Spy-Fi and Modern Military Widget

Came across this little generator today. Very useful in generating codenames for operations and projects, be they espionage, or military actions; think Operation Gothic Serpent, or Project Blue Book... now you can have Operation Field Gazelle and Project Orange Drought.

I give you:

Project Codename.

Cthulhu 2010: Japan Now

Filling in some back posts from my time locked out. Originally posted on my supersecret Facebook page.

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Call of Cthulhu TRPG (Japanese edition): CTHULHU 2010 - BRP Japan Now

I found the TRPG section of my local bookstore. TRPG being Tabletalk Roleplaying Game to differentiate from RPG video games.

This is a Japanese supplement written by Japanese staff - making it FAR, FAR, FAR better than Secrets of Japan - which f-ing sucked (it is the only CoC book I've ever gotten rid of). 2010 includes Japanese mythos monsters that aren't Godzilla, a chapter on Japanese weapons, Japanese police, investigators, timeline, cults (Japan has tons), and Japanese adventures.

Slowly the translations will begin. Then there are other Japan focused CoC books to do... Cthulhu Cults Now, Cthulu to Teikoku (20s/30s Japan) and, wait for it: Hiezan Enjyo (Burning Mountain) a Sengoku period supplement. Deep ones and samurai... oh my.

Wargaming Survey

This survey made the rounds on many of the blogs I follow, several months back. I started a response then but never got around to posting it. It's been sitting in my draft folder. Time to fix that.

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1. Favourite Wargaming period and why?

28mm (at eye level) near future. Always drawn to near future sci fi & technothrillers. Cyberpunk 2020 was my maturation into gaming; It's where I really began to write my own stuff, tweaked rules and really made the games my own. Because of that, near future (modern/cyberpunk-post-apocalyptic) is my favorite place to play.

2. Next period, money no object?
Star Trek based sci-fi. Real Star Trek not that crappy J.J. Abrams shlock. But the whole shebang - Original Series to Star Trek: Online. Have to be in 28mm of course.

3. Favourite 5 films?

Doomsday - all the fun of Road Warrior, Escape From New York and 28 Days Later, but crammed into Rhona Mitra's tight pants.  
Miller's Crossing - Best period gangster movie ever. Finney and Byrne are epic in this movie.
Terminator - not only is this a fun action/horror/sci-fi flick - it is also a superbly crafted film. Sad that Cameron's editorial eye has weakened over the years.
Apocalypse Now - best Vietnam themed movie.
Silverado - while I generally prefer spaghetti westerns, this is probably the best western I've ever seen. The only movie I've ever actually seen someone "cowboy up" in.

At least for the moment - this list is in somewhat of a constant state of flux: Often including Hardboiled, Sono Otoko Kyobo ni Tsuki, Run Lola Run, The Wrath of Khan... etc.

4. Favourite 5 TV series?

Max Headroom - far before it's time.
The Wire - never thought I'd like a series more than Homicide...
The Adventures of Brisco County Jr. - no comment needed - perfection.
Star Trek: The Next Generation - the high water mark of the franchise.
The Venture Brothers or Flight of the Conchords - it's like something I would create myself - if I was that creative.

5. Favourite book and author? 
Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets - David Simon
That's my favorite book, but my favorite author is probably Lovecraft.

6. Greatest General? Can’t count yourself!!
Oda Nobunaga - The man neutralized a province of ninja to dominate the country. Show me one other general who has done that.

7. Favourite Wargames rules?
Combat Zone. Rules made in a spirit in direct opposition to Games Workshop philosophy.  Foundry's Street Violence and The Rules With No Name are also favorites.

8. Favourite Sport and team?
Japanese survival games (airsoft)... Hamamatsu J's Unit   (><)v 

9. If you had a only use once time machine, when and where would you go?
October 1966 and cock block J.J. Abram's dad.

10. Last meal on Death Row?
Japanese Korean-style barbeque with kimchi and Kirin. The kind you get in Japan not Korea - it's like pizza in New York versus Rome.

11. Fantasy relationship and why?

Monica Bellucci. Have you seen Monica Bellucci? Look at Monica Bellucci and be happy...

12. If your life were a movie, who would play you?
Michael Fassbender is almost cool and handsome enough.

13. Favourite Comic Superhero?

Grey. He was a complete badass before he died and they made him into a flying weaponized cyborg.

14. Favourite Military quote?
"A sucking chest wound is nature's way of telling you to slow down. "

15. Historical destination to visit?
Someplace old I suppose. 

16. Biggest Wargaming regret?
Buying a Warhammer starting set at a GW shop in 1999; Oh what I could have done with that money, that didn't suck.

