Attention: Images from Spy Satellite Virgin-Sprint #998 were not available due to Cosmic Wind Vortex interference.
“Attention! The Bloated Whale has been spotted! Battle stations!”
Anderson checked his body armor again. The pirates were eager for loot and Captain Grognard had told the crew that he wanted to board and capture ships. It was a heck of a lot easier on the loot if they don’t send a missile into it first.
That was why Anderson was crammed into an airlock. He had drawn ‘First-In!’ duty and he would be one of the first pirates through the airlock if they boarded. His only company was a guy in a black hood named Skippy.
“At least we get first pick of the loot, right?” he asked Skippy.
Skippy said nothing. Anderson didn’t like the way Skippy flexed his hands. The guy wasn’t wearing armor and he didn’t have a weapon but Anderson was creeped out by him. The rumors said that Skippy hasn’t taken off his mask since the mutiny. Other rumors said that Skippy should have never passed the psych exam for enlisted penal crewmen. Anderson’s gut was telling him that Skippy was the wrong person to be stuck in an airlock with.
Anderson took a deep breath. If they were lucky, The Reroll would board a merchant ship and Skippy would be the merchant’s problems, not his.
***
Welcome to the 2nd AAR of my Space Pirates Campaign. Time to break out the rum and the odd colored dice. It's space pirates time!
The Reroll has three PEF’s on the big scanner and one of them was a Rep 5. It was farther away from the planet than a PEF 4 but I was concerned that it might activate faster than the others and reach the planet. If one ship reaches the planet, then the Patrol Mission is over and the pirates get cranky. I headed towards it first.
It turned out to be a Class 5 Grand Freighter with a Rep 4. Using the PDF Prime scanners this time for the merchant, we yielded 2 successes for the merchants and 2 successes for the pirates. Yeah, that seems much more realistic than the Star Navy’s scanners that I did last time.
Reading the rules for who activates first, I make a stunning realization. Last time, I thought who goes first alternates between turns. I realize now that it is ACTIVATION that alternates, not who goes first. I play a lot of Arkham Horror and I realized that I had carried over that rules sensibility rather than you know, reading the actual rules themselves. Oops!
We start off 48 inches away and the Merchants go first. Five turns later, the Pirates are within 9 inches and fires missiles. The slow Grand Freighter fails both evasion rolls.
One missile crashes into the Grand Freighter’s Life Support! This might be over already!
The other missile smacks into the hull for a single point of damage.
The Grand Freighter passes one success for their received damage test. Since The Reroll is of a lesser Class, the Grand Freighter decides that it isn’t afraid. Curses!
The Grand Freighter goes. I use concentrated fire to see if the 2 guns can penetrate the 3 shields of The Reroll. Final result is one shield goes down.
The Grand Freighter sends out a distress signal. To my utter shock, they get an answer!
***
Captain Grognard leapt out of his chair. “Am I seeing this?” he yelled.
“Three Star Navy ships are forty-eight Scribe-units away!” Isis yelled. “The Atlanta and The Savannah are both destroyers! The Waffle is a frigate!”
“Captain?” the helmsmen said. “What do we do?”
Captain Grognard ran the math in his head. Three Class 3 ships. The Destroyers has missiles. All of the ships combined had twice the guns of The Reroll. They might be able to take them. They might not.
It would be a glorious fight. It would be the kind of fight that would gave him the reputation of a great pirate. It would be the kind of fight that would impress all of the women in any brothel.
It could also be the kind of fight that completely destroyed The Reroll. The thing is, Captain Grognard just didn’t know and if you don’t know the odds, don’t play the game.
“Retreat!” he commanded.
***
Anderson felt the shake of the ship as it jumped into hyperwarp. He let out the breath he was holding. Maybe he wasn’t cut out for boarding duty. He had been nervous as hell but now he could finally relax.
He heard an angry growl. It had come from Skippy. The hooded man stood up and punched the wall of the airlock.
Anderson felt the nerves come back.
***
Well that was disappointing. I had been look for a fight with navy ships but three on one was a bit much. I fear that the 4 missiles alone could have messed me up not to mention that the four guns would rip through my two shields. Still, I can’t help but feel I was too cautious.
I performed my After the Battle rolls and The Reroll was able to repair their shields. I am still not 100% convinced that you do this test after each battle in a mission. The rules use the term ‘Mission’ a lot and I am not clear if they mean the entire Patrol Mission or just this part of the patrol.
Oh well, at least The Reroll is alive to battle again.
Friday, January 31, 2014
Tuesday, January 21, 2014
Contraband Rules
The concept of Contraband in Star Navy fascinates me. According to the rules,
“Weapons, restricted tech, certain narcotics, dangerous Xenoforms, Turing AIs or even slaves are examples of Contraband.”
Any one of those could be a seed for an adventure. In fact, they almost seem to be more trouble than they are worth. How are your happy go-lucky freedom fighter pirates going to react when they find out that they have slaves in the cargo?
I offer the following optional rules for dealing with contraband in your Star Navy game.
Roll 3d6 to determine your type of Contraband
3 – Illegal technology.
4-5 – Controlled Luxury Items
6-8 – Profitable Narcotics
9-12 – Weapons
13-15 – Slaves
16-17 – Artificial Intelligences
18 – Xenoforms of a Dangerous Quality
Illegal Technology can be anything from an experimental terraforming machine to giant Soylent Red ovens. Most pirates are not interested in something they can’t drink, snort or kiss, so they tend to sell these things pretty easily.
Controlled Luxury Items are things like rare furs from restricted worlds, cases of limited edition platinum sketch cards from galaxy famous artists and antique copies of Earth wargames. These items are nice and wonderful but doesn’t hold much interest to pirates and are therefore easy to sell.
Profitable Narcotics are drugs, plain and simple. These are a big temptation to pirate crews and the ship that seizes this cargo has to make a Controlled Looting Test.
Weapons are the biggest thriving illegal industry in the galaxy. There is a reason that most of the games in the 5150 universe are war related. All sides have their rules of war and all sides have their fighters who would much rather break those rules and have a gun that kicks ass. Weapons are great loot but you run the risk of the crew taking the best for themselves. Make a Controlled Looting Test.
Slaves are intelligent beings held against their will. Most pirate crews will feel bad about selling such misfortunate creatures and will think darkly of their Captain for doing so. Quite frankly, if your pirate crew is cool with selling slaves, they are likely not the kind of people you want having your back.
A Pirate Captain who wants to sell slaves for their Cargo Value can do so, but they must make a Campaign Morale Test on one die. If they fail, the Rep of all ships in the Pirate Force go down by one.
If a Pirate Captain decides to free the slaves, they gain no Cargo Value but they can add one die to their next Recruitment Roll.
Hishen Pirates ignore any rules for slaves and treats them like cargo.
Artificial Intelligences are androids, robots, smart programs on Frisbees carried around by midget robots, etc. The rights of AI’s vary by region to region but almost everyone likes a robot sidekick. There is a chance that the AI’s will be absorbed into the crew like lost puppies. The ship seizing such cargo makes Controlled Looting Test.
Xenoforms of a Dangerous Quality are nasty beings usually armed with more teeth, more acid blood and more claws than you. Ever since man first went into space, man has tried to bring back eggs that they really shouldn’t have. There is money to be made but you are always one minor accident away from becoming a cautionary tale for other ships.
A pirate ship who takes Xenoforms cargo must make a Rep test on one die. Succeed and you can sell the cargo as normal. Fail and you take one hit to your ship as if from a ship of Higher Class. This represents the Xenoform getting loose, impregnating your crew, punching holes in the hull and reenacting a scifi horror film on your ship. Needless to say, you don’t get to sell the Xenoforms as cargo as you probably had to kill them in a very dramatic and messy finale.
Controlled Looting Test – 2 die vs Rep of Ship
2+ Successes – Pirates behave themselves for a change and you can sell the cargo for the full value.
1 Success – Pirates take first pick at the best stuff. Cargo Value is reduced by half.
0 Success – Pirates take the best stuff, the average stuff and even some of the bad stuff. There is nothing left worth selling. Cargo Value is reduced to zero.
“Weapons, restricted tech, certain narcotics, dangerous Xenoforms, Turing AIs or even slaves are examples of Contraband.”
Any one of those could be a seed for an adventure. In fact, they almost seem to be more trouble than they are worth. How are your happy go-lucky freedom fighter pirates going to react when they find out that they have slaves in the cargo?
I offer the following optional rules for dealing with contraband in your Star Navy game.
Roll 3d6 to determine your type of Contraband
3 – Illegal technology.
4-5 – Controlled Luxury Items
6-8 – Profitable Narcotics
9-12 – Weapons
13-15 – Slaves
16-17 – Artificial Intelligences
18 – Xenoforms of a Dangerous Quality
Illegal Technology can be anything from an experimental terraforming machine to giant Soylent Red ovens. Most pirates are not interested in something they can’t drink, snort or kiss, so they tend to sell these things pretty easily.
Controlled Luxury Items are things like rare furs from restricted worlds, cases of limited edition platinum sketch cards from galaxy famous artists and antique copies of Earth wargames. These items are nice and wonderful but doesn’t hold much interest to pirates and are therefore easy to sell.
Profitable Narcotics are drugs, plain and simple. These are a big temptation to pirate crews and the ship that seizes this cargo has to make a Controlled Looting Test.
Weapons are the biggest thriving illegal industry in the galaxy. There is a reason that most of the games in the 5150 universe are war related. All sides have their rules of war and all sides have their fighters who would much rather break those rules and have a gun that kicks ass. Weapons are great loot but you run the risk of the crew taking the best for themselves. Make a Controlled Looting Test.
