Merry Christmas One and All

Back at the beginning of December, my Traveller sub-blog FelonTrav got nominated for a  Liebster Blog Award by Mr Kobold over at Waystar High Port. As the Traveller blog is on hold at the moment until I can resolve the problem of all the player's characters being banged up in pokey for piracy and other nefarious dealings, I'm responding in this blog instead (which is marginally more updated - must do better in the new year!)

The blog award is a self propelled chain letter kind of deal, focussing on blogs with less than 200 followers, which unfortunately excludes a bunch of blogs that I regularly frequent.



The Rules

• Copy and paste the award to your blog, linking it to the blog who nominated you.
• Pass the award to your top five blogs with less than 200 followers by leaving a comment on one of their blog posts to notify them that they have won the award and list them on your own blog.
• Sit back and bask in that warm fuzzy feeling of knowing that you have made someone's day

There is no obligation to pass this onto anyone but it is nice if you do.

Now a bit of internet searching on the origin of this award gives me the following..."The Liebster Blog Award is indeed what I've originally thought except for some one minor difference. Once you accept your award you have to nominate 3-5 favorite bloggers who have less than 3,000 readers."

So, while this may break the latest version of the rules, it may be fine for the original rules, but what the heck, here we go...

Waystar High Port

 In a spectacular bit of feedback loopage, my first nomination goes right back to the chap who nominated me. Kobold's Waystar High Port is a Traveller blog, the SciFi roleplaying game with its origins back in the 1970's. Notable highlights include the Traveller A to Z series and the current ongoing Aloin's Saga, a series following the career of an apprentice merchant spaceman.

ClearHorizon

This nomination for Mr Harold's 15mm SF blog is also a little bit of feedback loopage, being one of Kobolds other nominations (who would have thought, people who liked my blog also like blogs I like, wierd huh?). Particular favourite posts include the Shadowrun terrain and vehicles which are very nice pieces of painting and construction, as well as excellently photographed.

Wargaming Girl

This one breaks the rules, as Tamsin has close to 300 followers at last count (but this would have been OK under the original rules so consider the rules broken). I started my blog at the same time as Tamsin's and she was one of the first followers of my blog (and sub-blogs) and vice versa. Reading her accounts of the Dark Ages Saga games inspired me to dig out my old Gripping Beast miniatures and get them painted (well assembled and primered for most off them so far). Of all the blog writers I read, she is one of the most prolific both in posting and painting.

Dux Homunculorum

Also breaking the rules slightly, I found Dux's blog by searching for Saga Roman rules. He has produced a variant for the late Roman period for the 4th and 5th centuries. Lots of good posts and photos.

Painting Agency

Allison M's blog gets us back on track for the less than 200 followers rule. Some very nice painting, particularly the nazi zombies from the Norwegian zombie movie Dead Snow (easily my favourite Norwegian nazi zombie movie of all time).
 
I See Lead People

Has to be the best named blog ever for miniatures. Breaks the rules at 316 followers, but so full of excellent painting and sculpting that it has to be included also.

Ah that's 6 nominations also, of which 3 break the rules on number of followers. So 3 of them are official nominations and 3 of them are for the newly devised Felonmarmer's Awards for blogs I like (the other 3 also) which has no rules whatsoever.

Bugs and Flyers (and Flying Bugs)

Been a bit quiet in here lately (blame Minecraft), but I do hear a faint buzzing in the air. Oh no, it's an attack from those pesky Parasachnids from Khurasan! Quick wind up the wndows and dig out the bug spray!

A military transport gets trapped on the bridge, while a grav car makes use of his technology to get past

The police grav skimmer sent to investigate gets harassed by flying bugs

Only four bugs cause this much fuss, imagine how bad it will be when the rest get painted!

In the van, the troopers try to remember their Alien quotes.

Parasachnids Bugs and Grav Cars from Khurasan, Police van is a 1:85 model from a German online model shop (which one,  I forget). Clear resin flying bases from Ainsty.

Also I've been nominated for a blog award, with some conditions to pass on the happiness, for my Traveller Blog by Mr Kobold over at Waystar High Port, The Traveller Blog is in hiatus at the moment as all the players where locked up in prison for piracy and the campaign has been stalled for a while, so I may post my recomendations on here instead, if that's OK with Mr Kobold. I'll need to consider 5 nominations myself before I can post it. One might be going straight back to Waystar High Port for a very tight feedback loop! This may break the internet so be warned!

