5P - Ship Log 3d - Job 1 Droids - Trouble pt2

Hi all,

Previously 5P - Ship Log 3d - Job 1 Droids - Trouble pt1.

On the Bridge of the Magic Carpet

Dave and Martin are still trying to troubleshoot the problem of a stuck sensor turret.

Mike, "Rosie to the bridge please. Just to let you know, we do have a technical issue at the moment, but it is not life threatening. Out".

"Maybe she can spot something that we have missed."

Rosie soon appears and they fill her in on the problem, "Well, our options are, we could limp back home to Hougemonte, but having the turret sticking out into the atmosphere would throw us off balance during re-entry, so I would have to manually retard our speed, it could also be damaged or totally wrecked in the process."

She pauses, "We could dock at Wheel One or Two with no problem, then see if they could somehow modify a large safety bubble, attach that to the hull with someone in a spacesuit, they could then remove the spacesuit and make the repair. Time consuming and messy.. But that would violate all sorts of safety regulations along the way, very costly to us."

They all have glum faces, looking at the display, when there is a knock on the door.

David, "Enter."

In walks D 834, "I have been listening to the problem. There is another option that you have missed."

David retorts, "Rubbish."

Martin looks puzzled, "I'm listening D 834."

D 834, "The one thing that you have overlooked," it pauses, "Is that you now have me on board. I do not need a spacesuit and I can fit into Aperture Port 23. I can splice the wires together and repair them at a later date."

Martin considers this, "Ok, D 834, you are our best option, you can give it a try. What do you need ?"

D 834, "Just a heating module, a number 4 toolkit, plus a standard safety line and clips."

Martin, "We will want to monitor your progress, so Ted will fix you up with Hologram capability as well".

-------------------

A short time later.

D 834 was just about to enter the airlock.

Martin, "Comm Check."

D834 , " Coming through clearly.  My eyebrow LED's are  turned on and hologram feeds from my eye cameras are transmitting, as requested. The internal fluid heaters are active. The upgrades are working fine. My battery charge is at 93%.   All systems are ready."

Rosie, "We have Holo and audio links, all comms are ok. Patching it through to the projectors."

Martin saw a small version of himself appear on the Holomats dotted around the area. "Away you go."

D 834 entered the airlock It closed and latched behind him, began the air storage cycle and the warning panel lit up.

PRESSURE DROPPING, NO ENTRY ALLOWED.

It clipped on the safety lines to the eyelets, tested them and moved to the outer door. The inner panel display read.

INNER PRESSURE ZERO. OUTSIDE PRESSURE ZERO.

INNER GRAV PLATE AT 1.00 GRAVITY. OUTSIDE GRAVITY ZERO.

PRESS BUTTON ZERO TO SOUND ALARM.

PRESS BUTTON ONE TO EMERGENCY PRESSURIZE.

PRESS BUTTON TWO TO OPEN / CLOSE HATCH.

PRESS BUTTON THREE TO PRESSURIZE.

PRESS BUTTON FIVE TO BEGIN DECONTAMINATION CYCLE.

PRESS BUTTON SIX TO PAUSE / RESUME DECONTAMINATION CYCLE.

PRESS BUTTON SEVEN TO BEGIN HEATING TO 17'C.

PRESS BUTTON EIGHT FOR HELP / SETTINGS / CHANGE LANGUAGE.
(Underneath this was a translated message in the Screand and Orkragg languages).

D834 pressed button two.

PLEASE CONFIRM SAFETY LINE IS ATTACHED AT BOTH ENDS BY PRESSING BUTTON FOUR BY THE SAFETY LATCH.

D834 pressed button four.

ATTACHMENT CONFIRMED.

REDUCING INNER GRAV PLATE TO ZERO AND OPENING DOOR.

PLEASE USE THE EXTRUDED HANDHOLDS PROVIDED.

D 834 took hold of the handrail as his weight began to reduce. It was not fitted with "Mag Feet" as it was not expected to be operating in a space environment. It soon floated off the floor.

ZERO GRAVITY, OPENING DOOR.

The door swung open to the blackness of space.

It clipped on its second safety line on the point outside the airlock, then began to move towards AP 23, which was on the left side of the nose. At regular intervals it clipped the line to the handholds as it fed from the spool by its waist.

It halted outside Access Port 23.

