Armor Grid: The battle for Grimm Pass

Now that the Christmas hangover has passed, I can post our game form last Thursday. I'm always on the lookout for rules for my big, stompy mechs. The idea of 5 story walking robots is dumb. Billions of credits to build, and a guy with a disposable missile launcher can take one out with a shot to the knee. But I love it.
I grew up playing Battletech, but let's face it, it's not great for a multi player games that has to be over in a couple of hours. I've tried Battletech's newest "easy" version "Alpha Strike". It's nice but pretty vanilla. And I miss marking of circles...
I stumbled upon Armor Grid while perusing Wargames Vault. Lots of good reviews and cheap.
A read through and I loved it.

I dug out all my repainted Mechwarrior tanks, CAV mechs, and Drak Horizon infantry.
Movement and combat is pretty straightforward. Fighting requires a target number based on your target's Profile and speed. You'll notice some markers in the pictures. The "!" denote a unit that has Rushed. They have a harder time hitting. The green radar markers denote unuts that have remained stationary.
Here's where I diverged from the rules. One of the complaints of Armor Grid, is that in the rules the shooter gets a bonus for remaining stationary. So games just end up with people standing around. I flipped it and made units standing around are easier to hit. House rule #1.
moving and shooting build up heat ala Battletech, that has to vented at the end of the turn.

After you hit damage is assessed in a way similar to my beloved Crimson Skies, with a roll on a simplified grid. Different weapons do different damage on the grid. When a "lane" is filled and innards of your mech exposed, criticals come in. Here we diverge again.
In the rules you only take out a vehicle on a 9 or 10 roll on a critical. You can end up hitting the same critical spot over and over without blowing it up. We changed to hitting the same critical sot more than once blows the vehicle up. House Rule #2.
The game play was easy to pick up and fast. We played with balance, identical forces except armament. Lasers cut deep. Missiles spread the love. Infantry are tough little buggers that can take a Mech out.
I'll definitely be playing again.

"Escaping with our Skins..."

...or "Bear Country Blues".

We played the Fistful of Lead November 99¢ Mostly Monthly Scenario Thursday. The scenario involves trappers getting down the river to their waiting boat. Too bad there's a whole lotta Indians in the way! It's basically the opening of the movie "The Revenant".

I had to modify it for seven players, so the table got bigger. To win, the trappers/cowboys Really have to haul ass every turn, or group to together to blast a hole through the closing Indians.
They did neither.

Didn't have any skins, so my noise markers from the Halloween hunt had to do.

Most of the mayhem came from the Joker card. When played, it acts like an Ace, but triggers a roll on the random events chart. Stuff like downpour, or reinforcements. Right off the bat, the Bear was rolled. He mauled one of the trappers first turn.

Through sheer luck, or lack thereof, the bear appeared 3 times. The final time, killing 3 people over the course of 3 turns, including the player who "summoned" him.
The farthest the trappers got was maybe halfway. I had a Brave who killed 3 trappers with a bow, while one of my allies broke 3 bows (rolled out of ammo).
Despite the one sided affair, it was still fun. Thanks to Jon for bringing his Indians.

The Wastelands Cup

Across the blasted landscape, the roar of engines echoed. It was time again for the car clans of the No-Go to pick a new champion. Under the statue of ReTread, the tire god, the flag dropped...

 The collection (sans bikes) so far.

 The Wastelanders pull out ahead of a Agent 13, a Sanctioned Op, who somehow made it into the race.

 A late arrival hits the track (games start promptly at 6:30PM, Greg).

 Agent 13 temporarily pulls ahead.

 Two laps around the track. Shortcuts and skullduggery are encouraged.

Buzzkill Bill Hayes launches a barrage of rockets while airborne. It didn't end well for either.

Psycho Steve Simms made it both laps somewhat unharmed. He was awarded the Wastelands Cup, will get the place of honor when leading raids and bragging rights until the next race.

Once again Axles & Alloys II came through for a great game filled with crashes, near misses and untimely deaths. Everyone was inspired to build their own vehicle (someone say "Gravedigger?"). We'll be running a Mad Max style highway chase soon.

Episode 27: Pecos Pete Vs the Saucer Men

Pecos Pete, star of the Saturday Matinee, was once again on the Western lot of Triple Crown Pictures. (Really just a cover. Pecos Pete is actually an agent for the US Government. His stardom is used to get him into all sorts of locales. Filming "Pecos Pete meets the Jungle Queen" allowed him to nab the Lost Idol of Chipotlepec).
This time Pete was on the lookout for a old Indian map showing the location of a real UFO that crashed 100 years past. His only problem are 5 other Leagues looking for the same thing, for various reasons.

