Space Hulk: Death Angel - card game

For Christmas I got Fantasy Flight Games' Space Hulk: Death Angel.  I've been reading great things about this game.  The fact that I can play it solo is a bonus.  So I had the time and opportunity to try a solo match today.

Set-up took a while.  I had the help of Universal Head game aid though I had to keep looking back to the actual rulebook occasionally.  Eventually I figured out the game flow.  Then I realized how bloody this game was.  I lost my first Space Marine in the first location.  Second location I took heavy casualties and by the third location I had two Marines remaining.

I like the game, it requires lots of tactical thinking and plays relatively quickly.  Set-up was my only issue, but I think after a couple plays I should be able to speed things up in that regard.  Definitely worth playing again.

EDIT:  A post without pictures???  What was I thinking?

Nice compact box, holds all the cards and tokens snug.

Since I did not take pictures of the solo demo game the other day I decided to do a brief layout for those who want to see the setup.  In theory, you "could" condense it all onto a 2 ft by 2 ft area.  I recommend a little more breathing room for all the cards you need.

Here were the three Space Marine teams I used for my inaugural game.  I was a bit disheartened when I lost one of the yellow team in the FIRST location (rolled a 0 for Genestealer attack).  Even scarier was when all but two survived the escape of the SECOND location (Teleport chamber).  It happened that every time I did not want to roll a 0 or die, I would roll a 0 (that's with the Genestealer attacks as well as activating the control panel to teleport out of the location).  Still eager to play it again despite the loss.

Holiday gaming!

No pictures, but the holidays have begun.  I am officially on holiday vacation for the next 10 days.  It all started with boardgaming most of today.  We played The Adventurers: Temple of Chac (which my 4 yr old won), Blokus Trigon, Munchkin, and Forbidden Island three times (and sank each time, love that game).

Here's to a happy holidays to you all!  Happy gaming!

Dungeon Saga has arrived!

The eagerly awaited kickstarter Dungeon Saga has arrived!
 https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1744629938/dungeon-saga-the-dwarf-kings-quest

I received a hefty Carton A on my doorstep.  This contained the core game and all the extra kickstarter stretch-goal goodness.  All the add-ons that I had ordered separately came a couple weeks back, all glued and primed and ready for painting.  Now with the core game I have an all new pile of plastic primed and waiting for painting as well.  Should keep me busy for at least the next couple decades.

I really like the 'book box' design for the game.  Its creative, original, and aesthetically and thematically genius.

Here are the piles of plastic just from the core kickstarter.  All the undead are hanging out on the back left plate.  The Abyssal and Orc/Goblin kickstarter exclusives are on the back right plate.  The core villains, big undead trolls, and Valandor exclusives on the front right.  And all the heroes are to the front left.

Triumphant return!

Been absent for a while, but now I have returned with all new reports and pictures too!

First up was a game of One Page Rules' Grimdark Racing.  (https://onepagerules.wordpress.com/portfolio/grimdark-racing/)

My son and I enjoyed the game.  Fast and easy rules.  Reminds us a lot of Mario Kart racing, nothing wrong with that at all.

My son played the Rebels (snowspeeder and X-wing) while I had the Empire (Tie Fighter and Tie Bomber).  We used them all as Skimmers.

The Tie Fighter led the way and would maintain the lead the entire three laps.

   

This was the start of the second lap.  The Tie Fighter had a commanding lead and I used the Tie Bomber as a wrecking ball and prevented the Rebels from getting close to the leader.

 

End of the third lap.  The Tie Fighter crossed first, X-wing second.  

Next up, my son and I decided to give One Page Rules' Kill Team a test.  (https://onepagerules.wordpress.com/portfolio/one-page-kill-team/)

I played as the Orks (Warpath Marauders) and my son played as the Space Marines (Deadzone Enforcers).  I really enjoy the simple approach from the One Page Rules.

Orks to the left, Space Marines to the right.

WAAAGH!  Orks advance, and get shot along the way as usual.

As you can see, many Orks did not make the trip across the battlefield.

The end of the match.  I lucked out in slaughtering many Space Marines with the Orks' brutal close combat abilities.  But after four rounds I lost, with most of my force decimated by Space Marine gunfire.

And finally, my oldest daughter played my son with One Page Rules' Skirmish (https://onepagerules.wordpress.com/portfolio/one-page-skirmish/)

Using Reaper Bones miniatures we attempted to create a couple possible warbands based off of the Warhammer Fantasy army lists.  My son went with the Tomb Kings (lots of undead naturally).  And the daughter chose Wood Elves.  Tallying up the points and upgrades was quite a chore.  In the end, point wise, the warbands were even.  As far as model count, the Tomb Kings undead severely outnumbered the Elves.

My daughter faces my son across the battlefield.

The Tomb Kings's undead shamble onto the scene.

A couple Wood Elf archers are able to set up on a tower in the deployment zone of the Tomb Kings.  They were able to rain down terror from their high vantage point.

This is the remainder of the Wood Elves.  Vastly outnumbered by the undead.

Skirmish has a whole load of special abilities to keep track of, as you can see my son looking at his reference sheet.  But by the end of the game, he was victorious.  The leader of the Wood Elves was slain and their warband decimated by the never ending undead.

