Lead Adventure Forum
Other Stuff => Workbench => Topic started by: Zingara on 23 April 2020, 10:28:50 PM
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The enforced confinement to barracks has meant that I have been able to "sit by the fireside, smoke a pipe and reminisce with an old comrade in arms". I've been chatting to Has.Been recently and he recommended a Fistful of Lead derivative called Galactic Heroes for Sci Fi skirmish games. So at the beginning of the month I purchased a pdf copy from RPGDriveThru for less than £6. I've only just got round to giving them a whirl. They have a cinematic feel to them and things can certainly go wrong or right. They would work for multiplayer games. I've included some pictures. All the terrain is from Has.Been Productions Inc I'm guessing at circa mid 80's.
The yellow troops are Mongoose Publishing Skinnies, the greens GW chaos.
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Well done. I told you to dip into the wonderful world of LAF.
Hope you have much enjoyment. I had completely forgotten
about that scenery, but that was about forty years ago!
Like your Yellow meanies, nice horde you have there.
Show more of your stuff, I know you have it.
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Firstly another homage - 3 figures from has.been's paint brush - mid to late 80's ??
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If anyone is interested, the mushrooms were from air-gun pellets.
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Well Galactic Heroes has been the catalyst to getting some troops on the table that have been hardly ever used. Ground Zero Games Nuns with Guns and War God's of Hyboria Wendigoo got an outing today.
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Years ago the dog decided to chew some resin Isle of Lewis chess pieces. Many of the survivors turned into statues and standing stones visible in the above pictures.
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Nice to see you on here Gregor. Ian.
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Like the Nuns with Guns. Striking colour scheme.
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AGAINST ALL THE ODDS
Continuing on the theme of using the Galactic Heroes rules as an excuse to get out figures that have sat on the shelf for more years than a quarter of the world's population have been alive. This time some WW I Germans that I painted with some other projects in mind.
It is my experience that numbers count in most wargames, as Stain said "Quantity has a quality all of its own", so pitching a force containing the maximum number of figures available by traits and so on (19 figures) and having them come back on unless put out of action permanently I was expecting only one result. Rather than both sides starting at the table edge, I selected a special forces force to raid the enemies area headquarters to secure plans for local dispositions, and if possible secure the area commander (non combatant). The HQ was surrounded by two groups (6 figures), who would need to spot the enemy before being able to use their actions. The first of these would be to sound the alarm. That would mean the remaining groups would enter the combat zone the following turn.
Tuark Forces - 18 lower quality soldiers with "regenerate" )meaning unless a wound result of 9 or 10 is achieved re-enter the table the next go). One regular leader with two force enhancement traits (adding an extra 6 troops to the normal 12) and slippery (can escape close combat). The manipulative survivalist.
Special Ops Forces - 1 sniper with camouflage and enhanced range, 6 regular troops with loyal (won't quit on morale rolls of 1). They would be more effective with good shots or similar, but this keeps them standard without me having to remember who's got what trait.
The first 3 turns passed with the spec ops guys closing to the position seen in the first photographs. I was not expecting them to get so close, and it is surprising how the tension mounts. Then it is decision time with the troops ideally placed - do they try to take out the defenders or press on into the compound? I figured they needed to carry on into the HQ if they were to have any chance of securing the target, and the others went on overwatch, ready to let loose as soon as they alarm was given.
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Must be in Australia or something - seems to orient things with a mind of its own.
Two figures entered the enemy HQ - would the alarm go up ?? 3 spotting rolls came and went, and the fourth and last was taken. The silence was shattered (an 8 was rolled) and the alarm went up. The sniper and a trooper let fly - only for one to jam. That was unfortunate.
Sure enough on the following turn reinforcements poured into the area, and one of the guards moved into melee the spec ops guy lining up the general and ready to secure the plans (a turn doing nothing else). Two spec ops guys shot at the guard as he moved in - and both jammed !! (a roll of a 1 on a d10). This could prove decisive since the guy about to snaffle the plans now had to defend himself, losing time with others rapidly closing in.
