Game File downloads

 I have started moving some of my downloadable game files from my Google Drive to Wargame Vault. Earlier last year in cooperation with Ivan Sorensen of Nordic Weasel games, I moved my Slammer rules to Ivan's site on Wargame Vault. This has been a success from my point of view. A lot more people have downloaded the game, and some of them paid us a little money for the privilege.  

There have been issues lately were people have been unable to access my game files from the blog. If they contact me, I can email the files out directly. However it seems a better idea to post my files on a public server. This has several advantages for me. 

• The files are directly available without accessing my personal drive. 
• If there are any issues with access, then Wargame Vault should be better able to fix them. 
• It puts my games in a vastly bigger shop window with a lot more exposure. 
• I get stats on how many times my games are downloaded. 
• And, while I offer all my games as Pay What You Want, so customers can still download them for free, I am happy to accept payment if you feel like contributing to my hobby fund! :o)

Currently, Slammer, Fokker Fodder, and Encounter One - 2021 are available for download on Wargame Vault. Other games and resources may be added as I get around to them.

Chris Nicole Games - Wargame Vault 

I do still have a few printed copies of Encounter One available. 

If you would like a set, I am asking £5.00 plus postage. Email me Chris Nicole with a request and your address. I can then create an invoice for the full amount via PayPal. 

Cheers

2026 First post

Updates to my Spaceship Miniatures page.

Just a quickie, I have updated my Spaceship Miniatures page. As it hadn't been amended since 2023, it was long overdue. 

I have removed Iliada Game Studios and Magister Militum. As far as I am aware they have ceased trading. Note. Iliada still has STL designs on Wargame Vault, but the physical miniatures are no longer available.

However I have added six new (to me) producers and amended my links to two current producers.   

Please contact me if you know of any other Spaceship Miniatures producers that should be added to the list.

Added 

• Added Combat Zone Scenery; 
• EM4 Miniatures; 
• Little Metal Spaceships; 
• Martian Models; 
• Scourge Scenics; and
• Zero Hour Starship Designs. 

Amended links to 

• Brigade Models; and 
• Khurasan Miniatures.

Removed 

• Iliada Game Studios; and 
• Magister Militum. 

#Spaceship, #Encounter One, #Miniatures, #Update

Slammer Legacy Edition on Wargame Vault

 A while ago I mentioned that I had been in discussion with a games creator and publisher regarding further development of Slammer. That creator is Ivan Sorensen at Nordic Weasel Games. Ivan is a long time supporter of Slammer and has often promoted the game.

If you are not already aware of Nordic Weasel games, then I recommend them very highly. They cover a wide range of periods and genres, using innovative game mechanisms. Examples include, Five Parsecs from Home, Renegade Scout, Laserstorm, Five Men at Kursk, History Dad WW2, etc.  Ivan is prolific in turning out new games and updating his existing range. They are very good and well worth a look through. 

Ivan has posted a copy of Slammer on Wargame Vault as a pay what you want.

If there is enough interest, we hope to look at creating a wholly new edition of Slammer, updating and expanding the rules. 

 Cheers, 

 Chris 

 

A message from Nordic Weasel Games via Wargame Vault.

Published back when the internet was young, I have worked with Chris Nicole to make his Slammer skirmish scifi rules available again.

This is a straight conversion of the original document, though in the coming months we hope to both tidy up the game and add some examples, diagrams and so forth as well as work to create a new, cool edition of the rules.

This Legacy edition makes the game available again, as the website had finally vanished into the ether and lets you enjoy a personal favourite game of mine. 

What IS Slammer? 

The Slammer rules are usable for a range of Hollywood-inspired science fiction skirmish action, complete with big heroes, cool space troopers and bug eyed aliens. 

Featuring a clever reaction table, the morale and well being of your troops will affect what actions they can perform each turn but gameplay still moves quite quickly. 

A starting game can play well with a handful of characters on each side, while you can easily play with a platoon once you understand how the game works. 