Slaves are intelligent beings held against their will. Most pirate crews will feel bad about selling such misfortunate creatures and will think darkly of their Captain for doing so. Quite frankly, if your pirate crew is cool with selling slaves, they are likely not the kind of people you want having your back.
A Pirate Captain who wants to sell slaves for their Cargo Value can do so, but they must make a Campaign Morale Test on one die. If they fail, the Rep of all ships in the Pirate Force go down by one.
If a Pirate Captain decides to free the slaves, they gain no Cargo Value but they can add one die to their next Recruitment Roll.
Hishen Pirates ignore any rules for slaves and treats them like cargo.
Artificial Intelligences are androids, robots, smart programs on Frisbees carried around by midget robots, etc. The rights of AI’s vary by region to region but almost everyone likes a robot sidekick. There is a chance that the AI’s will be absorbed into the crew like lost puppies. The ship seizing such cargo makes Controlled Looting Test.
Xenoforms of a Dangerous Quality are nasty beings usually armed with more teeth, more acid blood and more claws than you. Ever since man first went into space, man has tried to bring back eggs that they really shouldn’t have. There is money to be made but you are always one minor accident away from becoming a cautionary tale for other ships.
A pirate ship who takes Xenoforms cargo must make a Rep test on one die. Succeed and you can sell the cargo as normal. Fail and you take one hit to your ship as if from a ship of Higher Class. This represents the Xenoform getting loose, impregnating your crew, punching holes in the hull and reenacting a scifi horror film on your ship. Needless to say, you don’t get to sell the Xenoforms as cargo as you probably had to kill them in a very dramatic and messy finale.
Controlled Looting Test – 2 die vs Rep of Ship
2+ Successes – Pirates behave themselves for a change and you can sell the cargo for the full value.
1 Success – Pirates take first pick at the best stuff. Cargo Value is reduced by half.
0 Success – Pirates take the best stuff, the average stuff and even some of the bad stuff. There is nothing left worth selling. Cargo Value is reduced to zero.
Friday, January 17, 2014
Flight of the Reroll Aftermath
Arris Station was once a precious molecule extraction satellite around a gas giant. After changing hands a dozen times as companies rose and fell, it eventually came under the control of a private citizen. It is now a refueling station for passing starships as well as a place where one can buy and sell gently used cargo. Officially it was considered a trader zone but unofficially it is one of the prime locations that a pirate can offload some cargo.
Quarter Mistress Danica used to be an inventory supply clerk for a holonovel company but that was before she was press ganged into military service for the crime of public flashing in traffic. One mutiny later, she was now the Quarter Mistress for the pirate ship, The Reroll. Duncan, no, Captain Grognard had promoted her and tasked her with the job of selling the loot they had recently acquired. She would rather spend her days talking self holographic photos but at least as a pirate, no one complained about her short skirts any more, or if she was even wearing one to begin with.
Still, the Captain had offered her a commission on anything she sold so was eager to make some money so she could buy more transparent clothes.
“380 MegaCreds is outrageous!” she yelled.
The Tricon in front of her shrugged. The center head scowled while the head on the left tried to look apologetic. The head on the right was snoring.
“That’s the best I can do,” the center head said.
“A lot of your goods still have trade tags on them,” the left head said. “It will cost us money to scrub them.”
Danica shook the cargo manifest in her hand. “The penile enhancement drugs alone are worth 300 MegaCreds.”
“Fine,” the center head said. “I’ll offer you 280 MegaCreds.”
“That’s less than what you just offered!” Danica snapped.
“That’s right,” the center head said. “Want to keep haggling?”
“Look,” the left head said. “300 MegaCreds for the drugs is retail. If you own your own trader station, hire your own staff, pay the generator bills and bribe the local Star Navy, then yeah, you can charge 300. But since we are the ones selling it, we have to make a profit. We can offer you 380 MegaCreds for all of your cargo and I think you will find that is a fair deal.”
Danica thought about it. The center head was still snarling at her but the left head made sense. “Fine, that works. Now what can you give me for the freighters? We don’t need them.”
“We can give them a wash,” the center head said.
“Freighters aren’t worth much,” the left head said. “They don’t have jump drives and quite frankly, they don’t sell. Pirates don’t want them and real merchants would rather have something new rather than something that pirates had already proven they can capture.”
“Well we sure don’t want then,” Danica said. “Make me an offer.”
“8 MegaCreds for all three,” the center head said. “Final offer. We can sell them for scrap.”
Danica sighed. She looked at the inventory list of the things that Arris station had to sell. “Throw in the invisible dress and you have a deal.”
“Done,” both heads said. The third head kept snoring.
***
Welcome to the bookkeeping phase of my Space Pirates game. Fortunately Star Navy is light on the bookkeeping which is fine with me. I tend to over complicate things and maybe the sparseness of these rules will reign me in.
The total cargo haul came up to 380 Cargo value. I had the matter of the three merchant ships I had captured to consider. I didn’t want them in my fleet which suggested to me that their retail value wasn’t much either. After years of watching people beg to sell their outdated crap on Pawn Stars, I decided to take a hard line and create a simple rule.
Pirates can sell Captured Merchant Ships for a Cargo Value of the ship’s Class.
So the Class 5 Grand Freighter is worth 5 CV. The Class 3 Freighter is only worth CV 3.
Now it is time to determine the Pirates Campaign Morale. They used the Patrol Mission which tasks them with resolving every PEF in the sector. I am going to interpret that as they need to investigate and identify every PEF, not necessarily defeat them. In other words, an unsuccessful pirate mission is when they go home and there are PEF’s out there that they don’t know about. The crew will grumble because surely that last blip was the Grand Freighter carrying a cargo full of Sex Droids but noooo, their Captain is too much of a turduken to check it out.
The pirates roll two dice plus they get to add one for having a successful patrol. They get three successes so their moral goes up! Captain Grognard has succeeded! His merry band of mutineers enjoy being pirates.
For now.
Now we go to the recruitment table to see if any more pirates join The Reroll. We roll two dice against the Pirates’ Morale of 4. We only get one success so no one joins but hey, no one leaves either.
Now I looked at the After the Battle rules to see if I can repair that one shield I lost. It is now that I realize that I am supposed to roll After the Battle after EACH encounter. Which means I could have repaired that shield a lot earlier but also I had the chance of having my adventure cut short if I took more significant damage. Oh well, wargaming is all about the learning.
The Reroll rolls two successes and gets fully repaired. We are ready for our next adventure!
Now on to the most important part: how do I feel about the game?
It’s been ages since I have played a spaceship game and I have to say that I enjoyed Star Navy a lot. It doesn’t have the super complexity of Starfleet Battles or the lumbering bluntness of Battlefleet Gothic. It is a fast, sensible game that has some depth but not a crushing amount of it.
I enjoy the randomness of the PEF system and it works very well for solo play. It is the first solo game in ages where I felt challenged. I am tempted to make some more missions for Pirates but for now I will stick with what is recommended in the book.
All in all, I enjoy the game a lot and I would recommend it for solo or group play.
Quarter Mistress Danica used to be an inventory supply clerk for a holonovel company but that was before she was press ganged into military service for the crime of public flashing in traffic. One mutiny later, she was now the Quarter Mistress for the pirate ship, The Reroll. Duncan, no, Captain Grognard had promoted her and tasked her with the job of selling the loot they had recently acquired. She would rather spend her days talking self holographic photos but at least as a pirate, no one complained about her short skirts any more, or if she was even wearing one to begin with.
Still, the Captain had offered her a commission on anything she sold so was eager to make some money so she could buy more transparent clothes.
“380 MegaCreds is outrageous!” she yelled.
The Tricon in front of her shrugged. The center head scowled while the head on the left tried to look apologetic. The head on the right was snoring.
“That’s the best I can do,” the center head said.
“A lot of your goods still have trade tags on them,” the left head said. “It will cost us money to scrub them.”
Danica shook the cargo manifest in her hand. “The penile enhancement drugs alone are worth 300 MegaCreds.”
“Fine,” the center head said. “I’ll offer you 280 MegaCreds.”
“That’s less than what you just offered!” Danica snapped.
“That’s right,” the center head said. “Want to keep haggling?”
“Look,” the left head said. “300 MegaCreds for the drugs is retail. If you own your own trader station, hire your own staff, pay the generator bills and bribe the local Star Navy, then yeah, you can charge 300. But since we are the ones selling it, we have to make a profit. We can offer you 380 MegaCreds for all of your cargo and I think you will find that is a fair deal.”
Danica thought about it. The center head was still snarling at her but the left head made sense. “Fine, that works. Now what can you give me for the freighters? We don’t need them.”
“We can give them a wash,” the center head said.
“Freighters aren’t worth much,” the left head said. “They don’t have jump drives and quite frankly, they don’t sell. Pirates don’t want them and real merchants would rather have something new rather than something that pirates had already proven they can capture.”
“Well we sure don’t want then,” Danica said. “Make me an offer.”
“8 MegaCreds for all three,” the center head said. “Final offer. We can sell them for scrap.”
Danica sighed. She looked at the inventory list of the things that Arris station had to sell. “Throw in the invisible dress and you have a deal.”
“Done,” both heads said. The third head kept snoring.
***
Welcome to the bookkeeping phase of my Space Pirates game. Fortunately Star Navy is light on the bookkeeping which is fine with me. I tend to over complicate things and maybe the sparseness of these rules will reign me in.
The total cargo haul came up to 380 Cargo value. I had the matter of the three merchant ships I had captured to consider. I didn’t want them in my fleet which suggested to me that their retail value wasn’t much either. After years of watching people beg to sell their outdated crap on Pawn Stars, I decided to take a hard line and create a simple rule.
Pirates can sell Captured Merchant Ships for a Cargo Value of the ship’s Class.
