SHM Alien Civilians, Kremlin Miniatures outage, RAFM Sale

15mm.Co.Uk has added four new alien civilians to the growing SHM Range. 

Sculpted by Dropship Horizon's own Eli Arndt, these are perfect additions to any bustling spaceport. What I enjoy most about figures like this is their versatility - they can be great background pieces or objectives in larger force-against-force games, specialty characters in small skirmish games, or characters/NPCs in tabletop role playing games. 

SHM Range - Starport Denizens III

From left to right, we have a Varlish Envoy (a good diplomat/clerical figure), a Nimuan Orator (ideal for a public speaker, singer, or even an alien news correspondent), a second Burgansian (complete with float disc), and a Tandapash musician. These figures are available in the new 8-figure blister Starport Denizens III, and each can be purchased as a single casting on the SHM Science Fiction page.

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It was brought to our attention that Kremlin Miniatures experienced a brief web outage this week, and we received some questions about whether they were still in business. Well, I have good, bad, and more good news about them. First bit of good news... They are still operating, so we are still able to get our hands on the figures in that great little range. 

Cyberian Death Commandos

The bad news? Their casting machine is temporarily out of commission, so it will be a few months before they are able to start casting and shipping again. The second bit of good news? Russ was able to get the store back online, so you can once again see all the packs the entire 15mm Power Spike line. 

Rising Sun MANITOU

So send them an email if you're interested in ordering sometime in the near future... a few advance orders might help Kremlin become fully operational. I can always use a few more Rising Sun MANITOU - still one of my favorite 15mm mini-mech/landmate suits. 

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Quite a few 15mm Science Fiction wargamers were introduced to the scale through the original Traveller figures... and  many of us still use them as the basis of comparison for today's figures. It's no surprise - most of the old sculpts still hold up quite well today. RAFM did a great job arranging them into logical figure packs when they took over the range - very useful for grabbing tons of civilians, pirates, crewmen, etc. in a single purchase. 

So for fans of that range (I still love the old "bucket head" marines) - or anyone who just wants to see what the fuss is all about - RAFM is holding a 35% off sale through 31 August.

Space Vixens

The sale doesn't just apply to the ex-Traveller figures. It covers the entire store - including original 15mm figures and vehicles like the alien Insolani, and the 28mm USX drones (which have no details betraying their scale).

So head on over to RAFM's web store and enjoy the sale.

Spider Walker, Sahadeen Command, and Building Accessories

Rebel Minis has finally closed a gap in the Sahadeen range - by releasing a pack of command figures.

Just like most of Rebel's command sets, the Sahadeen pack includes two each of three different figures. I've always been a fan of this figure range... they've seem like some kind of cross between Dune Fremen and the Abydonian people from Stargate. And now there is no excuse not to collect a Sahadeen force.

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RAFM has enhanced their Insolani alien range with this cool Support Walker.

This spidery walker sports two different weapon options - a mortar and a heavy machine gun. And it's a pretty big beast - about 2" long from the look of the pictures. It would look nice with pretty much any insectoid or biomechanical force.

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Corsec Engineering has a much larger release this week. After a bit of experimentation with his laser, Jonathan has launched his 15mm range of Flat Pack Terrain Accessories.

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This initial release brings us three different sheets of humanoid-size doors, three different vehicle/garage doors, three window sheets, and two vent sheets. And they're only $1.99-$2.99 a sheet, so there's no harm in experimenting with a few different styles.

I'm going to try two different concept pieces when my order arrives... one will simply add these to an electrical box to make a very inexpensive building, and a second by using these accessories to "futurize" a GameCraft Minis MDF Walled Compound.

Cheers,

Chris

Another Sale, some Mercenary Armour, and some Elder Things

Another Sale - this time from RAFM

15mm Insolani from RAFM

In a thread on TMP, Chief Lackey Rich pointed out that RAFM have just announced a 25% off sale.

Initially I wasn't able to find anything about this sale on the RAFM website and was wondering if I had misread Rich's post, until I realised that I needed to refresh my favourites list. That done, all was revealed on the RAFM homepage.

Now, I’ve already got sufficient Wolf Hounds of Sirius and Car Leonis Warriors, but I am certainly thinking seriously about the alien Insolani, and the Imp Armoured Car looks pretty tempting as well. Sale ends June 15th 2012.

