Jessie's Prints - Episode 20 - Cthulhu Characters

This week, I are mostly been answering...  The Call of Cthulhu

Victorian Tough with Dog - Pinshape 48509

I know our current Call of Cthulhu game is set in 1923 but who can pass up on the opportunity to print out a tough guy villain and his dog?

Pirate Pugilist - Thingiverse 3981631

Sam is playing an east end ruffian called Chester "Pretty Boy" Lyle.  A bareknuckle boxer Chester bears the scars of hundreds of bouts in some of the seediest dives that London's docklands have to offer. 

The Colonel - Thingiverse 3107434

Usually found sleeping in his easy chair in The Garrick Club, Colonel St.John Smythe saw plenty of action in his youth fighting for Queen and Country across most of Africa.  He now earns a well deserved retirement and occassionally tells of his exploits across the dark continent to anyone who will listen.

Dr. Frankenstein

Victor Frankenstein needs no introduction and wasn't intentionally looking to build up a collection of classic horror minis, but when I found this one I just had to download it.  From sculptor Roman Bevza, I just love the pose and especially the action of pulling on of the rubber gloves.

 

Igor - Thingiverse 3926251

Frankenstein's erstwhile and capable manservant is another of Roman Bezva's creations and of course I had to print him aswell.

Private Investigator - Thingiverse 4231499

Steve is playing a retired policeman turned private investigator by the name of Ryan Wurmshurst.  No case is too small and his rates are very reasonable.

Researcher - Thingiverse 4499796

Every Cthulhu game needs a character with excellent research capabilities who can answer the call for "Library Use".  At the moment this is the stand-in for Thelma "Ginger" Purdey, our courageous girl about town.  I am currently on the hunt for a more appropriate miniature.

Reaper Bones #40 - Pirate with Treasure

It Seems like forever since I painted a Reaper mini (Dec 2021 to be exact).  I've had this one trapped shipwrecked in the painting queue for quite a while.

Pirate with Treasure - Julie Guthrie (SKU 30026)

Another simple and evocative sculpt from Julie Guthrie makes you wonder what this guy's backstory is.  What's in the treasure chest? How good is he with that cutlass? That knife looks like it's got it's own story.

The House of R'yleh - Part 2: What Lurks in the Darkness

The House of R'yleh is a Call of Cthulhu adventure set in London in late November 1923.  The Games Master is Mark and play takes place at Dragons Keep Roleplay Club in South East London every Friday night.

Cast

• Yoshi "Kanagawa" Yamamoto - A disgraced former Sumo wrestler turned journalist - Tony
• Chester "Pretty Boy" Lyle - A bareknuckle boxer - Sam 
• Ryan Wurmshurst - A retired policeman turned private sleuth - Steve
• Thelma "Ginger" Purdey - A recently graduated botanist and girl about town - Matt

Thursday 15th November 1923

At the Chelsea Art Club, the mystery deepens, more names are added to the list of the missing but the chums still don't have any solid leads to follow.

• Jason Davies - missing for over a month - Art professor at the Chelsea School of Art.
  
• Helen Wilson - missing for two weeks - a student of Prof. Davies.
  
• Ruth Hall -  missing for a couple of days - a student of Prof. Davies.
• Ambrose Draper - Davies patron and the person who sold the silver locket to the pawnbroker.
• Thewlis - An artist and friend of Davies who was kicked out of the club for obscenity.
  

Chester decides to break into the concierge's office and try to get addresses for Davies, Draper and Thewlis.  He narrowly avoids being caught by Percival the concierge.  Ginger decides that what they really need to know is what the papers said about the whole affair.  She takes a cab to the British Library in Kings Cross, arriving just before closing time.  

The news archive is well indexed and she quickly finds 3 clippings which detail the missing persons before returning to the club.

Friday 16th November 1923

The friends meet at their favourite spot, Jenny's Tea Rooms in the Strand.  Armed with Draper's address, Yoshi, Ginger and Chester head to Kensington leaving Ryan to see if his police contacts can tell him more about the case.

The Draper Residence

A large detached house which appears to have fallen on hard times.  The rose beds have been untended for some time and the windows are dirty and curtains closed.  Chester knocks oin the door and is suprised when a man fitting Mr. Draper's description opens the door.  Clearly a lover of the demon drink, Draper seems distracted and apologises for not paying his club dues on time.  They sit him down in the drawing room and after a little questioning manage to extract some useful information.

Draper was given the locket by a man called Peters who uses him as a go-between.  Whatever money he gets he uses to buy art supplies for Peters.  Draper struggles to describe Peters and Yoshi detects that there is definitely something Draper is witholding either out of fear or some other psychological reason.  They convince Draper to take them to Peters.  Draper insists that they will need to take Peters a gift of some brushes or paints. 

The World's End

Ryan's investigations begin at the World's End Public House on Victoria Street, an old haunt and a regular watering hole for the constabulary's finest.  He is immediately recognised by one of his former colleagues, Constable Tim Barley.  Ryan is not shy in asking about the Chelsea School of Art missing persons case and Barkley complains that they don't have the manpower to do a search of the riverside, they are effectively just waiting for a body or three to wash up on the banks of the Thames. 

