Mission: The Long Way Around

Here's another Stargrave scenario to try out, maybe for fun, probably not for profit.

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THE LONG WAY AROUND

Ion storms make descent to the surface difficult. If we get separated, rendezvous at the target location as soon as possible. Be careful.

SET-UP

Set up the table as normal. Place terrain, select board edges, and place loot tokens just as in a standard game. Select a Target Point as normal.

Do NOT deploy crews as normal. What? Read on, MacDuff.

SPECIAL RULES

Where the heck ARE they?!? Each player randomly selects half (round down) of their crew members. These models are deployed at the start of the game as normal. The remainder are "missing" and are set aside.

At the start of the second turn, and every turn therafter, each player's initiative roll also determines when their missing crew turns up. On turn two the remainder of the crew appears on 1-5, on turn three they turn up on a roll of 1-10, on turn four they arrive on 1-15, and from turn five onwards they turn up on a roll of 1-19. Set up newly arrived crew members as per the normal deployment rules.

If a half-strength crew is wiped out before the remainder arrives, then the other half will arrive at the start of the next turn, regardless of the initiative roll.

Option 1 - Lost Patrol: When missing crew arrive they enter at the centre of a random table edge, which may not be their own!

Option 2 - This feels like more than just bad luck... Rather than choosing missing crew members randomly, each player selects an opponent's missing models.

Option 3 - Dribs and drabs: The missing crew arrive, but not all at once. Instead of the system above, a variable number of missing crew turn up depending on the initative roll:

• 1: Four crew members arrive.
• 2-10: Two missing crew turn up.
• 11-15: One crew member arrives.
• 16-20: No missing crew turn up!

(Thanks to Calvin for this option. I shouldn't have to specify this, but you can't have more crew members turning up than went missing in the first place!)

LOOT AND EXPERIENCE

Loot and experience are scored as normal, with the following additions:
+25xp to a half-strength crew that eliminates a full-strength crew.
+50xp to a half-strength crew that finishes the game without the rest of the crew appearing.

BRUTICUS UPDATE

A new soldier has marched up to the door of the recruitment office!

My quest to complete Bruticus before I die has progressed with the arrival of Brawl! Here he is, alongside his earlier incarnation. Well, the re-released version of his earlier incarnation, anyway.

The tank mode is a bit boxy, and there's that weird hole in the front, but he's a handsome lad.

Claire Mollet

So this is mad.

In 2021 I wrote the murder-mystery adventure Terror in the Streets for Lamentations of the Flame Princess. Some people quite like it.

This week, I have been informed that Mariah Kronvik wrote a song about it!

(About the adventure, not about me writing the adventure.)

This sort of thing has never happened in my world before. I am humbled. Thanks Mariah!

P-p-p-p-p-p-p-p-pancake Day!

Obvious

Goblin, Weak

Apparently it is (or was) #GoblinWeek ; I'm not sure what that means, but here's a goblin with a blunderbuss anyway.

#KelvinDrawsThings

Are You My Mummy?

I think I started drawing this in 2009.

Don't worry, potential future clients! I haven't spend 16+ years drawing a single picture! This is part of a project that involves some of my earliest work, and some bits that didn't get finished or included the first time around. More on that when I know more. Probably. #KelvinDrawsThings

FUTURE JUICE

Fancy alchemists call this concoction "The Potential of Futures Yet to Come" but everyone calls it "Future Juice" so there it is. The magic in this potion pulls success from the future to the present, granting an advantage now at the cost of losing that advantage later. Most adventurers consider this a fair trade-off, as they live, and often die, in the moment.

The potion is ice-blue and has a faint glow, and tastes a bit like blueberries.

Most bottles of this ice-blue potion have three doses; roll 1d3 if found in a random hoard.

A dose grants the drinker a free critical and/or guaranteed success on their next roll, with the caveat that the next natural critical and/or guaranteed success they roll is wooshed away to be used by their past self, and so must be re-rolled.

Ingredients: a cup of water from the fastest river in the land, two tears from an optimist, and two tablespoons of sugar.

13th Age: Can also be used to get a specific roll, for example the Fighter's Precision Attack, which normally triggers on a "natural 16+ hit".

Source: There's a potion with a similar effect in Adrian Tchaikovsky's City of Last Chances. I liked the idea so I pinched it, like a common thief.

2026 Shall Be Defeated!

Well, I didn't complete many of my not-goals for 2025.

Oh dear.

• I did finish writing WAR 16XX and got some good feedback from a couple of experts, but the art remains to be done. There are a few reasons why that hasn't happen, not all of which are my fault, but even so it's a bit disappointing that stalled.
• I made some progress on a new LotFP adventure, but nothing publishable, and I really need to finish WAR 16XX first.
• I didn't play 40K or The DOOMED, but I did get one game of Stargrave in, and designed a handful of missions.
• Legions Imperialis remains under my desk, unpainted.
• I played Cthulhu Hack so I made progress on the unplayed rpgs list. Very minor progress, but progress nonetheless!

Right, so what about 2026? Well, I am still reluctant to make any solid plans, but we can aim for something like:

• I need to get WAR 16XX out the door.
• Stuart and I have pencilled in a rough plan to play at least one wargame a month, including 40K and Stargrave.
• I'm sure I can get another game crossed off the unplayed list. Maybe. Ish.

I managed to complete three of my five not-goals for 2025, so I'll aim for three in 2026, and maybe complete one. We'll see.

Happy new year everyone!

Mince Pie Fest 2025: Sainbos in a Tin

I got these as a Chrimble present, so although the main scoring is finished, the reviews continue!

The pastry is a little crispy and the filling is quite dry, but otherwise these are quite tasty. The pastry has a pleasant sweetness to it and the filling is full of mixed flavours; there's a bit of booze, nice fruit, and plenty of festive spices. The tin is quite nice too. 3 out of 5. (Palm oil)

#MincePieFest2025 #MincePieADay