Adventures in Glow City - Part One

 You are woken from a broken slumber by the incessant ringing of your bonephone (you have a phone surgically implanted in your skull). As you struggle to open your eyes after the excesses of last night you see a message on your HUD from the local fixer Deke NoLegs - a fixer is someone who arranges jobs for runners like yourself - inviting you to meet him at the Get Lucky club on the border between the Block and Neon Quarters at 6pm (2 hours time) As you look around the squalid apartment you are currently forced to call home, you realise that no power in Glow City is going to prevent you from making that meeting.

 

Yesterday I started running a new Cyberpunk RPG with Joel, Matt and Lee acting as my guinea pigs.  Inspired by the write up on Matakishi’s Tea House I decided to use a very simple set of rules called Wired Neon Cities by Scott Malthouse that I picked up from DriveThruRPG.  The entire set of rules including background is only 5 pages so it’s very much a set that puts the emphasis on the players and actual role playing rather than playing the mechanics of the game.

 

With the message above our three players Stein the Doc (Matt), Nut the Gunner (Lee) and Pi the Cyberblade (Joel) were summoned to meet Deke and the adventure began.

 

After the usual pleasantries Deke said that he had been watching the 3 of them for a little while and thought they were ready to step up to the next level. However, he had a job for them to carry out so that they could prove that the rep they were building was not just the idle chat of bar drunks.  

 

The mission was to collect a package from a specified location at a specified time and then move it to a second location for delivery.  Payment would be 300 bits each and a bonus of 500 bits between them if the package was delivered undamaged.  Simple.  They were given both the pickup and drop off locations as well as a code that would enable them to track the package via GLOWNet.

 

Some judicious hacking by Stein indicated that the package pickup was a noodle bar in the Sushi Quarter a couple of miles away from the Get Lucky Club.   They had to deliver the package to the Randy Bar.  Stein also discovered the tracker was not online yet.

 

Making their way to the Noodle Bar on foot the team arrived around 20:00 hours and took up positions to stake out the specified location.   Over the next 4 hours they spotted a very large man obviously bulked out with implanted vat grown muscle, a tall pale skinned skeletal man, dressed identically to big boy and Nut spotted a sniper in a high position covering the entire market.

 

More GLOWNet hacking ensued to check that the package was on the move and at around 23:45 a man with a silver briefcase chained to his wrist entered the market and took a seat at the noodle bar.  Stein confirmed that this was the package though he was unsure if it was the person or the case.  To be safe the party decided to take both and booked a Johnny Cab to pick them up at the corner.  

 

As midnight rolled around the team sprang into action with Nut firing indiscriminately into the air, Stein killing the power to the market, so the lights went out and Pi taking control of the package, forcing him at gunpoint into the Johnny cab where they were quickly joined by Nut.  Stein didn’t seem in a hurry however and sauntered across the market without a care in the world before finally entering the cab.

 

Once in the cab heading for the Randy Club the team were gripped by self-doubt and decided to abandon the original plan and switch Johnny Cabs, getting out in the middle of an open industrial zone.  

 

Whilst bickering about what to do next they were assaulted by another group of Runners and a fight broke out.  Nut proved his worth to the team as he dropped 3 of the four attacked whilst Pi matched her arm blade against a Katana wielding wannabe.  She eventually managed to separate his head from his shoulders but took some serious damage to her cybernetic body.  Fortunately, Stein had his soldering iron on hand and was able to carry out some running repairs.   Nut and Stein both questioned the man with the briefcase who told them his name was Jing Hu, he was a low-level employee for Pineapple Corp and that he made a delivery of a briefcase to another Pineapple facility every week.  He didn’t know what was in the case and had no way to open it or remove the chain from his wrist.

 

At the same time as the fight had broken out a message had come in from Deke Nolegs changing the drop-off point to a location within the Hive (you only go in there if you really really have to) so the team decided to take the L-Train to the location.  It was only 10 stops away! 

 

After the first stop the team stopped on the platform and decided to check the Net Runner job bulletin board to see if they had been posted as a job.  They had, with a reward of 1000 bits for a photo of their heads separated from their bodies.  Stein hacked into the BB and with some excellent cyberskills managed to mark the listing as closed.  Unfortunately the listing was immediately reposted with the Bounty increased to 2000 Bits.  Nuts was concerned that the message redirecting them to the Hive wasn’t a valid message from Deke but Stein knew that hacking the phone company was beyond his skills and he would most likely end up flatlining due to the Black Ice surrounding it.

 

Getting back on the train they went several more stops before another group of Runners entered the carriage and another fight broke out.  Our hero’s triumphed yet again but poor Jing Hu took a shotgun blast the chest, killing him just as the train pulled into their final destination.  Upon his death the cuff around his wrist automatically unlocked.

 

The team moved onto the platform as the case started to beep faster and faster as if it was some sort of countdown.  Pi picked it up and placed the cuff on her own wrist where it locked.  The beeping intensified!!  At the same time gangers from the Sick Boy gang entered the platform from both ends and started to walk towards the now slightly worried team who prepared themselves for what would probably be their last fight.