Barkley mentions that these are strange times, in fact he had a chap come into the station the other day.  He claimed that someone had dug up his dead mother, stolen her locket and sold it to a pawnbroker on the Fulham Road.  He didn't know what to make of it, but the man seemed a little out of sorts. 

Ryan leaves the pub and as he ruminates on the case he realises he is near to his informant and sometime errand boy Jim.  Jim is a greasy looking young ruffian and is more than happy to help Ryan out for a few shillings.  Ryan tells Jim to go to Stokes Pawnshop and see if he has a silver charm bracelet with butterfly charms on it.

An Encounter with Mr Peters

Freshly furnished with art supplies the friends and Draper take a cab to Lambeth.  The dereliction and squalor of the tightly packed ramshackled tenament buildings an anathema even to Yoshi and Chester whose rented rooms in the East End were still classified as comfortable.

The cab sped off as soon as the four alighted.  Draper led them through narrow alleys and passageways to a boarded up half ruined building.  Opening the door with a key he led them inside the dark confines through corridors and down stairs until they entered a basement room with what looked to be a well.

Leaving the art supplies against the low wall of the well, Draper was keen to leave.  Chester and Yoshi shone their lantern into the well.  Something caught Yoshi's eye, a glistening in the light.  They climbed down into the well for a closer look.  The bottom of the well clearly entered into the subterranean warren of the London sewer system.  The ground at the bottom of the iron rung ladder was dry, poking out of the earth was a silver butterfly which matched the description of the charm bracelet worn by one of the missing girls from the art school.  As Yoshi turned the charm over in his big hands he could hear the sounds of someone sloshing through the water from down the tunnel.  Chester and Yoshi scampered up the ladder and the group cowered in an adjacent room leaving one of the lanterns on the floor next to the well.

As they watched a long withered hand and arm reached out from the well grasping at the bag with the art supplies.  This horrifically contorted creature, they presumed was Mr Peters...

The House of R'yleh - Part 1: The Mysterious Case of the Silver Locket

The House of R'yleh is a Call of Cthulhu adventure set in London in late November 1923.  The Games Master is Mark and play takes place at Dragons Keep Roleplay Club in South East London every Friday night.

Cast

• Yoshi "Kanagawa" Yamamoto - A disgraced former Sumo wrestler turned journalist - Tony
• Chester "Pretty Boy" Lyle - A bareknuckle boxer - Sam 
• Ryan Wurmshurst - A retired policeman turned private sleuth - Steve
• Thelma "Ginger" Purdey - A recently graduated botanist and girl about town - Various

Tuesday 13th November 1923

Six weeks had passed since we buried Freddie's mother Josephine at the Kensal Green Cemetary.  She finally succumbed to the polio that had made her final years a struggle.  We had arranged to meet Freddie, who we had not seen since the funeral, in the Princess Victoria Public House on the Uxbridge Road and were looking forward to spending some time with our ebullient chum.

It was quite the shock when the normally dapper Freddie burst into the boozer looking somewhat worse for wear.  Ginger immediately ordered a double whiskey for Freddie and he gulped it down, desperate to tell us his story...

"I can't believe that they would do such a thing, to my poor old mum who never hurt a fly.  I was just browsing in the pawnbrokers for a bit of something for my girlfriend Sophie, you know the one from the bank I was telling you all about.  Anyway, I popped into Stokes Pawnbrokers, the one on the Fulham Road, and there I spotted it... My mum's silver locket... the one I put in the casket with her when we buried her.  I had it out with the bloke, questioned him, but all he wanted was 15 nicker.  What sort of man would steal an old woman's locket from her dead body?"

Freddie's story gripped us all and we all agreed that we would solve this mystery and bring the culprits to justice. We shared a few drinks with Freddie and decided to take a cab down to the pawnbrokers to see if we could get to the bottom of it.  It was about 10pm when we arrived and the place was closed.  We vowed to take up the case in the morning and meet at the undergound station at 9am.

Wednesday 14th November 1923

Another damp day loomed as the gang trudged along the Fulham Road towards Stokes Pawnbrokers.  Yoshi went in first aiming to distract the fellow behind the counter with his oriental guile.  Briefly looking around, he turned his attention to the jewellrey case behind the counter.

"Sivur Rocket, Arigato"

The man, presumably Mr. Stokes (or one of his employees) took the bait and was pleased to take advantage of this foreigner and charge Yoshi the princely sum of £50 rather than the £15 he charged Freddie.  Incensed with this blatant display of price gouging, Yoshi grabbed the fellow under the armpit and tried to hoik him over the counter.  Sadly Yoshi's best days as an Ozeki were behind him and the chap was a little too heavy for The Great Wave.

