12/12/2009
Epic Blood Angels individually based.
Now my tiny Chaos Marines will have something to kill (pics are clickable)
12/04/2009
Epic Chaos Marines on individual bases
I've painted these Chaos Marines for skirmishes with the CR 3.0 rules. I made their bases with a magnetic sticker I took from the fridge.
Pictures are clickable.
Pictures are clickable.
Chaos Marines from the old sprues
Chaos Marines from the latest sprues, a little bit bigger than previous ones
Epic Beast Men
As you see, there is a great variety of poses for being only 6 mm.
Epic Beast Men
As you see, there is a great variety of poses for being only 6 mm.12/01/2009
BFG second round
After our introduction fought two weeks ago, we decided to play another game of BFG. This time we chose the scenario "Fleet Engagement" and played it at 2.000 points each, so I could add my Retribution class dreadnought and one more cruiser, a Dominator class, to the fleet I already used last time.
We started very close from each other and to put things worse, my opponent gained the initiative for the first turn and then moved all his Chaos fleet ahead, firing and launching everything he's got. I refused to Brace for Impact as I wanted to counter strike my opponent's attack. Thus, it started a fierce and very close range battle with many comes and goes for both fleets.
My very basic strategy was to move forward the Retribution to absorb most enemy fire and launch torpedoes at point blank, while I keep my three cruisers with Nova cannon safe and firing as much as possible. I also deployed two small carriers on each flank (a Dictator and a Mars) to stop as enemy bomber waves as possible.
The Nova cannons gave me a positive result overall as I got many "Hits" with the scatter dice, forcing my scared opponent to Brace for Impact more than once. Before the new rule, I rarely used Nova Cannon as I am terrible estimating distances.
All the Chaos fleet Locked On when it was in position and close enough to fire all its batteries and lances, so I had to put all my fleet on Brace for Impact to avoid being wiped out. Actually, my Dictator carrier failed that order and received five hits from one only salva of a passing Chaos cruiser.
Because of so many blast markers and the continuous Brace for Impact orders I had to do, I could only reload torpedoes once in the whole game, and so I had to rely on my batteries. Nonetheless, my Cobra squadron on the right flank made some palpable hits, and my four Sword class frigate squadron on the left flank managed to cap and completely destroy a Chaos cruiser.
Chaos cruisers proved to be devastating at point blank with their huge batteries, but the Empire did its part quite well and also had the luck of seeing how the Chaos heavy carrier exhausted its ordenance after the third wave.
In the end we quit the game with most of our ships crippled and we called it a draw with a slight advantage to the Chaos fleet.
Well, at least I did it bettter than in our first game, and I hope to win in our next encounter. I think I will mount and paint a heavy carrier I have somewhere, to give the Empire Ordenance superiority.
The battlefield after Chaos moved its first turn.
We started very close from each other and to put things worse, my opponent gained the initiative for the first turn and then moved all his Chaos fleet ahead, firing and launching everything he's got. I refused to Brace for Impact as I wanted to counter strike my opponent's attack. Thus, it started a fierce and very close range battle with many comes and goes for both fleets.My very basic strategy was to move forward the Retribution to absorb most enemy fire and launch torpedoes at point blank, while I keep my three cruisers with Nova cannon safe and firing as much as possible. I also deployed two small carriers on each flank (a Dictator and a Mars) to stop as enemy bomber waves as possible.
The Nova cannons gave me a positive result overall as I got many "Hits" with the scatter dice, forcing my scared opponent to Brace for Impact more than once. Before the new rule, I rarely used Nova Cannon as I am terrible estimating distances.
Second turn. Chaos in Lock on and Empire Bracing for Impact
All the Chaos fleet Locked On when it was in position and close enough to fire all its batteries and lances, so I had to put all my fleet on Brace for Impact to avoid being wiped out. Actually, my Dictator carrier failed that order and received five hits from one only salva of a passing Chaos cruiser.The Retribution surrounded by blast markers and many sharks Locking On
Because of so many blast markers and the continuous Brace for Impact orders I had to do, I could only reload torpedoes once in the whole game, and so I had to rely on my batteries. Nonetheless, my Cobra squadron on the right flank made some palpable hits, and my four Sword class frigate squadron on the left flank managed to cap and completely destroy a Chaos cruiser.Last turn. More than half of all the ships crippled
Chaos cruisers proved to be devastating at point blank with their huge batteries, but the Empire did its part quite well and also had the luck of seeing how the Chaos heavy carrier exhausted its ordenance after the third wave.In the end we quit the game with most of our ships crippled and we called it a draw with a slight advantage to the Chaos fleet.
Well, at least I did it bettter than in our first game, and I hope to win in our next encounter. I think I will mount and paint a heavy carrier I have somewhere, to give the Empire Ordenance superiority.
11/15/2009
BFG ten years later.
After the exciting in its initial release and a dozen or so games played, I put BFG aside in favour of other games and forgot it until now. Today, me and a buddy decided to dust off our fleets and try a game. We played the scenario "Escalating Engagement" in deep space and with fleets of 1.500 points each, divided into five battlegroups that would enter the board randomly.
All the pics are clickable.
My first group to enter was a squadron of three cobra destructors. My opponent got two cruisers, one of them a carrier, so I moved my escorts behind a group of asteroids and wait for heavier reinforcements.
