Tuesday 23 December 2014

My, what a big gun you have... ArmiesArmy BTR 160 MGS available!

Something is out stalking tanks…..

The BTR 160 MGS 'стилет' Stiletto




The 155mm Coil Gun can puncture through all known MBTS on the battlefield today. Developed at the Kondratov Factories on old earth this popular cheap weapon is used by a wide number of forces and merc companies. Cheap, quick and effective! The weapon can be mounted on almost any vehicle or emplacement. Fully automated this weapon is a serious threat to any MBT!



Available for £7.50 GBP at armiesarmy.com/shop


thanks
Keith

The Ion Age - 2014 Round Up

Everything we have in 15mm scale with no duplicates!

This has been a remarkable year for 15mm Space Opera fun with the massive push from The Ion Age. This line has surged in greatness and continues to build up steam into 2015. I have enjoyed seeing each and every characterful release that Gavin and crew have brought to life in their colorful and intriguing science fiction universe.

Gavin has asked me to share their year in review post along with some offers. So, please continue on, enjoy the pictures and let Gavin, in his own words, tell you the tale of the Ion Age...

-Eli

Merry Christmas from Coolhand Studios!

Coolhand Studios wants to wish everyone a Merry Christmas!


He does amazing digital sculpting so go check out his blog!

15mm.co.uk's - Free Shipping, 15% Off Code, and Monster Survey

Closing Out The Year With 15mm.co.uk


Hey All,

There is a lot to update here, so I am going to let Gavin's own words speak for 15mm.co.uk's end of year specials and announcements.


Welcome fan of 15mm.co.uk and customer of one of the greatest collections of 15mm scale miniatures in the world. Its been a good year for us with a scattering of releases and surprises that saw us continue to grow and to do excellent things that make people happy. Top among these were HOF27 Maginot Defence Turret and V106 Law Officer Air Raft for 15mm science fiction, HOT3T Troll Value Pack and the Tabletop Dungeon Adventurers packs for 15mm Fantasy and the Altuos 15mm Renaissance range for 15mm Historicals. In our range of book titles we sold out of a whole print run of Age of Might andSteel. We also saw a really awesome surge in the SHMP20 Prang Bosses pack designed by Eli Arndt. Not seen these? Click the links and have a look.

Sunday 21 December 2014

Alpha Terminus Part 2: Setting Design Guidelines


In a previous article I spoke about how back story can be used to create internal consistency and can be reflected in the the rules that you use to war game. While those principles can be used to create more-interesting fiction, they can also affect other parts of the war gaming hobby including your choice of models and rule sets. Here are a couple of ways that I am using those principles in the design of Alpha Terminus:

No Mono-Cultures

It's always bothered me that unlike Humans entire alien races are often depicted as having the exact same values, practices, and government. Humans aren't all Americans, after all, and aliens generally shouldn't be depicted as mono-cultures. That isn't to say that there can't be any monolithic cultures but they should be the exception and there should always be a reason for the species to have developed in that manner.

From a war gaming perspective avoiding mono-cultures in your back story makes it easier to relate various 15mm alien miniatures to one another. For example models from the Sons of Thunder (Rebel Minis), Gitungi (Micropanzer) and Thrainite (Khurasan Miniatures) miniature lines all have a similar form factor. In your fluff they could easily reflect three different cultures stemming from a single alien race.
  •  The Mon'grhal are a former slave race who were bio-engineered to be hyper-adaptable to nearly any environment. Given a few weeks in a new environment Mon'ghral biology will change to tolerate a wide variety of environmental conditions. They've only recently broken away from their former masters and have no home system of their own. Luckily their ability to adapt isn't restricted to environmental conditions. Mon'grhal enclaves have formed all over the known worlds; when these settlements are near those of other races the Mon'grhal quickly assimilate to the culture of their neighbors. Now the Mon'grhal are one of the most culturally diverse peoples in the galactic community.
  • The Khazalid were once as diverse a people as the Humans of Earth, but that all changed when a world war broke out on their home world of Khaz. The Khazalid Imperium, and their Iron Legions, rose from the ashes of Khaz and begun to suppress those that opposed Imperial rule. Generations later the Khazalid appear to be mono-cultural but that isn't really the case. While the majority of the Khazalid now follow the "traditional" clan structure of the Imperium, cultural practices outlawed as divisive by the government have moved under ground, or are practiced by Khazalid who have re-settled outside of Imperium space.
  • The Lyscorcid are a true-monoculture, if they can be said to even have a culture. The insectoid aliens form hives made up mono-taskers. Every drone fulfills a specific purpose and never deviates from it's task. They have no families, social organizations, or cultural practices as other races would define them. Still, the hives often seem to move with purpose towards specific goals which indicates that an intelligence is organizing them.

