Salute 2019 - After the Apocalypse

That time of year is almost upon us once more. Yep, it's the big one, Salute. The theme this year is "After the Apocalypse"

 Image copyright South London Warlords. Obvs.

We all descend on the Excel Convention centre in London. Backpacks empty, shopping lists in our sweaty hands, cameras and smartphones in macro mode ready to snap away.
My Facebook feed already no longer shows anything my friends are doing, just all the various Wargaming companies reminding us they will be there for that one day in April where the Longbeards of dice rolling gather in the Great steel hall of trade.

We start the day with the long train ride, what is the best way to get across London, what stations are closed? Why didn't my Brother in Law bring himself a coffee like the rest of us always do and now he is in a caffeine grump. As we get on to the DLR we normally play the traditional game of "wargamer or marathon runner" as we normally share the Excel with all the healthy bods signing up for the London marathon the following day. Although this year Salute is early, so we shall miss those Lucozade swigging health nuts. (I'm not sure how many wargamers out there run marathons too. Although if they do they won't save on train fair this year.) One year we were totally thrown when two young ladies on the DLR didn't look particularly athletic (not dressed head to toe in Lycra) but also didn't seem the wargamer type. It turned out that year the same day at Excel there was a "Sherlocked" convention for fans of Benedict Cumberbatch's recent portrayal of the Baker Street detective. Totally threw us. Anyway, I digress.

So, a quick run down on my own personal list of things to look out for at Salute. Quick editorial disclaimer first, if I state a miniature company is new, it's new to me, or feels new as the many years of dice rolling fly by so quick, apologies if they have been going for years, blood, sweat, lead and tears, trying to sell their wares, I just haven't noticed them until now.

So, before Salute it is advisable to research who will be there, I have said this before and on a previous blog post I have hyperlinked all the companies attending a show. (Colours in September) luckily, South London Warlords have done the hard word for me here.

So, let's start with the old familiars. First visit is definitely always Hasslefree Miniatures. I've said it before, lovely company. I cannot stress how good the models are from this company, follow Kevs page on Facebook, Hasslefriesian, to see work in progress photos just to see how much effort goes into these toy soldiers. He is always open to discussion too, no matter how much he pretends to be grumpy. Although don't start suggesting he "does that character from that film I like" because he will shout at you for being a moron. (rightly so.)

I am loving the renaissance(?) in laser cut MDF terrain at the moment. Until this came along your choices for buildings on the table were expensive resin (which got dropped and chipped just five minutes after purchase) or build your own. Now not all of us are Anthea Turner or Diane Sutherland (How does she do all that crafting and keep such a wonderful manicure? See her book here.) So MDF came along as a relatively cheap option that looks so good on the table, especially for periods in history that involve a lot of wood, like the Old West. My personal favourite company are Sarissa Precision, mainly because they come unpainted, which keeps the price down and also they were the first I had. I won't lie, my amazing wife discovered them when looking for birthday presents for me back when they had a very small range of just Old West town buildings, now they have a huge range, I might even be tempted to buy their steamer boat this year.

Anvil are a reasonably new company that started out with just a few heroic scale compatible sci fi heads, arms, weapons etc. that could make your Spam army that bit different from the four billion other ones out there. They have since expanded and have their own proper range that you can still buy in mix and match.

Leslie's bits box, I've no idea where they manage to get their stock from but if you want old school Necromunda, Mordheim, Epic, Warhammer, go visit them. They also have a good range of new boxed stuff too.
Bad Squiddo, obviously, need I say any more than I have before. Annie is reducing her buying in of other manufacturers and starting to expand her own range. A bold move, but definitely the right one I think, starting at Salute with a range of scatter terrain that I shall be looking to grab for my Heroquest table.
Obviously Warlord games. I shall be visiting Wargames Illustrated to sort out my subscription for the year to ensure I don't miss out on any of the rest of the free sprues in 2019 and getting a voucher to spend at Warlord.

Perry Miniatures is a must. I shall be picking up some British Intervention Force as I am going to try a Pig War gone hot scenario. Already having some period American civilians, I just need to add some plastic American Infantry and find the pigs I bought at Colours last year. There are some handy scenario notes in Ospreys Men Who Would be Kings book that will mean the Illustrious Opponent and I will be exchanging polite warning shots across the backs of the greedy livestock!

