Five Parsecs from Home: Campaign Turn 4

    A new planet and a new crew member for the Inconceivable - my Five Parsecs from Home force

Captain's Log

Ship's Log, Interstellar Yacht Inconceivable, Capt. Alistair Valentine recording. On some flights, the asteroids and space junk keep showing up in your path. Every space pilot knows how it is. I knew when I received the urgent call from the Varx Ambassador, it wasn't good news. Apparently, for his role in our probe of the Planetary Militia base, his diplomatic credentials had been revoked by Taxore. When Gunny walked in on the call, with his communicator in his hand and shaking his head, I had a feeling it was going to be one of those "flights." Apparently, the commander of the Galactic Marines on the planet said he would no longer use us for jobs. More space junk. Doc buzzed at the door, and I called for him to enter. He asked if we'd seen the local town's news broadcast. The Planetary Militia were calling for our arrest and trial for murder. All members of the militia were advised to apprehend or shoot us on sight. Another asteroid in our path!

"Gentlemen," I told them. "It's time for us to leave this planet. Gunny, call the capital's spaceport. Tell them we are returning there to protest our treatment. If they want to arrest us, they can do it when we touch down." Both Gunny and Doc remained standing. Gunny coughed, and asked if we were just giving up. "Doc - prepare the Inconceivable for interstellar flight.  We're leaving this town's spaceport all right, but we are NOT going to the capital. We're leaving the planet!" Gunny grinned and left, followed by Doc. The ambassador's voice came through, apologizing for not protecting us like he'd promised. "My friend," I replied, "I am so sorry for what happened to you and your posting here. We will meet again. Stay safe..."

Gunny's message to the Taxorean officials must have been convincing. They were caught flat-footed when, after lift-off and turning in the direction of the capital, we instead accelerated upwards, and out of the atmosphere. The planetary defenses had been given no directions and thought we were just another ship leaving the spaceport. Once out of range of their weapons, I throttled up. "Let's see what the Inconceivable can do!" I shouted to my crew. Of course, SAS B61 replied, "It will be hard to imagine or conceive of this vessel's capabilities..." Zorina chuckled, while Gunny buried his face in his palm. I called out to Doc. "You okay, leaving Taxore? I know how much you loved the people." Doc turned and replied that, apparently, the feelings were not mutual. He would remain with the crew where he knew his service was valued.

I set course for the Dichelles system. Doc noticed and said, "Have we begun the quest, then? For the lost treasure of Amazonas Galacticus?" All the crew turned to face me. I explained that of the many accounts I had read, the data stick purporting to show the treasure ship's route, and the tablet that Gunny had picked up in the market on Taxore, all agree on one thing. The treasure ship AirHart stopped in the Dichelles system sometime before disappearing. We'd begin there. Someone on the planet had to know something. Doc replied, "It's been 20 years since its disappearance, though..." I nodded and said it was the best place to start.

A few days later, Doc was at the Engineering Console when he swiveled his chair to face me. "Captain, I am detecting a strange object 33 degrees to our port. It's trajectory is unusual - it is not part of this system, not in any kind of orbit around the major masses." I called Gunny to the deck, and Cephvarx Hul, too. Doc continued, "It is on a straight course out of the system and appears to be metallic in nature. There are no transmissions, so it is not a probe. There is a faint energy signature, though."

 

Gunny was strapping himself in, "Could it be a projectile -- a weapon -- fired by a ship that missed its target?"

Doc examined the readouts he was receiving. "It could be, but it would be a very large one. More likely a piece of debris from a destroyed vessel with some latent energy or battery source."

"An escape pod?" Zorina asked. Doc nodded and said that was his best guess, too. Perhaps the transmission array had been damaged. The energy signature meant there could be life aboard. Gunny called over that it could be a trap. Doc said if it was a trap, the transmissions would be repeating to encourage us to investigate. Had he not been actively scanning the unfamiliar system and its objects, the Inconceivable would never have detected it. 

Doc proved to be right. It was an escape pod, damaged, but operating on minimal power. As I maneuvered the ship to capture the pod and dock with it, Gunny called to the security droid to accompany him "Low velocity pellets," he ordered. The droid replied that compared to beam weapons, weren't all pellets are low velocity? Gunny growled, "I guess that's what I get for reminding you about your job...!" A short time later, Gunny's voice called over the intercom. "One survivor - he is in some sort of escape pod-induced hibernation. According to the log, he's been out here a loooong time. 20 years.

Doc's head swiveled towards me. "Twenty? Well, I'll be damned," I chuckled. "Finally, something in our path that's not space junk!"

 

    The newest crew member of the Inconceivable from a Stargrave Mercenaries plastic kit

Security Officer's Log

Ship's log, supplemental entry, Security Officer Gunny McBride recording. Our rescued passenger's name is Seon Vogalia, and boy does he have a story to tell! He is an Engineering Crewman from the Starship Bellerophon...or was, I should say. According to his tale, he was awoken from sleep by the ship's alarms. By the time he was dressed and in the corridor, his captain's voice came over the intercom advising all crew to report to an escape pod immediately. When Mr. Vogalia arrived, he was the first to enter. He waited, but no one else came -- the corridors were empty. He claims the escape pod was remotely closed up and ejected just as the ship exploded. 

That part seems to check out. Our passenger did seem surprised when he got a good look at his escape pod in the cargo bay. "Tanj," he shouted, "How did...?" You survive? I finished for him. Yep, the pod was extensively damaged, and Vogalia did some impressive work to reroute power systems and get one hibernation capsule working. He added, "I didn't know if the ship was destroyed by something hostile, so I shut off all of the transmissions. I set the capsule to wake me in 6 months," he said. I laughed. His confusion seemed honest, so I took pity on the castaway.

