New Temple

Friend sends me an email that he is running a skirmish game this friday night and needs aliens and a temple, "ok".... 20 minutes later:

Game out of the past, Heroquest

Played a couple of games of Heroquest the other day. Reminded me of the simple game mechanics it has.

Cytheria Campaign Update

Time for a Map!

Red (left) British, Light Blue US Expeditionary Forces, Yellow is Kaptain Kneemo, Purple is Western US Empire, Blue is French, Light Green is Swedish Forces, Red (right) is Belgians, above the Belgians are the Ottomans.

With much of the expansion finished the main actions have been the clashes between the Ottomans and Belgians. But now war has broken out on the west coast area as the British drive a force into the US Expeditionary lands in an apparent effort to sever the outlying lands from their capital in a move to reduce their revenues and suffer their farthest banners losses to the winter retreat!

In the most recent British effort:

The British are at the far end of the field, only slowly realizing they face a superior sized force. With US scouting forces threatening their flank, they form a Rourke's Drift defense on their extreme right flank.

The British Spark Charges with his Walker! Into a hail of fire. DISASTER befalls the walker the the plucky Spark manges to bail out of the brewed up wreck and attack with his arcane implement of destruction, putting the Marines Company to rout.

On the US extreme right an Artillery battery finally gets to position and deploys, laying volleys of shell into the flanks of the Hessian Mercenaries on the British right. Some are sent fleeing, others are mowed down in windrows.

The setting of the sun through the dense cloud cover brought a close to the battle, leaving it a draw with both sides leaving the field. Lady luck and fate had her way with the British early on with their command activation rolls and with the US firing rolls. The British were slow to get moving and the US were poor shots for the most part.

Domes Domes Domes!

Micheal's had these on sale, the lot of them inter stacked inside each other for 15$. Finally large plastic Easter eggs that do not have flat spots on them for sci fi needs and VSF also!

Two shots with my 2 man steam walker for size comparison.  Add to them , put pipes between them and the list goes on.

Cloud Kraken progress

Took time to straighten out tentacles and fill in lego like block parts o smooth out the body / tentacles:

Painting and a clear plastic pole to elevate it properly. Adventurers on Cytheria beware!

Lower Ughawa Swamp Exploration Game

In the Lower Ughawa Swamp 3 powers vied for the vast treasures rumored by natives to be found there. Belgians, French and British expeditions were launched into the steamy, bog poxed morass of vegetation and creatures that consider humans to be in their food chain.

British force, led by Allon Quartermane, the intrepid hunter enter from the left. The French forces led by Andre d'Apertif led his companions in the the top edge. The Belgians entered from the right side.

The French pushed in after dispatching a mobile carnivorous plant and spotted the fabled temple.... and its guardian creature! Though the Gigantic Wurm did not move to attack the French commander Andre had his tiny command form line and open fire! .... To little effect, mainly sending lead bullets off into the distance...
The wurm became enraged and charged.

Quatermane led his rather inept military officer, Jones, Jones sycophantic follower, and 2 others forward. Spotting a large shambling creature, he took aim, fired and took most of its head clean off for a fast kill. Exhilarated by the ease of the kill they crashed through the brush, headless of any danger... only to have Jones brush up against Itchy Thorn Brush, and breaking out in a horrendous rash that plagued him the rest of the trip. Then when they thought they would get trophies from the downed beast they found that another had beat them to it and was prepared to keep the carcass.  The fighting with the giant croc was hand to hand!

The French slowly were getting eaten by the Gigantic Wurm! Till the last man standing Andre was inspired to his own rage as the wurm swallowed Colonel Jean-Louis whole! Out of pistol ammo he hurled the empty gun at the wurm, who near death, swallowed the gun, choked and fell over. Andre carried the unconscious soldier of the party out of the muck and got him hidden in some heavy bushes that overlooked the approach to the temple platform, having retrieved a rifle from a fallen comrade.

The Belgians were in lock step;  3 paces! Creature at front right! 2 volleys should do the job! 10 Paces forward, Front Left, 2 Volleys! and they slowly worked their way in.

The British approached the temple platform Quartermane and a soldier climbed up and examined the golden skull. Quartermane instructed his man to take the skull and he would cover him with his hunting rifle. Skull was lifted and poisoned darts flew everywhere. Quartermane avoided the darts easily as he and his man turned and flet the steps... when his man said "here, take the skull Im feeling a bit odd.. especially when a second dart took him in the ear, killing him instantly.

