Gailbraithe

Amazon says I've still got it on pre-order. Where are you buying it from?

Okay!

Yes, and if you can get Jacob to show up too, that would be great.

I have the book and the pdf, I can leave the book at the shop.

Sherbert, you want to play a 150 pt game?

I just watched Mad Max: Fury Road and I badly need to play some Warlands. And Brad, I missed your post last week, but I will bring decks with me if you want to play Netrunner.

Like this:

This evening the players were Rutger, Shaz-ri-Zonni, Sihyaa al-Ni and Ulfgar. With Hannewig trapped outside the fortress by the falling portcullis and force to run for cover and find an alternate entrance, the rest of the Bijan Expedition confronts the strange green man. He announces his presence by throwing his hands into the air and unleashing arcs of lighting to ignite torches on the walls behind him, cowing the party before introducing himself as Kârgar, Master of Kharhat Pol. He gives the party a simple ultimatum: hand over Dame Laina Lan and go free or die where they stand. Rutger speaks for the party when he says simply and plainly: "No surrender" and throws a knife at the artificial Kârgar. The blade bounces harmlessly off the magen's ensorcelled robes, and he responds with a lash of lightning that throws the party to the ground and the battle is on. Kârgar barely gives the warriors any attention, allowing the possessed house guard to attack while he strides into the party and seizes Dame Lan. Rutger launches himself into combat with Kârgar only to discover that every blow he lands against the galvanic magen sends shocks of lightning through his body. The battle goes poorly for the party at first, but soon Kârgar grabs Dame Lan and flees the room, sending another portcullis down to cover his retreat. With Kârgar gone, the party is able to quickly subdue the possessed guards, though the enraged Ulfgar defines "subdue" as "chop into tiny bits." With the guards subdued and Kârgar's exit blocked, the party searches for an alternate path into the fortress and discovers a curious set-up. Two exits leave the room, leading to nearly identical rooms with staircases ascending into the fortress. The first staircase is blocked by a metal wall in which is set a keyhole and a sign that reads "You'll Need A Key To Go Further." When Sihyaa casts his Knock spell on the wall it responds by spraying the crowd with bolts of molten metal, nearly killing Fatima Lan, but refuses to open. In the second room they find a metal tube, large enough for a man to walk down, has been laid over the staircase, with a second staircase built inside the tube. The tube itself is wrapped in what appears to be miles of copper wire and continuously rotates. With the aid of Sihyaa's Eye of Wizardry spell, they can see that beyond the strange tube is a room containing a pedestal with a large, ornate golden key. Ulfgar approaches the tube and feels the pull of magnetism against his weapons, quickly backing away before the tube's draw can pull him off his feet. After some discussion, Shaz-Ri volunteers to strip down and dare the stair. Though the spinning tube is disorienting, he traverses it safely. Once inside the chamber, he spots a blade of wicked, three foot long metal spikes affixed to the wall some thirty feet up. Sihyaa joins him and upon seeing the spikes, is able to deduce the tube's purpose -- a massive Gauss gun designed to launch anyone foolish enough to wear armor into the spikes at neck-breaking speed. After exploring an apparently long abandoned and empty section of the fortress connected to the chamber, Sihyaa decides there is nothing to do but take the key. The key opens the metal wall, revealing another chamber with another of the metal walls, once again reading "You'll need to go further." Another staircase leads to another chamber with a golden key, this time blocked by a large glass jar containing a hellswarm -- a swarm of infernal wasps bred in the pits of the Abyss. Rutger remembers that he still has a vial of holy water, given to him by Simonite priests in Magath for the battle with Malekith, and by putting his head together with Sihyaa realizes they can pour the holy water into the jar through its perforated lid, and use the wizard's Vortex of Wind spell to disperse the liquid throughout the jar. The holy water is devastating to the daemon wasps, but in their death throes they shatter the glass jar -- with Rutger on top of it. Fortunately the nimble mariner rolls away without damage and Sihyaa is able to finish off the swarm with a Blast of Flame. With a second key retrieved and a second gate passed, the party steels themselves for the next challenge of Kharhat Pol. Rutger, Shaz-ri, Sihyaa and Ulfgar are awarded 1 experience point.

