Millenniumcon 16 Saturday Morning

The second of two games I played at Millenniumcon 16 last weekend. This was one of the best morning convention games I have ever attended - the hosts brought donuts, kolaches, and coffee.

Wolves from the Sea

Saturday morning slot. GMs: Matt Kibbe and Adam Rios.

Best. Morning. Game. EVER.

Saga is a miniatures skirmish game set during the Dark Ages by Gripping Beast. It is a historical game, but not in the sense of accurately modelling combat in a specific period. Rather, it depicts what might be said about a particular battle after the fact. The kinds of tales that come out late in the evening after a few drinks, a fine repast, and a few more drinks. This was another game I heard about from Meeples and Miniatures and looked forward to giving a try.

This was an open demonstration. Players were paired off against each other and given a selection of four point armies to choose from. I ended up playing the Irish against the Vikings. The scenario started with the warlords from both sides already in close combat range and the rest of their armies deploying on the edges of the board.

Overall setup. Both mats were divided, allowing 8 players to play in 4 simultaneous games.

First Impressions - Pros:

The core game system is light and fast. Granted, this was a stripped-down demonstration game, but all of the players seemed to pick up the rules quickly. Play time was roughly two hours, including instruction time.

The Irish and the Vikings have a very different flavor and rely on different tactics. The Irish use missile fire to soften up their opponents as the range closes. The Vikings favor melee combat. The special abilities of each faction further add to their strengths.

The custom Saga dice determine what a player can do with his army on a particular turn. Units (other than the warlord) must be allocated dice to act in a given turn. Symbols and combinations of symbols can activate special abilities.

The action on the board is very fluid. Units move up to engage and losing units fall back. The back and forth maintains focus. My attention never wondered far from the board, even when it was my opponent's turn.

First Impressions - Cons:

I generally regard "I-go, you-go" initiative as a weakness in a system. It is not as noticeable in Saga. The fluid nature of the game results in relatively little down time during the other player's turns. The period also helped. There were no large fields of fire to encourage players to hunker down in cover and result in a static game.

Each faction has their own custom Saga dice. Each set of six dice costs around $20.00 USD. I regard that as a little on the expensive side.

Overall:

I had a fun time. The game is challenging and kept my attention until the end. Saga is a candidate for my next game, but I have a number of projects to complete until I can take on a new period.

Millenniumcon 16 Friday Night

Millenniumcon 16 was held in Round Rock, TX last weekend. I only managed to play in two games due to a combination of schedule conflicts and game slots filling up. Of course, that's double the number of games I get on a "good" weekend, so I'm pretty happy with that.

Chain of Command Boot Camp

Friday night slot. GM: Tom Primrose.

Central board set up and initial deployments.

Chain of Command is a game that I've been interested in trying since hearing about on the Meeples and Miniatures podcast. It's a WWII platoon level skirmish game by Two Fat Lardies. Normally, I don't play much in the way of historical games, but this one caught my attention.

This was a demonstration game offering a taste of the system without getting bogged down. The scenario featured an American patrol and a German patrol running into each other in the ruins of a European town. The GM took us through force construction, the patrol phase, using command points, the initiative mechanics, and combat.

American G.I.s pile in and around a ruined house for cover.

First Impressions - Pros:

Chain of Command force construction is based on historical deployments. This helps to avoid the "Tiger Problem" found in some WWII games. No showing up to a minor skirmish in a no-name town with every last Tiger tank historically deployed to this part of the front.

The patrol phase and the fact that neither side starts with forces on the board gives the game a very different feel. It avoids the race line start seen in many other miniature games. Instead, two forces grope to find the enemy and scramble to get available forces into the fight.

The initiative system uses dice to determine which units can activate in a particular round. Officers can use command points to activate other units. Senior officers can activate more units than junior officers since they have more command points. A unit with an attached officer is more flexible than one without an officer. This shows the importance of leadership on the battlefield.

