The Empire Strikes Back

Finally, here are the first of the Imperials forces for my Fifth Frontier War project. It's a rather feeble force to take on the might of the Outworld Coalition so far but I'll be adding more later.



So far I've only got a single squad of marines done.



I intended to use these RAFM (ex-Citadel) Hi Tech troopers as my Imperial Army. I still might but...



... I've recently been dithering on whether to use them as Aslan in power/combat armour like these from the cover of this FASA supplement. They are a pretty close match but maybe need some conversion on the helmets.



Anyway, back to the Marines. I first painted them red, as in the classic Traveller canon but they looked too 40k, so I redid them white, as in Megatraveller canon. That looked quite good but I based them on MDF that warped, so stripped and repainted them again. I was going to use the colour they are now as a base for the white but when I'd washed them I liked the look, so I left it. I'll do some more experimentation later, maybe try a darker red.

Here's the heavy support, in the shape of Trepida grav tanks.





The inspiration came from these 3D models by Andrew Boulton.



See Andrew's website at http://www.traveller3d.com/ for more 3D Traveller goodness.

Not just a flash in the pan

Over the last few weeks we have been trying out Warlord Games new Black Powder rules for the Horse and Musket period. We've played three ACW, one AWI and one Jacobite game to date.



For those who are not wargamers, or have been asleep for several months, these rules are the latest outpouring from Rick Priestly and his Nottingham wargames 'clique'. They are intended for playing big multi-player games, preferably with 28mm figures en mass. Further, unlike many previous sets, these rules encourage a gentlemanly and friendly gaming ethos, eschewing points systems and competitive play, in favour of scenarios and making sure everyone has 'fun'. This is very much how we like to play and so to have the rules actively encourage it is a very refreshing and welcome addition.



The games we've played so far have all been rather good close run affairs. The rules seem to cope okay with the armies we've used with just a few tweaks to special rules and terrain rules. Although, they are definitely at the game end of the spectrum and I also suspect that we play them as they are intended, with a fairly live-and-let-live attitude. The holes could no doubt be exploited by more competitive players.



The combat mechanics are very simple, which leads to fast play and makes it possible to play big games in a typical evening game, especially if you plan the scenario beforehand. The order rules get a bit of getting use to but have worked well, allowing the better commanded side to rapidly deploy whilst their dullard opponents move like snails. This certainly gives a big advantage to the well lead professionals and setting command ratings is a powerful tool for giving the underdog a fighting chance. There are some rather arbitrary bits that niggle me, not being able to split fire being the major one but they are easily house-ruled away



Pictures are courtesy of my clubmate Simon. See his blog here for write ups and pictures of some of our games.

The butterfly beats its wings

The Traveller project has been on hold lately. Firstly, as I wasn't well but more recently I have just been a bit sidetracked, as I am prone to be. I did say I was a butterfly at the beginning of all this.

Here is my latest distraction.



Labyrinth Lord is a retro-clone of the 1981 'red box' edition of Dungeons & Dragons and is published by Goblinoid games. You can download the rules for free but I've got a beautifully produced hardback copy that comes with all the excellent Steve Zieser artwork. You can get a taste of the retro goodness from the cover and also on Steve's blog here. The artwork certainly adds greatly to the 'old-skool' feel and I'm thinking about running a game or two, especially as my kids are now just old enough to play. This is something else I haven't done since the late eighties. I wonder if I need professional help. Although, I suppose it's better for my marriage than younger women and better for my bank balance than flashy cars. Somewhat reassuringly I am apparently not alone in this wish to revive old gaming interests. From my reading around there seems to have been something of a renaissance in such gaming of late. It might even be possible to run a campaign as I found this rather excellent template for running a 'sandbox' campaign inspirationally described by Ben Robbins on his ars ludi blog.

Fear not though Traveller fans. I have received several packets of goodies in the last few weeks and will be turning my attention back that way very soon.

The Zhodani are here

Here is a group shot of my completed (for now) Zhodani forces for my 15mm Fifth Frontier War project. The photos are still a bit poor I'm afraid. I'll have to practice.



First we have three GZG Ultratech grav tanks serving as proxy Z-80s.



Next the grav transport for the Zhodani infantry. Four IFVs and a command vehicle. I think I need two more IVFs though, as getting 24 armoured troopers in two looks a bit cramped.



Here is my force commander deep in thought over his battlemap.



First platoon.



Second platoon.



The Zhodani are big fans of robots, so I had to include some as scouts and additional fire support.



Here's a closer group shot. I think the vehicles need basing to give them a proper hovering look.



Each platoon of infantry has a single heavy support base.



Here's the final version of the split 'bug like' helmets.

Split Helm Test

Okay, following Eli's suggestion, here's a quick test shot of some unfinished Zho infantry with the line painted on the face plate. I think it does make them look more like the characteristic bisected helmet from the art. I'm quite pleasantly surprised actually.

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.