As Quartermane fled down the steps, he came into view of Andre who fired at him, wounding him unto unconsciousness! All his party was wounded but traded fire with Andre, neither side scoring any telling hits. As inept as his assigned politician was, he did order the remaining soldier to carry Quartermane to safety, while firing over his shoulder to cover their hasty retreat. Not to hasty to stop and grab a valuable helmet from the much of the Jungle floor though!

Here the Belgians are approaching the temple mount.. The vase on the ground had been dropped.. alas and broken. The sole standing Frenchman, Andrea is in the background, whom decided to recover his wounded comrade and make the best time back to their base camp. Wounded, carrying his fellow soldier, he was unable  to carry any valuables off.

The British party political leader created quite a bit of noise while berating the soldier to move faster.. while he carried Quartermane and all the loot, listening to his leader complain about his wet socks, lack of a proper newsman to properly record his exploits.

The Belgians carried off their loots with out a loss, while the French were decimated. The British scored the most loot at the end.


The Game situation had markers for creatures to be revealed when players got with in 12" of them. The creatures had varying ranges at which they would attack players with some having really short ranges. Players typically decided to fire at anything they saw.

3 spots were marked by the GM as to having definite light loot, but other spots were marked with copper beads, that a die roll would reveal to be Junk, or some sort of Heavy pottery or a small statue that would then have to be lugged around and also required that they gather several in order to "sell them off later for game monies". Of course they were heavy and slowed their rate of movement..

The game played out in about 2.5 hours. A lot of close calls, some deaths, great shots, lousy die rolls rounded out the over all encounter!

Jungle Adventure Outcome

Thought to put together a piece of the "previous" explorer to the area, as it were, for a game I will be running Friday night. So:

Two views, angle and overhead of a camp site where everything went bad! Bones and over grown items and tent.... just waiting for the next set of explorers to stumble across....

Spring cleaning

Decided to re work my painting station.

Out came the plastic wall racks and old paints, in went new shelves and current paints. Just in the top edge of the picture is the TV with DVD player and satellite connection. Having the wife work up some new adjustable curtains for the side to the left of the picture.

Shot of the old set up. New TV though :)

Temple of .... Mahahahahhahaha

Need a Temple for adventures to prowl around this coming Friday night... so to work:

On the left is the Styrofoam cut, glued and scribed with a pencil. On the right, black wash then varying dry brushing of grey to white.  Central pillar uses the same build up, but with a golden skull on top. Total time, about half an hour.. hair dryer carefully applied sped drying time.

FAST VSF PARTY SKIRMISH RULES (4/10/11)

FAST VSF PARTY SKIRMISH RULES (4/10/11)

Weapon Max Range                            Shooting RANGES                           Throw RANGE


Pistol            12                         0-6   7-12   13-24    25-36    37-48             0-6    7-12

Shotgun         24                          8       7         6             5           4                   7        6

Rifle              36

Big Game Gun 48                                    Target or Shooter is:      Soft Cover -1 (shot gun ignores SC)

Blow Gun         12                              Walking -1                         Hard Cover -2

Bow                 16                                Running -2

Whip                 2                                  Evasive Run -3



Hit Location and Result                      HEAD             BODY      ARM                            LEG

1 Head                                            1-2 Dead          1 Dead       1-3 Severe Wd(-2)       1-3 Sv Wd (-4)

2-4 Body                                       3 Severe Wd     2-3 Sv Wd   4-5 Lt Wd (-1)            4-5 Lt Wd(-2)

5 Arm                                            4-5 Light Wd      4-5 Lt Wd    6 Scratch                   6 Scratch

6 Leg                                              6 Scratch               6 Scratch



Bullet, arrow, dart = No modifier

Lg Claws, Lg Teeth, Sword, Knife, Ray Gun = +1 to Damage roll

Claws, Teeth , Whip -11 to Damage Roll

Target is a Flunky -1 to Damage Roll

Poison 7 (does light wound on 7 or less for 3 rounds)

Dead = Figure is dead, gone, kaput

2 Severe Wds = KIA,  Out of action, roll after battle, recovers with future Penalty

2 Light wounds = 1 severe wound (Sv Wd)





Flunky  Moral                   3D6 D6

Situation            PASS      FAIL             Run Away              Go to Cover/Prone          Laugh at it!

