De-Mekton-i-fied.

Mekton Zero Kickstarter refund from R. Talsorian Games received and promptly spent on Copplestone minis. Should have done that in the first place.

Mekton Zero - Support Revoked

Lisa Pondsmith sent an email to backers offering a full refund of their Kickstarter pledge yesterday.

I jumped at the chance. Sent my request in as soon as I got home.

Honestly I wan't invested much in this Kickstarter (unlike Dust Tactics) - I greatly reduced my initial pledge during the Kickstarter because it was not managed, what I would call, well.

Here we are over two years latter - I've received nothing of what was supposed to be delivered in December of 2013. No dice. No pdf. No book. Apparently trying to use an outdated edition of Quark has caused them to be unable to deliver on the prime product for two years. Communication has been a fiasco... it was delegated to a small succession of backers, none of whom were consistent, and who had nothing to say from the Pondsmiths. No mention of what was delaying the book for over 18 months. R. Talsorian didn't take control of communication for as long. There have been no updates on the miniatures or other supporting products. I might add that the info on Cyberpunk 2077 has been as nonexistent these two past years; perhaps the idea is not a dark future game, but a dark present one?

I've been an R. Talsorian customer for most of my life. For years I ONLY played Interlock games (there were even Star Trek conversion I made for Interlock and Fuzion). I own every edition of Mekton and Cyberpunk. Every single one. Indeed I am missing only one Cyberpunk 2020 supplement.

I wish them luck - that they can get their act together. But I will never patronize that company again.

Modern Armor for "Tanks!" by Armourfast

Playing "Tanks!" by Armourfast with my daughter, the only problem is Armourfast kits are rare, and thus expensive in Japan, so we are using Arii, Tamiya, and Academy motorized 1/48 scale tanks.

I think that's cool, but they are all post-WW2 designs; so here we have some modern tank stats for "Tanks!" that I whipped up.

M48A2 - Armour 4 - Gun 5 - Speed 3 - Range 4/6
M48A3 - Armour 4 - Gun 5 - Speed 4 - Range 4/6

T55 - Armour 4 - Gun 5 - Speed 4 - Range 4/6

M60A1 - Armour 4 - Gun 5 - Speed 3 - Range 4/6

M60A2 - Armour 4 - Gun 5 - Speed 3 - Range 3/4 (cannon; missile range 4/6)

T72 - Armour 5 - Gun 5 - Speed 4 - Range 4 - Range 4/6

Type 74 - Armour 4 - Gun 5 - Speed 4 - Range 4/6

M1 - Armour 5 - Gun 5 - Speed 5 - Range 4/6

M1A1 - Armour 5 - Gun 6 - Speed 5 - Range 4/6

Type 90 - Armour 5 - Gun 6 - Speed 5 - Range 4/6

Type 10 - Armour 5 - Gun 6 - Speed 5 - Range 4/6

(Roughly) 28mm Scale Tram and Bendy Bus

So I stopped at Toys-R-Us today on the way home from Kanazawa. Came across two roughly game scale vehicles in the FastLane isle. 

First up is the Mercedes-Benz Bendy Bus. I's about 58mm wide and 75mm to the roof... I think it looks a bit big, but if I re-size the wheels down a bit, I think it will ride at a better height and mesh much better with the 1/50 scale cars and 1/48 armor I use. Have to do something about the slight jackknife at the joint too,,, perhaps some weights.



Next up is the City Tram, it is a bit larger... about 80mm to the roof, but only 50mm wide. The doors are big, but perhaps if I mod it just a bit as a Subway/El and use a platform... There are some good game size trains in japan, but each car runs twice what this whole thing cost.

Both toys are shown with a larger 28mm Copplestone Castings trooper standing alongside, and a true 28mm EM4 (ex-Grenadier FW) trooper in the doorway. both are on plastic Reaper bases, and still fit in the doorways, which is a nice thing.

I actually did some hobby stuff.

First vacation day in the new house... no kids, no wife... went to the Japan Motorcar Museum and shot about 400 photos of cars before my battery gave out, picked up a couple 1/48 scale Fiats in the gift shop... lunch, home improvement store for washers, and other odds and ends... then I actually did something directly game related:

Three cars (2 previously mentioned diecast Fiat 500F's, and one plastic BMW 7 series) taken apart, bodies abraded and primed; 27 washers glued into 27 Reaper plastic round bases; 5 EM4/ex-Grenadier Future Warriors minis, 2 Copplestone Castings Future Wars minis, 4 Northstar Yakuza Gangsters minis, and one Empress Afghan Insurgent mini, cleaned, based and primed.

