Purchases from Advance the Colors 2024

    My acquisitions from ATC 2024 all laid out on my purchased "Frostgrave" snow neoprene mat

Advance the Colors is my local HMGS chapter's flagship convention. As such, it is the "biggie" for me as far as time and effort I put into helping organize and run it. This year, I was the vendor coordinator, flea market coordinator, and all-around assistant for Convention Director Randy Miller. At any convention I attend, I like to support the vendors and make (probably) more purchases than I truly need. However, without dealers at a convention, something is missing, I feel. You need gamers, GMs, and vendors -- the three legs of the stool -- for a truly fulfilling, good con. My opinion, of course!

So, it is no surprise that I spent a lot of money at ATC this year (um...again). I thought I'd do a blog post running down what I acquired at the show. I say acquired rather than purchased because I actually won a couple things in the raffle - woo-hoo! I can pretty much guarantee this will be the last major purchase(s) of the year for me. In fact, it may be my last convention of the year. There's an outside chance I will go up to Fort Meigs in Perrysburg, OH, for World at War, Nov. 1-2. Considering I leave for Morocco less than weeks later, there is a possibility it won't happen, though. We shall see.

    I picked up both of these boxes -- not for Stargrave -- but for my Sci-Fi skirmishes from Shieldwall

Let's talk about the simplest purchase, first. I need some Star Wars style "rebels" for my Sci-Fi skirmishes. I have painted up quite a few things I can use for mercenaries, corporate security, imperial stormtroopers (see next post), criminal syndicates, and even some Mon Calamari ("It's a trap!"). However, I really don't have anything that screams rebellion type figures if I am doing a skirmish in the Star Wars universe (which I want to do). I knew my friend Jeff Gatlin of Shieldwall Gaming carries the Stargrave plastic kits, so I searched online through the various sets on his website. Sure enough, one of the "Crew" sets seemed to fit the bill. Since he's such a great guy, and I wouldn't be purchasing any Saga stuff from him this show, I bought both the "Crew" and "Crew II" boxes. And yes, for some reason, I can actually handle assembling these plastic figures. Normally, I hate putting together multipart figures and avoid them like the plague. However, since I already have successfully done so with the Troopers and one of the Mercenaries boxes I bought from him, I figured (ha, ha) I could handle these.

    A section of my 6'x4' snow and ice or 'Frostgrave' mat I purchased from Griffons Lair

Speaking of Stargrave, which I do not play, I did pick up a 6'x4' neoprene mat for the original game in that series, Frostgrave. I wanted it because it is one of the few types of terrain that I don't have a big mat for. I have jungle, desert, plains, rocky, etc., but no ice. It just so happened that a new vendor to ATC, Griffons Lair from Erie, PA, had a nice selection of mats. I noticed the snow and ice one right away after they finished setting up on Friday. I waited till Saturday to buy it -- probably not wise, in general -- but luckily no one else had picked it up, yet! I know that I won't use it all that often, but it was something I had been looking for to have waiting when I did need one. Remember - I always try to support the vendors at the conventions I attend! 

    My raffle win from ATC -- I know nothing of the game, but thought a couple minis looked cool

Speaking of Griffons Lair, they were the vendor who donated the raffle item that I won this weekend. They are from a game (or line of miniatures?) called ABC Warriors. The tag line on the Warlord Games website says, "Supreme military robots, created for a conflict that ended centuries ago, the ABC Warriors are built to endure warfare in all its deadly forms – atomic, bacterial and chemical.." My friend Mike S pointed them out to me as we were cruising the three tables stocked with raffle donations. I am generally not a fan of "big stompy robots", but who knows? Maybe I could find a use for one or more of these very interesting looking miniatures! Anyway, if you look at the price tags on each box in the picture above, you see how incredibly generous Griffons Lair (and all the other vendors who donated items at ATC), truly were! Thanks, Steven and James -- it was nice to have you at our convention and hope to see you back again next year!!

    More purchases for my Sci-Fi games from RRB Minis & More -- lots of robots/droids!!

