Monday, 28 September 2020

Zona Alfa - Alternate Rules for Solo Mission

Original Draft 2020-09-27

Although I've played a few, what I consider 'real' missions previously I haven't been applying any upgrades or anything to the crews etc  though I did recorded the loot that was found. In part this was because I was not entirely happy with the challenge level of my soloing experience (i.e. it was a bit easy and easy to milk-run the scenarios, even though it was still enjoyable from a narrative viewpoint).

I ran 1.25 missions yesterday using some 'advanced' homebrew solo rules and went on to apply some upgrades purchased with today's mission loot - they were well earned I think.

This is the first map. Approximately 4'x4'. Threat Level 2, with Mission Objective (MO) and 4 Hot Spots (HS).  This is most of my terrain on the table and I'm really hoping to get some tree stands made to fill in some gaps fairly soon (inbound WIP).
The team arrive in their APC and set out.

First they hit up a Hot Spot in the container yard, triggering an anomaly (just using a generic type even though I've been working on stats for 'official' ones) and some bandits.

Next up a Hot Spot with some Zombies. Although overwatch helped they lumbered over to KNIFE and incapacitated him (the first of 3 times during the game - he took quite a walloping !!). Aimed shots removed the last of them before he got himself perm-a-killed but only due to some sturdy armour. Med-kit got KNIFE back on his feet.

From there they moved to the MO near the middle of the board, triggering some Giant Rats. Overwatch took one, but the other swarm rushed KNIFE. Obviously phased by the previous combat he got incapacitated again. The rats were killed soon after. Another Med-kit for KNIFE.

At this stage there were only 2 turns left before things were going to turn nasty. So the crew started heading back to the APC.

Before they could all arrive hostiles reinforcements started entering the board. Some Mutants from the north and some extra Zombies emerged from the MO building.

The reinforcements immediately tracked after the fleeing crew, though cover fire helped to clear the stragglers path. Sniper had a spike mutant breathing perilously close to his neck briefly.
More Zombies enter from the West...

And Bandits from the North.

The main road was rapidly becoming a shooting gallery as the last of the crew makes it to the Exfil zone. KNIFE takes another hit (and another Med-kit later) before stumbling into the APC.

The APC's engines roar and it lurches down the road crushing bandits and zombies with satisfying crunchy impacts on the chassis.

And that was the first mission done.

For the second mission I adjusted the board to be another section of the village.

Threat Level 2 again - i'll probably stick with this for the time being and with this board size - it just takes so damn long traversing the board that you use up 2-turn-there/2-turns-back just moving around the board. In a 2 player game you're probably going to be operating within 'your own half' a lot more of the time i'm guessing. 

Crashed drone in a barn. 

The crew set off and managed to clear the first HS (bandits + anomaly) before a call from HQ to abort the mission came through.

Due to circumstances i had to call it there and deal with some pressing Real Life issues, so that was the end of that.


Upgrades...

The missions were quite lucrative (I only realised that TL2 gave better booty today, derp).

With the proceeds SCROUNGER received an anomaly detector to make the searches a bit safer. Three of the crew also picked up Load Carrying Vests (extra equipment slots) and Kevlar (better armour). Additionally everyone upgraded their back up weapon from knife to shotgun. All the consumables (Med-kits/Electric Juice) were replaced.

A couple more missions should get everyone optimised.

Additionally the first mission earned the crew enough 'advance points' for a 'level up'  so SNIPER received a +1" movement so he wouldn't lag behind.


General Notes...

Speaking of... i was struggling to find much use for SNIPER on these boards. The layouts, the LoS breaking terrain, and the lack of high vantage points  meant that finding a worthwhile long-distance place to sit and overwatch was quite difficult.  I'd potentially like to swap the Sniper Rifle with a Battle Rifle, but perhaps his new shotgun will make him a bit more versatile in the tighter maps. I don't really want to remodel this already remodelled model... yeah. 

I was also able to find legitimate uses for the Electric Juice that most of the crew carries - and remembered to use it. This swung the mission in worthwhile directions on a couple of occasions. And the cooldown afterward didn't really prove a major hinderance to the crews plans. Very worthwhile. 


Rule Changes...

One of my goals with this session was the really put the hostile AI and solo changes I've been working on to the test - and in generally it was very successful.

Amendments here

plus...

