New Appendix N scores from a trip to Erie PA

 Found an excellent used bookstore in Erie PA, here are the gems I scored.  Books Galore, Erie PA.

Vietnam Era Minis Completed!

 Finished my first batch of minis from the new order.  I did 6 bases of U.S. troops, plus a tank and a transport.  Also for the VC/NVA I did a lt. tank, and 2 6mm German vehicles I got from a random sampler pack, I figure could double as NVA vehicles.

New Order From Irregular Miniatures!

 So happy to receive my new order from Irregular Miniatures.  A whole Summer's worth of hobby.  Let's Go!

Dungeon Synth Projects Youtube Playlist

 Here is a link to a bunch of Dungeon Synth projects I put on a Youtube Playlist.  Great for solo crawling, blog writing, campaign prepping, etc.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JvKnCj-BqrA&list=PLI64S9C23o74VEXTn7oJCUHy-TrTNMmp4

2mm Fantasy Monsters

Here's the fantasy monsters I have painted up from Irregular minis.  L-R in the back-  Dragon, 2 Ents, 2 Giants, 2 Ogres/Trolls, single mini I use for Wizard, single row I use for Wraiths or Wights, 2 blocks of irregulars I use for Werewolves/Wererats.  Front Row-  4 flocks of Rocs, 1 Nazgul.

Campaign Maps for Upcoming Wargames Campaigns Series and the Beginning of the Solo Wargaming Guide Campaign Creation System.

Here's the maps I put together for a series of upcoming wargames campaigns I am planning.  I hope to document both the planning and development phase, and the actual campaign as it plays out.  As this is my first time doing this, I'll be using William Silvester's Solo Wargaming Guide for guidance.  The first thing necessary is to get a good map of your campaign area.  I found moderate success online looking for good maps for the different historical periods I want to set my campaigns in.  Mind you these are entirely fantastical campaigns, I'm just using historical information as inspiration, at no time am I trying to recreate any historical period or battle.  So the Battles/ Periods I'm using to inspire and base my campaigns on are- 

Napoleonics- Using the Battle of Austerlitz for inspiration.  I have recently put together a 6mm French and Austrian army, and have an order in to Irregular Minis for another mixed Division of Russians, so having 3 armies loosely inspired by French, Austria, and Russia, Battle of Austerlitz seemed a perfect fit.  I found a cool old looking map, plus printing them out on hex paper already makes them pop and much more usable for campaigning.

World War I-  again with a recently painted up WWI 2mm German and French armies, and with a fresh order of more Germans and British coming in the mail very soon, I figured the Battle of the Somme, early war western front would be a good place to set a WW1 campaign.  Again I know very little about WW1 or this particular battle, it's just a jumping off point.  I was able to find some OK maps, but my Google Fu is lacking.

Strange Aeons (Call of Cthulhu-like supernatural skirmish minis game)- Springfield MA circa 1926.  This game I got into a few years ago, it's an indie game sort of a skirmish game/rpg hybrid.  I plan to get back into it and run a 1920's supernatural horror campaign set in 1920's Springfield MA, located near me in western MA.  There are a few cool things I hope to include into the campaign that are native to Springfield from that time-  The Springfield Armory, Smith and Wesson, Milton Bradley Games, plus I'm doing a little research into paranormal history of Springfield, so That will be the inspiration for this campaign.

Vietnam War-  Not sure what system I'll settle on I'm investigating a few.  I chose the A Shau Valley circa 1968.  I do know a little about the Vietnam War, no expert by any means, but it's something I have read/watched a bit about.  Anyway I found a few maps, and again they just look so much cooler when printed out on hex paper.  Systems I'm considering are FUBAR Vietnam, BOHICA, and Hell in Microcosm.  

I was able to take some time today and yesterday to get into The Solo Wargaming Guide, and it seems the first 40 pages are the most important for my purposes- setting up the campaign.  The book broke down setting up a campaign into several sections.

-  Get the Map-  see above, check.  I do need to make sure each map has an appropriate scale.

-  Rate the cities/towns-  not every map has towns per se, for example the Battle of the Somme maps  are focused on the trenches and their movement, but I can still establish places on the map where resources/troops can be refreshed. Similar situation with the Vietnam maps, I'll have to figure out some way to provide U.S. resources via air support, and NVA/VC support via the Ho Chi Minh Trail.  

