(Kickstarter) Space Dwarf Commissars by Macrocosm Miniatures

 Macrocosm has rebounded quickly from their last Kickstarter and launched a small, quick one:  Space Dwarves Commissars!, 28mm resin dwarves.

Not particularly my jam, but the Triad reward is £20 for all 3 Commissars.

(Gamma World) Not a Test #134 - The Time Sonny Pulled Every Lever

Our heroes, the De Facto Explorers, have decided to embark on an epic quest to reach Lathar's long-lost father, Harkonn. After side-quests, distractions, blue surges of strange auras, and beings definitely  not from around Riverbend, they've finally arrived at an odd softrock (concreate) planform with the water of the the Black Reeds... but by accident and incompetence, Squiggles and Poppy have been sucked into a pipe leading under the platform.

============================================================== 

Lathar Bracken: A pure-strain human from River Bend.  He's got the muscle, the face, and a mount for most encounters.  Lathar's trusty beast of burden, No Name, travels wherever he does.   Looking for trouble in all the right places. The two-time champion of the Fair-Town Queen's Joust.  Recently married to the now-pregnant Thunnelda Haycock.   He had recently received a letter from his long-lost father, and has convinced the others to accompany him to the Wildlands.

Sneaky Pete: A mutated weasel scout.  Pete's telepathy and stealth take center stage in their mission, although he is apparently addicted to his newly uncovered yellow powder found at "The Pool House"

Sonny Helianthus: an over 10' tall sentient sunflower artifact examiner with four arms, and trusted Restorationist ties. Knowledgeable,  but not a good one with device repairs or upgrades.   Sonny may have recently detonated an atomic device in the petrified woods... although no one else knows. 

Slitheran Wurmtail (aka Squiggles): a mutated earthworm scout, in impromptu power armor, looking for trouble in all the wrong places,  and finding it often.   He  has been subject to genetic testing and developed super-human strength, a more human body, and a thick coat of shaggy white hair.  Recently attacked and kidnapped then left for dead by an unknown group, looking for revenge.  Also pregnant for the third time, and due to deliver badly out of season

Poppy and Speedy: Two of Squiggles' offspring from his first... litter(?) They're now teenagers in worm years, old enough to grab diminutive muskets and help their Manchi and his friends on this epic quest.   And we have learned the Poppy... can't swim.

===============================================================

Two-thirds of group was in shock.  Sonny had attempted to teleport, with a passenger, across the open water to the concrete platform.  Sonny made it there.  Poppy the adolescent mutant earthworm spawn of Squiggles.  Made it more than halfway across before materializing int the water.

And then the current took the flailing worm.  Something hidden by the pristine surface pulled the worm around the side of the complex and was sucking him into an intake pipe.  

Squiggles panicked, realizing he had spent more time adventuring, or playing the bongos, than teach them how to swim, no matter how many times he had told them "Water is bad!" 

He dove in, valiantly tried to rescue his spawn, but he too succumb to the intake pipe. 

Sonny was helpless on the platform, his ten foot height afforded him a gret wingspan, but he didn't have the strength to pull either up... but their were options to hastily check out on the platform.

Back on land, with Speedy worm literally burying his head in the dirt, Pete and Lathar bickered like an old married couple as Sonny freaked out and their friend may have been drowning.  

Pete: "We don't know what's going on... I can't get a telepathic link with any of them.  It's obviously not a monster, but we don't know what your getting yourself into!  

Lathar: "I don't care...we need to try...."

All during the frantic discussion, he was removing equipment, stripping down to his barbarian skivvies,, and dove into the water... although he foolishly grabbed his trusty sword and shield and started awkwardly swimming.  

Meanwhile, Sonny was properly assaying the platform. There were railed off section that led to ladders... into the water nowadays, once to the lower levels....  There was a metal grid on the far end, displaced from its position.   And directly at his feet was a hatch....

The Concrete Platform

With a great pull, the sunflower... failed to dislodge the hatch, so he ran over to push the the grid over more so he could drop down and see if there was any access point  to save the worms.    

The room below was full of large pipes....   arching and twisting, obscuring some sort of mechanism that kept everything at a low hum.  Sonny located the corner with switchboards, and levels, valves, and wheels.  

