In the Pipe...... 15mm Nova Respublik APC

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Following fast on the heels of Khurasan's Nova Respublik MBT, Jon has released images of his forthcoming Yozhik (Hedgehog) Heavy APC.

The Yozhik follows the design philsophy of the current Russian BTR-T heavy infantry combat vehicle, which itself forged from fierce combat experiuence in urban combat environments.

The resin and metal kit will be available from Khurasan Miniatures soon. In the meantime go to TMP and read Jon's full personal review of building the kit for himself. You'll also find photos of the Little Darling series of armed support robots I previewed here on Dropship back in December.

I'll have my own, if slightly biased photo review of the Little Darlings in my next post.

Cheers

Mark

The Postman Cometh

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You can blame Matt at Wartime Miniatures (and I guess Channel 4's post apocalypse shorts with Paddy Considine). Matt's 20mm Contractors in baseball caps (SF01) speak to me of Post Apocalypse shennanigans out Eli's way in a Post Comet America.

Wartimes Miniatures 20mm SF01

Special Forces/Contractors

I say Post Comet - it can be 'Post' anything. A Twilight 2013 world where groups of survivors battle for resources, control and just survival. I'm spurred on by the Pound Shop in Aberdeen which has near as damn it 1/72 Humvees and a range of civilian vehicles including articulated lorries for - you guessed it, £1.

The setting means that I can also mix and match packs of the best looking miniatures on the market without having to worry about TOEs or having the correctload out of weapons and equipment.

Elhiem Figures 20mm SF3

Special Forces Team Advancing at Ready

Stepping back from the Post Apocalypse scenario. For gamers on a budget or who simply maximise bang for the buck - these miniatures provide it. So let's look at some of the options:

1) Spec Forces/Contractors for Afghulistan, naturally
2) Ghost Recon/Call of Duty
3) 'Resistance' against The Scene's 15mm Terminatoresque Heavy Battle Robots
4) ALIEN/ALIENS Xeno Fodder vs Khurasan Miniatures 15mm Space Demon King/Queen
5) Drug Wars Cartel/Military personnel
6) Post Apocalypse/Holocaust survivors/militia
7) Red Dawn/Home Front resistance/militia
8) Fighting a Khurasan Miniatures Ti Mohnid invasion of Earth
9) Sci Fi planetary militia / armed civilians

Chatting with MC this week about the potential for playing a mini campaign inspired in part by the world created in the Kevin Costner vehicle THE POSTMAN. Maff has more of a RED DAWN leaning but there's room for both (and more). Mix and match everything we like or can pick up cheaply, including some Cold War and ex-WW2 kit thrown into service.

It's these Wartime Miniatures Modern Australians in caps (MA05) above that make me think more of a survivalist army with a unique character as per THE POSTMAN. An idea propagated within Ambush Alley Games post apocalypse campaign pack that was part of the Special Operators Group subscription a year or so back.

You only need a couple of packs to begin and can steadily build or even combine with other gamers to make bigger forces as required without needing to saddle the hackneyed Mad Max/Road Wars one trick pony.

This takes us away from the Last Centurion concept set in Afghanistan/Iraq, which whilst still a good idea, is a conflict arena that has less potential for us as we don't game Afghanistan. Plus, when you come across the remains of shelters like this one above in the local woods it colours your direction of thinking.

20mm is all well and good, but what about 15mm? Rebel Minis have several very good packs, there's Khurasan's Resistance Fighters and The Scene's US Special Forces, who have bag of character. Plus Modern US soldiers are available from various manufacturers.

Plenty in both scales to run with this idea.

Cheers

Mark

 

3 Mafiosi, 1 Bond and a Wedding

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Bond is not to be taken too seriously and is a prime example of the Principals of Evil (Stormtrooper) Marksmanship! At least Bond himself bleeds these days.

Joe's house rules for playing 'Bond' using Force on Force have been posted in the sidebar to the right. Hope you enjoy them.

RONIN is one of our favourite movies in the Dropship household. De Niro is a tour de force, the dialogue is razor sharp, ambush scene brutal and car chases, just flat out amazing. Just what is needed if we're to aspire to a  'realistic' Force on Force based 'shootout' game.


The sort of professional work depicted in RONIN will always be required - in many ways the 'crew' brought together in the movie reflects the nature os some of the more dirtside based parties of disparate characters in my classic Traveller campaigns.

I've not been able to get to my figures today as planned. Due in part to my father-in-law needing a hand with a community project in the local woods, then Heather was dug-in, in full tears and tiaras mode watching THE wedding. She loves a good frock or two on the red carpet - weddings, Oscars, you name it. So I put any political misgivings aside for the day and enjoyed being part of something bigger and more enduring than all the crap going on in the country right now.

Master Chef had more luck. Tony at East Riding Miniatures had done a fast turn around on a Platoon 20 order enabling him to bash up 3 Russian Mafia – 2 guys in suits, 1 with M16 and greenstuff flak jacket and another with SMG (cut down M16) and pullover with nasty gold necklace over it – in both cases the suit jacket was painted as a leather jacket. On my advice, the guy in a bomber and jeans with pistol in 2H grip was painted in a very nasty red tracksuit, trimmed in white with green trainers (Adidas stripe of course). With Mrs Master Chef equally entrenched in the wedding spectacle, Maff even managed to paint a "ruddy bow tie" on the Platoon 20 'Bond' figure. Well done mate!

