GS Delves: The preparation continues

More progress has been made with the Delves project. Some of which are the needed models for the opening campaign. Below are a few I have finished excluding the bases.

The first up is the Bone Dragon. This model is from the Descent board game by Fantasy Flight Games. The board game has many different fantasy monsters which made it easy to choose them for Delves.

I painting this models in two settings. He was based with GW Space Wolf Grey for a slight blue pigment. I then used GW Asurmen Blue wash and let him dry over night. This was followed by a dry brushing of GW Rotten Flesh to a slight dry brush of GW Bleached Bone. Once this was done I did another wash with GW Devlan Mud. The eyes are GW Red Gore with a dot of GW Blazing Orange. 

After painting the model I created the stats for the Bone Dragon. Using the rules for monster creation from the Delves rule set I was able to come up with the following.

Bone Dragon (120 pts): A terrifying visage of undead strength.

[Monster, Undead] 5D, Str=6D, Def=5D, Tough=8D, Init=11

Mv=8, HP=15, Primary ATT & DAM: 6D/7D  

Alignment: E

Size: VL 

Fate: () () ()

Attributes & Powers: Breath Weapon Large Cone 6D Damage, Flying, Armor:Medium, Dark Vision, Severe Damage, Tail Attack, Terrifying Aura:TN4, Vigor +1, Large Target, Deadly +1D, Fated 1.

Drive: Cruelty

Reward Level: +4D

The next model was the Giant. Again another easy model to choose from Descent. 

This model took a little more time. The hair was dry brushed from GW Chaos Black to a gradual mix of GW Skull white. The Skin was based with P3 Khardic Flesh, layered to GW Dwarf Flesh. Then highlighted to GW Elf Flesh. The pants were done with GW Charadon Granite and layered with a mix of GW Bleached Bone. P3 Bloodtracker Brown was used to base the club handle. Followed by  a layer of P3 Gun Corps to P3 Rucksack.  The club wraps and eyes were done with GW Scab Red with GW Blood Red highlight. After this the entire model was covered with GW Devlan Mud to give the grimy, dirty look I was going for.

I did not need to create the stats for the Giant as they were already included in the bestiary within the Delves rule set.



Having already painted the earth elemental I needed to create stats for it. Again using the monster creation rules from Delves I was able to generate them quite easily.     

Earth Elemental (60 pts): The ground itself formed into a force of power. 

[Monster] 4D, Str=7D, Def=5D, Tough=7D, Init=9 

Mv=7, HP=10, Primary ATT & DAM: 5D/7D 

Alignment: N 

Size: L 

Attributes & Powers: Borrowing, Hideous Strength +2D, Armor Heavy, Sharp Sense +1D, Melee Attack +1D ATT, Slow 

Drive: Thrall

Reward Level: +2D

Finally I started work on the last of the forest templates made from mdf.

Each template has the sand and bark (used as rocks) attached that has been primed black. The other area has been painted white which will be covered in snow flock. 

I am hoping to finish these templates tonight and will add a finished pic to this post.

As always thanks for reading,

Tenz

Chaos in Carpathia

Another game I enjoy to play is Chaos in Carpathia . This game is a Goal System game similar to Delves and fits the Adventure Gaming genre. Its was created by Scott Pyle, who is also creating Delves which I have mentioned in previous posts. The guy has some great talent and scored big in my books with these two games.

The game is kind of a Victorian, Gothic horror setting. The point of the game is to pit war bands against each other to fight over objectives and scenarios. The war bands consist of your different monster squads, (i.e.Nosferatu, Were Wolves, Mad Doctor and Frankenstein, just to name a few) and human war bands. (i.e. Brotherhood, Gypsies, Hungarian Monster Hunters)

Members of my Gypsy war band

The game is based on point system for war band creation. Usually for our games we set a limit to 350 points. This is usually enough for 6-14 models depending on the war band you are playing. (i.e. Werewolves are more expensive and can easily be played with 5-6 models, where as Gypsies would need 10-12) We find this score to be perfect for our play style. Depending on how much chatting and goofing around we are doing, it should be easy to have a game completed within 90 minutes. This works out great as Jason and I have a number of war bands each and get enough time in an evening to play thru a number on them. 

 Part of the Gypsy war band

To play Chaos in Carpathia to its fullest potential, we found that a lot of terrain is needed. This really adds to the fun factor and dynamics of the game. Rather then have a "smash up derby" of sorts that models just meet up to fight. The terrain really helps with putting the focus more on strategy and objectives. Here is a shot of a Jason's table.

