Edge of the Storm part 4: Into the Jungle

It has been a while. This must be the longest running campaign I have managed...even though it is only four sessions. 

Corde and Lief are trying to unravel the mystery of why these people are here and who they are. 

The shotgun-armed lady is Tonita Wildner - de facto leader of this small community of escapees. 

"Escapees of what though" Lief attempts to gather further information.

"Slavery. Dancers, house maids, other more nefarious things. You name it, we have escaped from it. Some of us have been on the run for years, decades even" explains Tonita.  "Every now and then attempts are made to find us, but we have managed to settle here on Deon B for a while now. We were hoping this might be a long term situation.Your presence and loud entrance probably mean we need to get packed up and move on. There are more of us in the jungle. We are just the farm community, growing these nutri-pods in order to feed the rest of the community.

They had planned for this. Everything important was packed up within the hour and the route was planned through the jungle to the central hub where the rest of the escapees were ready to ship out and search for a new home. 

 Ready to enter the jungle, it would be a three hour trek to the central community hub.

 Lief and Corde take fire from nowhere! Corde is forced into cover, pinned. Where is this coming from? Unbeknownst to our heroes, atop a rocky outcrop a mysterious figure fires down. 

 Luckily Tonita spots the muzzle flash and opens fire at the shadow, forcing it down.

 The grunts and other community members advance into the jungle.

 The shadow is gone, but fire comes from somewhere! Luckily it has little effect and Tonita and Lief continue to cautiously advance into the jungle.

 Spotted, the shadow appears again and Corde advances, firing but it all goes wide, killing some unfortunate leaves.

 Grunts advance to help deal with the shadow but fall to precision shots. This shadow knows what it is doing.

 Further advance into the jungle. The tension rises as it dawns on the team that they are being hunted.

 More shots from an unknown source. How is this sniper/shadow in so many places at once? Surely there isn't a team hidden in the jungle? I mean the plants can't be shooting at them can they?

 Grunts catch sight of the shadow again and open fire but again the shots go far and wide!

 The escapees try and avoid the fire by taking cover behind a bank of foliage.

 Unfortunately the shadow reappears, killing one of the women as she attempts to flee.

 Then killing another grunt with more precision fire.

 And the other grunts. Things are looking bleak for this journey through the jungle. Something needs to happen and it needs to happen fast or they are going to just keep getting picked off.

 "We stop here" announces Corde.
"Here we stand" agrees Lief.
"These ancient ruins are as good a place as any to die I suppose" Tonita puts forward.
"We form a perimeter and dig in. Let's make sure this shadow has to come to us. I refuse to be hunted" states Corde.

And now we wait.

This was a fairly quick game. The shadow was almost impossible to kill (GM decided) and I wanted to see who would survive. The next encounter may be just as bloody.

Modular Sci Fi interior part. 2

Tonight I finally got off my butt and made something. I used some green stuff and bits from my box of terrain making crap to give some character to my Hexbug stuff.

The thing, however,  is that once added, I can't un-add them. Thus I intend to leave the majority blank and just paint some details into the walls. I want them as generic as can be.

Rubble and junk in a corridor. Aliens was my inspiration but I want more scatter terrain perhaps. I am dreaming up solid pieces that I could hook onto the edges to keep in place.

 A few bits. Nothing fancy.  A ship could still land here.

Modular Sci Fi Interior pt 1.

It has finally happened. The universe has come together, the planets have aligned, and I have managed to stumble across a godsend. While browsing Facebook Marketplace at unwanted Christmas gifts and former toys who have been assigned the role of "making way for new presents" I came across a listing for Hexbugs toys for £10. Hexbugs? What the hell are those? I had never heard of them. But the image got me excited. I searched for them and found more locally and cheaper. Tonight I went over and picked up a set. £10. Take a look at my initial setup:

Those are all the hexagons. I do, however, have a bunch a corridors and other little extra bits that require further investigation. But I mean seriously?! £10 for this setup? Sign me up for more. My only problem will be finding a place to store it all.

 These miniatures are based on 1 Euro cent coins. Not ideal, but you will see my smaller bases later on. Still, Xenomorphs charging down a narrow hallway. Fetch me my brown trousers.

So here we go. I am not sure about the scale of the Falcon with these 6mm figures. But with a different sized craft these sections could reasonably double up as a landing pad. I didn't even think about checking out how they look upside-down. What isn't clear is that there are hexagon shapes on the floor which will help it look sci-fi.

Here we have the main complex that is on two levels. This is the section that made me think of the Planetside 2 Biolab, and there is a multiplayer map in Mass Effect 3 that it reminded me of also. Those small holes can be filled with those little black pegs. Those black pegs can be attached to those orange looking walls. So I feel that there could be room for this to be semi-modular in itself. The walls could also be doors. 

 The upper deck. Those orange parts open up. Functioning doors. Win.

Waiting for his quarry. The small bases look much better. Time to order another packet of teeny tiny washers.

I think this scales better, the single seater fighter craft. However, I don't know if I want the concept of single seater fighter in my universe.

A Nubian. Too small. 