"You set it for six hundred months, Mr. Vogalia." His red-skinned face registered shock and disbelief. I could see him making the calculations. "No, you have not been asleep for 50 years. It has been 20, though." The bewildered castaway ran his hands through his white hair. I gave him a few minutes to process the news. I had done by background research before the interview. The Bellerophon had indeed been destroyed 20 years ago.

"Tanj...Tanj..."he muttered. He was either a good actor, or his shock fit for someone who just realized he'd overslept by 20 years.

"You would still be sleeping if our engineer hadn't spotted the pod's trajectory and felt it was unusual for an object in this stellar system. He's examined your escape pod and said you did a good job reconfiguring its systems. It might have lasted those 50 years you programmed despite its damage and minimal power." His eyes locked on Gunny's, sensing whatever was said next would likely decide his fate. "We are on our way to the Dichelles system. The Bellerophon was there before your final voyage. Do you have friends or family there...?" His face sank and his shoulders slumped. He shook his head negative. "Our engineer and captain seem impressed with your skills. They want me to offer you a spot on the crew of our ship, Inconceivable." He sat up straighter in response, his face hopeful. "However....I'm the security officer and second in command. If I say 'No,' the captain will back me. We'll deposit you at the spaceport. So, tell me, what should I know about you? We've done all the computer searches on every star crew database. If you leave anything out, I'm going to lock you back in your pod and you can ride in there until we reach Dichelles." 

Seon was truthful, if a tad defensive about his history. He had been brought up on the isolationist star base Dizabos Alpha. That's where he learned his engineering and systems skills. He was a bit of a rebel, though. Constantly questioning the administrators of the starbase. Eventually, he was told to get lost and took passage on a resupply ship. He worked his way up on various planets, eventually qualifying as engineering crew on a starliner. He kept jumping planets because he had a knack for getting in trouble with local authorities. Believe me, I've known many a Galactic Marine with a similar story. So, I'll cut him some slack. I just hope he doesn't have any enemies on Dichelles. He actually did part of his training on there, and it was a coincidence, I suppose, that it was also on of his last stops on the Bellerophon before it was destroyed. That, incidentally, still remains a mystery. Alistair thinks its fate is somehow tied up with the treasure ship AirHart. He's champing at the bit to pick Seon's brain.

So, concluding this log entry security officer Gunny McBridge recommends that Seon Vogalia be herewith added to the Inconceivable's crew. McBride out... 

    I dug out my snow ground cloth to set up the terrain for my 4th mission in Five Parsecs from Home

The Game

"It's freezing out here," Gunny griped as he trudged through the snow, "maybe we should have stayed on Taxore!" The six regular crew of the Inconceivable made non-committal sounds through the layers of clothing they had wrapped around themselves to protect their skin from the bitter wind. Only Doc Mecrocius in his sealed environmental suit and SAS B61 seemed unaffected. The security droid chirped that Gunny was correct. The temperature inside the prison cells on Taxore would have been much more comfortable than the snow-blasted plains of Dichelles 4! 

    The enemy I rolled to face in my 4th mission - Criminal "Gangers" (using post-apocalyptic raiders)

The crew were out in the winter weather doing a favor for the exasperated spaceport administrator. After Alistair had complained about the three hours it had to wait for a shuttle to bring them from their ship to the spaceport's main buildings, the administrator admitted most of his drivers were on strike. Several shuttles had been ambushed and robbed in the last few months by local criminals. Finding a driver willing to risk crossing the spaceport's sprawling and isolated, snow-covered grounds was becoming more and more difficult.

    Capt. Alistair leads his fire team, Zorina and SAS B61, onto the snow-covered fields of Dichelles 4

"We can take care of that problem for you...for the proper compensation," Alistair suggested. The administrator let out a huge sigh, shuffling through mounds of paperwork on his desk. He muttered it violated union contracts, was highly irregular, would likely get him in trouble on his tri-annual inspection, but if they would investigate the shuttle route, how much would they charge him for it? After some haggling, a price was agreed upon. The administrator gave them a map of the shuttle route, ambush spots, and places were the security cameras had been disabled by the criminals. If the crew would install new cameras or fix the old ones, and patrol the entire route, he would see that they would be paid. And the docking charges for the Inconceivable maybe could be waived if they apprehended or otherwise got rid of the criminals responsible. The crew returned to their ship to gear up and find winter clothing for their patrol across the spaceport's grounds.

    Gunny McBride, right, leads Cephvarx Hul and Doc Mercrosus as his fire team in this mission

Later, after hours of trudging through the snow, Gunny barked, "Look sharp. We are approaching where most of the ambushes happened. Hopefully, us being on foot and not in a shuttle will catch them napping." The shuttle route looped around three patches of woods, where the enemy might be hiding if they were anywhere along the route. At each big curve, barricades protecting the small monitor towers that watched the route (and whose cameras they had been fixing or replacing). Piles of rock or boulders peeked out of the snow here and there. Gunny motioned Doc and Cephvarx Hul with him to the right of the road, while Alistair led Zorina and SAS B61 to the left. The plan was to probe through the woods. If they came in sight of the enemy, the crew would attempt to engage them at as long of range as possible. With Gunny's military rifle and Alistair and Doc's colony rifles, they could hopefully stay out of enemy range.

    Zorina & SAS B61 probe ahead into the wintry woods while Alistair follows up behind

When I rolled up this encounter, the enemy was Criminal Elements: Gangers. Even with their bonuses to numbers, I ended up facing only four against my crew's six. They were armed with scrap pistols and one specialist had a shotgun. They were supposed to be "Aggressive" A.I., but I knew that would lead to a slaughter. According to the rules, they would charge across the table and be gunned down at range by my crew. Plus, I'd rolled up "slippery" (thus, my snow game cloth), so they'd be slowed down 1" per move. Instead, I decided to give the poor criminals a chance and change the deployment. I would roll randomly to see where the enemy figures were located once I had a crew member within 12" of an entire a woods area. A "1" would in the woods closest to where we deployed, "2-3" in woods on our right, and "4-6" in far woods on the left. They ended up in the furthest woods.