Lathar kept swimming towards the platform, reaching the nearest corner, but swimming around... to this unseen intake pipe.  He was quite disappointed when he reached the far side.  Seeing the pipe sucking the waster in great quantities, only four or five inches of air at the apex of the tube.   He hung onto the top of the tube, the water trying to push him into the darkness, trying to make a plan for what he had no idea what was inside.  

Back in the pipe room, Sonny furiously tested the valves, levers and buttons.  The giant pipes behind him obscured the noises of what his actions were doing.  He knew they were out of time and tossed logic aside.  

Lathar whispered a prayer and let go of the pipe... he slid into darkness, desperately grasping onto the uneven side walls.  The water was cold, dark, save some vaguely red lights, small, some steady, some blinking, across the room.  He swam over to the lights, only to be blocked halfway from them by a giant pane of glass....  a control room... and no sign of Sonny.  

For Sonny was flipping switches, turning, and unscrewing with such reckless speed, that it was not too much of a surprise that on of the medium sized pipes burst, spray water in this service room.  He worked a few controls before abandoning the room, but not before grabbing some tools.

His lungs burning, Lathar beat against the glass with his shield, to no avail.  He moved further into the chamber to  see the target of his objective. 

Within three layers of devices which could best be describe as screens or filters, both worms were pressed against a four layer, metallic, spinning...  Squiggles was still conscious some how, frantic and wincing in pain his young worm ward in his arm, passed out.  It was difficult to see in the limited red light, but a large swath of fur on Squiggles' left side had been removed.  

Sonny pulled in from the chamber and made one last attempt on the hatch, with his new found tools.  He was able to break the seal, open it, and descend down the ladder, light flooding what was down below.

He wasn't prepared for the sight.

The sight of Lathar's ass, pressed against the giant glass window.  

The various control boards were a far more welcome sight.  

With the three flailing in the water on the other side.   Sonny was quick to figure out how to seal the intake pipe, let the pumps empty the room, and finally a level on the panel that set all sorts of red flashing lights and alarm and made the giant window retract into down in the floor.  

The group was rescued, but at what cost?  

An interpretation of the filtration chamber...

Next: #135 -

My Events for Fall-In! 2026

 It took a while, and I've already exhausted my rant, but my two events for Fall-In! 2026 are finally up on TabletopEvents.  

As has been an unfortunate tradition in recent years, there will be no Gnome Wars contingent at Fall-In!   It's just been a string of scheduling and personal misfortunes, and we may have avoided the Cold Wars visit to Gettysburg. 

I'll be running solo, even outside the purview of HMGS Next Gen, hosting two events to whet the whistle of a certain demographic. 

(241) The Joust!
Friday 7pm, 2hrs, Players: 25+, Period: Fantasy: Scale: 28mm, Rules: To Cry a Joust
The annual Fall-In Joust is here! All are welcome! Quick fun rules to complete the night!

LA-13 - Lampeter Room

I'll be hosting a three table joust, with my questionable bracketology skills.  As always, registration is appreciated, but a ticket is never required to play.  We simply won't turn you away, so long as you show up before 7:15.

(384) Christmas Counter-Attack! 

Saturday 2pm, 3hrs, Players: 8, Period: Fantasy, Scale: 28mm, Rules: Fistful of Lead.

All the holidays are encroaching on the town square for Christmas, and Christmas has organized a counterattack! Gnomes! Skeletons! Snowbrawls! Have the Gingerbread Men discarded their gumdrop buttons for a higher calling? Children welcome!

LA-13 - Lampeter

Yes, there will be a few gnomes joining the table, along with some other creatures from holidays all around the year.!  I myself am shocked that I only have to finish painting six things to be ready.

Some of the possibilities for the Christmas game... 

I will get around to reviewing the other events for the con.  There are over 600 games, demos, War College seminars, tournaments, and Hobby U classes already on the schedule!  

The only progress on the painting bench was simply the Hobby Lobby trees that I painted and snow-flocked the bases.  Like I mentioned above, I do have some painting for the next two weekends, as well as a few random bits as I keep clearing off the painting bench.  

I'm also happy to say that our little idyllic picture is the first taken with my new phone, a first since possibly COVID!  The old phone is turning on sporadically, so I just hope I can pull some more items off of it during those time, and probably bite the bullet for some repair shop, so I can cull what's not backed up during the winter months. 

