…I was playing with a group of friends. We played AD&D 2ed (Dark Sun, Ravenloft, Birthright), Shadowrun, Call of Cthulu and Star Wars.
It was the ’90s, we were teenagers, gathering to play once per week.
Time passed, friends changed, TTRPGs were put aside, stored in a warehouse. Computer RPGs and gaming scratched that itch a bit.
More time passed, family came along. CRPGs no longer could scratch the itch, but there simply was no time. I remembered how hard it was to get to play once per week, even with that tight group of friends, even when our only responsibility was to studying for school. But the love for TTRPGs was still there.
One day I stumbled upon a reddit post on solo roleplaying. At first I was sceptical. Then I found a subreddit, blogs from other fellow lonewolves. Solo roleplaying was something that worked, and there were tools designed to enable it.
Finally I decided to give it a go. I pulled my old Star Wars the Roleplaying Game (West End Games) books from the storage, found my dice, got some pen and paper, and journeyed to my first adventure. So this is my blog, where I will talk about all things relevant to solo roleplay gaming from my perspective.
Edit: This site is in the affiliate program of drivethruRPG, so the respective links include the affiliate id. It’s a small help with my hobby budget to try more new things.
With the initial (let’s call it Alpha) version of my Minis Photo Booth working well, I decided to start working on the smaller issues, making it more robust, upgrading the hardware, setting up the software side, and doing overall improvements. I’m not at the Final/Release Version yet, but getting close to it, as I need some supplies first.
Since last time, I’ve worked a lot on different aspects in parallel, and I think I need to spend some time explaining what I experimented with, what worked, and what didn’t work.
Hardware
For the Beta, I’ve experimented with some additional hardware that I either had lying around, or purchased recently. In particular:
5 Inch LCD screen
WS2812B Led Strip rings
Camera Module v2
Raspberry Pi 2B
Maxx Darth Black fabric
The LCD background upgrade
One idea I decided to explore was the use of a digital background while shooting the miniatures. Instead of printing (paper or 3d) different backgrounds, I could use my 5″ LCD screen to quickly and easily change the background. After some trial and error, I got promising results. However there are some limitations:
An extra power brick is needed for the LCD screen
Thick HDMI cables (+power cable) need to go inside the sealed box
Lighting can cause screen glares unless directed carefully
Scene lighting, camera shutter and LCD background lighting need careful balance
The floor (middle ground) and background need a seamless transition
Extra room is needed to accomodate it
Camera – LCD distance is limited by 5″ size
On the other hand when this is achieved, it will open up a whole new world of photo shooting, but this requires a whole lot more experimentation and work, so I’ll keep this for the Extended Version, and putting it on hold right now.
WS2812B Led strip rings
The lighting I tested so far in the Alpha and Initial Versions was based on stand-alone LEDs (and got an additional bigger one, with similar capabilities, but USB powered), which was good, but still had some limitations. In particular:
LED device shapes took a lot of space in the box or needed weird designs to be mounted with big gaps.
Lighting was limited to the options already pre-programmed.
Lighting could perhaps not be repeatable enough.
I got the LED rings, which also had a USB cable with a pre-programmed styles, but instead I could power them and control them via the Raspberry Pi GPIO pins. This is the approach I ended up with, and it’s what I’m using in the Beta Version, and will be using in future versions. I have full control of the colour, brightness and which LEDs are powered on, and also versatility on mounting options.
Camera module V2
In the whole upgrade passion, I got me a better Camera Module. This one has a different sensor and 8 MP over 5MP image capture. It’s still manual focus, but it wasn’t that strongly glued, so I could rotate the lens more easily without danger of damage. It is fully interchangeable with my other Camera, but since I did all the setup and testing of the Beta Version with Camera Module 1, it’s now on hold, waiting to be used in the Final/Release Version (or not if I get my hands on a different module which has autofocus capabilities) – TBD.
Raspberry Pi 2B
I’ve used my Raspberry Pi 3B+ in the Initial/Alpha Version, and I put it to the side while working on the Beta Version, as I didn’t want to break something that is already working. So I used my older Raspberry Pi 2B for everything here. Perhaps the 3B+ will be faster, but the old dog did pull through, exhibiting the robustness of the overall process. For the Final/Release Version I’ll probably be using the Raspberry Pi 3B+, unless I’ll keep it for the Extended Version. As a side note (and to remember for the future), the Pi 2B does NOT have integrated WLAN, and silly me was trying to ssh into it, until I figured it out, and plugged in a small USB WLAN adapter. Don’t be silly like me.
Maxx Darth Black fabric
The black cardstock I was using was still visible in the photos of the Initial/Alpha Version. So I got a piece of Maxx Darth Black from Green Stuff World, and oh my, it is truly really black and didn’t reflect light at all. There are some issues and limitations though. In particular:
The fabric has folds, and it didn’t fit in the box. Had to cut it to half.
The fabric is thick, so it lifted my miniatures about 2mm.
The fabric can become uneven due to the magnet force I use to hold the minis in place. Had to use a larger 30mm metal disk (which I painted black) to keep the mini horizontal.
The slightest dust speckle or hair is easily grabbed by the fabric, and it reallly shows in the photos. Needs cleaning often.
If I can find a better alternative, I won’t be using it in the Final/Release Version, or may use it only in the Background and not in the Floor/Middleground. TBD.
LCD background tests
Some photos of the successful proof-of-concept tests with the LCD backgrounds. Of course there is room for improvement, and I’m not even close to what I want to have, but it’s a path worth following.
LED & Maxx Darth Tests
Proof of concept testing of the LED powered on and the Maxx Darth fabric.
Long Design Version
The concept for the long design version, would be that it will allow for larger photo shoots (perhaps even a warband), allow for layered backgrounds (similar to light boxes), different background styles, even foreground blurred (like trees covering the sides of the camera), and entire setups of dioramas, and full versatility, with the LCD background as a core approach. The original version is about 13 cm deep (exterior measurements), with the distance between camera and miniature at 7 cm. The long design gives 3.5 cm more space. However, as I discovered during my testing, if the 5″ LCD screen sits too far back, then it’s borders start becoming visible, which pretty much ruins the whole concept, so the LCD screen sits at about 1-2 cm behind the miniature, offsetting the benefits of the long version.
Nevertheless, it’s a design I want to explore, but there’s no need to do so right now, it can happen at a later stage, since what I really need at the moment can be performed with the black background and the short version.
In the last prints I did for the long version, I got the following designs for top and bottom (front, rear and sides aren’t that much interesting to show).
Bottom design first and second iteration
In this bottom design I have 2mm pinholes to add items – thinking I could use 3d printed pins that I can glue to whatever and try to put them there if needed. I haven’t really thought how it would work, but I printed this version to test. I have two differentt magnet locations (the round holes) for the miniature to sit in – one for a common magnet and one for a neodymium magnet, but tests showed that the neodymium magnet is so much stronger that they can’t work at this distance, so I’ll need to have a different approach in the end. Also two different locations for the camera slots at the front. The larger slot in the rear is for the LCD screen, while there are several slots for other backgrounds so that I can layer them if needed.
Top design
This is the design I printed for the top, but I’m not happy with it. There are different mounting locations for the LED lights, the middle part is hinged, and there is a tube in the rear for the LCD screen cables. Taking under consideration the BETA Version knowledge and the different LED strip ring sizes I will have available, I’ll go with an improved design for the entire thing.
