Saturday 25 August 2012

7TV - 7tar Wars Game -These are the Droids your looking for.



The other night at my local wargaming club I hosted a 7TV game which I had adapted so I could use my collection of Wizards of the Coast Star Wars collectible pre-painted miniatures.

The majority of the miniatures I was going to use came from the very first set: Rebel Storm, which was of the hightest quality and the pre-paint work was extreamly good. Unfortunately as sets went on the quality, sculpts and painting became considerabley worse (although the price went up!!!)

After deciding I was going to run a 7tar Wars scenario, I got to work on thinking what I could put together and what the setting would be. I chose two fairly equal generic forces, one a Rebel Trooper Platoon led by two Heroic Co-Stars, reinforced with a Rebel Trooper section with Speeder Bike and a Rebel Alien contingent.

The other Force were ubiqutous Stark White Armoured Stormtoopers, led by a Imperial General Star, reinforced by a Scout Trooper section with Speeder Bike as well as some Imperial Army troops.

The Rebels although having no Star, had the advantage in numbers.

So with the forces worked out, I set down to design some stats: Every miniature had either a Blaster Pistol, Blaster Carbine or a Blaster Rifle. I used the stats from the main rulebook for the High Calibre Pistol/Rifle and SMG but kept everything at single shot, 4+ to hit and St 4. One miniature in the Rebel Commandos and Imperial Scouts also had Sniper Rifle at 32" Range, single shot 3+ hit St4.

Speeder Bikes acted as per Motorbikes in the main rules but were armed with Blaster Cannon, stats as per SMG. All basic troops had Defence 4, however Stormtroopers had Body Armour. Rebel Scouts had Concealment and Infiltrate, whilst the Star and Co-Stars were worked out as per main rules.

The Rebel Aliens had normal stats then I worked in a few foilibles. The Mon Calamari had Aquatic, the Wookie could move quicker and was stronger and the Sullustran being short and techy moved 5 but had repair.

Now onto the game. I designed a scenario which added elements of a Gather and a Raid Scenario - so we had the 6 six numbered objective counters to be placed, along with two Astromech Droids that needed to be found.

Hence the Scenario - These are the Droids your looking for.


Both players starter with placing the numbered objective counters, 3 each in each others deployment area and then set up their battle line. Turn 1 and the Imperials won the initiative and started their activations. Four Stormtrooper ran from the woods and jumped down the hill onto the nearest objective marker, unfortunately two of them failed their Agility rolls and ended up stunned (for the whole game as they never got to remove the status!!!)
The Scout Troopers and other Troops made their moves and the Imperial General Meers gained the first Objective and imediately found a wayward Astromech. Now all he had to do was determine the extent of any damage, re-program the droid and get it of the board.
The Rebels activated for their turn one and it only consisted of movement, although the Commando section and Speeder Bike rushed forward to take the central wood.

Turn Two and again the Imperials gained the initiative. General Meers passes his Intelligence check and determines that the Astromech has some damaged servos. The Scouttrooper descend the hill  and Stormtroopers take up advantages positions to start firing upon the Rebels. The Scout Trooper Sniper did manage to take a shot at a forward advancing Rebel Trooper but the shot only managed to hit a rock.

Rebel Commandos advance again into and around the central wood with the Speeder bike opening fire, trying to take out the stunned Stormtroopers but to no avail. Rebel Troopers move forward on the right and look towards flanking the Scout Troopers. A few loose shots were exchanged this turn and both The Imperials and Rebels lost a Trooper.

Turn Three.  Initiative to the Imperials. General Meers gets the Astromech repaired and re-programmed and looks to recovering it in the following turns. Both sides take the remaining objectives, although the actual outcome of these still remains unknown.

As both the Imperials and Rebels have closed the gap, deadly laser fire lit up the battlefield with numerous Rebel Troopers mown down in a hail of Blaster fire. Both Stormtroopers and Scout Troopers lost a few men but their Blast Proof armour kept many in the fight.

Turn 4. Rebels win the Initiative and the Troopers on the right start to overwhelm the Scout Troopers. The Scout on the Speeder Bike is blasted from the saddle and the Bike careers into the hillside to explode magnificently.

A few of the Commandos along with a howling Wookie assault the central bunker complex, but the Stormtroopers and Imperial Troops in residence remain resolute.

The Rebels at this time find the second absconded Astromech and determine that it has no damage at all.