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The Tuark reinforcements poured up the roads intending to cut off any retreat and engage the supporting spec ops guys, whilst 3 groups and the "commissar" assaulting the two guys in the HQ. An absolutely epic struggle ensued, with the spec ops guys hanging grimly in there, but never able to shake themselves free of the numerous enemy. The sniper continues to ping away with very moderate effect.
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In fact things were starting to look hopeful for the Ops guys, seven of the Tuarks were down, and one group of 3 being suppressed. But then things took a turn for the worst. One of the guys in the HQ having overcome his opponents and moving towards his colleague was shot dead (9 or 10 on the wound dice). Just a wound would be better since a card would still be drawn for him, and there is a chance he could get a card enabling him to recover. A sore blow out of nowhere. Then the following turn another blow, the Ops guy holding the left flank went down. The suppressed group drew a queen of spades to clear their shaken markers and the one hit again took the trooper straight out - no shaken, no wound, just dead. As well as not being able to afford the numbers, it skews the force ability since the Ops guys are now down to 5 action cards whereas despite casualties, the Tuarks continue to draw 7.
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Things are now desperate, another Ops guy enters the hq and gathers up the general and plans, covered by the guy who first entered the compound. He would eventually pay with his life, shaken, shot wounded and finally bayoneted to death. The only Ops guy to make use of the 3 wounds to take him down. But the Tuarks are close enough to keep throwing men into the fray, and one of them seems to be possessed in hand to hand repeatedly rolling well.
It is one of those things, objectively there comes a point when it is best to cut you losses and run, but with the prize so tantalisingly close and hoping for a piece of good fortune, 3 spec ops guys would fall over the same few metres of ground, leaving the sniper on the hill to take a final shot (missed) before slinking away.
So victory for the Tuarks, which you would expect before the game, but it was surprisingly tense with a heroic struggle around the HQ. So there was no Against All The Odds result, but I was thoroughly engrossed and had a very enjoyable couple of hours.
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Apart from straining my neck to look at the pictures, i enjoyed the battle report.
You had fun with stuff just off the shelf. Result!
Hope you keep at it.
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I'm going to have to work out how it is loading stuff up - they are not upside down on my computer.
I enjoyed the game - a story line idea certainly adds to the involvement and narrative. A set of rules worth getting - I've had my money's worth out of them and still more things to try :-). I've spent 5 times as much on rules I've never used !!
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Haven't we all?!
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For Dog Lovers Everywhere.
Around 2006 Privateer Press released the warbeast equivalent of War Machine. Not willing to fork out the fortune to amass a force I purchased a bag of zombie dogs for one of these Zombie games and painted them up. Nice and cheap, (in fact the bases cost more per figure), I was able to enjoy several games at a fraction of the cost. But with rules and data cards over £30 still not cost free! The werewolf jaeger was from another range, but at £8 still half the price of an official figure. Those Isle of Lewis chess men were able to stand in for animated statues and standing stones. I did treat myself to a large wolf warbeast (currently headless), but a project completed much quicker and at less cost than painting a bunch of 30mm figures.
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The young scout descended the escarpment. Below him he could see the tree line and the stunted trees that attempted to make a living this high up. The tribe was on the move from the high mountain valleys where they spent the Summer months, down to the more hospitable woodlands and lands beyond. It was Autumn now and soon the harsh, icy grip of Winter would turn this world white. Despite his young years the scout could sense there was something out of place. He let out a warning call, "Or, Or", followed by a rising and falling "k,k,k,k,k" the sound of the Ptarmigan, one of the hardy birds native to these mountains. The tribe was on the move with youngsters in tow, they could not risk getting caught unawares. In a few minutes warriors would quietly, invisibly join him.
