Huw Solo and the Temple of Artemis

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Mutants And Death Ray Guns:
After Action Report:

Huw Solo, a newsvid announcer on New Cardiff until he fell foul of Imperial Broadcasting Protocol 5, now pilot-owner of un unlicenced scout-courier "The Millenium Nova", in which he claims to have run the Golden Mile in less than 4 Parsecs and to have "outrun Peugot Patrol 205s, the GTIs'" - not the local stuff". His gunner / mechanic is Gryff, a large woollyback from the Moons of Llandyssul. Desperate for ready cash Huw takes on a job from a cigar smoking space chick pilot in a battered viper interceptor who offers him 5000cr to search for the Arrow of Artemis at a ruined temple on Caprica IV.

The Nova landed the other side of a ridge from the temple and Huw and his crew (augmented by Dave the Mullett, a SAW toting ex member of BritishArmy PLC trekked towards the temple. What the cigar munching pilot hadn't told Huw was that a Vargr clan worshipped what to them was the Arrow of Sirius and a posse of Dog Soldiers were on route to the temple to blat the heretics, armed to the teeth with retooled SLRs stolen from BlueSun RetroTech GmbH.......

As the temple came into sight, so did three Vargr - who opened up on the crew, missing completely. Dave ducked behind a tree but Huw spun and drilled a vargr messily - the second bolted while Gryff lamped out a frag grenade from his bowlauncher just as another group of vargr popped up to the south of the temple. Dave ripped into them with the SAW, dropping one whilst Gryff put out another frag which took out another vargr; the others ran for it.

The crew reached the temple and Huw started his search; then Dave spotted movement in the treeline and with a shout of "VARGR! ACTION RIGHT!" let rip with the SAW - pinning a group of Galactic Patrol who had landed on a tip off of stolen weapons.....the cops closed in while Huw scrabbled about in the ruins and Dave and Gryff kept the cops at bay. With laser fire zapping into the ruins, Gryff fragged a cop but got pinned, with Dave engaging a Cop to the north, a cop got a bead on Huw who dived hard behind a fallen column as laser bolts ripped overhead. He rolled planting a pistol round into the cop. Huw then realised he had his foot on a rather tarnished bronze arrow.......

A hail of frags and SAW fire pinned the cops in the treeline as the crew hoofed it towards the ridge and the Nova; just as Huw scrabbled down the ridge a Cop popped up and drilled a laser bolt right at his head but Huw ducked, aimed and slotted the cop...with a last dash they reached the Nova just as the cops realised they were there to investigate dodgy arms deals, not heavily armed archaological vandals.....

And so to The Last Chancer where Huw had to get payment from that Viper pilot...

- Huw Solo -
Q4 C2 Danger Sense, Flak Jacket, Hero, Sharpshooter, pistol

- Gryff the Woollyback -
Q3 C3 Steadfast, Savage, Tough, Crossbowgrenade thrower

- Dave the Mullet -
Q3 C2 Flak, sharpshooter, SAW

- Crazy Vargr -
Q4 C3 long move, superior senses, SLRs

- Space Cops -
Q4 C2 flak jacket, laser rifle, linked comms

Cheers
Master Chef
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INCOMING!.......Battle of Mt Hilinabox, After Action Report

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"Yes, well Mellisa, I started Dropship Horizon a year ago today. 365 posts later....."

Gumby Newscorp - INCOMING BROADCAST! INCOMING BROADCAST! INCOMING BROADCAST!.......

Imperial Military Sources are have announced the succesful capture of Mt Hilinabox - the major defensive feature overlooking Occupied Port Johnson on Campo 592.

Mt HBX as it has become known, divided the front in two. Heavily cratered McMinsey plateau to the West and the open grassland of the Flymoh District to the East - to the North lay Port Johnson. HBX has been held by Sword World Rifle units for many months as Imperial Ground Forces built up to attack. In the early hours of this morning, conducting a night assault, a four platoon strong company of Imperial Aslan attacked HBX, proceeded by a swift track mortar barrage which weakened the advance enemy positions.

No.s 1 and 2 platoons then shot in 3 and 4 who, led by Clan Sgt Maj G'ngr Moghi overran the Sword Worlders. The Aslan then came under fire from other Sword Worlders dug into a saddle in the middle of HBX. These were then fired at, pinned down and assaulted by No.3 and 4 platoons, the CSM again leading the way and putting the enemy to flight.

