I turned 30, it is hard to believe. So what do you do when you turn 30? Well, I had friends over and we built terrain for miniature wargaming! A whole day of excitement and fun! And here is the end result of those that I or others have finished. As the others become completed I will make another post showcasing them as well.
While not technically part of the B-day weekend, I did build this with my 11-year old nephew a couple weeks having already collected a bunch of the materials to build terrain and looking for something fun to do with him. And voila! Magic happened…or a falling down barn. Depends on how you define voila.
The size and proportions are just perfect.
Here is something my friend Wil experimentally put together and declared a finished product built but unpainted. And it did not look like much in that state. But once I mounted the whole thing on a hill, and painted it up, it has now become a master piece!
I love the deprecate structure of the whole thing.
The burned out garden, perhaps even poisoned so nothing grows there any more.
And that wall. Wall.
The sprouts of vegetation were given to me in sheets by my friends Jay and Kristy from a dollar store. It was a perfect gift.
A rock line I put together. I had these big rocks I had never used, and for a few days before hand I knew, a rock line was going to happen.
I love taking rocks, and then painting them to look like rocks.
A tank trap made wine corks by my friend Colin. Just enough room for those infantry to get in there and take cover.
Jon put this piece together from the first pieces cut to the finishing touches of paint. He worked hard on it and it shows! Thanks Jon!
I pity the troops that have to traverse that narrow pass.
I had such a good time on my B-day. I think it may have been the best birthday ever!
For the entire winter we have been getting constant and consistent snow. So heaps of snow and snow clearing machines out multiply times per week. And then from -30 to melting point, and then back to -30 (celsius). This is the day of the melt and the ugly sand revealed.
Now imagine it freezing again. Then walking on it. Literally walking on ice.
I started a drop pod a few months back, and never finished planning it out. I saw it laying there in pieces, and decided I needed to put my brain to it.
My biggest problem was how to put the doors on. I need to them to open during games, but they are so big that it would be impossible to carry them around like that.Then it dawned on me, HINGES!
I used white glue on the foam edges of the foamcore, and then I am going to be painting them black with a water based paint. That way when I prime it, the foam won’t sizzle and be eaten away by the chemical in the paint primer.
To glue the pieces together I used Super Glue, which worked better than I expected!
I bought cheap plastic coasters to use as the bottom thruster and raise the bottom off the ground. I only need one per pod.
I am very excited about how it is looking. This is the test model, and I am hoping to have enough foamcore in one 27″ by 20″ sheet to build 4 drop pods. I am trying to keep all the measurements recorded as accurately as possible…but sometimes I found myself looking at it and saying “is that 3/8 or 1/2 an inch?” Measure twice, write down those measurements, then cut once.
Costs so far:
- 1 Sheet of foamcore – $5
- Hinges – $3 for 4
- Cardboard – free (cereal box)
- White glue – $2
- 4 Coasters – $1.50
Apocalypse World by Vincent Baker
Apocalypse world is amazing. Post-apocalyptic magic.
I had a couple of conversation with my friends the other day, talking about how easy it was to play, and how fun it is. The point I was making that my friend Jon was saying how easy it is to MC (Master of Ceremonies – i.e. GM or Game Master), and he pointed out that Jon was a very experienced GM and that of course he would find it easy. I had to point out he was making this comment in relation to the other games he is running (in charge of being the opposition/conflict for the players, by playing the NPC’s and colouring the world). He still said that he is experienced and would find it easier than a novice roleplayer. I had to agree, but secretly I was certain that even in that context a new person to roleplaying would still have a much easier time to be the MC for this game than a GM for most other games, if not every other game.
Here are the points that makes the job of the MC so easy:
Very little prep required
You don’t need hours of planning to do your job. There are worksheets and threat sheets for everything you need. You write a couple things the players are interested in, and circle or choose the rest from the list. Everything is there for you already.
It is the character’s responsibility to push the story forward
As the MC you simply throw shit in the players way, and select moves from a list to do this. Simple.
You are fan of the players
I think this important as a point for why it is easy. You want them to succeed. If they fuck up, you through shit at them. But you want to see the players have fun, and the characters be awesome. And when they enter certain situations where death is an option, it is their decision to do so.
