Laserblade - Special Ops

Time can be weird.  I remember posting the Hive Mind rule for Laserblade on here a few months ago.  Well, it turns out that was over a year ago!

Anyway, I have another to add to the mix; Special Ops.  Like Hive Mind, this ability applies to your whole team.

Special Ops (10)
This ability applies to your whole team.  Every member of your team must be elite (either by way of an elite ability or with a CP cost of 20+).  Each of your defeated characters is worth an additional 5VP to your opponent (after other modifications).

The idea is to allow players to build a super team of elite individuals, but not without paying for the privilege.  Firstly, assuming a 100CP game, a player that opts for a Special Ops team only has 90CP to spend.  In addition, each of characters that meets a sticky end is worth more to his opponent (note that the extra 5VP are added after other modifiers like the rules for Bounty Hunt).  All this alongside the fact that a smaller team comes with inherent risks as things already stand hopefully means that it's not overpowered, just nice to have the option.

Hopefully you'll try this rule out.  If you do, let us know how you find it.  In the meantime, we'll get thinking about the opposite end of the spectrum - a team ability that benefits those players that prefer to put together a swarm of weaker characters.  Watch this space...

Lost in the Swamp - a Star Wars Battle Report

Friday night at Echidna Games HQ saw host to another Star Wars-themed Laserblade session, this time using the retrieval scenario (page 21 of the rulebook - we're playing 6 rounds).  The action is set on an unnamed temperate moon somewhere in the mid rim.

Having been undercover at a local Imperial base for nearly a year, the Rebel droid R3-BL has acquired vital information about the Empire's plans for the sector and has made his escape.  However, as he approaches his rendezvous, he becomes bogged down in the swamps of the planet's sunken city and with no way out himself, signals to his Rebel allies for help.  Han Solo and Chewbacca gather a small team of loyal troops and head out to find the droid.  Meanwhile, the Empire has intercepted R3-BL's signal and deployed a small squad of Stormtroopers to retrieve the wayward robot.

We join the action as the two opposing forces come within sight off the stranded astrodroid.  The table looks like this...

Ready for action

The team CP limit is 100 points.  The Rebel team Includes Han Solo (Commander, Lucky, Sniper, 26CP), Chewie (Brawler, Marksman, Heavy Weapon, 19CP) and four Rebel Troopers (Marksman, 13CP).  The Empire are fielding four regular Stormtroopers (Armour 9+,  Marksman, 15CP), a weapon specialist (Add Rapid Fire, total 20CP) and a commander (20CP).

The objective - R3-BL

Round 1

The Rebels gain the advantage but then roll a 1 for activations which, even in cohesion with a commander on the field, allows them to move only a single character.  Han moves into the woods and takes a shot.  He needs a 7+ and scores a 4.  Now, Han is lucky which means he could re-roll but the Rebel player chooses to save the re-roll, just in case.  The Imperials follow up with two activations, first moving the weapon specialist.  He shoots at Han, needing a 9, and misses.  The rapid fire rule lets him shoot again but it's another miss.  A regular stormtrooper then advances and cracks of a shot at Han in the process.  Stormie needs 8 and rolls a 10 - bang on target.  Now the Rebel player uses Han's luck, forcing a re-roll with an ever-so-slightly smug look on his face.  But it's a another 10!  The great Han Solo is out of the game in the first round!

The end of round 1 - Han died in the woods and it wasn't until next round that I decided to leave fallen characters on the table!

Round 2

Very rarely does the initiative roll make for an exciting spectacle but this one was good.  The Empire rolls 9 which, with the bonus for having a commander and being in cohesion, means 11.  The Rebels, now missing a commander but still in cohesion roll 10, also meaning 11!  The Rebels then win the roll off and gain 2 activations.  A Rebel Trooper moves forward and takes a crack at the Stormtrooper in the open but his shot goes wide.  His buddy moves up to join him and scores a hit on that same Stormtrooper but ol' Stormie makes his armour save.  No kills yet for the Rebels.  The Imps follow up with two activations of their own, using the first to move that foremost Stormtrooper up to grab the droid.  If  either side can get the droid off the table it'll be worth lots of victory points and the Empire look to have gained an early advantage.  Worse news for the Rebels; the Empire's weapon specialist manages to take out the two Rebel Troopers that just moved up!

