October 2014 - Mars Attacks! Star Trek, and 15mm Modern

Hello again folks,

I have finally got my hands on my Attack on Greenville Mars Attacks set from Mantic Games, and have started preparing this for games, undercoating and starting to paint the US troops as Marines in MARPAT camouflage.

Mars Attacks - Attack on Greenville pre-order set

I will say that the models are not made out of 'traditional' wargaming miniatures plastic, but a more boardgame style plastic, although the US troopers seem to be better than the rest in terms of feel. The two Martian commanders that came in my box both have extremely flexing weapons, capable of being bent in both directions and returning to shape, which is also an issue of some of the normal Martian's weapons. Which means if bent before unboxing they will return to their bent position if moved to a straighter shape.

I've played two small games, on Friday 10th October, and enjoyed it, the game playing very similiarly to Deadzone. A visit from Square Orange Games on the same day also led to me purchasing some more bits and pieces for Deadzone, including a Strider for my Enforcers (being built solely for them as I haven't the skills at present to assemble it so it can be changed out for Enforcers, Rebels or Plague), and a starter box for The Marauders, which rather than being the disorganised Orks of Warhammer 40k, these are greenskins, but organised, well armed mercenaries, and so I intend to paint them to resemble such, although I might use various camoufalge patterns to give them a more mercenary appearance  rather than a true army.
Below are some pictures of the Strider and the Marauders so far: 

Enforcer Strider

Enforcers

On Friday 17th October, I played a quick game of Star Trek Attack wing, using my "currently repainting" ships from the starter set, and enjoyed it. So a week later I ordered another ship to add to this growing collection - a Nova Class starship - small and quick.

Two of my starships being repainted

I have also received the beta rules to 3rd Generation Warfare, a set of modern wargame rules I am keen to try out. And having had a nose through the rules, I ordered some 15mm Moderns in order to play it, as the rules utilise large numbers of troops and vehicles, such as a tank company etc, so a smaller scale from 28mm has been chosen by myself as 28mm is too expensive and large for multi-vehicle games. I have found Quick Reaction Force, a 15mm modern miniatures retailer, and ordered my two first 15mm forces. I have based my introduction to this set of rules and 15mm moderns on the video game Battlefield 4, using the fictional War of 2020 between the USA, Russia and China as my background, although I will end up slightly altering to fiction to suit the purpose. So to that end I have so far ordered 40 US Army infantrymen, 1 Stryker IFV, 40 Chinese PLA Infantry and 1 Type 63 APC for these. These arrived yesterday morning (Saturday 1st November) and I have built the Stryker:

The 15mm scale Stryker IFV - hull is one piece, each wheel is seperate and so is the remote controlled 0.50cal machine gun.

 

Chinese Type 63 APC

In a trip to Hereford, I also bought a boxed set of 4 plastic M113 Armoured Carriers, intended for the Arab-Israeli War period of Flames of War 15mm miniatures range. I have decided these will suit my modern war collection of 15mm models, as extra transport and some specialist vehicles - I intend to use the first of the 4 models as a medical vehicle. First I intend to use the instructions in the October 2014 issue of Wargames Illustrated to upgrade the M113s to M113A3s - the modern upgraded version of the original APC. Pictures of some elements of progress are going well:

The bottom hull of the M113

The card I intend to use to build the fuel tank extensions on the rear flanks of the M113A3.

Two days ago, on Friday 31st October, I tried the 3rd Generation Warfare rules, using the Scenario 2 - A scenario based on Wireless ridge during the Falklands War in 1982. It features an Infantry platoon of Argentinians versus an Infantry platoon of British with a support element of a Scorpion and Scimitar. We used a mixture of Assault Group 28mm Moderns and Bolt Action miniatures to play the game, we didn't get very far, but started to get an idea of the rules, but the firing system is a bit complicated at the moment, with reference to various pages in the rules. I'll post how well gaming with these rules goes.

I also entered my Deadzone Plague Stage 1A as an entry to Dice and Decks Gaming Club Iron Painter competition.
 

My Deadzone Plague Stage 1A

Until next time folks.....

Mid-Late September

Hello again folks,

So, what have I been up to since my last post?

I've built, labelled and used my Afrika Korps for Bolt Action, bar about 5/6 models. All squads are assembled, so perhaps I can make a small unit of Veterans to accompany the regulars.

