After Action Review (AAR) #6: The Battle for Vianda, Part 2

Stardate: Fiday, 104-130 ABY/TAg Market Island Security Forces

Subsector: Shannekam

Planet: Zenya

Region: The Tau-Tau Autonomous District

Situation Report:  Opening Phase of the Battle of Vianda

Mid-Morning, Local Time 

The 1st Maniple/7th Cohort finally stirred and marched up the Vianda Pass Road.

Meanwhile, battledroids from the 2nd & 3rd Maniples attempted to concentrate their small arms fire against Constabulary positions. 

Back on Vianda Peak, two Constabulary squads opened fire as lead elements of the 1st Maniple approached their roadblock.  

Battledroids of the 3rd Maniple swept through the undefended portions of the town in an attempt to encircle the defenders. 

Constabulary squads returned fire, but only one battledroid squad appeared to take casualties and was pinned down.  

Several battledroid squads then launched an assault against three Constabulary-held structures; Vianda City Hall, the Radiant Star Hotel and the Trade & Commerce building.

The charge stalled as one battledroid squad was gunned down, one was pinned and another sustained some casualties.  

In retaliation, the battledroid squads supporting the failed charge opened fire against one Constabulary squad holding the Radiant Star Hotel.  The concentrated small arms fire killed, or incapacitated all the defenders.

Battledroids then launched a second assault, this time driving back the constables.  One squad entered the hotel occupied by Alpha Company's command post. 

While the battledroids searched the building, command post personnel hastily destroyed whatever classified material they had.

As the battledroids approached their end of the hotel, Alpha Company commander, Captain Clifton Verlaine, ordered everyone to evacuate.  The command post retreated under a hail of blaster fire and several constables fell.   One Constabulary squad prevented a flanking assault against the retreating company command post, but paid a high price for their actions.  Nearly everyone in the squad was killed or wounded.  The survivors continued their retreat and regrouped in the nearby jungle.  

The constables holding Vianda's City Hall building then came under renewed assault...

...and were slowly being driven back, fighting room by room.  

As the lead elements of the 1st Maniple/8th Cohort approached the eastern edge of Vianda, they ran into a nasty surprise:  A booby-trapped roadblock.  The explosion destroyed an entire squad of battledroids.  

After Action Review (AAR) #5: The Battle of Vianda--The Initial Phase

Stardate: Fiday, 104-130 ABY/TAg Market Island Security Forces

Subsector: Shannekam

Planet: Zenya

Region: The Tau-Tau Autonomous District

Situation Report:  Opening Phase of the Battle of Vianda

Morning, Local Time 

As the battledroids from the 1st and 2nd Maniples (companies) of the 7th Cohort, marched out across the open fields, they came under intense fire from constabulary squads inside hastily fortified buildings.

Despite any losses, the droids marched onward, blazing away at Viandan homes and businesses to little or no effect.  In less than fifteen minutes the 2nd Maniple launched its first assault against constabulary-held strong points.

Meanwhile, the 3rd Maniple maneuvered around the northern perimeter of the constabulary defensive line. 

However, impromptu defensive works blocked key bridges and intersections throughout the town, which slowed the battledroid advance.

As the 2nd Maniple was fighting house-to-house and the 3rd Maniple picked its way past roadblocks, the 1st Maniple appeared to stand stock-still along the Vianda Pass Road.  

Apparently, the commander of the 8th Cohort/599 DIL discovered Ooverton was abandoned earlier than anticipated.  Instead of occupying Ooverton, the 8th's 2nd and 3rd Maniples about-faced and marched on Vianda. 

As battledroids marched through Vianda's eastern Tau-Tau suburbs, the 1st Maniple/8th Cohort was spotted marching along the Vianda Jungle Highway.  

As the 1st Maniple/8th Cohort continued its march, the Vianda Constabulary was now in danger of being cut off from the evacuation site.

Situation Report (Sitrep) #2: The Defense of Vianda

Stardate: Fiday, 104-130 ABY/TAg Market Island Security Forces

Subsector: Shannekam

Planet: Zenya

Region: The Tau-Tau Autonomous District

Situation Report:  Initial Dispositions of Tarsan Forces Around Vianda

Early Morning, Local Time

(Image: Tarsan defenses of Vianda and evacuation site)

Thanks to advanced warning of the Bongolaanian attack, the TAg Market Island Security Forces have been mobilized and managed to prepare some defensive positions on Vandalla Island.  

(Image:  Alpha Company of the Vianda Constabulary occupying defensive positions)

The Vianda Constabulary (a police/light infantry unit consisting of two companies), lacks the manpower to defend the entire town.  Since the objective is to fight a delaying action to allow civilians to be evacuated, Major Lazar has decided to established roadblocks around the most-likely access routes around Vianda's southern district.  

