Dress Rehearsals High Moon

For a long time I've want to take a look at one of the Two Hour Wargaming games & for different reason's I've gone with High Moon, having done nothing only paint models & work on building for what seem like forever I was itching to put some terrain down gab a couple of models & roll some dice.

For a table that was clear it seemed to have a lot of stuff on it :)

So on Saturday (this might be last Saturday or a few Saturdays ago depending on how fast I post this) I cleared off the gaming area & set about trying to master the rules, now I've got to admit I'm not the best in the world when it comes to learning rules from a book & even worst at trying to do so from a PDF.

To say Saturday didn't go well would be an understatement, the confusing seemed to come from a little demo that had for me what looked liked two groups jointed together to make one group with the rules stating that for an in sight test the leader takes it for the group if he has line of sight to the enemy, but low & behold as the demo goes on I find that both the groups are taking the test ?

So Sunday I thought to myself feck this for a game of cowboys, I always find the best way to learn rules is to start playing the game & look for answers as the questions come up, its also more enjoyable that way :)

I rolled on the terrain table got clear terrain & then rolled for each square, for a table that was made up on the clear chart it seemed to have a lot of stuff on it, but that said it does look like an interesting table to play on :) anyway as I would normally set a table up to suit what I wanted to do this is not a problem.

Guy in black is me & the PEF's has two in the center of the table & the third over by the well at the far corner. 

Right here we go now as I know some of you guys play THW pay attention as I'm going to be asking questions, I win the roll off & move into the building on my left.

I know it's doesn't look like it but believe me he's inside the building :)

When entering a building you need to see if there's anyone in it, now the rules didn't seem over clear on how you did this, so I went with what you do when you get line of sight on a PEF & rolled 2d6 I got one pass so took it that the building was empty.
Q 1 was this right ?

The PEF's move then win the roll off for turn to & move again.

My turn so I move fast rolling 2d6 & getting 2 passes, exiting the building & rounding the wall to draw line of sight on the PEF
Q 2 can you move fast when exiting & entering buildings ?

I resolve the PEF & it's a REP 3 cowboy with a pistol, I win the insight test.
Q 3 there's a friend or foe table should I have rolled on that or is it only for PEF's inside buildings ?

Firing twice with my pistol I get a 2 & a 4 which I add to my rep 5, the 7 is a straight up miss, the 9 is also a miss because I moved fast.

The cowboy takes a shot at test passes one and takes a rushed shot back at me missing with both, now I take a shot at test pass 2 & return fire, this time I hit with a 10 5+5REP = 10, but
Q 4 if I'd got an 9 result again would I still count as having moved fast & missed ?

I roll a 1 for damage so the cowboy has to duck back, which is move 6" to cover or if he can't go prone, so I look to see what counts as cover & find its just building & woods.
Q 5 that seems very odd as I would have thought the wall would have counted as cover had the cowboy jumped to the far-side of it ?

Anyhow I moved the cowboy into the woods, this brought a PEF into line of sight so I set about resolving it, I rolled on the how many table & its 1 of something, I then rolled on the what are they table & its a witch, so I go to the witch table where I find that witch's can often have cowboys of townsfolk with them but there's always at least one witch ? & there's a table to roll on 1 2 & 3 are not witch's but 4 is a REP 3 witch 5 a PER 4 one & 6 a REP 5 leader witch, as I'd only gotten 1 enemy on the how many is there table I decided to roll a d3 to see which kind of witch I got, which turned out to be a REP 5 leader.
Q 6 did I do right by just rolling a d3 to see what kind of witch I got ?

I don't know what happen with this picture

 Another insight test which the witch wins, now witch's have a power called blink that will allow them to disappear & reappear 6+d6 inch's behind you, as I was only an inch from the table edge I decide this couldn't work.
Like I said the witch won the insight test but witch's don't have guns but use magic powers instead, I go to the NCP casting table to find it says a witch can only cast when active, now remember this is still in my turn.
Q 7 is the witch active or does she only count as active in her turn ?

