Hobby Adjacent - Coffee - Mission... Accomplished...

Yhay, well, the story is as complete as it's going to get.

Feels like this is a year in the making (looks like like February when I noticed flowers etc).

So after a few days of sun I had a total collection of 5 beans picked over possibly... 3 months now. Picked the last of those and 2 of the earlier picks were looking not that good but I managed to salvage the actual bean. Best not to dwell on that for too long.

Cherry removed from the beans and left to air dry for a few hours or over night. Then roasted in a little pan.

Grind them up...

And brewed...

It was not great.

It was quiet 'green' tasting, which was interesting, not unpleasant I guess, but not what you'd expect from coffee. And we didn't get sick.

Obviously everything was done the wrong way but by now I really didn't care.

It would be nice to get more beans all at the same time, so we'll see what this year has in store for us. It's weird that the beans flower/sprout and then didn't ripen until following summer. But the weather has been just nuts for years now, no consistency. 

I've contemplated putting plants in the ground in a corner of the garden that will not affect any pipes.

And that's all.

Until next time...

OPR - at Super Nerd Game Day

Been many months since I've been to the monthly game day.  Mainly double booking I think, rather than a specific desire not to go.

Anyway we rolled out OPR's   Grimdark Future: Firefight (GFF)   and, fortunately - after so much hype and anticipation - it lived up to expectations.

We started with a 200pt game with approx. 6 activations a side, on a single KT fold out board.

Then a 350pt game with about 9 activations, on 2x side by side KT boards.

[The board, towards the conclusion of 2nd game. Still a few models about.]

We had 6 activations each on the 1x board. Then 9 activations each on 2x boards.

The single board was very 'immediate', shooting models were mainly in range... even pistols if they moved as well. It's probably a little small for 'most games', good for beginner games as you're straight into all the actions.  Perhaps good for a real quickie/warmup game.

The double board was more tactical, where you could take a turn to move and use your longer ranged weapons before things started to charge and close to melee.  From another perspective it was not so far spread that it was tedious to get into a fracas. You didn't need double the models to make it work, 9 felt fine, not overcrowded, not too sparse.

Here's a section of my 'Havoc Brothers' force, cultists and chaos marines (eq).  I've had these models for aaaaaaaages, and this is my first legit (i.e. not solo) game with them.  Was super to get them out for a game.

The cultists are from 'Dark Vengeance' 2012/6th ed starter box. Marines added a little later.

My fellow OPR explorer was running 'Soul Snatchers' (aka Genestealer Cult) using even older genestealer models.  Both of us are taken with the ability to use whatever models you want/have and make it a workable game... as are most OPR fans.

While I've played several 'trial'/solo games this was our first 'live run', so rule book lookups were inevitable, but not overly time consuming. Our first game was probably done in 40 minutes, the second (larger) game was perhaps an hour to an hour and a half.  With a little more experience in the rules those times can probably come down a little too - not that speed is the objective, but it's nice when a game doesn't drag, especially due to rule knowledge failure.

The battles were fairly even and straight forward. We weren't trying to be too tactical about things, just get as much action happening to experience as much of the rules situations as possible.

Overall it played as a very light weight system, didn't get bogged down through over-complexity - as advertised.  There are extra rules and caveats that we could add, but personally I thought it played well with just the 'basic components'.  We may add more in future sessions.

Conclusion: WIN.

We then played a 4-way Necromunda game on a 3x3' board. This was... tedious after whipping through the far, far simpler GFF games with minimal effort.

It was an amusing time, however I was really there as a token player/observer. I wasn't kitted up with a suitable gang and honestly, my mind wasn't in it.

Overall, a good experience and well worth going.

Until next time...

Music - The Aristocrats

This is starting as a "no words" post. Just a recommendation. So that I'm actually likely to publish it.

I have several posts that are unpublished... some are WIP projects of things that I'll potentially cycle back to... others degenerate into rambling blurbs without enough payoff for the words spent.

Of late I've been into music consciously more than other times. So those suspended music posts tend to be blithering about why this or that is so great.

- - -   and then i add and add...   - - -

Around August 2022 I discovered Guthrie Govan and thence the band The Aristocrats.

I watched a bunch of youtube clips - lots of live performances, researched a bit, and ended up getting 3 albums 'The Aristocrats' (self-titled 2011), the '...With Primuz Chamber Orchestra' (2022), and Guthrie's 'Erotic Cakes' (2006).

