There’s only one variant of a Grick from Brite Minis, but it’s quite vague, so by mirroring at X axis, the two variants are enough to create this mob feeling.
Scaled down 60% to have 15mm scale, they printed okay. I had a few failures at some of the prints at one tentacle, but I decided to keep them and not reprint, as it feels perfectly fine for them to be missing a limb. Perhaps during a challenge, a fight or mating or whatever these worm like things do.
I’ll use them mainly as Slithering Horrors for Five Parsecs from Home Bug Hunt.
For painting I did the following scheme:
Airbrush low/inside a purplish pale mix of turquoise, zinc white, YMC 321, yellow ochre, titanium white
Something that has always intrigued me is Virtual Table Tops (VTTs). There are pros and cons comparisons in the hobby (especially Solo Roleplaying & Skirmish Miniatures Gaming) about analog versus digital.
Having lived since the completely analog era, to todays bombardment of digitalization, and in the transition period (’90s-’10s), I find myself catering to both. On one hand, with a daily job in (mostly) front of a computer, a smartphone that has become an extension of myself, PC gaming hobbies, TV Shows, Movies, I find this immense desire to escape and get into a tabletop game with physical tangible assets, pen and pencil note taking, and rulebook reading. On the other hand getting everything setup on the board (and storing them afterwards), gathering everything, painting miniatures and terrain (a hobby on it’s own) and finding a place in the room to put them in, takes as much time as it does playing, if not more. There’s some other reasons, like playing on travels, getting everything ready for blog posting, immersion, but I won’t go into any more detail.
The thing is, I want to have options. Sometimes I want to lay out a whole table in front of me, sometimes the home desk is occupied by my minis painting set. Sometimes I have the monsters I am about to face, sometimes they’re only available by a vendor across the atlantic without IOSS, and there’s no suitable FDM STL to print. I’ve already tested the waters successfully with Foundry VTT (after trying out others) on the Solo Roleplaying Games front, and it was immensely helpful in taking away the load of bookkeeping and complex combat. But what about Skirmish Miniatures Gaming?
With regards to the tabletop experience, there’s a difference between RPGs and Skirmish Miniatures Games (SMGs?) as to the information and number of assets. In order to allow for a larger number of assets on the board SMGs store less information behind them (usually no stats or wound tracks, few things to keep track of) and rely on the visual experience to rule the outcome (a wall provides cover, a hill provides height advantage etc) but they have to be on the table somehow. In an RPG you will rely more on character sheets and stats, while in an SMG you’ll rely more on tokens, markers, minis and terrain. Both types of games use both options; it’s not black and white, there’s a whole spectrum, but just stating out where each of the above leans.
So, a 2D VTT like Foundry, with a very strong engine behind it to calculate complex rules and character sheets, isn’t the right tool for the job. Plus I’d completely lose the Z axis. I needed something in 3D. There’s a few options there. One of them was 3D Canvas which is a module for Foundry VTT; however this comes with a subscription model, and I’m not too fond of that. The other popular option is TableTop Simulator, followed by a less popular more modern software, The RPG Engine. Both are on Steam Sale right now half off, and I was balancing between them, when I stumbled upon Talespire. And I was wowed. Top notch graphics, some innovative features like Slabs and Boards, importing your own models, different types of rulers for measurements; more or less what I wanted in a modern format, and in discount (smaller) also!
I decided to take plunge and try it out for my next session in Five Parsecs from Home: Bug Hunt. Since TitanCraft exports custom miniatures to Talespire, and it has a more affordable and reasonable pricing scheme (pay for the assets) than HeroForge (pay per export) which also exports custom miniatures to Talespire, I bought the sci-fi assets and spent the day designing some Red Coyotes in the Character Creator. My references where the Five Parsecs from Home: Complendium cover and interior art, and the description of the Unity forces uniforms from Unity Field Agent. Did the entire player forces roster so that I can use them anytime in the future.
I wasted a lot of time researching boards, terrain generators, slabs. But then I found a 2×2 Living Dungeon board, which was perfect for my Bug Hunt game, and an excellent opportunity to test the waters without spending another day building the board.
I also used a lot of the community assets (there’s a lot of modders who did the work of “painting” the STLs meant for 3D printing to use them in Talespire), mainly for alien scatter. But I think I’ve talked a lot about the setup. It’s time to get into the game, and I’ll talk some more afterwards, summarizing how it all played out.
Special Assignments
Ariana attempts to join Leadership Training: Success: +2 XP. Jake attempts to join Marksman Training: Failure. Kato attempts to join Survival Course: Failure
Kato, Ariana and Jake on board the USS Astral Monarch
Fight a (Virtual) Table Top Battle
For the objectives I rolled up a Retrieve, Scout and a Secure objective. For mission difficulty I choose Mess Me Up, which is Moderate.
I rolled for the Priority Rating and it was 1. That’s a really low Priority Rating, and the Spawn Rating was 1 also.
For the loadout, I give Ariana a Hand Cannon and Boarding Sword, Kato gets a Combat Rifle and Jake gets a Shotgun.
Let’s see what force we’ll field. I have 1 Support Points (equal to the Priority Rating) and start with one Fire Team as standard. I managed to get a Precursor Explorer.
I placed the Tactical Locations, and decided to use the Signals optional rule, rolling 2 Signals. Also added one Contact Marker to each objective and one at the centre of the table.
Finally, I rolled the battlefield edge, and had to push back one of the objectives as it was too close to my troops.
In the dropship Jake Bradley took a good look at his new teammates. He was locked up in the brig during the last mission when they had battled against some AI virus infected bots running berserk on an alien planet. They even saved some civies along the way. Some sort of scientific exploration team who as it seems were the reason for the whole mess, as they had been experimenting with alien virus coding into machine. They were meant to try this on bots, in order to keep the virus isolated, or at least that was the plan… They hadn’t seen his mates get slaughtered by shambling reanimations, but as he looked at Ariana, he noticed a scar along her neck. They hadn’t escaped unscathed either. Then he noticed two coloured stripes on her uniform, a gray and a white one. “Technical *and* Leadership training” Jake pointed out. “Brace up troopers, we have a Leader among us!”. “I’ll be an officer before you know it. Then I’ll be able to boss you around Bradley”. She responded in kind. “Hold it troopers.” Kato intervened. “We still have a mission to do. Landing is imminent.” “Yeah, what hellhole is this time around?” Jake asked. “If only you had paid attention at the mission briefing…” Ariana sighed. “Lay it down for me. You want to become an officer, here’s your chance to get a taste.” Jake answered. Ariana was up to the challenge. “Alright. Fringe Planet PC-551. Long-distance scanning shows alien flora and fauna, but nothing concrete, no evidence of sapient life. A Precursor scout ship was sent to investigate, but for reasons unknown it crashed. We have to drop in, retrieve the black box, secure the area, and scout the surrounding region. This is a low priority mission, that’s why we only have these four grunts with us.” “And that mysterious dude over there.” Jake gestured towards the Precursor Explorer. She hadn’t said a word since they were introduced. “We’re landing boys and girls!” the pilot’s voice echoed distorted via the shuttle comms.
Red Coyotes deployed
Battle Round 1
Jake, Kato, Ariana and the Precursor move to the OverhangThe Fire Team goes down the slope from the other side into the caveA signal of danger is investigated, and a spawn point appears on the rear
The Red Coyotes split into the cavern system. The troopers order the Fire Team down the slope, while they take the route towards a naturally formed balcony overhanging towards the centre of their target objective. The whole place gives them eerie vibes, fingers twitching.
Battle Round 2
The Precursor Explorer jumps down the overhang only to make Contact with short of a score of Slithering Horrors!Kato moves to the edge of the overhang and shoots his Combat Rifle, killing the Slithering Horror with a barrage of shotsAriana joins the shooting
I just realized that Google Photos integration in WordPress.com doesn't exclude them from the Storage limit which I reached also. There also isn't a way to view the file size of uploaded media (perhaps I could replace some high-quality uploads with smaller ones). So I'll be using Flickr embed from now on. Hope this doesn't cause any viewing issues. Since this a free blog that doesn't provide any significant monetary incentive (apart from the DTRPG affiliate links which are minimal) I can't justify a subscription to the pro model of wordpress, and I'd rather not migrate to another platform and start over. I'll look further into the available options, but for the moment I'll proceed with this.
The Fire Team goes to Secure the Objective
And make contact with Six Slithering Horrors!
The Precursor jumps down from the balcony. “Wait!” Jake shouts over the comms. He had noticed blips in his scanner towards this direction, but he’s too late. Alerted by her presence, a swarm of alien horrific monstrosities start slithering towards the Explorer. “What are these things?” Ariana shouts. “Slithering…. things!” Kato responds. “More like Slithering Horrors!” Ariana adds. “I don’t care what they are! just shoot them!” Jake intervenes. He fires his shotgun and wounds one of the creatures which screeches in pain. Kato aligns his sights on his combat rifle, and kills another. Ariana fires her hand cannon, but she doesn’t have the same aim, and misses. At the same time, the Fire Team turns around a corner in the cave, aiming to secure the area, by holding this location, when they come face to face with four of the slithering horrors. They open fire without second though, suppressing two and wounding another. Turning into the cave has given the emergency signal buried in the ground enough strength to reach the Fire Team. They can listen to the screams of the Precursor scout cautioning anyone who came afterwards about a passage to the South, behind them, from where the Slithering Horrors emerge. “We need to block their entry!” Ariana mentions. “What about these things in front of us?” Jake responds. “Let’s kill these first before bothering with whats coming from the rear”. “Low priority, huh?” Kato wonders.
Battle Round 3
A Slithering Horror attacks Jake who beats it back
Another one jumps at Ariana, who kills it with her boarding sword!
The rest of the slithering horrors are just out of reach, so they stop before climbing the cliff
The Slithering Horrors attack the Fire Team, who fight back bravely, stunning two of them before a trooper perishes to the onslaught
Ariana and Kato kill one Horror each, while Jake misses his shots
and the Fire Team kills three more!
