Life, Work, The Universe...... White Stuff

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2" of snow and the country descends into chaos. Every year it's a shock - "My god! White stuff!" Of course it's not as simple as that. But the point is, why can't we as a nation plan to mitigate it where possible and accept that for a couple of days, life might not be as normal. Couple of days I said - that doesn't mean panic buying at the Co-op! It's all about a sense of proportion and preparedness.

 

This is our winter wonderland on Saturday

 Saturday Evening!

 Sunday Evening!

Tuesday! Hills, what hills?

Haven't seen them since Sunday lunchtime

Why didn't I collect Star Wars action figures? Right now, that snow in the garden could make a great Hoth battlefield!

Time to raid Forbidden Planet in Aberdeen!

4" of snow fell in an hour on Saturday evening and we now have about a foot outside with drifts up to three feet. Heather has been away on business in Oxford and caught up in the resulting travel chaos. She finally walked through the door at 2am this morning - making the last plane to Aberdeen, which touched down bang on midnight. My thanks go to the anonymous ex-Bootneck taxi driver who braved blizzard and an icy but deserted dual carriageway to bring her home. I cleared the Freelander around 1am, in case I had to meet them half way, but thanks to her driver, Heather only had to walk the final hundred yards to return home safe.

Cheers

Mark

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All Gone A Bit Hadley's Hope

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We were in town on Saturday where I picked up a very reasonably priced copy of Aliens vs Predator for the XBOX 360.

I started the 'Marine' campaign set on Hadley's Hope and have to say, had a real blast! Dark corridors, bleeping motion trackers, Xenomorphs by the interstellar bus load and a very nice female Latino Marine called Tequila guiding my half arsed, half panicked attempts to survive. The game really got the blood pumping and inspired me to recreate the action on the tabletop!

I want to make an important point here. Computer and console games don't replace the miniatures game for me and the same is true of Master Chef. They inspire us to recapture the console action once again on the tabletop with miniatures.

My Googlefu failed to find a decent pic of Tequila on the net, to captivate budding 15mm Colonial Marine sculptors out there - but Natassia Malthe makes a gratuitous but very attractive proxy for this foxy Marine.

By way of  'research' just had to watch Aliens (1986) this afternoon, which left me all fired up for a Bug Hunt! The day job is going to be tough up till Christmas, so this will be a nice lightweight and fun diversion, switching between media and back as I like.


Unfortunately, to my mind, there are no decent Colonial Marine proxies in 15mm that appeal to me. RAFM's classic ex-Traveller Mid-Tech troopers are the nearest to my tastes but lack poses, weapon variation and character for any kind of  'heroic' movie'esque skirmish game. GZG's 15mm NAC? Yes, but they are still NAC. Denizen's 25mm Mid-Tech troopers are really tempting but I already own some of RH Model's excellent 20mm Colonial Marines!

RH Models 20mm Sci Fi

Colonial Marines

"State of the bad-ass art"

I will have a go at sculpting a female head onto the slimmest of the marines and share with you my success or failure. Khurasan's Space Demons will be perfect for the 'aliens', especially the big daddy Space Demon King. And, I'll start painting the Marines this week. So there we have it, on the ready line! Lock n load and wake up Hicks - because they're gonna need everything they've got to survive the colony on a terra-formed planet that swarms with bad-ass xenomorphs.

Cheers

Mark

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Pre Christmas Special Offer from 15mm.co.uk

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15mm.co.uk are offering a  free pack of HOF57 Starfighter Crew worth £3.50 with any order containing a science fiction item from their ranges.

HOF57 Starfighter Crew

These miniatures are great as any kind of Sci Fi support, maintenance and repair personnel. A couple of the figs could even make downed Grav Tank or Dropship crewmen.

To get a free pack of HOF57 all you need to do is order ANY item from the following 15mm.co.uk  ranges:

• Laserburn 15mm Science Fiction
• HOF 15mm Science Fiction
• SHM Range
• 6mm Sci-fi Range
• UM001 USE ME 15mm Science Fiction book
• Laserburn Books

One pack of HOF57 will automatically be added to every order placed for one or more items from the above list of range and products upon dispatch.