Technological Limitations

Certain technologies make war gaming boring: why fight a pitched battle when an orbiting ship can just drop a nuke down on the opposing army? It's ok to impose some artificial limitations on technology in your setting in order to facilitate better, more interesting game play. The key to limiting technology in this way is to build the reasons for it into your fluff.
  • No warp drives. While space faring vessels in Alpha Terminus can travel very, very fast there is no engine that can propel them at faster than light speeds. Instead most travel between solar systems is done via 'Terminus Gates' that create stable wormholes between two gates. Ships can travel to other solar systems using conventional sub-light drives, but those journeys take many years. A side effect of having to rely on Terminus Gates for travel is that all races have limitations on how big their ships can be (which if awfully convenient for any space ship war gaming I might do using the setting).
  • Trans-human immortality is a lie...sort of. Time eventually brings death to everyone, and nearly everyone is afraid of it. One way of avoiding old age in some science fiction is to transfer a sentient consciousness to a computer or installing it in a new body. Most species in Alpha Terminus have developed the technology necessary to transfer consciousness but the process is flawed. Every time the mind of a sentient creature is transferred from its original body to any other storage medium the ability to feel emotion is dampened and all empathy for other sentients is lost. Immortality is a reality but all immortals are, in effect, sociopaths.
  • Nukes are too dangerous to use. Space faring cultures have developed weapons capable of destruction on a scale that is unimaginable but they rarely employe them. The Alpha Terminus system and the systems with direct gate connections are the most sought after pieces of real estate in the galaxy. The gate technology in those systems reacts violently to weapons fire over a certain magnitude; the reaction is so violent that entire fleets, and the ground forces that they support, can be wiped away in single stroke (more on this in the next article). Consequently most ships aren't equipped with WMD systems. When such weapons are required they are usually fitted to ships via external weapon racks.

Monday 15 December 2014

Flytrap Factory stomps in with some previews...

From 15mm Sci-Fi Facebook group...

New Warfighter Epoch ranges coming soon to Flytrap Factory/Zombiesmith







Bombshell Minis previews some upcoming bombshells!

From 15mm Sci-Fi Facebook group...

Some great looking miniatures coming from Bombshell Minis in 2015!



MicroBabes 4 of 4 - Company Flight Officer with Pet Carrier, Maelee the Mechanic, GDF Officer, Esla Von Spectre, From Bombshell Minis in '15.


Sunday 14 December 2014

Alpha Terminus Part 1 (or Confessions of a Fluff Bunny)

I hate Warhammer 40K as a game. My reasons are pretty typical for WH40K decriers: rapid edition turnover, seemingly planned model obsolescence, exorbitant model cost, etcetera. For those reasons I don't play the game...but I love the WH40K universe.

The fluff behind the WH40K universe is incredibly well developed. Each faction has a rich history that evolves as it is continuously expanded. The Imperium is constantly on the precipice of destruction and is kept from tipping over only by the strength of the Imperial Guard and Space Marines. The enigmatic Eldar travel through the galaxy fighting to prevent, or bring to fruition, the visions of their Farseers. Orks go faster when their trukks are painted red. WH40K fiction may be excessively grimdark, but it also informs how armies are designed by the game developers and provides context that can make the game more than just chess with fancy plastic soldiers.

These days I play 15mm sci fi war games. In my experience the community is better, models are more reasonably priced than in other scales and there are dozens of rule sets available. Unfortunately the scale is somewhat lacking in fluff. That isn't to say that there aren't rule sets or miniatures that are accompanied by interesting back story; games like Hammer's Slammers, Tomorrow's War, Critical Mass, and Gruntz do include a fictional world to fight over. Furthermore a great many 15mm miniatures manufactures write little blurbs of fiction for their offerings. The problem I find is that much of the 'official' available fluff is written in such a way as to support a very specific style of game or, alternatively, is very disjointed. Let me be clear: the 'official' fluff that is available in the 15mm 'verse is good, but it isn't exactly what I am looking for.