The Precursor Explorer moves to the West as far as the plateau allows, and shoots back towards the swarm, but she misses. A Slithering Horror dashes towards her, and chomps her down. A few of the alien swarm that are closest, climb quickly and attack our heroes. Jake kicks one back, stunning it, while Ariana draws her blade and digs it deep into its body, turning it into a carcass. The rest slither onwards, under the overhang. “Feels like we’re on stage and they’re our fan crowd huh?” Jake mentions. “That’s not a good time to joke around!” Ariana replies. “Well, let’s give them a good show then!” Jake open fires, but he misses. Ariana and Kato shoot as well, and they kill two of the creatures. The Slithering Horrors on the other side initiate close combat, killing a trooper after three of the creatures jumped on him. After the initial shock, the Fire Team responds in kind, with Unity Firepower, killing three of the creatures, almost securing the area. Kato takes a look at his scanner. “That’s… not good, they’re coming at us from everywhere. I can see so many contact signals all over the screen.” “Yet once more Intel screwed up.” Jake adds.
Battle Round 4
Jake acts quickly shooting and killing a horror, before being jumped upon by another, and becoming a casualty
The horrors continue, attacking Kato and Ariana. Kato is down, Ariana is knocked back, still standing but overrun.
Ariana fights back against 5 Slithering Horrors! stunning them, before falling down next to her companions.
Only the Fire Team stands, shooting and killing two more horrors. Only one remains, they almost secured the objective.
Jake takes another shot at the swarm, killing a Slithering Horror, moments before the start climbing up, en masse. Quickly our heroes are overrun, Jake falls first, then Kato, then Ariana. They put up a brave fight kicking, stunning and dazing about eight of them, before perishing. The Fire Team had suppressed and wounded the Slithering Horrors in front of them, and they eliminate two more. They have all but Secured the area.
Battle Round 5 – 7+
There was a chance for the Fire Team to Secure the Objective. However, since they didn't manage to do it in Round 4, the Slithering Horrors swarm quickly entered the 6" range of the objective. In the meantime, the Contact Markers and Spawn Points kept overruning the table, and despite the Fire Team making a valiant last stand, there was no point running the game further, and I stopped at Round 7 with two Fire Team troopers still alive. With the Main Characters already being a Casualty there was no point calling Evac or trying to escape from the table edge. I called it a day and went to the much disgraceful Post Battle Report. I'll post some pictures below, and write a short narrative, but won't detail everything step by step.
With the heroes perishing on the other side, all the Slithering Horrors swarm towards the Fire Team
The brave troopers shoot despite the odds and manage to kill three of them!
But the swarm has no end.
The two troopers still stand, against the Slithering Horrors in front of them, but there’s 3 more Slithering Horrors slithering in from the rear cave entrance. It’s all done.
But it’s too late. With noone to hold them off at the Southern balcony, the brunt of the alien swarm turns towards the few standing troopers. They kill three horrors advancing from the entrance, but more come. They fire and suppress them, but they jump them another trooper is down. They keep shooting. The Slithering Horrors keep coming, with no fear. The scanners are filled with blipping signals all over the screen. Behind them, in front of them, at the other objectives. The swarm is endless. The troopers are not.
Post Battle Report
Pay the piper Jake: no court martial.
Determine Casualties Jake: Minor Injuries: 1 Turn Ariana: Head Wound: 2 Turns Kato: Leg Wound: 1 Turn I’ll spend a Reputation Point to have Jake receive Advanced Care and be ready to fight for our next battle.
Update Completed missions
Check for Mustering Out No chance
Determine Reputation Received 0, spent 1, Reputation Total is 10.
Experience and Leveling Jake gets +2 XP Ariana gets +1 XP Kato gets +1 XP
Operational Progress Vital Operation: no Objectives completed.
Roll for Military Life Kato Got in a Fight, but due to his Combat Skill roll he wasn’t wounded further.
Check for Entitlement to R&R Not entitled yet
Ready for another Campaign Turn Here’s the Roster and Hall of Fame.
Name
Reactions
Speed
Combat Skill
Toughness
Savvy
Jake Bradley
1
5″
+1
4
+0
Holbrook Linkovich
1
4″
+0
3
+2
Allyson Stoyer
2
5″
+0
3
+0
Ariana Raschke
1
5″
+0
3
+1
Kato Minoru
2
5″
+1
3
+0
Name
Completed Missions
XP
Origin
Basic Training
Service History
Jake Bradley
2
3
Prison Planet
Planetary Militia
Garrison or patrol duties
Holbrook Linkovich
2
2
Scientific Outpost
Naval forces (Ships Crew)
Extended campaign
Allyson Stoyer
1
0
Core Systems World
Ground forces (Scouts)
Police action (Commendation)
Ariana Raschke
3
8
Trade Hub
Planetary militia
Anti-pirate operation
Kato Minoru
3
6
Military Outpost
Ground forces (Scouts)
Police Action
Name
Special Assignments
Missions
Status
Jake Bradley
Ep01, Ep03
Minor Injuries Ep03 (0)
Holbrook Linkovich
Ep01
Death Ep01
Allyson Stoyer
Ep01
Gruesome Fate Ep01
Ariana Raschke
Technical Training Leadership Training
Ep02, Ep03
Minor injuries Ep02 (0) Head Wound Ep03 (2)
Kato Minoru
Ep02, Ep03
Leg Wound Ep03 (2)
The Search and Rescue landed in the overhang, and quickly recovered the Red Coyotes after the Slithering Horrors had settled to rest. In the Med Bay, they met with a very angry Lt. Thompsanch. He was hovering over Jake. “Trooper Bradley, can you explain to me how did you manage to accomplish ZERO objectives in this mission? No black box retrieval? no securing the location? no scouting the area?” He demanded. ‘The man surely has in it for me’ Jake thought for a moment, and he opened his mouth to respond, however Ariana jumped in. “Sir, if I may, given my training, I had seniority in the mission. Responsibility is mine.” She said. The Lieutenant turned his back to Jake. “Seems you have a knight in shining armor to save your precious butt Bradley.” and turning to Ariana, looking at the bandaged head, he continued “And since you want responsibility so much Roschke, care to explain why you failed the mission?” “Sir, intel was inadequate. The oppposition was not analogous to the priority rating given during the briefing and the support we received. We didn’t go down there in reduced strength because we needed troops elsewhere, we did because someone thought this would have been a walk in the park. Sir.” She responded. “Alright trooper Roschke. I’ll talk to intel to find out who screwed up. Get yourselves patched up, we’re gonna need you soon enough.” The Lieutenant turned and left. “You earned some points in my book Roschke.” Bradley told her. She cracked a smile, before wincing in pain. “Hey nurse!” she called. “Give me something for the pain, and get trooper Bradley in Advanced Care. The Lieutenant said he’ll need him combat ready for the next mission.” As she lays her head back for a moment, she heard a ruckus down the hall, and saw nurses and troopers running, soon enough a very angry Kato is being drawn into the med bay by two nurses asking him to calm down. “Everything alright Minoru?” Jake asked. “Had to settle a difference in opinions with an idiot from intel.” Kato responded. Jake looked at him, waiting for more details. “Let’s just say, he’ll think twice before sending us ill prepared down there.” Kato continued. “And not because Lt. Thompsanch came asking for explanations a few moments later.” “Did he…” Jake was worried that Kato would also end up in the brig. Kato shook his head negatively. “We’re good. Seems the Lieutenant was in our side for once.”
Session Summary
That was a total disaster in terms of mission deployment. I made an operational error, and decided to have a Precursor Explorer (and I just realized I didn’t re-roll initiative as described, but I doubt it would change much) instead of something with greater… numbers? I should have gone for a second Fire Team at least. Also I need to learn to use those Reputation Points. I’ve gathered 10 of them, time to spend them. No wonder the Red Coyotes have a good Reputation since they always go in ill-armed. I did a quick check versus the previous edition of Bug Hunt (2ed) and noticed that Spawn Points did not exist. Yet another reason that I should go in better prepared.
With regards to Talespire and using it run Five Parsecs from Home: Bug Hunt. Overall I really enjoyed it. Setup with a prepared board was really easy. Moving miniatures around, using Initiative to track down activation order, using the rulers to measure distance, it all worked like a blast.
Things I liked:
Great graphics
Custom miniatures import
Rulers, markers
Community content
Friendly User Interface
Things that were less than ideal:
Processing heavy
Custom scatter terrain acts like miniatures
Status tokens and markers workarounds
Chat
The good stuff are pretty self-explanatory, so I won’t dwel on them. I see there’s some things down the road that will resolve some of the issues. I worked around the processing topic by swithing to a windowed version instead of full screen as I needed to alt-tab to write down things for my report, and this solved most of the problems. Custom scatter terrain being a “miniature” asset means it gets picked up and moved around if you’re not careful (as would happen with a real table, ha!). I found some useful Status tokens from someone who made them for Savage Worlds, and they’re essentially a little bigger than bases, which you can overlay on top of a miniature to show the status. Not bad, but need to be a bit careful moving them around. There is also a mod available to add icons on the base of a miniature, which could also work. Not out-of-the-box though. Chat doesn’t retain it’s history and is very basic at the moment. It would be nice to have a date and timestamp, history, ability to clear it, and also filter and search.
Overall I found that it worked as well as a physical board (on some parts even better – measuring distances for example). Which is absolutely great! I didn’t find myself constrained in any way, and the good thing is that I could pick it up anytime, without it collecting dust somewhere. The bad thing is that after a few hours playing and writing my report, I got fed up with the screen time and needed a break, but that’s not Talespire’s fault!
If I have any feedback about what needs to be improved to work better for Skirmish Miniatures Games, it would be Foam Terrain combined with a Terrain Generator (because all you need sometimes is a quick battlefield to place stuff on top), more Statuses (there’s Knockdown now, but we need Wounded, Stunned, etc), an improvement in handling Initiative for multiple miniatures (perhaps grouping them together, and a way to send to “Start” or “End” to sort them quickly), and objective markers that are visible on the normal view and not only with the Tab view.
Thanks!
Yes, it is, and my next game is back on with a physical board. I just wanted to see available options, and it’s great to have the choice.
I don’t have a dedicated gaming space, so the table space isn’t always available for setup or for leaving it unattended to pick it up the next days.
I understand perfectly, I have the same problem as you and with the preparation of the table the time to play is really little, it almost becomes a job
I’m picking up the campaign in Five Parsecs from Home: Bug Hunt from where I’ve left it. Since Jake Bradley is in the Brig, I’ll only have two Characters for this next mission. According to the game, again, I set up the board first, and then I started the mission without knowing which enemy I’ll face (though if it’s an enemy I don’t have in physical miniatures, I’ll re-roll).
