[Antares] C3 progress

 So, despite real life rearing its head and throwing spanners in the works, I've managed some progress towards having a playable force of IMTel citizens:

The seventh age of Mankind...

THE SEVENTH AGE

Humanity has spread throughout space, to new worlds and distant galaxies, to places and realities undreamt of by our distant ancestors. Interplanetary civilisations have flourished and fallen six times over, collapsing and rising anew over countless centuries. Humankind’s first home – the planet Earth –was destroyed long ago during the forgotten wars of the Prime Imperia. Of humanity’s early history, the colonisation of space, and evolution into numerous and diverse species, little is now remembered. Today is the The Seventh Age: the last and greatest age of humankind.

As mentioned previously, I've started working a bit on a set of new 28mm minis. Some of you might have recognized the models on the painting table as a Concord NuHu Mandarin and Drop Trooper, from the new game Beyond the Gates of Antares (or simply 'the Antares game').

I've been following the development of the game ever since the failed kickstarter last year (it is still the only Kickstarter I've ever backed!), and I must admit to being very happy that the game now has a public release!

I've tested the beta rules a little bit, and they are about what I like from a large-scale game; enough detail that a game has enough options with 15-20 models on the table, while still having a nice flow and not getting bogged down in minutiae (during one of the test games we had trouble remembering which turn it was, because we'd gone through so many activations without thinking about it!)

I'm currently painting up a small force of Concorde Combined Command, or C3, a high-tech human civilisation (or The human civilisation, if you ask them) being ruled over by the Intergrated Machine Intelligence, IMTel, a giant Artificial Intelligence.

Here are some WIP shots:

My small force assembled and primed, Drop Troops and a Medium Weapon drone, as well as some flyer bases.

Colour scheme tester, from what I had lying around at home. Gray primer, turquoise chest piece, metallic weapon, and some Army Painter Dip to finish it off. 
As a proof of concept, good enough, but the actual Antares models will have more work put into them.






WIP C3 Drop Troops (with a NuHu Mandarin in the background). Basically the C3s invasion forces, goes in first (using Grav Chutes, whatever that is), to establish a beachhead for the regulars to fill in to.
I've attached them to 30mm hex MDF bases, to have something to hold on to when painting.

Test base (for my Medium Weapons drone). The idea is a arid Mars-type landscape, with some brighter cliffs.







Thats it for now, but I've got a feeling there will be more updates coming soon....

Paintlog

My never ending struggle against the piles of unpainted stuff continues...

Various family matters has decreased my paining output as of late, but I've gotten one squadron of Planetfall vehicles done at least: my first companions for my might Leviathan:

To differentiate them from my regular Imzanis I've added streaks of white to the sides, to give a clear visual indicator (always important to see what is what on the gaming table)


Other than that, I've got several things ongoing, as can be seen on my paintdesk:

• Infantry from the Recon Helix (one with gun platforms, and one with Fish Cav)
• Light tanks from the Recon Helix (the missiles are not to be underestimated, despite the short range!) 
• Heavy Gunship and Interceptors from my Interceptor Aerial helix

All of which are in various states of block painting (they will probably not receive the same level of attention as my recently completed APCs... )

Also, the eagle eyed among you might have spotted something resembling 28mm models there as well... More about those for my next entry...

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...

[Planetfall]: Relthoza Recon Helix unboxing

So, a while ago I received my long overdue Recon Helix for my Relthoza army.

Due to currently focusing on getting the last of my Aquans complete, I've not done that much assembling yet, but rest assured, it will come.

Unboxing (and some comments) after the break: