Giving Fallout Skirmish Rules a Try

    My Super Mutants investigate a damaged auto repair station, where it looks like a blast went off

One of our friends, Mike S, has been a devotee of the computer game Fallout for years. Once the miniatures game came out, it was a no-brainer he'd buy into it and collect miniatures, terrain, and more, eventually running it for us. The confusing thing was why it took him so long! I expected him to beat my post-Apocalyptic games to the punch easily. I guess he was waiting till he felt comfortable running the rules for his son Jason and his nephews before springing it on us.

    Mike and Jason S ran the game for us, which flowed fairly quickly as we searched the various ruins

Well, our first taste of the rules came last Sunday when Mike and Jason showed up to teach us the rules and run an introductory game. The seven us were each given a four-figure squad. Our game included two Super Mutant factions (Keith and I), two Raiders (Jenny and Joel), and two Minute Men (Andy and Bruce). The mission of the mutants was to find food and investigate the area. Food, incidentally, included Humans! Each other faction had a similar mission, though the human factions weren't as keen to cannibalize as the mutants might be...

    My super mutants and pet 'dog' break camp - I have to say the Fallout Miniatures didn't impress

It took a bit longer for us to wrap our head around the rules, and even longer to get a handle on the weird dice faces on the proprietary dice that Fallout uses. Well, to be honest, I never really got a handle on the symbols. I would have to say it is my chief beef with the rules. Do you really need five or six different colored dice each with an array of cryptic symbols on them, in addition to ordinary numbers? You can't work with percentages and the various sized dice to attain the results you're looking for? Or is it perhaps to simply sell dice along with the oddly-scaled plastic figures they make for the game?

My mutant checks out the intersection, finding nothing interesting (Keith snapped up the goodies!)

Speaking of the figures, I honestly was not impressed with them. My friend Mike is a talented painter, but the proportions of the miniatures screamed Clix figures to me. I know a lot of folk use the various clix figures that have fallen out of favor as an inexpensive source for miniatures. I just don't like either the scale or the shiny plastic look to them. My three super mutants and "dog" looked like the Incredible Hulk, which is fine if you're playing Marvel superhero clix, but...

    Our cohorts, Keith's Super Mutants, chase Bruce's Minute Men out of the shanty town

Anyway, enough complaining! How did the game go? Well, we mostly moved towards the center, which was bad news for the factions in the center of the table. Poor Jenny and her Raiders got squeezed on one side by Andy's Minuate Men and the other side by my Super Hulks. Andy's sharpshooters killed two of her figures sheltering on a concrete roof, while my dog and one of my Hulks got another one who was trying to flee. Andy was also shooting Joel's Raiders, as was Bruce. Bad day to be a raider. I think both Joel and Jenny ended up with only one figure left on the table.

    Keith's mutants are hot on the trail of humans - "Them's good eatin'!!"

Bruce, like Jenny, skedaddled when he saw Super Hulks coming their way. Keith pressed him closely, the dog scampering ahead to engage one of the Minute Men. Although his buddies came to his aid and eventually shot the mutated, wild boar sized pooch dead, Bruce had lost one of his figures to its massive maw.  Andy undoubtedly killed the most enemy, taking cover in ruins and blasting away all game long. He even took a long range shot at one of my hulks, claiming it couldn't hide behind a puny, human-sized door. My green-skinned menace took offense at the derogatory comment about his bulk, but decided to scoop up the dead Raider and drag his dead pooch along back to camp. My other mutants grabbed Jenny's dead Raiders, and similarly headed home.

    Mike's Fallout terrain looked nice - a good mix of 3D printed, resin, and MDF terrain

The game flowed fairly quickly with the spiraling activation system (players going around the table to activate or hold a figure at the ready).  I had no problem with that, though I do like the randomness and strategy of the Wiley Games system I am using for my post-Apocalyptic rules better. Keith said he preferred the Wiley Games system over Fallout. I'd be willing to give it another chance now that we have a better idea what we're doing, though.

With Jenny, Joel, and Bruce's figures falling back, and my mutants carrying more than they could eat for a few days back with them, we called the game. The jury is out for me on this one. I didn't hate it, and am sure I will get used to the annoying dice. So, we shall see what the, ahem, Fallout is on the first playtest and see if we do it again!