(Image: Bravo Company guarding the mountain pass)

Bravo Company (B/VC) has deployed several squads along Vianda Pass to safeguard the avenue of retreat and provide some defense in-depth.

(Image: The roadblock on Vianda Peak)

A roadblock has been constructed at the entrance of Vianda Pass.  This is guarded by two squads from B/VC. 

(Image:  Elements of Alpha Company/Ooverton Constabulary safeguarding the bridges) 

While the Vianda Constabulary holds the southern part of town, along with key terrain along Vianda Pass, elements of Alpha Company of the Ooverton Constabulary Battalion (A/OC, identical in composition to the Vianda Constabulary) have been tasked with safeguarding the access of retreat through the Vandalla Jungle and the perimeter of the evacuation site.

(Image: The Constabulary command post overlooking Vianda)

The Constabulary Task Force Commander, Colonel Foulon, has entrenched his command post, along with 3rd Platoon/A/VC on the peak of South Mountain.  

As dawn begins to break, Constabulary scouts report the entire 7th Cohort/599th Droid Infantry Legion (7/599DIL) is on the march from the west.  

(Image:  7/599DIL prepares to assault Vianda) 

The Battle of Vianda is about to commence.

Game Master's Notes:

It is now 104 days after the events depicted in the webcomic Breakout from Bongolaan.  In other words, we're back to the campaign's "present."

Since my gaming space is limited and my time available to game even more so, I chose to play out this battle using odds and ends from various boardgames.

The map boards come from Avalon Hill's Squad Leader, while the counters representing individual leaders have been cannibalized from remnants of copies of GDW's Snapshot and Azhanti High Lightning.   The infantry counters used to represent the Tarsan and battledroid squads were scratch-built using the Land Unit Counters Rendering Machine by The Zhodani Base. 

Webcomic Chapter 8 Posted

Chapter 8 (pages 217-242) is now available!

In this chapter, Bunda Akhtar launches the second stage of his coup:  Hunter-Killer Assault Vehicles (HKAVs), like the one pictured above, attack key facilities in Bongolaan's capital, Ratankiri, represented by the map found in Traveller Double Adventure 6: Night of Conquest/Divine Intervention.

I've been using the Star Wars Miniatures throughout this webcomic to represent individual characters.  Now it's time to take a more epic view to illustrate how these events influence the characters' decisions and actions.

For this I used my micro-scale (6mm, 1/285 or 1/300) collection modern and sci-fi armored fighting vehicles.  The modern vehicles are made by GHQ, while the sci-fi ones came from a US distributor of Ground Zero Games.

Meanwhile, the half-a-dozen or so HKAVs in Bunda Akhtar's army are represented by a single Aerial Hunter Killer from the Micro-Machines Terminator 2 Judgement Day Collection#2.  Apparently it's considered very rare among these collectible figures

As to the buildings:  They're another hodgepodge collection from various manufacturers such as, GHQ, Warhammer 40K Epic, Jr Miniatures and even BattleTech.

For this chapter's soundtrack, I chose Lux Aeterna--Requiem for a Dream, which is apparently a popular song used in computer games.  I just listened to this in it's entirety and I feel it provides a dramatic musical representation of the end of the Galactic Alliance's last planetary government.

Webcomic Chapter 7 Posted

Breakout from Bongolaan's Chapter 7 (pages 183-216) has been uploaded. 

The Soundtrack Interlude for this subplot of intrigue and possible betrayal is, Whiskey in the Jar by the heavy metal band Metallica.  

I hear this song regularly at one of the gyms I go to and am always intrigued by the lyrics.  Through a bit of on-line research, I discovered Whiskey in the Jar a lot older than metal music.  It's is an Irish folk song about 17th Century Highwayman betrayed by a woman.  After listening to several versions--from the traditional, sung by the Dubliners; to classic rock by Thin Lizzy and the Grateful Dead--I still like Metallica's the best.  

Which is an odd departure for me, because I'm not a heavy metal fan.  Maybe it has something to do with trying to find a style of music that may fit Sei'do Avari's shady nature and conjuring up a possible back story?

And speaking of back story:  Neela,  the Farghul pictured above was never part of the Star Wars Role Playing adventure this story is based on.  A couple things inspired me to concoct this subplot.

First, was coming up with a plausible explanation for Sei'do, the party's scoundrel, to go along with the group's actions as the story unfolds.  The second source of inspiration came from this photo by Tice Lerner:

This picture is one of many from the Masquerade in the Mansion, held at Roberson Center in my hometown of Binghamton, NY on New Year's Eve. In my over-active imagination, the above image of New York City model Sarah Tilyou and photographer Dillon Utter,  has "conspiracy" written all over it.  Not to mention filling in as the Galactic New Year's Eve party in Bongolaan's Presidential Palace.  The real-life images also covers for my lack of non-combatant figures. 

