I Said, Please Remain Seated for the Duration of the Flight! and Halloween Wishes

There's always one.

You're on a flight, and you won't be landing for a good long time, but some joker has to get out of his seat, and make ready to leave, as if he can walk faster than the aircraft is going.  Of course this upsets the flight crew, and spreads tension, and just makes the flight worse for everyone.  They say it's dangerous, I don't know about that... it's not going to break the plane is it?  Then again....

This is the centerpiece for the genestealer cult army. I feel every army should have a centerpiece:
One item that is bigger, more dynamic, more impressive than the rest of the army. One item which will serve to draw the eye to the center of the army, and as the eye wanders around to the rest of it, will pull it back to the centerpiece.

All of the vehicles have infestation, and some are even piloted by alien creatures, like the walkers with the tentacle & brain creatures. 2 of the aircraft have creatures piloting them like the walkers..

which are hopefully pretty cool in their own right.  But the theory of a centerpiece is let one item take the spotlight like nothing else, and it will be better over-all for the army than if everything was at that level.

Like a crescendo in music,  the composition needs somewhere to go: if every moment as loud and thunderous the listener would get worn out and lose interest. Tchaikovsky understood this, a lot of death metal bands don't.

 So this is the moment the piece kicks in. Yes, it's an army, out to destroy the enemy, but at it's heart is the unthinking growth & aggression that is Tyranid DNA.  Something too big to be contained any longer by its host of human body and technology is coming to its own.  Will he bring the plane down?  Perhaps.  But i suspect he'll be fine, while his targets will not.

The back panel is busting outward, showing that he has growth-expanded from the inside.
The upper hole is smaller than the bulk of his chest, for 2 reasons:
1. practical: unless breaking the engines,there isn't a spot on the plane that is wider than his chest.
2. dynamic biology: he's in the process of growing- rapidly- right now, plus I imagine he can expand his chest, like a cobra's hood, to threaten other creatures, and so, like a rat, can squeeze through openings that are seemingly much smaller than his size.

I'm very pleased with the result: the creature ends up with a lot more serpentine motion than the original model since it doesn't have to stand supported on his tail.

Painting is already in progress,but I wanted to save the picture for a Halloween scare- I'm sure that in the year 40,000 there are many kids dressing up as Tyranids for Halloween!

Speaking of, Happy Halloween everyone!

I hope you get to gather with those you care about and enjoy the night!

But if you're flying, I hope all the passengers remain seated...

Geoffo & Moose: 2 Adventurers Against the World

The Dynamic Duo, the pair of Big & Small, Old & New are finished.

(Click for larger)

The halfling is Geoffo Timbershank, a name he earned by losing his leg in the Goblin Wars.

In the thick of the fighting, hard pressed, Geoffo was looking into the snarling face of his own doom.
A nasty goblin, with two wicked blades had cut him many times and just disarmed him, his sturdy broad short sword lying out of reach.  But just then he heard a bellow from one of the Ogre Mercenaries and out out of the corner of his eye he saw an Ogre hatchet lobbed his way.  It was a large and heavy weapon, and Geoffo needed two hands to wield it.  But he did so, and just in time to bury it in the goblin's skull.

The Ogre had problems of his own, dealing with a raging troll.  Both were wounded, but as everyone knows, a wounded troll is not wounded for long.  Geoffo ran to the battling brutes, raised the hatchet high in the air and swung down hard on the troll's foot!  The creature roared in pain, lashing out with a rusty cleaver that sliced Geoffo's leg clean off. But the distraction was just long enough for the Ogre to thrust his battle spear up through the Troll's neck and out the top of his skull.

After the battle, the Ogre went to find out if the halfling had survived.  He had, though it was a close call.

"I thank you for the loan of your axe, Ogre." Geoffo said weakly.

"I'm called Moose," he said, "and I'm grateful I gave it to you.  Keep it."

"Thank you, but I think I'm not well suited to it."  Geoffo replied.

"Hrmmm. Then perhaps you should use the haft for a new leg. It is lucky I think."

From that moment on the two would be inseparable, seeking adventure and battle.

King of the Prehistoric Woodlands

For the Prehistoric Pulp setting, I'm planning for the game to be more than just faction vs faction.
That is how most games work: you bring your army your opponent brings theirs and your two armies clash.

