Role-Playing Game Design - Rules-Light Horror

 

You, my loyal reader, know that I like to dabble in all sorts of game design.  My primary focus has been in wargames, but that is not the only type of games I have worked on.  I have built card games, board games, and other simple games for my own amusement as well.  One area I have commented on previously and actively play is Role-playing Games (RPGs).

I actually started my RPG journey before my wargame journey.  I learned how to play "Red Box" D&D from a friend's dad; a Lutheran pastor.  I picked up all the boxed sets from a little bookstore in the local strip mall, the only strip mall within a day's bike ride!  From there, I managed to scrap and scrape together the basic AD&D books, the Buck Rogers RPG, and the TSR Marvel Super Heroes game.  As a teen, I played a lot of West End Games D6 Star Wars and Shadowrun.  Many of the books have been lost to time, and I still lament the loss of my Masters edition boxed set.  Shortly there after, an ad in Dragon magazine sucked me into the world of Warhammer and I have managed to juggle my two RPG and Wargame hobbies every since.  

Now that I am older, having regular RPG nights and/or Wargame nights is much easier.  I was able to get into a local RPG session much easier than I was able to get into the wargaming community!  The wargaming scene had a number of starts and stops.  Meanwhile, I have had a long running RPG group with a dedicated weekly game night, that was only interrupted by COVID, but has since re-grouped after vaccines became widely available.  

The re-engagement with this group has rekindled my interest in RPGs.  Thanks to this group I have been able to play and run a few more modern games such as Dune, Lasers and Feelings, Monster of the Week, Those Dark Places, and more.  The group is primarily a Dungeons and Dragons 5e group, but we are not averse to spreading our wings a bit!  Thankfully, we have several people who are capable of being game masters as well as players too!  

All of this regular activity has led me to be interested in designing and playing RPGs.  Today, I want to share a simple rules-lite game I built for running a horror themed one-shot.  

Before you begin to play, it is important that you set the appropriate ground rules for your players, this is a horror game after all.  Therefore, some of the themes are vulnerability, insanity, hopelessness, and bad things happening to good people.  Horror could include supernatural, alien, or human behavior that violates normal taboos.  Therefore, before you play make sure that you understand where your players draw the line, and make sure not to go so far as to ruin the fun for any of your players.  That said, they maybe the 'heroes' in the game, but in Horror heroes die, or worse have to pay a terrible cost.   

So, with the appropriate guidelines set for the players, let's take a look at the brief rules of the game. 

 

A Lite Game of Horror   

Key Mechanics

• Roll a d6 and add your character's attribute to it
• 7+ is a partial success, and an 8+ is a success, 12 is a critical success.
• Relevant Occupation is a +2, Hobby is a +1, Weakness is a -1 and Terror is a -2.  The player is encouraged to make a case for why these modifiers apply, but ultimately it is up to the GM when to use these mods. 
• Relevant equipment is +1.  The player is encouraged to make a case for why these modifiers apply, but ultimately it is up to the GM when to use these mods. 
• If one player helps another player, the acting player can roll twice and chose the highest score to apply

A partial success is something that appears successful at first, but all may not be as it seems.  The GM may choose to reverse the success or add a complication based on the success.  For example, you may successfully open a sealed door, but the noise is loud enough to alert someone to your presence. 

A Critical Success results in the player earning more than what they initially were trying to do.  This could be an additional benefit narrated by the player but approved by the GM.  If it is an attack, all damage is doubled.  For example, a player scores a critical success to open a sealed door, but a critical allows them to open it and then choose to also re-lock it behind them.  

Attributes

·       Class- Social standing, charm, and wit

·       Brains- Perception, speed of thought, and learning

·       Brawn- Physical abilities such as strength, endurance, stamina

·       Reflex- Speed, hand eye coordination, and agility

 o   Brains + Brawn/2 round down = Nerve which is used to resolve Insanity Checks

o   Class = Used for Acquisition tests, also +1 equipment for each point of Class over 1.

o   Reflex = Initiative for actions when timing matters

o   Insanity = Brains Attribute level

o   Wounds = Brawn Attribute level

You have 1, 2, 3, and 4 to allocate across these four areas with no duplicates in an attribute.   

Insanity 

If a player is asked to make a Nerve test, roll a 1d6 and add the character's Nerve.  If failed, they have an episode.  If succeeded, the PC is fine.  Every time you Fail a Nerve test, the PC lose 1 sanity and are subject to an episode.  