So the Class 5 Grand Freighter is worth 5 CV. The Class 3 Freighter is only worth CV 3.
Now it is time to determine the Pirates Campaign Morale. They used the Patrol Mission which tasks them with resolving every PEF in the sector. I am going to interpret that as they need to investigate and identify every PEF, not necessarily defeat them. In other words, an unsuccessful pirate mission is when they go home and there are PEF’s out there that they don’t know about. The crew will grumble because surely that last blip was the Grand Freighter carrying a cargo full of Sex Droids but noooo, their Captain is too much of a turduken to check it out.
The pirates roll two dice plus they get to add one for having a successful patrol. They get three successes so their moral goes up! Captain Grognard has succeeded! His merry band of mutineers enjoy being pirates.
For now.
Now we go to the recruitment table to see if any more pirates join The Reroll. We roll two dice against the Pirates’ Morale of 4. We only get one success so no one joins but hey, no one leaves either.
Now I looked at the After the Battle rules to see if I can repair that one shield I lost. It is now that I realize that I am supposed to roll After the Battle after EACH encounter. Which means I could have repaired that shield a lot earlier but also I had the chance of having my adventure cut short if I took more significant damage. Oh well, wargaming is all about the learning.
The Reroll rolls two successes and gets fully repaired. We are ready for our next adventure!
Now on to the most important part: how do I feel about the game?
It’s been ages since I have played a spaceship game and I have to say that I enjoyed Star Navy a lot. It doesn’t have the super complexity of Starfleet Battles or the lumbering bluntness of Battlefleet Gothic. It is a fast, sensible game that has some depth but not a crushing amount of it.
I enjoy the randomness of the PEF system and it works very well for solo play. It is the first solo game in ages where I felt challenged. I am tempted to make some more missions for Pirates but for now I will stick with what is recommended in the book.
All in all, I enjoy the game a lot and I would recommend it for solo or group play.
Thursday, January 16, 2014
Flight of the Reroll Part Four
Captain Grognard blushed in the Captain’s chair. He was checking his messages on Shipper, the ship wide social network. A crewwoman in engineering wanted to stop processing biowaste and get a job as the Captain’s Cabin Girl. The position was already filled but this applicant had sent a long filthy description of the kind of duties she was looking forward to.
“Lords of Space!” Isis yelled. Captain Grognard quickly closed his messages and spun around in his chair. He was terrified for a moment that Isis had somehow read his message. He saw that Isis was frantically stabbing at buttons.
“Two ships dead ahead at thirty-six Scribe-units!” Isis yelled. “They came out of nowhere!”
“On screen!” Captain Grognard said. Well, they knew a ship was in this area. The Reroll had been hunting it for the past 2 days. He wanted one more merchant haul before heading in to cash in their loot. Thirty-six Scribe Units was awfully close but he wasn’t worried.
The screen pulled up images of the two ships. Captain Grognard got very worried indeed. They were two warships!
“Identification protocols tag them as The Guardian and The Lance,” communications reported. “The Guardian is a Heavy Cruiser and The Lance is a Destroyer.”
“Well drek,” Captain Grognard said.
***
Welcome to part 4 of my first Space Pirates AAR. After capturing the Ponzi Index, The Reroll went off on an intercept course for the last PEF. A few activation rolls later and we have contact.
Hey look, it is the Gaea Prime PDF! No weak merchants for me today! I determine that there are two ships and I nervously find out which kind. I get a Class Four Heavy Cruiser with a Rep of 3 and a Class Three Destroyer with a Rep of 4. Ack! We got ourselves a fight!
The PDF manage two successes on the long range scans and the Pirates get one success. We are 36 inches away.
The PDF goes first. They close to within 25 inches and open fire with guns. The Heavy Cruiser has 4 guns and the Destroyer has 1 gun. The Destroyer can’t pierce the Reroll’s 2 shields while the Heavy Cruiser can get two hits if they are lucky. I make the decision that the two ships will combine fire for a concentrated attack.
I roll one success for cruiser which means half of the 4 guns for a total of 2. I get 2 success for the destroyer’s one gun. Combined, that is 3 guns vs 2 shields for a penetration of 1. I roll the dice and get zero results.
Now it is the Pirates’ turn.
***
“Shields are holding! Captain, what do we do?”
Captain Grognard stood up. Yeah, what do they do? The odds are two against one. The Guardian was a match for The Reroll by itself but it had help in the Lance. It would be risky but The Reroll might win. If they defeated two warships, the crew would feel invincible and surely stay on as pirates. Glory and respect was within his reach!
On the other hand, there was a lot of loot waiting for them at the rendezvous. And there was always the matter of the crewwoman who wanted to be a Cabin Girl. Unlike sim games, Grognard wouldn’t be able to hit the reset button if things went sour. He had too much to live for, this week at least.
“Activate the jump drives! We’re getting the drek out of here!”
***
The Pirates run. In Star Navy they can instantly leave the board without further trouble.
Well, that was short. I had been looking for a real fight but I was hoping for one that was a bit more weighted in my favor. It also seemed silly to get into a real fight when I had three encounter’s worth of loot to enjoy.
“Lords of Space!” Isis yelled. Captain Grognard quickly closed his messages and spun around in his chair. He was terrified for a moment that Isis had somehow read his message. He saw that Isis was frantically stabbing at buttons.
“Two ships dead ahead at thirty-six Scribe-units!” Isis yelled. “They came out of nowhere!”
“On screen!” Captain Grognard said. Well, they knew a ship was in this area. The Reroll had been hunting it for the past 2 days. He wanted one more merchant haul before heading in to cash in their loot. Thirty-six Scribe Units was awfully close but he wasn’t worried.
The screen pulled up images of the two ships. Captain Grognard got very worried indeed. They were two warships!
“Identification protocols tag them as The Guardian and The Lance,” communications reported. “The Guardian is a Heavy Cruiser and The Lance is a Destroyer.”
“Well drek,” Captain Grognard said.
***
Welcome to part 4 of my first Space Pirates AAR. After capturing the Ponzi Index, The Reroll went off on an intercept course for the last PEF. A few activation rolls later and we have contact.
Hey look, it is the Gaea Prime PDF! No weak merchants for me today! I determine that there are two ships and I nervously find out which kind. I get a Class Four Heavy Cruiser with a Rep of 3 and a Class Three Destroyer with a Rep of 4. Ack! We got ourselves a fight!
The PDF manage two successes on the long range scans and the Pirates get one success. We are 36 inches away.
The PDF goes first. They close to within 25 inches and open fire with guns. The Heavy Cruiser has 4 guns and the Destroyer has 1 gun. The Destroyer can’t pierce the Reroll’s 2 shields while the Heavy Cruiser can get two hits if they are lucky. I make the decision that the two ships will combine fire for a concentrated attack.
I roll one success for cruiser which means half of the 4 guns for a total of 2. I get 2 success for the destroyer’s one gun. Combined, that is 3 guns vs 2 shields for a penetration of 1. I roll the dice and get zero results.
Now it is the Pirates’ turn.
***
“Shields are holding! Captain, what do we do?”
Captain Grognard stood up. Yeah, what do they do? The odds are two against one. The Guardian was a match for The Reroll by itself but it had help in the Lance. It would be risky but The Reroll might win. If they defeated two warships, the crew would feel invincible and surely stay on as pirates. Glory and respect was within his reach!
On the other hand, there was a lot of loot waiting for them at the rendezvous. And there was always the matter of the crewwoman who wanted to be a Cabin Girl. Unlike sim games, Grognard wouldn’t be able to hit the reset button if things went sour. He had too much to live for, this week at least.
“Activate the jump drives! We’re getting the drek out of here!”
***
The Pirates run. In Star Navy they can instantly leave the board without further trouble.
Well, that was short. I had been looking for a real fight but I was hoping for one that was a bit more weighted in my favor. It also seemed silly to get into a real fight when I had three encounter’s worth of loot to enjoy.
Wednesday, January 15, 2014
Flight of the Reroll Part Three
Captain Grognard was in the mess hall. Frank had challenged Jennix to a drinking contest and most of the crew had gathered to watch. The winner would get a bag full of credits and the loser would do something so anatomically disturbing that Grognard was sure it was illegal in this sector.
They both took a drink. Frank burped and Jennix farted. The crew laughed.
Captain Grognard smiled. The crew was happy. Most of them were wearing new clothes that had been looted off merchant ships. No one talked about finding a planet to hide on anymore. Granted, they didn’t talk much about staying pirates either but at least they weren’t daydreaming about becoming refugees on some dirtball planet.
It was time for another drink. Jennix downed her mug and let out a loud burp.
Frank raised his mug and missed his mouth. All of the rum fell down his shoulder. As he turned to look at the mess he made, he fell off his chair and collapsed to the ground.
“We have a winner!” Captain Grognard said.
The crew cheered. Jennix stood up and took a bow before collapsing onto the table.
“Attention all hands!” the intercom buzzed. “Battle Stations! The Ponzi Index is within range!”
Captain Gorgnard sighed. It had been less then twenty hours since they looted the Supply Side. He hoped today was another merchant. He made his way to the bridge; eager to see what adventures would be had today.
***
Welcome to part 3 of my first Space Pirates AAR. After destroying the Goldman’s Sack and looting the Supply Side, The Reroll went off looking for new targets. A few activation rolls later and we have a new PEF on the radar!
The Reroll went for the closest PEF. This time it was another Class 5 Grand Freighter with a Rep of 3. We’ll call it The Ponzi Index. Those things are loaded with loot but the class 5 means you got to really wear them down.
Long Range scans gave the Merchants three success plus one for a total of four. The pirates manage a measly one success. Starting distance is 60 inches away.
