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In lugnet.gaming.brikwars, Paul Sinasohn wrote:
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Can someone point me to a resource on Lego Pirate wargames? I vaguely remember
that sort of thing happening at one convention or another...
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Hi Paul,
The group you want is lugnet.pirates.
The root of all Pirate games is Evil Stevie’s Pirate Game. Find it at
http://www.io.com/~sj/PirateGame.html.
I’ve run a couple rounds of Evil Stevie’s. It’s a lot of fun, here’s a
write-up of one session: http://news.lugnet.com/pirates/?n=4485.
There are (at least) a couple other games around. “Wooden Ships and Plastic
Men” is one of them. I looked at it, but didn’t try it.
Steve
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Can someone point me to a resource on Lego Pirate wargames? I vaguely remember
that sort of thing happening at one convention or another...
Thanks,
Paul Sinasohn
BAYLUG
LUGNET #115
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I'm a recent mover to southern SC / Northern Ga and it seems the area is pretty
dry for gaming opportunities. Sadly, that means my lego collection has stayed
packed away in boxes in the garage. I'd love a reason to get out there and start
to unearth some of my old collections. Anyone know of a group (or individuals )
close enough to make it worthwhile?
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In lugnet.gaming.brikwars, Don Cox wrote:
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Is there a article available describing the battle in detail? I am also
interested in this type of gaming, being a fan of Space:1889.
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I don’t think anyone has done a detailed write-up yet, but I might be able to
answer questions if you have any. I had the dubious honor of taking on the
Egregious in battle with the Champlain.
For the game, we used the 2000(?) BrikWars rules, with a Cost Point limit of
about 300. This means that the Egregious was stripped down with no torpedos,
and fewer guns. We also used TekLevel 3 weapons, at a TekLevel 4 cost to
account for the Steampunk aspects. In other words, we made up a lot of the
stats.
We used Duplo blocks to keep track of our altitude. Every three blocks was an
altitude level. Most of the game was spent at full altitude (4 levels) for all
ships, but there was some swooping and diving going on, especially when things
started exploding and falling from the sky.
The black bits you see scattered about in the photos are hopping mines.
Whenever a ship came within a 16x16 baseplate of one of these mines, it would
hop 1d6 levels into the air, then float down one level each turn. They also
drifted with the wind, which occasionally made for some interesting situations,
such as when the Egregious went down. Her crew was running from the flames of
the ship’s burning deck, while they were being fired on by the enemy. As the
ship hit the sand, it triggered a mine, just in time for the wind to die down.
So, in addition to gunfire and flame, the crew had a mine dropping onto their
heads. Somehow, they managed to evacuate the Egregious, only to have one of
their member’s promptly eaten by a sandworm.
All in all, though, they fared better than the crew of the Champlain, which
burst into flame when its powder-kegs were hit, killing all but two of the crew.
Of those two, only one survived the resulting crash, and he was also eaten by a
sandworm after running around the desert for a few turns.
-Elroy
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I am also
interested in this type of gaming, being a fan of Space:1889. I even did
some British troops and a mini-Aphid:
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=43369
Now I want to expan my Aphid, any suggestions?
-- Don GtwLUG Lugnet#1239 St. Louis
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Wow! that’s an impressive army. I’ve never seen so many pith helmets in one
place. ...and thanks for bringing Space: 1889 to my attention. I love anything
like that - Jules Verne, H.G. Wells, Flash Gordon, etc.
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In lugnet.gaming.brikwars, Shaun Sullivan wrote:
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Loosely inspired by some gorgeous SW Sail Barge MOCs on Brickshelf, NELUG’s
latest [1] Brikwars game featured a steampunk skiff battle set above the
desolate Kar’Zuba desert. Every skiff represented a Trading Guild, and upon
arrival at the outskirts of a potential market town each captain decided to
try and “thin the competition” a bit.
My contribution to the fight was the Egregious, a Dragonfly-Class Torpedo
Gunboat. Its steam powerplant (located in a protective cast-iron bathtub
within the hull) powers three heavy-lift main rotors, as well as a pair of
outboard steam-turbine-driven manuevering props.