In the meantime between the two games I went ahead and printed several tokens to use and assist with the game and bookkeeping. This helped immensely. The main tokens I used were Stun and Wound tokens, Contact markers, Objective markers, Signal and Tactical Location markers, and Spawn Point markers. It took some effort, but even without an AMS, you can switch filament colors between layers, so I printed some multi-colored tokens using Black, White and Red.
During play I noticed several mistakes I made (especially in the previous session) which I corrected this time around. They more or less balanced each other out, so the experience wasn’t skewed in one direction or another.
Special Assignments
Seeing how none in my team has any Savvy points, I decided to go ahead and attempt Technical Training for Ariana and Harsh Environment Training for Kato. Ariana got her assignment and earned +1 XP and +1 Savvy. I ruled that Jake couldn’t get a Special Assignment with him being in the brig and all.
Fight a Tabletop battle
For the objectives I rolled up a normal Retrieve objective, and a Vital Scout objective. For mission difficulty I choose Mess Me Up, which is Moderate.
I rolled for the Priority Rating and it was 6! That’s a high priority mission and my squad is green and at reduced strength. Which in turn this means a maximum Spawn Rating at 3.
For the loadout, I give Ariana a Hand Cannon and Boarding Sword, Kato gets a Shotgun.
Let’s see what force we’ll field. I have 6 Support Points (equal to the Priority Rating) and start with one Fire Team as standard. I managed to get a second Fire Team, a Sarge, a Hyper Blaster which I gave to Kato, a K’erin Squad, a Recon Patrol, and failed to recquisite Grenades.
I placed the Tactical Locations, and decided to use the Signals optional rule, rolling 3 Signals. Also added one Contact Marker to each objective and one at the centre of the table.
Finally, I rolled the battlefield edge, and had to push back one of the objectives as it was too close to my troops.
Kato was in the dropship double checking his gear, as they did their descent in the dropship. He had heard that K’erin were too eager to avoid any hint of a challenge. He decided not to put the rumour to test and was doing his best trying to avoid to look at the K’erin next to him, and spent his gaze switching from the Hyper blaster to the Sarge, and then to Ariana and back.
She didn’t know Kato, but she could feel he was nervous. “Everything alright?” she asked. “Yeah, just double checking everything. We don’t know what we’ll be facing down there.” Kato replied. “We’re trained for this, don’t worry. Pick up the soil sample, scout the immediate area, and head back.” She tried to look confident. “We got this.” Kato nodded. “And if we don’t, we got the big dudes to help us.” She smiled to the K’erin who growled in accord and bumped his chest with his fist. Kato felt the sweat running down his brow. And to his relief, the dropship landed, and the Sarge ordered everyone outside. The mission was about to start, and he could focus on something other than the warrior hunters next to him.
Battle Round 1
Quick Action phase The K’erin move first. Contact! 3 Berserk Robots. The K’erin shoot at them, killing one and wounding and stunning another. The Recons and Sarge move from the North side. Kato moves and fires his Hyper Blaster to the wounded robot, killing it.
Enemy Action phase The remaining robot attacks the closest K’erin. K’erin wins the brawl stunning and knocking the robot back. A Contact marker stays in place and doubles, while another moves towards Sarge.
Slow Action phase Fire teams and Ariana move onwards.
Spawn phase A spawn point appears at our rear. Countdown not determined yet.
With a chilling dedication, the K’erin move like the hunters from mankinds primordial age towards the blip in their scanners. Digital bzitz and trills are heard, and a trio of berserk robots appears in front of them. Before the robots have a chance to lash out an attack, the K’erin open fire, blasting one of them to dust, and damaging another. “Rogue AI virus infecting bots. I’ve heard the stories but hadn’t seen one until today.” Kato went over the comms, as he lined up his Hyper Blaster and destroyed one more robot. “Yeah we just learned about them in our Technical Training. You should have been there.” Ariana responded. “There’s no better experience than a good old fashioned shootout.” Kato replied, as the last robot tried to attack the K’erin. The hunters though quickly evaded, and slashed at it and sent it reeling backwards. In the meantime, the rest of the Red Coyotes moved forward towards their objective, trying to navigate the maze of alien flora. Kato looked at his datapad. “I’m picking up a lot of movement on our six, we may need to control entry.” “Negative, the only thing that matters is the objective.” Ariana countered.
Battle Round 2
Quick Action phase Recons move forward near contact marker: We’ve got movement all over the place! (moves further away and another Contact marker appears to closest edge). Recons also check the Signal: 3 Civilians. I’ll earn 1 Reputation for each that I manage to evacuate. Sarge moves forward. Kato tried to investigate the Tactical Location and fails.
(note: I forgot about the Alertness rule for Signals on Round 1, I'll make a mental note from now on)
Enemy Action phase Stunned robot removes stun marker. Contact marker moves in LOS of Recons: Contact! 2 Berserk Robots Contact marker moves randomly in front of Ariana: Contact! 4 Berserk Robots. The Contact marker that moved away from Recons before (See We’ve got movement all over the place!) returns aggresively: We’ve got movement all over the place!
(another note: in the previous game and in this, I didn't notice the "What the Beep Sir" rule, I'll make another mental note from now on)
Slow Action phase K’erin shoot at the Robot in front of them and merely stun it. Fire Team shoots at the Robots that appeared, but cause no damage. Ariana charges at a Robot with her boarding sword and merely stuns it. The civilians are in the way, so the other Fire Team has no Line of Fire, and the one trooper that does, misses.
Spawn phase Countdown not determined yet for existing Spawn point. A new Spawn point appears at Southern edge, with a Countdown of 3.
The recon troopers move forward towards movement, and as they do, they notice that the blip in their scanner moves further away, and another one appears from the North. However, as they turn around the alien pathways, they stumble upon their initial target, and find three battered civilians, two humans and an alien. They look scared. “We’ll get you out of here. Stay behind us and you’ll be safe.” The recons order the civilians back towards the Fire Teams. Kato tries to activate an old device he found buried in the dust, but he can’t figure out how exactly it should operate. Then his attention is drawn to the radio. As one by one the Fire Teams report “Contact, Contact!” 6 more tangos in front of them. The fight is becoming more intense. The K’erin shoot at the robot, but only manage to suppress it. Ariana, frustrated charges at a robot that arrived through the alien plants, and kicks it back, knocking out its circuits momentarily. At the North the Fire Teams try to stop the advance of the robots, but with the civilians in the way, they can’t get a clear shot. Reports arrive that the South West edge is also compromised as enemies are due from that side of the battlefield as well.
Battle Round 3
Beep Sir: 2 new Contact markers. The second is detected by Fire Team: Contact! 3 Robots: and shot upon by both teams. 1 robot wounded and 1 killed.
Quick Action phase Recons move to the side (to allow LOS for the Fire Team behind) and shoot at the robots. But they’re within LOS of a blip: We’ve got movement all over the place! 1 robot is stunned Kato fires his Hyperblaster at the robots next to him and wounds it.
Enemy Action phase Stunned robot removes marker. Wounded robot attacks Ariana who is saved by her armor and knocked back. A robot attacks Kato, who overpowers it and it’s saved by it’s armor and knocked back. A robot attacks Kato and Kato saved by his armor is knocked back. A robot dashes at a recon and kills him. A wounded robot attacks Fire Team Bravo and kills a trooper. A robot attacks Fire Team Bravo and kills another trooper. we’re getting slaughtered Contact marker at centre stays put and doubles in size. Contact marker at edge stays where it is. Contact marker at edge moves towards recon aggresively and is detected: Stay Frosty. Contact marker at North edge moves randomly. Contact marker at South edge moves NorthWest.
Slow Action phase A K’erin charges at robot but is knocked back, his armor saving him. Another K’erin attacks and he kills the robot! we have an opening to the objectives! The other two K’erin dash towards the objective. Fire Team Alpha shoots at the robots assaulting Fire Team 2 and stunned one wounded robot. Fire Team Bravo shoots at the robots and they kill the wounded stunned robot. Sarge attacks the robot next to the recon patrol and stuns it. Ariana shoots her Hand Cannon at the wounded robot nearby and kills it.
Spawn phase The unknown Countdown remains unknown, the other lowers to 2, and the new one appears at 3 at East edge.
There’s fighting all over the battlefield. The Recon patrol shoots at the robots but merely daze them momentarily. They charge back at them and the fire team, leaving two troopers and a scout casualties in their attack. The troopers lead by the Sarge fire at will, killing only one berserk robot. Kato shoots his Hyper Blaster, damaging a bot, and then he counters successfuly the melee attack of another one, knocking it back a couple meters. His attack leaves him exposed to another charge by a bot, who hits him, it’s strike deflected by Kato’s armor. Ariana is too close to a damaged robot which uses it’s upper limbs to jump at her. She is hit, but the trooper armor is strong enough to keep her safe for the moment. She shoots back at it with her hand cannon and destroys it. The Unity force scanners light up as contacts move all over the place, some come closer while some move away, and another one disappears. The K’erin manage to eliminate a robot in their way, and they have opened a path to the objective, two of them dashing towards it.
Battle Round 4
Beep… Sir: 1 Contact Marker appears at North side
Note: I had failed to take under consideration the Team Formation rule will make a mental note to use it from now on.
Seems my missed rules kinda balanced themselves out, as it usually happens.
Quick Action phase A K’erin moves to Scout the Vital Objective, two Blips in range: Contact x2! 8 robots! A K’erin shoots at them and stuns one. Another K’erin moves to Retrieve the other Objective. Two more K’erin move to shoot at the robots and mark a second stun. Kato will navigate through the tactical location to reach the K’erin and attempt a second time to activate the location: Block! He succeeds. The area becomes impassable to enemies within 2″.
Note: another mistake in my first game: investigating a location and activating it are two separate actions, but the first one doesn't require a Savvy roll.
So the previous time, Kato investigated it successfully.
The Recon trooper shoots at the stunned robot and misses.
