Treasure Hunt Tokens

Six markers - can you make out what they're meant to be?

It took me about a week to make these when it would have normally taken me about two hours (less drying time), thanks to the 15  minutes of available work time I had  in between being in agony.
The were made specifically made for my pirates project and are intended as marker 'clues', but really they're just 'x' and ''y' coordinate markers. 
Their usage I'll explain below but the idea can be used for basically any genre of game; for the modern era you could use vending machines, dumpsters etc;for ancients you could use shrines etc.
 Please bear with me the explanation may take a while...

"The Rocky Outcrop"

The premise is that your table is laid out first then imagined to be squared off (though it could just as easily be divided into rectangles)
So using a 48" square board you could have it squared off as a 3 x 3 grid in 16" squares or a 6 x 6 grid in 8" squares (or vice-versa in this instance)
You will however need at one marker token for the number of rows (or columns, but not both) in your grid.
using my 48" square board divided into 6 x 6 squares I would need 6 markers. (clear so far ?)

View from the other side , now renamed as "Lookout Rock"

The lonely grave (so boring I only took the one photograph of it.)

There are two types of game that can be played with these tokens , both require the same basic setup and preparation 
Firstly, each token requires two cards for them (I haven't thought of anything easier)
Each token will require an East-West card and another card for the North-South component of either game you're playing.
 Secondly each token must be placed on the boards imaginary grid so that only one token is in any one Easy-West direction (the 'x' axis) and there are also no other tokens in its North-South direction (the Y axis).
Something to delineate which axis is which from the back of the cards may also be desirable (and easily done)
For game type 1 wording on the card would read something like "There is NO treasure to the East or West of the Lonely Grave"(maybe you could add a picture of it too (If you're clever and like that sort of thing)
For game type 2, the wording would be similar but with one big difference the wording would omit NO to Give "There IS a treasure to the west or east of the Lonely grave"

"The Cairn"

"The Cairn" - boring reverse view

The easiest way to place the tokens on my imaginary 6 x 6 of 8" squares is to line them up initially on the top row, one to each column. Then you start with column one and determine it's actual row position. The easiest way of doing this is by having six playing cards  numbered 1to six (surprisingly enough because there are six rows) to see which actual row it ends up on, There are of course other methods, counters or even dice would do the job starting with a d6 then a d5 (omitting the row that the first token ended up on) and so on.
 I must admit though that the six card trick (or numbered counters) is probably  the easiest and quickest way.

"The Hanging Tree"

So now that all the token pieces are in their starting positions  I'll try and explain how game one works!
(The tokens can be placed in the centre of the imaginery squares as the the treasure can't be found under a token, I won't bore you explaining why)
To sum it up the objective is to find where the treasure is buried and there can be only one place it can be - initially unknown to all the players.
It's a bit like the game "Cluedo" (or if you prefer "Clue" where you eliminate all the suspects of the murder of Doctor Black one by one until you are left with only one - the murderer
So the two piles of cards (the East-West deck and the North-South deck) are shuffled and the top one is taken from each pile and unless you have a GM, they are placed where no-one can get at them or see their fronts.
The maximum number of players for a 6 x 6 gridded game I'd suggest is probably 3, maybe 4 tops!
From here on in there are lots of options (for both games) as to how to proceed.    
Let's imagine there are three players, I'd deal each player a single card from each deck, which will give them a row and a column where the treasure is NOT  present  (they should probably have a scrap of paper with a 6 x 6 drawn on it so that they can cross off the relevant row and column.
This will leave 4 cards spare (two in each deck and there are two where the treasure is buried).

