GAMING NEWS: "Wide, Wide World of Savage Zombies" (Savage Worlds Zombie Game 7-15-2007)

.TOP: We all had a good time playing board games and RPGs!

Hi All,

So, there we were about two weeks ago... E-mailing each other back and forth and wanting to get a new game together. John the "Reapersaurus" wanted to play board games, Anne wanted to be creative with a role-playing game (RPG), Kelley also wanted an RPG, Rob wanted to bring the family, Pat was indifferent, and I just wanted to visit with some of my friends and share a few choice games with them. So, finally we all agreed that most of the adults would play an RPG and the rest would play board games with the kids... So, which RPG do you choose for a group that goes by the name "Cannibal Pygmy Discussion Group?" A zombie game, of course! We talked about playing "All Flesh Must Be Eaten," but eventually "Savage Worlds" won out.

TOP: I brought some 28mm zombie minis, but we didn't need them after all.

So, eventually, Patrick, the creator of Monster Island and head honcho of Firefly Games (link on right sidebar), and our gamemaster (GM), sent us this teaser, a radio short:

It's just another weekday morning. You are on your way to St. Mary's Medical Center in downtown San Francisco, across from Golden Gate Park. You might work or volunteer at the hospital, or you might be visiting a patient. Or perhaps you're meeting a friend who's an employee for coffee, or you have a business appointment of some kind. Or possibly you're scheduled for outpatient testing or rehab therapy.

In any case, at some point in the course of your morning routine - whether it's hitting the snooze button on your clock radio, brushing your teeth, eating breakfast, or driving, walking, or riding the bus to the hospital - you hear the following news report:

"... latest casualties from Iraq. On a lighter note, no one was injured early this morning when a malfunctioning satellite crashed to Earth in the parking lot of a downtown San Francisco bowling alley during an all-night bowl-a-thon. Guess you'd call that a lucky strike!"

"Coming up after the break, today's weather and traffic together..."

And what gaming group doesn't come up with a few house rules:

Cool! I think the one change I will make is to allow bennies to be spent also to gain a 'lucky break,' basically a minor plot twist a la Faery's Tale.

"Hey, that zombie janitor we just killed has the key-card to this door!"

And the cool thing about Savage Worlds is that they offer a free 'Test Drive' PDF if folks want to take a gander at it before playing:
http://www.peginc. com/Games/ Savage%20Worlds/ Downloads/ SW%20Rev/ TestDrive4. pdf

TOP: What else were you expecting to find in the house of a guy nicknamed "Reapersaurus?"

So, next thing I know, we're discussing character creation like crazy, everyone coming with ideas of what kind of character they wanted to play.

Anne's character ideas were particularly "fertile" as is her norm:

I think my character will be an art student attending the Art Institute in SF. She lives with a roommate in those homes that are embedded on a side of hill (only healthy people and mountain goats can get to these places). This roommate recently completed his--uh her transgender
surgery and so she's visiting her roommate who is recuperating from said surgery. In order to make ends meet, she works a few jobs: one at Stacey's Books on Market, and then another as a clerk of the concession counter at the Power Exchange, a club for the "adults only." Her senior project is nearly complete, and was inspired by her second job. Entitled "Spare the Rod, Spoil the Evening," her project is a series of abstract mixed-media pieces that are constructed on canvas with spackle, leather, PVC pipe, licorice and "found" fast food packaging.

She is also interested in performance art that involves physical exertion (...inspired by artists like Matthew Barney), so she will have some strength and agility. One of her pieces involving this medium was purchased for $10,000 USD. It was entitled "Untitled" and involved her mounting a trampoline in front of a wall covered with canvas. She proceeded to paint her hindquarters different colors, bounced backwards, and stamped her colorful cheeks onto the canvas. She broke two ribs in the process. Therefore, her payment for the piece went towards medical care costs. So there ya have it.

Since children are present, we won't go into detail about her second job during game play, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity to develop a colorful San Francisco resident, in addition to lampooning modern art.

And the funny thing is that anyone who's been to Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco has walked by the "Art Institute" that inspired Anne. I'd say "you can't make that stuff up," BUT Anne did! ...and it is San Francisco we're talking about.

TOP: Anne, Rob, Kelley and Pat playing the zombie RPG.

And if you don't think San Francisco is a CRAZY place, please check out this link, appropriately called "Zombie Time" ("The Hall of Shame" is particularly disturbing):
http://www.zombietime.com/

While Rob's ideas came in the form of a cool little short story:

"Oh damn! Another one? Hit the sirens Sara."

"You got it Trevor."

The ambulance's sirens and lights came to life as Trevor romped on the gas pedal and sped off to the scene of the accident just another day in the life of a paramedic.

Arriving at the scene the found two vehicles badly damaged, one wrapped around a tree the other inserted into its passenger door. The emergency personnel were all on scene already trying to get the bodies out. To the right a man in a nice business suit was bent over the body of a woman giving CPR.

"1... 2... 3..." He blew into her mouth. He obviously knew what he was doing, but wasn't a member of the emergency personnel present.

Trevor and Sara jumped out of the ambulance and seeing no other bodies present rushed to the man's side.

"Move out of the way, we'll take it from here." Trevor told the man as he put his hand on his shoulder.

"Do you have a crash kit with you?" The man in the suit asked."Of course," Trevor answered.

