The Golg

 The Golg are heavy set aliens, they respect personal strength and have a natural instict for battle. Many see the Golg as dumb but they prefer direct methods to most problems, and they are just as intelligent as mankind as they have manufactured vehicles, weapons and starships.

 UNITY have classed them as ORANGE because the Golg have no respect for local laws, and are loyal only to their current employer which changes alot due to their mercentile nature.
 Even though they are classed as dangerous they are a common sight as there are no end of organisations that need guns for hire.

The Golg have the following alien traits.
-Unusual skin colour
-Resilence
-Brutal

Activities!

 After raiding the bandit camp and riding back Abraham fell off one of the stolen bikes, they managed to get him back to the ship but would need rest to recovour from his injurys.
 A regular trader who visits the starport offers them a deal, so simon trades in his now unreliable autogun for a local map.
 Simon attemps to find another autogun but can't find any for sale, and Rafflesnap finally resolves the problems between Simon and Abraham.

 For the next few days Abraham rests, Zia and Rafflesnap train but gain nothing. Simon goes out recruiting but can find no-one who wants to join.
 'Betty' discovours an oppotunity, he finds information on a group of ORANGE aliens (Golg merc) who have a nice loot pile.

 The scout they rescued had some handy information, Cornelius Columbus was working with UNITY agents and would update them on his activities by handing them a datapad every few weeks containing this information.
 That datapad could tell them where he has gone . . .

Raiding the camp

Out in the wilderness, an area known as the badlands is home to various bands of Raiders and Bandits. Virtually all the bands steal and rob from anyone thet come across and some are involved in kidnapping.
 The main band that is involved heavily in kidnapping are the 'Serrated Claws', Enclave drones have been watching them for a few weeks and they believe the band now holds some scouts captive who know where Cornelius Columbus went.
 The group decided to go in at night, in three groups.

-Rafflesnap: handcannon
-Goon: shotgun

-Simon: Autogun, Frakk grenade
-'Betty': shotgun, frakk grenade
-Goon: shotgun

-Abraham: shotgun
-Zia: Handgun

 The camp had a few bandits sitting around, chatting, eating, etc. A single sentry stood guard while a two man team patrolled the camp.
Simon and Abrahams groups circled round the camp while rafflesnap hung back.

Simons group crept in quite close behind a shack while Abraham and Zia crept up on the other side of the camp behind the tents.

Unluckerly the patrol stumbled upon simons group, 'Betty' and the Goon fire, the Goons target goes down.

Abrahan and Zia take the oppunity to pounce and quickly silence the two bandits by the tents.
The sentry opens fire on Zia but he is taken down by a shot from Rafflesnap who is now moving up.
The bandit leader grabs a hostage as a human sheild.

Simons group fires at the remaing bandits, the Woman ducks for covour, the other is knocked down but they immediatly take fire from behind, the bandit climbing to his feet is gunned down, which is too much for the woman who ups and runs.

The bandit leader starts shouting
"No one frakkin move, or i'll blow the head of mr unfortunate here"
With him being focussed on Rafflesnap in front Simon spots an opening and circles round taking the bandit from behind.
 Amazingly he fights simon off, Simon push's back as a Goon, Zia, Abraham and 'Betty' pile in.
Needless to say the bandit leader is taken down.

 They free their captured Goon, the local scout and another hostage as the last bandit continues running off.

OUTCOME
 Rafflesnaps group took the bandits down quickly, upon searching the camp they find a weapon upgrade kit and some quality food and booze.
The third hostage turns out to be a salesman from Bot-tek who gives them an Enhancement implant.
 As they question the scout Simon fixes the weapon upgrade kit to his autorifle but it mess's the weapon up. (Now unreliable).

The Theed Insurgency

At my gaming group i started a campaign, i really like the Brethren range from Ground Zero Games so came up with a backdrop for the campaign setting.

Prelude Pt1
Prelude Pt2
Prelude Pt3

So far only one game has been played (of which i forgot to take my nice grass boards and had to borrow a board)

Game 1

Currently working on vehicles for the next game.

Moon terrain

Quite some time ago i purchased some moongrunt miniatures from Ground Zero Games and recently have 'aquired the muse' to start building and painting them.
 All my terrain is geared towards on world combat, but would need some nice moon terrain to fight across.
 So out comes the bit-box.

