I Bought Another RPG... Flotsam

In a recent article I wrote on the Dragons Keep Roleplay Club site in support of the November 2021 RPG Blog Carnival, I mentioned my love of Indie TTRPGs.  

One such game I namedropped as a "Would love to Play" was Flotsam from Black Armada Games.  Well I couldn't resist and handed over my cash to the eBay gods. 

Flotsam: Adrift Among The Stars

The premise is simple, you live in the underbelly of a spacestation.  Unseen and unheard you are the underclass of society, the renegades and misfits that the more prosperous society above cares not to think about.  The game cites such inspiration such the belters of The Expanse, the folk of Downbelow from Babylon 5 but this is a story told many times in the stories of underclass struggle seen in Asimov's Foundation or even Anime such as Battle Angel Alita or Megazone 23.  

Flotsam: Adrift Among the Stars - Joshua Fox (Black Armada)

 
Interesting Game Concept 

Whilst the game has the standard Player Character that we all know and love, it introduces the interesting concept of a secondary character known as the situation.  Situations are the world building element to the game and the way in whihc you introduce threats and complications into the lives of your characters.  

This is not a Rulebook, It's a Way of Life

If your only experience of Roleplaying Games is Dungeons and Dragons then this might come as a bit of a culture shock.  Flotsam is more or less a guidebook on how to run a GMless narrative story.  This is something I have, in middle age, come to embrace through my exposure to Indie TTRPGs like Fiasco! and The Quiet Year.  Flotsam is a game in this vein and is very much focused on the relationships between players as they struggle with everyday life and the challenges that situations throw at them. 

Collaborative world building is a fun way to run a game as everyone gets to contribute their ideas into the mix rather than following a prescribed narrative written by one mind.  Each player gets to introduce their own situation which makes for a much more complex and nuanced experience as characters struggle to deal with the various competing priorities.  Players will make decisions in a much more organic way based on perceived threat and poor information, a totally different kind of play compared to traditional roleplaying games where players come preloaded with information about the world.    

First Impressions

This is a first impressions article and I have yet to bring this to the table but with the festive season fast approaching and the possibility of a Christmas Eve Friday with low attendance, this might just make an appearance.  Fingers crossed.

If you have played a game let me know how it went in the comments below.

15mm Judge Dredd - The Media and Miscellaneous Bad Guys

Well my obsession with 15mm Judge Dredd hasn't waned and I have been busy with the old brush painting up a storm.

Media Teams

The Roman poet Juvenal is alleged to have once said of the Roman people, "Give them Bread and Circuses".  An astute observation that it is much simpler to way to generate public approval by diversion, distraction or by satisfying the most immediate or base requirements of a populace than to , actually provide a public service or create great policy.  This is definitely the sort of thing Judge Cal would have approved of and, to be frank, is a practice readily condoned by the Justice Department, who charged with the responsibility of maintaining law and order in Mega City One need every trick in the book, however old. 

Part of that entertainment is the double edged sword that is the roving media teams that seem to pop up at every public event no matter how small.  In fact the demand for constant 24hr coverage has led some unscrupulous channels to hack into the municipal eye in the sky surveillance system just to meet the demand for new content.  This raw feed has led to them feeling the wrath of the Justice Department and tampering with city infrastructure carries a heavy sentence of 10 years.

Most media organisations like to do it the old school way and hire crews who roam the city looking to feed their daily quota of content.  Here are three such teams of reporters, camermen and hover cams ready to report for duty and capture the mundanity of life in all it's technicolour, Tri-D TV glory.

Cult of the Octopus God

Below City Bottm lies the Undercity.  The concreted over remains of 20th Century New York, home to the troggs, scavs and muties who have built their own rudimentary society in what is left of the old world.  Some of these unfortunates band together in packs, drawn together by a sense of family or a shared mutation.

One such group are the Cultists of the Octopus God.  The unspeakable Elder God who sleeps in an underwater city waiting for the moment when the stars align.  Then and only then will he arise and conquer the surface world devouring all the humans who stand in his way of total domination.  Well at least that's what it said in the guidebook...

Dragonites

The Galaxy of the 22nd Century is a pretty big place and Mega City often features as an interesting holiday destination for alien species from far and wide.  However, it also attracts its fair share of unwanted attention from the numerous warlike species who see it as a crowning jewel to add to their burgeoning Empire.

The Dragonites heard about Earth from their reptillian cousins the Kleggs who had suffered an embarrasing defeat at the hands of one human lawman.  They fled Earth some time ago and speak in hushed tones of the one they call "The Dread".  Dragonites are of course made of much sterner stuff than Kleggs, better armed, more resilient and with a brain the size of an orange, they are much cleverer to boot.