    Gunny's team moves to the trees, searching for the criminals who have been ambushing shuttles

Once the crew came within 12" and "spotted" them, according to my modifications, the Gangers would move to within their 12" range if they needed to and begin firing from cover. I felt having them dashing out into the snow would be suicide, so I modified their A.I. to give them a fighting a chance. I used my post-apocalyptic raiders gang as the enemy figures ("Space Cannibals" from Battle Valor Games).

    The gangers are revealed as Alistair and his crew reach the edge of the woods and enters within 12"

Still, my crew did not "know" the new A.I. or their location, so hugged the cover as we advanced onto the board. Alistair's fire team on the left dashed through the snow to a rocky outcrop, then into the woods. Gunny's fire team split themselves between the barricades another rocky outcrop. When no enemy appeared, they dashed forward, careful of their footing in the snow, until they reached the beginning of the woods on the right.  Meanwhile, Alistair's crew was making their way through the woods. The captain called to Zorina to slow her pace, so that the security bot (with its armored metal hull) could take the lead. 

    SAS B61 & Zorina reach the edge of the treeline - the woods opposite erupts in gunfire -- all missing

As the bot reached the edge of the trees, gunfire erupted from the last woods opposite them. Bullets whizzed by, striking branches or tree trunks, but B61 was left untouched. He raised his pellet gun and sighted at the closest ambusher. As he fired off two blasts, B61 quipped, "Gunny would recommend high velocity pellets, I believe..." One of the enemy was pitched backwards by the force of the blast and slumped motionless against a tree. First blood to the Inconceivable crew!

    The security bot fires back at the enemy, booming two shots with his pellet gun

Meanwhile, unbeknownst to the crew, the criminal gang's boss entered the board as a reinforcement on the board edge behind the tree line. Zorina moved to the last tree between her and the enemy, took cover, and fired a blast from her beam pistol. The bright scarlet line brought flames to some of the bare branches, but missed the enemy. Behind her, she heard the footsteps of the captain moving up, as well. 

    SAS B61 hits one of the criminals square in the chest and the man is pitched over backwards

Over on the right, Cephvarx Hul estimated the distance and sprinted for the final barricade, his boots slipping in the snow as he hurried towards the cover. He saw one of the ambushers move forward to outflank the cover of the barricade and fire at him with his pistol. Thankfully, the bullet whizzed by him and missed. Behind him, both Doc and Gunny were hurrying through the woods to get into the fight and cover him.

    Next turn, both Zorina and the bot get to fire first and two more of the criminals slump to the ground

I rolled decently the next turn on "Activations," and both Zorina and B61 got to fire before the enemy. Zorina practiced the breathing trick Gunny had taught her and took careful aim with her beam pistol. The flash of the bright red beam stabbed into woods. She heard one of the enemy cry out and crash to the ground. Got him! Beside her, the security bot blasted away twice with his pellet gun, lifting another of the enemy off of his feet and sprawling him motionless beneath the trees. Alistair arrived, kneeled between the two, and sighted with his rifle at the criminal who'd taken a shot at Cephvarx Hul. He squeezed the trigger and yet another gang member pitched backwards.

    Mid-turn 'Battlefield Events' roll sees the boss of the gang arrives to reinforce the ambushers

The only one left was the newly-arrived boss. He saw Cephvarx Hul's huge form crouched behind the barricade and fired at him, also missing. Cephvarx raised his large caliber pistol -- he and Gunny had decided to make the weapon trade permanent -- and BOOM! The sound echoed through the trees and the gang boss fell to the ground. Actually, I used the Gang Boss's one point of luck to make Cephvarx roll again, but he was successful both times in knocking the final enemy out of action.

    Cephvarx Hul dashes forward to the barricade in an attempt to get closer to the enemy

Soon, the crew could hear only the howl of the bitter wind across the snow-covered plain. They waited for a few moments for signs of any other enemy to appear. When they did not, they moved forward to search the bodies, which they dragged to the side of the road so they could be picked up by a shuttle. The searched the enemy's campsite and found some likely stolen loot. Alistair instructed them to pocket it. There would be no way to know which of the people that the gang had robbed that it belonged to, anyway. There was also some damaged equipment in sacks that might prove useful. Meanwhile, Doc repaired the last of the monitor cameras. Once they were done, Alistair called the Spaceport Administrator for him to send a shuttle to recover them and the criminal's bodies for identification.

    Only two of the enemy are left, both of whom take shots at the Varx crewman and miss

So, my fourth mission in my Five Parsecs from Home campaign was another walkover. Maybe I am just getting lucky? The enemy did miss every single shot. However, I am playing my best tactically against them, and not giving them any shots at my crew in the open. However, the criminal's +0 Combat Skill stats meant they hit my guys (or gal) only on a "6" on 1d6. Whereas, after this mission, I have all of my original crew at +1 combat skills (Gunny at +2 with the bipod). So, we should hit them at twice the rate. Then again, maybe I should take Han Solo's advice and not "get cocky, kid!"...ha, ha!

   Alistair guns down one more of the criminals and Cephvarx Hul takes out the last one - victory!

I did do my best to improve the enemy's chance by adapting what I had rolled. Maybe I should re-roll if I come up with another foe that appears too easy? Or add more figures to their force? We'll see. The crew is now onto their Quest missions. Maybe those will be more difficult? Stay tuned and find out!

Miniature Painting & Purchasing Tally for 2024 (Next year, I want to tally terrain and scatter, too. If anyone has any ideas how to do that, I'd love to hear!)

