Adding to the motor pool, New game ideas

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      I just picked up this beauty at the local grocery store.  Not exactly Dale's Winnebago, but not bad.  It will do for now as a small RV on the board. I also picked up a plastic backhoe that will fit in nicely with the farm equipment.

       I am quite motivated to put together a Con style 28mm zombie game with each player having either a group of survivors or zeds. I want to really trick out the table with a ton of 28mm modern terrain. The Gen Con games I helped run for Miniature Building Authority really amped me up for this.

This is the kind of table that would make a fantastic Con style Game.  The 28mm modern terrain is really kicking it here.

      
         I like the idea of an open sandbox approach, IE if you think of it and it is represented on the table, give it a shot.  I'd probably make the RV an objective.  I'd probably have a primary and secondary objective for each group of survivors with descending point values and a low point add on for killing zeds.  I am considering adding special zeds (think Left 4 Dead 2) that the Zed player can get in a random fashion (using cards, maybe?).  They would be worth more points.  Still working out a system that isn't I go you go but isn't THW either.  Probably more of a Star Fleet Battles Impulse system (probably the 8 impulse, though I will try out the 16 as well), I think.
       I like the idea of the different objectives, some of which may put the human players into conflict with each other, in the game.     Has anyone had any experience with these ideas, or something similar?

CDC continues to support zombie outbreak info

It seems just a bit creepy to me that the CDC continues to support the Zombie outbreak info on  their website.


The CDC talking about the zombie apocalypse once was funny.  When they made it an ongoing campaign, it makes me go Hmmmmm.....  and want to start buying extra ammo.   Which leads to my next problem.  Not to get all political, but ammo prices have taken a huge leap since school shootings started the anti gun zealots off on their most recent tirade.  For the longest time, you couldn't even find 9mm target ammo.  I could only find hollow points, which are fantastic for the ZA, but I had no desire to throw a dollar downrange per shot.  If I was going to do that, I wanted to have fun with it.  I think for a handgun, 9mm is not the ultimate zombie killing gun. Maybe use a 454? 

These guys had too much fun

These guys look like they had a ball doing this. 

Miniature Building Authority 28mm Modern Terrrain on Sale

Announcing our End Of Summer Sales!

September 5, 2013 by miniaturebuildingauthority          

In appreciation for everyone’s support this summer, MBA is having a different sale each week for the next few weeks.  You will have to stay-tuned to see what is on sale each time so you don’t miss out.  Sales prices will vary from 20-50% off retail pricing.
The first weeks sale is on our 28mm Modern Buildings.  We have some great buildings that many of you have seen used in our Iraq game, or would work great in a zombie game as well.
          
There are more and more modern scenarios out there and our buildings will give you the awesome pre-painted, pre-assembled terrain you need for whatever scenario or rule set you are playing.

This weeks sale itemsSeptember 5th through 14 September.
Product ID	Description	Old Price	Sale Price
10905	Convenience Store	$59.95	$49.95
10906	Gas Pump Island	$19.95	$9.95
10913	Car on Blocks	$11.95	$5.00
10914	Bldg Modernization kit	$19.95	$9.95
10915	Apartment Building	$89.95	$70.95
10916	Office Building	$124.95	$99.95
10917	Office Building 2nd FL	$74.95	$49.95
10918	Office Building Ruin	$109.95	$84.95

These are great prices that are here only for a short time.  Get them while you can.
Thanks again from,
Kirk, Claudia, Jim, and Parry
Miniature Building Authority, Inc.
404-932-3106



I pulled the above from the MBA Blog.  I realized it might not have been obvious from my last post. 

Miniature Building Authority Review

The 28mm modern terrain convenience store

I've recently had a chance to get some Miniature Building Authority 28mm Modern Terrain.  I actually picked up quite a bit of MBA's 28mm Terrain, but most of it was for our Mordhiem games.  Since this is blog about modern Zombies, I figured I would talk about the two things I grabbed that will bring some life to the sleepy berg of Lawrenceville after Z-day.  The first thing I am going to talk about is the convenience store pictured above.  It comes out of the box painted as shown.  All of MBA's products are made from some kind of industrial resin that is hard and durable.  The roof comes off so you can get at the inside and move your guys around.  Both of these models are from the standard MBA line, so come with empty space inside.  They sell unpainted kits to finish out the convenience  store as that or as a restaurant.  I will be picking  up the restaurant stuff, as I plan on finishing this up as "Burger Tank" of Left for Dead 2 fame.













I also picked up the 28mm Trailer.

28mm trailer, painted as shown and complete with a washing machine for the front porch

Both of these are solid and good representations of American culture.  I like the dual utility of the Convenience store.  Probably what I like most about them both is the fact that I don't have to paint anything.  My painting skills (or lack thereof ) are well documented earlier in this blog.

       So, am I happy with these?
       Absolutely!   I would recommend them to any gamer in 28mm modern.  I will be picking up more stuff from them soon.  They just announced a sale on the modern stuff. The car on blocks is a personal favorite. What do you guys think?

GenCon after action report: Win!

The upright city of St. Piddlin was a hit a GenCon.

We drove up from Atlanta on Tuesday, leaving at 8 in the morning.  Traffic wasn't really an issue.  The drive was uneventful. We got to Indianapolis that afternoon and just had dinner, resting for the odyssey that would be the next five days.  On Wednesday we unloaded the truck.  Grover came by and was a great help with this. Lunch was at the Ram, a Brewpub downtown.  Wil Wheaton was there having lunch. I did not fanboy him.

