Tying Up Loose Ends

With the end of the year rolling at us at full speed, it's time for me to follow up, wrap up, or otherwise update some of the incomplete aspects of the ol' blog.

The Last Call crew. It was fun while it lasted.

The Last Call

The end of my Five Parsecs From Home campaign was ugly.

The battle of turn #2 didn't go well. Painting up a set of figures to use as Psychos was taking too long, so I resorted to using proxies to move on with the campaign. The battle turned against The Last Call crew due to a combination of poor die rolls, the opposition performing better than expected, and admittedly suboptimal tactical decision making. The result was a bitter grind as The Last Call crew put up a spirited, but futile struggle.

If I were gamemastering it as a RPG campaign, I might have fudged a few die rolls and had the Psychos fumble around a little to give The Last Call crew a chance to pull things together. Even using the options in "The Stars of the Story" section only mitigated things to a point. The outcome wasn't a true TPK, but was still a demoralizing setback. A hole that big would take a long time for The Last Call crew to dig their way free. I would have to bring in a bunch of newly painted miniatures to represent new crew in order to continue. Why not end it, call the whole thing a learning experience, and start fresh later?

I started a draft of the final stand of The Last Call crew, but left it undone. Few of the photos came out well. This would make the resulting battle report an almost unbroken wall of text. The writing alone would have to keep a reader engaged. I know the last stand has a long tradition, but I couldn't come up with a narrative that made the fight anything other than a depressing grind. I ended up abandoning the draft. Everybody only has so much time. I felt that mine would be better spent doing other things.

Beginning a new Five Parsecs From Home campaign is in the cards for next year. The ubrupt end of The Last Call campaign was rough, but it was fun while it lasted! And it fulfilled the goal of motivating me to paint more miniatures. Next time, I'd like to have a model to represent the ship and more terrain, but neither is a requirement that's cast in stone. Any decisions about the ship model or terrain will ultimately come down to time and cost. Having some more miniatures painted up and ready to go would also be prudent. Or I could just wing it. Let's see what the new year brings!

The Last Call - A Very Short Five Parsecs From Home Campaign:

Turn 0 - Crew generation

Turn 1 - Pre-battle steps, also includes campaign start steps

Turn 1 - Battle report

Turn 1 - Wrap up

Turn 1 - Error correction

Turn 2 - Pre-battle steps

I'm still not sure what I'm doing with this thing.

The YouTube Experiment

I'm still messing around with the YouTube Channel I started this year. Learning how to record audio and video, editing it, and finding ways to present it has been an engaging challenge. I think I'm closing in what to do with it, but I also want to experiment with the subjects I cover a little more.

For now, some links and short descriptions of what I've posted over there as of this post are below:

Coffee Bag Freebie Greeblies & Bits?

Short video on the scratch building parts that can be pulled off a bag of coffee.

Fixing a Squishy Based D&D Beholder Miniature

The base on this unfortunate miniature from Wizards of the Coast was far too soft to hold the figure up. Even a mighty Beholder isn't that scary if it's falling over! Fixing it by replacing the base was a quick and fun little project.

Plastic Soda Cap Greeblies & Bits?

Short video on trash bashing with these parts that come with a tasty drink!

Weathering Terrain with a Silver Marker

A quick guide on producing the appearance of bare metal exposed by wear and tear.

Soy & Teriyaki Sauce Bottle Bits

Short video on the junk build parts that come with a bottle of salty, umami flavor.

Some glass I got on my birthday. Both are helpful in the making of this blog.

More Miniature Photography Posts

Writing follow ups to The Post Where I Go On About Photography Gear and Kenko Extension Tube Set - First Impressions has been an exercise in hitting a moving target. There were several times when I thought that I had a handle on a process and started drafting a post, only from something new to upset the whole apple cart.

The simple truth of the matter is that I'm still learning and refining. How I approach miniatures photography has changed radically multiple times since I wrote those posts back in April 2021. A specific piece of gear might come and go and come back again. The camera settings have gone from one extreme to the other as I play with what works. This isn't a good place from which to teach others. I have tried to document my learning experience, but every draft has been tossed aside as no longer reflecting what I do by the time it's nearing completion.

It's going to be awhile before I dial into a preferred method and turn it into a time-tested formula. When I do, I'll be happy to share it so that others can benefit from my experience and improve their own methods.



These three were the glaring examples of unfinished business that I feel I should address. If there's anything else I've left undone that folks are curious about, feel free to fire off a question in the comments. Note that some projects are on hold due to the holidays. They will be resumed when time and weather permits - spray painting in the cold and wet is questionable at best.

The Last Call - Turn #2 Pre-Battle - Finding More Work from the Local Government

The first decision to make is to stay put or put some light years on The Last Call and go somewhere else. There's no assurance that the grass would actually be greener on another world. With the Local Government as a Patron, there's a reasonable chance of making money by sticking around the Pandora Innovation Zone. It looks like The Last Call will be occupying a hangar for another turn.

Crew Pay

This works out to a single credit per campaign turn. Credit Total: 11 credits.

Ship Debt
The accounts are looking thinner than at the start of Turn #1. I spent only a single credit on this item. Since Ship Debt increases by one credit per campaign turn, this is essentially the same as only paying the interest. Ship Debt: 11 credits. Credit Total: 10 credits.

Medical Care
The Med-Patches acquired on Turn #1 give me a way to get the crew roster back up to full. Removing a campaign turn from Bill's recovery time set me back 4 credits. Then the Med-Patches get slapped on Bill and Rocky. This reduces their recovery times to zero and allows them to act normally on this campaign turn. This also leaves The Last Call with a single Med-Patch in inventory. Credit Total: 6 credits.

