Antares: Striking Colors for Strike Troopers

Been able to get a bit of progress on my new paint scheme for my Strike Troopers.  Feel like this ties in nicely with the other pieces that I've already done.

Strike troopers supported a C3D1 drone and its batter drone

I also did some more detailing to the backs of the troopers just to break it up and add a bit of something to their scheme.

Little touches like that along with the black lining that I did on some of the armor really made them pop more than they did.  I've also done similar with my various drones, picking out their propulsion systems with the same blue "glow".

Rear view of the C3D1...

...and the spotter and batter buddy drones.

I still have more Strike troopers and the support team crews to do, but once those are out of the way I'm thinking it's time to finally get my NuHu into the que.  I had started her months ago but really wasn't happy with the direction she was heading so I set her aside.  Thinking this incorporating the new scheme along with some nice orange/red paints that I picked up will make her pop.

Of course with the release of Frostgrave 2nd edition this might be going on hold for a little bit.  My LGS is supposed to have my copy by Saturday and then it's time to start painting my new warband, but more on them later.  Until next time...

Antares: New Colors for the Concord

I had "finished" painting my Concord troops months ago but I was never really that thrilled with them.  The Strike Troopers were okay but once the paint scheme was scaled up to my light support drones and especially the T7 transport... it was just kinda blah.

Then this past weekend I had a bolt of inspiration and so far I'm really liking the change.  Introducing the new colors for the Concord shard of Bastion!

The changes were pretty simple really but I think that they make the model pop more.  The black detailing offsets the light grey nicely and I'm quite happy with how the suspensors turned out.  I might have been aggressive with what I painted up as a suspensor as well but my thoughts are the smaller ones on the fins are for finer control.  Don't know if that was the intention when Warlord designed the model but I like how it looks so I'm gonna run with that.

I've also updated the scheme on the light drones as well.  Again, a very simple change but I think it is much more effective as it makes them more interesting visually.

I still need to go over the grey on these to match it up with the T7 but that should be a quick fix.  Then it's on to the Strike Troopers and weapon crews!  I still need to figure out how exactly I'm going to bring the new scheme across to them but I've got some ideas floating around already, and I'm excited to see how they look!  Until next time...

Antares: A Privateer's Life For Me!

While the blog has been very quiet lately, I have been able to squeeze in some hobby.  In fact I had typed up this post back in the end of March but there was one mini that wasn't painted so I put it on hold... and then forgot about it.  Naturally, since that was over two months ago, the miniature in question still isn't painted.  No shocker there!  Still, I have included a work in progress photo so that these long neglected minis can finally see the light of day... on the internet...

Back when the lockdown started, I was thankfully able to transition to working from home so things pretty much continued on as usual except I needed to dig out the "office" (aka storage room) and actually make it a functional space.  While doing that I was also able to get a hobby station set up which let me finish off my Ghar Exile armored suits and also led to a new idea; a privateer force for Antares.

The privateer rules are in the supplement The Drone Scourge Returns and give you access to quite an eclectic mix of units.  While the core is either Freeborn or Boromite, there is a lot of flexibility to incorporate other units into the mix.  There are some limitations (you won't find Ghar outcasts holding hands with Algoryn AI troops for example), but overall there is a ton of room to explore and that I am doing.

Since I got into the hobby over thirty years ago (as mind boggling a thought as that is...), I have collected quite a number of minis.  Not as many as some since I had a number of years off in the intervening time but still there is quite an eclectic mix of minis floating around in my collection.  Of course most of it has never even been primed so this seemed like the perfect opportunity plus it gave me a truly unique ragtag band of sell swords.

Leading my privateer band are a trio of beings in hyperlight armor (the fancy version of powered armor in my mind).  The leader is Aa'Jae Craullee, one of my Traahiri mercenaries armed with a compression rifle.  Backing him up are two more beings equipped with plasma carbines and a spotter drone.

I would like to include more drones but given the point limit I'm aiming for, this is a good start.  On a modeling note, I also might swap out the bodyguard rifles from assault rifles to actual plasma carbines but for now I'm calling them good.

Next up is the first of my privateer squads (aka Freeborn Domari).  This motley crew is led by a notorious smuggler, arms dealer, and all around bad guy Ab-duul Goll Steen armed with a mag pistol, backed up by four troops with mag rifles, one trooper with an oversized micro-X launcher, and a cobbled together spotter drone.

Rounding out the tactical choices is another privateer squad equipped the same as the first, this time lead by survivor of the Ghar-Ghar conflict in the Mel system uprising, Pa Pa'smerff.

The carbon copied domari squads keep the points down and give a good base to build from, either by expanding them in the future or bringing in new units to give the force more options on the battlefield.

