First of the Xar

/

Regular visitors will know that my latest sci-fi army is to be the Xar, based on the range of the same name from Ground Zero Games or GZG as they are more commonly known. My inspiration (it's all about inspiration!) came from Ralph Plowman's beautifully painted models.

Ralph went for a sort of desert, sandy look...but I decided that I wanted something quite different to that or to any of my other sci-fi armies.

So I went for purple.

This first unit are the projectile launcher support troops, each weapon having a crew of three.

The launchers come separate to the figures carrying them, so you can choose what angle to have the weapons at: I've gone for an angle that can encompass a bit of indirect and AA fire.

Many more to follow!

A Rather Useful Tool

/

I was in my local Games Workshop the other day, stocking up on various paints after the Christmas break, and was idling chatting to the store manager about various painting techniques and the like.

As I was popping a pot of one of their texture basing 'paints' onto the counter, I happened to mention that I used old paint brushes to apply the texture. Ah, said the manager, you should use one of these:

Now I'm all for having the right tools for the job, but this seemed a bit excessive, especially as that finely carved bit of plastic will set you back £5.

However, I was using up a voucher, and had enough left over to indulge, so I thought I'd get one and try it out...especially as I was fully expecting to be disappointed and have the opportunity to be suitably obnoxious about it next time I was in (what is it about GW stores that make me want to be obnoxious? I don't know: but it's true of all of them!).

Anyway, turns out I was wrong. I used this to base the Israeli half-tracks I posted about yesterday, and it really makes the job a hell of a lot easier that using an old paint brush, even when you attempt to carve said old paint brush into a suitable shape. I would go as far to say that that bit of plastic is the best thing as a basing tool since, er, sliced bread.

So, as compensation to GW for being prepared to doubt their products before I've even tried them, I'm posting about their tool here, and recommending one to everyone who needs to smear a bit of basing material onto a base!

Q13: New Manufacturer: Space Goblins and Uruks

/

There's a new range of 15mm sci-fi figures now being promoted around the web: a small outfit that seems to be called e&c or ec.

They have one range at the moment: some rather nice looking space goblins and uruks that come with a variety of infantry types and even a support weapon. Click here to go to their new shop.

Here are some of their figures:

Goblins with Carbines

Uruk Warriors with Pistols, Swords, and Machineguns

Goblins with Heavy Support Weapons

Although orcs aren't really my thing, these look pretty good to me.

Q13: Army Lists for the Xar Added

/

Inspired by Mr Plowman's painting, I have ordered a whole load of Xar figures from Ground Zero Games to form the basis of a new force for Quadrant 13.

To quote from the GZG website: The Xar - often known to human troops as "Chitters" from the rapid clicks and chirps of their speech - are an eight-limbed exoskeletal insectoid race, with six walking limbs ending in three-clawed feet and an upright torso with two manipulating arms.
Each Xar miniature consists of 2 parts, a 6-legged lower body and integral base plus a torso/arms/head casting with weapon or other equipment as appropriate.

No point in ordering figures unless you can use them in a game, so I have also built a basic army list for them too, available as a pdf download here and from the Q13 Army Lists page.

Only the infantry element are stat-ed at the moment: GZG don't do specific vehicles for the Xar, so I need to have a look around and find some for them from another range. More shopping!

Q13: Another 15mm spaceship from Ravenstar

/

Along with the Stinger that featured in a post on Monday, I also took advantage of Ravenstar Studio's recent sale to pick up a larger model: the Horizon Transport.

This rather retro-looking ship will do nicely as transport for the Ikwen Logisitics Technicians attached to my Chuhuac troops. It looks like something a bunch of newt-like techies would travel round in!

The model was really easy to put together. The main body comes as one chunk, with the landing skids, engine nacelles, and rear fins as separate bits. They glue in place without much difficulty, leaving you with a model that sits very nicely on the tabletop, looking just like a transport should look.

My paint job is really no more than a spray and touch-up that doesn't really do the model justice, so I'm also posting the picture from the Ravenstar site.

Yes: perhaps a little bit better looking than mine...although I've just fully comprehended that actually the 'professional' job is also very much a spray and touch up job: just a better touch up job than mine!

