In moving ahead, I want to capture how we did it (mostly so the two of us remember)....
My Thoughts:
The setup was fun to put together, including some "secret instructions" that I provide via email in the style of "when X happens, open and read".
TBH I probably could have done more of that, or included more of them, as the story developed and Rich sent me updates.
To make the game more interesting for Rich playing solo, before starting we made a Robot "response matrix" which gave different robot responses to situations, and d6 giving some variety and uncertainty to them. (I copied this idea from the classic "Pony Wars: 'B' Troop ain't coming back" Cowboys vs Indians game, originally published in 1980)
Grouping up the 'tactical turns' into sensible chunks to narrate worked well, but it took some time with real life getting in the way at times. They were fun to do though!
Overall love the Fistful of Lead /Galactic Heroes system for ease of play
For cards I used a standard layout of characters, I would deal blind then reveal all of the cards. If there were any Aces or Jokers I would swap cards IF IT MADE SENSE for the story
In all cases, having all cards flipped showed who was going now and who was going next
The Robot 'Response Matrix' was on my iPad next to the card shelf so it was easy to note its a robot turn, roll the die and then refer to the matrix
For the play mat
I assumed that the corridors did not allow comms through more than 8 inches of rock. Of course LOS was severely disrupted, and Figures used single file a lot
Did use jump packs and rolled for lack of fuel each jump where there were clear flight paths
I found that with Fistful and in our scenario it was easy to add extra bits like introducing additional foes (bugs worms) and I was able match their capabilities with G heroes framework. It was also to add additional minis (seeker, maker, advanced, assault) as well as the Galactic Intelligence peeps
In actual play a turn took 20 minutes on average. I shot pictures as I played and would write the notes post play
For the line of death associated with the secret envelope I downloaded your pic and added possible tripwire paths
I did some things between turns liking painting the computer screens and some other figures for a surprise which will be following this report soon
I think the rules we picked, the scenario, the bonus stuff like the secret envelope all worked very well.
Yes we plan to do this again!
We have a few ideas for story arcs but they will be predominantly determined by (a) what Rich feels like playing and (b) what painted models are available
Who or What will be the next dire threat to the Galaxy?
....Infamous Pirate Queen Xyra?
....Psionic aliens of the Starborn Concord?
....Militant socialists of the Cosmos Collective?
Whatever the danger, Captain 'Ace' McGuire and the heroic Galacteers stand ready to defend us!
GALACTEERS OF THE SHADOW CIRCUIT
(as recounted to the Galactic Frontier Service)
From the yawning guts of the alien catacombs came the thunder of war; the clash of light and shadow where metal beasts screamed, and the Galacteers defied the impossible!
Our heroes have clawed their way to the Maker-bot’s lair, a monstrous hive of alien circuitry pulsing like a diseased heart. But deep in that mechanical tomb waits Scar, the one-eyed warlord of the Robot Legion - a nightmare construct of iron and hate!
“I’ve had enough of these dirty Toasters!” Jane roared, her twin pistols barking bolts of pure lightning, fast and furious.
Two Legionnaire robot drones staggered and shattered under her barrage, their molten shards clattering across the floor.
Jane blew a strand of blonde hair from her eyes. “That’s the end of them!” she said with a satisfied grin
Ace was struck square, thrown back with the force of a meteor impact. For a breathless second, he was still. Then, teeth gritted, he rose again, the chest area of his uniform still smoking from he impact of the blasts.
“Nice try, bucket-head!” Ace growled.
Ace’s sword flashed from its scabbard. A gleaming arc of determination.
He charged Scar headlong, a comet of fury. The blade bit deep, sparks flew, and Scar staggered, retreating behind his hulking Legionary reinforcements.
Meanwhile, Rocky forced a sealed hatch and from the gloomy cell two soot-streaked figures emerged, their Galacteer uniforms ragged but recognisable.
“We're here with Galacteer Intelligence,” panted Skip. “Scar’s running a whole charnel house down here, and we’re late to the party!”
Above them, plasma fire lit the vaults like starlight on a dying world.
Ace scanned the ruinous hall. The Maker’s forces regrouped, steel against starlight.
“Scar’s slinking off and good riddance,” he muttered. “But his pets aren’t done.”
Dr. Zahn finished patching Tammy’s wounds and sprang to his feet dramatically. “Hold fast, everyone! Science rides with you!”
Jane locked eyes with Wanda, shock and delight mingling in her voice. “Wanda! By the moons of Mars, it’s you!”
