While Eli's busy sculpting and stuff...

...I've been working on the newest issue of The Aethergraph, a .pdf format Victorian Science Fiction gaming fanzine. Volume 3, #3 is available now, and you can catch up on the other five issues on my VSF blog, Victoria's Boys in Red. I hope you enjoy it, and if you have any suggestions, comments, or submissions, you can contact me at aethergraph@gmail.com.

Thanks, and Merry Christmas / Happy Hannukah!

-J Womack

Store Report from The Scattergun Gamer...

Hello all!

I don't often rear my head around here, except to read what Eli has to share. However, I thought some of you on the East Coast might be interested in the store report I posted today on my own blog, The Scattergun Gamer.

http://thescattergungamer.blogspot.com/2013/07/store-report-game-vault.html

You can find other store reports there as well, just look under the tag "Store Report".

Thanks for checking it out!

-J Womack '94
The Scattergun Gamer

Brief Comedy Interlude

Just in case you need some game related humor...

Okay, not game related. I still squirted tears of laughter.

A Strange Visitor from Another Planet...

   Yup, that would be me. Definitely strange.

   Anyway, I am invading Eli's house here because I need some help, and he, frankly, has a wider followership than my blogs do. So I hope this translates into more people who can help me out.

   Here's the issue: my best friend Jim has had to move across the state to get a new job with the railroad (insert "I've Been Working on the Railroad" jokes here). So, gaming in person is pretty much a no-go. Maybe I should mention that we live in Texas, and he's right at 600 miles from here now.

   So we thought maybe the internet could come to the rescue. I know about Skype's existence, and I set up an account. But that is about all I know about it. Can anyone here give me some pointers on how best to game via Skype?

   I do have a large flat screen TV on the wall of the game room, which can connect as a monitor to one of my laptops. I figure that will be good for seeing him. As far as him seeing us... all I have is integrated webcams on two laptops. And smartphones. But I figure the laptops are a better idea, right?

  Help the mildly technologically challenged!

  Thanks ladies and gents!

Victoria's Boys In Red Turns 50, Followers That Is!

Just a shout out to mention that my buddy J's blog (I'm supposed to post there too) "Victoria's Boys in Red" just got it's 50th follower. Now 50 followers may not seem like a lot, but it is not to shabby for a blog dedicated to a very small audience hobby like Victorian Science Fiction.

If you've never checked it out and you want to see one man's vision of a future that never was and some top notch salute to the more civilized sort of science fiction that is VSF, then give VBIR a look-see and enjoy. J puts a lot of love into the projects he posts there and has some great ideas for VSF players new and old.

Thanks for reading!

-Eli

Music and Gaming

   Greetings again, ladies and gents.

   I was just perusing another blog (gasp!), and ran across a clip to some music from YouTube. The song was "Men of Harlech," along with video from the classic film Zulu - an old favorite of yours truly, both song and film. One of the comments attached to said post got me to thinking about music, its ability to set moods, and how often it is, or at least should be, used for such when gaming.

   I have used music in the past while playing games, both as simple background music to highlight the social aspect of wargaming or roleplaying, and as specific music for tone of the game. Nothing makes a game of Call of Cthulhu better than playing late at night, by candle or, even better, oil lamp light, with some spooky music playing low in the background. Or the soundtrack from, say Conan the Barbarian while playing Old School D&D. Or Carmina Burana ("O Fortuna" especially) during the climactic cult sacrifice scene. All that Latin chanting that is obviously not part of a Catholic Mass... seems sinister to me.

   For Car Wars, I'll play road songs: "I Can't Drive 55," "Radar Love," "I Want You to Want Me," that sort of thing. Fast paced stuff. For cyberpunk games, I like punk music (duh!).

   Anyway, for me, it is all about helping to set a mood, something which music is well known for doing. Don't believe me? Play some Barry White next time you're feeling romantic. Oh yeah.

   Until the next time I rise out of the muck that is lurking... have fun!

Looking for Transport?

