ClearHorizon Miniatures - Sigma Event 2177 Kickstarter is Live and Going Strong!

Hey All,

We are happy to announce (if not a bit late) the opening of the Sigma Event 2177 Kickstarter from ClearHorizon Miniatures.

This is a new product that is both an expansion to CHM's already impressive line of miniatures and a 15mm science fiction starter set, utilizing the Gruntz rules and a prepackaged set of opposing forces and terrain to provide an easy entry into the 15mm science fiction hobby.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2027302274/sigma-event-2177-a-15mm-sci-fi-miniatures-starter/posts/1692273

The Ion Age - Prang Army in Patrol Angis free PDF download

A free expansion by PDF for Patrol Angis and today is the day. The Ion Age is happy to present The Prang Army in Patrol Angis as a multiple page PDF which contains fiction, statistics, tables, rank structure and optional test rules along with some photos using the miniatures. You will need the Patrol Angis book but aside from that all you need is in the PDF. 

You can download the free PDF from our Dropbox account by clicking on this link HERE. Enjoy! 

You can find all of the alien Prang designed by Eli Arndt on their page of our website HERE. 

Back in January we added the first new 15mm scale at The Ion Age from this alien race...the Prang Raiders! Created and sculpted by Eli Arndt (the fine fellow behind Loud Ninja Games and many SHM miniatures at our sister website 15mm.co.uk). The Prang Raiders have several codes plus a platoon pack too enough to build an entire force. And if you missed it at the time there is also a free Patrol Angis PDF for them too which you can download by clicking on this link HERE. 

I hope you enjoy these PDF's and if you have questions or feedback please do make contact with us. There are two other items to mention at this point in September as well. We have no more releases for the month and we have released the new Prang Army as well as two newArt Posters as well (the cover art of Patrol Angis and Callsign Taranis) over the last two weeks but we have a special offer. 25% off the new now resin Havelock Battlesuit until the end of the month as well as a great article about the Barony of Malmsbury. 

Lastly every order this month gets the free IMP37 Prang Ambassador included automatically in the package which is great if you are getting into the Prang. You can learn more about each of these things by clicking on the links. 

Thanks for Reading. 

GBS

Prang Army 15mm packs now released at The Ion Age!

Back in January 2016 we at The Ion Age welcomed the Prang to the 15mm range of miniatures. Since the release of the Prang Raiders their creator Eli Arndt has been hard at work sculpting the follow up for these hulking aliens...the Prang Army. Now is the time and it gives me great delight to announce the release of the first two packs in the regular Prang Army. Go HERE to see the range or read on for more information. All of our miniature releases for the month!

Later this month we will be publishing a free PDF article for Patrol Angis giving an introduction to as well as game statistics for the Prang Army in play. We are working on that right now and it will be a great resource. The Prang Army is much better organised and equipped than the Raiders and it is against the Raider that they are presently fighting though they have agreed to a treaty with the Prydian Army to take the war to the Shia Khan Empire too. 

IAF129 Prang Army Troopers

The core fire team for your alien Prang Army. These miniatures are typical troopers with a variety of poses all with Blaster Rifles. This code contains five different white metal 15mm scale poses all wearing ceramic armour. From left to right these are Prang Trooper with servo assist Blaster Rifle, Prang Sergeant with Blaster Rifle arm raised, Prang Trooper with Blaster Rifle advancing, Prang Trooper aiming Blaster Rifle and lastly Prang Trooper firing Blaster Rifle. These detailed miniatures are the height of a Human (around 17mm though they do go up to 20mm for the bigger Prang) but are much bulkier. Go HERE. This code can be bought as a pack or as single miniatures or three packs saving 10% off list. Chose your option from the drop down menu on the page. Price per pack is 5.00GBP.

