Lead Empires

When invading strange new worlds, maybe the unfriendly locals are not quite as you had expected. Who says that alien armies always have to be 'bugs and squids'? What if the enemy you are fighting against is different; not as easily spotted and very well ... "camouflaged"?  Well, I haven't seen an army of plants so far. So, I figured "Why not?" and gave it a try. I picked up a couple of fitting minis from different ranges and here we are.  (P.S. Reading 'The Day of the Triffids' was some an inspiration for for this project as was a story from a 40k novel about the Last Chancers whose name currently escapes me.)   As of now, I am not sure what rules set or modification of such this will be played by, so this project is currently just a fun project.  ... to be continued.

Another grav vehicle from Khurasan Miniatures - the Huntarr Zenegg IFV  - which is almost as large as the XM-51 (just short of 5 inches). It is a four piece resin cast model of the same high quality as the aforementioned vehicle. This one is clearly of 'alien' design which makes it stand out from the usual suspects that follow the human design concepts. What I like most about this mini is the shark-like front that gives it an aggressive appearance.

 Produced and sold by Khurasan Miniatures this is a three piece cast of a grav APC made from resin. There is no flash but there are some larger left overs from the casting process. It shouldn't be too difficult to remove these, though. The details are very crisp and rich. The model is large (!) in comparision to any other 15mm tank mini currently in my possession. But then ... the title says it all - it's a superheavy. IMHO, it would also be a fitting tank for armies in the 20mm scale. When placed next to tanks from other producers, it will easily tower over them. Of course, opposing players may use the tank's size to their advantage on terrain heavy gaming tables.

 This one is another vehicle from Alternate Armies; this time from the Laserburn and Asgard range. The vehicle as such fills a niche as an open-top light utility craft. It is neither an APC or an IFV. The main body is a single piece resin cast with some metal bits (landing gear, guns and a roof top). There is some flash and left overs from the production process but those can be easily removed. The details are good; however it seems to be an older design as it can clearly be seen that a lot of handwork was done while designing it.  When I'll start working on the projects for the air lander I might kit-bash it into something like this ... (not exactly but similiar)

In many western nations the military conscript service ended at the end of the Cold War. This led to fewer and fewer people who have first hand experience with military structures and organisations. The ever brilliant Lindybeige explains in simple terms what platoons and companies are, how they are structured and function.  Enjoy Platoons Infantry companies Tank platoons

Most of us began wargaming with one or the other ruleset, started a single battle (or series of battles) with our friends on a weekend. Next weekend: Rinse, repeat and play again. After a while said ruleset becomes kind of stale and boring and you move on to the next game system. Well, have you ever wanted to keep your favorite system interesting? Spicing games up and playing a full scale campaign might do the trick: epic space battles, daring assaults from orbit, large scale land warfare and special ops for key objectives. What's not to like?  Enter: Jon Tuffley's rules-set (Full Thrust, Dirtside II and Stargrunt II by Ground Zero Games) allows you to play a scenario-driven full spectrum sci-fi warfare campaign which makes it possible to play battles from the largest, most epic to the very smallest.  (Yes, I admit ... I am a fan boy.) Much inspiration for such campaigns can be drawn from real life military history. A short while ago I found the Kings and Generals channel on Y...

 Okay, this APC by RAFM is a mixed bag as you will see in the close-ups.  I really like the design. Seriously! It is sleek, modern looking and something that would be a logical evolution of some IRL modern IFVs that popped-up lately (i.e. the swedish CV-90 or the german Puma IFVs). The vehicle is a one-piece solid resin cast with a small metal turret and four struts (landing gear). The details are good with exceptions (see below). Now, here is what is not so pretty. There is noticable flash at the mold lines. This will require some work to remove. The cast is a bit warped and uneven in some areas of the hull. However, I think this won't be very apparent once the APC is painted. On the table and with growing distance to the eye these areas will be too small and too hard to notice. What I like less is the small turret. IMHO it could be a bit larger and maybe more 'technical'. I might replace it with something from other kits. More on that in the future when I start my project...