"Army Men: A Game of Tactical Plastic" Earns Its First Metals!

My first RPG Army Men: A Game of Tactical Plastic dropped a little over a year ago, and I've been doing my best to get it into folks' hands, and to provide as much supplemental material for it as I'm able to. And while it can sometimes be discouraging to get lost under the constant crush of new posts and fresh games out there, I have made at least some progress on my goals.

Because so far both Army Men, as well as its first supplement Army Men: Threat Assessments, have both hit Copper metal status on Drive Thru RPG!

In case you needed even MORE of a target-rich environment.

But before I get into the meat of today's post, remember, don't forget to sign up for my weekly newsletter to get all my updates right in your inbox. Also, if you've got a bit of spare cash that you'd like to use to help keep the wheels turning, consider becoming a Patreon patron! Also, be sure you're following all of my followables, check out my LinkTree.

Lastly, for hundreds of extra articles on gaming, weird history, and for more free fiction, check out my Vocal archive, too!

One Step Closer To Taking The Hill!

As most folks know, Army Men was a game that actually went to Kickstarter, and that's how it got made. So since a majority of the people who knew about it already had their books bought and paid for before it went up on Drive Thru RPG, it's been tough trying to keep getting it into fresh hands. It's been Deal of The Day, we had an Anniversary Bundle for it a little while ago, and I try to cover it on this blog as often as I can, along with putting together a show titled Tactical Plastic Report over on the Azukail Games YouTube channel to give viewers a run down on what's in the game to try to increase interest.

While it's definitely been an uphill battle, early this year I finally managed this little bit of progress! And even though Copper metal status is just the first tier you can hit (50+ sales), more than half of games and supplements that appear on DTRPG don't even hit that mark. And while I mentioned a while back that the core book had hit Copper, it wasn't until last month that Threat Assessments joined it!

However, if you're a fan of Army Men, why stop there? Consider grabbing yourself copies of some of the other releases that have come out so I can keep expanding the setting going forward!

- Army Men: Medals of Honor: A supplement that introduces the Medals System to help Game Masters reward players who have survived various missions, and conducted themselves in a way becoming of a trooper.

- A Baker's Dozen of Booby Traps: A collection of nasty surprises for Game Masters to deploy in the event you plan to conduct some guerrilla warfare in your games.

- A Night At Brekon's Beacon: An Army Men Mission Module: A stand-alone mission for Army Men, this brings your squad to an abandoned ruin far off the beaten track... will you avoid the fate that befell the squad that came before you?

In addition to all of these supplements, at time of writing I also have a second mission module that's currently in layout... so stay tuned for a mission that takes place in the Styric Republic (the northern faction inspired by the Soviets)!

What Would You Like To See Next?

Army Men, as a game and a setting, is still very young. Additionally, we were only able to fit so much into the core rulebook, so there's all kinds of room for further expansion in gear, enemies, missions, and more!

The question is... what do you all want to see? And to help folks avoid getting decision paralysis, I'll make a few suggestions:

- Mission Modules: The Army Men equivalent of adventure modules, these one-shot supplements do all the heavy lifting for the Game Master.

- Additional Equipment: From weapons and armor, to tool kits, vehicles, and more, Army Men's challenge is largely decided by what kinds of gear your troopers bring to the fight.

- Bigger Books: In the past I've had such suggestions as Motor Pool for vehicle rules, Soldier of Fortune for a mercenary-style secondary way to play that's geared more toward media like the A-Team, and a few others. These would take significantly more work, and would likely need to be Kickstarted.

- Fiction: Whether in text form or as an audio drama/podcast, Army Men has the potential for some really fun fiction, if that's something folks would like to see more of (consider the sample below if this interests you!)

However, as all the war bond posters said, we can't make any of this happen without your help!

If you're someone who wants to see Army Men expand as a game, and as a setting, then you need to help me make sure the signal grows, and that we find a group of folks who want to play it, and see more stuff come out for it! As such, please do as many of the following things as you can:

- Buy Copies: The more sales a game and its supplements get, the easiser it is to get more projects green lit, and the more the algorithm pays attention. So the best thing you can do is help our numbers go up!

- Leave Reviews: If you already bought your copy of the book and supplements, leave a rating and a review on them! You don't have to get in-depth, just tell people you liked it, and maybe mention something that sticks in your mind about it. Reviews are also key to getting the algorithm to take notice.

- Subscribe to The Azukail Games YouTube Channel: Maybe you've already done the first two, or you simply can't afford new game stuff right now. Either way, subscribing to the Azukail Games YouTube channel is free, as is watching episodes of Tactical Plastic Report, and all the other Army Men-related content on the channel. Again, upvote videos you like, leave comments, and so on, because that helps us get paid, and sends a message that at least some of our audience wants MORE Army Men stuff!

Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!

That's all for this week's Moon Pope Monday. To stay on top of all my content and releases, make sure you subscribe to my newsletter at the bottom of the page!

Again, for more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, and stop by the Azukail Games YouTube channel, or my Rumble channel The Literary Mercenary! Or if you'd prefer to read some of my books, like my dystopian sci-fi thriller Old Soldiers, my hardboiled gangland noir series starring a bruiser of a Maine Coon with Marked Territory and Painted Cats, my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife or my latest short story collection The Rejects, then head over to My Amazon Author Page!

To stay on top of all my latest releases, follow me on Blue Sky, Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and now Pinterest as well! To support my work, consider Buying Me a Ko-Fi, or heading to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page to become a regular, monthly patron. That one helps ensure you get more Improved Initiative, and it means you'll get my regular, monthly giveaways as a bonus!