Guthrie is simply one of the most complete musicians I've ever seen/heard. Totally understands what he's doing and why, has a broad knowledge of his 'chosen genre' as well as many others, and technically astonishing.

Eloquent: His playing is always musical. There's technical stuff but it's there for a reason, it's not just showing off.  He doesn't just repeat patterns over and over because he's stuck for an idea, he moves them around and creates melodies with the patterns which is really 'jazz'. He also plays phrases beyond bar lines and structures which is, to be honest, seemingly beyond most jazz players (I have a good example of Alex Han (sax) doing it and it's such a rarity that I remember it, haha).

This caries across to when he explains technique or style or is introducing a song and it's origins. It's not just the convincing accent. If you have some musical theory then the stuff he talks about makes sense, and really it's not even cutting edge or outside the box thinking... it's just that most people can't fuse that into internalized connection and theory directly to the guitar (/instrument).

Feel: I read someone commenting on a G3 jam (with Govan, Vai, Satriani) that Satriani had the best 'feel' of the three. I've listened to tracks of Guthrie that are so appropriate, so in time, so capturing the spirit on the song/genre/style that I've had tears.  I get what they're saying about Joe, but Guthrie has bucket loads of feel, he also had bucket loads of technique [many examples later], and a lot of people mistakenly seem to think you can't have both.

There was an interview with GG and basically he was saying that there are 'local blues heroes' who put down people for knowing lots of scales and technical stuff, saying that it ruins a player's 'feel' - clearly this is just jealously (my words, not his, but I'm less eloquent and don't have the accent).

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/LKsxoh6WJxI

Flow: He moves from one technique to something else, then something else, all incredibly musically, fluidly and effortlessly. For mortals we often see/hear/think then do something (on the instrument), then switch gears, even if only momentarily - but there's no moment with GG. Regular lines, tapping, bends, tremolo... I'm not a guitarist so I don't know all the terms, but as an ex-musician I can see the technique.  He really makes the instrument an extension of his body and mind.

Guthrie's much closer to a jazz guitarists in a lot of ways (knowledge, style, vocabulary, phrasing) - other comparable guitarists include Pat Metheny, John Schofield, John McLaughlin.  Steve Vai and Ron Thal are also up there in terms of technique and musicality but they're similar 'Prog Metal'/'Instrumental Rock'.

I just listened to someone else playing a solo section from Ner Ner and watching/listening it occurred to me how frequently the melody moves on to something else. Not only that it moves in unexpected way. Where a lesser musician might repeat phrases or patterns letting their creative brain catch up, Guthrie has already moved on to the next thing, which comes across as unexpected (ties in from the 'Flow' point). This should be how jazz players operate, not just trying to play 'in' lines over chord changes to prove they can.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Am7FwuhqDas    [Ner Ner - cover]

Trios

Trio's (to me) tend to something sound 'hollow' and sometimes. In terms of jazz less so when you have piano or guitar that can add that 'comp'ing element), but i find it quite noticable with i.e. sax/horn+bass+drums.   Similarly I find that Aristocrat live performances sometimes have a 'something missing'.

The studio albums usually add extra tracks to add extra layers, and obviously the 'With Orchestra' just fills up that soundscape (in a good way) exponentially.

I think playing live shows and using pre-recorded backing tracks can be appropriate. There are arguments to be made for and against but provided the musicians aren't lip-syncing whether they do or do not is an artistic choice.  Provided the performance still does justice to the song.

With Orchestra

The arrangements on this are suburb. They're not done by the band specifically (though I guess they could probably orchestrate the songs themselves if they put the time in).  But yeah, the guy who did (Wojtek Lemanski) clearly has an ear for the instrumental rock/metal and really pulled out what it was about.

The Aristocrats also seem perfectly aligned with the sound throughout. They phenomenal musicians, so hardly surprising.

It's probably superfluous singling out individual tracks merits (that's why the posts don't get released). However at the moment I'm really enjoying Through the Flower and Last Orders  

Last Orders - Orchestra Tracking

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXHWP5v8DCk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFxp4uu73t0    [original off of album]

The solo on this is beautiful, reminds me of Jimmy Page and/or Jimi Hendrix a bit - triggers memories of Kashmir or Watchtower for some reason.  I like how it's focused around the lower register for a change, just wails, and is probably what reminds me of Jimi. 