The rulebook currently clocks in at under 40 pages, giving all the basic stuff needed to play a game without a lot of waffling about. You are here to shoot bug eyed monsters right?"

It is available Pay What You Want (suggested 5 USD) here:

https://www.wargamevault.com/product/519467/Slammer-Legacy-Edition

A new era begins 

It has been a while since I posted here. Last year I retired from work, and I have been busy. We have been getting our house in order, we have bought a Motor Caravan and we have been away seeing the sights and having adventures.

Last week, after nearly thirty years online I closed my web account and deleted my home web site. 

My website www.loran.karoo.net has been completely removed, Slammer Rules and Army lists, along with the TFT Codex 2000, Loran campaign and all my other Web pages. 

My Internet provider changed hands a few years ago. Apparently, they decided to stop hosting websites back then. Existing sites including mine remained online, but I was unable to access it or make changes. I was not notified and had assumed it was a technical issue or my password. As I didn't need to update much it was more an inconvenience to me.

I contacted my provider about updating the site. This was when they told me they had stopped web hosting. I decided to close my account and was told it would end in early March. The next morning it had already gone.

 

Now the good news. 

1. I have backups. If there is any interest I could restore my site or pages with another host.
2. My blog site is still online (Here). I will create new pages for my games rules on the blog in due course. Slammer is back online already in a truncated form.
3. I am in discussions with a well known game designer and publisher about a new edition of Slammer. I will provide more news as soon as I have any.

Please contact me directly if you have any comments or queries.

Cheers,

Chris

Encounter One - back in print!

 Is there still a market for home published rules booklets ?

Way back in the mists of time, a lot of wargames rules were published by their authors as A5 stapled booklets with card covers, black and white text, and minimal illustrations. They might include a printed card quick reference sheet.

They were often sold by mail order or at games shows that the authors were attending. Some of them sold well enough to be stocked by games shops or miniatures producers.

Now most gamers have internet access and a home printer, so digital downloads seem to have the market covered. 

Over the years I have published a few wargames rules that have been freely available online as pdf documents. 

Recently, I printed off a small batch of the new edition of Encounter One. 

My primary intention is to gift copies to people that have helped or encouraged the project, secondary is to have some rule sets available when I play the game for new players to pick up. If there are any left after that, I would offer them for sale and hope to recover some of my costs. Mainly, I would just like to see people playing the game.

Would you buy a printed rule set, even if you can download the rules for free then print it yourself? 

What would you consider a reasonable price?

A5 stapled rules booklet, card cover, black and white, 42 pages + A4 card Quick Reference Sheet. 

Encounter One - Fleet Design Factions and Races

The Empire are my faction of choice. Their approach to ship design is Peace through Superior Fire Power. Bigger ships and more of them. My Empire ships follow a traditional design approach harking back to wet navies when Battleships ruled the waves and Gunboat Diplomacy was standard policy. They have the resources and infrastructure that allows for assembly-line production of warships. Unfortunately, that also makes it more difficult for them to change production or produce new designs. 

The Empire's Arrow missile has good range and accuracy making it an effective match for their Beam arrays. Their Fighters are inexpensive, so I have tended to include fighter bays on my warships rather than build dedicated carriers. If you like Star Wars or Warhammer, then the Empire could be a good fit for you.

The Federation may have the best equipment in the human sphere. They are versatile with access to most systems. Where the Empire will build a bigger ship and then more ships, the Federation will design and build a better ship. And then work on improving it. I have tended to associate the Federation with the authoritarian military regime from Blakes Seven. This was distinctly unfair as Encounter One's Federation are much closer to the progressive good guys of Asimov's Federation in opposition to the stratified conservatism and centralised control of the Empire.

