Teh Wurdz

One of the things that has been keeping me busy over the last 2 years - besides work and family life - has been my participation in the rules and play testing team for Warzone Resurrection. While the future of the game is no longer in the hands of Prodos, there remains an amount of written work (rules, profiles, fluff etc)  that was created by the team but never officially finished. The plan was to collate these pieces of work - or at least, the pieces that made sense to include together - and release them as part of the Kirkwood expansion.

Of course, things went sideways and that didn't happen in the slick and polished manner we wanted (indeed it was super hard to get it published in any manner) but eventually a PDF was cobbled together and released. This was largely the last "official" act from Prodos and the rules team, but the quality (and indeed the completeness) of those individual efforts varies greatly. It is my intention to continue working on several of the documents until they reach a standard that I am happy with and these will be released here.

Warzone is not the only game that I am writing content for. In an entirely non-official capacity I am also working on 'proper' campaign systems for both Mantic's The Walking Dead as well as the Fallout Wasteland Warfare game from Modiphius. I have also been working on missions and house rules for Rangers of Shadowdeep. This means that, alongside my hobby projects I also have a number of 'content' projects in the works, and here is the current state of the queue:

Warzone Resurrection mission "Building Bridges" - Complete.
Warzone Resurrection mission "CSAR" - Complete.
Rangers of Shadowdeep mission "Evacuation" - Complete.
Rangers of Shadowdeep companion customisation - Complete.
Rangers of Shadowdeep mission "Black Hart" - In progress, 80% complete.
Warzone Resurrection mission "Kill the Messenger" - Paused, 50% complete.
Fallout Wasteland Warfare campaign - Paused, 40% complete.
The Walking Dead campaign - Paused, 30% complete.

There is also the matter of Warzone Resurrection Deniable Ops, which is currently 'rules complete' at 111 pages including 19 missions, and is available at version 0.14. In terms of the written effort, it needs testing and balancing, as well as general editing. The next version will be 0.2 but this is way down the queue because the biggest challenge is now in terms of layout and interior art / photographs and the latter is being held up by my lack of painted models and terrain.

(Above) A preview of the hex-based campaign map for Fallout.

(Below) Two of the four maps in the RoSD mission "Black Hart"

A River Runs Through It

The last few months, my limited hobby time has been taken up by with assembling a pool of miniatures and terrain to use with Rangers of Shadowdeep, the latest D20-based game from Joseph McCullough  (of Frostgrave fame). 4Ground might have made a small fortune from me when I consider how many of their trees, fences and buildings I have picked up for this, but one thing that I couldn't find a good solution for are water features; specifically, rivers.

The best tabletop rivers I have seen have always been hand made, single-section affairs that look beautiful but would be a pain to transport. Modular rivers have been around for ages and plenty of people make their own, but the glossy surface of the water (which looks good!) always draws attention to the segmented nature of the terrain and there are always noticeable lips or gaps (which look bad!). For that reason I decided the best compromise would be a neoprene based solution and there were only three well-known manufacturers to choose from.

The offering from Deep Cut Studios looks nice and has the advantage of coming in two flavours (clean and dirty) but there is a lot of grass on either side which makes the tiles less suited to non-grassy mats. In addition - and this is a personal beef - the river itself isn't very wide. If it looks like a model could take a running jump over it, the river just isn't wide enough in my opinion!

Playmats.EU also offer river sections and from the photos, I think the artwork is closest to the style I am looking for. The river banks themselves are narrow, and the sections themselves are cut to follow the shape of the river which results in a more natural look. Price wise they are inexpensive per section, but by the time you add 5 or 6 sections to your cart to ensure you can cover your 4ft table and switch up the layout now and again, you end up paying about the same price as Deep Cut or GSW (below). However, two things made me hesitate - the plastic surface on the river sections, which solve two problems but create two more, and the width of the river itself.