IAF130 Prang Army Support

The heavier weapon fire team for your alien Prang Army. These miniatures are typical troopers with a variety of weapons. This code contains five different white metal 15mm scale poses all wearing ceramic armour. From left to right these are Prang Sergeant with Blaster Rifle pointing, Prang Trooper with Arc Cannon and visor, Prang Trooper with Blaster Focus Cannon, Prang Trooper with Heavy Auto Cannon and lastly Prang Trooper with Blaster Rifle firing from the hip. These detailed miniatures are the height of a Human (around 17mm though they do go up to 20mm for the bigger Prang) but are much bulkier. Go HERE. This code can be bought as a pack or as single miniatures or three packs saving 10% off list. Chose your option from the drop down menu on the page. Price per pack is 5.00GBP.

To see all of the Prang go to the website HERE.

Above are two comparison pictures showing the new Prang Army next to the existing Prang Raiders. There are many thousands of Prang miniatures out across the world and we hope that you can now see how these brand new soldiers compare to those in your existing collection. Such fine detail and compatible nature to the Prang Raiders but different armour and equipment. Excellent!

What other Prang do we have? Why the original Raiders of course. As already stated the new Army is facing off against the mercenary meanies already in Prydian Space harassing Humans and nicking their possessions if not their very selves. There are several packs including a value platoon of all fourteen poses with a small discount. 

IAF109P Prang Raider Force (14)

IAF109 Prang Raiders (5)

IAF110 Prang Raider Support (5)

IAF111 Captain Bozar and Sherag (2) 

IAF112 Prang Raider Command (2)

It is our intention to continue to expand the Prang Army with your assistance and custom into an entire force consisting of a core platoon with character packs plus larger items as well and even vehicles. It begins here though with September's two new packs.

Information Burst!

Say hello to Ambassador Throag of the Prang who is the thirty seventh free monthly miniature. A 15mm alien character which is free in every order every time all month before being retired. This miniature is automatically put into every order at the rate of one per order regardless of order value. It can also be bought in any amount on the monthly IMP page of the website for this month only too before being withdrawn on the first of next month. We are into Year Four now and if you missed it you can see the Year Three Collection on the website. IMP37 Prang Ambassador is a fantastic character in its own right for any science fiction setting but his real place is alongside Prydian forces or Prang Army fighting against Prang Raiders or the Shia Khan Empire. This miniature is in one piece and stands approx 20mm tall and is armed with a Tumbler SMG. 

We have now released all of our miniatures for the month but we have more releases to come in the shape of two new posters and we have a free PDF for the Prang Army in Patrol Angis coming soon too. Lastly there will be a full article on this but our special offer for this month lasting until months end is the IAF020 Havelock Battlesuit one of our most popular original codes which is now in resin rather than metal and now comes with ALL the weapon variants on a sprue at the same price meaning more value plus it is 25% off.

Thanks for Reading,

GBS

Laserstorm: Grand Science Fiction Ground Warfare

By Podsy McPod

One year on.  Do I still feel the love?

I don't know about you but I quite often find myself falling out of love with a game system or rule set after an initial gush of enthusiasm.  Usually when I find some major flaw.  It is just about a year since I wrote some impressions about Laserstorm after my first few games. I have played about a game a month since then.  I have been playing in 15mm although the rules are designed for use in 6mm.  Purely because I did not want to abandon my extensive collection of 15mm figures.  I wondered if the rules would work in 15mm and I have to say without a doubt that they do with a couple of caveats.  Things do feel a little cramped without the room for manoeuvre you might like, and weapon ranges feel generous.  There are four sizes of vehicles in Laserstorm.  Light vehicles, standard vehicles, super heavy vehicles and behemoths.  I have included super heavy vehicles once or twice but felt that games came down to whether they could be eliminated or not.  Playing with much larger armies being needed to balance them out and there is not the room on my table for that in 15mm.  My games have been towards the smallest recommended size by unit count.  I have not used behemoths at all.

So what have I seen that I don't like?  There is definitely a high luck factor.  Units are activated in commands of one third of the whole army.  This is done by a random card draw mechanism.  A flip flop draw as I would call it when one side gets two or three activation cards at the end of one turn and the same at the start of the subsequent turn can be game winning.  Now this is statistically unlikely but not something I like at all.  All vehicles including the larger classes are destroyed with a single failed armour save.  Thus one unlucky roll can spell doom for a high value model.  I would guess this has been done to facilitate large games without any on table markers.

