Space Jamming to Star Man .. PSC Freighters Grab Bag - Painting Description

It all started with a "Grab Bag" special offer (thirty two space ships for a tenner) from the Plastic Soldier Company (PSC) for their excess Red Alert "Freighters" - as in freighter class space ships, but as space ships go they were nice models and incredibly so, so cheap is seemed crazy not to buy one, nay two bags. What does one do with sixty four space ships - technically without guns, but I think you have to use your imagination in Sci-Fi and pretend they "have what they need". In fact the support stands to base the fleet cost more than the ships of the fleet (see below, plastic crack, I could not resist - yes, I have little or no will power, maybe later I can figure out and tell you the "why"):  

Step one .. with no idea how to really paint them (as in a proper paint scheme of sorts) I decided to prime them with Airfix Primer Grey Acrylic (01) and follow a hunch, a Traveller style hunch, of Free Trader Beowulf - a grubby planet hopper plying his trade, trying to make that big credit deal to set him up for life in the manner of his dreams (see below, the first batch of eight of my cosmic traders - "free booter" as I call them): 

I figured they would have lots of trouble keeping their ships "clean2 with all that atmospheric burn, planet hoping through the inner solar system dust clouds and engineering burn, plus the odd bullet hole or laser burn from a pirate. At some point they would be hauling mineral loads and getting and dirty with the asteroid miners (see below, Vallejo Black Dipping Wash to the rescue, suddenly a fleet of dirty space ships): 

By this time I had come across a simple painting formula to try: 

• Vallejo Game Colour "Off White" for the top half of the freighter
• Vallejo Game Colour  "Bone White" for the bottom half of the freighter
• Vallejo Game Colour "Gun Metal" for engine and exhaust parts on the freighter

Note: I took care with the above to leave black lines coming through the panelling, this is where I fell in love with the rugged, chunky design of the ships that played to shade and highlight!

• Vallejo Brown Dipping Wash along the black lines of the panelling to bring out a grubby feel and depth, and cover the Gun Metal engine parts to make it rosy

The result was just as intended but just a little too grubby for teh final finish (see below, even Beowulf would get the cleaning droids for a spring clean if he got this dirty!): 

Highlight time: 

• Highlight "White" areas with the base colour ("Off White" or "Bone" White respectively) 
• Highlight "Gun Metal" area to "Silver"

Yes, good enough, anything else would be silly (see below, my Free Trader awaits adventure): 

When you have done one, then it is just as easy to do two (see below, the advantage of the simple paint scheme, was that it could be turned into a factory production line): 

The budding space commercial space empire takes a trip through the fruit bowl system and basks in the fading sunlight from a Red Dwarf (see below, but beware danger can strike from any quarter, unannounced):

So best paint some more in case you run into losses (see below, simple paint scheme begs a simple production system - one ship at a time as I am getting into a rhythm and getting to know the peculiarities and wrinkles of the model - but the more I paint it, the more I like it): 

The fleet burgeons to three active "freighters of the line" (see below, I have not yet got to the point of naming them yet, but I am getting attached to them and thinking of possible rile systems such a Billion Suns to use them with, as well as Traveller!) 

Half way through (aka four done) my initial batch of eight which were to be my 'proof of concept' that I can be 'bothered' painting the ships in this way (see below, each one is getting slightly faster to do which is a good sign):   

To get from four to six, I did two at a time and to be honest was more frustrated that pleased. There was a certain satisfaction of doing one and moving onto another, that was not "doubled" by finishing two at the same time. As it is partially about enjoyment of the painting journey, as opposed to just painting them for gawd sake, I reverted back to one at a time for seven and eight (see below, but I think they do look grand "en masse"):   

Starting the "last one" of the "initial batch" - I an finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. Even though it is really the first stop on a journey of many (see below, the squadron celebrations are about to begin): 

At last I can rest my weary brush hand, the "trading" squadron is assembled in quite a beguiling formation (see below, I know they are specifically not warships by design but I think they have a "we mean business" look and feel to them): 

What do you do with old Xmas tangerine boxes? Why you fill them with the first painted batch of transports alongside a primed and washed second batch (see below, remember that this is half of one "grab bag" and I bought two, of which I have only painted a quarter in total - not a quick project):  

Hmm, but what do you think I have in mind in the long term? If I said the Trillion Dollar Squadron would you be any the wiser or at all interested?

Deep Space Games: Preparation for Billion Suns

A purchase, but not recent purchases. In the dark recesses of a warehouse in the UK there lurked packets of sinister grey science fiction "space ships"  wanting an interstellar owner [PSC bargain transporter packs of thirty two for "eight quid" plus P&P] note, nominally transports, they look military to me]. One quick internet press later and two packets were acquired by a Ferengi style "agent" in the north (see below, a dubious looking sinister image picked up on local reconnaissance radar systems): 

I am thinking that they are classic battleship looking things to me for "some form of" science fiction space fleets battles rules - including use in Billion Suns which I have previously acquired (see below, although this is more of a corporate warring escalation game. rather than a "Jutland in space"):

This is a slow burn thing for 2022 and beyond and a can of spray paint will appear at some point.

