Wednesday 7 December 2011

Getting the Harook onto the battlefield

We saw the concept art... we saw the greens... and then we saw the final product.  Mad Robot Miniatures' Harook are now in my greedy little hands - painted, based, and ready to fight.  To me, this is the most important aspect of the miniatures hobby.  It's fun to discuss, choose, and buy - that's always a big part of it.  And I do enjoy painting, though I'll admit my lack of patience doesn't always improve my figures.  But thinking, planning, discussing, and shopping just don't provide that feeling of satisfaction to me - so it's time to throw some dice.


My review pack has gave me ten Harook soldiers, each armed with an energy rifle.  One Harook is making a hand signal and another is carrying some type of tablet PC.  This yields two fireteams of five, each with a team leader.  These ten figures alone would have been just fine for a small skirmish like Gut Check or ItEN, but they needed just a little more to play a small FUBAR or Forge of War battle.  Mad Robot wasn't able to wave a magic wand and have vehicles ready for this initial release, but why should that stop me from using them in a full-sized battle?  I looked through my pile of unbuilt resin and metal, hoping to find something to support these infantry teams.  There was one vehicle in my collection with an eye-catching detail.  So I built and threw some quick paint onto it.  Nothing fancy - just a black undercoat, gray drybrush, yellow details, leather-colored weapons, and a black wash over the whole thing.


The Critical Mass Games Arc Fleet Walker isn't a perfect match, but it's not bad.  While the weapons are a bit conventional (especially compared to the concept art for Harook heavy guns), its feet are perfect.  Three sharp toes forward, one to the back.  And it's just temporary - I can obviously remake this force once Mad Robot gets Harook vehicles onto the market.  But this walker gets me by for now.


All in all, it's not a bad little battleforce.  One more pack of Harook would yield four fireteams - plenty of troops for a game of FUBAR on a 2' x 2' terrain-heavy battlefield.  Just a little more effort into stats and they are ready to play.  We'll assume the Harook are pretty well-trained, and that their natural eyesight and the advanced design of their weapons makes them pretty formidable troops.


I included stats for the two infantry heavy weapons that should be in the next release.  But like I've said before - there's no reason to wait for a so-called "full range."  If there's a line of infantry that catches your eye - buy it and use it!  You can always find drones, vehicles, or some other interesting item to support them.  It's more fun to just play a game than it is to agonize over your TOE or army list.  Be creative and enjoy the freedom offered by 15mm sci-fi!

Cheers,
Chris

7 comments:

  1. Great looking force and cards, and finally a cool use for a chicken-walker!

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  2. How do you design the cards? Is there something like the shipbuilder for Full Thrust, or do you design them by hand?

    By the way, great blog, we don't have such a big wargaming scene in Germany!

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  3. Thanks, gentlemen. I tried them out last night against my Sulian Empire (Khurasan Felid infantry with Critical Mass Protolene battlesuits). The birds soundly defeated the cats.

    @schadavi - by hand. I found a bunch of free tileable camouflage patterns online (can't remember where, sorry), which I use good old MS-Paint to recolor. I make the actual cards in PowerPoint... laugh all you want, but after years of doing training presentations it's my most proficient software program. :) OpenOffice would work just as well if one didn't have access to MS Office. Should I create a tutorial?

    I've tried out a few cardbuilder programs, but none give the level of control that I like. I do like the ones Noel made with MSE over at TheOrky 15mm SciFi - and he includes a tutorial: http://theorky15mmscifi.blogspot.com/2011/10/new-cards-for-use-me-rules.html

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  4. thanks for the stats! you never have enough of them!!

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  5. Chris,

    Sorry for the late comment.

    That walker makes a good choice for a Harook ground force. A good assault option for a fast force.

    -Eli

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