January wrap-up & projects for February

My goal for the year was to paint at least one combat unit (infantry squad or vehicle) per week.  If I can keep January's pace going, I should exceed my goal.  

Completed in January:

• Rebel Minis Earthforce HAMR (1)
• GZG Islamic Federation Infantry (16)
• GZG Crusties Power Armor (6)
• Ravenstar Studios Stalker Walker Tank (1)
• Ravenstar Studios Coyote Jeep (2; 1 for Law Officers, 1 generic civilian)

• Ravenstar Studios Silverback (1)
• Ravenstar Studios Thunderfoot Mark 3 (1)
• Laserburn Imperial Scout Bikes (2)
• Laserburn Imperial Scouts (8)
• Khurasan Space Demon Assault Warriors (12)
• Khurasan Space Demon Nymphs (8)
• Khurasan Space Demon Colossus (1)

I plan to focus most of my February painting (and gaming, hopefully) on mecha-centric battles.  I have four more mecha basecoated now - two each Rebel Minis Earthforce and Titan HAMR suits.  Those should be finished early next week.  I have an order of Rebel Minis VIPR suits on the way, and I plan to take advantage of the Ravenstar Studios 25% Off Sale and pick up a couple more Land Core Silverbacks.

The urban battlefield I mentioned before is also on the February project list.  I ordered an assortment of nine buildings from Proxie Models last night, and I cut 6' worth of hardboard road sections to set up the battlefield.  I just need to come up with some urban terrain pieces that aren't buildings (maybe a power plant?) to complete my mecha battlefield.  

Cheers,

Chris

2012 Painting Log - mid-January update

As a way to keep focused on my "one finished combat unit per week" goal for 2012, I'm going to try to update my painting progress a couple times per month.  Since the first of the year, I've finished:

• Khurasan Space Demons - a pack of Warriors, a pack of Nymphs, and a Colossus.
• Laserburn Scouts - two Bikes and eight Scout figures
• Assorted Ravenstar Land-Core goodies - a Thunderfoot and a Silverback mecha (painted for the review article on Dropship Horizon), a Coyote jeep, and a Stalker walker tank.  Here's a teaser pic of the mecha:

Not a bad start to the year - I'm ahead of my goal.  But I did have some time off work around the holidays, so a head start isn't going to hurt anything.  Looking ahead... my Christmas order from Ground Zero Games arrived on Friday.  Here's what's on the table from that shipment:

• A pack of Hammer's Slammers infantry.  I'm going to ignore the buzzbomb-launcher figure for now and focus on the other sculpts.  I intend to use these as bailed-out vehicle crews for my Aurora Group corporate security forces.
• Two packs of Islamic Federation infantry.  My plan is to use these as the core of a new army - one based upon my Shadow Worlder Blasters & Bulkheads skirmish force.  The skirmish unit (made of Laserburn Redemptionists) will be the elite inner circle of Shadow World armies - these Islamic Federation troopers will be the rank and file.  I'll use Ravenstar Studios' quad-walkers as the vehicles in this new army.
• A pack of Armored Crusties.  For my Crusties, obviously. :)
• Four packs of New Israeli infantry.  No fancy plans here - I'm just going to turn them into red Spartans to rival for my green Rebel Droptroopers.

I'll splash in a few terrain projects along the way, just to keep things interesting.  And the odd civilian and mercenary figure to flesh out my small skirmish games.  

Cheers,

Chris

Painting Tutorial - Khurasan Space Demons using Metallic Sprays

One of this year's stocking stuffers from my wife was a small order from Khurasan Minis.  There were a few new items inside (including some Control Battalion that I'm dying to paint), but mostly it was reinforcements for my Space Demon army.  I already had two packs of Assault Warriors, one pack of Hammerheads, and a Queen.  This order gave me a pack of the second-pose Assault Warriors, a pack of Nymphs, and for my larger games, my first Colossus.

Since we're having a very warm winter here in Iowa, I broke out the Testors Metallic sprays and got my new bugs onto the battlefield.  Just like my previous Space Demons, I'm using the ultra-quick paint scheme pioneered by Cacique Caribe over on TMP.  Here's a breakdown of the process.

