Space Weirdos and Other Stuff

Today I actually made it to Das Krieg Haus for a game. A member taught us Space Weirdos, a minis-agnostic skirmish game with shades of Necromunda - at least the way we played it.

Here, a Deathwatch team takes on Infinity figures.

John, who was running the games, had brought lots of minis - mostly Infinity with a smattering of old 40K - 2x2foot mats and some lovely sci-fi "Battle Systems" terrain. This was heavy card with plastic connectors, so pretty customizable, but also came with cool little "scatter" like chairs, tables and signs. I've seen a lot of this type of terrain recently and am leaning toward trying Tenfold Dungeons, which are simply stackable boxes with printing both inside and out. So it was nice to play on for a try-out.

Closeup on the furniture - good for a barfight.

Space Weirdos is a "ganger" sort of game, point-based such that about four figures make up the smaller group of 75 points. I got in one round - Infinity soldiers vs. ancient metal 40K Orks.

My squad: A leader with energy pistol, a sniper, and troopers
with autorifle and energy rifle. Two figures also had stealthsuits,
which make you impossible to target at longer than close range
so long as you're touching terrain.

The rules are simple enough that even I got the hang of them quickly. Figures have defense, shooting and melee statistics measured in die types - typical is 2D8. You always roll two dice - defender rolls defense vs. opponent's attack - but the type can rise or fall, anywhere from D4 to D12, if there are relevant advantages and disadvantages like cover, long range, or the defender having moved (hence the "footprint" tokens you can see. When hit, the victim rolls on a chart - low scores mean he may get to make a snap shot or blow back at his opponent, while higher scores result in "down," "staggered" or "out of action" results. Armor or special equipment can modify results on this table.

Every figure can make three actions, after which an opposing figure can take three actions. An initiative roll determines who goes first. Movement and range are in five-inch increments, easier than rulers if you have measuring sticks of the right length, but ranged weapons have effectively infinite range. Psychic powers typically have "one-stick length" range, which in my game neutered the opponent a bit, though one of his powers was teleportation. And some weapons, like my sniper rifle, cannot be fired at short range.

Each side also gets a number of tokens per turn (two at the size we were playing) that can be used for "interrupt" actions like dodging or recovering injury. At the end of the turn, used tokens are removed from the board and morale tests are taken.

The one game I played went quickly; I rolled high a lot, though positioning made a difference too. Terrain is key in this game since it makes it harder to hit and easier to dodge a shot, but movement is relatively high and any figure can cross the board in two turns if he focuses on it. We didn't have objectives; this was a straight-up bash.

Here I tackle a staggered (ie stunned) Ork.

This psyker Ork has moved once; he has three
actions, so has two more. Unfortunately his
psychic attacks have quite short range.

This figure has moved twice, so could shoot once.

Ultimately, I managed to take out two of my opponent's four figures, including his leader, and the penalties were such that he "bottled out."

The QRS for the game was clear and easy to use, and there are many customization options. The simplicity reminded me of Minceheim. I'd happily try it again, and it has solo mechanisms so quite tempting (there are signs of this in the "reaction" tables with the chances to shoot back if hit). There is a fantasy version, and with a little modifications I could see historicals working as well.

On my own account, I finished Gardeners of Salonika, added a second basecoat to my Italian tank, and undercoated my civilian 75mm gun crew. Not sure what color to paint the gun, but at least I'm making progress. More tomorrow, I hope.