(Review) Bolt Action v Secrets of the Third Reich: Rules Duel

I thought I might make this the first in a series of rule "double header" reviews.

Yes, Secrets of the Third Reich is technically "weird" WW2 with werewolves, undead and mecha - but I picked these games based on their similarities - both are based on Warhammer 40K mechanics.
(Also, I thought I'd already reviewed Chain of Command which is radically different than both - it turns out I haven't, though I kinda discussed it here.)

The Shiny
Bolt Action has a nice 250-page hardback rulebook with excellent production standards, with glossy goodness on a par with the very best quality rule books.  Although quite a solid offering,  SoTR's smaller softcover just doesn't measure up, with some hit-and-miss art. Both lack a thorough index at the back for finding things.
Winner: Bolt Action has shiny in spades

Initiative & Activation
Bolt Action is streets ahead of its 40K ancestor - you draw two colours of dice from a cup, and the player whose dice it is assigns that dice to a unit, with the face up side showing its order - you can choose Fire, Advance+Fire, Run, Ambush (overwatch), Rally, and Down (no fire, take cover, defence bonus).

In SoTR the top ranked officers "dice off" using their Leadership. The winner gets to choose who activates first, and players then take turns activating units, which is a bit more predictable than BA. Sergeants and officers have a "command range" and can issue orders Regroup/Form-up, Rally, Call off-board strikes or paratroops, ignore suppression, overwatch, and hold (save activation for later in the turn.)  They can also sneak short distances to avoid enemy overwatch fire. 
Winner: Tie. Both have pros and cons, but avoid the dreaded IGOUGO and are a distinct step up from their GW forebears.

 Chalk and cheese? Or simply two different colours of chalk?

Shooting - BA
All bar the most inexperienced troops hit on a 3+, but I like how the "defensive save" is based on the quality of the troops you are firing at - a simple way to emphasize troop skill (and probably copied from Flames of War).  Any shots that hit add "pin" markers that lower a units firepower and morale (as well as forcing it to "test" to execute orders it could normally do automatically.)

Bolt Action almost directly copies its ranges from 40K, accordingly rifles have maximum of 24", SMGs 12"and LMGs 30".  This is a huge immersion breaker for me as it just "looks" wrong and out of scale in 28mm - a 1" tall guy shooting 24" gives a scale range of about 50 yards for a rifle.  Yes, I know about "effective"ranges and how you need to "compress" ranges in some situations and some games, but this isn't one of them.  Being able to stand 25"away from a fire team in the open, immune from enemy fire which is somehow plopping 1"short, is just silly, and a sign of lazy game balancing. (Leading also to the well documented example of how forces at each end of the Warlord's Arnhem Bridge set are immune to each others' fire). 

Shooting - SoTR 
Whilst weapons have "effective" ranges, SoTR correctly points out that most small arms range would exceed the games table and thus rifles and LMGs have unlimited range on the tabletop.  Most shots hit on a 4+ , modified for cover etc like Bolt Action.  The "save" is not based on the target's skill, but if they are wearing body armour (this IS a Weird War II game), though you could easily change this with a house rule.

Troops are not pinned but "suppressed" which means they move to cover and go prone, with penalties to firepower.  There is a little more detail/complication when troops are hit - they can be "down" as well as being killed outright.   Downed models can crawl about but don't contribute until tended by a medic.  SoTR also allow units to lay down suppressing fire which don't damage but have a high chance of pinning down targets.  Overwatch (reaction fire) also works more effectively than BA's rules.  Winner: SoTR. Which is the "historical" set here?  BA's Nerf-like weapon ranges cede it victory by default.

Close Combat
BA uses similar rules as for shooting, except their are no cover saves and soldiers usually get only one dice each (more if they have special weapons). Defenders who haven't yet activated can react by hosing the attackers with fire before they close in.  Once in combat, attackers shoot, then defenders. The side with the most casualties is wiped out. 

