Klingons & Federation Duel Over Planet in FASA Star Trek Game

    Allen & my Klingon ships ("Steel Squadron") approach the planetoid invaded by Federation troops

Our regular Sunday evening host is a big fan of the FASA Star Trek Starship Tactical Simulator rules. Though their name is a mouthful, they are a much simpler and pared down version compared to the more well known Star Fleet Battles rules. Mike W introduced the group to them in a game this past December. However, he and Keith had played them many times in their younger days, and have binders full of starship tactical displays. The components definitely have a certain retro look to them, with their black and white, text-heavy approach, and very tiny type font that is less than friendly to older eyes.

    GM & host Mike W walks around, making sure no players have questions on how to fill out orders

There were some banter about scenario balance last time, primarily from the Klingon players. Or course, that happens in many battles all over the wargaming world, and is why good GMs play test scenarios before running them at a convention. Mike reached out to Keith to sound him out on the this game's scenario and special rules. He made a few tweaks based on fellow FASA grognard Keith's recommendations. There would be two Klingon squadrons arrayed against one Federation one. Fortunately, we Klingons had learned from our last game, though, and fully cooperated with each other unlike last time!

    "Beam me up!" Both squadrons had the objective to transport up Federation marines to their ships

The objective for both fleets was a planetoid in the center of the table. It was a Klingon-claimed one under attack by Federation ground forces. The attack apparently having been successful, the Federation ships were on their way to beam up the victorious, assaulting forces. The Klingons were intending to disrupt this. We wanted to kidnap some of those forces and beam them up to our ships. Apparently, there was some new technology and weapons used by the assault forces that we wanted to analyze.

    Seeing the Klingon approach, the Federation "Baker Class" destroyers hurry towards the planetoid

We had seven players -- four Klingons (Tom, Joel, Allen, and myself) and three Federation (Keith, Mike S, and Mike W's son, Phil). The Klingons approached from adjacent corners of the short table edge, each force composed of two different types of Klingon ships. Mine (and Joel's) were apparently a D7M class, while Allen and Tom controlled a larger Klingon ship that could take more damage but wasn't as efficient with its engines and shields. The three Federation players all controlled "Baker Class" ships, which I had never heard of before. Apparently, it is considered a Destroyer class. Afterwards, I asked how my D7M should stack up against the Federation Destroyer in a one-on-one duel. Keith and Mike W said my ship was superior, which surprised me. It seems every iteration of Star Trek universe that I play has the Federation ships always being superior. Would the game work out that way? Let's see...!

    Four Klingon ships close in to dispute control of the planetoid with the Federation destroyers

Both sides -- or all three, since we Klingons were technically independent squadrons -- moved quickly towards our target planetoid. After turn 2, I began slacking off on the power for movement to put reinforcement towards my shields. We looked out of range, but I always suspect Federation super weapons in these games! In the beginning, Keith's destroyer was separated from the other two, but all three were closing rapidly. Phil, in the center, veered right to aid Keith in approaching orbit around the planetoid. Meanwhile, Mike S veered left towards me. I was wary, but confident, as it would be my vessel and Allen's against Mike's...wait a minute! Where was Allen going? Allen veered his ship away from mine to use the planetoid as "cover." Essentially, he took himself out of the fight, as you shall see.

    One of the destroyers (Mike S's) veers off to attempt to chase me away from the objective

I continued closing with Mike S's Baker Class ship, still thinking it would be superior to mine, one-on-one. I began to maneuver to take advantage of the firing arcs of my weapons, showing the enemy our Forward-Port side, firing, then turning to show our Forward-Starboard side. In addition to letting each of the two beam weapons on each side bear (firing two, then firing the other side's two), it also meant I would take any damage on different shield facings. Mike hit me three times over the course of the ship-to-ship duel, but each time I was able to absorb it with a fresh, fully charged shield. Mike's approach, though, meant I battered down his front shield with my first shot and then damaged him with the follow up fire. I also shot my forward-facing "missile weapon" (not sure what they are supposed to represent in Star Trek lore) as a fifth weapon in my salvo.

    Meanwhile, the other two ships have arrived within transporter range & begin beaming up troops

I have to admit, my dice were very good! Mike's were not so good. When rolling my two attacks each turn, I tended to hit at least once when my chance to hit was 30% to 40%. When it went up to 70%, I hit with both. Mike's hits were much fewer and far between. The end result was a new one for me: I blew up an enemy vessel! What's more, over the course of our duel, I switched targets for one turn to attack Phil's ship when he lowered his shields to transport up marines. I nailed his "sensors," when rolling for damage location, which meant I knocked out his transporters. With Mike's ship blown up, Phil's transporters down, Keith was the only Federation hope to bring up marines from the surface. He had been taking hits steadily from Tom and Joel's ships while bringing up marines. Eventually, he too, blew up. At that point, Mike W called the game.

    Undeterred, my Klingon D7M and Mike S's destroyer close with each other, firing away

Overwhelming Klingon victory, right? Well, apparently, we were supposed to kidnap marines and get them off table. I contended that after blowing up their three ships, we could beam up their marines and depart at our leisure. Apparently, Keith had transported all but one of the marine stands up to his ship before it went ka-boom. Well, I said, we transport up that last one to our ships, leave, and get a total victory, right? He relented, and changed our status from "Partial Failure" to "Partial Success." Considering that we had taken almost no damage, had destroyed two of the three enemy ships (and would surely blow up the outnumbered one, 4-to-1, last), and would get one of their marines with their juicy new weapons back to the Empire, I'm not sure where the "partial" comes in...ha, ha!

    BOOM! The Federation destroyer succumbs to the superior Klingon firepower (and tactics, I'd add!)

I'm also unsure if another debate over scenario balance will ensue after this game. I asked my question about who's ship should win a one-on-one duel to assess how much effect my superior die rolling (and tactics!) had on the outcome. Mike W seemed to think it was significant. If my one ship was better than one of theirs, and we had four vs. their three, did we have more points worth of ships? Perhaps Allen and Tom's Klingon ships were less effective and fewer points? I probably should have asked that, too. I also feel it was a big disadvantage to the Federation that they had to lower their shields to transport up the marines. Of course, we did, too. However, I think Tom was on board with my philosophy of shoot first, transport later, though. Either way, it was a fun and quick way to have a Star Trek style squadron battle in only two hours. The game does play really quickly. So, I'm sure we'll see more FASA games in the future!

