Showing posts with label Super Heroes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Super Heroes. Show all posts

Monday, June 30, 2014

POWER LEGION – Playtest #2


Almost two months ago I volunteered to help out with the play-testing of Power Legion – a new Super Hero game from Ganesha Games using the ever popular Song of Blades and Heroes game engine…  

You can see the first play test we did here: POWER LEGION – Playtest #1

I have to admit I’m feeling just a little bad about not getting more play-tests in before this but May/June are just crazy around here… So last weekend I was DETERMINED to get another game in… and I did (despite that fact that we had Karate grading in the morning and then we had to ride to the other end of town to get to the the Dragon’s Den for Free RPG Day… and then get groceries… and get to the library to return some books… did I mention it was pouring rain all day…?) So I only had an hour or so to come up with some new heroes to try out… and then our friend arrived early… and we got started late… and then I had another insanely busy week… but that’s all over now… we played a game and her, finally, is the report!

(Whew!)


River City, 23 June 2014

SITUATION

Members of the League of Bad Evildoers, recently busted out of the Prince Albert Penitentiary and looking for payback from the River City Super Squadron that put them there orchestrated a bank robbery that they knew would draw the member of the Super Hero team which the Evildoers could then ambush.

SCENARIO

Another straight up slugfest, more or less…

FORCES

River City Super Squadron

Superfastgirl (Marin)
M d6, A d8, S d6, K d6
Superspeed d8

Super Energy Man (Christian)
Md8, Ad8, S d8, K d8
Flight d10, Armour d8, Ranged Weapon (energy blast) d8, Combat Computer

Hell Girl (Keira)
M d6, A d8, S d8, K d10
Lethal HTH attack D8, Armour (vs. Fire) d10, Luck, Toughness

River City PD SWAT Officer
M d4, A d4, S d6, K d4
Rifle (Ranged Attack d8), Marksman d6, Armour d6, Normal

2x River City PD Patrol Officer
M d4, A d4, S d6, K d4
Pistol (Ranged Attack d6), Marksman d6, Normal


League of Bad Evildoers

The Sinister Dr. Flame (Finnegan)
M d10, A d8, S d6, K d6
Fire Generation d10, Leadership d8, Intimidation d10, Strong Will d10

Dim Shadow (Maeve)
M d6, A d10, S d8, K d6
Teleport d10, Lethal HTH Attack d10, Stealth d10, Loner, Backstab

Punchy Brewster (Amanda)
M d6, A d8, S d8, K d8
Flying Kick, Marital Arts d12, Acrobat d10

3x Bank Robbers
M d4, A d4, S d6, K d4
Rifle (Ranged Attack d8), Marksman d6, Normal


THE GAME

(Remember: click on the pictures for a bigger version)


The two teams set up at the opposite ends of the street while the Police and the Bank Robbers face off at the intersection.

TURN ONE


Dim Shadow kicked things off by teleporting to the polics station and ambushing the SWAT Officer easily taking him down!


The Sinister Dr. Flame ran up the street to join the Bank Robbers exiting the main branch of the River City Credit Union. (Yeah, it might seem those bank robbers were a bit dim to rob a bank right across the street from the River City Police Department HQ…. but remember this was all just a set-up to draw in the River City Super Squadron!)
.


On the Heroes end of the turn Super Engery Man flew to the top of the Wales Theatre…. Aaaaaaaand then Superfasatgirl rolled a turn over…

TURN TWO


The sinister Dr. Flame and the Bank Robbers all blasted away at Super Energy Man on top of the Wales Theatre… but did absoloutely nothing to him (thanks to d8 armour!)


Punch Brewster ran up the street while Dim Shadow took down another cop.


When it was the Heroes turn the remaining River City Police Officer on the scene stepped up and attacked Dim Shadow and was KOed for all his efforts…

Superfastgirl rocketed up the street and tried to slam into Punchy Brewster and got knocked down in the process, got up and did a power attack with her remaining actions but failed to do anything (I think Punchy actually hit Superfastgirl, but failed to do any damage to her…)


Super Energy Man unleashed a blast of raw Energy Power at The Sinister Dr. Flame staggering him! Then Super Energy Man flew away to the top of the River City Credit Union.

TURN THREE


Dim Shadow teleported to the top of the River City Credit Union and attacked Super Energy Man… hitting him…. but not really doing anything (d8 armour, yo! Should have made Dim Shadow’s knives armour piercing…)… and then she teleported away before she got her but kicked off that roof!


The Sinister Dr. Flame did not fall unconscious (being “staggered” he had to test every turn for KO). He and the Bank Robbers decided to hightail it out of there before they did end up KOed and were forced to be an objective in a supervillain breakout scenario next game (although, that might have been fun too!?)