The game, by the way, was great. We played for about 10 hours (!) and had a
pretty clear victor (Wayne) by the end. 6 skiffs entered the fray, and there
was every form of battle imaginable: gunfire, ramming, boarding actions,
hand-to-hand. Even the dreaded Sandworms of Kar’Zuba got into the action,
gorging on troopers abaonding their skiffs as they went down. Photos of the
game itself can be seen
here.
-Shaun
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Is there a article available describing the battle in detail? I am also
interested in this type of gaming, being a fan of Space:1889. I even did some
British troops and a mini-Aphid:
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=43369
Now I want to expan my Aphid, any suggestions?
-- Don GtwLUG Lugnet#1239 St. Louis
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I really, really like this! It is so complete looking and has a beautiful
presence and balance all of its own. Absolutely amazing work! A beautiful MOC!
Thanks for sharing and God Bless,
Nathan
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Very nice, I like how the bottom of the hull is not flat, gives is a believable
purpose. Very spelljammers feel to it.
Now you need a steam punk foating dock to more it to.
Aaron
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In lugnet.gaming.brikwars, Shaun Sullivan wrote:
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Loosely inspired by some gorgeous SW Sail Barge MOCs on Brickshelf, NELUG’s
latest [1] Brikwars game featured a steampunk skiff battle set above the
desolate Kar’Zuba desert. Every skiff represented a Trading Guild, and upon
arrival at the outskirts of a potential market town each captain decided to
try and “thin the competition” a bit.
My contribution to the fight was the Egregious, a Dragonfly-Class Torpedo
Gunboat. Its steam powerplant (located in a protective cast-iron bathtub
within the hull) powers three heavy-lift main rotors, as well as a pair of
outboard steam-turbine-driven manuevering props.
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Shaun,
I really like this, you put a lot of detail into making this, and it’s very
believable in a steampunk sort of way!
Thanks,
George
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In lugnet.gaming.brikwars, Jonathan Lopes wrote:
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This is also a great example in my book of how to use the two different
browns together. The two different tones add so much to this.
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I like the effect also. It became apparent very early on that I would send
myself to the madhouse if I insisted on using a single color only - and that
assumes that I even had the pieces I needed in the right color. When building
the deck and hull I instead employed a philosophy of “grab the nearest piece
needed as long as it’s brown, reddish-brown, or black”. IMHO the result looks a
little ragtag or patchwork, but not enough to detract from the military
bearing of the skiff. Maybe I should dub the effect “lovingly worn”?
Thanks for the comments!
Shaun
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In lugnet.gaming.brikwars, Jonathan Lopes wrote:
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This is also a great example in my book of how to use the two different
browns together. The two different tones add so much to this.
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I agree. It became apparent very early on that I would send myself to the
madhouse if I insisted on using a single color only - and that assumes that I
even had the pieces I needed in the right color. When building the deck and
hull I instead employed a philosophy of “grab the nearest piece needed as long
as it’s brown, reddish-brown, or black”. I like the result - it looks a
little ragtag or patchwork, but not enough to detract from the military
bearing of the skiff (IMHO). Maybe I should dub the effect “lovingly worn”?
Thanks for the comments!
Shaun
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Thanks for the comments and feedback Ted.
In lugnet.gaming.brikwars, Ted Godwin wrote:
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[snip]
A very minor quibble: Lots of dials are great but where are all the control
levers and wheels and such? Two seems like too few. (Nice use of the door for
decking/engine hatch though.)
[snip]
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I think that’s a fair criticism. If I lived in a steampunk economy I’d
definitely invest in dials, gauges and levers. Unfortunately I had a tough time
figuring out how to cram in more controls abovedeck. Maybe I should try
mounting a few levers on the hatch itself? I’ll have to think on that one.
My concession was to cram a few more controls around the steam boiler. It’s
hard to see but there’s another manual wheel just forward of the boiler door,
and the lever/handle on the door itself.
Even so, I’d love to jam some more controls around the pilothouse.
Thanks again,
Shaun
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That is great. As soon as I saw the pic I thought the bow looked familiar. You
have really captured the PT boat look with that bow construction.
