Saturday, September 21, 2013

The Experiment - Ebony Dip!

I'm going with samurai-bot as opposed to guy in powered armor.
The sword isn't quite right, though.
 


The experiment was concerning "the Dip". Yes, I dip. Deal with it. At least they're getting painted. Anywho, I like using ebony dip for mechanicals. Sometimes the only way to get a contrast is to use black instead of brown. I'm lookin' at you, monks. Yes, there are "dips" available for painting figures already mixed, and they also are far too expensive when compared to Minwax Polyshades at the local DIY shop. The old jar dried out a few months ago, so it was high time to mix another batch. The problem was, the usual ebony was out of stock, so just the "regular" ebony stain was available. Remember that black oil that was inside Krycek on the X-Files? Darker and nastier than that. After trying various ratios and sacrificing some disposable clickies for the cause, a 1 ebony to 12 clear concoction seemed to do the trick.


<< Figure >> 

The base was inscribed with "TALON GAMES © 1999". Talon Games produced some rather cool miniatures, then - as far as I know - went out of business. Shame. Some of their dragon robots are in the collection. It's probably a human in armor, but a robot seems more appealing to me. 


<< Painting >> 

Wash the figure, file off the flash, and mount on 1" diameter, 1/8" thick MDF disk. Putty, then apply sand/ballast/water/PVA glue slurry. Prime white.

Figure: red with neutral gray for the armor. Neutral gray for the sword blade, then black ink for the spine, red for the rest. Yellow ocher, then gold for the medallion on the helmet.
 

Base: medium gray. Red, then trim with black ink for the facing lozenge.  

Finally dip with mixture described above, flock with clumps of dead grass, then spray with clear matte sealer.
 


<< End 104 >> 

Tuesday, September 10, 2013

RavenFeast: Weregeld (Optional Rules – W.I.P.)





Tried something new this week - each player was given 7 “coins”, which were plastic bingo chips spray painted silver.

Hoard
Players should start off with the same number of coins. Agree to the amount before the game starts. The coins are considered to be in the possession of the figure representing the leader of each player’s force.

If the leader is killed in such a way (like missile fire) that his figure is not in the clutches of the enemy, the figure with the next highest morale - preferably a hero or the highest point value - gets the coins. Yes, they just magically appear in his purse. If it happens in melee, the player must maintain possession of the corpse to retain the coins.

Any unspent coins may be looted from a figure by an opponent if it is killed or captured. Place the coins next to the figure. At this point the coins are in limbo and may not be spent by anyone. It takes an entire turn of another figure standing next to it doing nothing else – no movement, missile, melee, etc. – to search the body for the coins. Once this is done, they become the property of the other leader, and may be used normally in the current battle.

Dragon’s Curse (Even More Optional)
The figure that successfully searched the opposing figure for coins must pass a morale roll or flee completely off the table with the coins. The figure counts as killed and the coins are removed from play. The warband’s current leader is immune to the curse and does not need to make a morale roll.

Modify Rolls
The coins could be used to modify player’s rolls of their own dice, effectively improving one stat for that roll. More than one coin could be used at a time, but the coins had to be paid before the roll was made. It could have been used for any die roll; even the initiative roll (in this case lowering the final result by one for each coin spent). Using a coin this way removed it from play. As a roll of “6” was an automatic failure, most of the coins were spent on troops with stats of 4 and below.

Ransoms and Bribes
The coins could also be used to bribe the opposing side. Say your jarl has just taken his third hit. You could offer coins to his attacker to spare his life. These coins could then be used by the attacker in the current battle to modify rolls or, later, bribe the opponent to spare one of his warband. There isn’t a set value for each figure’s ransom, so it’s up the players to haggle. The attacker can always decline the offer, and things carry on as normal.

If accepted, coins change hands and the figure that was spared is treated as if it has just failed a morale roll: it immediately makes a full move towards its starting side of the table and it must pass the next turn’s rally roll. It is not the target of free attacks. If it flees off the table or fails its rally roll, it counts as a kill. Any coins it still had in its possession are removed from the game. If figure stays on the table, the player who accepted the ransom is under no obligation to treat it differently from any other opposing figure. Yes, you can shoot it full of arrows or hack it to bits.

Mercenaries
Another function of the coins could be to buy “mercenaries”. If there are an odd number of players in the game, both sides bid for the loyalty of the last warband. The overall leader of each side secretly places a number of coins in his hand. Other players on each side may add to their leader’s bid. The leaders reveal the amounts simultaneously. The mercenary warband must fight for the highest bidder. The coins of the winning bidder are removed from the game. The losing bidder keeps his coins. The mercenary has no coins of his own at the start of the game. The overall leader may use his coins for the benefit of the mercenary’s rolls during the game – at the leader’s discretion.

Tie Breaker
If a game ends in a tie, the side with the most coins left wins. Spend wisely.

Physical Representation
It doesn't have to be coins. Hack silver (chopped up silver jewelry) or other bits of treasure could work just as well.

Yes, it does change the game a bit, but not dramatically. At least, not that we've seen. Yet. These rules are optional, and may be used in their entirety, in part, or not at all. Or use everything, but have only a few coins per player. The less of it there is, the more its worth.

If you give it a try, please post a comment or link below!


<< Links >>

 

<< END 103 >>

Friday, September 6, 2013

Got a Few Things Done!




It’s amazing what can get accomplished when the humidity finally gets below 50%!  

Yes, there will be posts with more details in the near future, but here’s what was completed today: two 28mm robots and ten space stations. Most of this stuff has been collecting dust for several years – the red samurai robot is out of production! Or is it a guy in powered armor? It was by Talon Games for their Cry H.A.V.I.C. game.

The space stations are for SUNDER THE STARS! Yes, the space station rules will finally go into playtesting. Woot! Woot, I say! 

Also managed to prep and prime 8 flight bases for TACSHIP, along with a few more Post Apocalyptic 28mm figures.


<< END 102 >>