Saucer-shaped MDF Sci-Fi Building (Dads Armies)

    Massive MDF Sci-Fi building from Dad's Armies that I recently painted up

Awhile back, I decided to assemble some of my MDF purchases from Dad's Armies that I picked up at Advance the Colors 2024. I chose the easiest one, little Sci-Fi aircraft called "Jumpers." I struggled to figure them out and ended up putting them back into the bag after gluing just a few pieces together. Then I looked at the other ones, a huge saucer-shaped Sci-Fi building and an "Arctech" spaceship. The number of pieces just baffled me. I don't do jigsaw puzzles and simply could not see myself successfully assembling them. I took them to Cincycon 2025 where Dad's Armies would be. I fully intended to give them back to him -- not ask for a refund, just say, "Here -- they'll just sit on my shelf. You may as well sell them to someone who will put them together." 

    Thankfully, John from Dad's Armies offered to put this monstrosity together for me...!

John Elbro, owner of Dad's Armies, offered to put them together for me...for free! I said sure, and told him it was no problem if they take awhile. He could bring them to ATC 2025 in the October. That would be fine. However, the next day, he said he would have the saucer-shaped building done. He had been working on it at his booth. Lo and behold, there it was! Fully assembled in its massive (and heavy) glory! I decided to slip it into the painting queue. I spray painted in Krylon Fusion matte black acrylic, and did my usual follow up with a 50/50 mix of black paint and water. Then I pondered for awhile. What colors would I paint it? I did a Google Image search of various "Science-Fiction buildings," and scanned through the pictures. Light blue and metallic colors seemed to show up fairly often. 

    A view from above shows what I call the 'tiled sections,' painted a craft Sea Foam color

So, I decided to paint the tiled sections a "Sea Foam" craft paint color. I dry brushed that white, which I think really helped make it look blue and less green. I'd left the gaps between the tiles black, but even though I chose a flat-tipped, square brush, the lines between each section seemed too irregular and shaky. On a whim, I took a sharpie marker and went over the lines. I loved how crisp and clear the divisions were after doing that. It really seemed to make it pop. 

    The oblong pill-shaped recessions I decided were windows, so I painted them a glowing green

There are little oblong windows -- or what I assumed were windows -- spaced throughout the model. I decided to do an almost chartreuse green for those. I chose a craft paint color called "Parsley" and painted in the shape, then did a watered down very light green in the middle. I was hoping it would give the effect of a glowing window. Once I was done with the model, I would go back and paint on clear gloss to hopefully enhance that glow. I'm so-so on how the windows turned out, honestly. 

    This view from underneath shows off the Turbo Dork 'Curacao' metallic color I used

Next, I wanted to do the rest of the model a metallic color, but didn't really like any of the ones I had. While visiting the Guardtower East, a local game store, I saw their rack of Turbo Dork paints. They had a really cool light blue metallic color called Curacao. On a whim, I picked it up. I researched how to use Turbo Dork's paints, as they also do color shift paints. For those, they suggest a black primer. For the metallics, they suggested a non-metallic primer that comes relatively close to matching the metallic color that will go over it. I found a nice Caribbean blue craft paint, and did a single coat of that over the black primer I had done on the entire model. I considered a second coat, but decided I could do an extra coat of the metallic paint if I needed.

    I went over the dividing lines between the tile sections with Sharpie, and that worked really well

I really enjoyed using the Turbo Dork paint. It did require second coat, but I liked it much better than my "Turquoise" and "Dark Blue" metallic craft paints I had used previously on other things. I may consider picking up more Turbo Dork metallics in the future. It was time consuming, but I did two coats on the other surfaces, then sat back and looked at the model. The very matte looking Sea Foam sections looked too flat. I decided to paint on a bottle of Liquitex Professional Gloss Varnish I had picked up. Big mistake, Indy! It gave it too glossy of a look -- almost like a clear candy coating. I sighed, waited for it to dry, and then sprayed it with a more satin finish clear coat that I have. MUCH better. There is a slight sheen to the sea foam colored sections, and the satin did not take the shine off of the metallic blue.

    A close up of what I call the 'landing pad' portion of the building

Finally, I added some alien looking writing. I put it near the control tower extension which rises above the saucer. I also added some near the base of the extension, too. I think it gives a nice little extra dimension. Now that I think about it, I forgot to talk about two other places on the building that were painted differently. The girder structure that supports the long narrow extension rising over the saucer was painted a gray metallic with pewter highlights. The "landing pad" looking back of the extension got a dry brush of white metallic. It looks a silvery gray, but that is doubtless because of the black undercoat. 