In addition, as you lose your grip on sanity, you can ask the GM one close ended question about the situation.  The GM must answer as truthfully as they can.  Example questions could be: 

• Is Mr. X the killer?
• Can this thing be harmed by fire? 
• Is this book related to a cult?  

If a character loses all their sanity, they are catatonic for the rest of the game.  After the game, your character is clinically insane for the rest of their life. 

 ·       Episodes

If an episode occurs due to a failed Nerve check, roll 1d6 and consult the chart below:

1-  Shaking.  You experience uncontrollable shaking, and must re-roll Reflex rolls and choose the worst. 

2-   Fatigue.  You are suddenly very, very tired. All brawn rolls are re-rolled and you must choose the worst outcome. 

3-   Brain Reeling.  You have a hard time focusing.  All Brains tests must be re-rolled with the worst outcome being chosen. 

4-   Rigid.  You are rooted to the spot, unable to take your eyes off what caused the episode until is removed, or you are removed from it.  After the episode, you must re-roll all Class tests and choose the worst outcome. 

5-   Catatonia.  You fall to the floor, unable to move or act for 1d6 minutes.  After you recover, all Nerve tests must be re-rolled and the worse outcome chosen. 

6-   Insane fear and violence.  You must escape the source of the episode at all costs.  You will flee, and fight anyone who stands in your way.  Once away from the source of the episode, you will suffer catatonia as above.  

Combat

If a character loses all their wounds, they go to unconscious and possibly dead. 

At the start of combat, all players make a Reflex roll and tell the GM the number.  Actions take place from highest number to lowest.  Enemies always act at 7, but after players that score a 7.  If there is a tie between players, the players decide who they want to go first.       

-          Melee is d6 + Brawn = success or not

-          Ranged is d6 + Reflex = success or not

These same checks are used when attacked, with success avoiding damage and failure leading to damage.  Failure typically causes 1 wound loss.  

Each hit causes 1 physical wound, with +1 wounds for appropriate equipment.  A critical causes double wounds.  

Enemies have as many wounds as the GM wants, but humans should have between 1-4, and horror based creatures should not have more than the total parties starting Wounds.

          

Design Philosophy

That's all the rules!  As I built these simple rules, I had a few major ideas driving them.  The first, and most important element of the design is that I believe the "only rule that matters" in an RPG is how to determine success and failure for the players.  Everything else is fluff.  Therefore, if you are trying to make a Rules-Lite system, the focus has to be on this core question; how does a player know they have succeeded/failed?  Therefore, the most ink is spilled on this question. 

Typically, the answer is a combination of skills, abilities, and equipment.  I stripped these elements down to the barest of essentials. 

Beyond that, I also wanted a game where GM Decisions were important BUT the GM role never had to make a single dice roll.  All dice rolling was intended to be done by the players, with the GM interpreting results of player declared actions based on the results.  To me, the power of GM is the signature element of a RPG, and is the best feature.  It is not a bug, and the GMs role to make decisions and interpret results should be expansive in an RPG.         

You will also notice, that the game will be shaped by failure as much as success!  The threshold for a partial success is 7+.  You are rolling a d6, so your best attribute will have a range of 5 to 10 while your worst will have a 1 to 7.  This makes using your Hobby, Occupation, and equipment critically important.  In addition, your Terror, weakness, or an episode will make it extremely hard for you to succeed.  The more Episodes you have, the more you will death spiral on attribute tests without careful use of modifiers.    

Finally, this game was designed to have quick build characters.  There are two reasons for this.  The first is that it is a one-shot, so we will likely not use them again.  Speed to build was critical.  Secondly, in a horror game characters tend to die, so quick character creation makes it easy to replace them.  That said, the Occupation/Hobby and Weakness/Terror system and simple attributes will easily give players a quick sense of the character so they can dive in quickly.  This system also rewards Role-playing the character and provides in game support for doing so.  Simple yet deep enough. 

The rules are also time period agnostic, so these games could be modern, set in the past, in a fantasy world, or sci-fi.  The choices is yours!  Our game happened to be set in the Catskill Mountains of New York state in 1890, but they could have been in our D&D world, on a space station, modern day Cuba, etc.  These could also use minis and maps, but works just fine as theatre of the mind.    