Back in Time

As bit of a departure from the usual, here's a couple of photos of some Gripping Beast plastic Anglo Saxons, that I'm painting for a Saga army. Background houses are 4Ground laser cut MDF jobs - still got a faint whiff of burnt wood about them that a real one with wood fires would have! Less of the other smells associated with the time period though thankfully.

4 plastics (left), one metal (right) Gripping Beasts

Close up on the Warlord (right) and his best mate with a 2 handed axe (bit of a conversion job)

Only loads more to do!

Desert Polecat

Khurasan's Polecat Light Armoured Vehicle painted in desert digital camouflage. Here used to support a team of Khurasan's DEVGRU SEAL's at their camp in the burning sands of Erytipium III.

Right hand side

Front view

Left Hand Side

Another Front View

Closeup

 This time I painted them all by hand without using masking tape. With the high level of detail on the Polecat, masking tape becomes more of a hindrance.

Lettering from my 1:48 Chinook spare transfers and an upside down Letraset V. Background image from Arizona I believe. Close up ground from a brown T-shirt. Lighting courtesy of the big yellowy object in the sky shining through my kitchen window, diffused somewhat by an overcast sky - probably the best ambient light source you can make use of, so long as you use a tripod.

Urban Polecat

Khurasan's Polecat Light Armoured Vehicle painted in urban digital camouflage. Accompanied by a section of Khurasan's DEVGRU SEAL's as they patrol a ruined section of the city on the hunt for a suspected alien creature.

Front View : "Maybe it doesn't show up in infrared at all."

Left Side : "You're reading it wrong, that's in the polecat"

Right Side : "We should take off and nuke the site from orbit"

Rear View : "This city is headed for a disaster of biblical proportions."

Painting technique was this:

Spray gray with Army Painter base coat, then apply small rectangles of masking tape, stipple paint with darker gray (following Mr Harolds guide on his blog).

Thought about putting on a more rectangles to do a darker coat, but on realising it'll end up jet black, went for a 2 tone pattern instead.

Peeled of most of the rectangles and then realised as the Polecat was highly detailed the edges of the squares were not very distinct as the paint got under the masking tape due to the raised detail.

Ended up tidying the squares up by hand and then  painted in a lighter set of squares by hand anyway.

Symbols and text from some letraset and some spare water slide transfers from a helicopter model.

Background image from scenicreflections, foreground ruins from me, asphalt road surface by Metcalfe Models. Giant alien bug hiding in the ruins from Khurasan.

Little Green Men

Taking advantage of 15mm.co.uk's recent 10% off deal on Dropship Horizon, I bought a pack of aliens for something to do while waiting for my Khurasan order.which has been delayed a bit.

Not entirely sure of the paint job as it stands, but here's some photos anyway...

A patrol on the way to the local farm for a bit of probing

Meanwhile the rest of the landing party scare some humans they stopped on the road

Looking for some cows to mutilate

The aliens keep a lookout from the bridge

A one man (alien) saucer with PPPS type engine and an attempt at a SENMM paint job

The saucer hovers in front of the bridge

The saucer with the top off. I'll be looking for a small transparent dome to replace the painted metal one

The lead alien cackles evilly while his technicians prepare their probes

Harook Support Troops

I've finished 7 of my 20 Harook Support Troops. 1 sniper, 4 SAW gunners and 2 Plasma gunners. They sport my usual Harook multi-coloured head and tail feathers.

Back Left : Sniper.  Front Left : Plasma Gunner. Back Right : SAW Gunner

Two Harook fireteams move into the ruins

The sniper lines up his shot

The second squad move into the ruins

Up, Up and Away!

I've painted up two TMP rocket troopers from Mad Robot so far from my recent purchase, the Harook are on their way too but not complete yet. So here's some photos of the two troopers rocketing about.


The flying bases are thin wire, superglued into the rockets jets and the base, then covered with a layer of 10 Second No More Nails, sculpted into rocket jet shapes as it dries.

Size comparison photo

From left to right : Harook, TMP Trooper, TMP Trooper, Harook (slightly crouched), GZG UNSC, GZG UNSC, Oddzial Osmy New Vistula Legion. The background is a 5mm grid paper sheet just behind the miniatures, folded to make an allowance for base depth.

I've Got Stuff!

Speedily delivered from Buffalo Grove, Illinois comes a parcel entitled YOU GOT STUFF full of Harooky goodness. Plasma gunners, SAW's and Snipers to beef (chicken?) up my avian forces.

Along with a squad of jetpack equipped TMP troopers too. I'll have to find a way to angry them up in this style but it'll be a challenge with 15mm figs. Have to find some very thin wire.

And as I've got the next week off work, hopefully the Harook will be spanking in red/green/blue/violet quite soon.