The Last Call crew ain't broke, but they ain't exactly rich either.

Crew Tasks
With the crew needing a way to keep the credits flowing in, Mina and Freyja go to see if anybody has a job on offer. +3 bonus to the die roll with both of them looking and a Patron on the contact list.
Patron Roll (1D6): "2" modified to "5" - Mina and Freyja get word that the Local Government has work available.

Bill and Yelena go looking for opportunities to barter for new gear or score a few credits to keep the lights on.
Trade Table Roll - Bill (%): "100" - With a grin and an "ask me no questions and I'll tell you no lies" attitude, Bill rolls back to The Last Call with a collection of Starship Repair Parts. This counts as 1D6 credits for repairing Hull Point damage to the ship. Single use.
Trade Table Roll - Yelena (%): "40" - Yelena swaps some unneeded supplies for a pallet of Trade Goods. These are worth 1D6 credits when sold on another planet. A die roll of "1" means that they spoiled or were damaged in transit. I'll make the roll when The Last Call makes the trip to another port.

Rocky tinkers with the damaged Plasma Rifle Bill found on Turn #1. She gets a +1 bonus to the die roll from her Savvy score.
Repair Roll - Plasma Rifle (1D6): "6" modified to "7" - the Plasma Rifle comes to life with an ominous hum.

Lin tries fixing the Brutal Melee Weapon she busted on the carapace of a Large Bug. She gets a +2 bonus from her Savvy score.
Repair Roll - Brutal Melee Weapon (1D6): "2" modified to "4" - Lin's just going to have to do without her favorite attitude adjustment tool for awhile. She can try again on the next campaign turn.

Good thing I have a plastic Rosie (the miniature I use for Lin) holding a rifle.

The Job Offer
The Local Government is offering a paltry single credit in Danger Pay for this one. Worse, they are in a hurry. The job must be done this turn or the opportunity is lost. The Local Government doesn't offer any Benefits, but there are no Hazards or Conditions on this job either.

Assign Equipment
With the outcome of the battle on Turn #1 firmly in mind, the crew reaches for more firepower before going to work. The Shotguns purchased last turn would come in handy for that goal. The Plasma Rifle that Rocky got working would help even more. Unfortunately, the crew is fresh out of Frakk Grenades.

• Mina - Shotgun, Glare Sword, Frag Vest, Boosted Leg (permanent, but noted here for completeness).
• Bill - Shotgun, Hand Laser, Dazzle Grenade.
• Rocky - Plasma Rifle, Machine Pistol.
• Lin - Auto Rifle, Hand Laser.
• Freyja - Shotgun, Machine Pistol.
• Yelena - Shotgun, Beam Pistol.

Resolve Rumors
I had a pair of Rumors, but my roll of "5" was too high for anything to come up.

Choose Your Battle
The crew of The Last Call doesn't have to worry about Rivals trying to ambush them yet. An Opportunity mission seems like a bad idea with the Local Government getting anxious about whatever they need done. That leaves the Patron mission for the Local Government.

Readying For Battle
This is actually part of the Battle stage, but I'd rather do it now. It helps to know what miniatures and terrain I'll need.

Deployment Conditions Roll (%): "90" - "Caught Off Guard" - The crew all act in the Slow Actions phase of Round #1. Again.

Notable Sights Roll (%): "39" - "Priority Target" - A random enemy gets +1 to their Toughness. If that enemy is killed, the crew gains 1D3 credits.

Patron Mission Objective Roll (1D10): "6" - The Last Call crew must Secure the site.

Determine the Enemy: A series of die rolls reveals that the opposition takes the form of eight Psychos. Unsettled by long exposure to deep space, these folks are mostly armed with Scrap Pistols and Blades. Two are Specialists packing Rattle Guns instead. Fortunately, Psychos are also Bad Shots. The gang is led by a Lieutenant. As Criminal Elements, Psychos may have a bounty on them and tend to be vindictive, increasing the chance that they will become a Rival.

Where am I going to find miniatures suitable for use as a criminal gang? Dunno.

It looks like I'll have to paint up my alternate miniature for Lin. And I have some Psychos to prepare! The battle report for Turn #2 might be awhile.

The Last Call - Turn #1 Error Correction

This is a supplemental post to The Last Call Turn #1 Wrap Up. I made a rules error by having each crew member roll for a character event. The correct procedure is to randomly select a single crew member and roll on the character event table for that single crew member. Thanks to the folks on the Facebook Five Parsecs from Home Fan Group for pointing this out.

All still on the mend. At least I didn't mess that up!

I generally try to avoid rolling back events during play since the results aren't always worth the effort. The realization that I could have used Stim-Packs during the battle is a good example. Rolling that back would involve replaying the scenario - a significant investment in time and energy. Better to just live with results, learn from the experience, and use that time and energy to move on with the campaign. Here, I came up with a quick and simple fix, so why not learn the lesson and correct the mistake at the same time?

In this case, I determined which character event actually happened with a simple die roll. Updating the campaign records was straight forward. The character event description and revised end of turn totals are below.

Character Event

I rolled a D6 and went down the list published in the previous post.

"5" - Freyja overhears something at a local bar. It might be worth following up on. +1 Quest Rumor.

Story Point and Credit Totals are unchanged.

Corrected XP Totals at the End of Turn #1:
Mina 5 XP
Bill 3 XP
Rocky 3 XP
Yelena 4 XP
Freyja 5 XP
Lin 2 XP

In addition, the additional Patron that Bill came up with was removed. On the plus side, Rocky's negative effect was also negated.