I decided she's not active so what else can she do ? looking it up I see that if you can't shot but are within 6" will rush into melee, she not within 6" but she is within range of my weapon so she ducks back behind the building bring the turn to an end.

You can just see the witch near the corner of the building

 The PEF's win the roll off 4-3, so the witch will go first, then the PEF maker, but the cowboy can't activate as he only REP 3

The witch moves around to the side of the building & draws line of sight on me so an insight test, which she wins & casts a damage spell, now as far as I can work it out once the spell is cast it an auto hit, so a damage roll is rolled & its a 6 obviously dead result.

I decided I try out the stat power rule & get 5 passes, sometimes its good to be able to roll one's :)

so I'm not dead nor am I out of the fight but I do have to duck back into the woods.

That's were I left it & have to say it enjoyed it & can see why people like the game & for playing solo it really ticks a lot of the box's for me.
Now tbh been mainly a solo gamer I don't get to hung up on rules as I'll just interpret then as I see fit to suits what is going on but I do like if I can to know how they work, I know you lot are not great at paying attention while looking at models ;) so to make things easier for you I'll re-post the questions below  :)

1) How do you check if there's anyone in the building, is it the same as resolving a PEF ?
2) Can you move fast when entering or exiting a building ?
3) There's a friend or foe table should I have rolled on that when resolving a PEF or is it only for PEF's inside buildings ?
4) If I've moved fast after the first time I've fired in a shot out do I still carry the the penalty, eg  if I'd got an 9 result again would I still count as having moved fast & missed ?
5) Is it only buildings & woods that count as cover ? or would the likes of a wall or a barrel count ?
6) If you've already rolled to find how many models the PEF was & rolled to see what it is & then have to go to another table do you just roll to get REP of what you've already got ?
7) Is a model only active on their turn.
8) This has to do with what I was talking about at the start & is part of what coasted the confusing, when you trigger an insight it says the side that triggered it can move it models an extra 2" for free, does this mean only the group that triggered it or all of the models on that side.
9) If the witch had failed to cast the spell would I have taken a shot at test.
10) In the woods I 'd come into line of sight with the cowboy who can't activate this turn & it's not my turn so would there still be an in sight test.

My thanks in advance for any help you can give me in answering the questions & as always my thanks for dropping :)

Chapter 10 Lost

28th of July

As we set off this day the mood that hung over our party (now consisting of Taylor, The Colonel, two Askaris & three Bearers & myself) was very grim, if this day is to bring my death then I will welcome it.

The Colonel is now leading the way & while he is very confident that we'll find away through I'm less sure, Taylor seem to have falling into a black pit of despair blaming himself for all that has happened, as we trod along the words of Akmid Khan repeat themselves over & over again in my head, Africa is a very dangerous place.

The Colonel did manage to hunt some food today so at least we'll all eat, but I do so out of necessity more then anything else.

29th of July
More of those frightful drums in the night, our situation has still not changed & we're still lost, Taylor's mood has lifted a little & he tries to offer me words of comfort, but while it pleases me to see an improvement in his spirits I can find little comfort in his words.

Again The Colonel was successful in hunting more food & tells me he is 100% sure we shall leave the mountains in the morn.

31st of July
True to his word The Colonel has lead us out of these God forsaking mountains & the mood of the whole party has lifted, but it was not to be-lifted for long as once more we came under attack.

This time they came upon us silently & the first we knew of it was when two of our Bearers fell.

Again we split trying to get them in a cross-fire, but to your dismay they also split attacking both groups.

Our first volley of fire seen a Askaris cut one of them down.

Just as they reach my group another one went down under your fire,

but then they were on us forcing us to fight them at close quarters.

The on-sloth was brutal &

an Askaris lost his life leaving the Colonel to stand alone..

