The Space Cockroach's Hideout

Novi Stalingrad: 2072!

2012-02-14T10:23:00.000-08:00

Reading this thread on TMP got me thinking; after all, the Eastern Front is, IMHO, the most interesting part of WWII, and both the Soviets and the Nazis work well in sci-fi/PA versions. So I brought up the idea of a literal "Stalingrad 2072" campaign (i.e. Reds vs. Fascists clashing in 2072 in the ruins of Volgograd) in a conversation with my spouse - and wargaming partner/rival - Hannah, and she was intrigued!

So this will be my main PA project from now on. There would be three factions: Reds (low-tech, but with gas masks), Partisans (very low tech, no gas masks for most of them, some disfigured by bioweapons) and Fascists (heavy armour and good guns for each trooper. Tech would be a bit more advanced than today, with powered armour, light mechas, lasers and VTOLs, but no gravitics or sentient robots.

The setting is Stalingrad AKA Volgograd AKA Stalingrad again in 2072, 35 years after a major nuclear war and in the midst of a severe nuclear winter. The Red Army of the Stalingrad Kommune, emerging from the Volgograd University's cellars, fights the invading White Legion over the access to the Volga and to the nearby Baku's oil reserves. In order to bolster the defences against the fascist White Legion, the Kommune organizes various surviving groups outside of its main territory into Partisan detachments to harass the fascists' rear.

The ruleset I'm thinking about is GRUNTZ.

Note that the "invaders" are from another bunker in the outskirts of Volgograd (near the international airport). The Reds are from a bunker under the University.

Both factions had some time to grow, and now they are about the scale of the conflict between the NCR and the Legion in Fallout: New Vegas (or, more accurately, like a comparison of the NCR and the Enclave in Fallout II).

I've thought a little bit more about the Reds and I'm considering making them into a more rag-tag force ALA most forces in Metro 2033. Their main infantry weapon would be an improvised SMG (similar to the WWII-era PPS-43 or to the Bastard from Metro 2033); their "powered armour" would be clunky modified industrial lifter exoskeletons (represented by Kremlin Miniatures Rising Sun MANITOUs); and I'm even considering either giving them armoured cars (15mm.co.uk HOF Light Tanks) or Tachankas (i.e. technicals - using the Khurasan Rockjumper pickup) instead of usual tanks.

The fascists, on the other hand, would be like the Reich from Metro 2033 or the Enclave from Fallout 2 and 3 - using remnant military gear stolen from various bunkers around the city.

So here are the Fascists (Eureka Miniatures 15mm Sci-Fi Germans):

With a 15mm.co.uk HOF Light Tank:

And here are the Red Army troops, unpainted (yet!):
The infantry are 15mm.co.uk HOF Post-Apocalyptic Survivors; the commanders are Kremlin Miniatures Commanders and the powered armours in the back are Kremlin Miniatures Red Banner MANITOUs.

Miniature Cupboard Bonanza

2012-02-12T05:18:00.000-08:00

While doing spring cleaning in my miniature storage cupboard, I came across some minis I haven't really touched in a year or so. But looking at them, I realized that I already have the fully-painted core of a whole GRUNTZ space-lizard army (Stan Johansen Miniatures Draco Infantry)!

So here they are - full infantry platoon:

Commander:

GRUNTZ Squad (x3):

Attachment - Minigun:
Attachment - Missile Launcher:
And their arch-nemesis, the Bugs (Spriggan Miniatures SPUG):

Unit Profile Cards for GRUNTZ!

2012-02-11T06:21:00.001-08:00

Similarly to the USE ME card, I've also finished an infantry/attachment/specialist/command profile card template for GRUNTZ, as seen above. The template is for the free graphics program Paint.NET.

Get it HERE.

Unit Profile Cards for USE ME!

2012-02-09T11:21:00.000-08:00

I've made unit profile cards for the USE ME wargame rules using Paint.NET, which is a free - and excellent - graphics program. To your left you can see a sample card using 15mm.co.uk's iconic 15mm Grey Alien.

You may download a layered template for making these cards in Paint.NET HERE.

You may also download a 3x3 template set of cards - for the sake of easy printing - HERE.

Blackout - Smash Internet Censorship!

2012-01-19T02:46:00.001-08:00

For more information:
http://sopablackout.org/

The Spinward Main

2011-12-17T08:09:00.000-08:00

I've made a full-color, 300dpi map of the Spinward Main as it appears in Classic Traveller's A3: Twilight's Peak at the request of Paul Elliott from the Citizens of the Imperium boards. Enjoy!

For a full-res image, look here:
http://img35.imageshack.us/img35/7258/spinwardmain.png

New Camera!

2011-12-08T07:37:00.000-08:00

I've just received a new camera - an HP Photosmart M425 - from eBay. Now I've tested it out on my old Grey Alien figures from 15mm.co.uk.

Outer Veil Released!

2011-10-30T23:39:00.001-07:00

Spica Publishing is pleased to announce that Outer Veil has been released!

Outer Veil is now available to buy and download from Spica Publishing’s publisher page at DriveThruRPG.com, price $14.99.

Click here to grab your copy of Outer Veil!

Product code: SP 0200
ISBN: 978-0-9560893-9-7
Format: PDF format, 156 pages.

Outer Veil is © Spica Publishing 2011. All rights reserved.

Oh, and I'm the primary author!

The Space Cockroach is Getting Published!

2011-10-25T10:29:00.000-07:00

Yep, I'm getting my own first book published by Publishing! And its going to be available in PDF format NEXT WEEK! Woohoo!