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Critical Mass Mercenary Armour

The photo tags pretty much say it all
- more excellent work from Critical Mass Games 

Over on the Critical Mass Games Website, I see that CMG has released the next group of vehicles for the Mercenaries Range – the Bastion IFV and the Havoc Tank. These are available in either tracked or grav configurations and look very nice, workman-like vehicles. Dale has worked his resin magic again – as can be seen in the photo to right - producing a downed Prasentia Guardian drone as an objective marker.

And if you happen to be in the St Helens area, just out of Liverpool, England, on Saturday 16 June, you should check out the Phalanx 2012 show hosted by the St Helen’s and Ashton Wargames Society. Critical Mass Games have been confirmed as attending, and also on the card are Ainsty Castings, Fighting 15’s, Irregular Miniatures, and Pendraken, as well as S & A Scenics, amongst many others.

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Elder Things

Elder Things from Roebeast's Magical House of Sunshine

Finally, a couple of weeks ago a gentleman, using the handle Roebeast, posted on The Miniatures Page that he had just released the next items in his growing line of 15mm Cthulu mythos-inspired miniatures. I liked the look of the Elder Things, so I ordered a couple of packs from Roebeast’s Magical House of Sunshine. Roebeast’s customer service is excellent – I was informed when my order was being filled and when it had been dispatched – and delivery was very prompt.

The Elder Things are lovely models, standing 22 – 25mm tall. Assembly was relatively straight forward; though I’m glad I read Roebeast’s Elder Thing assembly instructions first. By bending the limb-flipper-things prior to sticking them onto the torso, I was able to get a nice, individualist feel to each of the models.

I’m not a huge Cthulu fan, but I really like these alien aliens – I’m thinking of using them as a methane-breathing race in my Traveller campaign – and I see today that Elder Things with Disruptor weapons will be available soon. I’ll be keeping an eye out for these (probably at the risk of my SAN).


- David

All Kinds of New Stuff

We've seen new 15mm Sci Fi minis released by the truckload this week!

Khurasan Miniatures has added a ton of new figures this week.  For their primary Federation Forward sci-fi universe, we have:

• Sepulvedan Resistance Fighters Set #2
• Sepulvedan Resistance Fighters "Liberated" Mortars (taken from the evil clutches of the Control Battalions)
• Lhurgg Tribesmen with Huk-Huk Electric Swords
• Lhurgg Tribesmen with Spike Mortars
• Felid "Pouncer" Launchers (seeing a definite trend with mortars this week!)
• Dual-Purpose Light Spacecraft Passengers - a pack of alien Bounty Hunters (seen on the right)

Khurasan also updated their End Times range with:

• Government Forces in Power Armor (these would be great in any sci-fi setting)
• Gutter Gophers
• Supersoldier Mutant Warlord (currently featured on Spacejacker's blog)

And finally, the Planet 15 range ha been reinforced by this Martian OG Heavy Combat Unit shown on the right.

Khurasan added a ton of items to the Little Carinthia Eldritch horror range.  While not strictly sci-fi, they still might find uses as demons or primitive creatures in some alien empires.

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The smaller manufacturers were busy this week, too.  RAFM added the Insolani bug race.  These look like very interesting sculpts - they manage to pull off "bugs with guns" without being cartoony:

Meanwhile, Oddzial Osmy reinforced the New Vistula Legion.  They have received a pack of command characters, a set of tripod-mounted heavy machine guns (or grenade launchers if you prefer), and a mortar pack.  These are available now from Fighting 15s and Picoarmor.  

Finally (and sorry we didn't say something sooner!), Ravenstar Studios is having a brief sale on the Land Core 15mm drones and vehicles range.  

Cheers,

Chris

News & New Releases

Ravenstar Studios is having a 25% off sale through February 5th.  This is a great chance to pick up some mecha, drones, and other unique walkers.  Small skirmish gamers should take a close look at the Coyote and Jackal grav jeeps - they have the perfect look and feel for Blasters & Bulkheads, Traveller, or Laserburn cities and spaceports.  The sale also applies to the starships and 1/60 items, for all you heretics who don't exclusively play 15mm sci-fi.