Enemy Action phase Robots remove stun markers. Robot attacks Fire Team Bravo: it’s a draw: the trooper is killed and the robot is stunned A robot dashes at Sarge: it’s a draw sarge saves and he wounds the robot: They’re both knocked back 1″ Robots attack Ariana: it’s a draw she’s a casualty! and the robot is stunned. The other robots attack Fire Team Bravo: it’s a draw, and also a 1, so the enemy receives a hit (another rule I had missed....) both are saved by their armor. Another robot against Fire Team Bravo: the trooper is wounded. Robots attack the K’erin scouting the vital objective: he stuns the first one, and wounds the second one, and is killed by the third one. We just lost the Vital Objective and must send another one to Scout it. The rest of the robots charge at the Sarge (3/4 are in range): the Sarge is down. Then they attack the Recon: the Recon is down Two more robots dash closer. A Contact marker moves randombly to the North edge. A Contact marker remains in place and doubles. A Contact marker moves randombly along the North edge. A Contact marker moves aggresively towards the civilians. The last Contact marker at SouthEast remains in place and doubles.
Slow Action phase The only hope for the civilians and fire teams is to move south, as any evac will try to get to the objectives, and they must hope that the Spawn Point won’t bring any enemies (or try to disable it in time)however the passage is riddled with berserk robots, they’ll have to go around… The troopers move and turn to shoot at the robots behind them: they kill one and stun twice another. The civilians dash behind the fire teams.
Spawn phase The unknown Countdown is set at 3. The others reduce to 1 and 2 respectively Alertness: no alertness Tactical location Block: No longer blocks
The K’erin push aggresively towards the objectives. One of them picks up the data case they were after. They come in contact with 8 bots, and fighting commences, leaving many of them stunned and damaged. But the robots know no fear, and the relentless wave, cannot be stopped. The vanguard of the K’erin perishes as he was about to scout the area. Kato manages to activate the buried device he found. An EMP field is generated, ionizing and holding in place any robots nearby. This should buy the Unity forces some precious time. However the robots attack at the core of the Unity Force, the Recon patrol is eliminated, a trooper and the Sarge fall as well. Not even Ariana escapes their cold calculated attacks. She’s buried in the sand. The civilians scream in fear, trying to take cover behind the last remaining troopers, whose escape route hangs by a thread. Contact signals again cover the entire battlefield. It’s looking bleak for the Red Coyotes.
Battle Round 5
Beep…. Sir: A new Contact Marker appears at the East Edge.
Quick Action phase 2 K’erin shoot at robot: stunned. A K’erin moves to Scout Objective Kato will attempt to call Evac (Savvy +1, 1 Objective Package in hand): Success! Evac will appear end of next round, we just need to hold on until then.
Enemy Action phase Wounded robot attacks nearby K’erin: Kerin hits, armor saves, wounded robot is knocked back. A robot attacks wounded Fire Team Bravo trooper: the robot receives 2 stuns. Another one attacks him and kills him. A robot attacks Fire Team Alpha trooper who stuns the robot. Another one attacks: his armor saves him. Two more robots dash close. Removing stun markers. A Contact marker has random movement SE, in LOS of Fire Team Alpha: we’ve got movement all over the place. A Contact marker has aggresive movement towards Fire Team Alpha: in LOS: Contact! 3 robots. A Contact marker doubles but stays in place. A Contact marker moves a bit randomly along the North edge. A Contact marker moves randomly South. A Contact marker along the East edge doesn’t move. A Contact marker in SE corner moves aggresively towards K’erin. A Contact marker in SE corner moves randomly West.
Slow Action phase Civlians dash South. Fire Team Alpha acts as a shield to Civilians and moves South and attacks the robots: one shot hits, no damage.
Spawn phase A Spawn Point is at Coundown 0: a Contact Marker spawns: Countdown goes to 3 The other Spawn Points go to 2 and 1 respectively. Alertness: no alertness The Vital Objective is Scouted successfully.
The EMP field fizzles, and the robots can move again. Kato knows time is of the essence, he calls HQ. “This is Trooper Kato Minoru! We have retrieved the Objective, we’re being overrun by berserk robots! Force is at 50% strength. Arrange for Evac!” A short silence ensues that felt to Kato like hours. “Roger that Trooper. Hold tight, dropship should be there in 5.” The call came through. Relief drawn to Kato’s face. He knows he must coordinate with the K’erin. But now he feels so much better to know they’re on his side. They move in a wide formation and reach the second Objective. This time, they hold their position against the robots. Constantly providing suppressing fire and damaging any robot coming closer. On the other side of the battle, the Fire Team tries their best to keep the Civilians alive. It would have been so much easier if they had to save just their own skin. Another trooper perishes as they fight, but they still hold, and as fast as they can without losing cohesion, they move with the Civilians towards the rest of the force. The entire map is blipping all over with hostile movement. There is no escape but up.
Battle Round 6
Beep… Sir: a new Contact marker appears to the North edge
Quick Action phase A K’erin retreats to the rest of the squad and shoots the robot next to him and stuns it. The K’erin with the Package retreats a bit and shoots at the other robot, while maintaining close range: it’s armor saves it. The other K’erin shoots also but misses. Kato moves and shoots his Hyperblaster at the robot near the civilians and kills it! Perhaps we’ll manage to evac the civilians too?
Enemy Action phase A robot attacks the K’erin: both K’erin and the robot are wounded. Another robot attacks the wounded K’erin and the K’erin perishes. The rest of the unwounded/unstunned robots charge at the Fire Team: 1 trooper stunned, 2 troopers are killed, 1 robot stunned, 1 robot stunned and wounded. 3 more robots dash closer. Removing stun markers from the rest of the robots. A Contact marker moves aggresively towards Fire Team Alpha. A Contact marker moves randomly South. 2 Contact markers double but stay in place. The rest of the Contact markers move randomly, nothing detected.
Slow Action phase Civilians dash towards Evac. Fire Team Alpha dashes towards Evac. 1 trooper is Stunned he can Move or Shoot, so he moves hoping for a Quick phase next…
Spawn phase Countdown of 1 to 0, Spawns marker, back to 1, the others are at 1 and 2 respectively. Alertness: no alertness. EVAC! The K’erin, Kato, Civilians and 1 trooper Evac. 1 Trooper remains alone.
In position, the K’erin uses his scanning binoculars to gather all the necessary information for military intelligence in order to have a clear strategic advantage for the entire region. The K’erin fight furiously to hold position and save their objectives. One of them is lost in the fight against the robots, but they manage to suppress the rest of the robots, and hold them off. Kato shoots the robots, to the West, making a clear pathway for the Civilians supported by the Fire Teams, who fight for their lives. Man against machine, blood and oil mixed cover the sands. But then the sound of the dropships engines covers all the noise of battle. Quickly the K’erin jump in with the package and information. Kato covers for the Civilians and troopers who join, and jumps inside as well. Yet, one Troooper stands in the battlefield alone, as the mechanical sound of robots walking, crawling, treading resonates all over.
Battle Round 7
Enemy Action phase The first robot attacks him, but his armor saves him: he’s knocked back into the dropship!
A robot jumps at the Trooper, hitting him on the chest plate. The strike is strong, but no vitals are damaged. The force of the hit send the trooper tumbling back and into the ramp of the dropship, which closes and flies off.
As it was the end of the battle and I was tired, I realized I missed the rules and I didn't roll for Beep... Sir, but also didn't use the LMG of the dropship to lay down covering fire to the trooper. One cancels the other out, and he survived by rule of cool!
Post Battle Report
Determine casualties Ariana: Minor injuries: 1 turn in sickbay: I’ll spend a point of Reputation to speed it up to 0 with advanced care
Experience and Leveling Ariana gets +2 XP Kato gets +5 XP
Operational Progress Heavy pressure, but we achieved 3 objectives, so no ill effects.
Roll for Military Life Ariana: Time flies when you’re… just playing cards in barracks.
Check entitlement to R&R None
Ready for another campaign turn Here’s the Roster and Hall of Fame.
Name
Reactions
Speed
Combat Skill
Toughness
Savvy
Jake Bradley
1
5″
+1
4
+0
Holbrook Linkovich
1
4″
+0
3
+2
Allyson Stoyer
2
5″
+0
3
+0
Ariana Raschke
1
5″
+0
3
+1
Kato Minoru
2
5″
+1
3
+0
Name
Completed Missions
XP
Origin
Basic Training
Service History
Jake Bradley
1
1
Prison Planet
Planetary Militia
Garrison or patrol duties
Holbrook Linkovich
2
2
Scientific Outpost
Naval forces (Ships Crew)
Extended campaign
Allyson Stoyer
1
0
Core Systems World
Ground forces (Scouts)
Police action (Commendation)
Ariana Raschke
2
7
Trade Hub
Planetary militia
Anti-pirate operation
Kato Minoru
2
5
Military Outpost
Ground forces (Scouts)
Police Action
Name
Special Assignments
Missions
Status
Jake Bradley
Ep01
Ready
Holbrook Linkovich
Ep01
Death Ep01
Allyson Stoyer
Ep01
Gruesome Fate Ep01
Ariana Raschke
Technical Training
Ep02
Ready
Kato Minoru
Ep02
Ready
The ride back in the dropship was silent. The Red Coyotes had managed to gather some of their fallen comrades from the clutches of the robots. Ariana was among them. Blood was trickling down her arm. She noticed Kato looking her way. “Hurts, but I think it’s just a flesh wound.” she said. Kato forced a smile. As the arrived in the hangar bay, medical teams immediately gathered around the wounded, while the intelligence officers headed directly to Kato and the K’erin. Lt. Thompsanch was there to debrief them. “Good work troopers.” He said. “This was one of the top priority missions we had, and you made it. Go rest. You deserve it. Dismissed.” He turned to the medics. “Send Raschke to Advanced Care.” “See? Thompsanch cares for us.” Kato whispered to Ariana. “Or perhaps he wants us in fighting shape as soon as possible.” She answered.
The next days passed quietly. Ariana recovered quickly, Jake got out of the Brig, and the three of them spent their time playing cards in the barracks.
Session Summary
The printed tokens helped immensely, but still Bug Hunt has a much bigger overhead in playing and reporting than the core game. I will need to change my actual play report style to something even leaner. Perhaps I’ll need to write down only narrative prose as it happens, with bullet points of important meta effects. Since I’ll have the tokens to monitor for everything else, I think that’s feasible, but I still need to cut down on the time spent because at this moment it takes an immense effort to take pictures and write everything down.
