Unboxing: Terran Reinforcement Group

Some questions came up on the Spartan Games Taskforce forum about the look of the Terrans.
I know that this is technically a Firestorm Armada release (the Reinforcement Group box), but I'm calling it Taskforce for the purpose of this review....

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!

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!):

[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... 

[Project X]Tier 2 WIP

All has not been quiet lately, but hobby time has come in short burst of productivity. Fortunately, that's been planned for...

More after the jump.

[Project X]The Fearless

The Fearless

So, some work on my Ba'Kash Destroyers, in fact I'd say that they are completed!

 WIP from the painting table, some weathering added (in the shape of drybrushed dark metal).
Let's face it, with the background for these raiders, regular maintenance is not likely...

Finished! Sort of... I'm debating adding something to the engine glow (below), but I'm not sure what.

My first ever attempt at engine glow!
I will get better...








Engine glow aside, I'm calling these done for now, at least as far as the paint log goes...

[Project X] Part II

Just a quick WIP of my two mk1 Ba'Kash destroyers:

Sprayed AP Skeleton Bone, washed AP Soft tone for the tan parts, AP Green Tone for the green parts, and VMC Brown Ink for the dark brown parts.

Simple, and effective, although I'm considering yet another scheme for larger vessels... 

Introducing.... Project X!

As usual, a little less progress than I'd liked, but at least some, and a new project to boot!

More after the break:

Big things on the horizon!

Three of them, to be specific my three Aquan heavy tanks, one Haumea and two Sednas:

Belly view:

I've spent some extra time on the bone parts here, using both Khaki, a darker brown and ink to create gradients. Looks fairly decent, if I say so myself (and I'm not done yet...)

Top view:

I've not made as much progress on the top half, only gotten so far as to block in the base colours, wash with Blue Tone, and start on the bone parts of the weapons.
The differences in tone and paint scheme is intentional, although I want the colours to be similar, I want these beasts to be a bit more individualistic than their smaller cousins (and the Haumea should be be even further differentiated). I might even go so far as to add some battle scars in the end, to further reinforce the fact that they are massive war machines.

Game wise, the Sedna fulls the much needed role of main punch in the force, as the mediums lack the close up firepower (both with Main Ordinance and CQB) to match most opponents. Hence, the Sedna should probably be used in pairs, although I've been experimenting with only using a single as a oversized APC for my infantry, to try and grab the secondaries. The downside to this is that I then have to try to punch with a Lamana squad (with Sirsir support, of course), which tends to result in a battle of attrition that the Aquans are ill suited for.

I'm going to give it a few more tries, before giving up on the idea...


Speaking of large things, Spartan released some images of the Aquan Leviathan Helix last week:

All in all, I'm impressed. Something I would not have guessed (a walker, among a faction of skimmers), with a design that complements the existing models, while still not being solely designed from re-used elements of other models.
The one thing I'm not sure about is the feet, but I've got some old Chironex Cruiser front pieces that might make decent 'talons' instead (sure, I'll have to remove about 80% of the bit to make it fit, but... ).

Now all I'm waiting for is the Recon helix....:-D

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...)

 

Paint tracker status update VI

Paint tracker status update VI

Models:

Aquired:
FSA: 13 (+4 since last time)
FSP: 10

I picked up a cruiser box to complement my Overseers box; I intend to make them into Namor class cruisers, with or without a Heavy Cruiser attached

Completed:
FSP: 24 (+6)
FSA: 1 (+1)

Not much more than my Khitari kadre, and on the FSA side my long suffering Dagon Battlecarrier. 

Removed:
FSA: 6



I've also started over with my two Sedna Heavy Skimmers for FSP, after some searching I found a decent paint remover, although it requires you to be careful (leave the model in too long, and you have a pile of rubber on your hands...).
I've heard good things of rubbing alcohol, all I need is a way to source it locally... 

Coming up: My Locatu tank destroyers:

and some frigates to test colour schemes for my themed fleet.

Battle overviews, vs Directorate and vs RSN

A quick summary of my games the past week ago:

Firestorm Planetfall:
Player: Ahmadan / Avalon
Points Value: 3000
Factions & allies: Aquan Prime vs The Directorate and Works Raptor
Starting Zero hour: 30
Zero Hour score: 9 / -3
Turn Count: 2

The above picture is a fairly decent summary of the battle; although I lay slightly ahead of the damage game, I could not contest with someone holding three out of four objectives, and he won fair and square at the end of round two. 

