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!

Trash Bash Sci-Fi Quonset Workshop

This terrain piece is built around a part from some kind of office machine. The core part immediately brought a Quonset hut to mind when I first laid eyes on it. I previously painted up my other one during my still-incomplete Electrical Box Sci-Fi Shelter.

Preparation
The first step was to cut off the plastic protrusions on the bottom of the core part that kept it from sitting flat on the table. Next came the application of elbow grease in the form of sanding and cleaning. I don't know what kind of plastic the part is made of and preparing the surface seemed to be a reasonable measure.

Antenna Assembly
The antenna are used printer parts - basically plastic rods. The core part had four holes drilled out for screws that were just a little to small to fit the rods. I used a hobby knife to widen the holes and glued the rods in place.

Technical Looking Bits Assembly
The core part had various protrusions originally used as attachment points. I sorted through my bits collection for parts to disguise them. A couple of keyboard buttons and a flat bead did the trick. They represent equipment attached to the outside of the structure.

First Spray Coat
Krylon Fusion All-In-One Matte Black sprayed for complete coverage on all surfaces.

Second Spray Coat
Krylon ColorMaster Paint + Primer Metallic Aluminum spray to coat the antenna and technical bits.

Third Spray Coat
I masked off the areas I wanted to stay metallic and sprayed Krylon ColorMaxx Paint + Primer Flat White to achieve a zenithal effect on the upper areas.

Fourth Spray Coat
Krylon ColorMaster Paint + Primer Matte Poppy Red on all exposed surfaces. I kept the masking on the metallic areas and did not spray the underside of the piece. The zenithal effect showed through the red with the upper areas being noticeably brighter than the lower ones.

Wash Layers
Next I applied multiple coats of black wash. Although I wiped off the excess, I also allowed the wash to build up in some areas for a grimy effect.

Detailing
I used Silver and Black Sharpies to further weather the piece. The silver was applied to the edges to simulate wear marks and on some flat surfaces as scratches. The black worked to dirty up the piece a little more and to draw some graffiti on a couple of spots.

The piece represents a workshop built from prefabricated or repurposed components. Used with 15mm models, it could be a garage or modest hangar. It's a little small for vehicle maintenance at larger scales like 28mm, but still conveys the appearance of a utility building.

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.

Warsenal Garbage Dumpsters TR-MDF-INF003-2

There's a place on the tabletop for mundane terrain - street lamps, public transportation stops, cargo containers, etc. Not everything has to be an example of exotic technology or arcane processes. And there has to be someplace to put the trash.

So that's where Lin (portrayed by Rosie) found those grenades.

These are Warsenal's Garage Dumpsters. They are sold two to a pack. Most of the pieces are MDF except for the acrylic rod that works with the lids as a hinge. There are plastic and resin pieces available at comparable prices, but lids that open and the durability of MDF appealed to me.

Preparation
I would recommend running a blade around the parts before punching them out of the MDF sheets. A couple parts refused to separate cleanly and needed some fixing up.

Assembly
There are no assembly instructions packaged with this product. The product page includes a link to a YouTube video, but there are no printable instructions. I recommend that anyone putting one of these together for the first time watch the entire video while dry fitting the parts to see how they fit together.

I used Tacky Glue, but any wood or PVA glue should provide a solid bond. Some of the parts need convincing to fit together and super glue may bond too quickly.

On the topic of convincing the parts to fit, I had some issues with the first one I built. The lids don't close all the way since they aren't aligned properly. That's not a problem with the product, but with me not making sure that everything was lined up before the glue dried. I exercised more care with the second one and it seems fine. The lid issue isn't a huge problem - there are plenty of these things with damaged lids and hinges out in the real world.

Warsenal including a thank you card with every order is a nice touch.

Paint Scheme
I was going for a worn, but not decaying appearance. Dust and grime, but not much rust. Green seems to be the default color for dumpsters around here. The lids on these things are often plastic and tend to discolor in the sun, so I took that into account.

Spray Paint - First Coat
Krylon Fusion All-In-One Matte Black. This is a paint and prime product. It doesn't have the coverage or finish of Krylon Camouflage Ultra-Flat Black. Unfortunately, I ran out of that stuff and haven't been able to restock.

Spray Paint - Second Coat
Krylon Camouflage Ultra-Flat Brown. I sprayed this at an angle for a zenithal effect.

Spray Paint - Third Coat
I removed the lids and painted the dumpster bodies with Krylon Camouflage Ultra-Flat Olive. Again, this was sprayed to leave some of the previous coats showing in the recesses for a shadowing/weathering effect.

Wash Coats
I reassembled the pieces and hit them with two coats of washes - black and brown. This resulted in a couple of nicely weathered pieces, but they turned out way too dark.

Dry Brush - First Layer
FolkArt 527 Forest Moss. This is a light olive color. I applied it heavily on the edges and flat surfaces of the dumpster bodies while leaving the weathering intact.

Dry Brush - Second Layer
FolkArt 480 Titanium White. A very light gray. Hitting the edges resulted in a dusty appearance that is not out of place here. I've seen enough dumpsters on enough construction sites to know that these things get coated in a layer of light colored grime.

A representation of the years 2020 and 2021.

The interior is just large enough to fit a miniature on a 25mm base. Note that a base that is not exactly 25mm may not work - I tried a couple that are just a little larger and they are a tight squeeze. There might be enough room for a couple of miniatures on 25mm bases, depending on the poses and weapons, but I couldn't find a pair that worked. A 30mm or 35mm base is right out. Of course, the interiors could be filled with setting-appropriate trash or the lids could just be left closed.