17. Favourite Fantasy job?
Making movies.

18. Favourite Song Top 5?

London Calling - The Clash
Girl U Want - DEVO
Immigraniada (We Comin' Rougher) - Gogol Bordello
Bullets - Archive
National Anthem of the Soviet Union - Sergei Mikhalkov

19. Favourite Wargaming Moment?
Naming all the soldiers in a German infantry squad after characters from Sesame Street.

20. The miserable Git question, what upsets you?
Conservative politics and J.J. Abrams' Star Trek.

Cyberpunk 2077 - Looking excellent.

Two months ago, CD Projekt Red dropped a teaser trailer for Cyberpunk 2077. With moving and life and all I haven't gotten to speaking on it until now.


It's a complete nerd-gasm. Chock full of references to the the pen-and-paper game (Network 54, Alt, Hammerman etc.). I am truly looking forward to this game, and the quality of the trailer leaves me very okay with waiting another two years.Cyberpunk is in good hands.

Speaking of hands... Maximum Mike (Pondsmith) was also featured in a CD Projekt Red video explaining Cyberpunk. It's also fantastic, a must watch.


I've read that Maximum Mike is working on developing a 4th edition of Cyberpunk to coincide with 2077. I truly hope this is true. Cyberpunk 203X (3rd ed.) was something of a misstep, not as bad as most make it out to be, but also not really worthy of succeeding CP2020. I truly hope that 4th edition is in the pipe, and that it is as excellent as 2077 promises to be.

Login Tabletalk RPG Series: Gundam Senki

Heh heh. So this is a Japanese RPG book, called a TRPG for 'tabletalk', as 'RPG' in Japanese is used almost exclusively for the videogame type. 

This here is a special one. This is the official MS Gundam RPG, using R. Talsorian Games Mekton Z rules. RTG, for those that don't know, was the company behind Cyberpunk 2020, my very favorite RPG. Mekton Z (pronounced 'zeta'), and thus Gundam Senki here, use the same system, Interlok.

Very cool. Not sure I'd have gotten it new, listed at ¥4800 in 1999) but my copy ran less than a quarter of that - and it still has the hex maps and fold-up counters!
 
So, the book is in Japanese of course, and rather difficult language (political, military, and gaming terms abound), but I now have official write-ups of the characters and mecha from the year one war! See, there's Amuro!

The book itself is about B4 sized and a very Japanese dust-jacketed softback. 336 pages, 123 pages of setting, 50 of rules, and the balance of NPC and mecha stats!

Cyberpunk NOW

R. Talsorian’s Cyberpunk 2020 was a watershed game for me.
At a comic book convention in 1991, I picked up a bootleg of Akira and Appleseed. This quickly lead to Cyberpunk SWAT gaming – powered by the only modern rules we had – Palladium. We’d been playing Palladium for a while in a Macross game (Robotech with all the Macek inspired crap stripped back out) and I grabbed Ninja’s & Superspies to use as a basis. Well, as anyone who’s ever played a Palladium game can tell you – the rules suck.  It embodies the worst of power gaming and is inconsistent.  Following an adventure where I’d emptied a 30rd mag from my M16 into a terrorist’s chest at close range, and a 30mm grenade… leaving the man wounded but still in the fight – we decided to look elsewhere.
Relating the adventure to some fellow (sadder and older) geeks, we were turned on to Cyberpunk 2020. I ordered a copy immediately.  It was the only thing I played for about 5 years and then it shared time with Star Trek gaming.
Eventually I fell out of Cyberpunk gaming… the late 90′s made a dystopian future seem improbable. Crime was down, economy was good.
Suffice it to say that the last decade has done much to validate the Cyberpunk premise.
And I have returned to Cyberpunk.  Last month we began a Cyberpunk game, two characters were generated using Interlock, but with an influx of players we switched to Savage Worlds in order to get down to playing.  The game is pretty much ad hoc and I’m still figuring out what exactly to do with it.  Do I stick with Savage Worlds, or do I Interlock up the new players and run Cyberpunk rules.  Very different play styles, CP is extremely deadly and a bit crunchy. Savage Worlds is rules light and cinematic.  Do I update the setting, the timeline? Cyberpunk play was set between 2013-2020. The way I see it I have three choices:

1. Play the Cyberpunk Setting as written – RetroDark Future
2. Advance the timeline adapt the tech (no faxes) to reflect modern cyberpunk a’la the new Total Recall, Red Faction, and Deus Ex.
3. Play modern cyberpunk, the Dark Future is now (or tomorrow) basically a darker version of today with emergent cybernetics (the Robocop option).

Of these three I’m drawn to the second two. I have lots of modern vehicles and minis, and many older cyberpunk minis (Copplestones, EM4 et cetera) lend themselves more to the Robocop style of cyberpunk than the universe of Infinity.  This does mean a bit of a drawdown in tech – basic cybernetics – full borgs very , very, very rare. Netrunning becomes more like hacking, the game ends up being Millennium’s End with cybertech like that in I Robot.  If I want to preserve those two aspects of the tech I need to advance the timeline and end up with a more sci-fi type universe  (Lockout, Total Recall, and Infinity).
If I go the Robocop option I can keep Saburo Arasaka… hmmm… I think that’s the ticket.

