93. Undead In Search of a Good Time

I'm back to using Feudal Patrol, scratching a "D&D"-style itch.  I played a fairly quick game pitting some Adventurers against a dread Necromancer and his ghastly hordes (although there were no actual ghasts in the horde).

I allowed each of the four Adventurers (Cleric, Fighter, Wizard, Thief) to use their own Activation die, whereas the Necromancer's army was more standard Feudal Patrol (each "squad" got its die, etc).

Here are some pictures of the solo game.  I did not utilize the published solo rules, I simply played both sides (as intelligently and honestly as possible).  If you click on the pics, they should enlarge.  Some of the color is odd, I am using an older camera, so, sorry about that.

An aerial magical eye in the sky shot (those wizards are amazing!), showing the general lay of the battlefield.

The Undead walk.  "Alright, everybody, line up for the photoshoot!"

Four brave Adventurers!  Look at the bravery!  So.  Much.  Bravery.

The evil Necromancer.  Boo!  Hiss!  "Hey, I'm just a guy, y'know."

The start of Turn 1.  Our brave Adventurers, having heard rumors about Undead running amok at a nearby homestead, move to investigate.  It's true!  The Dead do walk, and have already set fire to the houses.

The Mummies move into melee with the Heroes...

...leaving the Heroes a little worse for wear.

More melee evens things out a bit, especially with the Wizard zapping one of the Mummies to dust.

The Necromancer advances with his elite Skeleton guards.

More hand to hand combat, more wounds, more Morale Checks.

The Necromancer calls more Skeletons to do his bidding.

Morale markers are cleared, and while the Thief makes a break for some cover, the Necromancer charges ahead.

The turn ends, and the Necromancer get the first move of the next turn, launching a magical attack against the Wizard.  Luckily for her it misses.

The Mummies shamble into melee again, but the Heroes mostly keep the upper hand.

The Necromancer continues his irresistible advance.

The Wizard, thinking it better to get out of potential melee, follows the Thief, and blasts a potent magical spell at the Necromancer, felling him.

And thus the Undead menace was ended, with the killing of the Necromancer.

I felt this was a bit too abrupt for what I actually wanted to have happen, so I set it up the same way and played it a second time.  Just to see if things went differently.

Here we go again.

The order of Activation can make such a huge difference in how things turn out.  This time, the Fighter takes the initiative and moves into melee with the Mummies, to try to stop them from getting so close so early.

Unfortunately, he does no damage to them, but neither did they harm him.

Next, the Cleric moves up to the left to help, and the Thief heads for a flanking side, and cover.

The Necromancer and his elite Skeleton guards advance.

And the regular Skeletons also advance.

I don't know why I included the card in the picture, but the 6's activate.  The Cleric cast "Web" successfully at the Necromancer, thereby slowing him down greatly; and the Thief continued her flanking movements on the right.

The second 6 card came up, and the Thief moved ever closer to being where she wanted to be; and the Cleric moved only a couple of inches towards the Mummies (out of the frame).

The Mummies and the Fighter have once against tussled with little result, but the Skeletons have moved much more threateningly closer.

The turn ended, and with the start of the new turn, more Mummy vs Fighter melee occurred, with little change; although the Fighter holding his own against 5 Mummies should be thought of as a big deal.  (I do realize the Mummies could have separated and moved 3 or 4 of them past the Fighter, but I liked the idea of "dumb" Undead:  they were created as a group, and simply do what they're told.)

The Wizard, who had done such yeoman-like work in the previous game, so far had not been activated (such are the vagaries of the card deck).  Now her opportunity came up, and, not liking the look of those approaching Skeletons, she cast a spell to block their way.

4s activated, and there were several.  First, the Mummies attacked the Fighter, causing a wound; the Thief continued her sneaky movement, hoping to get to the Necromancer while he was still Webbed up; and the Dwarf Cleric moved to smash some Skeletons with his mace.  (There isn't a "Turn Undead" spell, per se, in the rules; and in a battle like this, I like not having it; and didn't feel like "making something fit," although the spell "Tanga Beehive" would probably work just fine.)

The Fighter activated but could only "unstun," but successfully removed his Morale Check token.  Meanwhile, the Skeletons pushed through the barrier at half speed, seemingly intent on coming to grips with the Wizard.

The Thief managed to make it into close combat with the Webbed Necromancer (who counted as Stunned)...

...but fighting for his (un)life, the Necromancer successfully repulsed her attack!

The second '4' card came up and the Cleric swiftly changed direction and smashed into the Skeletons, downing one right away.

The Thief, a determined individual, slipped into melee again with the Necromancer, deftly eluding his Skeleton guards.  He had not been Activated yet, and so still remained Stunned in the Web.  Her attack was more successful, especially since the Necromancer broke his weapon in defending and took a wound.

