Rumbling on the Mean Streets of Columbus at Origins 2023

    The presence of the police doesn't deter the Mohawks from some mayhem on the streets of Columbus

The streets of Columbus were packed with punks, warchiefs, and gang bosses during our two games of Mean Streets at Origins 2023. Jenny ran two sessions and both were completely full of players, some of whom had stayed up the night before to watch "The Warriors" to get inspired for the game! Plenty of street warriors "came out to plaaay," and there were lots of laughs and fun around the table.

    The Hilltop Highlanders prowl the streets of Columbus, looking to rumble with rival gangs

We used a similar setup to previous convention games, with a downtown jumble of streets, buildings, market, park, etc., depicted in 28mm. Six gangs entered at various points, each with several missions they wanted to complete. A primary mission involved some sort of illegal mayhem, such as stealing a car from the service station, shaking down a restaurant owner, shoplifting, etc. In addition, each gang owed another "payback" for a previous beat-down they'd inflicted on their gang. Players were awarded double points for knocking gang members out of action of that specified gang. Finally, gangs received victory points for "tagging" buildings with their gang logo.

    Bobbie, of the Eastmoor Kings, is jumped by a posse of clowns from the Franklinton Flippos

I like to give players a lot of choices in my games, and especially in Mean Streets. I think player choice is a big part of an enjoyable scenario at a convention. Personally, I am not a fan of games where the troops are all deployed and all I can do is march forward and roll dice. With Mean Streets, I give players both a Gang Boss and a Warchief, who both can exercise command and control. This gives a player a chance to split his gang members up to accomplish more than one mission. Alternatively, he or she can keep their gang members together for better protection in case they get "jumped" by rival gangs.

    Hearing Bobbie's cries, Gang Boss Tyrese and others of the Eastmoor Kings come to his rescue

Although I have had scenarios where players went about their various missions without fighting rival gangs as much, most games end up with several sprawling brawls breaking out near the gas station or some other centrally located spot. This is partly be design, with all gangs having it in their interest to beat up on a specified rival gang. I also nudge the players that way by making sure their starting locations and destinations for their primary mission intersect with the paths other gangs will take, too. So, one gang may need to cross to an opposite corner of the table, for example. Getting there will mean they encounter more than one rival gang, so the chances of punches being thrown increases as more gangs intersect. I definitely plan it out so most gangs will end up "meeting in the middle."

   Several gangs converge on the streets of Columbus - a rumble is sure to break out soon!

I feel this gives a nice mix of mission completion and combat. I always remember an old gamer friend growling to me during a convention game where little was happening, "I just want to kill something!" I think that conflict is a big part of our miniature wargames, so a game about gang warfare needs to have fighting to be accurate. So, I set the players up to rumble and they usually oblige.

    Friday evening's crew of players had a great time and were soon locked in sprawling brawls

Both sets of players were a lot of fun and seemed to enjoy themselves. All but one or two players were brand new to the system. Everyone picked up the rules quickly and were able to adjudicate their combats without too much assistance from either Jenny or myself. Jenny did a great job running the game, while I hung around, elaborated a few points and mostly provided color commentary. I like to joke about what is happening on the tabletop in the context of the world of street gangs -- or at least the romanticized vision of the streets in the movie, "The Warriors."

    Kira of the Mohawks snatches open the patrol car door and lands a punch on the officer driving it

Another thing I like to do in my convention games is to keep players involved whose forces have been whittled down to almost nothing. So, when a gang is down to just one member left, they are given a police car and two cops. They can bring it in on any street board edge and send the police after any gang members they choose. This usually involves a little "payback" against the gang that took out their own members. Saturday's game was particularly raucous. Two players were brought down to one and both police car converged on one corner where the Indianola Mohawks were getting ready to steal from Sams Mini Mart. The Mohawks were full strength and had been busting heads, so had no qualms about wading in and fighting the cops. 

    Five of 6 gangs on the table converge on the gas station, throwing punches and laying a beatdown

Mayhem ensued, which involved an officer ramming two punks who were attacking policemen with his patrol car. A punk snatched open the door and punched the cop, who promptly threw the car in reverse, whacking the punk with the door. A couple Mohawks went down, but the gang didn't give up, and kept throwing punches until the game was finally called. It was a great, cinematic finish to the game and I think Jenny's players all went away happy and having enjoyed themselves. 