Yoshi's friends came to the rescue and shooed him out of the shop.  The perfect ruse to act as saviours and get some info out of him.  After some questioning it turned out that the man did not know the locket was stolen and that it had been sold to him by one of his regulars called Mr Draper.  A clearly wealthy man Mr Draper dressed shabbily and exhibited the signs of drinkers palsy.  He did sport a lapel pin from the Chelsea Art Club and Stokes commented that he always brought him tasteful objet d'art from time to time.  According to his ledger Draper's last visit was 5 days ago.

Stokes gave Chester a small discount as thanks for saving him from the oriental beast.

To the Cemetary

Their next port of call was the grave of Mrs Brydon located in the Kensal Green Cemetary. 

Kensal Green Cemetary

The grave was undisturbed, a dead end.  The friends considered that the locket must have been lifted before she was interred which left only one option.  The undertakers.  Perhaps Draper works there or has a man on the inside.  They headed to the funeral parlour.

Fowler & Williams Funeral Directors

Mr Fowler and Mr Williams were most upset to hear of the disturbing incident and were extremely helpful with the gang's enquiries.  An employee lineup was hastily convened, none of whom matched the description of Mr Draper and none of the staff had heard of the man.  

 

 

Funeral Hearse

Another dead end left the team with only one lead...

The Chelsea Art Club

Situated in the heart of the Latin Quarter the Chelsea Art Club had some notoriety as a private members club for the appreciation of art.  Posing as a dilettante and her entourage, Ginger managed to get the friends into the club so that they could enquire about this Draper fellow.

Their enquiries were fruitful and they were introduced to two members, Mr James Cummings and Mr Charles Young.  Both independently wealthy men, they were art lovers and patrons of some of the bohemian types who frequented the club.  Draper had not been seen for some time since the disappearance of his protege Jason Davies, a professor at the Chelsea School of Art and a promising talent in the macabre scene.  The papers aluded to some sort of scandal at the School and at least two of the students had likewise gone missing... 

Jessie's Prints - Episode 19 - Free Files Galore

This week, I are mostly been enjoying printing free pre-supported files I found on the interweb.

Truth be told they found me really.  I was approached in a random email by CustomMiniatureMaker.co.uk who run an email newsletter called Free Files Friday.  Seriously peeps if you aren't subscribed to this smorgasboard of STLs then you are missing out.  Join now at https://www.customminiaturemaker.co.uk and maybe even join their latest kickstarter campaign.

Blackjack Dreadnought Omni - Custom Miniature Maker

All the cool kids seem to be sticking it to the man (Games Workshop) these days with their "proxy" models for WH40K so I thought I's jump on the bandwagon.  I've always loved the chunky aesthetic of the WH40K vehicles and been a fan of the dreadnought's since the early days of Rogue Trader.

This is a wicked model and has so many possible weapon options that I thought I would have a go at magnetising my loadouts (ooer sounds a bit rude!!).

Goatman - Infernal Miniatures

For old skool gamers the Broo were the iconic bad guy minions of the Runequest franchise and I fancied printing me out this great double axe wielding bad boy.  Worth the download.

Amazon Warrior - Artisan Guild

I've been hearing about these chaps and their patreon but I wanted to try out one of their files for myself.  It came unsupported but I put my new found support skills to good use and she came out a treat.  And lets face it, who doesn't like a bikini clad warrior woman?

Slime Weird - My Mini Factory

In our last D&D game we ventured into the underdark and encountered a water weird which almost ripped our party to shreds.  This one is a slime varient and I love it's animated pose like it's trying to smother you.  

Yoshi Yamamoto - Ex Sumo Wrestler and Foreign Correspondent

In Episode 18 of Jessie's Prints I printed of a couple of models which, as the Spice girls once sang...

Two Become One

This is a head swap of a sumo wrestler onto the King Pin's body.  A perfect marriage IMHO for my next Cthulhu character.  Hai!!

This was another exercise in using the Army Painter Speedpaint over a zenithal highlight.  The suit about 4 layers of Gravelord Grey and the flesh tones are Crusader Skin with my usual blend of Army Painter Tanned Flesh and Vallejo White.  Black accents are Scalecolour Black.  The base is Speed Paint Hardened Leather with a light dry brush of a couple of other Army Painter browns.

Jessie's Prints - Episode 18 - I Need Supports

This week, I are mostly been learning how to add custom supports to unsupported STL files using Any Cubic Photon Workshop.

Rafts are essential to make the prints stick to the bed and not the FEP film

 

This is the slicer which came with my printer and has a somewhat frustrating interface.  The key things I learned were:

1. Always add a raft using the RAFTS tab in the Shape Edit window.  This is essential to help your minis to stick to the bed (Foot) of the printer and peel away from your FEP film.

2. For best results with tabletop mini prints set your supports to LIGHT this will allow you to get more supports in tighter spots.

3. Fill your model with auto generated supports and then add more manually.  You're gonna need them.

King Pin - Thingiverse 4140572 

There are a lot of marvel minis out there but very few free ones of King Pin.  I liked this one because he had a useful pose and body shape for my character mini in the game of Call of Cthulhu which begins next week at Dragons Keep Roleplay Club.

Sumo - Sketchfab

To be honest I just needed the head for my character project.  I should probably have cut it apart in mesh mixer and blended it together with the King Pin but that's what superglue is for.