"This woman has gone into cardiac arrest and has two broken ribs, and I think her spleen is ruptured. She's barely holding on.""Who are you?" Sara asked.

"1... 2... 3..." He blew into her mouth again before saying, "The name is Doctor Henry Strats. I'm a doctor at St. Mary's Medical Center.""Ok, doctor we've got it from here." Sara responded as she opened the crash kit and moved in to take over.

Dr. Strats stood up and watched as the paramedics went to work, and then looked around if there was anything else that he could do, but there was little for him that wouldn't require him getting in the way.

Soon additional ambulances arrived and the put the woman on a gurney as two others were pulled from the wreckage of the vehicles.

Jogging over to one of the paramedics he asked, "Can I follow you in? St. Mary's is only a half mile from here. I assume that is where you are going?"

"Sorry, you'll need to stay back and drive a safe speed. Don't worry we'll take good care of her." They hit their sirens and lights and sped off leaving the doctor to decide what he wanted to do.

He jumped in his car, put it in drive and sped off toward the hospital.

My character is Dr. Henry Strats. A forty-year-old doctor at St. Mary's.

Our final characters ended up a bit different though:

- Dr. J.C. Valmont, medical resident at St. Mary's played by Kelley W.
- Mr. Kevin Harding, fisherman of the Gorton's Fishsticks type, played by Robert.
- Mz. Fawn Schmichaels, grad student, "performance artist," and "Hippie chick" played by Anne F.
- Captain Maxwell S. Black, U.S. Army helicopter pilot played by Maksim S.
- Pat, the ALMIGHTY GM!

TOP: Alexa was the good-natured dog mascot... and seeker of dropped treats.

And we had a few NPCs connected to the backgrounds of our characters:
- Chief Resident (zombie) at St. Mary's, Doctor Herman Proctor.
- Mechanic "Skippy," formerly of the US Army before zombie-dom hit.
- Sandra, the transgender friend of Fawn, and the first "Zomb-IT" in history.
- Nurse Ginger, a friend of Dr. Valmont.

TOP : Zombie nurses are HOT!

And Pat read us the beginning blurb and away we went:

Zombies! starts out at a hospital in downtown San Francisco. Your PCs are employees, medical staff, public safety workers, or just ordinary people visiting patients or at the hospital for some other reason. The theme, as before, is you are everyday people caught at 'ground zero' of the zombie outbreak, and must struggle to survive and reach a place of (relative) safety. If your PC gets killed, you'll just pull another pre-gen from the pile and be another survivor encountered by the party as soon as it's possible to fit you back in.

We started out in an elevator that stopped somewhere in between the fourth and fifth floors of the hospital. Out first action was to crawl out of the elevator onto the fifth floor where we encountered our first zombie, who took quite a beating from the crew... the zombie was whacked with some broomsticks, pushed around, and eventually succumbed to a few bullets from Captain Black's .45 ACP pistol. At that point, the party raided a nurse's station and custodian's closet for supplies... and discovered that the "guts" skill was particularly valuable as half the party was scared witless by some more zombies. After defeating the zombies and nearly having two of the characters bitten, the party decided to make their way to the roof rather than the first floor and dangerous Emergency Room (...which we believed was chocked full of zombies from a local bowling alley).

TOP: Richard Gere might have been in the ER, which stinks...

Because zombie hamsters really suck!

The party made their way to the stairwell and proceeded upwards... rescuing Nurse Ginger along the way and being viciously attacked (...and slowly attacked, they're zombies after all) by some NPC zombies, Chief Resident Zombie Dr. Proctor, Skippy the ex-mechanic zombie, and the "zomb-IT." I could have taken anything but being bitten by the transgender zombie! That would have been awful... eventually we made it to the roof, defeated a few more zombies miraculously and took an emergency services helicopter to the nearby naval air station... hoping that it was not too infested... YET!

The End. Finis!

TOP: Kellog's Zombie Pops, our sponsor for the evening.
"Tastes just like brains! Jingle, jingle. Buy them NOW!"

It was a good time and we all enjoyed it. The kids and adults who didn't play the RPG, played board games all day and we all munched on a variety of cool appetizers as well as some freshly-baked chocolate chip cookies.

TOP: Jennifer, Michael, John, Jacob & Bethany enjoyed board games.

The board games that were played were:
- Apples to Apples, Jr. Edition
- Coloretto
- Elfenland
- There's a Moose In the House
- Tumblin Dice

We also discussed the upcoming "Weird Al" Yankovic concert coming on September 3rd, which reminded me of "Weird Al's" parody of Thriller: "Nature Trail From Hell."

TOP: Sometimes it's hard to tell San Francisco "normal" from "abnormal."

And many many bad zombie jokes were made:
- Zombie Speed Dating:
- "Nothing like eating and running..."
- "He's so tender and full of brains..."
- "Is that performance art?"
- And the infamous transgender "zomb-IT!"

You can see all of the photos I took from that weekend here:
http://s44.photobucket.com/albums/f23/Maksim-Smelchak/Gaming%202007/Reapersaurus_7-16-2007/

Have a great Friday!

Shalom,
Maksim-Smelchak.

Notes regarding photos / pictures / videos: These are not all my images and videos. I am using various images and videos from around the web, mostly from public sources and/or private sources used with permission. I have tried to include only images and videos under public domain, creative commons, or fair use. If I have inadvertently violated any copyrights, please inform me and I will remove your image/s (if it is indeed an infringement).