   Hello friends. We're all looking for new and better ways to transport our little toy soldiers, right? Well, a couple of years ago, my lovely wife bought me an awesome aluminum case and some trays with magnetic lining in the bottoms from Dave's Baggage Train. Only problem is that the case is too big for current carryon size requirements. Having just flown with figures, I know how frustrating that is.

   So I looked around, and found this: Jemco USA. They happen to be right here in my hometown, too. Weird, that. They sell jewelry supplies, and amongst those things are trays identical to mine, and some other carrying cases.

   Besides transport stuff, they also have mold making equipment, casting equipment, and tools of various sorts that might be handy for you to take a look at.

   For the record, I have no financial stake in the company whatsoever. Just thought it might be a handy thing to know about. You can get foam inserts or magnetic sheeting already cut to order from Dave's Baggage train, or you can get the magnetic sheeting from a local sign shop, which is probably going to be less expensive.

Operation Barbarossa Halted by 4 year old Girls

[Note: This is a repost from my blog, The Scattergun Gamer.]

   I know, it doesn't make sense. Just listen to the story.

   Today was my monthly games day in our local club. We refuse to give it a name, as it falls apart if you name it. Anyway, we play at a local university (UHCL). We arrived to find our usual room already occupied. Shouldn't have been, but rather than force a class to relocate to the room they were supposed to be in, we contact the school and get an alternate room. It's now about 1000 hours, we have the room until 1800.

   We get to the new room, get all set up, and start playing. I was trying a new set of rules (new to me, that is) called Spearhead. 6mm World War 2, stands as platoons. Eastern Front, Operation Barbarossa. I'm the Germans. Victory conditions are destroy two battalions. By the time the Soviet players (also new to the rules) and I are ready to go, it's 1200. Skip lunch, let's play.

   Turn 1 is a lot of maneuvering. Turn 2 sees two forward recon units run into each other (literally). I call in fire from the 150s and wipe a platoon of Stalin's untermenschen bikers from the face of the recently expanded Vaterland. Turn 3 and the Soviet tank hordes are getting close enough to my pitifully small armored contingent to make me sweaty, but I have a flank march getting ready to come in behind his infantry.

   About 1400 hours, just as we are finishing Turn 3, They arrive. "They" being 50 little girls (maybe 4 to 6 years old) and their mommas. With Head Momma coming in and demanding to know what we are doing in their room that they "paid for and have been using for the last three days." Seems the scheduling people forgot when they gave us this room. We had noticed when we came in that the room was trashed, but just picked up the worst of it and got started playing.

   Five minutes later, we're picking up. Ten minutes after that, we're gone - really quick for us, especially considering that They didn't wait for us to clear out before they started pouring in. Money talks, and you-know-what walks. Ah well. The game was pretty good to that point, fairly intuitive in how things operated. I'll try it agian one of these days. Maybe next time, the Fascist invaders will crush the godless hordes of the murderous Stalin!

   Oh, and if that weren't enough, when we first arrived my son and I saw an armadillo digging up the flower beds out in front of the building. You know you're in Texas when the armadillos tear up the college landscaping.

More Bouncing Ideas

   If you liked my post yesterday (and I hope you did), then you will enjoy this discourse. Otherwise, you probably won't. I love simple logic like that.

  Oh, and anything in brackets is my own addition, usually a further thought I have had while putting this post together, or a clarification of what is going on from previous posts if you missed out on them.

 So, building on yesterday's ideas...

ME: Can't you just see the disciplined legions marching forward, and the indians in a horde of skirmishers, loosing arrows and javelins and then running off... For my money, the legions walk over them. Easily. You could fight out the battles in Fields of Glory. I don't see the native light infantry standing up to Roman heavy infantry. Push the warriors out of the way, burn the towns, enslave the captives, and breed a new generation of Romans.

ELI: In an open fight, the Legions would do well, but the natives could easily pick them off, bide their time, pull a Tutelberger an ambush them on the march. The biggest issue I can see is replacements and supplies. Foraging is okay, when you know the plants and the animals. Replacement metal for reparing weapons and armor might be difficult but it's also unlikely that their equipment would suffer much more than dents from stones and the occasional nicks in blades from hitting bones or terrain. Fortunately the Romans were wordly enough that they had no real hesitation in mixing with other cultures. The Lost Legion would likely use locals as auxilia as well as support staff. Native guides would be recruited to educate the legion i n the new land. Roman's weren't stupid and I'm sure any commander with a little political sense (most of them did) would use a little savvy in dealing with the locals in the immediate area.

