Teleport Jump

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In Xenos Rampant, the xeno rule Teleport Jump is a tough sell for me. I want to use it. Paying 1 point to be able to jump 11 inches (ostensibly 12) sounds good, but having your whole unit swallowed by the Warp on double 5 or 6 is hard to take.

I played around with improving the ability without skewing its balance. Finally, I decided to not change the rules as written. Instead I added a tech tree, like Force Field and Psychic:

 

Teleport Jump – Risky (cost: 1 point):         Rules as written.

Teleport Jump – Improved (cost: 2 points): The unit only suffers 1 Strength Point loss on any roll of doubles.

Teleport Jump – Secure (cost: 3 points):     No Strength Point loss for rolling doubles.

 

I think this fits well with both Psychic/Psychic Species/Transportation and with the fact Teleport Jump is a Move action, not Psychic.

It also fits well with the new economy of my games. I’ve been playing 30 points as standard ever since I picked up Dragon Rampant, 2nd Edition.

The Kamandi Challenge

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This Sunday I’m thankful for older comics.

I collected this comic through 2017, and read the first three or four issues. Then my local shop closed. When a new one opened in the same spot a few months later I got them to order me in the issues I’d missed and then collected the rest through to the finale in 2018. But I never did get around to picking the story back up and reading it to its conclusion. So I’ve been sitting on them ever since, almost a decade!

The release of the Thundarr the Barbarian comic by Dynamite has lit a fire in me to go back and read through the whole story of The Kamandi Challenge.

One of the fun things about this comic is that each issue is written and illustrated by a different pair of creators. And there are some great teams throughout. For example Dan Abnett writes the first issue, and Walt Simonson illustrates issue 11!

The story has an overarching plot with a mystery running throughout. That’s why the tag line across each issue is “Can You Solve It Before They Do?” And then on the final issue it changes to “We Solved It! Have You?”

Each issue ends on a cliffhanger, The Challenge. The next creative team then picks up the ball and runs with it. This goes on issue after issue til the conclusion in number 12. I’m really looking forward to see how this plays out.

If you want to read the story yourself you can buy it collected online. Or maybe, if you’re lucky, your brick and mortar can get you a copy of the hardcover.

While we’re on the subject of Kamandi, I should mention another — even older — story.

Way back in 2009 DC published an anthology series called Wednesday Comics. It was a fun novelty release that ran for twelve weekly issues, each containing one page from 15 different characters’ stories.

When they collected it into a hardcover compilation the next year, they kept the large format. Kamandi was the second story, slotted between Batman and Superman. Not bad company for our boy here. Witness the majesty:

That’s the middle pages of the tale, and I added the central issues of The Kamandi Challenge for scale.

The story is a fun, fast-paced survey of some of the companions, gangs, villains and hordes Kamandi encountered in North America A.D. in the original comic as created by King Kirby.

It looks (at the time of this writing) like you can buy the compilation in hardcover online. But again, maybe your local shop can bring in a copy for you.

Hmm. Now that I have the tome in my hands, I think I’ll re-read this story before I launch into the Challenge.

[Edit: In re-reading the Wednesday Comics Kamandi story, I noticed something I’d missed years ago. The tale begins on page one at around noon. It then proceeds at a pace of about two hours per page over the course of a single night. It then ends at about 12 o’clock on the second day. The skilled use of light levels to convey both the passing of time and the urgency that carries with it — given the plot — is outstanding!]

Alien Horrors

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This past Sunday, and this St. Patrick’s Day, I’m thankul for Tim Curran and Weird House Press.

I first discovered Curran’s work in an anthology called High Seas Cthulhu.

That was a fun read. Curran’s short story titled, “The Wreck of the Ghost” really stuck with me so I looked him up. I was able to contact him through his blog at the time. We had a brief chat and he recommended I pick up a copy of his collection called Alien Horrors.

I’ve been reading them chronolgically, by publication date (2000 to 2022). Good, unsettling stuff.

So a couple weeks ago I looked him up again to see if he’d done any more work in this vein. Well, it turns out he’s got a whole new collection! All these stories are dated 2025, so I guess I’ll just read them in book order.

The stories I’ve read so far really are great fodder for Mothership and Death in Space. Check them out!

Mindblast Madness

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This Sunday I’m thankful for March MODOK Madness.

I’ve been participating off and on for over a decade. It’s a lot of fun and those guys are making some really neat art. Go check it out.

This year, to honour this great month, I hosted a game of Xenos Rampant on Friday at Trumpeter’s monthly game night:

M.O.D.O.K. and the Time Banditos in … The Kryptonite Caper!
Scale: 28mm
Players: 2, host will referee
Rules: Xenos Rampant
Table Size: 6 x 6
Scenario: Can MODOK and El Guapo recover their plethora of pilfered prisms before the Star Posse claps them in irons?

 

MODOK and his Killbots advance

MODOK pressed down the center while off to the left his Killbots got into a drawn out firefight against the Science Ninjas.

MODOK spies the Star Posse

While the Time Banditos recovered the six colours of their stolen kryptonite shards, MODOK took on all comers. And then …

The Moment MODOK Obliterated Danger 5 with a Single Mindblast

It was just the thing I wanted to see happen at the beginning of March MODOK Madness!

In the end the “bad” guys won a complete victory by escaping with their loot, MODOK still dominating the field right to the finish.

Here’s how I statted George for Xenos Rampant:

He played exactly as I hoped he would. His mindblasts (combined Armor Piercing and Heavy Weapon) were devastating.

The online army builder for Xenos is outstanding. You should def, def, definitely use it.

Ariel, Ookla … Ride!

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This Sunday I’m thankful for the new Thundarr the Barbarian comic.