FOOD: The Serenity Flies Again! ...And Then Gets Eaten!

.

Hey Kimbo! Cool game cake, huh?

Hi All,

That crazy Nils... I've never quite figured out what he really does for a living, but I figure that in the end of ends, he's gotten some kind of government grant to surf the Internet everyday as a "study." I say that because he always find this wacky, but intensely amusing stuff...

So, somehow we get to "E-chatting" about cakes one day and what does he come up with but these:

Any Browncoat (Firefly/Serenity fan) would love this masterpiece!

Dun, dun, dun, duh, dun, dun, dun, duh, dun... In a galaxy...

They're not cheap at five-hundred smackers a pop for starters, but they SHORE are cool!

I think if I ever bought one, I'd have to encase it in carbonite or something...

And the chef's name is REALLY Chef Duff! How cool is that?


His name reminds me of Crime Dog McGruff!

"Take a bite out of crime! And Charm City Cakes!"

Crime Dog McGruff even has his own web site.

Check it out here:
http://www.mcgruff-tid.com/

And, oh yeah, here's the Charm City Cakes web site:
http://www.charmcitycakes.com/

Have a great Tuesday!

Shalom,
Maksim-Smelchak.

P.S.
I have another theory that Nils is the webmaster for the Elder Gods from the Chthulhu mythos... but I have less evidence of that than the government grant theory... I can picture him chanting around a circle of black candles and applying Chthulhu bumper stickers to his car though.

Notes regarding photos / pictures / videos: These are not all my images and videos. I am using various images and videos from around the web, mostly from public sources and/or private sources used with permission. I have tried to include only images and videos under public domain, creative commons, or fair use. If I have inadvertently violated any copyrights, please inform me and I will remove your image/s (if it is indeed an infringement).

GAMING NEWS: Star Wars Moment Of the Day!

. This is WHAT I wish my day at work was like...

You know, maybe exciting?

Hi Everyone,

Busy day for me so I'm going with a simple Star Wars and vacation dream "cop out" post... much inspired by the fun posts of Jeff here:
http://jrients.blogspot.com/

Jeff sometimes posts a few graphics or an interesting tidbit so here goes:

*** Ever wanted to vacation in France? ***

This fellow is offering "Wargaming Holidays":

"Wargaming Holidays" - COOL!

You can learn more about these "Wargaming Holidays" here:
http://www.wargamingholidays.com/

*** Think I could get a love interest to buy into such a vacation? ***

I don't think so, but it's worth a try...

"Come on now sweetheart, it's FRANCE! You'll love it. You can see the Eiffel Tower and the parks & gardens of Paris... and I'll hang out in a dusty, poorly-lit room playing board and miniatures games with dozens of rolling dice, boxes of Euro Games, and lots of painted miniatures..."

"You mean like you already do at home almost every weekend, Maks?"

"No, this is different, sweetheart. It's FRANCE!"

"I can visit my buddy, Stephane!"
http://www.stephane.info/show.php?code=news

"And buy some of those great Rackham Confrontation figures..."

"Yes, right dear..." (Skepticism dripping off her...)

I'm still thinking that it wouldn't work...

Have a great Wednesday!

Shalom,
Maksim-Smelchak.

Notes regarding photos / pictures / videos: These are not all my images and videos. I am using various images and videos from around the web, mostly from public sources and/or private sources used with permission. I have tried to include only images and videos under public domain, creative commons, or fair use. If I have inadvertently violated any copyrights, please inform me and I will remove your image/s (if it is indeed an infringement).

MINI WARGAMING: MWS Meeting AAR (19 May 2007)

. A cool sci-fi tank that Richard built using Dollar Store garbage and bitz.

Hi Everyone,

May's MWSS (Miniatures Wargaming Society of Sacramento - usually just called MWS) meeting was a good one: decent attendance, several games, and, best of all, lots of good company, royal socializing, and great camaraderie!

And the attendance was:
- Bernie
- Chris
- Don Delis
- Greg M.
- Joe B.
- The Keith
- Maksim-Smelchak (me!)
- Mark C.
- Mike O'Brien
- Mike Warde
- Mike Werner
- Nathan
- Richard M.

So, without wasting too many words, here's the straight and skinny:

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1. 15mm Fantasy Skirmish Battle

"Undead vs. Orcs at The Maksimian Pass"
"The Sins of Squeelax"

HOST: Mark Carper
RULESET: Savage Worlds
PLAYERS:
- Mark C.: The One-Pip Clan Orcs
- Richard M.: Raoul Romero's Undead Posse

SYNOPSIS:
- Fantasy undead meet orcs and hash it out... tough to say who came out on top. Mark and Richard have been playtesting the Savage Worlds Showdown ruleset.

Richard's thoughts:

Mark Carper and I continued our apprenticeship as Savage Worlds Showdown players on Saturday. Using Mark’s excellent terrain and figures, we fought a one-off battle using the rules for magic for the first time. The match-up was a700-point, smack-‘em-‘til-they-run punch up between members of the One Pip Clan of Orcs and the undead forces of the evil necromancer, Romero.

The Orcs were ensconced in a battle camp under the command of Beergut the Magnificent with retinue, Beergut was supported by the Orc Hero, Squilax the Unsavory and a squad of nasty, big Orcs under the command of Captain Stan the…er…ummm...Orc. There was also a mixed squad of swords orcs and archers representing the Home Guard.