Should I Make Videos For "Army Men: A Game of Tactical Plastic"?

As most folks know, I've been contributing videos to the Azukail Games YouTube channel for a while now (and you should check them out and subscribe if you haven't yet). While I originally talked about my Sundara: Dawn of a New Age fantasy RPG setting for Pathfinder and DND 5E, I started making audio dramas for the vignettes found in my supplements soon after. That eventually grew into Discussions of Darkness where I talk about the World and Chronicles of Darkness, and Tabletop Mercenary, where I talk about the business side of publishing in general, and RPGs in particular.

However, I was wondering if folks would like to see me talk more about my first full RPG, Army Men: A Game of Tactical Plastic on the channel?

... what do you think?

As always, don't forget to sign up for my weekly newsletter to get all my updates right in your inbox. Also, if you've got a bit of spare cash that you'd like to use to help keep the wheels turning, consider becoming a Patreon patron! Also, be sure you're following all of my followables, check out my LinkTree.

Lastly, for hundreds of extra articles on gaming, weird history, and for more free fiction, check out my Vocal archive, too!

Fighting The War On All Fronts

There are some people who prefer to read articles because they consume text more easily. There are some people who prefer to see the face of the people who make the products they use, and to hear the thought process of the designer in an interview-style format. For the former there's plenty of blog entries right here on Improved Initiative about this game, why I designed it the way I did, and the potential it has going forward... but I figured that it might be worth expanding that a little bit.

And not just because the unboxing video for my copies of the game books was one of the higher-watched videos the channel has put out in a while.

While it's been on the market since this Spring, Army Men has already had 2 supplements drop for it (Threat Assessments, which has more monsters and enemies for troopers to deal with, and Medals of Honor, which includes a Medal System for giving permanent bonuses and rewards to troopers who accomplish particular feats in the field), and there are 2 more in the queu to be released by Azukail Games in the future.

Since I'm still fighting to get the game seen and played (we're only 7 sales away from hitting Copper status last I checked the figure sheets), I figured that this is one area I haven't expanded into yet, and I wanted to see what you thought of it as members of the potential audience? Would you be interested in watching me talk about Army Men, giving break downs of the game, the world, the ideas behind it, and the supplements I've both made for it, and would like to make for it?

Some topics that are currently under consideration include:

- Reviews/rundowns of the current supplements

- Discussions of future supplements/soliciting audience opinions on what should come next

- Breakdown of the lore/setting/timeline of the resinous peoples

- Advice for how to run missions with this game

If there's something you'd like to see that isn't on the list, please feel free to include it in the comments below, with one exception. While it's been mentioned a time or two that I should do a recorded play of the game with a group and put that up for folks to see how it plays in real time, that is something currently outside the scope of my space, my equipment, and my skills. If I were to put something like that together it would take a lot of scheduling, resources, and editing to make it look good, sound good, and play smoothly... and that just isn't something I'm capable of making at the moment.

So it's not out of the question, but it isn't something I'd be able to make happen this year, barring something going extremely well for the game, and a massive audience showing up out of nowhere to raise their voices for it.

With that said, though, as long as I'm putting together additional supplements, my hope is to (at the very least) continue giving my listeners glimpses into the world, and into what Army Men can be as a game, and all of the different genres it can cover, and the stories it can tell. Such as this piece, taken from Medals of Honor, which has a definite James Bond flair to it.

Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!

That's all for this week's Moon Pope Monday. To stay on top of all my content and releases, make sure you subscribe to my newsletter at the bottom of the page!

Again, for more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, and stop by the Azukail Games YouTube channel, or my Rumble channel The Literary Mercenary! Or if you'd prefer to read some of my books, like my dystopian sci-fi thriller Old Soldiers, my hardboiled gangland noir series starring a bruiser of a Maine Coon with Marked Territory and Painted Cats, my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife or my latest short story collection The Rejects, then head over to My Amazon Author Page!

To stay on top of all my latest releases, follow me on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and now Pinterest as well! To support my work, consider Buying Me a Ko-Fi, or heading to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page to become a regular, monthly patron. That one helps ensure you get more Improved Initiative, and it means you'll get my regular, monthly giveaways as a bonus!

Breaking Down Army Men: Medals of Honor

It's been a couple of months since my RPG Army Men: A Game of Tactical Plastic hit the market. While we're just about a dozen sales away from Copper status (so pick up your copy today to help us get there!), I didn't want to let the grass grow under my feet with it. While the first supplement Army Men: Threat Assessments dropped the first month after the full game was available, the second supplement is now out from Azukail Games!

For this week's Crunch installment I wanted to take folks inside Army Men: Medals of Honor, explain its general purpose, and see if it gets your own wheels turning!

That which doesn't kill you expands your ribbon rack.

Before we get into the nitty gritty this week, don't forget to sign up for my weekly newsletter to get all my updates right in your inbox. Also, if you've got a bit of spare cash that you'd like to use to help keep the wheels turning, consider becoming a Patreon patron! Also, be sure you're following all of my followables, check out my LinkTree.

Lastly, for hundreds of extra articles on gaming, weird history, and for more free fiction, check out my Vocal archive, too!

Recognition and Reward

Rewards for your actions are pretty standard in most RPGs. In a traditional game you tend to get loot from the dungeons, or you get treasure which you haul back to town in order to buy upgraded weapons, armor, etc. In some instances you'll also receive story rewards (such as a character being knighted for their service to the crown, or being given a castle and estate) that, while impressive, doesn't really do anything for you mechanically except give you a base of operations to store your stuff.

