Fawcett Avenue Conscripts

Yeah - This Makes Sense...

2012-01-28T19:54:00.000-06:00

"Gandalf - noted character from Rogue Trader....ummm, right?"

It's the 25th Anniversary of Rogue Trader, the science-fiction tabletop skirmish game that has really set the tone (arguably) for a generation of gamers. You're going to have a special edition of your hobby magazine for this anniversary. You think carefully about the cover, which will set the tone for this edition of the magazine. What says "Rogue Trader" more than a picture of Ian McKellen as Gandalf?

Really? Gandalf?

I love LOTR, but seriously - WTF? GW - buy a clue.

Gün Schwarm Medical Bot - Pig Iron Productions

2012-01-28T16:03:00.001-06:00

Medical Bot on the move

Another bit finished for the Gün Schwarm lads - a medical bot from Pig Iron Productions. This robot is a model from Pig Iron's Kolony Militia command group. Dallas has one of these already for his FuturKom lads, and since the factions of our distant, conflicted far future seem to source a lot of a equipment from the same suppliers (for example, all armoured vehicles have the same searchlights), I thought Gün Schwarm could use a bot as well.

"Make the 'bot carry it."

Like all of the Pig Iron figures, this model is a lot of fun to paint, and is a wonderful sculpt. Naturally, when AI technology comes on line, the troopers make the poor robot schlep as much stuff as it can manage. The sculpt portrays the robot loyally trying to keep up while carrying important supplies (ammo? refills for the coffee machine? both?). It's a great figure.

Important supplies - medi-bot is a reliable schlepper on the battlefield

In addition to being a fun bit of fluff, or even an objective, the Tomorrow's War rules set has rules for medics, and specifically medical bots (referred to as "care bears"), and they have a significant impact on the game, lowering the odds that hits turn into KIAs and serious wounds. This particular bot will be a good addition to the power-armoured system trooper models I'm doing for the Gün Schwarm troopers.

NAC/Hammer's Slammers 25mm test model

2012-01-25T21:43:00.000-06:00

In the unrelenting world of future war that is Spacekrieg, all of the future combatants need a helping hand once in awhile. My wife knows this better than any of us, and this is why she (in the guise of Evil Robot Santa) got me a platoon of Old Crow Hammer's Slammers blower tanks to lend some compensated endorsement to the causes of FuturKom, Gunschwarm, and/or the Future Britz.

Of course, even a hot-poop mercenary outfit like the Slammers doesn't run on blower power alone - grunts are required to winkle the other space-soldier out of his foxhole. But what is a suitable match for the old-school look of the OC blower tanks? None other than the NAC Royal Marines from GZG's Stargrunt "true 25mm" range.

I started off with a test model - a female trooper from the command pack. I'd managed to pick up a couple of NOS blisters (originally distributed by Geo-Hex!) from an online retailer for cheap. I wanted to make sure that I'd be happy with the models before shelling out for a platoon. I have to say I am I was pretty impressed with the quality of the models, especially considering that they must be 15-year-old sculpts at least.

The detail is finely sculpted and the model was super-easy to paint. The flash makes the jumpsuit seem quite a bit bluer and brighter than it is - I used GW Shadow Grey highlighted with Ultramarines Blue. I'll likely put a tactical number in red on the back of the helmet once I figure out the TO&E for the platoon. But as far as models go I think I'm onto some winners!

Get Up, Stand Up

2012-01-25T20:59:00.000-06:00

Here's a mini post about how clever I am (!) in making a flying stand for my 15mm Old Crow VTOL.

Components: Large GW round base, styrene (plastic) pipe, neo-dymium magnet, magnetic sheet, basing materials.

I wanted to be able to have the VTOL fly around the table either laden with cargo, or without. This would be handy for scenarios where the cargo pod plays some role - either being delivered or removed! I cut a piece of magnetic sheet to size and stuck it to the bottom of the cargo pod.

Then I superglued the plastic tube to the base and the neo-dymium magnet to the top of the pipe, applied Liquitex Gel Medium and after it dried, sprayed the assembly black and finished the groundwork.

I was careful to place the magnet on the stand with the correct polarity so it would be attracted to the magnet sunk into the top of the VTOL's hull (this is the same magnet that keeps the cargo pod stuck onto the VTOL).

With the magnetic sheet stuck to the bottom of the cargo pod, the stand holds the model securely in either laden or unladen configuration. I reckon this project cost no more than a couple bucks - I got 4 magnets (used one) for $5, a whole ton of magnetic sheet for $5, and had the base and plastic pipe on hand.

Gün Schwarm 28mm Power Armour Infantry - "System Troopers"

2012-01-24T10:30:00.000-06:00

Gün Schwarm power-armoured infantry - "System Troopers" from Pig Iron

Continuing with the escalation in the race against FuturKom, I have painted up some 28mm "System Troopers" from Pig Iron Productions to serve as hard-hitting, power-armoured infantry for Gün Schwarm. Pig Iron offers a lot of interchangeable heads, and I opted for the "Kolony Inner Guard" heads instead of the standard issue ones. I find that particular head design maintains the armoured appearance, is slightly less bulky, and makes them appear to be a little more sinister - they are here to fight, but not to help, if that makes any sense.

See how I screwed up the one back-pack for the guy on the right? Didn't notice that until I was painting, and just left it like that to be stubborn - figured he was the "smart one" for the squad...

In terms of battlefield roles, I can't top Pig Iron's own description of this particular figure line: "Seriously heavy futuristic infantry - these figures feature large amounts of armour, equipment and ridiculously large guns (just as we like 'em) and are designed for cleansing pockets of fierce enemy resistance." These guys will help hold off the Kommulist hordes, and in particular look to take on the hard hitting power-armoured troops of FuturKom's elite recon forces.

Special weapons - SAW on the right, some kind of plasma/energy gun on the left

These are very, very chunky models. They barely fit on the standard GW round bases. The weapons are huge, and the figures are big, solid hunks of metal. The poses appear a bit laboured, but I think that is perfect to match the idea of troopers wearing powered armour that provides extra "oomph" and lots of protection while limiting their flexibility/maneuverability.

Rear angle view of the special weapon troops

In terms of special weapons, I had hoped to see something a little larger. The SAW-style gun looks pretty good, but the plasma-gun-ish weapon is disappointing, and on troops this size, it looks like a hedge trimmer or something. I am going to experiment with some conversions from spare GW weapons to see if I can come up with something a little more ominous-looking.

One drawback of the Pig Iron figures is that they are so incredibly chunky that conversions for anything other than different heads or backpacks will require a lot of work. But that's a pretty slight drawback in my view. In a world of "Finecast", my praise for Pig Iron and their sturdy metal figures is high! I've heard reports they are going to do some multi-part versions of their models. That will be fabulous if it turns out to be true.

Evolution of Gün troops - regular Grenadier on the left, "Schwere" Grenadier in the middle, Power Armoured Trooper on the right - the Pig Iron System Troopers are healthy-sized 28mm figures

In "Tomorrow's War", the rules for power-armoured troops are pretty tough - a small group of power-armoured soldiers can take on plenty of enemies. They have extra dice for armour, tend to carry lots of heavy weapons, and get first-aid-check benefits that makes them hard to put down. Eight or nine of these figures would be able to take on twenty five FuturKom regular troops, or even more if the differential is there (D10 vs. D8, for example).

Even small power-armoured fireteams are very hard-hitting in "Tomorrow's War"

But we won't just be playing "Tomorrow's War". At some point, I know we will want to fill a 6'x4' table with tons of troops and vehicles again, and that will call for good old SpaceKrieg. For when that day arrives, I'll need a lot more than eight of these guys, so I hope to paint about 24 of the figures. I hope this will provoke Dallas into seeing his six power-armoured guys are outnumbered, and respond in kind...

Pig Iron's figures are an absolute joy to paint, and I do really like that "Kolony Inner Guard" head look, so I am experimenting with a paint scheme or two using the heads on the Kolony Militia figures. Whether they will end up as stand-ins for 40k Imperial Guardsmen, or some new faction for SpaceKrieg, who knows?

28mm Near Future Media Crew

2012-01-23T22:31:00.002-06:00

"Reporting live from the Toxo IV peace conference, we go now to Gretta Van Grouchy...."

A weak performance by the Winnipeg Jets tonight (losing to Carolina? Really? And now we'll get killed by the Rangers tomorrow - sigh) but I managed to get a couple of pictures of some additional odds and ends finished over the weekend. This is a 28mm 'near future' news crew - I think they were from Copplestone Castings. It is one of those things that turn up when I rummage through my pile of stuff in the basement.

Action News from TVH, bringing you reports from the front lines of tomorrow

There have been many times where I have wanted to add a media representation to one of our skirmish games, either for modern or sci-fi. Bands of nitwit journalists seem to be a fact of life for the armed forces today, and I don't see that changing, even in the so-called grim darkness of the far future - "What happens when the aliens attack? Stay tuned after sports with Jack..."

The camera dude seems pretty bulked up, while the reporter herself still has just the right wardrobe...

I branded the news station as "TVH" - my theory is that at some point in the future, 24-hour news and the history channel will merge somehow. I tried to paint the female reporter as a kind of grimmer-looking foreign correspondent type, lots of budget for nice shoes and clothes, but just too much botox....

There are not a lot of media-type models out there. I have a couple of Vietnam-era combat journalist figures from Force of Arms miniatures, but they don't have the all-important TV camera. These models are near future, but they can also pass for journalists in a modern engagement - the camera isn't quite big enough to look like a contemporary videographer, but then look at what people manage with cell phones - I don't think the camera has to be that big.

"Corporal, this would look more natural if you would take the mask off...."

Whether covering Gün Schwarm's latest exploits against FuturKom, or following the hard-working Imperial Guardsmen as they fight against the Ork invaders, these two will make good objective counters, penalty markers, or just entertaining fluff for the game. Tomorrow's War even has rules for folks like this accompanying a fire team. Just imagine what will happen to your victory conditions if you manage to get your reporters shot...

Praying For Bases

2012-01-23T13:08:00.000-06:00

"We're ready to leave the depot - honest!"

Well, here's hoping the mystical power of the blogosphere can influence the karma of the postal delivery system. I have finished another batch of 28mm Austrian line infantry - my first unit from Victrix - and all they need now are some bases. If they can get here today (or tomorrow), these troops can join my doomed Austrian column for the game this weekend in Regina.

Running out of bases happens to me a lot. Normal hobbyists can just cut new bases for themselves. Incompetent ones like me, who barely manage to build a simple model, should not try this, unless the rules in question allow for the "crescent-shaped-'L'" formation instead of lines and columns. I generally rely on Likto Aerosystems for my basing needs. Their products are outstanding, but the delivery times have stretched to epic lengths. I now refer to a project stalled for lack of basing materials as being at the "Litko State".

This time, for a change, I'm waiting on the good folks at Wargames Accessories. I hope the scary variables, including the USPS, the spectacular cretins at Canada Customs, and the mindless incompetence of Canada Post, have not found some way to deep-six the delivery....it's a wonder that any packages make it anywhere at times...

Heavy Infantry Sniper for Gün Schwarm

2012-01-23T09:18:00.002-06:00

"So many FuturKommers to choose from...."

This weekend was positive for sports, with one Jets game for the NHL and the conference finals for the NFL, perfect background noise to add a few more odds and ends. Up first is this 28mm Cadian sniper model from GW, which I have painted Gün Schwarm colours.

You would be surprised at how bent this gun managed to get in the blister...

Camouflage tarp, unlikely to help in the urban settings where this guy will see 3/4 of his action, but screw that - I liked this pattern better

"Boy, this rock sure is handy for lining up shots...."

The Güns do have one sniper already - a bit of a rough-hewn conversion of a Steel Legion trooper (see below). But I have always liked the newer GW guard sniper models - actual troops with rifles, instead of frigging ratlings - and I found his armour plates matched the armour plates of the Kasrkin models, so I figured he would be the heavy infantry sniper, going into the field to support his armoured colleagues with special, anti-everything Gün Schwarm ammunition.

"Regular" sniper on left - a pretty rough conversion. The new model looks like the real deal...

I see the "regular" dude as less of a sniper, and more as a marksman with a sniper rifle who is still attached to a regular fireteam. This guy with the heavier rifle would be more of the detached, hide-in-a-pit-somewhere-waiting-for-the-shot type of sniper, ready to make life even more miserable for the hapless conscripts of FuturKom.

It's always neat to have the snipers operate in teams - the plastic GW Cadians do not replicate the Kasrkin armoured plates, but perhaps with some very minor conversion, I can kit bash a spotter-type model for this guy. I'll check the bits pile tonight...

6mm FUBAR force

2012-01-22T21:31:00.000-06:00

One thing about our group of gamers, is the variety and insanity of the multitudinous projects we're all working on. Back in November, Greg sprang 6mm skirmish gaming on us, and it looked so cool I had to jump in with a force (one hesitates to call 30-odd 6mm models an "army") of my own.

My infantry consists of 24 power armoured suits, organized into three sections of seven, and a three-man command section. The power armour troops are the very Ma.K.-like castings available from Brigade Models. Incidentally, I hear tell that these models may be available in 15mm in the not-too-distant future... if so, I am down to clown like Charlie Brown ;-)

This is the command section, distinguished by the "skull" motif painted on their armour. A stripe on each arm indicates Lieutenant rank and platoon command. Right-arm stripe distinguishes NCOs in the command element, while squad leaders have a stripe on their left arms.

Sections are designated by letter; this platoon consists of "K", "R" and "S" sections, names for the first initial of the squad leader.

Transport provided by the Fliegende Schuhkartons (models from Ground Zero Games)

Heavy support grav tanks from GZG as well. The grav vehicles in the force are supported on their bases by small metal pieces from Brigade Models.

Medium grav tanks also from GZG. I have to say that I was not terrifically impressed by the quality of the GZG casts I received. The heavy tanks and flyers especially suffered from heavy flash and indistinct detail in places. The flyers in particular looked like they had been pulled from damaged moulds, as the areas around the engines was pretty messed up. I fixed them as best as I could with paint.

Pretty difficult to get the paint details to photograph in 6mm! Anyway, I'm looking forward to getting these guys on the table. I imagine that they're a mercenary force, as there is no national or corporate insignia on the vehicles or suits. The platoon is lead by Leutnant Ziegler and is currently under contract to 769855 Terra Inc., a numbered company subsidiary of ZaxxonMobil Corp. Perhaps ZaxxonMobil also has an interest in the geological activities underway on Colony 24601? Only time will tell...

"Star Wars... nothing but Star Wars..."

2012-01-22T13:44:00.000-06:00

Trying to keep up the blog routine, thought I would post some recently completed models given to me for Christmas by my wife! These are some "fleet-scale" (1:10,000) resin Star Wars ship models from Odyssey Slipways. Left to right, these are the Rebel assault Frigate, Imperial Dreadnaught, and Carrack cruisers.

I painted the ships using a black undercoat and for the Imperial ships, a basecoat of Codex Grey highlighted with Fortress Grey, a Badab Black wash, and re-highlight of Fortress Grey followed by a light drybrush of Fortress mixed with Skull White. The Rebel ship was basecoated Graveyard Earth and highlighted Bleached Bone mixed with Graveyard, washed with Devlan Mud and re-highlighted. Engines were painted Ice Blue.

These are some generic metal cargo freighters I picked up from Brigade Models as a tag-along to a small order of 6mm stuff. They will be used as civilian or transport craft in our games. They were painted similar to the Imperial ships.

I really enjoy Odyssey's range of resin Star Wars ships. They are easy to assemble and don't require a lot of clean up, and of course, are a snap to paint with ample surface detail. I look forward to gaming with them in the near future!

Battle Report - Tomorrow's War - So THAT's How It Works...

2012-01-19T15:06:00.002-06:00

View of the table at the conclusion of last night's game of Tomorrow's War

Last night we gave "Tomorrow's War" another go. Our first attempt at the game was less than satisfying, as were the first attempts of others, it seems. But Ambush Alley can't have all those fans out there for no reason, and Conscript Mike A insisted (politely) that we would probably figure it out if we read "Force on Force" instead. So we did - and he was right! We tried Tomorrow's War again last night, and it was a lot a fun!

The objective - a disabled T-640 tank - sits in the middle of a 4' x 4' table

A T-340 burning away in the village, victim of the LuftSchwarm

LZ marker for the Gün Schwarm VTOL

The scenario was set on a 4'x4' table, with arid terrain and a village consistent with the vaguely post-pre-post-apocalyptic setting we enjoy for our home-grown sci-fi factions. The setting was a big FuturKom counter-offensive on the world of Dnieper VII. The Gün Schwarm faction was in retreat, but its air assets had managed to really stick it to a FuturKom armoured column. Seeing the column in distress, TruKom rebels pounced and launched an attack. Seeing that attack, Gün Schwarm command decided send in some troops.

FuturKom officer, lackey (right) and medical bot

FuturKom Motor Fuzileers before the fight - beautiful figures from Pig Iron Productions

Close up of a FuturKom fireteam - Dallas did an amazing job with these figures

The goal for the Gün side was to get to the disabled T-640 heavy tank (set in the middle of the table), gather some intelligence from it (what guns sights does it use? does it have a docking station compatible with the iPhone 400s?), and then blow it up. The FuturKom survivors had to protect the tank, so it could be repaired later and sent back to the front. The game length would be six turns.

