DROPSHIP HORIZON

Review - 15mm Sci Fi from Brigade Models Sculpted by PF

2012-01-27T12:01:00.006Z

As a follow up to this post highlighting that Brigade Models have acquired some of PF’s 15mm sci fi sculpts we're please to be able to provide a review of these soon-to-be-released figures. Despite being in the process of making production moulds, Tony at Brigade was kind enough to send the Dropship Crew a sample of each of the forthcoming packs straight out of the master mould!

First up, the Alien Civilians pack (pictured above). This features 5 unarmed humanoid character models. These could be characters in a tabletop wargaming / roleplaying game cross over or as civilian bystanders to a shoot-out in some retched hive of scum and villainy. My two favourites are the second from the left, who could be a doctor or a scientist on a survey mission, and the one second from the right, who could be pointing out secessionist spies to aid colonial troops!

Next up we have the Alien Creatures pack which provides some weird and interesting aliens for your 15mm sci fi games. We have what looks like an alien watchdog with a sharp face an a lion-like mane, a lizard or even Hutt-like creature with a spiked tail, some sort of techo-maggot, a beetle and a shambling tentacled thing. The wargaming potential of these figures may be limited, but I can imagine a sci fi skirmish campaign with characters competing to collect weird creatures from across the galaxy for the eccentric proprietor of some interstellar zoo!

Then we have the Bounty Hunters pack providing 4 mean looking characters and a shacked captive (on the far right). My favourite figures in this pack are the larger equine-looking creature (second from left) and the humanoid second from right who is equipped with some great looking armour and appears to be unarmed and sculpted in the style reminiscent of a superhero (or villein) PF often employs. I can see lots of potential for use with sci fi skirmish games like 'Blasters and Bulkheads' and '5150:New Beginnings'.

Finally we have the Mercenaries pack. This consists of 4 armed humanoids and what might be another superhero (or villein). I really like the human armed with a mace (or should that be a power weapon?) second from left. This sculpt has real character and delicate facial features which have not been lost in the casting. Like the other packs, there is lots of potential for use with sci fi skirmish games.

All of the figures in all the packs are sculpted in the delicate style PF is a master of and I'm pleased to say that none of this has been lost in the casting - bearing in mind these were provided direct from the master mould and not been cleaned up in any way.

Tony has suggested that these packs may retail for around £2 per pack, which seems very, very good value indeed given the quality of these sculpts and the casting. We've been raving about how good a sculptor PF is for some time here on the Dropship so it's great to see more of his characterful 15mm sci fi in production - Especially as there appears no sign of the sculpts acquired by Pole Bitwy and previewed here entering production. He’s certainly not been responding to my emails on the subject!

All in all a great set of forthcoming releases and, I for one, hope they sell well so that we'll see more 15mm sci fi from PF and Brigade. However, what I'd really like to see is for PF to turn his had to sculpting a conventional high-tech military force rather than just character models!

Christmas War - Invasion of Laurentia Game 1

2012-01-25T12:21:00.001Z

Date/Time: Christmas Eve, the year 2212. 1935hrs.
Location: Laurentian Border Defenses - Buyan Swamp Crossing

The Buyan Swamp Crossing was an insignificant outpost along the Laurentian-Cimmerian border. It was one of the oldest gravel trade roads established between the colony-states, and had long been surpassed by multi-lane highway checkpoints. So it was little surprise that half of the garrison was granted Christmas leave this year, leaving only eight troopers (and two CAT 'bots) defending the border. It had been that way as long as the anyone could remember - certainly it happened every year that the Laurentian communications-technician had been assigned to this backwater.

This year was different.

Half the garrison (the other four-man team) were sleeping inside the bunker; the other half were in the clearing across the road, discussing all the other places they would rather be. Only the CATs were watching the road when the first rocket hit. The comm-tech looked over to see one of their CATs was damaged, and the other firing its own rockets toward a dark, lumbering shape. His team grabbed their carbines and ran to their defensive barricades, and the comm-tech grabbed his datapad and switched on the scanner feed. Before he could see exactly what was happening, he found himself ducking small arms fire from the hill across the barricades.

The data feed went live, and the comm-tech patched in his team. They could finally see what was shooting at them. That initial rocket had been fired from a Cimmerian Battle Walker, which was now trading heavy slugs with their own CATs. The small arms fire was from a four-man Cimmerian fire team sheltered on the rocky hill. Another two teams of Laurentians were double-timing up the road, covered by the heavy weapons of the first team. The comm-tech holstered his pad and grabbed his carbine, focusing his fire on the Cimmerian heavy weapons team. The CAT on their side of the road exploded, and a team of Cimmerians ran straight between his fireteam and their bunker. A smart rocket from the Cimmerian heavy weapons team hit their position, killing one of his teammates. They returned fire, but couldn't hit anything.

Another Cimmerian team attempted to pass between the barricades, but was interrupted by small arms fire. It was the Laurentian bunker team, now fully engaged in the fight. The bunker-side CAT managed to blow an arm off the Cimmerian walker. The bunker-side Laurentian team cut down two Cimmerians attempting to run up the road, but were surprised a fourth enemy team. They had apparently come around the far side of the swamp. This was a true assault team - spewing plasma from two flamethrowers while charging the bunker team. The comm-tech could only try to focus on his own target while his comrades’ bio-signs switched to black, one by one.

The comm-tech attempted to send an alarm signal to the High Command Net. But there was too much interference from the weapons fire, or possibly a minor EMP from the exploding CAT. There were no signs of life from his teammates. He ran as fast as he could, rapidly sending his alarm code as he tried to get out of range. The second CAT ‘bot must have run out of rockets - he saw it jump the barricades and charge the Cimmerian walker. Not a bad robot, thought the comm-tech. He’d have to put it in for a battle honor, assuming there would be enough parts left to find the serial number.

Just as he thought he heard a confirmation chime from his distress signal, the comm-tech felt a sharp impact on his back plate. He dropped - feeling intense, burning pain from the wound. Then everything went dark...

Rules: FUBAR (links to unit stat cards: Cimmerians, Laurentians)
Playing time: 1 hour solo game
Battle outcome: Cimmerian victory - complete wipeout of Laurentian forces. The Laurentians did survive six rounds. Per campaign special rules - long enough to earn a Special Forces reserve unit for the second scenario.

Cheers,
Chris

The Wikkia Man

2012-01-23T18:50:00.003Z

No not the movie but a 15mm model of the sacrifical edifice of the same name from Dreamholme Scenics!

Dreamholme Scenics

Wicker Man, £16

Now I know, you are propably thinking WTF! But step back a moment. Both Khurasan and Splintered Light Miniatures have recently released miniatures form the golden age of Pulp that could easily see the Wikka Man used as a centrepiece for a scenario set amongst Cultists and Call of Cthulu.

Cults are de rigeur for post apocalypse gaming, so again this could see use as the objective with your clan/gang/survivors trying to rescue some of their own from the clutches of the local cult or wasteland mutants before they are sacrified to the Comet Gods.

Of course, you could also set it in Modern times, somewhere in Redneck/Bible Belt America and Rebel Minis have all the minis you need. Let's see if Scooby, Shaggy and the lovely Daphne get out of this one!

Mars - yes, Mars. Your Victorian Spacefarers fall upon a tribe of Green Martians or similar who sacrifice humans, Canal Martians or simply anything they fancy, and you have to rescue or escape - or maybe you are Carruthers of the 4th Ether Marines, tasked with stamping out this vile practice and now leading a raid on the local Martian Magog settlement.

Something mad, but different, with loads of opportunity for gaming!

Cheers
Mark

Additional USE ME titles from 15mm.Co.Uk!

2012-01-20T20:40:00.001Z

Building on the success of their USE ME 001 Science fiction rules, 15mm.Co.Uk has released two more titles in that collection.

First up is USE ME 007 - 15mm Post Apocalypse. From their description: "This is the seventh title in the USE ME series and its the first title created after a year of solid feedback from the wargaming public. We have gone through a core science fiction set of rules and several historical ones plus ventured into space but now we go into a near and bleak future; that of the Post Apocalypse. Returning to the USE ME stable is author O.G.Joel, who has penned among other things USE ME World War Two. He had an interest in the aftermath of a man made, natural or supernatural event that would end our world and bring about a nightmare world of scavengers and technological warlords. This interest and knowledge resulted in these rules. Fast play rules based on the D6 USE ME engine that would suit 15mm scale miniatures (though it will work with smaller or larger scales with ease). From a few personalities in small scenario to squad level with battles involving a hundred or more character including vehicles."

I couldn't help noticing the contents for this book includes four pages called "Factions of a Wasted World." USE ME 001 only has a generic troop builder section, so this title might go into a bit more flavor and detail than the earlier game.

The other release that caught our eye is USE ME 009 - Zombie Dawn. From their description: "It is with a moan and a shuffle that I welcome you to the ninth title in the USE ME series of titles. Why a moan and a shuffle? Because its the Zombie Dawn baby; the night, day and eternity of the living dead! This rule set marks a departure from a primarily broad based series of titles for something more specialised.

Gavin Syme created Zombie Dawn in response to gamers requests by the hundreds for an Undead game which was easily played, a little different and most importantly could be played solo as well as with two or more players. Fast play rules based on the D6 USE ME engine that would suit 15mm scale miniatures and has a simple matrix to use 28mm scale miniatures too. From a few personalities in small scenario to squad (called teams) level with battles involving a hundred or more characters including vehicles. USE ME Zombie Dawn achieves all of this and more."

The USE ME first book was great, and plays extremely well for many "conventional" sci fi settings. But for zombie outbreaks, nuclear apocalypse recovery, and post alien-attack scenarios, we now have a custom-tailored, pocket-size set of rules that can be played with a minimum of preparation.

And if you decide to order these rules - don't forget to pick up some characters from the underrated Laserburn range. If you order any Laserburn figures before January 31st, you'll get a free Law Officer patrol group consisting of one bike, three foot officers, and a K-9. Those figures might be very useful as security guards for your post-apocalyptic pharmaceutical corporation, or as new-authority cops trying to keep the peace on the remains of your metropolitan streets...

Cheers,

Chris

Brigade Models Previewing More 15mm Sci Fi!

2012-01-18T16:04:00.001Z

Brigade Models have acquired some of PF’s marvellous 15mm sci fi sculpts which they’re hoping to release very soon. These figures will be available in 4 packs, each with 5 figures. We've been raving about how good these sculpts are for a while here on the Dropship so it's great to see more in production!

As you can see from the pictures above, Brigade are in the process of making production moulds and Tony at Brigade is hoping to release the first two packs, Alien Civilians (pictured above) and Alien Creatures, within the next 2 weeks, followed by Bounty Hunters (pictured at the top of this blog post) and Mercenaries a few weeks after that. The price is likely be around £2 per pack.

The Dropship Crew think that, with sci fi skirmish games like 'Blasters and Bulkheads' and '5150:New Beginnings' and the upcoming 'The Department' in the market place, there should be quite a bit of demand for 'character' sci fi figures through 2012 and beyond!

Brigade have also ploughing ahead with the expansion of their 15mm sci fi buildings range. According to Tony at Brigade Models the first two, which we released to test the waters, have sold well and Brigade are planning more releases in the near future. These buildings have a familiar “Mud Eisley” feel to them and we’re looking forward to seeing what else they come out with!

Why not check out the Brigade Models Blog for further information.

Review - Ravenstar Studios Thunderfoot and Silverback

2012-01-17T14:35:00.002Z

"Notify HQ that we'll need more antitank rockets. And fresh underwear."

I placed my first order to Ravenstar Studios just before the holidays. Now that life has settled back to "normal," I figured it was time to share a closer look at this new product range. I ordered just about everything he offered last month - and Chris L. kindly threw in review samples of the remaining items. Since the initial Ravenstar Land Core release was so diverse, I'll break the product reviews down into a few separate articles. We'll start with the minis that were on the top of my wishlist from the moment I saw them - the Thunderfoot and Silverback battle mecha.

First Impressions

The first words that came to mind once I started looking at the minis were "quality" and "detail." Chris L. sculpts everything by hand - no CAD design or 3D printing in these items. The level of detail in the vehicles is easily comparable to Ground Zero Games' newer vehicles. Ravenstar Studios has a great reputation in starship gaming circles - and it's easy to see why.

The castings are very good. There are just a couple of air bubbles in my castings - nothing that couldn't be filled in with gap-filling superglue or sculpting putty (or simply ignored). There were no miscasts, major bits of flash, or nasty mold lines to remove from any of the parts.

The Silverback

Critical Mass Scout Walker, Ravenstar Silverback,
Rebel Minis Titan HAMR Suit

This is probably what we would consider to be a typical or medium mecha in 15mm terms - very comparable to the Rebel Minis HAMR suits in terms of height, bulk, and weapons load. It does have a unique feature - a built-in jump jet. So what army would I assign my Silverbacks to? My Mad Robot Miniatures TMC Jump Troopers, of course!

The Silverback kit includes:

A legs-and-waist piece
An upper torso
2 shoulder weapons (interchangeable - not specific to either side of the body) that can rotate from forward-facing to upward-facing
2 arms with separate hands. These have a pretty clever mounting system - the shoulders are balls with a little peg sticking out. You can use the peg for a very secure (but somewhat static) mount, or you can cut off the peg and mount the ball anywhere in the shoulder socket you like. I used the peg on the gun arm, and cut off the peg and used the ball on the shield arm.
A separate shield and wrist/arm gun

And Chris L. has promised a few more weapons for the Silverback kit, including the possibility of a melee weapon. I'm pretty happy just with the initial offering - the two shoulder weapons look ideal for direct fire/artillery fire, and the wrist gun looks great for antipersonnel combat. If the shield isn't desired, the free hand could easily be converted with a spare weapon from some other model. Overall it's a great mech - I finished one for the review, and am looking forward to painting the second one I bought. It will definitely add a level to my growing Jump Trooper army, and will also be a good core for my future mecha-centric battles. It's easy to imagine teams of Silverbacks leaping through a ruined city to outflank a heavier mech.

And speaking of larger mecha...

The Thunderfoot

Rebel Minis HAMR, Ravenstar Thunderfoot Mk 4

This is truly one of the heavyweights in 15mm Sci Fi. There are four variants of this monster - I chose the Mark 3 since its weapons remind me of the Macross Tomahawk/Excalibur. I knew this thing would be pretty big when I saw it on the Ravenstar blog - but seeing it in person was a different experience. This is now the largest 15mm vehicle in my collection. It's no surprise that I painted it to match my favorite army - Rebel Titan Marine infantry/Kremlin Cyberian Power Armor.

Components of the Thunderfoot Mark 3:

Separate legs
Waist/lower torso
Upper torso/crew area. This has two ball-type pegs for weapons - pretty similar to what JBR included on the Rebel HAMR suits.
Shoulder mount for the cannons
Two heavy cannons and two rocket pods

The Thunderfoot is excellent in concept, design, and execution. Most mecha/walkers at this scale look like they will barely hold a single pilot And those pilots are usually behind a gigantic windshield, waiting to be shot. But the Thunderfoot looks like it holds a crew - two or three abreast, one or two deep, and still more than enough armor to keep them safe. Its windows are more reminiscent of a bunker than a jet fighter.

Final Thoughts

If any of you were cautious or hesitant about buying from Ravenstar Studios - go shopping already! I expect to see these mecha showing up in quite a few different armies. And I'm really curious to see what some of you airbrush junkies can do with these bodies - no doubt you'll put my humble space-opera paint jobs to shame. :)

Still to come: Grav Vehicles and Quad Walkers/Drones.

Cheers,

Chris

Khurasan's Horizon Explorer Close up

2012-01-16T03:00:00.000Z

Last week we celebrated our 1000th post with news of a new 'Horizon' range of 15mm Sci Fi All Terrain Vehicles from Khurasan Miniatures.

Today, as promised, let's take a closer look at that Horizon Explorer All Terrain Tractor (A.T.TR). Well, what first strikes you is the passing similarity to the 'moms and pops' explorer in Aliens "It takes three weeks to get and answer and the answer is always Don't Ask!"

Click on images for a larger picture

It has all the potential for being a great stand alone model, useful for RPG's, skirmish and pulp Sci Fi adventures as transport OR as a terrain feature in it's own right. I've suggested to Jon that an abandoned version, perhaps half submerged in sand with some separate bogies and wheels would make a great central terrain piece on a tabletop around which an adventure or skirmish game could be based, eg last stand of a group of adventurers against slavering hordes.

Now, if there was just one APC that The Stig would drive.....the IGUANA All Terrain Military Personnel Carrier (A.T.M.P.C) would be it.

The IGUANA has a low profile armoured cab and a dual weapon turret. It's the perfect ride to get your Marines through bug infected terrain, or carry them across the moon surface to the lair of the Space Pirates.

Left: IGUANA A.T.M.P.C., Right: Horizon Explorer

(observation dome and auto-turret variants)

And to round off, here is a comparison shot of the Horizon Explorer and IGUANA side by side. These beasts are in the Khurasan pipe and we'll keep you abreast of their development and release schedule as news comes.

Cheers
Mark

Junk Building By Numbers

2012-01-14T08:00:00.000Z

I often see many fantastic junk builds and wonder what all goes into them. It's usually pretty obvious which parts are purchased for specific parts but it is the bits and bobs of junk and greeblies that go into it that often leave my head spinning.

Now, it's a given that not everyone will have the same stuff laying about but there are quite of a few standards that I can count on to have about all the time and expect that most gamers will too. The stuff that I don't have, can often be substituted for with something else. Once you figure out where the parts come from, it's actually pretty straight forward.

What I present to you here are three panels of a terrain piece in progress. These pictures do not constitute the final detailed piece but break down the basic components that went into making it all go together. Each picture features several numbered boxes. These boxes outline a particular part and include a number. These numbers correspond to the list below the pictures.

Parts List

Wood craft knob
Prescription bottle cap
Precut MDF miniatures base
Plastic packaging
Printer cartridge
Blood sugar test strip cartridge
Soda Pop candy dispenser
Plastic packaging
Metal 28mm vehicle gun
GZG rooftop vent
Board game board
28mm vehicle part
40K heavy flamer fuel tank
Decorative rhinestone
Flames of War plastic base
Door frame made from wooden coffee stir sticks
Textured plasticard

I hope seeing a breakdown of what went into a simple but effective piece of terrain will inspire folks and open their eyes to the every day bits and pieces that they have laying around that can be put together into a good, solid bit of terrain.

