Spinward Marches Solutions, LLIC.

Art by Ian Stead, by commission.

Spinward Marches Solutions
Rhylanor/2716 Spinward Marches

UCP: Im◄2444●23►LLPAR●Sec◄0466●56►

Established at the end of the Fourth Frontier War by mustered-out senior Naval personnel, Spinward Marches Solutions, LLIC., is a family-owned and operated mercenary, security and troubleshooter company, based on Rhylanor.  

Using their naval contacts, SMS were able to obtain a series of tickets for a subsidized 800-ton Type-M cruiser in the service of various march planetary governments, eager to re-establish peace and order in the wake of the recent war.  The first cruiser was paid off in just under ten years (1094). A second Type M was purchased used and paid off in eight years (1104).

The recent purchase of two additional Type M cruisers, while allowing SMS to service multiple tickets, has stretched corporate finances to their limit. It remains to be seen whether SMS can make the payments or has over-extended themselves.

Corporate recruiting policy is to engage previous-service mercenaries with either Army, Marine or Navy backgrounds. While this limits recruitment intakes, it reduces costs by reducing the need for basic training, and focuses on physical and mental reconditioning, as well as technical education.

Benefits are generous, with the leadership committed to attracting the best veterans in the subsector to their enterprise.

In addition to dirtside security, SMS offers a range of aerospace services, employing 6-ton light aero-space fighters. The company depends on High-Ticket, Moderate Risk assignments to keep operations profitable. Long term tickets with success-only bonuses are preferred.

Founder: Seth Coraille, Count of Aramanx

CEO: Garith Coraille,

CFO: Jone Coraille

Main Office on Rhylanor.  Servicing the Porozlo Schism on a retainer to Ling-Standard Products and the Free Trade Bloc.  3 Broadsword Cruisers carrying a Light Infantry Company.

Recruiting office: Marovic/Porozlo (5d+5 recruits per month)

Subsidiary Office on Vilis (4d+3 recruits per month).  Servicing Garda-Vilis brushwar in a government-supportive security capacity. 1 Broadsword Cruiser with Light Infantry Platoon.

Possible expansion projected to:

Aramis Subsector, with a recruiting office on Aramanx. (4d+3 RPM)

Glisten Subsector, with a recruiting office on Glisten (4d+3 RPM)

...Ω

Not Quite Another Bughunt - 5P/FMA

With the lock-down firmly in place, it was time to have a go at a Five Parsecs from Home/Full Metal Anorak/Bughunt game.  A fireteam of four was rapidly generated: Logan, Kupperberg, Farlander, and Correia. From various backgrounds: Prison Planet, Hi-Tech World, and Trade World - each location providing some small benefit for that particular trooper.

Quick word on mechanics: I use the 5PfH/BH campaign shell to generate the troopers backgrounds, the scenario and objectives, and the campaign turn in between encounters. The actual scenario resolution is driven by Full Metal Anorak. So there are twice as many rulebooks to search through than normal. But, hey!  It's Lockdown!

For this scenario, I used part of my paper-terrain space station as the encounter board. Three green  poker chips were placed as 'Objective' markers, each of these gets a 'Contact' marker (potential hostiles). Also, six 'Tactical' markers are placed, as evenly spaced as possible, about the board.

Rolling 1d6 for mission Priority, I had a 1, which was a relief, as this was essentially a training mission for me and my squaddies. Priority 1 also means 1 additional 'contact' marker is placed on each objective...you see where this is going? Had I rolled a 6, it would be six times the "fun".

Mission Priority also provides points where you can shop for support - in this scenario, I picked a tough-as-nails Gunnery Sgt., named Sigler, armed with a boarding cutlass and auto-shotgun.

Contact markers are randomly moved several d6 in various directions. Your squad enters a random board edge. And the Hunt begins.

Turn 1 and 2: The squad headed for the first objective, and immediately encountered the opposition: crazed robots.  I decided to roll randomly, and that's what was selected.

"I thought it was supposed to be bugs..." said Logan.
"Maybe it's bugs in their programs!" joked Kuppenberg.
"Secure that pun!" growled the Gunny.

D6 with the '2' will move in the Slow Phase

Initiative in 5P is slightly different, since it's designed as a solo game. Adapted for FMA, each player figure has a Motivation Rating, from 1 - 3, 1 being best. To move in the first phase, AKA the 'Fast' Phase, a number of d6 are thrown, those that roll over their Motivation may now move, shoot and take special actions.

