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.

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!

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.

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

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

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!

Bay Area Open site.

The Night Lords playtest codex is up on TCP

Hello everyone,

I wanted to share the news that we have a new fandex offering over at the Codex Project for the Night Lords Chaos Marine faction. Many months and hours have been put into this fandex to make it really have the right feel to represent the Night Lords on your tabletop.

I'd really like to thank and congratulate Seregon and Talos for all their hard work on this project. Good job guys! They are waiting for your feedback to help make sure that the codex is balanced and plays well.

So head on over to the Codex Projects Playtest page and check it out!

Cheers,
Jim

Nostalgia is good! 25th Anniversary 40k miniature revealed

Oh, yeah this is one outstanding looking dripping with nostalgia and old school miniature. Reinvisioned from the Rouge Trader cover art, very appropriate!

To be released on the 25th of February, although the actual anniversary is not until September.

Big Jim’s take on the 6th ed 40k “Leak” part 1

Ok guys, I have been holding off on posting this until I got some practical experience with the “leaked rules.” I am of the opinion that they are an unpolished set of playtest rules for the actual 6^th edition of 40k. They have obviously been playtested but are still lacking polish and clarification of many rules. With that said I do imagine a lot will have changed or been smoothed out by the time we actually see the release in July.

I will not be doing a breakdown of the rules here, since it has been done many places such as on the Frontline Gaming and Sons of Taurus blogs. I am going to share my experiences in the 5 games we have played; including the few weak places in the rules that I am sure will be fixed in the actual book.

The first thing I want to point out is that the game plays much faster we were easily shaving 45 minutes off of a 2000 point game. So far I have used Chaos marines and IG against Orks and IG. Of all the armies I think the Orks get hit the hardest with the changes especially now the close combat attacks are AP 6.

The new Assault before Shooting turn sequence is pretty ace too. It really makes you think about where you want your units to be ahead of time. Speaking of assault, it sure did get much more deadly to lose an assault even if you happen to escape your opponent, since just being broken within 12 inches of an enemy removes the unit from the table. Wowzers that really does speed things up!

The new Evasion chart and modifiers make shooting more effective, what a concept in a sci-fi wargame. Couple this with the new cover save, Rapid Fire and Multi-targeting rules, then bam shooting becomes more deadly.

We are elated with the fact that cover saves drop to a much more balanced 5+ for most things; even my buddy Kev who plays Orks agrees with the change.

The new missions rock with the multi-layered victory conditions. Loving the overhaul to Kill Points, with the point value of the unit issuing multiple KP’s is an excellent mechanic; plus it is something we have been doing for a while here already in my little group. Objectives now make sense and mirror closely to what we have been doing for two years. They are now scored every turn, and anything except vehicles can claim them, but scoring units gain more points for holding an objective.

Now here is the bad part about Objectives that we are sure is missing from the doc, but will be in the final version. According to the PDF there is no way to contest an objective and people are interpreting that you and your opponent can claim the same objective at the same time. Come on guys use your heads that is what they are for after all; that makes zero sense and why would GW do that.

My prediction will be that any unit including vehicles will be able to contest an objective when the final rules are released.

Stratagems are pretty kool too, but can be a bit powerful. I imagine that these will be much more refined in the final rules. That said the bidding mechanic is a weak point in the PDF, don’t get me wrong I love the concept, but something just does not feel right. First turn does not seem to be as important as it once was, so really it seems that bidding is more for stratagem denial more than anything else, so definitely feel like a weak point.

Overall these games have been fantastically fun, more fun than standard 5^th has ever been in my eyes. They also feel much more Cinematic really leading to the game feeling like the 40k Lore that you read in the novels! The early rumors were that GW was going to make 6^th ed much more narrative in their feel and these surely do just that.

Well that is it for part one, in part two I will explain why I think that Defensive Fire is a “Keystone” mechanic to these rules, which the vast majority of the internet does not seem to be able to wrap their minds around.

Killzone V3 file links

There seems to be some sort of issue with the current downloads on the Codex Project page, so I am making a secondary set of links for the current PDF's.

Killzone V3 Rulebook

Killzone Codex Operatives

Feel free to leave any feedback, comments or questions here in this post.

Cheers,

-Jim

Killzone V3 2012 update available and news for the future

That's right all the hard work pays off with the official release of Killzone V3. It has been a laborious process, but it has paid off tenfold. The game is a much more solid system totally appropriate for those wanting to play competitive skirmish games of 40k.

Just a note the errata has now been renamed Codex Operatives, very fitting!

I'd like to extend my thanks to Brian, Skarvlad, FrozenJoe and the rest of the guys that helped out with V3.

With these basic rules in the can I can start working on the Advanced Killzone and Campaign system.

The Campaign system will include an experience system and new comprehensive skills list. I will probably draw some ideas from Necromunda and Mordheim.

Looking forward to the development of the advanced game things that you will see are the following:

1 The return of Priority.

2 the implementation of a Phased turn sequence. So you will activate a model move it, shoot with it and assault with it, then your opponent will activate a model and do the same until all models have been activated.

3 Specialized Wargear for each army in the Codex Operatives tailored to the actual race.

4 More in-depth shooting options/mechanics.

5 Stacked saves, so if your model has an invul save and armor save he will benefit from both.

6 The complete removal of the cover save mechanic with the reimplementation of cover to hit modifiers for shooting. I have always been vocal about detesting the cover save mechanic, it makes good armor saves or AP irrelevant; besides bushes stopping bolt rounds is just plain stupid. Now before you start gnashing of teeth remember that a natural ‘6’ always hits in Killzone.

7 An in game card deck for random circumstances to enhance the narrative feel of the game.