Red Dwarf & Holy Grail! Okumarts Pledge extended!!

It was a squeaker of a vote so it looks like Red Dwarf won the day! We only need ONE MORE Patron by 11:59 pm Monday (EST) to unlock the Red Dwarf minis! BUT... since everyone has been so supportive and awesome, hows about if we can get ONE MORE Patron by 11:59 pm Sunday (today) (EST) you'll unlock BOTH. That would mean that by the end of the week there will be not one, but TWO SETS available to download. 

It's been a really fun November and I can't wait to see what happens! 

Can you say not to a Red Dwarf & Monty Python sets of paper minis!?!? I don't think so get over to the Patreon and pledge now!!

Go here: https://www.patreon.com/okumarts

The 5th Doctor & more!! Okumarts can't be stopped!!

Head over and join up at the Okumarts Patreon and you could be the one that unlocks the 5th Doctor and the Daleks!!

We already have the 4th Doctor and friends, now we need to unlock #5!!  You can do it!!

Go here: https://www.patreon.com/okumarts

SO Close! Help unlock the 4th Doctor & friends.

We are so close to getting these guys and you can help! Join the MeWe group and unlock the 4th Doctor and friends!!

https://mewe.com/group/5bbc09fe2ee15f2bb817e47e?fbclid=IwAR0QvSYac1lbSNrZr4Q2fo6eSRwPYv_wnYjdvLQEtQxJEOL6RVA0bxvNVDQ

The Front session 4: Weird War!

Session 4 of the Mini-campaign for The Front RPG finds our stalwart squad hot on the tail of the German forces as they head north from the flaming wreckage of the moathouse.

Dawkins is driving the stolen German truck with Stone riding shotgun. Both men are wearing enemy helmets to help avert any unwanted attention. Corp. Murphy readies weapons and restocks ammo in the back of the

truck along with Sterling, Fynn, and Honeycut.

Eventually they come upon a enemy sentry post and slow down to not arouse suspicion. The guards motion them to stop and the lads cut loose with a hail of gunfire!

Murphy opens up on a motorcylce parked nearby causing it to explode.

Some time later the group crosses the border of France into Belgium and can see the road will lead them to a castle perched on the edge of a waterfall in the distance. The full moon gives the area a strange dreamlike quality, and a heavy fog begins to set in.

Crossing the drawbridge the Squad finds the German vehicles all parked in the remains of the ancient gatehouse (Area 1). Making quick and silent work of the two sentries, they start to cross the bridge (2) towards the block house. A voice calls out from the parapet above and Murphy calls back in german. The senty is not swayed and opens fire! The men retreat back to the ruined gatehouse and hot wire a 1/2 track which they then drive back across the bridge and smash through the blockhouse doors with!

Blockhouse battle

Storming the Block house our guys get in a small firefight with a squad of guards! Grenades are tossed, and Honeycut's shotgun makes short work of any survivors! Private Fynn takes a position in the upper floor of the Blockhouse facing the castle proper, while the rest of the squad remounts the 1/2 track and uses it to assault the main castle.

They take heavy fire from a machine gun on the third floor of the castle as they approach, and Fynn takes them out with well placed shots!

Bursting into the castle proper, the lads make short work of the half dozen guards that attempt to repel their assault. The men decide to bring along the Flamethrower and the Panzershrek they got from the Moathouse, since they are not sure what they may be up against here as they search the castle. The group quickly discovers a hidden stairwell in a desecrated chapel and descend underground.

Honeycut captures a sentry and they get him to guide them through the lower levels. However he leads them into an old crypt where the group is set upon by horrid flesh-eating ghouls! Upon defeating the "ghouls" they see that they are actually some of the missing POW's as well as germans!!

The squad follows the sounds of chanting to a large chamber that opens up directly behind the waterfall. The

roaring of the water and the chanting of the collected enemy soldiers covers the movement of our Heroes as they move into position.

The germans are in the midst of performing some sort of ceremony in front of a large ornately decorated gateway when weird energies begin to form! The men know they need to do something quickly so they start to move up behind the unsuspecting enemy soldiers.

The Black Sun commander whips his followers into a frenzy as the Nazi scientist looks on. The fusion of

The ceremony!

occult power and his dreaded experiments are about to come to fruition and allow the Third Reich to rule the world for a thousand years!!

The squad finally in position preps hand grenades and weapons with full clips. Suddenly an unseen sentry steps out from behind a pillar and Prvt. Sterling gets into a physical struggle to take him out!

A soldier in the back row seems to notice something is going on and Corporal Murphy gives the order to open fire!

The bullets and grenades seem to make short work of the soldiers at first, however the Squad quickly realize something unnatural is happening as the ragged bleeding bodies seem to get back up and return fire!!