    Close up of Mike's 3-D printed models of Klingon "Steel Squadron" -- Allen's ship my D7M

What's on my painting desk, now? I am making good progress on the next batch of 10 Splintered Light Miniatures rats. I am also fairly far along on the Miniature Building Authority clothes lines. Hopefully, by midweek you should see some results!

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Miniatures acquired in 2025: 100
  
• Miniatures painted in 2025: 39 

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Terrain acquired in 2025: 10
  
• Terrain painted in 2025: 16

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Scatter acquired in 2025: 53
  
• Scatter painted in 2025: 30

Five Parsecs: Quest for Lost Treasure Completed

    Crew of the Inconceivable advance through the underground bunker in 'Five Parsecs from Home'

This would be the final mission of the crew of the Inconceivable's quest for the Lost Treasure of Amazonas Galacticus. They would be breaking into the underground complex of one of the five pirates who'd stolen the fortune 20 years ago. I decided to use my boards that I had made for Space Station Zero more than a year ago. They are made from a silvery paper (purchased at a craft store) with a floor grid and bolts drawn on with black Sharpie. Inexpensive, and easy to create. The walls are a trimmed down portions of a trifold made out of foamboard, with Google images of futuristic walls downloaded from the internet, printed out, and glued to the black foamboard. I really like how it looks, especially once I placed lots of the Sci-Fi scatter I'd been painting for the last year or more on the board. The 3-D printed color shift crystals even made it onto the board as "exotic alien art" collected by the pirate!

   Our opponents would be fearless, mechanical security droids purchased by one of the space pirates

My roll for the number of enemies was very fortunate -- only four! However, that was compensated by another roll which dictated two of my crew would not be ontable at the start of the game, and would need to roll for arrival. I assumed that Alistair and the crew used deception to gain entry into the pirate's home. The "missing crew" (Zorina and Seon) would be considered upstairs, subduing the family and any other servants or workers. Meanwhile, Captain Alistair, Gunny McBride, Doc Mecrosus, and Cephvarx Hul would dash down to take on the security guards. I rolled "Hired Muscle" for the enemy, but the scenario also dictated they would be Fearless. Perfect opportunity to get out my 3-D printed Terminators I'd painted up for Xenos Rampant! I rationalized that the pirate had them shipped in when coming back from one of his annual, month-long vacations and labeled as something mundane. The droids would be armed with Military Rifles and the Specialist had a Marksman Rifle. Under ground and indoors, though, their superior range would not help them much, as the battle would be at close quarters.

    Deployment at the start of the mission, with my crew locations labeled & the droids circled in red

I set up the board and randomly rolled to see which edge the droids would begin on. I deployed them in their "Tactical" A.I., in two groups of two, with line of sight of any enemy coming towards them. I assumed they were warned and activated by some sort of alarm triggered by the family upstairs. I decided to send Cephvarx and Gunny around the left to be able to get close to the droids out of their line of fire. Alistair and Doc would move to the right and engage the droids in long range fire to distract them. The plan would be to have Cephvarx move in, melee and destroy them, supported at close range by Gunny and his high caliber pistol, or "hand cannon" in Fiver Parsecs parlance. Here's the report, as seen through the eyes of second in command, and former Galactic Marine, Gunny.

    I used my 3-D printed 'Terminators' from JS Wargamer Printing as the mechanical 'Hired Muscle'

The Battle

As the huge door to the underground complex slid to the side, the ceiling lights began flashing and an annoying klaxon began to sound. "Damn it, cap," I called to Alistair, "the alarm's been sounded. Let's hope Zorina and Seon can handle things upstairs. Same plan?" Alistair gave a quick affirmative and I saw him and Doc begin to dart to the right. I nodded to the looming Cephvarx Hul and we dashed off to the left. Hopefully, it wasn't a dead end and we could close quickly with whatever security was sure to be down here. I threw the rifle over my shoulder and pulled out my pistol -- this battle would likely be up close and deadly!

 

    Alistair and Doc would go right in the passage while Gunny and Cephvarx Hul would go left

Over the noise of the klaxon, I faintly heard the clank of mechanical footsteps on the silvery floor. "Captain -- keep a sharp eye out...sounds like security droids." 

    As the alarm sounds, 4 security droids move up to watch all passageways while remaining in cover

He acknowledged and then replied a few seconds later, "In sight, standard mechanical security droids armed with long rifles. I see one, but there's sure to be more!" The underground complex was stuffed with machinery, terminals, and even huge pieces of strange, crystal artwork -- at least that's my guess what they were. I could feel no heat coming off them and their colorful, pretty lights constantly changed colors and shades. A large piece of machinery with bright green tubing was in our path. I pointed Cephvarx to the right and I went around it to the left. 

    The crew after their first turn of advance -- the barricades are meant to represent walls

I ducked around one side of it and, "Bam! Bam! Bam!" I felt the ricochet off of my shoulder armor and the force of the round shoved me against the wall. I shook my head to clear the shock, momentarily stunned. One of the droids had been waiting for me to come around that corner -- "Stupid!" I muttered to myself. I ducked back out more carefully this time, just in time for a wonderful sight. Cephvarx darted around the wall the droid had been sheltering behind and loomed suddenly up in front of the droid. His boarding saber flashed, sparks flew, and the body fell with a clank while the headed rolled a few times before stopping, its lighted eyes going out. "Cephvarx has one down," I called to Alistair, and he acknowledged, saying he was stalking another and was going to throw one of the Frakk grenades we'd found a couple missions back. "Be careful," I called.

    Former galactic marine Gunny McBride moves along the wall around a strange piece of machinery

I ran forward, now that the way was clear, sheltering and moving along the far wall for cover. I watched as Cephvarx darted around another corner and out of sight. I heard the clanging of metal on metal and Cephvarx snarling in pain. I ducked around the corner to see both fall at the same time. The droid was in several pieces, smoke pouring from parts of its metallic structure. Cephvarx was badly wounded, though, and writhing on the ground in agony. I darted towards him, snagged one of the Stim-Paks from my belt pouch and jabbed it into his purple skin. Just as I did that, there was a deafening explosion and my ears rang with a high pitched whine, the other sounds fading out. Yeah, Cap, maybe a grenade in a confined area wasn't the greatest idea! Almost distantly, I heard the automatic weapons fire of at least two security droids firing in return, though they sounded quieter in my ringing ears than they should.