In a standard game of Army Men, though, players are a squad of troopers acting in service to the Plastos Federation, or one of its member nations. Because they're part of the armed forces, they don't show up with their own weapons, armor, and extra gear; they requisition it before the mission. This gives the Game Master a great deal of latitude regarding how over/underarmed the players are, and the challenge they're going to have to face once (or if) combat begins. However, players also tend not to get any kind of loot on their missions, since they draw a salary from the government that employs them, and their enemies are likely to be gigantic bugs with no concept of monetary value or currency. So when the question of rewards came up in my mind, the obvious solution seemed to be medals and commendations; after all, if you show bravery in the field, and you accomplish a mission with efficiency and skill, that's usually the way to mark such a deed.

Some medals require greater sacrifice than others.

That is where Army Men: Medals of Honor comes into the picture. Because while completing missions and returning to give your post-action report is how your troopers go up in rank (the game's term for your character level), I didn't want that to be the only benefit of living to fight another day. The medals system, introduced in this supplement, allows Game Masters to give out awards to individual characters, or entire squads, who have managed to accomplish certain, notable feats while on the battlefield. And while these medals have significance to the story and the setting, each of them also comes with an additional ability granted to a recipient.

For example, the Distinguished Marksman Badge, which is awarded by the Acetal Alliance, requires that an individual trooper score a minimum of 50 critical hits against targets who are at least 30 feet away. A separate track must be kept for pistols and rifles, as each medal has its own requirement. Once a trooper has earned this medal, their critical hit range with the weapon type in question expands from natural 20s, to a 19-20 range (though a roll of 19 must still hit the target's armor class to qualify as a critical hit).

This supplement contains 50 medals, with 10 examples from each nation, as well as 10 medals given out by the Plastos Federation as an organization. While some of these medals are nation-specific (meaning that recipients must be members of that particular nation's armed forces in order to qualify for these medals), others are available to any member nation's army, or may be awarded for joint operations where multiple nations are working together toward a single end.

As With Equipment, The Power Is In The Game Master's Hands

While this system may seem like just another way for players to rack up additional powers on their sheets, since medals can grant additional skill proficiencies, bonus languages, rerolls of certain checks, and so on, it's important to remember that the circumstances surrounding these medals has to be facilitated by the Game Master. Whether it's ensuring that characters are part of a certain nation's military, or that certain opportunities come up on their missions, these medals aren't things players can get without Game Master assistance.

You need to set them up with the situation required to earn them.

With that said, if you're going to use the medals system, I encourage Game Masters to make players aware of it, and to ask what kinds of commendations they'd like their troopers to earn by the end of the campaign. Because while being rewarded for one's achievements in the field is always gratifying, sometimes it can be just as motivating knowing that every mission brings you one step closer to earning a particular medal!

Bonus Content: New Weapon Property Unlocked!

In addition to the medals system, and all of the examples I've laid out for Game Masters to add to their Army Men campaigns, I also dropped a little bonus into this supplement. We now have the Experimental weapon property, which is a property describing weapons that have yet to be fully field-tested, and which aren't entirely reliable just yet. This is meant to be a foot in the door, as one of the expansions I've wanted to write for the game is Army Men: Weird War, where in addition to a bunch of new casts, training schools, exploits, monsters, and more, I also wanted to introduce some sci-fi style weapons, armor, and equipment. Because while these weapons would put a lot of raw power into your troopers' hands, they also represent a risk if something goes wrong.

But you can't work out the bugs if you never test the equipment under battlefield conditions... right?

So if this weapon property (in addition to the sample experimental lightning rifle listed in the supplement) is something you want to see more of, make sure you grab your copy today, and let me know in your review. Additional experimental equipment suggestions are encouraged as well, so if you have something you really want to see, feel free to include that, too!

Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!

That's all for this week's Crunch post. To stay on top of all my content and releases, make sure you subscribe to my newsletter at the bottom of the page!

Again, for more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, and stop by the Azukail Games YouTube channel, or my Rumble channel The Literary Mercenary! Or if you'd prefer to read some of my books, like my dystopian sci-fi thriller Old Soldiers, my hardboiled gangland noir series starring a bruiser of a Maine Coon with Marked Territory and Painted Cats, my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife or my latest short story collection The Rejects, then head over to My Amazon Author Page!

To stay on top of all my latest releases, follow me on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and now Pinterest as well! To support my work, consider Buying Me a Ko-Fi, or heading to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page to become a regular, monthly patron. That one helps ensure you get more Improved Initiative, and it means you'll get my regular, monthly giveaways as a bonus!

Stay Up-To-Date On All The Latest "Army Men" Developments!

As most folks know, my RPG Army Men: A Game of Tactical Plastic dropped a couple of months back. It was the Deal of The Day last month on Drive Thru RPG, which got a lot of fresh eyeballs on the game, and less than a month after its debut we already had the first supplement available. In the event you didn't grab your own copy yet, Army Men: Threat Assessments is ready for you to snatch up if you need more antagonists for your missions!

However, there are a lot of fresh things coming up for the game, and I'm hard at work on even more... so if you don't want to miss what's going on, make sure you join the newly created Army Men: A Game of Tactical Plastic group over on Facebook today!

Seriously, if you're going to play this game, you're going to want this one!

As always, don't forget to sign up for my weekly newsletter to get all my updates right in your inbox. Also, if you've got a bit of spare cash that you'd like to use to help keep the wheels turning, consider becoming a Patreon patron! Also, be sure you're following all of my followables, check out my LinkTree.

Lastly, for hundreds of extra articles on gaming, weird history, and for more free fiction, check out my Vocal archive, too!

A Central Location For Your "Army Men" Needs!

