Little Big Wars

Gruntz Entry: Janitorial National Defense Force Firegroup

2012-01-30T19:44:00.000-08:00

This is a repost of my entry from the Gruntz forum.

Janitorial National Defense Force Firegroup led by the Comedian:

Janitorial Firegroup including a 40mm ATGL, Color Guard, and SAW

The Comedian and the Firegroup Color Guard in front of their Redcorn Mk.II Hovertank, a new acquisition from Wombat Heavy Industries

From Janitoria National Defense Force

The Firegroup is supported by a G.Z.G. "Gribble" Hover Drone

Proxie Models releases DBA bases

2012-01-29T23:40:00.000-08:00

After a little prodding from me Ken decided to produce a lovely set of bases in 40 x 15mm, 40 x 20mm, and 40 x 30mm to go with the other bases in his line. Each sprue contains two of each base type, and five sprues are packed in a bag for $4 USD. I will be picking up a couple packs this week to base my Kjoth (T'ang Chinese) army for Rally Round the King.

http://proxiemodels.com/ancientsbasesdbastyle.aspx

Elheim Marines and Steve Summers!

2012-01-20T20:41:00.001-08:00

Dunno how accurate their camo is, but they look passable enough for my tastes.

Alternative Shooting Resolution for Star Army

2012-01-19T19:52:00.000-08:00

For ages, I've wanted a way of resolving group fire in Star Army that just wasn't present in the individual rules. I've adapted some Force on Force mechanisms for this purpose. The end result is less granular than Star Army allows for, but I don't really like individual targeting when I've got five or six groups on the table.

Firing Procedure:

LoS is determined from group center to group center; if the majority of a group is behind cover, the entire group is behind cover, etc...
Roll 1d6 for each member of the firing group; the initial total may not exceed the number of figures in the group receiving fire. Add additional 1d6s for whatever modifiers apply. Support weapons and Stars can fire separately using the usual shooting rules, but may not then add to the dice pool.
The group receiving fire rolls 1d6 for each group member, plus additional 1d6s for whatever modifiers apply.
Compare the number of successes rolled (1s, 2s, and 3s); if the attacker's successes exceed that of the defender, then make Impact rolls equal to the difference using the Impact chart for the majority weapon. Hits will be applied to the majority armor type in the defending group.
Make Reaction tests as normal, and continue to repeat the procedure until one side cannot return fire.

Attacker Modifiers:

Each SAW or Rifle/GL present +1d6
Each LMG, LAW, Rocket Launcher, or Anti-Air Launcher +2d6
Each HMG, Plasma Gun, +3d6
Group is primarily armed with laser weapons +2d6
Flamethrower within 12" +3d6

Defender Modifiers:

Defender is concealed +1d6
Defender is in cover +2d6
Defender is equipped with Hard Body armor +2d6
Defender is equipped with Exo-Armor +4d6
Defender is equiped with BTA +6d6

Admittedly this is all arbitrary and unplaytested, but I thought I should put it into electronic format while I was thinking about it. Perhaps if I can get the table cleared off soon I'll be able to give the mods a spin sometime this weekend.

Minor Flooding

2012-01-19T15:50:00.001-08:00

This is about 20ft from my apartment.

We've had a fair bit of rain up in the northwestern part of the country; here's hoping that it holds off for a few days.

Rest in Peace Field Marshal Tobias Rommel

2012-01-18T13:27:00.001-08:00

From Apr 19, 2011

I'll miss you, buddy. I hope they have paint water cups to drink out of wherever you ended up...

My first Modern figures - Elheim Taliban

2012-01-06T13:56:00.001-08:00

Ready to ambush you in a mountain pass!

A friend picked up a copies of Force on Force and its supplements, but as he's not really much of a miniatures guy I was tasked with slapping some paint on them. Pretty basic stuff, no real highlights or washes on the top coat. I look forward to getting their Marine/Bundeswehr counterparts completed so that we can start trying out Operation Enduring Freedom.

Merry Xmas!

2011-12-24T14:14:00.000-08:00

Wishing you and yours good health, a full glass, and lots of wonderful gaming!

Song of Blades and Heroes Demo Night

2011-12-15T19:09:00.000-08:00

Some shots from my Song of Blades and Heroes demo at a local game night.

The game itself went pretty well. I had a mother and her two children playing; the Brass Dwarves sat out the game (which is just as well considering that they are the ones I've got most personal ownership over). The game's objective was to steal treasure tokens from my 295 point White Dragon and possibly kill him. The dragon went largely unmolested during the game as these inexperienced players weren't able to set up a good combination attack to wound him. The mother and daughter both picked up the game pretty well and were able to tie the game; both the Greenskins and Romans did pretty well, probably due to being fairly balanced warbands. The Undead did not fair so well, largely due to their player forgetting to activate high quality models first (one turn he started with a zombie, rolling all three dice). I may have to run this game again, but I'd really like to get some serious (and adult) players who don't mind running a campaign game.

This night's efforts... figures for Song of Blades and Heroes

2011-12-11T22:35:00.000-08:00

I'm running a game demo for Song of Blades and Heroes tomorrow, and I spent tonight painting up some Heroquest and metal figures for it. I'm rather unhappy with the mummy, but the Chaos Warriors, Sorceror, Dwarf Sorceror, and Chaos Dwarf Bazooka turned out pretty well.

I'm running a fairly simple scenario: four warbands try to steal treasure from a GM-controlled dragon; whoever gets the most of the board wins. Brass Dwarves, Undead, Romans, and an Ogre-lead greenskin warband will be competing against my scary white dragon. I've still got to get warband rosters and two more reference templates printed out before I head to the gaming hall.

Blackmoore's Dragoons finally finished...

2011-12-09T12:35:00.001-08:00

I'll be entering these guys in the Tomorrow's War Strikeforce competition. Too bad I don't really have a a big enough table for me to use them as a full platoon in most games.

Roule-bacon's Finest - SWAT

2011-10-19T15:57:00.000-07:00

The best that Roule-Bacon has to offer, at least 'til I decide on a HOST unit. These two units fulfill the requirements for the SWAT entry on the 5150:NB Law Enforcement generation tables.

Khurasan SEAL DEVGRU team

2011-10-14T23:14:00.000-07:00

Along with the Locusts I also received a pack of SEALs, which were quite wonderful to behold. No flash, no moldlines, just a few burs on their bases to sand off and one or two on the SEALs with Rifle-GLs. Here's some photos of the SEALs in bare metal; I doubt I can do much to review them since moderns aren't really my thing.

The four rifle armed members of the pack, apparently in CQB configuration rather than the stated bullpup configuration. The goggles are what sold me on using them as my sci-fi SWAT team, and their short-barreled weapons didn't hurt either.

Two team members were armed with Rifle-GLs. The springing into action pose is quite convincing.

The sniper and SAW gunner will be the hardest for me to use; I suspect they'll end up in the 2nd team to arrive to the scene of the crime. The box magazine is the only thing that makes the SAW gunner stand out, so a strong contrasting color will probably have to be used. The sniper rifle arrived bent (as they are wont to do) but was easily bent back into place without damage.

The SEALs come with separate, fairly nondescript packs that are nice enough, but I'm leaving them off. At some point I'll probably trade them or stick them on some OCLF or JNDF figures.

Khurasan Locust Patrol Truck

2011-10-14T22:54:00.000-07:00

I received my order of two Locusts Patrol Trucks and a SEAL DEVGRU team yesterday, and I was rather pleased with my order. Service was quick, as usual, and I was eager to dig in.

The complete Locust kit in parts.

The Locusts are pretty neat little kits, though they're a little smaller than I thought they'd be. There's very little flash or gating on the models, though there were gate remnants on an acceptable part of the wheel suspension.

The Locust's unique suspension. I'm guessing that each wheel has is independently powered.

The only significant problem I ran into during cleaning was a bit of mold slippage (which appears on both trucks). This is pretty easy to file down in general, but the rear door has given me a bit of trouble (it turned out better on the second kit).

Assembly was pretty easy; sand down the flat parts of the suspension, slot into the main body, clean out the top hatch and glue it down; bam! it's done. The kit comes with three top options (hatch, flush, and double turret), but I opted for the hatch since this will be a police vehicle.

(I went back and cleaned it up better after the picture).

All in all, good on Khurasan for bringing these beauts into the world. I probably won't need anymore for my SWAT cops, but the Orange Country Liberation Front might find some use for them (and the guns), so we'll see.

Skraag the Toothless begins his life anew in Roule-Bacon (formerly New Hope City)

2011-10-08T21:47:00.001-07:00

Skraag the Toothless
Rep 5 Star, Trader(Gun Running), (Fit5, Pep3, Sav4,Sci0), Vicious, Armored Hide, Stone Cold.

Blue Lights in New Hope City

2011-09-29T23:06:00.000-07:00

I recently purchased a copy of Two Hour Wargames: New Beginnings, and truthfully it is a thing of beauty. It provides more role-playing opportunities than D & D 4th edition and certainly has a more realistic combat system. I've already got plenty of 15mm characters and civvies painted up, but unfortunately I was not in possession of the police officers or vehicles that the rules call for. As of now I at least have transportation for them, thanks to Mattel.

I now have four of these sleek, futuristic police cars (though one still has to be painted, and I've got a ways to go in general), all at a $1.07-1.09 a piece, not terrible. The little plastic rivets on the bottom were easy to drill out, after which I primed the body and painted the whole black with white doors. I'll be following these up with painted headlights/tail lights as well as Space Wolf transfers on the doors. The cars themselves are a little oversized, but don't look bad next to 15mm figures as compared to actual Matchbox patrol vehicles.

