Question about Kimono Troops and BAM Comix setting

So, if you people remember, I made a similar post over at OSF see here: https://onesixthfigures.forumotion.com/t4541-question-about-kimono-troops-and-bam-comix-setting

Now I decided to start a similar thread here, so I can post questions regarding the shared comic setting that is currently going by "Hidden in the Shadows". Why do I post such a thread? My aim is it, to finally be able to take part in it, maybe even this year and for that, I need info of the dos and don'ts plus whatever else comes to mind.

Speaking of, what would be the best way to introduce my team into the setting, what sort of Debut Comic should I go with if I come around doing it?
Also, do we have space aliens or is much of it just Mythos creatures? I am just wondering about that, because so far I dont think actual aliens have shown up or I may have forgotten it already.

So as the preamble implies, space aliens are a possibility. Also Dal has incorporated the David Tennant version of "The Doctor" in his stories. Then there is this guy, then as you can see from this photo, there seem to be occasional visits from time-traveling space crew, including at least one alien.


So space aliens have occasionally shown up.

The best way to introduce your unit to the lot is with a story of your own choosing. It could start with your HQ being advised they have been incorporated into the SIMON Network; it could be a collaborative story with another member in which there is an exchange of communications between your HQ and another, or you can just go with the idea that your HQ has been part of SIMON all along and just do your own thing. I'm sure Dave, Dal and I would be more than happy to work on a collaborative script if that's what you want to do; we have done several ourselves. Don't overthink it. Just do.

The best way is to concentrate on you're own characters world, rather than getting bogged down by what has come before. Yes, by all means link and make reference to others chapters, but think of your own teams and their adventures. Like, who do they fight against, what is the purpose of their unit, and how do the interact with other teams. The aim of the shadows story is for folks to join in and have fun, and let your characters, good or evil, evolve through your chapters.  Hope it helps.

Okay, thank you for the answers, I will try my best. As I said before, I need to carve out a place where I can setup the dioramas for interior shots, which means I need furniture. Did you guys buy your furniture, or did you make it yourself? I guess I have to look at some tutorials for modular diorama setups that I can change on a whim.

I have heard of SIMON, seeing this treaty puts it all into perspective.
I guess the closest the States have to a Monarch would be the president.

Since this treaty is from before I joined, I'm not familiar with Spy Training Camp HQ or Action Man HQ.

Spy Training Camp was the comic of another member here, but that person dropped out as far as I am aware.

So, I recall mentioning the idea of a "Shadow council" as a benevolent conspiracy of people from politics, science, industry and the military that quietly fund the various groups and maybe the force behind things like SIMON and HUNT, but apparently that idea seems to clash with established lore, so what do? I just figured that for SIMON to work, there needs to be some force in the background that got all the nations to even sign onto it and that provides funding and stuff.

It would not even factor into things as much, as its just a shadowy group that makes sure that everything runs according to plan, whatever that plan maybe.

ZeroDelta wrote:

Spy Training Camp was the comic of another member here, but that person dropped out as far as I am aware.

So, I recall mentioning the idea of a "Shadow council" as a benevolent conspiracy of people from politics, science, industry and the military that quietly fund the various groups and maybe the force behind things like SIMON and HUNT, but apparently that idea seems to clash with established lore, so what do? I just figured that for SIMON to work, there needs to be some force in the background that got all the nations to even sign onto it and that provides funding and stuff.

It would not even factor into things as much, as its just a shadowy group that makes sure that everything runs according to plan, whatever that plan maybe.

Zero,

Do whatever you want to do in your own stories. However, it is my opinion that you are overthinking things and getting yourself bogged down in pointless detail. If it would not factor much into things, why bother with it at all?

TNshooter wrote:

I have heard of SIMON, seeing this treaty puts it all into perspective.
I guess the closest the States have to a Monarch would be the president.

Since this treaty is from before I joined, I'm not familiar with Spy Training Camp HQ or Action Man HQ.

We don't actually spend a whole load of time worrying about the structure of governments because it doesn't play into the stories and also, because as the SIMON Treaty stipulates, SIMON doesn't even bother telling government what it's up to most of the time.