Last but not least is a support option.  While it's not required at this point level I'd like to throw in something different just to keep the list interesting.  Originally I was going to do this with a support team to give the force a bit more bang for it's buck but instead I decided to push the envelope a bit further.  Introducing the latest in aftermarket T7 knockoff transporters, Ly-tng McQ33N.

Still some more painting to do on this one but you get the idea.

Of course points are tight for the list so this is a pretty stripped down transport.  To give it some teeth, it is equipped with a mag light support and the machine intelligence has been enhanced as well but that's it.  Without the typical array of supporting drones this is a risky investment but I really want to field one and I think it rounds out the list nicely.

Coming in at 493 points, this will make an interesting force to field against one of my more typical Antares armies and its given me a reason to put some paint onto minis that I've neglected for years.  All in all, I definitely call that a win, even if they probably don't stand a chance on the table. Until next time...

Antares: Starting LIfe as a Ghar in Exile

I have had my Ghar minis sitting on my desk for a while as I've agonized over their paint scheme.  I had decided to go with just bare metal since the Ghar are only concerned with war.  Why not simply churn out the warmachines and send them out as is?  It kept feeling like there needed to be more though but the question was what.

As I mulled this over, my Ghar collection continued to expand like a gremlin that got wet which is when the Antares Facebook group started talking about Ghar Rebels and Exiles.  This got the gears going but it was the Mandolorian that finally sealed the deal.  After watching a few episodes, I sat down with some Menoth white base and started painting in panels on one of my assault suits.  I hit it with a wash of seraphim sepia, painted a couple of panels different colors to make it look more ramshackle...  and now I'm working on painting up my first armored trooper squad.

I'm really happy with how they are turning out and since I took this picture, I've been working on five more armored suits, a couple of outcast disruptor cannon teams, and ordered a set of rebel outcasts to mix into my outcast squads for a bit of variety.

One of the questions for me now is what I'm going to do with my command crawler.  In the Exile list the command crawler has fewer options available and even looses Command, Follow, and Leader but its still a beast of a machine.  Ultimately, I think I'll have to figure out a what kind of cap I want to look at for my list and then build accordingly but for now I'm just going to aim for 750 as a good starting point.  Planning to get a chunk of that completed next week and then there will be more pictures.  Until next time...

Workbench: Spearmen, Space Barrels, and Some Gardening Too!

More progress on the painting challenge but things have been going... a bit... slower...

I've started work on the spearmen that I had drybrushed and I've gotten half of them painted already.

I decided to split knight army up a little bit to add some flavor to the whole thing.  The soldiers in blue are the affiliated with the Crown and will form the core of my army.

In addition to these core troops, one of the two leaders for the army will be Baudric the Red (aka Lord Hawthorne from the Daqan forces of Runewars).

His set comes with a mounted figure and one on foot which will give me some options in the army as well.  Baudric is definitely the more imposing of the two figures so if I field the full army, then he will move into the champion slot.  Beside Baudric is one of the mounted knights that will accompany him, plus I will be painting up a unit of spearmen in his colors as well.

The next items are terrain pieces.  Nothing too fancy but I'm excited to have them to add into the mix.  What are they?

Spaaaaaace barrels!!!  (this is a call out to Table Top Warlords YouTube channel... check them out if you haven't already!)  I'll admit that I have no idea what Kevin made his out of but I made mine from assorted plastic bottle lids hot glued together, then painted.  Quick and easy!

Last but not least, I added some detailing to my plant terrain.  Originally I was going for quick and easy so I didn't bother with any ground cover.  Well, I decided that it was time to change that up so I hit Michael's and grabbed some lichen.

This is just a sample of but you at least get the idea.  It's just a minor touch but I really like how it added some realism and depth to the pieces.  I've been holding off on setting up my full terrain board since I'm going to be bouncing rooms again soon but once I'm in a more permanent location, I'll have to see what I can do.  Still more to do this month but this is a good start for this month!  Until next time...

Workbench: And the Painting Continues!

January is wrapping up and I've made great headway with my painting challenge!  I posted earlier that I was up to 21 minis painted but I've blown past that all the way up to 33!  On top of that, I even made a cheap little "light box" so I can take some better pictures of my minis as I go along.  So without further ado, let's see what I've gotten done!

After picking up my tectorists, I had to grab the next mini that has been on my radar ever since it came out; the Hukk bounty hunter for Gates of Antares.  In addition to the hunter himself, the blister also comes with three angkriz hunting beasts.

These take up a tactical slot and operate together as a unit.  They can also be used by all of the factions, including the Ghar due to their alien nature.  The unit is highly customizable (as long as you have the points that is)  and gives you number of options for the models to go with him.  In my case, I maxed out his drone compliment, giving him a spotter, medi-probe, and two shield drones.

