The Mike Lung Gallery #87 - The Adventure of Ollie

 It's been quite some time since we've had a post dedicated to friend of the blog and Gaming with the Gnomies correspondent, award-winning GM Mike Lung, but Mike has given us some updates that are perfect to fill in the lack of Cold Wars commentary in March.  

Ten years ago, Mike sent me the first two games of All Things Zombie (ATZ) using LEGO.  Those games can be found here and here.  Mike was nice enough to forward the rest of the games from back then, so today, I present The Adventures of Ollie.

The Adventures of Ollie

Ollie had spent the day repairing the lines after the recent violent storm.  Late in the afternoon he received a call from one of his colleagues back in town telling him that everyone in the town had gone crazy.  People were getting murdered in the streets!  At first, he thought it was a joke. But then, his cell phone stopped working.  None of his calls were going through.   Now scared and not knowing what to do, he pulled up by a campsite hoping the campers knew more. 

The camper

Ollie getting out of the truck.  Being scared, he wasn’t taking any chances, so he pulled out his pistol that he kept under the front seat and also took a crowbar just in case he needed to break his way into the camper. 

Suddenly, a man or what had once been a man, appeared out of the trees.

The man approached menacingly towards Ollie.

Remembering what his friend had said, Ollie pleaded with the man to stop.  But he kept coming.  Then, Ollie panicked and shot him.   

At first Ollie thought he had killed the man.  But then the man sat back up and growled!

Ollie fired his gun again and again, but the man kept coming after him!  Ollie fled from the man.

With one last parting shot, Ollie hit the man in the head, and he seemed to be down for good.  But then, two more people appeared out of the woods.

They were crazy, too!   So, he shot at them!  But they kept on coming!    “BRAAAINS” they moaned as they stumble forward.

The things were getting too close.  Ollie took his crowbar and bashed their brains!

Another appeared!  This time Ollie was more accurate with his gun.

The carnage was horrible

Still more poured out of the woods!  There are just too many!  Ollie is knocked to the ground.

Momentarily, he pushes one away and regains his footing. 

But he can’t escape his horrible fate.

The End

The Lost Universe by... NASA?

 We've already seen some interesting ideas from fast food, and I think the National Park Service also did something on a smaller scale, but a wouldn't expect a scenario produced by NASA.

The Lost Universe is a fantasy role-playing adventure for 4 -7 characters, level 7-10.  Sure there's a rogue planet, a space telescope, and full three appendices on astronomy, vacuum based energy, and space telescopes, but it appears to be a working adventure.

(Gamma World) This is Not a Test #22 - Leaving Fair-Town

 Our heroes, the De Facto Explorers, after a successful joust in Fair-Town, are ready to celebrate.

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Sneaky Pete: A mutated weasel scout.  Pete's telepathy and night vision take a backseat when he whips out his electrical powers.  Recovering from his injuries from the Glow near Ulmin.

Sonny Helianthus: a sentient sunflower artifact examiner with Restorationist ties. 

Slitheran Wurmtail (aka Squiggles): a mutated earthworm scout, in impromptu power armor, looking for trouble, and finding it often.

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.  

Ramsay Kallax:  Mutated Ram from the far-off KIA Academy with a predilection for ancient treasures... and the occasional head-butt. 

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

There was much rejoicing on the Queen's jousting field, as Lathar won the joust.  He was presented his prize money, as well as a large peacock.  Lathar tried to place the bird atop his helmet, but it jumped down at first opportunity.

"I think you need to earn it's trust," Pete told Lathar.

The crowds quickly dispersed, and the cleaning crews began their overnight work.

Moving over to the side, they cleared out all the remaining grog from a nearby vendor and went over the spoils: the prize money, the peacock, and almost 800 domars from Pete's side action the entire tournament.  With a belly full of alcohol they simply leaned up against the jousting rail, talking about their various crafting skills to improve weapons. 

When the Opossum cleaners came to clean out the stalls, Pete realized a missed opportunity.

"Hey, Lathar, weren't you supposed to reach out to talk to Lady Vespara?  Sonny wanted to learn about her land, beyond the Glow?"

"Beyond the Glow might be a stretch, but we could at least share maps and some knowledge," Sonny chimed in.

Pete seemed impatient, "Where are we off to next?" 

"Home, I hope.  Gotta get all these books back to Riverbend."  Sonny assured him.

Pete prodded further, "Maybe we should find a peacock place?"

Lathar was confused, "A peacock place?" 

