Sci fi trees

Well, to pilfer from Radiohead, Fake Plastic Trees, loads of 'em (27 actually). The Bad Squiddo Ghost of Gaia is for scale purposes.

There isn't much to say about them. They are disassembled IKEA plastic plants stuck onto MDF bases with blobs of green stuff, coated in ballast and given a blast of varnish to fix the ballast in place.

I think I may have to weigh the bases down, probably with metal washers or something, but I think they'll do for science fiction landscapes on distant planets.

The backdrop is one of the Jon Hodgson Handiwork Games sci fi ones.

The last of the Battlezone buildings

These are the last of the actual buildings. There are a few pieces of scatter that I'll put in my next post.

Above we have a nice piece that gives players the opportunity to put figures above street level. Below is a similar piece, with some nice railings added on, obviously for Health and Safety reasons. Once again, we have mysterious plumbing emerging from this building.

The final piece below is a complicated two-sided creation, with an upper gallery running along its length and a crawl space below that because nothing horrible ever lurks in crawl spaces in science fiction films, does it?

These last two pieces have a lamp post like the first one, but I had to cut that off in the photos to get sensibly-sized and shaped images.

The eagle-eyed will notice that the electrical panels on these buildings are all orientated differently. The ways of electricians are clearly as inexplicable as those of plumbers in the grimdark future.

I'm really pleased with how these pieces have turned out. They will be really useful on the table.

Some more of the Battlezone buildings

Here is the next tranche of my grimdark sci fi buildings and installations. Once more, my Ghost of Gaia is here to set the scale.

I have no idea what the plumbing here represents. Who knows the workings of the minds of boiler engineers in the grim darkness of the future? Anyway, the windows offer some firing opportunities.

This above is just a wall, albeit a wall with some strange machines attached. What are they for? Maybe they are vending machines or 41st millennium ATMs? Anyway, walls are useful in skirmish games. Bad things can hide behind them. Maybe bad things like giant spiders with rayguns?

The final piece below is definitely a building, another one with some more inexplicable plumbing. I'm sure it'll look fine on the table. It's perfect for Xenos Rampant etc.

My plans for 2024.

A few days ago, I looked back at what I had planned for last year. Now, I am going to look forward to the coming 12 months and look at the things I want to work on as my main projects for 2024, as well as note down a few things that I can work on in between if I'm feeling a bit bored with the main job in hand.

I have three big 28mm projects (the first two being the most important);

An Elven Army for Midgard which will also work for Sword and Spear Fantasy. I have all the figures for these. They are the excellent Oathmark Elves from North Star. I have Heavy and Light Infantry and the recently-released Cavalry. I've probably got more Heavy Infantry than I really need (I went for the original High Elf army bundle North Star released when Oathmark was first launched) but I'm sure I'll find a use for any leftovers.

A 1940 French Infantry platoon with various support options for Chain of Command. These are all Warlord Games. I've two boxes of infantry, a M1897 75mm gun and a Hotchkiss MMG. I'll have enough figures for an extra Groupe de Combat, extra crew members for the gun and MMG and probably a sniper team and some engineers. 

More 28mm Bloody Miniatures 17th century figures. These will be two more of the Foot releases as well as the recent release of Horse.

Another 28mm project I hope to get done is another Xenos Rampant force using the Wargames Atlantic Deathfields Bulldogs. I want to give these a real Weird WW1 vibe.

I've got things to complete from 2023 too. Top of the list are those 28mm Bicorne Miniatures pikemen.

At some point, I'll carry on with my 15mm Warhammer Empire themed army but I really needs to be in the right mood to work on this.

I will carry on working on scenic stuff too. I have loads of 28mm Sci Fi things to get painted and also some 28mm Renedra plastic buildings. I've also got various 15mm and 28mm odds and ends which I can work on in between the big projects. I also need to work on trees, river sections and other stuff. I might even get round to doing my long-planned but never started modular graveyard, complete with weird sculptures and other stuff. I've got all the bits I need. All I need now is the willpower and the time to make it happen.

I've also got the Bad Squiddo Community Miniatures figures to do. These will also be worked on when I need a break from Elves or French infantry.

Inevitably, I have Pulp/7TV figures to work on too, but that part of the backlog is slowly shrinking.

There are lots of other things I might get round too working on (late 19th century North West Frontier in 15mm, 28mm Bad Squiddo Soviet Women, various WW2 North Africa in different scales etc) but they aren't actual objectives.

I expect that this time next year, I'll still have things I never got round to finishing, or even starting! So it goes.

Fifteen more Xenos Rampant figures completed

And these fifteen will be the last ones for a while. I need a change from sci fi so I can paint something different.

These were made using the 15 Frostgrave Ghost Archipelago plastic crew bodies I had left with Stargrave weapons and a few Stargrave headswaps.