Honeycut and Dawkins witness a female Nazi Officer actually command a soldier to transform into a hulking Wolfman and it rushes to attack them!

Sterling and Stone continue to unleash hails of gunfire into the remaining enemy soldiers until they are just bloody clumps of meat that cannot fight back!

Honeycut goes one-on-one against the werewolf with the flamethower as Dawkins unleashes a hail of thompsons rounds into the Female officer killing her!

The Black Sun commandant uses the energy from the strange sphere he clutches in his hand to transform the

Power of the Loc Nar!

Gestapo agent into a horrible winged beast that he directs to attack the Americans!

As this battle is raging, Prvt. Sterling begins to feel very strange urges wash over him. He is able to keep it together and keep fighting, but he knows something is very wrong!

Honeycut keeps narrowly avoiding the rending claws of the werewolf, and is able to keep the beast constantly engulfed in searing flame!

Dawkins makes a rush towards the Commandant and opens fire upon the occult leader only to watch in stupor as his bullets are transformed into small fish that flop to the floor harmlessly at the man's feet!

"Ha ha ha! The ancient power is our to wield American. You will fall to the power of the Thousand year reich!!

Murphy sets down his thompson and loads the Panzershrek. "Let's see how your ancient power likes this!" FWOOSH!! The rocket screams across the chamber and explodes in a shower of cold water all around the wielder of the Loc nar!!  "Oh crap!" utters Murphy.

The winged terror swoops down at Stone who dodges it's slahing claws and opens up on the creature with his BAR to little effect! Unable to hold back the urges any longer Prvt. Sterling lets out a terrible howl of rage as he transforms into a werewolf!!

"You've got to be kidding me!" gripes Stone, reloading his BAR.

Mystical purple tentacles reach up out of the floor and attempt to restrain Dawkins, but he escapes thier grasp and makes desperate charge towards the Commandant!

Murphy is able to use his command ability to keep Sterling under control and orders him to attack the winged terror!

Stone and Honeycut  acting together are able to constantly hammer attack the Nazi werewolf to the point where it just can't get a successful attack off!

The Black Sun Commandant screams in a rage as both the winged terror and the werewolf seem to be faltering under the attacks of the Americans! His regular troops shredded beyond use he holds up the Loc Nar and begins to call upon its power opening a portal in the gateway when....

Duke Dawkins leaps up the steps of the gateway and uses the but of his thompson to knock the green-orb from the Nazi's hand!

"Nien!! You must not!!"

"Sorry bub, but your weird shit ain't happening on my watch!"

Everyone watches as the Orb seems to float in the air for long seconds, then Dawkins swipes it from the grasp of the German officer. Upon touching the Org Dawkins realizes this "thing" is PURE EVIL!!! He looks over his shoulder at his fellow squad members and then tucking the Loc-nar like a football in his arm he shoulder tackles the Black Sun officer back through the pulsing energies of the gateway!

"Kraka-Boom!" a shockwave rolls through the cavern and the ancient gateway begins to collapse upon itself. With no more occult energies to empower them the Nazi werewolf and winged terror succumb to the wounds inflicted upon them!

Sterling also reverts to human form, and seems to be okay!

Murphy leads the remaining squad members out of the castle where they link back up with Fynn awaiting them in a fancy black car!

"I figured we could ride back to Hommlet in style!" grins Fynn as his fellows jump in the car. "Hey where's Dawkins?"

Corp. Murphy slumps into the passenger seat, "We made it because of him, you won't believe what we found in there! Now get going, I can't put this place behind us fast enough!"

THE END......

Help Unlock the Doc!!

We only need five more of you out there in the great wide world to join up at the Okumarts Patreon and we can unlock the 5th Doctor and some Daleks!!  Come on everybody, help make the November pledge drive a success!!

https://www.patreon.com/posts/unlock-doc-22741554

GALACTA 25 rules for Battle!

I was asked about what rules I use for playing Galacta 25. I use the original rules included with the Heritage Paint & Play box sets of Star Commandos and Galactic Rebellion.

In 2006 Mudpuppy games published an updated version of the rules that used hexes for movement & ranges and added all sorts of creatures and other forces. However it seems that the Mudpuppy rules are hard to find. I f anyone has any info on that leave it in the comments  below.

I have made a PDF of the original rules that came in the box sets from Heritage (see link below). Have fun and let me know about your battles across the galaxy!

Find the link below to a PDF of the Galacta Rules
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1jg0q94ByeUypFpksD7CnxgvfmNdktxsr

Okumarts November pledge drive continues!

