That Belongs in a Museum! (Laserburn)

 I'm briefly back in the UK and got a game in with my long-suffering friend, Steve. We played Laserburn. It was a simple set-up of two groups of 'archaeologists' fighting to take the dig site, so that they could loot excavate it. We both had 5 figures, one of which was our leader and personal figure plus a unit of four followers. The terrain was a jungle with a ruined temple in the middle and the battlefield was 2' x 2'. The temple was the objective. There was nothing subtle about the scenario. We just had to fight until one side or the other retreated. I was too busy enjoying the game to take pictures, so this is not really a battle report in the usual format. Fortunately, I have photos of two of the figures used to help keep you engaged.

Imperial Assault Group - Laserburn / Imperial Commander

Back in the mists of time somewhere around the mid-eighties I bought the figures for an Imperial Assault Group as outlined in the Laserburn supplement Forces of the Imperium. I also bought an Imperial Black Guard platoon. The Black Guard got painted, naturally, because they were the elite troops, but only part of the Assault Group got painted. Cut to twenty years later and I finished off the Assault Group. Then a couple of years ago or so (time is somewhat nebulous and illusory, as is my memory of it, so the exact time frame is not clear to me without looking it all up), I fettled the Assault Group a bit. I also decided to give them some transport and bought a bunch of GZG High Tech Grav Armoured Carrier Sleds  plus a few other bits and pieces in the GZG Christmas sale. Then, in 2014 I fettled the Assault Group again, giving them shiny new bases and a quick dip to bring out the detail some more. The transport, however, languished on my painting desk for months. Half of it was painted, but the rest remained part-painted right up until Christmas. In a bid to maintain the tattered shreds of sanity that remained after working at my wife's shop through December, I resorted to finishing these off. The last parts were painted on New Year's Eve and they are now ready to take to the field.

Imperial troopers scream into combat from orbit:

The High Tech Grav APC in the front rank is the command vehicle and carries a five trooper command squad. I figured that these guys were less likely to deploy rapidly from their transport. The front grav sled carries the support squad, while each rank of five grav sleds carries one attack group (platoon). The grav sleds are open so that the troopers can deploy rapidly using their jet packs.

The Assault Group with the command squad assembled for inspection

Just the vehicles

I did buy the figures for a full Imperial Combat Scout Platoon sometime in the nineties. I have since sold their Partizan Scout Cars. Instead of building a full Scout Platoon, I plan to paint only a few squads and sell the rest of the figures, because it just makes more sense to have a squad or two of Scouts supporting the Assault Group, instead of deploying whole platoons of Scouts as my battle force. If 2015 goes to plan, then completing the Scout squads will be my goal, as will painting the tanks I bought to support the Assault Group. Let's see how much I get distracted, eh.

GZG Heavy Grav Command Vehicle

It's been ages since I painted anything for one of my 15mm sci-fi forces. Actually, it's been ages since I painted much of anything really, so it was a bit of fun to dig this out over the weekend and finish it off. It had been languishing part-painted on the painting desk for ages and I had to dust it first. Still, I am happy with the final version. It is the command APC for my Laserburn Imperial force. Now I need to get on with painting the rest of the transports for the Laserburn Imperial assault force.

I can't wait to see this chap perform its first orbital insertion

 While painting the APC, I also started thinking about flight stands for them. I had a length of 15mm acrylic rod, some 12mm rare earth magnets and some 15mm washers, so I decided to experiment. This is my first flight stand and I am very happy with it. The vehicle sits comfortably and securely on top. There is little lateral shift even on steep terrain. The magnetic flight stand should mean that I need fewer of them and that my AFVs are easier to store. Time to retrofit washers to the Bwendi tanks too.