Guns for Federal Agents, Volume I: The FBI

Federal agents, both PC and NPC are part and parcel of the Delta Green campaign, and the most notable federal agency is the FBI.
This is a simplified list, intended to give a character flavor by identifying the most likely weapon issued to him or her, upon graduation from Quantico.

FIELD AGENTS
1974 to 1980 - Field agents are issued the S&W Model 10 with a 2.5″ barrel, chambered in .38 Special.
1981 to 1990 - Standard issue is the S&W Model 13 with a 3″ barrel, chambered in .357 Magnum.
1991 to 1992 - The S&W 1076, a 10mm Auto autoloader, is standard issue for all agents.
1993 to 1997 - Agents are given a choice between two 9mm Para autoloaders, the SIG-Sauer P226 and SIG-Sauer P228.
1998 to present - Agents may choose between two autoloaders in .40 S&W, The Glock G22 or Glock G23.

FBI SWAT
1974 to 1980 - S&W Model 19s with a 4″ barrel, chambered in .357 Magnum, are issued to SWAT-qualified agents.
1981 to 1990 - SWAT-qualified agents issued S&W Model 459 autoloaders in 9mm Parabellum.
1988 to 1997 - SWAT-qualified agents are issued 9mm Para SIG-Sauer P226 autoloaders.
1998 to present - SWAT-qualified agents are issued the Springfield Armory Bureau Model, a .45 ACP autoloader.

HRT TEAM
1983 to 1994 - HRT team members are issued the Novak Custom Hi-Power Mk II, 9mm Para autoloader based on FN Browning Hi-Power Mk II.
1995 to 1997 - HRT agents are issued the Les Baer Custom P14.45 SRP, .45 ACP autoloader, based on the Para Ordinance P14.45.
1998 to Present - HRT membes are issued the Springfield Armory Bureau Model, a .45 ACP autoloader.

PERSONALLY OWNED FIREARMS (POW)
Prior to 2007 the FBI has a well-developed POW policy, allowing agents to purchase and carry their own firearms, providing it met certain criteria.  SIG-Sauer and S&W (and Colt until the mid/late 1980s) were approved makes.  Revolvers needed to have a 2-4″ barrel and be of steel construction.

FBI LONG ARMS
Field agents may be issued one of several long arms, kept in the vehicle, to be used in more significant incidents.  These weapons include Remington 870 shotguns, Colt AR15A2 rifles and carbines, H&K MP5SF carbines (1989-1993) or H&K MP5/10SF carbine (from 1994).
SWAT-qualified agents are permitted to use automatic weapons, including: MP5 sub-machine guns (before 1994), MP5SD sub-machine guns, H&K Mp5/10 sub-machine guns (from 1994), Colt M16A2 assault carbines and assault rifles, Colt M-4 assault carbines (from 1998), H&K G3 battle rifles, Remington M40A1 and McMillan Model 87 sniper rifles, and Remington 870 shotguns.
HRT teams utilize the same long arms as the regional SWAT teams with the addition of H&K HK33E assault rifles, H&K PSG-1 and Barrett Model 82 sniper rifles.

Special Agent Murphy, FBI

So I was watching Dog Day Afternoon with my wife the day before last. I don’t think I had actually seen the whole thing before. Most certainly I never realized that Lance Henriksen was in it – but there I am Friday watching it and there he is splattering Sal’s grey matter all over the inside of the airport limo. This is by far the youngest I’ve seen Lance in anything:


So the post for today is a Savage Worlds weapons post inspired by Special Agent Murphy of the New York Field Office, circa 1975.

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Smith & Wesson Model 36 Chief’s Special

Caliber: .38 Special
Range: 10/20/40
Damage: 2d6
RoF: 1
Weight: 1.2lbs
Shots: 5rds
Cost: $200, Speedloader $8
Notes: AP1, Double-Action, Revolver
The Model 36 is a typical “snub-nosed” revolver seen in holsters of many plainclothes law enforcement officers.  Known as a “five-shot” among agents, it was an approved weapon for carry by the FBI until revolvers were finally disallowed in the mid-2000s. The stats above work for either the standard 1.875″ barrel or 3″ barrel versions.  The Model 36 was introduced by S&W in 1950, and is still in production.

Terrene Map – NW Continent

New group of players about to start a Castles & Crusades campaign. I’m looking forward to some old-school dungeon crawls (kill things, steal their stuff). While I don’t have an overarching theme for the campaign (other than “kill monsters, steal their stuff”), I have been plotting out a campaign map – which has tied into something I’ve been toying with for years.
I was living in Kaga when Ace Combat 5: Unsung War came out and I snatched it up and poured through it.  I really enjoyed the fictional world of “Strangreal” – and it struck me as a fantasy RPG world brought out of the mythic era into the modern age.  Since that time I’ve wanted to make something similar.  Now I have the chance.
The map above focuses on the pseudo-EuroAfrican continent.  In the Mythic Age the major powers will include a Teutonic empire, a Skraeling dominated wildland, and a Moorish/Spanish kingdom.