Spica Publishing is pleased to announce that Outer Veil will be released on 30 October 2011!

THE YEAR IS 2159 AND THE FRONTIER NEEDS YOU.

Written by Omer Golan-Joel with Richard Hazlewood, with art by David Redington and Michael Thomas, Outer Veil is a completely new game universe for Traveller, set in 2159 AD in the space around Sol.

As mighty as they are in the Core Worlds, the Federated Nations of Humanity government and the Megacorporations cannot act directly on the Frontier, which is a month or more away even for the brand-new Jump 2 couriers. To exert their power to these distant stars, they need you to go there on their behalf and act as their eyes, ears, and hands away from home. The FNH government needs reliable administrators who can think on their feet, loyal military officers to project its force, and determined Justice Commission agents to uphold the law where the colonial authorities cannot.

The Megacorporations want results and want them now and demand people who can get results fast, by any means necessary. They also need researchers, explorers, and workers for their projects on the frontier and spies and mercenaries for the darker side of inter-corporate competition. The locals need you, too: as a professional, a hired gun, an explorer or as a fellow colonist. You need the Frontier, too: opportunities and adventures abound there for both the hireling and the freelancer.

The Frontier is large, deep, and wide open. Humanity's young sphere of interstellar space is surrounded on all sides by unexplored space. At the edge of this tiny sphere lies the Outer Veil, a partly-explored, sparsely-settled region of space separating the known and the unknown. Despite its best efforts, the Core has little influence in these dark reaches, and nearly anything can be found there: unsanctioned colonies, pirate enclaves, secret laboratories, alien ruins, isolationist groups, strange worlds and colonies scraping out a living on the edge of the Great Unknown.

The space beyond the Outer Veil is unexplored, unknown and undisturbed by human exploration, habitation or influence. The future of Humanity lies beyond the Outer Veil, where untold opportunities, riches and dangers await the trail-blazing explorer. The present human institutions hold little or no power amongst these far stars; whatever lies beyond the slowly expanding Outer Veil is an enigma waiting to be explored and colonised: a new opportunity for Humanity to begin anew and build new civilisations.

Authority is scarce and your bosses, if any, are weeks of Jump travel away from you. The Core can only give you general guidance and standing orders; when trouble strikes, you have to make your own decisions. If you are the captain of a patrol frigate, the commanding officer of a Marine detachment, a colonial governor or a Justice Commission agent, you are the government. If you are a trouble-shooter or a local exec for a Megacorporation, you are the company. And if you are a freelancer, you truly are independent.

In the Outer Veil you are on your own.

Outer Veil includes background and historical information on the Outer Veil universe, eight new, setting-specific careers, statistics for 20 new starships and smallcraft, rules for asteroid mining and belting, a complete sector of space with UWPs and subsector maps, Referee's information on the Outer Veil setting, patrons and 'Brotherhood & Justice', a complete introductory adventure ste in the Outer Veil universe.

Outer Veil will be released on Sunday 30 October 2011 as a PDF download from Spica Publishing’s publisher page at DriveThruRPG.com, price $14.99.

Product code: SP 0200
ISBN: 978-0-9560893-9-7
Format: PDF format, 156 pages.

A selection of preview pages from Outer Veil from Spica Publishing are presented below.

Outer Veil is © Spica Publishing 2011. All rights reserved.

Requires the use of the Traveller Core Rulebook, available from Mongoose Publishing.
'Traveller' and the Traveller logo are Trademarks owned by Far Future Enterprises, Inc. and are used with permission.

In Defense of Dying in Traveller Character Generation

2011-07-12T01:21:00.000-07:00

A common complaint about Classic Traveller is that characters can die during character generation. At the surface of it, it looks like a very strong and robust complaint - why should character generation be based on chance rather than the player's choice, and why should a character die even before starting the game?

However, there are actually good reasons to follow this controversial, and lethal, rule.

First of all, Classic Traveller game starts not after character generation, but rather at the beginning of character generation. It is a mini-game all by itself - a game of chance, if you will. And like all gambles, it has its own thrill in it. Will your character survive multiple terms of combat as a Marine? Will you muster out a General, or, alternatively, finish your career at a state funeral reserved to military heroes? Go on, gamble!

Another thing to keep in mind is that, as long as you stick to Book 1 and Supplement 4, Classic Traveller character generation is FAST. VERY FAST. Once you know the system well, generating a character takes a mere five minutes. So even if your character dies, you don't lose much time - in fact, you've only played a little game of dice for several moments, no harm done.

But the real reasons for the chances for character death in Classic Traveller character generation are twofold: from a setting perspective and from a game-mechanics perspective.

From a setting perspective, a military career, especially in actual combat service (when you can learn all these nifty combat skills), is a risky thing. Combat is no picnic, after all. You don't earn combat experience by sitting behind a desk, but rather by shooting and being shot at. Soldiers die in many cases; that is the nature of war. And the game reflects that.

From a game-mechanics perspective, keep in mind that Classic Traveller - like most versions of Traveller - uses the 2d6 curve for task resolution. This curve is highly sensitive to modifiers, so even a mere +1 is significant; high skill levels will skew the curve much towards the character's favor, and thus are highly valuable. The chance of death during character generation, therefore, exists in order to make higher skills rarer and more valuable. Otherwise, why not just stick in, say, the Scouts for terms and terms on no end and have a character with Pilot-5? This presents the player with a choice: do you muster out now alive but with a smaller amount of skills, or risk a certain chance of death in the line of duty to earn better combat experience? Are you determined enough to become an officer to risk your life in the line of duty, or do you muster out as a Private and stay alive for the time being? Choices. Choices. And risks. This is the essence of Classic Traveller character generation.

