Cyberpunk Eldar Squad

One of my vague projects has been a team of eldar mercenaries, painted and converted in a vaguely cyberpunk style. I originally made these guys to use in games of Hardwired, and I've enlarged the team over the last couple of years. With the exception of the drones, which are old GW eldar, the team are based on Privateer Press Scyrah elves, with various conversions to make them more futuristic.

This week, I finally finished the last member of the team (for now...), a rather crazy-looking guy with a sword. I thought that he looked vaguely cyberpunk - at least, like the elf version of one of those tall thin blokes I used to see brandishing glowsticks at the local goth club. I reckon every team has a loony like this: he's probably psychic, or can turn invisible, or something like that.

So, that means that the team is finished. For once, I managed to get some half-decent group shots out of my ropey camera.

Here are the three swordsmen:

Here is the IT department, consisting of an engineer and his two robot friends:

And here is the more normal part of the group - well, heavily armed, anyhow:

Heavy support is provided by this jolly fellow:

And here's the whole team, showing what expert assassins they are by, er, posing for a photo:

Random Futuristic Generator Thing

A quick and fairly odd one, this.

I found an old ink cartridge for a printer lying around. I stuck it to a plasticard base and added some odds and ends from the bits box, including a TT Combat resin computer terminal, a spare base and a sigmarine shield.

Then it got some paint.

I think it's some kind of generator, which is my default answer to explain strange bits of tech like this. The posters came from a printable sheet that was on the Games Workshop website for a while.

Hardwired 2 - Redneck Rescue!

Far out in the wastelands, surrounded by ruins and damaged cars, there stands an old gas station. One of our science team has set up a base in the garage, bringing in salvaged items from the wastes for repair. However, jealous yokels have captured her, potentially for dinner. As smoke from the redneck cannibals' cooking fire darkens the air, the alien overlords of the Conglomerate send out their minions to snatch the researcher and her data. An elite team assembles to rescue the researcher and bring her back home, before she falls into the wrong hands...

Yes, it's Hardwired again! This time, I played one of the other missions in the rulebook, namely the Seraph Protocol Mission. There were three objectives: kill the guards (in this case, the marauding yokels), disable the researcher's implanted cortex bomb (in this case, probably a stick of dynamite in a bucket) and usher her off the far side of the board.

The team assembled at one side of the board. Far away, their target stood between two guards.

It wasn't going to be easy getting her out of danger.

But actually, it was. The two thugs hit the ground in the first turn's shooting, and the team's hacker swiftly disabled the crude bomb. However, the enemy were gathering...

So the team ducked inside the gas station and took up positions.

A horde of thugs rushed the side of the gas station, looking to capture the flank and the priceless moonshine still inside.

And a team of heavily-armoured alien soldiers burst onto the scene, attacking from the front!

The team came out with guns blazing. The entire mob of enemies was cut down with three grenades and some vicious shooting. The team's medic sustained a wound but thankfully was able to patch himself up. Seeing her chance, the researcher fled off the table, and the mission was a success! The heroes settled down to enjoy the treasure trove of salvaged junk, and to make the most of the moonshine still.

This was another fast, enjoyable game using the Hardwired rules. As before, the game gets much, much harder as it goes on, as enemies pour into the area. It's frantic stuff, and I think I might have forgotten a couple of rules - but I forgot them equally, so the game remained as fair as ever. On the Give 'Em Lead blog, Maj Guiscard suggested making cards for the various types of agent - if I do much more Hardwired, I might give this a try.

Hardwired is built for one sort of game, bascially, but it might be interesting to try something a bit different. Making all the enemies medium-tough, but only giving them close combat weapons, might lead to an interesting Starship Troopers-type game. At any rate, it's an easy and enjoyable set of single-player rules, provided that you're prepared to improvise a little.

Elite Soldiers For Hardwired

A while ago, I painted up some old Sedition Wars models to function as soldiers for the cyberpunk game Hardwired. In Hardwired, successively tougher waves of baddies swarm onto the streets as the game goes on, and it made sense to make some larger troopers to support the rather scrawny little Sedition Wars men.

I bought a sprue of plastic Algoryn soldiers from Warlord Games' Beyond The Gates Of Antares. They're not the greatest of sculpts, but they are big and bulky, and have the sort of smooth, shaped armour that fits both the Sedition men and the cyberpunk look in general. As per their smaller comrades, I sprayed them white and applied Black Templar contrast paint.

