U-Chronicle Vol 2 Bonus - November 2009

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By littlewars

MAKING BETTER
TANNHÄUSER TOKENS - PART IV

This month I am posting the final Tokens of the Months that ToY put out before the transfer of the Tannhäuser property to Fantasy Flight. These have a bleed around them to accommodate a craft punch. You can read about mounting the tokens in my previous article. You can download additional tokens with bleed here and here. You can read descriptions of the tokens here.

I feel U-Chronic!

© 2009

These custom additions to Tannhäuser are not created by, distributed, or endorsed by Fantasy Flight Games. Tannhäuser and all related characters are trademark and © of Fantasy Flight Games. All Rights Reserved.

U-Chronicle Vol 2 - November 2009

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By littlewars

Top Story

Fantasy Flight Games has posted another "State of the Game" report for October. They are still in the process of updating the rules, for both the base game and Novgorod. Both will be included in the upcoming V2 rules, which will be made available for download as well as for sale in a print edition from FFG. They also assure players that they will not abandon the Path Finding System.

Daedalus appears to have been pushed back till the new rules are finalized. It currently appears on FFG's Upcoming page as "In Development", so I don't expect we'll see it in the near future. They do reassure players that Wolf will be available in time for Christmas. According to FFG's webstore, it looks like Yula is now currently out of stock, so you may want to snatch up her expansion if you see it at your local game store, if you haven't already.

Tannhäuser Custom Department

The Dero

The Dero faction is composed of 2 Heroes (Pilot and Scout) and 1 Trooper (Drone), with the option to play 1 Hero and 3 Troopers. The pictures on the cards depict Storm, Assault, and Grim Golems from the AT-43 game by Rackham. You only need to choose 3 minis, from a single Therian pack, that differ enough to easily keep track of who's who.

For a complete background on the Dero, and how they fit in the Tannhauser world, please check out my earlier column.

The Dero have two Affiliation Symbols; the Dero symbol and an Agarthan symbol as well. This way they could team up with any Agarthan, be it a Hyperborean Priest, a Lemurian Sorcerer, or an Atlantean Scientist.

DERO PILOT (Hero)

Special Item: Construct

Combat Pack: Vril Cannon / Claws / Stealth

Stamina Pack: Vril Cannon / Irrillium Plating / Vril Battery

Mental Pack: Vril Cannon / Telepathy / Vril Battery

DERO SCOUT (Hero)

Special Item: Construct

Combat Pack: Flash Gun / Claws / Stealth

Stamina Pack: Flash Gun / Irrillium Plating / Vril Battery

Mental Pack: Flash Gun / Telepathy / Stealth

DERO DRONE (Trooper)

Special Item: Construct

Combat Pack: Claws / Telepathy / Stealth

Stamina Pack: Claws / Irrillium Plating / Vril Battery

DERO EQUIPMENT TOKENS

Claws
Hand-to-Hand Weapon. Add 1 additional hit in the event of a successful Combat Roll.

Construct
The artificial body makes it impossible to destroy any vital systems. Automatically cancel 1 successful hit from an opponent's Combat Roll (except Natural 10's). Constructs may accomplish any Objective (regardless of Skill) and cannot be healed by any means.

Flash Gun
Automatic Weapon. If you roll at least one Natural 10 on a Combat Roll, and your target does not, on a corresponding Shock Roll, they are killed instantly.

Irrilium Plating
If you roll a Natural 10 on a Shock Roll, cancel all hits rolled in the corresponding Combat Roll.

Stealth
At the start of each Game Turn, this character may enter "stealth mode" (flip the Stealth token). While in stealth mode, this character can only be targeted by Hand to Hand attacks and may only make Hand to Hand attacks.

Telepathy
Telepathic Range is Current Mental Value plus 1. For each Dero within range, add a 1-point bonus to this character's Current Combat Value. Additionally, any Drone within Telepathic Range of a Dero Scout or Pilot may make a free Counterattack, once per Game Turn.

Vril Battery
Adds 1 to the Current Stamina Value. Character explodes when they die; place a debris marker on their circle and make a Combat Roll for each adjacent character. Each of these characters also suffers an Automatic Wound, applied after the the Shock Roll, and cannot be countered by it.

Vril Cannon
Heavy Weapon. Adds a +1 to the result of every die (except Natural 1's). The Vril Cannon automatically cancels 1 successful Stamina Roll.

I feel U-Chronic!

© 2009


These custom additions to Tannhäuser are not created by, distributed, or endorsed by Fantasy Flight Games. Tannhäuser and all related characters are trademark and © of Fantasy Flight Games. All Rights Reserved.

