I can't shake 'em!Thursday, 30 April 2009
Sunday, 26 April 2009
How to get started with Full Thrust!
Today I took my ships out for their first test run, and since there seemed to be some interest in Full Thrust I thought I'd write up a few recommendations on how to get started...
I know that many people who play miniature games first get hooked on the minis, so that might be the best place to start. Most of the newer ships (and their rules) you can see here, and if you're curious about the old design ships (which are being phased out though) there's a comprehensive list here (scroll down a bit for Full Thrust). Unfortunately most of the pictures are rather small and of unpainted minis, but it's better than nothing.
Now, if you've found a fleet to your liking let's continue to the rules! It can be kind of confusing when you start looking into the different rulebooks and how they keep updating and changing and with new rules also being published on the web. My suggestion is that you first head over to Ground Zero Games' homepage and download the Full Thrust Light ruleset and read that through. It's the most up to date rules and it's also a hint of what we can expect from Full Thrust 3rd ed. when that finally arrives. It's the basic rules covering cinematic movement (as opposed to vector) basic weapons like Beam batteries and Pulse Torpedoes and rules for two starter fleets for you to get going. All in all a good introduction.
When you've absorbed the basics there are basically two ways to go; first you could go back to GZG and download the rest of the Full Thrust stuff (including the two Fleet Books and More Thrust) and start working through those. Be warned though that rules in the Full Thrust book is superseeded by rules in More Thrust, and then those are superseeded by rules in Fleet Book 1 and 2. What you could do instead is download Full Thrust Remixed (UPDATE: I'm not sure that link works anymore so you can get it from my Google docs as well, here) which is a semi-official compilation of the most up to date rules from the different rulebooks. It's a lot more handy than flipping through different books looking for rules and should work as a stopgap until the 3rd edition. In any case I still think you should download all the full books as they have lots of background info and rules for the seven original fleets in them. Another similar project is Full Thrust Cross Dimension which has also compiled all the rules from the original books as well as new rules (like the UNSC Grasers) into one book and also added and tweaked a few rules here and there. It's definitely worth a look at. Again, if the link doesn't work download it from my Google docs.
EDIT: Late 2014 a group called the Emerald Coast Skunk Works have released Full Thrust Continuum which is a rewrite of the Cross Dimension rules, incorporating some new ideas and continually creating SSDs for GZG's newer ships that still don't have stats. It's apparently done with the blessing of Jon Tuffley and the general murmurings seem positive, so check it out!
Now, GZG has released a lot more fleets since Fleet Book 2 and has also updated the old fleets with newly designed ships. Rules for these updated and new fleets can be found together with other beta rules at the aforementioned Full Thrust Fleet Resource.
So, I hope that's enough, but not too much, information to get you started! If you have any questions just fire away...
I know that many people who play miniature games first get hooked on the minis, so that might be the best place to start. Most of the newer ships (and their rules) you can see here, and if you're curious about the old design ships (which are being phased out though) there's a comprehensive list here (scroll down a bit for Full Thrust). Unfortunately most of the pictures are rather small and of unpainted minis, but it's better than nothing.Now, if you've found a fleet to your liking let's continue to the rules! It can be kind of confusing when you start looking into the different rulebooks and how they keep updating and changing and with new rules also being published on the web. My suggestion is that you first head over to Ground Zero Games' homepage and download the Full Thrust Light ruleset and read that through. It's the most up to date rules and it's also a hint of what we can expect from Full Thrust 3rd ed. when that finally arrives. It's the basic rules covering cinematic movement (as opposed to vector) basic weapons like Beam batteries and Pulse Torpedoes and rules for two starter fleets for you to get going. All in all a good introduction.
When you've absorbed the basics there are basically two ways to go; first you could go back to GZG and download the rest of the Full Thrust stuff (including the two Fleet Books and More Thrust) and start working through those. Be warned though that rules in the Full Thrust book is superseeded by rules in More Thrust, and then those are superseeded by rules in Fleet Book 1 and 2. What you could do instead is download Full Thrust Remixed (UPDATE: I'm not sure that link works anymore so you can get it from my Google docs as well, here) which is a semi-official compilation of the most up to date rules from the different rulebooks. It's a lot more handy than flipping through different books looking for rules and should work as a stopgap until the 3rd edition. In any case I still think you should download all the full books as they have lots of background info and rules for the seven original fleets in them. Another similar project is Full Thrust Cross Dimension which has also compiled all the rules from the original books as well as new rules (like the UNSC Grasers) into one book and also added and tweaked a few rules here and there. It's definitely worth a look at. Again, if the link doesn't work download it from my Google docs.
