Hello there once again, as you may know if you follow along with this series it only gets whipped out the cupboard when something sails by that makes me take serious note. You can check out our website (you are on it) and root out some other nuggets, but this article is all about Operation Last Train by Joseph McCullough the man who has brought us several ‘stonking’ (& I use that term deliberately) games to date such as Frostgrave, Ghost Archipelago, & Rangers of Shadow Deep.

So on to the reasons why this has pickled my onion and had be scrabbling around my stash for appropriate models….

What a gent!!!

Firstly Joseph has released this for free, as I write, the basic rules & 2 scenarios have been dropped with a general outline of the story, world, and rules, but more on that later. The key here is the intent of this project, it sits right in my freakin’ wheelhouse. It is a format I have never seen personally, it has been classified as a ‘Charity War-game Project’, with people asked to make a small donation to Save The Children, a charity looking to give kids around the world a better future.

‘Save the Children believes every child deserves a future. Around the world, we give children a healthy start in life, the opportunity to learn and protection from harm.

We do whatever it takes for children – every day and in times of crisis – transforming their lives and the future we share.’

You can read everything in more detail here, but I just want to say what an absolute solid gold human being. Rules, free…Not behind a paywall my friends, free. Should you take the rules and play without donating then Joe isnt going to be knocking on your door with a toffee hammer to knock your pearly whites out, but you should be donating right? I mean….why wouldn’t you?

I am not sure what is going to happen with it in the future but there are two scenarios right now, with hopefully more to come and I for one doff my cap to Joe for his epic gesture of giving, it sits so well with everything I think the world and the people in it should be.

Rangers of Shadow Deep but Sci Fi?

The first whiff I get is of a toe dipping into the Sci Fi world but with similar traits to Rangers of Shadow Deep. We only have an outline and the rules there are not as deep but the general feel is one of a very solid narrative with war band creation and potential negative modifiers/effects post mission if a chum gets slotted.

What I love about Rangers of Shadow Deep is that we didn’t get the full picture. Here is the same but even better! I love to follow along with games, have a slow lead in giving time to read, understand, and to see its progress and development. It is something you probably have models for already, it is something you probably have terrain for already, and if you love narrative based games with co op features then it is probably right up your street.

I can not wait to see how it rolls. I hope a fully fledged game is evolving here, and what’s more we can strap ourselves and contribute in our small way to make it bigger, better, and more prevalent in our groups.

The forces?

I am already thinking this game lends itself to all sorts of models we may already have. There are different classifications of troops, specialisms, and choices of weapon. Can light infantry be Space Marine Scouts? Riflemen as imperial guard? Heavy infantry a space marine? As with all Joseph’s games the opportunity to use your own forces, models, and ideas are prevalent. I am sure if you play any sci fi game with minis then you can rustle something up!

The Narrative.

One thing I love about Joseph’s games are the worlds and stories he creates. Basic premise here is some dudes are obviously encountering some form of ‘Bug’ incursion. A planet slated for ‘atmospheric burn off’ with a population of 7 billion, now having a mooted 7000 inhabitants, is living on borrowed time. Commander Subatai appeals to his Admiral’s humanity and is allowed to take a limited force to see what he can do in a short time frame to save who he can….Queue Kenny Loggins & Dangerzone on the iPod chums, off we go!!!

Scenario 1 is a farmstead with some critters in close proximity to some survivors…..

The Future?

A key thing I am interested in here is seeing what comes of it moving forward, even with how it is right now I am super keen to crush some bugs and try my hand at saving some civilians, but I very much hope that this leads to more!!!!

Please share this with others so at the very least we can help a charity, but we can also do our small part to help the game grow and evolve as well as having a rip-roaring time with it too!!

Operation Last Train I want to know more about you!

Operation Last Train: Why I want to know more……..