Stargrunt 15mm (Again) GZG

I know it has been a while. But sometimes the mood just takes you. The figures are of course Ground Zero Games in 15mm and yes they are even part of their 15mm Stragrunt range.

 Yes it is my fault! I bought the wrong pack of figures at a show LAST YEAR. So having no use for the figure I was eager to do something else. So I have for a year. Then the idea came to me. While I cannot fit them into my existing Stargrunt forces I can still use them. So the infantry are now vehicle crews IF/when they have to dismount. Maybe the vehicle blows up and they need to get out, or maybe the vehicle starts the scenario un manned. Either way works for me.

The vehicle is also freshly painted as well. I had a spare vehicle so in my head it was not a massive leap to do it at the same time as I did the crew.

So we have a vehicle and enough crew for several vehicles all added to the Stargrunt collection.

That is it for today. Thanks for looking and more again soon. Although I am not sure what exactly. It will have to be a surprise.

Have a good weekend, all the best Clint.

Post script: I need to be more active on the Stargrunt front! get some more games in.

Paint seems to be taking ages to dry this week. So painting is slow. Put a wash on one night come back the next. So the Burpas are getting done, but SLOWLY. So slow you would hardly believe.

But here are some NAC (New Anglian Confederation) Power armour. yes just a single pack but to me Power armour should be pretty rare. 

Just 6 figures from GZG in 15mm. And they bulk out my NAC force. I bought these at the Selwg show this year. And while Not a massive amount of figures are strong on the table top.

Thanks for looking tday and with luck another post in 2 days time. (If drying time improves)

All the best Clint

SELWG SWAG (2016)

Yes I came back with £70 still in my pocket. Yes I could have spent it, quite easily really but no point at this time. Maybe a week or two later when I think of all the things I could not live without. Names in Brackets show where they came from)

So here is where the money went.

2 Sable paint brushes. (Not my favourite make but they should be good enough)... (magnetic Displays)

1 Spectre rule book. I may well do more on this next week. It was an impulse buy but it looks like my cup of tea. (Spectre Miniatures)

1 Spectre Figure which will be on its way to a fried up north soon. (Hopefully Monday).... (Spectre miniatures)

1 Beltfed miniature, another gift for a friend  (Col Bill)

Osprey D-day Fortifications in Europe. (Harfields Models)

1 Zvezda Ferdinan 1/00th scale model.  Another impulse buy. (Harfield Models)

1 Pack of Flower tufts (Debris of war)

Some 15mm Stargrunt figures (Ground Zero Games) I have nearly bought all I need for this project now.

1 Pack of Highland Cattle. (Col Bills)

So not overly extravagant, but not miserly either. Everything has a use and everything was well considered. (no It was, it really was honest).

I will do a show report tomorrow and I will even point out MY favourite game.

All the best Clint

Phalanx. (15mm Sci Fi)

Not a real post yesterday, just a quick update in case anyone saw those figures at a later date and wondered why they were different,

 So today sees me continue with the 15mm Sci Fi force.

This is a GZG New Anglican Confederation Phalanx APC. Not the easiest thing to put together, and I did muck it up in a couple of places but it did come out looking "acceptable" . In 2 weeks time I shall pick another one or maybe 2 of these up to fully fit out my NAC force with armoured Infantry transport.

In the rules this is able to transport either 1 Power armour squad or 2 normal squads. (But most often just carries one normal squad). It has two light Direct Fire Fusion Guns (Gatling style) one in each small turret. In addition to the troops  it has a crew of 2 (Commander and Driver), but in the rules only basic ECM and smoke launchers.

There is a command version which does have better Electronic Counter measures and communication, but cannot carry troops. (Well maybe a command squad in a limited capacity but not for long periods)

Shown with NAC troops

Not perfect, but it will do.

Yes the title says it all.  Just one Picture, I did take 2 others but they turned out not to be in focus! I am only claiming lack of skill on my part and not that the camera could not focus on the models due to the Camouflage.  My bad NOT the Camera.

As you can see a basic sand coloured base, with grey dark brown and cream squares on it.  If I was doing Proper Digital camouflage There would be more squares and it would be hard to work out the base colour, but I wanted the base colour sand to show through. Then just weathered (dry brushed a lighter sand tone (very lightly) and then two coasts of flesh wash over the top.

Overall I am not wildly excited by the result, but at least it is better than before. If I was starting again the brown should be a shade lighter and the grey a little darker, but overall not too bad really,

Thanks for looking today, more again soon.

Re do the Camo!

