Delta Vector

The Paradiso supplement's most exciting inclusion (the campaign rules were a bit "meh") was the new race, the Tohaa. At the time I labelled them a rather lazy space-elf "Eldar" ripoff, and that is pretty much on the money. On closer inspection, their facial features look a tad vampiric so they may have a touch of "Dark Elf" in them - their wheel-lock style weapons have a bit of a space pirate vibe to boot...

This model seems a "paint by the numbers" standard exotic dancer. Rather unimaginative...

Provocative but Pointless...
Anyway I am really unimpressed with the Tohaa Diplomat model. Yes, it is used for a campaign scenario but it reminds me of the Nomad "catgirl" sculpt. I don't mind provocative sculpts, but I dislike pointless ones. If she had been toting a weapon of some sort, fine, but she is simply a bland alien exotic dancer a la Mos Eisley Cantina...

She probably appeals to anime fanboys, but the Daktari catgirl seems jarringly out of place in a battlefield... I think Corvus Belli actually does themselves no favours by so overtly pushing the anime theme as a lot of people have told me they have avoided Infinity because of it....

Further proof Corvus Belli has been drinking Games Workshop Kool-Aid is given by this sculpt - they seem to be channelling a Kroot vibe with the parrot headgear.

Infinity - Jumped the Shark?
I once held Infinity models up as the epitome of mini sculptor's art, but I seem to be getting more and more flash and mold lines requiring clean up. Half the time the models have chunks of sprue attached. Cleaning them up is a laborious and fiddly job - not to mention that the fine details, besides being a nightmare to paint, show up any small blemish in an unforgiving light.

Not to mention two packets I got lately were missing parts (and one had the arm from a different model!). Corvus Belli has had excellent customer service replacing them - but quality control seems to be slipping. This is not some guy's backyard business - I kinda expect top quality when I am paying $11 for a 28mm model.

The mess of bits in the middle is supposed to be the parts to make 2 models....

Multi-Part = Not Better
Whilst I do like posable/swappable heads, what I do NOT like is models with ridiculous amounts of separate parts. This is a 28mm figure, not a 1:48 Tamiya kit. I already do enough "modelling" removing flash and mold lines, thank you very much, let alone assembling every individual arm and leg.

I'm not saying Corvus Belli do, but some companies portray this as a positive - claiming multi part models are easier to "pose" or "convert." That's fine, but most multi-part models can only be assembled one way anyway, unless you want the model to look like he is deformed or has a dislocated shoulder. This is particularly true of Infinity - where parts have a particular way to fit into a socket, and the only way to get "bitz" is to cannibalise another $11 metal model.

In short - the line troops are cast in one piece, and look good - so why does Corvus Belli need 6 pieces to make a single 28mm figure? They already have a truckload of mold lines and flash - now they want me to fill in joins as well? (Admittedly Infinity models usually fit together pretty neatly)

Perhaps they think if I get more "bits" in my mini blister I will feel I am getting my $11 worth....

Another Tohaa sampling. I actually liked the "standard" light infantry best...

Pig Iron - A Blast from the Past
I got a "trial packet" of Pig Iron Ferals. Kinda the polar opposite of Infinity. No mold or flash these are remarkably clean sculpts with no multi-part assembly bar a range of posable heads (10 heads in a pack of 5 troopers). They are going to be sooo pleasant to paint, with simple design and nice deep bold lines that will take well to washes and drybrushing.

Basically, they're perfect for me to paint... but....

"Heroic" scale just looks stupid....

...sadly for me, along side more "normal" finer models like Infinity, the "heroic scale" chunky Ferals just look like static, deformed dwarves with outsized heads and hands. D'oh! I've spent too much time lately with Infinity and the lovely Empress moderns, and now the "normal" heroic 40K-style models look weird to me....

The Ferals have a "Tusken Raider" vibe about them and would be right at home in any post-apocalyptic game...

I bought this on sale in hopes of finding a use for my respectably sized Warmachine armies. Now Warmachine itself is a game I have learnt to roundly dislike, due to a plethora of special rules making it more akin to a CCG than a wargame. The short movement and firing ranges and focus on unit synergy and "combos" means the minis could be rather easily replaced with a "deck." I also feel the game is so unbalanced it is balanced - i.e. there are so many sub-rules that victory is determined by the player who can remember the minutiae - memory > tactics).

The rulebook is glossy and well presented... and weighs in at a hefty 358 pages

That does not mean I dislike the Iron Kingdoms setting. Far from it. The steampunk-and-sorcery is a fun mix - who can dislike stompy steam-powered magic robots? The miniatures, although typical exaggerated GW-style "heroic" (i.e. misshapen with outsized heads and hands) are pleasant to paint and have plenty of character.

So - will Iron Kingdoms give an excuse to dust off the Warmachine paraphenalia?

Gun-mages... awesome concept. In the flesh, the sculpts are actually pretty "meh"

The Shiny
As usual with Privateer Press, the production values are excellent. It is a hefty, hardback, glossy rulebook (358 pages) with plentiful characterful art. I found it a bit of a slog ("wall of text") at times but that probably was due more to its intimidating size than anything else. Gaming templates and character charts nestle at the back of the book along with a thorough index. Overall, an impressive tome and I feel good value for its $60.

Iron Kingdoms has almost as much history as Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire...

Warmachine fanboys, rejoice!

History & Background

Each region's history is detailed, along with religions, in a 106-page chunk. I'm sure Games Masters will appreciate it but I admit I speedread through it as it was pretty vast in scope - it had rich history and lore containing details like military service, commerce, laws, languages, the "industrial revolution" and its effects. An impressively in-depth primer for the Iron Kingdoms. A good resource for GMs, and showcases the depth of the world that Privateer has developed over the years. Trains, steamboats and alchemy, religious fanatics, giant robots "warjacks", magicians and scientists, dragons, undead, monsters and giant beasts... there is a rich lore which is rapidly expanding to match the scale of the 40k/Warhammer canon.

Characters

Character Creation
There are three primary stats, each with two sub-stats:
Physique (toughness): Speed, Strength,
Agility: Poise (ranged attacks), Prowess (initiative),
Intellect: Arcane (magic power), Perception (defence, initiative)

There are also stats derived from the above "primary" stats:
Defence (speed+agility+perception)
Initiative (speed+prowess+perception)
Armour (armour bonus+physique)
Will (physique+intellect) <-----------I found that a weird combination

Characters have a "life spiral" like that found on Warmahordes beasts, with physique, agility and intellect as the three "whorls."

There are racial stats for the seven races of Western Immoren (elves, humans, dwarves, goblins, ogres/trolls - the latter of which are a bit more intelligent than the fantasy standard), and then a character is designated as one of the four archetypes: "Gifted" (magickers) Intellectual (commanders) Mighty (tough fighters) or Skilled (quick, nimble, roguelike)

There are 28 careers which tend to reflect Warmachine roles - stormblades, trenchers, pirates and mage hunters for example stay closely within the scope of the game. Each of those careers has attached abilities, skills and assets and receives its own page, contributing to the 52-page length of this section. You choose two careers which allows for quite a bit of variety. The focus. however, is strongly on combat-orientated characters.

Experience, Skills and Abilities
There are simple rules for leveling up (there are 150 experience levels) and you could end up with 38 skills and abilities by level 150, not counting inherent career skills. I thought Warmachine profiles had a lot of "special rules!". Speaking of which, there are 144 "abilities" to chose on, of which 90% are combat-related. In addition, there are 39 skills which are more general (i.e. non-combat) and are tied to specific character stats like perception or agility.

TL:DR:Quite a bit of variety in character creation but sticks strictly to the Warmachines-specific roles. An enormous list of 180+ skills and abilities makes Warmachine look restrained.

The main difference between Warmachine and Iron Kingdoms is the activation sequence

The Game

The mechanics themselves are the same as Warmachine - you add the Stat + 2d6. The only additional rule is Iron Kingdoms allows you to add a skill bonus on top of that, and that "Resolution Rolls" can be used against GM-assigned "target numbers" like in most RPGs - i.e.
Moderate = 10-12
Complex = 13-15
Difficult = 16+ etc
Combat resolution is thus pretty much identical to Warmachine, but characters move in order of initiative, not IGOUGO, which changes the whole feel of the game. Players can also "hold" their activation and interrupt an opponent's move (a kind of "overwatch").

Players can throw, grapple, slam or push opponents like Warmachine jacks and there are "actions" like dismounting, going prone, reloading and pulling the pin on grenades that add detail. As expected, the RPG has more complex terrain rules as well as rules for interacting with them (climbing, bashing open doors, light and darkness, etc.)

At only 25 pages the combat rules are pretty simple and closely follow the Warmachine rules.

Magic
This is resolved by spending focus points and adding 2d6 + ARC (Arcane) to target the spell.
There are different "schools" of magic each with a range of 30-40 spells ranging from 1 to 4 focus cost to cast. The categories are: Arcane Mechanik, Arvcanist, Gun Mage, Priest, and Sorcerer. I'd estimate there are at least 180+ spells to choose from - again, they are 99% combat related.

TL:DR: Pretty much Warmachine, but a different activation sequence changes the game significantly. A bit of extra "grit" is thrown in and the magic selection is mind-bogglingly large.

Other Stuff...

Gear & Equipment
By now I'm expecting the list to be as enormous and detailed as everything else so far, and I am not wrong. There are 58 pages of stuff: with 100+ ranged and melee weapons and pages of ammunition, clothing, mounts, food, drink, runes, alchemical ingredients and compounds, mechanika and miscellaneous equipment such as a humble piece of chalk. Many have detailed profiles.

The Arcanist can actually carry a kitchen sink! There are even rules for sinks with and without plugs in the equipment list... (this may be a slight exaggeration)

Steamjacks
The stars of Warmachine have their own section, and in addition to their usual profiles they have "stats" like the RPG characters. They in turn have their own equipment and weapon lists, gear and upgrades. They also have more complex damage tables, repair rules, and rules for their own "development" i.e. gaining skills due to an improved bond with the warcaster.

Game Master Stuff
There are tips for rewarding players and player development, creating and balancing NPCs and encounters, and scenario settings. These tend to be generalised guidelines rather than specific examples and are very "light on". There is also a very small bestiary (burrow-mawg, dregg, farrow, thrall and thrullg) that is specific to Immoren. I was surprised how sketchy this section was compared to the elaborate detail of the other parts of the book. A lot like Lord of the Rings - Iron Kingdoms presents an immensely detailed world, without much of a plotto go with it. Perhaps you could use old Iron Kingdoms sourcebooks such as the Witchfire Trilogy but it is optimized for a completely different system (d20 D&D 3.5e).

TL:DR An exhaustive equipment list (I think the kitchen sink was included) and steamjacks also had extra rules tacked on. The Game Master chapter was surprisingly vague and contained no concrete gameplay examples.

So, to Summarise...

Iron Kingdoms is an impressive production, with 100+ pages of background and "fluff" and quality presentation. The mechanics of gameplay are lifted directly from Warmachine but alternate unit activation alters the gameplay from the synergies and combos of IGOUGO.

Weapons, equipment, abilities and spells are given in ~~mind-numbing~~ impressive numbers and detail, and are tied very specifically to the Warmachine universe. Given the game machnics themselves and the games master/scenario section are rather sketchily presented in contrast, I am left with the feeling that Privateer Press had a whole lot of unused art and "background" material leftover from other projects and decided to make a book out of it, tacking on a rough modification of the Warmachine rules as justification. That it does use familiar Warmachine mechanics may be a positive to some, and it is certainly simpler than the D&D 3.5e of the earlier Iron Kingdoms books.

Recommended: If you can't get enough Warmachine fluff, then your prayers have been answered. To me, it feels like a vanity project by Privateer. Though it has a strong combat/miniature focus, I'd argue that the Savage Worlds engine would make a better RPG and wargame....

Iron Kingdoms admires its own "fluff"

Privateer Press Guy #1: "Should a steamjack heavy battle blade cost 250 gold pieces?"
Privateer Press Guy #2: "Well, since Cygnar is the primary manufacturing base for 'jacks, and the Menoth war has caused 8.9% inflation - say.... 275 would be better."
Privateer Press Guy #1: Thanks. You need to get this stuff right.
Privateer Press Guy #3: "So, ummm.... what are we doing for rules for this RPG?"
Privateer Press Guy #2: "Oh, just copy and paste Warmachine and make it more complicated so's people know its a RPG and shit."

Last year I realised I was bored with spaceship games - or more specifically, how even new space games are stuck in the "full Thrust" rut, whilst ground wargames (Tomorrow's War, Infinity, Song of Blades) have shown genuine innovation and tend to focus on gameplay over record keeping. I created a spaceship wargame "manifesto" of what my ideal space game would look like.

There are about 30 posts in which I outline the movement rules, a range of combat/damage rules, muse on campaign systems and ship design

I have made changes to nearly all the ideas outlined in the posts, although movement remains largely the same. I'm going to "review" the rules as they stand currently:

Initiative
IGOUGO is ditched in favour of an opposed die roll between ships or squadrons (based on crew quality). The winner either activates first OR can choose an opponent (within a certain radius) to activate first. Along with the predictable paths ships will take, it allows ships with better crews to better manipulate movement and firing opportunities.

