15mm Mecha

I feel some more 15mm musings coming on...

I have a three Warbots from Micropanzer Studio that fit the mech-profile very well, but I would also like to have some kind of power armour/exo-suit/walker type soldiers in my army. Something humanoid but maybe twice the size of an infantryman.

My first thought was to simply get some more Gears from Dream Pod 9 since they're arguably the best looking humanoid mechs in the market today. But, for me at least, they're too intrinsically linked to Terra Nova and the Heavy Gear game and I don't think it would feel right in some weird way. The Valkyrie walkers from Art Crime Productions are another option that also have that specific kind of look that I'm going for. They're a bit pricey, but then again, so is DP9. As you can see here and here, size wise they're slightly smaller than a DP9 Gear but still substantially larger than an infantryman. I quite like their chuknyness as well.



Of course the perfect solution would be if I could find a Scopedog model (see top picture) in the right scale! It's like the grand daddy of realistic mecha (yes, you could argue Gundam here, but I don't agree) and the design is almost ageless. Unfortunately the models produced so far has either been too large (1/12, 1/20, 1/48, 1/35 etc) or too small (1/144). Hopefully one day...

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Shàng Jí Invincible!

Once more, Yu Jing has revolutionized the concept of Heavy Infantry. The fourth generation of servo-powered combat armour implies a qualitative step up in mobility and in info-biotechnological protection. These unique new Shang Jí (“Superior”) armours are faster, lighter and definitively better. Only the best equipment for the bravest defenders of the People!

EDIT: Oops! Seems like Blogger burped back the post that dissapeared and this time with all the comments as well. Too bad it's not in the right place chronologically. Oh well...

I wanted to get some more heavy infantry in my Yu Jing force since that's what they're famous for, so I painted this Shang Ji Invincible tonight. I really should have been painting for the last LPL entry, but I simply can't quit these Infinity minis! I'm addicted!

Anyway, here he is:

Since he's basically just different shades of grey he looks a bit... "plain", but then again simple was what I was going for with my Yu Jing so I shouldn't complain. Hehe!

He's armed with a combi rifle and light flamethrower and wears powered armour, yet still retains a high movement speed. The complete package wouldn't you say? :)

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15mm Musings...

There's been a lot of Infinity here at Fire Broadside lately, but that doesn't mean I've forgotten my 15mm guys (or any of my other projects for that matter)! I've been especially inspired by fellow blogger Peabody's recent 15mm GZG outings, and the ever interesting guys over at Gruntz. Peabody has a great looking force already and some FanVans are coming along nicely. At the Gruntz website there are loads of neat stuff to oogle over. Currently they're working on converting the new GZG crusty mecha (which I thought was a bit of a letdown) into something more like the movie.

Anyway, currently I'm considering my next purchases. I think I'll focus on my UNSC/Earth Sectorial Army for now and build my Reds later. I have a few squads of light and medium infantry, a MATV and three drone walkers. I think I would like to get some more vehicles (transportation and armour) as well as some squad support weapons.

In conjunction with GZG's store re-opening they released a few new UNSC infantry sets with exactly the stuff I want: command personnel, heavy weapons etc. The problem is that apart from the command squad all the figures are prone, and I don't really like that. It looks ok on larger bases with several figueres mounted on them a la Flames of War, but with singles it's hit and miss. If the base is too small it can look cramped, and if it's too big it simply looks silly. I mounted my prone SAW gunners on a 25mm base (I normally use 20mm for my 15mm stuff) and it was a tight fit, but I think anything larger and it wouldn't have have been too much empty space at the side of the body and wouldn't have looked good.

I'm thinking that I could probably get away with mounting some of the dedicated weapon teams two to a base. Like the HAMR with his spotter (although I guess that depends on the game system). A 40mm base might be about the right size, allowing me to add some terrain as well. Hmm... have to ponder this some more.

An alternative that was recently brought up over at Dropship Horizon is to use different kind of drones and remotes instead of SAW's and dedicated heavy weapon troopers. This is something I've been considering since earlier and I find it an attractive concept. Besides there being loads of neat little models that fit the bill, it also feels like a fairly realistic development of our armed forces.