That explains so much.

Honestly, it looks to me like they left the Model Type line off because they were trying to cram everything onto one page. I think they should just be considered Model Type: Pedestrian. I mean what else could they be? I'd define them as Pedestrian/Crew that can only be purchased as part of a vehicle package. I'd go with: Model Type: Pedestrian/Crew Gear: Automatic Pistol, Knife Options: Basic Driver May exchange the Automatic Pistol for a Shotgun or a Rifle at no additional points’ cost. May purchase Fire Bombs for additional 1 point. May purchase Raider Body Armor for additional 1 point. Pro-Driver May exchange the Automatic Pistol for an Assault Rifle, Shotgun, or SMG at no additional points’ cost. May purchase Fire Bombs for additional 1 point. May purchase Grenades for additional 2 points. May purchase Raider Body Armor for additional 1 point. May purchase Blaster Body Armor for additional 2 points. Basic Gunner If vehicle has no mounted weapon, must purchase Spud Autocannon for 4 points. (Applies to first Gunner only.) May exchange Spud Autocannon for Personal Missile Launcher for 3 additional points. May exchange the Automatic Pistol for a Shotgun or a Rifle at no additional points’ cost. May purchase Fire Bombs for additional 1 point. May purchase Raider Body Armor for additional 1 point. Pro-Gunner If vehicle has no mounted weapon, must purchase Light Weapon at normal cost. (Applies to first Gunner only.) May exchange the Automatic Pistol for an Assault Rifle, Shotgun, or SMG at no additional points’ cost. May purchase Fire Bombs for additional 1 point. May purchase Grenades for additional 2 points. May purchase Raider Body Armor for additional 1 point. May purchase Blaster Body Armor for additional 2 points. Special Rules: If Pro-Drivers are on the same vehicle crew as Basic Drivers, the Pro-Driver always take the wheel before Basic Drivers. If Pro-Gunners are on the same vehicle crew as Basic Gunners, the Pro-Gunner always crews vehicle mounted weapons before Basic Gunners. If multiple mounted vehicle weapons are available, Pro-Gunners will always crew turret mounted weapons before other choices.

The problem is that there is no connection between # of doors and # of passengers. Whether your Bug is a 2 door, 3 door or 4 door, it carries 3 passengers. Rules As Written, the only thing you get when you buy the hatchback Bug is the opportunity to throw away two points and a rear mount position. It would make a LOT of sense to house rule that a passenger can only bail out if there is door to bail out of. Like passengers in the backseat of a two-door would be stuck where they are in the case of a ram or crash, since scrambling over the driver and gunner would be out of the question. But that's not what the rules say. And to reiterate what Eli said, it says even gunners and drivers. Even more humorously, according to your interpretation of the rules the Weasel Scout Buggy is the only vehicle in the game that ever use the Gunner's Arc. None of the other vehicles come with or have a Light Weapon as part of their Load Out, and apparently you can't buy them. Well, I guess you could replace the Gunner with a Boss, Hero, Champion or Leader. That would let you select a Light Weapon. So really, it's more of an Individual Character's Arc than a Gunner's Arc, since non-Weasel Scout Gunners can't ever take advantage of it.

