Construction Vehicles Playset

Picked up this Cute Stone Construction Vehicles Playset from Amazon.ca a year ago and hadn't cracked it open. Wanted to get some construction vehicles to go with my Marvel Crisis Protocol and Batman Miniature Game figures and the MCP NYC Construction Site Terrain Pack (currently assembled and primed but not painted). Its important to think outside the box, so to speak, for interesting terrain for miniature games.

There is quite a lot in this set and although there are more larger items than are normally on the table for the size class it gives variety and flair to the tabletop. However the quantity will go nicely with the BMG.

The scale might be a little smaller than they should for MCP but...

...perfect for the big digger, bulldozer, and crane as well as the accessories.

The vehicles have some heft to them for keeping them in their spot, as light plastic ones would move by breathing on them too hard. The bulldozer can also switch out its scoop for a plow or roller too. 

Infinity Cardboard Terrain

A few years ago, when I was getting into Infinity, there was a scenery pack included in a box set (Moto.Tronica) plus I picked up another one in an Arianna large starter box (Navajo Outpost Pack). They provide the same number and sizes of easily put together cardboard buildings and containers, four large and six small. I decided to put together these for extra scenery for multiple miniature game systems.

    Below is a three by three mat with both assembled terrain packs. As you can see it covers an appropriate amount of table area. It just needs some scatter terrain. The only minor quibble I have are that not many metal models should be placed on the top of the larger buildings, but extra cardboard lightly glued inside will reinforce the roof.

    For 32mm models, like the Batman Miniature Game, the size is perfect. Although the look of them are futuristic it still fits, but the smaller containers would work well in a warehouse or dock themed scenario.

    For Battletech: Alpha Strike they can be stacked as buildings and work extremely well for city terrain.

    40mm Marvel Crisis Protocol models also fit well. Same issue as with the Batman game, in that the theme is futuristic. Would work well in an alien world themed table.

    These sets are not sold on the Infinity Corvus Belli's website, but several others are here in particular on page two. A similar assortment, with different art, is the Dawn-02 Aplekton scenery pack for a reasonable price. Two other good sets for the price are the Neon Lotus scenery pack and the Daedalus scenery pack.

Badlands Terrain from GF9

 I picked up some GF9 Badlands terrain boxes recently and am very glad I did. I had plans to build some, but these were already made, prepainted, and solid. Also, even though they are labelled as being for 25-35mm models, I have found they are useful for any scale models from Dystopian Wars/Uncharted Seas 1:1200 scale to Marvel Crisis Protocol 40mm scale (1:43).

Out of the four the company sells, I picked up these three. Here they are with Marvel Crisis Protocol figures...

...Malifaux models...

...Battletech models...

...and Batman Miniature Game models.

I intend on using these in any outdoor scenario or setting as they are very handy and much better then my carved styrofoam "rock" escarpments.

Hardwar - Modiphius Edition Kickstarter and Free Quickstart Rules

Modiphius is releasing their Kickstarter for the new edition of the Hardwar Game. Previously owned by Strato Minis, Hardwar was a licensed offshoot of the first edition of Horizon Wars, expanded and modified, which is now in its 2nd edition called Horizon Wars: Midnight Dark.

    Hardwar is a skirmish miniature game using 6mm scale models. It is set in the near future where mercenary companies take contracts and fight for those who hire them, except they do so with remote controlled mechs and vehicles.

    Many of the same mechanics of Hardwar seem to be included in the 24 page quickstart rules, available for FREE as a pdf from Modiphius. I am sure there will be some tweaks in the full edition of the rules. They have also cleaned up all of the Strato Minis models included in the Kickstarter and if the product sells well I expect the rest of the Strato Minis line to get a facelift and rollout under the Modiphius banner.

    I like the quickstart and its little tweaks as well as its clear presentation of the rules.0 My only criticism in the Kickstarter is that the stretch goals are currently focused on the terrain models and the main benefactor of them is only those who choose the highest reward tier. Currently I will likely get a lower grade tier, like Corporate Commando, with some add-ons.

