Fun Weekend at the Ft. Wayne (IN) Saga Tournament

    I took my Picts to the Ft. Wayne Saga tournament and did well -- going 2-1 and having a great time

Once I decided to make the journey to the Saga tournament in Ft. Wayne, IN, the next question was which of my armies to take along and play? My most recently-painted army was the Mongols. The entire army is mounted, though, and I wasn't sure how well they would fare in a tournament featuring three scenarios with very particular victory conditions. I was especially worried about the Round 1 scenario, King of the Hill. The players get bonus points for occupying a central hill at the end of each their turns. The Mongols are all about striking and pulling back -- at least the way I play them. That would certainly entail me having to stay in place for a counter-strike by my opponent. This could prove deadly if the army was adept at shooting.

    Some of the crowd of 18 players at Power 9 Gaming in Ft. Wayne, IN, Feb. 11

So, I ended up shelving the Mongols for this tournament and playing my Picts. I actually won a tournament with them last year, and really enjoy their speed and striking ability. Their weakness, though, is they require dense terrain on the board to fully utilize their special abilities. Since terrain would be placed by the player, I felt I would be able to get at least enough terrain to give me a chance every game. I also decided to take a mercenary unit called "The Guides," which allow you to either put out additional terrain or shift the position of what's already been placed. 

    My Picts deploy for their Round 1 Battle, King of the Hill, against Scott's Moorish army

Daniel B, who was running the tournament, permitted players to have a list of eight army points from which they could draw six points at deployment. As it turned out, I used the same six points in all three rounds, never feeling the need to change it: 12 levy crossbowmen, 12 levy archers, the Guides, and three units of Pictish warrior spearmen. I kept my warlord on foot all three games, too. My opponents were all fun to play against, and I felt they presented a wide variety of challenges. My first opponent was Scott M from Indiana. He was playing Moors from Age of Crusades. I have played the Moors quite a few times myself, and it is one of my favorite armies in Saga. In fact, Scott had listened to my interview on Saga Thorsday and was basing his army list and tactics on what I recommended in Rodge's video. I told Scott I would try to help coach him through it, as this was one of the first times he had played with that army.

    Two of the other entrants from Saga Ohio, Dan N playing his Polish on left, and Bob B & Byzantines

I missed an opportunity right away to coach him during terrain placement, though. I should have told him to limit his use of "uneven" terrain, which disadvantaged his javelin-armed, Moorish cavalry and benefited my army. He went first and placed an area of ruins next to the central hill we would have to control in our King of the Hill scenario. That was a sound, tactical choice, as it gave him a good defensive position for his Moorish archers. I countered it with rocky ground on the other side of the hill where my own missile armed troops could access it quickly. Scott should have stopped placing dense terrain at that point, but placed one more piece. I kept at it, too, and the hill ended up being almost completely ringed by terrain favorable to my all-infantry, Pictish army.

    My Picts felt comfortable with the dense terrain we were able to fight in during round one

I was a little overconfident in my striking power, though. I immediately sent in one of my spear units to try to drive his Moorish archers out of the ruins. To my surprise, they were driven back and lost 25% in casualties. Yikes - bad way to start! His rolls were fairly good and mine were fairly bad in that attack, but I should have taken that possibility into account and "stacked the deck" with more advanced Saga abilities in our melee. Still, I had two other spear units and I marched one of them onto the hill next turn to begin scoring my 3 bonus points per turn (as did Scott). I was able to get some shots on his cavalry with my crossbowmen, though, which was a bonus. They advanced, getting ready to line up a charge on my infantry on the hill.

    The name of this game was "King of the Hill," so there were a lot of units advancing onto it

One interesting ability on the Pictish board is called, Secret Paths. If it is queued up in the opponent's turn, it allows a unit that has suffered a shooting attack or a charge to "teleport" near a piece of terrain somewhere on the board. Twice Scott had cavalry charges lined up against one of my units. Both times he decided to "soften them up" with archery first. Both times the Picts disappeared after weathering the Moorish missiles, leaving his cavalry with no one to charge. It was my shooting against his mounted troops that actually won the game for me, I believe. I was able to hit them a couple times and whittle away at their numbers. And when he finally did get a "Torrent of Iron" (my favorite Moorish ability) charge against my archers, the levy performed better than I thought they would and killed two or three of the enemy.

    Having driven off the Moorish thrust on the left, Pictish crossbows begin targeting enemy on the hill

All in all, I felt that I was getting a slight edge while we were trading blows. Devastating his higher point value hearthguard cavalry ended up being enough to win my first round. I had a lot of fun playing Scott. Knowing what the Moors were good at doing was a definite advantage for me, as well. The terrain favored my Picts, too. As it was, we started off with a victory in our first round and the Picts were off and running.

    Scott's depleted Moorish cavalry finally get a 'Torrent of Iron' charge off vs. my levy archers

The second round was against D.J. Andrews, one of our co-winners from the Advance the Colors 2022 Saga tournament. He was playing an army that I had yet to face -- Spanish from Age of Crusades. I had heard that one of the rules revisions had really weakened this list, so I was surprised there were actually two players using this army in the tournament. By the way, we had 18 players in total, which is an amazing number for a first-ever Saga tournament in Ft. Wayne! D.J.'s army was heavily mounted, with three units of mounted warriors and one of mounted hearthguard. Naturally, he began placing terrain with a large, gentle hill in the center. In fact, all three of my games began the same way, with my opponents being first player and having a large, gentle hill in the center of the battlefield.

