[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:

[Planetfall] Birds inbound, prepare the AA!

So, it seems that the latest pre-order is about to hit (as images of the painted models are starting to appear), with the Interceptor Aerial Helixes for all main factions:

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:

[Review] Underground Lasers Planetfall accessories

A quick review of UGLs Planetfall tokens and Zero Hour Tracker, both acrylic.

Tokens:

I've been looking at adding to my collection of Planetfall tokens for a while now, I have a set of the tokens that Spartan provided as part of the Platinium package for preordering Proteus Prime, but the number of Activated markers in that set is a bit limited. Enter Underground Lasers, with a full set of tokens, both for Armada and Planetfall.

Shipping and packaging both gets A remarks, it took half an hour from placing my order until it was shipped (!!!), and everything was neatly shrink wrapped, in a few cases with multiple layers.

I'd originally grown used to paying $25 shipping for my order, but thanks to a refund I ended up paying $15, I suspect it might be due to ordering only acrylics, which weights less than MDF.

Comparing them to Spartans own tokens, they are about the same size, but with much larger symbols and actual text describing the token, making readability easier. For these, I'm not even sure it would be neccssary to tint the engraving (which is a must for the delicate engraving on the Spartan tokens, I've even seen examples with painted symbols).

UGLs tokens are the blue ones in the picture above.

I'd give them a solid 4 out of 5, a decent set with good usability.



Zero Hour Tracker:

 

One of the unusual concepts in Planetfall is the Zero Hour Tracker, where you count down Tactical Value points from your starting army points divided by 100.

However, the cardboard version of the counter used to keep track of these in the start box is a bit flimsy, and the movable parts have a tendency to go AWOL.

Enter mr F of Underground Lasers, making an acrylic version.

 

 

The concept is simple enough; two movable pieces, one to keep track of the tens, and one to keep track of the singles. In this case, the actual tracking doodads (technical term, I promise) are kept in place through pre-cut square holes, matching pegs on the doodads. The number in question is displayed through a cut circle in the doodad, making the value perfectly clear. 

 

As an added bonus, the edges are cut at 45 degrees angle, making it usable for measuring fire arcs, or Lumbering movement as well. 

A very good tool that does it's job, and then some, but I do have a few things I'd like to point out:

• The zeroes are engraved farthest to the right, I'd have liked them to the left.
• The pegs have a little bit to loose tolerance, making the doodads susceptible to falling out, if say a bystander would be a bit rough with the counter. Nothing a bit of white glue (to thicken the pegs) won't fix, but a small annoyance nonetheless. 

Score
A weak 4 out of 5, the loose pegs are enough of a irritation that it gets a slight downgrade.

All in all, a solid set of gaming tools for Planetfall.