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Thread: Crystal Clusters

  1. #1

    Default Crystal Clusters

    I saw these crystal cluster models on the Miniature Market website (
    http://www.miniaturemarket.com ). They are manufactured by Tiny Terrain.

    They gave me an idea for a scenario to play in Tripods and Triplanes, so I bought a few. The Tripod and aircraft models are from my collection to give you an idea of the sizes.

    I may try the scenario at Doncaster, if Doncaster takes place.

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  2. #2

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    Good idea David. I bought some of these a while back hoping to come up with a use for them in my fantasy games. Hmmm, an energy source for the Tripods? A crop grown by the Tripods where the larger ones can fire a heat ray at threatening planes? I look forward to see what you come up with.

  3. #3

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    I was thinking of using them as bombing targets. Allowing the crystals to shoot heat rays is an interesting idea.

  4. #4

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    Quote Originally Posted by Naharaht View Post
    I was thinking of using them as bombing targets. Allowing the crystals to shoot heat rays is an interesting idea.
    Sort of like Martian AA?

  5. #5

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    I have bought another couple of crystal clusters. I did not realize that the red one would be as large as it is when I ordered it.

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  6. #6

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    They look impressive Dave. What is your thinking on how to utilize them in a game?

  7. #7

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    maybe theyre monolith monsters attacking that force the martians and earthlings to team up to defeat.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLGfUmznaE0

  8. #8

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    Do they form a zone where aeroplanes cannot withstand the energy field, and are buffered away?

    I was thinking, on "Wings" the magneto is always giving them grief. Are these crystal clusters the cause?

    That way these fantastic piece of terrain can be kept on the table.

  9. #9

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    Power sources, men. Crystals bring great amounts of power. Or so the witchy one in my college group said
    Karl
    It is impossible for a man to begin to learn what he thinks he knows. -- Epictetus

  10. #10

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    My thinking is that the Martians grew these on Earth as sources of the crystals use to store energy in the Tripods. The Earth forces want to bomb them. Reports from the 'Earth underground units' provide the potential location of sites where crystals may be growing. Aircraft are first sent to photograph these locations to see what is there. Then bombers are sent out to attack the sites at which crystals are found.

    Another possibility might be to use the crystal clusters as recharging points for the Tripods. Maybe Tripods 'plugged into the crystals' (i.e. bases touching) can also fire their heat rays every move without recharging.
    Last edited by Naharaht; 08-11-2020 at 20:29.

  11. #11

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    In the sequel I think it's "the murder of mankind" or such, the martians go underground near the north pole . . . they could have found them there in their tunneling, the mysterious power they utilized until their terra forming plan worked out . . . just a serving suggestion . . .

  12. #12

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    . . . flickering battery powered tea candles could be used as bases, making them have a flickering glow . . .

  13. #13

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    Quote Originally Posted by Naharaht View Post
    My thinking is that the Martians grew these on Earth as sources of the crystals use to store energy in the Tripods. The Earth forces want to bomb them. Reports from the 'Earth underground units' provide the potential location of sites where crystals may be growing. Aircraft are first sent to photograph these locations to see what is there. Then bombers are sent out to attack the sites at which crystals are found.

    Another possibility might be to use the crystal clusters as recharging points for the Tripods. Maybe Tripods 'plugged into the crystals' (i.e. bases touching) can also fire their heat rays every move without recharging.
    Maybe at the beginning of the game, the Martian player places numbered counters on the map and secretly notes which 2/3 (or some such ratio) of the counters are crystals.

    The opponents then have to fly a photo recon mission to discover which markers are 'real' crystals - when they are located, the marker is replaced by an actual crystal.

  14. #14

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    That is more or less what I was thinking of doing, Wayne.

    The Crystals are solid, not hollow, David, so to light them up would mean boring a hole in the base. I do not have an army of elves to do that but I feel sure that it would be very effective.

  15. #15

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    I just found this on Thingiverse so I can now print my own!

    https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3031049
    Last edited by Biggles downunder; 08-13-2020 at 01:59.

