Giving 'Four Delvers' Treasure Hunt a Solo Run

    Beset by giant spiders & orcs, my 'Four Delvers' fight their way through an abandoned town 

My long-time friend Keith wants to run "dungeon crawl" fantasy skirmishes, and is searching for a good set of rules. Last weekend, he hosted us at his place to play test a version he'd cobbled together using Dragon Rampant battle rules. It provided an entertaining evening. However, we both agreed in discussions afterwards that it was not the right rules mechanics for an adventuring party exploring caverns or dark places. DR's activation rolls and one action per "units"adapted to single figures seemed clunky. So, we agreed to keep exploring. My friend Rich Brown is a fan of David Bezio's Four Delvers rules. I downloaded them (free on the RRB Minis & More website) and gave them a quick study. For those that don't remember, Bezio is the author of Zombie RV rules, which I played extensively the past two years and ran at various conventions.

    In David Bezio's 'Four Delvers,' players control an adventuring party of four characters

After reading the rules, I discussed them with Rich and David, and also sent them on to Keith to look over. Keith and I weighed giving them a try or continuing with a side project I've been scribbling on recently: using Mean Streets gang warfare rules for small scale fantasy skirmishes. Keith felt that since we still had more to write and play test with the Mean Streets variant, we should give Four Delvers a try. They are an already published set and Rich recommends them. It would be less work than creating our own set with Mean Streets. In addition, David has been working on an expansion called Four Delvers Quest, which introduces new character types and adds more stats for the adventurers. Rich had also added a bit himself to David's base rules, such as new monsters and more. 

If you remember my Zombie RV games, I also added more details and a campaign system when my friends and I were playing it. Four Delvers reminds me a lot of Zombie RV -- very simple and streamlined rules that are open to expansion and tricking out to make it what you want of them. In fact, Keith, Rich, his friend Kyle, and myself created a group email to discuss new expansions. I look forward to brainstorming with them and hope we're able to create a campaign or system for a series of linked games. 

    'The Courtyard' scenario set up with treasures and enemies (circled in red) - five orcs await our entry

Since Rich has played at least a dozen games of Four Delvers, and I had yet to try them out, I decided that I should probably play a game. It makes sense to try something before you start pontificating about what you want to change! So, I created my own adventuring party of four delvers, throwing in one of the new character types David had created. The party was led by the bold hero Oslac, a fighter of great renown. His companions are Malik the Wizard, Erevan the Elven archer, and Callum (a Barbarian, the term I would prefer over "Berserker" for that new class). I chose one of the 10 scenarios in the base rules, The Courtyard. It seemed simple, plus it matched the setting I am planning on using for my eventual small scale fantasy skirmishes that I would like to run -- adventuring in an abandoned city that has fallen into decay.

    In addition to the enemies on the board, each turn there is a chance a wandering monster will appear

In the scenario, the delvers (the game's term for the adventuring party of four) are exploring the courtyard of an abandoned noble's house, searching for treasure. The board is very small in this game -- only 18" square. So, delvers and creatures are in contact and fighting almost immediately. I blocked off a section of my new 3'x3' stone pavement mat I bought recently, and set up the terrain. For the delvers and enemies, I grabbed a mix of my Saga and Dragon Rampant figures. I also pre-rolled what foes Oslac and his band would facing: five orcs, two of which were armed with bows. Giant spiders would be the wandering monsters, if and when they appeared. Players roll 1d12 at the beginning of every turn, with a 9+ meaning a wandering monster arrives on a random board edge. I also rolled randomly for the board edge that my delvers would enter from, as well as the location of the orcs and three treasures. Interestingly, most were concentrated very close to the board edge we would be entering from. 

    Oslac, left, and Callum the barbarian charge in and deal bloody wounds to the surprised orcs

That was very unfortunate for one of the orc archers, who started only 3" from our entry point. I had my "Fighter" (Oslac) charge onto the board to start the game, slashing it for one wound and sending the archer reeling backwards. Each character type has their own special abilities and statistics. A base fighter rolls two strikes when in melee, needing only a 6+ on each d12 to hit. When you hit an enemy, it has a chance to roll a Save (the orc failed). However, when a figure is reduced to 0 Hit Points, it is not out of action. Each subsequent unsaved hit causes a wound, which prompts another die roll. The result can be either "flesh wound" (no effect), Stunned (figure may do nothing on its next action and is -1 to Saves), or knocked out of action. So, the orc would require at least another hit to kill it. 

