The Sky Full Of Stars

Babylon 5 Campaign - Turn 1

2009-12-05T16:11:00.001Z

ISN - The Galaxy's Most Important Network

Good evening, we interrupt this evening's broadcast with this breaking story. Open war has broken out between several major governments in the newly explored Sector 950, raising tensions between already hostile factions.

After the construction of a jump gate and several colonies in the system, several alien governments have taken an interest in the area and have now begun forcefully claiming the system. Early reports indicate that renegade Earth ships, Minbari, Vorlons, and a previously unknown race reported to be called the Shadows are now openly fighting each other. Rumours also indicate that the Narn Regime has also sent ships into the area, although no confirmed sightings have been made.

Hostilities began when a small Shadow fleet was spotted near the mining outpost in the system. A number of Vorlon ships carried out a disastrous hit and run attack, with both fleets losing most of the ships participating in the engagement. The mining colony remains intact.

(ISN exclusive picture of a wounded Shadow scout vessel)

This quick show of force by the Vorlons was followed by an attempt by the bulk of their fleet to capture the jump gate. President Clark's elite forces deployed almost their entire fleet in response, resulting in the Vorlons retreating rather than risk another costly battle.

(Vorlon fleet emerges from hyperspace)

Clark's forces then went on to secure the system's trade station, ensuring that many loyal citizens will remain safe in these perilous times.

The Minbari took control of the scientific outpost, giving them access to advanced ship refitting systems. Although they are of Earth design, experts agree that the Minbari will easily adapt them to their own technology.

(Last transmission from the outpost showing an approaching Minbari warcruiser)

Renegade Earth ships moved to seize control of the industrial world but their small fleet was thwarted by a hit and run Minbari attack. The renegades lost two capital ships in the engagement and although no Minbari ships were destroyed, they were severely damaged by the Nova-class ship Hercules. Both fleets lost several squadrons of fighters in the battle.

(Renegade Starfuries move to engage the Minbari fighters)

As always, our thoughts and prayers here at ISN go out to those innocents caught between these vast struggling powers, and especially to our brave, loyal men and women of Earthforce fighting to protect them.

We will continue to broadcast reports from the frontlines as they come in. For now this is ISN signing off.

Facelift and General Update

2009-11-03T22:23:00.004Z

Hi folks!

Well it's been busy as expected, but things have been progressing steadily.

First, and most noticeably, I have given my blog the long-needed overhaul. The layout is much the same as before simply because I see no reason to change it, but I've updated the theme to reflect the nature of my hobby a little more. Long-term readers will have noticed my drift away from 40k into the more general realm of sci-fi wargames, and now 40k occupies a small amount of my time. I felt that my blog should reflect that. I have chosen more of a Babylon 5-ish theme, since it currently dominates my gaming efforts.

Which leads nicely on to the main chunk of the update. After a long time of planning, buying, building and painting, I am now ready to launch my Babylon 5 A Call To Arms campaign. 5 players (including myself) have so far opted to take part, and that will likely still be the number when we make our opening moves at the end of the month.

The campaign will be fought in Sector 950, during the Earth year 2261. At this point in time, both the Shadow War and the Earth Civil War are in full swing, and almost the entire galaxy is in turmoil. Sector 950 is in a relatively quiet area of space, and is home to two settled planets, a trade station, a mining colony and a scientific outpost. With many untapped resources in the sector several governments have dispatched fleets to take control of the system to exploit them, in an attempt to give themselves the upper hand in their war efforts.

The way it works is simple. Every campaign turn, each player will nominate one of the system's 10 targets to attack. If it is unoccupied and nobody else decides to contest it, the target is theirs. If another player owns it or decides to contest an attack against a neutral target, then a battle is fought and the winner takes the target. This process continues until there is a clear winner (either taking the whole system or enough of it that we agree their competitors have little hope of winning).
Each player starts out with a sizeable campaign fleet, chosen from one of the many available factions. As the campaign goes on, ships will be lost, surviving vessels will gain upgrades and experience, and resources generated from the targets can be used to buy reinforcements and carry out repairs.

We will be playing a couple of campaign turns at the end of each month, the number depending on how much fighting goes on during these turns. I will be providing reports from the frontlines here afterwards. I hope you all enjoy them. :)

And finally, to give a taste of the action...

It Lives!

2009-09-29T11:44:00.004+01:00

Hi folks!

Yes, I did take a bit of an extended break recently. Things have been trundling along as usual, jumping from project to project as I am prone to do!

However, I have been sticking at one thing. Space Hulk. Although I was a little too young to catch the original, I've heard so much about it over the years I just had to buy this one as soon as it was announced. Since a couple of days after it arrived I have been painting the minis and sprucing the game up a little. I bought some velvet dice bags for picking the Command Point tokens and Blips from, and went around the edges of the cardboard pieces with marker pens - which I recommend that every Space Hulk owner does, since it improves the appearance massively.

Despite painting for almost 4 weeks now, I have not even finished half of the Terminators yet - I'm not a fast painter by any means as I'm sure regular readers will know by now! I've been following the guide in the recent White Dwarf and am very pleased with the results. Here are my finished ones so far:

Sergeant Lorenzo

Brother Deino

Brother Goriel

The remaining two members of Squad Lorenzo (brother Valencio and brother Zael) are on the painting table now. I will have Brother Valencio finished this week at my current rate, and will at least be close to finishing Zael.

Unfortunately time is not a luxury I will have quite as much of from now on. Summer is well and truly over and I'm back at Uni. This is my fourth and final year and not only have we been thrown right into the work but this is my last chance to really learn and prove myself before being thrown into the big, bad world. So I'm pulling out all the stops this year which is unfortunately going to have a major impact on hobby time.
On a related note, as part of our Honours Project (which is basically the focus of our final year), we must maintain a blog of our progress. If any of you would like to follow it, you may do so here:

http://ianshonours.blogspot.com/

The blog's purpose is to show both our teachers and fellow students how we're doing and give them an easy means of providing feedback and ideas. However, input from others is welcome too, so if any of you want to say anything feel free to leave a comment.

I will try to also get back into the habit of posting here, but we'll see how it goes. Take care! :)

Commission: Salamanders Master of the Forge

2009-08-04T00:31:00.006+01:00

Hi folks!

I know I've been horribly quiet, but I did take a bit of a break from the hobby just to relax a bit.

