Pass the glue nurse I’m going in

Strange week – I’m only 6 days behind and back to work tomorrow.  Not to worry, I’ve finally got the assembly of Armageddon Hour on the web!

First a couple of point to clear up:

1. I mentioned that no page numbers exist.  This is correct for the ink saver version but if you print the full colour PDF you get the numbers fine.
2. The play sheet has now been replaced by a JPG available from here. A big thanks to Andrea for getting this out so quickly.

As for the assembly, I cover this in two parts:

1. Figures and maps
2. Rules and cards

I’ve put a few links to paper figure / component manufacturers below so feel free to read the hints and tips on these sites as well.

Figures and level maps

A few tips here:

• It is possible to roll a requirement for 7 opponents on the first two levels.  By default you get 6 plants and cacti per PDF so print these two files out twice.
• Use good paper.  I normally use 90 gram paper for day to day work and this is not enough for these type of models.  Easiest paper to buy I have found is MATT photo paper – use the printer manufacturers and not third party paper as they are heavier.  I do have one pack of heavy paper (light card stock) but have never been able to get any more and am loath to use it at this time for ‘quick games’.  This photo shows you what happens with 90 gram paper when printed with the plant figures:

• Check you have set your printer to best or photo quality every time you go to print.  As the files are in JPG / PDF / PNG formats I ended up with three programs to print them out! These two show you draft and fine differences – my blacks are not clear and I get white lines in odd places:

  

  

• Get a good cutting mat.  Do not use an odd bit of card as it tears after each cut and can pull your knife off line.  Also do not do I as I do and use is as a paint mat – the lumps of dried paint have the same effect.  
• Take your time cutting out.  I use a knife rather than scissors as I find this simpler but make sure what ever you use is sharp.    The main problem I have with scissors is undercuts and turning the paper around as I leave little bits on the edge:

 

• Pritt Stick comes in a ‘child’ version that starts off blue and clears while drying.  Well worth the extra 10p per tube in my mind as you can see where you have put it.
• A knife can cut & glue can stick.  Do not blame me or the authors if you cut yourself or stick yourself to something.
• A good metal ruler with finger guards is vital.  I use it for bending folds against as well as a guide for cutting against.  Despite the odd slip or two, my £2.50 Helix ruler has saved my fingers for any stitches.
• If you plan to play the game multiple times (well it is quick and you do die – well I do) then mount the maps on foam card as this will give them extra support.  Failing that you could run them though a laminator to protect them.  I have seen figures made up this way (normally with plastic bases) but not tried it myself yet.

Rules and cards

• I printed the rules as a booklet so each page is A5 in size.  Using the ink saving version and the printer functions it only took two sheets of paper.  Do not print the last page – its only an advert.
• The gap on page 3 of the rules under ‘Toughness’ is the picture of the mutant gorilla.  No idea why it is missing as the other pictures are in the ink saving version.
• Print the new profile sheet out (see link above) and the search cards.  I would spend 10 minutes extracting the stats from the skill and enemy cards onto a single sheet of paper.  Quicker to look at and less ink.  These odd cards do not add anything to the game as you are not randomly selecting them.
• Not on the list of requirements are a few counters.  You need these to track if you have searched a square and to track grit / medipack doses.

 

Links to paper gaming manufacturers

This list is in my memory order and is not exhaustive:

Paper Make It

One Monk (new website)

Ebbles Miniatures

World Works Games

Squirmydad (love the name)

Sites such as RPGNow etc have many buildings and maps but the above sites give hints and tips on starting out in paper wargaming.

Pocket guide to Haggis

First spotted on the Shattered Isle homeland in September these beasts have been spreading across the know worlds by the trader going by the name of Mike at Black Hat miniatures.  For fellow adventurers I have the pleasure in providing the following guide to the wee beasties:

Common traits

Fast, vicious and lots of teeth.
Eyes bright green and normally the only thing seen at night (often the last thing seen as well).
Their main aim in life seems to be eating and scaring cattle and to date only the bravest dwarf warrior has dared to capture and train them for war.
For Song of Blades and Heroes:

To date, I have spotted four discreet sub-species:

The Rock Haggis (Haggis Rockus)

Living in the highlands and mountains this breed is dark grey in colour matching the rocks making up their territory.  Often found stamping out a warning on a pile of rocks (the home stones) these are the only Haggis that give a visual warning before attacking by blinking both eyes twice.

