Games I Ran At Historicon 2017

I ran two games at Historicon 2017 using two of my favorite rules sets: the Doctor Who Miniatures Game (DWMG) and 7TV.

First Game - DWMG
Saturday morning I ran a scenario titled 'Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Daleks'.  I modified a scenario originally created by the authors set during the Doctor Who episodes 'Army of Ghosts' and 'Doomsday'.  It had 6 players, each with their own objectives.  The good factions were the Police, Torchwood and the Preachers; the bad factions were the Criminals, Daleks and Cybermen.

The board setup on a 6x4 foot area:

The factory doors are opening.  What danger lurks within?

 My newest building, a Police station by TT Combat.

A lone Dalek glides down the street.

The good guys from Torchwood move to intercept the Dalek.  Some of the Criminals are visible in the background.

 Torchwood and the Dalek battled it out for most of the game.

The other two good factions work their way towards the factory where the Cybermen are converting captives into more Cybermen.  The Preachers are on the left and the Police on the right.

A Cyberman stuns a Policeman and drags him back to the factory fpr conversion.

On the other side of the factory.  The Criminals are making their way up the board towards their objective, the Green building at the top.

The BBC always have a camera crew on location.

The captured Policeman has been converted into a new Cyberman.

A second Dalek makes a brief appearance.

The Dalek-Torchwood battle continues.

The Doctor (in the brown coat) has joined Torchwood.  His assistance helped to turn the tide.

The Criminals have robbed the jewelry store (their main objective).

A lone Policeman attempts to stop the Criminals but is quickly outnumbered.

Having dispatched the Daleks, Torchwood and the Doctor join the assault on the factory.  The Police and Preachers made it inside before taking heavy losses fighting the Cybermen.

The Criminals take the opportunity to mug a defenceless skater before exiting the board.

The last stand of the Cybermen.

I have run this scenario several times over the years and it is always a fun game.  This is the first time both the Daleks and Cybermen were wiped out; the Daleks' dice really turned against them.  The Criminals managed to complete their objectives while the good guys managed an overall victory.


Second Game - 7TV
After a short break to rearrange the table, on Saturday afternoon I ran a game using the 7TV rules by Crooked Dice.  It is one of my favorite games and a lot of fun.

The scenario was creatively named 'Spaceship Down!'.  An alien spaceship has crashed in London and the British army is moving in to secure the wreckage.  Meanwhile the evil corporation United Radionics has summoned all available forces to recover the advanced technology on board.  Each side had 3 players with a cast of around 30 points each.  I tended to take a few pictures whenever I had the chance so I missed some of the action.

Some shots of the board after setup.  There were 5 pieces of wreckage, each with an objective marker representing salvageable technology.  The spaceship pieces are from an old Games Workshop set.

A villainous Double Agent sneaks ahead to secure the first objective marker on the right flank.  You can tell he's a villain by the eyepatch.

A squad of Minions advances to support the Double Agent.

More Minions advance in the center of the board.

On the other end of the board, the British Army moves in to secure the alien ship's cockpit.

Another objective is claimed by United Radionics.

The first soldier is down.  His comrades take cover and return fire.

On the left, the android-like Plastons created by UR's Advanced Research Division advance in formation.

Back on the right, hand-to-hand combat has begun.

On the roof of the building are 2 survivors from the spaceship.  They take turns shooting at both sides as casualties mount.

I don't seem to have any pictures from the end of the game but it was an overall win for the villains with 3 of the 5 objectives and heavy losses on both sides.

This was the largest 7TV game I have run.  It didn't get through as many turns as I thought it would but it did come to a conclusion.  I plan on running 7TV games at Historicon 2018 and am leaning towards doing 3 different 1-on-1 scenarios simultaneously.  I think it would allow the games to move faster and also showcase the wide variety of settings that you use with these rules.

Thanks for looking!
Jason

28mm Minions

An assortment of fourteen 28mm Minions by Crooked Dice.  They can fill a wide variety of roles in games such as henchmen of an evil mastermind, security guards, crew of a space station/undersea base/oil rig, etc.  They mix well size-wise with the Copplestone guards in orange uniforms that I posted back in 2013.  I was not thrilled how the orange uniforms turned out on the Copplestone guards, so after some experimentation I decided to go with blue uniforms.  I started with Coat d'Arms High Elf Blue, added a coat of Army Painter Blue Tone ink, then highlighted in the original color.  I like how they turned out.  Painted in 2017.