Anyway, I'm posting up some pictures of my latest commission. The client let me know today that it has arrived safely and that they're very pleased with the result. And that's like music to my ears!

The client (one of my readers) requested a Master of the Forge belonging to the Salamanders chapter, armed with a Conversion Beamer, with a volcanic themed scenic base. Apart from that, I was given a pretty free reign with the design, so I set about sketching up how I envisioned him. Here is the first sketch:

As luck would have it, we only had a few minor details to work out, mostly concerning how the weapon would be held. In addition, we decided to magnetize the left arm to account for all the options available for secondary weapons (Thunder Hammer, Power Weapon or nothing), just in case. With those details sorted out, I ordered the bits and got to work.

Here are a couple of the first WIP images I sent along to the client.

Regular picture updates like this are absolutely crucial when you're working on figures for someone else. In discussing these, we both agreed that the Conversion Beamer had to be lowered a little more into the arm, and that the cloak might look better underneath the backpack.

With those revisions in mind, I returned to my workstation to make these alterations and start bringing the model together. The following pictures were taken a day or two before completion:

At this stage most of the pieces were still loose, and I had sent them to make sure everything was fine for gluing together. Fortunately, it was, so I put it all together and added a few finishing touches before attaching him to a scenic base as requested.

And so I present the finished product; a Salamanders Master of the Forge. Shown with all of his alternate arm options.

Once again, it was a great opportunity to work on a project that I didn't have any immediate plans to do for myself. It was especially fun to work on a Salamanders piece.

If any of you are interested in commissioning a figure or number of figures, for conversion, painting or both, see this post for full details.

And now for more general news. This past week has seen me veer back towards the realms of fantasy. Our club is starting to drum up enthusiasm for Blood Bowl and (hopefully) working towards a league. I started a Tomb Kings army last year so I'm gathering up a Khemri team to learn the rules and take part. As well as that, I picked up some extra second hand Tomb King stuff at the Claymore wargames show. If I don't go mad from painting skeletons, some pictures might make their way here.

Take care!

Quiet Spot

2009-07-19T01:31:00.003+01:00

Hi folks!

Well it's been one of those weeks where I've posted absolutely nothing. Several reasons for this.

The first is that I'm not really into 40k much any more. Fear not, my IG, Sallies and 'nids hold too much sentimental value to be sold off or forgotten about, but my passion for the game itself has pretty much died out. I hope to find a good enough set of rules for them to hit the tables again someday.

The second is probably my lack of money. I currently live off a student loan... at least for one more year (after which I hopefully start raking in a five figure salary). Of course, that only comes in during term-time, and I then coast through the summer. I do currently have a bit of free cash, but at the moment I'm saving it for the Claymore wargames show in Edinburgh next month (gimme a shout if you're going!)

Third. My folks went down to Devon again this year, and having felt that I'd done all there was to do last year, I decided to stay home and look after the place. Along with the additional (brief) responsibilities of keeping a (relatively empty) house running, I was also deprived of the digital camera. I did actually do a couple of hobby-related things, but had no means of showing them!

And fourth, other projects. The first is the scenario pack for Urban War. I've been tasked with making my fan-made scenario pack a little more official, which includes testing and tidying up a few scenarios the guys at Urban Mammoth were working on. All my recent gaming time was devoted to that cause, and I've still a lot to do.
I've also started doing a little programming. Because I only have a year left until I'm thrown into the big bad world of the computer games industry, I need a good portfolio of programs to show off my abilities. The summer is the only time I really have to pad it out a bit.

Anyway, now that the family have returned, I hope to update you all with my recent exploits this week. I have almost finished a Babylon 5 scratchbuild (my first), the No Go Zone minis I mentioned in my last post are going to be shipped on Monday, and then tere's my latest commission piece as well.

Take care!

No Go Zone

2009-07-09T01:10:00.003+01:00

Hi folks!

I recently came across this charming little boardgame called No Go Zone while researching a potential project idea. The rules were just under £4 ($6) on Wargame Vault so I figured what the heck, it's worth a look.

No Go Zone depicts the hijinks that ensue when the pubs close on a Friday night in pretty much any given town or city in the UK. One player plays as the side of Law (Police & Paramedics) and the other Chaos (vandals, "ladies of the night" and hooligans), and they both compete to fulfill their various conflicting victory conditions. The game can slowly escalate from a couple of coppers keeping a few vandals and roaming drunks in check to a full-on riot.

Selling points for me are
#1: miniatures - full starter set of 24 for £40, and they're full of character. In particular, the upcoming football hooligans are bang on
#2: no dice - players use a modified rock-paper-scissors mechanic called "throwing signs" to resolve actions, with bonuses for winning with certain "signs". It completely removes luck from the equation so it all comes down to the players

Having plenty of spare funds due to an impending birthday, I've placed an order for the"Friday Night" starter set of miniatures, rulebook (because I like having a proper printed copy) and a set of Riot Police. I'll give a full review of minis and gameplay when I've assembled, painted and played.

While I'm waiting, I'll be building the cardstock vehicles and board tiles which are free downloads from the site.

Quick warning though, this is most definitely not one for the youngsters. Recommended age by the publisher is 16+, and I quite agree with it. Still, it looks like a bit of slightly silly fun for adult gamers, so it's well worth a look if you're old enough.

Urban War: Viridians

2009-07-08T11:58:00.007+01:00

Hi folks!

Today I'm oing to post up something I promised a while back but somehow got pushed aside, and that is the first of my Urban War collection: the Viridians.

The Viridians, commonly referred to as VAF (presumably Viridian Armed Forces but I haven't had that confirmed), are the military arm of a commercial empire. They have the financial backing to field very well-trained and highly-equipped troops - consequently, they protect that investment by specialising in fighting at range to minimise casualties.

I first picked up the Viridians just under a year ago at the Claymore wargames event in Edinburgh (this year's is just around the corner, 1st August). I picked up three Metropolis boxes giving me two squads of Marines and a squad of Snipers. Between various other wargames events and a few online orders I've fleshed them out considerably and can field the vast majority of their unit types.

First up, we have the basic Marines. Each Viridian strike-team must have at least four of these, using up at least 80 of the standard 300pt allowance - so it's wise to learn how to use 'em. Their Gauss Rifles provide good reasonably accurate short-mid range fire, and their combat blades go some way to helping them in close combat.