We will accept any number of orders from a customer but only one free pack per placed order will be honoured.

Offer ends Monday 6th December, 2010

Cheers

Mark

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Additional Optional Rules for USE ME available now

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From Alex Scott at 15mm.co.uk......

"Many thanks to all of you who have decided to play USE ME for your 15mm sci-fi games.  Thanks for your support!

I am happy to be able to announce that feedback and requests in the last month from players has resulted in another page of free optional advanced rules for the game.

You do not need this document to play USE ME, you can pick and choose the optional rules you want to use based on your own setting and troops from your 15mm sci-fi gaming collection.

The subject of the free page is Cyborg Enslavers, their aims, their motives, their special rules and force compostion examples.

You can get this page for free from the Barking Irons Blog .

You can learn all about this mighty little system for only £3.50 and about the Cyborg Enslavers as pictured are in our SHM Range from £0.35 each on our website (www.15mm.co.uk)"

Thanks

Alexander Scott

Cheers Alex

Mark

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Gonna Have Me Some Fun Tonight!

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It's no secret that Heather and I are big aficianados of the classic 1987 PREDATOR movie starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jesse Ventura and Sonny Landham.

So, to celebrate the imminent release of a 15mm "slackjawed" Special Forces team (SF01-SF07) from The Scene, Dropship Horizon is proud to sponsor a PREDATOR inspired give away!

To have a chance to win the first set of these new minis from The Scene, all you have to do to demonstrate your Predator Mojo is leave a message below, that:

1) identifies SIX animals mentioned by the characters in the film.

2) correctly identifies the order in which they are mentioned.

You get more brownie points for answering in the true spirit of this competition!

Without doubt, Blain played by Jesse Ventura gets the best lines and in our minds is the most enduring character in the movie. To win the second set of these Special Forces miniatures all you have to do is create:

3) a quote in the style of a typical "Blainism", eg "They're shooting straighter than a Saratoga snake".

 The "Blainism" Heather judges the best, wins.

The competition is open until Mike puts the figures up on the webshop. Entries made anonymously without a name included in the entry are disqualified for obvious practical reasons, "I'm Brian, and so's my wife!". We're looking forward to seeing your entries - Have fun & best of luck!

Cheers

Mark

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Critical Mass Games goes critical!

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This week's blog entries for Critical Mass Games amassed a staggering 1,608 views on Thursday alone! You can catch Critical Mass Games at WARFARE 2010 in Reading this saturday and sunday 20/21st November.

Cheers

Mark

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INCOMING......Arc Fleet Heavy Weapons

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Next releases from Critical Mass Games are Heavy Weapons for the Arc Fleet Light Recon and heavily armoured Augmented Foot Troops.

 15mm Sci Fi: AFAU3: 6 figures, 3 poses for £3.70

15mm Sci Fi: AFAU4: 6 figures, 3 poses for £3.70

15mm Sci Fi: AFLR5: 8 figures, 3 poses for £3.70

15mm Sci Fi: AFALR: 8 figures, 3 poses for £3.70

Whilst for me it's Recon, all the way! The Augments are impressive figures. With this release we now have some much anticipated man portable firepower on the tabletop.Me, I like them as troopers with BFGs in their own right.

Available Monday 22nd November 2010

Cheers

Mark

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On that bombshell! The Dragamaa Heavy Tank

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Some say, he has rhinocerous blood and stole the alien blueprints from AREA 51. All we know is Craig at Critical Mass Games can paint a mean Dragamaa heavy tank!

Dragamaa Heavy Tank

15mm Sci Fi KAVH11: £12.00

15mm Sci Fi KAVH13, 12, 11: £12.00 each

Mix & Match Platoon for £34.00

And if you want to know how to achieve these stunning tank camo effects yourself, Craig has also create a video tutorial. Inspiring stuff!

