Project Scrapjacks #1

Hello and Welcome Back,

Earlier this year, I picked up the Scrap Jacks rules by Patrick Todoroff. The game is about salvage teams working for the Vaststar corporation, cutting into wrecks, abandoned space stations, and bases to run salvage missions. In typical fashion, the crew has to make its quota for the corporation or face financial penalties. The corporation doesn't care about the safety or well-being of its operators.

A crew has a limited air supply which dwindles as the mission goes on. Incidents such as injuries or suit damage also use air. This looks to be a good way to build tension into the mission. If the air runs out before exiting the unit, thats it. Your crew is dead. Game over. Don't worry, you might find air supplies in the wreck. Might.

A typical mission runs across 6 Modular Hab Units (MHU), with the crew cutting into each MHU and looking for salvage one at a time. As each MHU is 12 inches x 12 inches in size, you can play on a small table or desktop, setting up each MHU as your crew cuts in. Another attraction is that the rules can be played solo. 

I am lucky enough to already have enough terrain to populate such a small board. I built a board from double-layered corrugated cardboard. Embroidery mesh and EVA foam make up the floor. A quick and dirty paint job finished it off. I will be able to use this tile in future Starport Scum posts. 

An entry and exit door will be required. There are also some resin doors in the pile of shame, which will be painted up as entry and exit points, once I find them.

To play the game, I will need 4 to 6 EVA-suited figures for the crew, depending on your ship size. I have used different colored shoulder pads and helmets to distinguish the different crew classes.

My crew color class ideas are:

Torch (cutters, breachers, burners) - Orange pads

Rigger (mechanics, splicers, hackers) - Blue pads

Patch (medics) - White pads

Yarddog (muscle/bodyguard) - Green pads

This is the lot I have painted so far. I have so many so I can field a rival crew or raiders.

This will be my crew. The figures are from Anvil and Brigade Models. The sharp-eyed among you will note that the webbing on this team is brown.

This will be either a rival crew or raiders. The figures are from Anvil and Brigade Models. These are marked out with green webbing and pad markers. Cunning, eh?

This lot are additionals, to be added or mixed with the other crews as needed. The figures are from Ramshackle Games, Gardens of Hectate Range. I chose red webbing to ID them. 

I have another use for the EVA suited figures, the game Expendable Employees. Which is in a similar vein but planet side. 

One of the first threats a rookie crew encounters are maintenance robots. These are small bots. 

These wee robots are from the Reaper Bones line. Looking at these guys they might be also handy for 15mm scale games.

Some more small bots. The small two at the front are Stargrave objective markers. The two hovering bots are 3d prints from the DaveandDavesArmys Etsy store. 

These are the larger bots. Some of them look more like construction bots. All of these figures are from HeadBunnyGames and DaveandDavesArmys Etsy stores.

You need a boss level bot and I have this Death Marble by Reaper Bones. 

For the security bots, my rusty 40k Necrons or Mantic Asterians will fit the slot. I will need some apex bots too. 

This game has gotten me fired up to get more bots painted up. There are others in the pile of shame that will suit this game and my Wild Galaxy settimg. The robots will also be handy for other Sci Fi games such as Stargrave or 5ParsecsFromHome.

Up next time Infected Crew and Cargo Mules. 

Thanks for looking,

Stay Safe and dont let your air run out.