Hmm.......dont think those details are pointless. Having a organization that has no oversight would, by and large, lead to even more friction and conflict, because arguments will arise on how things should be done. Suddenly your silly carefree setting becomes kind of dark when you think about it for a minute. There is potential for stories in there, is what I am saying, so no, to me its not pointless if I can use it for a story. Sure, who the President of the USA is currently does not matter, until you decide to have a story where said President is kidnapped, then you need those details.

I would like to explore a side of things that so far, have not been addressed yet. The reason I came up with Special Purpose Intelligence, Development, Extermination, and Revenge aka S.P.I.D.E.R was the very idea, that SIMON is unaccountable to anyone and that their action caused the death of someone that would create SPIDER, to take revenge and to take down "the Council", seeing it all as some sort of NWO style conspiracy. There is a massive story in there that would affect everything in the long run and could be fascinating. Or am I wrong here?

But I digress, its just an idea at this point and I actually have to start it.

That said: is flikr the only good place these days to host photos? I know that Flikr pro cots a lot of money, is it really worth it?

Kimono Troop Command wrote:

We don't actually spend a whole load of time worrying about the structure of governments because it doesn't play into the stories and also, because as the SIMON Treaty stipulates, SIMON doesn't even bother telling government what it's up to most of the time.  

So I guess the entire first paragraph of the treaty is not true? Or has no bearing on the treaty?

Quote :

Hmm.......dont think those details are pointless. Having a organization that has no oversight would, by and large, lead to even more friction and conflict, because arguments will arise on how things should be done. Suddenly your silly carefree setting becomes kind of dark when you think about it for a minute. There is potential for stories in there, is what I am saying, so no, to me its not pointless if I can use it for a story. Sure, who the President of the USA is currently does not matter, until you decide to have a story where said President is kidnapped, then you need those details.

I would like to explore a side of things that so far, have not been addressed yet. The reason I came up with Special Purpose Intelligence, Development, Extermination, and Revenge aka S.P.I.D.E.R was the very idea, that SIMON is unaccountable to anyone and that their action caused the death of someone that would create SPIDER, to take revenge and to take down "the Council", seeing it all as some sort of NWO style conspiracy. There is a massive story in there that would affect everything in the long run and could be fascinating. Or am I wrong here?

According to the treaty, as written, I'm going to have to go with ZeroDelta on that point. I have been knocking around a story idea where the President has been kidnapped.

ZeroDelta wrote:

Hmm.......dont think those details are pointless. Having a organization that has no oversight would, by and large, lead to even more friction and conflict, because arguments will arise on how things should be done. Suddenly your silly carefree setting becomes kind of dark when you think about it for a minute. There is potential for stories in there, is what I am saying, so no, to me its not pointless if I can use it for a story. Sure, who the President of the USA is currently does not matter, until you decide to have a story where said President is kidnapped, then you need those details.

I would like to explore a side of things that so far, have not been addressed yet. The reason I came up with Special Purpose Intelligence, Development, Extermination, and Revenge aka S.P.I.D.E.R was the very idea, that SIMON is unaccountable to anyone and that their action caused the death of someone that would create SPIDER, to take revenge and to take down "the Council", seeing it all as some sort of NWO style conspiracy. There is a massive story in there that would affect everything in the long run and could be fascinating. Or am I wrong here?

But I digress, its just an idea at this point and I actually have to start it.

That said: is flikr the only good place these days to host photos? I know that Flikr pro cots a lot of money, is it really worth it?

You can do whatever you like in your stories.  However, trying to apply the rules of the real world into your stories, which are comic-book fantasies, not John LeCarre novels, will I suspect, only bog you down in superfluous detail which you may find difficult to depict. SIMON is simply an unseen structure we created by mutual agreement to give us a framework for our disparate HQ's to appear to be working together. It's nothing more that . It is an invisible hand, which has never played more than a supporting role in our stories, which are focused on the guys at the bottom, not the ones at the top.

Now As I said, as Dal has said, you do whatever you like in your stories. But don't be surprised if some of us don't want to overthink things.

TNshooter wrote:

Kimono Troop Command wrote:

We don't actually spend a whole load of time worrying about the structure of governments because it doesn't play into the stories and also, because as the SIMON Treaty stipulates, SIMON doesn't even bother telling government what it's up to most of the time.  

So I guess the entire first paragraph of the treaty is not true? Or has no bearing on the treaty?