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Khurasan Miniatures has released three more packs for the popular Sepulvedan Control Battalion infantry.  Riflethings Set Two ($ 4.99) includes eight minis in four poses: two more poses or Riflethings, and the equivalents of SAW and RPG gunners.  The Mortarthings set ($3.99) include two full mortar teams.  Finally we have a pack of Tank Crew Halves ($1.29) - four in two different poses.

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Earlier this week RAFM re-released their 15mm Plasma Grav Tank, now with the hull cast in resin. This has dramatically reduced the price, to a more economical $12.95, and their Grav Tank Platoon deal has also had its price reduced, to $49.95! Classic Traveller fans will remember this tank as the Instellarms Light Grav Tank, originally released by Martian Metals. Even if you aren't a fan of Traveller,  this tank will be a welcome addition to any 15mm sci-fi wargamer's motorpool.

Cheers,
Spartan 117

Odds and ends for the week...

We didn't see as many new 15mm items this week as last, but there are definitely a few things we need to mention.  In addition to the release of the Blasters & Bulkheads rules, we have a few minis... new and old... to put on our Christmas lists.

ArtCrime Productions have released Makat, Nationalist, and Fed starter forces for their flagship Valkyrie game.  Each set includes 250 points worth of minis, along with the PDF version of  the Valkyrie rulebook.  Or if you just want to use ArtCrime's great minis in your own games, Mechanized Infantry Platoons are also available.

For brand new minis, Khurasan Miniatures released the Federal Police/Security Guards.   These are lightly armed, lightly armored, and would be ideal for small skirmishes in urban settings.  They are also valuable minis for anyone collection a Human Colonial force in Alien Squad Leader.

And on the opposite end of the spectrum, RAFM has resurrected the ancient Martian Metals Traveller Grav Armor range.  They are certainly older designs, but they still hold up against today's releases.  And talk about heavy metal - the vehicles themselves are 100% finger-smashing pewter castings.  The interior detail kit for the APC is resin - and a pretty neat piece for diorama modelers.

Cheers,
Chris

RAFM's Imp APC Gets a Firepower Upgrade!

RAFM have announced that their Imp 15mm Sci Fi APC has got some additional firepower. The Imp will now come with two different weapons options a dual mount missile launcher (left) and a twin cannon auto gun (right) allowing the vehicle to be outfitted for different roles on the tabletop battlefield.

Future British Trooper

I thought you might like to see Master Chef's  Falklands tribute - 'Scuse the photo quality it's via Skype.

It's one of his new 15mm Future British troopers which are built around RAFM Infantry Pack #1.

Seeing this figure and doing a few more headswops  this evening, I thought hang on! Theer's a 'medic' in each RAFM pack that I dont currently use. I can take that head and pop it onto either Peter Pig's IDF or Legion snipers to increase the number of variations available to me.

Cheers

Mark

Rescued Traveller Spacers

Remember I mentioned my old Citadel 15mm Traveller minis? This is a closeup of some of the 'rescued' spacesuits. They were scuffed, grimy and generally a bit poor to behold. Here they are 'rescued' by a wash of Windor and Newton Peat ink (Thank you Craig!).

Citadel 15mm Traveller Minis circa 1979

They haven't come up too bad have they? All the scuffs and scrapes have disappeared. OK, not pretty, but I don't like pretty when it comes to painting miniatures. Peat ink has also toned down the orange to a more Mars / 'dirt planet' colouration. Popping them onto a base makes all the difference - a colourful badge, a stripe, some ground cover and we have a tasty little unit. Seeing them like thhis, i really can't be arsed to highlight - they work for me.

I found some guys with toolboxes etc - and a couple of characters with pistols (huzzah!) - that's the Pulp side sorted. I also have another 20 or so armed, some painted, some (RAFM production) not and could quickly turn out a combat platoon in no time. No support weapons, but if I get some additional Rebel Minis' Earth Force Marine heavies and paint them orange - no one will mind (wink).

Perfect for taking on hordes of Master Chefs new Llhurggs.

Cheers

Mark

 

The Droyne Have Landed

We have Droyne! In what? A week since MasterChef placed an order with RAFM in Canada for packs from their ex-Citadel 15mm Traveller range of minis and we now have Droyne!

 RAFM 15mm Sci Fi Dracos Warriors

Maff is thinking of painting his dracos red as the Flying Dragonmen of the Twin Moons of Bihere and Bithair. I actually like the green that RAFM had them painted for the photo above, but a pale blue could make them very otherworldly.

