No Time But Back To Basics: The Stainless Steel Rat's Revenge!

 Hi!

Apologies for the lack of updates over the last while but I'm still run off my feet with work which is leaving no time for hobby which is a bit frustrating but I'm having quite a lot of fun with the job itself which is making up for it.

I'm finding myself without any real hobby outlet at the moment so I've been looking back through my twelve years of blogging for some ideas and happened across my original Special Corps post from back in April 2009:

Greetings!

I have decided to have a go at 15mm scale gaming and thought that as the Stainless Steel rat was may favourite book and pulp sci-fi seems to be getting a bit of interest at present I would start with him! The best thing about 15mm gaming is that you can collect forces on a really small budget and play a game on a smaller table (I only have a 4x4 foot board)

The plan is to first locate a suitable miniature to represent Slippery Jim, along with some flat footed police types and Inskipp with a small Special Corps task force. Following on from that I am hoping to add some of the characters that are featured in the books by Harry Harrison such as the beautiful but deadly Angelina, Professor Coypu, and a host of assorted heroes, villains and bystanders.

As I collect my forces I plan on posting them here, mainly in the guise of Inskipp although vehicles and high tech stuff will be reviewed by Professor Coypu and Slippery Jim will also make an occasional appearance with reports. Eventually the blog will also contain stuff from my other favourite books, movies and graphic novels ranging from Buck Rogers to Flash Gordon and feature organisations such as the mercenary company Star Risk and Cerberus Security Systems.

Looking back, it was my first year of uni and I was similarly run off my feet with work and had little time to spend on my hobby and even less budget. This got me to thinking that it might be a good way for me to get back into the swing of things with a very small, niche project on a limited budget and let me relive the genuine joy of putting together some tiny troops, paint them up and play some super quick skirmishes on a small board.

With this in mind, I suspect it will be January before I get chance to do anything much as the festive period is fast approaching but I plan on re-reading the books while I'm on my breaks at work so I can re-familiarise myself with the characters, factions and setting before looking at my hobby budget in the next year so I can begin work on my 2023 project!

I've got absolutely tons of ideas for other more ambitious projects but feel that instead of going mad with stuff that there's no way I'll be able to get off the ground, I should concentrate on a single manageable goal so expect to see a return to 15mm scale for the start of the year and the shenanigans of Slippery Jim di Griz, Angelina, Inskipp and Coypu!

I'll try and post some background up on the Stainless Steel Rat books, characters and whatnot as well as the odd artwork to portray the dramatis persone but with the ongoing workload, I suspect the blog will be a bit quiet until things calm down.

In the meantime, All the best!

Lockdown Day 15

Hi!

I'm taking an evening off after painting load of stuff today which I'd hoped to get photographed but the lighting just isn't good enough this evening. I've also realised that I've not really done much 15mm scale stuff over the last couple of months and really need to get some more small scale sci-fi painted as I've made quite good progress with depleting my unpainted lead pile over the last while.

One project I am keen to reboot is the Stainless Steel Rat themed stuff that I began my blogging with back in 2009.

I've read and indeed reread the exploits of Slippery Jim di Griz over the years and in my first year of uni actually had quite a lot of fun working on a 15mm scale project when Sci-fi in 15mm was pretty hard to come by and most of the figures were converted historical figures.

I had lots of fun with absolutely tiny forces with a heavily RPG inspired sort of game where Jim would be required to sneak about thieving stuff and outwitting goons before making a break for it in a hotwired vehicle.

I also only had a 2'x3' gaming area so small games were preferable to big ones as I could paint a small force in an afternoon or two and play a few linked skirmishes in no time at all.

 While I've really enjoyed painting up all the assorted gubbins over this last two weeks I've found the need to work on some 15mm scale stuff starting to call on me again so I think I'll take a look through my 15mm leadpile and see what I can throw together as I'm liking the idea of having some low tech forces such as Count Cassator's goons below:

I'm also keen to see how my skirmish ruleset that I've been working on runs such a small game and I must admit, I want to go for a less grimdark science fantasy vibe than my Imperial forces. I've even been pondering using this as an opportunity to play some UFO type games set in the midwest with UFOlogists, Grey Aliens, Government Operatives, Investigators and Men In Black as well as some of the more fun Cryptids that have reared their heads in US culture over the last few decades.

I shall have to see how I get on with what I have but I am tempted to make some generic buildings too as it's ridiculously easy to construct stuff quickly in 15mm...

We shall see what I have in my bits box but if all else fails, I already have the Ghoulani Enslavers that I painted a while back to double as sinister Grey Invaders:

Anyhoo, I'll post up some gubbins tomorrow and see what I can rummage out but in the meantime, All the best!

Stainless Steel Skullduggery!

Hi!

As promised heres the battle report for my recent Stainless Steel Rat game. I used the old Rogue Trader rules, slightly modified to speed things up a bit.

The Background

Soon after Jim is inducted into the Special Corps he discovers a plot to build a secret battleship but the culprit manages to evade him along with the nearly complete ship. After some digging, Jim finds that his foe is a girl called Angelina and sets out to find her before she manages to set her deadly scheme into action.

Looking through the blueprints of the ship, Professor Coypu, the Corps most brilliant, if somewhat eccentric scientist discovers that the ship needs a very rare mineral called Harrissinium to complete a deadly laser weapon that will make the ship all but unstoppable. Hearing this Jim sets out to the Planet Plunder, a one time haven for space pirates where archaeologists have been digging for lost treasure only to find a meteorite made from solid Harrissinium!

Now Jim is in a race against time to get to the dig before his nemesis!