    A security droid is watching that gap and fires and hits Gunny, inflicting a stun marker

"Damn it," Alistair's voice called faintly in my headset. "The grenade damaged it, but didn't take it out! Now, I have two firing at me -- I could use a little help, Gunny!" Suddenly, I heard an even fainter noise -- a hissing of steam. I looked up. The shrapnel from the grenade must have severed a line somewhere, as a cloud of gray mist was expanding in the center of the room and beginning to grow. 

    Focused on Gunny, the droid doesn't notice Cephvarx Hul charging at him till it is too late

I thought maybe that will distract them a little. I darted past Cephvarx, whose twitching was growing less pronounced and he seemed to be getting his limbs under control. My gun was raised as I edge around the corner -- there! One of the droids with an automatic weapon raised was firing to my right, where the captain and Doc were likely to be. I sighted and squeezed off a couple shots. The security droid's head exploded in silver bits of metal and it fell to the floor with a clang, not moving. "Three droids down," I called to Alistair. "Stay in cover, I've got them outflanked!"

    First security droid is down -- Cephvarx's specialty is up-close "Brawling" (melee)

I continued to edge around the corner, sighting along my pistol. By the sound of the firing, there was only one droid left. I caught sight of him, his skull-like mechanical head swiveling from where his cohort lay motionless to where Alistair likely was hiding. "Boom, boom, boom!" I fired three shots and the droid collapsed. Their armor was no match for the high caliber, high velocity rounds of my little souvenir from my time in the Corps..! "Fourth droid down," I shouted, so the others could hear me, too. "Anyone see any others?" 

"Negative," Alistair replied over the microphone.

    At the start of Turn 3, my "delayed" crew members arrive -- here Seon follows Gunny up the left side

Doc's amplified voice rang out crisply, "I pick none up with my goggle's enhanced sensors -- on any spectrum."

"I don't see any. Well, none that are in working order," Zorina called. I turned and waved to her. I saw Seon creeping along the wall where Cephvarx had gone.

    The alien Varxian charges the next security droid, but each inflicts hits on the other, taking both out

"Nice to have you two join us. Everything okay upstairs?"

Zorina nodded and reported, "Family's all tied up, sir. House is locked down. It appears the only alarm that was sounded was down here to alert the security droids -- which you guys appear to have taken care of without our help."

    After dashing out to toss a Frakk grenade, Capt. Alistair is under fire & stunned by two droids

"We couldn't let you two have all the fun," I laughed. "Okay, everybody stay frosty. Let's investigate this place. It's huge! Number one --  make sure there's no more droids. Call out if you see anything suspicious or moving. Number two -- don't touch any of the monitors. Leave those for Doc -- he's the expert. Number three -- Doc, can you also fix that damned steam leak? Let's hope it isnt' toxic..."

   The first droid inflicted a stun on the captain, and luckily the second one missed...!

Aftermath...and the future?

Since the Inconceivable crew was successful in their mission, it means they completed the quest. Of course, in Five Parsecs from Home, the charts and events in between sessions form the skeleton of the story. It is up to the GM (or in this case, solo player) to flesh it out. So, let's do some fleshing! I assumed that with control of the secret underground bunker, Alistair and company are able to use the data they discover to pin the piracy on the five families. The details of their transactions and names of their bribed associates would be assembled into a multimedia documentary by Doc. They would then use the passcodes and authorization of the captured pirate to broadcast it on the planetary media. Once that gets out, the other four pirates will be alarmed and perhaps onto the crew. However, they will likely have bigger fish to fry than Capt. Alistair and his crew. Chuft Betsos and the long, legal arm of Amazonas Galacticus will descend on the planet like a glove and begin to dig for even more details.

    Perimeter marked by black pom-poms, a steam vent was ruptured by the grenade, obscuring view

Unfortunately, this mission doesn't suddenly make the crew rich. They were able to gather some loot from the pirate's lavish underground quarters, but there were no stacks of "treasure" on hand. Alistair was probably being a bit naive in thinking so. He would have to be content with solving the mystery. There would be no chance of making up his lost retirement money, unfortunately. Betsos had cheated him out of that. They could "take" so much from the pirate's chambers even though it had been bought with stolen money. The five pirate families had much of their wealth tied up in ownership of various corporations, companies, and off-planet investments. All was had been designed over the decades to hide their names, so they hadn't appeared suddenly rich overnight.

    Gunny does what he does best -- move up, shoot, and take out the droid marksman

After broadcasting their Doc's production and ensuring the documentary went planet-wide (and off-planet, as well), Alistair and the crew had best beat a hasty retreat from planet Dichelles. There is still a chance that their escapades on the icy planet might run them afoul of the law -- certainly here, where the pirates likely had some control of it. However, if that happened, Gunny said he would contact the lawyers for Amazonas Galacticus to put a smoke screen on their actions. Alistair grumbled that Betsos was incapable of gratitude and refused to stoop to ask his ex-employer for any help. Gunny said he would eat the crow for his old friend (and his crewmates). In the meantime, all agreed that the Inconceivable and its crew should go to the far side of the galaxy and lay low for awhile!

    The final droid, trying to watch both Alistair and whoever shot his cohort, is taken down by Gunny

So there you have it! The story arc of the crew of the Inconceivable and its search for the lost treasure of Amazonas Galacticus is concluded. I hope you enjoyed the six missions and my after action reports. I had a good time testing out the Five Parsecs from Home rules. It really does a nice job of threading a series of missions together and giving you the events to create a story. For example, when the crew traveled to Dichelles and rolled up that they had discovered an escape pod containing Seon, that added nice details the what happened to Amazonas treasure ship. Originally, I was playtesting Five Parsecs for possible use with my Sunday night gaming group. I honestly feel we're too large for the framework of the game, though, and it would work better with a small number of participants playing cooperatively or with a GM.

So, is this it? Is this the end of the tales of Captain Alistair and his crew? Perhaps. I am definitely going to take a break from my solo campaign. There were a few scary moments in this game, such as when Alistair darted into the open, threw the grenade, and rolled two 1's for damage. I used a story point for a re-roll and, lo and behold, rolled another "1"! The droid fired back, stunning Alistair. His cohort thankfully missed, though. Gunny's stunning early in the game could just as easily been a "Kill." And when Cephvarx went down to the second droid, things could have gotten ugly. With unfavorable dice rolls only Doc would have been left! 

However, in general, the fights the rules' charts and A.I. generated were a bit too easy for my liking. I rarely felt that my crew was seriously challenged, or in danger. If I do pick up this storyline again, I will ramp up the difficulty level to a more challenging one. I started with the basic one since that was what it recommended. So, for now, farewell to Captain Alistair Valentine, Security Officer Gunny McBride, Engineer Doc Mercosus, Crew woman Zorina Valthea, Security Droid SAS B61, and Crewman Seon Vogalia! It has been fun for me to generate your adventures, and hopefully to my readers, as well! 