    The wizard Malik arrives, pausing next to a treasure token to zap an orc archer across the board

In response, one of the orc's comrades charged Oslac, but missed his attack. Next, the barbarian Callum hurtled onto the board hoping to deliver the knockout blow to the orc archer. His "Berserk" ability allows him to continue rolling attacks if he rolled a 10+ on his attack. Wouldn't you know, my barbarian obliged on his very first attack! However, I rolled "flesh wound" for no effect. Callum's follow up attack missed. The orc also missed in its attempt to "Battle Back." When an enemy attacks you, you get to strike back, but your roll is at -2. Annoyingly, the enemy archer staggered back again, still alive! In Four Delvers, after each time you activate one of your figures, you next resolve an enemy's activation. Activated figures can move and attack, attack then move, or move twice (but not come into contact with enemy). Instead of attacking, they can instead do an action like cast a spell, pick up a treasure, etc. My wizard Malik stepped onto the board moving into contact with the closest treasure token. Instead of picking it up, he hurled a Magic Bolt at the other orc archer far across the board (but in line of sight). He zapped him for one hit -- my delvers were off to a good start! 

    My Elven archer Erevan gets the party's first kill - the orc Oslac had initially charged & wounded

It just got better when my Elven archer moved onto the board, sheltering behind the the chest-high stone wall and taking aim at the closer wounded archer. Erevan's shaft struck home, the orc missed his save, and the ensuing d12 roll saw it sink to the ground, unconscious or dead. One of the orc's companions charged into Callum and hit him, but the barbarian saved. Meanwhile, the giant spider who had arrived as a wandering monster at the start of turn one scuttled quickly into the courtyard seeking fresh prey. All in all, though, a good first turn. Turn 2 started off on a note of concern, though, as yet another giant spider appeared. That was two 9+ rolls on d12's in a row! 

    Here comes trouble! The first of 3 wandering monster spiders hungrily scuttles into the courtyard

I began my turn with Oslac, again. Rolling two attacks, as opposed to my other character's one, and with the best chances of success, he would be my hammer. He charged into one of the orcs and struck him twice. However, the wily orc saved both times. Fortunately, its "battle back" missed. In Four Delvers, the target of an enemy charge always recoils after the combat -- even if it wounded the charger and took no hits itself. No figures end a round of melee in contact with each other in these rules -- the defender always backs up 1". I'm not sure I like that. First, I would prefer that figures that took a hit backs off. Who knows? Maybe that will be my first house rule...ha, ha! I like that players can choose the order their figures act in, but the enemy always begins with the closest to a delver. The two sides, Delvers and Enemies, alternate activating a figure until all have done so. 

    No dummies, the elf & wizard shelter behind the wall while the fighter & barbarian block the orcs

The wily orc that Oslac had just charged moved into contact with Callum, hitting him, but fortunately the barbarian saved. Two can play at that game! Malik, seeing the approaching spider, grabbed the treasure token and ran to the wall alongside Erevan. Another orc charged Callum, who avoided its blow but struck it on his counterstrike. Dang it! The orc saved again! On his activation, Callum sidestepped and struck a different orc, once again rolling 10+. He hit with his follow up strike, but once more the second hit caused nothing but a flesh wound. Grrrr! Stung, the orc battled back and hit Callum, who did not save and became my first character to lose a hit point. Both he and Oslac began with 3 hit points, though, while Ereven had two and Malik only one. As Turn 2 progressed, I was beginning to feel some frustration as the enemies I hit always seemed to save. Strikes that caused wounds also failed to knock them out of action. I realized what may be frustrating me on Turn 2 may end up saving one of my characters on a later turn, though. Still, it was getting annoying as the orc and spiders refused to go down! "Mom! Grikhnash isn't taking his deads...!" 

    Well, it WAS a good idea...until Shelob's sister decided to do an end run to get at the wizard & archer

Finally, turn 3 saw no new wandering monsters appear. Oslac charged into the wounded spider and gutted it, watching as its talon-tipped legs twitched and then went still. Meanwhile, the second spider had rounded the corner and was scuttling quickly towards Malik and Erevan. The archer aimed and sank an arrow into its grotesque body, causing a hit, but it kept coming. An orc made the mistake of hurling itself upon Oslac who blocked its spiked club with his shield and then slashed its legs with his sword. The orc screamed and fell to the ground. Another enemy down! Callum got in on the action and charged into another orc and struck him down, as well. Turn 3 was progressing much more successfully! The spider charged Erevan, who avoided damage and backed up. As long as no new enemy arrived, it looked like my delvers might be able to take these foes down.