I hope that these few arguments would make you think again about the reasoning behind these seemingly arbitrary mechanics.

Of Rank and Fighting Ability - a rant

2011-07-05T01:48:00.000-07:00

I'm thinking about the major NPCs of my City on the Ice-Choked Sea setting for D&Dish weird fantasy. Part of it includes deciding what to do with the high-level NPCs I've detailed earlier for that setting. And here I come face to face with a very common trope: many video games and face-to-face RPGs equate social (or military) rank with fighting prowess. and i don't think that this should be the case.

Assuming that fighting prowess equals social or military rank is assuming that the society or military force in question is a perfect meritocracy centered on fighting ability - where the more competent people are promoted to positions of power. While this might be true for groups such as pirates or viking raiders, where people literally fight their way up the rank ladder to the top (and have to keep themselves in good shape to stand against challengers), many more civilized organizations and societies do not work this way.

Examples of this abound. In the typical western state, the military is, ultimately, under the command of a civilian politician, who may or may not have any military experience; this is quite extreme in the USA where the President - an elected civilian - is actually the direct commander in chief of the military. But this is not only a case for democracies - not all medieval monarchs were warrior kings; many were even invalids, yet had armies at their command.

Furthermore, even inside the military hierarchy, ranking officers need not be high-level Fighters. After all, climbing the ranks and administrating armies require quite different skills than fighting in the battlefield. And this is not to mention the even less meritocratic forces where a noble (or other dignitary) could earn a military rank by the virtue of his social status... In many cases, indeed, a Sergeant might be more experienced as a soldier than the Lieutenant he answers to, especially is the Sergeant has plenty of real combat experience and the Lieutenant is fresh out of officers' college...

So the game stats of people in power will vary in my settings. Some would have powerful stats, other will be (in LotFP terms) be level 0. But in many cases, a low-level (in game terms) person in a position of power will have mighty warriors at his or her disposal - bodyguards, elite units and the like.

15mm BTR-70s by QRF

2011-06-10T13:01:00.000-07:00

I'm pleased with the 15mm BTR-70s made by QRF; not only are they perfect for historical, ultra-modern and near-future games, but BTRs also fit perfectly, IMHO, as sci-fi wheeled AFVs with the right camo scheme.

So here they are:
And a closer look at one of them:

The Space Cockroach's Vehicle Works part 3

2011-06-09T14:30:00.001-07:00

I've primed my vehicles today, applying two thin layers of thinned white Gesso primer to each model. Tomorrow, hopefully, I'll paint the BTRs.

March of the Machines

2011-06-07T13:44:00.000-07:00

I've started basing a reinforced platoons of 15mm.co.uk Automatons, who could be, IMHO, excellent stand-ins for Terminators if you'd like. They'll see some serious sci-fi use in my service, as well as PA combat.

I love these minis, like all newer 15mm.co.uk stuff: solid, very little flash and quite detailed. Just perfect!

So here they are:

The Space Cockroach's Vehicle Works part 2

2011-06-04T09:18:00.000-07:00

More 15mm vehicles have been built, and now await priming and paint!

First are four Robotanks (15mm.co.uk Tracked Heavy Automata) for a sci-fi project, but these could have post-apocalyptic uses as well:

Second are three BTR-70s (from QRF) to serve in STALKER games, as well as in my Valieskan Civil War ultramodern setting:

Third is a Rebel Minis Merka5 MBT, to serve as a Merkava VIII for my Unholy Land (post-apocalyptic Israel) setting:

Fourth is a Khurasan Miniatures Red Banner tank, in Red Lightning configuration, with some updates, for sci-fi gaming:

And, finally, a comparison shot of all of my current vehicles:

And yes, that Khurasan Red Lightning is H-U-G-E!

The Space Cockroach's Vehicle Works part 1

2011-06-04T07:44:00.000-07:00

I've started working on the vehicle part of my 15mm 'lead pile'.

First is an armoured car with a minigun, using a 15mm.co.uk Light Tank, for my sci-fi Mars Project:

Second is an MBT, using a Khurasan Miniatures Red Banner tank, for another sci-fi use:

I'll prime them sooner or later; I think I'll paint both with a "dirt planet" (Mars) rust-red/black/brown camouflage scheme.

A problem I have with that tank is that the barrel is a very heavy metal part, and thus has sunk down toward the chassis despite good amounts of contact glue.

Fantasy Brainstorming: A Seaside Town with Sea-Blooded Nobility

2011-05-16T06:05:00.000-07:00

I have some vague ideas crawling around my head about a potential setting for a Lamentations of the Flame Princess (Grindhouse Edition) game. Unlike my previous, wilderness-centric D&D settings, this setting will be urban, and with a somewhat more advanced technology than usual D&D, to follow LotFP's Renaissance atmosphere. Inspiration would be Lovecraft's works, Michael Scott Rohan's Winter of the World saga (to a small degree) and my second favorite computer game ever*, Thief: Dark Project.

I'm undecided yet between a small-town setting and a big city setting, though I'm leaning towards the former for a more flavorful setting with strong NPC personalities, as well as a fully-detailed dungeon under the town. But I'm open to suggestions nonetheless.

