HOF Fire Team

Just received my copy of HOF Fire Team in today's post, and I am very pleased with the way it turned out.

The game was just released this past weekend at Salute in London, and is available from the good folks at 15mm.co.uk.

Gavin Syme has done a great job with the background creation and fiction. The game provides army lists for 3 settings; the Ion Age as featured in our sister game, Firefight 2.0, The Pan Galactic Empire featuring the usual suspects including little Grey Aliens, and my favorite, The Teeming Future, complete with massive Argo-Cities, well armed law enforcement,and all manner of nefarious enemies.

Of course we have provided force creation equations that used along with the Tech Level system allow players to construct any setting they might wish too play. For example while writing the game I used some very low tech (in game terms) forces to fight actions in WWII.

Anyway that's enough of me prattling on about the game. If you have a mind you can read all about it at the official website.

I really just wanted to take a moment to thank all of those who have had a hand in the production of this title.

Thanks for stopping by!

A SCOUT IN THE BLACK HILLS, 1874

A SCOUT IN THE BLACK HILLS, 1874

A Six Gun Sound: Blaze of Glory” Game Report (from a while back)

It is July, 1874, and the US Army has sent an expedition into the Black Hills of the Dakotas.

Preceding this column are intrepid scouts Chill Honeycutt and Sam Hayes. Their mission is to reconnoiter the table top and report back on the presence of absence of the native tribes.

For this game I used the Patrol encounter from Chain Reaction 3.0, and otherwise used the rules from Six Gun Sound: Blaze of Glory as events unfolded.

Forces:

Chill Honeycutt, Rep 5, Toughness 5, Sand 5, armed with Trapdoor carbine and pistol, Quality 5 horse.

Sam Hayes, Rep 4, Toughness 4, Sand 4, armed with Trapdoor carbine and pistol, Quality 5 horse.

Both men are seasoned frontiersmen and will use the Mountain Man QRS.

The enemy start with three PEF’s (Possible Enemy Forces) which if they turn out to be folks, will resolve as Plains Indian Warriors. In addition each sector of the table will need to be scouted to see if perhaps there are more warriors hidden from view therein.

The table represents a wide valley with a few ridges, hills, woods, and a nice stream flowing along the bottom.  Although the table is 8’x 4’ only a 6’ x 4’ area was used for this game.

The photos show the table lay out and the initial location of the PEFs.

Advancing cautiously to the nearest high ground the scouts carefully scan the woods for sign. In the distance the left most PEF moves to join up with the center PEF. As the moving PEF comes into sight it is revealed to be…a pheasant.

Continuing their advance the scouts crest the middle ridge, bringing the left most PEF into sight. 

This PEF resolves into two warriors. One Rep 4, Toughness 4 Sand 4 and armed with a bow, the other Rep 4, Toughness 3, Sand 4 armed with a lance. Both ride Quality 5 ponies.

As the first warrior raises his bow, Chill fires, dropping the warrior with a gut shot. He is out of the fight.

The second warrior charges! Both scouts fire. Chill misses and is stuck fumbling for cartridges. Sam fares better scoring a head shot. The  warrior is dead before he hits the ground.

Suddenly there is whooping from the location of the remaining PEF. As the scouts turned right to face the first two warriors, the PEF is now on their left.

Four warriors come charging out of the brush, some 20” away. Three Rep 4, Toughness 4, Sand 4 warriors, two armed with smoothbore carbines and the third with a bow, accompanied by another Rep 3, Toughness 3, Sand 4 warrior with a lance. All are riding Quality 5 ponies.

The two smoothbores fire. One shot misses but the other hits Chill’s horse in the head, dropping him stone dead. Poor Chill is crushed beneath his falling horse and out of the fight.

An arrow grazes Sam’s horse’s neck. The terrified animal rears, bucking Sam, and bolting. Sam is now on foot, outnumbered and effectively alone! With any luck he can hole up by the dead horse and hold off the warriors until they tire of the game.

Sam dives for the cover of Chill’s horse and fires at the nearest warrior, missing. The warrior returns fire and hits Sam in the gun arm. The wound proves severe and Sam is unable to continue the fight.

With both scouts out of the fight it’s game over as the warriors advance to collect their trophies.

A short sharp fight with the two scouts ultimately faced by six warriors. One warrior is killed, and one wounded with the loss of both scouts, wounded and taken by their foes.

Thanks for stopping by!.

The New Sergeants Three

Finished minor conversions on a few character models this weekend.

