Incoming Transmission..... Rebel Minis Preview

Mike at Rebel Minis has sent me photos of his latest greens to share with you. There are two sets of Earth Force Marine variants, civilian bystanders and rioters.

Rebel Minis 15mm URBAN Earth Force Marines

Rebel Minis 15mm HAT & MASKED Earth Force Marines


Rebel Minis 15mm Civilian Bystanders


Rebel Minis 15mm Rioters!

Mike hopes to have these on the site at the end of next week! His sculptor is finishing up the Earth Forces, mortar, machine-gun team and a few others, then he is starting the Sahadeen heavies, Warmaidens and a few other surprises...

Cheers
Mark

Weird World War Two

With the end of the month this week, pay day is approaching fast - phew! So, I'm planning a slight body swerve from my more usual hard sci fi gaming this month.

I have a strong interest in apocalyptic survival and therefore have to admit being fascinated by the dying gasps of the Third Reich, especially the last few days in Berlin, which is summed up so wonderfully in Oliver Hirschbiegel's film DOWNFALL.

Add to this a love of Zombie movies ever since a teenager and you can imagine that games involving Nazi science trying to forestall the inevitable but instead create the ultimate Götterdämmerung of walking dead, have an appeal I find difficult resist.

Well, I can resist it no longer. Battlefront recently released a natty little pack containing 3 Soviet Roto Razvedki Universal Carriers (with crew) or £9.50, though you can pick them up in the UK from some stockists for less than £9.00. £3 per vehicle including crew - bargain! I love the dinky toy look of the Carrier, one of my favourite all time historical AFVs, so this set is a definite must have!

I'm ordering these as part of a Soviet Zombie Hunter force for WWW2 Götterdämmerung games, along with the Soviet Leytenant A V Pyl’cyn and Submachine-Gun Company pack to provide the dismounted element. They'll also make a nice tabletop force for Ambush Allet: Force on Force and potentially some low tech militia too.


If the budget stretches, I'll buy the Soviet LW flamethrower platoon too this month but I am going to have to get some German WW2 Zombies first.....these will mostly be derived from Peter Pig's LW Germans surrendering pack 446 and one of the greatcoated mortar crewmen in pack 552. I'll bend the arms and pop the heads forward or to one side and even replace some of them with Peter Pig's separate 'skull' heads.

Now, I'm just wondering which fully armoured Sci Fi miniatures would be best for elite WWW2 Soviets. I'm tempted to field yet more GZG New Israelis but this time with Peter Pig separate heads wearing pilotka sidecaps or Soviet tanker helmets? Or again with headsops, possibly ex-MJ Space Troopers from The Scene?

If any of you are doing or thinking of WWW2 in 15mm I'd welcome any input.

Cheers
Mark

More 15mm Headswops....

A couple more WIPs. Another Vargr and my favourite; a 15mm Colonel Steiner, Michael Caine becomes a 15mm 'Space Marine' Merc Commander.

My name is Michael Caine...

The minis are brilliant (even if I say so myself) despite looking far too washed out and rather unimpressive in the pics. That 'light' blue is Citadel Shadow Grey which drys darker than you expect, then with an additional Asurman Blue Wash. The lighter 'flesh' colour is Citadel Tallarn Flesh which if you know, is actually quite dark. Nevertheless, I'm so impressed by how effective 'Steiner' looks here in front of me that I'm going to create a 15mm WWW2 Götterdämmerung unit of Waffen SS types in pea dot camo.

Bit ruff this morning.......

So, how difficult is it to do swop heads? The answer is, not very as long as you are not fussy. At worst, it can be time consuming and incredibly boring after your first half dozen or so. I took a pair of sharp wire stripping snips, snipped off the heads and removed the resulting ridge along the cut with a sharp knife.

Did I drill a hole to pin the head? Did I bollocks! Took the edge of the knife and gouged out a small hole approximately where the neck (spigot) would sit within a blob of glue. I use cheap knifes with those reusable blades you snap, 5 for £1 from Poundland. I snipped the neck spigot down to about 1 or 1.5mm. Steiners head was attached using UHU Superglue gel, the Vargr using an epoxy resin.