The game succeeds at showing the differences between national armies. Each American rifleman had good firepower in the M1 Garand, but the BAR could only provide limited support. This had the effect of spreading out American firepower. Every rifleman not getting in line of sight to a target led to a measurable loss of firepower.

On the other hand, German infantry was armed with a bolt-action rifle, but was supported by belt-fed machine guns with a rapid rate of fire. This meant that their firepower was concentrated in those machine guns. Getting the machine guns into position was the critical part of maneuvering for the Germans.

Decision point: German infantry deploy to stop the American advance.

First Impressions - Cons:

The game never really came together for me. Every rule makes sense - I understand and approve of the logic behind each individual rule. But I never felt those rules flowing together into a system. The game remained a collection of rules. Part of this might be lack of repeated play or the convention experience of splitting a side up among multiple players.

Endgame: the Americans wipe out the defending Germans with a courageous, but costly charge.

Overall:

This is a good game and I had a good time with it. The tactical challenges were interesting and the game was close up until the end. Chain of Command is a game I'll be keeping an eye on, but it might not be my next game.

Painting By Numbers #11 - Rebel Minis Titan Marines Infantry

This is a test batch of some Titan Marines Infantry by Rebel Minis. I felt the need for more sci-fi 15mm infantry to use as OPFOR and these guys won out over the alternatives. The stosstruppen look really sold me. Sometimes there is a need for OPFOR that dress the part.

I was very pleased with these guys when they showed up in the mail. Order fulfillment was fast. The details are good and there are a variety of poses. The mold lines were easy to deal with. The integral bases were small, but I was planning to glue them on washers anyway.

Picking out a color scheme was tough. There was the neo-samurai scheme with blood red armor plates over blue cloth. (I might revisit the idea for a command or elite unit.) A desert camouflage scheme which would have been khaki with a brown wash. (Dull.) A jungle camouflage scheme which would have been olive drab with a brown wash. (Dull.) I even considered a "Space Imperium" sturmtruppen scheme with white armor plates over black cloth. (Funny for awhile, but the joke would get real old, real quick.)

In the end, a quick, efficient scheme for batch painting made the cut. A dark grey primer was followed by a coat of Reaper Stormy Grey (09088). Over that went a coat of Citadel Badab Black Wash. The wash shaded the figures and brought out the details, but that was secondary to darkening the grey base coat. The lenses were picked out with Reaper LED Blue (09288). The basing was my usual sand/paint/water mix drybrushed with a sandy color. The figures got a layer of Testors Dullcote after everything had a day to dry.

This scheme will end up being the standard for my Titan Marine infantry collection. It looks good and is practical for production-style painting. Now I just need to get the rest ready to paint.

Reaper Miniatures Bones II: The Decision

So, I ended up backing Reaper Miniatures' latest Kickstarter. I actually made the decision a little over a week ago, but I kept up with the updates to see if Reaper came up with something to change my mind. In the end, I stuck it out - a $1.00 pledge, a few add-ons, and a little bit of sales tax (since Reaper and I are in the same state).

In the end, I just didn't want to be stuck with miniatures I didn't have a need for. While there were individual pieces in the Core Set and each Expansion Set that caught my eye, there were many that would end up as clutter. And I have enough gaming-related clutter to deal with as it is. Besides, it's not like this Kickstarter will be the only way to get the pieces I liked. They'll hit the shelves in a year or so. In the meantime, I've got a backlog to work through.

Reaper Miniatures Bones II: Still Thinking It Over

I'm conflicted on how much money I'm going to be throwing at this one. The "WOW!" feeling I got from the first Reaper Bones Kickstarter just isn't there. And there is the big painting backlog that I've got to get under control.

Looking over the Core Set was a little bit of a disappointment for me. It has about a dozen "I gotta have it" models in it. Plus a dozen more "be nice to have" models. Buying all of those at retail price once they are out would cost less than the $100 of the Core Set. Even better, I could spread the cost out over time.