Halloween Bash: Squabbling Over the Hound of Hell

    Keith's Mephits swarm around Cereberus, the 3-headed guardian of Hell, in our Halloween scenario

Since the next day was Halloween, I was able to convince the Sunday evening gamers to break out the Reign in Hell rules and our cabals that we had built last year. It had been many months since we'd played the rules and it seemed like the perfect opportunity. Our usual host was out of town, so Jenny and I hosted. Keith brought over a special, Halloween themed battle mat. There were only five of us that evening, so we decided to play "The Beast" scenario on a 36" square mat.

    My too slow Wendigo cabal advances on the first turn of the game

In "The Beast," all the players are trying to capture the hulking, namesake creature who begins at the center of the table. We represented the Beast with a three-headed model of Cereberus, the Greek guardian of Hell, appropriately enough. Players could either attack Hades' lapdog normally or they could attempt to subjugate him. To do so, the player must have an active demon within 3" of the Beast. They roll 6d6, and if they roll any 6's, they score ONE success. Once a player reaches 10 successes, they take over control of Cereberus. They may then roll one activation die for the Beast as if he were his own demon and activate him on the Initiative die he chooses.

    To our left, Allen's Demented cabal of Death Angel pass around terrain, seeking out its enemies

I was playing my standard Wendigo cabal with the addition of one Greater Demon, a Serpent Knight representing the Horned Serpent of Native American lore. I had asked the players to build 150 point cabals. They could purchase one Greater demon. The rest must be Lesser Demons (not counting the Leader and his Devout, which are technically free). So, besides Wendigo my leader and Skadegamutc, my teleporting shaman Devout, I fielded 3 Armored Demons (Bear Skinwalkers), 2 Corpulent Demons (Wolverine Skinwalkers), and 1 Mephit (Great Horned Owl).

    Mike S's Earthbound cabal features a Succubus which can take control of one of your demons

To my left was Allen, playing a Demented Cabal that I had created. His leader was Death Angel, his Devout was Bone Dragon, and he had a Torture Master as his Greater Demon. Otherwise, he fielded 2 Slaughter Fiends, 1 Tentacle Beast (Ent), and 3 Spined Demons (Terror Birds). Jenny was to his left with the cabal I had painted for her as a Christmas present this past December. Keith was next in the circle, fielding a very Mephit-heavy force. He wanted to see how the Demonic Air Force played out, and as we shall see, it was very effective in this particular scenario. His force was technically illegal, as he fielded 12 demons -- two above the maximum of 10. We shrugged it off as most were Mephits, which we knew from previous games, die easily.

    Cereberus lashes out at his Mephit tormentors, nearly dismembering one with a swipe of its paw

The final cabal was Mike S's Earthbound cabal. Its Devout is a Succubus, which has the ability to activate and move (and attack with) another player's demon if it is within 3". This would prove crucial ability on the final turns of the game. Well, that is until Wendigo bounded over and slew the Succubus! There's no gratitude in Hell, as both Mike and I knew he had actually done me a favor right before I killed his Devout! But I am getting ahead of myself - first, setting the scene.

    Jenny's massive leader roars towards the Beast, while its Spined & Slaughter demons follow

On Keith's first turn we realized his very clever plan for winning this scenario. He flew his horde of Mephits directly towards Cereberus. Each landed within 3" of the hulking, three-headed hound, and began rolling to subdue the Beast. Even though Keith was rolling under average, he was quickly racking up successes. Inside, I think all of us thought, "Uh-oh!" The Beast activates on Initiatives 12 and 6 (twice, as opposed to player-controlled demons, which activate only once). On 6, Cereberus pounced and rended one Mephit to within a point of death. That was actually a very bad roll. Reign in Hell is very bloody. You hit an enemy demon on 2+ if you have a greater Combat Value, 3+ if the same, and 4+ if the enemy's is greater. With 12 attack dice (13, actually, since he was charging), Cereberus should have scored 11 hits, on average. Saves are only on a "6" on 1d6. With Combat of 3, and thus only three saving rolls, the lucky Mephit should have been shredded!

