New 15mm Scifi Structures From Ambush Alley and GameCraft Miniatures

Just released, a partnership between GameCraft Miniatures and Ambush Alley Games has produced a set of laser-cut, MDF, science fiction colony buildings. They come in a number of styles from small garage type structures, as pictured above, to large, stackable residential habitat blocks (below). They have even released some cool first generation colony shelters that look as if they were built using hull panels from the ship that brought them there(bottom).

All of the buildings are constructed with a fantastic accuracy and though I have not handled one personally, my experience with GameCraft's Old West buildings tells me that these will be easy to collect and build by the ton. The smaller habitats have the option to be built with the etched details or you can purchase detail bits that add extra relief details to the structures as portrayed in the top image.

I cannot wait to purchase some of these to fill out my scifi terrain and I am hoping that the larger structures will get some detailing kits as well.

-Eli

Ambush Alley: "The Wastelands" Scenario Pack

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At the beginning of last week, Shaun at Ambush Alley Games was kind enough to send me a gratis copy of "The Wasteland" Scenario Pack which comes with this year's annual S.O.G. membership.

I was both impressed and inspired enough to subscribe the very next day to this year's S.O.G. (Special Operators Group) membership. So what are the benefits of joining S.O.G.?

• One free campaign pack per year – "The Wasteland" for 2010 - $15 in itself! (These special packs are only available to subscribers).
  
• A 15% discount on all Ambush Alley Games products!
• The opportunity to receive new releases two weeks before they are publicly released!
• Discounts or other special offers from miniatures manufacturers who support Ambush Alley, including Rebel Minis, QRF, and Liberation Minis!
• This year also includes “Under the Black Flag”, a three scenario campaign focused on a covert and highly critical action against Somalian pirates. It also contains alternative rules for clearing buildings as well as rules for close assault weapons (SMGs, shotguns, etc.) and handguns.

"The Wasteland" contains three linked post-apocalyptic scenarios, one each for Ambush Alley, Force on Force, and Ambush Z.

• In the Rat's Alley
  
• Agony in Stony Places
• Fear in a Handful of Dust

Each scenario follows the tried and tested Ambush Alley formula. Scenario background, table setup, forces, mission, victory conditions and special rules. Short, sharp, effective!

There are also several pages of sample 'organisations' for various post apocalyptic warrior types.

If you don't own any of the Ambush Alley rules, don't worry! The scenarios are easily convertible but best of all in this instance, a lot of thought has been put into building a post apocalyptic world. I really enjoyed just reading "The Wasteland", let alone envisioning the games that will be inspired by it.

So if the Apocalypse seems a bit more in your face in 2010, blame Shaun and the gang at Ambush Alley!

Cheers
Mark
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Sci Fi Rambles in Uruzgan

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I downloaded Operation: Uruzgan, the first 'Ops' (scenario) book for use with Ambush Alley's Force on Force last week.

Operation: Uruzgan takes a detailed look at Australian operations in the Uruzgan Province of Afghanistan and contains:

• 9 Historically Accurate Scenarios
• A Historical Overview of Operations in the Region Since Anaconda
• Special Rules to Represent the Unique Flavor of Taliban Operations in Uruzgan
• Special Rules to Represent the ADF’s Operations in Uruzgan, Including ROEs and COIN based tactics
• 5 New Vehicle Write-Ups, including the Bushmaster IMV
• Uruzgan Specific Fog of War Cards
• Uruzgan Specific Asset Cards
• Guidelines for Using Scenarios with Other Coalition Forces

First off, the production quality is superb - this is nothing less than a professional product. Well done guys!

I haven't had a chance to do more than scan the scenarios and various chapters, due to still being less than par but I have to say that this is pure classic Traveller Book 4: Mercenary territory. You can lift these scenarios and drop them into any platoon level Sci Fi system. Rebel Minis Earth Force Marines conducting COIN on Mars against the Sahadeen - not a problem!

My own classic Traveller Book 4: Mercenary 'tickets' were always less than glamorous. Laserburn Mercs or Asgard Imperial Marines fought lonely and desperate 'police actions' in Peruvian style hills - think Proof of Life (2000, Russell Crowe). I guess because of the visualisation I had of South American guerrilla and COIN warfare imprinted on me at an impressionable age through reading War of the Flea (Robert Taber).