As we all know, social media has been tightening the leash more and more these days. Posts that used to be able to fly free are now routinely shot down by the algorithm, and this makes it significantly more difficult for gamers out there to stay tuned-in to what's going on with any given RPG... especially independently-produced and created ones, which don't have the budget or clout to get wider notice on a platform.

And while a lot of platforms were tossed around for where we wanted to start (including both a Discord and a subreddit), Facebook is where we decided on for the time being. Firstly because it's a platform that still has a lot of dedicated users, but also because it has discoverability (the potential for outsiders to stumble across the group and its content, even if they weren't specifically looking for it). Because the goal here is two-fold; to give existing players a place to congregate, but also to provide resources for new players who are looking for a community.

So what kinds of things can you find in this group if you join?

Well, it's certainly going to become a place for folks to share their experiences with the game, to find groups, and (hopefully) to post videos of live plays. It's very likely to be a place where additional tutorials (like the one above) are going to be shared as a way to help folks diversify their tables, and create more interesting arenas to battle in. It will also be a place to catch up on the latest news about supplements that are coming out, supplements that are currently being batted around as potential projects, short stories, audio dramas, and more!

So if you've wanted to give this game a try, or you want to talk to some of the folks who backed it and have been playing it, join the Army Men: A Game of Tactical Plastic Facebook group so that we can start growing our numbers. And if it gets large enough, who knows, we may even be able to expand and claim some territory on another platform as well!

It's also a great way to make sure that creators like myself, as well as other contributors, see what you would be interested in, so that we have some idea of what you want going forward as a community!

Lastly, make sure you subscribe to the Azukail Games YouTube channel. There's going to be a fair amount of Army Men content over that way in the near future, and I wouldn't want anyone to miss it!

Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!

That's all for this week's Moon Pope Monday. To stay on top of all my content and releases, make sure you subscribe to my newsletter at the bottom of the page!

Again, for more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, and stop by the Azukail Games YouTube channel, or my Rumble channel The Literary Mercenary! Or if you'd prefer to read some of my books, like my dystopian sci-fi thriller Old Soldiers, my hardboiled gangland noir series starring a bruiser of a Maine Coon with Marked Territory and Painted Cats, my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife or my latest short story collection The Rejects, then head over to My Amazon Author Page!

To stay on top of all my latest releases, follow me on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and now Pinterest as well! To support my work, consider Buying Me a Ko-Fi, or heading to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page to become a regular, monthly patron. That one helps ensure you get more Improved Initiative, and it means you'll get my regular, monthly giveaways as a bonus!

Army Men and The Astra Militarum (Warhammer 40K and My Latest RPG)

Regular readers on this blog have probably noticed that I'm a fan of the grim darkness of the far future. I've even written several stories that take place in the 41st millennium, many of which have been adapted into rather popular audio dramas (as I mentioned recently in my post More Audio Dramas, Grimdark Tales, and Fantastical Fiction!). What folks might not know is that I love the Imperial Guard, and theirs are some of my favorite stories to tell.

And since I had them on my mind recently, I wanted to share a fun little hack for anyone who may have a Warhammer 40K army or two laying around, and who'd like to adapt them as the figures for a game of Army Men: A Game of Tactical Plastic!

Forward! For The Emperor!

Before we get into the nitty gritty this week, don't forget to sign up for my weekly newsletter to get all my updates right in your inbox. Also, if you've got a bit of spare cash that you'd like to use to help keep the wheels turning, consider becoming a Patreon patron! Also, be sure you're following all of my followables, check out my LinkTree.

Lastly, for hundreds of extra articles on gaming, weird history, and for more free fiction, check out my Vocal archive, too!

Grimdark Meets Plastic

For those who are unfamiliar with Army Men: A Game of Tactical Plastic, it features the resinous peoples of the Plastos Federation standing against the invading forces of the vespoids; colossal, insectile creatures who seem bent on destruction. Though the war has been ongoing, there's not a clear victor in sight, leading to a constant need for more soldiers, training, material, and more! Additionally, though resinous persons come in several different types, and from many different nations, they are (nominally, at least) united in their battle lines against these invaders... and anything else that threatens them!

Forward! I want that anthill to be nothing more than a smoking crater!

So what does this have to do with the Astra Militarum and the grim darkness of the 41st millennium?

Well, Army Men was explicitly designed so that the little plastic soldiers we all know (and which many of us still have in our closets) would be accurate representations of the world in which we're playing. The same is true for the giant insects of their enemies, and the fortifications that make up their battlefields. While it is still an RPG, much of it is combat-forward as you and your squad struggle to accomplish your missions.

If you're an Imperial Guard player, and you have your army (or armies) on-hand, these themes map pretty clearly onto their typical deployment against a tyranid force. Not only that, but it's simple to take the colors of the resins (green, gray, red, blue, and tan) and to attach them onto particular regiments of renown that their abilities fit best. My personal choices (though I'd encourage players to do what they feel is most fun for their game) is:

- Green: Catachan

- Gray: Cadia

- Red: Valhallan Ice Warriors

- Blue: Mordian Iron Guard

- Tan: Armageddon Steel Legion

Whether you just prefer the DND 5E mechanics with some extra tactical rules, or you just don't really jive with the other Warhammer 40K RPGs that are available on the market, I'd suggest folks give this retrofit a try if they've been looking for something simple, easy, and which they already have figures and map terrain for!

Notes on Expansions and Gaps

Before anyone rushes off to grab their copy of Army Men, I wanted to put a few qualifications on this week's recommendation. Because while I've been having fun playing around with it, there are some things that might be deal breakers for more diehard grimdark fans.