 As you can see, an amazing table. 

The other  focus for terrain is you have the ability to enter each building via windows or doors. Once inside you can explore or even attack in and out of windows and doors. Having the terrain to do this really adds to the games fun factor. Jason created some internal templates for each of his buildings. Which also gave him the ability to do multilevel buildings if needed.

Some internal templates for Jason's buildings

I had hoped to get our first game of Delves in this weekend but I am not quite finished all my projects. Rather then run the game with half finished models and terrain I figured I would hold out a little while and finish off what is needed. To fill the gap Jason and I may have a game of Chaos in Carpathia. If we are able to swing it I'll provide an update on how the game went. 

If you would like to know more about the game feel free to check out this link. It is a video of a battle rep. between Jason's Hungarian Monster hunters and my Nosferatu. The video is a little lengthy but gives you a great breakdown on how the game is played. 

You can also check out Geektactica for numerous gaming resources as well as the creators at Four Color Studios.

Thanks for reading,

Tenz

Delving Deeper: Progress update

During my free time I have been steadily working and preparing for the opening game of Delves. I have made progress on the project and wanted to offer an update of what I have accomplished thus far.

In my first Goal System: Delves post I unveiled the waterfall and frozen river system. I am happy to say I have completed that project and am quite pleased with the outcome.

This is a section of the river before the final touch ups.

The same section after some highlighting and flock. 

Its amazing how the small details can make your models/terrain really pop.

The waterfall before highlighting, flock and Mod Podge

I was quite happy with this piece. For the texture for the white water I used your everyday plaster. 

It was quite simple and easy. Texture the surface the way you wanted it and let it set over night. 

Paint it and then apply the Mod Podge. The only thing I may change is applying the sand all around the base, rather then the white flock. I may do more white dry brushing to bring out the white water effect, but I am still pleased with the outcome.

While on vacation I was at the local discount store and came across this piece in the pet section. As soon as I seen it I knew it had potential. Two dollars later I had the terrain piece I would use for the entry way into the underground cavern for my Delves adventure. I primed and painted it up to what you see below.

With only a few pieces of terrain left to complete I started in on some of the models I would need for the adventure. And what fantasy adventure would be complete with out the undead! Specifically Skeletons!

The model with the scythe is from the old HeroQuest game and the other is from Darkworld. I went with a rather basic paint scheme as I wanted them to be quick and easy. I used GW Rotten Flesh as the base with a blue wash on the HQ skeleton and Devlan Mud on the DW skeleton. This was followed a layer of Rotten Flesh dry brushed. I went with a blue tint for some of the models as I thought it would fit the frozen genre. I still have the bases to finish but am planning on doing all the models the same time.

I plan on using this guy as a Mud/Earth Elemental. You can't really run an adventure with a magic using baddie and not have one of these around for him/her to summon. The model is from a Descent Expansion put out by Fantasy Flight Games. I primed this guy up and dry brushed from the P3 paint line. I started with Blood Tracker brown, then on to Gun Corps Brown to mix with Rucksack Tan. Then a full mix of Rucksack Tan to a mix of GW Bleached Bone. The stalagmite ends are GW Charadon Granite base with a layer mix with GW Bleached Bone. Again with so much to do I decided to go the quick route, but I was happy with the outcome.

I also painted up this model with a similar formula but wasn't really happy with the final product. I may revisit him later if I decide he is needed. This model is from the Fantasy Flight, World of Warcraft board game.

Here is a shot of what the final table will resemble. I still have more tree templates to finish, a few jagged hills and small castle building I am working on. But the progress has been steady which I am happy with.

I plan on switching gears a little for the next post and give you all some exposure of other games I have been playing and enjoying.

Until next time thanks for reading,

Tenz

Goal System Delves: Scratching the Surface

Last night Jason dropped over to the house for an evening of geeking and we decided to do a test run of an encounter for Goal System Delves.

The first item on the agenda was to create a character. I decided to have Jason create two characters where it was just the both of us.

The first character was a Human Wild Slayer.

One thing we found with the character creation is that it was simple and easy. Most everything is based around your class and race which determines your skills and abilities. When you choose a class (i.e. Fighter) you have to choose a subtype of that class to flesh out your character. Jason choose the Wild Slayer. As you may have guessed with the chosen class come special abilities and powers, which are listed on his character sheet. You will notice on the character sheet fighter is listed under the traits. This trait is called a "Class trait" which would be used to overcome certain adventure challenges, hazards, attack, etc.

