Dollar store dinosaurs for Kroot and Jackals!

Hold up...

...before we take even one step below, just a clarification that here 'Dollar store' means '100-yen shop' in Japan. There are hundreds of these shops around Japan, including huge operations like Daiso and other chains like Can Do and Seria. I'm not sure about other countries, so just a disclaimer I'm talking about Japan (but I'm sure much can apply more widely). 

Oh, and this is long post...

Dirt cheap Dinos

Almost every 100-yen shop that I have been into has a small toy section, and that is where today's kitbash adventure starts. In Japan, these sections are full of extremely cheap toys. Rubbery superhero figures, water pistols, balls, simple puzzles, equipment for bug hunting, dolls etc. 

For our purposes, the most important rack is the dinosaur rack! There the intrepid kitbash enthusiast will often find monopose Tyrannosaurs, Raptors, and various herbivorous dinos.

Three Daiso dinosaurs, on cutting mat.

These might be painted in whole or in part of lurid colours, BUT, but, BUT...

...the potential is there! The scale is often OK (to be ridden by a 28mm heroic figure), the rigid plastic is durable (but not too heavy), the textured skin suits drybrushing, the huge jaws and teeth are on display, and the price is RIGHT! 

Why dinosaurs?

Short answer: because they are cool.

Longer answer: because they make some cool sci-fi miniatures armies even more awesome.

Let's take two examples:

1. Kroot (Warhammer 40K) - an auxiliary faction of allies for the Tau Empire, but whom are popular as a faction themselves.

2. Jackals (OnePageRules) - a faction that Kroot models work really well for.s

Setting aside the naming conventions and rules systems, both of these factions have units perfect for using dinos as proxies (Kroot) or straight up dinosaur units (Jackals and their 'Great Beasts'). 

In fact, Kroot armies have had Knarlocs/ Great Knarlocs as part of their fiction (and as units from Forgeworld) over the years. They weren't mainstream plastic kits, so remained financially a tough choice for most players. Recently, newer plastic kits feature Kroot riding giant lizards (Kroot Lonespear) or other beasts that could be dinosaurs (Krootox). The Jackals faction in OnePageRules features 'Beast Riders', 'Beast Gunners', 'Great Beast', 'Long neck' and 'Mastodon'.

Dinosaurs really add presence to the gaming table and an army, plus they are a great conversation starter. They also pop up all over the place in media and are instantly familiar. You know what they do (eat!, roar! run!) and what they represent (primal power!)

You might think that putting these into your armies would be expensive, but kit-bashing dirt-cheap dinosaur toys is a great way to add some Jurassic - style 'swagger and roar' to your army.

The results

So here they are. Two 'Great Beasts' (as known in onepagerules) made from 100-yen shop dinosaurs, Kroot models and bits, and left-over Tau tech. Not the best painted in the world, but for a tabletop game more than good enough (IMHO).

Two Great Ones in convoy, with Kroot Hound escort.

'Veteran' Great Beast (L) and Great One (R)

Let's start with what I call the 'Veteran' Great Beast, known to his hunting pack as 'Old yellow eye'.

Photos below, but here are some things I did (which might be difficult to spot otherwise).

• Use Tau vehicle parts (antenna) on the head.
• Used Crisis suit bits to cover one eye as a scanner set.
• Replaced both arms with old metal Broadside missile pods.
• Armoured the shoulders and cybernetically - enhanced the upper legs and arms with unused Tau Hammerhead tank Ion cannon parts.
• Protected the tail with scavenged Tau should armour parts.
• Kitbashed a gun-rig with looted lascannons and magnetised burst cannon/ rail cannon options (including a second Kroot rider.)
• Three white 'Invasion stripes' drybrushed onto the tail to signify he has survived two major campaigns.

With gun rig (lascannons) behind rider.

'Old yellow eye)

Cybernetic targeting unit (replacing left eye). 
Note missile arms and upper-shoulder armour.

With lookout/ sniper (standing behind) gun rig.

White 'invasion stripes' and tail protection.

I don't know about you, but for my armies and games I always enjoy a bit of story... (skip if you like!)