Over confident one of the assailants turn for our group; leaving two of his chumps to fight The Colonel

 This was to prove their undoing, as The Colonel cut down one,

while the Askaris with us did for the one as he rush toward us,

thankfully this was enough to make them turn & flee.
After the burial for our comrade's we headed on till we came to the banks of a river where we set up camp for the night, while The Colonel went to hunt returning with a couple of rabbits, we bed down once again at the end of a day that has seen yet more bloodshed & lost of life.

30th of July
We wake to see the land covered in a heavy fog that covered the ground about us in a blanket of white & persisted to last most of the day, late into the afternoon the last of the fog cleared but as it was so late in the day we stayed put, our hunt for food was unsuccessful.

31st of July
Alas once again our numbers are depleted with the passing of our last remain Askaris in the night & one of our Bearers missing, once more we buried another member of our party before heading off in a Northerly direction, we now number just four.

1st of August
My hopes that a change in months would bring a change in our fortune were soon dashed, we came under attack once more but this time not by natives but by a group lead by the heartless Akmid Khan, who must have been trailing us waiting for his moment to strike.

We ran for cover as they peppered us with shots,

on reaching cover we turned to face them as they advanced towards us.

Unbeknownst to us there was a Leopard in the undergrowth,

quick as lightning he was on our Bearer, out gunned & with the Leopard close at hand we made to run.

It was then that The Colonel lost his life, shot in the back by the cowards who we turned to face, I can still hear Khan's voice now as he called out" Send over Miss Feeney, Taylor & I'll have one of my men lead you to safety.
"Never" came Taylor's reply" I intend to see you hang for the murder of Colonel Fairweather"
Khan"Come now Taylor, we both know that with no one to guide you that you'll will both die out here"
Whispering Taylor" Run Connie I'll put a shoot at then before following"
"No" was my reply
Taylor"Connie please now it's the only hope we have to escape"

As I turned & ran Taylor let off one last shoot before following me, we soon disappeared into the welcoming arms of the jungle, running as fast as we could.

Lost & alone & with no food we lay down that night with nothing but the jungle for cover.

3rd of August
With little hope we press on still heading North, but weary from lack of food our progress is slow.
If these are to be my last days on earth I couldn't think of anyone I want to be with more then Taylor, at some time in the afternoon we came across 3 Bearers & though unable to communicate with them beyond a few simple signs it gives us hope that they might know which way to go.

4th of August
We are heading yet into another mountain range I can only hope that we can make our way through easier then the last ones, there was once again more drums in the night & one of the three Bearers that joined us is gone.With out food we have not the strength to travel more then a few hours a day.

5th of August
Entry by Taylor Davies
I make this entry in the hope that someone will find it.
I can not but feel myself to blame for all that has befalling us, if only I'd been stronger & refused to let my beloved Connie come along, but alas I could never refuse her.
We awoke to find that one of the Bearers was dead, it seems lack of food & fatigue had done for the poor follow,  after covering up his body as best we could  pushed on, how far we have traveled or how close we are to the Way-station I've no way of knowing, I know only that I cling to this book as I cling to the last of my life.

We'd not gone far when once more we were attacked, to weak to run both Connie & myself turned to face our attackers While the Bearer took off at what could only be called a slow trot.

All to quickly they closed the ground & were on us.

In no fit state to fight we were overwhelm in no time, a spear stabbing though both my side  & left leg be-felled me.

With me lying on the ground & unable to put up anymore resistance & the Bearer having fled the savages gadder around Connie, but they seemed not to want to harm her, but instead started grabbing at her (it is at this point Connie dropped her diary) & then  bound her hands

before taking off with her.

My dying hope is that my remains are found along with this dairy before to long & that Connie can be saved from a faith that I dare not imaging.

