Reaper Bones Kobolds

I polished off a dozen kobolds from the first Reaper Bones kickstarter. Their small size made their details feel even shallower than some of the other Bones figures I've painted up, but the wash helped pull out their features. I still felt like I was guessing when picking out things like their teeth, but they should be serviceable as dungeon chumps for the players to cut down.

I glued them to washers and extended the dungeon floring they were standing on with some milliput sculpted to look like flagstones. I suppose they turned out ok, but I looking forward to getting back to some metal or plastic historicals next.

Easing back into painting with Reaper Bones Beetles

We're moved in, the holidays have wrapped up, but I'm still unpacking and setting up our new house. Happily, I managed to get a bit of painting done: a pair of Reaper Bones beetles. Not too impressive, but it's nice to be able to get back to the hobby finally.

George and Ringo

Happy New Years! Let's invade Russia!

Smash Up! Fun, but
5-year olds get
analysis paralysis

So are "games for New Year's Eve" a new tradition or something I've just aged into? My son insisted on a game of Smash Up after I got home from work on the 31st (pretty fun game, although I haven't figured out the trick to getting the Wizards to be useful yet). After we wrapped up, we piled into the car and went to a family party (kids downstairs, 'rents upstairs) where various party games were broken out. After we returned home to put our boy to sleep, my wife and I broke out "Command and Colors: Ancients" for its inaugural game, finishing up just before the ball dropped.

The next day I joined my buddies for our 2nd annual Axis & Allies game. Checking my various social media feeds after getting home I saw tons of game playing across the board, even by people who aren't "gamers" per se. Even a bunch of coworkers broke out Catan and Cards Against Humanity for the New Year. Is this a trend, or is everyone I know just old and ditching the drinking (and subsequent hangovers) for quieter pursuits?

Wrapping up 2013

It's the end of the year. Time to wrap up what I managed to accomplish in 2013 and make some plans for 2014.

I'll need to find time to polish off this monster in 2014 too!

Painting Totals for 2013 

28mm foot: 111, 28mm mounted: 17 which is about half of what I knocked out last year. It was an eventful year with a move to a new house and a new job which didn't leave a lot of time for painting. Hoping to get back to 2012 totals in 2014.

I failed to get up to 6 divisions per side for Hail Caesar, but I did manage to get a pair of basic forces for SAGA completed, and I made a dent on my Reaper Bones. I also managed to resist adding new periods to the lead pile which is good, and with a mountain if lead already on hand I think I'm going to focus on getting it painted up.

Games Played: 6 
One fewer than last year! Again, I spent 5 months in temporary housing with no room for wargaming. That said, we did play quite a bit of King of Tokyo and Pandemic. I'm quite eager to push some lead around in the new year.

Conventions: 1 
Urgh! Scheduling this year really put a crimp in convention attendance (we moved into our new house during Fall In), but I did manage to get a few new friends to join us for Historicon and they're already making plans to attend again this summer. So overall I count that as a win :)

Games to Play in 2014 

SAGA
I finally have enough painted figures to give SAGA a try. It's long been my back burner side project, and I would have preferred to get some dark ages battles before the game line had wrapped up it's entire run. Still, I've heard lots of good things about SAGA, and the demos I've played at cons have been fun, so I'm looking forward to take a deeper dive into the rules.

Fireball Forward
I've really enjoyed every game of Fireball Forward I've played at cons, and my buddy Mike and I are jonesing to get it on the table. My soviets are ready to go, and Mike's Germans are nearly so. We just need to get them finished up and a few of the markers and flags necessary for the game and we can give an infantry game a whirl. I'd like to get some tanks on the table too (something I think Fireball Forward does well), so hoping I can get both some panzers and T-34's put together and painted up quickly too.

Hail Caesar 
We have a good handle on the rules, but Mike and I have been talking about making a few adjustments. I think we're both ready to move beyond straight up slugging matches, but our first attempts at scenarios pulled from the old Tabletop Teasers weren't quite satisfying. We're also thinking of trying a fantasy version of Hail Caesar as well.

