Shadowrun: Orcs in progress.....

Got on a pretty big converting kick for my Shadowrun project. Yesterday I went to my FLGS and picked up some figures to make Orc conversions. I already had a couple done. The two primed figures are converted from Reaper orc heads and other bodied. The one on the far left is Jäger in his combat gear. I used the same head from the Reaper 1/2 orc monk that I used for the business suit version from my previous post.

I used various Reaper heads and a few Games Workshop Beastman heads with their horns cut off for the most part. The beastman heads will also get tusk added. The Foundry Street Violence fig on the far right makes a pretty good orc as is but I'm going to add tusk to his face as well. Other than that he is good to go. I'm particularly proud of the orc with the minigun 2nd one from the right. He came together quite well.

I still have quite a bit of green stuff work to do on these but I feel they are coming along nicely. I'm also looking at some conversion ideas for five more female orcs.

2012 Project "Shadowrun" in miniature.

Our big project for 2012 is going to be "Shadowrun". I think it's pretty fitting because the end of the Mayan calendar in 2012 marks the beginning of the 6th world. I've been playing in a consistent Shadowrun campaign since 2008 and for the first few years we either didn't use miniatures or we used the GMs 1990s style Ral Partha Shadowrun figures. In the last year I've started working on a few Shadowrun minis in 28/30mm scale by converting minis from existing modern and sci-fi lines.

Here are some runners I converted and painted in the last year. Most of these are from our team although not all are current.

From left to right:

Brass: Female Elf "Face". This is simply a Foundry miniature from their Street Violence line with elf ears sculpted from green stuff.

Edward: Male Elf "Technomancer". This figure is is made from the body of a Militia miniature from the Void miniature game and a plastic head from the old Games Workshop Dark Eldar line. He has red skin because the character had to have his natural skin replaced with synthetic skin after being engulfed by a Spirit of Fire.

Bear: Male Human "Street Samurai". This figure is made from various Games Workshop plastic kits and an AK-47 from Reaper's modern weapons pack. Bear is actually an NPC dependent.

Jo: Female Orc "Street Samurai". Joe is made from a Reaper Half Orc. The AK-47 comes from a RAFM figure and the extra gear on her belt came from a Games Workshop plastic kit. Jo is my wife's character.

Jäger: Male Orc "Street Samurai". Jäger is made using the body from a Foundry Street Violence miniature and a Reaper Half Orc monk. His machine pistol is from the Malifaux modern weapons pack. Jäger is my character.

Parker: Female Orc "Face". This figure is made from the body of a RAFM USX miniature and the head of a Reaper half orc.

Elf female: This figure is made from a Foundry Street Violence figure with some elf ears made from green stuff. She is currently serving as a stand in for a player character until we find something better.

Squirle: Male Elf "Technomancer". This figure is made from a Militia figure from the Void miniature game with elf ears made from green stuff.

We are also planning to build; more runners, security forces, organized crime factions, gangs, spirits, drones, awakened critters, civilians, vehicles, and sprawl terrain.

Of course we already have a large number of modern and sci-fi humans which we will be making extensive use of.

Station 42: Works in Progress

We worked on quite a few projects today for the Station 42 setting. This is a simple stage I made from a Platformer kit from Pegasus Hobbies http://pegasushobbies.net/catalog/. The kit is not as easy to put together as it appears and the schematics are really poor but it's a neat kit with lots of potential and it's not too expensive for what you get. This is only a small test piece and it took some time for me to put it together. Also the kit is suppose to be able to be assembled without glue so you can tear it apart and use it for whatever design you want. In theory that makes sense but I'm gluing mine into permanent models. This stage will be useful for a number of scenarios. I primarily designed it for slave auction Seniors in "Junktown".

Also I converted a sniper for my Wolfhound Freikorps mercenary unit using a sniper rifle out of the Malifaux Modern Weapons pack from Wyrd Games http://wyrd-games.net/. It took a lot of cutting to get the rifle to fit but I'm pretty happy with it. I just need to seal up a couple gaps where his arm meet his torso in the back and I'll be ready to start painting him.

Over the Thanksgiving break I also finished three more pirates for my "Bloodborn" pirate gang who have already been involved in a number of encounters in the setting. This makes 11 pirates painted and about 9 more ready to be painted. I still have more on the way. I plan to have at least 30-50 pirates for this force. These are entirely kitbashed from various GW kits.