Some cool details as well such as the Little Armoury (I think) halberds as
boarding pikes. I also liked the arched windows with grilles in in the hull.
Your hull construction method really allowed for neat details.
A very minor quibble: Lots of dials are great but where are all the control
levers and wheels and such? Two seems like too few. (Nice use of the door for
decking/engine hatch though.)
What a huge crew! Yet they all fit really nicely.
Fantastic pics BTW. Really nice detail shots
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In lugnet.gaming.brikwars, Timothy Gould wrote:
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That’s rather incredibly cool. I particularly like how it’s quite ‘realistic’
within its own logic:
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Thanks! That was one of the aspects that I enjoyed the most - trying to
rationalize “how it worked” as it was being built.
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the grilles over the fans,
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The trick is not to crew your Dragonfly-class Torpedo Gunboats with women
wearing Victorian hoop skirts.
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The split hull construction is particularly effective. It’s probably a good
way of doing boat hulls too.
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That’s actually where I started with this technqiue. I’ve been plugging away on
a WWII ship for a couple years now, and have half the hull of Blackbeard’s Queen
Anne’s Revenge done in this same style. Who knows if they’ll ever get finished,
but I’m pleased with how the method works.
Thanks again.
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In lugnet.gaming.brikwars, Shaun Sullivan wrote:
Wow! Very inpressive. Excellent details, weaponry and such.
This is also a great example in my book of how to use the two different browns
together. The two different tones add so much to this.
Simply fabulous.
Best,
Jonathan
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In lugnet.gaming.brikwars, Shaun Sullivan wrote:
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Loosely inspired by some gorgeous SW Sail Barge MOCs on Brickshelf, NELUG’s
latest [1] Brikwars game featured a steampunk skiff battle set above the
desolate Kar’Zuba desert. Every skiff represented a Trading Guild, and upon
arrival at the outskirts of a potential market town each captain decided to
try and “thin the competition” a bit.
My contribution to the fight was the Egregious, a Dragonfly-Class Torpedo
Gunboat. Its steam powerplant (located in a protective cast-iron bathtub
within the hull) powers three heavy-lift main rotors, as well as a pair of
outboard steam-turbine-driven manuevering props.
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=261935
http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/sullis3/BRIKWARSGAMES/SkiffFight/Egregious/egregious04.jpg
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--snip--
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-Shaun
[1] For the record books, this was NELUG’s
34th Brikwars game - and that
doesn’t include some games we’ve put on for public events such as Ourcon 17
(Amherst, MA) and Brick Blast (Middlebury, VT).
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That’s rather incredibly cool. I particularly like how it’s quite ‘realistic’
within its own logic: the grilles over the fans, the cannnon balls, the
equipment. Most excellent steampunk.
The split hull construction is particularly effective. It’s probably a good way
of doing boat hulls too.
Tim
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Loosely inspired by some gorgeous SW Sail Barge MOCs on Brickshelf, NELUG’s
latest [1] Brikwars game featured a steampunk skiff battle set above the
desolate Kar’Zuba desert. Every skiff represented a Trading Guild, and upon
arrival at the outskirts of a potential market town each captain decided to try
and “thin the competition” a bit.
My contribution to the fight was the Egregious, a Dragonfly-Class Torpedo
Gunboat. Its steam powerplant (located in a protective cast-iron bathtub within
the hull) powers three heavy-lift main rotors, as well as a pair of outboard
steam-turbine-driven manuevering props.
(Apologies for any photographic color issues. I’m still experimenting with some
lighting techniques, and I’m not pleased several of these images.)
The design of the Egregious was heavily influenced by American PT boats of
WWII. I tried to emulate the deck shape closely, and then modified the hull to
accommodate the large rotor fans. I used a studs-out technique I’ve been
developing for a couple of other projects. The deck and hull are built in two
halves, with the studs facing out to either side. The two halves are then
connected to each other using technic beams (buried under the deck). There are
a number of advantages to this methods: for one thing, the deck comes out smooth
without a single tile being employed, and bricks on their side make for great
planking. Secondly, it is easy to build this style with a hollo interior -
though I didn’t worry about this so much in this case (except for the
cargo/steamplant bay under the pilothouse). Lastly, this method provides
1-plate fidelity for detouring the complicated contours of a hull. The result
is also incredibly sturdy and robust; I’ve swooshed this skiff around the house
for weeks, and it’s easily survived short falls (being knocked off its clear
legstands multiple times, for example). The communications mast used to fall
off incessantly, but that problem disappeared once I attached the guy wires.