At the next turn the Chaos fleet received a battlefleet carrier which launched two waves of four bomber squadrons each, towards my incoming reinforcements.
My next group resulted to be the admiral's flagship, a Mars class heavy cruiser armed with launch bays and a Nova cannon, plus one Dauntless light cruiser with prow lances and one Lunar cruiser. They managed to destroy all the incoming bombers and then headed for the Chaos Battleship before more enemy ships would come, but they only managed to make it two hits. The Battleship in return launched eight more bomber squadrons and fired its seven lances, almost crippling both the Mars and the Lunar cruisers. Ouch!
At the third turn I received a squadron of Sword class frigates which make numbers with the destructors; and the Chaos forces received first one more cruiser and then another one, both surrounding my main forces.
In the next turn I got a squadron of Firestorm frigates armed with prow lances. He was receiving more and more cruisers and me only escorts, making it almost impossible for me to try something against those big fishes.
At the next turn his ships Lock on and concentrated their fire power, converting the flagship and the Dauntless into blazing hulks, and the Lunar barely escaping, crippled with only three hits remaining, and being chased very closely by a wave of vengeful Chaos bombers. I had them all Bracing for impact but regretfully it wasn't enough.
Finally the rest of my cruisers, a Dictator, a Lunar with Nova cannon and a Dauntless with torpedoes, appeared. They headed towards the Chaos fleet, helped by all the escorts, in an intent to save the surviving Lunar cruiser from the first group, firing and launching all their torpedoes and ordenance. But it was too late to win the day as the Chaos forces were still intact and too strong, so we decided to quit the game and stop the humiliating defeat that the Emperor's forces were suffering.
I didn't have luck with the deployment and reinforcements I received during all the game and besides, the scenario favoured a more manouvreable and fast fleet like the Chaos one, so I wasn't surprised by the outcome of the battle.
Next time we'll play a plain battle fleet and hopefully the Empire will do it better. Anyway, we had a great time putting all these ships into play once again after so much time, and we will shortly repeat for sure. BFG is a good game and with a lot of flavour.
All the pics are clickable.
My first group to enter was a squadron of three cobra destructors. My opponent got two cruisers, one of them a carrier, so I moved my escorts behind a group of asteroids and wait for heavier reinforcements.At the next turn the Chaos fleet received a battlefleet carrier which launched two waves of four bomber squadrons each, towards my incoming reinforcements.
My next group resulted to be the admiral's flagship, a Mars class heavy cruiser armed with launch bays and a Nova cannon, plus one Dauntless light cruiser with prow lances and one Lunar cruiser. They managed to destroy all the incoming bombers and then headed for the Chaos Battleship before more enemy ships would come, but they only managed to make it two hits. The Battleship in return launched eight more bomber squadrons and fired its seven lances, almost crippling both the Mars and the Lunar cruisers. Ouch!
At the third turn I received a squadron of Sword class frigates which make numbers with the destructors; and the Chaos forces received first one more cruiser and then another one, both surrounding my main forces.
In the next turn I got a squadron of Firestorm frigates armed with prow lances. He was receiving more and more cruisers and me only escorts, making it almost impossible for me to try something against those big fishes.
At the next turn his ships Lock on and concentrated their fire power, converting the flagship and the Dauntless into blazing hulks, and the Lunar barely escaping, crippled with only three hits remaining, and being chased very closely by a wave of vengeful Chaos bombers. I had them all Bracing for impact but regretfully it wasn't enough.
Finally the rest of my cruisers, a Dictator, a Lunar with Nova cannon and a Dauntless with torpedoes, appeared. They headed towards the Chaos fleet, helped by all the escorts, in an intent to save the surviving Lunar cruiser from the first group, firing and launching all their torpedoes and ordenance. But it was too late to win the day as the Chaos forces were still intact and too strong, so we decided to quit the game and stop the humiliating defeat that the Emperor's forces were suffering.I didn't have luck with the deployment and reinforcements I received during all the game and besides, the scenario favoured a more manouvreable and fast fleet like the Chaos one, so I wasn't surprised by the outcome of the battle.
Next time we'll play a plain battle fleet and hopefully the Empire will do it better. Anyway, we had a great time putting all these ships into play once again after so much time, and we will shortly repeat for sure. BFG is a good game and with a lot of flavour.
10/22/2009
Slaughterhouse. Einar's Saga Chapter three.
I rolled for encounter and got Raid as attacker. I also rolled for place of the encounter and terrain, but didn't rolled to see who or what I was going to meet, as I wanted to use my recently painted Beast men and Minotaurs from Eureka.
As I was the raider and my opponent were Beast men, I decided that Einar's party had bumped with a party of Beast men raiding a village, and that they were going to attack them to save the villagers from the Beast men.
I reworked the stats for Minotaurs and Beast men as I have a different vision from them than that from the rules. As I envision them, a Minotaur should be Rep 5, AC 4, Mov 6, Hardiness 3, Terror, Frenzy and Beast, with a Combat Value of 8. Also, I decided to quit the Terror ability from the Beast men as they could be as scary as an Orc, and Orcs are not Terrific in WHAA lists.
The game starts with Einar and his men entering the board on the road from West at 12" from the defenders, and already active.
All the pics are clickable.