UPDATE – 17 JUNE 2012
Well, I killed the party 4 times, with goblins and two gnolls. The farthest they made it from their cell was room 5. Basically old school D&D had a certain Darwinian aspect to it – you rolled your character (including those 1st level HP) and if you died you rolled up a new one and he/she was found bound and gagged in the next room. But newbie RPGs are all “I like my character,” and eschew replacing the horribly weak, evolutionary dead-end, characters. Instead they just want you to give them more HPs. Yep, “give.” WTF?
Soooo Castles & Crusades was a bust, since the game was hosted at one of the players apartments, and he was particularly un-fond of D&D – in an effort to appease and find a better fit with the play-style of the group – we decided to return to our Delta Green/Realms of Cthulhu game.
Yes – D&D was too deadly so we are going to go with Cthulhu… I know.
Still this is cool for me – I started blogging to support my Delta Green campaign and that blog was expanded to become 10x28mm. It’s a nice return to home in a way. My host gets to shoot things (his request), most people have characters already, and I get to put them in mortal/preternatural danger on a regular basis.

State of DisUnion

So visitors to this blog (admittedly a very small group as I don’t think even my players pop in – so basically that means “me”) will notice that I really suck at keeping a blogging schedule.  I’m full of intention – “blog posts every Tuesday from now on” but always fall behind.  This was originally compounded by the fact that I would make separate blogs for different RPG projects… when a project was shelved the blog would go months (or years) without an update.  In my general effort to degooglfy my existence (screw your privacy agreement Google) I decided to combine the archives of my 6-7 Blogger blogs into this blog about a month or so ago.
And then I didn’t post anything for a while… I fixed some tags and reuploaded some pics that got lost in the transfer (though there is still more to fix) but that was it.
So what has been going on… well I have more interviews that don’t result in full-time employment. My son had his first birthday.  I’ve run a few Daring Tales of the Sprawl (Savage Worlds cyberpunk) games and played in a couple Marvel Super Heroes games. Been painting and collecting minis and vehicles.  Planning on a big life change in the next 6 months or so… big move back to the JPN.
At paint night I continue to start projects more than finish them – though 5 Copplestone scavengers and 7 Artizan/Foundry/Unknown western figs are waiting merely burnt grass flock. And a platoon of 12 Dust Tactics US Infantry are nearly finished painting close behind.  I still need to work on coming up with a paint scheme before I start laying color – the Copplestone troopers have been Simple Greened 3 or 4 times already as I start over – however I think I have their scheme figured now.
Purchases have been a lot of vehicles – several 1/50 Hotwheels G Machines as well as a few 1/50 diecasts from Solido, Jada and other manufactures to go with bigger scale minis I have.  I also got a number of Siku, Lledo, Jada and Majorette 1/55-ish pieces to complement my collection of more true-scale vehicles for 28mm.  Vehicle scale continues to be a multi approach deal – I pick up 1/55s as I see them and 1/50s as well.  50s I think look best with larger minis like Reapers and Victory Force, but the 55s are much better suited to most of my 28s – Foundry, Copplestone, EM4/Grenadier, Artizan, TAG etc.  I have abandoned 1/43 though – going so far as to sell of a number of my grossly large 1/43 Russian trucks and such.  Since Honorable Lead Boiler Suit has pulled the 40mm UltraModern line I really have no use for the 43s anymore. Of course Eric and Tony think 1/43 is right on – ’cause of course the average man’s chin should come up to the window sill of a VW Beetle…  Sorry guys – most cars roofs are between sternum and nipple height compared to me… my Jeep is chin height and even my wife can see over the roof of the Fit.  1/55 is the stuff.
Played the 4th episode of the SW cyberpunk game last night – it’s finally gelled into a cohesive setting of general cyberpunk rather than any specific adaptation. And up on the horizon may be a post-apocalyptic game.  With limited time left to game in the US, and other friends looking to play, a second project for off weeks seems a reasonable idea.  PA gaming has been a draw to me for a while and recently it seems that many of my friends are interested in it too.  Currently I’m thinking about game systems/setting…