Cheers

Mark

 

Lock Stock and Two Smokin' Tiaras

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 Never mind the pomp and ceremony.....

Kate and Pippa
    

WOW!

 Right! I'm off to paint me Bond........

Cheers

Mark
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Commander Cameron Shepherd Reporting

  
MASS EFFECT from BioWare is an action based role-playing game for the Xbox. It's a cracking game and essentially Traveller for the C21st. Being a digital product it not only allows you to build the background and principal traits and skills of your player character in the very best RPG traditions, but also let's you customise their physical appearance within the game.

Now, when I began MASS EFFECT 2, Heather told me that if I was going to give up 40 hours of my life on a Sci Fi adventure, I might as well spend it looking at someone pretty!

Not one to argue with such sage advice, here we have Commander 'Cameron' Shepherd, based on a blonde Cameron Diaz. which I thought would be a good contrast to the major in-game's brunette squad member Miranda Lawson.

A practical use of the tool in 15mm tabletop Sci Fi, is to create the individual physical appearance of characters for your game - particularly thing like squad rosters, in order to breath more identity and life into your figures.

Cheers

Mark
      

Spaceport Tower

  
Every self respecting spaceport needs a tower. It's the law. I came across this LEGO Architecture Seattle Space Needle which stands about a foot tall and is available from £19.99.

Cheers

Mark

 

Today I am mostly...... Converting Bond in 15mm

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As I type, a 15mm Quantum of Solace 'Bond' proxie is on the workbench, utilising the figures available fom The Scene's  Authorities range.

I carefully cut round the head of SA001 and popped it onto the body of SA002 to give that gritty Bond 'in the alley' and looking for trouble vibe, replicating the imagery of the movie posters.

His first sidekick is going to be the gun-toting ZH003 pony-tailed beauty who has a Denise Richards' Christmas Jones thing going on (at least in my head).

I'm going to have to throw another order to Matt at The Scene as SA003 and SA005, again with the appropriate headswop, makes a good Bond 'in the Casino'. Looking at SA005, with a trenchcoat, would be a Harry Palmer (or Vic Reeves) stand in or with a headswop and painted with a white dinner jacket - Sean Connery.

The great thing about doing the headswops is that if you are just as careful removing the head on the host body, repositioning it on the donor figure can give the original miniature a whole new aspect.

I really enjoy doing these headswops and that's what it's about. So I'm afraid you'll have to bear with me whilst I run with this fun side project.

FYI, I checked the GZG separate heads against The Authorities range and found that they match perfectly. Making an even greater range of individual agents/contacts and scumbags possible. I'm thinking now that I should order a few more 'suits' from The Scene in order to turn them into Deckard/CyberPunk/Blue Hands guys.

Hopefully some photos tomorrow, IF, I feel that I've mastered painting Brioni charcoal grey suits in 15mm. If not, you can see the WIP shots anyway.

Cheers

Mark

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SUNRAY DOWN..... Again

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Collapsed again. This time home alone. A little bit scary for that but actually very helpful, as I was able to experience, mentally note and subsequently record what happened and the way I felt.

It bagan with a feeling like a slinky spring going from the back of my head, along the top of my cranium till it compressed against my forehead just above my brow. At that point I couldnt focus on anything, not blurred, just couldnt focus on anything I looked at. I took a step forward and the ground rushed up to meet me in a way I can only describe as being like the scene in INCEPTION, where Paris folds up and over.

I still had this compression feeling in my head but remained conscious and checked myself over. Nothing hurt from the fall, breathing ok, heart ok, pulse a little slow (but I'm no expert). Lying on my back the ceiling was rocking back and forth in a figure of '8' motion. I rolled over carefully and pulled my knees up to my chest.  As I lifted my head about 18" off the ground, everything suddenly felt like I was at sea and I simply keeled over onto my side.

At that point I decided to remain calm and wait it out. I was lying in front of the living room window and my only concern was giving Postie a fright (luckily I was fully clothed, so not that big a fright!). After 10 or so minutes I was able to get on my feet but had to hold onto furniture, door jams etc for about an hour afterwards.


 Been to the Vets. Further tests. Going again this morning. The whole thing is bloody weird. Nevertheless,  Master Chef is maintaining a watching brief on me. Good bloke. I'll keep you posted.

Cheers

Mark
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Buffy in 15mm

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Had an idea for a 15mm 'Buffy' figure using The Scene's ZH001 Zombie Hunter/Survivalist.


Option 1: Carve the top of the pistol down and use a piece of curved fuse wire or plasticard to create a crossbow pistol. Benefit of this is the holster detail can stay.


Option 2: Replace the pistol arm from the elbow with the reciprical left arm holding a Zombie/Ghoul's head from miniature ZH002. You can choose whether or not to carve off the pistol holster and you can also choose to give 'Buffy' a knife, stake, cross or similar in her right hand.

Cheers

Mark

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Ti Mohnids

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Here's a quicky pic of three of the Khurasan Miniatures Ti Mohnid bad boy poses with GZG Mercs as requested by Danny via TMP.

 'Scuse the quality, the camera took one photo then juice ran out. Once it's recharged, I'll replce this with better quality shots.

Cheers

Mark

UPDATE: Photos will be Friday now..

The Name's..... Bond

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Today I'm mostly working on Bond in 15mm after a small disaster with some terrain I was making yesterday. I just need a diversion before I turn my hand to an elevated section of shattered post-apocalypse highway this evening.