    A final look at the saucer-shaped, Sci-F MDF building...all in all, I think it turned out okay

Do I like it? It is a very interesting looking building. Some kind of control tower, maybe? It is massive -- LOTS of MDF pieces glued together. It weighs at least a few pounds, I think. It his large in dimension, too. The diameter of the round base is more than 8". Total length at its longest is about 11". As big as it is, I'm not sure if it is big enough for my 28mm games. I think it would work better for 15mm Science-Fiction games, and perhaps even Battletech ones. With that in mind, I will likely sell it to someone who's interested in it. So, if you would like to pick up a fully-painted, nice-looking piece of eye candy for your Sci-Fi games, please reach out to me. If I don't hear from anyone, I will probably bring it to flea markets and try there.

What's next on my painting desk? Speaking of MDF, I am painting up my last Sarissa Precision trailer, now. I've also got the base coat done on the Colonial Marines from the "Aliens: Another Glorious Day in the Corps" board game. Those each have probably a couple more day's worth of work on them, but they are in the pipeline!

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Miniatures acquired in 2025: 104
  
• Miniatures painted in 2025: 54 

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Terrain acquired in 2025: 10
  
• Terrain painted in 2025: 17

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Scatter acquired in 2025: 53
  
• Scatter painted in 2025: 39

A Couple more Sci-Fi Scatter Pieces from A Critical Hit

 

    Two more of the 3-D printed Sci-Scatter pieces I bought at Cincycon from A Critical Hit

Here are a couple of the larger 3-D printed Sci-Fi scatter pieces from A Critical Hit that I bought at Cincycon 2025, readied for the table. When I brought them home, I intentionally left them on my painting desk rather than packing them away in the closet with the rest of my unpainted terrain and scatter. I was hoping that some morning, while I was painting away, I would hit a stopping point on the batch I was working on and still have time left over. The thinking being I would reach over and start painting those!

    Rotate the pieces and new colors appear -- the globule is green now and the 'rockets' red!

And guess what? That's exactly what happened with these two pieces! The first one, which looks like several booster rockets on their side (perhaps?), was the one I stared on first. I painted the rectangular panels black, and then the "rocket fins" parts a metallic craft paint called Battleship Gray. Essentially, everything that wouldn't be the outer skin of the rockets would be painted. I really liked the color-shifting material these were printed with, so I wanted the bulk of the piece to remain as printed and not painted.

    Rocket-like ends & fins were painted metallic gray, while the 'panels' black with glowing buttons

Once the black areas were dry, I put in tiny dots of bright colors to simulate lighted buttons on a control panel. I usually go with a mix of yellow, green, blue, and white for my lighted buttons. I've done them on other pieces and think they add a nice extra touch to the model.

    Or you can stand the piece upright and it no longer looks like rockets

The large globular piece was next, and reminded me quite a bit of one of the A Critical Hit pieces I bought last year, in 2024. It looks like a piece of technology or a Sci-Fi structure that has been overgrown by some alien vegetation. I decided to do it similarly, but not identically. The vegetation tendrils were once again painted in a dark green. However, instead of flocking them with Woodland Scenics blended grass like I did the other, I dry brushed it in a lighter green. Evaluating last year's piece, the flocking looked too monotone to me. So, I thought this would give highlights and shadows by using paint instead.

    I like the clusters of railroad scenic 'oranges' making it look like an alien plant infestation

Next, I put tiny dots of white glue spaced out here and there on the model. I then sprinkled railroad scenery "oranges" over it, with the tiny orange balls sticking in the glue spots. Once it had dried overnight, I took a thick paint brush and blobbed on a 50/50 mixture of white glue and water over the clusters of tiny orange balls. I really like the alien effect both the color shift material and the clusters of orange growths give. I did not use any clear coat on these pieces (or any of the others printed in color shifting material) for fear of reducing the effect.

    Instead of flocking the green painted parts this time, I dry brushed it to give it highlights

What's next? All I have left to do is the flocking on another batch of Splintered Light Animals. You should see a post on those certainly by Monday, I imagine. I am also slowly working on the huge saucer-shaped, MDF Sci-Fi building from Dad's Armies. This is definitely one of those pieces I work on a little at a time rather than focus solely on it. After that, it's up in the air. I am considering painting up my Colonial Marine figures from the board game "Aliens: Another Glorious Day in the Corps." I have my 3-D printed aliens from JS Wargamer Printing and think it will look odd to have the bad guys painted and the good guys not. That's the way I am leaning, at least -- but, we'll see!

    Another close up of the 'rockets' on their side, glowing with a reddish metallic gleam

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Miniatures acquired in 2025: 104
  
• Miniatures painted in 2025: 49 

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Terrain acquired in 2025: 10
  
• Terrain painted in 2025: 16

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Scatter acquired in 2025: 53
  
• Scatter painted in 2025: 39

    The infested technology caught in transitioning between green and blue

    Very little painting was required on these, they are almost 'as is' -- right off the vendor's stand

 

Chaos at the Spaceport - Captured Smugglers & Rebel Assault

    Atop a building in Keith's spaceport, a Greedo of uncertain motives threatens a civilian worker

A few months ago, my friend Keith told me he was itching for a project. He wanted to build something. As I was finishing up my figures for Star Wars skirmishes, I told him, "Build a spaceport." Fast forward to last week. Keith announced he was finished with the spaceport and had a scenario ready to break it in. We would be doing his own Star Wars skirmish using Galactic Heroes rules.