The town would be situated on the shores of an ocean, with the old town originally built on a cliff, and the newer quarters growing around the docks below it. The town is past its prime, with many crumbling buildings in the Old Quarter and with rife crime in the Docks and a lot of filth spewed into the air by the new Manufacturing Quarter. The kingdom to which the town belongs is in bade shape (my initial thought was something along the lines of a shaky, corrupt restoration of monarchy after a revolution and a bloody civil war), and the roads inland are not very safe.

There is intense rivalry between the town's old nobility, the descendants of seafarers of old, and the newer and wealthier merchant and manufacturing barons. There are rumors about the old nobility being involved in unwholesome sorcery, while the old nobility views the rising merchant class as a group of rootless upstart with no real legacy.

The big secret is that the old nobility in the town are Sea Blood (as in Realms of Crawling Chaos) - they have been inter-breeding with Deep Ones from time immemorial. This is only fully known to the elders of the old noble families, with the truth kept in the shadows from the younger nobles. Those of noble blood have some sorcerous abilities, are long-lived and become deformed as their age; but the sorcery is attributed to a long tradition of magecraft, and the deformities to inbreeding, and many lesser members of the noble families don't know much about their heritage until they reach an advanced age (if at all).

PCs could play characters of Noble Blood. This will be a custom class which would replace the Elf, and have Magic-User spells instead of the RoCC Sea Blood's Clerical spells. Their XP progression would probably be faster than the elves', with the catch that they'll become deformed over time. Of course, Noble Blooded PCs won't know about their true nature until they reach a high level... And then, they'll be in for a nasty surprise!

There would be no Elves in this setting. Dwarves, however, will exist as Duergar, or the Elders, a dying race which has predated Man and is now being usurped by Humanity (actually they're an evolutionary offshoot of the Neanderthals who took refuge underground when most of their race died), and use the LotFP Dwarf stat.

Comments would be welcome.

* My all-time favorite computer game is the original System Shock. My 3rd favorite is S.T.A.L.K.E.R.

Spring Cleaning - 15mm Miniatures for Sale

2011-04-14T07:14:00.000-07:00

As part of my spring-cleaning campaign, I've decided to sell any surplus 15mm miniatures which are getting no use and are taking up considerable space in my two storage boxes.

All prices below include shipping. I live in Israel, but shipping worldwide takes bout 2-3 weeks and is inexpensive for such small packages. payment is through PayPal.

PM me and we'll finalize a deal. :D

Rebel Minis SAS Assault Group + SAS Elite Team (unpainted, partially based)

20 miniatures in total, $10 in total.

Rebel Minis Armed Gunmen (Painted)
12 miniatures in total, $6 in total.

Spriggan Miniatures SPUG (painted)4x Drone Squad (6 figures each)
2x Omega Drones
1x Spug Heavy Support Weapon
4x Spug Scout Bike

Total 27 miniatures and 4 vehicles, $14 in total.

Stan Johansen Miniatures Draco Infantry (Painted)10 miniatures in total, $7 in total.

15mm.co.uk Megopolis Police Patrol8 miniatures in total, $5 in total.

Spring Cleaning - RPG Books for Sale

2011-04-14T07:11:00.000-07:00

As part of my yearly spring-cleaning, I've decided to sell some of the RPG books I no longer use, both in Hebrew and in English.

I live in Rehovot, Israel, but thanks to the modern shipping services, I can send the books to anywhere you live in the world.

The following prices include shipping; shipping to Europe, the UK and the US costs a similar amount.

You can pay by PayPal.

Please send me an e-mail through my Blogger profile if you are interested and we'll talk the details.

I have the following books for sale:

AD&D 2E in English
The Complete Wizard's Handbook - $15
The Complete Priest's Handbook - $15
The Complete Thief's Handbook - $15
The Complete Fighter's Handbook - $15

Traveller in English
Classic Traveller Books 0-8 in one volume reprint - $25
Mongoose Traveller Book 1: Mercenary - $15

Shadowrun 2E in Hebrew
Shadowrun 2E Core Book - $20
Mercurial (Adventure) - $15

Shadowrun 2E in English
Rigger 2 - $15

Shadowrun 3E in English
Shadowrun 3rd Edition Core Rules - $25
Shadowrun Companion 3rd Edition - $15
Cannon Companion - $15
Magic in the Shadows - $15
Matrix 2 - $15
Man and Machine: Cyberware - $15

Zagadur Isles

2011-04-07T04:29:00.000-07:00

I've been working on a D&D-type fantasy setting called Wounded Gaia, with the default 'sandbox' sub-setting in it being the Zagadur Islands.

So here is the initial draft map of the Isles, done in Hexographer:

The Imperials Have Landed!

2011-03-06T07:18:00.000-08:00

I've just received a package from 15mm.co.uk, containing a whole pack of Imperial Troopers from their Laserburn range, two Laserburn motorcycles with Imperial riders, and a HOF Light Tank, all at the 15mm scale. They are going to serve as my Earth Federation Marine Corps platoon fighting the Greys on Mars.

A Dream about Cthulhu and R'Lyeh!

2011-01-28T00:43:00.001-08:00

This morning, just before awakening, I had a proper Lovecraftian dream.

I dreamed that I am standing in an improvised bus depot in a remote place, waiting for a bus to come to take me home, when it happened. The ground cracked, long shadows were cast on it, fishlike abominations appeared, and a huge, lumbering figure - which my dream tagged as Cthulhu - appeared. In the background, out of a dormant lake, the blackish city of R'Lyeh arose. And I was running, running...