The toy car used is Ultra Rage, 15/15 from the Track Stars '11 Hot Wheels line. I picked it up because it was shorter than the other cars and it put me in mind of the Antenociti's Workshop G.O.T. Police Cruiser. While it's a little more high tech than most of the equipment that is used in my Imagi-nation, I like to think that Itor's government would be just as likely to buy new, shiny equipment as it would burnt-out rust buckets.

There's also a call for a SWAT van in the rules, and I'll probably pick up Khurasan's Locust Patrol Truck for that purpose. As for the police officers themselves, I'm not sure... at the moment I'm favoring either Rebel Miniatures Riot Police or perhaps 15mm.co.uk's Megopolis Police Patrol.

More 15mm goodies

2011-09-05T16:04:00.000-07:00

I just finished the basing on a few of my random projects, and here they are:

A different take on the Cnidarians... lots of blue and Tamiya Clear Red.

Coalition Spider-skull Walker pictured with a pair of SAMAS PAs for scale.

Side view: The railguns are indeed cut-down golf tees.

15mm Sci-fi Vehicle Exchange Entry

2011-09-05T14:49:00.001-07:00

Here's my entry in the 15mm Sci-fi vehicle exchange, a GZG Chariot APC and Hammer's Slammers infantry squad. These were part of my first 15mm sci-fi purchase, one that was intended to test the waters, and I was certainly pleased with them, but ultimately they're not an integral part of anything I'm currently working on. The APC was eventually used to test out my Blackmoore's Dragoons tank camo scheme, and really it turned out a lot better than successive tanks (I abandoned my attempted at digital camo for a simpler one). The Slammers themselves were block painted and dipped, but I'll be repainting them to match the APC before they're sent off.

New Acquisition - Hot Wheels City Sets Garage

2011-09-05T14:25:00.000-07:00

While wandering through the Wal*mart clearance section I chanced upon this little gem for $5.00:

Unfortunately all the stickers were applied at the factory, but I've managed to remove all of them. The smaller sign is absolutely useless for most applications, but I kind of like the larger one. The interesting thing is that it doesn't really scale with anything (well duh, it's Hot Wheels), but I think it looks nice next to both 28mm and 15mm figures. If I'm lucky I'll be able to make it work with both. Here's some out of the box pictures:

Top view of the Blue and Red buildings.

The "garage"; I've already removed the car platform (the clearest indicator of any intended scale). There are actually doors on both buildings, but one was the sticker and the other doesn't stand out much.

A good view of the garage glass windows. I rather like them, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to preserve them (since it seems impossible to disassemble the building without breaking it).

The red building, whatever it is. The protrusion is part of a car launching mechanism that I'll probably dress up a bit.

Scale pic with a 10mm Mechwarrior Jade Hawk, a 28mm Urban Mammoth Triad Boss, and a 15mm GZG Alien Mercenary.

I don't know where I'm going to go with these buildings, but I at least expect they'll see some use in my Janitoria games.

Micro-armor!

2011-08-27T17:00:00.000-07:00

Having given up on trying to write a company-level sci-fi game, I've come to the conclusion that there's very little reason to write a game for that level of play. You may as well just add some extra detail to a micro-armor game, like Dirtside II (which apart from having boring infantry is perfect). With all that being said, I plan on having a go at writing a Chain Reaction-based micro-armor game that will not only be used with 6mm figures, but 10mm and 15mm figures as well.

We'll see where I'm at at the end of September...

Star Army Playtest 2 - Space Stunties on Patrol

2011-08-27T15:07:00.000-07:00

For my second playtest I opted to use my new Scrunts list with my Shinmeiche and put the little guys on Patrol. While in my previous game I had an NCO as my Star, this time I opted to make Team B's SAW gunner my Star, Brag Ironballs (love the name). I rolled up a fairly decent squad with Rep 5 Leaders and Rep 4 squaddies and the terrain was mostly clear apart from a jungle and a field at the far end, and a cluster of buildings in my starting zone (which were unfortunately very hostile). The weather was good, but apparently Shinmeiche Air Recon isn't what it once was, and they didn't bother to send me any. Blue Squad walked in with Bad Intel and immediately the shit hit the fan: My First Contact result yielded Unexpected Resistance (Nice job intel wizards!) and an additional 3 PEFs appeared on the table.

Turn 1
The two PEFs in section 4 activate, and the active PEFs trigger an In-Sight test from Team A, which is immediately resolved. One was fake, the other proved to be an Orc squad in a defensive position, Rep 4. The Shinmeiche take their In Sight test: Pass 2d6, they opt to fire, though only half of the team is able. The orcs receive 3 hits, one of which is their NCO. One orc is OOF, whereas the NCO and other target got splatted. The orcs then proceed to take their reaction tests, passing 1d6. The orcs, bloodthirsty and uncaring creatures that they are, opt to return fire with their messy weaponry, resulting in 5 hits, including the NCO.
The NCO and infantryman behind him are taken out of the fight, forcing a reaction test from the Team A: pass 1d6 forcing a Cohesion test. All pass 2d6, and the remaining figures act on the results of their Received Fire test, Ducking Back.

Section 7 Rep 6 PEF doesn't move, Section 8 PEF moves into LoS and proves to be nothing. Section 9 PEF is resolved in the open; the enemy passes 1d6 but receives no reinforcements. Section 7 PEF moves out of the palm forest.

Turn 2
The Orc squad in the defensive position becomes active. The middle section of the squad was cut down, so the remaining groups act separately, passing 1d6 and 2d6 respectively. They are on a Defend Mission. The right orc group fires on Team B. Two hits are inflicted on Team B, resulting in two Knock-Downs, one of which is Brag Ironballs. The infantryman is stunned, but Brag bounces right back up, ready to return fire. The rest of the team decides to Duck back into cover, but Brag decides to put a few parting shots into the Orcs with his SAW. He misses with all shots; the orcs take their test, pass 1d6 with the Rifle Orc opting to keep his head down and the LMGunner to return fire, scoring a hit on Brag and the NCO and causing KD tests on both, they Carry On and take a Received Fire test. Two hits are scored on the LMGunner and one on the Rifle Orc. The LMGunner is dead, forcing the Rifle Orc to take a reaction test; as he is thoroughly outgunned he Halts.

The bar then activates and fires upon the Shinmeiche, inflicting 3 hits, OOFing my Rocket Trooper and killing one infantrymen outright. All Carry On.

Team B activates and attempts to suppress the bar. The bar passes 1d6 on Rep 4, but 13 dice vs. its 4 Dice have succeeded in suppressing it. Team A activates and occupies the bar, concluding Turn 1.

Turn 3
Some PEF movement in the palm forest... nothing interesting there. The remaining Rifle Orc from last time opens up on my NCO and Brag, failing to hit anything. They return fire and he gets splatted. The other Orc group fires upon the bar. The structure is not suppressed.

Team B fast moves towards the shacks. They attempt to suppress one of them and are successful.

Team A in the bar opt to fire on the orc defensive position; 4 hits are scored. The orcs are smacked down but get right back up. I'm not really sure if the Orcs are outgunned or not (since FV isn't actually a proper weapon) but one of the guys in the bar has a mini-gun, so I decide that the Orcs pass 1d6 means they're ducking back behind cover for now.

Turn 4
Team B rushes out and gets shot by the Orcs. Brag takes an OOF, but uses his Star Power to stay in the fight, but he's now down to Star Power 4. The NCO gets hit 3 times and gets splatted. The squaddie next to the NCO opts to Carry On. Brag opts to fire back with two hits, and the infantryman also returns fire. Two hits are scored, OOFing one, but the Orcs then return fire, OOFing the infantryman and knocking Brag over again, who just gets back up and fires again. One Orc is killed and the other gets scared off by Brag's SAW.

The guys in the bar shoot at the Orc in cover again, ultimately to no result. The Orc in cover fires at Brag, who after getting knocked over shoots him in the face.

The shacks fire, putting the remaining non-Star of Team B out of the fight.

Turn 4
Rep 6 PEF in the palm forest doesn't do anything interesting, but Rep 4 PEF moves into view of the bar. It turns out to be nothing. The shacks fire again;

One shack and the bar are suppressed. Team A moves out of the bar.

Turn 5
Random Event triggered: Sniper targeting my mini-gunner; he's dead.

Brag attempts to suppress the shack. and is successful.

There are now two Rep 6 PEFs in the palm forest.

The shacks fire. Brag is stunned and now at Star Power 3; nother squaddie dies.

Turn 6
There's a new Orc squad in a defensive position just outside of the Palm Forest. Brag holds his fire, for the moment. The other PEF turned out to be another Orc squad. Deciding that the necessary resources just aren't there, the Shinmeiche decide to bail.

Thoughts:

I want to get platoon-sized forces on the table; the bad guys keep getting the reinforcements whereas my luck has meant that I was stuck with what I started with. Also, I want more toys. Time to buy some more figures.
I'm not sure I'm actually taking the right tests... am I supposed to be taking a Received Fire test after a Carry On result?
As a general rule, instead of allocating dice as I want, my figures with multiple Target dice walk their fire back and forth amongst targets, ensuring that most figures will not receive more than two dice from a single figure.
I *love* the new 5150, it's perfect for individually-based fire combat. I just want to do some larger games.

I just don't even...

2011-08-20T22:55:00.000-07:00

So tonight my wife picked up a clicky-turner ring from my Mechwarrior: Age of Destruction starter and described it as my "magic ring of dorkness". I'm not really sure how to feel at this point...

