Legends of the Old West: Playing with New Objective Cards

Some of you might be familiar with the Secret Objective card system I developed for Chaos in Carpathia. I decided to try a similar (yet completely different) idea for Legends of the Old West. Marc and I have tried them out a few times and they really add a lot to the game, even if I do say so myself.

A selection taken from the deck of 40 Private Objective cards.

The six Public Objective cards. Each player may choose a maximum of one before the game begins.

The purpose of the cards is two-fold. First of all, as with Chaos in Carpathia, they remove the need to choose a scenario. Instead, the cards each player chooses and plays creates a unique scenario every game. Secondly, the cards give players something more strategic to aim for, as the cards represent the fickle and varied priorities of their characters.

I chose the High Noon Public Objective. This meant that both leaders started in the middle of the table and had a shoot-out before the game began. Half-breed Bob was too elusive so I discarded the card halfway through the game.

Marc's Outlaws chose the Robbery Public Objective card. These three characters were deployed in an agreeable location and each was assigned a Loot counter at the beginning of the game. 

As always, where ever you find Marshall Mills, the Assumption Vigilance Committee is never far behind.

The game in full swing. The outlaws, slowed down by loot, made their way towards the edge of town. Meanwhile, the Lawmen stormed the corral and ended up driving the outlaws out of town. Sadly, not all the Loot was recovered.

Another great game, I have to say. Marc and I agree that the card system adds a lot of flavour and ultimately makes the game more tactical and unpredictable. We will continue to tweak and play this objective system over the next year or more. Count on seeing more game reports in the future. And for the record, my Lawmen won. Just sayin'.

Thanks for reading,

JET

The Wrath of Brother Abelard

We haven't played a great amount of Chaos in Carpathia in the last six months but it is still one of mine and Jason's favourite games. I snapped a few shots of last night's game for all you Gothic Horror fans.

Grossmeister Abelard fends off the Vampire Lord as his dark minions encircle the brothers.

We played one game - my Brotherhood against Jason's Nosferatu. Since we both have six warbands each for CinC, one never knows what two foes will end up on the table for any given game. The Brotherhood are quite a different warband from my European Monster Hunters. Although they lack the pseudo-super characters available to the monster hunters, there's the ability to spread skills around the warband in a much more balanced fashion.

For this game we used my new-and-improved objective system. It's similar to the one I posted a couple of years ago except now there are separate objective decks for Human and Monster warbands. The Brotherhood drew the Duel, the Search, and the Task. The Nosferatu drew the Duel, the Invasion, and the Kidnapping. Of course, we didn't know what our opponent's objectives were until after the game was over.

Father Athanasius inspires the brothers to greater acts of courage.

It was one of those rare games where a player can end the game early by earning all 6 VP before the time is up. Things started going right for me early on after my leader charged the master vampire and killed him in two turns without any help from his fellow brothers. Doing the job himself earned my warband the maximum of 2 VP for the Duel. With two less combat-oriented objectives remaining (i.e. the Task and the Search), I concentrated on a couple of key characters finding things and solving puzzles while the rest of my warband held the monsters at bay. It worked out in my favour and early in turn five, I announced that the game was over and that I was victorious!

Brothers Ephrem and Ambrose protect Sister Benedicta from the night creatures.

When the game ended, Jason had 3 VP and I had 6 VP plus 9 Investigation Points to add to my campaign sheet. More importantly, we got to roll lots of dice while insulting each other with horrible Transylvanian accents.

I'm not really painting anything for Gothic Horror these days. I'm trying to focus (which is hard in Summer) on painting a new posse for Legends of the Old West and some other odds and ends that I'm trying to get finished before the Fall. However, Jason has purchased models for two new warbands - French Monster Hunters (which he has started) and Romanian Vampires. I'll keep you posted.

Thanks for reading,
JET

Avar Noble Cavalry

The Heart of the Avar Army - The Noble Bow-Armed Lancers.