Crouching Gargoyle - Thingiverse 3604340

This is a neat model and useful for both set decoration and as a monster in almost any game.  I printed a bunch to fill up the print bed and get the best value for money from my printer.

My First Resin Mini - Sci-Fi Adventurer

As I mentioned in last week's Jessie's Prints one of my first successful prints on the new Resin 3D Printer  was the insanely detailed Sci-Fi Adventurer from Loot Studios.

Over the Jubilee Bank Holiday Weekend, I painted him.

This is most definitely not my finest hour.  I became incredibly frustrated with this model which decided to snap at both the ankles and the ipad hand multiple times.  

I am not sure if this was an error in the printing or curing process, the brittleness of the resin or the robustness of the sculpt, but if a mini cannot stand up to the rough and tumble of painting then it does not bode well for gameplay.

There is a distinct difference between digital sculpts and hand sculpts.  Personally I prefer the chunky aesthetic of hand sculpts over the extreme detail and "spikiness" of these newfangled digital sculpts.  There is a certain charm of a vintage oldhammer mini over the new plastic kit warhammer minis never mind the scale creep that has occurred over the years.

As you can see I am still getting to grips with Army Painter Speed Paints and I ran out of white primer so the zenithal highlight was a bit muted.  The next one will be better I promise...

Obi What a Disaster!

I confess I am not a fan of Disney Star Wars.  It has been a car crash right from the first sequel movie (with the exception of the Mandalorian and the Book of Boba Fett) and the latest installment continues that fine tradition.

What The Actual Fuck! 

I'm just a jobbing DM okay, but I understand continuity and if you are going to write a story in a well established universe then there are some rules you have to follow or you are going to fuck it up.

1. Don't rewrite canon!

Established events are exactly that ESTABLISHED.  If it happened in a previous story then it must happen again.  If a character says something which ordains a historic set of actions then any prequel story you write must maintain those actions or events.

For example when Leia contacts Obi Wan Kenobi she refers to him as a Jedi who fought alongside my father in the clone wars.  This intimates that she has never met him herself and has only heard about him through the war stories her father told her.  So don't set up a 6 part prequel TV series with the singular premise of finding and rescuing the kidnapped 10 year version of Leia.

Don't worry farm boy, I got this

Another example would be the meeting of Kenobi and Vader aboard the Death Star in A New Hope when Vader tells him that the last time they met he was but the learner and now he is the master.  This clearly refers to their last encounter on Mustafa when Anakin was Kenobi's padawan.  Don't set up a showdown that breaks the canon and can only end in a standoff because you can't kill either of the main characters.

2. Be consistent with your characters!

The mark of an incompetent writer is to set up an event and then to back out of it when they realise that they have written themselves into a plot cul de sac.  They usually hit reverse with some mcguffin of an idea which further compounds their error and highlights their incompetence.

For example in the quarry standoff between Kenobi and Vader the Dark Lord of the Sith uses his considerable power to drag Kenobi around like a ragdoll and put out flames with a wave of his hand.  But when the writer has realised that Kenobi is going to die (which can't happen right) he is suddenly defeated by flames and cannot force grab the droid rescuing Kenobi.  Pathetic writing which isn't even consistent with the events of a few seconds ago.  

Can someone call the firebrigade?

A lesser event but no less irritating occurs when the stormtrooper tells Kenobi to tell them his "long story" as it's a long ride and then no more than three minutes later that's it the stormtroopers are at their destination.  Let's be honest, It wasn't a long story and the stormtroopers were a few miles at best away from their destination.  For God's sake was this written by a 10 year old. 

If you are going to make Obi-Wan a shadow of his former self then at least stay consistent.  When he is confronted by the stormtroopers at the laser gate (oh God, the laser gate...) he instantly turns into John Wick and laser blasts them in seconds despite having a known hatred for "uncivilised" blasters.

You killed my dog mother funsta!!

3. Things don't happen instantly

We know that time is a tricksy thing.  You have to allow a certain amount of time to elapse between establishing a thing and then that thing having a consequence.  Travel between worlds takes time even using hyperspace.  You can't just despatch probe droids one minute and them turn up conveniently in the next scene at exactly the right place.  That my dear writer is a mcguffin.

This was an entirely unnecessary element which only served as the backdrop to a power struggle between the two inquisitors.  Do the garrison on Daiyu not have communication with Inquisitor HQ?  Does the notion of sending a photo not occur to them?

Oh my the force is weak with this one. 

Boardgame Rescue - My Next Project - Warrior Knights

The next in my Rescue Mission series is going to be one of my two copies (if not both) of Games Workshop Warrior Knights circa 1985.

Warrior Knights is a great medieval wargame designed by Derek Carver who alsodesigned Blood Royale which was similarly released by Games Workshop two years later as part of their Bookcase Games range.

I have played Warrior Knights a handful of times but it always stood out as a great game with lots going on for each player both in their turn and in others as you strive to capture cities across the board, wage war and try to put your pretender on the throne.

