Skaven Stormvermin Test Model

Before undertaking any unit, I always do a test model. Here is the first Stormvermin model for the WFB campaign we're doing at Phantom:









As Stormvermin of Clan Moulder, the mercenary unit known as the White Rats were all bred to be great warriors with an affinity for handling magic weapons. They seek magical plunder as a biological imperative. Whether this translates into any real luck or power on the battlefield remains to be seen!

Thanks for visiting!

--Scott

Nobody Asked Me, But...

Being an occasional installment of my musings on gaming.

• Sometimes you have to go with the flow. I was all set to jump headlong into a Warmachine Khador project, but then my buddy Andrew decided to launch an awesome Warhammer Fantasy Battle story-driven campaign entitled Dread Secrets of Mousillon. Mousillon is a ruined city in the heart of Bretonnia. We've got about six really solid performers from the local shop in on this, so it should be grand! Every participant will have a well-painted army, finished bases, and a fun-first attitude. It's essentially a "cool-kids" campaign.

• So what will I be running? Skaven! I already have a bunch, and I intend to paint up a brand new unit for this campaign, Stormvermin! I will be painting them as all albinos, a Skaven merc unit known as the White Rats. This week I will figure out the particulars of the paint scheme. I'll certainly share them here.

• Although Khador is back-burnered, I will not abandon them entirely. Yesterday I assembled my first 'Jack, and I will get some work done on it this week as well, time permitting.

• On the RPG front Rico will run another installment of D&D 4E this weekend. We're going to find the secrets of a lost Dwarven city, even if it kills us! I will also run another installment of Villain Mission Force at some point. Just need to get inspired to write another story. Something shocking, perhaps.... I did manage to score a Stilt-Man figure, so he will be an option for the players in the next go-round.

• I am still puttering away on RoboFire and getting some solid play-test reports from Jaye and his Basement Generals. Thanks, guys!

• I am eagerly awaiting the release of John Carter from Disney. I hope it proves as good as the previews suggest.

• Core: Adventures in the Old World has piqued my interest. It's essentially an open-source revision of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 2nd ed. I have a great fondness for that game, so I hope this makes it out soon!

That's all for now! Look for some Skaven pics later this week!

--Scott

Warmachine: Man-O-War Demolition Corps

Got four of the five possible troops for this unit done! I am really loving the figures, and the plastic kits are a real pleasure to build and paint.











And here's a size comp with the Butcher:



Thanks for visiting!

--Scott

Warmachine: Khador Project

I confess to being an unsubtle player of PP's games. I like simple Casters/'Locks who possess simple Feats. That's why I play Barnabas and the Blindwater Congregation. Barnabas knocks non-amphibious models down. Very simple. And his warbeasts either buff or attack. Pretty simple.

On the Warmachine end, I have threatened for years that if PP did plastic Men-O-War I'd build a Khador force. Well, they called my bluff! So I am all in on a Khador force, but I need to build one that suits my simple, meat and potatoes play style. Here is my initial 25 pt. and 30 pt. lists. They feature my favorite Khador caster, the Butcher--the normal version. His feat epitomizes the unsubtle philosophy I prefer. All friendly faction models get an extra damage die.

I usually play my games at either 25 pts. or 30 pts. When my group plays bigger, we usually do "mixed doubles" games. So here are two lists covering those levels of play:

25 Point List
The Butcher +6 pts.
Destroyer 9 pts.
Juggernaut 7 pts.
Man-O-War Demolition Corps (Leader & 4 Grunts) 9 pts.
Man-O-War Shocktroopers (Leader & 2 Grunts) 6 pts.
======================================
Total = 25 pts.

30 Point List
The Butcher +6 pts.
Destroyer 9 pts.
Juggernaut 7 pts.
Man-O-War Demolition Corps (Leader & 4 Grunts) 9 pts.
Man-O-War Shocktroopers (Leader & 4 Grunts) 9 pts.
Battle Mechaniks (Leader & 3 Grunts) 2 pts.
======================================
Total = 30 pts.


One other factor I kept in mind as I put it together was the models themselves. I won't field models I don't like the aesthetics of, no matter how good their rules might be. And I am not fond of many of PP's more complex metal model builds. Having done a lot of merc painting of PP's stuff, I can say that kits like Bane Thralls and Bane Knights are not the kind of projects I'd ever do for myself, for pleasure! As an aside, I wish Cryx players had the option to have those in plastic! Anyway, those sorts of builds get dismissed straight off.

Here is part one of the project, the finished Butcher model:











On the paint scheme for this force, I was determined to avoid red. I am tired of red. I am also tired of blue--I've merc painted almost an entire company of Crimson Fists in the last year or so (sorry, Mr. B.!) . I wanted something military, simple, and executable over many models.

Enter my old friend, Vallejo Dark Sea Blue (VAL898). It lays over black beautifully, and mixed with GW Foundation Dehneb Stone, highlights wonderfully. You'll see more examples of this as the week goes on and I start showing pics of the Man-O-War Demolition Corps.

The Demo Corps are simply some of the coolest models I have ever painted!

More to come on this project!

Thanks for visiting!

--Scott

RoboFire: Blue Moon Walker

I decided to add a little variety to the Knights of Saturn RoboFire force with a Blue Moon walker.

It's a very different style from the Rebel Miniatures figures, but I think the paint scheme ties it in.







Thanks for visiting!

--Scott

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