BETA Version – Enclosure Upgrades
For the bottom, sides and rear of the BETA Version I did not do any changes, but used the printed iterations from the Alpha version. All these tests have been eating up my filament stocks very quickly, some prints have failed or some designs were outright wrong or a little bit wrong. I only have Wood Colour and Gray filament, so I did line up everything in black cardstock (except the top, but I’ll get to that) and also lined up the half part of the bottom and the rear with the Maxx Darth fabric. There is a neodymium magnet slotted in the bottom which is where the magnetized miniatures sit, but due to the fabric, as I explained I had to add a bigger black disk to set the miniature horizontally.
bottomsidesrear
For the top, I went through a few tests, and reached the working version. There was a slight print failure at the hinge which I need to verify if it was a design issue before going with the final version. Also I had to glue an extra part for the LED slot, as I hadn’t accomodated for it in the beginning, but I have already added it to the design. Due to the location of the LEDs, the hinge mechanism and weird shapes I have not lined this black at the moment. I might do it, but I already have other plans for the Final/Release version, so I might not go for the extra effort in BETA. I changed the hinge to use as much room as possible compared to previous designs, and this allows for a sturdy placement of the top and easier changing of the miniature without taking apart the box.
top – the mounting with the camera screw threads for the LEDs wasn’t printed yet, but glued, to be printed in the final version
For the front wall, I changed the orientation of the camera cable hole, added a hole for the LED cables, and added some mounting brackets meant for the Raspberry Pi case I had available. The measurements are a little bit off, so I corrected it, but haven’t print-tested them yet, as the Raspberry is mountable, just not perfect at the moment. To be tested before the Final Version.
front
For the interior camera and LED mounts I did have to tinker a lot until I eventually reached the best possible design. Printing orientation was paramount, and I needed to have a good placement of the camera, sturdy printing orientation, and supportless prints. After some trial and error, and over-engineered designs, I solved my issues, and settled on a flat bracket which can be slotted directly into the ground slot or mounted on a rotation-riser. I settled on T-shaped pins to hold the camera in place in the mounting screw holes of the camera and the bracket, and a threaded 1/4″ camera screw slot for the LED lights. Careful positioning to allow room for the cables behind the LEDs was also taken into account.
Risers, bracket, T-pin
BETA Version – Software Upgrades
I do have some programming knowledge. I consider myself tech-savvy, did Lotus, GW Basic and Q Basic in elementary school, Fortran in the university, and have dabbled with C and even wrote an entire inventory management interface based of an excel database for work using VBA. I’m using Linux Mint on a daily basis, and writing in terminal and using CLI and scripts all the time.
That given, I was not going to spend hours to drill down into the internet trove of programming knowledge to do this, and disclaimer here, I used Gemini to write me the scripts I needed, and reviewed them as applicable.
Here is the context I’m using to continue my Gemini chat.
- Host Node: Linux Mint Desktop workstation orchestrating the core user interface loops.
- Target Node: Raspberry Pi (IP: raspberrypi.local, User: pi) running a modern rpicam camera stack.
- Illumination Hardware: 32-pixel WS2812B NeoPixel ring driven via GPIO 18 (Physical Pin 12) on the Pi.
- Illumination Driver: Remote Python script 'led_control.py' manages the hardware board directly using the Adafruit NeoPixel library. It parses dynamic arguments sent across the network by the host orchestration shell:
* Actions: Automated firing loops ('on', 'off').
* Global Dimming: Granular hardware brightness profiles scaled from '0.0' to '1.0'.
- Issues an automated 'rpicam-still --list-cameras 2>&1' query through a persistent multiplexer control socket upon script boot.
- Scans the hardware response to extract alphanumeric sensor markers (IMX/OV) and translates the active chip string into human-readable consumer model profiles (e.g., "Raspberry Pi Camera Module v3 (Sony IMX708 HDR)").
- Camera Model & Lens: Dynamically logs the parsed sensor string into official universal photography -Model, -FNumber, -ApertureValue, and -FocalLength tags via an optical lookup table.
- Exposure Tuning & Ledger: Calculates running microsecond shutter intervals and sensor multiplier gains into standard photography fractions (-ExposureTime) and sensitivity metrics (-ISO). Re-encodes a flattened parameter summary string straight into the -Comment and -XPComment fields for sidebar desktop explorer panels.
5. ADAPTIVE CANVAS RATIO CROPPING GUIDES ('cropping.sh' & 'live_view.sh'):
- Crop Configurations: Supports universal aspect ratios ('16:9', '9:16', '3:2', etc.). Slices image boundaries post-capture using centering math routines.
- Positional Adjustments: Supports a vertical alignment override toggle command modifier ('bottom') to snap crop bounding boxes flush against the lower edge, slicing excess background space from the top.
- Live Preview Integration ('cam on'): Calls 'led_control.py on' continuously, draws a high-visibility red box around exact crop boundaries, overlays a 25% opacity transparent yellow matte canvas over discarded zones, and overlays a white rule-of-thirds grid layer over the clear preview area. Subshell containment blocks shield the system against SIGPIPE camera crashes if the preview window is closed unexpectedly.
6. DYNAMIC ATMOSPHERIC THEMES ('theme ...'):
- 'theme none': System recovery macro. Wipes running profiles and re-engages factory flat settings.
- 'theme daylight' / 'theme sunset' / 'theme mars' / 'theme tundra' / 'theme nebula': Bundled quick-environmental parameters adjusting brightness profiles, color balances, metering modes, exposure times, and targeting specific LED zone combinations via arguments passed to 'led_control.py'.
7. CUSTOM IMAGE PRESETS & STYLES ('image ...'):
- 'image flat': System Boot Baseline Reset. Zeroes all ISP modifiers out to 1.0 using standard average metering modes.
- Network Optimization: Creates an active background SSH socket connection (ControlMaster) on launch, dropping camera and LED initialization response latencies down to zero.
- Frame Inspection: Post-capture 'preview on/off' mode runs a lightweight standalone 'feh' window to instantly review pictures. Clean native keyboard exits ([Q] or [ESC]) advance tracking counters normally.
I went down a rabbit hole of over-engineering things. I had tried to automate the process and was looking into ways to take photos when opening and closing the lid without the need to click anything on the computer. I initially did it by calibrating the camera to read the brightness of the photo booth, but this caused issues depending on ambient light bleeding, and also kept the camera module busy so it needed to be released to take the photo. The extra overhead wasn’t cutting it. Then I was looking into adding a lid sensor via cable-current on the GPIO pins and a closed circuit. I also thought about implement a miniature placement check via the HC-SR04 ultrasonic sensor and/or the Laser KY-002 beam. Until I realized there was no reason to do all this. In addition to the complexity introduced, it would take photos that weren’t right. I could just hit the Enter key and take a photo. No reason to be fancy. So I scrapped that, and focus on what I could do to get the pictures I wanted.
First of all, one of the most important things in the software suite is the led control. I’ve got a placement of 24 LEDs on the top (main), and 8 on the front (accent) right above the camera. This gives an excellent combination of lighting for the miniature. The accent lighting illuminates the miniature adequately, so that shadows are removed, while the main lighting provides top-down highlights. On default settings I have the 8 main LEDs right above the mini turned off, so that the top-down highlights aren’t harsh and the background doesn’t reflect. These LEDs also have RGB controls, which mean I can have a wide arrangement of lighting. I gave some presets like warm, full, daylight, indoor, etc. There is full control on which LEDs will be powered on or not. I haven’t played with settings of different light per LED zone, as I think there’s no need for that at the moment (but perhaps something to think for future use).
The next thing that was important was the Camera settings. I noticed that the AWB presets still do some corrections, unless one uses the AWB Gain function, so I switched to that as repeatability of photos is paramount. I also gave the capability to work with shutter speed and Gain (ISO). Some further improvements as an option are to work with different metering, sharpness, contrast and saturation. But as a default I’m keeping these at 1.0.
For fun, I combined the above LED/Camera/Process into Themes, like Desert, Frozen, Mars, Tundra, Night.
I also gave it the capability to crop the images so that I can remove parts of the image I don’t need without the need to post-process, and center the image properly.
In an effort to retain all this information, I used EXIF tagging, so that I can re-shoot with the same settings as needed.
The script has the ability to name the miniature file before the photo, and also the folder where it resides. A sequential numbering and timestamp is givenn, and the ability to re-shoot the same photo (returning to previous numbering), restart numbering from 1 or reset everything to defaults.
For checks of placement and test of proper lighting I also gave a live preview camera with gridlines and crop area, and also a led-on mode.