So you're still on the fence. Well think of it this way, $3 dollars a month gets you access to a load of free paper figures and a huge back catalog. I mean come on, $3 a month is less than you spend getting a Starbucks coffee!! YOU CAN DO IT!! As of now the first PBS inspired set has dropped. I'm just giddy over all the places I can use the "Are you being served?" figures in all sorts of games!

Join up at this link:

https://www.patreon.com/okumarts

Help us break the next goal level and unlock the super awesome 4th Doctor & friends!!

Get in on all the great paper miniature action!! Go on, go to that Patreon link....

Here it is again:

https://www.patreon.com/okumarts

Don't forget to join David Okum over at MeWe.com and help us release more bonus figures!!

https://mewe.com/group/5bbc09fe2ee15f2bb817e47e

November Pledge Drive for Okumarts!

Don't wait, join up now! Help Okumarts create more awesome paper miniatures!! This November for every 5 new Patreon supporters David will create a set of PBS inspired figures! Let's see what he can do check it out today!!

Paper Miniatures and Me!

I am and have been a fan of Miniature figures since my first set of Heritage Paint & Play: Caverns Of Doom! Over the years I have collected, painted, sold, given away and traded many many figures.

Heritage Miniatures

Now almost 4 decades into this hobby I find myself overwhelmed with the amount of choices and types of figures out in the wide world. Adding the access the internet has enabled and those choices are almost limitless and constantly something new is popping up.

I have found that I just couldn't keep up with all the figures I liked, wanted, might use, etc. etc. Not to mention the arduous task of painting everything and then storage as well for hundreds of figures! Ugh!

A couple of years ago I stumbled upon Okumarts free set of paper Star Trek figures. This set changed the world of miniatures for me.

I still have a lot of of my old lead figures, and some new castings of great old school stuff, but I knew I couldn't keep up with the figure overload I was running into. I just couldn't paint everything and have it table ready for whatever game I was doing. Paper minis has helped me tackle this situation.

David Okum of Okumarts is by far my favorite and Go-To guy for paper figures. He also designs his own games that go along with his figures so you get the best of two worlds here! Figures you can use in your own games as well as cool games to play with the Figures themselves! I have talked about Okumarts before on the Blog and you should check out his stuff:

I also suggest you give the Patreon site a try, For $3 a month you get access to all sorts of figures first and insights and previews into what David is doing. I have really enjoyed being a part of that!

Right now David is looking for people to join his site on MeWe.com, this is a social site where a lot of use have moved to since the Great Google G plus debacle! He just hit 100 members and everybody got a set of cool Doctor Who minis based on the most recent Doctor for FREE!

Come on and join us and help choose what the next set of Dr. Who figures will be! I mean seriously, who couldn't use a Time Lord in just about any game you run!

Anyway, let me give you some reasons why Paper minis have really worked out great for me!

#1 - I'm OLD! My eyes aren't what they used to be and painting tiny figures has become an even greater chore for me. So now I reserve painting a figure to a really cool Character figure or a super cool Monster. The great array of paper mini choices allows me to fill out mobs of lesser creatures and hordes of NPC's etc. Plus there are tons of Paper figure options for creatures, PC's and NPC's for every Genre!!

#2 - TIME! Time, to play! I'm not a teenager with loads of free time anymore. In a week period of about 6 hours or so I printed, assembled, and played with more paper figures than I ever could have done with regular miniatures.

#3 - Storage Space! I have close to two hundred paper miniatures now all stored in a craft bin that takes up less space that one of my Miniature Carry cases. For me and my current living space this is a BIG Deal!!

Now I will never stop gettinng Miniatures by any means, but adding Paper figures has allowed me to narrow my focus on what figures I purchase, and has expanded my collection 100 fold of what I can put on the table without backlogging my hobby table with unpainted figures!

In the end, I say if you have been on the fence about Paper figures check them out. There are a lot of talented creators out there that make all sorts of figures. Check out some of my other posts and see the Paper figures in action along with regular minis. It may be just what you need to spice up your table!

A Wine Cellers Tale: The fate of Brulan & Frederick IV

The "Fight Club" debacle has caused an upheaval in the depths of the Cellars! The Elven Warrior-Seer Brulan Cobyr and his cousin Fredrick IV Adept of Tardone along with a single man-at-arms Hillwin have found themselves alone and lost somewhere deep in the bowels of the dungeon.

Brulan led his fellows on a mad dash as they escaped from the Fireball-frenzy unleashed by Varuna Lee! Avoiding irate creatures, brawling fans and dangers to dank to describe the trio eventually found themselves shelter in a seemingly abandoned room.

After a much needed rest the party makes a cursory search of the area and finds they are in an unused section that seems to have been a training area for gladiators.

Kehnee

A monster patrol was avoided, and a lone kobold was found scrounging the area. A Charm spell was cast and the little fellow was able to help the party understand more about their current location. They were in the old Purple Team section that has been abandoned for some time. Kehnee the kobold related that the secret treasury of the Purple team was still rumored to be hidden somewhere in this area.