In the same spirit of entertainment innovation that brought you "The New Odd Couple", it is my great pleasure to present to you the New Sergeants Three!

Sgt's Machutney, Quatar, and Balifine prepare for review

As mentioned in a previous post, service in west Afri takes a grim toll in the lives of Orc and Rat officers sent to that fever ridden station. As a result the NCO's of the Halfingland Rifles are much more likely to be found in command of troops in the field than is the norm in the army of Good Kyng Gorge.

Captain Giglamps reviewing the troops

Sgt. Major Machutney

Old Giggers is well pleased with the NCO leadership of No. 8 Independent Company. His  Sgt. Major, Machutney is a great fighter, shrewd tactician as well as talented leader of halflings.

Colour Sgt. Quatar

Colour Sgt. Qatar is a bit of a brawler and always in search of "lost treasures". Still for all of that he;s a good halfling to have with you at the sharp end.

Sgt. Balifine

The senior sergeant of the company, Balifine speaks often of leaving the service and his absence would indeed by keenly felt. Still, for now at least, Machutney and Qatar have managed to keep him with the Colours.

Giggers gets in a little target practice

A rank an d position unique to His Majesty's Halflings is that of Regimental Baker. The Usurper Mordred of the Ferach Elves is famously quoted as having said that an army marches on its stomach. Nowhere is this more true than among the Halfling regiments.

Fighting is hungry work for the wee folk and battles are often punctuated by calls for "Pie",  and "Biccy". To meet this need the Halfling Regiments maintain a corps of combat caterers, whose job it is to keep the fighting halflings fed and in fine fettle.

The Regimental Baker, Gamgee Din

No. 8 Independent Company is well seen to in this area. Gamgee Din serves up the finest pies, ales, and suchlike in the Army and can always be seen distributing tasty treats where the fighting is thickest.

All of these figures started life as Alternative Armies painted figures. Gamgee Din is the least altered figures having only been touched up a bit and his hat band and cockade painted. The others had somewhat more extensive repainting and in the case of Machutney, as with all of the pistol armed halflings, some knife work as well.

Hope you enjoy them and expect them to feature in some AAR's as time goes by.

Thanks for stopping by!

The Cult of Wig-El

While working on the halflings and recce section last week I also took the opportunity to begin work on the leadership of the wide spread yet secret cult of Wig-El.


This cult has been active in western Afri since time immemorial, waylaying travelers and dedicating their victims' lives to their foul goddess, Doro-Ti. 


Naturally the minions of the cult will soon run afoul of Giggers and his lads...




The above is by no means meant as a disparagement of The Wiggles who are Top Blokes and put on a great show.


I only regret that my children are too old to allow me to use them as an excuse to see the lads in concert going forward!


The halfling figures are from Alternative Armies and the goblin from Reaper. The figures were painted using Army Painter paints.


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Giglamp's Groom

As any Officer in the Service of Good Kyng Gorge will attest, a Resourceful and Attentive groom is worth his very weight in Guineas. In the Fever ridden districts of Afri this is even more so than in the drawing rooms of Londinium Society.

It is therefore most Fortunate that Captain Giglamps has retained the services of William...

His real name is "Ook" or so Giggers says. Named him "William" after the Prince of Orangs, whom Giggers had the pleasure of meeting while serving as an Aide on Wheeling-Turn's staff.

William is an Absolutely Dependable fellow able to keep his Gentleman well supplied with Pym's Elixer, an essential part of any Officer's camp equipage in the Tropics.

William had been serving in His Majesty's Royul Navy as a Powder Monkey, a position in which he served with distinction. After discussion with the Captain of HMS Tygre, Giggers was able to secure William's services ashore.

Wonder if William will accompany Giggers when that Worthy is finally able to return to the Polite Society of Urop? Well, such concerns are well in the future as Giggers continues to enforce the Kyng's Peace in the West Afri Station.

Thanks for dropping by!

Halfling Neighborhood Watch

Painted these GW halflings last week, after having purchased them in...1987.

They will now serve as Furfeet for WHAA and as the Gorgon Halfling Neighborhood Watch.

Furfeet are diabolical creatures that lure unwary travelers to their doom. They are fortunately rather rare and lurk in the woods in the wilder places of Talomir.

Don't be fooled by their simple appearance. You have been warned.

Gorgon is a region of Valon bordered by the Witchlands on the north and west and the Otterman Empire on the south and east.  The halflings of the region are prized by Otterman as slaves used to form their Mameluke corps in Aegypt.

