Orc Rocket Pack (Fire Jumpa).

Hello All Mad Doc here, to talk about strapping a rocket to an Orcs back. See as I want to play out the big battle, I noticed I will need jump pack troops. Now the USE ME rules do not have any so I decided to make my own. I am starting off with a move of 18", and working back from that. Also this is an Orc pack so it just might not work.

Jet Pack 10Pts.
Range Up to 18 inches. This is a straight line vehicle, not turns can be made. When the model decides to fire the rocket he draws a line to the location he want to land at. Then roll a D6.
D6 roll, Result
1, Falure, roll another D6 for the distance. Once at the distance the rocket explodes. The jumper takes a +3 penetrating hit. Place a 2" template on this mini, any unit touching it takes a +2 penetrating hit.
2, Move 14"
3, Move 15"
4, Move 16"
5, Move 17"
6, Move 18"
Every time the model fires the rocket it changes the critical hit roll to the number of time is has fired. Second firing, on a 1 or 2 roll for the crit. Third firing 1, 2, or 3 roll for crit.

On a roll of 1, then 1 the model explodes on the spot, they started on. Place a 3" template and all touching take a +3 penetrating hit.

If the user does not fire the pack they can move 4", and still make a second move for another 2" a total of 6" per turn.

Now I have worked up the rule,  I decided to test this new rule out.
To do this I set up a small skirmish with a Guard squad and an Orc squad with rocket packs. I am using Universal battle for my table top.

Deployment. As you can see both side are deployed some distance apart.
Guard T1: As the guard does not have the range weapons they sit tight.

Orc T1: the Orcs opt to run for there first move and the squad moves up the allowed 6".

Guard T2: Now the boys are with in long range, and the gurad fires off 4 shots, and get 2 hits. One Orc is Struck. The guard now fire a second time at a -1 for second shot. They score 2 more hits, killing the Orc that was struck, and winging another.

Orc T2: Now it is time to fire the rockets. Mug Thug makes the first jump and there is no issues. The second jumper goes with no issues. The third jumper hits the trigger and and is launched 15" to his death. His body lands and also tries to take out Mug Thug and another. Lucky no one else was hurt this time. The 5th boy also jumped but popped, this time the template was placed on 4 boys. Two took wounds, 1 S, 1 W.

 The 7th jumper landed in the woods, and BOOM. This time the template went on a guardsman as well, but the Orc was the only one hurt or Dead. Now that they all made the jumps, it was time to shoot. The ended up shooting up 2 guardsman, and only wounding them.

So to sum it up I think the rules for the Rocket Pack will work, and add a Orcy level to the game. This weapon it not all that bad if you land in the mix of the enemy and get a good DOOM. Now POPPING before you take off well that is also very Orcy.

Psionics + Orc = Weird boys in 15mm

I have been thinking of adding more of the RT troop types, and saw the 15mm scifi rules I like had rules for Psionics in them so why not add the Weird boy.

I started with 3 fantasy Orcs I had left over from when I had a Orc fantasy army. Did a few mods to them, like removed the shields, and added guns. The main Weird boy was simple I added a shoulder pad, and that is it.

Please note these photos are not my normal high quality. I know it looks like the boy has a banner but it is in the back ground. Look close and you will see he hold a spear. I have also used my tea leave flock on the bases, but I still want to add static grass to them.

I have also been working on some more dreadnoughts, and here is one using PC cable as machine gun bullets. 

As All way I hope you like what I have done.

 

Space Orc army TOE.

I have been reviewing my Orc, and have decided on the TOE of the army. I have been going back and forth for years as to the make up of the army. I still love the old RT days of the GW Orcs and want to use the back story of those glory days for my Space Orc army.

Below are photos of my horde as it stands, with numbers next to the units. I will list out each unit in the photos. The photos are not that great, but you will get a feel for the over all size. Once I get the horde painted I will move to make more vehicles. I also want to add some more boys but that will be much later.