Movement
Basically Triplanetary-style movement, with a "destination counter" removing the need for grease pencils and hexes. It's a simple, quick and elegant way of showing inertia in space "The vis insita, or innate force of matter, is a power of resisting by which every body, as much as in it lies, endeavours to preserve its present state, whether it be of rest or of moving uniformly forward in a straight line." i.e. spaceships will keep the same course and velocity unless they change it by using their thrusters or something else like gravity.

Terrain
The vector movement means you need to plan ahead to navigate past obstacles. Thus a space mat with lots of terrain will avoid the traditional "everyone fly into the middle, park alongside each other and throw lots of dice" of many space games due to trajectories imposed by avoiding terrain hazards. Terrain effects add interest and tactics (ships hiding in asteroid field; nebulae degrading lasers; a pulsar messing with sensors and small craft, gravity wells allowing unusual maneuvers, etc).

Reactions
Ships can't just "teleport" unscathed past opponents. Any ship that is fired on or has an opponent act within a set range may make an opposed roll to "react" to them. If the reacting ship passes the success threshold it can act; and the highest scorer from the opposed roll gets to act first. Each reaction adds a penalty to future reactions; thus a ship reacting to multiple attacks rapidly has its efficiency degraded - a huge battleship can have its defences overloaded by repeated attacks.

Crew Quality
Unlike 99% of space games, crew ability impacts the game significantly. They have different dice types depending on quality. Average crew use a d8 for "CQ" rolls and have a 8" reaction range. An elite, heroic crew (think Enterprise, Battlestar Galactica) might use a d12 for rolls and have a 12" reaction range. Better crew can hold the initiative in movement, react to threats more reliably, repair damage faster.

Weaponry
Direct fire is simple - equal or exceed the range with a single roll of the weapon die. I.e. a laser turret is d10, and needs a "4" or better to hit at 4 inches range. Relative velocity, and target size and thrust modify this roll. This means small, agile ships are very hard to target. Frigates now actually have a chance of surviving to the end of the game! A shot that easily surpasses the number required does exponentially more damage; i.e. a roll of "8" where a "4" was needed would do 4 x more damage. The system has only a single roll to hit and damage speeds up play (with only a single roll) and avoids "buckets of dice" whilst still providing a wide spectrum of results. Weaponry is pretty generic and includes a modest range of kinetic and energy weapons, as well as missiles, mines, drones and fighters.

Damage
The "ship data chart" - usually a page of systems and hitboxes - has been done away with in favour of "damage levels" similar to that seen on movies and TV.
"Shaken" - similar to "suppression" in ground wargames - temporary effects which last a turn
"Light Damage" - minor damage that does not significantly impair the ship's fighting ability
"Heavy Damage" - the ship takes major damage to important systems such as engines and weapons
"Crippled" - the ship is missing big chunks of hull and is wracked with explosions
"Kaboom!" - ship either explodes in a cinematic fashion or breaks up into drifting wreckage

Ships do have a "critical hits"; but instead of an extra roll each hit on a special chart or dozens of system rolls, this is incorporated into the initial weapon roll, and can damage either mobility or weapons in a rather broad manner.

...To be completed...

Resource Management

I'd like to add a layer of resource management without complicating matters too much or having to have too many counters messing up the playing surface. Some ideas:

"Command Points" where you can make extra activations/remove reaction penalties or allow re-rolls

"Orders" like Battlefleet Gothic (crews test to get an extra speed boost, firepower, defence etc)

"Heat Management" a la Battletech (perhaps extra heat = easier to hit/detect like in Lightning Strike)

Detection and Electronic Warfare

I personally don't think you can really "hide" in space, so this has not been a priority area. However ships would likely be able to decoy or jam their enemies to prevent them from being effectively fired upon. Besides, "cloaking" has a rich TV and movie heritage.

Campaign Rules

I've outlined a few ideas already, but I want a set of rules that encourages lots of little skirmishes, where going to look for fights is beneficial to the player, rather than everyone "turtling" and building up for a single apocalyptic battle at the end....

Ship Roles, Ship Construction

I want all ships to have specific roles within a fleet. Especially small ships - I don't want them to be simply smaller copies of larger ships (or min-maxed with "glass cannon" builds as "throw away" one-shot weapons). In many space games, escort-sized ships are targeted and quickly wiped out early in the game.

I'd like all ships to have a role - the MMO EvE Online is a great example of this. Large battleships find it almost impossible to catch or engage small, nimble targets. The smaller ships are not always a direct threat but they might slow them and stop them from escaping, or jam the battleships' weapons.

I'd also like to avoid "kitchen sink" superships with a million different special abilities, to encourage more medium and small ships who have specific abilities. Perhaps each extra system adds an exponential cost - i.e.a "interdictor beam" might add 10% to the cost of a ship, but a second system (say a "recon sensor pod") might add 20%, and a 3rd sytem 40%, and so on....

In Summary

I feel I have achieved many of my goals, though I would have preferred using only d10s and not multiple dice types, and I think the "broad brush" approach to damage may not appeal to everyone (space gamers, like naval gamers, seem to be inveterate rivet-counters).

I'll have to playtest the initiative system more, but it seems to work, and the movement system is solid and has impeccable heritage. The reaction system owes a lot to Ambush Alley and Infinity and thus is pretty sound. recording the "reactions" wih a microdice besides the model adds to the clutter but I think it is worth keeping as it allows "sustained pressure" against a more powerful target.

I'm mostly happy with my new damage/combat system (at last!) - a big battleship might need only a single roll of 5-6 dice to resolve ALL hits, damage and criticals. Whilst I don't like cluttering up my board with counters, I am determined to get rid of the "ship data sheets" with their typical rows of systems and hitboxes: a single counter besides the ship's base seems a small price to pay. I could probably make special "explosion" counters out of cotton wool to make them more aesthetically pleasing anyway.

Crew skill is important but impacts ship fighting ability indirectly. Rather than a big firepower boost, for example, good crews can react faster and more reliably, hold up better in sustained combat, and can get back into action quickly after damage.

Anyway, this is just a reminder of where I am at. I'm aiming to get a set of test rules out sometime in the next month, for people to experiment with.

A simple playtest of the rules.

Both sides have 4 frigates with identical stats:
Thrust 4
Defence 2
Weapons 4 x 1AF d10 Lasers
All crews are CQ 8.

Blue team has to defend a space satellite. The satellite has stats as follows:
Thrust: 0
Defence 4
Weapons 2 x 1AF d10 Lasers
CQ 6 (civilian)

Both sides are moving slowly. The distance each "drift marker" is from its ship shows where the ship will move next turn unless thrust is applied.

Turn 1
Initiative isn't too significant as both sides are out of engagement ranges (defined as the CQ of the ship - 8" in the case of all ships).

The Green forces accelerate towards their objectives. The Blue forces move to block them, accelerating along their vectors too. The game is playing quite fast.

All ships accelerate. B1 and B2 loop north to stop G3 & G4 from flanking.

Turn 2

This is where things get interesting. In the "initiative faceoff" G3 & G4 force the northernmost blues to move first, then using full burn (you can see them facing sideways to their direction of travel) they dodge sideways through the gap in the asteroids. They open fire at long range. As their squadron mates were decoyed away B3 & B4 will face all the green forces alone.

The greens win the "opposed roll" and fire first. G4 has its line of sight blocked by an asteroid, so G3 combines all 4 guns (for a +3 modifier). He needs a 5 (range) + 1 (small target). He rolls a 3 (+3 for "combined battery" modifier), succeeding in doing 1 damage. However since 5" is the range of laser falloff, the damage is halved to .5 - it does not even scratch the shields

Now the blue forces fire back. B4 elects to fire all batteries independently. He also needs a "6" and rolls hits of 6, 6 and 9. Even halved, the "9" is enough to score Light Damage on G3, which also damages its laser batteries B3 now opens fire. He also fires independently, scoring hits with a '8' and a '0'.The G3 is now in serious trouble, drifting without power with its engines out, and with its fighting ability compromised.

G1 and G2 now come blasting between the asteroids. They elect to engage B3 & B4. As this is well inside the laser "falloff" range I expect the shooting to be pretty murderous. The Greens win the opposed roll and shoot first. G1 scores hits with a 5, 3 and 6, crippling the B4, which has its engines knocked out and many weapons offline. G2 chooses to "combine fire" with a single roll. It comes up an "8" and its target, the B3, is vaporised in a fireball. Kaboom, earth-shattering kaboom!

B4 fires back, but it is -2 due to the repeated attacks and it has had its main batteries damaged by enemy fire. Its return fire scores only light engine damage on the G2.

The blue centre is giving way, with one ship blown up and another crippled. It looks like green will push easily through to their objective, the space station.

However, the green frigate's successful attack has brought them in range of the northern frigates B1 & B2. Blue wins the opposed roll. It is longer range (4") but B2 scores a 7, 8 and 9 - the successive hits wrecking the G1 and turning it into a debris cloud. The B1 is less accurate and the G2 deflects most of the fire with its shields. The G2 fires back, but the range means it only "shakes" the crew of the B2 with a non-penetrating hit.

The end of a surprisingly bloody Turn 2. The counters beside the ships take the place of a SSD - showing hull, weapon, shield and thruster damage.

Turn 3
At this stage the both sides have 50% combat ineffective (crippled or destroyed) so I decide both sides must pass a CQ check or attempt to withdraw. Both sides pass. In addition, the crippled ships (G3 and B4) test individually - both pass and elect to fight on.

In the repair phase, all ships except B4 pass CQ checks to remove "Shaken" counters. In addition, G3 (who was drifting) regains power and can use half thrust.

The initiative here is important. G2 wins it and forces the crippled B4 to go first, with the intent of "reacting" to it with all 3 surviving ships. Ironically, B4 wins the "opposed roll" and fires first, causing severe hull damage and utterly destroying G2's main battery and targeting sensors! G2 now cannot complete its attack run on the satellite this turn as its weapons are inoperative - neither can it attack the B4, which is drifting away towards the board edge and safety. However B3 and B4 make an "offensive reaction" and B4 rolls two 9s to reduce the B4 to wreckage.

Now, another vital initiative contest. Blue wins it this time and move its two surviving ships into the rear arc of G3 and G4. These ships have their vulnerable rear arcs slewed out as they used full burn last turn, and their primary weapon arcs are faced away.

The two green frigates used their rear thrusters to change heading but exposed their vulnerable rear arcs to enemy fire...

B2 combine-fires at G4 at point blank - a total of 8 vaporises the luckless frigate. B1 has a weaker target - the already-crippled G3. B1 scores a 8 and a 0, and the G3 breaks up.

Turn 4
The last surviving Green frigate, the G2, accelerates past .5 light and whizzes past the station, taking evasive action from the stations guns, and breaks clear. GAME OVER

With all weapons knocked out, the last surviving green frigate repairs its engines and runs for home. The B1 and B2 reverse course but have no hope of catching it...

Thoughts

The battles were extraordinarily bloody. I feel this was largely due to the fact that bountiful terrain kept speeds under the .5 light (10") +2 modifier. The frigates ability to thrust 4" ensured they were usually in their optimum (under 5") range. And except for at the end, no one used the "evasive action" ability which makes agile ships like frigates almost immune to enemy fire and can add up to a +4" range penalty.

The ship who fired first tended to insta-win - I'm definitely going to have to tweak defence values. For a start, the frigates base DF could be raised to 3. I am concerned about the triple-power battleship guns one-shotting frigates, and I will probably increase the frigate size modifier to +2" range penalty to make them still harder to hit.

The battle was over by turn 3 - but it was extremely eventful. Each turn, a ship would be involved in multiple combats. The turns lasted much longer than I thought, but both sides were constantly involved. Like Infinity and Tomorrow's War, there was no "down time."

The d10 damage system gives more radical results than the multiple d6s in DP9s "Silhouette" system and an unusual number of 8s 9s and 0s rolled exacerbated this. That said, I do like the fact the to-hit, damage and criticals are lumped into one roll. I probably rolled as many dice for 8 all ships in one turn, as a single cruiser would in Full Thrust.

The counter stacks were not too obstrusive and I really liked them instead of having a ship SSD. The counters you see, and the ship stats at the top of this post, are the entire record-keeping for the game. That I do like.

I don't particularly like counters, but it beats the alternative...

Ditching IGOUGO for contested initiative between units worked well, and makes controlling the "initiative" a vital component of the game. CQ will be very important. The opposed roll worked well, but in this game winning the roll was too important as the side that fired first tended to do so much damage they were immune from return fire.

The game was rather bland, but I want to balance small ships and set a "benchmark." Too many space games add smaller "escort" or "frigate" size ships as an afterthought. I want to start with them and build up.

Tools of the Trade

Here's what I used to play the game:

Different coloured tiddlywinks from EM4 Miniatures ($1.50 for mixed pack of 40)
Blue = Engine Destroyed
L. Blue = Engine Damaged
Pink = Main Armament Damaged
Purple = Main Armament Destroyed
White = Shaken
Yellow = Light Damage
Orange = Heavy Damage
Red = Crippled
Black = drift marker

Black 6mm micro d6 = shows amount of "reactions" taken per turn
Green 6mm micro d6 = shows evasive action thrust (not used)

4x d10 - for laser weapons
2x d8 - for Crew Quality (CQ) checks and opposed rolls

All in all, under $5 of dice and bits. The GZG frigates are about $1.50 each. Total cost - under $20.

