Extra Extra!

As reported in the Nexus Gazette: 

Entropy! The Nexus City Sports Authority reports that in mixed 400 D-league, the Lost Agency Liberators defeated the Mercer Maulers 10-4 in the Liberators' first ever match. This achievement qualifies the Liberators to participate in the upcoming mixed 400 C-league round-robbin tournament. After their contest the Liberators and the Maulers whooped it up all night at one Jaana Hynninen's clinic turned temporary speak-easy. A good time was had by all. 

 Our first Entropy test was a success! 

The game ran smoothly and seemed to capture the essence of combat within Continuum without killing characters or npc's. A game within a game... pretty fun!

Look What Else We Made!

One of the most recent modeling endeavors Ill Gotten Games has undertaken is to design 3D models through computer aided design programs like Tinkercad.  The next step in that process is to actually send these designs through our Shapeways store into production.  For those of us that have been working with (and admiring the detail on) gaming models for years, this is a dream come true.


Shapeways allows us to order the figures in a number of different materials, but to start out we ordered in their base product - a white, strong, flexible plastic material.  Not only was this an inexpensive way to test things out, but our models are also going to be painted anyway.  

Here is our own sprue that Arian designed to modify some 15mm models for the game.  The sprue contains both left and right arms and they totally technoed out our Splintered Light ghoul models perfectly:






But why aim for a couple of arms when we can build whole models?  From scratch?  Without glue??  The Servitor Mech was one of the most complex models that we've yet designed on the computer.

So imagine how stoked we were to discover just how cool the actual model turned out!  We ordered two of these, with differing detail, and both were totally tabletop worthy (in our humble opinion).    

 

But why stop at a single small model when we can build a whole ship?  A whole ship with it's own docking stand, built and ordered separately?  And so, our latest creation is the Roosevelt:

 

 Stay tuned for lots, lots more of these to come.  And check back to our Tinkercad link regularly...  We're very excited about some of the creatures we're creating.  We are rolling random creatures through the Continuum generator, then able to build these beings in 3D the next day, order them through Shapeways, and game with them within a week or so.  It's so cool living in the future.  

Look What We Made This Week!

Our little community in the Pacific Northwest is known for being environmentally friendly.  There is a huge community of artists locally, and many of them celebrate our love of reuse by incorporating recycled bits into their creations.  We like to think that we're a part of that movement in the way we're developing our new terrain pieces and models.  Some people may call us hoarders, but we prefer "environmentalists."


Granted, we're lucky to have family and friends who wash and save random bits of plastic and metal for us.  And we're exceptionally lucky to live in a place that has organizations like RE Store and the newly-opened Allied Arts recycled art supply store, AARTS.  However, most of the parts we used in our new pieces came from the gaming group's kitchens and workshops.  


Because this is a gaming blog, we're going to present these pieces, of which we are exceptionally proud, in reverse order - after and before, as it were.  Take a close look at the pics and then scroll down to see how much you are able to decipher. 

So, that's how the pieces turned out after being sprayed with a new shade of grey-green texture spray paint. 

Here's what they looked like before we sprayed:

Scroll down to see the recipe we used to create our futuristic little world...

We intend to play our first Continuum Mini game with this new terrain in mere moments, so stay tuned for that play-by-play and more pics including our fantastic little 15mm models in action.  Meantime, start collecting pieces and make your own terrain.  We'd love to see photos in the comments for this post!

Continuum Mini

We didn't actually forget about Continuum Mini.  It's like Continuum's feisty little brother, after all, so it wasn't something we were purposely neglecting.  It just kind of happened.  Until this week...

This week we revamped the system.  It's called Mini for two reasons - it's a much simpler game than Continuum and it's a mini game, using 15mm models to enact epic battles.  The biggest similarity to Continuum is that we maintain the modular aspect of the game, meaning that the ruleset is a toolkit that allows you to use any model, any genre, any back story.  So after writing for the last few days, simplifying things even further and cleaning up the last version of the Continuum Mini codex, tonight we had our first game test in months.  Here's how it went:

Initial Setup

The opposing forces were made up of the Circle-tech Incursionary Force on one side and the Midgardian Hill Tribes on the other.  The set up process took a minute, as we reviewed our character sheets for these new squads, but once we got on a roll the game ran surprisingly smoothly.  

Turn 1 - the Combat Mechs moved out to flank the Viking forces, but the Viking force positioned their archers on a hill (thank you Ikea) and moved their Hillfolk spearman and Jotun to intercept the Mechs. Meanwhile, the Circle-tech troopers made a slow advance.

Turn 2 - The Jotuns advanced further while the Hillfolk spearmen charged up a hill.  The combat mechs shot their rail rifles at the Jotun but missed.  The rocket launcher and heavy machine gun trooper made an advance, as did the axe-armed Vikings.

Turn 3 - The Jotuns charged against the Mechs, activating two skill-pushes and destroying them in melee combat. The Circle-Tech troopers charged themselves, cutting the the Jotun down in a hail of assault rifle fire. The Jotun Huntress rushed across to the safety of the hills, ordering the Hillfolk spearmen to advance to occupy a hill of their own. Advancing from the troopers aft, the heavy machine gun-armed troopers cut down half of the Hillfolk, who stood their ground despite the terrible losses. The Viking swordsmen moved forward, hoping to get closer to the action.

