Saturday, 30 September 2017

Thoughts On - Star Trek Discovery (Spoilers alert) Part 1

Hi all,
           My first reaction to watching the Pilot episodes - "You've got to be kidding me"! The episode length was too short. The show credits were rubbish. The bridge design bore no relation to any "canon" starship that had gone before. The female lead character has a male name, why? She is a human version of a Vulcan, illogical to even try? Brought up by Sarek, rubbish. They complete a mind-meld over Interstellar distances - more rubbish.

There was a very poor plotline. The length of the actual episodes is pathetic. The first thing you see them do is to bend, if not break, the "Prime Directive". The Klingons looked nothing like I expected, that is in the little time when you could actually see them, the sets were too dark. The Klingonese language sounded like they were eating a mop head. After all of the above, this is not the starship or characters that we will see in the rest of the shows, apart from two, I think. Deep sigh of relief.

I'm glad I was watching at a pal's house and had not bought that rubbish.

Must do much better.

Rating  - 3 out of 10.

I am going to cheer myself up by watching Star Trek: Horizon, a fan film.

Additional: Since this initial posting went out, I have been catching up on what some of the other reviews have been saying, not to mention the convoluted history of the show in regard to the CBS and Paramount buyout and copyrights.

What it boils down to is that they had to make it look different from the original "Prime" universe, which was a shock, but why not say so and be honest and upfront about it all. That still does not excuse the awful script decisions though. No doubt there will be more for me to find out.

I have seen talk of a different ST series being prepared if this series bombs. 13 episodes to go, or rather 13 tiny episodes "to boldly go......"

What did you think of it?

I have heard from one source that part three is better, so fingers crossed again.

"Give me your thoughts...." to quote a phrase.

Ivor Cogdell

P.S. 20 April 2019 -I have now bought series 1 of Discovery, look forward to a review soon.


Wednesday, 20 September 2017

RPG_Chronicles Part 0

Hi all,
           I have just provisionally joined a weekly Role Playing Game / Wargame club in my local area called The Circle Battle Group. Yo gang.


 On my first week, on my table, they were running a Sword and Sorcery GURPS RPG in 15mm, other tables were doing war games.
          Currently, we are using D20 Modern rules for our RPG.  I went for a tech type, for a change. I will be doing write-ups of some of our adventures so you can join in the fun. Currently, I am doing the Department 7 Adventure first, getting it roughly typed up, taking it to the members about what I missed, then doing corrections and inserts, finally posting it on here.  Since I am the new kid on the block, I'm not sure how regular the episodes will be though, probably three weeks to a month for each adventure. I will just go with the flow.

             The only snag is that it actually takes longer to type up and expand the story than it did to actually play it in the first place, also I am an evening short each week to do stuff, so I will cherry-pick the stories that I put on here. There will be photos to go along with it, but don't expect very exotic scenery, more like just diagrams with figures. I am giving priority to my homegrown blog stuff, so once I have finished what I am doing, I will slot some of this in.

If you are in the Erdington / Stocklands Green area of Birmingham, the UK on a Wednesday evening come along and see us at the Highcroft Community Center.

http://highcroftcommunitycentre.co.uk

Not sure if the website is current, apologies.

485 Slade Road,
Stocklands Green,
Birmingham
B23 7JG

0121 - 382 5101

There are food vendors in the area. We usually eat before a game.

Ivor Cogdell

Postscript: At one point, due to unforeseen circumstances, I thought I was going to have to postpone my joining the club for the present then attend in the future. Then that fell through and I managed to go for another week to finish off a game. It is now full steam ahead again.

Saturday, 2 September 2017

A little treat

Hi all,
          I have just been on the http://www.wargamevault.com/ website and just treated myself to the Adventures in the Lost Lands from Two Hour Wargames. Their partner store, Rebel Minis, are doing it for £7.99. There is an expansion pack on offer, Motor City in the Lost Lands. They do a very nice range of 15 mm Neanderthal minis for them too, located on their Pulp page, Rebel Minis / Pulp. I have just added 6 Dinos to my menagerie, they are only slightly bigger than the correct scale, but they can be juveniles or adults, depending on how they fit the rest of the herd.

           I also got the intro pack to "Gentlemen prefer Zombies", a Victorian-era zombie hunt. I will see how it stacks up against the Mordheim rules, all good stuff for the future. But I will need some Victorian figures for that to go ahead. It's time to search the net again.

           I have downloaded some Mordheim, Battlefleet Gothic, Age of Sigmar, Frostgrave Ghost Archipelago and some Star Wars - Legion video battle reports (one from Gen Con - Hi to everybody who visited the Con) to watch on my phone while on the move. Just viewed it, nice and simple mechanics, depends if you like your games crunchy or not.
                  I bought a few superhero baddies at my local RPG / Wargame hangout, not sure what I will fit them in yet though.
            Speaking of videos, I want to give a quick shout out to Guerrilla Miniature Games, for their Throwback Thursdays Battle Report videos. They are always great quality. Any recommendations of battle reports you might have for me, please leave in the comments section below.