Maff (Master Chef) may be right about leaving the figures from THE SCENE as is. May be. I just feel a bareheaded Bond figure makes a strong contrast to the 'heavies' in dark glasses. But whilst the movie interpretation of Bond doesn't wear dark glasses, there is a big hint in both Craig films that “Bond” is a cover name, that “Bonds” don’t last long and get replaced. So your or my interpretation of Bond may wear Retrosuperfuture or Dior Homme.

The Craig Bond while suave is probably SAS or similar. 'M' talks about “testosterone fuelled special forces mentality”. So theres no harm in going mad and dropping bond in Chechnya, Korea, Sierra Leone or Helmand even. It takes Bond out of the Casino and very definitely into the alley.

Bond may be a fun concept, but I have a sneaking affinity for the more grounded and down at heel British anti-hero agent epitomised by Harry Palmer ("I know everything about you, Colonel Stok... from the size of your refrigerator to the cubic capacity of your mistress") and Charlie Muffin, not so much "3rd man on the balcony" as "3rd man at the buffet." Those dark glasses on The Scene's figures could easily be painted as Michael Caine's trademark thick rimmed 'clear' lenses.

Still with us? All this blurb is my way of putting off painting. Well our good mate Joe Collins has come up with his own house rules for playing Bond using Force on Force. Joe's given us permission to publish and as they are not only good but also typed up, which has a quality all of it's own, whereas the dubious ramblings by Maff and myself are still scribblings in my notebook, I'll post them on Dropship this Friday.

Cheers

Mark

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Blue Moon rises over the Orange Planet

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Keeping Pulp Sci Fi firmly in mind, Master Chef has whipped off an order to RAFM which includes a couple of packs of Dracos Warriors for each of us.

RAFM 15mm Sci Fi

Pack RAF07017

The Dracos are ex-Citadel Traveller Droyne. I never really got the Droyne. I don't think it was helped by Traveller Miniatures Box Set 5 Aliens only having 5 Droyne of which 3 had Lasers/blasters when we needed a swarm.  As Dracos they'll make a nice party of Alien scumbags on the Orange Planet.

In return, I'm including 3 packs of  Orion Heavy Infantry for Master Chef in my order to Blue Moon Manufacturing via Old Glory UK.

Blue Moon Manufacturing 15mm Sci Fi

Pack 15ALN-101

He like's Spacejacker's green camo scheme (pictured above). In truth, so do I, but I want to paint the initial bunch aas blue but not-quite Space Marines.though I'll wait till I get the minis before I make a final decision.

From a Pulp perspective there's a lot to recommend the Blue Moon range. The Thawnax Horde become a must for the unwary explorer and the Betelguesans are now likely to be the dastardly Bond villain style bad guys, always up to no good on the Orange Planet....Da, Da, Dahhh!

Cheers

Mark

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Wind Turbines

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I don't think I've ever seen one single wind turbine on a Sci Fi tabletop in any scale. Yet I'm sure there will be many new colonised worlds where this will be a cheap and plentiful source of day to day power, outwith StarTrekinium, or similar staple Sci Fi  energy sources of course.

We have a windfarm overlooking us and an increasing number of farms in our valley have their own wind turbines. These are bound to be a far more common site in the future

Here's a model 38cm high that I found on Ebay for the respectable and not shabby at all price of £5.50.

Cheers

Mark

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Jason Van Horne's Miniature Apocalypse

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Watching Book of Eli again, I'm struck by the post apocalyptic imagery. Two great little documemtaries accompany the DVD and are also worth giving your time to.The second takes you through the concept and realisation of the world the principal character travels through.

One of the things that struck me was the number of small post apocalpyse game vignettes that could be created based around only a few key terrain features.

Following this up on this idea my Googlefu came across Katharine Mulherin's Contemporary Art Projects website displaying the post apoclypse art of Jason Van Horne, see example left.


It's worth checking out Jason's work. I like the gritty, abandoned feel he creates. Too often apocalypse model scenery is too pretty and conceived or too drab. These just strike the right balance. The smaller vignettes (rather than the cityscape tableau) are very doable by the average gamer. They can be used individually or could be combined into larger tabletop setpieces.

That destroyed elevated section of highway is crying out to be made commercially for wargamers. It could be modularised so that four lanes could be created if the gamer wished. An inclined support could extend the model and  a curved section too. A couple of curved sections would provide aditional versatility as on ramps, around whihc a whole battlefield can be built. Though to be honest, I wouldn't expect the average Modern or Sci Fi gamer to buy more than two or  at a push maybe three sections.

Right, I'm off to have a stab at making one of these for myself!

Cheers

Mark

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In the Pipe...... 15mm Sci Fi Space Dwarves

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I'm delighted to present some really awesome new sculpts to appear shortly from the metalworkz caverns of Khurasan Miniatures.

Khurasan Miniatures 15mm Sci Fi

Thrainites

Here's the intel......

The Thrainites are short stocky warriors who come to fight for the Molch in the Molch Vornid War, the hard core of the volunteer forces called the Interplanetary Brigades. Pragmatic soldiers with a serious attitude toward war, the Thrainites are transported in Cane Toad APCs and have medium armour support from Goanna and Taipan Tanks.  They prefer infantry fighting at close quarters with submachine guns to make quite sure the enemy is dead,  getting valuable back-up from the occasional light machine gun.  Though short (coming up to the neck of a human, roughly), the Thrainites are exceptionally tough and stubborn.  They wear partial carapace armour.