The Heather Haggis (Haggis Gingeritus)

Only seen in Autumn, this red Haggis is the most vicious and normally attacks anything on site.  This behaviour is believed to be due to a mating ritual but this is unconfirmed (due to death of observer).

The Loch Haggis (Haggis Sandius)

Found mainly eating salmon, this group normally hide in the rough bracken found near the loch beaches and fast moving rivers.  Ranging in colour from light to dark brown these can be easily mistaken for the woodland Haggis.  Locals have it that these beasts killed the local bear population once they had tried salmon.

The Woodland Haggis (Haggis Tree-ey)

Only seen at twilight, these beasts are dark in colour and hide in lowland forests and can be mistaken for dark Loch Haggis.  Only during attacks can the difference been detected.  Woodland Haggis give a long high pitched squeal where as the Loch Haggis gives out a constant drone.

WW2 SciFi transport

I just came across this while surfing:

and thanks to the folks on TMP tracked it down to QRF here

My thoughts are to use it more as a carrier for goods and equipment rather than an APC - a bigger version of GZG Mule or Wombat carrier etc.

York Merchant Adventurers

Had a quick trip to York and bought myself the Settlers of Catan boardgame from the Travelling Man shop in the Shambles and managed to get one good photo of the Guildhall of the Merchant Adventurers before the bus came to take us to the Park & Ride:

Though York can be very busy (90 minutes queue for Yorvik for example) it is well worth a visit - make sure you take the Park & Ride though as parking is just not possible inside the walls and the bus trip keeps the costs down by limiting the shopping you carry around.

Armageddon Hour

Despite best efforts I’ve made no progress on the scenery this week and am beginning to despair that I will be able to complete the swamp and the realistic water keeps shrinking so much it is unusable.  So for a change I decided to buy a one-off game to scare away the winter blues and purchased Armageddon Hour via RPGNow so I thought I would share my first impressions and post an AAR tomorrow.

Delivery

For the first time ever, I had a problem buying the files as PayPal failed to link back to the site but thanks to the fast response from the team it RPGNow all files where downloaded.  A couple of minor points to note:

1. You get 25 files to download (including 1 zip file) ranging from PDFs via PNG to JPG.  Now why this could not be one PDF and 1 zip file or all packaged into a zip file I do not know.
2. Do not set RPG Now as a trusted site in IE8 to stop the pop up at download stage.  If you do this you cannot download anything and the site seems to think you are logged out.

Contents

The rules come in three files.  The first is a full colour JPG of the front cover, a full cover set of rules and an ink friendly version with basic pictures and colouring.  I only printed the first eight pages of the rules as the last page is a full colour advert for the teams that made it.

You get six full colour levels and here the quality really begins to shine:

The above is a small sample of one level (copied without permission and not meaning any threat to copyright ownership) and all are to this standard with each level being 7 * 10 tiles in size containing everything from a bed to a radiation symbol.  The zip file has the Paper Make It Shuffler data inside ready for you to change the plans as required.

Supporting these are the core files you need.  First all the characters and opponents are provided for printing and you get a set of paper bases to stand them up.  Even better, if you have never made paper figures before you even get a sheet of instructions on how to print and assemble them.  One Monk Minis have created a wonderful set of mutants, robots and a great gritty hero with NBC suit and shirt options called Frazer.  In total, you get 63 figures – hopefully the enemy units do not all attack at once!

You get 5 A4 sheets of help cards,  these detail search items, equipment and monster attributes and the odd sting in the tail (Radscorpian).  Each of the cards have a coloured board around them that shrinks the details down a size or two and to be honest adds nothing to the game.  Plain white with a simple boarder would have done fine for these bits.

The last sheet is the weakest of the lot – the play sheet detailing the equipment / health and status values.  Though neat it is hard to read and has Ganesha Games website address as a watermark all over it.