1. D20 Modern: Post Apocalypse – love the setting rules – find D20 too rules heavy given the rather unrealistic feel (yeah I’m looking at you levels and hit points).
2. The Day After Ragnarok (Savage Worlds) – ’bout as cinematic (read: not-gritty) as D20 but way less rules dense.  The setting is interesting – Nazi conjure up a Norse Apocalypse that is only averted with a nuke.  It’s post apocalyptic 1940s by way of Robert E. Howard.  Pulp world torn asunder by the non-Euclidean corpse of the Midgard serpent draped over Europe and Africa, leaking chaos. Sadly most of my minis and cars are post period.
3. Hell on Earth Reloaded (Savage Worlds) – also easy to run.  Basically Deadlands moved into the future.  The Weird West has been turned into the Wasted West by supernatural/nuclear/mad science apocalypse.  Mutants, cultists, gunslingers, zombies – basically all you need in a world where the Civil War ended in a cold war between the Union and CSA. Andrew wants to play a Fist of the Northstar type and this setting seems best for that…
4. Gamma World (7e) – briefly considered but really not appropriate for campaign play – as your character will have different abilities based on the cards dealt you from game to game… also GW is rather silly.
5. Atomic Highway – Newer system based on a d6 mechanic. Rules lite, with a customizable setting that can be as gritty as Book of Eli or include mutants and monsters ala Night of the Comet. Seems to have the best vehicle rules for a good Twisted Metal/Mad Max feel.

Must say that I lean currently toward Atomic Highway or Ragnarok currently – but I’m not decided yet…
So there – a post. Maybe the next one will come in a week… or whatever. Deal with it.

Where No Man Has Gone Before

So in my internet wanderings I’ve come across Old School Trek… and the gaming boards therein. Of particular interest were the rules “Where No Man Has Gone Before” – versions 1.0 and 2.0 a Star Trek RPG using D20 and D20 MicroLite (extremely simplified D20) mechanics, respectively.
In particular the 2.0 version got my attention and I immediately saw the potential of the rules.  My only hesitation comes from the level/hit point mechanic of D20… cadets (lvl 1/2) will get knocked into sickbay by a frisbee – captains (lvl 9) can shrug off 4.5-9 times the damage… say a torpedo to the chest.  This is an acknowledged flaw in the game, where the suggestion is to GM the matter: a character wades toward the Klingon knowing the disruptor won’t kill him gets vaporized by GM decree.
Um… no.
House rules rules on “gritty damage” are suggested on the boards. They do away with hit dice and use the Physical stat as HP.  That is much better – but the single physical stat will get points poured into it (better hp and better damage – screw Charisma).
Also there are only a handful of skills. Know I don’t need Last Unicorn or FASA numbers of skills… but there should at least be a skill for each position/job).  the transporter chief should have “transporters,” the helmsman should have “Helm,” and so on.  So even with WNMHGB I’m looking at house ruling a number of things – skills and adding a END stat to use the gritty damage house rules with.
Sigh.
Then of course there is also the possibility of using Savage Worlds as the mechanic… essentially stripping out the D20 bits and replacing them with SW bits.  The nice thing is that there is a vetted D20 to SW conversion… this is by far the most attractive option.
Yes, that is Paul Newman’s head stuck on William Shatner – I Gimp therefore I am.

Aracnosian Conundrum

CAPTAIN’S LOG
STARDATE 7621.4

Having been pulled through some sort of rift, we find ourselves trapped in some sort of pocket universe.  We’ve recovered a number of personnel from USS Hood.  Hood herself remains fused to the alien craft and salvage is impossible.  My engineer has scavenged the hulks and jury rigged most systems online – we are in dire need of dilithium though and our best bet seems to be a nearby rogue planet.  Engines are operating at 23% and we should arrive within the hour.

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Episode: 102
Location: Bill & Walt’s Hobby Shop – 245 4th Ave, Pittsburgh
Time/Date: 6pm, 4th August 2011

Ghosts of Conscience

STARDATE 7620.1
UNITED FEDERATION OF PLANETS
STAR FLEET COMMAND

U.S.S. Oberon is directed to proceed with all possible haste to stellar coordinates -017.8 +072.8 +012.1. The commanding officer is entrusted with sealed orders to be opened on arrival at the specified coordinates, not before. This operation is classified and of the highest priority.

Commodore José I. Mendez
Commanding officer
Starbase 11

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Episode: 101
Location: Bill & Walt’s Hobby Shop – 245 4th Ave, Pittsburgh
Time/Date: 6pm, 20th July 2011

Systems online.

U.S.S. OBERON

MIRANDA-CLASS – STARFLEET REGISTRY NCC-1880

COMMISSIONED STARDATE 6612.3

FIRST STARSHIP TO BEAR THE NAME

UNITED FEDERATION OF PLANETS

“And henceforth Goliath, you and your clan shall be immune to my arts and shall become the Honor Guard of Avalon from this day onward.”

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Announcing a new Star Trek campaign using the Savage Worlds rules system.


Character generation and first adventure, “Ghosts of Conscience.”
When: Wednesday 20 July 2011 at 18:00
Where: Bill & Walt’s Hobby Shop

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My RPGs, Right-wing or Wrong

Last week I posted an account of our first game of The Price of Freedom (played in Oct ’10), I had intended to present some of the vehicles and minis I’ve amassed in a sort of Victory Day Parade homage, but the last few days have been rather hectic.  I have a new son – arrived one month early but healthy and cute.  Additionally my wife, daughter and I all have a strange flu-like cold, making any activity, beyond sleeping and watching Top Gear, rather strenuous.  Instead of the show of military force… I present a few thoughts about the ridiculous conservative crap my group found in The Price of Freedom.
To start with, in the game books are little asides, text boxes topped with Federal eagles.  In one is the quote:

“My Country, Right or Wrong.”