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Miniatures acquired in 2025: 100
  
• Miniatures painted in 2025: 15 

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Terrain acquired in 2025: 10
  
• Terrain painted in 2025: 14

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Scatter acquired in 2025: 51
  
• Scatter painted in 2025: 26

So What Happened to the Lost Treasure of Amazonas Galacticus?

    Alistair's quest for the lost treasure of Amazonas Galacticus has led to the icy planet of Dichelles

Captain's Log

Ship's Log, Interstellar Yacht Inconceivable, Capt. Alistair Valentine recording. I know now what happened to the ship carrying the treasure of that asshole, Chuff Betsos, founder of Amazonas Galacticus, and my old employer. And I am tempted to just walk away. Let the pirates right here on Dichelles keep their ill-gotten gains! Because if any of this treasure is recovered, Mr. Billions is going to employ every legal means to regain it. Shit! On the other hand, these pirates tried to kill us. And who's to say they'll forget their grudge now that we know their dirty little secret? Not bloody likely, right? Plus, they killed all the innocent people on both the treasure ship and Seon's vessel. Murderers like that don't deserve to be left undisturbed to enjoy treasure. At least that's how I am going to pitch it to the crew. We'll see if they go along..."

    Capt. Alistair Valentine of the Interstellar Yacht, Inconceivable

 

Decision in the Briefing Room

"Now that you're all gathered here, Gunny, tell everyone what you and Cephvarx Hul found out from our captive, and what Doc was able to investigate and deduce from it." The Inconceivable crew sat around their briefing room aboard the ship. The wounded survivors of the Galactic Defense force that had ambushed them were bound and locked up in the cargo compartment. The dead from that force were also in the compartment, and had been left out for their viewing pleasure as they'd been interrogated.

Gunny McBride began, "The trooper that Cephvarx captured was not the commander of the detachment -- but he was an NCO. So, I figured it was likely he knew something. I pulled a few tricks from my time in the Galactic Marines -- and Cephvarx added a little intimidation -- to loosen his tongue and tell his tale." Everyone's attention was riveted on the grizzled retiree of the galaxy's most storied fighting force.

Doc Mecrosus chimed in, his voice clipped and clear through environmental suit's speakers. "I've accessed the files of the planet Dichelles' news organizations, as well as some publicly accessible information on companies and organizations on this planet. I also did a thorough investigation of the five suspected pirates and their families. It confirms everything Gunny is going to tell you -- 100%. This is conclusively what happened to the lost treasure of Amazonas Galacticus."  

    Second in command, former Galactic Marine Gunny McBride

Gunny nodded. "The pirate ship was a five-man crew. All five were residents of Dichelles, who ranged abroad in the intergalactic space outside of Dichelles systems, and a couple neighboring ones. They preyed upon ships, stole what was worth stealing, then jettisoned the captives into space. They got lucky with the Amazonas treasure ship. Once they realized what they'd found, Seon's ship had blundered within tracking range, and had likely detected them, too. First, they knocked out her communications without so much as hailing her or trying to use trickery. Next, they blasted her to space dust, with Seon's escape pod likely being the only one not spotted and destroyed.

"Next, they must have discussed what to do with all their loot. Chuff Betsos and his employees would come looking for it. They decided to give up pirating, sell their ship, and lay low. Act like nothing had happened. Once a year, each of the five would go off-world and live the life of a billionaire. Part of their spendings off-world were to hire diggers and remodelers to renovate each of their houses back on Dichelles with underground expansions. Up top they looked like ordinary citizens, but in their secret basements, they lived in luxury. They used their money to bribe their way into control of the local politics, military, communications, and every aspect of Dichelles life. These five pirates and their families are the kingpins of Dichelles."

    An immunity disease forces Doc Mecrosus to always wear an environmental suit

Doc brought up several images and silent video clips on the video screen which illustrated what the ex-marine was saying. "I have to say, I admire their discipline. Ruthless bastards, yes, but utterly non-descript on the surface. All of their spendings were near-untraceable. They allow themselves only one month a year to go off in secret and enjoy their billionaire status, where nobody knows them. Let loose."

Captain Valentine tapped the briefing table. "So the question is, what do we do about it? I see two options. One, we say we're done -- mystery solved! We don't tell anyone about it (Option 1A) because we don't want Betsos to get his money back. 'One B' is to let select news organizations off-world know, and let Amazonas Galacticus and the pirates fight it out. Option One will likely be the safest route. Blast off immediately, and we don't risk a showdown with five families whose money likely controls this planet. I can't ask you, my crew and friends, I hope, to risk your lives for my silly quest -- especially when the mystery is solved."

Zorina chuckled. "Um, sir, we've been risking our lives ever since we signed on with you! If that was a big deterrent, I don't think we'd still be here..."

    Green-skinned Zorina is of the Valkeeri race, and adds youthful enthusiasm to the team

The captain saluted her, smiled. He continued, "Option 2. The riskier one. We pick the pirate's home who controls the Dichelles media and -- as Gunny would say -- go in with guns blazing. Our goal would be to capture him, recover his portion of the treasure, and use his access codes to break the news. Then, assuming we're happy with the amount of treasure we've snagged, we dust off of this planet and let the people fight it out amongst themselves. Sure, that bastard Chuff's people will hear about it, but his money will counteract the pirates' money, and Dichelles will have to make its own call what to do with their new celebrity criminals."

Almost as one, the others sat back in their chairs. Alistair could see the look of contemplation on their faces, well, everyone except Doc's, which was hidden behind the mask of his environmental suit. Alistair added, "Take some time to think about it, if you need. But by now, at least one of the pirates knows his ambush didn't work. And he knows where the Inconceivable is docked."

Seon cleared his throat, and spoke up. "I've been with your guys the shortest amount of time, so I know my word here means the least. But those bastards killed my friends and crewmates, and almost got me. They stole 20 years from my life! I vote Option 2." Across from him, Zorina raised her fist, then slowly uncurled two fingers. Doc held up a gloved hand, two fingers upraised.

    Cephvarx Hul is a fearsome alien from the Varx race, fiercely loyal to Alistair

Cephvarx voice rumbled, "Varxian honor demands Option 2...for me." 

