Crew for Five Parsecs from Home

    My crew for games of 'Five Parsecs from Home', a Sci-Fi adventure wargaming set of rules

After reading many blog entries and message board posts about the Sci-Fi solo/co-op game, Five Parsecs from Home, I ordered the rulebook sometime last year. I read through it and was intrigued, but was busy with other stuff. So, I never got around to painting anything up for it or giving it a go. Now that I am retired (which enabled me to chip away at the projects considered "more urgent"), perhaps it is time to officially give the game a try. Step one of that, of course, is painting up some figures for my crew! Doesn't step one always involve painting things (unless it involves buying things...!)?

    My hope is I can convert these Sci-Fi rules into a campaign I can run for the Sunday night gang

The ostensible reason for purchasing the rules was to convert it from a solo game to something we could play as a running campaign on Sunday evenings. Each player could control a couple members of what would have to be a much larger crew, of course. Nothing wrong with that, though, as the tabletop fights with these rules are supposed to be fairly fast and fluid. We have played Galactic Heroes, from Wiley Games, and enjoyed them. However, Five Parsecs' strength is supposed to be how it threads everything together into a fun and interesting campaign narrative. Players make choices between games that affect what happens. They gain skills, improve their perhaps impoverished financial situation, gain clients, make enemies, and so on. The best idea to develop something like that for my friends is to test out a solo campaign myself, first. And now that I am retired, I should have time to do that!

The five figures that I chose as my starting crew were sourced from almost as many different places. Two, the captain Alistair Valentine and Cephvarx Hul, are from the Wiley Games line of 3D printed figures. Alistair is "Allister" and Cephvarx is "Varx Blaxx." The Wiley line is fairly tall, but I've found it is hefty and strong enough that you don't have to worry about limbs or weapons snapping like other 3D printed figures. Gunny MacBride is a Reaper plastic figures, aka IMEF Nick Stone. Doc Mecrosus is a listed as a Bounty Hunter from Battle Valor Games and their post-apocalyptic line. Finally, observant readers of my blog will recognize SAS B61 as a retro-looking 3-D printed robot from Thingiverse printed by my friend Joe.

    Every needs a captain: Alistair Valentine is mine, and he's on a mission to recoup his lost 'nest egg'

As of writing this blog post, I have not "rolled up" these characters with the extensive background creation system in Five Parsecs. However, here's what I am thinking. The captain, Alistair Valentine, is a former commercial star pilot who put in his decades of service with the company. In a cost-cutting move, the bean counters in the corporation have found a way to cheat him out of his retirement pension. Unable to kick back and enjoy his old age in a pleasant, touristy star system, Alistair is thrown back into working for himself. It takes most of his savings to purchase his ship, and he's looking to make money quick and hopefully get to that retirement goal.

    I used a retro-looking robot 3D print for SAS B61 (same model as in my post-apoc games)

Alistair pulled a few favors with colleagues to get his trusty security droid, SAS B61 retired from company service and have it sold to him for use as his personal bodyguard. Doubtless, the life of a hardscrabble star pilot will involve dangers, and the droid has proved dependable and a surprisingly humorous companion over the years. As a prank, decades ago a friend in the IT department had a comedy program inserted into SAS B61's system. Now, the droid starts every conversation off with a joke from his extensive library. It has learned to analyze human conversations and what provokes laughter, so is attempting its best to be a witty companion.

    The captain's old college buddy had retired from the military & volunteered to accompany his old pal

Alistair's college friend, Gunny MacBride was also retiring from his career in the military when Alistair was forced from the starliner's rolls. Very sympathetic to his old friend's situation, he has volunteered to go along and watch Alistair's back on these potentially dangerous adventures. Gunny's military experience and familiarity with weapons will likely be useful in keeping Alistair and his crew alive. 

    I really liked this 3D print from Wiley Games and immediately drafted him into my Five Parsecs crew

When word got out that Alistair was looking for a crew, one of the first applications he received was from Cephvarx Hul. The tall, purple-skinned alien comes from a race known for their engineering skills. Alistair had flown routes in their system for decades, and had met many of them over the years. Perhaps it is a sign of respect, or perhaps Cephvarx Hul needed to change his career, but the alien was very persistent and would not relent contacting him and following up until Alistair agreed to hire him. He signed on for what Alistair would consider a very low salary for someone of Cephvarx Hul's skills. The captain was intrigued and a little worried that he might be a plant for someone with nefarious plans, so had asked Gunny to keep an eye on the alien and monitor his actions and communications whenever possible.