Avoid Forgeworld like the plague unless you like contact sports and know in advance what you want to purchase from them. They don't have anything on display and previous years it's been a struggle to get a clear look at a catalogue. I guess GW assume their customers have a photographic memory for their range. I'm not doubting they have some nice stuff, as is obvious by how busy they are, but I haven't the energy any more for trying to get served like it is five to closing time in the bar on a Saturday night.

Looking at new people to visit. Firstly I am interested in a company called Blotz. I believe they have been going just a couple of years and have an interesting MDF range including a 28mm scale submarine that you can buy in sections so you can build any size sub you like and an interesting looking dungeon terrain system.
Atlantis Miniatures are getting bigger, they started with some lovely sculpts of very hairy dwarfs a couple of years ago and now the range includes trolls, orcs and bears, oh my! Seriously though, these are really nice "beefy" resin 28mm models, although that is reflected a little in the price. The orcs remind me of the orcs in the Warcraft movie. (Terrible movie but lovely design.) Finally of intrigue is Modblokz. A new looking terrain system, that consists of plastic modular sections that are held together by magnets. The professional looking videos make it look effortless to build and I am guessing it is designed for the wargamer with limited storage space in my mind. My wife would approve.

There are lots more obviously that I could go on about but this blog post is becoming an essay. I am possibly going to try some live Facebook posting on the day so be sure to like my Facebook page @playwithlead to see photos of the day as I enjoy my day pass and try to resist buying a new game system that takes up too much room and annoys my very understanding wife.

Ragnarok!

No, not the Marvel Movie, the original end of days. I'll be there, will you?

So, I thought my next post would be the great pre Salute prep post, but this came up today and I had to get my thoughts out there on the subject.
So, as you know I love Opsrey Wargames books, every now and then I am on my phone browsing the web and I exclaim, "Osprey have bloody done it again!"
"They have made another book you want, haven't they, my darling?" my encouraging and understanding wife asks.
Of course they have.

Cover presumably copyright Osprey publishing.

A dramatic cover, I hear you say. Well, that is the idea. Apparently, from the minimal infomation gleaned from the Osprey pages and the Facebook group. (I declared to my wife, I have been accepted to Ragnarok! What are you doing at the end of times?!) This game is meant to be played with an accompanying musical track of Heavy Metal tunes.

Remember this? Now can someone make a wargame out of this!

Written by Tim Korklewski, the game is a skirmish system with minimum 7 a side where you don't just hit each other with swords and axes. Apparantly you will be pushing and throwing your opponents around the battlefield using a mechanic called the Godspark. It's campaign driven, I am guessing your campaign ends when the great world tree finally topples and the realms come to an end. It's a very definite strong beat to a skirmish campaign system, something that normally just ends up being, whose gang ends up being the richest?

You can browse the first couple of pages of the book on the Osprey website here.

Now I definitely have some hardcore metalheads for wargaming friends, my normal Illustrious Wargaming Opponent isn't one of them, but I reckon he would still give it a go as long as we kept the volume down (although can one actually really listen to AC\DC or Iron Maiden with the volume down?). As you know I already have started some Footsore Vikings, so next month at Salute I think I shall be bringing out my inner Kappi to fight past the backpacks and trolley suitcases (when did they become a good idea?) and pick up some more suitable dramatic axe wielding warriors.

World War Two, Hollywood style

 
I have mentioned this a couple of times on my blog, so to the regular readers, apologies for the slight repetition. My Illustrious Wargaming Opponent and I have played quite a few games of Rapid Fire and found it very enjoyable, but I wanted to try something at 28mm scale, with more emphasis on the characters, more Hollywood style. After all, we wargame to have fun and sometimes we should be allowed to be a bit looser with the historical accuracy.

My Captain America conversion, I believe the original model is from Reaper.

So, here undedited, but definitely playtested, my WW2 rules. They are written around the skeleton of Games Workshops Old West rules, "Legends of the Old West." So you will need a copy of the main rulebook, sadly no longer in print, but there are copies floating around if you look hard enough. Feedback and suggestions for more characters gratefully received. I hope you try it and enjoy!