This works fine for most historical and quasi-historical combat, where humans are at the top of the heap and safe from anything other than rival human groups.  But Prehistory is much more dangerous than that.
Not only are there many species in evolution-fueled struggle for dominance, but none have such advanced technology and culture that they are not still tucked within the food chain, rather than high above it.

So this game will have threats beyond your opponent: ones that view you both the same: invaders into their territory, or perhaps as lunch.

So here is one of the creatures to be feared by everyone: the king of the woodlands, Gigantogorillini.

These, the largest of the primates, are solitary lords of the woodlands, though, secure in the safety of their great size, it is not uncommon to see them venture out into the grasslands.  Larger even than members of the Yheti tribe and Gigantopithecus tribe, these massive creatures are hard to mistake.  Perhaps the only thing preventing this species from becoming a greater dominating force is the fact that they are few in number and live solitary lives, only coming together to mate. Youths do band together, but these avoid conflict when possible.  The same can not be said for the adult males.  Nearly twice the size of females, and formidable at heights up to 4 meters and arm span even greater, they are left alone by all but the largest of the ancient predators.  Smaller creatures, even the sentient tribes hold deep respect for these giant primates, and healthy fear, for they are omnivorous.  Some tribes have even been known to worship them as gods. 

What do you get when you cross Jack Skellington with a Koala? More Blood Bowl Dice!

Well, I  think he looks like Jack Skellington the Koala... 

Everyone who plays Blood Bowl needs Block Dice and many of us covet unique Block Dice, to get colors to match our teams, such as when I was so happy to get a set of old Banana Yellow NAF Block Dice for my Ape team! 

Well, on Indiegogo (think Kickstarter with a groovy name) is a project for sets of Australian Block Dice. 

Australia does appear to be a haven for Blood Bowl. Like wild pigs, once imported it thrived like a champ. 

This project celebrates that National Pastime with Australia-themed Block Dice...

              

   DEFENDER DOWN / DEFENDER STUMBLE / PUSHED / BOTH DOWN  / ATTACKER DOWN

Pretty intuitive. 

They're starting with three different colors, the one above and:

Then stretch goals for other colored sets, this one is pretty stunning...

No wonder Blood Bowl is so popular in Australia, the entire continent is a 'Pow' shape! 

I've still never been to Australia... someday I will get there, and I'm definitely going to make a Blood Bowl tournament part of the plan.  Unfortunately around here the only dice allowed in tournaments are the official white BB dice and NAF dice.  I suppose some that are available are a bit hard to read, but not these- I think it's very obvious.  But I'm sure league play and friendly one-off games wouldn't have a problem with them. 

The low cost options are $10 for a random set, $15 for one of your choice, and $36 for 3 different sets. 

Now we just need skeletal koala miniatures... 

King Kong: With Kung-Fu Action Chest Thump!

Last Friday when I arrived at gaming I saw something wonderful.

A Gorilla.

A big, very big, gorilla.

I teased Mike, asking if I'd finally converted him over to Apes, only to find out it was mine!
His wife, quite a sweet person, had seen it, thought of me and my apes and asked him to bring it to me.

So Cool!

He's a great size for a 'King Kong' monstrous gorilla, and will likely make an appearance in some big game in the future as a lost world living god.

I also suggested he'd make a good Empire of the Dead faction, all by himself.. stats of 10 across the board, with inhuman resilience, sprint, leap and hammer blow.  I don't think he was buying it ;)

He has a little switch on the side, grunts and beats his chest.

Bring on the biplanes, I'm ready!

PCP vs. Opium: To Boldly Go On Their 2nd Away Mission and Probe Where No Probe Has Gone Before

Stardate: Third Floobalts After the Shaandaar: Captain's Note: Buy Lotto tickets: very lucky day!

Local date: the following Wednesday after the last mission.  Probably a day dedicated to some 'Saint', being one of many dead magic men, but apparently no concept of a Floobalts locally, let alone Shaandaar.

Mission Goal: Find further specimens for the medical lab.  Apparently the gestation feeding duct in this species fuses irreversibly after birth and Doc says he ruined several of the last specimens before realizing this.   Not to worry he says, he's found another entry point that will serve nearly as well.  This species continues to astound us.  Once we have a more complete understanding of their physiology and potential as a species we'll be better able to assess their current development and viability of offering membership into the Pan-galactic Confederation of Planets.  To this end, we have set down in a small village with an expanded team.  Weather continues to be dense with water vapor and devoid of direct light from the star: a truly depressing world.