Standing there listening the young scout realised that there was no sound, not even a bird call. Then he saw movement, like a bow wave moving through the woods. There was movement there, silent and deadly, and then the memories of tales of the elders came to him. It was the stuff of legend, way before his lifetime, but ingrained into the tribes memory. The wolves of Orberos.
For this battle, using Galactic Heroes, the Wendigoo, are Wargods of Hyboria figures. Both sides in this battle had the ranger ability, as a group trait for the Wendigoo and an individual trait for the Wolves of Orberos. This means both sides can travel at full speed in difficult terrain. The Wendigoo leader had the ability to call up 3 youths (forgotten about in the heat of battle) and the wolves were horde based. The objective was simple, to get rid of the on going threat the Werewolf needed killing.
The only long range ability was the Wendigoo's javelins with a maximum range of 6", so not surprisingly both sides closed fast. The Wolves forming a solid clump in the middle, coming up short of the stream ready to leap it in turn 3 and the Wendigoo forming a semi cicle in the hopes of getting some javelins off.
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As it happened the Wolves got the jump on them and leaping the river engaged along the line. Wolves dropped, but so did Wendigoo, and the numbers started to favour the wolves. All looked lost then the Wendigoo leader used his running combat ability - meaning after a round of combat he can move any remaining move to engage someone else. He shook his first opponent, then with 10" movement was able to move and engage a group of 3 Wolves one at a time, slaying them all. But at the end of the turn it was the leader on his own against the werewolf and 5 wolves. The wolves went first and launched one of the troops with the idea of tieing the Wendigoo down and overwhelming him. The wolf died, then it was over to the Wendigoo, still outnumbered 5 to 1. I decided to throw a javelin at the Werewolf with a follow up charge. A long range javelin cast is difficult, but the only javelin hurled in this game found its target, and astonishingly killed the beast outright. From out the jaws of defeat our hero saves the day.
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Love the battle report Gregor, but you have got to sort out the upside down pictures,
it is doing my neck in!
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Stuf wot hoo dun? I, e, u, em?
Da world is turned upside down!
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Are the figures magnetised to stick to the ceiling ?
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I'll either have to emigrate to Australia or start putting the piccies into something like Paint first. Even rotating them 180 degrees ended up, well up, rather than down.
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The last 3 weeks have seen me spend far too many hours, days in fact, putting together forces for the wars of Spanish Succession, namely Dutch, British, French and Bavarian to date. There are still things like artillery to do, but taking the advice of a friend I put a game on. I was using "Twilight of the Sun King" rules and randomly rolled two forces going for 3 commands a side. As in many battles the Sun Kings forces were on the defence with both flanks anchored on fortified villages. On the French right was the village of Kettel and on the left the village of Kuppa. By the nature of the forces selected both sides only had cavalry holding the centre. This is a mistake. Anyway, the attack on Kettel was commanded by Lord Poll-Leigh with Colonel Poot in charge of the Dutch Guards. The attack on Kuppa was to be carried out by Earl Gray with Lord Tay in command of the foot and Commander Biskits in charge of the dragoon support. After the battle an aide's scribbled notes of Duke Tetley's orders of attack were seen to read thus: Poll-Leigh Poot Kettel on time for tea. Take Kuppa Earl Gray Tay and Biskits for tiffin.
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Some pictures attached - hopefully no cricks in the neck.
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The two attack columns went in, the attack against Kuppa delayed by the disorganising effects of the supporting artillery. The cavalry of the Maison du Roi supported by some regional noble cavalry charged and overran Tetley's artillery, but this left them at the mercy of the central cavalry who turned a couple of brigades on them. Troops do not like having troops behind their flanks or rear in these rules. The Maison du Roi fled the field together with their supports. The French infantry were moving up however and the lead brigade unable to extricate itself was sent packing.
In the centre Tetley's cavalry crossed the marshy stream. The net effect was both cavalry commands broken, the Bavarians on the right committing a couple of cuirassier brigades to ensure there was no exploitation.