1. Mega Armored Space Orcs 4 units of 5 (15mm UK space pirates)
2. BA commandos 3 units of 8 (GZG mercs)
3. Hard boys (OOP MJ minuatures)
4. Bad Moon (OOP MJ)
5. Snake bite H2H nobs (OOP MJ)
6. Warboss and squad. (mix)
7. Freebooters 2 units of 10 (OOP MJ)
8. Snake bites 2 units of 10 (OOP MJ)
9. dreadnoughts 8 (epic gargants)
10. Bad Moon (OOP MJ)
11. Death skulls 2 units of 10 (OOP MJ)
12. Bad Moon (OOP MJ)
13. Evil Suns 2 units of 10 (OOP MJ)
14. Blood Ax Boys 4 units of 9 (15mm UK, and MJ hard boys)
15. Bikes 22 bikes in all (OOP MJ)
16. Bad ass beast kit bash (VOID lizard thing, old GW tank parts) 

Solo VTT game using the USE ME 001 rules.

I decided to play a follow up to my last solo game based on the Orc VS the Guard. I also want to set this up  quickly so I did not follow any points. I started with a few squads of Guard, defending a checkpoint, and a pile of Orc advancing on them. The goal was to hold out till turn 8 and the Guard did.

Looking at the turn 1 photo you can see how the two armies are deployed. the two units that are hard to see are the crew weapons from the guard. Looking at the two block items in the center of the check point they are on top of the blocks.

Over view of the game at the end of this post.....

Turn 1: Guard: Moved the flank units out to the sides. gun crew units fired on the bike but did not hit.

Turn 1: Orc: All units moved forward, Bike took out one guard member from the center line.

Turn 2: Guard: Flank units head to the rocks for cover and to wait for the Orcs to close. Crew guns fire but no hits. Front ranks aim and fire, get lucky and take out a Bike.

Turn 2: Orc: Move forward, units that could fire do so with no effect.

Turn 3: Guard: Right flank PA unit fired on the Orcs for a winged. Left flank walker fire for no effect. Right crew weapon took out a bike. The rest had no effect.

Turn 3: Orc: Moved forward, both bikes and Deard's fried for no effect.

Turn 4: Guard: First turn for reinforcements, d6 need a 6 and got a 2, so no reinforcements this turn. Right flank PA  fired on the Orcs for 3 kills, and 1 struck. Left flank walker fires on the Orcs and gives two of the struck markers. Right guard sent a hail of bullets into the bikes and took out 3 of them. Right crew weapon took out a Dread, and the center guard did the same, but let one Dread winged. 

Turn 4: Orc: As all ways they moved forward.The remaining Dread charged the center guard. The Left flank fried on the PA unit and left two of them winged. Right flank fired on the walker for a struck. Second Dread unit fired on the left crew weapon, killing one of the crew, and winged the other. The center Orcs did the same to the right crew weapon team.

Turn 5: Guard: Reinforcement roll need 5 or 6, and got a 1. No reinforcements this turn. Front unit in HTH with the Dread and give it a a struck wound. Both crew weapons fire at reduced rate, with both missing. Right flank PA unit, two make their auto repair, then the squad opens up on the Orcs, with 4 kills. Left flank walker fires on the Orc line with 3 kill spread over two shots. Left guard move to cove center.

Turn 5: Orc: Keep moving forward. Center Dread in HTH with the the center guard, kill 2. the other Dread squad move to block line of sight, and get a better shot, end with 5 hit and not damage on the left guard unit.

Left flank move to HTH with the PA unit, for one kill. Right flank fire on the walker and take it out.

Turn 6: Guard: Once more the guard fail the reinforcement roll, and are left on their own. The center unit finish the job on the Dread with a HTH kill. Right flank PA HTH 1 kill 1 winged. Left guard move back and fire on the Dread unit, no hits. Left crew weapon fires at reduced rate, on the Orc with 2 killed, and 1 winged. Right crew same as the left fires n the Orc with 1 killed.