The game was last Friday (Friday 19th September), and was played on my Desert board, and resulted in me losing! A slight disaster of a game, starting with a Dingo ramming my 20mm AA Gun and destroying it, bad dice rolls cost me this, and my Panzer III, which had failed to take out an enemy Sherman II. My Major and his accompanying officer were both killed by a small unit of British Veterans in a Bren Carrier, and my other Lieutenant and a squad were killed by a large unit of British regular soldiers, although they had taken out 60% of the Brits before their eventual demise!

In Airsoft related news, I also have new American early style replica MICH helmet, more like a PASGT and not so high on the sides than on some models. I also have a MARPAT cover, but it is a slightly different version of the pattern compared to that on the fatigues I wear, but this will have to be tolerated for now. I have a game this Saturday and another Sunday!

I have also been painting some Deadzone stuff, as I've neglected this stuff for far too long - and I'm really enjoying painting the Plague Stage 1A.  On a related note, also from Mantic Games, I have also ordered the Mars Attacks: Attack on Greenville set, which contains the boxed set, and a few extras! I really like the heavy narrative theme, but still enough space for random skirmishes and games of my own design.

The Attack on Greenville set (courtesy of Mantic Games site). The top left is the averga boxed set, and the other items are extras included in the deal.

I have plans for colour schemes on the US troops included in the game  - USMC MARPAT camouflage, the same as my airsoft outfit. As this is a) approriate (if you allow a slight alteration in narrative from army to USMC) and b) it's an incredible painting challenge for me to try.

This Friday just passed, which I have no pictures for due to no battery on my phone, so apologies, I played two games of Deadzone, by Mantic Games. Partially because of Mars Attacks and also because I've gone on a bit of painting spree with the Deadzone kit and nearly painted my Stage 1 Plague and another Enforcer. These do have pictures (well, the plague does anyway) and are shown below: 

This shows how I painted the "skin" over the muscle beneath, using Scab Red I went over the black undercoat, except for the area near the eyes, and then used Vajello Iraqi Sand for the skin - which I interpret as having morphed into a tough carapace, thus why it is cracked and pitted.

So there we have it for now folks, until next time...

Updates on projects and Kings of War Battle Number 3

Hello once again folks,

I've finished University and am back at home and still assembling Dwarves for Kings of War, and a variety of other stuff as usual.

The Dwarves have been slowly cracked on with, with my first Ironclad unit now completely assembled, my big horde of 40 Riflemen is near completion and I've started assembling my Phalanx of 40 Bulwarkers, which are proving to be far more interesting than originally planned.

The unit is on a 10 wide x 4 deep movement tray, so it's a traditional looking wide frontage unit for spearmen, the spears are metal and come from Ebay, I have chopped them down so each comes out at about 5cm including the held section. The front two ranks are holding spears out to hold off attackers, and the back two are holding their spears up in the air.

The rest of the force still need to be assembled, two more units of 20 Ironclad or possibly a horde of 40, another cannon and then I'll need to start painting the whole force, which currently stands at around 150 dwarves (I think, having lost track somewhere last week).

Last night (24th May) I once again played Kings of War, against an Undead army consisting of a horde of 40 Skeleton Spearmen, 2 units of 20 Skeletons, 3 Units of Revenants, 3 Catapults and 3 Liche Kings. I was resoundly beaten this time, making my current tally, 2 victories to 1 loss. Which isn't overly bad, yet. The horde of 40 Spearmen really trashed my army, and nothing in my army seemed to be having a good day, as the dice weren't rolling the needed rolls, and so Cannons were missing, melee attacks were fluffed, and rifles were rubbish. A combination of bad deployment, regenerating Undead, and sheer volume of enemies with bad dice rolling on my part and good dice rolling on my opponent's part led to that disaster.

However, I continue to paint and assemble, hopefully having a fully painted and assembled force will lead to better luck on the tabletop, I have started painting more of the assembled Dwarves, including the now fully assembled Ironclad unit's champion, who unlike the rest of my painted Dwarves (which is around 4 or 5 at the moment), is Blonde, not Ginger/Brown as background describes, although I may Ginger-ise it a tad to fit in more later on.

However, as is standard practice with me, I have another project or several on the go at once, and this time I've actually planned what my next is going to be: 28mm Halo (based off the video games and sorrounding fiction - big fan of all). My inspiration came when I got some Mantic Enforcers from the open day two weeks ago, and found the armour seemed very similar except for the head area, but this has been rectified, Defiance Games USMC Marines look exactly like Halo UNSC Marines except for some very minor differences. 