In the end, I decided to try the river sections sold by Green Stuff World called the Water River - Neoprene Terrain Set. Even by the time you add shipping, the ~ €30 price tag is very reasonable for the number of tile sections you get and most importantly, the river itself is a decent width and does not resemble a glorified stream! Green Stuff World put out their own youtube video to show off the tiles but it didn't really answer my questions. How well does the detail scale? How versatile is the colour palette in case I want to use it on a variety of mats? How good is the production quality on 'retail' sets of the tiles?

Well, let's see:

We start with my 4ft jungle mat, which is primarily a vibrant green and orangey brown. Obviously the colour isn't great match but the important thing to note here is that the 'long' river sections are basically 12" long but there are only three of the 'plain' sections, meaning you will need to include a bridge or a crossing if you want a straight river like the picture on the left to run the length of a 4ft table. You can include the other sections to mix it up a little, but due to their shorter length you will probably end up with the river overhanging your table or mat. The texture on the tiles matches up nicely no matter which pieces you use, although with the straight edges to the river banks it does look a little strange. Of course this is easily fixed if you are prepared to attack your new river tiles with some scissors!

In terms of production quality for the individual tile sections, I would say this was "pretty good", a solid 7 out of 10. The edges on about half of the tile sections were slightly frayed (see left) but you can only see it up close. Also, because the sections are rather light (a good thing if you are carrying these around) the corners don't always lay flat on the table. Of course this is a problem with gaming mats too, but the total weight of the mat counteracts this. I suspect this is part of the reason that Playmats.EU put the plastic layer on top of their rivers, but since that has disadvantages of it's own, I don't see any way to avoid it. The actual art on the sections is excellent, as is the print quality.

See what I mean about the width of the river? That's a plastic bridge from Warlord. 

The river on 3ft cobblestone, dark grass and snow mats. Although there is a splash of green on the river banks, it is subtle enough that the greys and browns really help the sections blend into the cobblestone mat. With walls running along either side, I think it will look great, perfect for Malifaux or Warmachine.

With some loose rocks and foliage you can easily hide the edges of the river sections. Or you can just use some walls and hedges as I have done above with a table set up to play Rangers of Shadowdeep.

Overall these tiles have convinced me that this is the best compromise if you can't have a single length of river you have made yourself. They look awesome at a distance and still pretty damned good up close. The built in bridge sections are handy and there are several "dead ends" and corners if you want the river to play a bigger part in the layout of your tables. Hopefully Green Stuff World will one day offer an expansion set because a few streams wouldn't go amiss, along with some 45 degree turns to help the layouts look more natural.

I ATEN'T DED

Wise words, Granny. Wise words.

Wow, where did 2018 go? It seems like it was only a few weeks ago that I was trying to get the prizes sent off for the 500 point list competition we ran at the end of last year.. and then I brought some scenery, and thought about painting a few things (more of the former, less of the latter).

And then it was September 2018. Dammit.

On the plus side, I finally got Deniable Ops 0.14 ready, and I think I'm done now with adding new content. 0.15 will be a consistency pass and I will factor in any feedback I get on the rules and mission balance. After that, it is time so whip the layout into shape and start adding some photos.

The Eastern Push, Part 4

Technically parts 4 and 5, as the extra bases arrived last week (along with some steps to reduce the cost of buying more bases in the future - some rollers from Greenstuff World).

The baseless minis were cleaned up and based..

..and over the weekend there was some gap filling with milliput. 

Also took the opportunity to push a few of my other Warzone minis past the 'get ready for priming' stage, including my converted Emancipator and a suitable Iron Mastiff model that came from Chronopia of all places.

Tonight, we prime!

The Eastern Push, Part 3

Over the weekend I had a few hours to sit down and get to work on the models I will need for this list.. and to watch The Thing.

Mostly I watched The Thing, and ended up carrying on with the assembly the following day. Everything in the picture above was assembled (with some part swapping on the Necromutants and Necromutant Leaders for more variety) but eventually I ran out of bases.

