Some more finished minis!

Two more figures painted. This time from the Copplestone Future Wars range. 

These are listed as Power-armour troopers but I see them as armoured combat droids for my ROTOR rules. They could, of course be suitable for any science fiction rules you might have. These guys are pretty big, around 4cm tall and have heavy weapons and powered fists, so a tough nut to crack.

My idea for these, apart from having one as a heavy hitter in a ROTOR Reiver team is that they have been hanging around for a long time, maybe as heavy security for an industrial complex or perhaps a scientific or mining location. Therefore, I wanted them to look a bit battered and battle-worn. So, lots of small areas of raw metal and a bit of rust around the lower legs. I also wanted them to look like decommissioned military droids so I painted on a ghosted dark green area where military insignia had been in the past.

You can see the rusty areas quite nicely on the rear view of the two droids above. When I painted them, my aim was to bring out as much contrast as possible, so plenty of dry-brushing and darkening the recessed parts of the figures.

To do this, I used some Army Painter Strong Tone (the stuff in the dropper bottles, not the tinned version) painted all over the models after an initial priming coat of PSC US Olive Drab spray before adding in the bare metal areas and the layers of dry-brushing with Vallejo Olive Green, Desert Yellow and finally Iraqi Sand, finishing off by adding on the rust glazing, using AK Light Rust Wash.

Finally, I finished the bases off with Gamer's Grass (available on the Bad Squiddo website) dry vegetation tufts and a mix of sandy and rocky ballast.

I am really very pleased with how these have turned out.

More painting! With robots!

I bought these a while ago to add to my collection for my Reivers Of The Outer Rim science fiction skirmish rules. They are all Copplestone figures from the Future Wars range. I bought these from North Star.

First, here are five Terminator Robots, which I really like a lot. They certainly have the right vibe for the Terminator film series but also have lots of other uses. I first thought of these as robot NPCs for my rules, but they could also be Combat Droids for the bands of Reivers to use. I've tried to give them a slightly battered appearance, maybe ex-military droids bought up by arms traders or perhaps robotic sentinels who have been guarding a lost installation for decades or even centuries after the owners have departed? Anyway, the muted metallic colour palette is nicely lifted by the red casings of their weapons. This was a deliberate nod to classic Warhammer 40K weapons. "Assimilated? Not a chance, puny humans. You will be exterminated. With extreme prejudice, of course".

This next figure is huge. It is described as a Bio-mech Alien, and there could clearly be something organic lurking inside that armoured carapace, but equally it could be the creation of a crazed scientist or an evil alien mastermind, who is represented here by one of my Bob Murch Radon Zombies.

I love the retro look of this figure. That huge gun is pure 1940s alien menace stuff. It really says "Saturday Morning Pictures" to me, so this clearly has possibilities for 7TV Pulp as well as other Sci Fi settings.

I decided to keep the colour palette simple. Brooding metallic threat is what I wanted to achieve here, and I hope that I've managed it.

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.

Two linked AARs for Alien Squad Leader

This post covers two games of ASQL at the club, fought between me and Richard. Originally, it was just one battle, but for reasons that will become apparent, we fought a second game a week later, using the same forces.

Here is some scene-setting narrative.

On the fringes of the regions of the galaxy occupied by Humans there lies a number of star systems inhabited by other, alien, civilisations, some of incredible age and others shrouded in secrecy and of an almost incomprehensible complexity. Of these civilisations, some shun all contact with Humanity but others have a long history of interaction, trade and conflict. One such civilisation is that of the Ry'Hlyn, a humanoid race of a quasi-arthropod nature and with an aggressive expansionist attitude. 

The Ry'Hlyn Empire is incredibly ancient and with links to Humanity that stretch back into the legendary shadowy prehistory of the long-lost and presumably destroyed Human home planet, Earth. The Elites of the Ry'Hlyn are devotees of a complex religion dedicated to ancient beings known in a number of legendary Human texts as the Outer Gods. No cult is more aggressive in its pursuit of all heresies than that of the trans-dimensional being known as Azathoth, once described thus in an ancient Human text; Outside the ordered universe is that amorphous blight of nethermost confusion which blasphemes and bubbles at the center of all infinity—the boundless daemon sultan Azathoth, whose name no lips dare speak aloud, and who gnaws hungrily in inconceivable, unlighted chambers beyond time and space amidst the muffled, maddening beating of vile drums and the thin monotonous whine of accursed flutes.

The first AAR describes a pursuit of a group of once-Human members of a Cult that worships a serpentine daemon god by a force of Azathoth Cult devotees (Alien Imperials in the ASQL rules) from the Ry'Hlyn Empire. The Serpent Cultists, commanded by Richard, have been pursued to a temporary stronghold on the banks of a river. Here, among the trees of the jungles that cover this world, a small force of Serpentines have made a stand, intending to repulse the enemy and prevent them from breaking through and destroying an important Cult Shrine.

The Serpentines have a number of  armoured vehicles and tanks of a fearsome appearance but questionable reliability.

These vehicles dominate the centre of the battlefield and guard the approaches to the road bridge on the Ry'Hlyn right flank.

 
The Ry'Hlyn advance in the centre, supported by heavy battle droids.

On the right, Ry'Hlyn heavy weapons move to occupy a small hill overlooking the road bridge.