The aliens/bugs/robots move and take action in the second phase.

Finally, in the last or 'Slow' phase, any player models that haven't yet moved are free to do so.

It's a neat system, and it reminds me of Two Hour Wargames

"I just Burked myself..."

reaction system, but IMO it works more smoothly and is less cumbersome.

Turn 3 - 4: The robots at the first objective were quickly dispatched, due to some hot die rolls. The objective turned out to be the Evac point.  Each objective is rolled for details, usually before actual play begins. One objective was lifted, and the other, in the Med Bay, had a 'hack' result, meaning someone was going to be using their Tech skillz.

"You are BURKED, my lad!'

While the main squad was clearing the first objective, Trooper Kuppenberg went off to investigate on his own. He found a Tactical marker, made his Tech roll, and was able to remove a Contact marker that was getting close to his fellow squaddies...and then he bumped into two more robots.

Kuppenburg ran for the exit, and decided to make a Tech roll (5-6 on a D6) to lock the door. Rolled a 4. "NOOOOOooooo!"

"C'mon you Rednecks!"

As Burke, I mean Kuppenberg, dodged mechanical claws, he dropped his ACR and pulled out his standard issue Heavy Service Pistol. Shots rang out and slugs ricocheted off the robotic steel plating.

The rest of the squad, hearing the shots, ran toward the sound of the gunfire.

"And that's what we mean when we say
'Fight Like Robot'"

Running in FMA/Stargrunt II, to me, has always seemed awkward, with many players conflicted on what works best.  For my games, I've implemented "Run" as an additional action. First action, you get your regular move distance. With Run, you get to add your movement Die type. So, if your model has an 8" move, it gets that distance, then rolls a D8 when it Runs.

Results seem to be, you will occasionally fail to make the distance, but you won't be standing 2" from where you started 3 minutes ago.

Pvt. Logan has stabilised Kuppenberg,
and he's walking.

By turns 5 - 6, The rest of the squad had reached the room, from where they'd heard the shots. Kuppenberg lay crumpled on the floor, with an obviously chuffed robot standing over him.

Extending it's claws, the robot advance on the squad...

...however, walking into a three-way crossfire of aimed shots doesn't do anyone a bit of good...and the saucy 'bot was gunned down with dispatch

Main Objective in Sight

Turn 7 - 8: Pvt. Logan was able to stabilise Kuppenberg on the second attempt (luckily she didn't kill him on a '1') and since the damage taken wasn't heavy, he was able to walk and fight at a reduced level (he dropped a Quality die).  I was glad I had traded some of Logan's pre-gen points for Medic-1. She is fast becoming my favourite model.

The rest of the squad headed for the Med Bay, where the objective was to hack the computer and bring the data back to HQ for analysis.

"Who's our tech?" asked Sgt. Sigler

"That'd be Kuppenberg, Sarge" replied Pvt. Correia.

"Well sheet!" swore the Sergeant, "I guess you're our new Tech, Correia!"

"I lay awake at night and think of you, Sergeant..." muttered Correia.

"What's that, Marine?" growled Sgt. Sigler.

"I said, 'Sergeant! Yes, Sergeant!'" Correia exclaimed.

"Damn straight, you did." said Sigler. "And now that we're all in agreement, let's get into Med Bay, grab the data, and GTF off this rattle-trap.  On the DOUBLE!"


There was a single robot in Med Bay, but a Contact marker was slowly moving closer. The Sgt and Pvt Farlander charged the Bot, guns blazing, while Correia swung clear of the brawl and ran to the Med Computer.

"Jesús en una muleta!" she cursed under her breath. ¿Dónde está el maldito fabricante de capuchino en esta puta?

"Marines! EXFILTRATION!

Just behind Correia's back, Pvt. Farlander took a swipe from a claw and went down hard. Sgt. Sigler emptied his service pistol into the metal attacker and was pleasantly surprised when it began to gout smoke from it's seams and crashed over satisfactorily.

"No time for triage" Sigler said to himself, as he picked up Farlander and slung him over the shoulder.
Sigler yelled to Corriea, "Don't be gentle, Cariño! Kick the drive loose if you have to!"


