The Bunker Job

A couple nights ago both of my girls went to bed at a reasonable time (a minor miracle) so I decided to try a little solo game. I grabbed my Fear and Faith rules and went back to my sci fi team from my very first post. They're a 296 pt force that you can look at here.

From left: Gabbi Steele, Rx28, Boxerbot 9000, Cal Middleton, and Barnabas Cook. (The fuzz on the lens that provides the lovely smudge over Gabbi and Rx went unnoticed until I uploaded the pics to my computer for editing. Better get used to it now.)

Cal Middleton and his smuggler crew picked up a job to destroy a comms bunker on a remote agriplanet. The corporate forces that control the planet are a nasty bunch but Cal and his ship really needed the money.

The bunker was patrolled by the standard laser-armed drones. I used three of these GZG grav drones.

Here's their list. The drones have a fairly low Quality, making activating them a chore. I chose to make their moves random and that strip on top made things really easy. Upon activization the drones move forward in the direction of the stripe. When their move is done, I check to see if any of Cal's crew is within sight (long range). If not, I roll 2d6 (couldn't find a d12) and turn the drone accordingly, ready for its next round. Easy peasy.

The good guys needed to creep through the night to the bunker and plant some explosives. It would take two actions to plant the bomb. The drones would call for some Space Nazi backup if the crew was spotted, but Cal wasn't concerned. This would be an easy job.

Special rules:

• Dark. Sight limited to long range.
• Backup. Once the drones call for backup they roll a d6 at the start of every round. First round backup shows up on a roll of 6. Second round, 5 on a d6 and so on.
• Medic. Two successful Quality rolls will heal an ally.
• Radio silence. The good guys can't use a radio without giving away their position. If they want the truck to move they have to get close enough to yell.

The setup. Cal's stolen transport truck arrives from the NW.

The crew unloads, confident in their firepower and skills.

Cal heads south along the ridge followed by Boxerbot. Gabbi heads for the trees knowing her stealth will keep her safe. Barnabas heads around the hill to the north, hoping to get a good field of fire. Rx28 botched his activization and turned play over to the drones.

Gabbi eyes a drone.

The drones make their moves.

Crusher moves east to the ridge line. Rx28 heads south to stay close. Cal, Gabbi, and Boxerbot 9000 get in position to storm the bunker.

Safe behind some rocks, Cal is ready to make his move.

The drones move again. That random movement was playing havoc with my plans. Just when that southern drone was within my reach he turned right around and flew the other way. Gabbi and Boxerbot get a little risky and head toward the open.

Cal impulsively rushes across the arroyo and blasts a drone with his pistol hoping to take it out quickly. He manages to knock it down but not destroy it.

Drone's turn. For the life of me I can't figure out what that drone is doing in the lower right. He wasn't there. But the one just beyond the bunker was. He moved in and blasted away at Boxerbot with his laser.

That laser packed a punch. Boxerbot destroyed.

Rx28 knows he can help. He just has to get there.

Cal takes care of the downed drone.

Gabbi is about to take some vengeance for Boxerbot.

Oh crap.

No, really. Oh crap.

Aw, man.

Cal makes it to cover as the Nazis advance.

Cal shoots at a drone, knocks it down, and declares retreat. Gabbi is made of sterner stuff opens fire.

Gabbi is a badass. One drone destroyed. One drone knocked down.

Things look grim as the Gabs is knocked down by burst from a Nazi  goon.

Finally. Maybe you've been wondering what Barnabas was doing way up north. The answer would be BOTCHING ALL HIS ROLLS! He finally makes his way back to the truck and yells at the driver to get down to the riverbed.

The truck is on the move.

Just in time. The good guys mount up and take off.

But, oh no! Barnabas is left behind. Let's hope he evades capture or I might have to play a rescue mission.

This is only the second solo game of Fear and Faith I have played and I have to say, I need to to this more often! It was really tense and at the end I really thought they were all going to kick the bucket.

It was great to play on that board too. I sunk a lot of work into it and this was the first time I've used it.

Cicada!

Last night I did a little papercarft. I found http://www.toposolitario.com/workshop/ almost a year ago and have been thinking about trying one of their models for about as long. They have a dropship that I may try in the future but I thought I'd start with their smaller ship, the Chicharra (Cicada).

The model is 28mm scale so I reduced it to 65% and printed it on card stock.

Here she is. I think she's adorable. I just love that up-swept tail.