Operation: Uruzgan takes me back to those games and gives me an opportunity to replay these types of missions again - this time with Ambush Alleys' draft Tommorrows War - and also possibly FAD4 using the Traveller supplement, which reminds me - I still have Tom War BatReps to post, though the photos are still stuck on the faulty camera. Stuff it, I'll take some 'supplementary' photos of my figures in 'Mog City' at the weekend to illustrate the BatReps and post them up individually next week.

Cheers
Mark
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Tomorrow's War

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During the past week I've been playtesting TOMORROW'S WAR, the draft Near Future/Sci Fi development of Ambush Alley's platoon level Force on Force rules. I ran several small back to back games set in the 'Mog' (or Moggie City as the Master Chef likes to call it). these were deliberately aimed at road testing individual aspects of the current draft of 'TomWar'.

What has emerged? Well, perhaps I've played too much Ghost Recon and Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter on the XBOX360, but I confirmed to myself at least, that I DO LIKE these rules, I REALLY LIKE these rules.

There are several YouTube videos which look at the future of infantry combat in the coming decade. This US Army one is slightly cheezy but gives you a good idea of what 'TomWar' can recreate in miniature:



I'm moving to some larger actions this week and will post up a couple of 'Tales from the Mog' AARs towards the end of the week.

Cheers
Mark
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'O' GROUP.......

My most recent order from Khurasan Miniatures was waiting for me when I got home on Friday. 10 mixed packs of Garn and 6 packs of Corporate Marines.

The Corporate Marines are really nice miniatures. Well sculpted and very much in human proportions. The MasterChef was worried about how thin the legs looked in the photos - I can assure him and anyone else, that the legs are fine, as is the shoulder armour. The figs match perfectly with GZG's new Ravagers which are still on my workbench.

I have two small gripes about the Corporate Marines. First, no VISORS. To me, simply, No Visors = No Sci Fi. It's a personal thing. I don't care whether the visors are chic Ray-Ban strips or half/full face affairs, I just want to see visors on my (human) Sci Fi miniatures!

Second. These miniatures like many currently available, they lack dynamism, being mostly in standyabouty poses. Which I guess is fine for a 'Corporate' Marine guarding premises, installations and corridors, or possibly any military force conducting planetary policing actions. As such, I think they are perfect for RPGs like classic TRAVELLER, where military miniatures in more dynamic combat poses look out of place when they are supposed to be doing guard duty, patrolling streets/spaceports or looking for fugitives in the local Cantina.

To be fair to Jon, he did ask me what changes I would like to see. Given any changes would be at a not inconsiderable cost to him and push back getting these miniatures cast, I didn't want to impose my foibles on miniatures that would likely sell anyway.

These comments aren't a critiscm of Khurasan's releases, more a gentle plea to sculptors and manufacturers. I know it's more costly to sculpt 3 different skirmishing men than an equal number of standing guys who are 'converted' by swivelling torso, moving arms and heads. But bear in mind that the drought of 15mm Sci Fi figures (in comparison with other gaming genres) that existed over the past twenty years has ended in a Tsunami of new releases this year.

Speaking with the MasterChef the other night, we recognise we are lucky to have a fair amount of disposable income that can be spent on our hobby. But we also have come to terms with the fact that it's simply not sustainable for us to continue purchasng new miniatures month after month, purely because they are the latest Sci Fi releases.

This isn't solely a financial decision, it's also a practical one. Like everyone, we have a backlog of miniatures to paint and other wargaming interests. Perhaps more importantly, few of the new releases enhance our core gaming project and we find that we are losing focus. Buying more but getting less done.

I for one, am going to sit back over the next few months, concentrate on my core forces, and wait to see what comes on the market. Even if there's a price hike in-between, I'd rather pay 10-15% extra for miniatures I want in September, that tick most or all my boxes, than spend 100% on something now that will be superceded on the tabletop and consigned to a drawer in the garage in August.

Cheers
Mark

Klaxion 5: Patrol Sweep

Rabbi 45, Rabbi 45 this is Komodo 4.
Localised interference negating scanners.
Sweep of Yellow Sector negative. Repeat negative......

Sunset in 15......
Returning to base.

OK Zac, get us out of here.
The place gives me the creeps.
Feels like we're being watched.....