Anyway, it's a great model that will do the Ikwen proud. Cost from Ravenstar is $25 which, as I said before, used to be good value!

Q13: 15mm spaceship from Ravenstar Studios

/

Back in May, Ravenstar Studios had a 30% off sale and, as I'm trying to build up the aerial side of my sci-fi armies, I decided to indulge and pick up a couple of models.

First up was a small flyer for my Protolene Khanate force. This is the Stinger Flyer from Ravenstar's Land Core range (the same range as the Horrid).

Lovely model that glues together really easily. I undercoated in grey, then got out my roll of masking tape and carefully cut a number of squiggly strips out of it and stuck them in place. I then sprayed again in green, peeled off the masking tape, and achieved not a bad camouflage pattern.

A quick wash, a few bits of red paint, some decals left over from the WW2 Italians, and the little craft was done.

Unfortunately, as you can probably see, I did have a little bit of a problem with the finish. For some reason everything came out quite dark and dusty. 

Still, not a bad little model and now the Protolenes have some air support. Cost of the Stinger is only $14...which used to be quite cheap!

Q13: X-14A Raven Class VTOL

/

Following on from yesterday's post, here's the second of the 'big' things I've finished despite now having the black paint needed for my Israeli infantry: an X-14A Raven Class VTOL from Clear Horizon Miniatures.

This is a cracking little kit that is really easy to put together: literally you just stick on the engine nacelles and the weapon pods and then paint. I modified the kit slightly by using a spare twin-MG turret from a Khurasan tank as the under-nose weapon.

As for painting, I sprayed the whole thing desert yellow, then covered patches of it with blue tac and then sprayed the whole thing again, this time in army green. This wasn't entirely successful, as the paint peeled away with the blue tac in a couple of places, but these were tiny little patches and a bit of a re-paint over the top with a brush just gave the thing a bit of a worn-in look.

I then washed the model in a light brown wash, painted the weapons in the pods, and then blacked in all the intakes. The cockpit was done in a dark green, and then given a shine with white lines...which also hasn't worked quite how I wanted it too, but looks okay.

I then used spare transfers from the Egyptian 6DW set from Battlefront to dress the Raven, and Bob's your uncle.

This will serve with my Space Dwarves: either as roving ground support or as a means to 'battlefield' insert a couple of squads. What's also good about the model is that the back door opens on a hinge, so that you can actually have the model on the table with its ramp down. 

A lovely little kit:  highly recommended...especially as Clear Horizon also produce a bigger version called a Condor Heavy Lift VTOL, which will also shortly be added to the roster!

Q13: Big Oil Tank!

/

In yet further attempts to avoid finishing the last 6DW Israeli infantry platoon (my latest mojo for painting 15mm infantry has finally deserted me!) I have run out of the black paint I need to do their rifles and boots.

I'm on my way to get some now, as part of the Saturday morning chores, but in the meantime this gave me the excuse to polish off a couple of large bits (i.e. as far away from 15mm infantry as possible) that have been sitting on my painting table for some time...in one case, for a very long time.

First up was a large tank-for-holding-chemicals from Critical Mass Games. I bought this as part of a set of habitation/factory pieces some time ago at Colours (before the skipped year due to the racecourse renovation!). It was a very good deal, and although I quickly painted up most of the pieces, this one (and the humongous factory bit) just didn't get done.

Well it is now!

It's a great piece that could also serve as some kind of tank in almost any post-industrial revolution game. Here it is shown with my Vornid/fungoid artillery crew for size comparison purposes.

Right:  off to get the black paint now...

More Sabot Bases

/

Regular visitors may remember that I had Warbases make me up some custom built sabot bases to accommodate the way my 15mm WW2 infantry are based.

To remind you, a standard squad consists of a two-man LSW mounted on a 2p piece and six or eight single figures mounted on 5p pieces. Together with a hole for a dice to show Shock, each sabot base carries a single squad.

The difficulty is, however, dealing with squads with two LSWs, such as my later war Fallschirmjaegers. Here, each squad consists of two LSW teams mounted on 2p pieces together with four singles on 5p pieces.

