The beginnings of Crisis Team Alpha

The rule book takes you through step by step how to generate your own crew. You start by selecting a method of generation. I chose a totally random one.

Rolling two D10’s on a series of tables for each crew member is all that is required. First you need to determine what race your characters are. As there is a 60% chance of rolling up a baseline human I ended up with four. I also generated two Primary Aliens. Once of these was a “Swift” and the other was a “Feral”. I did not generate any strange characters like a primitive, mutant or an assault bot etc; although I have to say “aliens” were strange enough.

I now had my basic six characters:

I chose the models I wanted to use and of course their gender. Each of the three character types, human, feral and swift all have charts with their different basic characteristics. There are five traits, reaction, speed, combat skill, toughness and savvy, but you could equally swap these to suit the gaming rules you wish to use if you are not going with those in the book (more on this later).

The next steps are to generate each characters:

• Background;
• motivation;
• class;
• what weapons and equipment they have;
• and lastly you roll on the crew “flavor” table.

It will be easier to go through the crews rolls individually to see how each crew members character and personality is developed.

Alren

I wanted this miniature to be the leader. In order to come up with the names I chose a random method and used a Sci-Fi name generator.

Alren’s background was that of a “Drifter”. In my mind this conjured up images of a veteran who wasn’t coping with civvy life and was looking for any excuse for an “adventure”. As a drifter he would come across all sorts of loot and could make an additional roll on the “gear” table later on.

Alren’s motivation was wealth. He was in it for the money. As the leader this may help me decide which mission to choose if their is a choice later on in the campaign. This also meant that he came with an D6 extra credits. A roll of 5 meant that he was pretty well heeled at the moment.

Lastly I needed to roll on the class table. This is broader than what we would normally think of as class and includes careers and skills as well. Alren is a “mercenary” which was a great roll and fitted in with what I thought of him. The mercenary trait gives him an increase in combat skills and one free roll on the military weapon table.

Finally as I have chosen Alren as the leader he obtains a +1 luck.

Xando

Xando comes from a Giant Overcrowded Dystopian City giving him additional speed (+1″). I envisage Xando coming from a slum area with a tough up-bringing. He has political motivations, which as second in command, could cause problems down the track if things don’t go well under Alren’s leadership. This also comes with some connections that will be useful once the campaign (pun intended) starts. Finally as befitting his up bringing his class is that of an enforcer making him a combat specialist (+1 combat skill) and an additional connection, but probably makes him not a nice guy to be around.

Janiah

Janiah has turned out a bit of vulnerable character (but don’t be fooled), and so I have decided to use this as the basis of the campaign.

Janiah comes from the “orphan utility programme”, her motivation is “looking for romance” and her class is that of a “scientist”.

From these pieces of information I determined that as an orphan and a scientist that she was given her education by the state and that after the Golgoth war would need to “pay of her debt” and work for a state run facility. In this case a military research one. I turned around the “looking for romance” to “looking for her romance” and developed the story of a missing childhood sweet heart from the orphanage.

The crew have been brought together to help Janiah find her kidnapped partner.

Eriska

Eriska comes from an industrial world which gives her an additional roll on the “gear” table. She has grown up as a “ganger” which gives her street smarts increasing her reaction by +1 and provides a low tech weapon roll.

She joined the army to escape this life as her motivation is “freedom”, making her the most experienced crew member with +2 starting experience.

Vrokot

The next two crew members are the aliens in the team. I used an alien name generator to determine their names. Vrokot is a “feral”. This means he is a humanoid-animal hybrid patterned on Earth predators like wolves and large cats (or in Vrokot’s case a crocodile!). They were originally engineered for combat purposes and so are tough combatants.

Vrokot’s background is a “frontier ganger” giving him even more additional combat skills, his motivation is just “survival” increasing his toughness levels, and he is from the “workings classes”, increasing his savvy and luck! All of this makes Vrokot one mean dude and a great guy to have on your side.

I have given him a slightly softer side by having him purchase the “Psychic Nemesis” for “old times sake”!

