Critter Control's Shocking Encounter at the Trailer Park

    Hunting aliens in a trailer park - Critter Control's 1st mission in a solo game of Majestic 13

Boone MacDonald gathered his team together as they crept within sight of the trailer park, eying the thick black smoke hanging over it. "Okay, this is what we've been training for, Critter Control...our first mission." He paused to look in each team member's eyes. "We're here to protect our community, our country, and our planet. You're no good to them if you're dead, though. Stay in cover. Pour fire onto this bastard till he's dead." The other four nodded, with Waylon giving an "Oo-rah!" and grinning. 

    (--Redacted--) Trailer Part in southern Ohio where a Yvenian Shocker alien is on the loose!

Mabel spoke up, "A Yvenian Shocker is the fastest damned gator you'll ever see. Don't underestimate its speed! Just when you got a shot lined up, it's gone." Boone marveled at the woman -- she knew much more than she was letting on about Earth's struggles against alien invaders. As the team crept closer, Boone pointed out positions for each to take. They could hear the sound of the alien's weapon firing and a high-pitched crackling of energy from the far side of the trailer park. Buck climbed the first trailer and took position atop its roof. Waylon dashed past to the corner of the next trailer raising his weapon and steadying it against the wall. Mabel ducked next to a set of smoking ruins -- some small structure that the alien had already destroyed. Boone took shelter at the corner of another trailer that gave a good view of the lane between the two rows of trailers. Silas took off running down the right side, stopping inside a small grove of trees.

    Waylon Jenkins takes cover and peers around the corner for signs of the alien's approach

There was another blast from the far side and suddenly the Yvenian Shocker appeared between the rows of trailers. A huge, long weapon with energy arcing along its barrel grasped in its claws. Mabel was right -- the damned thing did look like a gator, though one with red skin that glistened as the sunlight peeked through the clouds of black smoke hanging over the trailer park. It spotted Waylon, who was closest of the team, and raised its weapon, firing twice. As the electricity coursed over his body, Waylon grabbed his face. "I'm blinded, y'all!" Mabel shouted over to him to focus -- the creature's weapon was scrambling the electrical signals his eyes were sending. She told him to picture something in his mind he could remember clearly. "Like my moonshine still?" his voice cracked with his laugh, though.

    After blasting another dwelling, the gator-like alien appears and scents the air...humans??

Meanwhile, the team opened up. Buck sighted his light machine gun and squeezed off a burst of fire that stitched along the alien's gator-like scales. Mabel moved up to the next building and sited along the barrel of her sniper rifle. She squeezed off a shot, which hit, but she immediately growled at herself for such a piss-poor hit. Daddy would have swatted her for that! Hearing the firefight going on, but out of his line of sight, Boone sprinted up the row of trailers, leaped, and pulled himself up onto the roof. He cursed as he still couldn't see the damned thing. Mabel called out that it was moving and Boone caught sight of it zipping forward smashing down the door of the snack shack. He watched it move into the shadowy interior and the barrel of its weapon protrude across the counter. An arc of energy zapped towards Waylon again, who yelled in pain. "Damn it! Someone shoot that son of a bitch!"

    The alien darts between buildings, lining up a shot on Waylon, who was closest to him

Meanwhile, Silas was completing the team's side mission. The Agricultural League had dropped two beacons in the trailer park to help coordinate a drone strike to help out its newest team of alien hunters. Silas followed his tracker in between two trailers and spotted one of the beacons. He raced forward and snatched it up. Meanwhile, the alien stayed inside the snack shop and fired at Waylon again, who went rigid and crumbled to the ground. Buck adjusted his aim at the alien through the window and fired. Pieces of the building went flying, but the veteran was fairly sure he'd missed. Mabel seeing where the fire was coming from climbed onto the roof of a nearby trailer, took a knee, and fired, also missing. Boone shook his head. It had too good of a firing position inside there! Screw it! He leapt down from the roof and ran up to the snack shack and blazed away at the creature from the other side of the counter, his assault rifle on full automatic. It swiveled to face Boone and fired. The lanky farmer ducked in time and the shots arced over his head, making his hair stand up but doing no damage. He heard the creature make an angry sound and its claws clattering on the floor as it exited the shop.