These are the first seven sculpts including a light machinegun, making up the basic infantry force.

Now as it happens I'm not a fan of Space Dwarves per se, even though Denizen's Dwarves remain my favourite Fantasy force and Argy the (Ral Partha) Dwarf saw me through many a dungeon adventure back in the early 80's. But these new Thrainites from Jon at Khurasan have won me over big time! They have that essential ZZ Top appearance and simply look stunning! This is the level of sculpting in 15mm we should be expecting in 2011.

I think these guys are going to be a joy to paint and fun to put on the tabletop.

Cheers

Mark

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The New Face of Ambush Alley

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Ambush Alley Games have a new look to their website.

It may take a while to load first time but it's worth it for a brand new Ambush Alley experience. Check it out at:

www.ambushalleygames.com

I've joined the SOG  (Special Operators Group) membership program for 2011. The discounts for S&S, Elhiem, Rebel and Under Fire Miniatures alone will pay themselves back (if only I remember to use them! LOL!).

Cheers

Mark

 

INCOMING..... Neo Soviet Easter Egg from Khurasan

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I love Soviet kit, so it's a great news that Jon at Khurasan has finally released some really tasty Neo-Soviet armour in the form of this multi-variant  TTC-2400 Nova Respublik Main Battle Tank.

The model is $13.99 and includes all the parts required to make any one of the variants pictured above. Which is great. I love the Red Eagle variant but the clean and simple 'just rolled off a workers factory lines in Nova Stalingrad' look of the Red Banner really appeals.

Now this is what a Neo-Sov tank should look like. The design pronounces that the Nova Respublik MBT has a clear Soviet tank heritage going back to the JS family and beyond.

I'd promised myself  "No more Sci Fi tanks" but when it comes to the TC-2400 Nova Respublik MBT my self-discipline is shattered. The TC-2400 Nova Respublik MBT is available now and very, very definitely on my 'Must Have' list.

На здоровье!

Mark 
  

To Infinity and Beyond!

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Back in the Dropship cockpit and with 15mm Pulp Sci Fi still firmly in mind, I've just bought one of these Dr Who Micro-Universe Sanctuary Base rockets on Ebay.

The rocket is tres retro and has that classic Sci Fi book cover silhouette which was responsible for transporting our dreams to new worlds and strange planets all those years ago.

I couldn't help but feel this rocket is a must for Pulp Sci Fi gaming. The very name 'rocket' conjures up an exciting future amongst the stars. It's not a 15mm scale craft, that figure next to it in the photo is about 30mm, but that's not important. I see the rocket as representative. It's purpose is to dress the table and act as an objective or entry/departure point more than become a domineering centrepiece.

I guess it means I'm going to have to paint up more figures in silver spacesuits! Definitely time to break out my armed GZG fellas in light Vac Suits. Though I do  like Matakishi's more colourful take on Pulp Sci Fi . I particularly like the multiple basing - ok it has a few limitations - but the hero and female sidekick being based as a pair makes a strong statement in game terms about their inter-relationship and combat power. We think nothing of basing a couple of guys with a support weapon and I've never seen the support weapon crew broken into separate models when the gunner is hit.

Matakishi's concepts of colour and basing would suit various Blue Moon figures and Critical Mass Games' Mercs range. Whilst RAFM's ex-Citadel classic Traveller range would even work as the more blue-collar elements of a Pulp universe.

Anyway, the secret of the Orange Planet awaits, so let's kick the tyres, light the burners, and blast off to interstellar adventure......

Cheers

Mark
 

It's All Gone A Bit Borgia

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Before we get back into the cockpit and blast off into new adventures, one last historical roadtrip.

I make no secret that I've had a long time interest in Renaissance Italy. Borgias, Medici but more especially, the late C15th Condottieri. 

 Last week, Master Chef gave me 6 sprues of Perry Plastic Mercenaries which have reignited the pilot light on a couple of 28mm Condottieri forces - plus  enough spare Lords, banners and Swiss mercenaries to make up a range of Basic Impetus armies reflecting the various militant city and family overlords.

Crucial to this are Perry's 1490-1520 European Heads which will help provide the right feel for the infantry, some dedicated TAG Renaissance Italians, and the beautiful Condottieri heavy cavalry from Venexia. Point to note, the project would have remained a non starter without the Perry heads.

Maelstrom have a 16% off deal for Easter so I'll order another pack of Perry Mercs and in return for the plastics, I'll split my collection of OOP Corvus Miniatures Burgundian Knights with Maff so all we need to worry about are specialist troops such as mounted crossbowmen, command and fun stuff.

 This project is a slow burner. More a labour of love, so will take several months to complete and I'm not planning to start painting the buggers till June.

My longer term aim is to add some 'transition' pieces to allow me to fight at least the Early Italian Wars as well, without having to go all plumes and puffed sleeves.

Cheers

Mark

 

Bond in 15mm

Watched QUANTUM of SOLACE this afternoon. Purely for game research purposes of course.

The car chase at the beginning is brutal and out does RONIN, which nevertheless remains one of my favourite movies. Early on Quantum feels like a Bourne but loses it from the opera scene onwards from which point it starts to fade into more typical Bond fare. However, Bond sidekick Olga Kurylenko is stunning and makes up for the poor end run to the final credits.

So, I was musing about Bond in 1/35th scale earlier - Russian Mafia and Balkan Para Militarie as adversaries. So what if we want to recreate Bond in 15mm? Go to The Scene. Using The Authorities range of minis, take the head from SA001 (kneeling figure on left) and put on the body of SA002 (figure on right).

