The final part of my 15mm Space Marine project is completed

I was waiting for a dry day to get the last lot of 15mm Vanguard Miniatures not-quite space marines finished, and here they are;

As you can see, there are two squads of assault marines with jump packs. and each squad can be split into a five-man team consisting on one marine with a meltagun, three equipped with bolt pistols and chainswords and a leader with a plasma pistol and a powerfist. I have given the senior leader a red helmet to indicate that he is the overall squad leader.

In addition, I have created a small team consisting of the four marines left over from the two squads above, plus the final model from the "Characters" set I talked about in an earlier post. I have painted him as a second Librarian, equipped with a jump pack and armed with a Force Weapon (in the shape of a Power Hammer) and a powerfist. The assault marines can act as a kind of bodyguard for the Librarian but the whole team makes a pretty formidable attacking force.

You will notice a sixth figure here. He or she is a GZG Japanese Tech Ninja Special Forces figure who I have painted up as an assassin of the Officio Assassinorum, equipped with a needle pistol and a power sword, plus a few grenades. This is in line with the 2nd Edition rules and Codex Imperialis, which predates GW's invention of the different Assassin Temples.

So, that is the end of the first part of my project.

The next part will be all about the Imperial Guard. I have bought the figures but I need to base them and get them primed before I can start painting. These will also be using Vanguard Miniatures figures.

After that, I will start planning some opponents and also look at vehicle options. There are some nice ones on the Vanguard website which will be ideal.

The Big Reveal: My first project for 2021

 As I have been hinting, I have a new 15mm project for 2021 and I can now reveal what it is all about. It is something I have been thinking about for a couple of years and it is to recreate Warhammer 40k in 15mm, but using the old 2nd edition rules, which I was able to buy on eBay before Christmas. I bought a complete set of the books; the Rulebook , the Wargear manual, the Codex Imperialis, the Codex Army Lists and the Armageddon scenarios, plus the quick reference card. A bargain at £13, I think.

The reason I chose this early version of the rules is basically because they are what I used to play with my son back in the mid-1990s when he got the 40k bug. He was an acolyte of the Chaos Gods, and built up forces for the Orks and the heretical rebel Chaos Space Marines, whereas I ended up with a Dark Angels army and an Imperial Guard one.

My project is initially to recreate the latter two forces and then create an opposing army of Space Orks.

My chosen supplier of 15mm figures for this project is Vanguard Miniatures, whose 15mm Defeat In Detail range is ideal for my purposes, although they are not listed as anything whatsoever to do with 40k on their website.

Anyway, I have bought enough Tusculum Nova Elites to build a reasonably-sized Dark Angels force, and I have been slowly working on them since just before New Year. 

So here are my first completed figures.

First, a Commander, a Chaplain and a Librarian;

These figures come with separate arms and heads, which gives you the option of putting them together in a few different ways. My Chaplain has a Storm Shield and a Crozius Arcanum, the Commander has a power sword and a storm bolter and the Librarian has a plasma pistol and a force staff.

I have a fourth character figure, but he will be appearing later on, when I get round to the troops he will be leading.

Now, here is a squad of not-quite space marines, armed with boltguns.

As you can see, they are led by a sergeant with a bolt pistol and a chainsword and the squad contains a trooper with a missile launcher and a weapon that I have decided is a meltagun, although it is described as a flamethrower on the Vanguard website.

I wanted to give these troops some heavy support, so I knocked up a couple of Dreadnoughts, using two Ground Zero Games Cyclops Heavy Battlesuits, one of which I modified by replacing the supplied right arm with a spare gun from a GZG tank model.

Of course, they look nothing at all like the 40k dreadnoughts we can see on sale today, but neither did the early GW ones that you can see in the 2nd edition books.

The one on the left is equipped with a Heavy Plasma Gun and the one on the  right with an Autocannon. Both of them are also equipped with Powerfists.

Here they are with the Librarian, to show how imposing they look alongside their regular battle brothers;

Now, I am not going to stick 100% to GW-approved heraldry or colour schemes on this project, mainly because I have no intention of trying to paint all the symbols etc that would be required, but also because I really like the early approach to the space marine chapters and how they looked in the early days of the life of 40k.

