Five Parsecs From Home Crew

I spent an enjoyable half an hour or so yesterday rolling up a crew for Five Parsecs From Home, after which I realised that my plan to use 15mm figures probably wasn't going to work. I went for a five man crew and ended up with three humans, a bot and a K'Erin, the background, motivation and class all working out to be really compatible, which was great. However, although I managed to sort out some suitable figures in 15mm, this left me without any other figure options except for heavily armed and armoured military types. 

Instead, I've decided to use 28mm figures, for which there are plenty available including a few in the lead pile. These are all Copplestone figures including two versions of the 'road warrior', a not terminator and a Future Wars trooper, who will inevitably end up being nicknamed 'shorty' or some such. It's as good start and only leaves the K'Erin figure to track down or convert, for which I might get a Copplestone Hunter Alien or use one of my son's left over Tau. 

To provide the opposition, I'm going to go cheap and cheerful, so ordered three single sprues of the Stargrave crew, mercenaries and troopers from the Sprue Shop. They do a really convenient bundle deal of one of each sprue for fifteen quid, which fills all the gaps I need as far a humans and humanoid aliens are concerned. I'm not keen on the figures but you can't argue with the price tag and I'm sure that some selective combinations of head, arms and weapons will produce some good results.

Chargeblog: Adventures in Wargaming

I absentmindedly forgot to separate out a link to Michael's outstanding blog in my post the other day, just tagging one on the end of the blurb, so here it is again in full focus:

http://hntdaab.co.uk/blog/ .

If you have any doubts about ultra modern 'Imaginations' skirmish wargaming, this blog will cure you of your misgivings and probably end in a phone call from your bank manager, assuming you are like me and can't quite resist the temptation to splash out on some figures. Luckily I have stacks of lead in 15mm for AK47 and the like, just for starters, and a high level of self control! I think?

Hostage Rescue Squad

I based up a set of these Copplestone SWAT team special forces figures a few months ago and began to paint them up for Black Ops only to completely screw up them up. I ditched the figures and went on to other things. However, North Star currently have a 25% discount on the Future Wars range, so I have ordered a replacement pack and a pack of the Biochem Squad figures as well, which I will paint up as an special forces SAS type unit alongside the other figures. It's a nice little project to tuck away for a rainy weekend at some point, as the rules only need half a dozen figures or so to be workable.

Rogue Stars Offer

I mentioned this new skirmish / role play set of Sci Fi rules a while back and they are now available for pre-order from Northstar as either a bundle with the full set of very nice figures or with an individual 'rogue' character sculpted by Mark Copplestone. I was suckered into ordering the latter, not having the wherewithal at the moment to go for the whole shebang. I like the 'look' of these rules, which remind me a bit of Laserburn and Strontium Dog, but whether I get hooked into getting more of the figure range remains to be seen. It depends on the background fluff and the rules mechanisms but it's wait and see at the moment, especially as I have the Congo project to occupy my time already!

Project Plans for 2016

I'm being very cautious with my plans for the coming year, so I'm keeping down to a skirmish level and focussing on small projects that I can complete in the space of weeks rather than months. These will include both Dragon Rampant, which is already underway, and Lion Rampant War of the Roses which I've decided to do in 28mm rather than 15mm, at least at the moment. I'll may also have a crack at Black Ops, Ronin, Frostgrave and En Garde, all of which require a small number of figures and are published by Osprey. The Achtung Commando! project and Saga will be in there somewhere too.

One thing I will use to tie this all together is an ice and snow theme, using my lovely new(ish) tundra gaming cloth from Cigar Box Battlemats. This means that I can maximise the use of the relatively expensive cloth and combine any other terrain that I build or buy to cover several projects. I like the idea of War of the Roses in the snow for a start, all very redolent of Towton, and there are obvious connections with Frostgrave, the Heroes of Telemark and the Ice Elves on the workbench. I may even do something sci-fi or pulp set in the snow, either in 15mm or 28mm, who knows...

...and there will definitely be some more mdf !