Massacre at Umbobo Station [Laserburn]

The Bwendi Bugle

The Truth Shall Make Ye Feer

News is just coming in of an assault on Umbobo Station in Mpele Province. Two gangs of Albion Symps have attacked the station, massacred the police troopers stationed there and stolen a consignment of valuable organs worth thousands on the black market. The whole are was littered with bodies. Initial reports say that four of the five troopers were found dead at the scene. Sergeant Friendly of the Police Sentinels lived long enough to tell a terrible tale of murder and treachery before she too died.

The perps drove up in two trucks from Natongo town and immediately murdered Officer Nicey, who was on guard. The other officers sought to arm themselves before confronting the villains, who were busily searching the supplies for their loot. Officer Lovely was first out of the door and managed to immobilise two of the gang members before being gunned down. One of the villains then burst into the barracks and gunned Officer Smashey down before he was immobilised by Sergeant Friendly.

Sergeant Friendly and Officer Super leapt out of the barracks to confront the remaining villains, only to find the villains firing on each other. Between them they accounted for two more of the villains before themselves being gunned down.

Forensic officers at the scene report that military spec technology was used including a Vortex Grenade that demolished a building and a tree. With such weaponry being used the perps must have been sponsored by the Albion Defence Force and it is odd that they seem to have turned on each other when they could. Investigators hope to find out more from the one living perp that was left at the scene. This man has been identified as Ezra Betterware a small-time crook. He is currently in intensive care at Sea Prison and will be questioned when he comes to. Two of his known associates, Esther DeVries and John Waldorf, were also found dead at the scene. A worldwide manhunt is now on for their other associate John Statler, who is thought to have been driving one of the trucks. If you see this man do not approach him. He is armed and dangerous.

Satellite imagery shown below shows another gang of four people, all of whom escaped in a stolen militia truck. They have not yet been identified. If you think you know them call our tips hotline on 5150-BAG-A-PERP.

(Click the images for larger versions)












The Scenario:
Mpele province is a real backwoods area of Bwendi Prime. It is sparsely populated and is known mainly for the logging industry in that area. As a result, it lacks many amenities but is generally peaceful. What it does have is a widely scattered series of automated hospitals staffed only by a small security team and a doctor whose function is mainly to keep the Autodoc in good repair. Each month new supplies are flown in to the hospitals and these include valuable organs that could be sold on the black market for a small fortune. You have decided that this sort of easy target will provide you with easy pickings and a means to improve your social status. So you have chosen Umbobo Station, which lies nearest to your hometown of Natongo and you have stolen a truck to get you there. Now all you have to do is intimidate the half dozen security guards and steal all the good stuff before police reinforcements can show. Next stop the big time. No more tagging and casual vandalism for you.

The Gangs
Each gang has 2000 Credits to spend on troops and equipment. You can only take four or five figures in total, because you need space in the truck for the supplies that you are about to steal. You do not have to pay for the truck.

The Police
One officer starts standing guard at the gate to the compound. The others are in the barracks building. No police officer will do anything until after the first shot has been fired, at which point they may now act freely. The points value of the police should be based on how many gangs there are. If there is only one gang, the police get 2000 Credits to field 4 or 5 officers. For each gang over one, add 500 Credits to the police budget. In a multi-player game the police are there to be an annoyance more than anything else. It is expected that the gangs will provide the main opposition to each other. We used the basic equipment listed for colonial police in Forces of the Imperium.

Set-up
We used a 4' by 3' table for two gangs. 4' by 4' would probably work well with 3 or 4 gangs. All gangs enter from off the table.

The table should have a lot of cover scattered around. Umbobo Station should be in the centre of the board, equidistant from all starting points. It has 6 piles of supplies lying around it. To find the organs, the gangers must search the supplies. It takes one full turn of uninterrupted searching to be allowed to roll to find them. Roll 1d6. If it is a 6 then the organs are in that supply pile. If the organs have not been found and only one supply pile remains, then they will be in it. There are four crates of organs in the pile. Each crate is equivalent to carrying a heavy weapon and requires two hands, so figures must drop the crate if they wish to shoot or melee.

Winning the Game
The winner is the gang that escapes with the most crates. Each crate is worth 500 Credits. Experience is awarded normally.