    My deadliest fighter, Oslac, guts the first spider -- its blood pooling next to the orc he struck down

No new creatures arrived on turn 4, but my delvers developed a mild case of the "misses" -- most of my attacks missed. Worse, Callum received his second wound, and Erevan was wounded by the spider. Oslac did "Stun" one of the orcs, so at least it would not activate on its next turn. Still no new enemies were taken down this turn and we suffered two hits. Worryingly, turn 5 saw another spider arrive. Thankfully, when I rolled for the board edges, the spiders continued to show up on the ones furthest away. Though fast, the spiders would have to spend their entire first turn on the board moving and still be unable to reach any of my delvers. Actually, we had not progressed far from the board edge we entered from. The enemies had come to us, though we still had only one treasure.

    3 orcs & 1 spider down, and my delvers are off to a good start at killing their enemies

Seeing Malik and Erevan backing off from the giant spider, Oslac shouted a war cry to attract its attention and charged in, hitting and stunning it. Malik fired a magic bolt at the orc archer who'd been shooting at them from across the board and finally killed it. Erevan loosed an arrow at the new spider as it entered the courtyard. He shouted for Callum to dash for the treasures since the orcs in front of him were all down or stunned. The barbarian bolted forward and skidded to a stop next to the fountain, picking up and throwing over his shoulder a bulging leather satchel. He was not far from the next treasure, so sprinted for it on his next turn, picking it up, as well. Malik, seeing that the elf's arrows weren't stopping the oncoming spider cast "Freeze" upon it, stopping it in its tracks. Noticing Callum had pick up the final treasure, he shouted for his companions to withdraw. 

    Angry at the arrow wound from Erevan, the 2nd spider deals a slash to the elf, who backs up

The adventures slashed at orcs or spiders near them. As the creatures backed off, the delvers turned and ran from the Courtyard. They heard the angry noises of their enemies, but dashed down the dimly lit alley. They met up with Callum, and kept running for the bridge that led across the river. After a few moments, Erevan cocked his head and said he could hear no sounds of pursuit. They could slow down and proceed more cautiously. Who knows? Perhaps the spiders and orcs had turned on each other? Although both Erevan and Callum were wounded, all four had survived. On the bridge, they stopped to bandage their wounds, Oslac taking the small chest from Callum while Malik tended to him. He turned the wooden box around in his hands, examining it. "Let's wait till we cross and are back at our camp before opening these." On the horizon, the sun began to peek through the mists rising from the river. The adventurers turned their back on the abandoned and haunted city, and marched towards the sunrise.

    Shouting a war cry, renowned fighter Oslac charges the spider, driving its hideous bulk backwards

After the game was over, I feel that I rolled reasonably well for the treasures. My delvers found two magic items -- one a potion of Speed and the other a magical axe that is +1 to hit. We also earned 10 gold coins. Much like with "supplies" in Bezio's Zombie RV, the gold coins allow characters to expend one for a re-roll of a dice. I suppose they will also ensure a comfortable stay at an inn while my wounded delvers rest and recover. Did I enjoy the game? Yes, I did. I am concerned about possible frustration to players like I experienced on turn 2, as the enemy saved against all my hits or my wound rolls resulted in "flesh wounds." I messaged Bezio with a couple questions to ensure that I played the game right. Do monsters keep fighting just like characters at 0 hit points? He confirmed that I played it right (which Rich had also told me). He was intrigued, though, by the idea of a subsequent unsaved hit on a creature at 0 hit points automatically knocking it out. He said playing it that way would be "faster and more cinematic." He encouraged me to try a game that way to see what I thought. So, expect to see another test run of Four Delvers, as Oslac and his band venture back into the decaying city.  

    Callum races through the blood-spattered courtyard to pick up the delver's 2nd treasure token

On my paint desk, I am nearing completion of the next batch of Elven archers for my next Dragon Rampant army. I also am painting up the big alien monsters that I bought at Cincycon a few weeks ago. They're coming along well, and should be a nice addition to the potential foes for Critter Control in my Majestic 13 games! The Catrine House for my medieval town is proceeding more slowly, though. I think I need to take a break from elves more often to speed progress along on it!