The end of round 2 - I put Han back on the table to show where he fell last round!

Round 3

The Imperial team is now out of cohesion which levels the playing field for the initiative roll.  The Rebels win and gain a much-needed three activations!  First, a Rebel Trooper moves into the position just "vacated" by his comrades.  He shoots but nothing seems to be able to scratch that Stormtrooper.  Cue the mighty Chewbacca.  He strolls into the wood and fires at the Imperial.  It's a hit!  And Chewie's carrying a heavy weapon so no armour save for Stormie.  Finally some good luck for the Rebels.  It keeps getting better as the remaining Rebel Trooper takes a shot at the Empire's weapon specialist.  He needs a 9, and gets a 10.  Looking good so far and then the specialist fails his armour save.  Could the tide of battle be turning?  The Imperials gain two activations and advance and shoot but can't land a shot on target.  Suddenly it's anyone's game again!

The end of round 3 - Rebels dug in, Imps in the open!

Round 4

The Rebels win the initiative and gain three activations again.  Surely they have it made now.  Actually, no...  Chewie shoots and the two Troopers advance with blasters blazing but no-one can find their mark.  They have gained control of the droid now though and the Stormtroopers will have to work hard to wrestle it back off them.  The Imps are out of cohesion and roll a 2 for activations.  Even with their commander still in play that's only one activation.  One of the Stormtroopers take a shot; he has elected not to move, making a hit more likely.  All he needs is a 4.  It's a 3...  Lots of shooting this round but not one shot on target.

The end of round 4 - The Imps have the advantage of numbers but the Rebs have the droid!

Round 5

The Rebels win the initiative for the fourth round in a row despite being out of cohesion and leaderless.  The Rebel Troopers withdraw and manage to dispatch two Stormtroopers as they go, even with one of them being encumbered by the droid.  The Imperials open fire with their two activations but try as they might, their shots go wide of the mark again.  At the end of the round, the Imperials are forced to make a valour check because of their losses.  The regular Stormtrooper stays in the game but the commander gives up the fight.  The Imps are down to just a single man as we enter the final round.

The end of round 5 - Who would have thought flimsy plastic armour could be so ineffective?

Round 6

On the final round, the lone Stormtrooper wins the initiative and scores two activations.  As he's on his own, the extra activation will give him a re-roll.  He manages to blast the Rebel Trooper with the droid at the second try.  The Rebels gain themselves 3 activations which, as they're now down to just two characters, also earns them a re-roll.  Chewie blasts the Stormtrooper on the re-roll (no armour saves against the wookiee's heavy weapon) and the remaining trooper grabs the droid.  The Rebels do have a valour check to make but both Chewie and the Trooper pass.  It'll be a win for the Rebels but the question is by how much.

The end of round 6 - A close up of the action as Chewie exacts his revenge.

The Imperials score 65 points for Han and the three Rebel Troopers.  To score a decisive victory, the Rebels need at least double this total.

The Rebels score 100 points for defeated Stormtroopers plus a bonus for being in possession of R3-BL equal to a D10 roll x 3.  The roll is a 7 so that's 21 more VP for a total of 121.  Not quite a decisive victory but close to it.  Time for the Rebels to find out if that data was worth the price they paid...

If you fancy trying Laserblade for yourself then you can pick up a PDF copy at wargamevault.com

Laserblade in Action

Firstly, a belated Happy New Year from Echidna Games!

I've been busily at work on the rules for Battleblade these last couple of weeks and am pleased to say that I am drawing to a close on the first draft.  Although I expect numerous corrections and revisions between now and the final edition, it's none-the-less satisfying to get that first draft banked!