Sworld World command was slow to respond - concerned this was a feint - but local reinforcements now reached the crest of HBX and put 3 and 4 platoons under fire. Seemingly unable to pin the enemy by fire, CSM Moghi led repeated close assaults on the flanks of the Sword Worlders all of which were repulsed and casulaties rose - the attack was stalled.

Meanwhile No.s 1 and 2 platoons had moved up and began firing on the Sword Worlders on top of HBX. On the right, 4 platoon could just make out Port Johnson in the early light! The enemy was, in part, pinned by fire and No.3 supported by No.1 platoon charged; they were repulsed and 3 platoon forced out of action. Another assault drove home, leaving one Sworld World position blocking HBX.

A furious volume of fire was put out by the Aslan, pinning the Sworld Worlders, CSM Moghi led the way again, No. 2 platoon attacking while 1 struck the flank. Still the Sworld Worlders held but a final burst of fire from 4 platoon added to their plight and yet another fang, claw, sword and bayonet charge by the Aslan did the job.

With HBX cleared, Imperial units dominated Port Johnson and the Sword Worlders formally sought terms. Campo 592 has been recovered for the Imperium!

BROADCAST ENDS! BROADCAST ENDS!

BROADCAST ENDS! BROADCAST ENDS!

Game Notes:

Played with ASQL2.0

Aslan - 4 units of 4 bases of Regular Infantry with aiming devices, Moghi, ferocious warrior character. The Aslan Light Armour never showed up because........err, forgot to roll for it.

Sword Worlders - 2 coy.s of 4 units with 4 bases each, of which 3 were withheld by Command (hah) and 1 positioned in the Port, giving fire support to HBX.

So it boiled down to 50/50 with the terrain (bad going, rocky) giving lots of problems for shooting.

OK, so it was really one of the Mountain Battles from the Falklands Conflict with Aslan as the Brits, but as a test of the rules it stood up well - it was a nail biter at the end as if either side lost another base it was game over and the Aslan had one unit (No.4 platoon) on two hits...... CSM Moghi has been deemed to have rolled a 12 on his decoration roll, BTW!

CSM Moghi
Felix, Whiskas & Bar

Cheers
Mark &
Master Chef

One year on. Thanks for following
Thanks for your support!

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Iron Maiden First Strike: Photo BatRep

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There hasn't been much opportunity to enjoy the outdoors this year in Kinkydeenshine, but the tail end of last week turned everything round and we finally got our 'Indian Summer'. Over a candlelit Lamb Tangine, Heather declared we should make the most of the weather and play at least one Sci Fi wargame in the garden.....

Candlelit Lamb Tagine

Next day, post hangover.....covert surveillance satellite AL1CE is brought out of orbit and lands in the Kerrang Desert just inside the borders of AceeDCee.

Downed A1LCE Recce Satellite in crash crater guarded by AC/DC Combat Air Patrol

AC/DC troops of 78th 'Riff Raff' Rapid Reaction Force enjoying the pleasures of detached duty at El Burro

Iron Maiden First Strike Company.
"Boots on the ground chief!" Sgt. Major Blane scopes the enemy.

The balloon goes up!

For those about to rock.....

Uh-oh!

The Dance of Death!!!

The sun/s ALWAYS shines on Bruce!
No. 4 'Powerslave' platoon securing the objective

Shot of table plus garden to please the missus

All over bar the BBQ....

By no means a serious game. My original plan had been to play a solo scenario with a full Grav mech company, walkers, dropships, the works....but decided to keep it simple for Heather's first experience with Future War Commander (lite!).

As a serious fan of AC/DC since her college years, she was happy to lead 'Angus' and the boys, leaving the 'Iron Maidens' to me. One of H's favourite films is Predator (1987), so she fully 'gets' that the Iron Maidens were super-soldiers wearing adaptive camo suits and a match for her 'eavy metal.

Interestingly Heather's only reference for Grav vehicles is Luke's skimmer on Tatooine in Star Wars, so the Grav APCs followed the course of the pass rather than use their full inherent 3D mobility.

Great thing is she wants to do it again!

Cheers
Mark
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Iron Maiden First Strike: FWC BatRep

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Satellite Recovery.....

WITH EXTREME PREJUDICE!

"Out of the Silent Planet"

"Run to the Hills"

"Be Quick or Be Dead"

First blood for my Critical Mass Augmented Troopers. Full BatRep to follow.....