EDIT: Late 2014 a group called the Emerald Coast Skunk Works have released Full Thrust Continuum which is a rewrite of the Cross Dimension rules, incorporating some new ideas and continually creating SSDs for GZG's newer ships that still don't have stats. It's apparently done with the blessing of Jon Tuffley and the general murmurings seem positive, so check it out!
Now, GZG has released a lot more fleets since Fleet Book 2 and has also updated the old fleets with newly designed ships. Rules for these updated and new fleets can be found together with other beta rules at the aforementioned Full Thrust Fleet Resource.
So, I hope that's enough, but not too much, information to get you started! If you have any questions just fire away...
Saturday, 25 April 2009
UNSC fleet to the rescue!
Yay! So after dropping the UNSC battlecruiser and having to repair it a bit it's now finally painted. Since I needed to get it ready for the game tomorrow I feel it got a bit rushed, but it looks decent enough I suppose.
So the latest ship to join the fleet, the Point class battlecruiser:
And the entire finished (light) fleet:
I'm happy with the UNSC fleet! Although I'm still not 100% on the brass engines I love how the green colour turned out.
So the two Full Thrust Light fleets are finished but I still have some ships left to paint for each fleet; a bunch of escorts, one more heavy cruiser and, of course, the battleship! Should be fun!
So the latest ship to join the fleet, the Point class battlecruiser:
And the entire finished (light) fleet:
I'm happy with the UNSC fleet! Although I'm still not 100% on the brass engines I love how the green colour turned out.
So the two Full Thrust Light fleets are finished but I still have some ships left to paint for each fleet; a bunch of escorts, one more heavy cruiser and, of course, the battleship! Should be fun!
Tuesday, 21 April 2009
UNSC cruisers
It's been kind of quiet here recently. I got distracted playing Resident Evil 5 with a friend. Great fun!
Anyway, here are some snaps of the UNSC Mountain class light cruisers and the River class heavy cruiser that I finished yesterday.
I'm getting more comfortable with the brass engines and now I quite like them. I guess you just need to get used to them. Hehe! Later on I'm planning to add som red details to the different white weapon systems (the spinal graser on the River and the missile tube things on the Mountains)... I just need to get some red paint first.
Mountain class light crusiers:
The River class heavy cruiser:
And the fleet so far... it's just missing a battlecruiser!
My friend Anders suggested that it might be fun with some work in progress shots so I'll take a few of those later on.
Anyway, here are some snaps of the UNSC Mountain class light cruisers and the River class heavy cruiser that I finished yesterday.
I'm getting more comfortable with the brass engines and now I quite like them. I guess you just need to get used to them. Hehe! Later on I'm planning to add som red details to the different white weapon systems (the spinal graser on the River and the missile tube things on the Mountains)... I just need to get some red paint first.
Mountain class light crusiers:
The River class heavy cruiser:
And the fleet so far... it's just missing a battlecruiser!
My friend Anders suggested that it might be fun with some work in progress shots so I'll take a few of those later on.
Wednesday, 15 April 2009
UNSC escorts.
Today I got my hands on some bronze paint so I got working on the UNSC fleet. First off the escorts; two Lawkeeper class patrol cutters and two Lake class destroyers. I went with a kind of military green with bronze/brass for the engine parts. I think I need to put some varnish on these for the green and the bronze to really come together, but overall I like the look of it.
These models have more spaces to put windows on as well so it's easier to break up the green. Windows yay!
Some pictures. First the Lawkeepers:
And the Lake destroyers:
With the green colour they really remind me of CEGA ships from Lightning Strike. Haha!
These models have more spaces to put windows on as well so it's easier to break up the green. Windows yay!
Some pictures. First the Lawkeepers:
And the Lake destroyers:
With the green colour they really remind me of CEGA ships from Lightning Strike. Haha!
Monday, 13 April 2009
FSE fleet ready to move out.
I just finished the heavy cruiser and battlecruiser so the FSE starter fleet is all done! Or at least enough to match the Full Thrust Light fleets. Of course, some touching up and a bit more blacklining wouldn't hurt but I'll get back to that later (probably never).
