Five Parsecs from Home - Campaign Turn 2

    Battle raging at Taxore's spaceport during Mission 2 for the Inconceivable's crew

Captain's Log

Ship's Log, Interstellar Yacht Inconceivable, Capt. Alistair Valentine recording. I decided to take the crew of the Inconceivable out to dinner after the amazing success of our first mission. None of us had been injured, and we had been paid handsomely by Gunny's contact at the Galactic Marines. While enjoying drinks before dinner, I proposed to the crew that we use most of the profit to pay off every last bit of debt on the ship. No longer would we have to worry about crooked companies, lawyers, or banks trying to reclaim the ship, I explained. Sure, we could instead build a sickbay or some other new module on the ship, but why do that before owning it outright? Going around the table, I asked each of the other four what they thought (SAS BR61 had remained on board the ship). All four of my crew agreed or voiced no dissent, even though it meant we were left with only 6 credits to their name.

When I went to pay the bill, the restaurant manager pulled me aside. The meal and drinks were on them, he said. He'd heard through the grapevine about a Converted Infiltration team being discovered and taken out by the crew of a recently-arrived ship. I quipped, "I wonder who those heroes could be?" The manager explained he'd recently watched a show about the Converted, and the half machine, half humans had given him the creeps. Anyone who did anything to save him being "converted" into one of those inhuman machines deserved a meal at his restaurant any day!

Once back at the ship, I called the crew together on the bridge to watch me make the electronic payment and receive the communication confirming the ship was ours. Several cheered and Gunny let out a marine whoop. I informed them that I'd spend this week again in the simulator. I wanted to be 100% comfortable with the controls of the Inconceivable before we took off from Taxore. Zorina said she'd like to keep working on combat training in the other simulator if no one else minded. Gunny, Cephvarx, and Doc all said that was fine. Gunny said he'd take Cephvarx with him and try to trade for some stuff we might need. Doc said if it was okay with everyone else, he'd like to explore Taxore a little. It seemed like a fascinating world, and the people seemed interested in his environmental suit and eager to chat. 

I dismissed the crew, leaving BR 61 on security duty. As the crew left the bridge, the security bot called out, "Don't worry about me, my friends. I'm so good at sleeping I can do it with my eyes closed."

    Zoomed in photo from Alistair and Gunny's drone reconnaissance of the spaceport

Security Officer's Log

Ship's log, supplemental entry SO #0002, on the planet Taxore. I'm taking Cephvarx Hul with me to do a little trading in Taxore. I figure the big, purple-skinned lug might scare the merchants into giving me a better price! I'm glad I took him along, as we were checking out a weapons dealer and he called me over where he was sorting through a box of random equipment. He held up a cylindrical cloth bag. "Bipod," he said. "My rifle's model, specifically." Cephvarx is our squad's sniper, for want of a better term. Giving him a bipod would make him even more deadly. Since his rifle model is a relatively uncommon one, the bipod was not of much value to the dealer and we got it for next to nothing. 

That's great, because prices are normally high on Taxore. We didn't see any other bargains and were on our way back to the ship when Cephvarx stopped at a vendor selling electronic tomes. He'd noticed some in Varxian language and was examining each one closely. While he shopped, I browsed the other titles. One caught my eye, The Lost Treasure of Chuff Betzos. Alistair is obsessed with this urban legend of a ship carrying an extremely valuable cargo owned by the founder of Amazonas Galacticus disappearing, and never being located. Alistair thinks it would be just deserts if he were to locate it and sell the contents to replace his lost pension that Amazonas stole from him! He even carries an electronic map that supposedly details the route of the ship through star systems. I bought it for Alistair, knowing he'd devour the text! (This is a Quest Rumor that we received as part of our trade roll). Cephvarx picked up a couple electronic books in Varx, as well. Then we headed back to the ship.

    We would be facing the spaceport's veteran security guards during our infiltration mission

Engineer's Log

Ship's log, supplemental entry EO #0001, on the planet Taxore. Ship's Engineering and Medical Officer Mecrosius recording. Taxore is an amazing planet, and other than the expenses, I like everything about it. Last week, I had been searching out possible jobs for our crew and had made contact with the deputy minister of the Free Trade Association of Taxore. We'd had lunch and he explained how they are fighting trade rules that keep the prices artificially high here on the planet. In the course of our discussion, our captain's plight of his lost pension from Amazonas Galacticus came up. The minister was very sympathetic and outraged by the mega-corporation's actions. He promised to find us some work to help out the caption.

This week, though, I wandered just for the fun and fascination of it. The people are incredibly polite and are accepting of my condition that requires me to wear my environmental suit at all times. They love to watch how the bottom "beak" opens up for me to deposit food, then closes back up. I described how it scans it for possible toxins then, if it is safe, delivers it to my mouth to be chewed. I never saw anyone stare impolitely or point or do anything rude. Even the little children do not giggle when they see my outfit. They simply watch and take it all in, turning away if I gaze at them so they don't seem impolite. As much as I love being part of the Inconceivable's crew, it will be hard to leave this planet. (When I rolled up the results for Doc's exploration, he received "This place is rather nice". We will have to spend a story point to keep him from remaining on Taxore when we eventually leave!). 

    The Inconceivable crew deploys behind the spaceport's customs house and air conditioning units

 

The Game 

 Since Doc had found a second job for us on Turn 1, I decided to play that one out for this turn's mission. The Free Trade Association of Taxore hired us to escort and protect a VIP. Our opponents would be "Veteran Enforcers" -- think police or hired, good quality security guards. From that kernel, I decided that the association wanted to install a device to monitor transmissions and logged entries at the city's spaceport. They wanted to be able to cull data of ship arrivals, cargo offloaded, port duties, etc., so they could prove that the authorities were artificially keeping prices high (and likely skimming off profits).

    The guards' specialist with the auto rifle begins to redeploy around a quonset hut for a firing position

Doc had explained the mission to Alistair and the crew last turn when we chose to complete Gunny's mission instead. We had till Turn 3 to undertake it, but I figured this meant doing it now meant one more character out trading, training, or exploring rather than searching for a job. Captain and crew approved of the nature of the mission, though the prospect of breaking into the spaceport and facing off against private security did worry them a bit. However, the residual goodwill from eliminating the Converted Infiltrators, and their status as relative newcomers on the planet, should give them some degree of "forgiveness." Or at least that is what the crew hoped!