Cheapo 28mm Near Future APC

I spotted this in The Entertainer today although they only had one kit left. It's a snap together Challenger II but I reckon it will make a pretty good near future tracked APC for my Copplestone French Foreign Legion mini-project, which I've had on the 'get around to it eventually' list for a few years now. The gun barrel could be cut down and used with the turret to make a proper tank, as it looks a bit like some sort of rail gun type main armament as it is, but I think the kit will look better as a low slung APC once I add some extra details and some stowage.  

Colours 2012

We had a good couple of hours at Colours today but, as I forgot to take the camera with me, I'm afraid that there are no photographs this time round. The show didn't seem too busy this year but it was very hot, which isn't surprising given the weather but less than pleasant given the preponderance of overweight, sweaty middle aged blokes in attendance.  

The boys were very happy to get a game in a re-match of Tusk, thanks to the chaps from the most excellent Lincombe Barn Wargames club. They wheeled out the 28mm mammoths and cavemen for a second year, much to the delight of the offspring who ended up in a draw, having dispatched two mammoths each by the end of the hunting expedition.

A very good participation game indeed!

I managed to chat to various people and enjoyed watching the Toofatlardies and Peter Pig demo games, although I didn't get the chance to take part, having the two sprogs in tow. I did, however, pick up a few of the things I set out to acquire on the shopping list and a couple of extra items to back up my existing projects.

It was a relatively restrained outlay this year but I did get:

1. A GZG Neu Swabian starter fleet for Full Thrust (the boys got some nice FSE spaceships too)

2. A pack of Copplestone Zanzibaris.

3. A cool Viper Scout Car from Antenocitis Workshop for the 28mm Future FFL project.

4. A shiny new copy of the revised and updated Patrols in the Sudan rules!

All in all, a very enjoyable day despite the heat and my inability to find everything that I was looking for. I'm particularly pleased with the PITS rules and the Viper kit, all of which fit in with my existing list of thing to do and should make for some interesting projects in the not too immediate future.

Good day!

Tomorrow's War

I had a surprise and somewhat belated Xmas present in the post today. I had put it down on my Amazon wishlist but didn't expect to get it, so I was very pleased to open the parcel to find a brand spanking new copy of Tomorrows War.

I have had a long standing 28mm  near future French Foreign Legion project in the leadpile for a couple of years...

http://jimswargamesworkbench.blogspot.com/2011/05/iron-cow-and-other-stuff.html

...so I thought this new ruleset would be perfect for the job. The background fluff in the rules actually ties in really well with my project, which uses Copplestone / EM4 figures and the Antenociti Workshop 6x6 wheeled armoured vehicles, as it includes lists for the French Foreign legion with VAB and VBL type APC's.

When (if) I get round to this project, it'll be a miracle but at least I now have a glossy new set of rules to flick through rather than my old dog eared copy of Future Wars.

Iron Cow and Near Future Stuff

I've been looking ahead to the end of the week and the up and coming half term holidays. I will have finished all the figures for the Back of Beyond by then leaving the vehicles to be painted and based, which shouldn't be a big job as they only need to be drybrushed to look the part. As a result, I'm planning to make the June project something a bit different.

We're off to Cornwall for the week so I'm going to take my box of Brigade 6mm Iron Cow ONESS AFV's and figures with me to base and paint in the evenings. I've been itching to get started on these and should be able to knock them out fairly quickly using a minimalist painting plan. I might even finish them in the five days I have to paint them up, leaving the rest of June free for more Sci Fi related stuff.

With this in mind, I couldn't resist splashing out on a resin AFV for my long planned 28mm Near Future French Foreign Legion project, in the form of a Karbadin 6x6 IFV from Antenociti's Workshop. I had planned to use Old Crow vehicles for this project but when I saw it advertised on TMP I thought it would be worth the price tag.

http://www.antenocitisworkshop.com/nrf-kabardin-apc.html 

With a little imagination there could be a 6x6 Saviem VAB underneath all the ceramic armour and hi tech stuff, so it fits the project very nicely. If I can squeeze the time out of the schedule next month, I'll start on the Future FFL using the EM4 and Copplestone troopers that I already have, alongside their nice new APC. I'm only planning to do a squad or two as it will be a skirmish level set up, using Future Wars or even Force on Force.