    A wide open center of the board would hamper my Picts in my 2nd Round vs. D.J.'s Feudal Spanish

Our scenario for this round was A Tale of Challenges, where each player must fulfill 2-4 "boasts" over the course of the game. I was planning on using "I Will Sack Your Lands", which requires me to have three units close to his base line at the end of the game. I planned to lean on the Secret Paths ability to help get them there, so cluttered up his side of the field with woods and scrub land. I made a mistake by not having a piece of uneven terrain opposite his large hill on my side of the board, though. Since the only defense the Picts have against shooting is hiding in terrain, I handicapped myself by leaving a huge area in the center of the battlefield with nowhere for my army to hide. This forced me to split my army into two sections, one on each wing, where they could not easily support one another.

Pictish spearmen hurtled across this board, but were unable to move en masse to the enemy baseline

Still, I planned on using Secret Paths to leapfrog across the table. This plan was scuttled by poor rolling of my command and control dice. Each six-sided Saga die has one Rare face (think of it as the "six"), two Uncommon faces, and three Common faces. I need an Uncommon for Secret Paths. Guess what I didn't roll for three turns straight? Uncommons! That seriously handicapped my chances of crossing the table and scoring bonus points for our challenge. 

    Pictish archers, followed by the Guides, loose volleys at the surprised Spanish cavalry

My other challenge required that I pick his most expensive unit in points (I chose his 12-man mounted hearthguard unit) and destroy it entirely. The biggest barrier to doing that would be the Jinetes ability on the Spanish battle board. This allows a unit of his mounted troops to move after one of mine have moved or shot. The Picts are very speedy, but their long range charge they would need to complete two separate activations. However, whenever I darted forward to where I could charge his cavalry, they would scamper away before I could play my second action (the charge). In the end, I would fail at achieving either of my challenges, which would cost me 10 points.

    Pictish spearmen come up short, as the faster Spanish cavalry at top keep evading away

As for casualties, I was actually ahead of him in destroying enemy throughout the game. I caught him off guard early (when he did not have Jinetes queued up), and moved quicker than he expected with my archers. They loosed a couple good shots at his smaller units of mounted warriors. I felt I did a good job of keeping his Flemish mercenaries out of the game, too. They were meant to be his unit that took my punches, but we did not oblige that and never charged them. When the Flemish charged one of my warrior units, I had my board stacked with good defensive melee abilities. My Pictish spearmen actually drove them off and caused some Flemish casualties.

    Late in the game, the Picts are too far from the enemy board edge to score boast to sack their camp!

Still, I was staring down a negative 10 point deficit in failed challenges. D.J. skillfully kept me from closing with my target unit. The game felt close all the way through. He had been able to pull off the "First Blood" challenge on turn one. Even though he failed to kill my warlord (his other challenge), the fact that he scored one of his and had only a single negative one made a big difference. In the end, D.J. and his Feudal Spanish prevailed in our tense game of cat and mouse.  I had a lot of fun playing against him, and would relish a straight up matchup with him another time!

    Another Round 1 game, Phil's Welsh tackle Jenny's Eastern Princes and their battle wagon

The tourney GM, Daniel, had done a great job matching up folks who normally don't play each other in the first two rounds. That's something I strive to do, as well. The Ohio contingent had brought six players - fully one third of the tourney's numbers. Indianapolis had also brought a good number to Ft. Wayne, as well. Patrick W even drove up from North Carolina! However, in the last round I got matched up against one of the Saga Ohio players -- tourney veteran Jim Randall. He was also 1-1 with his Last Romans. We had recently played in Shore Wars 2022 in Cleveland, which I had run (and played in to make an even number). Jim is an excellent, crafty opponent. You have to bring your "A Game" against him, or you will end up defeated. Even with your A Game on, it is still a likely chance he will emerge triumphant.

    My Round 3 opponent at right, Jim, as he unravels the mystery of how to attack Eric's Spartans

This version of his Last Romans was different than what I'd faced at Shore Wars. He had Flemish mercenaries (to hold the hill in Round 1) instead of Jarl Sigvaldi. Other than that, his army was infantry heavy, with only one six-man unit of mounted hearthguard with composite bows. It was obvious that Jim planned to win a shooting duel, and eke out a victory based on that. This would not be a clash of battle lines, if his strategy played out, but instead a skirmishing duel. On one turn, it became unmistakably apparent that was his strategy. He loaded up nearly all of his Saga dice in Combat Bonus to augment a shot at my Pictish crossbowmen. He ended up rolling 14 dice on that attack, I believe, and was stunned when it caused only one casualty. I reminded him that I was in heavy cover (giving me better armor and a +1 save). He countered with, "You're living a charmed life." I then reminded him my previous roll of Saga dice was 7 Commons on no Rares or Uncommons. And his own infantry in Woods had survived unscathed a 9-dice shot from my crossbowmen!

