Saturday 28 May 2022

Warzone Eternal Kickstarter Paused

Hi!

Sadly the Warzone Eternal Kickstarter has been paused as despite the initial funding goal being paused, support had plateaued, largely due to there not being lots of shiny stretch goals to tempt folks to back more stuff.

While I'm rather sad that the launch has been delayed, I still believe Alex and Res Nova Games are the right people to hold the license as the figures were looking spot on, the rules looked great and both Alex and Bryan are obviously passionate about the project whilst retaining the good sense not to try and promise folks the moon.

From the update Alex gave, he's been really honest, upstanding and determined that we will see Warzone, but just a bit later than we'd originally hoped. 

From my own perspective, I think that the issue was that the campaign launched before we saw the figures painted, before the rules were showcased and the lack of stretch goals stymied things somewhat. 

I'd love to have seen a full squad of the figures painted for each of the options available in the boxes and more on the setting, factions and characters who inhabit it so we could have enticed new players into the game rather than just diehard Warzoners.

Still this has been a learning experience for Res Nova and I'm sure we'll see them come back, stronger than ever and give Warzone the love it deserves as its such a great setting that allowing it to slide back into obscurity would be heartbreaking.

My TALES FROM THE WARZONE BLOG will continue running and I plan on keeping it regularly updated by delving into the setting using the 1st edition books and magazines from my collection to give more detail on the Mutant Chronicles universe.

I also plan on beginning a series of terrain building articles to allow me to create some simple terrain for each of the battlegrounds of the setting, be it the Dough Pits of Mars, the steaming jungles of the Graveton Archipelago on Venus or the warren of subterranean tunnels of Mercury. 

Hopefully it will keep folks entertained and may tempt one or two of you to take a look at Warzone Eternal as it comes closer to release!

In the meantime, All the best! 

Thursday 26 May 2022

Warzone Battle Report Sighted

 Hi!

I know I have started another blog for all things Warzone but Alex and Bryan have posted a battle report over on Youtube and I thought it was worth posting a link here as it gives a good feel for the new game.

Looking at what we can see, its just the sort of game I'm interested in. A small number of figures and a 3'x3' board. The game has a rather fun cinematic feel to it with both players being kept fully engaged throughout with lots of opportunities for reaction fire, ambushes, diving for cover and lots of nods to the original 1st edition of Warzone!

If you've got a bit of time, do nip over and take a peek at the video as its rather entertaining, especially when Alex rolls a fumble on his Blood Beret trying to light up a Necromutant who is in the open at close range, only for his LMG to go click!

In other news, I'll be uploading some pics of my latest figures that I've completed for Planet 28 but until then, All the best!

Tuesday 24 May 2022

Blogging Woes! UPDATE Problem Possibly Solved!

 Hi!

I've been blogging for about ten years now and from time to time issues crop up but I must admit that the newest updates to Blogger has resulted in me wondering if the company actually wants people to use it.

Gone is the classic interface that was easy to use, no longer can you add text boxes without having to add coding (something that I'm rubbish at!) and now I find myself unable to leave comments on not only other peoples blog but my own!

I do want to apologise for the lack of replies to all the lovely comments I've been getting here and indeed not being able able to post to anyone else.

Hopefully it will sort itself out but I've tried all the suggested fixes, such as emptying the cache and updating the browser but I must admit this is becoming rather tiresome and I'm not sure what else I can do to fix it but if anyone has any suggestions, I'd love to hear them as Tales From Farpoint has been my outlet into the hobby for a decade now and I don't really want to have to start all over again on a different platform.

All the best and apologies for the tech babble!

UPDATE!

My exceedingly talented wife got tired of me moaning about Blogger so had a look at it and has fixed the issue in about a minute flat! HUZZAH!!

Monday 23 May 2022

Warzone Eternal Blogging

 Hi!

I've been spamming my blog here with lots of Warzone stuff for a while now and have decided that I need to separate it out into its own page so I can keep sharing the love for all things Warzone without clogging up this page which will continue with lots of Planet 28 and other randomness.

I know it can be a pain to follow lots of different pages, especially as I have about a dozen of them scattered around the net but I'm hoping to expand the Warzone one to be a bit of a community effort once the game is launched so feel it deserves a separate page to attract fans of The Mutant Chronicles setting and Warzoners in particular. 

If you fancy nipping over for a gander, please click the image below which will whisk you off to the Second Corporation Wars! Its completely unofficial and without backing from the chaps over at Res Nova but I felt the need to support them in what small way I can!


In the meantime, All the best!


Wednesday 18 May 2022

Planet 28 Additions!

  Hi!

