Pass in Review: Air and Space Support for Sci-Fi Miniatures Games

My Warhammer 40,000 (WH40K) collection consists of mostly infantry and vehicles of the Astra Militarum.

However, my tabletop force isn't completely "dirtside-bound."  I have two WH40K-specific aircraft and several generic shuttle craft.

The first WH40K aircraft is the Valkyrie armed transport, used to deliver troops on to, and provide fire support over, an objective.

I took over a dozen of "in-flight" photos of my lone pre-painted Valkyrie I bought on-line last year.  The sky backdrop I bought from Cigar Box Battle Store.

Here's 5 of them:

Here's another front-angled view with the door hatch that can slide open:

Another view with the rear-ramp opened:

This model comes, unassembled and unpainted in a plastic kit from Games Workshop.

My second WH40K-specific aircraft is the Vulture gunship, specifically designed as a ground-attack craft.

It's another pre-owned model that was originally painted in an urban/winter camouflage scheme.  I had my friend Dan repaint it to a forest camouflage pattern in order to blend-in better with my Valkyrie.

I took another dozen "in-flight" photos of the Vulture:

The Vulture resin model kits are made by Games Workshop's subsidiary company, Forge World, but they're currently out of stock, along with just about their entire inventory.

What isn't out of stock are free downloadable paper models.

A few years ago, I stumbled across Ebbles Miniatures (now Genet Models).

One of the few vehicles I downloaded and assembled was the Utility Shuttle.

Here's the first one I built:

I printed out the model using my own printer at the time.  That along with being a few years old, the paint is rather faded.

Several months ago, I took the file to Quick Print, and assembled a couple of shuttles sporting more vivid colors:

The downloadable kit also has an option to make extended versions of the Utility Shuttle.

Here's the first "extended cab" version I built a few years back:

I like the look of the longer shuttles, so I built more of them after my visit to Quick Print:

There's no specs on these Utility Shuttles.  So at a guess, I'd say that the short version can carry about 4-6 passengers and some equipment/luggage, while being crewed by a pilot and copilot.  The longer shuttles should be able to carry a squad of medium-sized beings (8-12), along with their gear.

The shuttles have no weapons that I know of.

What I love about paper models is there's nothing to paint once you assemble them.

Theoretically, anyway.

Despite all the 6mm and 28mm paper models I've assembled, I still haven't perfected my craft, resulting in a lot of white showing.

I attempt to remedy my lack of skill by painting over the white areas with an approximation of the vehicle's color with either acrylic paint, or even a magic marker.

So that's about it for my air & space force.  Upcoming WH40K posts will be "more grounded."

Pass in Review: The "Xenochamnids"

("We've lost contact with the colony on...")

Science fiction is full of stories, and gaming Fluff about hordes of ravenous beasties slaughtering every living thing in sight.

First there was the Alien franchise, and the horrific, jet-black xenomorphs.

I've been a fan ever since I saw the first two movies, especially the second film.

Next, there's my favorite role-playing game (RPG), Traveller...

(A single Chamax by William Kieth)

...with two of the most popular adventures:  The Chamax Plague/Horde (in Double Adventure #5)...

(A horde of Chamax by William Kieth)

...where adventurers are confronted with a swarm of voracious critters.

And finally, as I became a "cynical fan" of Warhammer 40K (40K), I was introduced to the Tyranids...

...the "great devourers" in the grimdark of the 40th Millennia.

I like the idea of pitting a band in Kill Team, Traveller, or Wrath & Glory, against an endless swarm of 'Nid-like creatures.

Unfortunately, I'm too lazy I don't have the time to paint-up a bunch of alien beasties, and painted collections of actual Tyranids were either rare, or expensive.

I was about to give up on the idea of amassing a swarm.  But a few years ago I ventured in to Merlyn's and came across a bag of Aliens vs. Colonial Marines by Diamond Select Toys.

(Bag top front)

(Bag top back)

These figures are in the same vein as Green Army Men.

That is, they're made of soft plastic, but in two colors:  Black for the xenomorphs and green for the Colonial Marines.