Gün Schwarm side before the battle

Close up of the "TruKom" rebels - Kolony Rebel figures from Pig Iron Productions

Gün regulars, with heavy infantry to the left, just out of the shot

Futurkom had four six-man fireteams, a commander and a medical bot. They also had a surviving BTR-800 APC. Quality was D8 all around, with D10 morale. On the Gün side, the TruKom rebels had two five-man fire teams, with D6 quality but D12 morale (in other words, fanatically ineffective). The Gün regulars consisted of two four-man heavy infantry fire teams, a commander with medical bot/skull and extra special weapon trooper, and a five-man team of regular grenadiers. They had a VTOL with light armament (4D8 AP) for transport. Quality for the Gün regulars was D8, with D10 morale. The heavy infantry had stronger armour (2D) and laser weapons that made their optimum range 12" instead of 8". Everyone's tech level was 2, and confidence was normal for all.

FuturKom occupies some cover - the CO keeps things running from the courtyard

FuturKom troops cover the street while the Gün VTOL buzzes the battle area

TruKom rebels get ready to move out

Dallas took command of his Kommulist Forces, while Brian and I took command of the Gün Schwarm side. Brian was given control of the TruKom rebels - I think he thought that was cool until he learned they were only D6 quality, but full credit to him for fighting onward. Then I told him they were poorly supplied too...

TruKom fireteam showing the effects of heavy fire from FuturKom troops

These Gün heavy infantry would end up isolated as the VTOL was driven off, and suffer a "negative outcome" i.e. getting blasted to pieces

Another FuturKom fireteam, blazing away at the enemy

The Kommers got to start two fireteams on the board - others would walk on in the second turn. Brian then set up the two TruKom units anywhere at least 8" away from the Kommers. The Gün regulars would start trying to arrive via VTOL on the first turn - the VTOL had three marked LZs to choose from. The Güns would start with initiative.

TruKom rebels taking cover near some handy Kommulist-themed containers - Brian would roll Vegas on the first aid checks to keep these guys alive

FuturKom fireteam moves out into the street after the building gets a bit too hot...

It was a sharp, heavy firefight from the outset. Brian's two rebel fireteams got into it right away, trying to advance on Dallas' troops. It wasn't long until models on both sides were being tipped over. My VTOL made an attempt on an LZ, and managed to unload just one fireteam before it was driven off. Isolated and alone, this fireteam would ultimately be doomed.

Gün heavy infantry fireteam confronted by the BTR-800 - it would end in tears for the Güns

On the second turn, one of Brian's fireteams was totally wiped out - they would lay there for a few turns until we got some medical help to them. But the VTOL landed and managed to get the balance of the heavy infantry out into a good position, and they started to hit some Kom fireteams pretty hard. The VTOL, however, was hit by fire and forced to land, effectively knocking it out.

Gün VTOL forced to make a hard landing thanks to heavy fire by the FuturKom troopers

Gün regulars move out to try and support the TruKom rebels

Dallas rolled quite a few "1"s during his reaction tests, and so the Fog of War cards came out a lot. A couple of these were benign - "the weather clears", but most of these were a big hassle for Dallas. He lost one guy to a booby trap. Another card turned one of his buildings into "Swiss cheese", which made it easy for me to mow down the troops inside. But it went both ways - I lost one of my squads to a misplaced mortar strike - and rolled Vegas to basically wipe them out - and Dallas got to have one of his fireteams go "in the zone", improving to D10 quality and D12 morale for a turn.

Worst. Reaction Rolls. Ever. Where is that Fog Of War deck?

There was one chain of action where we all rolled "1"s for the three teams involved! This series of events cost me a heavy infantry fireteam due to mortars, and cost Dallas his cover. Sigh.

Gün heavy infantry gets zapped by their own mortars...my best rolling the whole game, unfortunately

This building suddenly became way less effective cover for the Kommers, and I was able to wipe out the fireteam - but the medical bot brought them back next turn....darn it!

We did shoot up a few of Dallas' teams, but we never managed to get moving, as I continuously blew Overwatch checks. The heavy infantry didn't manage to "get it together". By turn the end of turn six we were nowhere close to our objectives, while Dallas had covered his. We didn't get near the T-640, while Dallas had put several of our fireteams below half-strength and shot down the VTOL. Our standout achievement was to severely damage the BTR-800. Decisive win for FuturKom.

FuturKom fireteam covering the T-640 - the BTR-800 (in the background, at the right) has moved on to engage other targets

Gün heavy troops pour fire out into the streets...

Gün AT launcher engages the BTR-800 in the distance - they would manage to immobilize it...

I still screwed up several things - for example, I think I missed some modifiers that should have made it easier for Dallas to get the initiative back, meaning Dallas never managed to win the initiative. I goofed on the interpretation of who can react to what in the end phase. I'm pretty sure I screwed up a bit with the VTOL. We didn't try to check if seriously-wounded guys got hit again. We kept forgetting to try suppressive fire (which is something that might have really helped our side out). And I often forgot about Brian's guys being poorly supplied. But whatever, I still loved it. The scenario was fun, the terrain was fun, and the models were great.

TruKom rebels engage the BTR-800, knocking out the main gun

FuturKom Officer - "Well, we're all seriously wounded, but job well done!"

Here are some thoughts on the rules now that we have a second (and much better) game under our belt.

Thoughts On The Good Stuff
Most games go much better once you understand WTF you are doing, and this was no exception. The action/reaction sequence is very cool. With a little planning and coordination (and not losing your overwatch reaction checks) you can move around the table and cover your own units. This is far and away the coolest aspect of these rules, and makes for a very, very enjoyable gaming experience. Looking back I can already see the mistakes I made by not getting my different fireteams organized to work together a little more. The one heavy infantry fireteam which ended up isolated (and then hit by random mortars...oh well) would have made a huge difference for the rest of our troops, but just ended up getting zapped by a hot LZ.

I also enjoy the constant firefights. You throw buckets of dice (which I love, although that's not for everyone) and everybody gets to shoot a LOT, in just one turn, which I think is fun. The game was only six turns, but we were blazing away at each other for practically the whole game.

The medic/medical bot aspect is neat - with the medical assets around, units can hang around longer, and keep fighting.

I also enjoyed the Fog-Of-War cards. It helped that these mostly plagued Dallas :) but they are pretty neat, and didn't affect the game in an excessive way.

Thoughts On The "Meh" Stuff
I have mixed feelings on the casualties. I have seen several other reviews where the players have remarked one way or the other on this too. For all of the shooting, there were perhaps five models KIA on Dallas' side, and maybe six on our side, for about 11 out of almost 52 infantry models. Now - is that "right"? I'm not sure.

To be clear, this is still 250% better than a 40k game, where the casualties are something like 90% (100% when I play against Dave V's Eldar), and yet somehow neither side breaks, and there are three or four models still on the table at the end of the game, which always feels stupid to me. Besides, what do I really know about the "right" level of casualties?

Removing models by the bunch is just something I'm used to in gaming, so the approach taken by Tomorrow's War is really different from my perspective. By keeping the seriously wounded troops with the unit, you do think of the game a little differently, and I credit the Ambush Alley guys for going with a system that makes the players think/act much more like "real" regular soldiers would with regard to injured comrades. They would be cared for, protected and evacuated, and not just flicked away to make room for a sweeping advance move.

I guess it just seemed like the repeated accumulation of serious wounds in a unit should have had...some kind of worse outcome. Just not sure what it is. Maybe a fireteam with two serious wounds needs to do a TQ check to do anything, even return fire....who knows...but something. All in all, I think this is something I will get used to once I play the game more. Not a big negative, just very different.

Thoughts On The Not-So-Good Stuff
No question we had a way, way better experience with last night's game than our first game. But I feel there are still some serious challenges with these rules.

First of all, it's a lot of "red tape" for a skirmish game - who is wounded, who is seriously wounded, who has moved once, who hasn't, who has fired, how many times have they fired etc. You are keeping track of a lot of stuff for a small game. You will need a number markers/chits for the tabletop. This is not the end of the world, but it will serve as significant check on the size of the game you can have. And not everyone likes a tabletop cluttered in chits.

A big bugaboo, in my view, is the separation of getting hit by fire and determining the results of those hits. Considering that you are taking morale checks all the time in the middle of the turn, waiting until the next turn to see how bad the hit was just does not make any sense to me. The first aid checks should happen right after the round of fire is complete, and before the next activation.

Last, and most significant, remains the confusing structure and organization of the rulebook itself. I simply did not understand "Tomorrow's War" until we read "Force On Force". Tomorrow's War reads like you already know the rules - like you are all already "in" on the game. The fact that we would read a second set of rules just to understand the first set is a strong testament to the positives in this game. "Tomorrow's War" already appears to enjoy a very strong following (and we now see why). A properly organized version of the "Tomorrow's War" rules would surely draw exponentially more new interest from gamers!

A final bit - this game need a proper and well-thought-out QRS sheet. This is a good start, but doesn't quite cut it.

Conclusion
With the riddle of the rules unlocked, Tomorrow's War is a lot of fun. It is a very engaging, firefight-packed game. I look forward to trying it again with the group sometime!

Thanks to Dallas and Brian for coming out to game last night, and to Dallas for bringing along his awesome FuturKom guys and vehicles!

A Word from Dallas

Great report, Greg, and thanks for hosting the game. I don't really have a lot to add, except to echo your comment that this go-through was MUCH better than the first one. TW makes a lot out of its ability to simulate "asymmetric" encounters but as I found in the first game, and Brian saw last night, d8 guys vs. d6 guys is generally not a lot of fun for the d6'ers. This is exacerbated to some degree by the difficulty of putting a man down in TW. Crap hordes vs. a few good troops works better (psychologically) in a game like 40K, where stuff dies. The horde player can feel good about getting a few kills on the other guy, and the good troops will kill horde monsters by the truckload.

But TW is more realistic... not everybody who gets hit will die, be seriously wounded, or even get a boo-boo, for Pete's sake. So it's a bit more cerebral and less visceral an exercise to "see how you're doing" when most of the guys you knocked down stand straight back up again.

I am also growing to be somewhat of a convert to the "reaction" system (as opposed to IGO-UGO). Limiting the number and quality of "reactions" is key, though, especially when the battle is asymmetrical. I enjoyed the way we played last night - that Initiative units were not allowed reactions once the non-Initiative units starting doing stuff at the end of the turn. "You had your chance to act - could have gone on Overwatch if you wanted - now it's our turn." TW allows a bit more "reaction" from the Initiative units so we'll have to consider that.

All in all a great evening's gaming!

Game This Week - Tomorrow's War

2012-01-18T10:29:00.001-06:00

Tonight we go for round two vs. Tomorrow's War!

Well, our first go-round was a little rough, but we are not deterred, so this week we will be giving "Tomorrow's War", the sci-fi skirmish rules from Ambush Alley Games/Osprey, another try. I have heaped a fair amount of ranting/complaints on the rules, but conscript Mike A has doggedly suggested that the rules are actually much clearer when you read "Force On Force", the modern skirmish game from Ambush Alley, which uses the identical core system.

I borrowed a copy of "Force On Force" from Mike A, and I think he's right. Some things are still fuzzy, but the basics are much clearer in "Force On Force". Armed with this (still possibly delusional) new understanding, I think we will have a much better time of it. Or we won't, but it's still fun to push figures around!

Tonight's scenario will pit the sinister, menacing forces of Gün Schwarm against the sinister, menacing forces of FuturKom. On the world of Dnieper VII, the FuturKom's 356th Guards Army has launched a major offensive and is sweeping all resistance ahead of it. The 210th Schwarm Korps is trying to dent the advancing Kommulists where it can while falling back toward a new defensive line. The spearheads of the 356th Guards have had to deal with spoiling attacks from mobile Gün units, the odd mob of "TruKom" rebels, and the occasional air strike by the LuftSchwarm.

One such Kom spearhead, stopped near an abandoned village, was the victim of a particularly hard-hitting air strike. Their APCs and T-340s have been knocked out, and the troops scattered. The local Güns have spotted this confusion, and have moved in for a quick counterattack, hoping to finish off the column and grab some valuable intelligence from a T-640 that appears to been knocked out. Will the Güns get the job done? Will the Kom motor fuzileers rally in time to see them off? Will TruKom rebels try and join the fun? Lock and load on Dnieper VII!

Hope to see you tonight!

Servo-Skull & Decals for Gün Schwarm Troops

2012-01-18T09:18:00.000-06:00

Gün Schwarm heavy infantry with new accent(s)

Do you ever finish painting a figure(s), and then decide something was missing? I was feeling this way about the GW Kasrkin figures I had painted to serve as Gün Schwarm heavy infantry. To my mind, those big shoulder plates needed a decal, so I rummaged around and found some WW2 Stalingrad decal sets from Battlefront, and applied them last night while the Jets got hammered by the damn New Jersey Devils.

Decals from Battlefront on the shoulder plates

I selected a decal attributed to the "100th Jag." division - I have no detailed familiarity with the battle of Stalingrad, but I assume this was one of the German units that would ultimately find doom in that campaign. At this scale, the decal appears to be a little shield of some kind, with a small marking on it. Not very elaborate or overdone. Seemed to fit the Kasrkin shoulder plates well enough, so I popped them on.

"Will that be a decaf latte?"

While digging out the decals, I found a nutty little GW bit - a "servo skull". I cannot remember when - or why - I would have acquired something like this. In general, I find the GW tendency to splash skulls all over absolutely everything to be quite tiresome, but I couldn't resist painting up this little accent piece. Loaded with what appears to be both advanced optics as well as a brace of grenades, the servo-skull could serve all sorts of niche roles on the tabletop.

Servo skull doing....something.....

Nothing captures the grim esprit of the Warhammer 40k setting more than a "servo skull", as you try and ponder the thought process behind this - an Imperial officer approaches the tech adepts and says "hey, I found Phil's remains on the battlefield, and I was thinking that if you could just attach a couple bits to his skull here, I would have the perfect mobile docking station for my iPhone 400s..."

I'm going to try and find a purpose for this thing in tonight's game...either as a medical bot of some kind, a recon drone, or maybe the grim, far-future version of an embedded journalist...

New bits for FUBAR - 6mm Sci-Fi

2012-01-17T10:53:00.000-06:00

Late last year we had some fun with FUBAR, using the rules to play some sci-fi skirmish games in 6mm. Dallas has been sucked into the fray, and I understand some of his Christmas presents are in production right now, so to encourage him along, here are some shots of some reinforcements for the hard-hit reservists of Task Force Bravo, trying to defend the resource-production colony number 24601.

Bikers to provide recon - the figures are from the old Imperial Guard epic-scale sprues

In their last encounter, the Task Force got shot up pretty badly by the Ork mercenaries. The military authorities have sent some reinforcements to help out in the form of some regular mechanized troops - a section of three bikes for recon duties, two squads mounted in Ramjack APCs, and a pair of newer-model tanks.

With the exception of the bikers (which are GW Epic 40k models), all figures are from Dark Realm Miniatures.

Mechanized regulars from the Pax Arcadian forces

The mechanized infantry consists of two eight-man squads of regulars, each with one AT launcher and one grenade launcher. The infantry squads are mounted in Ramjack APCs, newer model vehicles from the main Pax Arcadia mechanized forces.

Close shows a sergeant (front right) and AT launcher trooper beside him

Each eight-man squad has a Ramjack APC

Rear angle shot of the Ramjack APC - yet another gorgeous 6mm figure from DRM

The tanks are Rampart-class, vehicles on the heavy side of "medium", much newer models than the old Mammoth heavy tanks that have been providing the armoured oomph to the column so far. These tanks do not mount guns that are as heavy as the Mammoths, but they are faster, and have more advanced optics and hard-hitting, advanced rounds. The sloped armour is made of newer composite materials.

The Rampart tanks have a more high-tech, advanced look to them - again, the quality from DRM is amazing

As a final touch, the governor of the colony has sent down a squad of his elite household guard troops. These are elite heavy infantrymen - they are not on hand to join up with the Task Force, but have instead received orders to guard the public facilities in the main settlement. It remains to be seen where, if at all, they will see any action...the reservists and regular soldiers scoff at these "toy soldiers", but are privately impressed with their high-tech equipment, and are hoping they will help out if there is further serious fighting.

Household guard, represented by DRM's "Industrial Infantry" - really cool castings

Sadly, I couldn't get this lit properly - but these are very unique "heavy infantry" for 6mm

I look forward to seeing Dallas' 6mm FUBAR lads on the table - it will be great to add another "faction" to the unfolding drama of the Orks, Binary Petroleum, and the unfortunate colonists of 24601.

Heavy Infantry for Gün Schwarm

2012-01-16T10:21:00.000-06:00

New recruits for Gün Schwarn

I've been painting a lot of historical stuff over the past few weeks, but decided to "clear the palette" a little bit this weekend with a small sci-fi project - some "heavy infantry" for the Gün Schwarm in the form of 28mm Kasrkin/Storm Trooper models from GW.

A "schwere" infantry fireteam, with an officer and a grenade launcher

A bit of back story - I had acquired about 10 of these figures from fellow conscript Mike F in a trade about a year ago (there you go Mike - I knew I would get around to them eventually!).

The officer figure is cool, but I'm not sure removing your breathing equipment is a great idea in the SpaceKreig setting...

These figures are some of my favourite GW castings. The current plastic guardsmen are not all that pleasing, but these models are really, really sharp - bulky, armoured, silly guns, cool poses that convey action without excessive or unrealistic animation. Unfortunately, they receive billing as some kind of elite/special forces-type trooper in the "current" version of the Imperial Guard codex, but with all the hoses from the weapons, heavy back-packs etc. I can't see these guys zip-lining, drop-deploying etc. The other storm trooper figures fit that bill very well in my view (FWIW I think those are also amazing figures in their own right too).