Then I remember exploring R'Lyeh, which felt like one of the weirder levels of the Thief: Dark Project computer game, with very strange artifacts, writings in a squarish alien script, and strange, spectral guards... There were other humans around, exploring, becoming mad...

And it all felt so real!

Anarchist Gangers WIP

2011-01-07T23:57:00.000-08:00

I've started converting a bunch of Rebel Minis 15mm Post-Apocalyptic Survivors and Biker Gangers into anarchist gangers for post-apocalyptic gaming (they could also be used as gangers for Traveller). So here is the initial work-in-progress:

Bunkers

2010-12-17T01:18:00.000-08:00

I've finished up two 15mm-scale bunkers sculpted from a locally-available air-hardening clay called Ceramix. So here they are:

S.T.A.L.K.E.Rs!

2010-12-05T00:34:00.000-08:00

I've painted up a bunch of STALKERs - that is, ragged post-apocalyptic survivors, mostly with gas masks. The minis are 15mm.co.uk Post-Apocalyptic Survivors and Rim Mercenaries, as well as one I got from there as an added bonus to their USE ME ruleset.

So here they are:

Armed Colonists

2010-11-19T23:27:00.001-08:00

I've painted up a bunch of 15mm GZG Armed Civilians, which would probably end up representing armed colonists, starship crewmembers, adventurers and the like in Traveller and other sci-fi games.

So here they are:

Encounters of the 15mm Kind

2010-11-03T02:33:00.000-07:00

I've finished painting up a platoon of 15mm.co.uk Grey Aliens (composed of a Grey Landing party [including one saucer], a Grey Infantry Team and three additional Saucers). So here is the result:

15mm TL7-8 Infantry

2010-10-29T06:16:00.000-07:00

I've finished painting a platoon of mid-tech (TL7-8) 15mm infantry (Rebel Minis Spetznaz).

So here they are:

15mm TL8-12 Space Marines

2010-10-03T15:37:00.000-07:00

I've finished painting an entire platoon of 15mm Rebel Minis Earthforce Marines, which would probably fit well into the Traveller tech levels 8-12.

So here they are:

USE ME 15mm sci-fi wargame rules

2010-10-02T06:56:00.000-07:00

I came across USE ME (which stands for Ultra Simple Engine for Miniature Engagements) quite accidentally, while checking the 15mm.co.uk site for new miniature releases. However, as I am quite interested in fast, rules-light games - both RPGs and wargames - USE ME caught my attention, especially since it seemed as a promising candidate for a mean through which I could introduce my spouse (already and RPGer) to tabletop wargaming. Also, the price was right: 6 UK Pounds including shipping, which is about $10; so, even if I would've ended up with a ruleset I didn't like, the risk of purchasing it wasn't THAT significant. So I ordered it.

I've received USE ME three days ago and read through it. This is a tiny, thin booklet of 32 A6 pages, out of them the basic rules take only 14 pages (introduction included!). And the rules are as simple as promised on the site, using only a single d6 for each roll and having a very small number of tables. I've already memorized most of the rules, except for some of the modifiers, but for that I've created a quick-reference sheet which fits nicely on an A5 page.

The rules themselves are very simple and straightforward. Each unit (called "character" in USE ME) has a type (infantry, light vehicle, heavy vehicle or super-heavy vehicle), a weapon type (sidearm, rifle etc) and an ELAN rating. The latter (ELAN) is a simple rating going from 1 (bad) to 6 (great) denoting the character's overall quality - encompassing things such as training, morale and so on into a single digit. ELAN influences a lot of things in USE ME, but first and foremost the order in which units are activated - they are activated from the highest ELAN to the lowest, with initiative (1d6 vs. 1d6) determining which side can activate first at each ELAN rating present on the table. Characters can act twice per activation, and can choose freely between action types for each action (for example, move and shoot, shoot and move, move and melee, shoot twice or move twice), with double actions of the same kind (e.g. shotting twice) incurring a minor penalty. Note that all unit types - infantry to super-heavy tanks - use essentially the same rules in this game, which is a good thing.

Ranged combat is simple as well - the attacker rolls 1d6 (plus or minus modifiers for ELAN, range and so on), and if the modified result is 4 or more the shot hits. If it hits, an opposed roll of 1d6 by the attacker vs. 1d6 by the defender is rolled for penetration, modified by the attacker's weapon and the defending unit's type; units can also be armoured for added protection. Depending on the penetration roll, the target could be unaffected, winged (i.e. lightly wounded), struck (i.e. severely wounded) or killed outright. The two wound types can be marked with markers placed on the table next to the miniature or on its base. Melee uses the same procedure, but hits are automatic (i.e. you only roll for penetration) and the defender gets a free counter-attack.

Characters could also be grouped into squads, which makes their activation, movement and targeting a bit simpler when using a large number of miniatures in the same scenario. Squads have a squad leader, and all movement and targetting uses the squad leader instead of measuring the distances for each and every member of the squad.

Simple rules for off-table support (including ortillery, that is, orbital bombardment of your gaming table!), for multi-battle campaigns, for snipers and drop-troops and for solo play. A simple (two A6 pages) point-buy force-building system is also included.

All in all, USE ME feels quite completely, especially when you consider its size. While I haven't tried it out in play yet, I get the feeling that it lives up to its promise of being a simple, fun, straightforward ruleset for miniature games.