This is a work in progress shot of the main command bunker that will make up the Bloodborn Pirates main base of operations. In addition to this larger bunker there will be three smaller bunkers and perhaps a few outbuildings and landing pads. We will also be using our underground facility which we plan to expand on in conjunction with these bunkers for the base complex. It should work very nicely when we are finished.

Here is a top down shot of the command bunker. We are considering adding a floor using window screen and a supporting structure. This is going to be a nicely playable piece that is going to be heavily weathered and trashy looking. Should make a great base for pirates!

for some reason blogger is screwing up and I can't highlight txt to create hyperlinks. I'll fix this

M.S.S.R. short range patrol unit

I picked up a few Pig Iron Productions Kolony militia from The Warstore just a few days ago. I've been eyeballing these guys for quite some time for my spaceport project. In my 3031 Sci-Fi setting the M.S.S.R. have a base near Station 42 on Titania. These guys will represent a unit of garrisoned troops at the base.

I really like the comblock look of these figures which was clearly what the folks at Pig Iron were going for. They have really expanded their Kolony range as well so I have several options for expanding this force. The figures were cast really cleanly. Very light mold lines and no serious miscast. They are sculpted in a very nice "English" style. Simple but very nice looking figures that really have a lot of character similar to figures from Wargames Foundry, Copplestone Casting, or older Games Workshop figures.

I based these figures on Renedra 25mm plastic bases. I also got these from The Warstore a few months ago. 50 bases for $4.00 was a deal I couldn't pass up. The bases are perfect for minis with cast bases since they are only half the height of a standard "slotta" base. I simply used some Elmer's Carpenter's Wood Filler to blend them in.

"Maxed Out" Episode 1: Shipjacked

The heavy freighter "Ugly Betty" on route to Ceres was passing dangerously close to the Hilda region of the asteroid belt. The Hilda's were thick with pirates but Captain Matambo consoled himself with the fact they were not actually passing through the cluster and an old freighter like his wouldn't draw much attention. The "Ugly Betty" was a General Space Systems G47 "Durango" class Heavy Freighter. Part of the forward section of the ship had been converted to carry passengers and there were about 30 aboard at the moment. Jennie D. Tam and Roxann "Rocky" Tomson had signed on with the "Ugly Betty" on Titania but they weren't planning on becoming permanent members of the crew. The were working their way to Ceres and back to pick up a very used "Skysweeper" patrol craft they had purchased with their combined savings. The ship was in terrible shape but Jennie was a decent mechanic and was certain they could get it space worthy again. The two had big plans to used the ship for bounty hunting jobs. Rocky was a licensed bounty hunter in the; Confederacy, Empire, and M.S.S.R. Jennie was working aboard the "Ugly Betty" as an assistant to Chief Engineer Wilson and Rocky was part of the two person security team along with another new hire named Joe Smith.

Just as they were passing the Hilda region of the belt Chief Wilson asked Jennie to check out one of the air filtration units located in Cargo Hold 2. He was getting funny readings from it. He also suggested that she take a security officer with her so she called her friend Rocky to meet her to investigate.

When they got there they found Joe Smith looking over the unit. They though it was odd that he was wearing a full face respirator. He waved them over claiming that he as found some evidence of sabotage. They came over to investigate but Joe surprised them with a blast of knock out gas. Rocky hit the deck first as she took the full blast straight into her face. Jennie took a swing at Joe with her wrench but failed to connect. Joe shot Jennie with his tazer and she fell to the deck next to Rocky. Joe then hooked his tank of knock out gas to the air filtration unit. Within a few minutes the crew and passengers of the "Ugly Betty" had all been knocked out by the gas.

When Jennie and Rocky came to they found themselves locked in a large shipping container full of boxes of junk. Some time after that one end of the container opened up. Joe was standing there with three other armed men. The red warpaint and black and red clothing they were wearing indicated that they were member of the "Bloodborn" pirates. The "Bloodborn" were a band of pirates well known to Jennie and Rocky because they were also based on Titania not far from "Station 42" where the two had met. "Sorry Ladies looks like you will be headed back home to sweet Titania". Joe laughed then threw the pair a few packs of MREs just before shutting the door.