    Alistair and Gunny leap over the low wall behind the warehouse, intending to go in the back door

There would be Danger Pay, Benefits (an extra roll on the Loot Table), and Shiny Bits (more loot) on this mission. Unfortunately, I rolled that our crew was "Caught Off-Guard" by the enemy, so we would act after them on Turn 1. No chance to "Seize the Initiative" and get free shots this time! The enemy worried me a bit, as they were all +1 Combat Skill and Toughness 4 -- better stats than all but Cephvarx Hul and SAS BR61 on our crew. They were mostly armed with 12" range Hand Lasers, which would be out-ranged by Cephvarx, Alistair, and Doc. However, the specialist (thankfully, they had no Lieutenant) was armed with a Auto rifle. That would be the best gun on the table, so we would need to knock him out ASAP.  

   BR61 & Zorina escorting the Technician, while Cephvarx Hut gets ready to climb the customs house

The Enforcer's "A.I." would be "Tactical" -- likely meaning they wouldn't be aggressively charging forward like the Converted last mission. However, with only one weapon with more than a 12" range, the security goons would need to advance to get in range. Cephvarx Hul would be key to our success. His military rifle -- boosted by the bipod we got from trading. His spent experience points at the end of last turn had raised his Reactions to 2, making him our ace in the hole. Gunny, recognizing that, gave the Varx the Stimpack. If he were to be knocked out, we'd need him back on his feet ASAP. Of course, I promptly forgot to add the bipod to Cephvarx Hul's stat card -- whoops! He was shooting with one "+1" tied behind his back, so to speak...ha, ha! 

    Meanwhile, the security guards move forward along the wall to investigate the alarm & get in range

Our mission was to take the VIP technician to the center point of the table and give him time to install the device. Once he did that, we will have won the scenario. Next, I set up the spaceport tabletop. Dead center was a domed building containing the control console that our technician had to access. Once again, I used my acrylic floor tiles in concrete gray, as I assumed this would be another city mission. I wanted to put a landing pad for a space port, so used one of my 12" square asphalt road tiles and surrounded it with a low stone wall with two gates. I positioned it off-center, so the row of domed huts could be running dead center down the middle of the table. Behind the domed huts were some warehouses and a customs office. On another side of the landing pad were two long quonset huts (more warehouses? Security?). Opposite them across the pad were some power grids. Various other pieces of small terrain were scattered around the board. 

    Doc Mecrosious opens the garage door a crack to a perfect shot on one of the security guards

I was pleased with how the board looked, but I definitely need more futuristic terrain so I don't have to use as much of my "modern" stuff! I wanted to set the board up as fairly as possible, with a somewhat logical layout. I realize the game will be vastly different depending on which side of the table my crew sets up, and where the Enforcers deploy. I rolled for the crew's side and got exactly the side I wanted. We will come in behind the warehouses and the enemy will come in on the more wide-open side near the landing pad.

    It was a poor "tactical" choice on my part of loop the guard's best weapon around the hut

Re-reading Five Parsecs from Home's battle rules, I understood the enforcers had to deploy in three squads of two figures. Each squad would be within 8" of another and the members of each pair had to be within 3" of each other. Since they had the jump on us, I pondered what they would do. Perhaps an alarm had been set off and their equipment showed my crew was approaching from behind the custom's house. I measured the range from the auto rifle-armed specialist's position and discovered he would be out of range if he just hunkered down along the wall. The rules say "Tactical" enemies will more to outflank. So, I decided he would circle around behind the quonset hut (to be out of line of fire) and take up position between the two. The other two pairs would go the other way and remain along the wall.

    BR61 guns down another security guard from the cover of the customs house pillars

Alistair and Gunny's plan was to have Cephvarx climb the custom's house and take up a firing position on the stone balcony. Doc would enter through the back door of the left-hand warehouse then take up a position from a window or doorway on its front. Gunny and Alistair would take the right hand warehouse and do the same. BR61, Zorina, and the Technician would sneak up to the custom's house, then dash around to the cover of its stone colonnade. From there, the technician could dash to the domed hut, enter it, and install the device.

    Cephvarx Hul from his covered sniper position on the customs house balcony railing

Both sides followed their plans for the first two turns. I did notice that the recommended movement rate for Tactical enemies was probably too slow for the specialist's decision to circle the quonset hut. I should have overruled it and had him dash once he was out of my crew's line of sight. On Turn 3, Cephvarx Hul took his covered position on the balcony and squeezed off a shot, which missed, ricocheting off the stone wall in front of the closest enforcer. The Enforcers then all did their moves, as we had rolled poorly and only Cephvarx acted before the enemy. Gunny, realizing the line of sight from the warehouse wasn't good enough, dashed out and over to the closest quonset hut, where he could see the specialist moving up. Alistair shifted to the doorway to have a better view than the window provided. 

   One of the security guards redeploys out of line of sight of Doc and then takes aim at Zorina

The security guards moving first turned out to be perfect timing. Doc opened up his warehouse garage door a crack, revealing a wide-open shot on the closest enforcer. He fired his colony rifle at the outflanked security guard. The man jerked, then slumped to the ground, motionless. Seconds later, BR 61 rounded the custom's house, squeezed in behind a pillar, and fired his shotgun at the next closest guard. Blam, blam! Another guard fell behind the wall with a grunt. Two enemy down on the first turn of firing - woo-hoo! Meanwhile, the technician dashed to the back of the control hut, crouching down to stay out of sight. Zorina moved forward to another of the huts, staying in cover in her shimmer cloak.

   ZAP! Zorina's shimmer cloak camoflauge doesn't help against the guard's deadly aim with his laser

I realized at the end of turn 3 that I had once again forgotten to roll for Battlefield Events at the end of turn 2. I rolled, and one of the remaining security guards had a +1 Toughness. However, they suffered losses in turn 3, so had to roll for panic. They were considered veterans, so would panic only on a "1" on a d6. They suffered two losses, so I rolled twice. One roll was a 1! The rules say the enemy closes to their deployment area "bails," so the specialist's companion, hearing two of his compatriots down on his headset, decided to "go get help." Turn 4 began with Gunny ducking inside the quonset hut to try to get within range with his pistol. Cephvarx fired another shot and missed. Obviously, he needs more practice with using the bipod! BR62 moved from the customs house to the cover of one of the domed huts.

