Dust 150: Arty Walker and Guntractor

I really haven't painted much Dust for the past six months, but I've been trying to make it up by painting frantically now instead. Hehe!

I started modifying my KV-47 Aero walker back in early spring. Since I knew I would mostly be using the artillery version of the walker (Nikita) I wanted a bit more static pose as the charging forward pose the model comes in doesn't really suit my weapon of choice. So I switched one of the left leg with a standing KV-47 that I had lying around, making it lean back more. I also opened up the hatch and put the tank commander from the IS-48 in it - felt nice and suited an artillery walker.

After applying some paint using the same method as the rest of my vehicles this is what I ended up with:

 The Nikita variant with dual quad 120mm mortars. A very effective artillery walker.

 The Nastasia variant with two quad DShK machine guns. 

The Nina variant with two RPG-47. 

This is my favourite of the three as far as looks are concerned.

This model was a lot of fun to paint and has become my favourite walker in the SSU arsenal. If it was possible to buy one without the transport helicopter I would get one more for sure. As it stands I might get one more if I can find a good price.

I have also completed one of the BR-47 self-propelled guns. I don't think the mortar configuration, Red Rain, will see all that much use, but the Red Fury with its 100mm gun that is able to fire at aircraft as well is another story! Cheap anti-air firepower is a rare sight in an SSU army - until the tractor was introduced the expensive Mao Zedong was almost our only choice.

This is a model I would have bought whatever its stats was though, it simply looks cool! I'm really enjoying all the different kinds of vehicles available to the Russians. There are the different kinds of walkers, large tanks, helicopters and self-propelled guns. And there's apparently a jet fighter in the works as well, based on the Yak 23!

The addition of a crew adds a lot to the model I think, but it still feels a little too clean. Anders suggested adding empty shell casings which I think would make it pop more, but it's done for now.

The BR 47-100 "Red Fury". Ka-pow!!

The crew each have a PPSh-48 and grenades meaning they can defend the gun up close.

The BR 47-200 "Red Rain". It looks impressive, 

but I think I'll go for the mortar weapon team instead.

So that is two of the three vehicles I need to paint done! The second tractor is actually almost done as well, it just needs weathering and the crew painted and it's ready to go as well.

I know that I usually paint a little more than my two friends so I've decided to do some other stuff as well so that I don't get too far ahead. Next up will be one such excursion...

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Three Dust Armies by September!

A couple of weeks ago I suggested to my friend Anders that we should get some kind of deadline to motivate ourselves when it comes to painting Dust Warfare. My idea was to do something akin to The Tale of Four Gamers from the olden days of White Dward (ten-ish years ago I'd wager).

Basically, we'd commit to an army and a date and then we'd make sure that that army was painted so we could play with it on that date. It's important not to get over enthusiastic when doing things like this so we decided to start out small with only 150 points worth of models. That usually amounts to three or four squads of infantry and one or two walkers. Manageable for painting but enough to make for a fun game.

The aim of this endeavor is of course to get models painted, so our two forces would reflect which models we wanted to paint rather than what we thought would do the best job at killing the enemy.

With this in mind I wanted to make a force centered around my Red Guard and a Nikita walker, as I've never really used artillery before. The Russian gun tractor was also too cool not to include and after some kajiggering I ended up with the following:

Dust Warfare - Force Builder
Faction: SSU ( 150 / 150 )

---  Red Platoon (150)
Command Section: "Red Command" Red Guards Command Squad (25)
1st Section: "Red Thunder" Red Guards Antitank Squad (20)
2nd Section: "Red Thunder" Red Guards Antitank Squad (20)
3rd Section: KV47-E Aero "Nikita" (45)
Support: BR 47-100 "Red Fury" (20)
Support: BR 47-100 "Red Fury" (20)

Again, this is mostly what I wanted to get painted, but I still think it's a decent force that should be able to hold up well against any vehicle heavy opposition. Lots of infantry or even just some heavy infantry might prove trickier, but hopefully the artillery fire from the Nikita will prove versatile enough. Also, the Red Guard squads can be quite nasty against infantry as well if they get close enough.

