It was an early start for me, up at 6am and on the road shortly after as Saturday saw me attending my second Wargames Illustrated 7TV day. This time it was held at a new venue this at Wargames Foundry near Newark not far from Nottingham (awesome venue btw).
I arrived up in Newark for 8am as I had arranged to pick up a fellow gamer Bruce who had travelled down the night before from Edinburgh. We scoffed a quick Mc Donald's breakfast bumping into Karl Perrotton no less. We set off and arrived at the Wargames Foundry shop for around a quarter to nine.
Whilst the finishing touches were put to tables we grabbed some more coffee and had a wonder round the venue. Set in the Carriage Court near Stoke Hall it an amazing cluster of linked buildings with a massive courtyard in the centre. We had occupied the store part with a number of tables.
This years theme was a bit different we were using the new vehicle rules (still in beta I suppose) alongside the current existing profiles for the 7TV game (self modified cards were allowed). We were allowed to choose a vehicle type from a selection of 6 currently different types. Then modify them with a number of modifications.
A set of the rules and gadget and countdown cards were sent out in advance so I had spent Friday cutting these out and sleeving mine read for use on the day.
30 Ratings was the total allowed of the cast allowing for quite a tight selection usually a pair of Stars/Co-Star with a few extras.
Some of the tables on the day. Each had different Scenario's to play out on them.
First game we got to choose an opponent where later it would be selected by the organisers. So myself and Kieron who had hoped to get a game in disappeared to a table and got setting up. This was a useful game as I hadn't used the vehicle rules yet and Kieron had tried a couple of test games.
We both learned plenty. Our Scenario was the called The Race and we chose to play the directors cut. Basically we had to collect objectives as normal but on a turn where 2 were picked up you could roll a dice and on a 5+ it was the Maguffin meaning it was worth D6 VP's at the end.
Hydra deploys hidden behind the ruin.
Furiosa and a Many Mother deploy near the buildings. Max and the rest of the Many Mothers in the truck behind the other.
Furiosa and her companion skulk around the building. Max races up and stops a Black Thumb hops out. But ducks into cover (countdown card played by Kieron moving her away from the objective.
Machine gun fire from the Hyrda halftrack smacks into Furiosa's position luckily missing!
Max scoots up the building gunning down a Hydra goon and exchanging shots with the halftrack
Furiosa grabs a second objective (no maguffin :( ) They both rattle off some shots that just plink off the vehicles armour.
The Hydra soldier and unit leader grab an objective (finding the Maguffin!Boo hiss)
The Half Track zooms across the table machine gun blazing away at Furiosa the shots pattering around her position but causing no harm. However Red Skull then sprays her with a Fire Extinguisher stunning her and then puts two bullets into her while she is defenceless removing her from the game. (I couldn't add dice to my rolls due to the stunned status)
Max zooms over in the truck ramming the back of the half track causing damage and it to crash. The Black Thumb on foot runs over to the central objective.
An explosion (countdown card) kills off a Hyrda goon and wounds the unit leader.
The minons kept appearing out the wood work (I must of killed about 5 but Red Skull kept spawning new ones preventing me from axing his cast!) The Hydra Unit Leader grabs an objective but is then shot down by the Many Mother on foot.
Badly damaged the Hydra Half Track races off over the other side of area hoping to escape retribution from Max. However some careful manoeuvring by Max and he just manages to make it nearby hitting his Nitro boost for the last few feet needed to T Bone the Hyrda tank however its thick armour holds and Red Skull escapes with Maguffin!
This was an excellent game. We found shooting at a distance was quite futile against the vehicles as we both had trucks (Kierons had armour plating as well) meant our armour saves at this distance absorbed a lot of damage (however at 2 inches away you can target those inside)
The game ended 5-2 to Kieron killing Furiosa and rolling 3 for the Maguffin giving him the edge. I couldn't kill enough goons in a turn to cause him to axe his cast. It was really all down to the final ram on his tank which fortunately he made a really high defense roll that I couldn't match with my own dice. It was an ace game!
We were finished for around 1130 ish so had a good natter and a browse around all the wonderful display cabinets all painted by Bryan Ansell. Many of which were classics from Heroquest, Titan Legions, Citadel, Rogue Trader, Realms of Chaos and Marauder miniatures to name a few it was really joyful to browse through the cabinets during the day it brought back a lot of fond memories of classic White Dwarf. The Foundry collection in the cabinets was a joy to view especially the orcs and Dwarfs. The whole place was line with blisters along all the walls!!!! Temptation was high!!! I will tell you.
We all had lunch in the marquee in the centre courtyard it truly is a marvellous building and we were only in a small area of it really.
Lunch was included in the ticket price and comprised of a good size jacked spud, Chilli, Baked Beans, Tuna and red onion as a help yourself option. Followed by cakes The ticket price also included as much as you want tea, coffee, squashes, cold cans of pop, donuts, cakes. I was honestly that full still when I got home on the night I didn't bother having any dinner!