    With Zorina down, the Inconceivable crew blazed away with their weapons on the next turn

The guards moved next. The tough guy shifted position to be out of sight of Doc and sighted his hand laser at Zorina. "A shimmer cloak!" he thought. "I read about those in an Enforcer of Fortune magazine article. To counter its distortion, I need to aim right about...there!" He fired, and Zorina let out a yelp and flopped to the ground, unmoving. At this point, I used a "Story Point" to make the tough guy re-roll. Wouldn't you know it? He rolled another hit and rolled to exceed her Toughness, as well. The other security guards all continued to move up. Doc fired and missed. Alistair moved from the warehouse door to one of the domed huts, and the technician dashed inside to complete his mission.

    Auto rifle armed guard finally gets to where he can shoot next turn and Gunny takes him out!

The Inconceivable crew was spurred into action by Zorina becoming a casualty. Doc aimed and fired at the guard he could see along the way, and dropped him. BR61 moved to within range of "tough guy" and blasted him. He scored one hit in his two shots and then rolled to exceed the guard's Toughness. Down he went! The only security guard left was the specialist, who finally made it to the space between the two huts. As he began to creep to get a view of the battlefield, Gunny opened the door of the quonset hut, and at point blank range, blasted him. All six were down, and we'd completed our mission. 

I think in the future I will be less literal in following the enemy A.I. It dictated they moved only half moves and would stay in cover. Once they were under fire, they should have been moving faster to get within range, not slowly creeping forward and taking shots. That said, I think I did a good job on picking which of my crew would move before the guards and which would move afterwards. For example, both Doc and Gunny opened a door after a guard moved and were in short range of an enemy that thought they were in cover, but wide open from where they appeared from. My rolls -- except for poor Cephvarx Hul -- were good, and once again my weapon range was superior. One of these days, I am going to roll up an enemy armed with all auto rifles...! Post-battle report in the next episode!

Miniature Painting & Purchasing Tally for 2024

• Miniatures acquired in 2024: 149
• Miniatures painted in 2024: 130

More Purchases and Acquisitions to Ruin my Painted vs. Unpainted!

    Most of the miniatures I buy from JS Wargamer Printing were STLs designed by Papsikels

So, each time I have gone to a convention this year my 2024 totals for Painted vs. Unpainted takes a hit. Then, I get painting again, and pretty soon I am back in the black, so to speak. Or green in my tally at the bottom of my posts. I had just recovered from my Historicon 2024 purchases when I made another order from JS Wargamer Printing. So, now I am in the red, again! I thought keeping track was supposed to help me keep my spending down...right?

   Alien Grays that I picked up -- cool figs, eh? They'll work for any of the Sci-Fi games I'm playing

What did I buy? Well, I was so impressed with the Aliens I painted up (especially how quickly I could complete them), that I decided to order some more. Knowing that I would be charged shipping, I figured I should defray that a little by ordering more. Makes sense, right? Makes the shipping cost less "per figure"?

    There were actually 11 resistance figures that John sent me -- all have lots of character like these

So, I picked up a pack of the Alien Grays, which looked so cool. They'll fit in with the retro look of some of my Sci-Fi stuff, as well as be a good enemy for Five Parsecs from Home. I also really liked the look of the Terminator Human Resistance figures. They'd make good survivors for a post-apocalytpic campaign or even zombie games. I think John appreciates the promoting of his company that I've been doing, too, because he tossed in two extra resistance and two extra Alien Grays. 

    The female zombies Keith gave me came from this pack, I believe...

Finally, I mentioned in my previous post Keith gave me 10 female zombies from Wargames Factory. Not technically a purchase, but I should count it in the "Acquired vs. Painted" totals. So, that puts me behind, again, as you can see below. I expect to catch back up relatively quickly with the Aliens and zombies going fairly fast. Oh, but wait! I have that upcoming trip to the Michigan Toy Soldier Company at the end of this month! And I did say I was going to pick up more of their Retro Rayguns Sci-Fi line...

Oh, no! Will I  get back in the black only to slip back into the red, again...?

Miniature Painting & Purchasing Tally for 2024

• Miniatures acquired in 2024: 149
• Miniatures painted in 2024: 130

Giving Rebels & Patriots AWI Rules a Try

    Our second game of Rebels and Patriots was considerably bigger with 3-4 units each instead of 1-2

The last couple weekends of Sunday night gaming have been trying out Rebels and Patriots: Wargaming Rules for North America - Colonies to Civil War. These are written by Michael Leck and Daniel Mersey and are from the "Rampant" series of rules. So, the concepts would be familiar to us who had played Xenos Rampant not too long ago. As each iteration of the Rampant engine is slightly different, a key part is learning those changes. Since Keith was the one hosting (and owning) the rules, it was up to him to explain the differences.

    The British are marching from the top of the photo and attempting to exit off the opposite edge

Our first game was a very simple affair -- refighting the British attempt to make it from Lexington to Concord on the day of the "shot heard round the world." The British players (Jenny and Joel) had two higher quality units each, while the Rebels (Mike S, Allen, Mike W, and myself) had six lower quality units. All of our units were Skirmishers and we would not stand up to any British charges, hoping instead to pass our discipline check and shoot and scoot away. Sometimes it worked as planned, other times not as much.

    Allen's unit of militia is the first to take a stand against the advancing British regulars

A key feature of Rampant rules is you need to roll to activate a unit on 2d6 vs. a certain number. In Rebels and Patriots, this activation roll (Move, Fire, Skimish, etc.) is modified by your unit's discipline level. Most of the British force were +1, while much of the Rebel force was -1. The target number is "6". Doing the math, you will see most rebel units would actually need to roll a "7"to succeed. This is modified by +1 if the army commander is within 12". Allen did a great job moving his commander to where he would be able to give his bonus often to as many units as possible.