Going with my previous decision, The Ponzi Index cannot call for help until actually fired upon. That means seven turns of The Reroll closing the gap and holding their fire until they get within missile range. I imagine the crew of The Ponzi Index spent this time calling their brokers and telling them to liquidate in case they need to pay a ransom.
On turn Seven, The Reroll closes to within 8 inches. They fire both missiles. The Ponzi Index tries to dodge and fails miserably.
One missile takes down a shield! Woot!
One missile hits the non-existent AA for no damage. Boo!
The Reroll opens fire with their guns. They hit twice which is reduced by the one shield left. Because the Freighter is a higher class of ship, the Pirates can only do one damage to the hull.
The Ponzi Index easily makes their received damage test. They do less well on their concentrated fire guns and do no damage.
They do call for help and get one success. Help is on the way!
***
“Thank you for contacting Star Navy Dispatch. Due to budget cuts in your sector, we are unable to answer your distress at this time. Please stay on the line and if under attack please attempt evasive maneuvers.”
***
On Turn 8, the Ponzi Index manages to get an amazing 25 inches away. They fire guns in a concentrated manner and fail to pierce The Reroll’s shields. They try calling for help but none is coming.
The Reroll goes. I am trying to slow down for a boarding action. I close the distance to 10 inches and open fire. They launch two missiles and both of them smack into the poorly evading Grand Freighter. One damages the hull for one point while the other missile collides with the non-existent missiles on the freighter.
Discouraged, The Reroll fires their guns. They get two successes vs the Grand Freighter’s last shield and hit the hull for one point of damage. It is like light rain on the hull compared the Grand Freighter’s 22 remaining hull points.
At least that is what the pirates think. The Ponzi Index fails their Received Damage test with zero successes. Apparently the crew is a bunch of investors not fighters. They drop down to a Rep of 2 and surrender! Hurrah! The pirates seize the ship and leave the crew drifting in life pods.
Captain Grognard sends over a skeleton crew. Instead of rolling for every cargo bay, out of sheer laziness, I make a single roll. I get Goods in each of the ten bays for a total of 150 CV.
I think in the future, I will come up with a way of deciding if a ship has different loot for each bay or is just hauling a bunch of one thing.
***
Captain Grognard sat back in the Captain’s chair. It was another good fight with no damage to The Reroll. Their first foray into pirating had been pretty profitable. There was one last blip on the scanner. Grognard smiled as he thought of the riches that may yet to be taken.
They both took a drink. Frank burped and Jennix farted. The crew laughed.
Captain Grognard smiled. The crew was happy. Most of them were wearing new clothes that had been looted off merchant ships. No one talked about finding a planet to hide on anymore. Granted, they didn’t talk much about staying pirates either but at least they weren’t daydreaming about becoming refugees on some dirtball planet.
It was time for another drink. Jennix downed her mug and let out a loud burp.
Frank raised his mug and missed his mouth. All of the rum fell down his shoulder. As he turned to look at the mess he made, he fell off his chair and collapsed to the ground.
“We have a winner!” Captain Grognard said.
The crew cheered. Jennix stood up and took a bow before collapsing onto the table.
“Attention all hands!” the intercom buzzed. “Battle Stations! The Ponzi Index is within range!”
Captain Gorgnard sighed. It had been less then twenty hours since they looted the Supply Side. He hoped today was another merchant. He made his way to the bridge; eager to see what adventures would be had today.
***
Welcome to part 3 of my first Space Pirates AAR. After destroying the Goldman’s Sack and looting the Supply Side, The Reroll went off looking for new targets. A few activation rolls later and we have a new PEF on the radar!
 |
| Exclusive actual scan from the Reroll's scanner thingy |
The Reroll went for the closest PEF. This time it was another Class 5 Grand Freighter with a Rep of 3. We’ll call it The Ponzi Index. Those things are loaded with loot but the class 5 means you got to really wear them down.
Long Range scans gave the Merchants three success plus one for a total of four. The pirates manage a measly one success. Starting distance is 60 inches away.
Going with my previous decision, The Ponzi Index cannot call for help until actually fired upon. That means seven turns of The Reroll closing the gap and holding their fire until they get within missile range. I imagine the crew of The Ponzi Index spent this time calling their brokers and telling them to liquidate in case they need to pay a ransom.
On turn Seven, The Reroll closes to within 8 inches. They fire both missiles. The Ponzi Index tries to dodge and fails miserably.
One missile takes down a shield! Woot!
One missile hits the non-existent AA for no damage. Boo!
 |
| Image of the Encounter provided by Googley Spy Satellite #932 |
The Reroll opens fire with their guns. They hit twice which is reduced by the one shield left. Because the Freighter is a higher class of ship, the Pirates can only do one damage to the hull.
The Ponzi Index easily makes their received damage test. They do less well on their concentrated fire guns and do no damage.
They do call for help and get one success. Help is on the way!
***
“Thank you for contacting Star Navy Dispatch. Due to budget cuts in your sector, we are unable to answer your distress at this time. Please stay on the line and if under attack please attempt evasive maneuvers.”
***
On Turn 8, the Ponzi Index manages to get an amazing 25 inches away. They fire guns in a concentrated manner and fail to pierce The Reroll’s shields. They try calling for help but none is coming.
The Reroll goes. I am trying to slow down for a boarding action. I close the distance to 10 inches and open fire. They launch two missiles and both of them smack into the poorly evading Grand Freighter. One damages the hull for one point while the other missile collides with the non-existent missiles on the freighter.
Discouraged, The Reroll fires their guns. They get two successes vs the Grand Freighter’s last shield and hit the hull for one point of damage. It is like light rain on the hull compared the Grand Freighter’s 22 remaining hull points.
At least that is what the pirates think. The Ponzi Index fails their Received Damage test with zero successes. Apparently the crew is a bunch of investors not fighters. They drop down to a Rep of 2 and surrender! Hurrah! The pirates seize the ship and leave the crew drifting in life pods.
Captain Grognard sends over a skeleton crew. Instead of rolling for every cargo bay, out of sheer laziness, I make a single roll. I get Goods in each of the ten bays for a total of 150 CV.
I think in the future, I will come up with a way of deciding if a ship has different loot for each bay or is just hauling a bunch of one thing.
***
Captain Grognard sat back in the Captain’s chair. It was another good fight with no damage to The Reroll. Their first foray into pirating had been pretty profitable. There was one last blip on the scanner. Grognard smiled as he thought of the riches that may yet to be taken.
Tuesday, January 14, 2014
Flight of the Reroll Part Two
Captain Grognard sat in the Captain’s chair on the bridge. He paused his game of ‘Angry Asteroids’ and took a look at his crew. The helmsman was browsing his timeline on Shipper, the ship’s social media program. The weapons officer was flirting with the communications officer. The security guard was showing her tattoos to the missiles officer.
Hey, at least no one was drinking today. It had three days since they took Maddof’s Greed and the crew was still flush with excitement. They wanted more loot. They wanted more battles. Most of all they wanted to hit something and not miss a dozen times because they were drunk.
“Captain, I have something,” Isis said. She was wearing a Nexian fur coat that she took from the looted freighter. It was too hot to wear in ship but she had stripped down to her underwear to compensate. She was proud of her coat and she wasn’t going to stop wearing it.
“What do we have?” Captain Grognard said.
“Looks like two ships,” Isis said. “The Supply Side and the Goldman’s Sack. A freighter and a runner.”
Captain Grognard sat up in his chair. “Helm, set a course. Arm the weapons and raise the shields! The first firing crew to disable a ship gets first pick of the loot!”
***
Welcome to part 2 of my first Space Pirates AAR. After looting the grand freighter, The Reroll went off looking for new targets. We had some exciting activations and movement on the campaign map and now we finally have another contact.
A series of rolls determine that we have 2 ships this time. One is a plain old freighter and the other is a runner. Both are Class 3 with Rep 3 and a die roll determines that the Runner is the flagship.
We go to the Long Range Scans. Again, I am unclear as to what faction Merchants belong to. They are Gaea Prime Merchants but does that mean Gaea Prime Planetary Forces or Star Navy. For these first AAR’s, I went with Star Navy.
I get a total of five successes for the Merchants and only 3 for the Pirates. Starting distance is once again 72 inches! Merchants also start perpendicular to the pirates which is awfully awkward for pirates who are supposed to be hunting merchants.
At 72 inches away, the Pirates don’t bother to fire, they just try to close in. The Merchants try to run away and because I determined that merchants can’t call for help until fired upon, we have several turns where the pirates try to catch up to the Merchants and the Merchants are hoping the unaffiliated ship that is chasing them just wants to read their license plate to see if it has a joke.
The Merchants decide to stay together and will travel at the freighter’s slower speed. I figured that they would be safer if the concentrate their fire together.
7 turns of high thrust and maneuvers later, the pirates catch up to within 2 inches. With two targets, I decide to fire missiles at the freighter and use my guns on the runner. Mostly I am afraid that since The Reroll is a higher class then the merchants I may annihilate them if I use all my weapons on one ship.
The freighter tries desperately to evade and manages to dodge a missile! The other missile detonates into the hull for 4 points of damage. This would destroy the Freighter except that I am using the concentrated rules supplement which doubles the hull points of all ships. Whew!
The Reroll opens fire on the Runner with its guns. Two successes means all guns hit minus one for the shield for one hit to the hull. 4 points of damage are inflicted, cutting the Runner’s hull in half. Again, if it wasn’t for the concentrated fire rules, the Runner would be dead.
The freighter rolls their received damage test and passes easily. The runner fails their roll and their Rep is reduced to 2. I imagine a panel blew up in the face of someone important.