I was originally going to paint them up as warriors from some kind of hot and sandy planet but I changed my mind because I wanted to paint something more colourful. Their baggy trousers suggested French 19th century Zouaves, so I went with a colour palette that would give them a Zouaves or Turcos/ Tirailleurs Algériens sort of vibe.

I'm not sure what they will end up being used as in gaming terms. Maybe they could be Xenos Rampant Light Infantry or even just Militia Rabble? I think they look to nice to be a Rabble, so perhaps they could be Pirates or Raiders of some kind, classed as Lights but with some buffing up.

Anyway, I like how they have turned out, so that is really all that matters.

Twenty Planetary Defence Force troops for Xenos Rampant

These 20 figures are all based on the Stargrave Mercenaries plastic box. I split them into four fire teams;

The first two fire teams will make one Increased Size squad and the next two will be another one.

Although I've given these a standard colour scheme, because they are supposed to be regular troops, you can see that they aren't all identically equipped. They have a variety of helmet types and also different styles of body armour. I think that this gives the impression of a kind of second division force, equipped as Heavy Infantry, but lacking the most up to date equipment.

I think that for Xenos Rampant I will use these as squads of 10 troopers but not give them refinements like Heavy Weapons or Armour Piercing ammunition. Therefore, they will be tough troops but lacking the punch of their better equipped equivalents in the front line units that can be deployed anywhere a threat emerges.

I am now getting quite close to finishing off all the plastic Stargrave figures I've stuck together, but I still have the Crew I and Crew II sets to work on at some point in the future. These are definitely not military types but will still be useful as some of the lesser troop classes in the Xenos Rampant rules.

Two more squads of troops for Xenos Rampant

These two squads are based on the Stargrave plastic Mercenaries II box with a few Crew II bodies added in;

Both sets are made up of female bodies and a huge variety of female heads, although I'm not sure that you could tell the difference between a bulbous blue female alien head and a male one. That doesn't really matter, though because with so much variety available, you'll easily end up with a force of troops that doesn't look much like anyone else's.

I think that in Xenos Rampant terms, both of these squads would best be used as Light Infantry, with the second one maybe being more suited to an Assault Doctrine role, perhaps with the Close Quarters Doctrine too. They could also be used as Militia Rabble if you just needs  couple of speed bumps on the table.

Having played a few games of XR now, it seems to me that Light Infantry need some very careful thought to really get much use out of them. They are pretty fragile and you really cannot get them involved in a firefight with Heavies or Elites, well not unless you can get them into heavy cover and keep them in a defensive role. The only other way is to try and get them to flank enemy Heavies who are already engaged with your own Heavies. If you spend points to improve their ability to survive, you'll end up with fewer points to spend on actual tough guys.

Of course, as everyone knows, getting nice-looking toys on the table is more important than winning. Isn't it?

If you suffer from arachnophobia ..................

 ........................ look away now! Lots and lots of spiders.

These are Wargames Atlantic's giant spiders with the sci fi add-ons of face visors, big guns and robotic legs (well, not all the legs). To give some idea of their size, they are based on 4cm circular MDF bases. I shall definitely be using these as Greater Xenomorphs for Xenos Rampant and they could also be used in lots of other settings.

In addition to the 12 giant spiders that are in the set, you also get 12 smaller spiders on the sprues. I've painted 10 of them to use as a Swarm in Xenos Rampant but they could obviously pop up anywhere.

I used some spare 3cm circular plastic bases which I didn't use when I made up 10 Space Marines recently. Waste not, want not, I say. These don't have any weapons, well apart from their teeth and poison stings.

I decided on a brown palette for all the spiders because I wanted them to look like an alien menace from a semi-arid environment. They were undercoated in Army Painter Leather Brown spray primer, drybrushed with Vallejo Orange Brown and then the little details were painted in. I gave the giant ones bronze weapons with green on the biological-looking parts, and I used red on the eyepieces of their face masks. The ones with visible eyes had them painted black, the same as on the smaller arachnids. Finally, they were given a wash of Winsor & Newton Peat Brown drawing ink.

All the tufts on the bases are from Gamer's Grass.

Twenty Heavy Infantry for Xenos Rampant

I think that Heavy Infantry are an essential for most games of Xenos Rampant, especially if you are the kind of player who likes to stand back and shoot. I have finished two squads and each 10-man squad can be split into two 5-man fire teams;

The top two fire teams represent an Increased Size squad with Heavy Weapons and the lower two fire teams are an Increased Size squad who could be given Armour Piercing ammunition or some other useful characteristic. Each fire team (apart from the first) is led by a junior leader, marked by a yellow shoulder tab and the first team has a senior leader with two tabs. He's the guy with a pistol, talking on the communicator.

The first squad has one team with rocket launchers and a second team with one rocket launcher, three assault rifles and a junior leader with a flamer.