Gunny chucked, leaned forward, holding up his two fists. He slowly uncurled his two middle fingers and said, "Looks like this is our message to the pirates!" Nervous laughter broke out around the table as they all realized they had committed themselves to the most dangerous path. However, for Captain Valentine's crew, that wasn't necessarily something new...!

In Between Turns

I know it has been three months since I visited my Five Parsecs from Home campaign. However, I wanted to ponder the final mission of the Alistair and the Inconceivable's quest. Now, it is time, though. Time to pull up my log and roll up Campaign Turn 6. Will this be the final turn? I have certainly enjoyed my first ever solo campaign.

I decided in light of the storyline to have this fight be an indoor one. It will be located in the spacious secret area underneath one of the pirate's deceptively normal looking homes. I think I will use my silver space station floor mats and my Sci-Fi scatter or buildings for the "terrain" in the rooms. I've seen others run indoor games, so it only makes sense for this one to be similar. For the "bad guys," I rolled up Hired Muscle. Since the fewer people who know the true extent of the pirates' wealth, the better in their eyes, I think I will use my 3-D printed "Terminators" as the hired (or purchased) guns. 

    Asleep in an escape pod for 20 years, Seon Vogalia is the crew's most recent addition

Once again, I rolled up that two members of my crew would be delayed until I roll well enough to bring them on. Once again, I decided that the security bot would stay back guarding the ship, since he could control the ship systems best and be able to fight off any preemptive attack by the pirates or their goons. So, I rolled randomly and it will be Seon and Zorina who will be delayed. I will rationalize that they are "upstairs" establishing control of the upper public quarters of the house while the rest of the crew takes out its security forces below. 

I will likely get a chance to play this one out within the next week. So, keep an eye out for that AAR!

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Miniatures acquired in 2025: 100
  
• Miniatures painted in 2025: 15 

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Terrain acquired in 2025: 10
  
• Terrain painted in 2025: 9

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Scatter acquired in 2025: 51
  
• Scatter painted in 2025: 26

 

"Game over!" -- our second 6-player Xenos Rampant Game

   Space Marine dreadnought takes heavy fire during its assault in our Xenos Rampant game

After our first game of Xenos Rampant back in summer of 2024, we decided that six 24-point detachments on an 8'x4' table was too crowded. We said for our next game, we'd try 18-points per player. Who knew it would take us six months to get in our second game? I'll take the blame for that, as I was the one pushing the rules and I never got around to scheduling round two. Well, this weekend we finally got in our second game. A great sign was that three of the six detachments were brought by the players, and I had to provide only three forces.

    Defenders, left (Keith, Joel, Allen from top) advance on Mike S, Tom, and Andy in our 6-player game

On one side, the attackers were Mike S, Tom, and Andy. Trying to hold them off were Keith, Joel, and Allen. I made sure the players who were bringing their own forces sent me their army lists because I was worried about min-maxing, which I'd heard Xenos Rampant could be susceptible to. In particular, I was concerned about the Attack Vehicles. The rules already limit each player detachment to one Attack vehicle, and any one unit to no more than 50% of the army points. I need not have worried because the two most expensive vehicles in the game, Keith's and Andy's, were driven back by their opponents and did not have a major positive effect for their side. Ordinary rank and file -- particularly those armed with heavy weapons -- seemed to rule the evening.

    Allen's Anadorans advance through the blue alien forest to firing positions against Andy's troops

All three forces I was providing, the Bronze Legion (Tom), Terminators (Joel), and the Anadorans (Allen) had three units of six points each. Both Keith and Andy's forces experimented with a handful of cheaper troops to support the more expensive ones. Mike S was trying out a Recon Infantry sniper team, and they proved very effective in his repelling of Keith's assault. I was seated at one of the ends of the table, so didn't see the nitty gritty of their game. Mike admitted that his Recon Infantry activated to shoot way above average (7+ on 2d6, failing only once I believe he said). On the other hand, I had a ringside seat for Allen's dismembering of Andy's Space Marines force. 

    Andy's Space Marines begin their advance against Allen's troops, unaware of the drubbing in store!

Allen's two units of heavy infantry had "Heavy Weapons," which score two hits for every "six" rolled to hit. It seemed like every turn, Allen's roll of 10 dice included at least three "6's" -- sometimes even four! Mike said it was similar in his battle. He basically hunkered down in terrain, soaking up the +1 to Armor rough terrain gives, and fired at Keith's forces while he moved up. In Andy and Allen's encounter, it was a similar paradigm. Allen adopted a defensive position while Andy tried to be aggressive and assault his opponent's lines. Of course, that begs the question: Is defense too tough under these rules? In the middle of the board, Joel was very tentative in his advance, with his Terminators staying behind cover and out of line of fire of Tom's Bronze Legion. Tom tried to advance and get line of sight, but Joel would duck back, keeping the alien forest or similar terrain between them. Eventually, Tom did get line of sight, and began putting hits on the machines and their forces.

    Keith's tank leads his space marine force against Mike's troops hunkered down & waiting in terrain

Keith's aggressive advance was the first to be shattered by an opponent. On the opposite corner of the table, Andy's was the second to admit defeat and pull back. Joel finally admitted that Tom's Bronze Legion had worn enough of his units down below half strength that he would have little chance of victory. So, after only about two hours, we ended up calling the game. I continue to be surprised at how fast the "Rampant" series of games play. Last week's Lion Rampant Dark Ages game ended early, too. Not that it is a bad thing -- heck no! About a year ago, we moved our Sunday evening start time up from 7pnm to 6pm specifically because we wanted to finish earlier. So, a game that plays fast fits right into our wheelhouse. 

    Mike's elite armored infantry hunkered down in the town, taking shots at Keith's advancing marines

Did the guys have fun? It appears so. I think both Keith and Andy were a tad frustrated with the die rolls, at times. However, they were both looking through their copy of the rulebook and thinking about tweaks to their list or dreaming up how to field new forces. Allen pronounced himself thrilled, as he was very successful the first time we played Xenos Rampant, as well! I think we have a "winner" for continuing games. I still feel I want to keep an eye on what forces players are fielding. In my reading of comments on the game, and in the rules themselves, they warn players not to try to tinker endlessly to recruit the unbeatable force. As tough as Mike's Recon Infantry snipers were, we all agreed there are solutions to an opponent fielding them. And Mike freely admitted his rolls for them were way above average. I saw myself how Andy's rolls were the opposite. He was successful on the "Firefight" ability (which allows a target of a shot return fire on a 7+) only once in the entire game!