The Truck
Acceleration: 5m per turn
Deceleration: 10m per turn
Turning circle: Half current move distance
Armour: Mesh
Carrying capacity: 1 driver and 2 passengers in the front. 6 spaces in the back. Each space holds either one figure or one crate.

The President's New Clothes

President Throckmorton P. Gladiolus once more leads the fashions on Bwendi. He puts his fashionable forwardness down to generous credit terms with his brother-in-law Honest Throckwoddle Gladiolus (a first-class used car saleseman and Secretary for Attack). First on the catwalk today, we see the President clad in the finest ex-Imperial Dreadnought Armour. (click the pics for larger images)

"Look," said the President, "It had one careful lady owner and she only took it shopping on Saturdays. It's almost as good as new. Sure there's this small hole here in the helmet but we have patched that up with parcel tape. Apparently her dog chewed the helmet one day when she left it out."

Next up, the President models a suit of Power Armour with this year's must-have accessory, the plasma gun.


And finally, the President proudly parades an Imperial Power Armour suit with twin laser rifles and a grenade launcher mounted on the right arm, and twin hand flamers on the left. Just the thing for those country shooting weekends.


In other news, we are pleased to report that the Bwendi army has seen some new recruitment. In addition to the new Scout troops we reported on recently, the President has released funds for a new squad of Knights and a Men-at-Arms heavy weapons squad. Those Frogless Albion Defence Force types won't know what hit them!


Thanks to the offices of Honest Throckwoddle Gladiolus, the Bwendi army has also acquired two mortars. Throckwoddle is working hard to source some ammunition for them so that the army can train up crews.


And finally, the President paraded the army before their barracks this morning as part of this publicity drive. Captain Pangloss of the Levy was heard to remark upon seeing our brave soldiers, "This is surely the best of all possible armies."

The Bwendi Army for Imperial Commander

The Bwendi Army is organised similarly to the Imperial army in Imperial Commander. The elite of the army are the Knights, who form the President's personal bodyguard. A maximum of two squads of Knights may be fielded. If the President is leading the army personally then he and the Knights may be carried in the army's Scythe Class Squad Jetcopter.

The Men-at-Arms are the backbone of the army. They are grouped in squads of five men with one command squad, 3 combat squads and one support squad forming a platoon. They are often carried into batte in the army's Glaive class APCs. Usually two squads will share one APC, because there is a shortage of APCs in the army at the moment. Throckwoddle is trying to source some new ones.

The Scout Troops are a new force in the army. Their mission is to seek out the enemy and report their locations back. There are two types of scout unit in the army. The Combat Scouts are very heavily armed and are expected to engage and hold the enemy while the rest of the army catches up. The Recon Scouts are intended to locate the enemy and then call in artillery on the enemy positions. Once the army gets some ammunition for the mortars, they will be able to do this. In the meantime, they have grenade launchers and the army's only grav vehicle, an obsolete Imperial Scout Car. Both types of scout function as individual squads.

The Levy are usually only called out for home defence duties. Their equipment is variable, although most have an SMG or an assault rifle. They are grouped into squads with similar weapons and have one or two support weapons assigned to each squad. Levy squads can be as large as twelve men if the call-up is sufficiently well heeded.

President Throckmorton P. Gladiolus (pick one option)

• Vet, AI, Jumpack, Bolt Pistol, Force Sword, Holtzmann Shield, Hero, Leader, 49 points
• Vet, PA, Jumpack, Holtzmann Shield, Plasma Gun, Autoranger, Power Glove,Hero, Leader, 73 points
• Vet, PA, Jumpack, Holtzmann Shield, Right Arm Pack (Autoranger, 2 Laser Rifles, 1 Grenade Launcher, Power Glove), Left Arm Pack (2 Hand Flamers), Hero, Leader, 77 points
• Vet, DA, Jumpack, Holtzmann Shield, Right Arm Pack (Autoranger, 2 Hvy Bolters, Power Glove), Left Arm Pack (Hvy Laser), Back (3 Imperial DA Grenade Launchers), Hero, Leader, 95 points

