It Would Be a Target-Rich Environment, If We Could SEE Them....

It's been far too long since I updated here.  Sadly, the lack of updates is not because I've been too busy playing games, or painting until my fingers bleed.  No, it's simply that Real Life(©®) keeps getting in my way.  Job.  Kids.  Wife.  All that important stuff.    The usual story.  *sigh*

Ironically, I was very busy over the Summer (which ended a few months ago, I know) constructing terrain.  Yay!  Here are some pictures of what I managed to accomplish.  Some of this terrain will find its way onto my Sci-Fi table, and some of it will be used on my Colonial/Fantasy/VSF table (for pictures of those games, see my other blog:  Kelroy Was Here

Click the pics to enlarge them.  Please enjoy, and if you feel the least bit inspired by my handiwork, leave a comment at the bottom of the page.

The vinyl flooring I used to make my rivers.

The caulk I used for the river banks.

A river section with the caulk and sand drying on it.

A demonstration of the flexibility of the vinyl flooring.

A selection of river sections, cut and "sanded."

This is what I used to make the rivers wet-looking after I painted them.

A desert watering hole.  This was my first attempt using the Polycrylic clear coat.  I just wanted a test for what it would look like, and how easy it would be to work with.

All my new bright and shiny river sections.  And I mean shiny in the literal sense.  See next picture.

The rivers have a glossy sheen, just like the real stuff!

Fordable sections of river.

A simple plank bridge over a river.

A gently curving riverbank.

Yogurt Joins Pudding to Rule the World

I hinted at the end of my last post that I would be creating something out of the yogurt container that was pictured.  And so I have.  I continue my quest to build cheap, simple, cheap, useful, cheap buildings and terrain from readily available recyclables.

These won't win any awards for quality 'cause you get what you pay for.  Since my only expense was time, well, I ain't worried if they ain't pretty.  I spent as little time on them as humanly possible and still be able to complete them.  They'll sit on a table and provide a location or cover quite nicely, thank you very much.

I herewith present...More Bunkers!  Or perhaps habitats.  Or maybe they're lookout stations.

I admit that these are very human-centric, but they're fairly generic at the same time.  I have a hard time envisioning alien habitats so I haven't made any.

Above and below:  Front and back views, with a 28mm and a 15mm figure for scale (like you couldn't guess that).

Below:  The top of the yogurt container was almost tailor made for a nice parapet.  This is the container before painting, with a cardboard circle inserted on what used to be the bottom of the container.

Below:  Here's a close-up view of the parapet insert.

Below:  This is the final result, after adding a thin card trap door.

Below:  A lone guardian guards his guard shack, guardedly.

Below:  The Human Imperial Infantry's planetary lookout station -- IN ACTION!  Look at them looking out.  Such excitement, woo!

I also deliberately tried to make them useful for both 15mm and 28mm.  For 15mm, the doors look a little on the large side, but I felt I could convincingly argue they are garage doors for tanks and AFVs (see photo above).

I also got a trifle carried away with another bit of plastic, and created a ... something.

Is it a swirling maelstrom of energy with a mysterious dark doorway leading to parts unknown?  Or is it a shimmering alien building, constantly shifting its shape and appearance, flowing with an almost lifelike quality?

Then again, maybe it's the outhouse.  An alien outhouse, at least.  This is a sci-fi blog after all.

Above:  The Human Imperial Infantry defend their toilet.  Never say the poor bloody infantry doesn't know which side of his bread is buttered.

Thanks for reading!

In Defense of Pudding

Recently I've been trying to think of ways to expand my sci-fi battlefield inexpensively.  There are some absolutely top-notch, beautiful terrain pieces being produced for 15mm SF these days; not only in the way of figures but also buildings and scenery.

To name but a few (not an all-inclusive list):

Basement Gaming Bunker's 15mm Terrain

Startown Slums 15mm Scifi Terrain 

GZG's Shack Set 15mm

And while I plan on acquiring them all at some point, my personal financial situation requires me to wait.  So I was thinking about how to make my own buildings and what nots when I got a little hungry.  After my snack I went to rinse out the pudding cup and turned it upside down to dry...and the proverbial lightning struck!

I realized then that hardened concrete bunkers were in my immediate future.