Ebay Joblot Challenge - Will it Dredd?

So I was cruising the fleabay, as you do, when I chanced upon a series of auctions for 15mm sci-fi minis.  Curiosity got the better of me and so I punted.  £12.50 later, I am the proud owner of over 80 of the little lead fellas and I have absolutely no idea what they are.

Cast a spell of Identify

First thing to do is to catalogue what I have and then I can determine how usable it will be in my next Judge Dredd game.

1. 5 x Robots - these appear to be from the small but perfectly formed Robots range by The Scene.  I've never heard of this company before but these will complement my civilian robots nicely and they have that weird 1950s industrial look to them.  RRP £2.30 - Dreddability 10/10
   
   
2. 8 x Cultists - This one threw me because their heads came seperately bagged.  They are packs LC100 and LC101 Cultists of the Octupus God, part of the Eldritch Horror (Little Carinthia) range by Khurasan miniatures.  Nothing about these minis stood out in the listings photo but they are probably my favourite of the entire joblot.  Being Khurasan minis they are hard to get in the UK and shipping is extortionate so I am really chuffed to get these.  RRP £5.45 - Dreddability 7/10
   
   
3. 6 x Chicken Riders - I was amazed at how many different types of chicken rider you can get in 15mm, it's almost like it's a trope or something.  These would have come in super handy in my last Judge Dredd game which featured several sessions trekking through The Cursed Earth, do I want to return to that desolate wasteland so soon? Probably not but in any case these chaps are from Brigade Models and claim to be Tolero Cavalry with Spears.  RRP £3.50 - Dreddability 3/10
   
   
4. 2 x Giant Terror Birds - An easy find this pair are Gandowana by Crom's Anvil.  They are big minis but extremely good value for money, as not only will they pass for Giant Cursed Earth Chickens but will they will easily stand in for the trusty Axe Beak in my fantasy campaigns - RRP £5.00 -  Dreddability 5/10
   
   
5. 4 x Spy Cams - Spotted these on the Alternative Armies site in their Hordes of the Future range.  These are HOF45 Robot Scout Drones and will do nicely as Justice Department "eye-in-the-sky" surveillance drones.  RRP £1.20 - Dreddability 10/10
   
   
6. 32 x Aliens - This gaggle of green skins (or blue, I haven't quite decided) are essentially the entire range of Akarr available from Ral Partha Europe.  My joblot included one pack of every variant in the range.  That's a total of 32 minis!!.  (RRP £18.50) - Dreddability 7/10
   
   
7. 10 x Space Centurions - Unidentified sci-fi warriors with helmet crests .  Could easily pass for one of the more organised and well armed street gangs which are a regular feature of every sector of Mega City One - Dreddability 6/10
   
   
8. 1 x Jet Bike Space Knight - This reminded me of the old 25mm Alternative Armies Space Crusader miniatures and I suspect is some long OOkeP vintage 15mm range.  Blow me down if it isn't one of the Ion Age Burgeon Grav Bikes.  The megways of MC1 are home to all manner of weird vehicles so I'm reasonably happy that this will work.  RRP £2.75 - Dreddability 6/10 
   
   
9. 3 x Guns and a Shield - Loose weapons
   
   
10. 2 x Random Aliens - Unidentified and will probably remain that way.  Nothing stands out about these guys and I will struggle to identify them in their current shiny state, possibly after they are primed they will reveal themselves. - Dreddability Unknown
    
    
11. 3 x Human Space Adventurers - These are probably crew members from some range or other and will blend into my armed civillian population seamlessly - RRP £? - Dreddability 10/10
    
    
12. 1 x Big Powered Armour Suit / Killbot - To be brutally honest this could be anything and is massively anachronistic with a big sword and shield.  It is in fact a Duxius MkIIIA "Bladesman" Battle Suit from Ion Age.  It might feature as a contestant in the droid wrestling rings of Meka-City (progs 271-272) or as some failed ABC Warrior expirimental close combat unit, who knows... RRP £6.00 - Dreddability 8/10 
    
    
13. 10 x Ram Horned Women Warriors - These are the Shivan Sisterhood by Blue Moon Manufacturing available in the UK from Old Glory.  They could easily be an ugly girl gang of the future "The Horned Hellions of Sector 55" or "The Fighting She Devils".  I smell a Block War...  RRP £7.50 - Dreddability 7/10
    
    
14.  1 x Space Knight - Spotted this chap in the Desteria Lancer Command Pack whilst looking at the Ion Age minis on the Alternative Armies site.  Totally out of place in practically any setting other than some proxy future crusade, but would pass as a droid of some description.  RRP £2.00 - Dreddability 5/10  
    

Total RRP of the joblot £54.25 and that's with 5 minis still to be identified.  What a bargain!! 