The trickiest thing about these minis is figuring out what to paint which color.  These are completely alien beasties so it really is just up to your imagination.  For mine, I decided to paint the hunter and beasts with bone colored carapaces, while the skin tones are similar to the one paint scheme that Warlord has shown for these critters.  As for the drones, these were an open canvas as well.  Since these are buddy drones that the hunter has picked up over time, it really opens up the palette for them.  I even custom built one of the shield drones just so they would look more ramshackle.

And next is the first mini for my Warlords of Erewhon knight army.  I was originally looking at going with an undead army but it sounds like they're pretty popular at the store (go figure) so the knights were a good second option.

These minis are some of the Daqan outland scouts from the now defunct Runewars game by FFG.  In addition to this set of minis, I also grabbed not one but two core sets so I've got a bunch of minis to work with.  There are a few more figures that I need to pick up to round things out but by the end I should have two full armies for a discount price which is always a plus in my book.

For next month, I've already got a head start as I have 16 Daqan spearmen already drybrushed just waiting for paint so I should be able to push through those really quick.  Of course the Antares Facebook group is trying to distract me with talk about running Zona Alfa reskinned with an Antares flavor.  This sounds like an amazing idea and has me thinking of the possibilities of sci-fi/pulp adventures.  Must stay strong and focus... argh!!!  Until next time... unless I get lost in some long abandoned research station looking for the lost arc of the Concord.  Wish me luck!

Workbench: Ghar and Algoryn and Distortion, Oh My!

(Just a quick note...  I took pictures of these minis again with my highly advanced, extremely expensive light box.  Yeah, it's made out of a cardboard box, some duct tape, and a sheet of printer paper.  Really advanced, let me tell ya!  Anyway, these are cleaner pics so I thought I'd update this post but nothing else has changed.  And now back to our regularly scheduled Dispatch already in progress...)

As I mentioned previously, I have been making some good headway with the  2020 Painting Challenge.  I was going to wait until the month was finished and just do all of my minis in a massive update but I've also had very little time for the blog since I've been painting... and watching the Office.  Damn you Tim!

But I digress...

Instead of waiting, I've decided that I should post them as I go since I am painting units at a time.  Far more efficient plus it makes it easier to maintain the same color scheme when it's fresh in your mind.  So without further ado, here is the start of my Painting Challenge!

For my first ones out of the gate I had to go with my brand new Ghar tectorists.  I've wanted to add these to my Ghar army for a while now but I haven't been able to pick any up until earlier this month.

These troops act as probes for the Ghar forces, scouring the battlefield for enemy targets and helping their own troops rain disruptor death on them!  Mechanically this lets a Ghar unit reroll one miss if there is one or more Tectorists within 15".  Always a handy thing plus I really like the models.

In addition to the tectorists, I also decided to slap some paint onto one of my spare order dice (Which I forgot to include in the picture.  Oops!  I'll be sure to post a pic of it later).  This is a special die that is used when there are Ghar forces on the table.  The archaic technology highly unstable and even distorts time itself!  In the game, you are supposed to add one unique die to the bag with the other order dice, making the distortion effect a result of the order die pull in the turn which I think is a good way to handle it.  And since it is supposed to be a unique die, I decided to kick it up a bit and paint it like I've painted the plasma reactors on my battle suits.

Next I decided to hop factions and finish some of my unit options for my Algoryn.  Even with all the troops that I've previously painted, for some reason I just never got to the rest of the spotter drones so it was time to amend that.

As with the tectorists, spotter drones also allow rerolls but unlike the Ghar troops, these little robots hang out with their assigned unit.  In the case of these four, the three in green are for my x-launcher teams and mag cannon while the more traditional red is for my assault squad.

And speaking of the mag cannon, I finally finished painting up this imposing piece of support weaponry.

The mag cannon only rolls a single die when it fires but if it hits... well, if it was a person, they are now pink mist and vehicles won't fare much better.  Not only does it pack a massive punch, its maximum range is 100 inches!  Of course you still need line of sight but that's still an insane range for a table top miniature game... until you look at the next one.

This is the first of my two x-launcher teams.  Unlike the mag cannon, the x-launcher doesn't need line of sight if you have spotter drones that can see your target.  This lets you hide them behind cover and still lob shells down on the enemy.  This is also one of the few weapons that has five optional ammo types besides it regular explosive round.

And when you consider that you can lob these shells up to 120"...  Sure, you might not hit but just the threat is enough to make your opponent take notice!

With all these extra troops fighting for Algor, it was only fitting to command squad so they can lead them all into battle.

Unlike regular AI troopers, the command squad is equipped with the slightly more potent plasma carbines.  These have slightly less range that a standard mag gun but make up for it with two modes of fire, one with better penetration while the other has a higher rate of fire.

I also decided that it was time to change up the scheme on my AI troopers as well and repainted their shoulder pads so they had the traditional red.

