Terminator Genisys - 1st outing.

Having made an impulse purchase in Warlord sale for Terminator Genisys in the thinking that the rules might work for my Russian Sci-fi project, I thought I would put them through there paces.

I already had the buildings for a modern table with plenty of rubble and ruins should be easy to recreate the world according to skynet...

 

I watched the game play on Beasts of War and the rules seemed to flow quite nicely.
I felt the original release price was excessive, but £10 which equates to not even a blister pack of cavalry these days you do get quite a lot for your money.

• Colour rulebook: 128 pages including modelling guide and points system.
• A Kyle Reese figure.
• 10 Terminators.
• 5 Crawling Terminators.
• 16 Resistance Fighters.
• A gaming surface.
• a number of card barricades and tokens
• Dice to play the game.

I pulled together a quick 500 points to give the rules a work through.

Each player takes it in turns to roll the 'Fate' dice this either gives you one or two figures to move or your miss a go and pass the dice to your opponent, in the begining this felt a little heavy going when you are simply closing but in close action it becomes pretty important.

The counters signify characters yet to move and can be very tactical espically if you are the resistance and have more figures than the mighty machines as once they have exhausted all their figures you move the rest.

Each class of miniature is given a quality dice D6, D8, D10 etc, etc. The Terminators are tough even if destoryed there is a change that they will turn into a crawler and keep on coming.

However they don't seek cover where the humans do which does help to even the sides up.

Characters that are hit but survive, receive 'reeling' markers, you are only able to remove one per character per turn, so concentrated fire can surpress tough figures for quite a while.

A simple and effective rule mechanism even if it was spread over 7 or 8 pages.

As you expect with licence products their is plenty of film images in the book, modelling tips and painting guides, strip this back and the core rules take up around 4-6 pages. You have some movie based rules options - Time travel, OK if you want to play the full game experience I guess.

I plan on giving my modern russians vs insurgents an outing next time to see if they work.

With at least three of my gaming circle the proud owner of a £10 Terminator Box set, I guess could be persuaded to paint the figures.

French Dragoons st. Domingue - Trent Miniatures

I finished these a couple of weeks back and hoped to have them available for the Plantation game, but felt the Cuban dog handlers would have been better suited for defending the grounds.

During the early years of the revolution, dragoons were sent to Saint-Domingue from France, as well as being recruited locally. The colonial dragoons wore all green jackets with green dragoon housing and make a useful addition to the French forces for Haiti.

In 1799, during the early years of the revolution, also known as the War of the Knives (Haitian Loyalists Toussaint vs Rigaud), Toussaint was known to have fielded cavalry who were a mix of French and newly-freed Africans slaves, so some further head swaps will be needed in the future good job the Trent Miniatures come with separate heads.

An English observer noted that Toussaints cavalry lacked carbines and were armed with pistols and sabres only, and dressed in blue coats, cocked hats and half boots, with a minority uniformed as hussars so plenty of scope to adapt further figures from their range. 

Plans for the campaign is coming along nicely and I should have the Orbats complete for each faction over the weekend, I am hoping to have around 6-8 potential factions all looking to capture and control St Domingue and its valuable plantations.

Antediluvian Miniatures - Kickstarter - Conquerors of Mictlan

It's been a while since the Elizabethan Zombie wars have been out of the box but I spotted these on Kickstarter on Friday, how could I resist.
Roll on January.

The Postman Always Rings Twice

Just as lead mountain was starting to shrink along comes a few more extra purchases.

Warlord had a sale recently offering up their Terminator rules for £10.00 who could resist, rules, figures and a playing surface... I am not sure how much game time they will get but could be fun to paint and the rules might suit my 15mm modern sci-fi stuff for a quick 1 hour outing.

Meanwhile on the same day a fresh batch of reinforcements for the Haiti project, plenty of new infantry to flesh out the ranks, the plans for the campaign are well underway so these can double up as forces for the slave armies or French.