Painted Sons of Thunder - Shinmeiche Bronzo Company's 1st Platoon

2011-08-13T12:46:00.000-07:00

I've just finished painting up an entire pack of Rebel Miniatures' Sons of Thunder (sculpted by Adam Gayford), and overall I'm fairly pleased. I intend to use them with the 5150 Scrunt list, and as a result had to convert some missing weapon options, namely the mini-gun and SAW. Since the Scrunt list uses 12-man squads I was able to get two squads out of the pack, but that didn't leave me with enough figures to add platoon assets or the platoon command team. That being said, two more packs from Mike and some support weapons from GZG or someone else should allow me to field a full company with all the trimmings. From now on I will be referring to these guys as the Shinmeiche, the dwarf guys in the Aetherverse rulebook; it just flows much better than Sons of Thunder and is less weird then saying Space Dwarf, Spwarf, Scrunt (they're not Bob Olley sculpts, so that would be rude), or anything else. Featured here are the Shinmeiche of Blue Squad (Red squad is pretty much identical, so I won't bother posting pics).

The Scrunt list splits squads into two 6-man fireteams; Team A contains the NCO (denoted by a red helm and shoulders), a rocket trooper, and 4 SMG-armed Shinmeiche.

Team B contains the Jr. NCO (a gesturing fellow with identical livery to the other squaddies), a mini-gun trooper, a SAW-armed trooper, and 3 SMG-armed Shinmeiche.

Some WiP on Sons of Thunder support weapons

2011-08-06T21:30:00.000-07:00

I'm trying to build a force for a 5150 SA version of the Scrunts using my Sons of Thunder (a purpose for them at last), but I needed SAWs and Mini-guns to complete the squad. As is, one pack makes a whole Scrunt platoon minus the command/platoon assets.

Crude work with paperclips, Orca Assault Warrior Mini-Guns, and some weapon swaps. They don't look completely terrible.

Orcs vs. Dragoons - Star Army Playtest

2011-08-03T20:26:00.001-07:00

Well, I thought I had taken more photos (like the one of my initial table set-up), but apparently these few iffy photos are it. Anyways, here's the results of my first play through the 5150 Star Army rules using custom Orc and Dragoon lists.

I chose to do a standard Patrol mission for my first playtest, with a single squad of Orcs (6 Orcs with BA Assault Rifles, 1 w/LMG, and their NCO, Commander Nosh; all Rep 5) attempting to recon the far side of the board. The Orcs were contesting this area with an Investment Level of 3 (not that it did them much good), there was no Inclement Weather or Aerial Recon. Intel Level was 4, but it turned out that it was Bad Intel, not that that made a difference.

I generated three PEFs (Rep 3, two Rep 2) in table sections 1, 4, and 6. The Orcs won the first activation with a 6, but were unable to act apart from walking onto the table. The Rep 3 PEF was able to act and opted to move towards a Rep 2 PEF in section 4. After that there's some meandering around by the various PEFs until turn 3.

The prior turn the Rep 3 PEF decided to move into the woods in Section 9. I opted to resolve the PEF and sent one of my rifle Orcs in to poke at it. The Orcs begin to move into section 9 to see what the enemy PEF looks like. I pass 2d6 on the First Contact table, and thus the PEF is resolved normally. Enemy investment level is 3. I pass 1d6 for the PEF resolution, resulting in an Enemy Defensive Position. It calls for 2 squads and an asset in a Defensive position. Dragoons do not have assets as such (I'll make up my own assets at some point), and the Dragoons are fairly nasty, so I'm just allocating a full Dragoon squad with attached Medic/NCO.

The Dragoons (all Rep 4) take an In Sight test. They pass 2d6 and fire on the poor Orc. The Rapid-Fire Laser gunner scores an OOF result against the Orc, resolving that investigation.

The Orcs then take a Received Fire test and pass 2d6, opting to charge into Melee. The Orcs head into melee while the Dragoons fire upon their chargers. The orcs have two go OOF due to shooting, but continue on anyways, taking one Dragoon OOF; the Dragoons opt to go prone in place instead of running away.

Turn 4
The Orcs win the activation with a 5, and all remaining PEFs/NP units (having rolled a 1) will be able to activate this turn.

The Orcs opt to continue the melee, but first dispatch the OOF Dragoon in front of them, provoking a Man Down test from the other

Dragoons. The Dragoons opt to Carry On. The Dragoons win the melee by four and succeed in injuring Commander Nosh, but the innate toughness of the Orcs (Grath Recover from Knockdown) keeps them in the fight. A Man Down test is taken, but the Orcs opt to Carry On.

The Dragoon squad in the woods breaks off of the melee, provoking an In-Sight Test. The Orcs pass 2d6 and fire upon the Dragoons.

Nosh's BA SMG fails to hit anything. One Dragoon takes an AR round and goes down, but ultimately the Dragoons are successful in moving away, dragging the wounded man with them. They then proceed to open fire on the Orcs in cover. The Orcs are outgunned by the Dragoon Plasma guns, and after one Orc's tragic disintegration they proceed to Duck Back further into the trees.

The remaining PEFs move through cover.

Turn 5

I roll doubles for activation, and as a result Nosh's squad becomes the victim of Mortar Fire. The resulting barrage OOF'd and Killed the remainder of the Orc squad with Commander Nosh having to use his Cheat Death rule to survive 'til the next game (though as this was a playtest more than a campaign game, I wasn't too worried).

An interesting side-effect of the barrage was that half of the Dragoons were Stunned, and the remaining half were splatted everywhere. Here's a vote for reducing Blast circles while using 15mm figures; the 10" blast circle was absolutely disgusting.

Conclusion: I love the way Star Army flows, and all the extra stuff (Inclement Weather, Reinforcements, Insertions, etc...) really make the game shine. Melee is a bit of a crapshoot, but I'm mostly ok with how it turned out (+2d6 for using rifles as 2-handers is gonna be a no-go in my games though... I actually have figures with dedicated close-combat weapons, and an extra 2d6 just for using a rifle doesn't sit well with me). I look forward to trying Star Army out with multi-based figures.

Thoughts for the future:

*Be careful to execute tests in order and allocate fire before rolling. I find myself wanting to do unit vs. unit firing and its working against the individualized targeting.

*Orcs are pretty nasty (Carry On on a successful Recover from Knockdown test), but the Dragoons are absolute beasts with their Plasma Guns and HB armor. I need to make a note of what Assets Orcs and Dragoons can take. I think I'll make Brathairn a platoon asset and make another one an extra P-gunner or something along those lines.

*I failed to use the Non-Player tables. I was instead making tactical decisions for the Dragoons without realizing it.

*I will also probably reduce movement ranges; I'm happy with the actual weapon ranges on the 15mm tabletop.

Blackmoore's Dragoons for Star Army

2011-07-26T23:10:00.001-07:00

As it turns out I was not as productive as I'd hoped. I did however manage to create a list for my favorite creme de la creme private contractors, Blackmoore's Dragoons.

Blackmoore's Dragoons (use Star Army reaction tables)

Attributes: Agile, Fast, Subject to Fear

Dragoon Infantry Bloc (3 per platoon)
4x Dragoons (Rep 3-5, HB armor, Laser Rifle)
2x Dragoons (Rep 3-5, HB armor, Rapid-Fire Laser Rifle)
2x Dragoons (Rep 3-5, HB armor, Plasma Gun)
1x NCO (Rep 3-5, HB armor, Shotgun)
1x Medic (Rep 4, HB armor, Laser Carbine)

Brathairn Infantry Bloc (1 per platoon)*
4x Dragoons (Rep 4-5, HB armor, Laser Rifle)
2x Dragoons (Rep 4-5, HB armor, Rapid-Fire Laser Rifle)
2x Dragoons (Rep 4-5, HB armor, Plasma Gun)
1x NCO (Rep 4-5, HB armor, Shotgun)

*All Brathairn have received advanced life-saving training and are treated as Medics

Dragoon Vehicle Table (+1d6 to Vehicle Reaction Table rolls)
1-3 Chariot IFV
4 Chariot IFV, or if an Attack mission, a Chieftain HBT
5-6 Chieftain HBT
Dragoon Vehicles

Chariot IFV (EXO, Capacity 1, Medium Projectile Cannon, 2x LAW, Tracked, 24/18 speed)
Chieftain HBT (BTA, Roof Capacity 1, Particle-Plasma Gun, Small Beam Cannon, Tracked,
24/12 speed)

Insertion Table
# - Controlling Contesting
1 - Walking In Walking In
2 - Walking In Chariot IFV
3 - Walking In Chariot IFV
4 - Chariot IFV Chariot IFV
5 - Chariot IFV Chieftain HBT
6 - Chieftain HBT Dropship

Maximum Investment Level in Controlled or Contested Areas: 3

For all other relevant tables see the Gaea Prime/Star Army Tables

5150 Star Army Lists - Orcs and Dragoons

2011-07-25T00:06:00.000-07:00

This is just a placeholder for now... my recent employment at a produce processing plant has worn be out, but I'm hoping that tomorrow night I'm feeling energetic enough to post my altered lists. Suffice it to say that the Orcs are mostly based on the in-universe Grath entry, whereas the Dragoons are a Free Company that is equipped and trained similarly to the Star Army (but at the same time, support weapons are typically not platoon assets in the Dragoons, they're fireteam assets, which means that there are an awful lot of Repeating Lasers and Plasma Guns compared to the suggested lists).

Again, hopefully something concrete will be developed tomorrow.

Commander Nosh and the Bad Moon Lads

2011-07-18T20:38:00.000-07:00

My Bad Moons in all their glory:

Next up, either Garn or my GZG shanties.

More 15mm Orc Vehicles

2011-07-08T16:17:00.000-07:00

My painted fire support vehicle and its accompanying orc tank.

I've opted for a 2nd Ed. style Bad Moonz look with these, but painting anything yellow has proven challenging. On the plus side, it looks better than my Orc Battlewagon. I've got four more Shermans, but I'll probably convert them into Kangaroos instead of swapping turrets.

