Anyone remember these?

[BuShips]

Ah, let's take a trip down memory lane to issue #26 of S&P Wargamer. I dropped in this idea for a "neutral but nasty" NPC nearly two years ago. It was sort of a third player character to the wargame. I called it Araneae muscipula, or the KLendathu Bug Trap commonly. I thought of it as functioning as an organic minefield.

It was native to Klendathu but seemed to follow the Arachnid Hosts as they seeded outbound worlds. Ground areas where these were spotted were rich with nutrients that the fungus and other fast growing plants needed to grow that the Bugs fed upon.

Rumors among new MI troops from boot camps that the Bugs ate humans were quickly spread early in the war. This was of course untrue, as the argument could be easily brought forth that the Bugs had not known of humans so could logically not have been eating of them. The rumors were born from just a single procedure for Bug information and intelligence gathering, used by a specific Bug type.

The nutrition byproduct of the KBTs of course came from the unlucky Warrior Bugs that strayed too close to the "Bug Traps" while grazing. Thus, a closed system of mutual food generation was used between these natural enemies.

Whether hitching a ride by attaching their spoor to outbound Bug Hosts or intentionally taken along with them by order of the Brain Bugs, these large similes of Terran fly traps can serve as tokens of Arachnid ownership of a planet when seen by human colonists taking root. When seen in clusters, these plants serve as "Keep Out" signposts to Arachnids of the intelligent type and to all other sentient Races.

---

I recently got these out and decided to give them a try at painting. Being very flexible, I had skipped doing this when I first converted them from jellyfish models. I was pleased that my paint did seem to work, and so I gave them a wash with diluted artist ink as well. I'm liking them even better than before.

My main inspiration for making these was the special flinch rule that was built into the game system. If a player were to successfully flank an enemy group, even if they survived combat they could flinch 2" back and get entangled in these neutral pieces. While a player might attack the KBTs early in the game just to clear them out, they might choose to not do so in the hopes that the other player might get himself enmeshed. Besides, if you focus on these the other player will be focusing his attention on you.

My other inspiration for these was of course the movie Soylent Green... :wink:

 

[127th Angry Angels]

I missed these the first time round, what a cool idea! I like things can help keep engagements...well engageing.

Have you used them much your self?

 

[Rabidchild]

Very nice! Works in well with what Max was talking about on the "what we want" thread. I missed that S&P also, did you have stats for them?

 

[BuShips]

Well, all you need is Acrobat Reader and a link. Here's the link :wink:.

http://www.mongoosepublishing.com/pdf/sp26wargamer.pdf

127th, I'm embarrased to say I haven't, as when I demoed the game I kept it according to the "book". If I had gamers closeby, I'd be sure to try them out. Thus, so far these haven't ever been properly playtested afaik. As I said above, I was reading the original rules regarding Flinching and thought something like these would add another dimension (and threat item) to the game for both sides. :twisted:

In my mind's eye I could see both players jockying for position to place their enemy between himself and these "terrain" items. Thus, the first step is to kill as many of the enemy as possible, with the survivors Flinching (mandatorily, mind you) back into the waiting arms of these critters. If all of the enemy troops get entangled, your guys can then pull up a rock or sit on their helmet and watch the show. :twisted:

Mongoose was nice enough to use a whole page that could be printed out, with the history and game stats that I worked up. I've never heard of anyone here giving them a try. I'd love to hear what they could bring to spice up a game. Heck, they'd be a good way to pull someone into the game that was watching but not playing. "Here, you take the dice Henry and let's see if your plants get to have lunch". :lol:

Of course, there is no rule keeping your team from going ahead and shooting the entagled enemy, but that wouldn't be as sporting or entertaining.

As many say, the Arachnids aren't really insects, so these things are not really "fly traps". :wink:

 

[Hiromoon]

Didn't I do a card for these, Buships?

 

[Goldwyrm]

I somehow missed this completely. Thanks for bringing it up!

 

[lt.harper]

This is new to me. thanks for bringing it up BuShips.

 

[BuShips]

Didn't I do a card for these, Buships?

Yeah, I think so. Those ones were "pink" bug traps though. :roll: Not that gigantic fly traps that eat gigantic alien cretures wouldn't be pink, you know... :lol:

I somehow missed this completely. Thanks for bringing it up!

In a way, I didn't bring it up :wink:. A member over at TMP had asked who made the "jellyfish" fly traps back aways (several years back, as it turned out). He had just made his first professional sculpts of what I'm calling xenopods and he was reaching back in his memory for what I had made.