Coming from the distant village they can hear horrifying screams of pain and terror mixed with some kind of enraged bellowings that give them creeps. They dash towards the village to find out what's going on and when they reach the bridge they spot a strange horned creature, half man half beast and with a purplish tentacle instead of arm. Both Hrafnkel and Snorri aim at the creature and kill it on the spot.
The Beast men do not react and Einar and his mates keep running and cross the bridge. When they pass the house, they see a pen where the Beast men are holding all the surviving villagers for their bloody feast. A near Beast man spots them and charges Einar who parries it. Hrafnkel and Snorri shoot at the Beast man behind the fence but fail.
Beast men still inactive when Fafnir charges the Beast man locked in melee with his friend Einar. Together they push back the beast and then Einar cuts it in halve with a mighty stroke (he passed 4d6 more than his opponent). Suddenly, another beast man comes out from the house next to them, and all halt staring at each other in surprise.
Hrafnkel and Snorri take better positions and finally their arrows hit home and another Beast man is down; whereas Einar and Fafnir charge the surprised Beast man that came out from the house, and after some fencing, Einar finally slays the furry beast.
The archers hunt down the remaining Beast man and then Einar and Fafnir advance into the Village. Suddenly, a monstrous Minotaur slams the door of the house where he was hiding, and charges Hrafnkel and Snorri, who manage to fire at him, reducing his Hardiness to two, but unable to stop him.
The monster reaches them and pushes Hrafnkel whereas Snorri miraculously holds him.
The Minotaur then revolves, instantly killing Snorri, and splashing Snorri's blood, brains and bones unto Hrafnkel, who mad with fear routs from the battlefield.
The Minotaur, choked on blood lust, turns back and charges Einar who falls stunned. Then Fafnir charges the Minotaur and so giving his friend time to recover, but he's pushed back by the infuriated monster.
Einar is again struck down and only his great resilience saves him (his Hardiness turned an OOF into nothing). Fafnir charges again and this time he buries his axe deep between the Minotaur's horns, and the beast falls finally beaten. The village is safe and Einar too, and once again by a hair's breath!
After gaining some breath and releasing the peasants, they search for Hrafnkel but didn't find him. He have gone forever.
The Major of the village in gratitude gave Einar a beautifully crafted long bow that it is said to be magic. Regretfully, Hrafnkel won't be able to admire and put to good use such splendid weapon.
Hrafnkel rolled double six in the recovery chart and so he never returned. Then I rolled in the Looty & Booty chart as I was the raider and had won the encounter, but I took what I found (a potentially magic bow) as a present from the peasants instead of loot.
Also, Fafnir raised his Hardiness to four, and Einar his Social Standing to seven.
After helping with the dead, Einar and Fafnir buried their friend Snorri and erected a stone in his honour with the words: "Here lies Snorri, he was a fine lad".
After that, they resume their march towards South to take a ship to Treyine, thinking of the many friends they have left behind.
As I was the raider and my opponent were Beast men, I decided that Einar's party had bumped with a party of Beast men raiding a village, and that they were going to attack them to save the villagers from the Beast men.
I reworked the stats for Minotaurs and Beast men as I have a different vision from them than that from the rules. As I envision them, a Minotaur should be Rep 5, AC 4, Mov 6, Hardiness 3, Terror, Frenzy and Beast, with a Combat Value of 8. Also, I decided to quit the Terror ability from the Beast men as they could be as scary as an Orc, and Orcs are not Terrific in WHAA lists.
The game starts with Einar and his men entering the board on the road from West at 12" from the defenders, and already active.
All the pics are clickable.
Coming from the distant village they can hear horrifying screams of pain and terror mixed with some kind of enraged bellowings that give them creeps. They dash towards the village to find out what's going on and when they reach the bridge they spot a strange horned creature, half man half beast and with a purplish tentacle instead of arm. Both Hrafnkel and Snorri aim at the creature and kill it on the spot.
The Beast men do not react and Einar and his mates keep running and cross the bridge. When they pass the house, they see a pen where the Beast men are holding all the surviving villagers for their bloody feast. A near Beast man spots them and charges Einar who parries it. Hrafnkel and Snorri shoot at the Beast man behind the fence but fail.
Beast men still inactive when Fafnir charges the Beast man locked in melee with his friend Einar. Together they push back the beast and then Einar cuts it in halve with a mighty stroke (he passed 4d6 more than his opponent). Suddenly, another beast man comes out from the house next to them, and all halt staring at each other in surprise.
Hrafnkel and Snorri take better positions and finally their arrows hit home and another Beast man is down; whereas Einar and Fafnir charge the surprised Beast man that came out from the house, and after some fencing, Einar finally slays the furry beast.The archers hunt down the remaining Beast man and then Einar and Fafnir advance into the Village. Suddenly, a monstrous Minotaur slams the door of the house where he was hiding, and charges Hrafnkel and Snorri, who manage to fire at him, reducing his Hardiness to two, but unable to stop him.
The monster reaches them and pushes Hrafnkel whereas Snorri miraculously holds him.The Minotaur then revolves, instantly killing Snorri, and splashing Snorri's blood, brains and bones unto Hrafnkel, who mad with fear routs from the battlefield.
The Minotaur, choked on blood lust, turns back and charges Einar who falls stunned. Then Fafnir charges the Minotaur and so giving his friend time to recover, but he's pushed back by the infuriated monster.