Step One - File, Assemble, and Base

As usual, Khurasan's minis require very little cleanup.  The Nymphs just needed a bit of filing on the bottom, and the Colossus went together quickly.  I spent a bit more time on the Assault Warriors.  One of the poses has a cast base which is larger than my 3/4" fender washers, so it needed a bit of trimming.  I also took a little time to make sure the heads went on at a few different angles, and I reposed the soft tails to add some variety.

Step Two - Undercoat

Honestly, this step is optional.  But I've found that it does help to get an even coat out of the metallic sprays, so I used my white Armory Primer on the figures.  It also helps me to find any small bits of flash or mold lines that I missed the first time around (in this case, there was just a little bit of flash in the armpits of a few Assault Warriors). It also helped to seal the Colossus together - my superglue was old, and the legs kept falling off when I first assembled it.

Step Three - Metallics

The fun part - giving some life and distinction to the Space Demons without any real effort.  When I painted my last batch, I used Testors Arctic Blue for the Hammerheads, Burgundy Red for the Queen, and Turquoise for the Assault Warriors.  I wanted the Nymphs to be "extensions" of the Queen herself, so they received the burgundy paint. The Colossus has some little recesses in the shoulder that could be some type of acid spray, so I tied it together with the Hammerheads.  

A note on the metallics: I learned that they have a much longer drying time than other Testors or Tamiya sprays.

Step Four - Wash

Once the sprays were dry, I set the figures out on some Universal Painting Trays (those mockup credit cards that keep showing up in my  mailbox) and, working in groups of six, brushed an undiluted wash over the entire figure.  I used GW Badab Black on my earlier models, but this time I used Secret Weapon Heavy Body Black.  The Secret Weapon washes are very good for this sort of work, as long as you remember to keep shaking them.  The Heavy Black is also a bit stronger than the GW wash - it only took a single coat to finish the Nymphs and Assault Warriors.  The Colossus took a few coats to get all the recesses on the belly, so I worked on the Nymph and Warrior bases while the larger model was drying.  

Step Five - Base and Seal

Nothing fancy on the bases - painted Model Master Euro Gray onto the bases, flocked them with dark gray gravel, sealed with thinned Elmer's glue, and drybrushed with Vallejo Heavy Bluegray.  The figures themselves were sealed with Wonder Wash Black, which gave them a nice and glossy finish.  

That's it - a quick, painless, and fairly inexpensive way to make a Space Demon army.  There are plenty of colored metallics on the Model Master brush-on range, if you don't want to spent the extra cash on spray paints.  And the army would work just fine with a single color - I just like seeing the difference between an Assault Warrior and a Hammerhead from tabletop distance. 

Play a game already!

I've played a couple quick FUBAR games with the Nymphs and Assault Warriors since painting these.  But I still haven't used the Colossus in a game.  I plan to run a scenario where a Colossus is hiding underground and ambushes a passing convoy.  When the convoy is stopped, other Space Demons will converge on the damaged vehicles, and the convoy personnel must hold out for extraction.

So what's next for my Space Demons?  Well, I really like the Nymphs - perfect little swarming bugs.  I thought about mounting three per 1.25" base, but singles on 3/4" washers will work better on my Space Base tiles.  I might try to add one to my Queen's base, just for decoration. 

The Colossus is a terrific mini.  A second one would make my Space Demons into a pretty formidable opponent, even against tanks and mecha.  

Christmas at the Bunker

Merry belated Christmas, everyone!

I was lucky enough to get a few hobby-related goodies for Christmas this year.  My wife, a sci-horror writer and Giger fan, ordered a few reinforcements to my Khurasan Space Demon forces.  She also bought me a pack each Sepulvedan Control Battalion Riflethings and Heavy Weaponsthings - which I've been wanting to paint ever since I saw them.

Santa also brought us an IKEA gift card.   We picked up a bunch of small things for the house, including a couple of these JANSJO Clamp Spotlights.