The revised close combat rules seem to work quite well and I've just been putting the finishing touches to the rules for magic, both elements that will hopefully set Battleblade apart from it's older sibling Laserblade.

Speaking of Laserblade, I've seen two different but equally exciting examples of people around the world playing  our game recently. Earlier this week I posted a link on our Facebook page to some in-game shots of a Star Wars themed Laserblade battle in progress.  Click here to visit our Facebook page and check out Steve's photos!  I love Steve's no frills approach - Star Wars Command toys, packing inserts for bunkers - it's the quick and fun approach to wargaming that I hoped I could encourage with my own games.

Here's a photo from one off our own games using a similar approach:

Our "scenery" took mere minutes to make...

At the other end of the spectrum are some frankly fantastic photos from a chap called Timothy Hall.  Timothy's images were posted to a closed Facebook group this week so I can't link to them but with his kind permission, here are a couple of my favourites:

Timothy's "Necromatons" Advance

A "Skree" with Heavy Weapon

I'm sure you'll agree that those models and that scenery look amazing.  I really like the red armour on those aliens and the tin hats on the androids.  Exceptional stuff!

 

If you fancy trying to emulate Timothy's figure paining then be sure to visit our ebay shop - we have the aliens and the androids for sale!

 

It really I great for us to see other people playing and enjoying our games - long may it continue and I look forward to seeing Battleblade being played in the near future.  Back to work for me it is then...

Robo Ninja!

About a year ago, I bought this guy from a place called Northstar Models. 

 

 

 

I'm finally getting around to painting him so I thought I'd share my method for doing so with the good people of the internet.  Now, I am no expert, far from it, but I am generally happy with the results when I put brush to plastic, and I enjoy doing it.  This will not be so much a "how to" as a "how I do", but you might gain something from it.  Anyway, shall we crack on?

 

Step 1 - Prepare It!

 

This little guy was a multi-part job so putting him together was first on the list. Some models can be a real pain to assemble but putting old Robo Ninja here together was easy, just a bit of superglue and I was done.  Sometimes models have extra plastic around the edges.  This is caused by the moulding process and is called flash.  This model had a little, mostly along the sword, which I scraped off with a craft knife.  Gently does it when you're de-flashing as you don't want to accidentally carve off any details.

 

You can see that I also mounted Old Robo on a base.  This is a laser-cut, 50mm wide, 3mm depth MDF disk.  There are loads of folks on ebay selling these, in various sizes, shapes and depths so just about every scale and system is catered for.  With our friend  assembled and mounted, it was time to get to work with the paints.

 

Step 2 - Spray It!

The next job was getting him sprayed.  Spraying your model with a primer will help make sure that your paint sticks to the surface.  You can paint straight on to most surfaces, but the paint can chip easily if it doesn't have something to cling to so a primer layer is recommended.

I use Army Painter Matt White.  I know a lot of people prefer a black base layer, but I find white gives me brighter, clearer colours and helps me spot areas I haven't painted as the white shows through the cracks.  I use a disposable rubber glove to hold onto the model's base with one hand while I spray with the other and this helps me get into all the nooks and crannies.  If you don't have a glove then you can rest the model on a cardboard box or something but whatever you choose, be prepared for it get covered in paint.  The kitchen table is not generally advised.

Make sure you spray in a well-ventilated area and if you are doing prolonged spraying, wear a mask.  I always spray my models in the garden.  Sometimes I end up with white patches on the lawn.  I tell my wife it snowed...

Step 3 - Colour It!

Anyway, after the spray basecoat, it's time to get the paints out proper.  I didn't know where I was going to go with the guy but in the end, this was my palette:

Honestly, I spent years on-and-off trying to find a set of paints that suits me.  I've tried Humbrol enamels, Games Workshop's Citadel range and others that I can't even remember but for price and quality, the Army Painter can't be beaten.  I was honestly never quite satisfied with my results until I tried them.  That does kind of coincide with my first foray into 54mm scale but I have since revisited 25mm with the Army Painter and again, I'm a lot happier with my work.

