The Ion Age - Condot of the Red Hand Mercenaries by Christian Cuello

It is my pleasure to present an article set in The Ion Age by Christian Cuello all about his Red Hand Mercenaries that make use of the special Rewards Points reward Commander Murdo Taranis Tank (read about that HERE) or see our range of super heavy 15mm tanks HERE. Enjoy the article and well done Christian! GBS

Condot of the Red Hand Mercenaries

Villains. Pirates. Scum. Mercenaries - in every sense of the word. The worst of the opportunistic guns for hire of the Prydian precinct can be found in the ranks of the Red Hand, a mercenary condot under the leadership of the self-appointed Count Roderic of Ispalia XII, one moon of the many planetoids condemned to oblivion by the Civil War that continues to tear the galaxy apart. Now almost totally uninhabitable, the husk of this devastated home-world lives on only as a fragment occupied by the fortress city that provides safe haven for those escaping Prydian authority.

Simply put, the ranks of the Red Hand are filled by criminals, the appellation earned by their inconspicuous attire and reputation. And for this reason there is no shortage of opportunity for employment. A constant stream of envoys vies for the services that the Red Hand provides: perhaps an ambitious Baron seeing to expand their rule, or a usurper seeking to surreptitiously obtain a measure of power for themselves, or a merchant seeking protection while undertaking dubious transactions on the fringes of inhabited space. And yet, even the most powerful warlords of the galaxy may be surprised to find themselves looking down the barrel of a laser rifle held by a blood-red gauntlet, betrayed at the last moment by a mere matter of credits.

As long as there is conflict in the universe, there will be individuals like Count Roderic who seek to profit from the discord. And should peace be realised, it would be short-lived. For there is no shortage of antagonists - human or otherwise - in this theatre of war.

My forays into the world of the Ion Age is by way of my mercenary force, the Red Hand. It has been an enjoyable experience, and after a bit of muddling about in the early stages (as with any game) it was very easy to get into. Everything is just too good not to paint and play with! The rules lend themselves to creative and scenario driven force composition so I’ve literally picked out the figures that I just thought looked “coolest”. You may recall this post on the Ion Age BLOG a little while ago.

Keeping the paint scheme relatively simple I’ve been able to churn out something close to a mixed infantry and vehicle platoon in game terms. I will probably go into more detail about the platoon in another write-up but I couldn’t pass up an opportunity to get stuck into the Taranis. The king of the battlefield in the Ion Age, I was fortunate enough to receive the special variant available through the reward scheme through the Ion Age store. I can tell you now it was surprisingly easy to work up the points!

The Commander Murdo special variant of the Taranis has two mighty hi-explosive Ron cannons, a rotary Moth 88, and a pintle-mounted machine gun. For the uninitiated: it’s a beast. 

I’d had the model for some time before working myself up to building and painting it, and I wish I’d had it done sooner. The tank comes in six pieces which may require a bit of tidying up. Fortunately the resin it is made from is high quality and is very responsive to cutting, shaving and sanding, so it shouldn’t be a problem for a slightly more than beginner level modeller. Here it is in pieces just after tidying up and before putting it together:

And here it is before a base coat. You’ll notice some space between the tracked sponson and hull. This was fixed with a very small amount of wood putty which sanded down and blends right in to the rest of the model. Here you can see it with a black undercoat:

And here are some progress shots:

At this point I’ve left the tank at a “showroom” condition paint job, but really do want to try my hand at some weathering. I’ve kept the paint scheme relatively simple but it really is a blank canvas for all sorts of camo, battle-damage, and squad markings.

This was a great kit to put together and I’m really looking forward to fielding this in our games.

As the harsh Sun beats down on the surface of Mars (or a planet very like it...since Mars is deep within the heart of the dreaded Imperial Commonweath), final diagnostics on the Taranis are carried out…

Review - Critical Mass Games Bastion IFV and Havoc Tank

Written by Chris

 

Last year, Critical Mass Games added an assortment of ten armored fighting vehicles to their great Mercenaries range. Craig sent me review samples of each variant back around the holidays, so it's high time I share these with you. We'll start with the Bastion IFV (tracked variant) and the Havoc Tank (grav variant). This seems like the perfect time to show these off - they are featured prominently in the ZAS Army Expansion currently running on Kickstarter.