    Julio, boss of the Santanas, is surrounded and pounded by a trio from the Eastmoor Kings

    Several of Saturday night's players had stayed up the night before to watch 'The Warriors'

 

    Clown down! Emmett of the Franklinton Flippos is knocked down by Highlanders Snake and Juan

    Linden Daos and Hilltop Highlanders scrapping by the pumps of the gas station

 

    The Santanas and the Flippos battle it out in front of an apartment building in Columbus

Starting a New Saga Army - Thracians!

    Thracian mounted warriors from Crusader Miniatures -- my newest Saga project!

I'm a bit behind in posting pictures of my newest Saga army that I am in the process of painting up. In fact, some of these figures already have a couple games under their belt! I was prompted to choose Thracians from the newest Saga world book, Age of Alexander, for several reasons. The first was watching a battle report on Graham's Wargame Vault when his "outrageous" buddy, Wayne, thrashed him in a game using Thracians. They seemed like an interesting army, watching the battle board's abilities he was using and the effects they had on the game. The next reason is because of the sheer color of this army. Thracians are known for their patterned cloaks, so this would give me a chance to create another visually appealing army for the tabletop. Finally, after proxying my Picts as Thracians, I discovered they were very fun and tactically challenging to play.

    One reason painting Thracians is appealing is their famed colorful cloaks with geometric designs

Being a metal miniatures guy, I knew there were quite a few options. The Age of Alexander has been a cornerstone of the 28mm Ancients period for decades. There are LOTS of figure manufacturers who have produced Thracians over the years. Unlike many of my contemporaries playing Saga, I am not really a fan of the plastic sets where you glue the arms, heads, torsos, and such all together. I still prefer the weight and completeness of a metal miniature. For my Thracians, I decided to go with Crusader Miniatures because the wide variety of packs they have in their line. 

    My Thracian mounted figures drawn from their command and mounted tribesmen packs

I ordered them from their website and they arrived VERY quickly -- excellent service. I did screw up a little, though. For some reason, when I was reading the Saga book's description and troop list for the Thracian army, I thought that they could field foot hearthguard armed with the two-handed chopping weapon, the Rhomphaia. I based my purchase on that, only to find that hearthguard can only be mounted in this list. D'oh! Long story short, I didn't order enough figures! Well, I should be able to solve that when I go to Historicon next month. Badger Games carries Crusader Miniatures, so I will pick up some more packs of figures to be able to finish out this warrior heavy, hearthguard-less, force.

    The deadly rhomphaia was a feared and famous Thracian two-handed cutting weapon

When I unpacked the miniatures, I decided that I would first paint up all those rhomphaia armed troops. I could continue proxying my Picts for the javelin-armed troops. I was using a hodge-podge of other miniatures for the heavy weapon rhomphaia men, so this would make the proxy army look a bit nicer and more consistent on the tabletop. Many of my Picts are armed with javelins, and they also have colorful cloaks -- though mostly checks, tartans, and stripes instead of geometric patterns.

    I really like how the shields came out on my 1st batch of Thracian infantry - more micron pen work!

One issue that arose, though, was that I had ordered a variety of Thracian types from Crusader. Thracian tribesmen are known for their wicker crescent shaped shield. However, as they became more established as mercenaries, they began to use the oblong "Greek peltast" shield. I wanted my warriors to have the crescent ones, as that is the period of the Saga list. I swapped some out, though, with the cavalry, who I gave the oblong shields to, instead. Hopefully, this will work out well.

    Thracian warriors are often depicted using a wicker, crescent-shaped shield

I thought the poses for the Thracians armed with rhomphaia were pretty cool. I mixed in some from various packs and painted up a group of eight that you see pictured here on this blog post. I was very happy with how they came out. I borrowed my friend Mike's Osprey book on the Thracians to make sure that I was doing a somewhat historical job of them. We are fortunate with the Thracians that they were regularly depicted in Greek art, whether on vases, frescoes, or in other places. This means we have actual patterns for the Thracians' "geometric designs" on their cloaks. I looked through the Osprey book and picked out a handful that I thought I could reproduce with either a paintbrush or my Micron pens. Yes, this is yet another army that will be using the micron pens!