Still, nice minis and blisteringly fast shipping!

Cheers

Mark

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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RAFM 20% Off Christmas Sale

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RAFM 20% off Christmas Sale now running from today, Friday December 3rd until Sunday December 12th. Use coupon code: CHRS2010 in the webshop.

Ex-Citadel classic Traveller 15mm Sci Fi goodness.

RAFM

Cheers

Mark

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RAFM 20% Off

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RAFM are offering 20% off until 24th October. A great opportunity to stock up on their 15mm ex-Citadel Traveller minis!

WWW.RAFM.COM

Cheers

Mark

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RAFM Traveller - 15mm Vargr, Aslan and Droyne

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On 17th July I reported news direct from the RAFM homepage which stated that the ex-Traveller line of tanks and miniatures was being taken out of production.

RAFM's homepage has since announced an expansion to the range of miniatures - in essence ex-Citadel Traveller Vargr, Aslan and Droyne. However the larger more expensive ex-Martian Metals' Grav tanks and AFVs formerly in the Grav Tanks section of the website have been removed from sale.

I'm glad the Mid-High tech figures are still available . Undoubtably these new additions will be popular. I checked Ebay today and found three, yes THREE! 15mm ex-Citadel Traveller Aslan miniatures being offered for £10!

Don't forget Critical Mass Games' Protolene Khanate will be released on 23rd November and Khurasan Miniatures' Felids very soon.

Before anyone in the UK rushes off and orders these minis - between the Post Office, HM Customs and RAFM's own not cheap overseas rates, the delivery charges come to about 50% of the order value. It's worth bearing in mind that in the UK, we have to order goods of value less than £18 or get charged 15%VAT, PLUS, an £8 GBP administration charge from the Post Office.

Cheers
Mark
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RAFM - Ex Citadel 15mm Sci Fi Being Pulled!

RAFM to take 15mm Sci-fi range out of production

As of August 30th 2009 the RAFM Grav vehicles and infantry

will be pulled from production.

WWW.RAFM.COM

I'm personally quite sad to hear this news. The Master Chef and I bought around 300 of the miniatures and I have to confess that I would have bought more if the mail to the UK wasn't so steep.

Our thanks go to RAFM for making them available over the last year, so that Sci Fi grognards like us can relive our early glory days of battles with classic Traveller Book 4: Mercenary using the numbers of figs we wanted way back then!

Cheers

Mark

Sci Fi Reading 1

Last week I took some time out to re-read Future History by Jerry Pournelle, a combined volume of two stories The Mercenary and West of Honor, linked through the same protagonist, John Christian Falkenberg. Both stories revolve around mercenaries in a future where colonised worlds are policed by the Co-Dominion, in many ways similar to the Alliance and "Earth that was" from the Firefly 'Verse.

It's always easy to slip into Future History's pages, as it reads like sipping brandy and swapping late night tales with an old friend. Every time I read it, my minds eye projects the ex-Citadel Traveller Miniatures Mid-Tech troopers (now RAFM's Infantry Pack No.2) into the role of Falkenberg's Legionnaires.

I'm determined at some stage this year to replay the action at Fort Beersheba as a solo mini-campaign. In fact as a campaign setting, one of the great things about the book is that it includes two maps! There's a world map that's pure Traveller! All it needs are the polygons overlaid. Then we are given a more detailed sketch map of the Arrarat region where the majority of the action takes place. This makes the whole thing intensely 'do-able' as a small but fun wargame side-project.

This weekend I've started Ghosts of Onyx, a HALO universe novel by Eric Nylund. Well, I couldn't resist the cover! This is apparently the fourth novel in the series, but I've just dropped in here and don't think I've missed anything by not reading the previous volumes.

The the story begins in the year 2545 with a company of SPARTAN-IIIs being dropped from orbit in an assault on a Covenant fleet refueling depot. Like it so far...

I must admit that I cringed inwardly but then actually thought it was a cool homage that the Spartan 'Company' is 300 strong - '300 Spartans' geddit! Though given the prowess of a single Spartan on the XBOX, I think a company of even just 6 might be a tad excessive!

The Master Chef created a small HALO inspired Spartan force for FWC and they wiped the opposition from the table in double-quick time. More on this in a later blog entry.