Hell Girl ran up the street some more…


On the Heroes turn Super Energy Man flew down to join in the fight between Punchy Brewster and Superfastgirl… but nothing happened (probably punchy hit Super Energy Man, but couldn’t do anything to his awesome d8 armour/d8 Knockout). Superfastgirl also took a swing at Punchy and again with Punchy’s awesome d12 martial arts it was Superfast girl that got hit and was KOed for her efforts!

TURN FOUR


Dim Shadow teleported into  the melee between Puchy Brewster and Super Energy Man (and the unconscious Superfastgirl) hitting Super Energy Man (again) and doing nothing to him (again). Punchy then rolled a Turn Over.

Oh, and The Sinister Dr. Flame succumbed to his injuries and was KOed. I guess we WILL be having a super villain break out next game! 


On the Heores turn Super Energy Man flew away from Punchy and Dim Shadow to pick up Hell Girl (who was still running down the street) hoping to try a team maneuver next turn

TURN FIVE


The Bank Robbers ran back towards the action – I guess finally seeing that Superfastgirl was down…? Dim Shadow teleported way out of the action – not wanting to be the target of what she knew was coming next…

Super Energy Man Picked up Hell Girl and delivered a “Dive Bomb” attack on Punchy Brewster… I’m pretty sure Hell Girl missed - with Punchy’s awesome Martial Arts she probably did some crazy Aikido side step and HG piled into the ground. Hell Girl apparently survived the fall.

TURN SIX

I guess it was getting late and I stopped taking pictures… one both ends of the turn Punchy and Hell Girl hammered on each other – both times Punchy hit Hell Girl, but was unable to actually damage her. So they stood there. Hammering on each other.

Super Energy Man flew down the street to seek out Dim Shadow and delivered a mighty Energy Blast with KOed the Dim Shadow.

At that point we called it.

Again – a great game… took a little longer than I imagine it should – but mostly because I spent a lot of time looking things up to try and remind myself of how a few things worked.  Once I get it in my head it will be a lot quicker.


Coming soon on Tim’s Miniature Wargaming Blog:

Hopefully now that all the crazy has subsided and all the kids activities are done for the summer we’ll get some more Power Legion play tests in SOON – though we’ve also been thinking it’s time we gave Of Gods and Mortals a try… and A Fistful of Kung Fu – Hong Kong Movie Wargame Rules… So many games, so little time... 

Wednesday, June 18, 2014

Geezers and Supers

A few things rolling off the workbench this week… I’d kind of lost interest in painting for a week or so there and then got busy with...well... other things. (I did do some Other Painting...) But Amanda’s been away in Ottawa for work this last week so I’ve been staying up and getting some painting done while watching (well… “listening” to a few movies – occasionally looking up to see what’s going on) and listening so some more of A Clash of Kings audiobook (almost done!)

(Remember: click on the pictures for a bigger version):


“Putcher trousers on, you’re nicked” – The Flying Squad Guv’nor from Killer B Games.


A couple of Thuggish geezers also from Killer B Games



Two new supers (I’m calling them Fire and Ice) from West Wind Productions old range for Super System (I think Old Glorymight still be manufacturing these…?)


Two more Supers from the same line… I haven’t come up with names for them just yet…


Coming soon on Tim’s Miniature Wargaming Blog:

I have a batch of ancients that I’ve also finished up that I’ll be posting separately as a separate post. 

Friday, May 30, 2014

Egyptians, Nubians and… Superheroes?!


A few more odd items rolling off the workbench…

(Remember: click on the pictures for a bigger version):


Ancient Egyptians from  Black Tree Design.

I’m not sure how I ended up painting these and the Nubians below…? Perhaps I was thinking I’d play Of Gods and Mortals…? I’m sure it made sense at the time when I pulled them out of the drawer.


Nubian archers, also from Black Tree Design.


Nubian civilians from Wargames Foundry

After playing that first game of Power Legion last weekend I got to thinking I should paint up a few more of the old Super Hero figures I had kicking around.


A Super Hero from West Wind Productions.


And another Super Hero from West Wind Productions.

I should really make up some names and powers for them and stat them up! 


Coming soon on Tim’s Miniature Wargaming Blog:

I’m hoping to play a few games over the weekend – especially a few more play tests of Power Legion!

Saturday, May 24, 2014

POWER LEGION – Playtest #1



Almost two weeks ago I volunteered to help out with the play-testing of Power Legion – a new Super Hero game from Ganesha Games using the ever popular Song of Blades and Heroes game engine. In fact one of the first thoughts I had while reading the first rule set I picked up by Andrea Sfiligoi (which was Of Gods and Mortals) was that this would be perfect for Super Heroes… After a week, however, I was feeling a little guilty about not having even READ the rules., let along doing any play-testing!? (it’s a CrAzY-busy time of year… those regular followers might have noticed a bit of a drop-off in posts and production of miniatures…). So I enlisted the help of The Boy. I handed him the rules I printed off and said; “read these, set up a game…” and this afternoon, he did…

He was having a little trouble sorting out point values and stuff so I told him – pick some figures that are cool 2-3 per side. Give them some stats and abilities based on what you might think they should have… don’t worry about the points…. Here’s what he came up with...

