This is a fantastic build by the very talented Tom Snellan, I first saw it on Brothers Brick. I'm a sucker for all things Dwarven, and this is one of the coolest builds I've seen in a long time. You can peruse a bunch of pics of the above diorama in his gallery here.
Last night we played a great game based on the Song of Blades and Heroes engine called Fear and Faith by Ganesha Games. I honestly don't know if this is a standalone game, or an expansion for the core rule. All Iknow is that it's dirt cheap at $8 bucks.
We played a modern day zombie scenario, run with three players; Jon and I controlled human teams, and Chri3 controlled the third "team", the zombie horde itself. Since it was Chrispy's copy of the rules, his awesome terrain, and his figs, he adjudicated the rules.
Classic car enthusiasts stop for 44oz, cherry flavored refreshments
You may remember Chrispy's great Cowtown terrain by Ertl we used in Gutshot! not too long ago. Well not to be outdone, this time he's picked up a bunch of 1:43 scale cars, and a table full of O-scale model train buildings. The table truly looked more like a diorama than wargames terrain, and that was before we put down any figures too.
The government arrived on the scene in two squad cars. Four MP5-armed SWAT officers took cover behind the armored doors of their cruisers while the British liaison stalked forward, twin pistols at the ready. She's had experience with this sort of thing before.
Shambling forth
From the convenient store burst the zombies, led by a Necromancer. He wasn't a true necromancer, being a modern setting, but he did have some weird science/arcane abilities. I forget the title Chrispy gave him however.
He didn't last long. My British liaison was pretty impressive on the tabletop, and she made short work of the 'magician'. Being the leader of the band, he was her primary target. It was a shame to see him go down so quickly because he had a host of magical abilities he never got to use. The only one that went off was a transfix on my character in melee. She shrugged it off pretty easily the next round however, and that's when she took him out.
Surprise!
Bursting through the side window of the house came the psychopathic, chainsaw-wielding maniac. Not Undead, but certainly a threat. He saw his ally fallen (helped by the double-tap help of one of the SWAT team), and surmised it must be the slinky girl going guns akimbo. As Chri3 charged the maniac into melee he rolled double boxcars, disabling the chainsaw before it ever got to be used! I dodged quite the bullet on that one.
Taking back their town
Jon moved his stalwart survivors closer to the horde. His heroes might not have training, but they had grit, determination, and an arsenal of weapons...including a single grenade. Unless you do an "aim" action, it's impossible to kill the zombies outright (no head shot). Gunfire and the like will knock them back, or down, in which case you get a moment's reprieve. Also, your odds of taking a zombie out while they're prone are greatly increased.
My "artsy" shot
Braiiiinnnnnssss...
BADA BOOM!
Well Jon finally through his grenade! Being a civilian, his character may have overlooked the effects of both a blast radius as well as shrapnel. The grenade was incredibly effective, almost too effective though as the blast also killed an Elvis impersonator.
We didn't have vehicle rules, but that didn't stop me from having a SWAT officer jump back in the car, and take off down the road, skid to a 180˚ stop, jump out, take cover behind his door, and start blasting undead! Cinematic indeed. Yes, we took video of it.
Mopping up
It was a pretty handed victory for the humans, all is fair in the Zombpocalypse. The main drawback to Chri3' side were his two character models who should have performed much better. Die rolls always factor a little bit into it, but going up against my über character, each of them in turn, spelled their doom. If the maniac had been on the other side of the board, he could've easily plowed through a couple of civilians with ease. And with the mage, he had a whole bag of tricks he never got to use because he was locked in combat with me hero.
The zombies did their job, and even though they weren't super powerful, they were hard to kill and most importantly, relentless. There was an ever-present threat to their advance that remained throughout the game. Plus, the book has rules for all kinds of zombies, we used the stock undead, but there's also fast zombies, spitter zombies with ranged attacks, and the like. Plus, the book covers other threats too like werewolves and vampires!
We had fun, end of story. We had a lot of fun to be truthful. The rules were just familiar enough, and just easy enough where we could sit back and enjoy the game without worrying too much about what we could or couldn't do. The zombie genre is always a fun one, and what can I say about the table itself? It looked like a real town, and it was done with very minimal effort. With a little bit of work and effort, you could have some top notch terrain.
Yeah, it's safe to say I'm hooked. It's also safe to say that Chri3 is REALLY hooked. He sent about ten texts/pic messages to his fiancee during the game apologizing in advance for all the money he's going to be spending on the Zombpocalypse. He had been struggling with what scale to use, but seeing it all in glorious 28mm sealed the deal methinks.