"Tailgunner"

Anyhoo! A gratuitous close up of my two favourite figs of the Iron Maiden First Strike Company taken at the start of the game.

"Leyton One, Leyton One, we have Number of the Beast
in company strength. Repeat. Company strength."

Cheers
Mark
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The Face of God: FWC BatRep

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The Face of God

Echo Zulu, Echo Zulu. This is Panjur 5. Boots on target.
By Crom! You've got to see this!
All round defence initiated......

SITUATION:

Massive unidentified electrical signals are being received throughout the Sector. The source of these signals has been pinpointed to an uninhabited rock in a forgotten backwater, Nu IV. A nearby frigate has been ordered to assemble a task force of Marines and investigate.


Weather: Violent dust and electrical storms reducing all ranges by half

Terrain: Open, desert Mesa terrain forming natural ampitheatre.

Enemy Forces: Unknown......


Friendly Forces:

MISSION:

Locate, identify and report on source of signals eminating from planet surface.

Execution:

SUMMARY:

The scenario was designed to be simple, fun, solo game following a blowout Chinese Take Away one evening. It pitches two very different forces at each other and ended up being surprisingly well balanced.

One of the things that struck home in designing the forces for the game using the FWC points based system as a guide, was very definitely NOT to grab a shopping bag full of attributes and tech upgrades, because they sound cool but instead to carefully tailor the Unit Attributes/Weapons and Tech Upgrades to the role your forces will play in the mission.

I enjoyed playing the game, especially the near run ending. It was challenging but not demanding/ The scenario begs to be replayed with different forces, especially aliens and I already have an image in my head of an alien vs alien encounter.

Just in case you are wondering, the 'Face of God' monument is a volcanic basalt rock ornament we brought back with us from Santorini, two years ago. It's been crying out to be used in this type of scenario!


Cheers
Mark
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Master Chef On Deck... O.D.S.T. Future War Commander AAR

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The following is cleared for release by UNSC Navy Press Department:

"At 2025 GMT yesterday, two ODST teams (Echo 1 and Echo 2), supported by Wartog (Heavy) Vehicles, staged an overt landing on New Monrovia to take action against certain military targets. The mission was successful and a number of gallantry awards have been issued."

Meanwhile the OutRim NewsCorp, reports a brutal firefight between "men in black kit" and soldiers of the Zol'lh'ee Aslan clan resulting in heavy casulties all round - including a heavy Aslan AFV and at least one Warthog. Sources in the NAC Military report as follows:

"The ODST stuffed up from the off, those gun jeeps of theirs (called 'heavy' cos they have a plasma cannon on the back not some VRF gauss gun) were dropped too far out and no bugger knew when they were going to appear; the ODST sticks got blown off course and landed well off the LZ - outside the treeline covering the compound, not in the compound itself. How you miss a target that big defeats me. Anyway, they got off lightly from the Aslan AA as they came in and actually got the initiative in the first round on the ground - but zapped no-one. From there it went downhill - on the west side, one squad of Aslan, just charged in on the flank of one squad from E1 and ripped them up. An AFV came zipping in from the back of the compound and an Aslan squad on the rooftop just started shooting. E2 managed to suppress the guys on their right but more were coming in with the tank. The snipers in E2 missed repeatedly. Over on the West, those Aslan just charged again and again, in fact they alone wiped out E1 (one sniper team and two squads).

On the left, E2B retreated from the tank but then managed to take it out with their SPNKRs, finally the gun jeeps turned up and zapped some Aslan on the right flank; freeing E2B to get at the objectives; E2's sniper suppressed the guys on the roof and E2B got up to Objective Fieldgoal, then moved up to Linebacker. At that point it finally went down the pan for the ODST, E2A got shot up and charged. They were suppressed and you can work out how that went down.......the Aslan managed to take out Gun Jeep One and those Aslan on the West worked around the treeline and charged E2B in the flank up by Linebacker. They just tore through them. That left the snipers from E2 and Gun Jeep Two in the fight. Calculating their chances of success, the snipers leapt on board and hoofed it! At least E2 did their job because both Objectives were blown to pieces when the charges went off. No one got near Objective Touchdown".

Master Chef's Notes

Rules - FWC played with a very light hand!

ODST - teams consist of 1 Sniper / Command Team and 2 Squads with SPNKRs (treat as smart missiles in FWC) - ODST were treated as Human Scouts from the FWC GZG-SC and Warthogs were CU23Bs from the CUDF army list

Aslan - Treated as K'vrak from the GZG list

Lessons Learned

You dont let those sword wielding feline maniacs charge your flank y'hear!