In the second squad, each fire team has two men with assault rifles, one with an LMG, one with a sniper rifle and a leader with a machine pistol-type weapon. 

To be honest though, the weapons are all assumed to do the same thing in the rules, it just appeals to me to make them look like they have different roles. 

They represent the kind of regular troops who make up the military of a typical planetary garrison, the marines of an attack ship or the dropship forces of the army of a Republic (Old or otherwise) or an Empire (maybe Evil, maybe not). They could also be the kind of grunts who are sent off to take on wave after wave of killer bugs, maybe even triumphing against all the odds.

My next figures will be various kinds of lighter-equipped squads, some looking more formal than others.

I've also finally got round to priming my spiders.

A Xenos Rampant Recon Team

One of the troop types for Xenos Rampant is Recon Infantry;

These come as a team of five troopers who have some useful skills and characteristics. They have no movement penalty in rough terrain and they can be classes as Snipers, which gives them a longer shooting range. They are also classed as Hard To Target, meaning that enemy troops have to be within 12" to target them.

These five were made using the Stargrave Mercenaries II plastic set. Although they aren't all wearing identical uniforms, I've painted them in a pretty standard palette and given them all sniper weapons.

I like that the Stargrave box sets have a huge variety of heads on the sprues. Some of the non-human ones are excellent.

I'm pretty pleased with the progress I'm making on my Xenos Rampant project. Next, I will have some "regular" infantry finished off.

Twenty more Xenos Rampant Cultists

Here are my next two groups of Cultists for my Xenos Rampant ongoing project;

I've tried to keep some colours common across all three units, hence the red hoods and purple trousers on this second group. These are armed for a more long range shooting role than the first set and are led by a figure without a hood and carrying a spear, as well as some kind of energy pistol. He also has a shield. My idea with him is that he represents a kind of Prophet/force commander for the cult, maybe even with psychic powers that he can transmit via his spear, which is really a kind of psychic energy weapon or beacon. I think that these are probably more suited to being a unit of Light Infantry, as they lack the armour of the previous lot. They probably ought to have the Guerillas characteristic to boost their armour value when in cover.

Now, my third unit;

These keep the overall "red hoods" theme but are mainly dressed in grey, again linking them to the unit above, colourwise. I think that these are also suited to a Light Infantry role, possibly with an upgrade to having Heavy Weapons, seeing as one has a rocket launcher and a couple have what look like heavier support weapons too. The guy on second front left with the backpack is wearing what looks like a pilot's helmet and is carrying a comms device. He is an alternative force commander figure if I decide I don't want a psychic force commander.

So, there we have it. Three units of Cultists who will form the core of a force which follows some strange occult belief system, perhaps worshipping strange Alien Gods or powerful xenomorphic beings, or maybe just dedicated to destruction and death for its own sake. Who knows?

Next, I'll be working on a couple of units of disciplined fighters who can represent the military of an Empire, Republic or Dictatorship or maybe just a well-armed and equipped Planetary Defence Force.

Some Cultists for Xenos Rampant

Here is my first group of 10 figures to use as Cultists in Xenos Rampant;

These are all based on the Frostgrave Cultists plastic box set with weapons from the Stargrave Troopers and Mercenaries boxes. I'm a big fan of the plastic cultists set and they work well as members of some kind of weird sci fi cult or as space pirates who want to keep their identities secret. This group are clearly wearing some kind of body armour and half of them have pistols and blades so could be used for troops with the Assault Doctrine characteristic or maybe as Berserk Troops. The flamer being carried by the guy on the front right seems well-suited to close combat and assaults.

I've given them a purple-based colour palette so they could be used with the Cultist figures I painted ages ago (back in 2019) for Saga: Age of Magic, who would definitely be Berserkers or Primitives as they have no shooting capability. I like the idea of a Xenos Rampant force that has fanatic troops who just want to get close up and personal with sharp or pointy objects. I could also use some of my daemonic figures, based on Ghost Archipelago Snake Men as Lesser Xenomorphs. They could be given a ranged attack based on spitting toxins. I've not played Saga: AoM in ages, so it would be nice to see them on the table again.

I've got 20 more of these guys to show you, but I'll put them up separately in two more posts, in a day or so.

Ten Elite Infantry for Xenos Rampant

 Please scroll down to see all ten figures;

These figures are, obviously, Games Workshop 40K Space Marines, but I won't be using them for Warhammer 40K.

I bought a box of 10 plastic Space Marines for £10 from someone at the club ages ago, because he didn't want them. My original plan was to paint them up and just sell them on, but I never got around to doing it. 

Once Xenos Rampant came along, it seemed to be a pretty simple thing to paint them up and use them as Elite Infantry for those rules. It also had the other advantage of me not having to spend any extra money on more figures.