Targeting Matrix here

[Note: these are still an ongoing WIP and I've made several changes even since these games were played, mainly to the Hostile AI section]


The changes included:

Control Phase: During the control phase (7 +d3 turns) every second turn you roll to see if roaming bands of hostiles arrive from the board edges. I managed to remember this and it added some extra tension/suspense though i was very lucky and didn't get any extra hostile reinforcements.

Hostile Phase: After your Control Phase ends you roll to generate hostile reinforcements from the board edges, Hot Spots and Mission Objective (9 potential danger points on TL2). I only got to do this during game 1 due to game 2 being cut short. There were 2 'hostile turns' before the crew were exfil'd and 2 groups of hostiles appeared on each of those 2 turns. This added a lot of motivation to get out of dodge asap - the longer you stick around the more critters are going to swarm in.

The hostiles arrived along the top of the board near the exfil zone and at the MO which had only just been cleared, which meant that the exfil zone was now semi-hostile and the crew just leaving the MO were immediately being chased down (fortunately by slower zombies). A sudden change of events.

Cover fire from the crew already at the APC helped control their flight but more reinforcements arrived in the 2nd hostile turn (bandits this time, and being shot at is always risky).

In general these changes worked better than expected:    i) it's super-motivating in terms of playing the mission right up until you're back in the APC (or eq),    ii) planning your escape route and what objectives you can hit before the objectives turn sour,   iii) and really keeping your eye on the turn counter.

No just letting the turn counter wind down and you're done - the mission is definitely not over until that armoured door clangs shut.


AI Handling: While i have been working on better AI handling rules i was able to work on some general theories during the games (mainly because the hostiles had 2 actions each - hard to really work much out with just 1 action available @TL1).

Rat and Zombie -> Unintelligent AI, when they deploy, they immediately move toward the Player models.

Bandits  -> Intelligent AI, when they deploy, they roll initiative to see if they attack or seek cover.  

In general combat...

Each hostile model is treated as an individual unit (not actioning a batch of hostile models at once). This creates more admin overhead but extends the threat of the hostile squad as they progressively activate and makes your choices as a player more complex (and satisfying) IMO.

Bandits were either move+shoot to get a Player model into range/LoS or shoot+shoot if they already had LoS.

Rats and Zombies were either move+move or move+melee or melee+melee   based on the player model situation. They were always moving forward, i.e. not looking for cover - makes sense for Zombies or aggressive Rats.

The only consideration i had to make was when there were 2 Player models in B2B with the Rats. 1 Player model was incapacitated the other was still fighting. The Rat targeted the active model over the incapacitated model, on the logical premise that the active model was still swinging at it and pissing it off.

If the Rat has been in B2B with an incapacitated model the new Unintelligent rules would have had it attacking it again rather than moving toward a model shooting at it from range. Bandits would probably have bypassed the incapacitated model.

The AI handling seemed fairly intuitive and didn't really require a great deal of contemplation at the time.    I guess my overall goal is just to quantify and systemise what 'makes sense' so it can just be formulaically applied without having to ponder it all the time.   Progress is being made there.    It's not a hugely complex puzzle, it's just working out "what are the rules being applied 'instinctively' when this combat etc happens?"

Also wanted to point out that it's not intended as a criticism of the original/official rules. I'm very much making something that works better for my play sessions and if this option works for other people too then all the better. 

Overall it was a successful session. The mission had good narrative flow (very important) and it had far more suspense points than the previous games.   The end of game 1 was super-tense. Fantastic!


Final Points...

This is my near complete bag of tricks for playing ZA...


The turn counter is semi-obsolete now.  I'm now developing a reasonably consistent battle-report note taking style - recording the action in short-hand as things happen, so it's easy to see what turn it currently is without the dial (plus I forget to turn it even with it sitting right there).   Lots of tokens made during a previous post - they worked great.


Until next time...


Thursday, 24 September 2020

Zona Alfa - More Hostiles - Mutants

Original Draft - 2020-09-21

A couple of weeks back i saw a pic (below) that was fairly inspiring. Kind of a greenman monster for... inq28, but it would work well for ZA. So I hit the bitz box and put together the start of some 'mutant' characters, which i haven't yet got in the hostile collection. this sat for a while as i didn't have enough greenstuff to start sculpting over the model.

Then i happened to see another pic which was for some Kings of War models that looked like a great (and far easier) alternate option... 


These are Nightstalker Reapers and they look suitably nightmarish. 