A quick Q&A ensued with Karl and we grilled him pretty well asking questions about future releases and plans for 7TV exciting times!
Game 2 James Aldridge's Garth Knight and his Goliath
Garthe Knight (Evil Master mind)
2 Criminals with shotguns
Bazooka Minion weapon team
Big Rig with Trailer. I think this had a few mods but I can't recall what now.
This again was different Scenario. This time it was The Steal I rolled the dice and elected to be the Defender. I got to pick one gadget card from four randomly dealt ones and give it to one of my characters. My character could use this gadget all game and was worth 1D6 Vp's at the end. I selected the medipack and gave it to Furiousa figuring she would need it. (and she did!!!!!!)
The Goliath deploys with a criminal driving it and the bazooka weapon team on top. Garthe and another criminal in the background deploy on the right flank on foot.
(Pic was rubbish our table was this bottom side of the road.)
I deployed Furiosa on her own near the fencing on my left flank and Max and all the Many Mothers in the Truck where on my right flank point toward the advertising board.( Near the briefing sheet)
Furiosa runs forward and onto objective marker ready to pick it up next turn. Max guns the truck and pulls to a halt near two objectives. A Many Mother (left) and Black Thumb (right) disembark. The next countdown card allowed me to move the two disembarked extras 3 inches in response to James moving two of his own cast.
The Goliath loom forward the weapon team loading there RPG and loosing a shot off at my Truck. Luckily I made my armour save! Garthe and his punk friend advance towards the objectives.
Furiosa grabs an Objective and loose a shot off at Garthe taking a point of health off the Evil Mastermind. My Black Thumb and Many Mother both pick up there objectives netting me 3 in one turn.
This was on of the cinematic bits of this game Max guns the truck forward and performs a drive by shooting on the criminal driving the truck (Max was within 2 inches so was able to target the crew inside whom gets a defence bonus but as you can't move in a driving seat count as disadvantaged so can't roll extra dice to defend) I boosted the attack with a couple of dice Max levelled his shotgun and blew the driver apart in a spray of buck shot as he zoomed past.
The Goliath now out of control lurches forward and comes to a halt now driverless
Furiosa snaps off some more shots at Garthe.
The rest of photos were pants for this episode unfortunately.
Garthe and his friend adavance upto the objective in front of Furiousa trading a few pistol shots with my Many Mother hunkered down. The Weapon team hunkered down on top of Goliath loosed off a rocket hitting Furiousa with stunning force but the gadget medical device she was carrying repaired all the damage and the strike was ignored (PHEW!!!!!)
Garthe respawned his criminal whom I placed in front of my truck ending his turn
My trun begain by promptly shooting down the respawned criminal by the Many Mother onboard the truck. Max turned the truck around to approach Garth and his buddy from behind. My Black thumb by the billboard picked up the objective then ran over to the Goliath
The Weapon team try and shoot the Many Mother but miss her. Garthe and his buddy move into the rocks trading shots with Furiousa and the Many Mother. Respawns the goon again who I place with Garthe.
My Black Thumb jumped in the empty truck and drives off attempting a sharp turn and failing miserable. Causing a little bit of damage but leaving the vehicle side on.
Max moves forward and in a burst of concentrated fire from 3 Mothers, Furiousa and Max gun down Garthe and the two criminals.
With only the weapon team left it was a short turn. They tried to shoot the Black Thumb in the cab but it was saved by the armour. They then failed there ax test and leave the table.
Victory was mine! 10-0 I managed to get 4 objectives in the end, Scored 3 points for Garthe being taken out then 2 for axing the cast. But only rolled a 1 on the maguffin roll! which was neither here nor there but it was a hilarious game! The highlights was Max shooting the driver of Goliath and it careening out of control only for one of my Black Thumbs to hop in and drive off with it!
James was a very gracious opponent and we both had some real good chuckles at the game but the dice where with me this game. I think in these scenarios small model count casts like his struggled with the objectives side of the game.
Game 3 Demolition Derby vs Bruce's Parcel Farce Truck, James Goliath Big Rig and Mikes MFP type cast of a Patrol car and Motorcycle
We all had a brief break and then got on to game 3 of the day. We removed the strips down the centre of the mats creating one big board. We were then divided in to fours on each table. Picked a corner and then just duked out it out Demolition Derby style.
This game was a bit clunky so some rules were removed so we could steal the scene or burn 2 countdown cards in a turn. Initiative was rolled at the start then went in a clockwise motion from the winner for the whole game. 1 Countdown Card was drawn per player per round and due to the size we had 21 cards in the deck.
We left our strip because it look cool with the Arch. Goliath deployed up in the top right corner. The MFP in the top left. Parcel Farce in the bottom left and my Many Mothers in the bottom Right.
The Parcel Farce and Many Mother pass each other by trading shots but saved by each of the trucks formidable armour.