Klacer

Klacer is an alien “swift”, that are a diminutive bee like flying race. She is the scout of the team.

Klacer grew up in the same Giant Overcrowded Dystopian City as Xando, increasing her speed by a further 1 inch, but that is where the similarities end. Klacer comes from a wealthy family, but for reasons she has kept to her self, joined the army before becoming a bounty hunter (increasing her speed even more) when the Golgoth war was over.

Each character now dice on the various tables to determine what equipment they start with. This worked out at far more than the figures can carry and can be allocated to whatever figure you believe is best suited. They are military weapons, high tech weapons, low tech weapons, gear and gadget tables. This leaves a lot of equipment left over in the crews “stash”

There was some interesting stuff like “loaded dice, a concealed blade, and a laser beam pistol that were rolled up.

Lastly, but most importantly I rolled on the flavour table. Most important because it provide the whole link to the story line. The crew met through being old army buddies (97% roll) and could best be described as lovable rogues (11% roll).

I then needed to determine what ship Crisis Team Alpha had. Again this was a two D10 percentage roll. A roll of 33% came up with a retired scout ship, with 25 hull points that was fuel efficient. This meant it was above average in hull points and would cost less to travel from one planet to another. Lastly I needed to determine how much debt was owed on it. The base debt for a retired scout ship was 20 and unfortunately I rolled a 5 making a total debt of 25 credits. Each turn the crew will have to pay at least one credit in interest and any amount of the principle they can.

Later, if the the team is successful and they have enough credits, they may be able to upgrade the ship’s internals with additional items like a medical bay, cargo hold, living quarters, hidden compartments etc. to aid in the crews quests.

I then had to extrapolate from the information I had generated to provide some background on the ship. As it was a “retired” scout ship I had images of those old plane graveyards in my mind and so I determined it was an old rust bucket.

You do not need to model the ship to play 5 Parsec from home as it only plays an abstract part in the campaign but I thought it would be nice to have. I had a couple of 40k Valkyries still in their boxes that would do as a “scout ship” so I put one together and the “Psychic Nemesis” was born. Again I used a Space Ship Name Generator. As it was retired she was painted up like an old rust bucket.

Next I needed to determine how it came into the crew’s possession and decided that it was their old ship from when they were operational. Thus creating an emotional link between the crew and the ship.

As you probably gathered I thoroughly enjoyed putting the crew together and providing the links for all of the clues that the crew generation provided.

I have still left a bit of mystery there, like how Vrokot came to be fighting against his own people in the Golgoth war, and why Klacer left her rich family. There are some under currents with Xando’s political ambitions, and there is also the whole story about the disappearance of Janiah’s partner, and any link this may have with her work at the military research facility.

I found this side of “5 Parsec from Home” an excellent scenario and story generator.

I am not sure that I am enamored with the table top rules as they are overly complex but I will give them a go when the two miniatures for Vrokot and Klacer arrive. This will give me an opportunity to outline how the tabletop scenario and mission objectives are generated, and how the in-between-games part of the campaign works.

First recognized on May 30, 1868, Memorial Day was originally named Decoration Day for the time people took to decorate the graves of fallen soldiers. Congress declared Memorial Day a national holiday in 1971 and it was moved to the last Monday in May each year.

Originally called Decoration Day, from the early tradition of decorating graves with flowers, wreaths and flags, Memorial Day is a day for remembrance of those who have died in service to our country. It was first widely observed on May 30, 1868 to commemorate the sacrifices of Civil War soldiers, by proclamation of Gen. John A. Logan of the Grand Army of the Republic, an organization of former Union sailors and soldiers.

During that first national commemoration, former Union Gen. and sitting Ohio Congressman James Garfield made a speech at Arlington National Cemetery, after which 5,000 participants helped to decorate the graves of the more than 20,000 Union and Confederate soldiers who were buried there.

This national event galvanized efforts to honor and remember fallen soldiers that began with local observances at burial grounds in several towns throughout the United States following the end of the Civil War, such as the May 1, 1865 gathering in Charleston, South Carolina organized by freed slaves to pay tribute and give proper burial to Union troops.

