MINI WARGAMING: "May MWS Meeting & Life" (4 June 2008)

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TOP: A Babylon-5 Centauri starship, the Primus battlecruiser.

Hi All,

It's been a busy past few weeks... I have so much on my plate and gaming has been lower priority for the most part... NOT that I haven't been getting some in! I still have some priorities! May was a good month. The MWS meeting was pleasant and we had about sixteen attendees. Two games were run.

TOP: An ASL game... Without miniatures.

The first game was a 6mm ASL (Advanced Squad Leader) miniatures adaptation game run by Eric, our local microamror houd (...other than myself, of course). He had an interesting WWII Eastern Front battle with Russians advancing across a river bridge against determined German defenders. The game went well and I was sorry I missed it. I did, however, get to help set up the board... nothing like placing some six-odd zillion littles trees down... LOL ;o) Thanks, Eric!

TOP: A Babylon-5 starship, a White Star destroyer.

The second big game was run by Russel, a local Babylon-5 Starship Maniac, and was alot of fun. Russel is well-known by my friend Chern ,who recently had a birthday (Happy Belated Birthday, Chern!), and they often see each other at local gamign conventions playing B-5. I haven't played B-5 in ages (...probably at least two to three years ago with Chern) so it was alot of fun. Russel set up two sides, an Earth Federation side with lots of fancy hardware and a League of Unaligned Planets with Brakiri and Vree ships. I, of course, took a Vree battlewagon or two nd my side was... of course, slaughtered. The Earth ships have a great mix of defensive systems (interceptors) and offensive sytems (long-range missiles and powerful beams). Of course, it didn't help that my side lost nearly every initiative round. It was a great game and I really enjoyed seeing my friends and rolling the old "knucklebones" (dice).

On the miniatures front, I've been slowly and steadly pumping out 28mm orcs & pirates. This past weekend, I built some RAFM 28mm armored orcs as well as the beginnings of a 28mm orc & gobbo pirate crew. I will hopefully have some time to put out some photos soon...

In other news, Israel Independence Day or Yom Ha-Atzma'ut just passed and I enjoyed celebrating that.

To learn more about the holiday, please check out this link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yom_Ha-Atzmaut

And to keep this post from becoming just a boring news spread, I'm sharing an amusing article I read on the Modern Crossfire Yahoo Discussion group:

TOP: The venerable Moisin Nagant rifle.

AK-47: It works though you have never cleaned it. Ever.
AR-15: You have $9 per ounce special non-detergent synthetic Teflon infused oil for cleaning.
Mosin-Nagant: It was last cleaned in Berlin in 1945.

AK-47: You are able to hit the broad side of a barn from inside.
AR-15: You are able to hit the broad side of a barn from 600 meters.
Mosin-Nagant: You can hit the barn from two miles away.

AK-47: Cheap mags are fun to buy.
AR-15: Cheap mags melt.
Mosin-Nagant: What's a mag?

AK-47: Your safety can be heard from 300 meters away.
AR-15 You can silently flip off the safety with your finger on the trigger.
Mosin-Nagant: What's a safety?

AK-47: Your rifle comes with a cheap nylon sling.
AR-15: Your rifle has a 9-point stealth tactical suspension system.
Mosin-Nagant: Your rifle has a dog collar.

AK: Your bayonet makes a good wire cutter.
AR-15: Your bayonet is actually a pretty good steak knife.
Mosin-Nagant: Your bayonet is longer than your leg.

AK-47: You can put a .30" hole through 12" of oak.
AR-15: You can put one hole in a paper target at 100 meters with 10 rounds.
Mosin-Nagant: You knock down everyone else's target with the shockwave of your bullet going downrange.

AK-47: When out of ammo, your rifle will nominally pass as a club.
AR-15: When out of ammo, your rifle makes a great wiffle bat.
Mosin-Nagant: When out of ammo, your rifle makes a supreme war club, pike, boat oar, tent pole, or firewood.

AK-47: Recoil is manageable, even fun.
AR-15: What's a recoil?
Mosin-Nagant: Recoil is often used to fix shoulders dislocated by the previous shot.

AK-47: Your sight adjustment goes to 10, and you've never bothered moving it.
AR-15: Your sight adjustment is incremented in fractions of minute of angle.
Mosin-Nagant: Your sight adjustment goes to 2000 meters, and you've actually tried it.

TOP: The modern AK-47 automatic assault rifle.

AK-47: Your rifle can be used by any two-bit nation's most illiterate conscripts to fight elite forces worldwide.
AR-15: Your rifle is used by elite forces worldwide to fight two-bit nations' most illiterate conscripts.
Mosin-Nagant: Your rifle has fought against itself - and won everytime.

