Miniatures Finished: 20mm Wakandans

At NWA this year, a 1970s African Bush Wars imagi-nation campaign has started up, and whilst most of it consists of posturing and name-calling in our Facebook group, some games are happening. Naturally, I couldn't resist getting in on the action with a perennial favourite, Wakanda. Having gone out and spent a massive $25, I present my 20mm "Weird Bush Wars" Wakandans. 

 The military might of Wakanda on the march. 

 The Black Panther leads warriors of the Panther Tribe into battle. 

 Sharpshooters use gauss rifles to eliminate enemy armour. 

 Heavy Weapon Teams utilise technology most consider science-fiction. 

 Wakandan vehicle support. 

 Scout bikes provide reconnaissance. 

 Sentry guns protect the border of Wakanda from incursion. 

Yeah, "Weird Bush Wars" was not a project I was expecting to do, but painting and collecting the army was fun and pretty cheap. Hopefully I can get some games in at some point and see how they go. 

Cryptic Conflicts - Part 1

The Scarlet Blade, The Anachronism, Lucky, Mindstorm and Colonel Quantum have found themselves transported to a mysterious patchwork planet by a being calling itself "The Yonder". In a section of familiar-looking city, they come across other teams of superheroes. Are these the foes they have been set to battle? 

 Rival team "The European Union" gather on the roof of a local restaurant. 

 Mindstorm scouts ahead, protected by a mental shield. 

Backbreaker takes umbrage to Mindstorm's constant psychic barrage and returns the favour with a Police Van. 

A massive clash between the Equalsiers and the Omega Squad results in shockingly few casulties. 

The European Union battle strange foes with incredible powers. 

Mindstorm and Lucky provide support for the front-line fighters in the team. 

Somehow, Mindstorm survived this. 

A team-up between Scarlet Blade and Colonel Quantum forces the game to a draw. 

Lampposts make good clubs in a pinch. 

The Anachronism swings his blade with deadly effect. 

"Equalisers engage!" 

Thanks to my fellow NWA members for the pictures of this game. Hopefully, I have the time to make the report a little more narrative-based for the next game.

For an alternate take on the game, check out Ian's Blog: https://this28mmlife.blogspot.com.au/2017/07/super-shenanigans-super-system-4.html

Cryptic Conflicts - The Beginning

(With apologies to Jim Shooter) 

In the distant reaches of the universe, far, far from planet Earth, an uninhabited, spiral galaxy turns its everlasting pirouette in magnificent splendor, unseen by living eyes... until suddenly... 

A world forms from the void... a world populated with superhumans! Brought together from across the multiverse, heroes and villains have been placed on this, mysterious, "Struggleplanet", by forces beyond mortal ken. Just as the transplanted adventurers start to query the strange environs in which they find themselves, a haunting, ethereal voice pierces their minds;

"I am from yonder! Slay your enemies and all you desire shall be yours! Nothing you dream of is impossible for me to accomplish!"  

Trapped in a world they didn't make, how will heroes from different worlds survive the unknowable machinations of a being of such power as to make and brake worlds? Find out next ish, true believers! 

At NWA, we're starting a small SuperSystem (SS4) campaign running July-August this year. AARs, narrative bridging and character profiles can be found here and on other blogs, to be linked. Stay tuned!

Coming Soon to a Table Near You!

Reposted from my wargames club's Facebook group: 

In order to get some people playing some SuperSystem, I'm proposing a little "mini-campaign" in the months of November and December. Nothing terribly involved, just teams of three characters and playing a handful of games over the seven meetings that fall in the given months. Think something along the lines of "Contest of Champions" or "Secret Wars"; a big goofy crossover relying more upon showy splash-panels than actual plot. I'll be posting up on my blog about the games we play and probably laying over some Silver Age justification. 

As I said, we'll start with three-character teams, so easy to build up a team or find some already in your collection. I'm happy to help with some of the stats, but I'm not doing it all for you sorry. 

Need some inspiration? I dug through the web for some "left-field" team ideas and put them here.

 Nazi Occultists, classic pulp villains, ready to menace the free world! 

 The Ghostbusters (any version) make a perfect team, the similar power-set can be used with slight differences to have a team that work well together. 

 Voodoo priest, cultists and zombies, not only a lot of fun, but there are already heaps of comic examples to draw on. 

 I'm not a huge fan of the pop-culture team-up in general, as it often comes across as goofy (see the above LXG April Fool's for example), but they can be fun if they make enough sense.

Problematic recent film aside, the Suicide Squad has an interesting history and the "Supervillain Dirty Dozen" idea has been around in a variety of forms since the Silver Age. If you're better at being bad than good, this is a pretty fun option. 

Movie Monsters have been part of comics since the beginning, getting shoved into the Marvel and DC universes thanks to Lee and Kirby being just the right kind of crazy. They don't have to be Hammer classics either, Aliens, Terminator and Predator have all fought the likes of Batman and the Avengers. 

Sometimes it seems like I'm the only person that likes Martial Arts superheroes anymore. Ok, so Dragonball Z is not to everyone's tastes, but what about Kung Fu, TNMT or Iron Fist? Lots of potential here for fun games and characters. 

A few of other points to note;

1. A typical game of SS4 takes between 30 and 60 minutes if we all know at least vaguely how to play, so we don't have to give up Frostgrave, Warmachine or any of our regular games. 

2. Teams of henchmen run from 5+ and count as one "character". 

3. For those who don't have the book, I recommend Lulu Print-on-Demand, just make sure to get SuperSystem 4th Edition by Scott Pyle and David Lewis. 

4. For those that do have it, try making an 85 point character or two, we can change down the track if we want to, so don't feel locked in to the first effort. 

5. Taking any suggestions for a name for our "Crossover Event", something like the classic Secret Wars or Crisis on Infinite Earths. 

6. At the moment, I'm considering having a big finale game on the last meeting of the year, let me know what you think. 

Excelsior!