On our last game day we tried out some new rules (gasp! No!) based on a modification of the normal S3 rules. That means nothing to most of you, but anyway, it worked pretty well. Especially considering the fact that we modified WWII Squad rules into rules for Aerial Dragon Combat. It seemed natural at the time...
The rules worked fine, and the groovy flight stands just added to the fun. We can now have dragons flying and fighting in the miniature skies while ground forces fight it out below them. And never once does a ground troop get disturbed by a flight stand. And most important, of the utmost importance in a miniatures game, it looks damn cool. You can't rate that too highly.
Click a picture to make it bigger, etc.
Onto the game! Eric's dragons (closest) and mine are meeting over a remote village somewhere, units of six ground troops have come with us. The ground troops must find and secure the magical orbs and glyphs and leave the table with them, the dragons will fly cover for them. By mutual agreement, the game ends when only one dragon remains since the ground guys simply can not stand up to a dragon.
Here you can see the terrain, and the dragons flying high above it. You can also see the flight stands pretty well, the clouds in the sky, and Zuckuss. He likes this game since he can sit on the table and be with us, but he's not in the way.
The fight started bloody for Eric. My green dragon, with a wizard rider, came roaring in to engage the vulture dragon! He did not make it! Crappy rolls for movement meant that the green dragon just couldn't get close enough to engage. Undetered, the wizard cast his Fist of Air spell against the vulture dragon's rider and unseated him. Because Eric had equiped the dragon with Iron Shod claws, the dragon was unable to catch his rider as he plumeted to the ground far below. First blood is mine!
There's no picture, but Eric's wizard approached mine, and blasted him to smouldering pieces with a Fireball spell. That sucked, but the dragon was okay so at least I had that going for me. Dragons without riders leave the table, but it's still nice.
On the other side of the table Eric's red dragon attacked, coming from the clouds in this dramatic shot, and layed low the rider of my green dragon. The rider of the Red dragon was himself lightly wounded if I recall.
That can't go unanswered, so the Savage Black Dragon raced to attack the red, and succeeded. This was the first useful action the black had taken, his Savage nature prevented him from moving for the first two turns, instead he spent them trying to buck his rider off. Savage dragons are incredibly powerful, but annoying.
The mighty red and his rider crashed to the ground, dead. Well, as dead as anything gets in this game anyway. "Out of Action" is a more often used term.
Eric's final dragon and mine converge for a melee battle of epic scale! The fate of the game rests right here, right now, on this battle! So Eric's wizard cast a Gust of Wind spell and pushed my dragon away. Then he dove and attacked the ground figures. The black dragon was simply too far away to do anything to prevent that.
This game went to Eric.
The second game was more of the same, and it too went to Eric. However, I did manage to get off an attack with my dragon's Fire Breath, and that was cool.
Astute folks may notice that the fire breathing dragon was noted as Eric's in the previous game. They are correct, but we randomly assign the dragons between games, so he was mine in this one.
Also note the blue dragon on the ground in the background. He has landed and bucked off his rider, he will be leaving the table just after this. Savage, powerful but annoying. At least he was Erics this time.
Finally just a shot of Eric measuring to move his dragons. Eric included to show scale.
About the stands; They are a 2"x"2 post attached onto a 1/4" plywood base measuring 7" square. A hole is drilled in the top for a 1/2" dowel.
A spool is attached to a large disk, and then a 1/4" bolt attaches that to the post. The disk has notches that allow a wire (also attached to the post) to be secured and prevent it from spinning.
Eye hooks are then inserted in the post and dowel, and fishin line run through them.
The dowels in the pictures are painted with 1" stripes to aid in movement, but only in theory. They serve no purpose in the game. A good idea, it just didn't work. That happens sometimes.
I made two for testing in an hour, and then the remaining six I made in an afternoon after work. Total cost is about $4.50 per, though I'm guessing on some of that since I had some of the wood already. And the spools were kind of expensive at $1 each, I might go with something else if I need more of them.