    Rebel leader Joel turns in a card & prepares to move one of his rebels in his attack on the spaceport

The scenario was that a smuggling operation at an imperial spaceport had been uncovered. The smugglers themselves were being held in detention by the Empire. This prompted a number of different factions to spring into action. The local rebel alliance sent two teams to break into the perimeter and search for the smugglers, some of whom were rebels. My own faction was personnel from the fleet naval arm stationed at the port. Apparently, we were the ones profiteering from the smuggling, selling arms and other supplies to the rebels and lining our pockets. Now that the smugglers had been caught by the Empire, our smuggling ring would doubtless be exposed. We needed to spring into action and see if we could secure (or neutralize?) the smugglers ourselves.

    The alien "Greedos" arrive, having sneaked onto the base, but what is their mission here...??

There were six players and those are the only three factions that I am actually sure about. My friend Tom had a group who was trying to rescue the Princess, who had also been captured. Doubtless, she was a rebel smuggler, but who was Tom? I assumed rebel sympathizers. Mike S had a mercenary faction. He was trying to find the pilot of a certain spacecraft for some reason or another. He made it clear he was anti-imperial by firing on the stormtroopers immediately, but I never learned what his ultimate mission was. The most mysterious of all was Mike W's "Greedo" force. These four, green-skinned aliens seemed to have no coherent mission that I could deduce, but seemed fixated on accosting civilians at the spaceport and stealing another ship. He was obviously anti-Imperial, though, as he shot and knocked one of my four men out of action.

    Rebel Leader Allen's people mover began the attack by breaking through the perimeter

My officer and three troopers began in the "control room" (which Keith did not tell me was the control room), but were not permitted to act until turn two. Once the rebels broke through the perimeter, setting off alarms, we could do what we wanted. That made sense that we would try to take advantage of the rebel attack to execute our desperate plan to save us from our treason. The only thing I was told was that the smugglers were being held in a small, block building in the spaceport. As it turned out, there were three separate groups of prisoners held in captivity. I didn't know that, thinking instead that there was only one group of prisoners. I also think this was what all six factions were led to believe.

    'That's what you get for sneaking up on a Fleet Trooper!' My trooper returns fire & downs a rebel

When we were allowed to move, two of my troopers headed in the direction of where Tom had quickly liberated a group of prisoners. Ah-ha, I thought, "that's where the smugglers are!" Along the way, one of Joel's rebels sneaked up and shot one of my guys in the back, causing only a shock, though. My guy returned fire, hit, and knocked the rebel out of action. Two other of Joel's rebels entered the control center, which was now occupied only by my officer. The other had climbed the ladder to the roof and was checking out another "small block building." The officer fired twice, knocking another of Joel's rebels out of action and causing a shock on the other. In Galactic Heroes, "shock" is not a wound and represents the fear, distraction, stress, etc., of combat. 

    Two more of Joel's troopers burst into our control room - one is gunned down by the Fleet Officer

Much to my surprise, my trooper who entered the small, block building found the Princess! He radioed that to the others on our comms. The two troopers outside the control center heard that and split up. One continued the dangerous mission of crossing most of the spaceport to make sure the prisoners were either freed by the rebels or dispatched. The other ducked back inside to help my officer. Once again, my dice proved deadly, and the other rebel was knocked out of action. Yeesh! After my excellent dice rolling last week in the FASA starship game, I thought for sure my comeuppance would be this Sunday evening. Not to be, apparently! Of course, not everything went the Fleet's way. My guy on the dangerous, cross-spaceport mission was shot and knocked out by a Greedo on the roof. A gung ho nurse entered the control room and began reviving the two rebels we had shot down. I ordered her to desist at gunpoint and Keith decided she was a fanatic and proceeded to ignore my orders even when she took a blast meant for the revived rebel. 

'Shoot him!' the Fleet Officer commands, bewildering the 'Princess' prisoner (& the trooper!)`    

Rolling his eyes ans motioning the trooper to join him, the officer climbed onto the roof and into the small detention cell in the nearby building (not that we knew it was a detention cell -- we had amazingly sparse information about a place we were stationed at for so long and were supposedly in control of...!). Once we were all in the cell -- the Fleet Officer, Princess, my two troopers, and the stormtrooper guarding her, I ordered my men to kill the stormtrooper. I planned on killing the princess, too, if I had to (thinking she was one of the smugglers). Was she actually a smuggler? Who knows? I found out at the end of the game there was an undiscovered prisoner whose card said "Smuggler." Wouldn't I have known who the smugglers were if I have been selling them arms for so long?