The band decides to look for the treasury and soon found themselves facing a haggard Duergar warrior. Kehnee the kobold recognized the duergar as Flegar Garnetglory the head trainer of the Purple Team! After a parley of extensive drinking the group has pledged themselves as gladitorial recruits under the dark-dwarf master.

The new trainees worked hard for two-weeks cleaning up, working-out & patrolling their territory. Flegar was able to secure a Pre-game bout for his protege's and they assembled for the fight!

It was a Man vs. Beast battle and Fredrick IV, Brulan & Hillwin were up against a pair of giant swamp toads. The arena had been flooded  knee-deep with brackish water and bits of rotted trees were placed around as well. Sorcery was used to create thick fog, clouds of swarming gnats & putrid smells to befuddle the Gladiators.

In a surprising turn of events the Purple team pulled off a flawless victory and coins flowed into the coffers Garnetglory once more.

The chant of "Mess with Fred, you be Dead!" was ringing in the halls!

What happens next in the Wine Cellars? It's up to you.....

Chaos Warbands Battle!!!

This past weekend I had the pleasure of playing a round of Chaos Warbands!! I always liked this idea from back in the 80's with the Slaves to Darkness book from Warhammer.

So my friend brought over some figures and we got stuck in! I was in charge of the Slannesh band and he took the Nurgle band. We set up some terrain determined the objective ( which was kill the wizards for x2 points) and we started!

Nah-loc Ass-sore

Nah-loc Ass-sore brought his small band to the edge of the murky swamplands. His pet slaughterbrute needed to taste flesh, and his Chaos warriors bristled to bring the painful pleasure to all comers. The Slannesh wizard prepared his lustful magics.


It didn't take long before a horde of putrid nurglings attempted to atttack us from behind! Nah-loc let the slaughterbrute charge a group of Blight-kings to hold them off, while he and the Warriors aided the Wizard.

Filthy nurglings!!

The brute was unfortunately slain by the might of the Blight-kings!

Much Nah-loc's chagrin, the nurglings were able to kill off the wizard, so he and his warriors wasted time finishing them off! They had to stem the tide of filth before it was too late!

Nah-loc then turned to take on the Blight-kings while his warriors attacked the group of nurgle marauders! But lo, beware the charge of the Nurgle Champion on his fetid steed!!

In the end Nurgle won by a slight margin and the fact that they killed our Wizard, but we scored many deaths

on their band as well. After the tally, Nah-loc found he had attracted some new followers to his band and is preparing for a re-match with the foul puss-swillers of Nurgle!

More Warbands games to come!!!

Stories from the Dog-N-Bone tavern: a Wine Cellars tale

A Wine Cellars of Duke Marqest adventure:

Come hither and hear a tale of woe...
On the sixteenth day of the third month in the year 118, did a band of delvers dare the ruins of Marqest.
The Inglorious Basterds II were recruited by Jeff "the Handsome".

Player Roster:
(Selina) Varuna Lee - impetuous halfling with long lustrious hair / freed Brulan from imprisonment.
(Bryan) Brulan Cobyr - mysterious Elf wearing a black bandana / cousin to Fredrick IV.
(John) Fredrick IV - devout Cleric of Tardone wears a 3 musketeer hat with large feather / he and Skrog both barely escaped from an evil tyrants treasure chamber.
(James W.) Skrog - poetic Dwarf  / worked as a caravan guard with Crayola.
(Hannah) Crayola - the colorful Thief  / met Jeff when they both refused right of way on the road and fought a duel to a draw.
(Matt) Jeff "the Handsome" - Fighter / Leader / Grifter, wears a Centurion Helm / purchased Mcshanes freedom at a slave auction.
(Dave W.) Random McShane - ex Dwarf loan shark sports a visored great helm / was engaged to Varuna, however she broke it off but they remained friends.

Lo this stalwart group did set its sights upon entering the main Keep itself. After deftly avoiding the howling well and reaping the fabulous "Scarlet Hat of the Phoenix" from a Rock-Beetle nest did they enter through doors double! But first was Brulan assaulted by a creature most fowl!! Bewre the chickens of Marqest!

Inside the gloomy edifice the group found signs left by those whom had come before and a descent down darkened steps was had...

Giant furred beasts gnawed the arm off of Crayola the Thief, as Skrog and McShane dealt grievous blows to said creatures! It is rumored the group fell to the trap of the "Green Room" and soon found themselves in the great fighting arena somewhere in the depths of the dungeon. The band was pitted against a fearful conglomeration of monsters made up of a Jelly-beast, the 5 dreadful Ogre brothers and a horde of giant ants!!