As I had finished all the painting that Matt wanted me to do. (He is getting more to me today and VBCW he says!) I was not sure what I wanted to paint so I had a rummage in one of the carrier bags full of unpainted. I was looking for some Islamic Federation I have for 15mm Star grunt.  (I did not find them so they are somewhere else! And not where I thought!).

I did want to carry on with some 15mm Stargrunt though so I read the rules again.... which is to say I flicked through them re-reading the juicy bits!

While rummaging I did find a second one of these though (as well as some other bits and bobs so back to Star grunt for a very short time.

One of the issues I have with sci fi games is coming up with suitably believable camouflage. I was never HAPPY with the vehicle on the left, it's Cammo is OK, but only OK! I want something more fitting for the far future! So when I paint the new one I will repaint the old at the same time.  Clearly the photo does show the painted is harder to make out than the unpainted version of the tank but it does not convey to me the feeling of far future colony world.

So this morning I am looking at different tank, animal (Including FISH) and uniform camouflage patterns and trying to figure something out. I have already a FSE camouflage pattern and a NAC camouflage pattern (Not as yet shown on this blog) but I want these to be somewhat different from both of my already established patterns. So a re-paint in on the cards.

Thanks for looking today and with any luck at all I will be able to show it on Tuesday.

Enjoy the Paralympics, any sun and any chance you get to paint.

Another 15mm SCi FI Vehicle.

Yes the title says it all. This vehicle is a Ground Zero Games (GZG) 15mm Tracked science fiction vehicle. Not the largest or most complicated vehicle . ( Here is a link to the GZG Shop ). Just 6-8 pieces in all, a 2 part hull, 2 tracks, turret and hatch and 2 optional pieces. ! being a vehicle commander to go in the hatch if you choose and the other being a choice of gun.
I went for the gatling laser aa gun to make this into a air defence vehicle as opposed to a twin barrel Mortar. Both looked nice but I thought the AA Gatling laser would be more of a menace to infantry!!!

I was lucky enough to be given this model by Fran (THE ANGRY LURKER) who is a jolly nice chap and hardly angry at all. It has taken me some time (2-3 years I forget which) to get round to making it. But Now that I have I feel so much better for doing so.

I hope to have something new to show in a couple of days as I am now working on some more 28mm figures for Matt, but not VBCW this time.

So hope to see you in a couple of days all the best from the South East of England.

Not a power loader finished!

As mentioned in my previous post this is not a power-loader from Aliens. But It does have some resemblances.
Enough resemblances for me to want to use it as both a 28 (or 25) mm miniature and also a 15mm miniature. Hold yor horses there is a scale comparison at the end I promise!

Obviously I went for the fork lift arm version although GZG do make a couple of other versions. But the fork lift seemed a better fit for any 28mm shenanigans that I may have tucked away in the back of my mind.  (And there are some).

I painted direction indicators on both the front and the back of the legs and hazard lights as well. The vehicle is supposed to be civilian so I had no issue doing that to make it look road legal!

Likewise I went for yellow colouring as most Industrial building plant is painted yellow and I though it might make it look a little more civilian and besides the power loader in Aliens is also yellow! I went for a pale yellow and dirtied up the feet and the legs and also the engine on the back, just to make it more "Lived in" and not straight off of the factory production line.

Overall I am happy with the result and will now move onto something else. But for now I am just basking in the joy o getting it finished as it did take longer to paint than I first though it would.

The model, a foundry 28mm street violence figure
and a battlefront 15mm Modern Russian,
All just to show size comparison.

As you can see despite the model being designed and built for 15mm there is enough room for a 28mm to sit behind the  roll cage and operate the machine. So totally usable in a variety of scales and I hope to use it in 2 scales at least. But probably NOT 1/300thscale SCI FI.... but you never know!

Thank you for looking today and I hope to do some more 15mm sci fi this week as I have another force to get together. After that perhaps back to 28mm figures for Matt.


Cheers Guys, all the best Clint.

Not a Power Loader from ALIENS.

While at the club yesterday |I played a board game so no Photos of that.

So here instead is a model I purchased at Salute 2015 from GZG (John Tuffley) It is Mec -02 (Link to GZG shop ) and costs £12 plus postage.  It is the closest thing I could find to an Aliens Power loader. Now I did put of building it for over a year as there were no instructions AND I had NO immediate use for it. I currently do have a use for it though so it was about time I got it started.

So Today It is a how to assemble a suitable model for a power loader. Simply because I had to figure it all out myself and I can imagine someone getting stuck.