In 1873, New York was the first state to designate Memorial Day as a legal holiday. By the late 1800s, many more cities and communities observed Memorial Day, and several states had declared it a legal holiday.

See https://www.pbs.org/national-memorial-day-concert/memorial-day/history/

After World War I, it became an occasion for honoring those who died in all of America’s wars and was then more widely established as a national holiday throughout the United States.

We should all join with a great friend and ally in remembering the great commitment and sacrifice we have jointly made together.

Lest we Forget

Crisis Team Alpha came to the notice of authorities during the Fringe Wars against the Goloths. Their unorthodox tactics and total disregard for the military chain of command was overlooked because of the success they achieved. With the exception of Janiah the team are currently working in a variety of security positions. Janiah has been working as a scientist in a high security military research facility, that is until the disappearance of her fiancee and childhood sweet heart, Waelon.

Although they had not worked together, and in some cases not seen each other since those perilous times, there continued to be a strong bond and they all agreed that Waelon’s disappearance had something to do with Janiah’s military research.

Four had gathered together in a bar to discuss what action needed to be taken and Vrokot and Klacer were still in transit and appeared via data link.

“Janiah” Scientist and Crisis team pilot

“Alren” Crisis Team Alpha Leader

“Eriska” is Crisis Team Alpha’s Sniper

“Xando” Crisis Team Alpha’s Communication expert.

“Klacer” (Swift) is the Crisis Team Alpha’s scout.

“Vrokot” is a Golgoth and provides the muscle for Crisis Team Alpha.

I think the Janiah and Eriska figures are from the Combat Company and the others were given to me by fellow wargamer Blake so I am not sure who manufactured them. The two “alien” figures are from CP Models and are pics from their website as they are still in transit to Oz. A quick paint job and the first four were ready.

They agreed the first place to start was the military facility but they needed transport. The normally quiet Vrokot spoke up saying, “I bought Nemesis”. “What do you mean”, retorted Janiah. “It was barely flying on our last mission and must be a rusted piece of junk by now!” . “Yeah, but it’s our piece of junk” replied Klacer. “Do the weapons work”? “Nah but they are still there”, replied Vrokot.

The Nemesis was meant to be an old troop transport ship and I had a couple of 40k Imperial Guard Valkyries still in their boxes so quickly put one together. The model was initially spray canned matt black and light grey and then washed with GW Reiksland Earthshade.

I purchased some rust paint with the gift voucher my son gave me for my birthday and gave the light (orange)and heavy rust (crimson) a try. This hasn’t come out in the photos that well but the Nemesis looks like the “rust bucket” she should be.

The paint goes on as easy as a light wash, and providing you only apply a little at a time gives a great “rust” effect.

I was pleased with the overall effect of what was a very quick paint job.

Crisis team Alpha are now ready for their exploits in a solo campaign of 5 Parsecs From Home.

They are certain to appear in future posts once Vrokot and Klacer arrive and are kitted out (painted).

Due to some interest I have just added some additional photos of the “rusty” areas of the “Nemesis”.

“For seven centuries, the history of Rome was central to the history of Europe. This story of expansion and decline is the inspiration for these wargames’ rules.

Designed for ease of play, Three Ages of Rome offers a player experience based on the commander’s problems. The rules are designed to create a feel for the uncertainty of ancient battles. Most games should take 2-3 hours to play. No rebasing required, can be played with all current basing styles and conventions.

Keeping your men going, even when things don’t seem too good, is critical for success. Units are likely to become progressively disabled and cohesion begins to suffer. If commanders don’t take care to maintain cohesion, then they could be heading for disaster!

The six historical battle scenarios span the Three Ages and provide different challenges. They offer players an insight into the nature of command in ancient warfare. The Terrain Generator and Scenario Generator allow the players to develop their own games. For competitive games, a system of points gives players all the information needed to exactly balance their forces.

In battle nothing is certain but generals that practice their skills are more likely to be victorious.” —description from the publisher.

Commanders are the key to the game. You can roll at the start to determine their characteristics or decide prior what you will use.