Romero’s forces consisted of a large squad of skeleton archers, two squads of skeleton warriors, a squad of wraiths with big swords, and, of course, Romero.

Romero, the necromancer, makes a short-lived stand at the bridge.

Early in the game Romero found himself face-to-face with Stan on a stone bridge that spanned the Orc-fouled river. After Stan took a good whack at him, Romero decided to teleport far away from Stan’s blade. Meanwhile, his archers, who were making for some high ground over the camp, effectively reduced the Orc archers with three quick (i.e. lucky) kills. Stan’s Orcs jumped the river and engaged the wraiths in a record-setting slapfight. Initially, the Orcs ‘killed’ the most popular of the wraiths, Dale, but the remainder of their time together was spent in harmless swordplay.

Beergut and his boyz arrived over the bridge in support of Stan and together they started whittling down the skeleton warriors. Over by the hill, the second squad of Skellies were being turned into doggie snacks by the Orcs Home Guard. The skeleton archers made it to the top of the hill during that fracas and started plinking. One of the Home Guard homies climbed the hill intending to put an end to their archery practice but his efforts only garnered him a few souvenir arrows to take with him to the next world (the arrows were all lettered with advertising for Romero’s Bar and Restaurant, “The Mausoleum,” and stating that “Tuesdays are Zombie night! Come by for a bite.”

The center of the battlefield, Undead on the left, Orcs on the right.

Romero tried his hand at magic by summoning the Fog of Death but it was too slow to catch the wily Orcs. Then, when faced with the fearsome Squilax, who had been running back and forth across the battlefield looking for a worthy target, he unleashed his Bolts of Awesome Power. Much to his surprise, these worked really well. After putting the exhausted Squilax out of action, he began zapping Stan’s boyz. Beergut and Stan, seeing their supervisees getting blasted into drifting mist and noticing the unmolested skeleton archers were taking aim from their hill, decided they had better consult their tribal Shaman before making another attempt on Romero and his undead. They quit the field vowing to return with wolves to chew up and bury the Skellies.

It was a fun game and could have gone either way but for Mark’s propensity tor oll 1s when he least needed them. The rules are becoming more natural for us and we’re picking up some of the finer points of the game, too. (<== Means we are reading *all* the rules…)

The Savage Worlds Showdown rules are quite flexible and can be used for any skirmish wargame of any period. They are similar to GASLIGHT in concept but very different in execution. Definitely worth a look.

Mark's thoughts:

Sure, Squilax makes one poopie upstream and the whole danged river is now "orc-fouled".

I tell ya, we get no respect.

Thanks for the game Dick!

Maksim's (my) thoughts:

Mark tells me he made The Maksimian Pass from some items I gave him and that's cool, but I don't remember giving them to him. It was either a long time ago or I'm getting old...

More photos of this game can be found here:

http://s44.photobucket.com/albums/f23/Maksim-Smelchak/Gaming%202007/MWS_5-19-07/Fantasy_5-19-07/

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2. 1/1,250 American Civil War Ironclads Naval Battle

"Union vs. Rebels: Kegger On the Ol' Miss"
"The Rescue of Vicksberg OR The Irony of Ironclads"

ACW Ironclads Fracas.
Photo by: Mike Werner.

HOST: Mike Werner
RULESET: Naval Wargames Society (U.K.) + Homebrew Rules Hybrid
PLAYERS:
- Chris: Union
- The Keith: Union
- Bernie: Confederate
- Mike O.: Confederate
- Mike Werner: Gamemaster

SYNOPSIS:
- A Union ironclad fleet took on a Rebel Ironclad fleet on the 'Ol Miss during the American Civil War. Mike Werner was playtesting some rules and looking for feedback. The game looked like great fun and the two fleets really shot each other up. The Confederates won.

Mike Werner's battle report:

Report on the ACW River Battle:

The setting was 1863 on the broad Mississippi. The Confederates were successful in getting all four ironclads in the water and grouped together, along with two armed support ships/rams and a tug. They were going to try to relieve Vicksburg but need to clear any opposition along the way.

Opposing them were an evenly matched group of Union ships. The rules were a modified set from the Naval Wargames Society (U.K.),which are medium level complexity - not nearly as complicated (or realistic) as "Smoke on the Water" or "Iron and Fire" but more complicated (and realistic) than "A Hotter Fire".

Union Mississippi R. Squadron:
USS Switzerland, Tyler, Cairo, Essex, Benton & Chillicothe.
Photo by: M. Werner.

The two opposing set of ships exchanged early ineffective long distance fire with an unfortunate hit on the pilothouse of the CSS Queen of the West (cottonclad). This ship swung to the starboard and quickly ran aground. While stuck, the USS Switzerland (ram) rushed in and smashed into the side of the cottonclad causing major hull damage and destroying the port paddle wheel. The
confederate commander chose to stay aground and fire back at the ram destroying the guns of the ram.

Meanwhile, the ironclads of both sides closed to within the range necessary to penetrate armor. As the groups came together, Confederate ram attempts narrowly failed. In fact, the CSS Arkansas almost rammed the CSS Easport (ironclads). The opposing ships also had several near collisions as they passed each other and fired away.

