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Post by kiladecus on Sept 8, 2011 4:30:47 GMT -9
Well, in case anyone has been following my progress on my game, THE ERA OF WAR!, I am in the playtesting stages. After this, who knows what will happen, maybe a rulebook, figures... and then it will sit on my shelf for 3 years... Well, I am so excited about trying out every aspect of this game... every troop choice, vehicle, even weapon... Well, it wouldn't be hard to do this with plastic figures and such, but since this is a cardboard site, I thought I would go to the people who live this stuff! Using models and miniatures here, I asked for permission to use certain people's work for my playtesting. I wanted to show how the same images that we see posted here on a daily basis could be implemented in a game. Afterall, inst that why we are doing this stuff? Some of the figures here are ones that you can get as a free download while others are sets that can be purchased at one or the following sites: RPGNow.comGameVault.com PaperMakeiT.comIf there is any that I missed, please let me know. I could have FILLED the table with OneMonk miniatures, but I didn't know if I would need to ask Jim, Nik or Aaron, so I opted to go THIS route! Likewise, since this is in the playtesting stages, I couldn't have possibly designed my own things and playtested it in a reasonable amount of time. The artists that have given me the go-ahead to use their work are (in no particular order): OKUMARTS ( Retro Space Set 2: The Imperiax; Serene Fist Set 3: Ninja vs. Samaurai 2) ADAM SOUZA ( M.A.D. drones; Cyclops Robots) SQUIRMYDAD ( Recon Hover; Type 89 Recon Vehicle - JGSDF version alpha) JOSE DOMINGEZ (To be announced) REIVAJ ( AT-286 Robots; Thri-Kreen Warriors Set One) TOMMYGUN ( ABC Warrior Set One and Two) ... and some of my own things I did. EVERY BASE is a OneMonk base designed by Big Jim, and all of the terrain and my models were all designed by me using SHUFFLER available at PaperMakeiT.com. Ok! I think that includes all of the credits for the WONDERFUL artist's work. I still have over 80 figures to cut out and point up. Once this is all done, I will have to take some time to playtest it, and will document every step as to let the reader know what is happening and what the outcome was. Some other artists work that may sneak in here: MEL EBBLES ( ebblesminiatures.com), TOPO ( toposolitario.com), DAVE GRAFFAM, and GLENN WILLIAMS ( fingerandtoe.com). Just because I am not using their specific pieces doesn't mean some aspect of their work will not be seen! Ok! So much for the reference section! I will be adding one last piece of information to these cards and possibly to the post. I will add the artist's initials to the name of their work for further reference. Should I choose to use my BLITZPANZER, then you will see the name appear like so: BLITZPANZER (JH,CR,GW,MH,DW). That will indicate that Big Jim, Mel Ebbles, Glenn Williams, TOPO, and I all contributed pieces that went into building it (in this case, I was the one that kit-bashed it all together). MOST pieces will have a single set of initals... the only ones that would require more is if it were an item like the Observatory that Dave Graffam and Tommygun did together, and then it would have a (DG,TW) behind it. Ok. If you took the time to read this list of credits and acknowledgements, thank you! I can assure you future posts will be more entertaining! One last note: I don't know Reivaj's last name, so I will simply label his stuff with a "J." If I forgot anyone, please let me know. I am more like a mad-scientist everyday, and my mind is more like a steel sieve, and less of a steel trap! Thanks for your attention and support!
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Post by kiladecus on Sept 8, 2011 6:45:12 GMT -9
Since I post on my phone, I can't put on links to individual models or web sites of the artists.
So, any of the above individuals that wish to post their links here for the models or figures listed above, please feel free to post those here, so if anyone interested in purchasing or downloading them can find them easily.
Thanks again for all of your help in getting this off the ground.
