Dystopian Wars- Kingdom of Brittannia

Been a while, but thought I would take the opportunity to share some work-in-progress pics of my Kingdom of Brittannia Fleet for the steampunk game Dystopian Wars, by Spartan Games. Paul introduced me to Spartan Games through Uncharted Seas, their first offering which is a fantasy naval combat game. When they released Dystopian wars, which is a game of sea,air and land warfare in an 1850's steampunk version of Earth, I lept into it with both feet. The game uses the same mechanics regardless of the type of units, so the gunnery and movement rules for your naval units are the same for your land units. Makes the game very versatile, and the air units are quite well handled, sufficient complexity to demonstrate their utility, but without unnecessary book keeping.
It is one of the few mini games I know of that enables you to fight a complete sea to land engagement, with all types of units being accurately represented. (well, as accurate as steampunk can be!)

These are my painted units so far, and I wouldn't call any of them finished but definitely table ready. Craig of the D6 Generation recently stated that the minis really reward you for any effort in their detail and finished look, and I agree totally, I'm not the worlds best painter but I like how most of these are coming out.

My in progress carrier, HMS Argonaut

My pair of Vanguard Class submarines,HM Ships Victory and Vengeance, surfaced

The flagship, the Majesty Class Dreadnought, HMS Monarch. (with aft turreted painted as Commodore pennant to indicate Commodores Flagship)

My Ruler Class Battleship HMS Retribution

3 of my 9 Attacker CLass Frigates, HM Ships Ardent,Attack and Ambush

I'll post more shortly, but thats to whet the appetite. The other great thing about Dystopian Wars is that a starter fleet costs about $50, AUS and US, and it gives you tiny flyers as well (pics to follow) that are your fighters,dive bombers, torpedo bombers and recon/spotter planes. The starter fleets are well rounded, and quick to paint up.

I'll give an overview of gameplay in another post in due course.

The June "To Do" list

Starting next week, I have 3 weeks at home - a rarity for me this year.  I find that in such times, a 'to do' list helps keep me focused and away from distracting shiny things.  While I have a number of things I want to get done, the following are some of those I will be prioritising on (in no particular order):
- Basing Right Stuff's "Cold Blooded Croakers", his new Slann team that he will be playing in the upcoming Eucalyptus Bowl
- Finishing off my Pulp/Horror Stone Circle terrain
- Painting my Pulp Cultists (to play in above named terrain) and their summoned Hell Hounds for use in playing 'Strange Aeons'
- Paint the 4th Ghoul for my Undead Blood Bowl team The Cheese Eating Surrender Monkeys
- Fix up and photograph said Surrender Monkeys
- Make a Blog page with all our Blood Bowl teams and figures

Lets see how we go...

Game 6 vs Belconnen Bluetongues

This round was against Gavan's Lizardman team, who are currently placed second in the league.  He invited us to play this game on his amazing custom pitch, which won an award for Best Custom Pitch at Cancon 2007 - more on that later.

Odinn's Champions take the pitch on Gavin's fantastic stadium

Good weather prevailed, and for inducements the Norse took a Mercenary Ulfwerner: giving a bench of one player and finally getting to use the figure that has been waiting for some on-field time!  An unexpected pick by the Lad, but a good one.  Total gate was 15000 fans (the Norse got +1 FAME), then the Lizards won the toss and elected to receive.

The opening moves...

Kick off result was brilliant coaching, the Norse got extra reroll, and the ball came to rest just inside the midway line.  A frenzied attack from a Saurus pushed a Norse thrower into the crowd (luckily just stunning him) but then a skink fuzzed the pickup, and blew the reroll, dropping it into 3 skink TZs.  In return the Norse blitzed a skink running downfield into receiving position, while the Yeti blocked the krox but could only push him back off the line.  In return the Krox got some support and knocked him out, before a skink grabbed up the ball and ran across field as his buddies closed in for close protection.  The next turn they pushed downfield as the Norse tried to tie them up, but the 4 strength Saurus were tough to stop with a 2 player disadvantage, though the Norse runners' Dauntless skill finally came into its own for the first time this season.  The lizards broke a hole through with a Saurus and at the end of turn 4 they scored the first TD of the game.