This time I fought a different enemy than in the first episode, and the different statistics made a difference. I think I’ve learned most of the rules by now and in the next Episode I won’t make any major mistakes. Part of the reason I made these mistakes is because I had played Bug Hunt in the past, before it went into the Compendium, in the previous ruleset. As they say it’s easier to learn something from the start, than to re-learn it. It’s also evident that the new ruleset is a lot harder on the player than the previous edition. I’m having a hard time getting my troops out in one piece, and I may have trouble getting a single character to muster out to Five Parsecs from Home.
Inspite of this, I always enjoy a challenge, which makes this endeavour even better.
ps. In this blog post I ran out of the free space for images, and I started using the Google Photos interface (it has this option), if you have any issues loading the pictures please let me know.
As discussed in my recent Bug Hunting Actual Play report, I’ve spent the recent past few weeks working to expand my “bugs” collection. I worked with the aim to have at least the distinct types covered first before switching to variants (for example insects prioritised over alien xenomorphs as I have not-genestealers already).
I needed a fast way to get these on the table as soon as possible, without compromising quality or variety.
Spent some time looking on available options and the most suitable models to print for each type. Then planned on the print, paint and sealing.
For printing I preferred types of enemies with at least a few variants, fitting on a standard sized base (didn’t want big or long bugs). Support free as always. I printed sets of 16 at a time, and to increase variants I Mirrored half of them in the X axis. The nice thing about “bugs” is that there’s no left or right side, you just want many, and this extra variety gives the mob look that is needed.
For painting, I decided to spray prime, then use a cheap (20 bucks) portable airbrush to lay down zenithal, and a few base colours. I followed them with a wash and drybrush.
I had never used an airbrush before, and it worked better than expected. Laying down the colours was nice, smooth and fast. There was a learning curve about thinning thick body acrylics in the right consistency, cleaning and avoiding clogs, but overall for batch painting that’s a tool I recommend, and will be using it more in the future.
Finally I did a lot of research on making a dip sealant, and combining it with a wash to tie the miniature together. I went down the rabbit hole of using floor polish, and it wasn’t easy to get out. But I succeeded in the end. I found a floor polish (perhaps the last in Greece) which has an acrylic polymer as an ingredient. I used this as my base. Added some PVA glue in order to avoid it running off a lot (for extra viscosity) and brown and black paint (no exact ratio here, just enough to give a nice tint, without covering the mini). I then did a quick dip, and it worked well! Sturdy enough for PLA also (dunno if it’s strong enough for pewter).
The first batch of bugs I painted was Deinonychus from Brite Minis – I only did the round based ones. They’re meant to be razor lizards and whatever else is suitable to be proxies.
It’s been some time since my last hobby related post. The main reason is I had a plan, and I was working on my plan in a parallel versus a serial manner, yet the completion stage relied on the parallel streams to be finished before release. If this sounds too vague, let me explain. If you don’t want to read about game preparation planning, you can jump down directly to session zero.
For some time now I wanted to continue playing Five Parsecs from Home. However there were some difficulties.
First of all I didn’t remember what happened in my Rogue Fists campaign. I tried diving into my notes and the actual play reports but they all were contradictory and inconclusive.
Secondly I didn’t have the same variety in space miniatures, but I resolved to fixing this by 3d printing several minis, and also purchasing some ground zero games extras. I’ve been working on this the past year or so and slowly increasing my sci fi ranges. I’ve posted about these previously.
Thirdly my sci fi terrain was scarce, really scarce, nothing compared to my fantasy range. So I focused on the past couple of months to print and paint sci fi terrain. I haven’t made separate posts about this, since it’s a parallel step I explain above that I only recently finished.
Finally before starting my new campaign, I read through the Five Parsecs from Home Compendium, and saw the new version of Five Parsecs from Home Bug Hunt which was included in it, and how you could muster out a character to a regular Five Parsecs from Home Campaign. And then I decided I wanted to do this. But this brought along a new issue: I did not have enough variety in bugs, with the exception of some Vanguard miniatures entomorphs which I have used extensively, I have nothing else. So I set down to print and paint sets of 16 miniatures of various bugs. I finished enough to have a good variety and be able to run a game. Haven’t posted these either, as again it was another parallel step.
Having reached the point where I could start my game I decided to jump right into the action rather than make separate posts about terrain and bugs, and explain my half reasoning there. Posts about these will follow, but you’ll be able to see them on my tables until then.
Session Zero
According to the compendium, I generated three characters, and used donjon to give them names. Two men and one woman of the Unity Army.
Using the Compendiun generator, my Hunter Squad belongs to the Red Coyotes regiment.
I like how this generator gives a rudimentary backstory, I’ll try to come up with a quick background for each.
Jake grew up in a prison planet, XP-484, known as Pyre. Criminals sentenced to these planets sometimes have families there during their service. Their children grow up in a tough environment and have the chance to escape their fate by serving in the militia or garisson. That was Jake, a typical run of the mill hardass. A bit unruly, but reliable to cover your six when there’s no escape.
Holbrook had a completely different upbringing. Having lived in a scientific outpost in LD-469, known as Cartwright’s Stand, he quickly joined the Naval Academy and set off for exploring the stars. An academic mind, he saw an extended campaign, gathering experience.
Alyson was a run of the mill soldier in the recon forces. She grew up in the core worlds, in TZ-452, in a city with the name of Rat’s Nest. She did she action policing the region from criminals, and even got a commendation for her exceptional service.
I chose some suitable miniatures and went on to my first mission.
Session 1
In this game, I did detailed note-taking as I have done in the past with my Five Leagues from the Borderlands games and Forgotten Ruin. However, due to the massive amount of combat, enemies and status monitoring, the game took too long. I will therefore do myself and you, a favour and not depict all those combat rolls, and just describe the combat and if any rule or mechanism of action was noteworthy, I’ll give it the necessary mention.
Since this is the first mission, I’ll skip the Special Assignments, and jump right away to Mission Generator. I went ahead and setup the battle area, using my new terrain and board.
Fight a Tabletop Battle
For the objectives I rolled up a normal Retrieve objective, and a Vital Retrieve objective. I find that the way that objectives are place is really smart. It’s a combination of randomness and player awareness, so the objective placements make sense, but still the player can’t feel like they’re cheating. Essentially you place the objectives across the map, with whatever makes sense, and then roll to see which ones are removed and which ones remain in place.
For mission difficulty I choose Mess Me Up, which is Moderate.
I rolled for the Priority Rating and it was 5. That’s a high priority mission and my squad is green. Which in turn this means a maximum Spawn Rating at 3.
For the loadout, I give Jake a Hand Cannon and Boarding Sword, Holbrook gets the standard Combat Rifle, and Allyson gets a Shotgun.
Let’s see what force we’ll field. I have 5 Support Points (equal to the Priority Rating) and start with one Fire Team as standard. I managed to get a second Fire Team, a Sarge, a Colonial Militia squad, and some Intel Report (they give a bonus to activating Tactical Locations), and failed to recquisite a Recon patrol.
I placed the Tactical Locations, and decided against using the Signals optional rule since it’s my first game. Also added one Contact Marker to each objective and one at the centre of the table.
Finally, I rolled the battlefield edge, and had to push back one of the objectives and the marker as it was too close to my troops.
USS Astral Monarch returned to sublight speeds as they jumped out in the Wolf-5266 system. UB-643 was in sight, alarms blared and the Red Coyotes gathered in the briefing room.
Lt. Thompsanch was pointing in the system on the star map. Mission Uniform Delta 710620-734335 was on screen. “We lost contact with the science outpost in UB-643, a few days ago. We had reports of hostilities prior, but there is no hint of any enemy forces. Your task is simple: recover the research data. As you know per regulation XC-122E critical classified data are stored in secure access cases with transmitters, so that makes your jobs easier than a subspace courier’s. We cannot let this research fall into the wrong hands. Your NCOs will give you your specific assignments. Roll out.
Allyson looked at Holbrook. “What do you think is in these data cases Mr. Nerdy guy?” she teased. “Definitely something important. They wouldn’t send us for a simple recovery mission.” Holbrook replied with a flat unexpressionable tone. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think you’re a Soulless, Linkovich.” Jake jumped in. “Come on dudes, you think we’ll be lucky enough to see some action at last?”. “Bradley, you forget. we have already seen action.” Allyson provoked him. Jake shrugged. “Huh, I’m talking about real action.” he turned and started sprinting to the armory “Hand Cannon’s mine!” he shouted as he left them behind.
Battle Round 1
The Red Coyotes appear in the East battlefield edge. From North to South: Colonial Militia, Holbrook, Allyson, Fire Team Bravo, Jake, Sarge, Fire Team Alpha.
Quick Action phase Holbrook reached a tactical location, activated it successfully and neutralized a contact marker. Jake reached another tactical location, but failed to activate it. Allyson moved next to Holbrook.
Enemy Action phase The contact markers didn’t move but doubled in intensity.
Slow Action phase Sarge moved towards the objective, Fire Team Bravo followed. Contact Marker revealed: Contact! We’re counting 13 shambling reanimations. Fire Team Bravo closes in and shoots at the shamblers, all troopers score a hit, but only one enemy casualty. Fire Team Alpha shoots from a distance, only one trooper hits, stunning the shambler. Colony Militia moves.
For the enemy type, I rolled a couple times until I got a "bug" type I had. I have printed and painted 16 miniatures of the Hungry Dead from Ill Gotten Games, but with the numbers for Shambling Reanimations I may need to add more, taking from my fantasy Zombies range.
Spawn phase A Spawn Point is revealed to opposite table edge. Countdown: 2.
The Red Coyotes reached the outpost. There was no movement in sight. Holbrook checked his data and turned to Sarge. “I see that one of the data is further inside the outpost, seems like our initial intel was incorrect.” The Sarge nodded and passed the orders to the team, and then checked his scanners. “I’m picking up interference. Could be movement, life forms or hostiles, stay alert, troopers.” “I’ll take position in this rocky passage, I think I’ll have good overview of the area from there.” Holbrook runs point, Allyson behind him, and then scans towards the interference with his binoculars. “Seems it’s just local pests running abound. We can scratch off this interference Sarge.” He radios over the comms. Allyson looks at him “You and your toys…” she mutters. Jake takes the other side towards the trees, but his investigation doesn’t reveal anything of use. Sarge moves with his troopers along, his eyes on the scanner the whole time, the signal increasing in intensity as he approaches, and then he sees them. Bloody messes of human bodies shambling around. He’s seen things in his time, but that was a bit extreme even for his resolve. He quickly snaps out of it. “Contact! Fire at will!” He shouts, and the troopers start shooting at the enemy, stunning them and eliminating one.