So far I have tried (and reviewed) Strange Aeons, Chaos in Carpathia, Witchfinder General, Empire of the Dead and Solomon KaneandHelldorado. The next addition to my rules library is Rippers: The Horror Wars. Using the same Savage Worlds game engine as Solomon Kane and the weird west game Deadlands, I am interested to see what this slim 80-page volume has to offer.

The Shiny
One of the smaller rulebooks I have read lately, Rippers has colour cover and spread of colour plates in the centre. I always like pictures of the game "in action" and there are plenty of miniatures to look at. The rest is b&w but has a pleasantly sized text which is comfortable to read, with clear headings. It has more content and substance than you realise at first glance.

Rippers has their own box sets. Old Glory sell warband boxes of 11 minis for $25. Apparently made by West Wind but I can't find any info in their shop. I'm wondering if they are rebadged "Gothic: Vampire Wars" minis

The Fluff
The "backstory" is that the "Rippers" are Victorian-era monster slayers like Van Helsing who have modified themselves with body part implants "ripped" from the very monsters they hunt. Naturally many of the have gone "dark side" as the implants have corrupted and warped their minds. These have formed the "Cabal" the necromancer-cackling scientist-werebeast conglomerate.

The Game Mechanics
Rippers uses the Showdown system (available for free download here) seen in many other Savage Worlds games such as Deadlands. A deck of normal playing cards and various dice (d4, d6, d8, d10, d12, d20) are employed.

Each turn, each unit or hero is dealt a card, and this determines move order (i.e. Joker, Ace, King, Queen, and so on, with Two moving last). A unit can go on "hold" so it can act later in the turn. It must make an opposed roll using Agility to move before an opponent it is "interrupting."

For skills and abilities, the higher the dice, the better - you roll the dice and need to pass 4 or more to succeed. You can take more than one action, but you have to -2 off any rolls for a second action, -4 for a third action, etc. There is an "exploding dice" mechanic where any maximum throw (say a 8 on a d8) earns a re-roll. Every 4 points you exceed your target roll gives you a "raise" - say you needed a 4 on a d12 and rolled a 9 - then you would succeed and get a "raise." This adds bonuses, like an extra damage in an attack.

Heroes (or"Wild Cards") can roll an extra d6 in addition to their usual roll, and choose the best result.
You also get three "Bennies" (free re-rolls) to spend each game, and an additional two for each Wild Card (hero) which adds an element of resource management.

Rippers uses the same combat system as the popular miniatures game and RPG "Deadlands"

Combat
Shooting and close combat is simply passing the 4+ (shooting) or the opponent's Parry (melee), with additional ranged penalties for long range and cover where appropriate.

The attack then uses the strength of the wielder (melee) or weapon (ranged) and if it beats the opponent's toughness, the target is Shaken (can take no actions, can move only half speed - characters can attempt a recover roll next turn). If the attack if it beats toughness with a raise (+4) the target is Wounded (which kills non-hero characters). Heroes can usually take 3 wounds.

There are rules for area attacks (scatter) and ways to target specific areas (i.e. shoot the eyeslits of a robot, or a tentacle off a monster). Players can also "defend" which adds to their Parry score. Players can dual wield, suppress with automatic weapons, go prone and make "all out attacks" which reduces their defence in favour of attacking bonuses.

Units must make guts checks if they lost 25% of their force - also when facing opponents who cause "Fear."

Magic is simple and follows the combat mechanics but you have to track how many "power points" worth of spells you have spent.

Jack the Ripper. Surgeon, royal - or mad scientist who implanted too many vampire body parts?

Powers
There are about 13 powers which I though was surprisingly small. Most games have 20-30 powers but it has the benefit of being easy to remember. There are about 18 generic weapons which also was quite a modest number. It did cover all the main weapon types, so this isn't a problem.

Scenarios and Missions
This is the "guts" of the game as the rest you could download for free or read on the blurb of the game. There are rules for innocent bystanders, and bonuses for evil creatures at night. However there are only four basic missions. There are 11 scenarios which extend these with a few extra rules, adding a bit more "fluff". They are specific but characterful - bringing to life a Frankenstein monster, fighting Old Ones in a defiled church, rescuing a loved one from cultists, etc.

Terrain
There is a terrain generator which is a nice idea and allows you to have some input over the arrangement of terrain whilst keeping things interesting. This is a welcome feature. There are also special terrain features such as haunted houses, graveyards, storm drains, strange ruins, a fountain of blood. etc.

If Borat was a vampire, he'd use this to fight gypsies...

Advancement
Wounded figures make a roll to patch up wounds and return the next game. Reinforcements can be bought. Heroes can "level up" any skill or attribute one level - i.e. d6 to a d8 - and they can add up to 32 special abilities if their base stats are high enough - i.e. a hero needs a d8 level agility before it can take the "Acrobat" ability.

Warbands
There are a few stock warbands - Van Helsing's slayers, the Harker's gypsy/wolf hunter band, the Warriors of St. George (warrior monks and nuns), Puritan witch hunters, the tomb raider/explorer/archeologist faction, dime-novelesque "masked crusaders", as well as freelancers who can work for any faction.

The evil "cabal" warbands tend to have largely interchangable troops, but included werewolves, vampires, mummies and their servants, evil scarecrows and headless horsemen, circus freaks including killer clowns (my particular nightmare, even now!), a witch coven, Dr. Moreau hybrids beast-men, witchdoctors and zombies, Victorian villans a la Jack the Ripper, Invisible Man, Hyde.
All heroes and units have a points system to balance games.

Equipment, Relics and Rippertech
There is about 30 equipment types ranging from mini-crossbows, silver daggers and throwing knives to whips, holy water, wolfsbane and ripper claws. There are a dozen holy relics such as Bibles and blessed weapons. "Ripper" implants included gills, cat eyes, demon blood, werewolf claws and vampire fangs. Evil cabals do not have Rippertech but can upgrade their monsters with "bloodlines" which upgrades particular abilities.

TL:DR
The ubiquitous Savage Worlds system is solid as usual. Unsurprisingly, Rippers has a more Victorian slant than the excellent Solomon Kane (which is more 16th/17th century). In addition, it meshes neatly with the Rippers RPG if you want additional flavour. The terrain system is good, the limited missions are expanded upon, there is managable equipment and special ability lists, and Rippers has its own miniatures line, to boot.

My normal reason not to buy a Savage Worlds game is the bargain "Explorer's Edition" rules contain pretty much the toolkit for any setting you'd want, but Rippers has enough well-focussed content to get the nod. In fact it has a surprising amount of content packed into 80 pages, far more content than you'd expect at first look.

It sits alongside Empire of the Deadand Chaos in Carpathia as a warband-focused competitive system with the Mordhiem-like ability to upgrade and equip warbands in a campaign. I'll have to do a direct comparison between them one day, but generally I'd say choosing between them is more a matter of personal preference. Cost-wise, EotD is a shiny hardback "production" ($40+), CiC is a $10 pdf* and Rippers sits somewhere in between at about $25. However Rippers (published 2004) seems to be out of print so your best bet is eBay or similar.

Recommended? Simple rules, campaign experience/advancement, and the ability to build and modify diverse warbands? Yes. A solid competitor in the Victorian horror field, with slightly wider scope than its rivals.

*Edit: Blue Moon and OG also have $25 print copies

I really like the Brigade aeronef models but the "official" rules are pretty bland and minimalist. If "beer" is the ring left on the coaster, and the "pretzel" is half a low fat pretzel you found behind the sofa cushions, you could charitably call it a "beer and pretzel" game.

The models from Brigade are fun to paint. Sadly the official rules give the term "beer and pretzels" a bad name.

(Wessex Gaming) Aeronef Rules Review
I'm doing this as this game got an inexplicable 5 stars at the wargames vault. (Admittedly from three reviewers - I'm presuming they must have deleted all the negative ones). I've made a bet to myself I can explain the entire rules in a single paragraph.Ok, go!

Your "Nef" has hitboxes (2, 4, 8, 16, 24, 32 depending on size); and each ship has gun dice = half the total hit boxes. Speed ranges from 8-22", smaller class= faster. Ships must move 1 hex between turns. Small ships can make more turns in a move. For each gun dice roll a d6. Only '6's hit. As you take 25, 50 and 75% damage, reduce speed and gun dice by 25, 50 & 75%.

There, I explained the entire rules without pausing for breath! Oh, and besides all those hitboxes, you have to write down speed changes. Missed mentioning the altitude rules, you say? Ah, that's because there isn't any....

....so naturally, I am interested in any alternative in this rather niche field. Cue Airships and Sky Pirates, stage left.

Airships & Sky Pirates
(A Supplement to "When the Navy Walked")

by the Armchair General

The art isn't that crash hot, but if you get a pdf you can't expect too many bells (or even whistles)

The Shiny
B&W except for the cover. There is a nice clear table of contents, and the quick-reference pages which I always look. The art is somewhat home-made and the font a little small, but it is serviceable. Preview available here. Fine for a $10 pdf. Actually, while I think of that - can I also make the disclaimer this is not a standalone product. If, like me, you have no interested in VSF mass ground battles you still need to pony up an additional $10 for the core land rules "When the Navy Walked". So you're effectively paying $20 for two pdfs. I'd like to see enough of the core rules added to make A&SP "standalone." Note: Both pdfs are also available as $30 hard copy rulebooks but I wasn't shelling out $60 to test a ruleset...

Mechanics
Command points are important. You get 1d6 every 2 units, plus any leaders' Leadership scores. They are a resource which are spent by giving units orders, and do not carry over from turn to turn.

Leaders in command range give orders, to move, shoot etc. You are supposed to secretly record (ugh, recording = writing stuff down, innit?) who you give shooting orders to. Any "unallocated" units without orders may "react" after taking fire by shooting back, but only after they have taken the effect of any hits. I'm not a fan of writing down the shooting targets, but otherwise this is a good idea which adds a good layer of tactics/resource management, without much complexity

Movement in atmosphere (flying craft) requires units to move half speed. This and the 45d turns reminds me of the stately movement of Battlefleet Gothic. In the aether ships can hover - they also can retain speed from turn to turn (vector movement) which you will need to track (more recording!), and gun ranges are doubled. Aetherships with solar sails use sailing rules. In atmosphere, there are 6 elevations you can conveniently mark with a micro d6. Aetherships can break orbit and go "into the black beyond."

A&SP uses the tried and true "Full Thrust" damage system - i.e. 4,5,6 hit on a d6, with the '6' counting as double. You tally the hits and compare them to your foe's Threshold rating. This is kinda like their armour/hull strength and shows how many hits a ship can take before it has hull damage. I.e your 3d6 firepower ship rolled a 1, 4, 6 = 3 hits against a Threshold 3 opponent. The three hits reaches the Threshold level and scores a hull hit. Four hits against a Threshold 2 ship would do 2 hull hits, etc.

Any hits in a salvo that exceed the "Threshold" do damage. There is a typical 2d6 "special damage" chart which can cause hits to weapons, optics, engines, and the usual "golden BB" on a roll of 12 which means "kaboom!" Units may attempt repairs to systems. Much as I dislike any record-keeping, there's probably a little less hitboxes & stuff than most space/wet navy games, to be honest.

Free cards for recording ship hits and internals are available at the Wargames Vault.

The Sylvana from "The Last Exile" - a anime with typical annoying squeaky Japanese teens but also awesome aerial dreadnaught battles

A&SP covers boarding, grappling, boarding, ramming and collisions, as well as air to ground and ground to air fire. You can even scuttle your ship if you want. There are also wind rules which work for "solar winds" and aetherships as well as conventional sail ships.

There are rules for small flying craft, sailing ships and aetherships. I like the small craft rules which allow you to make "maneuvers" such as Immelman, dogfight, roll, and corkscrew which add different benefits if you can pass a command check. If they fail, they stall and might crash.

An interesting idea is Tesla "Broadcast" fighters. The electricity is generated on the carrier and transferred to the fighter via "Tesla wave" - making them effectively drones that are restricted to a certain radius from the mothership. There is also a random table for aetheric flora and fauna, turbulence etc. Kinda like "the warp" from 40K.

Leaders can "sabotage" enemy units which is resisted with their "Espionage" roll. A successful roll can cause an internal hit.

There are rules for fleets, squadrons, recon and chain of command. There are rules for formations like line ahead and line abreast, each of which has its inherent advantages and disadvantages.

Scenarios, Skills & Perks
There are six sample scenarios including hunting pirates in asteroids and fighting a giant space squid.
There are additional "special rules" specific to A&SP which add to those already in WTNW such as incidiary bombs, chain shot, special bombsights, rams, improved agility- they can also include flaws like being flammable, reckless, or having poorly rigged sails.