Knights

• 5 figures, Elite, AI, Jumpack, Autoranger, Advanced Grenade Pack, 4 Bolt Rifles, 1 Heavy Bolter, all with Force Sword, 127 points
• Scythe Class Squad Jetcopter, Transport Jetcopter to carry up to 12 people, Autoranger, Twin FF Missile Launcher, 65 points

Men-at-Arms

• Command Squad: 5 figures, Reg, AI, Jumpack, Autoranger, Advanced Grenade Pack, 1 Leader with Bolt Pistol and Force Sword, 3 Bolt Rifles, 1 Heavy Bolter, 116 points
• Combat Squad: 5 figures, Reg, AI, Jumpack, Autoranger, Advanced Grenade Pack, 4 Bolt Rifles, 1 Heavy Bolter, 107 points
• Support Squad: 5 figures, Reg, AI, Jumpack, Autoranger, 1 Leader with Bolt Pistol and Force Sword, 2 Support Bolters, 2 Conversion Beamers, 133 points
• Transport: Tracked APC to carry up to 10 people, Two Roboturrets mounting 2 Heavy Lasers each, 77 points

Combat Scouts

• 6 figures, Reg, LI, Scout Jumpack, Laser Pistol, Force Sword, Heavy Bolter, Advanced Grenade Pack, 1 Leader, 146 points
• Glaive APC, Wheeled APC to carry up to 10 people, Two Roboturrets mounting 2 Heavy Lasers each, 77 points

Recon Scouts

• 2 figures, Reg, LI, Scout Jumpack, Laser Pistol, Force Sword, Grenade Launcher, Advanced Grenade Pack, 1 Support Autoranger, 1 Leader, 56 points
• Imperial Scout Car, Grav Scout Car, FF Support Bolter, 30 points

Levy Troops

• Con, LI, Laser Pistol, Force Sword, Leader, 16 points each
• Con, LI, Basic Grenade Pack, SMG, 10 points each
• Con, LI, Basic Grenade Pack, Assault Rifle, 12 points each
• Con, LI, Basic Grenade Pack, HMG, 13 points each
• Con, LI, Advanced Grenade Pack, Missile Launcher, 13 points each

Bwendi Reinforcements - The Scouts

The Bwendi army has suffered for too long from the incursions of the mis-named Albion Defence Force. While the main army has been taking the strain, President Throckmorton P. Gladiolus has been spending his personal income on training up the Bwendi Scouts. While its primary role is reconnaissance, this new elite unit is equipped with the very best in heavy weaponry and the latest in technology so that it can fight its way out of any corner it may find itself in.

Here we see the first squad of Bwendi Combat Scouts parading in front of their newly acquired Glaive APC. They are armed with powerful Conversion Beam Projectors that will scythe down any ADF scum that get in their way and the wheeled Glaive is both fast and manoeuvrable while still providing adequate protection from the usual ADF weaponry.

(Click the picture for a larger image)


The Bwendi Recon Scouts are even more prepared than their Combat brethren. They have been equipped with the only grav vehicle on the planet. The president's brother-in-law, Honest Throckwoddle Gladiolus (he took his wife's name when they married as is the custom on Bwendi), just happened to have this Imperial Scout car sitting in his used car lot when the president announced his intention of forming the Scouts. It is powered by the latest in coal-fired fusion generators and comes with a full year's parts and labour warranty at a price that is literally stealing the food from Throckwoddle's childrens' mouths, or so he tells us. The Bwendi Recon Scouts are armed with Automatic Grenade Launchers and Support Autorangers. Their job is to find the enemy and make a mess before skedaddling and reporting back to base.

Imperial Commander Nostalgia-fest

Last night we played Imperial Commander. It was a total nostalgia-fest as I have not played IC in 10 years or more but we played it all through my university days in the mid-eighties. In this game my Bwendi army was busily trying to duff up Steve's Albion Defence Force and doing a rather good job of it too.

