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...)

 

Some news from the Spartan front...

Seems that Slayer Gaming got a bit of a special invite from Spartan to visit:
https://meeples.wordpress.com/2015/03/15/visiting-spartan-games/

Mostly Halo models, but some very nice pictures of potential Planetfall terrain as well (something for Scenery Box 2?)

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.

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!