I like these pieces. The assembly was a little fiddly, but putting them together and painting them was a fun project to spread over a few weeknights. Their appearance fits in a modern, cyberpunk, or near future setting.

Black Friday/Cyber Monday Haul 2021 - Part 2

Here's the last couple of tabletop gaming related items that a combination of crass commercialism and lack of self-discipline put into my possession. Since I've done a fair job of getting things done lately, I don't feel too guilty about adding to the project pile. We will see how long they sit around until I get to them.

From left to right - Magic Portal, Demon Gate, 

Zealot Miniatures

This is a company in the United Kingdom that offers a variety of resin miniatures, terrain pieces, and conversion bits for fantasy and sci-fi settings. My order was processed quickly and arrived as soon as could be expected given the state of international shipping. This order is my first purchase from them.

Magic Portal (Blue)
I've had my eye on this one for awhile due to its resemblance to the means of interstellar transport of a popular sci-fi franchise. It also wouldn't look out of place in a fantasy setting. The acrylic insert is also available in red.

Demon Gate (Red)
A more ominous looking alternative to the above terrain. The appearance is more fantastic than the Magic Portal, but it could work in a sci-fi game as an alien construct. A blue insert is also available.

As the names suggest, these pieces represent generators for space-time distortions that can be wandered through to end up at a far away destination. Both are part of Zealot Miniatures' Dungeon Scenery line. Each is made of resin with a clear acrylic insert representing the distortion. The resin body comes in multiple parts, requiring assembly and painting.

Zealot Miniatures also included some Christmas freebies with my order. These are tiny resin pieces resembling a stocking and Christmas decorations. I'll put these aside until I get around to a Christmas themed board.

Atmospheric Water Condenser Scatter Terrain

The Atmospheric Water Condenser is a device for extracting drinkable water from air. The harvested water can be stored in an adjacent collection tank or underground cistern. Piping the water directly to a hydroponic farm or into a settlement's infrastructure for immediate use is also common. Larger models are available for harvesting water in the quantities required for industrial applications, but arrays of standard models are also used for this purpose. Similar technology is commonly employed in agricultural projects on backwater worlds in a far away galaxy.

- Kessler's Upcycling Sales Catalog

I had no idea of what this piece would represent while building it. The process started when I noticed how well some of the recovered printer and computer parts fitted together. Things snowballed from there. I posted a WIP photo on the Trash Bash International Facebook group to get some feedback. Thanks to Gary Golding for inspiring the name!

Rosie giving another bit of tech the once over.

Assembly was straightforward - I just dug around my boxes of greeblies and fit things together where they looked good. Most of the parts are joined with Gorilla Super Glue. The main tower needed a more robust solution to convince it to stay put. Fortunately, all my scavenging has resulted in a collection of suitable screws.

First Spray Coat
Krylon Fusion All-In-One Matte Black sprayed evenly over the piece.

Second Spray Coat
Krylon Camouflage Ultra-Flat Khaki sprayed at a downward angle to achieve a zenithal effect with the black.

Wash Coat
I mixed a black wash and applied it to all surfaces, taking care to get it into the recesses. The excess was wiped off to prevent pooling.

First Dry Brush Coat
FolkArt 420 Linen. This was a heavy dry brushing to get a weathered, been-out-in-the-blazing-sun-too-long appearance.

Second Dry Brush Coat
FolkArt 480 Titanium White. I brushed on just enough to achieve some highlighting.

Sometimes glue just isn't enough for the job.

This piece will likely see the most use as scatter terrain in sci-fi games. I could use it as an objective marker. In that case, its stated function may change to a sensor array, communications relay, terraforming widget, or other technobabble gadget depending on the scenario.

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!

Black Friday/Cyber Monday Haul 2021 - Part 1

As with previous years (2019 Part 1, 2019 Part 2, 2020) here's the first batch of tabletop gaming stuff I couldn't quite resist getting at sale prices. I'll present the rest when it shows up.

I need to make sure I have enough glue.

DTRPG

Both of these products were purchased in .pdf form.

Five Parsecs From Home Trailblazers Toolkit
An expansion for Five Parsecs From Home, 3rd Edition. It adds all kinds of options for running a campaign or battle. I've only flipped through it, but I can see the appeal for a player who already has a campaign or three under their belt. For me, still starting out, it has limited utility at this time. I'm looking forward to exploring these options a campaign or two down the road.

Desert Moon of Karth
A setting for the Mothership RPG. It's a desert world that pulls inspiration from a variety of sources. Mostly sources that take place on desert worlds. The western vibe is strong and mixes well with Mothership's quirky feel. I'll be waiting for the Mothership boxed set to come out before running it, but a setting book like this is a handy source for ideas in any sci-fi game.

Ah, the smell of freshly lasered MDF. Smells like future terrain projects.

Warsenal

Garbage Dumpsters TR-MDF-INF003-2
This is a pair of identical terrain pieces. They are mostly MDF with a plastic rod to work with the hinges on the lids. Although other companies offer similar terrain pieces in plastic, I wanted something more durable and the price was competitive. Best of all, since the lids open there is enough space for a figure to stand inside.

Comanche Tower Lamps TR-MDF-TWR-LMP
Three street lamps for the urban terrain tiles I made awhile ago.

REM Shack TR-MDF-TER-REM-SHK
I got this for its potential as a multi-scale piece. At 28mm, it can serve as a small workshop. At 15mm, it can represent a garage for servicing a small vehicle.


Now I just need to finish some of my current projects to make room to work on these. Another shipment is on the way from further off - I'll post that stuff when it arrives.

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.