    Fortunately, the treasures were near each other, so the barbarian snatches up the final one -- victory!

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Miniatures acquired in 2026: 159
  
• Miniatures painted in 2026: 65

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Terrain acquired in 2026: 3
  
• Terrain painted in 2026: 21

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Scatter acquired in 2026: 16
  
• Scatter painted in 2026: 48

ABC Robot Warriors NOT as Simple as A-B-C

 

    4 of the Warlord Games 'ABC Robot Warriors' that I painted up as alien monsters for Majestic 13

Earlier this year, I made a list of things in my unpainted lead pile that I'd like to get finished. One of those was a collection of three boxes I won at the Advance the Colors raffle (I believe) back in 2024. They're called ABC Robot Warriors and made by Warlord Games, and I thought perhaps some of them might make good alien enemies for Critter Control in my Majestic 13 games. When I opened the box, I was immediately disappointed. They are made of soft plastic and some come in a number of parts that need to be assembled. As I mentioned on an previous post, their soft plastic bodies, arms, etc., was difficult to glue together. Neither superglue nor modeling glue nor epoxy really held the pieces together well.

I persevered, though, and eventually got them assembled. My favorite was the one that was hardest to put together, a bizarre robotic creature with a metallic sphere for a lower body and four sets of limbs or arms protruding from his shoulder area. He wears a long, flowing cloak which is actually the base. On the box, he was named "Raz-Putin." How they ever expected the bottom of the cloak to stand up on its own, I don't know. Still, I eventually epoxied all of them onto their bases. A different one that I liked had a weird lean to it which was most likely from either poor design or production. Like Mr. Four-armed Globe-body (Raz-Putin), he was armed with two swords. These swords were obviously designed to look like they were on fire. He was called Genghiz on his box. The remaining two were flying robot alien thingies each holding a Sci-Fi-looking gun. They were named Volgan Yaks. The last one, well, we won't talk about him. I eventually decided not to paint him because it was one of the most stupid designs I'd ever seen (even though he was the sole one that I didn't have to glue together). The best I can describe him is as a tall, humanoid robot wearing a Fascist-style military dress uniform with huge epaulettes and a peaked dress uniform cap. Hunh? What's the point of THAT?? If you're intrigued, Warlord Games called him General Blackblood.

    For being a pain to assemble and paint, some of these were actually very cool looking miniatures!

I decided to start working on those remaining four ABC Robot Warriors while finishing up my first batch of Elven spear (actually, there are two more robot warriors that I didn't take out of the pack because they looked too like Battletech Mechs -- which I have no interest in). Because they were very complicated figures, I further chose to do them one by one, rather than all together. I base coated all four in Iron Win Metals Steel -- a very dark metallic that I like to use (which I restocked up on at Cincycon 2026). First to be painted was Mr. Four-armed Globe-body. I decided the metallic sphere that was his lower body would be done in a green metallic paint I think looks particularly "Sci-Fi-y." I picked out various plates in that color, leaving recesses in Steel. I then did some accents in one of my bright bronze metallic craft paints. I then extended this scheme to his four arms, his torso, and head. I had to admit that it really is a cool looking figure. His giant cloak thingy I painted in a newly-purchased dark bluish green (because I needed more varieties of dark green for my elves!). I dry brushed the cloak, painted up the two swords, did his eyes in metallic red, and was very happy with my first completed ABC Robot Warrior!

    I thought the yellowish armor & flaming sword effect came out fairly well on Mr. Leaning Robot

Next up, was the good old Leaning Robot with the flaming swords. Hmm...what metallic color to do HIS robotic body in? I hadn't used my color shift paints in awhile, so grabbed the one that is called Black Flash or something like that. It is a very dark yellowish metallic that doesn't shift color noticeably. Once again, I left some portions in the dark Steel color -- mainly the recesses. The plates you could see more clearly (and paint more easily) were done in the Black Flash. I liked how he was was looking, so far. He also had a number of horns projecting from his robot helmet head, because, you know, all designers of mechanical soldiers know the value of horns, right? I did these in a bright gold and bronze metallic combo. His eyes were small and round and reminded me of C3PO from Star Wars. So...why not? I gave him C3PO eyes. I felt a dark red cloak (because robots always wear cloaks!) would set off the yellowish metallic even more. I did it in Blood Red as a base, highlighted with a craft paint red. I went back and forth about how to do the two flaming swords (because he has two arms, why not two swords? All robots...uhm, never mind -- you get the drift!).  I ended choosing a copper/bronze color for the blade and for the flames, I chose a fluorescent orange accented with yellow on the uppermost portion of the flames. I was surprised how nice the flame effect looked. Wow, after all my complaining, I was really very happy with my second ABC Robot Warrior!