    I have been waiting for an opportunity to use this post-apocalyptic plague doctor figure for years

The final member of the crew was the medic, Doc Mecrosus. The first thing anyone notices about the doctor is his sealed, beak-like mask which he wears over his head. He will explain through speakers hidden along the mask that he suffers from an extreme sensitivity to viruses and other airborne organisms. The mask filters all of these out and delivers scrubbed air to his mouth and nose. His dark outfit covers every inch of his body and is also designed to shield his skin from any germs or organisms that might overcome his fragile immune system. Many shake their head at the irony of someone with his condition going into the medical field, but Doc Mecrosus explains that the more he knows about the diseases that could overwhelm his system and kill him, the better prepared he is to deal with it. He also has a peculiar way of looking at life he encounters. Since so much of his energy is devoted to eliminating microscopic organisms, he feels little compunction with killing larger ones, as well. An avid hunter, Doc Mecrosus is no pacifist, and as such, Alistair felt he'd be a great one to take along. Not only would he help the crew stay healthy, he also had the ability to keep the safe!

Miniature Painting & Purchasing Tally for 2024

• Miniatures acquired in 2024: 64
• Miniatures painted in 2024: 95

First Playtest of 'Zombie RV' rules

    Zombies prowling the streets in our play test of the rules, Zombie RV, from Grey Area Games

As I have been gearing up, painting figures for the release of the County Road Z rules, I noticed a post on Lead Adventure Forum about a quick, simple rules set called Zombie RV. Written by David Bezio of Grey Area Games, they are a 10-page rules set downloadable on Wargame Vault. When I read through them, I was very intrigued.

    The rules are available for as little as $1 to download on Wargame Vault

Although the mechanics on County Road Z are simple, these were even simpler. They also seemed easy to modify into a series of ongoing games, with survivors progressing and gaining new skills or experience. The rules author was very receptive to my ideas and sent me an unfinished update with some of the same goals in mind. He gave me a thumbs up to testing out additions to Zombie RV. I aligned what I was coming up with to his work in progress. When I felt it was ready, Jenny and I sat down on a Saturday evening to play test the game with my expansions.

    Our survivors deploy at the edge of the table at left, ready to scavenge for some supplies

We split the four survivors between us. I took a shotgun-armed survivor that I named Mophius because the miniature looks vaguely like Morpheus from The Matrix. I gave him 'Shooter' -- +1 to shoot rolls -- and 'Vigorous', one of my new skills that I created that modifies a roll on the wound table. My second survivor was Woody, one of my newest painted miniatures in a red hoodie and black 'Woody Hayes' hat. In Zombie RV, you get to divide amongst your four survivors a rifle, shotgun, pistol, 3 melee weapons, and a clip of extra ammo. Woody got last pick and ended up armed with a tire iron. I also gave him 'Prepper,' which modifies his chance at scavenging items from resource tokens on the board.

    Mophius has a GREAT idea -- line up all these zombies for a shotgun blast...

Jenny took rifle-armed Coop, a figure from my Bucknuts post-apocalyptic campaign. She also chose his teammate Jackie, a pistol armed woman who would prove to be our deadliest survivor of the four. Jenny chose 'Shooter' for Coop, like I did with Mophius, but also 'Brawler' to give him a +1 in melee if any zombies made it in to contact. She gave Jackie 'Medic' and 'Stealth.' After all that careful thought setting up our survivors with appropriate bonuses to rolls, wouldn't you know it but we often forgot to apply those bonuses when the situation arose! I forgot the +1 on the wound roll chart for Mophius, as you will see, and Jenny did the same for melee when zombies came into contact with Coop. Sigh. I guess we were learning a new system, so it is easier to lose track of things in that situation.

    Guess what I rolled for Mophius? On a roll of "1", you are out of ammunition

Zombie RV uses a 2'x2' board, so I pulled out four of my gray acrylic floor tiles. I placed an asphalt road slightly off-center crossing the board. The zombie "spawn point" is dead center on the table, so I placed the front door of an apartment building next to that. We could rationalize the people in the apartment had all been infected and were piling out to attack our survivors when we pulled up in our van (since I don't have an RV model). There were other apartment buildings along the road to either side of the center one, and a playground and small, stone building behind one of them. Across the road was Silent Slumbers motel and Swingle's Shawarma and Smith's Smoke Shack. The table size is fairly small and compact, so it was hard to fit too many of my 28mm buildings on it.

    Meanwhile, Coop took a position between two vehicle wrecks and successfully shoots one, leading the others to have to circle around the wrecks to get at him

Search tokens are placed in each quadrant of the board, as the rules say "somewhere challenging." So, I placed one in the balcony of the hotel, another on the second floor of an apartment, the third in the small stone building, and the final one in the Smoke Shack. I let Jenny number the board edges and roll for our starting location. We would begin on the road edge in between the Smoke Shack and one of the apartment buildings. The road itself was blocked by numerous wrecked or burnt out vehicles. Our four survivors deployed next to our van that we'd arrived in, and five zombies were placed in the center of the table.

    One zombie shambled over to Mophius while three new zombies spawn from the apartment

And here's where things started to go wrong...ha, ha! So soon, you ask? How? Survivors move first in the game, and Jenny indicated she wanted me to move one of my survivors first. Mophius saw the five zombies group together and decided they were lined up perfectly for a shotgun blast. In Zombie RV, a shotgun shoots a blast in a cone 8" long by 2" wide at its end. He confidently moved to a narrow spot between a wreck and apartment doorway, aimed his shotgun, and "click." If you roll a natural one when shooting in Zombie RV, your survivor is out of ammo. Really? My first shot?? We rationalized no noise from a shot took place, so put only one noise token next to him for moving.