Special weapon troops - melta gun (L) and grenade launcher

I see these more as sci-fi "heavy infantry", deploying out of APC/IFVs etc and doing some heavier lifting/shooting than the regular lads can manage, especially in built-up environments. The heavier armour protects better against blasts, IEDs, terrifying claws and other things. In fact, that is how these models first came out (the "Kasrkin"), and at one time they could be used as a "troops" choice.

Another angle on the support weapons, showing the backpacks

Back when these models were first released, I painted 30 of them for a core of a force that would eventually balloon into the large horde/collection of "blue" guardsmen I have today. This force org is no longer valid under the "current" codex, not that they ever managed to achieve much more than serving as speed bumps for Dave V's Eldar.

The second fireteam, with the melta gun

So I have painted these extra fellows in Gün Schwarm colours to serve as "schwere" infantry in the fight against Kommulism. It will at most amount to one 8-man squad in a SpaceKreig game, or a pair of fireteams for a Tomorrow's War-type game, but it was fun to paint up some of my favourite models while watching some great (San Fran vs. New Orleans) and not-so-great (New England vs. Denver) NFL playoff games.

The new recruits on maneuvers with the "Space Hetzer"

It would be neat to add more of these models, but we'll see - I'm not even sure if they are still available, or if they have been resigned to the dustbin known as "Finecast". I also hear rumours that GW is doing up storm trooper type models as a new plastic kit, which could be interesting, but there are always GW rumours.

I hope these will see some action soon, and we all know how newly-painted figures totally dominate the tabletop.

The 40KEGGER III

2012-01-15T17:15:00.012-06:00

Yesterday I played at the 40kegger III at Bronx Park Community Centre, here in Winnipeg, Manitoba. As J.P. and Greg's website indicates, the 40kegger is

"a fully structured tournament with unique beer-themed missions that take players through a full day of intense 40k action."

The addition of kegs of Half Pints Brewing Company beer is a very welcome addition to the proceedings. Participants' entry fees are put back into the event, for prize support, venue rental, the purchase of beer and food, and associated expenses.

The 8 tables were 4' square. Participants were allowed only 1,000 point armies from a single force org, and with only 1 H.Q.

Here are some of the armies on display yesterday:

ARMY SHOWCASE

Charles' Crimson Fists...

...led by Pedro Cantor:

Fabio's Orks:

Sean's Chaos Undivided:

Suzanne's Nurgle Chaos:

Chris' Tyranids:

MikeM's Imperial Guard:

Chad's Tau:

Collin's Thousand Sons:

Jeremy's Imperial Guard:

Keith's Imperial Guard:

My mechanized Eldar Swordwind (someone remarked, "Look at all those tanks!")...

...led by a Howling Banshee styled Autarch:

TOURNAMENT SCORING

Rather than scoring points in a variety of categories, the 40kegger uses only one form of scoring: Mission Points (MPs). In the first 2 rounds of games, players tally as many Mission Points as they can in an attempt to make the playoffs. Once in the playoffs, the qualifying players will eliminate each other through 2 rounds of missions. The last man standing is the winner of the 40kegger. The tournament is similar to a sports tournament with round robins, semi-finals, and a grand finale.

GAME ONE: Beer Run

Objective: Six beer barrels were placed randomly across the table by both players. The players got Mission Points each turn, one MP per turn for EACH barrel of beer that they had in their possession, calculated at the start of their opponent's turn. Only one barrel could be carried by any unit that had hands or claws. Models carrying barrels could not shoot, and would drop the barrel if involved in close combat.

Opponent: Sean's Chaos Undivided
Chaos Lord w/ Mark of Khorne and Daemon Weapon
7 Khorne Berzerkers, riding in a Rhino
9 Chaos Space Marines w/ 2 Melta Guns, riding in a Rhino
7 Thousand Sons, led by a Sorceror, riding in a Rhino
Chaos Defiler walker

The Eldar won the initial roll so I decided to go first and chose the southwest table quarter to set up in. I deployed everything, leaving nothing in reserve.

Two units were able to be in or near contact with a couple of barrels.

Sean set up the Chaos forces in the northeast quarter, with the Thousand Sons in contact with a barrel.

In the first turn, the Eldar advanced forwards. Two squads dismounted towards the centre, behind the cover of their tank hulls. The Autarch seized one barrel, and a squad of Avengers seized another. To the south, the Avenger squad already holding a barrel embarked on their transport, and the Wraithlord picked up a fourth beer keg.

For the Eldar, this was the most hazardous position in the game. They had to survive a turn of fire before they could zip up under tank armour and withdraw south to play keep-away.

Fortunately, despite losing three Fire Dragons to Chaos fire, no units were destroyed or broken.

The Autarch embarked back into her transport as the surviving Fire Dragons advanced towards the K-Sons. Concentrated Eldar firepower wiped out the Thousand Sons and killed all but one of the Chaos Space Marines.

The lone Chaos Space Marine then grabbed a barrel, and made it into cover, where he hunkered down until Turn 5...

The Defiler shot down a Dire Avenger squad's Wave Serpent transport. The Avengers extricated themselves from the wreck...

...and joined in a general withdrawal to the southeast.

The Wraithlord never fired; it would have had to drop its barrel to do so, and that would have cost valuable Mission Points over the course of the whole tournament.

The last Chaos Space Marine died and the Hornet managed to get into the rear arc of the Defiler, destroying it with concentrated laser fire. This ended the Chaos forces' chances of doing anything further of note.

The game ended after the end of the fifth turn. Each barrel held also generated a random number of bonus MPs. The final score was Eldar (20+11)=31 MPs, Chaos Undivided=5 MPs.

Result: Eldar Win

GAME TWO: Pass 'er Around

Objective: This was a species of Annihilation, with each side scoring a variable amount of MPs, depending upon the point value of each unit lost; the more the unit was worth in points, the more MPs it would garner (IIRC 1-49=1MP, 2-99=3MPs, 100-199=5MPs, 200+=7MPs). It was also assumed that each side's HQ had tapped the beer barrels seized in the previous scenario, and were subject to random alcohol-related advantages and disadvantages. For example, the Eldar Autarch gained "Furious Charge" at the expense of being always treated as if moving in Difficult Terrain.

Opponent: Sam's Tyranids
Tervigon
Zoenthrope
Zoenthrope
Venomthrope
20 Hormagaunts w/ poison sacks
3 Ripper Swarm stands
3 Shrikes
20 Gargoyles w/ poison sacks
Trygon

Both sides were required to set up their HQ and up to two Troops choices. The Tervigon, Ripper Swarm and Hormagaunts set up first, in the northern half of the table. The Eldar set up the two Dire Avenger squads and the Autarch, embarked in the former's Wave Serpents, behind a building in the southwest corner.

The Tervigon rolled (1+1+3) to birth only 5 new Termagaunts, rolling doubles, straining something and thus unable to birth any more for the rest of the game. As the game continued, the initial Tyranids moved south, and a pair of Zoenthropes moved into the northwest and northeast quarters.

In response, Eldar forces forces moved onto the table, with the Fire Dragons moving straight for the Tervigon. The new Termagaunt brood was wiped out.

The Dragons disembarked and helped blow the Tervigon away.

The Shrikes, Gargoyles and Venomthrope came on from reserve. Also, the Tervigon regenerated and came on from the northern board edge. This was a scenario special rule; each side's HQ was so juiced up that they were immune from normally mortal wounds!

Next turn, Eldar fire killed the Venomthrope and and the westernmost Zoenthrope.

The Trygon Deep Struck to the west. Gargoyles swarmed all over the Wraithlord, killing it with their venom. This bunched them up deep in the southern half of the table...

...whereupon concentrated fire whittled down their numbers. Note the position of the Hornet, used to capstone the more valuable Wave Serpents and their contents from the Trygon.

The Trygon destroyed the Hornet. The Shrikes moved forward but they and the Gargoyles were wiped out by Eldar fire.

In the final turn, the Fire Dragons finally went down to the Hormagaunts, and the second Zoenthrope was blown away by tank fire.

The final score was Eldar=24 MPs, Tyranids=13 MPs.

Result: Eldar Win

(I had scored the highest in Mission Points of the four players in Group 3, so I would face off against the winner of Group 1 in the Playoffs in Game Three.)

GAME THREE: Barrels of the Warp

Objective: Whichever side had control of the most objectives at the end of the game would win. The objectives were represented by barrels of magical beer, which suffered from random Daemonic effects such as movement or causing damage to Psykers. To control an objective, any friendly unit had to be within 3" of an objective, with no enemy units present; you couldn't pick them up. The game woiuld last only 6 turns.

Opponent: MikeK's Dark Eldar
(IIRC)
Archon w/ Agoniser
10 Wyches w/ Haywire Grenades riding in a Raider w/ Flickerfield
5 Kabalite Warriors w/ Blaster, riding a Venom w/ Splinter Cannon
5 Kabalite Warriors w/ Blaster, riding a Venom w/ Splinter Cannon
4 Beastmasters, leading 5 Khymerae and 3 Clawed Fiends
Ravager w/ Flickerfield
Ravager w/ Flickerfield
Talos Pain Engine

The Eldar won the initial roll, choosing to go second. This is crucial for any such objective control game.

Neither side set up anything on the heavily wooded table, not wishing to suffer needless fire, and to see what the other side would do.

As the game finally heated up in Turn 2, the Talos moved into the northeast quarter, and the two Kabalite squads and a Ravager moved flat out onto the table, gaining cover saves. In response, for the Eldar everything except the Warp Hunter showed up...

...shooting down all three of the Dark Eldar skimmers.

The Wyches (with the Archon) and the Beastmasters arrived from reserve. Dark Eldar fire knocked out the Hornet.

The Warp Hunter arrived from reserve. Fire from that and other tanks wiped out the westernmost Kabalite Warriors.

To the east, Eldar fire killed the remaining Kabalite Warriors. The second Ravager arrived from reserve and Stunned a Dire Avenger Wave Serpent.

The Talos went after the Stunned Serpent, destroying it and taking away a chunk of the Eldar mobility.

The Autarch and the Fire Dragons detroyed the Talos Pain Engine, and tank fire knocked out the remaining Ravager. To the west, the Wyches' Raider can be seen to be immobilized beside an objective.

In the sixth turn, the Dark Eldar made a series of bold moves, moving the Beastmaster pack to control three objectives that had moved into close proximity, immobilizing the Warp Hunter with the Wyches's Haywire Grenades, and killing off the Wraithlord with the Archon. The Dark Eldar thus held 5 objectives, and the Eldar held only 1 - the game seemed lost!

As Conscript BrianH says, though, "Never tell me the odds!"

In a real "Hail Mary" move the remaining Dire Avengers tank shocked the Beastmasters and their pack. The Beastmasters failed their morale, and they routed away from the 3 objectives they had held, leaving the Serpent in control of two of them.

The Fire Dragon's empty Wave Serpent moved flat out to take control of another objective, leaving the Eldar in control of a total of 4 objectives.

The final score was Eldar=4 MPs, Dark Eldar=2 MPs.

Result: Eldar Win

(With that win I made the Finals. I was tired after only the second game but, ironically, my desire to rest was spoiled by my success.

Due to my previous scores, I was granted choice of table. I was to face Jeremy's Guard, with which he had just tabled Fabio's entire Ork force. Against such a gun line army, I chose the wooded table that I had just played on, with all its LOS blocking terrain.)

GAME FOUR: The End

Below is a family portrait of three of the players yesterday, from L-R Suzanne, her husband Chris, and their son Jeremy (who I was about to face).

Opponent: Jeremy's Imperial Guard
Company Command Squad w/ Regimental Standard, Vox Caster, Medi-pack, and Plasma Gun
Platoon:
- Platoon Command Squad w/ Sniper
- Infantry Squad w/ Grenade Launcher and Vox Caster
- Infantry Squad w/ Sniper, Vox Caster and Heavy Bolter
- Heavy Weapons Squad w/ 3 Lascannons
Platoon:
- Platoon Command Squad w/ Power Weapon, Plasma Pistol and Vox Caster
- Infantry Squad w/ Bolt Pistol, Grenade Launcher, and Vox Caster
- Infantry Squad w/ Bolt Pistol, Power Weapon, Flamer, and Vox Caster
- Heavy Weapon Squad w/ 3 Autocannons
Veteran Squad w/ Vox Caster, Grenade Launcher, and Missile Launcher, riding in a Chimera APC
Basilisk self-propelled gun

That's 77 infantry models and two tanks in 1,000 points. Awesome!

Objective: Straight up Victory Points game, with Dawn of War deployment. The game would last 6 turns.

The Eldar won the initial roll, so I decided to go second, to see what the Guard deployment would be. The photo above also shows Jeremy's forces deployed, in a long line across the southern table edge, anchoring their west flank with the Basilisk.

I declined to set up at all, in order to deny my opponent two turns' worth of shooting.

The look on Jeremy's face upon seeing my "reserves denial" ploy? Priceless.

The Guard stayed in place. For the Eldar, all but the Wraithlord arrived from reserves at the bottom of the second turn. I moved the vehicles such that they all obtained hull down positions or were masked by terrain entirely from anti-tank fire. A barrage and other tank fire wiped out the Veteran Squad formerly standing behind the Chimera. The Hornet, in the northwest corner, suppressed the Basilisk.

Guard return fire was totally ineffective, despite the issuing of "Bring it Down" orders by their Company CO.

In the third turn the Eldar made their big move, in a general advance to the south. The Fire Dragons and Autarch in their Wave Serpent moved flat out to just in front of the two Guard Heavy Weapon Squads set up by the knocked out Rhino. This move helped capstone an Avenger Serpent and the Warp Hunter following it up the centre of the table. To the east another Dire Avenger Serpent moved towards the infantry and the Chimera. To the west the Hornet moved forward to bring all its guns to bear.

The resulting fire phase saw most of the Company Command Squad and a couple of Heavy Weapon teams killed, and the Basilisk was suppressed again.

In the fourth turn, the Guard had to stop the Eldar tanks, otherwise their position would become untenable. Unfortunately, Jeremy's dice failed him.

At the bottom of the fourth turn, to the east some Dire Avengers dismounted and put fire into the infantry in front of them. Their Wave Serpent tank shocked another squad off the table. In the centre, the Autarch and the Dragons dismounted, in preparation for a charge. Their Serpent shot down the Guard Company Commander. Other tank fire wiped out the Lascannon Squad.

In the subsequent Close Combat phase, the Autarch and Dragons multi-charged the Autocannon Squad and an Infantry Squad. Suprisingly, the Eldar lost the combat, but their morale held.

The Autarch, used to fruity drinks with umbrellas in them, was obviously unable to hold her beer!

At the top of the fifth turn a Platoon Command Squad joined the figures locked in combat, killing a couple of Dragons. However, the Autarch finally remembered how to use her sword and pistol and killed three Guardsmen, winning the combat and routing off the Heavy Weapon Squad and the Infantry Squad. The Autarch and a couple of surviving Fire Dragons then piled in to the Platoon Command Squad.

At the bottom of the fifth turn, the surviving Avengers embarked and moved to the flank of the Chimera. The Warp Hunter moved up to support the Autarch with close range template fire. The Chimera and the Basilisk were knocked out by tank fire. All the Guard infantry to the east were destroyed. Most of the infantry to the west were also destroyed. In close combat the Autarch wiped out the Platoon Command Squad.

In the photo below, the remnants of the Guard Heavy Weapon Squad and the Infantry Squad can be seen about to rout off the table, escorted by the Autarch and the surviving Fire Dragons. The only active unit the Imperial Guard had left on the table was the reduced squad of four lonely Guardsmen at the bottom of the picture, who had no anti-tank weapons...

Result: Eldar Win

TOURNAMENT RESULTS

Below, the white board illustrates the results of all the games. MikeM won the B side, Jeremy came in second place as a result of playing in the finals, and I was fortunate to pull off the tournament win.

Below is the grand prize, a beautiful, large beer stein.

Thanks to J.P, Greg and all those who helped run or support the event, and thanks to all my opponents, for a great day of gaming!

Edited to add: Further info and photos may be found on the 40kegger blog, here.

More war machines for the Swordwind

2012-01-15T14:09:00.008-06:00

I am glad to be posting again after a forced hiatus of a few months. All I shall say about that is a quote from the great movie The Princess Bride,

"If you haven't got your health, then you haven't got anything."

Here's a couple of very recent additions to my ever-expanding Eldar force for Warhammer 40,000.

I played at the Mechani-Kon III tournament back last October, where I fielded one of GW's old metal Wraithlord models. At the time, Conscript BrianH opined that it would be cool if I had one of the newer plastic Wraithlords. As it happened, I had one of those kits kicking around unbuilt.

I like the willowy look of the plastic model. Theere is a choice of four different feet (flat and bent), but only two legs. Cut apart the originally straight right leg, bent it at the knee, and rebuilt it with epoxy putty and thin jewelry wire (for the joint covering on the back of the knee). Repositioned the gun to the middle of its "face" to make it look like one of the old Ghostwarriors.

The bending of the right leg, along with appropriate positioning of the torso and other limbs, adds a sense of motion and power to the figure.

Primed black, airbrushed zenithal highlights in white, laid in Testors Acryl Russian Armor Green and True Blue Pearl airbrush paints. Shading, blending and details with artists' tube oil paints.

The photos below shows detail, repectively, of the Wraithsword and the rune on the chassis rear.

The IED at the Wraithlord's feet is a Forge World resin bit.