Going Beyond the One-Shot 

Finally, the rules above are intended to be played as a One-shot.  If you wanted a campaign, experience rules would be easy to add.  For every wound and insanity you lose, you gain 1 experience..... if you survive the game without going to 0 wounds/insanity.  If you do not survive you make no gains.  If you go to 0 Insanity/Wounds you can survive but at the cost of taking a new weakness/terror or losing equipment.           

You can then use experience to increase an Ability for a new level x4 (i.e. going from Class 1 to Class 2 would cost 8), for every 10 you could buy a single re-roll to use as needed, use 10 to make a new acquisition test for some equipment out of game, or buy a new Hobby/remove a Weakness for 10; with Occupations/Terrors costing 25.     

Conclusion

The Death Spiral was by design!  This is a horror game, and the cost of success is great.  In the one-shot we played, of four characters; 1 died of injury, 2 went insane, and the last one had to flee into the winter wilderness while everything burned down around them!  This was all part of the big finale.  That is how horror games should end.    

That said, the idea behind horror games is that characters are caught up in things they can not truly handle and that is beyond their ability.  Therefore, the rules are designed to reflect ordinary folks going against extra-ordinary circumstances.  In addition, they give the players leeway to role-play for benefits and make decisions and the GM the space to apply complications, determine results and make rulings.  

If you give them a try, let me know what you think! 

  

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On The Painting Desk: Persians for the Ionian Revolt

 

One of my long running goals for 2022 was to release a supplement for the Ionian Revolt for Men of Bronze onto the Wargame Vault.  I have a similar supplement called Hercules Abroad that greatly expands the Greek world across the Mediterranean and adds more armies and supplements.  I also have a similar supplement for Wars of the Republic called Revolt! that focuses on the 3rd Servile War.  

Before Men of Bronze was released, I wrote up an article and campaign to play the Ionian Revolt for Wargames, Soldiers, and Sailors.  However, due to a lack of a Persian army for photographing, the article was not published.  Instead, I did a piece on the Battle of Delium instead.  However, I still had my notes and what I wrote for the Ionian Revolt.  

It was these notes and this article that would form the basis of the Ionian Revolt supplement.  In addition, the Ionian Revolt seemed like an ideal venue to take a closer look at the Persian Empire lines-of-battle, and revisit some of their non-Greek foes as well.  

However, in order for any of that to happen I needed to get over one big hurdle.  I needed a Persian Army! This had thwarted my initial article and at the time, there were not any great plastic models available.  However, time moves on and now we have not 1 but 2 ranges of plastic Persians to choose from!  

The first is from Wargames Atlantic.  I used this company for my Dark Age Irish, and was very happy with the results.  I was able to make an army of 6 units with only two boxes,  They also painted up easily, and were very affordable.  The sets are great for making infantry and archers, but their are no cavalry available.  However, you could easily make the sample Line-of-battle list for Persians from the Men of Bronze book with these models.  

The other plastic Persian army is from Victrix Limited.  This company has provided the bulk of my Greek, Macedonian, Viking and Roman forces in 28mm in the past.  I have really appreciated the level of detail and pricing of these sculpts.  The range also has a wider variety of forces from unarmored infantry, armored/unarmored archers, and light and heavy cavalry.  Since cavalry was a big part of Persian armies, it made sense to go with Victrix this time around. 

Therefore, I was off to their website, where I ordered the miniatures I wanted, and a handful of transfers to "bling-up" a few of the front rank models.  As always shipping was quick and well-tracked.  However, it was NOT cheap to ship.  That said, I compared the costs with some American distributors and the costs were in line.  However, since I wanted some transfers, and they are only available via the Victrix store; it made sense to order direct this time.  I got my Persians shipped all the way across the pond in about two weeks!  Pretty fast really.  

There it is, in all its glory.  In total it is about 120+ minis.  In the end, I want the army to have 2 units of light cavalry, 1 unit of heavy cavalry, 3 units of archers, 2 units of drilled infantry, and 2 units of light infantry/skirmishers.  Plus, the Ionian Revolt supplement has some alternate lines-of-battle with some interesting twists on the core Men of Bronze rules I would like to exploit with these models too.  

When I painted my Vikings, I batch painted all of them in one go.  That was about 60 models.  I do not normally do that, and I do not think I will be doing it with this army!  This time, I plan to take it on a unit-by-unit basis instead.  So, the first step is to get my first few units to paint assembled and base coated in white.  For basing, I am single basing using metal washers, as that gives the model a bit of heft and easily allows different formations.  Also, single based allows me to use them in different games as needed as well.   

