Tannhäuser Tuesday - Sentinel

By littlewars

This month's U-Chronic Token of the Month is the Sentinel, an animated statue that acts as a guard for the Reich forces. The Sentinel, an unofficial token, is based on the Gargouille token designed by Chayaro and posted in the French section of the Black Sheep Archives site.

Originally I was going to do a straight translation of the token but I couldn't help but streamline the rather lengthy rules. I did try to maintain the spirit of the original token as much as I could and I'd like to thank Grubert for his translation help, as well as his critique and observations.

The Sentinel follows all the Hermetica rules on page 22 of the FFG rule book. At least one other Reich character must be present on the path to use the token and invoke the Sentinel. Ideally you should use characters with high Combat Values, as the Sentinel's Combat Value is based on the current Combat Value of any characters present at it's invocation.

The more characters that are present at the invocation, the larger your pool of Combat Values to choose from. If a character present at the invocation is killed you will not be able to use their Combat Values, so you may want to have a number of characters present when you invoke the Sentinel. This will ensure the Sentinel always has a good Combat Value to Attack with.

The Sentinel token is used like a Hermetica. It is placed on a free circle but it will move to Attack characters that enter its path. In order to track the starting circle, and its current location, you may use an optional miniature. I recommend the D&D mini Earth Element Gargoyle, an uncommon from the Blood War set. The token would stay on the original circle and you would move the mini to indicate the Sentinel's current location. You don't have to use the miniature as long as you note the token's original starting position.

It is important to indicate the Sentinel's current position at all times, as it can only move back to its original circle at the end of the character's Sequence. There may be situations where you "bait" the Sentinel towards you in order to run around it, as the Sentinel may not be Bull Rushed. This could be especially crucial in scenarios were you need to exit the map and the Sentinel blocks your escape route!


Making Better Tannhauser Tokens - Part II

Last month, I talked about using a circular craft punch to make your Tannhauser tokens. One thing that I've found problematic with this method is you need to be very precise when you are punching out the tokens or you are left with white edges around your token. My fix was to modify the token graphics and expand the border so there would be a "bleed" around the token much like the ones you punch out in the boxed game. As a bonus this month I'm posting all the official tokens currently available on the Fantasy Flight Games website with full bleed:


That's it for this month, any comments or questions are appreciated.

Join me and Doc Savage next week for a special Tannhauser Tuesday!

These custom additions to Tannhäuser are not created by, distributed, or endorsed by Take on You, Asmodee, or Fantasy Flight. Tannhäuser and all related characters are TM and © Take on You LTD. All Rights Reserved.

FIGHT KLUB FRIDAY - News

The rules are up to V0.9.5 and have no significant changes, just some clerical cleaning up to make the skirmishes clearer.

Tim Ellington revealed a pontential Mentor sales tool; this card to hand out:




Remember, when you think Fight Klub, think Spike.


© 2008 W. Peter Miller Fight Klub and all related images are trademarks of Decipher, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Tannhäuser Tuesday - Map Sneak Peek

Due to unforeseen circumstances, including computer problems and a good friend in the hospital, Tannhäuser Tuesday is interrupted this week. We will return next week with the U-Chronic Token of the Month and a new map. The original map design is by Marshall E. Sullivan and posted on RPG Map Share. It is a contemporary map, so I am making a few edits - eliminating satellite dishes, modern cars and such - and adding the pathfinding circles.

Here's a sneak peek at the map... Still needs a LOT of work...

I FEEL U-CHRONIC!!!


© 2008 W. Peter Miller

My custom additions to Tannhäuser are not created by, distributed, or endorsed by Take on You, Asmodee, or Fantasy Flight. Tannhäuser and all related characters are TM and © Take on You LTD. All Rights Reserved.

FIGHT KLUB FRIDAY - News

Rules Revisions and clarifications continue. The draft has reached V.0.9.4.