(I was asking a lot here…. He’s ten and hasn’t has a lot of experience with designing scenarios and teams – especially for brand new games that he’s just read the rules for….)

River City, 24 may 2014

SITUATION

Dr. Switzler and the Mean Guys (the super villain group) challenged the River City Crusaders to a battle in downtown River City. Part of the City was evauated and the two teams faced off in Downtown River City

SCENARIO

Two Teams – Do Battle! (and figure out the rules as we go)


THE GAME

(Remember: click on the pictures for a bigger version)


Dr. Switzler and the Mean Guys at one end of the street…



Aaaaand ANOTHER picture of Dr. Switzler and the Mean Guys…



Finnegan takes the first move and advances the River City Crusaders up the street.


AT the end of my first move – Zoomer has raced across the table and gotten into contact with Silver Warrior (I think he took a swing at him, but missed), Dr. Switzler has flown onto the roof of the Super Pawn, and Sharkzilla and Rulk just trundled up the street a bit…


Ba-DAM!!  The Armoured Avenger flies up to the roof of the Super Pawn and Knocks down Dr. Switzler!


Ska-DOOOSH! The Silver Warrior Knocks Zoomer right out!!


Dr. Switzler springs back up and flails about in a slap fight with the Armoured Avenger. Mr. tough Guy continues to trundle down the street.


Sharkzilla and Rulk trundling up the street a bit more…


Sharkzilla and Rulk Try teaming up on Mr. Tough-Guy. Armoured Avenger is reeling from one of Dr. Switzler’s blows.



A big ol’ gang rumble in the street… which bogged down a bit and we decided to call it. We’d learned enough of the basics to go back to the drawing board and make some better heroes and villains and re-read (or READ for the first time – in my case) the rules to try and find the things we missed or got mixed up on. Finding balance is very hard in superheroes games - in most I've played they seem to bog down and end up with guys standing toe-to-toe hamering on each other without any ability to actually DO anything to each other!? The bogging down in out game was probably due to the design of our Super Heroes and Villains (like I said, despite his enthusiasm, it was a lot of ask of a ten year old...) 

General Impressions

AWE-SOME! This is going to be SUPER fun when we figure out what we’re doing – the game seems to have a LOT of potential. Stay tuned for more play-test reports!


Coming soon on Tim’s Miniature Wargaming Blog:

I finished up painting a batch of Dark Age figures over the last week, I just haven’t had a chance to flock the bases and take pictures and post them… I’ve started prepping and priming a bunch of Egyptian and Nubian warriors (both singly-based for skirmishing and ones on temporary painting bases that will ultimately end up on DBA element bases)… but now that I’ve played a game of this I might get motivated to paint up a few ofhte other Super Hero and Villain figures I have kicking around that I haven’t gotten to painting just yet… 

Tuesday, February 4, 2014

More Monks, French Napoleonic Line Artillery, The Watchmen, and Assorted Ramblings About Nothing in Particular…


And so that was January. Poof! Gone.

It hasn’t been a terribly productive month – painting-wise. Even though the family was away for a week and a half! Usually I crank through about 100 28mm foot in a month – especially during the winter when I don’t get out as much as I perhaps should… but the unending renovations…

Three weeks from this weekend is the 10th Annual Wargaming Birthday Bash/Winter Wargaming Weekend! After this lot I have 2-4 more Bushi Buntai to finish up. I should start getting people to confirm whether they are for-sure-for-sure coming (and maybe not bother paint those last two…).

Here is the latest…

(Remember: click on the pictures for a bigger version):


These are for my second Sohei Buntai. All the miniatures are from The Assault Group. This is a bit more than 400 points worth of stuff as I am still tweaking this force, so I’ll be doing another post in a day or two with the force that will be used in the campaign.


The Grand Master and his two Senior Sohei.


Four Sohei with naginata


Four Sohei with yumi (bow) though one has hair, which is annoying because I'm pretty sure all monk shaved their heads... When it first arrived I thought I might add a bit more of a cowl with green stuff to cover the offending hair... but I didn't... call it laziness.... or call it panic - because I still have three more buntai to finish in the next three weeks!


Some figures that I thought I might use as initiates. Again, some of them have hair.... maybe they're SO new to the order they haven't had a chance to shave their heads...?

This next bit might be a bit of a shock to those that have followed the blog a while or have known me personally...