I have come to expect Federation ships to make use of the special equipment such as Mirage Projectors and mine fields to sow confusion amongst their enemies. The Federation Bolt is the best in the game with longer range and better accuracy. As the Feds don't get Arrow missiles, Bolt fills the missile gap. Scatterpack may not be the wonder weapon it appeared in the earlier editions, but may still have some use at close range. Kennedy Fields are great in defence and can negate some other systems e.g. Tractors and Photon Torpedoes. The downside is, they reduce the effectiveness of your own fire and when your Kennedy Fields fail, they are likely to take out your ship too.  

If you like Star Trek, then the Feds may be a good fit for you.

Novans are utterly hostile aliens. Their focussed aggression and xenophobia make them very dangerous. Expect hyper-aggression from the Novans. Most of their ships are in the 20-35 mass 'Cruiser' range, and they fly them like fighters. Then Inertialess Drive lets them reset the table for their next attack run.  They lack Escorts and larger ships due to the cost penalty. Zen auto repair and Clever Metal make them hard to kill, they can soak up missile attacks and shrug them off, but Novan ships are expensive for their size. Their best weapon system is their Photon Torpedoes, unless going against Kennedy Fields. Their Dart is the best long range missile in the game. Fighters are cheap, so send them out in swarms.

ATTACK, ATTACK, ATTACK! KILL ALL THE HUMANS! EXTERMINATE!

Rim Raiders are chaotic but they are largely underpowered with few special weapons or defences. They excel in boarding actions. Their Farradyne Field will make a mockery of your grand fleet manoeuvres and shut down your fighters. Their Bolt is a decent weapon. Expect swarms of small ships, close action and prepare to repel boarders. Rim Raiders are the Pirates, Reivers, Star Vikings and Barbarians. Rim Raider ships are captured, re-built and bodged together. You can use a real mix of different styles including repurposed ships from other factions in a Rim Raider fleet.

Auregans are strange. It is never entirely clear whose side the Auregans are on, or even if they know which humans they are dealing with. Their distinct Morale rules can make them behave oddly. You can hire them as mercenaries, but they might not stay bought or commit themselves to battle. Their ships start at Mass 20 and get bigger, so manoeuvrability can be an issue. They have one decisive Ship Killer weapon system, but at most table top ranges it is pretty ineffective. They get masses of cheap defences and their Drones are effective. Their large mass can make weaponised Tractor Beams horribly effective, especially if several Auregans get in a tug-o-war. But for all their size, they are vulnerable to critical hits and they don't like to take damage.  

DO NOT POKE THE AUREGAN. 

The Great Houses are autonomous space faring factions within the Empire and Federation. Their policy tends to align with the Federation as they pursue their own interests rather than be subsumed by the great Powers. They have access to most systems and decent equipment at reasonable cost. If don't want to get embroiled in the almost constant strife between Empire and Federation, then a Great House fleet could be a good choice. You could create several Great House fleets, each with a distinctive style or design philosophy.

The Guild are a commercial alliance of merchant houses operating within the Empire and Federation. They pretty much regulate most trade between star systems. Most Guild vessels are commercial Merchants, Transporters, Bulk Carriers, Hydrogen Tankers, Luxury Passenger Liners and Low Berth Coffin Ships, Couriers, Salvage Tugs, and Free Traders. The Guild with the assistance of Minor Houses also operates Pirate Hunters, Customs Cutters, and Q-Ships. They have access to technology from the Empire and Federation, but their main drive is making a profit and conflict is costly. Disputes within the Guild are usually resolved by arbitration, litigation, stock exchange, or in extreme cases hostile take-over. Guild Merchant Houses operate the Jump Point Space Stations, Traffic Control and Hyperspace beacons necessary for travel between the stars. Attacks on Guild ships may result in harsh commercial penalties, blockade, boycott and/or restrictions of trade against the offending planets and their ships.  In theory Guild ships may only carry defensive armament, but it is not unknown for Guild captains to take up Privateering as a profitable sideline. The Guild will hire out ships to the Minor Houses and these may be armed as warships.  

If you are building a merchant fleet then use the Guild list.