Tannhäuser Tuesday - Player Aid 3

by littlewars


This month, continuing with my Tannhauser play aids, I have made a reference card for the Hound DOG from the Ramirez character pack done in the style of the Universal Head Reference Cards. Click on the image below for a printable high-rez version:



CUSTOM CHARACTERS - PART 2 : Tokens

Last month, I featured some blank character cards for customs. As promised, here are the blank tokens you can use for use for your custom character creations. Click on the image below for a high-rez version:



Over and out - littlewars.

Tannhäuser Tuesday - Play Aid 2

by littlewars

With the release of Operation Novgorod it is now necessary to track the Game Turns in order to use Irina Kravchenko's "Martyr" Special Item. You can do this with a spare die or you can use this month's play aid, a Turn Tracker.

You move the counter down the track at the start of each new turn. The track allows everyone to keep tabs on the amount of VPs the Matriarchy may gain in the event of Irina's demise. It is scaled to fit below her Character Sheet.

Click on the image above for a high res version of the Turn Tracker.

The Operation Novgorod expansion also features the Scenario "Last Of An Ancient Breed" in which you must keep track of Game Turns. On the reverse side is a general Turn Tracker for use in these kind of Scenarios.

CUSTOM CHARACTERS - PART I : CARDS

A while back I made some blank cards for use in creating custom characters. As a bonus this month, I have made revamped cards for both Hero and Trooper characters. Click on the images below for high res versions.

• Blank Hero Character Card:


• Blank Trooper Character Card:

Included below are two versions of the skill icons for the the Character Cards. Click on the image for a high res version.

The cards above are handy if you have an image without a background.

In the example below, I used a nice Bruce Timm marker rendering of "The Master Of Men", The Spider. I copied and pasted the illustration onto the Character Card and trimmed away the white area. I then cropped the image to fit the background. This took about ten minutes to make:

You can download a file that contains all the jpegs above, as well as transparent png versions, at the end of this column.

The png files are handy if you have an image with a background. In the example below, I've taken a Joe DeVito painting of "The Man Of Bronze" and pasted the transparent Character Card on top of it. I then repositioned the image to fit in the "window". This took about five minutes to make:

Download a file that contains high res 300 dpi cards and skill icons, in both jpeg and transparent png format, here.

Next month in Part II, U-Chronic Token Of The Month will feature a Health Indicator for the custom Character Cards, as well as blank Equipment Tokens. In the meantime, be sure to visit Savage Tales every Tuesday for the finest in Tannhauser customs!

Tannhäuser Tuesday - Play Aid

By littlewars

This month's token is actually a play aid. It is a sheet of small counters that you place on your character cards to remind you of any adjusted Characteristic Values. The sheet includes reminders for tokens from Operation Tannhauser, Novgorod, and the Bonus Tokens; Section Kaos and the Wonderstahl. Click on the image below for a high res version with instructions. These value reminders should help your games run a little bit smoother.

For your convenience here are two tokens that are used in this month's Play Aid.

Tannhäuser Tuesday - Dero Preview

by littlewars


This month I thought I would share a work in progress; the Dero faction. The Dero are ancient constructs created by the Atlanteans after they retreated to the hollow earth (known as Agartha) a millennium ago.

Though they are mechanical, they possess organic brains encased in a metal frame, and communicate telepathically. Powered by the mysterious Vril energy harnessed from the smoky sun of the inner earth, they pilot the saucers that monitor the outer earth.


Agartha is said to reside in the Earth's core. It is an underworld realm populated by initiates lead by the "Ascended Masters" who are the Spiritual leaders of humanity. It is mentioned in various ancient texts, including the Tibetan Kalachakra Tantra. The Kirgiz people of Russia knew it through oral legends as Janaidar.

Shambhala (also known as Shambalah or Shangri-La) is said to be its colony. According to Alexandre Saint-Yves d'Alveydre (1842-1909), it is situated in the Himalayas in Tibet. He wrote about its secret location in his Mission de l'Inde en Europeä published in 1886. Worried he revealed too much he destroyed all but two copies of his book.


In The Smoky God, Willis George Emerson's 1908 biography of the Nowegian sailor Olaf Janson, it explains how Janson sailed through an entrance to the earth's interior at the North Pole where he lived for two years with the Agarthans.

The inhabitants of Agartha or the "Elder Race" as they are known, are said to have reservoirs of ancient knowledge and advanced technology far beyond that of the people who live on the surface of the planet. Millions of years ago, the cataclysm of the Atlantian-Lemurian war drove the Elder Race that populated the surface world, underground.