Anders knew he wanted to include his Horton fighter and a walker so built his force around this. What he ended up with was this:

Dust Warfare - Force Builder
Faction: Axis ( 150 / 150 )

---  Sturmgrenadiere Platoon (150)
Command Section: Manfred (15, Hero)
1st Section: Heavy Flak Grenadiers (26)
2nd Section: Battle Grenadiers (17)
3rd Section: Recon Grenadiers (17)
Support: Horten HO-347.III "Fledermaus III" (45)
Support: MPW II-A "Luther" (30)

Except for using Manfred as the command section these are mostly staple units that I often face when playing against Anders, so good choices for painting. I think I inadvertently created an army that will perform well against this force, except maybe for the Heavy Flak Grenadiers.

What about the third Duster? Well, me and Anders were talking about our little project in our small chat room for painting when our other friend Gille piped up and wanted to join in on the fun! He didn't have any Dust models at the time but had been intrigued when hearing about our battles. After some discussion he ordered a complete 150 point army of Allies and he'll join the project, although I think we might extend his deadline by two weeks or so since he had to order his stuff.

Gille wanted to have as many walkers as possible as well as lots of heavy infantry. He couldn't make it fit with all heavy infantry but I still think the army he ended up with is a good compromise:

Dust Warfare - Force Builder
Faction: Allies ( 150 / 150 )

---  Elite Platoon (150)
Command Section: "Corps Officers" Heavy Ranger Command Squad (30)
1st Section: "Grim Reapers" Heavy Ranger Attack Squad (30)
3rd Section: "The Gunners" Combat Ranger Squad (17)
    + Replace one M1+UGL with M9 Bazooka (3)
4th Section: "Death Dealers" Ranger Weapon Squad (20)
Support: MCW M2-B "Hot Dog" (30)
Support: LAW M1-A "Wildfire" (20)

This is more of a mixed bag and very much simply what looked cool (the best way to choose an army!!). Still, I don't think it will be a bad force on the tabletop either; there's plenty of anti-air and anti-infantry, which is always good in smaller games like this. Long range anti-tank firepower is where it comes in a little short, but up close there are quite a few bazookas and rocket punches to go around. Not to mention the Napalm thrower on the Hot Dog.

Most of all I think both me and Anders will find it difficult to handle that jumping heavy infantry that can simply mow down our poor men! Again, I'll put my trust in the Nikita while I think for Anders it will be a matter of promptly destroying the Wildfire so his plane can have some space to work with.

There you go! Three players and three armies. We've set the deadline to the Saturday on September 14th for me and Anders and the Saturday on the 28th for Gille. On these days we'll meet up and play a game or two with our chosen platoons and if anyone of us has failed to paint something to an acceptable standard, that person will have to buy dinner that day. I'm looking forward to a free meal! :)

I'll post updates as I paint new stuff, and I will try and update when Anders or Gille paint stuff as well. It kind of comest down to if they remember to take pictures or not, but I'll be sure to nag them about it!

Expect an update soon...

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SSU Armoured Division for Dust Warfare

Hello dear people! It's been quite a while since I wrote anyting here, although I have been playing and painting a decent amount. You know how it is during the summer time... blogging slows down a bit and I even missed covering the last Infinity releases! I have also been moving house which have delayed my blogging even more.

I have a bunch of articles in the pipeline though, covering things like the upcoming Dust Warfare/Tactics releases from Battlefront as well as first impressions and session report of Torchbearer and Dungeon World. I've been painting some of my Descent minis as well so expect to see them here in the near future.

However, today is all about the glorious heavy armour of the Sino-Soviet Union! Almost a year ago I painted my first Dust Warfare models - the KV-47 medium walker and since then I have also painted a bit of infantry to an acceptable gaming standard. But even though I got my hands on the KV-3 heavy walker and the IS-48 super heavy tank quite some time ago they have been sitting unpainted! Until now. Before sitting down to paint though I did what I always do as soon as I get the opportunity: I put some magnets in the pintle mounted machine guns so they are easily detachable.

Might mount an antenna on it later.

I was really happy when Campaign Book Hades was released and the SSU finally got some long range firepower. I had been terrorized by Anders' Wotan with its powerful laser kannone and now it was time for payback! The KV-3 K Matrioshka mounts two 152mm ML-20S guns and rolls the most dice against armour in the game (currently). It has long range and can take a beating as well so a perfect addition to my very infantry who are very much inclined to close quarter combat.