Take care,

-Eli

Terrain from Khurasan Miniatures and CorSec Engineering

2012-01-13T05:46:00.000Z

We have two major terrain releases this week. Khurasan Miniatures has just released a fortress that will appeal to fans of a certain "buggy" movie. From their announcement:

Hi all, just a quick note to let you know that the 15mm modular sci fi field fortification that we previewed back in November, KILO OUTPOST, is now available.

The starter set is the minumum possible size as we didn't want to play the guessing game of how big each gamer would like his wall sections to be. Thought we'd leave that up to you -- there is a booster set of parapetted wall sections available separately to make the walls longer.

Usual great job by John Bear Ross and a very handsome paintup by the talented Martin of the blog Fire Broadside.

Available here, thanks for looking!

The starter set (pictured above) costs $39.99. Expansion wall sections are $10.99 for a four-pack.

Meanwhile, fans of a current dinosaur-themed series might be interested in CorSec Engineering's latest release:

We have added 15mm Barrier Fence sections to the store. The optional rods are 3" long. They are made from clear acrylic and come unassembled and unpainted. We have written a short tutorial to show how to assemble them.

Future releases will include a gatehouse and corner towers. We are also going to release a 28mm version.

Price:

With rods $1.99 per section

Without rods $1.49 per section

The CorSec website also has details of where to source fluorescent colored rods if you want to create a laser barrier - or you can use 1/16" dowel rods if you're protecting your "new Earth" colony from carnivorous wildlife.

With these new releases, there's no reason for your armies to keep fighting in open battlefields!

Cheers,
Chris

The Christmas War - Cimmerian Invaders

2012-01-11T13:48:00.002Z

In my Christmas War setting, I envisioned the Cimmerians to have access to lower technology levels (but more soldiers) than their Laurentian neighbors. There are many good lower-tech 15mm ranges available to represent this. If I was willing to open the wallet and give this game some time, I think my "ideal" choice would be Oddzial Osmy's NVL infantry, which would ride in Combat Wombat's newer Type 563 APCs. Khurasan's Nova Respublik infantry and APCs would be another great option.

But I've wanted to complete my Rebel Minis Homeguard infantry for quite some time now, and they also have a good low-tech look and feel. I finished one fireteam of Homeguard in early 2010, wasn't satisfied with the result, and left the rest sitting in the lead pile. To get them ready for the Christmas War, I knocked out a test mini with a slightly modified paint scheme.

The washes were a bit heavier than intended, but overall I was pleased with the result (especially compared with my 2010 version). I knocked out 15 more Homeguard in a couple hours. They are organized into teams of four - believable from most military background viewpoints, and compatible with just about every set of rules in the world. My basic Cimmerian fire team has three carbines and one rocket launcher:

I also included an assault team - two carbines and two flamethrowers. These elements are led by a command team - three carbines and a designated marksman. I included a light conversion - swapping a Homeguard head onto a standard Earthforce Command body. Not a big stretch, since they are the same basic models. In hindsight I wish I would have used a more interesting head, like a Micropanzer Veteran. But it gets the job done.

Now how about some support vehicles? I have a platoon of Rebel Earthforce Wolverine APCs (the dual autocannon version) and a Merka tank set aside for my Homeguard. But I've been thinking about some mecha warfare games in the future, so why not get a head start? So I put together a Titan Marines HAMR suit, using the Recon arms and the Support missile launcher.

Every picture I took of it came out either too dark or too light. The golden appearance on the servos and joints looks far darker in person - those components are Vallejo Gunmetal with Secret Weapon Armor Wash. The HAMR suit is a good visual match for my Cimmerian infantry, but probably a bit more high-tech than I intend them to be. Something like the Khurasan Federal DIMOGs or the Kremlin Rising Sun MANITOU probably would have been a better fit, but this will get me through the Christmas War.

This should be enough of a Cimmerian force to run the border-crossing scenario. I'll add two more fire teams and another HAMR suit for the second battle, and I painted up some Cimmerian Special Forces (Laserburn Imperial Scouts) to include with the third and fourth scenarios.

FUBAR cards for my Cimmerian forces:

Cheers,
Chris

1,000

2012-01-09T21:03:00.000Z

Tonight, the Dropship logs it's 1,000th flight since I first kicked the tyres, lit the burners and launched off into 15mm space 3 years ago, on 12th January 2009. So the lads very kindly asked me if I wanted to take another spin in the cockpit and enjoy this moment.

Rather than turn this milestone into an excuse for an orgy of congratulatory self-indulgence, I think you'll agree, there's no more fitting tribute to mark Dropship Horizon's 1000th post than to reveal two new 15mm Sci Fi vehicles we can look forward to in the early part of 2012.

I was blown away when Jon at Khurasan showed me the renders for these vehicles. I was transported back thirty years to the fun of my first 15mm Sci Fi games. Playing through the classic Traveller adventures of Twilight's Peak and Double Adventure 2: Mission on Mithril/Across the Bright Face. These are not just any Sci Fi vehicles but THE ATVs I had in my mind's eye and now they had been brought to life! Then to cap it all, Jon gave me the honour of not only exclusively revealing but also naming these beauties.

So! Ladies, Gentlemen and Tentacley Things,

let me introduce you to......

The Horizon Explorer A.T.TR.

(All Terrain Tractor)

I chose to call this model the Horizon Explorer because it just seemed to embody what Dropship Horizon is all about - exploring the innumerable worlds of the15mm Sci Fi gaming universe. But of course if you really must go prepared for anything and armed to the teeth....

The IGUANA A.T.M.P.C.

(All Terrain Military Personnel Carrier)

We'll touch on these models in more detail with further pics over the week to come.

What started as a way for me to document my own 15mm Sci Fi gaming out loud, the challenges, the ideas rattling round my head, the failed attempts and the successes, morphed into a resource for the 15mm Sci Fi community. A resource that I've been able to turn to myself over the past months and see my passion with fresh eyes.

And it's from that perspective I want to post my thanks to the crew, all top notch guys, who bravely stepped forward to take over the helm. They've supported me through my illness and recovery, done a bloody good job with the blog to boot, and I'm sure will continue to do so going forward!

But, above all, I, we want to thank each and every one of you fellow 15mm Droptroopers who hitches a ride and shares your time with us. Here's to the next 1,000!

Cheers! Salute! Slainte!
Mark

Breaking News

2012-01-07T02:24:00.003Z

From:
Ground Zero Games

Date:
Thu, Jan 5, 2012 at 2:52 PM

Subject:
GZG store is open again!

To:
dropshipcomms

Hi all at DH, just a heads-up to let you know that the GZG store is back open again, several days earlier than I'd expected! All outstanding orders have been shipped, so we have a clean slate to start the New Year, and all the vouchers are now valid and enabled on the store.

Full details, including how to use your vouchers online, at the Ground Zero Games Webstore

Thanks!

Jon (GZG)

Congratulations, Jon, standby for in-coming.

Looking forward to 2012

2012-01-06T07:48:00.003Z

We don't actually follow the Maya Calendar here on Dropship Horizon so it won't surprise you to learn that we're looking forward to 2012! Inspired by this post on the TMP 15mm sci fi board, below you'll read what some of us are looking forward to and what we hope to achieve over the year.

Matt (The Closet Gamer)

Paint More. Like lots of gamers I always find it hard to find painting time to paint my purchases. I don't think I can paint any faster, and I don't want to reduce the quality of what I paint, so I'd like to have more painting time in 2012 and still have a happy wife and a good job!
Play More. I also don't seem to be able to find a lot of time to actually game so I'd like to do more actual gaming in 2012 - If you're in central Scotland and you're looking for a 15mm sci fi skirmish let me know.
Space Knights! I'm looking forward to Blue Moon's Space Knights. I'm currently obsessed with Blasters and Bulkheads type games so they're my number 1 purchase of 2012.
Pulp Sci fi! Almost every manufacturer seems to have a near-future sci fi force. There are almost too many! So what I'd like to see in 2012 is some more pulp 15mm sci fi forces. How's about some palace guards with blasters? Maybe the release of the film version of John Carter of Mars in 2012 will encourage a manufacturer to produce something...
Growth of the hobby. The fifth thing I'd like to see in 2012 is for the 15mm sci fi hobby to continue to grow steadily with more gamers discovering the this branch of the hobby. If new manufacturers do enter the market, I'd like to see them coming up with new, interesting, ideas for figure ranges rather than simply another near future human force equipped with body armour, personal and more or less conventional infantry support weapons.

Chris (Basement Gaming Bunker)

Linked games and campaigns. My Blasters & Bulkheads series taught me that I enjoy my games far more when they develop an ongoing story, instead of representing one-off fights. Hopefully the Christmas War will prove that this can work with full battles as well as skirmishes, and that both types of games can be blended into the same overall conflict.
Universe development. Running these campaigns, narrative skirmishes, and linked battles should help me to develop my existing gaming worlds, and possibly create a few new ones. This is one of the more enjoyable aspects of the hobby for me - I think it flexes my creative muscles even more than painting figures or creating terrain. Speaking of...
Terrain, terrain, terrain. I'm going to try to diversify the pieces I have my three current boards (desert, snow, red planet), and start a fourth board (urban ruins) this year. The latter leads me to my next goal...
Mecha battles. We've seen so many good mecha released in the last two years, and it doesn't seem that pace will slow down in 2012. While I'm going to keep using some of my Mecha as support vehicles for traditional armies, I would like to try a few 15mm mecha-only games this year. Something like five Rebel Minis HAMR Suits (or similar) fighting against two or three Ravenstar Thunderfoots or Critical Mass Gruntz Imperators in a ruined city.
Figure conversions. My experience so far has more or less been limited to swapping heads or kitbashing Matchbox vehicles. 2012 is going to be the year that I learn the basics of sculpting putty!

Kobold (Waystar High Port)

Paint more. Like Matt I'd like more time to paint and complete figures.
Play More. I'd also like more time to actually play games. Both of these can be solved with better time management, so I must set goals and strive to achieve them.
Campaigns. I'm finding that the solo and narrative campaign style of game, such as 5150: New Beginnings, is really inspiring me and is something I can actually see myself getting a chance to play. I like how I get fit it mechanisms over my existing Traveller campaign and experience the best of both worlds. These sort of games may be the niche to aim for in 2012 for games designers and rules writers.
Character miniatures. Characters and civilian figures, both human and alien. I would like to see new releases that catered for the skirmish gamer. I realise that this might be a bit of a pipe dream as the economics are stacked against it, but it might be worth pursuing through pre-sales or figure clubs.
More greens! I would like to see more sculptors trying out their greens through blogs. This seems like a great way of getting input from the public - testing the water - as well as giving manufacturers a pointer as to where public interest is heading.

Spartan 117(STARBASE-SPARTAN)

More aliens! - You can never go wrong with more aliens! More Crusties! More Felids! More Harook! More new alien races too!
More terrain! - Human terrain, alien terrain, and "natural" terrain.
More Space Opera! - Near Future forces are cool, but we need more "Star Wars-esque" minis in 15mm.
More rules sets for Solo-gaming! - A large portion of wargamers(myself included) that work crazy schedules don't always have time to get together with their peers and enjoy a game. I'd like to see more rules sets, like THW's 5150: New Beginnings, that are geared to solo play.
Khurasan Miniatures Cormorant Dropship! - This one is long overdue! 15mm needs a decent dropship miniature, and from what has been hinted about KM's Cormorant Dropship, this will finally provide gamers with a good-sized heavy duty combat dropship.

Eli (I See Lead People)

Sculpting. I really want to pour it on and start cracking some of the mysteries of this art. I've got some work in "the biz" now, but I feel I need to keep expanding and growing still.
More Aliens. I really want to see some new and interesting aliens coming out. Whether they are just improvements in the basic "rubber suit" concept or something more bizarre or different, I think there is still plenty of room for growth here.
Getting Things Done. Really stepping up my painting and building to get things going to a playable level. I've got a lot of projects languishing on their way to playable.
Playing Stuff! I don't play nearly enough games these days.
Convert New Players. There just aren't enough 15mm sci fi players in the area. I plan to fix this buy getting some forces squared away and finding a few solid rules sets.

So readers, what would you like to see or achieve in 2012?

Breaking News - GZG webstore reopening delayed

2012-01-02T01:32:00.003Z

This just lifted wholesale from the Ground Zero Games Webstore front page:

IMPORTANT: PLEASE READ: THE STORE IS STILL CLOSED TO NEW ORDERS!
The original plan was for the online store to re-open on the 2nd of January - however owning to various things outside my control (mainly family matters and other Real Life issues) I didn't manage to get as much work stuff done over the Christmas break as I'd hoped, thus I still have a fairly large pile of pre-Christmas orders to cast and pack. I have therefore taken the decision to delay re-opening the store to new orders until I have cleared the existing ones.

So all of you, like me, clutching vouchers from the GZG pre-Christmas sale, will just have to exercise a little patience while Jon digs himself out from under his backlog. The target date for the webstore going back on line is now January 9th, but Jon advises checking the GZG website from time to time for updates.

I would just like to take this opportunity to thank Jon for all the cool stuff he released in 2011, and wish him every success for 2012.

- David

The Christmas War - Laurentian Defense Forces

2011-12-30T01:42:00.001Z

I envision the Laurentians to be a fairly high-tech army. Technology and automation play a pretty significant role in their background, and I wanted to reflect this on the battlefield. One army stood apart from the others on my display shelf - Rebel Minis Droptroopers with CAT 'bots as support weapons.

I never did get around to finding vehicles for this force. But I have plenty of infantry and CATs to portray the defenders.

Laurentian Border Outpost

The only thing missing was some elite troopers to use in the second scenario. I thought about just painting more Drop Troopers in a different color (Spartan red or blue?), but this army needs a bit more diversity. And I like power armor. So I tried my "300 Second Spartan" scheme on a pack of the new-sculpt Ground Zero Games NAC Powered Armor with Hand Weapons.

Exactly what I wanted! These sculpts works surprisingly well with the Halo-inspired Rebel Drop Troopers. And the Y-rack mini launchers are similar to the rockets found on the Rebel CATs. The new NAC power armor are actually fairly small compared to most infantry out there - especially small compared to similar power armor from Khurasan or Kremlin. But the Rebel Droptroopers are also a bit on the small size, so they work extremely well together.

I just need to finish a few terrain pieces for Scenarios 1 and 2 and this force is ready for The Christmas War. And since I'm going to use FUBAR to play the first couple scenarios, here are my unit stats for the Laurentian Defense Forces:

Cheers,

Chris

Christmas War - The Invasion of Laurentia

2011-12-27T02:58:00.001Z

Here's the background I've written for my personal version of The Christmas War. All campaign participants are welcome to steal any piece of this for your own games, or use the whole thing if you like!

Avalonia was an early Earth colony, found in 2112 AD. Two separate colonies were establisehd on Avalonia: Cimmeria in the south and Laurentia in the north. Cimmeria became the most populous of the two colony-states: about seven million colonists within the first few generations. Laurentia was less than half of that size, but its settlers brought significant intellectual and technological advantages compared to the Cimmerians. Laurentia carefully established their early settlements where they could best utilize their own resources. Cimmeria simply tried to shelter its people as best it could, relying on Laurentia for assistance.

Tensions between the Laurentia and Cimmeria were inevitable. Things took a turn for the worse when Cimmerian territory experienced a significant temperature increase. Their soil had already been badly damaged by poor agricultural conservation practices, but the climate change significantly degraded their ability to grow crops and raise livestock. Cimmeria’s food production now consisted mostly of rice products and a poor-tasting fish that seemed to be a close relative of Earth’s sardine. It had effectively become a poverty-stricken nation, and its people were suffering greatly.

Laurentia, comparatively, had become a paradise. They had adapted numerous grasses, vegetables, and grains to Avalonia’s red soil, and the climate was favorable for all kinds of livestock. They also discovered enough petroleums, natural gasses, metals, and minerals to last for many future generations. Laurentia’s communities developed rapidly, and their level of industrial and agricultural automation granted its people more than enough time for recreation and higher education.

Laurentia eventually ceased exports. They felt they had provided Cimmeria every opportunity to adapt into a self-sufficient society, which Cimmeria squandered in favor of more “handouts.” Laurentia relocated the majority of their military installations to the border with Cimmeria. Cimmeria, using the only resources they had available (people and industry), had significantly increased the size of their military over the past generation.

On the eve of their hundredth Christmas, Laurentia’s administration invited Cimmeria’s leaders to a summit. They were prepared to offer them one last chance to send their agricultural leaders into Laurentia for training. While Laurentia’s administration was giving the Cimmerian delgation a tour of their government facilities, the Cimmerians noticed how empty the offices and hallways seemed. A Laurentian aide made the mistake of saying that not only had most government employees taken vacation to see their families, but most of their military had done the same. This was what the Cimmerians were waiting to hear. One of the Cimmerians reached into his pocket and clicked his pen three times. The microtransmitter inside the pen sent the signal to their military forces - launch the attack!

Coming soon: the Defenders of Laurentia

Cheers,
Chris

The Christmas War: A 15mm Sci-Fi Campaign

2011-12-21T14:17:00.004Z

The Christmas War

Dropship editor Eli's wrote this 'Tis The Season post over at I See Lead People, and it inspired me to write a Christmas-themed campaign. This is a generic outline that can be played with any forces or rulesets you have available. In terms of army sizes, Scenarios One and Two should be whatever you consider a "typical" game force. It should be played with your battle rules of choice: Gruntz, Tomorrow's War, 5150: Star Army, FUBAR, USE ME, etc. Scenario Three changes it up by running just a handful of models on each side - something like Blasters & Bulkheads, In The Emperor's Name, Flying Lead, etc. Scenario Four is a no-holds-barred slugfest - again, choose any battle rules you like.

BACKGROUND. They waited patiently, biding their time, observing all of their enemy's deployment patterns. It seemed so obvious when that weakness was found. Most of the enemy's troops take their leave and visit their families at Christmas. This laughable ancient Earth tradition will be their undoing - it will be days before they can mount a counter-offensive. It is time to strike!