Next are two models I tend use as "Veteran" (i.e. higher CAL) Marines.

Here we have the Marine Sergeants. These guys (and girls) make for good, cheap leadership in a Viridian strike-team.

Now we move on to one of my favourites, the Sniper. Most Viridian forces tend to field at least one of these. They are very expensive, but are highly accurate and can take down even heavily armoured units with a bit of luck. They are great for reliably taking out enemy leaders or specialists that are causing problems.

The next unit, the Marine with a Heavy Gauss Rifle, is something I haven't really made much use of yet. They do have a bit more firepower han the standard Marine up close, and they're something I intend to try out more often.

Now we move on to the support weapons in the Viridian arsenal. The Heavy Machine Gun team is a common feature of Viridian armies. It is an affordable means of laying down a good amount of long ranged firepower, and adding more cheap loaders keeps it in the fight even longer.

Mortar Teams are another useful unit. being able to fire blindly, their area of effect shells mean that they should be able to at least hit something if they scatter. In my last couple of games they really made back their investment, and then some.

On to the more specialised stuff now. Here we have a Special Forces trooper, his Gauss Carbine making him a good short range fighter. These guys can act as spotters for Mortar Teams, improving their indirect fire accuracy, and can also be equipped with camouflage to conceal them from long ranged fire.

Another widely-used unit are the Shock Marines. A slight oddity in the Viridian forces, these guys are close combat specialists. Their Vibro-scythes cleave through armour like it was paper, and between their armour and Negatron Shields, they're pretty tough too.

Urban Interdicts are quite a tricky unit to use. They can drop in almost anywhere on the battlefield after the game begins, and are equipped with a pair of Gauss Pistols for close range firepower.

Up next is a Saurian Rider. They are essentially faster Marines with an extra wound and slightly more expensive. I haven't quite found a niche for them yet, but I suspect I will once I get one or two more to fully explore their uses.

With the release of the CLAU Team Actions supplement, heavy battlesuits entered the fray, and Viridians as usual have some nifty tricks. I have both of their suits, but the only one I've painted up is the Sabre. Which is basically a giant Shock Marine.

The other, the Tomahawk, is equipped with an upgunned Mortar.

A useful feature of the CLAU rules is the ability to upgrade it with an ejection system, allowing the pilot to bail out and continue the fight. The advantage of this is that the CLAU won't count as a casualty unless the pilot is also taken out. Here is the Viridian Land Pilot.

So that's my painted collection of Viridians. I still have the Tomahawk CLAU to do, as well as some basic Marines, a few Snipers, another Mortar Team, some Special Forces an a Bazooka Team. Future posts may eventually see them, but th next few will more likely show off the other factions I have.

Commission Work: Space Wolves Finished

2009-07-01T13:07:00.005+01:00

Hi folks!

I first showed my work on these guys a few weeks ago. Quick recap: the client requested three Space Wolves character models: one in power armour, one in terminator armour and a Wulfen, and provided links to artwork to base the designs on. They were to be assembled, primed black and given snowy bases.

I received confirmation at the start of the week that they arrived safe and sound, so now I'll post the final pictures from my end. First up, the power armoured hero (banner missing from the picture - I still had some finishing touches to do):

Next, the terminator armoured hero:

And finally, the Wulfen:

More pictures available here.

The client is delighted with them, as am I. Especially because this was my first attempt at snow bases, which has been quite a learning experience. I used the profits from this commission to fill out my bits box for future projects.

If any of you would like to request commissions, full details are available here.

Something that's driving me nuts...

2009-06-30T02:13:00.001+01:00

http://musicofb5.thegreatmachine.org/the_face_of_the_enemy-bar.zip

I know it's a long shot, but does anybody know who sings this? I kinda like it but I've exhausted my googling skills and found nothing, and now it's starting to bug me...

This Week's Pictures!

2009-06-28T21:51:00.002+01:00

Hi folks!

As promised, some long overdue shots of what I've been up to lately.

I'll start by showing the colour scheme of my Tyranid army. I've decided on the colours used in Imperial Armour 4 - bone for the exoskeleton and either green or brownish red for the carapace. I simply spray white, dip in brown wood stain, then paint the carapace. Here's how it looks:

Now, in my last post I said I was using this on the "smaller" critters. And to clarify, I mean smaller than this:

Yep, a Barbed Heirodule. This poor beast has been sitting in a box for a year and a half, so I figured it was high time I get it painted up. That has taken the better part of last week, and I still have the arms to do.

Now, on to something considerably smaller. Many of the new scenarios I've written for Urban War require objectives and, of course, I couldn't just settle for the cut-out ones I designed. I had to go and make something a little more interesting:

Out of those, only the smallest counter is a scratchbuild. The next size up are teleport homers from the Terminator sprues, and the two largest ones are resin accessories I bought online - part of a set of three but the third picture didn't come out. :(

This Week's Activities

2009-06-27T21:06:00.002+01:00

Hi folks!

First of all I'll apologize in advance for the lack of recent pictures... I've got a couple of things to finish off which I'll post soon.

This week I had a little rummage for a project to take my mind off things and found one of my boxes full of Tyranids. "Haven't looked at these critters in a while" I said to myself so I sat down to work on them for a bit and before I knew it, I had a horde of the beasties on my table. I assembled the last few gaunts that were on the sprues, sorted out a bunch of second hand stuff I'd bought a few months ago, magnetised two carnifexes, and just tonight I've done the same with a trio of warriors. I got some painting in as well, which I'll probably show pictures of tomorrow.

I'm dipping the vast majority of them to save time, and it gives them an appearance that I'm happy with. Only the really big stuff gets the full paint treatment, and that's what I've been doing this week. I'd like to unleash them in an Apocalypse game sometime this year since I've never used them at that level, and dipping the gribblies is the only way I'll ever get them done without going insane.

In other news, I finished Homeworld's campaign for the first time ever - I was mighty impressed. For the fellow fans out there, I came across a (legal) download of an extra "official" mission, which you can get here. It was cut from the final game, but it's quite fun, if a little unpolished compared to those that were kept. The download is basically a demo the first 4 original missions plus the extra one, doesn't require the original game so anyone who has a bit of free time should check it out.