In SoTR both fighters roll d6 and add modifiers, with the winner scoring wounds on the loser, like 40K 2nd Edition.  Terrifying monsters can really shred normal troops if they get in close. Unlike BA, the losers can fight on if they pass a morale test.
Winner: Tie. Both are simple and do the job they were intended for.

Morale
If a Bolt Action unit loses half its men from one round of fire, it must test 2D6 vs its leadership or be removed from the game. Units are also removed by losing close assaults. Units can collect increasing amount of pin markers which must be removed by pausing for a "rally" action.

Units in SoTR who take losses test 2D6 vs their leadership or retreat away from the enemy/towards their board edge.  Units who are 'disorganized' can remove their status by pausing for a "rally" action.
Winner: Tie.  Both pretty similar, in slightly different flavours.  BA is more decisive/streamlined (a fail means eliminating the unit) and SoTR is more granular, but Bolt Action troops can collect pin counters.

 Secrets of the Third Reich 'scales down' and handles smaller groups of troops quite well - here two British fire teams are ambushed by ghouls

Army Builder
Bolt Action has a 40K-style force creation list and it brings with it the same meta-gaming mentality of cheesiness - particularly annoying in a 'historical' game. You really have to approach Bolt Action with the mindset that it is a 40K game with a WW2 skin rather than a genuine attempt at historical warfare.  I won't discuss Bolt Action's balance issues here - I'm sure there's plenty of stuff on the net already about how things can be "gamed" -  but even casually reading it I find it interesting that one faction gets a 17% bonus to moving shots for all its infantry:  under difficult conditions this could mean "to hit"odds of 17% vs 3% for everyone else - i.e. 6x better.  Even though they cost the same as any other faction's infantry. This is more disturbing given Bolt Action seems set on being seen as a "competitive" rules set.

SoTR is restricted only to set Weird War units, but given Bolt Action's casual approach to realism you could probably include a SoTR unit in Bolt Action and not notice the difference.  It also allows for min-maxing cheesiness.  However, a big shout out to its Vehicle Builder - which allows you to "stat out" any model in your collection or even make your own (handy for adding awesome T-43 or DUST mecha to your games.)
Winner: Neither, really - both systems can be "gamed". But SoTR gets the nod due to its versatile and fun vehicle builder.

Special Rules
Bolt Action appears to only have a half dozen but they're found in all the army-specific codexes.  SoTR collects them all in its base rulebook, and its Doomsday supplement.   Naturally, SoTR allows for a range of "weird" units like undead, vampires, mechs and werewolves. 
Winner:  SoTR - because there's less of them in the long run (and most are simply to describe the weird units - which is fair enough), and you don't need to spend $250 on all the codexes army books to get them all. 

Vehicles
Bolt Action has pretty sensible and streamlined vehicle rules that are an extension of the infantry rules - vehicles can be pinned (i.e. reverse away from incoming fire) although armoured vehicles can ignore small arms. Scout vehicles can "react"to enemies by making a bonus move to escape (which seems pretty powerful). Shooting works the same as infantry, but hits on armour need to beat 7+ (making them impervious to small arms) - heavy weapons thus have bonuses to allow them to beat this.  Shots can stun, immobilise, or set on fire vehicles as well as destroying them. 

SoTR also has sensible vehicle rules that are an extension of the infantry rules (and even share the same table) - with small arms being unable to pierce armoured vehicles but sometimes luck out against very light armour or power armour.  Shots that penetrate force the crew to pass a "bail out" Leadership test, and unlike the linear BA damage system hit locations are more detailed - you roll 2d6 on one of four penetration charts depending on where you hit the target - front, side, rear or turret.  Mecha have their own charts.  This is one area SoTR is distinctly more complex than Bolt Action.  Probably a bit too detailed for my liking.
Winner: Bolt Action has faster, simpler rules which I prefer, though SoTR has more variety and an excellent vehicle builder.

Scenarios & Other Stuff
Premeasuring - SoTR says (and I agree) that wargames are not a depth-perception test (carpenters should have no especial advantage), and allows pre-measuring. Bolt Action makes you guess (which, given the very short range of rifles, means shots will be wasted, magically be dissipating harmlessly 1" from a target 25"away.)