To Pimp or Not To Pimp

That is the question.  There is limited scope for pimping the game as it comes with a huge amount of cardboard tiles for all manner of item , however, there are some options including:

Strongholds and Cities - The most notable game piece on the board are the stronghold counters which come in three flavours:

• Stronghold - x1 - This is your barons home
  
• City Control Marker - x14 - Some city walls to surround your
  
• Improved Control Marker - x6 -
  

Noble Markers - As you can see from the photo below these generic shields just look cheap and nasty and mine have even changed colour!!

Warrior Knights - Noble pawns, Stronghold and City Control Markers

Money - It makes the world go around and you end up playing with these tiny little tokens throughout the game.  Much better to have some nice plastic tokens that don't blow away if someone coughs.

Warrior Knights - Money - Who has time for 1/2 crowns these days!!

Trade ships - There is an exploration element to the game represented by the 4 colonies in the corners of the board.  These work in the same way as the cities on the main board and can be captured and fought over.  Getting there requires a vote in the council and the ship's progress is represented by a small cardboard counter.  This could easily be replaced by a tiny sailing ship.  

Wish me luck

Movieweek 8 - The Batman

The Batman (2022) - 7/10

I grew up on the caped crusader, not the brooding Dark Knight but the spandex wearing Adam West style Batman.  In the 80s he had a bit of an identity crisis and along came Alan Moore (The Killing Joke) and Frank Miller (The Dark Knight Returns) and rejuvinated him.

This latest outing follows the excellent Gotham TV series and the Ben Affleck movies recasting the bat with Robert Pattinson.  Pattison does his best and excels in the titular role but as Bruce Wayne he fails to be a convincing troubled young man.  Note to Hollywood, stop writing moody men roles, they aren't appealing and frankly I'm bored of them.

The rest of the cast are utterly convincing and there is some great talent on offer with the likes of John Turturro (Carmine Falcone), Jeffrey Wright (James Gordon) and Colin Farrell who is unrecognizeable as the Penguin.  Zoe Kravitz is a very sultry Catwoman but I couldn't help feel that the story failed her character.  Paul Dano had a good turn but the whole mask thing was a total mistake and is far more appropriate to the Joker.

Overall I can see what they were trying to do and I want to like it, I honestly do, but I feel like this was a misstep rather than a triumph.  How this fits into the DCEU (if that is even a thing anymore) or a trilogy of films heavens knows.  I think that they should go back to the Animated Universe archives and mine the Batman Beyond or Batman of the Future stories.  These I would love to see in live action.

Free RPG Day 2022

The dates are confirmed for Free RPG Day 2022 as...

• USA - 25th June 
• Worldwide - 23rd July

You can check your local participating FLGS store on the website https://www.freerpgday.com/   

Freebies Announced

• Goodman Games - https://goodman-games.com/blog/2022/05/27/announcing-our-free-rpg-day-releases-2/
   
  

Jessie's Prints - Episode 17 - Resin is the new Black!

 

This week, I are mostly been printing in resin thanks to me finally summing up the courage to dive deeply into this new technology and buy a resin 3D Printer.  My weapon of choice an Anycubic Photon Mono 4K

Anycubic Photon Cube - Thingiverse 213031

The first print should always be the supplied test print (or perhaps a Benchy) and it took 3 attempts to get this model to print.  Bed levelling or more accurately the distance between the bed and the FEP film appears to be critical when it comes to getting your print to stick to the bed and not the FEP.  I also found an article which recommends that you sand your bed to ensure that it is actually level in the first place.  The center of mine is slightly concave which must have been having an impact on the peelability.

This was actually the first resin model I ever saw printed, many years ago, and thought wow I will have to get me one of those someday...

Cute Mini Octopus - Thingiverse 3495390

I have tried to print one of these before (much larger of course) on my FDM printer with little success.  I guess it has to do with the tolerances involved in squirting hot melted plastic out of a nozzle at 200 degrees celsius.  This one came out bloody lovely and is small enough that he fits on the end of a pencil. 

Sadly, the other models I had on the bed failed to print entirely.  I think this was down to the supports I added in the supplied Photon Workstation not having a thick enough platform to ensure that they made a solid connection to the bed and so they just stuck to the FEP.  I have subsequently read that you can spray your FEP with Teflon PTFE Dry Lubricant to make it slippery.  I will have to get some of that.  

Space Adventurer - Loot Studios Free Miniature

The whole reason for me buying this printer is to print high quality miniatures for tabletop roleplaying games and so I went in search of some presupported miniatures thinking that these would fare much better.  I found Loot Studios who do an excellent bundle for $15 a month.  As this was my first stab at this I plumped for their freebie Space Adventurer who is almost as cool as Oswald the Overladen.

I downloaded the 32mm but scaled him down by 10% as I hate the GW scale and he only came out bloody lovely!!

Down loading this mini convinced me that the problem I am having with my unsupported minis is the crappy supports in the slicer software.  In the same way that I learned the tips and tricks of FDM printing, it will take time to master this new medium and its idiosyncracies.