Units are designated as per standard characteristics eg. Elephants, Heavy infantry etc. They are also defined by their level of quality, if they have impact weapons, are supported (with archers), have shields, or they have armour.

A unit can be in one of four states of cohesion – sound, disordered, disrupted, or routed. The difference in the number of melee hits or the number shooting hits will determine the impact. Troops can go from sound to routed or anywhere else in between depending on these results.

Commands are divided into approximately four “main” units plus skirmishers. These can be of the players choice. Historical allies can be used but all must be in the same command.

Deployment is similar to most rules with a standard deployment zone.

Winning the scouting allows you to redeploy D6 units after both sides have deployed.

Only one of three orders can be given a command – Withdraw, Hold, or Attack.

Command cards/chits etc. are used to determine which command moves. All units in that command must follow its orders until the next command card is drawn to see what unit from what side moves next.

A lost or missing commander can effect their commands ability to obey orders. The more aggressive the order the less likely they are to obey without a general present.

Whenever a Command is fatigued or exhausted a test of “General Will” is carried out to determine if the army fights on. A pursuit may be conducted when an armies “Will” breaks. In “makeup” games this is not needed but is excellent if a campaign is being played

Omens and events can be used. These can assist or hinder you or may just do nothing. They are kept secret until used by you or you opponent. They add flavour without having a significant game impact.

Whilst designed for historical battles there are a points system, army lists, and a battle generator to design your own armies and scenarios.

VERDICT:

Without playing the rules I like the mechanisms, they should run smoothly, and allow you to fight a reasonably sized historical battle in two to three hours. At AU$45.00 (25pound sterling) the price is reasonable these days for a glossy production of 150 pages.

I will let you know if my opinions differ after a game or three.

The “Age of Alexander” supplement.

Another glossy production. The Three Ages of Rome is required to play the game. This is basically a book of army lists or an army Codex that includes all of the army lists and scenarios for some of the major battles in the Successor period. Slightly less at AU $34.00 (nineteen pounds sterling) it is the same quality production and is full of information. This, for me, was less value as there was enough information to work out the army lists in Three Ages of Rome, and for someone who knows the history very well, there was nothing new. Despite this the supplement is still worth purchasing.

I initially had problems finding a stockist, but both are available directly from the publisher Helion Wargames.

I decided to include a post on the Open University because there may be some of you out there that might be interested.

I have never stopped studying since I went to University as a mature-age student in my late twenties, over forty years ago. This includes a Bachelor of Arts that has enough subjects to complete four degrees, A Diploma of Education, a Diploma of Theology, a Graduate Diploma in Social Sciences (Psychology), a Master of Business Administration, a Doctor of Theology ( “Can faith and doubt coexist”), and short courses too numerous to mention. Some were completed when I was young and idealistic and others when I was a skeptical old codger.

I like studying because it helps structure my reading and keeps my mind active. At my age and being near the end of my career I can study what I want and not just things I have to. These have been as esoteric as Dark Age Old English, Reading Hieroglyphics (still not good at it), Nubian Old Kingdom Forts, New Testament and Classical Greek (quite different), the History Behind Children’s Nursery Rhymes, and Early Russian and Byzantine History.

I have always been a person who has strongly believed that up to date knowledge and reading should always form the basis of your business modus operandi. Educationalists will call this “reflective practice”.

This combined with “experiential learning” has helped me through my working life and to deal with the contradictions and paradoxes one often faces in organisations. This has meant that I have always striven to keep up with the modern professional trends, and cutting edge ideas in my sphere of work.

Experiential Learning Cycle

University courses are now extremely expensive in Australia to undertake just because you want to. A couple of years ago I came across the Open University which has a large number (hundreds) of free short courses in all sorts of subjects. Other than being free the advantage is they are professionally designed courses, often run as a free course prior to being included in the normal curriculum, and have excellent notes references and course material. Also there are no time limits for completion, generally no tests or exams, and they are on subjects you want to read about not something you do because your boss or career demands.