Overall I’m very pleased with how it looks, how the pictures are taken, and the management. Photo-shooting my miniatures is going to be a blast, while it used to be a chore.
Plans for Final/Release Version
For the Final Version I have ordered a roll of Matte Black PLA, and I intend to print everything in it. This will ensure I get no colour bleeds onto the miniature from other parts of the enclosure reflecting light. If the photo background won’t be as black as I want, then I will consider getting Maxx Darth paint instead of using the fabric. The fabric will be my last option due to the limitations I discussed before.
I want to test and work with a slot for the placement of the miniature in addition to the magnet. While the magnet keeps the mini in place, there is still room for incorrect placement, as the magnet is 12 mm, while the miniature base is 15mm. A slotting design will fix this.
I also will do a more tight fit for the camera slot in the bottom, as there is some room to move left and right at the moment, and I need to minimize this.
I will also consider moving to my Raspberry Pi 3B+ for faster photo shoots, and also the use of my Camera Module V2 which sits at 8MP.
An investment I’m also considering is an autofocus camera like the Camera Module V3 (12MP) or one of the arducams that are the same version as my existing Camera Modules V1 or V2 but with mechanical focus. If I proceed with this investment, I will also check if the option to use focus-stacking for more clear pictures is worth it.
I also need to consider buying some White PLA to do a cover for my LED rings so that they have smoother lighting in the photo-booth, though a concern I have is if the LEDs will overheat with no room for heat to escape.
Once the final version is printed and released I will also include a BOM.
Plans for Extended Version
For the Extended Version, I intend to have LCD Background, test different floor styles, deeper size, and use of autofocus camera with focus stacking. I will need to consider different LED setups, as the 8+24 are to be used in the Final/Release Version. I have available also a 16, 35 and 45 LED ring, so I need to see how they could work, or if I need to purchase another set. This in general will be a second project after I complete the Final/Release Version, but lower priority, as my main task will have been achieved, and I can switch back to writing my Actual Play reports, painting miniatures and playing battles in the meantime.
Achievements
Automated workflow for macro shooting miniatures in a robust, repeatable manner, with no environmental influences, direct process and storage into computer, fine-tune variable control of camera and lighting, and metadata tagging.
Limitations
Size-related limitations that may require different risers in order for larger miniatures to fit in frame, or not fit at all.
Summary
That’s the journey so far, and I’m almost at the end of the destination. Hope enjoyed this part as much as I did.
Could you do a green fabric and green screen things (photoshop backgrounds easily) instead of the lcd screen?
Its quite interesting to read about your project and process. Thanks for. Writing it up.
Some additional Security Force Alpha troopers that I painted. Again, I tried to be as close as possible to my first paint jobs of SFA, but of course there’s going to be differences.
I’ve also expanded my not-sectoids aka greys range for the X-com battles to come.
Tried to paint them as close to the first ones I had painted, but repeatable paint jobs over a handful of years isn’t that much possible. I’ve got different paint, and different recipes. The new ones turned out quite close to the old ones, but a bit fancier (stronger contrast and saturation).
As the older set, they’re 15mm pewter from Alternative Armies HOF range.
Sectoid CommanderSectoid with Plasma RifleSectoid with Plasma RifleSectoid with Light Plasma RifleSectoid with Light Plasma Rifle
Any long time readers of my blog will have seen me go through a LOT of different iterations of how to shoot miniatures to display them in my website.
First of all, let me preface that I do not own any professional photography equipment. I’ve tried photographing them with compact digital cameras with and without macro modes (my Sony DSC-TX5 is still alive), and with different iPhones as the years went by.
I’ve tried different backgrounds, I’ve tried different apps, lighting, 3d printed photo booths, bought extra LED lights, all sorts of things. Older photos were different as I’ve been evolving in my skills and tools, but especially recently, I decided I wanted to reshoot my miniatures in a consistent, prettier way.
I spent a great amount of time trying to find the best way to display them, and then the best way to photograph them, and worked a lot on re-shooting my fantasy miniatures, tagging them, and uploading them to an album. I intended to finish this work with my sci-fi minis before sharing the album here, but since I’m going to switch gears and do something else (I’ll explain why in a few), you can take a look here (or not, zonerama website seems down at the moment EDIT: it’s back up).
My setup was as follows:
Brown textured paper, curved as a background
LED lamp (the same one I use for painting minis, really strong) to light the scene
iPhone mounted on a camera tripod (a really sturdy one from my analog photography days)
Macro Lens app to shoot photos
Upload to icloud
Download to PC
Edit metatags
Upload to zonerama
A while later the problems started appearing. First of all, lighting wasn’t consistent. I got auto white balance corrections, which turned the background or the mini a different colour than it was. All due to the phone’s algorithms, different location of the LED lamp, or even the possibility of ambient lighting depending on the time of day.
This was a problem, as I dislike post-processing photos, and also due to the background (and my colour blindness) it’s not easy to reach the same result.
Then, the Macro Lens app was updated. The added upgrade no longer allowed for 9:16 ratio, and also changed minimum focus distance. Before that I knew exactly how I had to setup my camera and tripod to get the same picture, and also no cropping was required. Now I could no longer get the same consistency and also I had to crop the picture.
This happened right when I did a small break from shooting 1000 photos of fantasy miniatures, and was about to resume with sci-fi ones, so it stopped me in my tracks, and I didn’t get back to it since. I started shooting again the new paint jobs I had (you may have noticed the style of my photos in the past few months), but that’s it.
So lately it kinda hit me. I wanted to make shooting miniatures photos a consistent process. I considered the tools at my disposal. I have some DIY accessories back from my raspberry pi tinkering days, which combined with my recent foray into 3d printing opened new horizons for me.
After doing a thorough search in my storage boxes, I found my old trusty Raspberry pi 3B+, a Camera Module v1.3 (5 MP!), a 3A powersupply, and an SD card. I flashed Raspbian, and went to work.
The first problem I hit was the fact that the minimum focus distance of the v1.3 Camera is 0.7 meters. Not that good for 15mm miniatures photography, I’d need a huge photo booth, and with the low MP resolution, there wouldn’t be much to see. However, I read that one could manually change the focus distance by breaking the glue that holds the lens in place and unscrewing it, but being careful not removing the lens altogether. I did that and reduced the focus distance to 7 cm!
Macro shot with a Raspberry Pi v1.3 Camera
Something I loved about this, is that I can take the photos via ssh directly to my PC. I can control shutter speed, gain, white balance, compression, everything in the command that I send to take a picture. This means that I can get consistent camera settings, and I no longer need to upload the pictures temporarily in the cloud! It’s already of great value to what I’m doing.
Next step would be to create an enclosure. The idea would be to remove any sources of ambient light. I already have a couple of small LED lights that I can use to light the photobox. I can line up the sides with alufoil for better lighting as well. However before commiting to 3D printing, I needed a proof of concept. Found some foamcore I had at the closet, got some hot glue, and started measuring, cutting and gluing. It looks bad, but it works.
A bit washed out
With the raspicam-still app you can control the camera settings, but there’s only so much you can do, so I added alufoil, and a black cardstock background and took some more pictures.
Much better
With that, I consider the proof-of-concept a success, and I can start 3d printing the photobox.
I went with various iterations (and threw away some parts that didn’t work that well, or the fit tolerances were off), but the photobooth concept needs to cover the following requirements.
All panels to be removeable and replaceable. This allows for easy changes or upgrades without ruining the entire thing. Also allows for printing flat supportless parts, and taking advantage of the smaller build plate of my A1 mini.
Fixed magnet slot for miniatures so that there is consistent positioning.
Fixed camera slot so that it doesn’t move around.
Fixed lighting so that it is consistent.
One of the first iterations, the magnet is visible. Measured at 7 cm from camera.
I finally reached a first version I’m happy with. Lined the sides with alufoil, and gave a black cardstock background. Tested with a few models.