The Cicada will be a fun objective for small scale scenarios or just a nice bit of table dressing. 

Holy Crap! I Actually Played a Game!

Yes sirree, I played a game this weekend with my Kra'Vak, renamed the Laju Kadal (which means fast lizard in Indonesian according to google translate). I was so excited to see my little guys on the field that tactics went right out the window, which, if I'm honest, they usually do. I am not the wisest general the table has ever seen but it was a fun game none the less.

We used the old Gruntz rules, even though we have the new rules. What we lack is the new Gruntz unit builder and I'm just too lazy to make a list up by hand anymore.

Here's some pics.

The military compound is in the upper left.  Shanty town in the center.

Some workers going about their business unaware that an attack is on the way.

More milling about.

The attack commences.

The defending commander has things well under control from behind a bunker.

These cannons packed a nasty punch.

Some power armor headed to their doom.

That tank beyond the trucks was the bane of my existence.

This walker didn't treat me well either.

Not a real AAR, just some pics. In short, I had my forces spread too thin and he just mopped the floor with me. I dealt some damage, wiping out a couple squads of gruntz, but in the end he mopped the floor with me. But the table looked good and the minis were freshly painted. A great Sunday afternoon!

Better Pics!

I got my good camera back and couldn't resist taking better pics of the Kra'Vak. Although now I face the daunting task of reshooting all the pics on the blog. (Probably not going to happen.)

But wait! There's more! I added flowers to the bases. So, not only are the new pics prettier, they're also prettier.

I've never used the flower flock before. I think it worked out pretty nicely. It also solved a problem for me. I was trying to think of how I was going to distinguish between squads. I thought about different colored dots on the shoulders or maybe different colors on the base edges  But because I alternated the blue and white on the squads the yellow and pink flowers take care of the issue for me.

Cool Packaging

Check out this awesome packaging from Oddzial Osmy.

These are my just arrived New Vistula Legion minis ordered through Pico Armor. Placed my order last Thursday and here there are on Tuesday. Nice.

But what has really impressed me is the ready-for-retail packaging that Oddzial Osmy uses. Makes me long to be able to walk into my FLGS and peruse the 15mm section. My only real miniature store in town used to carry Flames of War back when I couldn't be bothered with 15mm. But now that I wouldn't mind picking up some little Russians as an impulse buy they're nowhere to be seen.

Sigh. I suppose it's all for the best. I'd be pretty poor if I could walk into a store with all my favorite 15mm ranges.

Kra'Vak!

It's taken me a while but I finally got back to my Kra'Vak. I'd done maybe a quarter of my army when my buddy and I got bitten by the Weird West bug. But back in November I got stuck in with my little alien warriors and am now done (for now). The big guys could use some weathering. The little guys could use some squad markings. I have four more mini-mecha I could paint up and add in, but as of right now I need a break from white and turquoise.

The army was purchased with Gruntz in mind. I haven't had a chance to look over the new rules but I believe Robin said there would be a little more flexibility where specialist units come in. I hope that means my mini-mecha will add the oomph I'll need to combat some enemy tanks. If not, well, I guess I'll paint up those other four guys and maybe, just maybe, buy some tanks of my own.

So, without further ado...

Fearless Leader

I really like how the scales came out on his Not Dewback.

 

Squad with LAW

Same deal with reversed paint scheme.

 

Squad with SAW

Another reversed paint scheme.

Power armor squad.

Power armor squad with, can you guess?...a reversed paint scheme.

Anti-tank mini mechs and infantryman for scale.

Anti-tank mini mechs with infantryman.

I haven't played a game with these guys yet but my tentative fluff is that each infantry squad has one of the mini mechs assigned to it. Sort of a big brother, watching their backs. That might not be the best strategy-wise but I like the idea of it.

Like I said earlier, I think the big guys need some weathering, probably some paint chipping along the edges to soften up those clean lines, but that can wait for now. I want to work on some more terrain (city stuff most likely) and paint up some of the Match Box stuff I've acquired over the past few months. Mostly it's a bunch of civilian vehicles for objectives and atmosphere; dump trucks, earth movers, that sort of thing. Santa did bring me one of the Fast Freight vehicles for Christmas. It's a sort of ridiculous car/train that would look great as part of a convoy. They come with an "engine" and a single "freight car," but their are couplers so you could conceivably buy as many as you want to make a long train. At $6 a piece, though, I don't think I'll be buying a ton of them.

Anyway, hope you like my Kra'Vak and thanks for looking!