I started with some unarmored and armored infantry forces to get me started.  I assembled 40 Persian foot soldiers.  I decided to make 2 units of Psiloi (or skirmishers) armed with javelins and no shields.  I also made a unit of Warband/Irregular infantry with hand weapons and shields.  The last unit was armored so I decided to make them a unit of the famed "Immortals" or "Apple Bearers" with linothroax and hoplon style shields to get started.  I figured painting a group of 40 or so soldiers to get me going would be a good start.  Plus, with two units without shields I would see results fast!  

Once assembled, I undercoated them all by brush with a cheap, big-box retail store bought white.  

Once they were undercoated, I faced my first challenge.  I like to paint from the lowest level upwards.  So I always start with the flesh tones.  For the Greeks and the Romans, I used Tanned Flesh for the majority of the troops.  I was unsure if I should do the same for the Persians?  Ultimately, I decided to a couple different skin tones for the Persians as they had a I diverse army from a variety of places.  I used a few different colors across the four units including Tanned Flesh, Fur Brown, and Monster Brown.  

That is what I painted first, and it was nice to paint figures wearing trousers!  Not so many calves and knees to paint!   

After the skin, I turned to start on the clothing, and the first step was to paint all of their shoes in Monster Brown.  Then, I turned to their trousers and used a Skeleton Bone, Desert Yellow, Demonic Yellow, and Dry Rust and alternated in every fourth soldier.  Later, I will decide if I want to go back and add some patterns, but probably not! 

Then, something really odd happened.  I typically batch paint all their tunics and keep working up.  However, this time I focused on the elite infantry first.  This is not my usual method at all!  I typically kept them until somewhere in the middle or towards the end of the process.  I painted them up as a reward to myself after the rank-and-file of the army was done!  Not this time.  I think I focused on them, because they had more layers than the other unarmored troops I was working on?  

I painted their undertunics Grimoire Purple, and their armored "skirts" in Pure Red.  Then, their armor was done in Greedy Gold.  The belts and trim were done in Voidshield Blue.  The shoulder pads were done in Matte White.  Next the weapons were painted with black hafts and Greedy Gold blades and butt spikes.  I had no idea what was happening, as I did not go back and work on the Irregular Infantry or Psiloi at all!

  Unlike the rest of the force, I decided that these elite infantry would look uniform in color scheme.  They would all match!  I rationalized it with it would make them look more like the elite, and their losses easily replaced and hidden with a similar uniform provided by the Great King!  I seriously doubt that this was how it was done, but I was on a roll now!  

Beards and hair was done with Ash Grey, Dark Stone, and Fur Brown.  Their headgear was a bit of a bear to paint, but I went with more Grimoire Purple.  I paused to consider the officers cloak/jacket and I quickly painted it with a Alien Blood purple to make it stand out and blend in with the rest of the units purple gear.  Then a Light Tone wash to finish it all off.  Within a matter of nights the base models for the Immortals were done.....

  The next day, I picked up the Immortals with a sense of urgency.  The first unit for the Persian force was almost done!  I decided to give them all Hoplon shields and bow cases too.  After all, the Immortals were noted for being armed with bows as well as spears and shields.  The shields were Greedy Gold and I used Little Big Man Transfers on the front.  The back was Skeleton Bone, Leather Brown strap, and Voidshield Blue tassels.  The bow cases were a pain to paint, as I decided to make them Grimoire Purple, with Voidshield Blue trim.  Then they also got a nice Light Tone wash.  

I attached the final pieces to the models.  Then, I based them all.  I used my traditional method of a cheap brown latex paint from a Big Box retailer, and then sprinkling left-over moss and clump foliage from the corners of its storage box.  This would match all the basing on the Greek armies as well.  

With shields, bow cases, and bases done; we had the first Persian unit ready for the table top!  

 I was so excited, I ran out and set them up for a bit of a glamour shot against some Greek hoplites.  You can see the difference between the look of both sides....

Well, I hope you like them.  Are they historically accurate to the Immortals during the Greco-Persian or Ionian Revolt?  Heck no!  However, they will look good on the table and visually be different from other Persian infantry types.  In wargaming, that is an important factor too.  