Turn 5. Imperials win initiative and open fire. Murderous blaster fire rips down the hill and decimates the Rebel Troops. One of the Rebel Co-Stars is slain and the other is wounded. The remaining Rebels remain unshaken and respond. General Meers is wounded even though he was scuttleing away with Astromech in tow.

The Droid found by the Rebels is swiftly re-progammed and made ready to move to the waiting transports.

Turn 6. Last turn and again the Imperials win initiative. General Meers exits the field of battle with the Astromech and sends it via Lambada Shuttle back to Lord Vader. The Wookie in the woods is swiftly despatched by numerous shots from the remaining Imperial troops and a Stormtrooper takes a wild shot at the Rebel with the Droid, trying to stop him from gaining what could be vital information. He missed!

The Rebels retreat and the Droid is recovered.

At the end of the game both sides gained VP's for recovering a Droid. The Rebels had lost a Co-Star and had one injured whilst the Imperials had their Star injured giving them a slight edge. Totalling up the objective points, both sides were equal but in the end the Imperials controlled more of the table and had forced the Rebels to take a Morale check so the Imperials won.



Both sides had great fun and I really enjoyed running the game. Next time I am going to do a few story linked Scenarios based on Tatooine.

 







 




Monday 20 August 2012

Dystopian Legions


    


Spartangames have just high-lighted on there website as well as at Gencon 2012 concepts and information for their new 28MM tabletop game.

As per their website - DYSTOPIAN LEGIONS will be a fast-paced, action-packed 28mm scale tabletop game set in the exciting world of Dystopian Wars, where Victorian super science fiction has created a fascinating and brutal arena for a deadly world war.



Having brought carnage to the Dystopian battlefields with giant tanks, massive airships and technologically advanced naval vessels it is now time to get up close and personal with your warfare. It is up to your platoons of infantry to storm enemy positions, capture towns, secure strategic objectives and devastate rival nations.



Infantry sections are stated as being the building block of Dystopian Legions, but Spartan Games have siad they will create so much more for gamers to build their armies with. Also available for battlefield commanders will be elite infantry units, section upgrades, mechanised walkers, tankettes, armoured personnel carriers and special characters, such as leaders and scientists who can inspire your men and cause fear in the enemy.



And if that isn’t enough they are going to create full scale battle tanks, stoked full of detail and delivered in glorious high quality resin.

The game will be scalable from a small number of models right the way up to a full blown company of men with armoured support. A modular approach to army building will guarantee the game embraces further new releases and game expansions. Dystopian Legions will feature a range of high quality pewter and resin models.






It will be interesting to see when they release the rules and the army building formula wether this game will run along the lines of Secrets of the Third Reich Weird World War 2 rules or the newly anticipated Warlord Games Bolt Action rules.

Another instance will be the cost. At Present the Dystopian Wars line of models is quite well costed and good value for money in my opinion, plus their resin casting is of the highest standards. Hopefully this will be transcribed across to the much larger vehicles they now plan on releasing.

Below are the four main nations of Dystopian Legions. If you click on list of nations links below they will take you to the Spartan Games page where you can see more information and concept art.

Kingdom of Britannia

Prussian Empire

Federated States of America

Empire of the Blazing Sun

Dystopian Legions Gallery

Sunday 19 August 2012

My "20 Questions"


Ray and Fran from "Dont Roll a 1" and "The Angry Lurker" have posted up a 20 questions post. After some consideration and enjoying reading various others who have answered, here are mine.

1. Favourite Wargaming period and why?

My favourite period used to be predominantly WW1 Air and Naval combat but since then I have totally immersed my self in the Cult TV/Spy Fi genre thanks to the wonderful 7TV ruleset from Crooked Dice.



2. Next period, money no object?

Zombies - Zombie Outbreak, Zombie Apocolypse, Whatever you want to call it - would love to be able to recreate every town/city/countryside with survivors constantly embattled against the Zombie hordes!!!



3. Favourite 5 films?

Lord of the Rings Trilogy (I know, 3 films so thats a bit of a cheat) Blade Runner, Nosferatu, Sherlock Holmes (recent version) Anything by Akira Kurosawa.

4. Favourite 5 TV series?

Slightly easier to answer this one. Dexter, Grimm, Warehouse 13, True Blood, Dr Who.
Or. Walking Dead, Spaced, Captain Scarlet, The Avengers, Open all Hours.

5. Favourite book and author?

Really like anything by Terry Pratchett



6. Greatest General? Can’t count yourself!!

Frederick the Great. Or Napoleon before invading Russia.