    Silas completes his 'end run' around the alien and locates the drone targeting beacon

"Critter 5 to Silo One, follow this transmitted location. Target in sight -- a red, scaly, gator-looking bastard. Can't miss him!" Silas chuckled as the drone operator on the other end of the transmission reprimanded him about radio protocol. Still, it was only seconds later that the whoosh of a rocket over the trailer park made everyone on the team duck. There was an explosion and more of the alien's angry noises. It had been hit, but not fatally. As if it knew who was responsible, the alien circled the trailer and peeked around the corner behind Silas, zapping off two shots. The first hit him and Silas also clutched his eyes, blinded by the electrical charge. Buck leapt down from his perch atop the trailer and sprinted towards the opposite corner of the trailer park, where the battle had moved. Mabel edged along the roof till she had line of sight and fired, but missed. Boone, who could saw it appear behind Silas, fired and hit it again. "Damn! That thing won't go down," he cursed. The Yvenian Shocker swiveled again and fired at Boone, who ducked behind the trailer quick enough that the electrical bolts missed him. 

    Agricultural League drone appears & launches a rocket attack, wounding but not killing the alien

Silas shook his head, blinked a few times, and as his vision cleared, darted into the woods for cover, firing his machine gun at the beast as he ran.  His shots missed, as well. The alien saw Silas on the run and fired at him twice, but the speedy hunter ducked behind the tree trunks. Everyone heard the sound of Buck's machine gun ring out, and those watching saw the impacts against its incredibly hard scales. The beast roared. Mabel ran along the edge of the roof and leapt across the gap between it and the trailer park's administrative building. She pumped her fist as she landed solidly on the roof. Whew -- she'd made it! Mabel knew she wasn't as young as she once was and wasn't really sure she could do that. She snapped her rifle up to her eye, sighted through the scope, and squeezed off a shot. Miss! Damn!!

    Constantly changing positions, the Yvenian Shocker frustrated the team's attempts to line up a shot

The team leader, Boone, knew his group was frustrated by the constant movements of the alien as it changed locations among the buildings to block line of sight from all but its target. "Two can play at that game, gator-breath!" he snarled and chased the alien until he had it in the open, again. He fired off another burst, striking it in the back. Angrily, it whirled and fired at Boone. With no cover, the farmer was hit and his vision went black. "Damn it -- blinded!" he shouted to his teammates. Silas broke from cover of the trees, spraying the area of the alien with his machine gun, but it was in movement again, and he missed. He followed it only to have it suddenly appear on his left between two buildings. Silas hit the dirt and most of the energy passed over him, and he received only a mild shock -- like touching a farmer's electric fence.

    Hungry for a snack? The alien ducks inside Swingle's Shawarma Shack for a shooting spot in cover

From behind the alien, Buck appeared in point blank range. He let off a long burst into the creature's back, amazed to see some rounds just ricochet off its scales. Some got through, though, and there was a new note of pain in its angry howls. Mabel moved into the open to his right, firing several times. She shouted, "It's in Extremis -- watch out, they get very dangerous in their last gasps!" Boone suddenly appeared, completing the box around the alien, aiming and firing bursts carefully to not hit his teammates. The gator-like creature howled in pain again, but ignored Boone to spin around and fire at Buck. The veteran ducked behind the corner of a building and watched the bolts of energy zap past him.

    Team leader Boone, frustrated with his team's misses, dashes up to point blank range, "Eat this!"

"Now!" Boone shouted, "all at once, let's finish it...what the Hell??" Suddenly, the alien was gone. Like a blur, it disappeared between Boone and Silas and behind a trailer. The team gave chase, but it must have kept running. Through the trees, they heard the sound of vegetation being slapped aside in its haste to escape from the humans. "Aw, Hell...we had it!" he muttered, then held his hand over the ear piece he was wearing. "We're being ordered out of here. Civilian fire and rescue are on the way -- we can't let them see us and be compromised. Let's go!" The team jogged back to where Waylon lay, each grabbed a limb, and ducked under the trees. When the sirens grew louder and the emergency vehicles arrived, the only signs of the battle were bullet holes and scorch marks on smoking buildings, shell casings, and lots of footprints. The police investigators would ponder what happened here and end up labeling it as criminal arson by heavily-armed hooligans.