Master Chef
Out
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REVIEW: Khurasan Miniatures Pelagic Man of War APC

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I can say without contradiction that this model is the most sophisticated and beautiful 15mm Sci Fi armoured fighting vehicle currently on the market. It is so 'out there' no other manufacturer's 15mm products come close to it. Khurasan Miniatures have just rewritten the rulebook with their new Man of War APC. It is every bit what you would imagine a 'high' Science Fiction armoured vehicle to look like and appears to have stepped out of almost any Asimov book cover illustrated by the great Christopher Foss.


The Pelagic Dominate Man of War APC from Khurasan Miniatures is an all resin kit which comes in 5 main pieces plus a metal flight base.


The parts consist of arrow head shaped hull, barrel troop compartment, turret with twin cannons and two propulsion pods. Assembled it is 95mm long and a maximum of 60mm wide. It is NOT designed to carry humans/humanoids but an entirely different race.

Being all resin and very detailed there is some cleaning and assembly required. Nothing arduous though and well within everyone's ability.

Leaving off the elaborate troop compartment and turret superstructure, as in the photo above, it is still a beautiful model, which can be used as an open back command, troop or weapons carrier.


The Pelagic Man of War is a sleek and very very sexy machine which either deserves a garish colour scheme inspired byone of Chris Foss illustrations, or perhaps something more subtle like this.......


As a tribute to Foss's superb illustrations, I think this camo scheme is perfect:


The Man of War is a stunning piece of workmanship. If you like 'high' Sci Fi rather than gritty armoured boxes on tracks, this is for you! It doesn't matter whether your 15mm Sci Fi armies are Human or Alien, the Man of War APC deserves a place in your collection.

Update Photo:

Availabe soon from Khurasan Miniatures.

WWW.KHURASANMINIATURES.TRIPOD.COM

Cheers
Mark
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Bloodletting on the Sweeney Todd

WE CAN BE HEROES II from Task Force Productions is a great set of Pulp Character skirmish rules! It has some good mechanisms which work well within the overall game framework, which is loose enough to allow you to play games from Ancient Babylonia to the Far Future with ease. Everything you need to know about them is here (Click for pdf). The rules are even on sale until the 10th July, so if you hurry you can pick them up for the paultry sum of NZ$9.99! And yes, they are illustrated throughout just like the game concept pdf. Makes the game very easy to pick up and play.

I'd wanted to try 'HEROES out in a Sci Fi capacity so the new Garn from Khurasan Miniatures and GZG's new Ravagers provided a perfect excuse......

SCENARIO:

It was a risk, but Harry Regan believed life was there simply to take risks. As the stars disappeared in the shadow of the alien frigate, on the Sweeney Todd's imager, he wondered if the risk this time had been just too great....

"HUMANKIND" the voice deep and gravely with a slight rasp resonated from every plate in his ship. "HUMANKIND....Do not resist, or you will be filled with pain".

Penny Woo, the ships engineer, let out a little gasp "Garn!", her pale blue skin still alluring to Harry despite the evident danger of their situation.

Harry turned to Jack Palmer, his No.1 "No foo-king lizard's gonna take my cargo or my ship. Got It!"

CAST:

Harry Regan, Captain, Hero, Proficient
Jack Palmer, No.1, sometimes pilot, Sidekick, Expert
Penny Woo, Engineer, Hero, Adept
Mr Tetley, Crew, Superior
Kara, sometimes cook, sometimes crew, mostly wallpaper, Sidekick
Dogfart, sometimes rocker, all Punk, Crew, Hero, Adept
Xien, mostly inscrutable, crew, Sidekick
Carter, on the run, Crew, Sidekick, Proficient

Armed with whatever the miniature was armed with.

3 Utility Droids, Inferior

THE BAD GUYS:

Captain Glixx, Big Man, Animal's Heavy Hide, Sci Fi Energy Shield
3 Garn Warriors, Superior, Animal's Heavy Hide, Sci Fi Energy Shield
Sub-Captain Gaxx, Big Man, Animal's Heavy Hide, Sci Fi Energy Shield
2 Garn Warriors, Superior, Animal's Heavy Hide, Sci Fi Energy Shield

THE SWEENEY TODD:

The Sweeney Todd is a 'Pizza Class' Rim Freighter. It's design is based on Pizza bases. Upper and Lower Cargo Bays - pizza bases connected by a ramp (corridor section), Engineering and Life Support (pizza base), connected by corridor to crew quarters and utility areas (pizza base, connected by another corridor to the Bridge - pizza base. No Pizza's were harmed during the making of this starship but all were enjoyed immensely. My vison was of one of those long thin spaceships such as in Danny Boyle's SUNSHINE.