Bolt Action comes with more scenarios (6) whilst SoTR has a measly three.  BA also has specific artillery rules whereas SoTR allows commanders to call in off-board strikes. 

Both games have nation-specific rules to add flavour i.e.  SoTR Soviets may fire into friendlies in close combat, and their kommisars may fire on their own units to restore "discipline." In BA, Soviets get a free unit of inexperienced "cannon fodder"infantry but get to re-roll morale checks that would otherwise destroy the unit.
Winner: Tie. Both have pros and cons. 

Secrets of the Third Reich's vehicle creation rules allows you to include awesome M.a.K, DUST and AT-43 mecha in the game...

TL:DR
To compare it them 40K from which both descended: SoTR is 40K 2nd Ed, and Bolt Action is 40K 3rd Ed+.

This means Bolt Action follows the Games Workshop trend of excessively streamlined rules, sacrificing realism for quick "pick up"games.  It also has nothing innovative at all as it copies all its systems directly from 40K or FoW (not surprising, given the authors). It's a quick, casual game, which uses mechanics derived from space fantasy with a WW2 "skin." The 40K-style army builder encourages cheesiness and gaming the  "system" - which is sure to happen given the target audience of Bolt Action is ex-GW gamers.   It also follows the Games Workshop routine of releasing "codexes" or army books which add in special rules for particular forces, some of which are more advantageous than others, and are more "gamey" than historical.  This game is designed to encourage collecting different armies through "FOTM" codexes, and is aimed squarely at converting 40K players to historical games (which it does very well.)

Secrets of the Third Reich, ironically enough, is somewhat more realistic, given its "weird"focus, though its gameplay is also pretty simple and borrows heavily from 40K. It also has cheesiness, though this is somewhat more to be expected from an alternate-WW2 setting set in 1948, where undead, mecha and weird tech runs rampant. I feel it also "scales down" better - you could have a fun game using only a couple of squads - like the older style 2nd ed 40K and Rogue Trader. There is also only one expansion (Doomsday) vs the dozen or so army books available for Bolt Action.

Recommended:  Since this is a "comparison" article I'll leave you to make up your own mind.  That said, while I happily use SoTR for Weird WW2, for historical games, I'd eschew Bolt Action altogether: Chain of Command gives a more accurate depiction of WW2 as opposed to "space fantasy WW2".

Weird War II - Pulp Nazis, British and Mantic Ghouls (Secrets of the Third Reich)

I've had both SoTR rules and minis for ages. I got them and AE:WWII simultaneously, and I was originally drawn to the latter rules due to lower miniature count and more "cinematic" action, but like AE: Bounty the rules quickly fell by the wayside.  

British with gasmasks to resist the zombie-creating V-Gas.  The squad has a Boyes anti tank rifle to put down even the most pernacious Nazi werewolf.

Anyway, I dug out the West Wind official SoTR models and painted them a few weeks back, also grabbing out the rules and giving them a quick spin.  I was quite impressed - even with my limited playthrough they were surprisingly solid WW2 rules - though simple, they are arguably more realistic and "deeper" than Bolt Action (which admittedly isn't very hard.)  I also like their "create a vehicle" points system which would allow you to repurpose MaK and DUST vehicles and mechs to fit within the SoTR universe.  (I can more thoroughly review the SoTR rules if anyone is interested)

The Nazis have glowing red gasmask lenses...  ...well, just because it feels right!

The West Wind official SoTR models are quite chunky and many of the poses/proportions are a bit off, but they are charmingly characterful and I found them pleasant to assemble and paint. I'm planning of doing another squad or two of each and adding some Soviets to the mix.

The SoTR rules "scale down" OK and I'm thinking of digging out my Terraclips sewer set and having a Mordhiem-type game through the sewers of 1947 Paris, hunting some occult relics perhaps. 