    A key point of the battle as when the British attempted to push the Americans from a small village

My rolling to activate was awful, nonetheless. Most of the game, my single unit I commanded was within 12" of General Allen. However, I failed more than 2/3's of my activation rolls. So, that means on 2d6 I rolled 5 or less two thirds of the time! Waaaay under average!! Still, other Rebel players (particularly Mike S) were doing much better. They were wearing the British down with their fire. Our goal was to knock the British under half strength. Once we did that, we would have achieved our victory condition. Thanks to my teammates, we did so. I think I actually shot and killed enemy figures only once during the game. Thank goodness for the others, though!

    Keith was excited to get his "true 25mm" troops out on the table after years of languishing in boxes

We decided that we liked the rules well enough to give them a try again the following week. I recommended Keith do more of a straight up battle, this time. He'd found the Lexington & Concord scenario online, and wanted to follow it. I said commanding one lone Rebel unit with a -1 discipline (like both Mike W and myself did) doesn't make for a really tactically interesting evening. I said give us "X number" of points of troops and let us line up against each other and test out the rules. Keith listened to my suggestion, and we each were given about 18 points of troops. For the British (which was me this time), that meant three units. For the Americans, that usually meant four. However, I was to find out that not all of the Americans were as bad as my poor militia last week.

    Here's what my three units of British troops were facing in the second game -- outnumbered 7-3!

In fact, I found myself matched against the cream of the Continental army. Mike W controlled four units -- the Continental artillery, two Continental Light Infantry units, and one Militia unit. He rolled "box cars" (12) to activate once and was given yet another unit. Three of his units had a Fire Factor (score needed on 1d6 to cause a hit) of 4+. None of my outnumbered troops did (we were 5+). He had two units with Discipline +1, while I had one. I was definitely facing a superior force -- more so because I was also facing two units of Joel's command when we lined up. At one point it was my 3 units vs. 7 American units!

    I sent my unit of Lights in skirmish to keep the Brit left at bay, and advanced my others on the center

I decided the smartest thing to do would be to delay and distract the enemy, allowing my compatriots to beat the rest of the enemy army. I sent my British Light Infantry in skirmish formation to catch the attention of the artillery and left wing of the enemy. My other two units obliqued towards the center to help Mike S break through with his Hessians. My Lights were in the most danger, so I moved them forward and backwards, trying to keep the hilltops or woods between us and the enemy cannon. They were getting worn down, though. I had occupied Mike's superior forces for 4-5 turns, so I moved them back once they fell to 7 figures left out of 12. In Rebels and Patriots, once you fall down to half strength, bad things tend to happen. Your attack dice are halved and you receive a permanent disorder marker (which gives a -1 to morale checks and activation checks).

    Our goal was to break through the patriot lines, so all three of us marched forward to give it our best

Speaking of morale checks, the Rampant games usually require units that take casualties from fire to roll a 2d6 roll vs. a target number (6 in this game) to pass. You subtract the number of casualties you took from that roll. This is the key mechanic of the game, in my opinion. You want your opponents to fail that morale check and get a disorder marker. Then, if they try to rally it off, each marker is a -1. Roll low enough and you retreat or even flee the table. You don't usually eliminate an entire unit from musketry in this games, it seems (which make sense). You instead try to give them so many negative modifiers that sooner or later they will have a big failure and run away.

    Our best chance at smashing through was with Mike S's center command of Hessians

The other key mechanic in the rules is units roll 12 dice when shooting or attacking in melee as long as they are above half strength. Success is rolling your Fire Factor (remember my 5+ and Mike W's 4+). Each success is a "hit," and hits are grouped together to create casualties. The base number is two hits = 1 casualty (figure removed). However, long range, terrain, target in skirmish, etc., all up that number by one. So, I had my Lights in skirmish formation and kept them at long range meaning Mike caused one casualty for every four hits. Unfortunately, Mike W was rolling hot that night and wearing my units down. He wasn't rolling as well to activate, though. So, that enabled me to keep tying down a superior part of their force with my inferior one. Success, right?

   Although they got slapped around by cannon fire and musketry, the Brit Lights did a great job occupying a much superior force

Well, that all depended on Mike S and Allen's attacks being successful! Allen started out well against Keith, but was battered in the end and had half of his troops destroyed or flee off-table. All our money rode on aggressive-playing Mike S coming through with his attack in the center. I had pulled away some of Joel's center to face off against my other two units who were attacking in echelon in support of the Hessians. Mike S had been the hero of the American victory last week. Could he be the hero again tonight as a Brit? 

    Hessian command slams into the patriot center, and one by one, the American units begin to break

It looked like Mike was going to pull it off. He pierced Joel's line. On Joel's resulting morale checks, he suffered a disastrous series of failures. A number of his units fled the field. Soon, there was no British center. Unfortunately, Keith and Mike W had wheeled forces to fire upon the exploiting Hessians. Ranges in Rebels and Patriots are long (18"), and on what we said would be the final turn of the game, they blasted away at the Hessians, disordering all three units. Ugh! There went the clear victory!

    The Brit (Hessian?) high water mark -- table edge in sight with no enemy in between!

Based on troops remaining and losses, we decided to call it a bloody draw. We had been very close to securing our breakthrough that was our victory condition, but a last effective turn of American fire and poor morale rolls on Mike's and my part blunted that. Still, it was a fun game. Doubtless, we will be playing more Rebels and Patriots on future Sunday evenings. We have to because Keith went out and bought more figures, right?

    The American counter-attack on their last turn took some wind out of our sails, forcing us to stand around and debate who really won...

Zombie Horde Grows - 10 Wargames Factory Zombies

    First batch of Wargames Factory plastic zombies - they look fairly close in size to my previous ones

My only purchase at the Historicon 2024 flea market was a box of 30 Wargames Factory zombies for $15. Eyeballing them, they seemed close in size to the 3-D printed ones that I'd special ordered from JS Wargamer Printing. Getting them home and opening the box, I was a little dismayed by how many pieces the figures came in. There were heads, torsos, arms, and lower section with legs. I will happily admit that I am fairly incompetent when it comes to assembling miniatures.