15mm.Co.Uk expand Rim Mercenaries range

For some time now, this pack of Rim Mercenaries had been sitting quietly in the HOF Humanity section at 15mm.Co.Uk.

It's a nice little pack of figures, but it never did receive much buzz. I'm sure that many folks just weren't quite sure what to do with these. I actually split up my pack, using the left and right poses with GZG Ravagers and assigning the middle pose to the unrelated HOF Post Apocalyptic Warriors pack.

I'm happy to report that the Rim Mercenaries have now been expanded into a proper faction. 15mm.Co.Uk has released two more packs - Rim Mercenary Patrol and the Rim Mercenary Support.

The Support pack includes ten figures from these heavy weapon poses:

While the Patrol pack features ten figures selected from Officer, Sniper, and Spotter poses: 

And if the figure counts/pack sizes don't work for you - all Rim Merc poses are available as single castings.

I really like the direction being taken by this range - it has become a great assortment of rag-tag fighters. They are ideal to use as near-future guerillas or insurgent fighters, or a force slapped together to enforce the will of a petty dictator. The officer would be a great dictator figure, either in a future third-world Earth nation or on some backwater colony world. 

Cheers,

Chris

Review - 15mm Sci Fi from Brigade Models Sculpted by PF

As a follow up to this post highlighting that Brigade Models have acquired some of PF’s 15mm sci fi sculpts we're please to be able to provide a review of these soon-to-be-released figures. Despite being in the process of making production moulds, Tony at Brigade was kind enough to send the Dropship Crew a sample of each of the forthcoming packs straight out of the master mould!

First up, the Alien Civilians pack (pictured above). This features 5 unarmed humanoid character models. These could be characters in a tabletop wargaming / roleplaying game cross over or as civilian bystanders to a shoot-out in some retched hive of scum and villainy. My two favourites are the second from the left, who could be a doctor or a scientist on a survey mission, and the one second from the right, who could be pointing out secessionist spies to aid colonial troops!

Next up we have the Alien Creatures pack which provides some weird and interesting aliens for your 15mm sci fi games. We have what looks like an alien watchdog with a sharp face an a lion-like mane, a lizard or even Hutt-like creature with a spiked tail, some sort of techo-maggot, a beetle and a shambling tentacled thing. The wargaming potential of these figures may be limited, but I can imagine a sci fi skirmish campaign with characters competing to collect weird creatures from across the galaxy for the eccentric proprietor of some interstellar zoo!

Then we have the Bounty Hunters pack providing 4 mean looking characters and a shacked captive (on the far right). My favourite figures in this pack are the larger equine-looking creature (second from left) and the humanoid second from right who is equipped with some great looking armour and appears to be unarmed and sculpted in the style reminiscent of a superhero (or villein) PF often employs. I can see lots of potential for use with sci fi skirmish games like 'Blasters and Bulkheads' and '5150:New Beginnings'.

Finally we have the Mercenaries pack. This consists of 4 armed humanoids and what might be another superhero (or villein). I really like the human armed with a mace (or should that be a power weapon?) second from left. This sculpt has real character and delicate facial features which have not been lost in the casting. Like the other packs, there is lots of potential for use with sci fi skirmish games.

All of the figures in all the packs are sculpted in the delicate style PF is a master of and I'm pleased to say that none of this has been lost in the casting - bearing in mind these were provided direct from the master mould and not been cleaned up in any way.

Tony has suggested that these packs may retail for around £2 per pack, which seems very, very good value indeed given the quality of these sculpts and the casting. We've been raving about how good a sculptor PF is for some time here on the Dropship so it's great to see more of his characterful 15mm sci fi in production - Especially as there appears no sign of the sculpts acquired by Pole Bitwy and previewed here entering production. He’s certainly not been responding to my emails on the subject!

All in all a great set of forthcoming releases and, I for one, hope they sell well so that we'll see more 15mm sci fi from PF and Brigade. However, what I'd really like to see is for PF to turn his had to sculpting a conventional high-tech military force rather than just character models!

