Indie+Alternative Wargaming

[ocean holly]

I have no idea

[celest root]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJNuWoZ6VSs

[sand cloak]

https://tenor.com/view/rvb-caboose-taxes-i-hate-taxes-blue-team-gif-15995096661012316442

[teal cloud]

So about a month ago I came in bitching about the trench crusade 1.0 release andddd
it's actually improved a lot.

There was an FAQ and a 1.0.1 balance patch that fixed a lot of unintentional nerfs and fixed a lot of the weirdness

And an interview with the designer confirmed that the many typos in the 1.0 rules PDF were an artifact of the digital layout and weren't going to be in the rulebook (which is now already obsolete for rules but that was going to be known from the start)

[twin mountain]

oh that's nice

[halcyon grotto]

do folks in here play conquest? big sale on em at the LGS and I'm tempted.

[trail fulcrum]

Yes

Is weirrrd

[halcyon grotto]

Elaborate! I’m interested

I know they shake up internal balance a lot.

Hankering for a fantasy game though, with my state’s AoS scene collapsing and the old world scene being 5 chuds who refuse to teach

[twin mountain]

Warcrow seems to be picking up a ton of steam

[halcyon grotto]

I don’t want a skirmish game I need a phalanx of shitmen

[twin mountain]

Is warcrow a skirmish game? It has squads of units and stuff

Isn't it exactly the same scale as aos?

[weary cradle]

warcrow describes itself as skirmish at the very least

[twin mountain]

I guess I'm not sure what that means

It's not a game where you're activating individual models, it's got piles of identical guys who have to maintain coherency and when you do damage they lose models

[weary cradle]

it does seem to be only the website & reviews calling it that, where the book itself just calls it a miniatures game

[twin mountain]

Semantics aside I thought warcrow was exactly designed to try and eat aos's market share

[supple shale]

I think this is the result of incurious observers reading it as « fantasy Infinity »

[twin mountain]

Like you do have phalanxes of shitmen in warcrow

Those bulwark guys from the human faction come to mind

[hollow crypt]

I think this is just semantics because I’ve heard people call 40k a skirmish game

[twin mountain]

Fair enough haha

[sand cloak]

who the heck is calling 40K a skrimish game????

Are they getting confused with KT???????

[hollow crypt]

Skirmish is when not rank and flank

[tepid steeple]

It is a skirmish if by skirmish you mean subcompany vs subcompany

But thats not what skirmish generally means in tabletop gaming

Uhhh but no warcrow is not really aos sized

Units of 4 is like, much more limited than units of 10-20

But aos' spearhead mode is more similar

I think in general though thats kinda true across the board? Like star wars legion isnt the same scale as 40k either, heck even older 40k isnt the same as 40k. Getting people to routinely do that many 28mm minis requires the gw market share

So its kinda immaterial

But yeah warcrow will not give you phalanxes of spearmen. I love the guisarmiers but its like a town guard patrol not a company haha

Like a named character strolls into the barracks and grabs a couple people from a few units and her friends. Thats a warcrow company

[sudden halo]

Im one of those weirdos that calls 40k a skirmish game. Youre using 28mm minis that each represent 1 guy, and playing less than a company.

Smaller than that are more gang or warband level games.

Warcrow is a much smaller game than AoS. You do activate little squads, but they're usually 3-4 minis instead of 5-10.

Interestingly they fight as a whole unit instead of individually (like in most warhammers), which makes it way quicker to resolve what they're doing.

[halcyon grotto]

Its entirely true on traditional definitions in wargames but its not practical as a definition for modern 40k is what it boils out to for me

[sudden halo]

Conquest seems super weird. It's got rank and flank gameplay but it's like 45mm minis so you still only get like 5 pikemen or w/e. I haven't played the game but just looking at it gives me ludonarrative dissonance.

[halcyon grotto]

Yeah, that part felt odd even as its what I’m looking at—I may see abt palm slamming a buncha 50% off Old World to try and start a non-chud scene, genuinely what I want is rank and flank fantasy and getting to paint a buncha livery n little soldiers and coats of arms

Hundred Kingdoms & Old Dominion look very cool for that but. The scale seems weird and I see weird deck building stuff going on so I was hoping anybody here had insight lol

[sudden halo]

If you truly want a phalanx of shitmen, my rec is to see if anyone in your area plays Warmaster.

It's surprisingly active for a out of support game, with a solid community rules committee and tons of manufacturers making either stls or minis intended for the game. Wargames Atlantic just started a "classic fantasy battles" range intended to be based exactly like Warmaster.

[halcyon grotto]

🤔 🤔 🤔

[sand cloak]

The children yearn for LOTR scale battles

[tepid steeple]

Ive thought abt printing some tiny dudes (i think I was actually gonna do a test of some when I found out my printer borked) cause some ppl wanted to play hobgoblin but I should check out warmasterr

[sudden halo]

they got rules for actual LotR battles too

[sand cloak]

Oh my god

https://tenor.com/view/friends-friendstv-friends-tv-tv-friends-tvfriends-gif-5430543240624930924

[sudden halo]

interesting how I've only heard people talk about Hobgoblin as a small scale miniatures game, but the rulebook itself says its a 28mm game (intended to be played with your old WHFB collection)

it does seem like it would work better at 10mm

[tepid steeple]

Yeah haha

[twin mountain]

hmmmmmmmmmmm. thinking of rank and flank stuff I like... is the fantasy theme and/or diorama nature of the game important to you? 👀

because I really really like battalion: war of the ancients

[compact leaf]

Warcrow occupies a space right between being a skirmish game and a full-size rank and flank

I do think it holds a degree more of skirmish game DNA than the latter though

But it's really its own thing

Oh speaking of-

I have a tournament for that tomorrow

[halcyon grotto]

Lemme look at this

[twin mountain]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vT__9Cjj1aw

you move around little legions of rectangular tokens

and I found it really cool. I do wish it had more armies and stuff

[halcyon grotto]

Its a little funny because while I’m definitely a Gamer ass wargamer, I have been inoculated fully into competitive tourney circuit 10th ed 40k because somehow Bozeman Montana has like, 8 of the top 100 worldwide and our scene is absolutely rippin

I have no interest in the pure boardgame wargames??? I want hobby I want hundreds of personalized little dudes.

[twin mountain]

yeah if you're here for the diorama stuff this is not that

[halcyon grotto]

This thusly makes me real picky

Though this actually looks kinda sick

Oshlet’s been trying to get me on Firelock and I can’t do it for similar reasons

[twin mountain]

can confirm it's pretty sick

I think the action economy with the disorder tokens absolutely fucks

[hollow crypt]

fuck this is so cool how did I miss this

god it looks so clean

[twin mountain]

it's SO clean tron, it REALLY fucks

I strongly recommend it

I've played it with @fast glade a few times - I bought it for her as a gift

it's a tight as hell game

and cause it's all cardboard tokens the clarity and cost efficiency is through the roof

you can get a copy for like... 30 dollars?

https://boardgamegeek.com/market/product/3842544

[hollow crypt]

I mean sadly that is a US only offer but still it's only like 70$ CAD market price. could be worse

[native portal]

I own a copy, it's good

[twin mountain]

oh you're CAD like me! yeah it's not too bad up here either

https://www.ospreypublishing.com/ca/battalion-war-of-the-ancients-9781472861894/ it's 60 cad free shipping from their main site

[fallen rune]

It’s crazy to me how much layout updates randomly fuck up everything in a rulebook

I remember when Lancer changed layouts and accidentally turned off friendly fire and broke the Minotaur

[sudden halo]

any game can be a miniatures game if you want it to and are willing to put in the effort!

the reverse is only somewhat true, true line of sight probably needs at least standees

but still, plenty of minis games that don't actually need them

the one that stands out the most being Battletech, the minis are truly just there for the fun of having them

[compact leaf]

Battletech basically always having had the paper cutouts is so based tbh

[twin mountain]

obsidian protocol is grid based too - every grid based wargame is like this

[sudden halo]

its alwasy been a "as long as you can tell what's the front, you're good"

[twin mountain]

and that's also why most board games have like, optional minis for the deluxe edition or you could not be tacky and get the normal version instead

aristeia, ankh, etc

like I love godtear and it's all just standees as far as I'm concerned

or tokens

the tts mod uses tokens

so clean

[sudden halo]

the tokens from the japanese edition battletech are my favorites, being fresh Studio Nue designs. Since they couldn't re-use the Macross designs in Japan, they just commissioned the original designers to re-design them and they're sick

i like my premium minis for board games but so many get out of hand.

very few are pushing Kingdom Death-style atmospheric diorama quality stuff, most are like generic soft plastic mush, like most CMON games

[toxic patrol]

honestly don't understand why CB decided to rename Aristeia to Hexadome Tactics for 2nd edition

also the minis for that aren't optional, are they?