I think this ties them in better with my assault troopers and its also easier than doing the tribal pattern on each shoulder.  I am thinking about going back and doing a different mark for each squad as well but one step at a time.

And that's what I have so far!  21 minis not including the repaints but there is more to come soon, hopefully with some better lighting if I can remember to grab a light from home.  So there might be more pics of these guys in better light as well but fear not... the Hukk is coming.  Until next time...

Workbench: It's Harvest Time!

I sat down and cracked out some more terrain pieces and the outpost is really coming together.

In particular I like how the farms have turned out.

The crops are mounted in groups on bases so they can be removed to make positioning minis easier.  I was going to mount the plants individually but decided that doing rows of plants would be more easier to make and move around as well.

I also finished the roofs for the small and large hab units which really tied these pieces together nicely.  I'm still debating on signage for them but for now they are good.

Speaking of signs, I did put the Porta-Mat sign on the back of the transmat and then dirtied it up some.  A pretty minor thing but I like how it breaks up the flat surface on the backside.

Of course you can't have a farm without having an old farm truck.

Nothing too fancy but I thought it would be a fun touch.  On the back is one of the storage containers I'll be putting together.  For those who might not recognize it, it's the case that replacement blades for a Harry's razor come in.  I had been thinking about adding some plastic card to it but I might just slap a coat of paint on it to see how it looks.

I still have some more buildings to get painted but I'm going to finish those off next week.  That said I really like how it is all coming together from a visual point of view and the overall density of the cover as well.  Having things to break up line of sight is important in Antares and I'm looking forward to push around some miniatures again soon.

I need to pick up some storage totes to better store and transport my pieces but then I'll be shifting gears back to working on my minis.  It's been a couple of months now but I think that this has been a really good break for me.  Now the question is which faction should to look to expand first...  Until next time...

Workbench: Beam Me Up Imtel!

Short week this time but I was able to throw together the transmat for my outpost.  I was even able to get some paint on it as well.  Behold the latest tool for the up and coming colony outpost, the Porta-Mat!

I followed through with the cargo container concept (it's the new C3 everybody!) but this time there was a slight twist.  Instead of having it as a refurbished container, my idea was that this unit could be dropped onto a planet and quickly unfolded into a functional transmat.

I have also picked out the "crop" for my container fields but I left some of my materials back at home so those will have to wait until next week.  Slow but steady progress is still progress after all.  Until next time...

Workbench: Babylon Binge And The Outpost

This week has been all about Babylon 5 and working on my outpost.  Normally I think I'd feel guilty about sitting down and watching a 23 episode season of a TV series in three nights but this time, I feel like I've been really productive.  In fact, here is what I've done this week for my Antares outpost.

The outpost buildings along with other terrain pieces I've been working on.

As can be seen, I still need to get paint onto most of the pieces but they are all fully constructed complete with roofs.  As I've mentioned before, there are no interiors for these buildings but I should be able to make some modular units that I can slide into the units if I really wanted to.  Thankfully the rules for buildings in Antares are kind of abstract so the interiors aren't needed.

Beyond the buildings that I've already touched on, I came up with couple of new pieces in the form of a contained field of crops.

Some friendly Ghar coming in town for the farmer's market.

I'd originally seen these as going onto the second level of one of my hab clusters but for now I'm using them as free standing pieces.  I also added a piece of foam core along the bottom of that I can use for "soil" although it would be easy enough to swap it out for another function as well.  Ultimately all of the hab modules are meant to be... well, modular.  The idea is that they can be positioned in a number of different layouts and environs.  Really trying to maximize how functional it is.  It's going to be an extended long weekend for me, but I'll have to see how much I get painted once I get back out here.  Until next time...

Workbench: Two Habs And A Landing Pad

I was able to get some more work done on the outpost and though its been slow and steady, I really like how it's pulling together.  The changes that I made splitting the adhesive foam sheets along the corners is working well.  I'd been concerned about the gap between the joins in the foamcore being an issue but it has been working out very well.  As I mentioned, hot gluing it would be an option so that I could keep the foam sheet in one piece but its one that I'd prefer to avoid if possible.  So far so good, but I still plan on pacing myself so I can adjust my methods as I move forward.

Though a transmat will form the hub of the outpost, it only makes sense to have a landing pad as a backup and it's also a nice visual element.  I'd thought about leaving the surface of the pad plain but it covers such a large area so I'm glad that I decided to break it up instead.  It would be easy enough to put some scatter terrain such as crates on it but the seams and repairs on it help to keep the surface visually more interesting.  The platform itself is also raised up on a hill and the barrier along the edge gives cover, making it a good objective or defensive position.