The Last Call - Turn #1 Wrap Up

On the bright side, the crew of The Last Call won their first battle. Unfortunately, that silver lining had a cloud - half the crew became casualties. Let's figure out what happens next as I finish off Turn #1 of my first Five Parsecs From Home campaign.

Resolve Rival Status
This step deals with the possibility of the enemy the crew just fought holding a grudge and becoming a Rival. As Roving Threats, Large Bugs are not eligible for this. Alien creepy crawlies aren't the types to get mad, track down the crew, and ambush them in town. They prefer to establish themselves as franchises like their screen idols.

Voracious, not petty: "Sure, we'll bite somebody's leg off, but we're not the sorts to hold a grudge!"

Resolve Patron Status
The crew achieved the mission from their Patron, the Local Government. They get added to The Last Call's list of contacts at the Pandora Innovation Zone. This makes them useful as a prospect for future jobs.

Get Paid
Pay Roll (1D6): "1" modified to "3" since the crew completed the objective. The Local Government's Danger Pay adds 2 for a total of 5 credits earned.

Battlefield Finds
Since the crew Held the Field, they had the opportunity to poke around for anything profitable before hauling off their casualties. Battlefield Finds Roll (%): "31" - Curious Data Stick. Worth +1 credit for a running total of 6 credits earned on this turn.

Gather the Loot
A series of rolls on the Loot Table and various Subtables turned up an Assault Blade. This is a Gun Mod that adds a melee option to a rifle or other long arm. Since Gun Mods cannot be removed after being attached to a given weapon, I'll have to give where to put this a little thought.

Determine Injuries and Recovery
Bill, Rocky, and Lin became casualties during the battle. Had I remembered at the time, I could have used Stim-Packs to keep a couple of them from going down. But what's done is done. Here's how they did.

• Bill's Injury Roll (%): "40" - Crippling Wound. Bill's injuries required immediate surgery. He pulled through, but the surgery cost the crew 3 credits. Bill will be in Sickbay for 2 campaign turns.
• Rocky's Injury Roll (%): "68" - Minor Injuries. Rocky just needs a little time to heal and recover. 1 campaign turn in Sickbay.
• Lin's Injury Roll (%): "27" - Equipment Loss. Lin's biggest wrench (Brutal Melee Weapon) wasn't meant to be smashed repeatedly against the tough carapaces of Large Bugs. It's damaged and needs repair. Lin herself is fine and needs no time in Sickbay.

Rocky and Bill on the mend in sickbay. Lin on her way to fix her wrench after getting checked out.

Experience Points

• Survived and Won - Mina, Yelena, and Freyja (+3 XP each).
• Became a Casualty - Bill, Rocky, and Lin (+1 XP each).
• First Character to Inflict a Casualty - Bill (+1 XP).

None of the crew had enough XP to raise an Ability or take Advanced Training.

Purchase Items
This is an opportunity to either spend credits for the chance to roll for new stuff or directly purchase common weapons. I felt that the crew was lacking in firepower. If they had weapons with a little more range and stopping power, they might have knocked down more of the Large Bug swarm before they got into melee. Given the visibility limitations of the Pandora Innovation Zone, stocking up on Shotguns seemed like the way to go. To offset the cost, I sold off a couple of surplus weapons.

• Purchased 5 Shotguns at 1 credit each.
• Sold a Handgun and a Scrap Pistol for 1 credit each.

Net cost: 3 credits.

Campaign Event
This is something that occurs in between turns that has an effect on the overall campaign. Die Roll (%): "66" - "Recent events made for a good learning opportunity". I guess that half the crew getting chewed on by Large Bugs counts. The crew gets +1 XP each.

Character Events
Each character, including those in Sickbay, rolls to see what happens to them individually in between turns.

• Mina - Received a letter from her sister. +1 XP.
• Bill - An old contact checks in after Bill's surgery. Add a Patron.
• Rocky - Her poor showing during the Battle gets her down. Rocky will earn no XP during the next campaign turn.
• Yelena - She and Lin meet some local folks and strike up a few friendships. +1 XP.
• Freyja - She overhears something at a local bar. It might be worth following up on. +1 Quest Rumor.
• Lin - She and Yelena meet some local folks and strike up a few friendships. +1 XP.

Story Point Total at the End of Turn #1:
6 Story Points

Credit Total at the End of Turn #1:
12 Credits

Not much, but at the least the crew's not broke.

XP Totals at the End of Turn #1 (including pre-battle training):

• Mina 6 XP
• Bill 3 XP
• Rocky 3 XP
• Yelena 5 XP
• Freyja 5 XP
• Lin 3 XP

Things could have gone better this turn, but I think that the positives outweigh the negatives here. The post in this series will get things started for Turn #2!

The Last Call - Turn #1 Battle

Here is the previous post of this series, where I started off this Five Parsecs From Home campaign.

Bug Busting at Toshi's

The Last Call's crew was tasked by the Local Government of the Pandora Innovation Zone to hunt down a Large Bug previously tagged by an exobiology survey. The monitor implant detected a spontaneous mutation in the animal that could prove problematic if it spreads to the general Large Bug population. The scientists running the survey preferred a living subject for analysis, but were overruled by the Pandora Innovation Zone Governing Council. The tagged Large Bug was targeted for destruction. The corpse will be retrieved by the survey team after the fighting has died down.

The monitor implant placed the Large Bug at Toshi's - a disused maintenance station at the outskirts of a minor settlement. A swarm of Large Bugs has been reported in the area. The tagged animal is likely part of that swarm.

Initial set up.

Special Rules

Smog
Visibility is reduced due to atmospheric pollution. I rolled a "3" on 1D6+8 for 11" visibility.