[sudden halo]

i still haven't played OP, I grabbed one of the starters since its picking up in the local area and the mechs can do double duty in Mobile Arms.

I'm curious about the free-measure variant so i can re-use all my other minis stuff, but i doubt itll play anywhere near as tightly as the grid one

[hollow crypt]

I mean technically I'm pounds right now but typically yes

[twin mountain]

it's simply very hard to remember the name aristeia if you're not spanish

SEO stuff

[sudden halo]

there's no silhouettes or effects that require a third dimension on the unit, so you can just use counters. that said every version does have minis, just very basic soft plastic ones unless you bought the premium one

[twin mountain]

all los is based on hexagon corner line drawing stuff like descent

the minis are entirely for visual fun

[sudden halo]

Hexadome Tactics doesn't have the same flare but is a lot more descriptive as far as what you're getting into

[twin mountain]

like, it's one of those games where even the rulebook uses tokens to describe game systems cause why not

[toxic patrol]

arguably better SEO than Infinity lol, but I guess that makes sense

[twin mountain]

easily yes.

infinity is a terrible name

terrible enough a lot of people call it corvus belli infinity

for obvious reasons

[hollow crypt]

corvus belli would be a great name

[twin mountain]

actually this does remind me

@fast glade do you have any interest in trying ankh with me? it's widely considered the best bloodrage lineage game and also an excellent 2 player game

[toxic patrol]

yeah they should use it in one of their games

[twin mountain]

like, 2 player is where it's best at

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vFk4YkGH_k

[toxic patrol]

maybe a fantasy one in between skirmish and full scale

[twin mountain]

https://cf.geekdo-images.com/xt6j27VMM48Ju18ItAqV6A__imagepage/img/sTcAOq0CNzsW-yLRhdshunjG8hk=/fit-in/900x600/filters:no_upscale():strip_icc()/pic6277161.jpg

2 player hex driven dominions thing

two pretenders duking it out

[fast glade]

Hmmm, I think you've mentioned it before

[twin mountain]

yeah

https://images.steamusercontent.com/ugc/1001431526962892232/87A6E92C38BBA04666D320DE012E23E9650A437E/?imw=5000&imh=5000&ima=fit&impolicy=Letterbox&imcolor=%23000000&letterbox=false

[fast glade]

I'm tentatively willing to try it, if we can find the time

[twin mountain]

it's on tts etc etc

excellent

I would love excuses to do horrible wizard and or scrungly fantasy shit with you

[fast glade]

Usual disclaimer that learning new board games often requires spoons so if I'm exhausted etc etc

[twin mountain]

and this is one of those "I play a plague of locusts, paying 5 of my followers as blood sacrifices" kinda games

yeah understood

okay, i'll research it a bit for next week maybe

[fast glade]

<3 sure

[stable pelican]

ooughhhh ankh my beloved

ra is fun to play

[signal birch]

where upper Egypt? 😛
(after some reading: small parts of upper Egypt may be in that map)

[trail fulcrum]

Okay so like its a game thst uses set blpcks of rank and flank

But the models are so big the units feel spacey

Well dont feel loke blocks

[trail fulcrum]

Suffering fact GW calls a long rectangle of a marching column a phlanx

Ahaaa

[halcyon grotto]

Lmao

[native portal]

It's pretty common for company games to be represented by Big Minis

I personally hate it but it makes making lists very easy

[tawny sandal]

Yeah, at least make it look like there’s a reasonable amount of tiny dudes rather than one big dude

[native portal]

6 models to a base or 3 cavalry means making armies is cheap as shit

[tawny sandal]

I don’t care for anything that does “one figure represents one platoon” or whatever

[native portal]

I much prefer smaller scales but also I hate painting, so I guess pick your evil

[tawny sandal]

Do it in 6 or 10mm you coward

[native portal]

100s of small guys who don't have detail or 25 big guys who you can see look like shit

[tawny sandal]

(That way no one gets mad if you don’t paint the collar tabs)

[native portal]

Lmao

[tawny sandal]

To be clear, calling the game a coward

[ocean holly]

Incorrect

3mm

[native portal]

Most ancients games are variable scale because they go on base size

[tawny sandal]

Also acceptable but getting very itty bitty

[native portal]

3mm is great for big armour battles

But 6mm is fine

[tawny sandal]

Yeah that makes sense

[tawny sandal]

Mother duck 😌

[native portal]

3mm vs 6

[ocean holly]

I am a tank guy, which is why I like 3mm, lol

[tawny sandal]

I’m a bit more of an infantry with tanks guys in what I’d like to play, so I guess 6mm might be a bit more my thing

[native portal]

I find at 3mm you have to start doing like, platoon basing or basing info

[tawny sandal]

But I’ve also only actually played one game at the more company-ish scale

[ocean holly]

My miniless minis game would probably be 3mm ish in vibe

[tawny sandal]

Yeah I’d prefer stuff where you still have a squad as the smallest unit

[native portal]

Like, units become genuinely hard to tell apart

[sudden halo]

Small scales are easier to paint in my experience. A wash does so much extra work.

[tawny sandal]

Like, infantry as groups but with individual tanks

[ocean holly]

I'm doing platoon units

[native portal]

Yeah same but I ran out of steam after doing my romans

So I have a 5 year pile of unpainted gauls

[sudden halo]

I've been working on samurai in between other things.

[ocean holly]

But that's because it helps fulfill a Very Specific Vibe

[tawny sandal]

Also, anyone have a recommendation for a game at this scale? I think Fistful of TOWs can be played at this scale?

[native portal]

Oh my god those are incredible!

[sudden halo]

Yeah, when you look at the ground scale in something like Squad Leader it's pretty close to 3mm.

[native portal]

They're so neat!

Mine are all blotchy

[tawny sandal]

Like the colorful armor, fun and historically accurate

[native portal]

Fistful of tows has some variant rules for playing 1:1 scale

[ocean holly]

ASL

/hj

[native portal]

But it's mostly the same game

[tawny sandal]

Yeah, I knew that about it

[sudden halo]

Fistful of TOWs is usually representative, 1 tank or base of infantry represents a platoon, but it has very simple conversion rules to play 1:1 scale w/ the minis

[tawny sandal]

ASL?

[sudden halo]

I haven't tried it yet, it seems very good.

[native portal]

I run a vassal module for it

[sudden halo]

Advanced Squad Leader I assume

[tawny sandal]

Is FoT a IGYG or alternating game?

[ocean holly]

Correct

[native portal]

igyg

[tawny sandal]

Hmm, I kinda have drifted toward preferring alternating or at least IGYG with robust interrupt/reactions these days

I can’t remember if I heard FoT having reactions or not

[native portal]

it does

[tawny sandal]

Oh nice

[native portal]

it has overwatch and such

[ocean holly]

ASL has reactions, lol

[native portal]

I feel like it wouldn't be too hard to do a more interesting initiative system for FFoT tbh

I've thought about it

[sudden halo]

the last time i played ASL i was about 11 years old but i remember it being quite fun if extremely susceptable to having stacks of counters knocked over

[tawny sandal]

Yeah, it is unfortunate how long it takes older-style wargames to try new stuff sometimes

[native portal]

FFoT is obsessed with going fast

[tawny sandal]

Like, fast turns?

[native portal]

It's 'attacker does everything', 'defender does everything'

yeah

they suggest timing your turns

they give you 10 seconds to pick an airstrike corridor

[tawny sandal]

Also, I’m pretty sure you were the one to tell me about their optional paradrop rules, which are absolutely hilarious

[native portal]

yes lmao

'drop paper on the board'

'use a fan if it's windy'

[tawny sandal]

Like, not exactly an unrealistic way of determining it!

[ocean holly]

I like "drop the actual mini" rules

[native portal]

something more games should have

[tawny sandal]

I should probably pick up FFoT sometime

I’d assume there is a good amount of STL files for that scale out there?

Also I forget, it’s 6mm yeah?

[native portal]

It's scale variable

[sudden halo]

yeah, infantry can be a little tricky but vehicles are everywhere.