-  Establish terrain-  Go through the maps and be specific on terrain, spell out light wood, heavy wood, hill, mountain, river etc.

-  Roads/movement-  establish what roads are complete and which are damaged and establish movement rates for different unit types.

-  SCMR (Solo Campaign Mobilization Rules)-  need to establish a system for forming and mobilizing troops.  This is more spelled out in terms of a campaign that starts in peacetime, then a war breaks out and the campaign begins.  However, my campaigns mostly imply a war already in progress, and the campaign is just about some aspect of the bigger war, so it's going to work a little different for campaigns where the war has already begun.  This is where I'll stop, I just began reading this section, but have plenty of work on the first 4 sections before I need to fully get into SCMR.  

So that's my start to the documentation of trying to develop/ write several fantastical historically based wargames campaigns.  It's a big part of why I started this blog to begin with, and I'm interested to see if I can do this, and how it pans out.  Maybe not all of these campaign ideas will come to fruition, but based on my new collection of historical small scale minis from Irregular Minis, I'm game to aim high and try to get a bunch of campaigns off the ground kind of simultaneously.  

WW1 2mm French and German armies from Irregular Miniatures

 Here's some WW1 stuff I have recently started for a future planned campaign.  Obviously I'm doing them in trenches on 2"x1.5" bases.  I tried to put a fine brown sand down on the trenches, but i couldn't get it to glue down right.  French are on green flock, Germans on gray.

Appendix N+ Shelfie photos

 I've been accumulating Appendix N and Appendix N Adjacent materials for a long time, more vigorously in recent months.  Here's everything I've accumulated, save the Jack Vance Dying Earth book I'm currently reading.  I've read a lot of it, but still there are years of reading in this mini library.  I really feel like this is probably the rest of my life's reading pile.  Not bad.

My Hex Crawl system for Rolling up Random Encounters

 Here are some resources I've used during the Nappendixia Campaign.  It's my system for rolling up hex crawl encounters, inspired by Bandit's Keep, but totally developed and refined by me.  After that is some real good notes on AD&D combat i got from The Dungeon Master's Handbook on Youtube.  At the end are 10 random encounter areas or "lairs" I rolled up using pure Moldvay B/X Scenario Creation.  Feel free to use my hex crawl system or any of the scenarios.

Hex Crawls

1. Roll Weather type and duration

2.  Players plot route for the day

3.  Determine % to get lost, roll alter route as needed

4.  Determine highest % terrain type traveled through, roll twice for that type (early/ late)

Swamp 70%     Forest/Hill 60%     Plains 50%     Roads 40%

5.  Roll 2 d6s for each successful encounter roll.  DM discretion to combine the 2 rolls into 1 encounter, ignore 1 roll,

6. or run both separately.

d6

1-2  Monster-   d6  Lair (1-2)   Wandering (3-4)   Footprints (5-6)

3    Trap/Hazard-  traps/difficult terrain/clues(trails, totems, footprints)

          d6   1  humanoid trap (net/pit/rockslide)

                  2  trapped ruins/tomb

                  3  natural hazard (cliff, waterfall, hedgerows, volcanic vent, 

                                                        brambles, poison gas swamp)

                  4  ooze/slime/disease/poison

                  5  unintelligent monster (insect, animal, plant)

                  6  scarecrow/abandoned ambush/sprung trap

 4  Special keyed to terrain type  d6   1-2 near  3-4 far  5-6 signs

Plains-      Pilgrims (Cultists 50%)/ Settlers/ Wild Horses

Forest-      Hunters/ Elves/ Glade w/ Magic Circle

Hills-         Dwarf/Gnome Party/ Tracker/ Mine

Swamp-   Adventurers (50% Evil)/Half Orcs (50% Evil)/hidden oasis

River-   Fishermen/ Ferryman/ Merchants/ good fishing area

5  Signs of Destruction   d3   1 Looted        2 Combat       3 Supernatural

    d3 location         monster         magical

           camp/cart    criminal         monstrous (neutral)

           bodies          adventurer   monstrous (evil)