    Jim ponders and assesses the battlefield for a few moments before beginning to move on our turn one

The scenario was Desecration, and I think Jim was planning on neither of us destroying one of the three enemy objectives. However, my goal was to take out at least one, hopefully two -- if I got lucky with a Secret Path redeployment. I advanced quickly with one of my spear units and sent it charging in. The Picts succeeded in taking out his closest objective. This began a tit-for-tat string of counter-punches where each of us attacked an exposed enemy unit, leaving one of our own open for the other to counterattack. This string of charges and shooting ended when he unwisely galloped forward with his mounted warlord into one of my units. On my turn, another Pictish spear unit charged the fatigued warlord and cut him down.

Pict left wing, which joined the right wing, one by one, when no threat came their way

At this point, I felt I had the game well under control. He had yet to take an objective (capping him at 10 Massacre Points), while I had taken one of his and killed his warlord. Jim tried some last turn shenanigans, aided by some incredibly fortunate Saga die rolling. He began his final turn with 3 command dice, and somehow rolled enough Rares to play Activation Pool all the way up to his full 8 command dice! His mounted horse archers finally got into the battle, but it was too little, too late. The Picts had triumphed and we got our revenge for his gouging of my Carolingians at Shore Wars!

    Pictish spearmen charge into and slay the Roman warlord when he ventures too far forward

I ended the day 2-1, but in the middle of the pack because of my low scoring in round 2. Nevertheless, I had a great time and played three fun games of Saga. Oh, and my fear of entering my Mongols in the tournament? Fellow Saga Ohio player Joe Dihrkop brought Mongols and won it all! In addition to the gaming, we had an equally great time out the evening before. The Ft. Wayne Saga folks had organized a Friday night outing at a local wings place and 14 of us showed up. It was fun to meet a lot of the players beforehand, and get a chance to get to know them. All in all, it was a great weekend of gaming and camaraderie. Thanks to Daniel, Mark, Eric, Troy, and all of the other Ft. Wayne folks for being such great hosts! If you get a chance to make it to one of their events, I highly recommend it!!

    Finished at 1:30am the night before, Eric's Spartans were one of the cooler looking armies there!

    At left, Patrick W (who drove up from NC) advances on Anthony A from Indiana

Finally! Second Post-Apoc game: 'I Smell a Rat...!'

    F Troop, a survivor gang drawn from a former Army unit, search for loot on the outskirts of town

It had been since July of 2022 that I ran our first post-apocalyptic game, Water or Gas? Waaay too long! And just when I was ready to host the long-awaited sequel, the flu bug made a run through our gaming group and I had to postpone twice more. Five of us finally got together, though, this past Sunday to play out, "I Smell a Rat!" -- the second scenario in what will hopefully be a continuing series of games. It also happened to be Super Bowl Sunday, so we had the TV on in the background to keep an eye on the commercials and regular scoring between the Chiefs and Eagles.

    F Troop advances, ready to forage the ruins for supplies (figs from Battle Valor Games)

In my second scenario, various gangs of survivors have heard that another gang was recently wiped out by the Machines and their Bots on a foraging expedition. A number of rival gangs were also aware that the deceased gang members had a headquarters in a trailer on the edge of a town. Most were of the opinion that there had to be some guns, ammo, or other useful supplies stashed in the trailer or nearby. The goal was to be the first to loot the headquarters! Unknown to the would-be looters, swarms of rats have been drawn to the area by the smell of the gang's rotting food. Amidst the swarms could be seen the huge shapes of ROUS's (Rodents of Unusual Size, for fans of The Princess Bride).

    The Green Dragons, my newest team, advance onto the board wearing their HazMat suits & masks

There were three weapons caches on the board (3 Renown Points each) -- in the trailer, hidden inside a rusted van, and also inside a broken down taxi. These were spread across the center of the board, and would require a "Normal" task roll to successfully loot it. At eight other scattered points on the tabletop were crates marking the location of medical equipment or food supplies (2 Renown Points each). However, the first time a player character came within 6" of one of those spots, they had to stop their move and roll a d10. On a 1-2, a ROUS appeared, 3-5 swarm of rats, 6+ no effect. If one appeared, a card was immediately dealt to the player two spots to their left at the table. The controller of the swarm or ROUS added the extra card to their hand, and could use that card or one of their other cards to activate the creatures.

    The rowdy Barbarozas investigate a pile of rubbish, hoping to find something useful

Players could also get a RP by knocking out of action a rival player's character, killing a ROUS or swarm, or even while controlling a rat and knocking out another player's character. This last one was to ensure proper bloodthirstiness among the rival players rather than any gentleman's agreement! Finally, players could earn an RP for spending two actions carving off some meat from a downed swarm or ROUS -- White Castle rat-burgers on the menu tonight! Ha, ha!!

 

    Winners of the first scenario, the Blood Brotherhood move up past a ruined building

The board was roughly 6' wide and 4's across. I am thinking of shrinking it down a bit for the next game. There was less interaction among rival teams in this game than I was hoping for. Jenny's Blood Brotherhood and Andy's Barbarozas had a running fight through the second half of the game, but otherwise, little other gun play happened between players. I even sweetened the pot for players who had a character knocked out of action last game. They would receive a bonus 1 RP each if they got revenge and knocked out members of that gang. With the lack of targeting each other that occurred, I am thinking my board is too spacious.

