"Not-Star Trek" Romulan Fleet

Introduction

What do Romulans mean to most Star Trek fans?  I'd say that for such a large empire, they are little-known and secretive.  Their politics, likes & dislikes, aspirations and technologies are clouded in mystery.  Intriguing!

TOS Warbird

TNG D'deridex

Their ships are also some of the most-changed designs between The Original Series (TOS) and The Next Generation (TNG) time frames.  At least the Federation and Klingon ships (ignoring the "Bird of Prey"-style vessels) show similar design features between these series, whereas the Romulan vessels are utterly different. As a once-upon-a-time player of Star Fleet Battles (SFB), I greatly prefer the TOS "warbirds" over the newer green monstrosities and it's that style which I have chosen for my Romulan fleet.

Design Philosophy

Warbirds are known for 2 main features in SFB: the cloaking device and the largest possible plasma torpedo which will fit in the hull!  There are no existing designs in any of the Full Thrust fleet books that come close to this, so I've had to create my versions from scratch.  Indeed, there are no rules for plasma torpedoes in Full Thrust - or at least, not as such.  However, the Phalon "plasma bolt" is very close in spirit and so I've pinched this alien technology to fit into an otherwise standard design.

I have to admit to a great degree of trepidation about this fleet.  I've never played a game of Full Thrust that involved ships which could cloak, so it might be quite hard to create suitable scenarios with reasonably balanced victory conditions.  Truly, we're into the unknown here; this is a new and untested fleet!

The Ships

There are official ranges of old-style Romulan starships available from Amarillo Design Bureau, but once again I decided to go my own way on this.  However, unlike most of my previously-documented fleets, I couldn't find a single manufacturer who made an entire range of such models.  Instead, I've chosen a mixture of the ever-reliable Studio Bergstrom for the larger ships and various Shapeways models for the smaller ones.  I'm really missing mid-range ships, though!

In The Original Series, Romulan ships had a "bird" pattern painted on the underside.  I've taken the liberty of transferring these designs to the top of the ships instead, since I didn't fancy going to the effort of painting a decoration on the models which would hardly be visible!

For those who are interested, I've made the following SSDs available to download.  The file is in OpenOffice Draw format (.odg).

Manufacturer	Picture	Full Thrust SSD
Studio Bergstrom: Firebrand ROM Warbird
Studio Bergstrom: Firebord ROM Warbird
Shapeways: S'ten Vastam
Shapeways: Tiberian Pugius destroyer

HOTT: The Tower in the Wastelands

Introduction

So, we're playing Hordes of the Things this week at the games club.  As usual, I'm providing all the forces and the terrain, which gives me the right to decide exactly how to set up the game.

When we last saw them, my Goblin army and my other 'evil' army, The Cabal of the Black Hand, had both been roundly defeated by the forces of good.  Now they are both combing the wastelands, looking for a new base from which to plot their nefarious schemes!

In the same area as the wandering armies is the Dark Tower, home to a very powerful hermit wizard.  Conveniently, the wizard has just died (probably caused by something he summoned) and thus the Dark Tower is vacant, protected only by whatever traps and enchantments he may have left there.  This would make an ideal base for any evil overlord, so all armies in the wastelands are heading straight for it as soon as the news reaches them.

Scenario

This will be another big-battle game, with 3 commands of 24AP on each side.  Special rules as follows:

• Neither side has a stronghold of their own.  Instead, the Dark Tower is placed in the centre of the board.  It counts as a stronghold and can be attacked by either side.  Victory at the end of the game (i.e. when time runs out and we have to pack up) is decided solely on possession of the tower: the last side to capture it will win!  Note that the tower cannot be garrisoned or make attacks of its own, but will always defend at full [stronghold] strength.
• Before deployment, each side rolls a single d6.  The winner can choose to start setting up first and take the first turn, or to set up second and move second.  When deploying, each side takes it in turn to place one command at a time, anywhere along their base line or along their left flank (but not within 12" of any already-deployed enemy unit).  Any returning hordes or heroes escaping from ensorcelment  will come back at this position as well.