    With phenomenal speed, the alien would circle around behind team members for unobstructed shots

And so ended my first game of Majestic 13, a solo alien hunting game from Snarling Badger Studios. Critter Control began its career with a big "L" -- a defeat (the goal being to kill the alien by the end of the 5th round). We had the Yvenian Shocker down from its starting hit point total of 130 to 29 remaining. We would have likely needed at least a sixth turn to take it out, but missions stop at the end of turn five. The alien hunter teams need to exfiltrate to not be seen by the public so they can continue with their secret mission. See? There IS a conspiracy to hide evidence of aliens from the public -- or at least the game's storyline says so.

    Boone finally figured out the proper tactics - chase it around and appear where IT had no cover!

Trying to figure out what the enemy will do each turn in a solo game is usually quite the challenge. Snarling Badger includes an "A.I." for each of the three types of aliens that players might encounter. It did a decent job of giving basic suggestions, "If this, then this...", but it was hard to translate that into the specifics of the tabletop. Perhaps I played the alien in too wily of a manner? When the A.I. said the alien would move up to its full movement into cover and fire at the closest target in range, I translated that to also mean it would actively attempt to ensure the other members of the team wouldn't have line of sight on it. The alien's move was phenomenal -- 23" on a 3'x3' board. So, I had it circle around into new firing positions so that most of the hunters' view of it was blocked by the buildings. This meant we sometimes didn't have a shot. Boone caught on quickest and began to simply chase it, taking up a firing position where he had cover and it did not.

    Buck lights up the alien with his machine gun from behind! Startled, the angry alien turns to face

My rolls were also fairly bad for damage, seemingly just under average each time. They were even worse for my checks to avoid being blinded. Silas had to roll only a 4+ on d20 to avoid being blinded and failed twice. In fact, I think everyone who was hit ended up being blinded. They would get a chance to clear it at the start of their next turn, but it shows my rolls were likely subpar. I also deployed too far away and toward the edges of the battlefield. The Yvenian Shocker has no melee attacks. So, I should have started closer to the center instead of the edges.

    Everyone pours in fire, but it is still not enough to take down the alien with its armored scales

Still, it was my first game and Critter Control's first mission. So, it could have ended worse. When rolling for injury, Waylon survived but had "Questionable Wounds." I interpreted this as his vision still hasn't 100% recovered, so he will be held back next mission. We will be going in to the next fight one man short! All but Waylon received 3 experience points, with Waylon getting only two. This allows them to increase a stat by one. Certain levels give you an extra bonus, such as +1 on Damage or -1 to enemy damage on you. I decided to increase Buck, Silas, and Mabel's Combat stats (so they hit one better), and Boone's Acuity by one, which means he activates sooner in the turn. We requisitioned two pieces of equipment, another Med-Kit and a Stimulant Shot. Both requests were lost in the bureaucracy of the Agricultural League, apparently, as we received neither. We also requested improved medical facilities for Critter Control's base. Apparently, the Agricultural League has little faith in this newbie team's worth, as that was disapproved, as well.

Stay tuned for further (and hopefully more successful) missions of Critter Control and Majestic 13! 

