Firefly the Game

Played Firefly the Game yesterday and had a great time. Took a bit of a while to play with 3 players but was a hoot. I loved the game mechanic for moving about the "Verse", it seemed to me it would be a great way of linking games of Five Parsecs and creating a sub-sector of planets that the PCs could travel between and complete missions. 

Each player had their own ship and each could be customized,  different engines could be bought

or extra cargo etc.

The playing area was great and really caught the feel of Firefly. If something could go wrong with a deal then it probably would :-)

I spent my game doing all sorts of illegal activities in an attempt to make a quick buck and win the game, I narrowly missed out, but was great fun trying. 

I have already drawn out my own version of a sub-sector map, just some wash and names to add.

There is a set mission for each game, we played the basic starter mission and 2 of us came very close to succeeding, I came second but thoroughly enjoyed the game.

So if you're a fan of Firefly or just zipping about a universe completing missions, legally or illegally, up to you, and delivering goods then this is the game for you. I loved it.

Ghost Archipelago: Pirate Ship Update

This is where I am with the first of the two pirate ships I am making for Ghost Archipelago, due to come out in the next month or so. I am just about to start painting at this point, the two ships should be complete to play with when the rules arrive.

Quest: Kill the Shaman

This is another quick go at using the Frostgrave rules amalgamated with the older original Warhammer Quest game from the 90's. Mrs Daxio and myself settled down to a fun game to rid Mount Gunbad of an evil Orc Shaman who had been threatening to raise up a huge Waaaagh against the Empire. 

Almost immediately upon descending the first stairs down into the lair the PCs were confronted by 3 Orc guards. After quite a fracas the PCs managed to despatch the guards and moved on through the dungeon.

So who are these characters that we played with? Above, from left to right, front to back we have: Ragnar Rume- Dwarf, Esse Blackroot-Human, back left; Rollo Lint-Human, Lorit Lefore- Elf.

First thing that was altered, as this was another learning game, was that M6 meant the PCs would tear through boards, so I decided that Dungeon M would be less than ordinary M, humans/elves/dwarves would M4 instead, this needs further testing.

The other area that I had already tested and played some while ago was the number of wounds a foe could cause a character, I found it was easy to kill them in one combat. So the whole combat process was kept as per Frostgrave, the final number of wounds caused to PCs were halved, to give them a chance. 

As it was Ragnar and Rollo, especially, nearly came to very sticky ends on two occassions.

As you can see on the right of this picture I made my own set of monster cards which really helped the game flow smoothly. I coupled them with the original event cards from Quest. Here Goblin archers failed to do much damage to the PCs.

Eventually the PCs reached the final objective room with the Orc Shaman and his minions there to protect him.

Another big change from Quest is that I halved the number of creatures that actually appeared. This has two effects, one it make the game far more open and secondly it allows the PCs tactical options. In Warhammer Quest, more often than not the PCs would walk into a room and line up in order to present a shield wall effect, because you could have 12+ creatures attacking. In the original Quest, which I do love, there were times when not all the creatures could fit on the board. So tactics were limited, movement non existent. However with fewer miniatures on the board and the use of my monster placement cards, featured a few years ago on this blog, tactical movement becomes possible.

However fewer creatures does not make the game much easier as Frostgrave can be brutal.

In our game the PCs finally managed to kill the Shaman after 3 or 4 rounds of combat and as I mentioned 2 of the party came very close to dieing. Rollo brought himself to the edge by failing to cast Heal on himself and others 4/5 times and incuring wounds as a result!

All in all the game worked fine- another area I changed, which I should mention, was the wondering monster rule which in the original was handled by a simple dice role. So if a 1 was rolled on a D6  then a monster appeared. Keeping the D20 theme going I decided that the chances of a creature appearing would develop as the game progressed. It started at 1 in the first turn and for every tile explored 1 would be added, so that by the end of our game we were throwing a D20 and would have had a monster appear on 7 or less. Luckily we didn't get any This needs further play because I get the feeling that if the dungeon had been larger ( this is the smallest we've played) and we had had a couple of  wondering monsters turn up the party may well have been decimated, but we will see.

The entire dungeon below, didn't use any furniture in this game as I needed to concentrate on how it played rather than scrabbling about with fancy extra bits, but when the game works, then it will be chests and tables and torches, "oh my".