Finally, I've also been working on a community project for Urban War, putting together a collection of extra scenarios for the game. The rulebook contains four basic scenarios, and we've created a further twelve in order to give players more choice in their games. The forum topic (the scenario pack is an attachment to the first post) can be found here.

Looking forward to next week, I'll be doing more work on Tyranids and the scenario pack most likely.

Disaster

2009-06-22T15:34:00.002+01:00

Hi folks!

Feeling pretty bummed out right now as last week it has come to my attention that a large package I sent out to an ebay buyer a few weeks ago has gone missing, worth about £90. I've refunded him and will make a claim with the Post Office which should get me £40 compensation, but unless it eventually turns up I'm £50 down.

That's put a huge dent in my Babylon 5 project since I was planning to place a large order this month. I'm going to have to postpone it for a month and pray that the ships I want are still in stock by then.

All this has had a knock-on effect and I can't bring myself to even pick up a paintbrush at the moment. I did paint a few ships before the weekend though, so I'll probably post them up sometime, and I'm still "in the zone" for Homeworld stuff.

Anyway, I hope everyone else has had better luck than me this weekend!

Distractions...

2009-06-18T23:08:00.004+01:00

Hi folks!

As of late it seems this blog is increasingly covering non-40k material, which pretty much reflects my hobby situation at the moment. I'm finding that 40k as a game isn't much fun any more, it just seems a bit shallow compared to other games that I've been playing. At the moment I'm actually looking to other rulesets to use my models with - I still like the background too much to give them up. Stargrunt II is looking like the primary candidate for a replacement.

Anyway, that's not really my main topic for posting, but it's something important that's going on. No, tonight's topic is, for the moment, not quite hobby related.

Over the past couple of days, I've found myself getting sucked back into Homeworld, an award-winning space RTS from about 10 years ago. It's pretty much space strategy at its finest - full 3d movement, dozens of ship classes (some of them are pretty awesome), great graphics for its time, beautiful soundtrack and an epic single-player campaign.

As with any of these brief obsessions of mine, between gameplay sessions I tend to hit google and see what turns up. Among the results were mods (such as the excellent Babylon 5 mod and I remember there being a BFG mod in the works for HW2), and background info and debates including a fascinating topic on working out ship sizes. But by far the most interesting to me was the discovery of paper models. Between this and another couple of sites, they seem to have pretty much everything covered. I've printed off the Kushan Assault Frigate and Carrier to try them out.

I'm toying with the idea of statting them up for Babylon 5: A Call To Arms and miniaturizing the paper plans. I've plenty of spare plasticard for the latter, but it will probably be more difficult balancing stats for a system I'm not fluent with yet - especially since it's not a traditional points-based game.

Speaking of Babylon 5, I've made about £150 from ebay sales (after fees), so I'll be ordering more ships soon. It was tough deciding what to put on my shopping list, but I'm aiming to get my Earth, Minbari, Narn and Centauri fleets up to campaign level so we can start playing games with more varied fleets. After the summer I'll round out the collection with the other races, and the ships I need for the special scenarios in the book.

Finally, with the decline in 40k-related material on my blog, I'm thinking about giving it a facelift. No solid ideas yet.

That's all for now, take care guys!

Commission Work

2009-06-11T14:04:00.006+01:00

Hi folks!

As I said a couple of weeks back I'm taking commissions in order to earn a little extra money with the abundance of free time I have this summer. I had one client request three pieces, and with his permission I am showing what I've done so far.

My client asked for three characters for his Space Wolf army, based on artwork he had found on deviantART: specifically this, this and this. After a quick rummage around bits sites and ebay I felt that I could pull them off. He also requested that I give them snowy bases and prime them black before posting them out to him. I've never modelled Space Wolves before, nor have I done snowy bases, so I was looking forward to these new challenges. I decided that I would pin (not glue) the models to their bases so that they could be finished separately.

Here's where I'm at now.

First up is the power-armoured hero. For this I combined elements from the Blood Claws box (head, torso, banner, powerfist, backpack) with a couple of regular marine bits and a cloak from the Warriors of Chaos box. The ruin on his base is from the Cities of Death sprues. I've still to tidy him up a bit, but he's probably the closest to finished.

Next up is the terminator-armoured hero, by far my favourite of the three. Bits came from many sources including 40k Orks, WHFB Orcs, 40k Chaos and WHFB Empire, and obviously the FW Space Wolf Terminator conversion kit. In a slight deviation from the artwork, the client wished me to convert a chainaxe for him. I've still got to finish off the wolf pelt and the tusks on the skull, as well as make a scenic base.

Finally, the Wulfen. This one required the least work, with most of the conversion going into his victim. After seeing these pictures I've decided to alter the join so that the Wulfen will have a grip on the corpse's collar as well, in order to make it look like a more "natural" hold. Again, the base is still to be made.

My client is delighted with the pictures so far and hasn't requested any changes or bits that need re-doing, and if he's happy I'm happy. I'm aiming to finish these by the start of next week.

I'd love to hear what you guys think of them as well. And if any of you want to hire me to make a special centerpiece character or squad, this post here has all the details.

Urban Terrain

2009-06-06T14:16:00.004+01:00

Hi folks!

It's been a very quiet week on the 40k front, since I've been working with the online community on some new Urban War scenarios, and then on modelling a few bits and pieces that they require.

So today I'll show something that can fit in both 40k and Urban War, which is some of the terrain I made recently. I went for pieces that are cheap, light, durable and yet look good on the table, and I think I managed.

First up is a pretty standard intact building, constructed entirely out of foamboard - even the base. That stuff is amazing for this sort of project. It's light, easy to work with, and durable enough for gaming.
I took my inspiration from some of the Helghast bulding concept art from Killzone 2.

(Urban War Viridians shown for scale)

Next up are my two ruined buildings, again constructed from foamboard. The rubble is simply cut-up sprues, passed through one of those old metal meat grinders. It's quite hard work to grind it all up but the results are fantastic. It's also a great workout! :D
I finished them off with a couple of ladders from the Cities of Death sprues. The one thing I see missing on many ruins is a way to get up to other floors so I made sure not to miss that out on mine.

Finally we have some chemical storage tanks. These were made from Pringles tubes, so if ever you need an excuse to eat lots of Pringles, then just say you're making terrain! I finished off the look with some pipes from the Urban War Bio-Toxin Plant terrain set. The sprues are packed with pipes, platforms, storage tanks and stuff so it's worth buying if you're ever making industrial terrain. I also added some pools of "stuff" by generously glooping some Army Painter Quickshade on the base with a brush.