Critical Mass Games Review Part 2

As Critical Mass Games has a “20% Off” sale running on their Mercenary Line until 31st October, it makes sense to focus this second article on some of the Mercenaries.

Originally, the Mercenary Line consisted of Captain Bytt and his crew, and Bytt’s hired guns. The concept was brilliant. Like one of those slightly non-PC jokes that begins, “a Ptaar, a Korahga, a Gathneiki and a Farthoom walk in to a bar …”, we were presented with a group of characters, rather than the makings of an army.

While some of the later releases in the range, such as the Blockheads, the Ygs, the Astragars, and the ZAS, were more racially homogeneous, Critical Mass Games has continued to offer us disparate groups of story-rich characters, such as the Mercenary Droptroopers and the Freakshow.

I do like MERC11 The Freakshow. If Bytt’s hired guns are Interstellar bad-asses, then the Freakshow are just bad – a mini-gun toting cyborg with half his fleshy face ripped off; a big, heavily armoured guy with a huge beard; a little, two-toed demon with bulging eyes; a guy wearing partial ARC Fleet-style body armour and carrying an enormous rifle; and an enigmatic lizard-man. The Freaks look like they’d happily break things for no extra charge. As I mount my figures on 16mm washers, I have clipped Lizard-man’s base to fit and gently bent his tail around in a curve.

In the second photo, you can see the back of the little demon – a huge spread of braided hair. Big Beard, at photo-right, has pointy ears on either side of his big, bald head and, while he appears to be wearing a lot of armour, much of it appears to be strapped on over clothing of some sort, rather than a carapace. There is a lot of very intricate detail on these figures and I keep finding new things as I look at them closely.

I mentioned in part 1 of this review how much I welcomed the arrival of the caninoid Protolene Khanate as they seemed to me to be ideal proxies for Traveller Vargr. MERC12 Protolene Mercenary fighters offers four figures that can either be adventurers, or officers and specialists for a more conventional Protolene force. Along with a sniper and a leader-type (with pistol and rifle), there is a rifleprotolene and a SAW gunner. Again, there are lots of little details on the armour and equipment that really repay close scrutiny before painting.

Most of you are familiar with MERC13 ZAS Infantry, as they grace this blog’s masthead and are frequently enquired about. The ZAS are a four-sophont squad of sniper, SAW, and two rifleZAS, wearing slim-line, fully sealed, full combat armour and sealed helmets. While humanoid, they are slightly taller than standard humans, and their legs seem just slightly out of proportion to their bodies which gives them a slightly non-human vibe.

These three sets of figures will either provide you with ready-made crews for ItEN or 5150: New Beginnings; or characters or villains for a Science Fiction RPG; or squads for creating your own Alien Legion-type force; or officers, specialists and “foreign advisors” for a larger, Tomorrow’s War-type field force. And there’s no reason why they can't fulfil all these roles.

In Part 3 of this review, we’ll look at big, stompy battle suits, more Praesentia, and resin casting as it should be done.

Critical Mass Games - Christmas Stocking Filler

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If you are looking for a quick and simple stocking filler for Christmas, Critical Mass Games will oblige with their newest releases, which will be available on Monday.

First up, MERC11: "The Freakshow" Mercenary Fighters - 5 unique figures for £2.90. Five really different freakishly humanoid Mercs, bounty hunters or degenerate scum of the universe.

MERC11: "The Freakshow" Mercenary Fighters

5 unique figures for £2.90

(click on image for larger picture)

I'm sure everyone will have their own favourite and mine is the Terminator'esque 'Gatling Freak' on the far left, with a half human, half android/robot skull.

Next for release on Monday, Merc 12: Protolene Mercenary Fighters - 4 unique figures for £2.90. Four very nice 'Space Doggies' with a mix of weaponry that makes them a decent group of adventurers or ships crew. They could also be a discrete unit of Mercs operating on their own or embedded amongst the humankind.