(Review) Final Boss Games - Mount Pocono, Pennsylvnaia

 I've visted and written up a host of game store reviews for Thursday, but you don't often get a chance to check out a store on its actual grand opening, so Final Boss Games - Mount Pocono gets bumped to the front of the line.  

The first Final Boss location is located in Dickson City and I simply haven't been up around there while they were open.  

Hearing about the grand opening this past Friday, it was a great opportunity to swing by while on my way to check on my mother.  

Picture from their Facebook page - Not the the store sign hasn't been replaced yet.

Location:  The Mount Pocono Plaza is a classic busy strip mall location, just outside of town, just off of I-380.  I did have some problems that the customers driving around had no clue where they were going or what they were doing, but the location itself is a great choice. 

 Greeting:  My opening grade and it was a complete whiff.  Mind you, two hours earlier, and the store had just opened up to a crowd lined up outside its doors, but one staff member was tending to a customer, and the other two were doing.. something?  I also didn't see a transaction rung up while I was there...

Cleanliness:  Even with opening day, the store was still immaculate.

CCGs:  The bread, butter, and main course for the store's operations: Magic, Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh!, One Piece.  Plenty of singles for everything in the case, including a few interesting vertical displays that lit up.  

A bit of a spoiler about some of the future game store reviews in the pipeline.  In a world where no has pricing for items, these guys are pretty ingenious, using a QR code to reflect adjustable pricing, I guess.

Board Games:  Nothing

RPGs:   Strictly D&D, although I was impressed to see the cardboard mini set and the gimmick item with a d20 inside an old-school pop-a-matic bubble.

Miniatures:  40k, Sigmar/Warcry, and a few Mantic items. 

Other:  A small selection of affordable polyhedral sets, and a ton of accessories for CCGs. ... and the Squishable display, which must be the pre-requisite for any store nowadays. 

Amenities/Events:  Magic, Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh!, and One Piece, possibly Riftbound and Gundam events to match the Dickson City location. 

Given the grand opening and my experience, I'm giving Final Boss - Mount Pocono  three out of five gnomes:

Three of out of five from me for a card store CCG game shop is great.  If you play, please frequent, but outside of that I don't have some great need to revisit the store, unless I'm in the neighborhood (or I-80 is bumper to bumper  and I decide to make a stop before I turn around and head home.)

Final Boss Games in in the Mount Pocono Plaza, between the Ollie's and the Dollar Tree.  Address provided is 3236 PA-940 Unit 9, Mount Pocono, PA, United States, 18344, although putting that address in two different GPS'es put me much closer to the Weis Market. 

I Can't Blame the Ukrainians For This Part

Over the weekend, there were reports of Ukraine using drone attacks on Yandex, causing a massive reduction in bot traffic across the internet.  While many credited the attack in silencing a number of right wing bot accounts, it's much more a small result of reduced overall automated traffic worldwide, good and bad.  

As I checked the blog earlier this week, I anticipated a drop in front page traffic, maybe a few declines in posts that just caught the  both algorithm somehow.  

I opened up to 100,000 hits... for the day.  More disappointing was that the repeated traffic was actually hitting newer posts from October.   Two day old posts that get 50 posts had 500... and growing.  

It appears there was a noon barrage, then a smaller 10k hit the following day, and a random influx of 800 views exactly at 4pm yesterday, inflating that day's Gamma World post to twice the traffic I would expect. 

And the true irony?  None of my traffic originated from Russia... allegedly. 

It's disheartening, I love to track my traffic, and now there's six posts that could easily crack last year's top 3... and no way to correct the current numbers, or anticipate what's going to happen in the future.  

I soldier on, with plenty of projects for the November conventions, to document. 

(Edit: And as I finished up this post last night, my phone apparently kicked the bucket.  When it rains, it pours.)

(Gamma World) Not a Test #133 - And Colored Reeds Go....

Our heroes, the De Facto Explorers, have decided to embark on an epic quest to reach Lathar's long-lost father, Harkonn. After side-quests, distractions, blue surges of strange auras, and beings definitely  not from around Riverbend, they've finally arrived at the Black Reeds of the Wildlands.  But do the Black Reeds take well with strangers?