• Miniatures acquired in 2024: 170
• Miniatures painted in 2024: 171 (the figure for Seon Vogalia)
  

    Taking down these criminals was the crew's first mission on a new planet, icy Dichelles 4

Sci-Fi Terrain - Scatter and a Building

    Captain Alistair Valentine & Zorina Valthea investigate some newly-painted Sci-Fi terrain

Since Advance the Colors 2024 is coming up, and I will likely be tempted to buy yet more terrain. To keep my conscience clear, I felt I should hurry up and get some that I previously bought painted up! So, expect to see more added in over the next couple weeks until ATC weekend, Oct. 11-12. Plus, I want to have some variety to use in my Sci-Fi scenarios, whether Five Parsecs from Home or games I plan to run on Sunday nights. Three of the pieces are from Diabolical Terrain, who will be at ATC 2024, if you're looking to pick up some really cool 3-D printed terrain. The last is from a vendor at Cincycon 2024 called, A Critical Hit. I learned something new about it when I sat down to paint it, as you'll see below.

    A look at the detail on the tops of three pieces from Diabolical Terrain

All three of the above pieces are from Diabolical Terrain. I believe I purchased them at DayCon 2024. I did my usual method of prepping them -- spray painting them black with Krylon Fusion acrylic black primer. I follow that up, as readers of mine are quite aware by now, with a brush-on 50/50 mix of acrylic black paint and water (premixed in its own battle). For the large domed structure (which I will likely buy at least one more of if Ron has any in stock at ATC), I painted it a craft metallic paint called Chocolate Brown. I really love its subdued bronze look and use it on a lot of my miniatures. The door and overhead vent fan were painted in a craft metallic called Battleship Gray, with Pewter highlights and bronze accents. The door itself is painted a metallic green ("Christmas Tree" green, I believe). After it was completed, I did a black wash on it to give it a realistic, dusty look.

The piece on the left was by far the most time consuming in this batch of four pieces of terrain. I used a dark metallic red as a base color. I find that the darker shades of metallics tend to look better on the tabletop, for some reason. Brighter colors look almost too cartoony or childish. For the various accent pipes and fittings I used a variety of my metallic colors. For control panels, I painted the surface black, then added in bright yellow, red, and light green buttons. The small video screen is a bright light green. I really like the color combinations for this piece and how they turned out.

    The Alien Nodule and its infestation actually changes colors as you look at it from different angles

The small, cylindrical piece in the center has a duplicate which I just finished painting up, but not in time for the photos. It looks like a control terminal or something similar. Diabolical produces three different sizes of these. This is the largest. I also bought two each of the middle and smallest. I think I am going to turn those into droids. This has a very Star Wars droid look to it, I feel. I love the way the dark blue metallic and battleship gray look together. Very sleek. The bronze accents and the control panels with bright buttons all around it really set it off, too.

Watch this video which demonstrates the color shift effect as I clumsily spin the piece

And now for what I am calling the "Alien Nodule." This looks like a piece of machinery that's been overgrown by some form of infestation. The really cool thing about this piece is that apparently a color shift material was used in the filament. I am providing photos showing three colors and a video showing me spinning it around to give the color shifting effect. I honestly don't remember realizing that when I bought it from A Critical Hit at Cincycon 2024. Had I known that, I would have bought more than one!

    The material takes looks purple at a certain angle -- I have no idea how the physics of it work!

Molded onto the outside of the cylinder are what looks like tendrils of alien vegetation growing up from its base. I painted that dark green and later dry brushed it light green. This was just in case any flocking came off, though. I followed that up with painting white glue directly onto the green areas. I poured Woodland Scenics Blended Grass over it and tapped off the excess. Next, I painted little blobs of white glue on the dried flocking. I pour over it tiny orange spheres that are from a railroad hobby store and meant to represent oranges, I believe. I tapped off some excess then let it dry. Finally, I painted over the flocking and the blobs (some grotesque alien plant life...??) with a 50/50 mix of white glue and water. I'm hoping that I don't get too many of them shedding off while using this piece, and that the glue keeps them in place. Quick update, I know. Look for a longer one on my fourth mission for Five Parsecs from Home soon!

    Now the Alien Nodule takes on a green hue - is it mimicking the clothes of my crewmen?

Miniature Painting & Purchasing Tally for 2024 (Next year, I want to tally terrain and scatter, too. If anyone has any ideas how to do that, I'd love to hear!)

• Miniatures acquired in 2024: 170
• Miniatures painted in 2024: 170
  

Saga Warlord Stands for ATC 2024 Prizes

    The warlord stand that I painted up as a prize for the ATC 2024 Age of Ancients tournament

I recently turned over running Saga tournaments in the Columbus area to other members of our group here in Ohio. However, I am keeping alive the tradition of painting up a prize for each tourney. Since Joe and Lee are running Age of Ancients and Dark Ages tournaments at Advance the Colors 2024, I decided to match what I painted up with the theme of the competition. I am really happy with how these two stands turned out, and it will be a shame to give them away. But that's the whole idea of painting up a prize, though! Isn't it?

   The warlord stand I painted as a prize for the Dark Ages Saga tournament

The Age of Ancients warlord stand was the hardest to find figures for in my unpainted lead pile. I decided to go with a Reaper Bones figure for the big man himself. It is a classic Ancient Mediterranean looking figure with a Corinthian helmet, sweeping cloak, and leaf shaped sword. I'm sure it is supposed to be a Greek of some sort, but you could easily use it for many of the Graeco-Roman cultures. The armor is a tad bit fantasy and a bit less historical, I felt. However, I did my best to tone down the crazier parts and make it simply look like a heavily armored warrior. The shield is interesting, with its almost figure eight design. I'd picked the figure up at the Guardtower East when I was planning to paint my Thracian army as the shape is almost like it is from that culture. I ended up not using the figure, though, so had no problem donating it to be a prize.