I didn't put a ton of time or energy into this project, as I wanted to see if it was going to pan out first.  I think, for being rather slap-dash, it looks pretty good.

In the pictures below (which, as usual you can click on to enlarge) you will see my source material.  I can assure you I bought the sugar free version by mistake.  Bleah.  The best thing is, there are 4 cups to a package:  voilà, one set of Imperial Bunkers.

 A better view of the future bunkers.

Next a closer view of the cleaned cups.  This part is crucial:  you must turn them upside down!  Things begin to take shape....

Here are the six buildings after super-gluing some thin card to them, to represent doors, windows and armor plating.

Below shows two of the bunkers with a 15mm Imperial Trooper for scale.

Here they are after being spray primed grey.  I was a little worried that the walls would be too smooth, but as it turned out my spray paint was a trifle coagulated and I got a nice grainy texture that would normally have sent me into a towering fury.

After a quick paint job, here are my Imperial Battle Bunkers in action.  Nothing's more exciting than seeing buildings in action, y'know.  (Side note:  they look a totally different color from the grey above because of the daylight/lamp conditions under which I took the pictures; those below are closer to the actual color.)

The best thing is they're easy to store:  they stack!

So now my soldiers have someplace to either defend or capture, and all it cost was...well, nothing really, since I already had the pudding to begin with.

And just wait until you see what I plan to do with this tasty snack....

Thanks for reading!

"Are You Ready for Your Probing?"

Despite everything Real Life ©® could throw at me, I have finished painting my Grey Aliens from 15mm.co.uk.

I'm really happy with them.  They were a pleasure to paint, full of "cute" character and interesting poses, and were very clean castings to boot.  And yet, they are oddly menacing....

This completes the two armies I bought that came pre-tailored for ASQL 2.0 (also from 15mm.co.uk, see here), so maybe now I can finally get a game in.  Maybe?  Ahh, who am I kidding?

Anyway, one way or another The Greys will see battle with my Human Imperial Army, using one rule set or other.  I've got a long list of rules I want to try out (see The List for an inkling of what I am up against).

I think my next big challenge is thinking up a background and history for my forces, and better names than simply calling them my Human Imperial Army.  Cool-sounding suggestions are accepted and appreciated.

I've already started filing away at my Retained Knights.  There is not a lot of flash or mold lines, just a normal amount.  Considering that they were cast in 1994 (as seen on the bottom of their bases) they have held up very well.

I enjoyed these Grey Aliens so much I wanted to show them from the front as well as the rear (and no probing jokes!).  I went with very bright colors, partly because I felt Grey Aliens would have better fashion sense than to dress in greys, but mainly because I like them to "pop" on the game table.  These guys have lots of sparkly shiny bright colors because these particular Greys don't have the fashion sense to not dress like that.  I also put the Commanders in bright purple cloaks to make them stand out better; that's the inherent problem with 15mm, it all looks the same from standing-height.

Below are the Robotic Scout Drones and Commander pointing, General with large headset and cape, Grey with Pysker Amplification gear and Grey with distance viewing device.

Below is part of the Grey Science Team:  Grey with Atomic counter gear and Grey with info pad in hand.  Yes, I painted "info" on the info pad.  No, you can't read it, it's in Grey Alien language.  Sheesh!

Next comes the rest of the Scientific Team:  Grey with heavy cases and slung weapon, Grey with capture claw probe.  Obviously the one Grey with the different colored claw is a specialist.  (A specialist at what, you ask?  Why, probing, of course!)  And the two Greys carrying the cases are totally different.  Paraphrasing Bele from Star Trek's "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield":  One is purple on the left, the other is purple on the right.  Totally.  Different.

Next come the "heavy hitters" of the Grey army.  Four Grey Soldiers with energy rifles and one with the dreaded "Death Ray Projector," and six massive, scary, tall Robotic Servants.  Not a lot to look at in the rear view, just Grey Alien derriere (unless you're into that sort of thing; I'm just sayin').

Finally the Flying Saucer, seen here in convertible mode ('cause every Grey Alien likes cruising with the top down, feeling the wind in his...hair, er never mind).  I went with plain Jane silver, no special effects (unlike on the 15mm.co.uk website [link] ) because I wanted that true-to-life, straight out of the history books look.