    You can't see Jackie searching the Smoke Shack, but Coop's noise attracts most of the zombies

Jenny laughed at my famed bad dice rolling and then moved Coop up to a "V" between two wrecked vehicles, where there was no gap for the zombies to get at him. He fired at one of the zombies and splattered it. That's how it is supposed to be done! Jackie followed up and was the only character to roll a "6" at the start of her turn to receive a free action the entire game. This enabled her to move to the Smoke Shack, clamber over the counter, and find the medical kit that the previous owner left under the counter. Score -- our first resource token! Not to be outdone in scavenging, Woody slipped behind Mophius and into the apartment -- essentially planning to cut through it on the way to the resource token in the stone building behind.

    Meanwhile, Woody is on the lookout for more supplies, deciding to search behind this door

I felt there was one thing I think needs to be better defined in the game -- especially with my modifications. Should the characters know exactly where each resource token is before the game starts? As the rules are currently written, they do. However, the author is in the process of adding "attributes" to the game. Each survivor will have a statistic between 1 and 3 for Brains, Might, and Quickness. They assign a "1" to one score, "2" to another, and "3" to be their best attribute. Or they can be "gifted" and have "2's" across the board (like Jenny chose for Jackie). 

The author, David Bezio, had asked me to find ways to incorporate these skill checks into the game. My first thought was that survivors have to make a Brains check (roll 1d6 and add your attribute seeking a 6+) to spot the resource token. As the rules are written, that didn't prevent us from heading directly towards them, though. The rules also have players make a search roll once they are adjacent to the resource token. I created the "Prepper" skill for survivors who are better at scavenging resources to receive bonuses.

   Mophius proves unready for melee, too, missing both attacks - now he is swarmed by four zombies!

It seemed odd to have to roll to see it, then roll again to search it. Maybe it would work better to instead mark several potential locations of search tokens in each quadrant. If a character passes their Brains check once in line of sight of where it is located, then it is really there. If they fail, it isn't. If they're having bad luck (like Mophius), and are down to the final potential spot, they can keep trying on each action to spot the resource token as it will really be there. I'm not 100% sure this is how I want to do it or not, so will definitely welcome feedback from the author.

   Coop steps over to get a shot at the line of zombies and "Click!" Out of ammo, too!

After the survivors move, it is the zombie turn to do two actions each as well. The rules have an AI which makes sense for their movement so that you don't need a GM. Zombies in contact with a survivor attack with their actions. If a zombie is in line of sight of a survivor, they move to the one with the most noise tokens. We made a mistake here. Since Mophius had gone "click" rather than shoot, ALL of the zombies should have moved towards Coop, as he had made more noise moving and firing. Instead, we had the three closest to Coop move towards him, while the one closest to Mophius moved into contact with him with both its actions. We then rolled to spawn three new zombies that came stumbling out of the center apartment building.

    With Mophius down and his rifle jammed, Coop splatters the closest zombie and runs back to the van

Yikes - Mophius was in bad shape already. I had chosen the extra ammo for him, but to use it he had to kill the zombie in front of him, and then reload. I rolled a melee attack first and got a "3" -- miss! Next, I rolled a "2". Wow, this survivor's luck was really bad. Things got worse, though. Coop stepped around the wrecked car to get a bead on the conga line of three zombies shambling towards him. He rolled a "1" -- out of ammo, too! Jackie shook her head at the incompetence of the male survivors and rolled two attacks with her pistol. The first one was a "4" forcing the zombie back, while the second roll was a head shot and splattered it. Girl power! Woody exited the apartment building and made it around to the building containing the search token, passing his Brains check to spot it.

    Jackie does the same, splattering her zombie in melee and then sprinting to join Coop at the van

On the zombie turn, the one in contact with Mophius missed...woo-hoo! But all three of the newly spawned zombies moved towards him. Should they have? We may have done that wrong, again. Things were getting worse for my "Shooter"! He had chosen his position well, where only two zombies could get at him at a time. However, he was definitely attracting a crowd and was rolling subpar. The zombies near Jenny moved into contact with both Coop and Jackie. When we rolled for spawning, a "Nasty Zombie" showed up, in addition to three ordinary ones. 

It was now our turn three. Our rolling had better improve soon, or we would no longer be "survivors"! Mophius attacked one of the zombies and killed it. He missed the second one with his next roll. Five rolls, and all except one were a three or below. That won't going to cut it during the zombie apocalypse! Woody successfully searched and found a loaded pistol in the building. Coop did a melee attack on the zombie in contact and forgot to add his +1 for 'Brawler." He missed. On action two, hes splattered it -- still not adding his +1.  Jackie continued to fire at zombies and splatter them. Girl power, indeed!