I've been having major problems taking detailed pictures of my minis.  For some reason my digital camera (by which I mean my HTC Incredible smartphone) has a hard time balancing a white background under CFL bulbs.  But for some reason, it seems to do well with the LEDs in the new lamps:

That's the same piece of bright white cardstock in the background, so this is definitely an improvement.  I was planning to spend most of my vacation time this week getting my Christmas War campaign started (especially since I hammered out my campaign background).  But now that I have these new lamps, I may also take some time to update my close-up gallery.

Did anyone else get any hobby-related goodness this year?

Cheers,
Chris

"You are two UGLY mother..."

I had all kinds of plans to start working on my Critical Mass Games Kaamados Dominion figures this week.  But, of course, I was one paint color short.  In the meantime, I decided it was a good time to paint my Khurasan Miniatures Vacation Aliens.   

"If it bleeds, we can kill it.

It only took a few hours to do both.  They definitely look better in the flesh... I tried a dozen camera settings and this was the best that came out.  The paint scheme:

1. Vallejo Heavy Khaki on the exposed skin
2. Secret Weapon Green-Black Wash over the Heavy Khaki
3. P3 Cryx Bane Base over boots, straps, armor bits, weapons, and helmets.
4. Vallejo Gunmetal drybrushed over most of the Cryx Bane.  I was only going to use this on the armor and helmet, but it ended up working okay on all of the straps and pouches.  I remember the medical kit in the first movie had some pretty crude elements to it.  I figured using metal strapping instead of fabric webs would be equally crude.
5. Vallejo Blood Red on the eyes, and the targeting lens on the left mini.  
6. Secret Weapon Armor Wash over the shoulder weapons (just to give them a slightly different tone).
7. Wonder Wash Black over the entire mini.

Now I need to figure out exactly how to use these in my own settings.  I've never been a fan of replaying scenarios from movies or shows.  Instead, I think these will be some type of bounty hunting team, or possibly master-race enslavers for something like GZG Crusties.  

Cheers,

Chris

Gut Check Battle - Garn vs Astagar

Following my last post, I broke out SpaceJacker's Gut Check! ruleset and gave it a few playtests.  I had forgotten what a fun little rule system it is.  It only took a couple rounds to get the hang of the mechanics once again... I spent the rest of the time tweaking unit stats to come up with something that resembled a balanced scenario.  This was played using Khurasan Garn and Critical Mass Astagar Mercenary Fighters.

Scenario Background.  A Garn patrol ship entered orbit around Rishi 7.  Some ancient buildings were on that planet... something the Garn had always wanted to investigate.  When their scanners detected an Astagar landing ship near the ruins, they knew it was time to stake a permanent claim.  Garn Huntmaster Thauro recognized the landing ship - they were the type usually crewed by five Astagar mercenary fighters (probably seeking some sort of treasure in the ruins).  Thauro was a little disappointed at this finding.  He had been hoping for a proper fight today, and this would amount to little more than an early morning workout.  But it was better than nothing, and he certainly couldn't let the Astagar take anything of value from one of the planets in his patrol zone.  Thauro ordered Hunters Bazgla and Acholk to accompany him down to the surface.

The Astagar were already inside the buildings by the time the Garn arrived.  Astagar Captain Fyip had his henchmen Sizet and Ovidu searching the larger building, while Ixe and his heavy weapon trooper Livitt looked inside the smaller.  When they left their buildings, they were a bit surprised to find a Garn Hunting Party stalking toward them.

Playing The Game.  I didn't use any blips for this scenario - just a straight fight to "break in" these units.  The Astagar were positioned in front of both buildings, while the Garn simply entered from the center of the opposite edge of my board.  I played this on my 2' x 2' Red Planet table including my Critical Mass Kaamados buildings.  The Garn were activated and controlled by me, while the Astagar used SpaceJacker's awesome all-in-one enemy activation counters.