Then there's the vehicles. I have a hard time deciding which way to go here. Originally I was thinking about going with the wheeled hi-mobility series from GZG (love both the Phalanx and the Paladin!). But then it occurred to me that they might be a better fit for the Mars rebels who have more of a hit and run-feel to them. Next up I was looking at grav vehicles (especially the Arc Fleet tanks from Critical Mass Games - see right) but although they look awseome they're a bit too hi-tech for my near-future Mars army (not for the UNSC though, so I might get some anyway). Then I considered simple tracked vehicles, but it feels kind of boring in a sci-fi setting. Not bad per se, but not very imaginative. I haven't ruled it out though.

Finally I've been considering air-cushioned (hover) vehicles in the style of Hammer's Slammers. I quite like the idea and it feels kind of hi-tech and retro at the same time which I think would fit my little spacemen just fine. While there are some official Hammer's Slammers models made by Old Crow, they don't really do it for me. I think I want some more detailing - they're simply too smooth (too retro?!) but I might get one or two anyway to check them out in the "flesh". Again my eyes are drawn to GZG and their hover vehicle range. I especially like the Gauntlet APC and the Rommel gun-tank.

So while it might seem that I've set my mind on hover vehicles, I'd love to hear from the blogosphere about any other neat ideas out there that I've overlooked! Hit me!

Oh, and I almost forgot! I'm definitely getting some air cav! The Mantis and the FanVan are pretty much already in my shopping basket, but again, I'd love to hear about other alternatives.

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Wet Palette for (poor) Dummies!

So I was starting to write an email to fellow Infinity-player Martin (who play Ariadna) about how I made a simple wet palette on the cheap. But as I was writing it occured to me that I might as well turn it into a quick blog post. So here we go: how to make a wet palette from an Infinity blister (or Spartan Games blister or any other that use the clamshell construction):

1. Buy some Infinity stuff! This is the easisest step... resistance is futile.  

2. The little metal pieces you find inside? Well, all we want is the blister so toss them in the bin! 

3. Which leaves us with this. She's a beauty isn't she?

4. Cut it in two pieces at the bend. 

5. Get some tissue paper and some baking/waxed/parchment paper and cut it into pieces roughly the same size as the blister. 

6. Soak the tissue paper in water (don't just wet it, soak it!) and place it within the 'lip' of the blister back part.

7. Then just place a piece of baking and... ta-daaa! Done! Now get painting!

8. When you're done for the day (with your 15 minutes perhaps?) just use the top/front half of the blister and snap it into place. That way the colours that are still on the palette will stay fresh until the next day.

There we go. Cheap and easy, don't you think? There are definitely larger, better and more expensive alternatives out there, but this'll get you by in a pinch. Just remember to re-soak the tissue paper and replace the baking paper as it slowly gets covered.

Now I think it's time to get back to that Aragoto...

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LPL Sunday: Final Round!

A little delayed, here's the final LPL Sunday post.

As I mentioned last time my inital plan to finally paint my space battleship Yamato fleet went awry and I put together the scene above on the fly. It still felt kind of right to make a summary of sorts of my adventures in 15mm so far so I'm not too bummed out about it. And spaceships (even the mighty Yamato) would probably not have prevailed against the opposition I faced in any case.

Braxandur had put together a really great Starship Troopers scene simply called "Would you like to know more?". One of the best entries this round and definitely the one most similar to its subject matter. In the end I lost with 95 votes against 242.

So in the end I won five rounds, lost five rounds and finished on 44th place. I was aiming for the upper half of the board, but this final round unfortunately dropped me 13 places from 31st. Oh well, I think I did fairly well considering what I entered. :)

Some other great entries this round:

• 'They're coming outta the walls' - Excellent entry that really captures that Aliens feel. 
• Jason and the Golden Fleece vs 'I've Got a Bad Feeling About This' - Nostalgia! I remember watching Jason and the Argonauts as a kid and that skeleton scene made a great impression on me. And well, Star Wars is Star Wars. But besides that I also painted that very same set of miniatures when I was around 10-12 years old.
• The Untouchables... Canadian Confiscation - Great minis, great use of colours, great scenery!

So that is the end of that! Although I had a lot of fun during the LPL I'm really glad it's over. I kind of lost focus and motivation towards the end as I got more into Infinity. And although I entered my Infinity models twice it didn't "feel right", I would much rather have entered more 15mm Mars stuff. But I simply had more fun painting my Yu Jing. 