Some of the Options are really tempting though. The Water Elementals would nicely balance out the transparent Bones I already own. Dungeon Decor II looks handy. And I could always use a Gelatinous Cube and a couple of slimes.

And there is all the unpainted metal, resin, and plastic around my workbench to consider. Do I really need another pile of Reaper Bones to dump on top of all that?

I got nobody but me to blame for the backlog. I spent just shy of $250 on the first Reaper Bones Kickstarter. It's going to take me months to get to the majority of them. Taking advantage of various sales to get "new shiny" figures in 15mm and 28mm on top of that wasn't the smartest move. I just have to shop less and paint more.

Maybe I should just pledge $1 and get a few, carefully selected add-ons? And then I could buckle down on painting until they show up late next year?

Nice theory. Fortunately, I've got time to think it over.

Painting By Numbers #10a - Reaper Bones Great Worm UPDATE

Chief Lackey Rich over at The Miniatures Page suggested that I post a "down the throat" image of Jimmy. As he pointed out, the mouth is one of the best features of the model. I snapped a quick picture today in Jimmy's natural environment - the inside of my display case.

RAWR!

Thanks for the suggestion, Chief Lackey Rich!

Painting By Numbers #10 - Reaper Bones Great Worm

This is the Great Worm (77006) from the Reaper Bones line. Like Rolf, I bought the Great Worm to experiment on while learning how to work with Reaper Bones plastic. Also like Rolf, I came up with a name to avoid typing "the Great Worm" more often than I have to. "Jimmy" sounded pretty good.

By the way, Rolf is taking a long bath in Simple Green on the recommendation of the folks on the Reaper forum. There might be something strange in the plastic mix used to make Rolf. That "something" did not react well with the Krylon spray paint I used as a base coat. I'll be exploring alternate techniques with him later, but Rolf has been pushed back in the queue in favor of other projects.

In this experiment, I decided to simply approach it like I would a metal miniature. Nothing new and nothing fancy. Just a coat of spray primer, followed by a base color, washes, and details.

The first challenge was to make Jimmy sit flat on a surface. The miniature was deformed in a way that made falling over a concern. I glued Jimmy on a 50mm plastic base from Privateer Press. The wider base made the miniature very stable, particularly after basing material was added.

The spray primer was by Design Master. It has provided a good coat on every material I have ever tried it on - metal, various plastics, and resin. Unfortunately, the smooth surface it provides is not the best for acrylic paint. The paint tends to flow rather than "hold" long enough to dry. This was not a major issue in this case, since I planned to use washes to provide most of the color on Jimmy.

I've seen the underbelly painted a different color from the main body, but decided on a single color for simplicity. The base coat was Reaper Amethyst Purple (09024). Over that went a wash of Reaper Burgundy Wine (09025), Amethyst Purple (09024), and water. Once that was dry, I applied a second layer of wash - Citadel Leviathan Purple.

The fleshy parts of the mouth were painted with Reaper Bright Skin (09233) and given a wash of Citadel Baal Red. Reaper Graveyard Bone (09272) was used for the teeth and the rocks around the body. The rocks embedded in the body were also painted with Reaper Graveyard Bone, but with a touch of Citadel Ball Red after it dried to simulate irritated flesh.

The basing material is sand held in place by a mix of brown craft paint, tacky glue, and water. I overbrushed some linen craft paint over the sand. This gives the base a more natural appearance than a single layer of color could. The outer edge of the base was painted black.

The final step was to seal the miniature and base with Testors Dullcote.

Overall, I like how it turned out. The whole process was free of problems. One surprise was the level of detail. The white of the unpainted Bone material seems to obscure the figure even on close inspection. The washes brought out the more subtle features. Even the coat of gray primer allowed me to pick out more details than before.

Half Price Books Finds #3 - Four More AD&D Modules

The most recent gaming finds from Half-Price. All were in fine shape - no handwritten notes, no stains, and the corners were still sharp. Which made it rather annoying when it came time to remove the price tags. Taking them off also tore off bits of the covers. Even worse, removing the adhesive that the tags left behind also damaged the covers.