The Supply Side and the Goldman’s Sack retaliate by concentrating fire. They each have one gun so they would have no chance on their own of damaging The Reroll. The Runner gets 1 success, rounded down for zero guns. The Freighter gets 2 successes for one gun successful. My understanding is that they still roll a single d6 to try to hit a penetration of one. They fail.
The Merchants also call for help. They get one success!
***
“Thank you for contacting Star Navy Dispatch. Your wait time for a Star Navy ship Comm Officer is estimated at thirteen cycles. Please enjoy this complimentary Xoeg music.”
***
The Merchants go. They concentrate fire in a desperate attempt to stop the pirate ship. Both ships get one success but rounded down that is a 0. I think the PV still counts as one. They still get no penetration.
The merchants also call for help again. They get one success, again. I wonder if it stacks? Let’s call that Discussion Point #2
***
“Thank you for contacting Star Navy Dispatch. Your wait time for a Star Navy ship Comm Officer is estimated at eleven cycles. Please enjoy this complimentary instructional audio on how to avoid Space Cough.”
***
The pirates go. Due to some rather crappy flying on my part, The Reroll can’t decelerate in time to keep the merchants in front of them. They shoot past both merchants. I am still well within gun range so I let loose on the runner.
The Pirates shoot at the runner for 2 successes for 2 guns. That goes through one shield for 4 more hull points. Oops. The Goldman’s Sack explodes in a fiery but silent space explosion.
The Supply Side just saw the flagship blow up. They make a Friend Destroyed Test and only get one success. They surrender!
***
“Captain, we are receiving a transmission from the Supply Side. They are offering to surrender, as well as offering their credit disc codes and the name of a private bar on New Hope.”
“Yes,” Captain Grognard said. “All part of my cunning plan. See, once you destroy one of them, the other surrenders! I knew it all along!”
The crew cheered and Grognard sighed with relief. They seemed to have bought that and don’t seem to mind at all that they have one less ship to loot.
***
I rolled one success for the surrender which reads that the pirates take the ship. It is a crappy little Class Freighter and I am not sure if that is worth taking along. I will decide later. For now I assume that Grognard assigned a skeleton crew and sent the ship somewhere safe so they can sell the cargo in peace.
For loot, I roll,
Bay 1-goods for cv 9
Bay 2 – commodities for cv 3
Bay 3 – goods for cv 9
Bay 4 – rarities for cv 15
It is a small haul but still something. Maybe I can convert the ship to cv. It is something to think about.
Hey, at least no one was drinking today. It had three days since they took Maddof’s Greed and the crew was still flush with excitement. They wanted more loot. They wanted more battles. Most of all they wanted to hit something and not miss a dozen times because they were drunk.
“Captain, I have something,” Isis said. She was wearing a Nexian fur coat that she took from the looted freighter. It was too hot to wear in ship but she had stripped down to her underwear to compensate. She was proud of her coat and she wasn’t going to stop wearing it.
“What do we have?” Captain Grognard said.
“Looks like two ships,” Isis said. “The Supply Side and the Goldman’s Sack. A freighter and a runner.”
Captain Grognard sat up in his chair. “Helm, set a course. Arm the weapons and raise the shields! The first firing crew to disable a ship gets first pick of the loot!”
***
Welcome to part 2 of my first Space Pirates AAR. After looting the grand freighter, The Reroll went off looking for new targets. We had some exciting activations and movement on the campaign map and now we finally have another contact.
 |
| Image from The Reroll's Scanners |
We go to the Long Range Scans. Again, I am unclear as to what faction Merchants belong to. They are Gaea Prime Merchants but does that mean Gaea Prime Planetary Forces or Star Navy. For these first AAR’s, I went with Star Navy.
I get a total of five successes for the Merchants and only 3 for the Pirates. Starting distance is once again 72 inches! Merchants also start perpendicular to the pirates which is awfully awkward for pirates who are supposed to be hunting merchants.
At 72 inches away, the Pirates don’t bother to fire, they just try to close in. The Merchants try to run away and because I determined that merchants can’t call for help until fired upon, we have several turns where the pirates try to catch up to the Merchants and the Merchants are hoping the unaffiliated ship that is chasing them just wants to read their license plate to see if it has a joke.
The Merchants decide to stay together and will travel at the freighter’s slower speed. I figured that they would be safer if the concentrate their fire together.
7 turns of high thrust and maneuvers later, the pirates catch up to within 2 inches. With two targets, I decide to fire missiles at the freighter and use my guns on the runner. Mostly I am afraid that since The Reroll is a higher class then the merchants I may annihilate them if I use all my weapons on one ship.
The freighter tries desperately to evade and manages to dodge a missile! The other missile detonates into the hull for 4 points of damage. This would destroy the Freighter except that I am using the concentrated rules supplement which doubles the hull points of all ships. Whew!
The Reroll opens fire on the Runner with its guns. Two successes means all guns hit minus one for the shield for one hit to the hull. 4 points of damage are inflicted, cutting the Runner’s hull in half. Again, if it wasn’t for the concentrated fire rules, the Runner would be dead.
The freighter rolls their received damage test and passes easily. The runner fails their roll and their Rep is reduced to 2. I imagine a panel blew up in the face of someone important.
The Supply Side and the Goldman’s Sack retaliate by concentrating fire. They each have one gun so they would have no chance on their own of damaging The Reroll. The Runner gets 1 success, rounded down for zero guns. The Freighter gets 2 successes for one gun successful. My understanding is that they still roll a single d6 to try to hit a penetration of one. They fail.
The Merchants also call for help. They get one success!
***
“Thank you for contacting Star Navy Dispatch. Your wait time for a Star Navy ship Comm Officer is estimated at thirteen cycles. Please enjoy this complimentary Xoeg music.”
***
The Merchants go. They concentrate fire in a desperate attempt to stop the pirate ship. Both ships get one success but rounded down that is a 0. I think the PV still counts as one. They still get no penetration.
The merchants also call for help again. They get one success, again. I wonder if it stacks? Let’s call that Discussion Point #2
***
“Thank you for contacting Star Navy Dispatch. Your wait time for a Star Navy ship Comm Officer is estimated at eleven cycles. Please enjoy this complimentary instructional audio on how to avoid Space Cough.”
***
The pirates go. Due to some rather crappy flying on my part, The Reroll can’t decelerate in time to keep the merchants in front of them. They shoot past both merchants. I am still well within gun range so I let loose on the runner.
The Pirates shoot at the runner for 2 successes for 2 guns. That goes through one shield for 4 more hull points. Oops. The Goldman’s Sack explodes in a fiery but silent space explosion.
The Supply Side just saw the flagship blow up. They make a Friend Destroyed Test and only get one success. They surrender!
***
“Captain, we are receiving a transmission from the Supply Side. They are offering to surrender, as well as offering their credit disc codes and the name of a private bar on New Hope.”
“Yes,” Captain Grognard said. “All part of my cunning plan. See, once you destroy one of them, the other surrenders! I knew it all along!”
The crew cheered and Grognard sighed with relief. They seemed to have bought that and don’t seem to mind at all that they have one less ship to loot.
***
I rolled one success for the surrender which reads that the pirates take the ship. It is a crappy little Class Freighter and I am not sure if that is worth taking along. I will decide later. For now I assume that Grognard assigned a skeleton crew and sent the ship somewhere safe so they can sell the cargo in peace.
For loot, I roll,
Bay 1-goods for cv 9
Bay 2 – commodities for cv 3
Bay 3 – goods for cv 9
Bay 4 – rarities for cv 15
It is a small haul but still something. Maybe I can convert the ship to cv. It is something to think about.
Monday, January 13, 2014
Flight of the Reroll Part One
Captain Grognard looked over the bridge. The newly renamed Reroll was a different place to work since the mutiny. The crew drank rum while manning their stations. The two in charge of the missiles had set up a dart board and were using a picture of the Star Navy Admiral Jennicks as a target. The crewwoman in charge of the shields was reading a book. It wasn’t the best discipline that Grognard had seen.
That was okay. They were mutineers and pirates. After several months as penal crew it was good to relax. What was the point of being pirates if you couldn’t be drunk at your work station? It would certainly help with nerves if a fight broke out.
At least Isis was sober and since she was the one looking at the sensors that was all that mattered. If there was a merchant freighter out there, Isis would see it. Grognard had already promised her as much loot as she could carry if Isis found them a ship.
Grognard took a hearty swallow of rum. They needed a ship. Convicting a crew to mutiny was easy. They wanted to be free and they were willing to kill and become outlaws to do it. The problem was that too many of crew wanted to take the ship and go hide. There was talk of going to New Hope and abandoning the ship in order to pursue new lives.
That wouldn’t do. Grognard had spent most of his life fantasizing about commanding a ship and now he had one. He named the ship The Reroll as a symbol of their second chance at life. In Simulation Battles, a reroll was when the game allowed you to make a second random statistical chance when the previous statistical chance had failed. This ship was the crew’s second chance after having the misfortune to be press-ganged into military service.
The crew didn’t feel that way. There was talk of flying to a planet with low law enforcement and trying to blend in with the population. Too many of his crew wanted to ditch The Reroll and find a place to hide. No one signed up to fly a starship and for that matter, they didn’t sign up to be pirates but they were willing to play the part until they got somewhere they could flee to.
Grognard wanted to keep this crew and the best way to do that would be to show them what rewards were out there. That is why they were in orbit around the commercial distribution planet of Wal-Targ 3. He needed some fat freighters loaded with easy loot. He needed to show the crew how profitable being a pirate could be.
“Captain, I have something on sensors,” Isis reported. She smiled like a hungry shark. “I have three possible contacts.”
Captain Grognard finished his rum. “Helm, set course for the closest contact. Everyone, put your games away and man your stations!”