I've already got an idea for my own 'band' of survivors. I'll get to paint some cool models I've had my eye on for some time, do a little conversion work, and voila, I'm done. It's not as few models as I could get away with in, say, a game of Gutshot!, but it'd still be less models than I'd need for a Necromunda gang or the like. Besides, my collection is sorely lacking in the modern department, so this fixes that to an extent. Plus, it'd be just plain cool to do.
I could get used to this! Unfortunately, this could be it for a while as I head into [the last of my Viking pile]. However, I’m very proud of this unit of [Old Glory and Gripping Beast Vikings]. I thought they turned out very nicely. I like the [warrior] on the left– remind you of anyone? I don’t suppose it’s too late to sculpt a [necklace] and mount [horns] on the sides of the [helmet]! Maybe when I get around to the decals. Anyway, this should give me a satisfying enough selection to run a largish game [of Pig Wars], so I’m happy. I’ll probably be looking to flesh the [Heroes] out now that I have [finished the core troops]. Now, off for some historical research at Netflix.
Housecarls
"Shocktroops", Hirdmen with chainmail, shields, and two-handed axes
A couple of shields...
More shield designs, bold and bright I know...
These won't stay blank, awaiting decals via Little Big Men
"There was a princess who lived in the forest. She was a centaur; half horse and half human. She wore her long, brown hair in thick braids and she had sparkling green eyes. She and her tribe were respectful of nature. Today was a special day because it was her birthday."
"It was the centaur princess' 16th birthday, which was special in her tribe. This meant that she was old enough to be considered a responsible adult. To prove this, she had to do a special quest. She got to pick what her quest would be."
"The centaur princess went to the oldest of the tribe, the wise woman. The wise woman was the keeper of the stories and she had many books in her hut. The two stayed up long in the night, reading about these legends by candlelight."
"There was a tale of old that spoke about an ice crown that belonged to a centaur queen. It was a very magical crown and all the best wizards helped to make it. There was an ogre; a large, terrible ogre warlock who was jealous and wanted the crown for himself."
"In a battle only remembered in ancient books, the ogre warlock attacked the centaurs. He had many monsters to help him. He stole the ice crown and fled to his fortress in the mountains."
"The centaur princess decided her quest would be to find the ogre warlock and take the ice crown back. It would be a hard quest and many thought it would be too difficult for her to do. But she had courage, and she made up her mind!"
"It was still winter but the centaur princess did not want to wait until spring to go on her quest. She would leave this week, but first she had to get supplies and say 'goodbye' to her family. It was a dangerous journey and she might not make it back."
"The mom and dad of the centaur princess were because their baby had grown up so fast. They were also very proud of her because she had grown up to be an honorable and caring young woman. They had a special feast the night before the princess was to leave on her journey."
"During the feast the dad of the centaur princess gave her his old bow made of white wood and it had green leaves painted all over it. He told her it would always aim true as long as her heart was true. It was her bow now."
"The mom of the centaur princess gave her a special necklace during the feast. It was called the Heart of the Forest and was a large, green gem the color of the princess' eyes. It glowed a magical green, and with it she could talk to the animals of the forest."
I say "proper" in the title, but it should read *complete*. Brian over at Repple Depple has posted his batrep of last Friday's Check Your 6! game. To see more pics, most importantly not taken with a camera phone (so they're much better quality) and a writeup on the actual historical context of the battle, including types of planes, head over to Repple Depple.
It's been a while since I plugged my gaming group's growing endeavor, the Minions of the Monster Master. I was going to put "podcast" after that, but it's been growing since day one. As of this writing we're up to a whopping TWELVE episodes as well as a handful of splinter projects and the like that help establish the Minions' footprint.
What are the shows about? Well a good overall descriptor for the whole kit would be, "A not-so serious look into gaming culture and its many related games. Episodes include actual play, interviews, product reviews, and more." In general, it's just us doing what we've always been doing, sitting around the table, shooting the breeze, hanging out, and rolling dice. The only difference being that now there's a mic at the table and you can "sit in".
I can tell you this, the show has definitely gained all of this positive momentum because of you guys; the listeners, readers, and commenters out there. We joke that no one listens, we're just recording for our own posterity, but the truth of the matter is that we've got a small, but loyal following. It's the interaction with you that propels the next episode, and in the end it's not just us creating our own slice of the geek pie, but you guys as well. Join us!
Looking back, it's been a while since I've reviewed any books. I know the pulp Conan books weren't the only ones I've read since November, but nothing else comes to mind. Then there's Death's Head, something I literally picked up on a whim at the used bookstore for $3 bucks. Now it's not the "best military sci-fi" I've ever read, but it was pretty good.
