Happy New Year

Right, I know I've been absent for a while.
Many excuses and reasons can be given (work, sickness, ...), but in the end I just didn't feel like posting.
It's not I've been completely idle though, a few games were played and miniatures painted, but a far cry from the progress I made for Bushido in May and June.
One of the things I like to do this year is to start posting again.

We have a plan to paint more. The idea is to play a lot of small campaigns which will challenge us to get a bit more painted before each game.
On top of this we plan to start with Bolt Action, expanding our forces a bit each month and painting the expansion in the same month as well, so we can play a campaign at the start of 2017.
I'm not really into historical games, but since a friend picked up the book at Crisis and he really wants to start with the game I'm willing to give it a try.

Here's a few things I have done at the end of 2015.
Most of it was speed painted because of a lack of time, but still acceptable in my opinion:

Pulp City:
A game I picked up in October and one where I recently backed a KS from.
The game is very interesting as there is a lot of interaction with the scenery, stuff to destroy or throw with. I really want to play a small campaign of this game, ... if only my starter sets and rulebook would arrive.

 

 

 

Guildball:

When I received my KS award and the Indiegogo mat, I couldn't resist to start painting these.

The miniatures are gorgeous and the rules refreshing.

At Crisis I played a demo game with a friend and must admit it was a blast.

Some of my friends even got a team of their own. I really look forward to start a season and expand my team in the near future.

 

Battletech:

It is a game I have for more than 5 years and haven't done anything with. Recently I viewed a lot of Ouchies batreps on YouTube and the game started itching.

Recently I played a first game with my brother and we both liked it a lot. Though it was the Green training scenario from, with only the basic rules, we look forward to play with the rules in the Introduction book.

the plastic miniatures in the box aren't great quality, so I didn't take a lot of time preparing or even resculpting. But I hope they look just good enough on the tabletop to motivate us to play.

As I liked the red (Kurita) vs green (Davion) setup of the Sword and Dragon campaign I went with these. The idea is to get enough painted to play both the scenarios from the introduction rulebook as the aforementioned campaign.

 

A few more games were played like Infernal (beta-rules from the KS), X-Wing and Bushido.

One game gets a honorable mention as we took pictures of it though, this was our first Heavy Gear game (it were actually two games as we switched sides after the first round).

The CEF got pummeled in both games, but it was clear my friend is the better tactician as he destroyed them all without suffering a single casualty in return and scoring the most VP.

The Hun and superior numbers of the South were a big problem for the hover tanks, even though they get two actions a piece. The single frame as also no more than an extra target and had no impact in either game.

Both the medium autocannon and bazooka were absolutely killers.







 

Game One:

I'm playing South, my friend Bram plays CEF.

 

setup

 

First movement

 

The CEF try to score some VP

 

My oldest son is watching as I shoot down a hover tank

 

Endgame

 

Game Two:

I'm playing CEF, my friend Bram plays South.

 

setup, my friend fans out his troops more to get the objectives faster and to deny the CEF some VP

We forgot to take some more pictures after this one. What follows is that my hover tanks approach from the right, while my frame tries to take the objective closest to him in the middle of the table.

The frame is gunned down first, by combined arms fire from the Jägers.

With the Hun resolutely hunting down the hover tanks, it was all over after turn three, two turns faster compared to me playing South.

 

That's about it for last year. I still have to get behind my painting desk in 2016, but I hope to get some time to paint some more soon.

Tapper for Guildball, some more mechs and minions for Pulp City, as well as my recently started Frostgrave group are high on my list.

 

Thank you for reading and best wishes to you all!

 

Wouter



 

 







 



 



Taking the lead

At last I finished my 50TV for my Southern force.
It took me a bit longer than expected because I was a few days away for work, celebrated our wedding anniversary and my wife's birthday, all in one week ;-).
Well, 50TV down, up to the next wave.
I actually have next 50TV planned already and assembled most of my CEF.
As my friend and regular opponent really want to start using his Black Talons, my south will be on hold for a little while.
The idea is to first learn the basic rules (without most of the EW rules) with my South and CEF and then learn the EW rules with EW (ECM, ECCM, TD, ...) heavy troops, something the Black Talons excel at with their owls.