All the pieces cam in 2 resealable bags
There are NO instructions

 

Stage 1 is to lay all the pieces out and make sure they are all there.
There was no list of contents
 

Keeping the arm pieces that came in 1 of the bags separate
I layed out the other pieces.
I started with the torso and worked
out from there

Each foot came in 3 pieces
And were assembled as above.

Once a foot is built,then build a leg.
One thing to remember is that the legs
are not the same, there is a left and right.
Very minor diference but make sure
the Bulge goes on the outside at the "ANKLE!"
 

Then attache the hip.
In the Photo you can see the bulge on the right of the leg.
Having 2 Bulges together at the ankles would impede movement
on a finished walker and make the model
more awkward.

The Torso comes in 3 pieces,
The centre Torso the Front (I went for the open cage effectand a rear section
with an engine. You have a choice of fronts and a choice of backs

On one leg I arched the foot so as to give it a
slightly bent leg as if it was just about to take a step.

I then attached the Torso
And glued the upper arm to the shoulder joint

The fore arm was then glued to the upper arm and an elbow created.
Kindly note the "Forks" are not glued and are in fact upside down.
You want the flat surfaces to face each other.

Shoulders and upper arms attached to torso.
There is a lot of positions you can put them in so
find one you are happy with before applying any gule

The forks are now facing each other and both arms age glued together.
I deliberately placed the forks DIFFERENT distances apart as
I realised that if I made them the same but got it wrong people would notice.

Two additions to place on the torso.
Holes are present (mine did need a little cleaning out) but the
Order you place them is up to you. Or even to place them at all.
 

Finished assembly from the front.

Finished assembly from the rear.

And also from the side.

At the end of the build I had 2 pieces left over.
1 is an alternative engine.
1 is an alternative cabin.

 

Overall it was an enjoyable build and it will go to paint in a few days. The difficulty comes from a lack of instructions but given time and patience you will overcome that and work out where everything goes. (I managed it after all). While the model is supposed to be 15mm wargames scale I intend to use it for 25mm (and maybe 28mm) so sometimes a change of scale will work just as well.

It is not an exact copy of the ICONIC Aliens Power Loader but for me is close enough.

Thanks for looking today and with luck I will start to splash some paint on this and have it ready soon.

All the best Clint

NSL vs NAC?

The painting lull has gotten me by the throat, hence the lack of blog posts this week. Not making excuses, we all have slumps and lulls and doldrums and it's just my time.

This is a 15mm vehicle from Ground zero Games. (One of the vehicles I bought at Salute this year). Not so much for me to say with regard to this vehicle. It was well cast in metal, everything fitted together well and quite instinctively because there was no instructions, but it did not really need them. I did find it hard to come up with a "new" camouflage scheme. Inspired by a Giraffe's skin I simply left a lot of the splodges out in the hope that it would be simple enough to work and maybe break up the lines a little.

At this stage I have not put any markings on it and that is my dilemma. Long time members of the blog will remember I already have a FSE (Federal States Europa.) force, platoon level ground force and starter fleet space navy. And this is where it all falls apart....... a friend of mine is going to sell me his NSL (New Swabian League). fleet at a very keen price. This is great and I instantly agreed when he mentioned the price.

However I was going to have a NAC (New Anglican Confederation) opposition for the FSE. I am the kind of guy who wants matching space fleets and ground Forces. To do other than this jars with me. I much prefer the NSL fleet to the NAC fleet, but then I prefer the NAC ground forces to the NSL ones.

Yes I know it's science fiction and for many people it would not make any difference at all. Yet somehow for me it does make a difference.

Thanks for reading my waffle today. I do intend to cut my blog posts to 2 a week from now on, Mondays and Fridays. So until Friday take care and keep painting and gaming. All the best Clint

Laser Burn?

  For those with long memories you will remember the "Laserburn" rules. For those not quite that old. Laserburn was a set of science fiction rules before warhammer 40k. Anyway cutting to the chase these two vehicles are 15mm in scale and I think they were by "Table top Games". A very quick repaint later and they will become civilian scenery for my 15mm GZG star grunt force. It's so long ago I will not even attempt to try to identify them any further. But obviously one is a flying vehicles capable of carrying 2 people, one assumes pilot and a passenger. The other is a civilian van or pickup, probably envisaged as some form of grav vehicle as it has no wheels, although for my purposes, being just scenery any more details are redundant.
  They were lurking in a box with my old "Traveller" figures tucked away in the attic and had, until recently not been out of the box for over 10 years. So folks there is hope for us all that we will get round to some of the older lead we all have tucked away in at least some form, even if not for our original intention.