Army Lists
There are sample army lists. Ships have stats in
Shoot range (usually around 12")
Shoot damage (2d6 destroyer, 3d6 for a cruiser, to a 6d6 dreadnought)
Melee damage (usually 2d6)
Command Range 8-14"
Morale 6-8
Espionage 2-4d6 (ability to block "sabotage" by enemy leaders; a bit of a random idea IMO)

TL:DR
Having to switch back and forth between WTNW and A&SP was annoying and at times confusing. A&SP should be a standalone product. The fact "firepower" is the same for all ships, with no real differentiation between weapon types (where's my Martian heat rays, eh?) or even calibres means its only mild step up from Aeronef's "roll lots of sixes." Damage at least is more interesting and the fact there is altitude (fancy that, altitude in a game involving airships *cough* Aeronef *cough*) is a plus - it's even easy to track. Speaking of tracking, I really dislike writing down/recording anything in a wargame (bad SFB experiences scarred me) but most space and naval gamers won't balk at recording special internal hits or writing down orders for shooting in A&SP.

EDIT:The Armchair General notes in the comments section below that a card deck will be available to eliminate written record-keeping. His post contains ideas for using counters or poker chips to track activation.

On the flip side, the basic mechanics are sensible, and the command system adds a layer of resource management (that could be easily recorded with a handful of tokens). The "perks and flaws" are flavourful and A&SP covers a wide range of content (aetherships, airships, ironclads, sailing ships, sky galleons, biplanes/ornithopters etc).

I particularly like the small craft rules which are both simple and flavourful (I also like the idea of Tesla-wave fighters buzzing around in the aether) and the fact it shares mechanics with WTNW means integrating land and air battles will be seamless.

EDIT: Also of interest - The Armchair General says there is an upcoming miniature line. As there is no such thing as "enough" VSF goodness, I personally am pretty stoked!

Recommend? Yes. I'd prefer it if Airships & Sky Pirates was standalone with all the rules in the one location, but overall a definite step up from Aeronef, offering easy ground-air-space integration.

Every now and then a game comes along and impresses the heck out of you, with innovative gameplay or different ideas. Games like this, for me include DBA, General Quarters, Infinity, Tomorrow's War, Song of Blades and Heroes, Malifaux, Battlefield Modern Warfare and Havoc. I add a new one to the list - a game called Coaling Stations. Couldn't find a review on the net anywhere, so here goes.

The Shiny
It's a $6 plain text pdf, with a single picture on the cover. In fact the rules are quite hard to follow and I had to re-read them multiple times to puzzle them out. They kinda read like house rules - i.e. the author and his mates understand them and they assume everyone else knows them to. There seems to be bits missing as well. The play examples at the back of the rules were pretty much essential to make sense of the rules.

HMS Hood. No, it's not that Hood.

Command Rules
These are similar to Battlefleet Gothic/Epic/Hail Caesar where you roll 2d6 to pass a Command roll. However the difference between your command rating and the dice roll determines how many orders you can give. The list of orders can include choosing speed, turns, evasive action, changing squadron formations, making repairs and firing gun batteries or torpedoes. If the roll is over the Command level the ship simply cruises straight forward at half speed. Example: A squadron of battleships (lead by average level 8 commander) decides he will attempt to increase to flank speed, turn 90d, fire main batteries then secondary batteries. He rolls a '6' (2 lower) so he can carry out the first two orders but fails the last two so he does not open fire....

There are cards with the orders printed on them which you could use to record the order sequence. I think this whole command sequence is a very clever idea and intend to "port" the command system into other games I have such as the WW1 game General Quarters 2.

There are also visibility rules which are reasonably detailed and weather conditions can change during the game. Many WW1 battles I have read about emphasized the role of poor/miscommunication, leadership choices and visibility in deciding battles and I presume pre-dreadnought battles would be similar - in which case Coaling Stations is hitting the nail right on the head.

This video clip is, I think, from a Japanese mini series... Awesome CGI

Firing & Damage
This is done by different sized dice - d4 (12"+ guns) down to d12 (under 4" guns). Lower scores are better. Any firing that results in three or more 1's means you roll on the catastrophic damage chart. This solid, but nothing out of the box. I am also dubious about the historical "accuracy" of the dice percentages and damage.

However the idea for recording torpedoes interested me a lot - you mark the target with dice - as many dice as there were torpedoes fired. The dice face records the range - so two torpedoes fired at range 3 would be shown by two dice with the '3' face up. The "to hit" dice is determined by the range - as the gameplay example is 3 range, you'd use a d4, if under 6 range, use a d6 - 8 range would use a d8.

Damage is also interesting. It has "hitboxes" of sorts, but it is recorded using micro d6 of different colours. White dice = damaged, Yellow dice = crippled; Red dice = sinking. Ships are rated for how many hitpoints per dice colour. I.e. 5/5/5 = 5 hitpoints per dice colour.

After a ship takes xy amount of hits, it moves to the next colour dice. I.e. a 4/4/4 armoured cruiser takes 2 hits. This is shown by a '2' on a white d6. The white d6 shows it is damaged. Effectively the hitpoints are now 2/4/4. Next turn it takes 3 hits. This means it loses the last two "white" hit points and takes a red hitpoint. So it's like 0/3/4 which is shown by a '3' on a yellow dice. The ship is crippled.

Hits can also be blocked by 40K style "armour saves" on a d6 - light cruisers get a 6+ save, battleships get a 4+ save...

There's almost no paper record keeping - you could even use a d12 to show "Castastrophic" hits.

Ship data is simple and easy to remember:
Battleship
Speed 18kts
Armour Save 4+
Main Guns 2 batteries (x2) 12"
Sec Guns 7 batteries (x1) 6"
Torpedo tubes 2x Port & Starboard
Hits per Dice 5/5/5

Given the examples and fairly generic template, adding in your own ships would be quite easy.

There are rules for collisions, ramming, laying smoke, and ship repairs. I'm still a little confused with this one:
"In order for a ship to repair damage a 1,2 on a d6 needs to be rolled which is modified by the crew training of -1 for good training to + for poor training, a roll for each repair may be rolled however no rolls are allowed to repair damaged hits or items marked destroyed." Umm - so what CAN I repair?

There are fleet lists with ships stats for the Russo-Japanese wars (Tsushima & Yellow Sea) and examples of play which are pretty much required reading due to the patchy and unclear nature of the rules.

The USS Missouri... again, not the one you were thinking of.... The secondary turrets look great even if they are a bit limited...

TL:DR
The command system is clever and seems perfectly suited to an eras where command and control are problematic. For me it was worth the price of the pdf alone and I intend to graft the rules onto my WW1 GQ games. It makes crew quality and commander skill a very important factor in the battle.

I'm not 100% sold on the "different damage dice" gun method - if after modifiers you need a 4 or less on a d4 - that means you have a guaranteed hit? I don't really mind (I intend to adapt the rules for Victorian Sci fi) but I doubt the historical accuracy. The 4+ saves seem a tad '40k' but I do like the torpedo tracking rules and the three colours of "damage dice" replacing hitboxes and ships SSDs.
Ship stats are easy to use and remember and there is little to no record keeping which is always pleasant.

The ruleset has some interesting concepts, but it is let down by being somewhat poorly explained and laid out.

Recommend?I am no pre-dreadnaught expert (my naval gaming experience is WW1-onwards with General Quarters and Shipwreck!) but I suspect these rules lean more towards Battlefleet Gothic rather than Harpoon. I certainly like them, but mostly because I think with a few house rules they could make an awesome Aeronef/flying battleship game - i.e. I am more interested in the game mechanisms than historical accuracy.

Other options: The WTJ have the free rules Quickfire which looks to be pretty straightforward, and Those Damn Battleships Again uses the simple DBA engine and is also free. Perfidious Albion (which has an interesting damage grid) and Fire When Ready by A&A Games are very affordable. You could own all these (and Coaling Stations) for under $30.

EDIT: Thanks to Dave, whose "Fawcett Avenue Conscripts" have a well-illustrated battle report here

I found a lot of interesting ideas in the pre-dreadnought game Coaling Stations and I think the core rules would transplant well to VSF, giving us better rules than the current contenders (Aeronef and Airships & Sky Pirates). Whilst trying to keep additions to a minimum, here are the changes I would add:

Orders
Added to the current orders are
"Dive" - reduce altitude by 1 level
"Climb" increase altitude by 1 level

Visibility
Cloud is treated as "heavy fog" to see into/out of at a particular level.

Movement
The maximum air crew can operate without oxygen is about 12,000 feet (2 nautical miles) and it was the average WW1 Zeppelin's ceiling. The Germans found operating over 15,000 feet for long periods caused nausea and blackouts. As WW1 went on Zepplins improved their ceilings to 18,000 and even 24,000 feet and started using compressed oxygen. Diving helmets and rubber suits were invented in 1837 so you could arguably use higher altitudes. Airships could move at 100-120kph (60 knots) so you could simply double (or even triple) usual ship class speeds.

Altitude is divided into 6 bands with a micro d6. If we assume say a 18,000 ft ceiling, each band would be 3,000 feet (half a mile) or 2.5cm/1" in game terms. This means if a ship is firing at a target 2 levels below it, 5cm is added to the horizontal range. Climbing or diving one level would not impact speed.

I mostly have "digs" or dirgibles which I wanted for a sky pirate game. On order are 2 fleets of nefs...

Ships that are crippled have their maximum altitude reduced to level 4; sinking ships have a maximum altitude of level 2. Ships who are higher than the maximum will sink each turn until they reach their permitted level. A crippled or sinking ship cannot climb but can maintain altitude or dive.

Shooting
I'm not a fan of the Coaling Stations shooting mechanic - which makes bigger guns more likely to hit, but do the same damage as rapid fire small guns. This would make big 12"+ guns the best weapons for taking out destroyers when in reality they are too slow to traverse and unable to fire rapidly enough at a fast moving, small target. I've banned heavy batteries from firing at destroyers at all; with light calibre hand-loaded "quickfirers" having the best chance to hit and damage.

With regards to "3D' aerial combat, there would be a "dead zone" above and below ships where the guns cannot elevate or depress far enough. Pre-dreadnought weapons had about +/- 13-17 degrees, which had improved to +/- 40 degrees by the end of WW1. If you assume +/- 22.5 degrees, then each level below adds 5cm (1 nm) to the "dead zone." So a ship who wants to fire at another ship 3 levels below must be at least 3nm (15cm) away or its guns cannot depress far enough to hit....

I've ordered some Austrian warships to stand in as my "Germans"

..as the official "German" nefs look the the bastard offspring of a landing barge, a river dredge and a paddle wheeler...

Shooting Modifiers
+1 if firing into/out of cloud (as per smoke)
+1 Any gun over 4.1" firing at destroyer or torpedo-boat sized vessel*
*Only secondary batteries and primary batteries under 6" can engage destroyers. Only quickfiring guns of 4.1" or less can engage them without penalty
Modify rule: "Evasive Action" - +1 to enemy (and own) firing if protected cruiser or smaller, 4+ save against torpedo hits
I've tried to make destroyers and torpedo boats a little more survivable... For example at one stage in Jutland 12 destroyers closed to point blank (under 3000m) of 10-20 battleships and battlecruisers and only 2 were sunk - due to secondary battery fire. Under most modern rules, you'd be lucky to have two destroyers survive...

I'm sure you're familiar with the format of this meme. Here's my version:

1. Take Warmachine rulebook
2. Replace "Warjacks" with "Vehicles." Remove "Warcasters" and related feats.
3. Replace steampunk terminology with sci fi terminology and rename stat lines.
4. ??????
5. Profit!

15mm armies are easy to store and very affordable. This GZG UNSC force cost about $70...

Gruntz 15mm sticks so close to its source, it is more the sort of thing I'd expect to see as a set of house rules in a Warmachine yahoo group then a published set of rules in its own right. I know you can't patent game mechanics (try tell GW that, though), but... it feels kinda dirty, like respraying a car and claiming it's a different make and model. The author could at least have thanked Privateer Press in the acknowledgements....

Now given my somewhat scathing opening, and the fact I have a well-known aversion to the CCG-with-minis-so-unbalanced-it-appears-balanced Warmachine, you can tell where this is review is heading, right?

Actually, no. Gruntz 15mm is a good game.

The Shiny
I have the pdf, and it stands alongside the "Battlefield: Modern Miniature Warfare" as one of the nicest pdf rulesets I own. It has absolutely truckloads of quality pictures of miniatures in action from
Old Crow, Khurasan and GZG. There are plentiful gameplay diagrams and examples, and flowcharts which make game sequences clear. There is even a FAQ of common questions. This is a set of rules obviously built for gamers, by a gamer. I like it so well I'm considering grabbing a print copy. Ironically, I wish more companies would copy this guy! A+

The rules are well presented and obviously made by a gamer, for gamers. Plentiful examples, diagrams, and pictures of minis...

Mechanics
Basically, it's Warmachine with the casters and feats stripped out. The stats pretty much directly correspond:
Gruntz vs Warmachine
Move = SPD
Shoot = RAT
Assault = MAT
Guard = DEF
Soak = ARM
Mental = CMD
Gruntz also has "Skill" for making vehicle piloting rolls. Units even have similar "stat cards."

Gameplay is IGOUGO and like Warmachine most rolls are 2 x d6 added together to beat a target score. You roll 2d6 plus your RAT oops I mean "Shoot" score and try to beat their ~~DEF~~ Guard score to hit. If a hit is scored, the weapons ~~POW~~ Damage + 2d6 is compared to the target's ~~ARM~~ Soak and any amount in excess of this applied as casualties/daamge. Melee works the same way.