I still have some supplies left so what I'm thinking of doing is making a few more ruined buildings, with multiple levels, rooms and such. Something a little more interesting than the corner with a bit of floor left that most tabletop ruins end up being.

Urban War Events 2009

2009-06-03T01:47:00.007+01:00

Hi folks!

I've decided to drop the "Other Projects" prefix on my, er... other projects posts since I seem to be posting as much about them as 40k.

Anyway, today's post is another focusing on Urban War, in particular the events I've attended this year.

The first was Urbanisation. This event took place in February, hosted by [elg] (Edinburgh League of Gamers) and was to be a sort of "Urban War Convention" with a tournament, retail stand, demo games, tables for non-competition games and a seminar with the Urban War developers - they succeeded with all but the last due to time constraints.

I signed up for the tournament as early as I could, as did my brother and one of our friends. I brought along my Viridians, and my chosen strike-team was as follows:

Colonial Marine (CAL 0) x5
Colonial Marine Sergeant (CAL 2)
Sniper (CAL 1)
Shock Marine (CAL 1) x2
Special Forces (CAL 1)
Colonial Marine HMG Team (CAL 0, 1 gunner, 1 loader)
Total: 298pts

I decided to go slightly in favour of numbers, so that my team can take a few more hits before reaching breaking point, as well as put out a good amount of firepower. The Sniper and HMG Team would be placed under Lock-Fire orders during most turns and would set up the best firing lanes I can find, in order to funnel the enemy forces into close combat with my heavy hitters - the Shock Marines (or kill anyone who decides not to go along with this little plan). The Shock Marines tore through all opposition in the testing games, and I never leave home without them. I would assign one Colonial Marine to both the Sniper and the HMG Team on Overwatch to try and interrupt anyone who takes a shot at them, hopefully killing the attacker but suppressing them to deal with later would be acceptable. The Sergeant, Special Forces and remaining Marines would either offer close-ranged support to the Shock Marines, or take the fight to another area of the field, depending on how things went.

The scenarios were all the standard "Scuffle" scenario in the book. Teams deploy 24" apart and fight until one side fails their withdrawal check (starting at 50% casualties) or is wiped out.

My first opponent was Martin, who had VASA. His team consisted of a solid base of Suppressors, with a couple of the fast-moving Archangels and Black Legion in support. Both sides advanced towards the centre steadily, with sporadic fire claiming the occasional casualty, including one of the Black Legion taking a nasty headshot from my sniper.

My main cluster of marines suffered a moment of panic when one of their number was picked off, as the Shock Marines closed into close combat. However, the VASA team's resolve broke as they reached the 50% casualty mark, netting me a Minor Victory.

My second opponent is known as "wodger the wobot" on the Urban Mammoth forums, and he'd travelled a long way to take part. He brought a brutal Syntha team, smaller on numbers but featuring a few large 'bots with an ungodly variety of templates.
As expected, he stayed back and bombarded me with all kinds of horrible blast weaponry, giving me no choice but to advance through a hail of missiles and plasma blasts. The Shock Marines made good progress, but the ordinary marines supporting them were less fortunate, getting a little shaken when their Sergeant was picked off by a stray shot.

My HMG consistently failed to do damage to anything on the right flank, a performance matched only by my sniper out on the left.

The Shock Marines eventually hit his lines, charging through a hail of firepower. One of them managed to deal a wound to one of the Macrosynths, before my team failed their withdrawal test. A Minor Defeat for me.

Game three saw me face up to Grant's Triads. He brought quite an elite force with a couple of Hatamotos and an Oni Class Shogun Battlesuit backing up his Retainers.

Both sides advanced - his were the more cautious and because of that I struggled to draw a bead on his forces with my HMG and sniper to give supporting fire. Both sides managed to pick off the occasional unit.

After suffering losses in the advance, I tried to consolidate my position behind what little cover was available. I thought it was all going to end badly as his Triad Boss sneaked round the forest and charged the HMG team, but the loader managed to fend him off until the end of the time limit. Both sides suffered moderate casualties, resulting in a draw.

In the fourth and final round, I battled against Craig's Koralon. He had a mix of nasty, hard-hitting close-combat critters, small in numbers but tough to kill. I took advantage of the buildings and placed my HMG and Sniper on higher ground to maximise their LOS. As always, the Shock Marines were poised to advance supported by the main body of marines.
Straight off the bat, the advancement of my Sergeant caused his Hydra to emerge from it's vent close to my lines, right in front of my main marine cluster, who proceeded to open fire.

It took a wound, and as my Shock Marines advanced, the Koralon opened a portal nearby and brought in reinforcements that had been hiding away behind the buildings. A few were picked off in the ensuing fight, thanks in no small part to the sniper's deadly accurate fire.

The Shock Marines were eventually overwhelmed by a second wave coming from another portal, and the Koralon went on to cut a swathe through the marines supporting them.

Once again, the Viridians withdrew at 50% casualties, resulting in another Minor Defeat.

So overall, I achieved a Minor Victory, a Draw, and two Minor Defeats. This placed me eleventh, which I'm pretty happy with bearing in mind the quality of players that were present on the day. First place went to Wodger, and I think we all agree that is was well-earned. The guy knows his stuff!
I've heard horror stories about the types of players and behaviour that tournaments can bring out. However, everyone was in good spirits and it was a relaxed, friendly atmosphere. We were all playing to win, but not at the expense of having fun and we all enjoyed it immensely.

There was also a painting competition on the day, with categories for Strike-team and Individual Models. I placed second in the Strike-team category with my Syntha team. The prize for that was a silver Urban Mammoth medal, and a couple of 50mm resin scenic bases. I've already put them to use on some of the new stuff I bought on the day.

So big thanks to Andy, the rest of [elg], Urban Mammoth, and everyone who turned up for making the event as great as it was. Here's hoping Urbanisation will continue in future years!

The second event of the year took place just a couple of days ago, when I ran another tournament. Many of those who took part in Urbanisation were there, but we had a couple of new faces as well. Rather than post the full rundown here, I'll post this link to my writeup on the Urban Mammoth forums.
Overall, the event went off very well. Everyone was on good form and had fun, and we have a host of players eager to come back next year for another shot!