Another of my "acquisitions" ended up costing me no cash, as well. I had picked out a few things from my friend Rich Brown of RRB Minis and More's website before the convention and asked him to bring them down. I have a few of his Sci-Fi scatter items painted up and part of my collection. I picked out a few more -- 3-D printed Large and Very Large Habitat pods, as well as a large Arcane Energy Collector. What I really wanted from him were some robot or droid like figures from the venerable Reviresco line of metal miniatures. Particularly, I wanted ones with tracks like the Robot Power Gun I painted up almost a year ago. I picked up a half dozen of these figures. There is a very good chance I will cannibalize one or more of them for their tracks. I plan to paint up/model a variety of droids and robots soon for my Sci-Fi skirmishes, and these are a big part of my plan. Oh, and I say "acquired" rather than purchased because I traded some painted Splintered Light Miniatures for them (see below).

    My purchases from Diabolical Terrain include three large, 3-D printed Sci-Fi buildings

Speaking of my Sci-Fi games, I have picked up quite a bit of scatter for those games from my friend Ron Weaver of Diabolical Terrain. Ron and I regularly give each other grief, but he does some of the cleanest 3-D printing around. You have to struggle and look closely to find any print lines. Normally, they disappear immediately once you prime the model. I appreciate him taking the extra time to print a high quality product. This time, though, I was picking up buildings. I got three relatively large Sci-Fi buildings that wouldn't look out of place on Tatooine for what I feel was a very good price. They will be painted up relatively soon, and will likely be ditching other buildings that were in line ahead of them! In addition, he had some cool Sci-Fi trucks that would look good at a spaceport or something, so I grabbed one of those, too. My final purchase from him was some textured round bases for Sci-Fi figs. Just in case I want to mix things up and use something besides my "asphalt" look, these will come in handy.

    Not exciting looking now (bag of MDF) but these are really cool pieces of terrain from Dad's Armies

Another vendor who made the trip to Springfield, OH, from Pennsylvania was Dad's Armies. Sorry for the lack of a link, but reach out to me in person for an email of one of the owners. I believe they are still working on getting a webstore up and running. Anyway, John and his wife Patty Elbro purchased the Impudent Mortals line back in 2021, I believe. They carry a variety of items besides that line, but I was excited to pick up some of their MDF Sci-Fi terrain. Much of it has of a gritty, industrial look -- perfect for the Star Wars universe. My friend Mike S went to town and bought quite a bit of it. I limited myself to a really cool saucer-shaped building, a Rylos Arctec TL-42 space fighter, a "hopper" flying vehicle, and a leaf punch from Green Stuff World.

    My friend Derek J kindly gave me a couple retirement gifts - modern scatter for my games

The last "acquisition" was a gift from my friend Derek J from Indiana. He and I have a running joke that he's going to steal my scatter terrain off of my tables (especially my tree stumps). In honor of my retirement, Derek (one of the nicest guys you will ever meet at a game convention) bought me a handful of various modern scatter. One box was a Scenics Accents Street Accessories in HO scale. The other looked 3-D printed and includes three soda machines, ice cream cart, dumpsters, trash cans, fire hydrants, and street lights. These are all painted or printed in color and will need only a small base and a dark wash to be ready for the tabletop. Thanks, Derek!

All of these purchases were actually more than paid for, though, by a couple sales of painted miniatures that I made (or delivered) at ATC. I mentioned the Splintered Light Miniatures that I traded to Rich of RRB Minis, above. In addition, a week or so before the convention, I asked him if he'd be interested in my collection of Mice, Squirrels, Raccoons, and Foxes that I had painted up long ago. They were based on large hexagons for a fantasy miniatures rules system that I never got around to writing. I knew Rich played and enjoyed Mice-at-Arms from Grey Area Games (same author as Zombie RV). I figured he might want these to use for that game. Unfortunately, those big hexagon bases of Splintered Light Miniatures have sat on my shelf, unused, for a decade or so. They have all kinds of cool custom banners and are painted to a high quality, I feel. He bought the whole set from me for a very fair price, I felt. In addition, at the show, I let him pick through my individually based Splintered Light animals, and he grabbed enough to offset the RRB purchases I was making from him. Finally, a newer Saga player borrowed my Republican Roman army to use in the Friday tournament at ATC. She had fun with them and I asked her if she wanted to make an offer for them. We agreed on a price. So, like at Historicon, all of my purchases AND my hotel and food expenses were funded by my own sales. Score one for being a (relatively) responsible retiree...ha, ha!

