Friday, August 23, 2019

Save the Rebellion! Save the Dream! Don't roll a 1...

"An Imperial scientist has gone rogue. He has valuable information and is being held at an Imperial facility on a backwater planet named Tatooine. Your mission is to capture him and find out what information he has."
That was the Rebel briefing. The Rebels are commanded by the extremist Saw Gerrara. There is also a group of Bounty Hunters willing to capture the scientist and sell him to the highest bidder. Oh, and don't forget he is being held by the Empire, led by Admiral Thrawn, the greatest tactician the Empire has.
We had a 7 player game, and it was not only a blast (pun intended), but a snail biter to the end. I ran Saw, and my forces did a lot of lousy dice rolling (The dice are with me. I am one with the dice), but luckily my Rebel partner had more luck.

 A hive of villainy
 The nervous scientist
 Locals. Gonk, gonk.
 Rebel Scum
 "Hey, guys, shore leave. I'm sure we'll get a nice, relaxing rest here."
 "Sir, reports are coming in of Rebel activity".
 "Save the Rebellion, etc, etc..." Yes, I talked like him the whole time.
The Empire players started at both ends of the table, with the scientist inside their building behind a road block. Each player had a Leader, a Specialist heavy gunner, 2 Regulars and a group of Grunt raw recruit troopers.
The Rebels came in from the long sides, while the bounty hunters entered from junk pile. Scattered around the battlefield were secondary objectives. These were either Rebel or Empire, but players wouldn't know which until searched and flipped over to reveal. Bounty Hunters could use either.
I also put the Jokers in the deck. When played the triggered Special Events played out as they were revealed:
First Joker: Sandstorm- no visibility past 12"
2: Sandstorm ends
3: Imperial reinforcements (3 Grunts)
4: X wing staffing run
5: Enfant Mon joins Bounty Hunters
6: Sandstorm
7: Sandstorm ends
8: Imperial orbital bombardment
9: Rebel shuttle lands to pick up captured scientist

Bounty Hunters move in through the junk yard.

 The didn't seem to favor anyone except the Mandalorian who couldn't seem to miss. Admiral Thrawn was killed in the Rebel staffing run, while the Stormtroopers were, well, Stormtroopers.
"Not the 501st, the 5-0-worst".
The Rebels were able to capture the scientist. They had a choice. Keep him as a captive, which involved giving up a fighter to handle him, or arm him and treat hime like another fighter. The second option was chosen, but it meant the next Joker that was played could try to control him (showing his true loyalty). He stayed Rebel.
The shuttle arrived right on time and we called it. Galactic Heroes made another great, cinematic game. Now, what kind of info did the scientist have...?
Steve (who painted the minis) did these great cards for the players.
If you want to play this particular game, we'll be running it at Wiley Wargame Weekend in October.

The Emperor is watching...



Wednesday, August 14, 2019

Wasteland Warriors off to printers!

It's been a long ride. Fits and starts. Thanks to some great put and play testing, glad to announce Wasteland Warriors, our second supplement for Fistful of Lead Core is off to the printers. Hopefully in a month, our new baby will arrive.
Slotted to release around Recruits time. we'll be running games of it there.

Monday, August 5, 2019

GENCON the AAR

Arrived home after an 8 hour drive (Thanks Ken for doing the driving) from GENCON and Indy, and back in my own Indy, a little broken and bruised, and definitely broke.
For those not in the know, GenCon was started way back in 1968 in Lake Genneva (the GEN in GenCon) by legendary D&D creator Gary Gygax and his pals to gather all the gamers out there. It has since moved and grwon to a staggering 70,000 plus attendees.
It is a very welcoming crowd, but there are ALOT of people. I've been to San Diego Comic Con a few times and this was the same level. Great for people watching. For many this a chance to let their freak flag fly!
What the hell have I got myself into... 
 Cue Willy Wonka "Pure Imagination" song

 
 The Nerd Herd


 Game of All Quiet on the Martian Front
 Couple of nice demo table for Wild West Exodus which looks overly complicated (yes, I'm biased).

 New DUST stuff was amazing


 


 Hail Cthulu!
 Great game, BTW.
 Creepy book covers.
 Awesome Japanese style prints, but of geeky stuff like Star Wars above.

 
 The new Marvel minis game had some great tables






 Giant Gloranthan miniatures for their boardgame

 
For the RPGers and Boardgamers this is Mecca. Hundreds of vendors and places to game. Lots of chances to demo games, but if you want a whole game in, you gotta pay.
Speaking of games, I got to play 1st addition Gamma World in Colt's Stadium.


The convention has got so huge its overflowed into the stadium next door. The game itself had an exceptional GM. He tried his best to keep the story moving despite there being 10 players and a few of them drunk a-holes.
I was really disappointed in the tabletop wargaming scene. They desperately need to up the game. With a few exceptions, the tables were sad and uninviting
The good: Great place to be among people who love what you love. A staggering amount of stuff. Really. I cannot express how much gaming shi...I mean stuff there is.
And most importantly I got to spend time with my son Marshal and best friend, Ken.

The bad: Too many of the above mentioned people. It's become like SDCC. As many times as this event has happened, the city wasn't ready. The main artery of the town (I-70) was shutdown...Not enough food trucks. Facilities (especially bathrooms, the stink, oh God the stink...) overwhelmed. And in a weekend of mass shootings at public places, no security. No backpacks checked. Nothing.
How would Saint Gary feel? I don't know. I think he would love the amount of people his little con has brought together, but probably hate how commercial it has become.
The haul:
 Some dice, some Pulp Figures Mexican Revolution minis, Epic Spell Wars Annihilamegeddon, a great little gladiator game: Gorus Maximus, a not so great gladiator game Arena Riot, bunch of cheap Harn books and maps, Red Dragon Inn boardgame, and a new beautiful looking boardgame, Aschaton, where you play cultist factions trying to cury favor before the Dark One returns. And about 5 pounds to the waistline in junk food.

Now I'm off. A LOT of work ahead. I have to get Wasteland Warriors final edited and off to the printers and get 2 game table boards together for Recruits and WW.