Love the profile on this guy! 

If you look close enough you might be able to see the colour shift between 

the hull and the barrels and magazines.

The Babushka...

The KV-3 M Babushka switches the two large cannons for two Maxim Gatling guns that are very effective against all kinds of infantry and even light-medium vehicles. But while the Matrioshka fills a great gap in the SSU lines the Babushka, while decent, doesn't really offer all that much that the cheaper Natasha can't do better. Sure, 36" range instead of 24" is nice but Natashas ability to split fire and automatically suppress two squads as well as denying the enemy the benefits of cover I feel is more important. It's not too expensive though at a mere 50AP so I'm sure I'll give it a try some day. Had the Babushka been able to fire on aircraft I would have jumped with joy though! At least it looks really badass. :)

In smaller games I could see how the Babushka might excell though.

The Lavrentiy Beria.

Of the two tank designs released for the SSU so far I've only got the super heavy IS-48 version. First there's the Lavrentiy Beria that is armed with the same 152mm cannon as the Matrioshka - except there's only one of them meaning the Beria rolls a couple of dice less. It has also two turret mounted DShK machine guns and a front mounted ATO-45 flamethrower. All this packaged in a sturdy Armour 7 package, meaning it'll stay on the field for most of the game. It's a solid tank, but I find it hard taking it over the Matrioshka if it's anti-tank firepower I'm looking for. Sure, the Beria will take more of a beating, but it doesn't dish out quite as much damage and it's 20 more points. Probably the best looking tank so far though and I will use it for that reason alone.

I was a little bit worried that drybrushing something so flat such as the IS-48 wouldn't really work, but in the end it came out looking just fine. As long as you don't load to much paint on your brush. 

It looks a bit empty from the back. Might see if I could add some stowage etc in the future. 

And an antenna.

The Karl Marx.

The other IS-48 design is the Karl Marx. Instead of the 152mm cannon it has a heavy Tesla cannon, which is the SSU trademark "super weapon". Except... it's really not all that super. It kills infantry reasonably well (although, again, probably not as well as the humble Natasha) and can damage vehicles with a lucky hit. It also has the ability to jump and hit another nearby target, but to do this you have to give up the re-rolls you get during a sustained attack and it simply doesn't seem worth it. Interestingly, Alex Davy (who was responsible for Dust Warfare when it was still at FFG) said in a recent post that one of the things they would have FAQed, given a chance, would have been to make the Tesla gun jump during any attack, not just sustained attacks. A small change but something that would have brought the Tesla gun in line with Phasers and Laser cannons. I still haven't used the Karl Marx in a game, but I'm sure I'll give it a try for the novelty of it sooner or later.

The mighty (hah!) Tesla cannon!

Just like the KV-47s last year these were actually quite simple to paint. There's no fancy camouflage to think about or differently coloured parts, it's just... green. Glorious green!

For those who might want to try something similar, here's what I did:

1. Spray the model with Army Painters Army Green. My can of this paint is fairly is for some reason fairly gritty, which I would avoid like the plague normally but actually works to your advantage when painting armour like this as it gives a little bit of texture.

2. Wash the entire model with Army Painters Strong Tone ink. This gives a nice brown/green base colour to start working up from.

3. Drybrush the main hull with Vallejo Model Colour Luftwaffe Camo Green (not Russian Green as you might be inclined to think). Don't be afraid to go at it pretty roughly at this step to bring that nice deep green colour to the model. I chose to do some things, like magazines and fuel barrels, using Russian Green instead to get a slight difference in nuance.

4. Add a bit of Vallejo Game Colour Sunblast Yellow to the Luftwaffe Camo and go at it again. Concentrate more on raised areas and corners this time around, but don't neglect flat open areas entirely.

5. Change the Yellow to Bonewhite and drybrush concentrating almost entirely on sharp edges. This will be the final drybrush so should be fairly light and really only hit the edges.

6. Paint any metal areas. I do mine with Vallejos Natural Steel that then get a black wash and some detailing picked out with silver.