It would've been nice if I'd been able to bag some more bonus points. By entering a couple of old teams and missing out completely on the two theme rounds I lost 70 points. That's quite a lot and it would have netted me 24th place in the league. Well, next year eh?

Oh, so who won do you ask? Well, not surprisingly Frank, whom I faced in the first round, snagged the first place. He put together really amazing little scenes for every round and really deserved the win. My fellow Swede Hammers held the lead for the majority of the league, but faltered toward the end as real life got in the way.

I'll most likely post a more extensive LPL wrap-up post later in the week...

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LPL Sunday: Round 10! And round 9 recap

Again my LPL painting schedule got bumped in favour of Infinity, so I simply entered them instead. The minis I had painted were the Yu Jing Kuang Shi, their Celestial Guard "minder" and a Daofei. The four Kuang Shi are political prisoners that have been brainwashed, given a chain rifle and an exploding backpack. They're basically suicide troops, but surprisingly effective for their cost! I kept the basic colour scheme I had established for my Yu Jing, but added an off-white colour to their helmets, manacles and the Kuang Shi control device that the Celestial Guard is carrying. The idea was to create a kind of unity through that single colour. But then I went and used it on the Daoefei as well. Hehe!

The Daofei was a late addition but I couldn't resist a camouflaged heavy infantry with a heavy machine gun. At first I actually tried painting her with urban camo, but it didn't look good so I went with a simple black/grey instead.

I went up against Cwchmc's "Doctor and Friends" that was both very well painted and had a theme that I think really appeals to many LAFers, so a loss was inevitable. The votes ended at 101 vs 221.

Some other great entries this round were:

• Allied Battlesuits - I've seen minis that are technically better painted, but these guys have so much character!
• Morat Vanguard + Winter is Coming - Two excellent entries! And featuring two of my favourite fictional universes as well! In the end Frank's more subdued colours got my vote.
• Mountains of Madness - Can't resist such a beautifully rendered Lovecraft entry!
• The Summoning - Usually I don't think photo and lighting effects fit into a competition like this as I like to see the minis clearly, but this time it works perfectly. Great scene!

The 10th and final round is a bonus round and the theme is movies! My plan was to use this to finally finish my space battleship Yamato and Earth Defence Fleet. But I had another spraying accident and one side of the Yamato became kind of grainy. It was still paintable but I would definitely have put that side away from the camera. However, as I sat down and made ready to kind of speed paint these ships I felt that I didn't want to do it that way. Sure it's getting long in the tooth now, but I still want to take my time with these models.

So instead I cobbled together a kind of group shot of some of the 15mm Mars stuff I had painted in the LPL so far. So no bonus points for me at all this round, but it still felt like a nice wrap up of the competition. And I must admit I've been suffering from a bit of a LPL fatigue these last few weeks and have found it hard to get excited or care much about it. Anyway, I'll type out a longer post recaping the entire league some time after round 10 is over.

Now head on over to the Lead Adventure Forum and check out mine and all the other entries. And don't forget to vote!

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More Infinity!

Infinity madness! Yepp, at it again. This time also against a first time player, my friend Anders and his Nomads, so we we had kind of weird forces. But what the hey...

My army looked like this:

YU JING
GROUP 1 (Regs: 9/Irrs: 0):
ZANSHI Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife (11)
ZANSHI Lieutenant Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife (11 | 1)
CELESTIAL GUARD Hacker Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife (25 | 0.5)
CELESTIAL GUARD Combi Rifle + Light Smoke Grenade Launcher / Pistol, Knife (13 | 0.5)
3x KUANG SHI Chain Rifle / Pistol, Knife (5)
DOMARU Boarding Shotgun, E/M Grenades / Pistol, AP CCW (36)
GŬILÁNG Combi Rifle, Antipersonnel Mines / Pistol, Knife (26 | 0.5)

137 Points | SWC: 2.5
ARMY CODE: eNozNFQ1VDNQM6yBkeZA0ljNDEyaAkkjsDgyaWihZgTiGIFUAQDHfw4cArmy Infinity v.3.0. - http://www.devilteam.com

While Anders had:

NOMADS

GROUP 1 (Regs: 7/Irrs: 0):
2x ALGUACIL Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife (10)
ALGUACIL Lieutenant Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife (10 | 1)
SECURITATE Combi Rifle + Light Shotgun / Pistol, Knife (23)
MOBILE BRIGADA MULTI Rifle + Light Flamethrower / Pistol, Knife (43)
ZERO Combi Rifle, Antipersonnel Mines / Pistol, Knife (18)
ALGUACIL Hacker Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife (22 | 0.5)

136 Points | SWC: 1.5
ARMY CODE: eNozMFQ1VDNQM6yBkRZA0gjChgqZQmVM1QwB554J9Q==Army Infinity v.3.0. - http://www.devilteam.com

Since I had a bit of a "swarm" army the nomads went on the defensive early on, setting up several suppression fire corridors every turn. But not before one of my Kuang Shi managed to run up to the Zero and blow him to bits! 

Thanks to the smoke cover from my Celestial Guard I could avoid a bit of the nomads suppression fire, but even so I had a hard time getting anywhere. 

Lots of suppression fire...

In the cover of smoke another of my Kuang Shi made a heroic dash downrange and managed to get a shot off at the Securitate and an Alguacil, but unfortunately they both passed their ARM rolls (something Anders was very lucky with throughout the game!) and he was gunned down in response. I forgot all about the Kuang Shi's Dogged skill here! Had I remembered I could have run forward and made another shot and then caught both enemies in the blast as he exploded. Oh well...

We traded shots for a while until Anders decided to try and make an attack on my left flank with his Mobile Brigada. I had wanted to do the same thing with my Domaru, but he had a strategically positioned hacker setup, as well as a suppression fire corridor. 

Anyway, the Mobile Brigade simply ran straight out into the open, using two orders to get into position, even though I could ARO with both my Guilang and my Celestial Guard hacker. However, his luck held and he either managed his ARM rolls, or I missed. Grr!

My answer was to shoot more smoke to cover my hacker who could then get close enough to Immobilize his Mobile Brigada. Yay! My Domaru took this opportunity to run up and fire a couple of AP shots into him, but only managed to wound once. And was then hacked in return! 

Anders was able to reset his Brigada and ran up behind my Domaru to get a clear shot. However, my hacker again managed to immobilize him, leading to this:

"Well then... I propose a staring contest!!"

The dirty Nomads continued to gun down both my Domaru and my Guilang with combi rifle fire (even though I was in cover!) and then it was back to me. 

I had the Degrade mission (from the mission roulette) so I really wanted to kill that Mobile Brigade. I ran up with my hacker and fired, but had to spend three orders before I could get Anders to fail an ARM roll! Even though he was square in the open. And then, to add insult to injury, I failed my anti-hacker protocol roll and my hacker fell unconscious.

In the final turn I managed to kill his Lieutenant giving me a final score of 3 VPs, against Anders 4. So victory to the dirty, dirty Nomads!


The one thing that we should have done different was the terrain. Setting it up I thought it looked ok, but once we started playing it we realized that it would just end up with a giant suppression fire fight with very little movement which felt a bit boring. Should probably have had some more stuff in the middle and opened up a couple of more avenues of advance on the flanks.
Also, while this paper terrain is functional and looks decent enough I need more small stuff to scatter about. Some k-rails, barrels etc. Lessons for next time!

Hacking was interesting and locking down some one's expensive HI was fun! But using anti-hacker protocols felt very risky.

Good game in any case! Now I just need to figure out how to protect my HI from the Nomad hacker assault that's bound to happen in our next game. 

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Infinity Session Report

The Guilang sat perfectly still, his combi rifle trained on the small group of soldiers advancing towards his position. He wasn't worried. The camouflage he had prepared earlier rendered him all but invisible to the naked eye and there was a mine planted in his blindspot. Just to be safe.

For two days the Guilang had tracked the Pan Oceanian troops as they made their way through the wilderness of Svalarheima. It had taken some time to get reinforcements to this sector but now there was a squad further to the south and the Empire had even promised jump troop support in the form of the feared Tiger Soldiers.

The four enemy soldiers were coming closer now, almost there... "Four?! Shiòng mâo niao! Where's the sniper?". The Guilang rolled back into cover and made his way around the other side of the small building while he called in the updated situation to the Celestial Guard team leader. As he stuck his head around the corner he saw the sniper who had taken up position in a rocky area to the north east. There was a sudden roar coming from above, the unmistakable sound of a dropship on approach...