On their left, Ry'Hlyn infantry advance behind a screen of fearsome Trained Beasts, led by troops from a Primitive subject race.

Before long, the Beasts, bred in terrible laboratories on blighted dark worlds by Ry'Hlyn sorceror-scientists using arcane techniques cross a foot bridge to the west of the main river crossing

Here, we can see the Ry'Hlyn centre and right flank, taking up a strong firing position.

Before long, the Beasts and their Primitive commanders destroy most of the Serpentine forces on the hills to the west of the main Serpentine position.

More Serpentine troops emerge from their armoured vehicles to try and prevent the Primitives from exiting the field of battle and therefore effecting a breakthrough.

Heavy fire ftom the advanced energy weapons of the Ry'Hlyn droids and heavy weapons cause much damage to the Serpentine vehicles, eventually causing one tank to explode in a ball of lacerating fire.

As the Beasts begin to exit the field, exultant Ry'Hlyn infantry advance across the river to engage the remaining Serpentines. 

However, it is too late for the Serpentines to prevent the Ry'Hlyn army from getting the required number of troops off the table and the battle is lost.

The victorious Ry'Hlyn commanders offer up prayers and invocations to mighty Azathoth and imbue their troops with Holy Zeal. They urge their troops onwards to destroy the obscene pollution that is the Serpent Shrine.

So, that was Battle One. Because it was so one-sided, Richard and I agreed to a rematch the following Sunday.

This second battle had the Serpentines defending a small settlement with an objective representing a sacred shrine to the Serpent deity.

 
Shielding the advance of the Ry'Hlyn alien army was a small forested area.

The Ry'Hlyn advanced with the Beasts once more on the left and the main body of troops in the centre.

A small group, including heavy weapons occupied a copse on the right.

 
Here is the objective, the Serpent Shrine.

Before long, Ry'Hlyn forces had occupied the forested areas. The plan was to use the Beasts to destroy the Serpentine right flank and roll them up, with the heavy weapons of the droids taking out the accursed tanks.

Before long, the Beasts were approaching combat.

Amazingly accurate shooting by the Serpentine Cultists caused damaging hits on the Ry'Hlyn droids. This was going to be a problem.

Even worse, the heavy weapons team on the right was soon destroyed. This pretty much eradicated the threat from here.

Although the Beasts had managed to kill or drive off many of the Serpentine defenders on the Ry'Hlyn left, they were unable to completely clear the area. This wasn't going according to plan.

To make things worse, hits were mounting on the heavy droids.

 The Beasts started to gain the upper hand, but was it just too little, too late?

The Ry'Hlyn heavy weapons in the centre were also destroyed, as was one of the heavy droids. Taking the objective was beginning to look like a lost cause.

The troops on the Ry'Hlyn right began to advance in the open to try and get close to the shrine.

Unhappily, this was unsuccessful as the Serpentines managed to destroy sufficient troop stands to force the Ry'Hlyn army to break.

So, the rematch, on ground sacred to the Serpetine Cult, proved to be a disaster for the Azathoth Cult of the Ry'Hlyn Empire. Assaulting troops in built-up areas proved to be a problem for the Beasts and early damage to the heavy droids reduced their effectiveness.

Nevertheless, the two games were hugely entertaining and I am looking forward to using my Alien Imperial Ry'Hlyn in the club's forthcoming ASQL tournament.

I've started another army for Alien Squad Leader

Yes, I have now embarked upon a third army for Alien Squad Leader. Once again, all of the figures (with one exception) are from the excellent Ground Zero Games 15mm Stargrunt range. I've been planning this one for a while now, but couldn't decide on some aspects of the army, which is an Alien Imperial one. I always knew that the main components of the force would be made up from the Crusties minis and models, but the issue I had was how to fill the ranks of the Primitives (who are a mandatory selection). Anyway, the Primitives will be the subject of a later post. At the moment I am going to show you my Imperial Elites, who are power-armoured infantry, and the Robotic element of the army, which consists of both light and heavy Droids.

First, here are four stands of Elite troopers. The one with a figure in red is a command stand.

And here are the Heavy Droids, accompanied by a character figure, a Champion of the Elect in red power armour.

I wanted this army to look completely unlike my two Human ones, both of which have a fairly sensible camouflage/military fatigues colour scheme. It occurred to me that alien lifeforms might have eyes that have evolved under completely different circumstances to our own, being attuned to different wavelengths of the spectrum. To try and get this idea across, I decided that this army's armoured troops would follow a rather bright, not to say garish colour scheme. After undercoating them in pale grey, I gave them a wash of Windsor and Newton purple drawing ink, which I drybrushed successively with Vallejo Brass and Silver, before adding in some other colours. I also decided that commanders in power armour would be given red as their command colour. 

Although the colour scheme is pretty bright, I am happy with the results.

My Robotic Infantry are the only non-GZG figures. They are "Taranis Repulsar Drones" from The Ion Age. I originally bought these for another purpose, but I really like their quirky appearance and I reckon that they make pretty good combat droids for my Alien Imperial army.

These have a simple metallic colour scheme, the idea being that they are churned out in huge numbers by colossal automated imperial manufactories as disposable combat units so therefore they don't get a top quality paint job.

Anyway, That's where I am so far. I've got other figures almost ready, but I am waiting on a delivery of more 5cm square bases to complete the Imperial troops, before moving on to the Primitives.