The recent Forge World publication Imperial Armour Apocolypse, 2nd. Ed., has rules for some of the newer FW models, inlcuding the Warp Hunter self-propelled assault gun:

This resin and plastic model makes me think of an Eldar take on the Sturmgeschütz. The big gun is a Distortion Cannon, a reality-rending device whose rules describe it as capable of firing a large blast barrage up to 36" away, or a more focused template (called an Aether Rift) to winkle out infantry in cover.

Model primed black, airbrushed zenithal highlights in white, laid in Russian Green canned spray paint, and painted the camo using True Pearl airbrush paint. The glazed shading, blending and details were with artists' tube oil paints, with Citadel washes used to pick out the panel lines.

The photo below shows the pilot detailing.

The large gem on the hull painted as a star ruby.

I finished the Warp Hunter just in time for 40Kegger III, an annual local tournament with unique beer-themed missions that take players through a full day of intense 40k action, with the welcome addition of kegs of local beer for refreshment.

Ah, drinking and gaming. Sounds just like a Thursday night!

40Kegger specifies only 1,000-point armies, to allow for several fast games. At that point level, there's no room for fat.

40Kegger III Army List

HQ: Autarch (1#, 93 pts)
1 Autarch, 93 pts = (base cost 70 + Banshee Mask 3 + Power Weapon 10 + Fusion Gun 10)

Troops: Dire Avengers (6#, 175 pts)
5 Dire Avengers, 60 pts = 5 * 12
1 Wave Serpent, 115 pts = (base cost 90) + TL Scatter Lasers 25

Troops: Dire Avengers (6#, 175 pts)
5 Dire Avengers, 60 pts = 5 * 12
1 Wave Serpent, 115 pts = (base cost 90) + TL Scatter Lasers 25

Elite: Fire Dragons (6#, 190 pts)
5 Fire Dragons, 80 pts = 5 * 16
1 Wave Serpent, 110 pts = (base cost 90 + Spirit Stones 10) + TL Shuriken Cannons 10

Fast Attack: Hornet (IA) (1#, 95 pts)
1 Hornet (IA), 95 pts = (base cost 55) + Scatter Laser x1 10 + Pulse Laser x1 30

Heavy Support: Warp Hunter (IA) (1#, 125 pts)
1 Warp Hunter (IA), 125 pts

Heavy Support: Wraithlord (1#, 140 pts)
1 Wraithlord, 140 pts = (base cost 90 + Wraithsword 10) + Bright Lance 40

Total Roster Cost: 993 points

The list has some long- and short-range anti-tank, some templates and a barrage to deal with infantry in cover and hordes, and has a fair amount of medium strength firepower for infantry, monstrous creatures, and light armour. It can reserve itself and has a good chance of coming onto the table cohesively instead of piecemeal.

Still and all, I found it a bit of a challenge to create a balanced list. Codex: Eldar is an older publication (almost 6 years old, now), and is no longer very popular among the tournament crowd.

As it turns out, when I played at 40Kegger yesterday it was the third tournament within the last year where I was the only person present playing Eldar...

Review: Vampire Counts Army Book 8th Ed.

2012-01-14T20:06:00.002-06:00

New Vampire Counts - not exactly as depicted...

I used some gift certificates to pick up the new Vampire Counts army book. First off, $50 for an army book? Seriously? As my daughters would say, WTF? I can't wait until the new edition of 40K comes out and all the books are hard cover.
Anyways, on to the content. Anyone that owns the previous Vampire book is going to be pissed off. Other than adding a few paragraphs here and there, the majority of the bestiary text is lifted directly from the previous book. They even used most of the previous art work, though it is in "color" now. Sure, there are some new units(some of the models are actually quite nice). The only real "plus" is that GW has finally started using a decent binding, so hopefully the pages won't fall out.
I don't want to come across a GW hater, but I am starting to wonder how much longer their current "business" practices can last. All in all, I give this book a big MEH.

Contest Entry - FuturKom "Strike Force"

2012-01-14T17:55:00.000-06:00

Following Conscript Greg's lead , here's a FuturKom Strike Force for Tomorrow's War, as an entry to the Strike Force contest.

As we all know, the far future is not a nice place. In our own twisted time-to-come, "FuturKom" is the dystopian future society that mirrors the former Soviet empire of our own time. Strangely, so many people (myself included) are quite taken with the notion of a future empire that reflects the former USSR... do we all conveniently forget that the real USSR only lasted 70 years or so before collapsing under its own weight? In any event, the future world of "50-Year Plans" and "Socialist Workers' Paradises" has to be defended, and the FuturKom Socialist Army of Workers and Space Peasants fulfills that important role.

Major Markov commands the strike force, part of the 356th Guards Army of the Dnieper-System Front. He is accompanied by his ADC, the standard bearer, and a supply bot. (Models by Pig Iron, flag from Vaubanner Graphics.

Although the FuturKom forces largely consist of conscripts, there are elite elements too - like these power-armoured recon troops, the "FuturKommandoes".

As a "quick reaction force", these two FuturKom fireteams enjoy riding to battle in their BTR-600 APC. Troops from Pig Iron, APC is a Russian "toy-scale" BTR with conversions.

The heavy punch of the strike force is provided by a pair of T-340 medium tanks, armed with twin autocannons in the turret and a hull-mounted "laser projektor". Note the ubiquitous searchlights provided to all future forces by "Future Industrie Gmbh", aka Games Workshop from their tank accessory sprue. Model is another toy-scale Russian diecast.

So that's the strike force, but while I had the models out to photograph I couldn't help but snap a few shots of the rest of the FuturKom army I've accumulated. Here they are...

Kom-bot converted from a WotC Star Wars Miniature Battles walker.

The T-640 heavy tank - a converted 1/35 T-64 with lots of added goodness including an unfeasibly-large main gun.

The one that started it all - the SU-300 assault gun. Converted from a toy-scale Russian diecast.

Another shot of the T-640.

T-640 commander.

Futur flyer.


Captured Gunschwarm prisoners... now "re-educated" and ready to sacrifice themselves for the glorious cause of Kommulism ;-)

So there you go - "Onward to the glorious future-Kommulist future - FUTURKOM!"

Contest Entry - Gün Schwarm "Strike Force"

2012-01-13T16:33:00.000-06:00

The folks over at Ambush Alley Games are running a "Strike Force" contest to promote "Tomorrow's War". I'm sure we'll be trying those rules again soon, and I thought the chaps from Gün Schwarm could put in an appearance for the contest. Besides - if I'm going to get creamed in one contest, might as well get creamed in another! With that in mind, I am happy to present a squad of gerpanzert panzer grenadiers from the 210th Gün Schwarm Korps.

Strike Force from the 210th Schwarm Korps

The Background

Tracing their roots back to the North American environmental movements of the early 21st century, Gün Schwarm now fights for order and enforced recycling through the galaxy. The troops of the 210th have seen a great deal of action against Dallas' Kommulists and Mike F's Future Brits in diverse locales, including repeated bouts of very heavy fighting in New New Berlin. We have previously used our own home-made skirmish rules for these games, but we look forward to these fellows battling against the deluded minions of FuturKom using the new Ambush Alley rules.

This Strike Force from the 210th features is based around a pair of 8-man squads mounted in APCs and pair of deadly Panzer Ausf. W-2050 class tanks.

Fireteams deploy with their trusty SdKfz 2040 APC - MBT in the background

The infantry squads will each play as a pair of four-man fireteams - one fireteam will contain the RPG, and the other will contain a grenade launcher.

Gün Schwarm Platoon Commander (right) leads the infantry, while the Kaptain (left) is in charge of the overall detachment

Infantry support includes a sniper, a hard-hitting MG-2030 team, and the "SchwarmBot", which is on hand to help with everything from recon to EOD to close-up fighting. SchwarmBot also mounts a heavy AT laser, so it is often sent to sneak around enemy armoured vehicles while fighting in built-up areas.

The SchwarmBot - handy for special, otherwise-really-life-threatening tasks

The tanks mount Gün Schwarm's deadly 120mm high-velocity cannon, useful against FuturKom's hordes of T-340s. In addition to the regular supply of AT and HE rounds, this weapon can fire the special ATGM "Schwarmpunkt" rounds (with super-dense-un-obtanium cores) which can even engage the dreaded T-640.

The Panzer Ausf. W-2050s MBTs are deadly fighting machines

Mobile detachments like this one form the core of the 210th Schwarm Korps' fighting ability, able to engage right across the full spectrum of Gün Schwarm's various "kinetic community outreach" battle concept. From urban ruins to grassy steppes, the 210th is ready for the worst the awful Kommulists and their Brit toadies can offer.

The Models

The infantry are primarily 28mm scale "Steel Legion" models from GW's WH40k range. The officer are 28mm "Death Korps of Krieg" figures from GW's Forge World. The SchwarmBot is a 28mm GW RT-era robot, with an up-gunned laser cannon. The APCs are "Claymores" from Old Crow. The tanks are modified Panthers from Solido.

The Stats
Gün Schwarm Basic Attributes
Confidence Level: High
Supply Quality Level: Normal
Overall Tech Level: 2
On Grid? Yes
Body Armour: Light Body Armour: (1D)
Troop Quality/Morale: D8/D10

Gün Schwarm Infantry Squads & Support
Squad 1
1 x APC
Grenadier Fireteam 1A
1 x FTL with Kar. 2040
2 x Grenadier with Kar. 2040
1 x Grenadier with Panzerfaust 2038 (TL2, Med. AP:2/AT:2-L)
Grenadier Fireteam 1B

1 x FTL with Kar. 2040
2 x Grenadier with Kar. 2040
1 x Grenadier with Granatewefer (TL2, Lt. AP:1)

Squad 2

1 x APC
Grenadier Fireteam 2A
1 x FTL with Kar. 2040
2 x Grenadier with Kar. 2040
1 x Grenadier with Panzerfaust 2038 (TL2, Med. AP:2/AT:2-L)
Grenadier Fireteam 2B
1 x FTL with Kar. 2040
2 x Grenadier with Kar. 2040
1 x Grenadier with Granatewefer (TL2, Lt. AP:1)

1 x Sniper with Kar. 2012 (TL2, Lt. AP:2)

1 x MG 2030 Team (TL2, Med. AP:4/AT:1-L)

SchwarmBot - D8 Troop Quality Smart Bot, equipped with Schwere LWS (TL3, Med. AP:2/AT3-M)

Schwam Korps Panzer Section
2 x Panzer Ausf. W-2050

Gün Schwarm Vehicles
Name: Panzer Ausf. W-2050 MBT

Class: Heavy
Front Armour (TL2): 5D12
Side Armour (TL2): 4D12
Rear Armour (TL2): 3D8
Main Gun (TL3): 120mm (Heavy Gun)
- AT Value: 6D
- AP Value: 4D
Secondary Weapon: MGs
- AT Value: -
- AP Value: 4D
Crew: 4 (Commander, Gunner, Driver, Loader)
Attributes & Notes: Heavy Hitter - 120mm main gun uses advanced rounds

Name: SdKfz 2040 APC
Class: Medium
Front Armour (TL2): 2D8
Side Armour (TL2): 1D8
Rear Armour (TL2): 1D8
Main Gun (TL2): Twin-cannons in turret
- AT Value: 1D
- AP Value: 4D
Crew: 2 (driver & gunner) and 8-10 passengers

Review - White Dwarf 384 (January 2012)

2012-01-12T14:02:00.000-06:00

Needing to get some Citadel paint last weekend, I stopped at my local. I'd also recalled that Conscript Mike A. had mentioned that the new Vampire Counts book is about to be released for Warhammer Fantasy. So being as I have a VC army I thought I would pick up the WD as I haven't read one for a couple years.

So what's the verdict on the Dwarf this month? A solid "meh"... with added pretty pictures. Let me explain. the focus this month is solidly on Vampire Counts and I liked that. However, the content appears to be largely lifted from the forthcoming army book, with excerpts of model statistics, some background fluff, and model pictures. I liked the photos and descriptions of the new VC models (Coven Throne/Mortis Engine, Vargheists/Crypt Horrors, Black Knights/Hexwraiths) and I applaud GW for creating unit boxes that include the option of building more than one type of unit - this actually helps soothe the intense pain of their pricing by giving extra value in the form of spare bits. But I was really irritated by the fact that the New Releases section didn't list any prices for the new models?!?!? Yes, I know I could guess that "they're expensive" but it irks me to pay $10 for what is essentially a catalog, and have to go on the website to see the prices... in typical GW fashion, the pictures of the models are as mouth-watering as the prices are eye-watering!

Other than the VC stuff there was a Necron tactics article. Although I briefly had a Necron army a few years ago, most of the content in the article went straight over my head as the units in the army are mostly all different to what I remember.

Jervis Johnson's "Standard Bearer" article was pretty good. It was basically an apologia about why Jervis loses games when he designed the game system. The idea is that as a designer, you have an idea in your head about how things "should" work and you write the rules accordingly. As a player you take the rules as immutable and try to exploit them as best you can. Jervis says that it doesn't occur to him to do this because as he plays, he's thinking more about game design than winning. Fair enough! I just want an excuse that I can use when I don't win.

So all in all the mag was "OK" but not great. As far as the VC content went I would have liked to see a rundown on what and what isn't new in terms of units and troops. For example, I have no idea how usable my old army is in the new book. Are there still Fell Bats units? How about a Black Coach? (apparently they're both still around but I wouldn't have known this from the mag). The 40K content was super-focused on Necrons and nothing else... of no interest if you're not a Necron player or nerdy tourney-type who fights 'em. However I am looking forward to next month's rag which is hyped to be a "celebration of the 25th anniversary of Warhammer 40,000"... and with our group's enthusiasm for Rogue Trader I am hoping there will be some good stuff there.

Detailed Contents:

New Releases: VC models. 10 pages
"Also Available": old VC stuff. 2 pages
Dreadfleet ad. 2 pages
Black Library ad: 2 pages
VC extracts from army book, lists etc.: 26 pages
Battle Report: 11 pages
Store Ad: 1 page
Standard Bearer column: 2 pages
Tactica: Necrons and ad: 10 pages
Painting a Ghorgon and Beastmen ad: 7 pages
Civil War: 9 pages
Forgeworld ad: 2 pages
Sorcerous pact (allies): 4 pages
Gamesday ad: 2 pages
Armies on Parade (Haradrim): 2 pages
Terrain ad: 2 pages
Painting the Mortis Engine:8 pages
Miscellaneous ads, Store Finder, Events etc.: 14 pages
Citadel HoF (model spotlight): 1 page

Dark Age Skirmish Battle Report

2012-01-12T11:35:00.000-06:00

Last night Conscripts Brian, Perry, Mike F. and Greg came over for a game - I had decided to stage a Dark Ages skirmish battle between Viking raiders and Normans.

Here's the table layout. We used Games Workshop's "Lord of the Rings" skirmish rules and played a scenario from the "Return of the King" book. Basically, the main Norman force deploys around the keep at right. The Normans are led by Roland, a Norman duke, who has been wounded in a battle that occurred before the current action picks up (although he is a mighty warrior, he only has one Wound and no Fate points). With him is a captain, Gaston, and a retinue of foot knights and bowmen. Riding to their relief is a lieutenant, Edouard, accompanied by a group of mounted knights. The objective of the Norman players is to exit Roland from the left table edge.

The Vikings deploy in the right half of the table, anywhere more than 6" from the Normans. Their goal is to prevent Roland's escape.

Edouard and his knights ride to the rescue!

Normans of Roland's retinue, including "Brian", the bowman at right, who will figure prominently in the later story...

Grim Vikings, led by their chieftain, Bergthor and his wolfhound, and accompanied by Osvald, bearer of the Raven Standard. For Osvald we used the stats for "Gamling", the Rohan Royal Standard-bearer.

As the battle begins, the Normans surge off the hill and engage the Vikings, trying to punch a hole for Roland to escape through. Unfortunately Greg's die rolling was appalling and Perry's was red-hot, resulting in a steadily growing pile of Norman dead, until...

...Brian's cavalry arrived on the scene! These guys were monsters and Brian's lucky die rolling helped, as he rolled up the ginger speedbump that Mike threw in front of him.

The scrum in front of the hill started to thin out as casualties mounted, and Roland seized the opportunity to make like a running back and swing wide towards the hole...

"Brian the Bowman" was key to this strategem as he ran interference for Roland, even bringing down a heavily armoured Viking. In the meantime, the knights were hacking away and increasing the Viking bodycount. Eventually it got to the point where the Vikings needed to make Courage checks as 50% of their force was out of action.

Epic fail! Torsten, the Viking second-in-command, fails his Courage check, turns tail and runs...

...which was unfortunate, as he was the last man in the backfield able to intercept Roland sprinting for the endzone. After a rough start, the Normans appeared to have the game in the bag, until...

...the Normans lost Priority, and Perry moved Bergthor into combat with Roland... which did not end well for the Norman duke. Bergthor won the combat and with a roll of "6" to wound, Roland fell valiantly on the field of honour (let's not dwell too much on the fact that he was legging it).

An excellent game with some real tension and momentum swings back and forth. At first it appeared that the Normans were sunk as the Vikings really were overpowering them at the foot of the hill. Then the knights arrived and made mincemeat of the Vikings facing them, taking some pressure off Roland's group, who then made a break for it. Rollie took a pretty good shot at escape, too, winning some key Priority rolls and using Heroic Moves when he didn't. Unfortunately his luck finally ran out in a rather cinematic fashion!

Thanks to the lads for coming out for the game, I had a great time!