The Norse got the Yeti back to receive and try to even it up by halftime.  The kickoff result was a quick snap enabling the Norse to start to punch over the line. The blocks at mid pitch were inconclusive until the Yeti badly hurt the Krox (sweet!) while two runners sprinted down the left wide zone and a thrower scooped up the ball.  The Lizards moved to contain and covered the downfield runners while the midfield scrum continued and a skink sprint to base the ball carrier but tripped over.  The thrower moved up, handover off to the newly drafted thrower who spiraled a lovely pass downfield into the hand of runner number 4 (Fafnir Bearclaw) who had dodged way from his cover to dance in the end zone.  A nice 2 turn TD for the Norse: 1 all.

Touchdown by Norse Runner Fafnir Bearclaw!

Turn 6 kickoff saw the Norse get a Perfect Defence to try and hold the tied score.   The lizard turn ended quickly with a double skulls followed by rerolled both down before they could get the ball.  A Norse runner dodged through to scoop it up and head downfield with some friends while 2 Saurus were stunned things were looking very threatening indeed.    Until 3 skinks darted back to block him to the ground and the bouncing ball was finally caught by one of the skinks.    An opportunity stolen by Nuffle but at least there was now no threat of a lizard score in the remaining part of the first half.  The Yeti refused to move, the  Ulfwerner tried to blitz the ball free but could only get a couple of pushes.  The ball carrying skink dodged away and threw a long bomb way up-field to put it out of reach and the half time siren blew with the scores level at one apiece...but not before the mercenary Ulfwerner proved his mettle by killing the star Sure Feet, Sidestep skink (apoth saw him just badly hurt).

The Norse line out, out for blood...and an equalizer

The second half saw the KOed skink return, the Norse receive, and the kickoff result was a weather change which sent the ball out of bounds and the touchback went to the Norse thrower.   The opening block by the Yeti...double skulls, but luckily the reroll came through to make a hole in the lizard line.  Likewise the  Ulfwerner make some gutsy one die blocks to let the two throwers again run downfield while the rest caged up at midfield around the thrower.   Again the skinks contained the throwers, and one went down to a Saurus blitz while a side typing skink bravely darted into the Norse cage.

The Norse cage under pressure

The Yeti decided not to play again, despite a reroll (he was clearly being distracted by a cheerleader or something) and wasted the blitz while the runner tripped running downfield.  Somewhere Nuffle chuckled.  A Saurus attack on the cage chain pushed the ball carrier to the other side and badly hurt the Norse second thrower.  Skinks flowed around to base the now exposed ball carrier.  The yeti was still distracted by something in the crowd,  but the blister unmasked the ball carrier at least.  A runner got up and sprinted into the end zone and the Norse thrower ran forward to shoot a long pass for the score......intercepted by a skink!!!!...who started to sprint for glory while yelling for his buddies to protect him from the angry Norse safeties, and the Saurus took on the front line to make sure they couldn't get back into defensive positions.  


The Norse just couldn't get through to the ball carrier though (the journeyman killing himself on a dodge in an attempt to do so) and he dodged away like only a 4Ag player can to go across the pitch to score, stalled out  with a protective shield while the Saurus went head-hunting with their 2 player advantage.   The Norse had real trouble trying get in, with double skulls and failed dodges everywhere.  Poor Right Stuff was getting very frustrated as he seemingly failed every single roll he made to get there. Finally, in their last turn the skink stepped over the line to put the lizards in the lead with just 1 Norse turn to go. 

After intercepting, the Lizards stall out the remainder of the second half

The kickoff was throw a rock, which was tied and the Norse bezerker was badly hurt!  Right stuff tried to get a completion on a runner to get the SPP and skill up but Nuffle's luck was still fickle, the pass was inaccurate and the game ended with a lizard victory 2 to 1.  


Norse winnings were a very respectable 70k, enabling Right Stuff to finally buy back the missing Blizter who died way back in Game 2 against the Wood Elves (he was 10k short of buying the Mercenary Ulfwerner who got a kill).  Most Valuable Player went to to the only player in his roster with 0 SPP so no skill ups there.  Again frustrating but at least it wast the dead journeyman or the mercenary I suppose.


So a very respectable game result for one that the Norse thought they would get smashed in, and it really did come down to that interception, but thats Blood Bowl for you.  This loss sees the Norse sitting last on the table with 1W-1D-4L and next week's game, the last of the season, will be against the Human team and the top of the Ladder: the All French Company.