Both sides experienced damage and gun losses. The CSS Stonewall Jackson (cottonclad) and USS Tyler (timberclad) also put up amazing fights for such weakly protected ships. Although the CSS Stonewall Jackson lost its forward gun and received a number of hits in the same area and penetrating but shots through its superstructure, it did serious damage with its single deck mounted and exposed 100 lb rifle to several ships, including the sinking the Union tug.

In contrast, and unfortunately for the Union, the USS Indianola (ironclad) with largest guns in the battle - 11" smoothbores - couldn't seem to get a hit despite several firings. There was one accidental collision towards the end between the USS Benton and CSS Mobile (ironclads) as they traveled in opposite directions but no damage was sustained. In penetrating armor and doing damage, the Confederate 6.3" rifles and 9" smoothbores had better success than the Union's 9" and 42 lb smoothbores. The Union's 100 lb rifles did do some serious damage though.

The end result on the Union side was the USS Essex (ironclad), USS Tyler, and USS Switzerland had serious gun loss but were still in thefight. The USS Indianola was still in the fight and untouched. The USS Benton and USS Cairo (ironclads) were still very strong with only minor gun loss but had pilothouse damage and were temporarily out of control and heading to run aground. Whether they would be able to get off and back into the fight without assistance from the tug or other ship was questionable.

The end result on the Confederate side was the CSS Queen of the West heavily damaged and aground, the CSS Stonewall Jackson had the loss of its forward gun and had sustained pilothouse damage but was back under control. The CSS Mobile had some gun damage and fire damage for several minutes but the fire was out. The CSS Arkansas, CSS Tennessee I, and CSS Eastport (ironclads) had minor gun damage and were still in the fight. The Confederate tug was still in the fight too. The battle was far from over but the Union ships were in serious trouble.

However, both sides agreed that the victory went to the Confederates. Vicksburg would be relieved! A good game by all!

Mike Werner's reflections on the rules:

With some game playing experience of the NWS rules under my belt, I spent a couple of hours comparing the NWS rules to the other sets of rules.

Tables of guns vs armor:
All of the ACW Ironclad wargames have some kind of table for matching guns vs armor. This is the most critical historical element of naval wargames in this era. The NWS rules seemed reasonable - the rifles could penetrate at a longer distance than the smoothbores and both could penetrate weaker armor at a longer distance. For a game played with 1/1,250 scale of the ship miniatures, the distances at which this occurred seemed pretty reasonable. For faster ACW gameplay in the future, I would eliminate ranges beyond 36 inches and the larger guns used by ships in the 1870s/80s. The tables could then be consolidated into one page and make play faster.

Turn radius circles:
Some games use small turn circles, hexes, or just have the players move straight then turn an angle appropriate to the ship size. I developed turn circles from the NWS rules based on this latter concept. They seemed to be to scale and were not that hard to use. So, I wouldn't change these.

Range chart:
Some games have the players roll dice to determine a hit and then add or subtract modifiers to the die roll for short or long distance and other factors. Personally, I don't really care to work through tables of die roll modifiers in games. So, I found the range table in NWS a rather neat concept. However, the table does need to account for ships that are have the bow or stern ends facing the gun and are harder to hit. So, in future game play; such ships should have the target rate increased by one, i.e., a 2nd rate becomes a 3rd rate target when end on to the target.

Damage Chart:
Some of the other games use a standard one-size-fits-all table for determining damage. The more complicated table in NWS rules is the element I questioned. However, while simple, a one-size-fits-all table just does not reflect the strange variety of ship types with different profiles in the era. For example, a monitor with a single turret just cannot have the same damage table as a long ironclad casemate ship or a converted merchant paddleboat with guns mounted exposed on the deck. As it turned out, the table does fairly well represent the ship profiles. I may tweek it a bit but not much.In addition, the table should also be modified to be correct for bow or stern end-on fire hits. Maybe this could be accomplished in a simple extra table with just one die for end-on fire hits. Lastly, the hits to pilot houses and funnels seemed to be out of proportion to their physical size. Maybe these hits should be toned down a bit by the secondary die. This said, one of the game rule sets does have a series of tables for different types of vessel profiles, end-on fire, and critical hits that may also be adaptable or copied.

Morale & Other:
Some of the other games have modifiers or die rolls for morale, captain traits, crew quality, repairs, armor slope, gun deviation, frequency of misfires, critical crew being killed, etc. I think these would add to the time required to take each turn without adding significant value.

Conclusion:
Overall, I think the NWS rules still represent the best combination of playability and historical feel. I would recommend in future games that that at least the gun vs armor range table be given to a designated "gunner" for each side. He can be checking for armor penetration while somebody else is checking the damage table. Also, I would recommend rolling three dice at the same time during the damage roll phase. A red die to determine hit on the range chart and two different colored dice for the actual damage.

Mike O.'s thoughts:

I also agree with you that the low percentage shots should be limited, since it slowed the game down. I do think the firing tables need to be simplified and made accessable for the players. I don't like the idea of a "gunner." If the rules are easy enough to understand then a player should be able to walk through them on their own.

Mike Werner's other thoughts:

One thing I didn't address in the previous post is the damage methodology under which damage is inflicted to enemy guns according to the gun shot weight of the gun being fired, e.g., a 24 lb shot does 24damage points to enemy guns such that a large gun is harder to destroy. With the wide range of guns in an ACW game, this is pretty good methodology that seems more realistic than the other ACW rule sets that would just inflicting one damage per hit and each gun being able to be knocked out by one hit and have a 12 lb gun capable of knocking out a 100 lb rifle. Perhaps the same methodology could be adapted to below waterline damage such that a larger gun would do more damage than a smaller gun?