Did Earl Grey take Kuppa ? A fierce contest ensued in which the lead Bavarian brigade was taking a battering and the supporting artillery battery shot away, but the advancing Guard ensued there was not sufficient strength to carry the position.
Poll-Leigh fared even worse, steady musketry and cannister together with the pressure of the advancing infantry reserve meant the force had to pull back having taken severe casualties, one brigade having been broken. The force withdrew covered by its horse, the French having none left on this wing.
And yes, these figures are papers produced by Peter Dennis - one thing I like is nice big colourful national and regimental colours.
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They look great fella.
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I am reminded of Grant, Grande Duchy of Lorraine & Verengete Fre Stat.
(Apologies for any mis-spelling) but you know (hopefully) what I mean.
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Just because it is on sale does not mean you need it.
Just because it looks good / cool does not mean you need it.
Just because it looks good and is on sale does not mean you need it.
Sales resistance very low. Then reality. These things are multi part. How many bits do I have to glue together ? Well over a hundred. If I wanted an Airfix kit or kits I would have got them.
Well after a lot of struggle and having to purchase some proper glue, I got a couple of box sets of WH40K Tzeentch assembled. Did the easy ones first which just involved gluing to a base. Then tried the slightly larger ones and gave up, not least because, despite following instructions I ended up with one that did not fit :-(. Then a massive effort / chore to assemble the marines. Spray cans purchased and let loose. Had to put in garage for about a month before my usual supplier opened up again due to Covid shutdown, the gloss varnish massively improved them.
Got them out for three games Monday, and unlike most newly painted troops they did ok.
Another project completed.
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and some more - I don't see them that close normally - where a wash or something would help. At 3 foot or more they work well enough for me.
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Seems these minis didn't make you feel any good! They did win you a game though so maybe a quick wash and a light dry-brush to make them pop back into your heart?
You never know!
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The big battle tricorn event looks very impressive.
The 40K has a LOT of gold. I would go with a wash to take it down a bit,
but then use silver & gold gel pens on highlights to make them zing.
Good stuff, keep posting.
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Wargaming Al Fresco. Out in a pleasant evening again, fielding my current complete collection of Spanish War of Succession units with the usual French deployment of anchored flanks. I think I will need to base up more individuals for casualty markers. The size of the forces is currently around 40,000 a side. The two buildings are also by Peter Dennis from his ECW publication. On my list to do more of I think. Stand back around 8 feet and the battle array gives a very good panoramic impression.
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For what it is worth I sue the Pike and Shot Society's Twilight of the Sun King Rules. They are not the fastest playing rules in the world but give a good feel of a Marlburian tete a tete from the battle reports I have read.
Having had a chin wag with has.been I've taken the plunge and ordered a set of King and Parliament for ECW engagements. Better get some units prepared I guess!!
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Are you going down the paper route for your ECW armies?
Or are you considering small scale (6mm, 10mm or 2mm!!!!)
Yes someone did produce 2mm Pike & Shot 'blocks' I don't know
if they are still available.
JC would tell you to just use counters at that scale.
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On Saturday I visited a friend who has put up a wargaming shed in his garden for my first non solo game since Christmas. I took my Spanish War of Succession figures. This project was started at the beginning of May and Completed at the beginning of July. Two months. The rules are Twilight of the Sun King and the whole lot fits into one plastic box which I picked up for £7. The internal boxes are Tesco fruit boxes (mdf) from Tesco, together with another cardboard box and some smaller ones containing cat food.
We stuck everything I had on the table and Steve elected to go with the French / Bavarians. I set up first as defender. I was well aware of my hanging right flank which the French endeavoured to exploit.
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The British / Dutch had the better of the fortunes of morale. The right flank cavalry due to a high rated commander would fight to the end, and the next command needing 3+ survived a scare. The French on the other hand had two commands fail immediately which led to the proverbial towel being thrown in. The Bavarians charged a battery of artillery twice with cavalry and twice the artillery threw 9 on 2 average dice, accounting for 2 cavalry brigades and heavily damaging an infantry brigade. In narrative terms the cavalry got bogged down and came to grief before the guns.