    The Followers of the Dark Prophet were the first to trigger the arrival of a swarm of giant rats

The game opened with each player starting near one of the four corners or mid-point of one of the long edges. I had tried to distribute the equipment caches evenly across the board, and all five players immediately began heading for them. Allen's Followers of the Dark Prophet were the first to come within 6" of a crate. A rat swarm appeared, though, and the startled Daffyd of the Followers tried to leap back. His fellows opened fire on the swarm, but that seemed to only enrage the vermin. Almost immediately afterwards, Jenny used the extra card (or one of her own?) to charge the rats into Daffyd. He went down, screaming horribly, devoured by a moving carpet of rats.

    The Barbarozas welcomed the rats arrival and waded in with axes and swords to carve up a meal!

His horrified brethren continued to pour fire into the swarm, but succeeded in putting only one wound and one Shock marker on the rats. Since swarms remove a wound at the end of each turn, the second turn dawned with an almost fresh rat swarm ready to charge again.  However, the concentrated gunfire of the black-clad Followers finally dispersed or killed most of the rats before it could charge again. This seemed to check Allen's enthusiasm for moving ahead quickly, though, and he explored more cautiously for the next couple turns.

    Dragons leader Ting and Wang survey the dilapidated trailer before moving in to search it

Meanwhile, the wild Barbarozas charged onto the board with a rocker's rebel yell. This elicited movement at the first crate, and sure enough, another rat swarm emerged from a pile of garbage. It charged into Barbarozas, who despite toting guns, are always ready for a hand-to-hand brawl. Their team trait is "Ferocious," which adds +1 on their "to wound" roll in melee. I had modeled the team on the classic "bad guys" of Mad Max and other post-apocalyptic movies. Andy's rock and rollers quickly dispatched the rat swarm and then showed their barbaric nature by immediately carving up the carcasses to take home for dinner!

    Ting watches in horror as Wang is attacked by a swarm of rats as he crept towards the trailer

Meanwhile, across the table, the dark red-clad Blood Brotherhood crept onto the scene. Winners of the first scenario in RPs, they showed they were still a force to be reckoned with. When their exploration prompted a loud roll and the appearance of an ROUS, the Brotherhood did not panic. Brother Foresight, who seemed to anticipate the appearance of the monstrous rat, took aim with his shotgun and dropped it with one shot. 

    Before Wang could respond, the rats attack again on the next turn, swarming all over him

I was playing my newest painted gang, the Green Dragons. I sent Feng to the left to investigate one of the crates between my position and that of the Followers of the Dark Prophet. I sent Chen to the right to check out another crate. While Feng fumbled finding anything, and eventually gave up, Chen found a packet of medical supplies and quickly pocketed them. The Dragons' leader Ting, accompanied by his loyal henchman Wang, crept towards the trailer. The two eyed the steel bars reinforcing all the windows and wondered if it was truly abandoned. Ting waved Wang forward. As the green-clad survivor neared the trailer, a seething gray mass emerged from underneath the trailer. Another swarm of giant rats had appeared! 

    The rats had less success against the Blood Brother, as Justice dispatches a ROUS with his shotgun

The rats quickly charged (Joel was merciless when controlling the rats) and inflicted a Shock on Wang. When Ting's turned arrived, I was unsure what to do. If I shot into the melee, Fistful of Lead rules state that you randomize who you hit. However, if you charge into melee, all combatants roll again. So, if the rat swarm rolled high and I rolled low, I could lose both characters. What to do, wondered my leader Ting? I decided to have the leader take up a good firing position and use his "Encouraging" trait to remove Wang's shock. Wrong decision, apparently, as on the next turn, Joel acted with the first of his SIX cards (he also received an extra card because his gang, F Troop, had Advanced Communications as their team trait). The swarm acted before Wang could, and took him out in a flurry of sharp teeth and raking claws. Joel then used the swarm's "Unstoppable" trait to immediately charge Ting!

    The Barbarozas move onto the rusting taxi, gleeful to attack another rat swarm when it appeared

Ting was apparently made of sterner stuff than Wang, though. As the rats came clambering over the walls he was sheltering behind, he splattered one after another with quick pistol shots in melee. Soon, the rat swarm all lay dead or dispersed squeaking for somewhere to hide. In the game so far, two player characters had been taken down by the rats. Had I made them too tough? Apparently not, as they would prove an afterthought in the rest of the game, and no more losses would come at their hands. All in all, I really liked how this mechanic I'd created worked. Giving a rival player control of the "monsters," and giving them an extra card to use for them, gave them more tactical decision making. They could use that card for themselves and one of their originally drawn cards for the rats. Or vice versa. I will definitely keep it for future scenarios!