"Yeah, like a peacock farm?"

"What are you talking about???"

"You know a place where the peacock can live out his days.  And when he dies, I can eat him."

"Why are you eating my peacock???"

"Not right now, Lathar, but I've never eaten a peacock, I'm interested to see how it tastes.

"Sure, and I'm interested in seeing how weasel tastes, but I'm not slathering you up with butter."

With that the crew finally left the darkened jousting field.

Drunk and tired, they still decided to stop by a few establishments along the way to the Triple Comfort Inn. 

Entering the Smooth Spoon, Lathar was instantly recognized and a drink magically appeared.

Some cheers, some toasts, and a good time was had by all.  Even Squiggles and Sonny shared some odd fermented dirt.  

Sonny harshed the mellow of the bar, inquiring about what was beyond the Glow.  No specifics could be provided, but everyone thought it was short, painful death.  

Pete changed the subjects and talked about Lady Vespara.  She never stayed in town with her entourage, but immediately left from the downriver gate.  Despite being a haughty Pure-Strain human, she was not averse to purchasing things from non-human merchants.  

Lathar, bought two large growlers of ale and motioned towards the party, "Let's look for Vespara."

The team wandered out of the Smooth Spoon and headed for the downriver gate.  They attracted a few hangers on that Pete kept a drunken and paranoid eye.  Wil and Ron, two humans, seemed like fans, and Kilgore, another joust contestant. 

As they neared the gate, the carts and displays of the vendors thinned out, but were replaced by ramshackle tent communities wherever there was open space.  The visitors to the Fair appeared to spend the night in town, before returning home from the festivities.  Some were forced to camp beyond the walls, if they did not claim a spot first.

The guardsmen milled about the campsites, with the occasional one venturing on the walls. 

Wil was still pummeling Lathar with technical questions about particular joust passes.  Lathar gave a passing answer, Wil picked up the queues, and turned to Ramsey for details.

Pete turned to there entourage, "Hey are there other jousts in other towns.  Do you guys do a circuit?"

Ron perked up, "Dude, I was going to be one of those guys, like Lady Vespara and Arachne.  Got a couple quality seconds in the smaller jousts here in town, but never made the jump to pro.  If I had gone pro, I would have just followed the others, probably downriver.  I can't remember the last time somebody came from upriver, that's why I know Lathar's got some skill."

Lathar's disposition perked up again, after hearing those words. 

A guard noticed the group wandering through the encampment.  

"Sorry fellow lifeforms, campsites are CLOSED.  Hope you have a room elsewhere."

Lathar replied, "No worries, my good man.  We're looking for Queen..."

"Lady"

"Lady Vespara."

The guard, who could easily have a hidden mutation or two, eyed Lathar, "Of course YOU would."

Undeterred Lathar extended a growler. "Sure, I'm also know to share beer.  Where's she hiding?"

"They never stay overnight in town, they exit the gate right after the joust and have a campsite somewhere into the woods."

The group decided that wandering the woods for some Pure Strains who reeked of Knight of Genetic Purity.  They shared their beer with the guards and some of the campers, regaled tales, and as the last drops were poured, Lathar led them all in improvisational song, and the short, stubborn men of Boulderyard provided "prok-on-stick" to all. 

As they partied, the group learned that their were dozens of villages off of the small streams leading to the River, outside of their normal   Silent Cliff, Windgulf, Ivymore, and the Boulderyard were just a smattering of names that entered Sonny's ears, and he tried to imagine where they would sit on his map.  

As the guards put giant wooden bar across the gate, the group bid their new friends adieu and walked back to the Triple Comfort Inn unmolested.  

As the group prepared to leave in the morning, a great commotion rose from the streets.  Staring downriver, a huge flying creature, far beyond the town walls was flapping its wings as it ascended into the sky.  Binoculars, spyglasses, and weasel eyes focused on the giant bird, with multiple people riding on its back.  

Squiggles ran back inside the inn until the creature was out of sight.  This wasn't the first time he had seen a giant bird of prey in recent memory.  He spied such a beast back at Koto Dam (see Episode #12), and another sighting was just not a positive affirmation in his life.

After coaxing Squiggles back to the open-air, Pete suggested visiting the Wrong Celery to talk about mead with Duncan.

They entered the Wrong Celery and Duncan let out a roaring laugh.

"Thanks for finally bringing in the proper clientele.  He buys a single drink, and you are now friends of the Green."

