Figure painting: Four mounted rangers

Have just finished painting and basing four 15mm figures, each representing a human firing a bow from a horse-back. Have not done much figure painting in my life, so I'm pleased with the result.

The figures are Chariot Miniatures, bought from Magister Militum (product number: FHM2).

Obtained roughly 50 figures (all 15mm) from Magister Militum - humans and orcs/goblins. Will paint them and use them primary for Song of Blades and Heroes.

SBH-SOLO [Project update #4]

The SBH-SOLO project is coming along quite nicely!

I have reached a point were I'm satisfied with the bones of the rules document, as well as the supporting documents (e.g. the document containing all the MicroAIs).

SBH-SOLO is now in version 0.20, and is downloadable via this Google docs link: SBH-SOLO-v0.20.zip

What I will do for the rest of the remaining two weeks of the Solo Tabletop Gaming Appreciation Month, is pure play-testing. The rules will probably change a lot when I really start playing, and the MicroAIs will for sure need tweaking.

I have already got some valuable input/suggestions from Aleksandar (http://battreps.blogspot.com/), how to make SBH-SOLO better - thank you! =)

SBH-SOLO [Project update #3]

Hi there!

Time for a short update of my SBH-SOLO project. I have not reached as far as I hoped this week, but still, I have made progress. Here are three (Google docs) links to the latest status of the project:

SBH-SOLO-Rules-v0.1.pdf
sbh-solo-microais-draft.pdf
microais_definitions-draft.pdf

The SBH-SOLO-Rules-v0.1.pdf is the main document, describing the mechanics of SBH-SOLO. It has the near-final layout, but is not finsished, even though a good part of the text is in there. Still need a few days to get all text in there.

The sbh-solo-microais-draft.pdf contains a number of pre-defined MicroAIs. This document is just a draft, so the layout is not set. I have changed the format of the MicroAIs a bit, comparing to my previous blog entry. New keywords, keywords on a higher level, sort of. The MicroAIs are not that detailed anymore, they are a little bit more open-ended.

The microais_definitions-draft.pdf document contains (so far very incomplete) instructions how to read the details of a MicroAI. This information will be transfered to the rules document soon.

Still two and a half week left of November, and I think I'm keeping my time plan fairly well. My goal is to have something playable at the end of November, and the documents (rules, MicroAIs, player aids etc) ready (but as early versions).

Note: I don't encourage, or even recommend, anyone to try SBH-SOLO yet. A lot of vital information is still missing in the above documents, it is still in my head! ;-)  I just wanted to post something, so that you know that the project is ongoing.

SBH-SOLO [Project update #2]

Okay, time to talk about the inner concepts of SBH-SOLO - my solitaire project for Song of Blades and Heroes.

Note: The models controlled by the SBH-SOLO rules, i.e. the player's opponent/enemy, are hereafter referred to as the ENEMY.

The central part of SBH-SOLO is something I call MicroAIs (where AI = Artificial Intelligence). Each of the ENEMY models are given a MicroAI at start of a game. There are a number of MicroAIs to choose from, and it is easy to create new, unique ones. One could say that a MicroAI is a super-tiny little mini-brain, that brings an ENEMY model into life, although a very limited life.

A MicroAI consists of Conditions and Routines, and those together form a flow of logic. A Routine is an action that the ENEMY model performs if a certain Condition is fulfilled. The MicroAIs should be kept simple and not too long, just a few Conditions and Routines, so that game play is not slowed down too much.

MicroAIs can be of general nature, that suites many models. But there can also be MicroAIs that are more specialized, having prerequisites. For example, special rule 'Mounted' is required by the model, otherwise that specific MicroAI cannot be used.

At game start, each enemy model is assigned to one MicroAI each. The player chooses, paying attention to prerequisites and the nature of the MicroAIs. Same MicroAI may be used by several of the ENEMY models. Obviously, models using the same MicroAI will behave according to the same pattern, but since they will not start in the exact same spot on the board, they will start with different Conditions fulfilled, and therefore (probably) act different.