    There is a Facebook site, run by Modiphius, here. You can still download some Hardwar items from Strato Minis website here.

Bedrock, the Cursed Village

I picked up the 1960's Marx Flintstones Bedrock play set, or at least most of one, from a charity shop two years ago for dirt cheap. I thought it was time to paint it up as I needed more 3-4 inch high climbable terrain for Malifaux, as per their new 4e beta ruleset for moving onto terrain.

    I used dollar store paints and made the buildings less cartoony. For the figures I decided to paint them as statues with glowing eyes. You can almost hear the chanting whispers of"Yabba", "Dabba", and "Do".

    Once I was done, I realized I could also use the terrain for the Marvel Crisis Protocol and Batman Miniatures Game. They are a great scale for it. Never be afraid of picking up inexpensive children's toys for your miniature games. You might be surprised what you can find and they are built to be sturdy.

Heroscape is Back!

Over the years my friend and I have been playing Heroscape. The game is still fun and fast to play. To speed things up, he has made thematic teams that also combine models that have rules which support one another and with the rest has made leftover squads.

    Heroscape, licensed through Renegade Games, has started making revamped terrain hexes, new models, and new factions. We have found that the new items are well made and the new models are very fun.  

    The unfortunate thing is that Renegade isn't reprinting the classic Heroscape models. Fortunately there are lots of resellers out there that do, but you have to do some research to ensure they have a good reputation. Sometimes you can get lucky at a garage sale, flea market, or charity store.

    Websites are out there that provide a community and information for folks who play or want to get into it again, like Heroscapers, Gary's Heroscape Site, and Board Game Geek (under the files and forums sections).

    I have my heroscape items, purchased during a few years ago, specifically for the tiles. I have used them for Battletech: Alpha Strike games, but not for Heroscape. My friend has almost everything for the game so no need to double up.

4e Malifaux Beta and its Changes, so far

Myself and a friend tried out the current Malifaux 4e Beta of the rules, May 29th version. He took Guild and Family, Perdita, and I took Outcast and Mercenary, Viktorias. We almost got to the end of turn two, after four hours, but this was no different than 3e when we transitioned to that ruleset. So far, we like the new rules and changes that make models and crews more unique. There are a lot less dual faction models, but are no longer any dual faction crews.

Setup

-Terrain: Range of 45-65% of play area covered with terrain as long range actions intended to be limited, a minimum and maximum required as climbable platforms for models, requirement for all the different types of terrain.

-Scenarios and Schemes: Base scenarios use strategy markers which cannot be affected (moving, removing, or targeting) unless the model card or scenario specifically says so, pick one from three random schemes, and only have one scheme each turn.

-Faction, Leader, and Hire Crew: Pretty much the same, not spending all your points important for having soulstones as many models use them for various effects.

Turn

-Start Phase: Initiative for turn 1 is always the attacker and in subsequent turns the player who did not activate the last models chooses who gains initiative, hand size is seven instead of six, If you have no Master your henchmen can become the leader until the end of the game (gaining an action each turn too) for a soulstone.

-Activation Phase: If you have the same or less models then opponent you can pass your activation, cannot pass twice in a row, Masters get three actions if game is 50 or more soulstones, Peons get only one action and cannot interact, the lightning bolt free action is now called signature actions, you get one free signature actions per model during its activation but can do it again for another action.

End Phase

-Score Strategy: Can score up to 5 VP with them during the game.

-Reveal Scheme: Can reveal a scheme to gain up to 2 VP during the game.

-Abandon Scheme: Can reveal and discard a scheme without gaining VP.

-Select New Scheme: If you revealed or discarded a scheme you can select one of the three printed at the bottom of the scheme.

-Check for End Game: Four turns instead of five

Other

Character Driven: The rules and abilities for each model, we found, are more unique and better fit what they do. They’re more fun to see what new stuff they can do.

