Strictly (Duke) Springer - Day 056 – Feb 25th

Where do I go from here? I have technically won the game as I no longer owe on my ship. If Duke is supposed to break the law, perhaps I could bend the rules for fun.

Sounds like a plan. Let’s break some of the solo rules for Star Smuggler. I’d like a bigger ship, but let’s not go that far. We could do some other things and check for consequences as we go.

Let’s start with where I am. I’m on Imperia, at the spaceport. I didn’t mention this move yesterday, but that is what I had to do to sell the boat guns. It takes 3 rolls to purchase hypercharges. I top up and keep rolling. I have hired a second engineer and another starship gunner. I’ll call them Lucy and David.

That took seven rolls, so I have three hours of daylight. We make for orbit and get three units out.

1 Antelope starship with TL-5 Guns. I owe nothing.
1 TL-1 Ship’s Guns.
1 Hopper with boat guns, TL-3.
2 Boat guns, TL-2.
2 CU Status unit in Cockpit and Engineering, 8 1 CU Status units in Crew Quarters and 1 1 CU unit in Gunnery.
10 Fuel Units in the Ship’s Boat.
8 Repair units,
5 Life Support Units in the Ship’s boat.
7 PS-bots, 1 per character,
10 TL-1 military U-suits
6 TL-1 Heavy Hand Weapons for sale, 4 for characters use,
7 Side Arms TL-1, 1 Side Arm TL-3, and one TL-4.
10 TL-4 heavy hand weapons with explosive effects
4 Doses of pheromones (e009) in Duke’s pocket.
and the ship is fueled with 6 hypercharges.

I have 38,731 secs. We are wanted in the Palatek system.

Dad at Nashcon 2018, with Yanks & Tanks

Here is a video of my Dad showing off his set up for a game at Nashcon 2018. Not only does he build these things, he takes them on the road.




My Dad made a video for his game Yanks & Tanks, which is available at DriveThruRPG. Each click supports him and my website.You can read a review of Yanks & Tanks right here at theseoldgames.com. I haven't had a chance to play, but I hope to do that soon.

Strictly (Duke) Springer - Day 055 – Feb 24th

I need to unload these weapons. I have 10 tries. In my first roll, I get a 9 for Side Arms. Yeah!

It’s the exact same deal as yesterday, 20 secs. each. If I use the  pheromones again, I could double the price to 40 each. 40 is actually a possibility on the price multiplier table for Imperia. Do I use the pheromones for something I could do by a free die roll?

Naw, let’s not be too greedy. I’ll sell all 7,500 side arms at 20 each for a total of 150,000.

Later, I sell of two of the extra boat guns for 300.

That is bitter sweet, because I just won the game. 150,000 less 117,000 leaves me 33,000 secs. after paying for my ship.

My inventory is:

1 Antelope starship with TL-5 Guns. I owe nothing.
1 TL-1 Ship’s Guns.
1 Hopper with boat guns, TL-3.
1 Boat guns, TL-2.
2 CU Status unit in Cockpit and Engineering, 8 1 CU Status units in Crew Quarters and 1 1 CU unit in Gunnery.
10 Fuel Units in the Ship’s Boat.
8 Repair units,
5 Life Support Units in the Ship’s boat.
7 PS-bots, 1 per character,
10 TL-1 military U-suits
6 TL-1 Heavy Hand Weapons for sale, 4 for characters use,
7 Side Arms TL-1, 1 Side Arm TL-3, and one TL-4.
10 TL-4 heavy hand weapons with explosive effects
4 Doses of pheromones (e009) in Duke’s pocket.
and the ship is fueled with 4 hypercharges.

I have 39,571 secs. We are wanted in the Palatek system.

So is this it? Is it the end? We shall see.

Let me share the link back to Dwarfstar's website, so you can relive their great products, too.

Dad's Modeling Skill

In this video post, Dad shows off some of his modeling skills. My Dad made a video for his game Yanks & Tanks, which is available at DriveThruRPG. Each click supports him and my website.

Strictly (Duke) Springer - Day 054 – Feb 23rd

We are off to Imperia again. Time to sell some weapons in the slums. After a brief radio contact, we are permitted to land. We have 6 hours of daylight.

We get an event where we can purchase some illegal items, but we don’t have room for them in the ship. Dang it.

In the fifth hour, we can unload these side arms for a base price of 2. We get a 5 on the multiplier table, which is 10 times the normal price, so 20 each. You know what I am going to do next, don’t you?  Those pheromones can double the price so I use one. I roll a 6 and the effects are reversed, the price is halved. Damn. That sucks, but I don’t have to sell.