    A good look at the ancient standard bearer, a Crusader miniatures Thracian

The standard bearer is one of my leftover 28mm Thracian figures from Crusader Miniatures. He is holding his hand up in the air, which I felt would make him look like a perfect standard bearer. He is also more Greek and less Thracian looking, which make him a good fit for a warlord stand that I am purposely painting up to be "generic Ancient Mediterranean." His Corinthian helmet matches the general's, so even though he is smaller in height, this is mitigated a bit by the uplifted army and the banner he is holding. 

    Close up of the priestess figure on the Ancients prize, and the Gamers Grass columns

I went back and forth over the third figure for the warlord's base. Typically, I choose a musician or sometimes even a pet dog. Dig as I might through my unpainted lead pile, I couldn't find anything that looked like an appropriate ancient trumpeter or other musician. So, I expanded my search through the Dark Ages figures, but likewise came up blank for a Greek-ish warlord stand. I kept going into my Pulp figures, which is where I found this priestess in a dress. I was actually looking for a Reaper Socrates figure I bought years ago (but never did find!). I thought she would be a cool addition to the stand -- the priestess of Apollo (or some other god) giving the omens of battle to the general! She was easy to paint up. I really like her braided hair with streamers attached, and the wreath around her head. 

    A nice look at the Medusa banner I created from Google Images using Photoshop

I had a wealth of choices for the Dark Age warlord. I have been regularly buying Gripping Beast general packs from Cotton Jim's clearance bin at Historicon. Looking through the giant ziploc bag with Dark Ages generals, I didn't have any mounted figures generic enough. So, I decided to go with an all-foot warlord stand for this one, too. This figure (I believe) is from their Varangian Guards pack, but I could be wrong. I love his balding head, drooping mustache, and relaxed stance with his helmet tucked under his right arm. His left hand was open and I went back and forth about what to put in there. I decided to go with an upright sword. I figured that would look more inspiring than a grounded ax or similar. I chose brown for the fur cloak over his shoulders as it would contrast better with the chainmail armor. The bright red (but not too bright) cloak and dark blue sleeves show his wealth in poorer and less fancy age.

    Zooming in on the three figures that make up the Dark Ages warlord base

His standard bearer is about as generic as you can get for the early Medieval period. His conical leather and banded steel helm, chainmail, and round shield strapped to the back made him an obvious choice, as well. I decided to go with a faded blue tunic and sleeves. In fact, both these warlord stands seemed to have its share of blues! I really like how his Raven shield design came out. I used a black micron pen to do the wings, tail, and head. It didn't stand out as much as I wanted, so I added the streaks of light blue and that really made the design pop. I decided not to put any other weapons in his hand, but considered a sword for awhile. I didn't like how it looked with the pose, so kept it simple.

    A nice look at the Viking runic stone, which I added to the base to set it off a bit

The final figure was another easy choice, a chainmail armored musician with a sweeping cloak. Since blue seemed to be the theme, I gave him a medium blue cloak. I was happy with how the colors came out on both stands. As I was finishing them up and eyeballing the 60mm round stands, it looked like both needed something else to make them come to life. I looked in my closet and picked out one of the 3-D printed Viking runic stones that I'd picked up from Scott Gray at Sword & Scabbard Games. I am going to have to get around to painting up the rest of these runic stones (I bought two packs!). They were easy to do and look great! For a Dark Ages general, it really makes the vignette pop. Scott will be at ATC 2024, so pick some of these up from him if you will be there! I also added a couple more small boulders to complete the stand! 

    A look at the raven banner I created in Photoshop, and the standard bearer's shield

For the Ancient stand, I remembered that I bought two packs of Gamers Grass Ancient ruins from Michigan Toy Soldier and Figure Company at Historicon 2023. Scale-wise, they probably would work better with 15mm figures. However, they have such a great variety of broken and complete Greek or Roman columns that I was able to figure out a combo that looked nice. In addition, I added a chunk of plaster cobblestones to the blank area in the middle. All together, the vignette worked out really well. 

    A final look at the Ancient warlord, with a close up of the Reaper Miniature's shield

The banners I did in my usual method. While painting the miniatures, I had decided that I would use a medusa for the Greek standard and Raven one for the Dark Ages. I spent about a half hour looking through various Google Image searches until I found the ones I liked best. Next, I found fancy square and rectangular borders to go around the images. I imported them into my venerable version of Photoshop on my MacBook from two generations back. I manipulated the colors and sizes, then put them on a USB drive and took it up to the local office supply store. I prefer using their color laser printers for my banners. You do have to paint the edges after you cut the banner out and glue it around the brass wire pole. Otherwise, the white paper shows through noticeably. 

All in all, I think these two stands came out to be a...shall I say it...a "winning" pair??

Miniature Painting & Purchasing Tally for 2024

• Miniatures acquired in 2024: 170
• Miniatures painted in 2024: 170 (I'm back to even again!)
  

LAST of the Zombie Horde (and a Vehicle)

    My final batch of zombies (hopefully!) along with a 3-D printed car from Diabolical Terrain

Okay, so I swear -- this is the last of the batches of zombies that I will be painting up for awhile. Hopefully, for quite a while...maybe forever??  We shall see if my horde proves to be enough, though. I think it will be. The ultimate goal is to be able to play a game of Zombie RV with three vehicle's worth of survivors (a dozen) on the table. This should be enough. If not, I have some more of the original 3-D printed on from John Leahy of JS Wargamer Printing I could rush into service.

    Though there is a lot of possible variety with the WF zombies, I was getting tired of painting them

These are the last 10 male zombies from the Wargames Factory box I bought in the flea market at Historicon 2024. It was a great deal ($15), so 50 cents a figure! I do admit I am tired of painting them up...ha, ha! My friend Keith did a nice job putting them together and varying bodies, heads, arms, etc. Still, there are only so many of each type and it is beginning to feel repetitive. Still - my friend Jason M in South Carolina informed me that I have now eclipsed his zombie horde. Keep an eye on his blog (Miros' Games) to see if he paints some more to regain the upper hand!