Correia drew back her armoured combat boot. Wham! she kicked. Wham! Wham! WHAM! The impacts kept time to shouts in Spanish:
"Abre! Abre! ABRE! TU PERRA!"
There was a snapping sound, accompanied by the skittering of some plastic something across the floor. The drive, with a data crystal,  slid open.

Correia picked up the crystal and grinned as she showed it to Sgt. Sigler. "Just like Prom Night, Gunny!"

"A natural Romantic..." said Sigler. "Marines, EXFILTRATION TIME!"


Outside the Med Bay, Logan and Kupperberg headed cautiously into the comms room.  Logan held up Kupp's ACR, "Can you handle this?"

"Yeah" he said. "Just don't ask me to dance..."

Logan grinnned "I'm not asking you to dance. I'm asking you to fight..."

FMA allows for fighting while wounded, unlike SGII. For a light wound, the model has it's combat quality degrade by one level, so Kupperberg drops from a D8 Quality to a D6. He also cannot run.

The two marines made slowly for the EVAC point.

"Dropship Kalgon; take us away!"

Turn 9 - 10.  Just behind Logan and Kupperberg, Sgt. Sigler crossed the main corridor. Several close contacts were being held off by a Tactical marker (more on these in the notes).

They entered Comms just as two more Robots moved in.

Putting the unconscious Farlander down, Sgt Sigler swore, "Jesús en una muleta!" as he raised his shotgun. Correia raised an eyebrow.

The shotgun blast caught both bots, destroying the lead one. The other advanced on Corriea,metal claws grasping.

Actually, Gunny Sigler took the brunt of the melee, because he is one tough hombre (AC d12!) and I was playing the odds. Correia and Logan provided fire support, again, playing the odds that any stray shots wouldn't damage Sigler.  The strategy worked, even had it failed, Sigler is not a regular member of the squad, and can be replaced by an exact copy - but I would have missed him.

By turn 11(pursued by yet again two more robots) the Squad had reached the EVAC objective - not sure how they were extracted, possibly a hole in the ceiling. There was one walking wounded, one incapacitated, and two objectives achieved.  Mission: Success.

Post-Game Thoughts:

Tactical Markers - these add a neat twist. When contacted, a successful Tech roll (5-6) creates a tactical effect - it can be removing a Contact marker or creating a Blocking Zone vs. Aliens. This latter was how the Sarge got across the main corridor whilst carrying the wounded Farlander.

This scenario was pretty hard, for a priority 1 game. I was getting close to despairing, until I realised I had short-changed the main squad a second Fire Team. That's an automatic back up, and then you can requisition heavier weapons, etc. by paying some Priotity points.  Of course, the first Smart LMG the squad acquires goes to Pvt. Correia.

Creature Movement Does Eventually Get Boring - rolling movement dice for a dozen Contact markers does get a little tiresome, especially on the far side of the board, where one just knows they will never come into contact. I'm thinking about a hack.

On the other hand, there's always an off-chance that a new Contact marker will appear in your squad's way. This happened on the penultimate turn, where the EVAC point was attacked by a single robot. Logan and Kupperberg were able to bring it down with concentrated, aimed fire.  Still, made for a tense turn.

Campaign Turn: After the encounter, models use are assigned experience points, roll for reputation increase, apply for cross training, go on R&R, if up for some and recover in sick bay. In the case of Kuppenberg, since he had been stabilised with a light wound, he would require a turn in sickbay, so if the team goes out, it will be without him, and Farlander as well.

Farlander had been recovered while incapacitated, so  he had to roll on the chart  and take his chances - fortunately, he also came up "Lightly Wounded" so he'll have Kuppenberg to keep company.

Correria had enough experience points to buy a trait upgrade - she was a half-point down on her Move trait (3.5") so that was increased to 4". They're still slow, but at least they're all slow together.

Logan was able to improve her Motivation to a "2", meaning she will be taking a more active role in future encounters.

Sgt. Sigler went on to his next assignment, nannying another set of wet-arsed boots on a thankless job of keeping Mankind's Final Frontier safely expanding.

"Damn Straight!"...Ω

Old School 28mm Sci-Fi Review

As progress continues apace on my Five Parsecs from Home/Traveller project, I've been struck with how few resources are available for 28/25mm old school Sci-Fi gaming, and those that do exist are rather scattered.

"Old School" needs to be defined, I suppose. In my judgement, Old School hearkens back to a time when:

• We played face-to-face
• Figure were rules-agnostic, made of metal, and painted.
• The Content was neither video-game derived, nor so aesthetically inspired.