Rosie on comms, "I am releasing the safety locks now. You are clear to open the hatch, the security code is 3341 Bravo. The faulty wire is in bundle Hotel 22. Power to that area has been cut."

It felt a small vibration through the handle as the locks disengaged around the port. It entered the code into the keypad. The panel flashed a green light and the hatch sunk into the hull slightly and slid towards the rear, exposing a tunnel. It pulled itself head first inside and looked for section 4a.

Section 4a was outlined with white tape for easy identification. It floated further in to find the optimum working location. Once it had located H22, it locked its feet into a stable position so that it would be operating from a stable base. It selected the snips from the toolkit, then cut the tags holding the wires together, then placed the bits in a waste bag, then spread out the wires for inspection.

D 834, "I have found the cause of the problem. The wire had been rubbing against a protruding bolt end as it vibrated it wore through the insulation, causing a short. Putting some padding over the bolt and a quick splice should fix it. Then I will add some more ties to a bracket that will keep it in a better position."

The job was soon done. It exited out of the port. "Try it now."

Rosie powered up the section again and got a green light on the status board. She pressed the turret deployment switch and it smoothly extended into its operating position.

Rosie, "A green light on the status, initiating a passive low level scan."

A smaller port on the turret slid back to reveal a series of lenses. The turret then rotated 360 degrees. The program mulled over the data returned.

Rosie, "The low level scan has been completed, the results are as we had hoped, our position has been verified. Its not accurate enough to initiate a jump from, but it is good enough to confirm it is working properly. Well done, Droid 834. I will just try the retract and deployment sequences, just to confirm the repair is holding."

The turret obeyed her commands without a hitch and  the board remained green. "All clear, Martin."

Martin, "Come on back, D 834."

D834 retraced its path, retracting in the safety line as it did so, finally unclipping the one outside the doorway and swinging itself inside, then pressed button 2 to close the hatch and begin the entry and decontamination sequence.

--------------

The inner airlock door opened and the Droid emerged to smiling faces and a round of applause.

Martin, "Well done D 834, you have saved us from a very tricky situation. In recognition of that fact, I have decided to keep you on as part of the crew of the 'Magic Carpet'."

The screen noted, "Change of status has been recorded in the Ship Log, this date and time."

D 834, "Thank you, Martin".

Another round of applause and cheers met this news.

Martin, "You can download the ship maintenance logs and review them, always remembering that it states what should have been done, but not necessarily what actually has been done. There could be a difference."

----------

Later, after lunch.

Martin, "I had originally planned to just dump all of  the droids at the first port of call, but they are quite useful, so I am thinking maybe selling one or two per customer and we hang on to 834."

Pinky, "If you don't mind, I would like to keep one too, for a hobby project. You can deduct it out of my pay."

Martin, "That's fine, Pinky."

-------------

If you are enjoying this, please hit the like button. Thanks.

Regards all,

Ivor

5P - Ship Log 3c - Job 1 - Trouble pt 1

Hi all, 

Previously 5P - Ship Log 3c - Job 1 - Coasting to CL.

On the Cargo Deck of Magic Carpet

Ted hits the start button of Droid 834, "Wakey Wakey sleepy head, rise and shine."

Droid 834,"I was not sleeping, I was deactivated."

Ted, "Same thing, same thing. Since you are fond of cleaning and I am on light duties, you can do my share of the polishing. Cleaning materials are in that storage bin there. Start at the top and work downwards, cleaning the hand rails. I want them clean, but not so polished that I cannot get a grip on them if I needed to. Safety is paramount. The same when you do the deck later, clean but not slippery, that is slippery by human standards, as in the safety protocols. You do have them loaded ?"

Droid 834, "Yes, Orakkg."

Ted, "Well, I'm glad to see that your species recognition software is working, You can call me 'Mr.Greene'...on second thoughts, you might as well call me Ted, like the rest of them."

Droid 834, "Yes, Ted."

Ted, "Any questions or problems, I should be in the kitchen. You may begin."

Droid 834, "Yes, Ted."  He walked over to the storage bin, selected the correct items and went to the top deck and began cleaning the handrails.

After a few moments observing the droid, he walked off to the kitchen, thinking to himself *This is the life. I wonder if there is any of that Gerbiloid pie that Dave made left ?*

-------------------

Later, on the bridge.