Miniature Painting & Purchasing Tally for 2024

• Miniatures acquired in 2024: 226 (sigh...well, I WAS in the green for awhile!)
  
• Miniatures painted in 2024: 183 

RV Scratch-Build for...well, Zombie RV!

    Zombies swarm survivors holding out atop their RV, scratch-built from a pizza truck die cast shell

Readers of my blog know that I've been playing Zombie RV over the last few months. Instead of an RV, I've been using my 3-D printed vans, SUVs, land cruisers, etc. But the name of the game is RV (or campervan, Airstream, mobile home -- whatever you want to call it), so I've been trying to pick up one either from die cast, 3-D print, or anything, really. After striking out finding anything I liked commercially, I finally decided to scratch-build my own. I picked up a inexpensive pizza truck die cast toy from the local grocery store and set out to convert it into a recreational vehicle for my survivors.

    The material I used to convert the pizza truck into an RV was JTT Corrugated Siding sheets

First step was to find the corrugated material I intended to plaster onto the sides. I was surprised that the local craft and model trains didn't carry it any longer. I ended up having to order it on Amazon. No biggie, but my mantra is to shop local and support the hobby and craft stores. I feel that if we all end up ordering things online rather than driving down the street to get what we need, our local stores are going to go out of business. Others may disagree, but I feel pretty strongly about it.

    1st step was to glue wooden craft sticks to the corners of the truck to create the frame & level surface

Next step was to cut to size and glue craft sticks to the corners of the flat sides so that the material would have an even and not sloped surface to adhere to. I used tacky glue to do that because the plastic material was going to completely encircle the vehicle. The chances of it being popped off were slim, I felt. The craft stick frame also gave something for the corrugated material to attach to at all corners. 

    Next step was to glue the corrugated material to the craft sticks and front of the truck

You've heard the phrase, "Measure twice, cut once?" I took that to heart and double checked my measurements when I but the corrugated material in the next step. I wanted it to be as exact as possible (especially on top, where I wanted the vent fan to project through a hole). I was pleased that the care I took paid off and I had no disasters or mistakes from bad measurements. Essentially, I was enclosing the pizza truck in a corrugated rectangular box. RVs tend to have a grooved or corrugated material, it seems, so I chose this material to make it give that effect.

    No matter how careful you are cutting, there will be gaps where they don't join perfectly

Even though I feel I did a pretty good job cutting the five sides (including the top), I knew there would be places where it didn't line up perfectly and there would be gaps. The photo above shows what it looked like after all the sheets were glued onto the truck and craft stick frame. Besides no cutouts for the wheel wells, it looks a little haphazard, doesn't it?

    These L-shaped pieces of plastic would cover up the joins between the sheets and any gaps

I had planned for that, though! The local model train store has a great selection of Evergreen plastic pieces (no corrugated material, but lots of rods, L-shapes, U-shapes, and so on). I bought two sizes to be on the safe side and went with the larger one. Weirdly, I don't have a picture of the size I ended up using -- "295" or 5/32". Anyway, I carefully measure these and glued them into place. Where one L-section joins another, you have to slice away a little rectangle of the material otherwise it will stick out. That called for even more careful measurement!