This inspired me to create some sewer inhabitants.  I dusted off a sprue of Mantic Ghouls (good but limited range of poses, good price, easy to assemble/paint) and gave them a quick dab of paint.  They fit in well with the Weird War vibe and will be handy for fantasy/medieval games. I'm definitely grabbing the Mantic zombie pack too and I have a few ideas for conversions using Perry plastics and Mantic undead body parts. Personally I think the War of the Roses or English Civil War skirmishes could be made even more fun by adding undead.

The photography came out rather badly - the ghouls actually look much better "in the flesh."

These models were to be a "warm up" to get back in the groove after a 6-month painting hiatus.  Next, I am targeting some of the wonderful but rather soul-destroyingly difficult Infinity models.

Supersonic Subs, Airships and more Terrain Building

Here's two tables where I am using my 30-minute scratchbuilt terrain.

Here's a more "traditional" aeronef dock. 

The aeronef aerial dock was my latest 30 minute project - to go with the "submarine pen" style aeronef base made of packaging.

I made it of balsa wood - I got a pack of pre-cut balsa for $7 from my local hardware store.\

With all this terrain spouting from my 30-minute projects, I needed some more tables. I'm a fan of pre-cut 3ft x 4ft MDF.  It's very light and easy to move around.

I glue a strip of pine down the sides to stop the MDF bending out of shape.  As you can see from the top picture, the strip also allows it to be turned into a sand table with the addition of a single bucket of sand.

This has the advantage of making a single skirmish table, or if you flip them over and shove two together, a single "standard" large 6ft x 4ft table.

I used some 1:300 Brigade Models sci fi buildings as a stopgap VSF desert town.

I'm experimenting with using the General Quarters 3 rules mixed with my own homebrew add-ons as I dislike the million hitboxes and dice-chugging random blandness of the "official" Aeronef rules.

The other table is my own homebrew rules - "SuperCav" - near future sub warfare beneath alien oceans.  The normal cat-and-mouse of the current modern era of sub warfare can be varied by dogfights between "supercavitating" sub-fighters  which use rocket engines to travel at 500kph+ "flying" inside their own gas bubble.

Some rocket fighters patrol past an undersea refinery

A transport sub undocks from a undersea habitat, escorted by two fighters

Yes, it's just spraycan caps and plastic aqarium plants, but the table, simple as it is, is "unified" by a common theme - and it took only a hour to make....

I also know my next 30-minute terrain challenge - building undersea volcanoes and thermal vents, as well as "contoured" undersea mountains...

Cheap & Nasty Scratchbuilt Terrain: Packaging = Aeronef Hangar/Bunker

Many people say terrain building guides are inspirational. They aren't actually. They're more aspirational. They are usually so amazingly professional and detailed, I go "I wish I was that good" or "I wish I had that much spare time" and don't even attempt it.

My goal here is to make stuff people go "heck, I could easily do better than that dude!" or "I could do x instead."  As usual, the aim is to spend 30 minutes or less on the building or terrain piece, from start to finish.

Packaging
I bought some plastic aquarium plants for my new sub game (more on that later) and as I was about to throw out the packaging I thought... I wonder if I could make something out of it?  The molded plastic that packages everyday items comes in some weird and wonderful shapes.  

This package looked a bit bunker-like. I tossed up whether to build a 15mm sci fi bunker to go with my existing scratch built 15mm stuff but I have been busy painting my aeronef fleets today and I'd like some accompanying terrain.  Inspired by the U-boat pens, I decided to build an "aeronef base."

This was my inspiration.

This was what I had to work with. Besides the packaging (free) I used a pre-cut piece of MDF from Bunnings which cost me $1. I also grabbed some packets of pre-cut balsa wood from their craft aisle which also cost about $1.  Total cost - $2.

Spray Paint - A Scatch-Builder's Friend
When scratch building, can I underline the importance of paint?  A coat of paint can transform random objects into an interesting piece of wargaming terrain. In fact I'd say the ability to look at an unpainted object and go "ah, this could be x with a coat of paint" is THE key skill in scratch building.  You can lovingly handpaint stuff, of course, for some lovely effects - or, like me, you can casually spray the terrain with $2 cans, and cut your terrain-building time to minutes, instead of hours.  