After some discussions, Sonny came to a stunning realization, "Waitaminute, all of you guys have been here before me?  What the hell guys!"

Drinks were poured and discussions started, but Duncan's attitude soured, he extended a branch. "Who brought that thing in here?  That thing is dangerous to my clientele, get it out of here!"

Seeing the peacock was the source of Duncan's displeasure, Lathar took it outside and tied it up next to No Name.

The Explorers and Duncan went into negotiations over the remaining casks of mead.  After agreeing on a price, Clark the dishwasher and a few plant patrons, rolled out two large kegs. 

Squiggles took the last sips of his coffee, "I guess we're buying a cart..."

Lathar walked out and jumped on No Name.  A few passers-by were commenting on the peacock beside No Name.

"That thing's awesome!  I wonder what tiny knight rode that in the joust last night!"

Awhile later, Lathar returned, a sizable cart attached to his mount.  

With the kegs loaded, the team departed for River Bend.  For the first time, they noticed additional traffic on the road, and as they came to small streams, these people turned into the wilderness following small trails.  Halfway on their return trip, they were on their own.  

They arrived back at the gate to Riverbend to a familiar face, Loman.

"Took you guys long enough to get ba.... what the hell is that?"

Sonny glanced in the direction of Loman's outstretched finger, "Oh, that 's just Stinky Pete."

"No, you flowering ninny, the bird!!!"

"It's a peacock!" Lathar proudly proclaimed.

"Is it edible?"

"Not for today."

"Alright... hey flower... Sonny... Justinian is looking for you.  Something's up.  Hey what did you name the pea-cock?"

"I'll have a name next time we run into each other...."

Next: #23 - Manchi

Happy International GM Day!

 

(GNOME WARS) House on the Hille, or "Sikh and Destroy"

It was a weekend to hang out with daughter #1, Maja.  Most of the time was an evening at the Wilkes-Barre Hight School production of Grease that her friend had a part in and a meal at Maja's favorite Thai restaurant, but there was enough time to get some gnomes moving on the table in the apartment. 

Alternative Armies recently released a new scenario for their Flintloque rules and figures.  While I never got into Napoleonic Fantasy, I'm always intrigued by how they would work for Gnome Wars.  

This is that story:

After the early engagements of the Wishing Well War (WWW), the first "modern" war of the gnomes, but before the forests were razed and replaced with trenches, it was every unit for themselves.   Many of the Sikh units jumped sides when supplies, ammunition, and money disappeared.  Many went rogue, or "Independent" and scavenged what they could until a side decided to hire them, or they could find a way home.  

It was also during this time that the German industrial war machine's mechanical prowess was so dominant, that it actually poisoned the forest.  Some of the  oil and chemicals leeched into the soil, killing many trees.  Much ran off into streams and rivers, making the water undrinkable, but enough worked further below the surface, poisoning aquifers and ruining wells that had been essential for the survival of the troops.  The search for clean water was a focus during this part of the war.

The 17th Independent Sikhs found a  pure well in a farmstead deep in the forest.  Historians are unsure what happened to the seven gnome farmers living there, but rumors still persist that one gnome, a mute,  managed to escape and were more than Happy to tell the Swiss what had occurred.  

Portions of the 1st Swiss Reserve and the 9th Swiss Rangers were dispatched to disrupt the Sikh occupation quite violently and secure the clean water supply.  

Goals:

17th Independent Sikhs:  So long as one figure is alive within 10" of the well pump, the Sikhs win. 

1st Swiss Reserve:  Seize control of the well pump with more than 50% of troops.  If standing (non-wounded/killed) troops levels drop to 50% or below, the unit routs.

9th Swiss Rangers:   Seize control of the well pump with more than 75% of troops.  If standing (non-wounded/killed) troops levels drop to 75% or below, the unit routs.

The Swiss do include one Swiss Bernard Medic in each unit, and the Sikhs don't use medics, so adjusted the original objective to include fallen comrades before the medic phase.  

Extra Rule #1:  the Swiss can traverse the harvested field (no cover) or use the full field of wheat (no line of sight to fire).  However, any figure activated in the wheat field will roll a die.  On odds, they may proceed as normal, but on evens, they stop and enjoy a hidden respite for one turn.  This effect only happens once per figure, and when/if it occurs, the figure no longer rolls if they remain in the field.

Extra Rule #2:  Maximum move on the hill is 6".  Figures may move 6" and still fire.