    The RV after the L-shapes are glued into place at each join and the wheel wells cut out

In the end, all these extra steps give you a much more smooth looking vehicle. L-shape pieces can also be used for MDF or hand made buildings at the corners to give it a smoother look, too. As for the wheel well, I kind of eyeballed it. I traced a likely looking arc onto a piece of cardboard. I cut it out the cardboard, and then traced its arc onto the corrugated material with a Sharpie. The corrugated material is thin enough it can be cut with a sharp pair of scissors, which I did carefully, then covering up the edge with arcs of cardboard to represent the trim. The base RV was done. Now, it was time to trick it out with windows, doors, and other accessories!

    The window frames were pieces of MDF from a bag of doors and various other Sci-Fi pieces

I dug through all my various MDF pieces and other terrain pieces looking for something I could glue onto the sides of the RV to be the window frames. Eventually, I found some "Block O" shaped pieces that I thought might work. They were a little thicker than I liked, but the shape appealed to me, so I went with them. I would put two windows on the side without the door and one on that with it. The back, besides the ladder, would have a narrow oval shaped window which I also had a piece of MDF to match.

    Before gluing the MDF window frames to the RV, they were first glued to clear plastic surface

Some of you may be thinking, "Wait -- won't the corrugated material look silly as a window?" YES! You are correct! However, I thought of that beforehand, as well. I dug through my unpainted stuff and found something in a blister pack. I cut out the thin plastic material and glued the MDF window frames to them, first. Then I used an X-acto knife to trim the edges. The blister pack plastic would sit atop the corrugated material and would paint smooth, giving a more believable window.

    The back of the RV with all of its add-ons done, including a ladder and big electrical outlet socket

I got really lucky on the ladder to attach to the RV! I had recently bought some 3-D printed trailers and a water tower from Bad Goblin Games, each of which included ladders in them. Some of the ladders were a bit long, and I could cut off just enough to make a nice ladder on the back of the RV. The circular MDF piece above is meant to simulate an electrical plug-in (in happier, pre-zombie apocalypse days...).

    The other side of the RV with the door, a Liberty Bell coin, and a tank and tube on top

For the RV's door, I just used a piece of balsa wood with a slatted look to it. I created a frame for it from craft sticks, and then almost forgot to glue on a tiny piece of dowel as the door handle (look for the finished pictures to see this late, oh crap, addition! The coin with the Liberty Bell on it has been sitting in my bits box for a couple decades, I would guess. I knew I would use it one day, and today was that day! I glued it to the side so that it would have a nice, patriotic design on the side. Atop the roof, I added a 3-D printed propane tank on its side and a piece of pipe from Miniature Building Authority. I decided not to use the tire in the end, as you will notice in the finished pictures. I figured it didn't make sense to store spare tires up there -- how would you get them up there? And would you just toss them down??

  RV painted and covered in a dirty black wash to simulate the grime accumulated since the apocalypse

I painted the corrugated material with white acrylic gesso, in hopes it would stick to the plastic surface better than just ordinary primer. The corrugated material was painted a craft paint called "Maple Sugar" and then dry brushed a very light yellow. Since nearly all RVs you see on the road are two-tone, I decided to go with a dull red since, well, the die cast truck was red! The corrugated material made making the stripes easier than it might have otherwise, just following in the grooves. I dry brushed the red trim with salmon to give it an equally worn look. The propane/water? tank atop was painted Iron Wind Metals Steel and highlighted Pewter. Same with the ventilation grill on the roof.   

    Zombies swarm the RV on all sides, looking for a way to get at the survivors atop it

I am really happy with how the RV came out. It is not perfect, of course. I need to make the sides of the RV not drag so low to the ground. Maybe there is a way to glue the wheels into place so it stands off the ground a little higher? Or, as I plan on doing another one, I could always cut the corrugated material shorter leaving a higher ground clearance. The window frames are probably too chunky, too thick. For my next one I will experiment with something smaller. I imagine I could also just use thick cardstock cut to the correct shape. I got lazy on the windows. I did them like the windshields on my 3-D printed cars, and it doesn't look as convincing here. Another idea I had was to find an image online of curtains pulled back in a window and just print it out and glue it into place. I may try that for the next one.

    Will the survivors drive off the hordes from their rolling home? Stay tuned & see in Zombie RV!