Command and Colors: Ancients 
I picked up the board game this summer, hoping to get my ancients fix while in temporary housing awaiting the completion of our home. Only got as far as getting the stickers applied, but I'm hoping to get in a few games, albeit with a full hex marked table and 28mm figures rather than the blocks and board.

Dungeon Delves 
I've got quite a few of the Reaper Bones figures painted (and many, many more to go) plus an unopened box of Dwarven Forge terrain. Looking forward to doing some orc bashing with my son, and I'm pretty sure my regular game group will want a few sessions of dungeoneering as well. Not sure if we'll use Song of Blades and Heroes, an expanded version of
Dungeon Crawl Junior, or good ol' DnD.

Battleship 
I don't mean the one with the white and red pegs. I played a pretty fun WWII naval game at the last Historicon, and I've quite suddenly gotten the urge to do some spaceship gaming too. I like the idea of a simple felt cloth and a handful of vessels duking it out, but I'm not quite sure what period or theme I'd like to tackle yet.

Dungeon Crawl Junior

We're finally getting settled into our new home and with our Christmas shopping and parties wrapped up I managed to get some minis on the table. My son and I have messed about with a variety of D&D type games, but no matter how simple I tried to tweak the rules, they always still felt too complicated. I did some on-the-fly game creation this afternoon that stripped them down to the bare minimum and had two hours of fun with the boy today. He was able to internalize the rules quickly and ran a dungeon crawl for me for over an hour. Details on dungeon crawling for kindergartners after the jump.

Dungeon Crawl Junior

Materials Needed

• Miniatures (good guys and bad guys)
• A board (terrain tiles or dry erase grid map or 3d dungeon terrain)
• polyhedral dice (d4, d6, d8, d20)

Getting Started

1. One player is the GM, everyone else are the adventurers
2. An adventuring player can control more than one miniature. 
3. Each adventurer player should look through the good guy miniatures and pick out some cool figures. There should be at least four good guy miniatures. 
4. Get some paper and write down the stats for each good guy figure.

Statting up the Good Guys

1. Take a look at the figure's armor. If it has armor or a shield, it has Armor 2. If it has armor AND a shield, it is Armor 3. Otherwise it is Armor 1.
2. Assign a class die to the figure. The class die is used for the figure's Hit Points and Attacks. If the figure is a wizard, its class die is a D4. If the figure is knight or barbarian its class die is a D8. Everybody else (clerics, thieves, halflings, etc.) have a D6 class die.
3. Roll hit points. Each figure rolls its class die and records the number as its Hit Points. Reroll 1s.
4. Figures that are spellcasters (wizards, witches, shamans, etc.) pick one spell.

Statting up the Bad Guys

1. Monsters usually have 1 hit point. They have Armor assigned in the same manner as good guys, but they have the option of swapping 1 point of Armor for an extra hit point (for example, an orc with a shield could be considered Armor 1 with 2 Hit Points instead of Armor 2 with 1 Hit Point)
2. Most baddies have a D6 class die. Small or weak creatures are a D4, big ones are a D8.
3. For Junior Dungeon Crawlers, keep the number of bad guys equal to the good guys. If the adventurers know how to use choke points, focus fire and how to protect their weak figures, you can increase the number of monsters. Twice as many baddies as good guys feels about right.

Playing the Game

The good guys explore the dungeon laid out by the GM. If they try to listen at a door, climb a wall, disable a trap, etc. the adventurer can roll the d20 with success on an 11 or higher.

When the good guys encounter some baddies a fight might break out.

Combat

1. Each side rolls a D20 to determine initiative. The higher roll goes first, all of the figures moving and attacking before play passes to the other player. Initiative is rerolled each round. Ties go to the adventurers.
2. Most figures can move 6 squares and attack once. (Small or slow figures like kobolds, golems, etc. only move 4 squares. Fast figures can move 8 squares)
3. When a figure attacks, it rolls its class die. A value higher than the target's Armor deals 1 hit point of damage (monsters usually go down in 1 hit, but adventurers usually have a larger starting hit point total).
4. Monsters reduced to 0 hit points are dead. Adventurers reduced to 0 hit points begin bleeding, losing 1 hit point per round, dying at -10. Did the party get wiped out? Maybe they are captured instead and awaken in the prisons of the dungeon's monsters, or sold back to the local town as hostages.
5. Adventurers with spells can cast their spell once per combat.