Its nostalgia dial is turned up to 11 and I’m OK with that. It was a really fun read; it’s well written and the art is spot on.

*cough* Mindok *cough*

I don’t know what their plan is for this run, but Dynamite is already soliciting for issue 5, due out at the end of May. So if the good Lord’s willing and the creek don’t rise, we may at least get a six-part arc finished.

And a few days ago a friend of mine sent me this link to some great Kirby Thundarr concept art.

In case you want to play along, I’ve got you covered.

This is also a good time for you check in on Scientific Barbarian No. 6. All the previous issues are fun as hell, and Jim’s good people.

Meet Your Heroes

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This Sunday I’m thankful for meeting my heroes.

Two signatures in particular.

There’s that expression that you don’t want to meet your heroes because you might be disappointed.

I say go for it. They could be cool.

It’s worth the risk.

There’s Gold in Them Thar Cels

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This Sunday I’m thankful for ’90s animation.

There is a lot of great space-poc material in these shows.

I’ve steered clear of huge properties and franchises for this list. A lot are pretty well known for sure. But some might be new to you.

In a perfect world you’ll learn of a new show, watch an ep, love it, turn it into a scenario for Galactic Heroes or Xenos Rampant and throw some dice and pousse some plomb.

The Tick

M.I.B.

Bucky O’Hare

Big Guy and Rusty

Earthworm Jim

Captain Simian

Cadillacs & Dinosaurs

Gargoyles

Street Sharks (season 3) and Extreme Dinosaurs

Futurama

Aeon Flux

Cybersix

Tintin

The Maxx

Late Addition: Wild West C.O.W.-Boys of Moo Mesa [Never heard of it til Thursday, 19 March 2026.]

Honourable Mention: X-Men (Days of Future Past: Eps 11 and 12, mid-March ’93) I couldn’t find a Days of Future Past link that wasn’t nonsense, so you’re on your own.

Most of these I watched as they were coming out. But some, like Tintin — I know — and Street Sharks I didn’t hear about until years later.

Also, some of the playlists out there are out of order for some damn reason — Big Guy and Cadillacs, I’m looking in your direction — so check episode lists for proper viewing order.

Fifty Years of MetAl!

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This Sunday I’m thankful for fifty years of Metamorphosis Alpha.

This post on Grognardia got me thinking again about how much I really like this game.

It’s one of the only settings that can mine pretty well any and every science fiction genre and remain true to itself. You want mutant humans, animals and plants? Obviously. You want robots, androids, cyborgs and holograms? You got it! You want cold-sleepers and clones? No problem! You want aliens and AIs? Done. You want nanites and neanderthals? Who doesn’t? You want dinosaurs? You get dinosaurs; hell, make it dinosaur–people! You want time travelers? Spool up those chronometers! You want Chaos warbands? WARBAND! You want Thundarr?

Everybody wants Thundarr!

The Warden is the thing that makes all of this possible. It’s so vast that any trope you can think of can be stored away in an unexplored back corner of a deck no party has got to yet.

And the technology isn’t just larger than life, it’s cyclopean 1970s. This thing is Mycenae in space. Yes, it’s whiz-bang. But it’s also capable of handling all of this with a mostly straight face. It can make sense with very little effort. You can create stories that will get a chuckle when they first manifest — because the setup of getting your chocolate in my peanut butter is always amusing — but will get an “Ah-ha!” later when the pieces start falling into place.

This is a game about a huge ship that deserves big books.

A small party explores the vast Warden.

And I now use the Warden as the default setting for my Sci-Fi skirmish games, especially at conventions.

Props add an extra layer of fun to any game, and the Color Bands are just that ticket to ride. I think of a bonus, trait, skill or ability each Band could grant, and give it to whichever figure finds it.

For me, the Warden has moved on from being a pseudo-science fiction environment that made me chuckle. These past 50 years have brought with them both science and fiction that have made most of MetAl’s assumptions now merely implausible. It has become an emergent setting that can handle with a wink anything I throw at it.

[Edit: Looks like November it is.]

Genetically Engineered Uplifted Cigar-Smoking Mountain Gorillas. In SPACE!

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This Sunday I’m thankful for half-price AT-43 Karmans.

Yeeaars ago I bought these two figs from my local shop:

I wasn’t looking for a new game to get into, I just thought they were cool models.

Fast forward to early last year and my discovery of Xenos Rampant.

What a game!

While coming up with various detachment rosters from my collection I came across Cornelius and Freezer languishing in a box. They got me curious. I looked up the range of Karmans Rackham had produced. That’s when I noticed they’d made a number of the space gorillas smoking cigars!

I asked my guy at the shop if he had or could get any more Karman figs. He said, “I’ve got a bunch in storage. Come down on Wednesday and I’ll dig them out for you.”

While I was going through the box he told me I could have them for half price! Well, it turns out every box of Karmans includes a cigar-smoking leader. My mind boggled. I bought almost everything he had.

I ended up ordering a last couple of boxes off eBay, to get my hands on enough heads with cigars and to round out my units. And, here we are:

Recovery Force Romeo

Wreckers. Smugglers. Pirates. Smokers.

They are, left to right:

1) Bahia: Recon Infantry, Skimmer, Veterans = 5 pts;

2) Cohiba: Heavy Infantry, Skimmer, Heavy Weapon = 5 pts;

3) Partagas: Support Infantry, Indirect Fire = 6 pts;

4) Quesada: Elite Infantry = 6 pts; and

5) Tatuaje: Light Infantry, Teleport Jump = 2 pts.

They operate from the Salvage Vessel Julieta.

There’s just something about a dead range for a dead game from a dead company.

Where are my matches?