From my experiences so far, the Urban War community is one I'm proud to be a part of. Everyone I've met has been an excellent sportsman and very friendly, both in their online community and the local(ish) tournament scene.

In my next post I'll show some of my Urban War collection, which includes strike-teams from about half of the available factions.

Whew...

2009-05-31T20:20:00.003+01:00

The Urban War tournament I ran was a great success! I'm afraid I'm a little too drained to post much more for now, but part of me is glad to get it out of the way. Now I can work on my regular hobby projects without feeling guilty about putting off the extra terrain I was building. Speaking of which, I got plenty done, and we managed to pack all our tables with plenty of suitable scenery. I'll post up some of my favourite pieces this week.

How has everyone else's week been? Any plans for the week ahead? I'm probably going to get some work done on my latest Babylon 5 ships since I don't have any games of 40k lined up to paint stuff for. My pair of Shadow Omegas, on the other hand, are screaming out for a dark and scary paintjob.

eek is now taking commissions!

2009-05-30T00:31:00.009+01:00

Hi folks!

Yep, that's right, in an effort to earn myself a bit of income over the summer without getting a "real" job, I've decided to take commissions. I've been approached once or twice already and had a couple of satisfied customers, enjoyed the time I spent on their projects (of course, getting paid was good too) so hopefully I can make this work.

What I'm offering is a small-scale converting and/or painting service, primarily for clients who want a centerpiece for their army. I can assemble and convert each model as requested, and I would go so far as to say that's my specialty (see Vulkan He'stan and Kor'sarro Khan). I will also paint to the same standard as shown here on my blog - if it ain't good enough for me, it ain't good enough for my client. ;)

I'm willing to take on jobs for any game system in any scale and any period, although I vastly prefer working in the sci-fi and fantasy genres, especially the former.

However, I won't be doing full armies. I'll be taking a maximum of 15 28mm human-sized figures per client at any one time - enough for a squad, or a force for a skirmish game, or even just a single figure. In the same scale, I will take 3 "monstrous creature" sized figures or light walker-type vehicles, or one regular tank. No superheavies. Quantities of other figures will be determined by their size and complexity.

Now the important bit - prices. For standard troop figures, the price will be £4 per figure for either a conversion or a paint job, £6 for both. Hero figures and "monstrous creature" sized figures will be double that (£8 and £12 respectively). Tanks will be £15 for either conversion or paint job, £25 for both. But, for every four requested figures of the same type, I will offer to do a fifth for free, so that's up to 3 free if the figure count is maxed out.
The client will have to supply the figures and/or parts, or pay upfront so I can order them. I will shop around to find a good discount from a reliable seller. A selection of bits from my bits box is available, but I will have to charge for any of these components used based on the going rate on bits sites. The client will also pay postage and packing, which will vary according to destination and how many figures have been commissioned. Material and postage charges are exempt from the fifth free figure deal. I will provide a full breakdown of all the costs for the client's approval before any payment is requested.
All payment will be carried out through paypal. Payment will be half in advance (plus materials if necessary), with the other half plus postage upon completion, or the full fee upfront if the client prefers.

Before taking on a job I will discuss the exact specifications with the client, making sure we both know exactly how the end product will look. This can be anything from the client providing reference images and artwork, to me drawing up my own sketches. I will not place any order or make any requests for money until we are both completely satisfied with the design. After I start, I will provide periodic photographic updates as the project progresses. I will ask if I am permitted to show this work here on my blog, and keep any photos for my portfolio - the client will be free to decline permission for these if they wish.

If anyone is interested in commissioning a figure (or number of figures), please feel free to email me at eek107@hotmail.co.uk for more information. For pictures of my previous work, simply click on the "Commissions" tag at the bottom of this post.

Finally, I invite anyone who is interested to visit my ebay and Warseer feedback pages, and if you like you can contact me there to confirm it's me.

Other Projects: Babylon 5 Fleet Action

2009-05-27T00:04:00.005+01:00

Hi folks!

Some time ago I mentioned this project - in fact I think it may have been my first look at my non-40k projects. With the license to produce Babylon 5 miniatures expiring at the end of June (although the producers can still sell remaining stock afterwards), I am putting almost all of my available funds into collecting all the ships I will ever need for the Babylon 5: A Call To Arms game. This means collecting sizeable fleets of Earth, Minbari, Narn, Centauri, ISA, Vorlon, Shadow and League of Non-Aligned Worlds ships, with a few Raiders, Civilians and such thrown in for good measure.

I got off to a good start. My Earth fleet was already a good size, and a number of ebay auctions and Warseer trades netted me a powerful Minbari fleet. However, ultimately I would have to go to Ironwind Metals and pay full retail for some ships.

Now, if I had $10, I could buy a single Minbari Tinashi War Frigate:
(for an idea of scale, it is mounted on a small GW flying base, the sort you'd find on a Tau Gun Drone)

Or, I could buy three Fleet Action scale Tinashi War Frigates!

It didn't take long to dawn on me that doing so would allow me to complete my collection for about a third of the price. Or as I prefer to look at it, I can afford to buy more ships!

Some ships are even better for this. For example, I can get four Narn Heavy Cruisers in Fleet Action scale for the price of one in full scale, and the detail on them is actually more accurate to the on-screen ships:

The Centauri Primus is another I can get four times as many of:

So I can have more ships, they're easier to store, and I don't have to worry so much about the plastic stems snapping due to weight. I'm saving my metal flight stands because there are a couple of large miniatures in the range, such as the Babylon 5 station and the Vorlon Planet Killer.

I took the opportunity to test both remaining sources for these minis, Ironwind Metals and the Agents of Gaming site (the original manufacturers who went under, but still have some stock left). From Ironwind I bought two each of the Primus and the Narn Cruiser, and from AOG I bought some civilians. First up is the freighter (one of four in a pack, with rear cargo pods added by myself):

And then the tanker (of which I have six):

I'm feeling incredibly optimistic about this project now. I'm in the process of selling off my large scale fleets for considerable amounts, and pouring those funds back into Fleet Action ships. This week my Narn and Centauri will be getting a considerable boost, and my Earth fleet will also be started. I think my next set of purchases will be Vorlons and Shadows. These two are ancient and powerful races with a relatively small selection of ships, so won't take as much money to complete as the rest. They're also some of the most amazing looking ships in the game.