Lastly, what did players think about writing ship instructions down and moving simultaneously vs not writing down instructions and just taking turns? Keep in mind that the average max ship speed was 6 kts, which is 6 inches. Ramming attacks may be more successful if not writing down instructions. However, since the time period per turn is just one minute, would this much flexibility to change directions in response to enemy movement be unrealistic?

Bernie's thoughts:

Mike,
First of all, thanks for putting on a great game, I enjoyed it. I believe that it had the feel of that style of fighting and that's important for historical gamers. Some ideas for your consideration:
- Pilot house hits shouldonlybe on a doubles roll like 3-3. That will cut the number of those hits in half.
- Funnels were pretty large targets, you might not want to change that one.
- Don't change the movement system. A lot of the game's charm comes from the uncertainty.

Don's thoughts:

Ya, it was a good game. I wonder, what if d10's were used instead of d6's?

Also, here is a site I found covering excavations of ships lost on theMississippi. You can also Google Ghost Boats of the Mississippi.

www.uark.edu/campus-resources/archinfo/atughostboats.html

More photos of this game can be found here:
http://s44.photobucket.com/albums/f23/Maksim-Smelchak/Gaming%202007/MWS_5-19-07/ACW_5-19-07/

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3. 15mm American War of Independence Battle

"The Battle of Eutaw Springs"

LEE'S VOLUNTEERS: Light Cavalry and skirmishers covered the American flank.
Photo by: M. Warde.

HOST: Mike O'Brien
RULESET: Guns of Liberty
PLAYERS:
- Greg M.: British
- Mark C.: British
- Mike O.: Gamemaster
- Don Delis: American Revolutionary
- Mike Warde: American Revolutionary
- Mike Werner: American Revolutionary

SYNOPSIS:
- British vs. American Revolutionaries during the American War for Independence. The British gave the Americans "what for."

Mike Warde's Commentary on the battle:

I'd have to call it a marginal British victory. We, the Americans, never had a clear advantage on offense, and thus were compelled to force the action against Greg Marker's well prepared positions. On our left, we were stopped cold. It seemed as though a never-ending supply of reinforcements continued to emerge from the thicket. Also, the English artillery was able to break up our cavalry each time we ordered them forward. On the right, a war of attrition wore down Mike Werner's and my own Americans, as well as Marc Carper's Brits. Had the game continued, I believe that Mike and I would have prevailed on the right, but would not have done so in a decisive enough manner to affect the overall outcome of the battle. In the center, Don Delis had the unpleasant task of sending militia against professional British troops. Our men acquitted themselves well, but without a breakthrough on either flank, they were doomed to failure.

The Redcoats come marching in...

Highlights from the American perspective included:

- The valorous deeds of Lee's soldiers. The infantry snuffed out aBritish battery early in the game, and a valiant charge by his cavalry bought us some vital time.

- The Virginian cavalry routed a British regiment, and was galloping off toward the British camp at the game's conclusion.

- Good coordination between the 1st and 2nd line commanders. It seemed as though the Continentals always seemed to appear and plug the gaps at the precise moment that they were needed.

Yankee Doodle Dandy...

Good job Mike O'Brien, on another entertaining AWI scenario!

Greg's thoughts:

As the opposing commander, I would concur with all of Mike's assessments, including our victory as marginal. Had the game continued, I agree our left would have been turned, our center would have held strongly and our right would have been pressured but survived long enough to fall back and watch the rebels loot our camp until they got drunk enough to charge them and rout them and thus duplicate, sort of, history. I'm betting Don is really bumped he
didn't make it into the camp!

And Don's thoughts:

Not really. In fact, I regret the move. I should have set up to take on the Royal Rangers and get that traitor Rodgers!!!

More photos of this game can be found here:
http://s44.photobucket.com/albums/f23/Maksim-Smelchak/Gaming%202007/MWS_5-19-07/AWI_5-19-07/

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4. Board Game "Ingenious"
HOST: Maksim-Smelchak
GAME: Reiner Knizia's "Ingenious"
PLAYERS:
- Maksim-Smelchak
- Richard M.

SYNOPSIS:
- Richard and I played a few games of "Ingenious" and enjoyed ourselves.

------
5. 28mm Terrain Making

A cool Orc bell thingie in 28mm scale.

HOST: Nathan
PARTICIPANTS:
- Nathan
- Practically everyone else!

SYNOPSIS:
- Nathan hosted a great terrain making session and nearly everyone came by to chat with him. He's looking to sell the Ork-themed terrain piece pictured above. If interested, please E-mail me and I'll put you in contact with him. He'd prefer to sell locally and wants a very reasonable price for the above piece... he's talking about thirty US Dollars.

Cutting balsa wood for a 28mm windmill terrain project.

More photos of the terrain work can be found here:
http://s44.photobucket.com/albums/f23/Maksim-Smelchak/Gaming%202007/MWS_5-19-07/Terrain_5-19-07/

------

And you can find all of the photos I took from the day here:
http://s44.photobucket.com/albums/f23/Maksim-Smelchak/Gaming%202007/MWS_5-19-07/

It was a good time for all!

Have a great Monday!

Shalom,
Maksim-Smelchak.