There are a few drawbacks to USE ME, however. First and foremost is the lack of any morale system (though ELAN is said to encompass morale, among other things); characters will fight to the death no matter the odds, which is not very realistic unless you're using armies of robots or bugs. Also, the system seems to be geared towards typical, rifle-centric troop engagements, lacking specific rules for more unique weapons such as flamethrowers, submachineguns, shotguns and man-portable rocket launchers. But the good thing is that, with such a basic, generic framework of a system, you could easily solve this problems with a few very simple house rules (e.g. roll under ELAN on 1d6 for morale).

The rules are advertised as being generic sci-fi, but I think that they could be very easily used for any modern (i.e. 1900+), post-apocalyptic or near-future game. I might even be planning a WWII game using these rules, set in Stalingrad!

The bottom line is that if you're looking for a simple, fast, beer-and-pretzels system to have casual wargaming with, USE ME is a perfect match. If you're looking for something more complex and/or realistic and/or simulationist, you should look elsewhere, such as F.A.D.

The Death's Head Regiment

2010-09-25T14:35:00.000-07:00

I've finished painting the miniatures representing a platoon of the Kedeshian Death's Head Regiment from my Canopus setting. The minis are Eureka Miniatures 15mm Sci-Fi Stormtroopers:

Improved Goons!

2010-09-23T13:02:00.001-07:00

I've improved my 15mm Armed Gunmen, adding gravel to their bases and applying matte varnish to the whole minis:

The Mars Project

2010-09-23T12:37:00.000-07:00

I've come up with a nice side-project to me to try my developing modeling skills on: a sci-fi wargame milieu set on Mars in the early 2200's. Mars was first colonized by Humanity in the late 21st century, and an ambitious terraformation project began in the early 22nd century. Now atmospheric pressure has risen to a sufficient level to allow Humans to walk on Mars with only cold-weather clothes and a breather mask (which scrubs the excess CO2 out of the air and then condenses the air to a breathable pressure). But the terraformation process has awakened... Something.

For centuries there were rumors about something unnatural existing in Cydonia. However, the first explorations found nothing there but weathered hills and a lot of peramfrost. But a flash-flood caused by the terraformation effort (and a Free Mars sabotage of a major terraformation facility) swept much of that permafrost away, revealing a landscape of alien ruins long buried under the red sands.

And then... Something inside the ruins awakened, an ancient distress beacon. And on a distant world, the signal was received.

And now they have come to Mars to take back what was theirs millenia ago. But of course, the Earth Consortium would never allow them to do that. And so begins the Mars war.

On one side are the Earth Force Marine Corps, Humanity's best, defending Mankind's largest interplanetary colony from the alien threat, and also doing its utmost to keep Mars well within the Earth Consortium's iron grasp. Equipped with advanced rifles and combat space suits, these brave men and women are trained to fight in any environment in the Solar System, and they will fight well on Mars as well.

For them I'll be using Rebel Minis 15mm Earthforce Marines, which I have at hand, based and primed but not yet painted:

On the other side are the Grays, who once, in the previous incarnation of their civilization, have colonized Mars and tempered with Humanity's evolution. Now they are back, riding their silvery saucer-shaped starships and totting laser and plasma weapons. They have used biotechnology to adapt themselves to the Martian environment, and can breath on the Martian surface without needing a mask. Their technology, however, is but a fraction of what it was before their Long Night; they yearn to take once again possession of the Lost City of Cydonia and unlock its technological secrets.

For them I'll use one of the 15mm Gray lines of miniatures, most likely the Grays done by 15mm.co.uk, which I quite like. I haven't bought them yet, but they are definitely in my to-but list.

On the third side is Free Mars, the independence movement founded by the original Human settlers of Mars. Their aims are to throw off the yoke of Earth Consortium domination and make Mars an independent state. While their equipment is outdated, they know the lay of the land very well and use the terrain to their advantage.

For them I'll use Rebel Minis 15mm Sahadeen, with their robes and hoods colored in a rusty shade. I haven't bought them yet, but they are in my to-buy list.

And in the middle are the newer colonists, Earthers who came to Mars to seek their fame and fortune and to escape the crowded, polluted mess which is Earth. The EFMC's sworn duty is to protect these civilians, while the Grays see them as Humanity's soft belly to be terrorized (or abducted to serve as guinea-pigs in their experiments) and Free Mars tries to recruit them to its lines.

For them I'll use unarmed 15mm miniatures in space suits, most likely from GZG.

The fun part is going to be terrain: sure, I'm going to buy a red tablecloth to put on the gaming table, but making pyramids, alien crystals and a "face" would be loads of FUN! I'll also make colony domes and other structure.

And of course, everything I'll paint or build for this project is going to be useful for Traveller games! :D

Improved Lizards!

2010-09-22T13:15:00.000-07:00

I've improved my Draco Infantry miniatures, adding gravel to their bases and applying matte varnish to the whole minis.

Here is the result:

Back to the Hobby!

2010-09-18T03:29:00.000-07:00

After several months of trouble and pressure in real life, I'm pleased to say that I'm finally back to the gaming hobby, and will resume updating this blog.

Today I've painted ten 15mm Giant Ants from Khurasan Miniatures. They are very useful as they can be very easily used as stand-ins for all sorts of bugs, from Giant Spiders in D&D to the Chamax in traveller.

So here they are:

Fear the Goon Platoon!

2010-05-17T04:04:00.000-07:00

I've finished painting a bunch of Rebel Minis Armed Gunmen (with a Sahadeen Heavy Weapons Pack thrown in for variety) for use as generic thugs/pirates/goons/militias in my upcoming Traveller game.