Everyone starts with a standard 4D (4 six-sided dice) in each trait. Your trait scores are mostly modified by equipment, which is reflected above. For those who chose a race with a favored class, your class trait would increase by 1. Because Jason choose to be human, any class is a favored class, which is why he has 5D in his class trait (Fighter). 

We opt'd to use the role play traits which allowed the player to have an added edge in a specific area outside of an encounter. Jason's Wild Slayer chose intimidation which he felt suited his character.

For his second character, Jason rounded out the group with a Elvish Bard.

The creation of this character was much the same as the Wild Slayer but a few small differences. Now that he chose a race outside the norm, he would reap the advantages and disadvantages of said race. This is turn was reflected by modifications to his traits. Due to being an Elf he received a +1D defense for being abnormally agile and a -1D to toughness for having a lower constitution. He would also gain a +1D to his class trait as Mage is a favored class for Elves. He then opt'd to take Lore:Magic as his role play trait.

Now that the characters were out of the way we decided to get this bad boy started. With only two characters we figured it would be easier to deploy and underground passage that would be revealed as the characters explore. As this was a "last minute" decision to play we grabbed two of my West Wind models to represent each character.

Right off the bat Jason decided to head his Bard (Dancing Gypsy lady) to the wizards table. I then had him make an Adventure Challenge and classified it as Arcane. I then referenced the Adventure Challenges Master Table to find the TN number he would need to roll, which is 3. What I mean by this is Jason would need to roll 3 goals on his 5 dice to successfully pass that challenge and see what secrets the tome holds. He proceeded to roll only getting , one 4 and one 5. (In goal system a 4+ on a D6 is one goal and a 6 would grant you two goals.) 

Jason then proceeded to head east with his Wild Slayer leading the exploration. Upon taking the turn he noticed Skeletal Champion coming out of the darkness. The initiative was then rolled. This is done by rolling 2D6 and adding it to your Initiative Score. You Initiative Score is determine by adding your class and defense trait together.(You don't add modification for equipment).

 The Bard went first and used his Magical Songs power. This allowed him to buff himself and the Wild Slayer. The first melee combat was about to ensue. The Skeletal Champion charged the human. Due to charging the skeleton was able to add +2D to his attack which increased his chance of hitting. When you attack in Delves you roll your class trait if you are the attacker and roll your defense if you are the defender. If you as the attacker roll more goals then the defender then you have scored a hit. The skeleton rolled 2 goals, but the Wild Slayer was able to defend the rush with 4 goals being rolled.

The fight continued with the Wild Slayer bringing down the great axe on the undead champion. Jason rolled 6D for his attack. He had a class trait of 5D but because the bard was aiding in combat he received an additional +1D. Jason scored 5 goals to my 2 goals. The Slayer hit its mark! Now that Jason hit the undead skeleton he had to roll to determine the damage caused. When determining the damage you roll your Strength trait plus any weapon modifiers (+2D for Great Axe) and the number of goals you bested the target by. In this case it would be +3D. This gave him a total of 9D vs my toughness of 5D. Jason rolled and got 10 goals, and I rolled 4 for the skeleton. His attack caused 6 damage to the Skeletal Champion's hp, which was enough to kill the undead horror.

After the battle the party continued to explore finding another skeletal champion and dispatching it. The bard then stumbled upon a tomb in the winding tunnels and choose to to take a closer look. For this challenge of choose the Dungeon type from the Adventures Challenges Master Table. The TN level for the Mage was 5 as its is more difficult for mage to discern traps and what not. Jason rolled his class trait only getting 3 goals failing his attempt.

This in turn set off the trap releasing the Wight to attack the Bard. Initiative was then rolled. The wight  moved and used his Energy Drain power on the Bard. The Wight rolled his class trait of 5D vs the Bard's defense of 5D. The Wight scored 5 goals to the Bard's 2 goals. The energy drain was successful giving the Bard a -1D to all traits and move.

The battle continued with the Wild Slayer charging over at the Wight. This would be a big move as the Human would get +2D for the charge and another +1 for the friend aiding in combat. For a grand total of 8D. The Wild Slayer would attack and beat the Wight by 3 goals. This would give him a damage total of 6D for Strength, +3D for the extra goals gained from the attack, +2D for the special Wild Slayer Ability called Furious Charge for a total of 11D. The dice were rolled. Jason scored 11 goals to my 3 goals doing 8 damage to my hit points. This would be enough to kill the wight but he has 3 fate points. I decide I will use 2 fate points to negate the damage and the combat continues on. (Each player character start with 3 fate which they can use for different things such as the above mentioned. Creatures, if they have fate would have it listed in their profile.)