Distribution - There is a long post from Tim Ellington in the Fight Klub forums about exactly how the game will be packaged. For the CCG players out there, it is about as friendly as we could ever hope for. The releases will be numbered, with the starter set called, "One". Starting with "Two" many of the sets will have a special collector pack (nicknamed Black Beauty) that is a fixed set of 11 cards you get free after you have purchased your 3rd kilo of a specific expansion. The purchases don't have to be simultaneous, but if you buy 3 of any kilo you get the pack.

Tim Ellington said, "The size of the sets are 100 cards. 30 rares, 30 uncommons and 40 commons. “One” ships as a fixed set, so you get one each of the 100 cards, plus The Drop, as a 121-card kilo. Three kilos gives you a complete play set. Only the characters in “One” will be marked as rare (since you can only use one character at a time anyway), so you aren’t stuck with extra copies of 20 other rares if you purchase 3 kilos.

The distribution for “Two” and beyond is different. Each of those sets will have 100 unique cards as well, but will ship in a 120-card kilo that contains 10 rares, 30 uncommons and 80 commons. Another unique feature for Fight Klub is that each kilo will contain exactly 1 copy of each uncommon in the set and 2 copies of each common. This does several things.

It guarantees you will get a full 3 copies of every uncommon and 6 copies of every common in a 3-kilo purchase.

The rares are randomized, and you get 10 of the 30 rares in each Kilo. There may be some duplication due to the randomization process, but with the 1-3-3 rule, trading for rares shouldn’t be difficult. Or you can split a 4th kilo with someone in your playgroup. And if you didn’t get every character in your 3-kilo purchase (8 of the 30 rares are characters), you are at least guaranteed to have gotten a full allotment of signature cards for each character you did get.

The Black Beauty is a special package of 11 cards that will always be FREE with the purchase of a third Kilo of a given expansion set. This special package may contain unique gameplay cards, viral marketing elements, cards that work only in alternate formats, etc. Over time we even have plans for players to influence the cards in the Black Beauties via a dream cards section of the website."

Warren Holland, The CEO of Decipher added this:

"The gameplay cards in a Black Beauty will normally be rare… the same rarity as any other rare in a Kilo, but without the randomization. We expect that of the 11 cards, only one to three will be gameplay. (There is a non-gameplay concept rolling around that will likely take up six to eight of the eleven card slots. Maybe Tim will reveal that concept? Maybe not? ;-))

If we create a gameplay card for a Black Beauty which works best with multiple copies, we will put three copies of that card in the pack and it will be designated as uncommon. Black Beauties are designed to be a free gift with your third Kilo purchase of a given expansion set. They will never require you to “chase” extra copies to have a playset or a complete collection.

Also, to answer a question about expansion sets, “One” will not have a Black Beauty. We use every card slot in the production of “One” to provide “a complete expansion set in a box.” Black Beauties will start with “Two” and most expansion sets beyond. There are some special hand-assembly issues with these cards, so we will never make a decision to do a Black Beauty if it holds up production. Thus, it is always a surprise and always a free gift when it occurs. That said, it is our current plan that each expansion set will have a different Black Beauty. Subscriptions, naturally get all these cards as well

P.S. Ohhhhh… Black Beauty is a slang drug term. However, we decided to change the definition to something a lot more positive. ;-) The name Black Beauty is actually a placeholder to describe the packaging of these special cards. They are sealed in a unusual “black” box custom designed specifically for this purpose."

Remember, when you think Fight Klub, think Spike.



© 2008 W. Peter Miller

Fight Klub and all related images are trademarks of Decipher, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Tannhäuser Tuesday - Abe Sapien

The U-Chronic History of Abe Sapien and The BPRD

The curious history of Abe Sapien begins in the 1860's as Langdon Everett Caul, an explorer, occult researcher, and member of the Oannes Society continues his research into Lemuria and Hyperboria. In March of 1865 Caul discovers an odd egg-like artifact in a submerged ancient city.

Caul returns to America and shares his discovery with the rest of the Oannes Society. While studying the egg in a secret laboratory underneath the basement of St. Trinian's Hospital in Washington, D.C. the artifact crumbles and a mysterious Fish-Man enters the room. Caul is the only one who sees the Fish-Man - Abe Sapien's spirit somehow time travelling back from 1972 when he was killed by the power of Grigori Rasputin channeled through another's body.