Page 73 of the printer friendly version of the pdf. In other news, I'm working on doing point breakdowns of the different chassis (I was up til 4 in the morning!) and so far the biggest discovery I've made is that the points values are utter bull[big bad swear word] and full of traps. For example, with the 3-Door Bug (i.e. hatchback option) you're paying 2 extra points for 1 less weapon mount point, and then with the 4-Door Bug you're paying 4 extra points for 2 more mounts. The number of doors has zero game effect, which means basically the 3-Door Bug is a waste of 2 points. Then with the The Cruiser 2 door vs 4 door, you're paying 2 extra points for 2 extra weapon mounts. An its worth noting that all of these extra mounts are a second Left and Right side mount, which you're never going to need or use. So in summary: the 3-Door Bug is a complete trap (paying more to get less), and the 4-Door version of both Bug and Cruiser are going to be a waste of points (4 vs 2) in 99.9% of builds. Also, if Gunner's can't buy Personal Weapons, then I was right, there is no way to build the Weasel buggy. The Weasel comes with a Spud Autogun which can't be vehicle mounted. The Spud Autogun and the LMG have the same stats (R: 16", D: 4d6, ROF: 2, AP: 2), but the Spud Autogun cost 4 points vs 5 points, has a 180° vs a 90° arc, and if the Gunner survives a crash he can carry the Spud Autogun vs having to leave the LMG behind. All for 4 less points. Also, it's easier to hit a stationary sub-compact than to shoot a stationary full-size pickup. That means at 100 paces, you're more likely to hit this VW Bug (TN 6): Than this Ford F-450 (TN 7): Despite the fact that the truck is three the size of the subcompact. Also, this VW Buggy (TN 8) is harder to hit than the VW Bug (TN 6) despite being the exact same size: Also there is no way to convert the VW Bug into an off-roader without chopping the top off, despite the fact that the VW Bug is one of the first cars that was widely converted to off-roading purposes (that's literally what that VW Buggy is -- a modified Bug; same chassis, same suspension, same engine.

Sherbert, where are you getting that Drivers and Gunners can't buy body armor from? I can't find anything in the rules that says that, and it directly contradicts the Personal Equipment section: This section contains personal equipment other than weapons. Personal equipment can be used by any human member of your force including drivers, gunners and pedestrians.

Those are nice! I also like the Chechen Rebels. Might have to pick some of those up.

Me too.

Well, as excuses go, points for originality.

From l. to r.: Rugged Raider, The Beast, Rugged Raider, Dune Destroyer My favorite is the Dune Destroyer. The Dismounted Biker Gang I got from Stan Johnson had the one guy laying down, and I bent one of his feet so now he's laying across the hood, pointing a shotgun, with his feet hooked onto the roll cage. I've decided his name is "Maniac."

I'm playing Kings of War against Josh, so i should probably get my army finished...

Other than Car Wars (using the optional post-apocalypse rules), I can't think of a better basic set of rules that I've seen. Most of the competing games out there are way more "board gamey" and don't really allow you to design your own cars. Car Wars is way too fiddly -- i mean, do we really want to be calculating MPG and fuel tank capacity? No. Sherbert is right when he said Car Wars is really about having your one car -- it does support large skirmishes with multiple cars per player, but it does bog down really fast and becomes unplayable. Just watching Sherbert demi the game, I could see Warlands is a lot better for multiple car battles and the driving rules are just fine, but the creation rules just need some reworking so that you can actually feel the difference between driving a Marauder vs driving a Veneno. I think improving the car design rules and bringing some more realism to them would also really enhance campaign play. Imagine a campaign where some mission will call for patrolling rough country -- you'll want to have powerful of-road vehicles for that. Other missions will require you to enter a race to win some valuable piece of tech for your warband, like a generator or supply of fuel -- so you'll need some fast supercars for that. And really, my biggest problem with the construction rules is that they are poorly written and I think two people could come up with radically different point costs for vehicles depending on how they read them. I can see these rules leading to a lot of arguments. Like, I can't find any rule that says Nomads can't buy Wastelander units or any rule that says they can. This is important, because the Nomad unit list has no drivers or gunners. It has Leaders, Champions, Bosses and Militia, but not Warriors, RPG Teams, Mortar Teams, or Molers. The Nomad Leader, Champion and Boss are all 1 point more than their Wastelander equivalent, but are also superior fighters. The Nomad Militia are also 1 point more then Wastelander Warriors, but inferior fighters. So it seems like the superior "heroes" are balanced by inferior warriors -- otherwise, why would anyone ever take Nomad Militia? They're crappier, more expensive Warriors, and there is no sensible reason to take them if you have access to Warriors. But that would imply that Nomads can't get Drivers, Gunners, RPG Teams, Mortar Teams, or Molers -- but then all of the Nomad vehicles have Drivers and Gunners, and the Nomad Transport Truck can take an RPG team or Mortar team. And Sherbert was right that the Nomads special ability re: Loners makes no sense at all. It's like "your special power is rewriting your list at the last second and slowing down the start of the game!" Still, no matter how much I complain about the poor writing, I do think the basic structure -- the mechanics -- are all solid the whole thing just needs a heavy edit and some polishing. I really can't wait to play a game.