SETTING. Future Earth nations or early space colonies. A distant world with several independent colony-states would be ideal - I personally game science fiction to avoid using real-world nations and armies.

FORCES. Two distinct factions. The defenders are badly undermanned at the start of hostilities, while the attacker is ready for a prolonged campaign. The defender will occasionally be able to muster a dropship of special operations troops in power armor, but their primary forces won't be fully available until the late stages of the campaign.

SCENARIO ONE: Breakthrough. The aggressors' campaign begins by punching through a border outpost. Defenders are deployed in defensive positions, roughly halfway between table edges. If the defenders can hold out for five rounds, they gain a Quick Response Force (elite unit with transport) which can be deployed any time during Scenario Two. If the aggressors can get their units off the table edge opposite their deployment zone before the fifth round, they automatically gain first-turn initiative in Scenario Two.

SCENARIO TWO: Consolidation. The aggressors must seize a key military command center, power plant, or transportation hub to maintain their assault. The defenders are desperately holding on to every last bit of ground they can, while the High Command attempts to muster their badly fragmented army into a cohesive fighting force. The aggressors will take no more than 25% casualties before they fall back and regroup with their man body (off-table). The defenders, although their numbers are fewer, will hold out to 50% before surrendering such a key location.

SCENARIO THREE: Assassination. This will be a small skirmish game instead of a large battle. The winner of Scenario Two has one elite team of commandos. The loser becomes the defender of a rear-echelon command center. A key leader must be captured or taken out - his strategic genius is the only thing giving his side any advantage in this conflict. Successful assassination will give the target's side a 25% loss of forces at the start of the next conflict. A failed assassination will give the target's side a number of free re-rolls, to be used at any time in the next game.

SCENARIO FOUR: Breaking Point. A big battle, representing the last major offensive of the Christmas War. The winner of Scenario Three has the finally has the loser's side on the run - but every combat-ready unit is needed to press the advantage. When the dust settles, one side will have no choice but to surender to the other. This scenario's outcome will determine which side will write the history books, and which side's children will be ashamed to read them.

* * * * *

So, loyal Dropship passengers... we're challenging you to play this campaign with us in the coming weeks. Assemble your forces, grab an opponent (a family member, a friend, yourself, that giant candy cane you find in your stocking - whatever you got!) and play out the scenarios. If you choose to participate, just use Christmas War somewhere in the title of your posts. Remember to include a little background about who is the aggressor, who is the defender, and why the invasion took place. We'll be watching your blogs and TMP posts for your own interpretations of the Christmas War. It would be great if we could get enough participants to declare one side (aggressors or defenders) the global victor!

And of course - this is just a generic framework. Modify it to whatever suits your collections and playing styles. Don't want to play with platoon- or company-sized armies? Don't! This could easily be played with nothing but skirmishes between rival gangs. Or it could be played with insurgent forces against the army that has occupied their homeland for the last few years. It could even be played as an alien invasion - maybe the Little Green Men had been watching our satellite TV broadcasts and determined that Christmas would be the perfect time to land their flying saucers. Have fun with it!

Cheers,
Chris

Critical Mass Games releases Gruntz Imperator Mecha

2011-12-20T08:30:00.000Z

The Gruntz Imperator Mecha, (previewed earlier this year) is now available from Critical Mass Games!

Standing over 80mm tall, this is one of the biggest and most heavily-armed mecha ever designed specifically for 15mm gaming. These would be a great centerpiece for any existing army, escorting mechanized infantry platoons and destroying enemy super-heavy tanks. Or you could run a platoon of these on their own - stomping around urban battlefields and slaughtering entire squadrons of Rebel Minis HAMRs or Critical Mass Protolene Walkers. If you want to see some more pictures of this monster, check out Robin Fitton's assembly log here and a finished gallery here.

Click HERE to buy them - £20.00 each or FOUR for £60.00.

Cheers,
Chris

15mm Sci Fi Conversions

2011-12-19T17:14:00.005Z

I recently discovered I was one figure short of my preferred TO&E for Ground Zero Games NAC army, so rather than buying a new pack of figures, I decided to try and convert some figures I had lying around to create what I wanted. I've read that it's harder to convert 15mm figures than 28mm figures and, having collected and converted both I can assure you this is not true. 15mm figures can be challenging to convert because they are smaller but, because they are smaller, it can be a lot easier to get good results.

If you are going to try converting 15mm miniatures, and do so without maiming yourself and losing the odd finger, I recommend you get yourself some of the tools such as those pictured above. The tools generally required are:

A cutting mat
A (sharp) craft knife
A small pin vice (with a drill bit slightly larger than the wire used for pinning)
A files
Modelling files
A set of wire cutters (or similar)
Superglue
Green stuff
A sculpting tool for green stuff (not pictured)
A small saw blade for your knife (not pictured)
Paperclips of some reasonably thick wire

I started off by identifying two unused figures. These were from GZG's SG15- A17 NAC Standing Gunners and SG15-A18 NAC Seated Troopers. With an idea of what I wanted to achieve, I started with brutal act of man-on-miniature violence, by cutting them each in half with the wire cutters (you can just as easily use a small saw blade suitable for cutting soft metal). You can see from the picture below that this act was carefully premeditated so as to preserve as much of the half of each miniature I wanted to keep as possible.

The remains the dismembered miniatures where then carefully filed down so as to facilitate the joining of the two halves. A knife was also used to remove some larger chunks and reduce the time spent filing (sorry, I forgot to take a picture at this point). Once I was happy with the fit, I then used the pin vice to drill a hole in each figure half. To do this I carefully selected a drill bit slightly larger than the thickness of the paper clip to give space for glue. I then cut a length of paperclip to use as a pin (the safest way to do this is to cut it under a sheet of newspaper as it tends to be 'pinged' across the room). I always make sure it's the right length before gluing. I then glued the pin in to one half and then the other half of the pin and both halves together. The red line below illustrates where the pin is connecting the two halves.

Anyone who's put together a large metal miniature will know that 'pinning' provides a far stronger join than simply gluing. I also drilled holes in the feet of the figure to insert pins to help give my wee guy a stable platform to stand on as superglue and his little feet would not be enough to keep him attached to a base.

I secured the miniature to his base with the aid of a small rectangular section of white plastic through which the pins were inserted. This helps make him the same hight as my other NAC as they come on bases. I then used green stuff and a sculpting tool to create a new left arm for the figure and fill some of the roughness of the joint. My skills with green stuff are by no means expert, but the only way to learn and get better at it is to keep doing it! Now all he needs is some material to texture his base and and undercoat and he's ready for painting. Now who said 15mm conversion was difficult? This took just 2 hours, excluding drying time.

We'll have more posts looking at converting 15mm sci fi figures and vehicles in the coming months!

Khurasan Miniatures: Neptune TacMech

2011-12-18T19:32:00.002Z

Where orbital fire support can't reach, heavy fire support for the highly mobile, elite Federal Navy SPAR special-ops teams comes in the guise of the Neptune Tactical (Tac)Mech. Dropship Horizon can exclusively lift the cover on this exciting new Mecha that will be smashing it's way into 2012.

Khurasan Miniatures 15mm Sci Fi

Federal Navy Nepture TacMech

The Neptune is heavily armed, mounting shoulder weapons-pods in addition to carrying the plasma rifle. The pods can be easily swapped depending upon mission requirements. Pod options include anti-personnel rockets, tank-killing anti-material torpedos, or a general purpose energy cannon.

But the key to its success, is its ability to pick its way through difficult terrain and manipulate large objects, moving obstacles out of the way, smashing down barricades or through internal bulkheads and pressure seals to allow the SPAR team to gain it's objective.

The Navy deploys the TacMech from the Poseidon Stealth Lander and can retrieve it the same way. Whilst the TacMech was designed for special ops, its considerable battlefield power makes it heavily in demand in conventional fights as well. The Neptune occasionally assists Corporate Marine recon operations, as the Federal Marines are accustomed to fighting in close co-operation with the Navy.

Notice the ladder and access hatch

on the back of right-hand image

The Neptune TacMech from Khurasan Miniatures will be available in early 2012. The model comes with two leg choices and available with either free hands or plasma rifle, and will have three shoulder mount options as indicated above. Fully assembled the Mech will stand approximately 55mm tall.

This is a mean tin hombre to support some equally mean dudes in the Federal Navy SPAR Teams. Hooyah!

Cheers
Mark

Christmas Sale at Rebel Minis

2011-12-15T13:29:00.001Z

With Christmas around the corner, those naughty miniature manufacturers are all announcing sales to part us from our hard earned cash, as if resisting temptation wasn't hard enough!

Rebel Minis have announced that from now until December 31st, everything on the site is 20% off! If you want to take advantage of this offer you need to use code rebel2011 when checking out to get the discount. For further information check out the Rebel website and blog.

Blasters & Bulkheads Part Four - The Review

2011-12-14T13:46:00.001Z

Now that we've had some time to play a few games of Blasters & Bulkheads, it seems like it's time to give the book a detailed review. Hopefully this will help anyone who hasn't made up their mind whether or not to buy this game. I ran these points by Scott Pyle last week, and he gave me some very quick feedback and helped clarify a few design elements for me. I've included his comments in the relevant sections below.

What works well

Character creation is quite a bit of fun. There's a good selection of background an traits, each one adding little wrinkles to the gameplay.
It doesn't take long to pick up the core mechanics. There are lots of special rules, but they only tweak the handful of core rules.
The fate dice are an amazing feature... they can really make a difference at times when you should be completely outmatched.
The vehicle rules are surprisingly robust for a game this size. Usually these are ignored in skirmish games, or bolted on in a way that doesn't really work with the character-vs-character nature. But they seem to work extremely well in this game.
The post-battle section is equally robust. You'll very quickly see your characters develop their own personalities, strengths, and weaknesses. And you get chances to improve them, without going completely over-the-top with upgrades and levels.

What should to be tweaked

A quick reference sheet of some kind would be VERY helpful. I know I'm only two games in, but it seems impossible to play this game without a great deal of flipping pages. Scott told me this is something they could easily create in the future.
Having separate range bands for every 10cm doesn't help with the page-flipping. I think this could have been simplified to fewer increments at 15cm each, but I'll confess that I'm not a fan of range bands in general. Scott said the feedback has pretty much been that way - people either love or hate them.
There needs to be a few more alien archetypes in this book. Some alien figures in my collection would be easy to make (pick a human and give them heightened sense for a Khurasan Felid, etc.). But how do you represent something fast-moving like a Critical Mass Astagar? Scott pointed out there are rules for developing custom races. He also said that a few more races and occupations would be great fodder for a future supplement, so that's something to look forward to!
The standard movement value (6cm for humans) feels too short. Essence Warriors aren't able to get into energy blade range for at least three rounds. I'm going to modify it by using Ganesha Games-style movement (front of base to back of base). Scott suggested trading fate dice for additional movement as another option.
An FAQ will definitely need to be published. There are a few situations I ran into that weren't addressed, at least not in a way that was easy to find mid-game.

What simply doesn't work

I'm afraid this game simply isn't suited to solo play, at least in its current form. The greatest weakness to solo gaming is actually the game's strength - the fate dice. You only have so many you can use in a turn. I found it was easy to favor certain characters over others by having one use all his fate dice and another "save his for later." This is definitely a game to play with your friends/RPG group!

This all seems very familiar...

And just to get my biggest gripe out of the way... When you read the book's description and first few pages, you get the feeling that this game was designed to support any kind of space opera you could imagine. A bit later and you start thinking the designers had a bit of a Star Wars bias. Then you read a bit further... and the Star Wars analogs become completely overwhelming.

It's especially noticeable in the printer friendly version, which replaces the color photos with several quotes from notable characters. Around half of these quotes are Obi-Wan Kenobi from the original film, just with a few words rephrased. Two or three of those? Sure, no problem, a great mood setter. But so many of them? Where are the quotes from Bad Reynolds, Captain of the smuggling ship Glow Worm? Or a one-liner from Commander Spacebuck, hotshot fighter pilot aboard the Warstar Galacticus? Seeing Star Wars quotes all over the book leads me to believe that it's only designed to emulate one possible universe, at least on a cosmetic level.

Scott assured me this wasn't the case. They really did intend for B&B to cover a wide variety of universes. The overwhelming Star Wars feel wasn't intended. Why are so many of us getting this feeling from a first impression? Well, Star Wars is the most pervasive space opera in our culture. It's no coincidence that we see Star Wars first, even when a certain element could have been inspired by a different work.

The actual rules allow for far more flexibility (example: the Cyborg rules didn't remind me of any specific characters from Star Wars). You certainly CAN create forces without any "Essence" Warriors" (Jedi). But it seems you're only using 75% of the game's potential if you ignore that section. Essence powers aren't an appendix - they are definitely a core mechanic of the game

But we have seen these types of powers outside of the Star Wars universe. What about telepathic and telekinetic abilities in Babylon 5? The power of certain artifacts found in the Star Trek or Stargate franchises? The Essence Powers actually handle these quite well. I just wish the designers would have taken some time to open the system up to a wider variety of universes.

Overall conclusions

Make no mistakes - this really is a great narrative skirmish game. Playing a campaign will feel like watching a movie or reading a book - far more satisfying than "line up and shoot" or "occupy objectives 1-3." I'd love to see this game grow and expand into a major franchise within itself - and it seems like Scott and company are on the job. And it very strongly reinforces our belief that 15mm is the perfect scale for narrative games - not just for company-sized battles!

A Christmas Gift from ArtCrime Productions

2011-12-10T21:09:00.001Z

ArtCrime Productions brought us an idea that we couldn't pass up. Jimbo wants the 15mm community to see that ArtCrime is as dedicated to producing the best available rules as well as their excellent miniatures range. As an exclusive gift to Dropship Horizon's followers, he has provided a free copy of their Valkyrie rulebook!

Jimbo warns that these rules are still technically in beta form, so the book is still missing some of the final artwork and army lists. But this is far from a rough draft. This version of Valkyrie offers a great look into their Kaczar setting, and features full army lists for their Nationalists, Federalists, and Makat, and four different scenarios that are ready to play.

UPDATE - Mediafire apparently had some nasty popups that didn't
come through when I first posted this. I've moved the file over to Box.com
for safety - click here to download.

Jimbo told us that he couldn't think of a smarter group of 15mm gamers than Dropship Horizon's readers. And let's face it, we're suckers for that kind of flattery. So please give them a read, try out a couple games, and join us at the ArtCrime Productions Forums to discuss your results.

Cheers,

Chris

The Scene Wasteland Warriors

2011-12-10T16:40:00.001Z

Here are some nice pictures of latest releases from The Scene which are available now. These post-apocalyptic Wasteland Warriors will be available on foot in packs of 10 (5 different scuplts) for £3.65 and ride some futuristic looking bikes. Wasteland rough riders like the one pictured above will be available for £1.25 each. These are some nice looking additional inhabitants to the 15mm post-apocalyptic landscape!

Getting the Harook onto the battlefield

2011-12-07T20:30:00.001Z

We saw the concept art... we saw the greens... and then we saw the final product. Mad Robot Miniatures' Harook are now in my greedy little hands - painted, based, and ready to fight. To me, this is the most important aspect of the miniatures hobby. It's fun to discuss, choose, and buy - that's always a big part of it. And I do enjoy painting, though I'll admit my lack of patience doesn't always improve my figures. But thinking, planning, discussing, and shopping just don't provide that feeling of satisfaction to me - so it's time to throw some dice.

My review pack has gave me ten Harook soldiers, each armed with an energy rifle. One Harook is making a hand signal and another is carrying some type of tablet PC. This yields two fireteams of five, each with a team leader. These ten figures alone would have been just fine for a small skirmish like Gut Check or ItEN, but they needed just a little more to play a small FUBAR or Forge of War battle. Mad Robot wasn't able to wave a magic wand and have vehicles ready for this initial release, but why should that stop me from using them in a full-sized battle? I looked through my pile of unbuilt resin and metal, hoping to find something to support these infantry teams. There was one vehicle in my collection with an eye-catching detail. So I built and threw some quick paint onto it. Nothing fancy - just a black undercoat, gray drybrush, yellow details, leather-colored weapons, and a black wash over the whole thing.

The Critical Mass Games Arc Fleet Walker isn't a perfect match, but it's not bad. While the weapons are a bit conventional (especially compared to the concept art for Harook heavy guns), its feet are perfect. Three sharp toes forward, one to the back. And it's just temporary - I can obviously remake this force once Mad Robot gets Harook vehicles onto the market. But this walker gets me by for now.

All in all, it's not a bad little battleforce. One more pack of Harook would yield four fireteams - plenty of troops for a game of FUBAR on a 2' x 2' terrain-heavy battlefield. Just a little more effort into stats and they are ready to play. We'll assume the Harook are pretty well-trained, and that their natural eyesight and the advanced design of their weapons makes them pretty formidable troops.

I included stats for the two infantry heavy weapons that should be in the next release. But like I've said before - there's no reason to wait for a so-called "full range." If there's a line of infantry that catches your eye - buy it and use it! You can always find drones, vehicles, or some other interesting item to support them. It's more fun to just play a game than it is to agonize over your TOE or army list. Be creative and enjoy the freedom offered by 15mm sci-fi!

Cheers,
Chris

15mm Body Bags from The Scene

2011-12-06T21:36:00.001Z

The Scene have just released some 15mm Body Bags. The pack will consist of 3x 15mm body bags, one open and two closed and will retail at 80p per pack. The pictured body bags are based on UK 1 pence pieces. On their own they seem a little macabre but Mike has said there'll be more in January with zombies busting out of the bags! It sounds like they'll make some great objective markers or spawn points for 15mm zombie games...

UPDATE:

The Scene will be releasing some wasteland warriors before the end of this week, along with some small robots. Mike is also planning on releasing some drones, more building accessories, new special forces and some more wasteland warriors in between Christmas and New Year!

Review - Harook by Mad Robot Miniatures

2011-12-03T22:48:00.001Z

Mad Robot Miniatures Harook are now available, and once again Steve sent an early pack so I could write this review. The Harook are another one of those lines developed from a TMP thread (started by our own Eli) - see that original discussion here.