Finally, Sarah's cat mask then led me to choose the Breela figure from my Star Wars Miniatures collection as Sei'do's former associate.  

And just what kind of associate was Neela?

I'm leaving that open to interpretation.

For now.

Breakout From Bongolaan Webcomic: The Plot So Far...

Well it's been nearly 11 months since I posted Chapter Six of my webcomic Breakout from Bongolaan.   With the exception of my father-in-law passing away, this year-long binge of "Life getting in the way" has been filled with happy occasions.  However I was left with little time to add to the story in terms of both pictures and narrative.

Now, I'm getting ready to--finally--post Chapter Seven!

For those who've been waiting, I appreciate your patience.

For those of you who've wandered off, I hope I can regain your attention.

The story so far weighs-in at 182 pages.  

Because so much time has lapsed between Chapters Six and Seven, I thought I'd include a synopsis as a refresher.  Although for anyone new to the story, I recommend you read webcomic itself:

It is the last day of the year 129 ABY (After the Battle of Yavin, annotated as Stardate 365-129 ABY).  The citizens of the planet Bongolaan are celebrating the Galactic New Year, along with the election of a new president, Zeveg Bharzi.

However, the former president, Bunda Akhtar, has decided he doesn't like being a former president and is planning a comeback coup.  Despite having only two cohorts of battledroids available, Akhtar is confident he'll succeed, because reinforcements are on the way.

After defeating the Galactic Alliance at the Battle of Caamus, the Imperial fleet overran the Core and Mid Worlds and is now sweeping through the Fringe.  One such Imperial task force is now dropping out of hyperspace and is bearing down on Bongolaan.

Meanwhile, four offworlders have gathered at the Presidential Palace Masquerade Ball and are awaiting the arrival of President Bharzi and his entourage.

Cad So Billes:  A Durosian shuttle pilot for the Jedi Support Corps.  He's spent the past year on Bongolaan flying supplies, equipment and personal to various work sites.

Callithea Lockridge: "Calli" is the shy administrative assistant to the Tarsan Ambassador, Fitzroy Heraud.  She's scheduled to leave Bongolaan the next day and return to her homeworld of Tarsus.

Sei'do Avari:  A man of questionable background and reputation, but appears to have considerable technical skills.  Is suspected by Cad of being up to no good, but has been vouched for by Nance Windu.

Nance Windu:  Claims he's not a Jedi, despite being the Jedi-in-charge of the earthquake recovery effort on Bongolaan for the past year.  Unbeknownst to his companions, Nance is haunted by an evil Force Spirit.

By the end of Chapter Six, Calli's comlink conversation with her ambassador was disrupted by interference, assumed to originate from an approaching thunderstorm.  Ambassador Heraud, along with the Twi'lek singer Shiri Blen and her Rodian agent Geelo, are currently on the outskirts of the capital city, Ratankiri, with the presidential motorcade, getting ready to lead New Year's Eve Procession to the Presidential Palace. 

In actuality, the communications disruption is the opening phase of Bunda Akhtar's coup.  

It's about to rain on everyone's parade, but first there's some loose ends to tie up...

Improving Webcomic Images II

It's said that change is the only constant in the universe.  This certainly applies to any creative endeavors.  The published authors I know often talk about how their writing style improves over the course of their careers.

I've been working on my Star Wars webcomic, Breakout from Bongolaan, for over a year now and I hope my writing has improved during this process.  Although after doing a complete review of the chapters so far, 1 through 6, I've already spotted one typo!  And I'm sure there's more...

...anyway, a comic is more than just words.  It's also a visual medium and I continually look for ways to improve on this aspect of it too.  Since I'm no good at drawing, I've relied on taking photographs of my miniatures and model terrain to tell my story.  (I'm not all that great at painting my figures, but that's another issue).  Thanks to a graphic novel workshop during a PNWA (Pacific Northwest Writers Association) Conference a few years ago, I learned this technique is a valid art form known as Fumetti.  

But valid or not, there's definitely room for improvement on my part.  Despite having figures and terrain on-hand I eventually realized I needed some background to give readers a sense of place.  The picture above is my initial depiction of the Bongolaanian Presidential Palace again, as seen in my YouTube book trailer.  

A couple months ago, I stumbled across the site Wallpaper Up and I'm now in the throes of shooting new & improved images, like this...

...which I discussed at length on my Redshift Chronicles Blog a few weeks back.  