           For the present, it is the Xmas move around, so busy, busy, busy at work. I am currently just finishing off a painting session ( a sunset over a lake on a 16 x 20-inch canvas) plus playing and writing part three of my Dwarf journey towards Mordheim. The question is, will they actually get there, or will their bones bleach in the wilderness?

           As you may have realised, my brave travellers have come across some more nasty critters, who are intent on doing them harm or even worse. The final tussle has now taken place, I am just left with the task of slotting in the pictures. Which I have now done. Yaay, the end, I thought. But alas no, it was not to be just yet, my font sizes seemed to have got completely screwed up, going extra small and needed some tweaking before they were presentable, so I have given the computer a good telling off and got the code to behave itself.
            I have posted it with the corrected text now, so you can enjoy another skirmish, dwarf style.

Ivor Cogdell

Tuesday, 15 August 2017

Thoughts On - Valerian (No spoilers)

Hi all,

          I came into this film with no prior knowledge, apart from it was based on a French comic. This usually sets off warning flags, (I'm not into manga / Anime), but the poster looked great, as you can see here, so I thought I would risk it, especially since it had a budget of 210 million. US dollars. I saw the 2d version of the film.
          The first surprise was that the main characters were rather younger than I was expecting, but once I got used to that, everything fell into place and I began to enjoy the film.
          If you like a mix of aliens, this is certainly the film for you, there are lots of them and I mean LOTS, the blurb I read afterward in the movie guide quoted that there were more than 200 of them, they all blended into the scenes and made the scenes POP. It feels like a grand sprawling space station. Babylon 5, eat your heart out, and I do like B5 a great deal.
          The script was fair, it played the comedy card at times, I like my sci-fi fairly straight and serious. I spotted the baddie before the entity showed its hand / flipper / pseudopod, but that did not matter, as I was enjoying the story and wondering how it would unfold and our heroes would defeat it.
         I hope they do a sequel. It is thoroughly enjoyable, go and see it.

Rating 9 out of 10.

Saturday, 12 August 2017

WHF-The Journey Part Two

The Journey To Mordheim Part Two

House Rules

Since I am playing this game solo, for randomness, attacks will be rolled on a d12, 1-8 will come from a designated spot, 9 – 12 will generate no attack. After each conflict point has passed. I will add +2 to the dice roll. Multiple attacks are possible. For each enemy taken out of action, gain 1d6 Gold Coins. For each battle won, gain 10 GC.

I am running this as a Scenario 2: Skirmish for the purposes of experience gained.

Roll for Weather

 8 = Raining. All missile + Powder weapons at -1 to hit, BP weapons only fire if 1d6 roll is 4+.

Dwarf Team 1 

Leader Bronn (Bow, Hammer, Shield, Helmet, Dagger, Light Armour). Move 3.
Champion Eldrand (Banner- Mace, Helmet, Dagger, Light Armour). Move 3.
Champion Yolm (D Axe, Shield, Helmet, Dagger, Light Armour). Move 3.
Thunderer Strom (Horn - Mace, Pistol, Helmet, Dagger, Light Armour). Move 3.
Beardlings Klacker, Grinder and Gormish (D Axe, Shield, Dagger). Move 4.
4 Gold Coins saved. Warband Rank = 71.

Our weary travellers are walking along a muddy dirt track, approaching an old, battered camp site, at a woodland crossroads. It has been a long, soggy, slippery, uncomfortable day for them. The woods have given them a welcome respite from the wind, if not from the dampness, for most of the afternoon. Smiles beam across their faces at the thought of removing their boots and resting their feet in front of a nice warm fire.

The woodland path.

 The camp site and bridge across the river.

 (Random Roll to camp here or continue onwards.)

The view from the bridge.

The company began to quicken their pace, but their leader, Bronn, speaks up, “Steady up boys, we are going to continue on to the trading shack that is in the next valley. But we will fill our flasks up, as usual, at the river.”

 The campsite from the wood.


 As they fill their canteens at the river bridge and have a quick break from the day's march .........

A raven's eye view of the company passing each other canteens to be filled.

Conflict point 1

(A Random Attack was generated = From Point 3 by Pack Two, Lizardmen.)

Leader Yellow Top, (Bow, Claw, Str 3, Move 5, Leader 7).
Champion Red Top 1 + 2, (Bow, Claw,  Str 3,Move 4, Leader 7).
Fang Red Top, White Top 1 + 2, (Bow, Claw, Str 2, Move 4, Leader 4).
Juveniles Blue Top 1-3  1 + 2, (Bow, Claw, Str 2, Move 4, Leader 7).
180 Gold Coins saved. Warband Rank = 81.
Turn 1

A lizard war party are going towards their nest when through the trees, they see the intruders.

