Crashed Spacecraft Sections & Alien Tech Gems

    My crashed spacecraft sections made from various random things I had & a cheap plastic toy

This post probably exemplifies the cart-before-the-horse idea. For this past Sunday's game, I needed to build individual sections of an alien spacecraft that had come apart on crash-landing on a planet. My intention was to scatter the components in the center of the game and having my players searching among them for objectives, aka Alien Tech. Well, I have already posted about the game and you've already seen pictures of the items I'm describing in the post. So, cart in front of horse...!

    This section probably had the most random pieces glued onto it, including scatter from A Critical Hit

I had an idea for those and they were the easiest part. Long ago, a friend handed me a quart ziplock back of 3-D printed tires of various sizes and shapes. While going through all of my bins looking for parts that might look like bits and bobs for an alien spacecraft, I came upon the bag. I pulled it out, sorted through them, and found that some were the exact size to fit a craft store "gem" onto. So, first, I pulled out the various colors of gems I would be using, deciding in a completely random way to make eight of them. I found eight of the tires that the gems would rest upon with part of the tire showing as a rim around the colorful, glowing alien power node (or whatever it was that I was creating!).

    Created my 'Alien Tech' objectives with cheap craft store gems glued to 3-D printed tires & a washer 

I based the tires on appropriate sized metal washers, first. Then I epoxied the gems onto the 3-D printed tires. Next, I did a base coat of Iron Wind Steel -- a very dark metallic -- on the tire, making sure I also covered up the little wave-shaped edges of the gems, as well. Next, I chose one of my dozen-plus metallic paint colors that somewhat matched the gem color. I painted the outer edge of the tire that color. Finally, I chose a different metallic to paint the washer base and voila! These glowing Alien Tech objectives pieces were finished! 

    Many of the bits I glued onto the pieces of the plastic toy were to break up the outline & complicate it

Now, it was time to tackle the spaceship sections! My thought was to find a cheap plastic spaceship at the discount store or failing that a piece of construction equipment. I found an earth excavator for a couple bucks, and took a pair of wire cutters to it. Well, after buying -- just to be clear! I disassembled it into various mechanical component looking pieces. I based those on pieces of styrene plastic, epoxying them into place with space around for various pieces that had fallen off. Even the four tires were set on their side and became a piece of the spaceship. Now, it was time to junk them up! I had a pile of various pieces from a number of sources. I simply began epoxying them onto the plastic excavator sections making it look more mechanical and interesting. Some sections got more junk added to them, some less. Once I was satisfied they looked like a complicated mechanical and futuristic spaceship section, I pronounced myself done.

    It's probably easy to see the cab for the excavator here, but I tried my best to 'tech it up'!

Then, I flocked the base so that it looked like it had sunken a bit into the ground from the impact. I waited for a reasonably warm winter day and spray painted each base and components on there black. The next step was to go over everything in a craft Gunmetal Gray metallic paint. I didn't want to use up my precious Iron Wind Steel -- I'm down to my last bottle! Hopefully, I can pick up a re-stock at Cincycon at the end of February. Once it had dried, I looked at my various metallics and decided that the dark red would look the best for the accent color on the spacecraft sections.

    After my lovely accent painting, you could NEVER tell this was one of the excavator's tires, right?

This step was the most time-consuming of the process. I did each piece, one by one, deciding what part of the piece was accent color and what would remain the dark metallic. Some sections got more accent color than others. It took about four days or so to go through all of the pieces. I decided that I wasn't going to spray coat these pieces because they honestly won't get a lot of use (my guess). Plus, I was worried about a matte coat dulling the gleam of the dark red metallic down too much. The gems were then added to the top of the four wheels, hopefully forever disguising them from looking like giant truck wheels...haha!

    I even tossed random bits of scatter or pieces inside this open area on this piece of the excavator

The last step was to add fine black ballast (meant to be coal for railroad hobbyists) to the base. I went back and forth whether to go with sand to match my Tatooine or black. I finally decided that the black looks like the ground was burnt from the spacecraft's thrusters desperately trying slow the impact. Honestly, no matter what color I chose for flocking the crashed sections, it was going to look out of place on some gaming surface. Perhaps I was choosing black as the simplest and most expedient method of flocking these. I would need them on a Sunday and I finished the flocking only the day before!

    Note how I matched the objective tokens' metallic bands with their gem colors -- or tried to!

