Look, we got electricity... and we got each other.

Aqua Teen Quote of the Day:

"Master Shake: [trying to calm Frylock down about the bills] Look, we got electricity... and we got each other.
[electricity is cut off]
Master Shake: Look, we got each other. What, are you gonna bill us for that now?
Frylock: You are about to learn a lesson in responsibility Shake!
Master Shake: I'm responsible... for getting us into that club that one time. I smooth-talked that dude. You saw me lay it down.
Frylock: Frankly, Shake, I can live like this. You can't. And if you don't pay these bills, we'll just see how long it takes before you go out of your freaking mind.
Master Shake: I'm not backing down on this, *ever*!
[falls off chair]
Master Shake: Turn on the lights, I want you to see the look on my face! Do you hear me? Or did they send a guy out to shut off your ears because I didn't pay the ear bill?
[Shake crashes through a window, landing in the front yard]
Master Shake: [shouts] Where the hell is the switch? 

I always take photos of kitteh feets.  Manny was in kitteh snooze land when I took this.  He is a black kitten.
The first set of photos are of my WiP Imperial Guard Mordians.  An astute reader may notice that these guys are not Gee Dubs models.  That is correct.  I have major scale creep issues with scale and especially heroic scale.  It's to big (that's what she said)!  Look at the photo of the Mordian soldier below.  His lasgun is very slim.  I think everyone knows how giant and chunky Cadian models are.  Bleh.  They are way to big.  I wanted to change that.  A space marine should 10 feet tall in his armor.  A human is still 6 feet tall in 40,999.99.

I chopped up lasguns and glued them to strips of plasticard.  The dimensions are 2-2.5cm long, 2mm tall and around .5mm wide.  The end result looks like the lasguns in the 8th edition IG codex.  The same issue applies with the IG heavy, crewed weapons.  The Cadian heavy weapons are FAR to big for these models.  My Veteran squad has an MG42 as a Heavy Bolter.  It looks great alongside the slimmed down lasguns, autoguns, shotgun and laspistol.  Oh, I even chopped up a Cadian grenade launcher into a more digestable form.  

The Heavy Bolter guy is a chopped up Cadian model.  His arms and head are Warlord plastics.  He looks slightly larger than the other guys.  That was intentional.  I wanted a big, space corn-fed Mordian boy carrying that machine gun.  The Veterans are also severely out of regulations concerning dress codes.  The other squads will all be dress right dress.  The finished platoon will feature a platoon leader and staff, a Veteran squad, four regular squads, a mortar squad and a heavy bolter squad.

The second photo of models are my militia squad for Rogue Stars.  Double duty.

Here are a few source photos for my Mordians.  I used Warlord Games Blitzkreig Germans.  I decided not to give regular grunts the shoulder fringe.  They still have the trim, shoulder boards and service caps.  Officers and officials will get shoulder trim, egualettes and other decorations.  

 This is my A$$tropath (Astropath).  They are the mysterious psykers who communicate with other astropaths from planet to planet.  I believe they have other duties.  In 40k he can force enemy squads to not get cover saves.  I kept him in true-scale format.  My idea for him came from Guild Navigators of Dune.  The 3rd stage Navigator who communicates with the Emperor has a aide who carries a speaker thing on a staff.  I included that as a nod to the book.  The other pic is of a French chaplain (at least I think it is).  Future models will be true-scale and have more realistic uniforms and equipment.  I don't like all the sci-fi gothic iconography that makes up the 40k universe.  I decided to make a more realistic year 40,000.

Here is another movie nod.  This is a deep space salvage team for Rogue Stars.  They are a Merchants team.  The idea came from all those years of watching the salvage team in "Aliens".  I was always curious about them and their short time on camera.  The girl captain (Captainette?) is on the far left.  The Droog heavy lifter is next.  The team's close protection and security person is next.  Orange vest guy is the XO of the team.  And finally the engineer of the team is at the far right.  These models are all Hasslefree miniatures except for the security guy.  He is a Minuteman from Infinity.  