I have just completed my second course at the Open University. The first on “Art and Life in Ancient Egypt, took me over twelve months because life just got in the way. I would just pick it up when I had time, and just left it there when I didn’t. The second, on the English Civil War, was a lot shorter and I finished it in just a few months. They are not accredited university courses but you do get a certificate of completion.

I am currently enrolled in two more:

The first is looking at the history of the Mexican Revolution through art and murals, something I know nothing about, and the second is looking at the epistemological argument for the moral equality of combatants and other arguments for and against the idea. Putting this in a modern context if it was argued that the Russian invasion of Ukraine is an illegal act and therefore an illegal war are Russian soldiers carrying out an illegal act if they shoot a Ukrainian soldier. Or if both are morally equal, then they must have the same moral rights as each other. In war, this means the right to kill each other.

This may seem semantics but arguments such as these were used in the Nuremberg trials and many other war crimes cases, including a very recent civil case in Australia.

These may not be your “cup of tea”, but to mix metaphors you are likely to find something that “floats your boat”!.

And I don’t intend to start dying just yet!!!

Julius Caesar, the emperors Augustus and Tiberius and the statesman-philosopher Cicero all had homes in Stabiae.

A holiday villa at Stabiae

And what homes they were. Looking out over the Bay of Naples, enjoying fresh breezes and the mineral-rich water from natural springs, the seaside villas ranged in size from 110,000 to 200,000 square feet and represented the best in painting, architecture and refinement—apt testimonials to their owners’ importance.

“These villas were not just places of retreat and luxury for the Roman super-wealthy,” says Leo Varone, an architect born in Castellammare whose vision is behind the restoration project. “In the summer months, the capital virtually moved from Rome to here, and some of the most pivotal events of the Roman Empire actually occurred in the great villas of the Bay of Naples.”

The port at Stabiae

Circus performers

A panoramic view of the old Stabiae

A Villa in Stabiae

Market stalls

Selling pork sausages for the RLL (Returned Legionnaires League).

I can identify with this!

“Double, double, toil and trouble; Fire burn and cauldron bubble.” Either that or the Roman version of a soup kitchen!

I also found these two ships in the “cave” to add to the port. The small one is an Arab Dow that fits right in, the other is a bit later but still looks OK.

Stabiae is now ready to use. I will now work on the combatants. I still have the four vine trellis’, the Roman Baths, and a Ludus from Sarissa precision to complete but these are not required for the “Gangs of Rome” game.

In addition to the buildings in Stabiae I have the Rural Villa and the Roman Provincial Farm to depict the countryside and the hills around the town.

Rome was often called the warehouse of the world.

This term goes back to the end of the fourth century BC, when Rome started its expansion and the Appian Way was built and Ostia, the main port for the city of Rome, was founded.

A mural depicting a large Horrea

Roads and ports had to be built and maintained for land, river, and maritime transport, and adequate storage space for the commodities secured.

The amount of storage space available in the public Horrea can be judged by the fact that when the emperor Septimius Severus died in 211 AD, he is said to have left the city’s Horrea’s stocked with enough food to supply Rome’s million-strong population for seven years.

Plan of the excavated horreum of the Roman villa of Veranes (Gijón, Spain)

By the end of the imperial period, the city of Rome had nearly 300 Horrea to supply its demands.

The biggest were enormous, even by modern standards; the Horrea Galbae contained 140 rooms on the ground floor alone, covering an area of some 225,000 square feet (21,000 m²).

These Horrea or warehouses were the very lifeblood of Rome.

I have now finished the main buildings for my “Gangs of Rome” terrain. Tomorrow I will provide an overview of the finished seaside village of “Stabiae”.

This Saturday we voted in our Federal (national) elections. Australia does not have a fragmented government made up of a variety of major parties like a lot of countries, with only two major parties capable of forming a government in their own right. The liberal/national coalition which is a conservative party and the Labour party which is a left of centre (although not too far left) party. Now I am not saying this is a good thing but it does make forming governments a lot easier.

I normally don’t like posting on politics, nor do I often have much time for politicians. However I am very proud of how our democracy worked on Saturday. By 10.00PM the vote counting had the Labour government clearly ahead and it was certain they would be able to form a government.