    The cabals of Jenny and Allen close in on each other in the center

On Turn 2, Keith took advantage of the ability to Attack and then Move, and had all his Mephits rack up more successes while pulling them back out of the range of Cereberus. "Stick and Move," light horse tactics in Hell?? Either way, it was working out for Keith. Mike S saw the danger right away and ignored my cabal and quickly began hurling his demons at Keith's minions. They quickly began mixing it up, with Mike's Succubus sending Keith's Corpulent Demons towards Cereberus to be eaten and draw the Beast towards Keith's other minions.

    Jenny's demons keep pushing on the center, but Keith cleverly began pulling back, saving his cabal

I had split my cabal, with half moving to form a wall between my cabal and Mike S's (I never trust Mike in multiplayer games...ha, ha!). The other half moved to attack Allen's cabal. My shaman slew one of his Spined Demons with two attacks, then teleported back to the cover of rocky terrain. A wedge of one Bear Skinwalker, Wolverine Skinwalker, and the Horned Serpent moved up and ganged up on Allen's other Spined Demons. We eventually slew all three of his Terror Birds, but at the cost of being too far away to do anything to Cereberus. 

    A huge scrum develops in the center with demons from four cabals slashing away at each other

Meanwhile, Jenny and Allen were pushing towards the great, three-headed Beast. Jenny was racking up successes at controlling Hades hound, but Keith had built an insurmountable lead. As one, the four of us decided we needed to switch tactics to killing the creature, instead. The winner of the scenario is either the player who controls the Beast at the end or has slain it. Keith soon took control of Cereberus and showed us he had no plans to make it easy on us. He began pulling Cereberus back towards the far corner of the board. This meant all of our slower demons would have no chance at getting into the fight. Only our faster moving demons, or ones who were already nearby, had any chance at helping out in the onslaught on the Beast.

   Wendigo has misjudged the situation - his Skinwalkers and Horned serpent are out of position

Mike S started away at Cereberus, and we all began to help out. I had racked up several "Soul Dice," which you get when you slay an enemy demon. You roll 1d6 and can then use that dice's score once to substitute it for the number of either your combat roll or an opponent's. I began using my rolls to cancel out the sixes Keith would roll as saves for the Beast. Mike S began doing the same. At first, we felt there was no way we would get to the 40 wounds needed to kill the Beast. However, they slowly began to pile up.

    Every demon of Keith's enemies piles damage on Cereberus - but with 40 Life, its a long way to go

I moved my teleporting Shaman, my Horned Owl, and Wendigo as fast as they could go. They would be my only contribution to the fight (other than using soul dice against Keith). Mike S had the great idea to move his Succubus next to my shaman and order him to teleport and attack Cereberus. The hound was in the 30's on damage. We had only one turn remaining, though. It was an all-out attack on the Hound of Hell. I waited as long as I could to attack with Skadegamutc, because I didn't want to just soften the dog up for one of the others to cherry pick me. Finally, on my last Initiative Dice, I attacked with my Devout Shaman. I rolled a bit under average, but Keith would need to roll decently for Cereberus to survive. 

    Sideshow battles abound - here Death Angel & his Torture Master take on Jenny's Corpulent Demon

I missed killing the Beast by ONE POINT! Lucky dog!! A couple other players sent Mephits at Cereberus (they were the only ones that could move far enough to attack where Keith had retreated him to). However, Keith would have to whiff all his saves for them to have a chance, and he did not. The final turn ended with Cereberus having one point left. Keith's Demonic Air Force was victorious! Of course, we could have placed an asterik next to his victory since he began with 12 demons, but he earned the win. He quickly realized the advantages of his cabal in this scenario and executed his tactics perfectly.

    With more than 50 demons on the table, it was a riot of mayhem on the tabletop!

The game was a blast, and everyone had fun. We will definitely have to descend into Hell for more games again, soon...

    Despite my misjudgement, my shaman Skadegamutc came within 1 point of killing Cereberus on the last turn!

Post-Apocalyptic (or abandoned) Trailer Home

    My Sarissa Precision 'Residential Trailer' modified for a post-Apocalyptic or very seedy setting

This has been a model many months in the making. I started working on this Sarissa Precision MDF "Residential Trailer" over the summer. From the beginning, I intended major surface modifications to the design. Rather than the inscribed vinyl paneling the model comes with, I planned on adding corrugated tin or steel panels and patches. I wanted the trailer to look at home in either a post-Apocalyptic game or some seedy, modern setting in a slum or dilapidated area.