============================================================== 

Lathar Bracken: A pure-strain human from River Bend.  He's got the muscle, the face, and a mount for most encounters.  Lathar's trusty beast of burden, No Name, travels wherever he does.   Looking for trouble in all the right places. The two-time champion of the Fair-Town Queen's Joust.  Recently married to the now-pregnant Thunnelda Haycock.   He had recently received a letter from his long-lost father, and has convinced the others to accompany him to the Wildlands.

Sneaky Pete: A mutated weasel scout.  Pete's telepathy and stealth take center stage in their mission, although he is apparently addicted to his newly uncovered yellow powder found at "The Pool House"

Sonny Helianthus: an over 10' tall sentient sunflower artifact examiner with four arms, and trusted Restorationist ties. Knowledgeable,  but not a good one with device repairs or upgrades.   Sonny may have recently detonated an atomic device in the petrified woods... although no one else knows. 

Slitheran Wurmtail (aka Squiggles): a mutated earthworm scout, in impromptu power armor, looking for trouble in all the wrong places,  and finding it often.   He  has been subject to genetic testing and developed super-human strength, a more human body, and a thick coat of shaggy white hair.  Recently attacked and kidnapped then left for dead by an unknown group, looking for revenge.  Also pregnant for the third time, and due to deliver badly out of season

Poppy and Speedy: Two of Squiggles' offspring from his first... litter(?) They're now teenagers in worm years, old enough to grab diminutive muskets and help their Manchi and his friends on this epic quest. 

===============================================================

It was disconcerting... wandering through the cuts within the Black Reeds created a network of trails, circling inward towards some unknown location.  Then, during a break, Squiggles realized his spawn, Speedy, had disappeared.  Backtracking, the mutant earthworm couldn't find his child, and couldn't find their original path.   The rest tried to find Squiggles with no luck, but everyone realized the paths were moving somehow... and somewhere within the Wildlands, Squiggles had been surrounded by reeds, with no sign of his son...

Voices are muffled.  Gunshots from flintlocks were muffled with only the keenest able to pereceive if they originated further outside the reeds, or deeper inside. 

The main group of explorers was still in disarray.   Lathar positioned himself at an intersection in the path.  Further down was the passage filled with water, the one that cause the group to halt... and discover that Speedy was missing. That passage was completely missing, filled in perfectly by the reeds.  

Oddly, it was the most oblivious explorer, the sensory deprived sunflower, Sonny, who heard a shot of an Ancient's pulse rifle deeper into the reeds, possibly beyond. 

Sneaky Pete tried to make a mental connection with the reeds with his telepathy, and exhaled a deep sigh of relief when he couldn't.  The idea that there was a possible connection with the entire landscape terrified the weasel.  

Squiggles had the same idea, in his reed prison.  He kept with positive thoughts, "I'm just trying to leave safely with my friends."   It didn't seem to have an effect, but the worm also heard a crisp laser shot far off into the distance that was far clearer than the flintlock.

"Great... somebody else is here."

Sonny tried to perilously stand atop  No-Name the stagon, giving him enough height to peer over the massive reeds.  They stretched on for quite some distance, any break in them by open land or open water shielded from view by their sheer height.  Off into the distance, he could see open water, and then further beyond that, trees and forested areas.  There was no sign of the distant shooter in his spyglass.

Still trapped, Squiggles decided to go the one direction he was made for... down.   He began digging into the muddy soil, deep enough to be under the water of the marsh...  His anxiety heightened, but he could figure out when he was completely under water, and wisely kept digging forward, in hopes that he could find solid ground that wasn't surrounded by reeds.

Our man (?) Squiggles the Mutant Earthworm.

Lathar finally convinced Sonny to dismount from No-Name, and get he, Pete, Poppy, and Sonny to attached themselves to ropes, but no one agreed what direction they should go in.   Squiggles was obviously nearby and they wanted to create as much noise as possible to lure the missing worms back.  

Pete left Lathar holding the rope, literally, as he broke out his mandolin and strummed it.  

Lathar seemed to have trouble controlling No-Name, the beast was stretching his neck out closer to the reeds, which the stagon found tasty before.    It was Pete who finally realized what was happening. 

"Lathar, No-Name was just peacefully eating the reeds right next to him a few seconds ago... it looks like they move away from him... and closer to me and my mandolin playing!"

With the threat of water crashing own on top of him, Squiggles continued digging, until he felt a vibration in front of him.  He braced for the worst, until the dirt collapsed into another tunnel and a smaller earthworm popped his head out.