The commander is actually a Christmas exclusive on a base I ripped from a Warrior IV chieftain from the PRDF.
As it is part of a destroyed hun, the commander looks a bit as if wants revenge for the destruction of his material :-).

 Group shot:

 

Some more hover tanks next time.

 

 

Thank you for reading!

 

Wouter

 

Back and forth

When I started painting my South, I realized my CEF force was badly build.
The hovertanks could easily dispatch anything the South was fielding, making the Anti-tank Frame unnessecary.
But having a recon frame could really provide an edge with his target designator.
True, the hovertanks could do this themselves as well. But by adding the recon frame, they could launch their missiles at the target from a safe distance. I hope the frame's ANN (Advance Neural Network), which can boost a skill once each turn. If I use this for defence, it will surely enhance his survivability.
I also added a jetpack for easier maneuvering to get him where I want.

 

After sending a lot of mails to Dave, one of the creators of the new rules, I actually attached the wrong weapons to my frames. This mistake was made because some weapons, which were there in the previous edition of the rules) disappeared and new ones popped up in the Beta version.

The recon frame is fitted with the weapon which was the light laser cannon option in the old rules, This is now the particle accelerator. And the weapon I attached to my anti-tank frame was the former sniper laser cannon, which is now gone in the new rules.

Sniper laser cannon gone, new light particle accelerator instead, so it seemed logical the weapon just got another name. It seemed this assumption was wrong, ...

The sniper laser cannon was the standard weapon in the old rules, the light laser cannon is the standard weapon in the new.

Anyway, it is easy to see what each frame represents by looking at the rocket pack (now a anti-tank missile, ... Yes the CEF were hit pretty hard when it came to changes between the two rule-sets) and target designator.

 

Here's my two frames side by side.

Thank you for reading!

Wouter

 



 

Getting some light support

As I had some days off this week, I actually managed to get quite some painting done, despite the fact I had to babysit a lot :).

I started with adding arms to my unfinished Southern Gears, so I have something to play with in the near future. They just need a leader now, which is on my painting table.
Unfortunately I made some mistakes while positioning the arms. Some are holding their guns by the barrels now, which just looks stupid.
I guess I didn't assemble enough Space marines with two hands holding the bolter during my 40k period, ...

 

The jägers are very cheap gears (the black mamba isn't part of the squad anymore), so I could add 5 of them and still have points left (from the 50TV) for some support 

When we are going to get serious in the future, they will be even cheaper as they become conscripts. Which means I can add in a very expensive second unit or three cheap ones for 100TV.

The hun I painted up will provide some long range back up.

With its smoke, amphibious and off-road traits it is also remarkable fast and versatile.

On the missile pod I painted the squadron it's logo, which is also on the helmets of the gears (but very small and hard to see).

I'm still not sure if I will put it on a base or not in the future. Perhaps to tie them all together as a force and define it's arcs.

 

 

Thank you for reading!

 

Wouter

 



 

The war for Terra Nova

Late again, ...
But this time I have a good excuse, as I have spend little time on my pc or phone apart from work related stuff. The reason: I have been painting fanatically to get some miniatures which were sitting on my desk for about a year.
Two of them had nothing but a basecoat, but the third was nearly finished.
Unfortunately I had forgotten which colours I used on him so I had to start again from scratch.
Because of that you can clearly see some difference between them.

I had told about my rising interest in Heavy Gear.
The hunters, I showed in my previous post, are neatly stowed away as I need an airbrush to finish them.
A post by Brandon Faro actually pointed me in the right direction for how to do the colour scheme I wanted (https://dropshipstudio.wordpress.com/2015/05/18/ucm-digital-camo-for-dropzone-commander/).
Which leaves me my CEF and South to get me playing as soon as possible.
I know my friend has some Black Talons, but as these are a highly elite group they are not really suitable for learning the mechanics.

What I mean to do is finish 50TV and build up from there.
50TV will get me one combat group and fits nicely in what I already have almost finished so far.
I also tried to create two completely different groups: Small and fast for the CEF, A large group but vulnerable for the South.

Here's the work I got done this week.

