Junker 750 Point Tiny Troops Army

 Hi!

I've finished the tiny warband I've been working on for the last week or so!

The force consists of two large Convict Legionnaire squads, a unit of Exo Suits, a small squad of Suicide Legionnaires and a captured Assault Androsynth squad led by an Enforcer to ensure the lowly convicts tow the line.

While the little guys are not particularly detailed, they will allow me to play a decent sized game using troops only from the core original Void rulebook which allowed any army to use a selection of models from other factions which is why I have a bunch of salvaged Androsynths fighting for Ironglass!

The Androsynths are possibly my favourite sculpts as they've turned out really cute! Game wise, they've got a pair of Cestus which allows them to really add some close combat power to my force. Their basic programming will force them to rush towards the closest enemy unit but I do like the idea of the Junkers having unleashed some poorly programmed and destructive robot assault troops on their unsuspecting foes!

The Exo Suits turned out ok but I think I'd rework them if I was to make them again as they're a bit blocky but in the game, they look like they're going to be totally bad ass with a mixture of Flamers, Grape Guns and Cestus. I plan on using them to crush enemies once the lowly convicts soak up any incoming fire from the enemy.

Suicide Troopers! Every despotic sci-fi army seems to need insane fellows strapped with explosive charges to hurl themselves at the enemy and it will be interesting to see how they actually work in the game.

Enforcer! This little dude can trigger the Convict Legionnaire's Neural Spike and instantly kill them to restore order to panicked units and is somewhat akin to the Junkers version of a Commissar but I'm suspecting he's going to be more effective at lurking behind the troops than getting stuck in to the thick of it and fluff wise, he's the leader of my force.

I've really enjoyed working on this project and I suspect I'll be making some more of the tiny troops for other games or forces in the not too distant future but I really want to get back to my Rangers of Shadowdeep and Planet 28 projects so will be taking a bit of a break from tiny troops for a while to allow me to get the other odds and ends I've got in various stages of completion out of the way before moving back to it.

The eventual plan is to get enough put together to allow me to play a 750 point game of Void to properly try out the system as I'm keen to keep trying out and playing different games and this approach is allowing me to churn out a decent little army with minimal time and cost and as I've previously mentioned, I think I'll be doing more in the future for the larger scale skirmish games I have in my collection which will be great as I've got so many rulesets that I'm highly unlikely to ever get chance to play otherwise due to a combination of the figures being too expensive or hard to get or just the fact that the prospect of painting an actual army in 28mm fills me with dread!

With that in mind, I've set my sights on getting the Void project out of the way first and will then move onto either Kryomek, VOR: The Maelstrom or 40k with these tiny chaps but I've yet to settle on which one I will do.

I've got quite a few more bits and bobs that are needing photographing to put up here but I'm struggling somewhat with lighting at present, especially as our spare room is currently stowed full of stuff as we're getting work done in the flat due to water damage caused by the great flood so getting a decent set up is proving a bit of a challenge. Still I'll persevere and get the stuff up this weekend so watch this space!

Until then, All the best!

Planet 28 Kickstarter Update and Ponderings

 Hi!

Just a quick post this evening to remind folks that Nic Evans has a Kickstarter running at the moment for the 2nd edition of Planet 28 and has been posting a bit of an update about the open license he's offering for the rules and I'm rather excited to say the least!

With ten days to go, Nic has already raised over £10000 for what is shaping up to be a really exciting new edition of the game so why not head over HERE and take a peek. The lowest tier of support is £1.00 which will get you a pdf of the rules which is an absolute bargain whilst the rulebook is going to be £17.00 plus shipping which is pretty great value for a hardback!

Nic's latest post about the Open License has got me to thinking about thrashing out some details of my assorted settings, ideas and mini campaigns and having a serious think about making a mini supplement once I've got my hands on the new rules and had chance to digest them and I'm also having a bit of a ponder at trying my hand at putting together a Youtube solo play battle report or two if I can figure out the tech!