Captain America and the Howling Commandos

The Setting

This isn’t World War Two, this is Hollywood World War Two. This is Comic book World War Two. In this setting, a GI can catch an unexploded grenade and throw it back in Gerry’s face. In this setting Captain America may easily be found high fiving Ace Rimmer as Hellboy looks brooding in the background lighting his next cigar. “He looks like a Sour Kraut.” Quips Ace as they watch Hitler swinging back and forth from the rope tied round his waist. The Rocketeer ties the other end of the rope to a lamppost then jets off into the big blue.

The rules are standard Legends of the Old West rules with the weapons lists swapped out for contemporary World War Two weapons. In the interests of gameplay the pistols and rifles have not been increased in power or accuracy compared to those of the 19^th century.  However, The following extra rules also cover new technologies such as cars and tanks.

Non historical notes

In this universe the following factions exist.

The BPRD. The Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense was founded by a joint venture between the United States and the United Kingdom governments, charged with researching the occult, paranormal and supernatural. Defending against their dangers. Noted agents include the half demon, Hellboy.

Hydra. Hitlers own agency charged with investigating the paranormal, led by Baron Von Strucker and the Red Skull. The Barons own personal goals are actually to take over Nazi Germany, Hitler is just a pawn in his own nefarious plans.

Rules

Vehicles.

Unlike other wargames, some vehicles have no specific crew/drivers. A tank will have a driver and a gunner but if an open top vehicle it will just be an empty vehicle. Any model can get in a vehicle and drive it, or fire its weapons. (In Hollywood the keys are always in the ignition.)

To get in to or out of a vehicle, roll a dice:

1: the door is stuck, jammed, locked stay outside the vehicle or inside.

2-5: You can leave or enter the vehicle then stop and take no further action.

6: You make a heroic exit and can continue your move, or you have heroically leapt into the vehicle and gunned the engine or fired its weapon. You can either move the vehicle or fire its weapon.

Moving vehicles. Although realistically vehicles are much faster than people, this is skirmish and the vehicles don’t necessarily get up to their top speed. A vehicle cannot make a move if a passenger has just embarked or disembarked unless they rolled a 6.

 A vehicle can make one of the following:

A: Move 8” and fire a weapon, either mounted on the vehicle, or one of their own.

B: Move 12” and fire no weapons

C: Move 18” Along a road and fire no weapons

A passenger cannot just swap between the mounted weapon and the steering wheel. The player must declare the swap over as the models whole move.  Models can only fire their own weapon from a motorbike or open-top vehicle.

Shooting at Vehicles.

If the vehicle is open top, the firer can choose to target the vehicle or the passenger. They must then make a 4+ in the way roll after the successful hit. Only weapons of Strength 6 or higher can damage a vehicle. Roll to wound a vehicle as normal, then if it has lost its last wound roll a D6:

1 or 2: No ill affect, vehicle cannot move next turn.

3: Light damage, cannot move or shoot next turn. If already been lightly damaged, then heavy damaged automatically.

4: Heavy damage, roll another dice, 1-3 lost all drive, cannot move, 4-6 lost random weapon unless has no weapons, then also lost all drive. (Unless already received a heavy damage, then disabled.

5: Disabled. Permantly cannot move or shoot. Pretty much a piece of cover. (If open top passengers can choose to stay in the vehicle and use as 360 degree cover, not if a motorbike!)

6: Explodes. Castrastrophic Hollywood explosion. All passengers lose a wound. They can use a fortune to try and negate this, staggering heroically from the wreckage.

Motorbikes

Motorbikes are the exception for being shot at. They have a grit of 5 and can be damaged by any weapon. Rules wise they are exactly like horses except they have no pluck value. They have one wound and do not roll on the above damage table. They move 10” and only move at half rate through difficult terrain. Riders can attempt to jump a bike and Saddle Up! Exactly like a horse. If a bike loses a wound the rider must make a thrown rider test as well as if he fails a jump or Saddle Up! If a rider is killed and the bike is not damaged, it will stop and be rideable by any model can get to it.