"The Rusty Anchor"

"The Rusty Anchor", reverse view

Once the players are satisfied that they have recorded their initial findings (or clues) take their cards back and add them to the two decks, give them a good shuffle and then place them face down in two columns. (there are other ways to do the following but many will be tedious and will result in a much longer game)
So what now I hear you ask (you did ask didn't you? - Or have you fallen asleep?)
Well, the players must find the rest of the clues, how you do this is pretty much up to how you wish to run your scenario.
Option one would be to travel to each token in turn where maybe after one turn standing there with one of your crew (I'm imagining pirate bands playing this game) you draw a card from each column note the clues down and replace the cards.
Option two is to have other places to go and retrieve more clues;"Tis rumoured the tavern wench knows a thing or two about the treasure"; "The barmy hermit Barney will take a shot at you with his antiquated blunderbuss but can tell you where the treasure isn't"; "That old graffiti on the dockside definitely states where there is no treasure".
And so on, I'm sure more creative and imaginative players than me will come up with all manner of ideas.
Eventually when a player has all ten clues he can go the imaginary grid square and dig it up.
Of course with the other pirate gangs roaming around too you may not get there alive. Rules for digging up the treasure are up to you though!

The Monolith thing" and nothing like the intended  Mayan Stela

Boring rear view of my least  liked token

I'll now briefly explain how to play the second game
"Stay Awake there at the back !"
The initial setup is the same except for a few things .
Firstly decide how many treasures there will be (up to the maximum of 6 on my 6x 6 imaginary grid).
Shuffle both decks and place face down.
The players have no initial clues and must go to certain places as (above) 
to collect more. A variation could that each location only gives either a North-South card OR and East-West one  though players maybe should know which beforehand.
Players get to keep their cards in this variant , each pair of North-South and East West will give you a treasure location and even here there can be variations - either allow treasure to be in the square where the token is or not!

"The Monkey God" which I can also use as a token

Not only must you  decide how many treasures, there are you also have a means to deciding how much each is worth- maybe a d6 x 10 in doubloons, maybe a fixed amount 18 Reals each  or maybe drawn from a back of marked counter , deck of cards etc. each with varying amounts on them.
The number of these treasures counters could be limited or even more than the number of treasure available (a couple of already robbed sites maybe ?)

(Padding Photo)

The first game type ends if all the players gangs are killed, eaten by giant ants etc. or maybe the treasure was found and they got away with it.
Game 2  will end similarly though players may wish to get whatever treasure they can find quickly and get out of Dodge before a tot-up to find who has the most loot!

"The Hanging Tree" and how it looked originally

I can easily imagine a Frostgrave game 2 setup using various Stela with the clues 'written' on them to find treasure or using the game 1 variant for a solo hunt to find the the cure for the Zombie infection, maybe from pages of someone's journal, saying where he's searched and not found it yet"
As if I haven't bored you enough already here's few notes on how I made the tokens:
Firstly they're all based on old plastic credit or, store cards etc. (with numbers and magnetic tape filed off)
"Lookout rock" is polystyrene covered in filler (as are the bases and painted to match my new terrain boards)
"The Hanging Tree" is a plastic toy that I acquired from somewhere or other.
The anchor came from one of the cheapo Pirate ships I go a while back.
What was intended as a Mayan Stela and turned into something less than salubrious was once more polystyrene covered in filler.

Stupid pre-coloured rocks!

  The cairn began life as a polystyrene cone which then had rocks glued to it carefully (it was then undercoated grey and the rocks painted individually to look how they did prior to the undercoating (I was ill at the time I tell you!)
The grave was a piece of foamboard with a layer of card cut way so I could smooth the 'grave' out., whilst the cross was two twigs glued together with the bindings added later.
The "Monkey God" has appeared before - go find it if you're that interested!
I did have a few more ideas for tokens which never made it past the idea stage - A broken wheel (or wagon), a burned out hut and an ant's nest all spring to mind from my original ideas.



In other news, I'm feeling a lot better (thanks to all who have asked after my health, so much so that I'm almost ready to put the roof on, on my current build.
And I'm also about half-way through my initial venture into Jimland - Yes, I've sneaked in a bit of  gaming!

I must also get around to welcoming some New followers, that have sneaked past my early warning systems (I blame the drugs- as usual). So "Idle Doodler", "Hils" "Gary", "Phil Curran", "Staz Matt", and "Ric Walters" welcome to my blog.
For one reason or another my followers profiles don't show any blogs of their own listed, but I'm pretty sure "Hils"Whom I know of either has a blog or contributes to one somewhere. If you guys want to comment if you do have a blog (or blogs even) and want a plug, feel free to do so,

I had hoped to be posting about my experiences playing Jimland next week, but I may well be at the wargames show  "Stand To" at Shildon railway museum.