Lizards starting point.
Their first sighting.


 “Invaders" hisses Yellow Top, "They must not discover our nest site, kill them all !”
Eldrand is first into battle.

The Juveniles, on the right, make the best use of the swampy cover.

The view along the stream path.
Yellow Top directs his warriors to attack from the left, while he and his champions move along the path, the warriors quietly start to take the left flank through the wood, the soggy leaves masking their steps, making the best use of the cover available. With a quick nod from their leader, the juveniles slip into their natural element, the river and begin to advance towards the enemy.
View from the woods.
 Once they have moved closer, the Skinks on the path fire arrows at the intruders.

Eldrand, the champion carrying the Banner of House Fourscar, shouted, “We are under attack !” and charged the nearest Skink, coming towards him along the path, which happened to be their leader Yellow Top. The fighting spills over into the camp ground.

Bromm and the others moved forward, except Strom, who readies his pistol for action.

Juvenile 3 fires at Strom hastily, but missed his victim completely (1). Juvenile 1 fired at Bromm, but shows its inexperience too and misses (1) by a foot.

Red Top 1 fires at Yolm, but misses (3) only because Yolm was still moving to the side.


 The others are still too deep in the woods to shoot out at the moment, but they still study their opponents as they move forward.

Strom fires his pistol at one of the creatures splashing towards him in the water (Juvenile 3), but it strikes the bridge instead of his intended target. He curses in frustration and begins the process of readying the pistol for action and keeping it dry in the slowing drizzle

Eldrand hits Yellow Top with the large banner (the equivalent of a two handed Mace) (4), but it bounces off its scales (1).
Enraged by the blow to his dignity, Yellow Top hits Eldrand once with a claw (4,3), but it bounces off his armour (2).

Turn 2

(No recoveries needed).
Juvenile 1 charges Bromm (getting in the way of the champion Red top 2 as he did so),  Juvenile 2 gets itself stuck in the swamp, Juvenile 3 charges Grinder. Red top 1 moves towards the intruders, as do those in the forest, whose progress has been slowed down by thick undergrowth. Red top 2 charges in against Eldrand.

Strom and Gormish charge in to help Grinder. Klacker and Yolm charge Red top 1.
(No shooting targets were available.)

Close Combat

Eldrand swipes Yellow Top with the banner again (3), but it bounces off its stout head ridge (1).
Yellow Top slices Eldrand's arm once with a claw (4,1) while Eldrand was distracted by Red top 2 attacking him too, this causes a critical wound (6), and puts him out of action (6). (YT Gains 1 xp.)
Eldrand falls victim to an attack.

Bromm strikes Juvenile 3 with his Hammer of Justice (4) but it bounces off its arm (2) as he is dismayed to see Eldrand fall in battle. He tries to recover, hitting with his dagger, (6), just causing a long graze (1) along its arm.
Juvenile 3 misses with its first claw, due to the sharp pain caused by the shallow wound (3,5) but hits with its second, but fails to penetrate his armour (3) since he was off balance.

Klacker, infuriated by seeing his hero fall, attacks Redtop 1 furiously (6), Red had been distracted too by the first intruders fall, he Wounds on a (6) and puts him Out of Action.

Grinder attacks Juvenile 3 (1) and misses with his axe, his dagger hits (3) the creature, wounding it slightly (2) as its bracelet took most of the force of the blow. It oozed with pale green blood.

Strom attacks Juvenile 3 while it staggered under the previous blow and hits (3), causing a deep wound to his right arm (6) Critical (4) Stunned, then Gormish puts him Out of Action as he collapses on the floor with a kick to the head.

Turn 3

(No recoveries needed).
Juvenile 2 finally frees itself from the swamp and charges Strom. Red two charged Grinder, Yellow Top charged Strom, seeking to turn the tide of battle. Red one charged Klacker. Warriors 1 and 2 both attack Yolm.

Bronn aims at Juvenile 1, but misses wildly with his axe (1), then misses with his dagger too (2).
Juvenile 1 hits with both claws, (5,4), (4,2) but fails to capitalise on his enemies errors. No damage was done.

Juvenile 2 looses his fight.
Strom defends against Juvenile 2, (4) hits it, wounds (4) it with a blow to the head, (4) It is stunned (in water). Failed Initiative – Drowned / Out of action.(Strom gains 1 xp.)

Grinder defends himself against Red Top 2, misses with his axe (1), but weakly hits with his dagger (4) on its leg, no deep wounds were caused (1). Red 2 gives a roar and hits him twice, (6,5), Grinder failed to parry the blows, (4), no wounds were caused (2,3) as he was moving backwards at the time.