...Old Yellow Eye was a rambunctious juvenile, dominating the rest of the litter as soon as she entered the world. Fiercely dominant, the others in her litter quickly learned to let her eat first. Even her handlers learned to be cautious around her, and often were the times the warriors at the campfire would laugh as they heard howls of pain coming from the pen -  a sure sign she had made a handler pay for a moment of inattention! The usual sign of a handler are the scratches and scars that festoon their limbs. Yellow Eye's handlers could be spotted by their limbs entirely missing!

Yellow Eye has proved as ferocious in battle as she is aggressive at rest. Over many years the clan has learned to trust her keen senses. A veteran of many battles and three planetary invasions, she wears three white stripes (her handlers swear she does so with pride). Her tail now has multiple armoured pads attached directly to her skin, also signifying her value to the clan (who do nothing to dispel the rumour among their Tau/D'ao allies that these come from their own troops who have 'disappeared' when straying too close...) 

Yellow Eye is now aging. As is customary, she has earned various cybernetic limb and targeting enhancements (these are rare and so only invested in the most trusted great ones). She has the strength to carry a large weapon rig if necessary - the rail cannon, lascannons, burst cannons and missiles are heavy, but do not seem to slow her down. 

Importantly (unlike juveniles) she can be still on command, providing a stable firing platform at the rear of the assault, even if the urge to bound into the enemy is strong. The clan still know where she is, as her great roar can be heard clearly over the cacophony of combat, announcing her presence, stiffening the clan's resolve, and weakening the morale of their enemies.

Double Dinosaurs

You (hopefully!) noticed another dinosaur in the photos above. This juvenile is still in training, and has not yet earned a name. 

Things to look for on this model?

Unlike Old Yellow Eye, she has 'just' two invasion stripes, no cybernetic augmentations, and only one piece of tail armour. This befits her status as being relatively young, harder to control, and occupying a different role to her elders.

Being younger, she is also mainly used as a beast of burden, carrying supplies in the convoy. Her place will usually be further back, although she can quickly make her to way to support the head of the column. In the event of the rear coming under attack she is powerful enough to support the warriors by counterattacking or can be directed to quickly lope away from the firefight while the pack reforms to hold the line.

However, every pack member is a warrior or a warrior-in-training, and a juvenile Great Beast is no different. With youth on her side she makes an energetic front-line combatant and line-breaker, using her weight to crash into (and through) the enemy front line at a weak spot. She can create a gap for her faster moving pack members to exploit or face off against large enemy units to keep them busy.

Although not as steady, experienced, or as strong as Old Yellow Eye, she is still able to carry a weapon rig. In this case the clan has created a dual burst cannon setup. As with the heavy-weapon rig for her senior, this can be controlled by another rider, or remotely controlled using the spotter lenses on top. It also has rails for supplies, backpacks and more (dried meat snacks!). See below (can you find the 'ready to eat' ribs, fresh meat etc?)

Dual cannon rig.

Spotter lenses (at top of rig) for remote control.

Dinosaurs on display

These cheap dollar-store dinos don't come with bases, so I kitbashed them in order to get these units to the table. Again heading to Daiso, I picked up some brown polymer clay from the craft section. Known as 'Nyendo' in Japan, you just need this into any shape you want and let in dry. It is perfect for basing because it is designed to be painted with acrylic paints, can be any shape you want, and is incredibly cheap to spread over a large area.

I cut a large oval base out of plasticard, shaped the clay to it (pressing in some depressions and claw shaped indents), then (after it had dried) hot-glued both pieces together (yes, believe it or not, the glue gun came from the dollar store too). 

Finally, I painted the base a different brown, added a dark wash, and then a lighter drybrush. For visual interest I buried some cork rocks (made from wine corks) that I painted up, and cheap model flowers (from Amazon) superglued around the rocks.

As you can see, it is rough and ready and not perfectly oval, but I think it does the trick.

Hope you enjoyed these 'Dollar store dinosaurs'!

Happy gaming.

Dungeoneers and Dangerous Denizens

The road to League of Dungeoneers

I've focused more recently on boardgames but continue to play tabletop miniatures games - specifically Grimdark Future from OnePageRules. For OPR, I haven't bought or painted any miniatures, preferring instead to deploy my 40K armies of old such as my Tau and (rarely) Black Templars. OnePageRules is a lot of fun and has replaced 40K in my gaming group. There is a lot of love for the granddaddy of grimdark gaming, but OPR is simpler to play, faster, and more flexible, and crucially, with a far lower cost of entry (even just in terms of rules alone.)

