Monster off the starboard bow! (Pictures)

[Stumonster]

So . . my daughter Stephanie has been making some really cool things out of that polymer clay you can bake. I decided to put her to work to make some space monsters for me. They are the first 4 space monsters that are designed for solo play in the SFB rule book. She did them in white clay then baked them. I then added the paint.

I thought is would be cool to convert the scenarios over for use with small fleets in ACTA:SF. I have some basic rules pounded out and am finishing up the creatures and their control sheets. Next will be some testing for balance and fun!!

Some Pictures (and yes, I know I am not a very good photographer ):


All 4 monsters with a Fed CA to show size


Scenario one is a planet Crusher


Scenario 2 is a space amoeba


Scenario 3 is a space eel


Scenario 4 is a sun snake

 

[Nerroth]

Nice! I like the Planet Killer in particular; and having those various pieces caught up in the amoeba is a neat touch.

Although, despite how well it looks, I wouldn't expect any would-be Paravian fans to be happy to see that Sun Snake show up on the tabletop...

(If anyone hasn't seen what some of these monsters looks like rules-wise, here is a sub-set of monster Ship Cards from the Commander's Circle; which may help for comparison's sake. The FC Sun Snake will be in the upcoming Reinforcements Attack module, though I'm not sure if the Moray Eel has been ported over from SFB as of yet.)

 

[astronomypete]

Ever thought about mass production. They are brilliant.

 

[Greg Smith]

They are awesome.

 

[billclo]

Quite nice.

 

[Renny]

Quite nice, hell. These are awesome!!

 

[McKinstry]

That planet killer is brilliant!

 

[Stumonster]

Thanks, everyone, for all the kind comments. I showed the comments to my daughter as well. She was gratified that you liked her work. She is 15 so it is nice to have some positive reinforcement at that age.

Now, if I could only get some time to test them out on the table. . . . I hope to get some rules/stats testing in early next week, but may have to travel for business.

 

[billclo]

Thanks, everyone, for all the kind comments. I showed the comments to my daughter as well. She was gratified that you liked her work. She is 15 so it is nice to have some positive reinforcement at that age.

Now, if I could only get some time to test them out on the table. . . . I hope to get some rules/stats testing in early next week, but may have to travel for business.

You know, this could be turned into a decent little side-line for her/you. Work out some sort of deal wherein you two split the profits and sell some here (or on ADB's site). Heck, you might sell some at Star-Ranger, or The Miniatures Page as well.

 

[Stumonster]

So, I did a play test of my solo rules and the first and most simple monster: The planet Crusher. The play test went pretty well, and I made some minor adjustments to the rules and the monster. All in all, it reflected the goal of letting new players learn the rules in a solo environment, but was enough to keep me interested depending on what the monster did. With the changes the challenge will improve a little.

My son is going to solo play it next and see how the balance works out with the adjustments. (In my game I had one ship crippled and minor damage on the other two ships.) Once I get the 4 monsters we made converted, I will run the conversions past Jean from ADB as she requested before I publish them here.

The planet killer was pretty cool on the table, so I am going to show some pics:


The starting table--random terrain


The P-C started in a dust cloud


The Player started near the planet


Closing In . . .


First Firing Pass


Where the P-C was killed