These are the basic qualities, and they may be tweaked as time and experience march on. Other details, like paper maps, cardboard/cardstock boxes and that the scale was more like 25mm, I'll leave off as not compulsory for my particular purposes.

So, alphabetically then:

Alternative Armies

Based in the UK, Alternative Armies has been a mainstay of my 15mm Sci-Fi collection, but they do 28mm Sci-Fi, too. The Alternate Stars Space Opera figures are there, as are the old Asgard Space Marines and Adventurers, as well. The 28mm Ion Age also has an Oldhammer Old School feel.

Figures by Alternative Armies

Copplestone Castings

I will admit a personal bias in that I love, and have always loved, Mark Copplestone's sculpts. The Future Wars line embodies all that is good in Old School style - good proportions, not cartooney, reasonable weaponry.  Nick Eyre at Northstar Miniatures has assumed the distribution rights for this line, giving Mark Copplestone greater freedom to design and sculpt new models.

Figures by Coppleston Castings

Denizen

Probably the grandfather of the UK companies, Denizen make large 25mm, which will work with moderate 28mm. They are well detailed, even by today's standards, and well proportioned. Lines include Sci-Fi, Fantasy and modern race-car crew and drivers. They do not have many photos of their lines, which they seem to be working to correct, albeit slowly. Denizen have an email-based ordering system.

Figures by Denizen Miniatures

Grenadier

See Mirliton

Ground Zero Games

The Gold Standard in miniature figure companies. Other companies beat each other up over who can be more like GZG. IMO, GZG inspired the 15mm SciFi trend in the mid-90's, and helped usher in the "Golden Age of 15mm Sci-Fi" which only began to wan in perhaps the last year-or-so.

Unfortunately, there aren't many photos of the GZG 25mm line up on their website - one of the very few errors of judgement Jon@GZG has made over their long history.

Goth Figures by Ground Zero Games

NAC Figures by Ground Zero Games

Mirliton

Mirliton acquired the last-gen line of Grenadier fantasy figures, which overlaps with some EM4's Sci-Fi line. Many of these figures are mirrored on Copplestone Castings website, though Mirliton has been slowly adding some new figures to their line. Given the ruinous shipping rates from Italy to the US, I've been very selective of what I've ordered - nothing, to date. The distributor, Noble Knight, acts as the US source for Mirliton. 

Figures by Mirliton

Moonraker Miniatures

Also inheriting the EM4 line of Future War/Future Skirmish, Moonraker Miniatures offer many of the figures on the Mirliton site, as single models, at a fraction of the shipping cost.  I have had good service from them, with dispatch, notification and post taking about 10 days.

Figures by Moonraker Miniatures

Editor's Note(3/11/2020) : Moonraker Miniatures are now owned by Forlorn Hope Miniatures. Best of Fortunes to the new owner.

And now, some Honourable Mentions:

Black Cat Miniatures aka Black Cat Bases

Black Cat has a veritable cornucopia of Old School style miniatures, just not a lot of generic Sci-Fi. What they have do mix well with other moderate 28mm. I've always had good service from Black Cat Bases.

Crooked Dice Design Studios

One of the first companies to understand the Power of Nostalgia*, Crooked Dice entirely qualifies as an Old School Miniatures Company, only they're scarcely a decade old. Still and all, their miniatures are spot-on for the Old School vibe - they just need more generic in their Sci-Fi line..

(*which, by the way, suggests that the neo-PULP genre is the Next Big Thing. Nota Bene!)

Crooked Dice Cyberpunks

Iron Wind Metals

Ral Partha Miniatures live on at Iron Wind Metals. There is a Post Apocalyptic line, as well as a Shadowrun and (although drifting into the cartoon & ridiculous category) the VOR line. I'm not going to list any pictures, due to the abysmal web design Iron Wind Metals employ.

RAFM

Canadian company RAFM has a few figures that work for Sci-Fi in their USX Modern line.  They also have a line of the old Reaction Marines - though these are too far gone into the bulky/cartoony style to fit me definition of Old School. If anything, to my mind, they are Oldhammer School.

RAFM Reaction Marines 5012

Personal note: without exception, I like RAFM's miniatures, a lot, only I've never seen a company work against it's own interests the way RAFM seem to do*. From frivolous Indiegogo campaigns ($18,890) to (edit...) some questionable marketing skillz, it's almost as if RAFM is playing at Gollum: hating and loving themselves.