    The Bucknuts gang investigates the area around the trailer for signs to see if anyone is home

Luckily, I had several different sizes and types of corrugated styrene plastic. However, the base horizontal corrugated material would actually be done with corrugated paper that I bought at Hobby Lobby. I would use the styrene for the "patches" of corrugated material and for the vertical corrugation along the bottom edge of the trailer. I made an exception for the roof, though. I used all styrene corrugated material because I figured it would get more handling and wear as the roof was taken off and replaced during games.

    I like how the roof came out. I used paper towels as blue plastic tarp weighed down with craft bricks

I covered the windows with black plastic mesh material trimmed to appear as metal bars over the windows. I dry brushed the black with steel paint, but it kind of gets lost on the dark material. I should probably have done brighter metal highlights to make it look more obviously metal. I also decided not to use the cardboard awnings Sarissa Precision includes with the models. Not only could I not see how they wouldn't get knocked off during normal gaming, I also thought they were a little hoity-toity for the owners of this trailer that I had in mind! It is hard to see, but the skylights on the top actually have clear plastic window material that Sarissa included with the model. The clear coating I sprayed on frosted it, but I actually hoped that it would do that to make it a more realistic skylight. Otherwise, the windows of the model are just open holes with the plastic mesh trimmed to fit over them.

    I wanted the trailer to look like a cross between post-Apocalyptic and some backwoods nightmare

I love how the roof came out. I epoxied a piece of styrene corrugated material to cover the length of the MDF roof, having to make a few cut outs to account for the two large skylights on the roof. I put a couple different size styrene "patches" over the roof and also added in some tarps. I took ordinary paper towel material for the tarps, and glued it into place with white glue. I then painted the material heavily with a 50/50 mix of white glue and water. Finally, I added some craft bricks I had bought from a package at the Dragons Guildhall in Beavercreek, OH.

Bucknuts members take up positions to watch for the owners while they prepare to loot the trailer

There are other various modifications I made. The trim pieces along the sides of the model are simply wooden craft sticks trimmed to the right size. The wooden flooring on the staircase leading to the front door are similarly craft sticks trimmed to length and glued into place. Similarly, the frame around the front door is also done with wooden craft sticks.

    The rear of the trailer, with a section patched with wood and the obligatory warning to trespassers

Painting the trailer was easier than I thought it would be. I spray painted the model black, then went over it again with a 50/50 mix of black acrylic paint and water. I chose faded pastel colors for the corrugated paneling, and gave them extensive dry brushing to simulate sun-bleaching. Finally, I went crazy with red brown and an orange rust color to simulate a rusted, dilapidated exterior. I looked at photographs online of rusting tin and feel I came close to the effect. I am still not sure if I went overboard or got it right. I would be curious to hear what you think of the effect.

    The interior turned out ok - everything is painted except the doors, which are printed out & glued on

The final part of the model was painting the interior. Originally, I intended to use patterned paper as wallpaper and save myself the trouble of painting. But there are so many windows on this model that I finally decided it would be more work to measure and cut out the paper than it would be to just paint it. I gave it a black base coat then dry brushed my colors on. I did a lighter highlight dry brush, then a black wash to give it a faded, dirty appearance. I think it turned out functional. I could have put posters on the walls and such, but decided for a slight more bare bones look.

    This is how Sarissa Precision envisions the model - WAY to pretty and posh for what I had in mind!

The final touch was the abandoned love seat and easy chair sitting in the yard. These were plaster cast pieces I'd purchased from my friend Tim P. I also decided to add in the stereotype abandoned toilet in the yard, used as a planter for flowers. The fire pit is simply rocks. I realized that I forgot to push burnt sticks and ashes inside the fire ring. I also wanted to black wash the rocks and dry brush some soot stains. So, I guess I am not technically done with the model. It was just, with the months it took to get to this stage, I was ready for it to be complete!