And the position (and orchestration) in the arrangement really put it at the climax of the song.  Love it when songs are really built towards a purpose.

I reckon Jimi Hendrix would have absolutely loved Guthrie's playing and dug his style.  Funny, without Hendrix I find it difficult to imagine Guthrie, and Via, and Satriani and so many others evolving as they did.  He is (still) such an extraordinarily influential force in the development of modern music.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PlCa3Z-WgiM      [Jimi - just found this today]

Bad Asteroid - Live

This is a great clip. Marco's an extraordinary drummer. The start is a bit of fun but shows (imo) an understanding of the setting, and then fit in.  And  Bad Asteroid is one of my favourite songs (after the drumming).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZzaEQJ1l90s

Just Guthrie - Sevens - Live

Mind blowing from start to end. It's also nice (from a study perspective) that he's playing solo so the video doesn't cut between band members. This is a Guthrie solo song.   I could point out fun features all the way... just watch and listen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDf-41BhdxM

At a jam

At 0:54 there's a rising pattern up to a bend up that's totally sick.

Then at  1:08-1:17  there a section where it sounds like he's going to start playing a repeating pattern, but then he moves it around and makes a 'macro picture' melody while using the pattern, rather than just playing the same thing over and over. Extraordinary, and you can see the other guitarist realize it, which is amusing (and cool that they can appreciate someone else's chops).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gC2lEWfpgQo

another recording of the same thing...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_qNBApQ8KU

also with the solo from John Petrucci... who i've never really been into. obviously he's talented.

" the thing that makes guthrie's playing transcendent is that he is not, "i'm going to play lots of notes" and that he is, "i happen to play lots of notes... and i'm going to make something musical, meaningful and beautiful." "

Another Sevens - Live

Just another great example in general.

2:28 - 2:50    no way you can tell me that he's not feeling the music any less than any other giant... after shredding the melody six ways from sunday.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHNtxA7L_SU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfVkbXMNF8A  (same performance, different camera i think)

Wonderful Slippery Think - Live

Fun bluesy structure. Great musicians with him.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvtUvQczaRk

It's a feature of this genre that you have quite a technical song, and then usually variations on a theme when playing live. Guthrie does a lot more improvisation, and while the chords aren't jazz progressions, he shreds the heck of them.

Someone's Favourite

I like this because not only is it a nice solo, it's got the transcription so you can actually see all the nuance that's in it. Kind of cheating... but I'll take it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8IVorIw7Gk

Dance of the Aristocrats - I can't not put this in here.

There's a solo at 2:54 that's just mind blowing. Just idea after idea and technique after technique. there's no extending wigidy-wigidys time fillers, as soon as he gets a pattern a couple of times he hears it and moves it somewhere else,  it's actually pretty spectacular.  Notable as well around 3:49 he starts doing some fast note lines which are technical enough, but they start at the end of a section (verse) and cross into the next section (bridge) perfectly naturally. People get locked to the form soooooooo much.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MF_NT4NEYR4

Some talk by them from a DVD...

A good summary of them, the processes, the intentions. It's great now days how we have visual/audio access to this kind of inside knowledge, rather than just someone talking about it in historic hindsight.

a point:   at 0:31 , 0:48  one of the main melodies. it's good. it's just a demonstration of the 'thinness' of the trio.  sounds wack filled out in the orchestra version though.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygdtsQyLM8Y

Disclaimer and a Theory

Some people don't like 'guitar music'. That's ok. I hate listening to bagpipes, clarinets (oboes, flutes - anything high hurts my ears) and kazoos, but people do, and that's ok too. oh, and banjos. ewwww.

I dislike opera, I dislike 'punk' based music, and most folk music doesn't do it for me either (plus others). But people like all of the above and that's great.

So my theory is that 'comp/prog' metal is probably the modern equivalent of classical music.

Despite having rock origin (modern folk music imo) it can be very complex melodically/rhythmically/harmonically and with advanced levels of considered composition, form and layers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4gclTXiseo

I've long thought of Via's music as 'compositions' rather than 'songs'. And there are more and more bands (or more accurately i'm discovering more and more bands)  pushing the technical boundaries beyond 12 bar blues, and bending notes to sound 'bluesy' and to have 'feel'.

