Progress on the 15mm SF Front

Hello friends:

Not much blogging activity here but slightly more hobbying in the last month or so.   Last time I posted here it was about some Darkest Star models that were nearing completion.  Here they are all done and in flight (no, this isn't a scene from Masters of the Air).

The three "flying" models will be Terran military APCs, which will go nicely with some well painted infantry that a friend kindly gave me recently (see below).   All together, they make a decent infantry platoon to go up against my space kitties.  I couldn't tell you the manufacture of the human infantry.  They look properly armed and accoutered.   If you recognize them, pray leave a comment.

Here one section dismounts will the other two APCs remain in air to provide overwatch.  A wheeled recce AFV has gone forward to secure the landing zone.  I have no idea if that is sound Grav Infantry doctrine in future, but it seems legit.

There are a few decals from recently completed plastic airplane model kits that were put to good use.  That flight stand, by the way, is by Litko, and very useful.  I had to drill the bottoms of the models for the stand to fit, and since I was guessing where the centre of balance was, each model sits a little differently.

Not a great photo, but speaking of decals, you might recognize the unit and formation IDs on these vehicles, from a Flames of War set bought years ago.   I thought they made sense for a formation operating on an arid planet.

The entire platoon deployed.  That should give the Kzinti something to think about.  There's still a Terran grav tank to complete and some Canid allies to fight alongside the Terrans against the evil space kitties.

Of course, the universe is dark and full of fearsome things, including these four armed alien gribblies that my friend also kindly passed on to me.  On the left there's a fearsome pack of armoured beasts/bots/?? that look fast and deadly.   I have no idea who manufactures these figures, but I quite like them,

Speaking of deadly, some of these fellows have proper SF weapons and some have old fashioned choppers.  Like the Kzinti, it looks like the prefer hand to hand as much as shooting.   Are they Kzin allies?  Do they hate everyone?  Do they eat everyone?

I'm happy that I've gotten to the point where I could try a decent battle using Xenos Rampant, but I also have some rules sets for larger actions that I've bought from Nordic Weasal and never tried, so I have some options.

Blessings to your blasters!

MP+

Quick Look at Five Men in Normandy, Nordic Weasel's WW2 Skirmish Rules

Hello friends:

Just putting a few words of praise here for Five Men In Normandy, 30 Cal Edition, a cheap and cheerful set of skirmish rules by Nordic Weasl for very low (squad/section) level infantry actions in WW2.   I’ve been following @weasalnordic on Twitter for a while, he runs a solo game design business and is quite prolific.  I was originally interested in his SF rules but 5 Men was cheap and looked like just the thing for a simple game that was easy on the brain.

Here five Canadians are tasked with securing a ruined building to use as an OP post.  They have one sniper rifle, one Bren, one rifleman with an SMLE, a corporal with a Sten, and an officer with a pistol.   The ruined building is held by four Germans, a two man LMG team, a rifleman, and an NCO with an SMG.  All weapons randomly assigned.

The German defenders. 

 The Canadians got a map as a random asset, so they were able to sneak into initial positions.  From there, it was fairly straightforward real world tactics, with the sniper and the Bren keeping heads down while the thee others moved into grenade range.  The Germans took two casualties and the survivors elected to slip away.

You can find these rules in Nordic Weasal’s section of Wargames Vault to purchase as a PDF download.   As I said, these are very simple, D6 driven rules, ideal for very small actions with a cinematic feel.   No armour or offboard infantry, just a few guys running around with infantry weapons. You could teach them to someone in less than five minutes, and I could see my grandkids giving them a go as they get a few years older.  If you want complexity, then look to a system like TFL’s Chain of Command.  

It was also fun to get out my 20mm toys after a year in their boxes and to try out some photos against my new model railroad backdrop, which probably needs its own post.

Blessings to your die rolls!

MP+