From A to Z
It's probably obvious from the finished photos, but here's what I did
1. Sprayed the plastic packaging grey
2. Cut out doors and roof hatches
3. Glued the cardboard backing to the doors and roof hatches and painted them silver
4. Sprayed the MDF base blue and added some "waves" as the water looked a bit bland
5. Made a cardboard "dock" and sprayed it grey
6. Glued everything into place
7. Brushed PVA glue around the sides, and sprinkled beach sand on top (sieved with my wife's flour sieve to remove impurities...)
8. Sprayed some balsa pieces brown and glued them to the dock as buildings. Pro tip: The spray will blow small balsa pieces everywhere (*cough* of course I didn't do this) unless you blu tac them down.

This is the completed aeronef pen.  I kinda envision aeronefs needing to land on water as they have boat shaped hulls, and I'm sure a water landing would place less stress on the hull.

The balsa wood "buildings" look OK from a distance and make the building less bland.  You can see the glue hasn't dried - I tend to cut corners and work with things not fully dried in order to finish under my self-imposed time limit.

A aeronef frigate coming in to land in the outside dock.  I'm going to do a raid on the nef base rather like the WW1 raid on the Cuxhaven zepplin sheds.

As usual, it took 30 minutes, from concept to full completion.  Yes, it is pretty rough. Yes, I didn't even use a ruler.  But I'm adhering to my 30 minute deadline pretty strictly (I actually made this while waiting for the glue on another project to dry).

The packaging would also make a decent 15mm bunker as well and I'm tempted to do it with my other packet.  Anyway, I hope I've inspired someone to look at packaging in a new way.

...rips open parcel - throws away miniatures - excitedly takes packaging off to the workbench...

In Her Majesty's Name - 28mm VSF/Steampunk Skirmish Rules Review

Steampunk and Victorian SF/horror has been on the rise lately:  I've reviewed Empire of the Dead, Chaos in Cairo/Carpathia, Strange Aeons, Rippers: The Horror Wars, and the weird wild west Deadlands.  Since IHMN has its own integral miniatures series, I am going to primarily contrast it with Empire of the Dead - the most "high profile" of the steampunk games which also has a miniature line from West Wind.  

A slim book, with rather dated layout, iHMN is packed full of more content than larger, more polished hardback rivals

 The Shiny
IHMN is put out by Osprey and is similar to the thin softcover "Men at Arms" series, at a slim 65 pages.  With colour pictures  and art throughout, it has good production values.  At only $11 it is cheaper than most pdf rulesets.  I do like pictures of miniatures in game and the rulebook is quite inspiring.

I did not like the internal layout and text style - it uses the rule 3.1, rule 3.2, rule 3.2b 1990s style rules format and a small font.  More subheadings, use of bold or coloured print and coloured captions for rules would have been good.  Considering the huge page margins a larger font could have been used. I found myself re-reading a page several times to find key information which is never a good sign. It did have a good table of contents and quick reference sheet so a tick there.  Considering the price, it is excellent value for money as it is very "complete."
Face Off: EotD is better laid out and is much easier to read and use, and as a large hardback is far more "shiny." However iHMN is simply much, much better value for money ($11 vs $45). You can buy a complete warband for the price difference in the rules. Winner: iHMN

The servants of Ra - definitely a nod to "The Mummy" - available from Northstar

Fluff
Unlike EotD, IHMN is notably free of the vampires or werewolves and seems less "gothic/occult" in tone.  It does have mad scientists, undead Prussian soldiers, yetis. magic rules and a warband to play the Mummy, but it seems aimed at more "VSF" than "horror." I suspect the omission of vampires et al has been done deliberately, but avoiding them completely seems silly - "Dracula" is a Victorian classic.
Faceoff: iHMN has far more options, but seems to deliberately handicap itself by avoiding legitimate "Victorian" monsters like vampires and werewolves. Tie.