Our team divided into two groups, to capture the primate species.
Captain Vok, Science Officer Vyoop, 3 tac-ops and the automoticon TVC-15 took the North end while Tag-At-Ot took position on an abandoned dwelling, with 2 of the tac-ops and the engineering team Tibbit & Plon taking the South end.   Scanners showed a group of 8 moving between the dwellings: these were their targets.

The men of the Jade Dragon Emporium, notorious opium importers, made their way through the town after delivering product to a wealthy gentleman. Carrying this much wealth, it was wise to have so many skilled swordsmen, and the two rifles .. one could never be too careful.  The master's sixth sense told him that something was wrong.  Perhaps a rival gang knew of their delivery?  Best to make a quick escape... 

Captain Vok spotted three of the primates hiding in the bushes ahead: they were spotted!  They must capture those creatures at all cost!

Tag-At-Ot spotted the majority of the Earthmen moving through the buildings: as a professional hunter he knew the element of surprise was lost: their presence was known, so he opened fire and downed one of the green-clad men, it wasn't dead but it would give them something to think about.

TVC-15 initiated its weapon, the low hum breaking the still air as a multitude of particle bursts sped out to the primates, shredding holes in one.

The remaining primates moved up and hid in the bushes.  What were they thinking?  We knew they were there.  Doubts about their intelligence were raised... perhaps they are well trained mimics or non-sentient animal servants? At any rate, we'd have to get closer to continue shooting at them now.

Meanwhile, in the denser dwellings, the injured man got up while the other shot at Tag-At-Ot.  It was only a small blob of soft metal, a wound, but nothing serious.  The creatures used the dwellings as cover, trying to escape by a more Southerly route.

Tibbit & Plon and the two Tac-ops made their way around the ruins to attempt to head off the green-clad primates.

One of the targets raised an object above his head and rushed at Red-3, but before he got more than a couple steps past the vegetation, Red-2 interrupted his progress with shots from his Partical Spray Projector.  It dazed the creature.

The crew of the PCP Starship Drowsy Wombat advanced to catch any of the feeling primates: none could escape to spread word of their presence.

Tag-At-Ot continued to down those who carried the long projectile weapons: the only ones who seemed to be a threat at this distance.

Red-2 & Red-3 engaged the attacking creatures in an example of true Tac-op professional training: rapidly hitting the primate with the blunt ends of their particle projectors while squealing in a high pitched cry.
Captain Vok, proud of his combat personnel praised them "That's good! Enough already!"

TVC-15 made for the bridge to bring his high-powered weapon to bear.

They'd bagged and tagged seven of the primates, ready to transport them back to the ship, but one still eluded them.  Three times Tag-At-Ot had shot him and three times he'd got right back up to his feet, yelling loudly in his language, as yet incomprehensible.

"You won't kill me demon!" he cried, "I am Hop Sup, master swordsman!" -This was recorded for later analysis.  Clearly such a dangerous alien required the Captain!  Vok charged in, forcing Tag-At-Ot to hold his shot as the captain's small head and prodigious mid-section obscured his aim.  Pulling out his dueling baton, -which initiates recorded program FS01, an audio play of the fight scene music from the Vel Opera "All My Conquests"- the clash began.  The primate clearly didn't expect an electric charge, nor was his metal weapon a wise choice in such a combat.  Nevertheless Captain Vok insisted on visual stills for his report.

With every one of the green-clad primates now dispatched the crew would head back to the ship, where the medical lab could do a proper evaluation of this species, as well as the many glass containers of opaque white liquid and powder.

Captain's addendum: Did lose one Tac-op member, death was irreversible. Only one!   A very successful mission!

Good News for Fans of Edgar Rice Burroughs, Miniatures & Saving Money

Passing on some good info... Tin Man Miniatures is having a sale- and a deep one at that.

40% off everything.  Hard to complain about that.

In my opinion, no one does Edgar Rice Burroughs inspired minis better than Tin Man, I just wish there were more of them ;)  Prices tend to be fairly high, but I think that's to be expected for high quality small boutique miniatures producers.  It's not an inexpensive endeavor for a small outfit.  With the sale prices, it puts the cost at about what you'd expect to pay for online retailer discounted Reaper Miniatures, so this is a great moment to snag some!

