Spectre: DEVGRU

Back at Adepticon 2019, Spectre caught my eye in the vendor hall. I didn’t make the time to find a demo, but eagerly signed up for a newbies welcome in 2020. Well, 2020 didn’t happen, so I ordered some product anyways.

Spectre DEVGRU, group one

Spectre is an ultramodern skirmish game, depicting special forces, insurgents, terrorists, and other types.

Spectre DEVGRU, group two

This is half of the two-player starter set. The models are relatively small scale (20mm bases!) with realistically proportioned weapons. That means bendy barrels! At least they’re metal and can be bent back pretty easily.

Malifaux: Metal Gamin and Neil Henry Proxies

Between the cyberpunk themed Malifaux 1988 set and the alt Metal Golem coming standalone, I needed to do something for the Metal Gamin. I decided some kind of cyber dogs would be a good fit and found these Necromunda models.

Proxy Metal Gamin (red, Cyber-mastiff)

The box only comes with two cyber puppies, but that ought to be enough.

Proxy Metal Gamin (red, Cyber-mastiff)

I guess they wouldn’t be tournament legal, but I barely ever play in such events.

Proxy Neil Henry (Orlock Arms Master)

I also needed to do something about Neil Henry. The M3E box is packed with Willie, which I already have the alt for. This dude with a giant hammer was in the box with the puppies, so he’ll do, at least for now. I wasn’t finding a way to make him more Malifaux-y, so I used some of the other bits in the package on Bayou Engineering so he doesn’t stand out quite so much.

Proxy Metal Gamin and Neil Henry

Malifaux: Bayou Engineering (Sparks, Mechanized Porkchop, and Survivors)

The Bayou Engineering box is somewhat oddly in keyword with Mei Feng, so naturally I needed it to go with my Malifaux 1988 set.

Mechanized Porkchop

A healthy smattering of orange will help to unify the color scheme.

Sparks

The models already have a pretty good cyberpunk quality. To enhance it, and help tie together some planned proxies, I used bits from the Necromunda Arms Masters and Wreckers box.

Survivor (claw)
Survivor (gatling arm)
Survivor (peg leg)

Hmm, between this and the Soulstone Miners I have a healthy chunk of the Tricksy keyword. Oh, Wyrd, you clever fools..

Bayou Engineering

Blitz Bowl Beast Mode

My daughter and I were getting set up for a game of Blitz Bowl, when my younger son said he wanted to play, specifically with the Ambull from Blackstone Fortress. So we whipped up some rules to add him as a third player.

Start of game: Deploy one Borewyrm, scattered from the trap door.

After each coach’s turn, the Ambull/Borewyrm gets an activation. As a Borewyrm, roll a D6. On a 6+, grow into the Ambull. On subsequent Borewyrm activations, grow as a 5+, 4+, and so on.

If still a Borewyrm, you can move 3 squares, regardless of other models, but must end the move in their own square. Similarly, other models can move ignoring the Borewyrm, but must not end in the same square.

If transforming into the Ambull, select a 2×2 square to expand into, pushing any models or balls in the area outward. Then, make up to two square move, including next to an opponent if desired. Finally, the Ambull can take a block action against an adjacent model. The Ambull always counts as assisted, and can reroll the block dice.

If the Ambull injures a model, it carries it off, and a new Borewyrm is spawned on the trap door. If not, the Ambull can move and block again on its next activation.

The Ambull can be attacked as usual, and has a 2+ armor save (though this never came up). The Borewyrm cannot be attacked.

This mode, while far from competitive, was quite effective at keeping both kids engaged. The Borewyrm would stalk a model until popping into the Ambull and eating somebody. The turns were short and simple enough it didn’t bog things down even though it happened after every player turn. Plus, I got focused on, giving me a handicap and making the game more fun for everybody.

The Ambull’s target rarely made its armor save (Wood Elves and Skaven), so the Ambull didn’t stay on the board for very long. It might need some tweaks to keep from blocking up the board for higher armored players.

Hobby, games, and other amusements