I've been slowly working my way through some of the assorted gubbins that I've had sat for some time now and have finally got round to taking a couple of quick pics of progress thus far!

Assorted Characters

Viktor Ironhand

Viktor is a mercenary working on the fringes of Imperial space and has been known to team up with Rosario from time to time. He has undergone extensive cybernetic augmentation during his career, having had subdermal armour, muscle enhancement and numerous other, not quite legal upgrades which has resulted in him being almost impossible to kill but rather unhinged. 

Armed with a combat rifle for ranged work and the eponymous cybernetic fist, Viktor has skirted Imperial law for over a decade and will work for anyone who can provide him with the creds to keep his self appointed task of perfecting his cybernetic addiction funded.

Viktor is originally a Syntha Marine available from Seb Games.

Venerable Jorge

The Venerable Jorge is a tech cult cogitator of some renown in the Farpoint sector, both for his zeal for collecting long forgotten technical readouts and manuscripts and having absolutely no sense of humour. 

Having much of his brain replaced with a computer has resulted in the Venerable Jorge having a dull and monotonous voice which drones on in a near constant monologue, reciting long forgotten creeds and exultations. He is however invaluable to his employers due to his encyclopaedic knowledge of all things tech who are willing to put up with his mildly senile ramblings if it means gleaning useful technical data.
 
The Venerable Jorge is not above peeping through windows...

I sculpted Jorge as a bit of an experiment to see if I could use Fimo to create a miniature quickly and easily and while he's ok, the medium doesn't really lend itself to making the sort of figure I was hoping for but he's done and despite his massive, misshapen head and somewhat wonky details, I quite like him and I can imagine the Vernerable Jorge turning up in quite a few games in the future!
 
Lance Corporal Braithwaite of the Praetorian XV

Lance Corporal Braithwaite is currently retained in Inquisitor Fisher's retinue after she discovered he was a decent sort who could be trusted in a scrape and could brew a miraculous cup of refreshing tea. Originally a member of the Praetorian XV light infantry, Braithwaite is a perfect example of a proper Imperial Guardsman, full of Moral Fibre and tea.

Braithwaite is from an issue of Wargames Illustrated where they gave away a free sprue of British troops from I believe the Warlord Games Zulu range and I still have another three to paint at some point. I added a tiny bit of greenstuff to give him proper armoured shoulderpads and rather like him. Game wise, he comes equipped with a flask of refreshing tea which, when consumed, revives the drinker and restores D6 wounds.

Ramirez the Hive Ganger

Ramirez is a member of one of Freeport Cities many hive gangs, the Yellow Kings whose home turf is the Heights, a slum area to the north of the city and notorious for both its high crime and poor building regulations.

Ramirez is typical of the hive gangs, prepared to meet out violence to those who oppose his fellow gangers and fiercely loyal to his kin. Unsurprisingly the Yellow Kings are currently under Imperial scrutiny as their illegal activities have come to the attention of the newly bolstered Frontier Marshals office and security patrols of the Governor General have begun the thankless task of clearing the Heights of its more unseemly elements.

Ramirez is a classic Orlock Ganger from the original Necromunda set and I really enjoyed painting him up, despite his lack of a neck and massive feet!

Hub Jub the Gretchin

Hub Jub is a lowly Grot who survives at the edge of Imperial and Orkish society. He is both sneaky and underhanded but is rather adept with his autogun so sometimes desperate employers will hire his dubious services. 

Hub Jub is a classic Gretchin from the 40k 2nd edition box that I had cut the helmet spike off. Despite the simplicity of the sculpt, I do rather enjoy painting these little guys from time to time and will eventually finish all of them!

Hopefully I'll have a few more characters painted up for the next update and we shall see what exciting things happen with the Warzone Eternal kickstarter which has already reached its funding goal after less than 24 hours but in the meantime,

All the best!

Tuesday 17 May 2022

Warzone Eternal Kickstarter Is Go!

 Hi!

Exciting news this evening as the Res Nova Warzone Eternal kickstarter is live and already halfway to funding on its first day!


Concentrating on a small skirmish level game with a core rulebook and a box for each of the megacorporations as well as the insidious forces of Algeroth, its really exciting to see Warzone and the Mutant Chronicles making a welcome return!


It's a really focused and modest goal that Res Nova have set themselves so there's not going to be any mad stretch goals and tons of bargains, just enough to get the game up and running and I love this realistic target as its much more likely to mean that Warzone gets going and getting figures into peoples hands.