When I'm painting, I squirt a little bit of the colour I need onto an old tile and give it a swish with a brush.  All of the paints are water-based so you can thin them out with a little of the wet stuff as and when required.  The bulk of the model, I did in Desert Yellow.  Yellows usually need a few coats to take effect and the trick is to apply several thin coats rather than one thick one.  If you splodge it all at once it'll take ages to dry and you risk losing the detail.  When I was finished, our Robo Ninja looked like this:

As well as the Desert Yellow, I used Gun Metal for the mechanical arm, feet and respirator, as well as any other metallic bits on show.  The exception is the sword, which was done with Shining Silver just to set it apart.  The lizard was done with Army Green and the sword handle and other bindings are Leather Brown.  I assumed this guy had to be a black belt, so that's I went with, along with a few other black embellishments.  I also added some touches of Weapon Bronze to the metal sections.  I find that contrast between a silver colour and a brass really makes a model stand out.  I actually thought he looked quite good at this stage, but I knew my work wasn't done.  He needed some depth!

 

Step 4 - Ink It!

 

Alongside their paints, the Army Painter gang also produce a range of inks which they call Quickshade.  As well as some colour-specific inks, they offer three neutral shades; Soft Tone, Strong Tone and Dark Tone.  I opted for Strong Tone (a dark brown) to shade the yellow outfit and Dark Tone (essentially black ink) for the metal and leather.  The great thing about using inks like this is that your painted model doesn't have to be perfect.  As the ink flows into the lines, joints and creases on your model, it draws a natural line between areas that will mask any ragged edges.

The shot on the left shows our man after his inking. The others show the basing process.

Step 5 - Base It!

The second-to-last step in the process is to finish the model's base.  In the middle picture, I've used sand to add texture to the MDF disk.  Simply apply a coat of PVA glue, dip the model in some sand and you're done.  Word of warning - do not attempt this while the  paint is wet.  You model will end up looking like Sandman!

Once the PVA glue has dried, I painted the base with Monster Brown paint.  Once that had dried, I gave the base a layer of Dark Tone ink.  It runs into the gaps between the grains of sand and gives the base a bit of depth.  I also edged the base with Matt Black then once all that was dry,  I splodged some more PVA glue on the base, a bit more haphazard this time, and sprinkled it with static grass.  See the third photo above.

 

Step 6 - Protect It!

 

The last step in the process is to give your model a coat of varnish.  There are several spray varnish products on the market and unlike the paints and inks, I can't really choose between them.  As with the paint, use your spray in a well-ventilated area.  You won't want to hold on to the model like before, so put it on a piece of cardboard or similar.  A coat of varnish does not have to get into all the nooks and crannies in the same way paint does.  Anyway, once your vanish is dry, your model is ready to do battle on the tabletop!

And that was our Ninja done and dusted.  Here he is with a friend from the Galaxy Laser Team:

The Robo Ninja matches the scale of his retro-styled chum perfectly.  They are going to look great on the table together!

So there we have it.  From start to finish was about three hours including drying time.  Not bad at all and this was a nice figure to paint.  I think looking back that I might have preferred to use Soft Tone for the fabric but the dark, comicbook lines have grown on me.

 

I do have issues with the price of the models from Northstar as they are a lot more expensive that the likes of Timmee or Tehnolog but they are designed as collectors' items as much as they are game pieces and the price is maybe worth it if you want some cool, unique characters to compliment your forces.

All told, I'm happy with it and I'm looking forward to seeing how it performs in Laserblade!

Want to try Laserblade for yourself?  Then download the PDF rules on DriveThruRPG.com

Native Americans. From Russia.