Turn One.  I learned during my earlier playtests that the Garn were pretty easily slaughtered if they split up.  So this time I would keep them together, and simply knock out the Astagar one mini at a time.  Huntmaster Thauro began the game by using an EVADE action to move into cover (rock formations along the right side of the table).  The first enemy activation counter was for Livitt - the Astagar armed with the heavy gun.  He used a FOCUS FIRE action to give Bazgla a Shock counter.  Using the reaction rules, Bazgla scored an Epic Pass on his Gut Check and returned fire.  He hit Livitt for two Shock counters - enough to take the heavy weapon Astagar out of action.  Both Garn hunters joined their Huntmaster in the EVADE action, while Ovidu failed to activate and Sizet took an EVADE to slither up the hill on the left side of the table.  Ixe fired at the Garn but his shots were absorbed by their shields.  The turn concluded with Captain Fyip using a RUSH action to get into battle with the wounded Bazgla. Each took a shock counter from that fight.

Turn Two.  The turn began with Ovidu, the Astagar with the power gauntlets, using a RUSH action to attack Garn Huntmaster Thauro.  He took down the Huntmaster with a Messy Kill - forcing Bazgla and Acholk to take Gut Checks.  They failed and retreated 2".  The Astagar Captain used a FOCUS FIRE to stop the fleeing Garn, but his his was absorbed by Bazgla's shield.  Bazgla passed a Gut Check for taking fire... I could either Ambush (charge the captain) or Fire.  He fired, and all three shots missed completely.  Acholk used a FOCUS FIRE action to take down the Astagar assault trooper.  He scored a MESSY KILL.  The Astagar captain was within 4" of the kill and was forced to take a Gut Check, but he passed and did not retreat.  The wounded Bazgla removed his Shock Counter at the end of this turn, but the Astagar Captain did not.

Turn Three.  Captain Fyip used a FOCUS FIRE against Bazgla, scoring another two Shock Counters.  Bazgla failed the ensuing Gut Check, so there was no retaliation.  Acholk used a RUSH action to assault Captain Fyip, forcing him to give ground.  Nobody else managed to activate during this turn... Captain Fyip removed his Shock counter, while Bazgla kept both of his.  Things were not looking well for the Garn!

Turn Four.  Garn Acholk used an ADVANCE action to get into cover. He fired on Captain Fyip, scoring a MESSY KILL.  The nearby Astagar fighter failed his Gut Check, and was Choked for the rest of the turn. Astagar Sizet, still in cover at the opposite hill, failed yet another activation.  Bazgla managed to activate even with two Shock Counters... he took a FOCUS FIRE action against the choked Astagar fighter Ixe.  The dice weren't kind to Ixe... he received four Shock counters, and was taken out of action.  In one turn, the fight had completely turned against the Astagar.

More dead snakes than Springfield Whacking Day...

Turn Five.  Across the table, Sizet finally passed an activation!  He RUSHed into assault with Acholk.  That assault ended with Sizet giving ground.  Acholk then used a FOCUS FIRE to give Sizet a Shock and a Choke counter.  Bazgla didn't pass his activation, but was able to remove both of his Shock counters at the end of that turn.  

Turn Six.  Sizet, the last surviving Astagar, fell to FOCUS FIRE from Bazgla.  The alien buildings were now clear of the invading Astagar treasure seekers, but the Garn had paid a terrible price with the loss of Huntmaster Thauro.

Analysis.  I had to tweak the Astagar stats for a few games, but I achieved a pretty good level of balance.  This game really felt like it was decided purely by the dice rolls - after turn three I thought it was going to be another overwhelming Astagar victory.  But the Garn refused to give up!  Now I want to play a variant of Scenario One from the Gut Check rules... I'll run the Garn hunting party again, next time against several small blips of humans or Crusties.  But this made for a very fun game, even with a total of eight minis on the table.

Cheers,

Chris

"Corporal... did you bring the Garn repellant?"