    Joel's Terminators were obviously programmed for a very cautious, tentative advance

So, yes, Xenos Rampant is a dice game and the outcome can be heavily influenced by who is having a good night and who a bad one. Still, how many other games are similarly vulnerable to that? The rules are easy to pick up and players are running their own turns with few questions fairly early on. You do have to be very careful if you play multiple sets of the "Rampant" rule series. I took the time at the beginning of the game to go down the list of things I'd noticed that were subtly different from Lion Rampant. Commanders within 12" add +1 to activations in Xenos, but not Lion. You roll 10 attack dice if more than full strength in Xenos, but 12 in Lion. You subtract total losses for the game from your Courage roll in Lion, but only how many SP you lost in Xenos when testing for taking losses due to shooting or melee. Lots of tiny differences that can trip you up. It would probably be helpful to create a "Differences between X and Y sets of Rampant rules," if someone had the time and drive to do so.

    Keith admitted that Attacking (melee) Mike's heavy infantry in the woods was a costly mistake

As it was, the Attackers -- Mike S, Tom, and Andy -- ended up winning on two of the three battlefields, so were declared the victors. Players were free to fire at opponents in adjacent clashes, but it happened only twice in the entire game. Each seemed focused on the detachment across the table from them, and probably rightfully so. I think I feel Xenos Rampant is more balanced after our second game than I did after the first. I made big changes to my detachments after Game 1, but now I'm not so sure they were the best call. I think that with proper generalship, all of the troop types can be useful and that none are all-powerful. Elite Infantry, which some may think are overpowering, can wilt away in the face of determined firepower. I think I will go back in and tinker with my forces, but not to optimize them. I think I will create more variety in them so that we are fielding a wider range of troop types in our next game.

    Andy kept his heavy infantry in reserve while moving his elite Marines & dreadnought forward

It was a fun, fast evening of gaming, and it was great to get everyone around the tabletop rolling dice. I will be miss the next two weeks of gaming, so I look forward to getting together with everyone later in February!

    Battle finally joined in center after the cat & mouse maneuvers of the Bronze Legion & Terminators

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Miniatures acquired in 2025: 7
  
• Miniatures painted in 2025: 10 

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Terrain acquired in 2025: 5
  
• Terrain painted in 2025: 7

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Scatter acquired in 2025: 9
  
• Scatter painted in 2025: 5

    Having taken 4 hits, Andy's Dreadnought Attack Vehicle is one hit away from destruction

    Andy embraced the role of Attacker, but found his troops battered by Allen's Anadorans

    Game hinged on the battle in the center, which the Terminators failed to win as their attack faltered

Year in Review: 2024

        2024 was definitely the "Year of Sci-Fi" for me and my painting and modeling projects!

Looking back over my most prolific year posting here on my Lead Legionaries blog, two main periods were dominant. Science-Fiction was by far the most dominant period I posted about, whether writing about new miniatures I'd painted or buildings or scatter. Second place was Post-Apocalyptic, as I began an entirely new type of game (Zombie Apocalypse), while continuing to run games, paint miniatures, and get buildings or scatter ready for the tabletop. Modern gaming was a distant third, though to be fair, much of what I created for post-apoc games could also be used for ones set in a modern (non-apoc) setting.

    Contingent of 3-D printed Stormtroopers from JS Wargamer Printing guarding an Acheson building

Science-Fiction

Part of the reason that I posted so much about Sci-Fi was because there were three separate sets of rules or types of games I was playing (or getting ready to play).  In the beginning of the year, I was heavy into getting things ready for a Xenos Rampant game. Although virtually every size game likes to call itself skirmish nowadays, no matter how many figures are on the tabletop, I would call this a "big battle" game. We typically have six players for our games on Sunday evening, so I had to build forces for six different factions. I went with what the rules recommend, 24 army points. That typically means 4-6 units of anywhere from 5-10 miniatures. In some cases it may be fewer, like a war machine or bot. For the rank and file, though, 5-10 figures is the most common.

    We found that my table was a little small for six full-size Xenos Rampant detachments

In the end, I used two factions belonging to my friend Keith to run our 6-player game. Still, fielding miniatures for four factions was a lot of work. That's around 20 units, so maybe between 100 and 200 miniatures? Some were painted last year, or taken from my post-apocalyptic factions. Still, it was a LOT of work. And the worst part about it is I haven't gotten around to running a second game. We agreed after playing that six 24-point factions on my 5'x12' table was just too crowded. After discussing it, we settled on 18 points per faction for future games. Hopefully, that future game will be soon, possibly in January. I will be hosting for much of January and February while our regular host, Mike W, is out of town "snow birding."

    The Inconceivable crew sneaks up on the objective in one of my Five Parsecs from Home solo games

In addition to Xenos Rampant, I began playing regular solo games of Five Parsecs from Home. Ostensibly, I was "testing" the system out to see if it would work as a game for our Sunday evening crew. As fun as Five Parsecs is, I didn't think it would be a good fit for six players. I was enjoying the way the rules create a story arc as you continue along on your campaign. In fact, Capt. Alistair Valentine and his merry crew will finish their quest with the next mission -- so I definitely want to play that one out in 2025. My trip to Morocco in November derailed the captain and crew of the Inconceivable temporarily, but hopefully readers of my blog will be enjoying more of their adventures soon.

Although I got in only one Xenos Rampant game in 2024, I hope to play more in 2025

The third Sci-Fi game or period that I was busy prepping figures for was going to be a true skirmish (players control 4-6 figures -- not units!) in the Star Wars universe. I was bouncing around trying to decide which rules to use. Of course, we could use Wiley Games' Galactic Heroes rules as we are familiar with them. We've played a couple games with them already, plus it is the same basic rules engine and system I use for the post-apocalyptic campaign. However, I wanted to try something to give a different flavor, and an old friend suggested I download Space Weirdos (thanks Steve P!) from Wargames Vault and look over it. I liked it enough to say that's what I will try first for my Star Wars skirmish, which hasn't had a game played, as yet. I have all the factions completed (a LOT easier when you're painting 4-6 figs instead of units...ha, ha!), though. Look for that in January or more likely February. I still need to create cards for each of the player's characters and the measuring sticks it uses.

    I took these fantasy Gatorfolk from Beldolor Studies and converted them into Sci-Fi figures

Just to give you an idea of how heavily focused I was this year on Sci-Fi, I made about 16 posts about painting miniatures for the period, along with about 10 blog entries about buildings or scatter. So, a big part of my output was geared towards Sci-Fi, it seems! And now that I have all these figures, look for a lot more game reports covering these rules!