Alien Squad Leader - a new AAR

OK, hands up, this ASQL game was a few weeks ago, but I decided against photographing yesterday's game at the club, because it was S&SF  with my Hyborian barbarians (again) and I thought it would be a bit samey. 

I would be defending the base in the distance with my GZG Corporate Mercenaries against Richard's multi-legged Alien Imperial army made up from GZG Xar, plus various other figures.

The Galactic Seafood Corporation had set up a luxury food processing plant on this remote planet, having discovered that the immature version of the locals (a.k.a. the Crabbies) tasted like a superior version of the best crab or lobster ever previously tasted. This exciting new product was being marketed across space as "The Sunday Roast Where Everyone Gets A Leg".

The locals were, understandably, outraged and had called in a punitive expedition from their relatives on the nearest Crabby Imperial homeworld.

Here are my opponents, looking suitable Crabby and Outraged.

There were some anti-grav vehicles too.

My Mercenaries were equipped with two new additions, combat mechs with laser katanas, not that I was planning to use them in close combat if I could avoid it. The yellow beads indicate that the units thus marked are on Overwatch.

My Force Commander was close to the objective, but not actually in that forward position, preferring to stay in the less advanced built-up area.

I deployed a variety of troops on Overwatch defending the Objective, included power-armoured Samurai. There was a question over these, as the rules state that they are equipped with Heavy Weapons, but a discussion with the author, Alex Self later revealed that this was in actual fact a typo, and they should properly be given Small Arms. However, having played a few moves before Alex turned up, we agreed to keep the HWs for this game only.

The Crabbies began to swarm forward, both from the central forest and also on their left flank. I was worried about those light armoured vehicles with their Superior Energy Heavy Weapons.

We exchanged fire, with both sides taking hits. The green bead markers show Pinned status. Corporate Mercenaries never Fall Back, neither do they suffer an activation penalty when Pinned.

The LAVs advanced. I knew that I'd have to try and take them out.

I got my own AFVs moving to counter the threat. These were equipped with longer-ranged Primary Weapons Systems. Unhappily, my commander soon took a hit.

In the centre my battered Ashigaru were holding their own, and were dishing out a lot of hits on the Crabbies. The GSC production lines were soon gearing up for a mass canning session of its new BBQ Crab speciality.

Things were looking OK, but I was worried about the amount of damage my small army was taking. The Corporate Mercenaries are an expensive force, and my break point was a measly eight stands.

My fears were soon exacerbated when the AFV containing my Force Commander (who had stupidly hopped aboard for protection) was on the receiving end of a double six from HW fire, causing two damaging hits and I failed my saving throw, so Bye Bye Big Boss.

Despite previously being stealth-shielded, my Ninjas were soon exposed to the unwelcome attention of the Crabby Light Vehicles and Beasts. No good could come from this.

Gradually, my defenders began to fall. The loss of my Inspirational Force Commander left me low on command options and I began to fail activation tests with annoying frequency.

The amount of fire I was receiving from the Crabbies was leaving my troops Pinned and vulnerable to hand-to-hand assault. There could only be one outcome.

The Aliens were damaged, but had greater numbers. The coup de grace couldn't be too far away .....

................ and it soon arrived with the demise of the Ninjas.

With eight stands lost and an enemy stand inside the Objective area, my battle was over. The Crabbies had their revenge upon the unscrupulous and exploitative Galactic Seafood Corporation's latest evil business venture.

Well, this was a hugely fun game. My mechs performed pretty well in their first outing and I couldn't really complain about getting Broken, seeing as the army is so small. In hindsight, the Ninjas weren't a good choice, but I love the figures so much I hate to leave them behind. To be honest, I'd love an all-Ninja army, but they would just get shot to bits the moment they revealed themselves, even if the rules allowed such a thing (which they don't!).

More 15mm sci fi stuff

I am slowly working through the 15mm science fiction lead pile. It is something that isn't top of the To Do list but every now and then I feel the need to do something about figures and models that have been lying around for maybe a year or, in some cases even longer.