Note: I noticed the offending lightning bolt decal after I took the photo and have touched it up with paint.

My complete Orc vehicle fleet. I need to actually finish up some orcs to go with them.

My brand new painting desk (which is apparently of the "Secretary" type). It's quite nice, as there's plenty of storage, room for a lamp, and it's a fair step up from my previous TV tray.

Now that I've got the vehicles cleared off my desk I can get onto my next set of projects: The Fortified Manor and my 28mm Urban War gangs for MDRG.

Something for the 6mm crowd - A Landship!

2011-07-07T14:12:00.000-07:00

Recently I was trying to get some old projects off my desk so that I could return to painting my wife's WHFB Fortified Manor (which I had promised to paint several years ago), and amongst them was the 15mm Blower Tank-based landship. While I had initially purchased the tank just for its hull, it spent a year or so painted as an actual tank, and it was just this week that I finally decided to sand the top of the hull flat, lay down a piece of styrene and get down to business. This is the result:

Not terrible for something I more or less banged together out of a blower hull, some Old Crow 6mm turrets, BFG Imperial Cruiser bridge and cannons, some Sintra, and some EM-4 mech parts.

Size Comparison Left to Right: GZG Infantry walkers, Exodus Wars infantry, Mk.1 Land Raider

I had intended to have constructed one of these at some point during my old club's combined Dirtside/Starmada campaign, but the campaign resources never allowed for this design to be fielded, and I just never bothered. It may see some use eventually, if I can ever get another 6mm sci-fi army put together.

15mm Orc Fire Support Vehicle - Before the Paint

2011-06-29T16:09:00.000-07:00

A potent combination of Tonka Happy Meal toy, GW gubbinz, glue-coated matchsticks, and GI Joe...

Firefight in Vindaloo AAR

2011-06-27T23:44:00.000-07:00

I had deployed the Coalition forces in several groups: one SAMAS element was deployed on each flank, whereas in the middle I had a group of SAW-armed Dead Boys and Rifle Dead Boys led by Lt. Maximo, and two fireteams of Rifle Dead Boys on the right flank. Initial moves saw the boys in black moving forward into the fields of cabbage and corn squash on the right flank, and into the shanties of Vindaloo on the left flank.

Maximo's charges were caught by surprise when the Comedian appeared out of nowhere immediately in front of him, but he was quickly cut down by reactive fire.

One of the PEFs moved south towards the right flank SAMAS element, but it proved to be nothing but shadows.

And past that point I forgot to hit save... at least there are still pictures.

Maximo and his two groups of Dead Boys advance directly through the center of the shanties, looking for the stolen Coalition tech along the way. The left flank's SAMAS element moves towards the PEF by the ship wreckage.

Maximo's group comes under fire from the OCLF in the wreckage and one fireteam is put out of the fight completely.

Dead Boys on the right flank advance through the farm to draw a bead on the OCLF that have revealed themselves in front of the gas station.

SAMAS RPA Elites return the fire of the OCLF by the gas station. A team of Laborers is put down with HMG fire.

The left flank SAMAS element trades ineffectual fire with a small OCLF contingent behind the spaceship wreckage (I really need to paint DOOP markings on that ship at some point).

The larger of the two OCLF groups is forced to Hunker Down in and behind the small residential building, effectively taking them out of the game. At this point Maximo's team already has the tech (an incomplete SAMAS suit) and is headed off the board.

Notes and Observations:

I really wish I hadn't lost most of my notes, but since some of the reaction tests create ineffectual firing loops, some of it is alright. I really should've been producing more Duck Back results than I did (guess I forgot).
I'm not entirely pleased with the results I got. Trying to use a skirmish game as a platoon-to-company level game is kind of iffy, but it worked ok. I think the main problems I encountered had a lot to do with the specific THW sets I used. This is not Ed's fault; CR 3.0 is free, and ATZ is very individual oriented.
The CR 3.0 NPC movement table just wasn't very interesting, and if I'd bothered to make up a tactical doctrine for the OCLF I could've had more fun.
The size of the generated enemy groups made them unwieldy, and when combined with the limited NPC movement table the end result was that I had large blocks clumping together on a single terrain feature most of the time, often blocking the fields of fire of the better weapons that were available.
I may go back to using the same Target rating as the weapons originally had; it'd make the big guns a lot more killy than they currently are. I still like using stand-widths instead of templates to allocate area fire (like Crossfire)
I need to use actual armor rules or something to make characters scarier; the Comedian got shot up too quickly; I probably should've let him shoot before the Dead Boys to give him somewhat of a chance. Next time we'll use 5150, possibly Star Army, but I didn't want to crack out that book with its dozens of QRS at this point.
I may cut movement distances down a bit. A fast move of 16" for a 30mm square stand representing a fireteam seems a touch too fast.

All in all, it was a good trial run, but before I get back to Janitoria I will probably focus on some games that require less table space for a while.

Tragedy strikes in Vindaloo...

2011-06-27T21:21:00.000-07:00

This morning in the city of Vindaloo a foreigner was found grievously injured in a rubbish heap on the edge of town. The broad-shouldered, ruggedly good-looking older male was identified as the galaxy renowned Comedian, and his presence within Janitoria's borders was a great surprise to the JIB (Janitorial Immigration Bureau). He was immediately transported to the St. Lulu's Celebrity Hospital in the nation's capital, Schnitzelvania, where he will remain until doctors are certain of his recovery. When asked about his chances, Doctor Thomas Tronberg commented, "He could well pull through, but I'm still trying to locate his second set of legs."

When informed about the suspected assault upon The Comedian, King Itor was very upset. "To think that such violence could occur in one of our nicer cities, it makes me very sad. It is most certainly the work of foreign interlopers." Speaking further, His Royal Highness insisted, "The Comedian will receive the best medical care that Janitorial medicine can offer, and when he is well he will stay at my palace as my guest."

This week in Janitoria...

2011-06-23T20:55:00.000-07:00

...Or more specifically, on the outskirts of Vindaloo, one of Janitoria's smaller cities. A small Coalition force is conducting a lightning raid on an Orange Country Liberation Front cell at the very edges of Vindaloo on suspicion that the cell is in possession of stolen Coalition military hardware.

In this solo game I will be attempting to use the Ed's ATZ/CR 3.0 system in an element-based game, with one element representing a squad or fireteam (I can't be arsed to decide which at this point). I feel that this makes the firepower of singly-based Stars more epic while at the same time allowing me to put more troops on the table. As I go along I will be making notes regarding any on-the-fly modifications I will have to make to the basic rules. The scenario is based on the Patrol mission in the basic CR 3.0 rules, with the added bonus that elements will be able to search buildings like in ATZ, hopefully discovering the stolen hardware before the Coalition forces are overwhelmed.

Anyways, onto the forces involved:

The Coalition

Coalition forces will use the Military Reaction Table

Lt. Ortega Maximo
(Star, Rep 5, Brawler, Nerves of Steel, Leader, counts as armed with a Chainsaw)

SAMAS (Rep 5, HMGs, single-use LAW)

Note: Since all of the above are equipped with Power Armor, an Obviously Dead result is needed to remove them from the fight. The SAMAS PAs also treat all terrain as clear terrain and can fly to the tops of buildings.

Coalition Dead Boys with Skelebot support weapons
(Rep 4, body armor, assault rifles, SAWs on Skelebot supported elements)

VS.

The Orange Country Liberation Front

OCLF forces use the Survivor Reaction Table

ACRs are ARs with +1 in Melee

OCLF Command (Rep 5, ACRs, Leader)

OCLF Support (Rep 4, ACRs, LAW)

OCLF Landowners (Plantation owners displaced by King Itor's bolognium mining operations)
(Rep 4, ACRs)

OCLF Laborers (they prefer the drudgery and poor working conditions of the orchards to the drudgery and poor working conditions of the bolognium mines)
(Rep 3, assault rifles)

And who could this be?

RRtK Brass Dwarves vs. Romans - Post Battle

2011-06-10T16:08:00.000-07:00

Perhaps in the future I'll start writing proper battle reports for these, but since I was trying out a new style of rules solo, I didn't think what I'd done would be very interesting to most.

Having played one game, here are a few observations/comments/foolishness on my part:

Terror Troops does not seem to be an adequate rule to account for the infantry-mowing capabilities of a steam tank. In the future I will stat it out as Shock Cavalry.
I had two infantry units come up with the "Giving Ground" result, and ultimately decided that the best way to resolve it would be to give each a hit and leave them in melee.
As far as I can tell a element that has received it's Rep in hits or worse will automatically rout the next time it is forced to take a test, which is cool.
The steam tank and Equites spent a few rounds pounding on each other, with the Equites giving better than it got, but having forced the tank to retire a way's back allowed it to use its small calibre guns to good effect, ultimately destroying the weaker Equites unit.
This is the last time that I'll move my mounted CinC into range for a flank charge from an elite pike unit. I would have been better served by wheeling my cannon so that I could fire at the slow-moving pike formation.
The Dwarves may well have too many crossbows (which is mostly Irregular's fault for the pack composition, and also my choice to include 2 strips, rather than three on a base); their center was composed almost entirely of them, and were successful in shooting my Legionnaires to bitz before they even reached charge range.

In the future I will be tweaking lists, adding more figures (the Romans definitely need some skirmishers of some sort), adding mercenaries, etc... but overall I found it a fun and interesting way to spend a couple of hours.

A Line in the Sand

2011-06-08T19:42:00.000-07:00

The Roman Battle line prepares to face the Imperial Brass Dwarf army.

