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...

Random Update: Digging Out Yet Again!

It's been forever since I posted and longer since I've had a chance to hobby!  Argh!!!  I've been slowly making progress cleaning out my office/hobby space yet again so I should be able to start painting again soon.

Thankfully we have been more active with our board gaming recently though, largely because a friend of ours and his girlfriend have been coming over for game nights!  Been a ton of fun breaking out some games that haven't been touched in a while, plus we have been working our way through Betrayal Legacy!

So far we have finished six of the chapters (plus the prologue) and it has been so cool to see the story of the house take shape.  We enjoyed the original but this really makes the whole thing a more organic experience that has been a blast.  There are also aspects that have been added to the game which are providing some cool twists.  For example, as you draw items you might have the option to make them heirlooms for your family which gives you a bonus when you use them.  Then there are background cards that you draw right at the beginning of the game that give your character a unique bonus.  Maybe you are a war veteran, an occultist, or well-to-do.  All of these add to the flavor of the game and more are being added as the story continues.  I can't wait to see what other twists and turns we will run into as we try to unlock all the secrets the house holds, the trick will just be working out way through it before the end of the month.  I see some marathon Betrayal sessions in my future!

I'm also very slowly making some headway with a short campaign using the Frostgrave rules to explore a desert wasteland looking for an ancient treasure.  My daughter and I will be playing this one but I want to incorporate some cooperative elements to it as well.  The wastes are a harsh land after all, and sometimes you need all the help you can get just to survive.

Here is the board for our first scenario, still in progress at the moment.

We talked about incorporating clue markers into this adventure to represent us searching for information to figure out where the final location is, the idea being whoever finds the most clues gets to decide what the next scenario will be.  She likes the idea and I think it will be fun to craft our own campaign story together.

And last but not least, I was able to meet up with a friend of mine at our LGS and play a game of Bolt Action.  I'll admit that Bolt Action isn't my favorite game (I blame Antares for this even though I haven't played it against a live opponent) but it was great to hang out with him and push around some minis.  Of course hilarity ensued as well, with both of us taking a bunch of inexperienced troops and I just had to squeeze Stewie into my force too.  Lots of fun but I think the best moments were when my lieutenant and his minder walked onto the board next to my friends mortar team and gunned them down.  This was followed by the same dastardly duo spraying the truck my target was hiding inside, only to have it go up in flames and letting me pull out a draw on the last turn.  Pure action movie stuff!

Hopefully I can squeeze in some more cleaning this weekend so I can finally get back to painting again.  Wish me luck!  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...

Deadzone: Soldiers and Puppy Dogs

As I mentioned in my last post, after I ordered the Reb starter I ordered a box of Plague 3rd gen troopers.  Given how much big a savings I had said the starters were, the logical question is why didn't I just grab one of those?  A few reasons.

First off, I already had the box of Plague zombies I'd picked up to dip my toe in the water.  The starter comes with another 10 zombies which would give me 30 of the shamblers. Sure they are cheap but that seems a little excessive.  Then there are the options that you get in the trooper box.  It shows a mortar and a figure that Escalation lists as a Stage 3A "General".  This would give me another command option, plus a weapon team option, plus a good number of specialist weapon options so it just seemed like a solid choice.

That my friends, is an understatement.

The trooper box comes with four sprues of hard plastic (so plastic cement friendly!!!).  On each of these sprues, you get bodies and legs to make five troopers plus one Plague dog.  For weapon options, you get five sets of arms with rifles, one set each with a flamer, HMG, grenade launcher, pistol and machete, weapon team loader arms, a mortar, and eight head options.  And that's on each sprue so yes, you actually get four mortars in this box (can you say GoA x-launcher proxies?).

Looking at the point values in Escalation, the cheapest point value force that I could make with this box (twenty troopers and four murder puppies) comes in at 224 points if I don't make one of them a leader.  Combine that with the zombie box and I've got 344 points base.  Throw in a leader and specialist and I can break 400 points easy and all this for only $60 retail which is a great value, especially considering the quality.

The trooper sculpts all have rounded connection, giving you lots of options for posing the figures.  The detail looks good as well, with more than enough depth to nicely take a wash and drybrush.  And one of the things that really blew me away when I noticed it, they actually keyed the pieces that are supposed to work together.  For example, the dog jaw and head that it goes with are B while the specialist weapons are all C. This is great as there are some that are not so apparent.