 

And then, just like that the gangers were dead as a hidden sniper took out the leader and the two suited men from the noodle bar appeared and moving faster than you would have thought possible decimate the gangers without breaking a sweat.  They then invited our shocked trio into a Corpo limousine which took them to The Randy Club.  Once there they were greeted by Deke Nolegs who explained that the whole mission had been a test and that they had passed and would be considered for more work in the future.  He introduced their two saviours as Mr Sinister and Mr Grimm and said that he would be in contact within the next few days with another job.  Giving the team feedback on how they had done he suggested that if they were transporting something with a tracker in the future that disabling the tracker might be a good idea to prevent other interested parties from using the same method to find them.  Oh, and if you get a message changing a meeting point at least check that it’s from the person who it is purporting to be from – spoofing a number is very simple with the right set of skills.

 

With bits in their pocket, better prospects than they had when they woke up and an open bar, our protagonists settled back and thought to themselves that they had finally made the big time.

 

 

Guess who's back, back again

 I need some sort of outlet for the hobby thoughts that flow through my brain, even if its only me that reads them, so might as well use this again.

More MAGE

So after some discussion on twitter and the large number of folks who have expressed interest I've had some more thoughts on this as i hone in on the final format 

First off I'm going to increase the field to 30 which gives me 6 teams of 5.   This means each player will get 2 games of singles faux, 2 games of doubles and a game of something else.

Now what that 5th game is slightly more complex but I,m going to go with 4 fixed games and one that we will pick at a later date.  At the moment the four fixed games are Bloodbowl, Batman, Saga and Frostgrave but that might change based on feedback - or my fickle nature :)

We will also have games between rounds, Cash n Guns has been suggested for one and also a mini Gaslands demolition derby.

So if you want to come along then just send me an email or put a comment in the post with what your 5th game would be, perhaps give me a list? Priority will be given to the folks who have come along to an event before but i imagine most folks who want to come will be able to.

MAGE - Mikes Annual Gaming Extravaganza

Every year I put on an event at the village hall just around from my house.  It tends to be something out of the norm, though with a Malifaux focus - it is my main game after all - like a campaign, achievement event etc.  As I live in the middle of nowhere, folks often camp in the garden and this has led to the events having a festival type feel with BBQ beer and gaming.

Next years event is going to be on 14th-16th July and will feature a team type event, again based around Malifaux but also featuring a load of the other games that we play.  Coupled with mini rounds in between it will be a full on celebration of the hobby - or at least thats the plan.

Now its very early days yet and I am still playing around with how it will all actually work but some things are fixed (ish)

It will be a team event with 6 teams of 4 playing - this means each team will play all the other teams over the course of the weekend, got to love maths.

Each player will need a fixed 50ss Malifaux List and a fixed 25ss list.  This is so that they can play in singles or doubles as the matchups require.

Each team will also need players who understand different games (and have the models for them)

Now at the moment I'm not sure what the choice of other games will be but I'm thinking

Frostgrave, Warmachine / Hordes, Guildball and something like OGAM

Any other suggestions gratefully received

There will be a team captain picking phase where the matchups get decided but also a couple of jokers that can get played.  One forces a non Malifaux game (you can only use this once) and a Switch crews joker where you play you opponents force.  Yes its going to be that sort of silliness

As I said above in between each round there will be a mini game - if you've ever been to the late lamented Whoops Apocalypse you know the sort of things that this could be.  Only one I have fixed in my head at the moment is a Gaslands Demolition Derby but I'm sure other things will occur to me over the next six months.

I will be sending out invites to anyone who has attended one of these events before and hopefully we will be able to get some teams up and running.

Oh it will be free, did I mention that?

Until next time

OGAM - The Greek Mortals

Without Mortals an OGAM force is nothing. It is their faith that powers your god and enables him to cheat death time after time.  Without belief Gods are literally nothing - check out the most excellent Small Gods from the great Terry Pratchett if you don't believe me :)

As with their Legends, Greeks have a massive choice of different mortal units (20 if my counting skills haven't degraded to much) ranging from Wild Dogs to the might of the Spartan Hoplites with everything you need in between.

Given this wide range you might think it would be hard to find figures but I think that Greeks are actually one of the easiest ranges to find figures for, so many lovely historical manufacturers out there.

So first up lets deal with the manufacturers that I've already touched on in previous parts (Gods Legends)

Otherworld -As you would expect plenty of scope in the otherworld range.  I particularly like the Wardogs and the Centaurs

Wargames Foundry - Same as before check out the Greek Mythology Range then the World of the Greeks

Crocodile Miniatures - Back to the Wargods of Olympus range for the perfect Spartans and some really nice Satyrs

Right so what about some new manufacturers.

Crusader Miniatures - One of the my favourite historical manufacturers with nice chunky models Crusader do a nice range of Greek Hoplites with and without armour at very reasonable prices enabling you to build a unit for less than £10

Victrix - Victrix is a small UK company (from Cumbria I believe) that specialise in making hard plastic 28mm models.  Their main interests are Napoleonics but they do make an excellent range of Greek Models as well

Wargames Factory - One of the first chinese hard plastic manufacturers, Wargames Factory have a huge range for such a youngish company.  Personally I find some of the figures a bit hit and miss but the Amazons they do are really nice figures.