When they arrived back on Titania the pirates had landed their ship in a remote part of the Wastelands neither of them recognized. They were loaded onto a truck with 6 other hostages. The rest of the crew were no where to be seen. On board the truck was Karl Mason one of the Geologist who worked at the Venture Star Mining company office on Titania. He knew them both from the bar "Close Encounters" at "Station 42" where they all hung out. The rest of the hostages were unknown to them and kept to themselves.

They were transported several kilometers and unloaded at an abandoned bunker. There were several such bunkers all over Titania from the war between the Empire and the Confederacy. They were popular safe houses for pirates and smugglers. The bunker concealed a small underground facility where the hostages were locked into a small room. Jennie and Rocky began plotting their escape but most of the other hostages other than Karl were not too interested. They were certain they would be ransomed.

On the second day of their captivity Karl was removed from the room for several hours. When he was returned he told them that the pirates had asked him to appraise the value of some gems they had looted on their last couple of jobs. He also told them there were about a dozen pirates at this facility.

On the third day Jennie was taken by the pirates and ordered to repair several small mechanical and electrical parts scavenged for various ships. Rocky was also taken and ordered to clean up the pirates bunk room. Both of them were guarded by a pair of pirates.

While going through the parts Jennie found a small cooling unit that still has a great deal of pressurized coolant she rigged it so that she could spray the coolant out at the pirates if she got a chance.

Ass Rocky was cleaning the bunk room she noticed that the male pirate guarding her was hitting on his female partner. Rocky pretended to ignore them as she cleaned and began searching for something that she could use to help her escape. While cleaning she noticed one of the lockers was open slightly. She saw Jennies tool kit inside the locker. She remembered Jennie used to hide a .44 Derringer inside the kit for protection. She waited until the pirates were distracted with their conversation then she quickly grabbed the kit from inside the locker. Using one of the bunks as cover as she pretended to clean underneath it she searched for the pistol in the kit. Sure enough it was right where she expected it. She took the tiny pistol and carefully moved closer to the pirates. Knowing that the weapon would only be effective at a short range she slowly made her was up next to her guards. As she got up next to the male pirate he turned to her and said "Are you done already?" then she shot him in the face. The female pirate screamed and ducked as she was splattered with blood and brains. She opened fire with her SMG but fired wildly and missed Rocky who quickly dispatched her with the Derringer's final round.

Hearing the shots Jennie decided it was time to act. She unleashed the pressurized coolant and sprayed both pirates guards in the face. The guards went down clutching their frozen faces and screaming. Jennie then picked up one of their guns ad finished them off.

Confused as to what was going on the rest of the pirates in the facility ran out into the hall way. Jennie and Rocky were in rooms at opposite ends of the hall. They both peaked out from their doorways and opened fire on the pirates.

Caught in the crossfire the pirates were gunned down in short order. Jennie took a round to the shoulder during the fire fight but Rocky managed to come out unscathed. The two quickly disarmed the pirate bodies and went to free the other prisoner's.

Only Karl and one of the other prisoners agreed to help them. Jennie and Rocky gave them both a pirate SMG and they quickly moved to the ladder to the bunker upstairs.

The combat in the underground facility had ended so quickly that the pirates up in the bunker were not aware of the escaped prisoners.

Rocky and Jennie burst out of the hatch and engaged the pirates. Rocky got hit twice in the close counter engagement but the managed to gun down the other pirates.

Rocky then used one of the pirates communicators to call the Nova Securities office at Station 42. Nova Securities sent out a squad and a medic to assist them.

Jennie and Rocky received a hefty bounty for the pirates they had killed or captured and the other prisoners also rewarded them for their lives. They were both taken to the Hospital in Titania City to have their wounds tended to. They had managed to escape from the pirates but their ship was still on Ceres. This time however they would be able to afford much safer passage than as crew aboard a tramp freighter.

Note: This was my first episode of my new campaign "Maxed Out" which is set in my home brew science fiction setting "3031". The "Station 42" spaceport project I've been working on for the past couple of years will be featured in the game quite a bit. We used the Savage Worlds role playing game for this adventure but we also use the setting for other Sci-Fi games like AE Bounty. My wife and daughter were the PCs for this adveture. Further episodes of "Maxed Out" will follow their bounty hunting adventures across the solar system.

Wolfhound Friekorps painted!