One of the programs I've been using is Paint.Net, described as a "poor man's Photoshop," to add various special effects to the photos.  However, while I enjoy taking pictures, and I know photography is an art form in and of itself, I feel my images aren't...well..."artsy" enough.  

Also, despite the size of my Star Wars Miniatures collection, I don't have the variety of models and figures needed to create all the necessary scenes.  So I've turned to real-life photography to fill in these gaps.  But in order to make these images "blend in" with the ones of miniatures, I've used the oil painting function under Paint.Net's artistic effects.  The result is somewhat "Impressionistic", like this image here...

...of the New Year's Eve Masquerade Ball at Roberson Mansion, which helps soften the starkness of a photograph.

And speaking of stark images:  It seems like the imperfections in every picture I've used jump out at me.  Maybe because I'm the director's chair, so to speak; or because I'm a closet perfectionist.  Either way, since I want to create the best possible content for my readers, I've been playing around with the oil painting function a bit more.  

This softens the image and helps hide the imperfections, as in this oil painting version of the Presidential Palace...

...but I also think it blurs the areas I want to draw the readers attention to.  Which is why I haven't used this function on any scenes involving miniatures.

Then, just a few days ago while compiling images for Chapter 7, I found myself idly playing around with Paint.Net's ink sketch function.  I applied it to the Presidential Palace photo and...

...WOW!  

I don't know about you folks, but I really like this style.  It hides the imperfections I'm worried concerned about, and yet the "ink" brings all the objects into a sharp focus.  I just have to fiddle with the black-to-color ratios for the best result.

Best of all:  It makes it look like I actually drew this stuff.

Part of me wanted to hold-off using this technique until I begin work on Book Two of the Redshift Chronicles, but I'm too excited about this to wait any longer.  

So starting with this upcoming chapter (#7), Breakout from Bongolaan, along with the subsequent Redshift Chronicles books, will have a whole new look.

Unless, of course, I find something better...

Improving Webcomic Images

For those of you who've seen my Breakout from Bongolaan book trailer, you may recognize the image above as the Bongolaanian Presidential Palace. 

One of the issues I'm having about posting material on-line, via blogging or writing a web comic, is that as I gain (hopefully) more experience, my old stuff looks--well--old.

For the past several days, intermittently I admit, I've been shooting and assembling pictures for Chapter 7.  Some of the photos I took actually fall under the category of "re shooting," since I've made several backdrops that I'll incorporate into the story.

Here's a glimpse of the final-ish version of the Presidential Palace:

The black & white image I use as the backdrop is of a large storm sweeping over a city.  I'd love to use color, but for large images such as this, it's prohibitively expensive:  $35-$70 a piece versus several dollars/each for b&w.

Another justification for using b&w images for backdrops is the action will be unfolding at night.

Although I do need color backgrounds, for now these will be limited to something I can run off my printer.

One more reason to keep playing the lottery...

Your Name in the Galaxy Far, Far Away...

 

The "Star Wars" name game floated around Facebook last week. 

 

Mine is:  Henkte Rosom.

 

Some of  my friends include:  Deena Otbad, Hosjo Lokon, Leako Sheug, Houni Shnew and Arkpi Kekan. 

 

The one that has been getting the most laughs is Botwi Wiwie.

 

Amazingly enough the names do sound Star Wars-ish, even poor Botwi's name.

 

I have several books and booklets on names and name meanings that I use to create characters.  Now I'm considering using this gimmick to conjure-up character names.

 

One problem, though, will be coming-up with appropriate city names.  Or in the case of the city/planet capital, everyone from Coruscant will have "cor" at the end of their names.

 

Talk about coming from an extended family.

The Stage is Set

 

I really like my new desk.

However, earlier this week I started working on new backdrops to use in Breakout from Bongolaan, when I discovered I needed more space to do such project. At first I used the dining room table, but I was constantly worried I'd stain it, or scratch it--like I did to my old kitchen table.

After completing the first three backdrops, I brought up one of my small banquet/gaming tables from the shed.

It's the cleanest of the two.

This arrangement worked well for the past couple days as I assembled several more backdrops.

The process involved:

Taking downloaded images to the local printshop and having copies made.

Pasting the copies to foam white boards and trimming as necessary.

Once that project was done and out of the way, I planned on shooting some pictures, but realized this arrangement wouldn't work. I needed to place the table next to a wall somewhere in order to prop-up backdrops and build scenes for each photo shoot.

So, I came up with this:

I had to move one of my foot lockers, but had enough room under the table to keep the second one, especially since I don't plan on doing much sitting at the table.

This arrangement may not be in tune with Feng shui, but it is functional. I can replace the floor lamp with one of my studio lights, or at least remove the shade to provide better illumination.

Now that the "stage is set" so to speak, I'm ready to resume my photo work, which I plan to start next week.