Caught Off Guard
All crew acts in the Slow Actions phase of Round 1.

Peculiar Item
An item worth 2 XP if a character stop on it and uses an action to pick it up. Placed during set up.

Dry Creek Bed
The dry creek bed modeled on the terrain tiles counts as Difficult terrain. Basically, all movement costs on the dry creek bed are doubled, so moving 1" requires 2" of movement.


Set Up

Five Parsecs From Home has guidelines for table sizes, what kinds of terrain to use, and how much terrain to put on the table. There are also rules for the initial placement of miniatures. Large Bugs are Rampaging enemies - they are placed within 1" of each other in a single group. I used a die roll to randomly determine which Large Bug to use as the objective and marked it with a token.

Large Bug initial placement.

Round Structure

Each Round is divided into Fast Actions, Enemy Actions, and Slow Actions phases. Characters assigned lucky Reaction Rolls might go during the Fast Actions phase. Otherwise, the enemies go before the crew. During each phase, a character or enemy can Move and then take an Action. Both are optional, but must take place in that order.

The Last Call crew initial placement. In retrospect, I could have spread them out a little more.

Round 1 - FIGHT!

I decided not to Seize the Initiative and the effects of "Caught Off Guard" made the Reaction Roll pointless for this round.

Large Bugs
Their movement boils down to "move as quickly as possible at the nearest enemy and engage in melee" due to their Rampaging enemies. Since melee wasn't a possibility during this round due to the distance involved, I had them Dash directly towards the crew. Dash grants more movement at the cost of giving up the ability to take an Action.

The Crew
I had the crew Dash forward. All of the Large Bugs were beyond the 11" of visibility generated by the Smog.

Summary
A quick round of movement. Having a straightforward opponent for my first battle made learning the game easier.

Here they come!

Round 2

Reaction Rolls - 1, 2, 2, 4, 4, 5.
I assigned the "1" to Mina and a "2" to Rocky. Nobody other than Rocky could use a "2" to get into the Fast Action phase. Both moved forward, but the Large Bugs would still be further than 11" until they moved. Both Mina and Rocky held their actions.

Large Bugs
They continued to Dash forward. This brought them into 11" of the crew.

Mina
I discovered that the closest Large Bug was just outside of Machine Pistol range. Disappointing. If I knew that, I would have used Dash to get her a couple of inches closer. Oh, well.

Rocky
Already in position, she opened fire at the objective Large Bug with her Auto Rifle. To Hit Rolls: "2" and "3" - both misses, even with the +1 bonus from Large Bugs having the Easy Target trait.

Bill
He moved up and fired his Hand Laser at the lead Large Bug. To Hit Roll: "5" - hit! Damage Roll: "4" - less than the Large Bug's Toughness of 5. Thus, the Large Bug was Stunned. I placed a marker on the Large Bug. Next round, it could either move or act, but not both. The marker would then be removed. Three Stunned markers on the same figure results in it becoming a causality and being removed from play.

Yelena
Moved up and found herself just out of range of her Machine Pistol.

Summary
More maneuvering punctuated with the first shots fired. I might have to look into longer ranged options for some of the crew.

Some inclusive results from the first shots fired.

Round 3

Reaction Rolls - 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 6.
The "1" was assigned to Bill and the "2" to Rocky, allowing them to go in the Fast Action phase.

Bill
Moved forward and tossed a Frakk Grenade at the nearest cluster of Large Bugs. Frakk Grenades use typical grenade rules - make an attack on a central target and follow up with attacks on surrounding targets within a certain range. To Hit Rolls: "1" and "5" - a hit on the initial target. Damage Roll: "4" - Stunned. To Hit Roll (second target): "5" - hit. Damage Roll (second target): "4" - Stunned. To Hit Roll (third target): "5" - hit. Damage Roll (third target): "2" - Stunned. To Hit Roll (fourth target): "6" - hit. Damage Roll (fourth target): "5" - removed from play! Bill's Frakk Grenade only generated one casualty, but bought The Last Call crew some time.

Rocky
Stayed in position and fired her Auto Rifle at the nearest Large Bug. To Hit Rolls: "1" and "1" - both misses.

Large Bugs
A Large Bug not in the cluster hit by Bill's Frakk Grenade moved into melee with him. The rest of the Large Bugs not under a Stunned effect used Dash to move forward. The Stunned Large Bugs moved forward, removing their Stunned markers. All of their movement was hampered by crossing the dry stream bed.

Large Bug v Bill (melee)
Both rolled a "3" - a tie before modifiers. Bill received a +2 modifier, +1 from his Combat skill and +1 from using a pistol in melee. The Large Bug received a +1 modifier from its Combat skill. Winning the melee, Bill's Damage Roll is "6" - the Large Bug is removed from play.

Mina
Moved forward slightly to get a better vantage point on top of the tower she started the round on. To Hit Rolls: "2" and "2" - both misses.

Yelena
Stayed in place and fired her Beam Pistol at the closest Large Bug. Since she didn't move, Yelena gets a +1 bonus to Aim. To Hit Roll - "4" - hit. Damage Roll: "3" - Stunned.

Freyja
Stayed in place and fired her Machine Pistol at a Large Bug. To Hit Rolls: "5" and "5" - hits. Damage Rolls: "5" and "4" - the Large Bug is removed from play.

Lin
Stayed in place and fired her Hand Laser at the closest Large Bug. To Hit Roll: "6" - hit. Damage Roll: "3" - Stunned.

Morale Check
Since the Large Bugs suffered losses, they check to see if any of their number chooses the better part of valor. Large Bugs have the "Stubborn" trait, meaning that they ignore the first casualty for this purpose. Morale Rolls: "2" and "4" - none of the Large Bugs choose to Bail.

