G3 Necromunda Campaign

The nightmare undercity of Necromunda, where muscly men must blast guns wildly into the air, and fight for more hair products for their mohawks.

So the G3 Necromunda campaign is just about to kick off, and with it a load of old gangs are getting dragged out of cupboards to participate. I've got my Orlocks ready 'Sons of Anarchy', inspired by a certain popular television program. I'm in two minds whether I should paint them, or whether I should keep them just now, given they're painted, even if the paint job was done about 15 years ago. They're still painted, so it still counts.

Anyway, currently on the roster of gangs we have

The Shadow Hawks (Delaque Gang)
The Stonebreakers (Goliath Gang)
Squee (Ratskins)
The Strangers (Delaque Gang)
Sons of Anarchy (my very own Orlock gang)

There's more players showing interest so it should grow. The idea is to play a couple of games a month, whenever you can, and it'll all be normalised over the time period, so it shouldn't matter if you're only playing once or twice, or hundreds of games.

I'll let you know how I get on, I face the Strangers on Tuesday, so we'll see how many of the lads survive. Try and do a bit of a running commentary on such things.

Thanks for reading. Mecha Ace out.

Robotech the game gets a bit closer

So, late last night, some exciting news began to stir on the internet. Palladium put up their announcement for future releases, and amongst that was news that they plan to bring out "Robotech RPG Tactics"

They've brought together people from both Cipher Studios, who work on products like Hell Dorado and Anima tactics, and Soda Pop, who've designed Relic Knights and Super Dungeon Explore amongst other things. They've been working with these guys, along with people from Palladium books and Harmony gold to bring this, and have apparently been furiously testing the tactical rules.

The plan is to bring miniatures from all three periods of the Robotech universe, ranging from the Macross Saga, to the Masters and the New Generation, and to produce them in a consistent scale. They've so far said they're going to do 1/285th for the scale, though they have also said that if the market demands it, they'll do other scales such as 28mm etc.

They've set up a facebook page for Ninja Division, which is the group of people they've put together for this, and they've just posted up a render of the Spartan Destroid. If you want to see it, got here.

Ninja Division Facebook page

So how are they planning on doing this. Well the plan is to run a kickstarter, mid to late March to allow the funding, as currently Palladium don't have the funds to pull this off. They plan to use this to produce a box set, which will start the ball rolling, though the final price and contents are still being finalised. They'll be showing off renders etc on their Ninja Division facebook page, so I'll be posting news as it comes in the future. I'm hoping it'll be a big enough success, so as to keep this thing going.

For the full announcement, why not go to the Palladium announcement.

Palladium announcement page

Remember people, the U.N. Spacy needs you, so keep your eyes peeled for news of the kickstarter, and lets get this thing going.

Mecha Ace out.

Happy New Year and it's time for the Oath

First of all let me say a big Happy New Year to everybody, I'm a couple of days late, but I've been busy so I'm sure you'll forgive me.

I'm hoping to be a bit more productive in terms of painting this year, and also to trim down the games I no longer play, probably so that I can then spend the money on games I do play or are planning on getting, so I'll probably still have the same amount of figures and therefore unpainted metal/plastic/resin sitting about. I'll work my way through it eventually.

On the topic of that, it's also time for the Salute Oath, which I took at the start of the year. For those not in the know, those of us going to Salute last year started the Oath, which basically involves not buying any new miniatures until we go to Salute. Therefore as of 01/01/13 until 20/04/13, I'm not allowed to buy any figures (bar a few orders that were placed before the Oath, and I'm still waiting on arriving). I managed it this year, so hopefully my resolve will hold this year too. Otherwise the punishment is carrying everybody elses purchases at Salute. There's also talk of orange mohawks too...

Thanks again for reading, look forward to the new year.

New painting station for Christmas

Greetings everyone, I hope everyone had a good Christmas.

For me, Christmas has brought on a bit of a new thing, as I had intended to use money I got for Christmas to partly pay for an airbrush and extraction chamber. However Santa decided to bring me them instead.

Since however it's a bit of a wieldy thing, I decided it was time for a proper permanent painting station, rather than the temporary affair I had, so after a bit of tidying in the spare room, and a trip to Ikea (2 trips, as they didn't have the desk I wanted, then after being told "They're coming in tomorrow" and my wife going back, only to be told "They're coming in tomorrow" again. Hence the second best was settled for.), I now have a proper painting station at last.

Behold it in all its painting station glory.

Hopefully this'll mean I can get a bit more done, instead of having to pack things away at time and then get it all back out again. The airbrush also means I can work on some bigger projects I've been thinking of, without losing the will to live having to paint it all by brush.

