First Contact

Apologies for the lack of updates, the day job was really busy last month. Anyway, here are a few pics of my progress so far.



I've gone for a rather garish camouflage pattern on the vehicles as I didn't want them to look too much like modern vehicles without wheels. On the other hand I also didn't want them to look like something from 40k, so I've tried to stay with something vaguely realistic. I'm assuming red, sand and grey/blue camouflage must be of use somewhere in the universe. Of course the idea that 3000 years in the future tanks will still be painted is probably laughable anyway. So, who knows, maybe this pattern is only a traditional remembrance of some ancient Zhodani campaign or just because such patterns are still considered to look martial.



As the figures were not that close a match for the canon image, I've stuck with the traditional grey/black colour scheme for the infantry. For the bases I wanted to avoid the look of a sci-fi battle somewhere-in-Hampshire and I've gone for an arid sulphur-rich world.



Lastly some combat droids to supplement the rank and file.

The Zhodani are coming!

My first batch of figs from GZG have arrived. Thanks Jon.



While the Citizens of the Imperium sleep, the Zhodani Consulate is mobilising.

Fifth Frontier War: The Imperials

Turning now to the imperials. Here are my thoughts.

Clambo's excellent rendition of the 4518th Lift Infantry - the Duke of Regina's Own Housecarls - was a big inspiration for me, so I'll be producing something similar for the provincial army. The troopers are these RAFM (ex-Citadel) Traveller figs.



The vehicles are from GZG.




The figures in the last shot are GZG's UNSC marines.



They match very nicely with the image of Imperial Marines from the canon.



Rumour has it that the GZG UNSC troopers will be getting some extra packs soon too, which is good news.

Alternatively, this other pack from RAFM matches quite nicely with the marines on the cover for TNE supplement 'Survival Margin'.




The classic vehicles from the canon are the Trepida Grav tank...




... and Astrin APC.



The GZG vehicles above are a reasonable match but these 'coming soon' vehicles from Topgun marketing are even better. Thanks to DropshipHorizon for posting the pics.




They look to match well with the GZG vehicles I plan to use for the Zhodani too.

Fifth Frontier War: The Zhodani

The Zhodani are the bad guys in the story, so they have to look mean. I've always liked the classic image from the early artwork but nobody makes a really suitable miniature.



These Japanese corporate troops from Ground Zero Games (GZG) are probably the best fit visually as they have similar ribbed effect on their armour but sadly the line is pretty limited in variety. I may still use them for second line or local units though.



My current top alternative are the New Israelis, again from GZG. These look more like Spartans from Halo than anything truly Traveller inspired but I think they look the part and the line has recently been expanded with several new packs, including heavy weapons.





For vehicles, GZG have again come up trumps, with a tank model that will nicely represent the Zhodani's Z-80 grav tank and a variant that will do nicely as an APC/IFV.

Fifth Frontier War: The Inspiration

The inspiration for my Traveller project goes back to the little black books, especially the classic Broadsword adventure and its iconic W.H.Keith artwork. Back then I didn't have the cash to do much about it but I kept on revisiting the idea until these photos dealt the mortal blow to my resistance. After that I've been picking up bits and pieces and checking out Dropshiphorizon to keep up to date on what's new.

2010: The Nostalgia Continues

I've just committed myself to the Guild's 2010 project build and coincidentally to the next phase of my teenage nostalgia trip (or is it mid-life crisis). I will be continuing my Sci-Fi theme but instead of 40k, this time I will be going even further back into my gaming roots to Traveller, the granddaddy of Sci-Fi RPGs.



My plan is to build some forces based (loosely) on Classic Traveller's Third Imperium background, specially the Fifth Frontier War in the Spinward Marches.

I intend to build a battle-groups of both vehicles and troops (probably multi-based) for each of the major powers, with extra stuff thrown in if I get around to it. I'll sort out rules, troop stats and scenarios as I go. If I get really carried away I might do some naval forces too.



My five tasks are:

Task 1 : The Zhodani - Due Feb 28th
Task 2 : The Imperials - Due Apr 30th
Task 3 : The Vargr - Due Jun 30th
Task 4 ; The Allies & Mercenaries - Due Aug 31st
Task 5 : The Rest - Due Nov 31st

Tasks 1-3 will be a mix of vehicles and troops for the appropriate force, plus any related bits I get done. Task 4 will add additional allied and mercenary forces, such as the Aslan, Droyne, Ine Givar rebels and Sword Worlders. Task 5 is a catch all for anything I've got done that didn't fit under a previous category, wasn't finished for an earlier deadline, or wasn't released in time.

More details to follow.

40k Game Day

As I previously mentioned, the chaps were running a 40k game day at the club today. Sadly, I couldn't make it down to play but I did manage to pop in and take a few photos.

Here are a few as a taster.














Check out my photo bucket album for the rest.