Of course, I am also 5 space zombies short. I found my old kickstarter stuff in a box and helpfully I had left it all on the resin frames. Everything, that is, but the Undead Legionnaires. For some reason I had cut them all off and tossed the parts loose into the box. I think I will leave the assembly of the last five for another day..

The Eastern Push, Part 2

One of the great things about a 500 point list is that they are relatively inexpensive to do, with many starter boxes coming in at around 400 points, with a single purchase (a character or a support squad) easily taking you across that 500 point line.

The Eastern Push is no exception, and can be built from the Dark Legion starter box, with the addition of a Nepharite of Algeroth, a box of 5 Undead Legionnaires and a box of 5 Necromutants. If you do that, I'd recommend using the spare Necromutant Leader model from the starter as the Squad Commander for the Necromutant squad - just remember to put him on a 30mm base! That then frees up a single regular Necromutant to act as the Squad Commander upgrade for the Undead Legionnaires.

Speaking of the troop squads, how will they work in this list?

The Necromutants are relatively straight forward - an 'elite' troop type squad that comes in at 19 points per model - almost double that of an Undead Legionnaire! They are decent in close combat, better at range (Ranged Skill 14 with an assault rifle that can get 2 shots, both at strength 12), and have good durability with tough armour (24) and a built in 1 in 4 chance to survive a wound thanks to Heal (5). They don't have a lot of abilities, unfortunately, but they should do a good job of protecting Quinzel while she's hanging out with them.
.

The Undead Legionnaire squad, however, is the workhorse of this list with a massive 17 models to manage during their activation. On paper they are shooty but slow, with a speed of 4 and the inability to Run, Rapid Fire or go on Sentry. They aren't fantastic shots either, with a Ranged Skill of 11 but they ARE cheap, and are allowed to field a lot more special weapons per 5 models in the squad than the basic troops of other armies. However, with the correct support, Undead Legionnaires can be extremely resource card efficient and are able to move across the table with surprising speed.

For starters, we have the basic Necromutant who is an addition to the squad and can act as the squad commander. Simply by having him the in the squad, we push the base speed of the space zombies up to 5. Next we have the Necromutant Leader attached to the squad. His passive ability Whip says that Undead Legionnaires beginning their activation within 6" (which should be the whole squad as long as he is in the middle) gain an extra point of speed, bringing them up to 6. He also has two Dark Symmetry powers - one to curse the squad the Legionnaires will shoot at (so that up to 3 casualties in that squad that turn will immediately rise again as Undead Legionnaires) and another to buff the strength of all weapons in the squad, making it easier to achieve those casualties in the first place.

Finally we have the By My Will ability possessed by Quinzel. For the cost of 3 resource cards, nearby Undead Legionnaire squads can make perform a free Walk action. Thus a typical turn will involve activating Quinzel and her retinue first, casting Cleansing of the Void onto the Undead Legionnaire swarm, then using By My Will to make them advance 5". Then when the Undead Legionnaire squad get their own activation, they can Walk again - this time 6" - and all fire. This is equivalent to all models in the squad running (normally 2 AP) and then shooting (1 AP), which would require the use of 17 resource cards under normal circumstances. This is why we want as many HMGs in the squad as possible. Quantity will surely win the day!

But how about the army itself? Luckily, I had a spare Dark Legion starter box laying around, plus a Necromutant blister I hadn't opened yet. I have a Nepharite of Algeroth model too (because he's a great looking model that really matches with his art work) but sadly he is already built and painted. So instead, I will be using my Kerheela model. Granted she's a Nepharite of Illian, but there's nothing wrong with a little variety! Finally, I'll need some more Undead Legionnaires as you only get 10 in the starter. I have about a million of them from the Warzone kickstarter but I have no clue where they are (and besides, the newer ones are MUCH cleaner sculpts and look far less fiddly to assemble). I'll have to order them in, along with some extra Secret Weapon bases for them all. But this is what I have so far..