Well, 1 unit down and 3 units left from the first batch, and then something like 2 more drilled infantry units (at least 1 with sparabara), 3 Archer units, and 3 cavalry units to complete this Persian army.  Looking at it that way.... Yikes.  That is a lot of painting.  Onto the irregular infantry and Psiloi next.... maybe?  

I also finally finished printing and painting up my second fleet for Poseidon's Warriors form Osprey Games in the Wargaming Series.  I now have enough little triremes for two sides, and that may come in handy when I go to play the Ionian Revolt, as some of the key battles were naval battles!  

These were designed by a guy named Capt. Ahab on Thingiverse.  You can find them to paint up there.  I now have 50 triremes between the two fleets.  These are all the cataphract style, and could represent my Persians in Ionia, or other Greeks foes in later wars.  More importantly, getting these two fleets printed and painted was one of my main goals for 2022.  Three down and two to go?  Maybe if I am lucky I can make all my goals?  

Onwards!   

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Battle Report: Aeronautica Imperialis v1- Operation: Hemlock

 

It has been a long time since I have played any battles for Operation: Hemlock at all!  Here is a quick recap of where we are at with the campaign.  This is Aeronautica Imperialis V.1 by Forgeworld.   

Here is a summary of where Operation: Hemlock left off.  The Orks of Da' Deff Islands on the planet of Ammoriss have been a thorn in the side of Imperial authorities for too long.  After the Battle of Ammoriss an influx of Orks to the planet made the situation untenable.  Operation: Hemlock is a joint effort by local PDF forces and off-world Imperial forces.  

The Orks had initial success as they managed to launch an attack on the nearby island of Baron's Rest from their base in the "Green Zone".  However, their initial thrust there was thwarted by PDF troops near Camp Hope(less).  Ork reinforcements by sea have mostly been stymied by the Ammoriss Naval PDF.  

The superior logistics of the Imperial and Ammoriss war machine has paid off as the troops in Da' Deff  Islands have been well supplied despite the best efforts of Ork subs.  The only bright spot for the Orks has been their relative dominance in keeping Imperials from getting air superiority in the Islands.  The Orks have had localized success by landing troops and managing to take-over various oil rigs and platforms on the approaches to Da' Deff Islands.  This puts them in position to hamper those supply lines from the air.  

With local defeats mounting, Warboss Skarbash has been withdrawing and fortifying his position in the Green Zone, the most heavily infested island in Da' Deff Islands.  His best chance is to gain air superiority and he therefore has been devoting his resources from building warships to building fightaz and Bombaz, and getting more Air Boyz.  This has not gone over well with all of his boyz.   

That brings us to today's battle: 

Gorerippa squinted down at the blue expanse stretching out below him.  It was tough to see where the Oomie ships were, they were pretty tiny on this vast blue desert.  He kept his eyes down, while his boss scanned the sky looking for bogeys.  The spotterz had called out a wake sighting, so there was a good chance a straggler transport ship was about.  

His radio crackled and hissed to life, "Red Toof Boyz.... sighted an Oomie transport at...... 11 o'clock low." 

Gorerippa turned his head and used a free hand to shade his eyes from the sun.  Yup, out there was a ship.  Small at this height and distance.  Da Boss plane turned, and Gorerippa followed suit to stay with him.  He checked his weapons, and tapped his fuel gauge to make sure he could get there.  Everything looked good.  

As they approached the target, it must have seen them as it started to zig-zag to be harder to hit.  It's white wake marker slashing here and there across the ocean. 

Da Boss grunted across the radio, "Red Toof Boyz, we gotta sink dat boat.  Gorerippa, stay on me.  The rest of yuze, watch out.  Oomie fightaz are about." 

Gorerippa clicked twice to acknowledge.  Da Boss pushed his plane forward, and Gorerippa followed suit.  Then, the radio sputtered again, "We got Oomiez coming in hot, up top." 

A quick glance up and he saw him racing across the sky.  They were going to mix it up before they would get to the ship.  Looks like this was going to be turning into a scrap.      

Forces: 

As a note, many of the Aeronautica Imperialis aircraft I use are scratch built affairs that I sculpted by hand with various materials.  My "collection" fell into the grey area between when Forgeworld was supporting the game with releases, and the invention of 3D printing.  Therefore, most of the stuff on display was lovingly created by me with stats built for various "Narrative Campaigns" on the old Airspace Forum between editions and after the death of the Specialist Games range. 

This mission will use the following forces.