Sidenote: I thought Reilly's apothecary management was very disciplined.  He kept his medics on standby despite the couple of Badly Hurt results, awaiting something worse to come (and lets face it, he has had plenty of those this season).  It really hammered home when in his very last turn he almost needed it to save his only Bezerker.  I think casualty and apoth management have been our major learning points during the season - he wont start a season without a Apoth again without a lot of soul searching.

Right Stuff at the awesome stadium

Thanks so much to Gavin for being a great host and opponent.  His underworld team the Hellarious Pranksters is through to the playoffs in the minors league....may Nuffle be with you!
More pics of his fantastic pitch to follow later.

The symbol of the Belconnen Bluetongues

Bitter Seeds

Scientifically bred super Nazis vs British Warlocks conjuring Lovecraftian horrors?  Yes please! Picked up the newly released softback edition today -  looking forward to reading it and will post a review when I'm done.

Ian Tregillis's stellar debut novel Bitter Seeds hits shelves today. It's a beautifully written and thoroughly researched alternate WWII history, the twist being that a mad German scientist has discovered a way to endow a group of sociopaths -- raised from WWI orphans -- with X-Men-like powers that have made the Wehrmacht unstoppable.

To counter this, a desperate Great Britain establishes a secret division composed of a tiny number of British warlocks -- men who use speech in a mystical Ur-language, accompanied by blood sacrifice, to call up vast, brutal elemental forces. These forces, the Eidolons, loathe humanity and tremble in barely restrained rage at the stain we spread on the universe, but they can be bargained with, blood traded for elemental magick.

Shamrock Cup 2012: Championship Match

With the Shamrock Cup ties up with 1 win each after the last game, the final match would decide all.  James met me last week to play for Eternal Glory...

James's Dark Elves vs my Skaven: Pre-Match Lineout

My Skaven won the toss and elected to Receive, while the Dark Elves won +1 FAME.
The ball dropped in the centre of the Rats' half, and their front line went in with a Quick Snap!

First block of the match was by Storm Vermin No 6 who went in hard, badly hurting a Dark Elf lineman - a handy start to the match!  A hole appeared in the front line and the Gutter Runners poured through deep into enemy territory.  The Skaven thrower scooped up the ball and waited for an opening.  The Dark Elves reacted quickly, running back to cover all the runners, and smashing one to the ground.  An elf Blitzer went in to foul - snake eyes - see you later, ejected for the rest of the game.  Some Skaven Linemen then caught up to clear a path and the Rat Thrower threw a beautiful long bomb right into the claws of a Gutter Runner waiting in the end zone: 1 zip

The Dark Elves lined up to receive, only to have the Skaven pull off a Blitz!  The Skaven were spread thin and deep though, so not much could be done except to get a linerat into the elf half and threaten the receiver.  The Dark Elves caged up midfield and began to slowly advance as rats threw themselves uselessly against the cage from all angles.  As time ticked away, the Dark Elves broke out of the cage to try a running play, but the Blitzer was taken down by a Storm Vermin on the sideline, and the ball popped free to be scooped up by a Skaven thrower.  The Gutter Runners were badly placed in safety positions, however, and the Skaven were obliged to form their own defensive formation half way to the endzone.  Just one turn to go as the elves formed a line between them and the score.   Some desperation dodges and blocks went my way, the Thrower handed off to a Gutter Runner who then sprinted with two Go For Its (using my last reroll) to make it into the end zone and make the score 2 nil at half time.

The half time show came and went, along with a nice bottle of "3 steps" 2008 vintage Shiraz...