As with the TMC Jump Troops, the Harook are excellent castings. Mold lines weren't visible on any of them, there were only a few strands of heat-vent flash, and the detail is exceptional. The bases are just a bit thicker than I prefer, but nothing more than you'd see on most Critical Mass minis. It only took about ten minutes to file them all down and get them onto painting sticks.

There are ten unique poses in the pack, just like we saw in the preview. Each has a unique, and all but the command figure are in dynamic action poses. And they're tall - it's easy to imagine they evolved from some kind of large terror bird.

The details really popped once I sprayed them white and hit them with a quick black Wonder Wash. Pedro Navarro knocked these out of the park when he sculpted them, and they translated very well into the final product. These are perfect space opera aliens... the beaks are big without being cartoonish, their uniforms are distinct, and their weapons are fantastic. They look completely unlike anything a human would consider a gun, but there is no doubting its purpose. Inspired by the college football game I was watching when these arrived, I eagerly painted a test figure.

These should be a great opponent for my Hammer's Huskers mercenaries. :) I knocked out a few more troopers and the commander, which is probably my favorite figure. He's carrying one of those one-handed tablet devices that is becoming so popular on 15mm command figures. I don't know who thought of that first, but it's a great idea. Those things can be a medical scanner, an artillery coordination controller, a remote for a heavy weapon or recon drone, or even just a simple radio or GPS.

For now, the Harook offer a great squad of grunts or elite troops - perfectly suitable for a small skirmish, or as part of a larger Alien Legion-style army. But the range is far from complete. The Harook are going to be fleshed out into a full army very soon. A command squad, plasma and SAW gunners, and crew-served weapons will be available next.. Mad Robot has shared this concept art as a promise of things to come:

And I've been told there are some even bigger plans after that. I can't go into the specifics, but let's just say the Harook will receive something that rhymes with "mopship" and helps them get to the battlefield quickly.

Cheers,
Chris

15mm.co.uk Announces Holiday Special

2011-12-02T21:27:00.002Z

Jolly, froggy space pirates want to come live with you!

Free packs are back for the holidays! Check out this offer from 15mm.co.uk. Great time to pick up some civilians or characters for your 15mm scifi or to bulk up those armies of minions and henchmen.

Hello Everyone,

This month we are offering you a FREE PACK of miniatures worth £4.00 with any order placed. Choose from our Laserburn, HOF, SHM, HOT, TTF, Isarus, Medus, Altuos or Potomac ranges. Great for beginning or expanding your 15mm gaming!

Note that we will only honour an order with ONE free pack in it but you may place as many orders as you wish. Additionally though you are free to order other items from our site at the same time you do not have to. Indeed if you only want the free pack just put that in your cart, select your shipping region and pay on the postage.

This offer is open until the end of December 2011.

Want Something for Nothing? You Got It!

Thanks for Reading,

Alexander Scott.

Blasters & Bulkheads Part Three - The Escape

2011-11-30T12:27:00.001Z

This is the second AAR from my Blasters & Bulkheads micro-campaign, pitting adventurer Gann Helray and his Black Falcons against Beros, Chosen of the Shadow Worlds (see the forces I created here). After the last scenario (full AAR in the previous article), Helray learned that an old flame was attempting to smuggle an artifact out of the spaceport of Zillium. She is being pursued by Beros, who has been sent by the Shadow World Elders to retrieve the item in question. The orders didn’t specify anything about keeping the courier alive - but the item must be retrieved intact.

BACKGROUND

Alina Jax had almost reached her ship when she caught site of Beros The Chosen. She cursed the alien who paid her to steal this artifact - he had obviously lied to her about its origins and importance. She’d have to pay him another visit... if she managed to survive the next few minutes.

Scenario Two Setup

This scenario takes place just after the last battle. Helray’s alien companion Kwah’Koo was badly wounded (KO’d) in the last game, and operates at a speed and strength disadvantage for this battle.

This game is the second scenario from the Blasters & Bulkheads rulebook, with just a few minor changes. In the book, both parties are trying to stop the Courier (basically a moving objective with character stats). In my storyline Helray wants Alina to escape safely, so his side’s objective is simply to delay Beros’ forces long enough for Alina to escape. Beros’ objective is to take the artifact from Alina before she can reach the ship. She can move up to 10cm per turn, so Beros must act quickly to stop her.

Alina is a GZG Civilian Colonist. A mix of other GZG and Laserburn civilians were scattered around the table. Scenery is a mix of GZG Shacks, Battleworks Studios Startown Slums, and The Scene Desert Dwellings. Alina's ship is a Titanium-series Battlestar Galactica Raptor toy (which I need to repaint).

ROUND ONE

Alina ran toward her ship at the start of the turn. Helray won initiative and charged to intercept her. Beros also charged directly forward. Kwah’koo charged as well, but couldn’t keep up with Helray due to his injury. Nazaeran advanced and had a clear line of sight to Helray. He fired his Sun Gun at the young nobleman - Helray lost two Vitality. Sarge and the Black Falcon Troopers couldn’t activate until the end of the turn (see last AAR), so the activation passed to Beros’ Guardian henchmen. Beros ordered them to set their rifles to Stun and fire on Alina. They weren’t successful due to the range.

Sarge caught up with Kwah’koo and took a potshot at Beros. It was unlikely to succeed at this range, but Sarge likes saying a proper “hello” to old friends. Surprisingly, he was able to knock a couple Vitality off the dark warrior. Sarge ordered his troopers around a nearby shack, hoping to gain to a better firing position.

ROUND TWO

The spaceport civilians were now fleeing into their buildings. Alina managed to find temporary shelter behind a rusted shack, still inching closer to her ship. Helray won initiative again and caught up with Alina.

"Gann Helray... We must stop meeting like this."

Kwah’koo moved to a cover position with the Falcon Troopers. Beros ran to intercept Alina and Helray, while Nazaeran advanced and fired on Sarge. Sarge was hit for three Vitality. Beros’ Guardians charged towards Alina’s shuttle.

Sarge aimed and shot at Nazaeran, but his rifle was no match for the Enforcer’s heavy armor. The Falcon troopers took a firing position behind a pile of containers... all they could do was wait for targets.

"No, Trooper, you may NOT stop to pet the dog."

ROUND THREE

Helray escorted Alina to her shuttle. They almost made it when Beros caught up with them. He struck, draining two Vitality from each.

"What, you mean this package? It's just a birthday present for your mother..."

Kwah’koo scurried to assist, but ended up in Nazaeran’s sights once again. Kwah’koo had some miserable rolls for the attack - he lost six Vitality to the Sun Gun’s blast. He was KO’d for the second straight battle.

"Dear Santa - Power Armor. Soon . Thank you."

Beros’ Guardians attacked Sarge. The dice finally went against Beros’ forces - the Guardians only rolled a single success on their attack. Sarge happily returned fire, dropping three of the Guardians.

"I get the feeling they don't like us."

His troops abandoned their cover and raced to the aid of Kwah’koo. They broke out his Med Kit, but were unable to revive him.

ROUND FOUR

Alina was unable to break away, and Helray couldn’t harm Beros. Beros used his “disarm” Essence Power to grab the artifact from Alina. He left the melee. Once he was clear, Nazaeran slipped around the corner and fired his flamethrower at Helray and Alina. They were both KO’d while still on fire... not an impressive end to their mission.

"Boss, you need anything?"
"An ice pack would be lovely. It's a little warm in the middle of this bonfire."

Sarge managed to shoot down the last two of Beros’ henchmen. The Falcon Trooper who attempted to help Kwah’koo carried him back to the table edge. Two Falcon troopers laid covering fire towards Nazaeran while the other two ran to extinguish Helray and Alina.

Sarge took a potshot at Beros, then assessed the situation. The boy, the girl, and the blue thing were all down, possibly dying. Sarge himself had also been wounded in the firefight. He ordered his troops to grab the wounded and fall back... if they didn’t receive medical attention soon, the baron would probably execute Sarge for allowing his son to die fighting a Chosen Warrior.

Beros and Nazaeran had no problem reaching their ship. The elders would be unhappy that Beros’ Guardians had been killed, but he had accomplished his mission. He had also dealt a blow to that Helray boy... a lesson he wouldn’t soon forget. Nazaeran set course for the Shadow Worlds, and Zillium quickly became a speck behind them.

Yes... that Helray boy was proving to be quite troublesome...

That's all for my little Blasters & Bulkheads field test. A detailed review of the rulebook will follow shortly... in the meantime, pleas send flowers to Helray and Alina in the burn unit.

Cheers,
Chris

15mm RPG Skirmish Games

2011-11-28T11:53:00.000Z

I’ve read quite a bit recently about how 15mm sci fi is for massed battles of vehicles and infantry and 28mm is for skirmish games. With respect to those who hold this view, I think its rubbish.

Currently gamers can chose from some great rule sets such as: Laserburn, Blasters and Bulkeads, In The Emperor's Name, The Department, 5150 New Beginnings and AE Bounty; all of which RPG elements such as player controlled characters and scenario driven games play and table top wargame skirmish elements. And there’s also a rumour Ambush Alley Games maybe working on something as an add-on to Tomorrow’s War.

When we look at some of the first 15mm sci fi figures ever available, the Laserburn and Classic Traveller ranges of 15mm sci fi figures, we can see that 15mm sci fi figures produced were for small scale skirmish / RPG type games such as Laserburn (the predecessor to Rogue Trader edition of Warhammer 40K) and Traveller and it’s skirmish wargame counterpart Striker.

A common complaint is that there aren’t enough character models in 15mm. There are quite a lot of individual character models available in the ranges mentioned above but there are also loads available from Rebel, there's Khurasan's Heroes and Villains of the Sepulvedan Resistance and the DPLS Crew, there's GZG large range of civilians and colonists, ravagers and free trader crew, the excellent Critical Mass Games Mercs, to name but a few. I'm very slowly accumulating 15mm sci fi character models over on my own blog so I know the options are there!

That said, there’s plenty of room for new models with bags of character; there’s a notable lack of “force users” and “psychers” and there’s also a shortage of “evil masterminds” in the style of Ming the Merciless or Darth Vader and “heroic types” such as Commander Sheppard or Luke Skywalker who are suitable to represent RPG characters on the table top.

Of course, rather than waiting round for someone to sculpt and cast the model you’re looking for, you can always convert an existing figure. Some gamers may think that 15mm figures can’t be converted but there are quite a few examples of very heavily and very nicely converted 15mm sci fi figures. A little bit of green stuff can go a long way in 15mm but it does take a degree of modelling skill. Fortunately this is something you can pick up with a bit of practice and a degree of perseverance.

Probably the simplest conversion is a head swap. Just look at all the 15mm heads available from Peter Pig for head swaps! And don't forget GZG’s conversion heads and also Astro Miniatures offerings. Perhaps in a future article we’ll take a more detailed look at converting a few different 15mm sci fi figures.

Small scale skirmish gaming is great in 15mm for all the reasons that gaming in 15mm is great. As I’ve said before; 15mm allows you to build forces that don’t take an age to paint and you won’t have to mortgage your home to fund your obsession, or build an extension in order to house it!

What do you think about 15mm sci fi wargaming; are you into gaming massed planetary assaults on rebellious colony worlds, or shoot outs between rival gangs on the mean streets of the far future? I think 15mm sci fi wargaming has room enough for both, and everything in between!

Brigade Models announces annual Xmas Sale

2011-11-28T05:42:00.001Z

From Tony at Brigade Models-

"Welcome once more to our Xmas sale. As for the previous couple of years, we're running a blanket discount rather than specific special offers, since everyone seems to like them. Although there are a few exceptions^*, this isn't a '15% of selected items' or 'Up to 15% off' sale, it's a real '15% off everything' sale.

So once again that's 15% off all of our models^* - Aeronef, starships, Land Ironclads, 15mm and 6mm tanks, Squadron Commander, Iron Stars, WWI Belgians ... all except Celtos, where the Celtic Gods are being even more generous ... 25% off Celtos miniatures!

And that's it - no minimum or maximum orders, just a blanket discount for the whole of December. So what are you waiting for ? Go out there and shop !

^* - There are just a few exceptions and conditions, as you might expect ... percentage shipping rates will still be charged at the full item cost, since we were unable to persuade the post office to match our offers ! The discount covers our metal and resin models - it doesn't apply to rulebooks, dice, bases, game mats, Xmarx buildings or anything else that we don't manufacture ourselves, simply because the margins on those items are much tighter. However, starter packs with rules, dice or bases in are covered. Even with these limitations, we're sure you'll agree it's a mighty fine offer !"

Click on the link to see full details.

Cheers,
Spartan 117

Review GZG New Releases – Humanoid Bots, NAC and UNSC

2011-11-26T15:25:00.001Z

Jon over at Ground Zero Games was kind enough to provide the Dropship Crew with samples of his latest releases.

First up, and the most interest to me, is SG15-V16 Humanoid ‘Bots. These are 3 different humanoid-styled servant robots. Jon describes them in his news feed as “the offspring of an illicit liason between C-3PO and Gort with a strong dash of Hajime Sorayama thrown in for good measure.” I think the picture below illustrates this point!

There are two well proportioned human-sized "male" and "female" bots, but the gem of the 3 is a larger cargo-handling bot who’s exterior plating closely resembles the armour of GZG’s New Israeli range (perhaps it’s a product of the NI arms industry!?!).

I’ve been crying out for more 15mm humanoid robots and these guys certainly fit the bill. These could be used as anything from casual bystanders in colony space port to murderous Fabricated Human Simulants for the game The Department. The pack contains 6 figures (2 each of the 3 different bots) and is £3.00 inc. VAT.

Next up is SG15-A22 NAC Power Armour with Hand Weapons. This is the second pack of the newly re-sculpted NAC power armour and contains 6 figures (3 each of two, quite similar, poses) with hand weapons, supplied with separate (optional) assault jump packs - pack contains 3 "standard" jump-packs, 2 jump-packs with over-shoulder micromissile clusters, and one command jump-pack with sensor/comms systems.

As you can see from the pictures above, these new sculpts compare well with the older NAC PA sculpts but are a little but thinner and have different integral back packs. You can particularly see the benefits of the resculpt in the details on the legs of the new figures. You can see our review of the first pack here. The weapons and pose options available also expands the possibility of fielding larger power armoured forces without the same few poses repeated over and over. The pack contains 6 figures plus 2 sprues of jump-packs: £3.00 inc. VAT.

Lastly we have SG15-U26 UNSC Light Troopers with GMS(P) light portable anti-armour missiles. This pack contains 8 figures, four each in prone and kneeling poses, all with single-shot missile tubes in firing positions.

The prone figure is the same that which is currently supplied in pack U24 and Jon will probably revise U24 into a different figure mix in due course. Pack contains 8 figures (4 each of 2 different) and is £3.00 inc. VAT.

All in all some nice, useful, releases. That said what I, and many other 15mm sci fi gamers, really want to see is what GZG are going to produce as part of the official figure line for Tomorrow’s War! But we may need to be patient... Jon has a Christmas Sale on at the moment so what better excuse to pick up some GZG stocking fillers!

Breaking News - Sale Season

2011-11-26T08:30:00.002Z

###Flash####Flash####Flash####Flash####Flash####Flash####Flash####Flash####

In breaking news, the long anticipated Ground Zero Games Christmas Sale has been announced.

This just lifted from the Ground Zero Games Webstore:

"Our 2011 Xmas Special starts from 00.01 (UK time) hours on SATURDAY 26th NOVEMBER and runs until MIDNIGHT (UK time) on Wednesday 21st December. All qualifying orders (which are all those for over £30 of product, EXCLUDING VAT AND SHIPPING*) will get TWO specials included:

"1) All orders for £30 or more of goods at list prices EXCLUDING VAT* get a FREE GOODIE BAG of extra minis and stuff - how much you get depends on the size of your order, and we'll tailor most of the contents to fit the kind of items you are ordering (plus the occasional odd item that might tempt you into other ranges and scales...). What goes in the bag is OUR choice, so no cheekily asking for particular things please, but those of you who have had our previous Xmas deals will know that we give you a generous selection of things that you can actually use for your armies/fleets!
Sometimes we put in the odd special or unreleased item too, so you never know what you might get....

"2) In addition to the Free Stuff, qualifying orders will also get a VOUCHER that you can use to get a generous DISCOUNT off a further order placed after Christmas - so you can get your pre-Xmas stuff now, and then use the voucher up when you have some gift money from all those relatives who have absolutely NO idea what to buy for you!

Read the full text on the Ground Zero Games webstore.

## ### ### ### ### ### ### ### ### ### ### ### ### ### ##

And from Splintered Light Miniatures via their Facebook page:

"Greetings. I will be putting this up on the website with the sale prices changed but my web-guy is very busy at the moment so I wanted to go ahead and send out the announcement and let everyone know they can start the sale in the old fashioned way. I am going to be offering a 20% off sale from today through midnight December 31, 2011. For anyone who responds to this post and as thanks for another year of great customers, I will be offering you 25% off.

"I do have some new items not on the website. Feel free to include them in the list of what you want.

WOEL08A Wood Elf Cavalry Command on Elk (6) $12
WOEL08B Wood Elf Cavalry Command on Horses (6) $8
WOEL09A Wood Elf Light Cavalry on Elk (6) $12
WOEL09B Wood Elf Light Cavalry on Horses (6) $8
WOEL10A Wood Elf Medium Cavalry on Elk (6) $12
WOEL10B Wood Elf Medium Cavalry on Horses (6) $8
WOEL11 Wood Elf Eagle Riders (3) $12
WOEL12 Wood Elf Princess on Unicorn (1) $2
ORC15 Orc Warriors 2 (12) $10
MISC23 Elk (6) $9
MISC24 Eagles (3) $9
DWARF14 Dwarf 2-H Axes
DWARF15 Dwarf Cutting Edge Axemen (12) $8
DWARF16 Dwarf Rune Guard (12) $8

"If you email a list of what you want, I will be happy to send you a paypal invoice. Also. The goblin huts will be 10% off. I have the following available

Set of Four Huts (4) $8
Shaman's Hut (1) $8
Chieftain's Hut (1) $8
Lean-To Tents (6) $8
A-Frame Tents (6) $8

Thanks,
David
splinteredlightminis@earthlink.net"

While Splintered Light specialise in Fantasy figures, they do stock a very nice Science Fiction freighter crew, and some of their Fantasy figures could easily be repurposed as low-tech alien hordes, exotic animals, or modified as character figures. Their Dark Elder make very nice Darrians with a little modification.