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Post by nikloveland on Sept 8, 2011 8:30:18 GMT -9
I think it's great to show off other's artistic work! I hope you don't think it too presumptuous of me but I've added links to most of the artists in you post since you mentioned you'd like to do that (and since I can ;D). As an aside, do you seriously type out all your posts on a PHONE! I didn't know if I would need to ask Jim, Nik or Aaron, so I opted to go THIS route! Likewise, since this is in the playtesting stages, I couldn't have possibly designed my own things and playtested it in a reasonable amount of time. We (Sanity Studios a.k.a. Labrat and I) own the copyright on Jim's stuff relating to One Monk so you'd be asking us. I also like how you grabbed a bunch of different people's work. So don't feel obligated to use One Monk stuff (unless you want to of course) but your welcome to take build/playtest pictures to your hearts content (and include said pictures in your projects). I would however like to give Jim the credit as the artist if you do. I'm actually in a similar boat since I need to get permission to include build pictures of paper models in the second edition of Bellicose. Keep up the good work! P.S. If I didn't link to the right things, just let me know.
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Post by kiladecus on Sept 8, 2011 8:56:40 GMT -9
Wow! . Thank you, Nik! Yeah... I post these big stupid and even boring post on my phone! I really have limited access to the internet and only use it to download my figures and models. ...LOOOONNNGGGG story! I appreciate your help in this capacity. If I understand you correctly, you said I CAN use OneMonks miniatures? Ok... looks like I will be posting my FAVORITE miniature/ model giving BIG JIM and Nikloveland the proper credit (because Nik did the fold-over pieces for it)!
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Post by nikloveland on Sept 8, 2011 9:31:36 GMT -9
Actually... that one was one Jim didn't want credit for (hence no attribution in the PDF). He was worried about the fan boys giving him flack. You can still go ahead and use it but probably just leave it uncredited.
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Post by kiladecus on Sept 8, 2011 14:48:34 GMT -9
Might just as well leave it out. Once I post the pictures that will be the ONE figure everyone wants. Every post will be, "what is THAT! I WANT ONE!" Ok. He will stay locked away with 237 other paper models that won't see the light of day with this playtest (but that doesn't mean he won't claw through enemy forces OFF the site!
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Post by kiladecus on Sept 17, 2011 14:04:23 GMT -9
While I am waiting on Ken to wrap up his Dwarves, my focus is shifting back to ERA OF WAR!
I am still building the minis, and should have two AWESOME armies for the first "real" playtest.
I am aiming for 750+ point armies... a few squads of each type per side.
It should prove interesting... ;D
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Post by kiladecus on Sept 19, 2011 11:27:37 GMT -9
Well, I have been spreading myself VERY thin the last few weeks.
Good news is I am getting the internet installed at the house tomorrow. That means less posting from my phone (which I am about 100% now via my phone).
I have been building figures preparing for my playtesting. I planned on having a handful (looking at 4) factions to start out, and shooting for 750 points each.
I pointed up my NARCOSSIAN DOMINION and it weighs in at 850 points.
It features figures from:
Tommygun Adam Souza Reivaj And me.
It is a pretty awesome assortment. If this looks like it will be working, I may have to "rust" up the M.A.D.s a bit to make them blend in with the ABC Warriors.
Look for a better explaination and pictures.
Pointing things up shouldn't be as difficult as I am making it. WARDAGGER will be easier when I do it. There are fewer weapon choices, and instead of having the weapons themselves have built-in bonuses and "special rules," these will be inherit racial abilities for the forces.
Please stay tuned for more info...
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Post by kiladecus on Sept 19, 2011 16:12:22 GMT -9
I pointed up some of Dave Okum's IMPERIAX troopers.
I have basic troopers, an squad of elite troopers, and a command squad. I also used mh hover sled and my Vampire Bat. I am sitting at 340 points for them. To make it a "legal" army, I have to add another squad of base troopers (because you can have one elite, fast assault and heavy support for each base troop choice).
That is about half of what I need. I may have to allow them to combine forces with Reivaj's Thri-Kreen army.