 Next up is my StarCops squad.  I got this idea from the Dan Abnett 40k series about the Inquisitor who was mortally injured.  He has to be sustained by a hermetically sealed, floating coffin.  The series is what made me start thinking about a more low tech, true scale 40k universe.  Well, Dark Heresy also influenced these ideas.  The leader of this squad in the big, black cylinder.  It is a state of the art statis tube.  It is completely black until you get close to it.  Pertinent data superimposes itself on the tube when someone closes in on it.  The space detective inside can also display messages, graphics and other signals on the tube's surface.  The man in the tube was fatally injured and forced to be sustained by the tube.  His already significant psychic powers were further amplified after the loss of his other senses.  He has carte blance to recruit a team of mercenaries, soldiers, criminals, etc to help him in his crime fighting efforts.  The gal with the bow is only known as the Nameless.  She is the detective's infiltrator and bodyguard.  This model has nothing to do with Deadpool or those 40k death cult chicks.
The guy in the trench coat is Micheal Togusa.  Yes, I based him off of Ghost in the shell.  Togusa is the investigator of the group.  He is the thinker and contigentcy planner.  The next guy is an Infinity Zero.  This character is a trouble shooter.  He is very well rounded and useful as a general operator.  The last fellow is the newest addition to the detective's retinue.  He is a Geek miner who had some run ins with the local Star Police.  The Detective gave him a way out of his long list of petty crimes.  I still need a name for the Detective and the Geek criminal.
The Droog are Space Dwarves.  The Geeks are a race of sentient plant life.  They completely exhaust a planet's resources and then move on to a new one.  The Droog encountered the Geeks centuries ago and allowed some of them to settle on the Droog homeworld.  It was a disaster as the Geeks' constitution makes them very durable.  They engage in all sorts of mining practices and activities that have an adverse effect on the environment.  The Droog didn't appreciate this as they consider the land and it's geoscapes as being alive and linked together.  Their manufacturing practices are very ecologically sound.  The Droog are slow to anger, but they have had their fill of the Geeks.  This led to a long, bitter war between the two races.  The resentment still exists between the two. 

 Here are the Piratical Rocks of the Outer Rim.  One day a Human mining ship discovered a distress beacon coming from deep space.  Since they were the only ship in the area they felt compelled to assist.  What they discovered was a ship of unknown design that was barely functioning.  When they boarded the ship they were met by strange, rock like creatures.  The Rocks were not aggressive or openly violent.  But they proved to be a nuisance by confiscating anything they could find.  The mining ship had to abort it's deep space mining run because these "Rocks" had jeopardized the ship's primary systems including life support.
These "Rocks" are very hardy.  They can survive in deep space for an undetermined amount of time.  Their society (if you could call it that) has absolutely no sense of ownership.  Items of all types are freely taken from one Rock and then taken by another Rock.  The Rocks are terminally curious.  They are also almost completely impervious to most forms of violence.  Since their first encounter with civilized space they have learned to fight and defend themselves.  They are not pirates in the traditional sense.  It's just that they are so annoying and pesky that they are naturally treated like pirates.  Most Rocks are violent upon contact because they were always attacked when they tried to contact other ships.  Now they openly attack other ships, people, etc because they think it's what should be done.  Only a desperate ship's captain will hire on a Rock for an expedition.  The Rocks come in many different types and flavors.  Some are useless Granite or sedimentary rocks.  Others have naturally growing gold and diamonds on their crust.  These rocks are sought after for their naturally recurring wealth.  These rocks are also very rare.
This squad has 6 models.  There is Iggy-Naceous (Black shiny rock), Core-utz (rifle), Gran-zite (two pistols), Die-mund (Table cloth mask), Seddy-Mentary and Mag-Mah (living lava Rock).  These guys are actually cut up Space Ork plastic Grotz.

 I suspect everyone knows about Shadespire.  Here is my Garrek's Reavers warband.  They were great fun to paint.

 I finally finished my Dew Raiders.  These are the last few teams that complete the force.  I really like the guy with the afro and the side burns.

 I made a DarkOath Champion for Age of Sigmar.  This is a gripping beast armored huscarl leader model.  Once again, I used true scale 28's to depict regular humans.  The Khorne BloodBound are blessed by Khorne and consequently super huge with muscle and girth.  Regular barbarian tribesmen who struggle survive the winter are more lean and desperate.  Enter my Chaos Marauders.  They are normal men.  They still get mark of Khorne though.

I haven't paid taxes in SIX years, and I'm not getting busted by a damn sanwdich!