As can be seen from the picture above, the Goblins spread their forces along their own baseline and their extreme left flank.  In contrast, the 3 commands of the Cabal army were tightly packed (and in some very unusual formations as well!).

The Game

In their very first turn, the masses of Goblins surged forward.  Their rider general and his bodyguard reached the Dark Tower, defeated the protections and raised their standard from the highest point!

As the goblin cavalry swept on past the tower, the Cabal's response was disjointed.  Two necromancers rode out from the central command so that they could cast black magics (ineffectually) on a far-off troll.  This had a couple of consequences: firstly it used up most of that command's PIPs and so nothing else in the centre could move.  Secondly, the pair of magicians were now obstructing the corner command, so its infantry couldn't move to where it desired.

The North East

The wolves from the goblin flanking force and their troll raced forward, eager to catch the nearest Cabal command in the flank.  Low command rolls and an awkward deployment caused real problems for this undead brigade, but they did manage to defend with some skeletal horsemen as a stopgap.

Soon, the goblin warlord from the central command joined in, bringing his wolf riders with him.  The Cabal's magician general was forced into melee in a desperate attempt to survive.  Yet, even though the situation looked hopeless, he somehow managed to find the occasional reinforcement, win the important dice rolls and otherwise hold on until the end of the game.  The goblins were furious at being frustrated in this way!

The South

Separating himself from the tangled mess of deployment, the Cabal's only hero galloped to the top of the central ridge.  He reached the feature just in time to see the plains on the far side boil with approaching goblin hordes.  Anyone fancy a game of "King of the Hill"?  One undead lord against half the goblins in the world!

At the other end of the ridge, there was a troll.  It started to climb the hill, only to find itself face-to-face with some spirits.  I guess that trolls aren't imaginative enough to believe in ghosts; the resulting combat was predictably indecisive as neither side was able to hurt the other.

The wraiths drifted through the troll and carried on down the hill.  Near the foot, they encountered and attacked one of the goblin generals and his bodyguard.  Large swarms of giant bats joined in from all sides and the goblin chief was terrified into an early death!  The bats then flew off elsewhere.
The goblin bodyguard spent a number of turns trying to exact some revenge on the phantasms, but were completely unable to touch them.

The troll, on the other hand, just shrugged as the spirits moved through it.  Instead, it carried on stalking the wight who was busy ploughing through hordes of goblins.  This time it was the behemoth that had a height advantage; he flattened the undead hero with one swing of his huge club.  Moral: if you're going to play "king of the hill" then stay on the top of the hill, not the lower slopes!

The goblin right wing then poured over the hill; only a few desperate magicians were close enough to try to hold them up!

The End

As the battle came to a close, the Cabal's forces looked increasingly beleaguered on all fronts.  Apart from a few outliers, they were being driven into an ever-decreasing perimeter.  As this happened, their remaining forces became more and more constricted - if they were in each others' way before then they were even more so now!  But...

In the very last turn of the game, a base of ghosts (which could move through any enemies) and another of bats (which could move over enemies) slipped past the goblin stragglers and assaulted the Dark Tower.  This wasn't the first time in the game that the Cabal had attempted to take the stronghold, but all previous attempts had been by individual units and had failed miserably.  Everyone held their breath and predictably enough, on the last dice throw of the game, the sneaker captured the tower.  Victory to the Cabal!

Conclusion

Well, that was unexpected!

• Firstly, I had imagined when setting these 2 armies against each other that there would be vast blocks of horde troops slugging it out with each other.  However, both sides relied almost entirely on their non-horde units, only moving the latter when they had a surfeit of PIPs (command points).  So the battle was really fought between beasts and riders, behemoths, magicians and heroes and so on.
• Secondly, I think the goblins took their eye off the all-or-nothing victory condition.  Despite some terrible deployment (from which they never really recovered), the Cabal made very effective use of their more mobile units; the sneakers and flyers.  The goblins didn't really have any counter to this.