 In the end only two verified survivors returned to the Dog-n-Bone, Jeff the Hansome as usual and the impetuous Varuna Lee sporting the fabled "Scarlet Hat"!. What fate befell the others, you ask? Well we may soon find out.....

The FRONT session 3:Assault the Moathouse!

The Front WW2 RPG session 3: Assault the Moathouse!!

After defeating the German force that held the town of St. Hommlet, our Heroes discovered that the Gestapo man and some SS soldiers had just made off with about 10 POW's before the player's raid!!

Corporal Murphy orders Prvt. Sterling to trail the enemy truck up the north road and get a look at the moathouse the french have told them about.

While Sterling takes off to do this task the rest of the group, contact HQ. The POW's are first priority and they are told to leave the mortar team at the village and to move out in pursuit of the SS troops.

The squad decides it will be better to go on foot even though it will take them longer to travel the 5km or so to the moathouse location. They do not want to give away their element of surprise with a vehicle!

The day has become quite overcast and a constant drizzle males everyone soaked and uncomfortable. Also a thick fog has settled on the countryside limiting the groups visibility.

The squad gets a frantic call from Sterling on the radio! He has been spotted and the SS have dogs!! They hear shots fired the radio goes out. The decide to double time it to get to Sterling as fast as possible. At the last moment Prvt. Fynn catches sight of an ambush and alerts the squad! A firefight breaks out in the woods!

Minor scrapes are endured and Prvt. Stone takes out the two SS troopers on the right with a Full Burst from the BAR! Prvt. Honeycut rushes the Trooper on the left who attempts to run and cuts him down with a shotgun blast!

Forest firefight!

A short time later the Squad arrives at the area where Sterling is last presumed to have been. They do not find their fellow grunt, but they discover something else!! Along the side of the road a handful of POW's have been dumped in the mud. They are all dead but not from gunshots. Something else has killed these men and Dawkins thinks it might be some type of new Gas weapon! Just what are the Nazi's up to??

What has killed these men?

The squad presses on through the the fog and eventually comes upon the Moathouse as described by the villagers. There is no patrol evident so the men sneak right up to the gateway.In the courtyard they can see a cargo-truck (1/2 track is a stand in) being loaded quickly with boxes and equipment from inside the fort.

Sneaking up!

Being cautious and timing things just right hey are able to take out the 3 SS troopers stationed in the guard tower using bayonets! Murphy takes a bad hit to the face, but pushes through, he can't let down Sterling or the POW"S!!  A Flamethrower is found here and Stone volunteers to use this weapon to great effect within the confines of the structure.

Taking out the guards silently!

Murphy swaps out his helmet for a german in hopes that in the bad weather it lend to the guise that he is one of the SS for surprise purposes. Plus he knows a smattering of german as well and can usually get in a phrase or two to stymie the enemy before they raise an alarm. The squad leaves the confines of the tower and make to take out the two men loading the truck. In the scuffle a trooper within the moathouse attempts to fire on them but Prvt. Stone lights him up wth the Flame thrower!!

The alarm goes up!

Murphy and Honeycut break for the main entry to the moathouse proper and take out an emerging SS trooper with a hail of .45 rounds and buckshot! An mg32 opens up on the others as they use the truck for cover! Stone fires a burst of flame to cow the machine gun so he and Fyn can get to the entry proper. Dawkins in the meantime has located the keys for the truck and starts it up.

Stone blasts the MG!

Under orders from Murphy, Stone & Honeycut lay down suppressive fire tearing into the scrambling SS troops! While Fynn keeps the MG team down by firing on them!

The flamethrower at work!!

Murphy takes this moment to unload a short burst into the room where the MG team is finishing them off! Dawkins back the cargo truck up and blocks off the windows directly behind him.

Murphy finishes off the MG team!

The next few rounds are a furious room to room firefight, leading eventually to a showdown with a Panzershrek team that emerges from the basement! An interior wall is blown to bits and luckily our heroes are able to avoid any serious damage! Stone kills the SS commander and defuses the detonator device that has the entire structure wired to blow!!

Murphy leads Fynn and Honeycut down the stairs after the trooper with the bazooka. They know he is wounded but don't know how much. They are worried about any prisoners that may be below!

In the basement the squad finds the lone wounded SS trooper pointing the panzershrek at the wired explosives. Nearby Sterling is locked in a cell. The room is filled with the scattered remains of medical and laboratory equipment. The trooper threatens to take them all out by shooting the explosives, but Honeycut fires a load of buckshot and kills him before he can make good on his threat!!

Releasing Sterling the wounded private relates that he came upon the SS dumping the bodies on the road side when he was ambushed by a dog presumably used by the SS. When he arrived here the commander order him taken below while the truck with the rest of the POW's continued north. The remaining troopers were evacuating this location and setting it up for destruction with the explosives.