Another project? Sure, why not

So today, one of my colleagues on the Warzone playtesting team said something blasphemous like "Undead Legionnaires are rubbish*" and I took that as a challenge to prove him wrong.

Mich Cie and I are currently running a small contest over on the Warzone Facebook group, and I figure what better way to prove my colleague wrong - who is, in fact, Mich Cie - than by doing it publicly? So here we go with my own 'entry' into the contest. The challenge is to complete a thematic 500 point force and when it comes to the Mutant Chronicles setting, what's more thematic than an endless horde of space zombies marching on a beleaguered defensive line?

Giant shoulder pads you say?

Well, okay, apart from that.

Yeah, that's right, space zombies.

Now, the rules of the competition say that the list must be legal (for standard OOC - I should add that part) but it does not have to be competitive. However, I don't see why we can't do both! After punching a few numbers into a calculator, this is what I came up with: The Eastern Push!

Characters:

Nepharite of Algeroth (90pts)
--Devouring Darkness (5pts)
--Cleansing of the Void (15pts)
--Total: 110pts

Necromutant Leader (50pts)**
--Bringer of Dark Tools (Free)**
--Portal of Undeath (20pts)
--Total: 70pts

Troop Squads:

Undead Legionnaire Squad
--15x Undead Legionnaires (150pts)
--1x Necromutant Squad Commander (19pts)
--6x Valcheck HMGs (48pts)

--Total: 217pts

Necromutant Squad
--5x Necromutants (95pts)
--Total: 95pts

Army Total: 492pts

That's right. Not a single Razide!

Now, I will be honest. I started out with two max sized Undead Legionnaire squads but although I could *just* about fit in the Nepharite, the addition of the Dark Symmetry powers really started to chip away at those squads, with compromises in weapons (fewer HMGs) or zombies (10 per squad would still be okay.. right?). But while I loved the idea of fitting up to 33 models into a 500 point list, I could see that it wasn't going to work very well on the tabletop.

The point Mich made was that Undead Legionnaires need a lot of other models in the list to really make them work and they rely heavily on Dark Symmetry buffs to make them more effective. As a Bauhaus player I know all about this because the same thing is often said about Hussars.

So, I dropped the second squad in favour of some bodyguards for my Nepharite, who I am calling "Quinzel".

Quinzel has three jobs in the game.

1) Don't die.
2) Push the space zombies forwards and keep them on their feet.
3) Stab vehicles until they stop shooting.

One of the problems this list will have is a low number of activations, so Cleansing of the Void is an early game spell to give the Undead Legionnaire squad some resiliency to all that fire they are going to have to soak up. Once the zombies have mostly fallen to pieces in the late game it can be cast on her and her retinue instead.

Devouring Darkness ticks the box for "Always be debuffing" - a mantra every Dark Legion player should live by. Casting D type powers doesn't cost DL spell casters any action points so even a cheap one like this is worth taking. If Quinzel is engaged by one or more capable CC enemies or worse yet, a character, you can get this pseudo attack in for free - potentially stunning your opponent - before you make your own CC attack.. and stunned models are hit in CC automatically. Nice.

Next we have the Necromutant Leader, who will be attached to the Undead Legionnaire squad, with both Bringer of Dark Tools and Portal of Undeath. The latter is a mechanism to help replace space zombie casualties by raising the enemy models from the grave, while the former will be essential if we actually want to kill some enemy models in order to turn them into space zombies.

32 shots in one activation sounds great (like.. Kodiak great) until you remember that 27 of them are at RS 11, and will almost certainly be over half range. By boosting the strength of the squads weapons, we are at least minimising the number of shots that hit but fail to penetrate the target's armour.

ST 12 on the 9 Kratach ARs
ST 13 on the 6 Valcheck HMGs
ST 14 on the 2 Belzarach ARs.

Not too shabby!

Next time I will briefly cover the two squads and start the task of gathering up all the miniatures I need for The Eastern Push!

* He may not have actually said that.
** The wrong points cost you say? Hm..