From one of the console comes "Beep, Beep, Beep" , on comes a red warning light.

Dave is alone sitting at his desk in  Navigation / Science mode,  "What now ?", he wonders.

The console flicks to diagnostic mode, showing that the sensor turret has only partially extended from the hull. He checks for more information and it reveals that the wire to the motor has snapped. "Oh dear."

He flicks a switch, "Martin to the bridge please."

Martin soon comes bounding up the stairs, almost colliding with the droid as he did so and into the bridge, "Whats wrong?"

Dave, "We have a major problem, The Navigation system is down. The sensor turret is stuck, half way extended. It will not budge either way. The fault is a snapped wire, but to get to that wire we have to go through Access Panel 23."

Martin nodded, "Which is only used on planets, and is too small for our spacesuits to get inside, even the ladies. So, we're stumped. We will have to go back, blowing our schedule and our reputation."

Continued in....Trouble Part Two.

Regards,

Ivor Cogdell

5P - Ship Log 3a - Job 1 - Coasting to CL Jump

Hi all,

Previously  - 5P - Ship Log 3 - Job 1 - Depart for CL


On the Bridge of the Magic Carpet

Melody on view screen. "Height 300 km, speed 27358 kph and increasing."

Rosie, on coms, "Tower, this is Echo Romeo Tango Tango 74656 - Magic Carpet, we have visual on Wheel 1, 100 km plus distant, please confirm departure vector clear of traffic."

Tower, "Wheel one departures reports no change, you are clear to pass through their 100 km outer sphere zone. Please set Navigation Transponder to send 10 minute updates and report when ready to jump. Tower out"

Rosie, "Understood, Clear to pass outer zone, 10 minute squawk and report when set to jump. Magic Carpet, listening out."

Captain Martin, "That was a very smooth departure Rosie, Well done."

Rosie shrugs it off, "Just a stroll down the lane, Captain."

Martin looks over at the other crew member on the bridge, "Anything showing up on Tactical, David ?"

Dave replies, "Not a bleep, apart from the Wheel 1 beacon. Tower reported that there were no scheduled departures for today, just a sky-bike coming from the Shack to pick up supplies for the Vac Jockeys at Wheel 2."

Martin, "Ok, you can switch everything over to automatic, long range and short range scanning as usual and...."

The door opens and in walks Lucy, looking sternly at the Captain, "And David can take it from here. You are now officially off duty."

Martin retorts, "But we haven't plotted the Jump Sequence yet !"

Lucy replies, "Then it will be good practice for them, won't it ? They can do it independently of each other and if they get the numbers differently then Melody can check both sets for errors. Agreed ?"

"Well..."

"Any other answer will get you confined to quarters with no computer access.", insisted Lucy.

"Agreed. David, you have command."

Dave, "I have command."

Lucy, "Now then, Martin, how about a nice game of Ma Jong ?"

She escorts him off the bridge.

Dave, "Right, lets get that sequence out of the way and then we can set the watch."

To be continued...

Ivor Cogdell

P.S. I have just ordered a few little bits from Angel Barracks, to spice things up a bit.

5P - Job 1 - Interlude At The Admiral's Table and more

Hi everybody,

Previously - 5P - Job 1 - Droids Part Three

At The Admiral's Table Restaurant

After a fine meal was had by all, (meals had been delivered for Rose and Ted from the local ET Eatery) the team relaxed with a drink, while Martin finished explaining the next part of the operation.

"So there you have it. Any questions ?" Asked Martin.

"Er, yes." said a voice, coming from an unexpected direction, behind him.

"The name's Chris, Chris Don Royton, and that's Eric Vickers. I'm a freelance reporter and Eric is my cameraman / Bodyguard / Survivalist, I heard you were going to Camp Livingstone and wondered if we could come along too ?"

Chris continues, "We could only pay about a third of the standard rate of the journey to Camp Livingstone, but if you want, we could do interviews of you and possibly, your crew and get your profile boosted in the area  Who knows what that might lead to."

"Are we talking  about one way or return ?", asks Martin

"Probably there and back, unless things have changed after we get there. what I'm after is the local angle. You get the headlines on the news, but nothing more. I aim to provide that follow-up, the grit and the dirt, that sort of thing. Get interviews with the civilians, some of the grunts, the commander, if I'm very lucky.  It should take us about a day, all told. Then we edit it on the way to your next drop."

