[15mm] Ockman's Sci-fi, update 240203: Why 15mm gaming is best

[Ockman]

There are some other modifiers too. A patron job with the “dangerous job” hazard adds 1 enemy. A “defend” quest mission objective or “brought friends” rival attack also add 1 enemy. (Only one of these three can happen in a particular mission.) I th8nk there are one or two other things that will add an enemy, but I can’t find them off-hand.

Thank you, Billchuck! I did an update to the original post!

[CookAndrewB]

That is a level of analysis I am impressed with. If I don't have a particular enemy type I just pick something I have and go with it

[Chief Lackey Rich]

That is a level of analysis I am impressed with. If I don't have a particular enemy type I just pick something I have and go with it

Ditto.  Proxies are a gamer's best friend, especially for solo play. 

Still nice to know what you're most likely to see and how often.

[Ockman]

That is a level of analysis I am impressed with. If I don't have a particular enemy type I just pick something I have and go with it

Ditto.  Proxies are a gamer's best friend, especially for solo play. 

Still nice to know what you're most likely to see and how often.

I did it for a couple of different reasons:

1. Get a feel for how many enemies I can expect on table, depending on type

2. Get a feel for what to paint, minis that could be used in different roles or as proxies

3. I have a couple of teams/crews already, but most of them are just five minis (as they needed to be during the first edition), some of them might need to add a couple of minis. This list made it easier to see how many extra I might need to add


I'm trying to expand my pirate crew ("The Crimson Reavers") with another four minis, to a total of nine minis. They can proxy most of the Criminal elements. I've got five Corporate Security ("NeoDyne Security"), to which I can add another three minis. They can be stand-ins for some Hired Muscle or Interested Parties. I've got six mercenaries ("Krüger & Steiner Sicherheit"), to which I might add another couple of minis to flesh them out, they can be proxied as mercenaries or militia. I'm thinking about painting some generic droids/robots/drones that can be used to bolster numbers (GZG Spider Drones can substitute specialists). I do not know what to use as roving threats, though...

[CookAndrewB]

Honestly, I rarely even randomly roll up enemies. I generally know what my next mission will be in terms of story, and then I set that up. I may use some of the atmospheric rolls to determine random events which won't give my plot a left turn, but if a mission calls for clearing a den of alien bugs, I won't bother rolling up that the den is full of space pirates or cultists. For a quick game that isn't tied into any lengthy plot or campaign, I think these random tables are beyond brilliant. Ivan has done a fantastic job of creating a thorough set of possibilities from soup to nuts. I'm particularly fond of the campaign events and activities outside of battle.

I think that is a brilliant approach, Ock. For people that don't want to buy a bazillion miniatures (I think they exist?) I believe that consolidation is a smart move. When you think about a universe as big as Star Wars, you really only have a handful of factions. Criminals, the evil government, the rebels, bounty hunters, and critters. You might argue that factions like the Sith and Jedi are separate and simply align themselves with the factions I listed, but I would view them more as roles within a faction. If the Big Government seems to be on the side of good, then the Jedi are their associated mystical force for keeping order and the sith are the mystical terrorists. If the big government is bad, then the Sith are the mystical force for keeping order, and the Jedi are the mystical terrorists.

[Skullhamma]

Today is a day of mourning.

Spacejacker's blog tinysolitarysoldiers.blogspot.com is gone.

Where am I to steal ideas from now?
(I know you are still around, Andrew, Doug, Skully, and everybody else)

Hi, Gang! Yes... it SUCKS. I will keep the link to his blog on my profile to honor the best 15mm place ever. 

[Stroezie]

The king is dead....

https://spacejacker.blogspot.com/?m=1

Long live the king!!!

cheers,
Stroezie.

[Chief Lackey Rich]

Nice to see Spacejacker back to blogging.  Reminds me I should get off my lazy ass and update my own...

[Ockman]

Captain Jean Biro by Oscar Falk, on Flickr

He's most often seen jauntily wearing an unbuttoned naval dress jacket. It's not of standard United Navy design, but the galaxy is vast and local variations of uniforms are not uncommon. This design foregoes the standard rank insignias, which has resulted in him being taken for everything from Lieutenant to Admiral (or even Master of the Fleet). He never corrects them, though, as long as they don't assume his rank is lower than Captain.