On page 46 it says you can customize the stock vehcies using the customization rules, with the only limitation being "If a Load-Out is listed then spare structure points cannot be used to add weapons from the Armory." As for being cheaper...I did the Utility Truck, and now I'm confused again. Apparently the Utility Truck does pay for its driver and a gunner and his shotgun. Because that's the only way it adds up to 16 points, so you're getting no savings there at all. And technically, you'd be better off going custom because then you'd get a free automatic pistol and 2 free knives. Also, all of the prebuilt trucks have "Ram Damage AP 2 (front only)" listed as a special rule, which suggests its a standard rule for Truck type vehicles, but [big bad swear word] me if I can find any mention of it in the rules. This is a seriously frustrating rules set. Sure, sure, I'm not suggesting going to that level of crazy, but I think there's a lot of room for improvement and fine tuning. Like, for example, tires have basically nothing to do with off-road capabilities -- I've got top of the line off-road tires on my Jeep, but they matter a heck of lot less than the suspension and gearing. And the thing is, off-road suspension and gearing does give you greater control on rough terrain, but it comes at a very real cost in terms of speed and high-speed handling. My Jeep isn't any heavier than your average ricer and has a V6 engine that is burlier than any ricer, but my top speed craps out around 90 mph, while the ricer can hit 200 mpg easy -- and thanks to the off-road suspension I can't make high speed turns or drift! At al! Drift in a Jeep and you'll roll every single time. But I can muscle my way out of mud that would break a ricer's engine. Another difference is that if I went nose to nose with a ricer and we both revved our engines and pushed against each other, my off-road gearing means I'd shove him back with ease, and he couldn't move me (though, realistically, I'd roll right over your average Nissan). Plus there's a lot of little [big bad swear word] that just bugs the hell out of me. Like the Blacktop Racing Tires, which I guess are supposed to be racing slicks. That's just ridiculous though, because real racing slicks would be useless in a post apocalypse and only provide an advantage on perfectly maintained tracks where the vehicle can be run at high enough speed to heat the tires and make them sticky. Slicks will get torn apart on routinely maintained streets like those of Bellingham, and would be utterly destroyed by unmaintained, war-torn post-apocalyptic roads. Plus, they are complete [big bad swear word] at low speeds when running cold and even on a perfect track they have to be replaced ridiculously often (in Nascar they replace the tires every time they refuel). Basically slicks only provide an advantage in very high end racing and once the world comes to so will they. And then the All-Weather Tires that only provide benefit in wet conditions? Do these guys not understand why they're called "All-Weather"??? All-Weather Tires are basically low-grade off-road tires. The deeper tread that provides greater grip in rain also provides greater grip in dry conditions. It's literally feels like the guys who wrote these rules learned everything they know about cars from Car Wars. Really, the tire options should be like Salvaged (provides no benefit), Solid (2 points, ignore first Tire Damage result), All-Weather Tires (2 points, +1 to control rolls), Off-Road Tires (4 points, ignores first tire damage result, +1 to control rolls). And Off-Road capability should be a result of a Drive choice that combines suspension and gearing, like Front Wheel Drive (0 points), 4 Wheel Drive (3 points, move normally in cross country terrain), Off-Road Rig (6 points, move slow in rough terrain) and then equipment options like Monster Rig (2 points, cruise in rough terrain, +2 control cross country/rough terrain, -1 CMV; -1 45° Turn, -1 Slow Speed, -2 Cruising Speed, -3 Fast Speed). But that's just off the top of my head.