The Rules
Imperial Commander is a set of rules for massed skirmishes of around 50 figures per side. IC is the big brother of Laserburn and is also the rules set that grew into the monster known as 40K. In these rules your figures are organised into squads, usually of around 5 troopers. You can have heroes and leaders in the game and there is some room for vehicles too, but it is primarily an infantry-based game. Most of the vehicles that feature in the game will be APCs and possibly the odd jetcopter or two. The action is fast and furious with troopers being killed fairly easily if they get hit. Pity the guys with no armour at all!

The rules are simple to read through and easy to understand. It is a shame that they do not include the points costs for all the weapons described, but they can be worked out. Likewise, the points value of some of the units in the army lists is inaccurate. Another problem is that some rules, such as unit coherency, are hidden away in places that you would not expect them. Still, overall, there are few problems understanding the rules and the mechanisms are simple enough to follow.

IC uses d6s and d10s.

The turn sequence in Imperial Commander is fairly standard:
First player moves

Both players fire
First player moves again

First player conducts close combat
First player tests morale if the casualty threshold is reached.

Second player then follows the same sequence.

Shooting is done by rolling to hit for each figure firing and then rolling for the effect of the hit. The to hit roll is also used to determine if a trooper runs out of ammo / breaks their gun. You can fix guns / reload but that takes an action and you have to roll to succeed.

Hand-to-hand combat is even more deadly than shooting. Each player rolls 1d10, modified by weapons and troop quality. The loser dies. In cases of a tie, the attacker dies. Don't get into hand-to-hand unless you are confident that you will win!

Morale is only ever tested by a force that reaches 50% of its morale strength (shaken status), which is calculated based on the number and type of troops, number of leaders and number of vehicles in the force. Tip: picking off the leaders will reduce your opponent's army to shaken status really quickly!

Our Game

Set-up (my troops on the left, Steve's on the right)

We chose 750 points of troops each and played a straight encounter battle with the aim of driving off the enemy force. We each had a heroic leader in overall command of our force, but neither of our heroic leaders actually did more than wander around in their impervious energy shields. So much for being heroic. I had equipped my troops with jumpacks, so they were bounding forward like so many demented grasshoppers, while the Albion Defence Force trudged forward through the mud. This meant that I was able to occupy the buildings in the centre of table while Steve was still advancing through the woods on his side. Nevertheless, he still scored first blood, while my return fire resulted in a broken weapon that never got fixed for the rest of the game.

With my blood up after losing some of my heroic men-at-arms, I flew my jetcopter into position behind one of his squads and dropped a missile pod on their collective backsides, killing all bar one of them. From this point onwards, Steve's troops started forming circles at the end of each of his moves. Although my jetcopter only actually fired once more at another of his squads, and this from long range, it still managed to kill most of that squad too. What I found was that just having it on the table was enough to make Steve wary and helped me tremendously in directing the flow of the game.

A brave man-at-arms jumps into melee with the enemy's elite bodyguard

With Steve's entire right flank in tatters, and with my soldiers having picked off a lot of Steve's leaders, his morale was looking shaky. That said, my troops on my right flank were also looking rather poorly by now.

My right flank with only three surviving troopers in the building and one chap with a broken gun (he broke it with his first shot of the game and never fixed it before he was shot towards the end of the game)

So, I played a cheesy move and targeted what I thought was a leader in one of his squads. Killing this figure, and the figure's leadership status being confirmed, was enough to push his troops into shaken status. Steve needed to avoid rolling a 7 or more on 2d6 or his army would break. He rolled a 7. His men now had to spend at least one movement action retreating in each of his turns, which meant no advancing any further than the line he currently held. The game was effectively over.

Bwendi Knights deploy straight into close combat from their jetcopter. They have never been defeated!