Man of the match (I use the word "man" in a figurative sense only!):

• Goblins: probably the southern troll.  He (or she?) stalked and destroyed an undead hero and then led a ravening horde on a wild charge.  It also wasn't scared of no ghosts!
• Cabal: definitely the last base of sneakers.  Even though other such phantasms had been chased off without achieving anything useful, this one gave a heart attack to a goblin warchief and went on to capture the stronghold (admittedly with assistance on both occasions).  It also said "boo" to a troll, only to discover that trolls don't really know about ghosts.

My forces for 5150: Fighter Command

Introduction

I've spent a large part of today cleaning out my garage, so this is just going to be a short post - sorry!

A long. long time ago, when it was first released, I tried the PC game "Wing Commander" and flew space fighters in dogfights against the cat-like Kilrathi enemy.  For a while, this was my favourite game and I enjoyed it so much that I also bought and played the first sequel.  I've experienced many computer games in my life, but few were as memorable as this.

Also many years ago, I became aware of the plastic spaceship models from EM-4 miniatures.  I thought these were really neat, but since I couldn't think of any game I'd play with them, I managed to resist such a purchase on many occasions.  Even if it had occurred to me to use the EM-4 fighters to revisit the world of Wing Commander, there were no suitable rules, I thought (although Silent Death always seems to have been very popular).

What finally cracked my resolve was the recent release of 5150: Fighter Command by 2HourWargames.  It took only a few days for my determination not to start a new project to crumble and so I ordered both the rules and some plastic spacecraft.  This, I believe, is in no way unusual - many others have done exactly the same thing.

I'm slowly painting my way through the craft I bought; here are the first groups.  I haven't yet come up with a lot of background fluff for these, so you'll have to make do with the pictures:

The Good Guys (Star Navy?)

Here's some interceptors - Blue Flight from the 34th Pursuit Squadron.

A flight of heavy fighters from the "Lucky 15th" Attack Squadron.

Torpedo bombers from the 218th Assault Squadron.  I've added the under-wing anti-ship missiles myself; these were made very simply from lengths of plastic rod with the tip sharpened into a point.

The Bad Guys (Kilrathi?  Hishen?)

"Fandango"-class interceptors.  These are very common and often seen in large wings, but individually not very capable.

A little-known type of single-seat heavy fighter, codename "Firewall".  Such craft are very new and there is no accurate data on their performance.

Conclusion

So far, so good.  However, I've many more fighters yet to paint up; these will make up at least 1 (maybe 2 or 3) other factions.  I'm also looking for inspiration: what to use for capital ships and how many different types of these I might need.  Finally, I'll need to go through all my gaming boxes to see if I have some large, black hex mats.  Fighter Command can be played free-form, but reading the rules suggests that hexes might make things easier.

I really didn't need this distraction from my other projects.  I've just not got enough willpower to resist all the shiny things!

ATZ Game 11 (part 2): Camp Medomak

Introduction

Last week, in our club game of All Things Zombie, some of the survivors reached Camp Medomak - an old military base currently being used for refugees.  The civilians and their remaining National Guard escorts had barely entered the camp before it was attacked, initially by crazed gangsters and then by zombies, attracted by the noise.  However, our 2 hours at the venue were up before the scenario was concluded.

Normally, I run a different game each week at the club, just for variety.  However, this week I decided that we had to find out what happened next, so we set up the same table and proceeded to play out the remainder of the interrupted game.

The Situation

For those who cannot remember, or who haven't already read part 1, here's how it stands.  In the wrecked gate to the camp is the burning remains of the gangsters' truck.  Corporal Van Damme has taken an armoured personnel carrier from the vehicle park and is trying to turn it towards the wreck.  Other soldiers are running about all around the base (and outside it!).  Since Major Brosnan was shot dead in the previous game and since Sergeant Costner and Corporal Van Damme haven't stepped up to the mark, the troops are effectively leaderless.  Of the newly arrived civilians, John, Darcy and Lizzie are doing what they can to help, first by fighting a fire in the furthest hut, then by moving to the fence line.  Finally, Edna is still looking for a nice cup of tea in the administration block.