A long-time favorite bumper sticker of arch-conservatives, such as these douchebags:

What was wrong, Alex.

There is the small fact that the quote is taken completely out of context. I know, shocking, right?  For the record – here is the complete quote:

I confidently trust that the American people will prove themselves … too wise not to detect the false pride or the dangerous ambitions or the selfish schemes which so often hide themselves under that deceptive cry of mock patriotism: ‘Our country, right or wrong!’ They will not fail to recognize that our dignity, our free institutions and the peace and welfare of this and coming generations of Americans will be secure only as we cling to the watchword of true patriotism: ‘Our country—when right to be kept right; when wrong to be put right.’

Carl Schurz, “The Policy of Imperialism,” Speeches, 
Correspondence and Political Papers of Carl Schurz,
  vol. 6, pp. 119–20 (1913)

It is not surprising that conservatives have taken the wise words of a liberal and completely twisted them to suit their base purposes.  This is what keeps Jon Stewart in business.
My gaming group is a bunch of commie, pinko, tree-hugging, liberal fags.  Several of us are militant, commie, pinko, tree-hugging. liberal, fags – that’s why we love action movies like Red Dawn, and war-based RPGs.  That said, The Price of Freedom contains probably the most ridiculous setup for WWIII put to print.  That includes John “I ain’t calling him ‘sir’” Hackett’s The Third World War.
I read a lot of WWIII fiction.  The Third World War, The Third World War: The Untold Story, Red Storm Rising, Team Yankee, Cold War Hot, First Clash, Kibun wa mou Sensou manga, Bomb Comic’s World War III manga, and Red Army.  Of all of these Red Army is my favorite.  All WWIII fiction tends toward “Carter was a pussy / Reagan was a badass.”  Hackett’s work is particularly critical of Carter, presenting a second Carter administration as the death knell for freedom.  Yet in these stories – despite the liberals’ treasonous cuts to military spending and research – we kick the USSR’s ass.  Red Army is different.  The Soviets win.  Now that is a lesson – “fear the USSR, because they can kick our ass unless we are prepared.”
TPoF reads like it was a pamphlet from the John Birch Society.  Those are the guys who said: “Could Eisenhower really be simply a smart politician, entirely without principles and hungry for glory, who is only the tool of the Communists? The answer is yes.”  I checked the box and the title pages of the game but I didn’t see their logo.

“Lets go kill some Russkies!”

Still In just passing out the characters, the intensely right-wing setting/writing furrowed eyebrows and caused eyes to roll.  Jordo’s near-fascist personality combined with being a blonde, blue-eyed German-American was noted upon as being particularly tasteless.  Interestingly the drawing of Jordo looks nothing like his description – much more like Ozzie Davis.
I read through the suggested campaign time-line with my players – where the American government (insinuated to be Democrat controlled) is lulled into signing START II, thereby allowing a belligerent USSR to achieve nuclear supremacy by developing a ballistic missile shield.  Murphy the (most likely Democrat – how many Irish Republicans are outside of the PIRA?) president surrenders and Soviet forces arrive to occupy the US.  Without wasting your time – it makes Red Dawn seem like a Noam Chomsky / Howard Zinn collaboration.  Oddly it is months after the occupation starts before the Second Amendment is abolished.  I’m a panty-waist liberal and I know I’d shoot me some Russians if they came marching down my street.

Um… nearly exterminate the human race.

Ironic how START I and START II ended up being signed by a Republican president.  And that Carter did a better job of keeping NASA funded vs. inflation than H.W. Bush did.  Indeed several of the [mis]steps in the time line are things that did come to pass under Republican administrations – without precipitating a Soviet invasion.  Huh… funny how that works out.  Historically it was Reagan’s anti-communist rhetoric that scared the Soviets and kept the Kremlin in the hands of the old guard.  This nearly had disastrous consequences in 1983 when the Able Archer exercises nearly resulted in a nuclear exchange.  The world was not saved by Reagan – it was saved by Podpolkovnik Stanislav Petrov who disobeyed orders to initiate a retaliatory strike.  Gorbachev is the architect of the downfall of the Soviet state, Reagan may have extended its life.  I recommend the BBC Documentary 1983: Brink of the Apocalypse and the ZDF film Der Dritte Weltkrieg, a counter-factual documentary highlighting the importance of Gorbachev.
The last page of the Player Book has an appeal entitled “A Note to Liberal Readers.”  As I said above, it suggests that the game is a parody of a Right-wing nightmare.  That is probably true – the various character profiles include socialists and liberals and athiests as the good guys.  Greg Costikyan’s website doesn’t read like that of a wing-nut… his Facebook page lists Andrew Coumo as a like and he does have a penchant for extremely off-color parody (Violence: The RPG of Egregious and Repulsive Bloodshed).  It seems clear that The Price of Freedom was written as a parody of the ridiculous fear-mongering and posturing of the conservatives in the 1970s and 1980s.  The problem is that with the rise of douche-nozzles like Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Dinesh D’Souza, Jerome Corsi, Ann Coulter and Michelle Malkin et al, what was once a ridiculous joke, now reads like a lead off story at Fox News.  The broad strokes of the plot are reasonable (for an RPG), the detail is crushingly paleoconservative – and like the Colbert Report proves, the Right-wing nuts don’t get parody.  They revel in the message – oblivious to the sardonic undertones.  Given the daily barrage of crap from real-life conservatives – my group and I don’t want it in our escapism.  Christ, the symbol of the resistance in TPoF is the Gadsden Flag – forever tainted by its appropriation by the Teabagger Party.