Air PDF

3 PDF Sentinel Fighters

2 PDF Sentry w/skystrikes

Ork Air Waaagh!

2 Waaaagh! Bommaz

2 Ork Fightaz

Mission:

Today we will be playing a Ship Attack mission, with the target being a freighter.  The Orks are trying to sink it while the Imperials need to defend it. The freighter was separated from their convoy due to engine problems, and now it must survive the Ork air attack in order to make it to port. 

The Imperial Freighter is a 4 hit ground target that is armed with a single Hydra mounted on it.  It has 4 hits.   If it is destroyed, it will explode in a 2d6 radius to deadly effect to any aircraft in the area. 

Set-up: 

The freighter is placed 18 inches in from the Imperial short board edge and 12 inches in from the long board edge.  The Imperial aircraft are placed in two groups on the short board edge.  The Sentry group is mid-altitude and full speed coming for the freighter.  The Sentinels are coming in fast and high to the freighter's starboard.    

The Orks are coming in on the center of their board edge, 6 inches in.  They are all at Mid-altitude and coming in at mid-speeds.  They are not trying to be canny on their approach vectors.  

Turn 1: 

Initiative: Imperial PDF

The Sentry's break off with a High Rolling turn after they got one look at the Dakka heading their way.  The Orks press forward, not bothering to disguise their movements, after all they know they have enough forward dakka to snowplow any enemy planes away.  The PDF seem to have learned some lessons from previous engagements and try to move to the edges.

 

Turn 2: 

Initiative: Imperial PDF

The PDF Sentinels stay in a tight cluster as they approach up the edge, on the freighter's starboard side.  The Orks start to spread out across the board, to try and ensure someone gets through.  The Sentry's see this and turn back into the fight, but lower than the Ork craft. 

Turn 3: 

Initiative: Imperial PDF

The Sentry's move up the center of the board, and raise up to meet the Ork threat.  Fighta 1 and Fighta 2 move forward to meet the challenge.  Meanwhile, Waaagh! Bommer 1 tries to scoot to the outside edge away from the PDF.  The Sentinels turn in and dive, and Waaagh! Bommer 1 manages to time his turn to dive in just under them and out of the line of fire! 

Shooting:

Sentry 1 and 2 get a weapon's lock on Fighta 1 and go weapon's hot.  A pair of skystrikes wing out from the PDF planes at long range, and both are good.  The fighta explodes in a fireball at long range!  The Ork  pilot never had a chance to eject! 

Turn 3:

Initiative: Orks

Despite losing a fighta, the Orks press onward.  They seem to have managed to get past the initial PDF fighter screen, and close in on the target.  Sentry 2 turns hard but can not quite get to Waagh! Bommer 2.  The Sentinels also bank sharply and drop altitude, but the Orks may have slipped past.  

Shooting: 

The Orks have no real targets.  

The Hydra on the freighter opens fire on Waaagh! Bommer 1, but fails to dissuade the Ork from pressing the attack.  

Turn 4:

Initiative: Imperial PDF

Sentry 2 again fails to get a bead on Waaagh! Bommer 2 as it presses in on the target.  Sentry 1 is also out of position.  Meanwhile, Waaagh! Bommer 1 flies over the target and prepares to drop their bombs.  The Sentinel squadron drops in on Waaagh! Bommer 2's tail in a conga line, as Fighta 2 does a wing over to get some shots at the oncoming PDF Sentinels. 

Shooting: 

Sentinel 1 opens fire, and fails to damage Waaagh! Bommer 2 as stubber rounds tear throw the plane.  

Waaagh! Bommer 1 drops its wing bombs and causes 2 damaging hits on the freighter.  It begins to take on water and flounder.  

The Hydra on the Freighter opens fire, and manages to blast Waaagh! Bommer 2 out of the sky with a spray of shells!  The pilot is also killed in the spray of fire!  

Big Shoota shells from Fighta 2 tear across Sentinel 1, but the little planes jinks and weaves to avoid them.  

Sentinel 2 causes Waaagh! Bommer 1 to blow smoke as Stubber shells tear into the plane.  

Turn 5: Disengagement Turn

Initiative: Imperial PDF

Waaagh! Bommer 1 drops to the hard deck with a power dive and guns his engine to disengage.  He did his job!

The Sentinels slide slip as they jet past the freighter they were defending.  

Fighta 2 turns in quick to try to get a passing shot, but finds itself in the sights of Sentry 1.  