The Scene: 15mm Authorities Range

That should give you Bond, as per the Quantum of Solace promo poster. We'll pretend it's an MP5. Alternatively, if like me you would like your Bond firing his pistol in both hands from a standing position - a slightly more time onsuming torso swop would need to take place.

Want a female Bond sidekick - look no further than The Scene's female Survivalists/Zombie Hunters; ZH001 and ZH003.

Cheers

Mark

The Last King of England

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With Royal Wedding fever gripping that media, it's time for an alternative look at the future of the British monarchy.

Wills and Kate get married, that's a given.

William, shy of media attention and very much mindful of what happened to his mother, does an Edward and abdicates. Kate makes a very lovely Mrs Simpson and so they live a Posh and Becks lifestyle as the darlings of Matha's Vineyard and HELLO reads everywhere.

The succession passes directly from Elizabeth II to Harry. The 'Goth' King of England. 

England? Because the constitutional crisis will be an excuse to flame the devlovution debate.  Harry will be the last King of England and he may even see the balkanisation of the British Isles during his reign and maybe be party to the creation of a Republic.

 Monarchist Forces, 2021

Great excuse for a VBCW set in 2014 or even Tomorrow's War country of 2020.

Cheers

Mark

Bring on the Drones

The BBC reported that President Obama has sanctioned the use of armed drones in Libya.

Drones have been used controversially recently in Mexico too. The future is here.

How long before you are sitting in your couch at home doing your National Guard or Reserve duty, and flying Recon, surveillance and combat missions across the world? Is this when all that 'training' on the XBox and PS3 pay off? As technology improves, you can even be doing your day job, be on the train to work, sitting in McDonalds and through your iphone/Android be enforcing the rule of demoncracy and law, maybe even in your own city. Neighbourhood Watch takes on a whole new meaning.

In our lifetime, will we watch a NewsVid to hear that the President has sanctioned the use of androids, like 'GI Joes' in the recent Bruce Willis vehicle SURROGATES, on the streets of La Paz, LA, or Bristol?

 In 15mm, should we be looking at more drones in our tabletop forces? Even replacing men with drones and robotics?  I'm sure there will be a time where we, that's the humanity 'we' use realistic flesh and blood looking androids for hearts and minds purposes.

Personally, I prefer to think of humanity amongst the stars rather than humandroid. A future without man is deprssing though maybe inevitable, but both will live and work side by side on the dirtball colonies and there will be wars and uprisings in both camps.

Who knows, because of the distances involved we may seed the stars with humandroids, to terraform and build new worlds (where have you heard that before), to make it safe for man. But what if the humandroids don't want to give up what they have cretaed or even, what if their defence routines simply see humans as an alien invader?

Cheers

Mark

Bimbling Towards May

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15mm Sci Fi has largely lost out this month to 20mm Modern Russians. I'll be psoting on Crisis in Alcovia later in the week, but I'm having a hell of a time getting the "Flora" pattern right in 20mm.

I've even been thinking of doing Alcovia  in 1/35th. For skirmish gaming purposes there's a nice range of 1/35th available from Zveda, Dragon, Alanger and now Tamiya (ex-ICM) plus some cracking resin models from a range of manufacturers as the figure illustrated (left). Whilst not in the sort of combat pose I usually demand of my wargame models, he's the epitome of a post Cold War modern Russian soldier. A great character figure to have on the table.

Dragon also sells a weapon set of the AK47 family, allowing me to convert more easily to obtain 1/35th WW2 figures, particularly the figures in camo suits such as these Black Sea Commandos.

Now I admit all of this may remain a pipe dream. But who knows. The new Osprey edition of Force on Force from Ambush Alley Games has really encouraged me to think outside the box.

So, why don't I just wait for the newly announced 15mm Modern Russians that appearto be coming out? Two reasons, first, I've campaigned too long to see 'Ultra' Modern Russians in 15mm and now simply don't care.  Second, I've built my expectations up before of what the miniatures will look like (and I'm talking WW2, Sci Fi  etc here as well) and had my hopes crashed and burned too many times by what turn out more like these link instead of these link.

What about 28's? Well, if Im going 28mm I might as well go 1/35th. I need less of everything in the larger scale (figures, vehicles, terrain),  there's more AFVs and vehicles available on the market in 1/35th, painting requirements are about the same, greater conversion potential , plus due to the size (& cost) it's self regulating with less chance of scope creep.

Now, if anyone knows of a suitable 1/35th James Bond figure?

 So 15mm Sci Fi, which is why you are here after all...... plans for May inclue more separate heads from GZG, placing an order with Blue Moon via Old Glory UK, keeping some cash back for some new goodies from Khurasan, plus more High Tech Humans in Power Armour.

Cheers

Mark

Orange Planet

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I don't do green Sci Fi terrain 

 And I'm a bit bored with sand.

This season's new colour......

 ....is definitely MARS ORANGE. 

Cheers

Mark

Force on Force: Shaken Not Stirred

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- Do you expect me to roll a 6 Goldfumbler? -

- No! I expect you to pass your TQ Die Mr Bond -

Maff (the Master Chef) is currently sunning himself on a  luxury yacht of wargaming creativity in his new modern imagi-nation hot spot on the Adriatic.  A playground for Russian Mafia, Alcovian criminal masterminds and Dodjy militia warlords.

