I said I'd finish a squad of Xar every week until I had painted them all, so here's last week's offering: the first of the Xar "line infantry".
I've also managed to take a better picture of the little blighters!
I now have eighteen more Xar to complete from my original batch, plus another eighteen from the new batch...and then some drones and unarmed Xar as well. That will give me two platoons of infantry plus support drones, with only the armour to be decided upon.
Finished another squad of the Xar this weekend: this time the chaps with grenade projectors.
My original plan of a single platoon has gone out of the window: I'm now going for two platoons-worth, so need another eighteen of the little critters.
Choice to buy made easier by the fact that I can use my special Xmas sale voucher to get 15% off, and the fact that Jon has just released a pack of unarmed Xar:
I am absolutely loving the ninja-poses! Check out the kung fu critters!
Even better, I think that these will do very nicely for crew figures for some of the GZG generic vehicles and guns that I want to buy to give the purple menace a bit more of a punch.
Watch this space for more...
I'm still sticking to my target of painting one Xar squad per week. This time it's the first of the main infantry contingent: nine Xar with heavy beamers:
Although I'm very happy with the way that the Xar have turned out, I'm less happy with my photography at the moment. For some reason, I just can't get what I want in terms of a nice sharp, matt image that properly shows the detail of the figures.
Can't quite understand why, as I've done it before many times. At first I thought it was too little light, as relying on the spotlights after dark makes everything very yellow. This time I think it's too much light, as the winter sun at the weekend was streaming in through the windows. Or perhaps it's the combination of purple figures and green background?
Whatever the reason, it's driving me crazy! I shall have to go back to the various articles I have saved about photographing miniatures, and check the camera is set up properly...
Here are some more of GZG's Xar coming off the production line: three Heavy Beam Cannon teams of three Xar each.
These are very nice figures indeed. The Firer and the Supporter fit together really well, and I love the little backpack the loader carries with spare magazines.
Now onto the bulk of the infantry...
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!
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.
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!
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!
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!
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!
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!
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.
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!
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.
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!
Aphid "Flycatcher" Tanks move into action
Over the last few weeks, I have been working on updating all the Q13 army lists. In addition to the usual tweaks, there are two major changes to format. These are the addition of a section for Tabletop Stats, and the addition of a section for Points.
Tabletop Stats gives you all the info you need about the army when actually playing Q13. So each type of infantry squad has the usual figures/Actions table, but now also has how many dice and what modifiers you make when firing, its movement over different terrain types, its saves against hits, its anti-tank capacity etc. Vehicles have the same sort of info, but their firing is defined as what dice you roll vs infantry, and what dice you roll vs other vehicles, and so on and so forth.
This is in response to people saying that because Q13 covers ANYTHING that's possible in a sci-fi setting, it can sometimes be hard to remember the SPECIFICS that apply to the particular squad you're currently commanding...which is a fair point, well made!
Vornid Chitin Bio-Tank moves past a KO'd walker
Hopefully, once you've downloaded one of my lists, or built your own and filled in the Stats section, you should now be able to play without having to look anything up...perhaps even without the Quick Reference sheet provided in the rulebook.
The Points section does exactly what it says on the tin: it just lists the points value for each type of infantry squad, for each vehicle etc.
Should make life easier for those people who like to use points when building their forces.
On top of the above, there are all sorts of little tweaks to the existing lists. The Aphids get their wheeled APCs; the Chuhuac, their Vasseth Strike Tanks etc. As I've said many times before, the lists are designed to be updated on a regular basis as you add new units or decide that the way you've defined an existing unit needs changing.
Not all the lists are updated yet: most are, but not all. If you can click to get the pdf, then the list is updated. If you can't, then it isn't...but will be soon! I have updated the Excel Blank.
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:
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.
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!
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.
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!
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.
Vis Lardica is a website devoted to wargaming and military history, with a special emphasis on the company-sized rulesets produced by the TooFatLardies: I Ain't Been Shot Mum (WW2); Charlie Don't Surf (Vietnam); and Quadrant 13 (science fiction)
Welcome to Vis Lardica, a not-for-profit website mostly dedicated to the company-sized wargaming rules produced by the TooFatLardies, but encompassing my other gaming interests as well.
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