First up are two combat mechs for my Alien Squad Far Eastern Leader Corporate Mercenary army, which I have found to be severely under-gunned whenever I've played with it. These are from GZG, where they are sold as Police/Security Mecha. I decided that they had a sufficiently Far Eastern look to be perfect as Daemon Class Oni Mecha as listed in the relevant ASQL army list, but I wasn't happy with the batons the standard models have in their left hands. In any case, I wanted the guns in the left hands and something a bit more impressive as the required Laser Katanas. Luckily I had some odds and ends from a box of GW Space Marines (don't ask) that would do the job.

So, here are the two latest additions to an army that I really need to use more often.

In the second picture, I have added a standard trooper as a size comparison.

Next, I have six rather evil looking big droids with powered claws and big serious-looking shooters. These are from Alternative Armies Ion Age range where they are sold as Shia Khanate Psycoborgs. I've had these for a fair while too. I have had several plans for these, but now I think that I will use them as Robotic Servants (heavy droids) in an Alien Grey army.

Here they are as a group.

And now in two groups of three;

Finally, here they are with a standard 15mm trooper for scale purposes. As you can see, these are smaller than the big battle mechs, but still look pretty impressive.

Of course, I might be able to use these in other armies too, once I've given it some thought.

My army for this year's Hordes Of The Things tournament

I've had these painted up for a while, but didn't feel like posting them until the tournament was almost upon us (it is this coming Sunday).

I didn't want to field either of my existing HoTT armies (Warhammer Empire Averland and Hyborian Barbarians, the latter now repurposed for Sword and Spear Fantasy) so I spent some time looking for alternatives. I did thing about an Undead theme for a while, also Orcs and Goblins, but nothing grabbed me. In the end I decided to do something that might be difficult to play against, i.e. an all-Aerial army. It was only later that I realised that it would also be difficult to play with as well.

Anyway, I had a few things lying around, and a quick small purchase filled the thing out, so here it is;

It is a fleet of space ships (actually six of them are really Kra'vak drones) from Ground Zero Games, with a small asteroid as the Stronghold. The asteroid is made from a polystyrene ball covered in Basetex textured paint.

The army consists of

1 x Aerial Hero General (with the red flashes on the base and the weapons pods)

1 x Aerial Hero

6 x Flyers

Stronghold

I am pretty happy with how they have turned out. I know that they will be tough to get moving, because in HoTT, aerial units require two PIPs to activate, but it will be interesting to see how they fare.

Colours 2018

So, last Saturday morning, up bright and early, fried egg sandwich and coffee for breakfast and then off up the M4 to Newbury for Colours.

The journey was uneventful and I got to the carpark with about 20 minutes to spare before the doors opened. Once inside, I made a beeline for the Bad Squiddo stand where I had a nice chat with Annie and Bruce, before picking up my pre-ordered Pulp Explorers and also some additions for my Swordmaidens.

After that, the world was my mollusc, but I knew that I needed to visit the Warlord stand early to buy stuff for a Sharp Practice FIW project I need to get finished before next January.

These will give me enough figures for three groups of skirmishers and at least three groups of line infantry, plus leaders, a musician (drummer) and a colour party. Any left over figures might end up as vignettes to be used as deployment points.

I also visited the Crooked Dice stand for some extra figures for two of my 7TV casts. Actually, I currently only have two casts, but I am planning a couple more, not sure what they will be yet, though.

I spent a lot of time wandering around, looking at the various stands and seeing what was available. Unfortunately, Wargames Foundry weren't at the show, so that meant I wasn't able to pick up any figures for a project I've had in my mind for ages now, so I won't go into that yet.

I did look at the range of 15mm figures and chat to a helpful chap on the Essex stand, which helped me to firm up ideas for an extra force for my 15mm Sharp Practice 18th century Syldavia and Borduria imagi-nations project. That is now looking like a distinct starter for 2019. I also had a helpful chat with a nice man on the Warbases stand about custom bases for my Sword and Spear 28mm Late Roman army, allowing me to reuse my Saga Romans on movement trays. While I was there, I also bought two carts and draft horses which will be useful for my 28mm Peninsular War Sharp Practice troops, together with some single and double dice frames and 7mm dice for shock recording (for both SP and CoC).