At this point the Bwendi Knights flew forward in their jetcopter and deployed by aerial assault (jumpack deployment from a hovering jetcopter) to win the battle for my side. Steve's leader had rallied two of his troops, who would therefore continue to fight normally. The Knights piled in and killed these two in no time at all. At this point we called it a day and the Bwendi Knights retired undefeated once more and returned home for tea and medals all round.

Final Thoughts

Although this system was first published in 1981, it still works well. The rules are simple and can be expanded to fill the gaps as needed. With all the dice rolls for shooting, the system ought to be clunky, but our game flowed really well. I like the fact that both sides get to shoot each turn and that all shooting is simultaneous (with the exception of concealed troops breaking cover to fire). The split movement phase works well too. The only thing that seems a little slow is infantry movement. We might have done better to start closer together because the basic infantry foot-slogging movement is only 8cm per move, which is not very much.

It is a shame that it has never been updated for the errata but Richard Halliwell and Brian Ansell went on to do other stuff instead. Still, a free rules set based on Imperial Commander is available from Neil Cooper, so if you feel like trying these rules out, you could download them instead. You can also buy Imperial Commander from 15mm.co.uk, along with the range of figures that it was designed to accompany. You don't have to use the "official" figures, but they are still very nice sculpts, even nearly thirty years after they were first produced.

In our game, my figures were all Laserburn figures, while Steve was using figures from Ground Zero Games.

The Army of Bwendi (April Objective Completed)

Bwendi is a small agricultural planet within the Ztumsia system on the extreme margins of the Imperium. It is not a rich planet, yet it dominates the system by virtue of controlling the main food supplies and also as a result of the determination of its people not to lose. The main threats to Bwendi's peace and prosperity are rival Lord Knights with an expansionist agenda and incursions by the Red Redemptionist Rebels. Fortunately this does not happen too often.

Technology on Bwendi is limited. The Imperium strictly controls what technology is made available away from the core in a bid to weaken possible dissident elements. As a result, Bwendi is limited to 21st and 22nd century Earth Reckoning technologies. It has little by way of high technology industrial base, so grav technology is rare, high-powered energy weapons systems are not often seen and power is mostly based on natural resources, such as hydro-electric or wind turbines.

Bwendi is ruled by Imperial Lord Knight Throckmorton P. Gladiolus LXVI. Lord Gladiolus is a benign dictator and expects to rule for the rest of his life, as have his ancestors back to the colonisation and unification of the planet. The Gladiolus family has a long heritage of such activity. Lord Gladiolus is descended from Earth stock and can trace his ancestry all the way back to the cradle of humanity. Back in the 20th century of old Earth Reckoning, the Gladiolus family ruled the small central African republic of Ztumsia for many years, fighting off insurrection and rebellion at every step. However, history records that the Gladioli were able to bring peace and prosperity to this small nation in the same way as they have succeeded in doing so within the system named for Ztumsia.

The Knights of Bwendi


Here we see the Knights of Bwendi admiring Lord Gladiolus' newly acquired Scythe Class Jetcopter as Lord Gladiolus himself poses for photographs in front of it.* The Knights are Lord Gladiolus' personal bodyguard. They are the elite troops of the Bwendi army and will ride to battle with him in the Jetcopter. They wear ex-Imperial Light Armour systems with autorangers and carry bolt rifles, which fire explosive bullets. One trooper in the squad is armed with a heavy bolt rifle as a squad assault weapon. All troops also carry a range of grenades.

*These pictures will appear in Howyadoin magazine and it is the duty of every right-thinking Bwendi citizen to buy a copy and support the government. You can also read all the gossip about the Ztumsian tri-d vid stars too.

Men at Arms


The Men-at-Arms are the small professional cadre of soldiers on Bwendi. Here we see a platoon of Men-at-Arms parading in front of their Glaive class Infantry Fighting Vehicles. The platoon is led by a Lieutenant (pronounced leff-tenant on Bwendi) armed with a force sword and bolt pistol. Each platoon is organised into four rifle sections and one heavy weapons section. The bulk of the men are armed with bolt rifles, while one man in every section carries a heavy bolt rifle. All troops are kitted out with ex-Imperial light armour and carry a range of grenades. While the platoon pictured here has two IFVs, many do not have any, and some platoons, like this one, do not actually have enough IFVs to transport all the troops.