Mrs Daxio really enjoyed this version of Quest and seems to have given enthusiasm back to the system. I certainly enjoyed it and will post the character cards and some more of the rules I came up with to control things like experience and character development in a later post.

Frostgrave: Spiral Tower

Although I have not been posting pictures of this particular tower, as it developed, it has been ongoing on a slow burn for the last few weeks and is similar to one I made earlier this year. I didn't think anyone would want to see all the before and after shots again.

This tower is a bit larger than the last, but only just.

I have never made castles or walls or towers with more irregular stone work, but I wanted to try something new. Not totaly convinced that I will use these shapes ever again, just doesn't work for me. 

Usually I paint all the details, like cracks, but on these stones I took leaf out of Lukes APS and used a Sharpie on them. It was a lot easier, but didn't get the thin lines I really needed, but from a distance seems OK.

Some close ups, I used quite a few stones I had been hoarding to build the underneath up with.

Not very happy with the background, will have to get something better than the old board I used. But these picture were taken in a much lighter location so think it will work much better when I get the back drop sorted.

D&D: The Fisherman's Tale

There was once a dwarf who made his living as a fisherman. Now, as you'll know, dwarves are always the best in the world at their chosen profession, and this dwarf was no exception. Every day, he brought in a huge haul of fresh fish, and he soon became very wealthy indeed. However, like any successful dwarf, he had a great many enemies. So as not to forget any, he sensibly wrote down all of his grudges and grievances in a great, heavy ledger, which he called his 'grudge book'.

One day, while out fishing in his boat, the fisherman caught a magic fish. He plucked it from the net, and before he could sling it into his basket, the fish cried out:

"Oh, fisherman fine

My life is thine

Show mercy

Spare this skin of mine!"

The fisherman caught fish every single day of his life, but he had never before encountered one that talked, let alone one that rhymed. Intrigued, he asked the fish;

"How will you repay me if I spare your life, fish?"

The fish replied:

"If you'll release me from your hold

No more shall you want for gold."

The fisherman smiled.

"I don't want for gold now. I'm quite wealthy already, and I grow wealthier each day. Try again, fish."

The fish gulped, and spoke again:

"Release me back into the sea

And all my kind will flock to thee."

The fisherman laughed.

"Your kind already do flock to me, little fish. Haven't you heard? I'm the greatest fisherman on my island, and the fishermen of my island are the greatest in the world. One last chance."

Panicking now, the fish cast its eye over the fisherman's little boat, and then said:

"Spare me from the butcher's hook

And I'll replace that heavy book!"

This last offer puzzled the fisherman. The fish explained that if he spared its life, it would memorise each one of his grudges and grievances for him, so he'd have no need of a big heavy book.

The fisherman thought about the fish's offer. The book was very heavy, for he had a great many grudges to remember. His boat was only small, and lately he had begun to notice it sat awfully low in the water, most likely thanks to the weight of the book. Reasoning that without the book he'd have room on board for a bigger catch, he decided to take the fish up on its offer. So, he slipped it into his pocket, and sailed back to shore.

The next few years were good to the fisherman. The fish kept its word, and remembered all of his grudges for him. Without the book weighing down his boat, the fisherman was able to bring in an even bigger haul, and he grew wealthier than ever before.

One day at sundown, the fisherman was reeling in his net after a long and fruitful day's work, when the fish cried out from his pocket:

"Behold, I say, look overboard

That there's the one who stole your hoard!"

The fisherman peered over the edge of his boat, and true enough, beneath the surface of the water was a proud-looking dwarf, smiling and dressed in finery the likes of which the fisherman had become inclined to adorn himself with. The fisherman couldn't remember having been robbed, but he had no book to consult, and the other dwarf's garments and trappings seemed far too similar to his own to be a coincidence. So, filled with rage, the fisherman threw himself down upon the other dwarf faster and harder than a blacksmith's hammer. As soon as he hit the surface of the water, the magic fish darted out from his pocket and vanished, as did the image of the other dwarf. Just as the fisherman realised his mistake, all the fish in the sea flocked to him to nibble and gnaw the flesh from his bones, and he never wanted for gold again.

Tom Hunt

Edit: Yes I am aware there should be a boat.... sorry Tom, one can only question my commitment.

KOW: Dwarf Throwing Hatchlings

Saw these delightful little dinosaurs and their eggs at a garden centre of all places and tried to think what I could use them for. Especially since they are 25p each.