As you will have seen, our rulebooks and website include images of 54mm models made by the Russian company Tehnolog.  Even though the people at Tehnolog were happy to give us permission to use their models, I personally still know very little about them.  That said, I was recently able to pick up a set of their figures that I hadn't previously seen available - this bunch:

Tehnolog's "Sci Fi Indians"

As seems to be the way with Tehnolog (with one or two exceptions) these guys come as a bundle of five and are all one-piece castings.  They are obviously inspired by Hollywood's "injuns" from less politically-correct times, with a slight modern twist.



Braves

These two braves are the most conventional figures in the set.  Armed with tomahawks, they're obvious close combat fighters but I reckon their shields might just give them the defence they need to get eye-to-eye with their enemy.  They're joined by, surprisingly given the theme, a single archer.

Missing something?

And as you can see from the above, he's accompanied by a comrade packing some more serious firepower.  Now, the idea of a native American with a space-age machinegun might bother some.  Not me.  I think he's great.  What bothers me is that the archer is missing an arrow.  He's clearly posed holding something in his left hand, and the bow is curved like it's under strain, but nope, he's completely arrowless.  Once you see it, you can't unsee it.  It's one of those things that'll have to be fixed in the painting stage, somehow.  In game terms, I wonder if the archer might make a good scout.  The other guy, well, he's got a big machine gun so I wouldn't be surprised to see him with rapid fire and/or heavy weapon.  Last of all, we've got the chief.

The Chief - front and back

This man means business.  One of the coolest details about him is the thing on his back with the little hose connected to the gun on his belt.  I reckon this has to be some sort of stolen alien technology, meaning he was tough enough to go and get it in the first place!  In my book he's a commander who's useful at long range and up close.  And I reckon that gizmo on his back maybe projects some sort of disruption field that makes him hard to hit and/or provides some impressive armour.

Size comparison - Warhammer figure on the left, Star Wars Command on the right.  Brave rested on a 50mm base.

Honestly, I love these guys.  The arrowless archer annoys me, but the rest more than make up for it.  You could field an all-native team or mix these in with other humans to form a cool ragtag bunch.  I paid US$10 including shipping for these and I am very pleased with them for that price.  They have that chunky look to them that may not be to everyone's tastes but I quite like it. Painted pics and maybe even a battle report to follow.

Star Wars rules - part 1

Today at Echidna Games HQ, we had two Star Wars-inspired games of Laserblade using the excellent (but now sadly cancelled) Star Wars Command toys from Hasbro.  The first game was a simple toe-to-toe fight in which the Rebels barely came out on top and the second was a retrieval mission using a frozen Han Solo figure as the token in which the Empire won out.  This second was an extremely close game and if Yoda had just held out until the end of the turn he'd have secured bonus points for his team and a strong win, but alas he was blasted by a stormtrooper in the nick of time!

Sorry, I should have taken pictures...

Anyway, this got me back onto thinking about how best to stat out the famous faces from a galaxy far, far away and I've come up with a couple of new abilities which I hope will add a bit of flavour for the supporting cast.

Guard
Cost - 2CP
Description - if this character is in base contact with an elite character, the difficulty to hit that elite character is increased by +1 (this bonus is cumulative).

I thought this would be a good way to represent Chewbacca's protective nature or the security services of a bunch of gamorrean guards.

Lucky (E)
Cost - 4CP
Description - once per round, this character's owner may choose to have any die roll affecting this character re-rolled.  The re-rolled outcome is final.

This one is inspired by Han Solo's ability to survive close scrapes.  It's an elite ability so its use is limited, and of course by no means guaranteed.

Please try both of these out and let us know what you think.  Coming soon, ancient weapon and hokey religion special abilities...

