Tannhäuser Tuesday - Converting HeroClix Figures

You can thank Yojimbo for this topic...

The simple steps to converting HeroClix figures into Tannhauser figures.

This first article will deal with the simple method of swapping bases on HeroClix figures. Later articles will discuss the cards, powers, and stats. Oh yes, there will be photoshop...

1 - Buy your discount Lobster Johnson for as little as 69 cents.
2 - Buy some cheep Star Wars or D&D minis figure. Be sure to buy a figure with a standard size circular base. You really want a human size figure and be sure that there isn't too much stuff on the base. Simple human feet are great. Figures that have only one foot on the base can be even better.
3 - When you get your stuff in the mail, or from your local shop if you are that lucky, get out the X-Acto knife or single edge razor blades. I am a big fan of the razor blades... But if you are a kid - get your parent to help. These blades are super-sharp and will cut you if you get a finger in the way.
4 - Lobster Johnson, like may Clix figures has circles under his feet that are molded with the figure. Put the figure on your cutting surface with the base at a right angle to the table. Put your blade between one of these circles and the base. Push down with your fingers clear of the blade and that foot will pop loose. Repeat for the other foot. You now have Lobster free of his base, but with circles under his feet.
5 - Stand Roger up on his feet and go around the outside of his shoes with your blade. The X-Acto works best here. When you are done Roger will look like he is wearing Herman Munster boots. Put Roger on his side and slice half of the extra soles off his shoes. His feet will have a sliver of white plastic around them. That's OK for now. Set Roger to the side.
6 - Take your random human size D&D or Star Wars figure and carefully cut off the base. Remember you are more interested in the round black base than the figure. Try to make the base as flat as possible.
7 - Super-Glue Roger to the new base. I use Super-Glue gel. I like it best. Hold him down firmly while the glue dries. Try to line up Roger's feet with where the feet were on the D&D base.
8 - Paint the top of the base gloss black. While you are doing this you can paint the edges of Roger's shoes.

You will now have a figure that blends in great with the official Tannhäuser figures. You can repeat this process until you have a whole shoebox full of faux-Tannhäuser figures.

I will be adding pictures to this post later...




© 2009 W. Peter Miller

Tannhäuser Tuesday - Abe Sapien Cards

Here is the rest of the material for Abe. I will be redoing the Tokens because I noticed that Abe doesn't have a drop shadow...

Hellboy is next. Then who should I do? Roger? Agents? Liz? Young Hellboy?





I FEEL U-CHRONIC!!!



© 2009 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 trademarks of Take on You and © Take on You LTD. Abe Sapien is trademark and © Mike Mignola. All Rights Reserved.

FIGHT KLUB FRIDAY - The new site is open!!!

There is a lot of new stuff to visit on the all new Fight Klub site. The Founding Mentors are testing the site and getting it ready for the general public. There is some fun stuff in there, so here are a few peeks behind the curtain. In a few weeks, the site should be open to everyone.



Some upcoming characters...

Community...

Tools...

Polls to have a say in what cards get made...


And of course, the store. The only place you can buy Fight Klub...



It's getting close... Cards will be on sale in a few weeks. Soon enough we'll have Rambo VS Chuck Norris and Ash Williams VS Jason. There will be six new characters in every set. The Terminator is coming soon, too!



That address isn't working quite yet, but soon it will be. To access the site you will be asked who invited you. That person will be your Mentor. When you get to the door that asks "Who Sent You?", think Spike.

FIGHT KLUB FRIDAY - ON SALE SOON!!!

Decipher Games has announced that over the weekend the existing Fight Klub site will be going away. The new site will be having a pre-launch starting as early as Sunday for the Founding Mentors who will have a few days to post content to the site and get their Mentor Profiles up. If the site proves stable and ready to go, it could be as soon as late next week for the site to go live for everyone.

This means that (hopefully) by New Years the new FIGHT KLUB will open and we will be able to buy cards!!!


To access the site you will be asked who invited you. That person is your Mentor. When you get to the door that asks "Who Sent You?", you say Spike.


Well not right now, but soon. Real soon. Believe me, I'll let you know. Even if it isn't a Friday.

If you buy any cards for the game (available EXCLUSIVELY on the Fight Klub site) your Mentor gets 10% of what you spend :). Once in the game, you can be a mentor for your friends and get 10% of what they spend.


In order to post content to the site you have to have to be a member of the site. That includes providing your credit card information.

Besides being able to buy product, Decipher will have actual information on the identity of the users of the site. That could be a positive to reduce trolling and spamming on the boards. Because if you are a fan of the game and get banned, you won't have direct access to the game anymore.

LET'S GET READY TO RUMBLE!!!

Comic-Con Friday

Welcome to Comic-Con 2008!

Here are a few pictures from Friday in the main hall.