An image forever tainted

Anyway – the setting detail may be (a parody of) ignorant, wing-nut, bigoted, cracker crap, but the game mechanics are great!  Perhaps I just need to tweak it… change the timeline… add tough freedom fighter NPCs who are a married, biracial gay couple.  Things like that.  I am more tempted to use the Freedom Fighters video game setting, with everything going alternate because the Republicans kept us isolationist during WW2.

An Unscheduled Update…

Since my last post the world has changed a little bit.  Osama bin Laden was shot twice in the face by DevGru SEALs in Pakistan on the 2nd.  The circumstances of his death were a testament to his life, he died a coward’s death using his wife as a human shield.  After confirming his identity, his body was prepared according to Islamic custom and buried at sea – far better treatment than he offered any of his victims.
There is news on the gaming front as well.  I am pleased to have found a copy of TPoF Gamemaster’s Pack, which is currently on it’s way Wayne’s World of Books – hopefully arriving later today.  This will complete my TPoF collection, giving me hardcopy access to all materials for the game.  The second copy of the box set arrived, and I was very pleased to find it a near mint condition copy – all data annexes, map and books in great condition, chits unpunched and original d20 intact.
Also on the way via various postal and delivery services, are:

28x 40mm UltraModern Miniatures from HLBS Co.
1x   3rd Special forces group/CIA civvies gear (4 figs to be used as PCs)
1x   Motor rifle troops (4 figs)
1x   VDV airborne (4 figs)
1x   VDV Airborne II (4 figs)
1x   MVD Interior Ministry troops Grozny (4 figs to be used as Spetsnaz)
1x   Guards with LMGs (4 figs to use as Motor Rifles)
1x   Dismounted armoured crews (4 figs)
2x   DeAgostini diecast UAZ-469/469B (1/43)
13x Maisto diecast Ford Crown Victoria (1/44)
1x   New Ray 1959 Cadillac Series 62 Convertible
2x   Kitech BTR-70 APC model kits (1/48)
1x   Kitech T-80U MBT model kit (1/48)
1x   Kitech M1A2 Abrams MBT model kit (1/48)
1x   Kitech M2 Bradley IFV model kit (1/48)
1x   Maisto diecast HMMWV (1/40)

The Crown Vics will be repainted and used for police cruisers, unmarked/civilian cars, and taxis.  The Cadillac was purchased specifically for an appropriated command car ala Red Dawn.  The car in the movie was a ’64 Caddy Series 62… this was as close as I could get for $7.  The Kitech kits are cheap models that can be greatly improved visually with a little work.  The Maisto HMMWV is labelled 1/40 but is closer to 1/48 in size.

May Day Parade

It’s May Day…. the day unions, socialists, communists and leftists demonstrate and celebrate the toils of the laborer. It also means that the Victory Day Parade is just over a week away… the time when the Soviet Union used to show its military might to mark the anniversary of German capitulation and the end of the Great Patriotic War.
Ah, Soviets… I miss the Soviet Union.
Round about 1992, I bought a copy of West End Games Star Trek: The Adventure Game, which included in the box a WEG catalog. Many WEG games interested me, they had the Star Wars RPG and Ghostbusters. But what caught my eye 19 years ago was The Price of Freedom (TPoF) – what sounded like a Red Dawn roleplaying game.

“In The Price of Freedom, you play an American who chooses to resist the Communist occupiers. You must find the weapons and leadership to resist effectively. The invaders have absolute nuclear supremacy; regular military opposition is impossible. The only way they can be defeated is to make the occupation of America so costly that they must withdraw. But remember; no occupied nation has ever liberated itself without outside help. And we have no one to help us. The fate of America is in your hands.”