    Also available for $1 (unless you donate more like I did) is this 4 scenario mini-campaign

Then it was the zombie's turn. The remaining zombie in contact with Mophius missed on its first roll, then hit on the second. When a survivor is hit, there are two steps. First, he can try to tough it out and roll a "6" on 1d6 with a Grit check. Mophius failed, of course. Next, the player rolls on the Survivor Kill Table. Jenny rolled a "6" -- which equals "dead." A "4-5" would have been wounded and knocked down, while a "1-3" is wounded. Wounded survivors get only one action per turn instead of two. Remember the skill Mophius chose, "Vigorous?" The one that gives him a -1 to the die roll on the kill table? No, we didn't remember it either! So, Mophius was dead and would turn into another Nasty Zombie at the end of the turn. Grreeaatt!

The rest of the zombies moved back into contact with Coop and Jackie, while the other ones trampled over Mophius' body to try to cut off Jenny's survivors. Turn Four - time to get the heck out of here! Coop splattered the zombie in front of him and then bolted towards the van. Jackie did the same with the one who'd climbed into the Smoke Shack with her. She also bolted off table. Hearing all of the shouting going on and no more gunfire, Woody crept off table to, clutching his new pistol and hoping to get back to the van before his friends took off!

    Mophius in the center, back in his happier days when he was alive...ha, ha!

Well, our first game of Zombie RV was over. We had made a mess of it with our dice rolls, for sure! Technically, this would be considered a "Failed Mission" under the ideas I'd scribbled down before the game. We'd lost one of our survivors, the shotgun and extra ammo he was carrying, but had gained a pistol. Will we continue the saga of the "And then there were three..."? We shall see. I will be curious to see how the author responds. My modifications, which I was worried might make the survivors too tough, obviously did nothing of the sort. Perhaps there are more things we did wrong? It was fun to get the zombies and survivors out on the table, though. Zombie RV plays very quickly. It is available for download on Wargame Vault. David asks for a $1 minimum price, but I gave him $5 for it, knowing how rules writing isn't easy. There's also a follow up, four part scenario campaign called, "A Place to Chillax." Pick them both up and see what you think!

Miniature Painting & Purchasing Tally for 2024

• Miniatures acquired in 2024: 64
• Miniatures painted in 2024: 90

'Infected' Zombies & Survivor SUV

    Infected zombies from Kraken 3D Studios swarm around a 3-D printed Land Rover

When I had ordered my 3-D printed zombies from John at JS Wargamer Printing, he'd given me a choice of standard modern zombies or "infected" ones from The Last of Us series. Of course, I had said, "Both!" This is my first batch of 10 zombies of the infected variety, with the Cordyceps fungus projects growing out of them. They are from the Apocalypse Dawn range designed by Kraken 3D Studios.

    Bloated or 'Nasty Zombies' painted up as infected "good old boys" in bib overalls and ball caps

Since many zombie games differentiate types of zombies, I decided to use this batch to create "runner" zombies and bloated or "Nasty Zombies" (as the Zombie RV rules call them). In this batch of 10, there was one pose each of a zombie that I thought could work for a runner and another pose that could be a bloated one. So, I tossed three of each into the batch, along with four more standard infected zombies -- if there is such a thing! What's more, I decided to make it even easier for me or my players to identify the runners and nasties as such and did a slightly different basing on these zombies. If you look closely, you will see the bloated zombies have a brick look to their basing and the runners have a smoother cobbled surface as opposed to the asphalt-looking ballast.

    These views do a good job of showing the Cordyceps fungal infections sprouting from the zombies

The most notable thing about this batch is they all have fungus growths projecting from their skin or clothes. In some cases, it is very marked and easy to see. On others, it is a little more subtle. One of the first questions I had was what color I should paint these growths. I did lots of Google Image searches and reading up on fan pages for the show for suggestions. I wasn't overwhelmed by the detail. I remember most of the scenes from the series that contain the infected being rather dark. I ended up settling on a light terra cotta base coat with a dull yellow highlight. A black wash over it would give it more depth and darken it up a bit. All in all, I'm happy with how the "infection" on my infected turned out.

    My 'runner' type zombies with their different bases to hopefully aid in telling them apart

The bloated ones are probably the most characterful of the designs. They are wearing bib overalls that are falling down along with a ball cap. I wanted to make each of the three look different even those the poses are identical. So, one got standard jeans look to their overalls, while another got a very faded, light blue tone. The third one had a brown Carhatt look to them. For the hats, I couldn't resist. I gave one a red and white MAGA cap, though making lettering small enough was probably beyond my skill -- even with the micron pens. Another is supposed to be a John Deere cap, while the third is a Cleveland Browns cap (if you can even tell!). I like how they turned out, in general, though I wish I was better at tiny details.