Turn 6: Orc: Dread fire on the left guard, as well as the Orc for a total of 3 kills.

Turn 7: Guard: Yeah they make their roll, and get a APC and a 6 man squad deploying to the left. APC opens on the Dreads for a kill, and the new squad fires on the Orcs for a kill and a winged. Left flank PA unit fires on Orcs for a struck. Right crew weapon get a kill, left crew weapon gets 2 kills. Remaining left squad fires on Dreads for a struck. Center fires on the Orcs for a kill.

Turn 7: Orc: Left flank HTH with PA get a kill (PA makes his auto repair to make him struck). Center Orcs get a kill on the Center guard. Dreads get 2 kill from the left guard. The right fires on the new guard squad for a kill.

Last Turn........

Turn 8: Guard: Right flank PA unit HTH with the Orcs get 4 kills. The APC get 2 kills and a winged on the Dreads. Right crew weapon fires and kills two Orcs. Left reinforcements get a kill. Right guard move to cover lift side of the check point. 

Turn 8: Orc: The remaining Orc from the center charges the guard, for a kill. Left flank get 2 HTH kills and a winged on the PA unit. The Right flank charged the reinforcements for a kill and a winged.

The End!

This is a cleaned up image of the battlefield at the end of turn 8. Here you can see the Orc's are out numbered, and will not last many more turns. Also the guard would roll for Reinforcements on a 1 for a d6, so they would get them.

Game overview:

Well I have fun playing out this solo USE ME game. I still some times miss items during the game, and for get a rule or two, but with hat in mind he is my overview. I played this game over two days, and yes I can save the game during play, and restore it as I go. This scenario was a simple defend and hold, and on turn 4 the Guard can roll for reinforcements. That did not go so well! 

To start the Guard was simply going to say put and defend it's position. I sent the PA (power armored unit) to the Right to cover the Orcs that would come that way, as well as sending the Walker. I learned the the PA are tough, and the walker got lucky, but need to be beefed up. Both units did their job well. The squads also did their job and held on very well. The big surprise to me was the two crew weapons. Both took big hits early, but after reviewing the rules they could fight with only one member alive. So both weapons fired, with one man and he was wounded, and they kept killing the Orcs. For me they are the over all winners of this battle.

Now the Orcs, they did their job, but I have made them to slow, and will alter that for my next battle with them. Also if they had a vehicle to transport them this would have changed the battle. the bikes, and Dreads were to soften the middle, allowing the flanks to come around for a pincer move. The Dammed Crew weapons held that option off. The HTH skills of the Orcs was spot on, and with more speed this battle would have been going their way not the Guards way. 

So tacitly I think I played both armies well, I just messed up on the Orc speed, and the Guard walker was way to weak.

So if you like this, and the fact that I used a Virtual Table Top let me know.

Noel.

Why I like PDF rule Books!

If you follow my blog you will know I played a solo game this past weekend. I used the rule set form 15mm UK called USE ME 001 SciFi rules. These rules if you do not know about them are a simple set of fast play rules for Skirmish, Platoon, or Company level gaming. So during the game I ended up with a bunch of questions, and fired off my questions to a group a great guys involved with these rules. They all responed, answering all my questions, and also pointing out some of my questions are answered in their other titles.

Now 15mm UK started with 001 SciFi, but have created a number of other titles covering different game types. USE ME 002 = Fantasy, USE ME 003= WWII. USE ME 004= Modern, USE ME 005 ACW, USE ME 006= StarShip batles, USE ME 007 Post Apocalypse, USE ME 008= The Wild West, USE ME 009= Zombie Dawn, USE ME 010= Support pack, USE ME 011= CyberPunk, USE ME 013= Horror. Now each book has some extra rules in them, and you can mix and match rules from each book. So Most of what I need answers for were in the USE ME 007 book. I own the following in PDF USE ME 001, 002, 003, 004, 007, 010. In non PDF (printed booklet) I own USE ME 001, 002, 007, 009.