(Edit: I've redacted my observations regarding how RAFM posts to the USA, having tried an exercise using Canada Post - I can see that RAFM's method is a much sounder one, and I apologise for seeing a bug where there's really a feature...)

End of day, it's easier for me to order RAFM through third parties - once again: Noble Knight.

(*Except possibly GDW...)

Reaper Minis

Another of my favourites, Reaper Minis tend to be a trifle biggish, though not incompatibly so. Their Chronoscope line as a number of Old School Sci-Fi minis - you must be willing to search for them. 

Rebel Miniatures

Rebel Miniatures has a 28mm Horror line, and a 28mm Sci-Fi line (as well as a plethora of 15mm lines). Some of these figures fit quite well in the Old School genre.

Rebel Miniatures Earth Force Vixens

Rebel Minis seem to be another of the companies that hasn't quite found their footing, unless it is to provide miniatures for Two Hour Wargames. During the 15mm "Golden Age" they added to their 15mm lines quite prolifically, and now they are flirting with 28mm. I hope they continue to expand their 28mm Sci-Fi line, and not go too far into the blocky/cartoony aesthetic.

Scotia-Grendel
Scotia Grendel has the Kryomek Line, the Void Line and the Urban War (ex-Urban Mammoth) line. These lines, in my opinion, straddle the Old School/New School line, in that they display the beginning of the video-game reality, with odd profiles, weird creatures, etc. Some of the Nexus Marines work very well with Old School themes.

Closing Thoughts

This list cannot be compleatly exhaustive, and there are lots of smaller startups offering "one-shot" miniatures which may, or may not, fall under the Old School Sci-Fi umbrella as I'm using here - that said, feel free to offer additional suggestions, in the comments, if there's something you think I've missed.

Traveller: Interstellar Wars, using Dirtside II in 15mm

Megz and I decided to try a little Dirtside II while visiting the Tri-State Gamers Day of Games in Springfield, PA this past 17th November. Megz had never played before (though is familiar with StarGrunt II) and I hadn't played in some 4 years - time to knock some rust off.

We were joined by Cliff B. and Gil (?), which was a pleasant development (They were enthralled by the GEV APCs and first thought it was a Hammer's Slammers game - why disappoint them?)

Imperials Advance
I have no idea why my camera is tinting blue.

This was another "Assault on Alpha Centauri" scenario, first taken from the old boardgame Imperium and answers the statement "You should only attack with 3 to 1 odds." with "Sometimes, you only have  2 to 1 odds and you hope to get lucky...". Happens in Imperium all the time.


(Picture note: my I*Phone was fussing, so the first picture turned out rather blue-ish. We switched to the MegzCam(TM) for the rest of the game.)

The Vilani make a key mistake...they bunch up.

The Imps weren't playing very clever, we were just trying to close to range. Bit of a mistake, really. The Terran mortars took out an artillery scout sled, and then sustained heavy missile fire and high velocity rounds from the light tanks (nicknamed "Terridens") destroying the T53 Area Defense sled. Loss of the AD sled is always bad, as it protects the advance against missiles and mortar rounds. And so, the defeat begins...

The line is dressed,
and the advance may now continue...

Some good news; the artillery spotters were able to deploy a pair of mortars on the reverse of the ridge. The third mortar was still in the burning hover sled. Also, an attached Electronic Warfare sled set up jamming of the Terran communications.

Dirtside II doesn't have EW rules, so we ported them in from StarGrunt II. An active EW stand receive three chits, each can be spent to spot units, jam commo or spoof enemy guidance systems. The Imperial immediately began to jam the Terran artillery spotters requests for mortar fire. This blunted the Terran mortar fire, but did not entirely halt it.

The Terrans had very little capability to counter these EW attacks - Terran Tech lags behind Imperial, so their ECW assets aren't effective except in quantity, and there had been no room to land those expensive, and limited effective units.

The ConFed Marines would defend the giant
 drink cup facility, whatever the cost...

Terran Marine platoon, dug in on three low rises. The big building is some sort of infrastructure objective - maybe it refines and bottles water. It has to be strategically important for the Vilani to capture and not simply nuke.