First Impressions from the D&D 4E "Test Drive"

2010-03-12T10:30:00.001-08:00

What is this?
I have never read through, let alone play, the 4th edition of D&D. My experience with D&D is limited to BECMI, 2E, and 3.0E. I'm currently using the Basic fantasy RPG retro-clone rules to play D&D-style games.

Wizards of the Coasts have released a free set of Quick Start Rules and a free full-sized adventure available for download by anyone willing to check out the 4th edition of Dungeons and Dragons. I figured that, since these materials are completely free of charge, they deserve, for the very least, a read-through. I have read through both files - the Quick Start Rules and the Keep on the Shadowfell adventure - during the preceding week, and now I will post my first impressions from reading them.

Things I liked
1) The overall Quick Start rules are very clearly written for the most part. I find it very easy to understand the game mechanics. Everything is laid out in simple language and in a very readable format. In the first glance it looks quite easy to learn and play. The rules look quite simple (critical hits, for example, have been simplified to simple maximum damage rather than different damage multipliers and chances per weapon type; bull-rishes and grapples have been similarly clarified and simplified). I hope this also holds true in the actual 4E rules.
2) Attack powers no longer have saving throws; instead, the attacker rolls an attack against a static defense rating (similar to how AC is handled in 3E or 4E); there are four possible defenses - AC, Reflex, Fortitude and Will. I like this as it looks quite logical and streamlines the magic system as well.
3) Skills are simplified. If I understand this correctly, instead of messing around with skill points (which was a bit messy in 3E), your skill modifier simply equals your ability modifier plus half your level (rounded down). There are also less skills than in 3E (which, IMHO, had too many of them) and the skills have been consolidated. Feats seem to have been similarly simplified.
4) There has been a significant effort to cut down on paperwork. Now most of your powers are either At-Will (usable any number of times per day) Encounter (usable once per encounter) or Daily (usable once per day). Similarly, your HP recover completely after an Extended Rest. Therefore things look easier to track than in older editions.
5) It seems as if there was a conscious effort to cut down on the "15-minute adventuring day" phenomenon. Not only are most powers usable once per encounter (rather than a finite number of times per day), and not only is it easy to heal during combat without needing expendable spells, but you actually get benefits (Action Points) from doing multiple encounters per day. I like that.
6) Leveling a character seems quite easy, especially at odd levels. Just add a few bits here and there and you're set, without much page-flipping. Am I correct?
7) Wizards finally can fight with magic and only magic all day long, as some spells are At-Will powers. This means that in 4E the wizard won't have to resort to a crossbow or dagger after casting a few spells (which, in previous editions, could be very few per day).
8) Minions. I love the concept - expendable foot-soldier monsters easy to play and kill without much accounting needed; it also highlights the "boss" monsters and focuses the action on them. These rules also allows the Fighter to shine, with all his At-Will powers that do additional damage to nearby monsters; he'll reap through hordes of minions, which looks cool and heroic!
9) The KotS adventure feels quite cool, and lets the players to do heroic stuff (stopping a death-cult!) at mere level 3.

Things I didn't like
1) Wizard spells have been narrowed down. One of the things I love about BFRPG (or even 3E) Wizards/Magic-Users is their versatility in the hand of creative players; in 4E it seems that most wizard spells are combat-focused and seem to have narrow applications. I'd miss spells such as Pyrotechnics, Obscuring Mist and so on which could be very cool in the hands of crafty players...
2) Some of the monsters presented in Keep on the Shadowfell look quite grindy. A lot of monsters have quite a number of HP that the PCs have to chew through; the worst offender is probably the Gelatinous Cube with its whopping 152 HP that would probably take a very, very long time to kill at level 2-3. I hope 4E monster are not like that in general, as I don't want combat to devolve into a boring series of round-after-round chopping with At-Will powers for a large number of rounds.

Things I'm not so Sure About
1) I'm not sure how heavily the 4E rules are tied to their fluff. Some of the fluff - such as the planar cosmology and some of the races - is quite different from the assumptions of previous editions and would be quite difficult to fit into existing settings or campaigns (such as my Wounded Gaia setting). Could 4E be easily played with different fluff, different races and/or different planar cosmologies?
2) Healing Surges. They are a cute little game mechanic which I like from a mechanical POV, but I'm not sure how I'd explain them in-game; how are these wounds healed instantly without rest or magic? Do all PCs regenerate? Could all PCs cast the equivalent of Cure Light Wounds a number of times per day?
3) Combat is designed for miniatures and a grid. A grid has the advantage of being easy to convert between mini scales (I like 15mm personally rather than the standard 28mm scale), but it means that you need to organize a grid in order to play (rather than play off-the-cuff).
4) Characters apparently start the game with a lot more HP on level 1 than in any previous edition. On one hand, this makes them more fit for heroic adventuring (and reduces their chances of being killed by weak opponents), but on the other hand it might greatly affect the feel of a low-level game.
5) What is "Passive Perception"? The quick-start rules refer to it, but it is not explained. Is that simply a Perception skill roll made by the DM, or something else?
6) Monster stat-blocks, while very readable in their format, are quite long. I like the BFRPG stat-blocks which fill one or two rows of text; the 4E stat-blocks are quite hefty, and seem quite a chore to write during prep.
7) The quick-start rules say that they are best suited for a party of 5 players. This might be a problem for me, as I usually can arrange for about 2 players in an average game. Is the game playable with smaller parties, such as 1-3 PCs?

The Bottom Line
I think that the 4E rules, as presented in the Quick-Start Rules, are quite well-written and well-designed. However, I do have my reservations about them, especially in regard to the required party size, the limits placed in wizards and the potential for grind.