Poor photos again sorry :(
Turn 2
The Parcel Farce using its ram T Bones the Many mothers Truck causing 2 points of damage and destroying one of my Flat Bed mods. This caused two of my Many Mothers to fall off the truck but land unharmed but knocked down. My Truck spins to the left. The two prone mothers are then gunned down by Jess the cat on the Parcel Farce's machine gun killing them both.
The MFP Bike advances and drop a mine. The Patrol Car guns forward towards the Goliath. A countdown card causes the big rig driver to slip off his seat. Wasting action he clicks in his seatbelt and the rumbles forward. The Weapon team atop Goliath loose of a rocket at the Patrol car causing a big chunk of damage.
My Mothers put a few shots into the Parcel Farce truck at close range inflicting a hit on jess the cat.
Turn 3
Jess tells Max a sad tale about how he lost Postman Pat stunning Max into silence. (Some weird power that inflicts a status boo!) The Parcel Force guns forward towards the centre looking for more victims.
The MFP bike advances and takes a shot at the crew onboard the Goliath the MFP Cruiser advances even closer to the centre. A countdown card moves the MFP cycle directly in front of Goliath. Which promptly T Bones the motorcyle and rider into paste. Another rocket slams in the Patrol car but is saved by the vehicles armour.
Max recovers his wits and moves the vehicle back around towards the centre. Furiousa and the two Black Thumbs onboard make hasty repairs and restore 2 health back on my truck.
Turn 4
Yay pics return!
The Parcel Farce truck moves into position. The MFP vehicle makes a drive by on Goliath but nobody is injured by the fusilade. A Rocket puts paid to the MFP causing it to exploding leaving just The Tough MFP Officer and a trooper left of the MFP cast. It then drives off and heads towards the centre.
Max starts the pursuit of the Parcel Farce truck revenge on his mind.
Turn 5
The Parcel Farce advances on Goliath shooting bullets into it causing no damage but in position for more Sad Tales from Jess next round or maybe a T Bone.
The MFP advance after the Goliath revenge on there minds.
Max hits the nitro and T Bones The Parcel Farce truck and destroys it in a spectacular fashion. The Many Mothers and Furiousa then shoot up the survivors leaving Jess the cat stunned and on 1 health alone on the table.
Turn 6
No photo again sorry :(
Jess the cat gets up and takes a shot at Garthe in the truck but misses. The MFP player then draws a countdown card which empties the pile ending the game.
It was a close fought game. I managed to destroy a vehicle with 3 mods so got +2 vps for causing the most carnage. Killing off Bruce's Star netted me a further 3 vps. The rest of the players scored none. We did discuss this and felt that something need to be changed in future. Like a VP per Health of each vehicle or mod was needed as The MFP's vehicles were both destroyed and one of my mods was removed from my own truck which would of boosted the others players scores slightly.
The games ended and we packed up our stuff and checked on the other games till in play whilst we waited for the results at the end of the day. I zipped around the tables and got some shots of some of the other casts
Mike Jarvis with his Yes an armoured Dinosaur took part with Doug a female sidekick and many Primitive Hunters!
John Savage's glorious Post Apoc Scooby Gang!
Mike's MFP patrol car
Matt Lilley's Top Gear themed cast was brilliant. It counted as a big rig I think.
Dave King's A-Pocalypse Team (A Team theme)
Christopher Flux's Moterhead Biker gang! Awesome minis but love the jackets on the bikes and foot models!
Mike Wilkin's hastily prepared but great looking Boiler suited minion cast.
Bruce Laing's Parcel Farce his cast was brilliantly though out all his characters had wonderfully renamed effects.
Matthew Wildsmith's awesome Catch the Pigeon Cast.
There were a few more which I missed getting pics of. Also Karl brought along some bits that are coming out in the Kickstart which is October now I believe
Can't wait for these release its going to be awesome!
Weapon systems for vehicles with a stand or adding to turrets in the below pic
Lots of cool stowage to add to your post apoc cars.
Anyway once all the results were in it was time for to decide who had won prizes there were four trophies available. For the following categories
Overall Winner (scored most VP's)
Best Themed Cast (Pretty Obvious)
Nicest Person (Gentlemen gamer)
Road Warrior (Most Road Warrior like Player on the day)
L-R Overall, Nicest, Best Themed, Road Warrior
John Savage with his Scooby Doo gang came first with Overall Winner. Won all 3 games and they were his first 3 games of 7TV!! Awesome stuff
Matthew Wildsmith won Best Themed Cast with his Catch the Pigeon Cast
Mike Watson (MFP Patrol) got Nicest Person award
Simon 'Brummie' Quinton yes yours truly got the 'Road Warrior' trophy which pleased me no end and topped a great day of gaming off. I got an awesome Asterian Mega force set for Warpath as a prize bundle.
A huge bundle of prizes were available to pick from with those who won trophies getting first choice but everyone came away with something which was a nice end to the day.