“Still breathing, Jane! Let’s make that count - we can tell tales from Flight School later on the shuttle home!”
Wanda and Skip wheeled, firing in unison. Their beams sliced into a resonator, setting it ablaze in a column of green fire.
“Next hit finishes it!” Skip shouted.
“Then let’s give it one for the archives!” Jane replied, pistols singing in harmony.
The alien machine howled and died.
The Maker’s grip was weakening.
The Aggressor drone hovered in the gloom, its sensors twitching in blind confusion.
The Angels advanced, rifles blazing. Their blue bolts cut ribbons through the shadows like a nova storm. One Praetorian fell with a crash, molten torso bubbling and broken.
Peggie fired her grenade launcher and the blast ricocheted wildly, showering sparks. “Missed by a parsec!” she snarled.
Ace lunged, his sword a silver streak, cleaving the next robot’s blaster in two. The machine reeled, screeching in binary fury.
Jane turned her pistols on the final resonator —KA-THOOM!
It erupted in a cyclone of violet flame.
“Doctor Zahn!” called Wanda through the haze. “Your colleague Dr Salinger - she’s alive! We saw her in another cell!”
Dr. Zahn’s eyes went wide. “Helen Salinger—by the stars! We must reach her before Scar does!”
With renewed haste, the Galacteers pressed onward through smoke and ruin.
The corridors closed in like a steel throat. Every surface hummed with the dying pulse of alien power.
Ace fell back, waving for the Angels to form up.
“Let’s clear this sector the Galacteer way: fast and loud!”
Rocky met the last Praetorian head-on, his blaster roaring in one hand, vibro-knife in the other and a determined grin on his face. The impact sent molten debris flying. The robot collapsed, shrieking sparks.
Skip and Wanda swept in beside him, flashing pistols burning another Legionnaire to slag in sparks.
Then came the final machine, lumbering through the smoke. It struck at Wanda — she caught the blow, spun in an expert Judo move, and slammed the robot aside with a shout of triumph.
“Still got it,” she grinned as it slumped to the ground, sparks showering from its head.
Stacey’s voice barked over the comms. “Angels, tighten formation! We push to the core!”
Boots thundered. Jetpacks flared. The light of humanity drove deeper into the belly of the beast.
Skip and Wanda fired the last volley. The final Legionnaire spasmed, sparked, and collapsed in a heap with a sonic scream of defiance
Across the chamber the Aggressor drone hesitated, its sensors flickered, logic spiralling, then it turned and drifted back toward its master.
The Maker looked up, claws frozen mid-task. The returning drone hovered before it… and exploded. A blinding flash, then silence.
Dr. Zahn and Jane crept forward.
“What a machine,” Zahn whispered, awe and sorrow mingling.
Jane holstered her pistols. “What a mistake.”
“Nice toss,” Stacey said.
“Fish in a barrel,” Peggie replied, reloading with a cheeky wink.
And at last, the catacombs fell quiet. Save for the whisper of cooling metal and the distant hum of alien death.
Peggie turned, fired one last fragmentation shell and the final resonator blossomed into brilliant, blinding ruin.
“It’s done, Doctor,” she called.
Dr. Zahn smiled. “Splendid, Peggie! The Shadow Circuit is broken!”
Moments later, Sgt. Stacey pried open a sealed hatch. A woman stumbled out, pale, dazed - Dr. Helen Salinger! Zahn rushed to her, voice thick with emotion. “Helen! You’re safe at last!”
Zahn frowned. “Let’s not destroy it… yet. There’s knowledge here worth keeping.”
Skip nodded grimly. “Agreed. But next time, bring more guns.”
Ace chuckled, sliding his sword home. “For now, I’d say we’ve earned our sunset.”
Moments later, the Galactic War Rocket "Gladiator" broke atmosphere on its landing approach, flooding the ruins with silver light.
As the shuttles descended, Jane turned for one last look at the shattered lair below before grasping Ace's arm
“Let’s go home,” she said softly.
And far beneath the rubble, where the dead machines dreamed, a single red eye blinked in the darkness...
----------
Trapped in the labyrinths of a forgotten world!
Captain 'Ace' McGuire and the fearless Astro-Angels confront the awakening Robot Legion!
Deep in the Carapace Catacombs, our Heroes have uncovered the alien resonators of the Shlar-Tak. Strange, humming machines rewired by the Robot Centurion leader Scar to form the terrifying Shadow Circuit!