Playing By The Rules - A Guide to 15mm Rulesets

2011-11-25T14:44:00.001Z

For new gamers, one of the most daunting aspects of 15mm Sci-Fi is the wide variety of available rulesets. When it comes to traditional "big games" (Warhammer 40,000, Infinity, Battletech, Firestorm Armada, etc.), you typically buy your rules and miniatures from a single company. Sure, you can proxy other minis or use those minis with other rules, but the overwhelming majority will use those rules and figures exactly as the manufacturer intends.

15mm is different. The manufacturers are one- or two-man operations, so you won't find much of their product in game shops (yet). Some do publish their own rules, but all expect and encourage their figures to be mixed, matched, and used in any way we desire. But if you're a newcomer, or even an experienced 15mm gamer wanting to try something different - where in the world do you start?

There are numerous rulesets available - we cannot hope to cover them all, or properly illustrate the differences between each set. But we can break them into general categories, tell you how much you should expect to pay or where to download the free PDF, how many figures you can use, and maybe some of our personal opinions on how they handle 15mm games.

Battle Rules with Multiple Figures Per Base. These games are generally played by mounting fireteams of 2-6 infantry onto round, square, or rectangular bases. Ideal for balanced tournament-style play, or for playing massive armor-heavy games. The main options in this category are:

Critical Mass. The flagship game from Critical Mass Games - it is specifically tailored to their factions. £11.99 for a 100-page printed book. Available here.
Future War Commander. A very flexible and open game system, reviewed awhile back by Mark. It did feature premade army lists of the 15mm lines at its time of publication, but it hasn't been updated with any of the last few years' worth of new products (it does have a robust system for generating your own stats and forces). Publisher's webstore here for £20, also available from many online and brick-and-mortar retailers.
Hammer's Slammers: The Crucible. Plays armor-centric battles in the style of David Drake's novels. The game's homepage is here, with a collection of eye candy you'll have to see to believe. The rulebook can be purchased here for £25; there are also starter sets with Old Crow tanks.
Alien Squad Leader. Designed to capture that classic b-movie feel. Also reviewed earlier by Mark, so we won't go into many details here. Available here for £12.
Galactic War I. Blue Moon Manufacturing's game supports the Space Opera styling of their miniatures, but it's open enough to use with any models you have. Available here for $25.
Valkyrie. Designed to support ArtCrime Productions' line of miniatures. Currently available as a PDF download with their boxed army sets - soon to be available as a standalone product.
Traveller: Striker. One of the granddaddies of 15mm Sci-Fi gaming. No matter which versino of Traveller you prefer (Little Black Books, GURPS, New Era, etc.), there's a Striker game available.

Battle Rules with Single-Based Figures. These are probably the most common type of science fiction wargame. You'll have anywhere from a few fireteams to a platoon-plus per side, along with some support vehicles, flyers, walkers, tunnelers, and just about anything else you can imagine. This is a very broad category - feel free to let us know (and don't be offended!) if we missed any major player.

Tomorrow's War. Ambush Alley and Osprey Publishing's beautiful sci-fi game, based on their successful Force On Force engine. You can read Matt's detailed review here.
5150: Star Army. A unique game from Two Hour Wargames, using their Chain Reaction engine to provide some very unpredictable situations. Available here as a $20 PDF or $25 printed book.
Gruntz 15mm. Instead of creating a generic book, author Robin Fitton made a tremendous effort getting the 15mm manufacturing community's support in this ruleset. Thomas' detailed review is found here. PDF format, available for $9 from Wargames Vault.
Fast And Dirty. Author Ivan Sorensen offers one of the most complete game systems you'll ever find for free, and it gives most pay-to-play rulesets a run for their money. Available here.
FUBAR. A very enjoyable one-page game from Craig Cartmell's Forge Of War Development Group. Experienced gamers will appreciate not having to flip through pages of rules, charts, or reference sheets to figure out what's supposed to happen. Free download here.
USE ME (TITLE 001). A very slick little game. These are generic rules, but it takes very little time to create detailed stats for any model in your collection. You can buy the printed A6 version here for 3.50, or as a downloadable full-sized PDF here for $5.
Forge Of War. The flagship game from the development group of the same name. This ruleset started out as an alternate way to use Games Workshop miniatures, but has grown into a very solid game system. Free download here.
Beamstrike. An open-source game based on the old Imperial Commander rules. Download rules and supplements from here.
Defiance: Vital Ground. We can't find many reviews or battle reports with this system from Majestic 12 Games. But it appears to have a very robust points-based army creation system. There is a free demo on their website; the full version is a $20 PDF or $30 printed book.
Stargrunt II. Jon Tuffley's classic game, designed for the Ground Zero Games ranges but suitable for any miniatures. Free PDF download here.
Imperial Commander. The battle version of the Laserburn skirmish game (see below). Printed book available here for £5.50.
WarEngine. A free online continuation of the old ShockForce game. These are presented in a Wikipedia format. Available here.

Small Skirmish Games. These games are played with just a handful of miniatures per side. They usually have an emphasis on heroic characters, cinematic skirmishes, tracking money, resources, and injuries between scenarios. These are hybrids between Role Playing Games and full Tabletop Wargames. We should mention that most were originally designed for use with 28mm figures, but they still provide very satisfying games with 15mm minis.

Blasters & Bulkheads. A cinematic space opera game pitting bounty hunters, smuggler captains, Essence warriors, and teams of henchmen against one another. $9.95 PDF, available here.
5150: New Beginnings. A very detailed RPG-with-miniatures set in the 5150 universe (see above). Available here as a $20 PDF or $25 printed book.
Mutants and Death Ray Guns/Flying Lead. Both titles are from Ganesha Games. MaDRG has a post-apocalyptic feel (mutated animals, broken-down cyborgs, etc.), while Flying Lead can very comfortably handle conventional near-future skirmishes. Both are $8 PDFs available here.
AE: Bounty. Publisher Darkson Designs uses a unique system of templates to create crews of mercenaries, bounty hunters, and other types of intergalactic scum. $25 for the printed version here, $15 for the PDF here.
In The Emperor's Name. In its current form, ItEN is designed to play small skirmishes in the Warhammer 40,000 universe. However, it does have a robust character creation system, and its scenarios and campaign system are equally suited for 15mm games. The Forge Of War Development Group is adapting it into a generic sci-fi skirmish under the working title of Blaster. Free download here.
Gut Check/Throwdown. A solo game developed by SpaceJacker. It's still a bit of a work in progress, but the game is playable with just a bit of troop-creation effort. Free download here.
Laserburn. The father of Warhammer 40,000 Rogue Trader. 40K fans will quickly recognize the concepts presented in this skirmish game. Printed book available here for £6.50, advanced rules and record pads are also available.
We Can Be Heroes II. Designed to be a very light-hearted game - imagine playing out an action/adventure movie on your tabletop. $12.95 PDF available here.
Star Mogul/Salvage Crew. Pits crews of adventurers, mercenaries, and alien treasure seekers against each other in small skirmishes, with an emphasis on campaigns and resource tracking. Free PDF download here.

So which is best for you? There are no right or wrong answers (no matter what you might get told on some blogs or forums). If you really don't know where to start, the best thing you can do is paint up a few minis, download a few of the free games on this list, and try them out. From there, you can try out other free sets, or purchase one or two of the commercial options. You'll quickly discover what kind of mechanics you like, what you dislike, how much of your own work you're willing to put into the game, and what type of game experience you ultimately want to have.

Blasters & Bulkheads Part Two - Shootout at Zillium Spaceport

2011-11-23T14:26:00.001Z

Today we continue in our Blasters & Bulkheads series, using the two forces I described in the first article. I’m going to make this first AAR a bit detailed - if someone familiar with the game notices that I made any obvious mistakes, please tell me in the comments!

BACKGROUND
Scenario #1 from Blasters & Bulkheads is a straight line-up-and fight set in a bustling spaceport. A good learning scenario, but it doesn't offer much in terms of built-in background. So here’s my own attempt at filling it out...

Kane Beros was recently chosen to wield the Shadow Blade, one of the most ancient and powerful weapons in all the Shadow Worlds. As a final test, the Elders sent him on his first mission. Alina Jax, a free-lance intelligence agent, was going to take posession of a small artifact in the spaceport of Zillium. Beros was instructed to retrieve that artifact - Alina's life was of no consequence. Since this was his first mission as The Chosen, the Overseers sent Nazaeran, one of their most experienced enforcers, to advise him. Beros was allowed to take five of his best disciples for this mission - each one training for the day they may succeed him as The Chosen.

Gann Helray, a young adventurer and son of a prominent baron, had meanwhile been looking for a way to prove himself to the nobility. His dearest friend Kwah’koo learned of Beros’ and Nazaeran’s mission, and they decided to act. Taking out the Chosen would certainly earn Helray a title of his own, and Kwah’koo had long held some sort of vendetta against Nazaeran. Helray ordered his bodyguard, Sarge, to grab a squad and accompany them to the spaceport.

ROUND ONE
I rolled for initiative - Gann Helray scored four successes on his seven dice (Mind 3, 2 for being the leader, 2 for the Born Leader trait) while Beros rolled two on his five (Mind 3 and 2 for being the leader). I assigned the +2 Edge bonus to Gann, and the +1 to Beros (need to make counters for these!).

You know you're a villain when even the guard dogs back away from you..

Gann is only armed with blaster pistols, so I charged him into the nearest cover. Beros, utterly fearless and focused on his quarry, charged directly toward him. Kwah’Koo joined Gann in cover. Nazaeran decided to allow Beros the pleasure of killing Gann, and brought his Sun Gun to bear upon the Black Falcon troopers. He rolled four successes on his attack, while the Falcons only rolled three succeses to oppose. A hit. I rolled the Falcons’ damage resistance (six dice with re-rolls on two ) against the Sun Gun’s Damage Number of 7. Even after the re-rolls, the Falcons only managed three successes - four were KO’d.

"How much is this kid paying us again?"

Sarge moved toward the cover and fired his rifle upon Beros. He burned two Fate counters and hit Beros with four successes - Beros added two fate to his opposed roll, but only scored three. Beros added three fate to his damage resistance rolls. He was able to defend the shot. Beros’ henchmen then inched forward - moving only 2cm so they could use their heavy weapon. They scored six successes against Helray, Kwah’koo, and the Sarge - but those characters were at maximum range and in cover. The dice did not favor Gann and his companions - none were able to stop the blast. Gann and the Sarge each lost a Vitality - Kwah’Koo lost two. The surviving Falcon Trooper also took a shot at Beros, but missed.

The victory conditions specify that a side that loses a character may choose to withdraw... henchmen don't really count as characters in Blasters & Bulkheads.

“Lord Helray, were are quickly losing our bodyguards.” “I’ll buy you some new ones tomorrow, Sergeant. Fight on!”

ROUND TWO
Beros charged forward. Helray, staying in cover, moved to within 10” of Beros. Helray unloaded with both pistols, taking four Vitality from Beros. Nazaeran advanced and fired his Sun Gun at Sarge, but didn’t hit. Kwah’koo moved to Helray’s side and fired his pistol at Beros. He missed. Spurred by their previous success, Beros’ henchmen tried again with the launcher, this time using all their Fate counters. Eight successes! Helray rolled four successes against that, but Kwah’Koo only rolled two. That put the DN +1 against Helray and a whopping +2 against his alien friend. Both were reduced to 2 vitality.

Sarge marched forward to intercept Beros. Even at close range, he only managed to hit with two successes. Beros easily deflected this. Sarge’s last Falcon Trooper also closed in on Beros and took a shot. He hit, knocking one more vitality from Beros.

"What... do you guys not like me or something?"

ROUND THREE
Beros won initiative. Since Sarge was so eager to protect Helray, Beros charged him. He used the Cloud Minds ability first - Sarge lost two Fate for the upcoming melee. Beros’ attack successes outnumbered Sarge’s by five. Sarge burned his last three Fate on his Damage Resistance rolls, but still lost two Vitality.
Helray charged out of cover and attacked Beros. Two measly successes, even with the charge bonus and burning some Fate counters. Beros deflected.

"Fine... I'll swat both of you like the insects you are."

Nazaeran ignored the melee, looking instead at the lone surviving Black Falcon trooper. Caught in the open, the trooper couldn’t hope to withstand the attack. Kwah’koo saw this and took a shot at Nazaeran. He hit, but Nazaeran’s armor absorbed the shot.

Stand tall, look imposing, and blast anything wearing blue

Beros’ henchmen advanced and fired their blaster rifles at Kwah’koo. He was KO’d.

"I'm not WEARING blue, you bastards - I AM BLUE!"

This was too much for Helray. He ordered an immediate retreat... today was clearly not the opportunity he had hoped for. Beros ordered his henchmen to search the spaceport. A frightened civilian worker finally answered him - Alina had escaped during the fighting. She was making her way to the opposite end of the port... a small courier ship was waiting for her to make a quick getaway.

POST BATTLE
First and foremost - what was the fate of poor Kwah’koo? He passed all of his Resolve dice - that should help him on the post-battle roll. He suffered “Serious Injuries,” and would suffer from weakened stats during the next scenario. Each character gained +1 experience.

Then I rolled for income. Helray’s group didn’t earn enough credits to pay everyone’s upkeep - two characters (or henchmen groups) would have to suffer a shortfall next game. I rolled “must activate last each round” as the shortfall. I assigned this to Sarge and his Trooper group - it made a certain kind of sense since they would all be replacements.

Now we move on to Beros’ group. Beros earned one experience, and Nazaeran earned two for delivering the KO to Kwah’koo. They also rolled well for income - three extra credits in the bank after upkeep was paid.

Beros led his men through the streets of Zillium, searching for Alina Jax and the item in her possession. Helray carried Kwah’koo to Zillium’s med facility, while Sarge called in another team of Falcon troopers. A spaceport worker raced into the med facility to tell Helray what was going on - and who Beros was trying to get. Helray only needed to hear her name. The memories of that one unforgettable night gave him a new sense of purpose. Kwah’koo was patched up - he’d be slow, but was eager to have another shot at Nazaeran. And now they knew they didn't have to kill Beros and his men - just slow them down long enough for Alina to make a clean getaway.

TO BE CONTINUED...

Cheers,
Chris

Blasters & Bulkheads Part One - Force Creation

2011-11-21T14:04:00.001Z

Now that I've read through the Blasters & Bulkheads rulebook, I think I have a good feel for the rules. Here are two forces I've used for In The Emperor's Name, adapted into B&B teams.

I started with the bad guys (not sure what that says about me), working from my Laserburn Redemptionists. In the world I'm slowly developing, the main antagonists will be from a demonic or religious cult. This will be a very large and powerful organization... it will have basic cannon fodder troops (haven't selected these yet), a group of elite warriors (my Redemptionists) which follow one of the paths to power (I'm going with The Path Of The Chosen for now), and yet another group (my Redemptionist Dreadnought) who wield the deadliest ancient artifacts associated with the temple. One of the warriors on the Path is granted special gifts or trained in special abilities, which I will use Essence Powers to represent. So, after spending some time in the Character Creation chapter, here's what I came up with:

It's obviously been awhile since I've played an RPG... my first attempt had some very underpowered characters compared to the book's sample forces. I originally went with one or maybe two traits per character, but I beefed them up a bit more. These printed out to twice the size of ordinary playing cards - 5" x 3.5" - and I actually printed two per page plus two card backs. Since I would be using these cards for bookkeeping instead of one of the paper rosters, I made some counters for Fate and Vitality.

Then it was time for some heroes. I decided to go with my G.I.Joe Cobra Viper-inspired Rebel Minis Earthforce Troopers, with a Laserburn character and a Critical Mass Merc as an alien companion. If you're wondering where the "Black Falcons" name came from - take a look at classic Lego Castle sets. I'm going to base a bit of this still-unnamed universe's background off of some of my childhood Lego adventures. :) Gann Helray will be a brash young Imperial Baron (or maybe just an heir at this point)... Black Falcon will be part of his family crest.

Neither force costs the full 80 points suggested by the book, but I figure I'll do some tweaking or adding after my first few games. In any case, it's time to see how Blasters & Bulkheads performs on the tabletop. So watch this space for Blasters & Bulkheads Part Two - Scenario AARs.

Cheers,
Chris

Odds and ends for the week...

2011-11-19T01:18:00.001Z

We didn't see as many new 15mm items this week as last, but there are definitely a few things we need to mention. In addition to the release of the Blasters & Bulkheads rules, we have a few minis... new and old... to put on our Christmas lists.

ArtCrime Productions have released Makat, Nationalist, and Fed starter forces for their flagship Valkyrie game. Each set includes 250 points worth of minis, along with the PDF version of the Valkyrie rulebook. Or if you just want to use ArtCrime's great minis in your own games, Mechanized Infantry Platoons are also available.

For brand new minis, Khurasan Miniatures released the Federal Police/Security Guards. These are lightly armed, lightly armored, and would be ideal for small skirmishes in urban settings. They are also valuable minis for anyone collection a Human Colonial force in Alien Squad Leader.

And on the opposite end of the spectrum, RAFM has resurrected the ancient Martian Metals Traveller Grav Armor range. They are certainly older designs, but they still hold up against today's releases. And talk about heavy metal - the vehicles themselves are 100% finger-smashing pewter castings. The interior detail kit for the APC is resin - and a pretty neat piece for diorama modelers.

Cheers,
Chris

Warning - Tekhnolog ZOD "15mm" Plastics

2011-11-17T14:06:00.001Z

A range of Russian toys was recently brought to the attention of the TMP 15mm community. They are from a company called Tekhnolog, supposedly for the ZOD 15mm battle game. There are several different items available on eBay - mecha, flyers, tons of tanks, and an infantry sprue. They certainly looked interesting - who hasn't thought about 15mm plastics? So a few gamers (including me) took the plunge and bought a few items.

The results? Pretty darn bad. The detail is soft and the plastic is low-quality - I had several broken (and missing) items in the box. The most glaring problem - all of the vehicles are roughly 1/144 scale, not 1/100. The tanks are roughly the length of Matchbox cars, and the Mech hatches and cockpits are so undersized that even Games Workshop wouldn't try to sell them.

