I love collecting, painting, converting and scratch building terrain. I even get to play a game once in a while. I'm a big fan of gamification as part of teaching - I'm an elementary school teacher.
This blog covers my hobby work and 'teaching through gaming'.
For Hardwired you only need 4 agents on a team. I've decided that if some of my agents die, I have to paint up a new one. This psyker model is from Endure the Stars (that I scored for cheap and flipped to make it free). It's a pretty cool model, decided to go for bright cyberpunk colors.
The base is a first for me, it's made with a greenstuff world rolling pin on 1mm xps foam, glue to 1 mm renedra base.
Over on the Discord server there's a lot of cool people. For Christmas we had a miniature secret santa. Members made a wish list for settings, then got a random member to make a wish come true. I made the below miniature for a guy wanting something scifi.
It's a kit bash. The body is a Gate of Antares concord model, the head is a resin bit from Anvil Industry. The augmetic arm and gun is from a GW necron. Added a drone from a GW mechanicus head with some twisted wires. The pointing finger is from Mantic GCPS.
I really like the look on this guy, kindda envious and might build him again.
A final word
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In this game of Hardwired my agetns are send into a jungle to capture and extract a valuable scientist. H-sec is already swarming the area and they will have to work quickly to get it done.
Recorded a full Let's Play and put it on Youtube.
Here's a bunch of photos from the terrain setup. Used my home made aquarium plant jungle and a 4ground control center I once bought on a sale from Northstar.
A final word
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Had a couple of Hardwired games, solo on the twitch. An elegant little system and with a bit of planned out terrain you can easily play to games in a single night.
For the first game my agents are moving into a junkyard trying to clear out some people living there, the space need using for something else.
Wanted to play on my dessert map, but have to build some more sand terrain, fitting the mat.
Unfortuantely Patrick Todoroff has been hit with some annoying legal trouble and has to rename the game system to something else. So we'll see what comes of that.
A final word
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Took my Hardwired agents into the badlands. An old military outpost has been hit by a chemical attack and abandoned. The agents have been hired to get into the area, exfiltrate some sensitive data and avoid getting shot to pieces.
Setup
Used some different pieces form the collection, to build a small military base.
Let's play
Here's a video with the game, roughly an hour. Hardwired is such a nice quick game to play. Perfect for one or two games in an evening, easy to make up scenarios for it.
After painting up my first batch of security forces for use in cyberpunk games - mostly thinking of Hardwired for these guys - I found a missing model. So I decided to paint him up, and with that guy I found some more models to paint up. Some of the missing Mazon Labs soldiers from Star Saga. So could as well paint those at the same time.
So in the end I had 14 stage 2 security troopers more than before. More than enough. But I've also completed that part of the Star Saga core box. So that's cool.
A single stage 1 trooper, regular security. This was the missing guy. But then I also found this robot with big guns and shields. He looks like a cool entry bot. He'll walk in front, entering buildings and taking all the fire.
Next up was some more regular marines. Had only painted a few of these for use in Deadzone. Fairly simple models to paint, I like the scale - big and easy. So when they're all the same uniforms and only in three different poses - then only way to make difference is with skin colors. So been using lots of nuances here.
Last is the remaining rangers from Star Saga. Cool elite troopers. Also comes with three flamethrowers - so you know when these are deployed things are bad. Made for cleaning of research stations. But in the Hardwired expansion there's rules for teardrop template weapons.
And my completed Stage 1 and Stage 2 security foce - getting rather big. From lightly armored security troopers to fully armored rangers and big robots. And I even still have a tank and too hover police cars to paint up for them.
I've made a short 'how to play' video for Hardwired: Cyberpunk Skirmish Gaming. In the video, I quickly go over the core mechanics of the game covering:
Agent types
Dice pools
Using skills and abilities
Shooting and cover
Very quick basics video, but my be of use to some people. I really enjoy playing Hardwired, the games are quick and easy to setup. So it's a great little solo game.
Remember you can hear Patrick Todoroff (the author) talk about Hardwired and design philosophy in this podcast.
Enjoy.
