USE ME ExCom - Part I

Many of us who grew up in the 1990's (as well as older gamers) remember the good, old computer game called UFO: Enemy Unknown (AKA X-Com: UFO Defense). This classic gem was, and still is, one of the finest computerized wargames around where you get to run an organization named X-Com which fights an alien invasion. Besides the strategic-level management of your operations all over the globe, you also got to control your force of elite X-Com operatives against the alien intruders in a tactical battlefield. This game spawned a number of sequels which were a bit less successful (although I'm an avid fan of X-Com 2: Terror from the Deep).

Inspired by this game, I've put together some unit cards for an "ExCom vs. Reticulans" scenario using the USE ME Post-Apocalypse rules. Why Post-Apocalypse? Because this is the latest finished edition of the game, which is remarkably applicable, rules-wise, to X-Com-style games, having everything from Psionics to Anti-Tank weapons.

Of course, I'm using minis I already have and have taken some artistic liberty in terms of the troopers' and aliens' looks, but the basic idea remains: a small group of brave Human elite soldiers vs. a particularly nasty alien landing party. I'm giving them a BTR-70 rather than a Skyranger at this stage as I have a BTR-70 and I don't have a Skyranger at hand.

So let's start with the brave ExCom warriors, Humanity's best. Except for the snipers and the APC, they're all Rebel Minis 15mm Russian Spetznaz. The Snipers are Rebel Minis Sahadeen and the APC is a QRF BTR-70.







You can get a full-res 3x3 print-out of these cards HERE!

Next up - the Reticulans AKA the Sectoids!

USE ME Post-Apocalipse Quick Reference Sheet

I've made a new Quick-Reference Sheet (QRS) for the USE ME PA post-apocalyptic ruleset. Get it HERE.

USE ME Sci-Fi Quick Reference Sheet

A year and a half ago I've made a Quick Reference Sheet for USE ME Sci-Fi. It should make the game even easier and quicker to play. Get it HERE!

I'll try to build a new one in this week, all while working on my next USE ME booklet, CYBER USE ME. Same goes for a Quick Reference Sheets for other USE ME variants, especially WWII, Modern and PA.

Novi Stalingrad: 2072!

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

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!

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!

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.