As Nic says, any creation cannot be an existing IP but there's plenty of opportunity to really develop some fascinating settings, games and characters using his rules as a framework and I'm excited to see what other folks come up with!

I'm still faffing around with my Tiny Troops but have almost finished my Junker force and will then get on with the other odds and ends I've got lying around that needs finishing so hopefully I'll have a bit more indepth of an update over the next day or two as I get some photos of the assorted figures I've painted up during the last couple of weeks and possibly even get a battle report written up but until then, All the best!

Tiny Troops: Junker Convict Legionnaires

 Hi!

I've found myself rather obsessed with making tiny troops and following a bit of pondering I've settled on throwing together a horde of Junker Convict troops so I can play a solo game of Void 1.1 in the not too distant future once I've got enough gubbins made!

I wanted to start the project with a couple of large units of Convicts as they're the bog basic choice for the Junkers of Ironglass forces.

The more of the tiny troops I make, the more quickly I get and while they're never going to be super detailed, they're giving me enough to quickly and easily make some tiny armies to play a few games in the coming months!

The basic head and body are made from Sculpey while the details are put together from EVA foam which is really easy to work with and flexible to make handy helmet crests, neck guards, arms and guns, not to mention combat shields!

Each squad consists of a sergeant with crest, flamer, thermite lancer and nine troopers and I suspect they'll get wiped out pretty quickly in any game screening more valuable troopers once I have sculpted them.

Its actually quite liberating just blasting through eight stands or 400+ plus points of troops in a single day and I'm seriously contemplating this approach for all the larger scale games I have in my collection as I think I'm going to be able to make an entire army in a single days work and while simple, they have enough recognisability for me to have an enjoyable gaming experience with them.

This approach may also get use in Epic gaming and an as yet undecided fantasy project in the future as I can see myself continuing in this obsessive tiny troop sculpting binge for some time...

Worry not though as I do plan on getting on with my Rangers of Shadowdeep project this week as I've got some hols and plan on putting it to good use by sculpting as much as I physically can for the duration as I've got tons of ideas I want to try out and these tiny troops are proving to be good to get a bit of basic sculpting practice in!

I'll see what I can finish over the course of the coming week so watch this space and until then, All the best!

Magistracy Infantry Platoon

 Hi!

I found myself a little distracted yesterday, having looked through my collection and decided to work on some more of my SD scale Battletech stuff and revisit a project that had kind of stalled out so following a bit of head scratching, I set to work on making some lowly foot sloggers for my Mechs to stomp

Now having decided to make said tiny infantry, I realised my last attempt at them had been overly complex as you can't really notice detail on small infantry figures, especially when they are going to get beaten up almost immediately so spending lots of time and effort on them seems like a wee bit of a waste!

With that in mind, I went for a simple body, head and weapon look that while simple does give the impression of a tiny infantryman and with a quick coat of paint, there we go! I went for a small 20mm round base for the figures as I felt that I larger 30mm was a bit of a waste and I can group the little guys together quite tightly to represent a mass of troops milling around.

Comparing them to the vehicles and mechs I've previously made they may be a wee bit on the big side but thats ok as they're more representative of a squad than an accurate squad of troops.

Having completed them, I'm rather pleased with how they've turned out and I'm seriously contemplating using a similar approach for my 4th edition 40k project as they're rather fun to work on so I may have a bit of a bash at putting together some sample stands of Imperial Guard, Space Marine, Eldar and Orky figures to see how they look!

My next task will be to add a fourth vehicle to my Magistracy light armour and I'm also thinking about adding some Technicals with a Periphery truck or two armed with a motley assortment of machine guns...

I've got a fair few other bits and bobs finished that need photographing but I just seem to be on a bit of a roll so will keep putting together figures and painting assorted gubbins and will try to get some games in too but in the meantime, All the best!

Planet 28 Second Edition Kickstarter!