Been a 'choclate pants' sort of day. There's no Space Demon update this evening as I had a stupid mishap earlier and knocked several heads off the minis. Serves me right for using superglue bought from Poundland - 8 bottles for £1. It's crap at cementing metal to metal but fantastic at instantly glueing your fingers together. As I found out......

Don't ask! But there was one moment where I had my thumb fore and middle fingers stuck together. Worse still, the superglue had run between my fore and middle fingers and they were completely melded.

Luckily, Heather had a LARGE bottle of nail polish remover which softened the glue enough to allow with some effort, to painfully pull them apart. She was grateful that I managed to get my fingers apart but more so that I had picked up the Boots own brand nail remover in my haste and not her far more expensive Chanel one.

To restore the Space Demon heads, I mixed up small batches of Marmokitt 1000. This is an epoxy 'marble glue'. It's used to join/repair marble and granite features such as fireplaces. Once it sets, it quite literally sets like rock! I thoroughly recommend it as it will take a thermonuclear holocaust to seperate the Space Demons from their heads now!

Cheers
Mark

Ambush Alley: Force on Force

I thought Ambush Alley was THE most innovative set of warging rules since Arty Conliffe's CROSSFIRE.

I was wrong. AMBUSH ALLEY: FORCE ON FORCE has just blown me away!

Force on Force by Shawn Carpenter is a stand on it's own game that utilises the core mechanics from Ambush Alley to play engagements between regular forces rather than regulars vs. insurgents battles. Reading through Force on Force, OMG! OMG! OMG! kept repeating in my head. This could well be my personal holy grail of wargaming.

I particularly like the initiative system that has a more considered approach than Crossfire yet still manages to capture a fluid combat environment. This is not a set of mechanics that have been threaded together to bake a set of rules. Rather, Force on Force is a thoughfully designed, well oiled and balanced machine.

The focus is on platoon / reinforced platoon sized actions played on 2 foot by 2 foot or 2 foot by 3 foot tables from WW2, through Post-War, Modern and into the Near Future. No Panzer Korps here! Which make's it all so immensely 'do-able' by the average gamer. A Sci Fi supplement is being developed.

I'm going to be shaking the rules down over the coming weeks, playing several games with a Near Future or Sci Fi twist as the situation in Hyboria deteriorates into border clashes. I'll post these games on the Blog, so keep watching.

For more information on Force on Force go to Ambush Alley Games website: (Click here). I thoroughly recommend a visit if just to pinch the scenarios and mini-campaigns!

Cheers
Mark

On The Run......... An AMBUSH ALLEY After Action Report: Part 1

KLAXION 5
DAY 3 ......SUNSET IMMINENT

THC144007C:
"Keep moving grunts! Keep moving! 70 Klicks left to the outpost. How long before we have satellite cover?"










TCM146345G:
"Perigee in 27 minutes boss!"

TCM1578993J:
"Movement on the flank boss! I count 3, no six, nine....scanner's gone of the wall. Boy they're fast!"

TCM146345G:
"We're being followed......"




THC144007C:
"......No. We're being hunted."

Hyboria 48K

For some time Maff and I have been looking for a suitable background to anchor our Sci Fi gaming. Both fans of Marc Miller's original Traveller and later the Firefly 'Verse, we've found it difficult to pin ourselves to one or the other. We've even tried incorporating the 'Verse into the Imperium as a confederation of worlds similar to The Sword Worlds.

However, it was only once Maff and I both bought a copy of Future War Commander that the light bulb moment actually came. You see we are also long-term fans of Robert E Howards CONAN, and more specifically Howards' world of the Hyborean Age. There we had it, a world we were already familiar with, screeds of maps on the 'net, untainted by other Sci Fi canons, and flexible enough for us to drop in and drop out as we pleased.

We could even use Hyboria as a 'vanilla' setting for Ambush Alley, where the Aquilonian Rifle Brigade or Cimmerian Fusiliers are undertaking 'police actions' in Iranistan, Drujistan or Shem.

There are guilds, warlords, princedoms and empires who would welcome Hammers Slammers, Falkenberg's Legion, the Dorsai and employ alien mercenaries such as the Garn if it suited their purpose.

And of course, there are moons and asteroids to be claimed, contested and conquered.

Cheers
Mark