The Avar Nobles were true medium cavalry who could ride in loose order and use bow fire to disrupt the enemy...

...however, they could also form-up into a solid line and deliver a formidable charge.

As the Avar wave crashed westward, many Steppe peoples joined their conquest.

Impetus Unit Type: CL
Base Size: 8cm x 6cm
Special: none
Manufacturers: Essex & Old Glory 15s
Comments:

This collection of miniatures is a true hodge-podge of codes and nations. I've attempted to combine and paint them in such a way as to give the impression of a melting pot of nations united under (more or less) one banner. I really had to scrounge the collection I was given to put this part of my force together - literally every available and suitable cavalry model I had was pressed (and bent, and forced) into service. It's one of those few projects where I have no left-overs. It's a good feeling actually.

The three main units are played as VBU:6 CM Lancers with Comp Bow C. In essence, this means that, as Impetus units, their primary purpose is close combat with their missile capability being more of a bonus to take advantage of when the opportunity arises. The last photo are also bow-armed (you can't see it from the photo) but these are fielded as VBU:5 CM with Comp Bow B. In other words, the bows are more of a primary weapon. Ideally, melee engagement would only take place after a couple of volleys of bow fire.

Combined with the four units of light cavalry in the previous post, this really is the heart and backbone of my Avar army. When I manage to mount a unified attack with all of my cavalry in one turn, the outcome can be quite unsettling for my opponent. In my opinion, every Impetus player should have a fast-moving, bow-armed cavalry army in his collection.

Thanks for reading,
JET

Avar Skirmishing Cavalry

Scourge of the Steppe: The Avar nation was really a conglomerate of many different nomadic peoples.

Impetus Unit Type: CL
Base Size: 8cm x 6cm

Special: none
Manufacturers: Khurasan & Old Glory 15s
Comments: 

So, I was going to take individual photos of all four units from multiple angles... but I didn't. These units function as light cavalry (CL) in my Avar army for Impetus. I should specify that there are a fairly even mix of horses from Khurasan and Old Glory. Most of the riders are from Khurasan's Huns range and their Avar range. Please take my advice and don't buy the Avar cavalry. They are very poor models and the horses were ridiculously huge (i.e. I threw them in the garbage). It's funny because, on the contrary, their Hun models are the nicest 15mm Huns I've ever seen. I was also forced to twist and bend riders to fit on unmatched horses - such is the mish-mash nature of these units. I really had to scrounge through the collection to get enough minis for four units.

I had originally planned to use four riders per base. However, when it came time to start painting I decided to try three, just to get the extra unit. With the Impetus-style diorama basing I think it turned out OK. Although sparse on the base they actually look "correct" galloping out in front of my more densely-based Noble cavalry. And let's face it, one of the cool things about Impetus is that we don't have to use the same basing conventions as our opponents.

I typically field them on the flanks in my secondary commands and use them to harass the enemy and, when possible, to flank slower moving units. The great thing is, if you play them right, you can cause some disorder and a little damage to the enemy and then have them flee before they are taken out themselves. 

Thanks for reading,
JET

Workbench Update: Avar Horsemen and Old West Citizens

Before my blogging hiatus, I always found that organizing my thoughts in the form of a blog post was very beneficial. For one, it helped cleanse my cluttered mind and keep me focused on the task at hand. Also, as a blog reader, I enjoy reading about what others are plotting and painting as it would often give me a chance to live vicariously through projects that I would likely never take on myself. So here we go.

A Unit of Avar Light Horse for Impetus. The chap on the left is the last one to be finished.

