Random Update: Terrain and Inspiration for the Freeborn

Things have been busy again so I haven't been able to make a lot of headway with my troops but there has still be some progress!  I've done some research on the more common types of plant life in more tropical regions and come up with some cool ideas that I'm looking forward to trying.  Thinking a couple of large mangrove style trees with giant root structures.  In looking around I actually have a lot more terrain than I'd thought I had so at this point anything else will just be more like accent pieces to give the table more of a jungle/swamp feel.

I've also picked some very inexpensive terrain in the form of one of the scenery packs for Infinity. Sci-fi style structures are one of the only things that I don't have much of and while these are fairly basic, they give me some quick and easy elements that can go onto the table.

Here are a couple of the buildings with some minis for scale

I've never done much with card board terrain but these went together fairly easily.  The larger structure was a little fiddly but considering the whole set was less than $10 before shipping, I'm okay with it.  The set contains a total of four of the larger structures, six of the smaller square structures, and two bridges which you can move around and have going to any of the buildings in the set.  This particular set is called Kurage Station but there are at least half a dozen different sets, each with a different skin plus they all come with a paper poster mat that ties in with the buildings.

While I really like the three dimensional look of fancier terrain, these sets are a great way to get a good amount of 3d terrain onto the table for less than $1 per piece.  Definitely not a bad option in my book.

My final paint scheme... at least for now anyway.

I've also gotten more done with my Algoryn.  I was really trying not to go with the red... but I just couldn't resist.  It a good combination with the green and I was actually surprised at how many things I was finding in looking up floral in rain forests and swamps that are red.  I also decided to go with the more tribal style stripes as I'm imagining a their world has an old human colony from a previous age and the remnants are little more than savages now.  Not only does that open up more ideas for terrain, it also give me a possible theme for a Freeborn contingent if I decided to go that way.

Speaking of Freeborn, I was also struck with a great idea for expanding my miniature options without needing to buy anything.  I currently only own the K'ara Nine starter and was saving up for the full Xilos set but life has reared its ugly head so I can't really justify spending that much cash on plastic soldiers.  Hobby is important but bills must come first.  Unfortunately this left me short on the C3 army as I don't have enough force selections to field even a 500 point army because I only have two tactical units.  Thankfully I was able to find a solution in the Battle for Xilos expansion which gives rules for mercenary units.

Years ago I did demos of the Starship Troops mini game for Mongoose Publishing.  Unfortunately that game went the way of the dodo but I still have a ton of miniatures for it, including a good sized force of Skinnies.  There are several references that I've seen for Antares that imply there are a number of alien races that have been encountered so combining that tidbit with the Freeborn mercenary list means that I can flush out my C3 army with a unit of alien mercs!  This will tide me for the time being and really says something about the versatility of the game.  Sure there are the established races in the setting but they have left a door open for people that want to use other minis to fill out the ranks or field as an army.  I don't plan on having them replace any of my actual Antares armies but its nice to have that option.

The next step is to run through the game a couple times to make sure I have my head around the rules then I'll see if I can find or convert some players locally.  40k is the most common game around here but there is a strong Bolt Action following as well so maybe I can convince some people to give it a try.  Here's hoping!