Wednesday, 8 April 2009

Rebel Minis 'Mighty Armour' Workbench

Responding to customer requests on TMP, Mike at Rebel Minis has sent me some 'workbench' photos from his upcoming line of Mighty Armour Sci Fi AFV's to share with you. These include the Merka 5 Medium Tank, the standard Combat Flatbed and the first variation of the recently released APC, the Twin Gun Badger Class APC. There will be more variations of these AFV's later.


Rebel Minis 15mm Merka 5


Rebel Minis 15mm Combat Flatbed

Rebel Minis 15mm Twin Gun Badger Class

More details on realease dates, prices etc. will appear on TMP and Dropship Horizon when the information is available.

Below is a photo of the 1st release in the range for 2009, MAEFV1 the Earth Force APC at $9.99.

MAEFV1 Earth Force APC at $9.99

Available now from Rebel Minis. For more details (click here)

Cheers
Mark


Monday, 6 April 2009

Hyborian Campaign: Futuristic Background

Very rarely a recruit will mistake me for a decent non-tentacled being they can talk to. "Master Chef" they'll ask "if you lost a war would you get all eaten by revenge like Mal Reynolds?"

I reply with the Master Chef's First Rule Of War - WIN! My Second Rule Of War is " if losing, keep fighting till you WIN!" I then introduce them to the Master Chef's Universal Rule or "Dumbgrunts get to do 50 - NOW!"

On with the Intel briefing.......

Hybor 654

The tech level of H654 is pre spaceflight but in system travel is being developed. The planet is heavily balkanised, maps are available on the Command Net or in the historical novels of Howard, available from Warperstones (do not forget to claim you UNSC discount). There are a number of geo-political groupings.

Aquilonia-Nemedia remain as two separate nations, with a long history of rivalry and open warfare, Aquilonia-Nemedia realised that the increasing rise of the Turan & Hyrkanian regimes meant that they had to stand together or fall on their own. The tech level is advanced and the forces well trained; the Aquilonian Intervention Force (AIFOR) is an all arms brigade ready for rapid deployment; Aquiloniania has made much of the reforms in the Oceanic Indigenous Zone previously known as Pictland, now a source of vital natual resources. The Shadizar Herald Tribune though frequently reports alleged disturbances in the OIZ.

Nemedia is focused on the ongoing anarchy in Asgard & Vanaheim and has concentrated on using Hyperboria to offset Brythunian ambitions.

The northern states of Asgard and Vanaheim are in a constant cold war. The closed kingdom of Hyperborea destabilises them both whilst applying constant political and military prerssure to bear on Brythunia - which is edging towards an internal crisis as its previously strong government slips into the pockets of Hyperborian generals

Cimmeria is a net exporter of well drilled mercenary troops.

Koth is seeking to " Ophirise" the small but wealthy countries of Khoraja, Corinthia and Khauran (the ambition of creating the Greater Koth) and is simply at daggers drawn with Aquilonia-Nemedia.

The need for a stable corridor to Turan has led Aquilonia-Nemedia to invest heavily in Zamora - now ovecoming its murky past to achieve solid open government.

Turan is using the vast natual resources of the Vilayet Sea to dominate the east of Hybor in a looming face off with the Hyrkanian Empire of the Steppes.


Master Chef
Dismiss!

Rebel Minis - 15mm Martian Sahadeen PREVIEW

First glimpse of Mike's new 15mm Martian Rebel Sahadeen miniatures:

15mm Rebel Minis Sahadeen Fighters


Really cool minis useful as Near Future insurgents, post apocalyptic scavengers, Sci Fi resistance or penal troops etc.

More details on release dates, pack sizes and prices when they are available.

Cheers
Mark

Sunday, 5 April 2009

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

VSF: NEW Peter Pig Sudan Highlanders

Whilst perusing Mr Peter Pig's finest miniatures on the ether web, I came across a truly astounding new dicovery obscurated amongst their cornucopia of merchandise...... miniature toy soldiers of the finest quality representing Highlanders have appeared this very week in Messr Pig's Patrols in the Sudan range.


15mm Highland Infantry Advancing
Pack 22/82, £2.30 for 8 infantry
from Peter Pig


15mm Highland Command
Pack 22/83, £2.30 for 8 infantry
from Peter Pig

At bloody last I have a decent reason to finish my 15mm Sudan collection, conduct punitive expeditions against the Pathan and make Mars the ruby of Her Imperial Britannic Majesty's crown.

Now, anyone interested in 15mm VSF, or alternatively wants to reenact the Sinking of The Titanic, should seriously consider Peter Pig's Naval ships crew, Pack 22/61.


"Iceberg dead ahead Skipper...."
"Hoover Dam! Smile and wave boys. Smile and wave"


There's a nice retro Sci Fi feel about these figures that could make them useful as a luxury cruise liner crew like those on Fhlotsin Paradise in The Fifth Element. Yes?

Cheers
Mark