Finally, that's it then from me for this week and as always your comments are both welcomed and truly appreciated
(I sometimes think it's our follower's comment that keep some of us bloggers enthusiatic enough to keep blogging!) ,

Rough Terrain

Rough terrain pieces

I have managed to get a lot more hobby time in  this last week, despite having yet another trip to the Doctor, but nothing of note ...yet.
Before becoming completely incapacitated though I had managed to complete several terrain items (the flat terrain boards, the river banks and finally the subject of this post, some rough terrain)
Once more I used pizza bases for the bases (they're light,fairly strong and cheap!)

Initial shaped pieces glued to base pieces

Unlike the black bases I used for the jungle I've used slightly thinner bases glues together.
 

The pieces cut out and their edges bevelled

Filler and grit added

The pieces were covered in filler (of the £1 a box Bargain Buy variety)
and then liberally sprinkled with some course grit that I've had for many years and have rarely used.
The filler did have some PVA glue mixed in with it and a thin coating was also applied when the filler had set hard.
Once the pieces had thoroughly dried they were given a brown base colouring, which turned out too brown (looking like fresh dog poop) and was darkened very quickly .

Dog poop !

Greenery added !

 The dog poop effect was quickly overcome when two shades of green (to match the terrain boards) was added along with some sparse vegetation, gravel 'rocks' and some twigs from my hedge that I've had drying in my bits cupboard for a couple of years! 

Finally some highlighting to finish off the pieces.

 

 

 

Here's some individual shots of all nine rough terrain bits:

One of the larger pieces

Another large piece

One of the medium sized ones

A small(ish) one

Another small(ish) one

One of my favourites (though I may go over the plasticky looking greener

Yet another one (Bored yet?)

I didn't go too overboard with all the fallen logs

The final one (and probably the smallest)

 

 It was only after having finished these and looking through the "Adventures in Jimland" rules, terrain selection chart that I realised I only needed a maximum of two rough terrain pieces, but at least I can have some variation in which two I get to use! (I only need five jungle pieces too).
Nonetheless as these will also be used on a larger table for my pirate games it does mean I can fill a much larger table  with them!
As a bonus the pictures below show a couple of rough terrain bits mixed in with some jungle bits (can you spot the pirate?) and my attempt at solving how to represent a swamp (not needed for Jimland, but I'll be incorporating swamps into the terrain rules too)

Rough terrain and Jungle

Feeble attempt at a swamp

Building work in progress

As this last week went on, I've been feeling a lot better and as such have finished off one batch of scenic items and  started on a building! I was so enthused with the building that I did several hours (not all at once) on it over the weekend - something I rarely do!
I'm hoping by next week I'll be 100% recovered  from the aches and pains I've had to endure over the last three weeks and may even get my fist Adventure in Jimland underway.
In other news, as I've been saving my pocket money for several weeks now,  I've also sent off an order for more figures from North Star Africa's range and have been making a shopping list for things I'd like from either the Shildon or Stockton shows as well as waiting for the next Foundry sale! I'll also be starting my Xmas shopping list too.
Whilst awaiting the arrival of my North Star shinies, I'm looking around for cheap Halloween plastic goodies that may be useful in Jimland - giant flying insect, spiders and other bugs could all be useful though currently I'm staying away from the more obvious lost dinosaur world type of thing.

That's it then from a much happier me this week, thanks for taking the time to visit and and as always your comments are both welcomed and appreciated (- probably more than your think).

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Terrain Boards (again)

The three flat boards

I wasn't very happy with my first efforts on these terrain boards,  with  far too many visible brush strokes and indentations in the foam. I decided therefore to give them all another layer of filler, followed by another, thinner layer of filler, but stippled onto the boards- total time taken, not taking into consideration the drying time interval, probably about an hour - so well worth it imo.
I also did the same thing on the harbour board which has also had a slight modification added, namely a very small waterline dock and steps cut into the foam.
The pictures really speak for themselves; the flat boards have all been undercoated in a dark brown, followed by a dark green, then a lighter green and finally a much lighter sandy colour - all stippled on and/or dry-brushed.