After defeating a group of monsters collect XP and treasure. 2d6 gold per group of monsters, x10 if its their lair or a tough battle.

Adventurers can return to town and heal to max or spend gold to buy equipment, extra warriors, healing potions, etc.

Special Rules

• Spears can attack a figure two squares away (even attacking past friendly characters)
• Bows and crossbows suffer a -1 penalty attacking at more than 6 squares.
• Two handed weapons get a +1 attack bonus.
• Wielding two weapons can reroll a miss once per combat.

Some Sample Spells

• Water Wave: Targets a group of bad guys. Roll a d20 for each, knocking any who roll under 10 prone. Prone figures need to spend a whole round getting up. Attacks against prone figures that miss may be rerolled once.
• Magic Missile: Deals 1 point of damage to target figure. Shoot an extra missile at 3rd level and two extra at 5th level.
• Turn Undead: Roll an attack against each undead in the combat. Rolling above their Armor forces the undead to flee. Undead is destroyed if the roll was the die's max.
• Heal: A friendly character gains 3 hit points.

XP and Leveling

Any time the adventurers encounter monsters, give them XP for the encounter (they can't get XP from the same group of monsters if they encounter them a second time after fleeing for example).

Divide XP among the whole group of adventurers. Reaching their level x100 in XP gains them a new level. Roll the class die again and add the value to the adventurer's Hit Point total.

Here are the monster XP values and some notes I used:

Orc: 5xp  (Armor 1. HP 1 or 2. Attack D6)

Skeleton: 5xp (Armor 2 (3 vs. arrows). HP 1. Attack D6.)

Kobold: 3xp (Armor 1. HP 1. Attack D4. Slow-only moves 4 squares)

Rat: 1xp (Armor 1. HP 1. Attack D4-1)

Messing about with dungeon features like traps, teleport circles, funky fountains, etc. should also grant some XP. 5 to 20 seems reasonable. 

And that's it! I don't think there's anything ground breaking here, but these worked quite well for the boy and me for an afternoon of orc bashing fun. 

Thanksgiving, from the Native Perspective

Here's a great article on Smithsonian's site about the colonization of New England by the pilgrims from the American Indian perspective. There's a lot here I hadn't heard before: the system and rules of fealty between the various native villages, the harsh rites of passage to enter adulthood, the natural technology that was superior to the classically "advanced" European homes, and more.

This bit makes me want to paint up some eastern woodland natives for some skirmishes:

Armed conflict was frequent but brief and mild by European standards. The catalyst was usually the desire to avenge an insult or gain status, not conquest. Most battles consisted of lightning guerrilla raids in the forest. Attackers slipped away as soon as retribution had been exacted. Losers quickly conceded their loss of status. Women and children were rarely killed, though they were sometimes abducted and forced to join the victors. Captured men were often tortured. Now and then, as a sign of victory, slain foes were scalped, and in especially large clashes, adversaries might meet in the open, as in European battlefields, though the results, Roger Williams, founder of Rhode Island Colony, noted, were “farre less bloudy, and devouring then the cruell Warres of Europe.”

Great article, lots of power struggles and political machinations by the various Native leaders, and fodder for painting up and playing out some conflicts between the two societies.

Black Friday and Holiday Wargame Specials

I've been scouting a few wargame deals popping up this year for Black Friday, and many appear to be running through Christmas. Have you seen any other great holiday game or hobby specials I missed?

Wargame and Miniatures Sales and Deals

Tabletop World's Christmas deal.
"Yes dear, I bought these for our
'Christmas Village'.  I'll just hold on
to them with my wargame things
for the rest of the year."