I have been hard at work these last few weeks with my ShipWreck Iran-Dutch scenario.  This scenario is based loosely off of Iran's posturing and bullying of US ships in the Med and other seas.  Iran is very protective of their territorial waters.  I imagine their navy might pull shenagians about foreign ships crossing their "line of death".  My scenario involves a Dutch ship being accused of being in those Iranian territorial waters.  A young officer on the Dutch ship looses his nerve and orders a warning shot fired at an Iranian missile boat.  The round accidentally hits the Iranian ship and Iran retaliates by scrambling fighters and mobilizing their navy.  It may be a bit of a stretch with how much force Iran would use in a real situation.  Then again, they are the flash point in the Gulf.  And the Dutch have done plenty of things to piss off the Iranian government.
I added lots of fog of war elements to the scenario.  I won't ruin them though.  You have to play the scenario to find out what happens!
All the ships you see are from ShapeWays stores "Objects may appear",

 

Here is the Iranian's newest ships of the Moudge (Mowj) class.  There are several currently being built as well.  The Moudge is a corvette with better tech than the aging Alvand class.  I doubt it is a match for any US Arleigh Burke or an Israeli Sa'ar 5 (owwww, burn on Iran.  Taste the chrome).

The other ship is the Chinese Liaoning class that they bought from the Russians. 

 

 This is the majority of the current French surface fleet.  Included in this picture are the Horizon air defence class, the multi-purpose Aquitaine (FREMM) class and the stealth frigates of the La Fayette class.

 This is all of the Iranian surface fleet.  They have another Dutch yacht that they converted into a gunship...but I don't think that counts.  Shown here are the older Alvand class left over from the reign of the Shah and the already mentioned Moudge Class.  Iranian ship's decks and hulls are all the same grey color.  It makes them pretty dull to paint (but fast too).

 Iran has a lot of older 80's era US fighters.  They must have lots of parts to keep them going this long.  Here are some of their Russian SU-24 Fencer.  It's a fighter bomber from the 80's.  Analysts doubt it will perform well against the generation 4 F-22's or F-35's. 

 This is another weird entry in the Iranian inventory.  The Iranian navy uses old Bell Hueys as observation and utility craft.  The Moudge class carries one too.  I really like the white chopper blades.  [Super Tech Tip] Be sure to clear coat the helicopter and THEN attach the rotors. 

Here are some Mig 29 Fulcrums in Iranian service.  I suspect that these fighters will slowly replace the US stock.  

 If you want to get into modern naval warfare you need to embrace the missile.  Missiles have replaced the massive gunships of the WW2 era.  I made these guys by soldering a thicker brass wire to a more thin brass wire at a right angle.  I then super glued poly fiber fluff to the small wire.  The big wire was bent and glued to the base.  The poly fiber was soaked in watered down white glue after it was attached to the circle base.  Then it was primed, painted and clear coated.  The water on the base was coated with "Modge Podge" after the clear coat.

 I also painted up a group of Super Etendards and Rafale 3's.  During play I put a small d6 on the fighter flight base.  It shows how big the wing / squadron is.  I do the same thing with the missiles.  The ships are all 1/600 Pico Armor / Odzimal Ozmy.

 Here are some closer shots of newest French ships in the fleet.

 This is a French NH-90.  I consider the NH-90 the EuroTrash version of the Blackhawk.  It is used by many European nations. 

 A side project of mine is French-Indo China in 3mm.  I will use Spearhead WW2 rules.  This is a complete battalion of the 1 REC (1st regiment etranger coloniale).  It is the special aquatic unit of the French Foreign Legion.  It went through many changes after WW2 and came into it's own around '52 or so.  This is the unit after the final changes are reflected.  The Regiment eventually had 2 or maybe even three battalions.  The unit uses M2 Weasels (the Crabbe) and LVT-4's.  I love the unit symbol for the 1 REC.  It is a crab.  I want to add stand labels at size 6 font.  I find that to be a good size for 3mm gaming.  I regret that I didn't add a LVT recovery vehicle to the command stand.  I decided that the recovery vehicle probably stays in the garrison unless needed.
The unit's strength are 12-14 LVT's, 20-25 Crabbes and at least 200 local Vietnamese Infantry men.  The vehicle crews were French.  This is something the US was reluctant to do.  They really didn't use the local population as a fighting force.  Well, not to the extent that the French did.
The French Indo-China war shows the differences in American troops and French troops.  I will talk about that more on a later post.  (I have a lot to say!)
In Spearhead game terms there are:

