Tuesday 27 December 2016

7TV2 - Escape From the Planet of the Aliens.


Robafett ran a quick game of 7TV2 with myself and Gary. This was effectively a test game to try out a three player scenario and the Alien and Predator cards from the 7TV Facebook page.

Essentially a small colony has come under attack from a strange Alien race and several colonists have been dragged off into the jungle. These Aliens have grown (in number and confidence) and have launched an all out 'snatch and grab' of civilians from the colony itself. The colonists have raised the alarm but are now in a complete state of panic and random groups run around the colony grounds in abject terror!

In the meantime, two Hunter (Predator) Aliens have been tracking the creatures above (maybe they were responsible for them being there in the first place?) and are currently watching the unfolding pandemonium, waiting for their moment.

Just as this is happening, the bruised and battered crew of the Liberated spaceship has recently arrived in the area. Hearing the colonists desperate plea for help, they decide to teleport down to the planet and try to rescue as many of them as possible.

The Aliens score VP's for every colonist they drag off the table alive but they cannot return.

The Predators score VP's for each Star or Co-Star they kill.

The Ships Crew score VP's for every colonist they teleport to safety.

Gary took on the Aliens, Robafett the Predators and I handled "The Seven". We each were able to perform an activation with a group or individual Colonist at the end of our turn.

The Cast:

The Seven (Ships Crew) - 


Brake (Star)
Avalon (Star)
Gam (Co-Star)
Callie (Co-Star)
Jen (Co-Star)
Vill (Co-Star)
RAC - Really Arsy Computer (Co-Star - Shipbound)

(RAC remains aboard the ship to teleport colonists but does not generate plot points)

The Predators - 


Predator #1
Predator #2

(Predators begin the game invisible and must use plot points to remain so)

The Aliens - 


Lead Alien
Aliens (Extras x6)

The Colonists - 


Several panic driven, hapless civilians.
Plus 5 more armed and confused colonists (see picture above with The Seven)

(A group of colonists, or an individual colonist, can be moved by each player at the end of their turn. The armed colonists may in fact shoot at anyone, including other colonists, due to their panicked state)

Location / Setting - 


A far off jungle planet with a small human colony.


The Game - 

Spread across the small colony, groups of terrified civilians gather together in their confusion...


Brake, Gam and Jen teleport in next to one group of the colonists. Brake and Gam approach the larger group whilst Jen peels off towards another skulking in a nearby doorway. As Jen moves forward, the colonist suddenly opens fire in panic but Jen dodges out of harms way!


Further up in the colony, strange noises and movements can be heard deep in the jungle. Another small group of civilians begin to run away from this...just as some terrible dark shapes emerge from the treeline.


Brake and Gam attempt to persuade some colonists to put on some odd looking bracelets - "this will take you to safety!"
But the colonists are too panicked at this point to trust anyone...and proceed to run away.


As quickly as the group to the north can move they stand no chance against these terrifying beasts...within moments they are all but surrounded...


In an odd twist of fate (and a bad continuity edit) one poor colonist who had been leading the group away, suddenly finds herself on top of the nearest building with the creatures practically on top of her!


As Jen recovers from the shot fired at her by the colonist, a large shimmering shape appears in the nearby undergrowth and deftly throw a star shaped weapon at her. Jen cries out in pain as this hits her in the arm.


Meanwhile Gam and Brake hand out spare teleporter bracelets to the cowering civilians.


Across the colony, three more shimmering forms appear as more concerned colonists look on...


...and Avalon, Vill and Callie join the adventure!


Distracted by screams and gunfire, several colonists make a bolt for it in a random direction.


Further north another colonist is knocked down and dragged away kicking and screaming.


Kelso Hodge, the colony head of security, hides by the side of one of the habitation pods...unaware of what is right behind him...


Jen runs from the Hunter and joins the others as Brake prepares several colonists to be teleported back to the ship by RAC.


But the first group of colonists are surrounded. After a huge explosion (caused by a malfunctioning piece of equipment) all lay unconscious and are easily carried away!


Another half seen form materialises on the top of a hab-pod...but this time it is another Hunter Alien! It unleashes a bolt at poor Jen, who is fortunate to dodge the shot!


Avalon, Vill and Callie attempt to coral a group of fleeing colonists but there seems to be no stopping this group as they run off in random directions.


Hodge realises there is something very close behind him...


...he lets off a shot but is too slow. The creature distracts him with its horrible jaws and pierces his back with its tail! Hodge was never seen again.


Jen and Gam hand out more teleport bracelets as Brake fires a shot at the briefly visible Hunter, hitting it!


But there is little to celebrate. The last colonist to the north is subdued by the aliens...


...and carried away with the rest to who knows what fate... (of course we all do know what fate...)