My questions are, am I even going to bother painting it all up? Where am I going to keep it? Will I ever even play a game on it? Should I buy up a whole bunch more?

Another 2019 review post.

I haven't touched a paint brush, glue, flocking materials, my bag of dice, etc since September. But if I am being honest with myself I am incredibly pleased with how this year has gone in terms of hobbies. 

Finally, after much hesitation, procrastination and lack of inspiration my 6mm WW2 project took legs and came into its own. I actually played some games. I don't even remember the last time I managed to play a WW2 wargame. Not since doing a couple of solo Flying Lead games back at Christmas 2014 I think. Wow, five years. That is some time. I really committed to the 6mm sci fi scene since then. 

So here we go, a break down of the year:

Let's start with the past three months. I have had a great time not spending money on miniatures, feeling much more secure in my profession, growing together with my family and spending my hobby time playing come old favourites on the computer, namely Diablo 3 and Northgard. I love them so much. I was also tempted to give Starcraft 2 another go, but still don't really want to. This has been a really cool period though, just relaxing and taking a step back.

INSERT SCREEN SHOTS


Then comes my WW2 project. I am incredibly pleased with progress in this department. I just cannot believe how long I have wasted with a lack of roads and terrain holding me back. My US forces are looking good, I managed to create some new basing flock to make them look less cartoony, and changed the size of bases to a standard 1p coin and 1 Euro cent coin for all infantry units. Tanks and cannon are mainly on 2p bases, while some smaller vehicles are on 1p bases. Although I only played two games, and these were small and in August, I intend to play with them more. Coming up with scenarios that are interesting to myself seems to be the largest problem.

There is something about the M8 Greyhound that I just love. These are my favourite.


6mm Sci Fi has taken a pause of late, but was going strong in the first half of the year. I got some armies together for my Activities Week event and have essentially not touched any of it since. Here are some highlights:

Watching The Mandalorian has inspired me to continue my 6mm RPG lite campaign. I am hoping to get onto this ASAP. I have three days left of the Christmas break and I must be honest when I say I doubt I will get onto anything in that time. I am too into Diablo 3 right now. However, when school starts back up and my bedtime routine gets back to normal, and I spend hours of the work day in front of a computer then I won't want to be gaming most evenings.

This terrain feature was also a personal highlight for me. I loved creating it. I cannot wait to finish it off.

Misc. I played Terraforming Mars the other day. It was outstanding. I wish I could play more boardgames. During the first half of the year I managed to play in a monthly games night but it ended up petering out into me playing a couple of games with my friend's children once per month and has since become nothing again.

What is up for 2020?
1. I want to finish the modular industrial complex. This is a must.
2. On Saturday I will be purchasing a child's toy that looks like it has huge potential as a modular interior complex, with part of it being very reminiscent of this.

3. Attend a boardgame group on a semi regular basis. I am stopping attending Slimming World and as such I am gaining a week night on which I can maybe attend a group.
4. Finish my German armour.
5. Paint and base a new platoon of German infantry.
6. Repair damaged infantry and vehicles, who took their damage in the line of duty during Activities Week.

I don't have a huge amount that I want to get done. I think playing more is a general theme for this coming year though. Less time model making, more time actually playing. I would ideally like to play a game per week, but I will settle for two per month as it goes. We will see where we are each half term holiday.

Have a good year.

Happy New Year!

I will write up a review of the year soon, but I just wanted to wish anyone still reading this blog a happy new year. More content to follow over the coming weeks I hope. Inspiration has struck, but I am uncertain whether this will turn into action.

The Mandalorian

This afternoon, over lunch, I watched the final chapter of the Disney + show, The Mandalorian. It was everything I hoped and dreamed it would be. Perfectly ending the season, while simultaneously setting up the next in a satisfying manner. I cannot wait until next year, or whenever to get the next part of this story. I might be so bold as to say this is some of the best Star Wars created this side of the 1980s.

Also worth noting is the spark it has given me to continue my 6mm Sci Fi RPG stories. I just need to find my bag of dice, which I may have left at school over the holiday period. Prepare to see a flurry of activity.

Merry Christmas all.

In other news, Diablo III is coming along nicely. I am onto act 3 now with my female Crusader. This might be one of my favourite play throughs. I am excited to actually experience the Reaper of Souls expansion also.

Taking a few more weeks off...

Every week I make a list of the miniature related projects I will make progress on at the weekend. Every weekend I distract myself with other things. Following Blizzcon and the announcement of Diablo IV, I thought I would take the opportunity to actually finish the Diablo III: Reaper of Souls expansion, which I have actually never played. I mean, I have completed the regular old Diablo III campaign as a kick ass monk. But then I bought the expansion a matter of weeks before getting married and putting my gaming computer into storage for a few years. As it happens it works well enough on the laptop so I will finish it over the next few months this time as a crusader sporting my Queen of Blades wings. 

I love miniature painting and wargaming, but in all honesty I am happy about having a little break from it all right now. I think the Christmas holidays will grant me some time and desire to base up and paint some more US infantry. I have what I need now to follow the A Sergeant's War Bocage campaign, I just need to take the time to give it a go. But not right now. Not just yet.