An orchestra had to be big to create enough volume from quiet instruments. In modern times we have amps. Lots of amps sometimes.   Over the years I've really come to think of (electric) as probably the ultimate instrument for most settings... which kind of surprised me. ha!

Multi-level layering of sounds was achieved by having multiple instruments in a band section. This can be achieved on a guitar or synth/keyboard easily and a seemingly endless plethora of sonic effects, layers and sounds can be added.

'Orchestral Music' was 'sit down and listen' music. Not dance music, not sing-a-longs, not background music.  It was intended to be appreciated as a form of art specifically.  comp/prog metal much the same, only the audience don't need to get up in the sunday best - they can have a bear and wear tee shirts, and the artists don't need to wear a tux to prove they're 'fancy'. 

Comp(ositional) Metal is my term for Progressive Metal / Instrumental Rock.  To me Progressive doesn't mean much, it could progress to something worse. At least Compositional indicates that it was written specifically, not just 'jammed out' in a garage session.

I watched a vid of Virgil Donati working on an album (Runination)...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oULpqeceUKg

the first minute pretty much covers it.

And this from the album before this one (In This Life)... 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEMp1BW-YGs 

So in the 'Ruination' he's composing with keyboard and computer.

Movies depict old classic era composers with quill and goblet at the piano  in what I consider an analogous process.  I speculate that Mozart and Beethoven would have LOVED the scope that technology would have given them access to.

Derek Sherinian's albums are wonderful composed pieces (making of Phoenix - link below), and the adjacent Sons of Apollo albums.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FR_ee8g3b_c

In an Aristocrats interview (somewhere) they mentioned that Joe Satriani told them that there was a fine line between Instrumental Rock and Fusion.

Blither complete. Ha!

Thoughts About Different Mechanics in Different Games

I've be trialling/solo-gaming some Grimdark Futures Firefight over the weekend.  This required a few specific situation/clause lookups in the rules, which is standard procedure while in the learning phase for a new game.

I ran a couple of (havoc brothers) chaos cultist vs inquisitor warband games - just 6 activations and <250pt per side.  Ended up with a nominal draw both times*, had fun with it, learned stuff, so yeah, it was good.

[* the point was pushing models around and using the mechanics as much as possible to learn, not to achieve a victory.]

One of the look ups I had to do was regarding AP (Armour Penetration) vs defence rolls... specifically if you have a high AP (i.e. plasma pistol = AP4 = remove 4 armour levels)  vs a chaos cultist with Armour save 5+...  what happens*?

[* because 5+ (to save)  +  AP4 = 9+... which is not possible on a d6.]

So I looked it up and found an answer easily [such a simple system] and it makes sense and I continued on.  Then a while later I was thinking about how the different games I play all have different ways of handling this.

As I was thinking about it I didn't/don't have the impression that any one of them is more correct than the others. They're just different.

Do I have a preferred?... no, not really.

At the end of the day all of these games are an abstraction, not a simulation. For example, in real life all the events/interactions would be happening simultaneously, but in a game we activate one model at a time sequentially *.

[* and attempts at simultaneous stuff can be annoying/confusing. Looking at you Epic Fire Fight.]

An aside:  In some games there is a 'initiative' stat that allows some models to activate before others... but even this isn't really accurate or simultaneous.

IMO that level of detail is overkill. I'm looking for the easiest possible mechanics, stats and game play, aka  the mechanics that allows the game to play out smoothly and keep the story telling front and centre.

A summary of the different mechanics is...

Grimdark Future Firefight (GFF): Target has defence roll of 5+,  weapon has AP4. Required roll is 9+.  There is no way to roll over 6, however a roll of 6 (unmodified) is always a success.  So the target unit should always roll defence dice because they save on 6 regardless how powerful (AP) the attacker's weapon is.

Necromunda: Target has defence roll of 5+,  weapon has AP4. Required roll is 9+.  There is no way to roll over 6 and natural 6 is not an auto-success. So if the AP modifies the required armour save to greater than 6 then the target is automatically wounded.

Kill Team: This is an outlier. Normally a target model has 3 defence dice and thus 3 possible chances to save hits.  AP in Kill Team removes a defence dice, reducing the number of saves a target can make. i.e. AP1 removes 1 of 3 dice,  AP2 removes 2 of 3 dice etc.