    Ever on the hunt for humans, a Scout Bot rolls onto the table, attracted by the gunfire of our teams

Since we had lost 10% of our forces, that would also trigger the arrival of the machines at the end of the turn. At 10%, a Scout Bot rolls onto the field. The player who has lost the most figures (or the first to lose them if tied), gains control of it, just like with the rats. Allen was given a Scout Bot, which he placed in Jenny's deployment corner. Meanwhile, things were heating up between Jenny's Blood Brotherhood and Andy's Barbarozas. I knew that once the hooded brethren headed for the broken-down taxi that Andy would take that as an affront. His rockers had been heading there since turn one. He immediately opened fire while sprinting for the hard cover of the taxi. Another swarm of rats scampering over the rusting body of the vehicle didn't faze the Barbarozas in the least.

    Almost as if expecting it, Brother Foresight wheels and blasts with his shotgun, disabling the bot

On his turn, two of Andy's characters charged into the swarm and eventually dispatched it. Raven, the second in command of the gang, then opened fire on Brother Temperance, who fell to the ground with a cry, his dark red robe slowly becoming darker. The cool-headed nature of the hooded brethren was apparent, though. Deacon Justice, the second in command whirled around and blasted away at the Scout Bot, which came rolling up behind the Brotherhood. One of his shots hit something vital and the mechanical scout crashed to the ground, its one wheel spinning crazily. Equally nonplussed, Grand Master moved up to the taxi and blasted away at the three enemy gang members. When Fredrik, with his flowing locks of hair, charged into the Grand Master, the hooded commander slammed his submachine gun into the gut of the fearsome barbarian. Shocked, he recoiled and fell back.

    After killing the rats, the Barbarozas use the taxi as cover and fire away at the Blood Brotherhood

Still, Grand Master knew he was outnumbered and backed away. This left the Barbarozas time to find the weapons cache hidden in the taxi's trunk. When Fredrik saw the bots begin to arrive, he shouted to his gang to begin to fall back. He even yelled out "Truce - machines!" to the Brotherhood, and the gun play between the two gangs died out. The Brotherhood was less ready to call it a day, though. Seeing the Green Dragons members entering the trailer, he growled and was tempted to go after them. However, seeing Brother Temperance lying motionless, and worrying more rats might be about, he sprinted over to him. He slung him over his shoulder and backed slowly and grudgingly off the table.

    Meanwhile, Joel's F Troop was scavenging the ruins picking up useful equipment unhindered

As mentioned, my Green Dragons were headed towards the trailer. Chen sprinted along the edge of a patch of scrub, checking out if the coast was clear to make a dash for the trailer's door. Ting followed him up, taking up each position Chen vacated. Seeing no other gang members near the trailer, Chen sprinted and took cover by the staircase leading up to the door. Ting took his place by the scrub, covering him with his pistol. On his next turn, Chen vaulted onto the stairs, and dashed inside the doorway. He immediately located the weapons cache, and gathered it into a sack for ease of carrying.

    After killing the rat swarm that took out Wang, Ting follows Chen towards the trailer

Meanwhile, the hapless Feng, after failing to find the supplies, moved to a patch of woods. He could see the shadowy shapes of F Troop through the trees. Unwisely, he stopped moving and sheltered on the edge of the trees. Making up for his lackluster first game, Joel was on fire that evening. He sent one of his F Troop soldiers through the woods and opened fire on Feng, dropping him with a well-placed shot. Confident that Feng was down, the trooper backed away through the woods. Joel was successful in looting the crates he found and also secured the weapons the gang had hidden inside the rusted van. Eventually, he decided it had been a good foraging expedition, and withdrew -- never having suffered a shot or the claws of any rats.

Followers of the Dark Prophet continue exploring, unaware they are being stalked by a Scout Bot

Ting saw Feng crawling away, bleeding. He darted towards the staircase and shouted encouragement to Feng to shake off the wound and get up. Feng failed his Recovery roll again, but finally on the third try was successful. He staggered erect and began stumbling towards the Green Dragons entry point. Ting and Chen returned the way they came, first to cover by the staircase, then to the scrub, and finally darting for the table edge. Ting scooped up Wang's body along the way, hoping that he was merely unconscious and not dead. Eventually, all four exited the table with RPs from a weapons cache, medical equipment, and killing a rat swarm. 

    The Scout Bot blazed away at the dark-robed Followers, but was unable to score any hits

Jenny got her revenge on Allen by bringing on the second Scout Bot in Allen's deployment area. It fired away at Solomon Bey, the leader of the Followers of the Dark Prophet. His "Sixth Sense" trait forced Jenny to re-roll the hit she'd placed on him and Solomon was more lucky on the second roll. The Followers used the ruins as cover as best they could to minimize the chances for the Scout Bot to score any hits. Jenny's rolls were unsuccessful, and soon there were no more humans in the area for it to hunt down. All of the players had escaped. A late-arriving Sentry Bot similarly missed the opportunity to get shots at the withdrawing F Troop. 

    Ever the caring leader, Ting carries Wang off towards medical treatment at the Dragons base

All teams scored successes, with four of the five suffering an "Out of Action" result on one of its gang members during the course of the game. Everyone also brought home equipment of some sort and likely will be using the RPs earned to add a trait or two to its team members. I am learning each game how to make scenarios more interesting using these rules. I am thinking the next game will likely be inside the ruins of a city, with slightly more intact buildings and streets and alley ways to explore. I have some ideas on what random "monsters" the players will run into, as well.