When I got home from that trip, the first thing I did after unpacking was to order three more bags through Amazon.com.

My "cunning plan" is that I can use these xenomorph figures for other science-fiction wargames and RPGs, in addition to having them count as Tyranids in WH40K games and RPGs.

I also own a copy of the out-of-print game Bug Hunter (Sniper Companion #3)...

...which I think could be converted to miniature use by replacing "hexes" with "inches."

Since the these figures will be Multiverse creatures, I concocted a composite name for them:

The Xenochamnids.

(A pack of Xenochamnids swarm a building somewhere in the Sector Fronteris)

Once I received my additional packages, I flocked the bases of the creatures I plan on using with either sand, or gravel, and a few with grass.  This helped highlight their black bodies.

I have about 60 figures, but for simplicity, only the figures with sand-flocked bases, matching the Sector Fronteris terrain board, will be shown.

The Xenochamnids come in four poses.

The first pose is of a group of creatures kneeling before their Queen.  For game purposes, these will be the Runners (Dog Aliens).

Here's a close up of some Runners:

The three other types are in upright poses.

Here's the next group--"striding" creatures:

A close up of the striders:

The next group consist of standing creatures:

And a close-up:

The last group of upright figures are in "guardian" poses.

Here's the close-up:

These "guardians" required an additional step before I flocked the bases.  Originally, each creature had it's tail curled around a Facehugger egg.

I cut off each egg, which was fairly easy because the plastic was soft enough for just about any modeling cutting tool to snip through:

While I'm happy with my purchase of "cheap substitutes" for Tyranids, there's a few problems when using toys in-place of figures specifically made for wargames and RPGs.

First, is that toy manufacturers more often than not, pay little or no attention to Figure Scale.

The Alien Queen is a huge creature, as seen in this diorama depicting the final confrontation in Aliens:

(Image by:  Peter Parrella)

But the Diamond Select Toys version is actually smaller than her drones, as seen below:

(The Alien Queen is on the right, in case you have a hard time seeing it)

So I have no plans for the several queens that came with the sets.

The same goes for the Colonial Marines, which are too large to use with typical 25/28mm figures.

("Game over, man! Game over!")

They might fit among 35mm figures, which might be close in scale to my Star Wars Miniatures collection--but that means I'll have to get them painted, which is not a priority for me.  Instead, I plan on saving them for my grandkids to play with as "Green Army Men."

The second problem, especially with soft plastic toys, is there's no clear, sharp details.  You've probably noticed already that the figures look rather ill-defined.

A third problem is the weight vs. balance of some of the figures.  The creatures with the elongated bases, the "guardians" and "striders," are rather unstable and easy to tip.  I may get around to mounting them on larger, heavier bases, like washers, or something.

Despite these shortcomings, I'm still happy to have these in my sci-fi miniature wargame, RPG and maybe even boardgame collection.

The final problem with these figures has nothing to do with wargaming:

Currently, these Diamond Select Toys play sets aren't currently available.

One of the main reason for this is because these toys were manufactured in China.

The repercussions of China unleashing the COVID-19 Virus into the world are still unfolding.  As I'm writing this, most of the US and many other countries are under Stay-At-Home orders.

So until the medical/political/economic/social dust settles, obtaining any future re-release of this product, or any other wargame item may be problematic.

I brought this up because the impact the Coronavirus Pandemic has had, and continues to have, on our society is impossible to ignore, and some gamers may want to avoid purchasing anything with the"Made in China" label from now on.

Update, 22 April 2020, 1130 hours:

In unrelated news within the WH40K 'verse, the Regimental Standard reported an unspecified number of Imperial forces will be deploying to the Zone of Peace and Quiet.

Shantytown Anyverse

(Image from:  Ashes of Dystopia)

Since I'm a mediocre painter, I'm a big fan of cardboard terrain.

Come to think of it, I'm not much better at assembling pre-painted buildings either.

Which is why I like Runestone Entertainment's Model Card Shanty Town.