Epic: I confused myself thinking about this one and its unusual 7+  8+  9+, which is to hit only, not to save.

Again, I don't really have preferences in either direction. On one hand, with Necromunda it's nice that powerful weapons are quite undefeatable with low armour targets. Which is logical.

On the other hand, with GFF it's fun that there's a chance that the shot might not be critical.

As per Necromunda,  Kill Team gives an undefeatable benefit for taking higher power weapons.

They're all ok, and I can't honestly say that if they were all like e.g. Necromunda they'd all be that much better.

Until next time...

Zona Alfa - New Additions (Small Suburbia) - pt2

[Original draft 2022-08-10]

Amongst the recent orders I got some pieces from brutal cities. 2x of the 'Cabbage Palms' apartments, and 1x of the 'Vantann Small' office blocks...

The idea with these additions is to be able to build some small, edge-of-the-city suburbia. A couple of low-rise apartment blocks and a similarly low-key office building.

These are intended to be the 'hub' of the local shops and then possibly a couple of single story generic habs around that.

Something vaguely like this...

That's on a 900x900mm board just for scale. Colours just to denote different types.

By the time I add in scatter and trees and fences and I picked up crappy vehicles... it should be suitable.

[Update 2022-08-27]

Oki doke. Got these guys done, which is actually all the new stuff complete. Yhay. 

They're just super-simple paint jobs. Rattle-can unders. Then blocking in minimal colours bits, floors, gubbins. Then null oil over everything. Very limited dry brush.  Happy enough with them.

I have no other terrain that goes this high, so that's a nice new feature. Mainly from a visual point of view. The ship and warehouse have some high points I guess.

Looking forward to making a table or two with all these new piece. They're perhaps a little plain on their own but once they're in context I'm sure they're going to create something exceptional.

Then I need to work out the storage situation, eeek.

So... I don't think I have any sub-conscious desires to add anything else to the collection... not that I know of, hahaha. 

[Update 2022-09-04]

So I managed to pull the terrain box upstairs and make a start on building a table... but that really stalled when a migraine was triggered somehow.  Oh well, suffice to say I didn't have much motivation to set up a table, let alone roll dice and play a game.

So I kind of just mustered the relevant sets of things I'd been working on...

The more 'urban' pieces. I'm not convinced at all about the mix. The adobe huts don't much well enough imo. I could potentially do with a few 'lo-rise' apartments to fit the apartments and office and perhaps blend into the other buildings.

I'm also considering making some more of these low-tech roads.  as well as roads they can stand is as asphalt carparks or just open sealed surfaces.

And the 'rural' pieces. Nuf said.

So between both of these I've more than got a 6x4' covered in terrain. And that's not even tapping into the military or warehouse pieces.

Basically there's more than enough for 2x or even 3x   6x4's simultaneously.

Finally - the new pieces don't fit into the boxes. No great surprise there. I have recollection of 'shallow' storage boxes, as in a 1/3rd of the height of 'regular' boxes. I'm contemplating looking for one of those for the ZA terrain overflow. It might hold the trees and swamp sub-boxes... dunno.  Anyways just contemplating options at this stage.

Update 2022-09-06

I got a new storage box but only a 'shallow' one (90L).  It's about 10-12" tall which comfortably fits the new apartments when assembled, the office on its side and I put in my 'corridor' terrain box as well. There's also room for some more 'expansion', but hopefully that will take years. At least that's the intention.

Until next time...

Old Gear - Grimdark Future - Kraits Divergent

When I was trialling One Page Rule (OPR) / Grimdark Future (GF) naturally I went and grabbed some squads from my different 40k models.

By default, for just regular/standard/old marines (they did an update a few years ago and made everything taller -> annoying) I like to use my homebrew chapter, the Kraits Divergent.  This is a chapter I put together when I was on an old forum and was interested in working up some fluffy background and fiction and so on.

So anyway, it turns out I was minus some models I wanted to use (Terminators) so I ran the trial with another bunch of old-marines I have.

But after that I dug out the Kraits again.

With a worthy system to play they're now likely to get some table time.

I had a squad of Terminators that I assembled years ago (years as in 7+, not years as in 2) for this force but they got boxed before getting a lick of paint.

So I got everything out and painted the new terminators.

