AHPC XV Submission #5 - Soviet Casualties, Star Wars Characters, and some Special Themed Minis

 This submission is a bit of a mixed bag consisting of wide variety of different miniatures. 

First up is a group of eight 28mm Soviet casualties in Summer uniforms by May '40 Miniatures that I picked up at Historicon last July. Having done a set of German casualties as pin markers last year for AHPC XIV, I thought I would expand my collection with additional markers for some of my other Bolt Action armies. Alas, I could only find the Soviet casualties among all the dealers there. 

The bases were cut from old dining gift cards, and a small box was made to accommodate a die at one end. I then built up the base with Spackle and pushed a figure into it while still wet. Once the Spackle was dry, the figures were then removed and the base covered with sand and painted with craft paints. The figures were primed black with a rattle can and then painted using Vallejo acrylics and Citadel washes before being glued back onto the bases. As a final touch, I added some grass flocking and a few tufts of vegetation. 

All eight pin markers

A close up of two of the poses

A close up of the other two poses

Next we have some Star Wars characters by West End Games that were done for some specials themes as part of Dante's Divine Comedy. The figures of miniatures of Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker as he appeared in 'Return of the Jedi', and an Imperial officer have been languishing a box with other Star Wars minis, glued on 1 inch washers and with sand added to the base. They were primed black with a rattle can, and then painted with Vallejo acrylics and Citadel washes. Lots of black, dark grey, and grey, followed by Nuln Oil.

The last of the Star Wars figures is one of Obi Wan Kenobi on Tatooine. He was painted with Vallejo acrylics (Flat Flesh, Dark Sand, Chocolate Brown, Stone Grey, White) followed by Citadel Reikland Fleshshade on the face and hands, Army Painter Mid Brown Wash on the robes and cloak, and Army Painter Blue Tone on a white base for the light saber. 

The last two figures are ones associated with some special themes drawn from Dante's Divine Comedy, specifically those of Lust and Gluttony. I didn't have anything in my existing inventory to fit the bill of Lust, but was able to find an inexpensive stl file on MyMiniFactory of a Succubus with Chain Whip, that was also described as a Lust Demon. A friend printed the figure for 28mm scale, although it actually stands 32mm tall. The detail is very fine, and the wings and chain whip are quite fragile. I can't see this lasting very long on the tabletop before something gets broken. It was primed black with an airbrush, and then painted (very carefully) with Vallejo acrylics. I kept the palette simple with shades of red and black/dark grey. Here's the final result.

 

The next Circle of Hell was Gluttony. Again I didn't have anything in my stash of 'great unpainted', but was able to find another stl on MyMiniFactory of a fat lord on his throne stuffing his guts. This is a 40mm figure that comes in three pieces - the base, the throne, and the fat lord, which definitely made it easier to paint on the detail. The pieces were primed black with an airbrush and then painted with Vallejo acrylics with a few Citadel washes. Once completed, the separate parts were glued together. Here is our fat town lord with a drumstick on one hand and a goblet in the other, while a broken wine bottle lies at his feet.

 Thanks for stopping by.

Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge XIV #6 - Star Wars & Science Fiction

 As part of last year's painting challenge I completed an assortment of retro Star Wars miniatures that were sculpted by Nevile Stocken of Archive Miniatures within weeks of the first Star Wars movie hitting the theatres. Alas, Stocken couldn't get a licensing agreement, and the line was modified to become 'Star Rovers' with enough changes made to circumvent copyright. These were a gift from a friend who got them from the estate of a mutual friend who had passed away. A total of sixteen figures consisting of Obi-wan Kenobi, Greedo, R2-D2, a Tusken raider, four Jawas, and eight Stormtroopers. With the exception of the Jawas, the figures stand 32-34mm tall. Obi-wan's light saber, and the gaffi stick of the Tusken raider  had broken off at some point. I rebuilt them using lengths of florist wire.

I was initially going to build the structure in the background as a Gondorian tower for Minas Tirith, but the materials I had weren't giving off the right vibe. I decided to add another building to my Tatooine collection instead. It stands 8" tall and the base is 8" on a side.

Somewhere in Mos Eisley

 

Stormtroopers

Tusken, Kenobi, Jawas, Greedo, and R2-D2

More Stormtroopers

 

 The last of the Stocken figures is a Bunny Stormtrooper, one of a variety of modifications to the original sculpts made to avoid copyright infringement. It could easily be converted back to a normal Stormtrooper by snipping off the ears, tail, rabbit teeth and toes. Unfortunately there was only one of these in the bag of minis my friend gave me.

In addition to the Archive miniatures, I also painted up two old-school 25mm Star Wars miniatures of Han Solo and Leia Organa from West End Games. They were painted with Vallejo acrylics, with a wash of Citadel Reikland Fleshshade on the skin areas. In the background is a plastic model kit released by MPC for 'The Return of the Jedi' which is approximately 1/78 scale. A bit small for the figures, but it works well on the game table.

 

Keeping with the Science Fiction genre are two female troopers from the Eurasian Solar Union by Ground Zero Games. I picked these up off eBay years ago with plans to add them to the mix of various manufactures that I painted up as my planetary militia. I had done a few of these for a previous challenge, and I used the same colour scheme using Vallejo acrylics and Citadel washes.