AK-47: Your rifle won some revolutions.
AR-15: Your rifle drove Saddam out of Kuwait.
Mosin-Nagant: Your rifle won a pole vault event.

AK-47: You paid $330.
AR-15: You paid $900.
Mosin-Nagant: You paid $59.95.

AK-47: You buy cheap ammo by the case.
AR-15: You lovingly reload precision crafted rounds one by one.
Mosin-Nagant: You dig your ammo out of a farmer's field in Ukraine and it works just fine.

AK-47: You can intimidate your foe with the bayonet mounted.
AR-15: Your foes laugh when you mount your bayonet.
Mosin-Nagant: You can bayonet your foe on the other side of the stream without leaving the comfort of your hole.

AK-47: Any fool can be taught to field strip it.
AR-15: Anyone with an IQ over 160 can be taught to field strip it.
Mosin-Nagant: What's field stripping?

AK-47: Service life, 50 years.
AR-15: Service life, 40 years.
Mosin-Nagant: Service life, 101 years, and counting.

AK-47: It's easier to buy a new rifle when you want to change cartridge sizes.
AR-15: You can change cartridge sizes with the push of a couple of pins and a new upper.
Mosin-Nagant: You believe no real man would dare risk the ridicule ofhis friends by suggesting there is anything but 7.62x54 R.

AK-47: You can repair your rifle with a big hammer and a swift kick.
AR-15: You can repair your rifle by taking it to a certified gunsmith, if it's under
warranty!
Mosin-Nagant: If your rifle breaks, you pick up another one.

AK-47: You consider it a badge of honor when you get your handguards burst into
flames.
AR-15: You consider it a badge of honor when you shoot a sub-MOA 5 shot group.
Mosin-Nagant: You consider it a badge of honor when you cycle 5 rounds without the aid of a 2x4.

AK-47: You can accessorize you rifle with a new muzzle brake or a nice stock set.
AR-15: Your rifle's accessories are eight times more valuable than your rifle.
Mosin-Nagant: Your rifle's accessory is a small tin can with a funny lid, but it's buried under an apartment building somewhere in Budapest.

AK-47: Your rifle's finish is varnish and paint.
AR-15: Your rifle's finish is Teflon and high-tech polymers.
Mosin-Nagant: Your rifle's finish is low-grade shellac, cosmoline, and Olga's toe nail polish.

AK-47: After cleaning your rifle you have a strong urge for a stiff shot of vodka.
AR-15: After cleaning your rifle you have a strong urge for hot dogs and apple pie.
Mosin-Nagant: After cleaning your rifle you have a strong urge for shishkabob.

AK-47: After a long day the range, you relax by watching Red Dawn.
AR-15: After a long day at the range, you relax by watching Black Hawk Down.
Mosin-Nagant: After a long day at the range, you relax by visiting the chiropractor.

TOP: The Stoner rifle, which later became the M-16 AKA M-4 series.

AK-47: Late at night you sometimes have to fight the urge to hold yourrifle over your head and shout "Wolverines!"
AR-15: Late at night you sometimes have to fight the urge to clear your house, slicing the pie from room to room.
Mosin-Nagant: Late at night, you sometimes have to fight the urge to dig a fighting trench in the yard to sleep in.

AK-47: Your wife tolerates your autographed framed picture of Mikhail Kalashnikov.
AR-15: Your wife tolerates your autographed framed picture of Eugene Stoner.
Mosin-Nagant: Are there even photographs of Sergi Ivanovich Mosin
and Leon Nagant?

A link to the Modern Crossfire Yahoo Discussion group:

http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/moderncrossfire/

And one more link to an interesting set of miniatures photos from the recent Enfilade gaming convention:

http://max.velocity.home.comcast.net/~max.velocity/enfilade08/

Have a great Wednesday!

Good gaming to you!

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).

GAMING NEWS: Mongoose Gets a Traveller License!

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TOP: Mongoose now has a Traveller license!

Hi All,

One of my favorite all-time sci-fi games is the Traveller series... It originally came out at the end of the 1970s (...shortly after Star Wars came out) and really established Role-Playing Games (RPGs) and science fiction in the gaming mindset. And now there's exciting new news that may breath some fresh new life into Traveller: Mongoose Publishing is coming out with new materials for Traveller!

TOP: Some cool limited edition 28mm Droyne figures from...

J.D. Lauck of MEGA Minis.

So, without too much further rambling from me, here's the Mongoose Publishing press release:

After a near 10-year gap in which only reprints of the Traveller game system have been available, Mongoose Publishing becomes the centralised resource for Traveller titles with the publication of their core rule book Traveller: Science-Fiction Adventures in the Far Future, in February 2008. On this foundation, Mongoose will produce a supporting line of supplements, adventures, and source books detailing the official and original Traveller universe of the far future.