Abe's spirit merges with Langdon Caul and Caul begins to transform into a Fish-Man. The others in the Oannes Society quickly rig a water tank for their friend who has grown gills. On April 14, 1865, while monitoring Caul's condition an emergency happens, the men panic, speaking of escaping the city. President Lincoln has been shot. The men seal the room, vowing to return to their friend. Unfortunately, they never did. The sealed tank, labelled "Icthyo Sapien" by the Oannes members, remains undiscovered in the secret room for nearly two centuries.

In December of 1945, the Reich's Obscura Korps under the guidance of Marquis General Hermann Von Heizinger and Gregori Rasputin, are concluding Projekt Ragna Rok, a mad experiment designed to trigger the End-Times on Earth. Rasputin personally handled the culmination of the the Projekt. Seemingly, nothing has happened. Von Heizinger considered Rasputin responsible for the failure. The Reich didn't know it, but Ragna Rok did succeed, in a way. The key to triggering the End Days had been brought to Earth that very day by Grigori Rasputin. It just arrrived hundreds of miles away.

In the ruins of a church in East Bromwich, England, American Trevor Bruttenholm and a squad of Union soldiers witnessed the arrival of a demon child. Bruttenholm took the demon in, and brought him to America - to an Air Force facility in the New Mexico desert. Bruttenholm and other occult and paranormal experts received funding from the Union Military to form the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense - The BPRD. Hellboy grows at an alarming rate and by 1947 is a field agent for the Bureau.

The Bureau is forced to move to Connecticut later in 1947, when IT happened. The crash in Roswell, New Mexico that changed the course of the war. Union researchers needed more room to experiment on the craft and its occupants.

Also in 1947, Clark Savage, Jr and his associates, while investigating a Reich arsonist in Washington, D.C. discover the sealed water tank in the basement of St. Trinian's hospital. Savage has Andrew Mayfair take the sealed tank holding the fishman to the BPRD in Connecticut. Mayfair nicknames the fishman "Abe Sapien" because of the ID on his water tank - "Icthyo Sapien", dated, April 14, 1865 - the day of Abraham Lincoln's assassination.

Mayfair and the scientists of the BPRD try for days to revive the unconscious fishman, but have no luck. Mayfair is called to other duties. The BPRD scientists are giving up and in desperation feed a massive electric shock to the fishman. Abe revives, but is kept in the tank for further tests. Hellboy intervenes, pulling Abe from the tank and away from the doctors.

Abe has no memory of his past, but learns English quickly, and with Hellboy's help and friendship becomes a field agent as well. Abe and Hellboy are close friends partly due to their mutual "freak" status and partly due to Hellboy's boyish charm and gregarious nature. Abe is committed to fighting the Reich and the Matriarchy where ever they are.

Tokens:

Special Object
Fleet of Foot - Abe ignores rubble tokens and other movement restrictors. If he is able to move, Abe can always make his full move. Abe can move through water as easily as on land.

Colt .45 1911 A1

M3 Combat Knife - If you roll at least one success on a Combat Roll, add one additional success.

Grenade - Smoke

Grenade - Frag

Respected Leader - You may add a 2-point bonus to the Deployment Roll die result. This bonus is cumulative with the bonuses of other BPRD characters.

BG-42 - If the wearer rolls a Natural 10 on a Shock Roll, he cancels all hits rolled in the corresponding Combat Roll. This vest is of no use against Mental or Hand-to-Hand combat attacks.

First Aid Kit





I FEEL U-CHRONIC!!!


© 2008 W. Peter Miller

HELLBOY, ABE SAPIEN, BPRD, LOBSTER JOHNSON, and related characters are trademarked TM and © by Mike Mignola. All rights reserved.

My custom additions to Tannhäuser are not created by, distributed, or endorsed by Take on You, Asmodee, or Fantasy Flight. Tannhäuser and all related characters are trademarks of Take on You and © Take on You LTD. All Rights Reserved.