7. Favourite Wargames rules?

7TV By Crooked Dice.



8. Favourite Sport and team?

Despite the overpaid, over acclaimed personalities I love Football and have been a Man City supporter since I was 5. I also love Ice Hockey.

9. If you had a only use once time machine, when and where would you go?

I would go back to Jesus's time and shout to the crowd - "He's not the messiah, he's a very naughty boy!!!"



10. Last meal on Death Row?

Enough Bacon and Eggs to gorge myself to death on - that should annoy the buggers!

11. Fantasy relationship and why?

Lily Munster - Just gotta love weird goth girls.



12. If your life were a movie, who would play you?

Peter Kay. Podgy northern bloke who can make women chuckle.

13. Favourite Comic Superhero?

Usagi Yojimbo, or if you want a less obscure one Ironman.



14. Favourite Military quote?

The Earth? Oh, the Earth will be gone in just a few seconds. I'm going to blow it up; it obstructs my view of Venus - Marvin the Martian.

15. Historical destination to visit?

Great Wall of China.



16. Biggest Wargaming regret?

Not having the time, money, location or perfect ability to pander to my ever whimsical flit of 5yr old fascination I have for the hobby.

17. Favourite Fantasy job?

Anything that would combine Skydiving with Marine Biology and the ability to run around like Indiana Jones.

18. Favourite Song Top 5?

Off the top of my head today. Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon, Soil - Halo, David Bowie - The Laughing Gnome, Sisters of Mercy - Temple of Love, Fields of the Nephilim - Moonchild.

19. Favourite Wargaming Moment?

Seeing my opponents face when I Hail Mary'd a pass with a treeman straight into the arms of a halfling with diving catch in his endzone during a Bloodbowl tournament!

20. The miserable Git question, what upsets you?

My own failings at times and the discourtesy of others. Politics and Religion can turn me into Mr Grumpy as well.

Thursday 16 August 2012

7TV - Evil Genius and Henchmen

I already have a 7TV villainous cast, but I thought I would clear these nefarious looking characters as I was doing more armed minions at the same time (minions still WIP).

Still got more Captain Scarlet miniatures in the painting queue and then I will move on to my main Heroic cast that I use for 7TV which is the Man from W.A.S.P.

So here we have.

Keeron McGreevey - Irish Muscle 

Keeron grew up near the Belfast docks where his father worked. Once into his teens, he started putting on muscle due to the physical work of loading and unloading the containers from the ships, his father introduced him to the local bare knuckle fights that were held weekly and Keeron soon became dock champion.

Aproached by certain ner do wells Keeron was offered bodyguard work for the local crime sydicate and soon became a valued henchmen. Now a henchmen for hire, he will work for the highest bidder.

Keeron McGreevy
Dr Yeznomiybee - Polish Evil Genius

Ernzt Yeznomiybee started life with a fascination for pulling wings and legs off small insects. Dedicated to learning how things cope without appendages he applied to medical school, excelling in autopsies and morgue etiquette!

Twisted and malicious, Ernzt managed to qualify from medical school and took over management of Krakow's city hospital morgue, where after a few months was arrested under suspicion of murder. Erntz was killing indescrimantly and then making sure that the corpses were transferred to his morgue where he could then discect them and carry out other evil experiments.

Escaping from prison, he is now set up somewhere in the region of the South China sea and hiring a number of evil henchmen and minions.

Ernzt Yeznomiybee
Alistair "The Duke" DeCourcy

Alistair is the disowned son of a major peer in the British House of Lords, hence his sacastic moniker "The Duke". Thrown out and disenherited over a terrible scandal involving a number of young ladies of the debutants, DeCourcy moved to Paris, where he lost his left eye during a fencing match.

After recovering from his injury, he was introduced by friends to the shooting club as a way of rehabilitation, miraculously loosing his eye had enhanced his ability to shoot a pistol with a degree of acuracy that was impossible to behold.

The Criminal fraternity soon got to hear about Alistair's unnatural accuracy and he eventually was employed and became the top assassin he is now.

Alistair "The Duke" Decourcy

Group shot.





Thursday 9 August 2012

7TV - Femdroids

Just a little post of my 7TV Femdroids as I am slogging my way through all my Warbases buildings, now that the few missing items have arrived. Photos of all my buildings to be listed shortly.

The Femdroids have been painted very similar to the studio paint scheme seen either in the book or on the webstore (Not very imaginiative I know but just wanted something else to paint other than Brickwork!!!)

7TV Femdroids - We just want to love you!!