ArtCrime Productions 15mm Valkyrie Battle Suits

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Standing 28mm tall (including base) and 20mm wide at the shoulders ArtCrime Productions 15mm Sci Fi Valkyrie Battle Suits are impressive.

ArtCrime Productions 15mm Sci Fi

TC001-Valkyrie Battle Suit

There are three Valkrie models available - TC001= standard, TC=002= Anti-tank and TC003= Support. The Anti-tank and Support variants can be seen on the ArcPro blog. Nuff said about them here.

The models I received in TC001 had enough parts to create 3 of the basic Valkyrie battle suits plus 3 square plastic slottabases. Each model comprised of a torso with integral head, legs, left and right arms, weapon. In this case the weapon is a drum fed slug or grenade launcher.

The legs which came in the pack were all in a wide-legged standing gait. There's a robust spigot on the hips which attaches the torso and allows it to swivel. I initially felt the torso was too small but once the arms are in place and the model is tooled up, it looks really good. The design feels solid and real-world, whilst the finish is clean and sharp. I found that the Valkyrie will also works alongside with my 20mm, 25mm and to a lesser extent, 28mm Sci Fi miniatures.

On the workbench the Valkyrie gives the impression of being a powerful battle suit or combat mechaniod. There's also a touch of Heinlein in the air - you can imagine the running anti-tank Valkyrie (shown on the blog) being 'Mobile' Trooper 'on the bounce'.

I feel tempted to use these Valkyries within my ASQL2 Mechanoid Army. They will definitely appear as 'army generica' badass combat robots/battle suits to support my Felids et al.

Cheers

Mark

 

Don't Believe What You Hear...Size Matters!

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My thanks to Craig at Critical Mass Games, who has taken some time out of his busy schedule preparing for SALUTE this coming saturday to photograph the new Tamaska / Fenrir Heavy Walker.


These photos give you an idea of the size of the beast especially in relation to other Critical Mass Games products.

This 15mm Sci Fi model kit will be released available on Saturday 24th, at SALUTE.

Cheers
Mark
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It's HAMMER Time!

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Rebel Minis HAMMER SUIT!
Barking MAD..... but rather tasty with it!

See more WIP details over at John Bear Ross's blog here (Click me!) and (Part 2 here!). I wonder if mecha sized combat knives will be the weapon of choice in the future?

If you don't like the idea of a plexi-glass/plas-steel cockpit then paint it as a metal/camo shell - the operator is working from virtual screens in front of him or fed to his helmet visor.

Available from Rebel Minis soon:

WWW.REBELMINIS.COM

Cheers
Mark
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Götterdämmerung.... Weird Nazis.... & Purplebellies

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What is all this "Weird Sci Fi Nazi Domina" stuff anyway?

Answer: Fun way of reusing a lot of tired WW2 kit and creating an additional Low-tech Sci Fi army.

Plus, Sci fi Germans are very useful as Purplebellies! The clearest view of an Alliance Purplebelly in Firefly is in a flashback to the Unification War in The Message. Definitely Weird Reich territory.

Went back to work on Friday and was promptly sent home again. I worked from home today and as a consequence do finally feel better and will go back in tomorrow over "Donkey Cough!" at last.

A very real benefit of working from home in cash terms is saving myself twenty 'squid' on train fares and something for lunch, so I've reinvested £3.18 ($4.99) on the GEAR KRIEG German Walker Compendium 1 (Loki).

I'm not into Gear Krieg per se, simply bought this book for the eye candy if I'm honest with you and will probably never read the text. Was it worth that instant gratification that only a pdf can bring? Oh yes! Worth it for the photos of superbly painted 15mm WW2, Weird Reich and Gear Krieg kit by the talented Agis Neugebauer. And I've picked up some nice little touches of inspiration for my own Götterdämmerung collection.

What you get for your money is a 26 page book that's very professionally produced. When you purchase from Wargames Vault you will get a full colour download, a B/W copy to download, and a set of Unit Stats also. The latter has even more colour photos of individual German walker variants.

The very last photo in the Compendium made me want to go back into Wargames Vault and download the Rapid Fire! Battle of the Bulge scenario & mini campaign book ($17.50). Save that for another day perhaps.

Cheers
Mark
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Brrr It's Cold in Here......

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Keep an eye on the Critical Mass Games Forum where you can follow Craig and Dale as they build Kyushu Bay for a Protolene vs Arc Fleet display game for next year. For more intel click here: Kyushu Bay.

All of this 'Artic' camo makes sense now!

Nice 'rust' and general wear and tear detailing

All starting to come together now.

Must admit, all that white makes me think that they
would make very nice troopers on the Solomani Rim

After much vacillation last month I bought a platoon of AVH4 Cannon Support Combat Walkers. Very nice models. I can only describe them as 'meaty' and somewhat brutal in appearance. I'm tempted to paint Forest Green, slap big Red Stars on them and use them with my fledgling WWW2 Soviets.

So, I have 3 Combat Walkers now, do I need more? I can hear your voice of reason in my ear Master Chef! If I'm practical, then certainly not. At least, not now we have decided to concentrate on the following Sci Fi game systems:

Alien Squad Leader
for fun Sci Fi mid-week games

Tomorrows War
for down and dirty gruntfest a couple of saturdays a month

We Can Be Heroes/Mutants and Death Ray Guns
for individual skirmish and character games as the mood takes us

But, you know, I still have it in my head that I want six Combat Walkers. If just simply because they will look cool en-masse on the tabletop. So, stuff it! I'm going for an additional platoon set of 3 Scout Walkers this month - whilst the going is good!

That will seal my vision for a Combat Walker force supported by a horde of GZG aerial drones, plus a selection of wheeled MAWPs (again GZG), mini-walkers or infantry escorts to keep enemy infantry and surface drones at bay.

In fact, with a little license I could also play the Combat Walkers as a Tripod Army with Alien Squad Leader.

Cheers
Mark
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Critical Mass Games - Wave 2 Released

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Just a quick reminder that Wave 2 of Critical Mass Games new 15mm releases are available on the website NOW!

Wave 2 includes Arc Fleet Rifle Infantry and the full range of Combat Walkers previewed on Dropship Horizon last week whihc showed pre-production photos illustrating the breakdown of parts.

The Combat Walkers are available singly and in discounted platoon sets. Something worthwhile to take on those Rebel Minis' Martian Walkers and 15mm.co.uk Giant Mechas on their own terms!


Whilst designed to support the Arc Fleet forces, these beauties will fit in with many Near Future and Sci Fi ranges currently on the market.

Remember that the Combat Walkers come with a randomly supplied crew figure. See the variants below:

I had a rewarding chat with Craig on Saturday regarding painting and basing techniques. You can clearly see Craig's fine work in this picture of the Arc Fleet Rifle Infantry:


If you want to achieve these sort of painting results yourself pop over to the Critical Mass Games' Forum and follow Dales' step by step tutorial on painting the Light Recon in a 'Desert' scheme (Dales Desert Painting Guide).

It's worth keeping an eye on the Painting & Modelling thread to see how other gamers have painted their minis. I particularly like the overall effect of the painted miniatures by Alexmunkey and Tri3. Something about Phil of Firezone Studio's more classic Sci Fi hits an inner cord with me and subsequently inspired me to paint some of my Light Recon miniatures in a similar fashion as a 'Commando Strike Force'.

Combat Walkers and Arc Fleet Rifle Infantry are available from:

WWW.CRITICALMASSGAMES.COM

Cheers
Mark
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