Fired At              3-12         13-18              6                            4-5                                1-3

Light Wd              3-9          10-18             6-5                         3-4                                1-2

Severe Wd           3-6           7-18              4-6                          2-3                                  1



Melee



1. Roll Imitative, 3D6, high roll wins Above +2, Prone -2, Flank +2, Behind +4,Each add+2

2. High roller is the Attacker, this Round only, Both Roll 1 D10, Attacker Higher = Hit

3. If Hit scored, consult Hit Location and Result Table

4. If No hit, or you do not kill / Stun opponent, roll again 1 D10 and reverse attack /defender

5. If Hit scored, consult Hit Location and Result Table



Classes of Adventurers

Explorer Is armed with a pistol and Whip(2 attacks) Spot 7 (12”), SEARCH 7

Spy Knives, Pistol, Hide 7. Spot 7(12”)

Big Game Hunter Big Game Rifle 8, Big Game to hit 9 with -1 to damage roll at 12”+, Spot 9 (18”)

Officer Pistol, Sword, or shot gun and sword Spot 6, Search 4

Bungler Pistol (6) Trip/Find 8- Orate 9+ (loose move turn)(causes -1 to hit rolls 9”)

Spark Ray Gun (4D10 range..varies by turn, roll when fires), Search 6,

Courtesan Spot 7 (12”)pistol 5,Can remove one Lt Wd if both remain stationary and not fight. Only 1 Lt wd per character can ever be removed.

Flunky Rifle, No Spot, No search, No know, +2 on Shoot to Hit rolls, -1 to move, Spot 6

Sidekick Rifle or shotgun, pistol, Look Out Sir! (if with in an inch can take a hit meant for the primary character instead.) Can be performed after character would normally be hit. (Those selfless sacrifice type of guys!) Spot 7

Each player can have up to 3 characters and 2 Flunky’s. They can have fewer characters and make up the difference with more Flunky’s. Sidekicks are possible for Explorer’s, Big Game Hunter’s, Officers and Sparks. Bring extra figure, die roll before game starts to see if you have one for one of the mentioned classes, Sidekick replaces a Flunky.


Movement is 6+D6 per turn. Figures have a 180 degree frontal view.

Walking is 4” or less. Turning in place is same as stationary. Moving Evasively reduces run speed by -3 but makes you harder to hit.(harder to fire also…) Once every other turn you can RUSH if not encumbered, gains double run distance rolled, must move all or end in cover. Cannot be encumbered.

Jungle patch is D3 penalty in distance(1=2 inches per to cross, 2 = 4, 3 =6 inches). Waterways are 4x’s

To search a encounter patch you must move thru the patch then roll to search, it does not conceal you while you search. Large Encounter patch can only have 1 group in the middle of it to make search rolls. Search Rolls cannot be made if you are being fired at.

Carrying Booty or prisoners / wounded reduces movement by -2, and all of these cause you to be Encumbered.

Firing at an enemy group. Over 6 inches, should you get a Hit when shooting, the Hit is assigned randomly (by die roll) to a single figure in the group. If multiple hits are scored, all are randomized, even if this means one character or flunky ended up getting multiple times. Devilishly hard to recognize people at range! (Hence having flunkies to help absorb hits….) Under 6 inches, Characters only may select fire. Melee is base to base.

Search: Roll to find treasure at marked Areas, Spot Roll: See hidden people or creatures, Trip Find happens when ever party is at encounter marker. Anything that requires any other type of check will be based on the highest stat the character/flunky has. (command number etc.) Flunky has Skill 6 for this.

Creatures attack from hiding by chagrining out! 4D10. Those in open that become aggressive move 2D10 first move then 4D10! You get to learn aggro ranges the hard way!

Anything not covered here will be adjudicated and recorded/implemented by the GM during the game if needed!

Review the article at ARMORED INK on Vegetation of VENUS ! REALLY!!!! Your group is of course On Venus! The Wilds are dangerous, mostly Unexplored, No Native guides!

Article about the game to be played at : http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Sactanks/message/746
the Group is open to anyone that is interested.

VSF Battle Report, Year 2, Turn 3

The Belgians continued to pound the Ottoman lands in another push to break their military power.

Initial deployment on the Left. On the right we see the Tribal Elite Guards unit that defied the Belgian massed efforts to secure their left flank and clear the hill of Tribals.