Wasting no more time Murphy and the men pile into the cargo truck after looting the panzershrek & MG32 and head north after the POW's. In the back Dawkins scours through boxes and finds some notes and documents referring to something called Projekt - Prometheus. He also finds testing notes from prior experiments on other POW subjects.

The squad hopes to catch up with and take out the other truck before it reaches its destination.

** Unknown to our brave little band, high above them in the skies a battle between British and german air forces plays out. see prior post: Session 2a Air Combat!

Stay tuned for The FRONT session 4: Projeckt Prometheus! in October 2018!!!

The FRONT session 2A: Air Combat!!

In the sky over northern France Major Appleby & Lt. Cadbury spot a group of enemy planes on what is probably a bombing run.  The BF110C was loaded with 4 bombs and being escorted by the pair of BF109E's.

round 1

In round 1 the Allies won Initiative, and they made Maneuver rolls to swoop down to Altitude 3 and hit the 110 from the right hand side! The Major dropped a Die step on his Fuel this round.
They fired and did a little damage to the 110, its armor absorbing the bulk.
The 109's attempted to get behind the Spitfires and the LT. failed his DX check so they pulled it off, they fired but his armor check negated the dmg.

Round 2

Round 2 - init order: Major, enemy, Lt.
The Major went first and maneuvered himself between the the LT and the 109's.
The 109's were next and fired with two hits. Rolling with advantage because of 'wingman" the Major was able to come through with only a couple points of damage.
The 110 opened up with the rear gun to no effect.
The Lt. continued to pepper the 110 whittling down its HP.

Round 3 init order: Allies, Axis
The Major makes a maneuver roll to get sight on the 110, then both allied pilots open up combined damage is enough to severely damage the 110.
The 109's continued to attack the Lt. as their main target. A tiny bit of damage is taken.

Round 4 init order: Major, Axis, Lt.
The Major maneuvers into "wingman" position again to take the Heat off the LT.
The 109's fire on the Major, but no damage is sustained. The 110 does light damage to the LT. with the rear gun.
The Lt. continues to fire on the 110 hurting it more!

Round 5

Round 5 init order: Lt, Axis, Major
The Lt. finishes off the wounded 110 with a burst attack and rolls double sixes on his dice!
The 109's break and run
The major forms up with the Lt. and they give chase.

At this point I asked if they wanted to continue, and after taking stock of their current Ammo/ Fuel die situation ( both pilots were at D10's for both items) they agreed to give pursuit!

I started the Round counter off at 1 again and said that by end of round 6 any surviving 109 would make it back to Axis controlled airspace where they could not follow.

THE CHASE
In round 1 they played catch up to the 109's trying to outrun them!

Round 2 saw the Lt. score a double 6 on the damage dice to destroy the wounded 109!
while the remaining 109 tried to shoot down the LT. to no avail.

Round 3 saw some maneuvers and lots of shots, with damage absorbed on both sides.

Round 4 - I rolled a D6, on a 56 an enemy reinforcement would arrive at Distance 6. It did!
Fuel & ammo were getting low at this point, and they agreed to one more round of attacks and no matter the outcome they would peel off for base afterward.

The allies were able to down the last original enemy 109, and peel away back to base!

Aquabats? What the heck is that???

In case you don't know or are unfamiliar with the Stupendous Awesomeness that is the Aquabats!!

Here is a little something for you!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PL_RJ8Z7XLs

Please check out eh Aquabts Kickstarter to save the children and the World!!

Tales from the Loop Intro One-shot!

Got to run my first attempt at the Tales from the Loop RPG this past Saturday evening! We had a great time and even though we were a little sketchy on the rules it really didn't hinder anything. Game play was simple, intuitive and very fun.

I used a hacked version of a one-shot from Lowell Francis @ Age of Ravens Blog, titled: Bright Flash, I found on the TftL google group. I was also able to break my set of Radical Kids paper figures from Okumarts!!

The players each chose a character archetype, their age, applied points to their Abilities & Skills. Chose their respective Problems, Drives, & Prides (which sounds complicated but isn't) and their character's favorite song!

In the end our group of 4 kids looked like this:

From left to right we have -
Katherine "Kat" Ross - Popular Kid, age: 13
Brock - Jock, age:11
Kerensa Parker - Trouble maker, age:11
Simon Trent - Bookworm, age:12

Our NPC's for the evening:

From left to right:
Mr. Semmelmyer - Science Teacher @ school
Weird Creepy Guy


Scene 1: The Park - Halloween night just as curfew goes into effect!
The kids were on their way home when a cool light show emanating from the park draws them in to see if they can get some last minute candy. What they find is a strange metal box, with multi-colored lights and making soft purring & clicking sounds! The kids determine this item was placed here by someone or something very recently as it had not been seen earlier in the evening. Simon remarks that he is uneasy because he is sure he has been shadowed all night by a "Creepy Guy". Kat wonders if Brock's brother Keith is around, while both Parker and Brock look to cause some physical mischief on the Box itself, while someone watches from the shadows!!