Way back in August 2010 I put together a group of Wargames Factory Shock Troopers as my "first" crew for AE bounty. Then they set on my shelf for over a year. We played several games of AE bounty and we even painted up crews for the game but I didn't get these guys painted up until a couple days ago. I painted them up with combination of drybrushing and washes mostly. I wanted them to look dark and germanic. I decided to muddy up their boots and coats which I think worked pretty well to add some interest to an otherwise grey/green paintjob. Over all these arn't fantastic paintjobs but they get the job done and I think they make a decent looking crew.

New Project: "Underworld" game

I'm starting a new project and RPG campaign based on the Underworld series of movies. Underworld Revolution will focus on the time period just after the events in "Rise of the Lycans". I will be using the Savage Worlds Deluxe edition rules. The player characters will be a party of "Death Dealers" the warrior cast of the Vampires. "Revolution" will be the first chapter of what I hope becomes a Death Dealer campaign that will run up to and beyond the events portrayed in "Evolution".

I'm pretty excited that I will be able to use so many different historic miniatures with of course some fantasy, science fiction, steam punk, and pulp adventure thrown in.

Orcs rule Elves drool!

I've taken to playing Orcs or Half Orcs quite frequently in RPGs that allow them as playable character races. This has prompted some of the people I've been playing with to ask me why I play Orcs so often. Granted these are the people who play elves pretty much whenever they can as if the advantages to playing an elf should be obvious. In fact when I come back with "well why do you play elves all the time" they always seem confused and taken off guard.

To me nothing says Fantasy RPG Munchkin like someone who always plays Elves and what makes it worse is that these players always consider themselves great roleplayers. Typically they play their elves haughty and roll their eyes when other players initiate combat but then try to kill steal and out damage every one else in the party usually from somewhere in the back ranks either with magic or absurd elf only archery bonuses. Elf players almost always play against elven type. Their characters are never wise or polite nor peaceful. Orcs aren't either but the elf players never sees their characters as; brash, rude, and violent. They always still think of their characters as typical elves.

I tend to play my Orcs typical. Brash, rude, and violent. To me that is an Orc. It's fine to go against type now and again and play an Orc who is an articulate negotiator, or an artist, or a magic user but typically Orcs are tanks. The Orc is usually one of the tougher and stronger of the races in any fantasy setting. Usually the toughest race that doesn't need specialty; clothing, armor, and weapons. They also fit through the same doors as most people and can use the same furniture. If you want to play an Orc fighter/warrior type you dump your "points" into things they are naturally good at like being tough and strong. If you want to play anything else you dump your points into the needed stat then count on your natural toughness and strength that still make you tougher and stronger than the average human and much more than the average elf since those are always their weak points.

A good way to set up as well rounded Orc character is to choose to be a fighter type and bump up your; strength, toughness, and quickness but still leave a few points for other things. When choosing skills and talents (feats ect) choose to be really good at one type of fighting and competent at one or two others but don't forget some points for other things. Your natural attributes will boost up lower skill numbers to make your an above average fighter while still leaving you points to be good at other things like tracking or knowledge or poetry or what have you. You can have skills the party can use while still being the anvil your foes break upon.

If your a non fighter type make sure you have at least as much armor as you are allowed and a weapon that takes advantage of your Orc advantages. That way you can still do what you do but use your natural fighting abilities to kick butt when you need to. That fire ball that nukes the Elf wizard will still certainly hurt the Orc shaman but he'll get back up more quickly and if he's unable to use his magic he can still smack people around with his staff or even bare hands.

And remember anything that drops your Orc in one shot will drop three of the parties elves in the next round. I'm sure Orcish heaven if more fun too.

Making the best of cheap Battlemechs!

A couple of months ago I picked up the new Battletech Introductory Boxed set for Classic Battletech produced by Catalyst Games. Now I have Battletech "Total Warfare" and a number of my own Mechs but the boxed set came with really nice board game style map sheets made from heavy cardboard as well as 26 Battlemechs. 24 Inner Sphere mechs (that's two companies) and 2 Clan Omnimechs. It also came with a slimmed down rulebook and even some quick start rules as well as record sheets and some other odds and ends.
The Mechs in the boxed set are really poorly made. They are cast out of cheap plastic. I'm talking toy army soldier cheap. This is nothing new. The plastic mechs that came with the old boxed set put out by FASA were pretty much the same quality and I would much rather have 3D plastic mechs than 2D cardstock flats that FASA used in a few versions on the introductory set.
Still they are pretty bad so I've come up with a way to paint them quickly and make them look nice. Nothing stellar but nice enough for my table.
I've chosen to paint all my mechs in camo paint schemes. The box comes with two companies so I'm going to paint the two companies in two different camo patterns although I am going to paint all of the mechs to represent units of the Hanseatic Leauge Regional Defense Forces. That's really not that important. I chose to do a camo paint job because not only are they fast and easy they also look the best on these crappy mechs. The camouflage pattern mask the flaws in casting and the fact that I did a rather hasty job of cleaning these mechs up before painting. The soft plastic also makes removing lines a pain. As you can see in the picture I started by painting this Assualt Lance with primer grey then I added a simple brown camo pattern.