    I probably should have chosen a less busy background for these smaller flying robots

I did a "redo" on the final two -- the smallest flying robots, or Volgan Yaks. I began painting one of them with my Violet-Blue-Red color shift craft paint. It was looking okay, but as I kept zooming in on it under my lighted magnifying glass, I kept thinking how it looked like a flying version of a xenomorph from the Alien movies. Then I remembered how easily I painted up my 3-D printed Alien xenomorphs. To this day, they are still the easiest models I've painted up. The color shift paint was going on okay, but it was very fiddly work. In the end, I wanted easy. So, I set the half-completed color shift alien aside and picked up the second one. I dry brushed him in silver, like I had done with the Aliens, then began picking out wires, knobs, panels, and bits of his body in Copper metallic. I gave him red eyes and a metallic dark red trim on his weird Victorian Sci-Fi looking jet pack wings. Heyy, he actually turned out pretty good, too!

    Another look at the 4 minis that I probably complained more about than I should have in this post!

Once finished, I picked up the half-painted, color shift alien. Sorry, buddy! Your sparkles have to go!! I re-base coated him with Iron Wind Steel again. The next day, after it had dried, I essentially copied what I did with his flying companion, using a different metallic and a different trim color. I had been complaining to Jenny about how much I hated painting this batch of figures, but when I was mostly done with them I actually took them upstairs to show her that they didn't turn out half bad. So, after multiple struggles early on, I actually feel fairly successful with this group of Sci-Fi monsters. To be sure, they were NOT as simple as A-B-C! They were more of a P.I.T.A., if you know what I mean!

    A Crystal Spider that is 3-D printed with colored filament from A Critical Hit - no work required!

I based them up as I did with many of my Sci-Fi models, with a dark, rocky look. I honestly don't know when -- or even if -- I will use them in a game. The most likely time would be if an alien's description in Majestic 13 evokes "Mr. Four-armed Globe Body" or "Leaning Flaming Sword Guy." The two little flyers could be a Sci-Fi aerial drone in any game, possibly. But hey! These four completed figures will be sitting there waiting in the box for that moment. Unlike "Mr. Fascist Robot Jack Boots," who will be permanently ensconced in my unpainted drawer...haha! Speaking of the drawer, I rescued one of my purchases from A Critical Hit from there because it required no painting, as far as I could tell. It is printed in several colors of 3-D printer filament and looks fine all on its own, I think. I'm calling it a Crystal Spider and may also make a good monster for Majestic 13.

    Another look at the spider -- the attachment of his legs to his body is flexible, so they actually move

What else is on my painting desk? I have begun work on the next batch of elves, of course. More archers this time. For terrain, I've started working on one of the medieval buildings I got from RRB Minis & More at Cincycon -- the Catrine House. So, stay tuned for that. I promise no robotic rants about them...

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Miniatures acquired in 2026: 159
  
• Miniatures painted in 2026: 65

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Terrain acquired in 2026: 3
  
• Terrain painted in 2026: 21

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Scatter acquired in 2026: 16
  
• Scatter painted in 2026: 48

Search & Destroy Mission with Surviving 'Nam at Buckeye Game Fest

    The squads' point men advance through the elephant grass in another game of "Surviving 'Nam"

I decided to take a risk and play test one of my scenarios for Surviving 'Nam at a local gaming convention this past weekend. Typically, I will have play tested it solo before springing it on players. However, I think most game masters (especially those who wrote the rules) get a good feel for play balance once they've run a number of games and created a good handful of scenarios. As this would be Mission #8 that I'd designed, I decided to take the risk.

    The heavily wooded board where the squad would conduct their 'Search & Destroy' mission

In this mission, the players began at one corner of the board and are attempting to cross to the opposite corner. They are on a Search & Destroy mission with the goal of killing as many Viet Cong as possible. Additionally, they must search five bodies for intelligence. They can't exit from the board until there are six or less enemy figures on table. The battalion commander wants "body count" and it is up to the players and their reinforced squad to provide it for him.

