VMF: A Secret Invader?

One of the core premises of my Villain Mission Force RPG using BASH is the idea that the player characters have a secret benefactor who bank-roles the VMF and instructs the Vanisher who to make membership offers to.

The PCs don't ever see this person--it's like Charlie's Angels in that way. So if it's like Charlie's Angels, wouldn't I need a Bosley character? A majordomo of sorts. I settled on a Skrull. Why? Not sure, just thought it would be a fun juxtaposition of images.

I did not want to use the name "Bosley"--too obvious. So I settled on Rothby. A little ostentatious, a trifle exotic. Maybe kind of cool. With concept and name in mind, I set about converting a Heroclix model into an appropriate Rothby.

I started with the Aaron Stack (Machine Man) 'Clix figure. This really is a dynamite figure for conversions.

Here it is:



I sawed off the head and hands, and replaced them. The head came from an older 'Clix Skrull trooper figure. The hands came from a Star Wars Weequay Thug figure.

Then I re-painted him. Here he is:







I like this conversion so much I want to play him in somebody else's game!

Anyway, in issue #1 when the players first met him, they asked Rothby where he came from. I think someone said, "Are you really a Skrull?" He replied, "Yes, the Facilitator rescued me from an ignominious fate in some cow pasture."

So yeah, had to stick that little Marvel Universe history nugget in there.

Hopefully I'll have time to do at least one RoboFire post this weekend. We shall see. I have some Merc painting that needs doing, and a few other family related activities, but a late night or two may bear some fruit!

Thanks for visiting!

--Scott

RoboFire: 2nd Mauler Trooper

Got a second Rebel Miniatures HAMR Suit done; I am calling them Mauler Series "Trooper" RoboFrames in my sample background for RoboFire.

I added a bit more color variation to this one, employing some blacks and some Vajello Dark Sea Blue.









And here the Trooper is with another member of the Knights of Saturn, the robotic Arcus-V:



Arcus-V is a robot from that dynamite Khurasan crew pack.

Thanks for visiting!

--Scott

RoboFire: First RoboTanks Done

One of the nice things about the RoboFire rules I am working on is that players can use just about any models in their collections, and the rules should handle scales running from 6mm to 15mm.

I'm also working on the "RoboSquad" sample campaign background for the book, and this will be in 15mm scale. I've ordered and received some awesome 15mm scale HAMR and Titan suits from Rebel Miniatures to do my play-testing.

I got two painted this past weekend. Here are some shots of the finished figures.









I'm going to call this one a Mauler Series "Trooper" in my own background. It'll be a standard, medium weight RoboTank. The above machine belongs to one Ace Sullivan, and here he is with it:



(Slightly out of focus! Sorry!)

Thal Grimm gets a machine as well! I am calling it a Reaver Series "Gunslinger." Here it is:









And here is Thal posing with his machine:



Here's a final comp shot:




I painted the RoboTanks using GW Khemri Brown, used a medium gray for the weapons, added some Foundry Phlegm Green A and B for the camo and canopies, and hit the whole thing with a coating of Army Painter Soft Tone dip. I'm quite happy with the military final look I got.

More to come!

Thanks for visiting!

--Scott

RoboFire: Meet Thal Grimm

The next member of the RoboSquad Knights of Saturn team I'd like to feature is Thal Grimm. In my RoboSquad world background, the Vat-Born constitute a whole new class of sentient beings. Genetically engineered humanoids, the Vat-Born can come in all shapes and sizes.

Thal Grimm was bred to fight. He makes a perfect RoboSquad pilot! He's another figure from that awesome Khurasan crew pack.





Here he is with Ace Sullivan from last post:



As you can see, he's big. Close to 20mm or so. But he fits in nicely with my RoboSquad concept, adding a touch of the exotic to the team.

Thanks for visiting!

--Scott

RoboFire: Meet Ace Sullivan

Every cool mecha show needs a lantern-jawed hero to lead the team. I'm developing a sample campaign background for RoboFire called RoboSquad--just a small group of heroes and their amazing fighting machines!

Anyway, my plan is to use Khurasan (with John's kind permission) miniatures to model the crew of the featured RoboSquad team, the Knights of Saturn.

Here's a test paint for Ace Sullivan, the team leader.







This weekend I hope to get a vehicle or two done. We shall see!

Thanks for visiting!

--Scott

The Book That Launched A Thousand Games

3025 was a very good year. At least as a 16 year old kid in 1986, it seemed so to me. That's when I first bought the BattleTech Technical Readout 3025, a very dog-eared copy of which I still own today:



Perhaps it was the Duane Loose BattleMech artwork combining original designs and some "borrowed" ones from Harmony Gold's RoboTech franchise, or maybe it was the clever writing and arrangement that made me feel like I was reading some futuristic Jane's publication. I think it was a little of both.