And thats it for a whistle stop tour of various manufacturers.  Next post will be a round up of all the things that I have missed.  Hey its a big world out there, even I don't know everything :)

OGAM - The Greek Legends

Following on from yesterdays post, today I thought I would suggest some manufacturers for Greek Legends.

If you have seen a character in a film, have a particular favourite monster or just see a really cool model that you think, "I'd love to have that but what would I use it for?" then Legends are where they will almost certainly fit in :)  Duane loves the Talos model from Mierce Miniatures, so made up some stats for him as a Greek Legend and job done.  To get some idea of that models size BTW, thats a 100mm base he is on!

Even if you aren't up to making up your own models (and with OGAM thats really half the fun) Greeks still have over 20 legends to choose from ranging from the Nemean Lion to Achilles himself.


So manufacturers then as that's probably why you are reading this

Otherworld - Otherworld Miniatures specialise in making miniatures inspired by the art in old D&D books.  As a lot of that art was inspired by legends they have a great range of miniatures that can be used for OGAM.  Of particular interest to the Greeks are the Harpies and the Centaurs.  Note that shipping on Otherworld stuff can be a bit pricey, so if you can pick them up at a show or do a combined order with a mate then that's probably a bit of a win.

Reaper - One of the oldest American manufacturers they have a massive range of figures, so big in fact that finding a particular model can be hard, though their search facility is pretty decent.  In the Dark Heaven Legends range they have plenty of suitable models for Greek Heros, best thing to do is search for them by name, I particularly like this model of Perseus

Wargames Foundry - Hopefully needing no introduction Foundry have been around for a donkeys age and have a range depth to match.  They have two big sections that work for OGAM, firstly the Greek Mythology Range (check out the monsters especially) and then the World of the Greeks for more characters such as Jason of Argonauts fame.  Needless to say they will be turning up in the Mortals showcase as well :)

Fenris - You might know Fenris better for their excellent resin terrain but they do ranges of miniatures as well and hidden amongst the Cthulhu stuff (well he is a big boy) is a range of Greek Heros that are perfect for representing OGAM legends.

Crocodile Miniatures - Another American company whose ranges are very hard to get in the UK (I really wish they had a decent stockist) their Wargods of Olympus range makes a perfect set of Greek characters.  I love these miniatures as Chris Fitzpatrick is a god amongst sculptors IMO.  Pay special attention to the Demigods section of the store.

Comfy Chair Games - Comfy chair are currently working on there own god vs. god game called Dominion of the Gods and so have a load of miniatures being worked on at the moment.  If you check out their news page then you can see some of the Greek heros that are in the works but if you go into the store then you can buy this absolutely wonderful Cyclops.

Heresy - One of my favourite miniature companies, Heresy make some great Centaurs and some nice monsters (Giant Scorpion, Cyclops) that will fit right into the Greeks.  Plus Andy is a great bloke so why wouldn't you buy some stuff from him.

Have I missed anyone obvious off? - Let me know in the comments if I have.  Next up Mortals, expect to see some of the above make another appearance on the list :)

OGAM - The Greeks

Seems that something is happening within the OGAM world as by all accounts Osprey sold out of all their copies at Salute :)  I certainly saw loads of people with the book as I walked around. Of course getting the rules is only the first part of a game, you really need to get miniatures for it - it would be a bit of a poor miniature game without them - so I thought it might be useful to blatantly steal an idea from Colonel Marbles over at Frothers and do a showcase to suggest places you can go look at for miniatures.  Of course these are just my opinion, please let me know places that I have missed out in the comments.

Right enough preamble, lets get on with it

Gods 

Gods are often the hardest miniatures to source for OGAM as you are looking for something in a very different scale so you can convey the majesty of your chosen.  54mm is the suggested scale for god models but even within that you get such a variety of size as to make specifying a scale pretty much worthless.  So instead here are a few manufacturers that you might find useful.

Northstar - The home of the 'official' OGAM miniatures, Northstar have models for both Ares and Zeus himself.  As with a lot of the Northstar stuff the casting can be a bit hit and miss on the figures but they are nice sculpts.

Andrea Miniatures - Andrea make a lot of really nice 54mm and bigger models especially in their general range that you can use as various different gods.  I like this one as a possible Ares and my friend Duane uses another one as Hermes.

Eastern Front Miniatures - A boutique range from the US and TBH my order hasn't been delivered yet but they make a lovely looking Nepture that is sculpted by Gael Goumon so no slouch in the sculpting department.

Valiant Enterprises - Another US company with frankly a horrible website, its slow, really hard to find anything on and has some truely awful miniatures.  However there are nuggets of goodness in amongst the drek and the best of these is this amazingly awesome resin model that makes the perfect Zeus. 

Painted by Joel Henry

Next post will be all about the Greek Legends and blimey, do they have a lot of them.