Coming tomorrow:

The first wargaming I've done in months as well as my very first game of Rally Round the King!

The Imperial Brass Dwarves commanded by Lord Radam Zaal

vs.

The 13th Roman Legion commanded by Maximus Decimus Gallus

Removing: Projects for this Week

2011-05-17T13:11:00.001-07:00

Projects for this Week serves no real purpose since I don't tend to update on a weekly basis. Also considering my predilection for jumping from large project to minor project and back again, it would be really hard to keep it updated if I did post regularly.

Janitoria: Now I'm a Slumlord

2011-04-20T19:20:00.000-07:00

This week I was inspired by some of Murphy's early Bongolesia posts, specifically this one, and as a result decided to try my hand at a few rowhouses of my own. While I had formerly been intimidated by foamcore construction, the imprecise and slapdash building codes of the Third World allowed me more freedom to screw up, and the results are decent enough.

Foamcore definitely has an edge over papercraft (there are a few Worldworks buildings in there as well) in that it is much quicker and much more forgiving than folding fiddly bitz of paper (even more so considering this is in 15mm). Foamcore buildings are also insanely cheaper than than wooden plint buildings, and similarly do not have to have interiors. For now at least I feel that as long as I am not building something that requires particularly precise construction, foamcore is the way to go. Anyways, here are the results of my labors:

Rearview of the two sets of houses I've built. They could probably use a few more windows, but I haven't felt like adding them yet.

Major Douglas Blackmoore looks out over Slumtown.

Max Headroom discovers that there's better reception on the rooftops.

The not-so benevolent monarch assures his people that he feels their pain, and does not care.

An aerial view of it all.

As an aside, I've been mulling over a catch-all sci-fi setting that can combine my varied interests, and the end result was Janitoria, which unlike other Imagi-Nations, is on another planet. This allows for socio-political interference from factions in space as well as planetbound forces with even more ridiculous hijinks.

Long live Janitoria, shining gem of the Third World (of the Omega System)

2011-04-18T19:32:00.001-07:00

The cruelty of the the old regime is a thing of the past. Let a whole new wave of cruelty begin!

High Elves for Rally Round the King

2011-04-13T10:12:00.000-07:00

What follows is my High Elf army, the contents of 15mm.co.uk's High Elf army for HotT. Color schemes are based on the 5th edition Warhammer Battle Book with a few Eldar transfers to jazz up their shields. All are based on stock plastic bases with some sand and PVA glue.

High Elf Spears:
The core of any High Elven army, too bad I only have 4 stands. Also, try as I might I could not get a good picture of them.

Silver Helms:
High Elf Heavy Cavalry; they're actually a pretty good match for the Silver Helms in the Battle Book. Too bad AA doesn't make a warhorse with heavy barding. Also of note, AA horses are huge.

High Elf Outriders:
These are my stand-in for the bow and spear-armed Ellyrian Reavers; unfortunately the spear-armed horsemen were in another pack. Regardless, they fulfill the role of mounted skirmishers.

High Elf Mage:
He's a pretty weird-looking guy, what with the wings and all, but will represent my Magic User stand. Besides, what's an elf army without powerful spellcasters?

High Elf General on Griffon:
This conversion ended up being a lot more difficult than the picture on the 15mm.co.uk website led me to believe. After much chopping off of pieces of the general's saddle I finally gave up and shoved a glob of green stuff between her legs and called it good. I'm not sure how she'll be statted, but she makes for a nice army centerpiece.

What a Trip

2011-04-13T09:54:00.000-07:00

For a long while my blog has been silent, mostly due to a combination of moving from one coast to another, graduating, and other miscellaneous things. I've had some time for wargaming projects when WoW hasn't gotten in the way, and really, considering my continued unemployment I should've accomplished more. But enough about that, I've been working on a number of projects in the meantime.

Armies for Rally Round the King: I've got a based EIR army minus its spellcaster options and a based AA High Elves army which really has too few stands to serve as an able opponent for my Romans. This is a situation I hope to correct when cashflow is improved. Pictures of the High Elves will follow as I still have not textured the Romans' bases.
15mm terrain: I've constructed a number of paper buildings (mostly due to the fact that my other terrain is in a storage box) and am able to populate a 2x2' table pretty easily. A word from the wise though; World Works fire escapes do not survive being scaled down to 60%. That being said, it's enabled me to get in a few All Things Zombie games, which have been fun and mostly unfortunate for Zapp Brannigan and Dr. Zoidberg.
There's been a mild clamor on The Miniatures Page for a company-level sci-fi game for 15mm figures. I'm still convinced that Dirtside II could serve this purpose well if the infantry rules weren't wonky, but even so I've begun to cook up my own Warmaster/FMA inspired rules. At the moment they technically work but I'd like to add a little more chrome before I start in-house playtesting.
We had a little cash to spare, so I'm having some 15mm fantasy figures sculpted. I don't wish to reveal too much, but they fill a popular niche that is currently not well represented in the scale, or at least, not since Demonworld became collectors' material.

My Alligator

2010-11-16T20:28:00.000-08:00

Just another painting update this time, one of Khurasan's lovely Alligator Assault Transports (though for some reason I want to call them Battlebarges). Not quite done, but I think the color scheme is pretty effective overall. This particular brood of Garn represents an alien mercenary rival to the Dragoons, and they often work together with their Dracci cousins on various jobs. Since I'm also working on a TFL force to oppose the Dragoons ala Traveller's Broadsword adventure, the Garn (brood as yet unnamed) will be acting as military advisers to the Tanoose Freedom League (or perhaps McRibistan Freedom Rangers?) opposite Blackmoore's Dragoons.

A Transformer MLRS - Hunt for the Decepticons Hailstorm

2010-11-13T14:57:00.000-08:00

When you really, really need to blow shit up.

Fully Painted Micropanzer SAS Platoon - Blackmoore's Dragoons

2010-10-12T16:34:00.001-07:00

I am now just about ready for Tomorrow's War, having completed painting an entire platoon of Micropanzer's SAS (with a few GZG headswaps here and there). My follow-up post will contain their TO & E for Tomorrow's War sans vehicles, but I figured it'd be nice to get the pretty pictures out there. So without further ado, here's the Dragoons:

Here's the HQ section composed of a Gunsniper on either side, a medic, Major Douglas Blackmoore himself, and Max the Grid Tech (and token white guy).

A standard Dragoon Bloc composed of two sections, a Bloc leader, and a medic.

Every platoon features a Bloc of Brathairn. Brathairn are shareholders in the company and have fought alongside Major Blackmoore for many years. Brathairn Blocs do not include medics because all of them have advanced life-saving training.

Tranquility: Captain's Log Late September 2101

2010-09-30T14:40:00.000-07:00

Late September 2101

We touched down in the afternoon on Side 6, a colony controlled by the dimunuitive Sons of Thunder. We've come to meet our client at the Slippery Pig, a local tavern. Unfortunately it seems he made some provocative remarks to some mercenaries on shore leave, and they were pleased to introduce his face to the floor. As a business man who prefers to get paid for the cargo that he has transported across space, I invited the mercs, a handful of big, well-armored fellows in urban camo to discuss the situation outside.

The mercs proved to be slow to leave the bar, fortunately for us there was fairly decent cover. Mel, Chloe, and I took up positions behind some crates, preparing for the approaching shootout. I saw the burly mercs run to cover behind one of the local workers' shacks. Considering the distance, I really wished the authorities allowed assault rifles, but on the plus side the mercs are limited to their standard sidearms in this fight. Still, Mel's not a bad shot, and Chloe's shotgun had many notches along its barrel. With the mercs out of sight, Mel and I decided to take up a closer position behind another pre-fab shack, with Chloe covering our butts. Meanwhile Jolee ran behind Tranquility, after all, she's no fighter. I found myself staring at my Bowie. What was it they said about not bringing a knife to a gun fight?

Mel seized the initiative and snuck up behind one of the pipe supports. Apparently one of the mercs didn't do such a good job of hiding, as one shot from Mel's revolver dropped him stone dead. The mercs were apparently hard-asses of some sort and didn't balk at their companion's dirt nap. If anything that just seemed to elicit a series of loud, Gaelic oaths from them. With the Mercs distracted, Chloe and I advanced, hoping to get into kill-range should any of them leave their refuge behind the shack. I saw a couple try to circle round us, but Chloe and Mel were alert and I heard the resounding clink of metal on ceramic composites as two of the armored goons fell on their asses. Their commanding officer managed to make it to cover before we could get a shot at him.

Only one of the prostrate mercs managed to get up, the other looked pretty bad off. Ultimately their NCO must've decided that discretion was the better part of valor, 'cuz the whole lot of 'em headed off in the opposite direction, with the wounded soldier being drug between them. Still they had time to yell back at us, "Yeh'll be hearing from us later, yeh rotten rimmer trash. No one fucks with the Dragoons!"

Having determined that the coast was clear, I searched the remaining corpse for identification and armament. Not only was he carrying a fancy laser pistol (Pretty frickin' sweet) but it seems he was in the employ of a mercenary outfit led by Major Douglas Blackmoore. Guess the tough old bastard survived the war. Needless to say, we haven't made many new friends in this encounter.

Having settled the disagreement as to the disposition of our client, I dragged his sorry carcass over to the local sawbones, a Son by the name of Murphysson. Fortunately the client, Barnabus of Gefilte Shipping, was insured and there was little paperwork to fill out. He was quite grateful for our interference and we got a bonus on our delivery of foodstuffs, netting us a respectable forty creds. The passengers we'd been transporting also paid up for an additional ten creds.