It's not terribly subtle and it won't win any prizes, but it looks fine, and it works. Here's one of the new heavies next to a Seditioner.

I've had some other Algoryn metal models lying around for about a year, which I purchased in a sale. I took the chance to paint them up with the contrast paint. These are the bodyguards for an officer, who I'd use as a corporate or alien commander. They're clearly not human, and I painted them green, which does make them look slightly like old Doctor Who villains, or unusually fascist sprouts.

I really like the poses, especially the guard checking her earpiece. And here's the boss:

Anyway, I will leave you with a bonus photo of the Anata No Warehouse, a Japanese arcade modelled on the old Kowloon Walled City. This is how I imagine the game would look!

Sedition Wars Troopers - An Experiment With Contrast Paint

Ages ago, I bought a game called Sedition Wars: Battle for Alabaster. It was made by Studio McVey and was a bit like the old Advanced Space Crusade, in that each side had about twenty miniatures and fought a battle on a map with squares. Unfortunately, the rules were so complex and badly explained that it was nearly unplayable. The models were pretty decent, though.

I thought I'd have a try at painting a batch of the good guys (basically, humans in space armour) with GW's contrast paints. The main reason for this is that the models can be largely one colour and have plenty of bumps and creases in their outfits where the contrast paint could "catch". I used Black Templar, which is the standard black colour, over a simple white undercoat. I painted ten models.

The contrast paint works rather well on the bumpy armour, although the end result isn't black really as much as a dark green-grey. It reminds me of the Alien's skin. I added some colour with the visors (which have come out a bit too luridly blue for my tastes), red shoulder pads and a stripe of orange on each gun, presumably to indicate glowing power levels of some kind. The orange was also done with contrast paint over white, and I think it works well.

The contrast paint isn't perfect by a long way, and does create slightly odd shading in some places. But it looks decent, especially given the length of time it took to do. I think these guys will work well as henchmen and enforcers for some kind of cyberpunk corporation.

Cross-Town Arms Traffick - A Game of Hardwired

Things had gone moderately well this night. On the plus side, the team had stolen a disk of vital data from a heavily-guarded corporate lab. On the minus side, they'd driven into a bollard on the way out. Their ute was bust, and the crew now faced the city on foot.

"Yeah, mate, it's not going to be cheap to fix this."

If they were going to escape, they'd need a ride. And right now, the only working vehicle was the large yellow lorry on the far side of the town, whose hazard stripes and interesting odour suggested that it was some kind of dustcart. Time to get moving.

In the first turn, the heroes advanced into the town. Everything seemed quiet but, as they entered, a band of armed scientists burst onto the scene, furious about the loss of their data.

"We're not just mad scientists, we're bloody furious scientists."

In the next round, the team noticed the vengeful scientists approaching, and hurried through the streets, using the massive air purifier in the centre and the nearby walkways for cover. Three more scientists arrived, intent on investigating the effects of gunfire on the team, and three genestealer cultists showed up at the rear of the board, sensing that something was going on which might involve snarling and hitting.

Suddenly, mayhem broke out! Seeing the three angry scholars readying their weapons, Gary Grey-Hair lobbed a grenade at them. The explosion killed two of the mad scientists, and Gary quickly used his Ronin skills to pick off the third with his rifle. But the crew's triumph was short-lived. Four long-coated agents stepped over the bodies of the slain, hefting powerful machine guns. The Syndicate had arrived!

Turn four was upon us. The team rushed forward and Gary Grey-Hair went berserk. Together with Yves Yellow-Hair, he stormed into the local market, past a recruiting booth where the Church of Xenology had set up shop. Throwing his second, and final, grenade, he took out three more thugs. Not content with this rampage, Gary shot a fourth.

"Solve this for X, science-bitches!"

The survivors hit the deck and returned fire. In moments, both Gary and Yves were hit, the bullets slamming through their armour. Rose Red-Hair dashed forward to assist, but was caught in the crossfire and wounded too. Now each of Rose, Gary and Yves only had two dice to roll each turn instead of three, making them significantly weaker. At least their ride was in sight - but Billie Blue-Hair lagged dangerously behind.

Turn five began with the squad making a final desperate sprint for the lorry. Yves, Rose and Gary reached the truck and dived into the armoured cab, safe from harm. But Billie was out of range. She'd never make it in time. Desperately, she threw herself over the bar of the local hostelry and took cover as the shells rained down.