They also come with enclosed helmets as well as open faced ones, and these enclosed ones are going to be used on the Enforcers to make 28mm Spartan IVs (since in Halo background fiction these are the most numerous and varied of the Spartan Supersoldiers and still have a future in the games, but the Enforcers look like Spartan IIs in term of height and bulk, much like the main character from the games, who is the last one in the fiction that the player has seen).
I have also ordered some extra Halo-style heads from Pig Iron Productions that I feel are suitable, which arrived a few days ago and so I have put one test model together:

Very Halo-esque, these will be mixed in theory to generate a more unique feel to each of the models

Bad focus, but you get the idea of what I'm aiming for

 So watch this space, I'm planning to have some fun with this one.....

Kings of War 2nd Battle and Mantic Games' Open Day

Hello again Folks,
Been a busy few days, revision for Univeristy exams has taken up my time, but I have been able to do some more work towards my Dwarf army for Kings of War by Mantic Games.
On Friday night at Dice and Decks weekly meeting I played my 2nd game of Kings of War - 1500pts of Dwarves against Elves, wielded by Neal.
My force consisted of a force similar to that I utilised last week in my first game; lots of ranged units; Ironwatch, and a battery of 4 Cannons. The elves were almost entirely Spearmen and Bowmen, with a few scout units and a bolt thrower.
The battle was a much more close run thing compared with last week, with my particular highlights being;
A multi-melee being fought around a ruin in the centre of the board, assisted by my Dwarf King. I lost several units including my Shieldbreakers.
My best and rather surprising highlight was finding out that Dwarf Ironwatch - a range specific unit, meant for ranged attacks, is actually better than dedicated melee units at fighting in melees, and so when charged bya  unit of 40 Elf spearmen, survived and beat them back. Although both units were damaged by previous attacks.
Pictures from the night shown below;

The two forces face each other

One battery of cannons, the two units in front need to be fully assembled, but the movement trays allow the size of the unit to be determined and so it doesn't affect the game

The other battery of Cannons, along with the remainder of my force

My biggest worry during the battle, 2 units of 20 Spearmen, and a horde of 40 Spearmen behind, these units threatened my right flank, and nearly suceeded in conquering it

My left flank was threatened by three units; 2 of Bowmen and 1 of Scouts

And on Saturday (yesterday), I went to the Mantic Open Day in Nottingham. I thoroughly enjoyed the day, and it was filled with all sorts of events. Arrival was greeted with a goody bag; of which contained within was a Raptor quad bike for the Marauders in Warpath, a sprue of Goblins for Kings of War and a Orc command sprue for Kings of War.
The first thing I attended was a small seminar on Deadzone and it's place in the Warpath Universe, the role of the Corporation(s) and the Enforcers, and the development and stages of the Plague faction that forms part of Deadzone. A question and answer session then took place, and it sounds like Mantic has plans for each of it's games and a promising future.
Inside the door was a Dreadball league, and a massive 32000pt participation game of Kings of War; shown in the pictures below;

A massive table and a massive battle

Elves take on the Undead

Dwarves take on Orcs

More Dwarves take on yet more Orcs

A Giant Elf on the field, representing a regiment, there was also a giant Mantic Dwarf on the table, there were two Giant Elves and a giant Dwarf. They were of great interest to me, but seemed to be a one off thing.

The Giant Mantic Dwarf takes on a Undead Mammoth

One section of the "good" side of the table

Close-up of the Dwarves

Me and Neal (who was driving up to the event) also had the great joy of having a demo of Deadzone with Jake Thornton, the game's designer. The game was very quick to get the hang of, and we were left to our own devices, we only played the Alpha game rules, so there were some rules missing that feature in the main game.

The display version of Deadzone, featuring the models and terrain for the actual release version

Enforcer sniper on a Deadzone snap-fit scenery tower

Deadzone demo game's table in full swing

Plague models facing an Enforcer Captain

 We also played a game of Warpath, Enforcers vs Corporation at apparently 1000pts, although the game seemed extremely one sided, with Enforcers being able to jump terrain and move incredibly fast. 

The Warpath board, with giant fortress

Enforcers sneaking around the Fortress

Enforcers storm the Fortress

Corportation attempt to retake the Fortress

The opposing side from the Fortress

I bought myself yet more Mantic products, a team of 10 Enforcers, which is due to the fact they are needed for Deadzone, and are inter-useable in Warpath as well, and they resemble, in my eyes, Spartans from Halo 4, which gives me an interesting idea for paint schemes and conversion ideas.
Also I bought 40 Dwarf Shieldbreakers for Kings of War, who will end up being Bulwarkers, Dwarf Phalanx.
And that's another blog post wrapped up, I have exams for University this coming week, so updates will probably be after next weekend. Until then folks....