They looked okay on the tabletop. I had considered blackening sections of the spacecraft to represent scorched surfaces. In the end, I decided not to do that. The idea for the scenario was that the ship's emergency thrusters slowed the decent enough that it did not explode and burn up on impact, but instead merely broke apart. Plus, if they're not burnt, they can be random, generic, Sci-Fi bits of mechanical terrain for other games. Jenny and I are talking about re-starting our Space Station Zero adventures on weekend evenings when we want to stay in and play a game. So, they can join the tons of other Sci-Fi scatter I have on hand for that.

    This was one of my favorite pieces for looking like random machinery

I realize that, by no means, are these the greatest scratch-built pieces of terrain ever! I hope they're passable, though. And they cost next to nothing to make! The only thing I went out and bought for all of the things pictured on this post is the plastic toy excavator. As I mentioned in the previous post, the spacecraft sections I'm counting as "Terrain" and the objectives are "Scatter."

    I'd been wanting to pick up this solo/coop alien hunting rules set and finally did, recently

So, what else is on my painting desk, at the moment? I have six 28mm orc casualties that I will be using for my "Battered" markers for Dragon Rampant games. They're about halfway done, I think. I also have begun working on five modern figures that I bought as part of my 28mm Vietnam figures from Crucible Crush's Black Sun range. They're from the Children of Hastur line, supposedly whacked out cultists. Instead, I'm going to use them as my "team" for games of Majestic 13, which I bought recently. More on that potential solo gaming project when I finish them, though!

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Miniatures acquired in 2026: 6
  
• Miniatures painted in 2026: 24

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Terrain acquired in 2026: 0
  
• Terrain painted in 2026: 17

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Scatter acquired in 2026: 0
  
• Scatter painted in 2026: 24 

Xenos Down! Crashed Alien Spacecraft Holds Dangers & Treasures

    Multiple factions advance & investigate the smoking sections of the downed alien spacecraft

When the strange alien craft entered orbit around Tatooine, it failed to answer communication from the Imperial Star Destroyers. Fearing a Rebel Alliance trick, they fired on it and sent it plummeting into the atmosphere, disabled. However, just before impact, thrusters fired, slowing the ship's fall. The craft broke up into a number of sections on impact with the desert sands, though. Remarkably, long-range scans showed signs of power still operating on the ruined craft, though. Even more tantalizing were sensors picking up what appeared to be lifeforms moving amidst the wreckage.

    Table setup with the 9 spacecraft sections & six smoke clouds obscuring the center of the board

Immediately, word got out and a number of speeders raced across the desert to investigate. Only the Empire and their Corporate Security partners had official clearance to approach. The Rebels, though, could not pass up the chance to perhaps beat the Stormtroopers there, and scavenge alien technology that might be useful in the rebellion. Two other craft that refused to answer imperial commands to break off course could belong to any of the various criminal syndicates, and perhaps even the mercenaries of the Bronze Legion. As the half dozen speeders neared the wreckage, clouds of smoke and haze thickened and visibility dropped rapidly...

    My 6 players bring their squads onto the hexagonal battle mat I created to represent Tatooine

"Xenos Down!" would be the fifth scenario of our Star Wars skirmish campaign using Space Weirdos rules. Each of the six players controlled a faction along the political spectrum from the Empire to Corporate Security to Mercenaries to Rebel Alliance. We played on my four foot wide hexagonal board, with each of the six factions entering near the center of their own hex side. In the center were nine sections of crashed spacecraft that I had recently built, along with a scattering of glowing pieces of alien technology I had also just made. The factions would receive victory points for having those under their control, as well as knocking figures of the opposing factions out of action.

    Rebel Alliance leader Ylena takes aim from atop one of my canyon rocks from Diabolical Terrain

My Canyon Rocks and Desert Rock Formations from Diabolical Terrain broke up the battlefield, as well as smaller outcrops of rocky areas that gave cover. Six large areas of smoke (also recently created) would drift across the battlefield randomly as the game progressed. These blocked line of sight entirely, while the entire tabletop itself was considered smoky and would reduce firing. The greater the distance, the more negative modifiers the haze would produce. Also, each turn, two alien creatures would emerge from randomly determined pieces of wreckage. They had no ability to shoot, but would charge any of the player's forces and attack with their horrible claws and teeth. Think of the alien xenomorphs from the Alien movies and you have a good idea of their nastiness and danger.