The Fighter and the Mummies continued to hack at each other, with the Fighter blocking their path with relative ease, although actually destroying the monsters proved beyond his skill.

I tend to play these games out over several hours (and sometimes even days), and I don't completely recall what happened here.  It seems like the 4's have had their two activations (and I don't think it's the next turn), so the Thief should not have been able to attack, and at the same time I don't think I would have had the Necromancer attack the Thief either (without a weapon), so I'm guessing I forgot the tactical situation when I returned to the game and had the Thief attack.  Which is what you see here.

And here is the result of that attack:  one dead Necromancer, and one wounded Thief.  Naturally, the Undead all dropped "dead" to the ground after this, and the Heroes saved the day yet again!  Yay!

The game continues to be fun and easy to play.  Turns happen so quickly that it's difficult to document the game without slowing it down tremendously.

After this game, I had some discussion with the author about adapting the Feudal Patrol weapon damage ratings and melee aspects for a more modern, firearm-based fight; because I wasn't quite as fond of the rather-a-bit-more-vague close combat method in Combat Patrol (his modern rules title).

The next game I will post about is the result of that line of thinking:  the French Foreign Legion in the desert of North Africa!

Thanks for reading!

52. I Want My Mummy Again

Today I have a simple update, merely a couple of new pictures.  After this exchange on The Miniatures Page, I found and purchased a can of Testor's Dullcote.  I then sprayed my Blue Moon Mummy figures again.  This is how they turned out.

Still looking formidable, After Dullcote.

Still scared, After Dullcote.

For reference purposes, this is Before Dullcote.

This is Before Dullcote.

I find them much more pleasing.

51. I Want My Mummy

It was time for a change of pace.  Although, technically, the action still takes place in the same desert as my last battle report, but any way....

These figures are from the Blue Moon Manufacturing line called "Things That Go Bump in the Night."  This is Box 4:  "I Just Don't Feel My Age - A Mummy Scenario."  They also have vampires, werewolves, and Frankenstein's monster, among other favorites.

They are very nice sculpts, and very clean castings, too.  It took me a long time to paint them because I was away from my painting table for long periods of time (days at a stretch).  The actual total painting time for all these figures was around 16 hours, but that was spread over around two months.  Interestingly, the bases are part of the casting; each is one single figure.

They have a slight shine to them due to me using a can of spray I won't use ever again.  I've hit them twice with a matte dullcoat, but the shine is still there, although it is diminished somewhat.  Sometimes, though, you just have to move on.  If I spray them any further, they'll all be two inches thick with matte-y fuzzy over coats!

In this particular case, the matte spray I used (for the first time, I should add) turned out to have a "satin" sheen to it, and the matte spray I bought to replace it just can't quite seem to cover it up.  Drat it all!

My usual technique after painting is completed is to use spray gloss to protect the miniature, then after that dries to use a matte spray to take away the gloss.  Gloss tends to protect longer from chipping or dropping damage than matte alone, but I prefer the matte look.  I then go back and touch up the parts that ought to be shiny with a brush-on liquid gloss (gun barrels, shovels, etc).

I also think spraying too much of either magnifies the highlights and reduces the painted shadows, which lessens the beauty of the paintjob.  They looked much less stark before the spraying; the blending was better, if I do say so myself.

So that can of so-called matte spray goes in the trash.  The gloss is close behind it.

At any rate, the box comes with a one-page (front and back) set of quick start rules for the Goal System series of rules available from Old Glory/Blue Moon.  This is a very basic introductory set of rules (my box didn't include the sheet, which is just a mistake as another box I bought does include it; but it is a free download from the Blue Moon website).  It doesn't have stats for every single figure in the box, and quite frankly I'm a bit confused as to which figure is which per the stats they do give, but overall it's easy enough to make work.

The Villians and the Hired Help.

A rear view.

Our Heroes and Heroines.

A rear view.

I felt the sculpting was quite good on these figures.  The look of terror is very evident on this guy!

Of the two on the left, one is "Mahsoud, Evil Egyptian Priest" and the other is "Hassan, the Priest’s Bodyguard" but danged if I can tell who is who!  The others are two of the "Arab Diggers."

The girl is probably the "Scholarly Treasure Hunter" because she's listed as a 'she,' plus she's got a Book Written in Blood!  The man is the "Expert Treasure Hunter" because his stats give him a rifle.

Fire is probably the best weapon against Mummies, in my opinion.

The sarcophagus actually has the detail you see painted here, inscribed on it.  I told you these were fine castings!  The man is the "Aristocratic Treasure Hunter" because his stats give him a shotgun and he's the only figure with a shotgun.

A close-up view of the contents of the sack:  priceless scrolls and gold!

They were a real pleasure to paint up, and I look forward to my next box:  The Headless Horseman!

Until next time, thanks for looking, and have a Happy New Year!