Having stepped out looking for additional work, the local lawmen felt the need to talk to be about the shootout, but I assured them that our participation had only been with the intention of helping out a fellow citizen in trouble. The sergeant mumbled something about cleaning fees and requested that I make my stay a short one. I lucked out and quickly found a Felid by the name of One-Who-Eats-Snakes that was filling an order for illegal erotic for someone on that theocratic aquaculture world, Water. Now I've got seven tons of yellow literature in my hold; fuck, that's a lot of porn. Jolee found us another passenger fare, fortunately he looks to be the normal sort; we shouldn't expect any trouble from him. Barring any difficulties we should make a fair bit of cash on this next run. Here's hoping, anyways.

Major Blackmoore's Dragoons - Painted Micropanzer SAS

2010-09-06T20:47:00.001-07:00

Major Douglas Blackmoore and Snipers

Micropanzer SAS Leader and Long Range Laser figures with GZG heads

Edit: I've uploaded a new photo that is larger and has better lighting conditions. That'll teach me to take photos at 11 PM with lamp light.

Micropanzer 15mm SAS demo shots

2010-09-02T17:09:00.000-07:00

I just got my pre-order of Micropanzer's wonderful sci-fi SAS troops in today. The whole pack consisted of two heavy weapons squads, a small command squad with snipers, a veteran squad in berets, and three squads of regulars with rifles and SAWs.

Left to right: A Tesla Cannon trooper, an NCO, and a Rapid Light Laser veteran

Left to right: Laser trooper, Long Range Laser trooper

The figures themselves are well detailed, somewhere in between Rebel and Khurasan, and I have few complaints. There was some minimal flash on the figures, and the mold lines between the legs are a bit annoying. It should be noted that the vast majority of the troopers don't really have a face; instead they have an odd gas mask. It'll probably look very nice painted up. $25 for a full platoon of infantry with heavy weapon support is pretty sweet, so I'm happy. My current plan involves stocking up on Combat Wombat tracked vehicles and mechanizing "Major Blackmoore's Dragoons", as I've come to call them.

Scale-wise they line up pretty well with other manufacturers, as you can see below:

Left to right: Tesla Cannon trooper, Rapid Light Laser Veteran, Alternative Armies Octopod, Laserburn Adventurer with missile launcher, GZG Japanese Corporate Trooper

And just for fun:

Sergeant Bare Metal picks a fight with several Frost Brood Dracci

Behold, my new gaming table...

2010-09-02T17:05:00.001-07:00

I had originally earmarked this foamcore construction for an Urban War demo table, but since that never came to fruition. I was feeling inspired, so I slapped some Durham's, Mod Podge, and sand on it, spray painted it black, and then added my usual four layers of drybrushing. Now I'm set for Ambush Alley and other small scale solo games on my new 2x2 table overlay.

Rally Round The King

2010-08-20T03:55:00.001-07:00

For those not on the Two Hour Wargames mailing list (you should be), Ed has stated that he should be releasing "Rally Round The King", an updated version of the old Warrior Heroes element-based fantasy ruleset, which were in turn based on an older set of ancients rules. The ruleset's big draws for me is that once the armies are on the table, they pretty much run themselves via the Reaction System, and that there is an extensive solo campaign system that takes into account diplomacy and economic issues during the game. Having read much of the old Warrior Kings rulebook, I can tell that this new book is likely to be a godsend for solo gamers like myself that are looking to run fantasy mass battles.

For more information, please check out the Two Hour Wargames Yahoo Group and watch this space for a potential Rally Round The King fantasy campaign (if my purchases at Fall-in go well).

P.S. I also recommend that any interested parties take a gander at Talomir Tales, an extensive campaign in progress using the old Warrior Heroes and Warrior Heroes:Armies and Adventurers (skirmish/mass skirmish THW system).

New sci-fi goodies from 15mm.co.uk...

2010-08-13T16:12:00.000-07:00

HOF 62 Draccian Heavy Weapons

It looks like the first entry in Alternative Armies' Hordes of Future range is a heavy weapons squad for the Dracci. It would seem that they seek to sci-fi up their excellent dragonman fantasy range. The heavy weapons come in the standard AA 3 sculpt format that they've used for the rest of their range and seem to feature a lascannon, SAW and flamethrower (an obvious choice for draconic aliens).

Even better news is that the this product code and all of the Octopod product codes are now available as single castings. Since I've yet to pick up my current issue of Barking Irons, I'll be picking up some singles to review, including the Octopod medic (or should I say, Dr. Zoidberg?).

All of the above is featured at http://www.15mm.co.uk/.

And what's a ship without it's intrepid crew...

2010-07-27T15:35:00.001-07:00

The crew of the Stoned PotatoLeft to Right: Captain Vinz Glortho, Mrrgll, Revi, and Naskal T'bor

I haven't really come up with much of a backstory for this motley crew, but suffice it to say that Captain Glortho abandoned his pride and the Garn to find his fortune and managed to pick up a pistol of a woman (Revi), a primitive with strange powers and his voracious pet (Mrrgll), and a bodyguard in the form of some sort of galactic huntsman. Other than Revi (Adventurer 104) the rest of the intrepid crew comes courtesy of Khurasan Miniatures' expansive range.

Wow, another post... Behold the Stoned Potato!

2010-07-27T15:04:00.001-07:00

After an unfortunately labeled Miniatures Page post discussing the Transformers Crossovers Twilight I finally went out and bought it. Of course, it then sat on my shelf for about a month before I got around to doing anything with it, but here is the final result: The Stoned Potato, a modified Kobold Engineering JU-1610 light freighter. Armament includes a turret mounted light laser that is controlled remotely by the copilot, and a fixed mount light railgun (which essentially means that the left side is completely undefended, but I blame the idiots who created the 2nd Clone Wars series for that). The rear cargo compartment is actually big enough to allow most smaller 15mm vehicles to enter(Flames of War Shermans for one), but even after Anakin's legs were removed lowering the ramp adequately was impossible.

To eliminate the pigment of the ugly blue plastic it was cast in I gave the Potato a heavy coat of Krylon Ultra-Flat Camouflage. The trim was painted up with Apple Barrel Burnt Umber, with some of the details picked out in Apple Barrel Pewter Gray and Citadel Boltgun Metal. The windshield was painted black. The whole assembly was given a liberal wash of Citadel Devlan Mud (love that stuff) after which I spun the gun turret to keep it from sticking.

Time for my monthly post... this time Space Mercenaries!

2010-07-13T11:40:00.000-07:00

Left to Right: Mercenary Captain, Medic, Padre, Radio Operator

I picked up a pack of Retained Knight Command a number of months ago during one of 15mm.co.uk's semi-regular "pay for shipping and get a free pack of figs" and just finished painting them up yesterday. Initially they reminded me of Heresy-era Space Marines, with their Mortifactors color-scheme (black, bone, and a bit of light grey on the backpacks) they look more like Clone Troopers. They're really neat little figures, and I hope to get more to round out my force, such as a Guild Engineer with some robots and some heavy weapons troopers. I will probably be using the Star Marine or ISS lists from 5150 for these guys.

A mobile home for some green-tinted alien mercenaries

2010-06-07T19:51:00.000-07:00

A mobile fortress for my Moon Bats

The base model was a 1/72 Scale Pegasus Hobbies ISU-122 tank, which was then partially assembled with various Battletech and GW Wartrukk gubbinz stuck on, and then primed black. Next I followed up with a heavy drybrush of gunmetal, followed by lots of cheap yellow paint. Brown Ink was used to dirty up some of the rivets, and the gun barrels were given a coat of Chainmail. It's amazing what a lot of yellow paint can do to a WWII-era tank...

My Alien Mercenaries can ride the sideboards, and the little crow's nest will also seat a figure on a 1/4" washer.

You win again gravity!

2010-04-01T13:17:00.000-07:00

Twenty-Five Star General Zap Brannigan and Lt. Kroker survey the wreckage.

The natives seem hostile. Waaagh!

Factions, new purchases, etc...

2010-02-26T05:52:00.000-08:00

I've been silent for almost a month now, mostly due to a lack of pictures. So what have I been up to?

- I have ordered and received my 15mm Space Corridor system from Litko, though sans a few 1x1 tile sets due to a packing error. Fortunately, Litko's customer service is WONDERFUL and I will have the missing tiles shortly. Expect painted pics of the tiles in this space in the near future.

-I painted up one of my GZG Japanese PAs as a character figure for the Coalition: Lt. Ortega Maximo of the Coalition's Special Forces.

-I stripped my GZG Alien Mercenaries and have begun painting them up as Bad Moon Orks. They certainly fit the bill despite their lack of tusks/noses.

-I just received my Old Crow Miniatures order and am in the process of contemplating how to construct a Land Battleship out of a 15mm Blower tank.

Future Plans

As some who've been reading all along are aware, most of my 15mm forces are based on the Palladium Rifts universe. The main examples thus far are my Rebel Miniatures Dead Lads and my Jetbikes/Jet Troopers from The Scene. I had always planned to add factions beyond the Coalition to the game, and my next major faction will be the New German Republic, with most of the figures coming from Ground Zero Games (UNSC Light Troopers, Cyclops Battlesuits, Hi-Mobility Wheeled vehicles) and PAs provided by Khurasan Miniatures.

Mark's Traveller post from a few weeks back put it into my head that I want to expand beyond Rifts Earth. Why couldn't Rifts Earth have found itself in a new solar system and developed space travel? From there I decided that the Coalition and the NGR have expanded into space, the Chinese have joined up with some galactic traders and now dominate commerce, and various humans, aliens, and the like have gotten caught up in the mess.

Now what rules am I using? Everything I feel like... individual basing with magnetic multi-bases may well still work, I'll just have to experiment.

Enter the the Squids!