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Post by kiladecus on Sept 19, 2011 16:20:13 GMT -9
Here are the cards for the Imperiax forces. They are following the same restictions as the Cier Empire. This is why I asked the artists for their permission the show their artwork. Figures are one thing, using their images on my cards are something else. Attachments:
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Post by kiladecus on Sept 19, 2011 16:34:13 GMT -9
I am still pointing up the Thri-Kreen that Reivaj drew up. I am looking at two base troops and a command squad with the Hive Champion as a second elite squad (single figure). As it stands they are at 370. With the Imperiax forces of 340, that will give me 710. I need to add more forces... once I do the second squad of base troops for the Imperiax, I can round out their force with a hover sled, and possibly the Hergo hover tank. This actually could be a legal army, because the Cier Empire use CONSCRIPTS, basically slaves forced to fight for their overlords. If they survive they are then released... if they die then no big loss. That would explain why they weren't given any weapons other than the longbows, shuriken and Kriven Blades (as I call them. Part Kriss Sword and part Haladie). Ok... I was also thinking about making some fast attack vehicles, but I am liking this idea better yet. Btw, one of my most interesting ideas was my Thri-Kreen Shaman. He's the Standard Bearer without the banner... just the cross. He is the healer for this army. The Narcossian Dominion has Adam Souza's M.A.D. unit with the extension arm. He has repair, which is "healing" for mechanical units.
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Post by kiladecus on Sept 20, 2011 15:30:24 GMT -9
Ok... GREAT news tonight.
I am almost done making the figures up for the BIG playtest.
This will determine if things like HEALING/REPAIR are viable at this scale of gaming.
I am DOUBLY excited because I downloaded KEN's Dwarves and Orcs tonight. That means once I finish with the figures for ERA OF WAR, then I get to move onto the WARDAGGER playtest.
This is ALL good news. I wish I could have gotten to this sooner, but there are pesky little things like REAL LIFE that tends to slow one down... then trying to submit something for the Horde... which I got the internet installed today so I can now send files and not just pictures... FINALLY!
It's been a great day! ;D
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Post by kiladecus on Sept 22, 2011 0:48:53 GMT -9
Well, I am planning on the big playtest today. I may need some more models and I may beef up the forces a bit.
It is difficult to work everything in.
I may try to post pictures of each major event. I was thinking about doing it step by step, so readers can follow along and watch the game unfold. That could be informative, but boring. I don't want it to be the public television of the gaming community...
My first game will be the Narcossian Dominion against the K'Vyk (Dave Okum's Imperiax) army.
So far, a lot about this game has changed, and each minor change has blended the mechanics very smoothly.
I wanted a game that would be smooth and quick, but still leave you satisfied that you played a fun and bloody battle.
Being a huge fan of different wargames, I feel this one offers something for everyone. It is kind of cool to see this come together. It is almost like Okumarts and Reivaj are taking on Tommygun and Adam Souza in a partners game.
Who will be victorious? Stay tuned to find out...
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Post by kiladecus on Sept 26, 2011 9:15:05 GMT -9
Ok... after a year of planning, I did an ACTUAL playtest!
It was kind of like having Adam, Tommy, Javier, and Dave over to play (since it was their figures I was using). Sure, I used some of my own figures, and EVERY model and EVERY piece of terrain was all made by me. (Even the counters and dice)!
I took maybe 200 pictures so I won't go into step by step, but will will post some to show you how it is played out...
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Post by kiladecus on Sept 26, 2011 9:21:35 GMT -9
Here is the K'Vyk Army. I used Okumarts' Imperiax warriors, and Reivaj's Thri-Kreen Archers and Warriors. For Support, they had a Hover Sled, Vampire Bat, and my K'Vyk War Walker. Their force total was 845 points and had roughly 32 units. Attachments:
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Post by gilius on Sept 26, 2011 9:22:03 GMT -9
I took maybe 200 pictures so I won't go into step by step, but will will post some to show you how it is played out... Enough teasing!