    Criminal Syndicate members, Trumonkar & a battle droid, advance towards valuable alien tech

Still, the lure of possibly valuable alien technology lured in all six factions. There was some degree of cooperation among the various looters, but there was also firing between them almost immediately. In particular, Darth Pylor and his Stormtroopers opened up on the nearby local rebels and Rebel Alliance operatives. The animosity between the Bronze Legion and Foxhurst's Criminal Syndicate flared to life again, despite the peaceful ransoming and prisoner exchange they'd managed last scenario (TIE Fighters Strafing the Streets of Mos Eisley). Essentially, each faction wanted to claim a certain number of the alien tech tokens as their own, but this was disputed aggressively by their neighbors. Even if a player's figure had already spent two actions to disconnect it from the spacecraft and was actively moving it towards their area, they were often fired upon by their neighbors who sought to poach their find.

    But what lurks within the smoky center of the board? A very angry alien emerges, looking for prey!

Cooperation most often happened when aliens emerged and charged from the wreckage. The Corporate Security troopers often fired on the beasts even if it was a Rebel they were racing towards. The Rebels returned the favor occasionally, as well. Still, Darth Pylor was known to use the force to pick up an alien and deposit it next to a group of rebels to let them deal with it! Foxhurst used the Force to snatch alien tech from the grasp of the Rebel Alliance, too. When an alien did manage to contact a player's figure, it often knocked it out of action. I maximized the alien's stats for speed and melee ability (Prowess) under the Space Weirdos rules. They had only average defensive abilities, though, and were eventually dealt with one by one. At game's end, there were still three aliens prowling the battlefield, with players dodging around to ensure another faction's figure was the closest to it and would receive its wrath. Apparently, being fired upon by a Star Destroyer and crashing onto the surface of Tattooine made them a little angry!

    Taking what cover they can, Toms Local Rebels advance towards the smoking spacecraft

The players said they had a great time. There was lots of laughs as aliens appeared next to opponent's figures (usually Tom's Local Rebels!). Or when a figure took refuge from enemy fire in one of the smoke circles only to have it drift away from them at the end of the turn, leaving them out in the open, exposed. Players did a good job of either reviving their out of action figures with medical kits or carrying them to safety off the field. Only the disabled hulk of the Criminal Syndicate's battle droid was left in the center of the table when players began to retreat off the table. Most factions had taken one or more pieces of alien technology off the table, with the Mercenaries securing three.

    One of the aliens emerges from the wreckage & prepares to charge Rebel Leader Zimeon

Space Weirdos rules works well, even with such a large group (counting the aliens, we really had seven factions playing). The rotating activation system with Initiative re-rolled every turn keeps everyone involved. The command points that allow players to respond during an opponent's turn (Dodge out of sight, interrupt and fire from Overwatch, or get First Strike in a melee) means players can act even when it is not their turn. The system of opposed pairs of dice rolls to resolve combat keeps players in the game, too. Time seemed to fly by and when I announced that it was 9pm and we'd been playing for three hours, everyone was surprised.

    Bronze Legion trooper and leader being stalked by one of the aliens on the others side of the smoke

By that time, most factions had one or more figures withdraw off the table edge with alien technology or carrying injured friends. Their other figures were beginning to edge away from the center and contemplating leaving, too. We called the game a short time later, and I had everyone count up their victory points and write them down on the back of their leader's card. Since it is a campaign, I am allowing players to improve the stats of their squad in a limited way after each game. Rather than track victory points and spend them on particular advances, each faction can improve one of the five stats of one of their figures one level after each game. I know this seems a tad artificial, but it keeps all squads progressing at a relatively similar level. I have seen campaigns become one-sided when the victors get tougher faster than the losers, which allows them to win more often, and improve even more than their opponents. Eventually, the campaign games break down, with one or more sides seem fated to win while the others to lose. I am trying to avoid this with a more equal situation, yet still allowing character improvement. I mean, haven't we all heard that Defeat often teaches more lessons than Victory?

    'Look out, sir - there is one behind you!' An alien charges & makes contact with the Legion captain

The players said they're having fun with the games, so I will keep running the skirmishes for them. I just need to keep thinking of more, hopefully interesting scenarios to toss at them! Apparently, Xenos Down was a success, and now it's time to get creative and devise the next challenge to throw at the Empire, Rebels, Mercenaries, and Criminals! The Bronze Legion mercenaries handily won the scenario, scoring a dozen victory points (3 alien tech pieces, 3 aliens knocked out of action). That puts them in the lead for the campaign, now, ahead of the Rebel Alliance (2nd) and Local Rebels (3rd).

