Monday 26 January 2015

First Impressions - Batman the Miniatures Game


So tonight was the first game of the Batman Miniatures Game, by Knight Models.

Not much to explain. Miniatures of the 28mm variety, representing characters and fighters from the Arkham series of games, and of course the Chris Nolan Batman films.

For our game, we used the Joker gang vs GCPD.

Jokers:

Harley Quinn
Ringmaster with Axe
Clown with Pipe
Clown with Shield
Clown with Baseball Bat

GCPD:

Commissioner Gordon
SWAT officer with Shotgun
SWAT officer with automatic rifle
Police officer with nightstick 

The scenery used copious amounts of Terraclips, made by World Works Games and Wyrd miniatures (now unfortunately out of print). What you see here are two sets of Buildings of Malifaux, one of Streets of Malifaux, and bits from Vaults of Ruin, and Dungeon Essentials.


Welcome to Old Town and the old Goatham church.

In the background, the old Falcone restaurant has seen better days.






Gordon checks all the angles.




The Clowns are grabbing the loot, but not before Gordon and the GCPD lay down a hail of gun fire. 



A bat in the hand is worth two in the belfry.

So how does the game run?

The game uses alternating activation, with the person with the least amount of models getting to pass a number of times. Models get a number of Willpower points, that are distributed to action types, which in turn are then spent to move, attack, dodge and block, or perform special actions.

Line of Sight assumes rather long ranges, but relies on models being near light sources.

Now combat, once you have played through it, is rather simple. Roll to hit means rolling above a target Defence value on a D6. Defence requires a roll above the Attack value on a D6. Wounding requires a roll of a D6 to be over the Strength of the attack (more on that later). Damage comes in types, stun and wounds, and doing enough to equal or beat the endurance of the enemy model leads to a KO.

Now what do I have to critique here with the base system, and the, what will be old soon, rulebook. First, models in combat have a Strength value, the lower a better, so that they may wound opponents in combat. But for shooting..... oh for shooting, you will not find the roll to wound in the most likely place in the book. No, you need a 2+ to wound, and we only discovered this when reading about armour types.

The rulebook is hopefully going to be improved with the new edition coming out soon, and I also hope it streamlines some of the rules. The need to roll to hit, roll to block, roll to wound..... yeah.... I got tired of all that back with Warhammer and 40k. I much prefer having to roll less frequently.

Now in fairness the types of wounds at least gives a level of granularity that combined with the Willpower points, means that you have some resource management, much like Warmachine and Hordes. And of course that is no bad thing in a game with very few models and an alternating action sequence.

So hopefully the next game will go faster, and see more use of the terrain. I can see us delving into the sewers and ruins of Old Gotham and Wonder City.


Edit:

A comment on scale. Some people have said, "They are 35mm minis". Well I call bullshit on that.

First off, which figure is the basis for that height. Batman, or Average Joe Thug? Also is that 35mm to the top of the head, or 35mm to the eyes?

For comparison here are Harley Quinn, next to a Warmachine figure (32mm apparently), and a Confrontation figure (28mm from the wiki).






Can you see the issue? Also, note how the Batman figures happily work with the Terraclips terrain, terrain as advertised as working with "25mm to 32mm".

So just what scale is the Batman minis game?

A scale that means it will work fine with most wargaming terrain out on the market for 25mm to 35mm.

That is my answer.

Also on the topics of rules, this site gives a far better overview of the game that the pdf rulebook does https://minimusingofabear.wordpress.com/2014/01/09/soapy-bearbox-batman-the-miniature-game/

Friday 23 January 2015

Darker Days Radio #61 and Darkling #36


Darker Days Radio Episode 61

A Solstice in Hell

Mike, Chris, and Chigg discuss the Wraith 20th Kickstarter and what it portends for Changeling 20th. Following that, Chris presents a secret frequency on Jack Frost. Finally, Chris and Mike discuss Flowers of Hell, the players guide for Demon: the Descent.

This episode was released a tad late due to internet issues.

Be sure to check us out at http://www.facebook.com/DarkerDaysRadio or our Google Plus Community at https://plus.google.com/communities/104221086985174488220. Be sure to subscribe through iTunes!




Darker Days Radio Presents Darkling #36

Darker Days in the Old World

Mike, Chris, and Chigg are joined by Brice, and delve into the Warhammer World. The history of the Warhammer World is examined, looking at many of the key events that shape the iconic setting, and make it ripe for roleplay games. Expect tangents into specific games like Mordheim, Dreadfleet, and others, plus discussion about why the Warhammer World merges high fantasy with gritty low fantasy.

Be sure to check us out at http://www.facebook.com/DarkerDaysRadio or our Google Plus Community at https://plus.google.com/communities/104221086985174488220. Be sure to subscribe through iTunes!