15mm Terrain Work-in-Progress

2010-03-06T10:46:00.001-08:00

I'm working on my own set of 15mm terrain features to make my 50cm x 100cm table more interesting to play FAD (and Traveller!) on. Right now I'm at the initial stages of making the terrain, and most features are not even primed, let alone fully detailed or painted.

Here is a Celiran ("Lizard") prefab base-camp I'm composing:

There will be three prefab modules (or tents) made from these plastic bottle bottoms, as well as three water/fuel tanks (two made from old toothpick containers and one from an old aloe-vera gel canister and an old electric wire) and two barrels (I don't recall from where they came).

Here is an urban neighborhood I'm building:

The tanks are the same tanks I'm using for the base camp above. I'll build the buildings out of these three washing-powder cartons, either simply cutting windows and doors into them and painting the window frames around them when I paint the models, and/or gluing additional cardboard stripes to them to make rows of windows with actual frames.

I might also be buying a few barrels and crates from GZG to make terrain even more varied.

Aslan/Kzinti

2010-03-06T02:13:00.001-08:00

I've finished painting a bunch of Aslan/Kzinti miniatures ("Bear Men" by Stan Johansen Miniatures). I've chosen a reddish fur color inspired by some illustrations of Larry Niven's Kzinti I've seen some time ago. So here's the result:

The Importance of Quality Control

2010-03-04T04:13:00.000-08:00

Quality control - editting, proof-reading and playtesting - is an extremely important step of commercial game production.

When a player or game-master buys a commercial game, he or she expects it to be perfectly readable and playable as-is, or, in other words, worthy of the money paid to purchase it. Without adaquate quality control, errors and ommission would inevitably creep into the product, making it less comfortable to use, or, in extreme cases, render it unusable in its published form.

Masses of errata can kill games; this has happened in more than one version of Traveller, for example (MegaTraveller and Traveller 4, I'm looking at you), where otheriwse excellent games were greatly hampered by poor editing and, in the case of Traveller 4, the ommission of an important table from the ship-design sequence. A good proof-reader or enough playtesting would have avoided these problems.

So, when you set out to produce your own commercial gaming material, pay attention to quality control measures. In other words, have a playtest, listen to your play-testers, and use a human proof-reader (rather than simply the word-processror's spell-checker). These simple measures would ensure that your game will turn out as good as it could and should be.

Make Room for the PCs

2010-02-25T01:47:00.001-08:00

One of the most important aspects of setting design for most role-playing games is making sure that the setting accomodates the player characters (PCs), and, similarly, that it allows them to make their own decisions and make a significant impact on the setting. After all, the PCs are the heroes (or villains) of the game, and thus their decisions, their successes and their failures should be significant within the game and have an impact on the setting.

This is one reason why frontier or post-apocalyptic setting are very gameable. Without a strong, overbearing government (or other establishment), without strong law and order, and without powerful NPCs running all around the setting, the actions of a few brave (or vile) individuals become important. For example, if there is a powerful and efficient police force to drive back bandits and criminals, there would be less need for the PCs to defeat them; on the other hand, where chaos reigns, little would stand between the bandits and the control of the area - except for the PCs.

This is, for example, one of the problems I had with the official Traveller universe (OTU). With an enormous, all-powerful, omnipresent Imperium with no real frontiers, the potential for adventure and for making an impact on the setting diminishes. This was more or less solved by the New Era setting, which removed the Imperium and turned everything into a frontier, but this setting had its own problems. The very long timeline (several thousand years into the future) also dwarves, to a certain degree, the characters and their deeds.

Therefore I prefer settings where the forces of law and civilizations are limited and where the players can make a difference. In a Traveller game, for example, I prefer "hard" frontiers with a great unknown beyond them, frontiers where the central government only has a limited degree of control and where exploration and piracy are possible.

Lizard Attack!

2010-02-22T03:00:00.000-08:00

Stan Johansen Miniatures have made a series of very cool lizard/dinosaur humanoid miniatures with varied weapons. The minis are pretty solid and three-dimensional, and ripe with cool details. I've bought three squads of regular infantry (with carbines, rifles and pistols) and a pack of heavy weapon troopers (armed with rotary grenade launchers/chainguns, machineguns and rocket launchers).

They will be useful both for the Official Traveller Universe (OTU) as Droyne, for my Alternative Traveller Universe as Celirans, and for FAD wargaming.

These are my most detailed mini picture so far, and they took me more than two months worth of weekends to complete.

Invasion of the Space Cockroaches!

2010-02-22T02:57:00.001-08:00

I've bought a platoon's worth of Spug from Spriggan Miniatures and painted them as "space cockroaches" for use with Traveller, as well as with Fast and Dirty (FAD) miniature games. I especially like their grav-bikes, which are sleek and cool.

So here they are:

Robots...

2010-02-22T02:52:00.000-08:00

I've bought a few 15mm robot minis a few months ago for Traveller and similar RPGs (maybe Shadowrun, Mutant Future and Paranoia as well?). So here they are, my first attempt ever at painting miniatures:

Welcome to my Hideout!

2010-02-22T02:44:00.000-08:00

In this blog - the Space Cockroach's Hideout - I intend to share my thoughts about gaming, game-design, science-fiction and miniature gaming. It would be a general repository for my ideas, mad ravings and rants related to role-playing games and related matters, posted online for your viewing pleasure. I will also post photos of my latest miniature painting projects and I will review role-playing books and miniatures.

Yours,
The Space Cockroach
AKA Omer Golan-Joel