2010-01-26T19:23:00.000-08:00

This evening's efforts has yielded a squad of Decapodian infantry(15mm Alternative Armies Octopoids), with a converted leader figure (not shown).

Not sure I like the effect, but they look okay for a somewhat comical sci-fi race.

What's that looming behind them?

Musings on Multi-basing

2010-01-25T05:40:00.000-08:00

Holiday spending has put a moratorium on new figure purchases, at least for the time being, so now it's time to paint up those vast piles of lead I've accumulated. Today I'll probably knock together that squad of Alternative Armies Octopoids I purchased back when they were giving away packs of Sci-fi/Fantasy figures.

Anyways, having been forced to actually paint what I have, I'm contemplating what basing system to use in the future. The Spartans are all based to ASQL standards on 50x50 and 50x100mm stands and my Coalition forces are each mounted on 15mm Litko bases with magnetic bottoms. Frankly, I'm finding the single-based figures to be too fiddly to manipulate in games involving more than 10-15 figures to a side. As for the ASQL basing, it's nice and it looks good, but 50x50 bases are huge and not easily accommodated by commercially available terrain. This has lead me to consider FoW/Critical Mass-style bases of 3-man fire teams and 2-man specialist groups, with the occasional single-based character figure. I still plan on basing my Alien Imperial force to ASQL standards, but other than characters (Free Trader Crew) and Coalition forces, multi-basing is the way to go.

Spartan Imperial Strike Force

2010-01-15T12:12:00.001-08:00

Finally as promised, my Spartan Imperial Strike force for ASQL 2.0! All figures are 100% GZG New Israelis apart from the remote cannon on the Warthog (the barrel broke off, so it was replaced with a Battletech tribarrel cannon). The Spartans themselves were painted using Master Chef's "300 second Spartan" technique as posted on Dropship Horizon. The figures and Warthog were based on www.15mm.co.uk's Alien Squad Leader plastic bases, using spackle, kitty litter, and sand. The bases were then hand-painted black, and featured a progressive drybrush of Apple Barrel Burnt Umber, Ceramcoat Territorial Beige, and a 50/50 mix of Territorial Beige and Jo-Ann's Au Naturale.

Enjoy!

Spartan Imperial Strike Force

Spartan Command Group

Spartan Squad

Spartans with Assault Weapons

Spartan Heavy Weapons Squad

Warthog with Navy crew

Another view of the bulk of the force.

No Spartans... just yet...

2010-01-14T04:41:00.000-08:00

I just finished putting the first two coats on my Spartans' bases, so unfortunately they are unfinished at present, but I'll try to get some pics up this evening.

For the record, using quick-dry spackle is unwise (too many nooks and crannies, spent a half-hour basecoating my vehicle base).

So good luck for this evening...

Litko Corridor system... in 15mm!

2010-01-13T13:04:00.001-08:00

The Litko corridor system is a treat, and while I've yet to paint up any sections or do much of anything with them, I anticipate that I will have fun with my new Sea Hulk project. Khurasan just needs to make sure that their Orca troops are out in a month or so...

A view of the contents of the master set.

A Rebel Miniatures 'borg with flamer walks down the corridor.

Finally, something new...

2010-01-13T06:00:00.000-08:00

Later today I'll be putting up a few interesting posts. For now, suffice it to to say that I had a very merry Xmas...

New acquisitions for the new year:
GZG New Israelis
Custom 15mm version of Litko's fabulous Space Corridor system.
Litko Acrylic counter set for Crossfire
Four Felt terrain mats painted by my lovely wife (arctic, desert, urban, and forest)
Two Toobs of Trees, netting 19 fairly decent looking PVC trees of varying sorts

So for later today, some musings on Sea Hulk, my new Spartan Imperial Strike Force.

Happy New Year!

Dead Lads

2009-11-19T15:33:00.000-08:00

My first batch of 15mm soldiers is ready

2009-11-19T05:51:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I finished basing and varnishing my first set of 15mm soldiers. Most of these were constructed from my convention purchases, namely Rebel Miniatures EF Infantry bodies with Scourge heads. The conversions went quickly, but I have to remember not to pick them up by their heads, ever... the remaining seven figures were the EF Infantry Sergeant, painted as a medic, a droid made from a Scourge Heavy Weapon body and an EF Infantry helmet, four mercenary cyborgs (red-inked Scourge Heavy Weapon troopers), and a Dog Soldier(RAFM Warhounds of Sirius).

The whole set turned out rather well, I even managed to stick on the magnetic bases. So what can I use these for? Beamstrike will get used in a small skirmish sometime next week, with the Coalition Dead Lads as the protagonists. Once I buy some bases and rubber steel stick-ons I've got a fair start on an ASQL Human Imperial army: 4 squads of Stormtroopers, though I still need to purchase at least one AFV for them. Maybe after Christmas.

Fall-in! '09 Part 2

2009-11-12T08:08:00.000-08:00

After an excellent dinner of philly cheesesteak pizza at Dino's it was on to the next round of gaming.

My game wasn't here, but I needed something to do during the hour beforehand.

The evening game was titled "The Kepi to Morocco" and used the Sword in Africa (variant of The Sword and the Flame). TSATF is a semi-skirmish game with a 1:10 figure scale. All of the various 28mm figures were individually based, fired individually, and used damage resolution charts that adjudicated damage based on unit type and formation.

Fire Combat uses multiple d20s, movement uses a number of d6s depending on formation (open order, square) and unit types, and melee is a simultaneous affair that lasts until all participants are dead, victorious, or run away. Unit activation alternates depending on a card draw (red for French, black for Arabs), with each portion of the turn sequence (Movement, Fire Combat, and Melee) being resolved in turn. The natives are able to hide themselves in all manner of terrain. Scouts can be detached from formations to spot hidden ambushers.

I really enjoyed the game; it reminded me a lot of 3rd edition 40k but without the numerous special rules, statlines, and wound markers. Unfortunately the Legionnaires spread themselves too thin and as a result were very vulnerable to the millions of camels hiding behind every rock.

The quiet before the storm. No natives in site.

Massed Legionnaires and their native allies. The front three Legionnaire formations were mine. Two of them were rendered non-entities by their wounded.

The Arabs are massing their troops so they can hide?

The French were pretty thin on the ground at this point, but at least we knew where the Arab foot troops were. There was one last, huge, swirling melee, but the pic was really fuzzy.

Routine Inspection

2009-11-12T06:26:00.000-08:00

An understrength Coalition Squad makes an arrest in alien territory.

"This is a routine Coalition inspection, please turn over any illegal arms caches you might have in your possession."

Up on the roof... a SAM and Dead Lad are watching for an ambush.

Someone's in for a surprise.

Fall-in! '09 Part 1

2009-11-12T05:44:00.000-08:00

I attended Fall-in! this weekend, thanks to my lovely wife agreeing to go. This was my first purely gaming convention, and it was a blast.

We arrived too late Friday to get any games in, but I did get to look around the exhibition hall. Truly impressive; even Dragon-Con didn't have as much swag, and they had around 20,000 people last time I went (vs. the 2,000 or so at Fall-in!). I picked up a Rebel Miniatures combat flatbed, Scourge and Scourge Heavy Weapons, and some EF infantry; I later did some head swaps between the Scourge and EF infantry to get my Coalition Dead Lads. Iron Wind Metals was selling Battletech bitz by the ounce, so I loaded up on 6mm scale turrets, many of which will grace my landship if I ever get around to buying it. I also picked up a handful of GHQ tanks and a Crossfire rulebook, so I should be ready for our Crossfire campaign shortly. Litko's 15mm bases have also proved useful.

After a quick auto tour of the Gettysburg battlefield I was ready to jump into my first game, Cowboy Wars out West, unfortunately it was canceled. Instead I went to an Old Glory-sponsored game in which the Earp Clan and friends took on some cowboys, using the Desperado skirmish system (percentage-based). I took command of Virgil and Wyatt Earp, but things went poorly for our side. I had initially deployed Virgil and his rifle in a sniper's position, but unfortunately none of the cowboys ventured into the street. His brother faired worse; Indian Charlie unloaded three rounds into his back, and he was shot through the heart. We all were given resin outhouses due to our foul dice rolls. Old Glory was showcasing their western buildings and their new pre-made table sections (2' x 2' painted, sculpted, and flocked at $115 for a box of three).

The set-up.

The characters and their cards are all laid out.

A better view of the town and surrounding countryside. I absolutely love those rocky outcropping tiles.

The carnage is well under way, and Virgil is hiding in an alley between the buildings in the lower right corner.

Alien Squad Leader 2.0 Review on Dropship

2009-10-29T05:31:00.000-07:00

For an excellent review of Alien Squad Leader 2.0, check out Mark's post over at Dropship Horizon.

Not only is the review excellent, but this man on the other side of the pond is the world's foremost blogger on 15mm sci-fi figures and rules systems.

Papercraft Terrain

2009-10-26T04:16:00.000-07:00

Since I won't be doing any gaming at the Sand Table for two weeks, I've decided to concentrate on making some papercraft installations and perhaps some built-up areas for Alien Squad Leader. I may get around to painting up something for Golden Hat X, but I'm not feeling very inspired.

I'll see about posting up some pics of my builds later this week.

This little monster wasted my time all day long...

2009-10-21T18:40:00.000-07:00

It's best to be flexible...

2009-10-19T19:30:00.000-07:00

An epiphany struck me at work today... I need to cool my jets and be more flexible...

My current gaming group contains only one serious player, apart from myself; the rest enjoy gaming but regard the weekly preparation, painting, planning, etc... as a chore, and will usually find an excuse not to do it in a timely manner. Others object to my choice of rulesets. In months past this has caused me large amountsC of frustration and anger.