    Local Rebel leader Zimeon is taken out of action by an alien, while his crew rushes to his rescue

As far as my Acquired vs. Painted totals below, I decided to count the nine spaceship sections and six smoke clouds as "Terrain." The eight alien tech pieces are "Scatter." By the way, I HAVE been purchasing things, and will hopefully do an update soon to show them off. Weirdly, just as I was typing that sentence, the mailman arrived with one of the packages...! Stay tuned to see what it was...!

    All across the battlefield, aliens charge while players attempt to secure the glittering alien tech pieces

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Miniatures acquired in 2026: 6
  
• Miniatures painted in 2026: 24

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Terrain acquired in 2026: 0
  
• Terrain painted in 2026: 17

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Scatter acquired in 2026: 0
  
• Scatter painted in 2026: 24 

Imperial leader Darth Pylor shelters behind a canyon rock while the aliens prowl, looking for foes    

SCENARIO VICTORY POINTS 

CAMPAIGN TOTAL VICTORY POINTS 

Big Red One Escapes Viet Cong Ambush in 'Perilous Paddies'

    The Big Red One crossing an area of rice paddies when the Viet Cong spring an ambush on them

I created this scenario for my Surviving 'Nam rules after reading a book called The Boys of '67: Charlie Company's War in Vietnam by Andrew Wiest. The author calls the incident from the book, which I was replicating in this scenario, the company's baptism of fire. It was the first time C Company took significant casualties during their deployment. I realized that was not necessarily a good omen for my squad of the Big Red One that I am following through their year "In Country!" The scenario has the squad tasked with crossing a series of rice paddies, entering a treeline, and passing through to ford the river. Historically, the moment the point squad got into the middle of the rice paddies, the Viet Cong, deployed in the woods around them in an arc, opened up on them and riddled their ranks.

    The squad at its jump off point about to enter the board and begin wading through rice paddies

For my adaption, the players must send one fire team across the paddies towards the woods until the ambush is sprung. The other squad elements may hang back, as they typically did so that the entire group would not get caught out in the open. Woe to that the poor group on "point," though! However, last mission was a bit of a watershed for my squad, though. A number of soldiers who had yet to miss a mission became Veterans - one third of the way through their tour. In game terms, this means they not only activate one number better on 1d20, but also receive a new "trait" which gives them some kind of bonus. Despite being under strength (four per fire team instead of the full strength five), and also with two new FNGs in the ranks, they are ostensibly more experienced and effective. Would that help them in this ambush, though? We shall see!

    M60 gunner Cpl. Boston & his assistant Pfc. Warfield head towards a Vietnamese tin shack

Looking at my squad, I decided that newly-promoted Sgt. Frey and his fire team would be on point. His most experienced soldier, Cpl. Carter, had rolled the trait called "Point Man." This would allow me to discard one Event Card per turn if he's at the front of the formation. Plus, this would be the first mission for the other fire team leader, Cpl. Cassidy. The new sergeant felt this mission looked too hairy for Cassidy to cut his teeth on, and took one for the squad. He volunteered his own team to be out in front and exposed. He recommended to 2nd Lt. Fickell that he and his radioman head towards a Vietnamese hut on the far left, which had a great view of the rice paddies and woods. If anything bad happened, he'd be in a sheltered place to call in fire missions. On the opposite flank was a Vietnamese tin shack. He suggested to Cassidy to send Cpl. Boston and Pfc. Warfield, the M60 gunner and assistant, to use that as a covered firing position. The rest of the squad spread out along the paddy dikes and thanked their lucky stars they weren't in Frey's fire team as they began sloshing through the ankle deep water towards the distant wood line. Frey spaced his men out in V-shape, and told them to be ready to take cover if they came under fire. 

    Sgt. Frey's (bottom left) fire team is on point for this mission & head across the rice paddies in a 'V'

They hadn't progressed far into the paddy when the shooting began. As each soldier splashed faced down into the shallow water, they heard the crack of rounds going overhead. Frey grimaced. The V.C. had done them a favor and sprang their ambush way too early, he judged. He and his men were still fairly far out and the fire they were receiving was inaccurate. He risked raising his head and could see what looked like two bunkers with machine guns firing at them -- one straight ahead and another to their right. The wood line all around the arc facing them was lit up with muzzle flashes and the sound of AK-47 fire. Definitely some serious shit!

    To the squad's left, V.C. riflemen open up on the Americans from the Western woods

Behind him, Cpl. Cassidy cursed as the ambush was sprung. He yelled for the lieutenant and radioman to hustle into the hut. Then he raised his M-79 grenade launcher, popped in a flechette round and sighted in on the closest squad of V.C. blazing away at them from the left. BOOM! Cassidy grinned, "Got you bastards!" Several of the dark clad figures fell to the ground, and he could hear screaming. "Get off your asses," he yelled at his team, "put some rounds downrange." Around him, the new team leader saw several raise their heads and fire off bursts at the closest bunker. The machine gun inside kept firing, though.

