Ghost of Hefei Kickstarter Moving into the Home Stretch.

Hey all,

Eli here, your friendly neighborhood Dropship co-pilot here.

Just a quick shout out to the 15mm miniatures community that The Department: Ghosts of Hefei is rounding the bend to it's final days. The project is going strong but is not quite there. I invite anyone who is a fan of 15mm miniatures (and I know you are) and/or innovative and fun game systems to join me in backing Joe's vision.

The Department was a great game and Ghosts of Hefei will expand on that fun by adding a new element to his universe and new ways to play street-level miniatures games. Hacking, robots, future gangs! What's not to like?

Spring Sale from Rebel Minis

Rebel Minis has announced their annual Spring Sale. From the wonderfully-titled newsletter: 

Interview with Keith Armstrong of Armies Army - The Cost of a Successful Kickstater

By Harold

Today we have an interview with Keith Armstrong of Armies Army about his recent successful kickstater (Armies Army Kickstater) which had 75 backers and £3,250 pledged of £1,750 goal, hitting all of it's stretch goals.

To see more of Armies Army please visit his blog at:

http://armiesarmy.blogspot.co.uk/

Note: This interview was conducted over Gmail chat, so please forgive any typos!

Harold

Was the Kickstarter successful for you?

Keith Armstrong

Erm.....not financially
As a product yes
And for lessons learnt ....yes

Harold

Would you do it again then?

Keith Armstrong

Hmmmmm
If I have no option financially
Yes – with additional planning
If I had finance then no
However kickstarter did provide a big market. I had a surprising amount of direct traffic

New USE ME Box Set, Brog, Cossacks, and more Tomorrow Black

by Chris

15mm.Co.Uk has released The Ziggurat of Clem IV - the second boxed starter set in the USE ME series.

Just like the first boxed starter (Danger on Outpost 32), this set provides a complete 15mm science fiction game experience in a single package. It includes the USE ME UM001 rulebook, a printed scenario/force roster pack (also available as a PDF download), 2 dice, 27 plastic bases, and 27 Zidhe and Octopod figures from the HOF range.

These starter boxes are perfect ways to introduce more gamers to the 15mm SF fold. Something tells me they will be huge sellers at Salute next weekend.

And speaking of Salute, don't forget that 15mm.Co.Uk is still running their 15% off sale! 

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Rebel Minis continues to expand their PF-sculpted alien forces. The Brog Empire receive two packs - a Command and Heavy Weapon set, and a Mortar Teams pack. 

I'm impressed by how quickly this line has grown. In less than a year, Rebel Minis has released the Manth, Brog, Vott, Shalur, and Pangalactic Legion - five complete ranges of highly-detailed space opera forces. And they're a good balance to me - more than rubber-suit humans or anthropomorphic animals, but still humanoid enough to work with any 15mm rules.

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Khurasan Miniatures has added the Cossack Light APC to the Nova Respublik faction.

Designed to be a modernized Soviet BTR-40, it offers the Nova Respublik a low-tech vehicle for command, scout, recon, and transport roles. To support this release, Khurasan adds two more figure packs. One is a nice little recon/observer pack:

And the other is a group of seated riders:

I've been hoping for something like this rider pack for awhile now. Even though the Cossack isn't really my thing, this pack would let me use another open-top transport vehicle (like a Hammer's Slammers Cargo Car) with the Respublik figures. Very useful stuff there!

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Highlander Studios has added the Murg Imps to the Tomorrow Black range

These disgusting little gems are great for post-apocalyptic and sci-horror settings. I can imagine a few bases of these popping up in shanty towns and dark alleys on urban tables... some kind of nasty pest stowing aboard transport ships, or an unfortunate byproduct of terraforming. Lots of potential in this little range - it's well worth a look.

A closer look at Security Forces Alpha

by Chris

The response to 15mm.Co.Uk's new Security Forces Alpha range has exceeded many expectations. To learn more about what it took to bring these figures from concept to production, here's an interview with lead designer Gavin Syme.

Aliens, Armed Explorers, Xenobiologists, and Hammer's Slammers

by Chris

Rebel Minis has expanded both the Manth and Pangalactic Legion ranges. The Manth are joined by the Command and Heavy Weapons Pack. It includes a Commander, a Communications Specialist, two Automatic Pulse Cannon soldier, a Missile Launcher soldier, and a Galactic Peacekeeper (which is one of new favorite 15mm figures).  

Even if you aren't a Manth player, this pack would make a wonderful narrative-skirmish force. Maybe it's just the excellent paint scheme that Jason Moore gave the Peacekeeper... I see this pack as a senior diplomat/religious leader/chief-of-state with his/her/its personal bodyguard. Grab a handful of other figures from your current collection, some MDF or electrical-box buildings, and you have everything you need to play out a spaceport ambush, an embassy attack, or a mercenary or special forces hit on a high-value alien terrorist leader.