I had original through of upskilling all of the models, applying techniques that I'd learned in the intervening years, but I decided against.

Instead, I painted the new Termi's to a similar, basic finish as the main force.

This was, I admit, partly laziness. I just couldn't be bothered detailing 30+ models at the moment, even if it was probably 'just' washes and dry brushing.

However, as I was looking at them I felt growing sentimentality for the basic style I used to have.

I happened to be repainting some of the KT Templar models while I was paint the Terminators and the difference/improvement in technique is substantial.

Anyway I kind of like having this reminder of my progress.

No, they're not my best work but they're still table-worthy, and if I feel inspired one day then I guess they might get zuzhed up then.

This is all of them. They're an under-resourced, light-weight force based on their fluff. Lots of assault marines. Not a lot of heavy/vehicles.

Two squads of 5 assault marines with jet packs. The helmets are an obvious, non-standard feature, probably ordered from Anvil way back when. And most of the sergeants have 'deathshroud' helmets which I really like too (ebay).

The commander (captain) with chainaxe, shield, jump pack... all the goodies, and possibly a chaplain skull helmet.

And the tactical marines, by majority bolters, plus heavy bolter, flamer, 2x melta guns.  Very little in the way of plasma, done as a stylistic choice. 

Foot slogging assault marines.

As the Kraits are no long part of the Imperium (and would be attacked by loyalist forces if they crossed paths) they no longer stick to standard marines practices. An obviously expression of this is in rank symbolism. Sergeants have a red chevron. Captains have a red star.  Can't remember if I made any intermediate ranks between those in the fluff.

Jet pack assault marine veterans, with bonus helmet zuzh (also Anvil).

And the new Terminators. Suitably painted to theme, and I'm happy with the results.

Their kit bashed Storm Talon support craft. Filament printed wing extenders from my very first printer.  Very basic stuff, but sometimes it's nice to just appreciate its part in the development process.

This reminds me that I actually have a Storm Raven (transport aircraft) sitting in a box unassembled which was meant for these guys too. I'm a little hesitant to put it together as it's probably not going to see table time, and might inspire escalation of the opposing forces as well (which I'm not keen on)... Maybe one day.

Until next time...

Change. Grimdark Future / Grimdark Future Firefight

There is a new (for me) game system I've been exploring over the last couple of weeks.

For a few years now I have been sticking to a principal of having a (small) fixed number of games that I focus on (and more or less ignore all the others).  You can't play/collect/remember the stats for everything... well, I can't.  And the chances of playing some of everything at games day is zero.

The systems I've selected address different game styles/scales/formats, and (historically) includes:

- Epic is my full battlefield level system where the scale makes rolling around in tanks, titans and infantry hordes make sense.

- Necromunda is my skirmish level system, where you have individual operatives booting around a compact board *.

[* I was contemplating this on the weekend and there's not a huge amount of difference between 'battlefield' and 'skirmish' from a high level perspective. With 'battlefield' you have formations of units/soldiers, with 'skirmish' you have a single model but with multiple wounds. So they could be viewed as quite similar in that regard. When you add that you only have to build/paint 10 models instead of 100, it's easy to see why skirmish games are gaining more traction with hobbyists.]

- BFG is my space ship level game.  I list is as a game I'm happy to play with others if that's what we're all playing this meet, but not something I'd normally suggest playing myself.

- Blackstone Fortress is something that doesn't get much of an opportunity due to it really requiring an extended campaign to be worth the effort starting. I put this down as my dungeon crawler game.

- Zone Alfa is my freeform/exploration/sandbox game. Not as good for player vs player compared to others imo but a nice generic canvas for solo playtime.

Ok, so?

I was visiting a friend on the weekend and during the drive I was contemplating this list. And there are some changes in the wind.

New Kill Team has been high on my radar for over a year now. While I have played Munda during that time, I've played more games of KT, and I generally prefer KT over Munda for a number of reasons. It's not unreasonable to consider adjusting the Skirmish level selection from Munda to Kill Team.  Obviously I can play both/either, but I feel that the default has now changed.

Epic has been out of favour for some time. I love the scale, I love the setting, the terrain, the people,  but I have serious reservations about the complexity of lists, balance, default game play... all adding up to 'I will play it, but I don't enjoy playing it much anymore.'

But... something about change?