On the hobby side I have been painting an eclectic mix of metal and plastic fantasy models from a variety of manufacturers. I've been putting these together with one eye on League of Dungeoneers, a tactical dungeon crawling game lovingly created by Von Braus publishing. 

The game comes with hundreds of awesome cardboard standees, but in keeping with the models I craved in my youth I am attracted to metal and plastic 28mm figures (GW fantasy models just seem way oversized to me now!) I've kept an eye out over the last few months for models that I could use in the game for my party of four, as well as enemies. Along the way, I've picked up models that aren't on the game's list of foes, but have been painting those too.

What is this cast of characters that I have painted? Who are they? What enemies might they face? Just for fun, here are some photos with some backstory. I've noted the actual L.O.D. classes for each.

Dungeoneers

Classic adventurers!

Jack the thief, Gideon the hedge knight (warrior), Belinda the cleric (warrior priest), and Peter the mage (wizard) walk into a bar...

...which would be the start of a great joke, except that each has a hunger in their heart and adventure on their minds.

Thief, hedge knight, sorceress, mage

Belinda, Cleric of the lake

Belinda's beauty, noble bearing (and extensive wardrobe) belie her experience and ruthlessness. Forced to leave her family's estate behind after falling foul of her scheming sister's plans, she now travels in search of riches and rare magical treasures to fund her revenge. The night she fled the estate she stole her grandfather's sword and her father's eagle-headed mace (the symbol of his office). She keeps these weapons close (her family has plenty of money to spend on bounty hunters) and knows she is more likely to survive to get her revenge if in the company of other adventurers (who will protect her willingly, or be sacrificed as necessary...)

Barefoot Peter, Purple order apprentice

In contrast, Peter has no interest in riches or revenge. An apprentice of the Purple Order of Wizards, he occupies the lowest rung of that esteemed enclave - a fact symbolised by being barefoot. He wears a chain to show that he has finished his initial studies and is never far from his books. His notebook is where he obsessively captures his observations, and his spellbook contains the simple cantrips and spells he has learned thus far. These large tomes are always on his person. As befits a wizard in training of the purple order, he dreams of only two things - gaining more knowledge, and the right to become an adept and wear shoes!

'Black Jack' Thief

"Black" Jack is a thief. Always on the run from a failed job and only a step or two ahead of his creditors...

...a man of mystery, he shares little and little is known of him.

Gideon, the hedge knight

Gideon is a hedge knight - brave, but poorly equipped. Aside from his knapsack he has but a dirty padded hauberk, hand axe, and frog-mouthed helm (gifted to him by his grandfather). Surprisingly, his most-prized possession is not the armour or weapons that he and the party rely on, but the yellow scarf around his neck. Dropped at Gideon's feet by a passing noblewoman from high on her horse he tried to return it, but was told 'keep it, young knight!'. This gift (accompanied by a dazzling smile over a pale shoulder), lit a fire in the young man's heart...

...one day, by dint of arms, he will escape this hardscrabble career and rise to greatness, accept service in a mighty house, and wed a noble lady equally as beautiful as the pale lady in yellow.

Our adventurers are gathered, but who else is waiting in the wings?

Loitering in a nearby tavern and ready to join the party should anyone ask (or better yet, pay!) we have Darkwolf the Barbarian (a not uncommon name it seems)!

On stage at the same tavern a summoner (wizard) - Abigail - entertains the crowd with her pet miniature dragon (little do they know this is merely a cover for her true mission!)

In her employ we find the elderly Willard. 

The classic 'Useful man' - he is talented in fetching, carrying, and fixing things. Beware though - as with his employer there is more than meets the eye to this bearded fellow! If cornered he is not averse to stepping out of his current role (and rather dramatically stripping down to his wolf pelt underwear) and reverting to the 'Wild Willard' of old - barbarian battler from the Sharp Hills! As famed for his braids as he was feared for carrying his 'three friends' - Biter (sword), Spiker (short sword), and Headsplitter (axe), the old man is as tough as nails.

Come and 'ave a go then... if you think you are 'ard enough!

Dangerous denizens...

Any dungeon-crawling party needs a plethora of enemies to face, so I also started painting some fearsome foes to fight. These may not all be types featured in League of Dungeoneers, but who knows when they may come in useful?