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Post by kiladecus on Sept 26, 2011 9:31:40 GMT -9
The opposing trrops were the Narcossian Dominion. A force of killer robots bend on galactic conquest. Led by their robot general, their forces totalled 850 points. The rule is when building your army, you can't go one point over. I had to change some units around to fit everything, and I was dissappointed to not use any of Squirmydad's models in this playtest (but fear not, there shall be more). This army featured Adam Souza's M.A.D. units, Reivaj's AT-286 (which ironically only engaged two enemy units, one of which were his Thri-Kreen Archers), my Skeletrons and a few squads of TommyGun's ABC Warriors and Hemmerstien (can't touch this... sorry, I can't help myself). Their support was the Thor Assault Vechicle, and Tommygun's heavy support ABC's. Attachments:
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Post by kiladecus on Sept 26, 2011 9:41:40 GMT -9
As it began, the Narcossian army won initiative. I rolled one die, and that established which units go first. With every die roll, two types of units are randomly chosen to be activated. ALL units of the selected types are activated in any order. As in this case, the Pink (Heavy Assault) and Green (Base Troops) were acticated. The AT-286's and the Skeletrons moved in (moving their full speed instead of firing their weapons). For Heavy Assault, Tommygun's Assult Squads moved in at half-speed, and each of the two squads fired off a nuclear missile. Their target was the War Walker. (The blast template is from Ebblesminiatures). The roll was a two (miss, needed a 5+ to hit at long range... 29") and it deviated. Since the roll was "2" you move the blast template two inches in the direction of the arrow... so, a "miss" still scored a "hit" because the Walker was still under the template. Attachments:
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Post by kiladecus on Sept 26, 2011 9:48:49 GMT -9
The walker rolled a "4" for its defense (it needed to roll a 2+ to withstand the blast).
The next Support squad fired its nuke, and it missed, too. Deviating 1" in front of the walker and affecting the Imperiax troops standing in fron of it. They all managed to save from the blast.
It was now the Imperiax/Thri-Kreen side.
They unleashed their Base Troops and their Elite Squads. They basically were out of range, so the Imperiax troops hid... I mean, made use of the bunker's cover, while the T-K's darted into the fray.
(Will add more as time allows).
That was the end of the first round.
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Post by kiladecus on Sept 26, 2011 11:37:43 GMT -9
IGillius, if you think I was teasing abot 200 pictures, I am dead seious (it was 217, actually). I documented every dice roll and every movement... I am a little anal that way. The second turn happened about the same. The Narcossians won initiative again. Must have very detailed tactics programs installed in their circuits. They finally got a hit on the Walker, and one Thri-Kreen Archer was eliminated as the robots advanced. The Imperiax soldiers had their base troops and Fast Assault activated. They advanced with the foot soldiers and the "bugs" and the "Blue-Boys" closed into range and tried to find cover. The Vampire bat swooped in dropping a couple of the 'bots. The Hover Sled moved in to provide cover for the troops below. Attachments:
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Post by kiladecus on Sept 26, 2011 15:44:17 GMT -9
As the battle raged on, the Skeletrons charged the Thri-Kreen blademasters. The warriors defended well, but the laser-tipped blades of the Skeletron's powersabres cut down one of the giant warriors. Attachments:
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Post by kiladecus on Sept 26, 2011 16:15:04 GMT -9
At the same time the Skeletrons were closing in for the kill, the AT-286 Squad was setting their sights on th T-K Archers. They wiped out all but one of them with their assault cannons... Attachments:
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Post by kiladecus on Oct 3, 2011 14:25:40 GMT -9
Well, the first playtest was a HUGE success. ;D
I realized a lot of things that I hoped would work DID, and there were some unforeseen concerns.
One of the rules that I ironed out was EVERY squad will have FIVE, THREE or ONE unit in it (giving it three or five wounds, respectively).