Investigating the metal box, now dubbed the "Disco Box" because of the flashing lights, the kids don't know what to make of it! Kat notices a "Creepy Guy" watching them and tells the others. Brock hits the Disco box with his bat and "POP!" there is a bright flash of intense white-light like a flash-bulb going off!

The kids wake up and realize they have been out for several hours! It's almost dawn and they need to get home before they are missed, it is a school day today!! As they scramble to go home it is noticed that the Disco-box is missing!! The kids start to leave the park when a black car zooms up the street narrowly missing everyone except Simon who gets clipped and thrown to the ground! Brock & Kat aren't sure but think the car was driving itself!?!?!

Scene 2: Sneaking in!
Each kid was spotlighted and described how they were able to sneak back into their houses before anyone noticed they were missing. Also each character discovered at the same moment that they couldn't see their own reflections in mirrors/windows etc. Each was bewildered and distressed, not sure if they were still dreaming or what! By the time they had to get ready for school and the sun was up each realized that other people were seeing them just fine and put this off as a "weird " occurrence.

Scene 2a: Simon freaks out!
Simon takes this hard and freaks out getting Scared and decides he needs to see his "Anchor" before school. He rides a few blocks away over to the house of a local author named Sutter Kane and speaks with him about what happened. Mr. Kane is able to calm Simon and tells him to use this dream-like episode as inspiration to write! Simon feels better and heads to school.

Scene 3: The Lunchroom
Parker and Brock are in line for lunch when they see Kat enter. She seems unsure of whether to approach them or go over to the "Popular" table. Simon however cuts in line directly behind Brock and starts inquiring about how the others felt when getting home this morning.

Lunch trays in hand Simon, Parker, and Brock sit down and begin talking about things. Kat comes over within earshot but is trying to make it look like she isn't "with" them. Upon hearing Simon relate the issue of being essentially "Invisible"  she moves closer and reveals she had the same thing happen too! It must be something to do with the Disco-box!

Just then Kat see's that Jessica has seen her with the younger kids and is about to say something to Keith! She overreacts and tries to push Simon while making a big show of saying "Ugh, Nerd!" and pushing him before quickly walking away. Simon almost loses his tray but reacts quickly enough to save his lunch. He then turns to hurl a spoonful of pudding at Kat's back when Coach Jones looms up and says "Simon, what are you doing with that pudding?"
As Simon and Coach ones interact Parker seizes the moment to "bump" Simon's arm causing him to catapult the pudding across the Coach's face and into Kat's hair!!! Simon is ordered to the Office by Coach Jones and Kat runs to wash out her hair in the Girl's room.

Scene 4: After School
Brock and Kat are unlocking their bikes as Parker zooms up on her skateboard.Simon comes stomping up and gives Parker a stare! As they get into a little tussle over what happened at lunch, Simon tells Brock that any homework he does for Keith from now on will cost double! Brock declares this wasn't his fault, and Simon can tell Keith himself!

Keith & Steve walk up at just that moment overhearing the exchange. Kat "poses" for Keith who seems not to notice as he starts in on Brock! Simon backs away and realizes that the black car that almost ran him down is in the parking lot!!
Simon: "Mother-F*@ker! it's the car!"
This outburst stops everyone dead, as they watch a red-faced Simon stalk off across the lot. Kat realizes what is happening and attempts to dissuade Simon from approaching the car. Meanwhile Keith & Steve have lost interest and walk away.
Keith: "See you at home later dick!" to Brock.
Brock: gives his brother the finger...

The kids wrangle Simon trying to calm him down, when they see Mr. Semmelmyer the Science Teacher walk up to the black car and open the door to get in.

Confontation!

"Hey!" yells Simon.
The Teachers eyes go wide at the sight of the kids approaching him with determined looks on their faces!

Convincing the kids he is "Really Sorry" about what happened and that he can "explain" everything just "Not here!" they agree to meet him in hour at an address that he gives the kids.They agree only after Semmelmyer promises to fix Simon's bike that got damaged in the near miss this morning.