Shooting: 

Sentry 1 stitches up the side of Fighta 2, and causes him to blow smoke.  

Fighta 2 is just out of the angle for a shot at Sentry 2.  

The defense Hydra on the freighter also takes some parting shots at Fighta 2, but only further prove to the Ork pilot that it is time to head for home! 

Conclusion: 

The Ammoriss Air PDF finally wrack up a win against the Ork Air Waaagh! that doesn't count as a pyrrhic victory.  This time, it was pretty decisive as the Orks lost two aircraft, and has the remaining two damaged, and failed to sink the target.  The MVP was the .... Hydra defense platform on the Freighter itself.  That crew was on fire today! 

Overall, the Orks out maneuvered me in the opening phase, but I did manage to not lose aircraft on the approach.  Once they got settled in to attack the target, it became much easier to get a bead on the Orks.  Especially since I also had them out numbered.  I could go where I needed to be.  

If the Orks would have been able to put the extra weapon load outs on the Waaagh! Bommers, I have a feeling that freighter would be a smoking wreck right now.  Oh well.  Just another sign that the Ork logistics are buckling under Imperial pressure.  

It had clearly been a while since my opponent and I had played AI v1.  We were both a bit rusty on the mechanics and flying in general.  However, it came back to use soon enough as we flew much better in the last few turns than the opening turns.  Such a simple, yet elegant game with a ton of tactical depth and decision making.  I love it soooo much.     

  

Killagrin checked his rearview as he rocketed away from the scene.  The big boat was smoking bad, but was not sinking.  Small black dots swarmed around it like buzzer squigs around a grot.  His plane was  much lighter now that he had dropped his bombs, and even over the big bloo, he could sense that he was going as fast as his bird could go. 

He reached down and toggled the radio, "Killagrin to Gorerippa.... you up 'ere still?"  The radio just crackled back in silence.  He gave it a good whack and tried to raise Gorerippa again.   Again, no response.  

Killagrin shook his head.  Looks like it was time to scrounge up another wing-ork.      

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On the Painting Desk: Speed Painting some Corsairs

 

Hello faithful readers!  

I had little interest in purchasing anything new from Games Workshop.  I dropped out of Warhammer 40K in 5th edition or so.  I had all the specialist games stuff I wanted, and a lot of older miniatures that I still use in various games.  However, some of my local players have been tinkering around with Kill Team.  The sharp eyed among you may have seen my Kill Team games have gone up on the tracker, but no real reports on it.  

Well, this led to our local wargaming group trying to run a Kill Team themed event in order to reach out to our local community of gamers and get them together in one place.  

This coming event led me to do something I did not expect to do at all.  I purchased a Kill Team from Games Workshop!  I still have plenty of old models, and had been using some older Orks as my team.  However, I was at a FLGS and saw the Corsairs box sitting there, and I also found a box of the Army Painter Speed Paints.  

With that being said, I decided to commit to painting these new Corsairs only with Speed Paints.  So, in order to get started, I poorly assembled a squad of 10.  I really should have looker at the instructions closer before I started as I screwed a few things up.  My Warlock, Fate Weaver (sniper) and Starscarred Duelist (two-pistol guy) really suffered for it.  Oh well!  

Then, I primed them all with Grey Seer from GW.  This primer has done good work for me on Reaper Bones, where my normal cheap acrylic method has failed me.  Then, I pulled out my trusty Army Painter Mega-paint set, and made a grey wash from Uniform Grey and washed all 10 of them.  This was to put dark shades into the crevices.  Then, I dry brushed the models matte white.  This meant the recesses had dark grey, mid-areas were light grey, and the top layers were white.  I was hoping these different layers of "grey" as a base coat would cause some interesting interactions with the Speed Paint to create better depths and contrasts.  

With all of them prepped and ready, I actually got a bit nervous!  I pulled out a couple of Reaper Bones models I had sitting around and used them as test subjects first!  I was happy with the initial results I was seeing on the test models.  One thing I noticed, is that it took longer for these to dry than regular paints.  Therefore, I would need to be sure each coat dried before I moved on.  The importance of going from lowest layer to top layer of the model also became apparent, so start with the skin and move up. Online, I had heard some talk of "re-activation" but did not experience it when painting these test minis.     

These paints are also somewhat "thin" compared to normal army painter.  That means they are easy to get worn or rubbed off between coats.  Minimizing the handling is key, and protective coats of varnish/clear cot etc, will be needed for the minis in-game.   