WEIRD NEWS: The Revenge of Darth Pug!

.Some sick fiend appears to have recast Star Wars... with pugs!

Hi Everyone,

What a great weekend I had! Gaming out the wazoo!

"You can't go wrong with Star Wars, Halloween, and pugs... can you?"

Saturday was the MWSS (Miniatures Wargaming Society of Sacramento) meeting during which we had plenty of great games! If you're interested in playing some miniatures games or boardgames with a bunch of nice folks, please check out the link I have for the MWS AKA MWSS groups on my right sidebar.

The following were played:
1. 15mm Fantasy Skirmish game using the Savage Worlds ruleset
2. 1/1200 Civil War Ironclads (ships) battle using a homebrew ruleset
3. 15mm American War for Independence battle using the Sons of Liberty ruleset
4. Ingenious board game

I took lots of photos, which I hope to share soon along with a better write-up of the games played.

"Uh Bill, please cue the Imperial March..."

And Sunday was Kevin E.'s birthday, a local gaming nut! We work at a number of local gaming conventions together and he's well known for being a strong supporter of the Boardgame Meet-up Group. If you're interested in playing some boardgames with a bunch of nice folks, please check out the link I have for Boardgame Meet-up Group on my right sidebar. The birthday party was fun! We played tons of game and socialized to our heart's galore. One of the guests brought a huge "chocolate fountain," something I'd never seen before. It was basically a chocolate fondue pot that allowed melted chocolate to flow through a water fountain device in which you could dip fruit pieces, cookies, or other goodies. Pretty cool. The BBQ was nice as well!

Happy birthday again, Kevin!

The Chocolate Fountain - watch out!

And I also got to pass on a monkey figure I found for my friend Mike's son. We both think that he'll like it. Conor has been working on a Godzilla collection like me and needed a good Kong.

The Fiendish Giralon, a D&D Miniatures collectible figure.

And, of course, the theme of this post is "Dogs & Star Wars."

"Luke, I am your father..."

I simply had NO idea!

Have a great Monday!

Shalom,
Maksim-Smelchak.

P.S.

Despite the Star Wars theme, I couldn't pass on this one:

"Uh, Captain, there's been a horrible accident with the transporters..."

"Scotty may never be the same..."

Notes regarding photos / pictures: These are not all my images. I am using various images from around the web, mostly from public sources and/or private sources used with permission. I have tried to include only images under public domain, creative commons, or fair use. If I have inadvertently violated any copyrights, please inform me and I will remove your image/s (if it is indeed an infringement).

GAMING NEWS: ConQuest Sac 2007 Photos Posted!

.

CQ-Sac 2007 attendees enjoying a rousing game of Monster Island!

Hi, Everyone!

I posted photos from the ConQuest-Sac-2007 gaming convention for anyone interested.

*** Warning: ***
Some of the sub-galleries have adult-themed games (strong language, but no nudity other than the occasional naked Pict/Gaul armed with blue war paint and an aim to misbehave). If you have an aversion to adult words, then I recommend you avoid the "Zombietown" sub-gallery. The rest of the galleries and sub-galleries are pretty tame.

You can find them here:

http://s44.photobucket.com/albums/f23/Maksim-Smelchak/ConQuest-Sac-2007/

I posted a few photos of attendees under the root and then subdivided the galleries thematically into:

- CQ-Sac_Board-Games-07
- CQ-Sac_Mini-Games-07
- CQ-Sac_RPGs-07
- CQ-Sac_Staff-07
- CQ-Sac_Vendors-07

And then created some sub-galleries as well:

CQ-Sac_Board-Games-07
- CQ-Sac_ASL-2007
- CQ-Sac_B-17_2007
- CQ-Sac_Twilight-Imperium_07

CQ-Sac_Mini-Games-07
- CQ-Sac_40k-Tourney-07
- CQ-Sac_Air-Games-07
- CQ-Sac_Ancients-07
- CQ-Sac_CMGs-07
- CQ-Sac_Monster-Island-07
- CQ-Sac_Naval-WWII-07
- CQ-Sac_Painting-07
- CQ-Sac_Vietnam-07
- CQ-Sac_Westerns-07
- CQ-Sac_WWII_2007
- CQ-Sac_Zombie-Hunter-07
- CQ-Sac_Zombietown-07

CQ-Sac_RPGs-07
- CQ-Sac_Bob-Serenity-07
- CQ-Sac_Capt-Bob-07
- CQ-Sac_Cthulhu-2007

I wanted to also mention that while I volunteer at the ConQuest-Sac-2007 gaming convention, my photos should not be considered "official" con photos... just the contribution of one gamer to the community.

I hopefully removed all the photos with particularly unflattering poses (always seem to get a few nostril shots no matter how I try). I also deleted all the photos of "The Future Plumbers of America Club"... they simply have attrocious fashion sense (...totally unlike the average gamer, right?)...

An exciting action shot from one of the air wargames at CQ-Sac-2007!

If for any reason, someone has an aversion to a photo (I did ask permission repeatedly all day long), drop me a line and I can remove any offending material. I wouldn't want anyone's mug shot to reach the FBI or America's Most Wanted...

With that said, I hope that everyone enjoys the photos!

I had a great time at the con and hope that everyone else did too!

Wishing everyone well!

Shalom,
Maksim-Smelchak.