Cheers

Mark

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The Cool Wall: The Gekotaa Armoured Car

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Some say he hangs upside down like a bat and uses brushes made with Yeti fur. Nevertheless Craig at Critical Mass Games once again shows us how to pimp your 15mm Gekotaa ride with an exotic camo scheme.

 Gekotaa Armoured Car

15mm Sci Fi KAVH9, 8, 7: £7.50 each

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15mm Sci Fi KAVH7: £7.50

 

15mm Sci Fi KAVH8: £7.50

Would Kristin Scott Thomas be happy for you to turn up and take her to dinner in a Gekotaa? If she was being chased by slavvering Zombie hordes or voracious alien flora - you bet!

Cheers

Mark

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Top Gear! The Dractaama APC on the catwalk

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If you thought the Dractamaa APC was the Renault Espace of Sci Fi people carriers.....then think again! Look at this superb eye candy from Craig at Critical Mass Games.

The Dractaama APC

15mm Sci Fi KAVH1: £8.50

15mm Sci Fi KAVH2: £8.50

15mm Sci Fi KAVH3: £8.50

 

15mm Sci Fi KAVH4: £8.50

Critical Mass Games also have a Mix & Match platoon deal. You can order one of each or any combination up to four models for £32.00.

Cheers

Mark

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INCOMING......15mm "Goddamn Sexual Tyrannosauruses"

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As you know we are big fans of the original PREDATOR movie. Here's a Predator inspired game played back in April, earlier this year. And yes, whilst we played , the air was full of our best gutteral Arnie impersonations reliving classic lines from the movie, "Billy!"..."I wouldn't wish that on a Broke-dick dog!"......"Get to da Choppa!".....

So you can imagine my delight, that Mike at The Scene is on the verge of releasing a bunch of 15mm "god damned sexual Tyrannosaurus(es)"......

 The Scene UK, 15mm Sci Fi Special Forces

SF01 to SF03

The Scene UK, 15mm Sci Fi Special Forces

SF04 to SF07

And you'll never guess the symmetry, I made an open appeal to 15mm Sci Fi manufacturers for characters like these, suitable as proxies for the movie, back on 14th November last year (link)!

So, to celebrate the release of these minis plus 30,000+ pageviews in the last 30 days, I'm going to give away two complete sets of 15mm Special Forces from The Scene during the course of this week. Stay tuned for more intel on how to win 'Dutch' and the team.

Cheers

Mark

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"Tracker's off the scale, man!"

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We've reached a small milestone at Dropship Horizon. More than 30,000 pageviews in the last 30 days, giving more than 105,000 since June 1st this year.

30,478

Pageviews from 

16 October thru 14 November, 2010

105,555

Pageviews since June 1st 2010

Whether you are a regular follower or just dip in and out, thank you for coming aboard. The popularity of Dropship Horizon is only a reflection of the contributions you have all made towards the renaissance in 15mm Sci Fi over the past two years. We are now definitely in the pipe....five by five!

Cheers

Mark

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INCOMING....... Rebel Minis 15mm Earth Force Armoured Troops

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Rebel Minis have just released their much awaited Earth Force Armoured Troops (AT) and in time to be added to the Xmas Wishlist!

The Earth Force Armoured Troops are based on the cover art for Mighty Armour (left). Very much classic Traveller/Striker in style but also suitable as near future, bleeding edge soldiery for Tomorrow's War, FAD etc. These are also troops I'd expect to see in Ghost Recon Future Soldier.

Rebel Minis 15mm Sci Fi

MAEF8 Earth Force Armoured Troops

21 minis for $10.95

Whilst the number of poses is limited, there's enough to get started on a small platoon with a couple of headswops. In the meantime, support and heavy weapons can come from any number of options these days - including GZG's Gunbots, UAVs, robotic soldiery or Rebel Minis' own HAMR Suits. There will be dedicated support and heavy weapons in due course.
 
Rebel have also released a pack of Earth Force Home Guard Heavy Weapons comprising of 2 Snipers (walking), 2 Flamers and 2 medium Missle launchers for $3.47.