    Three of my gaming friends as zombies -- Keith, Joel, and Allen (from left to right)

I had been threatening all along to paint some of these WF zombies up as my gaming friends. I made an attempt with this final batch, painting up a Keith Zombie, Joel Zombie, and Allen Zombie. Not 100% sure I nailed it or not. There's only so much you can do with the paint brush and finding a pose that matches my (thankfully) not undead friends! Still, it might be good for a laugh on the table. Especially if Keith Zombie kills Keith's character in a game...

    Guys go off in search of snacks, Allen in his Bexley shirt and Keith in his Rules Lawyer one

These were painted exactly like the previous batches, so I won't bore you with repeating my recipe. Interestingly, I did run out of 1" circular bases with this batch. So, that means I've painted more than 100 figures using this size and shape base this year. I'll take that as encouragement that my production is continue to hum along since retirement. I am looking forward to painting some new stuff. I'm also eager to get back to painting some Sci-Fi stuff, soon. Thanks to a friend's recommendation (Steve P from San Diego), I picked up a set of rules called Space Weirdos from Wargame Vault. They seem quick and easy, and I like the rolling of two dice to get a more consistent average as opposed to a single die. The dice progression aspect, with players rolling as anything from a pair of d4's to d6's, d8's, d10's, and d12's sounds like a nice mechanic, as well.

    Are these the last zombies I will paint up? If I have enough now, then the answer is YES!!!

I intend to try them out for Sci-Fi skirmish games for the Sunday evening crew. We have been playing Wiley Games' Galactic Heroes, which works fine. I'm not crazy about the short ranges for futuristic weapons, though. Yes, yes, I know. Stormtroopers can't hit anything even at close range in Star Wars. However, the short ranges in Wiley Games rules somehow feel wrong in this period. Ranges are line of sight in Space Weirdos. There are modifiers for some weapons if they are further away, but every shooting weapons can hit everything else, range-wise, in the game. Of course, the board is smaller, 2'x2' or 3'x3' being what they recommend for two player games. I will probably have to extend that horizontally for six-player games, of course. We'll see if it feels "weird" shooting the whole length of the board!

    Aww, I think I hurt their feelings...they are walking away. Come back, guys -- I didn't 'mean it...!

The other thing I painted up in this blog post is another 3-D printed vehicle from Diabolical Terrain. Rather than sitting down and painting up everything I bought from Ron, I have been mixing them in here and there. As always, I spray paint the vehicles Krylon Fusion Matte Black, which is followed up with a 50/50 mix of acrylic black paint and water. I decided to paint this one silver as it is such a common car color on our roads, nowadays. Plus, it will show any discoloration and rust a bit better. I went back to painting a blue band at the top of the windows to represent the sky reflecting off the windshield and windows. And of course, I added in cracked windows because most of my games that I use them in will be post-apocalyptic (or zombie apocalypse). 

    I have been pleased with the 3-D printed vehicles I've bought from Diabolical Terrain

For the rust effect, I painted the area a dark brown first, followed by a lighter "rust" brown inside that area, leaving a dark brown line. Inside the rust brown, I painted a Georgia Clay to show the brighter, more flaky, rust. I am happy with how this one came out. I know that I ran out of 3-D printed vehicles when I set up my board for Hold the Line, so I need to get cracking on working these in more regularly!

    These 3-D prints paint up quickly and look nice on the tabletop, I think...

Speaking of getting cracking, I am actually nearly done with my next batch of figures -- two warlord stands to donate as prizes for the Saga tournaments at Advance the Colors. I also have some Sci-Fi terrain that I have spray painted. So, quite a bit should be coming up soon! Stay tuned, and see what's next!

Miniature Painting & Purchasing Tally for 2024

• Miniatures acquired in 2024: 170
• Miniatures painted in 2024: 164
  

Five Parsecs from Home - Campaign Turn 3

    In the hinterlands of Taxore, a Planetary Militia unit has gone 'rogue' - setting for our 3rd mission

 Captain's Log

Ship's Log, Interstellar Yacht Inconceivable, Capt. Alistair Valentine recording. I received an invitation from the Varxian ambassador on Taxore. He requested a meeting as soon as was convenient for us. He had matters that he needed to relay us concerning the well-being of the crew. I took along both Gunny McBride, my second in command, and Cephvarx Hul -- my Varxian crewman.

Capt. Alistair Valentine, Gunny McBride, and Cephvarx Hul sat comfortably around the oval-shaped table in the ambassador's office. The Varxian ambassador had invited Alistair to his office to discuss a possible mission the crew could undertake for him. Alistair was happy he'd brought his Cephvarx Hul along. He could tell his crewman was enjoying the company of his own race, chatting with the office staff excitedly before they were seen in to the ambassador's office. 

"This mission," the ambassador continued, "unfortunately could land your crew in trouble here on Taxore. Of course, my office will exert diplomatic pressure on your behalf, if things go badly. So, if you refuse, my old friend, I completely understand." It always amazed Alistair how talking with the alien ambassador, his passenger on many flights during his career with Amazonas Galacticus, seemed so normal. His language skills were paramount, and he had even mastered the art of human body language. He nodded, leaned forward, and even sighed as a native speaker. 

    Capt. Alistair & Doc Mercosius deploy in Taxoran woods with a good line of sight of the militia base

Gunny's voice interrupted Alistair's thoughts, "Exactly what kind of trouble, Honorable Ambassador? There are some on Taxore who are still simmering a bit from us shooting up the guards at the spaceport..."