The heavy weapons squad is smaller than the standard Men-at-Arms section. It is led by a Lieutenant armed in the same way as his counterpart in the infantry section and has two soldiers armed with Support Bolters, a tripod-mounted rapid fire bolt weapon, and two soldiers with Conversion Beam Projectors, a matter conversion beam for ripping things apart at close quarters.

The Levy


The bulk of the Bwendi army consists of local levies. Here we see a Levy platoon on parade. The men are expected to be supplied with fatigues, a flak jacket and a sub-machine gun or assault rifle. Officers are expected to carry a pistol and sword. Some men supplement their equipment out of their own pockets.

The levy system is the main way for Bwendi to raise large armies quickly. All men of fighting age are expected to attend two weeks' training every year and to be ready to be called up when needed. The planet is divided into levy zones and each zone is expected to supply a platoon of troops for general service each year. The size of the zones is calculated based on this requirement; while platoons do have a nominal standard size, variations do creep in. The levy zone is also expected to pay for the equipping of these troops. This can lead to variations in the quality and quantity of equipment given to the Levies.

All figures are 15mm Laserburn figures, currently available from 15mm.co.uk. We are planning to use these figures for Stargrunt II, Laserburn, Imperial Commander and Beamstrike games.

Stargrunt II is freely downloadable from Ground Zero Games. It is a platoon-based game and will probably comfortably use 30-60 figures or so plus a little vehicular support.

Laserburn and Imperial Commander can be bought from 15mm.co.uk. Laserburn is a small skirmish level game and uses up to 20 figures per side maximum. It is probably too detailed to comfortably play larger games than that. The force pictured in this post is about 1500 points for Imperial Commander, which is the "grand skirmish" rules set that goes with Laserburn. A scenario of 1500 points per side in IC will take about 3-4 hours unless you get lucky with the dice.

Beamstrike is a freely downloadable Imperial Commander clone that resulted from an inability to obtain the rights to revise and republish Laserburn and Imperial Commander. It is designed for similarly sized games as Imperial Commander but has more rules for the inclusion of AFVs.

If you are interested in discussing Laserburn, pop on over to the Laserburn Yahoo Group and say hello. The group really needs a bit of a shove to get talking again!

April Objectives

April looks like being a trying time for me, what with my mother going into hospital, the search for a new job and university deadlines looming. Nevertheless, I shall still try to stick to my objectives.

In April I shall try to paint a 15mm sci-fi force. I have a ton or two of Laserburn figures in the attic, providing effective radiation shielding. Some of them were painted by me in the eighties back when gloss varnish was in vogue and no one had heard of layering. I have designed a 1500 point Imperial Commander force to paint for an Imperial Lord Knight on a Feudal Outworld.

This force uses figures I already have and consists of:

1 Imperial Lord Knight

1 squad of Knights

1 platoon of Men at Arms

1 Men at Arms heavy weapons squad

1 platoon of Local Levy

2 Glaive class APCs

1 Scythe class squad jetcopter

For the sake of symmetry I could do with a couple more APCs, but I cannot afford them at the moment. Some of these figures will only require a little fettling to get them ready to be fielded, while others require painting from scratch. Of course, the next question is what colour to paint them. Should I go for a standard green camouflage, or should I paint them in the Lord Knight's livery colours instead?

I like the idea of the livery colours but camouflage just seems more sensible to me. If I opt for the livery colours, then I also need to decide what those colours should be. It is almost tempting to paint them in a futuristic version of an 18th century uniform. Oh well, I shall dither over that for the next few days.