Summary
Things heated up as the Large Bugs closed in. Bill earned his paycheck this round by taking down two Large Bugs and Stunning a few others. Still, I would have preferred to thin down the swarm a little more before they got into melee.

Bill's gonna have problems in Round 4.

Round 4

Reaction Rolls - 3, 5, 5, 5, 6, 6.
Well, crap. None of the crew got to go in the Fast Action phase.

Large Bugs
All pressed forward. However, many were Stunned at the start of the round. Only two Large Bugs could make attacks.

Large Bug v Bill (melee)
"5" v "2" - the Large Bug wins the melee. Damage Roll: "3" - Large Bugs get a +1 to damage with their Mandibles, bringing the total to "4" and Bill becomes The Last Call's first casualty of the campaign.

Large Bug v Rocky (melee)
"3" v "3" - a tie, so both roll for damage. Damage Rolls: "4" and "2" - Rocky becomes a casualty and is removed from play. The Large Bug moves closer to its next target.

Lin
Holsters her Hand Laser, hefts her biggest wrench, and moves into melee with the Large Bug marked as the objective. Her wrench is a Brutal Melee Weapon (+1 to damage), so it has the Clumsy trait (-1 penalty to hit against a faster target), but is still a melee weapon (+2 bonus to hit).

Lin v Large Bug (melee)
"3" v "2" - both miss. Not liking this result, I spent a Story Point. Reroll: "6" - Lin hits. Damage Roll: "4" modified to "5" - the objective Large Bug is removed from play. Lin moves back a bit.

Freyja
Fires her Machine Pistol at the Large Bug that took down Rocky. She benefits from staying in place, but doesn't have an unobstructed shot at the Large Bug. To Hit Rolls: "1" and "3" - both misses.

Yelena
Fires her Beam Pistol at the same Large Bug that Freyja just opened up on. To Hit Roll: "2" - miss.

Mina
Remains in position and tosses a Frakk Grenade at a nearby group of Large Bugs. To Hit Rolls: "3" and "3" - both hits due to the close range. Damage Rolls: "1" and "3" - I used another Story Point since I needed a kill. Reroll: "6" - the Large Bug is removed from play. To Hit Roll (second target): "2" - miss.

Morale Check
The Large Bugs suffered two casualties, forcing a check. (Crews never check Morale.) "1" and "3" - the Large Bug furthest from the action Bails and is removed from play.

Summary
Bill and Rocky become casualties as the Large Bugs get into melee. I had to burn a couple of Story Points to keep the crew's momentum going.

Just a couple more to go...

Round 5

Reactions Roll - 2, 3, 5, 6.
Again, none of the crew goes in the Fast Action phase.

Large Bugs
Both of the remaining Large Bugs closed into melee with the closest opponent - Lin.

Large Bug v Lin (melee)
"5" v "2" - the Large Bug bites Lin. Damage Roll: "5" - Lin becomes a casualty and is removed from play. The Large Bug moves closer to the nearest target. The other Large Bug stayed put.

Freyja
Fires her Machine Pistol at the closest Large Bug. To Hit Rolls: "2" and "3" - one hit due to the close range. Damage Roll: "2" - Stunned.

Mina
Jumps down, ignites to Glare Sword, and moves into melee with the closest Large Bug.

Mina v Large Bug (melee)
"6" v "6" - a tie before modifiers. Mina's Glare Sword gives her a +2 to hit. The Large Bug gets a +1 from its Combat skill. Mina wins the melee. Damage Roll: "5" - the Large Bug is removed from play.

Yelena
Shoots at the remaining Large Bug with her Beam Pistol. To Hit Roll: "6" - normally just a hit, but a Beam Pistol has the Critical trait. The natural "6" results in two hits to the target. Damage Rolls: "3" and "4" - a Beam Pistol grants +1 to damage, so the modified results of "4" and "5" cause the Large Bug to become a casualty and it is removed from play.

Summary
Lin becomes a casualty, but the crew pulls off a victory.

There's good news and there's bad news.

Overall Summary

The bad news is that half the crew became casualties. I wasn't able to recover the "Peculiar Item" since none of the crew could spare the action needed to pick it up. And I expended both Frakk Grenades and two Story Points. All to good effect, but they are still gone.

The good news is that the crew achieved the mission objective and Held the Field. Both will have benefits moving forward. Benefits like getting paid.


The next post in this series will wrap up Turn #1.

The Last Call - Campaign Start and Turn #1 Pre-Battle

In the previous post of this series, I described generating a crew and their stuff. Here I kick off the campaign and take all the steps just short of my crew's first battle. I get the feeling that a battle report will take up a post by itself.

I've settled on the following names and miniatures the crew of The Last Call. The Background, Motivation, and Class previously generated for each crew member are also listed.

Captain Wilhelmina "Mina" Derring
Bombshell Miniatures 36003 Wanda Whitestar
Industrial World, Adventure, Scoundrel

William "Bill" Baxter
Reaper Chronoscope 50028 Kirby McDowell, Space Privateer
Drifter, Glory, Scavenger

Roxanna "Rocky" Gaussi
Bombshell Miniatures Bug Spray
Wasteland Nomads, Discovery, Mercenary

Yelena Waverly
Bombshell Miniatures 36020 Science Officer Helen Salinger
Dystopian City, Technology, Trader

Freyja Niobe
Reaper Chronoscope 50132 Jessica Blaze, Smuggler
Mining Colony, Wealth, Negotiator

Rosalina "Lin" Johansen
Reaper Chronoscope 50016 Rosie, Chronotechnician
High-Tech Colony, Survival, Technician

The rulebook, miniatures, and dice. Now all I need is the time to set up a board and play.