The Sikhs were still searching the grounds, using the well pump, when the rangers surprised them at the same time the Swiss emerged from behind haystacks.  They scrambled to secure cover and form a line to defend against both attacks. 

The 9th Rangers had snuck in through the woods, but were quite disorganized, trying coordinate the attack.  

The Swiss Reserves split up, the Captain taking a group across the barren field, while the Sergeant led his group under the cover of the wheat field.  

The Sikhs inflicted the first casualties on the Rangers, wounding a few that were too close to the edge of the tree line.  But as they reloaded, the dreaded Limburger Greandier threw their stinky cheese with precision, knocking the one Sikh out of line, and sending him scrambling away.  

Not one, but TWO cheese attacks sends the Sikh running.

The Sikhs holding the line against the Reserves were crack shots from a distance against the ones charging across the open field.  The volley fire,  and the lead scouts in the wheat field freezing up at the sounds of gunfire,put the rest of the unit in peril.  

For the Sikhs against the Rangers, they finally got a clear shot and volley fired.

The +1 for volley fire was negated by the woods, so they still only needed a 3+ each to hit. This was catastrophic 

The Rangers threw a larger volley of cheese at the Sikhs, disentigrating the line, finally firing at the scattering Sikhs and moving in. 

The Swiss St Bernard for the Reserves managed to recover two the wounded in the field.  The Sikhs continued their focus on the Reserves as they took shelter behind a nearby mushroom house on fire.

All the Reserves traversing the wheat field eventaully felt the urge to simply hide for a moment, while their comrades were barely surviving a hail of bullets.  One shot even got the good Captain, and he could not be saved.  

As the wheat field Reserves finally emerged, they quickly killed two Sikhs, disrupting their line and volley fire, forcing the at least two to find a new defensive position behind a cart.  The two Sikhs behind the hay bales did manage to kill two Reservists, which forced the surviving Sergeant to consider retreat (six of eight possible casulties). 

On the next critical turn, the remaining Sikhs came in last in initiative.  The Rangers mopped up their scattering Sikhs while the charging Reservists dispatched their enemies at the hay bales.  

The last two survivors retreated to their last stand, the well pump, an mixed group of Swiss engaged them in viscous hand-to-hand.  

Outnumbered 5-to-2, one of the Sikhs quickly stabbed two Swiss, but he Sergeant attacking from the rear doomed them. 

I shall name this well after my first daughter, Aquafina!

With a slightly smaller hill, and a set-up using the stuff I could grab first, the scenario works.  I would move the woods back a bit and remove the Swiss medics for a manic game.  I may also return to the scenario to see how Swiss tunneling would affect it.  

As I peruse the Gnome Wars rules, there are no special rules for the Sikh Officer figure that was available.  Treat the Sikh Officer as a regular Sikh.  They do not have to roll for morale, so his presence in the unit appears to be merely perfunctory. 

Mandatory Basketball Rant - Winter 2023-24 - Part Four

 There are some residual events that have yet to be resolved, but with the AAU teams starting practice for the younger teams this Tuesday, it's time for the final Winter "School Ball" report.

Local Rec League Team:  I still stand by my policy that at least two grades of the K-2 divisions should have had their end of season foul-shooting contest and pizza party the weekend earlier.  Running the events Friday evening and two back-to-back Saturday afternoon was mentally draining.  Our only salvation was the Freshmen girls who formed the base of our Jr Ref program.  With them keeping score and corralling the kids, it moved quite smoothly.  We will use this method for next year.  

With those out of the way, and a ton of practice space open at the one elementary school, we were met with the dreaded event:  the school play... at that school.  It not only eliminated the practice time we just opened up, but cancelled practices for older ages, with little alternative times available (unless you want your 8-10 year olds practicing rec ball until 9:30pm.  Most of these parents don't want their kids up past 8, so we had some complaints.  

No sooner than we finished that week, but for the first time in a decade of being part of this league, the schools shut down for Saturday.    While the snowstorm was quite legit, and it was meant to cancel school practices, it also shut down our rental of the gyms.  The snowfall interfered with the semi-final weekend, and after previous years when teams play a gauntlet of up to four games to win the championship (NOT my idea), the rest of the board finally did could, and coordinated that weekend as weeknight games running Tuesday-Friday.  I was surprised how positive a reaction we received from that, and outside of some parents in the first game of the week, things went quite well.  

Championship Saturday conflicted with my parental responsibilities, namely transporting my own kids to practices, so I only caught the tail end of the 3/4 Girls game and all of the messy gloriousness of the 3/4 Boys.  