Lion's Gate Films had models representing the ladies of "The Spirit"





The Aston Martin from "Quantum of Solace" - the sequel to "Casino Royale".


The display figures from the WarCraft miniatures game look amazing, but will the production figures look as good. They are also just enough bigger than the 'standard 28mm' that the humans will not share well with other games.




This is some kind of subterranean vehicle from the upcoming G.I. Joe movie.

More posts tomorrow.

Tannhäuser Tuesday - Jackal's Jackals

In 1948, Matthäus Lang found himself in Africa searching for the staff of Ra, a valuable artifact he overheard some archaeologists discussing. His search took him to the southern reaches of the Sahara Desert. It was here that he found something that has served him better that some ancient trinket. In the scrubby brush barely surviving at the edge of an oasis he found two tiny pups. He thought they were dogs and took pity on them. He fed them. They followed him back to his camp and into his future. As the pups grew older, he learned they were hyenas, but by then he was too attached and they became his traveling companions.

In early 1949, in the jungles of Southeast Asia, the animals saved his life yet again. They held off Clark Savage, Jr and his men long enough for the Jackal to escape.

His whereabouts are currently unknown.

Tannhäuser notes:

I thought that the Hunting Hyena - a Common D&D Miniatures figure from the War of the Dragon Queen set - would make a great companion for my custom mercenary, Jackal.

You can see Jackal here.

If playing with the hyenas, Jackal gets an additional pair of tokens. These represent his trained companions.

Jackal can replace an equipment token with a hyena token. Each token used would get him one hyena, up to a maximum of two. The hyenas have their own board and are a one wound-to-kill animal that you can't use first aid on. They are limited to attacking figures that are adjacent to them on the same path as Jackal.

The hyenas would have stats of: 5 - 3 - 1 - 7

They would have the Close Combat skill but may not use any weapons.

The hyenas may choose 2 tokens from a pool of 4.

Relentless - If attacking a wounded character the hyena gets a +1 to its Combat.

Follow the Scent - The hyena may move and attack on any path adjacent to Jackal's path.

Bloodthirsty - If the hyena kills a character it must attack an adjacent figure if there is one. The hyena will not attack Jackal, but will attack friendly characters. If there is more than one adjacent figure, the hyena's controller chooses which adjacent character to attack.

Hunter - The hyenas may move through enemy figures without penalty.

Questions for the Tannhäuser fans -

How many hyenas do you think that Jackal should be able to get? Is two the right number?

Is the loss of a weapon slot too harsh a penalty, or is that a good trade off for an additional figure (the hyena)? Or should getting the hyena cost more?


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 trademarks of Take on You and © Take on You LTD. All Rights Reserved.

FRIDAY NIGHT FIGHT KLUB with Spike

The Phases of the Moon - errr - Turn

Well, I started writing this on Friday....

Decipher revealed more of the rules today - The phases of a turn.

They have set out to make a game that is simple to learn, but with deep strategy. We are just beginning to get glimpses to see how they have done.

Fight Klub Turn Sequence

Each turn is divided into 3 Phases. The player with "The Drop" chooses who goes first in each Phase.

Setup Fight Cooldown

Setup
There's a lot that happens in the setup phase.
1. Do one Setup Action
2. Do two of the following (you can take the same action twice):
Play a Condition
Play a Gear
Play one Instant - Setup
Take a Setup Action
3. Play three Fight Cards off the Fight stack

Fight
The Fight Phase is played out in 3 skirmishes. The three fight cards taken off the Fight deck in the Setup phase are turned over and matched into pairs. These represent the 3 skirmishes.

Each skirmish has 3 steps.
Enhance - you may play one Effect or one Instant-Enhance card.
Fight - resolve the skirmish.
Score - you may play one Instant-Score card or take a Score Action and if you won, Score that Skirmishes Fight Cards.

Cooldown
You may play one Instant-Cooldown card or take a Cooldown action.
Then you discard cards until you reach the number of cards that are your character's Hold amount.
Then you draw until you reach the number of cards that are your character's Hand amount.

After the Cooldown Phase is done you exchange "The Drop".

There seem to be lots of cards that will affect each Phase and they seem to be specific to each Phase. The characters will probably lend themselves to specializing in affecting one Phase. For example, a wizard might have more Instant-Setup cards than Instant-Score cards. Rambo might have Gear cards for his weapons, etc.

Specializing in one Phase may help you more than trying to have a little bit of help in all the Phases. If you spread your deck too thin among the Instants, you may never have the one you need. However, if you get too heavy in one Phase, your opponent may be able to predict what you are going to do.

These kinds of choices should make for interesting deckbuilding.

Monday is the deadline for applying to be a Founding Member. Hopefully we will begin to see some cards...