Force on Force has a new mission. Should it choose to accept it. FoF doesn't have to be purely about guncrawls in the alleys of Baghdad, the poppy fields of Helmund or the villages of Chechnya. When the chips are down, there's plenty of scope for a sharp dressed Englishman in a dinner jacket with a babe and a high TQ Die at his side.

Seriously, a couple of morning commutes on the train and I've sussed playing secret agent pulp games with  Force on Force. Borku Riviera on the Adriatic, Yeah, I know there's other rules out there dedicated to this type of game, but I'm not going to buy them, and let's give FoF it's due - that's where we got on the inspiration bus in the first place.

This is where the Asset and Fog of War Cards come into their own. The Asset Cards in particular, as they can be guns, gear, gadgets and Bond Babes. Now, don't get too hung up on the tech side of the gadgets. You can assume your Double 0, has the right gadget to hand each time and gets one 'shot' before discarding.

The Hotspots and Reinforcement tables? Think about a Bond movie.....a diverse array of enemies appearing out of nowhere! It's crying out to be played.

Plus, it makes one hell of a drinking game - just add a half dozen 'Martini' Asset Cards to the stack. Every time you draw a Martini card, you have to drink one - shaken, and not stirred, of course.

Cheers!

Mark

Force on Force: The Dogs Cojones

Master Chef got his copy of Force on Force last week courtesy of Amazon and he thinks "it's the Dogs....!"

Wednesday evening is our usual wargame night and I haven't known him to be so animated some time and it was infectious.

We talked through rough and ready mini-campaigns in the style mentioned on Dropship a week or so ago. Missions generated randomly via a homegrown mission generator whilst Russian Mafia and a wild card SF team is in the AO and on call to join in the merry mayhem.

Maff  also had the great idea of using a 'MAROON' style random alleyway generator to create back streets alleyways and souks for a lightning speed, in your face game that rolls across the table. Forget tactics if you want a heart stopping, taste the blood in your mouth solo game beyond which car or trash skip to hide behind. Me, I'm a Full Spectrum Warrior, - need at least one mouse hole or alleyway to get behind the bastards and banjo their AK47 tango arses, kind of tabletop commander.

Cheers

Mark

The Walking Deaded

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There was a lot to commend the opening episodes of The Walking Dead. The locked hospital room with DEAD INSIDE scrawled on the door, the impromptu camp of motor cars around the gas station, and the Pale Rider imagery when he rode into Atlanta.

Last night turned into standard TV fare. At least for me. But, following on from my apocalyptic post last night, do you have a Zombie Survival Plan?

Seriously! Do you have a plan? Have you ever TEWT (Tactical Exercise Without Troops) a Zombie outbreak in your home village, suburb, workplace and what you'd do to survive? We do. You see, Heather had expressed interest in how I found my Christmas stocking filler DAY TO DAY ARMAGEDDON by JL Bourne.

We ended up having a semi-serious, but fun chat over supper about the coming Zombie apocalypse. Heather took the scenario by the horns. We ditch the 4x4 and take a tractor from the dealership up the road. Zombies block the road? No problem, mow them down. Cars or lorries in the way or need a fast escape cross country - this sukka will rip through a hedgerow and cross a ditch with impunity. Plenty of spares in the local farms.

We don't intend going far - no road trip - I've staked out a farm and converted steading in the hills. Off the beaten track, own water supply, one way in, easily defended.

My preferred weapon? A sharpened shovel.Well, at least until I could get my hands on a pump action Benelli!

Cheers

Mark
 

The Comet Cometh: Tsunami

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The time has come to make the truth known. There is NO international banking crisis. Governments across the world are colluding with a fabricated story in order to move the massive amounts of funds required into building secret watertight bunkers.

Within these bunkers, government officials, selected civil servants together with key scientific and honorific personages will ride out the impending 2012 apocalypse that will see a Tsunami 60 meters high cross the globe.........

Or so someone earnestly told me last week. Really. And you know what? I find this eminently more believable than the coalition in power claiming that the UK is almost broke. But we can afford to fight wars on two continents, yet can't afford the planes, ships or pilots to actually fight those wars, but oh, can afford a Royal Wedding (Wag The Dog anyone?) and still have spare change to bail out other countries....but I thought WE had NO money... we either do or we don't.

On a serious note. The natural disaster that struck Japan a few weeks back was shocking, almost unbelievable. Whilst a powerful spectacle of destruction, what we witnessed was very much a human tragedy. I was reminded of Obi-Wan Kenobi  in Star Wars sensing the destruction of Alderaan, "I feel a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror, and were suddenly silenced."

I wondered what would happen to us if such an event struck the coast of North East Scotland? What if an Icelandic volcano created a tsunami in the North Sea? What if the predictions for 2012 are correct? 


The Press & Journal would report "A North-East town was destroyed by the apocalypse....more on page 5. Win £100 of Scuba Gear". Meanwhile many of the major population centres of the NE would be drowned listening to Drive Time on North Sound 1. 

Given the local lie of the land and that we are 200 foot above sea level wth a range of hills between us and the sea, would we be spared? The answer appeears to be - just. A break in the hills caused by the local river would allow a 50 metre rise in sea water to penetrate the south western edge of the valley and bring the floodwater to within 20 metres of our home.

Click on map for larger image

A sobering thought, because it also depends upon the power behind the wave. Personally, as long as I'm not caught at work, I'm heading for the hills - the big green splodge on the map above. I have my hidy hole picked out. Just in case of a Zombie apocalypse you understand. It can happen at any time. The Zombie apocalypse that is. LOL!


