15mm Hyrkanian Grav Assault Company

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I'm rebasing stuff today (Sunday). So here's a 'before' shot of my 15mm Sci Fi Hyrkanian Hi-Tech Grav Grav Assault Company. The dismounts (GZG New Israelis) are proxies until replaced with converted FOW Assault Sapper-Engineers (click here).

2 MICV Platoons each of 3 squads
Coy HQ of 1 Command, 1 Area Defence/Scout element

I'm planning on rounding out the company with a light grav tank platoon plus additional support in the form of a minimum of two GZG UAVs. These are currently waiting to be painted.

I've used up all my unpainted GZG New Israeli miniatures so I might just ditch the dismounted scout element in order to have four figs on each base in the MICV platoons. I have some spare A.I. minis - actually 6mm Mecha - who could replace the human scout team.

I'm also toying with the idea of including a shaman in the command team similar to the 'wizard' played by Japanese actor Mako, in Conan The Barbarian. Whilst 'magic' has no part to play in my futuristic reimagining of Hyboria, I think it's important to retain the 'elemental' aspect of Conan's world.


This Grav Assault Company continues the historical tradition of the Hyrkanian mounted horse-archer. Debate rages in higher Hyrkanian military circles, but the primacy of fast, swift, mounted warfare remains dominant in tactical thinking. MICVs are therefore small but powerful with a 3-4 man dismount element. The dismounts are subordinate at all times to the vehicle commander who controls the firefight.

Often two tank platoons are combined with two MICV platoons plus command and support elements to create a 2 company Mechanised 'Gallop' Battalion. These are raised and manned along tribal lines. They operate as independant fighting units in the vast steppes of the northern provinces under the overall operational command of the Hyrkanian 4th 'Red Sonja' Armoured Division.

Cheers
Mark

Life Work The Universe......The Generals Tent

Given the mixed weather this week it comes as little surprise that it's Wimbledon and lawn tennis season already.

June in Kinkydeenshire

Not really my game, but no warm blooded man should ever pass up the opportunity........and far prettier to watch than rugby. Whilst my mind lingers on beautiful Russian figures.....at the end of last month I ordered both the Flames of War WW2 Engineer-Sappers and Engineer-Sapper Flamethrower sets from Maelstrom Games. Ostensibly for and Berlin '45 Gotterdammerung and Weird World War Two games. You may remember that I discussed the potential for using them as Sci Fi Retro-Neo Soviet troops in a previous post.

Flames of War SU803
Soviet Engineer-Sapper Platoon

Well, the miniatures arrived and are bloody brilliant! They are so stonkingly good, I'm going to make them into one of my core Sci Fi armies.

I want to especially highlight FOW's Sapper Engineer Flamethrower Platoon (SU804).

Flames of War SU804
Soviet Engineer-Sapper Flamethrowers

I was instantly smitten by the figures as they spilled out of the pack! Give these guys visors, a comms link on the side of the helmet and they will make perfect classic Traveller/Mercenary mid-tech Infantry with laser carbines, straight out of the original Traveller Book 4: Mercenary book.

The downside is that there are only 16 figures in a pack, with no officer/NCO miniatures, or heavier squad support weapons - so you'd need to purchase the standard Engineer-Sapper platoon pack for these and convert as necessary if you wanted to represent a full leg infantry platoon - However command and support elements can always be provided by APCs, drones and UAVs, especially with Future War Commander, where I will use them as the dismounts for my Hykranian mech infantry forces.

But this project is more than just putting minis on the table. I don't mind admitting that these Engineer-Sappers have given me a huge element of gaming nostalgia for the Traveller Book 4: Mercenary games of yesteryear that I want to capture again.

Cheers
Mark

Hyborian Campaign: Futuristic Background

Very rarely a recruit will mistake me for a decent non-tentacled being they can talk to. "Master Chef" they'll ask "if you lost a war would you get all eaten by revenge like Mal Reynolds?"

I reply with the Master Chef's First Rule Of War - WIN! My Second Rule Of War is " if losing, keep fighting till you WIN!" I then introduce them to the Master Chef's Universal Rule or "Dumbgrunts get to do 50 - NOW!"

On with the Intel briefing.......

Hybor 654

The tech level of H654 is pre spaceflight but in system travel is being developed. The planet is heavily balkanised, maps are available on the Command Net or in the historical novels of Howard, available from Warperstones (do not forget to claim you UNSC discount). There are a number of geo-political groupings.

Aquilonia-Nemedia remain as two separate nations, with a long history of rivalry and open warfare, Aquilonia-Nemedia realised that the increasing rise of the Turan & Hyrkanian regimes meant that they had to stand together or fall on their own. The tech level is advanced and the forces well trained; the Aquilonian Intervention Force (AIFOR) is an all arms brigade ready for rapid deployment; Aquiloniania has made much of the reforms in the Oceanic Indigenous Zone previously known as Pictland, now a source of vital natual resources. The Shadizar Herald Tribune though frequently reports alleged disturbances in the OIZ.

Nemedia is focused on the ongoing anarchy in Asgard & Vanaheim and has concentrated on using Hyperboria to offset Brythunian ambitions.

The northern states of Asgard and Vanaheim are in a constant cold war. The closed kingdom of Hyperborea destabilises them both whilst applying constant political and military prerssure to bear on Brythunia - which is edging towards an internal crisis as its previously strong government slips into the pockets of Hyperborian generals

Cimmeria is a net exporter of well drilled mercenary troops.

Koth is seeking to " Ophirise" the small but wealthy countries of Khoraja, Corinthia and Khauran (the ambition of creating the Greater Koth) and is simply at daggers drawn with Aquilonia-Nemedia.

The need for a stable corridor to Turan has led Aquilonia-Nemedia to invest heavily in Zamora - now ovecoming its murky past to achieve solid open government.

Turan is using the vast natual resources of the Vilayet Sea to dominate the east of Hybor in a looming face off with the Hyrkanian Empire of the Steppes.


Master Chef
Dismiss!