15mm Sci-Fi - Khurasan Corporate Marines and Pilot from 15mm co - Single Bases

2012-01-11T09:37:00.001-06:00

15mm Khurasan Marine test models - the fellow in the middle has a heavy blaster

First up, sorry about the crummy photos. I tried to lighten them up etc. but it just wasn't working. All the same, one last post on the 15mm single-based sci-fi efforts. Khurasan makes some "Corporate Marines", which will make a good OPFOR to the "Red Faction" (on top of the sinister Control Battalion). I painted a few test models, and here are a couple of pictures.

Rear shot of the Khurasan marines

These figures are gorgeuous - the look of the armour, and weapons, is very sleek and high-tech without looking silly/too Eldar.

Since the picture didn't really turn out (I swear, it seems fine on the camera), I can tell you the colours are intended to be muted grey, with a dark-OD-style green for the weapons, and a little splash of colour. I used GW paints on the armour - Shadow Grey, with Codex Grey and Fortress Grey highlights. The gun was Dark Angels Green as a base, then Catachan Green, with Americana'a "Avocado" for a final highlight. The fig was then washed with the ubiquitous GW Devlan Mud (love that stuff).

Like all Khurasan figures, the quality of these models is second-to-none. I look forward to rounding out these token test models into a small platoon. Khurasan also has some cool APCs and a large war droid/combat robot to support the marines. The APCs look great (watch for some of those on this blog in the future). The robot is interesting, but I may try other things if I ever want to provide something that large for these guys at some point.

15mm pilot from 15mm.co - ready to serve as an objective

Finally, as a scenario-objective figure, I painted a pilot. This is a figure from 15mm.co.uk. They have an interesting variety of 15mm sci-fi figures - check them out. The quality of the casting is solid, and they have some really neat sculpts to choose from.

I went with the pilot from the Starfighter Crew as I thought the first time these 15mm guys get a run, we will probably try Tomorrow's War, and that starter scenario with the downed pilot. Pilots make great objectives - always getting into trouble, and forcing real soldiers to get involved...

15mm Sci-Fi - Khurasan Control Battalion - Single Bases

2012-01-10T08:51:00.001-06:00

Do not taunt Control Battalion....

Another post with single-based sci-fi troops, this time featuring Khurasan's amazing "Control Battalion" troops (which I think are now listed on the Khurasan site as 'evil'). The Control Battalion figures are some of my absolute favourite sci-fi models, so there was no way I was going to leave them out of the single-based figure project.

They do seem evil...what is under the mask? On second thought....leave it down....

A "Leaderthing", with a drone controller (to the left) and one other "riflething"

The paint scheme for these guys was very easy, as I have already painted a bunch for my existing Federal Army sci-fi force. I painted the ammo pouches on the belts the same white/khaki as the armour, but otherwise they are almost identical to the ones I have put on Flames-of-War-style group bases.

As with the "Red Faction" troops, the detachment is small due to lack of bases (my test pack from Litko evaporated in no time). It comprises a command group and a pair of squads. Each squad has three "riflethings", a "SAW-thing" and a drone with some heavy weapon support. I hope the Control Battalion will get some more models with heavy/support weapons, but then having drones for that sort of things fits the perception of the troops very well - after all, their superiors would probably want to limit access to heavy weapons, in the event of, er, "out of Control Battalion"....

Control Battalion fireteam - the "SAWthing" is on the right, and the drone is in the back

Unlike my "Red Faction" guys, there is no issue for vehicles - They will also make use of the "blue" vehicles from Khurasan and Old Crow that I have already painted.

Second fireteam, ready to restore "order"....

The shipment from Litko with more bases should arrive by early February, so hopefully we can put these suckers into a game sometime in the late winter. They will be joined by a few other factions as well.

******************************************************************************

Quick update - here is a link to Khurasan's back story for the creation of the Control Battalion models. While we use a different setting, it still captures the sinisiter nature of the troopers perfectly, which in turn is perfectly suited to these amazing sculpts!

15mm Sci-Fi - "Red Faction" Infantry, Single Bases

2012-01-09T10:14:00.000-06:00

Group shot of a platoon of 15mm "Red Faction" troops from Khurasan - vehicle from QRF

In the midst of making a big push to finish a bunch of Austrian Napoleonics, I'm continuing to fiddle with 15mm sci-fi. I painted up some "Red Faction" 15mm sci-fi infantry from Khurasan Miniatures, and I found that I loved the castings so much that I decided to base them individually, instead of the group basing we have been using so far for our 15mm sci-fi. I have finished a platoon-worth of guys and one test vehicle - here are a few pictures.

Command group - Lieutenant in the middle, a medic on the left, and a communications dude on the right

Switching up the basing scheme will likely make some of the fellows' heads explode (sorry, Dallas). At one time, Dallas had a collection of 15mm WW2 stuff based individually and he switched to the group basing. Of course, at the time we all piously agreed that such a move made perfect sense, and individually based 15mm infantry models were silly...I think he has some Space Demons mounted on single bases, though, so perhaps he did not quit the single-based 15mm entirely...

Normally I'm up for causing a little trouble, but in this case I am genuinely not trying to cause headaches. The group basing works very well for 15mm sci-fi, and I'm not about to go and rip my already painted troops off of their bases. I just really, really like the Khurasan 15mm figures, and since they are unlikely to every be available in 28mm (although we can hope), I thought I would try 15mm single bases.

Red Faction fireteam - one SAW (in the middle) and a LAW-rocket-style grenade launcher (back at left)

At the end of the day, it doesn't represent much of an incremental investment - one or two packs of figures turns into quite a few guys. I figured we can use these for systems such as FUBAR, Tomorrow's War (assuming we can ever figure out the rules), or a 15mm version of Space Krieg, our in-house skirmish rules system.

Another fire team

So far I have four five-man fireteams, a three-man command group, a mortar and a sniper. I have more figures painted, but I ran out of bases. For bases, I opted for Litko over the bases from Irregular Miniatures. After a couple of tests, I found the ones from Litko easier to work with, even though orders from Litko tend to take an ice-age to arrive.

Mortar team and a sniper

Khurasan has a comprehensive selection of vehicles available for the "Red Faction" too, but I'm not wild about the Red Faction APC - just doesn't float my boat. So I thought I would try for something a little different, and use a 15mm scale BMP-3 that I had lying around. The BMP-3 is one of my favourite vehicles, and already has - in my subjective opinion - something of a sci-fi look to it. We'll just call it a BMP-300.

The BMP-3 is not commonly available in 15mm - in fact, QRF Models has the only one I could find, and I had ordered one as a test model about a year ago (for a project that did not go ahead). So rather than junk it (which had been the plan - see below) I primed the sucker up and gave it a coat of paint.

Close up of the BMP-3 model from QRF - quality of the casting was very, very bad

I had been nervous to order from QRF. QRF has a very, very wide range of models available, and the proprietor is constantly on TMP pledging to have this-model-or-that-model out very soon. To his credit, the new models seem to appear regularly, and there seemed to be a number of positive reviews of QRF stuff from other TMP folks. But I have always been suspicious of figure companies with web sites that have few pictures, tons of pictures that won't load, and an "enlarge" feature that opens the picture in a separate window so that it is SMALLER than the original picture. In this day and age, considering how much one person can do with an iPhone or comparable widget, a lack of product photos and a mickey mouse web site is simply inexcusable in my view.

When I received the model, my fears were confirmed. The quality of the casting was very poor. The mold lines were awful. The tread assemblies were a mess - had to be bent back into shape, and had all sorts of holes. Fortunately, black primer and paint hide a great number of sins. The regular retail price is 6.00GBP (that would be $9.50 Canadian at today's prices) for a single vehicle - not an epic cost, but enough that you expect decent quality. This was very frustrating.

Red Faction dismounts near the APC...not sure if this will work out scale-wise...

I'm not sure about the scale either - you can look at the picture and judge for yourself. The BMP-3 can allegedly hold eight fully armed motor riflemen. I don't think the "Red Faction" infantry are too far gone from current motor riflemen, and when you see the model, there is now way that eight men are in there (I like to call this the "1/56 effect"). On the other hand, Soviet/Russian APCs seem to be notorious for horribly cramped spaces, so perhaps I am over-reacting. I may mount the vehicle on a base to improve the perception of size relative to the infantry.

So I'm not sure if I will go with more QRF models to round out the APC line for these fellows, look for other BMP-3s in 15mm, or just give the "Red Faction" APC a try....I'm a big fan of the BMP-3, so in the end, I might just plump for a few more of them, and hope the black primer will hide the weak quality of casting of these vehicles. It could be the quality of the casting at QRF will have improved over time too - you never know.

I'm working on some "OPFOR" for these fellows too - watch for more postings on the blog soon!

15mm Old Crow VTOL

2012-01-07T17:21:00.000-06:00

We've been on a bit of a tear lately with blog posts so here's another one :-) I recently completed this 15mm VTOL from Old Crow, painted as part of my Earth Force army. The model is a multi-part resin and white metal affair and while its construction was mostly straightforward, there were a few bumps - mainly due to my own issues!

The first issue in assembling the model was how to deal with the cargo pod. It could have been permanently affixed in place, but that would be the coward's way out... the courageous (and cheapskate) way would be to rig up magnets to hold the pod, while allowing it to be removed for use as an objective or terrain item! So this is what I did, drilling into both pieces and sinking in small rare-earth magnets.

The second issue was not of my making... this was a problem with the design of the model. As it came, the "foot" seen above was part of the vertical fin casting. All very well, but in order to make the model sit "level" with the front foot (underneath the cockpit) it was necessary to carefully cut off the feet on each wing and interpose a small spacer. I did this with plasticard... and it was a bit of a pain. But now it's done and I'm glad.

The model was painted in my standard Earth Force scheme of Codex Grey and Graveyard Earth, with decals poached from the decal folder. All in all a worthwhile model and a good addtion to the 15mm sci-fi arsenal.

Eureka US Infantry in MOPP Suits

2012-01-07T17:02:00.000-06:00

Also from a recent game, here are some new models fresh from the painting table... 28mm US Infantry in MOPP ("Mission Oriented Protective Posture") suits from Eureka. I got these models for my birthday this year and they are a great foil for the Chemical Commies. The Blackawk helo in the background is a model/toy from Unimax that was a fortuitous impulse purchase at a toy store years ago!

The models are sculpted by Kosta Herastinides, one of my favorite sculptors, and are very characterful as well as being nicely animated and well equipped with M16s, M203s, an M72 and even a Stinger missile.

Although theuy painted up very quickly, I'm not completely happy with the Woodland camo paint job on the helmets. Hopefully, Eureka will come out with heavy weapons and specialists so I can practice further... are you listening, Eureka??

The same models also come as variants without helmets, which will be great to serve double duty as generic post-Apocalyptic warriors or an anti-zombie unit.

These models are my first entry in Fawcett founder Curt's painting competition, running at his blog. The models are worth 5 points each in the competition, but we have some way to go as the top painter on the leaderboard has painted the equivalent of over 240 28mm figures since December 20... which is impressive to say the least... and they are beautiful figures with top-notch groundwork too. Check them out at Analogue Hobbies!

15mm Sci-Fi Terrain

2012-01-07T16:43:00.000-06:00

Although they've been featured in a few games now, I thought I'd throw out a blog entry to spotlight some nice 15mm sci-fi buildings I completed recently.

These are buildings from Ground Zero Games that I picked up second-hand but "new in package", in the summer. After assembly they were based on plasticard and sprayed black, then painted GW Codex Grey and drybrushed with Fortress Grey. After that, rust streaks were added using thinned GW Dark Flesh and selective washes applied using GW Badab Black wash. Windows were painted with GW Ice Blue and a mix of Ice Blue and Regal Blue. GW Dead Grass flock was added and the models sealed with Testors Dullcote. Finally a gloss varnish was applied to the windows.

Austrian Hussars - 28mm Napoleonics

2012-01-07T12:31:00.001-06:00

Still plugging away at my Austrians - taking care of a loose end. My Hussar regiment, finished as part of the original "Black Powder" challenge, was three models short.

Getting those three additional models from Foundry took quite a while. Months in fact. While Foundry was very pleasant to deal with, it was quite a challenge. In that time, Foundry had cancelled the pose - the charging Hussars- so it was a real issue to get the models. Ultimately, they found a couple spares, and they looked ok enough to fit in.

Then, I lost them when I moved this past summer....

They finally turned up a few weeks ago, so I'm painting them to get that Hussar regiment up to 24 models and finish it for real. I hope to finish this weekend while the NFL playoffs are on.

Six-Pounder Gun Teams - Austrian 28mm Napoleonics

2012-01-06T09:01:00.000-06:00

Austrian six-pounders from Wargames Foundry

More reinforcements for my 28mm Austrians - this time a pair of six-pound gun teams. The models are all Foundry 28mm castings, and they were finished over the Christmas holidays.

The crew sits waiting for the Liquitex gel goop to dry - usually takes a day

I tried to "mark" the gel a bit, so when painted the ground would look like the guns have been firing..

I loathe painting horse-and-musket-era artillery - I hate the wheels on the guns, I don't know what widget is what, and what it's supposed to look like etc. - and I feel like any rules set should have a single gun and team represent the whole battery.

Front view of one gun - I love that officer model at the back right, and wonder if he would fit at all in an infantry unit...

Front view of the second new gun. The little accents (the barrel, a pile of cannon balls) that Foundry includes in their packs are a nice touch

Having said that, the "Food For Powder" rules we are using (courtesy of Regina Conscript Curt C), and other new rule sets (like LaSalle) are taking a view that an artillery battery should have a footprint on the gaming table that is more commensurate to the large footprint a gun battery would have on the battlefield. That means my lads will still need more guns!

Rear view of the new gun sections

I still have to work on my basing technique for artillery...I love how Curt does his guns up, but these turned out OK

I have four six-pound gun teams for the Austrians now. I need to add two more gun teams for the approaching game with Curt at the end of January (I think we are playing Austerlitz, so I'll need every gun I can find to aim at those insane Frenchmen and their Corsican loon). I'm trying to find some 12-pounder models, but likely not in time for the game, so the next two guns may end up including a howitzer and another six-pounder or something.

These are all of my Austrians guns so far - starts to look imposing when they are together!

I do love the look of these large units, and the four teams look imposing when set out together. Bring forward the shot and powder, and let's fill those French columns with holes!

Test Model - 15mm Panzer III

2012-01-05T21:49:00.000-06:00

A German Panzer IIIL, awainting assignment to the Eastern Front

While I continue to get slaughtered in Curt's Painting Challenge, to try and salvage some pride I have been doing some historical odds and ends from the painting pile in between strings of Napoleonic infantry. It hasn't helped me too much points wise (I think I am languishing it seventh or eighth or something like that) but getting the entries in regularly at least lets me pretend I'm in the game.

One such project was this 15mm Panzer III from Battlefront. I think this particular mark was the "L", a late version, with a long-barrelled 50mm gun and extra layers of armour bolted on to the front of the turret (which I think is properly known as the "mantlet" or something like that) and the front of the hull (the "glacis"?). These tanks fought in the North African desert and on the Eastern Front.

I should probably add some tactical numbers to the turret - will do that after I finish the other two tanks

I have three-tank platoon of these sitting in my "pending" box already primed - hence their usefulness in the painting challenge. I have a collection of 15mm WW2 for North Africa, and likely that is the source of these primed but-unpainted models. I have an itch to get into some Kursk stuff in 15mm, so I thought I would experiment and see if I could paint one of these for 1943 on the steppe, in particularly trying to get that strange-but-cool yellow colour the Germans used on their tanks to look right.

I find that yellow ("Dunkelgelb", I think) very tricky to pull off, but I love how it looks when it's done well (by other people, pretty much). For my attempt at it, I used black primer (of course), then GW Snakebite Leather as a base colour, and GW Desert Yellow as the main colour.

I've heard a lot of feedback from folks saying the Battlefront Spray Paints are the way to go. I'm not big spraying anything other than primer, but that's probably just me being stubborn. At some point I might invest in one of those sprays - especially if I decide to dive in an do a real project on this...at the end of the day, though, I just enjoy the painting. The sprays kind of take that away...

In this shot you get a good view of the extra armour bolted ont the front of the turret and hull

With this test model out of the way, I will probably finish off the other two tanks, and will throw some tactical numbers on the turrets. My project list for the early winter of 2012 is already packed with fun stuff, so it will be a while before I come back to 15mm WW2 after that, but hopefully I will start a 15mm Kursk New-Insane-Project in time for the summer - maybe Prairiecon?

Hey Krylon - Get Bent - It's Not Me, It's You

2012-01-05T18:00:00.000-06:00

Victrix 28mm plastic Austrians all f*cked up courtesy of Krylon black spray

Late last year I ran into a little problem with some Krylon primer while working on a plastic model kit - a GW Predator tank. I was quite angry, and vented on the blog. Readers provided a number of helpful tips to avoid future repeats - clean the sprues first, make sure you don't spray in the cold etc. All very sensible.

Many, many years ago, I used to use Krylon seal on my models, until it wrecked a set of painted figs. I have never gone back (it's Dullcote or GW 'Purity Seal' for me now). But the Krylon black spray, with its elegant fan-style spray and much-less-awful odour, seemed like a real treat. While I categorically refuse to use Krylon seal to this day, I figured there was no reason to avoid the black undercoat.

Then the incident with the Predator happened - probably a fluke, right?

Well, it happened again, this time with some Victrix 28mm plastic Austrians. I cleaned the sprues, I sprayed indoors, so temperature wasn't an issue. And it still f*cked up the figures. So I figured it was a bum can. I switched to a second, brand new can. Cleaned the sprues. Sprayed indoors, so temperature would not be an issue, etc. etc. SAME THING - the photo above is the result.

So just a short post to Krylon - it's not me, it's you. Get bent!