Monday 19 January 2015

[Battle Report] Hybrid - The Invisible War

Laboratory SO25 - Part 1

The Knights of the Lodge of Hod have uncovered a laboratory that is proving especially difficult to destroy - the lab SO25. For an unknown reason, the warriors created in this laboratory appear to have some form of social organisation and are able to coordinate their attacks to repel intruders. Venerable Ambrosius assembles his finest warriors: time is running out and all this agitation will soon attract the attention of the authorities.

Everything must be destroyed immediately.

This is a show down - last man standing.

Griffin:

Venerable Ambrosius
Knight of the Lodge of Hod
Darkness Hunter
Purifier
Executioner

Scorpion:

Sin Assyris
Dasyatis Clone
3 Hybrid Clones
Dawn Warrior

The warriors of Hod entered the laboratory, while the clones spread out, seeking what resource may aid them.




The Dasyatis, commanded by Sin Assyris, roared and barrelled forward, smashing doors aside, as the elite clone followed.


Having taken up a defensive position, Sin Assyris fired his alchemical pistol, Asp, at Ambrosius, as the old man emerged from the gloom. His shot was true and wounded the old man. Sin knew that more fighters would be on their way, aided by the aura the holy warrior radiated, and so he motioned for the enormous war beast to block the door.


The Knight and Darkness Hunter pushed past the injured Ambrosius, with the witch hunter rapidly firing with his pistols. The cloned war beast bellowed with rage, and was soon attacked by the Executioner. The monk darted before the best, slashing with his consecrated blade. The Dasyatis retreated.


The Knight of Hod was out flanked by the Dawn Warrior, the two swordsmen engaging in mortal combat. The Purifier, perhaps impetuously, though empowered by the holy auras of Ambrosius and the Knight, emerged from the chamber and fired upon the war beast, hoping to slay the monster. But, his shots did not hit home. Sin Assyris took his chance and attacked. One of the Hybrid clones entered the chamber, and a remorseless evil made the creatures eyes blaze with rage. Luminous chemicals were pumping through the Hybrid's veins, causing it to grow in stature. It charged forward and hacked away at the Purifier, and in turn the Dasyatis clone did the same, slaying the holy warrior.




The Knight of Hod landed a series of blows on the Dawn Warrior, slicing the genetically engineered fighter apart. But, as soon as the Dirz clone died a crossbow blot fired from the Hybrid that lurked in the gloom, piercing the blessed armour of the Knight. The Executioner needed to give the Darkness Hunter a clear line of sight, and had already sustained an injury. He stood a better chance against the other Hybrids, and not the beast before him. He charged past the Knight and towards the Hybrid he had just fired upon the Knight, but was unwittingly caught in the crossfire and slain by another crossbow bolt.


The bestial Hybrid charged forth, and in the mass of combat in the claustrophobic chamber, the Knight, and soon after Ambrosius, were dead. The Darkness Hunter, grievously injured had no choice but to flee.




So this was quite a simple mission for Hybrid, but none the less quite a fun one. This game saw a number of new figures used (Darkness Hunter, Sin Assyris, Dasyatis Clone), and quite a few new cards in play turn up, plus some rather deadly combinations of auras and mutations and event cards.

For example, the "Offensive Combat Kit" was a great card used to upgrade Sin Assyris to really make him a threat, boosting both his close combat and defensive abilities. "War Chief" was also a great card for the Griffin, allowing a fighter to activate, and then the next two in the sequence. Such a means to break the turn sequence can be potentially devastating.

The Griffin were also rather lucky with their aura cards. Two figures had access to auras, and they allowed the Griffin to benefit from excellent buffs. To start let's note that only one figure, the Purifier, had the aptitude "Conviction", which gives that model a +1 to the skill level for rolls, if the model is within 8 squares of the leader of the group. But, one of the auras used by Ambrosius was "Aura of Conviction", which gives all models in aura range (2 squares from Ambrosius) the Conviction aptitude, or increases it by 1 if they already have it. Coupled with the "Aura of Bliss" used by the Knight (models in range get a +1 on the skill level for rolls), it made the group, so long as they stayed together, rather powerful.

Likewise, the Dirz force benefited from an event card that turned one of the Hybrid's in to a killing machine, and a mutation that made Sin Assyris very fast moving.

Over all a great game, that again could have gone either way at any moment, and also showcased some of the cool abilities of the models.


Sunday 18 January 2015

On the Table


Finished Limbo of Acheron; Ghouls, Chagall the Hound of Darkness, and Zombie Wolfen










From start to finish, S'erum

Saturday 3 January 2015

On The Table

So over Xmas I finished a few models and also got some new ones put together.


Cypher Lukhan and the Keratis Warriors


Tir-na-Bor Dwarves with Blunderbusses


Kingdom Death, Visionary



Needed a base for a new mini, so got some Micro Art Studios bases, and picked up some more of hte Vallejo Games Effects paints.


Limbo of Acheron Zombie Wolfen and Chagall


And with the Ghouls


And joined by Ejhin de Vanth