MERC12: Protolene Mercenary Fighters

4 unique figures for £2.90

(click on image for larger picture)

Finally, the first two packs of a new alien race, the Praesentia. We took a look at the Praesentia, how they were conceived and developed, back in October (click here).

PREN1: Praesentia - Englightened - 6 figures, 3 poses - £3.70 per pack

PREN2: Praesentia - Englightened - 6 figures, 3 poses - £3.70 per pack

These new Praesentia speak to me - they remind me of the covers to Frank Herbert's Dune novels from my teenage years. I'm not sure whether they should be far future aliens or the warriors of Victorian Mars. But of course they can be both.

Again, fine, sharp detailing, great casting - everything we've come to expect from Critical Mass Games.

Cheers

Mark

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In The Pipe......15mm Zas Mercs

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Critical Mass Games is continuing to increase their incredible Mercs range with some real goodies over the coming months.

Craig sent me a pack of the Zas Mercenary Fighters with my latest order, damn him! Yes, damn him because I really like these miniatures. In fact I like all the figures in the forthcoming Mercs packs, but these Zas Fighters - there's something just so  Harkonnen about them, that I want them to replace my current Harkonnen Spice Troopers.

 Critical Mass Games 15mm Sci Fi

Zac Mercenary Fighters

(from Critical Mass Games forum)

To save me taking almost identical photos with my camera, here are some pics from the Critical Mass Games' Forum. If I'm honest the pics didn't inspire me whern I first saw them, but actually having the miniatures in my hand - now that's a different matter. The Zas Fighters are great!  So much so that I've taken Mudd Eisley down off the shelf to play around with the minis in setting and they've shot right to the head of my painting queue.

 Critical Mass Games 15mm Sci Fi

Zac Mercenary Fighters closeup and personal

(from Critical Mass Games forum)

And of course, the production of the figures is everything we've come to expect from Critical Mass Games - crisp detail and trouble free casting. I hope these sell well and the range consequently expanded. I'll certainly get another 2 packs to start (maybe more), giving me at least 3 fire teams for Tomorrow's War and "Ambush Alley Mudd Eisley Style".

A limited number of poses but inspiring miniatures. Thoroughly recommended.

Cheers

Mark

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Critical Mass Games - More New 15mm Mercs

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More Mercs in the pipe from Critical Mass Games:

Critical Mass Games 15mm Sci Fi
Mercenary Drop Troopers

Critical Mass Games 15mm Sci Fi
Galactic Mercenaries

Have to say well done once again to Craig and Dale for increasing the number of 'High' 15mm Sci Fi character minis on the market.

As with the new Arc Fleet greens, Craig expects these new Merc packs will be available towards the end of the summer. To keep up to date with Critical Mass Games news visit their Forum at:

www.criticalmassgames.com

Cheers
Mark
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Incoming Transmission..... New Mercs available on Monday

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Headsup Marines! New Mercs from Critical Mass Games headed to this sector stat!

Merc4-Mercenary Fighters 1
5 figures for £2.50

Available on Monday 1st March!

Now I really like the Mass Effect, Space Opera style of these minis. These Mercs are going to make great allies/opposition for the Systems Alliance military - more specifically, Commander Shepherd/Ashley Williams. Whilst no dedicated miniatures exist in 15mm superb proxies can be found in Rebel Minis Earth Force Infiltrators.

Rebel Minis 15mm Sci Fi
Earth Force Infiltrators
21 figures for $10.95

Cheers
Mark
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More Merc Pics

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As promised, additional pics of Critical Mass Games forthcoming releases in their Mercenaries range. Click on the pics for a larger image!

Plus some more pics of the Kaamados ViviPara.

Out of the 12 sculpts there are some real stars amongst the miniatures in the ViviPara range. I see them as alien bio-engineered combat troops or combat androids within my games. En masse they are cool as 'Terminator' proxies that are just a little bit different to the norm.

I like these in a Space Opera kind of way and just something is nagging me to turn them into heavy support for Khurasan's Karkarine Marines.

Cheers
Mark
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Mercs for Hire.......

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Master castings of forthcoming 15mm Sci Fi figures from Critical Mass Games Mercenaries Range (click here for more).