Squads (usually of 6, coincidentally) stay within 3" of each other. Units can make 2 actions including shooting, running, assaulting, overwatch (I always like this in a rule-set), going prone, removing suppression etc. I liked "Interdiction fire" where a unit marks an area of effect in which it gives supporting fire - used by weapons like squad machine guns, although this too is replicated from WM.

The rules are clear, easy to read and well laid out.

Commanders have "special abilities" which are more sensible then some of the game-changing "Feats" in WM; they including removing suppression and extra movement for friendlies in range, extra wounds, and being able to fire an extra shot.

If casualties are taken, a unit must take a morale check or be suppressed. They need to use an action to remove their suppression which will reduce their options next turn. If a squad takes over half casualties they must check for "Condition Brown" (yes, direct quote from rules!) and if they fail the test they run away from the enemy.

Vehicle rules are quite comprehensive and well explained. Vehicles have a Full-Thrust style damage track with quite a lot of hitboxes (ironic "yaaaay" from me). Criticals (which work similarly to FT) can damage Armour (-4 soak), Engine (restricts speed) or Tek (-3 to ranged attacks.) There are rules for embarking and disembarking, assaulting vehicles with foot troops, airborne assaults and artillery.

There are digital warfare rules where vehicles and units can be suppressed or disabled by being "hacked" which adds an interesting dimension to combat.

All up, about 40 pages of gameplay rules is pretty par for the course, and presentation and ease of use is well above average.

TL:DR Gruntz strips the more annoying cheese from Warmachine, adds a few sci fi flourishes and gameplay tweaks, and emerges as a rather solid ruleset, with gameplay quite different to its parent

Terrain for 15mm is also cheap, and easy to store. A simple 4x3 sand table is surprisingly easy to make and maintain.

Optional Rules
There are rules for card activation or alternate activation which break out of the IGOUGO mould. The card system in particular looks interesting and has a few interesting quirks but I'd probably avoid it for really large games as it could slow things down.

Build Your Own
One of the features of Gruntz is its unit construction rules. You are encouraged to make armies from different 15mm manufacturers and are given a solid set of tools for "making your own." The unit creation is pretty straightforward and being able to build a custom army from your favourite models from different manufacturers is very appealing. Infantry squads are based around groups of 6 with up to 2 special "attachments." There are rules for making monsters and vehicles (air. hover, tracked, etc)

There is a template with about 40 generic infantry and support weapons which cover pretty much any TV show or movie, and a similar range of vehicle weaponry. There are also "Perkz" which allow you to customise units with skills ranging from "Bullet time" to "Telepathy" and "Infected" (turn your opponents into friendly zombies).

The building rules are clear, well laid out and take up a large chunk of the rules (about 40 pages).

EDIT:I'd like to add the proviso that although fun for mates and good for "pick up" games the points system is far from power-gamer proof. Weapons are worth the same no matter who is wielding them, and improving key stats is comparatively cheap. Min-maxing units would be quite easy - this is not a super-tight "competition" rule set.

In addition, in the pipeline is a Barracks army-builder program ($14?) which will take all the work out of unit creation - simply choose your unit stats and weapons from a drop down box, then print out the cards. The author seems to be an active hobbyist and supports the game really well. The Gruntz site is worth a visit.

For some reason, all 15mm companies seem to have impeccable customer service. Blue Moon, Micro Panzer, Khurasan, GZG, Rebel, CMG - all have impressed me with their pricing, communication, and response times. (Micropanzer troops and GZG vehicles pictured)

TL:DR
A attractively packaged and very well presented ruleset, it's sci-fi Warmachine rules without the cheese. Removing the caster-warjack synergy and feats gives a very different (and far better) flavour of game, and as a bonus WM players will find it very easy to pick up.

The unit builder section is a gem and Gruntz 15mm seems to be (directly or indirectly) supported by most of the biggest 15mm manufacturers. You can truly make your army out of any miniatures you want, quickly and easily. Constructing your custom army can be a fun activity in itself!

The range of about 50 "Perks" allows a lot of easy customisation of your troops. Together with the unit builder, this is the most convincing argument to put Gruntz ahead of the other major 15mm commercial ruleset, Tomorrow's War.

Recommended?Yes. Easy to learn, accessible, very customisable. A very solid set of rules that seems surprisingly polished for a private venture. Provides a great entry point into 15mm sci fi gaming.

Some other options:
My current favourite sci fi rules is the less conventional ruleset"Tomorrow's War" which has superior tactics and strategy. The mechanics are simpler (and owe a bit to the free Stargrunt by GZG) although the reaction system makes gameplay more complex. That said, it is more generic and grainy, and it is better for human near-future sci fi rather than exotic aliens. There are only 4 "levels" of troops with little differentiation between races. Of the few weapon classes (energy, kinetic, railgun, etc) special weapons simply add firepower dice rather than having special attributes. The "build system" is very primitive compared to Gruntz (more guesswork than anything). That disclaimer aside, Tomorrow's War is unparalleled for forcing commanders to make realistic decisions, and remains my #1 choice. I'd recommend TW for scenarios, and Gruntz is better for pick-up games at the club. Both are worthwhile games.

FUBAR is a good simple free ruleset, and the "not-40K" spin-off In the Emperor's Name allows you to get use out of those 40k models that have been sitting in the cupboard...

Back last year I interviewed one of the game designers on 5150: Wing Leader - a dogfighting game in the beta stage (EDIT: It will be released as 5150: Fighter Command).

Star Navy, although also by 2HW, is a different game altogether, more of a squadron and fleet-level game for big ship actions. I believe there are other upcoming space titles - including the more detailed 5150: Fringe Space.

5150 Star Navy is the first of a "trinity" of space games.

The Shiny
I'm looking at the $17 pdf, which has a colour cover and a plain text B&W interior with no illustrations. The $20 softcover rulebook, based on previous purchases, I expect to be similar. Early 2HW rulebooks were rather poor with regards to clarity. Kinda like house rules where the author and his mates already know the rules and expects others to instinctively grasp it. This has improved with newer publications. This time they take an interesting approach with a "Stop" section - a pop-quiz to check you have read the key rules. It kinda works, as it forces you to go and re-read the rules. That said, rules should be clear enough at first glance not to need a "cram" paper...

Game Mechanics
Central to the 2HW approach is Passing dice- an iconic 2HW mechanic - 2 d6 are rolled against a target number. Each dice that equals the target is a success. Results from roll can be: both rolls pass (complete success) one roll passes (partial success) and no rolls pass (failure.) Example: A Rep 5 crew roll to see if they hit a target. They roll a 2 and a 5 - one (a partial) success. Only half its guns will hit. The other main method is Counting success. This is quite a common mechanic - multiple d6s are thrown - any score of 4, 5 or 6 is a success.

Unlike many space games, crew quality is important and ranges from REP 3 (unreliable rookies) to REP 5 (elite crew). There are 4 ship size classes - destroyer, cruiser, battleship and the rare dreadnought. Unlike many space games, hull points are manageable - 18 for the biggest dreadnought - and only 4 or 8 for more common destroyers and cruisers. You could track this using different coloured d6. Systems are pretty straightforward - bridge, life support and engines are integral to all ships; hangars, shields, AA batteries, missiles and guns can be added.

Star Trek vs Stars Wars? Which is better?

Gameplay
Game start begins with both sides rolling a "Long Range Scan" - (scoring more successes than your opponent means a more advantageous setup) and deciding their starting velocities. The long range scan results also impact your chances of getting the initiative first turn.

Ships may change velocity based on their thrust. Destroyers and cruisers can make 2 turns - battleships and larger get only one. There are rules for asteroids but most planets are "off table".

Combat
Combat is a bit grainy - roll 2 dice vs the ships' REP (crew skill) either all, half or no shots from guns hit. Shields then reduce any hits. Guns have a 360 firing arc and unlimited range (but with penalties at extreme range). Guns are generic and identical to each other.

Missiles also test against REP - they either hit or miss but are subject to AA fire - or the target can attempt to evade them. They have only 12" range and a more limited arc.

Hits are allocated on a chart. If the firer is larger than the target, damage is equal to ship class (a class 4 cruiser does 4 hits); if the firer is equal or smaller only one hit is scored. Damage can be repaired between missions but not during a battle. There are rules for boarding and capturing enemy ships.

Reactions
Every time a ship takes damage of any sort, it rolls a reaction test with 2 d6. It takes only one test after all damage is resolved. Hits may result in the ship dropping to a lower REP (crew skill) level or breaking off the fight. Bridges, engines and life support have their own special test.

Fighters
These move differently than other ships - they can move 24" in any direction and do not track velocity. They carry out either CAP, Fighter Intercept or Attack missions. Squadrons are paired off and combat can result in them being driven off or remaining on the battlefield. Fighters on CAP duty are placed beside the ship they guard and intercept incoming attackers. Any attackers who make it past enemy fighter must face AA before attacking the ships.

Campaign
There is a section for who fights whom using the 5150 background which you may or may not want to use. As you succeed at missions your forces' morale will fluctuate. There is a campaign map and ship activation and movement on the map is largely dependent on the ship commnanders' REP.

There are a range of missions - attack, defend, patrol, hunt and convoy. The likelihood of receiving a particular mission is dependent on the type, success or failure of your previous mission. "Blips" or "blinds" called PEFS (Possible Enemy Forces) are generated and are swapped for enemy ships when they come into range. The enemy forces can be randomized and can be controlled by the game mechanics - as usual, 2HW campaigns are very useful for a solo gamer.

After a mission each force's morale is adjusted. Ships may increase or decrease their REP as well. This gives good flavour and adds a storytelling aspect to gameplay. You may also gain or lose ships.

Once a force's campaign morale is reduce to zero it vacates the system; in the next campaign overall morale is reduced by one. Oh, by the way - you can even play as a pirate and spend your time raiding merchant ships...

Points Systems & Fleet Lists
Although most 2HW games are scenario/campaign driven, there is a simple points system for balancing pick-up games. Ship creation is pretty basic - systems cost 1-2 hull points and I doubt it is balanced for competitive games (but I can't think of any space games that are...). There are comprehensive fleet lists for the 5150 universe, but I suspect most players, like myself, will be more keen to adapt Star Navy to existing movie and TV sci fi settings.

Since NASA refuses to build a death star, maybe Disney will...

TL:DR
Whilst they have improved, 2HW are still not my favourite rulebooks for layout and "readability."

The rules are simple and will handle large numbers of ships. I'm not totally sold on the "unlimited range 360d firing arc" guns, nor the fact all guns are identical. The "all guns hit/half guns hit/no guns hit" is also a bit off-putting but I suppose you can think of them as firing in salvoes. Missiles and fighters are also "one size fits all." Perhaps that is a sacrifice they made in order to speed play, but surely adding a bit more variety within the three weapon types (such as kinetic and laser guns, torpedoes, missiles and mines, fighters and bombers) would not be game-breaking.

I do like how crew skill (or "REP") is very important to the battle - something ignored in 90% of space games. The campaign systems are rather good - they are both simple (low record keeping) and entertaining and as usual any 2HW product is very solo-gamer friendly. You can even play co-operatively with a friend.

I'd also like to note that 2HW have an active Yahoo group and blog and have a helpful, energetic community spirit so you will get good "after market" support.

Recommended? A little ambivalent here. There has been very little innovation in space gaming so 5150 Star Navy is a breath of fresh air in a stale genre. That said, Star Navy has a few contentious design choices and generalisations; and the 2HW system tends to polarise opinion. As space gamers are rare where I live, I welcome the chance to play through a solo campaign in a game that is not a Full Thrust clone - so I'm going with a yes.

Matakishi's Tea House is one of my favourite wargaming blogs - a combination of inspirational terrain ideas and interesting articles. As I am interested in "Dice Pool" mechanics (Bushido, Confrontation v3) I thought the Conan-esque rules for CROM were worth a look.

The Shiny
The 61-page $8 pdf had plenty of colour pictures and (my favourite) miniatures in action. The rules are rather simple and easy to read with generous sized font. Usually I insist on a "Quick Reference Sheet" or a index but CROM doesn't need them - you can quickly flick through to find anything you need - without your glasses! (Note: Rules are free on the website but the pdf saves a lot of mucking around). There is even a free supplement available.

The Mechanics
This is the primary reason this game interested me. Heroes have a "dice pool" which represents their life or strength. These dice can be assigned to "movement" "combat" or "special".

Dice are rolled and totalled - or (and this is an interesting risk vs reward/resource management) they can be "burned". You can pick a dice to be an automatic '6' but it is permanently lost from your "dice pool" - due to the hero over-exerting himself to perform the amazing feat... Dice can be used in any order - or even kept for later (for example, retaining combat dice to defend against an opponent).

This unit card shows a very Frazetta-looking Death Dealer, from Bronze Age Miniatures

Whilst Heroes have a dice pool which can be assigned any way they wish, Minions have "set" dice (e.g. 2 movement, 2 combat, 0 special). They activate in groups of 3-5 and are basically cannon-fodder (like they are in the movies).