    Even more dangerous, a bunker conceals a V.C. machine gun team in the North woods

On the far right of the line, Cpl. Boston dashed to the tin hut, took cover, then popped his head back around the corner. "Aww, shee-yit!" his shoulders slumped. He was out of line of fire of the closest bunker's firing slit. The stocky black soldier put his head down and sprinted back towards the rice paddy, passing up his assistant gunner Warfield who had been following him. Boston hurtled the paddy dike, steadied his M60 on the top of it, and squeezed off several bursts at the bunker. The machine gun inside went silent, but he guessed he hadn't killed the gunner, and had instead just suppressed him for a moment.

    Another squad of V.C. in the northern tree line along the river -- the squad's objective

Back in the paddy, Frey yelled back to his new M-79 gunner gunner to move up along the paddy dike and start pumping out rounds. He turned back towards the enemy and sighted at the nearest patch of woods. There was one! He squeezed off a round and saw a V.C. thrown backwards. "Gotcha, asshole!" He glanced over at Cpl. Carter, up on point. He was firing off bursts at the enemy until an avalanche of shots impacted all around him. As the point man ducked down behind the paddy, he was showered in mud and water. He saw Pfc. Otis dart by to his right and take cover behind the same dike . He fired several bursts at the bunker, and Frey swore he saw one of Otis' tracers go directly through the firing slit. The machine gun paused in its firing, then resumed again after a few moments. The volume of fire from the woods and the other bunker shifted to Otis, though, who was also showered in splashes. Frey saw him hurled backwards and yell out. He rolled around a bit then lay flat with just his head above the water level of the paddy, calling out that he'd been hit. "Damn it," Frey cursed. "Medic!! Frank, get your ass up there and check on Otis."

    Another bunker and a V.C. rifleman in the Eastern woods on the squad's right

The sergeant smiled as he saw Frank sprinting through the paddy. Man, that guy was fast! The medic plopped down next to Otis and began checking him over. Frey noticed his new FNG staring wide-eyed over the embankment. "Johnson - fire some rounds, dammit!" He watched the newbie sight along the short barrel and pull the trigger. The grenade sailed well past the V.C. he was aiming at and exploded in the woods beyond. "Okay, now bring it in a bit." Johnson loaded another grenade and changed the trajectory. This one exploded way in front of the V.C. in the woods. Frey drawled, "It's okay, Johnson...we got all day. You have them bracketed - focus!"

    2nd Lt. Fickell & radioman Cpl. Byars shelter in a villager's hut as they try to call for a fire mission

Behind Frey, Cassidy was ordering Cpl. Tatum to sprint into the nearest woods and get within grenade range of the bunker. Tatum shook his head and splashed off in that direction, pausing at the last paddy dike before the open ground. "Maaan, why that Chuck gotta pick me for the job?" He missed his friend and previous team leader, Griffin. He wouldn't have ordered Tatum to do something so Gung Ho -- he would have done it himself! On the other side of the line, assistant gunner Warfield had the same idea, though. He shouted for Boston to cover him and sprinted towards the woods that the right-hand bunker was located in. He crouched down as he got out of the enemy machine gun's line of fire. Whew -- made it! So far. He reached into a pouch attached to his web gear and pulled out a fragmentation grenade. He looked at it. "I ain't pulling your pin just yet -- I remember what happened to Hawk!" Warfield began to creep closer to the woods, M16 in his left hand and grenade in his right.

    Cpl. Cassidy's perfect shot with his M-79 grenade launcher takes out several V.C. in the West woods

Meanwhile, Frey saw where Tatum was heading and guessed his mission. He aimed at the last of the muzzle flashes in the closest woods and fired off a long burst. He replaced the magazine, satisfied the muzzle flashes or AK sounds did not recommence. He looked back to his right just in time to see Johnson pump his fist and grin ear to ear as his third round landed in the middle of the V.C. squad he'd been firing at. "Good shot, Johnson! We'll make a soldier out of you, yet..." Another shout from the paddy drew his attention. Pfc. Elliott crouched and pointed, "Boston is down!" Frey cursed and yelled for the medic. Apparently, the M60 gunner had lost his duel with the machine gun in the right hand bunker. 