 

ME: Don't forget that the conquistadores, who had essentially the same equipment (well, except for the arquebus, which was of dubious assistance) whipped much larger native forces. Metal armor is a massive advantage. Oh, and a typical legion also had an artillery train of about 60 ballistae and onagers. [And about 600 artillerists].


   

ELI: Alright, how do we get them [the Romans] there [North America]? The best theories are, in order of historical likelihood -

1. Legion Lost - A flotilla bound for Britain is blown off course and ends up having to eek its way along the coast of Greenland and into america, effectively following Erikson's route.
2. Exiles - Exiled from the Empire a Roman leader takes himself and his loyalists across the sea.
3. Western Expansion - Rome decides to expand beyond the western ocean following tales of strange new lands.

 ME: I like the Lost Legion, personally. I always like a good lost legion.

ELI: Would a Lost Legion be a sustainable Roman population?

ME: Figure about 1,000 men for a late Imperial period legion. Add in crew from the ships, perhaps another 200 men [total guess there]. Auxiliaries, camp followers, etc. - maybe another 1,000 total [actually, probably closer to 2,000]. I think they could establish themselves quite securely. Follow the old scheme of "conquer and absorb the natives" by giving citizenship to the nobles of the tribes conquered in exchange for their cooperation in the system. Marry natives and start breeding yourself more Romans. They might not be Latins, but they'd be Romans.

ELI: A full Legion is like 4000+ men. I imagine support personnel would move with them, though the Legions tended to be their own support.


ME: Depends on the era. Later empire legions were much smaller than Republican legions.


ELI: The Lost Legion is certainly romantic but it does invite some problems in the whole chain of logic. It actually requires more "bending" than it would to justify a planned expidition. Any Legion blown off course and deposited in the New World would be relatively depleted in numbers and bereft of supplies and equipment. Perhaps it is easier to justify a planned expedition blown off course. They would still have legionary support, but with more resources.
 
ME: A move to, say, conquer Hibernia (Ireland)? [And colonize, naturally!]
 
   And so ends this afternoon's episode of "Occidentally Roman," brought to you by the generous support of Kalva Soap, and viewers like you. (Bonus points if you know the book Kalva Soap appears in. Hint: Tim Hamner owns it.)

How We Do It.

   I am often stopped on the street by the curious public. They recognize me, of course, as a famous blogger and wargamer. Anyway, the first question I usually get (after exclamations of how yuoung and handsome I am, for someone so knowledgeable about, well, everything) is "How do you and your assistants come up with all of those creative ideas?" It is especailly embarassing when young, attractive females approach me publicly - my wife is not amused.

   In order to save time, I have decided to share with all of my adoring public the secret to our process. I'll track a new idea that Eli and I are working on currently. I call it the bouncing ball theory of development. It starts with an email from one of us to the other:

Eli: "The United States as a 14th-15thC feudal states...  Rome cross the Atlantic in it's Prime and establishes colonies on the American continent. When Rome falls, you are left with a very different medieval America."

Me: "Interesting."

Eli: "I imagine you could go with the whole Rome gets ancient Chinese ship building technology and is able to cross the Atlantic with sufficient numbers and support to gain a foothold. The rest is built from there."

Me: "The Occidental Provinces, or Transoceania?"

Eli: "Interesting to think that the Vikings might come to America and find the descendants of the Roman colonies there, living in their own fragment of the Empire."

Me: "So a Viceroy for the Emperor of Rome ruling in Dark Ages America, with connection to Roma Mater severed for centuries."

Eli: "Or the Americas broken down into post-Roman warlord kingdoms. Another way to go would be for the Viceroy to have decided that no new news from Rome means that it must be done entirely and he renames himself Emperor of the only remaining portion of the Empire. 'Rome is dead....WE are Rome!'"