Now for the reason why I like the PDF rules.
I went through the PDF USE ME-007 and saw a large 4 page section on advanced rules. these rules cover things like Close combat specialty, Anti-Tank, and some 27 other rules. In the first book there were only 4 of these rules. So I can print both books, and thumb through them as needed during a game, but that is a pain. So I have taken the PDF (with out permissions) and altered the book, then printed it in a booklet style.

In this photo you will see the hard copy from 15mm UK (on the right), and my printed PDF booklet (on the left). The Printed one is a 8.5X11 letter paper folded in half, with the edges trimmed off to make it cleaner looking. You will also see how the original copy is quite warn from thumbing through it.

This next photo shows the printed PDF booklet opened to the page ware I have inserted the pages from USE ME 007.

Now to how I managed the pages.
If you have the full version of Adobe Acrobat (lots of money) this is very easy to do. If you do not have lots of money, you have to get a bit crafty with it. There are a number of Free PDF editors out there. Here is One CutePDF Editor. For me I have Linux Ubuntu at home and used a free tool called PDF Shuffler. Ether tool will allow you to extract pages, then insert pages in to PDF files. When extracting pages make sure you do not delete them from the original PDF. To prevent this I have placed a copy of both books in a working folder called Workbench. I open the book USE ME-007 found the pages I wanted extracted, for this job it was pages 10 through 13. I used the extract button, and saved them as a file in the Workbench folder. Now I close USE ME-007, and open USE ME-001. With 001 open I went to the page I wanted to be before the inserted pages, in this case it was page 12. I now went to the insert option of the PDF editor selected the extracted pages saved in the Workbench folder, and inserted them after page 12. Now I went through the book page by page to make sure it was they way I wanted it, then save it as a new PDF. I called the PDG USE_ME_001_007.PDF.


Now as for how I made the booklet.
Back in December I wrote up a how to on how to print, and make booklets.
December"s Posting.
This covers how to print, and then how to put it together. As we all know a normal stapler will not be able to reach the center of this booklet 5.5 inches in from the edge. So I have devised a method using the fact that the stapler will open so you can staple flat. Lay out the cover page, place on a cardboard box, and drive the staples through the pages. Flip and fold the staples, and booklet, trim the edges and you are done.



So I will be looking through the other booklets I have and seeing if there is any thing I should be adding to my play book.

If you feel this post violates any copy rights, or you have issue with me altering you copy righted material please let me know @ noelvh AT theorky DOT net and I will remove this post.

Noel

Solo AAR.

Well the boy and I made it to 5 Guys, and all I can say is YUM! The we spent an hour and a half playing Skylander Giants. The boy went off to bed, and the game started. It has been a long time for me with out pushing lead, so I was very slow at getting the game going. All of the markers were not cut out so I had to do that as I needed them. I also had to review a few rules that did not make sense to me.

Note Spelling and gramor suck as I only had 4 hours of sleep and do not CARE...

The armies
The Corp army click for unit cards.
3 inf squdes, 1 power armor squad, 2 APC, 1 AFV, 1 Walker.
Objective get 50% of the army into the Orc deployment zone.
The Orc army click for unit cards.
Boss (hero) with 2 megarmored, 3 squads of boys, 5 bikes, 3 dreads.
Objective kill all the humes (do not let them in their DZ)

Ok I was not able to get great photos but here is what I did get.

Deployment

You can see I did not have much terrain in the photos above. The Orcs setup a wall to block their DZ. The Corp were set up to punch through the Orcs.
Turn One
The Orcs won In roll, and moved the Boss EL 4 to the rocks in the middle. Next EL 4 was the hole Corps army, and they all moved forward. The AFV went to the center, with the APC going to the flank, and the P-inf and walker taking the other flank. EL 3- Bikes and dreads move up. EL 2- right side boys move up, and the center boys hunker down.