I've placed an order for the Earth Force Armoured Troops and looking forward to what may well be the best 15mm Sci Fi figures Rebel Minis have produced to date.

Cheers

Mark

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More on the Lunar Moonscape Felt Game Mat

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We were discussing the new Moonscape Felt Game Mat from Hotz Artworks on Wednesday. Looks like it's a definite goer at both Chez Dropship and Chez Master Chef. Here's the 'hexagon' option with microarmour, seen below. It really makes the craters stand out and may just push me towards some 6mm Sci Fi! We'll be ordering the plain mat with airbrushed craters suitable for 15-20mm miniatures.

Moonscape Felt Mat

Hexagon Option

Eric at Hotz Artworks sent me some further details:

"I will be adding the crater option to our Mars Red, Desert Brown and Snow Field mats as well, as all three can be used for Sci-Fi gaming.  I will be adding a fourth planet mat shortly, just as soon as my airbrush artist has had a chance to work it over".

Looking forward to seeing these! Eric also admitted to being a fan of the classic 70's Sci Fi TV show, UFO which provided some of the inspiration for the Moonscape Felt Game Mat.

See how one fan recreated the SHADO Moonbase here: Moonbase

Cheers

Mark

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TARGE 2010

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Had been looking forward to attending TARGE 2010  hosted by the Kirriemuir Wargames Club for the last month and it didn't disappoint today.

There was a completely different dynamic to SKELP held last month, only a crows fart away in Forfar. Helped I think by being held in a modern bright and airy primary school. The games were better, more traders and a lively buzz about the place. The downside was that tables were close together and I felt things were claustrophobic in the main hall, which prevented me from loitering and really looking at what traders had to offer. Consequently my spending on figures for the day was £7. That's right, just £7.

 

Targe 2010, 6mm Modern Game

The games were of an impressive quality overall, without being over the top. Heather came with me, her first show since Triples about 15 years ago. She was impressed by the Phoenix Wargames Club's Nijmegan table (below), particularly how they brought all the separate elements together to create a very do-able "you can also do this at home" game.

Targe 2010, Phoenix Wargames Club
15mm Nijmegan

Targe 2010, Phoenix Wargames Club
Battlegroup Panzergrenadier Rules

Next table over was a beautiful 28mm ECW game on sculpted home made terrain. Couple of regiments per side - again nothing that you couldn't do at home. This was Heather's favourite of the day, as she felt this was closest to being a historical camera on the past.

Targe 2010, 28mm ECW Game

As a Romanophile, I expected Heather to show interest in Aberdeen Wargames Club's 54mm Spartacus Revolt game - but nay a flicker. Instead a Dr Who game took her attention which she thought Master Chef would love.

Targe 2010, 20mm WW2 Game

Possibly the most interesting table from a terrain perspective was a 28mm Sino-Japanese game. Unfortunately the Sino-Japanese war leaves me cold but I still appreciate the effort expended. Hats off to the guys for cramming as much eye-candy in the form of a tramp steamer, junks, armoured train, tanks and bi-plane onto the table as they could.

Targe 2010, 28mm Sino-Japanese Game

Worth mentioning, the Urban Mammoth boys had a 2 foot 'pizza base' game table on a podium at their trade stand, which was in constant use to demonstrate the mechanics of their Urban War rules. I only saw this table in passing at Forfar and was glad to get the opportunity to look at it again at TARGE - that is once I got through the throng of Urban Mammoth staff, who also blocked my path to the Xyston figures (seen in the background). I was quietly impressed by the table and I have to admit, liberated by the concept and what it offers both Master Chef and me for future games.

Targe 2010, Urban Mammoth 28mm Sci Fi

TARGE 2010 was a friendly show, but again, let down in both Heather's and my opinion by being just too cramped. It simply discouraged stopping at trade stands to browse. Heather felt herself being shoved a couple of times - without recognisance or apology, so this will most likely be her last wargames show. Am I just inured to the self-interested rudeness? Nevertheless, we both took time to demonstrate interest and talk with game organisers when approached.
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I managed to catch up with all round good blokes, Kirriemuir club stalwart Steve Shaw (ex-Feudal castings) & Robbie from Scotia-Grendal. Spoke to Martin at Warbases.co.uk but unfortunately missed an opportunity to talk with Steve Rimmer, an old mate from Lance and Longbow days.
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With my focus changed from purchasing miniatures to the games on display, I came away from TARGE richer for it, with plenty of ideas on the terrain front.

