"Space ships for your space war"

Browsing online for cheap toys to use in Stargrave, I came across the Space Union line of sci-fi sets, advertised as "Space ships for your space war." According to the packaging, this toy line is made by Peng Rong out of China. I found two items, once looking like a SHIELD helicarrier, and the other like a more conventional science fictional vessel.  

Each was under twenty bucks, and free shipping. I got a whole lot of toys for my $40. Not only were they large models, suitable for use in 28mm skirmish games, but each big ship carried several smaller toys, a mix of flying and ground vehicles. 

The set incuded a couple of scale-indeterminate winged craft that could do in a spaceship game, a tracked tank that might work in Ogre, and even a die-cast sedan. While the car is too small for 28mm, the construction-type hover vehicle and the four-legged walker (which will make a nice robot guardian) are the perfect size for Stargrave and other sci-fi games, like Mutants & Death Ray Guns.

These toys have a lot of potential in my scenarios as objective, opponents, opportunities, or even just scatter terrain. Unfortunately, the low price of these sets means the undersides of most of these vehicles are hollow, but that won't be an issue in most games. 

Still, it's a lot of bang for your gaming bucks. These spaceships just need some new paint jobs, and they'll be ready for use as terrain features or objectives. Their size means they will block line-of-sight and provide vantage points, which will make tactical situations interesting. All in all, I'm happy with my purchase.

Now I'm off to work on my space ships for my space war. 

Mech-tacular!

 

I found a whole bunch of stompy mecha clix minis for cheap on eBay, so I bought a dozen or so. Even though I'm a Battletech fan, I'm not gonna use them for that. Instead, I plan on using these as killer robots in games of Mutants and Death Ray Guns, the post-apocalyptic version of Song of Blades and Heroes. I like the choppy-smashy bits and the shooty bits; and size-wise, these will go great with the 28-32mm prepaints I'm using. Or I may just come up with my own skirmish rules; we'll see.

As a bonus, I scored some recovery vehicles that will see action in my Monopolis scenarios for OGRE/GEV, once I can start playing games with other people in person. Speaking of, is anyone back to regular gaming? I miss that.

Signs, signs, everywhere the signs

A great find in the clearance section of Hobbytown USA: Five sheets of Ultra Reflect 1/64 road signs printed on reflective material with aluminum backing--for $1 each! These sheets are from Innovative Hobby Supply, a company that sells slot car accessories.

Although a little on the small side for 28mm scale, these signs will add verisimilitude to modern and post-apocalypic game setups. Right out of the package they will make great modern-day terain for All Things Zombie and After the Horsemen. In addition, with a little weathering (rust, scratches, bullet holes), they can fit in with the rest of the Fallout-like scenery in a game of Gamma World or Mutants and Death Ray Guns.

I'm keeping one sheet for myself and sending the rest to my brother for his ATZ game. Since his Zombieville setup will include a multi-level parking garage and several streets, these traffic signs will dress the set up nicely.

Off defending the Commonwealth

You might have noticed my blogging has been sparse lately. I blame my wife, who got me a videogame system for my birthday. I've been playing Fallout 4 over the past few weeks, and I'm having a (nuclear) blast.

(image from Wikipedia)

If you're a videogame fan, you know what I'm talking about. For you old-school analog gamers, it's pretty much a sandbox, slightly less gonzo, Gamma World-style exploration game, where you roam across a nuclear-ravaged Massachusetts some two centuries after an atomic war. You gain skills and levels while making alliances with various organizations. Or you can go around just shooting things. Just like when we played GW back in the day.

Either way, Fallout has me craving some post-apocalyptic tabletop minis gaming. For rules, I want something a little more rules-light than Gamma World and a lot more miniatures-focused. Something like Mutants and Death Ray Guns from Ganesha Games, or maybe something adopted from one of Ed's Two Hour Wargames rulesets, like After the Horsemen.

I already have plenty of prepainted Heroscape minis I can use for skirmishes, and I'm sure I can track down some Clix prepaints for various purposes as well. And Gunbird's blog 20mm And Then Some has lots of inspiration regarding terrain for Fallout games. 

Anyone else doing some After-the-Bomb gaming? If so, what rules do you recommend? Also, what minis?

Today's gaming find brought to you by HPB

Another score from Half-Price Books: Mutants and Death Ray Guns, a post-apocalyptic skirmish game based using the versatile Song of Blades and Heroes game engine from Ganesha Games.  If the fantasy game SoBaH is analogous to Dungeons & Dragons, then MDRG's related to Gamma World. 

It's got mutants, androids, hi-tech, and, of course ray guns.  It also has a campaign system that can be completed in one setting, since a single battle can be done in about half-an-hour to 45 minutes.  Fun stuff!