The Minor Houses represent the smaller semi-autonomous cultures within the Empire. They lack the capacity to build their own starships, so must hire them from the Guild. In return, the Guild will employ Minor Houses as mercenaries to defend their merchant ships or carry out limited offensive operations. 

Encounter One - Ship Design

 Encounter One - Ship Design.

I must spend a lot more of my time designing ships than I do playing the game with them. Some of that is in refining existing designs, swapping out weapons or equipment, or fine tuning mass and points costs. I like symmetry in my ship diagrams and round numbers for the points and/or mass. The main reason that my Broadheads have two Dart Launchers is that they neaten the points cost off to 250 points! I can argue that My Empire has a tradition of putting a physical shot across the enemies bow before opening up with their Beam arrays, but it's a fairly weak justification. 

Most of the model ships I use are about as old as the rules. I bought them a long time ago and have played a few games with them. We have history, and I am fond of them. Also, I am trying to complete a collection, which is another hobby in itself. 

You can use whatever ships you have. There are loads of wonderful miniatures available now. Use what ever you like. 

My two main fleets are Empire and Novans. I really like the QT models designs for the Empire's ships and over the years I have acquired a fair fleet from QT and Citadel. My Novan's have a xenophobic predator focus that fits nicely with the old Citadel bio ships. They are getting harder to find now, and the price for Tyranid War Drones is ridiculous. I do have a small Federation fleet, but they are not favourites and I usually think of them as The Enemy.

I believe there are two main approaches to ship design. There may be others but these are what I have in mind. They are not exclusive and most players will use a combination to get the fleet they want to play.

1 - Miniatures driven. Pick out a model spaceship, decide its role and what equipment it ought to have, then design the layout to fit. You may have to trim some of the equipment to get it within mass or points value, but you should be able to design someway towards your concept. 

2 - Competition driven, Work out your strategy, design your ships to maximise their effectiveness, then pick out some miniatures to suit. 

My designs are mostly Miniatures Driven. I start with the model ship then work out what its role is and how it should be equipped. I tend to design my ships for general roles rather than to meet a specific enemy. My fleets are built around the model ships I have, not the ones I want. I still want them to be effective in a game, so there are elements of maximising their weapons. 

It is a huge advantage if you have some idea what your opponent is bringing to the table, or what their likely strategy is. If you don't know what you are likely to be up against, then you may need to generalise on your design and make allowance for Plan B.

These are some of my Design Guidelines. 

• Loading up on Shields is little help if the enemy is mainly armed with missiles. 
• If the enemy has a lot of fighters, then you need point defence and or your own fighters. 
• Loading up on Point Defence is a waste of points and mass if the enemy doesn't use missiles or fighters. 
• If you have Marines on board, be prepared to use them. Either to defend your ship or take the enemies ships.
• Kennedy Fields are game changers. Not only do they provide very effective defence against Beam and Missiles, they also nullify many of the other special weapons such as Photon Torpedoes or Tractor Beams. They can be beaten by concentrated fire and they have a very specific vulnerability. 
• Clever Metal provides a very effective defence against Hull damage from most Missiles, Scatter Pack and Mines. But it is expensive, even if you are playing Novans.
• Concentrate your Beams in Arrays. So consider six ST5 Beam launchers as a single ST30 Beam array. You can do this with missile batteries too. 
• I have a tendency to put my best weapons in the forward arc. This works reasonably well with more agile smaller ships, but is less handy for bigger ships. They may struggle to keep the pointy end towards the enemy. In this case, broadside batteries and turrets can be your friend.
• Smaller ships are more cost effective.
• Bigger ships look more impressive.
• Don't mix Missile systems on the same ship. Recalculating Hit probability for each weapon system can soon gets tedious. And yes, I know my own published designs break this rule. But, these may not be the ships I put on the table! 
• Don't poke the Auregan.

Have fun, design some ships and put them on the table. If you send me your designs, I will add them to the blog (with permission) as part of a Jaynes Spaceships.