Competition Prizes

I was really fortunate to win three of the prizes from Ray's Mega Blog Giveaway.  These arrived this morning and are really quite splendid.

Thank you Ray!

Terrain Tuesday #2

OK, it's Wednesday, but it was a Bank Holiday...

My idea of having a weekly terrain post to prompt me to do some regular painting failed this week, but was rescued by a couple of serendipitous charity shop finds this morning.

With a Grendel Scotia tomb entrance

There a bit big, but that the point of monuments - monumental.

And I got a book on the art of Tintin as well...

Terrain Tuesdays

Nobody mentioned it, but I felt a bit of a fraud publishing an AAR last week with a table dressed with lumps of unpainted resin and featuring BluTac.

Of course it doesn't matter (especially in a solo game!), but the point of getting a solo game in was to prompt me to do some work.  So I hereby unveil a new feature - Terrain Tuesdays.

I finished off the nests.

Dinosaur nests from Poundland

Fortunately, Boots provide a handy source of plastic every week.,,,

...which can be turned into handy river sections.

At the moment they look more like the manicured banks of the Cam than some jungle river, but I hope to change that,

Naval Wargamng (And Prizes!)

One of the releases I've been looking forward to learning more about this year is Osprey's Fighting Sail.  Early indications are that it's rather good, but I'd appreciate any pointers to reviews.

Given my naval interests, I am always tempted by naval games.  Regular readers will remember the fun I had with Clint's play-by-blog age of sail game.  Of course 'my period' isn't AoS, but roughly 1860-1920 - a period of real and rapid change.

To that end, I keep meaning to download David Manley's Steamer Wars from the Wargames Vault, small ship engagements based on the Lake Tanganyika actions during the First World War.  A supplement - River Wars - now brings the action to European waters.

Of course, if and when I do get any of these rules, I won't be painting teeny-tiny ships!  Counters for me I'm afraid!

Giveaways

I've just read the exciting news that I've won no less than three prizes in Ray's Mega-Giveaway!  Well, someone has to win them if he isn't going to enter.

The latest Giveaway news is that Pendragon Without is celebrating 10,000 hits by offering a Warbases church.  Enter here.

A Spot of Shopping

I went and did a little shopping this afternoon.

Local Friendly Toy/Hobby Shop

Wilkinsons

Charity Shop

On The Kindness of Bloggers

It is often remarked that the area of the blogosphere dedicated to our hobby is populated by a fine bunch of generous people.

The other week I posted that I was feeling out of sorts and mojo-less given that I rarely get a game in.  I was flooded with commiserations and useful suggestions.  Jonathan Freitag was of the opinion (and not to be dissuaded) that what I needed was some shiny goodness.  Accordingly, this lot appeared yesterday

Cowled Cultists 1

Evil Hooded Minions 1

Now, you can't ask for anything more pulpy than that can you?

The miniatures are of course from Bob Murch's Pulp Figures stable.  Despite how some might have read my recent post on cultists, I do like this sort of thing, and they will form a very useful group (or two) alongside the Artezan cultists I was lucky enough to get from The Kiwi as my Secret Santa last year.

The 'Tooth and Claw' rules are of course to help with my Lost World/Egg Hunt set-up.  I haven't yet had a good look at them (small print on a grey background conspired against bedtime reading), but will probably stick with Pulp Alley for the main part (I like the simplicity and how quickly things flow).  What I'm really looking for from T&C are ideas on how create the beasts and what mechanisms to use for their actions.  So far it looks as if will prove very useful.

Egg Hunt! - The AAR (part two)

As we left our intrepid group of explorers, two of there number were facing the onslaught of the fearsome Allosaurus...

...now read on!

...but here Jenny and Penny justified their inclusion not only in the expedition party, but also in the college athletics team.  With a daring show of pluck and speed, Penny ran right past the dino to the now unguarded nest!  Jenny was equally speedy in taking up a covering position.

Taking her role as troubleshooter seriously, Miriam took aim and felled the mighty beast before it could turn in pursuit.

Over by the river, there was trouble for Bella and the professor.  That nest was not only guarded by an Iguanodon but also a Stegosaurus!  The professor took aim, but despite her usually high shooting ability, she again missed.

Bella thought it prudent to withdraw to her mistress' side. 

The shot was not without its benefits though, driving the timid Iguanodon up onto the hillside which was becoming even more crowded, given the arrival of a second Stegosaurus.

Penny's gambit had paid off.  As she examined the dinosaur nest she found and removed one of the prized eggs.

Encouraged by her friend's success, Jenny moved to her own nest and examined it.  She, however, was not so fortunate, and succumbed to the narcoleptic pollen of the nearby plant.

Things also took a turn for the worse for Penny.  She was suddenly rushed by the Brontesaurus,  She was unharmed, but lost her precious trophy!

Fearing a similar assault, the professor took aim at the Stegosaurus and fired.  But missed!  As Bella ran for cover the enraged creature charged across the river towards Professor Johnson...

More next time in:

Egg Hunt!