One of the things I picked up whilst playing MASS EFFECT on the XBOX was that you don't need complicated corridor and room layouts to make for an interesting playing arena, Use props such as containers and stacked packing crates to build visually appealing and tactically challenging layouts, which can then be different every time.

INITIAL DISPOSITIONS:

Bridge: Harry & Kara, Lower Cargo Bay: Jack & Mr Tetley, Upper Cargo Bay: Dogfart & Xien, Engineering: Penny Woo and the droids, Crew Quarters: Carter (Skulking)

THE ACTION:

As the boarders, initiative lay with the GARN. Glixx and his team stormed in through the Lower Cargo Bay to be met by a hail of gunfire from Jack & Mr Tetley. Unfortunately the Garn's heavy hide and energy shields protected them magnificently with good saving throws. The retalitory fire from Glixx took down Jack almost immediately.

Gaxx now boarded the Upper Cargo Bay. Dogfart & Xien were luckier and in a running fight between packing crates took down a Garn warrior. Mr Tetley was wounded and couldn't stop the Garn from making it up the ramp to the Upper Bay. Glixx finished him off in Close Combat but was himself killed by a grenade as Mr Tetley makes a final successful Skill Check, hissing "Dies youz Mudder."

Penny decides to leave Engineering to the droids as the sound of battle becomes a crescendo in the Upper Bay. Passing a Skill Check she leaps onto the Mule and turns the gun onto the Glixx's now Unled Garn maneouvering around from the boys. The heavy slugs from the Mule's auto-cannon kill one and wound another Garn. Dogfart & Xien break for Engineering under cover from Penny but Xien is shot down. Dogfart uses his Heroic activation to round on Xien's killer, wounds him in Close Combat but the physical power of the Garn prevails.

Penny devoid of cover is wounded (reduced by a Hero Point) and dragged to safety in the nick of time by Harry (Heroic Move) . Kara helps Penny back to the Bridge as Harry fights a lone withdrawal through Engineering, his 12mm Geezer Automatic doing damage to the Garn but the dice aren't with him. The droids wound a Garn but are turned into scrap in a single charge. Still, they manage to slow Gaxx down sufficiently to allow Harry, Kara and Penny an opportunity to get back to the Bridge for the final showdown.

The Garn regroup and form a single team under Gaxx, who is happy enough now he is Captain at long last. He leads them down the corridor for the kill. At this point I roll for Carter - craven coward or....roll again.....good enough to scrape by .....hero! He levels a CO2 fire hose as the last Garn passes and fills the corridor with the -60 gas.

Harry and Kara are watching from the Bridge's monitors and see the cold blooded creatures brought to a standstill by the sudden intense cold. They pop the hatch and all three Blaze Away at the alien boarders. A Garn goes down, Kara drops, Gaxx is wounded. It's enough. Gaxx unleashes an 'ink' bomb to mask a withdrawl to his boat, content with the prize of being elevated to Captain status now Glixx was gone. He wanted to savour this 'promotion'.

DEBRIEF:

'HEROES encourages a more cinematic style of play and I took some liberties in the course of the action. Heroes can be just that in the game and their additional Activations enable them to have that 'heroic' edge you want without it becoming just a +3 to every die roll. Activations are key. They keep the game flowing back and forth between combatants. Always try to think ahead to your next Activation. Gamewise, yes, Harry should have mustered every gun at the Cargo Bays right from the off, but where is the fun in that!

Harry as always has the last word "I know someone who can knock out these Garn as great handbags. Maybe we should think wholesale!"



Cheers
Mark

On The Run......... An AMBUSH ALLEY After Action Report: Part 1

KLAXION 5
DAY 3 ......SUNSET IMMINENT

THC144007C:
"Keep moving grunts! Keep moving! 70 Klicks left to the outpost. How long before we have satellite cover?"










TCM146345G:
"Perigee in 27 minutes boss!"

TCM1578993J:
"Movement on the flank boss! I count 3, no six, nine....scanner's gone of the wall. Boy they're fast!"

TCM146345G:
"We're being followed......"




THC144007C:
"......No. We're being hunted."