What Happened Next

Almost immediately, a large group of zombies arrived at the north part of the fence.  This fence was already slightly damaged from attacks in the previous episode, so the arrival of such a large number of attackers didn't bode well!

The mob of zombies at the north end of the fence looked very intimidating!  However, poor activation rolls meant that they didn't move very much.  Between Norris's enthusiastic firing of his minigun and John and Darcy's careful, aimed pistol shots, the numbers were quickly reduced and the pile of bodies against the fence grew and grew.  Darcy, at REP 5 and with the marksman ability seemed like he just couldn't miss.  Lizzie, on the other hand, was having a very bad day and barely hit any of the attackers with her pistol.

Elsewhere

Meanwhile, in the south, various soldiers took potshots at a little girl zombie in a blue dress (marked with a '*' on the large picture above).  She unsettled them by just standing there, as if waiting for something.  3 times she was hit by bullets and knocked down, but each time she just stood up again.  Creepy!

The pair of soldiers stationed at the southern corner of the base finally managed to destroy the girl zombie.
By that time, other shamblers had reached the fence and were tearing at it with their bare hands, trying to break through.  The fence was holding, for now, but these were ordinary troopers and not hero survivors; they weren't hitting many targets and the number of zombies was increasing slowly.

As if this wasn't bad enough, a large group of refugees now burst out of the trees to the east.  Presumably they were looking for a safe haven, but their mood was ugly and their anger was directed against the government forces.

In response, Corporal Van Damme drove his APC at the burning pickup truck; the big army vehicle shunted the wreckage out of the gateway without much trouble.

Trooper Dalton was still outside the camp at this point.  He saw the flaming wreck coming towards him and ran in the other direction.  This attracted the attention of some of the zombies on the main road; Dalton then fled into the woods with these creatures trailing some distance behind.

The soldiers at the gate fired on the rioters to dissuade them from approaching any closer.  Although their aim was appalling, the mob hesitated as one of their number fell, wounded.  However, it was the sight of the large armoured vehicle approaching that caused them to break and scatter.

"Run, little people, run!  Run all you like" whispered Van Damme to himself as he drove the APC into the midst of the fleeing crowd.  A few of the panicking civilians were able to dodge out of the way, but others were not so lucky and were crushed remorselessly under the huge wheels!

Finale

Reinforcements, in the shape of Darcy and more soldiers, raced to the threatened southern corner.  There, the pendulum swung as careful, placed shots wiped out most of the attackers.

...while back at the north end, John and Lizzie were left to finish up.

Finally, after running about from one part of the base to another all game, Sergeant Costner had found another trooper to drive the GPV for him.  They parked it in the ruined gateway and the sergeant used the vehicle's .50 calibre machine gun to wipe out zombies at long range.

Conclusion

Technically, the ATZ Haven: Safe Zone game isn't finished (because we haven't seen some of the '*'-marked encounters).  However, it's a very busy scenario and we've already spent 2 sessions on this game; I decided to call it.

So, let's see.  The rioting mob is well and truly dispersed and running for their lives.  There are still zombies on the board, but some of them are chasing Dalton through the woods and others are attracted to the fleeing refugees.  Of the few that are actively attacking the base, none really have any chance of breaking in.  The fence is sagging a bit at 2 points, but still has some way to go before being breached.

I'd say that overall there are no credible threats remaining on the board.  Most of the troops and all of the civilians have survived (I don't know if we'll see Dalton again and Van Damme apparently plans to just keep on driving), so I'm ruling this a successful defence of the camp!

We didn't roll for REP advancement on the day, since time was too short and we had to pack up.  That'll have to wait for another occasion.

Miguel and Ann - Zombie Survivors

Just a quick update today, showing some of the models I've completed over the last month.  It's taken a while to get back into the swing of things after a long winter/spring where I didn't feel much like doing any painting.  But, I'm getting there...

Miguel

This model is from Studio Miniatures, where he's called "Miguel".  I decided that the name given by the manufacturer fitted very well, so I've kept that for my version.  He's armed with a strange weapon that looks like a spear gun to me, so I've added a small arrow head to the end of the barrel.  No doubt he's modeled after a character from some zombie film or game, but I don't recognise him.  I expect someone will tell me who he is, though :-) .