Few claim to know him, but many know of him. His name is surrounded by wild stories, rumours and legends, most of them contradicting each other. One story claims that he commanded the only surviving ship out of the Minerva incident, another that he instigated the same incident. Other stories puts him at the same time on the other edge of the galaxy, either at the Scouring of Ixl, or at the Liberation of Ketaka.

The reason why he no longer appears to be in active United Navy service is hotly debated. Some claim that he's on an undercover mission to root out spies and traitors, while others claim that he has deserted, hiding out on colony worlds on the galactic fringe, far from United Government eyes.
Either way, if you have a problem, if you have enough credits, and if you can find him, you can hire Captain Jean Biro and his crew, the Straylight Novas. Preferably Biro and the crew take on jobs supporting "the good cause", but when they are low on credits, (almost) anything goes!


Captain Jean Biro by Oscar Falk, on Flickr

Captain Jean Biro by Oscar Falk, on Flickr

It's so wierd, for a while it seemed like almost no-one was hobbying, or at least didn't post.

Then suddenly everyone got creative and started posting. I've painted a crew for Five Parsecs from Home, as well as some additions to my earlier crews, to bring them up to (at least) eight minis (recommendations for enemies in Five Parsecs from Home).

Hopefully I will be able to play a game myself, soon!

[CookAndrewB]

Nice addition, and it is wonderful to see you back!

I've been waiting for the hard copy to be available for 5P. In the meantime, I sculpt and print and wait...

For your player-controlled crew, how many figures are you using? I always went with five, but I think that there were cost penalties to having larger crews in Salvage Team, which was the version of 5P I always played. Then again, I think that combat was lighter and not always a foregone conclusion. I did manage to have games without a single enemy! I enjoyed those every bit as much as the games of endless bloodshed.

[Ockman]

Nice addition, and it is wonderful to see you back!

I've been waiting for the hard copy to be available for 5P. In the meantime, I sculpt and print and wait...

For your player-controlled crew, how many figures are you using? I always went with five, but I think that there were cost penalties to having larger crews in Salvage Team, which was the version of 5P I always played. Then again, I think that combat was lighter and not always a foregone conclusion. I did manage to have games without a single enemy! I enjoyed those every bit as much as the games of endless bloodshed.

Thanks, Andrew!

The player-controlled crew is six minis as standard, although the rules permit four and five as well.

The opposing crew can be anything from one to eleven minis (the highest number of 2D6 + additional minis).

[CookAndrewB]

I probably have few factions at this point that have eleven members. I'd probably just recycle dead figures back onto the table. It was rare to engage 11 on 5 all at once in 5P Salvage. I assume that the 11 enemies are scattered a bit and may not all engage in one mass?

I find that this is also a good place to have a number of "similar" factions so that two can join up and cover the spread. Subcontractors!

[Skullhamma]

Another great mini, Ock! Hope to see him in some 5 Parsecs action soon!

[Ockman]

Another great mini, Ock! Hope to see him in some 5 Parsecs action soon!

Thank you Skully! I hope to be able to play soon as well (my brother made a meme about me always wanting to build/paint/write "something more" before playing a game). I've got a crew, anyway!

I probably have few factions at this point that have eleven members. I'd probably just recycle dead figures back onto the table. It was rare to engage 11 on 5 all at once in 5P Salvage. I assume that the 11 enemies are scattered a bit and may not all engage in one mass?

I find that this is also a good place to have a number of "similar" factions so that two can join up and cover the spread. Subcontractors!

It's quite hard to get 11 enemies, but if you roll one of the more numerous enemies (+3, Punks, Skulker Brigands, Starport Scum, Skulker Mercenaries, Mutants or Abductor Raiders) and certain scenarios (criminal gangs hating you (+1), final battle of quests (+1), defend mission (+1), invasion battles (+2), assault mission (+1) or brought friends mission (+1)) or the event Enemy reinforcements (+2), you can get some tough resistance.

Also, you've got Unique Individual (+1 mini) on 9+ on 2D6, where you can get horrible stuff showing up...

[Ockman]

Meme by Oscar Falk, on Flickr

My brother made a meme...