[native portal]

again

[tawny sandal]

Ah, right

[native portal]

I have a digital copy if you want to glance at it

[ocean holly]

Now I want to play TWW

[native portal]

I am....faiiiirly sure at least one of the devs is a right wing trump guy now

not that I kept track

[tawny sandal]

Such is the industry at times, unfortunately

Anyhow it’s not like I have a group to play with right now, but it’s fun to window shop for new interesting systems to look at

[ocean holly]

Ain't that a mood

I should work on my system, tbh

Gotten to the point I need to kitbash a couple starting companies

[tawny sandal]

But I would like to find something that can do sorta company or one step higher stuff

[ocean holly]

Waves

[native portal]

Yeah I like company scale games or company+

[ocean holly]

I'm designing a batallon scale systwm

[trail fulcrum]

The exiled prince tilean rules say you can just do that

[tawny sandal]

If anyone has any recommendations on neat modern or more historical stuff let me know, I’m always open to hearing about cool historical wargames

[trail fulcrum]

So like it says you just run 4 x 6 column and GW calls it a phlanx

I'm very annoyed because they already had a lance formation right thetr

[tawny sandal]

I can’t say why exactly other than it’s in that realm where there’s a lot going on, but not so high level that it makes modern combat feel like ancient combat where you’re just pushing two blocks of units together

[ocean holly]

-# ASL

[tawny sandal]

I’m less interested in grid stuff just as a personal bias

[ocean holly]

With optional divisional and army level rules

[ocean holly]

ASal is kinda grid

Bypass movement, my beloved

[tawny sandal]

This isn’t to say ancients are bad, it’s just that it’s not what I’m looking to play when playing a more modern system

[trail fulcrum]

Diorama game thsts also a grid

[ocean holly]

Flashpoint

[trail fulcrum]

I've taken to calling GW games diorama games hahaha

[tawny sandal]

Eh, I think that name glosses over some of the interesting stuff you get from line of sight stuff

[supple shale]

Never missing an opportunity to shill for No End in Sight

[tawny sandal]

Feels a little dismissive to my taste

[tawny sandal]

Is that the Vietnam one?

[supple shale]

Not necessarily but that’s like the … default? as presented by the book

It’s highly functional for WWII through ultramodern imho

[trail fulcrum]

40k no longer reallt does that?

[sudden halo]

To me, 40k proper and and the mainline GW games tend to be "diorama games" in that the point is less to be a good game and more to sell minis and show them off

[trail fulcrum]

Like LOS is now mostly like 2d

[tawny sandal]

To be fair I’ve been out since 8th and have Issues with how 10th is

[sudden halo]

but there's plenty of interesting things to be had with full 3d and true line of sight

[tawny sandal]

Yeah that’s more what I mean

[sudden halo]

like infinity really relies on that stuff and is a favorite of mine

[tawny sandal]

I will not pretend GW stuff is about anything other than models first and foremost

[supple shale]

NEiS (awful acronym, first time using) fucks hard because it really comes to grips with two Ideas that resonate with me:

[tawny sandal]

So, perhaps it is kinda fair to say that specificity about GW stuff

[supple shale]

1.) Nobody wants to do Anything when under small arms fire but it rarely kills on its own

2.) small unit actions are really about the psychological stamina of small unit leaders

[tawny sandal]

Heavy focus on pinning and then smacking with artillery then?

[supple shale]

Pin and apply crew served weapons, pin and assault, pin and call for fire

[tawny sandal]

Neat, what scale?

[supple shale]

Written for individually based 15mm but flexible in that department

[tawny sandal]

Seeing it billing itself as platoon, so probably a bit bigger?

Ooh, nice I already have my 15mm Down Range hotdog men

So that makes it an extra interesting thing for me

[supple shale]

I think 15mm is g*d’s own scale and there is so much cool Cold War Shit available so I’m happy as a big time Toy Soldiers Enjoyer

[ocean holly]

I like 28, sue me

[tawny sandal]

I’ll have to take a look at this more deeply then

[ocean holly]

28 good for Dudes
15 for Tonk

[tawny sandal]

I kinda am wavering on 28mm, just because it’s very nice looking models these days, but also limits the feasible scale a lot

[supple shale]

It is simply the best modern small unit game I’ve found and I’ve been looking for Years for a system to scratch that itch

[tawny sandal]

And yeah I’m a bit more interested in doing mechanized infantry stuff

[ocean holly]

Tbh, only reason I like 28 is Legion

Those minis are a joy to build

[tawny sandal]

I’ll definitely give it a closer look, you have any videos of people playing it to get an idea of how it works in practice?

[supple shale]

Love me a good 28mm Yr Dudes game, it’s exactly the right size for a toy soldier that’s fun to build and paint

[tawny sandal]

Yeah, it’s a perfect small skirmish scale

[supple shale]

Heavy Gear based as hell for giving us 1:144 mecha that are the same size as a 28mm Guy

[tepid steeple]

I dont think diorama necessarily implies not caring about mechanics

[supple shale]

Sure but it can speak to priorities

[tepid steeple]

Like i think it could be used that way as pejorative, yes, but I think theres space for it as a term that doesnt imply exclusivity or that its a discrete type of game

[supple shale]

I’m definitely a diorama enjoyer because I will not compromise on the toy soldiers

[ocean holly]

28/15/6/3
Are good sizes for
Plt/Coy/Btn/Div level games, I feel

[supple shale]

Actually no! Or not off the dome. Maybe somebody’s got BRs on the tube

[ocean holly]

Now I'm looking out for a 50mm squad level game

[tawny sandal]

Yeah I was gonna look but wanted to ask in case you had any you knew of and liked

[supple shale]

Alas: none such

[fallen rune]

Inquisitor

[tawny sandal]

That’s the issue with being into semi-niche or fully niche historical games

[supple shale]

Many such cases!

[fallen rune]

Squad level and 54mm

[ocean holly]

The progression is complete

[tawny sandal]

Beautiful models, also crazy how well they have been able to get the details set by those models onto modern 28mm models with their improved plastic and modeling tech

[ocean holly]

Yeah

Modern 28mm is honestly works of art

[tepid steeple]

Some of my locals were playing a card/mini game that had pretty big models

I dont remember what it was called tho lol

Was an early adoption at uk ganes expo

[ocean holly]

Ugggh, I need to work on my gaaaaame

[tepid steeple]

Malediction

Has some very cool terrain (stls) of like an impaled giant corpse

[sudden halo]

im typically 1 level smaller than that, starting at 28mm for squad

my rpg group played twilight 2000 with 15mm minis and it was very cool

[supple shale]

A whole ass platoon is a lot of guys and a lot of space for 28mm

[tawny sandal]

I think you’re missing including 10mm in there

And yeah I’d say platoon is possible but unwieldy at 28mm

[supple shale]

Always dreamed of a Twilight 2000 campaign that would flip into [wargame of choice] when necessary for the Big Shitshow

[sudden halo]

i like 10mm better than 15mm for most modern stuff with vehicles. 15mm vehicles are pretty large

see Team Yankee's parking lot effect

[ocean holly]

40k is Platoon, no?

[tawny sandal]

Yeah and it’s a bit unwieldy lol

[tepid steeple]

Platoonish

And incredibly cramped at this point

[supple shale]

Team Yankee parking lots my most hated

[ocean holly]

Just get a bigger table

[tepid steeple]

Doesnt help that they shrunk the table pfff

[tawny sandal]

Funnily enough they made the table smaller in 10 as I recall

[sudden halo]

i have heard that just playing team yankee as is but with 6mm minis instead of 15mm is a good game

[tepid steeple]

In 9th

[sudden halo]

but i haven't played it

[tepid steeple]

Theres some ppl at my lgs who play team yankee and I just like looking at the swedish armour hehe

[ocean holly]

I just enjoy Aussie is a viable faction

[tepid steeple]

But yeah i can see it being an issue

[tawny sandal]

The vicious Swedish wedge

[supple shale]

BF 1:100 tanks are fuckin sweet models though

[fallen rune]

I do not care for the smaller table

[sudden halo]

Sadly you have to buy Team Yankee stuff in platoons which made it super overkill for the T2k stuff

[tepid steeple]

Its like

[supple shale]

Plenty of « here’s one tank » sellers on eBay though

[tawny sandal]

That wedge got the suspension to ride with all the low rider boys

[native portal]

I also have a copy of no end in sight lmao

[supple shale]

Plus tons of great 1:100 Cold War ranges out there, some of them offering even better tiny tanks than BF

[tepid steeple]

Its weird cause basically everything that makes 10e an interesting game is it has fully lent into the board having zero space

[supple shale]

Skytrex my beloved

Khurasan my beloved (awful infantry there though)

[tepid steeple]

Like army identity is how much stuff you have starting up the board to block movement

[sudden halo]

also super easy to print at 1:100

[tawny sandal]