If you want to see what effect any rise in sea levels from 0-60 metres would have on your locality or for creating a post apocalypse map - click here. You can manually adjust the sea level rise in the top left hand corner using the drop down box. 


NASA's take on 2012 is here. But of course you can't trust what they say, they are in on the plot. They are a government agency and the government don't want to panic the masses. They are right about one thing though (allegedly), and that is the movie 2012 simply sucked!

Cheers

Mark
   

The Manamal Poll

Rock god sculptor Joe has a poll over at Brother Joseph's WAR ART. 

 WHICH MUTANT ANIMAL-HUMANOID (MANAMAL) TYPE

WOULD YOU LIKE ME TO SCULPT ASAP?

 Pop over to vote and take the time to have a shuftie at his sculpting

Sci Fi / Cyber House Inspiration

Looking at more Sci Fi buildings suitable for the tabletop. OK, so GZG and Critical Mass Games have provided us with a superb range of prefabs but something is still missing.

First, nothing says MOON BASE does it - you know, interlinking connection tunnels, domes, that sort of thing. But maybe the ultimate test of mankind, living and fighting in a ZERO-G  or airless barren rock environment is NOT where you want to take your Sci Fi battles - after all I see a lot of green out there in blogland. 

Second, what happens after first dirtfall? How do you expand your prefab palace? Go up maybe?

I found this superb 3-D render by Roomper. You can imagine 2nd generation colonists breaking out from their portakabin environment - building outwards, with more levels and a city as we know it begins to emerge.

Maybe this is the home of the Mayor of Dirtville, son of a 3rd generation Colonist family. Or maybe it's part of the slums of a shiny city of tall iridescent spires. It has a very Blade Runner feel - don't you think? Wouldn't it be great to have a small district like this to game in - Blade Runner Ambush Alley style - rather than mono-level portakabins or ersatz Middle Eastern adobes?

Cheers

Mark
 

RANT SATURDAY - Fireteams

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Time to roll out my annual diatribe on what numbers/types of troops I think constitutes a good range of 15mm military minis. Why? Because in my opinion, because I believe that we as consumers are still being offered miniatures that are selling us short with 15mm Sci Fi figures in  aikey breakey 'line dancing', 'just eaten a dodgy kebab' and 'where's my mobile? I know it's in one of these pockets' type of poses.

And don't get me started on the "I'm sorry, exactly how does a human head fit into that helmet" stuff....... OK, let's put aside style and posing in this instance and look at what - purely in my opinion - constitutes a 'good' range of military Sci Fi minis. And one pack of three-four Dirt Trooper sculpts where 3 are based on the one dolly with a bend of the elbow or twist of a waist ain't it!


The following is also true for 20mm.......

For me, at the basic level in 15mm it really comes down to having enough grunt poses with identifiable command and squad support miniatures to keep the force from looking STALE. Mid-Tech with open helmets? Then 1 Fireteam Leader (preferably two), 4-6 grunts (2 recognisably female), SAW and light Support Weapon gunner (preferably two of each) provide enough troops to make up interesting and varied combat groups.

You can expand by having a Platoon Leader, possibly also a platoon sergeant character, medic droid, LAW/RPG rocket launcher and man held Plasma/rotary cannon.

Let's cement this, again talking Mid-Tech, as:

Option 1
ABSOLUTE MINIMUM

Pack 1: Fireteam Leader, 2 grunts (1 female?), SAW
Pack 2: Fireteam Leader (female?) 2 grunts, SAW (variant) or LAW/RPG rocket launcher

8 figures per pack - 2x each pose

One of the FireTeam Leaders becomes a platoon leader. Downside - stale and lacks character above squad level.

Option 2
PREFERRED

As Option 1, as above but include a platoon command/character pack. A second different SAW pose would be good - make it character figure (think Blane, Drake or Vasquez) to ring the changes.

Pack 3: Characters. Platoon Leader (preferably two), grizzled Platoon Sgt/Top Kick (barehead or cap), Medical Droid, SAW (female? bandana/barehead Ponytail)

The Top Kick, droid and bandana/ponytail gunner are generic enough that these can slip into existing tabletop forces, or become Mercs/'Adventurers'.

Later expansion can include:

Pack 4 : Plasma or Gauss Cannon Gunner in bandana or specialist helmet, Tech Sgt/Hacker, (see Infinity range for Tech/Hacker inspiration), Wounded but still fighting female trooper (similar to Hasslefree's Kendra, in combat cap like Jas pictured here), Sniper w. Gauss Rifle (ghillie suit or nano-tech).

EN TOTO:

3 packs totalling 12 unique sculpts gives me enough minis for a platoon or two in combat, including command and a couple of characters. The Top Kick can lead second platoon.

4 packs totalling 16 sculpts gives me additional company level support troops and characters. This also allows me to personalise my platoons. Kendra can be a specialist, hero or lead third platoon/company.

What about heavier weapons? Well, if you have been living in a hole for the past couple of years you will have failed to notice that GZG produce a large range of excellent and importantly, generic support weapons for re-inforced platoon, company and battalion level games. Khurasan and Critical Mass Games are catching up fast. You want to produce your own? Fine! But only after core packs 1-2-3......!!!!

If you study FOW's WW2 pack 812: British Guards Rifle Platoon (NW Europe), each section (squad) has a different section leader & different Bren gunner, plus there's a choice of 2 platoon leader miniatures and a potential company commander figure included. This allows me to give each section and every platoon a unique identity of it's own.