Painting has already started, i'm going a green theme with 'bone' on the spikey bits and talons etc. Lots of washes and dry brushing to go.  Not sure how it will turn out but it's kind of a dreamtime/alien/killer yowie thingy.  I'm not sure if it's mutated from human origins... dunno.

so that's a thing... updates pending. 
My main reason for this particular pic was the cigarette lighter.  An object heading for obsolescence?  Will smoking ever phase out entirely?  My concern is that this little inventions is an incredibly handy little gem.
Of the 10 models in the pack 7 were all the same pose (more or less) with 3 'feature models'. I used the lighter to very lightly melt them then bend the models to get a little variety in the poses. mostly noticeable in the upper spikey bits.


Update 2020-09-24
Painting done. Lighting rubbish so the pics blerk but they look ok in real life.
10 mutants ready for the table.

Vaguely shows that there is some colour differentiation but the final clear coat doesn't help either. It's matt but still gives a sheen - annoying, but somewhat inevitable.


A really lazy diorama, just to imply some scale. They're a little taller than the humans mainly due to the elongated limbs and top spikes.


Just a family photo of all my active hostiles. I will probably rebase the zombies and dogs onto the mdf bases, just for consistency and to make magnetising easier. the rats are bigger and have printed bases from memory. 


i'm happy enough with the zombies now. was contemplating getting different ones but these are growing on me.

Yes, there are no bandits in there... currently listed as a WIP... more on that to come.


Later 2024-01-26

The mutants always remind me of  Gymea Lilies  which suits my own zona very well.  They have been used quite a bit and they're always terrifying.


Until next time...


Monday, 21 September 2020

Return to Blackstone

Original Draft 2020-09-18

We've managed to roll some Thursday Night Dice about 3 times over the last 4 weeks... sounds about right. Missed last week.  Anyway dice were rolled last night.

The prior sessions had 4 of us in attendance so we played 1:1 BFG and 1:1 AT on side-by-side boards. Same for both sessions. As we only had 3 people last night we resurrected Blackstone Fortress. Looking at the map notes the last session of this was 20th Feb 2020, so quite a hiatus.

Anyway we carried on from where we left off. Heading toward the 3rd chaos shrine and the rules (and our preferred tactics) came back to us with very little issues. The session was fairly productive, mainly churning through labyrinth maps and if the discovery pack is any indication (only 2 cards left) we've cleared the path mercilessly.

Passage 16  gave us 4x Exploration cards (2 combats and 2 challenges) to do.

Firstly an ambush maps with Negavoltists (these had quite a few showings during the evening) and Traitor Guard.

Then a non-optional challenge that we managed to (luckily) blast through without picking up any wounds. The challenges are my least favourite aspect of the... game, i guess. Usually a matter of random luck and no opportunity to opt out. As opposed to be a tactical challenge where you can choose or manufacture a workable solution.

Next up a somewhat challenging map with Negavoltists, Cultists and Spindle Drones. We managed to wipe out the first two and exited the map before tackling the spindles, which frankly are a bit of a joke.

The last challenge of this set was a cut-down combat with (random) two of the explorers set upon by smaller groups of hostiles: Urghuls, Cultists and Beastmen.
Rogue Trader and Navigator managed to dispatch the hostiles incurring only 3 wounds and only 1 of those grievous. Not great, but not enough for us to turn back at this stage.

That concluded Passage 16, which dropped us out at Chamber 12.
Chamber 12 while small and 'immediate' was notably light on - only one hostile squad. We dealt with them easily and took the closest exit out.

Booting down in the Passage 6 which gave us 2x Exploration maps.

The first map was mildly challenging but the corridors were easily defendable with overwatch until we were ready to pounce. Negavoltists again, Cultists and Traitor Guard.

With one map left in this set we called it an evening. The combats are fun but take time setting up and playing, plus it was getting late for a school night.


The now standard end-of-game card piles for future reference...




And out current maply progress...


hmmm... felt further than it looks on the map.

Anyway, it was a fun session and nice to be rolling some exploration dice with people again.


Until next time...




Saturday, 19 September 2020

Adeptus Titanicus - 30k Plus

Within the local area there has been discussion about doing some 30k Epic. Additionally we've got a number of people interested in Adeptus Titanicus (AT).

A couple of weeks ago someone on fb published a pdf for 30k marines and support vehicles etc   for the Adeptus Titanicus rules.

I'm currently replacing my old filament Titans/Knights with Titanicus stuff. This includes printing support units for them such as infantry and non-titan/knight things. There's a whole post on this which is still WIP so kind of getting ahead of the timeline here.

I thought it might be an interesting experiment to see how marines might look for an AT setting.  