Unfortunately I haven't had a chance to assemble any of them yet (yay for Spring cleaning!) but I'm hoping to be able to get some together later this week though we will have to see.  I've also started assembling more of the Runewars minis that I have accumulated so I can get them into faction specific containers which is one of the nice things about the softer plastic these are made from.  I've got no problem standing them all up inside a plastic Sterilite container.  Even if they get jostled around, they have weathered the bumps without chipped paint and that works for me!  Plus I was finally able to pick up the leader model I've had my eye on for my undead.  Can't wait to get some paint on him once he gets here!  Until next time...

Deadzone: A Rebel Yell That Needed A Rallying Cry

Yep, you guessed it; my Rebels have arrived.  I wasn't able to dig into them right away but I was looking forward to breaking the box open later.  After the experience with the Plague zombies, I was eager to see what the Rebs would look like.

Unfortunately that didn't last.

The zombies all came on sprues like a traditional model kit while the Rebs were all separated out into different bags.  "Okay, so a little less work", I thought to myself.  Then I opened some of the bags and started assembling some of the miniatures... well, tried to assemble some of the miniatures.  Unlike the with the zombies, plastic cement didn't seem to cut it with these ones.  There was also a lot more flash and especially mold lines on the figures and they didn't seem to clean up neatly the zombies did.  These are also made of a different material which makes me wonder if it is the dreaded restic that I'd heard so many bad things about from someone at my LGS.  I was under the impression that they had phased this stuff out but now I'm starting to think otherwise.

Then there are the connections.  Unlike the zombies with all their ball connections, these figures are all keyed but unfortunately not very well.  Some of the tabs are so small in some cases that they don't even help get the parts in the right way.

I decided to push on, thinking that maybe it was just a case of getting the hang of them?  Maybe?  But no, unfortunately that didn't seem to be the case.  I'd put together about half the box and was actually disappointed enough that I was really tempted to set them aside and call it a wash.  They do have a mix poses and races that I might be able to work into my Antares privateer force but...

Feeling quite frustrated I decided to take a chance and ask about this on the Deadzone Facebook group, Deadzone Fanatics.  Given that the hashtag #Deadzoneislife is not uncommon on the group, I was curious to see how my concerns and criticisms were taken.  When you are dealing with diehard fans, you never can predict the response to pointing out a flaw with their favorite shiny. In this case I was very pleasantly surprised.

Not only did they explain the difference in the material but they also offered some good advice how best to deal with it as far as clean up.  Apparently this set is cast in the premium plastic that was used for their initial products in the in range.  More recent ones (such as the plague zombies) have been cast in hard plastic or PVC plastic.  If you look on the Mantic webstore, they list what materials are used for the various products and if you will need superglue to assemble them (this is the only way to glue the premium plastic, regular plastic cement won't even touch the stuff).  This is even the case for sets that include a mix of the two such as the Plague starter the contents of which you can see below...

CONTENTS
This set contains enough components to build 29 high-quality plastic multi-part models, including:

1 Plastic 1st Gen Mutant
6 Plastic 2nd Gen Mutants
10 Hard Plastic 3rd Gen Troopers
Rifles, Flamethrower, HMG and Grenade Launcher Weapon Options
2 Hard Plastic Plague Hounds
10 Hard Plastic Plague Zombies
25mm and 40mm Plastic Round Bases
Mantic Points
Models supplied unassembled and unpainted. Requires super glue.

In this case, the 1st and 2nd Gen mutants are all made of the premium plastic while the rest are made of hard plastic.

Armed with this information, I gave the rest of the Rebs another go and was quickly able to put together and paint a 150 point strike team.

Need to work on getting more light in my light box but you get the idea...

I still need to finish off their bases and there are some more minis to assemble but my push for right now was to get this little group of miscreants done.  So the question now that I've put them together and painted them, what do I think of them?

Going into this set blind as I did, I was ready to walk away after the initial problems that I had with it.  On top of that they looked like they had pretty soft detailing so I really wasn't looking forward to painting them either.  Then I reached out to the FB group and the help they gave got me motivated to get this project moving forward.  Once I started painting them, I also realized just how detailed they actually are.  In the end, I'm really happy with how these guys have turned.

The only real negative I found (now that I know how to work with the Mantic premium plastic) is the lack of variety in the sculpts.  Then again given how diverse this specific faction is, I can understand limiting them to a couple of poses for each race.  It would take a whole lot more work and money for Mantic to create more posable figures in all of these different races.  They do have several more races associated with them as well so bringing these in will led to quite a varied mix of figures.

So what's next for me and Deadzone?  After I'd ordered the Reb starter, I ordered a box of Plague 3rd gen troopers and I've gotta say that I am really impressed with just how many options there are with this one!  Like what?  Well, you'll just have to come back to find out about that.  Until next time...