The black flag-panels on the railings were intended to simply act as armor
plates to provide the crew with cover; in retrospect, I like how they lend a
Victorian wrought-iron feel to the railings.
Also like the PT boats, I tried to pack this ship full of weapons. The standard
armament includes: - 2 heavy cannons (40-pounders)
- 4 swivel guns (8 pounders)
- 2 grappling guns
- 2 MkIII steam torpedos
- Assorted small arms and boarding weapons, including musket, flintlock pistols,
sabers, boarding axes, etc.
The skiff is also shown carrying a pair of “Bouncing Beatrix” Frog Mines, and a
pair of standard constant-altitude aerial mines. These would typically only be
carried on border patrol missions.
The standard crew complement is 16: The captain, first mate, a pair of
mechanics/technicians to effect the inevitable in-flight repairs, 4 gunners
specifically trained with the heavy guns, and 8 troopers to man the swivel guns
and engage in boarding attempts.
The game, by the way, was great. We played for about 10 hours (!) and had a
pretty clear victor (Wayne) by the end. 6 skiffs entered the fray, and there
was every form of battle imaginable: gunfire, ramming, boarding actions,
hand-to-hand. Even the dreaded Sandworms of Kar’Zuba got into the action,
gorging on troopers abaonding their skiffs as they went down. Photos of the
game itself can be seen here.
-Shaun
[1] For the record books, this was NELUG’s
34th Brikwars game - and that
doesn’t include some games we’ve put on for public events such as Ourcon 17
(Amherst, MA) and Brick Blast (Middlebury, VT).
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In lugnet.gaming.brikwars, Mike Rayhawk wrote:
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In lugnet.gaming.brikwars, Elroy Davis wrote:
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This was our first attempt at using the 2005 squad rules, and was our first
game that was based on an actual event.
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Now hold on! The Treaty of Versailles wasn’t a real event?
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Oops. I’d forgotten about that one.
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How did the squad rules work out for you guys? I notice you used the word
“attempt.”
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I thought they worked really well. I was actually hoping for some
squad-on-squad combat, but it didn’t work out that way. I’d also love to play a
larger scale game using squads at some point. Something where a few hundred
minifigs line up on one side of a room, and a few hundred more line up on the
other side. Of course, that may just be because I like seeing large ranks of
minifigs formed up in anticipation of crushing their enemies.
I think the biggest thing that we noticed is that squads are a great way to move
a large number of figs at one time. Combat really wasn’t that different, as
each Trooper still got a die roll.
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The moral rules seemed to work well.
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They’re nice, although I wonder how you could scale them for larger squads.
It doesn’t make as much sense to force a check when a squad of 20 guys loses
three.
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It might make more sense to force a check when a percentage of the squad is lost
instead of a fixed number. My memory is slipping, but I think for the
Colonials, since they didn’t form squads, we forced a moral roll on troops that
were near troops that had been hit, and we had them roll as if they had lost 5
of their 6 men. This seemed to work pretty well too, as it did a good job
simulating citizen soldiers going up against the British war machine. The moral
recovery rules also worked well, as the Colonial leader was able to rally most
of his men.
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I’d almost want to see something where you toss a big handful of dice, one
for each guy in the squad, and let them rout individually and abandon the
squad. The number to beat would be however many units had been involuntarily
de-squadded on the previous round - whether from routing, getting knocked off
the squad plate somehow, or the old-fashioned method of getting killed. That
way you could get nice cascade effects of routs that accelerate or decelerate
over a series of turns. Rallying difficulty would be handled by forcing any
unit attempting to join to make a morale check as well.
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I think for the first couple of turns we may have rolled a die for each member
of the squad and then used the average or something, but ultimately we settled
on using one die roll per squad.