I'll say this though.  Props to all the guys and girls out there that are busy modelling their own minis and going through the laborious task of adding supports.  They are an absolute must.

 

Next Mission is to paint this little chap and all his little gadgets.

Pimp My Game - Curse of the Mummy's Tomb

Back in the midst of the Corona Curse, I went about restoring one of my favourite Games Workshop boardgames from the 1980s, Curse of the Mummy's Tomb.  

I was never truly satisfied with the result and the ultimate goal was to have a pimped out copy of this vintage classic.

A prayer to the eBay Gods and an incomplete copy of the game was soon in my hands for the princely sum of £20.  Why, you might ask, would I part with good money for an incomplete game?  Well this one had all 5 of the original minis.  

These are much sought after "oldhammer" minis from the Night Horrors set and bought individually carry a hefty price tag of between £15 and £20 each.  All 5 minis for the price of 1 is what I call a bargain! If only I could find my originl minis...

The Pyramid of Khonsu    

Both my original and this copy had horribly warped boards and an even worse central column.  I therefore took it upon myself to model and print a new sturdier version on my 3D printer.  I modelled this in Sketchup including all the important game elements such as the start arrows, encounter numbers, pharoahs heads, ankhs and compass, leaving the way too complicated hieroglyphic frescos to someone with better modelling skills than myself.

The goal here was to balance printability (must fit on my print bed), functionality (must fit together and store in the original box) and playability (must have all the major functions of the original).  The middle and top floor plates all fit on the bed of my printer but the ground floor needed to be cut up into 4 segments and printed in batches.  I've seperated these out as individual models so you can play around

With a bit of trimming on the tabs it goes together easy enough.  

In order to print it on my FDM printer I split the central column into 3 pieces and magnetized each piece (16 Magnets in total) with readily available 5mm neodynium magnets. 

Pyramid of Khonsu - The Floors

The Floors and Columns click together

Floors stacked with the help of magnets

It all fits neatly back inside the original box

If you want to print your own Pyramid of Khonsu you can download the STL files for free from thingiverse

Tana Leaves

The quality of card stock in these 80s GW games would give the team at Fantasy Flight nightmares. It is so shockingly thin (10 thousands of an inch thick), I imagine you could use it to accurately set the tappets on a vintage car or level the bed of your 3D printer.  The tana leaves get a lot of handling during the game and so were another candidate for the 3D printer.  Given their size and relatively low number it was not too much of a chore to design and print 55 of the little blighters. 

Download your own replacement tokens for free from Thingiverse - Tana Leaf Tokens.

Attribute Cones

This new copy came with a few cones missing.  I could have purchased some replacements from eBay, or tried to find some replacements from boardgamemaker.com, but a pretty good alternative is available on thingiverse - Cone Game Piece (Games Workshop style)  They are the ubiquitous game tracker pawn used in many GW games of this era such as Cosmic Encounter which used them to represent the ship tokens.

The first outing for the game was as a special finale finale to my recent Judge Dredd campaign.  I'll write up the rules for this in a seperate article

Meanwhile in Mega City 1 - Prog 5: A Cloning Conundrum

 

Meanwhile in Mega City One is a roleplaying game which takes place every Friday Night at Dragons Keep Roleplay Club in Chislehurst, South East London. 

Cast

• Judge Cully - A no-nonsense female street judge with a penchant for heavy weapons - Kat
• Judge Krush - A hard as nails street judge who goes by the book - Steve
• Judge Swiss - A rookie street Judge - Alex
  
• Psi Judge Pike - A Psi Division rookie Judge - Conor
  

Seven Young Problems

Confronted by seven vulnerable young girls Judge Cully does not call it in.  She tells the kids to be quiet and stay hidden.  She then returns to the patrol and tells them that the stairs led to a lab whihc was destroyed.

Pike calls in a meatwagon to bag the perp and they head off to follow up on their other cloning lead Dr Steve Ein.

The Ein Residence - Stallone Block

At 1800 hrs they find themselves outside the door of apartment 118-1.  Swiss knocks on the door and Dr Ein lets them in.  Krush immediately starts scanning the apartment for drugs and guns.  Pike checks out the nearest door which opens into a walkin closet.  Swiss and Cully interrogate Ein.

Dr Ein is a very cooperative citizen and tells them that since being released from the isocubes he has not been contacted by anyone to undertake any cloning work.  He has done some freelancing for Prof. Ose over at the Felix labs where his knowledge of the Quantum Recombinator 3000 was useful in synthesising some Pineapple DNA but other than that he has been largely unemployed.  He offers up a couple of names Dr Hideki Pho and Danish Tokopi who would have been able to clone a cat.  Pho died a few months back when he cloned a wooly mammoth which then stepped on him.  His assistant Tokopi was arrested and is currently in the isocubes doing a long stretch.  Funny thing is that the mammoth was only supposed to be 8 inches tall not 8 metres tall.  It survives in the Alien Zoo and is apparently quite the attraction.

He asks who gave you his name and proceeds to go on quite the rant about Dr Rank's abilities in the field and how he would clone his own grandmother if there was a cred in it.  