I haven't used any 40K Space Marine heraldry on the figures, neither have I painted them up as a particular chapter, although I suppose there is a very slight nod towards the Dark Angels in the basic colour of their armour.

I put them together so that there are five figures with heavy weapons and five more suited to getting close up and personal, if required. That will give me two Elite units for Xenos Rampant.

I'm reasonably happy with how they look and they will do the job perfectly well for XR, with the support of a few units of more standard heavy, light or recon figures.

My next project

I don't often post WIP pictures, but I thought I'd make an exception for this lot, which are all intended to be primarily for Xenos Rampant.

Above I have 30 figures based on Frostgrave plastic  Cultists and Ghost Archipelago plastic crew figures. The crewmen have the same kind of baggy trousers as the cultists and once they have been given suitable headgear they blend in rather well. All of the figures have been equipped with weapons from the various Stargrave plastic sets, plus the occasional Cultist knife, sword or spear. These will work as cult members, pirates, post apocalyptic reavers or ragged mercenaries.

Next, here are 40 figures made up from the Stargrave Troopers and Mercenaries I box sets. I intend these to be Heavy Infantry.

Finally, a mixed bag made up from a mixture of the Mercenaries II and Crew II Stargrave boxes, who will be Light and Recon Infantry (the latter equipped with sniper rifles), five Wargames Atlantic giant spiders with sci fi weaponry and finally 10 Games Workshop plastic Space Marines that I bought from someone at the club ages ago for a tenner and which I intended to paint up and sell, but never got round to it. These will be two units of Elite Infantry. Obviously, I won't be bothering with any Chapter heraldry or other 40K gubbins.

I still have a box of Crew I figures, 15 Crew II figures and 15 Ghost Archipelago figures, plus 12 small spiders and seven giant ones to use. I am sure they'll end up as something useful.

I have to admit that I will leave it a while before I make any more giant spiders. They are pretty tricky and time-consuming to put together and I don't think I'd have done it yet without Guy Bowers' really useful guide on the WSS blog HERE. Having said that, they are worth the effort because they look pretty impressive, even without an undercoat.

Mixing Frostgrave, Ghost Archipelago and Stargrave figures together is really easy and generally everything goes together without any hassle or swearing.

I now have a total of 100 individual figures to get painted over the next couple of months. I am planning to do them in groups of 10 at the most.

My plans for 2023

Well, I've been pondering what I want/need to get on with over the next 12 months, and looking at the metal, plastic and resin mountain to see what I really ought to do something about, even if it is only because the various things have been hanging around for ages.

There are things that fell off the bottom of my 2022 list that I will definitely work on, as well as others that might get done. There are also a few things that won't happen and one or two that might end up as something else.

So, here are the things I will definitely be aiming at getting done. The higher up the list, the more likely they will get an early start;

15mm WW2 British Airborne support options for Chain of Command (these will be my January priority).

15mm WW2 German support options for Chain of Command

Stargrave plastic box sets for Xenos Rampant armies

Various other plastic sets that will work for Xenos Rampant with head and weapons swaps.

28mm Spanish for Sharp Practice 

28mm Bloody Miniatures 17th century troopers

28mm 17th century Bicorne Miniatures Pikemen and Musketeers (these will augment my existing Bloody Miniatures figures to make up useful forces for various sets of rules)

15mm extra units for my SYW Honours Of War army, infantry and artillery mostly

28mm Wild West figures for Dead Man's Hand and anything else.

15mm Renaissance army for Sword and Spear Fantasy (with a Warhammer Fantasy Empire theme)

15mm Northwest Frontier Imperial and Afghan forces and buildings (this is a new project)

Continuing building up my scenic collection in 15mm and 28mm, including lots of 28mm Sci Fi scenics

1/285 scale 8th Army and DAK for O Group

Crossfire 15mm US infantry company

15mm WW2 1943-45 British/Commonwealth infantry for the Far East.

28mm Pulp figures for all sorts of things (I have too many of these in my leadpile)

Additions to my 28mm Perry plastic Renaissance collection

Silver Bayonet

28mm Soviet Women, also for Chain of Command (from the Bad Squiddo Kickstarter)

28mm Late Roman skirmishing and armoured cavalry, and cataphracts too.

15mm Romano-British "Arthurian" army for Sword and Spear Fantasy

The thing about all of the above is that I already have the necessary figures for most of this, apart from the extra units for my SYW army and more Perry 15th century plastic infantry, so the only thing stopping me from making a start on this list is my own laziness and habit of playing with the dogs, reading books and listening to music instead of prepping and painting minis.

Of course, there are lots of other odds and ends hanging around that might get worked on simply because I feel like a change. I've got lots of Fantasy stuff that I really ought to do something about this year, including a box of Wargames Atlantic giant spiders, which would definitely work for Xenos Rampant.