Prelude Part 2: Evil Mechanoids on the Northwest Frontier (A Xenos Rampant Adventure)

A steam powered British Bulldog used on the Northwest Frontier.

So who is going to protect Her Majesty's dominions in the British Raj? All the infantry will be Light Infantry which seemed right to me since the Mechanoids were metal! First up is the Gordon Highlanders.

. . . and of course the brave men of the 1st Battalion, 3rd Ghurka Rifles.

The Indian Artillery is of course present.

Last, but not least, is the heavy punch of the detachment:

So how will our brave lads fare against the Evil Mechanoids?

Next: The Scenario.

Prelude Part 1: Evil Mechanoids on the Northwest Frontier (A Xenos Rampant Adventure)

I am a big fan of Dan Mersey's Rampant series of games and currently own Dragon Rampant (fantasy battles), The Men Who Would be Kings (Colonial Battles), Rebels and Patriots (North America 1740 - 1900) and now Xenos Rampant. All of the previous Rampant books were in the 64 page Osprey soft cover series; with Xenos Rampant you get a hard cover, 192 pages of Sci Fi delight! Don't be put off by the page count! The majority of the book are army lists, ideas, how to tailor to different genres,  campaigns, scenarios, and "stuff" to play just about any Sci Fi battle you want.

Hollywood gaming at its finest. All of the Rampant books use similar mechanisms and rules of play; so, If you own one you can easily pick up the rules for any of them. For Xenos Rampant the biggest changes are that more unit types have at least one "free" activation type (Move or Shoot or Attack, etc.) plus the calculation of "hits" is done differently.

Essentially for "hits", both shooting and attacking (close combat), once you have your hits, add the total number of pips on those dice and then divide by the armor (armour for you Commonwealth types!) and that is the number of damage the enemy takes. I'll give examples in the battle report to follow.

Thanks to my friend Richard B., he told me that they use Xenos Rampant for Victorian Science Fiction battles. Huzzah! So here we go:

The Mechanoids. One of the beauty of Dan's rules is the way you can tailor the force; thus, the Xeno rules. The Xeno rules give you a variety of upgrades to recreate what you want. Well . . . I have a detachment of evil robots so of course they are going to get the Mechanoid upgrade. And it costs 0 points.

The Evil Mechanoids! Okay they are Necrons which is the beauty of a agnostic, large skirmish, miniature wargame.

The Mechanoids rules allow my robotic minions to:

1. Ignore the effects of Stun Weapons.

2. Each unit (because of programming) gets an addition Free Action from the following: Attack, Move or Shoot - but, they suffer a -1 modifier to any ordered activation tests.

3. Never test Courage! However, they become less effective quicker as they accumulate damage. If they are at 1/2 Strength points or below, they lose all Free Actions and count them as ordered activation tests. In addition, if you roll a double on a failed activation test the unit suffers a critical failure and shuts down - it is destroyed. 

Detachment Commander:

The Heavies:

The Metallic Swarm:

To Summarize:

1. Detachment Commander R37: 6 points.

2. Sentinels x 2: 8 points.

3. Hunter Killers x 2: 10 points.

4. Total Points: 24 points.

Next: The Forces of the British Raj!

"I say. Mechanical Men. Quite. Very Good. Prepare to Fire."

Coming Soon: Evil Mechanoids on the Northwest Frontier (A Xenos Rampant Adventure)

The 1st Battalion, 3rd Ghurka Rifles charge into the evil Mechanoids!

I'm a big fan of Daniel Mersey and the rules he has produced. His Rampant series has been adapted into many historical time periods and genre's. When I heard about Xenos Rampant for Sci Fi battles I immediately did the preorder.

"Oh crap", said Rudyard Kipling.

From the Osprey website: Xenos Rampant is a setting agnostic, large skirmish, miniature wargame for fighting science fiction battles using 28mm figures. Developed from the popular Lion Rampant ruleset, the core mechanics featured within will be instantly recognizable to those familiar with the other Rampant systems, while still being accessible to new players. 

The Punjab Frontier Force moves cautiously toward the menace.

Xenos Rampant contains all the rules, army lists, and scenarios required to fight science fiction battles as well as a whole host of subgenres including: post-apocalyptic, weird war, near future. So, whatever your science fiction preference, the rules can cover it – just let your imagination run rampant.

So a new threat to the British Raj - with Mechanoids, tribesmen and Russians in a campaign that should takes us to the end of the year.

"Quite. Hmmm. Very well. Carry on."

Epic Revolution Part 23: Royal Artillery with Leather Helmets

Another quick post as I am trying to catch up! The AWI Epic generic artillery comes with additional heads of the leather helmet worn by some units of the Royal Artillery. I've decided to add the optional heads to make the RA stand out from the Continentals for quick identification as the rest of the uniforms are virtually identical.

Some units had black horse tail crests and some had red. They are easy to put together and the head swaps (one of the advantages of hard plastic) was easy to do. After looking at the photos I realize I forgot to had a thin wash on the faces to give them depth which since has been rectified.

 

Epic Revolution Part 22: American Riflemen

 

"Two shots. Aim for the officers. Wait until they're 50 yards away", the general said.

Just a quick post featuring the American Riflemen figures from Warlord Games Revolution! Epic range. You have to have at least one unit of rifles! And don't forget - they can be classed as Continentals (no bayonets) or Militia.