If the head is at a high angle or doesn't have much purchase, I would suggest an additional 'sock' of epoxy resin to secure the attachment for all time. If you are worried about longetivity, I have headswopped miniatures which are 7-8 years old and short of a nuclear apocalypse, nothing is going to remove their heads.

The Peter pig human heads are really small and trying to position them with your fingers is only going to end up in tears and stuck fingers - believe me I know! Instead, roll out a small amount of Blutack, stick this to the top of the head and hold the other end of the Blutack to control placement on the shoulders.

On my first headswops I carefully built up new detail using expoxy modelling putty, but you know what? This is 15mm and once the figs are painted, even holding them up to your nose, you will barely notice any roughness or small blobs of glue you missed. Unlike the camera, our eyes don't have a Macro setting.

Cheers
Mark

More Hammerhead Space Demon Pics

Emptying the Sim Card on my camera this morning I found these pics of an alternative paintjob I've used on my Khurasan Miniatures 15mm Hammerhead Space Demons. This more fleshy scheme came about as Heather didn't like the pale 'Pitch Black' paint job and wanted me to try something more "feral". So I painted several of my Space Demons like this for her and she's really happy with the result.


It's a Citadel Bleached Bone basecoat with an old GW Flesh Wash and a very very light Citadel Devlann Mudd wash on the tail. To produce the highlights, I ran the tip of my finger along the high points of the model such as the crest of the skull before the ink had fully dried.


I have to say my own preferred paint scheme is Citadel Bleached Bone with Devlann Mudd Wash accenting, for a 'Pitch Black' Demon effect as described in one of my previous posts. It's just more 'menacing' and 'other worldly' IMO.

For me, these Hammerheads are the real star of Khurasan's Space Demon range....and I want more!!!!!

Cheers
Mark

15mm Vargr Mercenary Conversion

GZG 15mm New Israeli 'leader' body

with Beast Wolf Head from Peter Pig

Still very much a work in progress. Before you ask.....why yellow combat enviroment armour? Not only did I want to paint something radically different to blue! But it's believed wolves can only sense red and yellow. So, as a Vargr Merc commander, Grav'RR bought himself a distinguished yellow battlesuit. Unfortunately, like his rifle, it's seen better days, better battles.

The head is greyer in actuality than it appears in the photo - probably due to the Citadel Devlann Mud Wash. I still need to sort the Vargr's eyes to my satisfaction though.


His troopers are going to be painted in Citadel Shadow Grey (almost similar to RAF grey-blue), possibly with Black & Codex Grey tiger stripes.

Cheers
Mark

Spartans - All done bar the basing!

I'd been looking forward to returning to my Spartans all day. So, straight onto the painting (a.k.a. kitchen) table when I got home tonight in order to make the most of the fantastic evening light.

'Blue' Spartan Platoons No.2 and No.3 were finished in record time. I also emptied the last zip bags of GZG New Israeli odds and sods to create a couple of additional support squads and then just painted every last miniature left on the table until there is a small sea of blue. My thoughts turn to Chelsea and I'm reminded of the 1979 the FA Cup Winners Subbuteo team I owned as a kid. Chelsea's main rivals were rather surprisingly Brazil, whom I don't think ever actually played at Stamford Bridge........

By 8.30pm, 60 plus Spartans and 3 conversions done in just two nights, with plenty of time spare to crack open a bottle of wine and plump down on the sofa with Heather to cringe in unison at the latest episode of The Apprentice on the BBC. Best TV of the week.

Cheers
Mark

Blue is the Colour!

My search for an adversary worthy of my Victorian Science Fiction army is over at long last courtesy of SPACE CAPTAIN SMITH by Toby Frost.

Imagine GZG Ixx as the Ghast Empire hive intent on exterminating square jawed Victorian hero, Captain Isambard Smith, his eclectic crew, oh and all humanoid life!

I've only just begun this frivolous Victorian Sci Fi homage to Flashman, but loving it already and left somewhat inspired.......

