on Kickstarters and other distractions

Many thing going on in the non-gaming world for me. I have a batrep from my last Flames of War game to post, and fingers crossed, will be getting in another game of Mighty armies this evening.

However, if you need a little extra reading, let me recommend this article by Matt Forbeck, no stranger to the industry, discussing the top ten tabletop Kickstarters. This is one of the biggest talking points in the gaming world today, and Mr. Forbeck's comments echo what we've been saying here as well.

Now if you will excuse me, I will go back to dreaming up a Victorian scifi campaign for 7tv...

Mighty Armies: first game

Last week, Maurice, Aaron and I sat down to play Mighty Armies for the first time. I brought the Dark Elves of Hyperborea to bear arms against a fierce goblin force and an army of Leonines and their allies. (All figs either Rebel or Splintered Light.)

The battlefield. My elves come in from the north, a terrifying Dragonman at the center, with veteran armored Swords on his left and skirmishers on his right. Those sword infantry proved to be rock solid, and held their own to the bitter end. And the Dragonman was a nightmare, taking on entire enemy units singlehandedly.

Goblin cavalry take shots at the leonine infantry. Two turns into the game, we jokingly decided it was a secret 'king of the hill' scenario. No one knew!

Goblins to the east? Leonines to the west? Time to charge right into the middle!

Above you can see my sorceress, hiding behind the elite polearm guards. (I forgot to base my general and the sorceress, will have to correct that before we play next time.) The sorceress accomplished.... very little all game. Chalking that one up to my inexperience with how movement works in the game. Line of sight is crucial, even if spellcasters are squishy. Especially from ranged attacks.

Speaking of ranged attacks, this pic commemorates when my skirmishers took a random shot at the leonines on the hill, and eliminated their general. (Hello, Harold!)

It also commemorates the sweet measuring stick I made on my lunchbreak at work, since I had forgotten my measuring tape, but we had a bunch of coffee stirrers. 

 The Dragonman follows up after crushing his opponents. So mighty.

The remaining Hyperborean elves form a defensive square to fend off assaults from two sides. It doesn't help. My veteran troops were hella tough, but numbers took their toll.

Attrition was massive, as forces were whittled down. The Dragonman was finally eliminated, but only through dedicated effort. After my elves were routed, the last few stands duked it out, until the goblins reigned supreme, with only the warlord and maybe another stand or two besides.

So, highly enjoyable game. Plays fast, but includes enough tactical depth and variety to keep us entertained, I think. We're already talking about different armies to try or how to expand next. (We're also going to expand these armies, so we can use them to try out Pride of Lions as well.) Maurice also wrote his side of the story, check it out on his blog here.

 

Two of Maurice's figs, because that guy can paint.

more found terrain

Since I work an odd shift, I do most of the shopping for the household, which means I have the time and opportunity to check out the bargain sections for things to... appropriate for the gaming table. Yesterday I lucked out and found these charming treats:

Five Below (everything there is $1-$5) had these marketed as solar-powered lanterns for cookouts, a mere three bucks each. Whereas I see some excellent kiosks or small buildings for scifi terrain, pretty much anyplace outside the 'Dark Gothic' vibe with a Far East flavor. Infinity, Relic Knights, I could even see these in Pulp City. Only have to figure out if I will leave them generic, or put a little effort into making them into advertising/communications hubs. My basement is chock full of unfinished projects, but these are close enough I can easily put in the labor to get them table-ready.

Tragically, I think they're a bit out of scale for 15mm, at least not without significant adjustment. Nonetheless, worth picking up.

"It seems you feel our work is not a benefit to the public."

"Why do I steal fabricants?... because it’s the only well-paying job

in the city. In Hefei, you either serve food on the street, fix fabricants,

or steal fabricants. Besides, it is not really wrong. There are

10 million of them in the city. The companies won’t miss one or two..."

As a fan of the Four-Color Studios Goalsystem, I just raised my pledge to the Ghosts of Hefei kickstarter. Really, it would be worth it for those figs alone. And this is the kind of game for which Kickstarter was created. Consider coughing in a few bucks, or if you already have, finding a couple more to throw at it.

time to stomp Tokyo

Been a busy month out here, just not as much gaming filling the gaps. Sneaking in some painting, to be put up here soon, but wanted to add a quick note about another fun board game the wife and I tried out last week.

King of Tokyo is a fast and fun romp. You play one of the massive monsters/giant robots/huge aliens seeking to destroy Tokyo, but you have to beat the competition first. Each turn, a player rolls the dice up to three times, setting aside any dice they want to keep. You can roll hearts (to heal,) energy (to save up and buy special power cards,) victory points (to win!,) or attacks (to SMASH.) In true king-of-the-hill style, any monster outside the city can hurt the one monster inside the city, but the monster in the city can hurt ALL the monsters outside with a successful attack. One the monster inside the city takes damage, though, they can switch places with the beast that damaged them, leading to some tactical calculations. And if you start your turn as the monster in the middle, you get victory points. 