The book is novel-sized but split into two distinct parts. The first half of the book sets up the main character, Sven, who has a host of traits that put him head-and-shoulders above your average soldier. It gets into his background, who he is, where he came from, and ultimately how he comes to be in the present; and that's in the service of the Death's Head, an elite branch of the military under the OctoV empire. The second part of the book jumps right into the action, as Sven hits dirtside on an enemy planet against overwhelming odds.
The technology is pretty widespread, from basic slug throwers to dimensional shifting and everything in between. There's actually a lot of cool things that the main character "uses" that I hesitate spoiling here. One thing I will let slip is his sarcastic, intelligent gun. The sights, sounds, and smells Gunn portrays cover to cover are vivid, and crudely raw. There's a prevalent sexual element (as common with most ground-pounders and loose women) throughout, and it gets fairly explicit. Also, there's a certain olfactory ambiance that's equally crude, and mostly revolves around feces. Now I say "crude", not in the literary sense, but just in the unabashed truthfulness of it, nothing is sugar-coated, or even moderately softened.
The action is good, but this isn't an action book and many portions are without. This is a good thing though because real character development takes place and something resembling a story emerges; before you know it, you're really getting into it. By the time you've got less than a quarter of the book to go, you're already eager for the sequel.
For my daughter's birthday we went to go see the new Dreamworks movie, it was awesome. The birthday party itself was pretty cool; they had a party room for cake, pizza, and presents, and a bunch of other cool things. On the interior marquee they had her name and a "happy birthday", and after presents, they took all the kids up into the projector lofts to see all the behind-the-scenes movie action. It's an 18-plex theater, so there were a lot of movies going on. Then she got to start her own movie at that projector. Played a bunch of overpriced videogame sin the arcade, then we saw the movie...
It was a great movie, go see it, end of story. It had Vikings first and foremost, which are like historical Dwarves, which is doubly cool in my book. Obviously it had dragons too, and a bunch of other cool stuff. The story itself was understandably light, but the rest of the movie was cool enough it didn't matter. The animation was fantastic, and it seemed they did just enough tricky "camera work" to make it seem more like a modern day action film, and less like a cartoon movie. The animation was a good mix of real textures and cartoon people. Plus, the humor was actually funny, I laughed more than a few times out loud.
The characters were funny, and the voice acting was great, including the lead Viking played by Gerard Butler. Being on a Viking kick lately, I paid extra attention to the details, and they didn't disappoint. The weapons, armor, and shields were top notch, and made me really wish I had their designs in decal form for my warband. One funny part was the protagonist's horned helm his father had given him, made from half of his deceased mother's breastplate. From longboat to catapult, the richness and flavor of the world was great.
And of course there were the dragons; these came in all shapes, sizes, and threat levels. They really wove a complete mythos around these flying creatures, and each kind was distinct in its own way. Of course the lead dragon character was also the coolest. My buddy Oz was there, and being a gamer as well, I found us both chuckling at the obvious D&D inspired montages. It is a violent movie, with many action and fight sequences, and a main character struggling with the implications of killing. It's done in a lighthearted manner, but it is in there. If you have kids, they'll enjoy it, or even if you don't have kids it's worth going to see anyway.
I've been sitting on top of Descent for some time, and just recently, Chri3 and I broke it out for a test drive. Over the holidays I picked up the expansion, Well of Darkness, thinking long term for a loose series of linked games, err, a campaign of sorts.
I had been reading up on the rules since I got the expansion, and although Chri3 had never played it, and I played it once years ago, the game went off without any major bumps or hitches. I could attempt the overview/review it, but there's many who have already done that, and with a more thorough job at that. Check out the Boardgame Geek page.
I will tell you it was fun, without a doubt, and I can see that once you get a single game under your belt, maybe two, you've got a good, fantasy romp with little prep and hours of adventure. My thinking, and why I picked up the expansion, was to run a campaign on the side with the group and go from there. It also works as a good pick up game, but not a filler game, 'cause a night of dungeoneering is just that, pretty much all night.
From what we saw and played, it looks promising indeed. Player mortality is a real threat, and there are tons of tactical options that become more in-depth (and fun) the more players you add. Using a campaign set, like Sea of Blood or Road to Legend, you can introduce all kinds of new mechanics into the game, such as overarching villains, half-sized dungeons, and most importantly in a campaign, a unifying narrative.
EDIT: Just today I picked up the Road to Legend campaign box at my FLGS on clearance for -50% off, thanks for the tip Chri3...
"There was a princess who lived in the forest. She was a centaur; half horse and half human. She wore her long, brown hair in thick braids and she had sparkling green eyes. She and her tribe were respectful of nature. Today was a special day because it was her birthday."