    I like how Kraken designed the ripped and tattered clothing of the zombies in this line

The runners were a bit easier, since all I had to do was use different colors of clothes, hair, and shoes. I like how the sculpts (can you call them that if they are designed and printed electronically?) have their shoes worn away and toes showing in places. For the runners' unique bases, I found some patterned styrene with a cobbled design. I did it in a lighter gray than the standard zombies, but kept it in gray and black so they wouldn't be confused with the nasty zombies' brick pattern. I really like the running pose and it is probably one of my favorite ones of the zombies I got from John.

    I really liked the other four poses, too -- especially the female crouching in green pants

There was a lot of variety in the four remaining zombies in this batch. Most notable is the female one wearing the bright green pants. Her crouched pose shows off her more female physique than some of the other female zombies from the previous two batches. She looks horrifying and like she's ready to spring on some poor survivor. I also like the one on the far right in the above photo. His dense Cordyceps infection sprouting out of his shoulder looks painful in a very cool, deformed sort of way. I also like the classic pose on the far left holding his hand up. You can almost hear him moaning for brains...ha, ha!

    The vehicle is a 3D printed Land Rover from Diabolical Terrain "dirtied up" a bit for the apocalypse

Finally, the 3D printed land rover was from Ron Weaver of Diabolical Terrain. He had a batch on sale at DayCon 2024 and this is the second of those I bought from him there that I have painted up. They are actually fairly easy and quick to paint up. I spray paint them black, then follow that up with a 50/50 mix of water and acrylic black paint to make sure it seeps into all of the crevices. I like the metallic green craft paint I used for it -- the shade seems like something you see on the streets fairly commonly. I gave it some dents with accompanying rust and a black wash overall. If it has a bit of a "dusty" look, that was unintentional. After four days of waiting to spray coat these zombies and land rover, dissuaded each day by the incredibly high humidity in Columbus, I decided to risk it. I think there IS a little frosting that happened to it. It's much more noticeable on the metallic green car than the zombie skin or clothes. However, wouldn't an automobile in the apocalypse typically have a layer of ash over it? So, in the end, between the dark blasck wash and the maybe humidity frosting, it works!

 So, what's next on my tabletop? A slight change of pace. I had a batch of five Sci-Fi type personalities on my desk that I have begun. More on what I will use them for in another post...

Miniature Painting & Purchasing Tally for 2024

• Miniatures acquired in 2024: 64
• Miniatures painted in 2024: 90

First Game of Xenos Rampant - Bronze Legion Fends Off Invasion!

 

    A unit of Tyrannid Lesser Xenomorphs is suppressed by fire from Bronze Legion heavy infantry

Months after I thought I'd be hosting my first game of Xenos Rampant Sci-Fi battle rules, it finally happened. Six of us gathered for our regular Sunday night gaming session to game out a scenario that I had adapted from the rules. A number of things got in the way, including my own travel and dragging my feet getting the last couple things done. I had four of my own detachments painted and ready, and I'd borrowed two from my friend Keith (of Orcafinn's Basement). We would do a three detachments per side big battle.

    Defenders of the planet are on the right (Mike W, Allen, Mike S) and invaders on the left

Although, Xenos Rampant bills itself as a "skirmish" game, I tend to think of it more of as a battle game. Players control more than just a handful of figures. The smallest 24-point detachment in figure number last night was the Terminators, who had 15 mechanoid figures and one crab bot walker. Although that one may be "skirmish" size, the others were not. The largest was Keith's Tyrannid force (that I commanded) of 50 figures. I consider that many a battle game rather than a skirmish. I had the terrain set out and the forces set out along their board edges when my players arrived. I let them pick their seats, choosing their detachment in the process. 

    A detachment of Terminators advances through the parkland to take out the city power station

The scenario featured an off-world invasion by the "bad guys," with the planet being defended by a coalition of forces. The mercenary Bronze Legion had been entrusted to spearhead the defense, aided by a detachment of blue-skinned Anadorans, and an allied contingent of intelligent apes (my Planet of the Apes figures). Mike W commanded the simians, Allen the Bronze Legion, and Mike S the Anadorans. 

    The Tyrannid assault force enters the bombarded city and swarms towards the shield generator

The invaders -- Keith, Joel, and myself -- had an objective building that we had to end the game within 3" of, which would earn us 3 points per building. I rationalized we were trying to knock out the planet's defenses on the ground so our space bombardment could them pound them into submission. Meanwhile, the defenders got their points by destroying or routing our units (one point each). I was in the center with the Tyrannid swarm of xenomorphs (think of the movie Alien). Keith controlled his "Space Dorks," as he called them. These figs were likely old Warhammer Space Ork figures that his sister had seen and kindly picked up for him in a garage sale. On my right was Joel, commanding my Terminator detachment -- two units of Mechanoid Terminators and one of Battle Droids. They were supported by a Crab Bot Walker. 