I also put together most of a second extra hab pod.  For this design, I decided to go with a longer pod and place the door in the side of the unit instead of the end.  Overall I'm really happy with how it turned out though I still need to add a roof.  Eventually I will probably add more details but for now it gives me a very serviceable building to add to the board.

The warehouse/hanger and a second long hab unit are still in progress but as I mentioned before I'm trying to refine my methods on each piece instead of rushing in headlong.  In the past I've gotten too ambitious and found that my methods weren't working as I'd hoped, ultimately discouraging me and then I just walk away from the whole project in frustration.  Going with this slower route, its letting me identify and correct problems as I go.  This is definitely more time consuming but I feel like the end results are really paying off.  Until next time...

Workbench: Slightly Delayed Small Hab Update

(Dispatcher note: This post was supposed to go up on the 23rd... so I left it with that date.  There is more coming soon. Enjoy!)

As I feared, the adhesive on the foam sheet wasn't strong enough to hold on the corners.  It was an easy fix as I just pulled back the foam along the length of it and hit it with a quick shot of hot glue.  Definitely stuck now though I've changed my methods on my next piece, but first...

Here is the painted small hab, complete with roof even!  I'm thinking I might go back and hit it with some graffiti or other markings but for now its usable.

I just left the interior as a gaping black void but with the abstract way that units in buildings are handled in Antares, this shouldn't be an issue.  That said, I think it would be pretty easy to add a removable interior if I wanted to but that can wait for now.

Overall I'm happy with the design and they have been fairly easy to pull together.  I still have a number more to make for my Freeborn outpost (maybe half a dozen or so?) but I think they will look pretty cool once they're done.  As an added plus, I'm going to be leaving them separate pieces so they will be very flexible for terrain set up.

To go back to the changing method that I mentioned before, I decided to try cutting the bent plates along the edges into two pieces instead of wrapping it around.  Given the gap along the edges, I was worried about how well they would adhere but so far it has been working fairly well.  No pics yet but either later this week or next I will have at least a grey dry brush on it which will make the details easier to see instead of the matte black foamcore.  Until next time...

Workbench: Small Hab Detailed And Base Coated! Huzzah!

Over the weekend I grabbed some of the adhesive foam sheets I'd mentioned last week and got to work on adding some details.  The material is just the right thickness that it adds some depth to the structure without being too exaggerated.

I am concerned about how well the adhesive will hold on some of the pieces so I'll have to take a look tomorrow to see if there is any lifting.  Even if there is, the fix is to just hit it with a hot glue gun but I'm hoping that the regular adhesive is going to be strong enough to do the job.  Even so, I'm not the patient sort so I threw some paint onto the small hab unit to see how it took and I'm really liking it so far.

The structure is much easier to see with some paint on there to give contrast.  I was also able to skip the step of undercoating anything by just using black materials which made the whole process much faster.

I am going to go back and add some more painted details to this piece to give it a little more personality but structurally it is good to go... well, except for the roof of course.  Very basic compared to work by other people but I think it will do the job nicely and ties in well with the style for the rest of my terrain.  Beyond this piece, I have also started finishing off the landing pad and warehouse though I want to see how the adhesive holds before I get too carried away with them.  More on those later this week.  Until next time...

Workbench: Building A New Frontier

Tuesday I read through an interesting article on the Antares Nexus about the different architectural styles common to the various factions.  I'd read this before but this time it really clicked for me. Within fifteen minutes I had an idea for a Freeborn outpost and within half an hour I had already started sketches and construction.

The basic idea for the outpost was somewhat inspired by the idea of Mos Shuuta from the Edge of the Empire adventure, Long Arm of the Hutt.  For those not familiar, Mos Shuuta is basically the base of operations for one of the lesser known Hutts, Teemo the Hutt.  The town itself is a small compound with Teemo's palace, a couple of docking bays, and a small town that has grown around these.  With that kind of an image in mind, I quickly sketched out a rough layout for my own Freeborn outpost.

In this case the center of the outpost would be an open plaza with a transmat in the very center.  This space would serve several functions within the outpost, from being a market for goods to a rallying point for troops.  Arrayed around this space are the rest of the structures, providing shelter from the elements and acting as a barrier to protect the transmat.  As a backup for moving goods and people in and out of the outpost, there is also a large raised landing platform.

This pad is large enough to accommodate a shuttle and also has a wall around its perimeter, allowing it to also function as a defensive position.  Construction of this piece was very simple since it is basically a flat surface but I also decided to add the ramp and exterior walls just to make it more interesting visually.  There are also some details made from off cuts that I used to decorate the edge of the wall just to give it a bit more of a pop.

The next building I decided to tackle was the warehouse/hanger.  This is another large structure that also features a large door in the front to allow cargo or even vehicles to be moved in or out of it.