Last Call Campaign Start

With a crew ready to go, I just had to decide on which options to take going in. These decisions would influence how things would be handled from here on.

Story Track - No. This would have introduced mechanics for an overall story arc to the campaign. I decided to keep things simple for my introductory campaign. There would still be narrative elements, but no overarching plot in the background.

Victory Condition - Play 50 campaign turns. There are a variety of Victory Conditions available in the rules. This seemed the most straightforward.

Difficulty Mode - Normal. This indicates no changes to the rules. There are more challenging modes in addition to an Easy mode.

Story Points - 8 total. Since this is my first campaign, the rules state that I roll two D6 and keep the better result to determine the number of story points I have at the start. A good thing, since my first die roll was a "1" and a "6" came up on the second die. This combined with the 2 story points from crew generation for a total of 8.

I noted the options available in "The Stars of the Story" section. These are rules that can be used to keep the campaign going in the event of a disastrous set of events. Each allows the game to be fudged a little to prevent an unrecoverable result. However, each option can only be used once during a campaign.


Turn 1 Start

Travel Steps

It is assumed that a campaign begins with the crew already on a planet. Thus, most of Travel and the first two steps of New World Arrival are skipped. These rules will come up should I choose to go elsewhere.

Licensing Requirements - I rolled a "2" on a D6. This world doesn't require a Freelancer License for my crew to operate.

World Traits - "01" on percentile dice. "Haze" - visibility is reduced to 1D6+8" during battle. Why a planet has a particular trait is left to the imagination of the player. I decided to make it the home of Mina - an industrial world. The haze is the result of smog from various pollutants in the atmosphere. I named the world the Pandora Innovation Zone.

A fist full of credits. A small fist.

World Steps

Upkeep - 1 credit. This represents the crew getting paid.

Ship Debt - With a fair amount of starting funds, I chose to knock the ship debt down by half by spending 11 credits. This put the new ship debt total at 11 credits and left 12 credits remaining in the war chest.

Normally, things like repairs to the ship and medical attention for the crew would come up at this stage. Fortunately, the ship and crew are in good shape - so far!

Crew Tasks - I already had a Patron for work and didn't a have Rival to worry about. The temptation to just have everyone Train to get some XP coming in was strong, but I wanted to try my luck rolling dice and checking tables.

• Mina, Rocky, and Freyja hit the gun range and gym. Each received 1 XP.
• Yelena and Lin wanted to see if they could Trade for a deal or two at the local markets. I rolled percentile dice for the results of their efforts. "94" indicated that Yelena obtained 2 Stim-Packs and 2 Med-Patches. "59" revealed that Lin turned up 3 grenades - 2 Frakk and 1 Dazzle.
• Bill went out to Explore the town. Rolled "03" - he ran across a deal he couldn't pass up, represented by a roll on the Trade Table. That roll was "89" - a roll on the Loot Table, but the item received would need Repair. A series of rolls resulted in Bill striding back to The Last Call with a "gently used" Plasma Rifle.

Job Offers - It was time to determine the identity of the Patron and what kind of work they had in mind. A series of rolls revealed that the Patron was the Local Government, was offering 2 credits in Danger Pay, and was willing to wait for awhile - the job could be done in the current turn or in the following two campaign turns. Checking for Benefits, Hazards, and Conditions turned out some bad news - this was a Dangerous Job. The enemy force would be increased by +1.

Assign Equipment - I distributed what was available to the crew. I didn't have as much firepower or protective equipment as I would've liked, but the extra stuff that turned up during Crew Tasks would come in handy. Too bad the Plasma Rifle would need some time and attention before it could be used.

• Mina - Machine Pistol, Glare Sword, Frag Vest, Boosted Leg
• Bill - Hand Laser, Frakk Grenade
• Rocky - Auto Rifle
• Lin - Hand Laser, Brutal Melee Weapon (represented by the wrench on the miniature)
• Freyja - Machine Pistol
• Yelena - Beam Pistol, Frakk Grenade

Resolve Any Rumors - I had a single Rumor from crew generation, but my roll of "2" was a little too high for anything to come of it. The Rumor would remain and be added to any others that might come up.


Choose Your Battle

With no Rivals (yet) to get the jump on my crew, I had a free hand in deciding what to do. I could always do an Opportunity mission, representing whatever odd job that came my way. In the end, I decided to go ahead and carry out the job for the Local Government. Sure, there was still plenty of time to get it done, but I wanted to get it out of the way.


Readying For Battle

Technically, this is part of the Battle stage, but I got excited. Besides, this way I'll know ahead of time what I need to set up the table.

Deployment Conditions - "89" rolled on percentile dice. "Caught Off Guard" - the crew would all be acting in the Slow Actions phase of Round 1! Argh!

Notable Sights - "81" on percentile dice. "Peculiar Item" - the item is placed 2D6+2" in a random direction from table center. Acquiring it involves moving a crew miniature into contact and foregoing any other actions that round. Getting it would be worth +2 XP.

Patron Mission Objectives - "3" on a D10. The Last Call crew had been hired to Eliminate a target.

Determine the Enemy - A series of die rolls revealed that the crew would be fighting 8 Large Bugs. I'm not sure why the Local Government wanted one in particular knocked off, but this crew wasn't getting paid to ask questions. I'll come up with a narrative reason why by the time I get the chance to sit down and play it out. Any suggestions would be welcome!

Next time in this series - The Last Call crew guns down Large Bugs in the smog!