Left is a view of the Belgian Right flank. The "Heavy Walker" alligator with howdah attacked into the Belgian line and crushed a Walker Vehicle!

The Tribal Elite Guard unit still holding up, but their doom is approaching, in the lower right of the picture is a unit of Heavy Infantry that finally got to the top of the hill and fired down the flank of the Tribal unit as shown in the right side picture.

Poor communications and some bad ammunition caused the Belgian force to slog along slowly and expend effort with their rifles for no return. In the end, the attrition of the Tribal units caused them to flee the field.

(Translation of the above in game terms: The Belgians failed many many command rolls to get units to move and then threw very poorly on firing rolls to inflict casualties.. Bad Dice ruled his day..)

Swamp Pieces Reworked.

Changed things around, mainly due to the size of the pieces/storage/transport.  They have to be stacked one on top of the others, which means the plants would slowly get smashed or rubbed off, depending on flat storage or standing on edge. So I took them off, remounted all plants to smaller bases to be placed and or moved as needed for troop placement and movement.

Still a bit of repainting to do, but that's all being done by spray can. Also took the opportunity to back fill a few rough spots on the surface of the 2 bases that did not look right.

Large Swamp Sections for Venus

So... Gee, my swamp sections for Venus were, "a bit small".... So broke out the materials kit and got to work;

Here's the basic pieces cut smeared with Kel Seal to smooth them out some, I was out of the usual plastic sheeting I normally would use. Sprayed blue, the shots of dark blue and green. Finished with a medium brown sprayed around the edge where the "grass" would end and the muck begin. Relatively easy, shaped the plastic is under 5 minutes, Kel Seal smeared with a wide stick and left to dry for 4 hours. Came back, spray colors were about 5 minutes as I did not wait for colors to dry, just shot them on top of each other , let them blend a bit.

Problem with a large piece like these, that are roughly 3 feet by 2 feet is that stands of troops will have to be placed on them of course so I didn't want to load them up with lots of swampy growth. In fact I may have to remove those I put on, and remount them on smaller pieces to be scattered about on the large piece, as I do with my Jungle Filler bits. Hmmmmm already thinking of how to...

Cytheran Battle Report Belgians vs Ottomans

I'm adding pictures to Skrapwelders battle report which I am shamelessly lifting in Toto from our Yahoo Group, as I was to "not there" due to meds that left me unable to concentrate much on the battle to follow who was doing what to where.

Ibrahim Sinusi reporting for the Tercüman-i Ahval gives us the following report from the wild lands of Venus.

Several hours prior to darkness falling in the Cytherean jungle, this reporter witnessed the first of what may be many armed encounters. This battle saw the Ottoman Empire defending its allies from the Belgian aggression.

The Belgian force slightly outnumbered the Ottomans but had no cavalry and ended up being out scouted by the Turks. This would allow Turkish cavalry and flier units to enter from the extreme flanks later in the game.

The Belgian formed up with their main force of infantry in the center supported by two mechanical walkers. On their left flank were two units of Zulu askari and on their right were a tank supported by infantry and a battery of Gatling guns positioned on a hill. Several notables of the Belgian army were in attendance including their madboy spark who would later make a definite impression on the Turkish forces. In reserve as a rearguard were two units of infantry.

The Ottomans arrayed there regular infantry battalion of Turkish and Hungarian regulars in the center. On their right was a battery of heat ray cannon, one of several new technologies that the exploration of Venus and Mars has brought to the Ottoman Empire. On the left flank was a large force of the Newt nation allied to the Empire as well as the strange space faring, and reportedly clairvoyant allies known as the Kuiper Bedouins. Running around on the Belgian flanks were two units of light cavalry and a pair of the new liftwood augmented, flying carpets armed with black smoke projectors.

The battle, while fierce in parts ended in a draw with neither force reaching any break points. The setting sun and made further fighting impossible and both forces withdrew to lick their wounds and contemplate revenge.

Highlights of the battle included:
A disastrous misfire by one of the heat ray cannon. Fusing it into a solid lump of uncompromising inertia.
A bold strike by the Ottoman cavalry that decimated the Belgian artillery and sent one of its infantry units in flight.
The vengeful onslaught upon the Ottoman lancers from the Belgian spark that left only a large crater where once a regiment stood. The spark even managed to survive without blowing himself to bits.

Both sides withdrew from the area, but as there is still an Ottoman allied settlement in the vicinity the map hex remains in Ottoman Ally control.