The largest vehicle I own currently is the C3T7 and that fits through with room to spare so I think that most of the other vehicles should be able to fit through as well.  Again I grabbed some of the interesting off cuts that I had lying around after cutting out the pieces and used those to add some surface details to the structure.

With those two major features out of the way, I decided to focus on some of the habitation modules I would use in the outpost.  The concept is that most of the buildings are basically repurposed pods which made things easy once I worked up a basic design concept.

In addition to being used for the hab centers, I am also going to build a couple of the larger units to use as domari and vardinari barracks.

The final piece for the outpost (other than the transmat of course) will be the manor house of the vard.  This will be the largest piece in the outpost and will have multiple levels as well, making it the defensive heart of the outpost.  This one is still more of a concept at the moment but I am going to follow the container theme that I have been carrying through, just making it a bit more elaborate is all.

So far I'm happy with how these are coming out though there is the issue of the seams between the plates.  I tried using hot glue to fill the valleys but once they dried they became quite concave.  Instead I want to pick up some adhesive foam sheets to use for various details, in particular as angle pieces running along those corners.  That should make them look a lot cleaner structurally and using the foam should let me quickly add some details to the various buildings.  Then I can start hitting these with paint and I think that will really make them pop, but more on that next week.  Until next time...

Workbench: The Hills Are Alive With The Sound Of Mag Guns...

Last week was almost a bust thanks to the changing seasons.  Gotta love allergies.  Thankfully things are slowly getting back on track this week and I decided to dive into expanding my terrain options.  I've been brainstorming some ideas for buildings constructed from foam core but need to grab a couple of white pens before I can really push forward with those.  Why white?  Instead of using the plain white boards, I decided to use black boards instead.  This should make the painting process a bit since there is no base coating required; it's already black!  It'll be interesting to see how it actually plays out but fingers crossed.

In the meantime, I dug out a utility knife and started cutting up some of the spare insulation board to make some hills.  Inspiration for the technique is straight from the Tabletop Warlords, specifically the Modular Hills episode from their Antares Build playlist.  Currently it's the only episode in that playlist but that's because of all the other Gates of Antares content they've been churning out which I definitely recommend checking out.

For my hills, I followed most of Kevin's suggestions and so far I'm really happy with the end result.  I did "flock" mine slightly differently (aka not at all) because I glued cut fabric to the tops instead of going whole hog with more traditional basing material.  This keeps them in line with my other terrain pieces though and I think that will help pull them all together visually.

Just a quick shot for this week but I think they look pretty good.

In addition to the hills, I've also started shaping some of the off cuts into boulders so I can put together some rocky outcroppings.  This will mix up my terrain options a bit more and add more variety to the mix.  So far I'm sticking with my more verdant board but eventually I'll start working on putting together my desert world as well.  As I already had a head start with the green board, it only makes sense to finish that one first and then move on.  This also works well for other gaming options as the green board can be used for other systems a bit easier than my shocking yellow desert.

I'm also going to try to do something to kick start my painting.  With my three armies nearly complete, I've been having a heck of a time sitting down to finish the few models that I have left.  I've tried painting other genres to try to kick the painters block to the curb but there's been enough of a break that I'm really frustrated with the quality that I'm producing.  Only I get the current projects situated, I'm going to try to work out a painting routine doing just one figure a day to keep my hand in practice.  Most of these will be just quick paint jobs but that seems like the perfect thing for this time of year.  After all, it's almost Zomtober.  Normally I'm not a big zombie fan but I did pick up some of the Zombicide Black Plague game.  These will fit into any fantasy setting quite nicely and this will be the perfect excuse to get some paint on them.  Until next time...

Workbench: Civil War - It's Not Just For Marvel Anymore!

Back when I first started picking up miniatures for Antares, I decided right away that I didn't want to field any of my armies with the studio paint schemes.  This wasn't because I didn't like them, but because I really liked the open sandbox approach that Warlord and the Antares community have as a whole.  It's your army, paint them anyway you like!

As time has gone by and the story has started to advance, I must admit that I am going to start collecting figures using schemes inspired by the studio paint jobs.  It only seems fitting as I start working two new Algoryn forces inspired by the recent talk of potential civil war.

On one side, you have the disgraced Tar Es Janar.  After his treasonous behavior at Xilos, Tar Es Janar was exiled from the Protectorate but not all felt that this was justified.  While he did break normal protocols, his actions helped deny the Ghar a foothold on Xilos.  Forced out into the wilds of the Determinate, there are those still loyal who have been quietly gathering their strength in anticipation of the day of his return.

Meanwhile, the vacuum left by his exile created the ideal opening for Ess Ma Rahq to ascend to what she feels is her rightful place.  Already the commander of the Special Division, the success of the hazard armor has brought her even more favor with the Council.