    Stormtroopers arrive and immediately attack Mike S's mercenaries

I think Keith's goal was for a wild and crazy game with each of the players acting on only partial information. Well, he succeeded! I was watching the action on the rest of the table as the rebels and rebel sympathizers (or whatever) were quickly rescuing all of the prisoners. If they escaped with them, they would basically be doing my job for me. As mentioned, I was unaware there was yet another cell block only a short distance away where the prisoner we wanted was being held. Keith was controlling the actions of the civilians and stormtroopers. In true ineffective stormtrooper fashion, he classified them as "Grunts," who use a d8 instead of the d10's the player characters rolled for shooting or melee. The other guys were doing a pretty good job mowing down the stormtroopers, though a surprising amount were taken out in melee. I decided to sit back and monitor the situation.

    Shooting breaks out all over Keith's recently 'fully armed and operational' spaceport

Things escalated when Keith allowed Mike S's mercenaries to take control of one of the spaceships and begin blasting away at buildings. This activated the perimeter defenses, which began to fire on the ship. That was somehow what Mike wanted, so he joined the exodus of rebels at this point, fleeing off-board with the prisoners. My own guys were going to discreetly exit the spaceport, too, with Princess in tow.  When Keith called the game, I was chagrined to find out about the "Smuggler", which meant instead of being wildly successful and neutralizing or seeing all prisoners freed, I failed miserably. The one prisoner who I needed to neutralize or set free was the only one who still ended the game in under control of the Empire!

    Classic Star Wars scene - rebels and stormtroopers shoot it out (but occasionally hitting each other!)

Well, if Keith wanted chaos...he got it! I enjoyed the scenario but obviously think my faction, as the only resident imperial one, should have had a LOT more information. Feel free to make our objective far from my starting location, and make me run the gauntlet of attacking rebels. I also think it should have been a bit more obvious which buildings housed prisoners and which were basic administrative or supply storage facilities. Mike W's Greedos were obviously looking for something, but all they ended up doing was interrogating a bunch of random civilians and searching wrong locations. Oh, and shooting one of my guys! The civilian medical personnel running around trying to revive anyone wounded or knocked out of action in the middle of a gunfight were simply annoying. How the Evil Empire got such fiercely loyal platoon combat medics willing to risk their lives didn't make a lot of sense. But then again, the "bad guys" in Star Wars movies often do things that don't make sense. So, perhaps it fit the canon after all.

    Mike S's mercs were obviously up to no good when they asked the rescued pilot to arm a ship's guns

Keith's spaceport looked nice. I don't think I have ever seen so much pre-printed cardboard or paper terrain assembled onto one tabletop before. There were a LOT of buildings, walkways, spaceships, scatter -- you name it! Interestingly, though, very little of the terrain provided any kind of cover. Lots of staircases or buildings, but not a lot to hide behind and squeeze out the odd -1 or -2 to the enemy shot. The Wiley Games rules provided their usual enjoyment, with wild swings in combat but also the ability to formulate a plan and try to adapt it to the order of movement cards you were dealt. This mechanic adds an extra level of a tactical challenge -- which figure gets which card, and what order to move your guys in?

    In the end, the Greedos stole a spaceship! Was it their mission? Who knows...

I also liked how Keith's game introduced the players to the idea of a spectrum of factions in the Star Wars world. That is precisely what my own Star Wars games will do. I plan to have the players represent everything from the Rebel Alliance to the Empire, with mercenaries, criminal syndicates, corporate security, and local rebels thrown into the mix. So, it was a good introduction for my own series of games I hope to run using the Space Weirdos rules. Why not Galactic Heroes? Well, I'm not a huge fan of short weapon ranges for a futuristic game, for one. Plus, I want to give these a try. A friend recommended them, I downloaded them from Wargame Vault, and they look interesting. When will my games kick off? Hopefully in May, though we will see what others want to run before that.

    One of Joel's rebels stealthily hides underneath a walkway in which 2 ship crew are walking along

 

In the meantime, look for more updates soon on the stuff that I've been painting up!

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Miniatures acquired in 2025: 100
  
• Miniatures painted in 2025: 49 

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Terrain acquired in 2025: 10
  
• Terrain painted in 2025: 16

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Scatter acquired in 2025: 53
  
• Scatter painted in 2025: 30

    I really liked Keith's Star Wars people movers (or whatever they're called)...very nice models!

    The Gung Ho nurse ignores Allen's rebel and would continue to annoy every character she ran into

 

    A confused melee breaks out between stormtroopers and Tom's rebels & the prisoners he rescued

    Allen's troops deploy early in the game and launch the rebel raid on the Spaceport

    And yes, one of Keith's ships was actually marketed as a popcorn bucket!

Klingons & Federation Duel Over Planet in FASA Star Trek Game

    Allen & my Klingon ships ("Steel Squadron") approach the planetoid invaded by Federation troops

Our regular Sunday evening host is a big fan of the FASA Star Trek Starship Tactical Simulator rules. Though their name is a mouthful, they are a much simpler and pared down version compared to the more well known Star Fleet Battles rules. Mike W introduced the group to them in a game this past December. However, he and Keith had played them many times in their younger days, and have binders full of starship tactical displays. The components definitely have a certain retro look to them, with their black and white, text-heavy approach, and very tiny type font that is less than friendly to older eyes.