Using a CD as a base i built a mine shaft site, the walls are plastic 'things' i found at work, the lights are built out of Tau battlesuit weapons. The shaft in the middle is from Khurasan miniatures and the stores are from Ground Zero Games and Anetocities workshop.

 This storage area is a simular base to the mine shaft, stores are from Ground Zero Games, Anetocities Workshop and Old Crow.

 The sensor masts were built from Tau battlesuit weapons.

Interlude

Last wednesday i played star wars X-wing at my gaming club, first time i have played it. And want MORE.
The game we played involved four of us, Neil and Steve had two TIE fighters each, they were chasing a Rogue TIE fighter who was deserting to the rebellion, this TIE fighter was jointly controlled by me and Jim plus we had an X-WING fighter each.

The Rogue TIE fighter escaped, our X-wings went head on into the TIE fighters and pulled some impressive manouvers to quickly tail the TIE fighters.
At the end of the game we had shot down one TIE, seriously damaged two while the fourth flew around (lost?) in the asteroid field.

All movement is acheived by choosing a manouver on a card dial, when all manouvers are chosen they are then executed, this means you have to guess your opponents moves.
Firing uses Eight sided dice with its own attack and defensive symbols meaning you can miss, hit or cause a critical hit.
Defense is the same with no defense and evasion.

Special abilitys assigned to pilots really do give them an individual feel and make Ace pilots a serious threat without being far too overpowered (i was actually using Poe Dameron)

Really enjoyed this game and will be buying this, just cannot decide on Rebels or Imperials as all the pre painted modles are fantastic.

A pause!

I am painting the modles for the next game of 5 parsecs along with some buildings, taking a while as i have done some tradeshows lately which has taken up painting time.

Hope to be back soon to continue the adventures of Rafflesnap and the crew.

The Quest

Zia and 'betty' decide to train, Zia even used the instruction manual but both failed to learn anything new.

Abraham once again went to trade and came back with a medical kit.

Simon went to track down the location of the Raiders that were holding their goon captive but failed.

Rafflesnap went back to the Enclave, who had a special job for them.
They wanted Cornelius Columbus found as they believe he knows about the new aliens that seem to be appearing on the edge of UNITY space.

They knew Cornelius Columbus had used local scouts when exploring the badlands, but over the past few weeks some have vanished.
The Enclave suspect the Raiders have either killed or captured them, but these scouts may know where he went.

Tomb Raiders

Rafflesnap, Zia and a goon travelled to the tomb site, unknown to them some Raiders that live in the area tracked them.

Turn 1-3 (standard)

The group head for the most northan Tomb, Zia manages to break the code on the seal quickly, inside is a box that Zia takes.

Turn 4 (Standard)

As they make their way towards the second Tomb the Raiders step out from their hiding positions,

"Hand over the goods, and we might let you go free"

Rafflesnap, started to debate with the Raider (bluff), this gave Zia and the goon time to reach the second Tomb.

Turn 5 & 6 (standard/firefight)

Zia starts hacking into the second Tomb as the Goon and Raider engage each other in a firefight with the Goon going down. The other two Raiders pin Rafflesnap down who panics, but he eventually gets a grip and takes a Raider down with his handcannon.

Turn 7 & 8 (standard)

Zia unlocks the second Tomb and as she turns to leave a Raider comes storming in to the tomb, she fires at him knocking him down. She runs out past the injured Goon shouting for Rafflesnap, they both escape the area with both artifacts.

The Goon awakes, injured with two Raiders looking down at him . . .

Aftermath

They get the items back to the Enclave, neither were the item that was expected, instead being a pair of death rays (which they took)

The team were given 7 alien artefacts and an Instruction manual for their efforts.

Rafflesnap takes up a hobby and they were contacted by Sirius Black, a local gang lord saying he might have work for them (new patron).

Once again Rafflesnap sat Abraham and Simon down to resolve their rivalry but once again failed.

Tasks and trade

The crew set about finding more work and equipment.

Simon

Decides to spend time training but gains no new talents.

Abraham

Goes to the local trade guild, he eventually comes back with a stim-pack (as a trader he could roll twice, which is good as the first roll came up with a useless trinket)

'Betty' and Zia

Both go and see the sights and both come back with a rumour,

1. "The famous philosopher/explorer Cornelius Columbus has not been seen lately"

2. "Strange alien outposts have been seen in wilderness area's of frontier worlds"

Rafflesnap

Goes back to the enclave for more work.