 

I had a few spare african heads in the spares pot so made a couple of changes to give them less of a european feel. Let's see how these shape up in the weeks ahead.

Uncharted Seas - Shroud Mages Ripper Class Submarine

A rather short post this weekend.

A good friend of mine gave me the heads up of some Shroud Mages Submarines going cheap on the wargamers friend ebay a few weeks ago, they took a while to arrive and where badly in need of a new paint job, but the good news is they don't take long and if they sink in combat I will simply claim that was the plan. 

What a difference a re-paint makes.

With a few more human ships to tidy up. I am looking forward to getting these on the table.

The blub claims the following.
This large submarine was designed by the Shroud Mage Artisans with one purpose: intimidation! Its massive cutting blades are designed to rip the bottoms out of enemy ships, sinking them in the blink of an eye. And if that’s not enough, short range clockwork torpedoes have been added to this model to cause even more damage.

The Pearl of the Antilles - Haitian Revolution AAR #5 Plantation Oiseaux Moelleux.

Major Chevrolet stumbled into the grounds of the Oiseaux Moelleux Plantation to find Gareth Chasse standing on his manicured lawn staring at the ragged troops now filling his orchard.

"Duport is lost, you ran away Major and you brought Bosou Delaroo here to my door. Get out of my sight I will deal with him myself!"

"Maurice fetch me my hounds".......

 

No sooner had he yelled his orders, African drums and chanting could be heard from the hinterland, the women walked out from their huts and looked towards the tree line. Delaroo was coming to free them.

After his victory a few days before Bosou Delaroo knew he held the initiative he had over 70 men under his command including the plantation slaves in the barns and huts spread out across the coffee fields. He had amassed muskets from the fleeing Guard Nationale and from the Spanish and planned on burning Oiseaux Moelleuxto the ground killing any whites he could lay his hands on.

Major Chevrolet called his men to stand to. Ordering them to line the low stone wall of the Orchard, he was out numbered but was keen to avenge his fallen men from the last bruising encounter. Besides with Chasse watching his every move, he needed his men to put up a good fight or he would be back in chains.

The slaves of Oiseaux Moelleux saw their chance for freedom and broke out of their chains, grabbing knives and sharpened sticks from their hiding places and rushed to join the attack.

Gareth Chasse seeing his flanks being turned, called forward his Cuban handlers and their war hounds, they had not been fed for a number of days and were straining on their chains.

Corporel Houlte ordered his men up stairs in the plantation house to getter angle on the mob of slaves threatening the left flank, he had never been upstairs in the house and certainly not in the bedrooms, as he fired a musket shot towards the advancing slaves a flash in the pan caused the drapes to catch fire which soon began to engulf the whole room.

Meanwhile on the right flank Chasse sent his dogs forwards having seen more of his property break free and pour out of the barn looking to over throw their masters he needed to teach them a lesson. Major Chevrolet was powerless to support the ensuing melee he was heavily involved in a long range fire fight with Delaroo in the centre of the table.

The slaves rushed forward head long into the snarling dogs neither side looking to give any quarter.
In the coffee fields, both man and dog fell.

The slaves broke and ran their force morale falling backwards as they fell back to the cover of the barn. With the house now well ablaze Delaroo ordered his men to fall back.

He had wanted to be the one to torch the plantation but he was pleased with his days work even if he had not been able to drive off the French, who now only had ruins to defend.

Sharp Practice at it's best, random events caused the fire and the first chapter end the following turn caused the building to collapse in on itself. The plantation was destroyed without an attacker getting within 100 yards of the building.

It was nice to get some new toys on the table even if the new house was burnt to the ground and most of the dogs were killed, the curse of fresh painted stuff lives on.

Talking with the guys at the club, there is enough interest to create a wider campaign with French, British, Spanish, Plantation Owners, Freemen of Colour and Slaves Armies to make for an interesting background, with perhaps some part players over the web if people are interested?

Cuban War Dogs in Haiti

A little behind on posts this week, but good news the focus is back on the Haiti project with new units landing on the paint table, thoughts for a campaign and new terrain items.

