Four Against Darkness (4AD) by Ganesha Games

Ganesha Games is well known for Song of Blades and Heroes and other rules for tabletop miniature games.  But now they have released a new type of game, a rules-lite solo dungeon-crawling adventure.  All you need is a pencil, two six-sided dice, grid paper, and the rules.  It is called Four Against Darkness (or 4AD for short).

The player will choose four adventurers from the typical stable of fantasy tropes (Warrior, Cleric, Rogue, Wizard, Barbarian, Dwarf, Elf, and Halfling).  Then you can equip them how you want and off to the dungeon you go.

The game is run by a multitude of tables.  You start out with the dungeon entrance (1 of 6), and then you will roll off to see what the next room or corridor will be.  In each room or corridor you will roll to see what inhabits it (vermins, minions, bosses, weird monsters, treasure, traps, special events, etc.) and from there will be even more options or possibilities for each encounter; attack, bribe, quest, flee, etc.  Combat is real simple; roll d6 add/subtract modifier and compare to level of monster/encounter.  Subtract life points until you or enemy dies.

The goal of each dungeon run is to reach a final boss, slay him, and escape the dungeon (yes, back through all those rooms checking for wandering monsters as you go).  Don't get too attached to your adventurers, their survival is not guaranteed.

The rules are simple enough, and once you get the hang of the tables a game session goes by fairly quickly.  Included in the zip folder I downloaded were a couple pocketmods with all the tables, which helped quite a bit.  However, most of the encounter tables have only six options, so you may run into the same minions or bosses or treasures.  But there is nothing stopping you from creating your own tables once you have played a couple games and understand the game mechanics.  I hear there are supplements in the works which may expand the game even further, which I look forward to.

You may find Four Against Darkness at http://www.ganeshagames.net/product_info.php?cPath=1_55&products_id=295&osCsid=egkptqf4pi1gmadf9vlfffn7r3

Table Titans Kickstarter

I pledged for the Table Titans Kickstarter a looooong time ago.  It was to be just a hardback book of the collected Table Titans webcomic.  But then some stretch goals were added to make it more special.  I received it a couple weeks back, just never got around to take pictures, until now!

Signed by Mr. Scott Kurtz himself.

Nice art print.

Another nice art print.

The book itself, very nice.  Top notch production.

This flimsy paper cover holds the true gem, a Game Master's Screen.

The art side of the Game Master's Screen.  Very sweet!  Also first time using panoramic picture-taking with my new Iphone, it works for the most part I hope.

The inside of the Game Master's Screen has a lot of random tables, mostly whimsical and comical.  Awesome!

Of Gods and Mortals - assembling in progress

I have been slack with my tabletop gaming hobbies.  REALLY slack.  Anyways, I finally decided what to do with the 100+ minis I got with the Arcane Legions game.  I based them all, using the footprint of 10 figures to a base that is 125mm x 50mm, and single figures on a 25mm x 25mm base.  The purpose is to obviously allow easy transportation of these smaller miniatures in block formations, aimed at games such as Kings of War and Of Gods and Mortals.  I went cheap, using cardboard and hot glue.  Hopefully after painting and flocking they'll look tabletop presentable enough.

Although this design is more strongly suited towards Kings of War, my ultimate goal is to have large-scale battles using Of Gods and Mortals and Advanced Song of Blades and Heroes.  I would increase allowable unit sizes to 10 and increase how much Legends and Gods count in outnumbering.  Instead of model removal as casualties, I would use dice to represent losses.  And instead of Invocations and Gods, use that category for monsters and heroes.

Here are some Greek Hoplite type warriors and archers along with a Reaper Bones Cloud Giant that looks like a Greek Goddess or just use as a giant.

In this picture are Roman spearmen and hero and Minotaur.

Some Undead soldiers, ancient bowmen, Pharoah Lich, mummies, and skeleton monster.

Some ancient Asian spearmen, bowmen, swordsmen, ninja hero, and samurai hero.

WIP - Dungeon Saga add-ons

I have continued to paint up the plethora of miniatures acquired from the Dungeon Saga Kickstarter.  These all came from the various add-ons I purchased on top of the core game.

The Lesser Obsidian Golems from the Doom Guard booster pack.  These guys are big, larger than the Trolls.

Here are the Immortal Guard.  I might just use these guys and the Golems in conjunction with regular Dwarves.

The Dead Rising booster pack of Dwarf King's Hold, five Ironclad.

Also from Dead Rising booster pack, the two Shieldbreakers, a throwing mastiff, and a corpse.

Twelve Elf Spearmen from the Green Menace booster pack.

Six Elf Archers.

Two Elf hero types and a couple corpses.