Vehicles

Name	Grit	Wounds	Weapons	Special
Bike	5	1	None	See above
Staff car or Jeep	6	1	None	Open top
SDKFZ 231 Armoured car	7	1	20mm kwk MG34
Panzer 2	8	2	20mm kwk
Sherman Firefly	9	2	17 pounder

 

Weapons

British and American Weapons

Name	Range	Strength	Move Penalty	Special
Bazooka/17 pounder	8-18	6	Full	Explosion template
Tommie Gun	Special 6	3	Half	Spread template
30 cal Machine gun	Special 12	4	Full	Spread template
M1 Rifle	18	3	Half
Bren Gun	18	3	Half/Full	Two shots at full movement penalty
Piat	8-18	8	Full
Sten Gun	Special 6	3	Half	Spread Template
Lee Enfield Rifle	24	3	Full
Longbow	18	2	Half	Silent
Vibranium Shield	18	As user	None	Throwing shield, silent
Grenade	Str x 2	6	Half	Explosion template
Good Samaritan	12	3	Half	Scattergun setting

Special Range.  Guns that have special range have a range that you then place the spread template at the end of, then anything under or partially under the template is rolled to hit.

Weapons with two ranges, the first number is the minimum, due to the explosive nature of the weapon.

Bren guns can fire once at Half speed, or if stay still fire two shots at the same target.

Throwing shield. Can throw in a direct line against any target, building or person. Then can ricochet and change any direction thrower chooses. Can make one or two ricochets, each one roll a dice, on a 1 or 2 the shield stops and must be collected. Otherwise continues and then returns immediately to owner. (The return is on top of the 18” range.) This means it can hit up to three targets. The first part of the throw cannot be more than 10”. Each target hit is thrown to the ground regardless of whether wounded. Also on a 4+ can be used to bounce grenades back as if the wielder threw the grenade themselves if Cap is within 1" of the grenades target.

German Weapons

Name	Range	Strength	Move Penalty	Special
Stg 44	18	4	Half	4 shots, always roll of 6 to hit Slow reload
20mm kwk	18	6	Special	Vehicle mounted
MG 34	Special 12	4	Full	Spread template
Experimental tesseract rifle	18	4	Half	Forceful
Luger	12	4	None
Stick Grenade	Str x 2	6	Half	Explosion template
Grenade Launcher	18	6	Full	Explosion Template
Hand Flamer	Spread Template	4	Half	Template

Russian Weapons

Name	Range	Strength	Move Penalty	Special
Tokarev Rifle	24	3	Full
PPS43	12	3	Half/Full	Three shots full movement penalty, one at half

The stug 44 fires like fanning a six gun. 6 to hit and if successfully hit, then allocate the next shot to any target within three inches.

The Experimental rifle goes through cover like a hot knife through butter. Reduce the in the way roll by one, so a fence is ignored on a 2+ instead of a 3+. A person or vehicle is still an in the way roll of 4+ though.

The Cast

Von Strucker and his bodyguard. (Models from Warlord Games with a head swap for Strucker.)

German Army

Baron Von Strucker

S	F	St	G	A	W	P	Fa	Ft	Points
4+	3	4	5	1	2	6	1	1	50

Equipment: Stg 44. Experimental Heavy Armour

Special Rules: Heavy armour, reduces movement to 4” but increases Grit by 1 (already in profile)

Leader, Allies can use his Pluck value within 6”

The Barons Bodyguard

S	F	St	G	A	W	P	Fa	Ft	Points
6+	3	3	5	1	1	3	0	0	20

Equipment: Stg 44. Experimental Heavy Armour, 1 stick grenade

Special Rules: Heavy armour, reduces movement to 4” but increases Grit by 1 (already in profile)

Experiment 239 - the result of Nazi scientists meddling with man and machine. (Model from Hasslefree miniatures.)

Experiment 239

S	F	St	G	A	W	P	Fa	Ft	Points
6+	4	5	5	2	3	7	0	1	90

Equipment: Hand Flamer

Special Rules: Large Target, when being shot at, firer adds +1 to their dice roll for in the way rolls,. Ignores difficult terrain modifier, can reroll failed climb rolls. Cannot use vehicles.

Pugilist, ignores -1 for unarmed fighting

Fearsome reputation, pluck test to charge or shoot at.

Fury, extra attack on the charge.

Lobotomised, must take a pluck test each turn to activate himself, however will fight as normal if is in combat.

The Red Skull. Head swap conversion. (Apologies I am not sure of the manufacturer.)

Agents of Hydra

The Red Skull                                                                                                                                                    

S	F	St	G	A	W	P	Fa	Ft	Points
4+	4	4	4	2	3	7	2	2	60

Equipment: Luger pistol, Knife.