Caught with my hand in the Rule Book(s): Osprey Wargaming titles

It is an easy online thing to 'accidentally' do .. that is, without overtly noticing it yourself (blame the subconscious or was it the Freudian "Id"), ahem until the "Wife" one day stops you at the door and points out that "another package" has arrived! (Caught with the hand in the proverbial "cookie jar").I blame it on the click-ability 'ease' of Amazon "Osprey" online book shopping, see all the pictures below, soI seem to have picked up er, eight somehow.

"The defence case M'lord":

While I am in the process of building up to an Impetus sized army ("long time process of 'figure loving' for me circa 60+ figures per side") I have (or rather) will be using the following rules with warbands of circa 12 .. 40 figures aside instead in skirmish mode (see below):

• Lion Rampant (Medievil)
• The Pikeman's Lament (English Civil War)

Science Fiction (flying a space ship) and Ultra Modern Special Ops, with even less figures (aka working with squads) ranging from the Sci-Fi medley of various GW "things" with miscellaneous robot types from other sources, to the ubiquitous deniable Black Ops (Modern, post 1945 to 2045+) being aimed at reusing the more human looking Sci-Fi or modern 20mm plastics [though there could be the excuse to purchase some (as in mere handful) of ultra modern in the sexy 28mm] (see below):

• Rogue Stars .. Lazer guns are us
• Black Ops .. "I cannot confirm or deny that this operation took place!"

"Odd balls" miscellania, a catch all at the end, Roman Fantasy (something else to do with that Early Imperial 28mm plastic Warlord Games and some existing D&D Fantasy monster figure types) and a Samurai Rule Set ... because I know I will not be able to resist getting the lasted Warlord Games "Test of Honour" game but may want to "go my own way" and not be hauled into getting their OoB (see below):

• Broken Legions .. Fun with a Gladius! 
• Ronin .. "Hei"

Nearing the end. At least the naval section is in the normal wargaming "active" category. For my 1/1200 Navwar ancient triremes and 1/1200 Navwar Napoleonic "Ships of the Line" I have started evaluating these along with other commercial rule sets (see below):

• Poseidon's Warriors (Triremes)
• Fighting Sail (Napoleonic)

Summary: In general, shopping with the Amazon bug gets each of the above for 'under a tenner' (aka below Osprey RRP). They are more of the "introductory level" of basic rules (good for stuff not in my usual period: aka WWII), a standard slightly beyond the "local club house rules" [at least better play tested and Osprey production quality] but below the £25+ level of "in depth" full production "niche period" [hurting your wallet] extravaganza of charts and tables.

I expect to play and tinker with all the above. In fact I have really collected them to be able to "jump start" into periods I have (or almost have) figures for but lack real "deep" background knowledge. I will try and avoid the "buy them all" (though others are interesting) syndrome, but in the end if they get 'one game on the table' with a friend they have served their wargaming purpose! I plan to play Shart Practice II for Napoleonics but as of yet I have not been tempted into playing Steam Punk ;)

40K Things To Do Before Your Wargaming Days are "Game Over"

GW 40K ...

"Love" them, "Hate" them, but you cannot ignore that "They are there, they exist, you cannot deny it. They are out there!", but have you ever played them? I've seen the staggering prices of some of the figures and I've even collected and bought some of those same staggeringly priced figures (well the ones that appealed to me) but (and it's a big BUT) I have not actually played them. 40K? Before I cast a stone I should give them a go. Afterall I am a Sci-Fi fan, RPG'er as well as being a Historical gaming buff. For my sins I have played DBM, DBMM and DBR enough times to establish a position on a continuum of LIKE .. DISLIKE .. and it was finally "dislike" (but DBA is still OK). 40K was a compete mystery to me. Time to unlock the 40K box (see below): 

I found I was an "Orc in Space" (and there was my first philosophical grievance or conundrum, "How" was that possible?). I was also a 'Black Orc' because most my my army was undercoated .. OK I am being a 'it really should be painted' wargaming snob here (the kit that was painted I have to confess did look brilliant if somewhat implausible), but in a perverse sense it was also a liberating feeling of 'naughtiness' too. (I'm sure they would break your thumbs at the Chess Club for turning up with a novelty chess set but that's another story). I seemed to have lots of Orcs packing various different types of weaponry, three "Huge" Orc "War Boss" things, some helicopters, no sorry Choppers and motorbikes, the ones which were painted looked really fab. As you can tell, I dig the painting side of the GW hobby .. but what about the gaming side? Instinctively I hid as much of my kit as possible in cover as far up the table as possible (see below), as in true Orc fashion I had been advised to charge at the enemy and try and rip them apart in the 'close assault'phase. OK, battle plan fixed, action!   