I openly admit I'm biased in favor of the girls' divisions at all times.  The games at the end of the season tend to be more exciting and the drama usually remains on the court and not through the adults. 

This year's 3/4 Boys championship may have been a comedy of errors for three quarters, but a five-point run to end regulation in a 16-16 tie, set up a DOUBLE overtime that was worth delaying the next championship game.  With no score in the first overtime, and a defensive struggle starting the second, we luckily had enough board members on site to address an omission in the league rules.  Rules only mention a four minute overtime with a two-minute second overtime, but there was no mention of a third overtime, and shots were simply not falling.  

As time ticked down we agreed to deviate from state rules and adopt an AAU-esque one minute overtime for each overtime past the second, and most importantly, SUDDEN DEATH wins!

We didn't need the new rules implemented, thankfully, because with 16 seconds left a player on the Celtics was fouled and hit the first of six foul shots taken in the period.   The Warriors inbounded the ball, made some passes, and with 3 seconds left, their player was fouled!  Fortunately for the Celtics that two shots missed and they secured the victory. 

Lesson from the 2023-24 season?  Practice your foul shots.

Local Rec League Travel Team: Did have a tournament last weekend, but with parental duties and the championships I didn't get a chance to see them, record stats, or even see how they did.  They are avoiding the big tournament this weekend, and travelling out to Berwick for hopefully different  competition next weekend.  They have been part of a Sunday afternoon camp series hosted by the Freshman coach, and attendance has been pretty good.

7th/8th Grade:  Their seasons are mercifully over, but it has been reassuring to see some of the girls attend the Varsity games, including some road games.  It will be interesting to see where many of the 8th graders handle the summer league and roster placements for next year. 

Freshman: When I swing by the camp today, I'll talk to the coach about a few things, but I do want to confirm that these girls, with an 18-1 record, won their respective Division, if not the Conference outright.  It's a plaque that will never be placed in a display case in the high school, but it's a matter of pride.

Speaking of a matter of pride, and it might be better suited for the AAU posts, but Millie was nominated for an International Travel Team to play in Italy and Austria in June.  Getting nominated and recognized was a great honor, and if anyone has the the $8,500 for a 10-day tour and tournament for her and a parental figure (her mom) to go, I'll be happy to expedite passports. 

Varsity/JV:  Varsity missed out on a week of games for the tournament conference championships by one game (it's only a four team tourney).   The did come back from the layoff to win the first round of the district playoff (the first time they won a game during districts in six years!), but after beating them by 23 in December (and Maja getting significant clean-up time), they only won by 5 with the Varsity starters in the whole game. 

That led to a game against the #1 seed, Scranton, who has state potential, and a 6'2" Freshman center with 10 Division 1 offers already.   

For the first 28 minutes, the game was a tight back-and-forth game with six lead changes.  Unfortunately in the last four minutes, they were destroyed by three or four stupid mistakes, and Scranton hit their foul shots late to secure a 55-45 game.  

Despite the loss, the district provides three seeds to the state tournament, so a play-in game against their rival, Dallas was scheduled, the same team that kicked them out of the Conference playoffs eligibility.  For the third time this year, Dallas proved victorious.  

Outside of Maja's playing time in a December game, I didn't mention her in any games these past three months because... she didn't play.  The Varsity coach stuck with the main seven on the Varsity roster, despite numerous times a player was shooting themselves in the foot during the game, or the lack of substitution rotation wiped out some players physically.    I will point out that my child wouldn't be the next to come off the bench in most circumstances, but the teams that are moving on to states in most school classifications are playing nine girls well before mop-up time, even if some are only getting 2-3 minutes total.  

I'll be honest, the last three weeks has not been beneficial to most of the JV players, who were simply brought to provide bench energy.  Maja has been one of the lucky ones, given a task to beat down the taller girls in practice.    I don't know how a 5'7" white girl pretends to be a 6'2" black girl with colleges breathing down her neck, but the coaches were happy and the girl had only scored four in the first 28 minutes of the Scranton game (8 total by the end).  

(Kickstarter) Ladies That Lunch... and Hate Nazis 28mm White Metal Figures

 Tec Scene has launched a Kickstarter for Ladies That Lunch... and Hate Nazis , a small collection of 28mm White Metal British armed females for the homefront.  

The nine-figure base set is £16 ($21), with an add-on of a Lewis-Gun for £4.