If you want SPARTANS in 15mm, look no further than GZG's New Israeli Armoured Infantry in Hardsuits, SG15-Z1. The New Israelis pictured below are an excellent example taken from Chez Ebbles' blog which includes some great painting tips, if you want to recreate this look yourself. Incidentally, I must take a serious look at Chez's 'Guncrawl' space corridor rampage game.

Chez Ebbles SPARTANS.
Great paint job!

I'm currently repainting my own HALO dedicated force of '30 SPARTANS' (there's a credit crunch after all!) to look closer to what Chez has achieved with his figures. I wouldn't mind at all if Jon at GZG expanded this line with more combat, support and command types. Certainly one of the best and most versatile sets of miniatures in his 15mm Stargrunt range.

Cheers
Mark

Blast from the Past

I just thought I'd share a blast from the past. This is the first APC I bought and painted to play Sci Fi tabletop battles inspired by Traveller Book 4: Mercenary. It's a Roco Minitanks 1/87th scale U.S. Army M114, Command and Reconnaissance APC.

This M114 was purchased around 1979-80 at The Harrow Model Shop, my childhood Mecca way back then. At that time was located in Station Road, an old fashioned modelshop that was more bazaar than store. There was nothing else to speak of on the market in the way of 15mm Sci Fi AFVs outside of TTG's Laserburn APC. So the M114, a couple of Minitanks 1/87th Heer Racketenjagdpanzer (Jaguar1) with SS11 missiles and a Roskopf eight wheeled Spahpanzer Luchs, came together as my Sci Fi armour.

The camo scheme? It's based on the 1970's US Army MERDC pattern. The brown base colour is an Airfix Paints 'Earth', which was the best earth tone I have ever found. I was in the 6th form at school when I painted this - 30 years ago now! Unvarnished and never re-touched. They knew how to make paints back then!

Googling Rocco Minitanks for this blog entry, I found that the M114 and Racketenjagdzpanzer SS11 & TOW versions) have been re-released through Herpa and are still available from On Tracks in the UK.

Herpa (Roco Minitanks) Racketenjagdpanzer with SS11 ATGW

I'm delighted to find these in the UK at a reasonable price. Not only can I replace the Racketenjagdpanzers, but I had previously wanted some of the Minitanks 1/87th Heer airportable Wiesals for use in Sci Fi games and can now fulfill that desire as Herpa produces both the 20mm cannon and TOW ATGW versions amongst others from the Wiesal family.

Herpa (Roco Minitanks) Wiesal airportable APC

So, why buy these when there are so many great Sci Fi AFV's available in 2009? Well, nostalgia plays a key part of course, but these models are also sufficiently different that they are not instantly recognisable as Cold War hardware. I also feel they have a retro-Sci Fi style that makes them a great alternative choice for Mid-Tech AFV's. And c'mon, the Wiesals will provide perfect support for the wonderfully gritty RAFM ex-citadel Traveller/Striker Mid-tech Infantry Pack No.2.

RAFM Infantry Pack No.2
Great Mid-tech Infantry!

Whilst on the subject of 1/87th AFV's, here's a lucky charity shop find I picked up ostensibly for AK47 games. It's a diecast 1/87th Soviet BRDM1 Light Wheeled Amphibious Reconnaissance Vehicle. I thought it was Eastern European in origin but just found that it's possibly made by Fidelis Models in the US. Takes away some of it's charm.... nevertheless, once again you can see it has that retro-Sci Fi look about it. In a side by side comparison, it easily compliments Old Crow's wheeled Outrider Scout Car. Comparing dimensions between the two models there's actually little in it, with the BRDM being slightly longer and only 4mm wider.

Diecast 1/87th BRDM1 A/Car

Some spare parts from GZG, such as V15-ACC4: Sensors and Radars, a futuristic camo scheme and it will look superb as a Mid-tech command or recce vehicle.

Cheers
Mark

RAFM - GZG Comparison

A quick comparison photo tonight which shows figures from RAFM's Infantry Pack No.1 (ex-Citadel Traveller 'Military' High Tech troopers) side by side with GZG's new SG15-V15 pack.

The RAFM figs are all 15mm to eye level except the central figure who is 14mm, the smallest in the pack. At a 2 foot viewing distance the figures can be happily mixed together on the tabletop.