My opponent may only have been twelve, a bit tired after finishing his home work, also just learning the game himself but his father has assured me that I didn't stand a chance because basically his Chaos Space Marines cost more than my Orcs. Judging by the size of the models there were several birthdays worth of presents coming at me. Large curiously shaped warped vengeance machines were reverberating in anticipation of a slaughterhouse of Orc. I think the Orcs were putting on a brave face while waiting for Xmas before Santa brought them a AFV "can opener" model. The armies point wise may be the same but the technological edge lay with the renegade Space Marines (and to be frank, so it should, after all my troops were all born in vats an literally "green" .. I blinked, wasn't I playing Vietnam? I blinked back again and the game has started).    

I moved forwards to see lazguns and worse thing tear holes in my ranks of "green things" ('things' that I have to confess I was getting rather attached to). Finding the cover not really helpful and the shooting capability of your typical "Orc Grunt" rather poor I soon elected to forgo shooting and take the extra variable movement bonus to "get in close and anti-personal" (ahem, sorry I'll get my coat). It seemed to pay off, kind of, for despite the slow learning curve and increasing pile of dead Orsc, the rules things started to be making sense. Range bands in segments of six inches, to hit rolls, penetrating rolls and saving throw rolls (the first two bits were like tank combat Command Decision, the latter straight from the pages of D&D). The statistics were volume based probability which did have its appealing moments (read on later). Finally I got close enough to take on a big Chaos Space Marine figure, a sort of "one demonic thing and its dog" with a hoard of Orc Grunts and a War Boss. At this point we got utterly lost, but as we were at the 'local wargamers club' (I emphasis not just 40K'ers, in fact 40K is a minority sport there) help was at hand, in quite a charming way. Other members upon seeing our distress put their dice down (from a game of 'Steam Punk') and came across to decipher the 'scripts' associated with close combat. Apparently I had to roll dice, lots of dice (see below, count them all, there are fifty in total). Juvenile perhaps, but it had a certain buzz, the sheer time involved in counting them out and tumbling chaos as I threw (well there was that many) all over the table. Adolescence squeals of delight, gawd was I going through puberty again? Did I hit anything, needing sixes for the whites and fives or sixes with the blues, there was something about a 'Power Claw' and a 'Waugh Cry' but I really didn't follow. 

Twenty nine hits! It must be dead. What roll more? Are you sure (see below), oh for penetration, each needs a six (white) or five-six (blue), eight penetrating hits great, is it dead now? Oh roll for saves, er one hit, no two but the first one goes on his dog? OK. It was a lot of hard work figuring it all out but it  usually meant that I was doing two hits to the other figures one for each round of melee. It seemed to be going slowly in my favour but the rest of my army was getting (very politely I may add) torn apart by Chaos Space Marine weaponry. Despite my losses the table seemed very crowed with laz guns wielding troopers that had surprisingly short ranges for hi-tech weaponry and I saw the WWII "only fire when the tank barrels are touching each other" syndrome. My initial score of hits (see below), what could survive that?

After three hours of playing we tried to concentrate on finishing "one melee to the death" but sadly failed. I was whittling away at this Daemon Lord, but seeing as the young chap had mislaid his Chaos Space Marines Codex and Army List we had the peculiar feeling some strange Daemon Sword artifact or special rule might have been able to come to its assistance. See the final stand off below, can you spot the difference from the start other than we must have thrown over five hundred dice to get to this point? We were being guided at this point by some old pros who certainly seemed to know what they were doing .... so it this it? It was an empty sort of feeling.

We packed the bags away. I felt that the battle (3000 points a side) had been too big for a novice like me and somehow in a way "more on the table had meant less fun". I have the inkling that I might have more time for just a 'basic game' without the 'silly big models' that cost a modern mortgage to most young children. Basically Space Hulk. I did have an "Apocalypse Now" moment when my "Orc Huey Gunships" attacked a Giant Mechanical Possessed Spider (which I thought was cute in a Harry Potterish sort of way .. that was meant as a complement), an action shot is shown below. See what I mean about the tank barrels touching though?  

Experience over ... was it a game too far ... certainly I like the GW "Grunt" figures but my inclination is to use them with another rule set, more in a RPG way. Though that said I can sense the appeal of the genre to my oldest child (pre-teen) and where he goes the other two will follow (for my daughter I can already see I will have to paint up some Sisters of Mercy at an unspecified point of time in the future). Game on? I will keep my mini GW collection going, but not following there army lists other than the basic HQ and two troop types. Tyranid, Tau, Necron, Eldar have caught my eye as nice models to paint and why not eventually do the Daddy of them all a Space Marine unit? Plenty of historical stuff to do first though ;)

What next, well the other ugly games brute I haven't tried yet, more in my period, is Flames of War (FoW). Watch this space.