So, a few days ago I played my second game of Infinity. While we're still very much in the inital trying-things-out phase I was feeling a bit more adventurous, so I wanted to try out some of the more interesting stuff like camo, infiltration, smoke and AD troops. I was playing against Alex and his PanO Military Orders and we had decided to do proper 150 point armies, so here's what I came up with:


 YU JING

  CELESTIAL GUARD Lieutenant Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife (13)
 
  CELESTIAL GUARD  Combi Rifle + Light Smoke Grenade Launcher / Pistol, Knife (13 | 0.5)

  KUANG SHI Chain Rifle / Pistol, Knife (5)
 
  2x ZANSHI Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife (11)
 
  TIGER SOLDIER HMG / Pistol, Knife (35 | 1.5)
 
  DOMARU Boarding Shotgun, E/M Grenades / Pistol, AP CCW (36)

  GŬILÁNG  Combi Rifle, Antipersonnel Mines / Pistol, Knife (26 | 0.5)

Besides wanting to try out some new stuff my plan was to use the Guilang who both has Infiltration and Camouflage as an advance detterant. Basically he'd spit out a few mines in strategic positions and use his camouflage to make life difficult for Alex. Hopefully forcing him to funnel his forces into the other half of the table where I was planning to land the heavy machine gun equipped Tiger Soldier. At the same time the Domaru and the (impetuous) Kuang Shi would advance backed up by the Celestial Guard with the smoke grenade launcher while the other light infantry provided fire support.

This plan worked, in a way of speaking, but it was mostly due to us both being new at the game in general, and this being the first game ever for Alex in particular. Also, none of us had really appreciated the damage a HMG in the right hands can do...

Setup. Actually just at the start of my first turn as my Tiger has landed...

Alex had decided to choose table edge and deploy his units last while I got to choose who took the first turn. Not being used to how Infinity works the PanO were mostly out in the open at the start of the game. Sure I couldn't see any of them from my deployment zone (terrain extravaganza!) but I had a Tiger Soldier incoming!

So the first thing that happened was that I dropped the him and he took up a firing position where he could see most of the enemy squad. A couple of bursts later and the Knight Santiago (and almost a third of Alex's entire army) was lying dead and the Tiger Soldier set up a deadly suppression fire corridor, halting the PanO advance. The Domaru and Kuang Shi advanced on the right flank while the Guilang made his way towards the enemy sniper further north west.

Boom!

In his turn Alex avoided the HMG fire by going through some nearby trees and the sniper took aim at my Domaru that was juuust visible to him. Luckily for me she managed to dodge and went prone behind a stone wall.

At the start of the second turn the Celestial Guard fired some smoke, obscuring the the view and letting the Domaru advance unmolested by sniper fire. The Guilang peaked his head around the corner and fired off a burst against the sniper. As he was camouflaged this was a normal roll and not a face to face roll, but even so he couldn't get a clean shot in. A short firefight ensued, but the Guilang was victorious in the end. He advanced further around the building, trying to outflank the rest of the PanO soldiers to the west.

The Tiger Soldier didn't have a clear line of fire anymore so I decided to pull him back a bit, putting him in the doorway of a nearby factory building.

One of the PanO Order Sergeants put up some suppresion fire towards the corner where the Guilang might emerge, covering his brethren as they advanced towards the Tiger Soldier and the Domaru. A few shots were exchanged, but to no effect.

The Guilang re-applied his camouflage and made a dash across the suppression fire corridor into cover on the other side. Thanks to his camouflage the only reaction the order sergeant could take was Discover, letting him avoid the hail of fire. He was discovered (loosing his camo status) but by then he was in cover on the other side and could pop up to put fire on the order sergeant. This resulted in another dead PanO soldier.

There were a few more exchanges of fire, but with only two models left we decided to end the game.

My Domary and Kuang Shi up ahead at the end of the game, supported by a Zhanshi and a Celestial Guard. The two camo markers that can be seen are mines left by the Guilang.

Now, this might sound a bit one-sided, and it was. I think there were two reasons for this: 1. this was Alex's very first game and although I'd only tried it once before that small experience gave me a bit of a head start. 2. even though 150 points makes for a fairly small game, even at this scale only having five models is cutting it close, some more support to get your big tough heavy infantry into place would have been good.