The commander and an administrator/accountant/non-combatant.  With some modification, the commander could be used for Colonel Tigh from Battlestar Galactica.

Four armed with rifles:

Four armed with submachineguns:

A grenadier, a mechanic and a minion with flamethrower:

Dog handler and dog:

CD also makes them unarmed, armed with batons and different heavy weapons.  They come with separate heads, plus they sell many varieties of heads separately so there is a lot of room for customization.  Great miniatures to have in a modern collection.

Thanks for looking!

Jason

28mm Criminals

With the first warm sunny day in a while I seized the opportunity to take some pictures.  The first group were a set of 28mm criminals in balaclavas.  These are six masked men intent on mayhem, or just a bit of petty larceny.  They are made by Crooked Dice, the source of many of my miniatures.  They are useful for many scenarios in a modern setting and were very quick to paint with just enough detail.  I painted these in 2017 and they first saw action in a game I ran at Historicon last summer.

The leader armed with a pistol.  The bag full of cash (or, for Die Hard fans, bearer bonds) is a nice touch.

 

A dog handler and four guard dogs.  The dogs are available separately or with a handler and are nice models.  I  have a minion dog handler that will be in my next post.  CD also make army and cultist versions.  I  have several larger dogs from Iron Wind/Ral Partha that are unpainted.

The whole gang returning to their base after a successful heist.

Thanks for looking!
Jason

2018 Begins with Hasslefree

Since resuming painting, I have been making good progress.  I've finished 19 miniatures since my post 3.5 weeks ago; the ones I started then plus some that were partially painted.  I haven't been able to seal them yet as it is too cold outside for spraying them with varnish.

After Christmas I started a new batch of recently arrived miniatures that are detailed below.  Normally I don't paint things that I just bought, instead choosing things out of my stockpile for a particular project.  But that is what I am currently motivated to do, so I am going with it.

I made an order with Hasslefree in late November during their sale.  A few days later, I received an email to let me know my order would be slightly delayed due to an inventory error.  When the package arrived in December, I discovered they were kind enough to include a free miniature in my order.  Even better it was one I had considered getting.  Great customer service as usual, plus two pieces of candy.

Top row l-r:
1. Karl Drax: A miniature based on the character Ronon Dex from Stargate Atlantis, a tv show I watched during its 5-season run starting in 2004.  Played by Jason Momoa, now more famous as Khal Drogo in Game of Thrones and Aquaman in Justice League.  I choose to ignore the awful Conan movie he starred in.  I'll use him as a hero or alien mercenary.
2. Dynamic Jynx: I'll use her as a 7TV character with psionic or other superhuman powers.  The big question is what color to paint the ball of energy in her hands?
3. Finn: P-A survivor
4. Kendra: P-A survivor

5. Destiny: 7TV heroine with a 70s vibe.

Bottom row l-r:
1. Winter Morgan:7TV spy
2. Rihanna: P-A survivor who appears to be based on Rosita from the Walking Dead.
3. Post-Apoc Wolsey: P-A version of Shaggy from Scooby Doo.  There is actually a "Scooby Apocalypse" comic that started in 2016.  Not sure whether this mini pre-dates that.  Hasslefree make the rest of the gang as well, I may get them in future.
4. Elite Sadie:  Not fully assembled yet.  I've had a terrible time trying to attach the arms.  One piece has the right arm, a weapon and the left hand.  The left arm is small and difficult to match up at the shoulder and wrist simultaneously.  I wanted to use the shotgun but am ready to give up and try the other gun or sword to see if I can salvage her.
5. Maria: P-A survivor and FREE!

Since I took this picture, they have been based, brush-primed (too cold for spraying), and the bases, weapons, shoes. belts and hair painted.  Also underway but not pictured are a Guru (evil mastermind) from Crooked Dice and another mini from Black Cat for a total of 11 (twelve if I can get Sadie's arms to attach) .

Also arriving in December as part of my post-Thanksgiving orders was a Secret Base from Crooked Dice.  This is a MDF set that builds a 60cmx60cm aka 2'x2' secret lair,underground bunker, etc.  I plan on using it for games I run in 2018.  Construction has started tonight. 

This:

Will turn into this:

http://www.crooked-dice.co.uk/wp/product/secret-base-starter-set/

The last bit of news is the most exciting.  My upcoming local convention, Siege of Augusta, is in 2 weeks.  This year will be different since my 11-year-old daughter told me months ago that she wants to attend.  I plan on playing in whatever games she is interested in trying.