I'm also looking into making some cool conversions now that I have a bit more freedom. First in mind is creating Babylon 4 from a Babylon 5 mini. After that I'd like to make a Shadow Planet Killer and Earth Force One. There are also some things I will need to scratch build since they don't appear in the Fleet Action range, such as the Victory-class Destroyer and the Raiders capital ships. More scratch builds will be needed for scenarios and campaigns such as Civilian Liners, space stations, defence satellites and the First Ones. All are made much easier and more affordable thanks to Fleet Action scale.

Salamander Reinforcements

2009-05-21T19:34:00.006+01:00

Hi folks!

I got in some hobby time over the weekend and spent most of it adding the finishing touches to what I'm showing off here today.

Up first is a recent purchase, having come into a little money from selling stuff on ebay. In games where I won't be using He'Stan, I need something to replace him, and since I've never used one before, I thought a Librarian might be a good choice. To make up the points, I'm running him in Terminator Armour with an extra power. Here he is:

I wanted to go for a volcanic look on the staff, and while the detail is inverted (the "lava" detailing is raised), I'm happy with the look.

But the real "meat" of the post is the "special unit" I've been hinting at for several weeks now, and working on and off over that time finishing it. Well, I say finishing, what I really mean is getting it to a fieldable level, I've still got some extras to do. Anyway, here it is:

Chapter Master Tu'Shan. Equipped with a Thunder Hammer, Combi-flamer and Artificer Armour.

And again, this time in Terminator Armour, converted from Mr Calgar. I'm mostly going to be using this variant for Apocalypse games to really stand out from the crowd.

What is a Chapter Master without his Honour Guard? Converted from the Ultramarines verson with plenty of extra special bits and pieces to leave no doubt that they are the finest warriors of the Salamanders Chapter.

Here is a WIP Honour Guard with a Combi-flamer. I have another couple in the works as well.

And finally, I have put together a set of rules to use him in a more characterful way than using the bog standard Chapter Master entry. Of course, I've made sure that I pay a premium for his abilities, and for his slightly more intimidating Honour Guard. If you like, you can see them here:

Chapter Master Tu'Shan.

I'd love to hear your thoughts about them. As Master of one of the First Founding Chapters, I wanted him to be roughly on par with Calgar in terms of effectiveness. I felt that a straight up copy of He'Stan's Chapter Tactics was a little uninspiring, so I put in a little nod to the legendary stubborness of the Salamanders Chapter, giving the player the choice between the two. Finally, I thought that his Honour Guard deserved a little something extra to give them a bit of clout, so gave them access to a couple of extra items of wargear that are a bit more flavourful, but would also make them quite expensive if taken!

Chapter Master Tu'Shan is going to be the first of a series of Heroes of Armageddon I will be visiting in this way. As I work through my armies,I will be introducing more that were mentioned in the war, but never got any further than the background. I'm already putting together a couple of familiar faces in the IG.

Again, I'd love to hear some feedback on the rules and models. University fnishes tomorrow, so I might be able to squeeze in a few more posts around my preparations for the tournament at the end of the month. Come June things should hopefully be back to normal. I certainly hope so, I need a break!

Broken World

2009-05-19T02:54:00.006+01:00

This is why my posting has been a little "on and off" for the past few months. What you see here is a gameplay video we took of our group project at University for a presentation a couple of weeks ago, we've done a little extra work to it since then. We were going for a sort of post-apocalyptic RPG with a couple of twists. It has taken us since January to get this far, while having to learn how to use the development tools with little to no documentation or support.

About the choice of music. We needed to test if the audio was working and this was one of the sample sounds provided for our audio module so we used it. It's kinda grown on me, and since I'm the sound guy in these closing stages (now that my original task, AI, has been finished), I'm thinking of putting it in playing on one of the radios of the many ruined trucks, as an "easter egg" of sorts.

1500pt Steel Legion List

2009-05-08T13:48:00.006+01:00

Hi folks!

I don't normally make two posts a day but I couldn't help myself. My shiny new Imperial Guard codex came clattering through the letterbox a while ago so after a quick flick through it I decided to write up an army list to see just how my army could look. Here we go...

Company Command Squad: 167pts
Company Commander w/ Bolt pistol and Power Weapon, Veterans w/ Laspistols, Medi-pack, Regimental Standard
Master of Ordnance, Officer of the Fleet

- The Company Command Squad is geared for a support role. It will stay out of sight near the back and use "Get Back in the Fight!" to catch any squads that might fall back off the table. The advisors offer more support for the army, hindering enemy reserves and acting as a "second Basilisk" so to speak.

Infantry Platoon: 332pts

Platoon Command Squad: 42pts
Platoon Commander w/ Bolt Pistol, 2 Flamers

Infantry Squad: 55pts
Grenade Launcher

Infantry Squad: 55pts
Grenade Launcher

Heavy Weapons Squad: 105pts
Lascannons

Heavy Weapons Squad: 75pts
Heavy Bolters

Infantry Platoon: 332pts

Platoon Command Squad: 42pts
Platoon Commander w/ Bolt Pistol, 2 Flamers

Infantry Squad: 55pts
Grenade Launcher

Infantry Squad: 55pts
Grenade Launcher

Heavy Weapons Squad: 105pts
Lascannons

Heavy Weapons Squad: 75pts
Heavy Bolters

- My two line platoons. These will set up a solid gunline. In objective missions they will advance to any objectives close to my deployment zone, or deploy directly on them, and hold their ground. The Lascannons will headhunt big threats under "Bring it Down!" orders, while the Heavy Bolters lay down anti-infantry fire where needed. Infantry squads will shoot under "First Rank Fire, Second Rank Fire!" if the enemy gets close, and the Command Squad is a last resort counter-assault unit.

Infantry Platoon: 357pts

Platoon Command Squad: 152pts
Platoon Commander w/ Bolt Pistol, Commissar, 2 Meltaguns
Chimera w/ Heavy Stubber

Infantry Squad: 120pts
Grenade Launcher
Chimera w/ Heavy Stubber

Infantry Squad: 120pts
Grenade Launcher
Chimera w/ Heavy Stubber

- My third platoon will be used for objective grabbing into enemy territory, and is entirely mechanized in order to do this effectively. The Chimeras will protect the infantry and lay down a lot of anti-infantry fire, even on the move. The meltaguns should add enough punch to remove any stubborn resistance remaining after a bit of "softening up" from the rest of my army.