The combat would continue on, with the Wild Slayer taking a few big hits but was able to stay alive long enough to take down the Wight.

All in all it was good time. I didn't use all the creature powers as I am still a little green with the system.  We did find that revealing the map as we go slowed the game down a little. For the next dry run we plan on having the board deployed before hand with all baddies on the table.

I am still working on terrain and models for the opening adventure and hoping to have everything in order for next Saturday. I am aiming to provide a sneak peak of whats to come, so stay tuned!


Thanks for reading,


Tenz

Clash at the Forzen River

With a free evening in my schedule Ken dropped over for a game of Hordes. This also gave me the chance to try out some of my new terrain I created for Delves and I get the chance to admire Ken's models. He truly has a gift for this hobby. His paint jobs are amazing! 

It was a 50 point show down. Here are our lists.

Ken brought 50 points of Skorne;

PMakeda

Tyrant commander and standard bear

Titan Gladiator

Cyclops Shaman

Basilisk Krea

Molik Karn

Tyrant Rhadeim

Praetorian Ferox

Pain giver beast handlers – full unit

Nihilators – full unit

Orin Midwinter 

I brought 50 points of Legion of Everblight

PVayl

Angelius

Seraph

Typhon

Raek

Nephilim Soldier

Hex Hunters with Bayal

Blackfrost Shard

Blighted Nyss Shepherd

Forsaken x2

Ken won the roll and decided to go first and choose his side.

After his deployment I proceed to do the same.

The game was now under way. Ken forces of the Skorne advanced quickly to the rivers edge under the order of Makeda. The Nihilators were pumped with defenders ward and a few other buffs were supplied as the crazed army readied for the coming bloodshed.(The frozen river seemed to act as a border of sorts that most of the battle was fought over it. I recently watched the "Hatfields and McCoys" which this put me in mind of)

Wanting to protect her precious beasts, Vayl sent out the Hex hunters to meet the coming Skorne charge. They were only able to offer minimal casualties to Makeda's horde, but more importantly, they were able to draw first blood! The rest of the army fell in behind the sacrificed unit.

Makeda continued to order her forces to advance. The Nihilators charged headstrong at my Hex Hunter unit, taking out a number of them. This left an opening for her Gladiator to rush and charge my Angelius killing it dead. Rhadeim charged the remaining Hex Hunters but was surprised by their acrobatic abilities. The Ferox unit boosted with Savagery assaulted the Raek, Typhon and Nephilim Soldier doing minimal damage.

Unfortunately due to some chatting and catching up (first time Ken and I had a game over the summer season) I forgot to take pics of turn 3. During this turn Vayl took the Gladiator under her control with Rampager and the Titan was advanced up to the Ferox attacking and killing it. She also incited her beasts as they advanced. The soldier thrust-ed his sword at the Ferox ending its life. With the Shadow Shift ability the Raek was able evade the Ferox and leap at Rhadeim doing minimal damage. This opened the way for Typhon to wreak havoc on the Gladiator, removing him from this world. The Blackfrost advanced into position taking out the last of the Ferox unit.

Makeda ordered the Ninilators to deal with the remaining Hex Hunters and the Seraph. Karn pushed forward to clashed with the Seraph as the Ninilators were unable to damage it. The Seraph fell to the brute force of Molik Karn enraged with Carnage. Makeda advanced forward with the bulk of her army aiding them where possible. 

Vayl was not to be out done. The soldier was sent to aid the Hex Hunters, dismounting the vile Rhadeim. The forskaken and Blackfrost unit were sent to blockade Karn and the Pain Givers. Typhon was then ordered into the fray charging the Pain Giver in the middle of the battle field. Three fiery blasts were sent into the army hitting many of Makeda's force including herself. Krea, Orin, and the Pain giver were destroyed in the flaming furnace. Makeda was injured badly as were her remaining warbeasts, due to the damage transfers.

As Makeda wiped the blood from her mouth she knew this war must end now. The Nihilators continued their attack on the Hex Hunters but also targeted the forsaken and Blackfrost unit. They were able to finish off the Hex Hunters, annihilate the Forsaken and leave all but Sevryn of the Blackfrost.  A smirk of confidence came to Makeda as she seen the opening for Karn to ambush the Everblight Warlock. The Archdomina healed the great warbeast and sent him enraged at the Legion witch. Karn hit with a vicious blow, but Vayl still had one trick left up her sleeve. Using the last of her energy she enabled the power of Talion and redirected half the damage back on the assailant, sapping it of its spirit. With the mighty Typhon breathing down her neck, Makeda knew she was defeated.