A genie, a giant, and a dusk troll...

The genie is the brains of the bunch. His immeasurable age and deep-seated anger at being forced to grant wishes to greedy imbeciles over the millennia make him a devious and dangerous foe. Alone, he would be formidable enough, but over the years he has managed to capture a coterie of henchmen in his lamp who serve him in the hopes of one day being released from his magic.

Big Ben the hill-giant (always with his club 'Red Masher' in hand) make an 'impact' wherever he goes. Every worst impulse and bad idea he has is acted upon with little hesitation. He has a terrible habit of listening to the 'little voice' in his ear - not realizing that these whisperings are not from his own 'genius', but rather the whisperings of the insane (and magically invisible) Weezle, goblin master-manipulator!

Big Ben and Weezle

Observers (those who have survived meeting Ben long enough to share their observations) have noted that along with Red Masher he is always to be seen with a rock in his other hand. Unknown to most, this is Ben's hobby. A dedicated rockhound, his hobby goes beyond simply preferring igneous to metamorphic (as evidenced by the quiet conversations he is happy to engage in with the very rocks he carries and is festooned with!)

Run!

Rnnnr-Grrr the dusk troll.

Rnnnr-Grrr (and friend)

Do you know any dusk trolls?

Dusk trolls are a rare and misunderstood breed. Compared to their more common, green-skinned cousins, they are less willing to socialize with fellow green skins or adventure in their company. Unbeknownst to many they have a greater level of intelligence than other types of troll, and are quite happy to avoid violence, favouring cattle rustling instead. This is a pastime they are well suited to. They have an uncanny knack for quiet movement, and their darker skin means they can be difficult to spot as day turns to night. While cattle rustling naturally alarms their neighbours, the cattle are kept as bovine companions and only devoured in times of severe famine - being far more highly valued for their milk and companionship. 

Dusk Trolls are far longer lived than their lesser green cousins. Over their lifespans they tend to accumulate a great deal of knowledge, and are thus sought out by wizards and witches as sources of local information. Dusk trolls have keen senses and know well in advance of the arrival of a visitor, and (somehow) whether they harbour ill intent. Although no-one has ever seen a female dusk troll, those researchers who have spent time studying them theorize that they mate for life. Those brave souls who have visited their lairs note the decor and design are likely to have been the work of the female of the species. They theorize that the partner is hidden away for safety, perhaps watching from the shadows. One popular theory is that those dusk trolls who most engage in cattle rustling do so out of loneliness, rather than spite.

I hope you enjoyed meeting some of the case of characters on my painting table. I hope to post more in the coming days and weeks.

:-)

Reboxing and storing Vantage (with upgrades)

 It fits! Nearly...

After purchasing Vantage and he associated upgrades, I wanted to see if I could fit everything back into the box again. I found instructions on how to do this, but for the life of me couldn't find the post again, so here are my own photos.

The following results in a 5mm lid-lift, but includes:

• All punched original components and tokens. (Story books, cards, dice etc.)
• Upgraded wooden skill tokens.
• Upgraded Metal coins.
• x6 upgrade dual-layer player boards ('grids')

How to pack Vantage:

1. Base game tokens, money, and player tokens. By pushing the three stacks of large location cards to the left of their spaces, there is enough space to carefully insert the original component to the right of each large location card space (see coins, skills tokens, and player tokens below in their baggies.)

2. Upgraded tokens and coins, and dice. With the original tokens bagged and stored, put the upgraded skill tokens, metal coins, and dice into the green boxes. Put a small baggie on top of each box to keep things in place as you slide them into their spaces. When you get them out, place a couple of fingerson the plastic baggies to help keep things in place and avoid spilling everything as you withdraw the boxes.

Note the baggies on top of the green boxes.

Boxes safely inserted!

3. Boost tokens and character card place holders can sit flat on the top large card space, which has spare depth.

Silver 'boost' cubes in their bag (at top of image), lying flat, before the 
secrets deck (in its pack) is laid on top of them.

4. Plastic card holders and secrets pack. The holders stack vertically in the storage space next to the card decks (shown at top left below.) The secrets deck (in it's plastic pack) can 

5. Dual-layer player boards. All 6 player board 'grids' lie down flat in a stack to one side of the game card decks.

6. Book of Vantages and Book of Secrets. On top of the player boards, place down the 'Book of Vantages' with the spiral binding against the wall of the box. On top of that, add the book of secrets, but leaving a gap so it isn't on top of the spiral binding.