Einar is again struck down and only his great resilience saves him (his Hardiness turned an OOF into nothing). Fafnir charges again and this time he buries his axe deep between the Minotaur's horns, and the beast falls finally beaten. The village is safe and Einar too, and once again by a hair's breath!
After gaining some breath and releasing the peasants, they search for Hrafnkel but didn't find him. He have gone forever.The Major of the village in gratitude gave Einar a beautifully crafted long bow that it is said to be magic. Regretfully, Hrafnkel won't be able to admire and put to good use such splendid weapon.
Hrafnkel rolled double six in the recovery chart and so he never returned. Then I rolled in the Looty & Booty chart as I was the raider and had won the encounter, but I took what I found (a potentially magic bow) as a present from the peasants instead of loot.
Also, Fafnir raised his Hardiness to four, and Einar his Social Standing to seven.
After helping with the dead, Einar and Fafnir buried their friend Snorri and erected a stone in his honour with the words: "Here lies Snorri, he was a fine lad".
After that, they resume their march towards South to take a ship to Treyine, thinking of the many friends they have left behind.
10/16/2009
Eureka 10 mm. Beastmen and MInotaurs
These miniatures are beautiful and full of character but I am afraid the pictures came out a little bit blurred. Do not forget to click on the pictures for a larger view.
I swapped the spear of the Minotaur with the big shield for a mace from a Warmaster Ogre, as I didn't like much to see a Minotaur with a spear.
These figures soon will see some action in my campaign of WHAA, the Sage of Einar.
Below you can see Eureka's Minotaur and Beastlord next to GW's Warmaster and Copplestone's human figures. As you can see, the Beastman is slightly taller than humans, and the Minotaur is massive.
I swapped the spear of the Minotaur with the big shield for a mace from a Warmaster Ogre, as I didn't like much to see a Minotaur with a spear.
These figures soon will see some action in my campaign of WHAA, the Sage of Einar.
Below you can see Eureka's Minotaur and Beastlord next to GW's Warmaster and Copplestone's human figures. As you can see, the Beastman is slightly taller than humans, and the Minotaur is massive.
10/06/2009
Mantic Elves free sprue arrived
It finally arrived and I am not disappointed at all. The sculpture is superb and without flash and has a very original style. I must say Mantic Games has had a great initiative by sending these examples for free around the world. Now that I have seen them in the flesh I'm convinced and will order some in no time.
Here you can see some pictures (click on them for a larger version) of the two elves I received, comparing them to other scales.
Here you can see some pictures (click on them for a larger version) of the two elves I received, comparing them to other scales.
Mantic Elves from the free sprue
Mantic Elf with 1/72 Zvezda Greek and with 25 mm. LOTR Elf
10/01/2009
The path of the wolf. Einar's saga chapter two.
It is April 896 when Einar's party crosses Altengard border and enters a frontier town. There they have a meeting with the local authorities who demand an explanation of their situation. As there is no conflict I assume they are granted some kind of pass to travel through Altengard unmolested.
Einar rolled 4d6 for his Rep plus 1d6 for Hrafnkel being a skald; and the local authorities rolled 5d6 for their leader Rep, a knight, plus 1d6 for being Einar's party foreigners. They both rolled the same number of successes and therefore there was no conflict and they could keep travelling.
May 896. At the next month they reach the inside country of Altengard and visit a town where there is again an encounter with the local authorities asking them their reasons to be there. This time, although they have a salvo conduct (+1d6 in the talk the talk chart), the NPC scores one more success than them but grant them pass for a price or if they lend them a man to help to give some military instruction to some peasants. Einar gives them Thord on the condition to meet him next month at the capital.
I decided not to roll for Rep, Hardiness and Social Standing advancements as they didn't have any fight. Nonetheless, as Einar seemed to do it quite well when talking repeatedly to the authorities I thought about a new skill: diplomacy, which it would give +1d6 in the talk the talk chart. Einar rolled twice for the two past talk the talk encounters but as he didn't score any six he didn't get that new skill.
June 896. Summer starts with our heroes finally entering in Altengard, the capital of the empire. There they are quickly confronted with a hostile group with unknown intentions. As they weren't the local authorities, Einar's pass wasn't very useful. Nonetheless, in the talk the talk Einar manages to swept off their feet. The hostile group resulted to be one of the most powerful groups from the city underworld; and they promise to help Einar every time he finds himself in trouble.
July 896. Einar party waits for Thord. In the meantime Hrafnkel takes the opportunity to make two more potions of strengh four.
August 896, somewhere in the country of Altengard. The party is heading south with the intention to take a ship to cross the Sea of Strife to Treyine. On the way they see a small and peaceful village called Bogenhoff or something like that; so peaceful that awakes Einar's Viking instincts, and decides to raid and plunder it.
The villagers are alert enough, possibly due to the small garrison stationed there, and will roll for initiative normally.
For fifth time I rolled for a possible encounter. The ER inside the country is 2 and I score 1 & 2, encounter! Then I roll 3 which means they are locals. The terrain is Woody and the encounter is a raid in a village as attacker, as I rolled an 8 in the Adventurers encounter table. Checking How Many Enemies I got the same CV than my party, and I generate one knight Rep 5 who becomes Big Bad with Hardiness 3, 2 skirmishers, 2 arquebusiers and 5 infantry for a total CV of 11 in the Altengard army list. After deploying all the terrain and rolling to see which enemies were inside the houses and which outside, I choose to deploy my forces at the bottom of the board, inside the woods.