......And my painting is too, following yesterday's good talking to by myself. This evening I finished 'Blue' Spartan Platoon No.1, Company Command and two scout/recce bases. OK, not a lot of figures compared to what I could potentially achieve in an evening after work, maybe, but through breaking down the task into smaller much more manageable chunks, I'm actually enjoying what I'm doing. So much so that I also completed from scratch an unplanned and very much ad hoc 'strike platoon' (blue armour, silver helmets and green visors). And oh! They do look cool!

But, it didn't stop there! Bouyed up, I also converted a couple of spare New Israeli minis into Vargr Mercs using Wolf Beast Heads from Peter Pig (Range 6, pack 42).

(pics to follow once green stuff is dry)

All in all a successful but more importantly, enjoyable evening!

Cheers
Mark

Another Spartan FWC Company in Progress

We took a few days out last week, in no small part due to my discovering a potent wine called Elephants Trail. In addition, a business related trip to Edinburgh allowed Heather to pass the doors of Valvona & Crolla “Edinburgh’s undisputed food heaven”, on her eway home and return laden with mucho fine Italian goodies. So we decided to pull up the drawbridge, drop the portcullis and have some quality 'us' time.

Refreshed, renewed and with a gloriously sunny morning heralding the potential for the first BBQ of the season, the omens seemed to be in favour of it being a good day for painting miniatures. Now, I'm not one to thumb my nose at the gods )often), so I began another FWC 'Company' of Blue Spartans using GZG's 15mm New Israelis. I deliberately focussed on a known quick win to jump start my motivation this week and get some real momentum back under way!

I find mounting them on old CD's gives me a lot of control

whilst also reminding me that I am painting
units rather than individuals.

I thoroughly recommend you read this excellent piece on painting Motivation and Momentum on The Painting Corps blog. Just don't read it whilst drinking a glass or two of Elephants Trail! As you will find all motivation, as well as all sense of feeling, slipping away......

On the subject of motivation and momentum, another thing I happened upon in mounting my figures on CDs, is that each one holds enough figures for 1 FWC platoon (or FAD/AA:FoF squad). If the idea of painting boltgun metal on the weapons of 30 guys in one sitting seems a chore, I know that if I get the weapons, visors and gauntlets completed on these 8-9 figs tonight, and maybe even base them as well, then at least I've finished a platoon. If I can't be arsed to complete more minis tonight or simply run out of time, then I'll do the second platoon tomorrow, but if something crops up so I can't paint, at least I've accomplished something and finished a whole platoon ready for gaming.

Notice that I am using a subtle psychology on myself by talking in terms of 'platoons' rather than no.s of bases or miniatures. By thinking in terms of platoons, completing a 'platoon' convinces me that I've accomplished more than implied by 3 or 4 'bases' of miniatures. Also, looking at the task remaining ahead, I now ONLY have two more 'platoons' to finish, which feels less of a chore than thinking of 9 -12 'bases'.

Cheers
Mark

Space Demons Paint Job

Hammerhead Space Demon

Khurasan Miniatures 15mm
Hammerhead Space Demon

Citadel Bleached Bone as base, Devlan Mudd Wash,
drybrushed with 2 parts Bleached Bone to 1 part white

I wanted a look for my Hammerhead Warriors that wasn't movie Aliens glossy or metallic black, and somewhat closer to the creatures in the movie Pitch Black.


Think I did quite well.

Cheers
Mark

Big Gorram Heroes.....In the Pipe

Big Gorram Heroes

Fast Play Sci Fi Firefights

in a Space Cowboy Universe

Dropship Horizon 2009©

We've lit the fires and kicked the tyres.......it's in the pipe. Arrival is imminent.

Upload Issues.....

哎呀！壞了 Sorry folks - having a few issues uploading the Space Cowboy rules.....ee da tuo da bien - looks like I'll have to retype them rather than a simple copy and paste.

Cheers
Mark

GZG 15mm 8 Wheeled MAWP & UAV Hoverdrone Review

A double review today. Two very tasty remote/AI vehicles from GZG, the V15-62A Wheeled MAWP with tribarrel autocannon (£2.50) and V15-60A UAV Hoverdrones (£3.50).

