Unboxing: Firestorm Taskforce

So, for once, it seems that I'm among the first to receive my pre-order of something from Spartan!
I'd thank the Spartan responsible for making it happen, and at the same time deny knowledge of whatever dark arts that was used in the process...

On to the reason you've come here, pictures of the contents!

Painting competition: week one

So, as previously noted , there is an ongoing inofficial painting competition on the Spartan Games Community, which I've signed up for.

I originally my Command Helix would be a good candidate, but after some digging around I found another pristine helix scheduled for some paint:

Two weeks in review

Quick completion note:

Despite last weeks being a bit of a wash*, painting wise, I've managed to complete my Aquan Minnari Interceptors. Quite lovely models, that I've been a real fan of ever since Spartan showed a preview more than a year ago... 





In other news, Overread over at Spartan Games Community has put together a painting contest that I'll try to participate in, only I need to go pick something up to paint first...  All signs point to my incoming Command Helix being the designated victim.

That's it for now. 

January in the rear view mirror

So, first month of the year concluded, and what's been accomplished?

[Firestorm] Taskforce

Yep, it seems Spartan is back on the horse with producing new games!


Kraggi at the Varcan Cluster and the guys at Element 270 has the official press release, so I'll just link to them:

Personally, I think that this is just what Spartan should be doing when producing new games: Looking at what their existing minis could be used for, produce a rule set for that particular instance, perhaps with some accompanying support in the form of new models (like these).

Interest generated in the new game, interest generated in the parent game system, and with some small conversion work regarding rules a large model base with little effort (I'd actually assume that a few Armada ships will have Taskforce rules upon release, but I know what happens when I assume...).

I've already ordered a few sets (two starter sets get me enough to field full squads in Armada, and choose how I want to equip the Medium Squadron in Taskforce (Two Cruiser-carriers? No problem!)

Even with terrain setup, a game of Taskforce should play nicely in about and hour, a rare sweet spot in mini gaming...

MMXVI - Project planning and task management

So, with the summary of the year left behind done, what is the aim going forward?
Suffice to say, this blog is doing what it is supposed to do, but I feel that it could be further developed....

MMXV AAR

So, back about a year ago I made a some attempts at a plan for my hobby year, and indirectly this blog.
With my posting frequency reduced of late, I'll at least make a summary of how well my crystal ball musings held up (warning, wall of text lying in ambush behind the cut!):

No news...

... is good news, right?

Well, perhaps not, but rest assured despite the blog living up to its name lately, things has been progressing in the background, although the hobby:real-life ratio has been lower than normal.

However, inspired by my highly productive blogging neighbour Kraggi I've decided to start actually writing all articles I've been mulling over for the past few weeks, starting with my recently finished terrain piece...

[Planetfall] Troop carriers

Progress has been slow around here lately, as usual, but somehow I've found the time to complete my two <name> APCs from the Recon Helix!

I've also slapped some significant amount of paint on the Infantry supposed to ride inside, but more on that later...

[Planetfall] At long last...

... the ground will tremble, as my fully painted El-Shami Leviathan strides forth!

It's been a long time coming, not helped by the summer vacations and family visits.

The model itself is a very nice looking piece, and will probably remain the centerpiece for my Aquan Army for quite some time. I've also tried a few new things, with conversions, a fairly detailed modelled base, and my first actualy experiment with dry pigments!
More on the last part later, I've learned a lesson or two...

All is not quiet on the hobby front...

Been on a bit of a blogging break lately, but that is more due to spending time on actually hobby stuff rather than blogging about it (hobby > blogging...)

That being said, I've painted a bit, and even got some games in:

Paint Log VIII: A lot completed

So, I've actually gotten a fair amount of models done lately, I've just been a bit bad at posting them, so here follows a quick recap of my productive output for May and June:

El-Shami Wip

Some Work In Progress of my El-Shami Leviathan that I've been working on (albeit a bit slower than I'd like), more pictures after the jump:

[Planetfall] The bigger they are...

...the more they need some detailing of their big base.

In lieu of gaming this Saturday, I buckled down and got some long overdue modelling done, namely my El-Shami Leviathan. I'd already decided to change the 'feet', but this time the base was due for some detailing.