Now Get Fightin'


© 2008 W. Peter Miller

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

Tannhäuser Tuesday

Tuesday - Rüstung Fallhammer

Yesterday I presented the Hermetic Scientist, Krisztov Moeller, and his backstory. Today I present some scenario ideas and the Rüstung Fallhammer card.

Use the Castle Ruins side of the board. This represents the catacombs under Ksiaz Castle. Players take turns choosing sides - Reich, Union, Matriachy, or Moeller's Hermetics. If no one picks the Hermetics then play the Doktor's forces with the solitaire rules, with the players rolling for control each Game Turn.


SET UP

If no player is controlling Moeller's forces, all the players roll a d10. The winner gets to place all of the tokens for Doktor Moeller's forces. (There will be a set of tokens - 1 for each Hermetic figure and 3 different tokens representing Moeller's Research Papers. There are also 8 dummy tokens.) Set the tokens up in the central chamber. The player putting out Hermetic tokens should not look at them, mix them up, and then place them anywhere in the central chamber, Moeller side face up.

If a player is controlling Moeller's force, then that player may choose the placement of the Hermetic characters in the central chamber at their discretion.

The remaining players roll a d10, and the winner chooses their army's entry point. Players keep rolling until all entry points necessary are determined. Use the 2 official entry points. In a 4 player game a third entry point will need to be chosen in a corner where there is no entry point. The circle closest to that corner may be used.

The Union, Reich, and Matriarch players are trying to capture the Hermetics and find Moeller's papers. The Hermetics are trying to escape.

PLAY
If a player is using Doktor Moeller's Hermetics, play proceeds as normal. If there is no player for the Hermetics, use the Solitaire rules below. The Hermetics are trying to escape capture to score Victory Points. Escaping with the papers increases their Victory Point total.

SPECIAL SCENARIO RULES

CAPTURING
Some of the Hermetics can be captured. If the Rüstung Fallhammer or the RUR 07 are injured or damaged, they can be captured. An adjacent Hero may attempt a capture. Two or more Heroes may combine their efforts.

During their sequence a Hero may use its Action Phase to attempt a capture. Other figures that have not used their Sequence this Game Turn may participate in the capture. For each additional Hero involved in the capture, add 2 dice to the roll. To succeed, the Hero needs to win a Stamina Duel against the target of the capture. If successful, the Hero or heroes may move at their minimum move score with the captured figure. All the figures that participated in the capture must maintain adjacency with the captured figure. If a figure participated in the capture, consider its Sequence used.

Each Game Turn, the Stamina Duel is repeated, although a captured figure uses its minimum Stamina value. If the captured figure wins the Duel, it is once again free and may use its Sequence immediately. Once the captured figure has been escorted off the board, your figures can return on the next Game Turn.

The RUR 07 rubble token may be captured automatically. No roll is needed.

CHARACTER DEATH
When a figure dies, place a character token in the space where they died.

VICTORY POINTS
In addition to the normal Victory Points awarded, in this scenario you may gain VPs from performing certain actions. Only the human Hermetics may score the Victory Points for Moeller's papers. The others may not pick them up.

1 VP for a Moeller figure escaping out an opponents entry point.
2 VPs per captured Rüstung Fallhammer escorted out your entry point.
3 VP for a captured RUR 07 escorted out your entry point.
1 VP per Doktor Moeller's Papers tokens (there are 3 of these).
1 VP bonus per opposing player if you have all 3 of Moeller's Papers tokens (in addition to the 3 VPs for the papers).
1 VP for RUR 07 rubble token.

SOLITAIRE PLAY
If there is no player controlling Moeller's forces, they remain face down until an active player's figure has entered a pathfinding with a Moeller Token on it. That figure stops moving immediately, and its turn is ended. The token is revealed. If it represents a figure, replace the token with the figure. The figures react as follows:

Moeller runs away. He will try to make attacks from nearby pathfindings if possible.
Lady Fürstenstein charges and attacks if possible. If given a choice, she will attack the figure with the strongest attack first.
Jackal attacks at range against figures with range attacks if possible and then hides if possible.
Rüstung Fallhammer charge the nearest figure and attack if possible.
RUR 07 Attacks and then either retreats to a new pathfinding if possible or if it can't, moves toward the figure its full move.



Rüstung Fallhammer were once simple lowland gorillas, but after being subjected to Doktor Moeller's experimentation, they are now vicious killers. There are 3 of these roaming the castle catacombs.

«Armored Bracers» - If an ape attacks the same figure it attacked the turn before, it gets to roll an extra attack die. The Bracers provide an automatic block of 1 wound from any attack, including grenades.

«Ferocity» - At the beginning of their Sequence, if on the same path as an enemy figure you must roll the die. If the result is an 6-10, the apes must charge and attack the nearest enemy. The apes may move an additional 2 circles if needed to reach that person.


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 trademarks of Take on You and © Take on You LTD. All Rights Reserved.