The incumbent Prime Minister Scott Morrision graciously admitted defeat and wished the incoming Prime Minister well. Stating that with a very important Quad meeting scheduled for Tuesday that it was important that there was a swift and orderly transition of power.

The quad meeting is a meeting between the United States, Japan, India and Australia, and this meeting in Japan is about sending a clear message to China about its Pacific Imperialism. This was an excellent example of a Government leader putting the countries interests ahead of party and personal ambitions, and for the first time in recent years makes me proud of our elected leaders!

The election results are far from finalised with postal and absentee votes still being counted in most electorates. How very different is this from what we have seen in the United States’ last election.

Donald Trump refused to accept the election results when he vowed to start “prosecuting our case in court to ensure election laws are fully upheld”.

Today, less than 48 hours after the polls closed, Anthony Albanese, who grew up in public housing, the son of a single mother on an invalid pension was sworn in as the thirty first Prime Minister of Australia, along with four senior cabinet ministers.

Whatever your politics, and whoever you voted for, today all Australians can be proud of our democracy in action. It also demonstrates that the Australian dream is still possible and that someone from humble beginnings can rise to the most important position in Australia (well other than Captain of the Australian Cricket Team!!!)

Australians all let us rejoice!

The Second Nagorno-Karabakh war – fought between Armenia and Azerbaijan between September 24 and November 10, 2020 lasted just 44-days war and resulted in a decisive military victory for Azerbaijan. Armenia was outfought, outnumbered, and outspent and lost even though they controlled the high ground in a mountainous region that favored traditional defense.

Azerbaijan’s alliance with Turkey, and close technological support from Israel, strategically isolated Armenia. In addition, Turkey’s posturing influenced the Russians not to intervene to support Armenia.

That Azerbaijan attacked Armenia during the pandemic was an additional factor. The fact that Azerbaijan won the war is not extraordinary, considering the correlation of forces arrayed against Armenia. What is exceptional is that this was the first modern war primarily decided by unmanned weapons. In this war the Turkish-made BAYRAKTAR TB2 Unmanned Air Combat Vehicle (UCAV) and the Israeli-made HAROP Loitering Munition (LM) dominated the fighting and provided Azerbaijan with a war-winning advantage.

Turkish-made BAYRAKTAR TB2 Unmanned Air Combat Vehicle (UCAV)

The Azeris took back much of what they had lost in six years of war last Century in a fast moving “Blitzkrieg” spearheaded not just by their “Spetznaz” Special forces, but especially through the use of Drones, and Loitering Reconnaissance flyers and Munitions. Drones tripped Radars that got destroyed by missiles. Loitering Drones found targets without human help and then fell on the target and exploded. The Armenian forces, so well prepared for regular warfare, were overwhelmed and destroyed in detail by forces they could barely see let alone shoot at or destroy.

The Israeli HAROP loitering missile (LM)

The Author, Colonel John Antal, a soldier, thinker, and writer on technological warfare takes us through the technology they purchased, how they used it and the implications for other battlefields. He takes the time to go over all the different ways human control, AI control and various mixtures of how those can work- as well as how new and potential future technologies can be or might be integrated into present systems and tactical needs

The Armenians, winners of the first war, got complacent. With a much smaller economic base, and patron Russia standing behind them, they assumed that defensive works, their possession of key ridge lines and cities, and strong conventional weaponry (Tanks/Artillery/AA Systems) would be able to handle any and all comers. Azerbijan had massive oil income, NATO’s Turkey as a patron, access to Russian, Turkish and Israeli technologies and a burning desire to get the territory back.

For the Gaming Enthusiast as well as modern battlefield commanders its sort of a whole New World. For any gamer wanting to include these systems in their games this book would be a good place to start.

There are enough photos and line drawings of systems and their vehicular tows to add them to any Team Yankee, Battlegroup Modern, Danger Close, FUBAR Modern, Red Storm Rising, Chain of Command, or any other modern rules for that matter. I have already included small drones to assist with PID insurgent forces in my Modern Skirmish rules still under development.