Special rules: Leader, can take pluck test on behalf of friendly model with 6”

Fearsome reputation, pluck test to shoot at or charge

Inspirational Leader, Allies can use his Pluck value within 12”

Hydra Agents. Models bought second hand so unfortunately I do not know the manufacturer.

Hydra Sergeant

S	F	St	G	A	W	P	Fa	Ft	Points
4+	3	3	3	1	1	4	0	1	30

Equipment: Luger

Special Rules: Leader, Allies can use his Pluck value within 6”

Hydra Agents

S	F	St	G	A	W	P	Fa	Ft	Points
5+	2	2	3	1	1	3	0	0	20

Equipment: Experimental Tesseract Rifle

Hydra Heavy Agent

S	F	St	G	A	W	P	Fa	Ft	Points
5+	2	2	3	1	1	3	0	0	40

Equipment: Grenade Launcher

BPRD

Hellboy

S	F	St	G	A	W	P	Fa	Ft	Points
3+	4	5	5	2	3	7	3	3	80

Equipment: Good Samaritan, Knife, Hellfist

Special Rules: Prehensile tail, extra attack included in profile.

Leader, Allies can use his Pluck value within 6”

Deadeye shot, +1 to roll when rolling to wound when shooting. (single shot mode only)

Hellfist, Hellboy always wounds on a 4+ or less in close combat, this includes vehicles which he can attack in close combat.

Plastic British Commandos from Warlord Games with minor conversions.

Corporal Larks

S	F	St	G	A	W	P	Fa	Ft	Points
3+	3	3	3	1	1	5	0	0	30

Equipment: Lee Enfield Rifle with added Scope (30” range)

Special Rules: Rifleman, reroll misses

Trigger happy, make one shot if being charged at (unless reloading or moved.)

Deadeye shot, +1 to roll when rolling to wound

Sergeant Br

S	F	St	G	A	W	P	Fa	Ft	Points
4+	3	3	3	1	1	4	0	0	30

Equipment: Bren Gun

Corporal Smitty

S	F	St	G	A	W	P	Fa	Ft	Points
4+	3	3	3	1	1	4	0	0	30

Equipment: Piat

Corporal Thompson

S	F	St	G	A	W	P	Fa	Ft	Points
4+	3	3	3	1	1	4	0	0	30

Equipment: Sten Gun

Sergeant Phillips

S	F	St	G	A	W	P	Fa	Ft	Points
3+	4	3	3	2	1	4	0	0	30

Equipment: Longbow, Hunting knife

Special Rules: Dirty Fighter. Every 6 to wound, may make extra strike against any target.

Russian female soldiers from Bad Squiddo Games.

Russian resistance

Anastacia

S	F	St	G	A	W	P	Fa	Ft	Pts
4+	3	3	3	1	1	5	1	1	40

Equipment: Tokarev rifle + scope (makes range 30”) Knife

Special Rules: Trick shot, ignores in the way rolls when using a rifle

Scout, ignore difficult terrain penalties

Leader, Allies can use her Pluck value within 6”

Daria

S	F	St	G	A	W	P	Fa	Ft	Pts
4+	3	3	3	1	1	4	-	-	30

Equipment: Tokarev rifle

Special rules: Scout, ignore difficult terrain penalties

Undercover Resistance Spies

S	F	St	G	A	W	P	Fa	Ft	Pts
5+	2	2	3	1	1	4	0	1	20

Equipment: Luger or PPS43 (extra 30 points)

Special Rules: Distraction – cannot be targeted at all until after made an attack of sort. If within 3” of an opponent, that model has to use two Fame points instead of one to modify any rolls.

Werebears from Warlord Games.

Werebears. Pietre and Igor

S	F	St	G	A	W	P	Fa	Ft	Pts
-	5	5	5	2	3	4	0	1	40

Equipment: Claws, counts as close combat weapon, so no -1 to roll in combat. Can hurt vehicles in close combat.

Special Rules: Fury, +1 attack when charging.

Large Target, when being shot at, firer adds +1 to their dice roll for in the way rolls. Ignores difficult terrain modifier, can reroll failed climb rolls. Cannot use vehicles.

Fearsome reputation, pluck test to shoot at or charge.