Some things I intend to revise:
Print a height adapter for the camera. Although the height is consistent with GW photography standards (visible height of the base rim must be equal to the flat part of the base visible), I find that the pictures are taken from a very low height for my taste and for 15mm figures which are in general viewed from above in the table. I think a 5-10mm increase in height would benefit the finished look.
Reconsider the slot position of the front light, and the way the top light sits. Currently it is not very easy to remove the top. When taking a lot of photos this needs to be able to be done easily. I’ve already ordered some LED strip rings which I might use to replace these lights. So this upgrade is on pause right now. I may find some better design until then for what I already have.
Get a darker background. The small dimensions of the photobooth means the light reflects off the black cardstock. I’ve already ordered some Maxx Darth background from Greenstuffworld, so I’ll see how that goes.
The design of course allows to create different diorama style backgrounds. Ideas that pop to mind range from paper-printed backgrounds, to 3d printed ones (like facades or pizzabox terrain), or even digital ones if I can solve the reflection issue. I may also use a different access point to the minis from the rear plate if I find this is faster.
I am also considering upgrading the camera with a better model, I’m honestly amazed the v1.3 camera delivers these shots!
Hope you enjoyed this leg of the journey as much as I did.
ps. I’m still going through my backlog of painted miniatures blog posts, so some that I’ll upload will be in the old style, but any that I’ll photoshoot from now on, will utilize the booth.
A very cool project! I’ve dabbled with some light boxes and not been super happy. Part of my issue it I do a variety of scales, so the 15mm options rarely work well for the 28’s. Lights seem to be the biggest PITA for light boxes in my opinion.
I would suggest that you could/should add a sloped background to get rid of the hard seam appearing by the base/ankles of the mini. If you run the background smoothly from the ‘floor’ up to the backdrop it eliminates that jarring visual artifact.
Thanks!
Yes, I’m waiting on the light absorbing backdrop as well. Depending on the use case I’ll see how to make everything look seamless. If there is a seam visible with that background then I may consider a smooth curve as you suggested. Might need a small redesign as I don’t have a lot of room left behind the mini as it is at the moment.
I’m a huge fan of the X-COM franchise. I remember playing UFO: Enemy Unknown on my PC back in the ’90s, followed by X-COM: Terror from the Deep, and X-COM: Apocalypse. My itch for the series was such that I also finished spinoffs/inspirations like UFO: Aftermath, UFO: Aftershock and UFO: Afterlight. On and off, I’m now playing both Xenonauts and of course, the official current game X-COM Enemy Unknown and it’s sequels.
When I returned to the miniatures gaming hobby a few years back, I always had in the back of my head, the idea of playing some X-COM style games using a suitable ruleset. As such, I collected any 15mm miniatures I could find that fit the theme. I got my Alternative Armies Grays to use as Sectoids, Ral Partha Astagars to use as Snakemen, and such.
Here comes 2026 with the official X-COM game from Modiphius, by none other, Ivan Sorensen. I couldn’t be happier, but I knew I needed to focus on my miniatures packs, and to start painting them if I’m ever to be ready to playing the game when I receive my much coveted rulebook.
Despite the game focusing on the modern X-COM theme, I decided to get my inspiration from the original UFO: Enemy Unknown colour scheme, and painted some Alternative Armies Star Mercs in purples and blues as is the intro sequence armour.
Here are a bunch of simple but effective cultist designs by Ill Gotten Games. Printed them in low layer height (0.02mm) on my Bambu A1 mini with 0.2mm nozzle and eSun PLA+HS filament. Painted in red cloaks.
Ill Gotten Games has a clever approach with cloaked figures, they’re orienting them at an angle and gets more dramatic poses in FDM.
Cultist with knifeCultist with shotgunCultist with shotgunCultist with shotgunCultist with shotgunTecno Cultist
Some gangers by Ill Gotten Games, printed in FDM 60% scale for 15mm. I painted their clothes in pastel colours. The prints aren’t the cleanest I’ve got so far, but they’re pretty good. I think they’ll fit well as part of my parsecs enemies.
Being a fan of Nordic Weasel Games (and Unified Space) I’ve collected a good share of skirmish miniatures games, many of which I haven’t had a chance to play, since I’m almost always locked down on playing the same things. Don’t get me wrong, I love Five Parsecs from Home and Five Leagues from the Borderlands, but I think those other rulesets deserve some love too. These rulesets aren’t pretty like the Modiphius editions of 5X, but there can easily be a hidden gem there. There are some that will sit for a very long while in unplayed status, since the respective miniatures sit in the pewter pile of shame. Back in 2019 I had big plans of doing three themes, Fantasy (check), Science Fiction (check), and WW2 historicals. For WW2 historicals I have managed to collect the miniatures I wanted, and also went down the rabbit hole of ww2 uniforms and bought the respective paints just for this. But with real life limiting playing time, taking on more Fantasy and Sci-Fi stuff with 3D printing and all, I never got into painting them. The truth is I don’t know if I’ll ever get to doing it. Perhaps some day. This in turn means, that rulesets like Five Men from Kursk, Five Kilometers from Leipzig, Five Men in Normandy, Five Core, Hammer of Democracy, History Dad, and other will wait for that day.
So, what I intend to do going forward, is – without any hard rules about it – try to run a standalone game using the Fantasy or Science Fiction rulesets in between my regular Campaigns (now 5 Parsecs). I also intend to try some Pulp rulesets once I get a few minis printed and painted, as that shouldn’t be too hard to do.
The ruleset I chose for this game is Unity Field Agent Elite Edition, described as “a space opera war-game for 10-12 figures on each side.”
Given that I will be trying to learn and play these games in one go, I’ll try to keep things simple and on the small side.
Reading through the rules, available modes, points system, different armies and all, I initially decided on 75 points per side. However I decided to go the other way around, and instead of choosing the forces on paper and then finding suitable minis, I chose my minis, and counted the points that I would need to field them, and tried then to balance the two sides.
Unity Field Agent (I’ll be calling it UFA from here onwards) doesn’t have any solo-specific rules, so I’ll be playing each side equally as did wargamers since chess.
I chose Precursor Exiles against Unity Agents, and went with about 100 points, which is still on the small side.
Precursor Exiles
Unity Agents
5 x Mercenary (Tactical)
5 x Trooper (Tactical)
1 x Raider (Fencer)
1 x Junior Agent (Close Combat)
1 x Seer (Sworn)
98 Points Total
100 Points Total
I went with a simple quite balanced table setup, and rolled randomly to see which side will set up first. It seems that the side that sets up first has a tactical advantage as they can take up parts of the battlefield and block the enemy from deploying nearby, which offsets the advantage of the player that sets up second who knows the locations of the enemy forces. That’s a quite clever way to address it.
Activations and Initiative work through the use of a Cards deck. For a small game like this, a Half Deck is used. In this case, I used Hearts for Precursor Exiles and Spades for Unity Agents. The game has a simple way of advancing time using Clock Ticks. Clock Ticks advance at the end of each Turn, or when Jokers are drawn. This can have an important effect as you can have the game end in the middle of the last turn, so acting on time is important.