FIGHT KLUB FRIDAY - News

Rules! We have rules!

A nearly final draft of the rules (v 0.9.2) has been posted on the Fight Klub site.

Last weekend the Founding Mentors were invited to make comments on the rules (v 0.9.0) and happily those comments were incorporated into the rules. I am glad to see that a number of my suggestions have made it into the current draft.

The current version of the site won't be up much longer. Decipher will be replacing it with a spiffy new one soon.

Complete Speculation -
Decipher will premiere Fight Klub at Gencon. They will not be selling the game, but will run demos. They will hand out promo cards, probably Mr. Blonde, but possibly another character; King Kong or the Terminator.

The official list of Clan name choices was posted this week as well and includes a few surprises. There are a few international names - Kaiku (Evolution), for example, and some I hadn't seen before. Sadly none of my suggestions made it to the final list, but most of my personal favorites did. From this list of 60 names, I will be able to vote for 20, and the top 13 will become the official Clan names.

If you will be playing Fight Klub and have a favorite or two, feel free to lobby me with a comment to this post - I will consider voting for them... My favorites are: Kaiku, Gunslingers, and Wild Cards.

The List
Afterburners
Bareknuckle Kings
Black Myriah
Blue Vengeance
Broken Bone Society [B.B.S.]
Brotherhood, The
Carbonstar
Children of Moebius
Cursori Chiari (means “Light Sliders”)
Dark Carnival
Dark Lotus
Dead Man’s Hand
Discepoli (means “disciples”)
Dischordian Order
Distrikt 7
Drowned, The
DualCore
Enlightened, The
Faceless, The
Fallen Lords
Firebrand
Fist Society
Forgotten, The
Gears, The
Global Nomads
Gunslingers
Harbingers
Hidden, The
House of Atreus
Hybrid Minds
Intellekt
Jackals
Kaiku (means “evolution”)
Kallisti
Kaos
Krew
Less than Saints
Lost Lament
Mad Hatters
Mercury’s Tricksters
Outriders
Pathogen
Phoenix
Prophets Unheard
Schrödinger’s Cats
Scorned
Society of Shadows (S.O.S.)
Solace Sons
Spectrum Lords
Sunstars
Syndicate Flux
Third Power
Thirst For Knowledge (T.F.K.)
Thousand Ashes
Urban Rite
Vagabonds
Vormeloos (means “Shapeless”)
Wild Cards
Zero Order
Zwarte Draken (means “Black Dragon”)
14th Gang, The



Remember, when you think Fight Klub, think Spike.



© 2008 W. Peter Miller

Fight Klub and all related images are trademarks of Decipher, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Tannhäuser Tuesday - Lobster Johnson!!!

With the recent release of both the Hellboy Companion and the Lobster Johnson graphic novel, "The Iron Prometheus", the time seems ripe to add the Lobster to Hellboy's BPRD faction. There are hints in the comics that Lobster worked along side US forces prior to the US involvement in WWII, so it seems quite plausible to add Lobster to the U-Chronic BPRD. Though he is considered a Mercenary, he is a true-blue patriot and will never fight for the enemies of America.

The U-Chronic History of Lobster Johnson

No one knows the true identity of the Lobster, but he had the resources to gather a team of assistants in his fight against organized crime, Reich saboteurs and spies in the 1930s. Over 100 victims were found bearing the Mark of the Lobster - a claw insignia burned into their forehead.


As the war lingered on, the Lobster found himself facing the Reich and especially the agents of the Obscura Korps more and more often. Because of this he was eventually contacted by Trevor Bruttenholm and invited to join the newly formed BPRD. The Lobster declined, but that contact turned into a friendship that lasted many year. The Lobster served many missions with the BPRD, but he never joined, preferring his freedom and anonymity.


The Lobster is a tough, formidable opponent who can be recruited only by the BPRD, the Union, and other Pulp Heroes - Doc Savage, the Avenger, the Shadow, the Spider, etc.