Chris takes a drink, "Once we have it ready, we post short clips on the net to editors of magazines such as "Grunt", "Homesteader" or "Trailblazer" and the news corporations. After they have had their pick, we release the rest to Netblogs. Different material to different markets."

The Captain muses a moment, "Two return tickets at 1/3 usual rate, the Outbound to be paid in full, the Return fee notarized and deposited with "Safe flyer" until we get back, plus", he pauses slightly, "10% of any royalties you make from all of the interviews, before tax. Contracted with "Blog Bank", we get the fees straight from them. That way there are no messy lawyers and their fees involved."

Chris was surprised by the unexpected extra cost, "10% ?"

Martin explained, "Sure, you are cutting into our safety margin of supplies. No transport, no story. The regular supply run is not till the end of next month, the story will be cold by then. Look at it this way, I could have said 20%."

Chris looks at Eric, who nods at the unspoken question, "Ok, Captain Martin, you have two new passengers."

Martin smiles, "Good, now that's settled, let's seal it with a drink and you can get to know everybody."

Eric, "We would be delighted."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Meanwhile, in an altogether shadier part of town....

A hooded figure knocks on a door.

The inset grille slides back and a gruff voice asks, "Who is it ?"

The figure replies, "Slinky, its me, Specs. Have you got a place where I can lie low ?"

"Sure mate, come on in,"

Assorted bolts clunk and the door swings open, revealing a dimly lit hall. Specs wearily goes inside, using the wall for support.

"You look a bit shaky, how did the job go ?"

The door shuts with a thud.

"Well, tell ..Rusty.. it    Ugghhh.." He passes out on the floor.

"Oh, great.  FRANK, get the medkit, its going to be one of those nights..."

Later, Slinky makes a call.

"Rusty, Its Slinky. If you were expecting a package, I don't think its going to arrive. I have one of the delivery men here on my couch. I think they call him "Spats" or  "Specs", something like that."

"I had heard there had been a foul-up from other sources. Is he going to make it?"

"Yeah, that is.. If you want him to?."

"No, no, he would not dare die on me, he still owes me for certain favours and I will collect, sooner or later, off him or his associates. Look on the bright side, it means you don't have to dump his body anywhere. I will pass the news along to any interested parties."

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Next - Job 1 - Departure for CL


Ivor Cogdell

Battle Reports

Hi all,
         I have just completed my battle report for Army Camp Livingstone, using the KR 16 rules from Angel Barracks, which I hinted at in an early blog, my notes were missing, so I decided to do the battle description from memory. One or two of the details may not be in the right order, but you should be able to follow the action.
         Posted next was the Leadership battle for the Mutant tribe in the Wastelands.

          Completed - 5 p Job 1 - Droids parts 1 - 3.

         Just added, Testing the road rage rules, Wastelands 3 style.


Enjoy,

Ivor Cogdell

Camp Livingstone 1 - Updated.

Camp Livingstone Base

This is my section for my Angel Barracks setting and their (c)  KR16 rules.

Here is a picture of Camp Livingstone, on the planet of Kountermelodie, my base for the good guys, the Regional Defence Force. This is the quiet before the shower. The vehicles are nearly all by Angel Barracks, in their boxed set. (See the rules page or click on the Angel Barracks link above). They also have 6 mm houses, figures and terrain available to purchase on their site. I do have some 6 mm figures, but they are only partially painted. So they will not play a part in the scrap on this occasion.

The Battlefield Layout

Top Left - Planted fields and Security Pillbox (in the Zig-zag section of the fence).
Top Centre - Hydroponics / Research Lab.
Top Right - Transport /Storage Hangars.
Middle Centre - Residential Barracks Unit and experimental garden.
Lower Centre - Water storage and Fuel Dump.
Lower Right - Main Gate and junkyard.

Camp Livingstone - The rebels begin the attack
"Camp l - 1" by Ivor Cogdell

I did have a "Battle Report" to go along with this, but I could not find it, so I am going to "wing it" from memory. I have also used non-AB vehicles as well (by the rock outcrop - middle, it was from a magazine collection) to give the rebel Junkers a bit more firepower.