The Cabaal Enclave have been putting together evidence and clues for the past 50 years on trying to find the Enigma Sceptre.
The Sceptre belonged to a mysterious race of aliens known only as the Enigmas that are long dead, many thousands of years ago they colonised Florax and their leader held the Sceptre and is rumoured to gift the holder with charasmatic power and luck.
The Cabaals leaders are hoping this can help them expand their influence.

 The Sceptre is located in some ancient tombs but within a stone sarcophagus that can only be opened by hacking with the right intrusion software, it has taken the Enclaves software specialists 20 years the write the software in 'Enigma' format.

The only problem is, the tombs are located in a wilderness area inhabited by raiders . . .

If you go down to the woods today . . .

Raul Nightblade owns a small cabin in the woods, he stays here alot, he has various hidden cache's of supplies, weapons and money around the area.
He is guarded by hitmen that he has trained.
Everyone knows he stays here and where it is but no-one goes after him, the rare ones that have are never seen again.

Rauls woodland cabin

First few turns . . . (Standard)

'Betty' takes a Goon and makes directly for the cabin but remains low and hidden, Simon takes the second Goon and starts flanking around to the left.

'Betty' and a Goon head in.

Simon flanks.

The turn after the first few (Standard)

Simon and his Goon sneak up to the rear of the cabin, peeking in he see's Raul relaxing, 'Betty' and his goon sneak up to a hedge and lay in wait.

Simon then puts a Frakk grenade in through the window, a dull thud issues from within the Cabin.

The two hitmen turn towards the commotion but 'Betty' pops up from behind the hedge and guns one of them down, the Goons shots go wide.

'Betty' lies in wait.

Simon peeks in . . .

The shooting starts.

The next turn (Standard)

'Betty' and his Goon trade shots with the Hitman who has hastily sought covour behind the drums, Simons Goon starts moving around the cabin as Simon climbs in through the window.

The cabins interior is ruined by the Frakk grenade blast and so is Raul, his mangled body laying in a twisted heap on the floor.

The fire fight outside continues until the Goon looses his nerve and retreats deeper into the woods.

Simon checks the body

The firefight continues.

The Last turns (Standard)

'Betty' puts down a hail of shotgun fire, the Hitman looses his nerve and runs into the cabin for covour, and he is met by Simon!

Simon charges at the assassin and the two fight with fists and feet, the Hitman fends off Simon just long enough to make a run out of the cabin door and onto the dirt road, but as he does so the Goon flanking the cabin guns him down.

Simon goes hand-to-hand.

Gunned down.

Aftermath

With Raul dead and all his Hitmen dead they have fulfilled the Enclaves job.

They receive a payment of Quality food and booze (very nice) and a few crates of novelty stuffed animals (of which 'Betty' takes a liking to and decides to keep one)

They also receive a rumour from the Enclave . . .

"We hear shady reports of a power growing beyond the border of UNITY space, nothing is certain about this but we cannot ignore it"

After a few days of rest on the ship Simon takes a dislike to the new guy Abraham, they are heard arguing and Rafflesnap steps in, he sits them down to resolve this issue but gets nowhere.

But report of their activities around the death of Raul Nightblade have made an impression and an admirer joins the crew (they gain a Goon)

Finding the Next Job

Rafflesnap ventured out with Simon and Zia to find someone who could give them some sort of work.
The world of Florax is dominated by the Florax Nation with two other smaller nations on different continents, but within the nation a few enclaves exist.

The Cabaal Enclave needed someone to do some rather shady and dangerous work for them, some of their lower ranking political leaders had been assassinated, they know who the assassin is and where they reside but no-one is willing to go after Raul Nightblade.
They asked Rafflesnap if he is willing to go to Raul Nightblades hide out and cause as much damage as possible and hopefully kill Raul himself.

Rafflesnap saw the oppotunity to gain some influence with a powerful group and agreed to take the job.

While they were in talks with the Enclave 'Betty' had been sent out to find new members for the crew, and he was successful and signed on Abraham Creed.

Abraham Creed
Is an ex-UNITY beaurocrat who has turned to trading and is motivated by a new found faith.
Spec.cir: Talent-Brawling

Right . . . Time to break out the paint brush again.