AS I am sure you are all aware Tamsin AKA Wargames Girl has been doing a very generous give away on her blog. Today is day 3 (of 6?) all the terms and conditions are on her blog and I think you can still enter the previous 2 days should you choose. If you do enter I wish you all the very best of luck.

A zombie game at the club tomorrow I am told using the "Flesh Wounds" rules for the first time so expect an AAR on Monday. Until then have fun and scoot over to Wargames Girls Blog and check out the very generous offer she has for you.

Cheers Clint

NAC STargrunt 2

I have had a re-think. This is really not that uncommon for me so nothing to be alarmed about. I have now stopped my Kra Vak 15mm Ground Zero Games force and started a New Anglian Confederation (NAC) force. So to the right are my first batch of NAC troops. This is a squad of GZG Ghurkas. I selected the Ghurkas as my troop choice, not for there undoubted fighting prowess but because the forage hats and equipment have a tropical feel to them. As I have decided to focus on a desert world* the tropical gear and forage hats seemed most appropriate. Each NAC squad has a good balance of weapons for both fire power and impact/penetration so they should become quite a strong table top force well able to match the FSE troops I have already done.

SO why the change from Kra Vak? Several reasons, Firstly I was not feeling it, and as we all know If you are making an army/force for the table top if you are not feeling it then it really does become a chore. Secondly I do anticipate building a space fleet and while I do like the look of the Kra Vak fleet I am not attracted to their fighting style. I did look at other possible forces notably the New Swabian League but decided on the NAC as they are perhaps the most highly supported in terms for figures and background. So I do anticipate buying a NAC starter fleet in the near future.

I am in a little slump painting wise but expect to escape the doldrums in the next few days. We all go through it sometimes and it's just my turn at the moment.

* I mentioned above that I will be making a desert world. This is my post Broadside terrain project. I see it having several roles and being used for a few different periods. I will say no more about it at present but I have been chatting with Brian at Lead Legion . Who has been a great source of ideas and a great sounding board. Cheers Mate.

Finally for today I have had to make my first ever "Battenburg" Cake. It was not a traditional pink/yellow cake as I have no yellow colouring. So I went for a chocolate/vanilla combination and I must say I think it turned out pretty good. The reason for the Battenburg Is that I found out that the person who's birthday it was really likes marzipan. It's not prefect, you can see it if not perfectly straight, but for a first try Not too bad. And having tasted it, it tastes pretty good even if I do say so myself. Modest.... well perhaps not, but I am quite proud of it as a first attempt!

That's it for today, thanks for reading with luck I should shrug of my painting lethargy and get down to something ready for my next post. So until the weekend take care have fun and hope to see you back here on Saturday. Best wishes Clint.

Power Armour

My Federal States Europa (FSE) force has just had a very slight upgrade with a squad of Power armour troops. The FSE has a tendency to use what many people think of as Light infantry as opposed to the heavy powered battle suits of many Stargrunt Nations. However as a player I did think that one squad of power armoured troops was a good idea as it rounded out the force a little more. AS you can see this 6 man squad is equipped with 3 heavy weapons (2 Mistral Guided missile systems on shoulder mounts, and one FM77 Squad automatic weapon, as well as an ECM suit mounted on one troopers back.)

I have painted the figures with a white band on their helmets (the squad leader has a thinner red stripe flanked by white stripes) this is to match the Kepi Blanc which is worn by some of the light infantry. There shoulders also carry the Tri colour which should help them to keep identity on the battle field. I added this emblem because these versions of power armour are also exported and used by a couple of other nationalities, for example, the Islamic Federation. It was therefore important to me to keep them as distinctive.

Only 6 15mm figures to share with you today I have no excuses for not doing more. But that is all I have managed to complete since last post. With luck I should have something ready for Saturday and my next blog post. Until then have a good couple of days and talk soon.

All the best Clint

GZG Scout Vehicles from Salute loot!

Here are the  first things to get painted after Salute. Two hover scout vehicles in 15mm to supplement my FSE Stargrunt II force. As you will remember all my Federal States Europa (FSE) float on cushions of "air". I say "Air" but dependant on the planet it might not be what we think of as Air. They each have turreted light guns which are not heavy enough for anti armour use, but would make a mess of either soft skins or infantry (including powered Infantry).

As you can see from the front and rear elevations they have nicely sloped sides which helps to give them a low profile. They are on square bases which tells you they are by far the smallest vehicles I have so far. In the future, this will change as I increase the size of the force and include quad bikes and other very small vehicles. These are made by Ground Zero Games as is all my 15mm sci fi figures, as I have no intention at this point to mix and match from other manufactures. Perhaps I will later, but for now I desire continuity in the force.