Now, because some TMP'ers can't get past the "ooh, shiny!" factor, there are heaps of justifications on those boards. Everything from "The mechs could be large battle robots" to "there are plenty of light tanks and tracks in the real world with an even smaller footprint than that." Well, these aren't supposed to be Wiesel AWC- or FV101 Scorpion-sized vehicles. These are clearly designed to be futuristic Abrams or Challengers. Don't try to rationalize yourself into buying the tanks and giving them a different purpose - they just aren't worth it. And maybe the Mechs could be used for conversions, but why buy these when we have so many good walker options in the 15mm market already?

I have contacted the individual selling these, both via TMP and eBay. I asked that the listings be changed from 1/100 to 1/144, so they could at least try to be sold to the right people. The seller simply said that the manufacturer claims these are 1/100, and has (inaccurately) listed more items since that contact.

And now we move on to the infantry. Here's the biggest problem of all (credit to Mark H. for seeing it first):

Look familiar? They should. They are slightly modified recasts of Ground Zero Games' SG15-F01 FSE Legionnaires in Helmets.

I wish I'd taken a detailed look at the eBay seller's feedback before I bothered with these. This seller has already been caught recasting Forge World minis. So it shouldn't be a surprise that they would steal from someone else - namely GZG. I brought these to Jon's attention - he confirmed that he gave no permission or license for his minis to be recast by Tekhnolog. Producing these figures is theft, plain and simple.

Even after all this, I know some of you are still wanting to find a way to use them in your 15mm games. People, I can't tell you how to spend your money - throw it away if you like. But please think about these last few points before you do:

This company (or someone at it) is a thief and a re-caster. The infantry were stolen from GZG. It's a good bet the vehicles are also not original designs - we just haven't yet discovered where they were stolen from.
These are not 15mm vehicles or mecha. Yes, I can read. No, I don't care what the manufacturer says they are. These are 1/144 vehicles, and you can't just say they are light tanks or robots and call it a day. And if you are a 1/144 gamer? Even with the low price, these are flimsy and poorly-detailed toys compared to miniatures from Reaper or DP9.
Yes, these are cheap. How unlimited is your wargaming budget? Would spending a single penny on these deprive you of a purchase from GZG, Khurasan, Rebel, Combat Wombat, Old Crow, Mad Robot, Critical Mass, Micropanzer, Astro Minis, or anyone else we see on this blog? When it comes right down to it - who would you rather support?

Cheers,

Chris

Blasters & Bulkheads Released!

2011-11-15T19:58:00.003Z

The Dropship caught up with Scott Pyle author of the blog Four-Color Figures to find out about Scott’s new wargames rules, Blasters & Bulkheads. Scott was kind enough to me a give a peak at the pre-publication draft of the game and respond to the questions I bombarded him with!

So first off, what is Blasters & Bulkheads (B&B)? B&B provides rules and scenarios for playing skirmish games in a science fiction universe of exploration, adventure, and cosmic mysticism. These rules strive to emulate conflict with a “Space Opera” or “Science-Fantasy” flavour rather than near future, hard science fiction conflicts. You've probably noticed something a "not-Star Wars" theme from the pictures... This is a table top wargames rule set for fast-moving, heroic or “cinematic” skirmishes.

Whilst this isn’t a detailed review (there's a good, more detailed, review over on TMP), it’s worth mentioning that the goal system is based on a simple system of successes (or ‘goals’) achieved on a fixed target number of 4+ on one or more d6, with a 6 counting as two goals. The number of goals achieved in a roll is counted against a required target number based on the difficulty of a task or the power of a weapon for example.

Characters are made up of 4 attributes: Strength, Agility, Mind and Resolve rated in terms of numbers of dice, as well as a variety of background traits, combat skills, special traits and equipped with a variety of weapons and equipment.

The system is IGOUGO, with players determining initiative each turn with dice roles and taking turns to move characters or units in descending order of initiative until all models have had the opportunity to move and the turn ends.

DH: First up, what makes Blasters & Bulkheads different from the 15mm science fiction wargames rules available already?

Scott: Blasters & Bulkheads has been written as a small group action, character driven skirmish game. It contains rules and material inspired by the Space Opera genre. It is less hard sci-fi and more cinematic sci-fi.

DH: What's special, innovative or interesting about the Goalsystem?

Scott: Goalsystem has been around since 2002, and it has grown and matured over time. It utilizes a D6-based dice pool mechanic to help players decide the action. It features henchmen rules that allow players to move a lot of models around with minimal bookkeeping, a full-fledged campaign system, a system for mysterious powers, and a character-driven sensibility.

DH: A large proportion of 15mm sci fi gamers seem to want to wargame 'hard' sci fi conflict between platoon to company sized 'conventional' forces, do you think there's a market for a smaller scale 'space opera' alternative?

Scott: I sure hope so! Of course, you adjust the measurements to play with 28mm figures, but I wrote this with 15mm figures in mind. I believe 15mm fans will also want to delve into skirmish, playing their games out on 2' x 2' squares, or even in non-traditional environments like old space-ship toys or play-sets. These sorts of pieces can be re-purposed nicely as play environments for 15mm skirmish. Also, imagine how much farther your resin Dwarven Forge sci-fi corridors will go in 15mm.

DH: What type / size of forces do you need to build in order to play Blasters & Bulkheads?

Scott: At the minimum, you'll need 3 figures per side, but most warbands will consist of 4 - 5 character models and a 5-10 henchmen group.

DH: When are the "Space Knights" used in many of the pictures in Blasters & Bulkheads and on your blog going to be available?

Scott: Great question! I am hoping they'll be available by January, 2012. Blue Moon has been really busy with a host of other products, so we'll see. The idea is to release the two figures you've seen the Four-Color Figures blog along with at least a half-dozen others. Thanks for the opportunity to answer questions on Blasters & Bulkheads!

Blasters & Bulkheads is available now from www.wargamesdownloads.com. For $9.95 you get the full-color version (at 101 pages) and the printer-friendly, largely black and white, version (at 100 pages). You can also view full colour sample pages here.

Several of the Dropship crew are now planning to putting together forces to play this fun looking rule set! It's a great excuse to paint up Khurasan Miniatures' DPLS Crew, some of the figures from the Laserburn range, some of excellent Mercs from Critical Mass Games or a host of other unique and interesting 15mm sci fi figures!

New Releases This Week

2011-11-11T13:43:00.001Z

We already showed you preview pics of Brigade Models' new Mudd Eisley-style dwellings. Tony has made them available for sale this week:

Meanwhile, Khurasan Miniatures has reinforced the Federal Army with a few new items. The infantry forces receive the Smart Mortar Army Team and the Medical Diorama, and the DIMOG Walkers receive a conversion kit to make these beauties:

We also showed you preview pics of Ravenstar Studios' upcoming heavy walkers earlier this month. Those are now available, along with a host of drone walkers and other goodies:

And finally, for all you VSF 15mm gamers, Lead Bones has added some Hard Suits and two different sizes of Alien Pods to their Pulp range.

Apologies if we missed anyone else's goodies. What an eventful week for 15mm Sci Fi!

Cheers,
Chris

SATURDAY EDIT: 15mm.Co.Uk also released some Heavy Weapons for their Cultists range. As with most of their offerings, you can buy these as single castings if you don't want a full pack.

Combat Wombat's "Holy Crap it's Almost Christmas" Sale

2011-11-08T13:55:00.000Z

To celebrate Scotty's recent bout of pneumonia, Combat Wombat Miniatures is having a sale. (don't try to make sense of it - just enjoy it!)

WZ-1551 MICV

Through 15 December, orders under $100 (before shipping) are 10% off. Orders Over $100 (before shipping) are 20% off.

Bullfrog Landing Craft

CWM recently started to accept money orders, as well as traditional PayPal. Antibiotics may also be valid currency, subject to local laws.

Scorpion Recce with optional brass barrel

If you've had an eye on any Combat Wombat vehicles or buildings, or just want to use some of his brass barrels to upgrade your existing armor, now is the perfect time to buy!

Cheers,

Chris

Preview: Grunts Imperator Mecha

2011-11-07T12:00:00.000Z

Robin Fitton got in touch with the Dropship Crew and shared some sneak peek photos of the Gruntz Imperator 60 ton mecha. You might have seen the concept sketch of it in the main rulebook, but here it is in the resin (which in Robin's words is "a bit rough")! The final model will be in metal though and stands about 80mm tall.

The legs will be posable to make it either standing or walking and some torso twisting is possible as well. It comes with a particle cannon, a missile launcher and the multi-barrel cannon lying in front of it. The metal master has been cast and ready to go into production so we should hopefully see the Imperator available for sale before the New Year.

There are three more mecha from Gruntz in the pipeline as well (you can see one on the Gruntz front page). They range from smaller to larger with one that might be almost twice the size of the Imperator! So get your mech pilots ready...

While it's not up for pre-order quite yet, you can head over to the Gruntz Yahoo group and voice your interest to help gauge how large the initial production run should be.

Invaders from the Gate - a Gut Check AAR

2011-11-05T11:30:00.000Z

I've been doing quite a bit of painting and modeling lately, so I decided it was time for a few games! With the help of some very good suggestions on TMP (see this thread), I had a pretty good idea of what I wanted to play. And since SpaceJacker announced he is updating his Gut Check! game, I figured this would be my last time playing v1.7 of those rules.

The table I set was pretty dense - pretty much an urban battle. Six desert dwellings from The Scene, a Space Gate from Shapeways, and some homemade hills and roads. One of the scenarios that was suggested to me was to have some invaders using or reclaiming their Space Gate after its discovery. Then a third party would come in, unannounced, to take control of the situation. So I put together some player forces, and stats for Invaders that would be controlled by the game mechanics.

Scenario Rules. An ancient and unknown alien device was discovered on Copper Moon while searching for a new mining site. Some buildings were quickly built, and research began on the new device. At the start of the game, the table is occupied by a handful of civilians (the archaeology/science team and a press crew), supported by a planetary security patrol. The lead scientist is being interviewed for a late-evening Stellarcast when the artifact suddenly activates.

At the start of each turn, I would roll a D6 to see how many/what kind of Invaders enter the table. This is a variation on SpaceJacker's blip mechanics from the Gut Check! core rules. The Invaders would immediately take an Evade action, or Charge if another model is within 4" of the Space Gate. I used the Solo Activation counters to manage the Invaders once they were on the table, activating them two at a time just to keep the game moving. The Invaders would target civilians first, unless another model within 4" shot or charged at them. The Security Patrol's first priority would be to get the civilians into cover - preferably the buildings. Their second priority would be to engage the Invaders.

At the end of each turn, I would roll to see if the "reinforcements" arrive. They are a group of elite jump troopers that are completely unfamiliar to the civilians or security patrol, but would certainly be welcome when they arrived.

The Game. It was a very fast and furious skirmish. The first group of Invaders through the gate killed the reporter, videographer, and their assigned patrolman. The female scientist managed to last a couple of turns in assault, and the other scientist ran away as fast as his legs could carry him.

The K9 team and other patrolman on the streets quickly moved the other civilians into the buildings. The patrol sergeant and his best rifleman were already atop the large building when the scenario began - an ideal firing position if used correctly. But the sergeant managed to roll 1 on the first two turns. I guess that meant he wasn't the best choice for that assignment!

The second invader team through the gate brought along a heavy weapon. They made short work of the remaining civilians near the Space Gate.

Once most of the civilians were indoors (all but one - I couldn't get a patrolman over to him and he kept rolling 1s on his own!), the patrol sergeant finally passed an activation. He ran downstairs and joined his K9 team - I figured this would be the best assault unit I could put together. The other two surviving patrolmen were now on top of buildings, providing covering fire for the assault unit. Unfortunately, this left the back door of the large building open to an Invader team. Another civilian was being targeted.

The fighting was quick and brutal. The shock sticks helped the Patrolmen, but the were completely outgunned. Another team of Invaders had just passed through the gate when some unexpected reinforcements arrived on the opposite corner of the table. The Drop Troopers had arrived!

Most of the civilians had been killed by now, so the Invaders now turned their weapons on the new arrivals. But it was no use. Despite outnumbering and outgunning the Jump Troopers, the Invaders simply couldn't keep up with their speed.

Quickly, the battle turned from a human slaughter to a mess of shattered bionetic body parts. The Jump Troopers hopped from rooftop to rooftop, disabling teams of Invaders while moving towards the Space Gate. The remains of the security patrol were able to finish off the Bots - it's amazing how much of a difference a single Shock counter made in those assaults. In the sixth turn, the Invaders back was broken by rolling a 1 on the arrival table - no further bionetic reinforcements.

The path was now cleared for the Jump Troopers. To represent their experience with the Space Gate technology, any Jump Trooper in base contact with the Gate could shut it down by passing a Gut Check. One trooper finally reached the gate - and rolled a 6 at the end of that turn.

The gate was shut down. Two turns later and the last of the Invaders was destroyed. But the price paid had been terrible... five dead civilian scientists, three dead journalists, two dead security patrolmen, and a wounded dog. The jump troopers had been more fortunate - only three had taken any shock counters the entire game, and most removed them at the end of their turns. No jump troopers were killed.

The entire team of Jump Troopers then surrounded the gate, set charges, and destroyed it. They left the scene just as they had arrived - without saying a word to any of the other humans in the settlement.

This was a great little scenario. Big thanks to Goober and everyone else over at TMP for the ideas! There could have been a secondary plot once the Invaders were destroyed - the security forces trying to stop the mystery Drop Troopers from destroying the artifact. In a multiplayer game, I think this would have been a fun twist.

I'm also looking forward to seeing how the next version of Gut Check develops - the beta version SpaceJacker sent me this week has some great mechanics. Keep an eye on Tiny Solitary Soldiers to see its progress.

Cheers,
Chris

News flash: Ravenstar Studios walkers and tanks

2011-11-04T22:01:00.000Z

Back in July Chris at Ravenstar Studios announced his new 15mm venture, showcasing some grav tanks and a heavy walker. Well, things have progressed quite a bit and today he's showing us a lot more! Besides the re-worked Thunderfoot and tanks we saw previously there are the Silverback assault mech, Stalker walker tank and Fox walker tank. I'm especially keen on the Silverbacks...

~~We're not quite sure when these will be available for purchase, but will make an update when we do~~ These will be available in November. Some more pics (including size comparison) over at the Ravenstar blog!

Big and stompy, just how I like 'em!

SPOTLIGHT: John Bear Ross

2011-11-03T18:49:00.004Z

The Dropship recently caught up with John Bear Ross to find out a bit more about the man behind a large number of 15mm sci fi vehicles and mechs!

First of all, how did you get into the hobby and science fiction?

I've always loved science fiction. It's just one of those innate, ingrained things. I was born in 1975, so I barely remember the original release of Star Wars (but loved the toys), but saw Empire and Jedi in the theatres. I grew up drawing army men and tanks, like many boys my age. Transformers and GI Joe were also staples of my childhood.

JBR MK.1 and JBR MK.2

My mom remarried when I was 8, and we followed my dad (stepfather, technically, but he raised me like his own) to Japan, where I became immersed in all the coolest toys a 9-year-old boy could possibly want. In particular Robotech/Macross and Zoids. Those two sparks were what made me fall in love with walking armoured vehicles. I also got into model-making, and Japan, being the home of Tamiya and Hasegawa models, was the perfect place to be.

When dad was transferred back to the States, I was 12, and we ended up in Seattle. I bought the boxed set of Citytech, my brother the original Battletech boxed set. I started using the construction rules in those rulebooks to start making my own variants, factions, and their associated fictional back stories.

I got deeper into science fiction: Niven and Pournelle novels, comics, RPGs (Rifts and Robotech in particular, with dashes of TMNT). Like Battletech, I was writing and world-building more than I was playing. I enjoyed the creative side of it.

When we moved to Las Vegas, I was in high school. A guy I was sitting next to in US history noticed the mech I was doodling, and invited me to play with a Marvel Superheros group he had going. His name was Chad Hardin, my very dear friend. He introduced me to Rogue Trader, WH40K, and Space Marine/Adeptus Titanicus. Chad is an extremely gifted artist, and now does work for Marvel, D.C., Dark Horse, and any number of other comic book publishers.

Like before, I started to make my own creations within the structures of these new games. Now, it wasn't just fluff, stats, and factions I was dealing with, it was also miniatures. I got heavily into Epic scale gaming, but thought I could do better. I created my own "Tolkein in Spaaaaace" universe, with a dozen warring factions, mercenaries, titans, mechs, you name it. I nursed that project for a number of years, shaping the art and manuscript while holding onto the notion that I could publish it someday. I just needed miniatures.

So how did get started sculpting and what companies have you sculpted for?

Well, I tried my hand at manual sculpting. Horrible. I just didn't have the chops for it, despite years of hobby experience. I started researching this new thing called rapid prototyping. "Wow, we've arrived in the future," was my initial thought. Then I got my first quote for a pair of Elven mechs and power armors. $4000 for a pair of 15mm scale figs, in 1999. Talk about a punch in the soul. I started researching more, and found a small software program called Rhino. "Hey, I can do this on my own, for a lot less," was my thought at the time. I ordered a copy, learned the tutorials, and approached Bathsheba Grossman, who owned a 3d printer and sold time on it, for pointers. She was awesome, and very patient with me. I started saving money, and was starting to prototype and print a faction of Dwarf titans, mechs, and power armours.

I can't describe the amazing feeling you get when your first product shows up on the front of The Miniatures Page. That was back in 2000.

CAD designed CAV Dictator from Reaper Miniatures

About this time, in Texas, there was this company called Reaper Miniatures, led by the inimitable Ed Pugh. Reaper had just premiered their CAV mech game, but wanted to push the envelope when it came to designing their mechs, or CAVs as they're called in the game. They went to Bathsheba Grossman, and she pointed them to me. I did their CAV flagship model, the Dictator, in 3d, and they were satisfied with the results. They gave me my first shot as a pro sculptor, though I wasn't sure what to call myself. "Digital Sculptor" seemed to work, since I was pushing around electrons instead of epoxy putty. Ed gave me my real start in the industry, and I thank him for it every chance I get.