    Crusader Miniatures makes both Thracian mercenary type figures and 'tribesmen' poses

One thing that I have found with the pens is that you have to be careful to keep them from smearing later  when you apply a wash on the figure. I have begun to apply my first spray clear coat before the wash, and this seems to do a good job of eliminating problems with the ink running. As I may have mentioned before, the pens work best on smoother surfaces. If you have a cloak that has deeply-sculpted folds or ripples, you are going to struggle to get the head of the pen down into the bottom of the folds. In these cases, I go Old School and use a small brush to do my patterns. So, maybe plan out your more complicated decorations on the figures with smoother areas and the simpler ones on the others?

    These figures came with the oblong 'peltast' type shield, but I swapped out crescent ones for them

The figures in Crusader's "mercenary peltast" boxes tend not to have cloaks. In this case, I gave them simpler geometric patterns, stripes or borders on their tunics. Y9ou can see that in the figures above, and I think they give a nice effect. Many years ago, I painted Scottish highlanders for the Jacobite Rebellion (in 15mm, no less!). I found when doing that army that you are shooting for a visual effect. You don't need to have every article of clothing in a pattern. One per figure tricks your eye into seeing a consistent, pleasing effect. So, for the tribesmen who do have cloaks, I don't decorate the tunics with anything more than a border.

    This pairs of warriors shows the difference between Crusader's "peltast" and "tribesmen" figures

With me being behind on posting pictures, my last batch of rhomphaia men are actually primed and on my desktop ready to follow. With this batch, I will also be painting up the warlord's stand. Typically, the warlord's stand contain the last figures I paint for an army. I assume that I will be well versed in painting that nationality by then, and have a good idea what color combination will look good after doing the rank and file. My idea for the Thracians, though, is to play them AS I paint the army. So, I think it will add to the effect on the tabletop to have the correct general. Not that there is anything wrong with the Republican Roman general that I have been using (other than he's the wrong figure and the banner is a legionary one!)...

    Two of my mounted warriors for my Thracians -- my most recent Saga army to hit the tabletop

There is going to be only one mounted unit in this army -- at least how I plan to field six points of Thracians for Saga! I decided I should get them done relatively quickly, too. The proxying of Roman cavalry with Dark Age cavalry bugged the historical miniature gamer in me, so I wanted to get these done early. After painting my Mongols last year, doing one batch of eight mounted figures was nothing...ha, ha! Speaking of which, I actually pulled out my Mongols, looked through them, and selected eight horses that I liked best to use for the colors and markings of the mounts. Why do the same job over and over? When I had done my research on Mongol horse colors I found nothing to indicate that their horse colorings were anything unique in the Ancient world. So, it was kind of nice to have a template for the horses and made it go quick, I feel.

    I think the oblong shields look good for the mounted figures, and am pretty happy with how they look

The armor and equipment for the mounted figures was kind of a mixed bag on the Crusader poses. Some had what looked like Linothorax -- the white linen type armor that Alexander the Great is often depicted as wearing. Others looked like they were wearing a bronze cuirass, while others appeared to have no armor protecting their torso at all. Although some parts of Thrace coalesced into a kingdom during the Ancient period, the Saga list intends to represent them mainly during their tribal phase. So, it makes sense that armor is very individual, making the variety work in my favor here.

    I like this cast-on metal standard the left hand figure is carrying - the severed heads are a nice touch!

I decided to put the mounted standard bearer from the command pack in with the unit of 8 warriors.  I like the look of a foot standard bearer next to a mounted general for my warlord stands. That, and I was being cheap -- typical of me! The Crusader mounted packs contain three figures. So, I ordered three packs, giving me nine figures (8 for the warrior unit and one for the warlord stand). Thus, the mounted standard bearer and the horn blower were drafted into the warrior unit! I really like the severed heads handing from the standard, too. In fact, I am tempted to make my custom fatigue markers severed heads, as well. So, if anyone reading my blog has extra heads that come with plastic kits that they're not using, I'd be interested in getting about 10 or so from you. Let me know in the comments, or if you have may email or FB Messenger address, send me a message!

    The standard bearer on left was also given one of the fancier cloaks - I'm happy with how it looks!

All in all, I feel that I am off to a good start with this army. Two batches of eight done and one of those being the army's only mounted makes me feel progress is definitely being made. Once I finish the next batch of 5 rhomphaia men and the warlord's stand, I will have only three more batches to do. My plan is to field the army in the following way:

• Mounted warlord
• 8 mounted warriors
• 13 foot warriors armed with rhomphaia (one unit of 6 and the other of 7 figures)
• 27 foot warriors armed with javelins (three units of 9 figures)

I'll split the 27 foot warriors into three batches of nine, so who knows? Maybe this army will be done much quicker than you might think with all the fancy cloaks. I hope so! Stay tuned and see...!!   