Before the battle just reminding you that I'm playing in a 60x60 cm. board with 10mm miniatures and that I halve all distances in the game. And don't forget to click on the pics for a bigger view.
Defenders activate first but do not do anything as they cannot see a thing. Actually they do not anything at all until Einar's party finishes to cross the forest. Once they reach the border of the forest they spotted a mounted knight. Snorry and Hrafnkel release both arrows but miss as they were running.
The knight randomly charges at Thord, who somehow manages to resist the charge.
The knight in melee rolls 5d6 for his Rep plus 1d6 for bigger base, plus 1d6 for pole arm in first contact (lance) and plus 1d6 for being protected vs. weapon, 8d6 in total! Thus here I decided to apply some house rules to balance such a powerful and cheap unit: Charging cavalry against enemy in difficult terrain such as wood, behave as infantry in the Charge Table. Also, infantry defending in difficult terrain from cavalry charge, has a +1d6 in melee.
Now Hrafnkel fires at the enemy infantry standing next to the temple and misses, making the enemy to advance towards him. Then Snorri fires at him and finally kills him (OD).
Einar and Fafnir charges the knight who is engaged in melee with Thord. Einars charges but Fafnir halts and the knight parry all Einar's strikes.
Now the knight attacks again Thord and finishes him (OOF).
In the next turn Einar's party doesn't activate and the knight, seeing the enemy holed up in cover (they didn't dare to go out in the open), fatally decides to dismount.
Hrafnkel fires with his long bow at the knight at point blank, piercing his plate armour and stunning him to the ground. Einar quickly takes advantage of the situation and caps the knight before he has time to rise from the ground.
The knight resulted OOF from Hrafnkel shot, but rolled 3 dice for his Hardiness (I'm using Hardiness like Star Power) and scored 1, 4 & 6, losing one Hardiness or Star Power point but softening down the wound from OOF to Stun as there are no Knocked down in WHAA. After that, Einar charged the knight who fought with just 1d6 and couldn't survive the melee.
After killing the knight and the infantry soldier and seeing no one else in the surroundings, Einar and Fafnir advances towards the temple with the intention to explore it. Snorri and Hrafnkel take positions behind them with their bows ready.
Einar and Fafnir enter into the temple and find an arquebusier. They charge him but he fires at Einar who miraculously reaches him unscathed, and slaughters him with a mighty strike of his sword (OD).
In the test of wills Einar charged the arquebusier who could fire first but missed the shot.
The two skirmishers deployed at the far top right of the village, spotted Einar and Fafnir entering into the temple and run towards them. After that, Snorri and Hrafnkel take position and fire at each of them and killing them on the spot (both OOF).
The skirmishers were caught in the open and with armour AC2, the poor bastards didn't stand any chance to survive.
Following the same strategy, Einar and Fafnir enter into the next building while Snorri and Hrafnkel flank them with their bows ready. In the next building Einar and Fafnir found two infantry and one arquebusier. Both sides stare at each other.
The defenders size the initiative and the arquebusier fires at Fafnir and misses, while one infantry stands, the other charges Einar who holds him.
Now it is Einar's turn who kill the infantry man (OOF) while Fafnir struggles with the arquebusier. Then Snorri and Hrafnkel come in help, finishing the arquebusier and the other infantry man.
The last two defenders are found together in the next house and quickly dispatched. Let pillage commence!
They star searching in the temple and then in the rest of the houses but don't find anything. Villagers must have hidden all precious items and regretfully there is nobody left to interrogate about them.
They haven't found anything of value but at least they are alive and kicking and have improved their skills and endurance after so many months of travelling and fighting.
I scored a 4 in the Loot & Boot Table. Then I rolled for Rep, Hardiness and Social Standing advancements for Einar, Fafnir and Hrafnkel. Einar is now Rep 5 Hardiness 3 and Social Standing 6. Fafnir is also Rep 5 and Hardiness 3.
After that I rolled for the recovery of Thord who was OOF by the knight at the beginning of the encounter and scored 5 & 6 which resulted OD. Then I decided to try it with a potion given by the healer, but the healer scored a 5 and the Thord scored 5 & 5, so the potion didn't work and so they let Thord go to Valhalla. The company had lost one member and now its CV is 13.
Finally I rolled to see if there were a pursuit after the raid but I scored a six so there weren't.
This is it for now. Here we leave our heroes travelling south to take a ship to Treyine and then head East towards the lands of the Dwarfs. I hope you have enjoyed this new chapter from the Einar's saga.
Einar rolled 4d6 for his Rep plus 1d6 for Hrafnkel being a skald; and the local authorities rolled 5d6 for their leader Rep, a knight, plus 1d6 for being Einar's party foreigners. They both rolled the same number of successes and therefore there was no conflict and they could keep travelling.
May 896. At the next month they reach the inside country of Altengard and visit a town where there is again an encounter with the local authorities asking them their reasons to be there. This time, although they have a salvo conduct (+1d6 in the talk the talk chart), the NPC scores one more success than them but grant them pass for a price or if they lend them a man to help to give some military instruction to some peasants. Einar gives them Thord on the condition to meet him next month at the capital.
I decided not to roll for Rep, Hardiness and Social Standing advancements as they didn't have any fight. Nonetheless, as Einar seemed to do it quite well when talking repeatedly to the authorities I thought about a new skill: diplomacy, which it would give +1d6 in the talk the talk chart. Einar rolled twice for the two past talk the talk encounters but as he didn't score any six he didn't get that new skill.