Thus far, we've got renders of the basic figures on the Kickstarter page but we've already seen some of the painted examples over on the Warzone Eternal page and there's going to be loads of pictures and a battle report posted up on the Kickstarter page over the next few days and I can't wait to see what Res Nova has planned!



To top it off, backers within the first 48 hours will get a free mini campaign called the Graveton Protocol so why not head over and take a peek and help Warzone rise shiny and chrome!

The Link can be found HERE TO THE KICKSTARTER and I'm hoping to be able to post updates as we get them and eventually some of my own battle reports and painting articles as the miniatures and rules become available!

In the meantime, All the best!


Saturday 14 May 2022

Tiny Troops

 Hi!

Just a quick post on my lunchbreak before heading back into work. I've finally got round to finishing off some Tiny Troop Viridians that I started a while back.


I still need to add some more heavy weapon teams and scouts to round out the force somewhat but I'm getting close to having enough to play a game or two of Void which is quite exciting! 

I've got plans to sculpt enough stuff for each faction to cover all the troop types from the original blue Void book before moving onto the Battles With Miniatures supplements which should keep me entertained for some time to come and allow for a decent sized campaign to be played using tiny troops and a pinboard sized gaming surface. 

Viridian's battle Junkers on a distant frontier planet

I'm also trailing using some of my EVA playmat foam to make some stylised hills but with mixed results as I may need to hot glue gun two levels together to get them to stop warping and give sufficient height but we shall see how things go!

I've also got some new additions to my Planet 28 collection finished which I'll showcase in the next day or two before cracking on with some more gubbins that I'm thinking of having a bash at in the coming months but until then, All the best!

Friday 6 May 2022

Personal Challenge Update

 Hi!

Just a quick update this morning as we're off to the Lake District for a wedding so I'll not have chance to update until next week and I figured it was high time I updated my Personal Challenge project log!


First up, I've managed to grab myself an incomplete copy of 2nd edition 40k for the princely sum of £2.99. It's got Codex Imperialis, Wargear in perfect nick and lots of the templates, cards and whatnot from both the original box set and Dark Millennium. There's still lots of odds and ends to source including the original rulebook but as it's a slow burn project, I'm not too bothered as I'll pick up the stuff I need when I see them.

As I've already mentioned, I've been slowly basing up the cardboard ruins from the original box and they made a bit of an appearance in the battle report in my last blog post:

They're based on mounting card with EVA foam used to make the stone slabs and a bit of green flock to match the green tables of yore. I've still got loads more of the terrain to finish but I must admit its pretty tedious but I'll complete it when I can. I used a grey artists marker to go over the white edges of the cardboard which does improve the look somewhat too.

Figures wise, I already have a load of the original mono pose Orks and Gretchin from the original set that I traded a chap in Singapore some old plastic Battletech stuff many moons ago and while I don't have the original 20 Orks or 40 Gretchin, I've got enough to keep me entertained and create a decent sized Ork warband.


I'm supplementing the originals with some of the newer plastics which I've had lying around for ages (the older stuff is far more fun to paint by the by!)

As for the forces of the Imperium, I've already painted up some of the EM-4 Miniatures Space Rangers that are nice and cheap and have the same monopose charm as the old Space Marines so will be painting some more when I get the chance to flesh out my two squads of Marines.

Having progressed thus far, I must admit that I have mixed feelings about the project. On the one hand, its been great fun and reminding me of those nostalgic days of the 90's when I was playing 2nd edition at my friends at high school but on the other hand, I'm also beginning to wonder if I should select a different game as an army focus.

Games Workshop has a huge following and 2nd edition has been seeing fresh love from many quarters of both the Oldhammer community and Youtubers alike but there are so many other great games that nobody plays with fascinating forces that were great fun back when they were released but now largely forgotten apart from by nerds like me who still pore over the old books and have the odd miniature for sitting painted in the cabinet. What about bringing some notice to these fine games that are sadly gone but still worthy of a bit of love?

A fraction of my rulebook collection

I'm not sure what to do at the moment as I do wish to get my solo 2nd edition challenge completed but think I may modify it somewhat so I end up with a painted approximation of the original game so I can play some retro 40k when I want but at the same time feel that once I have that objective done, I want to move onto looking at doing something similar with other games that have fallen by the wayside.

Tiny Void Junker Troops

With this in mind, I've been cracking on with my tiny troops Void painting and have got enough stuff painted up to play a game or two so will post a battle report and review of Void when I get back from my mini holiday and with the tiny troops it will at least be a visual representation of the game rather than using counters which is always more pleasing.