    6  Weather Event  d4  1 fog   2 wind/rain  3 heat/cold  4 storm/special

Wandering Monsters

Plains     Jungle                 Hills         Oasis

Giant Ant  2HD     Carnivorous Ape  5HD Basilisk  6+1 HD         Merchant

Bulette  9HD     Fire Beetle  1-2 HD         Gnoll  2HD         Pilgrim

Harpy  3HD     Carrion Crawler  3HD Imp  2+2HD         Acolyte

Lizardman  2+1HD   Giant Lizard  3+1HD         Mountain Lion 3+2HD Medium

Shrieker  3HD     Skeleton  1HD         Wererat  3+1HD         Noble

Orc  1HD     Huge Spider 2+2HD         Griffon 7HD         Orc

Stirge 1+1HD     Troglodyte 2HD         Boar  3HD         Gnoll

Zombie 2HD     Giant Crocodile 7HD         Cave Locust 2HD         Neanderthal

Cobra 1HD     Gargoyle 4+4HD         Bugbear 3+1HD Lizardman

Displacer Beast 6HD Pit Viper                 Shadow 2+2HD Mercenary

Gecko 3+1 HD Robber Fly                 Black Widow

Killer Bee 1/2HD*     Neanderthal         Ogre 4+1HD

Bat/Giant Bat 2HD*

* (Day/Night dependent)

AD&D Combat

1 turn = 10 rounds. 1 round = 1 minute, broken up into “segments” of 6 seconds each. One round is an abstract of moves,

feints, jockeying, and probing openings. A single “to hit” is an opening in defenses, a chance to do serious damage.

1)  [DMG 61/62] Check for surprise; 1-2 on d6 indicates surprise, unless otherwise noted; every “1” on surprise roll indicates

number of surprised segments, to a max of 3. Dexterity Reaction bonuses apply.

If party has high chance TO surprise someone, this number is modified by the target’s chance to be surprised; 5 in 6 to

surprise vs. 1 in 6 to be surprised becomes 4 in 6, etc.

During a surprise segment, unsurprised parties can do all major actions below, except for casting spells; they can only cast

one spell during surprise time.

2) [DMG 62] Determine distance between parties – anywhere from 10 feet to 100 feet, modified by total area of encounter,

light sources, etc. (d6+4”, if surprised 1-3” indoors, for outdoors DMG 49)

3) [DMG 65] Any spellcasters need to state what spell they are casting before initiative is rolled.

4) [DMG 62] Roll initiative for each whole side with a d6 roll; high roll wins. The players’ roll indicates the segment that the

NPCs' melee & missile attacks occur; the DM's roll indicates the segment that the PCs’ melee and missile attacks occur.

(Example: PCs roll a 5, NPCs roll a 2. Player characters go on 2, then NPCs go on 5.) 

5) [DMG 66] If initiative is tied, all actions are simultaneous, unless both parties use weapons - then weapon speed comes

into play. If difference in speeds are twice or more, or at least five factors higher, then person with smaller weapon speed

can attack one extra time. If difference is 10 factors or more, smaller can attack two extra times!

6) Choose from:

Run away if not in melee yet (flee)

Talk to them (parley)

Wait and see what the other party does

[DMG 64] Use missile fire – adjust to hit and initiative by DEX bonus. (Example: PCs roll a 5, NPCs roll a 2, and one

PC with a 16 DEX is firing a bow. The bowman goes on 1, then other PCs go on 2, then NPCs go on 5.)

[DMG 66] Close for melee at normal move rate – cannot attack this round

[DMG 66] Charge into melee at double move rate; lose dexterity bonus (or -1 to AC), weapon length determines who

strikes first (longer first) instead of initiative, charging gains +2 to hit.

Setting weapons against charges allows initiative vs. charge and double damage if hit.

[DMG 69] Attack in melee, if within 10 feet of an enemy.

7) Spells go off on the segment equal to casting time. When the side winning initiative has someone casting a spell:

[DMG 66] Attacking the spell caster with melee weapon - Subtract the opposing party's (losing) initiative roll from the

weapon speed of the attacker, treating negatives as positive. If the result is less than the casting speed, the weapon strikes

first. If it is the same as the casting speed, the weapon strikes as the spell goes off. If it is greater than the casting speed,

the spell goes off first.

All other actions by the opposing party occur prior to the spell going off if the casting time of the spell is greater than the

result of the caster's party's initiative roll. If the casting time is equal to the caster's party's initiative roll, then the actions of

the opposing party occur simultaneously with the spell going off.