The Ramifications for the war in Ukraine at the moment are clear. Below are before and after shots of a Ukrainian drone attack on Russian tanks.

Given what has happened to Russian conventional forces in the Ukraine. the only criticism I have of the book would be that Antal has given the Russian hardware and military systems to much credence in his book.

Azerbaijani soldiers celebrate the deal reached to halt fighting

A warning – the book does have some grizzly war themes and does require a limited understanding of A1 technology, but despite these it gives a window into the future possibilities on battlefields and good information on how future concepts might go beyond the now.

Militia supporting Azerbaijan forces

Overall, I found it an engaging book full of interesting recent history, technological insights, and an alarming vision of battlefields to come.

It is a sad indictment on me that I found this photo one of the most disturbing!

This one arrived from the family for my birthday. It is not one that I would have normally bought myself because I am not generally a fan of the Mantic range of games.

I do have their “Walking Dead: All Out War” which is an average board game but the rules are one of the best set of skirmish rules out at the moment and the figures are excellent.

As it was a present I am not sure of the price paid but it retails for about $125.00 to $160.00, and the first thing you notice is that it is a heavy box. Upon opening it was full of stuff:

Contents:

• Rulebooks X2 – Core Rulebook and Force Lists Book (army lists and fluff)
• Starter leaflet;
• 10x GCPS Troopers (standard army types);
• 1x GCPS Hero;
• 10x Veer-Myn Nightcrawlers (alien Sci-Fi “skaven like” rats);
• 2x Veer-Myn Nightmares;
• 1x Veer-Myn Hero;
• 12 bags of Battlezones scenery and accessories (this looks a bit like Necromunda scenery but all plastic);
• Paper Gaming Mat (they do sell neoprene versions for between $35 – $50 which I will invest in;
• Counter sheet
• 8x Command Dice
• 8x D8

All in all not bad value for money.

The figures are a combination of hard plastic and resin (commanders) with a variety of weapons. As a “noob” to the game this was the first hurdle I came across. With such a variety which ones are useful and in what combinations? Who knows? I will just put them together with some of each and find out the hard way!!

The basics of the rules are easy to understand. It is a true line of site square grid game played with multi-level terrain “cubes”. It has your normal shooting types of weapons and close combat factors but introduces command dice that you can use in a variety of ways depending on what you have rolled. This can very from extra movement, additional shooting or an additional to hit die etc. This is an interesting mechanic that provides the player with more ability to take control of events.

Another advantage is that the figures are also compatible with their standard tabletop games “Warpath” and “Firefight” which are both more of your typical Sci-Fi wargame.

I already have a large amount of “Plague” mutants for these games so these can be integrated as an additional faction into Deadzone as well.

I think I played the kickstarter version of this with fellow gamer Chris but am not certain. I am going to enjoy this one.

I have been wanting this for a while as I like the idea of a Gothic Horror Napoleonic Skirmish game.

I also received this Spanish contingent to go with it.

Five Parsecs from home is a Space Sci-fi solo set of rules that I have also been wanting for a long time. Another one I will enjoy.

I have almost finished reading the 180 odd pages of this one and have already put together a crew to battle solo with. It is the most comprehensive and yet easy to understand solo gaming system that I have come across. I hope to start sharing posts with you about the voyagers of the starship Valkyrie II, and her crew “Alpha team”, as they join up again following their “war exploits together”, to boldly go forward as “defenders of the downtrodden”.

I have to say I have been more than impressed by this set of solo gaming/role playing rules and thoroughly recommend it.

Lastly I received a metro Hobbies gift card. These are more of a railway/plastic kit/remote control hobby shop but I do get my Tamiya paints and basing scenic requirements from them so this will not go astray.

More importantly I threw the diet out the window and had several of these to celebrate after dinner! Before settling in to watch episode nine of Paramount’s Halo!

I had a great pre-birthday party and series of Dinosaur games on Tuesday with my son and his family, and a great time on my actual birthday (Thursday). A real surprise is that my Grand daughter and Great grand daughter are going to spend the weekend with us which will really top the week off.