Tabletop Skirmish!

     Slightly different post this morning.  The bulk of my gaming has been RPG's, mostly D&D, but long time blog readers know I like all kinds of genres, especially Post Apocalyptic related and Sci Fi.  Many, many years ago, like back in the 80's! I got to play a game of Rogue Trader with a buddy and a relative visiting from out of town. My relative had brought this new game called Warhammer 40K. The minis were soo cool. Legos were used to build a cityscape on the dining room table, and we had two rival Eldar forces battling it out all afternoon. I loved it and wanted to play it more but no one around me played it, and back then you couldn't get the miniatures in this part of the country. Remember this was the 80's and no internet and no hobby shops in my region.  By the time I got the original rules and had a squad, a new edition was out..by the time I pieced together an army for that edition, that edition had more rigid force building rules and "regulations" compared to the original, another edition came out rendering my unpainted force obsolete. Then the same thing happened to me with Necromunda. I got rid of my 40K minis (long story) and moved fully back to RPG's. 

I still have this book, it's falling apart but loaded with fun stuff!
 

      Prior to Covid, I had started playing Zona Alfa with a buddy, just as we were getting into the flow of the game and started meeting regularly, Covid hit and put an end to all of that.  Looking back into my blog, it is hard to believe that was two years ago. Wow, the pandemic really messes with your concept of time.

     Lately I've been once again dipping my toes into the world of tabletop skirmish gaming. Well, to be honest I've been looking into it. I pillaged some online Black Friday sales to order some cool Sci Fi minis.  I have a nice collection of Fantasy minis and terrain, but Sci Fi is where I am lacking. Especially enough pieces to field any kind of skirmish units.  I prefer small scale stuff. I'm not looking to field massive armies. 

     It's nice to see that miniature agnostic and setting agnostic games seem to be more of the thing now. Current trends remind me of the original 40K Rogue Trader build your own stuff days.  Some of my D&D buddies and I have been looking into what skirmish systems are out there, lots of options. Stargrave, One Page Rules, (I'm not doing Kill Team!, GW will get no more of my money, this isn't an anti GW rant, if you enjoy their games great!), Wiley Games stuff, Space Weirdos, Star Breach, Space Station Zero, Zona Alfa, Planet 28 and more.  I'm hoping 2023 will allow for me to have a return to tabletop skirmish gaming.  

Wish me luck!  -B.B.

Oh, I picked this toy vehicle up at an estate sale yesterday, seems to scale perfectly with my 28mm minis.  Miniature is from Battle Valor games painted by my buddy Jeff.

More Minis for the Collection!

 Of late I find myself getting back into miniatures, ok, to be honest I never really left. I have a good sized collection of painted fantasy minis (and a TON of unpainted). However, my Sci Fi and P.A. mini collection could use some work.  That's the rationale I'm going with anyways.  A buddy of mine recently told me about Arcane Scenery & Models out of the UK. In particular there is a line of minis by Trent Miniatures, that have some cool looking 28mm Sci Fi Desert Raiderish figures (Synguree Desert Fighters).  Even though the minis are from the U.K. shipping was FREE!  and the overall price for them was very reasonable. They arrived after just a few weeks and look great. Pictured below.  

 

The dice were a separate purchase from a local shop, gotta have more dice right?

I will need to get these painted up (painted example above is from their website). I can see them being used for a variety of games, Sci Fi, P.A., tabletop skirmish etc...   Looks like I will be placing another order sooner rather than later!

Operation Bigfoot Rescue!

 Happy Simian Saturday!

Today my buddy Patrick and I were able to meet up at the local hobby shop, first time we have been able to get together for gaming since the pandemic started. Masks were worn and proper social distancing occurred.

Prior to the Pandemic we had been regularly playing Zona Alfa.

 After 6+ months, I had about forgotten how to play, fortunately the rules are easy enough that we jumped back into it. I enjoy gaming with Patrick, he isn't a rules lawyer and neither am I, we are able to just go with what is fun and enjoy ourselves. I'm sure we did multiple things wrong, but we had a blast! I think it was one of our best games so far with Zona Alfa.

We randomly rolled up the mission from the tables in the book and then inserted our own spin on things.

Two teams were sent in to Retrieve/Rescue a rare Cryptozoological Speciman- Bigfoot! From the Zone.

Bigfoot had been located apparently trapped in the upper stories of a ruined building in the heart of a Yellow Zone, to make matters worse a Rad Storm was going to hit the place hard in 5 turns. So we only had 4 turns to get in, grab Bigfoot and get out!

My team was my squad of Sovietski Simians, led by the veteran chimp Nikolai! Their training runs into the outer zones had prepared them for this mission. Patrick had a group of Mercenaries, with some rookie rednecks tagged on for extra cannon fodder...er I mean support.

The Mercenaries move out into the Zone, a hot spot is nearby.

The target, Bigfoot, is deep in the heart of the Zone, who knows what dangers lurk within the ruins and rubble.

The Simians move out, they are determined to get to Bigfoot before the humans, Apes are superior to humans after all. 

The Mercenaries quickly run into trouble as a pack of vicious ghouls rush out of a deep crevasse.

Melee combat is brutal, the ghouls nasty claws and bite attacks wound several of the humans who valiantly attempt to fight off the ghouls with their mag pistols!