The Stats
 iHMN trims the "stat line" to 4 areas:
PLUCK - an interesting mix of guts and toughness, used to resist hits and take morale tests

SHOOTING VALUE - bonus to shooting rolls
FIGHTING VALUE - bonus in close combat
SPEED - bonus to "normal" 6" move, modifies some attack rolls

Also relevant is:
ARMOUR - used to block hits

MYSTICAL POWERS - i.e. magic & mad science - only a few factions and characters have this

TALENTS - or "special abilities"

Scotland Yard Company. While I think of it, here is iHMN's official blog link

GAME SEQUENCE
I found this rather interesting. Each player alternates moving one model each, then each player alternates shooting with one model each, and each player alternates fighting melee with one model each.  I'm used to "alternate moves" but usually each model moves, shoots and/or fights before moving to the next model. This breaks the turn up even further.  It's simple but ensures there is very little "down time" for each player.

Mechanics
Each model can move 6" + their speed bonus.  A running model can add 3" but forgoes any shooting. Generally pretty standard.

When shooting, the firer adds his "Shooting Value" + d10 + any weapon bonuses, and tries to beat the target's "Armour" rating.  If the target is hit is must make a "Pluck" roll or it is out of the game. There are modifiers if a firer moved or not, or if the target ran. Tracking this is a bit of a pain and using markers clutters the board a bit.  Rapid fire weapons and flamethrowers for example, can engage multiple targets.  Groups of models may "volley fire" - they can only inflict one hit but they can get a bonus to defeat a heavily armoured target or one in heavy cover. 

Fighting works much the same way, except the target can use his Speed bonus against the attack. Players with a high Fight Value can split the bonus between multiple foes.  When you outnumber a foe you can choose to "Mob" him - similar to volley firing, there is a bonus against the armour, but only one hit can be scored.

Pluck rolls are used if a model takes a hit, or if faced with a morale test (fighting a terrifying foe, for example) - and the Pluck rating must be beaten on a d10.  Many weapons modify the Pluck rating - two-handed sword would be -2, for example. If the roll is under the Pluck rating, it is out of the game. If it is equal to the Pluck rating, it is Knocked Down, cannot act again, and suffers significant penalties. Medics can revive fallen models and help Knocked Down ones recover.
Face Off: iHMN takes "alternate activation" a step further. EoTD is stuck with IGOUGO and is basically GW's-LOTR-with-d10s. Keeping track of movement is a bit annoying in IHMN, though.  Winner: iHMN

I thought the absence of werewolves and vampires was a deliberate avoidance of monsters/occult... until I saw the Black Dragon Tong's yeti... 

Weapons & Gear
The "armour" of a model can range from none, to lined coats, brigandines, steel breastplates etc - or even repulsion fields or anti-electric suits.The armour rating is the score "target number"to beat when rolling  hits with shooting or melee.

iHMN has wide range of (41) weapons, ranging from bullwhips to sabres, revolvers to Nemo-style electric rifles, as well as weird science such as the revivivfiers and electric burst generators.  In addition, iHMN has vehicles such as walkers, rocket cycles, ape howdahs, ornithopters

iHMN has 25 special abilities or "Talents" characters can possess, and although less "occult" than EotD, it has more "magic" or "science" powers (18) ranging from "clouding mens' minds" to levitation and throwing fireballs - as well as having a system to create and point up your own special powers. 
Face Off:  iHMN has double the weapon, equipment, and special ability options. That said,  EoTD's more prescriptive approach would make competitions more balanced and be less open to abuse than iHMN - but 40K-style min-maxers seem pretty rare in VSF.  The addition of vehicles tips the balance firmly to iHMN. Winner: iHMN
      

There the AAR's on"Matt's Gaming Page" has fantastic terrain.

Companies
iHMN has 6 distinct human factions, ranging from Scotland yard to a British rifle company, as well as the Tong, Mummies, cowboys, the USMC and  Foreign Legion, and anarchists. Again, the absence of Victorian horror staples such as vampires and werewolves is notable.