    GM & host Mike W walks around, making sure no players have questions on how to fill out orders

There were some banter about scenario balance last time, primarily from the Klingon players. Or course, that happens in many battles all over the wargaming world, and is why good GMs play test scenarios before running them at a convention. Mike reached out to Keith to sound him out on the this game's scenario and special rules. He made a few tweaks based on fellow FASA grognard Keith's recommendations. There would be two Klingon squadrons arrayed against one Federation one. Fortunately, we Klingons had learned from our last game, though, and fully cooperated with each other unlike last time!

    "Beam me up!" Both squadrons had the objective to transport up Federation marines to their ships

The objective for both fleets was a planetoid in the center of the table. It was a Klingon-claimed one under attack by Federation ground forces. The attack apparently having been successful, the Federation ships were on their way to beam up the victorious, assaulting forces. The Klingons were intending to disrupt this. We wanted to kidnap some of those forces and beam them up to our ships. Apparently, there was some new technology and weapons used by the assault forces that we wanted to analyze.

    Seeing the Klingon approach, the Federation "Baker Class" destroyers hurry towards the planetoid

We had seven players -- four Klingons (Tom, Joel, Allen, and myself) and three Federation (Keith, Mike S, and Mike W's son, Phil). The Klingons approached from adjacent corners of the short table edge, each force composed of two different types of Klingon ships. Mine (and Joel's) were apparently a D7M class, while Allen and Tom controlled a larger Klingon ship that could take more damage but wasn't as efficient with its engines and shields. The three Federation players all controlled "Baker Class" ships, which I had never heard of before. Apparently, it is considered a Destroyer class. Afterwards, I asked how my D7M should stack up against the Federation Destroyer in a one-on-one duel. Keith and Mike W said my ship was superior, which surprised me. It seems every iteration of Star Trek universe that I play has the Federation ships always being superior. Would the game work out that way? Let's see...!

    Four Klingon ships close in to dispute control of the planetoid with the Federation destroyers

Both sides -- or all three, since we Klingons were technically independent squadrons -- moved quickly towards our target planetoid. After turn 2, I began slacking off on the power for movement to put reinforcement towards my shields. We looked out of range, but I always suspect Federation super weapons in these games! In the beginning, Keith's destroyer was separated from the other two, but all three were closing rapidly. Phil, in the center, veered right to aid Keith in approaching orbit around the planetoid. Meanwhile, Mike S veered left towards me. I was wary, but confident, as it would be my vessel and Allen's against Mike's...wait a minute! Where was Allen going? Allen veered his ship away from mine to use the planetoid as "cover." Essentially, he took himself out of the fight, as you shall see.

    One of the destroyers (Mike S's) veers off to attempt to chase me away from the objective

I continued closing with Mike S's Baker Class ship, still thinking it would be superior to mine, one-on-one. I began to maneuver to take advantage of the firing arcs of my weapons, showing the enemy our Forward-Port side, firing, then turning to show our Forward-Starboard side. In addition to letting each of the two beam weapons on each side bear (firing two, then firing the other side's two), it also meant I would take any damage on different shield facings. Mike hit me three times over the course of the ship-to-ship duel, but each time I was able to absorb it with a fresh, fully charged shield. Mike's approach, though, meant I battered down his front shield with my first shot and then damaged him with the follow up fire. I also shot my forward-facing "missile weapon" (not sure what they are supposed to represent in Star Trek lore) as a fifth weapon in my salvo.

    Meanwhile, the other two ships have arrived within transporter range & begin beaming up troops

I have to admit, my dice were very good! Mike's were not so good. When rolling my two attacks each turn, I tended to hit at least once when my chance to hit was 30% to 40%. When it went up to 70%, I hit with both. Mike's hits were much fewer and far between. The end result was a new one for me: I blew up an enemy vessel! What's more, over the course of our duel, I switched targets for one turn to attack Phil's ship when he lowered his shields to transport up marines. I nailed his "sensors," when rolling for damage location, which meant I knocked out his transporters. With Mike's ship blown up, Phil's transporters down, Keith was the only Federation hope to bring up marines from the surface. He had been taking hits steadily from Tom and Joel's ships while bringing up marines. Eventually, he too, blew up. At that point, Mike W called the game.

    Undeterred, my Klingon D7M and Mike S's destroyer close with each other, firing away

Overwhelming Klingon victory, right? Well, apparently, we were supposed to kidnap marines and get them off table. I contended that after blowing up their three ships, we could beam up their marines and depart at our leisure. Apparently, Keith had transported all but one of the marine stands up to his ship before it went ka-boom. Well, I said, we transport up that last one to our ships, leave, and get a total victory, right? He relented, and changed our status from "Partial Failure" to "Partial Success." Considering that we had taken almost no damage, had destroyed two of the three enemy ships (and would surely blow up the outnumbered one, 4-to-1, last), and would get one of their marines with their juicy new weapons back to the Empire, I'm not sure where the "partial" comes in...ha, ha!