Movement is up to the total rolled by movement dice. Rules include jumping, climbing (and falling, naturally; and horses (which add movement dice).

Bronze Age Miniatures are a good source of Conan miniatures

In combat players allocate dice to attack or defence. They compare totals, with the highest succeeding. An successful attacker gets 2 hits, +1 hit each '6' rolled; a successful defender gets 1 hit,with +1 for every '6'. Hits are removed from the loser's die pool.

Special actions are kinda a catch all for stuff like magic, initiative and shooting.

Initiative is card-based, but players who have allocated dice to initiative may roll to go first or "jump the queue". Shooting is just like combat, only there is no extra +1 hits for '6's. Magic focusses on Conan-esque spells.

Another Bronze Age miniature - used to good effect in the scenario photo below...

Magicians "burn" their dice until they have filled the dice pool of the Summoned creature. Good wizards might get a better conversion rate - 1 dice spent gets you 2 dice worth of summoned monsters. Poor ones might require a human sacrifice as well... Once summoned, entities must be controlled with magic rolls. A failure means the entity is out of the player's control - and probably hungry. There are other forms of more "direct" magic such as fireballs, healing and shielding. Attacking another wizard with magic is quite risky - a magical "wiz vs wiz" duel works rather like combat.

I love the equipment cards used in scenarios... the art is simple and quirky throughout

In addition, there are rules for fire, poison, and example campaigns which showcase Matakishi's lovely terrain boards and miniatures. Fighting slavers in the market, making a prison break, raiding tombs, rescuing a scantily clad maiden from a dark jungle citadel fighting snake men, skeletons and giant grave worms - it's all in a day's work for Conan. And it's all in the pdf as scenarios - accompanied with inspirational photos of miniatures and scenery.

Will Conan interrupt the ritual in time?

(Photo from Matakishi's Teahouse - a great wargaming resource - check it out)

TL:DR
Simple, innovative and fun rules that use the "dice pool" to incorporate interesting resource management (assigning and 'burning' dice).

I wouldn't say these rules are terribly "deep" (they lean towards the "Song of Blades and Heroes" end of the simplicity spectrum) which may hurt their replayability - but as an excuse to get some awesome Conan minis on the table they can't be beat.

The scenarios are fun and the scenery is inspirational. You can even read the rules without squinting!

Pretty much all the rules content is available for free here - along with scenarios, unit cards, play examples - and even a "how-to" guide to make some of the great scenery shown.

Recommended: $8 to a good cause? Cheap as a meal at MacDonalds. And the rules are interesting and fun. What are you waiting for - get your Conan on!

I thought I would review these rules, but then I thought - "why bother?" and simply posted the ship data card, which I think reveals all you need to know.

The ship data card speaks for itself.

I'm not attacking Cyprian Rifts in particular (I love the idea of indie game and miniatures designers - as an aside, the miniatures look pretty good); but rather the lack of innovation in space games in general. Every space game is either trying to remake Starfleet Battles or Full Thrust. I'm simply using Cyprian Rifts as an example - it shows even indie developers are "stuck in the rut."

Cyprian Rifts leans towards the SFB-style of complexity, as you can see from the data card. For example, it has crewmembers (of different skill levels) who can be killed as certain bits of the ship are destroyed. In a nutshell - it is a fairly complex game, aimed at about 2-4 ships per side. It uses a 2d10 + stats (similar to the 2d6+ stats in Warmachine) and it has a deck/hand of "event/special action cards" (like Firestorm Armada); cinematic movement (like 90% of space games); damage types which take different sized chunks from hitboxes (like Renegade Legion) but brings nothing particularly new or compelling to the table, besides rather thorough terrain rules.

Whilst it is not a bad game, like very other space game to come out in the last few years, there is absolutely no reason to switch across to it from whatever other system you are using.

The Cyprian Rift cruisers look like....

GZG ESU ships

...and the point I'm making...

While ground combat games like Bushido, MAYHEM, Infinity, Malifaux, Ambush Alley experiment with resource management, card-based gameplay, risk vs reward mechanics, dice-pools, reaction systems; or even dispense with measuring altogether (Crossfire); space games are notable solely for their lack of originality.

Grab any space rulebook of the shelf.

Does it have rows of hitboxes? Lots of "system hits" or "criticals" to record?

Does it use a cinematic or pseudo-vector movement? Does it rely on hexes?

Is activation IGOUGO? Does attacking involve buckets of dice?

However the smaller Rifts ships are more interesting... I'm rather tempted to grab a few...

Personally, it bothers me to:

Spend more time recording and writing that actually moving ships and making decisions

Have ships "teleport" past each other without a chance to fight

Have small ships always take massive casualties (most die within the first 2-3 turns)

Have battles devolve into a dice-rolling contest in the middle of the table

Have ships without clearly defined roles or jobs (carriers excepted)

Am I the only one? Is everyone perfectly content with playing Full Thrust, Starmada and Starfleet Battles?It says in Ecclesiastes "there is nothing new under the sun" but do space game designs have to remake the same game so diligently?

I'd argue that Battlefleet Gothic with it's "Orders" and "Blast Markers" has contained the only real "innovations" in the genre in 20 years. And that was very "WW1-in-space", firmly wedded to its 40K background and gigantic baroque ship models...

Whilst looking for a good aeronef/flying battleship game I have been digging through naval rules to see what is worth converting.

An obvious contender is General Quarters, so long the benchmark in naval gaming. Whilst the original GQ were revolutionary in how they simplified and abstracted naval warfare, in a way both playable and realistic, I feel General Quarters 3 has swung the pendulum back too far in the direction of complexity and "rivet counting" with extra hitboxes and hit locations, and salvoes swapped for individual weapon mounts.

So are there any naval games out there that emphasize playability and the ability to handle decent numbers of ships? Naval Thunder is a little simpler in its mechanics, but I feel less accurate and comes with plenty of book-keeping and hitboxes (I'm talking 100+ hull points for battleships). No advantage there.

So I tried a lesser-known title. Battlestations! promises "streamlined intuitive game system with a focus on tactics rather than minutiae" and "handle 30 ships in under 3 hours" and "markers to eliminate the necessity of book-keeping." Sold!

I was seduced by promises of "less book-keeping"

The Shiny
Battlestations! is rather old school in its layout with rather small unfriendly font and only a smattering of photos and illustrations. B&W with a colour softcover, it has the SFB-style layout, with dense wall of text and small, tight font. However it does supply all the cardboard tokens and markers you need to play which is an old-school touch I do appreciate. There are not only quick-reference charts in the back of the book, but they are even duplicated in cardstock. No photocopying required. Of 81 pages, the rules take only 21.

Mechanics
There is no paper record keeping (!) only markers - for speed (full, medium, slow, dead stop); damage (levels 1 through 4); and torpedoes expended. There is a clear scale (1" = 1000 yards, 1 turn = 30 minutes) and d20, surprisingly, are used.

Players dice for initiative (+/- fleet commander ratings) to determine move order which is IGOUGO.
Random weather is rolled for, and players can roll to detect opponents. Radar helps of course.

Ships can change speed modes by one level (i.e. slow to medium) per turn, and there are rules for reversing, collisions, ramming and running aground. Turn templates are provided. Weather can impact movement - for example smaller ships labour in heavy seas. There are submarine rules (subs can travel underwater at 4 depth levels).

Movement is pretty standard, but firing and damage is quite different. Weapon penetration and armour levels (both rated A-E) are compared; gun may only attack targets 1 level higher than themselves.

Overall "attack" and "defence" scores are compared, rather like General Quarters. This is referenced on a chart and a d20 roll is made. Torpedo rules are likewise pretty simple.

Shots can miss, do a single "damage level" (of which a ship has four) or do a critical which could do 2-4 levels or automatically sink the ship.

Damage is abstracted in Battlestations! into four rather commonsense levels.

Damage is four levels -
L1 - with little adverse effects on capabilities
L2 - armament reduced by 1/3rd and ship restricted to medium speed; sonar and radar knocked out.
L3 - armament reduced by 2/3rds, ships restricted to slow speed; carriers cannot launch or recover
L4 - everything knocked out, ship dead in the water

Damage can exceed level 4 - as Damage Repair is quite powerful. A ship could recover multiple "levels" in a turn - but any damage remaining after the Damage Repair Phase is permanent. It's kinda a weird mechanic but it works. I.e. a cruiser takes 5 hits, but then "repairs" two, thus having L3 permanent damage take effect.

There are full air combat rules (for air to air, surface attack, and anti-air) including picket ship AA. Submarine rules include squids/hedgehogs, X craft and mini subs. There is provision for laying and sweeping mine, and coastal shore batteries. Escorts can lay smoke within certain limits.

Unusually for a naval game, there is a morale system which takes into account national traits. A fleet that takes too much damage will break off and retreat. There are rule for formations such as divisions, squadrons and flotillas - ships are not forced to stay in formation - but ships in formation are rewarded by a combat modifier.

Like their historic counterparts, the morale break-off levels mean Italian forces are also risk-adverse in the game

Other Stuff
Like General Quarters, there is a huge bibliography that infers the author did his homework, and a set of design notes. The design focus of the game is being able to handle more than 4+ ships per side (which is the point most other games bog down, and book-keeping overtakes tactics and maneuver as the prime focus); streamlining without losing period flavour. That players should be admirals, not mathematicians. It is also the aim of the rules that light ships will be more survivable (as they were historically) and fleets not "deathmatch" to "the last ship standing."

There is also a commentary on national navies, and a list of 11 scenarios from 1939 River Plate to 1944 in Surigao Stait. There are fleet lists - and I must say I like how all the ship data fits on a single line, i.e.

Class - Size - Defence - Main Attack Fire & Range; Secondary Fire Value & Range; AA and Speed

You can see your whole fleet at a glance, and any recording can be done by markers on the game board itself.

With the pricey GQ3's increased complexity departing from the cheap abstract simplicity of the old GQ1 and 2 booklets, there is definitely a place on the shelf for Battlestations!

TL:DR
The game sets out with a clear design aim, which it successfully accomplishes. Faster and slicker than the "old" GQ 1 & 2, it does away with book-keeping entirely in favour of tabletop markers.

A myriad of hitboxes and criticals are eschewed in favour of four generic damage levels. The ability to repair multiple levels within a turn was a bit jarring but it balances out with regards to gameplay.

Battlestations! is very simple, but still takes into consideration concepts covered in more complex games, simply in a more streamlined way, sans the math and book-keeping. Using a d20 allows combat to be resolved with a single roll, streamlining the old GQ "fire-by-battery" process still further; light years from the dice chugging of Naval Thunder or GQ3, which fire individual mounts.

Traditional naval gaming "rivet counters" may find Battlestations! bland, but if you want to use more than a half dozen ships (and want to finish in a reasonable amount of time) then this may just be the ruleset you are looking for. The focus is on streamlined play, tactics and maneuver, not record keeping. However, the "broad brush" approach to damage means you won't know if that 3" shell knocked over the captain's coffee pot, or if the left bridge wing Oerlikon is knocked out.

Due to GQ3 becoming more complex, Battlestations! fast play focus makes it more a complementary rather than a competing ruleset.

Recomended:Definitely. I can see it won't be to everyone's taste - but not only is it the only naval game I know that actually is aimed at allowing 20+ ships per side, but it would naturally handle a "typical" game of 8-12 ships per side a lot smoother and faster than its rivals. I can see myself adapting the d20 4-tier damage system for big VSF aeronef battles, to boot.

Pulp Steampunk. Airships. Pirates. Dogfights. Swordfights, shotguns and six-guns. Demonologists. Hivemind zombies. Golems. Do I have your attention?

Steampunk Firefly? Yes please.

Retribution Falls is a book by Chris Wooding. Mr Wooding is what I would rate as a solid B-List author - not in the league of GRR Martin, Abercrombie or Rothfuss, but any new releases are usually on my "to buy" list.

The book itself is an enjoyable escape. Its mood reminds me of the Indiana Jones movies (the early ones, not the latest one, which proves that George Lucas has to take a dump somewhere) or the Mummy series. There is no moral, or deep meaning - it is simply there for you to enjoy. This does not mean it is a Clive Cussler style crappy airport novel - it is crafted by an experienced author.

Retribution Falls throws together a mish-mash of cool stuff, but it has a "ragtag pirate crew lead by a captain with a heart of gold" underpinning that will appeal to fans of the western-in-space TV show Firefly (if you don't know what I'm talking about, stop reading this now, download/rent/buy the series and watch it. Now.)

Back now? Told you it was good.

Anyway, I was talking about Retribution Falls. It is just chock full of awesome, pulp-y goodness. It has the dogfights and air pirates of Crimson Skies and the aerial battleships of The Last Exile. There is nothing particularly new in the concepts or ideas in the book - but the world has been put together in a very polished way - creating something fun and original out of what could have been a tired cliche. This book has some of the most enjoyable world-building I have come across in a while.