But in any case, this really cemented my faith in Infinity. The system is very smooth and even though it might seem complex when reading it, it actually often plays much faster than similar skirmish games like Necromunda. The order system is absolutely awesome and really allows you to do that cool action movie-esque stuff that you rarely see in other wargames. I'll make a more indepth analysis/review of Infinity in a few days, so keep your eyes peeled.

Oh, and painting these figures is a blast! I mean, I've always enjoyed painting but it can at times be a bit of a chore and it's rare that I feel this level of enthusiasm when painting. It might sound silly, but I really can't wait to get home after work because then I can start on the next figure! Hehe!

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LPL Sunday: Round 9! And round 8 recap

A Domaru Butai leading a Tiger Soldier and three Zhanshi.

A bit of a hot streak in the LPL currently (up until the current round anyway) with this entry giving me the third win in a row! Whee! The plan was to paint some of Micro Panzers 15mm warbots and their operators, but as they arrived just a day before the deadline I went with my newly painted Yu Jing instead. I've really been bitten bad by the Infinity bug and I can't stop painting the minis! It's just so much fun!

I had painted a Zhanshi and the Domaru and then finished the Tiger Soldier and two more Zhanshi on Friday evening, snapped some photos and put together the collage above. Overall I'm happy with them. I decided to go with a blue/grey/white theme for my Yu Jing instead of the traditional orange or yellow and I think it gives them a slightly more realistic but still fairly striking look. I'm quite happy with it!

I went up against Rosie's Garage by Bobbo, a very characterful entry showing Rosie and her robotic collegues. Bobbo used some really nice looking (and cute!) models and created a good composition, but my Yu Jing still managed to bring home the bacon with 182 votes against 147.

Some other great entries this round:

• Children of Doom - Really nice barbarian warband! Both the painting and the sculpts from Red Box Games. Could definitely see these feature in John Milius' Conan movie. :)
• Anjin-san + Pulp: Pharoah Ki-Oskh Cigar Afficionado Society - Samurai (and Richard Chamberlain!) vs Tintin?! Too hard a choice. The final vote really doesn't reflect how close these two are in quality. 
• Brainiacs Army of Z's - Just love the bizarreness of this entry and its giant brain-tank!
• Quar Car - Excellent models, excellently painted by Mancha. I really should get myself some quar some day.
• Life on Mars - Yes, the photo could be a bit closer in, but I still really like the way it's compositioned now. Kind of quiet and desolate.
• Rock Hard, Ride Free - Bit of nostalgia here with these old beaky marines, their bikes, their tank and their scratchbuilt Whirldind (I built the same one). Cool stuff Pil!

Since I didn't get to paint the warbot I'd enter them in round nine instead... or at least that was the plan. But as I mentioned, the Infinity bug has got med bad and I simply couldn't tear myself away from them! Or at least I didn't want to jinx the painting roll I was (am) on. So instead I decided to enter my recently painted Kuang Shi, their Celestial Guardian controller and a Dao Fei. Very stiff opposition this time around with a well painted Dr Who entry, but that's ok. A three round win streak is enough for me and even if I loose round 10 as well I will at least have won half of my matches. Hehe!

See my entry and all the other great stuff over at the Lead Adventure Forum. And don't forget to vote!

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"Weird" Japan

I just came across a post on Kotaku about a new Toyota commercial where they use a virtual idol to promote their car (watch it above). However it's not the post itself that is important here, or the ad, but one of the comments on it that is so in sync with how I often find myself feeling about Japan and how it is perceived in the west that I just had to repost it here.

For those who don't know I lived in Tokyo for five years between 2005 and 2010 and I know exactly what FarmboyinJapan is talking about (just change America and American to Sweden and Swedish):

As someone who has lived in Japan for the better part of decade now, I find all of this incredibly fucking offensive, on so many levels. 