The second half saw the Dark Elves receive and a crowd thrown rock stunning a Skaven Lineman.  The DE went for a rushing play down the widezone and smashed through the rats' front line.  I had positioned my Storm Vermin deep as safeties and they went in on the ball carrying Blitzer - only a push back!  Reroll: push back! I crowded in a few other players at the cost of leaving the other half of the field exposed but the Dark Elf only needed a few dodges with his 4 Ag to get home: 1.  Reroll: 1.  My Thrower darted in, scooped up the ball and dashed into the oppostion half with a Gutter Runner and another Storm Vermin covering him.  A Dark Elf tried to block into positon but a both down did him no favours.  I handed off to the Gutter Runner, who streaked downfield to rest 2 spaces short of the endzone but out of reach of any of the Elves (love that Mv 9!).  Capitalising on the two player advantage, the Skaven broke through to screen the ball carrier as the frustrated Elves wailed on anyone they could get their hands on, KOing another Gutter Runner.  With 3 turns to go I could have stalled out at least another turn but what fun is that - I crossed the line with 3 turns to go.  After winning the Cheering Fans, the Dark Elves again went for a running play but the offense peetered out, and the final siren went with the score being 3 Nil - the Skaven Win!!!!  I  must admit though that my dice were rolling hot tonight and that always helps, and that score doesnt really reflect the game as a whole.

So the official results of the 2012 Shamrock Cup Series are:

Game 1 - Dark Elves 3:1

Game 2 - Skaven 2 Nil  

Game 3 - Skaven 3 Nil

And so the Skaven are the Champions - 12 years after their first and last Victory!
The next scheduled Shamrock Cup  tournament is 2016, but you never know what might happen...

Winners are Grinners!  History of this treasured trophy can be found here

Prayer to Nuffle diorama

A neat bit of conversion work by this French Blood Bowler
http://bloodmoute.blogspot.com.au/2012/02/diorama-priere-enefel.html

"Please don't let me fumble the ball, and please don't let the team eat me after the game...."

Round 5 vs Barak Varr Dreadnaughts

Round 5's game was against a Dwarf team coached by Big Pete, yet another great sport and a very welcoming opponent.  The Dwarfs won the toss and select to receive, the weather was fine, and the Dwarves won +1 fame.  The kick-off sparked a Riot! Loosing a turn from the first half.  Please excuse the lack of pics, I forgot my camera...

The Dwarf offence started by stunning 2 lineman and mowing down the Norse front line. They pushed down the right sideline, scooped up ball with a runner, and spiralled a short pass to another runner.  The Norse Yeti wild animaled out as the Norse moved to contain with generally ineffective blocks though 1 long beard was KOed (the only guard piece too) and 1 runner broke through into the dwarf half.  The Dwarves responded and reinforced their push, chain blocking, surfing and badly hurting a Norse lineman. The dwarves kept pushing down and the yeti smashed into the cage to threaten the ball carrier.  The Dwarves caged up around him and brought him down with a crash, stunning him and strode forward to score in turn 4.  Pretty quick for stunties!

The Norse reset to receive and pushed down the left flank, then the Dwarves moved to contain, KOing a lineman.  The Northmen tried to force their way through but double skulls on a block stopped the momentum.  Dwarves KOed another lineman, and badly hurt the Yeti, but the apoth put him back into the reserves box. Anothjer Norse a runner dodged and sprinted into the endzone to catch an accurate long bomb from lineman - tied up 1 all with 2 turns to go in the half.  A tough ask for Dwarves, but  the ball bounced out of bounds and was touched back to one of the dwarf runners.  They went on to KO a journeyman, stun 2 lineman and break through.  The Norse tripped over their own shoelaces and all the dwarf runner had to do was Go For It twice to score....first roll ok, second one...fail, no rerolls, and he tripped over the line!  A lucky break for the Norse and the halftime whistle blew with the score tied at 1 all.

The second half began with the Norse receiving and getting a high kick result, but the receiver failed the catch.  The Yeti pushed up the left sideline and made a hole for a runner to sprint through, but the receiving lineman muffed the pickup and spilled it onto the ground. The dwarves again ganged up on the yeti, pushing him to the sideline and getting him near the crowd.  The yeti in turn blocked the troll slayer back and pushed him to the ground.  The runners broke away from the dwarves marking them up, a lineman picked up the bal, ran through the line and made a quick pass to the free runner ready to run downfield and score.  Fumble!  Reroll: Fumble!  The ball dropped between two Norse lineman on the halfway line.  The dwarves quickly acted, swarming onto the Norse with their player advantage,  grabbing the ball and forming a loose cage.  The yeti went down in a block once again...  Another Norseman dodged away from the dwarf marking him and blitzed the ball carrier to the ground.  The dwarves hit back but mostly pushed the Norse around before a troll slayer niggled a guard lineman and a Dwarf runner dashed through to pickup the ball and run halfway down the Norse backfield.  The Norse thrower sprinted back to pull him down with his Wrestle- double 1s, he went down...  The dwarves pounded a few more linemen and ran in the TD on turn 4 - a very sporting play by Pete, who could have stalled out for a few turns, but he deliberately wanted to give Reilly a few turns to try and strike back.  Says a lot about the guy.

