A Quick 45A 2nd Ed Playtest

[Wirelizard]

We used Rich's beta-release rules for 45A 2nd Ed this evening; a quick scenerio-free brawl with 1 Grade 3 and 2 Grade 1s per side. The Graf von Teutonic-Stereotype and his sturmtruppen triumphed over the eccentric American adventurer Hamilton S. Hammeneggs and his men, despite Hammeneggs' dashing leap from one balcony to the next whilst waving a sword-cane overhead.

There's a longer battle report over on the Speakeasy, but here's a decent photo from mid-game:



The Graf von Teutonic-Stereotype and his henchgoons holed up in the small two-storey building in the top left; Hammeneggs and his men started at the airplane lower right. You can see Hammeneggs' manservent gunned down near the centre, in the blue suit; Hammeneggs in the green is visible near the two-storey building with the arches centre left. His pilot is barely visible on the far side of the building with the walled yard at centre front.

Hammeneggs ran into the front door of the arcaded building, upstairs, then lept from that balcony to the other buildings balcony to engage in a sword-vs-fists duel with Von Teutonic-Stereotype. The duel was rather short; Von T-S broke one of Mr. H's ribs; when Mr. H attempted to leap back across the gap between balconies to escape he was gunned down by a henchgoon with an SMG. Mr. H's pilot had had his head vapourized a turn earlier by another henchgoon, so that was the end of that.

I like what we've seen so far of the 2nd Edition changes to 45A. It's faster, cleaner, a bit more lethal, and the non-combat skills look cleaner too, from what we've seen so far. Looking forward to more!

[Operator5]

Excellent show!

I'm going to try and get a beta Special Abilities List up so that you can swap out abilities and see how they change how the character plays.

[Tom Reed]

Hey! Did you make the puzzle terrain yourself? That's pretty cool looking.

[Burgundavia]

Hey! Did you make the puzzle terrain yourself? That's pretty cool looking.

The mat is mine, 1/4 of full gym/exercise mat. Each square is roughly 2'x2', including the edges. I was lazy so I didn't put the puzzle edges on the other two sides.

The mat is covered in brown caulking and then has had coffee grounds, flocking, and a few other things applied while the caulking was wet with a coat of white glue on that afterwards. If I were to do it again, I would have painted the mat before I caulked it, because it peels off. Also be aware that you end up with water rings from your white glue if you aren't lucky. But I now have 4'x4' of fully flocked terrain, which looks great on the table.

As for the other scenery, all buildings are Wirelizard's save the square one with the Aviators Tobacco advertising (anybody who has seen his pulp graphics should recognize it), that building was my birthday gift to him last month. The trees are his and are Pegasus' banana trees (sans actual bananas). We lacked a lot of other details, like crates, trucks, etc., so the board looks a little bare.

I still have those notes from the 2nd ed stuff, but I am currently at a conference and don't have them in front of me right now. I may post them tomorrow if I find the time.