Legion Victory!

All in all it was a great game. I did squeak out a win but Ken took it easy on me as it was the first time in a while that a played a game that large.

Ken and Marc from our gaming group will be heading to Gen Con this week. Good luck guys and enjoy the festivities!

Stayed tuned for more gaming updates and thanks for reading.

Tenz

A Delving we will go....

Since entering the war gaming hobby I have found that I missed the aspects of role playing within the game. Sure, from time to time we as players would taunt and poke fun at our opponent in terrifically manly voices, and would bring personalities to certain models. But the drive for advancement and reputation seemed to be missing.   

It wasn't until I stumbled upon "Goal System Delves" on the "Lead Adventure forum" that I realized that I may have stumbled upon a game that bridged the gaping hole between tabletop gaming and role playing. (Delves is a fantasy setting tabletop game, where you have players controlling models and a GM who controls the adventure. The players can be developed and advance in levels. I.e. Hero's quest meets D&D) I quickly fired off a PM to the creator to see if I could be apart of the play testing. To my surprise Scott was more then willing to accommodate and a beta copy of the rules were soon to follow. 

Unfortunately my timing was a little off as the summer season was just starting. Renovations and family activities took precedence to my beloved hobby. I did however keep in touch with Scott and obtained and updated copy of the rules. 

Upon receiving the rules I quickly read them from cover to cover making notes and creating my own documents from the main ruleset. In a nut shell I created documents for each of the major categories within the game for ease of use. I.e Character creation, Adventures, Hazards, etc. (One of the cool features with the system is that it gives you the ability to create new races, classes, creatures, etc. The possibilities are limitless.)

Once completed I began to work on the opening adventure for my playing group. Currently I have three players committed; Jason (AK.A. JET), Marc and Ken. They will use one model each until we are all comfortable with the system and go from there. Without giving to much away I plan on having the first adventure start in the Highlands of Pondu. This will be a frosty wilderness of sorts. 

Here is a shot of the current table I am working on. All terrain excluding the trees are scratch built. The table itself is 3x4, which is both easy to store and transport. It is fairly light weight being made from mdf. The forest templates are cut in various sizes and the trees are able to be removed if needed. I have five more templates cut that I will need to finish for this project.

This is a close up of the frozen river system. I used mdf and cut each piece around 6" excluding the angles. The ice pans are melted white wax, and the glossy covering is Modge Podge to give the 3D effect of water. The pieces are not quite finished as I need to flock and do a touch of highlighting.

The bridge over the river is made from cardboard, craft sticks (Popsicle sticks), tooth picks and four pieces from a Games Workshop Imperial Sector set. 

What would a fantasy game be without the delving into a dungeon or chasing some bandits into a underground tunnel system. To represent this I have decided to use tiles from my Descent board game by Fantasy Flight Games. 

The furniture is from the old Hero's Quest game. I have begin to paint them to bring them to life. The model is from the Vampire Wars line from West Wind Games. He is actually used for another game called Chaos in Carpathia. Another great game based on the Goal System.

Another close up of what the tiles will look like and more models from the West Wind line. I also have numerous other terrain pieces that are assembled and primed. I won't disclose them yet as I want to keep something a surprise for the players. But don't worry I will give a full report when we are able to play test.

Until next time,

Tenz

The Inaugural Voyage

If you were you to step inside the front door of our home, you would have to make a decision. Do you take the stairs heading up or the ones going down?

For those who chose to head up the stairs, you would meet with the delicious smell of my beautiful wife's cooking and be greeted by her wonderful smile. Followed by the laughing and playing of my two energetic daughters, the barking of our miniature husky “Abby” and other delightful encounters of a family man.

If your decision was to head down you would find imagery of Atlantic salmon fishing and other outdoorsy scenarios. Followed by Gen One Transformers, Star wars, A Song of Ice and Fire and other coolness. You would observe cabinets of gaming figures, action figures, terrain, paints, tools and other supplys. A comfy couch to relax on and a desk to work on. An environment fit for a wargamer hobbyist.

The intent of this blog keep family, friends, follow gamers, and whomever else is interested up to date on my current gaming projects and plans and other epicness. Maybe share some “hidden treasures” as a fellow gamer JET put it. Speaking of which he has a great gaming blog you should check out.   http://geektactica.blogspot.ca/

I suspect things will change with my blog over the next week as I sort out the design of the site. Be patient, it will be worth it :)

Thanks for reading.

Stay tuned for the next post which will be on the new Goal System Delves game that I am beginning to play test.

Tenz