My two extra infantry bases volunteered to provide some sense of proportion (better than to spend the foreseeable future unpainted, I guess), and an old Dindrenzi Stormcaller half-track got turned into a wreck. 

After that I set up some putty and sand to create a footprint, and the half track got some tracks behind it as well, to show from where it came

After painting the usual flock will be added, and perhaps even a tree, although that might be a bit much.

Next up: Things I've actually completed recently!

[Planetfall] Terrain Notes

So, during the past week I've actually been playing some games of Planetfall (and finishing up my Core Helix, more on that later).

So far, most of my games has been losses.

I'll admit, I've made a few mistakes (I'm usually far too aggressive with my Recons, for one thing), but I'm starting to consider if me and my opponent does not actually play with too much terrain on the table.

Looking at others battle reports, it seems that at most players have at most 3-5 larger pieces and a smattering of smaller things, which is a far cry from the 8+ buildings, plus forests and bunkers, that usually gets put on our table.
That actually got me thinking; what kind of game is this supposed to be, regarding terrain?

Obviously, terrain has a huge impact on both tactics and strategy, particularly for the Aquans, who at once both want terrain, to make use of the Hit and Run MAR and their above average mobility, and wants clear firing lines, to best leverage the long range of their lasers.

Obviously, this means that there should be some guidelines for how much terrain to use, much like the famous 25% rule in Firestorm Armada.
Looking in the Planetfall rulebook, there are only two ways to set up terrain described;

• In a mutuable agreeable way, which can obviously be any which way.
• Random (or 'Tournament') setup, averaging one terrain piece for every 2' section of the board (so 6 in total).

With the guidelines in the rulebook regarding terrain size, we can extrapolate a min, max and average terrain coverage:

• Minimal terrain is two terrain pieces. Although unlikely (less than 1/10th of a percent) it is a possibility, and will mean that vary little of the board i covered (although two 12x12 pieces in the middle could give something to play around...)
• Average is around 6 terrain pieces, which should cover (36"^2 x 6) assuming that the average terrain piece is half of the max size on each side (max being defined in the rulebook as 12x12"). Coverage 216 square inches, or 6.25 %.
• Maximum assumes 12x12" pieces, 2 per sector, so 12 in total, giving 1728 square inches of coverage, or 50 %. 

Looking at these numbers, we can calculate some kind of median, or at least max divided by two (not really a mathematical median, by any means), i.e 864 square inches of coverage, or 25%.

Based on this, I'd recommend between 10 and 25 percent of coverage, at least as a guideline akin to Armadas 25% rule.
Yes, this means that Planetfall is supposed to have less terrain than Armada, which might not be that surprising, considering the larger impact of terrain dirtside (no indirect weapons to fire through LoS blocking or impeding terrain pieces...).

For my next game, I'll most definitely try the something like the median, or at least something close to it (instead of having 2-3 buildings in the same sector... Let me tell you, that really limits the fire arcs, and thus the possible moves, that one can do)

I'll see if I cannot get some photos of the various setups, to get an image of how much coverage these alternatives really gives.

[Planetfall] Watching the skies...

At long last, my first Planetfall Aquan Heavy tank is completed, the oft-destroyed Haumea:

 At some point during the past weeks I got a bit fed up with doing everything three times over, so my two Sednas are lagging a bit behind, but still, one out of three finished is not so bad...

When I get one more Sirsir done, I'll have my full Heavy Helix (not sure I'll ever get around to the crystals, sharing four between the Heavy and Core helixes seems enough)

I've also managed to progress a bit further on my Levi conversion:

Fairly standard Green Stuff blending of the added parts to the legs (and filling in some gaps in the legs, they are supposed to be living machines, after all).

The 'head' is all assembled, but I'm considering magnetizing it to ease storage and transport (10x10x14 is hard enough to fit anywhere...)



In a moment of weakness I might also have started another faction, I've just started assembling my first Relthoza Core Helix... More about that later.

[Project X]First Game

The blog has been living up to it's name lately, but then again not: I've done quite a bit on the Hobby Front lately:

Game log for this Friday:

Planetfall

Players: Ahmadan / Avalon

Points Value: 4000
Factions & Allies: Aquans / Directorate & Works Raptor

Starting Zero Hour: 40
Zero Hour Score: 27 / 2 (Directorate Victory)

Turn Count: 3

Called for time, but there was no way I could have caught up, not with only a single Take and Hold unit remaining.