To this you have to add 4D6 and a stopwatch / timer as this is a race!

Overall I give this 9 out of 10 for presentation and a big complement to all three companies for the linked up solution.

Rules

The rules are very clear and easy to understand (so far – playing will tell) and comes with a warning I’ve not seen before – a section entitled ‘This Game is Tough’.  Fortunately you are provided with a couple of cheats at the end if you find it impossible to win with an ominous note that you will not need to make it harder.

The activation rules (actions) are based on the SOBH basis of rolling dice and performing up to three actions before the opponents get a single action each.  These actions include moving, searching, weapon fire and reload or patching yourself up modified by moving between levels (good chance to patch yourself up, reload etc) or by skill cards that modify your base attributes by allowing you to run faster, be a more accurate shot or better in combat.  By the way your enemies also have special skills to even things out!

Combat allows for grenades, ranged weapons (with line of site) and hand to hand attacks if you are desperate.  You can run out of ammo, be swamped by enemies and even infected if you are unlucky.

Each type of tile can have an impact on movement, enemy location and combat so the rules detail the tile types on a single reference page.  Keep this handy.

On the last page you get some basic advanced rules for score and experience and 10 FAQs to help you.

All in all, I give 10 out of 10 for these.  Nothing in my read through sticks out as unclear and the minor layout problems (one blank area, no page numbers and 1 advert) do not detract at all.

Coming up soon, the first game.

One tip – print full size.  I am used to printing at 50% for 15mm games – this does not work for this game you have to go large!

Ice Crystals

While organising a surprise birthday party for her mother, my wife came across a pack of crystals designed to go into a vase to hold artificial flowers:

As you can see, these are a little on the large side to be scatter on a base (the figure in the second picture is a 15mm Inuit Shaman) and to irregular to build a ‘fortress’ or wall with and up to know the only ideas I have are:

• Cut in half and base up for rough ground
• Use as loose scatter for rough ground
• Create an ice flow as a terrain piece
• An Iceberg for my 1/4800 ships
• Gems for RPG games (shame I am not playing them)
• Sell some on eBay as a mixed bag with other colours as gems

Any other thoughts?

Reed bed

Progresses on the swamp has been slow over the last week or so but today I decided I would spend a little time making a reed bed on one edge for fun.  Normally I would use a clump of paintbrush hairs glued on as seen in the wonderful 15mm piece on the Valley of Isk entry until I remembered my wife had kindly bought me some reeds for the Pygmy figures I have to complete from Antenociti (last item here) so out came a pin to make the holes in the foam and a few minutes later:

Once the swamp is filled with water (still experimenting on a small hex tile) I’ll trim these down to around waist to knee height (28mm scale).

Vapnartak 2010

Last time I went I was disappointed with the show as I was expecting to play games and found very little to do except shop.  This year I took my daughter (who had never been to a show) on the way back to Uni and did not expect to play but went to shop…
I did have a three reservations after the show so I’ll get them over with first:
The car park makes a good swamp and for the quality on venue really lets the site (not the show) down.  Many people got stuck both coming in and going out – park on the road if you can.







The second one is a bugbear of mine – the map.  Four things to change on these please:

1. Sort the index by name not number.  I look for a trader by their name and then find the location on the map.  I have never gone to a show with the aim of finding out ‘who is in the left hand corner downstairs’?
2. When printing use a bigger font.  My eyesight is fine with glasses but these things get smaller each year.
3. Learn to count – do not put 7 next to 2 and 8 or 30 between 26 and 27!  Please decide on an up / down or left / right sequence and apply it.
4. Why say ‘now on three floors’ but only put two of them on the key?  You could have used a bigger font and missed the ‘G’ or ‘F’ block out.