Eli: "Roman America would make a great RPG setting. Think about a Roman version of the Lewis and Clark expedition?"

Me: "Tribune Marius Agrippa Lewix (a Gallic Roman descendant) and Marcus Brutus Clarkus lead the XIIth Legio across Occidentalis to the Mare Pacifica, slaughtering numerous tribes of the red-skinned barbarians as they traveled. A slave girl, Sacagawea, acted as interpreter and guide through the newly discovered territory. Her assistance in crossing the mountains was invaluable, and in return, she was awarded citizenship and enrolled in a plebeian family."

Eli: "Works for me. Would the Romans call all Occidental tribes by their tribal names or collectively like they did the Gauls, Germans and Britains?"

Me: "Probably just one generic name. I don't know what it would be. My Latin isn't that good, sadly. I may have to figure out "red man" in Latin."

Eli: "I am trying to find a map with Indian place names for the eastern US."

Eli: Place names might be given out much as they were by later Europeans as a combination of Latin and Latinized versions of local names. Apalacia, for example was named after a local people. Manhattan is named after the local native name for it which really just means "island". Don't Latinized people names often have an "i" added at the end?"

Me: "Massachusetts as well, and Mississippi, and Illinois, Lake Huron, Ohio, Miami, Kentucky, Tennessee - all native names that were Anglicized. I think you would be correct in saying adding the terminal "-i" makes it plural, so it would indicate the tribe as a whole, as opposed to a single member of the tribe."

   For the record, this conversation has taken place over the course of the last two days. It is still an idea very much under development. Anyone stealing it will be sued until his britches are our britches. Then I send my good friends Guido and Salvatore to have a little 'talk' with them.

Space: 1889 Resurrected!

   As the resident VSF-fanatic, I have some very exciting news to share, and a new(ish) blog by the game's creator, Frank Chadwick. The blog, appropriately called Frank Chadwicks Space: 1889.

   The newest information is that a new line of 15mm (YES!) Space: 1889 minis will be produced by Highlander Studios, headed up by Rodrick Campbell, who has done work for Rebel Minis and Khurasan Miniatures among others. Also, some 1:1200 scale vessels will be produced as well.

   If you're not stoked by this, well, you don't love VSF.

Doctor Who Project

In honor of both the passing of actress Elisabeth Sladen (aka Sarah Jane Smith) and the beginning of the new Doctor Who season on BBC America, I decided I needed a TARDIS. Well, two more TARDISes, actually, as I already have the not-TARDIS manufactured by Miniature Building Authority for 25mm.

Or would the plural be TARDII? Whatever.

I started with the 6mm one. Not quite done, but I am happy so far.

 Front of the TARDIS

Side elevation

So I am making a TARDIS for 6mm and 15mm, just to drop one on the table as scenery on occassion. This one is close to done. I based it on plans online to build your own police box, then scaled it down accordingly (roughly).

 

I am sourcing figures now. As far as the Doctor, I will probably go with either Tom Baker (and Sarah Jane) or David Tennant and Rose (Billie Piper is such a hottie!). I'm leaning towards Baker, because he was the one I started watching back when, and he has K9. I will probably have to scratchbuild the K9. I love K9.

Goodbye, Sarah Jane.

Elisabeth Sladen

1948  -  2011

   If you know me, you know a few things about me: 1) I love my family, friends and God, 2) I love gaming, in all its many forms, 3) I love science fiction, and 4) I'm an Anglophile.  Combine 3) and 4), and you know I am a Whovian (think "Trekkie," but WAY cooler).

  If you, too are a Whovian, you know who Elisabeth Sladen was: Sarah Jane Smith, one of the Doctor's most beloved Companions. She died on Tuesday, at the age of 63.

One More Gaming Project: New G.A.S.L.I.G.H.T. Compendium 30 Second TV Spot

   Okay, I know I am the resident VSF uber-geek here on ISLP, but this seemed way too cool to not spread around as widely as possible. A TV ad for a game! And yes, I realize its not actually going to see airtime (I think!?!?!), but it is still really cool!