Five Parsecs From Home Turn 0

I finally have barely enough painted miniatures and terrain for my first Five Parsecs From Home campaign. More of both will be needed later, so I'm continuing to get more ready for the table. The biggest hurdle remaining is also the hardest - time. I got the work of generating the start of the campaign done this past weekend, so I'm sharing how that went in this post.

I'd like to say that this made a significant dent in my pile of shame, but...

As mentioned in a previous post, Five Parsecs From Home is a solo miniatures game built around campaign play. The player runs a spaceship crew for hire. They do jobs for employers who prefer to keep their dirty work at arms length. Violence happens, the interests of the employer is advanced, and the crew gets paid - in theory. Things have a way of going off the rails.

Preparing a new campaign involves generating a crew and the resources they have at their disposal. It mostly involves rolling dice, checking tables, and recording the results. Those results only offer the basics. Providing more narrative details is left to the player.


The Crew

The standard crew size is six characters. There are rules for starting with a smaller crew that I'm looking forward to trying out sometime. But this is my first Five Parsecs From Home campaign, so I decided to stick with a standard crew.

I used the "first timer" method. All six characters are Human. As with many rules systems, Humans have middle of the road statistics and minimal special rules. An all Human crew simplifies both character creation and running them during play. It also means that I don't have to find miniatures to represent an unusual character.

Below are the results from the Background, Motivation, and Class tables. The numbers are the die rolls using percentile dice. The names of each result are paraphrased to keep them relatively short. The rules effects of each result are also noted.

Background Table Results:
87 Industrial World - +1 Gear
33 Drifter - +1 Gear
96 Wasteland Nomads - +1 Reactions, +1 Low-tech Weapon
07 Dystopian City - +1 Speed
16 Mining Colony - +1 Toughness
02 Peaceful, High-Tech Colony - +1 Savvy, +1D6 credits

Motivation Table Results:
36 Adventure - +1D6 credits, +1 Low-tech Weapon
19 Glory - +1 Combat Skill, +1 Military Weapon
53 Discovery - +1 Savvy, +1 Gear
48 Technology - +1 Savvy, +1 Gadget
06 Wealth - +1D6 credits
24 Survival - +1 Toughness

Class Table Results:
66 Scoundrel - +1 Speed
98 Scavenger - 1 Rumor, +1 High-tech Weapon
25 Mercenary - +1 Combat Skill, +1 Military Weapon
48 Trader - +2D6 credits
44 Negotiator - Patron, +1 story point
09 Technician - +1 Savvy, +1 Gear

I put the results together and assigned miniatures as follows:
Industrial World, Adventure, Scoundrel - Wanda Whitestar
Drifter, Glory, Scavenger - Kirby McDowell
Wasteland Nomads, Discovery, Mercenary - Bug Spray
Dystopian City, Technology, Trader - Helen Salinger
Mining Colony, Wealth, Negotiator - Jessica Blaze
High-Tech Colony, Survival, Technician - Rosie

I'll come up with names later.


Their Stuff

Character generation provided the following starting equipment:
2 Military Weapons
1 High-Tech Weapon
2 Low-Tech Weapons
4 Gear
1 Gadget
4D6 credits

In addition, all crews start with the following:
3 Military Weapons
3 Low-Tech Weapons
1 Gear
1 Gadget
1 credit per crew member

Finally, the rules provide a benefit for characters who rolled a Savvy increase. Each time that occurs, the player can take a High-Tech Weapon instead of a Military Weapon. With three characters rolling Savvy increases, I opted to substitute three High-Tech Weapons for Military Weapons.

Below are the results from each equipment table. As before, the numbers are the percentile dice rolls.

Military Weapons
70 Auto Rifle - a heavy rifle with a drum magazine used for fire support.
76 Rattle Gun - a belt-fed machine gun of obsolete or dubious design.

High-Tech Weapons
17 Hand Laser - a directed energy weapon in the form of a pistol.
98 Glare Sword - a glowing energy blade projected from a shiny handle.
41 Beam Pistol - a military grade sidearm.
25 Hand Laser - more handheld pew-pew.

Low-Tech Weapons
36 Machine Pistol - a submachine gun or PDW.
99 Brutal Melee Weapon - an unsubtle approach to melee combat.
06 Handgun - a conventional pistol.
17 Scrap Pistol - a conventional pistol bashed together from the parts that happened to be around.
38 Machine Pistol - see above.

Gear
07 Beam Light - gun mod that improves visibility.
47 Frag Vest - armor for a single character.
90 Sector Permit - handy on planets that require a license to operate.
73 Med-patch - single-use item that reduces the recovery time for an injured character.
38 Fake ID - handy for acquiring legal documentation via less than legal methods.

Gadget
05 Analyzer - provides a bonus when looking for certain information.
18 Boosted Leg - cybernetic implant that improves movement for a single character.

Credits
Rolled 18 on 4D6 and added 6 for a total of 24 credits.

"You shorted me five credits." "Uh, taxes?" *Sounds of violence.*

The Ship

The crew's spaceship is handled abstractly. The rule book mentions that a player could have a model for the ship that might appear in a battle, but the ship isn't the focus of the game. The main thrust of the game is the crew and the trouble that they get into.

That said, the ship does have an effect on the game. The debt that the crew owes on the ship - a nod to games like Traveller - provides a motivation and complication. How the ship is fitted can provide benefits for the crew. Finally, an equipment that the crew isn't carrying is assumed to be stored aboard the ship.

I rolled a 38, resulting in a retired scout ship with 25 Hull and the fuel-efficient trait. A rolled a 2 for debt, resulting in 22 credits owed.