I picked up these Caban War Dogs from Trent Miniatures several months ago and with a game based on an attack on the Plantation House, it felt the right time to get those on the table. These units were pressed into service by both the British, Spanish and French in trying to supress the various slave revolts.

The dogs were a cross between a Bloodhound and a Lurcher were and initially used to chase down escaped slaves “These dogs can catch up with a Negro even if they are unleashed two days after he escaped,” wrote Louis de Noailles. In military planning they were also used as "the most efficient way to avoid ambushes and pursue the rebels as they flee,” 

The punitive expedition to La Tortue marked the dogs’ first use in combat. Hopes were high and their deployment was prepared conscientiously. The Cubans handlers and their dogs were segregated from the main body of troops to ensaure their effectiveness. People of color, it was feared, might attempt to poison the dogs. There was also the risk that the dogs would become used to “the Negroes’ appearance and smell” if they lived in close proximity with the guardsmen, or that they might mistakenly turn against loyal troops of color if they were sent into combat side by side.

Without doubt a weopon of terror there is a mixed view of their effectiveness. 

In Jamacia when used by the British the following was reported. "The dogs were loosed on a small body of troops and despite a volley of musket fire being discharged (presumably blanks) the dogs charged home into the ranks of the soldiers, seizing the muskets in their jaws and causing the commander to run for his carriage to escape, before the handlers brought the dogs under control".

However Madiou and Ardouin (drawing from oral traditions) specify that 50 dogs were used in a French attack to help pursue retreating rebels. The French columns’ own retreat sparked so much confusion, however, that the dogs turned against their own side in the heat of battle. The account is consistent with a memoir by a French officer that described how “the dogs devoured some of our wounded” during the retreat.

Thinking about how to portray them in Sharp Practice, on first impressions it feels like they should be similar to Impact cavalry, with the Big Chopper rule once the first round of combat is complete, with perhaps ignoring all morale or break rules due to their training and bloodlust.

I would welcome people thoughts.

The pack includes two Dog handlers, or Chasseurs and four dogs. I purchased the specific movement trays to make them easier to move and deploy on the table.  

Stay tuned to see how they perform....

Dux Brittaniarum - Church Raid.

It's been quite a while since I last played Dux, perhaps as long ago as three years - wow. 

I really need to get more game time in, but when it was suggested last week I jumped at the chance.

The beauty of Dux Brittaniarum is that the forces are easy to assemble and you can play a game through to conclusion in just over a couple of hours and so it proved in this case.

Venturing into the SWF studio the scene is set for a bloody encounter.

The British defenders advance on to the table looking to defend their church from the Saxon invaders. Fortunately for my Saxon's they diced for the longest table edge away, which allowed me to get a couple of fast moves in.

The rampaging Saxon hordes rush forwards heading straight for the church for plunder and riches. Could they be stopped?

The Saxon Noble and Champion, looking to add to his collection of heads.

My plan was a simple one, rush the elite troops up the table throw them in the way of the whole British army whilst the rest of the raiders turnover the church and run away with the loot. 

Good job it was not a campaign.

Attacked to their front and flank the Saxons held off several waves of British Warriors, ok Levy buying time for the flanking force and church raiders to do their thing.

They were eventually forced back and their number some what depleted they were able to inflict significant shock on the British forces and killing a number of leaders to force a win, a great game with plenty of interesting moments along the way. I had forgotten how much fun these rules where

Back in the man cave hunted about for the box marked Dark Ages and dusted off my Irish force.

Now with British, Irish and Saxon thoughts turn to a proper campaign.

#sellnothing.

The warband of  Caiside Nuallan as he starts on his journey to become a mighty leader.

Lord Caiside Nuallun from the line of the Children of Danu - an old Royal line of the old land, a land of gods who walked among men he gets + 1 on his honour role.
Flanked by his Champion and two subordinate leaders. - Dathi Tighearnan and Berach Fiann.