I've been experimenting quite a bit with washes lately... using different ones over bare metal and solid basecoats to create interesting (and fast) paint schemes.  Mostly I've been working with Citadel and b, but I finally added some Secret Weapon washes to my mix.  One of my favorites, both in name and as a color, is their Baby Poop.  It produces a great sickly greenish-brownish tint (as would be expected...), and goes on very heavy.  I tried a few experiments with it, and then realized exactly where I could use it in my collection...

So I ran downstairs and grabbed the pack of Khurasan Minis Garn that had been sitting in my drawer for the last year or so.  Until now, I never knew how I wanted to paint them.  But my new wash techniques seemed like they should be perfect for this type of mini.  Here's the results:

It was a pretty simple paint scheme.  I started with white primer, then two coats of Secret Weapon Baby Poop over the entire mini.  Then I picked out the eyes with drops of Vallejo Blood Red and the weapons/energy packs/backpack shields with Vallejo Gunmetal.  I used two different colors on the belts, straps, and boots - P3 Underbelly Blue with Secret Weapon Blue Wash on the hunt master, and P3 Cryx Bane Highlight with Secret Weapon Light Black Wash on the two hunters.  I finished the minis by putting Secret Weapon Drying Blood wash over the silver back shields, a final coat of Wonder Wash Black over the entire mini,  and finished the bases.

I really like the way they turned out.  The maroon or green schemes seen in the Khurasan website pics and on SpaceJacker's blog are very nice, but just a bit cartoonish for my taste.  The Baby Poop (stop giggling!) Wash gives them a flesh tone right out of a dinosaur movie.

So... what to do with only three Garn?  I've been playing quite a bit of In the Emperor's Name lately, and three Garn could be a tough little retinue.  But I decided to play around with Gut Check instead.  It's a game I really enjoyed playing last year, but haven't looked at it since we started development of ItEN.  This seems like a nice time to try it again.

Here's the rules I came up with for the Garn... they should be able to handle quite a few inferior enemy minis. I'm going to try to sneak in a game or two this weekend.

Cheers,
Chris K.

Best of 2010 - 15mm Edition

And now for the presentation that nobody was looking forward to (mainly because I just invented it today) - the Basement Gaming Bunker Best of 2010 Awards!

Okay, so the recipients don't actually receive any kind of fancy trophy or certificate (unless they REALLY want me to make one). Mostly I want to use this as a chance to review a dozen or so items in one simple post. Honorable Mentions are awarded to items that I don't actually own yet but intend to do so as soon as the budget allows.

So here we go...

-Best New Figures. Without a doubt, this was the toughest category. After much deliberation I declare the Sepulvedan Resistance Heroes from Khurasan to be this year's overall winners. The reason for this is the sheer number of reactions from 28mm fans who couldn't believe these were actually 15mm sculpts.

Honorable mention: the Orion Republic troops from Blue Moon Manufacturing. I love what little of their product I've acquired so far, and intend to add these to my collection early in 2011.

-Best Old Figures. I've invented this category for items that have been on the market for a few years and simply don't seem to get the love that they deserve. While there were several good candidates from the Laserburn and Asgard ranges at 15mm.co.uk, I am presenting the award to the “Buckethead” infantry in RAFM’s ex-Citadel line. Something about these guys' Rogue Trader-esque appearance just made them an absolute necessity for my collection (and yes, Mark H., you can mock me as much as you want for this!).

-Worst Figure Poses. Many of us have lamented the unrealistic or static poses that have plagued sci-fi wargaming for so long. I'm giving special recognition to one particular line of figures this year. The reason I'm calling these specific minis out is because everything else from this manufacturer, especially in terms of pose and design, has been simply fantastic. And the designs of these figures is also wonderful, or I would never have purchased them in the first place. I'm talking about the Blockhead Battlesuits from Critical Mass Games. Neat figures, great armor, cool weapons... but what the hell are they shooting at? With this many different poses, why in the world are so many of them trying to burn the worms? I haven't decided how I'm going to paint mine yet, it's fairly obvious that they will be some form of interstellar pest control.

-Best New Vehicle. Just as tough of a category as Best New Figures. I ended up with some pretty great items from GZG, Khurasan, and Critical Mass Games this year, but I have to give the award to Rebel Minis for the Earthforce and Titan Marine HAMR Suits.