Quote :

Hmm.......dont think those details are pointless. Having a organization that has no oversight would, by and large, lead to even more friction and conflict, because arguments will arise on how things should be done. Suddenly your silly carefree setting becomes kind of dark when you think about it for a minute. There is potential for stories in there, is what I am saying, so no, to me its not pointless if I can use it for a story. Sure, who the President of the USA is currently does not matter, until you decide to have a story where said President is kidnapped, then you need those details.

I would like to explore a side of things that so far, have not been addressed yet. The reason I came up with Special Purpose Intelligence, Development, Extermination, and Revenge aka S.P.I.D.E.R was the very idea, that SIMON is unaccountable to anyone and that their action caused the death of someone that would create SPIDER, to take revenge and to take down "the Council", seeing it all as some sort of NWO style conspiracy. There is a massive story in there that would affect everything in the long run and could be fascinating. Or am I wrong here?

According to the treaty, as written, I'm going to have to go with ZeroDelta on that point. I have been knocking around a story idea where the President has been kidnapped.

In that case, bear in mind that in our little universe, if you decide to stick to canon, the US has been been ravaged by a limited nuclear exchange with Russia in which Russia took most of the damage, but which left great parts of the country, including the much of the Southwest,  Mad-Max film kind of lawless.  Further, the English-speaking countries of the world, are now led in a loose alliance by the UK called "The British League." UK, US, Canada, Australia, various smaller English-speaking former colonies of the UK.

And you know what else? None of that has played any significant part in our stories. It's all just background that was agreed upon, and mostly never referred to.  If you look closely at the various chapters of "Hidden in the Shadows," neither government, political situations, bureaucracy, or the personnel of SIMON HQ have ever been depicted.  The stories are told from the point of view of the guys down in the trenches, so to speak; not so much those in high power.

At the end of the day, it's up to you how much detail you put into a story. However some of us have found that when it comes to background, less is more.

Indeed, keep things simple, not only for yourself, but others too. that way, it makes it easier for others to join in.

TNshooter wrote:

According to the treaty, as written, I'm going to have to go with ZeroDelta on that point. I have been knocking around a story idea where the President has been kidnapped.

With your cast of figures Daryl, it should make for an interesting series of chapters and character development! Plus the President getting kidnapped sounds like a cool story line to follow!

My apologies, it was not my intention to make things political. I guess I misread KTC's comment on the units not
communicating with governments. It was the comment about SIMON not bothering to tell governments what they
are doing that threw me off, when the treaty says the units work for their prospective governments.

So I can see ZeroDelta's point on units ignoring their governments can possible causing chaos.

My story idea about the President being kidnapped is one I have thought about for some time, not part of the
community storyline.

Again, my apologies, I didn't mean to offend anyone.

TNshooter wrote:

My apologies, it was not my intention to make things political. I guess I misread KTC's comment on the units not
communicating with governments. It was the comment about SIMON not bothering to tell governments what they
are doing that threw me off, when the treaty says the units work for their prospective governments.

So I can see ZeroDelta's point on units ignoring their governments can possible causing chaos.

My story idea about the President being kidnapped is one I have thought about for some time, not part of the
community storyline.

Again, my apologies, I didn't mean to offend anyone.

No-one is offended; no apologies required. Also, the SIMON Treaty was was deliberately written in a tongue-and-cheek kind of way and sort of reflects the scenario from the film "Men In Black" where K, when questioned about "which government agency to they report to," he answers "None of them. They all ask too many questions."

We are not trying to be realistic. We are just trying to have fun without getting caught up in too much detail.

TNshooter wrote:

My apologies, it was not my intention to make things political. I guess I misread KTC's comment on the units not
communicating with governments. It was the comment about SIMON not bothering to tell governments what they
are doing that threw me off, when the treaty says the units work for their prospective governments.

So I can see ZeroDelta's point on units ignoring their governments can possible causing chaos.

My story idea about the President being kidnapped is one I have thought about for some time, not part of the
community storyline.

Again, my apologies, I didn't mean to offend anyone.

None taken my end matey, I was just saying, it sounded like a fun and interesting story line to pursue .

I think your story idea about the President being kidnapped is a brilliant one. It’s just a pity that you’ve been thinking about for some time that’s all. Members stories don’t have to be part of the community storyline in the slightest. I’m now really interested in seeing how the President is going to be kidnapped and which villain or villains that are going to be used because you have a fare few to choose from.

