Antares 2401: Zeta squad, Combat Engineers

In our ongoing Antares 2401 campaign, our latest game witnessed a new squad in action. Zeta squad has been trained as combat engineers, with the specific task of assaulting enemy-held bunkers, clearing paths trough barbed wire and minefields, and assist the combat squads in action.

I thought it was a good idea to use a black/yellow stripe pattern as a distinctive sign for Zeta squad.

The figures below are:

• 1 original Terminator figure from the original, 1st edition Spacehulk.
• 2 converted Terminators from the same Spacehulk game, replacing their bolter with a claw. The claw is a weapon from a Battlemech figure from the Wizkids Mechwarrior game.
• 2 Mechs from the Wizkids Mechwarrior game. Although the Mechs are at a total different scale originally, I think they blend well as (large) human-sized bots with the normal 28mm figures we normally use for our sci f skirmish games.

Sci Fi Greenhouses

A quick (15 minutes) and easy scenery project for a science fiction setting: greenhouses.

I used the lid from a pack of cherry tomatoes, put an enclosure on top to cover the hole in the lid, and added a circular ring-shaped base with an opening in the middle. Thus, the greenhouses can be placed over some model plants.

Two Citadel miniatures (Eldar Trader and Halfling Cook, Space Pirates range from the 80s) are shown for scale comparisons. The cook wants to buy some spices for his meal tonight, but the trader refuses to sell at below market value!

The greenhouses were used as a mission objective in our latest Antares 2401 game.

Antares 2401 Campaign: Mission VIII

Yesterday we played mission VIII in our Antares 2401 campaign. The mission: an amphibious assault on island Cardamon (located in the Spice System), homebase of the criminal Krypton Venk. Gamma squad (Bart) and Epsilon squad (Eddy) were selected for this highly dangerous mission, supported by Combat Engineers from Zeta squad and the Rookies from Theta Squad (note: normally, each player only commands his own assigned squad, but since only two players were available, each got an additional support squad).

The mission went not as expected. For the first time in the campaign, the StarMarines had to withdraw and abort the mission. Several StarMarines were left behind. The players blamed the GM for setting up an unwinnable scenario, the GM agreed :-)

Bart and Eddy making a tactical plan before the start of the game.

More planning ...

Theta Squad is stroming the beach.

Epsilon Squad has disembarked.

Theta and Epslion squad trying to take out the first enemy positions.

Combat Engineers from Zeta Squad are wading ashore.

Artillery is hitting the beach (right). First enemies taken out (left).

Right: The indestructible bunker!

Theta Squad ripping a mercenary to pieces.

Overview of the game: massacre on the beach?

Gamma squad flaming a machine gun.

How much damage can that bunker take?

Theta and Gamma squad moving towards the hinterland.

The game ended close after the last photograph. The defenders were too numerous, and crossing an open field using our current rules is a deadly exercise!

In hindsight, the scenario was a bit unbalanced. But what can we do about that after the facts?

Oldhammer: Ziggurat of Doom

Ever since I read Warhammer Fantasy Battle 1st edition as a teenager - and which was my first exploration in the world of miniature wargaming - the scenario "The Ziggurat of Doom" included in the 1st booklet captured my imagination. The scenario features a heroic last stand of 6 dwarves against an horde of goblins.

I still remember thinking I would never be able to stage such a scenario, but I tried nevertheless. The Ziggurat itself was modeled using wooden toy blocks, but figures were a problem (plastic 1/72 Atlantic Romans served as Dwarves and Orcs), and I only had a handful of trees to model the surrounding forest.

30 years later, things have changed. I now have enough trees to fill my gaming table twice, several 1000s of miniatures for all sorts of periods, and I even have a nice model for the Ziggurat. The model was built on commission during the 90s by a talented guy who also frequented the local gaming shop. When he announeced he would take commissions for buildings and scenery, I knew exactly what I wanted! The Ziggurat of Doom!

Here some photos I took yesterday:

I have used the Ziggurat for several games over the years, most notably our pulp King Kong game, but also for some generic fantasy games.

King Kong game, 2007

Te Wapen game, probably 1995

It's the figures, not the rules!

This past weekend I spent some time cleaning up and repairing an old army of mine. The army in question are Oldhammer Orcs & Goblins (I will post some pictures later), but this particular detail is irrelevant for this post.

I almost never repaint miniatures - except visible damage - but I do rework the bases. More than the paint-job of the figure itself, it is often the base that provides a common look-and-feel of all the figures in an army. If all the bases are visually similar, it provides a much larger visual cohesion on the battlefield.

The bases for the models in this particular army were in a dire state. Initially, figures were based individually (most are Citadel slottabase figures, but not all), and the bases were painted black. Then, grey flock was added. Later on, figures were based in groups of 4 on 6cm by 6cm bases to adjust to a particular ruleset that we were using at the time. Since I thought this was the best ruleset ever, the bases were superglued to cardboard and given another layer of paint. When that ruleset fell out of favour (duh!), I removed the figures again, but now leaving glue marks on the slottabases, and some of the flock came loose in the process.

So, I redid the bases this weekend, all figures were left individually based. The bases were again covered in grey flock (not what I would today, but no choice given the history of these figures), and adorned by rocks, tufts of grass, etc. At last these figures are "showable" again on the tabletop.