The Tourville heavy cruiser:
And the Duquesne battlecruiser:
And a couple of shots of the finished fleet:
I'm pretty happy with how they all turned out. Especially considering that I haven't painted anything for years. It'll be nice to get started on the UNSC though, and get to use something other than grey...
Sunday, 12 April 2009
Cruisers incoming!
Right then.... two Ardennes light cruisers finished. A few more windows on these which perks them up a bit. And I have to say, getting to the slightly larger ships the grey colour scheme is coming into it's own! There are enough panels and doodads that they don't look boring. Yay!
Anyway, here's some quick snaps I just took:
Brrrrrrrooooooooooooo...
...ooooooooommmmmmmmmmmm!!!
And a top shot of the entire fledgling fleet. Should be enough to see some pirates off I'd say!
So there's only the Tourville heavy cruiser and Duquesne battlecruiser left to paint for the FSE fleet. Progress!
Anyway, here's some quick snaps I just took:
Brrrrrrrooooooooooooo...
...ooooooooommmmmmmmmmmm!!!
And a top shot of the entire fledgling fleet. Should be enough to see some pirates off I'd say!So there's only the Tourville heavy cruiser and Duquesne battlecruiser left to paint for the FSE fleet. Progress!
Saturday, 11 April 2009
Destroyers ready for deployement sir.
Now then... time for a couple of Thetis class destroyers to join the painted part of the FSE fleet. Same style naturally, but this time with added bridge windows! Yay! Although, does it look like bridge windows? Or just some weird yellow dots? Hmm, please advice, over.
Friday, 10 April 2009
Frigate testing
Well then.... I started out testing the grey colour scheme I'd imagined for the FSE and it does look a little lacklustre so far. However, I still think adding some window lights and other dots later on should make them look a bit more interesting.
They look a bit muddled this close up but from a normal viewing distance they look fine I think.
Two Lemnos frigates off to fight the baddies!
Now, I need a few more colours... red and yellow comes to mind.
They look a bit muddled this close up but from a normal viewing distance they look fine I think.
Two Lemnos frigates off to fight the baddies!Now, I need a few more colours... red and yellow comes to mind.
Getting started.
So then... I started this blog for two purposes. Partly because it's fun to show others what you're up to but mainly just to help motivating myself. Doing (hopefully) regular updates here will help me stay focused and motivated so I actually manage to finish what I've started. Hehe!
Well, my current project is painting miniatures for Full Thrust, a space fleet combat game. I just finished cleaning and putting together the two starter fleets. My first mission is to paint the two fleets presented in the Full Thrust Light booklet so I easily can show the game to others. The two fleets each consists of two frigates, two destroyers, two light cruisers, one heavy cruiser and one battlecruiser.
At first we have the United Nations Space Command. The reason I decided to get these guys is that they remind me a lot about the CEGA ships in Dream Pod 9's Jovian Chronicles universe (setting of another neat space battle game: Lightning Strike) so I've decided to go with a kind of olive drab paint scheme; think the Sulaco in Aliens.
Well, my current project is painting miniatures for Full Thrust, a space fleet combat game. I just finished cleaning and putting together the two starter fleets. My first mission is to paint the two fleets presented in the Full Thrust Light booklet so I easily can show the game to others. The two fleets each consists of two frigates, two destroyers, two light cruisers, one heavy cruiser and one battlecruiser.
At first we have the United Nations Space Command. The reason I decided to get these guys is that they remind me a lot about the CEGA ships in Dream Pod 9's Jovian Chronicles universe (setting of another neat space battle game: Lightning Strike) so I've decided to go with a kind of olive drab paint scheme; think the Sulaco in Aliens.
Closest to the camera are two Mountain class light cruisers, behind them is a Point class battlecruiser, followed by two Lake class Destroyers and a River class heavy cruiser. Leading the group (well, kind of) are two Lawkeeper class patrol cutters.Next up is Federal Stats Europa. They have a kind of Star Destroyeresque style ships so they'll be painted grey. "Boring!" I can hear you scream and yes, so it can seem but I'll try and liven it up with some different nuances of grey as well as breaking it up here and there with some more colourful splotches. I think it'll look just dandy!
Closest to the camera two Ardennes class light cruisers, behind them a Duquesne class battlecruiser followed by a Tourville class heavy cruiser. Leading it are two Thetis class destroyers and bringing up the rear are two Lemnos class frigates.That's all for now but hopefully I'll have this blog updated again soon with some more colorful ships. Also, I'll try to take better pictures...
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