The Norse (still down 2 players) setup to push down the left side and the kickoff gave both sides a free reroll.  The Norse broke through a runner and got the ball in hand.  Dwarf options were limited but a troll slayer KOed a journeyman (his third time in the box!).  The Norse rushed the runner through, and got the thrower clear but the pass was inaccurate, the ball went out of bounds to be thrown in near a stunty runner.  the thrower rushed back, grabbed it up but tripped sprinting away, just 3 square short.  The Dwarf runner picked it up and tried a long bomb, but also tripped up!  There was still a final chance for the Norse but he failed the pickup and the final siren sounded.

Final score was a Dwarf win 2:1.  MVP went to a Norse runner, and Norse winnings were 40k.
This loss puts Odinn's Champions at the bottom of the table, facing off next round against the Belconnen Bluetongues - a Lizardman team in second place in the Division.  Just two more rounds left in this season.

Many thanks to Pete for a great game - incidentally he just won his Division in the Minors League: Good Luck in the playoffs!

Viking Longhouse diorama

James Wappel Miniature Painting produces some amazing stuff, and have just posted this fantastic piece - makes me want to load up the lads in a Longship and go burn it!

http://wappellious.blogspot.com.au/2012/05/viking-longhouse-diorama.html

Traveller 2300

I haven't done any RPG gaming for literally decades, since High School really, but I still have a range of books I have kept for background material and interested reading.  My favourite all time setting is Traveller 2300.  This is a "Hard SF" style setting based on a Human Diaspora but still operating within rather rigid nationalistic framework.  It was produced by GDW in the lkate 1980s with a range of supplements and adventures, mostly set in an arm of the Galaxy colonised by the French and besieged by a hostile alien race.  Technology was very much along the lines of the movie "Aliens".

Cover of the new Mongoose Edition

Good news for 2300 fans is that Mongoose Publishing has now re-released Traveller 2300 using its core Traveller rules.  I got mine today and am loving the rebirth of an old favourite and the 'reimagining' of some aspects of the background.  I would love to use the background for SciFi gaming in the future - both ground and space based, though the latter is most likely.

http://www.mongoosepublishing.com/rpgs/traveller/2300ad/2300ad-core-rulebook.html

1st Edition, 1986.

2nd Edition, 1988

Photo-enhancing Tutorial

I must admit to being rather average with my pics and very envious of those who can do all the great extras like skylines and effects.  I found this tutorial to help me along and thought it might be useful for others too: http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/232004.page

Are you Koalified?

Odinn's Champions: Round 4

Right Stuff went into this game with a 1:1:1 record sitting around the middle of the league ladder.  This game was against "The Midnight Hour" the second Necro team in the league, coached by James (see the team details here).  Even amongst the great guys we have met in the league, James stood out as an awesome sport who plays for fun and really enjoys the social aspects.  He was a delight to host.

The Midnight Hour's team Logo

Reilly won the fan gate (for the first time this season) and with 110k of inducements decided to take star player Helmet Wulf, a chainsaw wielding maniac - clearly he was looking for a way to take down those necro werewolves!  He then went on to win the toss and elected to kick off to the Necro.

The Necro offence started with some serious blocks and many a Norse went down stunned.  A Goul scooped up the ball and passed it to one of the werewolves, who with ball in hand rushed forward, blitzed the Norse safety and sprinted for the endzone...only to trip over the line!  A mad scramble ensured deep in the Norse rear area, a Goul finally getting the ball and sending a pass to the werewolf waiting in the endzone - a dropped catch!  Reilly wasted no time surfing the werewolf into the crowd where the fans quickly KOed him for his troubles.  However, a Norse lineman fumbled the ball pickup and the Necro charted him in reply  (-1 Ag) before picking it up and carrying it over the line.