The last one is yet again I was to polite to barge my way to the front of the bring and buy scrum:
Its great to see these and a big thanks to Hull games for putting this on but has anyone taking any crowd control advise from the site?  Some-one is going to be trampled.
Now for a few pictures – not many as I was shopping…
The competition floor:

Very impressive set up – nice selection of games (Warmachine/FOW/WH/Impetus/Northern Doubles) and we only heard one rules lawyer in the five minutes we walked around.  Alice found this very funny especially as I explained the difference between here and Recon – these folk took the games very seriously and really did not want to discuss the games.  Best thing for me where the two gents who where working out who won the game without playing the move out by counting points / strategy – why put the figures on a lovely table?
Talking about lovely tables.  Anyone know who put on the ACW game with the computer rules?  The photo I have is so blurred at cannot show it here but if you see it I think it was the best ACW table I have seen.
Two tables blew my breath away – first The League of Extraordinary Kreigspeilers who where playing 1 turn every 30 minutes on a wonderful board based on Shanghai in the 1920s – pulp like you have never seen it before:

The second one was a ‘Wargamers meets Hollywood’ from Shaun at The Bunker in Newark.  This games assumes the Incas have moved north and clash with native Indians and except for one incongruity (an Inap in the woods) made me drool.  Talking with Shaun the build detail is amazing and you can get to play on this board:

I have put some more pictures on my Inca blog here.
I did think the show was not as busy as last time and the extra room mentioned was only in the competition area so you still got dead end syndrome in places but the “+1 armour of barging” was being worn by many a man.
As for money well spent – sure did!  For this blog I got:

• A set of attack Haggis (still in my daughters bag at point of publishing)
• Eureka frogs with spears and mallets
• Magog and Axe / Wolf shield from Hasslefree
• Heyu as Alice asked nicely
• A pre-order of Venusian Tolero figures (thanks Mike)
• 15mm Ducks for HOTT

Total spend (excluding lunch and entrance fee) was £62.20 and an addition of 56 figures to paint!
I hope Triples at Sheffield has lots of participation games as I will not be buying ANYTHING!
As for Alice – she enjoyed it, loved talking to the Roman re-enactors (archaeologists on both sides of the conversation), though the rules arguments strange but excluding traders / demo staff and youngsters under 10 we where sure she was one of two ladies present!

A surprising find

While hunting for bubbles for the swamp in the local Range store I came across a toy dinosaur skeleton that I just had to get.  Now I am not going to class this as a figure – its a piece of scenery or will be when I have taken a knife to it.  Best thing is, it only cost £1.99

Though advertised as ‘snap together’ mine only needed the tail popping into place and it was done.  Painting was not required as they seem to have used a ‘crackle effect’ paint on most areas – some such as the leg has been missed totally.

I have more ideas than I can cope with for this but when I get time some of the bits will end up as

• Add in to rock faces
• A small alter trim
• Shelter supports

The skull is superb and deserves something special – maybe a cave entrance in 15mm?

First Inuit

As well as painting scenery, Orcs and Undead I did manage to get the first two units on my Inuit army painted.  One set of bow armed troops and the shaman.  Though not based I have counted these as painted due to the lack of basing ideas (my count - my rules…)

All in all I do love these figures and am surrised how my poor painting skills can pull the details out.

Interestingly, I have managed to pick up a cd of Inuit legends off eBay for £2 – when I find my USB disk drive I can read it!

Orcs and Skeletons

Unfortunately due to family life keeping me out till early morning I was unable to try the new troops on the battlefield but I have them photographed for you here:

First the four foot troops – three with ‘hide’ covered shields and one with a wooden shield.  These are the £5 pack from GW and are pretty dull for details but good as ‘bulk’ troops or in this case the main troops for SBH as a low cost entry point.

Backing these guys up is an old savage orc shaman that I painted many years ago.

One of the largest models I have is the Orc leader – a fair hunk of metal to place on any table top and one of my favourite figures that I have painted.

The option I am looking at is to use the Shaman as a summoner so I purchased the small box of skeletons and used a basic wash over white and dry brushed to bring up the details.  Very happy with figures though the poses are limited to one!  Not a patch on the new Mantic figures but for a £1 each I’m happy

 

Given these where an impulse purchase during a day off (some of the Christmas Holidays) and took less than a day from start to end I am very happy with the results and look forward to using them in anger.  I had not planned to spend any money on figures till Vapnartak but I did get them finished and not dropped into the lead pile so I do not feel bad about this!