That’s probably fair, but infantry starts getting difficult to handle individually at that scale, so it’s a trade off

[tepid steeple]

Anyway sorry for 40kposting when I could be wedgeposting

[sudden halo]

im loosely prepping to run t2k again but with Heavy Gear sized mechs

[tawny sandal]

But also it’d be interesting to do 10mm where the smallest unit size is a fireteam

[native portal]

I really wanna play wargames now ;_;

[ocean holly]

Saaame

[native portal]

Damned virtual only situation

[tawny sandal]

Same, I’ve not been able to for a while now due to Life Stuff

[ocean holly]

Idea

[sudden halo]

i based my 6mm scifi infantry on pennies to be used that way in a game i designed with a friend (that has since been abandoned)

[ocean holly]

Pnet monthly Niche Wargame Night

[sudden halo]

doign it in the same setting jsut with MuvLuv style Mechs with normal equipment names

[tawny sandal]

Gonna mention Down Range, which as a game currently needs work, but is one I’m keeping an eye on to see where it goes

[native portal]

That reminds me I have a ton of 15mm ww2 stuff in a closet somewhere

[tawny sandal]

But will definitely recommend the lil hotdog men infantry models the creator has made for free, and the neat vehicles

[tepid steeple]

Oh downrange is sausage game

[tawny sandal]

Yep!

[tepid steeple]

I havent played anything for like a week longer than usual because we adopted a cat a few days ago

[tawny sandal]

The rules themselves are kinda ehh currently since it seems unsure where it’s trying to go with it right now based on the additions made to it (and also various copy editing and rules clarity problems), but I’m still keeping an eye on it

[native portal]

The last proper tourney/game series I played in was an extremely funny Early War flames of war round robin

[tawny sandal]

Do tell

[native portal]

Just bizarre list variety

I played like, dug in french fortified company iirc

Someone took like 18 polish armored cars

Someone else was finland iirc?

[ocean holly]

Id be the "ATR gunline" dude

[native portal]

I lost this game narrowly

[sudden halo]

i need to figure out vassal

[native portal]

just couldn't get out to to that objective

[native portal]

I maintain(ed) a few modules for games on it

built and maintained I guess

no automation tho

[ocean holly]

Vassal is great for H&C games

[tepid steeple]

Has anyone played armoured clash/dystopian wars?

[native portal]

sadly no

also huge shoutout to whoever drew top down sprites on Juniorsoldier

which I used for so many games and modules

some dude showed up and drew like one sprite for my discord and I'm sad at how bomb it could look

What we have

What we could have had with an artist

[tepid steeple]

Oooh

Rip

[native portal]

https://wargamingvassal.wordpress.com/

5 year old website for random vassal modules i done

[tawny sandal]

Okay I will give online games credit for how easy it is to make lil battle breakdowns (I forget the actual word for it)

But that’s cool to see the progress of the whole thing with maneuver lines and such

[sudden halo]

there's a guy called Pulpscape on Patreon that does a lot of top down art like this for T2k and other Free League modern RPGs, might be really useful for Fistful of TOWs or something.

they're not pixel art, so they're a little different, but they're still really nice

[native portal]

I'll check it out, but I try and keep the art for each module consistant...and I haven't made anything in a while

I love checking out top down art tho

[native portal]

Yeah I like making little battle reports

Vassal has a zoom based screenshot function that makes it very easy

[twin mountain]

if you could teach me vassal someday

i'd love that

because it terrifies me

[native portal]

the hard part I can't do

which is the coding, which is just I think javascript?

the rest is fairly simple

although I'm had a hell of a time getting the custom dice thing they just did to work and I gave up

you can also edit people's modules and see exactly how they made stuff

[compact leaf]

The tournament is over...

I came in second!
My first game lost due to a couple bad rolls at crucial moments, but other than that we learned and got better with our new list as the game went on

[twin mountain]

oh fuck yeah!!

[compact leaf]

Here's the list-

The thesis is basically: "nothing will die"

And nothing did!

[tepid steeple]

Niceee

Commander and foot knights

[compact leaf]

Verena was ultimately the thing I dumped the most activations into

She could rest after nearly every activation she did, it was awesome

Obliterated so many guys

[compact leaf]

I also found out you can do real horde lists in this game

[tepid steeple]

Yeah theres some quite cheap units

But yeah commander and verena is scary 👀

[compact leaf]

I did have one opponent that just gave me a look of disappointment when I spent 4/5 turns of a round activating her and picking off characters 😅

[tepid steeple]

Oh it doesnt even cost anything

Ouchy

I think her range is part of it

Like thats how she can kill yew n stuff

[compact leaf]

Mhm mhm

And then Mace escorts to keep them safe

That's why we called it panic room :3

There is a 250 pt version called command bunker that makes it a little stronger

[tepid steeple]

I guess the main thing is the formation needs to stay pretty clumped up

[compact leaf]

At least until it's not under threat anymore, yeah

It is very hard to move once you've gotten it up the board though so like

It's worth committing to I think

[tepid steeple]

Ye :3

[toxic patrol]

Anyone heard of Eldfall Chronicles before?

[sand cloak]

Yes

They have some of their minatures get boxed in with AP's starter sets.

[toxic patrol]

huh

interesting choice

[sand cloak]

Yeah

I want to buy them but they're expensive ontop of any shipping/customs fees.

especially in this economy

[toxic patrol]

Yeah been looking at it for a while but shipping costs + euro conversion rates are rough

[sand cloak]

Yeah

[tepid steeple]

@echo marten

Bnnuy

[toxic patrol]

Those models look cool but CB has already traumatized me before with their sculpts that only have one foot touching the ground lol

[compact leaf]

They've gotten a lot better about giving them more surface area, or a really solid peg to stick into a hole

Oh here's the rest..

[tepid steeple]

Yeah sorry I just wanted to show ikiryo the new aleph models haha

[toxic patrol]

Aleph is the best faction so understandable even if steel phalanx is stinky

[compact leaf]

And he has an extra arm

Also elf kitty

[tepid steeple]

The kittys is so cool

[tepid steeple]

Do we know what the combined are? Feuerbach guy looks awesome

[compact leaf]

Teucer (Feurbach guy), Patroclus, Contrabandolero KHD

[tepid steeple]

The big teuce

Perfect aro pose tbh

[compact leaf]

His Feurbach got smaller if you'd believe it

[tepid steeple]

Haha true

[compact leaf]

It's not even the neurocinetics plasma sniper sculpt

[supple shale]

That’s the ultimate tactical rock, holy shit

Tactical HR Giger blobs

[tepid steeple]

Feel like a cherry blossom theme would be fun

As wargamers are wont to do

[tepid steeple]

Ngl I only just now realised that he doesnt have the feuerbach in neuro mode

[compact leaf]

Nope
That's his FTO profile

[toxic patrol]

The WC3 Night Elf agenda continues

just have to actually paint the rest of my syennan lol

[compact leaf]

Boop

[tepid steeple]

Not that he ever has had neurocinetic feuerbach I just hear teucer and think feuerbach

[compact leaf]

Mhm

That's been his thing

[tepid steeple]

I got warcrow adventures for my partner for christmas

Bonus husks and intacts and anointed for first anointed and puppeteer etc etc

[tepid steeple]

Oh I love them

Jump over a building into combat

Disarms u :3

Dont even need to be over a building but yknow. Fun

Thats a huge range too

Like having the silly charge of wingdudes but also you can use it and then move if you need to

Oh and theyre trees cool

[compact leaf]

I think they're built to just teleport/charge out of forests and then promptly leave before something can hurt them

[tepid steeple]

Mm

[compact leaf]

They really hate trying to pry open a Feudom command bunker though

But like
Everything does

So it's okay

[tepid steeple]

That stress modifier is really good

[compact leaf]

Mhm

Especially on defense

Channelling that orc energy

[tepid steeple]

But its also kinda saying they lose powerpretty hard when theyre at their limit

Which is perfect for a unit that wants to hit and run

Less wound than other cavalry though

And avb 1

Oh only wargs are avb 2

Fair

Course the wounds is less of an issue when the elf high command is around

[compact leaf]

It's so annoying..

[tepid steeple]

Hehe

[sudden halo]

That man is holding an angle fr

[twin mountain]

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2180040/Legacys_Allure/ hmmmmmmmmmmmm

Steam

Legacy's Allure

Welcome to the digital client of the acclaimed tabletop board game, Legacy's Allure. Legacy's Allure is a customizable, card-based wargame with no randomness. Imagine chess but with customization, deeper mechanics, and a high-fantasy theme. Legacy's Allure has been called a "streamlined wargame" due to its elegance and accessibility.