    BOOM! The Federation destroyer succumbs to the superior Klingon firepower (and tactics, I'd add!)

I'm also unsure if another debate over scenario balance will ensue after this game. I asked my question about who's ship should win a one-on-one duel to assess how much effect my superior die rolling (and tactics!) had on the outcome. Mike W seemed to think it was significant. If my one ship was better than one of theirs, and we had four vs. their three, did we have more points worth of ships? Perhaps Allen and Tom's Klingon ships were less effective and fewer points? I probably should have asked that, too. I also feel it was a big disadvantage to the Federation that they had to lower their shields to transport up the marines. Of course, we did, too. However, I think Tom was on board with my philosophy of shoot first, transport later, though. Either way, it was a fun and quick way to have a Star Trek style squadron battle in only two hours. The game does play really quickly. So, I'm sure we'll see more FASA games in the future!

    Close up of Mike's 3-D printed models of Klingon "Steel Squadron" -- Allen's ship my D7M

What's on my painting desk, now? I am making good progress on the next batch of 10 Splintered Light Miniatures rats. I am also fairly far along on the Miniature Building Authority clothes lines. Hopefully, by midweek you should see some results!

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Miniatures acquired in 2025: 100
  
• Miniatures painted in 2025: 39 

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Terrain acquired in 2025: 10
  
• Terrain painted in 2025: 16

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Scatter acquired in 2025: 53
  
• Scatter painted in 2025: 30

Five Parsecs: Quest for Lost Treasure Completed

    Crew of the Inconceivable advance through the underground bunker in 'Five Parsecs from Home'

This would be the final mission of the crew of the Inconceivable's quest for the Lost Treasure of Amazonas Galacticus. They would be breaking into the underground complex of one of the five pirates who'd stolen the fortune 20 years ago. I decided to use my boards that I had made for Space Station Zero more than a year ago. They are made from a silvery paper (purchased at a craft store) with a floor grid and bolts drawn on with black Sharpie. Inexpensive, and easy to create. The walls are a trimmed down portions of a trifold made out of foamboard, with Google images of futuristic walls downloaded from the internet, printed out, and glued to the black foamboard. I really like how it looks, especially once I placed lots of the Sci-Fi scatter I'd been painting for the last year or more on the board. The 3-D printed color shift crystals even made it onto the board as "exotic alien art" collected by the pirate!

   Our opponents would be fearless, mechanical security droids purchased by one of the space pirates

My roll for the number of enemies was very fortunate -- only four! However, that was compensated by another roll which dictated two of my crew would not be ontable at the start of the game, and would need to roll for arrival. I assumed that Alistair and the crew used deception to gain entry into the pirate's home. The "missing crew" (Zorina and Seon) would be considered upstairs, subduing the family and any other servants or workers. Meanwhile, Captain Alistair, Gunny McBride, Doc Mecrosus, and Cephvarx Hul would dash down to take on the security guards. I rolled "Hired Muscle" for the enemy, but the scenario also dictated they would be Fearless. Perfect opportunity to get out my 3-D printed Terminators I'd painted up for Xenos Rampant! I rationalized that the pirate had them shipped in when coming back from one of his annual, month-long vacations and labeled as something mundane. The droids would be armed with Military Rifles and the Specialist had a Marksman Rifle. Under ground and indoors, though, their superior range would not help them much, as the battle would be at close quarters.

    Deployment at the start of the mission, with my crew locations labeled & the droids circled in red

I set up the board and randomly rolled to see which edge the droids would begin on. I deployed them in their "Tactical" A.I., in two groups of two, with line of sight of any enemy coming towards them. I assumed they were warned and activated by some sort of alarm triggered by the family upstairs. I decided to send Cephvarx and Gunny around the left to be able to get close to the droids out of their line of fire. Alistair and Doc would move to the right and engage the droids in long range fire to distract them. The plan would be to have Cephvarx move in, melee and destroy them, supported at close range by Gunny and his high caliber pistol, or "hand cannon" in Fiver Parsecs parlance. Here's the report, as seen through the eyes of second in command, and former Galactic Marine, Gunny.

    I used my 3-D printed 'Terminators' from JS Wargamer Printing as the mechanical 'Hired Muscle'

The Battle

As the huge door to the underground complex slid to the side, the ceiling lights began flashing and an annoying klaxon began to sound. "Damn it, cap," I called to Alistair, "the alarm's been sounded. Let's hope Zorina and Seon can handle things upstairs. Same plan?" Alistair gave a quick affirmative and I saw him and Doc begin to dart to the right. I nodded to the looming Cephvarx Hul and we dashed off to the left. Hopefully, it wasn't a dead end and we could close quickly with whatever security was sure to be down here. I threw the rifle over my shoulder and pulled out my pistol -- this battle would likely be up close and deadly!