"Manchi!!!!!"

Speedy's Alive! 

The younger earthworm seemed to follow his progenitor's advice.... When in doubt, dig!

"You did great!  That's what worms do! Let's find our friends."

The rest of the Explorer's had a pow-wow.

Pete: The reeds obviously are reacting to us...

Sonny: But we can't see it...

Pete: Maybe we don't want to see it...   We can do this scientific like you, draw a line in the dirt and see if they move closer if I play more.  There's something going out there. 

Lathar:  Should I just grab two reeds and try to reach out?  

Pete:  And you complain I'm on drugs....

============================

Squiggles and Speedy dug underground, finally emerging in an area of solid, less muddy soil.  They came out along the a large break in the reeds, an open body of water, bigger than a pond.  In the center of the water was a platform, constructed with the Ancients' softrock (concrete), just a few feet above the water.  There were still metal railings along most of it.  

"Manchi.. What is that?"

"Well that's new..."

Squiggles blew his whistle.  

============================

Lathar was trying to commune with the reeds when he heard the whistle.  

"They're further inland."  

The remaining Explorers grabbed their gear and move down the path, trying to move towards the repeated noise.    At some point, Sonny stood atop No-Name again... 

This time, there was a young worm, being tossed in the air, flying above the reeds...

The rest maneuvered towards this solid land, the break in the reeds and the large pond.  

Everyone was delighted all the worms were safe:

Pete:  Tossing your kin up in the air might be the first time you ever used that powered lift belt you wear...

They even more impressed with the curious structure.  

Sonny:  Lathar, I think this is where your Pop was hanging out.  

There was a great debate if Sonny could teleport the entire group over there.  Having never tested this limit to his ability, they had Poppy volunteer to hang onto the sunflower as he teleported.    

Sonny made it to the platform, the young worm was not there.  Poppy eventually emerged in the water, near the platform, flailing his arms and legs. 

Squiggles:  He can't swim!!!!

And then Sonny noticed the water wasn't as calm he first thought.  There was a current in the water and it quickly grabbed the worm and moved it in the water until it was around the back of the platform.

Sonny long body easily reached the worm, but he could not hold onto Poppy before he was taken into an intake tube.  

Squiggles may have had his first true moment of parental panic... and he could swim.... somewhat, splashing into the water and swimming to the back of the platform.

The flow for the intake pipe still pulled onto the larger worm, and the Squiggles couldn't swim out... the tube sucking him under the platform as well.   Sonny again tried, in vain, to save his friend.   He stood there on the platform helpless, unsure where either of his friend had been taken.  

GM Notes:  Lathar continued to harp on the use of rope to solve the mystery of the Black Reeds.  No one seemed interested, or had the attention span of a gnat. 

I had not originally combined the Wildlands and Lou Reed to the scenario, but the number of times we broke out "Doo, do-doo, do-doo, do-do-doo"  was immeasurable. 

Losing the spawn of Squiggles was eventually going to happen, but a critical failure on his swim roll meant he succumb to the current to.  Add Pete's utter failure with telepathy and I can't wait till next session. 

Next: #134:  The Time Sonny Pulled Every Lever

(Fistful of Lead) Baby Bantha 3 - Tread Lightly

Running up to Historicon 2025 last year, I ran a number of small games of Fistful of Lead to ensure we were up to speed.  My two favorites were simple games involving the Gamorreans and a wayward bantha. 

Having recently touched up some banthas I had picked up at the Historicon '26 flea market, and and before that a hint of some horrible burrowing monster, it was time to recreate an episode of the Mandalorian. 

Setting: Death Planet Iota, a "junk world", the end destination for a number of random wormholes.  

When we last left our Gamorreans, the "new" Gamorreans in town, in the employ of Utility Bot Union, as the personal protection and lackeys for Modified Loadmaster 4000EX B3N-G7 ("Benji"). had recovered the machine's favorite pet, a bantha named Nubnub.

Fast forward some time and Nubnub is older, they're not running away.  Even a robot could realize the lifeform was... lonely. 

But this isn't Tatooine,  Nubnub was a rare, if not unique creature on this world. 

Until reports of similar creatures emerging from wormholes reach Benji, and he dispatches his loyal New Gamorreans (NG) to fetch them at any cost.  