For 'reasons' I recently had a look at a system called Grimdark Future. This is from One Page Rules, an... independent (at least from major manufacturers) endeavour. It has sci-fi and fantasy versions (re that first pic at the top of the post). It has battlefield and skirmish scale offerings. It even has a 'space ship' level ruleset.

I ended up watching a couple of battle reports and was impressed enough to print out the rules... and they have a free version that is probably enough for all but hardcore gamers wanting to take things very seriously.

I then played a couple of small test games and was even more impressed.

Basically One Page Rules' systems are 'no name' brand systems designed for you to use your 40k or any other system models with... halo, infinity, whatever, or all of those at the same time even.

Pertinent to my topic, there's Grimdark Future (GF) and Grimdark Future Firefight (GFF), battlefield and skirmish respectively.  Not a great deal of difference between the two systems [which prompted my contemplation of multi-units vs multi-wound above].

I was able to pull out squads of my old marines and squads of my tyranids and actually run a coherent and (from my now experienced viewpoint) sane battle level game with 28mm models.

I'm sure there are other worthy systems available, but GF is looking like it's going to be pushing itself forcefully onto the list. I'm just not sure which slots it's going to be taking.

Why I'm liking GF...

Alternating Activations: I usually won't even play a game that doesn't have this now. The idea that one side moves, shoots, charges, has tea, and sets off a load of laundry before the other side can respond is just ludicrous.

Simple Rules: Enough to make the game function, not so many that you're looking up edge-case rules every 2 minutes. Comprehensible for beginners, not restrictive for the experienced.

Less Tricks: GF army lists use a tiny number of basic stats, and a small list of optional skills that can be added to units. The stats and skills are common to all forces.

This means a higher commonality between forces, that in turn means you're unlike to encounter a force you are totally unprepared to handle - they do what you do... more or less.

While there are special mechanics (extra speed, power, armour penetration etc) these seem to be universal, as in all forces could apply the same rules if/when appropriate.

i.e.   You don't have extra-special eldar or necron tricksy features that you'll have no idea about until you encounter them on the table.

While it could be argued that this makes the game 'more generic', imo it also makes it more accessible for wargamers who don't want to have to study reams of special rules for armies they may never encounter. Also good for people with crap memories and/or for lazy gamers who just want a fun dice and models session (which is probably the majority of us).

Freely and Easily Accessible:  You can point someone at the site and they can download the basic rules and army lists without having to commit (financially) to rules they might not even like.  The accessibility aspect is a huge plus, and you can subscribe to 'advanced' stuff if you're super keen.

Easy Learning Curve:  If you've played other things before you could/should be confident within 2 games. Complete noobs might benefit from a demo/run through, but it's not rocket science. And compared to "some commercial" games the rules are sooooooooooooooooo digestable.

Well Written:  I didn't feel compelled to rule-lawyer the intention of the RaW too much. There were a couple of things ('cover' comes to mind) that were perhaps missing or in the wrong spot or could have benefited from a little more explanation... but especially in terms of being a lightweight (and free) system it's very well done.

Conclusions...

I really like this system.

I'm going to be exploring it as potentially my main 28mm battlefield level game (technically there wasn't one of these previously). It's a strong candidate for the 'battlefield' level in general, and maybe even baying for the 'skirmish' level.

Until next time...

Zona Alfa - New Additions (Sundry) - pt1

[geez, i really wish blogger would avoid making some of the text large and some of it smaller at random. It's visually annoying.]

I had a Terrain and Exploration post not long ago, and following on to that I ordered some new terrain pieces which I've now completed... enough.

I already have 3 small 'farm house' or 'rural' residences; two 'T' floor plans and one 'straight through'. This new one adds another option and/or can reduce sparseness on the map if required. It's stylistically different from the old ones, intentionally so, while still fitting the underlying theme/style/aesthetic.

I also have (I think) 3 'Adobe'/desert style residences already, which I've earmarked (or think of) as simple concrete hab-dwellings.

So an extra 3 for that set.

Minimal level effort... just to get them done/table-worthy. Happy enough with the result.

There are other WIPs and I'll probably build some hopefully nice maps once those are done.

Until next time...

Kill Team - Chaos Legionaries

These guys actually got a couple of games in before being entirely completed. Cheeky.

One day I reckon I'll learn how to take decent pics of my minis.... but not today.