One More Gaming Project: New G.A.S.L.I.G.H.T. Compendium 30 Second TV Spot: "Here is the new 30 second TV spot for the upcoming G.A.S.L.I.G.H.T. Compendium. Sit back and enjoy! Thanks for watching!"

Boondock Saints Fans?

   Fans of the movie Boondock Saints will like this. I just noticed while perusing a minis company website a set that will have all Saints fans drooling: the Irish Hitman Trio.

  You tell me that this isn't at least heavily inspired by the film, and I will laugh at you. Brilliant! When I get together an order from these guys, I will be sure to add this trio. I don't even play moderns, but I think if I ever played a zombie game, these are the bad boys I want on MY side.

You can get 'em from Rebel Minis. Here's the link.

[The photo was taken (without permission, by the way - we'll take it down if you don't want free advertising!) from the manufacturer's website.]

Into the Dourstone Mines, Part 2

[The first installment can be found here.]

   It's been a few weeks since the last update on Our Heroes. The delay is caused by one of the player's continued absence due to military service. It's just one more sacrifice the military makes, friends, to safeguard us. But it sure puts a dampener on the roleplaying! So, I thought I would at least let you all know how the big battle turned out while we wait to move forward...

 

   Our Heroes consist of:

•  Wren, human male Warmage, 3rd level
• Xavier, human male Fighter, 3rd level (minor nobility)
• Sarmek, human male ranger, 3rd level
• Brother Tigh (nee Norman the Interchangeable), human male Cleric of Hieroneous (Order of the Sword)
• Wren's guard dog

   To re-set the scene, the party has been suckered into a trap in an underground temple dedicated to Hextor, the god of battle. Hextor is Heironeous's evil twin, and so Brother Tigh is ramped up to cleanse the place. The party is in an arena, facing greater numbers and almost certain death. Most of the enemy is on balconies above the arena, able to rain down spells and arrows. Things look bleak for the party...

 

   Sarmek begins sending shafts at the nearest tiefling archer on the balcony. Brother Tigh and Xavier charge the fanatic spearmen on the arena floor. Wren flings magic missiles about the room. The tieflings shoot back with their arrows, the zombie troglodytes sit still, the evil clerics begin casting spells. Their leader summons a fiendish ape on the arena floor and sends it after Xavier. One of his assistants casts Hold Person on Xavier at the same time, and he is paralyzed! Sarmek shoots another arrow at the tieflings, causing a critical hit and 30 points of damage! This slays the guard (who only had 5 left). Sadly, it could have taken out the fiendish summoned ape as well. Instead, the ape begins to shred Xavier. Brother Tigh takes up the attack against the ape, and Wren finishes off the fanatics with some help from his faithful mastiff.

 

 Sarmek continues to keep the tiefling archers busy ducking, because they shoot as if they were blind, ham-fisted schoolgirls, not deadly warriors of infernal origins! Meanwhile, the enemy clerics continue to cast spells on Our Heroes, causing fear, and bane upon them. One evil cleric, a male half-orc, is chugging potions like no one's business. Looks like a sorority girl getting ready for a 'date.' Once the foes on the ground level are taken care of, and a few healing potions and spells are used up, Brother Tigh notices that the large statue of Hextor in the center of the arena looks a bit poorly balanced (Spot check of 26!). With some aid from Sarmek, he manages to topple the vile thing over, and creates a treacherous but useable ramp up to the balcony level!

 

 Evil cleric lady sees this as a danger, and sends her zombie slaves (those big nasty troglodytes, remember?) out on the statue to deal with the riff-raff. Meantime, Wren pumps a pair of magic missiles into the half-orc, the tieflings keep missing the ground with their arrows, and Sarmek nails a broadhead into the half-orc as well. This deflates him rather thoroughly with a second critical hit, taking him off the board. Brother tigh calls upon the power of the Valiant Lord in this place of evil, and power courses through him, terrifying the zombies. Both of the remaining enemy clerics fail to recall the undead lizards to their duty (Holy crap! I can not roll dice tonight!). One tiefling manages to wing Wren, but rolls a miserable 3 points of damage. All of Our Heroes have now been scraped up pretty badly, and the dog has been saved from death not once, but twice, with first aid and potions.