 In the days before Mordred annulled Wyld Magic the Halflings were protected by the terrible Gorgons said to be able to turn a being to stone simply with a look. 

 Apparently this did not apply to halflings. 

In these dark times the halflings have been left to fend for themselves subject to Otterman slave raids and zombie Cossack raids alike. 

Of course these figures will do for any fantasy setting. This particular fellow is wearing Oriental armour. However I feel he would be just as at home chasing down Smurfs.

These figures are chock a block full of character. The photos and my painting skills do not do them justice. The fellow in the center above has one of the best expressions  I have ever seen on a figure.

Priceless.

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Sci Fi Recce Troop

Spent some time painting last week. Finished some halflings and the crewmen for this recce troop.

The figures are, of course, GW Cadians. A mix of troopers and walker pilots.

The "jeeps" are Macfarlane toys Warthogs from Halo, and the APC is a resin model from Scotia Grendal.

The crew are not glued into place so they  can be removed when dismounted. I've figures to build to represent them on foot but as I've  no immediate plans for them, I've left them unconstructed for now.

Have had the APC for more years than I can remember. It's the very one that I lost down a bug hole in a long ago game of THW's Chain Reaction, 1st edition.

The Warthogs are younger by many years, while the crewmen have been languishing around my painting area for about a year or so.

No idea what I will use them for or when but they are ready for action : )

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Company of Halflings

Just finished working on these fellows.

I give you "N0. 8 Independent Company, Halflingland Rifles", or as they are more commonly known, "Giglamp's Company of Hirsute Foote".

The "Rifles" in their title was added by 'Orse Guards in an effort to lend the independent companies some eclat. In fact, with the penury for which His Majesty Kynge Gorge's Ministers have a well deserved reputation, the Halflingland Rifles are armed with old cast off weapons that have gone past their sell by date. "Rifles" in fact merely denotes their role as light infantry.

No. 8 IC is charged with keeping His Majesty's peace around the Honorable East Valonian Company's factories on the west coast of Afri. However unlike many of the Halfling units on the lists, the IC are Crown, vice Company establishments.

"Keeping His Majesty's peace" includes such Diverse tasks as protecting the settlements from raiders, both to land and seaward, anti-piracy operations, breaking up smuggling rings, and the surprisingly unpopular with the locals task of suppressing the slave trade. It would seem that those who are slaves are actually quite appreciative. Everyone else sees it as an infringement on their rights and religious beliefs. 

Above all, of course. the ICs' main concern is preventing those demmed Ferach Elves from making any inroads in the area.

Given the tasks they have been set, it comes as no surprise that the IC's often work closely with the fleet. In fact joint IC/Royul Marine operations are quite common.

While most of the IC's weaponry is sub standard, Captain Giglamps, through the auspices of his legendary Uncle Rogipoos, has been able to equip two of his picked Halflings with Nock Volley Pistols.

The short range and generally poor performance of their hand guns is actually not much of a bother for the Halflings, who are avid practitioners of  "one close volley and at them with the bayonet"...which they actually wield as swords.

No. 8 IC has a paper strength of 50 Halflings and three Orc or Rat officers. In practice it has never been near full strength. To be sure there are always at least four armourers, identifiable in the miniatures by their long leather aprons, and three sergeants. Captain Giglamps is at present the only officer.

Western Afri is known as "the Orc and Rat's Graveyard" due to the high mortality rate amongst those hardy souls who have forsaken Albion and Joccia for the  region. Few wish to take service with  the Halflingland Rifles and of those who do, well, their tenure tends to brevity. Giggers is of course an old Afri hand and so, Gentle Reader, you need have no fear on his account.

As for the actual figures...

Naturally I started with a unit of Halflings,  painted by the good folks at Alternative Armies. The Halflings are only cast with a variety of hand weapons and do not tote firearms by the rules of Flintlouqe and Slaughterloo.

I converted the figures by replacing some of their hands with plastic parts from Games Workshop and Wargames Factory kits. Most of the rest received holstered weapons, from the same sources, on their backs.

The sergeants, fanion bearer, and one of the rolling pin armed cooks were left as they were.

Still working on a monkey servant for Giggers and awaiting a musket artillery piece to serve as a "company gun".

No. 8 IC is destined to play a roll in aiding the Great Jeh See Pasha fend off the Ferach assault on Hafaker...

Thanks for stopping by!