I now remember why I refuse to touch your products. And I recommend to anyone else that extreme caution be exercised when using Krylon spray on plastic models.

Battle Report - 15mm Sci Fi

2012-01-05T14:10:00.000-06:00

15mm Sci-Fi action during our game this week

Yesterday we assembled at Dallas' place to play some 15mm sci-fi. Previously we have been using the Future War Commander rules to play these games, but this week Dallas and the gang politely indulged my drive to fiddle with rules and play the game using a home-baked variant of the Epic 40,000 rules engine.

Dallas' beautiful Earth Force troops from Rebel Minis

Dallas' very cool UNE Superfortress Colossus - see this link for more on this model

The scenario pitted my "Federal Forces" (Khurasan Federal Army and Control Battalion with vehicles from Khurasan and Old Crow) against Dallas' "Earth Force" faction (with infantry and vehicles from Rebel Minis, and one monster walker that I believe is now OOP...).

Control Battalion and tanks wait in reserve for the Federals

The Federals had occupied a settlement, and Earth Force was determined to re-capture it. The Federals started with an army detachment dug into the buildings, and the rest of their detachments in reserve. Earth Force came in on the first turn, and the Federals would have to roll for reserves...whoever had the settlement at the end of 10 turns, or broke the other side first, would win!

Dallas and Mike F took control of the Earth Force, while Brian and Mike A went with the Federals.

Federal troops occupy the objective buildings - models from Khurasan

The game was hard fought. Over the first couple of turns, the Earth Force guys pounded on the Federal troops holed up in the settlement. Mike A and Brian managed to damage some Earth Force APCs with AT fire. Dallas and Mike F then sent the lads in for a massive close assault. It worked - the Federal Army detachment was broken and driven out the objective.

Mike F's mechanized detachment hits some AT SNAFUs early in the game

Overheard shot of the first Earth Force assault - the Federals were overwhelmed

After this happened, the Federal Reserves arrived - a mechanized Control Battalion platoon, two medium tanks and a pair of super-heavy "Siler" tanks. Mike A and Brian launched a bold assault with the fearsome Control Battalion. It was a success, but was something of a phyrric victory, as the margin of defeat for the Earth Force detachments was very narrow. Dallas and Mike F's detachments were tossed out of the objective, but they inflicted heavy losses on the Control Battalion units.

Control Battalion leads a fierce counter-attack against the Earth Force troops

At this point, Dallas was bitten by some bad rolling, and a mechanized infantry detachment that "should" have rallied quite easily opted to continue retreating instead.

The Control Battalion remnants continue to battle for control - APCs are models from Old Crow

Despite the setback, the remaining Earth Force troops found their nerve, reorganized, and counter-attacked, as the massive UNE Colossus Walker continued to close in on the objective. The game became a series of closely fought firefights and assaults. Mike A and Brian won nearly all of these with some hot rolling, allowing their Control Battalion remnants to cling to the objective.

Another close-up of the heavy fighting - this would have gone better for Earth Force if that one detachment had not chickened out....

Meanwhile, the Siler tanks exchanged hits with the giant Colossus Walker. Eventually the weight of fire from the Federal Side took out the shields and knocked out the walker. The loss of the vehicle was the final straw, and the army morale of the Earth Force side broke. It should be noted, however, that at that time, they were still contesting the objective, allowing Mike F and Dallas to claim a Thorpian Moral Victory. The battle was very, very close, going down to practically the last turn.

Siler tanks concentrate on the massive UNE walker

The Colossus is wreathed in the "smoke of victory" after knock-out hits from the Siler tanks

Full credit to all players for pursuing the objective with great gusto - in nine turns, I think there were like three close assaults and four more firefights. The objective buildings changed hands several times during the game. It sort of became necessary to destroy the settlement in order to save it...

Thanks to Dallas for hosting, and to everyone who came out to play. Thanks also to all for showing patience while we worked through the adaptation of the Epic 40,000 rules.

IR #27 - 28mm Austrian Napoleonics

2012-01-05T10:24:00.000-06:00

IR #27 prepares to face Napoleon and his cronies

Over the Christmas Holidays I was able to finish another Austrian line battalion - IR #27, from Styria. These are based for the "Food for Powder" system used by Regina Conscript Curt C, which takes a very "grand manner" style approach to the game. That means huge units for the Austrians, and these fellows are no exception - 39 infantry and one mounted officer.

The "sticks" on the assembly line - by this point with any unit, I'm pretty fired up as the end is in sight!

The models are all Wargames Foundry, and they are based on 30mm x 50mm bases, with the exception of the command in the centre, who are based on a 60mm x 50mm base - giving a "frontage" of 15mm per casting. The flags are from Brian H.

Drying into place on the metal bases from Wargames Accessories

I started these guys late in 2011, and managed to get the balance finished and get it all based up in time for the New Year.

Close-up of the command showing Brian's excellent banners

The left flank of the unit - I still need to practice with the long grass....it looks like a cannon is hitting, instead of anything natural...oh well

Right flank of the unit, with an officer urging the lads forward as they approach some more of that strange grass...

View from the top

Curt and I are getting together in late January for a game, so I am working hard to add reinforcements to my Austrian column in time. This will make a third "German" line battalion for the column, joining a "Hungarian" battalion and a battalion of Grezner infantry. These also gave me a few points for Curt's Painting Challenge (where I am getting creamed, but am at least ahead of Dallas - I think there is a gift certificate for that).

My map table at home - a big pile of Austrian lead!

The OB for our scenario calls for six Austrian line units (at reduced strength), a large artillery battery to be represented by six guns, and a pair of cavalry units. That means three more infantry units and four more gun teams in time for late January. It will be a real stretch. Too bad I can't paint like this guy. But the reduced strenght of the units gives me a bit of an "in" (32 figures instead of 40), and I have already finished two more guns - watch for another post on that soon.

New ATGW for the Chemical Commies

2012-01-03T14:54:00.000-06:00

"NATO tanks sighted dead ahead.."

I find miniature companies fascinating and baffling all at once. Fascinating, because the skill of the sculptors and casters is amazing (or, amazing at most companies) and they create awesome stuff that we enjoy painting (or at least saying we'll paint) and gaming with. And baffling for the way in which they will casually miss the mark with make-up of their collections.

Trusty AK on hand for back-up use against NATO infantry.

Eureka is a company like this - home to all sorts of amazing products, but companion ranges that don't always mesh, exactly. The Soviets in NBC gear are a great example - you would imagine they would be a perfect OPFOR to the West Germans, and now US, in NBC gear as well. And yet their special weapons are bafflingly out of date - old Sagger missile systems going up against the MILANs and automatic grenade launchers of the West Germans.

The base is a 60mm round weapon team base from GW. I never have enough of those...

Fortunately, one easy conversion gives my commies a bit of an up-gun on the ATGW side. The modern ATGW systems used by the Soviet Union/Russia looked very similar to the MILAN (I'm sure there are key difference in components, switches etc. but at 28mm scale, I don't think it matters). Eureka kindly sells the MILAN launchers as separate pieces, so I hacked up a Chemical Commie Sagger crewman and gave him a MILAN instead.

Top view of the figure.

The end result is a reasonable representation of a Soviet trooper in NBC gear using (or more likely, trying to use) a modern ATGW system, like an AT-4 or AT-5 launcher. I doubt those things are easy to use in the best of conditions, much less through an NBC suit made by a Belorussian collective farm, but at least we have a serious AT missile to fling at the NATO lackeys.

The original Sagger model is on the right - I couldn't quite match the groundwork, but it's not too far off.

This didn't do much to help me in Curt's painting competition, where some fellow with the handle "KentG" is obliterating all of us by painting like 300 28mm Romans just for starters. But the Commies are always pleased to see the efforts of the motherland yield new weapons systems for their use.

I have some other conversions in the hopper to up-gun the Chemical Commies and get them on par with their Bundeswehr and US counterparts.

Plans for 2012

2012-01-03T14:34:00.000-06:00

Well, another year is here - hopefully one with less chaos at work and no moving to new homes! I've actually managed some progress on my fall 2011 project pile, and seeing as how the Black Powder countdown is now way out of date, it was time to ditch it from the blog, and move on to other projects. Here are a few things sitting in the priming/painting hopper at home that I'm hoping will be reasonably/mostly done by the time the snow melts...

More 28mm Austrians

I will never paint enough to come even close to making a dent in the leader board of Curt's formidable Painting Challenge. Be sure to visit the Analogue Hobbies blog - the quality and diversity of the entries is stunning, and just when you think you paint a lot, you realize there are others that crush you. Oh well.

Curt and I are getting together at the end of January for some gaming, and the 28mm Austrians will make another appearance. I'm hoping to reinforce my current force with three new infantry battalions and four new artillery sections. So far I have added one of the infantry units, and two of the gun pieces. Not quite half-way there, but I'm bearing down to try and finish before I leave for Regina by the end of January.

15mm Sci-Fi

I was a late-commer to the 15mm sci-fi madness, but it was still fun. The spectacular quality of the miniatures is really something - Khurasan, in particular stands out here, with 15mm castings that really blow away the competition. So far we have been basing the 15mm infantry in groups on Flames-of-War style bases. That works fine for the games, and I like it a lot, but the Khurasan stuff is just so nice that I want to do some guys up on individual bases.

I have finished a few of them already, but have run out of bases so the project is stalled for now (I called this project state the "Litko Condition"). Watch the blog for some pictures of new figures with this project.

Rogue Trader

Our gaming group has some good fun with Rogue Trader. I am going to add some more components to my Imperial Guardsmen, including an Assault Squad, a Support Squad, and a squad of Penal troops.

I have also cobbled together the bits to do an homage to Pedro Cantor's detachment of survivors from the Battle At The Farm Scenario. These are not original RT-era figs, but I'm doing my bit with the current models to try and get them to resemble the RT era look.

Finally, I have a secret RT project...just waiting for some stuff to come from E-bay, and waiting until my Austrians are finished - but hopefully we'll be able to have more RT fun in 2012!

Blood Bowl

I've never played the game, but it seems like a hoot. Dallas has his rats ready. I have a Khemri team - just need to paint them up for Dallas...

Other Odds & Ends

Some other small plans include...

Chemical Commie Upgrade - my 28mm Chemical Commies are starting to get a bit out-gunned by the Bundeswehr, and now US troops, in their MOPP suits. I have done a minor conversion to get my chemical guys some modern ATGWs, and have some other plans to increase their firepower, using bits from Eureka...

More Spearhead stuff - there is never a bad time to add more stuff for Spearhead...

So that's what I'm working on for now...as we go along, I'm sure new things will pop up to distract me. In particular I keep hearing rumours of new Imperial Guard plastics, which would be cool, because the current ones just don't inspire me...

Happy New Year to everyone, and thanks again to Dallas and Pam for an amazing New Years Day game!

Berlin '85 - Chemwar! New Year's Battle Report

2012-01-01T20:08:00.000-06:00

In accordance with ancient custom, once more this year I hosted a New Year's Day game. This year we went with tried and tested themes - World War III and zombies. The (admittedly thin) backstory is that World War III started in 1985, and the ensuing nuclear, biological and chemical exchange has created "chem-zombies" - lurching, half-dissolved horrors that crave nought but the flesh of the living.

Into this fairly bleak setting, behind Soviet lines, we drop a downed Blackhawk helicopter bearing some secret item (upper centre of photo), which the Americans (centre at right) must recover or die in the attempt. Add chem zombies, and Robert's your mother's brother, you have a game.

View from the US table edge

Factory buildings containing barrels of "fun sauce"

chem zombies in fun sauce barrels

Scattered liberally around the table were chem zombie spawning points, represented by Eureka's excellent barrels-with-zombies models. These barrels became known as "fun sauce" containers for obvious reasons.

Some of these barrels are not like the others...

Since this is essentially a skirmish game, we use a tried-and-tested variant of our favourite simple skirmish set, GW's "Lord of the Rings". It gives a straightforward, fun game, and with the state of some of the boys' noggins on New Year's Day, we like to keep it simple.

Downed chopper is a very nice "toy" model

Soviets suited for the occasion

All of the models used in the game were sculpted by Kosta Herastinides for Eureka Miniatures. We used his excellent zombies, Soviets in NBC gear, and my newly-painted US infantry in MOPP suits.

Conscript Brian tried a flank march along the table edge...

...but couldn't avoid the chem zombies!


Conscripts clockwise from left: Kevin, Mike A., Greg, Dallas, Frederick, Brian, Dave V. Mike F. and Cam showed up later

As it turned out, the Americans failed to achieve their objective, so the nude photos of Nancy Reagan or whatever was so important in the Blackhawk remained unrecovered. But we had a fun time all the same.

I owe special thanks to my wife Pam for whipping up a spectacular German lunch for us, and to Conscripts Mike A. and Dave V. for bringing snacks. Thanks lads!

Was Santa Good to You?

2011-12-30T11:07:00.000-06:00

Evil Robot Santa left me some nice loot this year which I want to share with you... let me rephrase that - I want to share pictures with you. I'm doing this to help ensure that I'll get the stuff painted and on the table in a timely way, and if I let all of you know I'm intending to do this, I reckon you will tease and mock me mercilessly until I do. So this should be a strong motivator.

Some fleet-scale Star Wars ships from Odyssey Slipways. This is really nice stuff and will make a good addition to my Imperial and Rebel fleets.

Now on to New Insane Project #1, Greg's 6mm Skirmish project. I got some GZG grav-tanks and light flyers, today I'll order some infantry from Brigade.

New Insane Project #2 - Old Crow "Hammer's Slammers" blower tanks in 28mm. There's a full platoon of tanks there, including the command blower. I see these guys as a "for hire" mercenary warband in our proprietary "FuturKom/Gunschwarm" universe. The tanks are BIG!

Stay tuned for future updates as they occur, and please post in the comments if you got something cool from Santa this year!

Are You Ready For Some Blood Bowl???

2011-12-24T16:37:00.000-06:00

I was putting away the Space Hulk boxes from the game the other night and had to move the Blood Bowl box to do it, which reminded me that a) I have a Blood Bowl set, b) I have painted a BB team, and c) I would like to play Blood Bowl next year. So I took a few pics of my team in the hope that it will motivate some fellow Conscripts to paint their teams so we can try this very cool game.

Also, it is coming up to "Bowl" season so this is timely, right? ;-)

The name of my team is "Rat-thletic Club Skavenblight" and they are inspired not by American football, but by "European" football (that is, soccer) and in particular, Athletic Club Bilbao, the home team of our friends that we visited in Spain in 2009.

So get painting, friends - we need to play some matches in 2012!

How Some Space Orks (Partially) Stole Christmas - A Rogue Trader Battle Report

2011-12-23T10:35:00.000-06:00

Imperial Guardsmen advance during the game this week

This week we played Rogue Trader at Dallas' place. The game - set in winter terrain to match the holiday air - pitted a band of Orks against a platoon of Imperial Guardsmen and a squad of Space Marines. Both sides were trying to recover three surviving Imperial Titan crewmen.

Ork squad in winter wonderland - note the captured titan crewman (back at the left) they have "recovered" - no Christmas for him...

Space Marines from the Howling Griffons Chapter enter ruins to look for the titan crew - unfortunately my pictures of Dallas' excellent RT-era marines did not turn out well....d'oh!

The game was set on a 6' x 4' table, and six "blip" counters were spread out around the table to represent possible locations of the three hiding crewmen. To "check" the blips, players would have to make base contact with it, and roll a d6 to see if it turned out to be a crewman. The rolls would be progressively easier - so a "6" was needed on the first blip, a "5" or "6" on the second one, etc. until all crew were located and at that point any excess blips would be removed. The side that managed to evacuate the most crewmen would win.

Da Red Barun makes another strafing run on the Imperial troops - he was eventually shot down....

The Imperial side had three tactical squads, a command section, a Rhino, a Predator and a Robot. There was also one squad of Marines with a Rhino of their own. The Orks had thirty boyz, two "skorchas", a wartrak, two dreadnoughts and looted Rhino. They also had the services of the Red Barun.

Dallas, Mike F and Mike A played the Ork side, while Frederick and I rolled with the Imperial side.

Shot of the Imperials advancing, supporting by a Robot. In the grim darkness of the far future, it still all starts with a PC running Windows 7....

Rules-wise, we played what is probably best described as a "hybrid", sticking to Rogue Trader with the exception of a few tweaks, the most significant being that we use the vehicle rules from the otherwise-awful current version of 40k.

Ork boys with missile launchers focused a lot on the Predator

The Orks got a good early start, rolling a "6" and finding one of the crew almost right away. But that turned out to be the least of their "blip" luck, as Frederick and I were able to turn up the other two blokes and evacuate them with relative ease.

"These ruins should provide great cover guys! Unless they have flamers...."

The looted Rhino leads the assault for the Orks.

Picture of the Imperial Command Section - these las cannon gunners brought down the Red Barun.

My completely perfect flank, which could never be turned....

That didn't stop the Ork players from pushing hard to earn a "Thorpian Moral Victory", and boy did they do that. I used the Predator to anchor my flank, confident the heavy firepower, armour and power-field would keep the Orks from any undue mischief while the Imperial gunners pounded away. But the Orks pulled a sneaky flank move (the buggers!) and I missed some key lascannon shots. The outcome was that two full tactical squads got BBQ'd by skorcha bikes, and the Predator was KO'd by concentrated fire from the dreadnoughts and Ork infantry. OUCH.

Predator commander counts all the Ork missile launchers....

The Imperial right flank disappears in a cloud of flames and dreadnought claws....stupid skorchas...