Junkers
2 x Bullfrogs
2 x Bullfrogs and Rockets
1 x Warthog  (A Special Project Armoured Personnel Carrier and General Machine Gun )

Objective - Get fuel and /or disrupt the RDF base.

RDF
1 x Pathfinder GMG
1 x Pathfinder GMG CMD
1 x Pathfinder SM
A defensive "Pill Box" + Light Cannon. (SV =10.)
Electric Fence and gates around the compound.

Objective - Defend the RDF compound. Capture or kill the Junkers.

 You can see the Junkers forces (a "Warthog" attack Vehicle - middle left) moving into position to attack the main gate and a secondary target, a pillbox (Top middle, by the brown field, the bend in the fence), being attacked by a Bullfrog.
                 The two-man "Bullfrog" buggies are armed with personal machine guns (operated by the passenger- on the road and top left by the field - out of focus in this picture) or a mortar battery on the back (middle left and far left),
                  There is a standoff at the main gate. The main unit towing the command car (at the far end of the road, by the left black hangar) has developed engine trouble and cannot get into the action, apart from barking orders at the others.

From a higher viewpoint

One of the defending vehicles has driven to the west of the compound (by the garden and water tank) to defend the residential module (painted in yellow by the garden). They have destroyed two of the buggies, a fast one, and a mortar unit.
                Meanwhile, mortar fire has hit the fuel dump, and the RDF unit has come under fire (White tissues represent smoke and burning). it has advanced to attack the other rebel forces. This has left the gate unguarded, and a buggy has just driven inside the main gate compound in the confusion of the fire. (The dice were to show if they had been activated this turn or not).

A closer look at the tussle at the main gate, the lone surviving Mortar unit, in better detail.

The rebel attack vehicle keeps the RDF forces under attack, and the Bullfrog with the mobile mortar unit sets to work against the fence.

The RDF vehicle is put out of action.

The Junkers have penetrated into the Fuel Dump and are stealing some fuel

The command car has finally got its engine repaired and is on the move (Top right)

 The other RDF Mobile is coming to stop the theft. (Top middle). But they are too late!

With a little help from the attack vehicle, the fence is breached, and the Junkers make their way out of the compound. The attack vehicle fires on the RDF Mobile and the Habitation module. The Mobile moves in the way of the fire to protect the Habitation module from taking more damage.

Barracks Module and defending RDF.

The command car makes it to the main gate.

Too little too late?
The Junkers flee with their booty.

One last volley

The attack vehicle then makes a strategic escape, giving covering fire as it goes. The command car is too slow and soon gives up the chase.

The Aftermath

The Regional Defence Force. took out one Bullfrog and one Bullfrog with rockets, worth = 40 Victory Points. The crews went to cover to sneak off later.

The Junkers took out 1 Pathfinder worth = 20 Victory Points. (I would have thought a Pathfinder would have represented more value, as it is a better quality item and harder to repair or replace.)

The Junkers also did some damage to the barracks module, blew up part of a fuel dump and fences and stole fuel. I was wondering how to represent that in exact VP terms (10 each?), although I would class it as a major victory for them. One up to the Junkers, they will be talking about this raid for a while.

I hope you enjoyed it.

Ivor Cogdell

Article updated on 31st.October 2025.

The Beginning

Greetings to one and all

This is the beginning of my wargaming site. It is not exactly spectacular at the moment. I began my wargaming, like many others, with 28 mm  Warhammer 40K © Rogue Trooper and Warhammer Fantasy games. This got me into Role Playing Games, Dungeon and Dragons ©, Advanced D and D ©, version 2, then 3.5© and then into Pathfinder © on the net, which is where I am now. The latest "Mad Max" © film, "Fury Road", perked up my interest in the Post Apocalypse setting. I am playing Solo at the moment.

The rule sets I have been reading at the moment include DBM Ancients ©, 6mm Starship Troopers © (Only played a bit),   Two Hour Wargames - Free rules (CR.3.1 ©  and Swordplay © ), Dungeon Crawl ©, 5150 Urban Renewal © and Star Army ©), Angel Barracks - KR16 © and Nordic Weasel Games -5 Core skirmish supplement Five Parsecs From Home. ©, with the Every star an Opportunity expansion and Wastelands 3 ©  on the Post Apoc Wargames Forum.

Please join me to see how my miniatures will fare - Death or Glory.

Ivor Cogdell