Terminator Genisys Project: 28mm sci-fi

With lead figs, they make their own Fate...the little boogers!

http://terminator.wikia.com/wiki/There%27s_no_fate_but_what_we_make_for_ourselves.


Thought I was done with 28mm but their Fate was "not what I would Make." groan...

Terminator Genisys reminded me that 28mm is a good scale for skirmish battles, or larger battles on larger tables [the classic 6x4' and bigger]. I could also do multi-player battles with the same big-battle system I use for my One-Hour Wargames scenarios, which is basically to "lane" players against each other until they've completely defeated their opponent and are then able to help their neighbor. 

Best of all, this game with 10-20 pieces per player is certainly a "one-hour wargame" and easily fits into a busy life. Also, skirmish always has a stronger narrative context than farther up into the Unit level. TG can easily be used as a fun sci-fi game, switching effortlessly to zombies or whatever, or be used from WWI to contemporary warfare. The TG world doesn't always make for a perfect movie, but it has lots of appealing qualities for gaming.

While I was tempted to try GW's new "Kill Team" rules, the Terminator Genisys rules are very solid and have me shelving that idea for now. The Kill Team rules appear to offer a lot more detailed development of individual "characters" / figures to get it to almost role-playing, but working with TG is more than enough for now.

TG also has me revisiting my decision to rid myself of all 28mm sci-fi and switch to 15mm. Interestingly, 15mm sci-fi figs are often nearly as expensive in the market place as 28mm sci-fi. And sometimes the 28mm are cheaper, especially the plastics. For example, the Endo and Resistance sprues are $1.50 each, coming to 75 cents for an Endo and half that for a Resistance Soldier! As plastics, they are easy to work with to modify, also, and that is fun, too. Finally, 15mm as a "project" isn't cheaper b/c it will need vehicles and more figures, which puts it into a higher price point than buying 20-30 15mm figs and using them for a skirmish game.

So, to summarize:

1. TG is a great set of skirmish rules for any modern / firepower period.
2. Play is clean and quick, definitely a 1-Hour Wargame!
3. Skirmish forces paint up quickly.
4. Skirmish gaming has a strong narrative side to it that makes for great campaigns.
5. 15mm sci-fi isn't really any cheaper than 28mm sci-fi unless you really just play small skirmish games out - but then they're hard to see! 

With all these pluses, I went ahead and ordered a few more TG items, mostly b/c I want to game some of the characters from the films. I haven't even seen all the films and TV series, but some of the images are pretty laughable - one actress looks like she should be holding a teddy bear, not a plasma rifle, and the thought of her telling Kyle Reese "Come with me if you want to live!" is enough to have me spit my coffee. Anyway, aiming to rectify this thru my local library system which does have Salvation, Genisys and the Sarah Connor Chronicles season 1.

To me the first couple of films are the classics, especially "The Terminator" which is still an amazing film to watch. So after checking around on the internet, I broke down and bought some of the pricier figs that look like the film characters:

• Terminator 1984: Pops [with damaged face firing shotgun], Sarah, Kyle, T-1000 [in LA Cop guise], and 3 Cops w' revolver, shotgun and assault rifle respectively.
• 1984 Sarah and Guardian: pops with shotgun, Sarah with unidentified long weapon.
• Guardian on Bike: Pops on a Harley w'shotgun.
• 10 sprues ea of Endos and Resistance Soldiers [too cheap to resist!] for a total of 20 more Endos and 40 more Resistance Soldiers.

This will give me plenty of fodder for both narrative and other scenarios. With the upcoming Terminator games being released by River Horse, I'll end up with a number of 28mm figures including some classic ones like the infiltrator model from "The Terminator" flashback sequence, a pile of hunter-killer droids, John Connor and his Lieutenants, and more.

Meanwhile, I'm also reading about the modern wars in the 'Stan and Iraq, and have some thoughts about that, also. Something about going "real" that makes one think different about a game design, or a game mechanic, for that matter. That alone is interesting and worth another post!

Overall, this is developing into a set of rules I can live with in lots of ways.