But hey, we still won! The two crewman recovered to the Imperial side will spend Christmas being interrogated to find out why they lost their Titan in action. The crewman recovered by the Orks...well, I don't think his Christmas will be a happy one, but Warlord Snagrod will have another helmet for his festive "tree".

As always, it was absolute great fun to play Rogue Trader - and the hybrid with the current vehicle rules works really, really well. I look forward to playing Rogue Trader again soon with the group. Thanks again to Dallas for hosting, and to everyone who came out to play. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone out there!
---------------------------------

Nice report Greg - and thanks for figuring out a scenario and doing up the OOBs; that's the one thing about RT that makes me a bit mental. It was great to just roll out figures and terrain and play. I also took some pics of the game...

Initial dispositions.

Guardsmen sneak around a building.

Da Barun on a strafing run.

Boyz about to investigate a "blip".

Guardsmen and Space Marine vehicles in the ruined city.

Boyz make off with one of the Titan crewmen.

Scorchas turn a Guard squad into barbeque, as Imperial Robot looks on. Too bad its programming didn't account for the masterful flank attack ;-)

Thanks again to Greg and the boys for the game!

-Dallas

Game Tonight - Rogue Trader

2011-12-21T13:20:00.000-06:00

'Twas the week before Christmas, and all through the hous(es), many creatures were stirring, as Orks had overrun the planet. In the heavy fighting, the Imperial Warhound class titan Revenge of Rudolphus, known affentionately as "The Red Nose", was destroyed by Ork Stompa mobs. It seems, however, that the crew survived, bailing out from the crew compartment while the Titan went down, and now they are hiding in some ruins at the edge of an urban sector. The crew sent a single distress signal on the way out, hoping Imperial forces would detect it, and then went silent, for fear of attracting too much Ork attention.

The Ork Warlord, Snagrod the Arch-Arsonist, is furious - meaning, more furious than he usually is. The victory is not complete without the heads of the titan's crew. Snagrod rolls out personally with his lads to find these suriving humies and get them for his "collection", ready to finish the job the over-sized mek toys could not. It's the holidays, after all, and the heads of the Titan crew would make great decorations.

Meanwhile, from the Imperial perspective, Titan crews are precious assets - way more important than any other ground-troop types. That means other, less important, lives, such as those of the ground troops, are to be risked in order to save them!

Will the Imperial forces find and resecue the Titan Crew in time for Christmas (where the crew will be ruthlessly interrogated to find out how it was they could have lost their precious machine)? Or will the Ork Warlord get another set of "decorations" for his, er, "tree"? We'll find out tonight!

*********************************************************************************

Tonight we will ring in the holidays with a game of Warhammer 40k, using the classic "Rogue Trader" rules. Of course, I guess they won't be completely "classic", in that we will play with some amendments, including:

Vehicle rules - we will use the vehicles rules of the current edition of 40k for the vehicles, with combat speed, crew shaken etc. So no worrying about the turn radius, acceleration etc. Although we'll still have a little twist to keep the power fields around!
Infantry armour - we'll up the armour a little bit, so power armour saves on a 3+ instead of a 4+, and flak armour saves on a 5+ instead of a 6+, etc. Not to worry - lots of saving throw modifiers abound, so everything will be killed at a rapid pace, I'm sure.
Templates - we will use the templates from the current edition, as common sense dictates, as opposed to worrying about a half-inch blast radius for this weapon, a one-and-a-half inch for that one, etc. etc.
Deviation/Area Fire - we will use the updated rules from pg. 89 of the 40k Compendium, where deviation of area fire weapons is related to the model's ballistic skill, and not the size of the template.
Terrain - we'll be sure to have "true line of sight".....NOT.

So come on out tonight to Dallas' place and hearken back to the time when Warhammer 40k was a fun skirmish game!

Book(s) Review - The Horus Heresy

2011-12-19T10:00:00.001-06:00

"Got a note from Horus today lads - turns out the Emperor is a douche and we're off to tune him up."

My wife and I took a little pre-Christmas vacation down in California last week. On trips like this I like to bring some reading material to relax, and this time my reading diversions included the first three books from The Black Library's Horus Heresy series - "Horus Rising" by Dan Abnett, "False Gods" by Graham McNeill and "Galaxy In Flames" by Ben Counter. In other words, no Christmas-themed reading for me.

The series is much longer than these three books, but they really got me fired up, and they kind of stand alone as trilogy on their own, so I thought I would throw a little review up on the blog.

The Horus Heresy is one of my favourite "periods" within the fluff of the GW 40k setting. First explored (at least I think) with the release of games like Space Marine and Adeptus Titanicus, the Horus Heresy has been firmly rooted in the foundation of the GW's 40k universe for a long time. The broad strokes of the story are well-established - Horus was made Warmaster, turned against the Emperor, betrayed several Space Marine Legions in the Istvaan system, then attacked Earth with his rebel Legions and laid siege to the Imperial Palace. It was touch and go for the Loyalist side, but the Emperor personally led a direct counter-attack into Horus' HQ. The Emperor killed Horus, but was seriously wounded and now lives eternally as a kind of sci-fi-gothic-soul-consuming-drink-machine on Earth. With Horus dead, the rebels were thrown back from Earth, and the Imperial side gradually won the war.

The Heresy itself faded from any actual representation in the GW 40k games - the Epic rules moved away from the Heresy period towards representing the "current" era, in which the forces that once fought on Horus' side are represented by the various iterations of Chaos. I have always found this strange - after all GW will publish a rules supplement for almost anything (hello "Cityfight"), but the specific period of the Heresy itself has lived on only in background references of the fluff in rulebooks and codexes.

Representing the actual Heresy era civil-war type battles in a 40k game, before everyone on Horus' side grew a tail, a fourth eye, Nurgle infection etc., especially at the 25mm/28mm scales, is something that GW didn't really seem interested in, for whatever reason.

So I was surprised that the Black Library ever did books on the Heresy itself, starting back on 2007. Writing a book - much less a series of them - featuring major characters that are well-known by the fan boys (like me) based on a story arc that is already established must have been daunting. When you see the awful Star Wars Episode I, II and III, you see how easy a project with parameters like that can go wrong. Attempting to tell this story with multiple authors and still managing to keep a similar arc and tone must have been really, really tricky.

And a final challenge is (in my view) found with a key fibre of the material itself - the Space Marines. The Marines have evolved over the years since Rogue Trader and the "Space Marine" game came out. They have always been "Humanity's Finest" in the 40k setting, but through new versions of the 40k rules, newer fluff etc. they have started to become a bit....silly....almost self-parodying...how would the authors handle that?

How do you write a characters like Horus, much less the Emperor himself?

A very challenging endeavour! They started well...they had Dan Abnett do the first book!

"We're the Luna Wolves! For the Emperor!"

Dan Abnett is a fine writer. His books featuring Inquisitor Eisenhorn are some of the most engaging sci-fi fiction books I've ever read. His book "Titanicus" is just fabulous. And that is only a small fraction of the volume he has written. He captures the 40k setting perfectly, and takes you there. So I was glad to see they handed the pen to Dan for "Horus Rising", and it's no small coincidence that this was the best book of the three.

In "Horus Rising" you meet not only the Warmaster himself, but key officers (like Abbadon) of his Legion, the Luna Wolves, fleet commanders etc. This book takes you to the "Great Crusade", and the first chapters get you hooked into the period. Actually, the first pages take care of it.

Abnett also takes you through the subtle seeds that would give rise to the Heresy - and he does it masterfully. Wounded pride. Changing leadership. Changing times. This book gives you the thrill of the Great Crusade, and you experience the disappointment and doubt when, for example, it becomes clear a council on Terra is calling the shots, as the Emperor goes about setting up an Empire, and no longer deals directly with Horus. It all seems logical, but Abnett gives you the view from the personnel - Marines and civilians alike - and you get a sense of the tension the Emperor's decision creates.

Abnett handles the Horus character very well. It's clear he is a total rock star, but you relate to his human flaws and strengths, as opposed to viewing him as some kind of loser comic book character even though he is a "Primarch" (see below for more on that).

Considering how ab-human the Space Marines actually are, Abnett does an amazing job dwelling on their humanity. He plugs you in to the strengths, weaknesses and political tensions within the Luna Wolves Legion, and manages to avoid getting bogged down in too much Brother Dorculous and Captain Fantasticus-type silliness. The Marines are super human, and super flawed, and that will totally suck at some point...but hey - what's so wrong with a warrior lodge?

Abnett also brings in other Imperium characters, and this is something he does so well - writing in characters that you would never encounter in a 40k game (except perhaps as objectives) but that are marvellous in terms of taking you right into the setting. You meet "remembrancers" - very Imperium-type documentary sorts sent to "cover" the Great Crusade. You meet "iterators" - official propagandists of the Imperium. These characters not only become important to the plot - the perspectives of these characters provide a really cool "year 30k human" lens into the Great Crusade setting, and also providing an interesting contrast to the stone-faced Space Marines.

This book will have you wanting to paint up some Luna Wolves in no time at all! I heartily recommend this book - it's a page turner for sure, and if you appreciate the 40k setting, you'll love it.

"This Crusade Armour is awesome - wait till Forge World sells it!"

Graham McNeil builds the story on Dan Abnett's foundation, and he does a very good job. This book takes you through to the actual "fall" of Horus, and the divisions within the Luna Wolves (as well as their accompanying Expedition Fleet) start to build. McNeil details how Horus' "fall" occurred on the world of Davin. Obviously we all know what path Horus' character is on at this point, but McNeil still makes it a good read.

This book is still a page turner, but some flaws in the series start to appear. Thankfully, the author manages the material well so readers will not tune out.

What do I mean by flaws? Well, the forces of "Chaos" start to appear in this book. Other "Primarch" characters start to make more appearances too. The Primarchs are the founding leaders of the Space Marine Legions. Meant to be super-impressive, they just seem really absurd (take "Saguinius" of the Blood Angels he has wings - the tampax Primarch!). Each Primarch has a back story and a flawed-yet-super persona. They are supposed to embody the attributes of their Legion. They really just make you roll your eyes.

This isn't a knock on McNeil - the Primarchs and their personalities are key to the story - after all, they will decide whether to join Horus or not, so you can't just avoid them - and their absurdity is also bolted into the fluff of 40k, so McNeil could not dodge it. The Primarchs all seem to have come of the reject board of a Marvel Comics intern meeting. A creation story is even floated in this novel - I don't want to ruin it for you, but it's just....absurd. As pinnacles of Humanity and as idols of their Marines, the Primarchs are beyond hilarious. Lucky for the reader, their direct parts in the book are brief.

After all the real interest of this story lies with the grunts - after all, you know what Horus is going to do. What will happen to these people - especially when it becomes clear that Horus will turn against the Emperor?

What is very good about this book is the continued development of other, more front-line characters. McNeil does an excellent job continuing to the story of the building tension among the front-line troops, work crews and others within the fleet, as people start to sense that...well, things are no longer what they used to be. The unity and clarity of purpose of the Great Crusade is gone - what will replace it?

The emergence of the notion of the Emperor-as-God is just starting too, and is a source of real (and, for the reader, I believe interesting) debate amongst the characters. That is fun to read too - after all, in the 40k setting, the whole Emperor-as-god thing is pretty much locked in, and your planet can be nuked for denying it. Watching Marine captains, remembrancers and iterators debate the "absurdity" of the notion (which was the establishment view at the time) is entertaining.

"Goooooo Horus!"

"Galaxy in Flames" tells the story of the first shots fired in the Heresy. In the fluff of the Space Marine rulebook, we know that Horus kicked off the Heresy by virus-bombing the world of Istvaan after the planet rebelled from the Emperor. The act was seen as a major overreaction by Horus, the first major sign that he was out of control, and the signal for the Emperor to act. Author Ben Counter takes the reader through a detailed story about the campaign against Istvaan, and Horus' moves in that campaign.

In this book Horus' betrayal is revealed - and Marine turns against Marine for the first time. Horus basically sends all the "unreliable" types into his first wave against the formidable Istvaan rebels - which he then bombards from orbit using virus-weapons. Yikes! Some of the heroes survive this betrayal, and try to hold out against Horus...

On the down side, the Primarchs also play a greater role in this book, and reading about their silly outfits and ridiculous personalities is....well, I find it lame. Horus' character is still well done, but I wish the book would have dealt more with how Horus schemed to maneuver these characters into doing his bidding, as opposed to grand councils where clowns like Angron (Primarch of the World Eaters) are making vented pronouncements, and losers like Fulgrim (Primarch of the Emperor's Children) are making grand appearances.

Wolverine would make a perfect Primarch - unkillable, sullen and totally useless. I think his Legion could be known as the "Pouting Claws", and they would always arrive in drop pods, with reporters, after the fighting was over...but I digress....

Where the Primarchs suck, the front-line-type characters shine again, make this book an overall solid read. But the story arc takes these protagonist characters to a place that there really is no way out of, and you kind of know it early on. They are betrayed on the battlefield of Istvaan, and considering that these new-found "loyalists" have zero support, and Horus has like four Space Marine Legions, a bunch of Titans, and a whole fleet, it's hard to see how they have much chance. The last stand is impressive, but you know how it's going to end....

*********************************************************************************

So to sum up, I recommend these books to 40k fans. They are well written (Abnett in particular is brilliant) and very engaging. You get a feel for a 40k setting that is consistent with "today's" version, but still unique in that it feels "earlier". These books will have you fired up to paint something...even as you realize you would have to play using 40k rules....

It Came From Hell Pit

2011-12-18T18:47:00.000-06:00

This is literally the first project I've finished in several months - a Hell Pit Abomination for my Warhamer Fantasy Skaven. Unlike some previous Skaven projects (Plagueclaw Catapult, "Doomwheel") which were scratch-built models, this one was built straight from the box.

Pretty scary piece of kit, eh? The Grey Seer thinks it should serve sufficiently for the purpose...

Space Hulk!!

2011-12-16T14:01:00.000-06:00

Last night I pulled out Space Hulk to play with the lads. (You'll note that these are the old school first- and second-edition sets, not the latest "Genestealers think they're Spider-Man" version). A couple years back I found and painted a complete set of the original metal Terminators and love to wheel them out to play with as well.

I love the old Space Hulk game - it's simple but not necessarily simplistic, and everyone digs the visuals of Terminators exploring the corridors of a rusty space hulk with Genestealers lurking around every corner.

OK men single file, no pushing...

The first mission we played, Conscript Mike A. and I had two Terminator squads and had to get five Terminators off the board in the designated exit spot. Conscripts Mike F. and Brian ran the 'stealers. Mike A's group of Terminators ran interference for my guys mostly, and got chewed up, but MAN did his assault cannon rock, accounting for 15 or more 'stealers!

Come get some!!!

I wonder what's behind this door?

Oh crap!!!

Shufflin' towards that exit

The 'stealers were too much for the Terminators, killing six to prevent the Marines' victory conditions.

Game 2 setup

So we set aup again for a different mission; this time the Terminators had to deactivate a control panel on the far side of the board. We switched sides too so Mike A. and I ran the 'stealers.

Here we go again...

No problem Sarge, I got this one... erk

One lone Terminator survived the gauntlet and reached the control room, but by that time it was chock-a-block with Xenos and he had no chance.

As an aside, we find when we play that the Terminators rarely (if ever) win! Any commenters willing to weigh in with some tactical hints or suggestions?

New Wheels for Gün Schwarm

2011-12-08T09:03:00.001-06:00

Gün Schwarm fire team tries out the new IFV from Old Crow.

In my post last month about the project pile for the fall of 2011, I mentioned that I was working on some reinforcements for Gün Schwarm, the future-retro sci-fi fascists that do battle with Dallas's FuturKom and Mike F's Future Brits. The Güns have been able to count on important fire support from all sorts of silly, over-gunned vehicles, but they have been behind their opponents in one key areas - APC/IFVs for the troops.

Dallas' FuturKom lads ride to battle in modified BTRs, and Mike's Brits roll out in modified Rhinos. The Güns? They walked to the fight. They have two Space Panthers and a Space Hetzer for backup. Even a VTOL! So no complaining!

But in the game, mobile protection for the infantry is still useful, and with the streets of New New Old Berlin looking pretty rough in the wake of FuturKom's "Occupy Everywhere" operations, it was time to give the Gün Grenadiers a battle-worthy ride.

Front view of the Claymore APC, showing the standard "support" turret.

The challenge was finding the right model for the job. At first, I wanted something that fit the WW2 theme, that I could cover with searchlights, hatches and missles (standard SpaceKrieg conversion process) and just fit in. German WW2 halftracks seemed to be one way to go, but in the end even the 1/48 die-cast models are too small, in my view, to fit the mood/look of the force. I tried a GW Chimera, but it looked like...well, a GW Chimera - not horrible, but not...different enough.

Rear view of the model, showing the access ramp for the Gün troopers.

I finally just ordered some APCs from Old Crow. I was already using Old Crow products in the 15mm lineup, and I thought the 28mm scale ones would be nice too. So the Gün Schwarm War Ministry ordered some Claymore APCs.

The Claymore model resembles many of the IFVs currently serving in armies around the world, but still keeps a futuristic, sci-fi look to it.

I love the model - brings to mind many of the modern 8-wheeled APC/IFV vehicles in service currently with armies around the world today, like the BTR-80 and the LAV, while still managing a bit of sleeker, sci-fi look to it. It also looks like it would really carry a squad of 28mm infantry models.

I changed my painting approach slightly for these vehicles - no wash of Devlan Mud, so they aren't quite as dark as the other Gün vehicles.

Top view showing additional access hatches for the troopers.