Big Stompy Robots playtest (or BattleSuit Alpha)

    Attacking Mechs (aka Big Stompy Robots) advance towards the moonbase that is our objective

I have to admit, I never played Battletech - that game with giant robots blasting away at each other in the distant future. Robots? Yes, I know that some versions of it envision a man inside the suit, ala the Matrix and "Knuckle up!" Either way, it was never something I bought figures for nor remember playing. So, when Keith and Andy in our Sunday night gamers group expressed a desire to try the Wiley Games version of Big Stompy Robots, aka BattleSuit Alpha, a try, I wasn't jumping up and down in joy, but nor was I saying "Not for me!"

    Wiley Games now makes custom decks for their various rules sets with special rules printed on each

So far, we have given a number of the Wiley Games rules a try. It began when Andy ran their Western game, Fistful of Lead. Then, I ran my post-Apocalyptic game with the Core Rules - their generic rules for any period. Next, Keith ran their Starfighters game with X-wings and TIE fighters (and various other space ships from the Star Wars universe). I was worried that we would end up doing so many games with Wiley Games rules that it wouldn't feel like we were playing the PERIOD, but were instead just playing Wiley Games. I remember many years ago when we were playing Hordes of The Things (HOTT) a decent amount, we began experimenting using those rules for all kinds of periods. One of our Sunday night gamers at the time, Zeke, exploded one evening and said, "Not EVERY GAME is a version of HOTT!" He had a point, and after that we cooled off on the ancient galley wars version of HOTT, the spaceship version of HOTT, and so on.

    Andy, right, was one of the organizers of the game - here he watches to ensure Allen doesn't cheat :)

Now, in our playing of Starfighters, we found it DID have a completely different feel than either Andy's Western or my post-Apocalyptic game. Basic mechanics were similar (which isn't bad), but the feel of the game was different. There were enough different special or extra rules mechanics that made it feel sufficiently different. Would Big Stompy Robots be a bridge too far, though? No, as we discovered, it did not. There was enough of a different feel that it felt like we were gaming a period. Granted, it is not a period that I am overly familiar with, so I am not a good judge of it. However, both Keith and Andy are fans of stompy robots and pronounced themselves pleased with it. 

    In Wiley Games, figures like this patriotic mech, can take damage (orange cubes) or shock (counter)

What's more, I had fun with it. I felt like tactics made sense. I felt the weapons differences led you to moving your troops a certain way on the tabletop. We each commanded three mechs each, and felt perhaps we should have started with two. It did take awhile to set up the game, though, so perhaps that was the reason we were slow out of the gate. The scenario Keith set up made sense but there was no way we could game it to conclusion in the time we had. No fault of his. I like that he came up with a scenario rather than just say it was a standard clash with two groups fighting each other.

    My Light Mech grabs some cover, hoping combined with its 'Nimble' trait would make it hard to hit

We plan on playing another game of BattleSuit Alpha soon. Originally, it was going to be the very next Sunday. However, noticing that it was the day before Halloween, I suggested we resurrect Reign in Hell for a Halloween themed game. So, demons and cabals are on the table next time! It has been a LONG time since we did this. It'll be a one-off game, not another chapter of our aborted attempt at a campaign. So, keep an eye on this space for another descent into some Hellish miniature gaming!

    An overview of the battlefield as the Attackers (bottom) advance on the Defending Mechs

    A force of three Mechs heads towards the cover in hopes of getting shots at the enemy

    I really like the idea of custom decks for this game -- special rules for types of cards printed on them make for a great reminder (especially for newer players)

Colombian Leftists & Paramilitaries Squeeze Narco Gang in Medellin

    Leftist guerrillas close in on the Mini-Mart where most of the Narcos are holed up in my ATC game

Ever since my visit this summer to Medellin, Colombia, I'd been fascinated by wargaming a conflict in that violence-plagued city with my Wars of Insurgency rules. Although things are peaceful there now, for decades there was war raging in the streets and hills above this densely-populated, South American city in the highlands. Left-wing guerrillas controlled the barrios -- or communas as they are called there -- that sprawl up the slopes above downtown Medellin. Right-wing paramilitaries, often sent by the government or on their own behest to attempt to drive them from the ramshackle (and illegal) settlements. When the drug trade put its stamp on Colombia's civil war, this added another violent twist to the conflict.