So whats a fluff bunny like me supposed to do? Write my own fluff of course! I've already got a name for the setting: Alpha Terminus. In order to get the ball rolling we need to take look at what my game setting should bring to the table:

Context
I like chess, but the experience of playing chess is not something that I want to recreate on my 4x6 battlefield. Fluff provides context that makes the little bits of metal, plastic and resin more than just a handful of models. They are tiny soldiers fighting for their governments and for their very lives. Every battle should be a story that unfolds with each roll of the dice. I want to play battles that feel like they matter:
  • A garrison of Khazalid militia digs in to repel the single minded might of a Lyscorcid Battlehive. If they hold the swarm back long enough the colonist-miners might just survive until the Iron Legion arrives.
  • A rag-tag cell of Omega Protocol operatives leads a mercenary strike force into a stronghold of the Universal Soldality. The must prevent the cultists from bringing their extra-dimensional god forth into our reality.
  • A drop-mobile force of power armor and grav tanks from the Martian Consortium is forced into a emergency deployment when their troopship is ambushed. Scattered on a fog-shrouded world, they must link up with each other in order to form an effective defense against the Lost Colony body-snatchers that destroyed their transport. 
Internal Consistency
The 15mm Sci Fi war gaming hobby is full of generic rules that make designing a new army a breeze. The problem is that easy army building all to often results in armies made up of random models thrown together without much thought given to how they work together. It's not uncommon to see folks using armies that have tracked vehicles alongside grav vehicles, heavy mechs alongside heavy tanks, robotic soldiers alongside flesh and blood troops and other combinations. This makes sense as there are loads of awesome, scale-appropriate, models available; besides, who want's to buy a new model and not use it right?

I don't necessarily have a problem with armies made up of seemingly random model selections, but my preference is to have some kind reason for it beyond "those are the models I had". Establishing those reasons is what I mean by internal consistency. It guides how a particular force is designed and what kind of models I purchase for it in the future.
  • The Lyscorid breed their soldiers and war machines with singular purpose. A grunt will be equipped with a rifle or a hand to hand weapon, but not both. An anti-armor bio-tank is designed to stalk and kill heavily armored targets, but lacks any kind of defense against infantry. The swarm is an army of mono-taskers.
  •  The Omega Protocol is a secret conspiracy that combats extra-dimensional threats. It organizes it's highly skilled agents into autonomous cells. The organization utilizes mercenaries when it needs troops for larger engagements. Their army list will always have a core of 'hero' units to represent the cell in charge but the rest could be just about anything.
  • The Martian Consortium has a technological edge on most of the other Human factions, but they have a much smaller population. Consequently they rely heavily on robotic drones and equip their precious Human soldiers with advanced power armor. Their army list will primarily consist of drone grav vehicles, robotic troopers, and powered infantry.
Rules
As I've mentioned previously there are loads of generic rules available for 15mm Sci Fi war games. Most of them present a method for designing your troops. The problem is that it is all to easy to exploit the rules to avoid sub-optimal options, or worse find exploits in the rules to build super-armies that have no weaknesses. The end result is a game in which one player completely steamrolls the other, or where both players show up with armies that are built exactly the same but sing different models A decent backstory is one tool that can be used to avoid meta-gaming, build realistic deficiencies into an army, and ensure that every army presents a unique play experience.

  • Lyscorcid units are mono-taskers. Their grunts will be good at either shooting or hand-to-hand combat, but not both. Additionally, their skill as doing anything else for objectives (enter a self-destruct code, plant explosives, hack a computer terminal) will be minimal. Anti-tank vehicles will only have anti-armor weapons and will be ill-equipped to combat infantry. This design theme will be represented throughout every element in the army.
  •  The Omega Protocol will always have a core of 'hero' specialist units that are good at whatever they need to do, but these will always be single-model units. Other units are mercenaries that follow their own unit commanders. Consequently Omega Protocol armies will have no central commander model. Instead each group of mercenary units with have their own sub-commander.
  • The Martian Consortium will primarily consist of robotic troopers and grav vehicles. The robotic troopers will be of average skill, but won't have to worry about morale. They will, however, be vulnerable to electronic warfare. The grav vehicles are very advanced compared to the vehicles of other human factions, but will be expensive to field so there won't be many of them on the battlefield. Since the Consortium has few human troops, there will never be more than one squad of human power armor troopers to every 2 or 3 squads of robots.
Those are the rules that I will live by in designing my universe. Next time I'll present some actual Alpha Terminus fluff...