I'd been fudging it for some time, but last week decided it was time to get some more sabots to accommodate these double-LSW squads. One quick e-mail to Warbases and a few days later I had the bases in my hands:

Quick spray of green paint, bit of glue and some flock, and away we go. All ready for the big game next month!

Thanks to Warbases for their usual excellent service.

Q13: Odds & Ends for the Dwarves in Space

/

Been filling in some of the gaps in my Dwarves  in Space army.

First up are the command figure and a sniper for Khurasan's Thrainites:

These are nice models, as you would expect from Khurasan, and paint up well. There's only one slight problem: the command figure stands easily taller than most 15mm figures, so unless his actual legs end at the figure's knees and the rest is battlesuit, he is about as un-dwarvish as you can get. Harold Hastrada the dwarf!

The sniper is better sized, and my painting hasn't really done the little devil justice.

Next up are some command figures and support platform for the Cactus Mine contingent:

The two figures come from CP Models' very limited line of space dwarves. The Armadillo support platform is from White Dragon and is a most unusual model. It is a quadruped walker with an armoured skirt on just one side. It mounts a gatling cannon on top, and has a couple of light mortar batteries on its armoured side. It's a unique model with just one drawback: the price. That little thing cost me £7 at Salute, which is why the little men will have to make do with just the one. I mean, that's as much as a whole tank...and one from Battlefront at that!

Salute 2016

/

Yes, yes, I know: another post-Salute post to join the thousands already floating around the ether!

Well this one is just a quickie, focusing not so  much on the event itself* but on some of the games on show: specifically their terrain.

Terrain isn't really my thing: I'm getting better, but still feel my efforts are weighted towards my figures rather than the earth on which they stand. 

There were three tabletops that I would really, really like to have had the opportunity to get my figures onto:

First up was a terrific Vietnam set-up. Wrong scale, being 28mm, but absolutely lovely:

Then there was the sci-fi Hammers Slammers 15mm sci-fi set up. I was definitely working out whether this one would fit onto my tables at home. It would, by the way, so if the owner ever gets bored of it and needs more space, I will quite happily give it a very good home! 

And finally the sci-fi set-up from Critical Mass Games was great as well: 

Three amazing tables that really inspire.

*Actually I thought Salute was quite good this year.

I had a great journey in: I drove and didn't encounter any of the roadworks that have blighted previous years' journeys...it's almost as if they have finally got that area sorted out road-wise. The £15 for all day parking was a bit steep, but at least the machines were accepting credit cards instead of demanding two fistfuls of coins to satisfy them.

I arrived about 10.15 without a ticket. Walked straight up to the ticket booth and bought one, no queue. Got myself a sandwich and a coffee, ate them, then walked straight in to the show with no delay at all. Another amazing improvement on years gone by.

I thought the show was busier than last year. Still the same horrid floor and dull lighting, but I can put up with them: the eyes soon adjust and there's plenty of places to sit down.

I noticed that there seemed to be a lot of new, teeny-weeny traders as well as the expected big ones. That bodes well for the hobby: lots of new trader blood coming in. I understand that a couple of the massive stands (GW, or a derivative thereof) were collection-only...and that they seemed to be the ones with the queues. In all, however, a good mix, and I was able to find some decal-softener.

Good lunchtime drinks at the Fox with some of the Lardies: some of whom seemed to have led very sheltered lives, but I digress...

I ended up spending far too much money, as per usual, and on a real mix of things. Some Battlefront pre-painted terrain from Team Yankee; some trees; a hill; some of Battlefront's new Pacific-theatre Japanese tanks; some more Israelis; decal-softener; and a few sci-fi bits and pieces. A good haul that will doubtless be on show here at some stage in the future.

One thing I did notice that was different to the last few years: more BO! Maybe because it seemed busier visitors-wise this year, but there were a couple of occasions when I caught a full blast of sweaty wargamer: not very nice and, as I said, unusual compared to previous years. 

In all, a good Salute this year. 

 

Q13: New Releases from Khurasan Miniatures

/

A quick glance at the Quadrant 13 galleries and army lists on this site will show you that I am quite a Khurasan fanboy. Their 15mm sci-fi ranges are, I believe, some of the best available.