First two activations his WR Helix killed my Heavy Helix (CQBd and shot my Haumea to death with the hoverlights, and I then failed my morale for the Tank Destroyers, causing them to be Forlorn due to a previous casualty from the Intereceptors)

I did manage to scrape some points back, though, once I started to grind through his squadrons, but it was not enough.
To the left you can see one of the better moments of the game, my two Sednas and a squad of Recon facing off against three Directorate Heavy Tanks.
End result? Two dead human Heavies, and a single Sedna left standing... I call that a win (albeit barely...)

Also, my Leviathan failed to cause any damage whatsoever two out of three turns... Time to send the cadets piloting the thing back to gunnery school.

To the right you can see the situation at the end of the game, the secondary objectives are in the middle of the table towards the wall. A strong Directorate presence still, and with no way of capturing the objectives short of pouring horrible amounts of firepower into his entrenched infantry, not really that much to do (besides taking my unguarded Primary, on my left flank, something I should have done much earlier... =

Also, my Project X fleet got to show off (or rather ground to dust), on the same day I got everything bar the SRS completed!


Armada

Players: Ahmadan vs Mikael
Points: 800
Scenario: Defend the Station
Factions and Allies: Relthoza vs Tarakians
Battle log: 0/7, Tarakian victory.

Mental note: there is no point whatsoever keeping cloaks on against Tarakians... His cruisers (4 ship strong squadrons, with 5 HP each and indirect weapons? Yea, the Tarakians should do just fine against their ancient enemy...) picked apart most of my fleet, with the Ganak Battleship finishing up afterwards...



Conversion Corner:

I recently started modifying my Aquan Leviathan, to remove the one detail I was less fond of, the hinges at the feet:
The armour plates are actually the front pieces from old Chironex Cruisers. I've since started to blend them into the legs using green stuff, expect some more WIP this week.





That's all folks, as the bunny used to say... 

Paint Tracker VII

Paint tracker status update VII

Models:

Aquired:
FSA: 17 (+4 since last time)
FSP: 10


My long since ordered Battlestation box for my Aquans finally came in, so that is the new addition...

Completed:
FSP: 27 (+3)
FSA: 1

At long last, my three Locatu Tank Destroyers are complete:

 Took a while, but in the end I think it was worth the time. The purple was the last to be finished, and I couldn't have done it without my new go-to purple tool: Army Painter Purple Tone.



Removed:
FSA: 6

Coming up: My three Heavy Tanks for Planetfall, and after that I think I should get some Armada done (I'm actually really tempted to speed paint a new faction, just to get something done quickly, and the new RSN boxes are tempting...)

 

Quick post: Improved Locatu

A slightly better WIP picture of one of my Locatu then yesterday:

In the interest of full disclosure I'll add that I've spent 15 minutes adding some Khaki to it, a first layer of highlight.
Here you can also see the turquoise highlights a bit better.

Slow but steady...

Last week turned out to be a bit of a lost week painting wise, but this week looks better:

Locatu WIP:

 The turquoise and green I consider done (might tweak some spots with an even brighter turquoise), what remains is the white highlights and doing something with the purple parts...
With some luck and a few more early mornings I should have them done before this week ends.




Heavy Helix bases:

I've experimented with what I'd like to call MkII of my bases, basically the same as before, but with a AP Green Tone shade added to the sanded parts after the grey highlight. This means that the flock ties into the base a bit better, and it looks a bit like undergrowth instead of grey earth.
I'm not sure it will replace the MkI scheme for all models, but it is a nice alternative for a greener area.

Sedna WIP:

At long last, I've restarted my two Core Helix heavy tanks. Not even a full basecoat yet, but the intent is there. I've not painted the same areas green on purpose, to give these behemoths their own identity, and I'm toying with the idea to pain actual battlescars to further differentiate them.


That's it for painting progress this week...

Link of the day: www.warmage.de/ has recently (yesterday, I think) released a (huge!) set of 10mm buildings, in three different styles, one of which is a very nice SciFi theme. This is something that I could see myself pick up for my growing Planetfall Terrain project (more on that, and my Blotz hoard, in a future post...), painted in the right colours it could make for a very nice Terquai, Terran or Dindrenzi quarter of a larger city.