So my plan for this is to build a small force for both sides of this conflict.  For the exiled legions of Tar Es Janar, I want to focus on assault squads supported by standard AI squads.  Meanwhile, Ess Ma Rahq has been able to tap into the power her position in the Special Division so her force would consist of mostly hazard squads and infiltrator squads, possibly with some standard AI squads to fill things out.  Of course since they are all Algoryn, the color scheme will be the big difference here; the traditional Algoryn red for the exiles while the ominous forces of the Special Division will be black.

This is still just in the concept stages right now but it's something I want to work towards.  Still, the journey of a hundred minis begins with a single brushstroke.  Until next time...

Gates of Antares Battle Report: Algoryn vs Concord Reinforce the Position, Part Two

And now the conclusion of the Reinforce the Position battle report.  At the end of turn three, neither side had managed to gain the upper hand.  The AI assault squad had taken a lot of pins from a net round early in the game but managed to quickly shrug them off, only to be hit with another net round.  The Algoryn were giving as good as they were getting though, lobbing multiple net rounds at the Concord support drones, rendering them virtually useless.  Which side will reign supreme?  Let's get back to the game and find out.

Turn Four

This turn opened with the AI assault squad trying to take advantage of their position to charge the nearby Strike squad.  Unfortunately they couldn't manage to pass their command check and were forced to go down instead.

The nearby AI squad showed them how it was done, charging into assault against the same Strike squad.  The Concord troops tried to ready themselves against their opponents only to fail their reaction miserably.  This combined with the incoming fire from the Algoryn left the Concord troops seriously rattled and made them useless in the assault.  Loosing one of their own, things looked grim for the Concord soldiers but somehow they managed to keep it together long enough to weather a follow up assault and even take down the micro x trooper in the AI squad.

After the fight, both squads consolidated back towards cover to try to get into a better position for the next turn.

The AI squad in the center of the board went next but they were still too rattled by the previous attacks, going down as they failed their command check to run.  The Algoryn streak continued though with one of the x-launchers firing.  They dropped another net round on the support drones and this time it was too much for them to process.  The drones broke and fled the table, leaving one of the Strike squads standing in the middle of the board with no batter field.

Hoping to return the favor, the Concord x-launcher lobbed its own net round at the AI assault squad, adding another single pin to the unit trapped in the woodland.

The second AI support team fired next, this time using a conventional x-launcher round against the severely shaken Strike squad on the western side of the board.  Unlike all the net rounds, this one went wide and exploded harmlessly in front of the Strike troopers.

The Strike squad in open middle of the board braced themselves and opened fire on the assault squad.  Several shots hit home but bounced off the reflex armor with no effect.

The Strike command squad ordered the nearby Strike squad forward and the two units ran into the woodlands by the AI squad laying in ambush.  Most of the AI troops couldn't get a line of sight though so they held onto the ambush order a bit longer.

The mag cannon team felt differently, letting loose a round that blasted a hole right through one of the Strike troopers.

The turn ended with the western Strike squad rallying to shed a majority of their pins and the AI medic team moving up to support the AI squad in the nearby woodlands.  Wrapping things up, the AI squad on ambush return their die to the bag, and the down AI squad and assault squads both pass the test to return their order dice as well.

Turn Five

Concord started this turn with the deafening sound of silence as their x-launcher team tried to fire a dude round.  Ironically enough the Algoryn didn't fare any better as their assault team, now free of pins, got too tangled in the woodland to move at all.

The western AI squad went next, opening fire on the nearby Strike squad who took the opportunity to fire back.  A flurry of rounds later and both units had lost a trooper to their opponents fusillade.

The Strike squad in the center of the field advanced brave as brass and fired on the batter AI squad that had run to get into cover.  They didn't have line of sight to the whole unit but they were able to get them down to a sole survivor who bravely stood his ground.

The eastern Strike squad went next, advancing out of the woodland to open fire on the AI squad.  Most of the rounds bounced off harmlessly but one of them did strike home, killing the AI squad leader.

Undaunted, the AI squad charged the Strike squad, taking down the Concord squad leader in turn as they charged forward.  Neither side could get an upper hand in the ensuing melee and both squads fell back to regroup.

One of the AI support teams tried to follow up against the same Concord squad, dropping a standard round right on top of them.  The Strike troopers were to well dug in though and easily weathered the blast.

The Strike command squad opened fire on the AI squad but their plasma bolts bounced off the Algoryn reflex armor, having little effect.

The rest of the turn was the Algoryn troops repositioning and readying themselves for the final turn.  The medic team held their position, the mag cannon support team went into ambush, and other support team moved forward into the woodland to try to get a line of sight.

Going into potentially the last turn, things were still fairly balanced though casualties were starting to pile up on both side.

