Saturday, February 25, 2012

BAO Narrative event house rules




I have created a few house rules due to the density of terrain that will be used on the table for the event. These 5 intuitive rules are simple fixes and clarifications to help keep the game flowing in a cinematic way.

1)      Vehicles immobilized by terrain are not permanently immobilized. They are instead referred to as Bogged Down. A bogged down vehicle may remobilize at the start of any of its turns by rolling a 4+ on a D6. They may function as normal from that point on.
2)      Dangerous Terrain checks usually remove a model if they roll a 1 on the D6 test. In this event if the model fails the dangerous terrain test it is only removed if the model fails its saving throw (Armor or Invulnerable). Feel No Pain may not be used to save a model from a failed save in this case.
3)      Buildings: You may only enter a building if the wall facing you has a door or window. Passing through a door is normal movement; moving through a window requires a difficult terrain check.
4)      Building Ruins: are counted as area terrain as usual, but infantry may not pass through walls that do not have a door or window. Vehicles may pass through all ruin walls.
5)      Building Levels: moving between levels up or down counts as 3 inches of movement for all buildings.

Thursday, February 23, 2012

"Get the Girl, Kill the Baddies" Fantasy Skirmish rules

Hey Guys, I have had lots of requests to write a fantasy version of Killzone, but I just don't have enough time to do such a project anytime in the near future.

Well, I now see no need to write such a set of rules, Andy Hoare ex GW games designer is in the process of writing a set of fantasy skirmish rules perfect for that!

I have been reading through them and have really been enjoying the feel; they really remind me of the many hours I spent roleplaying with miniatures as a teen. I will be trying these out once the Bay Area Open is behind me. 

It is called "Get the Girl, Kill the Baddies" and can be downloaded from Andy's Blog. He is looking for feedback and gamers to playtest the rules.

So why are you still here, get over to Andy's blog and get your mind in the mood for tales of high adventure, save the damsel and slaughter all that stand in your way!

Narrative Gaming special events cards development


Hey guys,
It's high time for some new rules design here on the blog, it's been far too long. I was wondering if anyone would like to help me come up with 3 decks of cards aimed for use in narrative events.

I'll need decks for:

Secret missions
Fate (advantage and disadvantage)
Stratagems

The cards work Brilliantly in Special Operations Killzone and have decided it would be a great asset for those running narrative gaming events since they seem be gaining in popularity. So I say strike while the iron is hot!

Any takers?

Monday, February 20, 2012

BAO Special Character Profile: Inquisitor Von Wulf

I have been dieing to have a use for this model! Now he will be coming to life in the BAO narrative event.

Here is his profile:


Inquisitor Von Wulf


WS
BS
S
T
W
I
A
LD
Save
Von Wulf
5
4
3
3
3
4
3
10
2+



Unit Composition:
·     1 (Unique)

Unit Type:
·     Infantry

Wargear:
·     Carapace Armor
·     Force Sword
·     Master Crafted Plasma Blaster
·     Rosarius
·     Bionics (+1 ST and +1T)
·     Frag and Krak grenades
·     Psyk-out grenades

Special Rules:
·     Independent Character
·     Stubborn
·     Level 2 Psyker
·     Eye of the Inquisition: All friendly units within 12 inches may re-roll any failed leadership or moral test.

Psychic Powers:
·     The Summoning
·     Hammer Hand
·     Vortex of Doom


Sunday, February 19, 2012

BAO Special Character WIP: Ganicus the Blademaster



I am getting really excited about the Bay Area Open Narrative event as it draws closer and I finish up more stuff!

How could I run an event involving Chaos and write up special Characters with out including the Soul Reapers! Above is a WIP of the model, his second blade is in a scabbard across his back.

Here are the Rules for Ganicus:



WS
BS
S
T
W
I
A
LD
Save
Ganicus
6
5
4
4
3
6
3
10
2+



Wargear:
·     Chaos Armor (2+ save)
·     Master Crafted Plasma Pistol
·     Frag and Krak grenades
·     Personal Icon (good for any Chaos unit; CSM or Daemon)
·     Gladiatorial Power Blades:  Ganicus carries a pair of expertly fashioned power blades; he uses them with deadly precision. They count as a pair of Master Crafted Lightning claws.