While actual shanty towns are, sadly, an all-too common sight in our world, they're often the settings for Dystopian-style games and stories, also known as Crapsack Worlds.

So they can fit anywhere from Terra Firma to a recently terraformed world.

Runestone's Shanty Town currently can be downloaded for $6.95.  But Drive Thru RPG often has sales, or even offers stuff for free.  So check the site as often as you can.

You can either print the material on card stock yourself or take it to a print shop.  (There's a local print shop I like going to because their card stock is sturdier and their ink better quality).

This particular product comes in a PDF format and is 23 pages long.  This includes assembly instructions and various Building Templates (white paper "frames") and Texture Templates (exterior) in the following scales:  28 mm, 20 mm (1/72), 15 mm (1/100), and 1/144th.

Not all the Exterior Templates fit completely over the walls and roof.

This is deliberate in order to give buildings that slap-dash, scavenged look.

I assembled 9, 28 mm buildings.

First, are some "public buildings," which could be stores, warehouses or dive-bars.

 Here's the front view:

Here's the right-side view of the "general store," (first building on the left), and the rear views of the other two buildings.

The left-side view of the "general store," along with rear views of he other two buildings.  (Their sides are just plain walls with no unique features).

Next are some "private buildings," which could be dwellings, or storage facilities.

Front view:

Rear view:

Once again, the side views are plain walls with no unique features.

The last three buildings are small sheds.

Front view:

Rear view of the first two buildings:

While I question my skills at assembling cardboard models, I liked how these structures turned out because they're suppose to look decrepit.

Product Review: Traveller Customizable Card Game

I started playing and game mastering (GMing)  Traveller within a few years of its initial release.  Although unlike 1d4 Chan’s claim, I’m actually older than the game itself.

Anyway, like some (many?) of you, I sadly don’t have time to play the full role-playing game (RPG).

A month or so ago, my friend Joe and I stopped in The Game Matrix to do some “shopping therapy.”  While browsing, I stumbled across the Beowulf Free Trader Ship Deck.  Despite being unable to read the content description on the back of the small box due to the price sticker, I bought the deck anyway.

It’s a Traveller product—which means it’s good, right?

Well, when I got home that day, I did some in-depth research internet trolling.  

I discovered my new purchase was merely a supplement to the Traveller Customizable Card Game produced by Horizon.  

I thought this game was brand new and was surprised to find Horizon’s products, such as the ship decks, expansion packs and accessories were out of stock.

Come to find out the initial Kickstarter campaign kicked-off just over three years ago.  (Not sure how I missed this one).

So I ventured to Game ON! since they seem to specialize in card games, along with family-friendly games. I ordered just about everything Horizon had to offer—which included another Beowulf Free Trader Ship Deck in the  Starter Set.

After my order arrived, I did a cursory read-through of the rules.

In the past, I’ve steered away from card games because I find them too abstract.  My feelings on this haven’t changed all that much—even after reading the rules.  However, because both playing space and gaming time are in short supply, and because this is a Traveller product, I’m willing to give this a try.

The quality of my new-found purchases are top notch, with lavish illustrations on the cards and in the rulebook.

Reading the rules is one thing—playing the game is something else.

I haven’t played the game yet and I’m still trying to understand the mechanics, so I’m not in a position right now to provide any information on how to play the game.

Fortunately, Michael & Brittany from Horizon are here to help with this Example of Play Video. 

And speaking of actually playing the game, I find that not only are time & space are in short supply—but so are fellow gamers.  We all lead busy lives, and it’s often difficult to get together with one gaming buddy, not to mention assembling a whole crew.

Which is another reason for purchasing this card game—opportunities to play solo.  Here’s a Geek Gamers video of a solo play example.  (I’m glad to see I’m not the only one having difficulty wrapping my head around the rules).

Overall, the game is like Firefly: The Game, without miniatures and a game board.  This may be ironic since there’s been a debate on how much the show’s creator, Joss Whedon, was influenced by his time playing Traveller.

Anyway, despite any vague or hard-to-understand game mechanics, I look forward to “trying my hand” at finding a crew, finding a job and keep flying...