 

 

The frame was fitted with a rocket pack as this was still possible under the Blitz rules.

Both the rocket pack and sniper laser are now gone, so I treat the laser as a Particle Accelerator and the RP as anti-tank missiles.

 



All of them are fitted on urban bases, as I wanted to give the impression as if they are flying over/standing on a destroyed Terra Nova city or town.
As the CEF are the main antagonists in Heavy Gear, I went for a combination of greys.
Mainly to enhance the fact they are a highly effective military machine. But also because I wanted them to look a bit dull, while still visually pleasing.
I think they turned out rather well.

Thank you for reading, I hope you like them.

Wouter
 

A little trip to Terra Nova

 These last few days, the temperature outside and in my painting corner rose to the point painting was getting difficult (40°C), as the paint dried out far too quickly.
So I decided to take a small break from painting my samurai house to building some miniatures.
Perfect to do with this hot weather as the glue even dries a lot faster.

Last time I had already shown my Southern Silver Vipers in progress.
They still needed a leader and a support unit, and most of all: an enemy to fight against.
 
The Northern hunters have a bit of a sad story actually.
They are from a number of different boxes and blisters: Some leftovers from Wayland, part of the Blitz two-player starter set, a Gen-Con exclusive miniature I couldn't resist when ordering online from the DP9 store, a Hunter XMG from Arena.

When I finally made my mind up of which North force I wanted to collect, they were suddenly not welcome anymore as the Cat's Paws aren't allowed to field them.

So they ended up in my bits box.

A bit of a shame actually, they are the most versatile chassis in Heavy Gear and at a low price cost. Even compared to their Southern counterparts they have a lot better options to choose from (like the snub cannon and medium bazooka).

Which is why they ended up in a box marked 'Leagueless', a box for unwanted miniatures I couldn't field otherwise.

 With the release of the Beta rules they finally seem to have found a home in the PRDF as a subunit, where their versatility will only strengthen the PRDF force.

The idea for a PRDF force has actually grown from the plans I had with my Leagueless.
While playing Valkyria Chronicles I knew I wanted to do a force in the Gallian colours.
However, the Leagueless are too much of a bandit group, and I wanted something more organized.
So the idea for a rebel Southern faction, which was originally sponsored by the North to harass their Southern enemy, which fled to the badlands when the two large nations came to a peace solution took root. So much I see them as my second faction now instead of my Cat's Paws :).

I definitely am going to add some more older Northern chassis like the bear, giving me the opportunity to field them as either a Northern or PRDF force. After all, when the plastic figures from the KS finally arrive I will get a lot more hunters searching for a home.

 

 

As you can see I already undercoated some of them, these will be paint try-outs and my starter force (except for the Chieftain IV).

I took the liberty to switch some of the legs, arms and torso's with those of some Para-trooper hunters I had laying around, to create two MP hunters and two Assault hunters.

The infantry are some sandriders I had from long ago, probably bought them in an impulsive mood.

Some of them still need some cleaning up with a bit of putty after I had cut their arms apart in order to get more different poses.

All of my bases are 40mm so far, I just hate the overhanging feet and it also gives them a bit of unity.

 

That's it for now, hopefully I can show a fully painted house the next time!

 

Thank you for reading,

 

Wouter

Running late

I know this post is way overdue, the reason ...
Well I miscalculated my next project as it takes far more time to complete than I estimated.
Another factor is the hot weather over here (it's 34°C), meaning I spend a lot more time with my children.
They are often in the swimming pool to cool down and as a responsable parent I can't let them drown :).

So, while I don't like posting WIP, I have very little choice this time.
The project started with the idea to build some terrain for Bushido, I also have a shrine and cherry trees to do after this samurai house.
While I still have to finish a few Bushido miniatures, my wandering mind needed something fresh to get a focus again.

 

I'm also building some more Heavy Gear mini's while the glue on the building is drying.

When DP9 released the Heavy Gear Alpha rules, I really wanted to participate and test the rules out, give some feedback.

But the project stranded, ... like so many others.

The Silver Vipers I started are still missing some parts, but I plan to finish these after my Bushido adventure.

And finally play some games with the Beta rules.

 

 

Thank you for reading!

 

Wouter