Of Gods and Mortals....use with Song of Blades and Heroes perhaps?

I have been wanting to get a copy of Osprey's Of Gods and Mortals for a while now.  Its always been on the back of my mind with other projects at the forefront.  But I have finally caved in and ordered a copy and it showed up on my doorstep today.

I have skimmed through it and like what I see.  Although I had not really wanted to recreate battles between Greek or Egyptian Gods, I definitely see the opportunity to use some of the rules for Fightin' Fungi/Advanced Song of Blades and Heroes.

For example; the Swamp Fungus could be a God for the Rotten Hearts faction along with an Enoki Cleric and the Reaper as Legends.  Or go generic fantasy and have my large Forest Giant as a God and a Dryad or Centaur for Legends as Elves and Animals represent Mortals.

Lots of potential using Of Gods and Mortals, thanks Andrea Sfiligoi for writing more great rules!

WIP - Dungeon Saga / Kings of War Orcs and Goblins

I have slowly been working on the mound of miniatures I have accumulated over the past year.  I've reached a small milestone of sorts.  I have completed the base colors of all the Orcs and Goblins that I got with the Dungeon Saga kickstarter.  There is still more stuff needed to be done, basing and washes etc., but at least now I feel confident taking pictures of them while playing games.  They are officially ready for tabletop usage.

These guys were from the Dungeon Raiders add-on.  It includes 3 Trolls, a Mincer, a War Trombone, a Goblin Biggit, and a Goblin Wiz.  The little Orcling was from some random sprue.

These guys were from the Green Rage booster pack.  There is a Troll Champion, 3 Orcs (Morax, Greatax, Archer), 3 Goblins (2 Warriors, Archer), Mawbeast, and Orclings.

And these came from the add-on of Dwarf King's Hold called Green Menace.  There are 2 Orc Greatax and 6 Orc Ax.

Dungeon Saga Orclings came together on a stand.  The extra Orcling (I deem him an Orcling Hero/Champion) was from a sprue, which I believe came with the Green Menace Orcs.

The metal Goblin Biggit and Wiz were fun to paint.  I just wish I could paint better, very characterful models.

The War Trombone was interesting.  I like the gunner and loader models, even if they are just for decoration.

The Goblin and Orc archers will be great additions to my greenskin collection, I don't have many archers for them.

The Mincer is an odd contraption.  Its basically a steam-powered chariot with spikes and a large drill.  I wonder how I could stat this thing up for Song of Blades and Heroes.

Here is the Troll Champion and three Trolls.  I'm already making plans for these guys in a future skirmish game.

Now I wonder which group of miniatures I should focus on next.  Dwarves?  Abyssal Dwarves with their Obsidian Golems and Harpies?  Elves?  Undead?  Valandor Expansion?  Or perhaps back to Reaper Bones minis?  Or the newly acquired Alkemy stuff?  Or the load of Arcane Legions?  So many choices....

Space Hulk: Death Angel - solo 1/2/15

Six Space Marines, armed with the best weaponry known to the Imperium of Man and bolstered by the faith of the Emperor, infiltrate a drifting space hulk.  They would soon encounter an infestation of genestealers, that xenos threat facing all of mankind.

The Space Marines enter the Void Lock, led by the legendary Lexicanium Calistarius.  With bolter fire and sound tactics, the Space Marines would defeat swarms of genestealers to escape the Void Lock and enter the Dark Catacombs.

The Dark Catacombs would reveal how infested the space hulk had become.

The Space Marines are swarmed by the xenos.  But with the Psionic Attack of Lexicanium Calistarius, a Flamer Attack by Brother Zael, and a Heroic Charge by Brother Claudio; the genestealers were reduced significantly.

Travelling to the Wrath of Baal Chapel, our Space Marines would be challenged once again.

An Artifact was discovered within the Wrath of Baal Chapel.

Our heroes continued their advance, reaching their final location; the Launch Control Room.

The swarms of genestealers were relentless.  Luck and decisive action held them at bay.

With an eye on the objective, Lexicanium Calistarius focused on activating the Launch Control Room.

The Space Marines were victorious!  Activating the Launch Control Room with very little chance of success seemed futile, but the result was a resounding triumph.

Thoughts:  This was my third attempt at playing this game.  My first two attempts had been overwhelmingly disastrous.  After reading opinions and strategies on Boardgamegeek, I took another crack at it.  This time I took a more careful approach in deciding actions for the Space Marines.  There is a lot of synergy between the various combat teams, which takes more than just picking Attack each turn.

I'm enjoying it more each time I play.  The level of tactical foresight needed to play is extremely thought-provoking.  And....I can play solo!  And with the different locations, combat team options, events, this game won't grow stale anytime soon.