 

    Alistair and Doc would go right in the passage while Gunny and Cephvarx Hul would go left

Over the noise of the klaxon, I faintly heard the clank of mechanical footsteps on the silvery floor. "Captain -- keep a sharp eye out...sounds like security droids." 

    As the alarm sounds, 4 security droids move up to watch all passageways while remaining in cover

He acknowledged and then replied a few seconds later, "In sight, standard mechanical security droids armed with long rifles. I see one, but there's sure to be more!" The underground complex was stuffed with machinery, terminals, and even huge pieces of strange, crystal artwork -- at least that's my guess what they were. I could feel no heat coming off them and their colorful, pretty lights constantly changed colors and shades. A large piece of machinery with bright green tubing was in our path. I pointed Cephvarx to the right and I went around it to the left. 

    The crew after their first turn of advance -- the barricades are meant to represent walls

I ducked around one side of it and, "Bam! Bam! Bam!" I felt the ricochet off of my shoulder armor and the force of the round shoved me against the wall. I shook my head to clear the shock, momentarily stunned. One of the droids had been waiting for me to come around that corner -- "Stupid!" I muttered to myself. I ducked back out more carefully this time, just in time for a wonderful sight. Cephvarx darted around the wall the droid had been sheltering behind and loomed suddenly up in front of the droid. His boarding saber flashed, sparks flew, and the body fell with a clank while the headed rolled a few times before stopping, its lighted eyes going out. "Cephvarx has one down," I called to Alistair, and he acknowledged, saying he was stalking another and was going to throw one of the Frakk grenades we'd found a couple missions back. "Be careful," I called.

    Former galactic marine Gunny McBride moves along the wall around a strange piece of machinery

I ran forward, now that the way was clear, sheltering and moving along the far wall for cover. I watched as Cephvarx darted around another corner and out of sight. I heard the clanging of metal on metal and Cephvarx snarling in pain. I ducked around the corner to see both fall at the same time. The droid was in several pieces, smoke pouring from parts of its metallic structure. Cephvarx was badly wounded, though, and writhing on the ground in agony. I darted towards him, snagged one of the Stim-Paks from my belt pouch and jabbed it into his purple skin. Just as I did that, there was a deafening explosion and my ears rang with a high pitched whine, the other sounds fading out. Yeah, Cap, maybe a grenade in a confined area wasn't the greatest idea! Almost distantly, I heard the automatic weapons fire of at least two security droids firing in return, though they sounded quieter in my ringing ears than they should.

    A security droid is watching that gap and fires and hits Gunny, inflicting a stun marker

"Damn it," Alistair's voice called faintly in my headset. "The grenade damaged it, but didn't take it out! Now, I have two firing at me -- I could use a little help, Gunny!" Suddenly, I heard an even fainter noise -- a hissing of steam. I looked up. The shrapnel from the grenade must have severed a line somewhere, as a cloud of gray mist was expanding in the center of the room and beginning to grow. 

    Focused on Gunny, the droid doesn't notice Cephvarx Hul charging at him till it is too late

I thought maybe that will distract them a little. I darted past Cephvarx, whose twitching was growing less pronounced and he seemed to be getting his limbs under control. My gun was raised as I edge around the corner -- there! One of the droids with an automatic weapon raised was firing to my right, where the captain and Doc were likely to be. I sighted and squeezed off a couple shots. The security droid's head exploded in silver bits of metal and it fell to the floor with a clang, not moving. "Three droids down," I called to Alistair. "Stay in cover, I've got them outflanked!"

    First security droid is down -- Cephvarx's specialty is up-close "Brawling" (melee)

I continued to edge around the corner, sighting along my pistol. By the sound of the firing, there was only one droid left. I caught sight of him, his skull-like mechanical head swiveling from where his cohort lay motionless to where Alistair likely was hiding. "Boom, boom, boom!" I fired three shots and the droid collapsed. Their armor was no match for the high caliber, high velocity rounds of my little souvenir from my time in the Corps..! "Fourth droid down," I shouted, so the others could hear me, too. "Anyone see any others?" 

"Negative," Alistair replied over the microphone.

    At the start of Turn 3, my "delayed" crew members arrive -- here Seon follows Gunny up the left side

Doc's amplified voice rang out crisply, "I pick none up with my goggle's enhanced sensors -- on any spectrum."

"I don't see any. Well, none that are in working order," Zorina called. I turned and waved to her. I saw Seon creeping along the wall where Cephvarx had gone.

    The alien Varxian charges the next security droid, but each inflicts hits on the other, taking both out

"Nice to have you two join us. Everything okay upstairs?"

Zorina nodded and reported, "Family's all tied up, sir. House is locked down. It appears the only alarm that was sounded was down here to alert the security droids -- which you guys appear to have taken care of without our help."