Three of these modules are from the Slave Lords series. The entire series of four modules were recently republished by Wizards of the Coast in a single hardcover volume - Against the Slave Lords. I prefer the originals both for nostalgia and for ease of use. Speaking from personal experience, running a dungeon crawl is easier if the map and encounter book are separate and if both can be laid flat.

The Slave Lords series is considered a classic, but does have flaws. I found the first two modules - A1 Slave Pits of the Undercity and A2 Secret of the Slavers Stockade - to be the strongest of the series. Both are straightforward dungeon crawls with challenging encounters and memorable NPCs. A3 Assault on the Aerie of the Slave Lords suffers from being two very different adventures leading to a foregone conclusion. In the first part of the adventure, the party has to infiltrate the Slave Lords' stronghold. This is a interesting change from plowing through monsters and traps. In the second, the stronghold funnels the party through a deadly set of encounters only for the party to end up captured through the use of a deus ex machina. This renders the party's previous efforts moot. If the party is going to end up captured no matter what they do, why bother spending all that time running through the stronghold? On a meta level, the capture is necessary to set up the next module in the series, but that isn't a satisfying reason for many players. A4 In the Dungeons of the Slave Lords starts up with the party thrown into a dungeon with none of their equipment or usual selection of spells. Taking away their hard-won cool stuff in a game that is based on killing things and getting their stuff is guaranteed to annoy players. The challenge is for the party of use their limited resources to escape the dungeon. Confronting the Slave Lords and getting their stuff back is possible, but not automatic.

The other module is D1-2 Descent into the Depths of the Earth. It is part of the series that starts with G1-2-3 Against the Giants, continues with D3 Vault of the Drow, and ends with Q1 Queen of the Demonweb Pits. This series was critical in introducing the Drow and the Underdark to D&D lore. If I ever manage to get a copy of D3 Vault of the Drow, I will be able to do something I never got the chance to in the old days - running a party through the entire series.

Painting By Numbers #6a UPDATE - Second Shot at Sarah Blitzer, IMEF Sniper

"You want to know why I slugged that guy? I literally just stepped off the dropship after a week in the bad guys' backyard. What's the first thing I see? Some numbskull with a microphone and his pet camerabot in tow. He wanted to ask me some questions. They wanted me to take a few minutes to pretty myself up for the camera. Right. There wasn't an inch of me that wasn't covered in dust, dried mud, and old sweat. I stank. The nap I took on the trip up was the first good sleep I had since the mission started. I had been gulping down prepackaged field rations in between moving, avoiding detection, monitoring targets, calling down strikes on anything that looked expensive enough to be worth breaking, and taking the odd shot at anyone stupid enough to present a target. I wanted a shower, a nap, and a hot meal."

"Of course I punched him. No, the camerabot didn't get the shot. It was too busy laughing its tin head off."

- IMEF Staff Sergeant Sarah Blitzer, Deep Space Carrier Decatur (SCVN-2814)

I've painted this miniature before, but wasn't happy with the results. Fortunately, it's easy to remove paint from a miniature with Simple Green, a little time, and a brush.

This time I used a lighter grey for the body suit (Reaper MSP Alien Flesh 09293) while keeping a dark grey for the armor pieces and rifle (Reaper MSP Stormy Grey 09088). The greater contrast prevents the effect from being lost in slightly dimmer light conditions. I also used metallic paint more aggressively on the armor and rifle to suggest wear (Citadel Boltgun Metal).

Some details, including the lenses on the goggles and scope, were picked out in Reaper True Blue (09017) with Reaper LED Blue (09288) as a highlight. Again, the goal was greater contrast than on the original paint job.

I tried various things with the face, but settled on a mix of Reaper Tanned Skin (09044) and Reaper Fair Skin (09047) with a wash to bring out details. Painting eyes is just something I haven't mastered yet.