7. Apply decals. I got a sheet of SSU decals from Dust Models that I applied using Micro Set and Micro Sol to make the decal itself more pliable. After it's all well and dry a quick slab of Vallejo Matt Varnish makes it become one with the background (don't forget to shake the bottle! And thin it with water).

8. Chipping! I love this part, it's so much fun! Take out that bottle of liquid magic that is Vallejo Model Colours German Grey and put some of it on your pallete. Then take a bit of foam, like from the back of a blister back, and cut out a small, easily handled piece. Then dip the piece in the German Grey and stipple some of it off on some paper, then get to work on the moddle. Use the sponge to stipple the very edges of the model, or areas where you would expect there to be a lot of wear and tear and worn off paint.

You can do as much or little as you can. Personally I prefer a fairly restrained approach so it doesn't look too beat up.

9. Rust. I use Vallejo Burnt Umber Pigment for my rust effects but there are many good pigments out there today. Simply dusting it on dry will make the vehicle simply appear... dusty so what you do is mix it with a little bit of water (you can use medical alcohol as well if you like, but I've never really noticed much difference) to get a nice almost wash-like rust that can easily be aplied to rivets etc. Try experimenting with the amount of water as it can give very varying results.

10. Drybrush some mud effects on the lower legs/tracks. I use a mix of Vallejo German Tankcrew (a lovely flat brown/grey/black colour) and Earth for this but it all depends on how you base your models.

11. Done! Probably. There might be some small details here and there that need painting but I'm sure you can figure those out yourself.


Sooo.... that's how I do it. Next up is probably a gun tractor (or two), a Nikita artillery walker and perhaps another tank. What? Infantry? Hah!

Talk to you later comrades!

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Thoughts on E3 2013

I don't write all that much about video games on here, although they pop up briefly from time to time. However, with E3 just over and done with and two new consoles being released later this year I thought it might be fun to talk about some of the cool new games heading our way!

Of course there were a bunch of sequals being shown and I'm quite looking forward to several of them, but right now I think it would be more interesting to have a look at the new IPs being developed for the Xbox One and PS4. I'll make one exception, as you'll see later. The three games I most like the look of are Titanfall, Destiny and The Division. They are all shooters but come with a varying degree of multiplayer, co-op and roleplaying as well. Because I love big mechs, let's have a look at Titanfall first.


Titanfall

This game was made by the guys who made the original Call of Duty: Modern Warfare after they got fired from Infinity Ward by Activision (although I think that might be an oversimplification), and it certainly shows. The setting is completely new, modern warfare has been replaced by future warfare, but the look and feel of the action feels familiar in a good way.

It's sci-fi and besides the usual stuff like high tech weaponry and equipment (jet packs!) there are also the titans from the title: roughly eight meter tall mechs of the VOTOMS/Heavy Gear variety. That is to say, they are quite nimble and bring all kinds of mecha sized weaponry to the battlefield. Awesome! The game also features AI "popcorn" enemies to fill out the ranks of both sides fighting which I actually think sounds pretty cool. At the moment it's exclusively for the Xbox One, but I wouldn't be surprised to see it turn up on the PS4 during 2014 or so.

Take a look on the gameplay trailer below and tell me you don't want a piece of that! The dual layer of pilot (infantry) combat combined with mecha combat looks great! There's a good article on Titanfall over at Polygon.com.

Destiny

Alright, if Titanfall was pure shooter (although there is a singleplayer campaign in there) we're entering rpg territory with Destiny. It's the new game from Bungie, you know, the guys who've been stuck doing Halo for... forever! It must feel so good being able to do something else.

Anyway, as far as I can tell Destiny basically takes the basic idea of Borderlands and runs with it. Four(?) player co-operative gameplay in the form of a first-person shooter in a sprawling post-apocalyptic world. Of course everything has been taken to the next level and although I love Borderlands I can't wait to play a similar game from a company who really knows how to do a shooter!

The gameplay looks good although there's nothing really revolutionary in the makeup of it. You explore the world, kill enemies and gather loot and XP to further customize your character. What is new though are the MMO-esque components. The world is constantly changing and new quests and events will be held post launch. During some of these (or always? I don't know) several groups of players (fireteams) can team up to fight an overwhelming force. Overall it looks pretty damn nifty, and the world Bungie have created is beautiful!