As in most sci fi rule sets, rules for deployment are quite sparse.  Initial game set ups can look like an ancients battle with two forces lined up looking at each other.  I suspect this looks worse in 15mm than it does in 6mm. 

There have been two supplementary army list books produced.  Thirteen factions are mentioned in the extensive background fluff.  I would love to see some more army list books produced.  To be fair the author does have a prodigious work rate producing rule systems and supplements for lots of different systems.

There is a very detailed points system.  Units can be selected by three methods.  DIY, start from scratch building unit stats.  Workshop, using premade infantry types or vehicle chassis and matching to premade weapons.  Army list, use completely premade units.  For the premade units and units you design in a similar fashion the points system is very sound.  Two armies of equal points value will most likely give a well balanced game.  In fact it would put the points system in some other well known systems to shame.  However if designing your own units it can easily be broken, the author freely admits this.  I suspect there are mathematical sweet spots for unit design so you do have to push yourself a little to add flavour to your designs.  I have also spotted a fairly major hole in the system which I have reported to the author.  Again this flaw would not come in to play if designing units in the spirit of the pre made units.  I can only see two tweaks to the points system that need to be made one of them being a fix for the issue above.  If these were done I think it would be one of the most robust points systems for any sci fi rule set that I have seen.

So what do I like?  The game is incredibly fast with simple and intuitive mechanics.  I have played games with the table groaning under the weight of figures that completed in two and a half or three hours.  I rarely see comparably sized games using any other rule set.  I will be using the rules without amendment for a large participation game at my local gaming club in October.  New players seem to get a firm grasp of the rules within the first couple of turns of play. The speed and ease of play makes up for the high luck factor for me.  The wealth of options for how to select units is excellent, including force structure charts if you want to use them.  You will have no trouble assigning stats and traits to match any unit type from sci fi fiction.  At one point the author did promise to publish faction specific workshop designs.  I think this would be a great compromise option allowing cunning unit design but not a complete free for all.

Two rule mechanics make the game stand out for me.  The game is won on victory points.  Victory points are scored by having uncontested control of victory point locations.  Points are scored at the end of each turn, not at game end.  This encourages aggressive play, sitting on the base line with long range lasers will gain you nothing in this game.  Units are often pushed back by the weight of incoming fire so you are never sure if a given unit will make it to a victory point location or be able to hold a victory point location and not be forced back out of position.  This is a mechanic integral to the shooting rules.  I have found a lot of rule sets to encourage static play with two lines of troops shooting at each other.  Laserstorm is the opposite with constant movement.  It also makes fast light vehicles and troops really useful.  You find yourself rushing them to claim an objective location and hoping they can hang on for a turn at least.

What seals the deal?  The game seems easily modified to your preferred style of play without breaking anything.  In fact there are many suggestions for alternative ways to plays sprinkled throughout the rule book  I didn't like the completely random activation card draw so I play a house rule where the two players alternate drawing cards.  So a player does not know which of his units will activate but knows he will get to activate something in reply to enemy activity.  I didn't like the lining up in deployment so I allow a free move on table before the game begins, faster units moving first.  Both these changes really enhance the game for me and don't seem to cause any problems.

When I wrote my initial thoughts on the game I suggested you just might be tempted to buy some 6mm just to play this rule set as it is so good.  I have just bought two 6mm armies.

IMP37 Prang Ambassador free for all September 2016!

Our anniversary month is now over and as the autumn begins to haul itself once more towards Scotland we are delighted to move into September and to tell you that this month is all about the Prang! Yes, new Prang designed by Eli Arndt and for the first time a Prang free monthly miniature sculpted by Sam Croes.

“Following on the coat tails of the devastating incursions by Prang Raiders onto the surface of Faercycle II the military infrastructure upon the cold but valuable planet was increased. This was in 4326 IC and the re-enforced Planetary Militia under General Canvarus held the line with the assistance of a small force of Retained Knights of the 157th Regiment. Orbital space was not compromised and the aliens were wiped out after refusing to surrender when they could not get uplift from the surface. The processing of titanium continued for the war effort. It was not long after this that initial contact was made with the Prang proper rather than the raiders whom up to that point were the only representatives of the race encountered. A peaceful delegation of two small Ancep Drive equipped starships landed at Ismere starport and were received by a planetary delegation rather than a military escort as a sign of our intention to avoid conflict.