Yeah, those are French Napoleonic Line Artillery from Perry Miniatures


I've been playing Neil Thomas' Wargaming Nineteenth Century Europe and really enjoy it. I noticed he had a set of rules for the Napoleonic Wars, and figuring it would be about the same I picked up a copy. It being quite similar to the other rules I thought it might be fun to play and not a lot of stuff is required. I have half a British force already, so I thought I'd pick up enough stuff for a French force to oppose it.... and I happen to be ordering stuff from Perry Miniatures for the Ronin campaign... so I ordered this gun and crew....


I really know next to nothing about the Napoleonic era - and even less about the French. I find the myriad of different uniforms and combinations of equipment a bit dizzying at times... but after studying the sample on the Perry website, a few napoleonic Line Artillery plates I was able to find on the web, and Curt's fabulous example - in the Analogue Hobbies Napoleonic Gallery! I sloshed some paint on these fellows and hoped for the best...


Hopefully the results and my cavalier and purely amateurish attitude won't offend any of the hardcore Grognards out there...

Finally I finished painting up a batch of minis for my friend John


These are old 25mm figures from Grenadier Models made for the DC Heroes Role-Playing Game by Mayfair Games.


Silk Spectre II (Laurie Juspeczyk) and Doctor Manhattan (Dr. Jonathan "Jon" Osterman)


Nite Owl II (Daniel Dreiberg) and Rorschach (Walter Joseph Kovacs)


Ozymandias (Adrian Veidt) and The Comedian (Edward Morgan Blake)


Hooded Justice and Captain Metropolis (Nelson "Nelly" Gardner)

Also included in the boxed set were Moloch The Mystic and a considerably smaller scale Owl Ship - which, not being "heroes" I didn't feel compelled to get done in time for the bonus round as I have more pressing things to paint!

These have been submitted as part of the “Heroes” Fortnightly Themed Bonus Round of the Fourth Annual Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge. There are bonus points for the most popular – so if you think these are fab you can go and vote for them here:

The Fourth Fortnight Thematic Bonus Round: 'Hero or Heroic Group'

Because the last poll got spammed or something voting has to be done through posting comments…

In other news…

North Star Figures had a sale…


…and I went a little overboard… There’s some Napoleonic French Infantry to join the artillery above. I’ll need a few more units of infantry and some cavalry to finish up the force, but none of that’s really a priority at the moment. There’s also some British and French Napoleonic Colonels there (on horseback). I also picked up 16 Sikh Riflemen for Great War in East Africa (and potentially other colonial conflicts – real or imaginary!). Finally I grabbed a few packs of the Atomic Café 1957 figures; some zombies, the Soviets, the Michigan State Bowling Team(!?), and some Civil Defense types in NBCD gear.

I’ve been listening to A Game of Thrones audiobook for the last week or so while staying up much too late painting after the kids have gone to bed. It’s got me thinking about Hordes of the Things campaigning again… I’m not sure what form this will take? Perhaps I could run another summer campaign weekend? Or another online/email campaign? Or even an ongoing campaign with the locals - get together once a week and play out a season or two once a week. Anyone interested in getting in on any of that action?

I’m also planning on making some new terrain for the upcoming Ronin Campaign/Tournament. I thought I’d make a half dozen dedicated terrain boards approximately 3’x3’ (they’ll actually be 90cm x 90cm) I’ve been thinking I should make them so that they could match up with other terrain tiles I’ve made (or could make in the future) – so any roads or rivers would exit at the middle of where a 30x30cm tile would line up with it.

The big question that’s been troubling me is whether I should stick with the size of the old terrain tiles or start afresh and ditch the old ones?

I have the equivalent of about 24 tiles at present. So matching with them ould greatly add to the possibilities of what I could lay out. Unfortunately when I made the very first of them I didn’t give nearly enough thought to what I was doing and made them with some scraps I had on hand. I had a bit of 3/8 plywood and a bunch of 1” Styrofoam. So I used the 3/8 plywood as a base and cut 1” batts for the sides out of 3/4” plywood or MDF and filled the area with the 1” Styrofoam. So I have tiles that are 1 3/8 thick and when I made the second and third batches I followed suit – even though I’d had a better Idea of how to make them.

Ideally I’d like to make new ones with ¼” MDF bases and use ½” Styrofoam to fill them – that way the rivers needn’t be so deep, nor the banks so steep – which have caused troubles in many games. Also slimmer ones would be easier to store…

But to build anew would mean all these old ones will be… well… less useful…

Hmmmm….

Yeah…

I’m kind of leaning towards starting afresh…

Anyone want some old beat up terrain tiles?

[sorry already taken!]

Coming soon on Tim’s Miniature Wargaming Blog:

The Sohei Buntai – as it will be organized for the 10th Annual Wargaming Birthday Bash/Winter Wargaming Weekend? I’m also very nearly finished the second Bushi Buntai- The Dragon Clan!