Flavor Details

These tables are optional and don't effect gameplay, but add a little extra inspiration for the narrative behind the campaign. Die rolls used percentile dice.

55 The crew met at a bar.

62 "Somewhat honorable bandits" - I choose to interpret this as a collection of lost souls with nowhere better to be and no better prospects that as independent troubleshooters for hire.


I've got some ideas to flesh out the bare bones generated by these results. Names for the crew and more details for their backgrounds. The fact that they all met at a bar has already inspired the name of the ship: The Last Call.

Five Parsecs From Home - First Impressions

I bought myself a present the other week and wanted to share my initial thoughts now that I've finished reading it. This post isn't a review. There's worlds of difference between perusing a set of rules and actually playing the game.

Pew! Pew!

Five Parsecs From Home, Third Edition is tabletop sci-fi miniatures wargame designed for solo play. My interest in alternatives to face-to-face play rose dramatically over the past year and a half or so. I explored online play, used the time to press forward on various related projects, and encouraged my family's interest in tabletop games. Why not try a solo game at this point?

My personal experience with solo tabletop wargaming began with Star Fleet Battles. SFB single player scenarios frequently feature a "space monster" running on simplified rules - no energy allocation, attacks and movement determined by automatic processes, etc. SFB "space monsters" often present a tactical puzzle for the solo player - attacks that ignore the ship to kill the crew directly, a requirement to collect enough scientific data to find a way to stop it, etc. Playing these scenarios were not as memorable as an all-day fleet action or a starship duel with a skilled opponent, but they still offered an interesting challenge on a slow afternoon. I've tried solo games from time to time since then, but it's not something I've put any focus on until now.

The Concept
Five Parsecs From Home is built around campaign play. The player runs a spaceship crew doing odd jobs involving violence for people who don't ask questions about how the job got done. There are many persistent elements. Members of the crew acquire experience and better gear - if they survive. If not, then the crew may find themselves shorthanded for the next battle. Rumors can be tracked down, becoming Quests for the crew to follow. The opposition for one job may become Rivals and reappear looking to settle scores. There is no point system to balance the battles. One might be a milk run and the next may be a struggle that the crew barely escapes.

Production Quality
I purchased a physical copy out of personal preference. The book is a hardcover printed in full color on glossy paper. It measures roughly 9 1/2 x 6 1/4 inches. The compact size and sturdy cover make it ideal for my kind of tabletop gamer life - in other words, tossing it in a backpack on the way to a game or finding shelf space for it at home.

Scale, Measurements, Table Size, and Dice
Five Parsecs From Home works with a variety of scales. 28mm works as written with all measurements in inches. Using smaller scales in the game involves exchanging inches for centimeters. The recommended table sizes range from 3x3 feet (to allow for maneuvering) to 2x2 feet (for a more intense fight). The system uses six- and ten-sided die.

Currencies
The abstractions to track and spend in the game are credits, experience points, and story points. Credits are in-setting money used for expenses and purchases. Experience points are used to improve characters. Story points are handy when the dice aren't cooperating.

The Crew
Much like a roleplaying game, the book opens with a basic description of the game and then jumps into character generation. There are various methods of creating a crew, depending on the player's level of experience. Characters can have a variety of origins and classes. Equipment is generated as a pool and assigned to the characters at the player's discretion.

The Ship
The rules for the crew's ship handle it as an abstraction. The existence of the ship explains how the crew gets around. There are events that occur during interstellar journeys (including boarding actions), but there are no rules in the book for ship-to-ship combat. The ship supports the crew in various ways - injured characters go to sickbay, it provides secure storage for equipment, etc. However, the ship rarely appears on the battlefield and even then only as an objective for the opposition to capture.

Combat
This is a skirmish level game - the half-dozen members of the crew going up against opposition that may slightly outnumber them. Setting up a battle involves determining objectives, generating the opposition, and placing terrain. There is solid guidance on running the opposition. Different types of opponents will behave differently on the battlefield - some cautiously remaining behind cover while keeping the range open, others boldly advancing, and still others maneuvering tactically for advantage. The rules for fighting it out appear to be straightforward. I'll reserve judgment on how well the rules work until I get a few games in. However, the game seems to avoid the trap of adding complexity for the sake of covering every conceivable exception and edge case.

The Campaign
There are plenty of options for setting up and running a campaign. I'm tempted to borrow some of the rules for my next sci-fi roleplaying campaign. The campaign rules break things down into steps. There are world generation rules if the crew is trying their luck on another planet. The rules detail what each member of the crew is doing between battles - recovering from the last fight, getting into mischief on their own, training up, etc. Generating jobs may result in a crew having multiple offers on the table. Deciding which job to take is up to the player - unless a Rival catches up and ambushes the crew, causing them to miss the opportunity to get the job done.

Setting
There is enough setting presented to explain why spaceship crews are wondering around looking for the kind of work best depicted with miniatures, terrain, and dice. The eight pages of text conveys the feel of the setting without getting lost in the details. The idea of a spaceship crew operating on a frontier and being hired by various groups that would rather no get their own hands dirty should be familiar to most readers.

Layout
There is a table of contents, but no index. I'll have to see how easy it is to find things during actual play. However, the fact that each chapter is color coded should be helpful. The back of the book contains several handy appendixes - how to play the game on a grid, taking Red and Black Jobs if the campaign is getting too easy, adding more narrative elements, and various bits of advice.

Not long after I got my copy. I love that new book smell!

Outro
My first reading of Five Parsecs From Home did what it was intended to do. I'm looking forward to starting a campaign. I just need to get enough miniatures and terrain assembled and painted to put on the table. I hope that you've found this quick look at the game useful.