Escape from Glaven

The bad guys consist of three Glaven security force members, two with shotguns and the other with a handgun and suppression maul. They knew Rafflesnap was helping Zia and suspected he might try to get her offworld in his ship, and decided to leave a guard.

Simon and 'Betty' had successfully rescued Zia from custody, they had hastily escaped and met up with Rafflesnap and were now heading for his ship.

The last stretch of street to the starport.

But Glaven security awaits . . .

Turn one (Standard)

Rafflesnap and the crew decide to head right and flank around the buildings, Glaven security see's their move and reacts to intercept them.

Flanking right, But security reacts!

Turn two (Standard)

Rafflesnap, Zia and 'Betty' retrace their steps and head back to the main street while Simon moves up the rear of the buildings to provide cover, he lays down some fire on the security trooper but fails to hit.

Simon opens fire!

Rafflesnap, Zia and 'Betty' retrace their steps.

Turn three (Standard)

The trooper that came under fire from Simon advances and opens up with her shotgun, this puts Simon out of action, Rafflesnap, Zia and 'Betty' cross the street and head for an alley, 'Betty' opens up with his shotgun but finds no targets.

The two troopers advancing down the street gun 'Betty' down.

'Betty' is gunned down.

Simon takes a hit.

Turn four (Standard)

Zia opens up with her handgun but fails to hit anything, Rafflesnap does find a mark with his handcannon, one of the security troopers is sent flying by one the hefty rounds

(Forgot to photo this turn)

Turn five and six (Standard)

Rafflesnap and Zia make haste and run for the star port, one of the Glaven security troopers fires a few round from his hand gun as they flee but does not manage to hit them.

The running starts

Escape

Aftermath

Rolling for injurys, Simon ends up with a Dramatic scar and 'Betty' gains a Mental scar (like he needs more mental problems!), we assumed they crawled away in the confusion to the starport.

I have made a small starmap and gave three destinations they could travel to, Rynn, Zim or Florax. Florax was chosen, and eight days later the Staramus landed ot the worlds starport.

Little did they know that Glaven security had not given up on them and had followed!!

A few grunts were left to guard the ship while the crew ventured out . . .

The Chracters

Finally got the miniatures done to start playing 5 parsecs from home.
From left to right
Simon, Zia, Rafflesnap and 'Betty'

5 Parsecs from home!

I have just got hold of '5 parsecs from home' and 'fivecore'.

I decided to give this a go after reading some other blogs that have tried this game.

Basically its an RPG in the future, the rules are simple but allow a vast variety of in game actions.

The game says its simple enough for someone who has never played wargames/rpg's to pick up quickly, so . . .

I have asked the missus to give it a go.

Firstly we needed characters,

Rafflesnap

An alien troubleshooter, was a wasteland nomad and is motivated by power.

Alien abilities: resilence, mental influence and no concept of aggression.

Talent: sharpshooter.

Zia Goffastoff

A mundane hacker from the lower class's of a mega-city who is motivated by survival.

Simon Bates

Also coming from the lower class's of a mega-city, he is a mundane soldier motivated by freedom.

Talent: runner.

'Betty'

An unhinged mercenary hailing from an industrial world, motivated by survival.

Flaw: over eager.

Grunts: 4

Ship: worn freighter 'staramus'

How they met: in trouble with the authorities

Armoury

Old fashioned blade

Handgun

Handcannon

Shotgun x2

Autorifle

Frakk grenades x6

Sonic wave emitter

As a bit of a backdrop we are starting on the world of Glaven, Zia has been accused of hacking into local government files, she denies the accusations but needs someone to fight her case. The only one she could find willing is an alien called rafflesnap.

The case went badly and Zia was sentenced to life in prison, Rafflesnap took pity on Zia and decided to take her off world in his ship, he hired two guys to get her out of custody.

Simon was eager to get off world as he had deserted from Glavens army and MP's were after him.

'Betty' basically got into trouble wherever he went and decided it was time to leave.

They both signed up with Rafflesnap as a means to get away from Glaven.

I decided to roll on the oppotunity mission table and got Escort with the opposition being enforcers (Glaven security forces).

Nice outcome.

Just waiting for the models to arrive, then our first game will be on.

More to come . . .

Down time

Was hoping to have posted a lot more in the past few months but with life getting in the way and my wargaming partner refurbishing his whole house, its been a bit difficult to play any games. We have been talking recently of starting the gaming up again, hopefully this will happen sooner rather than later.