So, stay tuned for the next game report. Hopefully, the wait won't be as long this time!

Green Dragons: New Post-Apoc Force

    My final post-Apocalyptic force (again!) - the Green Dragons, 28mm minis from Battle Valor Games

Okay, so I DID say that I was done painting forces for my post-apocalyptic games, right? Well, how can one more force hurt, right? When I finished painting the Barbarozas in December, I had one force for all seven of my regular players. I got to thinking, though, when everyone does show up, maybe I should control a force, too? That would enable us to split it into two games of four instead of one game of four and another of three...or one game of seven! So, for balance's sake, maybe I should paint up one final gang for me to control. Why not?

    Originally, I thought the figures were sculpted in hoodies, but they turned out to be HazMat suits

It just so happened that I also had one style of force from Battle Valor Games (formerly cast by Sgt. Major Miniatures) that I hadn't used, yet. When I purchased them, I thought they were wearing hoodies with masks or respirators of some sort. When I pulled the figures out to clean them up, it seemed obvious that their outfit was a one-piece, Hazmat suit. That fits pretty well with a post-apocalytpic setting, I thought. What color to paint them, though? I went online and found a huge variety of colors of suits under the heading of Hazard Materials Suit. I didn't want to duplicate the color of any of my other forces I'd painted up, so the tans and oranges were out the window (some of my Planet of the Apes figs wear burnt orange jumpsuits). I settled on a kind of bright, almost putrid green. I felt this might blend in more with the battlefield than the bright yellow ones I saw online!

    I debated with myself about the color to paint their suits, but chose a light, putrid green

I also decided that this would be an Asian gang, and I would paint their masks/respirators as white N95 type masks. Not to stereotype, but typically Asian cultures are much more proactive about wearing such masks than your standard American populace -- or at least pre-Covid! I decided that I would call them the Green Dragons, to go with the color of their jumpsuit and the overall veneration of the dragon as a mythical figure by Chinese culture. I selected the brightest and most putrid green color that I had (Howard Hues Light Green), and gave them a base coat of that. I then found a darker green, watered it down, and did a wash over the figure. Finally, I took a chalky, greenish-white color and dry brushed the figure with it. I liked the depth of the green this gave it, and am happy with the Hazmat suit color.

    For their logo, I used a black micron pen to write in the word 'Dragons' in Chinese script

I used the same formula for their skin as I did for my Mongols -- I had mixed up a big batch of it when I was painting my Mongol Saga army using a standard flesh with a different, tan leathery color. It begins too bright, but I put both a brown and black wash on it and I like how it comes out. It is a more weathered, tan wash than a city-dweller in a Chinese city might wear, but for a post-apocalyptic force, I figured a dirty, darker skin is more realistic.

    The green dragons explore the burnt out urban ruins of my post-Apocalyptic world

I painted a black oval on the back of the jumpsuit and then put in a tan or yellowish-white oval inside it. Inside the oval, I would later use a black Micron pen to write in the word "Dragons" in Chinese script. First, though, I finished painting all of the figures' equipment -- which was pretty much just their white masks and their weapons. This batch of miniatures went very quickly as the poses did not have much equipment festooned on them. I did the eyes -- not very happy with how those came out. The mask really squeezed the area I had to do the eyes. Once everything was completely painted, I did the final black wash. In the end, I really like how the Green Dragons look. Once I make their character cards with stats for Wiley Games' Fistful of Lead rules, I will go back and do the character names on the bases. I think the player controlling them will especially need them for this gang! Three of the figures carry pistols, while two appear to have shotguns. I'll offer one of our regular players, Andy, the choice of playing either the Barbarozas or the Green Dragons. I'll take the remaining one for my gang. 

    A Destroyer Bot arrives -- a 3-D printed miniature from Thingiverse

Since the Green Dragons were painting up so quickly, I decided to finally getting around to painting the "Destroyer Bot" miniature that my friend Joe 3-D printed for me. I'd picked out the file from Thingiverse and he'd done a good job printing this one. Some of his prints have a lot of flash, but this one was pretty smooth. When I was painting the Scout, Sentry, and Military Bots earlier, I had primed up this figure. I even put a base coast of a darker metallic silver on it. However, I decided that I wanted this one to be more colorful. So, I went back over and repainted most of it in the Metallic Dark Red craft paint which I had first used on my drones for Space Station Alpha. I really like that color, plus it covers MUCH better than the other metallics.

    Armed with multiple weapon systems, this Bot will likely cause player forces to flee the table

On the areas that I left silver, I went back and repainted them the darker metallic dark gray that I have been using for a lot of Sci-Fi stuff. I think the combination of the dark red and dark gray metallic is pretty effective. I am happy with how it looks. I did accents in a coppery gold metallic color that I have been using a lot in my Sci-Fi terrain, as well. I am not 100% happy with how the green, yellow, and red "lights" came out on the figure. I have used this technique in the past with terrain and bots and liked the effect it gave. However, perhaps these "lights" are too big, and it loses that control panel or LED indicator look to it. 