The profiles of famous 'Mech jockeys with each machine's write-up were the clincher. I especially loved the account of Quickdraw pilot "Frownin' Jack" Breslin and his 60 ton Quickdraw, long one of my favorite 'Mech designs.



That quirky Quickdraw was Breslin's life, and as I began to play BattleTech and later other sci-fi and fantasy games, I adopted those sorts of role-play elements into my gaming more and more.

Here's a pic of an Ostroc and Quickdraw I painted two years ago:



In 1996, after having been away from miniature gaming for a few years, my interest in the hobby became re-invigorated by the arrival of Heavy Gear and Dream Pod 9's Vehicle Compendiums.



It took a while, but now dP9 finally has a line of miniatures to live up to the amazing material contained within these two books.

As gamers we'll spend just a small portion of our time actually gaming. It's the time spent reading, talking, and thinking about gaming that can be the most fruitful and fulfilling way of filling the gamer's existential vacuum. That's where books like the Technical Readout and Vehicle Compendium come in.

I have no doubt that the hours I spent pouring over the BattleTech Technical Readout 3025 represented formative moments in my gaming life. It's a testament to this book's magic that I can still pick it up today and lose myself in its yellowing pages.

In my mind, 3025 will always be a very good year indeed!

Thanks for visiting!

--Scott

Heavy Gear: Bear

I've been messing around with RoboFire again, and I want to try a few new wrinkles out in the rules. Some of the stuff I want to do will occur in 15mm, and I ordered some Rebel miniature HAMR suits for that.

In the meantime, to scratch my mecha itch I pulled out another Heavy Gear mini from my backlog. This time a Bear to go with the Mad Dog-R I painted last May. This batch of minis is part of a slow-burn Northern force I am putting together. The idea is that they would be deployed in a mountainous area. Anyway, the Bear represents a successor variant on the Mad Dog chassis.



And here are some shots of the pair of Gears together:







As Gears go these would be considered older models, long ago outgunned and out-developed by the high-tech Grizzly.

I've got another two-pack of these guys to go, and the nice thing about it is you get the parts to build two full models, and can do one of the three variants: Mad Dog R, Bear, or Den Mother. Next I'll do a Den Mother. I may do a Hunter or two first, as any good unit should have some standard trooper Gears.

Thanks for visiting!

--Scott

Off The Shelf: Mythic Japan

Four or five years ago I ran some skirmish games set in Mythic Japan using the Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game rules.

I painted about a dozen or more figures for it, and here are two of my favorites.













The Ogre is from Reaper and the human is from the old Legend of the Five Rings line.

Thanks for visiting!

--Scott

Marvel Villain Mission Force #1

Last night I ran the first issue of my BASH Villain Mission Force RPG. The player characters were recruited by the mysterious Facilitator to rescue a very special individual from Arcade's Murder World.

Set in 1985, Kim Jong-il had not yet come to power in the North Korea, but he was already a villainous sort by this point, so a group of North Korean expatriates and others pooled their resources to have him kidnapped and slain in Arcade's Murder World! So I needed a Kim Jon-il figure in 28mm, but where do you get that?

I had a spare Murch Pulp Figures Chinese gangster in my bits bin, so added some hair and sunglasses, and I had a decent facsimile of the future "dear leader."

Here he is!









In the end he was successfully rescued, and the VMF enjoyed a riotous victory on their inaugural mission. The team consisted of The Owl, Scorpion, Mr. Hyde, Ghost, and Hydro-Man, who was brimming with fun facts about water!

Rolling on the tables I'd made turned out to be a blast as well. I plan to run another session in a few weeks.

In the meantime, I'll show off more figures as I get them done. Here's the Scorpion:





Thanks for visiting!

--Scott

VMF: More Models

I got three more models done for the VMF game. Two player character models and one NPC.

Whirlwind will make an excellent VMF member, I just need to stat him up and work him into the chart.





His super-speed spinning and whirling blades will make him formidable at 25 pts.

Ghost is already on the table and statted up. Here he is:





His suit allows him to either turn invisible or intangible, but not both at the same time!

Now for an NPC, Arclight, a big, tough mutant suitable for crunching some VMF heads!





She actually points out pretty well at 25 pts., so she could be included as a PC, but I think I will leave her as an NPC for now.

Here are all three of the new characters side by side:



Thanks for visiting!

--Scott