Lastly I painted up five resin cast vehicles from Scotia Grendel, consisting of two of their tracked Sci-Fi APCs and three of their wheeled A.T.A.C. APCs. I had purchased these at least fifteen years ago when I was still running an after-school wargames club, and I needed more vehicles for the large number of students who attended. In the end, I never found time to paint them and, after I retired, there was little incentive until now. Once again, the Painting Challenge has provided the necessary motivation to paint up items that have resided in a storage box for over a decade. 

The wolf's head on the back of the tracked APC is actually detail that is cast on the model in slight relief. I painted them white on both vehicles. 

A group shot of all five vehicles

6-wheeled APC, right side and front

6-wheeled APC, back and left side

Tracked APC, front and left side

Tracked APC, right side and back

 All of the figures and vehicles in this post were done for various themed challenges associated with the Challenge Library - Children's Books, Manga and Graphic Novels, Romance,  Science-Fiction, and Lady Sarah's Library Cart. It will be interesting to see what themed tasks will be presented in this year's 'Divine Comedy'.

Rogue One Redux by Conscript Greg

Recently, Conscript Greg trekked back to Winnipeg from Hogtown to run a Star Wars game using Bolt Action. It was an alternate history version of Rogue One, where Director Krennic's AT-AT was downed by a Rebel cell, who moved in to try and capture the Imperial bureaucrat to inflict some enhanced interrogation.

Greg used mostly Bolt Action v2 rules, with v3 firing resolution, overseen by Dallas. Greg provided the infantry figures, which included some 3D prints. 

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Below, Krennic and his Deathtrooper drinking buddies have climbed out of the wreckage, awaiting reinforcements.

The Rebels move in from both short able edges.

Panoramic view of the table. It's a great desert terrain modular affair once owned by Greg, now in the hands of Dallas.

"I hear blaster fire!"

Some Rebel Heroes, led by K2-S0, advanced along the dry river bed.

They climbed all over Krennic and his surviving bodyguards. Baz was the first Hero to fall.

Lights out! Now to get this guy off the table. Chirrut went down immediately after this photo was taken.

The Conscripts gather around the table as the action heats up.

Reinforcements, including multiple Sandtrooper squads and Speeder Bikes, swarmed in from both long table edges. Jynn Erso finally went down before she could rendezvous with Cassian Andor.

The Rebels were whittled away by the overwhelming Imperial firepower. 

Fittingly, K2 hooked up with Cassian, who then  managed to drag Krennic off the table. They were the sole Rebel survivors!

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Bolt Action provided a fun, fast game. We look forward to seeing Greg on his next visit to town!

Thanks to Greg for putting on such a fun game, and to Dallas for graciously hosting!

Star Wars Campaign Game 12: Clone Lab

 

Last Thursday I ran the latest game in the ongoing skirmish campaign for my gaming group, The Fawcett Avenue Conscripts. It was the second season finale, bringing together elements from seasons one and two, and setting the stage for next season. 

In the previous game the Rebels managed to steal samples of various kinds of Imperial cloning and medical technology. With that intel, the Rebels, led by Senator Leia Organa and Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker, were raiding a hidden Imperial cloning lab.

The Imperial goal was to leave the Eastern table edge with the three suspensor-supported cryo-coffins, containing new clones. 

Was this a trap set by Darth Vader? Would the product(s) of the Imperial cloning effort be available to thwart the Rebel mission?

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The table represented a secret underground Imperial cloning facility on Navarro, complete with a lava river running North-South through the table. 

Leia, now a Jedi Apprentice under Knight Luke, led some Rebel Troopers and advanced from the Eastern edge of the table. Luke and some Pathfinders infiltrated through a back door in the Northwest to try and intercept the clone transfer. 

A suit-less Darth Vader led some Stormtroopers to the centre of the table, covering his men and holding the bridge. 

The clone Luuuke (grown from the original Luke’s left hand, lost in combat with the late Emperor last year) moved to the protection of Vader’s Shield, then advanced on Luke to duel him face to face. There can only be one!

Unfortunately for Luuuke, his swordsmanship was not up to the task and he was very quickly put OOA by the real Luke. Luke proceeded to cut a swathe though the Stormtroopers remaining to the west of the lava, even managing to push one into the river. 

Vader, sensing an opportunity, jumped into close combat with Leia, trying to capture her and turn her to the Dark side. 

Leia, though vastly inferior in skill to the God-Like Anakin, managed (with the help of Sharp Tongued) to inflict a Wound on the Dark Lord of the Sith! This could not last, and she ended up badly wounded by her father. 

However, himself wounded by massed blaster fire and running out of time, Vader cut his way to a coffin, grabbed it and exited the East table edge. 

Leia’s troops managed to grab the two remaining clones and hurled them into the lava, destroying them utterly. 

With hard evidence of the Imperial cloning plan, Navarro will likely be pushed over to the Rebellion. 

The Mayhem Twins have won a minor but clear Rebel victory. What clone was rescued by Darth Vader? Stay tuned for next season. 

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Thanks to Rob, KevinH, and Dallas for sharing fellowship and beer.