It is not necessary to be angry; we all gather at the Sand Table of our own free will to have some fun and relax. I like to have finished pieces on the tabletop, and put forth the effort to make it so... others don't really feel the need, and I certainly can't force them to see it my way, that sort of thinking just makes game night unpleasant. Instead, since I am responsible only for my own actions, I must be flexible and treat game night as casual game night, more beer and pretzels than anything else. Win or lose, painted or unpainted, Crossfire or Necromunda, at least I can have some fun.

If I want things done in a serious fashion, using rules to my liking, I've got to do it solo, and it's there that I can find utmost satisfaction. You don't often find yourself arguing with yourself, after all.

Afrika Korps Battalion is complete

2009-10-18T15:17:00.000-07:00

Heia Safari!

Progress on my Afrika Korps Battalion

2009-10-13T16:59:00.000-07:00

I've made good progress on my Crossfire Afrika Korps Battalion. All company, squad, and battalion stands are finished and covered in sand, with the exception of my Battalion HQ, Company Commanders, Platoon Commanders, and Pak 88s.

I still need to purchase one pack of Panzer IIIs, one pack of Sdfz 251s, and one pack of Tigers. I'll also need one additional truck or 251; as of right now I don't have the trucks to transport all of my platoons. Sadly, GHQ does not sell individual vehicles, and I don't really feel like making another Irregular Miniatures order. I'll rummage around in my Canadian Motor Company's box and see if they have any spare trucks.

15mm Slammers and Aliens

2009-10-13T07:02:00.000-07:00

As promised, pictures of my recent endeavors:

Hammer's Slammers

Troll Mercenaries

A small APC and a Command GEV

My unpainted "Enforcer" Robot for the Coalition

Looking for Rules for Post-Apocalyptic Skirmish

2009-10-13T06:46:00.000-07:00

Well, I've got about an hour 'til my next class due to a cancellation, so I've got some time to kill.

Last night while working on several papers that I had due and watching Waterworld, I thought of my multiversal post-apocalyptic setting that I've been acquiring 15mm figures for. The Coalition TO & E was a part of that. I've already received two packs of 15mm SAMs and two packs of jetbikes, and I've painted up a few Cyberknights using Laserburn "Lawmen" or Judge Dredd figures. The question is, what rules will I use?

I've pretty much decided that I want the option for multi-basing so that I can use my figures for FWC, so I will likely purchase wooden individual bases with magnetic backing for all of my figures as well as metal sheeting for multi-bases. So I've got platoon-level action covered by FWC. What else can I consider for skirmish gaming?

-Necromunda: Ash Wastes is really its own setting, but I can find figures to cover most of the gangs.

-Nuclear Renaissance has a lot of what I want, but there are no rules for PAs, advanced robots, or hover vehicles.

-Combat Zone is a fairly flexible ruleset, with only two stats, but I may have difficulties with the high-end PAs and robots

-Just bought Star Mogul, and at least its salvage rules are interesting.

-Chain Reaction 3.0 is free, I might at least use its reaction system for solo gaming

-Shockforce doesn't have good rules for truly large vehicles and robots.

-I was developing my own skirmish system, but it may be too fast and furious for my big nasties.

So what do I really want in a skirmish system?

-fast-play mechanics
-few stats to memorize
-wackiness, but not too many tables
-rules for vehicles,PAs, robots, magic, psionics, mutants, aliens, demons, etc...
-campaign mode with less bookkeeping than Mordheim

Something Completely Different: Where do your little metal figures come from?

2009-10-01T18:01:00.001-07:00

It has come to my attention that vast quantities of tin are mined in the Eastern Congo and sold to Western manufacturers to support continued militia operations in the area. Considering tin prices lately, it may be the most lucrative mineral mined in the area. Where do our miniatures come from then?

Food for thought...

Minor Update - 15mm Slammers and Aliens

2009-10-01T06:25:00.000-07:00

Just completed my first 15mm project yesterday, GZG's lovely Hammer's Slammers with closed visors and Fifth Element-inspired Alien Mercenaries. Later in the day I'll be posting pics and detail the painting scheme.

Edit: No pics today... sun went down before I had a chance to photograph, and the flash just isn't as good as daylight.

Coalition Platoon TO & E

2009-09-27T20:03:00.000-07:00

Here is my proposed Table of Organization and Equipment for a standard Coalition Platoon in 15mm scale. Noticeably absent are any Future War Commander stats or the various upgrades and add-ons that could be applied to the unit. I will save that for future posts.

Coalition Dead Lad Platoon (Future War Commander)

Red Squad
- 3 man Dead Lad Fireteam
- 2 man Dead Lad Support Team
- 2 man SAM Flight
- 2 man SAM Flight
- Enforcer (HQ)

Green Squad
- 3 man Dead Lad Fireteam
- 2 man Dead Lad Support Team
- 2 man SAM Flight
- 2 man SAM Flight
- Enforcer (HQ)

Blue Squad
- 3 man Dead Lad Fireteam
- 2 man Dead Lad Support Team
- 2 man SAM Flight
- 2 man SAM Flight
- Enforcer (HQ)

Platoon HQ
- Coalition Military Specialist (CO)
- Jetbike Squadron (Recce/Gunship)
- Skull Walker
- 3 man Dead Lad Fireteam
- 3 man Dead Lad Fireteam

Battle for the Masses - Battle Report

2009-09-26T08:24:00.000-07:00

Well, this Friday we finished the remainder of our game beginning with turn 3. The forces of Humanity and Hill Dwarfs faced off valiantly against the Undead, Lizardmen, Greenskins, and Brass Dwarfs. The forces of "good" had already inflicted a break point against us by squishing a swarm of bugs, but our mighty Steamtank had already nearly broken their elite Dwarf Hammerers.

Poor elite Dwarfs, the forces of Darkness gain initiative and they are squashed under the spikes of its death roller.

The rest of the turn was not terribly exiting, though the dragon did make a mess of my Brass Dwarf Blunderbusses, while the two young griffins helped.

This brought the Dragon with in range of our Sorceress who then proceeded to cast Dust Storm, which in theory would kill the Dragon's effectiveness 'til the end of the game. Then it was dispelled pretty much immediately.

Over on the other side of the table a swarm of bugs was getting chewed up by spearmen, all the while blocking my Myrmidorcs' charge.

Meanwhile, a Dwarf hero was thwacking the skeleton archers soundly, which caused them to get slightly disgruntled, and well, decide to kill his ass. Still he did cause the skeletons to waver, setting us up with two wavering units for the next turn. I stupidly forgot about the Rally spells possessed by my Brass Dwarf Daemonsmith, and as a result, allowed the skellies to remain wavering into the next turn.

Our young Dragon also charged some wavering dwarfs in the flank, though they passed their check, game-ending was not possible.

Still, we managed to win initiative and inflict withering damage to break that same unit, thus winning the game for the forces of Darkness. Happy Birthday to me indeed

Of Judge Dredd, Landships, and FWC

2009-09-24T11:53:00.000-07:00

Charles will be absent from the Sand Table for the next three weeks, so we're going to dive into Dirtside once again. Eager to mix things up a bit further I suggested we try a Judge Dredd-style scenario in 28mm, knowing full well that at least Will would latch onto it. One problem came up when a scenario was suggested: I don't have a Judge Dredd model. This little problem was solved by buying the Indyclix Judge Dredd figure; not very attractive, but since I'm not in love with the Judge myself, it doesn't really matter.

So here's the set-up: a squad of hive/mega city enforcers, led by the Judge himself have gotten the wave that a bank heist is being organized by a gang of Triads, and are moving into the square to block their escape. Little does either side know, but a gang of Scavvies also got the tip and will attempt to take the goods while the scuffle's going on.

In Combat Zone terms, the Judge will be a Hero with Autopistol and Combat Suit, probably with improved melee dice.

He will be followed by a fairly normal corporate squad, with CO, NCO, and some sort of SAW.

The Triads will be represented by a Gang with a few specialists, including a Sumotori (Toughness +9) and a Kabuki Doll.

The Scavs will foll0w standard Scav gang rules, just need to see what sort of figures I have painted up.

Landships and FWC
Though we will be playing Dirtside these next couple of weeks, I intend to gear-up for FWC when we do our next Sci-fi campaign. With this in mind I'm trying to come up with viable figures for both Bolo-style super heavy tanks and landships.

In terms of landships, I consider the ideal to be Mobile Suit Gundam's Big Tray, shown here:

The problem is, no existing manufacturers make anything like it, so I've decided to adopt an alternative approach: Add a bunch of 6mm gun turrets to a 15mm hovertank, namely one from the GZG 15mm Stargrunt range.

The Kra'vak Heavy Grav Tank, High-Tech Grav Tank, and the Assault Sled all look like good candidates. As for the turrets, I may pick up a pack or two from the Dirtside range, or buy a couple Battletech tanks and scav the turrets from them. Not the cheapest route to go, I'd expect, but I don't intend on building more than one of these big boys.

Look, I've graduated...

2009-09-23T17:29:00.000-07:00

No more LiveJournal posts to an unappreciative audience for me.

My objective in this blog is to chronicle the trials and tribulations of my various miniature wargaming projects, and hopefully motivate me to take more photographs. If at all possible I'd like to include WIP shots of all my various figures.

As of this week, I've accomplished nothing in the realm of miniature wargaming, though I did receive a copy of Future War Commander for my birthday, and I am looking forward to showing it to my local group this weekend.

Speaking of which, on the docket for this weekend is the remainder of our homebrew "Battle for the Masses" 28mm Fantasy mass battle game. Things are looking grim for the "goodies" as my steamtank will surely break their elite Dwarf unit if the "baddies" win initiative. I hope to post a battle report of sorts next time.