                                                                     THE END

Cut
Designer's note, For theses last three chapters instead of me just telling the tale I played out an adventure in Jimland & have to say it took the story in a direction I don't think I could ever had imagined, but one thing I decided way back dear readers was that if I play out a game I tell the tale on how the dice fall regardless of the outcome, I might change some of the facts of what happen to try to improve the story, someone dying of hunger after one day is not very realistic.

So after a prelude & ten chapters the story comes to an end, I'll finish by saying this is the first time I've ever done a story like this & have really enjoyed doing so & hope that those of you who have read it enjoyed it.

As always my thanks for dropping in & if you'd care to be a film critic your comments would be welcomed :) 





   

Movie Tone News September 2018

A real mixed bag for this month's news, the makeup department should have had a bigger out put but, did I ever mention I don't like painting ? :)

So where to start ? I guest I'll start with the odd looking picture above a shoebox, wtf Frank you ask ? well it's a little idea that's been inside my head for a long time, so the props department was set to work on taking it from there to reality.

So how to explain this so that you guys don't think I'm even nuttier then you already thing I am ? well its all to do with sets, as you guys know some times I play out games to make movies & sometimes I just tell a story, in doing the later sometimes I need a whole table top set up & some times I just need a small area, just like in real movies.
Right I see the light is starting to dawn on you, so if you haven't clicked off by now we'll begin :)

After clearing the entrance the two Archaeologist   made their way down a dark & musty passage way, there was something odd about this tomb, at the end of it beside a big pair of bronze door were three stone tablets, one had a face on it, one had a scarab & the other a scorpion & all three had hieroglyphs.

The first tablet told of the person who's tomb it was, the second one told of how the scarab held sway over the remains & not to pass him, the third told of the death that would be unleashed if the entombed be awoken.

Ok you get the picture so here's some more.

I'll add a few WIP pictures below, but this set I think can be used in a lot of different ways, be it set up as a room in a manor house or the resting place of a vampire as he/she is hunted down by would be slayers.

I have done some work on the Western project but I'm finding the scale difference between the Black Scorpion models & the Foundry one's to be more of a problem then I first thought it would be, anyway I'll cover that at another time but for now here's Jesse & Frank James both mounted & unmounted.

In the picture above because of the way Frank's horse (left) is modeled I added some of that wispy stuff to look like it's dust, this was the only way I could get it to work on a clear base, but I like the effect so will probably to the same with all horse's.
What I really like about these Foundry models is the fact that you get them mounted & unmounted but I'd guess their old sculpts & are not as good as the Black Scorpion's Tombstone models, seen in last months news.

Also on the Western front, when I started this project my plan was to go with 4 Ground buildings, the reasons been they have good detail & they're repainted but, well there's always a but right ? the first thing about using them is my town will look very similar to lots of others that's not something I like, second is Western towns are made mostly of wooden buildings & I'm a carpenter :) so I rethought about it & given the price of buying them against me building them added to the above I reckon why not build my own, here some WIP pictures of the first building,which is also in the picture above.

I used a cork sub frame & then clad it with timber, as I don't tend to use the inside of building this is not a problem.

What is a problem is me trying to do the sign writing but I'm sure I'll get there.

It has progress a bit more as seen in the picture with Jesse & Frank above since I took the picture's but the sign writing still hasn't been mastered :(
In other news NWG was on last Saturday so I headed down to Wicklow for a while, this event was all 40K something that these days I've no real interest in but its always good to see some old friends & I did manage to get in a demo game of Warlords Doctor who which was cool.

The forth Doctor Tom Baker with K9 in tow

The route of all the trouble some great great great Auntie of the Doctor's

My force the Cyber-men

 & who better then to cause all this trouble then the Daleks.
Late news before I go, well you only ever get to see these things when its late right :)

Well that's it from this months news, so its a goodnight from me & a Goodnight from him, as always my thanks for dropping in & if you'd care to leave a comment it would be welcomed :)

The pins you see in the doors are used so they can swing open or closed :)