The Scenario

Jim has just arrived at the site and is discussing the best way ahead with the local League Naval commander when Angelina attacks along with the dregs of several systems. Now Jim must stay alive and stop Angelina from carrying out the raid successfully!

The Forces

The Heroes

Jim has not had much chance to raise an armed party to defend the place and is totally unprepared for the attack when it comes.

Slippery Jim and Co

Aside from Jim theres the defence detail, consisting of Sergeant Fung and ranger Kreedo who have been guarding the site. He has managed to bring the League Naval Captain Chard along with able crewman Pooloo. The site also has access to Bertha, an aged and at present dysfunctional armoured car.

The Villains

Angelina has been busy since making off with the battleship and has managed to collect all the worst sort of villains to do her bidding and has turned up at the dig site with some of them to steal the Harrissium and slaughter the archaeologists and anyone else who stands in her way!

Angelinas Raiders

Her force is split into two squads, a more able group with an assortment of pistols and rifles and a group of thugs to do the heavy lifting and armed with knives, pistols and clubs.

Angelina herself is armed to the teeth but prefers to keep out of the action when possible allowing her minons to take the heat.

The Civilians

The archaeologists on the site have been working at clearing the Harrissinium and are still hard at work when the raid starts.

The Dig Site

Professor Churn, his assistant Bunko and a pair of robots along with the film drone are busily working when the shooting begins.

Setup 

The raid begins soon after Jim arrives and Angelina gets the first turn.

The battlefield

Angelinas raiders begin on the southern edge of the board, the thugs on the left to capture the meteorite while Angelina and the trained gunmen deploy in the centre.

 Angelina and the Gunmen

Thug Deployment

Jim begins the game in the prefab that doubles as the digs headquarters along with Chard and Kreedo, Fung is standing guard on top of the storage shed and Pooloo is tinkering with the armoured car and enjoying an illicit cigarette.

The  Headquarters

The Storage Shed

Pooloo enjoys a sneaky smoke while trying to repair the armoured car.

The Game

Turn One sees Angelina and the Gunmen moving towards the headquarters and the thugs moving toward the dig.

Angelina and the Gunmen take cover behind some puffballs and rock formations

 The Thugs thunder forward swinging their clubs in belligerent glee 

Obviously asleep at his post, Sergeant Fung fails to see the raiders and does absolutely nothing while the archaeologists continue working and Jim and co are still deep in discussion in the headquarters.

Turn Two sees the action hot up a bit, the thugs charge at the dig site causing the archaeologists and their robotic sidekicks to panic and scatter. 

 Thuggish Attack!

Run Away!

The archaeologists and their robots panic and scatter. The Drone camera unit manages to fly directly into a tree but survives with only chipped paintwork. Churn follows the robots but Bunko flees into the wilderness and spends much of the remainder of the game hiding behind a cactus.

Bunko behind said cactus

The Gunmen clamber over the rocks and into the clearing (something they would soon come to regret) and begin shooting wildly at Fung but failing to hit. 

Hearing the gunfire, Chard hurls himself out of the headquarters and opens fire with his pistol, dropping one of the raiders in his tracks. Kreelo climbs onto the roof of the building and returns fire but fails to hit anything while Jim radios for the League Navy to send re-enforcements.

Pooloo drops his smoke in panic and desperately tries to start up Bertha but the aged machine refuses to start and Pooloo can do nothing but sweat uncomfortably and wait for the engine to turn over.

 Chard Attacks!

One of the Gunmen Goes Down!

Turn Three sees the thugs chase the professor and robots into the edge of the copse of pines before turning back towards their objective, the meteorite.

 The Thugs chase the Prof

The Camera Drone, obviously malfunctioning, careens off the tree and into an ancient statue, exploding spectacularly and reducing the priceless artefact to rubble.

Kaboom!

The Gunmen, incensed by the death of their compatriot blaze away at Chard but the stalwart captain returns their fire, winging another assailant. Meanwhile Fung finally gets his act together and manages to put down another attacker with a well aimed burst from his autopistol. Jim springs into action and dives out of the building and adds to the shooting but his needle pistol fails to cause any damage, its tranquilizer darts shredding clothing but failing to find skin.

 The Heroes attack

Chard adds another notch to his gun

Pooloo finally manages to get the armoured car going and cackling maniacally sets off from the rear of the building in search of targets.

MWAHAHA! Bertha rumbles into action!

Turn 4 and things are hotting up, once again fire is exchanged between the heroes and villains but Chards luck runs out and he spins and falls as a gunmans shotgun blast knocks him sprawling. Fung, seeing the heroic captain fall, moves to cover him but Kreelos autogun proves more effective and punches another gunman off his feet. 

Chard goes down

At this point things are looking grim for the raiders and they start pulling back just in time to see the cackling Pooloo at the controls of Bertha open fire, incinerating another gunman with a well aimed shot from the plasma gun in the turret.

 Angelina looks on as her gunmen are shot up

 The gunmen die to a man

Despite the losses, Angelina's gunmen have done their job and held up the heroes and as Angelina retreats she sees her thugs lugging the meteor towards a waiting hovertruck.

Jim spots Angelina and moves off in pursuit

Aftermath

Jim spares his compatriots an anxious glance and is relieved to see Chard is still alive as Chud brings the first aid kit and heads off in pursuit of the villainous Angelina hoping to stop her before she can put her diabolical plan into effect.

Whee! Well that was a fun game to play out! I think in future I need to get Jim more involved early on as he didn't act suitably heroically. Still it provides lots of opportunity for a follow on game!

Hopefully I will be able to get some more games played out soon as its been great to get back into the swing of things!

All the best!