Moving forward, I think I'm going to construct tiny troops for each of my long forgotten games so that I can showcase how each plays and if any really catches my imagination, I aim to paint up a squad or two of a force from them and incorporate them into my own reimagined Imperium so that the amazing creativity of the original game designers, artists and sculptors who produced them can live on in spirit and once again these long lost games will see use!

I've got an entire shelf of rulebooks of old and forgotten games, newer indie stuff and file after file of PDF's for games that really deserve some love so we shall see what I can come up with in the coming months and I've also got 2nd edition of Planet 28 to look forward to which is fast becoming my game of choice and allowing me to incorporate all the old and random figures in my ramshackle collection into small warbands that are getting regular use.

I guess I've rambled on enough and really should be getting on with the more important job of packing the car so until next time, All the best and if there's an old game you'd like to see featured in tiny troop battle, give me a shout and I'll see what I can do!

Monday 2 May 2022

Skirmish On New Viridia

 Hi!

I figured it was high time that I actually posted a bit of an actual hobby update so spent a bit of time this evening playing a quick skirmish using some home brewed rules and featuring a squad of Viridian Assault Marines skirmishing with a Goff warband for control of an abandoned outpost on New Viridia.

The Setup

New Viridia is a megacorporate owned planet that consists of untamed rainforests and large, warm oceans. Settled at great expense by the Viridian Megacorp, it has been used to harvest all manner of rare plants and other compounds for the pharmaceutical sector as well as targeted mining for rare earth minerals and also contains several large farming and fishing franchises all under Viridian control. 

Recently several isolated outposts have gone quiet and when a garbled call for help arrived from one such settlement, the Viridian security force dispatched some Assault Marines by VTOL deployment to secure the site and destroy whatever force was responsible for the raid. 

Upon arrival, the Viridian force found the settlement in ruins, bodies of settlers strewn around the site showing obvious signs of brutal violence and several Ork glyphs daubed on the few buildings that remained standing and as the marines began to sweep the settlement, their scanners recorded incoming blips from the north.

The scenario sees the Viridian troops tasked with driving the  Orks from the settlement while securing as many buildings as they could. In return, the Orks only objective is to wipe out the humies and carry off their loot to their encampment.

The Forces


The Viridian force consisted of a combat squad of three power armoured Assault Troopers armed with blasters, one heavy blaster and led by a sergeant with a power sword and plasma pistol. 


The Ork force consisted of two squads of four Orks led by a Nob and a squad of five Gretchin. The Orks had blast pistols and axes while the Nobs had power weapons and Kombi Blasters (potentially potent but possibly useless depending on a random dice roll each time they were fired) whilst the Grots had a mixture of swords, clubs and a few rusty Autoguns.

The Viridian's would be badly outnumbered but have better arms, equipment and training but would that prove to be enough against a larger Orky onslaught?

The Game


The Viridian's seized the initiative and while the heavy weapon trooper and his number two took up position on the scrap pile in the centre of their deployment zone, the sergeant led his two remaining troops towards the ruins on the east of the settlement.

Bellowing foul Orkish oaths and battlecries, the Ork troops began rushing forward blazing away enthusiastically with their guns, keen to get to grips with the hated humies.


Fire from the heavy weapon trooper in the first few turns saw the lead mob pinned next to a building and after taking ineffective fire from the Gretchin, blasted three of the diminutive greenskins to pulp and sending the survivors running back towards their own deployment zone.


Unfortunately, this distraction allowed the second Ork mob to sweep around from cover and assault the Viridian's in the ruins to the east. 



This assault saw the two troopers cut down by the larger Ork force and while the sergeant fought bravely and succeeded in slaying the mobs Nob, he too was eventually dragged down by the remaining Orks.


Realising their predicament, the heavy weapon trooper and his comrade atop the scrap pile blazed away at the until now pinned Ork mob but bellowing curses, the Nob in command managed to shrug off the intense fire and lead his underlings forward with a roared WAAARGH! The Viridian troops managed to fell one charging Ork but the Nobs surprisingly effective Kombi Blaster managed to vaporise the heavy weapon trooper at which point the remaining trooper fled to the LZ to escape the greenskin onslaught that had killed the rest of his squad.

Conclusion

The game was rather fun and it was great to spend 45 minutes playing with my figures and getting an actual skirmish in. I must admit I expected the Viridian's to do a bit better so next time may reinforce them with a few more troopers to bulk up the force. The Orks on the other hand were brilliant and played in suitably Orky style by charging headlong into their foes and krumping them.

I'll need to get some more stuff painted so I can play some more slightly larger scale skirmishes as they're great fun and may even add a small vehicle or two to the mix to see how things go!

Hopefully I'll have chance to play another skirmish or two in the coming weeks but until then, All the best!