They traversed the wastes, acquired three banthas by any means necessary, and now they were returning to the Town of Carf.

But something is following them.  Something under the ground.   While their first thoughs of Krayt Dragons brought fear in their hearts, the realization that an infinite multitude of dimensions could have brought something worse to this world. 

They just needed to get through the mining town of Ogelp, into the hills... perhaps that would be enough to hide and wait out the encroaching beast. 

OBJECTIVE: Get a least one bantha across town, with at least one Gamorrean to guide it to its new home. 

Mechanics: 

#1 "Underground" Zombie Rule:  Whatever is following them is tracking their sound and vibrations through the ground.  The faster the Gamorreans move, the more they attract the monster.  Moving the banthas is doubly troublesome. 

0"-3"   1 token

4"-6"   2 tokens

7"+      3 tokens

Bantha over 5" movement - 3 tokens

#2 The "Great Wurm": The creature preying on them acts at the end of the round, moving  towards the greatest collection of tokens within a 3" diameter.  If the creature reaches a figure, or the target its moving to, everything within 3" will come under a SIX melee attacks at d8 apiece, Armor rolls at -2. Combat is one sided, there is nothing they can do to fight back.   Shock and wounds allow the figures to run away next turn (any and all penalties apply).  Out of Action results in the figure being eaten whole.   Once finished attacking, the creature will remain in that spot the following turn to digest.  

#3 The Banthas are Their Own Worst Enemy:  The Banthas are played on the same initiative
card.  While the Gammoreans look for trouble, the banthas are oversensitive to the burrowing of the Great Wurm, and on an Ace, King, or Joker, all of them panic, moving their full eight inches towards hills.   Gamorreans will need to catch up and gain control of the panicked bathas.

TURN ONE:   The Gammoreans had entered the town of Oglep, the few folks remaining hiding in their  homes.  Everyone but the Gammoreans knew something was coming... and coming fast.   They were all caught unaware when the anxious banthas  felt something coming towards them fast and bolted (King of Spades... highest initiative.).  

They moved full speed 8 inches pulling the rains, scattering the good mornings making the henchman stumble at best the good mornings were catching up to them. Two of them actually managed to subdue and control the rear panther, which might actually be the worst possible

And the Great Wurm was moving in fast...

TURN TWO: Of course it was nothing but chaos, the single-file line collapsing into a three-wide scramble down the street.   The Gamorreans who had actually managed to control a bantha on Turn One took too much time calming the beast, and the Wurm moved far too quickly (A 12 on 2d6 for movement!).

The Gamorreans were amazingly only tossed aside as the Wurm erupted out of the ground, each suffering only one wound.    The bantha actually fought back valiantly, technically fighting off five of six attacks, but that sixth attack was a 10, and the beast was swallowed whole.  

The others had secured the other two banthas, and with the Wurm pre-occupied, it was time to run! 

TURN THREE:  More Chaos, as the plan for a speedy, controlled exit was eradicated by a Joker for the Bantha's initiative.  The beasts burst forwarded in a panic, nearly running over one of the Gammoreans!

All the Gamoreans chased down the banthas, save one tired soul.  Watching the bantha get devoured was too much, so he turned a corner and tried to stay perfectly still hoping not to attract the Wurm.

TURN FOUR:   The Banthas draw another wild card (Ace). Luckily, one of the Gamorreans draws their own Ace and can control one bantha as the other barrels out of control. 

The Great Wurm has another great movement roll, reaching another Bantha and handlers just as they get theirs under control.  Again a Gamorreans is tossed asisde, wounded, but the bantha is surprisingly nimble, only getting stunned in the attack. 

TURN FIVE:  Five Gamorreans scramble to the opposite edge of town, dragging one bantha, leaving the final one to the mercy of the Wurm.   The Wurm gave none, registering three hits in combat, all results "Out of Action"    Only the cowardly Gamorrean hiding along the buildings witness the disgusting carnage of the Wurm devouring the bantha.    

The end result is a minor victory for the Gamorreans, as they return with at least one new friend for Nubnub.  

I would like to try the scenario again, revising the Bantha movement, the noise tokens, and a unit with firearms, shooting blasters from a distance to distract the worm.  Perhaps the Bot Union themselves will assemble a party to fetch the next batch...