8) Special conditions

Attacking from the person’s flank negates any shield bonuses [DMG p70]

Attacking from the Rear negates shields, and gives +2 to hit. [DMG p70]

Sleeping, held, or helpless opponents: you may attack them at double attack rate, for max damage on each attack. If not in

combat, they can instead be killed in one round. [DMG p67,70]

Potions take 1 segment to drink, 1d4+1 segments to take effect, non-spell scrolls take 8 segments to read, spell scrolls take

as long to read as casting the spell, rods, wands and staves take 2 segments to case, 8 segments to power up again.

Turn Undead occurs in initiative segment.

Multiple rate of fire missiles - 2nd/3rd shots occur at end of round.

If not 1x1 (ie, multiple opponents), then target is random.

[DMG 69] Number of opponents is based on size. A M size can be attacked by 8S, 6M, 4L

Drinking a potion 1 segment

Finding item in backpack 3 (large item) or 4 (small item) segments

Finding item in belt pouch 1 segment

Lighting oil 1 segment

Turning undead 1 segment (VSM) - takes place in initiative segment

90% cover = no damage from spells if save 

Grenade missiles

Miss = 1d6 feet (1d4 short range) 

D8 Direction 

1/2/3 range (-2/-5)

Ranged weapons are -2 at Med, -5 at Long

Spell effects that affect “to hit” (like bless) move AC up/down - providing ability to still be hit.

Mar Millor 2.0 Adventure Scenarios per Moldvay

1. 

    Exploring the Unknown- Cavern- Giant Gecko (17hp), Killer Bees (4, 2hp ea), Brownie

Lost in the swamp, the PC’s come across a cavern that may contain a freshwater spring.  A small hive of killer bees with

4 drones protects its lair here, and inside the cavern is a giant gecko and its hoard (300gp), which both inhabit the

freshwater lake and spring inside the cavern.  A brownie hiding in a nearby tree may offer assistance in defeating

the lizard if the treasure is shared.  The corpse of a fallen warrior in the lizard’s lair wears a suit of Chainmail +1, the

rest of his items rusted and desiccated.  If the cave can be cleared out without the corpse of the lizard falling into the

water, this spring will provide a fresh source of water.  It will gain a new inhabitant in 1d4 weeks if not patrolled. 

(Cleared on 3/7/22, controlled turned to fort)

2.  Investigating a Chaotic Outpost- Stronghold-  Evil Wizard, Orcs, Cobra

The PC’s get dangerously close to a large platoon of orc soldiers on march and must make a hasty retreat from them. 

Along the way they come to a narrow mountain pass home to a cobra.  They then make it to a high walled stronghold

and call up to the battlements to be rescued, only to be met with an evil wizard who toys with the party, making them

fight some of the orcs before fireballing the rest.  The party then discovers the orcs actually were troops of the wizard,

killing his own troops purely for jest and to see the reaction of the PC’s.  Each slain orc carries 3gp and wields studded

leather, hand ax, and shield.

3.  Recovering Ruins- Tomb- Crab Spider(AC7 10hp HD2 surprise 1-4), Zombies(6 8hp ea, AC8 HD2), Giant Centipede

4. (3, AC9 hp3 ea, surprise 1-3) 

The PC’s are dispatched to recover the urn and ashes from the crypt of an ancient dwarven elder, the  crypt long since

falling into irreparable disrepair.  Giant centipedes surprise from the dark ceiling in the crypt’s hallway entrance,  and

mummified bodies of the spider's victims dangle from webs in the main chamber.  As the PC’s begin to ignore the dangling

corpses, several zombies emerge from a pathway free of webs to attack the PC’s.  As soon as the PC’s are fully engaged

with the zombies, the spider will attempt to surprise them.  One of the corpses carries a leather belt pouch containing a

potion of healing, 10 +1 arrows, a silver dagger, and 80gp, 200gp gem.

4.  Destroying an Ancient Evil- Crypt- Water Weird, Stirges, Kobolds

A tribe of Kobolds is under the sway of a water weird they unearthed when exploring an old crypt.  The kobolds trap or

chase victims down into the crypt to be consumed by the weird.  A pack of stirges lairs in a vestibule near the weird, stirring

when combat with the weird begins, making things even more difficult.  At the bottom of the well where the weird lives is

a Ring of Protection +1 (Dagger +1 if PC’s wear plate.)  The kobolds have 1gp each and a hoard of 100gp in their lair.