Thursday 11 December 2014

Dropship? Dropship!

From: TMP


Mad Mecha Guy shows off something I'm pretty sure I need.




Now for something Really BIG……

'NeNow' Hercules Drop-Shuttle.



Is based on the foam card Hercules shuttle design by Neil Nowatzki [http://theminiaturespage.com/boards/msg.mv?id=319071]

After being provided with plans I have redone the design for 2mm MDF.

Size:
60L x 40W x 15cm High
Pod: 34L x 15W x 7.5cmH, Bay Doors 6x6cm.

To make the Pod Doors operable, will need small RC plastic hinges & some 2D x 1mmH round magnets.

I am doing a Vehicle pod design with two 12cm doors on each side, will sell both as a whole kit & a separate interchangeable pod.

Price: £40.00GBP (takes several sheets).

UPDATE: Allowing for box & bubblewrap one would weight 1.6kGs so postage: £19.00 GBP. 
Can sent two (approx 3kGs) for £19.50 GBP or three for £23.05 GBP (go on you know you need 3!).

It is ready now, have modified the design slightly in adding a etched hatch on both side of hull near cockpit.

Regards

MMG.


Should I rename it the Canada Class?

Wednesday 10 December 2014

Khurasan Miniatures -- complete remake of 15mm Garn reptilian range released!

From: TMP

We're very pleased to announce that we have completely redone our range of 15mm Garn reptilian aliens.


These hulking tyrannosauroid carnivores are sculpted larger so as to have a more appropriately menacing presence on your tabletop, more poses have been made available, and the sets are in more rational allocations.

The new sets are:



Garn warriors with the basic infantry arm, the 20mm assault cannon -- a set of six in six poses (yes, only five are shown -- the sixth pose is in the comparison picture below):



Garn warriors with heavy weapons -- a set of four in four poses (laser cannon, missile launcher, flamethrower and plasma gun):



Garn unit command -- a set of five in three poses (two commanders, two comms specialists, and a single casualty):



Garn Flesheater giant heroes -- these chaps are huge! (one pose with a flamethrower I would not want fired at me at all, and another with a plasma cannon, and we do mean cannon):



Garn hegemon, the aristocratic clan within Garn society (this model is basically the player):



Here's a comparison showing the size of the models against each other and against a human infantryman. Left to right, a Flesheater, the Hegemon, a warrior (the sixth pose not shown in the image above) and a human infantryman.

The Garn are versatile SF models as not only can they be used as towering alien Reptilians in 15mm, but also as human-sized aliens in 20mm gaming as well. And dare we say that the Flesheaters could be used in 28mm gaming? (They are in fact 28mm tall.) Even the rank and file warriors could be useful in 28mm gaming as "The Race" or other smaller reptilians in popular books.

The rapacious, cunning Garn have conquered other predatory sentient races and a selection of these will be released shortly. In fact, their most common slave-warrior race has already been available for some time -- the Felids.

The new Garn are available now, at the link below.
link

GameCraft Miniatures is the newest developer in Dubai...

Or maybe with this kit they will be!

This incredible MDF kit is available now for a very reasonable $72.00.

From Gamecraft Miniatures:

Perfect for ultra modern cities or future world sci-fi games in 15mm.

Model is precision lasedr cut from 1/8" (3mm) MDF. Model goes together in minutes using common white glue, wood glue or "CA" glue and can be painted to any level of detail you desire or simply sprayed one color so you can get back to gaming.

Model measures 8" x 15" x 14" tall (203mm x 381mm x 356mm)




You could play some awesome scenarios with this building by itself, let alone on an awesome city board.  I already put my order in for one and I can't wait to get it!

On Allen's suggestion (the owner of GameCraft Miniatures) i'll be picking up some blue mylar to put as a backing for the windows...