  16. #16

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    Just for fun, I downloaded a file that I found on Thingiverse, resized it to 75% and did a quick test print.

    Click image for larger version. 

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    I’m thinking of printing a few at this size and maybe some at 100% for our regular get together this coming Tuesday night. It’s my turn to set up the night’s scenario and it’s at my place so a good opportunity to get my Tripods on the table..

    I’m tossing around a few crystal rules:

    1. Maybe they interfere with aircraft ignition systems and force any aircraft that flies within half a ruler length to immediately play a stall card for it’s next manoeuvre.
    2. Maybe it is a trip hazard for a tripod.
    3. Maybe a tripod can recharge from it.
    4. Maybe...?

  17. #17

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    Quote Originally Posted by Biggles downunder View Post
    Just for fun, I downloaded a file that I found on Thingiverse, resized it to 75% and did a quick test print.

    Click image for larger version. 

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    I’m thinking of printing a few at this size and maybe some at 100% for our regular get together this coming Tuesday night. It’s my turn to set up the night’s scenario and it’s at my place so a good opportunity to get my Tripods on the table..

    I’m tossing around a few crystal rules:

    1. Maybe they interfere with aircraft ignition systems and force any aircraft that flies within half a ruler length to immediately play a stall card for it’s next manoeuvre.
    2. Maybe it is a trip hazard for a tripod.
    3. Maybe a tripod can recharge from it.
    4. Maybe...?
    Nice! I'm sure lots of different effects of crystals can be introduced into the game to add to the scenario they're in.

  18. #18

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    My thinking is that the tripods can recharge from a crystal cluster by having their base in contact with the base of the crystals and playing a recharge action. I will try allowing yellow crystal to recharge the Tripod up to 3 energy units and red crystal to recharge the Tripod up to 6 energy units. I will allow a Tripod to rotate on the spot without losing contact with the crystal. I am not sure yet whether to limit the total amount of energy, which can be drawn from each crystal cluster during the game. It would mean more 'book keeping'.

    Also, I would like to experiment with allowing a Tripod in contact with crystals to be able to fire its heat ray every movement phase by drawing the energy directly from the crystal. It would still have to play a 'fire heat ray ' chit as its action but there would be no recovery. I would not extend this to the black smoke launchers. They would have to recover as normal because of the need to mix the chemicals.
    If a Tripod shoots a crystal cluster with its heat ray (accidentally or deliberately) an explosion might occur (maybe, if the damage card shows any special damage symbol),

    I have now bought some small red crystal clusters and a very large yellow one, so I now own three sizes of each colour.
    Last edited by Naharaht; 09-12-2020 at 23:14.

  19. #19

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    That sounds like a plan Dave! I will try these out on Tuesday night.

    Funny that you mentioned the number 3 as I had decided that 3 was a good number of each colour and so am busily printing three of both red and yellow in 3 different sizes in preparation for Tuesday night’s stoush:

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    Hot off the print bed:

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    And detached from the raft, ready for the gaming table:

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    Now to print some yellow crystals!
    Last edited by Biggles downunder; 09-13-2020 at 02:13.

  20. #20

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    They look good, Wayne! Do let us know how the game goes on Tuesday night.

  21. #21

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    Here is the scenario I have planned for tonight's entertainment. Doug can't come due to a prior commitment and so there will only be three of us.

    Tripods and Crystals
    The second wave of the invasion is now well and truly underway – the Tripods have established a base just out of a major city but one of the cylinders overshot and landed in the countryside.

    For a short time, nothing appeared to emerge from this cylinder, but reconnaissance flights revealed a strange crystal growth springing up around one side of the cylinder and along one of the tracks passing near to the cylinder.

    At first, all was quiet but forward observers noted a Mark III Squid sallying forth towards this wayward cylinder and its strange crystals. The combined forces decided to take a chance with the only SPAD that had been up gunned with a 37mm cannon, quickly launched and, after a long flight, a lucky shot destroyed this Tripod.