5.  Visiting a Lost Shrine- Ancient Temple- Harpy 20hp, 10 Fire Beetles 5hp, Baboon (deaf)

(if befriended/charmed, it will show a secret entrance to the harpy’s lair.)  Rumors of a lost shrine that has some beneficial

properties cause the PC’s to search for it.  The shrine has been taken over by a Harpy, it’s song attracting victims into the

shrine.  The dark shrine initially appears to be lit from within, perhaps magically, only to discover that the passage into

the crypt is infested with fire beetles.  Upon defeating the Harpy, any who drink from the shrine are granted a +1   to

Cha or Int, roll to determine.  The Harpy has 150gp, 3,000sp, Sword +1, Scroll- Ray of Enfeeblement, Phantasmal Force,

Invisible Stalker,  and a 100gp necklace in its hoard.  (Cleared on 4/10/22, left empty)

6.  Fulfilling a Quest- Castle- Evil Fighter, Gnolls, Wolf

An evil fighter has assembled a group of loyal gnoll followers and they have created a base of operations to terrorize the

area in an abandoned keep.  One tactic used frequently is to chase and corner groups of travelers and challenge their leader

in single combat.  When defeated, the travelers are robbed and sent off to try to make it to civilization unequipped and

unprotected.  The fighter uses potions of animal control to empower a wolf as his assistant for guarding and spotting.  He

wields a holy +1 longsword (+2 when wielded by LG PC)  A local lord whose son fell in combat with the fighter has

quested the party to avenge his death and end the terror of the fighter and his band.  He carries 200 gp and a 50gp gem.

7.  Escaping From Enemies- Caves- Evil Cleric, Animal Skeleton, Skeletons

While exploring a strange cavern, the PC’s realize it has been recently inhabited by an evil cleric who is using the cave to

create a mass of skeleton minion warriors.  He also is using his necromancy to create skeletal animals.  He returns with his

minions and a pile of bones, trapping the PC’s in the cave.  He begins creating more skeletons and skeletal animals,

making too many enemies for a stand up fight.  The PC’s must find a way to escape.

8.  Rescuing Prisoners- Town- Wererat, Bandits, Wild Dog

The PC’s are hired to investigate a missing person.  Evidence leads to animal activity under the town in the sewers.  Bandits

and their wild dog minion have kidnapped a young lady  at the behest of the head of the local thieve’s guild, who is also a

wererat.  He intends to bite the lady and make her his wererat bride.  The PC’s must rescue the girl before she undergoes the

lycanthropic transformation.  The wererat wields a +1 Spear.  The Thieves ring keeps their hoard (150gp and 2 25gp gold

rings) in a hidden alcove in the sewers.

9.  Using a Magic Portal- Tower- Imps, Green Slime/Gray Ooze, Sprite

The PC’s are employed by an old forgetful wizard who needs them to return to his old tower and make sure the magic

mirror inside was deactivated.  After encountering a few traps and slimes, they make it to the old lab where the magic mirror

is held, about to smash it, a pack of imps leap through the mirror and chaos ensues.  Amongst the cast off papers in the lab

the PC’s find a scroll with the spells Knock, Hold Portal, and Spider Climb and a pearl worth 100gp.  There is a sprite

magically imprisoned in the tower who will assist the party if freed.

10.  Finding a Lost Race- Abandoned Mine- Ghoul, Ghoulthrall*, Bats

An old ghoul has spent generations cultivating a community of miners into his inbred, cannibalistic thrall.  They

hunt for man-flesh in the hills surrounding the old mine. They have a hoard of gold nuggets worth 550gp. 

*<Ghoulthrall-  1+1 HD AC 7  1 Atk/ d4 Dam Dagger/claw, save vs poison or ill 1 week.  save vs spells to get

in melee range failure= run in fear 30’ can’t approach for d4 rounds>.  The party is investigating the appearance

of mutilated bodies missing large pieces of their flesh on the outskirts of town, and the evidence will trace back

to the ghoul and his horrific creatures.