Now, as Doctor Zahn wrestles with their forbidden secrets, the Maker-Bot stirs... and the Legion awakens!
From its metal womb, the Maker-Bot shuddered to life. A vast engine of forged sin. Its clawed manipulators trembled with electric hunger as it released a new creation: a sleek, deathly hover drone whose crimson lenses blinked once, twice, then flared with malevolent purpose.
With a rising hum, the drone drifted upward, its turbines whispering against the tomb-like silence. Down the corridor it flew, shadowing the walls like a phantom bullet until the Seeker Drone came into view.
The Seeker’s binary transmission flickered through the static:
“LIFEFORMS: HOSTILE. PROCEEDING.”
The newborn drone pivoted, awaiting the next order. Its flank blasters glowed a hungry green.
At the alien console, Dr. Zahn hunched over the resonator, the light from its pulsing coils painting ghostly lines across his determined face.
“If I recall correctly—yes, this pattern here, and this waveform there... ha! I see their intention now! I need just a little more data…”
He called out over the comm: “Angels! Destroy the resonator in front of you! I’ll extract the intelligence from this one!”
“Roger that, Doc!” Jane’s voice was a crack of confidence through the static.
Twin beams lanced from her pistols, the blue discharges lighting the darkness and striking the resonator. The machine bucked, shrieking like a dying beast. Behind her, the Angels joined in, rifles blazing, but one cursed as her power cell went dead. “Reloading!” she barked, slamming a new one home.
Two Angels advanced down the gloom-choked corridors, their scanners sweeping like lighthouse beams across the rock. Stacey and Jen pressed forward, tense and alert.
Ace’s voice came over the comm, steady and steel-cold.
“Two down, three to go. Zahn’s still pulling data. Stay sharp everyone - Scar won’t sit this one out!”
Zahn’s fingers danced over the console. “Another glyph! Yes, by the stars, they’re adapting!”
Jane’s shots sizzled against the resonator harmlessly. “Doc! our blasts are bouncing off!”
“They’re learning,” Zahn breathed. “Adaptive shielding... elegant and deadly.”
Up ahead, two Angels froze, spying something hovering in the darkness ahead. A small, gleaming sphere, its twin eyes burning red with malice.
“Contact!” one of the Angels shouted.
The Seeker’s lenses clicked, capturing the moment, transmitting it to its brethren. Two more hover drones came alive. One drifted down the hall, the other halted just within sight; waiting, patient and silent as executioners.
Ace’s next shot ricocheted like a firecracker off invisible armour.
“Zahn’s right! They’ve tuned our frequencies!”
Jane snarled. “Let’s see how you adapt to this, you Garbage cans!” Her recalibrated pistols roared, twin streaks of blue fire ripping through the air. The resonator exploded, molten shards scattering like streaking comets.
“Great shot, Jane!" Dr Zahn laughed triumphantly. "Everyone retune your weapons! Shift the frequency by 1.3 - that should tear through their harmonics!”
The words had barely left his lips when the first drone struck.
Emerald plasma screamed down the corridor, bathing the walls in toxic light. One Angel staggered back, wounded but still firing. Her comrade’s return shot was vengeance incarnate, catching the drone midair and blasting it apart in a rain of burning alloy.
“One Tin-can neutralised!” she grinned in triumph
The squad pressed onward, emerging into a nexus of tunnels that twisted like the arteries of a sleeping god.
“Which way?” one called. “Right, left, or straight ahead?”
Before Ace could answer, a new monster lumbered into view. A claw-armed battle drone, its head crowned with twin plasma cannons. It opened fire, the shots roaring like thunder. One Angel went down hard with a groan.
“Contact front - More Toasters!” Sergeant Stacey barked.
Ace darted forward but had no clear shot. Behind him, Peggie and her wingmate watched as a smaller drone spun away, back into the Stygian darkness.
Back in its lair, the Maker-Bot’s claws clattered, assembling another killer sphere, even as a third began to take shape.
“I’ve got it!” Zahn cried victoriously. The resonator before him dimmed, its light dying to nothing. “Their shield harmonics - I’ve disabled them all!”
Jane swept up beside Ace, eyes fierce and bright: “Then let’s finish it!”
Ace sighted down his rifle. One shot. One hit. The hover bot shuddered, steadied itself, then swung its pulsing red gaze toward him.
“Doc!” Ace growled, “we’ve got company!”