Shoot at Junior Agent: 5: Hit: 5,1: Deflected, Shocked
7 of Hearts Precursor Mercenary 3
Aim
Shoot at Junior Agent: 3,6: Hit: 6,3: Deflected
3 of Spades Unity Trooper 4
Move Sprint
Shoot at Mercenary 3 (Bad Shot): 5: Hit: 2,4: Destroyed
Precursor Mercenary 2: Morale Check: 2,3: Take Cover: +1 Shock Precursor Mercenary 1: Morale Check: 2,4: Take Cover: +1 Shock
9 of Spades
King of Hearts Precursor Mercenary 1
Recover: 4: -1 Shock
Move
Shoot at Junior Agent: 2: Miss
7 of Spades
Queen of Hearts Precursor Mercenary 1
Recover: 3: -1 Shock
Move
Shoot at Junior Agent: 3: Miss
End Phase Clock 6/8
Round 4
8 of Spades Unity Trooper 4
Aim
Shoot at Mercenary 1 (Bad Shot): 2,4: Miss
Unity Trooper 4
Shoot at Mercenary 1 (Bad Shot): 2: Miss
5 of Spades Unity Trooper 5
Move down
Shoot at Mercenary 1 (Bad Shot): 4: Miss
5 of Hearts Precursor Mercenary 1
Aim
Shoot at Junior Agent: 6,6: Hit: 4,3: Deflected
9 of Spades Junior Agent
Recover: 5: -1 Shock
Shoot at Mercenary 1 (Bad Shot): 6: Hit: 6-1,2: Deflected
10 of Spades
Ace of Hearts Precursor Mercenary 1
Shoot at Junior Agent: 2: Miss
2 of Spades
6 of Hearts Precursor Mercenary 2
Aim
Shoot at Junior Agent: 4,4: Hit: 4,5: Deflected
End Phase Clock 7/8
Round 5
King of Hearts Precursor Mercenary 1
Aim
Shoot at Junior Agent: 6,6: Hit: 2,4: Destroyed
Watch Action
Unity Trooper 4: Morale Check: 2,4: Take Cover: +1 Shock Unity Trooper 3: Morale Check: 3,6: Take Cover: +1 Shock
7 of Spades Unity Trooper 4
Recover: 2: Fail
Recover: 5: -1 Shock
8 of Hearts Precursor Mercenary 2
Aim
Shoot at Unity Trooper 4 (Bad Shot): 1,4: Miss
10 of Hearts
Joker Clock 8/8
End of Battle
Victory Points
Each Precursor Exile eliminated awards 3 Points Each Unity Trooper eliminated awards 3 Points The Junior Agent awards 5 Points
Unity Agents earned 15 Points Precursor Exiles earned 14 Points The game is considered a draw
Summary
This was a fun game. Much harder to run solo than the 5X equivalents. I was lucky to have token markers to use for exhaustion, shock, damage etc, and still I had to check several times that I did everything right and din’t forget anything important (I’m sure I may have failed at that task a couple of times). The game flow was okay, but since it was me playing against myself perhaps I wasn’t as aggressive or cunning as two human players playing against each other. With the exception of some slow tactical movements from the troopers and mercenaries, only the close combat troops (seer, raider, agent) ever attempted to reach the other side. The long guns just shot at each other from behind the barricades and it was a lasting shootout on that regard. The combat resolution mechanics are a bit rough, as for damage you roll two dice (toughness and impact), but the impact die is only taken in consideration in certain cases. For a solo player this can be frustrating at times, as you need to do many evaluations together. The 5X damage steps are more straightforward in this regard. I must note though, that the to-hit mechanics were much simpler. For last I left the thing I loved the most about this game, and that was the card based activations mechanic. It’s absolutely brilliant and refreshing. Each time you draw a card you don’t know who will play and how many actions will they get, or if they’ll get a bonus action. It’s fast, and it was the moment I enjoyed most. Better even than rolling dice. While it works for social games, it worked great for solo games too. I guess this approach can be used for any game with activations that aren’t meant to be played solo. Loved it.
As a final note, if you’re a fan of Unified Space (the lore section of Five Parsecs from Home), UFA includes lore-wise information on the armies and also tips on how to represent them and paint them on the table.
Choose your battle Check for Rivals – 3/1: None Select your Job: so many options! Novikov is busy which will give us another job next turn, but we must do it now; we can start a quest; we can start Verner Dilucca’s job which seems like a good option but can do it any time; or we can start an opportunity mission which will give an extra 3 credits. I’ll go with the opportunity mission as we need the extra cash. We also have a full crew, so the story track begins. Clock is set at 5 ticks. I also decided to work with Expanded Connections from now on, and since this is an Opportunity mission I will have to roll for it.
Crew Name
Quest
Story Points
Credits
Story Clock
Stash
Raschke‘s Rifles
Active 0 Rumours
8
25
5 ticks
D. Ripper Sword Still (2) Stim Pack (2) Nano-doc Booster Pills
Opportunity Mission Deployment Conditions: Toxic environment Notable sights: Really shiny bits (2 Credits) Objective: Patrol Determine the Enemy: Criminal Elements: Cultists Connections: 4/5: None Number: 2,5+2: 7 (2 Specialists, 1 Lieutenant), Military Rifle, Clingfire Pistol Unique Individual: 8/9: None Bounty: +1 Credit if Hold the Field
Seize Initiative:
3+5/10: Failure
Round 1:
114555
Drathi: Patrol 1/3
2IC: Really Shiny Bits
Cultists Move
Leader shoots Drathi: 2+1/5: Miss
Renette shoots Military Rifle: 4+3/6: Hit: 3/3: Casualty
The rest of the squad moves under cover.
Morale: 5/1: Cultists stay
Round 2:
122566
Drathi moves in cover and shoots at Leader: 2+2/5: Miss
Renette moves in cover and shoots at Cultist: 2+3/5: Hit: 6/3: Casualty
Ariana: Patrol 2/3
Cultists Move
Cultist shoots at Drathi: 3/6: Miss
Urien shoots Military Rifle at Specialist: 5+2/5: Hit: 2/3: Stunned: 5/4: Survived
Kynon and 2IC move closer
Morale: 6/1: Cultists stay
Round 3:
113346
Urien aims and shoots Military Rifle at Specialist: 4+2/5: Hit: 6/3: Casualty
Kynon casts Barrier on himself: Successful
Specialist shoots Clingfire pistol at Kynon: 1,3/5: Miss
Cultist moves to cover and shoots at 2IC: 6/6: Hit: 6/4: Casualty: 1/6: No Save
Cultists move
Renette shoots at Specialist: 3+3/5: Hit: 4/3: Casualty
Drathi moves on the other side of cover and shoots at Cultist: 1+2/5: Miss
Ariana lobs a Dazzle Grenade on the 2 cultists: 2,5/4: 1 Hit: 2/4: Stunned
Morale: 6,2/1: Cultists stay
Round 4:
12466
Drathi aims and shoots at Cultist: 3+2/5: Hit: 3+1/3: Casualty
Kynon moves in cover and shoots his Hand Laser at the cultist: 1+1/6: Miss
Cultist moves aggresively towards Kynon, shoots: 4/6: Miss
Cultist leader moves aggresively towards Ariana, shoots at Kynon: 1+1/6: Miss
Renette moves closer, pulls out her shotgun and shoots at Cultist: 4+3/6: Hit: 3+1/3: Casualty
Ariana moves towards leader, shoots her machine pistol twice: 5+1,1+1/5: Hit: 3/3: Casualty
We hold the field and complete the objective
Post Battle
Resolve Rival Status 3/1: No Rival 4/1: No Psionics Detected
Resolve Patron Status Novikov: +1 Credit, Busy, This Campaign Turn – Job no longer available Verner Dilucca: +2 Credits, Connections, Private Transport, Any Time – Job still active
– Military Rifle – Shotgun w Quality Sight – Dazzle Grenade
Frag vest
Optimistic Impulsive
Background: Industrial world Motivation: Glory Class: Scoundrel
2IC
Bot
– Service Pistol – D. Hunting Rifle – Dazzle Grenade
Kynon Alder
Baseline Human Psionic
– Glare Sword – Hand Laser
Background: Research Outpost Motivation: Escape Class: Soldier
Name
Injuries
Status
Ariana Raschke
Active
Urien Jackstadt
Active
Drathi
Active
Renette Grison
Active
2IC
Severe Damate
5 Turns
Entity
Type
Details
Job
Col. Ivan Novikov
Patron
Sector Government
Darius Armiger
Patron
Wealthy Individual, Security Team
Valentin Bezerra
Rival
Tech Gangers – Neon Reapers
The Coreward Path/Vane Voss
Patron
Private Organization, Persistent
Verner Dilucca
Patron
Sector Government
+2 Credits, Connections, Private Transport, Any Time, Fight Off: Unity Grunts
World
Settlement
Notes
Mackensen V
Kevil’s Port
Restricted Education Outlawed Psionics
Text Narrative
Over at the Tailed Gecko, Tarminos, the bartender pours a Scoltar Ale to Urien’s glass, and serves it. He snorts, humid snot flashing out his nostrils and smiles to Urien winking. “Enjoy.” He says. “Hey Tarminos, do we have anyone looking for…” Urien starts, but before he can finish his sentence, Tar hunches a bit to his side and points to a table in the corner. “Dude is alone, and doesn’t seem to be doing business here. He seems lost a bit, could be worth a try.” He adds in his bass voice. Urien takes his glass, and goes to the stranger’s table. A young man, brown hair, 20s. He seems jumpy, as if he’s waiting for something to happen. Urien recognizes the look of a man on the run. Which got him thinking for a moment of his situation. They still don’t have a ship. “Hey, are you looking for something?” the man interrupts him and pulls him back to reality. “Yes!” Urien says, grabbing a chair and sits besides him. “The question is if you are also looking for something! Perhaps we can each find it alone or together!” his voice trailed off as he realized again he was being misunderstood. “Wait wait. Let me start over. Our crew is looking for another pair of hands. Are you interested?” The man sighed, and his expression turned from disgust to normal. “What crew, what kind of job, what’s your name dude?” “Sorry yes, we are Raschke’s Rifles. We have a good network of connections to get freelancer jobs that pay well. My name is Urien. How about you?” Urien got his footing correct this time. “Alright. I’m Kynon. And yes, I’m looking for opportunities like this. Perhaps get off this rock some time in the future. I could join you.” The man replies. “Nice, hey let me get you a beer, so that you can tell me a bit about yourself, and ask any questions about our crew, then we can meet them.” Urien proposes and orders a Scoltar ale from Tarminos.