Khurasan are still not posting news of their new releases on TMP (a dispute about sock-puppetry, I believe) so you'll have to like their Facebook page to keep up with what they are doing...or read about it here, of course!

Their latest release is an expansion to their rather nice Soriog range. For those of you unfamiliar with the Soriog, they look like this:

Soriog infantry with energy rifles

Now added to the range are the Raug infantry, client soldiers to the Soriog in the same way that the various states in India provided troops to the British Empire throughout the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. Just to hammer home the point, the Raug infantry are even known as Ceepays!

Here they are:

Raug infantry with autoguns

Squad support weapons

Platoon command: Soriog magnate-officer, officer's veteran Soriog assistant, prostrate Raug Ceepay runner, and Raug Windhowler.

Now these are rather nice, and I like the way that the platoon command gives you a bit of character to work with.

I'll produce a Q13 army list for the Soriog/Raug in due course (I like to have the figures in my hand when I do so), and am even wondering how they would fit in with Critical Mass' Protolene Khanate range:

You can visit the 15mm sci-fi pages of Khurasan's website by clicking here.

Q13 Army Lists: Sisterhood, Brog and VOTT added

/

Whilst I've been adding the tabletop stats to the Q13 army lists, I've found the time to add a couple of new ones to the list: both based on ranges of figures that I'd love to start collecting...once, of course, the lead mountain is down to manageable proportions!

The Sisterhood

Onslaught Miniatures produce some of the best sci-fi lines out there. The trouble is that the vast majority of their output is in 6mm: very frustrating for the 15mm gamer when you can see all these beautifully developed ranges and not be able to use them!

They have produced a couple of packs of 15's, however: one for the Sisterhood (sort of space nuns with guns) and one for the Tzacol (more primitive lizardy types).

So, in homage to their single pack of 15's, I've created a list for the Sisterhood for Q13 based on their much more extensive 6mm range. Perhaps this will get the rest of the range up-sized as well!

Here's a couple of pics to show you how good these figures are: one pic of the Athena squad in 15mm, and one of the 6mm command group, showing other types of Sisterhood trooper.

The Brog and VOTT (and VIPERS)

Another manufacturer who carries several ranges that I might eventually just have to buy is Rebel Minis.

Unfortunately, they fall into the category of manufacturer who produce great basic infantry squads, but no more i.e. great for platoon-level games, but not a complete enough range to create a company-plus-supports force.

Two examples of this are the Brog and the VOTT: both available as a three-squad platoon plus command, but with no support weapons or vehicles.

The two races also look quite similar, and seem to use the same weapons...so I've decided to brigade them together into one list.

As they don't have any designated support weapons or vehicles, and Rebel Minis produce a lovely range of support walkers they call VIPERS, I've also decided that, much like Critical Mass' Protolenes, the support for the Brog or VOTT will come from the VIPERS, of which there are five types, so plenty of flexibility as regards weapon loads and therefore role.

Here's a few pics showing the ranges: the Brog infantry platoon, the VOTT command, and a the VIPER with Mk3 weapon package.

Both lists, and all the others, are available from the Q13 Army Lists page. More to come!

Q13: Another New Manufacturer

/

Well, I think a returning player rather than a brand-new one: Art Crime Productions.

ACP Games produce a small but beautifully realised range of sci-fi figures that they say are "nominally based on 15mm", with the final size dependent on the designs.

So far they have some what they call Characters, mostly infantry of a couple of different types; some rather nice looking Vehicles; and the start of a Makat Empire range that looks definitely worth investigating.

Here's one of their tanks: the Spartan:

Q13: New Figure Manufacturer

/

Here's another new 15mm sci-fi figure manufacturer: White Dragon Miniatures.

Their first releases are for what their range background calls the Marine Tactical Units of the Earth Exploration Fleet. There are some nice looking infantry and tanks, and some enormous anthropomorphic walkers as well. 

The infantry are exquisite: highly detailed and nicely animated. The tanks look fairly standard to me (like squashed modern MBTs) but I am loving the Multiple Rocket Launcher System and Mobile Gun System: very innovative. The walkers...well, most of you will know what I think of giant humanoid robot-types with BFGs! That said, I have rather taken a fancy to the Armadillo Support Mech, and will probably buy a few to use with one of my existing armies.