One Page Kill Team - 9/28/15

I finally got around to trying out one of the One Page Rules games.  This was a straight skirmish of One Page Kill Team, using my Deadzone minis.  The Enforcers I used as proxies of Space Marines and the Marauders were Orks of course.

The Enforcer Space Marines.  Led by a Terminator Captain, three Tactical Marines (Assault Rifles), two Tactical Marines (Jump Packs, pistol/power weapons, Veteran Training), and one Tactical Marine (Machine Gun).  Total points was 275.

The Marauder Orks.  Led by a Warboss (in front with Powerfist/pistol, 'Eavy Armor), two groups of 3 Ork Boyz (pistols, hand weapons), two Lootas (Deffguns), and a Nob (pistol/powerfist).  Total points was 275.

The Tactical Marines with Assault Rifles and the Machine Gun deployed in cover.  The Terminator Captain and two Marines with Jump Packs were held in reserve to Deep Strike later.

A Deffgun Boy hides in one building as the Warboss and mob of Boyz wait in cover.

The other corner is guarded by a Deffgun boy and the Nob along with other mob of Boyz.

Typical Ork fashion, charge!  Not sure why I didn't bother to use Waaagh!

Following turn saw the Deep Striking Marines arrive.  This corner I had planned on taking the Deffgun Boy out, but the Nob has turned to counter attack.

The other Jump Pack Marine I dropped behind cover with the intention to strike at the Warboss behind that crate.

The Terminator Captain popped in on the other corner to attack the other Deffgun Boy.

Fourth and final round, the Machine Gun Marine and a Tactical Marine were killed.  But they were able to finish off one mob of Boyz and complete stun the other mob.

This assault happy Marine slayed the Nob and stunned the Deffgun Boy.  The Terminator Captain murdered the other Deffgun Boy.

With the Marauder Orks at half-strength it was time to roll for morale.  The Warboss was the only non-Stunned model, so I rolled his Quality.  I failed, even with Fearless.  It would mean the Stunned models are killed and the warband Routed.  But the Warboss is a Hero and Fearless, so I could re-roll failed Rout tests and choose the highest of two dice rolls.  Here was my result, a 2 and a 1.  Thanks Warboss.  Thus the Stunned models are slain and the Warboss is Routed.

I really enjoyed One Page Kill Team.  From start to finish; setting up terrain, writing up warband rosters, and playing, it took maybe an hour, and thats with looking back at rules and taking pictures throughout.  Its not difficult by any means, just had to re-verify weapons stats and special rules every so often.

I think I like this set of rules better than FUBAR so far, but having only played one game of each that decision might be a bit premature.  I'll have to try them both out again to be sure which I prefer.

Grimdark Racing on the horizon

As I scour the web for more interesting tabletop gaming rules, I came across the fantastic series of One Page Rules (https://onepagerules.wordpress.com/).  I've since downloaded all of them with every intention of trying some of them out in the near future.  I've already given the playtest of Double Tap a try (http://jeffsgamingpage.blogspot.com/2015/09/one-page-rules-double-tap-playtest-91415.html).

Another One Page Rules I'm eyeing is called Grimdark Racing (https://onepagerules.wordpress.com/portfolio/grimdark-racing/).  I know the cover looks to be aiming for Gorkamorka fans, but in reality its gameplay is more like Mario Kart.  Naturally I turn to my kids and say, "Do you have any Hot Wheels or Matchbox cars?"

Look for a game review to appear very soon.

Love one page rules!  And here are some sample racers, including a favorite from the Ghostbusters.

FUBAR 40k with Mantic minis - 9/24/15

Since I have all these Deadzone/Warpath miniatures now, and I'm extremely slow painting anyways, I figured I might as well play a game with them.  As I contemplate my sci-fi skirmish rules, I decided to try some other rules out there.  One of the rules I downloaded was FUBAR (https://fubarwargames.wordpress.com/downloads/).  It seemed simple enough, fitting on one page too.  Then I found the 40k variant, which seemed to fit in with the Mantic figures I have.  So without further ado, I give you FUBAR 40k with Mantic miniatures....

So nice to have rules that fit on one page.

Here is my latest addition; Deadzone scenery.  I tried to stretch out as many 'buildings' that I could from what was provided.  Its at least a start to my collection.

The Veer-myn hold the front lines while the Marauder Orx cover the rear.  There are three objectives, those little crates.

After the first couple turns, the Enforcers move in and clean house with authority.  I gave the Veer-myn no armor, so their lives were wasted.  Then again, I had put them out in the open, no cover.  Brilliant thinking....

The Enforcer Captain and Assault guys, all with jump-packs and power weapons, versus three regular Veer-myn.

Veer-myn just about wiped out....

Marauders charge out.

An Orx 'nob with powerklaw' leads an assault.

First objective captured as the Enforcer Captain clashes with another Orx 'nob with powerklaw'.

The heavy weapon Enforcer were decimated.  The lone sniper would not survive much longer.  The Enforcer Captain handles the other Marauders.  The Assault Enforcer was laid down to show Suppression, but I forgot that close combat failed saves are casualties not Suppression.

End of the game.  Only the two Marauder heavy weapons remained.  I was certain this would end in clear victory.

All in all, FUBAR is a quick simple game.  Fairly straight forward with no convoluted rules to worry about.  I believe its geared to slightly larger warbands than I have.  Perhaps closer to 30+ models per side.  I'll try FUBAR out again in the near future.