My Avar/Slav army for Impetus was in its infancy when I stopped blogging a couple of years ago. However, I'm pleased to report that my painting carried on even though my blogging didn't. The horsemen pictured above are the last unit of cavalry for that army (thank god). Although I love the 15mm scale and I enjoy painting 15mm projects as a whole, cavalry at this scale can get particularly monotonous. To do a nice job, one must pay attention to certain nit-picky details such as the horse's barding and saddle, not to mention the belts, scabbards and quivers sported by the rider. For a complete 500-point army, all I have left to paint is two units of Slav Javelinmen (FL). Contrary to the cavalry, I find these light infantry types go much quicker so I anticipate having the full army ready to go by the middle of June. This completion date will coincide with Stu receiving his Frankish army, a commissioned painting project that will just so happen to provide historical opponent for my Avar. Can't wait!

This "I don't particularly enjoy painting 15mm cavalry" realization is quite timely in one way and a little inconvenient in another. I have enough 15mm miniatures poked away to paint a full 500-point, all mounted Alan army. They will stay in storage for now, but if I knew then what I knew now, I likely wouldn't have purchased an all-horse army in the first place. However, it's not all bad - I backed my first Kickstarter project this year. I will be getting one of the new Westwind 15mm ancient armies in the Fall. Although we are still figuring out which era we will pursue, I've already made up my mind that I won't be choosing a horse-heavy army.

More citizens for Assumption in various stages of completion. Eli Mason (far left) has already joined the posse.

 
The above photo shows the Old West citizens I am currently painting. These are all from Dixon miniatures. I bought them years ago and never got around to them. I must say, it's quite liberating to finish projects that have lain dormant for so long. I have another half a dozen that have just been primed. I'm aiming to have them all finished before my Foundry cowboys and my Renedra buildings arrive in the mail.

To Dip or Not to Dip?
I am at that stage of geeking where I have more or less stayed focused on a few main projects - Gothic Horror, Old West, Pulp, and Impetus. Both Gothic Horror and Impetus are pretty much finished (as much as any project is ever finished) and the Old West and Pulp projects will be clued-up by the Fall. With a new 15mm army on the way soon and looking to next year, it will soon be time to try some new things I think. As I get older, and as the miniature cabinet starts filling up with painted figures, I feel less need to make every project the best I can do. With that in mind, I've been starting to develop a curiosity concerning dipping products. Specifically, I would love to buy a box of 28mm plastic something-or-other (from Warlord Games, for instance) and try my hand at priming the main colour, painting on the other base colours, and then dipping/inking/washing. I don't expect the same level of quality as with a traditional paint job, but I would like to experience the thrill of mass painting 30 or 40 models at once in a week or two.

I have ordered a dropper bottle of Army Painter's Strong Tone wash. When that arrives I will experiment on something I have lying around. I shall post photos of my successful or failed results here.

Thanks for reading,
JET

Legends of the Old West: Sly Bill Settles A Score

After the last couple of games between Marshall Mills and the 4:20 Gang, the latter were in rough shape. Sly Bill, after being dealt with in a particularly shameful way by the Marshall, decided that he was heading into town to settle the score. After a few bottles of whiskey, the rest of the gang didn't take much convincing and, before you knew it, the dastardly bandits were sneaking into the town hoping to catch the Marshall off guard.

The 4:20 Gang move up through the storage yard hoping to get the drop on Marshall Mills and his men.

The Assumption Vigilance Committee spots the outlaws and moves fast to drive them out of town.

After a vicious shoot-out, the Marshall moves in to fisticuffs range.

Bud Masters stands outside the hotel and surveys the scene after the violence has come to an end. 

As it turns out, the Vigilance Committee had spotted them advancing through the fields (drunk men are rarely as stealthy as they imagine themselves to be) and tried to cut them off at the edge of town in order to reduce the danger to innocent civilians. Unfortunately, the lawmen were beaten back rather handily - sometimes the drink makes a man a little more daring than he would normally be. The entire engagement culminated in a duke-out between Sly Bill and the Marshall himself. Although neither man went down, the Marshall's men were lying scattered in the streets beaten and bruised. Feeling that they had made their point, the outlaws withdrew amidst a chorus of triumphant whooping and yelping.