Luckily, my friend Keith is a whiz at it. He doesn't seem to mind assembling the odd box that I buy that requires assembly. It took him little more than a week to glue all 30 together. What's more, he based them on MDF 1" round bases for no charge. The bases were a bit thicker than the plastic ones I was using for the other zombies, but that's my fault for not thinking of getting him bases to put them on. Once all painted up, the difference in base size thickness won't really be noticeable. What's more, the following Sunday he showed up at our game night with a box of 10 female zombies from Wargames Factory all assembled for me. For free! Keith's a generous guy normally, but sometimes he goes overboard!

   I like the pose in the lab coat -- a nice touch, I think

Anyway, I pulled all 30 males out and separated them by pose. Keith had done a great job mixing and matching heads, arm positions, etc., but there seemed to be about eight basic torsos, as best I could tell. Once I'd sorted them, I picked out one of each plus a couple extra (I loved the ones in lab coats!) and got them ready to paint up. I decided to treat them exactly like 3-D printed miniatures, as some of the hands and arms seemed a little thin and liable to snap. Readers of my blog know that method begins with Krylon Fusion acrylic black spray paint followed by brushing on a 50/50 mixture of acrylic black paint and water. Hopefully, this gives the miniatures a bit more strength to face handling on the tabletop. 

I normally don't paint in batches of 10 figures, preferring smaller lots. However, zombies don't have a lot of equipment (well, none actually, except for one guy carrying around a foot in case he starts to feel peckish). So, I can handle a bigger number of figures and not feel overwhelmed. Sometimes, I think back to my 15mm days when I would try to paint an entire army of 50+ miniatures all at once, doing all the flesh, then uniform color, etc. I can't imagine painting that way now. It would be too much like work! I like smaller batches as you are more frequently rewarded with the accomplishment of a new batch of minis completed.

    The pose in the middle appears to have a leather vest, so I gave him a biker logo on the back

I began with the flesh, as normal. For zombies, I use a craft paint called "Wild Rice" for their skin color. It is way too pale for living humans, but when given a black wash at the end gives it a nice, decaying, grayish tint. Next up were the pants. There were a number of zombies with shorts in this batch, so I did those in lighter colors. The long pants were done as blue jeans, gray or khaki dress pants, or "Carrhart" brown paints. Once the base color had dried overnight, I went back and did a dry brush highlight on each.

The were a lot more decisions to make on the shirts. I would love to jazz up every single one of the shirts with something special, but considering the number of zombies I need to paint, I unfortunately don't want to take the time. I did make one of them a leather biker's vest, another shirt was given a couple stripes, and a third was done as a kind of flannel. Otherwise, they were basic shirts (that is, if they were wearing shirts -- two were bare chested). As mentioned before, I really liked the poses in the lab coats, so did two of them in this group. I think on the next batch of these Wargames Factory zombies, I will try to do more special details in the shirts to give them a little more personality. I'd love to be able to paint one zombie up as each of my Sunday night gaming group, if I can find a post that matches...ha, ha!

    One of my favorite poses is the guy in shorts and salmon colored muscle shirt in the center

Otherwise, I did these exactly like the 3-D printed zombies I ordered from JS Wargamer Printing. The shirts and pants got highlighting, the obvious wounds were painted in blood red, and the eyes were done with no pupils or irises. Just black with a white area in the center. I made the mouths and hands a little bloody, and smeared a couple places on their pants and shirts with dried blood color, too. I liked how it looked on the hands. This was the first batch I did that way, so will likely do it some more on the forthcoming batches of zombies.

So, you may ask how many batches of zombies do I have in line? The 10 female zombies Keith gave me are up next after these guys. As a bonus, a couple of the female poses look like they could be used as "runners." I think I need to come up with something more distinctive on the bases to make the runners stand out. I should probably go back and re-flock the other three runners I did and just simply use a different color of flocking like I did with the "nasty zombies." But I was counting zombie batches, wasn't I? Well, after the 10 female zombies, I have two more batches of 10 from Wargames Foundry. And I also have 9 more JS Wargamer ordinary zombies and 7 "Infected" ones. And then there are the six child zombies I bought at Historicon from Brigade Games! So, that means I have 52 more zombies on the way?? Wow...methinks I will be tired of painting zombies before I complete all of those! Stay tuned and see, though...

    Street level view as a horde of 10 zombies lumbers towards you, "Brains...!"

Miniature Painting & Purchasing Tally for 2024

• Miniatures acquired in 2024: 104
• Miniatures painted in 2024: 130

'It's a Trap!' More Sci-Fi Figures - Mon Calamari from Star Wars

   'Fishman Troopers' that I purchased from JS Wargamer Printing at Cincycon & painted up recently

The more I paint JS Wargamer Printing 3-D miniatures, the more I am liking them. Here's another batch I recently painted up for my Sci-Fi games. They could be either a unit for Xenos Rampant, a couple squads for Wiley Games' Galactic Heroes, or an enemy force for Five Parsecs from Home. All Star Wars fans know Admiral Ackbar, the squid-faced, fleet commander famous for his line, "It's a trap!" Well, apparently his home world is a water one named Mon Cala. And his people are -- you guessed it -- Mon Calamari! 

    Go ahead, say it...you know you want to mimic Admiral Ackbar's voice and declare, "It's a trap!"

What's more, according to Wookiepedia (yes, that is the Star Wars fan site's name), there are various skin colors for the natives of the planet. So, this "fact" let me inject a little variety into this squad besides Ackbar's reddish tones. HMGS Great Lakes member John Leahy runs JS Wargamer Printing, and his prints were fairly clean and had none of the lines you sometimes see in 3-D printed models (especially terrain). I've been pleased with everything I've purchased from him so far, so I recommend his company highly. These figures came on "slotta" style bars, which I snipped off and cemented their feet directly to the base. I've always hated slotta bases. There are 10 "Fishman Troopers" in the pack, but I was careless in snipping off the slot and snapped one poor Mon Calamari's foot off. So, perhaps it was a trap!