An enjoyable outing which was Steve's first game with these rules and in which he had chances.
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Impressive. can we have a few low level shots of the troops.
I think that is when they look their absolute best.
Next your opinion of your purchased 'plexiglass' 2D figures?
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I've had several people asking for pictures of the Wofun flats. Basically 2mm thick plexiglass figures with figures printed on them. The well known illustrator Peter Dennis is starting to get his ranges covered.
I ordered the ACW set on 3rd July. It was posted on Friday 17th and was with me Monday 20th by DHL. I ordered the 18mm set.
Each side gets 6 infantry regiments of 24 figures on 4 bases, 3 cavalry regiments of 12 figures on 4 bases and 8 guns and crew on a base each. The artillery pieces surprised me - one there being so many (I should have read the description) and two they were in MDF. This means they are not so nice and shiny as the ones in the artillery sets seen online, but does mean that the tops are coloured so better for looking on from above. They assemble fairly easily.
The figures came on sprues so needed detaching - this lead to 2 ram rods breaking and a cavalry standard when I was doing something elsewhere on the sprue. The individual regimental set I also got sent was better in that it was a sheet of plexiglass out of which the figures could be pushed out.
The idea is that you push the pegs into holes in the bases. I found the infantry in particular too tight so ended up shaving most of the pegs with a craft knife. I lost one snapped musket trying to push figures into bases (ignored since unnoticeable) but did snap one infantry man off at the thigh and one cavalry off at the ankle (both glued back on) The cavalry mostly slipped in fine, as did the extra regiment mostly with the bases it came with. I did shatter one of the cannon wheels which was crudely glued together with PVA. Annoyingly one of the gun axles sprang away and hit the wall beside me. After finishing the others I was on my hands and knees moving the chair etc - could not see it so carved myself another. Sods law, later when I had finished and got out the chair to go down stairs it fell out of my clothing onto the floor - so I have an extra axle now.
The set does not contain any command figures, though you do get 8 command bases on the artillery base sprue. Given there is quite a lot of cavalry you could use some mounted figures as commanders. Personally I would have preferred some commanders.
Now to rules - I will have to find a set to suite - 4 bases is not a lot for such things as RFCM (Peter Pig rules) or Fire and Fury. The individual sets come in at 8 bases / 48 figures per regiment.
You could call this clever marketing since I will likely send away for the command sets, and since I'm ordering, well, you know, there are some nice New York volunteer regiments like the Campbells in Kilts, or the Irish, or the Italians.
They are great for getting into a new period if you don't want the time spent painitng hundreds of figures, especially if doing two sides. They would also work well for a club campaign, eg 2 teams of 3 could buy a couple of regiments and share costs on artillery and command. This overcomes the issue of some players not completing their painting commitment and everyone gets up and running together.
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The plastiglass is not so visible from a normal wargamers viewpoint.
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The central marks on the bases are the sprue join marks - useful for rules whre the centre of the base is important - you can of course simply blacken them out. The last confederate picture shows the 5th Florida - 8 bases of them unlike those in the army deal which come in 4s.
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Look nice, quick to table etc. but most of them are for periods
I already do in 28mm metal. Could be tempted by the Alamo
figures though, at least for the battles, I already have some of
the very nice Boothill figures for a skirmish.
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Just spotted this thread, Z , thanks for posting the Wofun plexiglass figures . I’m a big fan of Mr. Dennis’s illustrations especially the WSS . Those ACW illustrations don’t seem to be his , however. I also have the Jacobite book which is a great resource for 7YW French, British , Bavarian and Dutch / Prussian. If you print them out in black and white they can then be hand coloured into virtually any nationality. I printed them in card then laminated them and mounted them on Perspex stands . Sam Mustafa’s “ Maurice “ rules are what I intend to play with but I’m also tempted to use the Grant’s War Game rules , especially for the large units , as I certainly won’t be taking several years to paint the armies required. Two armies can be assembled in a week . Great for dipping into and trying other rules and periods .