    On our left, Keith's 'Space Dorks' begin their advance upon the city's fuel depot guarded by the apes

Each player had one of my own Quick Reference Sheets that I had created for the game. I walked them through the rules, taking little more than 20 minutes to do so. Keith had played the game once at Cincycon 2024 and Mike S had (like me) read the rules. I think the players did a great job picking up the concepts and mechanics. Any questions we had were along the line of "Do you need line of sight if using Support Fire for your Support Infantry (artillery) unit?" There were very few questions about movement, shooting, or testing morale. One thing that confused the players, as I expected, was Xenos Rampant's decision to use a generic word like "Attack" for melee combat. I may on future QRS and unit cards simply change it to Melee. When you hear the word attack, you don't necessarily translate that to charging and entering melee with a unit. I wish they'd used the word 'Melee' instead in the rules!

    Two units of Anadoran heavy infantry are supported by a Crab Bot as they guard the power station

The table was fairly dense with troops. I had three, 24-point detachments opposing an equal sized force on an 8'x4' battlefield. The rules recommend a one-on-one match up between two 24-point detachments be fought on a 4'x4' table. I was adding only 2' per extra opposed forces. However, my gaming table is only 8' wide, so what are you going to do? I wanted to test it out and see if this is a good sized force for players to command. I think 24 points works really well for one player. All of us were essentially new to the game and had little trouble keeping track of and commanding their forces. 

Tyrannids learned to advance through heavy cover to lessen the defending fire of the Bronze legion

One feature of the "Rampant" series of rules is that if you fail a unit activation, your turn ends. The other units you did not get to yet stay in place and do not move or fire. However, Xenos Rampant also has "free actions" for virtually every unit type. For example, Heavy Infantry Shoot for free, meaning they do not need to roll 2d6 and equal or exceed their Shoot activation number. They simply declare their shooting and roll their attack. Light Infantry, on the other hand, move for free. However, when they get into position and want to shoot on subsequent turns, they will have to roll their Shoot activation to do so. Everyone quickly got into the hang of doing all their free activations first before risking any rolls. There were very few players who lost their turn because of an early failure in their turn.

    Space Dork militia and jetpack infantry seize a block of buildings as the first stage of their attack

We found the Xenos Rampant to be a game where you grind down your enemy's units. This does not seem to be one of quick charges and destruction of enemy units type of games. You wear away at them instead, turn after turn. My opponents, the Bronze Legion, had one Heavy Infantry unit that withstood at least three or four Tyrannid charges of Lesser Xenomorphs before they were finally wiped out by the Queen's unit of Greater Xenomorphs. To my right, Mike S and Joel were engaged in a long, steady battle of attrition. Each of them had lost at least two units, as far as I could tell. It was only when the Terminator's Walker was driven off that it because obvious the Anadorans had repelled the Mechanoid assault.

    Our first charge against the Robot Support Gun put damage on it, but we could never knock it out

In the center, I launched wave after wave of "Wild Charges" at the heavy and elite infantry of the Bronze Legion. I also sent in more than one assault against their Robot Support Gun vehicle. The problem was that their infantry held firm against just about every charge. We would be driven back, and then they would shoot us on their turn. So, we were taking incremental losses on both our turn and their turn, while they were losing figures only on my turn. I don't think Allen's Bronze Legion ever failed a Courage Test, either. What's worse, there was one disastrous turn when two of my Lesser Xenomorphs failed theirs and had to recover from suppressed on my turn instead of charging. This gave the enemy an extra turn of fire, which in the end, I feel is what broke the back of the Tyrannid assault.

    Meanwhile, the Terminator force closes in on the Anadorans as both sides exchange gunfire

Partway through, I did shift my forces away from where the bulk of his where once I'd seen the handwriting on the wall. He had four of his units deployed to the left of my objective building, the city's shield generator. However, there was only one unit of Heavy Infantry to the right of it. I moved my Queen's Greater Xenomorphs up and they were able to charge in and wipe out the heavy infantry. It was Allen's only lost unit, and just about his only lost figures, too! After our success, the Bronze Leigon's two units of elite infantry simply moved out far enough to target my queen's unit. Of course, since the Greater Xenomorphs have the "Wild Charge" trait, they had to charge in against one of the elite units. It WAS the one containing his commander, though. So, if I could wipe them out and kill his commander, maybe morale checks would swing the tide? No, it was not to be! All of the queen's bodyguards were killed, and on the next turn, she was gunned down by the elite troopers.

    The Space Dorks make progress on the flank, but it is still too far from their objective

On my left, Keith's battle with the apes was going much better. However, they apes were defending stubbornly, or perhaps Keith wasn't being aggressive enough? He did charge...sorry, "Attack" several times that I saw, though. So, I think it was a case of the gorillas, chimpanzees, and gibbons giving ground grudgingly. When we finally called the game, Keith's push still had momentum, but he was too far away from the objective building to get us any points. The alliance that the Bronze Legion had cobbled together had triumphed. Our plan to drop in three detachments planet side and blow up their shield generators had failed. The invading forces were pushed out of the city, and the space bombardment stopped by their intact shields. The planet was saved!