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Miniatures acquired in 2026: 95
  
• Miniatures painted in 2026: 42

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Terrain acquired in 2026: 0
  
• Terrain painted in 2026: 21

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Scatter acquired in 2026: 2
  
• Scatter painted in 2026: 24

Critter Control! 'Good Old Boy' Alien Hunters for Majestic 13

    Alien hunting in rural, Southern Ohio with 'Critter Control' -- my team for Majestic 13

A week or so ago, I needed another batch of figures to paint. I was finished with the orcs and goblins of the Bonefish Band for Dragon Rampant, and was still waiting on the Warhost elves to arrive from Badger Games. So, I pulled out my "bonus pack" from the Crucible Crush order I made last year for my 28mm Vietnam miniatures. It is called Children of Hastur #2, and consists of five modern figures armed with various types of guns. Well, it was supposed to be five, but a mistake in packaging gave me two of the same pose and shorted me one of the five varieties. I didn't notice it till I pulled them out to paint. I sent a message to Bob Murch of Pulp Figures, but haven't heard back from him, yet.

    Investigating some suspicious burnt circles of undergrowth are my Children of Hastur figures

The plan is to use these as my "team" of alien hunters for solo/coop games of Majestic 13 from Snarling Badger Studios. Since I was short one, I had to sort through my various unpainted minis to find a replacement for the missing figure. I picked out one that looked like he belonged. In the game, there are 13 different factions working to defend Earth from alien invasion. The one I picked is called the Agricultural League. You know about crop circles and all that? The aliens have apparently been messing with the farmers of the world for decades! My team of five has nicknamed themselves "Critter Control," and hail from southern Ohio (why not?). I like basing my games in my area, if possible.

    Group leader & local farmer Boone MacDonald has gathered a team of alien hunters for Ohio

As I began painting them, I picked out the cleanest cut one as the leader of the group, naming him Boone MacDonald. His family has owned their farm in the Chillicothe, OH, area for generations. He has seen unexplainable lights in the skies above his farm himself, and had to deal with odd, unexplained damage to crops in isolated, roadless areas for decades. He was tempted to blame government agencies testing fancy new aircraft over less populous areas, but the more of his fellow farmers he talked to, the more he began to believe it was something even more sinister. It was Mabel Washington, the quiet, unassuming small farm owner who suggested that he reach out to the Agricultural League. She even gave him a contact name and number. How she had heard about them he has no idea -- the Majestic 13 pride themselves on remaining secret. The contact bore fruit, though, and MacDonald joined them. Later, he volunteered to form an Ohio team for the league. I painted the figure in jeans and decided to try a classic red and black flannel shirt. I did the base coat red brown and then dry brushed it with Howard Hues Middle East Flesh. The black stripes were done with a micron pen. I am pretty happy with how Boone turned out.

    Very cool Crucible Crush figure -- Waylon, in shorts, shirtless, but with a military style backpack

One of Boone's first recruits was Waylon Jenkins, or "Wildman Waylon" as some called him locally. A moonshine distiller, as well as a garden farmer who sells produce at roadside stands, Wildman is known for his very wild stories. His most famous, of course, is being abducted by aliens, which he swears by to this day. Most locals consider him whacked out, his mind too burnt out by consuming his own moonshine. However, Boone thought that if there was a chance some of Waylon's stories were true, his experience might prove invaluable. I love the Wildman miniature -- in shorts and shirtless with an army style backpack. The Children of Hastur figures from Crucible Crush figures are meant for their Weird War Vietnam "Black Sun" rules. If I remember right, in the game they are drugged out cultists worshiping a Cthulhu like alien being. I updated Wildman's backpack to a modern U.S. desert pattern, assuming he served his minimum time in the Army only to separate at the earliest possible moment. Conforming to what people expect of him is not in Wildman's nature!

    Taciturn army vet Buck is not as flamboyant as 'Wildman Waylon', but has "seen things" in his days

Another Army veteran, Buck Smithers, is one of the local area's resident gun enthusiasts. Of course, in rural southern Ohio, there are quite a few of those! Smithers is much more stoic and level headed than Wildman. However, when approached by Boone, who thought Buck's military experience would prove helpful, Smithers quietly stared at Boone for several minutes. Boone held his tongue, and the two taciturn men silently took each other's measure. Finally, Smithers lowered his gaze. "I've seen some shit you can't explain, Boone." He chuckled, looking up and catching the older man's eyes. "There's bad critters out there. I know it -- I've hunted them." He reached across the table where the two were sitting and shook Boone's hand. "I'll help with your critter control..." Of course, that was where Boone got his idea for the team's name. I gave Buck an olive drab, army "PT" t-shirt and jeans. The word "Army" was also written in with micron pen.