First and foremost, variety of antagonists. The base bestiary found in Army Men: A Game of Tactical Plastic has normal animals, as well as bandits and rogue soldiers (for those who want to track down traitor regiments), but its primary focus for monstrous/alien enemies are the vespoids. And while there have been some notable additions to the monstrous creatures a squad might face in the first expansion Army Men: Threat Assessments, there is definitely a rather limited bestiary to draw on at the moment.

Second, the game has yet to expand out into all of the possible equipment for fighting a war. While there's a lot of man-portable weaponry, it's currently focused on the older types of weapons seen with army men toys. Additionally, the rules for vehicles and heavy artillery have yet to be added, as the initial game focuses on the actions taken by individual squads of troopers.

There are plans to expand into all of these areas for the game, with supplements like Army Men: Motor Pool to cover vehicles, vehicular combat, etc., and Army Men: Weird War where things like psychic powers, more advanced weapons tech, and other strange, sci fi additions will be made. While we aren't there just yet, there are definitely plans for getting energy rifles, tanks, huge cannons, and more onto the tabletop! I just didn't want anyone who saw this week's installment, and thought it was a cool idea, to be surprised that the game is still on the ground floor in terms of what's available in the base book.

Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!

That's all for this week's Moon Pope Monday. To stay on top of all my content and releases, make sure you subscribe to my newsletter at the bottom of the page!

Again, for more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, and stop by the Azukail Games YouTube channel, or my Rumble channel The Literary Mercenary! Or if you'd prefer to read some of my books, like my dystopian sci-fi thriller Old Soldiers, my hardboiled gangland noir series starring a bruiser of a Maine Coon with Marked Territory and Painted Cats, my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife or my latest short story collection The Rejects, then head over to My Amazon Author Page!

To stay on top of all my latest releases, follow me on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and now Pinterest as well! To support my work, consider Buying Me a Ko-Fi, or heading to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page to become a regular, monthly patron. That one helps ensure you get more Improved Initiative, and it means you'll get my regular, monthly giveaways as a bonus!

Army Men: A TTRPG Where The Book Is The Most Expensive Part of The Game

There's a lie all of us fans of TTRPGs have heard at least once, and which many of us have probably said it to someone looking to get into the hobby. "Oh, how much does it cost?" they ask. "Not that much," we say, lying. "All you need is a book, some dice, a pencil, some paper, and your imagination!"

Those of us who've been in the life for a while, of course, know that this is a technical truth at best. Because the more you play, the more stuff you tend to acquire. From extra dice sets, to battle mats, to dice towers, the accessories add up... and nowhere do a lot of us spend more money than when it comes to miniatures (and sometimes) set dressing.

Now, a lot of us will use creative substitutions as our physical representations, and while they get the job done, it can sometimes scratch the paint on our immersion. For Army Men: A Game of Tactical Plastic, though, I wanted those cheap phys reps and Dollar Store plastic figures to be accurate representations of the field you see before you!

Pictured: A World-Accurate Miniature

Before we get into the nitty gritty this week, don't forget to sign up for my weekly newsletter to get all my updates right in your inbox. Also, if you've got a bit of spare cash that you'd like to use to help keep the wheels turning, consider becoming a Patreon patron! Also, be sure you're following all of my followables, check out my LinkTree.

Lastly, for hundreds of extra articles on gaming, weird history, and for more free fiction, check out my Vocal archive, too!

Spill Out The Toy Box!

A lot of us likely remember the days of the old Army Men toy soldiers from when we were little... well, they're still in production! Not only that, but they come in a wider variety than ever before, and their price is still pretty far below what you'd pay for most gaming-specific minis. For example, a classic, 400-piece collection of armies that has the green, gray, red, and tan soldiers (leaving out only the blue from the RPG itself) only runs you about $18. Detailed, action sculpts different from the standard soldiers of yesteryear are a little more expensive, but you still get 100 troopers for about $14. There are even packs of Army Women which, while a little pricier at $15 for 36 figures, have some pretty great detail that will really make them pop on the board!

There are even sets that have towers, bridges, tanks, tents, sand bag walls, and more, all for significantly less than you might pay if you went shopping for miniatures terrain that you'd see in a war gaming store. The Ikasus set and the Flexzion set are perfect examples, especially when you consider that both are under $20!

What about the enemies?

While some missions will have you fighting other resinous persons (whether it's dealing with those under the effects of mind control, squabbles between nations within the Federation, or simply dealing with unscrupulous mercenaries), a lot of the monsters your squad will fight in this game are other members of the discount toy aisle that a lot of us likely had sitting in our toy boxes as kids. The Vespoids are insectoid creatures that range from medium-sized, all the way up to huge, which lets you break out most of the giant spiders, ants, wasps, and other weird plastic bugs you might have. There's also the plastic dinosaurs, which are in the base book's bestiary (though I haven't disclosed where one might find them just yet)!

And if you're one of the folks who has picked up the expanded enemies and creatures found in Army Men: Threat Assessments, this trend continues. Creatures like the newly introduced mechanical menaces the Mekanauts can be easily replicated with the Futuristic Space Battle Toy Set, which has all the robots, droids, and alien creatures you could want! And if you look very closely at the illustration on the cover of Threat Assessments, then you might see why having some alien miniatures on-hand for future missions for Army Men might just be a good investment.

A Last Tip on Mini Preparation

It is perfectly acceptable to take the minis I've mentioned out of the bag, and play with them as-is. They'll be perfect represenations of the setting with no further work on your part... however, if you want to add a little bit of extra to your minis, consider grabbing some Nuln oil and giving your small soldiers a wash to really make the details on them pop! Vallejo black wash will do the job just as well, if you're keeping an eye on your budget, too, and you can get a lot of minis done with just one bottle... though putting a seal on them to protect the wash is a good idea, too.

Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!

That's all for this week's Moon Pope Monday. To stay on top of all my content and releases, make sure you subscribe to my newsletter at the bottom of the page!

Again, for more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, and stop by the Azukail Games YouTube channel, or my Rumble channel The Literary Mercenary! Or if you'd prefer to read some of my books, like my dystopian sci-fi thriller Old Soldiers, my hardboiled gangland noir series starring a bruiser of a Maine Coon with Marked Territory and Painted Cats, my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife or my latest short story collection The Rejects, then head over to My Amazon Author Page!

To stay on top of all my latest releases, follow me on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and now Pinterest as well! To support my work, consider Buying Me a Ko-Fi, or heading to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page to become a regular, monthly patron. That one helps ensure you get more Improved Initiative, and it means you'll get my regular, monthly giveaways as a bonus!

"Threat Assessments," "Medals of Honor," and More in 2024 For Army Men!

While I've been quiet about the project for the past several months as proofs get sent out, and prints get finalized, my first ever TTRPG Army Men: A Game of Tactical Plastic is currently on-schedule to be released in Spring of 2024! And in case you missed it, forgot about it, or you find yourself with a little extra holiday cash to spend, you can still grab a copy for yourself.

However, I don't just want to remind folks that this game exists. Rather, I wanted to give regular readers some updates on what's going on behind the scenes, and some of the things I'm currently working on for additional supplements and expansions that should be hitting the ground right behind the initial release!

We've got incoming!

Before we get into the nitty gritty this week, don't forget to sign up for my weekly newsletter to get all my updates right in your inbox. Also, if you've got a bit of spare cash that you'd like to use to help keep the wheels turning, consider becoming a Patreon patron! Also, be sure you're following all of my followables, check out my LinkTree.

Lastly, for hundreds of extra articles on gaming, weird history, and for more free fiction, check out my Vocal archive, too!

Reinforcements on The Horizon!

While the initial Kickstarter for Army Men was a success (once again, a huge thank you to everyone who helped make it a reality), we didn't quite manage to reach any of our stretch goals, much less make the huge splash that some projects out there have. So while we don't have the extra scratch to put together any extra large rulebooks to cover additional genres and styles of play (yet) my hope is that the game will grow in popularity, and that there will be an audience demand for more once people get a look at what I and the rest of the team made.

However, there are a couple of smaller supplements that I'm currently tinkering with that I feel I can talk about to peak folks' interest. Because while the initial project was a rather large labor of love, there's still so much more that I feel we can cover with this game!

For unflinching valor under fire...

One of the first supplements I've been working on is something I'm tentatively titling Army Men: Medals of Honor. In this RPG you don't really have personal equipment the same way you do in traditional games; rather, you requisition your equipment before your mission. This cuts down on the constant treasure grabbing, and it provides your Game Master a relatively easy method of helping set the tone for your mission, as well as your difficulty. However, something I wanted to introduce as a kind of milestone mechanic was the concept of medals you can be awarded for your conduct. So whether you performed deeds of great valor, you saved companions at great risk to yourself, or in some cases survived what should have been a suicide mission, characters (or even entire squads) may be awarded these medals.

While that's fun for your story, and really adds to the military flair of the game (pun very much intended), the idea behind the medals system is that it will give you some kind of bonus that you can carry forth from that point onward. For relatively "easy" medals, like the Crimson Badge (the Styric Republic's equivalent of the Purple Heart with Silver Cluster, for those in the know), this might allow a recipient to, once per mission, gain temporary hit points when they would otherwise start making death saves because they're so used to fighting through injuries in the field. Alternatively, the Order of The Circle is a medal that denoted those who have been recognized by the ruler of United Polymeria (the equivalent of being knighted by the British crown, and just as with this honor, those not from the nation may only be given an honorary version of this medal). This medal may grant one bonuses in social situations, access to facilities they would normally be restricted from, and other benefits.

My hope is that all of these medals will be fun and useful, and that it's one of the many systems in this game that end up getting expansions both by myself, as well as by people who play Army Men!

They're in the goddamn trees!

The other supplement I'm currently working on which doesn't have a title as far as I know (but which I have labeled Threat Assessments in my notes), is a collection of additional antagonists for folks to use in their missions to spice things up a bit!

The base book has a bestiary of threats, ranging from regular animals one might have to deal with, through a dozen different varieties of Vespoid (the colossal, insectoid menaces that caused the different nations to unite into the Plastos Federation in the first place), but one of the original tiers on offer was to help design new monsters and threats... so that's what this project is going to do!

While there are going to be new vespoid forms and mutations, there are also going to be a variety of other types of enemy introduced through this supplement. Some are riffs on other types of toys (both the Creepy Crawlers and Easy Bake Oven were put forth by folks who supported the Kickstarter), but you're likely to also find those cheap, space-age looking robots, along with some unsettling military experiments that may have slipped the leash, and escaped from the laboratories of the various Federation nations.

EDIT: Threat Assessments and Medals of Honor are both now live on DTRPG!

What Could Be Next?

My hope is that these relatively modest projects are just stepping stones to bigger things for this game. As I mentioned in older posts like What's Next For "Army Men: A Game of Tactical Plastic" After The Kickstarter?, I still want to put together supplements like Motor Pool where I get into vehicles and vehicular combat. I'd also like to work on the next book Soldiers of Fortune, which discusses missions undertaken as freelancers and mercenaries, which will introduce new casts (classes), weapons, monetary tracking systems, and even a reputation system that will play into what kinds of clients you may attract, as well as how famous (or infamous) you and your fellow contractors are.