With my Prehistoric Pulp project going, I couldn't resist getting the Jungle Lord and Cave Girl .. great for Tarzan and Jane types in any era pulp setting, but should fit in nicely in Prehistory too!

 

And of course the Barsoom items are great...

 

Great Stuff! 

The sale goes through November 6th. So treat yourself! 

Oh Yeah? Well My God Can Beat Up Your God! Kickstarting the Dominion of the Gods

It's getting to where you need a very strong machete-shaped debit card to get through the tangled kickstarter jungle, but here is another I am feeling has good potential: Dominion of the Gods.

Odd thing is, I already wrote most of this game about six years ago.  Not that I did anything with it, and not that it's exactly the same, and not that I'm not sure others have had the idea too.  But as one of my favorite bands said, everything I do been's done before, every sentence in my head, someone else has said (see the bottom of this update).  The idea is rich for harvest: The Mythologies of Humanity.

As a kid (yeah, as a kid, because you'd never have such conversations at this point in your life, right?  Yeah, right) how often did you have heated discussions about who would win in a fight: Batman or Spiderman? The Hulk or The Thing?  etc. And guess what? They made a game for that: heroclix.

This is similar: Who would win in a fight Thor or Ares? Which Mythology has the stronger monster, braver heroes? The struggle for religious dominance is a bloody affair which goes beyond the meager struggles of mankind, right up the ladder to the Gods themselves.

Being a huge fan of Mythologies, this immediately sparks my interest.

It appears to have the same introduction point that games like Warmachine & Hordes does: a leader, a hero, a couple creatures and a very big creature and you're good to go.  Then it can be extended for bigger games with more of the same and units of mortal men.  The theme is a strong one and there is so much room to expand, the starting point to this is only scratching the surface, so no worries that they wouldn't have room to expand the concept.

The first mini for this I saw was the Cyclops:

Damn that's fun. 

My first thought was 'What an awesome Blood Bowl Ogre that would make!' 

I still may prefer Ray Harryhausen's Cyclops, but your first loves will always be dear to your heart. 

This guy is cool in spades though and will make a great centerpiece to an army. 

The Minotaur is also top notch: easily one of the best I've seen. 

I like his pose, hunched and menacing rather than the static baseball bat gripped axe that's all-too common.

So the miniatures are top quality and the game & it's theme look good & ripe for expanding, what do you get for your cash? 

They recently upped the reward for a basic pledge, making it now quite a good deal:

Let's compare this to Privateer Press's Hordes, since that's likely the most equatable comparison: 

A Skorne battlebox gets you a heavy beast, 2 light beasts, and a leader, for $50 retail.  Add a heavy beast kit: $35 ($50 if you want the Bronzeback, which you probably would but we won't for this purpose) and a Void Spirit solo for $10.  That comes to $95 retail, or about $76 with online discounters.  So this still comes in at quite a good value: both in cost and quality. 

Currently they've got Norse, Celt, and Greek committed to, and just announced Cthulhu Mythos! 

That's got to be of interest to any who love the Lovecraftian creatures.  And further myths are planned to get involved, such as Hindu, which sounds very fun to me! 

There's only just under 2 weeks left at the time of writing this, and they've only just passed 1/3 of their goal.

That is worrisome to me.  I think maybe they set a goal that was too high and daunting but it is a big undertaking, so I can't say their target fund isn't realistically needed to make it happen.  There are more and more kickstarters happening, which means more competition for people's hobby money.  Add to that, a lot of bigger companies are using it now, which I don't have a problem with, but it does mean that those companies can set a lower funding goal, just needing money to 'prime the pump' and gauge interest level, where a small company that doesn't have a pool of resources to draw on has to make sure the finish line is fully funded before committing to start: it's a different set of conditions for them.  And so there are not a lot of stretch goals and freebies with this one, but I think what you get is a good bargain as-is, and the chance to bring the fun settings of Mythologies to the tabletop and see who's got the stronger pantheon! 

- and there are some fun freebies, like a special coin and the chance to buy a nice limited amazon. 

Even if you are not sure you'd like the game or find others to play it, the miniatures are great quality and could be used to double dip into many systems, so I doubt anyone wouldn't get their money's worth.  