Both his "pods" and my "plants" were similar in how they could both be used for sci-fi gaming as "proximity threats". The funny thing about this is that he had forgotten that I had been the one to make the fly traps. It became a very tight circle, as it turned out for him. :lol:

As a side-effect of discussing them, I dug them out and was inspired to paint them. I had skipped it initially because they are very flexible and I didn't think they'd take to painting well. My vinul acrylic paint worked well, so they finally got an upgrade that they needed. Sometimes, it's good to bounce things back and forth as better things come of it.

This is new to me. thanks for bringing it up BuShips.

No problem!

Here's a pic link of the new pods that were made. I'd appreciate any further questions about these be done as a PM, as I don't wish to turn this topic into a billboard for non-MGP stuff.

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c385/SSTforumpics/DCP/TYPE_1_xenopod.jpg

 

[127th Angry Angels]

Here's a pic link of the new pods that were made. I'd appreciate any further questions about these be done as a PM, as I don't wish to turn this topic into a billboard for non-MGP stuff.

Appreciate the sentiment but this is one of an endangered species "Positivius Threadus SST" and so cannot be moved or culled- for the good of the community.

 

[Paladin]

The plant idea isn't bad. I'd like to see the stat cards. But man o' man BuShips your terrain continues to inspire me. There are several good ideas in that issue and the Bug Farm is a great "inspirational board". I'd love to know how things worked out during actual game play. I have honestly been mulling over how to do a true 3D vertical/horizontal tunnel board since watching some the Roughneck Chronicle DVD with the suspended nest in a cavern. I've got an idea in mind, but it's going to be a while till I can find time. But this helped me change my initial plans a bit.

 

[BuShips]

Appreciate the sentiment but this is one of an endangered species "Positivius Threadus SST" and so cannot be moved or culled- for the good of the community.

I appreciate your comments as well. I just got a note from the TMP editor that these are going up as a news item for those curious.

BTW 127th, I'm watching (again) the SAAB DVDs. I just saw the part in the Ray Butts episode, when they did the HALO drop. "Well, do you want to live forever?". This was dated about 1995, so I know where the writer got the phrase. But then they both got it from the real HALO guys, heh.

The plant idea isn't bad. I'd like to see the stat cards. But man o' man BuShips your terrain continues to inspire me. There are several good ideas in that issue and the Bug Farm is a great "inspirational board". I'd love to know how things worked out during actual game play. I have honestly been mulling over how to do a true 3D vertical/horizontal tunnel board since watching some the Roughneck Chronicle DVD with the suspended nest in a cavern. I've got an idea in mind, but it's going to be a while till I can find time. But this helped me change my initial plans a bit.

If you have hiromoon's cards, then look through the collection. Sadly, most of my ideas never get tested, as I run my business like six days (and nights) a week and don't have a local club to play at. My store (computer repairs) also has tabletop games for sale, but no table space for game demos :roll:. I've got lot's of Mongoose stuff, lot's, heh.

Since I have dead time betwen customers, I've used it to create all of the stuff that I've displayed in S&P, with little actual use other than the occasional trip to a regional game con. Now I'm starting up casting again (slowly), so I have even less time for gaming. I can't win for losing, but it's all of my making. The terrain creation and figure painting is "therapy" for the stress related to fighting customer's viruses and such. :wink:

I'm glad you liked the "ant hill". I even thought of making more of these and hanging them over the table edges, around the table perimeter. It would appear as a 4'x6' "cube", with a playing surface on the top and around the sides/end. Weird, eh? :roll:

 

[lt.harper]

Hay BuShips question, where did you get the Xeno eggs? Are they hand made or from some minis compeny? thanks.

 

[BuShips]

Hay BuShips question, where did you get the Xeno eggs? Are they hand made or from some minis compeny? thanks.

I'll answer that humbly by PM.

 

[Hiromoon]

He lays them himself!

 

[BuShips]

He lays them himself!

Careful Hiromoon, or you'll get accused of being my sockpuppet, lol. Yes I do, but only under electro-shock stimulation :lol:. Did you (Zapp!) catch the news item today (Zappp!!) over at TMP? (ZZAAApp!!!)
:wink:

Ahh, my old DFA avatar...
Hey Hiromoon, what's "withing" :?: :lol:

 

[Hiromoon]

No, actually I didn't.