The game is quick and fun, and a great way to spend an hour or so. If/when I pick it up, the first thing I will do is replace the cardboard beast the game includes with some re-purposed Monsterpocalpse minis, because of course.

League of steampunk skirmish? Yes please.

"It is 1895 and the world is in turmoil. In the decades to come historians will reflect upon the cause of this state of affairs and many will point at Charles Babbage. His perfection of his Difference Engine and then his Analytical Engine gave the new scientific establishments in the great imperial nations the tool they had so long needed in order to make a great leap forward. The ability to make huge and repeatable sets of complex calculations revolutionized the world. 

"Within twenty years we had the perfection of miniaturized steam engines, electric light and motors, Radium Bricks, Arc weapons, Hydrogen and latterly Helium Dirigibles, Road Trains, Calculating Artillery Engines, Sea and Land Dreadnoughts and, well, the list is almost endless. Nothing is impossible when the wealth of a great nation is coupled to the unlimited imagination of educated men of science and their engineers..." 

In the past I mentioned that while I was all over Empire of the Dead, in the end I didn't get in on the most recent Kickstarter, in favor of dumping money on Zombicide 2 instead. But just reading through it reminded me how much I love that convergence of steampunk and dark Victoriana and what have you. Fiddling with the idea of a 7tv steampunk game distracted me for a bit; that may still happen at some point, especially when our Blackwater Gulch figs come in. (See how my mind works? Just keeps going and going...)

But really, for me, it always comes back to the League. Even before I started branching out into pulp gaming, I had been keeping a list of figs to get to convert the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. I loved the comics, and adored the concept and the setting, all the fiddly historical details and discreet references to obscure literature.* (And truth be told, even that goes back to Anno Dracula, which was written by one Kim Newman, bringing everything back to gaming. Full circle!) There's a definite allure to the anything-goes feeling of pulp adventure, and when you get to bring in excellent characters like that (or a pastiche version of them) it really strikes a chord with me. A cowboy game is good, but bring in a masked man in black with a bullwhip and a rapier, and I'm hooked.

So when I ran across In Her Majesty's Name by North Star, my curiousity was roused. Equal parts steampunk and AE-WWII-style historical revisionism, this is straight up my alley. I don't have any real experience with Osprey's rules, but this post on the development of the game definitely sounds like it's worth investigating. Other posts in that blog gave me even more confidence in the direction they were taking, and this thread notes some of the other companies and clues. They're running a pre-order, which is a not-Kickstarter, but will likely net you a couple extra figs if you order ahead of time. I'm already brimming with ideas.

* - I also... didn't entirely hate the movie? No, it was bad, but they did bring in a couple good ideas.

Gruntz: Nova Cisterna

Last week, Maurice and I sat down for a little Gruntz action. One of the takeaways from the con was a re-interest in narrative games, so Maurice threw together a scenario for the battle of Cisterna (based on this article he was reading.)

The EHTC launched Operation Laser Shingle as an attempt to dislodge the Kontrol Battalions from Nova Cisterna before Kontrol could completely secure the planet. Kent's "Power" Rangers dropped in before dawn, behind the Kontrol bulkhead for a nighttime raid. Unfortunately, the drop put them farther behind the front lines than they intended, so taking stock of their location, they chose to seize the relay station to disrupt communications and sow havoc.

Kontrol troopers man the defenses. The game started with nighttime conditions, dramatically limiting range. The beginning of every turn, we rolled to see when dawn would arrive.

The map layout, which my esteemed opponent took right from the historical battle. The outmanned elite Rangers were marching up the drainage ditch in the center of the board towards the relay station in the upper northeast corner. Kontrol forces, more numerous but less well-trained and less well-equipped, took up defensive positions on the north side. On the east side, the "Chocodile" APC took up a flanking position near a field. It would accomplish... very little all day.

We actually randomized the Kontrol deployment to a certain extent, to show their lack of preparation for a stand-up fight. This lead to a couple turns of running around in the hopes of being ready for the coming Ranger assault.

The Rangers made good time while the darkness held out, seizing the initiative and moving north quickly, inflicting decent casualties on the closest Kontrol troops, while only taking light incoming fire.

Due to the randomization, the Kontrol leader ended up in the northeast corner, far from the bulk of his squads. However, he was in the same area as the Mantid mercenaries, aliens employed by Kontrol as shock troopers, notorious for their vicious assaults. As dawn arrived, the Kontrol leader ordered the Mantids to bounce into combat, and away they flew. The initial charge didn't inflict many casualties on the Rangers...

...But the Mantids' melee prowess was matched by their stamina and determination. They tied up and bloodied the Rangers, wearing them out with a protracted fight and slowly but surely taking the upper hand.

(Not pictured: the APC in the backfield, which after multiple turns of misses, finally makes a single hit, taking out the Rangers heavy weapons soldier.)

The Rangers eventually defeated the Mantids, but between those losses and the Kontrol support weapons picking off stragglers, only two Rangers were left standing. The Kontrol troops lined up and opened fire, putting an end to the surprise attack.

Excellent game, definitely could have gone either way. The first few turns were all him, and then initiative and the dice swung things towards Kontrol.