 

There was quite a lot of work involved in this. We were worn out, so it was time for dinner and home then.  The next day was the opening of the show.  The dealer hall opened at 9 for the people who had paid for early entrance and for the celebrity types.  At ten, the rest of the gaming world descended upon us.  After that calmed down a bit, we met up the guys from 19 and 1, a gaming club in Indy.  We put up 4 gaming tables using MBA 28mm terrain for three and MBA 15mm terrain for one.   This is the 24' Castle into town battle table.  There is a game of bolt action going on in the background while the guys from DGS are running Freeblade.

This is the 16' of middle eastern conflict we set up being used for a zombie game.

There are tons more pics of the terrain and the rest of GenCon on facebook in our albums.  Here is  a link.  While you are there, make sure to like us.  Share us with your network please.

While Kirk and Jim worked the booth, I stayed in the gaming hall, talking about the new Castle Kickstarter and all of the great MBA terrain.  People were really excited about the stuff, and about a million pictures were taken of the castle table. The first day seemed to last forever. Finally six o'clock came, and the dealer hall shut down.

We then headed over to the Rathskeller, a German restaurant in downtown Indy.  Kirk had some of his friends meet us there.  They were the guys he'd served with in Iraq, and their families.  What  a great group of people.  Friendly and outgoing folks, I felt right at home with them.  We had *excellent* food and beer, plenty of conversation, and more than one "no shit, there I was" story was told.

The rest of the Con went by in similar fashion.  We got up early, to the con, worked until six, and then called it a day. On Friday we ran the Open Conflict game on the Middle eastern table.  It was well received to say the least.  The players blew up, ran over and shot each other in quite inventive ways.   The Americans camped in the base while the UN troops left behind the guys whose vehicle got RPG'd and the ISF just got pummeled.  The "BrownLiquid" Contractors were ignored as they whisked the prince out of the conflict area.  The Sunnis and Shias seemed to have the most fun,  ambushing convoys and bus jacking pilgrims.  The big winner of the day was Grover, Bus jacking the pilgrims, killing off ISF forces, and moving his rockets into place.

Saturday came and went in a blur.  Jim did get a chance to talk to an old friend from Iron Wind.

Sunday came and we had a big rush at the booth.  We packed it at 4, and had to wait what seem like forever before they'd let us load the truck.  We headed home then, and after another uneventful drive, GenCon 2013 was in the books.  We had a great time.  You should come next year!

 For those of you who might not be familiar with Gen Con:   It is the largest fan run gaming convention in America.   There were about 40,000 attendees and just about everyone one of them played *something* there.  Coolminiornot was handing out season 2 stuff from zombicide.  It was my first GenCon.  I found it to be an amazing experience.  I got to run the Iraq game, and played about 4 other games that weekend.  The celebrities were almost all gaming related.  DragonCon in Atlanta is larger, but is more focused  on parties and drinking (not a bad thing, just different).  I was pleased to find so many people who shared my interest, not just in Science Fiction / Fantasy, but in Gaming in specific.  Tooooooo much fun, you should try it!

Miniature Building Authority Preps 28mm Modern Conflict for GenCon.

You can find the original blog for MBA here.  For your ease, I have reblogged it here. I know I've been away from the blog for a while, and apologize.  I've gone through a couple of life changes, mostly in employment.  I think things are settling now, so... well I can hope they are.




I was lucky enough to be asked to come over and help playtest the ruleset that MBA (Miniature Building Authority) will be running at Gen Con 2013.  There were four other play testers, and what a great time we had.  First, let's have a look at the table:

The table ready for Troop Deployment Iraq 28mm table, ready for troop deployment

And here is another shot from a different angle:

A bird's eye view of about half the table.

We were each put in charge of a different force including Americans, UN, IDF, Shia, and Sunni.  After falling in love with the table, we put out our forces.

Calm looking street? The red bus is full of pilgrims, and the surrounding buildings are full of Shia ambushers. It's about to go all wrong here.

And these:

The Mosque is the destination for the Pilgrims. The IDF escorts have quite the warm welcome waiting for them.

There was a ton of action, fires starting and troops dying.

28mm Humvee lights up a VW microbus, insurgents flee

The Americans and IDF held a base in the contested zone with little resistance.

28mm American compound, complete with porta potties

Whilst the Shia waited on Pilgrims that were to never arrive.

Courtyard around Mosque. Shia Forces readying for assault on Americans.

Things get hot quickly.  The pilgrims bus is Bus jacked, and the Americans attempt a heroic Helo based rescue.  The chopper is forced to land because of small arms fire and so that mission is aborted.

IDF and UN players watching to see what develops as Helicopter is forced to land in roundabout

The Sunni bravely ambush the rear of the American armored patrol, and the UN prepare to blow the wall and go after the guys who shot down the Helo.

28mm American armored vehicle takes a rocket launcher attack in the rear from Sunni troops hidden in convenience store. UN troops at bottom of photo preparing to breech wall and enter Mosque compound.

At the end of the game the Sunni player was declared the winner.    *I* think we were all winners.  The game was a ton of fun, the guys were fun opponents and willing to have a good time, MBA  put on a Phenomenal table in 28mm for us to play on and nobody got upset when the bad guys won.  Thanks so much for letting me be a part of this.