It’s now nearly two decades later and I have secured myself not one but two copies of the main box, the supplement Your Own Private Idaho as well as a PDF edition of the Gamemasters Pack.  The first set is in good repair and only seems to be missing some of the data files, notably Data File A, my hopes are that the second set will fill these missing holes – but it is still in transit. I’m still happy with the original purchase from a Canadian seller – oddly the second copy is also on its way from Canada…
Last fall I stumbled over out the blog Cold War Hot Hot Hot, and the work there inspired me to look into this type of gaming.  I initially thought of using some of the 1/72 scale military models I’ve collected over the years, and began repainting several Bravo Team vehicles I snagged at Target last year. However the idea of 15-20mm gaming doesn’t appeal to me as much as larger scale gaming.  I have some Ameri-Towne buildings, a number of larger diecast cars from a superheroes campaign (run using Heroclix), and have ordered a few HLBS 40mm UltraModern Russians and some Russian diecasts.  Maybe some of these will get here in time for a mini Victory Day Parade.
Things Cold War have begun to appeal to me again recently – and with no campaigns panning out since my 3 year Deadlands campaign ended, I hope a TPoF avatar campaign might pan out.
Fingers crossed.
Campaigns and I have not been agreeing lately – I tend to go for big-idea games that I never really get off the ground. I had very much wanted to do a Crimson Skies RPG using the Savage Worlds system, but several attempts at simulating air combat with those rules were not fulfilling. Indeed constant running of Savage Worlds powered systems over the past few years has got me looking for something else.  An initial game of TPoF back in October played well enough – though the arch-conservative wing-nuttiness (more on this later) of the presented campaign was tiresome.
My hopes are that the games will be mindless fun – and keep me focused on modern gaming to get the collection of cars and buildings I have collected into something pretty.

Operations Order #101229

Delta Green/Realms of Cthulhu Demo Game
Come for the Reaping

Location: Bill & Walt’s Hobby Shop, 245 Fourth Ave, Pittsburgh PA 15222
Phone: 412-281-9040
Time & Date: 29 December 2010 @ 5:00PM
“You are cordially invited to a night at the opera…”
This Saturday I will be running the adventure Come for the Reaping as an Explorer’s Society demo of Reality Blurs’ Realms of Cthulhu. The adventure will be set in the mid-1990s in the Delta Greensetting. Up to 6 players will portray Delta Green agents or friendlies. We start at 5pm and expect the game to finish at approximately 10pm. Our normal habit is to secure pizza as a group from Ephesus Pizza up the street.

UPDATE
Setting: Los Angeles, CA – 29 December 1995
Participants in this game: Agent Peter Johnson (FBI), Jennifer Gage (LACoFD – paramedic), Gharret Reese (civilian – criminal)

New Look

I’ve finished the new look for the blog – including the new title banner.  I am very happy with the way the banner came out, especially the “Savaged” DG Logo.  This is pieced together using the font “Trust This One”.  It is the same font as used in the official products, but was stretched in order to fit the new dimensions created by the additional line of text.
Changes aren’t just visual – I have also been working on a new way to figure weapon cost.  Using Modern Gun Values, works to an extent, but I doesn’t help with military grade weaponry.  There is also the fact that these prices from the mid-90′s are greatly influenced by the inflation caused by the Assault Weapons Ban of 1994 (aka Brady Bill).  This causes military style weapons, like the AR-15, to be incredibly expensive.  It is also very American centric.  By using a different method I hope to establish a base value for each weapon that can be modified by circumstances.  Thus the FBI agent who has to replace the MP-5 the deep ones ate, can do so without paying the ridiculously inflated commercial prices of the time.  The goal is to create a mathematically based formula that gives an approximately accurate value to the gun that can be modified by blackmarket or collectibility factors.  A mathematical formula provides a consistent system allowing me to add any weapon to the database – much more consistent than using the prices listed in several different gaming sources.
To begin, I am using a modified version of the cost formula found in BTRC’s Guns 3G^3.  When I’ve finished testing the equation I will edit the prior weapons posts and update the DIY file.
There are more gun profiles in the works for this month, including a concerted effort to detail weapons other than pistols.  Eventually there will be cars and other equipment as well – but that is in the future for now.

Operations Order #100812

Delta Green/Realms of Cthulhu Demo Game
Victim of the Art

Location: Bill & Walt’s Hobby Shop, 245 Fourth Ave, Pittsburgh PA 15222
Phone: 412-281-9040
Time & Date: 12 August 2010 @ 5:00PM
“You are cordially invited to a night at the opera…”
This Saturday I will be running the adventure Victim of the Art as an Explorer’s Society demo of Reality Blurs’ Realms of Cthulhu. The adventure will be set in the mid-1990s in the Delta Green setting. Up to 6 players will portray Delta Green agents or friendlies. We start at 5pm and expect the game to finish at approximately 10pm. Our normal habit is to secure pizza as a group from Ephesus Pizza up the street.

UPDATE
Setting: American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY – 12 August 1995
Participants in this game: Agent Richard Johnson (FBI), Agent Peter "No Relation" Johnson (FBI), Dr. Holden Bottom (civilian – professor)