From my formative years at CAV under Ed's tutelage, I started taking on other clients. Xtreme Hobby, which was Mike Hardy's baby, gave us the Cold Navy line of starships. Rebel Minis, Khurasan Miniatures, Critical Mass Games, Comfy Chair Games, Conflict Horizon Minis, among many many others. I've been very fortunate to have been involved in a number of very exciting projects, and to still be involved in this industry.

15mm Sci Fi Interiors from Khurasan Miniatures

What are your key sources of inspiration for your 3D creations?

Coolness, plausibility, functionality and modularity. Probably in that order, too. Not realism, because there's nothing realistic about giant robots or starships, but realism is not why I enjoy this stuff anyway. I enjoy it because it's cool and transports me back to those days of GI Joe, Transformers, Robotech and Zoids. I also enjoy looking at the major film studio design houses, and how their process works. I've always been a WIP kind of guy. Yes, the final product is slick and shiny, but I want to see how you made it, what your design process was so I can compare, contrast, and possibly adapt it to my own. I always liked looking at sketchbooks than the final product. I'm silly that way.

Viper Suit from Rebel Miniatures

So what does your 15mm sci fi collection look like?

Often clients will send me freebies for samples or reference for future work. I have something from just about all my clients. I've assembled a few mish-mash warbands, things like superhero teams or small mercenary hit squads, but no formal infantry or vehicle units with formal colours and insignia.

I prefer a patchwork multiverse, with different technology levels and genres mixed together. Everybody is able to fight everybody via a shared or interfaced universe of multiple realities. Alan Davis' concept from Marvel Comics is one of the big inspirations to me when it comes to this (Excalibur, Captain Britain, etc.). Thus, one company's figs can fight with or against another company's figs. These small, tactic-oriented squads are what appeal to me more than mass combat and combined arms. Think SWAT team level actions like North Hollywood or the running brawls in Blackhawk Down, more than reinforced companies meeting in the town square. Only with antigrav tanks, mechs, power armor, superhumans, and assault-class cyborgs thrown in for good measure.

Eureka 300 Club Project - Denizen's Federation Space Troops

2011-10-29T16:56:00.003+01:00

Following the success of the Eureka 300 Club Ventaurans project, fans of the old 25mm Denizen minis have decided to try and get a second range sculpted in 15mm. This time they have set their sights on the Federation Space Troops, SF 30-39 on the Denizen web store:

From Denizen Miniatures' Web Store

For those of you who aren't familiar with Eureka's 300 Club - here's the concept. A customer can submit an idea to Eureka that has a reasonable chance of production. That project is placed in the 300 Club Pre-Order section... once a project reaches 600 miniatures preordered from 10 customers, Eureka has them sculpted, cast, and makes them available for sale.

Denizen graciously allowed their Ventauran designs to be used last year, and those minis are now available in 15mm. For the Federation minis, Denizen is once again allowing their designs to be used. So if you have any interest in seeing these troopers in 15mm, head to this page and place your orders.

And just for some fun weekend discussion: what would you, the readers, like to see submitted to the 300 club? Something else from an old and defunct range? Or something new entirely that isn't currently offered in 15mm? Post some ideas in the comments!

Cheers,

Chris

New 15mm Buildings from Brigade Models

2011-10-28T18:10:00.006+01:00

Brigade Models have just announced some new 15mm buildings that should be available shortly. These are upscaled versions of Brigade Models' recent 6mm desert buildings range and are small dwellings that have a strong "Mudisley" feel to them. These are just the first of the range of buildings due from Brigade and there are apparently several more in development, including some more futuristic designs.

The Dropship previously caught up with Tony at Brigade to hear about his ambitious plans for 15mm sci fi so we're sure there's more to follow, including Neo-Soviets and Pacific Federation in 15mm.

Critical Mass Games Review Part 2

2011-10-26T10:30:00.001+01:00

As Critical Mass Games has a “20% Off” sale running on their Mercenary Line until 31st October, it makes sense to focus this second article on some of the Mercenaries.

Originally, the Mercenary Line consisted of Captain Bytt and his crew, and Bytt’s hired guns. The concept was brilliant. Like one of those slightly non-PC jokes that begins, “a Ptaar, a Korahga, a Gathneiki and a Farthoom walk in to a bar …”, we were presented with a group of characters, rather than the makings of an army.

While some of the later releases in the range, such as the Blockheads, the Ygs, the Astragars, and the ZAS, were more racially homogeneous, Critical Mass Games has continued to offer us disparate groups of story-rich characters, such as the Mercenary Droptroopers and the Freakshow.

I do like MERC11 The Freakshow. If Bytt’s hired guns are Interstellar bad-asses, then the Freakshow are just bad – a mini-gun toting cyborg with half his fleshy face ripped off; a big, heavily armoured guy with a huge beard; a little, two-toed demon with bulging eyes; a guy wearing partial ARC Fleet-style body armour and carrying an enormous rifle; and an enigmatic lizard-man. The Freaks look like they’d happily break things for no extra charge. As I mount my figures on 16mm washers, I have clipped Lizard-man’s base to fit and gently bent his tail around in a curve.

In the second photo, you can see the back of the little demon – a huge spread of braided hair. Big Beard, at photo-right, has pointy ears on either side of his big, bald head and, while he appears to be wearing a lot of armour, much of it appears to be strapped on over clothing of some sort, rather than a carapace. There is a lot of very intricate detail on these figures and I keep finding new things as I look at them closely.

I mentioned in part 1 of this review how much I welcomed the arrival of the caninoid Protolene Khanate as they seemed to me to be ideal proxies for Traveller Vargr. MERC12 Protolene Mercenary fighters offers four figures that can either be adventurers, or officers and specialists for a more conventional Protolene force. Along with a sniper and a leader-type (with pistol and rifle), there is a rifleprotolene and a SAW gunner. Again, there are lots of little details on the armour and equipment that really repay close scrutiny before painting.

Most of you are familiar with MERC13 ZAS Infantry, as they grace this blog’s masthead and are frequently enquired about. The ZAS are a four-sophont squad of sniper, SAW, and two rifleZAS, wearing slim-line, fully sealed, full combat armour and sealed helmets. While humanoid, they are slightly taller than standard humans, and their legs seem just slightly out of proportion to their bodies which gives them a slightly non-human vibe.

These three sets of figures will either provide you with ready-made crews for ItEN or 5150: New Beginnings; or characters or villains for a Science Fiction RPG; or squads for creating your own Alien Legion-type force; or officers, specialists and “foreign advisors” for a larger, Tomorrow’s War-type field force. And there’s no reason why they can't fulfil all these roles.

In Part 3 of this review, we’ll look at big, stompy battle suits, more Praesentia, and resin casting as it should be done.

Review - TMC Jump Troops by Mad Robot Miniatures

2011-10-23T15:29:00.003+01:00

Mad Robot Miniatures released their first 15mm minis this week (the Tachyon Mercenary Corporation Jump Troops), and Steve was kind enough to send me a review pack. I’ve been looking forward to these ever since the original discussion thread at TMP. Jump troops are a great science fiction trope, and many rules currently allow for this type of infantry to be used. But the 15mm sci-fi community has long been devoid of jump-pack/jet-pack infantry. Mad Robot has come to the rescue.

The TMC pack comes with ten minis, composed of six different poses. Half are airborne and half have both feet on the ground. They can be used as a complete 10-man squad, or one could swap “airborne” for “ground” poses to represent movement of a 5-man squad. The detail of the sculpts (and the castings) is very, very good. Other than a sliver of mold line on the helmets, these minis required no cleaning or trimming. The integrated bases on the “ground” troops are nice and flat - no Blue Moon-style “pitcher mounds” here. The flying poses come with no base at all - they could be attached to the ground or a small rock, or they could be mounted on wire or acrylic rods (I’m going to attempt the latter).

Ready to paint

The weapons are a bit unusual for this type of release: three different weapons are clearly visible. Two appear to be assault rifles, and the third is definitely a directed-energy weapon. I really like this decision. Mad Robot Miniatures designed these as a mercenary unit. One can easily imagine that these troops purchase their own weapons with their signing bonuses - instead of being forced to carry an “off the rack” weapon, each trooper has the flexibility to buy, carry, and maintain the weapon that he is most proficient with.

Comparison with GZG Ravager and Rebel Titan Marine

And now for some possible bad news: these minis are VERY tall. I measured 18mm to the eye, around 21mm overall. At 1/100 this means the Jump Troops average 6’10” each. The NBA will probably watch their careers with great interest!

Comparison with Micropanzer SAS and Kremlin Cyberian

Does this pose a major problem? Maybe, maybe not. If you plan to use these minis to augment (or oppose) an existing human force - you’ll probably notice the difference. But even this could be explained away. Perhaps they are from a low-gravity colony world? Or, as my wife (the sci-horror writer) suggests, some sort of genetic enhancement or tampering?

Comparison with HOF Post-Apoc and Critical Mass Light Recon

But if you’re using these as their own force, especially if their opponents are aliens, their height won’t be an issue. They scale well to most aliens I own; in fact they look great alongside Crusties, Astagar, Garn, and some of the other “big” xenos.

Comparison with Critical Mass Astagar and Khurasan Garn

Comparison with Micropanzer Raivaui and GZG Crusty

Steve was up front with me about the height issue. And he assured me that future human releases will not suffer from this problem. This is Mad Robot Miniatures’ first ever 15mm sci-fi release. Other than that one flaw, I think they produced a great set of miniatures.

Comparison with The Scene Heavy 'Bot and Khurasan Felid

What would we like to see from them in the future? I’d start my wishlist with a second pack of these! Maybe we can see another Jump Troop set that’s just a few millimeters shorter (obviously!), uses identical/issued rifles, and includes one or two females in the pack. Including another NCO and some kind of heavy weapon would give us a great rank-and-file jump troop pack.

Cheers,

Chris

News Flash - Antenociti's Workshop 15mm Vehicles

2011-10-22T08:00:00.000+01:00

Antenociti's Workshop, known for their very popular 28mm Governance Of Technology range, have updated their store with their first 15mm releases.

The NRF Kabardin APC is available with both General Purpose and Anti-Tank turrets. This is a high-tech wheeled transport that looks like it would be at home anywhere from 50 to 5000 years in humanity's future:

They have also released the NRF Skorpion Light Grav Tank. While there are enough styling cues in the hull to use the Skorpion alongside the Kabardin APCs, I think this tank would easily be at home in a xenos army:

So let's open our wallets and welcome Antenociti's Workshop to the world of 15mm Sci Fi. They already have so many great 28mm items to choose from... hopefully we can encourage them to release more of those goodies in 15mm!

Cheers,
Chris

SPOTLIGHT: The Mysterious "PF"!

2011-10-21T08:56:00.002+01:00

Dropship Horizon recently caught up with the French sculptor known only as “PF” to get an insight into the person behind the impressive creative talent.

First of all, how did you get into the hobby and science fiction?

I think I began to love space opera and especially aliens with the Shi’ar Empire depicted in the X-Men comics. There wasn’t much, but I really loved those cool and weird aliens in the background. At the time I also had Star Wars toys but only saw the movie several years later.

I guess I got into the hobby like many others; I read Steve Jackson books where you were the hero, then discovered RPGs and little metal fantasy soldiers. I often hear miniatures were much cheaper in the good old days but when I was a kid, collecting an army was just an expensive dream and I couldn’t do much more than paint them (or rather ruin them!) with Humbrol paints. One day, I wanted to find another box of those plastic space marines I liked so much but my older brother told me they had disappeared and brought me a Warhammer 40,000 box instead. That was pretty cool. Still, I didn’t really start collecting and painting armies until I got a job at a GW shop in Paris. It’s there I got the virus.

I discovered 1:100 sci fi two years ago after John Bear Ross told me I should try to make a few aliens in that scale. So I would really like to thank him for the suggestion as I’m having a lot of fun with 15-18 mm!

How did get started sculpting and who have you sculpted for?

GW showed sculpts in the White Dwarf and wrote they were made out of that “green stuff” they were selling so I tried. There aren’t many fields where you can have access to the professional stuff for very little money. In the early days of coolminiornot.com I created an account (which has been erased since and recreated), posted a sculpt or two and was contacted by a small company, met some cool guys and started to earn a few Euros for my sculpts. Most of the companies I have worked for can be seen on my website.

What are the key sources of inspiration for your sculpting and art?

Except when I’m commissioned or for some subjects (animals, fabrics, well, to be honest, too many things), I tend not to use inspiration. I mean there are probably enough subconscious inspirations (movies, comics, etc.) at work when I sculpt so when I go “freestyle”, I try to empty my mind like a space ninja!

When you're sculpting do you start with a plan or image of what you want sculpt?

It really depends. Sometimes, I just have a general idea of what I’m beginning to make - say a girl, a small alien - and sometimes I have a pretty precise idea of what I want to make - a space girl in spandex shooting with a pistol with lines on her clothes like that and a helmet like this, a D***head alien with three eyes and tentacles running!

Why not check out PF’s website and blog for more pictures of his work.

Khurasan Miniatures Exclusive - The Infected Apocalyptic Post-Humans!

2011-10-18T06:54:00.003+01:00

Here's an exclusive preview from Jon at Khurasan Miniatures. These are the Infected, for Khurasan's End Times post-apocalyptic range. These are the degenerate descendants of humans, infected by a virus which turned them into horrible savage cannibals! Apparently the Infected are born with a virus which gives them enhanced senses, strength and an unquenchable taste for human flesh!

I can just see them ambushing human travellers on The Road, or besieging isolated survivor communes scraping out an existence in the rubble of some small town in the post-disaster US! Other possible uses include primitive fighters from another world, alternative dark elf types, Morlocks for Victorian Sci Fi / Space 1889, Talislanta Thralls, or maybe even Firefly Reavers!

There are six Infected poses, and the greens are at the casters now...

Preview - Mad Robot Miniatures Harook

2011-10-16T21:13:00.002+01:00

Steve at Mad Robot Miniatures has shared these greens of the upcoming alien range. They should be available fairly soon, so set some cash aside and start thinking about how to paint your own army of evolved terror birds!

Mad Robot Miniatures is thrilled to give you a sneak peak of our next 15mm release, the Harook. Here is a little back story…

"Very little is understood about the Harook; they are unpredictable and have an unknown agenda. Although they have an affinity to other avian species of life, it would appear that they have disdain for all others, especially humanity.

Their speech patterns, consisting of a complex series of squawks and screeches, do not live up to the advanced technology they bear on the battlefield. This leads some to believe that an advanced, as of yet unknown, intelligence directs them."

There are 10 dynamic poses that have been painstakingly sculpted by Pedro Navaro. More to come on these in the near future.

Cheers,
Chris

Review - 15mm.co.uk's Zidhe (Space Elves)

2011-10-14T15:12:00.000+01:00

A while back I received some samples from 15mm.co.uk with the intention that I should review them. Well, things got a bit busy and those reviews got put on hold a bit until things levelled out a bit. Well it seemed it was time and so here we are.

Zidhe (HOF 63 through 68)

The Zidhe are 15mm.co.uk's version of space elves, as the name may already have alluded to, and fill the role nicely. In general the miniatures depict a force clad in long coats with most in ornate helmets with attached respirators and a couple figures without.

Overall, the details on these figures are good though not as crisp in some places as I might like. The helmets on the figures are tall and pointed with a visor across the eyes and a hose trailing to a backpack over their shoulder. Weapons are listed as laser rifles and they look the part. Some have pistols at their side. These figures do have a decidedly pulpy feel, something I do like.

HOF63 Zidhe Infantry

There are three poses in this pack of 10. One kneeling, another advancing, and a third carrying a heavier weapon which I assume is meant to be a squad heavy weapon which he carries at his hip. I would have liked to see one or two more infantry poses, especially with the kneeling pose in here.

HOF64 Zidhe Command

This pack includes four poses across 10 figures. The poses depict a helmetless commander holding his rifle at his hip and giving a subtle gesture with his other hand. There is also a communication figure with a pack bearing an antenna on his backpack. The medic in the pack appears to be bearing some sort advanced medical device in his outstretched hand. The forth pose is a psionic of some sort, holding his hand to his head in a show of intense focus.

HOF65 Zidhe Guardians

Two poses across 10 figures. Carrying shock spears, these are intended as elites for the Zidhe. They seem to have the same gear as the rest, though their breather hoses go over their left rather than right shoulders. They are armed only with the aforementioned shock spears, though I was a bit disappointed that there were no features on the weapons to make them look any different than common spears.

HOF66 Zidhe Androids

These odd androids seem to match the general themes of the Zidhe but with a head that is larger and a different sort of visage. They also look to be carrying a different sort of weapon from the rest. The androids do not have the breather hose that the living Zidhe do. There are only 2 poses of android for the 10 figures in a pack, but they are general enough that it should not be a problem. These figures might make a good basis for Martians as depicted in The Martian Chronicles.

HOF67 Zidhe Jetbike

With a very retro style to it, the Zidhe jetbike provides a bit of fast attack. Unique enough to stand out and consistent with the aesthetics of the Zidhe. I did feel that the rider sat a bit too far back in the vehicle, but the vehicle certainly looks alien but familiar.

HOF68 Zidhe Portable Weapon

I'm not sure what to think of this particular offering for the Zidhe. It is obviously some sort of emplaced weapon, but the design seems very basic with a spear-like weapon projecting from a very static looking base. There are two crew with this weapon who could easily enough be used to crew a different weapon should you not find the stock weapon to your liking.

Conclusion

Overall, the Zidhe offer a good alien race with a conventional feel. Their long coats and pointy helmets are a nice change of pace from all of the space suit and body armor wearing figures out there. There is a definite Eldar feel to those figures as well if you were looking for 15mm versions of popular 40K races.

A Critical Mass Games Review Pt 1

2011-10-13T12:00:00.001+01:00

An order from Critical Mass Games arrived in my letterbox last week, having taken a mere four days from the UK to my house. Along with the few bits and pieces I had ordered, Craig kindly included a number of items for reviewing. What follows is what I’ve managed to get based and undercoated so far.

As many of you know, the Critical Mass Games-verse features four main factions plus an expanding range of alien mercenary groups. Each faction has a distinct appearance and technology type as well as a, one assumes, distinct set of tactics.