So, there you have it, Marc's outlaws finally had their revenge against the seemingly unstoppable lawmen. No matter - now the Marshall and his men are even more determined to see the villains behind bars or preferably, hanging from a tree!

In game terms, Marc managed not only to win but to do so without suffering any casualties. With more heroes in his posse (read: income earners), Marc is at a turning point I think. There was a point where his outlaws were on the line and I wondered if they would become so depleted that he would be forced to disband them and start over. It seems he is past the worst of it now and I fear my lawmen will have to work double-hard to drive them from the county once and for all.

Thanks for reading,
JET

Legends of the Old West: Marshall Ambrose Mills and the Brave Citizens of New Assumption, Oklahoma

My gaming group is at the beginning of a second Golden Age of Old West gaming using the Legends of the Old West rule set. After my first Lawmen posse was annihilated, I started a new one and, I must say, they are coming off pretty strong out of the gate. So here they are:

(L to R) Deputy L'il John, Marshall Ambrose Mills, Half-Tonne Carl

(L to R) John Black, Casper, Bud Masters, Old Gabe, Wendell Hobbs, Reubon Drummond, Willy Dicks, Eli Mason

I've been playing a Lawmen posse ever since we first got into LOTOW years ago. I guess it was only fitting that I play the town defenders since I built the entire town and all of the supporting terrain in the first place. We "wrote" quite a story during our first campaign around the fictional town of Assumption, Oklahoma. We decided this time around to keep the same general location and have renamed the town New Assumption.

My Lawmen consist of two groups, both visually and functionally, My heroes consist of Marshall Mills (Sheriff) and two Deputies - L'il John and Half-Tonne Carl. The bulk of the posse is made up of the brave citizens of New Assumption. They have pooled their money to hire the infamous Marshall-for-hire with the hopes of driving the outlaws from their land.

There are a number of players in our group right now but I suspect that Marc's Outlaw posse will be my main opponent, Here's how they look at this point in the campaign:

(L to R) Will McGraw, Bull Tucker, Halfbreed Bob Kickingcrow, The Philadelphia Kid, Dutch, Sly Bill

A creature of habit like myself, Marc has also only ever played one posse-type for LOTOW, his treacherous band of outlaws. They are currently known as the 4:20 gang, "on account of how they done robbed the 4:20 express from Bluff Creek, Arkansas." You might notice that Marc has far fewer models in his posse, only half as many as me, in fact. The truth is, since Marshall Mills and his Deputies arrived in town, Halfbreed Bob has lost some of his best men. Marshall Ambrose Mills would rather shoot an outlaw on sight and save the time and expense of a trial. Hopefully, the Marshall's vigilante-style won't come back to bite the citizens who brought him to town in the first place.

The Campaign So Far...
Marc and I have probably played about half a dozen or more games so far. I'm already on my second posse since, as I mentioned earlier. Marc's outlaws annihilated my first posse. So, he generally has more experience characters but I greatly outnumber him. I've included a few pictures of some of the games we've had so far. 

The 4:20 Gang advances on Hackett Farm.

Marshall Mills and his men drive the outlaws back to the forest.

The Marshall and his men track the outlaws to their hideout. Better take cover Will McGraw!

Sly Bill and Bull Tucker creep up through the turnip patch. Shoulda turned back when they had the chance.

Casper and John Black ready themselves before rounding the corner with guns blazing.

Stylized Counters

There's something to be said for a project the second time around. For instance, you often find yourself completing all the smaller details that you never found time for initially. Case in point - I printed a colour pdf of the counters from the original rulebook and mounted them on 25mm square bases. Then I colour-coded the bases to really make them stand out on the table. Marc and I found them to be a very attractive addition to the table.

The plan is to take this project to the same level as my Gothic Horror project. I already have a solid collection of Old West terrain and buildings, but my painted collection of models had only reached 25 strong by the end of our first campaign some years ago. I've recently ordered some new miniatures - specifically, enough to paint up two new posses. My first new posse will be cowboys. I've always wanted to do a cowboy posse. Can't beat henchmen with repeating rifles. The second posse,,, actually, I'll wait on that one. Nothing wrong with a surprise now and then.