Honorable mention: Combat Wombat's Bullfrog Lander. A must-add item for early 2011.

-Best Old Vehicle. Again, I'm awarding this to an older model that is never worth overlooking. Old Crow Products' Gladius tank/Glaive APC (grav propulsion variants) are the winners.

-Most Enjoyable Rules System. This was actually the easiest award for me to give: the FUBAR rules by Craig Cartmell (of which I was a contributor) have resulted in some of the most enjoyable wargames I've ever played. And I love how easy it is to create new supplements and variations without completely destroying the simple elegance of the system. Anybody who hasn't taken a look at these yet should be ashamed of themselves. They are one page long. You can find time to read through it!

-Most Complete Rules System. There are obviously times when you don't want to sit down and invent special rules for every mini in your collection, or you want to see a ready-made campaign or solo play system. USE ME from 15mm.co.uk accomplishes all that and more, and for a very reasonable price.

-Best Starter/Combo Deal. I created this category to recognize Micropanzer Studios' new 15mm Sci-Fi SAS line. While these are now available as single packs, Jason originally offered them as a 51-mini starter deal for $25. For 50 cents a mini we received some excellent sculpts and a great variety in poses and weapons. I look forward to seeing how his product range expands over the next few years - he has some VERY promising concept sketches.

-Best New Terrain. A fairly slim category at this point. Which I can't complain... I tried to get my own buildings out a few months ago but found I just couldn't mold and cast them to my personal standards. But enough about my miserable failures, and onward to others' resounding successes. The award for this year goes to Ground Zero Games for their colony shacks.

Honorable mention: also in the shantytown genre (must be a theme for me this year) I wish to recognize Battle Work Studio's Startown Slums line of buildings. I need to get my hands on a set!

-Cleanest Casting. I wanted some special recognition for the miniatures that required absolutely no preparation work whatsoever before I primed and painted them. First place goes to the Rebel Minis Earthforce HAMR Suits (main body), and second place goes to Critical Mass Games for the ARC Fleet line of buildings. Great work on both product lines!

-Worst Casting. This rotten tomato goes to 15mm.Co.Uk - specifically to the Law Officer Bikes from the Laserburn line. Most of the Laserburn and Asgard line still seems to be pretty viable based on the numerous other quality minis I purchased from them this year. But of the three bikes I ordered, only one was barely salvageable. The other two are going to end up in a rubble terrain pile. If there is no way to remake this mold then the model needs to be retired ASAP. But I will happily say that this mini was not at all a good representation of the Laserburn range - I've had nothing but clean castings outside of those bikes.

That wraps it up for 2010. Congratulations to all the winners... may you keep accepting my money for years to come! And just to keep things moving forward:

-Most Anticipated for 2011. I would like to list the things that have been announced (or at least mentioned) by the various manufacturers in 15mm Sci-Fi:

Minis: Blue Moon Manufacturing's range is supposed to grow (everything we saw this year was considered to be pre-release), Rebel Minis has announced command troops for the Titan Marines line, and Ground Zero Games has announced NAC Power Armor, UNSC expansion, and further resculpts of their older ranges. All of these will be welcomed with open arms!

Vehicles: Again we have tons of good stuff on the horizon, but I'm giving the ultimate nod to Khurasan for the Federal Army vehicle range that has been previewed.

Rules System: Tomorrow's War by Ambush Alley Games/Osprey Publishing and Gruntz by Inrepose.

So my question to you - what have been your favorite releases in 2010?

Chris

Review and showcase - Khurasan Space Demons

One of the first lines that caught my eye in 15mm is Khurasan's line of Space Demons (Giger-inspired Aliens), but I wasn't ready to purchase them until I was confident in my ability to give them a proper paint job. Cacique Caribe over at TMP posted a tutorial about his own method, and it looked and sounded very feasible. So I ordered a "starter bundle" consisting of a Queen, two packs of Assault Warriors, and a pack of Hammerheads.