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How do I blog: http://bloodbeard.blogspot.com/2020/09/how-do-i-blog-how-am-i-using.html
First time playing some Hardwired on the stream. Recorded live and uploaded to Youtube. The Let's Play is also embedded below. In this scenario the four agents Brick, Gator, Conduit and Spotless are going into a market to deliver some stolen data. The contact is a member of the Purple Hands gang.
Setup
Took out a bunch of terrain from the collection and tried building a buzzing neon lighted market place. All my cyberpunk terrain stuff is collected here.
For the first scenario in Hardwired I need a VIP, for the agents to capture. In my bag of unsorted scifi miniatures I found a couple of Dreadball coaches. The warden from the prisoner team and a nasty looking doctor. Perfect objective miniatures for cyberpunk and scifi gaming.
A very quick paint job on these guys. White base coat on the doctor and grey on the warden. Then a few added details and a layer of wash. Super easy.
The teal green is vallejo verdigris, super nice colors. The tablets have a green screen made with vallejo flourescent green.
The dreadball miniatures are fairly small compared to many 28mm models. But the doctor still look alright next to some star saga lab technicians. Will need to go teal on the next ones I do of these.
Here's the warden, mob leader, corporate bossman hanging out with a few gangers - from my Reality's Edge crew.
... click... Mr. Cliff, get a hold of the crew ASAP. The Network Management is deeply concerned with the continued interference of what is now confirmed to be an unshackled AI. Yes, Management confirm the adversaries you have have encountered is led by an AI - something powerful enough to have broken Turing Protocol and avoid deletion.
Your team will be dispatched to an industrial area in the Lower Neo-Kawloon District. There's a huge gathering of sprawl civis and more entering the scene at a constant rate. The AI has been detected in the area - their goal is of no importance to us at this time.
Management has been informed that a Network signed B-Minus-Rated Iduro is working at a central compound, helping drawing in a crowd. These is a clear breach of contract and Management want the operation shut down ASAP. Use of excessive violence and property damage have been approved. Anchorman out.
... click ...
Scenario and setup
We rolled up the Security Operations scenario and my regular adversary led på an Unshackled AI would play the Defence. As the scenario alteration we rolled an illegal card game - placing an extra crowd on the table. This also gave central bystanders a higher chance of panic. The hitch for the scenario was an Iduro in the area - putting even more crowds on the table.
We quickly came up with the following story: The AI has arranged the gambling and iduro concert to draw in a huge crowd. The AI has an agenda using all the personal data devices and HROs for some purpose only the AI can figure out. The defending team is on ground for crowd control and security.
My enforcer and his gang have been called in by their 'big media corporation'. The Iduro is signed to the corporation and needs to be shut down.
The objectives in this scenario is four different targets that needs defending or smashing. We put up four computers (not CATs), something the AI needs as part of the plan.
For the board we placed a huge bunch of industrial scenery and ended up using every single crowd I've made from the start. ... So many bystanders in very little space. This was going to get messy quickly.
Turn 1
My crew takes the initiative in the first round. As seen in the above photos there's crowds all over the place. So there's no way around it, I'll have to pass through them. We're counting crowds as rough terrain, halving movement, unless you want to blend in with them.
I managed to activate my enforcer showrunner and console cowboy before initiative passes. My plan is to hit the side and back entrances at the same time with as much firepower as possible. Circuit my Console Cowboy haven't really earned his pay yet, so he's running towards the nearest C.A.T.
Initiative passes to my opponent, they start close to the objective, ready to get inside, wasting no time. The gang is led by a masque and he meets his personal motivation right away by blending into a crowd.
Two of the enemy crew members doesn't move towards the objective. A sprawl ronin runs on a flanking attack around the warehouse, getting towards the side entrance where I plan to attack. The drone jockey from my opponent moves around the other side of the warehouse, looking for a good flank with his hover gun drone.
Showrunning enforcer Sgt. Cliff, sprawl ronin Glitch Tanaka and new crew member drone jockey Sparrow - all running towards the side entrance of the warehouse - of cause there's a crowd in the way. Every move is gonna be slow.