    This downed chopper was the focal point of a scenario in my post-apocalyptic campaign

 

Post-Apocalyptic

Like my Sci-Fi projects, my production in the Post-Apoc period was a mix of old and new games. Our post-apocalyptic games using Wiley Games Core Rules is still continuing into its third year. That's great news. I think my players would like me to run it more often than I do, and hopefully I will be better at cranking out scenarios for them in 2025. For our most recent game, my friend Mike S provided the scenario so he could use the city block terrain he'd been busy building. I'm sure he wanted a chance to game with it on the tabletop, so he talked me into GM'ing the scenario he'd created. For the scenarios that I create, they tend to revolve around a particular piece of terrain or scatter I've created. One example was the "Chopper Down!" game I ran where the factions were converging on a helicopter that had auto-rated down into the middle of a ruined city. There had been no explosion, so hopefully that meant some great salvage! 

    Mike S brought his city ruins terrain he'd bought and had been working on for another scenario

By far the most posts I did on this period in 2024 was a new niche, or mini-period -- zombie apocalypse! I was inspired by purchasing the County Road Z rules and began accumulating the necessary zombie horde. As I was working on it, though, I read about another set of rules called Zombie RV. It was much shorter, way less expensive, and had a fun, quick, and bloody feel to it. I was so intrigued that Jenny and I pulled out some of my post-apocalyptic figures, I set up a tabletop, and we played a game of it. Although our mission to collect supplies failed miserably, we both agreed it was fun and we'd just had some awful luck leading to our deciding to flee the field prematurely. 

    Zombies swarm towards the survivors in one of our Zombie RV games over the course of the year

I reached out to the rules author David Bezio, and he sent me an unfinished "campaign" introduction in answer to my questions about running a continuing series of games. He encouraged me to expand on what he'd started and work up my own rules for experience and improving character skills and abilities. The next step was to inflict it on the Sunday evening group. I ran three side by side battle boards with two players sharing the four survivors like Jenny and I had done. It went over really well, except Keith had issues with zombie senses -- how do they see? Do they smell? Hear? Everyone else took the simple rules with a grain of salt, but Keith had questions. So, for the next game, I wrote out an even more detailed Zombie A.I. that the rules come with to hopefully answer his scientific inquiries...ha, ha!

    3-D printed fortified trailers from Bad Goblin are one of the highlights of my Zombie RV tabletops

Of course, more players meant more zombies would be needed! My zombie horde ended up totaling 74 figures, which included a handful of "Fast Zombies" and "Nasty Zombies," according to the Zombie RV rules. The first half of the zombie horde were 3-D printed ones from JS Wargamer Printing. After that, I was able to get ahold of some Wargames Factory male and female zombies to finish out the horde. A couple people suggested using Zombiecide figures, but my initial 3-D printed batches were way too small compared to the oversized ones from the board game. Luckily, the Wargames Factory zombies were close in size, so it all looks good together on the tabletop.

    Painting female zombies from Wargames Factory were a nice change of pace in the horde

I do have to admit that I got a little tired of painting zombies! Thank goodness for the female zombies my friend Keith gave me -- I know, that sounds weird! They spiced things up and I could have some fun with various outfits including party dresses, bikinis (hey, that's how they molded them!), evening gowns, and more. I was getting so tired of painting the walking dead that by the end I was painting them to resemble my gaming friends. Of course, no one thinks "their" zombie looks like them...!

    This 3-D printed bridge from Rusty's Jarls Workship was the centerpiece of my Mean Streets games

Mean Streets Gang Warfare

My "Convention Game" for 2024 was Mean Streets, my self-published rules covering rumbles between street gangs. I ran it at Cincycon, Drums at the Rapids, and Origins. It was a big success at all three conventions. I had lots of interested players and sold some copies of the rulebook (which is also available at many other places, including Ganesha Games, Shieldwall Gaming Club, On Military Matters, RRB Minis & More, Brigade Games and other places). It turned out to be the 25 anniversary of the movie that inspired the rules, Hollywood's 1979, The Warriors. So, it was appropriate I ran a Warriors-inspired scenario in 2024. 

    The Eastmoor Kings gather on the bridge after running the gauntlet of rival gangs in 'Mean Streets'

My big terrain piece for that scenario was probably one of the biggest ones I have ever assembled and painted. It is a modern, stone city bridge that I bought from Rusty at Jarl's Workshop. I went for a yellowed, golden stone work and really like how it came out. I added in graffiti as it will see use more often in my Mean Streets games, or maybe even post-apocalyptic ones. In the scenario I ran, it was the goal for the Eastmoor Kings, who were taking on the role of the Warriors and trying to move from one side edge of the board to the opposite one. I didn't paint up any new gang members in 2024, but I did paint up some civilians.

    More than 14" height, this is my tallest terrain piece, a 28mm water tower from Bad Goblin Games

Speaking of big terrain, I also painted up the tallest terrain piece I've done to date. Once again, 3-D printed, it is a water tower from Bad Goblin Games. It has yet to see action on the tabletop, but it went together very easily and painted up quickly, as well. At $20, it is a bargain and I highly recommend Bad Goblin's 3-D printed terrain. Their fortified trailers were featured in a couple of my Zombie RV games and are fantastic. 

    My gaming year included a trip up to Blisffield to visit my friend Jim and play in two of their games

What DIDN'T I Paint?

Compared to other recent years, there has been one (probably) noticeable period missing in my 2024 posts. I may as well talk about it, too, as it does influence my gaming. I have found myself taking a break from Saga over the course of the year. I began the year finishing my Thracians, and painting their severed head fatigue markers. However, the only other painting I did for Saga otherwise was Warlord stands to give away as prizes at the Advance the Colors and Origins tournaments. And speaking of tournaments, I have also taken a break from being the one running them, too. Thankfully, others in the Saga Ohio community, such as Lee, Joe, Dan, Rusty, and James stepped up and took over running the ones I did.

    I enjoy making specialized fatigue markers for each Saga army - severed heads for my Thracians!

I was still playing Saga through the first three quarters of the year, though. I simply was not writing up blog posts about our Saga Sundays or my tournament entries. I played in both the DayCon tournament (run by Adrian and Jim) and the Hold the Line Ancient tournament (run by Rusty and James). We were still getting together on Sundays at the Guardtower East, but our number of players was steadily shrinking. Sometimes, we had just four show up -- and that is counting Jenny and myself. We did some Facebook polling and text discussion, and eventually in the Fall decided to suspend our once-a-month, Sunday get-togethers. There was another group at the Guardtower West who were gaming weekly and were much more active. We thought, "Why split up the player base into two groups?"