It took two days and a lot of head scratching but eventually a means of communication was established using a combination of sign language and object comparison. Shortly after this General Canvarus met with the planetary governor and a Prang named Throag. Throag would be the ambassador to Prydian Space and to Humankind. I will admit that strolling around Ismere with an alien some three times the bulk of a man did raise some interesting situations. But we made efforts and so did the aliens to make peace with the people of Faercycle II and Throag made what amends he could for the raiders actions with apologies, promises and gifts of luxuries and clothing as was the Prang custom. We did turn to the core of the arrangement after that which was simply put that the Prydian Army and the Prang team up to foil and then destroy the raiders upon their next incursion.

Ambassador Throag shared the knowledge that the lush farming world of Myrdan III would be the next target with the aim of carrying off people and crops. A task force was organised and dispatched to the nearby Myrdan stellar system. This was in 4328 IC and the raid was countered and for the first time we saw the regular Prang Army take on rogue members of their own kind. Caught in a pincer on the ground and in local space all three of the raider ships were destroyed and the threat removed. After this and a period of time touring that star cluster and other minor skirmishes the Ambassador was conveyed to the New Glastonbury system in 4330 IC and became the first alien to set foot upon the Tor in at least a thousand years. 

Thanks in large part to the allied defence of Myrdan III and the good works of Ambassador Throag the Prang have now begun sending troops and vehicles to aid us in the growing war against the Shia Khan Empire in Camarthen space. We need all the help we can get."

Governor Aldo Lefarge of Faercyle II. 4331 IC

Say hello to Ambassador Throag of the Prang who is the thirty seventh free monthly miniature. A 15mm alien character which is free in every order every time all month before being retired. This miniature is automatically put into every order at the rate of one per order regardless of order value. It can also be bought in any amount on the monthly IMP page of the website for this month only too before being withdrawn on the first of next month. We are into Year Four now and if you missed it you can see the Year Three Collection on the website.

IMP37 Prang Ambassador is a fantastic character in its own right for any science fiction setting but his real place is alongside Prydian forces or Prang Army fighting against Prang Raiders or the Shia Khan Empire. This miniature is in one piece and stands approx 20mm tall and is armed with a Tumbler SMG. There is a growing page on the Ion Age website where the current and all former IMP series free miniatures are shown so that you can see what came before. Enjoy looking at what came before.

We ask you to sign up for a website account with us on your first order. Why? For one reason only. Not to send you emails (we never will. If you want our emails sign up for our Mailchimp list on the right top of the blog) or to pester you; but only to keep track of the Reward Points that all orders with us earn. Reward Points through our online partner Sloyalty which can be used once accumulated to get discounts or free stuff at any point in the future. Learn more about this HERE. Every order earns Reward Points! Yes free extra value. Part of our promise to keep the fun in wargaming.

This is our first bulletin of the month and I want now to give you a little bit more on what you can expect during September 2016. As you may have guessed we have new regular Prang army miniatures by Eli Arndt which will be released in the first half of September. The tip of the spear for the Prang Army! The article for the release of these will feature a lot of images and also come concept sketches too. You can see all the current Prang on their page of the website. We will then have a free PDF for Patrol Angis with stats for the use of the new miniatures in the game. You can see the free PDF for the Prang Raiders on our blog HERE. Another two items this month following up on Aris's excellent Uniforms of the Prydian Precinctwe will be presenting the cover art of both the new Patrol Angis and Callsign Taranis books as art prints for purchase! Lastly we have a new monthly special...this time on one of the favourite packs..in a new guise...we have 25% off the new resin Havelock Battlesuit for the whole month. The offer is live and an article will appear about it in more detail.

As always if you are reading this bulletin later in the month or further into the future please do have a look at our blog and use it as a time machine to read all the excellent content that is there going right back to our start. Try September 2014 for instance!

Thanks for reading.

GBS