The original model had a very strange pose, as if peering into the ground.  I suppose this would make sense if he was leaning over a body of water to get a shot with his spear gun, but it didn't really work for me.  Instead, I've straightened him up and rested the left foot on a broken-down wall.

Ann

Ann is a converted Wargames Factory Zombie Vixen.  She's dressed only in her night clothes, though I've added a large kitchen knife to her hand.  I imagine that Ann has woken up to find the apocalypse has started without her and has run out of the house in terror, stopping only to grab the nearest weapon!

For comparison, here's Ann beside a zombie I made some time ago from the same kit.  There's nothing much you can do to change the basic body pose, but different arms, head and colour make them quite distinct.

Zombies

As well as these survivors, a couple of fresh (?!) zombies made it to the end of the production line in the last week or so:

Look out, this one's armed!  He's dragging a cricket bat from one hand, though I'd say it wasn't certain that the zombie knows how to use it.  Still, you never know.   This is a limited edition model from Studio Miniatures; I received it as part of their plastic zombie kickstarter deal.

Finally, here's another Studio figure.  She's obviously dressed up in her party clothes and even though there's no blood and no bite marks on her, I find this model quite sinister.  There's something about child zombies that makes me shudder.  Even though a "representative" population should certainly have young victims, I don't plan on collecting more than a token few.

ATZ Game 11: Camp Medomak

Introduction

We last saw John the photographer and his comrades in Game 8: Breakdown.  Games 7, 9 and 10 have been following the exploits of the other group, led by Bomber and separated from John during a zombie attack during game 6.  That's all clear, isn't it?

In "Breakdown", the military convoy which was evacuating John and his comrades was attacked by rioters whilst halted to change a punctured tyre.  The party barely escaped, crammed into a single General Purpose Vehicle (GPV) and with wounded soldiers on board.  Indeed, they fled so precipitously that they left the wounded Lieutenant Costner for dead, as well as the obviously dead Abe and his mobility chair.

The Scenario

Camp Medomak is an old, low security National Guard base.  The facility is located out in the woods, though not far from the city.  It's from there that teams of soldiers have been sent out to evacuate civilians from threatened areas, with mixed success.

I'm using the Safe Zone scenario from the ATZ: Haven book, slightly adapted to suit my needs.  The first change I've made is to the terrain & setup, since I have fences and quonset huts in my collection rather than a 10' wall with firesteps.  Next, I need to have the survivors' GPV approach the camp, looking for refuge.  Finally, I'll just use whatever soldiers I have in my collection rather than sticking to the letter of the setup from the scenario book.  I'll leave out the guys with the rocket launcher, auto-cannon and other inappropriately heavy weapons, though.

The Characters

In the GPV are crammed the following people:

• John: REP 6 survivalist with pistol and camera.  Also with Laddie, REP 2 collie dog.
• Darcy and Lizzie: REP 5 married survivalists, each with a pistol.
• Edna, the crazy cat lady: REP 2 elderly citizen.  She is always surrounded by cats, though these act as a special distraction rule in melee rather than being represented by independent models.
• Corporal Van Damme: REP 4 soldier, assault rifle
• Connery: REP 4 soldier, badly injured and unconscious
• Dalton: REP 3 soldier, assault rifle
• Eastwood: REP 3 soldier, assault rifle, lightly injured

 At the base, these soldiers are on guard at the gate:

• Weaver: REP 4 soldier, assault rifle
• Hackman: REP 4 soldier, assault rifle
• Mitchum: REP 4 soldier, BAP

Patrolling the fence line are:

• Moore: REP 4 soldier, BAP
• Norris: REP 4 soldier, minigun (targets: 4, impact: 4)

While in the office building are:

• Major Brosnan: REP 4 soldier, BAP
• Sergeant Costner: REP 4 soldier, BAP (no relation to Lieutenant Costner who was left for dead in game 8)

The Game

As the GPV approached slowly, all the sentries clustered around the gates to the camp.  Major Brosnan came out of the office to see what was going on.  "Open up!" he ordered.  "It's one of ours."  But where was the rest of the convoy, he wondered?