Overall, I like this attempt better than the first. The greater contrast between the different parts of the miniature brings out more the details. The contrast also has a neater appearance. It all adds up to a better expression of the concept.

Incidentally, I did take a few minutes to compare this miniature (Reaper Chronoscope 50274) with the Bones version (80021) released as part of the Reaper Bones Kickstarter Vampire Box. The Bones version comes with an integral base resembling metal plating. The detail on both miniatures are comparable, but I think the metal version looks a little crisper and better defined. That said, I'm not sure if the differences really matter once the miniatures are painted and on the tabletop.

My current plans for the Bones version of Sarah is to match her with the rest of the IMEF Marines included in the Vampire Box. This will allow them to be fielded as a squad. Right now, I'm thinking of a primary color like blue or red for the armor rather than grey.

Learning Experiences, Case #3a UPDATE - Reaper Bones Werewolf (77009) "Rolf"

Shortly after receiving my Reaper Bones Kickstarter rewards package, I figured out the following:

1. That's alot of miniatures.
2. I need to find out more about how to work with the material Reaper uses for the Bones line.
3. My Reaper Bones Werewolf needs a bath in Simple Green.
4. My Reaper Bones Werewolf also needs a name so that I don't keep typing "Reaper Bones Werewolf" when writing these posts. I gave "Worf" and "Shaggy" careful consideration, but decided on "Rolf" for now.

Regarding point #2, there is a vast amount of information available about working with the Reaper Bones line. Unfortunately, much of it is contradictory. Different people have different experiences with the same techniques. Many folks report good results from painting directly on the surface. My own experiences convinced me of the need to prime first. The trick is to figure out what to use as a primer.

On point #3, Simple Green worked fine on Rolf. An overnight immersion followed by some scrubbing with a brush took the paint right off. The Simple Green smell took a few days to fade away. I followed up by cleaning the miniature with dish soap and water.

A trip out to the garage revealed that I had a fair selection of spray primers and paints on hand. I decided against my usual grey auto body primer. This was an experiment and I wanted to push the envelope a little.

I settled on a can of Brown Krylon Camouflage Paint. It was left over from another project and I had no other plans for the rest of the can. The stuff is supposed to work on "most plastics, PVC, hard vinyl, ceramic glass, wood, metal and wicker". Given that Bones is a soft vinyl, I wasn't sure about what the results would be.

After waiting for a lower humidity day (sometimes tough to find during a Texas summer), I hit Rolf with the Krylon Camouflage Paint. The spray flowed evenly with no clogs. Two thin layers provided a good basecoat with no gaps in coverage.

Then came the wait. I could see that the paint had dried after 15 minutes, but Rolf was sticky to the touch. Rolf was still sticky an hour and a day later. Rather than abort the attempt, I decided to leave Rolf in an out of the way spot until the paint cured completely.

It took about 3 - 4 weeks until Rolf was no longer sticky to the touch. I not sure about the exact time since I got out of the habit of checking daily.

(I purchased another Reaper Bones miniature while waiting on Rolf as another test piece. Also, I really wanted a purple worm for my next D&D or D&D-flavored fantasy game. I'm experimenting with some alternate techniques with that miniature. More on that project once it's complete.)

Rolf still lacks the smooth feel of a completely dried coat of paint or primer. There is a faint tacky sensation when handling the miniature. Still, this is a vast improvement over a few weeks ago.

Rolf's coat is also shiny, which would be fine for a real canine, but is odd for a layer of flat, non-reflective paint. The shine and the long curing time suggests some kind of reaction between the Bones material and the Krylon paint.

It doesn't come out well in this photo, but look closely and you can see the shine.

At this point, I'm not recommending using this technique. Although the brown does produce a rich basecoat, the long drying time is not really practical. I might put some paint over the Krylon basecoat sometime in the future, but Rolf was pushed back in the project line during the wait.