Satisfied that there is nothing of interest in the closet Pike proceeds to mind read Dr Ein and confirms that he knows nothing about Miss Wildenstein or Mr Blofeldt.  His story checks out.

On the Balcony Judge Krush spots a perp liberally dousing an aprtment in Chan Block opposite with CHOO2 from a jerry-can.  The punk is wearing Cobra colours (a Stallone Block gang) and clearly this is a prescursor to a full scale Block War, so he calls it in. 

Pike proceeds to check out the upstairs rooms.  As he enters the bedroom he sees a figure dressed similarly to Dr Ein wearing a leather flying helmet clamber over the balcony balustrade and fall with a scream.

On the lower floor Krush, Cully and Swiss see a black shape fall from balcony above and dissapear out of sight.  Moments later with a woosh the figure opens his arms revealing bat wings and he floats away gracefully.  A batter.

Dr Ein comments "that that was my brother Dave, he doesn't like people and so he often goes batting when I have guests round."

Swiss checks with MAC and confirms that the residence houses two Ein Brothers. 

An H-Wagon turns up outside Chan Block.

"Put the can down punk and put your hands in the air, you are under arrest for attempted arson"

"Loose the shooter scum and we'll take you in alive"  

BANG 

"Wrong move punk"

The H-Wagon strafes the CHOO2 soaked appartment with it's cannon and it promptly explodes.  In moments it is reduced to a smouldering ruin.  Floating over to the balcony where Judge Krush stands surveying the scene, a head pops out of the commanders cupola, Judge Luminum exchanges words with Krush.  

"Good call Krush, we are seeing more activity from these gangers and expect things to get real drokkin dicey in the next couple of days."

As they wrap up their investigation and head back to the sector house a passing advertising train blares out an advertisement.

SUNDAY, SUNDAY, SUNDAY, LIVE AT THE BERLUSCONI COLLISEUM, KAT KITTEN & THE POWER CONVERTERS FREE CONCERT, LAUNCHING THEIR DEBUT SINGLE --- DONT STOP BY ME NOW --- DOORS OPEN AT 3PM --- BROUGHT TO YOU BY SIMON POWERS ENTERTAINMENT

Back to the Sector House

As they roll into the motorpool Judge Belloch greets them and asks Cully and Krush how the new recruits are doing.  He also asks if they found any evidence of other people living at the Rank residence as the Forensics team suspects there were 6 or 7 people living there.  Cully says no just the one perp who they put on ice.  Belloch tells Pike that Judge Quincy is expecting them in the morgue.

Down in the morgue Judge Quincy leads a team of dedicated pathology lab full of Med Teks who are skilled in Foresensic Science.  He claims that the Wildenstein woman was attacked.  She had signs of mild strangulation possibly by a pearl necklace and that under her fingernails were skin fragments which suggest she may have scratched the face of her attacker.  It's definitely murder.

Swiss opines that maybe Wildenstein had an agent and proceeds to scour through her email records.  He comes up with a name Jerry MacGuire and the address 483-26 Trump Tower.

Cully suggests that tomorrow they go back and see what Slute and Flute have uncovered.  She retires to her dorm room and looks for possible orphanages to turn over the seven girls to.  Miss Hannigan's Home for Waifs and Stray's looks promising and is nearby in Ozzy Apts.  

BACK ISSUES

• Prog 1 - Rolling With The Rookies 
• Prog 2 - Splat Goes The Ugly
• Prog 3 - Great Balls of Fire!!
• Prog 4 - Pet Food Shenanigans? 

Meanwhile in Mega City 1 - Prog 4: Pet Food Shenanigans?

Meanwhile in Mega City One is a roleplaying game which takes place every Friday Night at Dragons Keep Roleplay Club in Chislehurst, South East London. 

Cast

• Judge Cully - A no-nonsense female street judge with a penchant for heavy weapons - Kat
• Judge Krush - A hard as nails street judge who goes by the book - Steve
• Judge Swiss - A rookie street Judge - Alex
  
• Psi Judge Pike - A Psi Division rookie Judge - Conor
  

Decisions, Decisions, Decisions

The patrol spends the next two hours investigating the aftermath of the boinging attack.

Considering their possible leads in the Wildenstein murder case they:

1. Investigate Felix Pet Foods to see if there was a possible motive.
2. Go back to Sector House and
3. Go to The Jungle and interrogate the apes

Swiss contact Control and orders that Wildenstein's email accounts are sanctioned for evidence.  Felix Pet Foods is located in Elon Tusk Industrial Park A-235.  An unexpected hailstorm occurs at 15:30 lasting approximately 5 minutes. 

They arrive at the factory at 16:00 and are met by the Operations Director Victor Froome who proceeds to give them a tour.  When he hears that Miss Wildenstein is dead he is visibly moved.  Pike only reads his surface thoughts which seem to back up his body language.  When quizzed about the exact details of the prize contract, Froome confirms that the prize winner could purchase any felix cat food product for free with the presentation of an ID card for the lifetime of the cat.  The cat was subjected to a regular barrage of tests including a DNA test. 