Besides the individual MicroAIs assigned to one and each of the ENEMY models, there are also MicroAIs called Pre-Default and Post-Default. They are used to catch obvious actions, that is, actions that a player most likely always want to do with a model if it's activated, e.g. raise a model if it is fallen.

Each ENEMY turn, there will be mechanics to nominate the next model, and then determine how many D6 to roll. I have not worked out those details yet, just been using random while play testing. Then, when an ENEMY model has rolled the dice and got more than one successful activation, these MicroAIs are processed:

Pre-Default --> Model's own --> Post-Default

Click the picture to the left, to see an example of what those MicroAIs could look like. Note: These are just examples. The exact phrasings are not set. 

In the LOGIC part, you'll see Conditions marked with "IF" or "ELSE", and Routines marked with a star ("*"). If ambiguity ever arises, the rules of SBH always have precedence. In second place, player's best judgement.

I have so far created seven different MicroAIs. A few regular, a few for models with special rule 'Shooter', some for 'Mounted' etc.

Next steps: (1) More play testing of the entire basic concept. Identify the big flaws. (2) Fine-tuning of the MicroAIs written to date. (3) Write a few new MicroAIs. (4) Create mechanics for nominating ENEMY models, and determine how many dice to roll. (5) etc

SBH-SOLO [Project update #1]

SBH-SOLO = Song of Blades and Heroes Solitaire

In other words, SBH-SOLO is the official name of the project that I have undertaken for this November as a part of the Solo Tabletop Gaming Appreciation Month, mentioned in an earlier post this week. I am about to create some kind of solitaire rules for the miniature skirmish wargame Song of Blades and Heroes.

This is the first post, showing the progress of the project. Not much details in this post. More details of the basic concept/idea/mechanics behind the solitaire rules will follow tomorrow or the day after tomorrow.

Anyway, here's a photo showing early play-testing. I don't even have "real" miniatures (have ordered online, not yet received), so I'm playing with small wooden cubes. Since my goal is play-testing and developing of the solitaire rules, this setup is good enough.

Fury in P500 at GMT Games

One of my all-time favourite two-player boardgames are Manoeuvre from GMT Games. It is a fast-playing wargame of the 19th century battlefield. I have mentioned it in an earlier post, that the Manoeuvre designer, Jeff Horger, is working on a fantasy version, based on Manoeuvre. I'm excited!

GMT Games has put it up for P500 pre-ordering at $45 (USD). So far 78 orders. Since I love Manoeuvre, I'm pretty sure that I will put in an order within a few days (just need to convince my wallet!). This is game I don't want to miss.

There is actually one thing about Manoeuvre that I'm not so fond of, and that are the map boards. The art/design of those are extremely dull. The box, the counters, the cards and the rule book, all have nice and good-looking art. But the map boards, they are really uninspiring and plain boring. I really hope GMT Games invest in a full makeover of those boards for Fury. Nevertheless, Fury will be a great game, I am sure! =)

Solo Tabletop Gaming Appreciation Month is here!

It is dark. It is rainly. It is cold. It is a typical November in Sweden.

And it is the Solo Tabletop Gaming Appreciation Month!

By an initiative by JF of the SoloNexus blog, this is an event dedicated to solitaire tabletop gaming. Any project related to solitaire tabletop gaming seems to be welcome, so I will join the force of solitaire gamers and contribute with the following project:

A solitaire plugin module for the fantasy skirmish minitaure wargame Song of Blades and Heroes. In other words, my goal this month is to create a set of rules, that (on a VERY basic level) mimics a human player, and could be used as an automated opponent when playing this game solitaire.

I will most likely not have a finished product by the end of the month, but my hope is to have something playable. A draft. I will continuously update this blog with the progress, and in the end of the month, the result.