 

 Xavier manages to get to the top of the ramp, and goes after the remaining tiefling archer, cutting him down quickly. The primary cleric of Hextor whirls his flail at his foes, and goes down fairly quickly as well, with everyone concentrating on him and ignoring the less competent female cleric. After the clerics are downed, the fighter carves up the zombies as they continue to cower in fear from the might of hieroneous.

 

   As the last of the unholy defenders of this shrine of evil fall, everyone except Brother Tigh freezes in place. A golden mist arises from the sands, and a sword archon appears out of it. The archon, a favored servant of Hieroneous, tells Brother Tigh that Heironeous is pleased with Our Heroes for destroying this vile nest in such a straight-forward and upright manner, and asks for Tigh's sword. He blesses the weapon (making it a +1 holy longsword) and returns it. He then fades out, and the mist recedes. When the mist is gone, no sign of Hextor remains, and the banners have all been transformed into Hieronean flags, the holy syumobls of Hextor are melted into slags, etc.. The statue crumbles to black dust.

 

   Loot -pardon me, treasure -  is pretty good, especially in the armor department. And the re-sellable weapons department. And several cure light wounds potions are located, and handed about. Once the group finishes clearing out this section of the mine, they can rest and probably level up. And that's where we leave them for now...

 

[You can catch more of the adventures of this group on my other blog, The Scattergun Gamer. Many thanks to Eli for letting me post here as well!]

Message On The Aethergraph Sir!

Mr. Womack of Victoria's Boys in Red and The Scattergun Gamer fame has anounced the release of issue #2 of his own personal labor of love - Aethergraph. If you do not know about it yet, Aethergraph is a Victorian Science Fiction fanzine being released as a series of free PDFs by J. It includes miniatures and other product reviews, homebrew troops and such for various VSF rules.

Issue #2 is bigger than #1 going up from 12 to 18 pages and includes some rules I cooked up modifying the basic sample rules for Aerofauna from the Aeronef rules from Wessex Games. It also include pictures of my beasties as seen on this very blog a couple years back. The issue is themed for aerial adventures and includes a bunch of fun.

J is always accepting submissions and suggestions so if you feel you have somethign to contribute - rules, scenarios, art, miniatures, etc - feel free to drop them into Aethergraph's very own email box at - aethergraph@gmail.com.

Check it out and enjoy!

And Now for Something Completely Different...

  Howdy all.

I know I don't post here too regularly - it's Eli's blog, after all. But I thought I would take a moment to abuse my posting privileges here and mention yet another new project that I am contemplating at the moment. Well, mroe than contemplating, as money has been spent on rules: Field of Glory: Renaissance!

Looking through the rules, reading some of the cooler features, and with some familiarity with FOG: Ancients and Medieval, I am looking forward to playing this. I also have the first Companion, titled Wars of Religion for the Thirty Years War, English Civil War, and other general 17th Century European mayhem. The period is interesting to me because of the tactics, and the uniforms, and it just seems kinda... cool.

Here's a photo of a Thirty Years' War game in progress. I think it's Lutzen. Colorful horse, big banners, pikes and shot mixed... oh yeah, daddy likey!

And I think I have the wife on board for a purchase of Old Glory 15mm figures for it, too. If the club gets an order together big enough for the army 40% discount...

-J





[Editor's Note: If you are not familiar with J's work check out his other blog's Victoria's Boys in Red and The Scattergun Gamer. He does some cool stuff on both of these.]

The Aethergraph Published at Last!

After a few delays, I have finally finished the first issue of an electronic fanzine for Victorian Science Fiction: The Aethergraph!


You can read and download the first issue in PDF form here: Aethergraph Vol. 1, Issue 1

Please let me know what you think! You can email comments, problems, submissions to me at aethergraph@gmail.com.

-J

Dralasite Fill-In Mini?

While cruising through the Reaper Miniatures website (what, you don't do that?) I found this gem:
http://www.reapermini.com/FigureFinder#detail/50129

Except for the height and mouth in the neck... looks like a Dralasite to me. Mark this one ordered as soon as I have some $.

Also posted on http://scattergungamer.blogspot.com/