Decided that they would make my version of the throwing Mastiff for my Dwarf army, So these are the first 3 of 8 I will be making, Made the bases from card with PVAcrete to strengthen. 

Here they are with a regiment of Ironguard. The Hatchlings have a 12" range 5 attacks and hit on 4+, any successful wounds explode and carry on until there are no more wounds caused. They are a one off attack so not brilliant but for 10 points can help to injure poorly armoured enemy troops.

These need some stain/devlin mud type stuff to finish them off.

MUMG Solo: Saving Sabretooth

Only a day after his capture by Cap, Sabretooth is languishing in a temporary cell at Stark Industries. Black Panther has been left to make sure Sabretooth is safe.

In my imagination there is lots of growling and prowling. Especially since he doesn't even seem to have toilet facilities.... oh Tony!

Little does Black Panther know, about to break into the facility are Pyro and Toad, tasked with freeing Sabretooth.

Panther started the game in a random location with random movement.

No, he's not playing air hockey, but monitoring the surveillance equipment, which seems to be malfunctioning.

Who could cause that to happen? But that's for another episode.

As luck would have it Panther prowled off in the right direction.

Toad moved at incredible speed and crossed most of the board, some 18" in just 2 move actions which he can do since he is Agile.

Pyro simply moved into the building and took up an advantageous position.

In the next turn Toad reached the computer station and attempted to find Sabretooth on the system. He had 4 chances to pass a Willpower test but failed them all!

Black Panther continued forward on his patrol.

Toad moves toward another station, I like his thinking, "Perhaps this one will work better?"

And it does, but at this point Panther recieves a message from Jarvis informing him that an intruder is in the building.

Pyro takes up a good firing position and Toad bounces across the power room.

As Panther moved to the edge of the new corridor he caught sight of Pyro and pounced on him.

Striking savagely at the evil mutant, who was obviously Jarvis' intruder, Panther must have been flustered and narrowly missed wounding Pyro. 

In his turn Pyro moved back to make his Pyroblast more effective and did 2 damage to Panther. While to Panther's right, Toad spat at him and did another 2 wounds.

Winning initiative, Toad spat nervously at Panther and missed but managed 1 damage from his tongue lash attack. Pyro missed his pyroblast attack, but Panther was already going to have to check his stamina at the end of the turn anyway has he had 5 damage!

Panther decided to engage Toad in combat thinking him the easier of the two targets. And I was surprised to discover that Toad is really resistant to physical damage, who would have thought! But he did manage to inflict 2 damage on Toad.

He then promptly failed his stamina check and slipped into unconciousness. That was a surprise!

Leaving Pyro to cover his back, Toad rushed off to find and release Sabretooth before Black Panther managed to come round.

But he needn't have worried as Panther fialed his stamina test again!

Toad released Sabretooth, he needed to get under 6 on two 8 sided die and threw 3.

 Panther remained on the deck.

While Panther manges to struggle to his feet...

Toad and Sabretooth rush down the ramp....

                                       Jarvis' call to Iron Man had been answered and....

It didn't look as if Iron Man could do very much to stop the trio from escaping to be honest but he had a good go. He immediately uses his Micro missles on Toad but missed.

Panther however failed another stamina check and went down again.

Toad left the building, he had done his bit for the brotherhood. 

As Sabretooth ran for the exit, Pyro tried to cover him, but failed to to damaged Iron Man. Tony in response kept his attention on Sabretooth and did 5 damage on him with a Unibeam attack.

This was pretty much repeated in the last turn, Iron Man doing another 4 damage on Sabretooth but failing to slow him, and Pyro did 3 damage to Iron Man. 

Panther managed to stagger to his feet!

Just before his escape, Sabretooth had to make a stamina check.... and passed on a 9.

Toad, Pyro and Sabretooth slipped into the night and seemed to disappear completely, perhaps they did have some other help after all.

Not sure where to take this next or who will be involved, but did enjoy playing the game, perhaps the Botherhood will be hunted down by some of the other Avengers on their way back to their base.

Thought I would include some pictures of the cards that help play the game.

Red beads record damage

Green or blue for the power each hero can use each turn.

Iron Man was the first non Knight model I bought, since then I have converted loads of Heroclix miniatures and they seem to work fine.

Hope you enjoyed the game, I will play the next in the coming month.