This Week's Obits of Interest

Col Stuart Archer (d. 2 May 2015)

Bomb disposal officer awarded the George Cross

Daily Telegraph 3 May 2015

Lt Tony 'Lofty' Eldridge (d, 13 Apr 2015)

Human torpedo

Daily Telegraph 7 May 2015

Oscar Holderer (d, 5 May 2015)

Rocket scientist - one of NASA's Germans

Daily Telegraph 10 May 2015

Click here for other obits of interest

Egg Hunt! Playtest - Some Initial Thoughts

It's too easy for the player to stand back and pick off the dinos from a distance

• The dinos are too fragile - I will boost their stats
• More terrain might help by providing more cover (time to break out the BluTac!)
• I may be misunderstanding the PA rules about rushing, etc

The Wife suggested a mechanism which reduced the area of play each turn, creating more conflict between explorers and dinos (a lava flow - "All good dinosaur movies [sic] have a volcano!"), I like this idea, which would also mean limited turns, but I'm going to play on and see how the dynamic changes as the explorers move further into the dinos' territory and eggs come into play.  

I'm satisfied with the addition of an extra dino each turn and the random movement until explorers come into range.  In this game, the dice gods have decreed that three dinos mill around on the hill in the corner doing nothing, which may he why the explorers have been having it easy.

Making the explorers cross a river, swamp or crevasse at the start may make life more difficult for them.

I'm going to carry on with the current set-up and see what happens if eggs come into play.

Coming soon!  The next thrilling installment of...

Egg Hunt!

Egg Hunt! - The AAR (part one...)

Scenario here and set-up details here.

Following the ridicule she received on the presentation of her theories on the survival of animals previously thought extinct, Prof Johnson has assembled the St Margaret's Exploration Group (SMEG) to bring evidence back to the scoffers.  He aim is to collect at least one dinosaur egg.

By the 'Old College Bus'

The members of the expedition comprise of the Professor's trusty sidekick Miriam, the Lady Librarian;  Penny and Jenny, two bright young things from the JCR; and the ever-loyal Bella.  After an arduous journey, SMEG has arrived at a Hidden Valley teeming with exotic life.

Realising that speed was of the essence if eggs were to be collected before too many dinosaurs gather, the Prof splits the party into three groups: she and Belle headed in one direction, the Gels in another, and Miriam (with her Deadeye ability) was act independently in order to forestall any trouble.  For the moment, Miriam stayed with Penny and Jenny.

In the meantime, unaware of the approaching humans, the two dominant predators faced off against each other.*

*Nobody had told them about our discussion ruling out dino-on-dino action,

However, the humans were not completely unnoticed.  No sooner had they split up, than a curious triceratops approached.  The Prof, confident in her team's abilities, continued on her way.

Miriam and the Gels were in a quandary.  The dino may move away but should they want to more forward, it was bound to approach or even charge.  Miriam made the hard decision, and drew a bead on the herbivore.  She scored a glancing hit, that bounced harmlessly off its thick skin.  Jenny followed suit, but missed; it was left to Penny to make another try.

 A lucky shot!  The beast was felled.

Meanwhile, the confrontation between the predators was over and a mighty brontosaurus loomed over the horizon.

Indeed, many new dinosaurs were entering the valley, luckily at some distance from the explorers - it getting quite crowded on the high ground.

Suddenly a loud undulating cry rang out - the call of some lord of the jungle perhaps?  The dinosaurs stood, frozen in their tracks.*

*Actually, I'd misread this card to mean that no movement was allowed.

Miriam and the Gels were advancing on their target nests.  Between them and the eggs stood the two mightiest predators in the valley.  Again, Miriam took aim.  Again, her hit was ineffective, but the Gels were able to inflict some damage.

As the professor and Bella approached the river they were in for a shock.  The nearby nest wasn't unguarded as they had thought!

As Bella pushed on to investigate the bridge over the river, the professor took a shot at the iguanodon.  Unfortunately she missed.

Miriam was having more luck.  While Jenny and Penny edged around the pond, she aimed at the T, Rex.  With a single shot, it was down!  The echoing shot drove the Brontosaurus away, but the Gels were stunned to see the Allosaurus now bearing down on them!

To be continued!

Egg Hunt! - The Set-Up

For the rules and scenario, see here.

The Players

Yesterday evening The Wife showed an interest in the project.  "Where did all these come from?",  "Dinosaurs?  I thought were were going to do Egypt or London?". "Wouldn't the dinosaurs attack each other?".  And most pertinently, "Why are you doing a new League, why not use that one you did for me that time?"

"Stand down, Gentlemen!"

So, a change of personnel.  Instead of the Endeavor Expedition, let me introduce the St Margaret's Exploration Group (SMEG).

For the Dinos, I've just taken the off-the-peg Predators & Prey profiles from Perilous Island; I may tweak them later, but they'll do for now.

The Table

Perilous Areas include

• The nests (by definition as plot points)
• The climb onto the crags or hill
• The river or swamps
• The rickety bridge

The large dinos or giant croc aren't bothered by the water obstacles.  Characters can choose to cross them either by the bridge or swimming (egg-carriers cannot swim).

The initial dinos were chosen and allocated their nests by lot.

Croc near the river

Big Red on the hill

Big Grey

Rex and Little Green

Starting positions

The view from the College Bus...

...and another