June 896. Summer starts with our heroes finally entering in Altengard, the capital of the empire. There they are quickly confronted with a hostile group with unknown intentions. As they weren't the local authorities, Einar's pass wasn't very useful. Nonetheless, in the talk the talk Einar manages to swept off their feet. The hostile group resulted to be one of the most powerful groups from the city underworld; and they promise to help Einar every time he finds himself in trouble.
July 896. Einar party waits for Thord. In the meantime Hrafnkel takes the opportunity to make two more potions of strengh four.
August 896, somewhere in the country of Altengard. The party is heading south with the intention to take a ship to cross the Sea of Strife to Treyine. On the way they see a small and peaceful village called Bogenhoff or something like that; so peaceful that awakes Einar's Viking instincts, and decides to raid and plunder it.
The villagers are alert enough, possibly due to the small garrison stationed there, and will roll for initiative normally.
For fifth time I rolled for a possible encounter. The ER inside the country is 2 and I score 1 & 2, encounter! Then I roll 3 which means they are locals. The terrain is Woody and the encounter is a raid in a village as attacker, as I rolled an 8 in the Adventurers encounter table. Checking How Many Enemies I got the same CV than my party, and I generate one knight Rep 5 who becomes Big Bad with Hardiness 3, 2 skirmishers, 2 arquebusiers and 5 infantry for a total CV of 11 in the Altengard army list. After deploying all the terrain and rolling to see which enemies were inside the houses and which outside, I choose to deploy my forces at the bottom of the board, inside the woods.
Before the battle just reminding you that I'm playing in a 60x60 cm. board with 10mm miniatures and that I halve all distances in the game. And don't forget to click on the pics for a bigger view.
Deployment
Defenders activate first but do not do anything as they cannot see a thing. Actually they do not anything at all until Einar's party finishes to cross the forest. Once they reach the border of the forest they spotted a mounted knight. Snorry and Hrafnkel release both arrows but miss as they were running.
The knight randomly charges at Thord, who somehow manages to resist the charge.
The knight in melee rolls 5d6 for his Rep plus 1d6 for bigger base, plus 1d6 for pole arm in first contact (lance) and plus 1d6 for being protected vs. weapon, 8d6 in total! Thus here I decided to apply some house rules to balance such a powerful and cheap unit: Charging cavalry against enemy in difficult terrain such as wood, behave as infantry in the Charge Table. Also, infantry defending in difficult terrain from cavalry charge, has a +1d6 in melee.
The knight charges against the wood
Now Hrafnkel fires at the enemy infantry standing next to the temple and misses, making the enemy to advance towards him. Then Snorri fires at him and finally kills him (OD).
Einar and Fafnir charges the knight who is engaged in melee with Thord. Einars charges but Fafnir halts and the knight parry all Einar's strikes.
Now the knight attacks again Thord and finishes him (OOF).
In the next turn Einar's party doesn't activate and the knight, seeing the enemy holed up in cover (they didn't dare to go out in the open), fatally decides to dismount.
Hrafnkel fires with his long bow at the knight at point blank, piercing his plate armour and stunning him to the ground. Einar quickly takes advantage of the situation and caps the knight before he has time to rise from the ground.
The knight resulted OOF from Hrafnkel shot, but rolled 3 dice for his Hardiness (I'm using Hardiness like Star Power) and scored 1, 4 & 6, losing one Hardiness or Star Power point but softening down the wound from OOF to Stun as there are no Knocked down in WHAA. After that, Einar charged the knight who fought with just 1d6 and couldn't survive the melee.
After killing the knight and the infantry soldier and seeing no one else in the surroundings, Einar and Fafnir advances towards the temple with the intention to explore it. Snorri and Hrafnkel take positions behind them with their bows ready.
Rushing to the temple
Einar and Fafnir enter into the temple and find an arquebusier. They charge him but he fires at Einar who miraculously reaches him unscathed, and slaughters him with a mighty strike of his sword (OD).
"Who is it!?"
In the test of wills Einar charged the arquebusier who could fire first but missed the shot.
The two skirmishers deployed at the far top right of the village, spotted Einar and Fafnir entering into the temple and run towards them. After that, Snorri and Hrafnkel take position and fire at each of them and killing them on the spot (both OOF).
The skirmishers were caught in the open and with armour AC2, the poor bastards didn't stand any chance to survive.
Following the same strategy, Einar and Fafnir enter into the next building while Snorri and Hrafnkel flank them with their bows ready. In the next building Einar and Fafnir found two infantry and one arquebusier. Both sides stare at each other.
The defenders size the initiative and the arquebusier fires at Fafnir and misses, while one infantry stands, the other charges Einar who holds him.
Now it is Einar's turn who kill the infantry man (OOF) while Fafnir struggles with the arquebusier. Then Snorri and Hrafnkel come in help, finishing the arquebusier and the other infantry man.
The last two defenders are found together in the next house and quickly dispatched. Let pillage commence!
They star searching in the temple and then in the rest of the houses but don't find anything. Villagers must have hidden all precious items and regretfully there is nobody left to interrogate about them.
They haven't found anything of value but at least they are alive and kicking and have improved their skills and endurance after so many months of travelling and fighting.