The marines are supported by light, airmobile AIFVs and a pair of light tanks (with hi-velocity guns). There are mortar teams behind the crests of the rises, the squad leaders are acting as spotters - something the Vilani would never contemplate.

The near squad has lost their Chariot-class AIFV to the 44mm gun of the T53 sled. These small vehicles are light enough to drop into positions, but they have thin armour. All Terran Marine Jump Infantry vehicles are built on the same light chassis, easing logistics ever so slightly.

The view of the Vilani, humping over the ridge, from the Terran ConFed perspective. The Terran mortar teams are still being jammed, as the Command Post attempts to re-activate a mortar section to hit the Imps. This was another StarGrunt II rule we imported - a command unit may pass it's activation to a subordinate unit upon making a successful commo roll.

One thing we did not get on camera was an auto-cannon armed Chariot raced down the Vilani right flank and shot up several elements - Imperial mortar section and spotter section as well as the EW sled.  Megz is a lunatic, but the attack worked. Though the "Mad Chariot" was destroyed by the 22mm autocannons of an Imperial AIFV, with the loss of the Imperial EW team, and the supporting mortar, AND the squandered T43 ADA sled, the Vilani cancelled the assault.

The Vilani have second thoughts...

Post Game Thoughts:

Designing Interstellar Wars ground actions can be tricky, especially if you're trying to stay in Traveller Canon. The first few wars must have been a nightmare, with the Ziru Sirka/Vilani lobbing tactical nukes about like lawn darts. The Terran ConFed would need to keep very mobile, which would be somewhat difficult if they're dropping light troops from orbit - unless they're dropping directly onto targets the Imperials can't (or won't) nuke.

Ziru Sirka/Imperial scouts - these poor b@stards.  Light, open hover-sleds leaves them vulnerable to all kinds of artillery shenanigans. They might need their own Area Defence Artillery, also in a light, open hover-sled.

The Electronic Warfare sled was a lot of fun to play. Blocking unit activations makes up for a lot of a beating. In hindsight, we should have jammed both mortar sections and the command post. Live and learn.

Converting Traveller vehicle designs is, in itself, entertaining. Ken Pick has several excellent articles over at Freelance Traveller - highly recommended....Ω

Marines watch while a Chariot brews up.
Let's hope the crew got out.

15mm Zhodani Lift Infantry Platoon - GZG

After nearly 30 years of gaming, I've decided it's time to update my 15mm Zhodani Lift Infantry.

Originally, I had started with early resin Ground Zero Games vehicle mini's back in the 90's, with a combination of Martian Metals and Laserburn 15mm for the infantry. The rules were the original Striker and occasional Ashanti High Lightning for GDW.

Times and tastes have changed, and inspired as I am to do some Fifth Frontier War scenarios using StarGrunt II, I've returned to GZG for the vehicles (and Denizen/Darkstar Ventaurans for the infantry).

Reinforcements Have Arrived - Models by Ground Zero Games

For a Consular Guard Lift Platoon, I used 3 x GZG V15-56A, 1 x V15-58A and 1 x V15-57A for point defense. In retrospect, since I had to heavily modify the 57A, I could have used another 56A and saved the gun for future use. Live and learn.

GZG V15-57A

For the point defense sled, the 57A hull was used, and a new deck was created from bits of styrene sheet, with a turret from Combat Wombat.

New Deck and Turret (Turrest from Combat Wombat)

Combat Wombat turrets are nicely shaped, but suffer from a near-future look with too much reactive armour cast onto the turret, so I had to dremel the beggar to far-future standards. Then added some GZG greebles.

Miniatures included for scale: Citadel Traveller Zhodani (OOP), GZG NAC, Laserburn Ships Crew.

I plan on putting together another platoon, plus company assets (CP, EW, FDC, MRL and PD sleds), for either a large convention game or a Dirtside II game.

I suppose this means I also have to update my 15mm Imperial Marines...hmmm - I should have better thought this through....Ω

GZG 15mm 8-Wheeled APC

 Last week, painting was good, and i managed to finish four of Jon Tuffley's 8-Wheeled APC:s from the StarGrunt 15mm vehicle range. Specifically, V15-50A.

One significant difference is the vehicle weapon mount - those pictured are not supplied with the models as listed, they are from the GZG Grav APC V15-20A.  A platoon of which I've shown painted here.