With that in mind to found a bunch of heights and worked out how high a marine should probably be within that setting.     9.8mm... which is scaling up by 1.19 from how they print out as standard.


Below is a comparison of the new (bigger) marines vs some old spares at the original size.

I decided on a 32mm round base - round being the same aesthetic as the rest of AT. It turns out that 5 models was a little cramped so I settled for 4 per stand. Using less rotund models might make 5 per stand a possibility - I'm liking the extra space on the stands now days personally.


He we have a size comparison with a (l-r) Knight Paladin, a Warhound Titan, and an Armiger Knight.


Comparison with a Warlord Titan...


Comparison with a Warhound Titan...


At this stage I'm thinking that the size is pretty good.

And a comparison with some Death Guard at the original size. These are exactly the same stl models.


Finally, with a stand from very first army, filament Imperial Fists. While I really like the old Fists army (played my first Cancon and Castle Assault with these chaps), and since I had resin built the full Black Templar army, I decided I wasn't going to just reproduce the Fists for the sake of reproducing them. Something in "10mm" is a different kettle of fish though, and might provide a 'real' reason to make a new Fists army (though of different composition to the originals).


Until next time...


Tuesday, 15 September 2020

Zona Alfa - Compound - norWesters

Original Idea

Barely a compound, more of a camp, but tomato - tomato.

Part of the fluff for my homebrew crew/faction is that they have a small compound vaguely near the stalls (marketplace).

With this in mind i ordered 4 mdf shipping containers as the main structural components.  I was actually after 5 but i got the order wrong, so 4 will suffice.

The elements can be repositioned or repurposed depending on what i want for board layout.


Update - Spools

Saw this concept on a recent fb post, thought it was a good idea and relatively simple, decided to make some.

spools underway. nothing complex about this. the central axle is a small section of 10mm dowel and i glued some offcuts around it.


new scatter constructed (including pallets done sometime between original thought an now) - a dude for scale...

update ends


update 2020-08-26

much has happened since last time (whenever that was). 

i made a small number of these. paddlepop 'I' beams, representing big ol' metal beams used in building construction.

Also made some barricade items. surprised i haven't posted them up before now but apparently not.

They're roof gutter-guard cut and folded into a cube/basket. then filled with little rocks.

In au we have similar barricades along the side of roads or near rivers to help keep things from eroding or rock-slides going onto roads etc.  the 'wire' is more like the reo bar from reinforced concrete but this is a post-apoc interpretation (with what i had on hand).

update ends


update 2020-09-11

Finally got my containers in from NZ. Glue still drying but only some minor detail bits left to add on.

These containers are a little more 'space age' then i'd prefer but [shrug].

This shows the general effect i'm going for. The containers provide the bulk of the walks/barricades and then the rock barricades provide cover at the entrances (perhaps on top). The containers are hollow with openable doors so will provide some more storage space for scatter terrain, i.e. the rock barricades.

Just a bit of paint to go on these and the project is about done.

update ends


update 2020-09-15

Got the containers painted. Even managed to keep the door slideable rather than clogging them up. yhay!


The Compound
Very much the end results i was aiming for...

Someone was singing too loud (or badly) and attracted some Zombies...

The guard raises the alarm and the crew grabs their gear. A small flanking force takes off from the back entrance.

While the main group pours out the front.

The components can all be used for any other type of board scatter terrain, and the above configuration actually uses quite a lot of what i have made (not so good for the rest of the board).

The plan is that the compound can be used to create narrative focus for missions (amongst others of course); perhaps bandits raided it while everyone was out at the stalls and they're still there, perhaps the bandits are about to raid it and it's in need of defence... who knows. options available.

And that concludes the project.

update ends


update 2020-09-21

Of course it doesn't !

Something i was aiming from an early stage was some sandbag features. I got some made using knead-it and got them painted up over the weekend.  These are quite solid and heavy. 

Only made two and I guess they will probably be on top of the containers as 'lookout turrets'. There are probably enough entry point cover features around the sides of the containers etc.
Theoretically i wouldn't mind two more but i don't think i could be bothered.

So they're stacks of sandbags obviously and they're sitting on 'metal'... supports... bases...  the idea is a reinforced thick metal base at the bottom (for even more protection). just made of paddle-pop sticks.

Oh and i also made a little campfire which is actually a print from the anvil stls. Had to scale it up a bit (125%) to be useful. I'm sure it will make an appearance in future battle reports. Just so the camp is a little cosier.

update ends


until next time...