7. Rulebook. Add the rulebook on top of the book of secrets. 

8. Game board. With step 5 ~ 7 done above, the main game board (really just a thin card) will lie flat on top of the card decks, book of vantages, and rules.

9. Storybooks. Insert the eight story books one at a time, putting the bound edge of the story book against the wall of the box. Do the same for each, but putting them down so there is just one against the box edge, then do the next one. This spiral of storybooks will slowly rise in height, but do this for all of them.

Storybook is laid down, with its binding touching the box.

2nd storybook is laid against the next edge of the box in a clockwise direction. 
Continue doing this for all storybooks.

9. Box lid. Close the box! There should be no more than 4~5mm of lid lift.

Hope this is useful!

Cheers,

On the table: Vantage by Stonemaier Games

 On the table: Vantage

It seems as though everyone is talking about Vantage, a new exploration game by Stonemaier Games.

I too was sucked in by the hype train (willingly) after some good reviews from YouTube channels that I watch and respect, including The Dungeon Dive, Man Vs. Meeple, and One Stop Co-op shop. I've never owned a Stonemaier game before, but being a fan of exploration games (I've enjoyed Lands of Galzyr and 7th Citadel) I thought this would be right up my alley. Crash land on an alien planet? Explore an alien world making choices about how to interact with the flora and fauna? High replayability due to hundreds of cards? Self-contained - not campaign - sessions? Yes please!

Also, the game is particularly suitable for solo play, and that is an important part of any purchase decision I make these days.

Seeing as it is releasing from a well-known and successful publisher, there is plenty of online coverage of the rules, as well as solo and multiplayer run-throughs to watch, so I'll just take a look at the components here and some initial thoughts.

Being located in Japan, I used Stonemaier's Australia storefront for my order. Customer service was fast and helpful in response to my questions, and Australia post provided tracking and updates. The box arrived in one piece quite quickly, and nothing was damaged (excellent packing by Stonemaier - or their distribution partners.)

I went all in, and also bought the dual layer player mats (or 'Grids' as they would be called in-game), metal coins, and wooden tokens.

Wooden tokens, coins, and dual-layer player grids.

Dual-layer player grids (x6). Note that each character
has their character card printed on the grid.

Wooden tokens (L), and metal coins (R).

I really dig the coloured metal coins. In denominations of 1, 2, 5, and 10, they could probably be used for any low player count sci-fi game (e.g. Star Wars Outer Rim), especially if playing solo.

The provided storage solution works well too. For a game that is comprised of so many cards, it is nice that they are easy to get in and out of their allotted spaces. The included cardboard boxes work well too. People are already posting very nice 3D printed insert blueprints that can replace the included cardboard (if that is your thing) and Etsy has some very thematic storage solutions for sale. I can get all the original components and upgrades into the box with about 4-5mm lid lift. (I'll post a step-by-step, inspired by some reboxings seen on YouTube.)

The components (in the base box) are fine and get the job done.

After some more images I'll share who I think the game is (and isn't) for.

Who is Vantage for?

I've played the game several times solo, and my initial impressions are:

Play this game if:

1. You like free-form exploration and a 'choose your own adventure' experience.
2. You are comfortable making choices without having full information.
3. You don't mind an 'experience', more than a 'game with deep mechanics'.
4. You (or your group) are happy to listen to the experiences other players might be having.
5. You aren't bothered by always having a clearly defined route to succeeding in your mission.
6. Using your imagination to fill in the narrative gaps left by the game is enjoyable for you.

I would say to anyone that it is always worth trying a game at least once to see if it hits. Having said that...

Avoid if:

1. You are the kind of player who 'switches' off when other players are taking their turn.
2. You dislike working with limited information in pursuit of a goal.
3. You aren't able to gloss over small thematic or mechanical inconsistencies (e.g. why can I only do ONE thing when I'm at this location out of a choice of SIX!)
4. You like long passages of narrative to set the scene.
5. You are expecting a linked campaign of missions.

Personally, I can see myself getting a lot of value from Vantage. The art is always fun to explore, the narrative results are interesting, and the replay value is incredibly high.

Let me know your thoughts.

Cheers,