The BASE (green) units will be the ONLY squads with 5 units. It is very balanced, but having larger Veteran Squads spiked the point cost. You could easily tie up most of your army total in a couple of these squads.
For example, Tommygun designed his ABC Warriors directly off the comic book (or "Graphic Novel" if you prefer), and well... although they have three "pistols" on each hand, this made a squad of 5 of them cost 340 points (that was over 1/3 of the army total).
Another issue with having five in one of these squads was the fact that 5 ABC Warriors with 3 "pistols" on each hand (I pointed them up as sub-machineguns, because that is what they looked like in the Judge Dredd movie), and two sets of these on EACH model gave the squad a total of THIRTY of these (5 troopers with a set of 6 SMG's). Now, if the soldiers moved and then fired their guns, you would need to roll 30 dice (one for each shot)... that is bad enough, but since they are listed as "pistols" then if the troopers didn't move, they would get to fire ALL of their weapons TWICE... that is 60 dice being tossed at once.
Well, nothing wrong with the concept, or Tommygun's artwork. If anything, it was a game design flaw. Since I pointed them up as SMG's, every result of a "6" would give one extra "hit." Needless to say, even if 1/3 of the shots hit, and 1/4th of those were a "6," you would still be looking at 25 "hits" that would need to be saved. If you had an Armor Save of 2+ (meaning anything but a "1" would save), the sheer odds alone would drop ANYTHING with 3 or less wounds.
That was the case of the Vampire Bat. The ABC Warriors opened up on it at Medium Range, and hadn't moved. they rolled their 60 dice (shots) and even with the Shield Generators, still managed to drop it like a rock.
Speaking of Shield Generators, an interesting fact emerged. With the Blast Template for Artillery, you target a spot on the battlefield, NOT a model. This was very beneficial for units (like Adam Souza's M.A.D.s) that have shield generators. The blast template either hits its intended target, or deviates to another spot within 4" of the target. This was a good counter-balance for the generators.
Just a quick update.
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Post by okumarts on Oct 3, 2011 18:40:03 GMT -9
Very cool. I have been playtesting as well this weekend. I really liked seeing the photos to go along with the game. It looks great. I haven't built the Imperiax with the green capes. They look pretty cool.
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Post by kiladecus on Oct 4, 2011 12:39:55 GMT -9
HE-LLOOO... You drew them, OF COURSE they look cool! I have 4 color codes for each type of troops... the Basc troops (a.k.a. "fodder") are designated with "green" so that was a natural choice. I ran these guys in squads of SIX, and I have got to cut these back to five. The good thing about these guys in squads of 5 is I only need to make a few more, and I will have another squad! You drew the "sergeant's" (at least that is what I viewed them as) with a sabre, and that was a good way to have them stand out. The red is more of a "regal" color, and the command and elite (honor guard) have red. If I divide the Thri-Kreen and the Imperiax armies into two different armies (which I love the fact that they are an "overlord/ Conscript symbiotic race"), then I can sneak other colors into the mix. Now that Reivaj has released ANOTHER set of Archers (Aquero), then that makes if a little more tempting... I am still thinking that there has to be an easier way to do the cards. I want the figures to have the weaponry that they figure has (I am BIG on WYSIWYG ("What You See Is What You Get") and I hate playing games where someone has figures carrying pistols, and they say they are carrying Heavy Destructomatics... I actually was playing in a LAWHAMMER tournament one time, and the guy's figures had NO ARMS! He said, "They are carrying *this and that* and one has a Heavy *blah, blah, blah...*" I asked him which one had that, and he said it didn't matter.... I was carrying a flame-thrower in my squad, and funny... I NEVER seemed to hit his heavy weapons officer NOR his commander with all of the heavy equipment... Go figure... (Ok, I am done venting....) I really enjoy the figures I am using... and the models, etc.! My goal is to have 10 armies, and LOTS of options for each. That WILL happen... if I EVER find time to do it all.
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