Where EotD has tables for casualties, advancement, recruitment etc iHMN simply uses VP's earned in scenarios as universal currency for buying new recruits or "leveling up" others.   They both work in similar fashion.

Face Off: iHMN has far more variety than EoTD, which only has only werewolf, vampire, inquisitor, and 4 almost identical human factions.  Most importantly, iHMN allows you to create and stat-up individual random models while EotD only fits to a template. Winner: iHMN

There seems to be a sequel in the works which includes Vatican monster hunters, darkest African, Russian spies and Asian secret societies. Sounds good - and if it's also $11, a no-brainer purchase...
 
Scenarios
There are standard scenarios: Retrieve a a VIP, "breakthrough" to the opposite end of the board, assasinate enemy leader, discover secret documents/relics, hold the fort, escape, king of the hill, catch the pigeon, and destroy the escaped mutant.  These can have "complications" added such as fog, minefields, night falling, local police arresting, earthquakes, etc.  There also is a wide range of locations ranging from London back alleys to the Orient Express.
Faceoff: iHMN offers more options, but EotD lays out their 5 basic scenarios more clearly.  Tie.

TL:DR - The Matchup
Despite being a much smaller, cheaper production, iHMN edges its more polished rival, by having an more involved turn sequence offering more involvement than vs a rather staid IGOUGO.  EotD is pretty much a d10 version of GW's LOTR or "Legends of the Old West" which is a plus or minus depending on how you look at it.  Further, the wider range of warbands and equipment (and the ability to "stat up" random models from scratch) means iHMN offers more flexibility.

Recommended? Yes.  A more flexible, involving game than it's major rival, iHMN is a steal at $11.
It's my "new best" VSF skirmish ruleset.

Wild West Exodus: Deadlands 28mm Weird West Miniature Options

I came across Wild West Exodus by accident in my search for Deadlands miniatures.  It seems very slickly presented and raised $332,000 - a tad more than the $20,000 kickstarter goal.  I'm sure I'll review the skirmish rules when they come out, but for now I'll content myself with linking some photos of the upcoming miniatures:

The Indian "Sky Spirit" and werewolf "Sitting Bull" of the Indian faction which has a heavy shapeshifter vibe....

 

The "Enlightened" are the mad scientist faction with plenty of clockwork gizmos; they remind me of Malifaux arcanists somewhat...

Jesse James looking "hip" with body armour

 

Union soldiers also have a steampunk vibe

Anyway, I'm sure you'll investigate the link to find out more, so continuing the theme of "miniatures for Deadlands" - besides the aforementioned "Malifaux"....

No weird west game would be complete without undead "ladies of the night"

These "Guild Autopsies" would make decent undead cowboys... I just resent paying $6 apiece for a plastic miniature....

There are also a wealth of new VSF/steampunk games like "Empire of the Dead" - of whom many characters could be transplanted to the Wild West....

The Victorian civilian zombies would fix OK in the Wild West - especially if you kitbashed their caps into cowboy hats or bowlers.... there is also a "Werewolf" range that looks quite suitable

Reaper do official Deadlands miniatures for the RPG, but the line is rather limited.  

The undead cowboy and "Old Pete" were my favourites

Finally, there is also the old Rail Wars miniatures which were available through Jeff Valent studios.  I have a few and did not like the chunky model design or sculpt quality so I can't recommend them.  In addition, I hear some dubious stories about orders being (or rather not being) filled, which may simply be salacious gossip, but the fact I can't get the website to work is a bit concerning.

Ignoring monsters (which can be sourced from almost anywhere) and standard cowboys/civilians - of which there are large ranges available from Black Scorpion (my favourite) and smaller models from Foundry, among others  - I'm keen to source more "Weird West" miniatures.  Zombies/undead are a particular interest, as they tend to be rather obviously either modern, sci fi, or fantasy.   

Aeronef - WIP (Merchants, Austrian and British fleets)

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...

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

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 too hard 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 omly if 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...)

Retribution Falls - Review

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.

CROM - Fantasy Skirmish Rules Review (Starring Conan)

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!