V15-50A Miniature by Ground Zero Games

There was nothing wrong with the auto-cannon as supplied - I'm using these vehicles as part of a Traveller-universe TL-12/13 mercenary troop, named "Spinward Marches Solutions, LLIC".  They need plasma-guns for fire support. (I'll be including a writeup on SMS in the very near future...)

I'm well-pleased with these castings, the parts all fit nicely (I did need to dremel out the gun mount, as I was mixing bits) and the detail is up to GZG's usual excellent standards.
. 

V15-50A Miniature by Ground Zero Games

One minor hitch was my being able to find, after two year's delay, all of my GZG plasma turrets - only two could be found.  A frantic email to Himself at GZG resulted in a promise to cast me two more, at a very reasonable rate, to include with my next order.

Jon Tuffley's Customer Care simply CANNOT be beaten.  Full stop...Ω

More Forgotten Photos - Star Wars "Firehawk Down"

 What follows are another old set of photos from a game I ran back in 2002 at the now-closed Jenkintown Hobby Center in North Philadelphia. 

Having recently seen the film "Blackhawk Down" in the cinema, I was seeking to recreate the big fight without using modern figures.  Back in those days, there was a sensitivity amongst the HMGS membership about avoiding any games which used recent conflicts which might prove offensive to any veteran who might have lost companions in the same.  It's a rule which I still follow.

Setting the scenario of two crashed grav tanks in the Star Wars universe seemed interesting, but switching the sides, so that the baddies of the Empire were seeking to rescue the tank crews (or prevent them from being taken captive by the Rebels) and prevent the tanks from falling into Rebel hands.

For swarms of indigenous troops, I used Ral Partha Pathans, with a small cadre of WEG Rebel Commando minis.

Rules used were StarGrunt II, modified for Star Wars. Vehicles are old GZG 25mm resin, now available again from Demonscape miniatures.

At right - the crashed Grav Tank Firehawk  4-2.

Indigenous rebel-backed fighters are attempting to swarm the crash site while rebel-trained snipers provide fire support.

A closer pic of the crash site.  The Imperial crew are in grey and are either dug-in at the base of the tank, or are firing from the deck.

There are two squads of insurgents - one skirmishes in the open while the second attempts to sneak in from the flank.

The second crash site. Firehawk 4 - 3 has crashed in a ruined building.  the ruins provided more cover, but made it difficult to extract the crew. 

Atop the building at left, a squad of Imperial Storm Commandos has grav-roped on to the roof, while a swarm of indigs attempts to rush the crashed tank.

Firehawk 4 - 3 is able to fire it's main gun from the ruined building, along a narrow traverse, which helps restrict the rebel advance.

Rebel strongpoint with a blaster turret.  This emplacement, dubbed the Turret of Doom, was able to keep Firehawk 4 - 2 pinned down throughout the game. The building is painted styrofoam packing.

Another rebel sniper nest of scum and villainy.

Here comes the air-support. An out of focus "Shrike" Attack Speeder strafes some rebels caught in the open.

A shrike is, of course, a little bird.  A nasty little bird.

Here's a better picture of the modified GZG AV6 .The addition of fixed wing-mounted blasters and rocket pods had the desired effect...rebel indigs dropped in droves.

These were mounted on wooden dowells so they could "fly" a good three feet above the playing table.

The rebel command post. Alliance officers coordinate the attacks from a safe distance.

I recall the game ended in a tie - Firehawk 4 - 3 was rescued, while the more exposed and harder pressed 4 - 2 was overrun.

Post-Game Thoughts:
Interesting how sparse the terrain looks to me, now.  Were I to replay this scenario, I'd add another three or so buildings, more craters and piles of debris - not to mention some AT-ST walkers in support of the Imperials.

For the Rebels, I have since painted more commandos, though I'd still use my Pathans to represent the local blaster-fodder.

The table is covered in a black felt cloth which was an attempt to simulate macadam - I would now use a dark grey cloth instead.

If I ever get up to GZG-Con on Owego, this would be an amusing game to run...Ω

GZG Grav APCs

Happy New Year!

Finally, I've finished my Grav APCs from GZG. These will form part of a TL 14 Lift Infantry unit - just which unit, I'm still giving some thought.

The only modification I've made is to remove the GZG plasma gun, and replace it with the dash-mounted blaster from the Star Wars Micro Machine Gian Speeder. 

It looks more like what I imagine a medium plasma gun should look like...Ω