Nightwatch: The Solo Campaign

So I ordered a copy of this based on the recommendation of a viewer over on the channel, Justo Perez, and it's been a real struggle to read.

Not because of what's in it, but because life is hammering away at me with reckless abandon.  Not sure why, but every time I grab this book there's an emergency that drags my attention away.  Very strange.

And disappointing, because there's some real potential in this book.  It's a smallish skirmish game that looks designed to be played by a single player.  You would think that could be said most skirmish games, but we live in strange times.

You'll take two to four heroes, each of which has stats a bit less complicated than what you'd find in a Warhammer Quest style game.  They look to be more on par with what you see in Frostgrave, which is nice because you can also plug in a handful of less powerful and hence less-complex allies.

Then you've got to handle the hordes of enemies, whose stats are (mostly) single dice.  The bigger named entities stand out with more actions and more special rules that complicate matters, but it still doesn't look unmanageable for a single player. 

We'll have to play through a game or two to know for sure.

For now, I really like what I see.  It's specific where it needs to be specific, vague where it needs to be vague, and just open-ended enough to allow for some exploration.  And how about that tagline?

In a grimdark world where everyone is falling all over themselves to wonder who are the real bad guys, where Disney keeps trying to explain that witches are cool, actually, and literal satanic pedophiles exercise global power, it's nice to find a game that admits...

It's the monsters.

Monsters are bad guys.

Go kill them.

More to follow after this game meets the tabletop.

Utility Terrain

Final shots of some utilitarian terrain.

The lumber here is coffee stirrers liberated from the local coffee shop eating on a bed of popsicle sticks and lies.

 

The Very Model of A Modern Wargame General

 The modern table continues to take shape.

A bit of screen, a bit of scrap wood, and a bit of sand...

And you've got some nice tall fences.

I'm not crazy about these fences.  I should have oriented the screen diagonally to make a diamond pattern, and the cloth style screening is pretty flimsy.  If you make these, go with the wire screen for better rigidity and robustness during storage.  Also, I cut the popsicle sticks in half thinking to save space, and now they aren't as stable as they could be.

You can see the half-sticks better here:

The brown lumps will automagically turn into a lumber pile and a stack of 8-inch diameter PVC pipes once they have a little paint on them.

Also added two lengths of rough board fencing to the table.  That's a pretty good start.

Modern Conflicts Call for Modern Solutions

Starting to amass a little ultra-modern warfare collection for use with Black Ops.  To date, I've only ever played that game using sci-fi figures, but for the first time in a long time, I'm starting to get a handle on how modern warfare can be wargamed.  More on that later.  For now, how about some terrain eye-candy?

All of these office trailers come from Game Craft Minis.  Resin pieces with only a trace of bubbling, and all of it down on the underbelly.  I added a couple of safety posters and a bulletin board using cereal packet to spruce them up a bit.  For sixteen American dollars you get three different 'sculpts' in each pack, a fine addition to any work site.  These will do double duty as makeshift housing for separatist compounds, but for painting, the construction look will do.  

To give them a bit more character, I put two of them up on concrete blocks cut from matte-board.  Thicker than cereal box cardboard, the matte-board paints up just fine as flat concrete slabs, the better to keep the trailer off the ground.  Just a little touch to make these pieces all mine.

Death Cult for Cuties

Alternative Armies' sci-fi death cult paints up great.

All right, smart boys, so it's actually the Post-Apocalyptic warband (HOFP05).  In the House of Wargaming, we treat them as cultists.  Look at them robes and death masks and heads on pikes - what else could they be?

Vince Venturella over on YouTube taught me how to get a better look out of the color purple.  The trick is to know whether you're dealing with a red purple or a blue purple, and what you want to get out of it.  Here's a great lesson in how to get the most out of yours.

Rogue Stars - Gauntlet

 When old Andrea Sfiligoi tells you that a game is built for four to six models, he means it!

Tried running a gauntlet style run of five figs through a field controlled by ten figs, and it took a long time.  Each character in Rogue Stars, is characterized by around a half-dozen traits.  When you've got to manage one crew of 4-6 it ain't so bad.  Work in a second crew and you can just barely keep the wheels on the road.

In this latest game, I tried to run a security team of 10 figures.  Their stat-lines were kept to a minimum and they weren't terribly powerful, so it looks manageable.  Unfortunately, this game requires the tracking of three different states (pins, wounds, and one of several modifiers like shaken or resolved or disarmed).  Throw all that together and it turns into a bit of a slog.

Particularly when its your first real game and you've got to keep returning to the rulebook.

Lesson learned.  Gotta keep those squads tight if you're going to run two of them at once.

Space Weirdo's: News You Can Use

Doesn't look like this project needs my help.  As I type this they have $1,500 raised out of a $100 ask.  But you might be interested in it, and that's enough  for me to spread the word about this lo-rez independent sci-fi skirmish ruleset.

   

From the KickStarter page:

It takes what I like from other games and mashes it all together.

• Low model count: 5-10 models or so for each side.
• Use any minis you have.
• Short but comprehensive. Everything in one 16 page zine.
• Minimal tokens, but still a few because I like them.
• No tape measures or rulers, all movement and ranges are measured with 5” sticks.
• Uses all your RPG dice (except the d20, d20's get enough love) because dice are fun.
• A points system, but you shouldn’t worry about it too much.
• Alternating activations, opposed rolls, Command Points, and random tables mean everyone is involved and rolling dice all the time.

Take a look.  It might be just what you're looking for and didn't know it.