    Many Thracian "tribesmen" type figures have the fox-skin hoods that Thracians were known for

    Some of the mounted figures came with round shields -- once again, more variety is good!

    I try to give each Saga army a consistent look for flocking, too, with the Thracians' including flowers

    With these two batches of miniatures painted, I am about 1/3 of the way done with this army!

Katanga Secession Crisis Fights to Stay Alive at Drums 2023

    White mercs employed by Katanga hurry along the road, hoping to deliver their ammo on time

I wanted to run a tweaked version of my Congo civil war game set during the Katanga secession crisis at Drums at the Rapids this past weekend. I was running it both Friday night and Saturday morning at the Fort Meigs visitors center, where Drums is held every year. Luckily, I had a my full complement of six players both games. I felt even more fortunate that my players were all veteran gamers, and picked up the rules very quickly. By the second or third turn, I had little to do but usher the game along, letting players know whose turn it was to move.

    Full table on Friday and the players fought down to the wire, with a narrow Katangan victory

After running "Congo, Bloody Congo" once at Cincycon 2023, I made two main changes. First, I toned down the power of the white mercenary force, giving them fewer figures in the back of the open armored personnel carriers. I also adjusted the terrain of the village where the Katangan militia start the game. I pushed most of the buildings off-table, with only a few left on the table edge mainly for eye candy. I felt the previous setup made that encounter between the militia and the Congolese paratroopers too static. I wanted them to be mixing it up among the jungle and farm fields of the villagers.

    The tabletop before troops deploy, showing where each force will arrive (Katangans in blue)

The main idea remained the same, though. Three APCs crewed by white mercenaries that the Katangans have hired are trying to cross diagonally from one corner of the table to the other. They are carrying crates of ammunition desperately needed by the Katangan forces to keep their revolt alive. Their main allies, a force of Katangan gendarmes, begin at the destination corner. The gendarmes' goal is to push forward and keep the attacking Congolese and UN forces at bay. The further forward they extend their lines, the less dangerous of a gauntlet of fire that the APCs have to run. On the gendarmes' right, a force of Katangan militia advance out of their village to meet the Congolese and UN pincer attack. Their goal is to keep their families safe by preventing any enemy from shooting inside the village. They lose points for each figure killed, so they are likely to be less enthusiastic for victory. However, those points lost are doubled if the loss occurs inside the village. This represents family members being killed by stray rounds. So, the militia are encouraged not to hunker down in the village, and instead advance reluctantly into battle.

    Congolese paratroopers arrive on one corner of the table, intent on crushing the Katangan secession

 

As for the attackers, the Congolese paratroopers deploy opposite the arriving mercenaries and next to the Katangan village. The United Nations force moves on-table diagonally opposite from the paratroopers, with the local Congolese army unit (ANC) on the U.N's left. The ANC is closest to the road edge where the mercenaries arrive and would dearly love to get their hands on one of the APCs and some of that ammunition! The central government and army command has been starving their garrison of supplies. 

    Katangan militia rush through the gates of their village, vowing to protect their family from invaders

As you can probably tell, each faction has their own separate victory conditions, but they activate as two sides. This moves the game along much quicker, but still gives a twist to the game as no player really knows exactly what their allies (or enemies) are trying to accomplish. Both Friday and Saturday's games moved along quickly and finished within their three hour game limit. The Friday night game came down to the wire and was very close on total points. Saturday's was more of a clear victory for the Katangans, as the mercenary player did a great job on tactics, decisions, and (of course) die rolls!

    UN troops, galvanized by the death of the Secretary-General (at the hands of Katanga?), move out

 

I am thinking I may stay with these type of scenario setups for convention games. Much as a I like a multi-faction free-for-all, this increases wait time for players as we cycle through the initiative order. That said, it is usually possible for two of the six players in a game to be moving simultaneous if, for example, the next player in order is far away from the active player and unlikely to affect their units. The command and control system of my Wars of Insurgency rules, keeps the action flowing and it is rare that it bogs down with the other five players waiting too long for one to finish their turn.