    Tyrannids "shift right," preparing to overwhelm the lone heavy infantry guarding that side

I think everyone felt comfortable with the rules and learned them quickly. Everyone seemed to enjoy the game, though Mike W is not the biggest miniatures fan and seemed the least enthusiastic. I will definitely run more games of Xenos Rampant, though I may wait for smaller numbers. Every once in awhile we have only 4-5 players instead of six or seven. That way, there could be more maneuver and less of a frontal assault that our table space and scenario dictated. There are 10 different scenario in the rulebook, so I'd like to try some of them out the next time we have a slightly smaller crowd. 

   Queen's Greater Xenomorphs melee the Bronze Legion commander's personal guard of elite infantry

That may mean there is a bit of a time gap between playing games of XR. However, the rules are easy enough to pick up, as my players proved. So, all of the painting and getting ready to try XR finally came to fruition. Although it was a tabletop defeat for my force, it was a personal victory for me that my players had fun and the figures and terrain looked great on the table.  I look forward to the next game!

    After being driven off in their assault, the Queen is then shot down mercilessly by the Bronze Legion

    Pivotal moment as opposing Crab Bots duel it out, with the Anadoran's blue walker winning

    Stung by flanking fire, the Space Dork jetpack infantry charge the Bronze Legion, only be driven off

Miniature Painting & Purchasing Tally for 2024

• Miniatures acquired in 2024: 64
• Miniatures painted in 2024: 80

Blast Markers...Finally!

So, I've been wanting to do these for a LONG time. I've used flickering tea candles before to make a log cabin on fire, cannibal cook pot, and such. Most recently, I used one at the core of my downed helicopter piece of terrain. However, I'd been wanting explosion markers that I can use on the tabletop to either mark burning areas in a scenarios or whatever. What finally got me going in creating these was the idea of using them as Suppression markers in Xenos Rampant Sci-Fi miniatures rules. A suppression marker denotes a unit that failed a Courage test on the previous turn and must attempt to Rally. How to make sure you don't forget to do that? Tiny cardboard counter saying, "Suppressed"...? Heck no! 

    My flickering tea candles with the bases spray painted black (after masking the plastic "flame")

Those who know me have realized by now that any markers I create for a game must ADD to the look of the game -- not detract from it. For example, for Wiley Games you need a number of marker types. You need something to show that figure has acted already this turn (well, at least you should in case your friends might conveniently "forget"!). I use a flocked and textured round base from a pack I bought from Michigan Toy Soldier Company. It looks good on the tabletop and is unobtrusive. You will also might need "Shock" markers. I have tiny brown smoke markers (bullets kicking up dust around the figure?). For a figure that is stealthy, we use a tiny flocked piece of vegetation. Long ago, they earned the nickname "hunker bushes" to mark figures that had "hunkered down" to gain better defense.

    The "batting" material used to stuff pillows or teddy bears before spraying black

So, it should be no surprise that, once I'd decided to create these, I bought a pack of small, flickering tea lights from Hobby Lobby. I immediately went out and watched a bunch of YouTube videos on how to create explosion markers from them. In the end, this is what I decided to do, step by step.

1. Put masking tape or painters tape around the plastic "flame" part of the candle. Then spray paint them with matte black paint or primer.
2. Use wire cutters to cut off the flame at about the halfway point. You need a wide enough area to insert three fiber optic cables.
3. Cut three different lengths of 2mm fiber optic material. I had to buy it off Amazon because I couldn't find any store locally that sold it. Insert those into the open area of the plastic flame and press them down against the tiny little LED light at the bottom. Add Tacky Glue where the fiber optic material touches the edge of the plastic flame you cut off to affix it in place.
4. Once dry, take pliers to flatten out and deform the ends of the fiber optic material so it looks like slag or molten fragments being flung into the air.
   
5. Cut a section of "batting material" -- the stuffing you put in pillows or teddy bears. Cut it so it falls just short of the height of your shortest of the three pieces of fiber optic. Make it long enough to wrap around the base of the tea candle.
6. Place the batting material on a box or something and spray paint the material black, darker at the bottom (to cover up the tea candle once you affix it), but more irregularly nearer the top. There should be a mix of white, gray, and black in your plume of material.
7. Coat the outer cylinder of the tea candle with Tacky Glue, then wrap the batting around it. Don't press it in too hard or the glue will bleed through and make shiny clear spots. The material just needs to NOT unwind.
8. Ka-BOOM -- you're done! 

The tea candle with three lengths of 2mm fiber optic cable inserted into the plastic "flame"

My explosion markers are shorter in height than some you may see on some YouTube videos. That's because I want them to be markers to remember which units are suppressed and have to check morale. And with one of these things flickering in front of the unit, there's no way you'll forget!

    Outer edge of the tea candle painted with Tacky Glue and the batting material that will go around it

Here's a link to the "One Man and his Brushes" blog entry that inspired me, just to let you know that I didn't think of all this myself! What's next on my painting table. More zombies! These the the infected style zombies from the show, "The Last of Us." I currently have the flesh and base coat on the clothes competed. So, expect these early next week!