So I've been reading through the Warlands rules and they're [big bad swear word]. The mechanics themselves are fine, but the writing and editing is horrible. I want to rewrite the entire damn thing into something actually legible. It'd also be nice if the car design rules had been blessed with the input of a gearhead, because cars do not work like that! I mean for christsakes, they're aren't even suspension options -- how can you make a car design ruleset and have no rules for suspension!?! It's so limiting! So anyways, I sat down and tried to make the Weasel Scout Class Buggy using the Mac's Custom Auto Shop and could not figure out how they did it for the longest time, but I did eventually work it out. Here's some things I figured out: 1) Your driver and gunner are free. Apparently you get the minimum crew for your vehicle for free. This is the only way the points add up, and the add up perfectly if you make this one assumption. It'd be nice if the rules actually made that clear though! The problem is that this makes it unclear if the six point cost of a Pro Driver or Pro Gunner is for an upgrade or a second driver. I would suggest we house rule it that it costs 4 points to replace the free Basic Driver with a Pro Driver, and each Pro Driver after that costs 6 points. 2) Your gunner is actually carrying his gun. The model for the Weasel clearly shows the guns mounted on the roll cage of the car, but a Vehicle / Buggy / Open has no roof mounting point and no means of adding one, so I was like "What gives?" until I realized the Weasel has a Spud Autocannon, which is Light Weapon, which is man-portable, which means yes...your gunner in the Weasel is just holding a gun and shooting out the windows. And has a better fire arc than any vehicle mounted weapon except turrets. Anyways, I'm going to work on some alternate car design rules that allow more customization and more equipment. It'll take me a little time though, as I've got a lot on my plate at the moment.

I received the miniatures I ordered from Stan Johnson Miniatures today. The Drivers and Gunners set he sells fits perfectly in Hot Wheels/Matchbox. If you're doing models like Sherbert, with closed windows, this isn't a big deal, but I'm putting together a bunch of open-top Jeeps and it's really awesome having drivers and gunners. Two of the drivers even have arms poking out their windows with guns. The Biker Gang set he sells is kind of rough looking and a bastard to put together (so much glue on my fingers), but the scale of the bikes works really well with the Hot Wheels/Matchbox.

Game: Deep Wars Rules: $70 for the hardcover rulebook, or $30 for the softcover, or $15 for the pdf at Antimatter Games website. Time: 1 - 3 hours, depending on army size Models: Very nice collection of models available from Antimatter Games; models are hard to proxy due to unique nature 1) Based on the Songs of Blades and Heroes rules, Deep Wars vastly expands these rules and adds new layers of complexity. 2) Deep Wars is unique in that the battles take place entirely underwater. As a result, all of the units "fly" and the battles take place in three dimensions! 3) The models are gorgeous and a worthy addition to any collection. Here are some of mine:

Game: Mutants and Death Ray Guns Rules: $14 for the rulebook, or $8 for the pdf at Ganesha Games website. Time: 30 mins - 2 hours, depending on army size Models: Any post-apocalyptic models in any scale; designed to be model neutral. 1) A sci-fi/post-apocalyptic variant of Song of Blades and Heroes, it uses most of the same rules. 2) Heavily influenced by the original Gamma World -- it's basically Gamma World: The Skirmish Wargame. 3) Has campaign rules that allow your ragged band of survivors to grow, prosper and mutate!