Scene 4: The Warehouse
The kids arrive at the location which turns out to be at a warehouse behind the K-Mart. They head towards Unit 5 and see the teacher's car parked out front. A side door is propped open with an old paint bucket. As they are about to enter they hear two male voices talking inside, and stop to listen and peek in. They see Mr. Semmelmyer and the "Creepy Guy" standing over the Disco-box. The room is filled with all manner technical gizmos & such.
Creepy Guy: "I'll take this one for now until you can create a better one."
Semmelmyer: "I'm not sure how well this one will work, or for how long!"

The kids frantically begin discussing a plan to get the Disco-box away from here before the Creepy Guy can leave with it. Brock thinks there might be something they can use in the teachers car and checks it. Turns out it is unlocked and Brock looks inside. Finding nothing of note in the car he pops the trunk. Lifting the trunk-lid Brock catches sight of something "alive" in the trunk moving! He reacts quickly and cracks it with his bat!!

"Ouch! good heavens!!" cries a loosely bound Mr. Semmelmyer, with a lightly bleeding bump on his forehead.

the kids:"Mr. Semmelmyer!?!? But you're in the warehouse!"

Semmelmyer: "Oh no, they want my device. I need your help! I will distract them while you get the Box. I will meet you back at the park."

Simon: "But who, what are they?"

Semmelmyer: "Aliens my boy, from another dimension!"

Brock: "bullshit!"
Simon: "Of course!!"

Semmelmyer then jumps in his car and Brock leaps into the backseat. The other kids watch as the Teacher crashes through the warehouse garage door into the secret lab catching the "aliens" by surprise!! Brock leaps out f the car and kneecaps the Aliens allowing Simon to grab the Disco-Box. The kids race out of the warehouse and race away!

Scene 5: The Chase

Creepy Guy gives chase!

The kids race along the streets heading to the park where this all began! But soon they see Creepy Guy barreling after them in an old pickup truck! Dodging down one way lanes and cutting across vacant lots while passing the Disco-box back and forth in a game of Monkey-in-the-middle the kids eventually split up to lose Creepy Guy!

Kat catches sight of Semmelmyer's car but can't be sure who is driving so she cuts back between houses to avoid detection and runs into Parker. Unfortunately the girls find themselves in a mexican stand-off with Creepy Guy in an alley between Houses. Parker makes a stand giving Kat time to get away with the Box. Using a length of bike chain Brock gave her, Parker pulls a David Vs, Goliath and smashes the windshield of the oncoming truck causing it to crash into a backyard!

Finally the kids all meet up at the Park and devise a plan to hide the box in one of the large garbage cans. They substitute a T.V. box that Brock found along the way by draping a coat over it as a decoy just in case!
The kids are taken by surprise as the Creepy Guy drops from the sky landing in the street just outside the park! He begins stalking towards the kids with a mean look in his eyes.

Brock rushes to meet Creepy Guy and grand slams him in the chest causing him to stumble back into the middle of the street! The kids watch in horror as his crumpled ribs seem to crack back into place and the man stands to face them!!

Creepy Guy: "Give me that Bo..." Screech!! WHAM!

A black car smashes into the creepy man sending him rolling across the pavement in a crumpled heap!
Semmelmyer: "Quick get in! Where's the box?"
Simon: "It's over here in the .. wait a minute!"
Parker: "Which Semmelmyer is it?"
Brock: "Look at his forehead!"
Kat: "He has the bump where you clocked him, Brock!"

The Science teacher takes the kids to wooded field where he sets up the machine. He explains that while tinkering in his lab he had accidentally created a device that could reveal the presence of extra-dimensional beings. A side-effect was that anyone under influence of the device would become invisible at night! Which is what happened to the kids! He was now going to reverse the process and get the kids back to normal!

A bit of an argument ensues as the kids think maybe being invisible at night could be really COOL! Brock lashes out at the Box with his bat and sets it off! POP!

Scene 6: Closure
The kids wake up back in the park, sitting at a picnic table. Their bikes and skateboard nearby. The Science teacher and disco-box nowhere to be seen.

Brock: " Did we just dream all that?'
Simon: " Look my bike tire fixed!"
Parker: "We need to find Mr. Semmelmyer!"
Kat: "I hope the aliens are gone!"

The kids race back to the school hoping to find a clue as to where the Science teacher lives. When they get there they see men loading the contents of the science class onto a truck. The men wear uniforms of workers from the Loop Facility.

Kat makes a distraction in the front office, and Simon is able to look at a rolodex and get Mr. Semmelmyer's address.

The kids arrive at the teachers home time to see another Loop facility truck pulling away. The teacher however is in his front yard talking with two men in blue military looking uniforms. He sees the kids and walks over to greet them. He lets the kids know that everything is fine and that men from the Government have taken care of the "aliens". He is sad to let them know however that he won't be teaching at school anymore as his work will now be officially moved to the Loop Facility.

The kids say goodbye to Mr. Semmelmyer and return to the normalcy of life.

THE END

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