Miniature Painting & Purchasing Tally for 2024

• Miniatures acquired in 2024: 64
• Miniatures painted in 2024: 80

 

Post-apocalyptic Survivor Van & Characters

 

    Five 28mm survivors from Battle Valor Games leave their 3-D printed van to explore some ruins

I was perusing the Lead Adventure Forum before Origins, and saw a post about a zombie apocalypse rules set called Zombie RV, by Grey Area Games. Released this March by David Bezio, it is a fast-play, tongue-in-cheek survivors vs. zombies miniatures game. The introduction and rules are only six pages, with four extra pages of scenarios. I was intrigued by the simple mechanics, and also by the fact it seemed something that would scale up easily for my larger Sunday evening gaming group. What's more, it also seemed something that you could easily add in character advancement and turn into an ongoing campaign. 

    Many zombie games feature characters without firearms, so I figured that I needed to paint some up!

Yes, I realize that is exactly what I am planning on doing with County Road Z! However, there are a LOT more rules in that book, and it is the campaign rules in County Road Z that attract me than the combat system. The actual combat system for both sets is very simple. So, while I wait on the actual hardcover rulebook to be shipped to me, what's the harm in trying a couple games with these rules?

    I like how these figures came out - their clothes looks worn and scruffy...suitably post-apocalyptic

One thing that both rules sets feature is survivors armed with melee weapons -- not just firearms. Nearly all of my post-apoc figures are armed with some type of gun. So, I figured it was time to dig into the unpainted lead pile and paint up some with just melee weapons. I have a number of these type from Battle Valor Games (which picked up many lines from the defunct Sgt. Major Miniatures). I dug through the packs and picked out five likely ones. I needed to add a weapon to one (who appeared to be just throwing a rock), so drilled out his hand and gave him an axe. An axe is a very thematic anti-zombie weapon, right?/

    I like having my survivor figures wearing stuff like hoodies, leather jackets, tennis shoes, etc.

Two of the figures had leather jackets, so I painted one black and the other brown leather for variety. These fiver are not meant to be a gang, as such. Instead, I painted them relatively generically so that they could be part of any player's group of survivors. I did decide to get a bit fancy with their clothes and gave them logos on their clothes. The leather jackets had biker gang logos on the back, while the others had Under Armor, Adidas, etc. The one in the red hoodie I couldn't resist giving a Woody Hayes style Ohio State University hat. It harkens back to the my Bucknuts survivor gang, one of my favorites that I've painted.

    I used my tiny brush and micron pens to do biker gang logos on the backs of the leather jackets

I also immediately put to use one of my most recent purchases -- the pack of 3-D printed bottles I picked up at Origins from Elrik's Hobbies. Most of the tiny bottles appear to be groupings of 3 or more, but there are some individual ones, too. I was able to snip them off easily and add one to each base after the flocking was done. I painted a couple of the bottles "beer bottle green," two others brown, and a final one a gray/white that I was hoping to get a clear bottle effect from. Not sure it worked out so well (look at the OSU survivor and judge for yourself). I like how the green ones turned out best.

    A 3-D printed van from Diabolical Terrain was painted up alongside this batch of survivors

At the same time I finished these five survivors, I also completed a 3-D printed van that I'd purchased from Diabolical Terrain at DayCon 2024. I spray painted it black, then added a 50/50 mix of acrylic black paint and water to get it into all of the crevices. Next, I painted the body of the van metallic blue. Of the handful of metallic craft paints that I have purchased, the dark blue is one of my favorites. There are a lot of metallic blue vehicles on the road, so it looks like it fits. The van is modeled with some dents and bangs (from running over zombies?), which I like. I did some rust effect where the metal would have bent and the paint may have come off. The windows are molded solid, so I painted them black and added in white and light blue cracks to show more damage.

    

    The van looks a little beat up, but it will be the "ride" for a group of survivors in my zombie games

I went back and forth whether to base the model like I have done for my other post-apocalyptic vehicles or not. I decided that vehicles that would be the survivors' "rides" would be un-based, while those that are wrecks would be based. This will allow us to move it wherever needed on the tabletop, whether on streets, sidewalks, or through fields, and have it not look out of place. I painted the bumpers a dark gray and the chrome Pewter. At the top of each window, I added in a two-tone blue "sky reflection" off the glass window. Maybe I need to go back in and add tiny diagonal white lines on the black part of the glass so it is obvious what effect I was modeling? What do you think?

So, what's next on my tabletop? I am finally finishing up my suppression markers for Xenos Rampant, using flickering tea candles. I've also begun a batch of 10 "Infected-style" zombies to use for Zombie RV's "fast zombies" and "mean zombies." So, look for those soon, as well! And here's my 2024 to-date tally of painted figures vs. new ones acquired:

Miniature Painting & Purchasing Tally for 2024

• Miniatures acquired in 2024: 64
• Miniatures painted in 2024: 80