    After dashing out to toss a Frakk grenade, Capt. Alistair is under fire & stunned by two droids

"We couldn't let you two have all the fun," I laughed. "Okay, everybody stay frosty. Let's investigate this place. It's huge! Number one --  make sure there's no more droids. Call out if you see anything suspicious or moving. Number two -- don't touch any of the monitors. Leave those for Doc -- he's the expert. Number three -- Doc, can you also fix that damned steam leak? Let's hope it isnt' toxic..."

   The first droid inflicted a stun on the captain, and luckily the second one missed...!

Aftermath...and the future?

Since the Inconceivable crew was successful in their mission, it means they completed the quest. Of course, in Five Parsecs from Home, the charts and events in between sessions form the skeleton of the story. It is up to the GM (or in this case, solo player) to flesh it out. So, let's do some fleshing! I assumed that with control of the secret underground bunker, Alistair and company are able to use the data they discover to pin the piracy on the five families. The details of their transactions and names of their bribed associates would be assembled into a multimedia documentary by Doc. They would then use the passcodes and authorization of the captured pirate to broadcast it on the planetary media. Once that gets out, the other four pirates will be alarmed and perhaps onto the crew. However, they will likely have bigger fish to fry than Capt. Alistair and his crew. Chuft Betsos and the long, legal arm of Amazonas Galacticus will descend on the planet like a glove and begin to dig for even more details.

    Perimeter marked by black pom-poms, a steam vent was ruptured by the grenade, obscuring view

Unfortunately, this mission doesn't suddenly make the crew rich. They were able to gather some loot from the pirate's lavish underground quarters, but there were no stacks of "treasure" on hand. Alistair was probably being a bit naive in thinking so. He would have to be content with solving the mystery. There would be no chance of making up his lost retirement money, unfortunately. Betsos had cheated him out of that. They could "take" so much from the pirate's chambers even though it had been bought with stolen money. The five pirate families had much of their wealth tied up in ownership of various corporations, companies, and off-planet investments. All was had been designed over the decades to hide their names, so they hadn't appeared suddenly rich overnight.

    Gunny does what he does best -- move up, shoot, and take out the droid marksman

After broadcasting their Doc's production and ensuring the documentary went planet-wide (and off-planet, as well), Alistair and the crew had best beat a hasty retreat from planet Dichelles. There is still a chance that their escapades on the icy planet might run them afoul of the law -- certainly here, where the pirates likely had some control of it. However, if that happened, Gunny said he would contact the lawyers for Amazonas Galacticus to put a smoke screen on their actions. Alistair grumbled that Betsos was incapable of gratitude and refused to stoop to ask his ex-employer for any help. Gunny said he would eat the crow for his old friend (and his crewmates). In the meantime, all agreed that the Inconceivable and its crew should go to the far side of the galaxy and lay low for awhile!

    The final droid, trying to watch both Alistair and whoever shot his cohort, is taken down by Gunny

So there you have it! The story arc of the crew of the Inconceivable and its search for the lost treasure of Amazonas Galacticus is concluded. I hope you enjoyed the six missions and my after action reports. I had a good time testing out the Five Parsecs from Home rules. It really does a nice job of threading a series of missions together and giving you the events to create a story. For example, when the crew traveled to Dichelles and rolled up that they had discovered an escape pod containing Seon, that added nice details the what happened to Amazonas treasure ship. Originally, I was playtesting Five Parsecs for possible use with my Sunday night gaming group. I honestly feel we're too large for the framework of the game, though, and it would work better with a small number of participants playing cooperatively or with a GM.

So, is this it? Is this the end of the tales of Captain Alistair and his crew? Perhaps. I am definitely going to take a break from my solo campaign. There were a few scary moments in this game, such as when Alistair darted into the open, threw the grenade, and rolled two 1's for damage. I used a story point for a re-roll and, lo and behold, rolled another "1"! The droid fired back, stunning Alistair. His cohort thankfully missed, though. Gunny's stunning early in the game could just as easily been a "Kill." And when Cephvarx went down to the second droid, things could have gotten ugly. With unfavorable dice rolls only Doc would have been left! 

However, in general, the fights the rules' charts and A.I. generated were a bit too easy for my liking. I rarely felt that my crew was seriously challenged, or in danger. If I do pick up this storyline again, I will ramp up the difficulty level to a more challenging one. I started with the basic one since that was what it recommended. So, for now, farewell to Captain Alistair Valentine, Security Officer Gunny McBride, Engineer Doc Mercosus, Crew woman Zorina Valthea, Security Droid SAS B61, and Crewman Seon Vogalia! It has been fun for me to generate your adventures, and hopefully to my readers, as well! 

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Miniatures acquired in 2025: 100
  
• Miniatures painted in 2025: 15 

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Terrain acquired in 2025: 10
  
• Terrain painted in 2025: 14

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Scatter acquired in 2025: 51
  
• Scatter painted in 2025: 26