Thanks for reading,
JET

P.S. After some experimenting with different blogging platforms, I've decided to continue using the old site. Expect to see some changes and "spring cleaning" in the near future. I should mention that, although I haven't been posting for the past couple of years, I have been painting and playing. I have lots of new models and terrain to post in the coming months. I hope you stick around and enjoy.

Chaos In Carpathia Reference Sheet for Secret Objectives

With my geek room not quite finished yet, I find myself continuing on with geek projects of the non-painting variety. In the previous post I revealed my new full-colour Secret Objective Cards. Next for your perusal I have the accompanying two-sided reference sheet. Each player would need one of these sheets and a deck of eight objective cards in order to play

There have been some tweaks and changes over the last year and they are all reflected here. For those who used the cards before, you'll notice that there is far less text on the cards than there used to be. That's because all of the necessary explanations and descriptions have been brought together on the reference sheet so the cards themselves can stay visually-striking and clutter-free. 

In any event, if you plan on using the new reference sheets and objective cards, make sure you read through them. There have been some changes here and there that might affect your warband, albeit not in any major way.

Thanks for reading,
JET

Chaos in Carpathia Secret Objectives - New and Improved

Last year I created a series of Secret Objective Cards for Chaos in Carpathia and we've been playtesting them ever since. Now that all of the wrinkles are ironed out, I thought it was time to make a sexier version of the cards.

For those who tried out the original text-only cards, you can see that the same original eight cards are still here. In addition to the graphic addition to the cards, I've reduced the amount of text. The next stage is to create a two-side playsheet (one per player) that explains game-set up, the objective cards, and the warband-special rules. I should have mine printed and ready for play in time for the soon-to-be updated warband lists.

Happy Halloween and, as always, thanks for reading,
JET

Yes, I'm Still a Geek

I don't know how I fell off the blogging wagon exactly, I just did. Tonight I got a sudden urge to check in and to assure anyone out there who still reads this thing that I am most definitely alive and that my geek life has never been better. Whatever gaming and small spurts of painting I've had over the Spring and Summer have mostly been divided between my two great loves - Impetus and Chaos In Carpathia.

We haven't played much (i.e. any) Impetus over the Summer but there is growth. Stu and I played our first 500-point game featuring his Swiss against my Free Company. You can see my new unit of English Knights below, the gents with the red shields sport the golden axes. Stu's lovely army is comprised of Legio Heroica models.

There is one other guy in the group (also named Jason) who happens to be just as big of a Chaos in Carpathia fan as I am. He is currently painting his 4th warband and, between the two of us, we have playtested and hammered out my Secret Objective and Campaign System. It's the game we just never get sick of us. In fact, you might find some recent game reports on his newish blog. Here are some shots of a game we had over the Summer. The Von Krumms, my Hungarian Monster Hunter warband, continue to be one of my favourites.

So, why haven't we heard from you lately?

Well, in spite of my love of the hobby and the games, there have been some very positive "distractions" as of late. Although my twelve-year old son spends most of his time on his scooter, making videos, and playing PS3, my two-year old requires a lot attention. Here's Jake in all his glory jamming with dear old Dad.

Also, we bought are first house over the Summer. The only major-ish job we took on was to develop the back of the basement area. All of the house stuff has also been eating up time. In fact, my father and I are in the throws of framing up a geek room. The final product will be 11ft x 12 ft and will have ample shelves and a gaming table.

I also am working (or rather, was working before the renovations started) on my 28mm Vikings with an eye to the Dux Bellorum Ruleset. I am in the process of "almost finishing" a number of projects including my 15mm Avar for Impetus and a couple of goblin units for Fantasy Impetus. After the geek room is ready for action, I plan on painting a Brotherhood warband for Chaos in Carpathia, the Alkemy warband I've had lying around for three years, and (no commitment on this one) a few of the guys are starting fleets for Firestorm Armada. I may give that a shot depending on what I see them produce.