Next I took some light sand colored paint and drybrushed the entire mech. This is a great way to paint figures using camo quickly and easily. I've even used this technique on 28mm military figs.

Next I painted in markings and added some weathering using some dark metallic paint to add damage to the mechs paint jobs.

Next up I added a wash of Burnt Umber with some Dark Blue mixed with water and Future Floor Wax. This was done to add detail to the recessed areas and tone down and blend the drybrushing.

After the Wash dried I detailed the Mechs adding cockpits and bringing out some of the scratches in the paint job with a bright silver. After that I finished the bases and gave the lance a matte varnish. These Mechs only took a few hours to paint a good hour of that was waiting for the wash to dry. I think they are a pretty effective looking unit despite the fact that the minis themselves are pretty poor in quality.

Quick and Dirty Power Generator and Miners

A couple weeks ago I posted some quick and dirty com stations where I used the tops of cheap razor handles for the arms supporting the dish. Well I took the rest of the handles glued them together and sanded the bottoms flush then mounted that on a soda bottle cap to make this small power generator.

Here it is painted up. I think this will make a nice power generator for small farm or outpost. The project took less than two hours to complete and went together fairly simply.

I also finished the Venture Star miners. These minis were giving me trouble due to a bad primer job but I'm fairly happy with the way they turned out especially since they are basically NPC types.

Ork Shadowrunners WIP

I've been working today on some Ork Shadowrunners. The frist two are the characters my wife and I have been playing in our Shadowrun group for the past 3 years. The last one is just one I did for fun.
The first one is Jager my Street Samurai depicted here in his "business" suit wielding his Ceska Black Scorpion submachinepistol. I'm planning on making another combat version of this character. This figure was made using the head of a Reaper Halforc Monk with the body of one of Juno's Crew from the Foundry Street Violence line. The gun is from the Malifaux Modern Weapons pack.
The lovely image of beauty on Jager's right is Jo my wife's Ork Street Samurai. The figure is a Halforc Pirate figure from reaper with an AK-47 taken from a RAFM terrorist. I need to do a fair amount of putty work in the back of this figure where we cut the cutlass that the figure was holding away. The hand will need some touch up as well.
The final guy is just some Ork. I have an Ork character in limbo named Bulldog who this mini would work well for but I have no idea if I'm ever going to play in that game again so for now he's just a spare Ork. He's made by swapping a Reaper halforc barbarian head with a Starship Trooper Mobile Infantry body. When I get these guys a bit further along I'll show them compared to some typical height sci-fi humans. These are all big minis perfect for Orks.

Klancy's General Store WIP and Station 42 setting notes.

We haven't posted any WIP shots of the spaceport project buildings lately because they are all in a state of progress. Here's a shot of Klancy's General Store and fuel station. The Clinic and bar are pretty far along as well but the security station still has a ways to go. Hopefully we can finish up the smaller buildings soon then put our full focus on the security station. With any luck we will have all the main buildings done enough to used for games as soon as the end of the month.

In addition to the main spaceport we are also looking at what kinds of things exist in the surrounding area. We plan to expand into other settlements and locations as soon as we get the main station playable. This will be a long term project.

Station 42 Overview

This is an overview of some of the locations surrounding Station 42 which is a part of my 3031 science fiction setting.

Station 42: The station itself is on Titania the largest moon of Uranus. It is a small space port servicing mostly shuttles and light freighters. The station has only been running for about 10 years although it looks like it has been around longer due to general neglect and the fact that most of the buildings have been transported to the site from other locations as is common on the outlying planets. There is no real government for the station. It is not a township but there is a Nova Corp. security station which has been contracted by the government of Titania to provide security at the station. The Station consist of a Klancy's fuel station and general store, a clinic, a bar called “The Close Encounter”, The Nova Corp security station, Rosie's repair shop, and an office of the Venture Star prospecting company.