Now I just need to figure out how to use it, so probably lots of videos on youtube for me.

Hope everybody else had a great Christmas, and a good New Year when it comes.

Back and painting again

Well still convalescing, but I've managed to get some painting done over the period I've been off amongst other things. So thought I'd put them up.

They're the start of my Assault Subsection sectoral army for my Aleph army for Infinity. I decided that rather than the usual of sticking to the same colour scheme for them, I would mark out the Assault Subsection troops with a different colour scheme, to show that while Aleph is normally just special operations policing the human sphere, these are the armed force of Aleph in it's war against the Evolved Intelligence.

On the left a Myrmidon with a boarding shotgun, on the right a Myrmidon with chain rifle and sword (though you can't see it).

Myrmidon doing fancy stuff with his sword.

Group shot of the Myrmidon box set from Corvus Belli for Infinity. Second from the right is the last Myrmidon with Combi-Rifle.

Originally I had planned on doing these guys black and chrome, though I was worried that it might end up being very dark. So instead I decided to go with more traditional colours for Greeks (which the Assault Subsection is based off of), and picked a red and bronze colour scheme. It was however after painting the first Myrmidon for the test scheme, I realised it looked a bit like Iron Man. However I decided I liked it anyways and stuck with it.

Any comments and criticism are welcome so they are.

Mecha Ace out.

Not much has been getting done

Not a great deal been getting done of late, mostly due to work and the impending Christmas, so going out shopping etc.

I am however off work for the next 2 weeks after having my gallbladder removed, so once I get to a stage were sitting up for long periods of time is okay, I'll use that time to get some painting done hopefully.

In the mean time, trying to get the figures I wish now, before the Salute oath kicks in at the end of the month, to see me through the 4 month dry spell.

A realm of sun and sand

So a bit of a tangent from what I normally do today, as I thought I'd talk about one of the other facets my geekiness takes, and that's roleplaying.

So while I've played several games, and ran a few, it was a few years ago that I discovered Savage Worlds, and through it I discovered the setting of Hellfrost by a company called Triple Ace Games.

They're a small company, with only 2 people behind the whole show, but they've managed to produce one of my favourite settings in Hellfrost.

Because they can probably sell it better than I, here's the blurb from their website

An endless winter is coming...

500 years ago: From the frozen far north, beyond the civilized lands with their rolling hills and forests, arose a mighty army of frost giants, ice devils, Hellfrost dragons, and fearsome orcs, servants all of the ice god Thrym. So began the terrible Blizzard War and the downfall of the mighty empires of man
Today: The races of the southern lands may have won the war, but they suffer its legacy still. For five centuries the winters have grown steadily longer and colder. Huge swathes of the land of Rassilon are permanently covered in ice and snow, and even the temperate lands are not spared the misery of failed harvests, deadly winters, and the dreaded Hellfrost wind.
But winter is not the only danger. A mere 30 years ago, magic, once the civilized races’ most potent weapon, suddenly began to fail. The Siphoning, an effect of unknown origin, has made magic an unpredictable ally.
Welcome to the world of Rassilon. Welcome to the Hellfrost!

The original setting has the different races of fantasy that you're used to, humans in their different cultures, dwarves, elves, Engro (Halflings), orcs, goblins and all the others. It has a bit of Norse influence with some of the cultures, and the game at times can be as much about survival against the winters which grow colder every year, as about slaying orcs. However Rassilon is only one part of a much larger world, and that world is just about to get bigger.

Hellfrost: Land of Fire Arabian Fantasy

To the south of Rassilon lies the land of Al-Shirkuh, were the people were freed from the rule of the Jinn and now live free lives. However the land is not so peaceful, and with it, the rains are becoming scarcer and the deserts swell, while there are those who would restore the Jinn's rule over mankind for their own fleeting chance at power.

With new fantasy races, new types of magic and another continent to explore the game promises to add a lot to the game. I'm already plotting new ways to get my current group of players who are trekking through the snow right now, into the desert when it eventually comes out.

If you fancy a taste of what this book will have in store, then I'd suggest you look here.

Land of Fire sampler PDF

It promises to be a setting just as diverse and detailed as Hellfrost, with specific books for it, and small pdfs for each of the areas of the realm which only cost 2 or 3 pound each and add a great bit of detail to realms you need for your game. I'd recommend you to give it a look, whether you're new to roleplaying or a veteran, as the Savage Worlds system is pretty swift and simple and easy to get into.  And with the lead designer of the setting answering a lot of the questions on the forum within a generally quick amount of time, you can't fault the support it gets.

So from the land of snow and ice, to the land of sun and sand, Mecha Ace out.