Jessie's Print's - Episode 14 - 15mm Judge Dredd Stuff

This week, I are mostly been printing...  Judge Dredd Vehicles

Sky-Surfing Boards

Epitomised by the free thinking lawbreaker Marlon Shakespeare, aka Chopper, Sky-Surfing is one of the great comic inventions of Judge Dredd writers Grant and Wagner.  Chopper's real signature story began in Prog 545 (Judge Dredd in OZ) which chronicled his escape from custody and trek across the radlands and polluted oceans to compete in Supersurf 10.

I thought it would be a cool encounter for an upcoming scenario to have players chasing down some sky-surfing bandits so I designed a quick and dirty board in sketchup and printed some out.  I am now on the lookout for some suitably posed 15mm minis to be my sky-surfing contestants.

Industrial Vehicles 

I had been looking for some sci-fi trucks for a while and came across this neat collection of futuristic industrial vehicles on Thingiverse which seemed to do the trick.  These vehicles are originally designed for 6mm wargaming but if you scale them up to 300% they fit well with 15mm.  The detail is pretty insane for such small models and I imagine they would look amazing on a resin 3D Printer.  My printer is just a cheap SLA printer and to be honest fast and cheap printing is what I want for my vehicles.

URSA Cargo Trucks - These are sweet little tracked vehicles with a choice of boxed or tank cargo's which plug onto the main tractor unit.  Very useable with plenty of options for paint treatment to make them fit into the Judge Dredd universe.  Otto Sump's Oil of Ugly doesn't transport itself you know.

 

Bulk Tanker - Satisfying a Mega Cities insatiable thirst is a job for big rigs and this two lane monstrosity is perfect for the needs of my citizens.

Coming Soon to an Ugly Clinic near you...

Tiny Metal Lawmen - Judge Dredd in 15mm

Since returning to regular sessions of in person roleplay at Dragons Keep Roleplay Club, I have a hankering for GMing some more Judge Dredd.

15mm Judge Dredd Miniatures

Don't get me wrong, I love the detail and gorgeousness of 28-35mm scale miniatures, but when I represent the citizens of Mega City One I want there to be lots of them.  The niche nature of the subject matter means that there are few alternative miniature options other than the classic Laserburn Lawmen (now produced by Alternative Armies) to act as proxies for Judges.  I am fortunate to have amassed quite the collection of these minis over the years so my Justice Department is at full capacity.

But What About the Bad Guys?

The Law is a bit redundant if you have nothing to crack down on but there are a host of Sci-Fi crew and civilians to act as perps with a bit of creative license and a generous dollop of milliput.

Fatties

I need some fatties to bulk out my perps roster so with a dab of milliput to add on a few extra pounds you have instant fatties.  These guys tend to always be pictured wearing one piece tracksuits so painting was a breeze - These particular civillians were from Ground Zero Games Stargrunt range and come in at a not unreasonable £3 for eight figures (specifically packs SG15-V01 & V02).

Robots

Often overlooked by most citizens the humble robot has replaced human labour for 96% of the population of Mega City One and whilst not as numerous as their fleshy counterparts no Judge Dredd story would be complete without a robot or three.  These bots come in many varieties:

Humanoids (GZG SG15-V16) for all those tasks that having a human shaped body is absolutely the best solution.  Jobs like Crash Test Dummy, Exotic Dancer, Waiters, Butlers, Supermarket Checkout Staff and of course Traffic Wardens.

Work Bots (GZG SG15-V13) who are often employed doing menial dirty jobs.  The Wall-E's of this world who maintain the sewage system, unclog the resyk conveyors or sweep up after the inconsiderate humans they are programmed to serve.

Security Bots can come in all shapes and sizes but mobile spider bots seem to be the flavour of the week and I particularly liked these Spider Drones (GZG V15-84A) as they reminded me of the Tachikoma's from Ghost in the Shell and those stupid fuzzy hand puppets from kids TV back in the 80s. 

Kleggs

I think you would be hard pressed to find a more classic alien race than the Kleggs.  Giant stupid war mongering crocodile headed mercenaries employed by the mad tyrant Judge Cal during his short lived reign of terror.  The beauty of 15mm is that you don't feel cut up about literally cutting up your new miniatures as they are so stupidly cheap.  This trio are made from two seperate minis; HOF 69 Draccian Lord and Warriors donated their heads to be put on TW15-DG01 Draughar bodies.