WIP update

 Last week I spent a bit of time getting five more Eloi Zephyrs ready, to be played as Eldar Wave Serpents in Epic.

That leaves five skimmers on my work bench, and I did manage to fling some paint their way as well, but some time was spent preparing a new project (to be presented later).

The grand total of my Eloi-count-as-Eldar is now getting to a decent size, close to 3000 points painted (not even playing the Baneshees as Titans, only Wraithknights).

I do have some non-Vanguard models for this force as well, but they are not fully painted (and the Hornets barely have official Epic rules anyway).

For this week I aim to put some paint on my new secret project, and finish up the remaining support vehicles above. After that: A pair of proper Titans!

Completed: 5 bases this week, 28 total this month.

November recap

One of my objectives of this new era of the blog is to document my actual progress.

As a first version then, here is what has been on my work bench so far during November:

 

First out is finishing off two formations I've had lying around for a long time, and one recently acquired.

• Newly released Eloi Crystal Lance tanks (to be played as Eldar Fire Prisms)
• Eloi Jetbikes with two Support skimmers (Windrider formation, with a side board of two Vypers)
• And one more Guardian formation, for the those important Core slots (enabling the smaller Troupes)

 

After their performance in my last game, I just had to put some paint on my Super Heavy Tanks (Tempest at Vanguard, played as Scorpion and Cobra in Epic).

The turrets are magnetized, so both can be played as either version. Each vehicle have a few bespoke details, to let the artisanal nature of Eldar war machines shine through.

These three have not technically been painted this month, but have had a final coat of matt varnish applied, so technically been worked on. Scale wise they can be played as either Revenant Titans or Wraithknights.

So far I have used two of them to stand in as Revenants, but that might change now that I have two Vanguard Harpies lying around...

Last week was something of a terrain binge, I have had several pieces of semi-completed terrain bits lying around, and also realized that I need some bigger items to hide behind (Eldar cannot take the same amount of punishment as many others...).

With that in mind I have painted up the ruins I made before, with a simple greyish schema, built a new bigger ruin with a bit more dirt and ground colour, and then made a small hill with trees on, to give a perfect place for infantry to take up defensive positions.

The trees are made from Green Stuff Worlds plastic Bush Armature, but they are perfect for 6mm trees, just add some flock. The hill itself is made from cork, as I find it to be both light and robust. It was painted in a similar fashion to the larger ruin, giving it a reddish dirt base with cheap acrylic highlights.

Last but not least comes the first batch of vehicles for the month, five transports for my poor bloody infantry... Four of them will probably end up transporting the infantry mentioned earlier, and the fifth will be a good starting point for an Aspect Warrior motor pool. All that remains is to put some contrast on the bone, and then pick out the details.

Score so far for the month:

18 bases painted!


 

The more things change...

 I've come to realize that I miss blogging.

As such, I will actually re-start this, but with a new focus.

Over the past years, ever since Spartan Games folded, I have jumped a bit back and forth between various game systems, Gates of Antares being a major one, but not really sticking to anything for any longer sense of time.

Sure, some 15mm projects here and there (more on what I have actually done here later), but so far no rule system has ticket all of my boxes.

The reduction of pandemic restrictions earlier this year (has it only been 6 months? Feels like so much longer) has enabled me to travel for work again, bringing some potential for gaming along with it (family obligations leaves little time for gaming in an ordinary day).

To that end I have had to reconsider my engagements in the hobby a little bit. Don't get me wrong, 15mm is an amazing opportunity for experimenting and putting your own spin on things, but in the end you need to have a community and opponents to play against. Bringing your own DYI project means selling it to at least one more person, and that itself is an investment in time and energy.

To get around this I have had to look at what actually gives more bang for the buck, what is easy to get gaming with, and pay some attention to what is easy to travel with.