Prof. Dexter Ose

He takes thenm up to the lab and introduces them to Prof. Dexter Ose who leads the companies R&D facilities.  Prof. Ose tells them that he personally conducted the tests on Mr.Blomfeldt.  Asked if the cat could have been cloned he says that's ridiculous, who would go to the trouble of having their pet cloned.  

Froome is excited to tell his team of crack lawyers of Miss Wildenstein's death and tells them to come up to the lab.  A few moments later a community of chimpannzees wearing suits and carrying typewriters bursts into the room.  The Judges leave but Pike and Scully suspect that Professor Ose has an ulterior motive.  

Pike contacts Control for a list of know cloners in the sector.  Moments later a list appears on his HUD.

1. Dr. Eff Rank - 571-49-Benny-Hill-Block
2. Dr. Steve Ein - 118-1-Stallone-Block
3. Prof. Xero X - Isocube
4. Dr. Hideki Pho - deceased
5. Danish Tokopi - Isocube

They decide to pay Dr. Rank a visit.

Benny Hill Block

An hour later the judges are knocking on Dr Rank's door.  They can hear multiple quiet voices inside.  Dr Rank unlocks the door but keeps it on the chain preferring to have a conversation through a two inch gap.

Dr Eff Rank

He tells them that he doesn't do cloning anymore and that he wouldn't waste his time on pets in any case.  That is the preserve of crazy people like his closest rival Dr Ein.  The fate of the human race hangs in the balance and if we don't solve the problems of human cloning then we will be unable to survive The Great Barrier and colonize the Galaxy.

His obsession with space colonisation is apparently the reason his wife and children left him when he returned from his time in the isocubes a few years ago.

After a short and frustrating conversation Krush kicks in the door smashing Rank in the face and making him stumble back into a glass topped table whihc shatters.

Rank is helped onto the sofa to recuperate whilst the Judges continue to blitz his apartment.  They find 8 toothbrushes in the bathroom, a pair of childrens shoes in a bedroom and food in the fridge labelled with the days of the week.

Professor Eff Rank's Apartment - 571-49 Benny Hill Block

Krush checks out Bedroom 3 and in passing switches off the TV which was advertising a live concert on Sunday by the latest Simon Powers girl group Kat Kitten and The Power Converters. 

Swiss discovers a secret hatch under the bed in the master bedroom and calls everyone to come and look.  Krush makes his way out of a bedroom and narrowly avoids being blown away by Rank who is wielding a sawed off stub gun.  Krush shoots a 3 shot burst and catches Rank in the guts.  Pike runs in and tries to psychic blast the scientist which stops him from reloading and Krush shoots him in the chest, dead.  

    "You all saw him, he had a gun"

The bed concealed a set of synthicrete steps leading down to a landing which doubles back and further down ending in a locked metal security door. She shoots off the lock with a High Explosive round and the door swings open revealing seven young girls aged about 8.  She asks them their names and they reply

"Monday... Tuesday... Wednesday... Thursday... Friday... Saturday... and Sunday."

You can read more about the game characters, NPCs and locations on it's Obsidian Portal page, please consider becoming a Fan.

NEXT PROG ->

BACK ISSUES

• Prog 1 - Rolling With The Rookies 
• Prog 2 - Splat Goes The Ugly
• Prog 3 - Great Balls of Fire!!
  

Is Obsidian Portal Any Good?

I am a big fan of session blogging and I try my best to log each of the games I run here on my blog or if i am a player over at the Dragons Keep Roleplay Club website.  I stumbled across Obsidian Portal as an alternative to creating my own wiki/campaign website and thought I'd check it out. 

What is Obsidian Portal?

It's essentially a campaign logging tool which allows you to keep track and share your adventures, characters and NPCs, locations and maps.

What I like 

It's Free - anything which requires a subscription has really got to provide me with something special which I can't easily get elsewhere.

It's Easy - If you can use a webpage and are familiar with how hyperlinks work, then you can create your own campaign wiki.   

Google Maps Integration - The ability to quickly and easily generate your own campaign maps and populate them with markers which link to wiki entries is fantastic.  The interface is a little clunky but it works.  I can see this coming in very useful as my players explore their surroundings.

Campaign of the month - The Obsidian Portal official blog Words in the Dark regularly awards creators and it's a great way to showcase some of the excellent work which people are doing for their players.

What I Don't Like

Limited Functionality -  Many of the advanced features are understandably kept behind a paywall.  I understand that this is part of their business model and if you gave away the crown jewels for free you would limit your ability to generate revenue. 

Limited Formatting - I am not a fan of the markdown engine it uses which has difficulty with basic items such as italics and there is no ability to add tables.

Summary

This is a very early review of this tool as I am still getting to grips with it and populating my own campaigns for Judge Dredd.  It's value will only become apparent for me when I begin to use it in anger as a wiki during play.

Check out my Obsidian Portal Campaign page for Meanwhile in Mega City One and follow, favourite or just give it a thumbs up.