***
This is my first time playing Star Navy and incidentally my first time writing an after action report. I will be talking a lot about the rules as I try to become familiar with them.
First, a look at what Isis saw on her scanner.
The purple die represents The Reroll. The green dies represent PEF’s. The numbers represent the Rep’s of the ships.
The Reroll heads for the closest PEF. Two rounds of activating and contact is made.
A series of quick rolls finds that I have a Gaea Prime Merchant that is a Grand Freighter with a Rep of 4. Hot dog!
Time for the Long Range Scans. The merchants are Gaea Prime Merchants, and I am a bit unclear as to who that qualifies for on the Long Range Scanning Capability chart on page 9. They aren’t Gaea Prime Rebels, but are they Gaea Prime PDF’s or Gaea prime Star Navy?
There is a two dice difference between the two and I am unclear which qualifies. In the end I decide to count them as Star Navy because I tend to err on the side of which is more severe for me. I am also making a note to label this Discussion Point #1.
The merchants get five dice to do their scans, plus one die for controlling the sector. They get four successes + one for controlling the sector where as the Reroll gets a measly one success. This has them starting 72 inches away on the board.
So, the pirates are a long way away from their target. I assume the merchant would start screaming for help when I notice this in the rules.
“Anytime during a battle after a Merchant Ship has been fired upon it can send out a distress call in hopes of attracting a patrol ship or similar law enforcement vessel.”
That’s interesting. The pirate ship can close in and technically, the freighter can’t call for help until they have actually been fired upon.
***
Seven exciting turns later, The Reroll closes in on Maddof’s Greed. Nine inches away, the pirates go first and launch 2 missiles. The poor freighter tries to evade with it’s sad thrust of one. To my surprise, they actually evade one!
The other missile however smacks right into their hull. Because the freighter is a higher class, they only take one point of damage.
The Reroll fires guns. The drinking of the crew takes a toll as none of the guns hit!
Maddof’s Greed fires back. I use the concentrated fire rules so that the freighter’s 2 guns have a chance of harming The Reroll’s 3 shields. The freighter gets one success for a PV value of one. They then get two successes for a total of one shield loss for the Reroll.
The freighter has much better aim than the pirates. Don’t drink and shoot, people.
The freighter makes a received damage test and passes easily.
Maddof’s Greed sends out a cry for help but receive no response. This happens a lot in space as entire planets sometimes eat up intergalactic bandwidth trying to download the latest episode of Big Sister.
The freighter goes. My understanding of the activation sequence is that once you initially determine who does first, who goes first alternates. This creates a sequence where I go, you go, and then you go, I go. Which means one side makes two moves and then someone else makes two moves. Unless I am utterly reading it wrong.
The freighter fires guns in a concentrated manner that totally fails.
Maddof’s Greed sends out a cry for help. Contact is made! The Star Navy tells them that their distress call is important to them and to please hold on the line for an available star ship.
The pirates go. This time both missiles hit. One hits the Freighter’s missiles but since the freighter has no missiles, this counts as no damage. The other missile hits the hull where it can only do one damage.
The pirates fire guns and get no hits again. Captain Grognard begins to understand why drinking is so heavily controlled on Star Navy vessels.
Next turn. The Reroll fires missiles and the freighter botches its evasion. Both missiles hit! One takes down a shield but the other smacks into the freighter’s bridge!
The Reroll fires all four guns in a smug manner and manage to only hit once, which is negated by the freighter’s last shield.
Maddof’s Greed takes a Bridge Hit test and fails completely. They surrender!
***
“Captain, they want to surrender!”
Captain Grognard took a drink from his mug. His hand was shaking a little. Avalon Sector games were never this nerve wracking!
“Begin transferring their cargo,” Captain Grognard said. “Leave the crew unharmed and allow them to continue after we take everything of value. And Lt Isis, take a grav lift with you when you go to collect your share.”
“Aye aye!” Isis said. The pirate had planned to anyway but it was nice to get permission.
***
Looting in Star Navy is instantaneous. I admire the ease of record keeping in that.
I decide to roll for every cargo hold individually. I imagine that such a large freighter would be crammed with all sorts of goods going to different places on the destination planet. Being a Class 5 ship, you start at a value of 5, and then multiply times the value of what you find.
I roll:
Bay 1- commodities for a total of cv 5
Bay 2- contraband for a total of cv 50
Bay 3 – commodities for a total of cv 5
Bay 4 – commodities for a total of cv 5
Bay 5 – goods for a total of cv 15
Bay 6 – goods for a total of cv 15
Bay 7 – contraband for a total of cv 50
Bay 8 – commodities for a total of cv 5
Bay 9 – commodities for a total of cv 5
Bay 10 – goods for a total of cv 15
Star Navy says to assume they sell everything instantly but I am holding off until I met the other two contacts on my scan.
I am also really curious what the contraband is. That seems to be begging for a random chart.
This was my first battle outside of some practice runs. I have to say that I am pleased with the results. It was fun and relatively easy once I got a handle on the rules. I am curious how the next contacts will go.
That was okay. They were mutineers and pirates. After several months as penal crew it was good to relax. What was the point of being pirates if you couldn’t be drunk at your work station? It would certainly help with nerves if a fight broke out.
At least Isis was sober and since she was the one looking at the sensors that was all that mattered. If there was a merchant freighter out there, Isis would see it. Grognard had already promised her as much loot as she could carry if Isis found them a ship.
Grognard took a hearty swallow of rum. They needed a ship. Convicting a crew to mutiny was easy. They wanted to be free and they were willing to kill and become outlaws to do it. The problem was that too many of crew wanted to take the ship and go hide. There was talk of going to New Hope and abandoning the ship in order to pursue new lives.
That wouldn’t do. Grognard had spent most of his life fantasizing about commanding a ship and now he had one. He named the ship The Reroll as a symbol of their second chance at life. In Simulation Battles, a reroll was when the game allowed you to make a second random statistical chance when the previous statistical chance had failed. This ship was the crew’s second chance after having the misfortune to be press-ganged into military service.
The crew didn’t feel that way. There was talk of flying to a planet with low law enforcement and trying to blend in with the population. Too many of his crew wanted to ditch The Reroll and find a place to hide. No one signed up to fly a starship and for that matter, they didn’t sign up to be pirates but they were willing to play the part until they got somewhere they could flee to.
Grognard wanted to keep this crew and the best way to do that would be to show them what rewards were out there. That is why they were in orbit around the commercial distribution planet of Wal-Targ 3. He needed some fat freighters loaded with easy loot. He needed to show the crew how profitable being a pirate could be.
“Captain, I have something on sensors,” Isis reported. She smiled like a hungry shark. “I have three possible contacts.”
Captain Grognard finished his rum. “Helm, set course for the closest contact. Everyone, put your games away and man your stations!”
***
This is my first time playing Star Navy and incidentally my first time writing an after action report. I will be talking a lot about the rules as I try to become familiar with them.
First, a look at what Isis saw on her scanner.
 |
| Exclusive image taken from the Reroll's Scanner Console |
The purple die represents The Reroll. The green dies represent PEF’s. The numbers represent the Rep’s of the ships.
The Reroll heads for the closest PEF. Two rounds of activating and contact is made.
A series of quick rolls finds that I have a Gaea Prime Merchant that is a Grand Freighter with a Rep of 4. Hot dog!
Time for the Long Range Scans. The merchants are Gaea Prime Merchants, and I am a bit unclear as to who that qualifies for on the Long Range Scanning Capability chart on page 9. They aren’t Gaea Prime Rebels, but are they Gaea Prime PDF’s or Gaea prime Star Navy?
There is a two dice difference between the two and I am unclear which qualifies. In the end I decide to count them as Star Navy because I tend to err on the side of which is more severe for me. I am also making a note to label this Discussion Point #1.
The merchants get five dice to do their scans, plus one die for controlling the sector. They get four successes + one for controlling the sector where as the Reroll gets a measly one success. This has them starting 72 inches away on the board.
So, the pirates are a long way away from their target. I assume the merchant would start screaming for help when I notice this in the rules.
“Anytime during a battle after a Merchant Ship has been fired upon it can send out a distress call in hopes of attracting a patrol ship or similar law enforcement vessel.”
That’s interesting. The pirate ship can close in and technically, the freighter can’t call for help until they have actually been fired upon.
***
Seven exciting turns later, The Reroll closes in on Maddof’s Greed. Nine inches away, the pirates go first and launch 2 missiles. The poor freighter tries to evade with it’s sad thrust of one. To my surprise, they actually evade one!
The other missile however smacks right into their hull. Because the freighter is a higher class, they only take one point of damage.
 |
| Image taken of the battle by Spy Satellite AT&Verizon-72 |
The Reroll fires guns. The drinking of the crew takes a toll as none of the guns hit!
Maddof’s Greed fires back. I use the concentrated fire rules so that the freighter’s 2 guns have a chance of harming The Reroll’s 3 shields. The freighter gets one success for a PV value of one. They then get two successes for a total of one shield loss for the Reroll.
The freighter has much better aim than the pirates. Don’t drink and shoot, people.
The freighter makes a received damage test and passes easily.
Maddof’s Greed sends out a cry for help but receive no response. This happens a lot in space as entire planets sometimes eat up intergalactic bandwidth trying to download the latest episode of Big Sister.
The freighter goes. My understanding of the activation sequence is that once you initially determine who does first, who goes first alternates. This creates a sequence where I go, you go, and then you go, I go. Which means one side makes two moves and then someone else makes two moves. Unless I am utterly reading it wrong.
The freighter fires guns in a concentrated manner that totally fails.
Maddof’s Greed sends out a cry for help. Contact is made! The Star Navy tells them that their distress call is important to them and to please hold on the line for an available star ship.