Crew Cards: Each Master can choose which of two they are and they come with different crew cards. For friendly games we are just going to put them on a different base size if they have that change. These crew cards provide extra abilities and actions for each member of the crew that has the same keyword as the Master. A handy list of tokens the crew will be using, and their effects, are on the back of the card. One, or more, of these tokens are special to the crew card and Master chosen.

Tokens: OK, there are now 21 types of tokens across each faction. Add to that the crew card specific tokens. That means you need to make more tokens to show what’s what on the playmat.

Firing into Melee: Cannot find it. Looks like friendly models do not grant cover but enemy models do.

Well, that is a quick overview and once the rules and models cards are locked I will make some helper sheets as I have done for 2e and 3e. Looking forward to playing more games of the new edition. Link to Wyrd's 4e page. To access the 4e beta files you need a forum account.

Visiting the Knight Models Warehouse

I was at the Knight Models warehouse in Madrid in early May. I was in the area on vacation so I took a morning to go there to get replacement for items missing or not shipped that I ordered during the Black Friday sale.

    A nice person helped me by first looking through a big box of ready to be mailed shipping envelopes of replacement parts. Since my name was not on any of the labels, they got replacements from the warehouse floor. They also gave me a model to thank me for coming.

    At the start of the conversation, they looked over the my notes in English and Spanish, starting with my order number and missing parts, when their finger scrolled down the first page and got to the questions there (fixing the App, starting to engage with the public, next miniatures) they shook their head and waved at it. Seems like the person can't or won't answer any of them.

    The warehouse had many organized shelves of models ready to go in their boxes and some larger cardboard boxes of items ready to ship to retailers. I never got to my questions about fans or staff being able to update the compendium and make a more organized rulebook, more environment cards, campaigns, scenarios, hiring more people to address the backlog and make new models, status of Escape From Arkham Asylum, status of Harry Potter second edition.

    The big question of the relationship between Knight Models, DefCon games, and OC Games was also never gotten to. If anyone has a better language skill in Spanish, although they understood most of what I was saying, and are traveling to Madrid perhaps they can visit to ask questions and report back?

End of 2024 and Looking Ahead to 2025

The year 2023 was varied for the amount of role playing, board, computer, and miniature games played. I am hoping to increase the amount of role playing and miniature games played, but time will tell.

For roleplaying my group finished the Pendragon starter box adventure in six sessions (two last year and four this one). My review of Pendragon is here for those who are interested (Hint: We really liked it and will be carrying on with another adventure). Twilight: 2000 first came out in 1984 and players are allied soldiers alive in Eastern Europe after WW3 and a limited nuclear exchange. They have to survive and get back to friendly lines. The original game seemed like it would be good , but as teenagers it just became fantasy with us controlling tanks and attack choppers blowing up stuff. The new version, by Free League Publishing, is set in 1998 and is much grittier and realistic. After five sessions, my character is recovering in a prison taken over by a cult leader as the other two players are trying not to get killed by a turncoat that knows and hates one of them. Intense!

For boardgames, a mighty eighty-seven were played. Games I most liked this year are marked by an asterisk (*). In order from most to least played are:

9: *Marvel Champions (3 Player)

7: *Heat

6: *7 Wonders Duel, Death My Die, No Thanks!

4: *Arcs, Biblios

3: Crib, *Terraforming Mars

2: *7 Wonders Duel: Middle Earth, 200, *Apiary, Daybreak, Five Crowns, Kollide, Pandemic: Hotzone NA, Play 9, Settlers of Catan, Undaunted: Normandy, Vendetta, Watergate

1: 7 Wonders, Andromeda's Edge, Campaign Trail, Carcassonne, Command and Colors: Napoleon, Freedom, Greece Lightning, King of Monster Island, Lord of the Rings Customizable Card Game, Lost Cities, *Mega Empires (Western Empires), *Mind MGMT, Splendor, Ticket to Ride: NY, Victory in the Pacific.

For solo boardgames, I just played two games of Campaign Trail.