Special Rules:
·     Fearless
·     Independent Character
·     Runes of Chaos (4+ Invul save)
·     Feel No Pain
·     Furious Charge


Saturday, February 18, 2012

BAO Special Character WIP: Captain Surilius

Here is the model that will represent Captain Surilius of the Crimson Fists. He is one of the special characters I have created for the Bay Area Open Narrative Event.



These are the rules I have created for him.

He has the stat line of a normal Captain and the following Wargear and Special Rules:




Wargear:

· Artificer Armor

· Master Crafted Thunderhammer

· Master Crafted Plasma Pistol

· Iron Halo



Special Rules:


· ATSKNF

· Counter Attack

· Independent Character

· Feel No Pain

· Stubborn

· Inspiring Presence: all Imperial units within 12 inches gain the stubborn USR.

Thursday, February 16, 2012

Terrain WIP for the Bay Area Open Narrative event.

So the battle on Delis is raging over three distinct battlezones. These are two buildings we are working on for the Desert city battlezone. For inspiration we have looked too the modern middle east, ancient Egypt and everyone's favorite "retched hive of scum and villainy" Mos Eisley.

We have also decided to do something I rarely if ever see on a 40k tabletop. At least half of the buildings on the table will be intact with little to no battle damage on them; while the other half will be divided between ruins and battle damaged buildings.


As you can see they are not finished yet, but are shaping up nicely. Over the next few days I will walk you through the completion of these buildings. We will be adding pipes, cables, more trim and other interesting little details to these before they are textured then painted.

We do have about 6 finished buildings already, but no pics until right before the event. I know I am a tease!

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

More Killzone insight: Killzone Evolution


This started off as a response to comments on the last post, but got so long I think it warrants its own post.

The rules will not be totally from scratch although they will not be standard 40k or Killzone for that matter. The alternating turns, removal of cover saves and re-institution of to hit modifiers assures that.

I am not waiting on 6th to start or release them; I am simply waiting until they are in a playable state, that I am happy with. The 6th ed update of the regular game may slow down the process also; because I want that done from a design standpoint by November.

It will be a lot of work and the not compromise comment is about my vision of the game. I will be totally open to opinions, but let’s look at the compromises I made with the original Killzone:

We removed Priority, it did work fine in that it caused tactical tension on the tabletop, but people seemed to be able to wrap their heads around it. It was the hardest thing to balance since you really had to plan ahead your moves

I wanted to remove cover saves and return to a to hit modifiers mechanic, I also wanted to add a stand and shoot or fallback reaction to being assaulted, but the gnashing of teeth on both these ideas within the initial volunteers was so against the idea they did not ever make a playtesting document.

Now to be honest I set out to create an in-depth skirmish system for 40k, but I listened to the community and they wanted a version that they could run events or tournaments with; that was easy to transition into from standard 40k. The initial version was an ok starting point, but it was not until this last update in which Vlad and Joe helped “trim the fat” from the system that it really works for the goal of an events set of rules. It is a really good system, I am really proud of where the game is now.

All I am doing now is generating “Buzz” for the advanced version of the game. I just realized how bad it sounds calling the versions basic and advanced is. So let’s call them Special Operations Killzone and Killzone Evolution, hopefully this will help keep the two versions distinct without sounding elitist.

Think of it this way; SO Killzone is a points based game, that strives for balanced non-abusive game play that is compatible with the way people currently play 40K and that KZ Evolution is going to be a story driven more intuitive way of playing in the 40K universe; that will rely on participants to play within the “Spirit” of the game to keep abuses from occurring.

Monday, February 13, 2012

Killzone Public Service Announcement


There seems to be a wee bit of tension as I have been sharing tidbits of information about the "Advanced" version of Killzone on the Facebook page. I want to put this out here now, so y'all know what you might or might not like in the advanced game.