After that I visited the Coritani stand for more magnetic discs, some resin bits and textured paint. There is a nice 15mm gate and wall set, which will be useful for lots of things and a  couple of 28mm tree stumps which I think will make nice deployment point markers for Sharp Practice.

I bought two useful-looking MDF trays which fit inside Really Useful 4L boxes. I am hoping that these will make transporting my 15mm ACW and imaginations forces easier.

I couldn't go to Colours and not see Ground Zero Games. I've not really been doing a lot of 15mm Sci Fi stuff recently, but I've always like the Ixx figures, so I bought some, together with a few Darghaur. My plan here is another army for Alien Squad Leader, probably a Children Of The Gods one.

I am a big fan of the resin pieces made by The Square and these thatched buildings caught my eye. I can see them working for 15mm Sharp Practice, but also for CoC, especially Eastern Front. The oil drums piece is also going to be hugely useful for WW2 games.

Last, but most definitely not least, I bought this lovely collapsible dice tray from Saddle Goose Designs, which is run by Deborah, the wife of painting expert Matt Slade of Glenbrook Games.

It was nice to catch up with various people, Matt and Deborah, Jon Tuffley of GZG, Geoff of Ham and Jam, Annie and various others.

The club also had a presence at Colours, in the shape of Alex, Nick, Owen and Richard who were running a game of Alien Squad Leader, 100pts each of Human Cultists and Biker Gangs.

Back from holiday - time for another Alien Squad Leader AAR

Sunday was my first wargaming activity since the beginning of July and it was a 200pt game of Alien Squad Leader with Owen at the club. Owen has recently brought his Human Imperial Strikeforce army up to 200pts, so I knew that I'd be facing that particular enemy. I decided to take my Alien Imperial army, but with a few modifications since its last outing, back in December last year. I decided to drop the power-armoured Elites and replace them with a Phase tank with an aiming device and a homing missile. I thought that the extra long-range firepower might come in handy.

The battle scenario we fought was Scenario 4 - Envelopment. This meant that Owen could reserve up to four stands to deploy from a flank and I had to defend an objective. As the defender, I set up the table. Most of the cover was on my side, understandably. I was unsure where the Human reinforcements would arrive, so I thought it might be useful to station some robotic forces on the left, where they could operate without any need for a command stand.

In the centre I had two urban areas. In the left-hand one I had my phase tank and some troops and a heavy weapon stand. The right-hand one was the objective I was defending.

I put my other Heavy Droid in the objective area, supported by another H/W stand, the Force Commander (Inspirational Leader) and some more infantry (behind the buildings).

I deployed more infantry on my right flank and had all my Trained Beasts and Tribal Auxiliaries, including a sub-commander behind the main lines.

Before long, Owen's Strikeforce advanced, taking advantage of its Sudden Strike rule.

I began to move troops up to counter, hoping that my infantry on the right flank hill could defend against the deployment point there.

Things began to go well for me. My Superior Energy Weapons were scoring plenty of hits on the power-armoured Humans. I was worried about the light vehicles emerging on my right flank, though.

I brought the phase tank into play, scoring a few hits, destroying a Human APC and pinning the Human heavy weapons team in the ruins across the table. My Heavy Droids were in play, but the Robotic infantry had nothing to do. I tried to being them closer to the action. 

My Trained Beasts despite a few stands getting shot up, crashed into hand-to-hand combat with an APC, ripping the vehicle to pieces with their claws and generally going on a rampage. This, for me was the turning point in the battle. The Beasts made mincemeat of stand after stand of Humans (who had already taken a few hits). I did lose the most successful set of Beasts in the end, but the rest of the Beasts went into a mad fury, ripping the light vehicles to pieces and forcing the Humans to breaking point.

Eventually I only needed to knock out one more Human stand to force Owen's troops to break. I managed to do this with some accurate fire from a H/W stand. Game over.

This was a tricky battle really, a lot less one-sided than it appears from the pictures. If Owen had succeeded in his plan of unloading his troopers and having them storm into the objective, I am sure that he could have won, but my Beasts really were on top form. In the end I only lost two stands of Beasts and one of Imperial Infantry.