For computer games, I just played one with a group, Terraforming Mars, and solo I played six games of Terraforming Mars.

For miniature games, I played thirty-one. The Batman Miniature Game was most played with ten games (see here for the year in review), seven of Battletech: Alpha Strike (year in review here), seven Marvel Crisis Protocol (year in review here), six Malifaux (year in review here), and one game of non-violent Gaslands (performance cars with one lap around a track).

I also read a lot of Battletech books this year, thanks to a Humble Bundle I participated in in 2023. It is interesting how many bore books you can read when flossing, brushing, and being out and about. I have been reading them in chronological order and they were: *Warrior Trilogy, Wolves on the Border, Heir to the Dragon; *Blood of Kerensky Trilogy; Legend of the Jade Phoenix-Way of the Clans.

For miniatures painted this year it was horrible. Only four Malifaux and two Batman Miniature Game figures. I have high ambitions this year: 

-Batman Miniature Game: The Batman Starter Box, all the Law Forces police, more Law Forces models, Organized Crime faction

-Battletech: Draconis Combine, Patchwork Guild Regulars, Generic Faction Vehicles and Fighters.

-Guildball: Two Union, Masons/Butchers/Fishermen remaining models, 

-Malifaux: Remaining Versatile models, Zipp crew, Ressurectionist versatile, Dr McMourning

-Marvel Crisis Protocol: Finish Spider Foes and Agents of SHIELD.

-Terrain: As much as I can!

Have a great 2025!

The Batman on Bike (Robert Patterson)

If you need more movement distance to get around the board this Batman on Bike (Robert Patterson version) is the same cost as the starter box version. There is different abilities and either by special action, or automatically when an enemy suspect is revealed, you switch out with the starter box model.

All paints are TTCombat unless otherwise mentioned. Primed black, rough drybrush Dark Slate Grey, heavy drybrush Anchor Blue Grey, Drybrush Midnight Blue, light drybrush Vega Bluegrey, Black wash, light drybrush Light Azure Blue on armour, black wash, very light drybrush Opulent White, Black on leather parts (gloves, utility belt, boot soles, Batman symbol on chest), Black wash on cape and non-armored parts. I think I inadvertently did a non-metallic metal finish on the body armour, which was nice. For the lower face I used Adriatic Skin, Halfling Skin drybrush, White Knuckle Flesh light drybrush, Flesh wash.

Bike painted same as Batman but one less wash in the middle. Light and tire illumination painted Spotlight Yellow, Buttercup Yellow, and Opulent White with a yellow wash. Base made with Basius 2 Victoriana plate and green putty, dollarstore Black, dark grey, light grey, and washed with black. Base rim painted PP Cygnar Blue.

The Batman (Robert Patterson)

From "The Batman" starter box I painted The Batman (Robert Patterson) model. This model has a unique rule where if it is the leader they can defer being the boss to a sidekick. Since this Batman model is generally on their own this ability is a good thing for the rest of the squad.

All paints are TTCombat unless otherwise mentioned. Primed black, rough drybrush Dark Slate Grey, heavy drybrush Anchor Blue Grey, Drybrush Midnight Blue, light drybrush Vega Bluegrey, Black wash, light drybrush Light Azure Blue on armour, black wash, very light drybrush Opulent White, Black on leather parts (gloves, utility belt, boot soles, Batman symbol on chest), Black wash on cape and non-armored parts. I think I inadvertently did a non-metallic metal finish on the body armour, which was nice. For the lower face I used Adriatic Skin, Halfling Skin drybrush, White Knuckle Flesh light drybrush, Flesh wash.

Statue painted Shadowline Grey, drybrush Ash Grey, light drybrush Anchor Bluegrey, wash of GW Nihilakh Oxide. Rooftop painted Dark Slate Grey, drybrushed Stone Grey. Metal supports painted Capo Red, drybrushed Viscera Red. Base drybrushed Black wash. Base rim painted PP Cygnar Blue.