The minis are fantastic - the web store photos simply cannot do them justice. The poses are aggressive and varied, the detail is unbelievably good, and they required almost no cleanup. Getting them glued onto bases (3/4" washers) and primed was a quick process.

Then I hit the local hobby shop for some metallic sprays. The painting technique calls for the entire miniature to be painted with a metallic (spray is the easiest way) followed by a straight-out-of-the-bottle wash of Citadel Badab Black. In his original post Cacique Caribe used Testor's Arctic Blue. I decided to go for some variety with my own Demons... if nothing else, it will make distinguishing them on the tabletop far simpler. So I sprayed eight Assault Warriors as a test, let the spray dry for an hour, then hit them with the Badab Black wash. The results were everything promised... it actually took me longer to finish the bases using my ash waste/urban rubble formula than it did to paint the figures themselves. The test eight took about 45 minutes to complete, and the finishing touches to the bases were applied after the wash dried overnight. All in all, I'd say it was less than three hours' work (not counting drying times) start to finish to do all 25 minis.

I used Testor's Model Master Turquoise Metallic on the Assault warriors. It's a far brighter finish than fans of the Alien films are used to, but I think it's a fantastic effect on the models.

Testor's Arctic Blue was used on these Hammerheads. I don't consider these to be completely finished just yet... as soon as I choose my "bio acid" color, I'm going to put droplets of that color on the "spitters" on either side of the head. When I eventually add a Colossus to this army it will be this same color.

For the queen I went with Burgundy metallic. This is also the color that I will use on the Nymphs when I eventually get a few packs of them.

I would also like to add a King and a couple packs of Infiltrator Warriors to the mix.. I'll probably use a purple metallic on them as an homage to GW's original Genestealer color scheme. But what I have finished now is more than enough Space Demons to play small skirmish games, or to use with Paper Make It's Space Base for some Space Hulk style action. I can't wait to get more... these are by far the easiest and most enjoyable paint jobs I've ever done!

Chris

15mm Patrol - Felids and Protolene Vehicles

After posting this entry, I decided to make a change to my Khurasan Felid paint scheme. The blue and gray appearance was too similar to the Fenris Gray used on my Critical Mass Protolene infantry - and we certainly can't have dogs and cats looking anything alike! I repainted the Felid armor with Citadel Foundation Hormagaunt Purple and liked the result.

I decided it was time to add some vehicles to this growing force. In my Conquest System gaming world, the Felids play the role of the Sulians, who come from a very mountainous world. The Khurasan Lion transport (intended for use with their Felids) is a great model, and I'm sure I will find use for them later. But my Sulians need walkers for rocky and uneven terrain. I looked at the available 15mm walkers and chose the Protolene Khanate vehicles from Critical Mass Games. The smaller Ayame battlesuits are perfect light vehicles, while the Marrok battlesuits will fill the tank role within this force. The Tamaska/Fenrir is just a little too canine for this army, so I'm still not sure what to use in the transport role. I'm actually considering making the Sulians an all drop-pod based force just to give myself some gaming variety, but nothing is settled yet.

Here's a glimpse of the finished patrol (larger picture here since Blogger and I aren't getting along today). The specific minis used are a nine-cat Khurasan Felid light battle circle (I either didn't receive the tenth cat, or it fell victim to a piece of predatory furniture), three Ayame scout battlesuits, and a Marrok hunter battlesuit. The next additions will be more infantry (another light circle, a heavy circle, and a baron), and eventually I'd like to add another set of Ayame scout battlesuits, a set of Ayame predator close combat battlesuits, and another Marrok. I'm thinking the next Marrok will be a scout variant, and I will pop one cannon off my Hunter and assemble two complete Marroks with different weapons on each arm.

I also need to cut a new base for my existing Marrok. I just needed something quick to assemble and paint the model, so I grabbed a handy scrap of acrylic. I'm going to cut a 50mm x 50mm square base for the final version, so it will be a legal model in Alien Squad Leader along with my usual games of FUBAR and USE ME.

Look for a report soon to test this patrol in battle!

Chris