Here's the enemy drone jockey on his flanking mission around to my position. Gun drone zooming ahead.
Before the turn is over, the enemy shadow avatar is already standing inside the objective. I've had a hard time with the overheat app taking out my guys in previous games - and sure enough - right away I start getting blasted by dangerous apps.
Turn 2
The turn starts with the enemy drone getting into position for shooting at me, a nice long and open firing lane.
For the first time the masques ability to jump from crowd to crowd comes in super handy. The enemy showrunner makes a quick jump from an outside crowd to the inside of the building. From his position hidden among the civilians the showrunner has a nice firing arc to both the side and back door - going into overwatch for a free shot.
Enemy hacker makes it inside as well and starts breaking into the C.A.T. - getting crucial INFO and more action points for the avatar. And with that bloody overheat app those extra AP are very good indeed.
Now new drone jockey Sparrow have also brought a hover gun drone to the show and it flies on top of some industrial silos. From this good position it has a clear view of the enemy sprawl ronin. On the ground my own ronin Glitch is moving in to get some melee action. Glitch is looking to meet her personal motivation - and for that she needs a kill.
And the the shooting starts inside the building. My crew makes it to the side entrance and breaks down the door. From inside the enemy crew consisting of masque and a couple gangers shoots from their overwatch state. And my guys fire back. Bullets all around.
The crowds breaks apart in panic and the enemy crew gets some heat - this will cost them a bit of REP after the game. On both sides hits start to get in and wound the crew members.
And the plan to take out the enemy ronin with my ronin Glitch fails - and he cuts her down. So that was not what I planned. At least I get to gun down the enemy ronin with my hover drone before it zooms into the warehouse to support my guys in there.
To support my guys on the inside, my gangers break in from the back door. My console cowboy Circuit is still working on the first C.A.T. terminal outside. But he's now in the firing lane from the enemy hover drone. I decide to let him keep working, he's not worth anything if he can't pull out any INFO for me anyways.
The last turns
The game turns into a long grinding shoot out for the last half of the game. Nearly all crew members pour into the warehouse shooting at one another, getting in cover behind tables, bystanders and computer terminals.
My biggest problem is getting near enough to the console and having the necessary action points to actually break them. Pretty hard to find time and calm to shut down an AIs plan, with a bunch of gangers shooting at them.
With a combination of nasty apps, better shooting and that Iduro constantly drawing in new crowds to hide behind my enemy turns out on top. In the end my crew is broken down, no guys left on the table. They are hurt, hiding, bleeding and trying to survive. It was a blood bath.
Whatever that AI was trying to achieve it made it, because my crew failed to stop them.
Aftermath
This was a brutal but fun game. The story we set up to fit the rolled scenario really worked. This was also the first game where the bystander mechanics really made a difference, because there was so many of them. The blocked shooting, cost REP, panicked, shot back and kept being summoned.
And the game was close. For the second game in a row victory was down to a few action point. Had I gotten the initiative at or not failed a single specific activation roll the outcome would have been to my side instead. Now that's great gaming - so tense.
After a game where your entire crew is Out Of Action it's really nerve racking to check the after game results. I spend must of my crypto currency to hire my drone jockey, nothing much in the bank.
In the end my crew made it out okay, no serious injuries. I got away with some INFO and decent rolls on my income. Most got used to pay bail and speed up healing. The remaining few CC was spend trying to convince my console cowboy to become a permahire - and I succeeded in that. This was a victory for me, as he gained a +1 CYB right away. After having spend three games not really hacking any C.A.T.s it'll make a difference I¨m sure.
The crew also found itself with enough REP to get some nice high value gear - a stab proof combat armor. A decent day - no money in the bank.
But after three games of Reality's Edge over crews are still equal, roughly the same amount of REP and crew value. My opponent had a good day, found some cool gear, got a ton of XP from personal motivations and had enough CC to hire on a cyborg for the crew.
Next game we'll go coop. We're taking a trip through The Solitude - a wasteland of abandoned Industrial complexes protecting a hovering noodle boat. at least that's the plan.