It's being released for all the platforms, including PS3 and Xbox 360 as far as I can tell, although I can swear I read somewhere about Destiny being Sony's baby. Not rightly sure. Check out this gameplay:

The Division 

The Division snuck right by me and I didn't discover it until after E3 was over, but I think this might be the big surprise winner of the show. What we have here is another co-op roleplaying experience, but instead of going to the far fantastic future we see in Destiny this is simply the near future after a global pandemic has caused the collapse of the civilized world. You work for the (remnants of) the US government trying to get back into control. Looking at the gameplay below it kind of feels like what you'd get by crossing Borderlands with Rainbow Six, set in the world of Cormac McCarthy's The Road.

Ubisoft have done a great job in capturing a dilapidated New York with refuse and debris everywhere and some scared civilians scurrying away as gunshots are heard in the distance. Again you play as a small team who take on missions as well as go on sidequests or simply explore the city. A pretty neat feature is the way you can join from a smartphone or tablet and help out as a drone. Toward the end of the video we also get to see a tiny bit of player vs player combat so there's that opportunity as well.

As far as gameplay is concerned it's third person and seems reminiscent of other Tom Clancy games like GRAW but with a bit more "grit" to it. I think The Division might be a nice alternative after the crazy hijinks of Titanfall and Destiny. A bit more down to Earth. A small detail I quite enjoyed is how they talk in the clip below - they are talking as three friends playing a game, but for an outsider listening it might as well (almost) be what their characters are saying. Of course, no-one really talks like this, but it's close enough. I like games where what you say actually reflect the actions you take in the game. EVE Online is another great example of this and, I think, Netrunner (the card game) might be as well. I like that, makes it feel more real in a sense.

Also it's being made right here in Sweden. Woo! If the above teaser trailer left you feeling meh, check out this gameplay trailer. It's looking great!

So those are the three new IPs that really made me sit up and pay attention. Of course there were a bunch of other new stuff as well, looking more or less interesting. Some things that looked cool but that I need to see more of to decide were The Order: 1886 (steampunk action-horror), Quantum Break (time travel/manipulation), Mad Max (MAD MAX!!!), Star Wars Battlefront (awesome teaser!) and Beyond: Two Souls (action game from the makers of Heavy Rain).



Of course, the best announcement during the entire show was this...

Yepp, after many years of rumours and teases we finally have confirmation of a new Mirror's Edge! Wooo! The first was was a solely unique gaming experience that punished the casual player but greatly rewarded the ones who persevered and got it to 'click'. An amazing gaming experience!

The new one seems to be a reboot of sorts, where you get to play through Faith's origin story. It has also been touted as more of an open world action adventure. Sounds intersting. Not entirely sure what to think of Faith's new appearance though, as I quite like her old self.

So yeah... some good stuff to look forward to!

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Torchbearer

A few days before Deadzone came to an end another Kickstarter had its deadline: Torchbearer. It's a new roleplaying game from Thor Olavsrud and Luke Crane and is labeled as "A dungeon crawl roleplaying game and love letter to Basic D&D" - in fact, at first it was called Dungeoneers & Dragonslayers! Which would have been awesome, except they were worried about litigation. Anyway, Luke Crane, as you might know, is the mind behind Burning Wheel, Burning Empires and Mouse Guard. Thor Olavsrud has been a long time collaborator but has this time taken the reins with Luke working more as an editor.

So what is Torchbearer? Well, it's a dungeoncrawler built on the foundations laid out in Mouse Guard and Burning Wheel. It's designed for classic D&D style play but with a more modern system. In regards to the rules it's described as advanced Mouse Guard, but not quite as involved as Burning Wheel. The largest addition is a level of resource management that is not really common in rpgs.

Thor has mentioned that he went spelunking a few years ago and how that experience heavily inflluenced his design choices in Torchbearer. Basically, it was nothing like you see on tv and in movies, or how you usually play it in roleplaying games. Instead it was claustrophobic, dark and your life depended on what you brought with you. Today we have all kinds of electronic gizmos to help us out, but imagine going into a cave 500 years ago, where you literally have to crawl to squeeze through and if you loose your torch it's complete and utter darkness!