Retribution Falls seems inspired by many sources, but comes across as fresh and fun

Airships are somewhat Last Exile-ish; a well-armoured store of gas is electrified and turned into "aetherium" which gives lift. Single-seat fighters (usually armed with machine-guns) have aetherium tanks too, and can hover as well as engage in traditional dogfights. The protagonist's ship, the Ketty Jay is a small freighter/heavy fighter with a crew of about a dozen and a single autocannon turret, and is escorted by two fighters. The story is set in the aftermath of the Atherium Wars, and the navy is tenuously attempting to keeping peace in the wilder frontier areas - many with ramshackle frontier towns which are virtually pirate bases only accessible by air. Shotguns and six-shooters abound. Very wild west. Very Firefly.

There is a flavouring of magic, but it is not overpowering or all-prevalent enough to lose its "cool factor." Magic is rare and treated with suspicion. The hero has a demon-possessed cutlass and compass. The crew's demonologist can hypnotise people with a magic tooth. The Ketty Jay has a resident golem - a steel suit of armour possessed by the ghost of a young girl. And in the icy far north there are the terrifying hivemind undead "Manes".

The golem/"possessed" suit is controlled by a homicidal girl with limited intelligence.

Everything in Retribution Falls is a twisted version of something I've seen elsewhere.

I also like the crew - Wooding has made them not simply lovable dicks (a la Firefly) but in most cases, simply dicks. Captain Frey is not the fallen noble hero - he's a man-whore willing to have his crew shot to save his ship. The crew all have their secrets - most are more using the Ketty Jay as a refuge than anything else - the failed demonologist-with-his-niece-who's-a-ghost-cyborg, the undead navigator, the enigmatic ex-slave engineer, the alcoholic doctor, the hotshot fighter pilot with an IQ of 5,the other fighter pilot who is useless for anything except flying. A psychotic ship's cat. Each flawed, each fascinating. Each with their own story.

TL:DR Firefly meets Pirates of the Caribbean meets Stardust meets The Last Exile meets Crimson Skies. A solidly written fantasy in an engaging world. Will not win a Pulitzer Prize but neither did Star Wars. Good old fashioned fun, which raises the bar in the pulp genre.

Recommended?: A swashbuckling romp full of pulpy goodness. No deep concepts - pure escapism. Full of cool stuff, with solid writing. Two thumbs up.

PS: Oh - and if you like it - there are two more books in the series - Black Lung Captain and The Iron Jackal - all of which are stand alone. In an era where everything's a "sequel" and everything ends in a cliffhanger than forces you to buy the next book, it's very refreshing.

Due to the imminent arrival of our first child, I am starting a bunch more new projects and collecting models in preparation for the lean times ahead. Make hay while the sun shines...

One of these projects was aeronef - I have lots of dirgibles from Brigade for my abortive attempt at a Crimson Skies game but no actual "flying battleships" per se.

Brigade sculpts are solid and simple. This is a benefit - unlike fine fiddly sculpts like Infinity, they are both easy and rewarding to paint. When VAT is removed for non-UK buyers, it pretty much covers postage, keeping prices reasonable. The sculpts had little flash or mold lines and required very little clean up.

The Austrian Navy is my proxy "German" fleet. The actual German fleet being quite ugly with a square river barge/dredge look quite unlike the VSF aerial battleship I would expect. I feel there are some aeronef fleets which are quite staggeringly ugly - the "oval" Scandinavian Federation, the "saucer-ship" Russians, and the "square" Germans and Japanese. I think Brigade is trying for a range of different "looks" but they need to make ships people want to actually buy, for goodness sake...

Brigade tries toohard to be different with some of its ships...

I think the British are along with the French and Italians, among the more "conventional" aeronefs (if there is such a thing). They have ship-like lines and bristle with guns, pre-dreadnought style

The British have a pre-dreadnought feel, and I will definitely be adding some lookout "masts" (though I am dubious how they actually help a flying battleship)

The Austrians have an interesting wedge-nose look which I think works really well on the smaller vessels but can be a bit "shovel-nosed" on the larger battleships

The Austrian escorts are excellent sculpts but they are much larger than their British counterparts which is a bit jarring on the table.

Finally I bought some freighters to escort and raid. There will provide the basis for scenarios. I particularly like the Austrian liner which shares features with its warship cousins giving it a distinctly national design feel.

A rogues gallery of merchant ships.... there may be a Q-ship amongst them...

I photographed the models on a HotzMat star mat (you remember - the one that didn't arrive for 6 months). If you compare it to the MKP mat it is visually superior as it has much fainter hex lines which are less jarring. Material is better quality, too, for the same price. The stars painted on are a bit underwhelming, and don't differ much from the MKP "paint spatters." Verdict: Hotz Mat > MKP Mat - but omlyif you are willing to risk waiting 6 months without replies to messages vs prompt customer service and communication.

I originally found the "not Imperial Star Destoyers" a bit too cute but they are growing on me

Anyway - on to the painting stage (after a few zillion radio masts attached and a lot of curse words later, I'm sure...)

As a person somewhat jaded by wargames rules (I own, play and review dozens each year) I look forward to any offerings from Bombshell Games. The reason? Their rules do not repeat the same tired mechanics ad nauseam, and usually have a strong design focus. The layout of the rulesets have improved markedly since the first book, Havoc, culminating in Battlefield: Miniature Modern Warfarewhich is very pleasantly laid out with good art and photography.

Mayhem utilises many strips of quality fantasy artwork. I would also have liked some pics of minis in action.

The Shiny
Mayhem is a slim work. At only 21 pages it nonethelesss has a comprehensive table of contents and there is a "quick reference" page with all they key rules "at a glance" on a back-to-back A4, and set-up and turn sequences are clearly laid out in their own section. I don't think it is as nice as B:MMW (which is one of my favorite pdf rulesets) but it is quite tidily and clearly presented. It is well priced at $7.99 and compares very favourably with more expensive pdfs.

Overdrive
The Overdrive mechanic makes a re-appearance here - and I feel it fits better, thematically, than in B:MMW where it was first employed. You have a pool of "command points" or "CP" (which I'd suggest a pile of poker chips or counters to represent). Each action takes one command point. Extra actions add an exponential cost - i.e. a 2nd action would cost 2CP, a 3rd action 3CP, etc. So you can push or "overdrive" individual units, but with diminishing returns. Your CP pool is dictated by leadership ability. This adds a simple but naunced layer of resource management, and offers a wealth of options when activating your units; you choose which one, what order, how often; you can even go back to a unit you activated previously as long as you can pay the CP.

Risk vs Reward
Every time you roll a dice you are presented with a choice: you can choose to play it safe - in which case you count half the value of your dice - i.e. if the stat is d10, you can "take the default" and claim an automatic 5. Or instead you can take the risky option - roll the die/dice and keep the best score.
I really, really like this - without complicating the game it forces a decision on the player every time he picks up a dice!

Mayhem would work a treat with Demonworld minis - these Dark Elves look like 28mm, not 15mm...

The fact there is no individual casualty removal encourages HoTT-style "diorama" bases

Stats & Stuff
Mayhem follows the current trend of minimizing stats - simply Move and Combat Quality (which lumps together weapons, armour, toughness etc) and differentiates its models primarily by "Traits Ability & Gear". Whilst I am not a fan of this in skirmish games (simplifying the stats often makes things too grainy or is at the expense of having to learn a zillion "special rules" resulting in more to remember *cough* Song of Blades) this has good pedigree in big battle/historical games - the DBA spin-off Hordes of the Things has far less detail than Mayhem, and is probably only second to Warhammer in mass battle fantasy popularity. In any case, Mayhem restricts itself to 12 "special traits" - so it works for me.

Mechanics
Movement is straightforward; players pay various CP costs to move, advance, reform, engage/disengage etc. Formations are "squared up" neatly to each other in melee, in a commonsense way. Remember: With all rolls players can "take the default" or roll a dice - a unit with d8 speed could either move 4" or take a chance and roll the d8...

In combat players make opposed rolls and attempt to roll lower than their opponents. No matter how many dice are rolled only one is "counted." A natural '1' is a critical and eliminates the opponent - ties have no effect (unless a unit has a special ability like "Shieldwall") - and losing causes a unit to become disordered.

A disordered unit pays 1CP to rally and remove each disorder marker, or it can fight on, paying extra CP for actions - but a disordered unit which takes any hit is wiped out....

Large critters and monsters are not disordered but instead are damaged, and a natural '1' does not auto-kill them. The difference between the scores is the damage inflicted. Monsters get "damage" not "disordered" tokens. These have an additional effect to disorder; you throw 1d6 each token and if the total dice pass 13 ("Lucky 13") the unit is destroyed.

Combat rolls can be modified by extra dice (for flank attacks, or each disordered token on the enemy) or by improving the dice level by one level (d4 to d6) which is a Soft Counter; or by 2 levels (d8 to d12) which is a Hard Counter. Some units have the ability to drive back their opponents through melee combat or missile fire.
In ranged combat, once dice level is for accuracy and a second for damage. To hit, roll the applicable die and equal or exceed the range to the target. Modifiers for cover simply add to the "range" target number. Once a hit is scored, the second (damage) dice makes an opposed roll against the target as per melee.

Once over half the units have been eliminated, a force either (a) instantly loses or (b) makes "break checks" each turn thereafter on a leadership dice. Since it is a simple process, there is no reason not to use the second method as it adds uncertainty and makes smaller, elite forces more useful.

15mm offers so many awesome options, for far cheaper than 28mm. Here are 15mm ~~Skraven~~ Ratmen from Splintered Light Miniatures.

Heroes & Champions
At the start of the turn, a player can roll for Command Points (or take the default, of course). Heroes allow command dice to be re-rolled. They are also your commanders - if units want to activate outside their "command radius" (usually 10-15") actions cost an extra CP. They cannot attack or be attacked by enemy units (except enemy heroes) and can freely move through friendly units. A hero can join a friendly unit if he chooses, and indeed if an enemy unit moves into contact with a hero he must flee and join the nearest friendly unit.

Army Builder
Once overall army leadership is defined, units CQ and movement is priced up. Any additonal costs for the unit type is added (cavalry, flying, hero, etc) . Banners and musicians can be included, and weapon types are defined. Axes, spears, 2 handed weapons, lances, swords - I was relieved to find a solid variety of choices. Missile weapons range from blow guns to crossbows, blunderbuss and slings. Units can have shields or heavy armour. Traits are then added (like "disciplined, beserker, shield wall") to complete the process. There are also some examples of monsters - dragons, wyverns and giants. Also useful is the General's Compendium a "living document" pdf - a mix of generic unit profiles and advice on army building, which is included in your download.

Magic Happens - Eventually
I got to the end and was thinking "where are the magic rules?" "where are the undead?" but apparently that is coming in the expansion, Stronghold - which as the name suggests, includes rules for castles, garrisoning buildings, sieges, artillery, magic and the arcane - as well as extra traits and abilities. Apparently magic rules may be coming sooner rather than later, perhaps as a pdf download.

More Splintered Light 15mm. They have bucketloads of character for such tiny figures.

TL:DR
As usual Mr Spivey produces an interesting and innovative set of rules. I really like the the "automatically get half the dice value or take a risk and roll it" mechanic. You are presented with a (sometimes difficult) choice every time you pick up a dice! Personally, I really like games where the mechanics are simple but the player's decisions are hard. Mayhem certainly does this. The "overdrive" mechanic adds resource management and another layer of tactics as you decide what order, and how often to activate your troops.

The "hard and soft" counters add variety without a horde of modifiers and special rules. Using a single stat "CQ", it remains to be seem if we are in for a deluge of said extra rules in the future (currently Mayhem is very restrained). As it stands the game has the simplicity of Hordes of the Things with much more flexibility, depth and decision making, with a dash of resource management on top. My main criticism is the lack of magic in the core rulebook. You can make skeletons and undead etc using combinations of existing edges in the core rules but if you want powerful casters and "fireballs from the sky" you will need to wait for an expansion.

If you like HotT but found the game too "limiting" and "chess-like" and find Warhammer Fnatasy too "gluggy" and more about dice rolling and list-building than tactics - then you may appreciate how Mayhem provides a pleasant blend of simplicity, tactics, playability and versatility.

Recommend? Yep. I am not a huge mass battle fan (I'm a lazy painter) but Mayhem has inspired me to dig out my old DBA minis. Simple game design but lots of tactical decisions gets the thumbs up.

I was staring at my unpainted lead mountain today, considering fantasy games. Unlike space games, there seems to be a broad spectrum of approaches to this genre. Rather like I did for space games, I'd like to look at elements that I think would make a good fantasy game.

The First Rule: Many Difficult Choices, Few Easy Rules
Games rules should be simple and easy to remember, whilst presenting the maximum number of difficult choices at every opportunity. A shining example is Mayhem, which at every opportunity you have to make a dice roll, you can either automatically claim half the dice (say 3 on a d6, 4 on a d8) or roll the dice and take a risk. Not a hard rule to remember - but it constantly requires a player decision.

Statlines vs Special Rules
At lot of current games have minimized stats. For example, Song of Blades has "Combat" and "Troop Quality" as its only "stats." It then differentiates between units by adding a zillion traits or special abilities - exceptions to the rule. It's false economy - more rules are needed because of the smaller stat line. Oversimplifying has actually added complexity.

Whilst a game of modern combat (where all soldiers are human and most carry 5.56mm automatic weapons) allows generalisations, fantasy - which can encompass lizardmen, ogres, hobbits, dragons, goblins and gargoyles - tends to have very different troop types. Having a sensible stat line keeps the "extra rules" managable.