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: 183 

More Aliens, Star Wars barricades, & Sci-Fi Container

    My staged scene to show off a dozen Aliens, 8 Star Wars barricades, and 1 Sci-Fi container

This blog post covers several painting updates, two of terrain/scatter and one of miniatures. They're all Sci-Fi, so I decided to stage a scene to hopefully show off each of the three. All of them went very quickly, I am happy to say. And I'm more than satisfied with how they all turned out.

    Closeup of three of the poses in the packs of 3-D printed aliens from JS Wargamer Printing

Let's start with the Aliens creatures. I bought two more packs of six Aliens from John at JS Wargamer Printing. I ordered them almost immediately after painting my first batch. I think I said in that blog post they were quite simply the easiest and quickest thing I'd ever painted. These went equally fast. I joked that the flocking on the base takes longer than the painting of the 3-D printed miniature. Spray black, go over it with a 50/50 mixture of acrylic black paint and water, and then dry brush it metallic battleship gray and you're done! Truly amazing how something painted up so quickly looks so effective.

    The insides of the Star Wars Legion barricades, which also painted up quickly and I think look great

The next thing I want to talk about are the Star Wars Legion barricades. I picked up a batch of these back when I was thinking I would need walls for Space Station Zero. Unfortunately, I got in only one game of that in before I moved on to another project. My friend Mike S knew I was going to paint some, so found another pack at clearance somewhere and gave them to me. I seem to be surrounded by generous friends who gift me things I can use! I went back and forth about how I wanted to paint them. I even did a Google Image search to see how others had done them.

    "Outside" of the barricades (which lean at a slight angle) - showing the gray and dull orange look

I decided to go with a dirty and worn gray look. They got the same start as the Aliens with spray and 50/50. Next, I did a medium gray dry brush over them, and a light gray after that. Next, I took a very light gray, almost white, and did a line at the top of each section of the barricade. Finally, I took a craft color called "Georgia Clay" and wet brushed it into the spaces between each section of the barricade. I finished it off by painting the keypads on the insides of the barricades black. Once dry, I added in bright color buttons and screens. I did only one pack of them this time, but will do the other pack of eight barricade sections soon. As I said, I am very happy with how they turned out!

    The 'bright side' of the Sci-Fi container from A Critical Hit - you can see at the top the shifting effect

The next thing I completed in this update was another piece of Sci-Fi scatter from A Critical Hit (that I purchased at Cincycon 2024). I called it "Sci-Fi Container," and it looks like they used a similar material to the Alien Nodule. However, rather than one that changes color to different tones, this one flashes between black and a yellowish-green. It reminds me of the color shift paint called "Black Flash" that I painted another piece of scatter with awhile back. Unlike the nodule, one side seems to stay mostly dark while the other is more bright. I have no idea what is at work here, maybe different colors were added to different parts of the print?

    The 'dark side' of the container showing the silver metallic bands and the glowing panels

Since the main part of this piece came "painted," there wasn't really much to do on this. I painted the metallic bands arcing over the container Iron Wind Metals steel, and then highlighted it Pewter. I also did the same with metallic D-shaped "tie downs" securing the container to the floor. The floor was painted last, all Steel. Before that, though, I painted the recessed panels black and then added in glowing buttons of green, red, yellow, and white. I think it is a pretty cool looking piece for as little time as it took!

    Desperate times for the Bronze Legion as they defend the barricades from alien xenomorphs!

I continue to make good progress on getting things painted up and ready for the tabletop. I am working on a vehicle for my Zombie RV games (hint as to what the vehicle is...). Otherwise, it is pretty much Sci-Fi things that I want to work on for awhile. The aliens and this terrain has actually been done for a couple days (well, except for the final spray sealant on the aliens). So, I am well into my next batch! Advance the Colors is this next weekend, though. You know what that means, right? More purchases! And just as my Painted vs. Acquired was looking good again...!!

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: 183
  

    Aliens closing in! Is one of the Bronze Legion whining, "Game over, man!"??

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