The materials published by Mongoose will be placed in and part of the canonical Traveller universe.

It is our aim to halt the fragmentation of the Traveller game, and reintroduce one solid system (...based on Classic Traveller), with one source for the official Traveller universe.

But that is not all. . .

Mongoose Publishing Science Fiction RPGs:
Mongoose will also be using Traveller in its licensed science-fiction properties (...each featuring a Traveller logo).

We have pioneered this concept already with Runequest, publishing a rules set and supporting adventures and source books, then using the Runequest rules as the basis for other alternative fantasy role-playing settings, such as Hawkmoon, Elric and Lankhmar.

The first licensed setting to be produced using the Traveller rules set (...and available in early 2008) will be Starship Troopers, a welcome return to bug-blasting action across the galaxy! Hot on its heels will be Strontium Dogs, based on the hit 2000AD comic strip. After that, who knows... ???

TOP: Cool Traveller starship miniatures from...
Ken Burnside of Ad Astra Games.

To the greatest extent possible, we intend that there be a transportability of characters, concepts, and even equipment between the various systems. So, it will be perfectly possible for your Strontium Dog Bounty Hunter to land on a planet in his Scout/Courier, only to find him battling for his life against waves of Warrior Bugs - with no conversion needed between the games!

All games and settings will therefore be able to utilise the core supplements, such as High Guard, Mercenary, and 760 Patrons, while retaining their own character.

News Release URL:
http://www.mongoosepublishing.com/news/news_item.php?pkid_news=166

And Traveller certainly has seen many versions from the Classic Traveller timeline to one sin which the mighty Imperium degenerates into civil war, ones in which vampire-like computer viruses take over the world, a "Space Viking" scenario in which the Traveller universe recovers from a "Dark Age" and many more. I'm really curious exactly which timeline and background Mongoose will choose to continue.

TOP: One of the two Traveller computer games.

And the product range has been vast as well including: four different versions of the RPG game, miniatures in 15mm & 28mm, starship minis, at least two computer games, posters, sci-fi novels, clothing patches, adhesive stickers, T-shirts, and who knows how many other spin-offs and other goodies.

Here's the rest of the Mongoose Publishing press release:

Open Gaming License:
Once the rules for Traveller appear, we plan to make them available under the Open Gaming License (OGL). At the same time, we will issue a Traveller Logo License (TLL) which makes the Traveller logo and titling available to licensees.

Far Future will Publish T5:
Far Future is proceeding with plans to produce the long-heralded Traveller 5, initially as an extensive CD ROM package (...estimated at 1000 pages) by the end of 2007, and a distilled 350-page Traveller 5 Core Rules book in the first half of 2008.

T5 will be a superset of the Mongoose Traveller rules, providing detailed coverage of rules, concepts and history not available elsewhere. There will be cross-compatibility between Traveller and Traveller 5, allowing you to use rules and supplements from each.

Traveller will be faithful to Classic Traveller, with an upgraded task and combat system. Traveller 5 will be a superset of those rules, providing greater detail and more insight into resolving situations in Traveller.

And eventually, we might even see Striker III, a Traveller miniatures ruleset of Chadwick'ian lineage. The key developer behind Striker III resides nearby (...when he's not in Texas) and he runs a web group where you can learn more about the project, which I've shared a link for below.

TOP: "The Journal of The Traveller's Society," THE Traveller magazine!

And here's a half dozen or so more helpful Traveller links:

Freelance Traveller link:

http://www.freelancetraveller.com/index.html

(Probably the best link for anything Traveller)

Citizens of the Imperium forum link:

http://www.travellerrpg.com/CotI/

(Probably the best Traveller forum around)

Far Future Enterprises link:

http://www.farfuture.net/

(Marc Miller's site, one of the creators of Traveller...)

(Find reprints of older Traveller materials here and...)

(it's also the home of Traveller 5)

Ad Astra Games link:

http://www.adastragames.com/

(Find Traveller starship minis here)

MEGA Minis link:

http://www.megaminis.com/

(Find limited edition 28mm Traveller minis here)

Loren Wiseman's home page link:

http://www.cgi101.com/~lkw/

(A creator of Classic Traveller & the genius behind GURPS Traveller )

CT Striker Yahoo E-group link:

http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/ct-striker/

(One of the best discussion groups for Striker III)

Classic Traveller Yahoo E-group link:

http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/Classic-Traveller/

(One of my favorite discussion groups for Traveller)

6SFWG (6mm Science Fiction War Games) Yahoo E-group link:

http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/6mmScienceFictionWarGames/

(Striker III and anything & everything related to 6mm sci-fi can be found here)

Have a great Monday!

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).