First up, the MAWP. This is a dinky little 6 wheeled remote gun platform (read tank) that could easily find a home in any Near Future, Mid-Tech or Colonial tabletop force. I could even see it accompanying the Alien Mercenaries we looked at on Saturday to make them a somewhat beefier proposition.

GZG V15-62A Wheeled MAWP
with tribarrel autocannon (£2.50)

As we've come to expect from GZG, there are three variants of the wheeled MAWP (tribarrel, missiles and plasma cannon). It comes as an 11 piece kit - hull, sponsons, 6 wheels, turret and gun, which fit together really easily. Some blu-tack is holding the weapon in place for the photos, otherwise there's nothing else holding it together right now. I would recommend a dry-run before final assembly and you paint the hull sides before gluing on the wheels.

There's something vaguely Blakes 7 or even UFO about the wheeled MAWP and I like it even more for that. I can easily visualise it crashing across a lunar surface providing fire support to guys in Vacc-Suits!

Now, I bet you thought that Kitbash of the Week had dried up! As if! Below you see a quick and simple kitbash of the MAWP using the remote turret from V15-44A High Tech light Grav APC/Scout vehicle.

Kitbash of the Week
GZG V15-62A Wheeled MAWP with turret from V15-44A

Let's move onto V15-60A UAV Hoverdrones. These come two to a pack, which includes separate weapons pods (1 pair of tribarrel cannon and one pair of rockets) and clear plastic flight stands for £3.50. Bargain! When I bought them I didn't realise they came with the stands, so that was a bonus, providing an inexpensive alternative to GW Tau Gundrones I was considering!

GZG: V15-60A Pair of UAV Hoverdrones
(pack of 2) ) £3.50

Once again, I really like these models. The Hoverdrones are well sculpted and are detailed on the underside as well. The hover blades in the centre of the model are very well executed. You see it here without the weapon pods attached. One of the models had quite a bit of flash, but nothing a few minutes with a knife and file won't overcome.

I'm planning on fielding up to 6 of these babes to provide cover to a light recce/screening force. Or I may even use them as a force in their own right - possibly in conjunction with GZG's unmanned AI Gunships and a range of diffrenet MAWPS.


Both the UAV Hoverdrones and MAWP are really nice models that will complement 15mm, 20mm and 28mm Sci Fi forces as remote (AI) weapons platforms. It wouldn't hurt to have a couple of each these in your collection to ring the occasional change to your forces or even provide those additional points where you need them to 'balance' a points based game system.

Cheers
Mark

Intermission...........

(Click here)

You couldn't make it up, could you!

GZG 15mm Alien Mercenaries Review

GZG 15mm SG15-X05 Alien Mercenaries 12 figures for £5.00

SG15-X05 were a surprise addition to GZG's 15mm new releases in time for SALUTE. The pack consists of 12 miniatures created from 3 basic sculpts: x1 Leader, x3 Support Gunners, x8 grunts.

Lovely minis equally at home being alien pirates, slavers, mercenaries or allies. My first thoughts were to use these as ersatz Managlores (the alien mercenaries from The Fifth Element), but due to the solitary grunt sculpt (and 8 of the same miniature in the pack), I've decided there's not enough variation and am instead using the Alien Mercs to mix in with my army of ex-MJ Figures Space Orkz, (now available from The Scene).

The best figure in the pack is the 'gunner' who bears a passing similarity to the Ork flamethrower operator in the W40K Dawn of War opening video (Youtube). You'll find him exactly one minute into the film sequence.

The gunner wears a 'leather' flying cap and goggles which gives him superb character. More please Jon!

Got to say, that video is rocking! It is enough on it's own to make me want to play W40K......annnnd, back in the room.......yeah, it would have been really great if the gunner had two different heads and there was at least one more grunt sculpt, preferably two,- that would have allowed me to think of having at least a platoon of these guys as a discrete outfit selling to the highest bidder.

Nevertheless, fun minis in 15mm. After some thought, I'm going to break up the samieness of the grunt sculpt by giving them helmets, goggles, possibly even a bandana or Hannibal Lecter face mask.