A while later in the safehouse, Ariana has finally finished repairing Drathi’s rifle, having gotten the parts she needed. She hands it over to him as he returns with some trade goods. He was cheering about an excellent deal he made and how they can sell them in the future when they go to another planet that doesn’t produce them. Ariana was not as amused as he was, but she didn’t want to spoil his happiness and played along. Renette returned and pulled Ariana to the side. “Look, you sent me to reach out to our network of connections, I’ve got two jobs available. One of them is … iffy.” Ariana nodded for Renette to continue. “Okay the first one is straightforward. Col. Novikov, your old friend wants us to clean up against another gang. He wants us to secure the ammo depot from some roid gangers that are casing it. If we pick this job, then he’ll have another one for us.” Renette explained. “And the other job?” Ariana asked. “It came from this name Urien gave us last week. Verner Dilucca. He said he’s Unity, right?” Renette questioned. “That is correct, what is the job?” Ariana got curious. “He wants us to…” she paused. Ariana gestured ‘what?’. “Fight off the Unity outpost.” Renette rushed through the phrase hoping it would not have an impact. She was mistaken. Ariana was taken aback. She froze in place. Her face went pale. “Boss?” Renette asked. “…The FUCK?” Ariana yelled. “Danger pay is 2 credits, and due date’s open on this one, so we can plan it any time…” Renette spoke but the words were oh so silent. “We are NOT attacking Unity!” Ariana shouted. “Yeah, I thought you might say that… though orders come from Unity…” Renette explained. “Oh I had heard about Unity politics and conspiracy theories and provocations…” Ariana started speaking to herself, when 2IC arrived at the same time as Urien and Kynon. Her blood was boiling she was pacing up and down. “I can see your BPM is over 143, you should calm yourself down.” 2IC declared in its calm neutral robotic voice. “Give me some good news because I’m ready to tear through the wall.” Ariana gritted her teeth. “Well I was over at the market. There’s a reward for the crew that will patrol the old terraforming plant at Kevil’s Port suburbs. This is a rare opportunity, financed by the merchants guild of Kevil’s Port. They don’t usually outsource.” 2IC continued. “We do this.” Ariana immediately jumped at the proposal. “An interesting trivia. Terraforming was never completed on Mackensen V. As soon as the atmosphere became breathable, Unity funding was cut. That’s why the locals complain about the ‘cat hair throat’ feeling.” 2IC continued. “I don’t care.” Ariana snapped. Her head wasn’t at the right place. This wasn’t her. “Who are we fighting?” 2IC wasn’t amused, but also it did not bother his cold machine feelings. “Cultists who want to destroy the plant. They want the atmosphere to return to it’s original state before terraforming so that Urachath, the cat-god may return. Or at least that’s what they believe.” Ariana started laughing. This was a rollercoaster for her, and it helped her regain her calm. “I’m happy to know that the universe is a crazy place and there’s always going to be someone more crazy.” She smiled. “Wait, since terraforming was done to this level, who cares about an old plant?” “Since terraforming was not completed, the flora and fauna that evolved in the original conditions has survived, and will shift the atmosphere towards the previous state.” 2IC explained. “The terraforming plant still operates at a maintenance capacity to filter out the particles that make the planet non-habitable to carbon-based life forms.” “Who cares about them?” Urien asks. “That’s us, we’re the carbon-based life forms.” Ariana shook her head in disbelief. Her eyes fell on the new addition. “Whos this?” “That’s Kynon, he’s good, he’ll be joining us.” Urien replied. Ariana snatched the glare sword from Renette’s belt, removed her own hand laser from her holster and gave them to Kynon. “Do you know how to use them?” she asks. Kynon nodded. “Gear up. We roll out in 10′, we have some cultists to send to their cat-god.” She added and started preparing.
As soon as they reach the terraforming plant, a heavy stench fills their lungs. “Smells like…” Ariana tries to pin point what the nasty odour reminds her off. “Cat piss” Drathi continued. “Tingles senses. Danger everywhere.” “The skulker’s observation is correct.” 2IC added. “Positive Terrasium is over 3 PPM. LD50 inhalation is 20 PPM, LD50 ingestion is at 2 PPM, LD50 injection is 0.5 PPM.” “What does that mean?” Urien asked. “Breathing is okay, but even a little cut can be potentially lethal in this toxic environment.” 2IC explained. As they noticed movement in the distance between the chem tanks, Ariana raised her hand, split the group in two, and they started their approach. Drathi quickly climbed a tank for a good overview of the first patrol point. Tanks were in good order. 2IC’s sensors picked up some really shiny bits laying on the ground next to some machinery, and he moved in to collect them. Drathi’s climb left him exposed to the Cultist leader’s line of fire, but he ducked in time to avoid the shots. On the left approach Renette moves forward, having found an opening, and immediately brings down the first cultist with a well placed shot. “1 down, 6 more to go.” She announced. “Our job is to patrol, not eliminate them.” Ariana replied. “Yeah, but why not have some fun while doing it?” Renette countered.
As the combatants drew closer, Drathi jumps down and takes cover behind the tank. With his hunting rifle in good order, he takes a shot at the Cultist leader, who’s bossing his group around, but misses. Renette takes cover as she feels exposed, and shoots at the next Cultist, with her rifle. Her shot is true, and the cultist is down. Ariana reaches the next patrol point. She examines the chem tank for integrity, and finds that everything is in order. The cultists move closer, and one of them takes a shot at Drathi, but he hits the cover instead. 2IC moves closer, and Kynon tries to flank the approaching cultists from the left side. Urien has the enemy in his sights. He notices that one of the Cultists brandishes a Clingfire pistol. That’s a really dangerous weapon from up close. He takes a shot at him, which finds the target, but doesn’t bring him down.
He takes a deep breath. Aims, and shoots again. This time the shot is dead centre. The cultist drops. Kynon focuses on himself. He raises a psionic barrier before closing in to the other cultist armed with a clingfire pistol. The foe blasts at Kynon, but misses. Meanwhile 2IC is exposed. A cultist moves in position, and takes a shot at 2IC. The bot is hit, and with a bbbzzzfzziit it powers down. Renette finds an opportunity to shoot at the cultist specialist with the clingfire pistol. Once more, she hits, and kills. “3 out of 3”. She says smiling. Ariana is in a tough spot. Deciding to avoid being exposed, she lobs a dazzle grenade at the cultists near her, hoping to get the toxic environment do the rest of the work. The grenade falls in their midst, and with a loud band they get disoriented, thrashing around, covering their ringing ears, closing their eyes, but nothing more besides that. Drathi repositions himself on the other side of the tank for a better shot. He hurried too much, and the shot goes wide.