One side of the character sheet, with the inventory slots at the top.

So while you will be fighting dungeon denizens and gather treasure a large part of the game seems to be the struggle against the environment and what you bring with you in is vital for your success. Each character has a certain number of slots to put equipment in, kind of like a videogame - there's a head slot, a chest slot, several backpack slots, slots for your hands etc. So everything you carry with you is allocated to these slots and different things take up different amount of slots. A small pouch of gold coins might only take up one slot, but a chest will take up several! Are you prepared to leave some of your equipment behind to be able to bring that treasure with you? 

Thinking about it now the Torchbearer seems to have quite a few elements of the Survival Horror genre in it - limited resources, monsters lurking in the darkness and a deadline creeping ever closer (you track how long each torch burn!). Of course the Mouse Guard system is robust enough to adapt to any situation and I think Torchbearer won't be much different. Switching the dungeon for a dark and oppressive forest or an icy mountain during a snow storm would likely be easy, although removing the threat of the environment might perhaps lessen the game.

When I first read about Torchbearer I was intrigued but thought that I would simply go for the PDF as the international shipping was quite... steep. But as I read more about it and noticed the special linen bound hardback that Thor and Luke are producing I just had to go for the dead tree version! Apparently the pair is finishing up the final manuscript as I write this and they are hoping to send it to the printer by the 15th! This is quite a quick turnaround when it comes to a kickstarter project. This also means that us backers should have the PDF in hand somewhere around that time. So more on the Torchbearer when I've actually read it!

What also appeals to me is the opportunity to play through classic D&D modules that I've heard a lot about, but simply avoided because of the D20 system, which I really don't like. Thor himself recommends Keep on the Borderlands, The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh, The Village of Hommlet (also available as part of The Temple of Elemental Evil), The Secret of Bone Hill and Horror on the Hill... among others. There are loads over at dndclassics.com!

There are a couple of excellent articles on Forbes about the new game so head on over if you want to read more about it.

Being fired up about Torchbearer I've gone back and started reading Burning Wheel Gold again, this time with some better understanding of the basics of the system, thanks to Mouse Guard, and I'm getting very eager to try it out! I'm just about finished with the Hub and Spokes and as always Luke's design ethos really speaks to me. Something about his way of thinking and writing appeals to me enormously! I don't know what will hit the table first though, Torchbearer or Burning Wheel. Remember, you can download the Hub and Spokes (basically the whole basic game of Burning Wheel!) for free right here!

I also emailed Archaia and asked them about the upcoming re-print of the Mouse Guard RPG Boxed Set (review here) and they told me that although the date keeps slipping they will have it done before Christmas. While I have the box I really want to pick up a few dozen more dice and I wouldn't mind getting the rulebook as a hardback as well. 

Speaking of dice, I just ordered 40 regular D6 and some fudge dice from EM4 Miniatueres for use with Burning Wheel and FATE respectively. All that, plus a box of plastic "crystals" was cheaper to order from the EM4 in the UK than it would be getting half as many locally. Weird.

Finally, here's a sketch of the cover for Torchbearer by Peter Mullen. Looks awesome!

EDIT: Alright, so now I've actually managed to play a game and we had a great time! First impressions and session report here.

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May Releases for Infinity!

A little late on account of the Deadzone kickstarter ($1,200,000!) here are my thoughts on the new May releases for Infinity. We've got a new starter box to have a look at as well as some other assorted goodies. Let's have a look shall we?

Let's start with one of the aliens - the Tohaa Sakiel with Spitfire. Well, it's another Tohaa rocking the Tohaa style and while I quite like that style I kind of feel that the Tohaa miniatures are a lot more homogenous than the other factions. This is good in that the army has a unified look, but it can also make them look a little... samey. Still, this is a cool looking model carrying a spitfire - a weapon you can't go wrong with! The Sakiel are impetuous light infantry who are quite quick and unusally tough, thanks to their symbiont armour in effect giving them two wounds. This rounds out the Sakiel boxed set released earlier.