So from that perspective the game is great. What about from the Players perspective? The conversation I had with a fellow player about AW (Apocalypse World) went like this:
This game is sooo easy to play.
Ya it is.
And very fun!
Yep!
Perhaps there was more to the conversation, but really that was it. It is the same as the MC where all the options are laid out before you. Everything a player is able to do fits into 1 of the 7 Basic Moves, or you get the other Moves from your Playbook (Character Sheet). It is a very focused, sleek, yet very robust, and simple system. I am in awe of how good it is.
If you want to find out more about the game, or if you do get into it, you can buy it from the Un-store (an Indie RPG game store), or check out the AW Forum. I highly suggest it!
I sat down recently to play the first game of a minimum 5 game adventure using the Burning Wheel system, and it is exciting. My friends Jon, Jeff, Colin and Greg are the players and I am the Game Master. We had previously sat down to create the world and the scenario, in the system it is called World Burning (there is also a book coming out called the Adventure Burner that expands on this). The creation of the game is amazing, and some of these ideas may find its way into my podcast, but they have been burning inside me (get it, burning wheel, world burner…I am so witty) that I had to get them out to the world.
One of the things I sent out to players when trying to get players, was a request of no pre-planning, i.e. don’t plan the campaign before you sit down. I stress this for both player and GM. Here is the deal, if 3 of 4 people come to the table with a plan already laid out, and that 4th person was not interested in that idea, or to the point will not have fun, you have just ruined the game for that person. Come with ideas, but make sure it is a collaborative agreement that settles on the main ideas. The most important I believe is what kind of game – is it all about intrigue? combat? romance? If you can get everybody on-board with one idea, you have yourself a game. The 2nd most important thing is plot. Even if the game is a bunch of brothers who are set on taking on the world together, it can go astray. This is not bad, plot points should show up to thwart the players, but the point is that is the common goal. If the brothers become embroiled in infighting, and politics of who will be king, this can be fun but not what all the players signed up for. It is very important to not only be clear on what the game is about in terms of plot, but it is the most important role of the GM. More so than throwing monsters at players, having clever ideas, or roleplaying NPC’s who are fun and interesting, BUT to keep the game on the track everybody agreed upon. If you want to jump that track, the players have to all be aware of it, and agree, otherwise you are breaking the game.
Now the general idea of World Burning, is to get creative input from all the players on what the world is like. What does the world look like? What is the weather like? What nations are there? What is the currency? What are the dangers in the world? Who are the antagonists? And many other questions you could pose. As a GM, you do not need to pose these ideas if the players are discussing it without prompting, but be ready with those questions if they are not covered. And here is the next point, keep good order when discussing these ideas, and someone write down those ideas. As the GM take it upon yourself to point to the person who is speaking and indicating that it is there turn. If 2 people start talking, point to one, and then go to the next after the 1st is done talking. It is like running a board meeting. Cover the points, make sure people get their turns to talk, make sure you cover a point completely before moving on, and have a chronicler. Players make good chroniclers, though I prefer to keep my own notes.
So there are many other points I can go over, but I think I might bore you if I go on any longer. Key points in summary:
- Don’t plan the game before everybody sits down together
- Define what kind of game it is, especially plot
- World burning is fun for everybody, everybody gets a say
- Be organized, it really helps, treat it like a business meeting that is more fun
- It is the GM’s responsibility to keep the game to the intention agreed upon by all the players during game play
If you have not tried out Burning Wheel, look it up, it is really fun.
I played a fun 40K game recently using the Battlemissions book. We ended up playing Hit and Run from the Orc section, and we rolled off to see who would be the ‘Orc’, and the Marines ended up filling that roll. I wrote up a bit of a speed list, mainly so I could test out a couple of my units the way they will be at higher point games. Specifically the 3 Deffkoptas that each have different wargear, and the Warboss with Mega armour travelling with the Meganobs in the Looted Wagon. Here is the full Ork list I played with.