The pirates go. This time both missiles hit. One hits the Freighter’s missiles but since the freighter has no missiles, this counts as no damage. The other missile hits the hull where it can only do one damage.
The pirates fire guns and get no hits again. Captain Grognard begins to understand why drinking is so heavily controlled on Star Navy vessels.
Next turn. The Reroll fires missiles and the freighter botches its evasion. Both missiles hit! One takes down a shield but the other smacks into the freighter’s bridge!
The Reroll fires all four guns in a smug manner and manage to only hit once, which is negated by the freighter’s last shield.
Maddof’s Greed takes a Bridge Hit test and fails completely. They surrender!
***
“Captain, they want to surrender!”
Captain Grognard took a drink from his mug. His hand was shaking a little. Avalon Sector games were never this nerve wracking!
“Begin transferring their cargo,” Captain Grognard said. “Leave the crew unharmed and allow them to continue after we take everything of value. And Lt Isis, take a grav lift with you when you go to collect your share.”
“Aye aye!” Isis said. The pirate had planned to anyway but it was nice to get permission.
***
Looting in Star Navy is instantaneous. I admire the ease of record keeping in that.
I decide to roll for every cargo hold individually. I imagine that such a large freighter would be crammed with all sorts of goods going to different places on the destination planet. Being a Class 5 ship, you start at a value of 5, and then multiply times the value of what you find.
I roll:
Bay 1- commodities for a total of cv 5
Bay 2- contraband for a total of cv 50
Bay 3 – commodities for a total of cv 5
Bay 4 – commodities for a total of cv 5
Bay 5 – goods for a total of cv 15
Bay 6 – goods for a total of cv 15
Bay 7 – contraband for a total of cv 50
Bay 8 – commodities for a total of cv 5
Bay 9 – commodities for a total of cv 5
Bay 10 – goods for a total of cv 15
Star Navy says to assume they sell everything instantly but I am holding off until I met the other two contacts on my scan.
I am also really curious what the contraband is. That seems to be begging for a random chart.
This was my first battle outside of some practice runs. I have to say that I am pleased with the results. It was fun and relatively easy once I got a handle on the rules. I am curious how the next contacts will go.
Sunday, January 12, 2014
Mutiny!
“We just lost Engineering!”
“Communications are down!”
“”Deck Three has surrendered!”
“What do we do, Captain?”
Captain Fenner had no answers. He had commanded The Diligence for seven solar cycles but this was his first mutiny. This wasn’t supposed to happen! Press ganging white collar criminals for petty crimes was guaranteed a hundred percent safe by the Admiralty! Now the damn civilians were mutinying!
The mutiny was surprisingly well organized. Attacks had occurred simultaneously all over the ship. Security had been laid low with food poisoning. The First Officer had been taken out while working out in the gym. The Tactical Officer pulled a hernia when he was seduced by a dexterous crewwoman. The day had been one long disaster for the real crewman.
This mutiny was too organized to be disgruntled penal enlisted. Captain Fenner knew it had to be something else. It had to be Hishen sabotage. Or maybe Xoeg infiltrators. It certainly wasn’t a failure of his leadership that was for damn sure!
The bridge doors blew open. Mutineers dressed in full combat armor charged through.
“By the Gods, they’ve gotten into the armory!” Captain Fenner said.
Laser fire ripped through the security team on the bridge. A crazy woman ran onto the bridge wearing a mish-mash of armor. She swung a stun baton like a club and crushed a security guard’s head in before the shock could stun him. Another mutineer charged out wearing nothing but underwear and a black hood. He grabbed a guard by the throat and strangled him with his bare hands.
“Death before dishonor!” Captain Fenner yelled. He took out his sidearm and stuck an inspiring pose.
The rest of his crew surrendered.
“You bastards!” Captain Fenner yelled at his crew. The crazy woman with the stun baton charged him and he dropped his weapon as fast as he could. The woman looked like she was going to hit him anyway.
“Stop, Jennix!” a voice called out. The crazy woman stopped in mid swing. “The good Captain surrendered and we need him alive.”
A man walked onto the bridge like he owned it, which technically he did now. The man was armed with a blast pistol and one of the swords from the armory. Captain Fenner sneered at the man’s sunglasses but he had to admit it did make the mutineer look badass.
“Wait a minute?” Captain Fenner said. “Walters? Is that you? You work in the Sensors department! What the hell are you doing leading a rebellion? You were a damn insurance adjuster before your arrest!”
“That’s Captain Grognard to you,” Walters said. “And yeah, I may have been an insurance adjustor but I was also a wargamer and three time champion of the Games Fabricator Open Tournament.”
Captain Fenner shook his head. “This makes no sense! How did you take over my ship? Who’s helping you? Is it the Hishen? The Rebels? You’re just a bunch of civilians!”
Captain Grognard laughed. “We’re a bunch of petty criminals who happen to have had lives. Jennix here was a Roller Derby Captain, which makes her a warrior and good person to help organize things. That guy in the hood? That’s Skippy and by day he was a package delivery guy but at night he used to live action roleplay as a serial killer. Just between you and me, civilians are a hell of a lot crazier and more violent than criminals. We got all sorts of mental issues.”
Captain Fenner relaxed a bit. They were just civilians, Civilians he could handle.
“Look, this whole penal enlistening business still has a few problem areas that need to be worked on. If you surrender now, I’ll speak on your behalf at the court martial and recommend a mental disability discharge.”
Captain Grognard smiled. He then kicked Captain Fenner in the crotch. As the Navy officer fell to his knees, Captain Grognard squatted down beside him.
“Here’s my counter offer,” he said. “You give me the access codes for the ship and I let your crew escape in the life pods. Or I turn you over to Skippy here who has been looking forward to doing some real torture scenarios for most of his life. Make up your mind quick, I got four hot crewwomen who hate to work for a living looking to audition to be my Cabin Girl and I rather do that in the Captain’s quarters.”
Captain Fenner gave him the codes. It was the only way to save his life. He shuddered as he thought of the atrocities that these lawless bastards would commit with The Diligence. He thought of the atrocities that this crew of psychos would commit on the men and women of the Star Navy. Worse of all, he thought of the atrocities that were about to be committed in his old bed.
“Communications are down!”
“”Deck Three has surrendered!”
“What do we do, Captain?”
Captain Fenner had no answers. He had commanded The Diligence for seven solar cycles but this was his first mutiny. This wasn’t supposed to happen! Press ganging white collar criminals for petty crimes was guaranteed a hundred percent safe by the Admiralty! Now the damn civilians were mutinying!
The mutiny was surprisingly well organized. Attacks had occurred simultaneously all over the ship. Security had been laid low with food poisoning. The First Officer had been taken out while working out in the gym. The Tactical Officer pulled a hernia when he was seduced by a dexterous crewwoman. The day had been one long disaster for the real crewman.
This mutiny was too organized to be disgruntled penal enlisted. Captain Fenner knew it had to be something else. It had to be Hishen sabotage. Or maybe Xoeg infiltrators. It certainly wasn’t a failure of his leadership that was for damn sure!
The bridge doors blew open. Mutineers dressed in full combat armor charged through.
“By the Gods, they’ve gotten into the armory!” Captain Fenner said.
Laser fire ripped through the security team on the bridge. A crazy woman ran onto the bridge wearing a mish-mash of armor. She swung a stun baton like a club and crushed a security guard’s head in before the shock could stun him. Another mutineer charged out wearing nothing but underwear and a black hood. He grabbed a guard by the throat and strangled him with his bare hands.
“Death before dishonor!” Captain Fenner yelled. He took out his sidearm and stuck an inspiring pose.
The rest of his crew surrendered.
“You bastards!” Captain Fenner yelled at his crew. The crazy woman with the stun baton charged him and he dropped his weapon as fast as he could. The woman looked like she was going to hit him anyway.
“Stop, Jennix!” a voice called out. The crazy woman stopped in mid swing. “The good Captain surrendered and we need him alive.”
A man walked onto the bridge like he owned it, which technically he did now. The man was armed with a blast pistol and one of the swords from the armory. Captain Fenner sneered at the man’s sunglasses but he had to admit it did make the mutineer look badass.
“Wait a minute?” Captain Fenner said. “Walters? Is that you? You work in the Sensors department! What the hell are you doing leading a rebellion? You were a damn insurance adjuster before your arrest!”
“That’s Captain Grognard to you,” Walters said. “And yeah, I may have been an insurance adjustor but I was also a wargamer and three time champion of the Games Fabricator Open Tournament.”
Captain Fenner shook his head. “This makes no sense! How did you take over my ship? Who’s helping you? Is it the Hishen? The Rebels? You’re just a bunch of civilians!”
Captain Grognard laughed. “We’re a bunch of petty criminals who happen to have had lives. Jennix here was a Roller Derby Captain, which makes her a warrior and good person to help organize things. That guy in the hood? That’s Skippy and by day he was a package delivery guy but at night he used to live action roleplay as a serial killer. Just between you and me, civilians are a hell of a lot crazier and more violent than criminals. We got all sorts of mental issues.”
Captain Fenner relaxed a bit. They were just civilians, Civilians he could handle.
“Look, this whole penal enlistening business still has a few problem areas that need to be worked on. If you surrender now, I’ll speak on your behalf at the court martial and recommend a mental disability discharge.”
Captain Grognard smiled. He then kicked Captain Fenner in the crotch. As the Navy officer fell to his knees, Captain Grognard squatted down beside him.
“Here’s my counter offer,” he said. “You give me the access codes for the ship and I let your crew escape in the life pods. Or I turn you over to Skippy here who has been looking forward to doing some real torture scenarios for most of his life. Make up your mind quick, I got four hot crewwomen who hate to work for a living looking to audition to be my Cabin Girl and I rather do that in the Captain’s quarters.”