Cheers

Mark

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Life, Work, The Universe...... Panic in the County Hall

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Panic in the County Hall 
Look out, listen can you hear it. 
Whitehall (got us) up against a wall. 
Up against the wall...

Well it's not so much panic as rising hysteria.  George Osborne's Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR) trickles down to me as a telephone call at lunchtime..... "Hello Mark, I don't want to to put you on the spot, BUT, how much money will your Online (self service) Widget  Project save over the next 5 years?" Tell me now, Now NOW!

"If current parameters and assumptions remain valid by the end of 5 years, then £40k per month over that period."

"Sooooo, one could say that in addition we are looking at cutting the organisation wide administration and stationery expenditure by 10%!"


"One could, but I never said that".......


In fact the Online Widget Project has struck an impasse. I need to purchase a processing module for the Widget software that will allow us to automate workflows across the organisation and make £40k per month savings. I negotiated with the suppliers to get £10k of development work thrown into the £30K package for free.


I have to go to committee, get the approval of the head of legal, head of finance, corporate director and finally have the project scored, rated and approved before I can go ahead.......two months have gone by, £80K potential savings plus vicarious efficiency benefits lost and the suppliers getting tetchy whilst this process drags on........ I have to laugh at the mountains of red tape I have to go through to be able to reduce the red tape.


I can't help but find it all a farce. I'm not surprised managers find it easier to simply topslice the headcount by x percent, leaving behind all the inefficiencies and inconsistencies in the system......smoke and mirrors, smoke and mirrors for the press and public. Really, don't get me started!


Meanwhile someone at work must have read the blog and got confused about the type of strategy I'm interested in as this week I'm asked to deliver a strategy for an enterprise wide solution in just 2 days. From the moment I'm up in the morning to stepping off the train at home, my brain is whirring, leaving me exhausted by evening. I also have a sneaking feeling that the person requesting the strategy will pass it off as their work - a lot of that going on right now.


Despite being knackered by Friday, I end the week satisfied  with myself. Writing a new Project Brief, including scope, objectives, communications plan and risk register in a single day. Oh if only it were that simple.....6 months of  googling, telephone calls, visits to other organisations, teeth pulling workshops; investigating processes, procedures, policies, legislation, kickbacks due to organisational culture, before I'm able to sit down and bring it all together in one day.


However, after all that, if you want Online (self service) Widgets, I'm your man.

Cheers

Mark

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Zombieland

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I must be feverish or something following my flu jab. I've watched BOOK OF ELI with Denzil Washington this week. Good! Really enjoyed it! Watched PREDATORS with Adrien Brody at the weekend. Jury is still out.

ZOMBIELAND. Awesome! Best bits of every Zombie movie, then some,  rolled into a clever, witty and really funny film. Woody Harrelson is a tour de force, and one of the coolest Zombie hunters ever! Emma Stone is cute and I finally get Jesse Eisenberg. So, get in some pizza, nachos and beer, and have a blast!

Cheers

Mark

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20mm Sci Fi

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"Stay frosty!"...... Some of my all time favourite Sci Fi miniatures, RH Models' 20mm Colonial Marines.

Winter of '79 has created a mini 20mm renaissance at chez Dropship, providing Maff and myself with heaps of fun, plus a chance to reconnect with 20mm figures and 1/76 scale plastic kits.

Tomorrow's War has also played a part in this. Throughout the development of the future history to accompany the rules, Rolf's minis just kept coming to mind. If I tell the truth, Force on Force almost made me crack, but Tom. War's Neo-Soviet regimes just demanded Rolf's minis, and these brand new Neo-Sovs just released by Rolf this week made 20mm a go-er!