1) I am CONSTANTLY engaged in an "image war" every time I go back to America. Family/friends come to me with BS questions like "I hear there is (some stupid shit) in Japan," or "I read that in Japan everyone does (some made up crap)", or one girl in Harajuku wears some ridiculous "hey look at me!!!" attention seeking outfit....and it ends up in the style section of The New York Times. And so now Japan has this stereotype of being "weird". And all this ad does is reinforce that stereotype. So now when I go home again, I'm going to have to explain to people that yes, virtual idols exist, but only the hardest of the hardcore actually gives a rat's ass.....and that the average Japanese person (much like the average American) is utterly bewildered at why something like this exists. This is absolutely embarrassing. I truly hope that the devastation and subsequent international coverage of the recent disasters over here will cause the tourism industry in Japan to change its marketing strategy. Because while the international media carries most of the blame with helping to create the image of a "weird Japan"....Japan itself is not blameless either. They have constantly been prioritizing "sub-culture" in how they have chosen to market Japan as a tourist destination. "Come to Japan! You can watch cartoons, read comic books, go to a maid cafe, and do cosplay." And while a model like that certainly helps attract a very specific group of people, it has done a lot to stigmatize this country as "weird." 
The Micheline Guide has classified Tokyo as the "best culinary city in the world"...not just for Japanese food, but for any kind of cuisine you can imagine. In my travels, I've been all over the world, and Japan is by far the most fashion progressive country I've ever been to...Japan has a booming fashion industry for every taste imaginable. Japan has some of the most beautiful nature preserves in the world. Certain parts of Japan still have a tight grip on ancient traditions, so a trip to Kyoto can seem like you've stepped into a time machine. All of these are assets Japan has as a tourist destination...but they are rarely if ever exploited. Instead, Japan seems more content with marketing itself as a country "where you can buy video games, listen to virtual idols, and look at girls walk around in Little Po Peep costumes". It really truly does break my heart. I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if part of this ad was subsidized by the Japanese government to promote tourism. 

2) Right now, this very day, if you were to ask the average American what springs to mind when you say "Japan", I'm almost certain that it would be the recent disasters. So while "capitalize" might be a dirty word, why doesn't Toyota US start some kind of campaign that takes into account the recent headlines? How about an ad campaign proclaiming "Help support Japan with us at Toyota," or announce a percentage of sales will go to help disaster victims. Nope....virtual idols!!! 

Yepp...

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Master of the Gardens

Oniwaban means ‘the one who is in the garden’ or ‘the gardener’. During the time of the Tokugawa Shogunate, each Shogun had in his service a personal gardener that belonged to the elite of a Ninja clan. The Oniwaban was the Shogun’s link with the Ninja.

While I've always been a bit ambivalent about space ninjas I really like the Oniwaban miniature! The design is great, but what really takes it to the next level is the pose. He just looks appropriately awesome and ready to cut some poor Pan-O troopers into teeny-tiny pieces.

Since I have a kind of grey-blue thing going on with my Yu Jing I thought I'd try to continue with that theme and decided to paint him blue instead of the traditional green. I'm not entirely sure it was the right decision since the blue-grey is a bit too close to the black/grey of the rest of his outfit. The green creates a great contrast while the blue creates a... not so great contrast. However, he still looks pretty good and he does fit in very well with what I've painted so far. Oh, and the glitter effect is from the spray varnish I used and let me tell you, from now on I'm using paint on varnish! Anyway, some more snaps:

Next up some Celestial Guard I think. Although that Shang Ji is looking mighty attractive as well. Decisions, decisions...

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First (test) Game of Infinity!

Perfectly clear, right?

Today I met up with MartinH and we had our first test game of Infinity. And even though it was only to start learning the rules and we setup pretty much in each other's faces we had a lot of fun! I see a huge amount of potential in this game...

I used what I had painted, namely three Zhanshi, a Tiger Soldier with a HMG and a Domaru Butai with a boarding shotgun. Martin, who plays Ariadna, had three Line Kazaks, a Highlander Grey Rifle and a Chasseur. However, we decided to make the Chasseur a Line Kazak as we wanted to save the camo rules for next time.

Like I said we setup reeeeally close to each other just to get things rolling and I started by setting up a suppression fire corridor with my Tiger Soldier, mostly to try it out, but also to prevent those Kazaks from advancing too quickly. Then I positioned the rest of my guys so they'd be able to make some effective ARO's. Then it was the Ariadnian turn. Martin decided to risk the ARO's and while he lost a Line Kazak to one of my Zhanshi, he managed to down another and wound my Domaru Butai! He also advanced his Grey Rifle a bit, but not too far.