Battalion command stand
Crabbe Recon platoon
LVT-4A Fire Support platoon
Crabbe Mortar platoon
Crabbe platoons x 3
LVT-4 Infantry platoons x 4
The battalion has 11 units.  It has a 6" command radius for operations.  I believe the unit was used mainly for patrolling in watery areas.  During combat operations it out flanked retreating Viet-Minh units to catch the stragglers.  The French military gets a really bad name unfairly.  They were a premiere militant nation from the time of Charlemange until the present.  During the 20th century the nation was at a state of war for at least 30 years. 

 3mm gives you the option of making every stand a cool vignette.  This battalion commander stand has the leadership stopping in the road to talk strategy.  Their security escort is standing by to act as needed. 

 This is one of the LVT infantry stands.  It is aquatic, the troops benefits from the track's protection and has it all the abilities of an infantry stand.

 Some Crabbes on the move.  The lead Crabbe is missing it's gunner.  Someone must have overslept.

These are some shots of various stands in action.

Thanks for looking.  I will try to post again soon.

He said I have cancer. Well, did you...did you tell him you don't? Meatwad, I'm afraid it doesn't work that way.

Scrapper Warband finale!!!

Here is the rest of the Sons of Entropy warband I was working on recently.  I am very pleased with how they came out.  Although what I envisioned was different from the final product.

Here are the other 4 members of the motley crew.  Ugh, I almost said Motley Crue.  Motley Crue is one of those bands that just doesn't hold up well over time.  I respect the talent, but the metal in me is not moved by their work.  

 The first guy is Steve.  He is a Wolfbane Commando from Warzone Resurrection.  In this setting Steve is a brawler and a thug.  His gatling cannon counts as a machine gun.  He won't get much use out of it with no ammo belt attached.  Oh well.  Maybe the ammunition is sparse after the apocalypse.

 This is Rockso the Rock n' Roll Clown's cousin Sleazy Giggles.  While Rockso is content doing cocaine Sleazy is a completely mad psychopath.  The rest of the warband gives him a very wide berth.  His soiled, grungy clothing gives off a sickening odor.  As can be seen from his equipment and gear he is involved in some very grisly activities.  Why he is allowed to follow the Colonel is frequently discussed by the rest of the group.  Even though they are all brawlers, murderers and brigands Sleazy is truly a monster among them.  The Colonel sees it his duty to curb Sleazy's predatory nature to those who also have a brutal, unforgiving nature.

Here is the other Wolfbane Commando.  Gary is armed with a big, zweihander sword.  He is the brother of Steve.  Their plaid tartan is somewhat similar in design.  I really like this model.  Every time I look at Warzone Resurrection models I get pumped to start painting them.  Their range is amazing.  Check it out if you get the chance.    

And finally the leader of the Sons of Entropy warband.  The Colonel was once an adventurer who finally retired.  He hit his head one day and had delusions of being a noble knight who's duty it was to defend the innocent and helpless.  He set out of retirement to fulfill his obligations.  Unfortunately for him he attracted warriors of an unsavory nature.  Instead of felling them he decided to use their energy to prey on other bands of predators.  His band is strangely loyal to the Colonel and have a proper fear and respect for him.  Although old, he is a formidable fighter who has no reservation in shedding blood.

 Next up is the DbA army III/40a... Viking raiders.  These are all undisciplined raiders which are all Irr Bd (F) (for DbMM) and 3Bd in DbA.  That means they are fast blades.  They move more quickly but will lose ties in combat.  

 Here is the Viking Lord and his retinue of armored huscarls.  The stands fights as 4Bd or Solid Blades.  They do not lose ties =D  In DbMM they are Irr Bd (O).  Blades are very formidable and can manage against other foot in the open and even in rough terrain.  I am not sure how well they fare against Cavalry and Knights.  