And rain down they did. The Syndicate's finest (or worst) did their utmost to kill Billie, firing off twelve shots. Several got through the cover, and one or two penetrated Billie's armour but, thanks to her Ronin abilities, she was able to avoid taking any damage. Phew!

"I'LL TAKE YOU ALL ON!"

Enemies were closing in from all sides now: serious troopers against whom the crew wouldn't have a chance. Billie leaped out of cover and dashed to the lorry. Scrambling on board, the team zoomed off (gradually) in their new ride. What they lacked in glamour they made up for in non-deadness!

They had escaped. The team stopped their vehicle to pose for a celebratory picture.

Ready to take out the trash.

*

So, that was my first game of Hardwired. I really played it to get the hang of the system and, frankly, I think it's pretty good. For a six-turn game using fairly basic rules, it flowed smoothly and had plenty of excitement.

The system is geared to making each turn harder than the last, and it does it well. To begin with, I thought it would be a doddle, but the arrival of the tougher minions in Turn Three, who not only can do two actions per turn but do them better than the previous wave, is a real notching-up of difficulty. Similarly, the wounds system is very effective in representing damage: if you take one wound, you lose your d10. Two wounds and you lost your d8. Your troops degrade in quality pretty quickly.

There were several points where I wondered how all the rules meshed together. I couldn't work out what the different sorts of grenade did, so I just treated it as a standard attack. Overall, though, I think it flows very smoothly and feel surprisingly convincing, despite the lack of complex rules (or maybe because of it).

I don't know how much replayability you'd get from Hardwired, especially given that the increasing waves of villains will make the opposition feel a bit samey no matter how you mix the game up. However, it is fun and provides for some quick, exciting play. It would be interesting to see how some of the more exotic elements, such as psychics and drones, affect the basic game.

Overall, it's a decent product. The rulebook is slightly rough and ready, and the rules are perhaps a little on the basic side, but that's to be expected. I think it was well worth the money I spent and I'd recommend it to anyone else looking for a fast solo game.

A Team For Hardwired

So, the books for Perilous Dark and Hardwired have arrived. Perilous Dark looks more complex, so it makes sense to start with Hardwired. To play Hardwired, you need a small group of skilled operatives, who'll be facing off against a horde of minions. It's a dirty job, and it's going to need experts. Let's have a look at my crew of stone-cold killers, each of whom is as ruthless as a ninja whose just been dumped by his girlfriend. Who was called Ruth.

Anyone remember this?

Rose Red-Hair (these are code names, obviously, else it would be silly) is a Razor, ie a close combat specialist. This is inevitable in cyberpunk: after all, what does modern technology matter when you've got a fancy wetsuit and a samurai sword?

Gary Grey-Hair is a Ronin, the sort of fuddy old traditionalist who thinks that gunfights are won with guns. Oh well, each to his own. His cautious approach and use of ranged weaponry has saved him many times. The question is, what about this time?

Billie Blue-Hair is another Ronin. She's a calm, calculating mercenary, as cold as a dead penguin, and is the most dangerous person to wear goggles with a poncho since the Man With No Name went swimming.

Finally, we've got a man with yellow hair. Damn, what name alliterates with "yellow"? Yves! But that's pronounced "Eaves". Eaves Yellow-Hair doesn't work. I know - we'll use the French version. Good thinking, Toby!

So, Yves Cheveaux-Jaunes is the fourth member of the crew. He's a Sawbones, which is a Medic for you old types stuck in the 2090s. His main skill comes from being to enhance the others - and hopefully stick them together once they've been shot full of holes. He also has a spanner and a blanket.

*

So, that's my crew of subultimate badasses. Let's talk briefly - very briefly - about the game mechanic. Every turn, a model can do three things (you get a standard move for free). To do a thing, you need to roll 4 or more. The twist is that you get three dice - a d.6, a d.8 and a d.10 - and can only allocate one dice to each roll. In other words, you need to decide which activity you want to succeed the most.

The different character types are very similar, but each has a different specialty. The specialty allows the model a re-roll in that area. So, a Razor (the close combat chap) gets a re-roll when fighting up close. The Ronin (the marksman) gets a re-roll when shooting. And so on.

The enemy come in waves, depending on how far through the game we are. To begin with, they're pretty feeble, but as it goes on, tougher and tougher reinforcements arrive. So the plan is to get in, get out and hopefully not get killed. Quickly.

It sounds simple. It won't be.