I actually did some hobby stuff today. first time in years.

Now for some Sons of Anarchy before they get home...

Qumari Police Emblem

With a recent purchase of Force on Force, and some lovely miniatures and vehicles from Empress currently whisking their way to me as I type, I've decided to set my Middle East scenarios around the Sultanate of Qumar. Qumar, a key U.S. allied nation north of the Straight or Hormuz, has a somewhat problematic human rights record and a growing insurrection.

I've started binge-watching all the West Wing episodes featuring Qumar to glean as much of it as I can. I'm fairly certain that it is an Arabic speaking nation rather than Farsi, despite being carved from what in our world is Southern Iran (Al No'mari played Abdul Ibn Shareef, and spoke to President Bartlett in what can be assumed to be his native tongue, I have yet to check with someone more knowledgeable about whether that was Arabic or Farsi, but given No'mari's heritage, Arabic seems more likely). Assuming the Arabic language, and reflecting Qumar's status as a former British Protectorate, this is my first draft of the Royal Police insignia for the police car doors (RQP cars will look like a cross between Kuwaiti Traffic Police and Iraqi Police designs).

The Library Swelleth

Two more for the library... which to read first... okay, we all know I need the Dick first.

Also: who else loves drop down title menus?

Building the Library

My first four purchases from Folio Society. To give my Japan-based library (and the new house) some literary cred.

Making modifications to 'the only fantasy world map you'll ever need' because I needed more Africa and Asia. Still debating where to put my Skraelings... in a pocket in the moutains of what would be Asia, or off the map to the west.

Originals by EotBeholder:

Fantastic Heraldry

Quite busy with the move. All hobby supplies (save one little EM4 mini sitting by the computer) have been packed and mostly transported. Even the computer is gone... I type now on an old laptop. Going to be like this for a while, until summer when the house is complete, and we've unpacked.

Until then, I've been worldbuilding the old fashioned way... in spiral notebooks. Getting ideas together in anticipation of my kids playing D&D...

So, since I have a moment, here is what I've been working on:

Fantasy World Heraldry Guidelines (WIP)

Under the Imperial system there were seven castes; commoners, yeomanry, gentry, peerage, nobility, royalty, sovereignty (listed in ascending order).

Commoners were not granted, and not permitted, arms of their own.

Yeomanry were permitted a simple arms of 3 complexity points. Each color, charge, field division, and non-standard line was worth one point. Thus, upon entrance to a military order, a new knight was granted arms, typically in the Order's colors, featuring a single charge, division, or ordinary. For example: Argent, a cross sable (3 points = 2 colors + 1 cross).

Gentry. Should an exceptional knight be awarded a holding, he or she was authorized an additional point of complexity (4 points total). In this case our knight added an ordinary: chief sable. The most common modification was to add a line of division and countercharge.

Peerage. Attaining a position in the this caste was difficult, and those who attained it were awarded another TWO complexity point (6 points total). In the case of our knight, she has added three griffon heads, in a third color, to the chief; the number of heads is immaterial as the group is counted as a whole.

Nobility. Again as our knight advances in status, she is awarded the right to make her Arms more complex (7 points of complexity in all) as well as the right to use a bordure - in this case she has altered the line on the chief.

Royalty. Really getting up there now. Royals are permitted another point of complexity (total of 7 pts.) and the use of furs. Our knight has chosen to alter the field to ermine.

Sovereignty. The top level has no real limits on what they can or cannot do, however there are no known examples of an arms bearing more than eight points of complexity - represented here in with a bordure or.

Of course the addition of complexity was a privilege not a requirement, and there were humble knight-kings who bore simple arms of three complexity points.

Mars Attacks Truck Kitbash

Getting ready for a big move. Much packing, few supplies readily available... I did however start kit-bashing one of my Mantic Mars Attacks trucks.

Looking at a wheel swap and covered bed from a Chinese 1/55 diecast of a Russian Kraz 6x6. Think I might magnetize the bed to allow payload swaps (tanker, SAM missile launcher etc.).

I still need to stretch the frame, a bit in the rear wheel well to accommodate the bigger tires, but mostly aft of the mud flaps to align the rear bumper with the tailgate - might slap a spare tire up in that space.