And, of course, I'd love to produce mission packs so that you have some objectives to send your various squads after. Covert operations, bug hunts, reconnaissance, naval patrol... there's a whole lot of possibilities out there! But, as with all things, how much time, effort, and energy can be dedicated to that will depend partially on you. You are the players and the Game Masters, and we need your support to make the game bigger, better, and more expansive than it already is!

So please, get yourself a copy if you haven't yet, and tell your friends about us so we can keep building interest and excitement in this game, and its unique setting. And if you're just hearing about this game for the first time, and you're wondering just what all this hype is about (not unusual, FB ate a lot of my attempts to spread the word earlier in 2023), then check out Under The Hood With "Army Men": A 5E Game With A Lot of Tactical Add-Ons to get the low-down on what the game itself is like, and some of its more unique selling points. And in the event you didn't see it, check out the short video I made for the Kickstarter itself to really get folks in the spirits of the game!

Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!

That's all for this week's Moon Pope Monday. To stay on top of all my content and releases, make sure you subscribe to my newsletter at the bottom of the page!

Again, for more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, and stop by the Azukail Games YouTube channel, or my Daily Motion channel!. Or if you'd prefer to read some of my books, like my dystopian sci-fi thriller Old Soldiers, my noir cat novels Marked Territory and Painted Cats, my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife, or my latest short story collection The Rejects, then head over to My Amazon Author Page!

To stay on top of all my latest releases, follow me on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and now Pinterest as well! To support my work, consider Buying Me a Ko-Fi, or heading to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page to become a regular, monthly patron. That one helps ensure you get more Improved Initiative, and it means you'll get my regular, monthly giveaways as a bonus!

Need Cheap Minis? SCS Direct Has You Covered!

If you're a dungeon master, then you know exactly how expensive miniatures can get. While there's nothing wrong with using tokens or cardboard minis (the sort you could download from Paper Forge, for example), there is something a little more real about using three-dimensional miniatures for your beasties. Especially if you want to assemble a small army of zombies at one end of the table, or you want to make it abundantly clear that the entire deck of the opposing ship is swarming with pirates.

Buying that many miniatures isn't cheap, though... unless you hit up SCS Direct, that is.

Roll initiative.

What Is SCS Direct?

You know how everyone always tells you to shop for minis on the Internet, because that's where you find good deals? Well, SCS Direct is one of those digital storefronts I found on Amazon that has all kinds of awesome minis. Not only that, but it offers you packs of them for less than $20!

A brief sample of the minis packs I found include:

- 100 Fantasy Creatures (with wizards, two-headed ogres, unicorns, dragons, and other sundries)

- 100 Zombies (with traditional zombies, zombie pets, graveyard terrain, and other undead things)

- 100 Glow-In-The-Dark Zombies (same as above, but in green, and glowing in the dark)

- Humans VS Aliens (an equal assortment of civilians, and Cthonian horrors ideal for aberrations)

- 52 Robots (a slew of mechanical monsters, ready to populate a sci-game game or tinker's dungeon)

No matter what kind of game you're playing, these minis are something most DMs can afford, and even better they're made from durable plastic. You won't have to worry about fragile parts breaking off every time you move a mini, and they're distinct enough that there's no worrying about separating the monsters from the heroes. A major advantage if you like to run hoard battle scenarios.

If you like more detailed minis then you might be a bit happier with the offerings in the Arena of The Planeswalker game produced by Wizards of the Coast, especially if you can find it and its additional packs like Battle For Zendikar or Shadows Over Innistrad at a fairly cheap price. But if you need bad guys to beef up your map, then the big buckets of goons might be just what the doctor ordered for your next campaign!

That's all for this week's Moon Pope Monday post! If you've got a hot tip for getting cheap minis (or other bargain supplies for gaming) leave them in the comments below! If you'd like to see more of my work, head over to my Vocal archive, or just click my Gamers page to see only my tabletop articles. You should also consider heading over to the YouTube channel Dungeon Keeper Radio, where I work with other talented gamers making videos for players and DMs alike!

To stay on top of all my latest releases, follow me on Facebook, Tumblr, and Twitter. If you'd like to support me, you could either Buy Me A Ko-Fi, go to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page to become a patron, or check in at My Amazon Author Page where you can buy my books... like a copy of my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife!

Looking For Deals on Terrain and Minis? Don't Go To Your FLGS

If you're a gamer, then you've likely seen those grand set ups at conventions, or on YouTube campaigns where the DM has an entire spread of appropriate map terrain. A whole, miniature world whether it's a dungeon, the town square, or an entire army that's being battled. It looks like a dream come true, but that dream quickly turns into a nightmare when you see how much dealers sell some of that terrain for.

How much!? I could put a down payment on a REAL house for that.

While advances in technology like 3D printing have made it easier to get custom designs, most of us still can't afford to have one of those little miracles in our basement. Don't worry, though, there are plenty of places you can go to find interesting additions to your map.

Head To The Dollar Store

Whether it's the Dollar Tree, Dollar General, Five Below, or some other brand of store where they sell stuff for cheap, pop in there are take a good look around. Specifically, you need to walk down the toy aisle. In the super cheap dollar stores, you'll find bags of plastic toys that are perfect for map deployment. Over-sized wolves, hulking zombies, skeletons, pirates, cannons, catapults, knights, and the list goes on and on. While a lot of these minis won't quite fit in a single space, and they have some trouble standing up, you can easily glue them to a pre-existing base. And if you don't have any bases lying around unused, you can easily cut some from cardboard or plastic. Take a Sharpie to blacken the base, and you have adventurers, monsters, and all sorts of props that could be cluttering up your dungeon. You can even add some small stones or moss onto the base, if you're super dedicated.