Jane fired her jetpack and soared, twin pistols blazing like twin suns. Her volleys tore into the drone, sparks raining. An Angel’s burst followed and between the girls' hits the bot erupted in a cascade of fire and screaming shrapnel.
Smoke hung thick in the air. “I see another resonator!” the Angel cried.
Jane vaulted forward...and froze.
Robot Centurion NXS-6 "Scar" emerged from the mist, its burnished brass plating seemed to drink in the light, reflecting it back in sharp angles that cut through the gloom. His single cracked eye-lens glowing like the heart of a dying star.
“Scar,” she whispered. “He’s here…”
Two Angels fired, their beams splashed uselessly against his armoured torso. Behind him, his praetorian guards emerged from the haze, their weapons trained. The Legion advanced in formation, eerily synchronised.
“Scar’s found us!” Rocky roared, igniting his jetpack. “We’ve got a fight on our hands!”
Blaster fire turned the corridor into chaos. Stacey and Jen found their mark and annihilated another resonator.
“That’s three down!” Stacey cried.
“Good work!” Zahn replied. “Jane’s got number four. Destroy it, and we can track the fifth!”
But in the deep, the Maker-Bot was not idle. Another war drone took shape in its forges of flame and steel…
“Form the line!” Stacey’s voice cut through the storm. The Angels moved as one, forming a gleaming barrier of Galacteer courage and firepower. Peggie hurled a disruptor grenade at the advancing robots. The blast rocked the hall but the drones pressed through, relentless and unfeeling.
And then from the smoke stepped Centurion NXS-6, reborn from the wreckage of Planet Thomas. From its shoulder a scarlet cape flared as though caught in an unseen wind.
“Greetings once again, Captain McGuire of the Galacteers,” it intoned, its monotone voice booming like iron thunder. “I have waited precisely 347 cycles, twelve minutes, and forty-two seconds for this reunion.”
Behind it, rank upon rank of Legion drones marched from the shadows. An army of chrome and fury.
Ace smirked, levelling his blaster. “Still wearing that scar I gave you?”
The robot’s cracked red lens pulsed. “The scar remains a reminder of former inefficiency. One I have… corrected.”
Holographic schematics flickered before them — Ace’s past tactics, analysed and dissected.
“I have studied your every move, Captain,” NXS-6 said coldly. “And I have concluded… you require upgrading.”
It raised its blaster pistol and the Legion raised theirs in unison. The corridor blazed to life as plasma bolts screamed.
Scar’s shot grazed past Ace’s shoulder with a tang of ozone, but Ace’s counter-fire struck true, sending sparks dancing from the villain’s armour.
“Not today, Scar!” Ace yelled triumphantly
Behind him, the Angels fought like the heroins they were. Stacey and Jen fired in unison as Rocky blasted forward to cover Zahn, and Jane’s twin lasers carved through another advancing drone.
The air was thick with ozone and fire going in both directions down the tunnel. The clang of metal met the roar of courage. An Angel grappled with a Legion drone and flung it into the tunnel wall with a judo throw worthy of the halls of Valhalla.
"The bigger they are, the harder they fall!" she grinned
“Hold steady, Galacteers!” Ace shouted. “We can take these Toasters!”
And far below, in the catacombs’ heart the Maker-Bot forged another horror, its claws sparking, its voice humming a hymn of creation and death.
TO BE CONTINUED...
In Episode 4: “The Heart of the Shadow Circuit!”
In which Scar’s diabolical plan is revealed, the final resonator awakens, and the Galacteers must battle not only for survival but for the very soul of the galaxy itself!
I had a quick work trip to Japan recently, a destination I love. This time it was Tokyo and I had a few hours to myself exploring. I try to walk around when possible, to find interesting nooks and crannies.
I also made a special effort to get to Warhammer Tokyo, the flagship store in Japan. It had some fabulous staff, a cafe, and some wonderful models on display. I particularly liked the Japanese posters and artwork - sadly these aren't available for purchase though!Other shopping highlights included:
And of course, the one and only...
Tokyo Tower was a great perch from which to look down upon MegaCity 1. At 333m tall, it was inspired by the Eiffel Tower and was the largest free standing tower of its day
But anywhere in Tokyo by night is a delight
I always enjoy exploring the culinary delights too!
And no trip to Tokyo is compete without a beer at the Asahi brewery! (with the beer froth cloud on top!)
or my new favourite hole-in-the-wall: BEERZILLA!!!
Thank you Japan - I'll be back for a holiday with Mrs Man Cave ASAP (she was super jelly!)