Gornish defends against the snarling Yellow Top, he misses with his axe (3) and his dagger (2). Yellow Top presses home his attack, hitting the youngblood twice (5,5), (4,4) Gornish blocks one blow with his shield (6) parry ,(2) no wounds caused.


Klacker joins in with Grinder against Red Top 2, hits it with his axe(6), no wounds caused (1), but it exposes his chest to attack, hits with his dagger (4), wounds (4), Red Top 2 falls to the floor and is now Out of Action. They look round for another target.

Yolm defends himself against attacking Warriors 1 and 2. He firstly goes for Warrior 1, hittting it (3), tries to wound with his axe (2), but just takes off a few scales. He attacks Warrior 2 with his dagger, who avoids his blow (2).
Warrior 1 aims a blow to his arm, (1,1) but misses. Warrior 2 tries to attack the same arm, but Warrior 1 got in the way, so they both miss (3,3).

Turn 4

The Lizardmen failed their rout test roll (11), Yellow Top realizes they are outclassed against this enemy at this time, shouts “Flee! Flee!”

The Skinks dart in all directions, seeking safety.

They rush over to Eldrand and bandage his arm and put it into a sling. They set up watch and make camp here for the night.

The End
Aftermath

(I have just checked the rules and spotted an error in my earlier skill advances and my Xp (only heroes and not henchmen gained xp for putting enemies out of action, so these have now been amended).

Dwarf Team 1

Everybody gets 1 xp.
Eldrand gets an injured arm, but survives. (But he is out of action for the next scrap.)
Bronn gets 2 xp in total.
Strom gets 2 xp in total. He Levels up and gains Strength 4.
The party locate three Wyrdstone Shards (worth 75GC) hidden under the river bridge, a Master Map at the camp site and 18 GC on necklaces on the fallen Skinks, plus a winners award of 10 GC.

Pack 2 Lizardmen

Everybody gets 1 xp, except Red Top 2 and Juvenile 2, who die of their wounds.
Red Top 1 survives against the odds, -1 Strength in Combat, gets 2 xp in total.
Juvenile 3 makes a full recovery.
Yellow Top gains 3 xp in total.
The party find 3 Wyrdstone Shards (worth 70 GC - a lower value than above due to having more warriors in his war party) hidden in the stream bed.

(No trading as still in a wilderness area.)

There we go, I think I have everything sorted now, if I have made any errors, please pop them in the comments box.

Please like if you enjoyed it. Part three is coming soon.

Ivor

Saturday, 5 August 2017

Pause 9


Hi there,
                 Just a quick post to let you know that I have finally completed describing the first skirmish of  "The Journey To Mordheim part 2", my 28 mm Warhammer Fantasy battle report. Its not quite as good as the Journey to the Misty Mountain, but I had fun doing it.
                It will be turn-based, as usual, not a video production, as some clever folks can put out, but I hope you like my narrative style, as I go through the moves and reactions of the minis. I'm not sure how many chunks it will end up in, so please bear with me as we go along in what may be a haphazard fashion.
              Now that I have just finished the first battle, I wonder who will be next on the stage to face our heroes? (It is randomly generated from a list of naughty critters I have on standby.)

On the wider picture, a kind little birdie dropped me a note in my email regarding those chaps at Two Hour Wargames are releasing their earlier works, "Larger than Life Directors Cut" and "Adventures in the Lost Lands" for $9.95 each. Both of these titles should be capable of giving you a good yarn, everything else I have tried of theirs has been top notch and the rules usually cater for solo play (Just check on their website or forum to confirm it).

For more info, check out "A little treat".

Ivor

Tuesday, 11 July 2017

WHF-The Journey Part One.

Hey folks.
                I'm just setting up my battleground that my merry band of Dwarfs will have to pass through on the way to the mysterious and fabulously wealthy place that is Mordheim. The streets are paved with gold and jewels, with magical artifacts ripe for the picking, so 'tis said, although the people that are saying it are not exactly fabulously wealthy themselves, another mystery to be solved. My landscape is not totally complete yet, bits need painting and gluing. I'm pondering on the party size, I may split my group into two.

The wooded area.
The hilly area.
The Farmstead
That is just the thing to get the dice rolling.

I have added a few bits here and there, a couple of camp sites and paths need to be painted up, the ruin has been modified slightly. I have got to wait on the postie for some characters to arrive. It's a bit greener and wetter, but the tree bases need painting as well. Swings and roundabouts.

I pondered on adding some extra photos but don't want to ruin the actual conflict to come.

What's that?

OK, you talked me into it, one photo, two if you are good.

Woodland trek

The Camp Site
I hope you like the setup. As for the baddies, you will just have to wait and see, I'm thinking of at least two lots for variety.

Ivor Cogdell