The ambassador laid his huge palms on the table. "I want to be 100% upfront, Gunny. I know it is your personal mission to keep your captain -- your friend -- safe." Gunny leaned back and folded his arms. "Apparently, a Taxore planetary militia unit has recently gone rogue. Gunny's marine contacts can confirm this. They are not answering communications with their superiors at the capital. Satellite surveillance confirms they are alive and well, though, and still training at their barracks site."

    Gunny takes up the best position with a military rifle equipped with a bipod for long-range shooting

Gunny shook his head. "How does this concern the Varx? Sounds like a matter for the Taxorans to work about amongst themselves."

"We believe they have made contacts with a terrorist group that unfortunately originates from my planet -- the Pure Brotherhood of Varx." Upon hearing the name, Cephvarx Hul sat upright. He looked from the ambassador to his captain several times. "Yes, Cephvarx, I am worried they are concerned with your own activities. You see, my friends, the Brotherhood feels no Varx should go off-world and associate with alien races. Contact with other races pollutes us, they feel. Their goal is to kidnap or kill all Varx in the employ of non-Varxian organizations or working off-world. So, as you can imagine, we in the diplomatic corps are always trying to monitor their activities."

    Zorina & Cephvarx advance through the vegetation on one side of the road, SAS B61 on the other

Alistair placed his hand on Cephvarx Hul's chair, "So, by hiring Cephvarx I have endangered his life? My honorable crewmate and warrior, I know you welcome this fight as a true Varx would. If you feel the call to resign your post and devote yourself to this challenge, you are free at any time." The ambassador reached across the table and placed his lavender-colored hands on the captain and Cephvarx.

"Captain Alistair - you truly understand our race. However, Cephvarx would lose honor if he resigned. He doubtless forgives you for your concern, but likely welcomes this challenge to face dishonorable terrorists who would kill in their cowardly ways. The terrorists have contacted this territorial militia unit and offered them heavy weapons in return for being granted shelter, information and logistical help on Taxore. The Brotherhood plan to strike out from this militia unit's base at Varxian citizens on the planet, murdering and then returning to the safety there."

    Taxoran Planetary Militia deployed on the roof of the barracks, next to their heavy laser droid

Gunny cleared his throat, "These terrorists sound despicable, but is the crew of the Inconceivable to take on an entire militia unit, Honorable Ambassador?"

The ambassador reached into a desk drawer, pulled out a strange device that seemed more fitted to Varxian hands rather than human. He showed it to Cephvarx Hul. "You know how to use one of these, Crewman Cephvarx?" The Varxian reached across, took it from the ambassador's hand, and turned it around in his long-fingered hands several times. He spoke a few words in Varxian. "With this device, Cephvarx can verify the presence of any of our race nearby. If he can get close enough to this base, he will have proof of the Brotherhood's presence. From there, Gunny's old companions will take care of cleaning out these rebels and terrorists. All you have to do is get Cephvarx close enough, give him enough time, and then get him out. Do you accept?"

    Right hand side of the sentries on duty at the Taxoran Planetary Militia base that had gone 'rogue'

After the meeting, Alistair returned to the ship and briefed the crew on their mission. First, he smiled and welcomed back Zorina Valthea, who had just returned to full duty after being wounded in the last mission. The mission would also include a repositioning of the Inconceivable. Officially, in response to threats made against the crew by the spaceport guards' families and friends, the interstellar yacht was being relocated across the planet. No charges were made against the crew in light of their previous hero status for discovering and taking out the Converted infiltration team, though. Conveniently, the new spaceport where they would land after their first flight on their ship was close to the militia unit's base. Gunny took over the briefing, and pull up images of the militia unit's base and its surroundings. He began to explain his and the captain's plan.

    Another look at the base - the Inconceivable crew would come in on the left side of the board

The Game

I used my MDF prison that I'd made for my post-apocalyptic campaign as the militia unit's base. I surrounded it with 3-D printed sandbags and a few other bits of Sci-Fi scatter terrain. For the area covering where the Inconceivable crew would approach from, I used some colorful jungle scenery pieces I'd made long ago for Frostgrave Ghost Archipelago games. I was a bit worried as the militia unit, who would have six members, had military rifles, which are longer ranged weapons than all but one of our weapons. We needed to get one of our crew, Cephvarx Hul, within 2" of the center of the table. I placed a little mechanical droid to mark the center point of the table. Near him, behind the sandbags, was a civilian technician who would grant a "story point" if I could interact with him.

    Doc moves down from the woods to the cover of a massive mechanical drill to get within range

Gunny's plan would first make a tactical switch in the crew's usual deployment. Gunny traded his "hand cannon" pistol to Cephvarx and took up the military rifle with bipod. Gunny's Combat skill is +1 and the bipod would add another +1, meaning he'd hit targets in cover on a 4-6 on 1d6. Though Cephvarx had a similar combat skill, he also has melee bonuses that the crew was not taking advantage of with the alien acting as the crew's "sniper." Gunny taking on that role would be more efficient, it seemed to the ex-marine. Cephvarx, Zorina, and the security bot SAS B61 would advance up the treeline on either side of the track leading to the militia base. Gunny would deploy in the woods with the best line of sight on the base, while Alistair and Doc, with their slightly shorter-ranged colonists rifles, would deploy in the other corner's woods.

I rolled up "Cautious" for the militia's A.I., and deployed them as specified in two groups of three. The one carrying the short-ranged, hand flamer would be on the ground. The other five would begin behind the sandbags on the roof of the base's main building. Their plan would be to aim and fire and pick us off as we advanced. Unfortunately for them, they were of a poorer quality than the Inconceivable's veterans. They were +0 when shooting, meaning they hit only on 6's (they would Aim, though, which would allow them to re-roll 1's). Gunny's plan seemed solid. Let him snipe them, hitting on a 50%, while they hit only on a 1 in 6 chance.