OK, what I've suggested above isn't to all tastes - it's certainly NOT the be all and end all - and sure, I'd like a few more poses of this or that, maybe the odd extra weapon here or there, But, I think these pack ideas promote versatility, character and identity within a reasonable number of sculpts/cost bracket.

And folks like Jon at Khurasan are doing this with his Federal Army range. Jon at GZG too, even Gavin and Alex at 15mm.co.uk.   

 Cheers
Mark

T'was the night before SALUTE...... New 15mm Sci Fi from GZG

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NEW 15mm Sci Fi Goodies

from Jon at GZG! 
Available at Salute

1) THREE NEW PACKS of UNSC-LIGHT TROOPS- a Command/Comms pack, a pack of prone riflemen and GMS/P operators, and a support weapons pack with GMS/L teams and Gauss HAMR teams!

2) The HOVER TRUCK previewed on Dropship Horixon in January, available in open pickup or closed van versions - great as a civilian or military vehicle, and the open version can take any of our standard weapon mount fitments (as used on the Bulldog trucks).

3) A new MEDIUM HOVER TANK, using the Rommel hull but with an all-new manned turret in place of the Rommel's remote cannon mount. A slightly more "conventional" tank type than the Rommel, and a little larger than the old V15-15A, this should be a good addition to any hover-mobility force. Supplied complete with commander figure and three gun barrel options.

4) A new variant of our popular 8-wheel AFV family, this time as a rocket artillery support vehicle with a 6-round MRL box on the rear deck; the same MRL unit is also available as a GROUNDMOUNT version.

5) In the same "family" of vehicles as the 8-wheelers, we have a cut -down version as a 6-wheel light AFV type - very useful for recon and scout roles - available now in light APC and MICV versions, with several more variants to come!

6)...and finally, after a VERY long wait  necessitated by several stages of redesign work to get it just how I wanted it, we have THE CRUSTY MECHA! Some heavy support for those loveable (and popular) little crustaceans, this impressive unit stands about 60mm tall - you're going to need a bigger bottle of cocktail sauce....

So, there we go. I haven't had time to take any pictures of the new items yet, so I'm afraid that will have to wait till after the show. Hope to see lots of you there on Saturday!

For technical reasons we can't take them at the show this year - it's CASH ONLY on the day, but there are cash machine easily available within ExCel.

Oh, and I nearly forgot - we'll have some FREE FIGURES there too - FREE 15mm samples, no catch and no purchase necessary - just come along and pick a few up while they last!

Say Hi to Jon from me

plus Gavin and Alex at 15mm.co.uk, Craig and Dale at Critical Mass Games

Cheers

Mark

INCOMING: GZG, GZG, GZG...........

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GZG not being around has been like the gap left by losing an old friend from your life. But now I'm glad to report that Jon and team will be re-entering the atmosphere again at SALUTE.

here is a news bulletin from the T-man himself:

We WILL be at SALUTE! We're on stand TJ15, our usual spot on the central aisle not far from the Bring and Buy area. When you come in the main entrance, go straight ahead to the Warlords info stand in the middle of the hall, then turn RIGHT.

After all the changes and upheavals we've gone through in the last few months, preparations for this year's show have been terribly rushed and last-minute; at this point I am still casting frantically  to get enough stock done, and I'm prioritising the lines that I know are the most popular.  IF there is time next week I will get onto the other stuff, but I can't guarantee it - so my apologies in advance if we don't have every single thing in our range.

Important stuff to note for SALUTE this year:

1) SORRY, BUT NO CARDS! We will NOT be able to process credit/debit card payments at the show; we have been able to take cards in previous years, but due to being in the middle of the changeover to online processing for our new webstore, we won't be able to take them at the show this year. So it is CASH ONLY this time I'm afraid - the good thing is that it will speed up the serving of customers, because processing cards at the show takes ages and slows everything down!

While on the subject of serving customers, please remember that GZG is a one-man business (me!) and therefore the helpers I will have on the stand are friends who have volunteered for that day only, they will do their best under pressure but please be patient and polite.  :-)

2) As the new store isn't going to be online until AFTER Salute, we have no facility to take pre-orders this year; I do hope to have reasonable stocks of most of our regular items, but everything is strictly on a first-come, first-served basis, and once stocks are gone then they're gone! This will especially apply to any NEW items I can get done in time (see below), which may be in limited supply - so please make us one of your first stops once you get in to the hall.

3) All our PRICES at SALUTE are being held at our old pre-increase levels, as promised earlier - most prices have got to go up when the new site goes live, so don't miss this chance to get stuff at the old prices!

4) NEW STUFF: well, I still hope there will be some - but I can't tell you what, as they are still waiting to be cast! I'm hoping that in the last few days before the show, once as much of the regular stock as possible has been replenished, I can get at least a couple of moulds' worth of new items made and some stock spun out of them. It'll be right down to the wire, some of it may still be hot from the casting machine when it gets packed in the van.....

What I can tell you is that anything I manage to get done will be in the 15mm range - sorry to all the FT fans, I do promise to get back to you before too much longer! Exactly what gets made is in the lap of the Gods, and there certainly won't be any time to preview or announce it here or anywhere else, so you'll just have to come along and see what we have on the day.

Best regards, and thanks again to everyone for your patience - I sincerely hope that everything will be back to normal soon!