Cheers
Mark

FREE TRADERS: Part 1 - Characters & Stats

The crew of DROPSHIP HORIZON present the first installment of our Quick and Dirty (QuaD) character based Sci Fi rules:

FREE TRADERS & SPACE COWBOYS

Over the coming Easter Weekend we will be posting Characters, Stats, Patrons, Combat rules and Missions. Enjoy! A pdf with the consolidated rules will be available in the near future.

BACKGROUND

Five beat-up but lived-in crew and four passengers of the MSV Upland Goose form an uneasy alliance as they attempt to find their way in the cosmos in a dented Free Trader they call home until a better one comes along.

CHARACTERS

Captain Evan"Mal" Evans

Big Goram Hero - 4 dice to do anything (not tech stuff), strong, tough, brawler

Formerly a Colour Sergeant in 45 Drop Commando. Served in the Patagonia Campaign until the Centralist Coalition withdrew it's support - for which he blames the NAC. Fought on alongside the Colonists until the Battle of Overrun. Now owns MSV Upland Goose a Migration Class Free Trader. Armed with a MilSpec-NewTech pistol; his loyal sidekick is......

Zooey

Big Goram Hero - 4 dice to do anything ( ditto Evans) , tough, dexterity

She served as a Corporal with Evans in 45 Drop Commando and shares both his politics and morale compass; originated from The Bay Arcology in New Cardiff. Her weapon of choice is a cut down MilSpec shotgun carbine. Married to......



Dino

3 dice but 2 with guns, 4 with pilot/computers/vehicles

A Hawaii shirt salesman, conscripted into the Star Marine Fighter Corps and bribed his way into Flight School, emerging as Top Gun with a dinosaur fixation. On acquisition trips, he dresses and acts like a C18th sea pirate! ArrRRR! He's armed but only just, with a Mauser 5.56 recoiless minigun which thinks sounds cool.


Sue

3 Dice - 4 with guns / melee - Big Goram Hero, tough, brawler

A man called Sue may not surprisingly have a chip on his shoulder. Sue is fixated by guns; his current favourite is a .48 Tornado VI NewTech assault sniper carbine with Rail Extension V and explosive flechette rounds. Despite being a hard man, he hopes for a kindly smile, a soft word and understanding, so every now and then just watches......



Kylie

3 dice, 2 with guns, 4 with engines or to distract guards/bouncers/henchmen

An innocent, sweet looking ship's engineer with a taste for engines, engine oil and engineers (in that order); she can get anything moving at any time. She has a "LadyCommando" autopistol but prefers to get uo close and personal with a monkey wrench. She is sweet on......

Dr Hugh

2 dice but 4 for medical/computers

A brilliant surgeon in a sharp suit, he is scared of guns, girls and government agents. Armed with a .25 pocket pistol which he can't use, he is probably quite dangerous with a scalpel if cornered. His sister is......


Brooke

2 dice until she "switches on" via a quality roll then shes a Big Goram Hero for any combat skill.

A waif like, sexually enigmatic teenager who is barking mad, a walking encyclopdeia and lethal weapon rolled into one! Sought after by government agents she is protected by her brother and......

Samuel J "Preacher" Johnson

3 dice but 4 with bluffing or computers

An itinerant priest, "Dont mistake me for your usual kind of 'preach'. For mine is a jealous god. The Good Book says that thou shalt not kill; but i say, if you really, absolutely have to, then you kill every gorram mofo in the cockpit". He has a compact combat shotgun and is concerned for the soul of......

Imascara

2 dice but 4 for diplomatic stuff, 3 in melee, bow is 4 dice within a handspan

A former high class call girl on Central, she now runs a holistic massage service and nail bar in the B Shuttle. She is armed with an Artemis PointGrosseBlank mini crossbow and several easily concealed stilleto fighting knives. Given her knowledge of anatomy she rolls 3 dice in melee!


DROPSHIP HORIZON 2009©


Miniatures are GZG SG15-X04: Free Trader Crew and Passengers 9 individual character sculpts £3.50

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

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

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