What I realized (once again) is that if you are a long-time wargamer, rules do not really matter, but figures do.

As a starting wargamer, it is quite natural that you acquire figure that go with your ruleset of choice. Your budget might be limited, and you don't always know where to start. Hence, following the recommendations made by the ruleset, or buying the figures that are sold specifically for the ruleset, is the best course of action.
But of course, rulesets lose their popularity due to a myriad of reasons. Some of these are external: the ruleset is no longer "supported". As a wargamer, one develops different preferences over the years. Rules that seemed so clever and fun, might feel like a pure random engine several years later. Social reasons might also play a part. There's no use in clinging to a ruleset if all your friends hate it. And lastly, there is also innovation in the design of wargames themselves. Rulesets do become better over the years (but not always! :).

The turnover frequency of rulesets is often not matched by the turnover frequency of figures. It is quite easy to change rulesets; it is much harder to buy and paint a completely new set of figures. Hence, the figures in a collection often outlive the use of any particular ruleset, and it makes no sense to adapt the basing of figures to a particular ruleset.

I have been wargaming for over 30 years, and I have come to realize that the constant factor during all these gaming years is a good and solid collection of figures, not any particular ruleset. 10 years from now, I might use rules that don't even exist yet. But very likely, I will use figures of which a large fraction are already in my collection today.

The General - Avalon Hill

As I recounted almost 10 years ago on this blog, I once was a heavy fan of Avalon Hill boardgames. This was when I was in high school (1978-1984), so budget was limited, but gaming time was not. I owned various AH games, most notably Tactics II, Afrika Korps, and Rise & Decline of the 3rd Reich. We played these to death.

More treasured even were a few issues of The General, Avalon Hill's magazine. I mostly picked these up when I visited the one wargaming shop in Belgium I was aware of, The Tin Soldier in Sint-Niklaas. I only had a few issues of the General, but they gave me a glimpse of the wider wargaming community that existed "out there".

I do not have these issues anymore - I probably tossed them all in the local "free for grabs" bin in the local gameshop when I moved to the US for a few years in 1998. But today I discovered that you can actually download all of them from the site View From The Trenches.

I already browsed through a few issues I remembered I once read as a teenager, and boy, does that bring back memories!

Star Patrol Man with Laserpistol (Citadel S1 Spacefarers range)

A few weeks ago I reported that I came into the possession of an old Citadel miniature: "S1 Star Patrolman with Laser Pistol" from the Spacefarers range.

Yesterday I painted him up, together with a plastic toy (slightly converted) hovercraft. The hovercraft will be a nice addition to the fleet of SpecOps, as part of our science fiction skirmish Antares campaign.

I painted the Star Patrolman in yellow, with glossy highlights, which I think fits better with his retreo-scifi-look.

Oldhammer: The Nightmare Legion, Addendum

In my post about the Nightmare Legion, I had doubts whether the standard bearer was part of the boxed set sold as The Nightmare Legion during the late eighties.

Looking through the 1988/1989 catalogues on solegends.com, gave the answer. I went to the cabinet in which I keep my old undead miniatures, and indeed, I did find the standard bearer that is part of the legion. I must have painted him many years ago, and for some reason, another standard bearer ended up in the small box in which I keep my unpainted undead miniatures.

On the right you see the standard bearer I painted up a few days ago, and which I tought was part of the set. However, on the relevant catalogue pages, he is listed a a general figure under the "Skeleton Command" range. The figure on the left is part of the Nightmare Legion. Apparantly the banners are cardboard, so I assume I cut them out from the box in which the miniatures were originally sold.

For reference, here's the original boxcover in which the Nightmare Legion was originally sold:

And as another addition, I also painted up 3 Games Workshop Spirit Host miniatures (available around 2004 and later?) I had still lying around:

Some links restored

Apparantly, the blogpost about our 2010 Poltava game proves to be rather popular lately. I noticed the two links pointing to the game documents were broken - a leftover from the move to Blogger some years ago.

I restored the links, so the design documents for the Poltava game should be accessible once again.

Oldhammer: The Nightmare Legion

I'm still in "the painting zone". Painting goes rather quickly these days, and my morale tests for actually starting to paint keep succeeding.

The next finished unit from my stack of unpainted lead is the Warhammer Nightmare Legion. I probably bought this somewhere around 89-90-91, when I was still in my Warhammer crazy days.

The Nightmare Legion was a set once sold under the banner of "Regiments of the Renown". These were a number of units specifically sold for Warhammer, and which included a number of rank-and-file troopers, but also the the command figures (a banner, musician, leader and champion).See some excellent posts (part 1 and part2) on the Realm of Chaos blog about the history of this range.

This unit will prove to be a good addition to my Undead Oldhammer army.

 

Note:The drummer was painted a couple of years ago, so he looks a little bit different compared to rest of the unit. I am also in doubt whether this particular standard bearer was part of the legion - at least not based on the numerous photographs to be found on the net. Throughout the years, my collection of unpainted lead has been mixed up quite a few times, hence the confusion.

Addendum: http://snv-ttm.blogspot.be/2015/01/oldhammer-nightmare-legion-addendum.html