The trooper on left is the odd one out.
A Critical Mass Games Kaamados VivPara
but I thought he made a great bodyguard

These fantastic 15mm Sci Fi miniatures ooze MASS EFFECT style Sci Fi Space Opera, The Mercs will be released in waves over the coming months. The Kaamados Dominion VivPara will be released in April.

Enjoy. More pics to follow!

Cheers
Mark
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Poliz! Stop! Or I Dizintigraze You!

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Do Androids Dream of Electric Baaaaaa..?

Critical Mass Games 15mm Sci Fi
Soon to be released in the Mercs range

Cheers
Mark
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Harkonnen Combat Droids

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First Harkonnen Squad is finished give or take a bit of fine detailing on these combat droids.


I was going to use Walker Drones but changed my mind for something that looked a bit more 'Harkonnen' and most definitely 'desert proof'. So I decided to use two of the forthcoming figures from Critical Mass Games 'Mercenaries' (MERC) range.


I've painted the combat droids Vallejo German Orange Ochre to match the Harkonnen's desert patrol APCs and stand apart from the grunts. I like these Critical Mass minis a lot and thoroughly enjoyed the torture of paiting them. I will buy more to use as 'Assault Droids' when they are officially released.

Cheers
Mark
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Critical Mass Games - New Mercs On The Block

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There's more alien scum heading for the streets and bars of Mudd Eisley......

These greens are very much WIP and so new that Craig and Dale haven't had a chance to name the different aliens.... so to celebrate a year of blogging, Dropship Horizon is giving you the opportunity to:

NAME THAT ALIEN!

"Look, do the right thing. Give yerself a break, gain a little immortality even. It's not snitchin'. We knows they's Mercs. All we are askin' is that you tell us who these fellas are and where they came from. That's not too much to ask...."

More details tomorrow night - Critical Mass Games have a busy release schedule throughout the Spring. Craig can't set any promises but is confident the new Mercs will be out before June.

Cheers
Mark
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Basing Continues.... Warbases.co.uk

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We've recieved a new stack of 2mm round bases from ebay seller MMurray6670 a GREAT bloke to do business with. Check out Martin's website Warbases.co.uk for details of his square, round, hex and polygon bases, movement trays et al......


We usually use 40mm bases for teams of 3-4 figures. Here are some of the Chef's GZG 15mm 'classic' New Israelis with a Critical Mass Games' Merc3 Recon Drone - which will be available on the 21st December! The Drone will get another coat of ink and have the details picked out in colour in time for the ground cover - Vallejo Black Lava paste - to arrive from Maelstrom Games.

Cheers
Mark
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Critical Mass Games - Another Merc for 2010

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Well, 2010 is already shaping up to be a year to look forward to. Here's another Merc from Critical Mass Games! This Merc will appear in a dedicated pack of 6-8 miniatures with 3-4 variants in the new year.

I really like this miniature. Something very gritty Sci Fi about him.

If you're signed up as a Follower of this blog - or even just if you frequently post comments, and you want a chance to win this miniature plus everything else in the Merc range, don't forget the The Dropship Xmas Pressie Competition! But hurry!

Cheers
Mark
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Critical Mass Games - New 15mm Mercs for 2010

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I mentioned on my 300th Post that Critical Mass Games' MERCS range will be expanded over the next year with dedicated packs containing a specific miniature type with 3-4 variants and 6-8 figures per pack.


Exclusively, I can share TWO of these multiple variant Mercs with you. In the photo above left the serpentine Merc, and 2nd right, a female Merc in Nano suit.

The serpentine Merc is quite cool,
surprisingly detailed,
and just that bit different!


Believe me, the female Nano-suit
is incredibly feminine!

I'm pairing up these miniatures to create an assassination team. Their personal transport will be a Khurasan Miniatures' Sea Wasp which allows them to make stealth insertions planetside and fight their way out again if the extraction is hotter than planned!

Cheers
Mark
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Critical Mass Games - Mercs Comparisons

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Some quick comparisons of Critical Mass Games' Mercs with figures from other leading manufacturers.

Click on pictures for larger images.

Cheers
Mark
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