"It was the centaur princess' 16th birthday, which was special in her tribe. This meant that she was old enough to be considered a responsible adult. To prove this, she had to do a special quest. She got to pick what her quest would be."
"The centaur princess went to the oldest of the tribe, the wise woman. The wise woman was the keeper of the stories and she had many books in her hut. The two stayed up long in the night, reading about these legends by candlelight."
"There was a tale of old that spoke about an ice crown that belonged to a centaur queen. It was a very magical crown and all the best wizards helped to make it. There was an ogre; a large, terrible ogre warlock who was jealous and wanted the crown for himself."
"In a battle only remembered in ancient books, the ogre warlock attacked the centaurs. He had many monsters to help him. He stole the ice crown and fled to his fortress in the mountains."
"The centaur princess decided her quest would be to find the ogre warlock and take the ice crown back. It would be a hard quest and many thought it would be too difficult for her to do. But she had courage, and she made up her mind!"
"It was still winter but the centaur princess did not want to wait until spring to go on her quest. She would leave this week, but first she had to get supplies and say 'goodbye' to her family. It was a dangerous journey and she might not make it back."
"The mom and dad of the centaur princess were because their baby had grown up so fast. They were also very proud of her because she had grown up to be an honorable and caring young woman. They had a special feast the night before the princess was to leave on her journey."
"During the feast the dad of the centaur princess gave her his old bow made of white wood and it had green leaves painted all over it. He told her it would always aim true as long as her heart was true. It was her bow now."
As promised yesterday with my Viking warband post, here are some teaser pics of the latest Pig Wars game we played. The pic above hardly does it justice, but this was one of the best looking tables I've ever had the pleasure of gaming on. Throw in the fact that there were also about a hundred and twenty fully painted models, well, it was pretty sweet.
The wagon train hauling the bride price
The bride's wagon trade
An exchange of bride and bride price at the river
Viking mercs hope to make sure things don't go according to plan...
It has been some time since I envisioned my initial Viking warband. I was thinking a literal "boatload" at best, and at this point I've made significant gains in that direction. My motivation was to get what you see above started and finished by the time our Friday night game rolled around for Pig Wars. I'm happy to say I made my deadline!
The Militia
I feel the quality suffered ever-so-slightly with these guys because of the sheer volume I was trying to get cranked out, averaging about five a night. In the end however, I'm very happy with how they turned out, and on the tabletop, they look just fine. I did mostly characters and militia. My characters are pretty, well, characterful, and encompass leaders, legends, and he like, as well as berserkers. A dozen or so militia round them all out.
My three berserkers are kind of unique in that they're not historical figures at all. The young lady on the right int he chainmail thong, winged helmet, and, ahem, breastplate is my Valkyrie. She is a GW fig from back in the day for a Heroes of Dungeonquest figure expansion. It's "Helena the Swift" and can be seen here. She came out in 1988, making her one of the oldest figs I'm still using in my collection, geez, twenty-two years now. The strapping fellow in the middle is none other than Wulfgar, of Salvatore fame. He was part of a Ral Partha Forgotten Realms Heroes boxed set from about the same year as the Valkyrie, mid to late eighties. It's interesting, if you look at that pic, Drizzt the famous DARK Elf is painted clearly as a Caucasian, and not with the jet black skin Dark Elves are known for.
Archers
The Son (left) and his father, the Chief,with heirloom weapon
Putting the pig...in Pig Wars(I love this sculpt!)
Shield designs
Obviously, the bold, geometric patterns are not only the easiest to pull off freehand, but look the most striking. There was one fellow that I had to repaint his shield three times before I went with a simple cross pattern. I tried a checkerboard pattern a couple of times too, but failed miserably. For the rest of the figs I've yet to paint, I'll either stick just to geometric patterns, or maybe look into getting some shield design decals.
I'll post some teaser pics of the battle this warband took place in tomorrow, and when Brian gets his mega batrep written up, I'll link to that of course. All in all, these guys have been fun to paint up, and Pig Wars is a great format because you don't see anymore figs than what you see here. I've got about ten guys or so left to paint, but then I'm done (for now) leaving me room to focus on the next project, plus I'll have a cool Viking warband wrapped up!
We had fun, end of story. We had a lot of fun to be truthful. The rules were just familiar enough, and just easy enough where we could sit back and enjoy the game without worrying too much about what we could or couldn't do. The zombie genre is always a fun one, and what can I say about the table itself? It looked like a real town, and it was done with very minimal effort. With a little bit of work and effort, you could have some top notch terrain.