Turn 2

The Orc win In roll, and the Boss hunkers down. EL 4-Corps, The right side moves up, and the center and left hold for fire. The Veh groups fail to do any damage, but the right side ends up with one Dread Struck, and one Winged. The Orcs move up, and put a hurt on the Corps walker by taking it out. The boys on the right also Strike the far right APC.

Turn 3
In this turn the bullets really start flying. In roll goes to the Corps this time. I also did not take many photos form this point on. Corps P-inf continues to punch the Dreads taking two out. AFV puts a Struck marker on a bike. The Right Inf squad move to the middle to work on the bikes, the the APC push to get shots, deploy their troops, and ending with a Winged, a Stuck, and a kill on the boys. The Orcs Move forward. The Bikes put a P-Inf out, but with auto repair he is back to Struck. The right flank puts a hurt on the other APC. At this point in the game the Orc have taken more damage, so I am not thinking they will make it to victory.

Turn 4

Here is when the Boss takes action, and jumps the first APC, and kills it. The Corps center Inf throw the grenades at the bike taking out 2, and hurting another. The P-Inf turn and also punch the bike finishing them off. From thins point one it was a blow for blow.

Turn 5

This turn really saw the hand to hand. The Corps P-Inf took on the boy, and killed them all. The P-Inf all used their auto repair, but ended up at only two left. The Boss and his to MAs moved over to the Corps Inf, and took them all out, with only one loss.

Trun 6
I ended the game on this turn, and I have to say it was a Orc win........... I felt during the early part of the game I thought the Orcs were not going to do well, but the gave as good as they got, but their HTH with the CC on all the units really helped. So the Orc really one this one by not allowing the Corps in their DZ. Now if I kept playing the Crops would have killed all the Orcs, but not have 50% to win the game.

Over all I had fun, I love the rules, but got confused by the heavy weapons for Inf (what good is it??). I also made a big mistake on the APC and made them light Veh, and they were taken out way to easily. All tanks should be heavy......

So the next round of this game, the Orcs will get reinforcements. 

Also I would like to play this with the Gruntz Rules, but I have to finish reading them, and creat the units.

USE ME questions I have?
1) What is a Inf Heavy weapon good for???? Only thing I can thing is range. Should have a 1" template VS inf.
1) Does a vehicle get a HTH attack.
3) Disembarking from a vehicle?

Yet Another Timely Post From ME!

Hi All,
I have been busy as all ways, and have only grabbed hobby time in small bits. I have been working on the TV room in our house. We have not been using our TV room, or Den for years, and have decided to make it a functional room for the hole family. So I ripped out the carpet and put down a new floor. Now the only ones who liked the carpet was the dogs, and they used it as a toilet.

Here is the floor half done. I was completely done after finishing this project.

Next on the mini front, I was able to pick up some new to me minis online. A great Guy was parting with some Khurasan units (unpainted), and some Old Crow vehicles. Here is the prime box I used. The tanks I did on another box in black.

I was able to offer him what he wanted, and they cam in this past week. I have all was wanted to get some of the Khurasan units as they are very nice looking, kinda like Haloish. But I was never sure how I would paint them up. So as I was moving crap around my desk at home I saw my copy of Battle Field 2142 (PC game) and I loved the way the units would have Orange on there uniforms. Also I do not buy into the need for camo in the future. With tech being as high as it is now, I do not need to really see you. So I opted for a simple OD green, with Orange added. I have painted and dipped them I just now need to do the bases, and come back with a mat or flat finish coat to dull them out. The APC is just painted and not finished yet, soon I will dip it!!!

So I do like them.
Next I have been reading the Micro scenarios from Gaven from 15mm UK, and I am going to play them all out in Universal Battle. I am going to change it up a bit, but putting Space Orcs up as the bad guys. I got this idea from a guy running the old RT At The Farm scenario, and I loved the AAR he did. So keep you eyes open for a bit on that set of games. Oh yes I will be using USE ME for the rules.