    Team leaders Cpl. Cassidy in center & Sgt. Frey to his left lead from the front & direct their men

"Somebody put a smoke grenade in front of that damned opening!" Up ahead, he saw Carter rummaging through his equipment and then hurl the grenade. It flew true, but landed short of the bunker opening. Still, purple smoke began to shoot up and slowly spread over the area. He chuckled as Carter shouted "Purple haze!" and mimicking Jimi Hendrix's guitar riffs. "I want fire on that bunker straight ahead now!" Frey called. He saw tracers impacting around it, but the machine gun kept up its fire. The squad was pinned down by the V.C. all around them, but they were beginning to kill some of the enemy. Suddenly, there was the whistle of incoming mortar rounds. He saw them explode beyond the bunker, then slowly walk their way forward until a solid hit sent dust and leaves flying everywhere, obscuring their view. "Well, it is about time you got into the battle, L.T...!" he mumbled.

    Cpl. Tatum sneaks into the West woods after his comrades have gunned down most of the V.C.

Frey looked over to check on Tatum's progress and saw him slipping into the hopefully now V.C.-free woods. On the other flank, Elliott was splashing towards Boston. He paused, confused, as Pfc. Otis sprinted past him towards the rear, screaming something that sounded like "F-ing snake!" Frey chuckled. Well, at least that meant Otis was okay! Spec 4 Frank was moving towards Boston, too. Frey heard splashing to his left and saw Cassidy shouldering his M-79 and firing a grenade off. Another V.C. in the woods was tossed backwards by the blast. Cassidy grinned. "Not who I was aiming at, but what the hell...?" Suddenly, he grabbed his shoulder, and cursed, crumpling to the ground. "God damn it -- I'm hit!" Frey ordered Johnson to go check on the stricken team leader. Johnson stumbled through the paddy water and sank to his knees next to him. There was a sharp "Thwack" and Johnson pitched forward on top of Cassidy, also hit. 

    Meanwhile, spurred by my poor activation rolls, the V.C. activate & pour fire into the Americans

On the squad's far right, Warfield had almost reached the woods when he heard Vietnamese voices shouting. Suddenly, a squad of black-clad V.C. darted around the trees and between him and the cloud of purple smoke. Thankfully, their eyes were focused on trying to locate his buddies in the rice paddy through the thickening cloud. He could see their expressions, their eyes wide and jaws clenched with fear. Probably what he was doing right now, too, Warfield thought. He froze, hoping the V.C. wouldn't notice him. Crouching slowly down, he pulled the pin and counted. Then he underhanded the grenade at the lead soldier. It bounced once, twice, and rolled still. He ducked, watching, as it exploded exactly when the squad had run to center themselves over it, completely unaware. His ears rang from the explosion and he stood up and began running back towards the rice paddy. He risked a look over his shoulder and saw all five V.C. soldiers sprawled on the ground, some motionless, some writhing in obvious pain.

    Squad's mid-game positions -- note Cpl. Tatum infiltrating on left & Pfc. Warfield on the right

As he neared the dike, he saw Lt. Fickell across the paddy burst from the hut and shout to the squad, "We're pulling back, people! Grab the wounded and fall back! Choppers are on the way to rocket the Hell out of this place!" All across the paddy, soldiers were helping their comrades to their feet and assisting them in moving to the rear. Another smoke grenade popped and sent out expanding, yellow tendrils of smoke, covering their rear. Warfield shook his head when he saw Spec 4 Frank half carrying his friend Boston through the paddy. Warfield ran over and wrapped Boston's other arm around his shoulder. Together they carried him, splashing through the shallow water. Pfc. Elliott jogged past them and held up Boston's M60, "I got his hog, Warfield..."

    BOOM!! Squad's one & only fire mission finally arrives and inflicts damage on the North bunker

Frey watched the squad leave, sending out long bursts of covering fire, and counting as each man left the paddy. When Tatum ran past, Frey turned, and waved at the lieutenant. He and his radio man had been spraying M16 fire back and forth through the trees. "Let's go, L.T.! We're the last ones..." The three jogged off, crouching down to present as little as a target as possible. Frey shouted to Lt. Fickell, "Well, that could have gone worse. Good job with the fire mission, sir!"