This di…

[hollow crypt]

Is this a known factor? It looks sorta neat without looking too closely

[twin mountain]

yeah it's actually season 2 of an irl game

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/356629/legacys-allure

LA is interesting to me in that it's another chess-style card driven quantized space wargame

y'know. ashley shit.

except...

[hollow crypt]

Why is the irl game worthy of a hmmmmmmmmmmmmm?

[twin mountain]

it's so dripless?

sweats

it's just like. the most deliberately forgettable fantasy slop I dunno '^u^

[hollow crypt]

There’s worse sins

[twin mountain]

yeah absolutely

https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/2909274/chess-with-cards-shelfside-review

[hollow crypt]

There is something I find oddly compelling about super super generic stuff though, personally

[twin mountain]

I totally get that

as I understand LA isn't a failure at all

[hollow crypt]

Oh wait it’s warcraft generic, that’s a little less appealing

Still

[twin mountain]

and honestly I'd be into trying it

https://boardgamegeek.com/image/6988800

I wouldn't mind trying this with you

especially now that the online client is out

[hollow crypt]

Okay that unit is called grand wizard

[twin mountain]

like, that alone makes me like it 10x more

it's a game trying to not nickel and dime people with rarity stuff

it's another ecg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6gB9z1k7YM

[hollow crypt]

I would be down to try this, yeah

[distant roost]

I like their monetization for the client, which is "c'mon in and if you like it there's factions you can pay for"

[sudden halo]

Im with you on both counts. Sometimes it's really compelling to have something well executed that isn't trying to sell some type of setting or aesthetic gimmick.

But also warcraft generic is extra boring.

[twin mountain]

yeah it's interesting for sure

we're talking about it more in #card-gaming

[smoky shadow]

I worked on Legacy's Allure! Thanks for taking a look at my friend's game, y'all.

[twin mountain]

It looks hella cool, gonna be trying it out today

[next pilot]

Only two factions?

[twin mountain]

3 to start with

[next pilot]

What’s the third?

[twin mountain]

elves

[next pilot]

Demons or undead would probably be the fourth then

If they add another

[next pilot]

Looking at the factions it is very Warcraft

And a bit of mtg color pie stuff

[distant roost]

I've been tooling around after the tutorial with the puzzles and there's some pretty big brain activation order shenanigans going on with forced movement and immunity to it

[twin mountain]

Yesss

[next pilot]

More time to check it out now my plane landed (visiting family), looks very interesting

[potent wyvern]

https://youtu.be/QHwVFNMZrDs?si=-ImfPwCGfW_o_rCw

[sand cloak]

But what if I want to be scrappy?

Emulate those old days of Xerox copies?

[autumn sun]

https://www.amazon.com/Renegade-Game-Studios-Heroscape-Wellspring/dp/B0CW7JCYQF Starter box is $25 with a coupon

[crude lodge]

its meant to be printed right?

[crisp edge]

yes

[crude lodge]

I assume A4

[crisp edge]

there is evil in my heart and also both me and the game are from america so it's formatted to print on 8.5x11, but it's just a pdf so it's probably fine? idk i literally never work with european paper sizes

[tawny sandal]

What’s the elevator pitch of your game?

[crisp edge]

mysterious alien invaders that play themselves vs a militarized version of the 1970s imagination of what the 1990s space landscape would look like

[tawny sandal]

Oh, huh, single player?

[crisp edge]

yes

[tawny sandal]

Also, man does Space Corps sound so much better than Space Force

[crisp edge]

it has a big pile of square unit chits to cut out and move around on a map

[ocean holly]

https://store.steampowered.com/app/3856030/Bolt_Action/

Steam

Bolt Action

The Battlefield Comes Alive
Bolt Action adapts the award-winning Warlord Games tabletop ruleset into a stunning, demanding digital theatre of war, where the difference between victory and rout is a single, calculated decision.

WWII Tactical Combat
Players wage war from the beaches of Normandy to the brutal, fortified hedgerows of Northern Fran…

Release Date

To be announced

@tawny sandal

[tawny sandal]

Yeah, I heard about this, interested to see how it turns out

[ocean holly]

Samesies

I'm teetering on taking the BA plunge, want to actually play a match first, lol

[tawny sandal]

Yeah I enjoyed what I played in demo games enough to get a platoon or so of Soviets and then promptly went to college and haven’t had the time or ability to play tabletop stuff since lmao

[ocean holly]

Lol

I wish I could play demo matches

[tawny sandal]

It’s weird how often I’ve got into stuff via demos and then never been able to play it since, same thing happened with Dropfleet Commander for me

[ocean holly]

My only two LGS stores are neck deep in warhammer

[tawny sandal]

Most are, sadly for those of us interested in other stuff

Nothing against those who like it other than c’mon guys try some other neat stuff with us

[tawny sandal]

Ooh, some new models came out for Down Range, notably some more Canadian units, a sniper, some JSDF models, and most interestingly a set of modular buildings

While I’m a bit disappointed in how the game itself is in its current state (could use some stuff to streamline stuff, notably an explicit system to group stuff into units or fireteams, and overall more clarity in general) I quite enjoy the miniatures and you can’t beat $Free.99 for a price

Some people might not find the hotdog men as adorable as I do, but even then the vehicles are quite nice in a somewhat exaggerated but still pretty detailed looking way

Since the vehicles in particular are meant to assist in IFF recognition for Marines, so they aren’t rivet counter level detailed but have all of the notable features and unique details of the various vehicles

[tough talon]

Saw that and then went down into the konflict 47 rabbit hole, hope that gets a digital version as well eventually

Very tempted to buy a starter army now that the new edition just came out as well

[tough talon]

America gets more traditional mechs but im a sucker for scorpian ones Japan have

[sand cloak]

_>

Hello Kitbashing for Tau and Guard!!!!

https://tenor.com/view/i-like-those-ella-payne-house-of-payne-i-like-that-i-like-it-gif-24644344

https://tenor.com/view/fast-and-furious-ff-brian-i-want-them-all-all-gif-16449467866234768688

[tough talon]

Talk about a easy conversion for elysian drop troopers if you need them

And the Japanese troops I swear they almost got lifted out of battalion wars

[ocean holly]

I am tempted by K47

Especially given it's cross compatible

[tawny sandal]

Yeah it’s not too much of an extra dive, since you could (technically) just play a totally normal army in it (though why would you other than as a bit)

[ocean holly]

Why would you not?

It's a bit

[tawny sandal]

That’s fair!

[sand cloak]

I want Bolt action

[sand cloak]

because I definitely know I can do some conversions with the French Infantry sprues

And also epic black powder

I wanna move tiny soldiers around

[ocean holly]

I have purchased the rules for BA

And thinking about a starter

[sand cloak]

Noice

[ocean holly]

Debating which though

[tough talon]

It definitely seems to be leaning more towards a command and conquer level of sensibilities if that's up your alley. Nazis got coupd by evil(er) wizards, America are religious fanatics now that FDR came out of a rift fully healed and claiming to have heard the voice of god, Soviets are well mostly the Soviets but with bears now, UK is going all in on battle droids, and Japan are doing samurai larp their ww2 officers could only dream of

[ocean holly]

I do like that the Commonwealth includes Italy now

[tough talon]

Oh yeah I think they consolidated the factions a bit and Italy can go either axis or commonwealth

[ocean holly]

But, like

That makes Sense

Historically

[tough talon]

Oh yeah im not saying it doesn't just letting you know if you had your mind set on a specific country that got amalgagted into the 5 main factions which is new for this edition

[ocean holly]

Mhm, mhm

[tough talon]

I think Italy was it's own faction last edition for instance

[ocean holly]

AH, yeah

I'm thinking sticking to Bolt Action for now

[tawny sandal]

Again, all you’d technically need to play K47 with a bolt action army is the rulebook

You’d just be the one normal guy platoon amongst all the craziness

“Oh, them? That’s N Platoon, we call ‘em “Normal Platoon” as their call sign”
“Why?”
“Oh, well first because we needed a callsign for the letter, but really it’s because they’re boring, their LT doesn’t go in for all this fancy new supertech, says that ‘stuff from behind a screaming nuclear void can’t be trusted’ and other such nonsense. There’s a reason he’s not been progressing up the promotion track.”

[ocean holly]

Ok, so I played my first game of BA today

Fun little system

[tawny sandal]

Nice!

I will say my favorite thing about it is the initiative system, just with how it makes planning a little difficult, and also how it can be swingy or even by literal luck of the draw

[ocean holly]

Yeah, it's cool

I still prefer Legion, though

[tawny sandal]

Like, in general or for how it does activation?