    Katangan gendarmes march forward, hoping to clear the way for the arrival of the APCs with ammo

In both games, a steady firefight erupted between the Congolese paratroopers and the Katangan Militia. In the first game, the paratroopers got the better of the militia. However, the villagers held the paratroopers up long enough that the APCs were well on their way to their destination before the paratroopers were free to attack them. The militia spoiling attack was costly, but it did its job. On Saturday, the militia were able to hold out until the end of the game. The paratroopers did fire long range RPG shots at the passing APCs, but were unable to knock any of them out. Once again, the militia had done their job and ensured that the mercenaries were able to cross through their sector of the board.

    Congolese soldiers, UN troopers, Mercs, and Katangans battle across the war-torn Congo

The mercenaries themselves did a great job of wearing down the Congolese army faction in both games. Getting caught out in the open by Professionals armed with heavy machine guns is a deadly prospect. The ANC (Armée Nationale Congolaise) players in both games suffered severe losses at the relentless machine gunning of the APCs. On Friday night, the Congolese player did a good job of sniping away at the gunners themselves, and even blew up one of the APCs. However, the Congolese were unable to stop the progress of the other two Friday, and they reached the opposite table corner with their precious ammunition. On Saturday, two APCs suffered only minor damage, and all three made it off-table.

    Katangan militia cheer as the mercs' APCS roar past them on the road, spitting gravel and mud

 

I may tweak the terrain a bit when I run this scenario at Origins Game Fair next month. I may give a sheltered corridor of bush to allow the ANC to rush closer to the center line and set up ambushes in the jungle near the road. This will certainly make the mercenaries job more challenging. I may also tweak the victory points to encourage the paratroopers to more actively target the mercenaries. As of now, retaking Katanga (i.e., defeating the enemy and taking their village) is more of the goal. We shall see!

    The Belgian-trained paratroopers close in on the Katangan village, taking heavy fire from the militia

Finally, at the destination corner, the Katangan gendarmes did a solid job advancing quickly and spoiling the attack of the United Nations troopers. Both sides inflicted losses on each other throughout the game, with the UN actually eliminating the gendarmes on Saturday. However, the gendarmes constant fire forced the UN to make the APCs second priority. This ensured they would arrive at the table edge in good shape, and score enough points to cement down victory both games. 

    White mercs run the gauntlet across the table, suffering occasional casualties or minor APC damage

Even though the Katangans won both games at Drums, I like this scenario. It forces the players to attack their opponents and mix it up right away. If all six players hunkered down and sniped at each other at extended range, I think it would make for a boring game. Instead, the victory conditions had forces quickly moving to seize cover, taking shots at their enemies, and pushing forward to achieve their objectives. Will I make other tweaks to increase the chances of victory for the Congolese? We shall see. I have some things in mind, but want to ponder them some more.

    Using the thick bush for cover, UN troops from Ghana pour fire into the Katangan gendarmes

If you're interested in playing "Congo, Bloody Congo," I will be running it at Origins Game Fair in Columbus, OH. It is scheduled for Thursday at 7pm and Friday morning at 9am, June 22-23. Our company, First Command Wargames, will actually be running all of our rules sets at the show. So, in addition to my Wars of Insurgency games, there will be Mean Streets gang warfare, American Frontier action with Song of Drums and Tomahawks, Seven Years War battles with For King or Empress, and Victorian Science-Fiction/Colonials with For Queen or Planet. Come and join us as we dip our toes back in the water of running games at Columbus, Ohio's, biggest multi-genre gaming convention!

    In both games, the Katangan gendarmes actively pushed their lines forward to link up with the APCs

    The militia suffered a worse fate on Friday night than Saturday morning, eliminated to a man

    The Saturday morning players had a great time, as well - quickly picking up the rules and having fun

APCs cross the midpoint of the table, clearning the militia's line and heading towards the gendarmes

A Progression of Bots - Escalating Deployment by the Machines

3-D printed Bots (sourced from Thingiverse and a friend) stalking the streets for human survivors

When I decided to do post-apocalyptic gaming, I settled on a world inspired by the Terminator movies. To be honest, I wasn't 100% sure I'd persevere with the project. Nor was I positive that I or my players would actually enjoy the games. So, I defaulted to my usual mode of "Let's Source the Miniatures on the Cheap!" I'm sure most would agree there's nothing inherently wrong with being thrifty. Those who are painters first, players second, might choose to go with the cooler and more expensive miniatures. Myself, if I can get acceptable miniatures for my games on the cheap, I will!