In my last hour, I get a roll of 4, which is no more rolls. Ugh.

1 Antelope starship with TL-5 Guns. I owe 117,000 secs. in principle.
1 TL-1 Ship’s Guns.
1 Hopper with boat guns, TL-3.
3 Boat guns, TL-2.
2 CU Status unit in Cockpit and Engineering, 8 1 CU Status units in Crew Quarters and 1 1 CU unit in Gunnery.
10 Fuel Units in the Ship’s Boat.
8 Repair units,
5 Life Support Units in the Ship’s boat.
7 PS-bots, 1 per character,
10 TL-1 military U-suits
6 TL-1 Heavy Hand Weapons for sale, 4 for characters use,
7 Side Arms TL-1, 1 Side Arm TL-3, and one TL-4.
7500 Side Arms TL-2.
10 TL-4 heavy hand weapons with explosive effects
4 Doses of pheromones (e009) in Duke’s pocket.
and the ship is fueled with 4 hypercharges.

I have 6,271 secs. We are wanted in the Palatek system.

Dad's Models for Yanks and Tanks

My Dad made a video for his game Yanks & Tanks. He explains his setup and references the rules several times. The video features his plastic models and scratchbuilt stuff.



In the second video, he walks through the rules for rifle fire.

Adding Icons for Worldographer

Worldographer comes with an impressive array of Icons. However, I need Romanesque icons which don't appear to be a part of any set. I had to edit what I had into what I needed. Edits can be fairly rough depending on scale.

As you can see, these are pretty flawed, but on the scale of my map, the flaws are invisible. I created 3 domūs so I can have variety.

Editing Icons is a pain. Normally, one gets Icons via Inkwell Idea's Patreon but there are other sources such as their main website in the store tab and, believe it or not, DriveThruRPG. They have dozens of offerings on DriveThru.

I want to review all of these products, but the line started back in 2015 and there are literally dozens of them. What 'll offer today is a round of products from 2015 with a brief description. Each is available for $1.99. The artist is Keith Curtis and these items are transparent png files which can be used in a variety of mapping products.

Hexographer September 2015 Monthly World Map Icons (Any Editor)
Description: E1 lin eart for trees, forests, rockets, zombies, etc. 

Hexographer October 2015 Monthly World Map Icons (Any Editor)
Description: Resources, hills, forested mountains.

Hexographer November 2015 Monthly World Map Icons (Any Editor)
Description: Whirlpools, resources, craters, crevices.

Hexographer December 2015 Monthly World Map Icons (Any Editor)
Description: More resources and detailed compasses. 

Dungeonographer September 2015 Monthly World Map Icons (Any Editor)
Description: Bookshelves, character tokens and staircases.

Next time in this series, I'll look at the 2016 launches, hopefully coming to current by sometime in March.

One special note is that Worldographer actually started as several different products: Dungeonographer, Hexographer, Cityographer. Much of each of these different software packages in combined in Worldographer and you can import old maps into Worldographer with little fuss. Worldographer also has a free product, a Pro product and total package bundle. I was a such a fan of the software, I purchased the full pro bundle which included all of the older products. It was probably unnecessary, but I've enjoyed it. Much of the artwork on this website is done in Worldographer. I should probably do a review of it soon.

Strictly (Duke) Springer - Day 053 – Feb 22nd

We need to repair the ship, so we spend the day in RRR. We could jump with a damaged ship, but there there is a risk mechanic involved. “We may experience slight turbulence and explode”. Not on my watch. The mechanics are so simple, a modifier of one per hit of damage is so crystal clear, you don't want to try this.

1 Antelope starship with TL-5 Guns. I owe 117,000 secs. in principle.
1 TL-1 Ship’s Guns.
1 Hopper with boat guns, TL-3.
3 Boat guns, TL-2.
2 CU Status unit in Cockpit and Engineering, 8 1 CU Status units in Crew Quarters and 1 1 CU unit in Gunnery.
10 Fuel Units in the Ship’s Boat.
8 Repair units,
5 Life Support Units in the Ship’s boat.
7 PS-bots, 1 per character,
10 TL-1 military U-suits
6 TL-1 Heavy Hand Weapons for sale, 4 for characters use,
7 Side Arms TL-1, 1 Side Arm TL-3, and one TL-4.
7500 Side Arms TL-2.
10 TL-4 heavy hand weapons with explosive effects
5 Doses of pheromones (e009) in Duke’s pocket.
and the ship is fueled with 6 hypercharges.

I have 6,271 secs. We are wanted in the Palatek system.