Since I don’t know how Legion works other than it is a Star Wars game

[ocean holly]

Activations

Gives it so\me fun texture

[tawny sandal]

How does is work in legion?

Also, it’s possible that Bolt Action could have changed the way they do activations between editions, though I’d be surprised if they did

[left moss]

they haven't afaik

always been order dice

[tawny sandal]

Thought it would be, since that’s a pretty notable part of the way it makes itself a little unique

[left moss]

I do like order die and the randomness but getting 4 turns in a row can feel horrid

[tawny sandal]

Yeah but it’s balanced by the dread of knowing your opponent is probably going to get a big swing in their direction later as the die pool becomes more heavily weighted in their direction

[ocean holly]

So

Every unit has an order token, corresponding to role

(Commander, Operative, Corps, Specforces, Support and Heavy)

You simultaneously bid cards, faster cards let you order less

"Ordering" a unit means putting its token faceup beside it

Fastest card goes first

On your turn, either activate a unit with face up tken, or pull blindly from the rest and pick a matching unit

[trail fulcrum]

Or you play droids

And order 90% of your army

[twin mountain]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBSoeDQR6Jw

[solemn steeple]

Considering putting my Silksong war game idea into practice

I want it to be fast-paced with an emphasis on verticality, and without as much focus on "lesser" hero units

Units are either fodder, elite fodder, or named heroes that can take on entire forces by themselves

[solemn steeple]

oh my god I just looked at this. This might just be the coolest fucking thing possibly ever

[twin mountain]

lmao <3 dork

[solemn steeple]

it's not my fault that I've been deathly in love with paleontology since I was three

[twin mountain]

https://64.media.tumblr.com/c121012666878d329962e6bb6857073c/tumblr_inline_phr31ljusF1rx12gf_1280.jpg

[solemn steeple]

poor thing

[tepid steeple]

Small infinity event today ^^ came second out of eight

But my winpath was pretty typical for me and I basically got a bye turn 1 cause my oppponent didnt read the format rules 🙃

The game 2 I dropped was against my friend who I beat in a practice game on tuesday haha

But yeah it was really fun! Annual event of doing 400 points, single combat group. So its just tags and heavy infantry everywhere and every model needs to do like 3 jobs to fit

This was my list :3 had a good time using maggie again

[compact leaf]

Heck yeah, congrats on the placing!

On the topic of infinity

It uh
Turns out playing YJ is suffering

I've really got my work cut out for me here

[tepid steeple]

That bad??

What flavour are you playing?

[compact leaf]

Oh ISS, but YJ in general unfortunately suffers from a lot of bloated costs because some models have a ton of not very useful rules stuck to them

And I'm really feeling it

[tepid steeple]

Oof

[compact leaf]

I think part of it is definitely the learning curve but they also still haven't quite been optimized like (and this is really weird to me) the OOP PanO factions

[tepid steeple]

Mm

[compact leaf]

Poor Crane agent...

They do at least have very solid hacking and my meta doesn't really have a hacking player atm so I'm trying to fill that niche

[tepid steeple]

He feels expensive even for the skills tbh

[compact leaf]

He is

Hsien are kinda the same

Dunno how expensive MSV2 is but the tinbot MMR is more than 40 points which feels.. strange for a basic MMR

I'm secretly hoping they give the expensive HI the Crux treatment so their price at least makes more sense

[tepid steeple]

Bs14 is cool but

Janissaries are bs 14 and have a vis mod and are way cheaper

Like its not msv2 but still

I think adil is quite good? And much more functional at the same price which is wild

[compact leaf]

Adil is the only one who's price doesn't make sense in the opposite direction XD

I'm certain he's getting a discount, but like.. most of hit kit is pretty situational so I think he's costed pretty well

Just don't compare him to base Cranes

It makes you sad

[compact leaf]

Yeaah...

Hsien are good in a vacuum, but just comparing them to any other elite HI shows their obvious inefficiencies

[tepid steeple]

Trying to think about stuff in Iss lists Ive played into haha

My friend quite likes sun tze behind deployable cover

[compact leaf]

Sunny is okay
I guess if you want a really hard to kill LT you go for that?

imho he's okay being somewhere a little easier to get to since he's super tanky regardless

pairs well with lots of solo pieces

[distant roost]

Got to play a round of TTS Ember: Obsidian Protocol with a buddy to onboard him, the TTS imports are working pretty great for setup though one or two cards needed to be replaced with a TTS asset (the folding Pholcus mines pull in the folded card but not the unfolded drone). Total play was about 2.5 hours, including action economy tutorials, so not so bad.

Terminal hacking zones primary task, UN team had to Behead a designated target, RDL team had to Escort a designated target, so they both were the same armored E-War user with a big shield. Consequently, because so much of a point differential was available by destroying 1 robot, the terminal hacks were pretty even while the middle turned into a big scrum to try to protect the immobile brick. UN laser fire wore down the armor on the shield user VIP, allowing a UN mech with no arms to kick the torso into oblivion to win on points 15-12.

[twin mountain]

Oh hell yeah lovely to see people still playing this

[compact leaf]

Our local area is gonna have a tournament for it soon..

[distant roost]

Yeah it's been an interesting thought exercise making lists that can be physically built with the available boxes which only come with so many of a given part and pilot cards

[compact leaf]

I do sometimes think piece limitation is one of my favourite things for a miniature game to have

Well
Actually
No
It just is

AVA in Corvus belli games is a stat I really really like

[maiden abyss]

I seek recommendations

Looking for a more campaign-oriented wargame but also neither of us have done campaign play before

[twin mountain]

Undaunted Stalingrad

[tawny sandal]

Piece limitation? Could you explain that?

[tawny sandal]

Any specific type of game or setting/period?

[maiden abyss]

Asking

I would prefer more fantastical/sci-fi than historical, but it's not a breaking point for me

[tawny sandal]

Hmm, while it’s not the most helpful thing I know 40k has a whole campaign ruleset called “crusade” these days, but 40k is very expensive if you aren’t in it already

But I’ve heard people say nice stuff about it

As for others, there’s a lot of historical rulesets with rules for fighting historical campaigns or more generic linked battle ones, but that’d kinda depend on what you’re interested in

[maiden abyss]

We would be playing through Tabletop Simulator,

[tawny sandal]

Ah, in that case if you like 40k look into the crusade rules

And opens you up to trying just about anything (speaking more broadly) since minis aren’t a limiting factor

[ocean holly]

Legion Tours of Duty is quite good

[maiden abyss]

Ooh tell me more?

[ocean holly]

I can chuck you a PDF if needs be

Have you played Legion?

[maiden abyss]

Nope

Tell me more about Legion, I mean

[ocean holly]

Star Wars 28mm

Custom dice, many keywords, coolest activation system I've ever seen

[compact leaf]

So...
To counteract the problems caused by spamming one really good unit in an army list, some games put limitations on how many copies of that unit you can take in a given army

Some even put a limit on the amount of total units altogether

This also helps alleviate the Savana Master Problem

[celest root]

Five Parsecs from home and it's sister games!

You play a crew of roughnecks and their opponents

[tawny sandal]

No End in Sight by the same guy is one I’m interested in

At least I’m pretty sure it’s the same guy

[orchid tulip]

And I am guessing more granular limitations are prefered over carpet limitations?

[ocean holly]

I can nerd out further, just need to get up

[maiden abyss]

Please do!

I need to step away for a bit too so it's no worry

And if anyone else would like to nerd out about a game too I would be interested in hearing

[tawny sandal]

Aha, I was right, it is the same person!

NEIS is meant to be a platoon-level wargame with a big focus on pinning but not highly lethal small arms (high lethality comes from indirect fire or crew served weapons) and the way combat wears down commanders, mean to be able to represent stuff from about WWII to modern day, and has some rules on linked campaigns

Though it’s internal focus is kinda Cold War

[compact leaf]

Typically yes, I'd like to see all units have their own separate limitations

...assuming that's what you mean, Eku

[orchid tulip]

Ye, more like Infinity than say 40k with it's max 3 of non-bl and max 6 bl

[compact leaf]

Indeed

Another reason is it means it's a bit easier to buy into and know what you can do

[potent wyvern]

Fallout Factions has a very cool campaign system

[ocean holly]

Ok, so

Units are grouped into types

Each type has a symbol

Initiative is organinsed through card bid, more pips on card is slower, but lets you order more units

Ordered units have their symbol token next to them, unordered ones are shuffled into The Stack™

On your turn, pick eithe an ordered unit to activate, or blind draw from the stack, and activate a matching unit

[ocean holly]

If all that makes sense

[maiden abyss]

Interesting...