To that effect I have re-discovered the game that brought me back into the fold all those years ago: Epic Armageddon. I bought some Vanguard Miniatures Eloi last year, but this year a flurry of recent releases has really promoted it to my primary game. As an added bonus I have managed to get buy in from my usual partner in crimes, so regular opponents is not an issue either. The fact that there is no shortage of gorgeous models these days is not exactly a downside, either...

Apart from that I have a small project ongoing that really re-connects with my gaming roots; building a fantasy force of Wood Elves, using a little bit of mix and match to get the kind of warband that I really want. This fills a nice DYI niche, and fantasy models is something most opponents have lying around, so a good rule set is all that is needed.

To that end, I am a little bit going back to the origins, proving that the more things change, the more they stay the same...

 

Lost in space

"What gets put online stays online", or so I've heard.

This seems to be true, as this blog is still available, despite all the cobwebs and dust gathering...

Let's see how long I manage to keep activity going for this time, but only time will tell...

Initially, I have some material to put up for my current whim; 15 mm sci fi, and if energy permits I will possible make some kind of summary of the past few years as well...

A first attempt can be seen just previous to this one, a quick test round of From Ashes, and there will be more coming on that front.

Welcome back, one and all!

Initial thoughts: From Ashes 15 mm rules

I've been on a bit of a 15mm foray lately, reading up on various rule sets, while getting some paint on my pile of shame.

One of the rules I came across is called From Ashes, published by Void Scar Miniatures, currently in a bit of an open Beta.

As I'm bound to do I set up a quick demo game, getting a feel for the game flow, using available minis.

The forces used were on one side two units of Relthoza infantry (from Planetfall, but they cross over into 15mm very well), using the official Vanguard rules.
On the other side two Squads of Khurasan War Force Reserve suits, using rules of my own devising, so this session doubled as playtest of those rules.

First turn:

Initial setup, two squads on each side, but with a points differential:
The spiders clock in at 90 Req, while the Marines, despite only having four units, stand at 115 Req.

Three data caches are placed around the central line as objectives.

From Ashes has a wide variety of scenarios, but this is a little bit home cooked, to have something simple; jut go for the objective markers.



First activation: the Marine Command Squad
takes cover in a small building, and orders the
Grenadiers to Advance (hence the red die)

Each side performs one activation at a time, so next up is the spider cyborgs!

The first squad march ahead, with dual Advance actions.
Each Action has a corresponding number for each, so which orders has been given is tracked by the dice.

The Grenadiers march on, taking one Advance and one Engage order.

This would be a first learning opportunity; if the Advance action had been taken after the Engage, the "Scope" rule on the Plasma Rifles would have come into effect, making it easier to hit the opposition.

Also, the command team would have benefited from advancing further upfield, lending support in the second round as well.



The first actual dice roll, for the Grenadiers
to hit the Target spider squad, turns out quite
OK. 12 D12 in total, hitting on 8+, and
managing 7 hits in total is way better than average.

This in turn means that the poor spiders gets 5 Blast Markers, 3 from the Rockets (red dice above), and an additional two for more than 6 hits in total. This is a quite large amount of blast markers from a single action.
The are placed 1" from the target unit, as per the rules.

Then comes the next step; Damage! The plasma rifles wielded by all Martian Marines comes with a Damage rating of 3, same as a chain gun or other medium support weapon. This means that the roll needed to damage Def 7 Targets, like the poor spiders, is 4+ on a D12.

After assessing the damage the dice are allocated to individual bases (or Units in game terminology).
The rules for critical damage means that every third step above the bare minimum to cause damage cause one additional HP lost, ensuring that high powered weapons can cause a large set of damage!

In this case three of the bases end up with damage dice, with one getting 5 HPs worth of damage.

The rules for Vanguards gives them a 11+ 'save' of sorts for every HP lost, which means committing damage to individual bases can be a good idea.

In this particular case only the third base managed to reduce the amount of damage taken, hanging on with a single HP left.