I scored a 4 in the Loot & Boot Table. Then I rolled for Rep, Hardiness and Social Standing advancements for Einar, Fafnir and Hrafnkel. Einar is now Rep 5 Hardiness 3 and Social Standing 6. Fafnir is also Rep 5 and Hardiness 3.
After that I rolled for the recovery of Thord who was OOF by the knight at the beginning of the encounter and scored 5 & 6 which resulted OD. Then I decided to try it with a potion given by the healer, but the healer scored a 5 and the Thord scored 5 & 5, so the potion didn't work and so they let Thord go to Valhalla. The company had lost one member and now its CV is 13.
Finally I rolled to see if there were a pursuit after the raid but I scored a six so there weren't.
This is it for now. Here we leave our heroes travelling south to take a ship to Treyine and then head East towards the lands of the Dwarfs. I hope you have enjoyed this new chapter from the Einar's saga.
9/18/2009
More Warmaster figures on individual bases
I bought this blister on ebay for 0.99 GBP and it comes with 24 individual 10 mm. figures and 12 different poses! This skirmish blister is great to get figures for your skirmish games in 10mm. Warmaster range has another one with dwarves; a pity GW didn't make skirmishers for the rest of the races.
In these two pictures you can see the twelve different poses. As you can see, very dynamic to be 10 mm. and with an unbeatable quality in sculpting and casting.
Click on the pictures for a larger version.
In these two pictures you can see the twelve different poses. As you can see, very dynamic to be 10 mm. and with an unbeatable quality in sculpting and casting.
Click on the pictures for a larger version.
9/16/2009
Expanding WHAA
I'm uploading my house rules to be used in any WHAA campaign. These rules are still untested, so if you fancy try them I'd appreciate your feedback.
Economy
In Warrior Heroes it is assumed that all of the basic needs of the character and his followers are taken care by their job and what they can loot and scavenge from defeated enemies. But money is still needed for some special things and moments during the game:
You will need money to bribe, pay ramsons and buy special items like armours or magic items.
As said, money is for special things and thus that money is special as well, and apart from the one commonly used for everyday life. You can spend “special money” in the same way you can earn it.
In every capital of every kingdom you will find a Tavern, a Shop, an Arena and a Castle of the lord.
Tavern
In the Tavern you can sell prisioners, pay ramsons, hire mercenaries and play some special encounters.
Selling and buying
You can earn some money by selling captured enemies (you can never have more prisioners than followers) in the slave market or by ramsoning important personalities like nobles or kings.
Likewise, if you or some of your followers is captured by the enemy, you can pay their ramson instead of playing the Escape encounter.
| Class | Price |
| Grunts | CV x 10 Gold Crowns |
| Nobles, Chieftains, Heroes | CV x 100 Gold Crowns |
| Kings, Emperors* | CV x 1.000 Gold Crowns |
* Kings are found commanding groups of CV 100 or higher.
Hiring
You can also spend some more money hiring special characters for your company. Roll 1d6 to see if you find somebody to hire; with 1-4 there is nobody at the moment, with a 5 there is one special character for hire, and with 6 there are two available. These characters cost their CV x 100 GC each. They are generated from the local army list and then upgraded to big bad; they can start with a Rep higher than yours. Their alignment cannot be opposite to yours.
Special encounters
Sometimes you can find someone who may need of your services. Roll 1d6 and if a 6 is scored there is someone with a mission for you. Roll again 1d6:
1-2 Escort goods to a near village (short caravan without any guards but your men). Roll for two possible encounters.
3-4 Kill the bandits that has taken a near village (raid attackers scenario). 2d6 Rep 3 inhabitants with improvised weapons will help you. Use looting table to represent peasants generosity for being rescued.
5 Dangerous bandits pestering the area, find their base and destroy them all. Use patrol scenario; passing 2d6 in the scout table will mean you have found the entrance to the bandits lair. The bandit base is a dungeon. The bandit forces will be normal bandits generated from the caravan guard list (1-4) or deserters generated from the local army list (5-6).
6 Tower of the Elephant. You must enter into a wizard tower by night to recover an important artifact. Start by the roof and go down three levels to find it. Each level has 1d6 rooms. Generate guards (use caravan guard list), wizard and looting with the WHAA dungeon rules. Wizard will have 2d6 Rep.
You will receive an extra Social Advancement upon successful completion of each mission.
Shop
Another place to earn or spend some money by selling or buying special items. Roll in the magic potion, magic weapons and magic items tables to find out which items are on sale:
| Class | Price |
| Armour* | AC x 100 Gold Crowns |
| Magic Armour | (AC + ability**) x 1.000 Gold Crowns |
| Magic Weapon | (Impact + ability**) x 1.000 Gold Crowns |
| Special Items | Ability x 100 Gold Crowns |
| Magic Items | Ability x 1.000 Gold Crowns |
| Potions | 100 Gold Crowns |
| Scrolls | 100 Gold Crowns |
*Armours refer to those looted in a raid or bought in a shop, but not those scavenged from the battlefield.
**Each ability is 5 points worth, so an item with one ability would cost 5 x 100 Gold Crowns.
Arena
Tournament
A good way of earning some money is participating in a tournament. Weapons used in tournaments are blunt and nobody can be killed in them, but this not means a character may not result seriously injured. Treat all OD as OOF and all OOF as KO.
All tournaments have five rounds of general melee, formed by a random number of teams. Your goal is being the last standing man in the last round; if you result OOF in any round before the end then the tournament is over for you. On the other hand, if you win the tournament you will earn 3.000 GC and 1 extra Social Advancement.
Participants in the tournament will be picked from the local army list. For the three first rounds you have to roll 1d6 to set the number of teams participating in the melee, and 2d6 to set the CV for them. For the last two rounds you have to roll 1d3 for the number of teams and 1d6 for the CV of them. Put your character in one of the teams at random, and pick dice of different colours for the activation of each team.
The tournament will be held in a circular or oval clear suface with all the teams deployed equidistant and facing each other.
Circus
This is another way of earning money, similar to tournaments but more risky. Here participants will be equipped with their own weapons in a general melee of all against all. The winner will be the last characer alive and will earn 5.000 GC. Roll 2d6 for the number of participants and generate them with local and surrounding army lists.
Tournaments and Circus can only be fighted once a year in the same capital city, but if you like that sport you can travel all the capital cities of Talomir!
Castle of the lord
Here you can offer your services as a mercenary or sign it for his army. Also, you can ask him if he has some mission for you. Roll 1d6 and with 5-6 he will offer a mission. Roll 1d6 again to find out which:
1 Escort him to a neighbour capital city at random.
2 Deliver a letter to the lord of a neighbour capital city at random.
3 Assasinate a merchant who is offending the lord demanding his many debts. You alone against the merchant Rep 3 improvised weapons and his body guard in a dark alley (generate him by rolling once on the local army list).
4 Bring him alive a enemy noble for a ransom or for interrogation.
5 Raise 1d6 Rep 4 soldiers for his army. You have to recruit them in the normal way and then give them to him.
6 Collect taxes from a reluctant city. Go to talk the talk with their hostile inhabitants.
9/02/2009
Painted Warmaster Empire soldiers on single bases
They come from the Warmaster Empire range, command and arquebusiers blisters, and I painted them for my skirmishes with WHAA. They'll fight as Altengardians. As usual you can click on them for a larger version.
8/22/2009
Dipping Chaos Warhounds
After dipping the Marauder horsemen I went for the Warhounds, and you can see the results below. I'm afraid they didn't come out as well as the Marauders although I used the same mixture but they are still acceptable IMO.
After the dipping
A closer view
Before the dipping
After the dipping
A closer view
8/21/2009
Pendraken vikings.
A picture of some of the vikings I painted to use them as Mirholmen for my WHAA campaign, Einar's Saga. The miniature in the very center is from Copplestone's. These Pendraken figures are not the best from them, but once painted they're OK. You may see it bigger by clicking upon it.
8/16/2009
The Peaceful battle. Our third FWC game.
Why peaceful? Because there weren't shoots or casualties and because nobody won or lost. How was it possible you may wonder? Let's blame the Orks.
This time we chose to play the second scenario, Colonization, assault phase. Me being the attacker with 4.000 points of Marines and my opponent with 2.000 points of defending Orks. The Marines enter the board with orbital deployment whereas Orks with mobile deployment, being the Marines the first to move.
You can click on the pictures to see them bigger.
This time we chose to play the second scenario, Colonization, assault phase. Me being the attacker with 4.000 points of Marines and my opponent with 2.000 points of defending Orks. The Marines enter the board with orbital deployment whereas Orks with mobile deployment, being the Marines the first to move.
You can click on the pictures to see them bigger.
Marine Orbital deployment
After deploying, the Marine infantry and most of the troops rushed towards the city at the west. The Orks deployed their commanders (easily distinguishable as they are mounted on round bases) on the west and north sides of the battlefield but failed all their rolls to deploy the troops. They failed again on the second turn.
In the meantime, the Marines took advantageous positions to wait for the enemy which meant that the Orks wouldn't risk to deploy before suppressing first some Marine units with their artillery batteries ( they had 27 dice to hit!).
The Ork batteries failed their command rolls for several turns and in one occasion they hit both Marine Coyote Titans and left them without shields but unsuppressed, they didn't dare to try deployment in the end and so game turns were slowly passing.
In the meantime, the Marines took advantageous positions to wait for the enemy which meant that the Orks wouldn't risk to deploy before suppressing first some Marine units with their artillery batteries ( they had 27 dice to hit!).
Marine forces in position and covering the Orks's deployment areas
The Ork batteries failed their command rolls for several turns and in one occasion they hit both Marine Coyote Titans and left them without shields but unsuppressed, they didn't dare to try deployment in the end and so game turns were slowly passing.
Marines waiting and waiting for the Orks
Finally, on turn 9 (the game lasted 10 turns), one Ork battle group entered on the bottom right of the board where there were only a few Marines squads defending the city. On the last turn the Marine CO was suppressed and the closest HQ failed his activation; the rest of the troops were too far to do anything. Thus, the Orks on the last activation of the game assaulted the city without opposition as well as without any effect on the game.
In the end, Marines had a bike recce and a tactical squad casualties, and the Orks exactly the same. One more casualty was me who died from boredom. Next time Marines will be defenders and Orks if possible won't use mobile deployment.
A futile charge as a goodbye
In the end, Marines had a bike recce and a tactical squad casualties, and the Orks exactly the same. One more casualty was me who died from boredom. Next time Marines will be defenders and Orks if possible won't use mobile deployment.
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