In 1945 Richard Shaver claimed he had been the guest of what remained of an underground civilization. He contended that the Elder Race, after a time of living on the surface, escaped underground, building huge subterranean complexes in which to live.

Eventually, they decided to seek a new home on a new planet, evacuating the Earth in spaceships, and leaving behind their underground cities populated by artificial beings: the Dero. It was these beings that Shaver claimed to have met.


On July 3rd 1947, an unidentified flying object crashed near Roswell, New Mexico. The wreckage was transferred to the Area 51 where it was studied by the Union scientist Professor Himmelberg.

The Dero faction is composed of 2 Heroes (Pilot and Scout) and 1 Trooper (Drone), with the option to play 1 Hero and 3 Troopers. The pictures on the cards depict Storm, Assault, and Grim Golems from the AT-43 game by Rackham. You only need to choose 3 minis, from a single Therian pack, that differ enough to easily keep track of who's who.
All the equipment tokens and cards are finished. Once the play testing is complete, I will post the finished faction, available here on Savage Tales.




© 2009 littlewars


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. AT-43 characters are trademark and © Rackham. All Rights Reserved.

Tannhäuser Tuesday - Ikarus Faith-lift

by littlewars



A while back I worked with Plageman to make a character card and tokens for his custom character, Ikarus Faith. There were a couple of graphic errors that always bugged me, so I decided to revisit this and fix up the card. Most of the changes are cosmetic so you can continue to use the old card. You can read all about the origin of Ikarus Faith in my earlier column.


I created a new printable PDF for Ikarus Faith that you can download here.

The new document contains:
• Revised card and token graphics
• Complete rules written by Plageman
• Equipment Pack reference cards



As a bonus this month, I have also made a print friendly PDF of Ikarus Faith's bonus token from my earlier column. It is available here. I really recommend using this if you are going to be playing Ikarus. Compared to the knife, it is a much cooler Hand to Hand weapon.




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.

Tannhäuser Tuesday - Sergio Ramirez Delastillas

By littlewars

I'm taking a break from the U-Chronic Tokens. I have some ideas for new tokens but I'm awaiting the release of the long delayed Operation Novgorod expansion to see how certain rules are handled. This month I figured I would instead share some previews with Savage Tales readers.


Last month I provided a translation of Gorgei Volkov's Equipment Packs. For this month I've done a translation of the upcoming Ramirez figure expansion, along with the rules for his Special Item, a gunnery drone nicknamed the Hound Dog.

Sergio Ramirez Delastillas

Special Item
• Hound Dog
Type: Automatic Weapon
Remote control. See Character Card of the Hound Dog.

Combat Pack
• Mark 19 MOD A1
Type: Grenade
The Mark 19 He-Frag grenades do not cause a Automatic Wound and the explosion does not leave a Debris Token. The cylinder contains enough grenades for the whole game.
Requires Weapon Skill to be used.

• HB-3 Sight
HB-3 permits this character to ignore all Smoke Grenade penalties.

• Bouncing Betty
The M16 is used during the Action Phase and is placed on a free adjacent circle (with no adjacent characters) on the same Path. It is triggered at any time the Union player chooses. All characters on, or adjacent to, the mine suffer 2 Automatic Wounds. A Debris Token is placed on the explosion area.

Stamina Pack
• Mark 19 MOD A1
The rules for this item appear in the above Combat Pack.

• Purple Heart
When Ramirez is wounded for the first time, one wound is automatically ignored.

• Bomb Brothers
The mobile mine is used during the Action Phase and is placed on a free adjacent circle on the same Path. It is immediately moved 1 circle at the end of each character's Sequence. It explodes when a character is on one of its adjacent circles. Every character present on a circle adjacent to the blast suffers 2 Automatic Wounds.

Mental Pack
• Mark 19 MOD A1
The rules for this item appear in the above Combat Pack.

• Corporal 5th Grade
During the Deployment Roll, the rank of Corporal 5th Grade allows you to add a 2-point bonus to the die result. This bonus can not be combined with the bonuses of other ranking characters.

• Bronze Star
Thanks to his heroism, Ramirez awards 1 supplementary Bonus Point to your unit, which can be used just like Victory Points.

Bonus Points are not exactly like standard Victory Points. If they are not used during play, they are lost at the end of the game and subsequently not counted for victory conditions.

Hound Dog

Hound Dog Rules

The Hound Dog may be used during the character's Action Phase. Place it on any free circle, on the same path, adjacent to the remote control carrier. Once it is placed, it is deployed for the rest of the game.