What's better than a PanO Santiago Knight when you need to get some pesky Tohaa off your back? Well, some Kuang Shi is my answer to anything, but a Knight would do in a pinch. Anyway, here we've got a nimble little thing sporting a combi rifle and a newish style helmet that reminds me of Rocketeer. Seeing that and the backpack thingy I thought "hmm... do Santiago Knights have combat jump" but I suppose it has something to do with their Zero-G skill. I've never been a fan of the odd looking PanO combirifle, but this slightly re-sized variant looks better to my eyes. The pose is quite dynamic with the guy running and gunning, and this time I think they've managed the loin cloth fairly well. Still not perfect, but better than many of the other PanO models. One of the better knights I think.

More aliens, I hear you cry (or is that just SinSynn?!) and indeed there is more! We've seen two nice looking miniatures so far, but it's time to turn up the dial to Corvus Belli's trademarked level 11! The Shasvastii Haiduk with a MULTI sniper rifle is absolutely brilliant! First off I'm sure you've noticed the large scenic base, something not all people like. However, it's been a trend using it on models with the Sapper skill. I think the sculpt and the... feel of the model makes it all worth it though! This is how I imagine the Shasvastii - skulking in the shadows, aiming a sniper rifle at your gonads (or simply impersonating your granny and stabbing you in the spine!). The pose looks comfortable and uncofortable at the same time, that's what you get from alien anatomy I suppose. It looks like the Haiduk is making some slight adjustments to his scope as he's tracking his target. Awesome!

In game the Haiduk makes for a relatively inexpensive sniper. He's not the best, with a BS of 11, but for a sniper BS is usually less important than positioning and with Sapper the Haiduk can be positioned anywhere and still benefit from Mimetism and Partial Cover. Pretty cool! Might have to get this guy simply for painting.

Next up is Diomedes, Ekdromoi Officer of ALEPH. Corvus Belli do like the just-touching-down-from-a-super-jump pose and although it happens that it doesn't really work, this is one of the times that it does. It looks like Diomedes has slowly glided through the air and are now taking that first step back to mother Earth. It's a beautiful sculpt but all these ALEPH characters have made me a little blazé. There's really nothing I seriously can complain about though. Oh, and the Mk12 looks awesome!

Diomedes is basically a souped up Ekdromoi who work well as their heavier backup. An extra wound through No Wound Incapacitation and armament that covers any situation (Mk12, Nanopulser and assault pistol?! Yes please!). AD troops are often specialized in different ways, but Diomedes really could play any role successfully - quite impressive!

Finally the star of this month's releases; the Nomad Corregidor Jurisdictional Command starter box. This has been in the cards for quite some time, as well as many of us wishing for some resculpts of the older Nomad models. Here we get both. Three Wildcats, an Intruder, a Hellcat and an Alguacil hacker, all with combirifles and all new sculpts! Lovely! The Wildcats follow the ones we've seen (Spitfire and Missile Launcher) and look just as good as them - nice poses, awesome armour and sporting the recently re-designed combirifles first introduced in the Reverend Moiras box set. One of the miniatures most in need of re-design in the Nomads range have long been the Intruder. It's a great model in game, probably the best medium infantry of all, but has been stuck with old stiff looking figs that look more and more out of place as newer, more dynamic models are released. This guy looks seriously badass though! The helmet, the armour and the pose simply all work!

The Hellcat of course builds on the one released a few months ago, armed with a boarding shotgun. The sculpt is of the girly pose variety but I quite like it as she still looks like she could kick your ass up and down the block. Finally we've got a good old Alguacil... again re-designed to fit better in with the more modern Nomads of today. All the details have basically been re-sized and made to look more realistic and in scale. She's wearing some kind of helmet and sports a pose that would fit right in in any nineties anime. I've seen people complaining about her, but I think the sculpt has a lot of character!



So May... quite a good month! Awesome looking Haiduk Sniper and an extraordinarily cool Corregidor starter box! I've talked about my plans for starting a merc heavy QK army... but this new starter might make me rethink that. Then again, I might be able to buy my friends vanilla Ariadna starter for cheap so there's that possibility as well. Hrmm... need to ponder this a bit more.

In other news I've been painting some 15mm, I've invested in Torchbearer (PDF in two weeks hopefully!) and have started prepping for running the Star Wars: Edge of the Empire Beginner Game this month. Should be fun!

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