To lend assistance, the second squad of spiders starts to Advance across the field, using what will probably become a standard of Advance+Engage action combo.

In this case the targeting involves the rules for Cover as well, since the Target has quite a good position behind a building. The way this is handled in From Ashes is that each piece of covering terrain triggers a 'cover roll', having a 50/50 chance to hit the cover instead.

Each base has 3 shots using low powered rifles, so 15 dice in total is rolled, giving worse than average with only 6 making the cut.
Then again, it evens out when 5 / 6 actually hits, 3/5 cause damage, and cause a full base of Grenadiers to bite the dust!





In the end, the house bore the brunt of

the fire, taking three Blast Markers from the 10 hits it received (enough Blast Markers can cause certain terrain to be removed!), while the Grenadiers only got a single, but took 3 HPs worth of damage instead.

This action concludes the first turn, all that is left is the SitRep phase, where victory conditions are checked (N/A this turn) and Blast Markers removed.

Tune in next time for a second turn, with some thrilling conclusion!

Outcasts step by step

For the longest time, I've though about making a step-by-step guide to how I paint Outcasts, simple enough so that I don't like it is a chore, but detailed enough so I don't feel like I'm cheating.

Step 0:  

Assemble the models, and prepare the bases. I use cork and sand to build up the base, and to cover the integrated base common with Warlord figures.

On some I've cut down the cast base, but usually I just cover with cork.

Step 1:

Foundation layers. I use Army Painter Skeleton Bone primer to cover all of the figure, touching up any missed spots with a brush later (the AP line is great like that, with bottle paint to match the primers). Then I go over the base with Vallejo Game Colour Terracotta, with VGC Ghost Grey to indicate more rocky patches.

Step 2:

Moving forward, I paint the skin with a VGC Parasite Brown, and the metal parts with VGC Bright Bronze. This will later be used to help the Quickshade provide depth to the model.

Step 3:
Using VGC Elf Flesh, with a hint of VGC Khaki if I feel adventurous, I make a coarse highlight of the skin, picking out muscles, fingers and sinews.
The base gets a drybrush of <red brown>, and parts of the still visible Skeleton Bone gets picked out with Khaki, to provide some visual interest and noticeable details.
On some models I glaze the metallics with a mix of Glaze medium, water and VGC Tinny Tin, to bring down the sheen a bit (Ghar aren't exactly know for careful equipment maintenance...)

Step 4:
Magic time! Army Painter Quickshade is used to tie it all together,  using a cheap brush and some care.  

 

Step 5:

Paint eyes, and pupils. I usually go over the feet and hands picking out the nails too, and the base gets a drybrush or two of Khaki (yes, even the grey parts). Then GW Purity Seal is applied, in two thin layers. The larger models gets Vallejo red-brown pigments applied, to symbolize dust buildup on legs and lower chassis. 

Step 6:

Photograph! I've made a simple light box out of a plastic storage container and some LED spotlights.

I've added frosted plastic film to the sides (usually used for bathroom windows) to help soften the light, and everything can be stored inside the box between sessions. 

More Ghar Penal Legion progress

Previously I showed my Scout force for my Ghar
Penal Legion, and now I've finished most of the next batch: One more squad of Outcasts, another Distort Cannon, and a Bomber Squad.
The Bomber Squad is supposed to contain a Ammo Scutter too, but so far it's still in progress, as can be seen to the left.

I need to come up with something for the ammo (both for the right arm, and the canister on the back), and add some more greenstuff before I can call it complete.  The movement tray and tokens are both from War-bases.co.uk.

Coming up next is the final piece of the puzzle to bring my force up to 1000 points, a suitable vehicle for the clone with the big ego, the high leader of Legion ZY-86V:  

Still only in early stages, but at least it is started...
But once I get some khaki and skin on the pilots it should start to look decent. It is a very impressive model, both physically and rules-wise.

For next time, I hope to have a little bit more to show, at least the Scutter above finished.