At the end of each character's Sequence, the Hound Dog may move 1 circle ignoring all Movement penalties (Modifier Circles, Debris, etc.). It does not block any character's Movement, but no character may occupy its circle.

Smoke and characteristic Modifier Circles do not affect it.

If the remote control carrier does not attack with the Hound Dog, they take their normal Action Phase. If they attack with the drone, they can not attack during their Action Phase.

The Hound Dog has a minimum range of 3 (there must be at least two circles between attacker and defender) and the target must be on the same path. The Characteristic Values used are listed the Hound Dog's Character Sheet.

The Hound Dog being an experimental weapon, if you roll at least one Natural 10 on a Combat Roll, and your target does not roll at least one Natural 10 on the corresponding Shock Roll, they are killed instantly.

In Hand-To-Hand Combat the Hound Dog uses its lowest Combat Value and can not Counterattack. The Hound Dog can not make a Hand-to-Hand attack.

The Hound Dog can not complete an Objective, whatever the Game Mode, and it may not spend Victory Points.

The Hound Dog can not be healed or repaired during a game.

The Hound Dog can only use Area 51 equipment currently under evaluation.

The Hound Dog is not a character, so it can not return as a reinforcement.

A character needs the Engineering Skill and the remote control in order to use it.

Hoax

In case anyone missed it, a photo has surfaced of the next Union figure expansion, Caitlin Lamsbury A.K.A. Hoax. No release date has been given, but it looks like it will be released in France sometime in 2009. It is rumored the character possesses some sort of invisibility, or perhaps teleportation, as her Special Item.

Tannhäuser Tuesday - Three is a Magic Number

By littlewars


This month's U-Chronic Token is a Scenario Token. It is not placed in any character's Equipment Pack. This token will allow players to add an additional Entry Point to the map. I have also included a three player mini scenario that employs the Secret Entrance Token.

Three Is A Magic Number

Briefing: Three player scenario for Tannhauser

Map: Castle or Crypt

Difficulty Level: Hard

Game Mode: Death Match

Materials: Secret Entrance Token and 8 Crate Tokens (see Setup below)

Setup:
- Separate the Crate Tokens into Equipment and Victory Points.
- Shuffle the Equipment Tokens face down and randomly select three, discard the rest.
- Shuffle the Equipment Tokens face down with the five Victory Point tokens (0,1,1,2,2).
- Without revealing their contents, place these eight Crate Tokens on every Objective and Action circle.

Objective:
Pick up the most Victory Points and eliminate both teams.

Special Rules:
- Each team starts the game with the standard 2 Victory Points plus any bonuses. Players may only earn Victory Points by eliminating characters in the following manner: For every 2 characters (Hero or Troop) eliminated from 2 different opposing teams, the player earns 1 Victory Point. Eliminating 2 characters from only one opposing team earns no Victory Points.
- Victory Points can be spent normally.

Victory Conditions: Once one team is eliminated, the game ends. The player with the most Victory Points wins. In the case of a tie, the team with the most characters remaining on the board wins.

Custom Faction Victory Point Tokens

Currently there are 2 official factions available from FFG for Tannhauser. For a three player game you will need a custom faction and an additional set of Victory Point Tokens provided below:



I'd like to suggest a custom Mercenary team made up of 4 Heroes for the scenario. Here are some ideas for a Mercenary faction:

• Wolf - Available as a pre-order promo from FFG, you can order Wolf from France and download a scan of the english rule book located on Board Game Geek.

• Yula Korlitz - Though she is a Reich character, Yula's rule book has a scenario where, under the orders of the Kaiser, she must eliminate Von Heizinger and his guards, so it is not that much of a stretch to include her in the Mercenary faction.

• Ikarus Faith - A custom character created by Plageman and the french forum that you can download (in english) from the Black Sheep Archives.

• Jackal - A custom Mercenary created by Doc Savage available here on Savage Tales.

• Gorgei Volkov - A dual Mercenary/Matriarchy character currently only available in France. As this month's bonus, here is a translation of Gorgei's Equipment Packs:

Gorgei Volkov - Phantom Division

Special Item
• Multiple Targets
Gorgei may, after his Combat Roll (if he is still alive, in the case of a Counterattack), make a second shot against another target but uses his lowest Combat Value. Multiple Targets may not be used in a Counterattack. Requires Gorgei is equipped with the PPSh-41s machine pistol.

Combat Pack
• PPSh-41s
Type: Automatic Weapon
Combining precision and efficiency, the PPSh-41s provides a 1-point bonus to the Current Combat Value of its firer and also adds a 1-point bonus to the result of each die (except Natural 1s). This weapon can not use any Extra Ammunition.