    I like the 2-tone, red and gray metallic paint scheme - though I am not sold on the colored 'lights'

All in all, he looks acceptable to use on the tabletop. That is, whenever we finally get around to PLAYING one of my post-apocalyptic games, again! My group has been hit with the flu bug of last. We have scheduled to play the second game at my place two of the last three weekends, but sickouts have reduced us below the level to make it worth playing. We're trying again next weekend, and hopefully finally get game two in. The likelihood of the Destroyer Bot showing up is low in a game. The bots arrive, attracted by the sounds of gunfire and fighting. A Scout Bot shows up first, then a Sentry Bot, then Military Bot, and finally the Destroyer. In our first game we had one or two Scout Bots arrive, and one Sentry Bot (which gunned down a character, causing the players to have the rest of their miniatures flee the table. They are programmed to arrive when players lose a certain percentage of their forces, so it may never happen. Either way, I have one ready!

Now, we just need to play a game...!

Flying Drones for Space Station Zero (& more terrain)

    Unmanned aerial drones fly over my newest terrain piece for Space Station Zero

One of the dangers that crews can possibly run into when exploring Space Station Zero are flying drones. With my dearth of Science-Fiction terrain and figures, I had nothing I could reasonably use as them. So, when I was at Shore Wars 2022 this past December, I was very interested to see RRB Minis & More's booth at the show. They carry an extensive line of 25mm Sci-Fi figures, vehicles, and accessories. Maybe I'd be able to find something there?

    Closeups of the red and blue color schemes I painted on the Stormbirds from RRB Minis & More

Naturally, I did find something that would be perfect with a little modification. From the McEwan Miniatures Classics line that RRB carries, I picked out the Stormbird flying vehicle. Leaving off the crewman and a couple other pieces, I thought it would make a suitable unmanned drone to guard the corridors of the space station. Because I wanted the figures to fit on some magnetic flight stands I'd bought long ago from Litko, I had to glue a washer on the underside of the drone. I also epoxied in the gatling/minigun, and that was it for construction. I can certainly deal with a minimum of fiddly-ness!

Drones endlessly patrolling corridors for intruding crews (I really like the dark red metallic color!)

I primed the figures white, and then applied metallic craft paints to them. My favorite color scheme turned out to be the dark red metallic. I had recently purchased that bottle of paint, along with the dark blue, which I used for another pair. The green and white colors I already had, and had painted earlier droids, robots, or terrain with those colors. After the base coat was painted, I decided to get fancy and add in stripes. I am not really happy with how they came out. My hands apparently aren't steady enough to paint an even width line that is good and straight anymore! I did a dark metallic gray wider stripe with a slightly narrower stripe of either silver or gold. I then decided to paint the two nacelles that project forward on the model in the accent metallic, too. For the white metallic ones, I used the dark red and a lighter blue as my accent colors.

    Four more aerial drones that will be a menace to any exploring crew in the derelict space station

The mini gun was painted with a range of steel metallic colors. The breech and housing ring were done in Ral Partha steel, while the gun barrels themselves were painted pewter. I highlighted the barrels with an aluminum color that I don't like using often. It is a weird, almost enamel consistency and is really hard to remove from my brushes. Finally, I did a dark black wash over the mini gun. I decided not to do the usual black wash over the entire drone surface, rationalizing that if they are in good enough working order to be still flying, the machines would probably be kept fairly clean. 

    Luckily, I had some unused flight stands from Litko and some rare earth magnets to attach them

In the photos, the drones are flying above my latest piece of 6"x4" terrain for Space Station Zero. As with earlier ones, it is a combination of store-bought pieces (Mantic Games) and scratch-built items. I painted it in the same colors and style as the previous ones. The only difference was I decided to do the floor slightly different. I wasn't happy with how dark the metallic floors were looking in previous pieces, so I lightened the floor up with a watered down pewter. I added in full strength, dark black wash to represent oil leaks or other equipment seepage.

Gang Rumble in the Short North, Columbus

    The streets of the Short North in Columbus were taken over by gangs at Origins Game Day

A new Winter game day here in Columbus, OH, gave me the opportunity to host a gang rumble using my Mean Streets rules. The Origins Game Day was held Jan. 14, and was the brainchild of my old friend, Bryan Borgman. It was an incredible success, with 400+ folks coming out for a free day of gaming, flea market tables, and fun. I ran into a number of Columbus area gamers I had not seen for awhile, so it was good to catch up. I also spent the rest of my Christmas gaming money on some great purchases from Bryan's flea market table, and RRB Minis & More (who drove down for the day from Youngstown).

    I had full table of six players for Mean Streets -- three of them brand new to the rules!

I used the same six gang setup that I used for Historicon 2022, this past July. Each of the six gangs was given a primary mission and two secondary missions. As a GM, I like players to have choices on what to do with their forces in a game. Not only does it make the game more interactive, it also helps make each running of it a different outcome. Saturday's' game was a perfect example of that. The gang that scored the most points was the Eastmoor Kings. In the beginning of the game, they stayed away from the other five gangs, concentrating on "tagging" buildings with their gang logo - a green crown with a black "K" on it. I make up circular discs with each gang's logo that players place against the walls when they tag a building. John, who was playing them, had an opportunity to engage in some of the multi-gang scrums, but waited until it had broken up and his "payback target" -- the Santanas -- had split up. He pounced, and after knocking two of them out, finally headed off to Wallace's Brewpub to complete his primary mission -- steal some beer for the gang's Saturday night party!