He caresses his whiskers. Aims carefully, and takes another shot. The cultist is hit, and down. Only the cultist leader and one his minions remain standing, but still fighting. Kynon takes cover and takes a shot with his hand laser, but misses. The cultist tries to reach him, and shoots, missing as well. His leader rushes towards Ariana, but without a clear shot turns and shoots at Kynon, the shot going astray. With the enemy in the open, Renette switches to her shotgun, she approaches the cultist, and bang! with a carefully placed buckshot, the cultist drops dead. “4 out of 4.” She adds, really proud of herself. Ariana brings her machine pistol to bear at the enemy leader. They lock eyes. “Urachath will take her revenge!” he screams, as Ariana shoots a burst at him, shutting him up forever. With no one to stop them, the crew checks the last patrol point, and after ensuring the integrity of the chem tanks, and finding a backpack with stim packs and dazzle grenades, they pick up 2IC and leave for a well deserved payment.
While waiting at Kevil’s Port Merchant’s guild offices, Drathi is checking the condition of 2IC. “Not good.” The skulker chirps. “Many repairs. Need 5 weeks.” At the desk, Ariana has received their good payment. “Hey all, with the exception of 2IC being hurt like that, we had a really good roll. Excellent work, especially you Renette.” She tells them. “Overall with the shiny bits and all, we got 9 whole credits.” The crew cheers. “After tax?” a slimy voice behind them asks. “Tax what?” Ariana turns around to see a man in a suit, his greasy hair parted at the side, thumbs in his pockets. Two security guards stand beside him. “All business conducted in the premises or in relation to the merchant’s guild is subject to tax. For freelancers like you with no license, the tax amounts to 45% of earnings.” The man adds smiling spitefully. Drathi hisses. Renette and Urien put their hands on their guns. “We can’t afford to start a fight here guys.” Ariana grits her teeth, as she notices 4 more security guards on the other side taking notice of the exchange. “If you will put your guns down, and sign the FDR-224 Tax Declaration Form for Freelance Activities with the Merchant Guild, and submit it to me with the allotted amount of …” the man calculates in his head before continuing “4 credits”. Ariana complies, while her crew is furious.
Back at the safehouse they’re all a bit distraught. Ariana takes a look at each of them. Urien kicks something out of the way and goes to the other room and starts hitting the punching bag, to get some of his energy out with exercise. Drathi starts working on 2IC and fixing him. Renette picks a can of Scoltar Ale and cracks it open and starts drinking. Kynon immediately draws her attention. She realizes she hasn’t exchanged many words with the new hire. She grabs him and takes him to the side. “We haven’t had a chance to talk. I’m Ariana, I lead this crew.” She introduces herself. “Raschke? as in Raschke’s Rifles.” he asks. Ariana nods. “I’ve had past experience in the UAF before starting this freelance endeavour. Tell me a little bit about you, and what was that thing you did back there.” “UAF huh? I’ve been there too.” He admits, but decides not to share more information about it. “The thing you saw, I hope you’ll keep it between the crew. Have you heard about psionics?” “Yes. I’ve read about it and I know UAF sometimes uses them in intelligence and other tasks. How come they let you go?” She asks. “They didn’t….Well that’s a story for another time. I’d rather we don’t go down this right now. But this place? They don’t like psionics. It is actually, outlawed.” He bites his lips. She nods in understanding. “Just don’t bring heat to us that we don’t know about. You have an issue, you let me know. We can only deal with things we are aware of.” He nods in agreement. “Oh and that psionics thing? Keep it on the down-low, but if needed, use it. We’ll deal with whatever comes next.” She adds. “Welcome to the crew.”
Session Summary
Loved this session. I had the opportunity to use some 3d printed FDM friendly cultists figures I got as STL from Ill Gotten Games, and a lot of sci-fi industrial terrain with chem tanks, pipes and such. I think it made the game board very interesting. Meanwhile, so many story threads keep popping up, I’m starting to lose the oversight. Perhaps I’ll start using Obsidian links to keep everything connected so that I can easily find things before I get overwhelmed. The new patron job from Verner Dilucca is a new can of worms! I haven’t decided what to do with it, but it certainly adds a new layer of complexity to the Unity-crew relations. Will Raschke take the job, why is Unity targeting Novikov’s compound, is Dilucca working for his own interests, what are the politics behind this? So many things to decide on and see how the story will evolve. I wanted a diverse crew, I have 3 baseline humans, an alien, a bot, and was looking forward to getting a precursor or other alien, but decided instead to use this good background roll of a baseline human and spend a story point to make them psionic. They have a bonus to combat skill, I gave them a glare sword, and they’re the closest one will go to a Jedi in the 5 Parsecs universe within RAW. Of course they’re not, but I wanted to use those kitbashed figures I had around. And to add to this, of course, stuck on a world without a ship, I roll for the legality of psionics and find out they’re outlawed. This should make things even more interesting. Questions now about what is Kynon running from? I’m leaning towards him being a deserter from UAF as soon as he realized he had a knack of psionics. Why? that remains to be explored in the sessions that will follow, it could be something Sector relevant or World relevant, but it hasn’t come up yet. Finally I’d like to address the Money is Tight option. Perhaps it’s too tight. I’ll keep at it, but I may have to adapt it in the future. My crew is increasing in experience and gear, and credits seem to be behind, throwing an imbalance. I’ll see if the increased difficulty options, or other types of jobs will give more cash, and consider if it’s worth it to go this direction. That’s all for now.
Background: Industrial world Motivation: Glory Class: Scoundrel
Name
Injuries
Status
Ariana Raschke
Active
Urien Jackstadt
Active
Drathi
Active
Renette Grison
Active
Crew Name
Notes
Story Points
Credits
Stash
Raschke‘s Rifles
4 QR
8
22
Colony Rifle Glare Sword D. Ripper Sword D. Hunting Rifle Still (2) Stim Pack (2) Service Pistol Nano-doc
Entity
Type
Details
Job
Col. Ivan Novikov
Patron
Sector Government
Darius Armiger
Patron
Wealthy Individual
Valentin Bezerra
Rival
Tech Gangers – Neon Reapers
The Coreward Path/Vane Voss
Patron
Private Organization
World
Settlement
Notes
Mackensen V
Kevil’s Port
Restricted Education
Campaign Options
Slaves to the Star Grind
Money is Tight
Starting in the Gutter (all options)
Dramatic Weapons + Adjusted Shooting
Detailed Post-Battle Injuries
5X Experience Variant
Story Track to begin once we hit a crew of 6
Factions to be used once we reach the next World
Pre-Battle
Upkeep and Ship Repairs Upkeep 1 Credit (Money is Tight) No ship
Assign and Resolve Crew Tasks Urien: Recruit: 86: Bot: Hired Ariana: Repair: Drathi’s rifle: 2+3/6: Failure (-1 Credit) Drathi: Trade: 20: Medical Pack: Stim Pack Renette: Patron: 2+3/5: One Job: The CoreWard Path
Determine Job Offers Danger Pay: +2 Credits Time Frame: This Campaign Turn Benefits: Persistent Hazards: Dangerous Job: Increase enemy force numbers by +1 Conditions: None
Assign Equipment Ariana: Hand Laser Drathi: Colony Rifle
I just read the excerpt about being able to hold only to 5 items in stash unless you have a ship, so I assigned some items here and there to make sure they fit. The rule applies from now onwards.