Also I should probably mention I don't have money so either free rules or pirated...

[ocean holly]

Is free rules

[ocean holly]

https://www.atomicmassgames.com/swlegiondocs/

[maiden abyss]

I did see that, and it makes me very interested

[ocean holly]

Also, Free TTS mod, and free armybuilder with direct exporting

[maiden abyss]

Where's the armybuilder?

[supple shale]

You’ve also got No Stars in Sight, the generic « hard .mil scifi » expansion rules

[ocean holly]

Tabetop Admiral

[maiden abyss]

Thank you!!

[ocean holly]

Se4X, my beloved

[ocean holly]

I have all of it

[twin mountain]

what's it like?

[ocean holly]

Very good

[ocean holly]

If you're into cat and mouse spreadsheeting

[twin mountain]

dunno what that means 👀

[ocean holly]

It's mutual hidden movement

[twin mountain]

ooh

[ocean holly]

And you track the tech installed on every group seperately

[autumn sun]

"Cat and mouse spreadsheeting" sounds like a weird form of dating.

[ocean holly]

It's on BGA, if you want to give it a shot

[twin mountain]

it's on BGA?!

[ocean holly]

It's on BGA

Just the bas egame though, expansions are Coming™

[twin mountain]

oo

[ocean holly]

Highly rec giving it a go

[twin mountain]

i might if it's simultaneous programming

[ocean holly]

It is not, unfortunately

Bidded turn order

[twin mountain]

what's mutual hidden movement then?

do you just mean like, hidden stacks?

[ocean holly]

Hiden stacks, yeah

But also hidden techs

[stable pelican]

3D printing and abusing its limits on minis using Resin2FDM tool on blender

also trench crusade

[celest root]

looking good

[sand cloak]

I really need to get a 3D printer

Because I want to make these operators from War-Daddy.

https://www.instagram.com/p/DQ9xLMHgewU/

wardaddy_studios

Fantastic work on our Modern NATO Operators set by @kadenjipaints

Check them out on MyMiniFactory or Cults3D!

Instagram

[tawny sandal]

I’d recommend looking into what is at your local library, since a lot are starting to get into having other things that you can check out/use

[sand cloak]

Oh yeah

[tawny sandal]

I’ve been printing stuff at my local library for a year now

[sand cloak]

And besides that, I think through War-Daddy I have found Proxy Elysians.

https://www.myminifactory.com/object/3d-print-sci-fi-expeditionary-drop-troops-carbine-infantry-15mm-726710

And I guess proxy UNSC marines?????

[tawny sandal]

Like, it’d be nice to have my own printer, since it’d mean I could print on my schedule, the per-model price would be lower since they’re adding on cost to pay for the unit, maintenance, the worker running the makerspace, etc, but the upfront cost is a hell of a lot less using their unit obviously

Behold, my stuff

I would recommend resin generally, but filament is cheap and if the model is designed around it can still get alright results

They each have their own peculiarities, but resin will get you more detail

But yeah look into your local library

[sand cloak]

I will!

Also, whoa

https://www.myminifactory.com/object/3d-print-western-armor-pack-15mm-multipart-480459

Okay, first time I think anybody has done something for Modern Spain?

https://www.myminifactory.com/object/3d-print-german-spanish-mechanized-company-15mm-multipart-471930

[tawny sandal]

I’d recommend looking into Down Range’s model range, it’s all free and very printer friendly

Like, it’s a wargame that has its own free STLs

[sand cloak]

They are pretty funny looking

especially the infantry meeples

[tawny sandal]

I kinda love the hotdog men

[sand cloak]

As long as you don't think about the implication

[tawny sandal]

But yeah, not as detailed as other 15mm models, but they’re free and easy to print

[sand cloak]

Because, oh man, even though its funny to look at the models. That shit is being used for actual training purposes for life and death decisions.

Which is sorta funny

in a kinda screwed up way, ya know?

[tawny sandal]

I don’t have a huge issue with the idea personally since the history of military and civilian wargaming is pretty inextricably linked

[sand cloak]

Me neither

especially since that shit is hardcorded since the days of Prussians moving little pieces around.

They were silly those Prussians and also a terror to France. But mostly silly.

[tawny sandal]

A Prussian would probably be very offended at being called “silly” lol

[sand cloak]

Look, when someone wears a funny hat.

They deserve to be called silly at least once.

...Of course they knew how to break bones. So, bad idea actually.

[celest root]

https://youtu.be/wD2rijeN2Bg?si=SlvLXl98mXOgDyR_

[potent wyvern]

This may a bit a loaded question, but how would you go about growing a community for a game

[native portal]

@twin mountain community-grower, how do

[twin mountain]

god. uh. like... you find people who'd like the game and make them play it

you organize regular times for people to do the thing together or know when they can show up to talk about and watch the thing

you talk about the thing? a lot? in public? get people to know it's a thing?

this all feels very basic to me I dunno, it's all just grunt work

[sand sonnet]

Put yourself out there often, have a painted demo set and get people playing.

It's a lot of showing up by yourself or with one friend to a "game night" over and over until other people show up.

[tawny sandal]

Specifically, have both sides so you can just ask someone if they wanna give it a try and they have no cost other than time

[native portal]

yeah be prepared to play the same learning battle over and fucking over

[sand sonnet]

And over and over and over.

[potent wyvern]

And over

[tawny sandal]

It doesn’t need to be the exact same, but generally gonna be the same forces and goals

[potent wyvern]

I think the really tricky part here is that the game im referring to is primarily played on vtt

[distant roost]

What game are you trying to get more people to play

[potent wyvern]

Maleghast

[sand sonnet]

You can print and play stuff for it. Wasn't there a big community here for a while?

[potent wyvern]

I wouldn’t really call the community for maleghast big per say

[tawny sandal]

Yeah pretty sure you can play that just with some printed standees

[potent wyvern]

Atleast currently

[distant roost]

If you wanna recruit on this server and get more folks into it you could always make posts in #maleghast-game-recruiting along the lines of "hey there's gonna be some Tuesday night Maleghast happening at this time, new folks welcome, I'll stream the game too" and walk folks through it 1-2 at a time

[potent wyvern]

I am thinking about doing new player game night for people that have been looking to jump the shark but haven’t had anyone to play with yet

[distant roost]

This channel's receptive too to pickup games, just gotta pick a window and see who's free, it's just a smaller audience

[distant roost]

Yeah that's a good shout, the more you get onboarded the more likely they might onboard others

[potent wyvern]

Exactly

[native portal]

I might even try

I missed the OG maleghast hype

[potent wyvern]

I do too

But its like

The game pretty much exist only within the tom bloom sphere

I mean its only form of advertisement it got was a tweet and like two news articles

So it limits the base for people to pull from, being those into k6bd or those into tom’s ttrpg work, and unfortunately there hasn’t much cross pollination from the latter

Plus there not much presence for it outside of discord. Most youtube content is 1-2 old overview videos and the only person that did battle report videos has stopped doing them and they are now outdated
(And while i would you fill in that missing niche, due current personal circumstance that i would will not divulge into i really)

And then outside of that the game practically doesn’t exist

Like i think this game fucking rules and know there are people of people out there that would love playing it. I just gotta find them

[potent wyvern]

Oh whoops i read that as “miss” and not missed lol

[twin mountain]

You just gotta start pushing

That's all there is to it

I find games nobody plays and get people to play them

[distant roost]

Case in point, thanks to Winged's efforts I'm still pretty hype about Ember: Obsidian Protocol from the pinned post here:
#1161730220164911187 message

If folks want to pencil in a game on TTS mod I got availability this weekend starting <t:1767398400:F>, and also <t:1767463200:F>, drop me a ping if interested; I got lists ready for pick up and play if you don't wanna worry about the list build, can flex for different time zones too, if 2 people want in for a time slot I can coach both through against each other over about 3 hours, it'd be a streamable thing for those others that'd want to peek in

[hollow slate]

Speaking of Ember, I'm still interested but I have to cross the hump of reading the rules myself

I can see my boxes of their minis from my seat, lol

[distant roost]

I can walk you through with book in background, the TTS mod has reference cards for the important bits. The parts of the book to skim would be the "Important Concepts" chapter 2 from pp. 05-21, and bookmark the appendix from 91-97, and checking out ch. 3 pages 23-35 and the board setup principles on pp. 81-88 is a stretch goal; chapter 4 is all the deep weeds on how the combat works and that can be talked through as reference

[compact leaf]

Mmm

Did trench crusade ever fix itself?