 This photo is awful.  I apologize for the quality.  This is a stand of Norse Berzerkers.  They are 3Wb or Fast Warband.  I am not sure what to do with them as they require another warband in rear support to gain a +1 in melee against other foot (sorry, no such benefit against horsemen).  I suspect they can be used as a Psiloi hunter as they will not be impeded by terrain during melee (I think, I may be wrong).  The other stand is a lowly Psiloi.  If I had to choose I'd rather take the fast warband as the 12th stand over the Psiloi.  The Norse lists in DbA don't have many options as opposed to the II / 4 Greeks.  The Athenians can tailor their force to meet almost any force.  They are very flexible.  
I think the Norse are a brute force steamroller that smashes anything in front of them.  Unless they are up against a Warband army.  

 Up next is my Renaissance test stand.  The Renaissance is an interesting period to wargame.  Armies began to change drastically over a small period of time with the advent of the advances in blackpowder weapons.  I had a bunch of Irregular Miniatures Clubmen laying around.  I really liked the model that is sitting down.  My goal is to make a early 1500's French army of Charles the VIII's invasion of Italy.  Pictured here are humble French foot.  They are poorly motivated (the man sitting portrays this quite well).  I need to repaint the banner with the French bananas on it (I forgot the name of those regal devices).  That banner is only used by the king.  The majority of French foot units used a flag with a solid field and a cross.  The border is sometimes yellow.  Certain units have a different color field.  The red flag with the white cross is the regimental banner.  I'll turn the other flag into a company banner.
I plan on making each stand of pikemen having a company banner.  It'll be simple, but will tie the 12 stands of foot together.  It may be conjecture but it looks visually striking.  

 I've been building Landsknechts with Halberds and two handed swords.  Field of Glory Renaissance rules allow a pike Kiel to have 0-2 heavy weapon stands.  They count as Pikes for Point of Advantage determinations (three ranks of pike gain a ++ to causing harm.  It makes a standard 4+ to hit a 2+ to hit).  Heavy Weapons negate any armor advantage a unit may claim.  
I haven't researched it heavily yet to make a informed opinion.  FoG gives you the option to make actual stands of them or just take stands of Pike.  The idea is that if you don't take any Heavy Weapon stands you could base a few heavy weapon soldiers in the front ranks of your pike Kiels.  I like that the writers of the army lists give you the option.  

 I am a big fan of Ghost in the Shell.  Yeah, I even liked the movie.  It reminded me of the animated series "Stand Alone Complex".  This is my take on Togusa.  He is the only non-cyberized member of section 9.  Togusa does have a cyber brain.  The series really doesn't explain why this is any different from the other members.  Although they are all mostly cyberized they too have cyber brains.  Anyways, Togusa is a counter to all the tech the rest of the team has.  Criminals can hack cyber eyes and hide in plain sight.  Since Togusa is all flesh he can't be hacked.  
What's cool about Togusa is he is an excellent detective with great attention to detail.  He carries a revolver instead of an automatic.  I identify with this as a revolver will never jam.  It may have less round capacity.  But it will always fire.  
Togusa is pretty metal.  I used a Max Decker Reaper miniature to make Togusa.

 Last December I painted a few Mishima Ronin warriors.  They are from Warzone Resurrection: Mutant Chronicles.  I have LOTS of issue with the background of Mishima.  It has to do with the Bushido code that the Samurai follow.  It prevents the use of firearms.  Something drastic happened somewhere because Samurai have been using bows for centuries.  It makes sense that Mishiman warriors would charge recklessly into enemy lines.  
Ranged weapons are considered dishonorable.  If that's true then why does EVERY honorable unit in the Mishima list use firearms.  Even the Bushido master has a ranged weapon.  The background talks about innumerable hordes of Bushido Samurai fighting in honorable close combat.  These units of Bushido Samurai are no where to be found in the army lists.  Even the Roc novels about Mutant Chronicles have Mishiman Samurai (well, a Ronin) using firearms.  So does the role playing game.  
I think the decision to use guns was a balance decision for tournament purposes.  Since I play for fun and don't care if I lose I am fine with not using them in the game.  Warzone Resurrection calls for LOTS of terrain.  It shouldn't be an issue to forsake ranged weaponry.

I decided to mitigate that by doing the following.  Bushido Samurai use the same stat line and points costs of Ronin.  However, they have no ranged weapons and are Fearless (2).  Ronin have lost that edge after losing their honor and becoming more pragmatic about warfare.  It would make sense that Ronin and Bushido Samurai are equal in terms of close combat.  I do believe they are the best core melee troops in the game.  

Next week I hope to have more cool stuff painted.  Be safe, and keep painting =D