Highlights include my Locatu Tank Destroyers wiping a Directorate medium tank from across the board, despite being on Overwatch, and my Haumea Heavy Tank locking on to, and subsequently almost wiping, a buggy squadron, both in the first round.

Next time I will include a Recon Helix, to take objectives if nothing else.





Firestorm Armada:
Players: Ahmadan vs Avalon
Factions: Aquans vs RSN
Points: 800
Scenario: Ambush
Final Battle Log: +10 to -9
Victory: Aquans

The last turn was almost as bad as the image above describes.
A single Spook on it's last damage point managed to shunt away from my Corvettes, but other than that the entire RSN force was wiped out.

I wish I could take credit for the victory, that my bold plan an unprecedented tactics won the day, but in reality it was a combination of jammy dice on my part, and my opponent not really being used to the RSN (he borrowed the fleet), they seem to take some getting used to...

Also, minefields are brutal vs the low DR and CR of the RSN Cruisers and Destroyers, and I put two (from my escorts) along the path he needed to take out of deployment with his cruisers.

The new Shiva gunships might be my favourite of the new Return of the Overseers Aquan ships, dual shields and decent firepower, both from beams and torpedoes, creates a winning combination. Very good survivability stats does not hurt, either.

Now to finish painting my Tank Destroyers!

Activity overload, please stand by...

There has been quite a bit of hobby-making lately, which is actually the reason for the lack of posts around here...

I've gotten a decent game of Planetfall in, held a Armada gaming night, and made quite some headway with my Blotz haul, all of which will be detailed in posts during the week.

Meanwhile, The Varcan Cluster has posted two excellent unboxings of the Aquan and Directorate Heavy Helixes (Helixi?), well worth a read.

Themed fleet concept part 1 - Fleet List

So, with the advent of the Overseers box I recently received I've started thinking about what to do with the ships therein.

I've got slightly more than 2000 points of Aquans painted so far, in a fairly easy turquoise scheme, but I've been thinking about doing something different for this batch.
My fleet so far got done in a concentrated effort last spring, and I'd like to avoid  getting bored with my regular paint scheme (I got a bit burned out towards the end...). 
I'd also like to limit myself a bit, set a clear goal to make it easier to commit to, and hence get done.

The launch of Planetfall got me brainstorming some ideas around; what would a Quick Response force look like for the Aquan Sebrutan? 
Let's face it, once a Directorate raiding fleet has shown up at a colony and blown away it's defenders, you'd want to have something to rapidly reinforce or counter-invade the planet with.
The same setup could probably be used for quick hit and run invasions of your own, or intelligence gathering, something like an Aquan version of the USMC, basically.


Basically, this would be a themed force, a "Breaking Wave Shoal"**. A small force, concentrating on speed and firepower, and Wings (for rapid transportation of assets to the surface, and aerial support afterwards). 
Some boarding capabilities and area denial (to keep enemy reinforcements at bay) would probably come in handy as well...

So, what does this give us regarding fleet design?
Starting with the Return of the Overseers box, there is already a Tier 1, the new Oannes Heavy Carrier, that fits the bill perfectly: good firepower, and either sneaky (Difficult Target on a Tier 1? Don't mind if I do!), or with a decent complement of shields. 

The new Shiva Gunships is another solid squadron, plenty of firepower, and with a Sulis in the squadron they should be able to skulk around out of Line of sight fulfilling the stealth criteria, so that takes care of the mandatory Tier 2 squadron (and makes use of the RotO

For Smalls, I'm thinking Snapper Corvettes, both because of the speed, but also because of the very handy Elusive Target MAR. For once, I'm actually thinking of upgrading with Pack Hunters, to give some added punch.






   

That is a T2 squadron and some upgrades short of a Patrol Fleet, I could see either of the three following:

• Stingray destroyers, for some added long-range punch

• Arual Assault Cruisers, to follow the theme and add some close range capabilities (and the added ties to the Planetfall Recon Helix does not hurt)

• Isonade Cruisers, for mine laying capabilities, and harassment (3 regular cruiser with the Mine Hardpoint, with a Heavy to lead them, have a respectable amount of firepower, while still keeping to budget)

For larger fleets I'd probably add one or two Orca battlecruisers and another T2 squadron, rounding out the Firepower theme.

The hard part remains, colour scheme!