    Point man Cpl. Carter tosses a purple smoke grenade to block the East bunker's field of fire

As Sgt. Frey said, that scenario could have easily gone worse for my squad. I rolled high enough that the pre-battle phase, which I call "Countdown to Contact," ended after my squad members had proceeded forward for only one turn of movement. This meant we were still at fairly long range for the V.C. However, with two bunkers with machine guns, they had us outgunned for the moment. That wasn't helped by losing M60 gunner Boston for one turn of fruitless movement that put him outside of arc on the bunker. He raced back and was able to suppress one of the bunkers, but the V.C. were un-Pinning at a high rate and the machine gun was quickly back in action each time. Speaking of Pins, my point man Carter and his buddy Otis collected so many Pin markers from the fusilade of shots directed their way that I seriously wondered if they would ever be able to act! 

    The smoke causes a V.C. squad to leave the woods & advance - much to Pfc. Warfield's surprise!

However, Sgt. Frey (and I) soon realized the key was to follow the mission's objectives. The squad is permitted to pull back once they inflict as many casualties on the enemy equal to their own numbers (13 U.S. soldiers, so 13 V.C. casualties were needed). So, when firing at the bunkers proved to be a difficult shot, we switched to targeting the two V.C. squads shooting at us. Still, one thing was holding my guys back -- our crappy activation rolls! It was amazing how many guys who should succeeded on a 6+, 7+, or 8+ on our 20-sided die would rolled two failures! Time and again, we'd pin the machine gun team in the bunker only to have it un-Pin on an Event Card drawn because of someone's failures. When the "All Hell Breaks Loose" card came up, and all V.C. on the table activate, it was nerve-wracking rolling all those dice to avoid my guys being hit!

    Focused on the rice paddy, the V.C. don't see Warfield or the grenade he tosses into their midst!

The lieutenant's fire mission came in much later than it probably should have, all but silencing one of the bunkers. Cpl. Tatum, sneaking in the woods, did the third and final hit with one well-aimed shot. We had to resort to a smoke grenade to block off the line of sight of the other bunker when my M60 gunner went down, though. The moment that saved the squad, bringing our casualties inflicted on the V.C. to above 13, was when Pfc. Warfield tossed that grenade into the middle of the V.C. squad in the open. They were relocating because the smoke blocked their line of sight of any of my men, and Warfield hit them at just the right moment. Finally, I could pull the squad back, and limit the losses we'd suffered.

    Time to go! The squad begins to gather up the wounded & get ready to pull back from the rice paddy

What were our losses? Pfc. Otis turned out to be okay -- the bullet had hit a piece of equipment and knocked him backwards. I did have three wounded to roll for -- Cpl. Boston who was "Messed Up" and had to be carried from the field; Cpl. Cassidy, who was Lightly Wounded, and my FNG Pvt. Johnson, also Lightly Wounded. Both Johnson and Cassidy rolled "Bad Luck -- soldier returns for next mission" (a little bit of grim Vietnam humor). Their wounds were light enough they could be treated back at base. I was nervous about Boston, though. He was easily my most effective soldier the squad had. His traits were "Gung Ho" (which meant he activated on a 6+ as a Veteran) and "Handy With That" (which gave him a +1 to shooting rolls with his M60). Losing him would be a huge blow. However, I rolled high enough on the chart that he would be out for only one month. Woo-hoo!!

    Squad leadership ensures all soldiers are out of the rice paddies before exiting themselves

The squad has now survived five months "In Country." Frey's team lost no one, but will still be under strength one until Cpl. Hawk comes back in July. Good news, though, Cpl. Kern returns to duty next mission, relieving Cassidy of being team leader -- which he didn't like anyway. That brings that team up to full strength. We will need a new FNG assistant gunner for a month (Warfield will carry the hog for a mission). Speaking of him, for a little bit of storyline, I decided that the medic, Spec 4 Frank, saw Pfc. Warfield's heroics with the grenade. He wrote it up very colorfully for Lt. Fickell, who has decided to put him in for a Bronze Star. Will he get it? Hopefully, he deserved it!

    Illustration done by Andrea Sfiligoi of Ganesha Games -- possible rule book cover?

I had a lot of fun with this mission and am really enjoying playing these games. The way the dice rolls and event card deck naturally ebb and flow, with good rolls, bad rolls, and same with cards, really make the game unpredictable. You feel like all Hell is breaking loose at times, and at other times are praying for that 20 on an activation roll (extra action) or the next Fire Mission card. You cheer when one of your guys plops a grenade down in just the right spot. Fun stuff! 

So, how close are these rules to being published? Well, I want to include 12 scenarios for a year's worth of missions. I have some more to write up and play test before I have 12. So, once that stage is done, I'll be ready to begin layout. Stay tuned for more adventures of the Big Red One in Vietnam!