Battle Round 2
The objective marker at the start of the round is surrounded by zombies, so we need to clear the area from hostiles first.
Quick Action phase Sarge fires his shotgun and blasts one shambler. Allyson moves to get a clear line of fire and fires her shotgun, killing another.
Enemy Action phase The shamblers charge into Fire Team Bravo. One trooper is saved by their armor, then stunned, then killed and turned into a shambler. A shambler charges at Allyson, but she defends herself successfully, wounding it. The rest of the shamblers dash towards Fire Team Bravo. A Contact Marker doubles, while a second one moves towards Allyson, and is revealed to be Contact. 4 more shamblers appear.
Either this is a revised rule, or I had forgotten, but it seems that enemies in Bug Hunt can dash into melee combat! Which led me to the reckless decision of closing in with Fire Team Bravo and losing one of them, as I was foolishly believing they'll be too slow to reach me even in close firing range.
Slow Action phase Jake charges at a shambler with his boarding sword. He is stunned, and the shambler is wounded. Fire Team Bravo moves to allow clear line of fire for Fire Team Alpha, and then shoots at the shamblers, killing one and wounding another. Fire Team Alpha moves and shoots at the horde of shamblers, killing two of them. Colonial Militia shoots at the shamblers, while staying in cover, hitting 4 and killing 2. Holbrook shoots at the shamblers, but misses.
Spawn phase A new spawn point appears at Countdown 3, while the first one is reduced at 1.
The fighting begins. Shotguns make short work of the shamblers as Sarge and Allyson kill one each. However the strength of their enemy is in numbers, and one by one they jump onto the closest trooper of Fire Team Bravo. His armour saves him from his aggressors claws… at first, then he’s shook, and then he’s overwhelmed and bitten by the enemies. Moments later he stands back up, growling, looking at his former team mates with a desire to kill. “Sarge! these things are infectious!” a soldier cries out. “Keep your distance boys, and light them up!” Sarge shouts back. A rogue shambler dashes towards Allyson, she kicks it back, and bashes its head with the shotgun’s stock, killing it. Then she notices her scanner, the former blip increasing in intensity, and then a warning of imminent movement. In the heat of the battle she lost situational awareness. 4 shamblers were next to her, too close for her own good. “We need to cut them down!” Jake charges with his sword, however the shambler reacts more quickly than he initially anticipated, so he lost his wind. He did manage to score a wound, cutting off it’s legs in the process. The Fire Teams deliver their training, shooting in unison at the shamblers, eliminating 3 and disabling another. The Colonial Militia fire their carbines at the shamblers closing in at Allyson, and reduce their number in half. Holbrook tries to support as well, but misses his shots. “Come on Mr. Nerdy! didn’t they teach you shooting at Navy school?” Allyson mocks him.
Battle Round 3
Quick Action phase Fire Team Alpha shoots at the shamblers, killing 1 and stunning 3 Colonial Militia shoots at the shamblers next to Allyson killing 2. Allyson moves closer to the objective, and shoots at the shamblers that became aware of her, stunning it.
Enemy Action phase All shamblers are stunned, and thus don’t move, but remove their stun status. A Contact Marker moves aggressively towards Allyson. Revealed: Contact! 5 shamblers are on her. The second Marker also moves aggressively towards her, and 8 more shamblers are revealed.
I'm missing action and status tokens. I'm all keeping it written down, which makes it hard. Also on hindsight I should have recquisitioned grenades from support, would have been best.
Slow Action phase Holbrook runs to activate the tactical location. He activates it successfully, it’s a neutralize marker. Fire Team Bravo shoots at the shamblers, stunning them all, and eliminating one via stuns.
It's not stated in the rules, so I decided to hold to the neutralize marker until when a Contact Marker appears. Decided that it would have been too harsh to let it go to waste, especially given the difficulty of the mission.
Spawn phase A third spawn marker appears right behind the player battlefield edge! At countdown 1. The first spawn marker spawns a contact marker which is neutralized, and the countdown becomes 2. The second spawn marker countdown becomes 2.
Fire Team Alpha continues their burst fire. Their combat rifles, put a shambler down, and keep the rest suppressed. The Colonial Militia do their part, cleaning up the field next to Allyson from any hostiles. “See Mr. Nerdy? the Militia are better shots than you! Thanks boys!” she radios in. “Keep the radio clear for combat related information only Allyson!” Holbrook replies. Allyson tries to get closer to the data cases, but as she does, an enemy turns to her. She immediately blasts it, momentarily stopping it. The gunshots drew the attention, and it seems that the interference detected was more shamblers, they rise from the dirt, jump down from the roof, break through the windows, and suddenly, Allyson is facing more than a dozen. “Gah… guys! Need some help here!” she calls over the comms. Holbrook’s attention is drawn to a console among some crates. He hacks it quickly and finds that it’s attached to the outposts siren system. Perhaps he could use it to direct away some enemies that haven’t arrived into the fray yet. “Common Mr. Nerdy! drop the gadgets and get blasting, can’t you see we’re being overrun?” Allyson starts getting frustrated. Fire Team Bravo in unison with Alpha, keeps the shamblers suppressed, killing one more. “Sarge! look behind us!” a trooper points at the distance, where movement is visible. “We’ll be cut off if they arrive. Get to it trooper!” the Sarge orders him. Holbrook sees movement in his scanners at the end of the outpost, and hits the sirens. He immediately notices the blip move away from their location. “That’s how operational support works. You should read a book sometime Allyson.” Holbrook calls. “What happened to keeping comms clear, Mr. Nerdy?” she retorts.
Battle Round 4
Quick Action phase Allyson moves tactically to support Holbrook. She shoots and stuns a shambler.
The shamblers reach Holbrook, Allyson supports him
Enemy Action phase A shambler charges at Jake. He is wounded and it is stunned. Shamblers charge towards the Colonial Militia and reach the barricade. The other split towards Allyson and Holbrook. 2 shamblers charge Allyson, but both times her armor saves her. 2 more attack Holbrook, his armor saves, him from the first, but not the second and he becomes a casualty. As Allyson is pushed back, the rest of the shamblers turn towards the Colonial Militia who are closer.
Slow Action phase Colonial Militia shoot and wound one shambler and stun another. Fire Team Alpha misses all their shots. Fire Team Bravo misses as well, but two troopers work on closing down the Spawn Point behind them, and succeed. Jake kills a shambler with his hand cannon. Sarge kills another with his shotgun.
Spawn phase Spawns Countdown to 1.
Allyson looks frantically around, and notices how Holbrook has been split from the rest of the squad. “Go!” he shouts, regroup with the rest of the squad. “And let you have all the glory? I’ll be by your side until we send every single of those suckers into oblivion!” she responds. “You’re stuck with me.” She fires her shotgun at one of them, stopping it momentarily. Holbrook smiles for a second, before the first couple of shamblers charge at them with an unexpected speed. They bash and growl at them, sending them reeling back. Their armor scratched, but they’re both still in one piece. They look at each other, realizing what they’ve gotten into. Their thoughts are broken immediately as another couple of shamblers charge onto them. Again, they’re bashed, pushed further back, slow to react. Allyson’s armor holds further. The green paint scratched, the metallic sheen showing underneath. She looks to Holbrook, and sees blood. Splatter everywhere. “No! You bastards!” She screams at the top of her lungs. A tear forms, but then realization hits. She is cut off from the rest of the squad, and alone. She quickly gets her shit together, and thinks her next actions through. Meanwhile the rest of the shamblers split and dash towards the militia. The barricade holds for now, but the enemy has reached them too. Frantically they shoot back, but fear has overcome them, and they miss, merely harming one of the shamblers. Another shambler charges at Jake, he fights back with his sword, fending it off, but not before becoming hurt himself. “At least it’s not a bite” he thinks as he notices the blood trickle down his leg. He aims his hand cannon at the shambler who just attacked him, and blasts it to smitherins. Another shot behind him eliminates another shambler, Jake looks to his right, and notices the Sarge smiling as his shotgun is still smoking from the shooting. The Fire Teams are too preoccupied with the enemy contact to their rear. Worried that they’ll be isolated, their aim is not where it should be, and they miss all their shots. It’s not all to waste though. The troopers Sarge sent off return quickly with news. “We placed the sentry guns to the predefined locations sir. Our aft should be secure for the moment.” the troopers report. “Well done boys, now get back to the fighting!” he orders them.
Battle Round 5
Quick Action phase Allyson jumps over the wall and runs around the tower, delaying her shooting to fire at any approaching enemies. Colonial Militia shoot at the shamblers in front of them, killing 1 and wounding 1. Sarge moves, shoots and kills the shambler in front of him.
Here I realized the plan to have Allyson herd the shamblers around, and away from the objectives.
Enemy Action phase The two wounded shamblers attacks the Colonial Militia and kills two, turning them into shamblers. The other shamblers charge but are fended off and stunned by the Colonial Militia Shamblers charge at Allyson, she snap fires at the first one, but misses, her armor saves her from the first, but she got stunned by the second. She has retreated away from the rest of the shamblers, who follow.
Slow Action phase Fire Team Bravo turns to support their flank, killing two shamblers fighting the Colonial Militia and stunning another. Fire Team Alpha shoots at the shamblers in the front of the yard, stunning one. Jake moves and tries once more to activate the tactical location, and fails again.
Spawn phase Contact markers appear in both Spawn Points. One is revealed in sight of Allyson, 6 shamblers from the North. Spawn Countdown is unknown for one, and 4 for the other.
