Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Crater revision

I spent about all of yesterday revising my micro-armor rules, and I can say that at this point it looks like a playable game.

The new rulebook can be found here. I apologize for the site layout, as I haven't yet gotten around to switching to a less glaring color scheme.

I suppose I'll have to post some vehicle designs at some point.

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

A loss.

Word is that Donald Featherstone died yesterday.

Rest in peace, sir.

#wargaming

Monday, August 19, 2013

Reviving an old hobby.

It's been a while since I've tried to write a fantasy tabletop RPG, but this idea hit me in July. The core concept is pretty much formed in my mind, however I'm still working out all of the mechanics and the setting. Er, here's a slight intro...

In the city of White Oak there's an inn called the Black Lamp. The tavern there is well-known, often a favorite spot of adventurers and trail-worn travelers from all over the lands of Tanisfall. Welcome to White Oak, wanderers, and to the Black Lamp. Come in, rest your weary bones; have a stein, and listen to the tales of our other patrons as the brew eases your evening.


FOREWORD
The Black Lamp is a fantasy roleplaying game that is heavily inspired by roguelike games such as Angband, Linley's Dungeon Crawl and Omega, with an eye toward creating an "Oldschool" atmosphere at the table.

The game's host- affectionately called the 'Loremaster', is encouraged to hand the players a world in which their characters can explore, conquer or, if they so wish, to betray. The players may save a city from raiding orcs; defeat an evil wizard or take a darker turn and found the next Angband or become the next Achren.

Once the session at the table is over: in the game world, the character's tales are being recounted to a rapt (if somewhat inebriated) audience at the Black Lamp Inn of White Oak.


The mechanics will be similar to AD&D 2nd Ed (albeit with some streamlining), though some concepts are borrowed from ZAngband. Multi-classing will not be allowed, however there will be enough variations that this shouldn't be a limitation.





Friday, October 14, 2011

October Progress Report

So I've managed to add some content to the Stargrunt II section of my website, borrowing the Pan-African Union equipment list from stargrunt.ca as well as adding fluff data for the Combine M25A2 "Grant" and the FSE AGCI-5 "LaCroix IFVs.

M25A2

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AGCI-5

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(pictures originally borrowed from GZG)

I toned down the Combine M-108 anti-material rifle to Impact 1d12x2 to reflect its intent as a sci-fi analog to the modern .50 M82; I've also added basic descriptions for the FSE infantry gear, as there were no descriptions in the book.

So progress is slow and steady, but I still have a lot that I want to add.

That's it for now, but I'll be posting any further developments here as they come along.

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Project Journal: The road ahead.

I know I've been neglecting this log, and I mean to get better about it. I've seen a number of other gaming blogs that go without an update for a year and suddenly the author pipes in with an "I'm so sorry!" post.

I don't want /.moonfire to go through that.

Anyway, here's a quick summary of what I've bee up to, and my immediate projects with Stargrunt II.

1. I'm working out a four-scenario campaign involving the Western Combine (or NAC) assault on the planet Northwind in Eurasian space. Once I've worked out the particulars I'll have the whole lot posted on the Ironshards site.

2. I'm currently up to my elbows in 15mm NAC and FSE pewter. They've only finished drying from the initial filing/washing phase last night, and I will be basing and painting a number of them today.

Also, I've about three squads of 15mm Hammers Slammers infantry that I'm using for Fulson's Fusiliers.

3. I've got a number of hovercraft (tanks and personnel carriers) to put together and paint. I'm still trying to decide which vehicle models will be used by each galactic power I'm using in my own brand of quasi-Tuffleyverse I've got going.


Admittedly I'm a fiend for any little tidbit I can find on SG2, and for all that people have talked about the game in the history of the 'Net between 1996 and now, there really isn't that much in the way of player-generated vehicles, scenarios and such save for all of the few samples and (incredibly useful!) guideline material at sragrunt.ca* and Hyperbear.

All this really means for me is that I have to whip up a lot of this myself. I'm all too happy to do this, but it requires time.

So there's the summary. As you can see I've got a number of things to do, and I'm getting it all done bit by bit.

I'll post an AAR here and on Ironshards as soon as I can get enough of these miniatures finished.

Thanks again!

- Seamus

* The scenario cards are a great resource for coming up with ideas on the fly.

Thank you, Mark

Just adding a note to say farewell to Dropship Horizon

Mark has shared so many wonderful ideas and excellent projects over the course of Dropships history, and it just wouldn't feel right if I didn't comment on the final closing of its bay doors.

Mark, it has been absolutely wonderful, and I for one cannot thank you enough! :)

Royal Drop Company TO&E

Here's a quick NAC/Western Combine list I came up with. Tired of looking at so many platoons centered around eight-man squads and generally requiring at least 32 troops, I decided to experiment with six-man squads geared for surgical strike operations; I then expanded this to company-level for completeness sake.

Drop Infantry TO&E (5 Officers, 103 ORs)

Company HQ (1 Officer, Signaller and 4 Other Ranks)
All wearing M3 combat armor and armed with L7A3 rifles.

Medic Attache (Medic, Assistant and 4 ORs)
All wearing M3 combat armor and armed with L7A3 rifles.

1 Observation Platoon (1 Officer, 23 ORs)
All wearing M3 combat armor. Command squad equipped with two recon drones. All soldiers armed with L7A3 rifles.

3x Rifle Platoons (1 Officer, 23 ORs each)

Rifle Platoon (1 Officer, 23 ORs):
Command Squad (Lieutenant, 5 ORs)
All wearing M3 combat armor and armed with L7A3 rifles.

3x Rifle Squads (6 ORs each)
One soldier each armed with an L58 SAW. Second and Third squads each equipped with an IAVR.
First squad includes a marksman armed with an L9A1 sniper rifle.