    Two Fishman troopers, green and blue-skinned, armed with a light saber and blaster

As I do with 3-D printed figures, I primed them with Krylon Fusion acrylic black. Then I go over it with a 50/50 mix of acrylic black paint and water. I feel this gives it an extra shell to strengthen any fragile parts. I chose five different base skin colors, which I then dry brushed in lighter tones: blue, green, dark orange, red-brown, and salmon. I really liked how the dry brushing brought out the detail on the face -- especially the wattles or whatever the skin flaps under the mouth are called. As I looked over each one, I had to fight off the temptation to say, "It's a trap!" Still, I couldn't help myself sometimes. So, for the heck of it, I decided to keep track of how many times I said it during the painting process!

   Three more Mon Calamari, front and back, showing the subtle differences in color I used for variety

The outfits I decided were two basic garmants. The first was for the shirt/poncho that went down to the elbows and below the waist, and was slitted up on the sides. The "pants" I decided were actually a one-piece outfit that was worn underneath the shirt poncho. In addition, I screwed up and thought it also extended beneath the folded sleeves. I was wrong. Upon closer look, I saw that it was the trooper's skin beneath the folded sleeves -- not the underall and gloves. So, I had to go back and redo the skin on the forearms and hands of each Fishman trooper. I used pastel colors -- a light gray, light green, and dun yellows -- for the shirts. The pants were done in grays, tans, and dun yellows. I regularly referred to Google Image searches of Admiral Ackbar and Mon Calamari on the internet to get inspiration for colors. I didn't want them to be completely uniform, but I wanted them to have a relatively common look.

    I liked the varieties of poses, too, in this pack of 'Fishman Troopers' from JS Wargamer Printing

I did the same for the belts and shoes, switching it up and trying to make each as individually different from the others as possible. For example, for the three figures with the light gray shirt, I would give one gray pants, one khaki, and one yellow. I have been doing things like this on miniatures for decades to give an irregular but unified look to armies. The eyes I painted a dark brown first. I then did a yellow arc and tiny point to do my best to replicate the Mon Calamari's almost cat-like eyes. In the movies, Ackbar's eyes are very shiny and wet looking. So, when the final spray coat was done, I went back and brushed on clear gloss over the eyes.

    If you are a Star Wars fan, I recommend picking up this bag of Fishman Troopers!

The blasters were done in Gunmetal Gray with Pewter highlights. The nose cone of gun I painted metallic red, for the fun of it. The light sabers were done in metallic chocolate brown with gold highlights. Brown and black washes were done over the colors, depending on which would look better. Tans and yellows tend to get the brown, while the blues, greens, grays, etc., get black. Weapons get the full strength black wash. I flocked them up like I have been doing for my space forces, and was done. Overall, the Fishman troopers painted up very quickly and will make a nice addition to my Sci-Fi forces. Oh? How many times did I say, "It's a trap!" during the process. I counted eight -- which I felt was very reserved. I wanted to say it many more times...ha, ha!

    One final look at the Mon Calamari on my space station boards with Sci-Fi scatter terrain

Miniature Painting & Purchasing Tally for 2024

• Miniatures acquired in 2024: 104
• Miniatures painted in 2024: 120

5 Parsecs from Home - First Mission for the Inconceivable Crew

Crew of the Interstellar Yacht 'Inconceivable,' undertaking their first Five Parsecs from Home mission

Captain's Log

Ship's Log, Interstellar Yacht Inconceivable, Capt. Alistair Valentine recording. My crew and I have arrived on the planet Taxore to take possession of our ship. My unending thanks to my friends on the Varxian Ambassador's staff who were so instrumental at arranging the purchase. We are still in debt 17 credits, but my hope is that we can use this ship to ferry passengers and cargo, and perhaps utilize the impressive skills of my crew to pay off that balance quickly.

I immediately gave my crew a week's shore leave, as I had to spend significant simulator time onboard to get familiar with flying my new ship. In the second simulator pod on board, Zorina Valthea is practicing combat skills. She is a Valkeeri, a mostly human race with green skin and the dogged fierceness of a vent crawler. My second in command, Security Officer Gunny McBride is paying a social call to the local HQ of the Galactic Marines, which he recently retired from. Actually, he's hoping to scare up a job for us on this incredibly expensive planet. The prices here are outrageous for a retired captain who was cheated out of his pension by those bastards at Amazonas Galacticus. I think Engineering and Medical Officer, Doc Mecrosus, is doing the same, looking for work. I can't believe how lucky I was to hire this strange and cerebral man. No one I know has ever seen his face, as he always wears his environmental suit to protect his non-existent immune system. His capabilities are amazing, though.

    Table setup for the Inconceivable's first mission - cyborg Infiltrators at top, crew at bottom left

My frequent passenger from my captain days at Amazonas Galacticus, the Varxian ambassador, also arranged for another of my crew members, Cephvarx Hul. These tall, lavender skinned Varx aliens are fierce, proud, and honorable warriors. I'm happy to have one of them in my crew. The last member of my crew, or at least I consider him a crew member, is the security bot SAS B61. I pulled every string I could to have this dependable and humorous (but don't tell him that!) bot discharged from service at Amazonas Galacticus and sold to me as surplus. His programming is superb, and he acts with almost no input once given mission and standard operating procedure parameters. Perhaps his most endearing trait, is his insistence on learning human humor. Every conversation includes a joke of his creation (or repetition?), for which he actively scans for reactions. Alistair Valentine, captain commanding, concluding entry #0001...

Security Officer's Log

Alistair insists, so here it is. Ship's log, supplemental entry SO #0001, on the planet Taxore. I guess, after a career as a senior enlisted man in the Galactic Marines, my old friend has conned me into retiring and becoming an officer. Hmmph! Knowing our crew has a miniscule 17 credits to its name, and that we are on this high-cost planet appropriately named Taxore, I figured I would scare us up some work. 

    Six 'Converted Infiltrators' - cyborgs disguised as humans scouting the planet for invasioin

I don't know if the captain realized it when he was hiring them, but we have some serious muscle aboard this ship! Both the Varxian Hul and that Valkeeri Zorina are nifty shots. I would be proud to have them as grunts in my squad. And Alistair has told me stories about the droid B61's blazing fire with its short range, large caliber burst gun. Doc Mecrosus is an unknown quantity, though. But any "doctor" that brings his own colony rifle, which has obviously been zeroed in and customized, can't be that much of a slacker!