Allyson looks at the shamblers in front of her. She knows what she has to do. “Come you bastards, come get me!” she shouts at them, jumps over the stone wall, and runs back to the base of the tower, her shotgun aiming at them. The first one charges, she fires a shot, but misses, and it reaches her. With her thoughts at shooting, she wasn’t ready for brawling, and once more it’s her trusty armour that saves her skin. A second shambler follows and hits her, sending her tumbling back. The rest of the shambling mob follows. The Colonial Militia are in a fight for their lives against the shamblers, they eliminated one and mauled another. Then they get in close and personal and they fend off some, but they broke through their ranks, and amidst the chaos the troopers lost two men who were infected and now fight their former comrades. Fire Team Bravo shoots to support them, killing two shamblers, and suppressing the rest. The militia is too busy and frantic to say thanks. On the southern side, the Sarge’s trusty skill with the shotgun destroys another shambler, Fire Team Alpha provides supporting fire to him against the few remaining enemies. The yard is all but clear. Jake is persistent with investigating the woods. He’s certain he saw something of interest, but the more he searches, the more frustrated he becomes, as the fighting rages to the other side. “Get your ass here Bradley!” the Sarge shouts. He realizes he’s no Holbrook, and should let the research stuff off to others more savvy.
Battle Round 6
Quick Action phase Sarge moves and retrieves the objective. Allyson moves to draw away the horde of shamblers, and she climbs on the building. Another Contact Marker is revealed. Contact! 7 more shamblers. She attempts to activate the Tactical Location, but fails.
Enemy Action phase Shamblers attack the Colony Militia, killing two more. Shamblers charge at Allyson. One hits, she is saved by the armour. The other is a draw, but she is a casualty. Shamblers turn back towards the rest of the battle slowly.
Slow Action phase Last Colony Militia shoots and misses. Jake calls for Evac, but fails. Fire Team Bravo kills 2 shamblers and stuns another. Fire Team Alpha moves by the building and shoots the last wounded zombies in the yard, eliminating them.
Spawn phase Spawn Point Countdown set to 2 for one marker, and down to 3 for the other.
Treading carefully between the disabled shamblers, Sarge reaches the first secure case with the data. “Objective Alpha accomplished. One more to go.” He radios in. Allyson smiles. She knows what she has done has helped the Red Coyotes bring this victory to Unity. “You go get the rest for me Sarge. And give these guys hell.” She calls, and then turns to the shamblers. “Hey dumbasses, here I am, come and get me” she shouts. “We don’t need you to be hero Allyson.” Jake calls. “Get your ass back here.” “I just need to get these maggots away from you long enough Jake.” She replies, and runs and climbs on the outpost hub. She recalls that these hubs have an automated incinerator system both to create a fire-safety zone and to also eliminate any wildlife that comes dangerously close. If only she could hack into the console from the rooftop. “Yeah but double back after. We lost many good men here today. Promise.” Jake tries to convince her over the comms. She’s trying to connect the cables, but in the heat of battle, she fails. Her hands are shaking. ‘Dammit.’ she thinks. “Promise. Same as you promised to stop smoking those cigars.” She teases, but deep inside she knows. She hears growling from the West and takes a good look. There’s shamblers all around her. The first one climbs on the rooftop, and jumps at her. She barely kicks it back, saved once more by her armour. There’s no sliver of paint left on it anymore. It’s almost all, scratched metal. Another shambler follows. She hits it back with the stock of her shotgun, but it barely flinches, as it’s claws dive into her. “Allyson…? Allyson…?” Jake tries once more to reach her, but, there’s radio silence. He turns the frequency to HQ. “Hey Thompsnach! We got your precious data! Get us out of here! We are getting decimated!” “Trooper identify yourself! Bradley? is this you? Learn how to talk to an officer first. Do your job!” Lt. Thompsanch replies, closing comms.
In the meantime, the Colonial Militia is in a rough spot, with two more of their men turning into shambling reanimations after torn by their nonstop assault. The last man of the squad, misses all his shots, but Fire Team Bravo, kills the shamblers threatening him. Fire Team Alpha eliminates the shamblers in the yard “Yard Clear.” They radio in over the comms.
Battle Round 7
Quick Action phase Sarge climbs further up, dashing to the Vital Objective. He can’t pick it up since he dashed, must wait till next round.
Enemy Action phase One shambler that is close enough climbs up and attacks the Sarge. He wins the combat, and kills the shambler. The rest of the shamblers gather around the bottom of the building. Shamblers attack the Colonial Militia who fends one off, and is stunned by the other. Another shambler removes their stun status.
Slow Action phase Colonial Militia shoots and stuns the shambler. Fire Team Bravo shoots and eliminates the shambler and stun another. Jake calls for Evac successfully. Fire Team Alpha moves and shoots the shamblers, killing one.
Spawn phase Spawn Countdown to 1 and 2 respectively for the two Spawn Points.
‘Why is it in the rooftop?’ Sarge wonders as he checks again the intel from the datapad scan. He climbs to the rooftop, and there he sees the data case, next to a relay console, probably whoever carried it there was trying to send the data before they were infected. Before he has a chance to grab it, a shambler climbs quickly up and jumps at him. With sharp reflexes and a slash of his boarding sword, the Sarge cuts the shambler in half. More shamblers start gathering at the bottom of the building. He knows he must make a quick exit. Jake calls in HQ again. “This is Bradley, permission to speak with Lt. Thompsanch sir.” “Permission granted go Bradley.” HQ responds. “Lt. Sir, our losses are mounting we already lost Linkovich and Stoyer, the Militia is down to the man.” He reports. “What about the objectives trooper?” Thomsanch asks. “Objective Alpha is secured, Objective Bravo will be in a few moments, if you time Evac correctly, we’ll have it in the drop ship. It’s vital for the success of the mission Sir.” Jake explains. “Alright Bradley, you’ll have your Evac, we’ll talk about your conduct when you’re back on board.” The Lieutenant responds. “We have Evac!” Jake calls over the comms. “Punching in coordinates now!” Meanwhile the two Fire Teams move in cohesion, eliminating slowly one by one shamblers in their sights, giving precious moments of life to the last Colonial Militia who fights for his life against the infected. Only two shamblers remain in front of him. From the West, and the North, the horde slowly approaches.
Battle Round 8
Quick Action phase Sarge retrieves the Vital Objective. Fire Team Bravo moves and shoots the shamblers at the base of the main building, eliminating one. Fire Team Alpha surrounds the two sides of the tower, shoot and stun the rest of the shamblers at the base of the building.
Enemy Action phase Shambler attacks Colonial Militia and wounds him. Shamblers remove stuns or move closer.
Slow Action phase Jake moves closer to the Evac. Colonial Militia shoots shambler and misses.
Spawn phase Contact Marker is spawned. Countdown set to unknown. The other Spawn Point has Countdown reduced to 1. Dropship arrives.
Without wasting any previous moments, the Sarge picks up the last case. “I have the cases. Provide cover!” he calls over the comms, and the Fire Teams respond in unison. Bravo finds a line of fire from the side and eliminates one of the shamblers, while Alpha in an encircling motion, suppress the rest. Jake, wounded, slowly drags himself towards Evac. He has arranged for it to come to the main compound, near the cases. The mission comes first. Always. The Colonial Militia is on his own against two. His shots miss, the shamblers charge, and he is mauled. Then they all listen to the roaring sound of the shuttlecraft engines meant for VTOL. Even the shamblers stop for a mere second and look at the sky. The troopers cheer, glad they have a chance to survive this massacre.
Battle Round 9
Quick Action phase The dropship shoots at both flanks of the shambler horde, stunning two zombies from the West. The Sarge, Jake and several troopers Evac.
Enemy Action phase Shamblers charge at Fire Team Alpha, where two troopers saved by their armor gain the upper hand, killing a shambler. A shambler attacks the last of the Colonial Militia and kills him, a shambler taking his spot.
Slow Action phase The last of the troopers move to the dropship and Evac.
Mission Complete
Under the cover of light machinegun fire, lighting up the shambling horde, the troopers enter the dropship, Jake and Sarge with the secure data cases among them. He motions for the pilots to wait a few moments as more troopers keep fighting on the ground. They see the fight from the windows of the hovering dropship. The shamblers horde closes in, but is still at a distance, however the last few shamblers are in close quarter combat with the remaining troopers. The troopers from Alpha in the protection of their unity standard issue armour, fend them off, killing one in the process, but the last of the militia falls to them. The last troopers grab the rappel lines and soon, they fly off. “You think they survived?” Sarge asks Jake about Holbrook and Allyson. “If anyone would, it’d be them.” Jake answers while looking below as the outpost vanishes in the distance. His thoughts to his lost battle companions.
Post Battle Report
Determine Casualties and Lost Marines Holbrook: Death or crippling injury Allyson: Gruesome fate
So I had to roll two new squad members.
Name
Origin
Basic Training
Service History
Ariana Raschke
Trade Hub
Planetary Militia
Anti-pirate operation
Kato Minoru
Military Outpost
Ground Forces (Scouts)
Police Action
So they have the following stats
Name
Reactions
Speed
Combat Skill
Toughness
Savvy
XP
Completed Missions
Ariana Raschke
1
5″
+0
3
+0
4
1
Kato Minoru
2
5″
+1
3
+0
0
1
And they bring one point of Reputation with them.
Ariana grew up in the Ross-3910 Star System which has a major Trade Hub. As part of the citizen life there she had to serve in the Militia, and saw action fighting off space pirates. She’s professional.
Kato was the son of a traditional military family, going from outpost to outpost, not staying in one for long. He quickly joined the Scouts, and saw some police action against dissidents.
Update Completed Missions Jake Bradley +1
Check for Mustering out No chance
Determine Reputation With the rolls and the completion of Objectives we get 2 points of Reputation, for a total Reputation of 5.
Experience and Leveling Jake earns 5 XP
Roll for Operational Progress Break through: We pushed the enemy back in critical sectors.
Roll for Military Life I rolled that it is about Jake: You spend time in the brig. Adjust Reputation by -1 and miss the next mission.
Check entitlement to R&R Only R&R right now is the brig.
Ready for Another Campaign Turn Let’s check our Roster, taking under consideration that Jake won’t join in the mission.
Name
Reactions
Speed
Combat Skill
Toughness
Savvy
XP
Completed Missions
Jake Bradley
1
5″
+1
4
+0
6
1
Ariana Raschke
1
5″
+0
3
+0
4
1
Kato Minoru
2
5″
+1
3
+0
0
1
Reputation 4.