 The ensuing battle was written in as a script change and the filming went on, the crew thinking it was all part of the shoot.

 Klaus Van Vorderkrank directs the action.

 Saucer Men! 

 The League of Murdered Men seizes the first Plot Point (talking to the extras).

 Pecos Pete and the Giddy Up Gang move in.

 The Royal Archeology and Mystical Society grabs Plot Point number 2.

 Virginia Dare, leader of Danger, Inc., gets in a gun battle with Sally Sureshot.

 The Gray Ghost and his men mill about after talking to the extras.

 Pete guns down Virginia's body guard Kaseem after he dares to attack his gal Sally.

The Red Raptor and his Sky Hunters spends waaaay to much time interrogating Egg Shin (plot Point 3). Maybe he was to easy on him?
Pete and the gang grabbed Plot Point # 4, which left everyone running towards the middle to grab the final one, the script girl, Matilda. The Royal Society had the edge and managed to grab the map from her, winning the game.
After not playing for months, we got quite a bit wrong, but still a blast.
Next Episode: In the Valley of the Broken Moon

The November 99¢ ostly Monthly Scenario and BIG SALE!

Head on over to Wiley Games for not only the November 99¢ Mostly Monthly Scenario but a big sale on most of our product!
Also on sale at Wargames Vault.
"The winter has been harsh. You’ve only managed a meager amount of pelts this year to trade down river. It that wasn’t bad enough, the sound of gunfire and Indian war cries echo across the valley. 
Can you make it to the boats in time?"

Pulp Alley Cards

Redoing all my Pulp Alley Character cards (most likely Supersystem cards, too). Thanks to General Steve for the layouts. Front and backs.

Driving the Post Apocalyptic Highway Pt II: Axles & Alloys

After modifying, or junking up, almost a dozen Hotwheels, I was ready to put them on the blasted landscape of the near future for a post apocalyptic race.
We used Axles and Alloys, mostly because they are perfect for our large group, but mostly because I love the credo of the rules: "Axles and  Alloys II is a game of Converted Hot Wheels And Matchbox Cars Driving Around And Around And Around and Trying To Shoot The Shit Out of One Another. It doesn't deserve a game treatment any more involved than this one. Do you want something on a par with Advanced Squad Leader when all you are doing is Converting Hot Wheels And Matchbox Cars And Then Driving Around And Around And Around and Trying To Shoot The Shit Out of One Another?"
Couldn't have said it better.

The race was to last two laps around the desert, but we lost our first racer only a quarter of the way through lap 1. He quickly got a spoiler car to pilot.

Green Machine lurched into first place but blew a turn and rolled into a ball of fire. Spolier #2 hits the track.
By the end of lap 2, only two original racers were left. The Hornet blew it inches from the finish line followed by the Midnight Rider. It was decided the Hornet, driven by Buzzkill Bill Bender made it

furthest and received the trophy posthumously...

CHAPTER 1: “FORGOTTEN FOES AND HEROES LONG REMEMBERED”

Last night I got to sit back and actually play for once, thanks to fellow Basement General Steve, putting on a fantastic looking Pulp game using "To Be Continued,...by GASLIGHT" rules.
Presentation can make a or break a game. Between the components and his collection eclectic of miniatures, it was a lot of fun. Throw in a storyline, and you have the recipe for a great Pulp game.
The setup was in a previous post, but basically the bad guys had to grab the remains of Von Zombi, while the good guys are trying to free Dutch.

The frozen battlefield.

 Dutch, frozen in a block of ice.

 Von Zombi's pure evil spawned this dark place...

A horde of unused minis waiting for action

 Nice to have strong minions.

Von Zombi's resting place

I took a lot of pictures of the wonderful work Steve did on the character cards. 

Victory went to the third factions, Task Force X and their minions the Cult of Cyclops, and the Kung Fu action heroes. The Cultists grabbed a vile of blood from Zombi's frozen body, but at heavy losses. Meanwhile, Snake Burton and the rest of the Kung Fu furies were able to free a brainwashed member from the cultists.

I ran Dutch's forces trying to free him from the ice. I never even got close. Too many bikers and zombies in the way. It was that kind of game.The stage is set for the next encounter.