P.S.
Anyone interested in using photos on their website or elsewhere is welcome to do so. All I ask is that I be credited as the photographer (even the poor photos!)...

P.S.S.
Thanks to Bill at TMP!

GAMING NEWS: MWSS Session Report (10 March 2007)

.

Jarrod, Mike W. and Mike O. having a great time hunting zombies!

Hi Everyone,

Well, I finally got around to writing the battle report for the 10 March 2007 meeting of the MWSS (Miniatures Wargaming Society of Sacramento) gaming club. It was a fun meeting with lots of attendees during a very busy weekend. I didn’t keep track of victories this time… only who played. Without further ado, here’s what happened:

Dick and Mark chuckling as the zombies ran wild.

Attendance:

1. Andrew
2. Anthony
3. Charles
4. Connor
5. Dave S.
6. Don
7. Chris
8. Dick
9. George
10. Greg
11. Jarrod
12. Joe B.
13. Joe R.
14. Keith
15. Ken
16. Maksim
17. Mark C.
18. Mike O.
19. Mike W.
20. Randy
21. Mystery Guest #1
22. Mystery Guest #2 (Improved model)

Game (miniatures) #1:
Armati (15mm ancients historical game)
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/10266

Gauls (Germans) vs. Romans
(Hosted by Chris) 15mm Roman and Gaulish lines mix it up.

Gauls (Germans):
- Don
- Joe R.
Romans:
- Chris
- Randy

- In a fairly standard game of Armati, the Gauls were trounced by a more devious pair of Roman commanders, Randy Randulous and Christophero Christophicus. The poor Gaul commanders were more like Hanz & Franz from the 1980s Saturday Night Live television show than fearsome hulking Germans from ancient times! You can't win them all and Armati does have a learning curve...

Game (miniatures) #2:
Gaslight (15mm Victorian Science Fiction game)
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/7071

Prussians vs. Confederacy vs. Mercenary Spanish vs. Cruel World
(Hosted by Mark C.)

A huge 15mm British VSF vehicular contraption overuns a smaller brother.

Prussians:
- Dick
- Maksim
Confederacy (Tinkertons):
- Anthony
- Charles
- George
American Adventurers
- Greg
Spanish Mercenaries led by an Insane British Lord & Arab Allies
- Mike O.

- This was definitely a wildy and wooly game. Mark specializes in writing colorful and funny background stories as well as creating wacky special rules that often don't come into play. For instance, one of the Confederate characters was a mad scientist with a "pig zapper" gun/device that literally turned its targets into... PIGS! Mark also built a number of scratch items for the game including all of the vehicles and scenery pieces. It was a great game and we all had a blast playing it!

A 15mm Mad Sheik fights an Indiana Jones-like American adventurer.

- As a side note, I have detailed notes of this game and will create a separate battle report for it in the near future.

A beautiful scratchbuilt 15mm VSF robot, the "Firebelly," made by Mark C.

Game (miniatures) #3:
Xtreme Zombie Hunter (28mm Sci-fi)
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/20901

Zombie Hunters vs. Zombies
(Hosted by Nils)

A 28mm "chainsaw chick" is surrounded by marauding zombies.

Zombie Hunters:
- Connor
- Dick
- Jarrod
- Maks
- Mark C.
- Mike O.
- Mike W.
Zombies:
- Nils (The gamemaster)

- This amusing game of commercialized zombie hunting had all the best zombie themes: rednecks, store clerks, hopping zombie legs, crawling torsos, hot chicks, etc. We all had a good time hunting down the zombies and spouting one-liners... think of a mix of Duke Nuke'em and The Running Man!

An apprehensive Connor doesn't like what Nils is pointing out...

Game (board) #4:
Battlecry (Civil War Board Game)
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/551
Connor (North) vs. Mike W. (South)
(Hosted by Mike W.)

Another scratchbuilt 15mm robot built by Mark C.

Game (board) #5:
Iliad (Ancients Card Game)
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/21654
(Hosted by Dick)
Players Unknown

Two 28mm "redneck brothers," a crik savvy zombie hunting team.

Game (board) #6+:
- A number of board games were played after I left early.

MWSS Meeting Outcome:
- It was a great day… plenty of folks showed up! We had three major miniatures games hosted and all three were great fun. I played in two of them, the VSF adventure and the Zombie Hunting thriller! Everyone was a great sport and with the exception of a little vendetta between two players (…solved on the field of zombie hunting), we all got on fabulously. A special thanks to Mark C. and Nils who both put a tremendous amount of effort into their gaming set-ups!

Thanks again, Mark and Nils!

Joe Riddle showed off some of his finely painted 15mm HOTT Fantasy figures.

I took lots of photos of the session and they can be found here:
http://s44.photobucket.com/albums/f23/Maksim-Smelchak/Gaming%202007/MWS_3-10-2007/

Nils has his own blog here:
http://blackcavalierswargaming.blogspot.com/

And Mark C. keeps a gallery here:
http://s81.photobucket.com/albums/j213/MACarper/

The 15mm British roller tanks were particularly effective at running over infantry.

Have a great Tuesday!

Shalom,
Maksim-Smelchak.

Notes regarding photos / pictures: These are not all my images. I am using various images from around the web, mostly from public sources and/or private sources used with permission. I have tried to include only images under public domain, creative commons, or fair use. If I have inadvertently violated any copyrights, please inform me and I will remove your image/s (if it is indeed an infringement).