    Bob & Heidi, center, being squeezed by the Leftists (on the left) and paramilitaries (on the right)

My idea for a scenario for a wargame set in Medellin would be a push by the paramilitaries to clear out the guerrillas from one of the communas. The catch was they happen to choose a day when a strong narco gang was present in that barrio, guarding a drug shipment. It was supposed to be a chaotic, three-way clash with the left and right fighting over territory on the board while the narcos fired on whoever got too close to their shipment. The narcos advantage is they have heavier cover with the market building and stone huts, while their disadvantage is they are in the middle of the board. Leftists guerrillas start at one of the short sides of the 6'x4' table and the right-wing paramilitaries at the opposite. How would it play out? Would it truly play out as three-sided clash, or would two gang up on one?

    Heidi's Narco gang members jump out of cover to take a tempting shot at paramilitaries in the open

We all know how gamers can find a way to throw a curve ball in any scenario -- especially at conventions with people you may not be as familiar with. In our playtest with our Sunday evening crew, Jenny and I played the Narcos. We both agreed that we opened up on the guerrillas and paramilitaries too early. We should have let them get closer to each other. As it was, with only our narcos in effective range, they fired back on us and almost never let up. I rearranged the terrain a bit for the convention game, which I hoped would beef up the Narcos chances because Jenny and I got decimated.

    One squad of paramilitaries advances through the creek, taking advantage of better cover

It turned out that my changes to the deployment, mission briefings, and victory points for Advance the Colors 2022 didn't make much of a difference. Heidi, who was playing one of the two Narco positions, jumped out of hidden status and opened up on the paramilitaries right away. Her partner in crime, Bob, was a bit more circumspect. He waited a turn or two longer before shooting at the guerrillas as they crossed a bit of open ground. Almost the same thing happened at the convention that had happened at our Sunday night game. The paramilitaries and guerrillas blazed away at the hapless Narcos, slowly whittling them down. The Narcos had their successes and gunned down many leftists and paramilitaries. However, the attrition coming back on them was too much in the long run.

    Leftist guerrillas (using my 20mm Cuban figures from Liberation Minis) advance through the jungle

Next time I run this, I will likely tweak the terrain and even the starting forces a bit more. I think the scenario still has potential for a fun day or evening of gaming. Plus, the period is a fascinating one and a change of pace from my usual sub-Saharan Africa games. Luckily, I could field this game with the figures I have painted up, already. My Rhodesian/South Africans stood in as the paramilitaries. My Cubans made good leftist guerrillas, and for the Narcos, I used my African militia in civilian clothing. Unfortunately, the 20mm figures I used for my modern warfare games, have become hard to find. Anyone who's had luck in ordering from RH Models (Liberation Miniatures), I'd be eager to hear from you!

    The Narcos hunker down on the roof of the Mini-Mart, keeping an eye on their drug shipments

As always, it was a cinch to explain the rules and the players picked it up quickly. In fact, I find that as GM I often need to be LESS helpful when the players are doing their early shooting attacks. Let them walk their way through the modifiers on their own (while paying attention, of course). Once they have calculated their own shooting attack and saving roll, they have the rules down. Wars of Insurgency is meant to be a fast-play, easy-to-learn set of rules. Players are taking care of their own turns and I need only to focus on reminding folks who's up next. 

    The paramilitaries close in on the market area while taking advantage of the cover of a stand of trees

Speaking of which, for this six-player game, I experimented with running it as three teams of two players each, rather than six individual factions to move. When the Leftists were up, both John and Michael would each activate their next unit simultaneously. This cut down dramatically on the wait time for your next turn and the game seemed to flow quickly. That's encouraging and may allow me to try an 8-player, four team game one of these days. My games seem to fill up quickly, and I always feel bad for the folks who get closed out, but wanted to play. Plus, if I have an odd number, then either I can help out one faction or one more experienced player can run both player positions of his or her faction. I'm interested to see how that goes!

Center market area of the communa, with Narcos & Leftists scrambling for cover as gunfire breaks out

   Leftist guerrillas near one of the shacks they had to defend from the paramilitaries

    One squad advances past an area of dense brush while another clears one of the communa's shacks

    Leftists John & Michael advance towards the center as their opponents keep an eye on them

    Narcos pause as they file past the 'Morning Crower' - do the papers talk about their exploits??

    'That's close enough!' a Narco squad declares as they defend their shipment in the red pickup