Pleasant Valley: “The Valley” as it is often called is a small village consisting of about 20 homes with a small school and a couple of light industrial companies that lies about a kilometer Northwest of Station 42. It is also home to Billings construction company. There is a marshal's station and the militia group “Boon's Irregulars” also consider it part of their territory as some of their members live there.

Rat Trap Junction: A small station that lies 5 kilometers north of Station 42. Rat Trap Junction consist of only two businesses. The local MFA Biodiesel station which serves the many hydroponic and livestock farms in the region and Clifford's Farm and Home which sells farming equipment and supplies as well as used vehicles.

Ramshackle and Hardscrabble: These two tiny villages lie on the banks of the Westson Reservoir which is a small reservoir created from filling an impact crater with water. Many of the people who live here work either at Station 42 or in Pleasant Valley or as farm hands. Most of the buildings are built from the native stone although they have some modern amenities. Boon's Irregulars patrol the area and draw several members from the population. The reservoir lies 3 kilometers northeast of Station 42.

Boon's Outpost: Carson Boon has a small garage and junk yard about 6 kilometers northeast of Station 42. About 3 years ago Boon became disgruntled with the Titania government because of their constant failure to provide security for the farmers and other settlers who live in the region around Station 42 so he formed “Boon Irregulars” a militia group who patrol the region looking for pirates, raiders, and other trouble makers. The outpost consist of Boon's garage and a few shipping containers that have been converted into a “base” for his militia group.

The Pit: “The Pit” doesn't even put on the pretense of being a “gentleman's club”. This strip joint and bar lies about a half a kilometer east of Station 42. The clientele consist of biker gangs, raiders, and the roughest spacers in the region. Almost anything illegal can be bought and sold here. Nova Corp and Boon Irregulars regularly raid the club looking to cut down on illegal activity but neither group seems to be able to shut the place down.

The Bloodborn Compound: The Bloodborn Pirates use an abandoned military base as their “hideout” although everyone in the region knows where it is. Built years ago during a war between the Confederacy and the Jovian Empire the base is more of a fort consisting of several hardened bunkers and low defensive walls. The compound is defended by several light artillery pieces and anti aircraft guns as well as a few aerospace fighters, a couple of armed shuttles, and usually several dozen pirates. The compound lies 10 kilometers east of Station 42.

Junktown: This shanty town lies only a few hundred meters from the Bloodborn compound. Home to some of the most desperate settlers on Titania the people of Junktown live here mostly because they can't live anywhere else although a few depraved individuals thrive here. Junktown is controlled by gangs of raiders and the Bloodborn pirates. More dangerous even than “The Pit” very few people would dare to venture here without the protection of either the pirates or one of the local gangs.

The M.S.S.R. Base: During the last war between the Confederacy and the Jovian Empire the M.S.S.R. Allied itself with the Confederacy as an such they have been allowed to maintain a small military presence on a number of Confederate worlds to deter Jovian aggression. The base is small and houses only about a platoon of soldiers but it is heavily fortified and well defended with weapons emplacements and attack craft. The base lies about 8 kilometers South Southeast of Station 42 and not too far from the Bloodborn Compound. Patrols from the base frequently engage pirate and raider patrols. No one really knows what goes on at the base and the M.S.S.R. Isn't advertising it's activities but many locals have noted that there is are an awful lot of Martian transport shuttles frequenting the base. More than would be expected for a small outpost.

The Colony: Over a century ago when Titania was still in the process of early teraforming a massive colony ship crash landed about 20 kilometers Northeast of the location Station 42 occupies. Of the thousands of colonist aboard only a few hundred survived. Life on a moon that barely had more than a sustainable atmosphere was harsh and many of the survivors perished in a few short months. Those that did survive slowly turned more and more savage over the years. Now the decedents of those survivors live in the wreckage of the massive ship as cannibal raiders. It is rumored that there are untold riches to be found among the wreckage of the ship which is scattered across the wasteland for several miles but the “colonist” seem to hold these areas as sacred and fiercely attack any intruders.

AE Bounty Battle Report "Valkyrie Ambush"

The Bloodborn pirates under the command of Captain Cyclopse had been causing problems for the citizens of Station 42 and the surrounding area. Eventually their victims decided to do something about it. Pooling their resources they hired the well known bounty hunting team known as "The Valkyrie".