Back to basics

Today we played a game of Laserburn. It is a long time since I have played Laserburn, probably about 12 years now that I think about it. I chose to umpire Assault on Bunker 17, which is the first Laserburn scenario that I ever bought. Steve was the unfortunate rebel stooge, who had to enter the bunker, kill General Yates, reprogram the sector computer and rescue the traitor from the bunker. Steve supplied four character figures for his side. I supplied all the other figures.

I have had these figures for more than twenty years now and the whole game was really nostalgia-filled for me. The rules held up well, although both of our brains hurt by the end with all the maths. Laserburn is the predecessor of the game that became 40K and its age shows in some respects, but it is still fun to play. So, how did the game go? Well, to be honest, rather poorly for Steve. His troops entered the bunker successfully and dealt very quickly with the door guards. They then advanced into the bunker and were forced to fight their way through the garrison's quarters to the computer and security areas. Unfortunately, about half way through the traitor was spotted doing something odd by the chief security officer. He managed to fake a systems malfunction but that meant he could not monitor his rescuers any more and open the bunker doors for them. With casualties mounting the rebel forces managed to reach the computer room but were forced to retreat before they could achieve their objectives. The elite assassins they had escorted in were dead or captured, the rebel troops were dead, one of the characters was dead and one had been captured. Steve chose wisely and his two remaining figures scarpered, leaving their companions to their fates. We did find that most of our shots actually hit characters in the legs, which is fairly typical. We get the same in .45 Adventures. This game was also characterised by a high number of guns that got hit and destroyed. Half the figures in the game had two-piece guns by the end!

This game of Laserburn was good on several levels.

1. It embodied the spirit of thrifty gaming because we already had the figures and used a cheap-to-build terrain set
2. It did not require purchase of anything that we did not already have
3. It was great fun to play

We both already had all the figures that would be needed. Although we had planned this game for some time, it used figures that I had bought in the eighties and that had remained unpainted until now. I could have used already painted figures for the whole game but chose to use the game to spur me on and clear up a bit of the old lead mountain. The floor plan used for the bunker is a scaled down print-out of the WorldWorksGames Mars Station set. The doors come from Ebbles Miniatures' Guncrawl set. If you are interested, there are more pictures of this game in my Photobucket album, some of which have added commentary. The only disappointment about the game was that I had hoped to make a lot of paper furniture for the set too. Unfortunately that fell victim to a lack of desire to make much paper terrain. Still, we plan to play more Laserburn in the future, which will lead to more of my old Laserburn figures getting painted.

Regarding Mission: Ooh Shiny, we have now decided what our January project will be. [pause for drum roll and blow the fanfare. January will be WHAA month. I bought Warrior Heroes: Armies and Adventures when it first came out. Since then I have played a couple of solo games with my Vikings versus a variety of D&D miniatures and Steve bought some Teutonic Knights with a view to using them in it. I bought some Normans from Black Tree Designs that I planned to use with it (May they rot in the bog of eternal stench for taking 3 months to send me half my order and never having sent the rest 6 months later). I also supplemented my D&D miniatures with some Chronopia goblins. These goblins are sold as Blackbloods and I really liked the idea of giving my goblins giant chickens to ride instead of the more usual wolves. Unfortunately, as so often before, I prepped and undercoated the goblins and Normans but never got any further. So, we have the first scenario for Mission: Ooh Shiny.

Primary Objective: Goblins on Ripper Beasts and Chariot drawn by Ripper Beasts (2 VPs)

Secondary Objective: Norman Soldiers and Knights (1VP)

I am not certain how much time I shall have to paint figures in January, so I have set myself two objectives. The primary objective (Goblins) is the one that I must achieve. That should be fairly manageable (did I mention that I paint slowly?). The secondary objective is one that would be nice to achieve, but I shall not be overly disappointed if I do not manage it. Still, it would be nice to have the VPs for achieving it. I am not sure what the VPs will translate into when the year is over, but I suspect that Steve and I shall decide on a system for rewarding ourselves by the end.

I am looking forward to playing WHAA in February.