So it was 1 nil to the Necro halfway through the first half and Right Stuff decided more blood was required - Helmet Wulf came on for the Norse offence.  The Fans cheered mightily (giving the Norse got an extra reroll).  Helmet started up with buzzsaw and was completely surprised when the ball dropped into his arms. He still caught it but nothing deterred him from his target - with ball in hand he rushed forward and attacked the werewolf before him, stunning him.  Inspired, the Yeti stunned the Zombie in front of him.  A good start to the drive, but in the next turn Helmet fumbled the hand-off and a mid-pitch scrum ensued.  The werewolf recovered and sprinted downfield, a Goul got to the ball and sent the ball sailing over the line...only to have the Yeti intercept it!  Nobody was more surprised than the Yeti, who failed his next two wild animal rolls to prevent a Norse equalization attempt and the half ended with the Necro still up 1 nil.

The Norse received the next half but the Necro got all their players back and the Norse were down 2 players.  The Midnight Hour made the most of their man advantage, blunting the Norse attack with a strong forward line and turning over the ball with some nice blitzes to score in turn 4.  Necro up 2 nil and time was running out for the Norse.

The Necro kicked deep into the Norse half and the kickoff result was a Blitz!  One of those darned werewolves sprinted deep into the Norse backfield to get under the ball.  He dropped it, but the Norse were in trouble - a Blizter moved in to try and tame the beast and surfed him with his Frenzied attack.  The wolf was badly hurt but regenerated.  A messy scum again developed 3 square from the Norse backfield and Right stuff did well to delay the counterattack but his last Blitzer was badly hurt in a block and the Necro got their third TD in before the whistle blew.

So The Midnight Hour managed a 3 nil shut out but the score didn't really reflect the game.  My favourite part was most definitely the fact the Right Stuff was laughing and cheering despite the score and his mounting casualties.  I was really proud of the way he totally played for fun, not competition.

Again Reilly didn't roll well for winnings but now has an apoth at least.  His next game is against a developed Dwarf team and Right stuff will again have 3 journeymen, but this time no Blizters and his thrower is Ag broken.  His team development isnt going so well really and he is still well under his starting 100TV, but at least the Yeti's intercept got him a skill and he took Mighty Blow, which will go well with the existing Claw and Frenzy - lets hope we see some good casualties against those dwarves!

With a 1:1:2 record, Odinn's Champions are now sitting second last in the League, but all four bottom teams have this record and the placings are based on TD ratios.  The top 4 teams are rocketing away on points and unlikely to be caught now with just 3 games left.

Thanks again to James for a very enjoyable game!

Blitz Issue 4 released

The free Blood Bowl e-zine BL!TZ issue 4 has now been released and can be found at:

http://blitz.ausbowl.com/blitz_issue_04.pdf

Awesomely, Right Stuff's Team "Odinn's Champions" get a nice pic on page 30 in the CanCon 2012 article! Here is what the authors have to say about this issue:

Well we really have to say that this has been the most trying so far of  
the issues.  Real world issues really do have a way of interrupting  
anything.  Add into that our first real technical issues with the process  
and we have overshot by about 3 weeks!

On the plus side, and this is purely by coincidence, the first registered  
user was me.  That was on the 9th May 2007 at 1:42am.  So in a little over  
2 hours, AusBowl is 5 and we have something special in the giveaway  
department this month thanks to AusBowl members and Good Games, but more  
on that later . . .


So other than the trials and tribulations we have experienced, the 5th  
birthday and the good work suggested by Alex, what do we have on offer  
this issue?
Team focus and a painting focus from AusBowl members
Tons of Dungeonbowl action
A tale of Blood Bowl rediscovery
State updates
Custom pitch construction article
More photography tips and a CanCon pictorial
A MASSIVE 5th birthday giveaway
Plus much, much more!

This issue is big people!  I hope you enjoy the BL!TZ.

SinisterDexter and Carnivean

Masterclass Hovel

Another top notch model scratch built by Tony
http://dampfpanzerwagon.blogspot.com.au/2012/04/witchlands-hovel-masterclass-article.html

May the Fourth be with you!

Happy Star Wars Day!

Underwater Hounds

Got these in an email and thought they are good enough to share!
These remind me of gamers at a Bring and Buy stall actually :-)

A famous photographer in California decided to take a few of his furry friends, a ball, and a high resolution underwater camera.  Here are the results: