Odds & Ends #14

Alternative Rules for Axis and Allies

The one thing I always liked about the original Axis and Allies were it alternative technologies that could be purchased, if you rolled a six. These technology enhancements included long range aircraft, ships, and tanks. There were advancements for every country and they would often give you an edge over your component. I recently found an updated rule book and although it does not include any of those old alternative rules, it does offer several optional rules for each country.

Twenty Must Read Steampunk Books

I haven’t read many of these titles, but the Twenty Must Read Steampunk Books – An Introduction to the Genre list will get us started.

Why Nikola Tesla was the Greatest Geek Who Ever Lived

Why Nikola Tesla was the Greatest Geek Who Ever Lived is an informative comic (of sorts). I do find Tesla an interesting inventor.

Sacre Bleu!- Skirmish rules for the Age of Pirates War-game

This is one of digital titles that I purchased some time ago; another game rules booklet. The Sacre Bleu rule-book provides rules for war gaming in the age of pirates. This fourteen PDF provides rules and advice on the following topics: sequence, decision checks, static shooting, movement, shooting and shooting procedures, hand-to-hand fighting, and creating a force. In addition there are scenarios for four skirmishes. The rules are primarily for skirmishes using anywhere from 10 to 100, 25mm miniatures, but any sized miniatures could be used.

This post marks the fourth year for this blog. Happy Birthday, Ye-Olde-Site-of-Curiosities.

Coin Age a Print and Play Board Game

Coin Age is a micro-sized, (about a size of a credit card) board game for two players. Players must supply four US dimes, three pennies, two nickels, and one quarter each. The game uses these coins to determine one of the four prescribed actions (place, pay, move, or capture).

The one-page Coin Age PDF contains game rules and a two-sided map. Coins are used instead of counters and can be stacked on the map.  Depending on a player’s coin slap (the number of heads or tails) he might come up with decides on how he might proceed. There is an out-comes table included within the rules that identifies what actions are available to the player. The game ends when a player plays his last coin or when the last empty space on the map has been filled.   

---

• Taluva Coin Age Maps (Six Alternate Maps)
• Fan Created Coin Age Maps
• PNP Coin Stickers Official PNP Coin Stickers:
  “The Royal Kingdom of Heads" or "The People's Republic of Tails"
  

Risk Godstorm Edition Deity Divine Powers

The divine powers have the following powers that can be used when a player chooses to play one of their gods.

God	Divine Powers
God of Dealth	"When the god of death attack, opposing armies do not go back to the Underworld, but are placed with the defenders players reserve armies instead."
Goddess of Magic	"When the goddess of magic attacks or defends reroll all 1's"
God of the Sky	"When the God of the sky is in godwar, roll an additional die."
God of War	"When the god of war attacks, he wins all ties."

Risk Godstorm Edition Game Miniature Deities

One of the first decisions you must make, that is after you choose the four plague lands, in the Risk Godstorm Edition board game is to choose the pantheon you want to use during the game. Each faction, (Babylonians, Celts, Egyptians, Greeks, Norse) has its own set of gods. There are gods of war, death, the sky and a goddess of magic.

Peoples	God of Death	Goddess of Magic	God of the Sky	God of War
Babylonians	Druaga	Ishtar	Marduk	Gilgamesh
Celts	Arawn	Brigid	Lugh	Nuaoa
Egyptians	Osiris	Isis	Ra	Set
Greeks	Hades	Hekate	Zeus	Ares
Norse	Loki	Freya	Ooin	Thor

Players roll one die and the highest rolls picks the pantheon of their choice. You keep rolling until every player has had a chance to pick a pantheon.

Monopoly Deal Card Game

The box measures 3.75 by 5.75 inches and contains two stacks of cards for a total of 110 cards, a detailed rule sheet, and an exclusive robot token. The cards are slightly smaller than a normally sized playing card. Within the mix there are four rules cards, 28 property cards, 11 property wild cards, 34 action, 13 rent, and 20 money cards.

Set up as follows: remove the 4 rule cards and pass them out for reference, shuffle the remaining cards and deal 5 cards to each person. You are look at your cards, but are to keep what you have in hand secret until you are ready to play them. Put the remaining cards face-down in the center to create a draw pile. Decide you will go first and continue clockwise.

To play, first pick 2 cards, play up to 3 of your cards in anyone combination of 3 ways:

1. Put money or action cards in your bank
2. Put down properties into your collection
3. Play action cards (action cards are used to charge rent, swap cards, demand birthday money, ETC.)

You don’t have to play any cards if you don’t want to. The player to collect 3 full property sets in different colors wins.

Other Risk Editions

I have been playing Risk for thirty-five years. Once you have played Risk as many times as I have you tire of it and look for other alternatives. You look for something with a different twist and some sophistication.

Other than the French and Brazilian editions, there are fifteen or so licensed editions of Risk. Well there are separate lists of Risk versions and editions. One list the fifteen while the other lists 26 different versions and editions.

Lately I have been researching three other editions of Risk for possible purchases. They are: Risk Lord of the Rings Trilogy Edition, Risk Godstorm Edition, and the Risk 2210 A.D. Edition. In addition to these three licensed editions there are a few expansions that look rather interesting.

Another Kraken Rule

Image of the Kraken from Wikipedia Commons

This Kraken rule comes from Precis Intermedia’s: S & S Monsters. “An assortment of monsters for pulp-fantasy games.”

“The Kraken has a lamprey-like mouth and 4 tentacles which it uses to handle its prey. These tentacles are 5 yards long apiece, and can be used for a special ‘grapple’ attacks.” Although this takes one combat action each tentacle can attack a separate target. That is four targets for the price of one, if I am interpreting the rule correctly.

	Mind	Reflexes	Move	Resist	Damage	Size
Kraken	14	14	10 yards/sec.	12	17(bite)	Huge

Kings of War Undead Revenant Troops - Skeletal Dog

Skeletal Dog or is it a giant undead rat? This miniature is molded from polystyrene plastic and measure 10mm tall and is 30mm from the tip of its tail to the end of its snout.

According to Mantic Games Kings of War: Evil Army Special Rules, having one or more of these undead rats or are they dogs, increases the “Evil Dead Rule”. “The unit recovers one point of damage it has suffered for every point of damage it inflicts in a melee.”

The Dead Mans Island Kraken Rule

"6.4.1 When rowing around the island, pirates are far from safe. These waters are the home of a giant squid. At the end of player’s turn they must roll 1d6 for any longboat they occupy on that is not in a cove. On the result of a 1 the occupants must give up an item or a pirate to the beasts tentacles."

Image from Wikipedia-Commons

Regulations for the Pirates of the South China Sea

Screenshot of the epub’s front cover which was found on the Project Gutenberg site.

I had previously posted a similar and abbreviated list of these regulations sometime ago.

"Being chief captain, Chang Paou robbed and plundered incessantly, and daily increased his men and his vessels. In order to maintain some sort of order in the midst of mayhem Paou issued the three following regulations:—

First:

If any man goes privately on shore, or what is called transgressing the bars, he shall be taken and his ears be perforated in the presence of the whole fleet; repeating the same act, he shall suffer death.

Second:

Not the least thing shall be taken privately from the stolen and plundered goods. All shall be registered, and the pirate receive for himself, out often parts, only two; eight parts belong to the storehouse, called the general fund; taking anything out of this general fund, without permission, shall be death.

Third:

No person shall debauch at his pleasure captive women taken in the villages and open places, and brought on board a ship; he must first request the ship's purser for permission, and then go aside in the ship's hold. To use violence against any woman, or to wed her without permission, shall be punished with death."

History of the Pirates Who Infested the China Sea from 1807 to 1810

Partaking in a Hallowed Privateer Ritual

"Sanson bit the gold doubloon, and passed it to Lazue. Lazue bit it then passed it to the Moor. Hunter watched the silent ritual, which all privateers believed brought them luck before a raid. Finally, the doubloon reached him, he bit it, feeling the softness of the metal. Then while they watched, he tossed the coin over his right shoulder." (Pirate Latitudes 181)

Pirate Latitudes, Michael Crichton

The S.L.U.G. Zombies Game, Version 1

Zombie Hunters

I have created a game for my S.L.U.G. Zombies. Here are the instructions for creating the game board and the game rules.

What you will need:

Game Board
2 dice
10 S.L.U.G. Zombies
2 Zombie Hunters

Game Board

1. Start by drawing a 12 inch vertical line
2. Measure down 6 inches and draw a 12 inch horizontal line
3. Mark the following points on your vertical line (10, 8, 6, 4, and 2)
4. Mark the top of the vertical line north and the bottom of this line south
5. Mark the left and right horizontal lines accordingly
6. Drawing a 6 inch line dividing each quarter and mark these points NE, SE, SW, and NW
7. Starting at the 12 inch mark, draw a circle at each point (12, 10, 8, 6, 4, and 2)

Game Rules

1. Place your two zombie hunters back to back within the 2 inch circle
2. Place your zombies around evenly on the 12 inch circle
3. Roll a die to see who will go first:
1. If the zombies go first, they get to move one inch
2. If the hunters go first they get to shoot at the zombies. One of the hunters has a double barreled gun and the other has a set of guns, so they get to roll 2 dice. The following dice rolls indicate the following:

Zombies from 12 to 6 inches:

1	Miss
2	Hit
3	Miss
4	Hit
5	Hit
6	Kill

A 1 will always indicates a miss and a 6 a kill. A 2, 4, or a 5 are hits. If a zombie is hit the zombie is moved over one point to the right and loses their ability to move on their next turn. Use some type of marker to indicate a hit.

Once the zombies get to the 6 inch mark the scoring changes:

1	Miss
2	Hit
3	Hit
4	Hit
5	Kill
6	Kill

With the exception of the additional chance for a kill it works just like it did above a 2, 3, or a 4 is a hit, the zombie is moved one point to the right and loses its next turn.

If and zombie makes it to the zombie hunters, that is to the 2 inch circle, the hunters get 1 last shot (1 dice). A 1 is a miss, a 2 is still a hit, and anything from a 3 to a 6 is a kill. If any zombie is still “a live” at this point, the hunters have become infected, the game is over.

Special Note: I suppose it is pretty obvious, but you will probably want to shoot at those zombies closest to you. Shoot at zombies in front of you. If all the remaining zombies are located on one side both of the zombie hunters can fire at these zombies, but not until then.

Properties for Histrofigs Beast #3

This is the last of my HistoriFigs monsters.

---

Intelligence:	3
Dexterity:	4
Movement:	1 if on its legs, 2 if flying.
Stealth:	This beast is not all that stealth-full.Unless you are preoccupied or are standing next to a water fall you would probably hear this creature flapping of its wings or hear it as it shuffles along on its feet.
Methods of Attack:	This creature has a set of sharp teeth and claws which could incapacitate its victim.

---

Properties for Histrofigs Beast #2

Is this creature a Sasquatch or otherwise known as a Bigfoot?

Intelligence:	4
Dexterity:	4
Movement:	1
Stealth:	3
Methods of Attacks:	This creature is very large and strong. It can easily knock or push large and heavy objects out of its way. It has claws and with its strength could easily disfigure its prey with one sweep of its paw. It also has a set to teeth that can be used tear and chew.
Other Characteristics:	Those with a sensitive sense of smell might smell this creature before you hear or see it. People often associate its odor to one of an un-bathed dog.

Properties for Histrofigs Beast #1

---

Intelligence:	0
Dexterity:	1
Movement:	1 (only during nights of a full moon during the spring and summer)
Stealth	This beast is not all that stealth-full in itself as you might hear its shuffle across weeds and twigs as it glides to a desirable location.
Method of attack:	If you get close enough to the Venus fly trap located on its one branch you might lose a mouthful of flesh. It can also send out suckers to hopefully entwine its victims. Never lay a bed roll out anywhere near this creature for it is sure to entangle you while you sleep and you draw you back to itself. You will waken to find yourself hopelessly entangled and held tightly. Once it has you totally entangled to itself it is slow and tortuous process as the its vines and creepers start to constrict on all points that you have become entwined. Eventually you will become one with this vegetable creature.

---

.99 Cent Irrational Number Line Pulp Games

Irrational Number Line Games offers three Ace Goodknight and Penny Dreadfull game scenario booklets. These game booklets include several scenarios and several pages of game props that can be printed out and constructed.

The games typically have a Pulp feel and you will need a few Pulp miniatures on hand in order to play. Properties and attributes for characters are listed along with a setting up a scene section and the overall game rules. The Ace Goodknight and Penny Dreadfull Series can be downloaded from the Wargame Vault for .99 cents each.

Ace Goodknight and Penny Dreadfull Series:

1. Ace Goodknight and Penny Dreadfull: The Case of the Green Elephant
2. Ace Goodknight: Around the World on Eighty Dollars
3. Ace Goodknight: The Case of the Missing Sweetheart/The Case of the Missing Manuscript

Dead Things Board Game

Screenshot of title page of game PDF

Dead Things is print and play mini-game preview by David Fitzgerald. All of the game components are included in a PDF and include a game board, twenty zombie and four survivor counters. There are two and half pages of set-up instructions, character properties, weapon hit-chart, Luck counters (these are used with special rules that are mentioned within the text), and rules to play the game.

The game scenario is as follows. You are leaving a mall and realize that the parking lot is crawling with Zombies. Your objective is to use the weapon you have at hand. A golf club, shovel, shotgun, and a pistol are employed to shoot or club your way to your car.

If your “Luck” runs out before you reach the car you are dead. If no humans reach the car alive, the zombies win the game and the world is lost.

The game board is a colorful and measures approximately 6 by 10 inches. To make the game a bit more life like zombie miniatures in 1/72 could be used as a substitute for the card counters.

Properties for Hobbit Miniature, version #1

---

Intelligence	5
Dexterity	4
Movement	1
Stealth	3 normal; 5 when wearing the ring
Armaments:	Short sword Dagger

---

Abilities scale is on a scale from a 1 to 5.

My Latest Digital Media Downloads

I will be making more detailed reviews of these titles as time permits. These titles include game rules, a short story and print and play games.

A Magical Society Guide to Mapping

This was a freebie that I downloaded from Steve Jackson’s Games Warehouse 23. A Magical Society Guide to Mapping gives you a thorough understanding of what goes into mapping of your own worlds. What I have read so far has been very interesting and informative.

Astounding Tales 2nd Ed.

I haven’t read this text yet, but Astounding Tales gives you some background into the Pulp genre and provides characteristics and properties for your Pulp miniatures.

Dead Things (The Zombie Board game) 1st Edition

Dead Things is a free board game that is offered as a preview game.

Shootin Iron: Davestown's Most Wanted

Davestown's Most Wanted is a supplement to Shootin Iron: Davestown Cock N Bull.

To Rescue General Gordon

To Rescue General Gordon is a free steampunk short story.

Dead Man's Island

Another print and play game. This one features pirates and zombies.