bot that was engaging the Bass Reeves. The Scout Bot had closed to within range of Big Bass and began thumping away at the concrete wall with its machine gun. The cover and the shock hit inflicted on the Scout Bot kept Big Bass safe, even though the machine missed by only one several times. Once Big Bass's men had finished off Napthali, they scrambled to the windows and doorway of the building and added their gunfire to the battle. Scout Bots were originally designed to by humanity to patrol vehicular traffic -- not intervene against heavily armed survivors. The three vs. one gunfight could end only one way with the bot knocked over, its wheel spinning as it sparked and smoked.

    Mike W's 'Bass Reeves' stalk across the streets on a mission to exact revenge on Allen's gang!

Downed bots are another source of scavenge in my games. Players can snag ammunition, valuable circuitry, and even guns from the disabled machines. Both Mike S and Mike W pounced on the bots they'd knocked out of action and quickly salvaged some parts and pieces to take back to their encampment. The Nightstalkers soon engaged the Sentry Bot as it clomped ever nearer to their location. The Sentry Bot, also only lightly armored, met no better fate. The combined gunfire of two Nightstalkers sent it crashing to the ground. Specialist Cypher of the Nightstalkers whipped out his toolkit and pounced on it. He had soon removed a valuable hunk of machinery and his gang members nodded at each other and took that as a cue to depart. The next bot to arrive, likely a Military Bot, would be much more difficult to defeat. They decided it was best to get out of the ruined city center while the getting was good!

    Keith's Nightstalkers demonstrate their 'acrobatic skills', ascending to the upper floors

There was one last act to be played out, though, before we called it an evening. Allen had darted his remaining two Followers into the citadel (carefully avoiding the firing lanes of the Bucknuts!). As they neared the open doorway, they heard loud and somewhat incoherent shouting from inside. The two nodded at each other and ran through into the room. They were met by three red-skinned mutations. They were humanoid in form, and even sported a large shock of blond hair sprouting from their skull-like heads. Their blue uniforms looked for all the world like 20th century suits. The creatures gesticulated at the two and shouted curses and profanities the two struggled to understand, but seemed too frightened to actually charge and attack them. 

    Allen's 'Followers of the Dark Prophet' encounter the citadel's annoying, verbally abusive mutants

The Followers shook their heads and raised their weapons. They fired on full automatic and soon all three were on the ground, twitching but no longer shouting. They rushed through the next doorway and first heard, then saw, three more of the annoying beings. "What the Hell are these things?" they mumbled to each other. More automatic gunfire and the creatures began to back off. From the next doorway, they heard more incoherent shouting coming closer to them. "Should we get out of here?" The two nodded to each other, and turned and ran back towards the entrance, followed by the insults of the creatures. 

    The textured round discs mark figures that have moved this turn in my games

We decided to call it at that point. A couple of the players' survivor gangs were already leaving the table. They had picked up the most accessible objective markers, and the Machines would soon be sending in its heavier warmachines. It was time to go! I was happy to see the players seemed to have fun. All five players took down at least one enemy, so the game wasn't without action, like I'd feared it might be. Still, I think I learned a bit about cramming too much hard terrain on the board. It was good to see the survivor gangs out on the table again, though. Hopefully, it won't be another six months before it happens again!

Miniature Painting & Purchasing Tally for 2024

• Miniatures acquired in 2024: 226
  
• Miniatures painted in 2024: 208