The
Valkyrie

(Standard Crew)

Valarie (Gunsel Individual Elite
Hero)

M/3 RC/3+ CC/3 A/3(4) S/2 DR/6 W/4

Equipment: LRF Slugthrower, Shock
Grenades, Light Armored Suit

Abilities: *Solo *Hunter (Human)

Hero Type:Unkillable

Traits: Impervious (5+), Unstoppable

Action Points: 4

Kara (Bounty Killer Individual
Regular)

M/3 RC/4+ CC/3 A/3(4) S/3 DR/5 W/3

Equipment: LRF Slugthrower, Adrenal
Booster, Light Armored Suit

Abilities: *Solo *Hunter (Human)

Traits: Berserk

Action Points: 2

Vera (Bounty Killer Individual
Regular)

M/3 RC/4+ CC/3 A/3(4) S/2 DR/5 W/2

Equipment: LRF Slugthrower, AP rounds,
Light Armored Suit

Abilities: *Solo *Hunter (Human)

Action Points: 2

Alecia (Lurker Individual
Regular)

M/3 RC/4+ CC/3 A/3 S/2 DR/5 W/2

Equipment: Shock Gloves, Electrolaser
Pistol, Cloaking Field

Abilities: *Solo *Hidden Deployment
*Hunter (Human)

Action Points: 2

The Bloodborn Pirates

Standard Crew

Captain Cyclopes (Human Veteran
Blooded Warrior Hero)

M/3 RC/3+ CC4 A/5(7) S/3 DR/5 W/3

Equipment: Particle Beam Rifle, Light
Armored Suit, Personal Magnetic Field

Ability: Apathetic, Command, Get up and
shoot!

Quartermaster Grimm (Human
Regular Individual)

M/3 RC/4+ CC/3 A/5(7) S/2 DR/4 W/2

Equipment: Particle Beam Rifle, Light
Armored Suit, Personal Magnetic Field

Ability: Apathetic, Issue Equipment

Quartermaster Vinnie (Human
Regular Individual)

M/3 RC/4+ CC/3 A/5(7) S/2 DR/4 W/2

Equipment: Particle Beam Rifle, Light
Armored Suit, Personal Magnetic Field

Ability: Apathetic, Issue Equipment

The Ductrats (Human Green Squad)

M/3 RC/5+ CC/2 A/3 S/2 DR/3 W/1

Equipment: LFR Slugthrower, Light
Armored Suit

Ability: Apathetic, Random Equipment

Da Gurlz (Human Green Squad)

M/3 RC/5+ CC/2 A/3 S/2 DR/3 W/1

Equipment: Slugthrower Pistol, Light
Armored Suit

Ability: Apathetic, Random Equipment

Knowing that pirates can't pass up a free ship the Valkyrie use their own ship as a decoy to draw out Captain Cyclopes and his gang. The pirates close in to inspect their new prize.

The Valkyrie spring their trap. Early in the fighting one of "Da Gurlz" is shot down by Valarie's LRF slugthrower. Grim and Vinnie take cover in a rocky outcropping while the Captain and the Ductrats make a long flanking maneuver.

The fighting gets serious. Da Gurlz rush forward and shoot at Vera on the hill but they are gunned down in turn by the Valkyrie. Captain Cyclops, completely unfazed takes two shots at Vera on the hill and she falls. Kara and Alecia trade shots with Vinnie and Grimm the two pirate quartermasters. Kara takes a would and the Valkrie quickly discover that both pirates have personal magnetic fields. "That's going to make them hard as hell to kill in that position! Flank em!" shouts Valarie.

Captain Cyclopse takes up a positon in the rock after his own personal magnetic field fizzled out and he took two wounds. Valarie fires a hail of lead into his position and the Captain goes down. "Die Scum!" she exclaims.

Kara and The Duct Rats shoot it out on the other side of the hill. "I'm hit...again" Kara says as the she guns down the last of the crewmen. Vinnie and Grimm snap off several shots with their particle beam rifles but for the most part miss their targets. "Guess we shouldn't have drank the Captain's rum eh Grimm!" says Vinnie.

Vinnie and Grimm attempt to move into better positions seeing that they are getting flanked. Kara and Alecia charge Vinnie who puts up a stronger than expected defense. Alecia is wounded in the exchange but they take the pirate down. "Take that Sucka'" Alicia stays as she kicks Vinnie in the head.