    Not sure where this fig comes from, but Silas Horton looked like he fit right in with Critter Control

I honestly don't know where the miniature for Silas Horton comes from. It was simply in my unpainted drawer of modern minis, so if anyone knows, please add it in the Comments. However, it seemed his hat and cigarette dangling from his lips made him fit right in. Another of the gun enthusiasts of rural southern Ohio, Silas is the oldest of the crew. Like Waylon, he is known for bending folks' ears with stories of aliens and strange creatures he's encountered while hunting in the woods. He even keeps a collection of skulls of bizarre creatures he claims to have shot while hunting. Some who have examined his collection claim they can tell they are cleverly created fakes. Silas doesn't take offense, though. He knew from the moment he came home one night to find his home broken into and some of his skulls missing, that he was on the right track. When Boone sat him down to pitch Critter Control to him, he just smiled. "Well, I was wondering what took you so long to find me and ask me to join your team,  Boone...!" After finishing their drinks, he took Boone to his skull collection and the pair had a long talk about aliens, hunting tactics, and what they might encounter as one of the Agricultural League's teams in the field. I painted Silas with Carhartt brown pants and an urban camo shirt. I love the cigarette dangling from his lips as he stalks forward!

    Buck may have seen things, but Mabel knows things -- more than a small time farmer should!

One evening, Boone was in his study racking his brain on who he should choose to be his fifth team member. The doorbell rang. He answered to find Mabel Washington on his porch staring at him with a sardonic look. "Y'all going to ask me to join your club, Mr. Boone? Or is that for white folks only...?" Boone gestured to the porch with several rockers and the two sat down. When asked how she first heard about the Agricultural League, the older black woman shook her head. "Now, y'all don't worry about that. My daddy gave us kids more of an education than the inside of any classroom." Boone knew Mabel's father had owned their tiny farm off Rt. 772 for decades -- probably almost as long as his family owned theirs. She promised to fill Boone in on what she knew about "critters" once he officially asked her to join his team. Here, she stopped and chuckled. Boone looked her over. She didn't look like much, physically. If she did farm work, though, she couldn't be too much of a burden. Her knowledge could add a whole new dimension. After all, she was the one who told him about the league in the first place! I painted Mabel in bright colors, probably more typical of what people might consider an "urban" black woman rather than rural one. However, the figure certainly has that look. I love the sunglasses and Afro hair style -- very iconic. However, her story works better with her being from a small family farm, so apparently Mabel just likes to get all gussied up when she goes off the farm! 

    Eye in the sky view of Critter Control investigating in the field...but whose eyes...and how many??

Speaking of miniatures, probably the most difficult thing about running solo games of Majestic 13 for me (or coop with Jenny?), will be figures for the aliens. I have a few alien-looking robot or droid types in my Sci-Fi collection. However, I have a shortage of big ugly alien monsters for Critter Control to fight. Luckily, one of my team's advantages of having a "Remote Intelligence Base" is that they get to roll twice to see what type of alien monster they encounter on missions, and then select which one to fight. So, that will let me skip ones that I have no miniatures for...ha, ha! Anyway, now that Boone has assembled his team, I am looking forward to playing my first game of Majestic 13 soon...! Stay tuned.

What else is on my painting desk? My very first batch of Warhost Elves has its flesh tone on them. Also crowding the desktop are two medieval town buildings that I purchased from Sword & Scabbard Games. I am thinking that I am going to alternate batches of elves with things for other projects rather than barreling through the Warhost figures like I did for the orcs. I'd like to start reducing the "Lead Mountain" in size a bit this year. So, I'm hoping early 2026 will see more variety of miniatures painted than I did last year. Stay tuned and see if I achieve that goal!

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Miniatures acquired in 2026: 95
  
• Miniatures painted in 2026: 34

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: 2
  
• Scatter painted in 2026: 24