One Page Spaceship Wargame Rules

I created a one page set of spaceship rules and posted them on Pz8's forum. You can find them in PDF form here.

One Page Spaceship Rules

100 "Halo" miniatures

Just received an order I had placed for 100 miniature figures for $14.21 from AliExpress. The description did not say "Halo" but the likeness to many of the units in those games is strong. (Mega Bloks is written on the bottom but I don't know what set they might be from)

The figures vary in height from 15mm to 21mm.

Here they are beside a Hot Wheels Warthog.

Here is a comparison to a 1/72 scale HMVEE which I also got from AliExpress. (Yes, the TOW launcher looks wrong and appears to be pointed backwards. I am going to use it as an experimental heavy laser in any games I run with it.

Finally, here are the driver and gunner held in place with a little Museum Gel.

Museum Gel and miniature gaming

A few years back I was looking for a way to modify my toy cars for miniature gaming without permanently altering or destroying them.  I came across a product called Museum Gel and it meets my needs.

Museum Gel is a clear semi-sticky substance that is used by museums to hold fragile items to shelves so that they cannot easily be knocked off. I figured if it was good enough to work on antiques it was good enough for my toys.

Here is a Hot Wheels car. Beside it is a plastic turret from an Axis and Allies miniature. The turret is upside down and the bottom is coated with a small piece of Museum Gel.  

Here is what the car looks like with the turret in place.

After the Gel has set for about an hour you can pick up the vehicle by the turret and it will remain stuck to the vehicle.

Should you wish to remove the turret and place it on a different vehicle simply slip a fingernail between the two and pry up. Any excess Gel can be rubbed off with a finger and reused.

Here’s the same turret on another vehicle.

I have left Museum Gel on several different toys for years at a time and removed the Gel with no damage to the body or paint.  I recommend it to anyone who wants to kit bash their toys without destroying them in the process.   

Hot Wheels Super Treasure Hunt Score!

I've been collecting Hot Wheels since I was three and this is the first Super Treasure Hunt I have come across. It made my day.

More Fixes for the Monster Island Game

Prior to the expansion, Invasion of Monster Island, the flight rules as listed were adequate. Helicopters, Flying Tanks, Jetpack Troopers, and Flying Monsters flew as much or as little as they wished and turned on a dime every time they moved.

With the arrival of Fighter Jets and Saucers the flight rules need to be fleshed out more to keep some units relevant. Saucers are cheaper and better than most Human ground units and can currently fly in any direction they wished. Why buy an Attack Helicopter for 7 points when you can buy a Fighter Jet for 4 points that is just as maneuverable and has a better Evade and Flying Speed but is 3pts cheaper?

To remedy this I recommend the following.

The cost for Flight power stays the same, but all Units and Monsters (hereafter both will be referred to as Entities) now have the following changes.

All Entities using Flight power must move at least ⅓ of their total Flight movement score each turn. If for some reason they cannot do this they are assumed to have rammed into whatever impeded them or have fallen out of the sky at their current altitude.

All Flying Entities now have a Maneuver Value (MV) of 1. An MV of 1 means while using the Flying Power the Entity may make only 1 turn of up to 90 degrees each game Turn. The Entity must move at least 2” forward in a straight line before executing this turn. All other forms of movement are not affected and do not use this Maneuver Value.

Flying Entities without the Hover ability must limit their attacks to targets within 180 degree of their front facing as per the diagram below.

New Powers for Flying Entities

Highly Maneuverable: (Cost 1 point) The Entities Flying Maneuver Value is raised to 2; This power allows a Flying Entity to make 1 additional turn up to 90 degrees each game Turn. The Entity must still move forward at least 2” in a straight line before executing this additional turn.

Hover: (Cost 2 points) This power allows an Entity to fly at any speed up to their maximum and turn in any direction as many times as they choose. The following units are considered to already have the Hover power and do not have to pay extra for it. Attack Helicopters, Transport Helicopters, Jetpack Troopers, Flying Tanks, and Mother Ships.

Some Examples

A Fighter that takes the power Highly Maneuverable would now cost 5pts and would be able to execute 2 90 degree turns each turn.

A Scout Saucer that adds Hover to its powers would now cost 6pts and can zip around in any and all directions each turn at any speed up to its maximum (just like the classic UFO saucers do).

Fixes for Monster Isle Units

Monster Isle and its expansions is a fun game where giant monsters and eventually aliens terrorize Earth and its defense forces. The rules do a pretty good job of covering this, but I have noticed some issues. I will attempt to address those issues in this post.

Escape From Monster Isle Fixes

Patrol Boat

The Patrol Boat has the same Attack, Toughness, Moral, FirePower, and Transport of an IFV but has a weaker Evade, a move of only 4 and is restricted to water. Yet it costs 5 points as compared to 3 for an IFV. This change will make it more cost effective.

Reduce the cost of the the Patrol Boat to 3pts and give it Swim 5”.

Flying Tank Recovery

The rules state that “a Flying Tank parked next to a science research center may use the Recovery rules to represent emergency repairs”. However the Recovery rules on page 19 of the Monster Isle rule book states that “creatures regains its Health score in lost Life points each Turn”. Since the Flying Tank has no Health score this rule is ineffective. My rule is as follows.

A Flying Tank that sits within 3” of a Science Research Center may follow the Recover rules and gains 2 Life Points every turn.

Invasion of Monster Isle Fixes

Mobile SAM Launcher

At a cost of 3pts for a vehicle that has a better attack value but worse Toughness and Morale than an IFV and is only able to attack Flying targets. This unit is not cost effective. I suggest the following.

Keep the point cost at 3, but change the Mobile SAM Launcher’s Powers to; Blast: 2d6 and Long Range.

Delok Saboteur

This unit is an insta-kill unit with no limit to the number that can be in an army. In some scenarios taking 5 of these units and nothing else will allow the Delok player to automatically win.

Keep the point cost the same but limit the maximum number to 2 per Delok army. Instead of an instant success roll 1d6. On a 1 the Saboteur is discovered and killed. On a 2 or a 3 he is thwarted but can try again next turn. On a 4 or better he succeeds in destroying his target.

Estate Sale Score!

Last weekend I scored an amazing miniatures find at a local estate sale. Actually it was my sister who let me know about it as I have "trained" her to keep an eye out for just this sort of thing.

This score included the following:

200 1/300 scale soldiers still in their packages.

Another 200 painted soldiers still on strips.

20 modern 1/2400 scale warships

Misc dice, spaceships and parts.

Various WW2 British tanks

Russian and German WW2 vehicles along with 25 unpainted Soviet T-80 tanks.

US and German WW2 vehicles

Cold War US vehicles

Cold War Soviet vehicles

Misc modern tanks as well as soldiers mounted for playing Advanced Squad Leader.

More misc modern tanks and mounted soldiers.

I'm really excited about the modern warships, tanks, and painted soldiers.

All in all 400 1/285 vehicles, several hundred soldiers, 20 modern ships and miscellaneous left overs.
Brand new prices this is a thousand dollars in mini's. E-bay probably $500 or $600 as many of the vehicles had light damage and some missing barrels. I paid $25 for the whole lot!