The instant the GPV was inside, the soldiers shut the gate.  This was not a moment too soon, as a beat-up pickup truck and a black sedan approached along the same dirt track.  Even at a distance, the camp's inhabitants could see that there were rough-looking armed men in the back of the truck.  "Now, what do they want?" mused Brosnan.  "Look sharp, guys!  I don't want trouble, but be prepared just in case."

The troopers barely had time to think before the pickup truck accelerated and rammed the gate.  Truly, these gangers must have been completely desperate!

Curly, the gang's leader, fired his shotgun at the nearest figure (Major Brosnan) and cut him down.  In retaliation, the remaining soldiers fired liberally at the vehicle and its occupants.  Several of the passengers were hit, then the minigunner opened up.  His shots tore the vehicle apart like tissue paper and set it ablaze!  There were no survivors.

A lot of dice were thrown that turn to see if any zombies were attracted by noise.  Since it's a rural area, only a '6' would have this effect, so a lone figure was placed on the road between the woods.  He stood there, swaying gently, for several turns thereafter without moving (many failed activations).

The black car realised that it couldn't get through the camp gate, so it turned sharply to avoid piling into the burning wreckage of the pickup.  As it passed along the fence line, the leaderless soldiers abandoned all attempt at fire discipline and riddled it with bullets.  The driver was wounded, but a passenger managed to take control and the remaining gangers fled, empty-handed.

This time, the dice gods went the other way!  As the dust settled and the noise of the fleeing vehicle receded into the distance, silence fell for a moment.  Then, one of the soldiers shouted "Look!" and pointed to the forest.  Out of the trees, figures were stumbling forwards, arms hanging limply at their sides.  They weren't moving fast, but the blank expressions on their faces was unsettling even for the experienced survivors.

The sergeant barked out orders, trying to impose a semblance of order.  Some of the troopers obeyed: Dalton helped John to carry the wounded Connery from the GPV into the first aid station, while Moore ran for the keys to the armoured personnel vehicle.  The plan was to use the APV to push the burning wreckage out of the gate and block the entrance.

Meanwhile, Eastwood was trying to turn the GPV round and move it into a position where he could use its roof-mounted machine gun.  However, in the tight space and with people running around all over, this wasn't easy!

Further off, Norris (the minigunner) had discovered more zombies.  These were trying to break through the fence, having been attracted by the noise and the smoke.  Smoke?  "A little help here!" shouted Norris over his shoulder.  The building beside him was rippling with heat; flames could be seen inside it.  Perhaps a stray bullet had hit something flammable, or maybe one of the occupants had dropped a cigarette or left a camp stove running in their haste?  Whatever the reason, the hut was definitely on fire!

Darcy and Lizzie ran over to the burning building to see what they could do.  After a while, John joined them and with all 3 civilians fighting the fire, they eventually managed to put it out.  It was obvious that the hut was gutted, though; very little of its contents could have survived.

Several of the troopers at the gate moved outside of the camp, past the burning pickup truck.  This gave them a good line of sight and they started to pick off the zombies which were now approaching from left, right and centre.

Norris thinned out the group that was trying to break through the fence.  They could see him now and their moans and snarls were growing more insistent, but so far the fence was holding.  However, it didn't seem to matter how many he killed - more zombies just kept coming out of the woods!

Finale

At this point, we ran out of time and had to pack up.  We haven't yet seen most of the encounters that are described in the Safe Zone scenario and the game doesn't feel finished.  The current situation is that the soldiers are holding their own, but the number of zombies is slowly increasing.  John, Darcy and Lizzie are wondering what to do next, whilst Edna is rummaging through the administration block looking for a nice cup of tea.

Will the soldiers try to question or even disarm the newcomers?  Will they be too busy fighting off the undead?  Can the sergeant come up with a plan, or is it just every man for himself?  Too many questions...

I feel sure we'll need to revisit this in a future session and pick up from where we left off!

[Update: Part 2 is now available]