HQ
Big Mek – 120pts
- Burna, KFF, ‘Eavy Armor, Cyborg
Warboss – 115pts
- Mega armour, BP, Cyborg
Troops
11 Ork Boyz with Trukk – 166pts
- Slugga + Choppa, Nob,BP, PK, 1 Rokkit
- Trukk w/ Rokkit, Ram, Red Paint
12 Ork Boyz with Trukk – 167pts
- Slugga + Choppa, Nob, BP, PK, 1 Rokkit
- Trukk Big Shoota, Ram, Red Paint
12 Ork Boyz with Trukk – 167pts
- Slugga + Choppa, Nob, BP, PK, 1 Rokkit
- Trukk Big Shoota, Ram, Red Paint
Fast Attack
1 Wartrakk – 45pts
- Skorcha w/Wartrakk, Red Paint
3 Deffkopta – 165pts
- 2 Twin-link Rokkit, 1 Big Shootas, 1 Big Bomm, 1 Buzzsaw
2 Deffkopta – 90pts
- 2 Twin-link Rokkit
Elites
4 Meganobz
- 1 Kombi-Rokkit-Shoota, 3 Twin-link Shootas
Heavy Support
Looted Wagon – 50pts
- Ram, Red Paint, Big Shoota
Total Points: 1250
We had to end the game early, but it was clear at that point that I would probably have won (though I offered a draw since I did we were not able to fully determine the outcome). But that is not what is important. What is great, is both the 3 man Deffkoptas squad and the Meganobz with Warboss in the Looted Wagon all performed the way I expected them too. The 3 man squad was really hard to kill, and so were the Meganobz. This was also the first time I had used a Looted Wagon or Meganobz, and was very happy with how they performed. The Looted Wagon is basically just a Rhino that is a bit more expensive, but open topped, and with a dumb rule.
The highlight was my turn 1 where the Meganobz jumped out of their transport and assaulted a 10-man Assault Marine squad. The results: 1 Wound to a Meganob; 9 Dead Marines. It was a thing of beauty. 21 Powerklaw attacks smashing into the wimpy marine armour.
I finally finished painting and sealed my Ork Warboss Krud Klink (brother to the Big Mek Krid Klunk) and his entourage of 4 Meganobs.
A closer shot of the green terror.
They all have Power klaws designed for ripping open vehicles.
One of them has a kombi-rokkit just-in-case.
It is the height of Ork technology and the most hydraulics and wiring you will ever see on an Ork.
I am very pleased with them 
And if you notice on every on of their bases are parts of vehicles that they have torn up, even their own! They can can sometimes get impatient.
Played a game against my buddy Jeff the other day, and snapped a picture of my mighty Orc Kannons with the Gretchin manning the gunz and a Runtherder keeping them in line.
I lost the game miserably but got a few good pictures out of the deal.
Played a game to end off a tournament we were playing over a month (3 games each with 6 players) and it was a lot of fun! We discussed a bunch of things at our monthly meet at Imagine Games, and then played a Mega Battle with 3 vs 3, each of us using our 750pt armies that were used in the Tourney. What we discussed were the rules we had used during our tourney, and this is the first time most of us had played in a Tourney for 40k, and it was just for us as well, so some of the things did not work. Here is what needs to be changed:
- Sportsmanship Score – This does not make sense when you are friends playing together, and adds nothing to the experience when playing together. Never mind just us, it is stupid for any tournament because you can use it as a spite score if you lost (since you score each other)
- Hard Score vs Soft Score – These need to be separate when determining winners, advancement, and pairing up matches, because otherwise you might have a lot of mismatch people playing each other.
- Hobby Score (Soft Score) – Really in the end ranking each persons army based on Hobby is sort of worked, but can’t really work based on a score when we play the next Tourney with each other at 1000pts this time. We are using the same armies, so instead we are taking about voting at the end on Best Painted Army, which I think can be cool, and also Best Painted Mini. So at the end of the Tourney you put forth 1 of your mini’s to be judged and compared to others (you cannot put a mini forwards again in the next Tourney if he won that distinction in this one).
- Secret Objectives – They worked, mostly. They need to be tweaked, so it is possible that both players can always get the objective. The example came up where in one game one player had ‘Commander must live’ while the other player had ‘Kill enemy commander’. Only one person can get that, and we figured that was not cool. So change it is! But we are keeping the secret objectives.