Thanks for reading!

Reinforcements Have Arrived

I've almost finished painting The Greys I ordered from 15mm.co.uk a while back, but Real Life (c)(tm)(r) has a way of sticking its nose into my business in such a way that I have not finished painting them yet.

It hasn't stopped me, however, from purchasing more great figures from 15mm.co.uk.  I saw they were having a sale and pounced on the opportunity like a cat on a string laced with catnip.  My order was small, though, as I only had $22 to spend (don't ask), but luckily after the (horrendous) exchange rate it came out to $24 and change.  I can accept that.

I now have in my greedy mitts four ten-man squads of Retained Knights from the HOF range, one of each type of squad they offer.  http://www.15mm.co.uk/Retained_Knights.htm  As I don't plan on building an army to fit any given set of rules, I instead usually buy what I think looks cool, as well as hopefully giving a somewhat useful set of troops.  This gives me forty figures, more than the armies I got that were ASQL specific, but lacking a vehicle.  That's alright, I can scrounge one from somewhere if needed.

Here are some pictures of the raw troops.  The first is HOF1 Retained Command; 5 poses, Officer, Comms, Runner, NCO, Trooper.  (I'm still trying to figure out which is which.)

Next is HOF2 Retained Knights; four poses of Troopers with Rifles.

Third we have HOF3 Retained Heavy Weapons; four poses Support Weapons and Loader, with assorted heavy weapons.

Lastly, below is a picture of HOF4 Retained Assault Troops; four poses, Rifles and Melee weapons.

HOF 4 is the only one of the four that I am not crazy about all the figures.  I've never really cared for prone figures, unless they're casualty figures.  Yeah, he can be a sniper, but to me it loses a lot of energy that way.  Plus, what's a sniper doing in the Assault Trooper squad.  Say, huh?  It's no biggie, really, I'll just trade them out with a couple of the rifles from HOF2 or 3.

Also, HOF4 included the only figures with much flash on them.  Every figure had some mold lines, but these two were the worst, and really they're not bad at all.  I'm much more pleased with the quality this time around.

I mentioned in a previous posting how the Human Imperial Army figures were pretty rough around the edges:  old molds, lots of flash, rough detail.  The Greys, as I've also mentioned, are very clean and characterful (as soon as I finish painting them I'll have pics up).  These Retained Knights are pretty clean too, but I don't know how old they are as a miniature line.  They're nice sculpts, mostly flash-free, and I'm really digging the old-school look.  I love those huge bayonets ("Those ain't bayonets, boy, those are space bayonets!")

Anyway, I hope to have them painted soon.

Thanks for reading!

Human Imperial Army on the March

I've finished painting my Human Imperial Army from 15mm.co.uk.  Here are some pics, just click on them for a larger view.  (I don't know why the thumbnails look scrunched, but the full-size view is fine.)

I went with a nice rich red, because I have always felt that if you're walking around in fricking power armor then you wouldn't really care too much about camouflage.  Plus I wanted to be able to see them on the table top.  My first go around with red was a little too dark, but I gave a quick highlight using a different brand/shade and it turned out as you see it.

I enjoyed painting them, but I have to admit it felt a little like putting lipstick on a pig.  I really don't like having to "paint on the detail" when it's there but so badly mangled by the casting process that it's almost unrecognizable.  In other words, I don't mind painting a belt if it's modeled, but I don't want to have to paint half a belt because the other half is missing but if I don't paint it then it will look odd unpainted.  As I mentioned when I first received them in the mail (http://orbitalbarrage.blogspot.com/2010/02/incoming.html) they're an old line and not terribly clean castings.  That said,  however, at the same time I really like their "style," the old-school power armor look, and the "we were stomping aliens and taking names before you other 15mm's were even born" feel.

Here you can see the before and after shots of the "blind" trooper I commented on (at the same link as above).  He turned out reasonably well, all things considered.

Nevertheless, I like the way they look all done and lined up ready for battle.  I even like the Glaive (the tank) despite it's rather ungainly appearance, and the fact that it has no track guards anywhere:  Reality bows to Fiction once again.

Thanks for reading!