-Elroy
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In lugnet.gaming.brikwars, Elroy Davis wrote:
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This was our first attempt at using the 2005 squad rules, and was our first
game that was based on an actual event.
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Now hold on! The Treaty of Versailles wasn’t a real event?
How did the squad rules work out for you guys? I notice you used the word
“attempt.”
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Overall, I thought the game was a success. The British acted like British,
and the Colonials acted like Minutemen would have. The moral rules seemed to
work well.
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They’re nice, although I wonder how you could scale them for larger squads. It
doesn’t make as much sense to force a check when a squad of 20 guys loses three.
I’d almost want to see something where you toss a big handful of dice, one for
each guy in the squad, and let them rout individually and abandon the squad.
The number to beat would be however many units had been involuntarily
de-squadded on the previous round - whether from routing, getting knocked off
the squad plate somehow, or the old-fashioned method of getting killed. That
way you could get nice cascade effects of routs that accelerate or decelerate
over a series of turns. Rallying difficulty would be handled by forcing any
unit attempting to join to make a morale check as well.
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Shaun Sullivan has photos of the game
here.
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To me,
this photo right here is the essence of everything BrikWars is about.
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Over the weekend, members of NELUG re-enacted the first
battle of the American Revolution. This was the second game for our second Year
of BrikWars. Our goal is to have at least six games by the end of the year.
The original scenario rules are
here.
Basically, the goal of the British team was to march from one end of the board
to the other. The goal of the Colonial team was to inflict as many British
casualties as possible.
This was our first attempt at using the 2005 squad rules, and was our first game
that was based on an actual event.
Dave brought along some raised baseplates, which made for an interesting board
setup. Not only did the British have to make it to the end of the road, they had
to weave through a narrow canyon to do it.
After the board was set up, troops were distributed in even numbers. 40 Brits
against 40 Colonials. A quick dice-off put Joe and I in charge of the British,
with Shaun, Dave, and Dan in control of the Colonials.
The game started quickly, with the proud ranks of British infantry marching past
Buckman’s Tavern, only to have one of Dan’s Colonials leap out from behind a
shed, taking a pot-shot at the British Officer. The Colonial then ran around the
front of the shed, only to be confronted by the entire British army. Picture Han
Solo running around the corner into a regiment of Storm Troopers.
The British squad, armed with muskets and bayonets, quickly stuck multiple
pointy things into the Colonial. I think it was at this point that the Colonials
realized how much damage a British squad could do. It was also at this point
that the British realized that if the Colonials didn’t form squads, it was going
to take a long time to pick them all off one by one.
Moving past the tavern and into the canyon, the British squads were forced to
narrow their formation, going in one squad at a time. The Colonials, all named
Tony, used this bottle-neck to rain fire down on the British. The British
returned fire, causing a couple of the Colonials to turn and flee.
Sensing that his troops were beginning to panic, the Colonial Officer moved up
to bolster his troops spirits. For the next few turns the pass filled with
blood, gore, and carnage.
Seeing that they were blocked at the pass, two British squads at the back of the
army formation left the road, flanking either side of the pass. Both squads
moved relatively unopposed until about midway down the board, when they were
attacked by rabid Colonials with pitchforks, sabers, and axes. One Colonial,
hidden in ambush behind the tavern, took an unfortunate shot from behind, caused
by a British squad in the middle of the board.
A few more turns of bloody combat ensued, until the Colonial blockade finally
began to break down. As the last Colonial in the pass fell, it was up to Dan’s
men to make their last stand. Armed with flintlock pistols, they charged the
British troops in a valiant effort to make a dent. One man did manage to kill
the British Officer, only to be kicked in the head by that Officer’s horse.
In the end, the British prevailed by killing all of the Colonials, though they
lost almost half their men doing it.
Overall, I thought the game was a success. The British acted like British, and
the Colonials acted like Minutemen would have. The moral rules seemed to work
well.
I think the reinforcement rules would have given the Colonials a more even
chance, but the game lasted about 20 turns, so they didn’t do too badly.
I think I left before the kill scores were added up, but due to the British only
getting 1d8th of a point for each kill, I have a feeling the scores were pretty
close.
Shaun Sullivan has photos of the game
here.
-Elroy
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