Resolve any Rumors 6/4: None
Choose your battle Check for Rivals – 3/1: None Select your Job: Patron job
Readying for Battle
Determine Deployment Conditions: No Condition Notable Sights: Curious Item Objective: Eliminate Enemy: Roving Threats: Converted Infiltrators Number: 1,5+0: 5 (Lieutenant, Specialist-Shotgun), Handgun Post battle, I realized I forgot to add the Hazard of an additional enemy. I'll try to remember to add it in the next battle I'll run. Unique Individual: N/A Seize Initiative: 11+3/10: Success
Round 1
11233
both sides moved
Round 2
22556
Round 3
12246
Drathi shoots Specialist: 4+2/5: Hit: 6/4: Casualty: 6: Save
Ariana shoots Leader: 6/5: Hit: 6/4: Casualty: 6: Save
Roll for a Campaign Event You’ve made some business contacts. Add a new Patron to the list of those known.
Roll for a Character Event Drathi: It is time for a make-over! The character changes their clothes, hair-style, or something else. This is only cosmetic. If you are able to, reflect this on the miniature.
Crew Name
Notes
Story Points
Credits
Stash
Raschke‘s Rifles
4 QR
8
25
D. Ripper Sword Still (2) Stim Pack (2) Nano-doc Booster Pills
Text Narrative
At the safehouse, Urien pulls Ariana to the side. He leans towards her, and pauses. She looks at him confused. ‘Is he hitting on me?’ she wonders. But then he finally speaks. “Look, boss, hey…” he begins. “…yes?” she asks, wondering. “I don’t mean to press this matter…but” he sighs, tensions are high. “Are we any closer to getting a ship and off the planet?” “You sure have a way with words Jack.” She replies. “Remind me why I have you on recruiting tasks still?” She pushes his arm to the side and starts walking away. “Because I have a pretty face?” He answers as she escapes. Then he realizes he never got an answer to his question, and he runs after her. “Not that I don’t like Mackensen’s thick atmosphere, but…”. Ariana cuts him off. “You do your job, find us another crew member. I’ll do mine. When the time comes for a ship. We will get a ship.” She looks at him, and lifts her palm in a stopping gesture as he opens his mouth again to speak. “Now is that all? because I want to go check on Drathi’s rifle. See if it’s salvageable.” Urien nods, and Ariana leaves to her task. Renette, having caught a glimpse of the entire conversation, pats him in the back and smiles at him. “Some dude that the boss talked to says he has a job for us. I’ll go check it out. Do you want to come?” Urien shakes his head. “I have been assigned another task, you can take Drathi”. “He’s off to somewhere, can’t get a hold of this skulker if my life depending on it.” she replies, and leaves.
Renette stands outside a building that doesn’t seem to fit the rest of Kevil’s Port architecture. It’s got sharp edges, straight lines, and an impressive stature overseeing the surrounding area. She checks the address to make sure it’s the right one, and then heads to the entrance. Two well groomed security guards stop her. Something inside of her stirs uneasy. These are the exact kind of people that really disgust her. She battles with her feelings, and stays as calm as possible as they search and secure her sidearm before letting her inside. A clean shaven man wearing a fit costume uniform, and a monocle arrived. “Mrs Grison, of Raschke’s crew.” one of his subordinates announced as he entered. “Mr. Voss.” Renette replied, between her teeth. “Ah yes. I know of your creed.” He asserted firmly. “You are unlike your leader. We stand apart. Yet, in this particular case, you may find all of our interests are aligned.” He paused. “Hear me out?”. She nodded. “There’s a group of thugs we detected on an outpost outside of Kevil’s Port. I have it on good authority that they’re not what they seem. Sightings reported them from delinquents to cyborgs to zombies. One of them was actually seen interfacing to a device. My worry is that they are Converted. Find them, kill them, especially this one. And hope that they don’t tell their fleet about us.” He takes a breath. “Danger Pay is 2 Credits, but it needs to be done ASAP.” “Yes. We have a deal. I’ll take this job to Ariana.” Renette agrees. She didn’t like them, but if it’s converted that they’re up against, she didn’t like them more.
Back in the safehouse Ariana failed to repair the hunting rifle, as she was missing an important damaged part. Perhaps next time. Drathi arrived with some medical supplies, that no-one asked where he found them or what he traded to get. Renette returned with the details for the job, and as she was briefing everyone, Urien arrived with an extra. First impression was of a tall dude in a trenchcoat wearing a hat, but then the squeaking metallic sounds and heavy thud of his legs gave it away. “Hey all, may I introduce 2IC, our new addition.” Urien added. “2IC, meet the crew.” In a flat robotic voice, 2IC introduced itself. The bot was clearly visible underneath the human clothing. “2IC is good at most tasks, and considers itself some sort of a detective, wanting to expand on their investigative skills.” Urien adds. “Hey Urien, I see you used all your charm today.” Renette responded. “too-ai-see, welcome.” Drathi said. “Alright, alright, yes. We’re good. Let’s get geared up. Brief 2IC on the way.” Ariana added, and they headed for the job.
They confronted their enemies near an abandoned street block. Ariana split the group. She, Urien and Drathi took the left approach from the stairs, while Renette and 2IC headed in the yard to enter via the lower entrance. Drathi takes the first shot, followed by Ariana. These should have been killshots, however their foes brushed them off as if they were never shot. Ariana recalled then the stories about the Converted. She hadn’t had the chance to face them off in battle, but she had read the memo. Their cybernetic implants give them an inhuman toughness acting like an armor layer. The memo said that the kill ratios are reduced by 16.66% on account of this. The converted, in shooting distance of the crew shart shooting at Drathi. His sixth sense kicks in, and he ducks at the last minute, saving himself from certain death. Coming from below, Renette shoots at an unaware foe, but yet again their inhuman toughness saves them. The crew starts getting frustrated. The shooting becomes more intense, as Raschke’s Rifles have got the converted in the crossfire, shooting at them from both sides. Urien draws first blood, killing their mark, while Renette takes out another one. 2IC comes to her support and with a point blank shot, eliminates the converted leader. The converted keep fighting aggressively. Their losses don’t make a single dent to their morale. ‘Does morale apply to these… things?’ Ariana wonders, as her crew keeps exchanging shots with them. Urien brushes off a wound that should have taken him down, but he’s quickly back on his feet. 2IC eliminates another converted. The shootout lasts a little bit longer, until Urien takes the final shot with his handcannon, killing the last enemy. As they gather around their fallen enemies, Ariana looks at the rapidly decaying body masses. “Well done everyone. We sure showed them.” Among the loot they find a distraction bot and some booster pills, which will for sure come in handy in the future.
Back at the Tailed Gecko, the crew has gathered to celebrate. They raise their glasses of skoltar ale, as Urien joins them. He pushes a slip towards Ariana with a name “Verner Dilucca”. “Who’s this?” Ariana asks. “We’re starting to get a name of ourselves.” Urien replied. “That’s a Unity official of the sector. Don’t know his exact title, but he said he has a job for us if we’re interested.” He takes a good gulp of ale to wash away the feeling of cat-hair in his throat. “How much did we earn boss?”. “4 full Unity credits. But the best thing is, according to Mr. Voss, that we stopped them in their tracks.” Ariana smiles. “There’s no other trace of their presence in the sector.” “This would reduce invasion threat probability to less than 5.13%” 2IC added in his robotic voice. “Yes!” Renette cheered, and raised her glass. “I’ll drink to that.”
Session Summary
Using Talespire again was a fun change. I did spend some time to create a crew in titancraft that looks a lot (or are the exact same in some cases) like the ones I have in physical format. My main issue at the moment with Talespire is that designing a board from scratch will take a long while. There are a few ready boards like the one I’ve used, but it’s not like they’re adjusted perfectly to the Five Parsecs from Home ruleset. Perhaps some time I’ll find the opportunity to create 12×12 tiles and just place them around, but I don’t know if I’ll ever get to it.
Onibaba is discussing. 
Daveb is discussing. 
Onibaba 2:39 pm on July 16, 2025 Permalink |
Amazing as always, thx for the effort! At least Jake managed to get out of it in one piece
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Onibaba 3:24 pm on November 5, 2025 Permalink |
Great BR as always!
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