Money where their mouth is: I'm backing this, it does look exciting to me. 

So check it out for yourself, and see if $55 (or more) isn't worth 6 nice minis,many of them big monsters, and the chance to bring some of humanity's most interesting mythologies to life. 

The kickstarter is here:  Dominion of the Gods. 

..................................................................

Speaking of expanding into more mythologies, someone on Lead Adventure Forum asked if they'd have a Christian myth faction too, perhaps a bit tongue in cheek, but why not? In the game I was writing within this theme and idea I compiled info, stats and game-abilities for over a dozen mythologies, Christian being one of them. At first you might think it doesn't have much potential, since they don't have warrior gods and big monsters, and what's Jesus' special ability going to be? As Thor calls down lightning, Jesus will do what? create a magical barrier of bread and fish? The water walking could be useful for crossing river terrain, and while not too useful in a one-off game, the 3 day resurrection could prove valuable in a campaign setting! 

But Biblical Angels are serious bad asses.  Not to be underestimated, and not nice at all.  All those modern women saying they have angels looking out for them, they better hope looking out doesn't mean looking for. 

But monsters? I guess most would think it'd be a boring faction, but check this out! 

My friend emailed me this picture, it was left on his door.  That looks like a warband right there! 

(thanks for the picture Dan! you well know the odd stuff that makes my day!) 

Are these really the types who used to complain about D&D? This looks right out of the Monster Manual! 

I want to play this faction! A dragon? Hell yeah! No bigger and stronger big monster than that! 

That winged lion must be a pretty good monster too.  Flight is a real tactical advantage on the table.  

The ability to out maneuver your opponent and bring a powerful strike where your enemy is weak is worth a lot more than a more powerful creature. That multi-headed flying leopard is an odd one.  Well, these mythologies do get a bit weird, but maybe it's good against units: not as powerful of an attack but a lot more lesser attacks is perfect to counter players who bring a lot of infantry spam. This is looking like a flexible list!

The bear is an odd one... I'm thinking it doesn't really fit the theme well.  But not every faction is going to appeal to you 100%.  Not that I don't like bears- I love bears! I'm just not sure how well it fits into the faction's theme. And why is he eating Twizzlers, and why are they bloody? (But I'm sure I could convert it to remove those)  Well, on the off chance your opponent fields the rare choice of mortal children with special attack: mock your baldness, you'll be ready to eat those children up!  

Really not sure about the miniature of Non-egregious Jesus though. It's very static for one and kind of has a stoner-hippie-surfer vibe going: again, not sure it fits the theme. But maybe there will be an alt sculpt coming. 

Better would be angry, in a tattered robe, hands out, like knocking over money changer tables style. 

Bringing the smite-down. 

-- none of this silly rambling is about the Dominion of the Gods game (so if offended, I get sole credit for that!), just the romp my mind takes when I see things like this.  Like I said, myth is fun and offers a lot of good gaming potential! 

Enjoy! 

Your D.N.A.: Just Clay to be Molded: More Genestealer Cult Mutants

Another batch of Genestealer advanced hybrids, this time with Plasma Guns...

As if Genestealers aren't bad enough, these have guns!

And another character for the army, quite possibly a Commissar, since she'd scare just about anyone...

Originally Absylonia from Legion of Everblight for Hordes...

Interesting that the two concepts are really quite similar: both Legion and Genestealer Cult involve taking a normal population and infecting it with *other* (Dragon or Alien) and mutating the population as it overwrites their DNA with the invading organism.  

Not a new idea of course, that goes back at least as far as 'Invasion of the Bodysnatchers' -though really that's more a case of Doppelgangers than Overwriting, since the sampled person is killed and a replacement is grown, but the root fear is the same.  While Bodysnatchers was actually a metaphor for the U.S.'s paranoid fear of Communism, I think the root fear goes much deeper and further back in time, such as the fear of 'Demonic Possession', which was likely just an interpretation of Insanity, which is likely a primordial fear: the potential to lose one's identity and will, to become something other, someone else who then takes over your body.. to lose one's mind- might be no greater fear.

No wonder these army themes will come up again and again.  If looking for a 'scary army', it doesn't get any scarier than that. 

Here she is with a loyal subject, ready to shoot you. Or worse, wound you and give you a nice dose of new DNA. 