Thanks for reading,
JET

Playtesting the New Chaos in Carpathia Lists

Although my blogging continues to suffer, there's been quite a lot of development on the Chaos in Carpathia front lately. I'll show you some shots of some recent games between the other Jason and me. I've been lucky enough to work with Tom Weiss on the improved warband lists so I'll give you a few indications of what's coming when the new list is released.

Jason's Gypsies are a hard nut to crack. The combination of the Knife Fighter ability along with the Dancing Girl's Mesmerize ability and the Old Woman's Gypsy Luck ability make them a very unique warband to face.

We've gotten into the habit of laying out interiors right next to the outdoor terrain set-up. Here we see Brechen (sword-raised) scouting into the dungeon ahead of the Master Vampire. I just recently painted the Master. The new Romanian Vampire list makes the Vampiric Might ability exclusivly available to the Romanians. Furthermore, the ability has more functionality in the game now than it did.

The model on the left is Commodus, one of my newly-painted Nosferatu, leading a ghoul on the right. The Nosferatu have lost Vampiric Might but have gained a new abililty - Mind Control. This multi-use ability allows the Nosferatu to control their ghouls and wolves in the form of extra activations.

I usually designate between 1/4 and 1/3 of the table width for interiors. The interiors below represent three buildings and a small underground complex under the settlement.

The Magistrate's Chair was one of six objectives spread across the table. Like the other objectives, it would only be of interest to a player with a SEARCH secret objective card.

Ms. Emmalina Grunberg was placed in a small underground chamber. As the Person of Interest, she was of special interest to any player with a RESCUE/KIDNAPPING secret objective card.

Here are some scenes of an epic battle that took place between my Nosferatu and Jason's Gypsies. The Nosferatu's ability to control the ghouls is particulary useful in combat when an extra attack here and there can make a big difference.

We still use my Indoor Furniture Rules. Searching objects such as Chests, Sarcophagi, and Bookcases add a small wildcard element to the game.

Later on, I played my Hungarian Monster Hunters and Jason played his Nosferatu warband. He held the FOG campaign card and chose to activate the event rather than saving the card for bonus points and the end of the game. It was a good choice as the fog cloud stopped my shooters from targeting his ghouls while they got into position.

Jason has painted up some of the Westwind werewolf models to correspond with his Nosferatu minis. This is important since all Nosferatu now come with one use Shape of the Beast and an option to purchase another. Jason has taken the full upgrade for most of his Nosferatu so his band is particularly deadly in combat. As you can see below, teamwork is the key to defeating vampires. Of course, the stake that Helmut plunged into his chest helped as well.

Konrad Von Krumm, my Expedition Leader, found himself set upon by ghouls. He made a bold stand but was taken down before help arrived.

During my game against the Nosferatu, I the RESCUE/KIDNAPPING card as well as a SEARCH card. I decided to send half of the warband underground the rescue Ms. Grunburg and to find the necessary number of clues while they were down there.

I know what the hardcore Carpathia players are thinking. "Can I have the new lists?" The answer is "Soon." I believe that Tom is still playtesting some of the changes on his end as well but I doubt that much will change at this point. In general, you'll notice that Monsters are generally stronger, tougher, and more capable, yet more expensive. Humans, on the other hand, saw some decreases in points without losing many abilities at all. This means that the Monster wabands tend to be slightly less numerous than their human counterparts. However, human characters generally need to work together to really succeed in the game.

On a final note, after Tom releases the new lists I'm going to try to find somewhere to host my "gamepack" for Carpathia which includes my Indoor Furniture rules as well as my Secret Objective Cards and my Campaign Cards. We've finally tweaked the game to the point that it's the perfect mix of wargaming, roleplaying, and strategy to suit our tastes.

I'll try to be more diligent throwing up photos and as always, thanks for reading,
JET