Captain Fenner gave him the codes. It was the only way to save his life. He shuddered as he thought of the atrocities that these lawless bastards would commit with The Diligence. He thought of the atrocities that this crew of psychos would commit on the men and women of the Star Navy. Worse of all, he thought of the atrocities that were about to be committed in his old bed.
Tuesday, January 7, 2014
Penal Enlistment Manifest 344, Page 5
Name: Duncan Walters
Profession: Insurance Risk Analyst
Crime: Repeated Late Returns of Space Battle Histories to Public Library
Sentence: 20 years of enlisted Service in Star Navy.
Current Service Location: Star Navy Light Cruiser – Diligence
Name: Isis Erison
Profession: Romance Vid Writer
Crime: Initiating a Political Argument While in Public
Sentence: 20 years of enlisted Service in Star Navy
Current Service Location: Star Navy Light Cruiser – Diligence
Name: Steven Rugar aka “Skippy”
Profession: Package Delivery
Crime: Live Action Role-Playing Without a License
Sentence: 20 years of enlisted Service in Star Navy.
Current Service Location: Star Navy Light Cruiser – Diligence
Name: Karen Yellow
Profession: Chef
Crime: Health Violation of Restaurant – Expired Cheese
Sentence: 20 years of enlisted Service in Star Navy.
Current Service Location: Star Navy Light Cruiser – Diligence
Name: Frank Uno
Profession: Male Model
Crime: Late Tax Filing
Sentence: 20 years of enlisted Service in Star Navy.
Current Service Location: Star Navy Light Cruiser – Diligence
Name: Jennix Taz aka “Fanny Fatale”
Profession: Professional Roller-Derby Player
Crime: Public Drunkeness
Sentence: 20 years of enlisted Service in Star Navy.
Current Service Location: Star Navy Light Cruiser – Diligence
Profession: Insurance Risk Analyst
Crime: Repeated Late Returns of Space Battle Histories to Public Library
Sentence: 20 years of enlisted Service in Star Navy.
Current Service Location: Star Navy Light Cruiser – Diligence
Name: Isis Erison
Profession: Romance Vid Writer
Crime: Initiating a Political Argument While in Public
Sentence: 20 years of enlisted Service in Star Navy
Current Service Location: Star Navy Light Cruiser – Diligence
Name: Steven Rugar aka “Skippy”
Profession: Package Delivery
Crime: Live Action Role-Playing Without a License
Sentence: 20 years of enlisted Service in Star Navy.
Current Service Location: Star Navy Light Cruiser – Diligence
Name: Karen Yellow
Profession: Chef
Crime: Health Violation of Restaurant – Expired Cheese
Sentence: 20 years of enlisted Service in Star Navy.
Current Service Location: Star Navy Light Cruiser – Diligence
Name: Frank Uno
Profession: Male Model
Crime: Late Tax Filing
Sentence: 20 years of enlisted Service in Star Navy.
Current Service Location: Star Navy Light Cruiser – Diligence
Name: Jennix Taz aka “Fanny Fatale”
Profession: Professional Roller-Derby Player
Crime: Public Drunkeness
Sentence: 20 years of enlisted Service in Star Navy.
Current Service Location: Star Navy Light Cruiser – Diligence
Monday, January 6, 2014
Directive 808-771-5644-C
From the Office of the Star Navy Grand Admiral, Morrigan Sector Command:
Directive 808-771-5644-C: Due to the Hishen’s use of nefarious tactics and strategies that will surely be classified as war crimes by future historians, the Star Navy of Morrigan Sector is currently suffering a shortage of manpower for enlisted positions.
Grand Admiral Klert has graciously decided to allow citizens a chance to serve society while at the same time protecting it. Effective immediately, citizens serving penal time will be able to commute their sentences by serving in the Star Navy. To maintain security on Star Navy ships, no citizens convicted of violent crimes will be eligible to serve their society.
This directive will of course be lifted when hostilities with the Hishen is over, which Star Navy analysts predict will be within the end of the solar cycle.
From the Office of the Planetary Governor to the Chief Justice:
That pompous drek Star Navy Admiral Jennicks informed me today that he would no longer be able to dedicate ships to patrolling the planet of Banba due to manpower shortages. Manpower shortages?!? If it wasn’t for us, there wouldn’t be a Morrigan Sector! I have a solution and it involves Directive 808-771-5644-C. Conscripting our citizens is illegal but we can charge a bunch of them with crimes and sentence them to protecting our asses. I want you to get to work on this immediately and we need at least 30,000 convicted citizens. I am going to call Admiral Jennicks and let him know we are working on solving his manpower issue.
New Sentencing Guidelines from Chief Justice Morkoff:
Attention all Police and Judges. Attached is a list of crimes that will now carry a mandatory sentence of twenty years hard labor OR twenty years of enlistment in the Star Navy. Please study this list carefully as there as many changes including but not limited to, Traffic Violations, Public Disturbances of a Non-Violent type, Offensive comments on Hypernet Sites, Prostitution without a License, and Poor Service in a Food Service Industry.
Directive 808-771-5644-C: Due to the Hishen’s use of nefarious tactics and strategies that will surely be classified as war crimes by future historians, the Star Navy of Morrigan Sector is currently suffering a shortage of manpower for enlisted positions.
Grand Admiral Klert has graciously decided to allow citizens a chance to serve society while at the same time protecting it. Effective immediately, citizens serving penal time will be able to commute their sentences by serving in the Star Navy. To maintain security on Star Navy ships, no citizens convicted of violent crimes will be eligible to serve their society.
This directive will of course be lifted when hostilities with the Hishen is over, which Star Navy analysts predict will be within the end of the solar cycle.
From the Office of the Planetary Governor to the Chief Justice:
That pompous drek Star Navy Admiral Jennicks informed me today that he would no longer be able to dedicate ships to patrolling the planet of Banba due to manpower shortages. Manpower shortages?!? If it wasn’t for us, there wouldn’t be a Morrigan Sector! I have a solution and it involves Directive 808-771-5644-C. Conscripting our citizens is illegal but we can charge a bunch of them with crimes and sentence them to protecting our asses. I want you to get to work on this immediately and we need at least 30,000 convicted citizens. I am going to call Admiral Jennicks and let him know we are working on solving his manpower issue.
New Sentencing Guidelines from Chief Justice Morkoff:
Attention all Police and Judges. Attached is a list of crimes that will now carry a mandatory sentence of twenty years hard labor OR twenty years of enlistment in the Star Navy. Please study this list carefully as there as many changes including but not limited to, Traffic Violations, Public Disturbances of a Non-Violent type, Offensive comments on Hypernet Sites, Prostitution without a License, and Poor Service in a Food Service Industry.
Sunday, January 5, 2014
Introduction and The Space Pirates' Code
Ahoy and welcome to my blog! My name is Shon Richards and this is my new Space Pirate/Wargaming blog. My plan is to chronicle my adventures in playing a Space Pirate, learning to pain miniatures and coming up with some rules and scenarios for you to use.
I used play a lot of wargames when I was a teenager. I played Car Wars, Warhammer, Warhammer 40K, Realms of Chaos, Blood Bowl and more Avalon Hill games than I can remember. Over time I grew out of wargaming due to the cost and time constraints. I would still buy rulebooks for fun but I played none of them.
The past year I discovered Two Hour Games and man, it was the answer to my prayers. I didn’t need to spend hundreds of dollars on figures that might be phased out of the rules next year. The games themselves are quick and easy to learn. Best of all, many of them have solo variants which are right up my hermit alley.
I plan to rekindle my passion for games by diving headfirst back into action. My main hobby is writing fiction so I plan to also write some fiction for my characters and battles. I am a meddler so I also want to create some rules for other people to use in their own space pirate games.
I have decided to adapt Space Cow Smith’s BudgetHammer rules for my own purposes. Being a creative type and a pirate, I will rename it The Space Pirates’ Code.
1. You will have fun!
2. You will not spend more than 30$ a month on space pirates!
3. You will paint 4 miniatures a month!
4. You will forgive your crappy painting skills and keep painting!
5. You will not buy new miniatures until last months’ have been painted.
6. You will play a minimum of 2 games a month!
7. You will with the rules you like the best!
8. You will post a new rule/scenario idea per month!
9. You will post at least one short fiction per month!
The voyage begins this week!
I used play a lot of wargames when I was a teenager. I played Car Wars, Warhammer, Warhammer 40K, Realms of Chaos, Blood Bowl and more Avalon Hill games than I can remember. Over time I grew out of wargaming due to the cost and time constraints. I would still buy rulebooks for fun but I played none of them.
The past year I discovered Two Hour Games and man, it was the answer to my prayers. I didn’t need to spend hundreds of dollars on figures that might be phased out of the rules next year. The games themselves are quick and easy to learn. Best of all, many of them have solo variants which are right up my hermit alley.
I plan to rekindle my passion for games by diving headfirst back into action. My main hobby is writing fiction so I plan to also write some fiction for my characters and battles. I am a meddler so I also want to create some rules for other people to use in their own space pirate games.
I have decided to adapt Space Cow Smith’s BudgetHammer rules for my own purposes. Being a creative type and a pirate, I will rename it The Space Pirates’ Code.
1. You will have fun!
2. You will not spend more than 30$ a month on space pirates!
3. You will paint 4 miniatures a month!
4. You will forgive your crappy painting skills and keep painting!
5. You will not buy new miniatures until last months’ have been painted.
6. You will play a minimum of 2 games a month!
7. You will with the rules you like the best!
8. You will post a new rule/scenario idea per month!
9. You will post at least one short fiction per month!
The voyage begins this week!
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