    The smoke and flame soon alerted the Martians to what had happened and a Mark IV Cuttlefish started to make its way forward to investigate. This Tripod appeared to be tasked with determining what happened to its stricken fellow Tripod and also harvesting the crystals that were appearing around the cylinder that had overshot.

    The SPAD which by now had returned to base was very quickly rearmed, refueled and took to the air again with a Sopwith Camel as an escort.

    Game notes
    The Cuttlefish must visit the destroyed Squid and can recharge from the batteries in the wreckage using the same recharge rules as for recharging from an Objective. It must also visit the crystal growth and return back to its starting point. A Tripod in contact with crystals is able to fire its heat ray every movement phase by drawing the energy directly from the crystal. It would still have to play a 'fire heat ray ' chit as its action but there would be no recovery. This does not extend to the black smoke launchers. They would have to recover as normal because of the need to mix the chemicals.

    The Camel is armed with its usual complement of machine guns, the SPAD with a 37mm cannon.

    Humanity wins by destroying the Cuttlefish or if the Cuttlefish runs out of energy before completing its mission.

    Mat Layout

    Damn - I can't seem to insert an image or a photo - that's never happened before!!! I hovered over the little red hexagon with the exclamation mark in it and this dialogue appeared:

    [IOErrorEvent type="ioError" bubbles=false cancelable=false eventPhase=2 text="Error #2038"]

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    Well that is truly bizarre! I tried it on my iPad and it worked so it is either my Mac (though I did restart it) or Firefox or I had my tongue out of the wrong side of my mouth or...
    Last edited by Biggles downunder; 09-15-2020 at 00:40.

  22. #22

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    Hm, I decided to try another browser (Safari) and got a message saying that the site certificate has expired.

    I wonder if that is the cause of the problem?

    I'll PM Keith and see what he says.

  23. #23

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    Sounds like an interesting scenario. Look forward to the AAR.

    Something is amiss. I had trouble uploading the latest update to the Shapeways WWI spreadsheet. The advanced edit screen was very different. I'll try it again and if it happens I'll take notes and pas them off to Keith.

  24. #24

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    I had difficulty off and on all day yesterday with the security issue. Finally had to unplug my whole system modem and all, and reboot it 10 minutes later, it all came back secure . . . So far . . .

  25. #25

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    I had security "certificate expired" issues yesterday evening but that seems to have cleared up now.
    It was a real PITA because I had to take several steps to reach each thread.

    I didn't see anyone else posting problems so thought it was just me.

  26. #26

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    I also had the same problems last night. Like you said, it cleared up this morning. Thankfully!

  27. #27

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    Thinking about the crystal thing, and effects, brought up the following ideas.

    Planes within a half ruler, and at one altitude, draw a B Damage card. If there is a special damage symbol, the plane takes electrical discharge damage equal to the number on the card (zero is still zero). Engine, Smoke and Fire special damage are applied, if drawn.

    I feel the firing of the Heat Ray every turn is a lot much, not a bit. It would burn out the charging unit. Allowing the use of the Heat Ray without energy might be better. However, if that is something you want, then there should be a chance of damage to the charging unit. Perhaps if there is special damage on the Heat Ray damage card, and the Heat Ray was fired the turn before, the charging unit burns out. Just a thought.
    Mike
    "Flying is learning to throw yourself at the ground and miss" Douglas Adams
    "Wings of Glory won't skin your elbows and knees while practicing." OldGuy59

  28. #28

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    My thinking was that Tripods in contact with the crystals would draw the energy for the heat ray directly from the crystals, by-passing the charger unit, and so there would be no delay between shots.

  29. #29

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    Oh wow! I like all the ideas here. I’m going to have to get some crystals now.

    Since we’re heading into the holiday season, it’s worth mentioning that I have seen some fantasy terrain folks create crystals and ice clusters by cutting up icicle ornaments...



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