Tuesday 9 December 2014

Holiday Treats From 15mm.co.uk

Hey all,

It's the festive season again and to celebrate this, the crew at 15mm.co.uk is repeating their awesome from a bit ago with a free Flit Car with any purchase from the Laserburn range. If you include at least one Laserburn Value Pack they will ALSO include a Hover Wagon. This promotion will go until December 23rd, 2014.


V101 Flit Car


V104 Hover Wagon
 For more information and full details on this special offer, head over - HERE 

PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT: The Khurasan Miniatures Dual-Purpose Light Spacecraft...

By Harold

Hi everyone, I wanted to do something a little different than a straight news piece. With all the great releases Khurasan Miniatures puts out sometimes some of his older stuff gets lost in the shuffle.  I wanted to take a moment to spotlight one of my favorite vehicles and spaceships, the Khurasan Miniatures DPLS (Dual-Purpose Light Spacecraft!)

Available at Khurasan Miniatures for $69.95:

The DPLS transports a motley crew for the OOP game AE: Bounty
I've had this kit since it was first released and it's one of my favorites.  I use it mainly as a really awesome terrain centerpiece, but it could easily be used in game with Gruntz or any other ruleset (As long as your table is big enough).



It comes with options for the compartments, either a cargo container or passenger compartment, and has many modeling options and is easy to convert to either landed or flying modes.

DPLS with Ground Zero Games figures
For more info check out Khurasan's blog post here.


Seriously though, check it out!  It's a great kit and should be in everyone's collection.




Monday 8 December 2014

Arrive in style with Armies Army BDB 525 “MUSKOX"! Pre-Orders up now...

From Armies Army:

ARMIESARMY IS VERY PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE THE PRE ORDER FOR THE BDB 525 “MUSKOX” MULTIPURPOSE ALL-TERRAIN INFANTRY MOBILITY VEHICLE, DESIGNED BY THE BUZZARD DESIGN BUREAU. AS A SPECIAL PREORDER OFFER, I’LL BE OFFERING 10% OFF AND FREE STOWAGE PACK FOR ALL ORDERS.

Starting today I will be taking preorders for the BDB 525 multipurpose all terrain infantry mobility vehicle. Primarily used by both the Russian Empires and R.U.S.K armed forces, it is also used by numerous other countries and organizations.
 BDB 525



Size comparison


BDB 525 AT variant

Pre orders will each receive 10% off and a ‘stowage/aerial’ pack that can be used for adding that little bit of individualism to their vehicle. I will be taking bookings until the 22nd of December. Vehicles will be shipped within two weeks of the close of this date if not sooner.
There will be two variants on offer

BDB 525 “Muskox” will be £6.50 or 3 for £18
BDB 525 – “Kornet” AT will be £7.50 or 3 for £21

Each vehicle contains 5 metal wheels, 2 metal bumpers (fenders), resin hull and 2 turrets. One closed and on open. The ‘Kornet’ will contain one metal Missile set.

More details and pictures can be found at www.armiesarmy.com or you can go direct to my shop at

www.armiesarmy.com/shop

Thanks
Keith

Saturday 6 December 2014

Khurasan previews alien invader Maneuver Element...

Holy....


From: TMP and Modern Warfare

EDIT: It appears this monster of a "miniature" will be $99.99

When the Science Caste could no longer restrain them, the War Caste invaded earth, with the intent of destroying human civilisation. Their main weapons of attack from a strategic perspective were the great "Maneuver Elements," war machines of massive size and unspeakable power….










Thursday 4 December 2014

Holiday Cheer in The Ion Age

December brings with it a collection of cool bits from the folks at The Ion Age. New packs, special offers and the last special figure for 2014. There is a ton of info to share here, so I'll let Gavin's own words speak below...



IAF057 Knight Errants of Prydia

Our first code of noble knights for commanding your forces!  While they are of Prydia with a different uniform they could be any of the numerous Marcher Barons too.  Code IAF057 contains three unique miniatures dressed in Alwite powered armour.  The female Noblesse who is bare headed and armed with a Carnwennan Pistol (there are some four hundred of her already out in the word due to the IAF015 Hab Dome offer last year!) a noble Knight Errant with cowl and Octa powered sword and lastly a noble with twin Carnwennan Pistols.  These are 15mm scale versions of 28mm code IB32 Knight Errants which were requested right from the off for us.  As always this code can be bought as a pack or as single miniatures or select the three packs and save 10% option on the page. Go HERE.  Price 3.00GBP per pack.