Leman Russ Squadron: 170pts
1 Battle Tank, Heavy Bolter Sponsons

Ordnance Battery: 140pts
1 Basilisk, Enclosed Crew Compartment

- Finally, we have the big guns. With plenty of Lascannons elsewhere, I have opted to field a standard Leman Russ with full Heavy Bolter loadout for a primarily anti-infantry role. This will keep the pressure on enemy infantry should the worst happen to the Battle Cannon, or to fire at spread out or tough multi-wound targets where the Battle Cannon would be less effective. The Basilisk is an old favourite of mine, and in keeping with the Steel Legion background it is sealed off to protect the inner workings from Armageddon's harsh environment.

Total: 1498pts

My general strategy will be quite aggressive, using the foot platoons to draw a solid line of bodies and guns, directing their heavy weapons at the appropriate oncoming threats. The Leman Russ and mechanized platoon will act as an assault force, to advance and capture objectives or plug any gaps if the line starts to buckle in Annihilation missions. With the Leman Russ accompanying the Chimeras, the enemy will find it difficult to prioritize between so many armoured targets and stop them all effectively. The Company Command and Basilisk will offer long range support, softening up objectives or significant enemy threats for the assault force to move in.

Or at least, that's the plan...

Overall I'm very happy with the new codex. I can fit quite a bit more into 1500pts than before in terms of both infantry and armour, and I can make more effective lists that are faithful to the background. For example, I'd never have been able to mechanize just a single platoon before, and precious few points would be left after all those Chimeras for support units.

What do you guys think of the list? Any thoughts on performance and representation of the background? Personally I can't wait to try it out!

Alternative Bases

2009-05-08T11:20:00.004+01:00

Hi folks!

With the new codex requiring that heavy weapon teams be fielded on 60mm bases, I have a lot of work to do. I have a mortar squad on a mix of 40mm (gunner + weapon) and 25mm (loader) bases, plus goodness knows how many missile launcher teams to rebase. More than my collection of spare 60mm bases.

So I rummaged on ebay to make up the numbers and came across Fenris Games, who make a whole range of curved edge resin bases. I was introduced to these bases through Urban War and prefer them to the standard slotta bases, so I bought a pack of 25mm ones to try them out. Here's how they look:

I'm quite happy with this, so I think I'll rebase the rest of my army to suit. They come in sizes from 25mm to 60mm with plenty in between, so it should be fairly easy to get a unified look.

Let me know what you think!

Painting Tutorial: Steel Legion Guardsman

2009-05-06T17:48:00.007+01:00

Hi folks, and welcome to another of my tutorials. This time we'll be tackling the staple of my army, the humble Steel Legion infantryman.

Because I have so many infantry (as every Guard player should) I have opted for a relatively quick and simple scheme to paint them all within a reasonable amount of time.

The colours required are Adeptus Battlegrey, Badab Black, Bleached Bone, Boltgun Metal, Bubonic Brown, Calthan Brown, Chaos Black, Dwarf Flesh, Graveyard Earth, Kommando Khaki, Orkhide Shade, Mechrite Red, Scorched Brown, Skull White, and Snakebite Leather.

First, prime the model black.

Step 1: Greatcoat

The greatcoat is basecoated with Calthan Brown, and highlighted with Snakebite Leather. It is then given two highlight stages of Bubonic Brown. Bubonic Brown often requires two coats for a smooth finish, so I use the first of these as an extra layer of highlights.

Step 2: Major Details

This step is the real time saver. Paint the boots, gloves, mask, straps and pouches Scorched Brown. The helmet and trousers are painted Orkhide Shade. The metallic areas are given a basecoat of Boltgun Metal, and the goggles are painted Adeptus Battlegrey. All of these should then be given a generous wash of Badab Black. Finally, tidy up the lasgun casing with Chaos Black.

Step 3: Minor Details

The flesh is basecoated Calthan brown and highlighted Dwarf Flesh. There is very little exposed skin on Steel Legion models, at most the ears and eye region, so detailed highlighting won't have much impact.
The bedroll is painted Graveyard Earth and highlighted first with Kommando Khaki, then with Bleached Bone.
Finally, paint the background of the Steel Legion patch on the shoulder Skull White, and the lightning bolt Mechrite Red.

Base him and he's done! Using this method, whole platoons of infantry can be churned out in relatively quick order, and still look stunning when deployed in numbers.

Unexpectedly Productive

2009-05-04T22:23:00.002+01:00

Hi folks!

I've been busy lately! I managed to get my courseworks handed in on time which was a relief, leaving me the weekend to relax and recover.

Last weekend I had a very enjoyable game of 40k which put me back in the mood for painting. I rolled out my Steel Legion to get into practice before the new codex hit (I played under the old one that day, though), and cheerfully trounced a marine army in Annihilation. Highlights of the match were my eerily accurate Basilisk nuking no less than two five-man squads with direct hits, and my close combat Command Squad of Doom tearing his command units a new one (Commie and HSO with Power Fists and a Priest with Eviscerator, 4 veterans with laspistol and CCW, 10 PF attacks with re-rolls to hit on the charge... mmm...).

Anyway, I sat down this weekend and put on some tunes (Voodoo Glow Skulls and Streetlight Manifesto if you're curious). Fast forward to tonight and (despite a severe case of Man Flu) I have assembled a Chimera and a Leman Russ I had stowed away in the cupboard, and there's a painted Steel Legion squad staring back at me asking to be based. Not only that, but I've stripped the paint off of a squad and a half of Stormtroopers that I got from ebay last year. They'll be going into the Steel Legion, but I also want a squad or two painted up in my Elysian scheme since a test model turned out pretty well.

I want to finish off a platoon of infantry before I get started on the terrain work I have to do this month. I'm saving up to order materials at the weekend so I should get something done at least. I've also got a few fluff ideas knocking around in my head so I think I'll get those jotted down and fleshed out soon as well.

How has your weekend been?

Oh, if any of you are heading to Cannonade this weekend, gimme a shout and I'll keep an eye out for you. Officially I'm with the Kirriemuir Wargames Club table but chances are I'll have wandered off to do some spending and chatting at the Urban Mammoth stand! ;)