Turn 4 - The Jotun Huntress rushed to eliminate the Circle-Tech commander who, despite attempting an interrupt to bring her down with gun fire, fell to her axe. The surviving Hillfolk spearmen rallied atop the hill just before the heavy machine gunners cut down a large portion of the Viking swordsmen, who routed immediately. The Viking axemen made their way through the cover of the hills, suffering minor casualties to rocket launcher fire. 

Turn 5 - The rocket launcher troopers made their way up a hill, while the Hillfolk spearmen moved to the base of the hill to take cover.  The Circle-tech troopers cut down about half of the Viking axe-men.  Meanwhile, the Hillfolk archers also sought shelter at the base of a hill.  

Turn 6 - The Circle-tech troopers wiped out the remaining Viking axemen and the Hillfolk archers suffered minor casualties from the rocket launcher fire.  The Huntress rallied the remaining Hillfolk and fled into the hills.  The battle ended there, with the Circle-tech incursionary force staking a claim to the site, 673 points to 944 points remaining on the field of play.


So, basically, the game was awesome.  We're quite happy with how the test ran, especially after such a recent reworking of the rules.  In total it took about 90 minutes, which was just about perfect.  Can't wait for the next one....

The Current Game

Our current incarnation of Continuum has been epic.  We've been playing with these characters since January 2011, and they've become like family to us.  Because we choose to play in the Multiverse, our characters can vary widely - species and personalities and characteristics aren't limited to a specific planet or other geographic location.  

The Lost Agency:

Operating from the Vagabond, a safe haven for trans-universal adventurers, the Lost Agency may be hired to handle a wide variety of tasks. With an ever-growing roster, the agents of the Lost Agency possess a wide array of skills and no job is beyond their combined expertise.

Mr. Jackson

Species: Human

Home World: Earth

A man with a thousand names, the trans-universal adventurer known throughout many worlds as Mr. Jackson is considered to be the first member of the Lost Agency. The agency carries on his legacy, as it was founded in his honor by his surviving allies after he sacrificed himself to destroy the god-world, Tartarus.

The Professor

Species: Phyto-Processor

Home World: The Observatory

Created and abandoned by an advanced culture, the Professor is a hyper-intelligent, sentient plant dedicated to learning and exploring the Multiverse and ambulating by means of a highly sophisticated robotic suit. Before helping to found and run the Lost Agency, the Professor was a renowned Doorman, a specialized technician able to operate the mysterious Omnispheres, devices capable of transporting their users throughout a network of universes.

Baldev

Species: Jotun

Home World: Jotunheim

Displaced from the Nine Worlds after an invasion at the hands of the then-aligned Tartaran Empire and Techno-Sovereignty, Baldev, prince of Jotunheim, found his way into the company of Mr. Jackson and the Professor. With his great strength, magical prowess and skilled swordsmanship, Baldev has been an invaluable asset to the Lost Agency.

Rayston Berkely

Species: Human

Home World: Earth

Drawn into the Multiverse by a magical talisman left to him by his grandfather, Rayston searches for a way home for himself and his girlfriend, Olive. Armed with a weaponized guitar and aided by Starfall, a magical horse able to transport its rider between realities, Rayston and Olive travel the Multiverse, searching for Earth and adventuring in the name of the Lost Agency.

Rocky Donovan

Species: Tentri

Home World: Tentrus

An alien reporter in human guise, Rocky Donovan was working a diplomatic mission with the Dominion when his brane ship was stolen. Joining up with what would become the foundation of the Lost Agency, Rocky went on many adventures before his life was taken at the hands of the notorious Tartaran assassin, Quilloitis.

Alexandra

Species: Human

Home World: Eden Prime

Freed from a stasis pod after a thousand years of temporal displacement, Alexandra awoke to a world ravaged by war and famine. An expert technician and innovator, Alexandra has been an invaluable addition to the Lost Agency, designing and maintaining field gear and providing leadership in the absence of The Professor and Baldev.

Pigdexter

Species: Pig-Man

Home World: Pig-Earth

Rescued from enslavement at the hands of a Teledrome Quiz Show, the brilliant pig-man outcast, Pigdexter, has made up for his inexperience with raw enthusiasm and bravery.

Henry Cobb

Species: Human

Home World: Earth (Variant)

Leader of a slave-rebellion in a version of Earth where the South won the Civil War, Henry found his way to Nexus City after 150 years of enslavement at the hands of the Observer known as the "Faceless One." Joining forces with the Lost Agency, Henry aids them in their missions, searching when he can for the whereabouts of him wife and children.

Upsillon

Species: Basilisk-Kin

Home World: Bastion (Earth-Variant)

Champion tunnel-delver and unarmed combatant, Upsillon comes from a community of creatures spliced from Basilisk DNA by the last survivors of humanity in an Earth assailed by mythological creatures. Indebted to the Lost Agency for his people's liberation, Upsillon has served them ever since.

Metis

Species: Wood Sprite

Home World: Bastion (Earth-Variant)

Spawned from a powerful book capable of realizing its reader's whims, the wood sprite, Metis, was born attuned to the Professor and is devoted to him and his allies within the Lost Agency.

Mister Mistook

Species: Gnome

Home World: Duskmoor

An unparalleled tinkerer, Mister Mistook's combined scientific expertise and magical prowess make him one of the most sought-after personalities in the Multiverse. Scarred from seeing his work used for destruction by the unscrupulous Circle-Tech corporation, Mister Mistook has since fought to undo their damage and make reparations for the harm his creations have done.