I find LOTR: SBG surprisingly underrated - perhaps too ~~subtle~~ boring for the average GW powergamer

Initative - the Ignored Factor
IGOUGO doesn't cut it anymore. Games should involve players. Troops should not just wait like dummies to be scythed down. A lot of games ignore the initiative sequence and miss out on an opportunity to present players with tactical choices. An interesting option - the card activation of TFL games - where activation is random, but better leaders have more/better opportunities to act; and troops without inspiring leaders tend to act last. Or Song of Blades and Heroes "risk vs reward" activation where a player can roll dice to take more actions but risks failing and losing the initiative.
Again, I mention LOTR: it has a modified IGOUGO sequence that heroes can "interrupt" to seize the initiative. This not only makes the move sequence more tactical, but makes heroes into actual leaders, not simply walking tanks.

Movement
The "all units move the same distance" lead by 40K just doesn't cut it. A dwarf does not move as fast as a werewolf. Yes, you can say it represents them "advancing cautiously at combat speed, weapons ready" but this is another unneeded simplification (most players can remember how far a unit moves) which removes flavour.

Choices in Combat
Combat in 90% of skirmish games is just move up, roll dice. There isn't much decision making in it. Something that has interested me a lot lately is the concept of "Dice Pools". Bushido has a dice pool, (free rules here) where players can allocate melee dice to attack or defence, as does Havoc. CROM takes the dice-as-a-resource concept further allowing you to "burn dice" - losing dice (ability) permanently for short-term gain. Alkemy uses cards for attack types - certain attacks counter others more effectively, others do more damage, etc. Even LOTR allows a choice of one handed attacks, two handed attacks, and defensive posture.

Song of Blades did a lot of things right in making fantasy skirmish fun - but the biggest strength is its unit builder allowing the use of random cool models to create a custom warband...

Results of Combat
I liked Song of Blades - losers were either knocked down (tip model over); pushed back, or dead (removed). Plenty of cinematic moments, but no record keeping, or even counters to clutter the table, or (God forbid) hitpoints to tick off a unit card a la Warmachine or Malifaux.

Sensible, Interesting Magic
Magic should steer between the two spells of Song and Blades (freeze, and missile attack) and the fireballs of doom-that-decimate-a-regiment of some Warhammer fantasy editions. There should be a sensible range of spells to allow most generic magic attacks as found in movies, TV shows and books, but it also should be limited in power so the game does not simply become a wizard duel. Making magic a finite resource might add a layer of tactics as well. I quite like how the warcasters in Warmachine are used although they are a poor example as far as the "don't min-max or overpower stuff" are concerned.

Heroic Moves, Cut Scenes
Rather than tank-like demigods with 3 wounds, 10 Defence and 7 Strength 9 attacks, I like games where heroes can influence events around him (again, allowing player choice) rather than decimate a entire regiment solo by virtue of superior stats. In Havoc, when initiative rolls were tied, "named" heroes could act while the rest of the fight was paused around them - just like a Hollywood cut scene.
GW's much maligned LOTR was also good this way - heroes could spend a finite amount of "Heroic Actions" to move friendly units out of sequence, get in the first blow etc. This was also a "Resource" to manage as they could also use these heroic actions to re-roll their personal combat results. Basically, heroes should be heroes because they have special heroic abilities. Not simply because they are unkillable walking tanks with impossibly high stats, who can absorb two fatal wounds and fight on...

Resource Management
The command point system of diminishing returns in Mayhem (which reminds me of clicking in a RTS); the order pool in Infinity, your hand of cards in Malifaux.... all these add a layer of strategy and tactics. If done in a way that does not add excessive complication or record-keeping, this can add a final layer of depth to the game.

There are a lot of people waiting for "the next Mordhiem" (or still playing the old one, 20 years on) - showing the value people attach to campaign-based play

Unit Builder
Obviously to be avoided if you are trying to tie the rules to a specific product line, this does make a ruleset more versatile and instantly shoots it to the top of my "buy and try" list. Song of Blades is a great example - it has simple, fun gameplay, but it can be a little shallow - it's real depth is the ability to "stat up" random models and create your own custom warbands using a free Excel spreadsheet. Providing a good reason to paint up old models or cruise the net looking for cool random minis, the unit builder is definitely "value added" to any rules set.

Campaign Mode
Death match "to the last man standing" rules get old after a while. Scenario books and supplements can address this partially, but there is a big crowd of people who think nostalgically of Mordhiem. Hands up if you wish there was a modern replacement for it. Yup, thought so. Exasperatingly unbalanced at times, the campaigns with random battles kept things from getting "stale" and developed a sense of narrative to games. Having heroes "level up" and gain new abilities (or be crippled by wounds) creates a genuine attachment to your force. You know, that badly painted dwarf model you hate the look of, that just would never die, and has killed two enemy champions? Now you're scared to repaint it in case you break it's lucky run.... Campaign rules add a completely new layer of depth to any skirmish game, and allow it to attract a wider range of gamers.

Random Thought: The Lonely d10
I notice games are increasingly using numbers of d6 to "flatten" the probability curve, often with attack dice cancelling out defence dice or similar. The other day I saw a video of an ex-GW games designer spruiking a new Kickstarter game (it's here somewhere) and he was waxing eloquent about how the game will be awesome "cos it used a ten sided dice." I laughed at that - no wonder GW is remaking the same game, 25 years on... they only just discovered d10? The 80s just called - they want their leg warmers back... Why do game designers stick with d6s? I've always thought a d10 had many inherent advantages... it's not like they are the sole preserve of D&D basement-dwellers - I bought my last set at the local ToysRUs.

In Closing
I don't think my "ideal" fantasy game exists yet, though many have strong traits that recommend them. Song of Blades has good initiative, combat results and a stellar unit builder; but it's two-stat/million special rules makes it shallower than it needs. Havoc scores high in gameplay but its limited troop types, lack of unit builder and campaign holds it back. LOTR scores surprisingly well as an all-rounder, but has trouble shaking a feel of all-round "blandness." Mordhiem has a strong (albeit unbalanced) campaign element, but has dated IGOUGO gameplay.

Come across any games that meet (most) of the criteria? I'd love to hear about them.

I've launched into painting the smaller ships for my Aeronef fleets. Though I initially decided to proxy the Austrians as German navy, I opted to go with the dark green pre-WW1 Austrian paint scheme simply as I like the variety, and it is a historically plausible excuse to avoid using grey. I already have enough boring shades of grey with my WW1 1/2400 ships.

The ships currently on my workbench. I'm practicing on the escorts and light cruisers before tackling the bigger ships...

These are WIP shots - the warships are all base-coated, but of course need to be washed, drybrushed and detailed. The merchant ships have only just been started and are only half-covered in paint.

I'm posting this as I have struck a problem with my merchant vessels. I am going with a white upperworks/black hull scheme for all of them, but I have two problems

(a) the best way to paint white ships without them looking super starched whitey-white (I don't think I've had so much uninterrupted white on a model before); and

(b) what colour should the cargo containers be? Modern ones tend towards reds, blues and greens, but I don't want my ships looking like Christmas decorations. Maybe a subdued dark grey or dark metal for the "boxes"? Or a bronzey colour? Or should they simply be a white/light grey like the upperworks?

I haven't got far on the merchant ships as I'm not sure what is the best way to go about painting them. In particular, the colour of the cargo "boxes" is problematic

With the cargo ships, I have washed the white with a black wash to pick out the details so I can see "what I have to deal with."

The Austrian escorts are huge - they seem capable of taking on British cruisers!

Weirdly they are the same price as the smaller British escorts - I'd swear they'd use double the metal to make...

Another thing that bothers me - the Austrian escorts are much, much bigger than the British escorts which is jarring when they are alongside each other on the table. They are even bigger than British destroyers - almost cruiser-sized.

I'm keen to get these painted as I am eyeing off the French fleets. Hopefully I can sneak in another order before the baby arrives, and sucks up all my time and money....

I might as well get painting as there is no way to get into work... or even into town. I know it sounds cool to be "stuck home" but after 5 days I know what house arrest feels like...

Tired of having random paint pots laying around my workbench, I took matters into my own hands. I wanted the paints to be visible side-on (I know you can dab the colour on the lid, but half the time I have to pick the pot up to check the exact shade anyway) and my old paint holder was too small, and had taken up too much room on my bench.

As usual, the solution had to be cheap and very fast to build. I like to spend my time painting and playing with models, not woodworking. Could I make my own paint rack in under an hour?

CNC Workshop Miniatures scenery holds 33 pots for $30. It also takes up valuable bench space. You'd also need two or three of them, unless you have a tiny paint collection...

I used to have a rack a bit like the one above but I found it took up to much table space, and "looking down" it was not always evident what colour the paint was. I usually ended up with random pots I was using sitting on the bench, anyway. I got rid of the "custom holder" and experimented with keeping paint in clear drawers, and clip open containers with partitions.

So some sort of shelving, preferably at eye height? A quick trip to Bunnings later and I had
6 x $1.50 pine strips (120mm)
1 x $8 MDF sheet (120mmx60mm)
1 x $3 pack of small nails
Cost - $20 total

1. Since the pine strips and MDF were of equal length there was no cutting required. Score!
2. Eschewing a tape measure, I spaced the pine strip "shelves" with a few Vallejo bottles (they are the tallest paints I own)
3. I PVA glue the pine strips to the MDF, clamping at both ends to hold them while it dries
4. Flipping the MDF over, I mark the other side to show where the pine strips are
5. This makes it a cinch to whack in a dozen nails each row, in a fast "production line"
Total elapsed time - 43 minutes (hah, well under deadline!)

Yes, it's not exactly woodworking 101, but it's only holding tiny bottles of paint, for goodness sake. It doesn't need to pass engineering certifications. Like with my terrain articles, I like to show how quickly, cheaply and easily even a non-skilled person (I can barely nail straight) can put stuff together.

My 43-minute shelf holds 200 pots for $20. And it takes up no bench space. I plan on putting certain colours in certain shelves, and labeling them. No more rummaging for Boltgun Metal!

A shot of my complete workbench. The engraver/drill/hand tool by Ozito has been very handy for $30 (as opposed to $90 for the "official" Dremel). The $20 Ozito bench grinder is also great for hobby purposes. I've only pinned my shelf in place with clamps as I am getting a brand new shed in a few weeks. Oooh yeah!

Space Mats
As I was tidying my man-cave, I thought I'd take a comparison shot of the Monday Knight Productions vs Hotz space mats. Bear in mind the Hotz I have is custom-built with stars only - for the same price you can also get nebulae like the MKP mat.

The Hotz Mat on the right has much more subtle hexes markings, which I think is a better look. The material is also better quality and has a nicer "finish" which would resist stains better.

Both are practically identical in price (approx. $60 delivered for a 6x4 mat) but Hotz are famously erratic with communication (my mat arrived after 6 months) but have a better quality product; whereas MKP have brilliant customer service and are quick to post stuff out.

I was keeping an eye out for terrain for my new Aeronef fleets when I came across these 1/1200 items from Brigade's own "Land Ironclads" range.

At $7.50 for 20, a village/small town is very affordable....

Not only is it cheap and affordable - it would also work for 1/300 and 1/600 aerial games. Having smaller sized terrain gives a feeling of altitude and "perspective" and makes the ground seem far below the aircraft models on their stands.

This sea fort looks quite plausible

I could also use then for 1/1200 age of sail games and my new 1/1200 coastal forces.
As I was quite pleased with my last Brigade 1/300 terrain, these sci fi desert dwellings, AND this new terrain seems useful for a range of games... ....I feel an order coming on.

A village is not complete without a church...

Besides industrial, agricultural buildings and city "terraced" houses, there is also a Middle Eastern range:

Generic Middle Eastern terrain is useful from the middle ages to modern games....

Definitely a useful range with many applications, and Brigade seems to be expanding its micro scale terrain with regular updates and new content....

Tohaa Unboxing & Pig Iron Ferals

Iron Kingdoms RPG Review

History & Background

Characters

The Game

Other Stuff...

So, to Summarise...

Delta Vector the Game: Reflection

Delta Vector Playtest Mission: The Station Attack

Rippers: The Horror Wars Rules Review (Savage Worlds)

Airships & Sky Pirates Rules Review

Coaling Stations Pre-dreadnought Game Review

Alternate Aeronef VSF Rules: Coaling Stations Mod

Gruntz 15mm Sci Fi Wargames Rules Review

5150 Star Navy Spaceship Wargame Rules Review

CROM - Fantasy Skirmish Rules Review (Starring Conan)

Cyprian Rifts - Just another spaceship game

Battlestations! Battlestations! WW2 Naval Fleet Combat Rules Reviewed

Retribution Falls - Review

Aeronef - Austrian and British Fleets (Part I - Bare Metal))

Mayhem Mass Battle Fantasy Rules Reviewed

(Good) Fantasy Skirmish Wargames

Aeronef - WIP (Merchants, Austrian and British fleets)

Work Benches, Paint Holders & Space Mats

Cheap Generic Terrain for 1/1200, 1/600, 1/300