We're in the pipe five by five

I'm always on the lookout for models that can be used in our games and last weekend, this arrived at Echidna Games HQ:

These figures were released by a company called Tree House Kids - not an organisation I'd even heard of until very recently - back in about 2004.  This box is actually one of several "blind bag" style sets released at the  time.  As I understand it, the idea was that you bought a sealed box not knowing what was inside but this one, bought second hand on ebay, had already been opened and the seller was quite upfront about that and the contents.  I thought two Colonial Marines and two Alien Warriors looked like a good way too start my collection.  Close up, the figures look like this (1:32 Airfix Space Warrior for size comparison):

The Marine, for a human-sized model, is taller than your average 1:32 or 54mm figure, and disproportionately slimmer too to the point that he looks like a normal figure reflected in a funhouse mirror.  The Alien Warrior, however, looks very cool and towers over even the lanky Marine.  A handful of those would look great on your tabletop.

That said, I paid about £8 for these including postage and for that same money, I could but a pack of at least nine Star Wars Command figures so I don't think these are great value as far as toys go.  For collectors that want to pay a premium, fine, but frankly I'd be happier with a big bag of Galaxy Laser Team.  Horses for courses though and all that.  And if you are in the mood for spending money on these, this set has got to be top of your list:

So anyway, how can we use these in our games?  Well, I'm thinking they're a good option for Laserblade.  The marines are pretty standard.  Probably something like this:

Colonial Marine (15CP)
Ranged Combat - 5+
Close Combat - 6+
Abilities - armour (9+), marksman

You'd probably want a Sergeant in charge of your squad.  They'd be the same as above but with the commander special ability for a total 20CP.  For a marine with smartgun (and it looks like they made models of both Vasquez and Drake), add rapid fire to the template above for a total 20CP.  You could get one sergeant, one smartgunner and four marines for 100CP.  Probably quite competitive.

The aliens are a little different and have prompted me to introduce a new ability:
Acid Splash
Cost - 3CP
Description - when this character is destroyed, it explodes into a shower of acid.  Each character in base contact with it is immediately attacked with a 6+ close combat attack.  Characters that are hit are destroyed.  Characters make armour saves as normal but any character that makes a successful armour save may not make armour saves for the rest of the game (this represents the fact that the armour is damaged by the acid).  Other chracters with acid splash are not affected by acid splash.

Alien Warrior (15CP)
Ranged Combat - none
Close Combat - 5+
Abilities - acid splash, armour (10+), brawler, close combat fighter, hard to hit

A squad of six aliens would cost you 90CP.  That prompted me to come up with another ability but this time one that applies to the whole team.

Hive Mind
Cost - 10CP
This rule applies to your whole team.  While your team consists of at least two characters, and your characters are in cohesion, your team is treated as having a commander.

This, rather neatly, brings the cost of that alien squad up to 100CP.  Six marines versus six alien warriors?  Will it be a successful bug hunt or will it be game over, man?  Looks like I'm going to need to find some more figures!

 

It's been a while!

Yeah, sorry about that.  The day job has been taking over a bit recently and while it's good to be busy, my other projects have had to take a bit of a back seat but here I am and with plenty on my hobby table to keep me occupied.

Firstly, a confession.  Whether I've turned to the dark side or taken my first steps into a larger world, I'm not sure, but I've only gone and spent my hard-earned money in Games Workshop!  In fairness, the new version of Warhammer is so far proving to be a lot of fun (prompting this review from yours truly) and right now, my hobby desk looks like this:

Also this week, something of a modern-day holy grail arrived at my door.  This:

As I have said before, these figures are great for games of Laserblade and Alien Worlds and just as we all thought the toy line had died (thanks to an over-confidence from Hasbro that the Emperor himself would have found a bit unfounded) this set emerged.  Whether it was meant to be released or whether it made it's way to the UK by accident after the line was cancelled, I don't know.  Fun figures though and that's what counts.  Laserblade stats for Jabba and Co. coming soon!

Lastly, I have to express my thanks to Thor Shiel, Army Men collector extraordinaire, for kindly taking the time to review Laserblade on his blog.  You can find his review here.  I am, as ever, grateful for any feedback I receive and it is all the more satisfying when that feedback is positive.  I will take all of Thor's thoughts on board - watch for special rules updates here and on the main site in the near future!