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After discussing ACW rules with Has.Been on Tuesday I took the plunge and purchased Rebels and Patriots that very night, coming in at just under £10. Managed to get a game in with the Wofun 18mm figures, running at 36 points on a 4ft by 3ft board, reducing the deployment zone to 3" in. With all units "Green" apart from the artillery, that made for a lot of units on the board. I played the first scenario.
Battle of Cunningham's Rise.
It is said that on a New Moon you can sometimes see the shadowy figure of an old man with a cheroot in his mouth ascending the rise and surveying the surrounding land from under the tree.
Two brothers Tom and Frank O'Malley really did not get on, so when Tom signed up to fight for the Union it was no surprise that Frank signed up for the South, and as fate would have it they would meet at Cunningham's rise.
Tom had a fine reputation amongst his men, whereas Frank was more proud and arrogant, a strutting peacock of a man.
Features of the forces involved. Better equipped Union infantry are potentially better in a firefight, whereas you would expect the Confederates to prevail in close in fighting. There was one light horse on the confederate side who might get stuck in, the other mounted troops on both sides were skirmishers.
Infantry: 6 Union units to 7 Confederate.
Cavalry: 0 Union units to 1 Confederate.
Mounted Skirmishers: 2 Union units and 2 Confederate
Guns: 2 Union to 1 Confederate
The scenario works in that if one side has uncontested units within 3" of the tree at the end of both players turns they get a Renown point. At the end of 8 turns roll a d6 after each turn and add to the turn number. If the total is 14 or more the game ends and the side with the most Renown points wins. An army can break if it loses 75% of its force points.
The early turns saw the Confederates advancing mostly as desired, with the Union hesitant. This resulted in the Confederates getting established on the rise and accumulating Renown points with the Union unable to contest. Through the middle turns the Unions artillery and superior shooting started to tell and Confederate units started to buckle under the pressure. One amusing turn saw the Confederate cavalry and a Confederate infantry unit both succeed in charging the enemy for both to throw 3 on 2d6 and come up just short. The Union side then promptly failed to order both units so the Confederates got away with not being shot at close range and duly charged home the following turn.
Another feature was the Confederate side in particular rolling a number of double 6's or double 1's on their activation dice resulting in various random events. Two friendly fire incidents caused no damage due to the Confederates poor firepower. They managed to get a Regular infantry reinforcement (can only occur once so the other one was wasted), who failed to activate and a couple of turns later rolled double 1 and the effect was for them to retreat back off the table !!
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So we got to turn 8, the Confederates were teetering with 4 units functioning and one broken and Frank's unit had quit the field. Up comes a 6 and the engagement ends with Frank getting 3 Renown points for turns dominating the objective. Tom also gets 3 Renown for having inflicted 33% casualties and having suffered less than 33% himself.
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Thanks Belisarius. There are a lot of good resources out there at the moment, and like you I like Peter Dennis' work. One acquaintance has printed out a bunch of C18 top downs from Junior General and is pleased with them. As you say great for trying things out.
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Nice looking ACW game, but you don't give us your opinion of the rules.
If I was new to the period, or any that they do in plexiglass, I would be
sorely tempted. I would have to file their cannon barrels, so that they
didn't look so square.
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Filing the barrels would certainly be one option - you could do a number of things to "tart" them up - at the moment I am happy to use them straight out the box.
As to the rules, I now have 5 of this series, so I guess I can get along with them :-). The mechanics are nice and simple so you can get on with the game. One thing I will do at some point is print that QRF off the Osprey site - saves time if you can have the blunder or advantage table readily at hand.
What Daniel does not mention, is that this series is an adaptation of Ral Partha's Chaos wars (well, the core mechanics are there - unit sizes, movement, hit divisor) and I've enjoyed those down the years.
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So that is a thumbs up then?