IAF008 Retained Post Charlie
The third post of Retained Knights ready to see off enemies as diverse as the Marcher Barons and the Khanate Empire.  Often overseen by Knight Errants and go great with the new release code IAF057. Code IAF008 contains ten different poses all wearing Alwite powered armour and carrying a variety of weapons including Tumbler Mpi, Angis Rifles, Anvil Launchers and Moth Type 12's.   As always this code can be bought as a pack or as single miniatures or select the three packs and save 10% option on the page.  Go HERE.  Price 5.00GBP per pack.


Festive Season Offers during December 2014
This week at the start of December we have made our only new release for the entire month and that means its the last release of the year too.  We are taking a few weeks off making new releases (one per week for a year is very impressive I am sure you will agree) but we have a few offers for you too that will last until the end of the month while IMP16 Chrimbot is the free miniature.  Here are the details, prices already changed on the website no code needed, and remember while we will continue on the blog and talking there are no more releases until the new year dawns:

IAF041 Corbal Deployable Hardpoint (all codes) 10% Off!
IAF023 Fallen Havelock 10% Off!
IAF032 Fallen Duxis 10% Off!
IAF037 Smashed Adder Combat Car 10% Off!
IAF013 Murdo and Galaine 10% Off!
IAF031 Duxis Drone and Pilot 10% Off!
IAF018 Legionary 3rd Tesseran Maia Mpi 10% Off!
IAF019 Legion 2nd Pioneers Flora 10% Off!

These offers are all available on the Early Supporter Page - HERE




Its the festive season!  

Well its early December 2014 and that means a new monthly free miniature IMP16 Crimbo Bot sculpted by Sam Croes.  Lovely is it not.  Makes you want to destroy all Humans. You can also buy it on its own too during this month and it is well deserving of a place next to . We bid goodbye to the Witch Knight and we will see her again next year in the next collection of IMP miniatures when its released in the summer. She was quite popular and some nice messages from those who put her with the Knight of the Dead it seems they make a good couple!  Its last release for the year this week and this pack of Knight Errants is the first of our character packs in 15mm which are not made from parts but rather are total sculpts by Sam Croes making them totally unique.  Packed with personality and space opera purpose they will lead your Retained forces with pride.  As a bonus offer we have codes at 10% off normal prices for the month to make Christmas a littler sweeter.  Lastly a thanks to all who took up the 15mm terrain offers in November it means a lot to us.  Finally remember that by placing an order with us you will sign up for an account with the website and that means you get Reward Points in all purchases (plus the monthly free miniature).  These points can be used any time to get free products and discounts on orders.


Wednesday 3 December 2014

Preview: Reworked...Xiangyu WZ993 APC Armies Army

From: TheMiniaturesPage.com

WIP
The Xiangyu WZ993 APC



I've reworked the original ‘print' ( it was still great) and provided a few new turret options. The original had some design flaws that were not that great when cast in resin. I had a very thin lip rim to the body, which looked nice was really fragile and easy to break. It just wasn't robust enough. I also created open hatches, rather then solid, which I think is nicer. So….I'm about to send this for reprinting, soon as I've made it watertight and the weapons are good.

This is the APC variant, which will carry two of the PLA infantry drones on it tops rear frame. They release when the troops disembark. Carries two fire teams of four men.

The second is the Zheng WZ994 MGS



Fully modular with a replacement Heavy Anti Matter Tank Gun

No date for readiness. I've three vehicles in front of the queue, however they are almost ready for ordering. I've a rather splendid painter working on two of them as we speak and some Russian ‘whites' Infantry which were going to be dropped of at the production mold makers this evening…however work has just cancelled that!

Hopefully tomorrow!

Feedback welcome

p.s

for those that liked the original turret..Ill still offer that to. Its currently used as part of heavy gun drones :)

thanks

Keith

armiesarmy.com

Brigade Christmas Sale!

So, here we are again – it’s December, which surely means the


Brigade Christmas Sale !

Xmas-2014

As in previous years, it’s a straightforward 15% discount off everything that we make – no minimum order, just 15% off everything, including (for readers of this page) our large and rapidly growing 15mm range.