The Hunter Alien jumps from the roof of the hab-pod to attack Jen (again!) as the first one approaches from the rear, having dealt with the annoying armed colonist from earlier. It begins by shooting Brake in the back. A stray shot causes an explosion and three of the colonists clothing catches fire. Gam and Jen hurriedly put this out and RAC teleports them up.


At this point we ran out of time...

The Aliens were the clear winners as the Predators and Ships Crew spent most of their time occupying each other / chasing after fleeing colonists, leaving the Aliens to mop up the rest without too much interference.

As this was effectively only a test game we were mainly concerned with the playability of the characters, the scenario specific rules and the NPC colonists. All in all this worked out pretty well but the first thing we felt needed changing was how the VP's were awarded and what for. Most of all this was for the Predators, who we felt needed to be able to gain VP's for killing any Alien or armed Star or Co-Star and these needed to be to the value of the targets wounds.

Robafett will update and rewrite the scenario and no doubt provide a more in depth analysis on his blog but I look forward to playing this one again.

All figures and terrain by Robafett.

Sunday 6 November 2016

The Walking Dead: All Out War 'Unboxing'.


I decided to back the Mantic Games Walking Dead: All Out War Kickstarter. This is a very pic heavy 'unboxing' of what is contained within the 'Kickstarter Edition' boxed set.

The game is based in the world of the Walking Dead comic series as opposed to the TV series.

From the publishers website -

"All Out War is a game of fast-paced, head-to-head skirmishes in the world of the Walking Dead. Assemble a group of your favorite characters from best-selling comic series, kit them out with a variety of weapons, items and abilities, and battle to achieve dominance in the Walker-strewn Atlanta cityscape. Experience first-hand the desperate struggle for survival faced by Rick and his companions as you negotiate constant threats from both the living and the dead. This is gaming as it should be – fast, furious and fun!"

So, what do you get...

Top level of the set - the majority of the figures.


Second level - more figures, dice, cards etc plus some very nice terrain bits and pieces such as cars, loot piles and barricades.


The entire set laid out - at the bottom of the box are two large 'gaming mats' and the rules / scenario booklets. A handy dice bag is also included! On the flipside of one of the maps is a 'collectors guide' with photos of the 'wave 1' and 'wave 2' miniatures.



The Collectors Guide sheet in all its glory.


Some gratuitous shots of the fabulous miniatures...nuff said.







 One of my favourites in the set - Shane!


 And the obligatory (spoiler) 'zombie Shane'.


 A nice touch is the 'Bag of Guns' and the Rick Grimes Sheriffs badge initiative token.


The cars, cards, dice etc.



All in all this is a lovely looking game...I still have several bits to come but so far really impressed by the overall quality of the whole thing. The miniatures are particularly nice and to be honest the main reason I invested in the game. There is a nice scenario booklet but unfortunately I have not recieved all the figures for them yet! There is a gamut of rules on the market at the moment but I will try these out. Ultimately though I still think ATZ will remain the best rules for the genre.

Now I need to paint the bloomin' things...

Monday 17 October 2016

7TV - The Cast (pt.2)


Some more pictures of my growing 7TV cast.

First up, some 'Doctor Who'...











Armed civilians...


Cultists...


Tong...


"JB" and the local law enforcement...


Acolytes and sifu of "The Glowing Fist"...


Legendary Heroes...


Yakuza...


Chinese Demons...


Bolo...


Meifeng...


Daughters of Shiva...


Modern witches...



"Slade" the Cyborg and Doctor Smith...


Jane...


Lucas...


The Soul Section...


Doctor Jonas...


Junior Doctor Hunt...


"Who ya gonna call?"


The Gatekeeper. The Key. The Slimer.


The Mystery Machine...


The King...


The Pauper...


The Doc and Marty...


Madame Zazora...


The Vampire, the Slayer and the Witch...


She thought he was dead...


Multipass...


Time to cook...


Number 6...


He only has 14 hours to save the Earth...


Nanoo, nanoo...


Harley Babb and her cameraman...


WKKM News Network crew...


Hard working citizens...


The Student Body...


Roving reporter Aaron Goff of the Norfolk Beacon...


The First Contact Rapid Response Team...


Albion Rocket Consortium crewmembers...


Blakey...


Ulysses Argo...


The Sinister Dr. Fang Cheng...


Atticus Finn...


Alex and his Droogs...


The Avenger...


D.I. Skully...


The Big Boss...


The assassin "Lazyeye"...


Friends of the Cabinet Minister...


Randolph, Nell and Peter...


The Secret Agent Man...



In excess of another 170 figures! Crikey. Maybe its time to consider another project?




Figures are from various companies including Crooked Dice, Hasslefree, Copplestone, Artizan, Black Cat Bases, Lucid Eye, Statuesque, Khurasan, Reaper, Heresy, Black Tree, Foundry, Miniature Mojo, Pulp, Moonraker, Bombshell, Nexus, Northstar, "What The?" and Magister Militum. (phew!)

Figures painted by Matt Slade, Robafett and myself.