    Gunny opens the game sniping one of the militia sentries, as another panics and loses heart

The crew did not roll well enough to "seize the initiative" and receive a free move or shot. In addition, of the seven dice rolled for "Reactions" (Alistair has a Communicator which gives a bonus die), I scored only a single "1" or "2" (which would allow the character assigned that die to act first, before the enemy). Gunny took the die, aimed, rolled a "1", then re-rolled that one for a hit. The militia were Toughness 3, also, which would make them easier to knock out of action when hit. Gunny rolled high enough and the closest militia man leaning against the sandbags pitched backwards with a cry. On their turn, two of the militia moved up to the sandbags to get line of shot on the crew. The flamer, held fast behind a small control building until the enemy came within range. Those armed with military rifles all fired, missing completely.

The rest of the crew began to execute Gunny's plan. B61, Zorina, and Cephvarx dashed forward as fast as they could through the thick underbrush. Alistair squeezed off a shot and stunned one of the militia on the wall, who ducked behind the sandbags. Doc Mecrosius realized the closest target was out of the range of his rifle and dashed forward behind one of the iron supports of a mechanical drill. I rolled to see if any of the militia panicked after losing one of their own, and lo and behold, rolled a "2." One of them called to the others that he would go and get help. They should stay and hold off the intruders as best they could.

    Meanwhile, Zorina, Cephvarx, and B61 all dash forward as fast as possible through the undergrowth

On Turn 2, I rolled two dice to act first. From his advanced position, Doc raised his rifle, aimed, and missed as the round slammed into the sandbags. Gunny switched targets, steadied the bipod, aimed, and rolled another "1." I re-rolled for Aiming and bang! Another militia man went down! The militia man with the flame thrower ducked around the corner and estimated the enemy were still out of range, so stayed put. Two others fired, one putting a stun marker on B61 as a slug ricocheted off the droids metallic head. Next, the rest of the Inconceivable crew acted. Alistair aimed and stunned the same militia man he had last turn, as the man cautiously peaked his helmet over the sandbags. 

    Hard luck Zorina Valthea, entangled by Taxoran Grasping Vines, is out of the game!

Zorina, B61, and Cephvarx continued to hurry through the alien vegetation. In fact, on Random Battlefield Events, I rolled "Lost! A random crew member loses their way and is removed from the battlefield." I numbered my crew and rolled and hard luck Zorina was the designated one. I reasoned she blundered into a patch of Taxoran Grasping Vines, and was pinned in place by the vegetation. Meanwhile, on the panic roll, another militia member lost heart and fled away from the sandbags. We'd "lost" Zorina, but they had two men down and two run off the battlefield already by the end of turn 2!

    Gunny's second shot drops another militia sentry showcasing the ex-marine's military skills

Turn 3 began with Alistair firing at the same militia man and stunning him again. The militia man carrying the flamethrower saw the intruders were almost within range, so dashed up to the sandbag wall protecting the base. Gunny saw him stop at the wall, shifted the bipod slightly, and squeezed off another shot. The militia man was hurled backwards by the force of the bullet and lay motionless. Gunny was in his element! Three shots, three enemy out of action! The remaining militia man fled the sandbags lining the rooftop (all three panic rolls had been failures -- fortune was favoring the crew this day, for sure).

    And once again, after seeing one of the number fall, another militia man panics and runs

The rest of the game was spent mopping up. Cephvarx moved out into the open (not far from the small tracked droid) and used the device the ambassador had given him. He scanned the complex thoroughly for two turns and then said he was ready to move out. He dashed back to help Zorina, who was still trapped by the vines. B61 continued forward to where the civilian technician lay crouched and cowering not far from the dead militia man. He leaned over the sandbags and assured the technician that he would not be harmed. The two had a conversation for a minute (story point!), when the droid thanked him, and instructed him to lay there till they were gone.

    As the crew gets closer to the base, the militia man with the flame thrower dashes up to the sandbags

When Cephvarx's called that Zorina had been freed from the Grasping Vines, the Inconceivable crew began to quickly back up. Alarms had been sounding inside the base for several minutes. It was time to get out of there before more militia came back for vengeance. As they regrouped a kilometer away from the base, Cephvarx held up the ambassador's device. "The ambassador's information was right. The Pure Brotherhood of Varx is inside the base." 

    That sentry becomes Gunny's third enemy knocked out of action -- truly, the ex-marine was on fire!

Gunny waved the way forward, "Let's go everyone! Double-time on the trails back to the ship. I'll call the marines when we get there."

    Wrapping up -- Cephvarx scans the militia base, while B61 goes to speak to the "person of interest"

I was surprised how easily this game seemed to go. However, I honestly feel it was due to some great die rolling on my part. Gunny was three for three in his 50% chance of getting hits on militia. His two misses were both 1's, permitting re-rolls, which then hit. All three damage rolls exceeded the enemy Toughness. And all three militia panic rolls failed. When shooting at us, the militia rolled only one hit, albeit that was probably not far off from average, with only a 1 in 6 chance. When Doc went over to check on the militia man carrying the flame thrower, he found he was dead. Scrounging through his pack, he found a Stim-Pack, along with a couple damaged pieces of equipment that he snagged and took back to the ship.

However, the post-battle roll resulted in the Taxoran Planetary Militia becoming a Rival. Things might get tougher, now, with both the terrorists and the planet's militia gunning for us! We earned only 4 credits on this mission (our least amount yet), barely paying our expenses on Taxore. If I can roll well enough in the in-between mission rolls for Alistair to finish his Pilot Training Course (which I rationalize is familiarization with the Inconceivable), we may take off and leave Taxore behind. We shall see!

Miniature Painting & Purchasing Tally for 2024

• Miniatures acquired in 2024: 170
• Miniatures painted in 2024: 164 (see next blog post)