When I sat down in front of Marine Col. Zebrowski's desk, it was an odd feeling being out of uniform. It took every bit of self-control to not salute him. We exchanged some news about mutual friends, bitched about our last few postings, and he shook his head over my retirement. "Gunny, I can't believe you actually left the Corps. I thought you were a lifer," he chuckled. I leveled with him that I was honestly worried about my friend Alistair. When those leeches at Amazonas Galacticus cheated him out of all 40 years of his flight captain's pension, they left him virtually credit less. I thought he was going to take the easy way out and space himself. You know, in space, no one can hear you scream? Imagine - everything you'd worked all your life gone! Bang - like a landmine going off while you were on liberty! If I ever get Chuff Betzos in the sights of my hand cannon, well, the largest starline corporation in the galaxy will be looking for a new CEO. Bastard!

    Gunny, Zorina, and BR61 deployed to left to move forward under cover of the power generator

The colonel nodded and said some politically correct officer style platitudes to my rant. Then he leaned close over the desk. "Gunny, you come at a good time. I need someone I can trust for a mission. Is your squad trustworthy and dependable?" I said yes, in my evaluation, we had six good men who could be counted on to not jack things up too badly. The colonel thought for a moment, then made his decision. "We think we are being scouted by the Converted. An infiltration team has landed on the planet and is in the city, by my Intel. I have a pretty good guess, based on how they operate, where they're going -- the city power station, which is also the auxiliary planetary shield power source. However, those cyborg bastards are disguised as humans, of course. So, I can't send my grunts in there, and if we're wrong, shoot up citizens. P.R. disaster, right?"

How many? I asked. He held up six fingers, and flipped his computer screen around. He punched a button, revealing the face, profile, and full body shot of what looked like an ordinary person. "This," the colonel said, "is what their interplanetary communications cyborg units look like. Blow up this bastard and the other five have no way of getting a signal to their fleet -- wherever it may be hiding!" I felt my com device buzz as he transferred the file to me. "That's all I am asking, Gunny. Kill that one, call in my Marines, and we'll take care of the rest. I don't expect you to go toe-to-toe with Converted Infiltrators. The good news, though, is they won't have any heavy weapons or built-in armaments. They'd never made it past planetary screening if they did. Probably just handguns they've purchased planet-side." I nodded, giving him a thumbs up, showing we were game for the mission. "Good luck, Gunny! If I am wrong and they're civilians, I swear I will get your asses out of this and off-planet pronto! I promise!!" We shook on it, and the crew of the Inconceivable had its first mission.

  'Firing line' of Doc, Alistair, and Cephvarx Hul sheltering along the hedge row to pick off the cyborgs

The Game

After many weeks of painting up miniatures, re-reading the rules, I was finally ready to play my first game of Five Parsecs from Home. This solo or co-op, Sci-Fi skirmish game is known for the intricate and detailed storyline it weaves for your characters. In an earlier post, I gave the basic backstory for my crew members. I was now finally ready to roll everything up. I chose the flexible option which let me roll five backgrounds, motivations, and classes, and then assign them to the figures and characters I'd envisioned. Once I was done rolling everything, Alistair and his crew were ready.

    Zorina, BR61, and Gunny advance past the machinery out of line of fire of the cyborgs

Importantly, we had two Patrons (benevolent organizations, individuals, etc.) on our starting planet of Taxore. One was a government organization, so it made sense it was Gunny's local branch of the Galactic Marines. The other was the Varxian ambassador's office -- an individual who'd flown on Alistairs flights many times and become friends with. Gunny and Doc were sent off to look for work, and both were successful. You will see the friends Doc made in the next mission. They'll be a one shot patron, though, and will be done with us after our first mission. We also rolled up a rival -- a terrorist organization that disapproves of any Varx citizen leaving their home world and mixing with other cultures. Luckily, they had not located us, yet. 

    Seeing the crew with weapons drawn, the Infiltrators spread out and take cover, ready for a fight

Gunny's contacts gave us a mission that had "Danger Pay" of 1 credit, the presence of "Shiny bits" (loot) and an objective to eliminate one enemy character in particular. I rolled up a Converted (think of the Borg from Star Trek) Infiltrator team as our enemies for the mission. They were obviously scouting Taxore prior to invasion. These could be tough opponents. I believe that Converted never check morale (at least that is the way I played the game) and have a Toughness higher than a typical human, making them harder to kill. However, I was very lucky in the combination of enemy A.I. (I rolled 'Aggressive") and weapons (handguns). In other words, they'd come to us. All I really had to do is sit back, snipe and kill their communications cyborg, and we could bug out.

    Alistair shows the crew how its done picking off the communications cyborg at extreme range!

I created a 3'x3' city table using my terrain. The rules give you guidelines, but a lot of this game is taking what the rolls designate and adapting that to the story you are envisioning. Same with terrain. I deployed the Converted Infiltrators 6" away from their board edge and my crew opposite. There were lots of terrain pieces to break up sight lines and give cover, as they recommend. I deployed my crew in two groups of three. Alistair, Cephvarx Hul, and Doc lined up along the hedge in the small park. They would be my covering fire group, as both Doc and Alistair had colony rifles with an 18" range and Cephvarx Hul had a military rifle (24"). On their left, next to the fountain, was Gunny, Zorina, and SAS BR61. All three had shorter range weapons. Gunny had his high caliber pistol "Hand Cannon," Zorina had a beam pistol, and BR61 was fitted with an equivalent of a shotgun (pellets that would not penetrate the spaceship hull, but deadly at close range). As they moved to their position, BR61 called out to the fire group, "Don't worry about my feelings. I won't be upset with you if you kill the cyborgs -- they're only part machine." The other five crew members grinned and shook their heads at the bot's attempt at levity.