Actually Fighting in an Asteroid

Here is an after action report of a skirmish in an asteroid using my asteroid enclosure fighting rules (modified slightly following input from Mr Rubber Suit Theatre on the TMP forums to reduce the Coriolis effect. The only weapons affected by the Coriolis effect would be low velocity snub weapons used by the miners and two teams of specialist zero-G assault troops on the marine side who have entered the tunnels from the exterior of the asteroid rather than disembarking in the main ship docking area.

2 Harook Grav tanks await the attack, assisted by the miners heavy laser vehicle. A warped photo to try and show what the terrain is meant to portray.

Background

The background to the attack is that following the Fifth Frontier War a rebellious bunch of asteroid miners (or Belters as they like to be known), take the opportunity to take over a Sword Worlds controlled asteroid habitat for themselves. The Sword World marine force, still reeling from their defeat in the war against the Imperium attempt to retake the asteroid. After securing the docking area they move on to take the main enclosure and the underground tunnel complex.

The marines can only enter from the main gate or from one of nine access ducts scattered about the enclosure. To fight their way through the tunnels they have to roll 1D6 + (the number of attacking teams in the tunnels) - (the number of defending teams in the tunnels). The result is the number of teams that can enter the enclosure from a random location (1d10, 1-9 = the duct rolled for, 10 = lost in the tunnels)

The miners sent the majority of their forces down into the tunnels, leaving the Harook to defend the main enclosure, however the marines ignored the tunnels save for their two teams of specialists and attempted to overwhelm the defenders in a mass charge straight out of the main gate.

Photos of the Battle

The view from the fields	The overgrown biodome
Bridge over the River Why	Bridge and Biodome
Main Street	The Harook arrive
Harrok grav tank takes off	Preparing for the attack
Harook in the trenchs	The rebel miners HQ. Most of the miners are down below fighting the attackers in the tunnels leaving the Harook mercenaries to hold the main enclosure. The Harook have an aversion to close tunnels and much prefer the open air
A Harook squad defends the ruins with the assistance of one of the grav tanks	The first attack is halted by the Harook grav tanks.
The rest of the assault troops rush through the main gate and are pinned down. Finally some success as the HAMR sniper team destroys the miners laser vehicle	The marines assault grinds to a halt in the fields as the Harook squad in the "Chicken House"fend of repeated attacks taking very few casualties with the assistance of grav vehicles and flanking squads on overwatch. At the top of the photo is the remains of the marines ATGM armed remote controlled Infantry Support Robot. The ATGM turret was disabled by laser fire from one of the Harook grav tanks whose armour managed to defeat the only shot the robot got off. The marines command squad hide in the building next to the main gate, while their assault squads suffer in the fields.
View from the "Chicken House" of the advancing marines
The marine DIMOG unit charges down the road from the main gate and engages the Harook Treehouse
The marine tunnel squad battles through the underground maze and enters the the enclosure in some ruins at the rear of the Harook defences. Unfortunately for them the Harook are reinforced by miners exiting the tunnels on the other side of the table who run step from one side of the table to the other across the joined edges and the combined force manages to pin down the attackers. The blue disk is a service duct entrance (number 3), made by sticking a printed out manhole cover to a 2 pence coin.
The battlefield scene just before the marines withdraw back to the main gate to make new assault plans.

The Aftermath

The marines withdrew with heavy casualties. They did however manage to destroy the miners heavy laser vehicle as well as destroying the main gun on one of the grav tanks. The DIMOG was eventually destroyed as well as the ATGM turret on the walker robot.

The Rules

The curvature rules took a little getting used to and the Coriolis effect never came into play as the range that the low velocity weapon armed troops engaged in was too close for it to apply.

Once again I (and my opponent) struggled with the Tomorrow's War rules. The fact that a unit can react and react and react (only losing 1 FP for each additional reaction) does seem to make defenders incredibly powerful, add in a couple of units on overwatch who can join in the firefight and it gets very one sided for the initiative side.

The other main gripe with the rules is the difficulty in finding the rules you want, the index is appalling as it lists every mention of the term you want to look up, not highlighting the main section of the rules. The standard way of doing this is to put the page number of the main section in bold so you don't have to wade your way through every mention of the word Overwatch (for example), something that the authors do not seem to be aware of.

I have to say that the scenarios in the rule book are carefully thought out, with the forces and victory conditions nicely balanced to suit the rules. Maybe its my unfamiliarity with the rules that makes it difficult to create a balanced scenario.

The only thing to do is write my own set of rules I reckon, at least then I'll know how they work!