Our local group is planning to start a campaign and I'm debating participation still (even though I probably will just to meet people)
Buuut I am also curious about the state of the game

[tough talon]

Rulebook is borked but the updated rules are fixed now

[tawny sandal]

Apparently it was just a “oops, formatting fucked everything” thing mostly alongside a few other rules change missteps

Sucks that that happened to the version they actually published a physical version of, but last I heard it’s fine now

The main thing I’m still a bit irritated about is the shift from doing everything as STLs with optional physical kits to now apparently only doing physical kits in the future

[compact leaf]

a lot of our LGS's are saying they actually prefer the route they've taken, since it would better support TC in their stores

at the same time though...

doing STLs was much more user-friendly

I guess they've got their own merits each

[hollow slate]

But despite it all, its still minis-agnostic, so even if they won't be releasing many first-party sculpts, plenty of third-party ones.

[maiden abyss]

My understanding of their response was that the physical version formatting is fine, it was uploading the physical formatting as a pdf that was the issue?

[twin mountain]

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3556921067

[celest root]

from that video i posted the other day!!

i was wondering if there was implementation...

[distant roost]

For the Ember: Obsidian Protocol enjoyers, it's now way easier to coordinate a list build on the builder app with what's actually in physical boxes

[orchid tulip]

Neat

[hollow slate]

Ooh. Granted, I got the Warlord bundle, but it's a nice QoL feature nonetheless

[distant roost]

Oh yeah, for the Warlord bundle that includes the retail RDL Core, RDL Heavy Metal, RDL Cavalry, UN Core, UN Doorbreaker, UN Scalpel kits, and the upcoming GOF boxes, so you'd have access to those and the kickstarter parts too

[tawny sandal]

I may have been muddled on the details, hope that’s the case (though there was also some rules changes that had to be reverted as I recall, like the launch version took away the alchemist’s flame resistance in their flame resistance armor)

Unrelated: Vibrating with anticipation because I found some new free modern vehicle files I wanna try printing up

Alas, the local library and its makerspace is closed for the holidays, so I will have to wait before I print any significantly more greebly M2 Bradley’s

[maiden abyss]

Yeah but the printbook was always going to have rules that were errata'd by the time people actually got it

I don't think they ever claimed it wouldn't

[tawny sandal]

Yeah they were very clear it’d be a living rulebook, I more meant that there was some weird changes right at the 1.0 release that were immediately changed back or otherwise fixed

[potent wyvern]

#maleghast-game-recruiting message

Oh lord we ghasting

[clear shadow]

[fallen rune]

oh that's sick

[clear shadow]

that's awesome

[autumn sun]

Wish I knew where it was from because I'd love to print'em out.

[tepid steeple]

I love thisss

[twin mountain]

guys

i have caved

and bought

undaunted 2200

[hollow crypt]

Very exciting

[compact leaf]

Oooh

This one's been divisive in our experience so we're looking forward to knowing your opinion

[distant roost]

Are the people not thrilled by more Undaunted but sci fi

[twin mountain]

I love the undaunted engine

I'm hopeful

[compact leaf]

I remember some people not liking the scenarios and asymmetric factions as much as Normandy, but some people think Normandy is the be-all-end-all of Undaunted so..
It could actually just be a product of bias

It was many months ago that I went and actually read reviews on it, I should probably go back to those and see if anyone's opinion has changed

[distant roost]

Yeah the first thing someone plays in a series tends to stick with them

BoardGameGeek ratings have them as functionally identical although Normandy has 10x the ratings of 2200, probably on virtue of being out longer

[potent wyvern]

Yeah this was pretty successful

[tawny sandal]

Huh, turns out I’ve been a fool and thought my Down Range models were 15mm (1/100) when they’re actually more like 20mm (1/76-ish). Found this out by printing some definitely 1/100 model vehicles and comparing them, leading to me doing some math based on IRL compared to the miniature’s measurements and determining this

Which is a little bit annoying on my end, but also Down Range didn’t say that they were 15mm, that was just based on me doing (incorrect) back of the napkin math

Honestly the vehicles would still be good models for someone looking to get into 15mm miniature wargaming but less interested in detail if you scale them down, though I’m unsure about the lil hotdog guys

[sand sonnet]

Anyone in here play Dystopian Wars? If so thoughts on 4.0?

[sudden halo]

We had a thread here for it a while back, but I'm not sure there were too many players.
https://discord.com/channels/426286410496999425/1164617808106225785

The game looks pretty cool rules wise and I really like ship games but the steampunk theme pushes me away.

[sand sonnet]

Yeah I posted a bit back then on it looking at the thread, but it's been a few years and a new edition is out so was wondering if anyone had checked it out.

I picked up some of the french boats recently myself.

[tepid steeple]

My locals are starting to check it out after playing armoured clash

None of them played previous editions though

It looks cool! The aesthetic/sculpting style is kinda hit and miss for me but theres some stuff im quite into

[sand sonnet]

The normal end is just kinda steampunk boat, the wilder end looks like stuff that came out of a Jules Verne version of Command & Conquer Red Alert II.

I'm not a fan of all of it, but there's enough cool stuff there I think.

[tepid steeple]

Ive been trying to decide on a faction for both when I inevitably get dragged in and im torn between sultanate alliance and imperium. The america lore weirds me out though and I had to archeology on versions of the setting before warcradle and it just made me more confused

[tepid steeple]

Or maybe commonwealth now that I give them another look 😅

[sand sonnet]

Yeah there’s been a lot of lore changes and all the very old stuff from Spartan is gone.

I almost went Sultinate for the portals.

Commonwealth’s subs are neat.

[tepid steeple]

The portals are so coool

And while they work kinda different I feel like it would make them feel coherent between armoured clash and dystopian wars

[crude lodge]

I want to play any online tts game

ping/DM me for anything

[celest root]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaeXgYAZpnU

[tepid steeple]

@compact leaf Peasant Archers!!! I love them so much

[sand sonnet]

Why does Feudom have so many cool models but no way to buy them without also buying another faction?

[tepid steeple]

Tbf they do now have a lot of models that you dont hehe

But yeah

[sudden halo]

This summer they should be splitting it into two action packs instead of the 2 player box, but it's a bit obnoxious that there isn't a standalone option yet

Aside from finding someone to split with.

But the annual 2 player box is their model. Not sure why but it feels less bad in infinity than it does in Warcrow?

[tepid steeple]

A lot more factions in infinity I guess

[sudden halo]

I think it's because the Warcrow components are more custom and only getting one set is rough, and because the game doesn't proxy as well

[sand sonnet]

Not proxying well is part of it yeah.

[tepid steeple]

And like you can play oban instead of shinden or winterfor instead of kestrel

Yeah thats another thing like

Splitting the box is harder when its only got one set of dice (which you need complete) and one set of tokens

So whoever doesnt get them has to pick up a terrain pack/third party, and a set of dice

Which isnt great for two new players

[sudden halo]

There's also the "faction chain" thing they've got going on in infinity, where basically every sectorial has 50% overlap with something else, so you always feel like "if I just get this thing I can also play XYZ faction" which leads to everyone I know playing like 4 factions.

[tepid steeple]

Mhmmmm

[velvet badge]

Yeah, my PanO spun into ForCo which spun into nomads and now with the soldiers of fortune rolled into WhiteCo I'd probably have picked up Yu Jing if the game was still being played locally

[sudden halo]

Yeah, I started with the Icestorm box, so mine went

Nomads -> Bakunin -> Starco -> Ikari and Spiral -> JSA and Tohaa.

Then I got Defiance for some of the character models so I got a Shas army

Which at this point just means I have too many models but I guess that's what happens when you play a game long enough

[tepid steeple]

I have too many models and I havent played the game long enough 😭

[sand sonnet]

How dare you engage in a hobby you love fully and without reservations. 🙃

[tepid steeple]

Main issue is it means I have less money to spend on other games 😅

[sand sonnet]

Clearly just make more money and then the problem is solved. Right? 😂

[compact leaf]

Turns out also that women exclusively lead the peasant units

[compact leaf]

Admittedly newer ones have been steering away from that

Aside from KCF, the other new/reworked sectorials keep basically all their home units exclusively for themselves

And KCF only shares with vanilla

[tepid steeple]

I think the guardians officer is a guy?

[compact leaf]

I mean...
I don't really consider them peasants though?

[tepid steeple]

Thats fair

[compact leaf]

Like they're not nobles, but they're actual trained soldiers as opposed to militia