    Three U.S. fire teams advance onto the board, probing for contact with enemy Viet Cong

I had three players for the game, so each controlled a five-person fire team led by a veteran sergeant. They were also given platoon headquarters elements of an M60 gunner and his assistant, the platoon commanding officer and his radioman, and a medic. They split these five figures up among their teams. The scenario calls for the U.S. soldiers to march onto the board. One fire team begins on the board in the corner. Another marches on during the first Countdown to Contact phase, and the final one on the second. During Countdown to Contact, there are no enemy figures on the board. Each figure receives one action, which is typically used to move. My players also took the opportunity to begin to fan out, with the second team heading right to cover one of the squad's flanks, while the other began to move towards a patch of bamboo that would be on their left.

    My players march their forces onto the board, uncertain of when contact with the V.C. will occur

After turn 2 of Countdown to Contact, one of the players rolls 1d6. If they roll a "6", the V.C. spring their ambush and appear on the board. If not, they get another turn of movement and the V.C. will show up on a 5-6, or 4-6 on the next turn, and so on. Do you want to guess what the designated player rolled? Yep! A "6" on the very first turn possible. We then randomly rolled placement for the ambushing V.C., with two large squads of riflemen appearing in patches of jungle just within line of sight of the squad's advance scouts. Another very small squad and a number of individual V.C. riflemen also popped up on board. Once all the figures were on the board, it was time for the shooting to start!

    Contact is made very early in the maneuver phase of the game - a large squad of V.C. pop up

Like the fire team moving into the jungle to guard their right, the team on point decided to move their lead soldiers into cover. However, they chose the lightest cover on the table, a patch of elephant grass along their proposed line of march. They chose not to veer into any of the medium or heavy vegetation nearby. What's more, the player had also put the FNG on point, accompanied by the assistant machine gunner (also an FNG). For those who don't know, the "N" and "G" stand for "New Guy." I'll leave you to guess what the "F" stands for in the terminology of U.S. soldiers in Vietnam! There are three levels of troops under my rules, Veterans, Grunts, and FNGs.

   The early springing of the ambush kept many of the U.S. soldiers bottled up in their entry area

These two unfortunate newbie soldiers were targeted by numerous V.C., who typically fire at the closest soldier. It took a number of shots, but eventually both FNGs were "Down." In my rules, once a friendly soldier is hit and "Down," it can't take any actions until another comes and checks on it. This reinformces historical behavior of troops in Vietnam. They would check on their buddies when hit. Once the friendly figure moves into contact and spends an action, a roll is made on a chart to see how badly hit they were. There are about a half dozen results, ranging from "Messed Up" (out of action) to the soldier having been knocked down by the force of the bullet, but unharmed. Perhaps his equipment absorbed the blow. "Hey buddy, you're okay -- it hit your canteen! That's not blood all over your leg...it's water!"

I warned them to spread out because they were vulnerable -- V.C. mortar fire barely misses

So, it became paramount for the squad to rescue those two Down soldiers. Unfortunately, V.C. were popping up all around the squad. A light machine gun team opened up on them from the heavy cover of a tumbled down, ruined stone temple. Anyone who ventured into the elephant grass to check on those two privates would be prime targets for the deadliest V.C. weapon in the game. Initially, the players were bottle necked into their deployment corner, too. I suggested a few times they needed to spread out and move forward. There were enemy mortar round cards in the event deck! As if to punctuate my advice, one of the next players failed an activation roll, resulting in the draw of an event card. Sure enough, it was "Incoming!" The players got very lucky, as it landed in a perfect spot where no U.S. soldiers were. The blast radius was almost completely surrounded by Americans, though!

    More V.C. arrive & advance to firing positions where they can easily target the Americans

Bit by bit, the U.S. soldiers moved up. Just as a couple soldiers ventured into the elephant grass to help the Downed guys, though, they rolled and sprang the "Bunker!" card. This brought another enemy machine gun into play in a reinforced log bunker. All of those in the elephant grass not already Down were immediately Pinned by its fire. Luckily for the players, the bunker was not on the far edge of the board, like the one in the temple. Instead, it was close by in another patch of elephant grass in range on their left flank. They all breathed a sigh of relief when an M79 gunner placed a perfect shot through the firing slot of the bunker and killed or wounded all of the occupants. Whew!