• F-1 Grenade
Type: Grenade

• Hero of Rugen
Thanks to this badge, consider Gorgei Volkov's Combat characteristic column to have the following Values: 5,5,5,5.

Stamina Pack

• PPSh-41s
The rules for this appear in the above Combat Pack.

• Survival
When Gorgeï is killed, there is still a physical presence on the board until the end of the following Game Turn. Dead, he may no longer take an Action or be healed, but does block Movement as if he were alive.

His Disposable Equipment is dropped when Gorgei is removed from the board.

• Hero of Giva
When Gorgei is wounded for the first time, one wound is automatically ignored.

Mental Pack

• PPSh-41s
The rules for this appear in the above Combat Pack.

• Gold Star
Announce the Gold Star's use at any time. Until the end of the Game Turn, Gorgei Volkov uses his highest Combat, Mental, and Movement Values, regardless of his current health status.

You may only use Gold Star once per game.

• Major
During the Deployment Roll, the rank of Major allows you to add a 5-point bonus to the die result. This bonus can not be combined with the bonuses of other ranking characters.



One last note: if you decide to order Gorgei from France, I highly recommend the online retailer Ludibay. They are extremely fast with shipping (less than two weeks) and yes the webstore is in english.

Tannhäuser Tuesday - The Mummy Strikes!!!

By littlewars

"The Eye Of Horus is a symbol of health perverted by Set, the god of violence and evil. This amulet, created as a healing aid, now has quite the opposite effect. In the expert hands of Hermann Von Heïzinger the gaze of the Eye is the gaze of a vengeful God."
- FFG Bonus Token, Eye of Horus



A hybrid of a token and character, with a scenario flavor, this month's special U-Chronic Halloween edition features the mummy Hor-Aha.

A favored disciple of Horus, he was slain through the trickery of the rival god Set. The pharaoh Hor-Aha was the original owner of the ancient Wedjat that became corrupted by Set. Centuries later it was discovered by Von Heïzinger who would wield its powers as his own.

The card lists all the necessary rules for the token. For the sake of clarity I will expand on a couple of finer points:

Curse Of Hora-Aha follows standard bonus token rules and occupies an Equipment Slot on the character sheet. It costs 1 Victory Point to equip a character with the token. It is placed (during an Action Phase) on the Entry Point regardless of the character's current location (there is no condition the character be adjacent). The token can only activate once the current Sequence is completed.

Hor-Aha is a token and not a character. Thus, he may not pick up or place flags in certain Game Modes. He is activated like a character and may only move or attack like a character. He also blocks all character movement (including the controlling player's team) and may be Bull Rushed (or Dueled) and attacked (with a shock roll) like a character.

The mummy can only attack characters with a Reich Affiliation Symbol; either the Obscura Korps, the Blutstrum Divison, or the Paranormal Division. Hor-Aha contributes to Victory Points by eliminating any enemy characters. Eliminating Hor-Aha does not count towards earning Victory Points for your opponent, he is not a Hero or a Trooper.

Optional Curse Of Hor-Aha Game Aids

You can use an optional miniature for Hor-Aha. Just swap the token from the character card for the Hor-Aha mini when you decide to deploy him. It is not necessary, but the mini is useful to remind players that Hor-Aha blocks movement. I recommend the D&D miniature #28 Guardian Mummy, an uncommon from the Desert of Desolation set.



The Hor-Aha character sheet is also optional. It helps keep track of health and includes a summary of Hor-Aha's special rules. You can also keep track of wounds without the card. For example, you could place a marker on Hor-Aha or rotate the token (say, to face your opponent) if you receive a wound.

Tannhauser Halloween Game Ideas

The Curse of Hor-Aha and the Eye Of Horus tokens make a good combination for a Halloween game. If you wish to further mix things up, consider adding any of the following variants:

• Fantasy Flight Game's Trick Or Treat Mask Bonus Token
• U-Chronic Sentinel Token, a demonic sentry
• Savage Tale's Hellboy and Hellboy Summer Pack
• The Black Fortress Scenario at Black Sheep Archives

Photo taken in 1939 by a combat zeppelin stationed over the Obscura Korps headquarters in Cairo.

The unmarked plane is believed to be piloted by the rouge ace known as "Pique La Lune", a french national suspected of smuggling antiquities, including mummified remains, from the Ombos dig.

Later, when tracked to Constantinople, he is observed in the company of mercenary Wolfgang Otto Ludwig Friedrich, thought dead.