Back in 2009, Critical Mass Games débuted with the humanoid ARC Fleet. At the time, the Halo-esque helmets and body armour caused quite a stir in the 15mm-o-sphere. With almost no background presented, we were left with evocative names and lots of questions – what does ARC stand for? Are we talking about a fleet of world ships or does the ARC Fleet have a planetary point of origin? Are the ARC Fleet soldiers human? And how augmented are the ‘Augments’?

I personally didn’t get into the ARC Fleet when they were released – I already had GZG New Israelis and UNSC; and Rebel Minis Earthforce Marines, so I had a reasonable selection of armoured infantry – that is, until the ARC Fleet Grav bikes were announced. I do like Grav bikes, and I particularly like grav bikes created by John Bear Ross. AFGB1 is a lovely, one-piece model, with a separate resin stand. The grav bike and attached rider just looks fast - a SciFi Valentino Rossi geared up to cruise the New Hope City air corridors. CMG has actually released two other versions of the grav bike, a two-seater and a missile launcher attack bike, but this is the model that captured my imagination.

The second range CMG released were the caninoid Protolene Khanate. While the ARC Fleet use rather clunky grav tech for their vehicles (apart from the grav bikes), the Protolene favour walkers – both bipedal battlesuits and gigantic four legged all-terrain vehicles. As I already have a pile of Protolenes awaiting painting, Craig very kindly sent me some Protolene Mercenaries and some battlesuits to review - the latter are still awaiting assembly.

For us old Traveller fans, the arrival of the Protolene Khanate was like someone announcing the return of the Vargr in digitigrade form (yay!), though without tails (sad!). I intend using my RAFM Vargr as character figures, while deploying the Protolene when packs of Vargr are required.

The Kaamados Dominion, the third range from Critical Mass, appear to be a reptilian race, though the lightly armoured Naga and the diminutive Squamata Imperialis have quite different morphologies. The Vivipara, the third form, may in fact be Naga in body armour. The Kaamados Dominion appears to favour wheeled and tracked vehicles, and large, pyramid-like buildings.

During the 15mm Science Fiction Figure Exchange on TMP, Craig from CMG posted a picture of a Kaamados Dominion Draco Aganath Maxima Battlesuit painted up as part of his exchange group. While I like the Kaamados Dominion Naga, I hadn’t really considered the other figures in the Kaamados Dominion range, as I really wasn’t looking for more Battlesuits. After seeing Craig’s figure I changed my mind.

The Maxima is armed with two twin barrelled heavy guns of some sort – not quite BFGs, but very close – and a heavier version of the style of armour worn by the Vivipara Infantry. The legs are just slightly out of proportion to the body, which adds to the alieness of the Maxima, yet matches of the body proportions of the lightly armoured Naga. The implication being, I suppose, that a Naga operates the Maxima suit. I like to think that the Naga is entirely encased in the battlesuit's armour and that the suit’s head and optics unit is actually a little remote turret on the front of the thorax carapace. The Maxima is a beautiful model, highly detailed and I can see it playing a role as a character in an ItEN or 5150: A New Hope crew, or even in a 15mm Space Hulk Game.

The final faction, the Praesentia, is perhaps the most mysterious. With Phaseshifters, Enlightened, and Ancients, and with each form progressively physically larger than the one before, one wonders if they continue to grow as they age? The Praesentia also appear to favour combat droids – the RAL – and combat drones. The drones, also of various sizes, appear to use a much more elegant form of grav tech to that of the ARC Fleet.

Again, I had not intended buying any Praesentia as, initially, they didn’t appeal to me. Again, I changed my mind once I saw some Enlightened painted up on a blog in a slightly different fashion. The Praesentia are superbly sculpted figures with lots of movement and action in their chiton-like clothes. Their staff weapon is cast separately and I did have some difficulties getting the wrist lugs to engage properly – partially due to my out-of-practise fingers and failing eyesight – but patience won on the day.

And finally, the Mercenaries. I have picked up packs of most of these, excepting the Drone Walkers, the Vadorian Assassins, the Blockheads and the Astagars. The Blockheads are too similar to the Praesentia RAL, so I will continue to pass on them, and the Drone Walkers and the Astagars aren’t really my thing, but I am beginning to reconsider the Vadorians just because I have seem some painted in a slightly different fashion which begins to make sense to me.

This time around, I went for more Ygs Fighters and the Vorq’La. We have been discussing around the Dropship how to finish off “incomplete” ranges and I wanted to try a proof of concept on the Ygs. Taking one of new pistol-armed Ygs, I carefully removed his pistol and with two pieces of plastic rod, some plastic scrap and a flat-sectioned paper clip, I fashioned an energy weapon for him. The power cable is a bit of thread, but I’m thinking of upgrading it to a piece of string to get the scale correct – I have seen guitar string used for this sort of thing but I don’t have access to any guitars. The left hand rifle-Yg in the above picture is a prime candidate for having his rifle drilled out and extended with some plastic rod to make a SAW or sniper rifle.

I am intrigued by the Vorq’La. Of the five figures in the pack, the halberd-armed one is completely different, lacking both a tail and the exaggerated digitigrade leg structure of the other four, as well as having a differently shaped head. He reminds me a little of the mysterious sentinel figure often seen in 1970’s science fiction book cover art. I like him, though, and he will be a bodyguard type in my skirmish games.

Of the four other Vorq’La, two are armed with rifles, one with a pistol and dagger, and one with a sword and what looks like electronux – electrified knuckledusters. All four have separate heads (five choices) and three have separate tails. To me, the heads look particularly rodent-like or marsupial-like, though they appear to have head crests like a triceratops rather than marsupial ears. One head in particular has an exaggerated display of teeth (the ‘fierce face’) that actually changes its shape when compared to the other heads – see the left hand rifle-Vorq above.

I do like the Vorq’La, they are superbly detailed and genuinely interesting figures and I hope we see more of them. If you are interested in the Vorq’La, or any of the other figure packs in the Mercenaries range, Critical Mass Games is having a 20% off-all-Mercenaries sale until 31 October 2011. Check their webstore for details

In the second part of this article, we’ll have a look at more Praesentia – including drones and RAL – as well as some buildings and some Protolene battlesuits.

20% Off Mercenary Packs at Critical Mass Games

2011-10-12T15:00:00.002+01:00

Good morning, Dropship passengers!

Critical Mass Games is running a sale this month - 20% off all their popular Mercenary packs. These are great packs if you need an assortment of alien bounty hunters, crews, or spaceport ruffians - or can easily be combined to serve in a "alien foreign legion" force.

Personally, I'm going to use this as a chance to pick up some of those really cool Zas Infantry, along with a few packs of Ygs Fighters. I wrote this article about making an army from limited figure poses... now I have the perfect chance to make that happen.

Cheers,
Chris K.

Halloween Treat from Art Crime Productions

2011-10-11T15:30:00.000+01:00

Art Crime Productions has a Halloween Treat in store for miniature wargamers this month. They are releasing the first offering in their Mercenary line, the Port Reliant Mercenaries, and these bad boys look kind of familiar-

Fans(myself included) of a certain, super-popular video game franchise will be very pleased with these minis. Jimbo at Art Crime Productions was kind enough to send me a sample pack to review-

The pack is comprised of 6 figures; 2 armed with assault rifles, 2 with assault shotguns, 1 with an anti-tank laser, and 1 with a squad support machine gun. A very functional little squad!

Here are the individual figures-

The figures size up well alongside figures from other manufacturers-

L to R: GZG NI Hardsuit Inf.,ACP Merc, Rebel Minis EF Marine, ACP Merc, CMG Arc Fleet Rifle Infantry, ACP Merc, Rebel Minis Titan Marine.

The photos of the unpainted figures don't do them justice though, so here's what they look like once they're painted-

All in all, the Mercs are extremely good figures. Very cleanly cast, minimal clean-up. The detail is very crisp, making painting a snap. You don't have to be a Spacejacker or Jeff Racel to paint up a nice looking force of minis.

The official release date for the Port Reliant Mercenaries is October 31, and the pack will retail for $8.00 USD, which might seem a little steep for some gamers, but the overall quality of the castings makes them well worth the cost. This is definitely one set of infantry minis that you should consider adding to your collection.

Again, the Port Reliant Mercenaries will be available on October 31, in the ACP Games store.

Cheers,
Spartan 117

Copplestone Castings Releases More 15mm Fantasy!

2011-10-10T08:00:00.000+01:00

Copplestone Castings have released more 15mm Fantasy! Whilst most of the figures have a strong Conan The Barbarian feel, many of them, particularly some of the characters and the snow trolls (pictured above) might work well in in a pulp sci fi / Space 1889 setting.

We really hope these sell well so that Mark Copplestone can be encouraged to do some more 15mm, particularly 15mm in the style of his Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and Future Wars!

Oddzial Osmy Spaceworms - Review and Paint Test

2011-10-08T03:05:00.001+01:00

Earlier this month, Fighting 15s released the highly-anticipated Oddzial Osmy 15mm Sci-Fi Range. I placed an order as soon as they were available. While I don't have a purpose for the mid-tech human infantry (yet), I quickly grabbed a pack of the civilian reporters and a few packs of the Spaceworms.

Well, kudos to Fighting 15s for great international shipping times - one week from their shop to my mailbox. More importantly, I was impressed with the quality of the minis. Other than a few easily-removed strips of flash, the minis were extremely clean and detailed. I also like the bases - they are very thin, and perfectly rectangular. They don't look like a giant boulder or mount on top of a normal troop base. In fact, the rectangular shape might let you use some kind of detailed base with these, like SpaceJacker's starship decking (see link). I set the reporters aside for now so I could get started on the Spaceworms.

I had two different paint schemes in mind for the Worms. Since I couldn't choose between them, I decided to try a test mini of each. I hit two "trooper" worms with white primer and set to work. My first idea was a simple, organic paint scheme. These worms would be used as living support weapons for a more advanced race - maybe they are sentient enough to fight on their own, or maybe they are controlled by telepathic commands or electronic signals. The helmets of the minis certainly leave both possibilities open. Here is a picture of the worm creature with a Critical Mass Astagar:

I liked it well enough. Worms like this would be a fun addition to an alien imperial force. But I still wanted to try my other idea - robotic worms. I've been working with colored-wash-over-bare-metal quite a bit lately, so I decided to go back to my roots and paint a basic gunmetal robot. Here's the result, next to a similarly-painted Rebel Minis Scourge:

Robotic worms with small lasers on their backs... also very useful. They could be in a mixed force of assorted robotic invaders, automated or remote sentries at a sentient alien fortification, or even part of a large starship's intruder defense system.

So which scheme should I go with? I still haven't decided! I'm not even sure if I'll keep this single-based for games of FUBAR and Gut Check, or if I want to multi-base some for use in my Alien Squad Leader games. I may have to pick up a few more sets to try both options. They certainly don't take much time or effort to paint.

Either way, if you're looking for something that doesn't resemble a "man in a rubber or robot suit," you could do far worse than the Oddzial Osmy Spaceworms.

Cheers,

Chris

SPOTLIGHT: Rebel Miniatures

2011-10-05T07:44:00.000+01:00

The Dropship Crew recently caught up with Mike at Rebel Miniatures to find out how he got into wargaming and his plans for 15mm Sci Fi.

Variable Payload Raider (VPR), or Viper Suit as the troops call it.

We will have 3 versions to start with new weapon systems as well. Designed By John Bear Ross. This should be out in about a month or so...

1. First of all, how did you get into table top wargaming?

I had been playing D&D in the mid 80’s and was looking to get into something different. While at my local comic store I saw a game of Battletech and was immediately hooked. From there I got into Rogue Trader and ultimately into all the Games Workshop stuff. The early GW stuff was amazing and every week, my friends would battle each other at our local comic store. Good times.

2. How did Rebel Miniatures get started and how has running the business changed over the years?

I was at Origins Game Fair in 2004 with a few of my gaming buddies. At the time I owned a toy company, called Palisades, making action figures and such for Toy’s R US, Target, ect. While we were playing a game, I was complaining that I needed more figures and that no one made the figures I wanted. My wife overheard me and in front of everyone said, “Well, Mr. Manufacturer, why don’t you just make some?” So I did.

When we first started, we only had a few packs. We were doing shows and getting great responses and because we had a few packs, filling orders was pretty easy. Now, with so many packs, boxsets and rulesets, it takes a lot longer but we still love it.

Cheyenne MATV Truck - This goes with Rebel Miniatures MATV Line. Weapon system may change.

Designed By John Bear Ross. This should be out in about a month or so...

3. What are your general plans for the Rebel Miniatures 15mm sci fi ranges?

We have big plans for our Sci-Fi lines. Right now we are developing more alien races to add to our human lines and really fleshing out our universe. We are in the process of adding more Mech-Type vehicles (my favorites) and John Bear Ross has done some amazing new designs for us. They will blow you away.

This winter, if everything goes well, we will also be introducing a new human faction that will have a cool look and feel to it.

We also teamed up with Two Hour Wargames to add some new box sets to the 5150 universe. We have just released Day of the Scourge and we hope to release more box sets with miniatures, scenarios, campaigns, etc. Our Sci-fi lines will be a major focus for this winter and next year, so stay tuned!

4. How do you think the hobby (sci fi wargaming generally and 15mm sci fi wargaming more specifically) look now compared to when you started out?

15mm sci-fi wargaming has exploded. There are so many good rulesets and miniature companies out there; you can find almost anything you can imagine. I have heard others say it and I believe it, this is the Golden Age of 15mm.

Jump Troops Inbound

2011-10-01T08:00:00.005+01:00

Mad Robot Miniatures is happy to announce the release of our first 15mm offering...TMC Jump Troops.

Tachyon Mercenary Corps
Based on the planet Tachyon-12 in the Selous system, the TMC wages war for the highest bidder. By investing their huge war-time profits into the latest technology, they storm the battlefield with a precision that has earned them their reputation as one of the galaxy's elite fighting units. TMC Recruiting Officers are free to choose their units from the thousands of worlds surrounding the Selous system, giving them the ultimate in flexibility, based upon their combat mission.

Jump Troops are used by aggressive TMC commanders as a fast-attack element. Their ability to move quickly and hit hard makes them a feared weapon in the TMC arsenal. The scream of their jump jets is the last thing their adversaries hear as they descend from the skies, delivering white-hot death.

These figures are currently in production and we will have another announcement about the release date and pricing in the next few weeks.

Steve Stodden
Mad Robot Miniatures, LLC
http://www.madrobotminiatures.com/

Fighting 15s releases Oddzial Osmy 15mm Sci-Fi

2011-09-29T14:08:00.000+01:00

A few months ago, Oddzial Osmy previewed some new 15mm Sci-Fi on TMP (link to original thread). That line is now available from Fighting 15s.

The initial offering has three categories: Vistula Legion (mid-tech near-future human infantry), Non-Combatants (currently featuring a human civilian reporter crew), and Spaceworms. The only pic available so far of the Spaceworms is in the original preview thread above. I'll uploaded painted pictures of them shortly after they arrive - I couldn't wait to place my own order! In the meantime, here are the infantry and reporters:

Vistula Legion Troopers

Reporter Crew

The Vistula Legion gives us another good mid tech-level Traveller style force, or it can be useful for those of you gaming the next 100-200 years of Earth's timeline. I think the reporters are useful in many scenarios - I plan to add some to my ongoing "characters and civilians" project. And the Spaceworms give us a great option besides "humans in rubber suits." We look forward to seeing this line grow.

Cheers,
Chris

REVIEW: Crusty Combat Walker and NAC Power Armour

2011-09-28T12:00:00.000+01:00

As we mentioned earlier the latest releases from Ground Zero Games are now available for order. Jon sent me a few samples for review and here are my thoughts.

First off we have the NAC Power Armour. I know a lot of people have been waiting for resculpts of the different GZG power armour troopers and the NAC are the first ones out. They come six to a pack with two different poses and weapons (grenade launcher and rifle) and are supplied with optional jet/backpacks. What first sprang to mind when I saw them was "Gort!", followed by "Traveller!". They have a kind of retro hardsuit look that really appeals to me! The detailing is good and I like the stubby guns as well as the fact that the jetpack is optional (although I prefer it on). Only two poses is a bit disappointing though and to make matters worse the two poses that we get are very similar. I'm hoping that we might see some further addition to this line later on, providing us with more diverse weapons and poses. Also, it bears mentioning that if you're after some really bulky Heinlein-esque power armour you might want to look elsewhere as they are relatively skinny. Personally, as I have something different in mind for my UNSC, I will use them as player markers for 3:16 - Carnage Amongst the Stars.

With all this human power armour goodness we need something alien to balance it out, and hey if it isn't Crusty heavy infantry! Again six to a pack but three different poses this time and all carrying the same heavy arc rifle. Also included are optional backpacks. These guys I'm sure will be a welcome addition to many of the Crusty forces out there as they supply some added punch. They seem to be wearing some kind of hard/power suit with large, bulky helmets. Actually the helmet design have a slight look of dog or pig to them so I could see them being used as some kind of uplift aliens as well. The detailing is good and I like the more varied poses in this pack. I've always liked the alienness of the Crusties and the design of the armour (the helmet in particular) helps reinforce this. They will most likely form the tough core in my Crusty force (that's made up of riff-raff mostly).

And of course the new Crusty combat walker! I think this is the model most people were expecting when Jon first mentioned the Crusty mecha. At twice the size of a man it has the right size and, again, it simply looks very alien. There are two models in the pack with six arms and two different sets of legs. There are four weapon arms and two with no weapons so you will be able to get a few packs of these and still have a lot of variety in your models.

It's a well detailed kit and I kept discovering little details as I looked it over, like what looks like thrusters at the back of the body. The weapons look great, I especially like the gravity gun(?). I think I will drill some holes in my walkers to add some more fine detail to it like spines and antennas.

The only complaint I have is the connection points between the limbs and the body that are very loose and jingly. While it is a fairly trivial matter I still like it when my models click together just right. Once it's assembled though it looks great on the tabletop and I look forward to seeing this guy duking it out with my Khurasan DIMOG's and Micro Panzer WarBots!

All in all a solid set of releases. I only hope we get to see more of those NAC power armoured troopers in the future!