One of the great things about the Old Crow models is that there are multiple turret options. The standard turrret is the "support" version - and even there you can choose between types of barrels to go with a "cannon" look, or a "gatling gun" look.

The Claymore APC will provide good support, and cover, for the Gün fire teams.

And if you are anticipating real trouble, you can mount the "tank hunter" turret. I love that turret - kind of brings to mind the idea of the Stryker Mobile Gun System. When you see the size of the gun barrell in relation to the figures in the picture, I'm pretty sure that thing will be able to hunt more than just tanks...although with the FuturKom arsenal, we'll take all the help we can get.

Another variant of the "support" turret, with gatling-style cannon barrels - good for dealing with FuturKom infantry, and university protestors.

The "tank hunter" version of the turret - what kind of tanks are they thinking about? Can probably take out apartment blocks as well...

There is a third version of the turret - "multi-missile" - but I haven't got one of those yet.

The worst thing you can say about Old Crow is that actually getting the product can take a while, but that is it for problems, and I assure you it's worth the wait. Old Crow's stuff is really sharp, and really, really easy to work with. The quality of the casting is absolutely top notch.

I have three of these models for the Güns - I'll do up a mix of turret options for the vehicles. One vehicles is finished, another is painted and just waiting for decals, and the third is primed and waiting to get going. I hope the vehicles will see some service on the table sometime soon!

"Army" Predator Finished

2011-12-06T08:54:00.001-06:00

"Army" Predator for Rogue Trader Imperial Guardsmen

The quality of the prime time NFL games continues to be rough this year (San Diego at Jacksonville last night - gag). But it's good for hobby productivity. In the end it was still a relatively quick project - despite a very frustrating incident with the primer - but the "Army" Predator for my Rogue Trader-era Imperial Guardsmen is done.

Half-way point - basic colours and dry-brushing done, ready for the gloss-coating before decals are applied

To try and deal with the primer problem, I added basecoat of black acrylic paint before starting anything else. It did not mitigate the problem completely, but provided enough of a cover so that the effect is not too bad. It gives some areas of the tank's deck the apperance of having been hit with molotov cocktails or a heavy flamer or something a few times. At least I didn't have to throw away the model!

Evidence of the "primer incident" lingers in the paint - annoying, but not as bad as I had feared

Since the paint job was going to look "used" already thanks to the crinkling, I gave it some pretty hard weathering.

I also had an incident with the decals - usually, I try and dab some dark gray with a sponge on the tactical numbers/markings to give the appearance of some wear. I got mixed up, and "dabbed" really dark blue instead. So "wear and tear" suddenly jumped to "practically blotting out the front numbers" - OOPS! I had to paint them back in a bit, just so they would not disappear completely.

Here are some more pictures of the finished tank:

Side view of finished tank

Close-up of the commander - the figure is from Old Crow

The RT-era could Predator could still carry five passengers...not sure where, but hey - there is a door for them...

View from a roving Adeptus Mechanicus servo-skull

I was really pleased with the tank commander figure from Old Crow - I think he fits very well with the RT-era Imperial Guard trooper look. This vehicle is now ready to face Dallas' "Red Star" Orks - or anything else we might throw at them (Tyranids, Eldar Space Pirates, rebel Guardsmen, protestors, etc).

On maneuvers with an Imperial Guard Tactical Squad

The Rhino crew breathes easier, knowing something else can draw all the enemy fire for a change...

Since I know one tank is sure to get zapped, I want to add a second one, and I would like to add more Rhinos. The problem with that approach is that vehicles in Rogue Trader cost big-time points (as well they should, given they are much hardier in the RT game than the current version). Predators are 600 points each! Rhinos clock in at 370 points a pop. A mechanized tactical platoon would drop over 1400 points on Rhinos alone - never mind some Predators to back things up.

On the other hand, it's not like these things are going into a tournament, so who cares? Also, we've been bodging it up a bit, using 5th edition vehicle rules where it makes sense - on that basis, the Rhinos (without power fields etc) are much more disposable, and should allow the game to run smoothly.

And now I know I have to "wash" the models before I build them...

Weekend Project - Rogue Trader Titan Crew

2011-12-05T14:21:00.001-06:00

Rogue Trader Titan Crew from GW - Princeps and a pair of Moderati

Over the weekend, in addition to struggling with some rogue primer, I pulled out a couple of Rogue Trader models for something to work on while the Detroit Lions and New Orleans Saints tangled on Sunday Night Football. And what a retro treat - a Titan Crew! A Princeps (commander) and a pair of Moderati (titan drivers, gunners etc.). And a bonus - they were already primed, so all I could put the primer rage out of my mind and just start painting.

The Moderati carrying carbine-style lasguns.

These figs were scored in an E-bay transaction a couple of years ago - NIB condition, complete with a plastic Imperial Guard arm sprue. I cut the pockets off of the arms prior to mounting them (although thinking about it now, I should have kept them on for the Moderati - oh well). For weapons I used some spare carbine-style lasguns that were available on the GW tank accessory sprue - they seemed like the kind of thing the crew would have handy.

Rear view of the figures, showing all of the hook-ups etc on the Princeps - looks like you can't just hop in and out of the diver's seat on an Imperial Titan...

For the Pinceps' part, he got an "old" laspistol - he looked like the kind of fellow who probably would not carry anything much heavier than that. As the commander of a Titan, he is used to levelling whole city blocks with the wave of a hand - I'm not sure how a dude like that contemplates infantry weapons of any sort...

Painting RT-era stuff is great fun for me, and these figures are no exception. Although the plastic arms are a little rangy, the sculpts are neat. All sorts of hoses etc. hanging off as they would literally plug into the Titans before heading into battle. The sculpts are not too far away from the current versions of these models, available from Forge World.

"Where did we park again?"

Their appearances in games will probably be limited to use as objective markers - in the 40k fluff, Titan crews are treated with great reverance, and surely whole platoons of run-of-the-mill Imperial Guardsmen would be sent to save them. In fact, that would make for an excellent scenario....

Primer(al) Rage

2011-12-05T10:03:00.001-06:00

Hey - look what the primer did! Greg: "Motherf****r!!!!"

I thought this project would be pretty straightforward. WRONG. I was priming the model in my garage this past Friday evening with my (previously) trusty Krylon flat black spray. I gave it a coat, and left it to dry, as usual. When I went out to collect the model a little later, I was surprised to see a f**ked up crackle-type surface had developed on the primer.

I've had bum primer before, but never with Krylon. The weather has started to change to winter, so maybe that was it? The ambient temperature in the garage would have been about six degrees celsius that evening - hardly the worst that will happen this winter. What the F***??????

This would work if I was trying to paint a vehicle for one of the lame Chaos factions (look - a Slaneesh style overcoat to ensure fashionable drool resistance on the battlefield!), but I was pretty horrified of what this might do for the boring blue paint scheme employed by my Imperial Guardsmen.

I didn't want to throw out the model, so I painted some black acrylic on and hoped for the best....at least it wasn't a squad of plastic troops!

Anyone know what caused/causes primer to pull this kind of reaction?

Notice: 2nd Annual Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge

2011-12-04T14:31:00.000-06:00

Hi Guys!

First, apologies for cross posting, but I wanted to get The Word out. I'm hosting another Painting Challenge over the winter. The big diference is that this time the submissions can be any historical figures/models, not just Napoleonics. If you're interested you can check it out here.

Up to the Challenge?

Best,

Curt

Quick Project - "Army" Predator for 40k

2011-12-02T09:26:00.001-06:00

The NHL is on TV, so it's time for some hobbying!

Continuing to rummage through the basement, I came across something last night that will make another quick project - a Warhammer 40k Space Marine Predator. I've been unpacking my Rogue Trader Guardsmen following the move, and I thought it's about time I added a tank to their forces to help them out. In fact, after a quick search of the blog, I think I said I would do that back in January of this year...oh well - it's still 2011!

Ah, the Compendium - an awesome nostalgia read any day of the week!

Back in the Rogue Trader era, vehicles such as the Rhino, the Predator, and even the iconic Land Raider, were generally available to all of the Imperial factions - not just restricted to Space Marines. It's fun to browse through the old Compendium and see all of the whacky and varied stuff available to the Imperial Guardsmen of that time.

The current versions of these classic models look great. The current Predator is one of my favourite GW vehicle models, in fact. I like the turret so much I use them for my Imperial Guard Chimeras. But I don't have a regular Space Marine army, so I've never painted up a Predator model. Since my Rogue Trader Guardsmen already have a Rhino from the current lineup, I'm sure a Predator from the current line will do nicely too. A great excuse to work on a model I've always wanted to take a crack at...

With the Jets on TV last night (my parents had the tickets) I grabbed the super glue and the hobby knife and got to work. Like the majority of the current GW model kits, this one is practically idiot-proof. I absolutely love that, because I'm not great at building models. Full credit to GW for imagining impatient nitwits like myself when determining how the kit should come together...

The original Predator was armed with an auto-cannon in the turret and las-cannon in a sponson on each side. There was also a bolter on the top hatch. Fortunately the current model has all of this easily covered - with the exception of the bolter - which is now represented by the option of a pintle-mounted storm bolter. Rather than fiddle with finding a way to mount a spare bolter, I just kept the storm-bolter on the pintle.

The assembled "Army" Predator, before priming.

There were some small modelling considerations. First, there is the process of "UFSR" - Useless Frigging' Skull Removal - that I undertake on every plastic GW model I work on these days. Like all GW products of the current era, the Predator model is covered with a baffling number of skulls and skull-related iconography. I used my trusty hobby knife to scrape the skull and crossbones icons off of the turret in two places (the top of the autocannon, and the hatch of the rear turret bin). I also scraped the stupid winged skull off of the side of the storm bolter on the pintle. I wish I had thought of doing this twelve years ago when I first started building a lot of my GW vehicles...

Another photo of the model before priming in the garage...

The model kit gives you a lot of options for fancy attachments - hunter killer missiles, for example, as well as Imperial icons and other bits like a communications/radar set. At the end of the day, this is a plain old Army Predator, so I didn't see it having all sorts of spiffy extras or devotional scrolls and "Purge the Demon"-type reminder notes on the hull. I put on the smoke launchers - the original rules make a point of stressing the smoke launchers, and they are prominent on the old model, so they are there to complete the homage - but there are no other fancy bits for this tank.

Close up of the turret - scratches are visible where useless skull icons were scraped away. The slender Old Crow tank commander is peering out at the unknown from his cupola

For a crewman, I opted to use a vehicle crewm figure from Old Crow (the one holding binoculars). I thought the head-gear matched well with the Rogue Trader troops, and it spared me from having to use up one of the plastic heads from my reserve pile (I know that sounds silly, but there are only three heads with helmets on each sprue of four troops, and these things are hard to find!). These Old Crow crew figures also have a slighter frame, matching the less-bulky look of the pre-steroid era Imperial Guard figures.

I have an inkling that we may be playing Rogue Trader again soon, and the firepower of a Predator will really come in handy against Dallas' awesome "Red Star" Orks. I'll get this sucker painted up, and post some pics on the blog soon - hopefully that will provoke an outing from those dastardly Orks...

Tomorrow's War - Today's Headache

2011-12-01T12:43:00.001-06:00

Cover of "Tomorrow's War" - new skirmish rules that are generating a ton of buzz

A couple months ago, TMP member "Osprey Joe" kindly offered to send us a review copy of Osprey's hot new SF skirmish ruleset, "Tomorrow's War". As a Scotsman and a Winnipegger (our motto: "if it's free, it's for me") I could not help but take him up on this generous offer. The book drop-shipped and arrived directly from Amazon, in good condition except for a razor-cut on the cover near the spine. Not sure how that happened but it doesn't really affect the condition of the book.

Wanting to familiarize myself with the rules and host a game in a timely fashion, I read a bit of the book each night in bed before going to sleep. Certainly a pleasant way to pass a few minutes at the end of the day - the book is beautifully designed, laid out and executed. The paper is glossy and heavy, the binding feels like quality, and the pictures are pretty. There is tons of background included, which some readers will enjoy, but to me is of marginal relevance as we use our own models and factions in our SF games.

Unfortunately the book worked rather better as a sleep aid than I had expected. As I said, I'm not too interested in the "TW Universe" (especially as there aren't model ranges specific to the factions) and I found the rules to be rather... dense as well. And keep in mind I spend my days reading stuff like this. There are just a lot of fundamental rules points where questions still exist. For example: what happens when there are no active models in a unit (i.e. they are all "tipped over" potential casualties) and no First Aid check can be made at the start of the next turn? Does the unit disappear, or just stay tipped over? (we think they remain on the table). Do "tipped over" models contribute to a unit's armour saving rolls when they are shot at? Can hits be allocated to wounded or tipped over models before active models? And my favourite, when reaction fire causes models in a moving unit to be tipped over, do these tipped over models "follow" the rest of the unit as they complete their movement? (Unbelievably to me, this basic question regarding a situation that will happen in virtually every game was answered on TMP by the designer with a "do it whichever way you like, in agreement with your opponent")

In any event, we were still eager to give the rules a go so we set up the "Rescue the Downed Pilot" scenario from page 96 of the rulebook.

An overhead view of the table - the USMC faction can be seen advancing through the open on the right side of the pitcure, while the DPRG squads wait in ambush

The game pitted three teams of d8-quality USMC rockstars (repped by Greg's IG Kasrkin Stormtroopers) against four teams of somewhat less rockstar-ish d6-quality DPRG (my Pig Iron Kolony militia), waiting in ambush.

The sturdy conscripts of Futurkom played the part of the DPRG in the game

The game started with USMC having the Initiative and needing to retrieve the pilot from the building near the centre of the table. I was thinking that the mission should be cake from the DPRG perspective as we were set up in ambush... however our effective "ambush range" was only 12 inches and the USMC retrieval lanes were mostly outside this zone of death.

Greg B's GW Kasrkin Models stood in for the USMC side in the scenario

The downed pilot - always a source of trouble for the REAL fighting troops...

However, as always, the best laid plans... etc. etc. As the USMC advanced towards their objective I succumbed to the temptation to get "trigger happy" and light up the attackers... which didn't go so well.
My d6 firepower rolls were no match for Greg's hot-rolling Reaction Fire with d8s.

The Futurkom grunts wait in ambush...

USMC troops wait on Overwatch in the woods

The game turned into a bit of a gong show as, turn by turn, my squads were whittled down by accurate USMC fire. Towards the end I tried to move some teams into the building with the pilot to induce some close combat with the USMC (faint hope I know) but the intrepid Kommers were lit up before they knew what had hit them.

The Futurkommers try and visit with the downed pilot...

What happens in "Tomorrow's War" when one side has a better troop quality...

It was all over by about Turn 6 as all of my troops were tipped over with no active models left to make First Aid checks. I suppose technically we might have declared a "Thorpian Moral Victory" since the USMC couldn't have retrieved the pilot and made it back to their table edge by the end of turn 8... but it hardly seems like much of a "victory" when you have no models left to fight with.

We set up the models again and the DPRG tried a more patient tactic, which worked somewhat better at first, lighting up a USMC team advancing in the open, working some angles to try and cover the objective, and mostly JUST NOT MOVING. We didn't finish the second run through but I suspect it probably would have finished similarly to the first, albeit with more USMC casualties.

Summing up? Tomorrow's War has some great points - turn interruption and Reactions are very cool. However it's easy to get mixed up as to who's got Initiative, who's reacted, and who can react, as well as the plethora of markers required to denote wound status and other things. The rulebook desperately needs some editing and organization. It's a beautiful book but some more attention to detail is warranted. For example, in the sample scenario we played, the terrain includes a stream and small lake. Referring to the "terrain effects" section in the book (also not easy to find), we see a statement to the effect that "the scenario will specify the game effects of the water feature on movement". Guess what? It didn't, so we had to agree on that ourselves. Not a big deal in this case, but if the scenario was designed with a specific water effect in mind, it was a well-guarded secret. Likewise the maps for the scenarios - the text listed table sizes as anything from 3x3 to 6x4, but the maps all show 4x4 layouts!

These are minor niggles, of course, next to the Big Unanswered Questions in the rulebook (like "what happens to tipped over figures?") but it bespeaks what many have complained about of late - an emphasis on rulebook form over function. There are a ton of beautiful looking rulebooks out nowadays and aesthetic appeal in game books is no longer the exclusive realm of Games Workshop. But I get the feeling with TW that more emphasis was placed on the physical product than on the guts of the thing - cogently laid out rules that are lucid and easy to find. The lack of a quick play sheet, for example, is inexcusable, especially when considering the number of pages devoted to background fluff. We'll certainly try TW again but we are increasingly skeptical of the "love bombs" (thanks Greg) for TW being dropped in carpet-fashion all over the web. Grade: B-.

Dallas

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Dallas has summed things up very well. My two cents - the book looks great, but was written as though you already knew the rules. At the end of the day, I think there is a great set of rules in there somewhere. It was neat to play a game knowing, for instance, that you could cover the advance of your own troops, and it made you plot out different approach paths etc.

But the rulebook itself is inexecusably baffling and incomplete - the lack of clear information on what happens to a casualty is the most galling example, but in general, the rules the read out like you should already just know them. Do you still exchange fire when you are fired at while on the move? How many times can regular units react? What is the difference between ambush and overwatch? The book implies the the answers are obvious. Sorry - they're not.

I really want to play TW again - so at that basic level, I would say the rules are a success. But to do that, we'll have to pile through all sorts of forums etc just to ascertain the basic mechanics of how the game is supposed to work. I look forward to an edition of these rules that contains the rules.

Greg