The left had some traditional paints, and the right is all Speed Paint only

With my confidence buoyed by the initial test models, I was almost ready to start.  However, I decide to take a closer look at the models, and start to jot down what I was planning to put where.  This is not something I normally do; but since this is a new type of painting I wanted to make sure I had an idea of what I was doing before I started.   Now, it was time to put brush to mini.....

....and here was the first test model of a standard corsair with a shuriken catapult.

This model was painted only with Armypainter Speed Paints basic set.  This result is good for what I wanted to accomplish.  However, there were a few small details I wanted to update with some more traditional painting methods.  For example, I wanted the cape to be whiter, and the gems to have a bit more of a shine to them.  However, for the base armor, harness, and weapons I was very satisfied with the result.  

So I went back and did some work on the gem stones, and the cloaks to make them stand-out a bit more.  Nothing major, but some more traditional techniques.  Then, when I was done I gave him a light tone wash.  

From there, I went on and started painting my 4 other regular Corsairs, and the Starstorm Duellist model.  I applied the same techniques and this was the result.  

I was happy with this result, so decided to move onto the rest of the Kill Team using the same method.  That was my Gunner, Heavy Gunner, Fate Weaver (sniper), Warlock, and Felarch command unit.  Again, I pretty much just painted the speed paints of Blood Red as the armor, Hardened leather for the harness, Palid Bone for the cloaks/cloth, and Greenskin Green for the gems.  It help with the Pallid bone, I went back and gave them homemade wash of Mummy's Robes and then dry brushed on matte white.  For the gems, I first repainted them with Matte white before applying the Greenskin Green Speed paint.  Then, on the gems I went back and put a small dot of matte white on it.  At the end, I washed them all with Light Tone wash.   

One thing to note, is that the Speed Paints do not cover each other as well as regular paint.  It is often better to paint over mistakes with a bit of ash grey or matte white before applying a new speed paint layer.  This helps with the coverage a lot.  It also highlights the importance of starting with the lowest layer of a model first and painting upwards.  

  That just left the basing.  I decided to go with a simple approach, as these will be gaming pieces first.  Therefore, I decided to paint the bases with Hardened Leather as speed paint.  Then, I used Green Tone ink over the top of it.  Simple and easy, as the bases had all ready been dry brushed and washed in the prepping phase.  After that, I went and painted a black rim around the edges to help them really stand out.  

I also tried to put some transfers on my Felarch's back banner from the transfers that came with the box.  I managed to botch the first one up badly before I realized that GW transfers and Little Big Man Studios transfers work differently!  From there, I figured it out; but they were a bit of a hassle to make work and to stick in the right place.  Perhaps, I was just getting impatient to finish?  

Final step, I gave them all a coat of Matte Finish to keep them safe and secure.  Like I said, I expected these to get some heavy use on the table, and the Speed Paints can be a bit thin.  This makes them prone to wear and tear when handling.  

Here they all are on the table and ready to rock and/or roll! 

From left to right, and front to back we have: Gunner, Corsair with sword/pistol, Felarch with Nuero-Disruptor, Corsair with sword/pistol.  Second row is Heavy Gunner and Warlock.  Third row is Fate Weaver (Sniper), Starstorm Duelist, Corsair with Shuriken Catapult.  Last guy is a Corsair with Shuriken Catapult.  I tried to go with a mixed group of close in fighters and range to support to give me tactical flexibility..... which often is NOT rewarded in Games Workshop games so I expect to get my face stomped in a lot.  :) 

Anyway, thanks to the Armypainter speed paints these took me about 1/3rd the time of my usual approach to base coat, wash, apply highlights and details.  Plus, they look pretty good at arm's length, but they can even stand-up to a somewhat closer inspection too.  Like all things, there are some applications that they will work better for than others.    

Overall, I look forward to learning how to add speed paints into my normal painting repertoire.  There are some things that they will work wonders on.  Keep watching this space, and I will have some Kill Team action posted up here soon! 

Maybe I will see you there at Gestalt Studios and you can play against this Kill Team yourself? 

Onward!  

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Blood and Spectacles Patreon! 

You can follow Blood and Spectacles Facebook page or Instagram for more fun! 

Check out the latest publications and contact me at our Blood and Spectacles website

Or purchase all out games at the Blood and Spectacles Publishing Wargames Vault Page!