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Miniatures acquired in 2026: 6
  
• Miniatures painted in 2026: 24

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Terrain acquired in 2026: 0
  
• Terrain painted in 2026: 2

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Scatter acquired in 2026: 0
  
• Scatter painted in 2026: 16 

Armored Troll & the Last of the Orc & Goblin Horde

    My final batch of armored orcs (plus an armored troll) for the Bonefish Band are done!

I am winding down the painting of my orc and goblin horde for Dragon Rampant. Here's the final batch (with one exception which I will talk about below). I've also included one of the Gripping Beast armored trolls in with these because I previously had only five trolls painted up. I wanted a sixth because a unit of Greater Warbeasts under the DR! rules is 6 Strength Points. This way, I can remove one figure for each SP loss. The other eight figures in this batch are armored orcs.

    One of 28mm armored trolls from Gripping Beast's Ragnarok line -- a heavy hunk of metal goodness

The troll (named Ogah on their site) was great fun to paint up. It thought that his chainmail, with its small plates of armor over the top on his chest, was a nice touch. I painted both those plates and his helmet bronze to give more contrast with the chainmail. I love the intensity of Ogah's snarling expression, teeth bared. His feet wrapped in strips of cloth are a nice touch, as well. I used the same skin tone recipe for him as the other trolls -- charcoal gray base coat, rain gray dry brush, and faint timberline green highlights. I also love the plates of armor bolted onto his huge shield, as well. Looking at the shield, I thought it just called out for a checkerboard pattern. That turned out pretty well, too. All in all, it is a great figure that will definitely be deployed in the ranks of the Bonefish Band!

    Closeup of 4 of the last batch of GB armored orcs -- these were a lot of fun to paint!

The armored orcs were simply more of the same that I've subjecting you to on this blog...haha! I certainly feel like I've painted up a lot of these boys over the last few months. In fact, I had very few unarmored orcs at all in this army -- mostly just the goblin archers. I will likely pick up a couple packs of unarmored goblins from Firelands Games so that I have some to use in games of Sellswords & Spellslingers. It's kind of funny, and so typical of us wargamers, right? I have way more orc and goblin figures than I need to fill out the ranks of my Bonefish Band, but I need to buy more figs...! To be clear, they aren't for Dragon Rampant -- they're for another game. But it still seems strange, doesn't it?

    Obligatory 'Shield Shot' with all of them lined up in a row -- I thought this batch came out nicely

I really like how the shields came out on this final batch of troops, too. I decided to add a second (or third) color on some of them. I'm still using the simple, tribal-style illustrations with my micron pens on the lighter-colored shield faces. On the darker shields, I brush paint the design -- the gaping skeletal jaws on one and the yellow moon on the other. I have genuinely enjoyed painting the orc, goblin, and troll figures in this army. I would have liked more variety in equipment. However, that's not Gripping Beast's fault. That's simply what my friend sold to me. Oh well -- the army is nearly done! 

    Are you sick of seeing orcs here on my blog? Well, other than some casualties, you made it through!

After this batch, I counted out my remaining orcs and goblins. I had only 15 left from the horde that I purchased from my friend Jeff. The final step is to take a half dozen of those remaining and create casualties out of them. One disadvantage of metal figures vs. plastic is chopping them off their bases is NOT easy! I have done that to six, though, and am in the process of creating the flocked base each will rest upon. They will be used to mark units that are "Battered" status in DR! This reminds me a bit of making Fatigue markers in Saga. Same idea -- something scenic on the tabletop instead of a random colored bead or other marker to track a unit's status. The remaining nine orc and goblin figures I likely won't paint anytime soon. I'll save them in case I need them for something special. As I said, I have PLENTY for my DR! army!

    Okay, I liked -- here is one of final look at Ogah and his orc minders lined up for battle

With this batch, I also finished more bases of elephant grass (Version 3, if you're curious). I have now used up all of the 22mm tufts I bought at Michigan Toy Soldier, with which I was able to create 14 total 1.5" bases of elephant grass. Hopefully, that's enough! So, what else is on the painting desk? I continue to work on those crashed spaceship sections. The base coat of dark metallic is done for all of them, and I am more than halfway through the dark red metallic accent color on them. After that, only the flocking will be left to do. They're scheduled to be used this Sunday in a Star Wars skirmish game using Space Weirdos. So, stay tuned -- more stuff is on the way!

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Miniatures acquired in 2026: 6
  
• Miniatures painted in 2026: 24

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Terrain acquired in 2026: 0
  
• Terrain painted in 2026: 2

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Scatter acquired in 2026: 0
  
• Scatter painted in 2026: 16