Q13: Vasseth in the Jungle

/

Here's the final squad of Vasseth Strike Tanks for my 15mm Chuhuac army: this time painted up for jungle operations (matching the camo of the 1st Platoon).

These I painted in the same way as I do WW2 Soviet tanks, just added a lot more of the lighter colour dry-brushes. So they are sprayed in the Army Painter Soviet tank base coat, then washed with GW Agrax Earthshade , then dry-brushed with GW Loren Forest, and finally what used to be called GW Bleached Bone (I think it's now called Screaming Skull!).

Very easy: and the longest part of the process is waiting for the initial spray and then the wash to dry.

I am liking these very much, and can't wait to get them onto the tabletop.

Highly recommended!

Q13: Vasseth in the Desert

/

As promised, here's the next batch of Vasseth Strike Tanks for my 15mm Chuhuac army. This squad is camouflaged for desert operations, matching the Chuhuac 2nd Platoon colouring.

Someone saw the command tank I posted yesterday, and asked me what I had used for a hover stand i.e. where did I source that little black post keeping the vehicle off the base.

It's actually a cut-down Chart Pin: you know, those flat headed pins available in different colours designed to be stuck into charts. The flat head makes it easy to push in, the fact it's a centimetre or so long and half a centimetre wide makes it easy to pull out!

These are ideal as hover stands: just the right height, and the flat head makes it easy to glue them to a flat bit of the underside of the vehicle. Even better, the bases are mdf, so if you leave a little stub when you cut the pin bit off (eye protection, please, as clipping them shoots the sharp bit in very unpredictable directions) you can push the stub into the wooden base as you glue it, giving you an even better bond.

Tomorrow I'll post the squad camouflaged for the jungle.

Q13: Vasseth Strike Tanks for the Chuhuac

/

One of my favourite sci-fi ranges are the Chuhuac from Loud Ninja Games. These are like mini velociraptors with body armour and guns, and paint up really beautifully.

Up until now, however, the only armoured support they have had is from what are called 'Battlesuits' : one man fighting vehicles with a big gun and missile launcher on top and a couple of small guns in front. Nice, but not proper tanks!

Now, however, that gap is filled with the release of the Vasseth Strike Tanks. These are wedge-shaped hover vehicles with the same asymmetric armament as the Battlesuits. I bought seven of them: one squad of three for each of my platoons, and one for the Company HQ.

The models come with loads of different armament options. I used the big main gun for them all, and added either a twin-barrelled autogun or a small missile launcher to all except the Company HQ vehicle: that one I fitted with a much larger missile launcher that I found in the bit box.

Here it is:

Watch this space for the jungle and desert camouflaged versions coming up tomorrow and Wednesday!

Q13: More Dwarves!

/

I've finally managed to finish another unit of Space Dwarves for my nascent force.

These are the second unit from Cactus Miniatures: a platoon of PBI to go with the chaps in powered armour painted last year.

Nice figures: not the works of art of some ranges...but very well-priced and, as you can hopefully see despite the poor photography, do have the character that a dwarf army needs to have.

Sarissa's 15mm Factory

/

Sorry for the lack of updates over the last few days:  been horribly distracted with real world affairs.

Anyhoo, to get back into the swing of things, here's a quick post showing my latest 15mm building for anything from WW2 right up to sci-fi: Sarissa Precision's factory.

The factory is mainly a single building with a nice roomy inside. There is a walkway halfway up one wall, and the windows and doors are made from heavy card stuck to the inner walls: nicely robust. There a small powerhouse plus chimney on one side, and the kit comes with a steps-and-gantry walkway that leads to one of the doors portrayed on the upper floor.

Now this is quite a challenging kit to build, but the instructions are excellent and easy to follow. It's just a bit fiddly in places, and I don't really do fiddly! The result, however, is definitely worth the time and effort. The outside looks brilliant, even with my rather crude paint job, the gantry is a very nice touch, and the inside is amazing. That walkway is surprisingly easy to build, and will provide a nice little fire step.

On the whole, highly recommended.