It won't be Games Workshop quality, but hey, you're not paying Games Workshop prices, either.

In addition to just looking for those $1 bags of cheap toys, though, give a long, hard look to the board games on offer. Because as I mentioned awhile back in Want Cheap Minis? Wizards and Five Below Are Here To Help! these stores often get games like Arena of The Planeswalkers (which has over 30 miniatures in it, as well as some useful map terrain like boulders, ice walls, etc.). And even if it's not a cast-off from Wizards, board games with interesting minis, a crap load of dice, or even a dice tower, can often be picked up for a handful of change.

Even if you don't find something in the toy aisle, relax. Instead, swing by the craft section, and the home and garden aisle if they have one. You know that red dragon "mini" that's about a foot tall? Well, if you don't mind it having a ceramic glisten, you may be able to find one for $5 or so that's meant to go in your garden. It will be pretty heavy, and will require a base, but you'll see the same look of utter panic on your players' faces when you deploy it, and that's what matters. In addition to colossal beasties the size of a house cat, though, home and garden aisles in these stores are replete with tiny cottages, wells, castles, and other stuff for people who want to build little outdoor scenes in their gardens.

And remember, if the castle you find looks too cheery, all it takes is a coat of black gloss spray paint to turn it into the decaying tower of the wizard Karthandrel.

If That Doesn't Work, Head To Michael's

Chances are you've been in a Michael's craft store at some point. However, unless you went all the way to the back aisles, you may have missed their miniatures crafting section. While it's meant for model train enthusiasts, dioramas, and other miniature still-life art, these aisles can be a godsend for DMs who want to spice up the map.

They literally have everything you could want back there. You want dragons? Got em. Stone walls to mark out dungeon barriers? There are probably half-a-dozen varieties there. You want a grassy mat you can mark off into five-foot-squares? Giants? Sea creatures? Done, done, and done. Some things may require a little bit of constructive trimming and gluing to be made into game-ready pieces, but they won't cost anywhere near as much as what you'd find at a convention.

Especially if you get a store membership.

Michael's has a program where, if you're a member, they send you daily coupons, weekly specials, and birthday perks. So even if that hydra you're looking at is $15, well, you can get it for less than a 10-spot if you wait for a 50% off coupon... which you'll get pretty quick. And while you're there you could pick up some paints and brushes to make each head a different color... you know, in case your players have earned you wroth.

That's all for this week's Moon Pope Monday update. Hopefully you find the advice helpful, and if you know of any specific stores that always seem to have the goods feel free to share them in the comments. For more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, or just go to my Gamers profile to see only my RPG stuff. You could also stop by the YouTube channel Dungeon Keeper Radio where I help out. To stay on top of all my releases, follow me on Facebook, Tumblr, and Twitter. Lastly, if you want to help me keep getting good content to you, then consider leaving my a small tip by Buying Me A Ko-Fi, or becoming a regular patron over on The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page. Every little bit helps, and there's free stuff in it for you as well!

Teddy Bear Battles Nightmares In Short Film By Tyler Novo

For those who don't know the teddy bear was named in the early 1900s. President Theodore Roosevelt was out hunting and there just seemed to be a lack of deadly predators (perchance they had heard Teddy's mighty footsteps and decided to go elsewhere?). As a gesture other members of the party caught a small bear which was really more of a cub, tied it up, and offered it to the president for a trophy shoot. Roosevelt refused to do such a thing since it completely violated all ideas of sportsmanship. The news story exploded across the country, and a toy maker on the East coast had an idea of creating "Teddy" bears as a way to commemorate the event. The toys were a smash hit, and remain part of our culture today.

They're also why we have images like this one.

Teddy bears are immune to fear.

This picture has gone viral more often than I can readily count, but as cool as it is there are so many unanswered questions. What is that thing? Can the teddy actually take it? Are all teddy bears so awesome, or just a few? Can things like this be worked into games like Monsters And Other Childish Things or Grimm? I do not know. What I do know is that now we have a short film courtesy of Tyler Novo that is just as (if not more) awesome than the above image.

Since you're curious, here it is.

I know, right? Check out Tyler Novo's other work right here on Vimeo.

Hopefully you enjoyed this week's update, and if you'd like to help keep Improved Initiative going then stop by my Patreon page and become a patron today! If you want to get all of my updates then plug your email into the box on your right hand side, or follow me on Facebook and Tumblr.

Sabertron: The Best Thing To Ever Happen To Boffer?

Before we get started with this week's Moon Pope Monday post I'd like to give my readers an update. I've been steadily working to get my previous character build articles up and running again, and as of today my Gotham Knights series has been re-posted and collected at this link right here. You can also see the complete archive of character conversions by clicking the tab above and to your right.

Now that I've told you that, let's talk about this...

Yes, it's exactly what you think it is.

What you are looking at is something that every kid would squeal with joy to find under the Christmas tree (and if we're honest, most of us so-called "adults" would do the same). Sabertron is a sword fighting system that can tell the difference between a blow on the wielder and a blow on his or her sword, and which can keep score electronically. So while cheap shots and dirty fighting are still part of the game there's no denying that one opponent managed to strike the other.

Seriously, check out the promo video they put together for this thing.

I want one. Hell with that, I want four.

As always, thanks for dropping in on Improved Initiative. Feel free to like this post on FB by clicking the window on your upper right hand side, and if you'd like to keep up on all of the blog's updates plug your email into the box on your right, or follow me on Facebook and Tumblr.