    An Ancient Warlord stand that I painted up as a prize for the ATC 2024 Saga tournaments

Interestingly, in this time of my declining Saga interest I finally got around to trying my "Saga Lite" ideas. With Saga Lite, there are no Advanced Abilities. Players use only the Basic Activations, Combat Bonus, and Activation Pool on the top half of their battle board. I was happy with how it worked out, and may run that for friendly games on Sunday evenings when we have a hankering for Dark Age, Medieval, etc. battles.  

    We tried out 'Rebels and Patriots' rules for the Revolutionary War and liked them, playing 3 times

Odds and Ends

In the early part of the year, I didn't do too good of a job blogging about what our Sunday evening group did on our game nights. True, it was often board games, and sometimes the same ones over and over. Let me tell you, if I never play Seven Wonders: Architects again...ha, ha! However, looking at the rules sets I did blog about, there are nearly 20 different ones listed. Granted, many of them were "one-off" games, typically when Keith got an urge to play PT Boats or Age of Sail or something similar.

    My long-time gaming companions, Joel & Allen, enjoy an Age of Sail game put on by Keith

However, one that I think will stay is Rebels and Patriots, which are the American War of Independence version of the popular Lion Rampant series. It is what I would call a "big battle" game, and we played it three times (I believe) over the course of 2024. It uses the same engine as Xenos Rampant, which should be a positive, right? We will be more familiar with the mechanics when we play a game. The only thing that worries me about sets of rules that use the same mechanics in a wide variety of periods is will the games feel different? When I run another game of Xenos Rampant, I don't want everyone to say, "This feels like the American Revolution but just with space figures. Does this make sense? A game system's mechanics should give the feel of a period. I worry that systems like Rampant and Wiley Games may suffer from sameness. Honestly, that is why I chose to try something different than Galactic Heroes for my Star Wars skirmishes. I don't want it to feel like a Western gunfight or post-apocalyptic game simply set in space.

    After 3 games, our group has the basics of how 'Rebels and Patriots' works -- which is always good!

Still, Rebels and Patriots has gained traction in our group. I enjoy it, Keith likes running it, and the players are become more and more familiar with the rules. We will see when I run Xenos Rampant again if anyone remarks, "Hey, this feels like an AWI game..."! I'd be interested in hearing from readers if you have encountered this in your own game clubs or feel that way yourself. Perhaps I'm the only one who worries about this or feels this way? Feel free to comment below.

    Although not mentioned on the blog often, we are avid board gamers, too, on Sunday evenings

Speaking of comments, this has probably been the most prolific year by commenters on Lead Legionaries, too. I really enjoy reading your feedback and hearing your thoughts. So, thank you to Bill, Donnie, Jason, Neil, Ray, Tom, and the man who seems to be everywhere, Anonymous! Ha, ha! Seriously, I really enjoy your comments as it confirms for me people are actually out there reading my blog. I'm sure every blogger wonders about that. Lacking any passive feedback such as "Likes" that you see on Facebook or "Times viewed" on Lead Adventure Forum, your comments are what I have to go on. I have had friends or acquaintances tell me they read my blog regularly, so I appreciate that, as well. 

    Expect more Zombie RV AARs in 2025 - more close escapes and characters that don't make it!

A Look Ahead (and some stats)

I mentioned 2024 was my most prolific year. If I get this posted tonight (New Year's Eve), it will be my 86th post of the year. That beats by about 20 my previous high, which was 66 in 2014. December 2024 has been my busiest month ever, too. This will be post #15, eclipsing the previous high pf 13 in October 2013. I actually started Lead Legionaries in September of 2013, though you will see posts dated 2007 through 2009. Those were "re-posts" of After-Action Reports from games played in those years.

    Keith, at right, gets a hankering from time to time for random periods -- like Civil War ironclads!

Why all the productivity this year? Well, it should be obvious - RETIREMENT! When people ask me how retirement is going (I finished teaching in May), I answer, "Every day is a good day." Unless I am out of town, I begin every day by going downstairs into my hobby room and putting in about an hour on whatever I am painting or modeling at the moment. I do get an occasional chance to sneak back downstairs during the day, but this steady one hour a day had done wonders for my output. As you may have seen at the bottom of my posts throughout the year, I have been tracking my Acquired vs. Painted totals. I ended up this year painting 254 miniatures. I took in 227. I hope to make the gap even bigger in 2025 with a full year of being retired.

    My 'Five Parsecs' crew investigates some of the Sci-Fi scatter & buildings I painted up in 2024

What projects will you see posts on in 2025? A number will continue -- my post-apocalyptic campaign and Zombie RV games are both meant to be continuing series. So, my players' characters will improve (though some will likely die -- especially in Zombie RV!), which hopefully means they'll want to keep playing games. I like campaigns, though nowadays this means a continuing series of linked skirmishes rather than the old school Ancients ones where players controlled a kingdom. What else? I will likely finish the story arc of Five Parsecs from Home and then reevaluate whether I want to keep playing solo games. You will see the start of my Star Wars skirmishes, with players controlling factions ranging from the Empire to the Rebel Alliance and all shades of opinion in between. I hope to keep running one-off games of Xenos Rampant, too.

    'A new period...?' Admiral Akbar asks..."It's a trap!!" Mon Calamari 3D-printed figures

 What about new stuff, you ask? Wellll...I enjoyed how Sellswords & Spellslingers worked for my Viking Town Raid. I plan to use that system for a series of linked skirmishes set in Britain during the Viking raids. The players will control a couple characters, seeking to help the inhabitants of Britain survive the fury of the Norsemen. And I plan on tinkering with that system to adapt it to...Vietnam! I have long been tempted to run Vietnam games, but balked at starting a new period (and not having a set of rules I liked). I like the idea of running Vietnam cooperatively, with each player being a sergeant in control of a squad of grunts. Their goal will be get as many of their men to survive their 13 month tour of duty in Vietnam. I will likely test it out solo, first, using my 20mm modern Africa figures. If I like how it works, I will probably invest in a new period in 2025 -- 28mm Vietnam. We'll see, though -- no guarantees!

Thanks for reading my Year in Review! I know it was long, but your readership is appreciated...!

Miniature Painting & Purchasing Tally for 2024

• Miniatures acquired in 2024: 227
  
• Miniatures painted in 2024: 254