The simians move into the ruins heading carefully towards their objective, on the way the encounter a pack of feral dogs and obliterate the mangy hounds easily with their assault rifles. 

While the Mercenaries fight hand to hand with the ghouls, the simians reach the base of the ruined building, their objective is three stories above them. Another pack of feral dogs lurking in the ground floor of the structure is dispatched with the simians taking no injuries. The mercenaries, however, are getting badly bloodied by the ghouls.

The simians reach the objective, while the mercs, though badly hurt defeat the ghouls. Sergei one of the Hardened Chimps makes his way to Bigfoot, only to trigger an ANOMALY! The weird alien energies are apparently what was keeping Bigfoot trapped in the building. Sergei attempts to make a will save and FAILS!! His mind is melted by the alien energies and he dies!! At the same time the mercs searching the ruins near where the now dead ghouls emerged also trigger an ANOMALY! The Veteran Leader of the crew, fails his will save and dies from the alien energies erupting from the anomaly.  A rookie braves the energies, makes his save and scores 5,500 worth of loot and gains a permanent +1 bonus to his wisdom!!  The next turn (turn 4) remember the Rad Storm hits soon! The Hardened Chimp Brekov braves the anomaly, makes his save and pulls Bigfoot from the ruin, also finding 5000 in loot and gains a bonus to his armor.  Brekov, moves his max with Bigfoot, and hands off the creature to Nikolai the veteran leader of the team, who uses his enhanced move ability to race off the board with Bigfoot before the Rad Storm hits!!! 

All in all a great game! Please keep in mind we played fast and loose with the rules. Zona Alfa actually doesn't have bigfoot or simians! But why let that stop you! 

Hope everyone is safe and well. 

Good Gaming! -B.B.

Zona Alfa Simian Saturday Special Edition!!

Today I got to combine several of my favorite things into one great big concoction of awesome!
I recently picked up the tabletop skirmish game Zona Alfa.

A very cool, rules lite tabletop skirmish game. Set in the Exclusion Zone!  Imagine something along the lines of the Stalker video game and you are close!
So Post Apocalyptic = Check!, 28mm minis = Check!, Soviet Era weapons and gear = Check!
Next I decided to toss in another element that I am a huge fan of! That is where the SIMIAN part comes in!! While Simians aren't an official part of Zona Alfa, you can use whatever minis you think fit your game. So, I decided for my crew to be 28mm Soviet Simians! That's right I have a crew of AK-47 toting apes!
Here is the crew's veteran leader Nikolai on the edge of the Exclusion Zone getting his marching orders from an Elder Communist Party Orangutan.

Orders received, Nikolai gathers his crew and prepares to head into the Exclusion Zone! This will be a "light" mission, recover some data from a cargo crate hastily dropped from a transport aircraft. Near the edge of the Exclusion Zone...should be a piece of cake right?

So far so good...

This will be a test of the Soviet Simians abilities, as such they will be collaborating with another crew, a group of Russian Special Forces, an all female unit of experienced Zone Veterans.

Packs of vicious feral dogs are scattered in the mission operation area.

 Zombies surround the mission objective!

 

The zombies are quickly dispatched, as are most of the feral dogs, however, the veteran crew leader is injured! 

Thanks to the gun skills of the simians and Nikolai's leadership skills, the simians are able to assist the Russians into recovering the data.

However, upon withdrawing from the area, in a nearby ruin an Anomaly is triggered!! This could be bad!!

Two Simians are fried by the anomaly!! This is bad!!

Success! Usurov braves the energies of the anomaly, in spite of his two other ape comrades now "Out of Action" he finds a wealth of loot and the endeavor improves his Will to continue braving the dangers of the Exclusion Zone!
The collaboration between the veteran Russian Crew and the Soviet Simians proves successful, and good bit of loot is acquired and in spite of the two injured apes, the mission is considered a success!

 New tech and gear in hand, Nikolai is debriefed, and the intelligence gathered from this mission into the Exclusion Zone has provided leads for other opportunities. The collaboration with the Russian ladies, was helpful...but can the humans be trusted?? and more importantly should they be trusted?...only time will tell..

Post Apocalyptic Terrain

My last post showcased a couple of Post Apocalyptic minis I recently acquired. Which made me realize I really need to enhance my collection of P.A. minis and terrain.  Not that I need much encouragement to buy more minis.  : )  

I placed an order with Acheson Creations, and wow I'm really impressed with the price and quality!

I will get these painted up and be ordering  more stuff from Acheson Creations very soon!

Also I have recently gotten the PDF for Zona Alfa

Zona Alfa is a tabletop skirmish game, very closely tied to the Stalkers video games! P.A. tabletop gaming in the ruins of Chernobyl! Cool!  I have also ordered the print version of the rules, since the PDF was so cool.  I have a buddy who is interested in trying out the rules with me, so hopefully more to come about this one! Plus any minis or terrain I use for Zona Alfa will work for any P.A. RPG play that I do, and vice versa.  My Old School Essentials game is going well, but it helps me to keep a game going if I am able to also work on things for other stuff. So while I am DMing a Fantasy OSE game, I am doing loose prep for a possible P.A. game down the road.  I hope you all have a great Friday/Weekend!

Good Gaming! -B.B.