What was awesome:
- Set Missions – Each of the 3 games was already predetermined before the tourney even started, so each game was one of the 3 basic ones in the book (Seize Ground, Annihilate, and Capture and Control) so that way each army had to play 1 game of each so no one army could dominate if they were good at, let’s say, Annihilate. We are thinking about adding a 4th game, just mix it up a bit and have it random.
- It Was Fun – We all had fun, and that is why we did it! We all got to play more, get more experience with the rules, and find time to play against other people or armies that we may otherwise not have found time to do.
It looks like we will get more friends involved in the next Tourney, so that should rock. I feel like I have been watching too much of How I Met Your Mother and it has affected my vocabulary.
So here a few picture from our Mega Battle. Some of the pics I took I had the ISO set wrong on the camera, so some of them turned out a bit grainy.
Turn 1 as Orks lead the charge for the Xenos
Crater of a blown up rhino and more Marines than the Orks can handle in assault
Imperial Guard holding their ground.
Terminators deep strike and the Space Marines about to teach some Orks a lesson.
My Trukk of awesome!
I posted a picture of my Defkoptas charge to victory for my first post, now here is the battle report for the whole battle. It was a super fun game that held fun surprises, and I was a little worried at the end of the game that my opponent might get lucky and pull off a draw.
Set up of the game on Turn 1 starts.
Turn 1
Orks rush forwards with vehicles and the mob of 20 hides behind the ruins out of sight, waiting for their moment to charge through the wall toward the objective. Orks shoot with not much connecting, but the Eldar get 6 Orks who bite it in cover on the centre objective, 1 from a Boss pole, and the Falcon takes out a 1 of the 2 Kannons on the back line, leavning 1 Grot alive and making his leadership check.
Trukk hiding not for its’ benefit, but for the troops inside who can run into cover if it blows up.
Boyz have jumped out and are sitting in cover, fearing that their vehicle might be destroyed on 1 of the 3 objectives.
Turn 2
It goes down in turn 2, WAAUGHHHHHH is declared! Orks charge, jump out of the Trukk and assault the Falcon destroying it. The Boyz on the centre objective charge the Wave Serpent and immobilize it and destroy one its weapons. The mob of Orks in the hiding behind the church moved out and are almost on the objective. The Eldar retaliate make it known they can swing a sword as well as any Ork, assaulting and doing significant damage to the Ork boyz with the Big Mek, and the Orks on the hill get blasted by Dire Avengers and the lonely Nob runs away.
Falcon is down!
Wave serpent immobilised! Lost 1 Ork on the Waaugh. A little to eager to get there.
Turn 3
Mob of Shoota boyz take the building and destroy the Dire Avenger squad. Farseer and Fire Dragons finish off the Orks and the Big Mek they are fighting, but only Farseer and 1 Fire Dragon left. Big Gun opens up and hits destroying the mobile Wave Serpent with more Dire Avengers on the board.
20 Ork Shoota Boyz fill the building and 13 get there shots off on the Dire Avengers including 2 Big Shootas.
Ork boy and Nob roll 6′s for their save throw and survive!
Farseer and 1 Fire Dragon consolidated behind the downed Falcon, temporarily victorious.
Dire Avengers after their Wave Serpent was downed.
Turn 4
Deffkoptas comes onto the board and plays it safe, Shoota Boyz open up with 27 dice roll on the Farseer and 2 hits which results in 1 kill which causes the Farseer a Leadership test which he fails and runs off the board. Big Gun opens up and takes out 3 Dire Avengers but then gets destroyed by the immobilized Wave Serpent, Wartrukk has weapon destroyed from assaulting Dire Avengers.
2 Dire Avengers who about to run around the impassable terrain to hide from the mass of Orks in the centre.
Turn 5 + 6
The last 2 Dire Avengers are killed by the Deffkopta in close-combat after 3 rounds of it. Orks contest 2 objectives and hold 1 objective. Eldar have 1 unit left on the board.
Gretchin from Kannon krew who ran across the board as a JIC to contest this objective.
Last unit of the Eldar left with 1 gun.