    Alistair and Doc move out of the park and to get a better line of sight on the advancing Infiltrators

In Five Parsecs, you roll for initiative each turn, one die for each member. Alistair has a Communicator, so rolls two dice and selects one. If you roll equal to or lower than their Reactions skill (typically a 1 or 2), that figure assigned that die can operate first before the enemy. After the enemy completes its actions, the rest of the crew takes their actions. You may move and fire (not vice versa), and also take a "free action," unless you're stunned. One nice tactical twist is that if you are slated to act in first you can hold your fire and wait till an enemy moves, then fire at them. Even if you miss, this automatically prevents them from moving. So, it allows for true "covering fire." I intended Doc, Alistair, and Cephvarx Hul to use that to keep the Infiltrators at a distance until we picked off their communications cyborg.

    Zorina, blending in automatically in her shimmer suit, spots the loot top right near a domed hut

Combat itself is relatively simple. You're trying to roll a "6" on 1d6 to hit a target in cover. You need a "5" to hit one that is beyond 6" and in the open, or a "3" if within 6" and in the open. You add to this die roll your combat skill, which for starting characters is usually +0 at the start of the game. I was fortunate in that BR61, Cephvarx, Alistair, and Gunny rolled backgrounds that gave them all +1. Still, the dice were not going my way in the beginning. We rolled high enough to get a free turn before the start of the game (Seizing the Initiative, it is called), but Cephvarx missed his free shot against our target. In fact, he also missed the communications cyborg on Turns 1 and 2!

    Under fire, the Infiltrators and down one,  begin to hug the cover even more as they advance

As the battle opened, Gunny led his team forward behind the power generator and out of line of sight of the Infiltrators. The other three hunkered down and started shooting or pre-empting Infiltrator movement. Doc was particularly effective at that, frustrating the cyborgs several times when they attempted to move. A secondary objective in our mission was the "Shiny Bits" (loot) which Zorina dashed towards, keeping the domed huts between her and the cyborgs. After watching the Varx miss three shots in a row, Alistair called over to him. "Breathe, Cephvarx, you're too tense!" The alien looked over, his expression unreadable. "Like...this!" Alistair slowly exhaled, squeezing off a shot. At the edge of his colony rifle's range, the communication cyborg's head exploded in bits of metal and fluid. "Yes!" he pumped his fist, grinning at the alien.

    Two cyborgs sweep right to circle around the power generator outflank Gunny's group of three

With the loss of one of their team, the Infiltrators began to advance more rapidly through cover. They were out of range, armed only with their handguns. Two broke off to the right to circle the power generator and outflank Gunny's team. The cyborg leader and the remaining two move forward, hugging cover while shots ricocheted all around them. Meanwhile, Zorina had snagged a pack full of electronic equipment leaning next to one of the hut doors. "This should fetch some credits!" She froze in mid-step as Alistair voice called through her helmet speakers, "Target eliminated. Retreat back to the hedge line. Repeat - retreat back." One by one, the crew began falling back, with Doc and BR61 provided covering fire.

    Having snagged loot already, Zorina spots more possible goodies next to one of the domed huts

The cyborg leader paused in its dash forward when it caught sight of BR61 at the corner of the power generator. It blasted away with its pistol, missing. The bot whirled to track on the cyborg and the short-barrelled gun barked twice. Metal and fluids sprayed in a cloud behind the leader and it fell, unmoving to the street. Two cyborgs down! Should the crew continue to run away, or take the chance in battle to "hold the battlefield" and get an extra roll on Loot? As Zorina dashed back, stopping and crouching in cover behind each hut, she caught sight of another pack. "Hmm...this looks valuable," she thought, seeing the glint of electronics inside. She risked Alistair's wrath to step forward, grab it, and then hightail it back to the next hut.

    The Infiltrator leader pauses in the open to fire at BR61, who returns fire and eliminates him

Alistair kept glancing over at Cephvarx Hul. He knew the Varx were a warrior race, and his constant missing his targets had to be galling to his pride. "Breathe!" Alistair hissed, again. He was rewarded by a shout of triumph from the alien as another cyborg fell backwards, fluids spilling from the holes punched in its outer shell by Cephvarx's rifle. Three down! Alistair called over the communicator to see how Gunny and his team were doing. 

    The cyborg's outflanking force rounds the corner to find Gunny's crew has already pulled back

"We're good, captain!" the marine answered. I'm in cover behind the fountain. BR61 is beginning his exfil, now. We'll fall back to the hedge next." He laughed. "Haven't fired a damned shot, yet, but have two cyborgs closing in on me and the bot from our left." The Infiltrators fired when they finally moved within range of BR61, but the machinery in the way them kept them from hitting. As they sought cover behind the same machinery, they came into line of sight of Cephvarx Hul. The Varx took careful aim and slowly pulled the trigger. Another cyborg pitched backwards and lay twitching on the pavement. Four down! At this point, I wondered again if I should shoot it out with the Infiltrators, or keep moving backwards? I decided to pull everyone back to the hedge line and see how things went. If things got hairy, we were one dash away from escaping off the back table edge.

    Alistair insists everyone pull back behind the hedgeline, in cover for the final gun battle

From the beginning, the Cyborgs had been outgunned. Their handgun range was only 12", while the three crew in my firing line had either 18" or 24". Once they closed within their range, they also came within BR61's deadly firing range, too. It was the only weapon on the battlefield that fired two shots with each action instead of one. In the final firefight, as the crew of the Inconceivable hunkered down on the hedge line, blazing away. The bot took out yet another cyborg. The final one was taken down by Gunny's high caliber pistol. We had won, totally eliminating an enemy that was not subject to morale or panic.

    Outgunned from the beginning, the remaining Infiltrators are now seriously outnumbered

Once you finish your combat, there are a number of post-combat rolls you make for loot and payment from your patron. I will cover those in my next blog post. In the meantime, Alistair and Gunny met beneath the brightly-colored Taxorian trees and slapped each other's shoulders. Alistair quipped, "I'm getting too old for this, Gunny." The marine laughed, and called over to BR61, asking what it thought of that statement.

    An aerial view of the battlefield shows where each of the six Infiltrators was shot down by the crew

BR61 whirred his head slowly towards the two friends. "Remember, captain, old people are just young people that have been alive for a very, very long time." Alistair and Gunny caught each other's eyes. Gunny's mustache twitched, but Alistair shook his head mouthing, "Don't." BR61 paused, then called again, "Old age is better than the alternative, captain..." The two friends couldn't hold it in any longer and chuckled. BR61 was improving his humor...