So, seeing as its a comic book style setting, are there still any limits, anything I should avoid (other than sex/nudity and ultra violence I mean)?

I mean, what about mutants, cyborgs and the like? I have also wondered if there are Vampires of sort (I actually do have a scientific explanation for them, as well as Zombies. I found a Youtuber that made very detailed videos about a possible virus that turns people into those, complete with morphological changes, he even made one for Wendigos and Werewolves.)

ZeroDelta wrote:

So, seeing as its a comic book style setting, are there still any limits, anything I should avoid (other than sex/nudity and ultra violence I mean)?

I mean, what about mutants, cyborgs and the like? I have also wondered if there are Vampires of sort (I actually do have a scientific explanation for them, as well as Zombies. I found a Youtuber that made very detailed videos about a possible virus that turns people into those, complete with morphological changes, he even made one for Wendigos and Werewolves.)

Cyborgs, mutants, vampires, zombies are all okay.

And that's just counting some of the figures in my collection, never mind Dave and Dal's. So....pretty much anything goes.

Very interesting, thank you for that info.

So, the whole Second Korea war was started by a Japanese militarist to make Japan great again. I do like that plot point, because it means that I can modify the backgrounds of various of my characters to have served in that big war, so its not just Afghanistan and Iraq. I recall that it was said, that North Korea still exists, guess that means North Koreans can be bad guys if need be.

That said, what is the current state of the world? Well, depending on the author, I suppose.

In my original background for K-Troop, which was designed before joining AMMO and before joining in the "Hidden In The Shadows" storyline, Russia was flattened in the nuclear exchange with the US and took the worst of the damage.  However, this was never really incorporated into Hidden in the Shadows and has never played a part in any of the stories, nor has Russia. So what shape and role Russia have, is pretty much a blank slate, though I think the idea that it is now heavily irradiated wasteland, dotted by tiny fiefdoms ruled by warlords and other petty tyrants has potential.

Colonel Kimitake, the militarist responsible for the Second Korean War is very loosely based on  Hiraoka Kimitake, and brilliant novelist, ultra-nationalist, and crackpot who wrote under the pen name of of Yukio Mishima. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yukio_Mishima.  One day, I will actually complete a figure representing him.  

It was established in the story where Hoshi and Michiko get drunk in Dr. Diablos's old office, that North Korea is still around. Its dictator, not realizing that Diablos Island was now under new management called on the phone, demanding to know where the plutonium Diablos had promised him was.  

https://www.flickr.com/photos/35531831@N02/52636533114/in/dateposted-public/

I see. I recall suggesting something different for Russia, basically having it fall apart and reform itself as the Russian Union and have a "Rise of the Reds" style storyline, where the new leaders in Russia are somewhat inspired by the Soviet Union or rather "the New Soviets" aka Sovietski, who use the Soviet imagery to mobilize the masses, but are less extreme ideologically. The idea is, that no one would know where they stand: are they friend or foe? They seem to want peaceful co-existence, but is that just a bluff? The new leadership seems to work for peace, but can all of them be trusted and what about the remnants of the old rulers, that still have ties, will try derail it all and rise to power again or is the new vanguard dealing with them?

That would also have story potential, it could go in either direction.

ZeroDelta wrote:

I see. I recall suggesting something different for Russia, basically having it fall apart and reform itself as the Russian Union and have a "Rise of the Reds" style storyline, where the new leaders in Russia are somewhat inspired by the Soviet Union or rather "the New Soviets" aka Sovietski, who use the Soviet imagery to mobilize the masses, but are less extreme ideologically. The idea is, that no one would know where they stand: are they friend or foe? They seem to want peaceful co-existence, but is that just a bluff? The new leadership seems to work for peace, but can all of them be trusted and what about the remnants of the old rulers, that still have ties, will try derail it all and rise to power again or is the new vanguard dealing with them?

That would also have story potential, it could go in either direction.

Whatever you like. Russia is tabula rasa, as far as we're concerned. But I wouldn't get too wrapped up in details that will never end up mattering a damn in stories. Super-fun to have KGB-style goons with a mid-century look to serve as villains, but pointless to go into too much background detail. Everyone knows they are the bad guys.