RH Models 20m Sci Fi: 
NSSQU; 10 FIGURES WITH AK774 £4.80

Cheers

Mark

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Scotia Grendal CORVUS VTOL: Five by Five

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Need to save some colonists daughters? Then saddle up and play it by the numbers, the  "Corvus" VTOL dropship from Scotia Grendel  is warmed up and ready to bring you into a hot LZ.

Scotia Grendel "Corvus" MkIVAssault Carrier

(minus tail fins which are still on sprue)

15mm Khurasan Federal Army figures for comparison

As you can see, the Corvus is an impressive model of a well armed dropship that can believably carry 2 pilots, 8-12 15mm ultimate badasses, a "consultant", new lieutenat and artificial person. The Corvus will work perfectly with both 15mm and 20mm figures as a fine proxy for the Aliens movie dropship. 

I've left off the tail fins as they are still on the sprue and this will be an even more stunning model once it's fully constructed. In addition to provding transport and much needed heavy firepower on the tabletop, the Corvus makes a great statement piece as an objective.

The "Corvus" VTOL (F0036)  is currently £15.00 from Scotia Grendel. A really good price to get "In the pipe. Five by five".

Cheers
Mark
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Khurasan's "Hog" Mk1 WIP Continues

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If you are wondering, the Hog is taking longer than planned. Following several dry runs assembling the Hog I was left less than confident that the joints for the weapons or legs would stand up to tabletop use. So I carefully drilled out the joints for the legs and cannons by hand.

I've also deployed my granite glue, just to be sure. This is an epoxy resin used on granite stone fireplaces and essentially welds stone to stone. Short of a thermo-nuclear engagement, nothing will shift it, but it needs to be mixed and used in small batches as it sets FAST, which meant a new mix for each joint.

Once the chassis and legs were completed, I glued to a base, again using the granite glue. I recommend taking stock at this point before you attach the weapons and crewman/operator. As only now can you truly start to see the potential of the model outside it's intended role. It struck me that it would be a great vehicle for Space Orks or even Vargr, the latter only needing a headswop. I also tried other weapon systems I had around spare, such as a GZG tri-barrelled rotary cannon, which looked really good.

The sides of the Hog are completely open. I've attached a small bracing bar from plasticard half way up to give the impression of the crewman sitting in a cage with an armoured glacis/door.

Just waiting for the groundwork on the base to dry before continuing....good excuse to stop and watch PREDATORS.

More later......

Cheers

Mark

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In The Pipe......Lunar Moonscape from Hotz Mats

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Hotz Artworkz have announced the Moonscape Felt Game Mat. This mat is designed especially for lunar/dust-planet sci-fi gaming and are available with or without airbrushed crater artwork.

This new mat is a massive step forward for 15mm Sci Fi gamers. We can now break free from the shackles of verdant and desert planets to fight in an attractively produced low/no-grav atmosphere free environment. The Moonscape Felt Game Mat could well be the single most important Sci Fi gaming product of 2010 as it can cross genres, manufacturers and rules systems.

Time to make sure I have some suitably camo'd 15mm vehicles and miniatures to compliment this interesting and potentially challenging gaming environment. For a newcomer to 15mm Sci Fi this represents a great investment, allowing them to start playing at relatively low cost as soon as they have the figures ready.

The Moonscape Game Mat will be available from  Hotz shortly. Keep an eye on their webpage and TMP. Hotz also produce a basic Martian Red felt map and I'm wondering now about similar airbrushed crater artwork?

A quick search for other mats online caused me to revisit Terrainmat.com in the UK where I found this colourful 'Urban' terrain mat, which would definitely has potential as a sulphurous or otherwise barren and desolate planetary or post-apocalypse wasteland.

As Master Chef would say, "I think we are onto something". I'm certainly prepared to give the Moonscape Game Mat a go, and I know it would also solve Maff's space issues in one fell swoop.

Finally, for a bit of a laugh, or maybe the germ for a scenario.... WW2 Bomber Found on Moon.

Cheers

Mark
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