• The WarStore is running a 25% off special for a bunch of Flames of War items. Use their 'BlackFriday' coupon for an extra 5% off. Runs through Dec 2.
• Lone Gunman (15, 28mm fantasy and some modern) is offering 25% with code '5years'
• Crossover (28mm super heroes) is offering 15% with code 'blackfriday'
• Legio Heroica (15 and 20mm Ancients, Medieval and Renaissance) is offering 20% orders over 60 Euros, 25% off orders of 120 Euros.
• Victrix is running a great "buy two boxes, get one free" deal now through Jan. 5.
• CP Models has a "buy 5, get 6" deal on all of their figures (20mm WWII, 28mm historical, sci fi and horror, and more) now through Dec 31.
• Tabletop World is offering some awesome free terrain for large orders (starting at 80 Euros). I love the look of their models, and this looks like a great deal if you are looking to invest in some beautiful terrain. Runs through Dec. 31.
• Architects of War 10% to 30% discounts on many, many miniature lines, free minis with larger orders, free shipping (U.S.A.) on orders over $50 plus more specials popping up every few hours. Ends Dec. 1 
• The WarStore is running a 25% off special for a bunch of Flames of War items. Use their 'BlackFriday' coupon for an extra 5% off. 
• Fantasy Flight Holiday Sale  DEEP discounts on Dust, Wings of War ($5 per plane!), board and card games. 
• Clear Horizon Miniatures  Now through Dec 20, three packs of 15mm sci fi troops for $23USD, a 15% savings.
• Two Hour Wargames 20% off until midnight on Nov 29 with code 'bf20'
• Effigy Miniatures 40% off everything until Dec 1 
• Hydra Miniatures retro sci fi sale starting Friday
• Indus Miniatures "War in India" figures, 20% off through Dec 5. with code 'black20'
• Syr Hobbs Wargames Buy four packs, get the 5th free. Plus free fire and smoke counters on order of $50 or more. 
• Ground Zero Games Free minis with each order, plus a discount voucher for the new year! Offer expires Dec. 20th.
• GHQ 20% off orders of $100 or more. Be sure to read the details of implementing the coupon code on their forum. 1 day only! Ends at 12:01 AM on Nov 29.
• Splintered Light (15, 20, 28mm Fantasy) Black Friday only, 20% off with code SLM13
• Miniature Building Authority  10% off everything, plus some deeper discounts. Black Friday only I believe.
• Miniature Market  Over 800 items on sale Black Friday, many at liquidation prices.

Wargame Gift Guide

Need to find a great gift for that special wargamer in your life? There are quite a few boxed sets and games just waiting to be discovered under a tree.

Bolt Action Pegasus Bridge boxed set. Awesome! A laser cut model of the bridge, 30 figures, support weapons, decals, scenario sheet and more. You'll need the Bolt Action core rules to play though.
Fall of the Reich Just released this fall, Plastic Soldier Company's rules for fighting the desperate defense of Germany.
Ronin - Skirmish Wargaming Want a taste of samurai action without committing to painting up armies for a new period? Osprey's 'Ronin' rules along with figures produced by North Star offer an easy way to get the clash of katanas to your tabletop.
Judge Dredd Starter Set. Boxed sets of the miniatures (like the Cursed Earth Desperadoes and Justice Department Judges) have been available for a bit, but Warlord has recently released a boxed set containing 18 figures, starter guide and rules.
The Wargaming Compendium Henry Hyde's Tome. A massive collection of wargaming advice from one of the hobby's experts. I've heard it's great for anyone just entering the hobby, or old hands looking for new tricks. Definitely on my list this year.
Mega Hobby Set (Limited Edition)  OMG look at this thing! Paints and tools are usually a "necessary evil" purchase for me (I'd rather get a pack of figures) but this is downright drool-worthy. Paints, brushes, sprays, tools, glues... so much stuff to replenish the hobby table.
Warriors & Warlords: The Art of Angus McBride Angus McBride is my favorite illustrator of military and fantasy subjects. This volume is a collection and history of his work. I know that I've picked up a number of Ospreys just to get access to his color plates, and paging through a volume dedicated to his artistry seems like a lovely way to spend Christmas morning.
Edge of the Empire RPG Just released this year, I know a number of wargamers were indulging in some roleplaying with Fantasy Flight's new Star Wars RPG. I think this would be a great treat for gamers to share an aspect of their hobby with kids who might have a little more familiarity with the Battle of Hoth rather than Pickett's Charge. They also released the Star Wars: The Card Game which looks similar to the Lord of the Rings card game that we enjoyed in our house.