    C.O. advances boldly on the right to get within line of sight of the enemy LMG pinning them down

The lieutenant in charge was a bit of a fire eater. He chose not to relay to his sergeants that, after reporting contact with the enemy on the radio, the colonel had called back to say he should withdraw his soldiers. The lieutenant chose to inflict some damage on the enemy first before withdrawing. The "Colonel on the Horn" card can cause up to half a dozen different outcomes, and fortunately for them, they had rolled "Mission Scrubbed." What's more, the lieutenant began moving up on the right with his radioman in front of all of his soldiers. He wanted to get where he could draw line of sight on the temple. Once there, the player then had to wait for one of the two "Fire Mission" cards in the deck to show up, though. The two cards weren't cooperating, though! Fire was directed at the him and his radioman. They were Pinned, too. Another of his squad showed up to put fire on the enemy LMG team, but it was ineffective. So far, the enemy were simply in too good of cover. 

    Spotting a squad of V.C., the C.O. calls down a fire mission on the black clad guerrillas

"Where the Hell is the M60?" the lieutenant shouted back. Unknown to the C.O., the player controlling the M60 rolled a natural one on his first 1d20 roll to shoot. His gun fired a few rounds and promptly jammed. He looked for his assistant to help him clear it, but the newbie was currently pinned down in the elephant grass way ahead. It wasn't till late in the game that the squad's heavy weapon finally cleared the jam and got off a few shots. By then, battalion artillery had FINALLY answered the radio. Heavy mortar rounds screamed down into the temple complex. Rock and brick shattered and deadly fragments flew everywhere. When the rounds ceased and the dust cleared, there was no sign of the LMG team. "Outstanding!" He turned and shouted to his sergeants. "Grab the wounded and let's get the Hell out of here. Battalion is pulling us back!"

    An enemy bunker opens up on the squad from their left, concealed in the elephant grass

The squad medic was the first to make it to one of the wounded troopers. He patched him up, and sent the soldier limping to the rear. The assistant gunner -- way out of place on the battlefield -- reached the injured point man. He began bandaging him, too. Another grunt arrived to help him, and together they helped the man struggle back out of the elephant grass. The sergeants directed their more experienced soldiers to toss a few smoke grenades to cover their exit, and the wedge of troops contracted backwards on itself and exfiltrated the battlefield. 

    Luckily, the battalion colonel scrubbed the mission and the squad didn't have to fight its way through

At the loss of only two wounded, the lieutenant considered it a successful action. He directed his sergeants to tabulate an estimated body count, and mentally began composing his after action report. He checked on the wounded -- the medic assured him both would make it, but they needed Medevac soon. He got back on the horn and reported the successful contact to battalion, and called for the bird to come pick up the two wounded privates. Meanwhile, his soldiers were thankful that another mission In Country had been completed and they were another day closer to that big metal bird ride home!

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Miniatures acquired in 2026: 159
  
• Miniatures painted in 2026: 60

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Terrain acquired in 2026: 3
  
• Terrain painted in 2026: 21

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Scatter acquired in 2026: 16
  
• Scatter painted in 2026: 48 

Gang Rumbles on the 'Mean Streets' of Buckeye Game Fest 2026

    The Mohawks spot the Santanas crossing the street towards the park -- are they looking to rumble?

It had been way too long since we broke out my Mean Streets gang warfare rules and set up some rumbles at an area convention. Jenny volunteered to run a couple games of it at Buckeye Game Fest 2026, primarily a board gaming convention, that HMGS Great Lakes has demoed minis at the last couple years. We had a table full of four players on both Friday and Saturday evening eager to prove their street gang was the toughest. All the players said they had a lot of fun as fists flew, chains were swung, knives and broken bottles slashed, and various crimes were committed!

    Jenny gives a quick rules briefing to the Saturday morning players at Buckeye Game Fest 2026

Each player controlled a gang of five uniquely-garbed street fighters, containing a Gang Boss, Warchief, and three ordinary "Punks." The Mean Streets rules are quick, simple, and easy-to-teach. All the players picked them up quickly and were soon dashing about the table representing downtown Columbus on various missions of larceny, revenge, and mayhem. Each player's gang has a unique mission they can try to accomplish, such as stealing a car from the service garage of the Shell Station, roughing up a factory owner to convince him to pay you protection. money, and so on. They also owe payback to a specific one of the three other gangs on the tabletop who gave them a "beat down" last weekend. And finally, they want to plaster the buildings with their gang logo, getting points for "tagging" each structure.