Kill Team  Chaos Legionaries - completed and ready for boxing.

Happy with the results. Nothing left niggling at me or anything like that.

I reckon these guys will get fairly frequent use. Along with the Custodes.  And there was also talk about how the games run faster so we can probably play   Chaos Cultists vs Genestrealer Cult   and then escalate   to Legionaries vs Genestealer.

Chaos Marines have long been one of my favourite opposing forces.

Until next time...

Zona Alfa - Terrain and Exploration

[original circa 2022-06-14]

A while back I decided that I had too much terrain for too many games (I think this was triggered when I ditched a box or two of scratch built 40k terrain stuff... a game I do not even play at all).

When it came to Zona Alfa I decided that one big ass box was sufficient for my purposes. This seemed reasonable and, to date, I've been sticking to that premise - surprisingly perhaps - resolutely.

Whenever I see cool mdf kits  or  other people's terrain/battle reports  or  real life pics of funky terrain  I often get a twinge of... "that would be a cool project" followed by "I'd do that this way, and probably change this, add this, and drop that."

I'm getting to a stage where I'm contemplating... perhaps I can limit it to... two boxes. Well, that certainly sounds like a slippery slope.

Here's the thing... (and I don't think it's just a rationalisation because it's something I want to do (of course, there is an element of that in there)).

When you are away (as I am now, hence the specific contemplation of this topic) you can stack up some books, place some salt and pepper shakers and pine-cone trees and call it a map, for the sake of rolling dice. And... this suffices for the sake of rolling dice - it keeps you in touch with rules and mechanics, and keeps you less hobby-bored than one otherwise might be... but that's about the extent of it.

When I laid out those 3 large maps recently it wasn't about rolling dice or specifically playing ZA. The purpose of my games was exploration within a fictional setting. Similarly, but differently, when you play one vs one it's about competition... within a fictional setting.

For me, ZA provides one of my favourite exploration settings - much as people do with dungeons and dragons or (good) sandbox video games.

Aside: I actively dislike fantasy settings, not for any good reason, I just don't like them.

I like 40k and space well enough, and I really enjoy the post-apoc/stalker setting.    It's just personal taste. I don't expect to convert other gamers, nor do I anticipate a wild change in my personal tastes.

Anyways... DnD has combat in it, and it's pretty much integral to playing, but it's meant to be more about exploration and the story, than fighting everyone you encounter like murder-hobos.

As much as the combat, I like moving my characters through the map, through the setting, the suspense, the dangers, it's not a game, it's an exploration.  I don't really enjoy player vs player confrontation in this (or other) setting as it forces me away from the exploration and into competition, which I'm not into.

Anyways... I enjoy making the maps and exploring within that setting, and I'm thinking I might add a few more structures to expand the worlds I can make. I have a couple of things in mind but nothing specific... abandoned apartments type structures, that kind of thing - developed urban environments rather than very sparely scattered farmsteads and barns. I like those of course, but I'd like a little more variety.

I'm probably set for trees, though those are generally quite fun arts and crafts projects.

And I'm interested in making some water items (lino flats possibly with resin over the top) like I proxied in my winter campaign. 

This all doesn't mean that I'll be jumping online to start ordering things immediately... more an acknowledgement and an acceptance that, yeah, I might end up having more than that one stash box... and so be it.  put another way, if I find an interesting/worth project I may do it even if it takes me over one box.

I'm also interested in making some nicer (chainlink) fences. those ones I have are too chunky/clumsy. they're not horrific and don't destroy the immersion but I'd like to make/get/assemble something better.

Until next time...

Update 2022-08-10

An update before I even release the document. Goes that way sometimes.

Well the final statement has been completed and document in advance. yhay.

The reason this particular document is being dusted off is because i ordered a couple of mdf kits last night. Three quite (nicely) plain apartment structures from brutal cities, who are an aussie co.

My concern with having multiple boxes of stuff isn't just storage. If I want to take a box to a club meet or away on holidays (roll eyes if you must) then having just one box is actually a good thing. shlubbing multiple boxes of terrain around is annoying. It's also annoying if you decide you're only taking one box and the gubbins you want to complete a map/setting are in the other box.

I will be looking hard at whether I can  actually jigsaw the new stuff into the original box. It might (hopefully) be a possibility. fingers crossed and wait and see.

And... release.