And here's how the Bathalian sizes up with the 'stealer hybrids.  

All for now, but more to come! 

Bringing an Ape to a Gun Fight : EotD Report for the Apes

Last Friday we had a short night of gaming, just one game for me, and since I'd be facing the Somber Society, which has had a lot of games and so has a high rating, I used the Apes, since they were the only one of my four factions that was close in rating.

We rolled a straight up fracas, though there would be statues to search for artifacts for the campaign as normal.

Greystoke's Apes, under the guidance of Alphie, the uplifted ape, has continued to expand it's number,
Now having 3 pack masters under his control, along with 4 apes (wolves) and 4 people: 2 humans and 2 chimps ('wolfskins' for the lycan faction).

A few of the characters have had a stat increase, but I've tried to keep quality expansion minimal to go for numbers. I figure since they often have to spend a couple turns running across open ground, I'd better have some extra bodies out there. Three of the four 'people': Woodhouse, Maggie & Bartholomew have bows, and Pim will have one for the next outing too.

By comparison, the dreary fellows of the Somber Society have put their advancing into stats, skills and expensive powerful weapons.

The only way into this section of the city was down a narrow alley, so the apes surged forward like a tide.

The Gloom Squad came on from the opposite corner, and as soon as I poked my head out, I was being shot at from long distance with hunting rifles with scopes (which reduce the range by 1)  making them very accurate, counting as medium range even from corner to corner.  ouch!

Woodhouse tried to give covering fire, but not to much effect, as the majority of the apes ran as fast as they could across the street toward the cover of a walled courtyard.  Maggie also opened fire and wounded the rival President!  Clearly a week of bed rest did her no harm!

But the Edgar Alan Poe Bookclub and Rifle Appreciation Society returned fire.  Percival Penguin's gun failed to fire, eliciting muffled guffaws from the others as they began a process which would bring down 4 of my party before I'd done much of anything to them.  Ouch indeed.

Woodhouse did find a cache of artifacts but as he called out his good fortune he took a bullet to the leg!
Pim ran to his aid, but brave Woodhouse urged him to take the valuable goods back to Greystoke Manor, and that he would follow in due course.

  One of the master Apes was wounded, but he continued on, making for the cover of the building's corner.
The rest of the apes made their way through the courtyard behind the safety of the walls before they'd spill out to rush the color-averse humans.   Then Bartholomew boldly moved out to get a nearly impossible shot on the President and hit her! She went down, but unfortunately not out, she dragged herself behind the cotton bale.

The dirge procession took this opportunity to move up closer.  

Alphie and his Apes run headlong into danger to join their fellows, an ape and master ape struggling in combat.  One of the humans fell, but it wasn't enough.

Just when things started to swing the way of the apes, the crack of a rifle wounding Bartholomew gave them all pause.  The apes looked to Alphie, to see what their Alpha would decide, as now half their number were out of action.  Alphie wanted to continue the fight, knew it would be easy to dispatch these humans before them, but this would only clear the path for the guns still baring down on them.  The safety of the apes came first, and with Pim already safely on his way with the artifacts, it was better they leave.  

With a call the apes leaped and bounded off, back to Greystoke Manor. 

A loss for the Apes, but a profitable one.  No serious damage to the party and the added benefit of finding a supply of artifacts, which contained an amulet for +1 strength, which they are sure to put to good use!

The terrain was especially rough for this fight, more so with rolling opposite corners for deployment type. 

There were two possible routes, both with a bit of cover, but likely 2-3 turns worth of crossing open ground.  

The other choice I had would have been to try to make it behind the building to my left and go through the covered path through the building (can see it in the picture above).  But this would have had more distance to cover in the beginning and give them a bottleneck to charge through. Splitting forces would likely have been a bigger problem.  Sometimes you just have to hope you get to your goal, which enough did that they were a serious threat still, but losing enough of the weaker members caused a break check, which I rolled a 3 and that was that. 

A good game!  It would have been fun to continue for another turn and bring those brass gauntlets down!

Maybe next time :)

In the meantime, the Apes are concerned with the posture of the Dour Dandies, so bring you this service announcement, followed by a movie you might like (starting about 27min in) with the Somber Society's favorite musical artists, The Edgar Allan Poe Marching Band, playing the introduction fanfare. 

Enjoy!