The next turn I took a huge unnecessary risk with my Tiger Soldier by peaking around the corner where two  Kazaks were waiting. I was hoping that my higher Ballistic Skill and amount of fire would see me through, but in the end I only managed to down one of the Kazaks while the other put my Tiger Soldier out of action. The Domaru took up the same suppresive fire position as the Tiger Soldier had had earlier while my last two Zhanshi advanced on the right flank.

In his next turn the Martin threw a smoke grenade with his Grey Rifle, allowing him to cross the suppresive fire corridor I had set up with the Domaru and unload on my two Zhanshi with his two light shotguns! It was a smart move and even more effective since my two minis were bunched up, meaning he could hit both with the scatter from the shotguns. In the end he only managed to hit once, but it was enough to down both of the targets. Eek!

Now... I only had the Domaru left and we still hadn't tried out close combat. So gritting her teeth she ran straight into the guns of two Kazaks and charged! She was lucky and managed to dodge both shots and the poor Kazak at the receiving end of her katana didn't last long! Unfortunately that triggered the Domaru's Frenzy and from next turn she'd be Impetuous, meaning that she'd have to move towards the closest enemy model. This doesn't always have to be bad as it's essentially a free move and action for your model, but the way my Domaru was positioned at the time it didn't look good...

Martin used this to his advantage and used suppresion fire with both his remaining soldiers, aiming where he knew the Domaru would emerge from cover. What he didn't expect was that she'd first manage to out-shoot and then out-dodge their combined fire and ended up in close combat with the Grey Rifle! There was a glimmer of hope for me as we rolled the dice since I definitely had the advantage (although chances were great that we'd both die) but alas, it was not to be. We both managed to hit each other (which can happen because the Domaru is Berserk) but I failed my ARM roll while Martin passed his.

So victory to the Ariadnian dogs! Just you wait...


Of course, this wasn't a "proper" game, but even from this little appetizer it feels to me like Infinity is a great game! It's very different from the miniature games I've played before and it forces you to really think tactically.

Sorry that there aren't more pictures, but I forgot all about it mid-way through. Only took the one. I'll do better next time!

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LPL Sunday: Round 8! And round 7 recap

"I'm a leaf on the wind, watch how I soar!"

Ooh! Trend breaker this round as I managed to win again. Two times in a row! I hope my luck holds for round eight as well. Hehe!

Yepp... it was finally time to get some spaceships into the LPL. And not just any ol' thing, but Serenity herself! I had been thinking about how to do something fun with my spaceship entry and not only do a straight on group shot. Background and terrain was my first thought, but then I remembered that my friend Anders had the Firefly model from GZG lying around unpainted and I thought it would make for a great "mini scenario". So I borrowed it from him (together with the asteroids and matt. Thanks Anders!) and painted it. It went real quick but I'm pretty happy with the result!

Originally my intent was to paint the remaining FSE ships, but in the end I decided against it. Primarily for lack of time, but also because I didn't want grey ships pursuing the already grey Serenity. So I missed out on the 10 bonus points for newly painted, but meh... it's not really about the points is it?

I went up against Charlie's Hobo Revolutionaries who were hanging around from a previous round. Theire painter, Rufus T Firefly, seems to have done a good job painting, but the picture could be a bit clearer and I think it helped me swipe the victory. In the end the vote ended at 212 vs 101.

Some other great entries this round were:

• Baby Cthulhu's Nursery - Awesome! The alphabet blocks and the painting is what really kicks this to the next level. Probably my favourite this round.
• Death by Inadequate Masonry - More tentacled goodness!
• Desert Column + Merchants - These two entries from Frank and Prof. Witcheimer respectively are both pretty amazing. I especially like the prof showing off some post apocalyptic stuff!
• Masks on Boys! - Love the "chunkyness" of these minis! And the painting has a nice gritty feel to it.
• Mad Doc's Masterpieces - Really cool selection of models that really have a great Earth Reborn-vibe to them. Wouldn't mind getting some of these myself...

For round eight I was going to make some more Martian stuff, more Earth Sec to be precise. But the minis I was waiting for didn't arrive in time so I had to come up with a substitute. I could have just painted more 15mm infantry or something, but that felt boring so I decided to try and finish a squad of my new Infinity minis. I had a slight accident with some spray varnish (more on that later) but I managed to get a decent picture in the end. 

See my entry and all the other great stuff over at the Lead Adventure Forum. And don't forget to vote!

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