    With five other gangs on the streets, the punk rockers, the Indianola Mohawks, stuck together

Some gangs stayed together as a mass, others split off 2-3 to complete their primary mission. The Indianola Mohawks, played by Michael, kept together and waded into a big melee by the Shell Station's pumps. He admitted his die rolls were above average while his opponent, Mike S (playing the clown-faced, Franklinton Flippos) continued his run of miserable die rolling. Normally that is MY specialty, but Mike took over the job in earnest, that day. His gang boss and two punks were knocked out in short order. The Warchief and another punk did make it to the Market Booths, though. They completed their primary mission of knocking out several of the vendors and convincing them to give the gang "protection money." After completing that, and seeing how the rest of the gang was laying, bleeding on the gas station's asphalt, they skulked off the table.

   Julio, Cruz, and Manana of the Santanas disembark after their joyride on the stolen car

Another gang that completed their primary mission towards the end was the Santanas. Not only did Julio and his gang mates steal the car from the Shell Service Station, his several of them went for a joyride around the table in their hot, blue convertible. I had never seen a player take the stolen car for a joyride, so it was kind of fun to see what Jenny (who was playing them) had in mind. The trio in the convertible were the only three from the gang not knocked out of action, though, as shortly after they split off from Ramona and El Lobo, those two were jumped by the Kings and taken down.

Hilltop Highlanders split up at the start of the rumble, though Lenny's calls brought the others back

Two gangs mixed it up almost immediately. The black martial arts gang, The Daos, ambushed the leader of the Hilltop Highlanders and an accompanying punk in the back alley behind Wallace's Brewpub. Lenny fought off the first wave of attackers, and his shouts brought the rest of the gang sprinting around the building to join in the melee. It was a fairly even fight for most of it, as each side knocked out opposing gang members. Slowly, the Highlanders began to get the better of it, though. Eventually, the two agreed to call it even, and scampered off to complete their primary missions. The Highlanders hightailed it to Jack & Benny's Diner, while the Daos made their way to Finn's factory. 

    Bobbie and the rest of the Eastmoor Kings are tempted to wade into the rumble at the gas station

There were three brand new players in this game, and they all said they had fun. I believe they also picked up the rules from RRB Minis & More. Rich, the owner of the store, said they needed a restock of the rules, so I ducked out to my car and got some for him. The thing I like about the Mean Streets rules is that it is very easy to teach. Typically, it takes only 20 minutes to go over the rules at a convention with new players. Within a turn or two of combat, the players have the mechanics down, too, and are figuring out their combat factors by themselves without my help.

    I like how my new wound markers look - clear bases with blood splotches arranged like a d6

One new thing I introduced for this game were my brand new wound markers. In the past, I've used red pom-poms from the craft store to mark on a figure's base how many wounds it has suffered. Recently, I picked up 100 clear square bases from Litko. I painted varying numbers of blood red splotches on them to indicate the number of wounds. I arranged the blood spots to match the pips on a six-sided dice. This makes it easy for a player to recognize with a quick glance whether the figure has suffered three wounds (three blood splotches arranged diagonally), or four wounds (one in each corner). I was much happier with how these bases looked on the table. I had coated the clear base with Vallejo Matte Clear, which takes the shine or reflection off the material, but it is still transparent and you can see the street underneath of it. Success!

    Gang Boss Marvin leads the creepy, clown-masked Franklinton Flippos through an alley

One of the players had signed up to play because he was interested in using Mean Streets rules for Mad Max-style, post-Apocalyptic biker gang battles. That was interesting, because I had just been exchanging emails with Rich about how to treat a character mounted on a motorcycle in the rules. We put some ideas together and he said he is going to play test them. I will probably also post on the Mean Streets Facebook group page and see if anyone else has ideas. I don't have any miniatures mounted on motorcycles, but biker gangs certainly fit the theme.

    Mohawks gang boss Sid taunts the Eastmoor Kings for avoiding the fight

I had planned on running my game only once, so I packed up, took my stuff out to the car, and returned to do my shopping. It was great to see so many people coming out to support Bryan's idea. Most of the tables in the room were still full when I finished my shopping and headed out for a late lunch. The weather had been as perfect as can be asked for in mid-January, Ohio. So, all in all, the game day was a success!

    The Linden Daos jump Lenny & Bo of the Hilltop Highlanders behind Wallace's Brewpub

    The rest of the Highlanders come running when they hear Lenny's shouts - the rumble is on!

    The Eastmoor Kings stayed disciplined and focused on their missions throughout the game

    The Kings get closer to their objective - the brewpub - and beers for their Saturday night party!

    After busting some heads in the rumble at the gas station, the Santanas head around the back

    Although gangs were completing their missions, there was still a lot of mayhem on the streets

    Great turnout at Origins Game Day - Bryan said more than 400 people showed up to game and shop!