Turn Six

This turn a miracle happened; the AI assault squad actually did something!  Charging forward from the mass of brambles they had been tied up in, the assault squad slammed into the Stike squad in the center of the field.  The rejoicing was short lived as two of their number were gunned down by the Strike troopers but the caused a casualty themselves so all wasn't lost.

With their d-spinners set for plasma grenades, the three remaining assault troopers tore into the Strike troopers... and took only took out one of them while two of the assault troopers fell.  The squad leader was undaunted though and held his ground!

The Concord troops followed up their advantage and dog piled onto the assault leader, taking him down though another of their numbers fell in the melee.  Overall not the most impressive showing but it was definitely better than being stuck in the woods.

The remnants of the Concord squad fell back into the nearby woodland to try to get some cover from the other AI squads that hadn't activated yet.

The Concord support team went next and landed a net round right on top of the closest AI squad.  This proved to be too much for them and they quickly ran from the field.

The western AI squad opened fire on the same Concord team as last turn but this time the Strike were caught by surprise with one of their numbers falling to the incoming mag rounds.

Looking to press their advantage on the shaken Concord squads, one of the AI support teams launched a net round to try to break them.  The round went wide, just falling short of hitting the nearby Strike command squad.

The second support team fared better.  Their round deviated but still managed to hit their target, racking up a number of pins on the command squad.

The central Strike squad tried to take a shot at the closest AI squad but it the strain was too much, forcing them down for the turn.

Meanwhile, the AI medic team advanced to the edge of the woodland and opened fire on the western Strike squad.  Their tender ministrations dropped another C3 trooper and sent the last one running for the hills.

The eastern Strike squad opened fire on the lone AI trooper hiding behind the building but weren't able to get any of their shots to connect.  He responded by firing back but wasn't able to pierce their hyper light armor.

And with that... the game was over.  The die roll for an extra turn came up with a 1, definitively drawing the action to a close but the question remains... which side won?  Since neither side was broken, the point values of the units that were removed are used to determine the winner.  On the Concord side of the table, the C3D1 light support drone unit was taken out along with one of the Strike squads, coming up with a grand total of 273 points.  On the Algoryn side, they lost the AI assault squad and one AI squad for a total of 267 points meaning they just barely squeak by with a win.

Mistakes Made and Things Learned

I believe this was the first time that I tried fielding such well rounded lists and it was interesting to see how the pieces all fit together.  The support units really do help round out the forces and can be a valuable asset to have though in the future I want to try running them differently.

I think it would be better to split up the C3D1 drones and give them each a batter drone.  This would let them move around the battlefield independently and provide cover for other units as they advance.  That said I think I would leave the spotter drones off of them.  Since I see them a supporting tactical units which should already have spotters, it seems a bit to redundant and kind of a points sink to put them on the support drones as well.

Meanwhile, I think I'll skip the batter drone for the support squad with an x-launcher.  With overhead spotter patching, the support team will probably be out of line of sight so the points for a batter drone would probably be better spent elsewhere.

On the Algoryn side of things, I want to get some more AI assault troopers so I can field a larger squad.  I'll admit that they really haven't been very effective for me but hopefully with another couple of bodies in there it will help.  I really like the concept behind them so it would be great to have them be a viable choice for an army.

The other thing I might do is drop the medic team.  I've never had them in position to use them as medics though having a small two man team with mag guns isn't a bad thing.  Still I can't help but wonder if perhaps there might be a better use for the points.

Something that applies for both factions is the various special ammunition types.  This game I primarily used net ammo to pile on the pins.  I looked at the other kinds and tried to look for situations that they would be helpful but I just wasn't seeing anything.  I might try dropping the other types for now and then expand to include more as I identify situations that they could be useful.  This would probably be easier from a rules point of view as well as I would only have to remember one type of speical muntion instead of five.

The same applies for the special munitions for the micro-x and slingnet launchers.  I genuinely forgot about overload and slingnet munitions so I might drop down to one of them for now so that using it becomes second nature.  Once this happens, I can look at adding or swapping in the other type as needed.  It will also free up some more points and give me a bit more to play with.

Of course none of these things are really mistakes, but there was a doozy that I was making; spotter OH patching can only be done through one spotter drone.  I was thinking that you could patch through multiple drones which is the main reason there was some much overhead fire in the first couple of turns.  Whoopsy!  Let's count that as a lesson learned, shall we?

Final Thoughts

So now the question is what's next?  I'm thinking I might break out the Ghar and give them a test drive; see how the distort die and all their other rules change the game.  That said, it also might be good to do another game or two with the more normal armies to make sure some of these rules are second nature first.  I also have a friend that has said he would be interested in a demo so I need to figure out when we can fit that it as well; it's always better to have another opponent to play against instead of just pushing around the models solo.  There is also at least one gaming store locally that I want to check out, plus another in New Hampshire that I know hosts Antares games so there are definietly some options out there.  Until next time...