Kara then moves up to get in a better position to take out Grimm but Valarie shoots the last pirate down with a barrage of fully automatic fire.

"Damn that was a hard win" says Valarie. "Those people better pay up" replies Kara.

Note: I ran the Bloodborn Pirates who suffered their first loss in this fight. My wife and Daughter ran the Valkyrie. This is the first time we have played with the Bounty Hunter crew and it's a nasty crew to face. The scenario was "Ambush". The Pirates has Tertiary objective as a dirty trick with Assassination and Delaying action as their secondary objectives. The achieved both of these objectives by Assassinating Vera and lasting for over 6 rounds. The Valkyrie had "Faulty Technology" as a dirty trick which they used on Captain Cyclopes's Personal Magnetic Field and their secondary objective was also delaying action. The Valkyrie won the primary objective as well and their faction objective and their secondary objective. A clear victory for this bounty hunting crew.

AE Bounty Battle Report " Boon's Irregulars assault a smuggler's hideout

A truck pulls up outside the hideout of the crew of the "Hotrod Pricess"

Whisper the crew's hacker points out the window. "Hey boss these must be the guys my contact back at Statin 42 told me about". Vincent the crews pilot looks out the window "Alright Lisa and I will go see what they want You guys stay here and cover us". "Hey it's going to be hard for us to cover you with this storm blowing in" replies Tommy.

Several men and women get out of the truck and spread out. They seem to be armed and they start making their way towards the old abandoned com bunker that the smugglers are using as a base. Vincent and Lisa take cover behind some rocks. "They don't look friendly" Lisa says.

The Storm is making it hard to see very far ahead. Redjack scans the field in front of him and sees some movement over near some old fuel barrels. "Got you" he says under his breath. A shot rings out and Lisa is struck in the arm by a high caliber bullet. Moments later another shot hits Vincent in the leg.

Vincent and Lisa flee away from the sniper. "Damn that guy is good!" Vincent says as he ducks behind an old crate.

Vincent hears the sound of boots splashing through the mud behind him. He spins around and brings his boosted particle beam pistol "Betty" to bear on a large target. Chuck goes down screaming and clutching his leg as the beam burns through his thigh.

Vincent and Lisa reach the bunker as the intruders close in. Tommy and Mike spot Carson Boon the leader of the militia group "Boon's Irregulars" moving up along the edge of an old crater. The pair opens fire and several shots ping off Boon's personal magnetic field although one shot gets through. "Damn it!" Whisper yells. "I was trying to hack that idiot's field but it's defense software kicked in and gave me a virus!"

From inside the bunker the smugglers put up a strong defense as the militia members move in. The bunker was built for a full scale war and most of the militia members shots are in vain. Whisper continues to try and hack Carson Boon's personal magnetic field. "I got it!" he exclaims.

At almost that exact moment Boon appears in the doorway of the bunker and open fires on the first target he sees. Whisper goes down in a hail of fire before he is even aware of his attacker. Tommy and Mike are both gunned down moments later by Redjack.

The fight turns desperate. Boon and Vincent tangle briefly in hand to hand but Vincent give boon the slip and makes a break for the door. He turns and snaps off another shot which hits Boon in the shoulder. Lisa guns down two militia members hiding near some rocks but more close in.

Vincent takes another shot at Boon and hits him in the arm then turns and runs but Red lifts his rifle and takes a whot. Vincent goes down shot in the back by a green militia member. "That's for Chuck you bastard!" Red yells. Bleeding from several wounds Boon opens up on Lisa and takes the last smuggler down. Bonnie walks into the bunker and looks around at the carnage. "Hey Boon isn't that the hacker we were suppose to capture?" Boon just shrugs.

Note: This is the first game of AE bounty I have run with my home brew smugglers list. Even though they were wiped out to the man I felt the list did exactly what it was suppose to do. I did forget that Vincent the crew's pilot has a personal magnetic field which would have helped him resist the wounds he took but I don't think that would have changed things in the end. I'll be posting the crew stats for the smugglers and my rules for this in the next day or so. We were afraid that the hacker rules would be too powerful but they seemed quite balanced. The hacker got two viruses trying to hack and only managed to hack one piece of gear although he did fry Boon's field.

I think we are about ready to begin an actual AE Bounty campaign based in our Spaceport setting. We just need to finish a couple more projects and play a few more practice games.