In his time with the Union forces, the Lobster has fought on land, sea and air to stop the Reich menace from invading American soil. The Lobster is freely available to join the BPRD, however, other factions must pay 1 Victory Point to recruit the Lobster.

Tokens -

Special - Heroic Spirit
If Lobster takes lethal damage, instead of removing his figure from the board remove this token instead. Move Lobsters life to its bottom row. Lobster is now a heroic spirit on the board and may no longer heal wounds through any means. If he takes 2 or more wounds from a single attack, remove him from the game.

The Lobster's Mark - If the Lobster is within 2 circles of an opponent he eliminates, he scores 1 victory point.

Spectral Movement - If the Lobster is alone on a path he may move to any circle on any unoccupied adjacent path. If Lobster moves this way, he may not use an action phase.

The Lobster's Claw
This custom made Colt .50 automatic is loaded up with Lobster's experimental hollow point bullets. Any natural 10's that are not countered with defensive natural 10's result in lethal damage. If the target is more than 5 circles away, ignore this bonus.

Goggles - Lobster can see normally through smoke and in darkness.

Grenades - Lobster gets 3 total and may stack them all in the same slot. He may never have more than 3 and won't use anyone else's grenades.
-Grenade
-Smoke Grenade
-Tear Gas Grenade - Figures on this path have their movement reduced by 3 and fight using their lowest stats. They may not attack figures more than 2 circles away.

Gas Mask - Ignore the effects of tear gas.

Infiltration - The Lobster may use any Entry Point on the game board, regardless of the Entry Points chosen by either team after the Deployment Roll. He can therefore enter through his enemy's Entry Point if he wishes.


I FEEL U-CHRONIC!!!



© 2008 W. Peter Miller

HELLBOY, ABE SAPIEN, BPRD, LOBSTER JOHNSON, and related characters are trademarked TM and © by Mike Mignola. All rights reserved.

My custom additions to Tannhäuser are not created by, distributed, or endorsed by Take on You, Asmodee, or Fantasy Flight. Tannhäuser and all related characters are trademarks of Take on You and © Take on You LTD. All Rights Reserved.

FIGHT KLUB FRIDAY - MULTIPLAYER

BATTLE ROYALE

Fight Klub game designer Tim Ellington confirmed on his weekly post today that Fight Klub will be Multiplayer compatable.

The play will be a little different than the structured 1vs 1 format, but sounds like Huge Fun. In fact, it sounds a lot like Free-For-All in a multiplayer FPS.

Say you have a fight - King Kong vs The Terminator vs Freddy - Freddy and Kong are duking it out and then from out of nowhere Ahnold gets the mini-gun going and blasts Kong.

In multiplayer, everyone turns over 3 fight cards. The player with The Drop chooses a specific fight card of theirs to attack any opponents fight card that is on the table. The fight is resolved normally. The winner scores the Fight card but damage is scored on a special damage track that will be available to download.

The player attacked then gets to choose who they will attack and the 'attacker' in that fight gets to make all the choices as if they have The Drop. This continues around the table until there are no more fight to pick. You may realize that this doesn't mean there are no more Fight cards on the table. If, using the above example, Kong and The Terminator keep picking each other, Freddy is gonna end up with an extra Fight card. Any player with extra Fight cards on the table with no one to attack, scores those Fight cards at the end of that round.

The player that scored the last Fight card gets the Drop for the next turn. The game continues until there is only one player left.

Team play should also work great. I think there is a lot of room for big matchups that will be loads of fun!!!

Remember, when you think Fight Klub, think Spike.



© 2008 W. Peter Miller

Fight Klub and all related images are trademarks of Decipher, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Tannhäuser Tuesday - Token of the Month

By littlewars

Welcome to the first U-Chronic Token of the Month. The first Tuesday of each month, Savage Tales will feature a different unofficial Tannhäuser token. To launch this feature I've written up some brief tips on mounting your own tokens that are virtually indistinguishable from the game tokens that come supplied with the boxed Tannhäuser game. So without further ado, let's take a look at our first token:

The Shepherd is very much influenced by Hellboy - it's his "big gun" with the serial numbers filed off, so to speak. It's usable by anyone in the Union, but was designed with Barry Daniel Brown in mind. It makes up for some of the range restrictions of the Flash Machine Gun which some players found problematic. It cannot however, replace Barry's special item, as per standard Token Of The Month rules. The Shepherd is a bit of a hybrid of the Flash Gun and the Trench Gun, in regards to its game effects. Its ability to push opponents around, and its sanctified nature, give it its name.