**Named for where the sea meets land with force, but 'Surf Shoal' sounded a bit... meh.

A little bit goes a long way

Or as the Swedish proverb goes: 'Many small streams makes a great river'.

Not really made any major progress on one thing, but I've gotten several projects started:

• Finished my first four Drop markers for Planetfall.
• Unpacked my Armada Return of the Overseers starter box; I'm really loving the new Oannes Heavy Carrier model. 
• Gotten about halfway with my Khitari infantry. I'll probably revisit my painting process for next time, though... Staining did not really work as intended on these small models, there are a lot of details that need to be touched up.
• Started washing and assembling my Aquan Heavy Helix for Planetfall, including the really nice Locatu tank destroyer models, I'll most definitely get another heavy helix just to get some more of these to paint. 
• Started working on my Blotz stuff (arrived yesterday): a lot of 10mm building goodness! So far only a small radar dish has seen the light of day, but more will come before the end of the month, including a review of the kits. 

That leaves me with a lot of newly acquired models, almost filling my self-imposed 'Sliding Painting Window', which means no more purchases for a while, at least until I've made a dent in the buffer...


Paint tracker status update V

Models:

Aquired:
FSA: 9 (Return of the Overseers box, so 4 frigates, 4 mediums and a large)
FSP: 10 (Heavy Helix, with two bonus Stingrays!)

Completed:
FSP:18
FSA: 0

Removed:
FSA: 6 


I also need to do some kind of inventory of my backlog box, with Legions, Armada and Planetfall it is starting to overflow....
 

Almost, but not quite...

Yep, got my Votari crystals finished this morning (I get most of my painting done while the rest of the family still sleeps...), just too late to be considered ready in January.
I'm not really happy with the paint job, this will have to do for now, I've already burnt a lot of energy discovering a lot of ways to paint them that I don't like...

I'll get a better scheme for the next batch (and who knows, I might test how well varnish withstands T-Röd, the designated paint removal chemical around here...)

Also made some decent progress on my first batch of Infantry, all bases are painted, just a final grey drybrysh of the sand to be done before adding flock (o yes, I need to paint the actual infantrymen at some point too...)

I've also made some headway (the famous 'Almost done' step) on 4 drop markers, with a scheme tying them to my Aquan force (as the Terquai technically are part of the Sebrutan, I see no issues with having the same scheme for their drop markers...)
Any limitations* will be marked using different coloured dice.

So, where does that leave me, progress-wise?

Progress so far in 2015:

Models:

Aquired:
FSA: 2

Completed:
FSP:16
FSA: 0

Removed:
FSA: 6


Not too bad, so far....


In other news: Some time back (two weeks almost!), I played my first turns of the new Planetfall! Unfortunately the game was cut short due to my opponent getting dragged into a game club board meeting (fitting, as he plays Directorate...), but at least I got to play the first two turns:

Last image I snapped of the game

Still, even a short game is better than none, and it really whet my appetite for more, so much in fact that I've already ordered some MDF buildings from Blotz.co.uk, to start replacing the Hawk paper buildings (works as filler, but will probably not survive for too long... )
My opponent managed to score the only TV of the game, when he wiped out a squadron of my light recon tanks who'd dared move near the tertiary objective in the middle of the table, so nominally he managed to push the Kurak forces out of the area...

Still, a rematch is in order, and scheduled for later this month.
Until then I need to get some more painting done!




*In Planetfall, drop markers are used as pre-designated spots for dropping troops or artillery strikes on, Certain markers can only be used for specific troop types (and arty tokens can only be used for artillery strikes...)

Painting tracker 2015-01-29

Paint table snapshot: 

Khitari, Votari crystals and drop tokens.

I've also added some FSA SRS tokens, I'm tired of not having enough completed when I play.

Progress so far in 2015:

Models:

Aquired:
FSA: 2

Completed:
FSP:12
FSA: 0

Removed:
FSA: 6


So, I just sold off a blister of corvettes and some SRS, and completed my stingrays...
Not sure how to count Tokens, though. I'm leaning towards counting them as 0.5 models for painting purposes, and not count them at all for selling purposes.

I've also been working on 6 infantry stands, starting with the bases, here in three different stages:

Stage 1: Cavalry brown basecoat.
Stage 2: Parasite brown on top, flat areas (in this case the 'paving').
Stage 3: Khaki drybrush
Stage 4: Dark Tone Wash


After this it is going to be business as usual, another Khaki drybrush and two tones of flock.

So, now to try to find some more painting time...