I have no more 15mm GZG on the painting table at the moment, but I hope to do some more soon as I have a FSE Power Infantry squad that keeps beckoning to me from the lead pile in a most alluring way. Next time will be 28mm as I have something very nearly finished. Next time will be Sunday so until then thanks for looking and have a good couple of days. All the best Clint.

Kra Vak SPGs

Just for a break from VBCW stuff. Here are two Kra Vak Heavy Grav Self-propelled Guns. The are By Ground Zero Games and 15mm in scale. (Scale seems odd to mention when dealing with Aliens, because they could be any size really.) GZG Code No: V15 33A. They come with guns elevated at about 35-40 degree pitch. I thought they looked better near horizontal so after about 5 minutes of filing on each one made that adjustment. I must say the look a lot meaner and nastier with level guns. It took me ages to decide on a paint scheme as I was looking to make them more "alien" but in the end settled on a basic single colour top deck and from below with a heavy was an some very rough dry brushing. The problem was I was over thinking the need for colour differences and in the end decided that simple and straightforward beat clever and fussy!

You can see the blue under side which was again a very simple one colour wash and Highlight. It's not fancy but it is at least a nod to the fact that they are gravatic flying machines. Other than my modification the modelled went together very easily and with hardly any mold lines or flash to worry about. So all in all I'm quite happy with the construction of them. Being metal they are heavy which does make me wonder about the strength of the flight stands so I have selected my 2 shortest stands to assist the rigidity, although in my head I am still sure they will break.  Ahh well time will tell.

I have no markings on these beasts. Which is to say that maybe I have but maybe they are not discernible by our eyes. The Kra Vaks seem very adept with Gravity vehicles so perhaps the markings are made with different densities of materials as opposed to colours. They are aliens so who can say (Well maybe Jon Tuffney the designer!) What I d like about them is the "Boxy" hard edged feel to them. Very angular and aggressive.

Two from above just to show a different view and the very solid feel these vehicles have. In retrospect I should have put something to show how big they are, well maybe next time. At this stage I have one mo Kra Vak vehicle to assemble and paint (an APC) but this is not even near the paint table at present. Then It will be to expand the force with more ground-pounding infantry,  some power armour and a few more APC's . At this stage I can't see me doing so before September as it is not really on my target list for projects this year (it was last years and I did not manage it). Still it does bring the Kra Vak force a little closer to completion which is never a bad thing.

 

That's today's blog post. I'll be getting a new computer over the weekend (with this one the wheel is spinning but the hamster is dead). so no guarantee but I will try to post again on Sunday, So until Sunday have a great time and all the best.Clint

 

 

 

 

 

FSE Stargrunt Platoon

Here is my FSE (Federal States Europa) Infantry Platoon. I will give details of each section by the relevant picture. For now this force is finished. When I say finished I actually mean that I ave done sufficient for now to stop and feel content. I still have an opposing force to assemble which will be the Kra Vak (an alien race).

The command section. This consists of the platoon command vehicle and a squad of 6. (* men in a standard squad but only 6 in the command squad). Along with the Lieutenant there are 2 support weapons and 3 troopers. One of these Troopers may be armed with sniper weapon (sniper laser or extended Gauss gun), and may there fore be temporarily attached to a squad should the situation dictate or left as a single element in which case one of the other troopers would assist as sniper support/spotter.

3x8man squads make up the main element of the platoon. Each squad has their own hover transport which allows for rapid deployment and tactical support. One of the Hover vehicles is equipped with a missile system, while the other two carry rapid fire Gauss guns. Each squad also carries two heavy weapon in the form of a missile launcher and a Squad automatic weapon. of the type employed by FSE forces throughout known space.

The final element is the support section. This takes the form of two hover vehicles with "Rommel" class chassis but carrying missile launchers as opposed to the better known NSL version which carries a tank gun. The last vehicle in the platoon is a multi role "truck" I can use this to represent ammunition re-supply for the missile launchers or as a ambulance or even as general logistic support. Even as I type this I feel the need to buy another truck, to become a dedicated ambulance, so typical of me to think I need more just as I finish!

However, for the time being this force is now "done". I have room in the storage box for 2 more vehicles so in my heart I know I will expand on this force. But for now I will put it away and consider it finished. As I intend to use the force on the same terrain I will use for my 15mm Apaches the bulk of terrain making will be listed under that project as I slowly bring that to fruition.

That's today's blog post finished, next one will be on Saturday. I may briefly visit the club on Sunday just to pick up some figures from Tim (IT miniatures) so that I may start the painting for next years show game at BROADSIDE> All the best and take care til then. Clint