The harbour

The Harbour board still needs a lot more done to it, especially the rocks flanking the harbour and I'll also be scratch-building a jetty too - possibly even two a stone one and a wooden one.
I left  more of the harbour area in browns as I thought it would be the area of most activity.

Raggedy cut, easily fixed.

In addition to bringing the terrain boards up to scratch, I've also been working on a river board, using a foam off-cut from the fort's base The off-cut is four foot by a foot  (120cm x 30cm) and a rough line was drawn about 4inches in from either end, to give a diagonal cut.
The next step was to  bevel down the two edges that would become the river banks , gunge them up with filler and paint to match the rest of the terrain boards.
Once more I decided to have more brown along the two river banks to make a greater contrast with the greener boards.

Bevelled and gunged

Greened up

River-bank boards in use

At this width it's a stream really

But easily widened....

...or narrowed !

I did manage to get some hobby work done over the week-end,  the earlier part of the week being taken up with Doctor's appointments and pain management, but I do feel better overall and I'm sleeping for more than 2 hours at a time!
Next time I'll be posting even more terrain, for both my pirates and Jimland project and I'll also have finished off some scenic items solely for my pirates but probably usable in many other  genres.

Until next time, thanks for taking the time to visit and look around and of course, as always, your comments are both welcomed and appreciated..

Hong Kong King Kong?

Hong Kong King Kong?

I continue to be in the unfortunate position of not being able to sit, lie, or stand comfortably for anything greater than 15 minutes at a time progress on anything has been negligible to say the least.
Whilst I normally have a regime of forcing myself into doing something hobby-wise for at least an hour a day this has had to be reined back to fifteen minutes a day!
Nevertheless two weeks ago having been "cheesed off" at the price of a gorilla at Border Reiver I decided to see what else was available on the interwebs market.
The result can be seen in the photograph to the right:
Its a very solid piece of hard(ish) plastic and with just a slightly noticeable mold line running down it's face and back.
It's probably not the best I found (there were also at least two other very good  ones), but for the lowly price of £2.76 , including postage, it'll be more than enough for my purposes.

Whilst it's not mandatory fauna in "Adventures in Jimland", but what  Lost Worlds game would be complete without one ?
Below are another few photographs of the piece:

The rear view  - for those that like that sort of thing.

With 28mm explorer for scale

My meagre Border Reiver loot.

  I was asked to show off my loot from the Border Reiver show and as it wouldn't require much time at the keyboard here it is in all its glory (ahem)
 Just the four lots,, the fourth being what they're all 'sitting' on.

Mule train for Jimlannd and for pirates to plunder

Some assembly required !

d20s @ 25p each - a bargain !

I knew I needed some d20's for Jimland so I purchased a quids -worth (£1 for anyone not getting the lingo). But I also forgot that I need a direction die (one of those things with arrows on them), the results of me searching for the direction die when I returned home, can be seen below:

A few more d20s and not a direction die in sight - DOH!

More foam trays !

I bought some KR foam trays knowing that I'd need them for my African/Jimland stuff and have already just about filled two of them.
I dispensed with the generous offer of buying a cardboard box to keep them in , as I'll be sticking to my cheap (as in free) plastic vegetable trays,.
I get three foam trays in one of the veggie trays and they stack too! 

"Get yer 'at's 'ere"

This  last offering was also my first purchase of the show as I visited Col. Bill's gievn an offer I couldn't refuse from that slick talking salesman Roy! 
I was assured that luggage, especially with hatboxes was the very thing I was looking for and was all the rage too!






 

Lots of resin goodies

Whilst the above may have been my only purchases from Border Reiver they weren't the only items I left with, as my mate Stu had cast me a lot of resin stuff , boxes windows, shutters and a loo!
All of which were very well received
The loo is of the out-door type and will have to be assembled, but that expected these days I guess.

The loo in its constituent parts.

Another view of the bits, with seat in situ

So yet another post that I hadn't anticipated writing but I'm pleased to say that it does mean I still have another two (nearly three) posts on stand-by, a luxury I can't ever remember having.

That's it then for this week, time for more meds and as always your comments are both welcomed and appreciated!