I have with the gracious help of others gotten "basic" killzone to a place of glory, thanks guys! During the process I made a lot of compromises (from my original vision over a year and a half ago) for playability and to curb possible abuses; that said I am completely satisfied with the contents of the basic game. I have really enjoyed making a game that appeals to a large portion of the 40k community. It will remain in its current incarnation until 6th edition 40k comes along.

The "Advanced" game will not make many compromises and will rely on players to police themselves and keep the spirit of the game alive. It will be all about cinematic battles set in a narrative theme. Teams more than likely will be built in a different and new way. Think more customization, including the possibility of getting better with every game they survive.

The turn sequence will be changing to allow for a more interactive cinematic play style, the following are the top contenders:

Player A moves, Player B moves, Player A shoots, Player be shoots, Player A makes assault moves, Player B makes assault moves, then fight assault.

Or Player A moves, shoots and assaults with a unit/model, then player B does the same; Alternating until all models have done their turn.

Speaking of the cinematic I am really thinking of all sorts of interesting concepts right now. How Kool would it be to blow the bike/mount right out from under the rider, or being able to dismount to preform a special task!?!

How about some interesting new rules to allow you to rock full auto with some of the basic weapons!?!

Maybe a random events chart or some cards to facilitate the same thing: draw a card or roll them dice and hope you don't disturb the sleeping Ambul in those ruins.

The more my buddies and I think and talk about the "Advanced" version of Killzone the more it seems it may end up being a real homage to 40k Rogue Trader. Which is fitting since the 25th Anniversary is approaching fast. Adding in a game master could really help make the random events into a real treat for the players. The game could totally work without one if the players strive to play in the spirit in which the game is written.


The advanced game is not necessarily going to be aimed at totally balanced game play. It will be more about the cinematic story of the game not the nuts and bolts of the rules.

This system will be focus on building your team up over multiple games and campaign play.

The current mission system will not be used and will see a return to the scenario system of the original; obviously with many tweaks. Don't get me wrong I like the way the current mission system works, but would rather give a good baseline of scenarios and let the imagination of the players create their own unique ones then run with them.

There will probably not be an open source document for this version until I am happy with how it operates through a couple of campaigns. Which means more than likely nothing but teasers and slivers of information here until sometime in late summer. It may be later if 6th is vastly different, due to the update of the basic game.

I think I have rambled enough for now, until next time; upward and onward!

-Jim

Saturday, February 11, 2012

GiF becomes Big Jim's Hobby Adventures


Hello loyal readers,

Let me open with a couple of WIP’s of an Obliterator that I just finished converting.



I am posting today to share a great change for me on how I will be moving the blog forward. I will be rolling all my blogs under the Galaxy in Flames url and be changing the name of GiF to Big Jim’s Hobby Adventures. I just do not have time to run 4 blogs, The Codex Project site including the hugely popular Killzone rules and be a successful host on Deepstrike Radio. It is just too much like work and this is my hobby and it should be fun, right?

I have been struggling with the blog since last summer; I just have not had the energy to post regularly. A lot of this does coincide with joining DSR and getting the show on track with a new format and flow between the hosts. The blame does not solely land on DSR I had an abysmal year in 2011 ranging from health to computer issues. Thankfully I have handled most of what has been weighing me down.

So what can you expect to see in the future? Honestly the sky is the limit when it comes to hobby and gaming content! I play 40k (duh) Warhammer Fantasy, BFG, Flames of War, Heavy Gear, (who doesn’t love big robots battling it out!) and many other games mostly historical in nature but fun none the less! You can also expect me to reintroduce the Rules from the Man-cave and Tales from the Soapbox post series'.

Now if a generalist hobby blog ain’t your cup o coffee, I understand, but this is the way forward for me and I wanted to share my reasons for doing it.

Upward and onward,
-Jim

Friday, February 10, 2012

Bay Area Open Narrative event Audio track

Here is an audio track my buddy Jeff did for the Bay Area Open Narrative event that I am running on March 3rd. I hope you like it.
Below is the link to the Bay Area Open site where you can purchase tickets and find out more about the events!