The Shepherd's insta-kill ability effects demonically tainted characters, specifically Karl "OZO" Zerman and the Stosstruppen. Due to the nature of the weapon it should have an effect on other types of characters that we have not yet seen in Tannhäuser. I tried to make the write-up as brief as possible so I included that it works on "cursed characters". So if you are up against a new adversary, either official or custom, consider adding the following terms to your Tannhäuser glossary:

Demonically Tainted: Entities from the Lower Worlds. This includes characters possessed by such entities.

Cursed: Characters suffering from a supernatural curse such as Lycanthropy, Vampirism, or the Undead.

So if you're facing a werewolf - check, it works. Squaring off against a character imbued by the power of an ancient slavic deity - nope, that's a blessing, not a curse. Whatever you do, make sure the players agree BEFORE the game that The Shepherd effects a given new character.

Mounting Tannhäuser Tokens Of The Month

One problem faced by Tannhäuser players is mounting the various Tokens Of The Month in a way that matches the existing components. You will need a few common things: a print out of the Token you wish to mount. A sheet of standard cardboard stock and white glue.



You will also need a 1 1/8" circle paper punch. These are available for anywhere from six to ten dollars. I found one online, but they are also available at craft stores. The full name of the product is Paper Shapers Nesting Punch manufactured by EK Success. Tannhäuser tokens are actually 30mm so it's about a millimeter off - pretty much unnoticeable.


Punch out 2 or 3 circles (I use three) out of standard cardboard stock (say, like cereal box thickness) and glue those together with white glue to achieve the thickness of a standard Tannhäuser token. Use as little glue as possible, just enough to cover the surface. If you use too much it will ooze out the sides and cause the cardboard to warp. Once the "centre" is glued, set it aside to dry. Next punch out the print out of the tokens you wish to mount. Again, apply as little white glue as possible and apply the two images to either side side of the cardboard centre. Voila - almost indistinguishable from the real deal!

That's it for the U-Chronic Token of the Month, please feel free to post any comments here or on the Tannhäuser forums - French or English. I read both, but can only answer questions on the english forums. Join us July 1st for the next U-Chronic Token of the Month.

Tannhäuser News

The big news right now is Tannhäuser Field Ops, the new card game from Take On You. The game previewed at a Tannhäuser event last weekend. A work in progress card was released online and Malechi at the Fantasy Flight forums has done an English mock up.

Here is Malechi's card


Here is the official one


Some players have posted reports of the demo on the French boards. This report is based mostly on the work of Kovax, Watchman, and Ligle. This seems to be a non-collectable card game with about 100 cards. There are dozens of the character cards to represent different versions of the main character (the different build packs) plus a "Legend". The demo included a "Legend" for the Union side - Major General James Edison, the son of President Thomas Edison. There is also a Mercenary "Legend". There are also cards for buildings and other fortifications.

Each team will get 4-5 personalities, Union and Reich in the base game. There seems to be ruler based range - perhaps similar to Wings of War - and some kind of maps. There is Deathmatch mode and Story mode. There is a bluffing mechanic involving the activation of troops. (Heroscape-ish perhaps)

The demo left people excited for the game.

I think that we can expect to see more of this in the near future as the French boards said folks at the event took pictures and video. I looks forward to those being posted!

I FEEL U-CHRONIC!!!



© 2008 W. Peter Miller

These custom additions to Tannhäuser are not created by, distributed, or endorsed by Take on You, Asmodee, or Fantasy Flight. Tannhäuser and all related characters are trademarks of Take on You and © Take on You LTD. All Rights Reserved.