American Army

Captain America

S	F	St	G	A	W	P	Fa	Ft	Points
3+	4	4	5	2	3	7	3	3	90

Equipment: Vibranium Shield, Tommie Gun, six shooter

Special Rules: Nimble, may re-roll all jump tests

Fury, Extra attack when charging

True Grit, may re-roll first failed pluck test

Fearsome Reputation – pluck test to charge or shoot at.

Inspirational Leader, Allies can use his Pluck value within 12”

Shield save – gets a 5+ save against any shooting attack.

Pugilist, ignores -1 for fighting unarmed

American Paratroopers from Warlord Games.

American GI’s

S	F	St	G	A	W	P	Fa	Ft	Points
5+	3	3	3	1	1	3	0	0	15 +

Equipment: various, add the cost below.

Bazooka – 20. Machine Gun – 30. Tommie Gun – 10. M1 Rifle – free.

Stealth Mission

Noise counters

Defender can only put non leader models on the table as guards. The idea is for the attacker to make as little noise as possible. Place a number of noise counters on the table at the source of the noise for each action. At the end of each turn, remove all counters.

Situation	Noise Counters
Running or climbing	1
Second round of close combat	1
Firing a range weapon (unless marked as silent)	1
Guard shouting “Achtung!”	2
Explosion (target of grenade or bazooka)	3

Guards

Defender can place guards anywhere on the table. Leaders have to be in a building or off table. If something happens within 12” of a guard or line of sight it can react, otherwise it can just drift 3”.

Guard Reaction

Roll a D6, +1 per noise counter on table.

The closest noise counter is more than 12” away, halve the total modifier. Round up to 1

If there is cover between the guard and the nearest noise counter, halve the total modifier. Round up to 1. 

D6 roll	Reaction	Effect
1	Yawns	No movement. 3” drift allowed
2	Looks around	Turn 90 degrees, 1-3 left, 4-6 right
3	Patrol	Turn 90 degrees, move 3”
4	Patrol	Turn 180 degrees, move 6”
5	Patrol	Turn 90 degrees then move 6”
6	Huh?	Move 6” in direction facing
7	Was ist das?	Turn as necessary and move 6” to nearest enemy
8	Achtung!	Comes under full control.

Raising the Alarm

Only a leader model can raise the alarm. If there are any noise tokens on the table, can roll on the table for any leader. Bear in mind there will be cover in the way as in a building. If get 8+, leader can leave the building but then is treated like a guard. If then rolls 8+ in a subsequent turn, the alarm is raised. Once raised all models act as normal.

The missions

Mission One. The stolen artefact.

Just outside a small German village in the countryside a German plane has crashed.  Somewhere in the crash site there is a stolen diary of Dr Erskine, possibly containing notes that may help recreate the Super Soldier Serum that created Captain America. Hidden in the village are six objective markers. Each time an objective is stood on it is revealed to be one of the following.

1.       The Dr’s Diary

2.       Secret map to a hidden Hydra Base.

3.       Nothing.

4.       A stash of 2 Grenades

5.       Nothing

6.       Nothing

The mission ends if one side takes the diary off any board edge.

Sides

Allies

Hellboy Larkin  Bragg  Smitty  Thompson Phillips

Captain America

Resistance Spies x 2

Axis

Baron Von Strucker, Hydra Sergeant, 10 Hydra Agents

Mission Two. Break into the secret base.

The Allies have found the location of a secret Hydra base. If the Allies found the map in the previous mission, they have used the map to prepare their approach and can ignore first two noise counters they create and remove two entrance markers. If the Axis found the map, they are aware that they may be under attack, so add two extra guards.

Stealth Mission, the Axis start with 5 Guards on the board, all characters are in buildings. There are six entrance markers on the board, only one of which is a hidden access to the base. 

Teams

Allies

Add Anastacia, Daria and 10 GI’s

Axis

Add Red Skull

Mission Three. In the secret base.

In the secret base. You must stop the evil Red Skull from carrying out his evil plans. He has been working on perfecting the Super Soldier Serum and finished Experiment 239. If the Axis have the diary the Experiment is finished and 239 starts on the board. Otherwise, he arrives at beginning of turn 3.

Teams

Allies - Add 2 Werebears

 
Axis - Add Hydra Heavies and Experiment 23