The game played well, and the flight stands worked in a most excellent manner. It was a playtest, so some adjustments were made, and the game is much better for it.
I look forward to taking to the skies again!
The rules worked fine, and the groovy flight stands just added to the fun. We can now have dragons flying and fighting in the miniature skies while ground forces fight it out below them. And never once does a ground troop get disturbed by a flight stand. And most important, of the utmost importance in a miniatures game, it looks damn cool. You can't rate that too highly.
Click a picture to make it bigger, etc.
Onto the game! Eric's dragons (closest) and mine are meeting over a remote village somewhere, units of six ground troops have come with us. The ground troops must find and secure the magical orbs and glyphs and leave the table with them, the dragons will fly cover for them. By mutual agreement, the game ends when only one dragon remains since the ground guys simply can not stand up to a dragon.Here you can see the terrain, and the dragons flying high above it. You can also see the flight stands pretty well, the clouds in the sky, and Zuckuss. He likes this game since he can sit on the table and be with us, but he's not in the way.
The fight started bloody for Eric. My green dragon, with a wizard rider, came roaring in to engage the vulture dragon! He did not make it! Crappy rolls for movement meant that the green dragon just couldn't get close enough to engage. Undetered, the wizard cast his Fist of Air spell against the vulture dragon's rider and unseated him. Because Eric had equiped the dragon with Iron Shod claws, the dragon was unable to catch his rider as he plumeted to the ground far below. First blood is mine!
There's no picture, but Eric's wizard approached mine, and blasted him to smouldering pieces with a Fireball spell. That sucked, but the dragon was okay so at least I had that going for me. Dragons without riders leave the table, but it's still nice.On the other side of the table Eric's red dragon attacked, coming from the clouds in this dramatic shot, and layed low the rider of my green dragon. The rider of the Red dragon was himself lightly wounded if I recall.
That can't go unanswered, so the Savage Black Dragon raced to attack the red, and succeeded. This was the first useful action the black had taken, his Savage nature prevented him from moving for the first two turns, instead he spent them trying to buck his rider off. Savage dragons are incredibly powerful, but annoying.The mighty red and his rider crashed to the ground, dead. Well, as dead as anything gets in this game anyway. "Out of Action" is a more often used term.
Eric's final dragon and mine converge for a melee battle of epic scale! The fate of the game rests right here, right now, on this battle! So Eric's wizard cast a Gust of Wind spell and pushed my dragon away. Then he dove and attacked the ground figures. The black dragon was simply too far away to do anything to prevent that.This game went to Eric.
The second game was more of the same, and it too went to Eric. However, I did manage to get off an attack with my dragon's Fire Breath, and that was cool.Astute folks may notice that the fire breathing dragon was noted as Eric's in the previous game. They are correct, but we randomly assign the dragons between games, so he was mine in this one.
Also note the blue dragon on the ground in the background. He has landed and bucked off his rider, he will be leaving the table just after this. Savage, powerful but annoying. At least he was Erics this time.
Finally just a shot of Eric measuring to move his dragons. Eric included to show scale.About the stands; They are a 2"x"2 post attached onto a 1/4" plywood base measuring 7" square. A hole is drilled in the top for a 1/2" dowel.
A spool is attached to a large disk, and then a 1/4" bolt attaches that to the post. The disk has notches that allow a wire (also attached to the post) to be secured and prevent it from spinning.
Eye hooks are then inserted in the post and dowel, and fishin line run through them.
The dowels in the pictures are painted with 1" stripes to aid in movement, but only in theory. They serve no purpose in the game. A good idea, it just didn't work. That happens sometimes.
I made two for testing in an hour, and then the remaining six I made in an afternoon after work. Total cost is about $4.50 per, though I'm guessing on some of that since I had some of the wood already. And the spools were kind of expensive at $1 each, I might go with something else if I need more of them.
The game played well, and the flight stands worked in a most excellent manner. It was a playtest, so some adjustments were made, and the game is much better for it.
I look forward to taking to the skies again!
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