 Hi!

Just a quick update this evening as Nic Evans has launched his new Kickstarter for Planet 28 2nd edition!

I've been a massive fan of the first edition of the rules since picking it up during the first lockdown and absolutely love the simplicity and infinite convertibility of the rules and will be backing the 2nd edition as it's going to combine the original, the three expansions and indeed revised and updated rules and if he gets enough backers, an awesome sounding supplement too!

HERE'S THE LINK TO THE KICKSTARTER

I highly recommend folks take a peek as the cheapest level of support is for the PDF for £1.00 which is an absolute bargain whilst the hardback book will be £17.00 which I'll be going for as I totally want a physical copy for my collection!

Rangers of Shadowdeep Project Log Part 3: Zombies!

 Hi!

I've finished the last of the zombies I need for the first scenario of my Rangers of Shadowdeep project:

This gives me enough stuff to play out the scenario as I have a load of giant rats and spiders done already as well as some random civilians but looking at my heroes and characters I find myself wanting to make a more varied cast of figures to choose from rather than just heavily armoured Boar Company troopers and characters.

This may mean that I've got to put off playing the first game a wee bit but I think it's going to be worthwhile in the long run as I'm really enjoying sculpting and painting my own stuff!

Speaking of which, I have been soldiering through my lead and plastic pile painting whatever odds and ends I have needing done and for the most part it's been pretty fun but I picked up one of the multipart Orks with the intention of adding to my Goff Ork warband but I found the process incredibly tedious as the figures lack character and I almost gave up. 

I'll post pictures of the warband as it grows as I do want to finish off the rest of the handful of Boyz but the more of the stuff of my own that I make and paint, the more I tempt myself to have a go at just sculpting all my own figures. Sadly this is a somewhat slower process but rather rewarding so I'll see how I get on with the next of the leadpile figures and find out if I enjoy painting it more as it may just be the more modern figures that I find tedious.

I'll try and get some more pics of the other gubbins I've been working on up tomorrow but in the meantime, All the best!

Rusty Robot Reinforcements Arrive!

 Hi!

I've been plugging away on getting lots of my older sculpts and assorted goodies from my lead and plastic pile painted up and have finished a pair of Black Tribe Rusty Robotic minions:

First up there's an Electro Grub:

Electro Grubs are simple robots that the Black Tribe make use of a scouts and sneaks at the edges of their territory. These robots are roughly snake like with a bulky and crude head mounted atop a thick, flexible column of a body that can propel the Grub through The Scrapyard at surprising speed. While not the most impressive of robots, the Grub tends to hide itself in some shadowy terrain before launching itself at any unsuspecting foe and delivering an electric shock powerful enough to short out even the largest of robots CPU.

Second we've got a heavily armed Minion:

Minions are the most commonly encountered Black Tribe robot and come in a bewildering array of weapons and gear but are universally rubbish individually and tend to use weight of numbers to make up for its lack of individual quality. This particular specimen is equipped with a pair of Rattleguns, multiple barrel and unreliable weapons that blast out a lot of short range fire when they aren't exploding spectacularly.

Here's the gang so far:

I'm really pleased with how the project is slowly shaping up and I've got a Bully and a Brute still to paint to finish them off before moving onto some more Reds!

Reds and Blacks Rumble in The Scrapyard

I've almost got enough of the little guys painted to allow me to play a decent sized game but do want to make a few more assorted robots so I can play a Gorkamorka style skirmish with the two tribes duking it out in the depths of The Scrapyard for valuable scrap!

I've also been rummaging out some of my ever increasing pike of rulebooks and am finding myself assailed with ideas and while it can be overwhelming, its also really giving me loads of ideas I'm keen to try out!

Hopefully I'll get my remaining Zombies finished for my Rangers of Shadowdeep project finished this week as well as making some more characters for my games and have loads of other bits and bobs that I'm working through so watch this space!

Until then, All the best!