    The clown-masked Franklinton Flippos set out onto the streets of Columbus looking for mayhem

I like to give players a number of options on what to do, and players consistently take different approaches. Some like dart about the board tagging as many buildings as possible. Some like to split their gang and send part to complete their evening's mission, while others like to keep all five together and simply "jump" other gangs and duke it out. When assigning the missions to the various gangs, I ensure that they have to cross paths with the other gangs, providing a temptation to them to get in fights. My evil plan almost always works and before long there is usually a big scrum as two rival gangs are going at it when suddenly a third (or even fourth) joins in. 

    The Linden Daos make their way past the market & Wallace's Brew Pub, 'tagging' buildings along

This weekend was no different. Everyone who played got into rumbles, some losing only one or two members, while others lost most of their gang. The Hispanic Santanas eked out a narrow victory by one point on Friday night, while the Linden Daos, a black martial arts gang, claimed victory on Saturday. It was fun to see the different approaches the players controlling each gang took on Friday and Saturday. Friday evening saw two gangs battling it out at the top of a stairway inside a stairway of one of the apartment buildings -- first time that has ever happened! Jenny decided to keep things simply and not allow carjacking and attempted vehicular homicide in this particular running of Mean Streets...haha! At least one of the players always ask, though, if their gang can steal a car and use it to run over their rivals!

    Boss of the Indianola Mohawks, Sid, leads Julius & Kira through the Shell Station, ready for trouble

Everyone who stopped by commented on the table setup, enjoying the urban panorama of streets lined with diners, convenience marts, a city park, motel, and more. I made sure to make it come to life with various scatter, including dumpsters, street lights, fire hydrants, gas pumps, and lots of terrified civilians. It was fun to get all the various urban terrain I'd created out onto the table, from the heavily modified MDF kiosks to the buildings named after my friends, including Swingle's Shawarma and Wallace's Brewpub!

    Daring ICE or any gang to stop them, the Santanas walk down the main street, ready for a fight

I'll have to make sure Mean Streets makes it onto the tabletop more often. Thank you, Jenny, for taking the time to run the game at Buckeye Game Fest. Interestingly, when I recently asked on a thread on Lead Adventure Forum for suggestions of a good, free-for-all skirmish system that can take up to six players, I was gratified to see someone respond with "Mean Streets." That comment made me think about a way to use the mechanics of the game, with its simple command & control and combat, in other periods. This actually lead to the game our Sunday Evening group will be playing tonight! So, expect another Mean Streets-"ish" report later this week!

    Friday's players move their gangs forward, each with their own unique mission or mayhem in mind

In the meantime, I have finished the ABC Robot Warriors (post very soon on that), and have begun my next batch of 28mm Elves for Dragon Rampant. I'm also working on one of my 3-D printed medieval buildings, too. So, I have a feeling the second half of March is going to have LOTS of posts here on Lead Legionaries. So, stay tuned, as always...!

    The Mohawks shout across the street to the Flippos, who quietly continue their creepy clown advance

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Miniatures acquired in 2026: 159
  
• Miniatures painted in 2026: 60

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Terrain acquired in 2026: 3
  
• Terrain painted in 2026: 21

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Scatter acquired in 2026: 16
  
• Scatter painted in 2026: 48

    As the Mohawks & Flippos are trading blows, the Santanas approach and get ready to join the fight

 

    Blood is spilled (my wound markers) as a 3-way rumble breaks out in the middle of the street

Flippo Canuck swings his sledgehammer & down goes Julius! For just a 'Punk,' Canuck did very well

 

    Despite 2 wounds on him, Canuck takes down Manana, taunting him, "Wake up tomorrow, hippie!"

    Bleeding from his wounds, Gang Boss Julio of the Santanas desperately faces off against 4 Daos

   Linden Daos show discipline with the whole gang sticking together...the Flippos ain't scared, though!

    'Hey! That's my shawarma...hands off, punk!' A rumble breaks out between the Mohawks & Daos

 

    Pissed they tagged a building in 'their turf,' the Santanas wade into the clown-masked Flippos