    The first level of response from the Machines -- rolling Scout Bots, lightly armed and armored

So, I began by visiting Thingiverse and seeing what they had available. I picked out some 3-D models I liked and sent the links off to my friend Joe, who has a printer. He agreed to print them up for me for at an affordable cost. Joe's printer isn't the newest, fanciest, or the highest quality. So, you get what you pay for, which in his case, is VERY affordable. He asked me for some guidelines on size and then went ahead and printed them off. Thanks, Joe!

    If the Scout Bots confirm human activity, these retro-looking Sentry Bots are dispatched to the scene

My idea is that the Machines artificial intelligence has both visual and audio surveillance going on all the time. Sounds of gunfire or what looks like muzzle flashes on video will lead them to dispatch a Scout Bot. These one-wheeled automatons are lightly armored and armed. Their optics on the scene are instantaneously relayed back to the Machines AI, though, who then will usually order forward the next level of response if necessary. I painted the bodies of the Bots in metallic colors, also giving them a company logo. My rationale is the Scout Bots were designed by human companies before the machines went sentient and took over control of them. In "pre-apocalypse" times, they were meant to be deployed in dangerous sections of human cities, rolling along the asphalt roads on their solid rubber tires.

    The Sentry Bots have been fitted by the Machines AI with light machine guns and prowl the cities

The next level of response sent in by the machines are the Sentry Bots. These vaguely humanoid -- and very retro looking -- mechanical sentries are better armed and armored. I saw these prints on Thingiverse and loved them! I painted them in gleaming metallics, hoping to evoke the essence of the shining, metal-skinned Terminators in the movies. Each carries a light machine gun, and I envision them as being modular sentry robots built by human companies pre-apocalypse to be equipped in various ways. The Machines AI has converted them all to the heaviest armament available on their frame. They are meant to scour the streets, or patrol the perimeters of Machine bases. Sometimes, the mere presence of these gleaming bots arriving on the scene will cause human survivors to scatter. Besides, no one wants to be around if the next level of response is triggered!

    The Military Bots are next to appear on a scene, and have machine guns in each mechanical arm

That third level is the Military Bot. Vaguely "BattleTech looking," these machines are capable of wiping out multiple figures at one time with their burst fire machine guns housed inside their arms. In our first three games, they've appeared only once. Usually, the player gangs have high-tailed it off the table by that time. I envision these as being designed for the military pre-apocalypse. Little modifications were needed by the Machines, as they were already meant to be ambulatory hunter-killers to assist the firepower of conventional forces. 

    Woe betide the character caught still on the tabletop when a Destroyer Bot stomps onto the table!

And finally, the highest level of response is the Destroyer Bot. This is definitely in the "big stompy robot" category of weapons. For my games, these are designed to be able to target and destroy any stubborn characters who are unwilling to sensibly flee the table when the Machines bots begin arriving. So far, I have painted only one of these, as I can't envision a need for more than one in my skirmish, post-apoc games. I imagine that one day one of these will actually show up on the battlefield. However, it has yet to happen. It was probably the cleanest of the 3-D prints and I really like how it painted up. That metallic dark red is a really cool color of craft paint from Hobby Lobby. I wish I'd picked it up earlier when I first began painting up these bots!

    I really like the dark metallic red and pewter/gun metal color scheme on this big stompy robot!

One thing I haven't mentioned in this post is I actually give control of each Bot that appears to a player. It is typically given to the player who has lost the most figures, so far, in the scenario. I trigger the arrival of the Bots based on the losses the players have collectively suffered, so far. At 10%, a Scout Bot appears. At 20%, a Sentry Bot. At 30%, one Military Bot shows up. If we ever get to 40% losses suffered in a game, then a Destroyer Bot will lumber onto the table. Players begin the game controlling four of their own figures from their gang. So, if there are 6 players (24 total), the first Scout Bot rolls onto the table edge at the end of the turn in which three casualties have been suffered. 

    I staged all of my Bots I've painted onto the urban tabletop terrain I used for our third scenario

I like giving control of the Bots to players as that gives them a chance to inflict "payback," or clip the wings of a faction that is flying high in a scenario. To encourage even more bloodthirstiness, they receive victory points for any casualties inflicted by "their" Bot! I make it clear, though, they will target the closest human figure. Of course, taking out Bots themselves are also worth victory points for players. What's more, a downed bot becomes a scavenge point where figures can pry off ammunition, weapons, or even optics. All in all, I think the Bots add a nice flavor to my post-apocalyptic games. The players have fun controlling them, and there's always laughter and good-natured ribbing when a Bot appears behind an opponent's troops, stalking them.