They arrived back on USS Astral Monarch, in orbit. Lt. Thompsanch was waiting for them. “It was a gruesome fight down there Sir, and he lost two of his close friends…” Sarge was cut off by the Lieutenant. “The way trooper Bradley conducted communications in the mission shows that he doesn’t need anyone speaking for himself, but perhaps he needs someone to speak instead of himself. Some time in the brig will make him the principles of military life.” He turns to Jake. “Trooper Bradley, 1 month in the Brig for Unbecoming Conduct and Improper use of Communications. Dismissed” Jake suppressed the urge to spit, punch or headbutt the Lieutenant. Instead he stood face straight and calmly said “Sir, Yes Sir.” Turning to Sarge. “If you learn anything of their fate… let me know.” Two officers from research arrived to get the data, and the rest of the troops went for debriefing.
A few days later, news of the gruesome fate of Allyson and Holbrook reached Bradley. He held hope, but deep inside he knew they couldn’t have survived the horde. Any recon and scans showed no human life back on the planet. The Lieutenant and the Sergeant had a conversation. “Sir, you took one of my best troopers off the roster, and I just lost two more, how are we going to field a proper force in the next mission? The grunts are only so much good, I need this quality of troopers for battle.” Sarge asked. “Don’t fret too much Sergeant. We’re all expendable. But just so you know, we got reports that we had a break through in this sector. And with the success of your squad, and data you retrieved, I’m confident it might take a while until the next mission. Perhaps you’ll have Bradley back until then.” The Sergeant didn’t look happy. “Take a look at this.” He hands over a datapad. “We have two new replacements tomorrow, for the troopers you lost. You’ll only be one trooper short.” “Ariana Raschke and Kato Minoru…” the Sergeant reads out loud. “They look good in combat but they have no brains. I need someone to cover for the skills of Holbrook, he was a wizard with tech. Sir.” “You’re pushing it Sergeant. Get them acquainted with the squad, and let them know what happens if they speak out of order to an officer.” and with this the Lieutenant dismissed him.
Session Summary
Whew that was a long one. The battle lasted longer than I expected. Rules wise, there are a few subtle differences than the core Five Parsecs from Home, but they’re to the point. As usual, I made a mistake or two while playing, but overall it was a smooth experience. Loved the battle, the lack of balance, the fight against all odds.
I enjoyed how I had to adapt tactics according to what was happening on the field, and these tactics had as much a say to what was happening, as the dice rolls. Choices are simple, terrain and miniatures worked fine. I absolutely enjoyed using the stuff I finished.
Battle was on a 60 cm x 60 cm board, 15mm scale miniatures, based on 15mm radius bases. To accomodate for the smaller board size and terrain, I did a small conversion of distances to double the value measured in centimeters instead of inches, which gives an 80% adjustment, and I find it works well.
What I need to change is the note taking, as it took me a good while longer to write everything down, and kind of broke the flow of the play. But to do this, I need to have some proper markers. This will take away a lot of the mental and note taking load. Furthermore I’ll need to rely more on writing down stuff in a narrative prose directly, and only take notes of status and effects not actions. For the markers I’ll probably turn to 3d printing as I don’t have a regular printer.
Overall I really enjoyed the session and looking forward to playing further, in a more effective manner, by applying the lessons learned. I also enjoyed sitting down and writing the story afterwards, instead of rushing to get the content out.
It’s been more or less two years since the generative AI breakthrough in text and images. As someone technologically oriented, I was eager to experiment, but also cautious about the ripples in the artistic community.
Given that this is a free blog about my personal solo games, and the major obstacles in solo roleplaying are avoiding meta-knowledge and the risk of narrative burnout, I found it justified in my own perspective to use AI, to help me overcome them.
Back in 2023, I’ve used it for:
helping with worldbuilding in the Aristrax Marches, my Five Leagues from the Borderlands campaign. After 22 episodes my world had grown to an unmanageable size, and I used ChatGPT to help me generate location, NPC and item descriptions.
describe the narrative of ruleset results. Due to narrative burnout I resorted to feeding ChatGPT with concise result prompts and getting a description. To my recollection I mainly did this in some Aristrax Marches, Trollshaws and Call to Glory actual play reports.
work as a gamemaster. Only as an experiment, never used it to run a game as I wasn’t happy with the results.
create images to help with immersion in the story I was playing. To my recollection I’ve done this in some Trollshaws, Call to Glory and Savage Warhammer actual play reports.
The main concern back then about using AI was copyright issues. My reasoning at the time was that even though AI art generation was damaging to the artist community, personal usage for something that one would not pay an artist for, such as a personal free art blog, and of course I was not creating a product for sale of something that was not of my creativity. I did try to document where AI was used, but I wasn’t very pedantic about it.
Two years have passed, and with all information settled down, I think it’s time to revisit the topic.
I like to experiment with new technologies, always did, but the use of generative AI has gotten me worried. It has slowly crept up to being used in every single topic. Search engine results, white collar jobs, college essays, email composition. Whatever you can think of. I want to revisit the topic, because what worries me today is not the concern of 2023 about copyright. It is the effect it has on our society and the environment. I’m a Millenial, I’ve learned to use maps, I’ve learned to read a dictionary and browse an encyclopaedia. All this took brain power, we had to think to navigate, think to find where a word comes from and think to memorise the paragraph from what we just learned. Today we just click buttons and discard the knowledge immediately as we don’t need it any more. If we don’t use our brains we’ll become dumber, and now with the use of GenAI, we’ll settle it for good, as we’ll have the AI do the thinking for us. But this is not all, the generated results are dangerous, as GenAI has no critical thinking, it just generates stuff that sound valid from a grammar standpoint. The quality of the results is also average at best. Combine this with the real-looking fake news and ability for scams and spam that can be generated, and it’s very worrisome. Finally, consider the computational power needed for this on a global level, at a time when environmental crisis warnings are not heeded, and all of this because we just don’t want to put our brains to think instead.
I had read once something along the lines of “we were supposed to build machines to work so that we have more time for creativity; not the other way around”, and this resonates with me now more than ever.
And hence the connection now to Solo Roleplaying. What begun as a tool to help, has the capacity to become a crutch, and one that won’t let you free yourself from it. I’ve seen a lot of low effort AI generated solo-oriented rpg products. This hurts the hobby, as human created products have to compete against them. Creators put their ideas into their works, this takes time, inspiration and effort, and should be rewarded accordingly. But now they have to rise above the flood of low effort AI content, in order to have a chance to be distinguished.
As a solo player, I’m now of the opinion, that we need to hone our skills in solo roleplaying, instead of relying on tools to do it for us. There are other ways to avoid mental and narrative burnout.
With these in mind, I’m going to limit AI use in my blog to a bare minimum, with a target of zero use if possible. I will go back to the posts where I’ve used AI and at the very least tag them accordingly, and on a later stage drill down and find the parts where AI was used to generate content and describe them as such.
These opinions are not foundational beliefs. Perhaps in the future things will change in another direction, and once more I will revisit the topic, and reach a different outcome. I’ve had this happen in the past (for example trying to abstain from social media, but I ended up returning to them, but on a lower level of interaction), so I’m trying not to deal with absolutes.
Since I decided that for my 5 Parsecs game, l suitable miniature proxies for K’erin are the Predators aliens, I went ahead and got some GZG Kra’Vak to add to my old QRF miniatures. These are a little bit bigger as well, and more suitable for K’erin.
Getting them to look like ugly mfers as Arnie pointed out, was a challenge in 15mm, as I had to choose my colour palette carefully.
For the unmasked ones I painted the heads in an undercoat of Yellow Ochre followed by Naples Yellow Deep. Hands and feet were undercoated in Primary Green Light followed by Yellow Ochre. Under-suit and Dreads were painted Sap Green, and Masks, Weapons and Armour Silver. The entire mini was washed in Subterrain Wash. I think they turned out nice. The photo colours are a bit washed out; they’re more vibrant in real life, I’m still working out how to take nice miniature photos in 15mm.
Kra’Vak without masksKra’Vak with masksKra’Vak with maskKra’Vak with maskKra’Vak with maskKra’Vak with maskKra’Vak with mask and rapid fire weaponKra’Vak Kra’Vak Kra’Vak Kra’Vak Kra’Vak with rapid fire weapon
Expanding on the Star Wars imperial proxies, I’ve gotten some Jaeger Colonial Light Infantry from GZG. I think their command pack is a great proxy for Imperial Officers and having watched a lot of Andor episodes, the rifles pack will fit well for Imperial troopers without helmets.
I painted them in Andor style. After a lot of research, I came upon the explanation that the greenish uniform in the Aldhani episode was due to color tint of the entire episode. So I went for a feldgrau mix this time to work according to Mina-Rau episode. I dunno if I got it right; being colour blind doesn’t help either.
For the uniforms I made a mix of YMC (Yellow-Magenta-Cyan) inks in the ratio of 2:2:1, and desaturated it with white paint. Boots and officer gloves are Paynes Grey, backpacks and webbing are Warm Grey and belts are a mix of brown and grey. Weapons were painted Paynes Grey and drybrushed with Graphite metallic. The entire mini was washed in a 1:1 mix of Army Painter Strong Tone and Soft Tone.
I also have another set of doubles for the same miniatures due to the GZG packs coming in two poses, that I’ll most likely paint with black uniforms in Ferrix/Ghorman style.
Imperial Troopers SquadImperial Officer with gunImperial Officer with binoculars Imperial TrooperImperial TrooperImperial Trooper with datapadImperial Trooper with binoculars Imperial trooperImperial trooperImperial trooperImperial trooperImperial trooperImperial trooper
So, I wasn’t thrilled with my 1st take on Imperial Stormtrooper proxies using Bluemoon Galactica Mercenaries, and greenstuff. My Greenstuff skills are mediocre, and also they ended up being a bit short in size. You can find them on Miniatures pt105.
I am in love with the Star Wars universe, and also with 15mm scale, so I kept on trying. There was a remaster set of the 15mm unofficial Curious Chaps, which claimed that they’re now Heroic scale. I got them, and was severely disappointed. They’re true scale 15mm, perhaps a tiny bit larger than their previous casts, but still no close to heroic 15mm scale.
So I searched far and wide and decided that the GZG US Army in Hardsuits could be good proxy candidates. Got them, painted them in Stormtrooper colours, and I think they fit the bill closely.
US Army in Hardsuits painted as StormtroopersStormtrooper StormtrooperStormtrooperStormtrooper StormtrooperStormtrooperStormtrooperStormtrooperStormtrooper Unit leaderStormtrooper StormtrooperStormtrooperStormtrooperStormtrooperStormtrooper unit leader
Onibaba and 
Solo, Pen, Paper and Dice 
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