The Brit,TheYankandTheHobby, Salute 2017

This week Andy has been off to Salute, head over to the facebook group to see all the pictures as you listen in. I've sorted them into gallery by manufacture, so you can see all the things I managed to get round to viewing.

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Beyond the Gates of Antares Xilos Horizon Isorians

Having been fortunate enough to acquire a ticket to Warlords Xilos Horizon campaign weekend, I have settled on using the Isorians. Now, currently I only have one squad of Isorians painted, and need to bring a thousands points worth of the bio-mechanical badasses with me. I enjoy a challenge, so have started putting together an army list and assembling my figures from the stash. 

To give some context, the campaign will feature the 6 scenarios present in the battle for Xilos campaign book.I'll give a short over view below of what to expect from each mission

Mission 1: Xilos Landing

This scenario has the defender place half their units on the board, whilst the attack drops down from orbit to attempt to destroy a generator in the centre of the board. The scenario features a space invaders style pre-game to determine the attackers deployment, This is a game that will require a heavy infantry presence, both for the attacker and defender, as the only way to capture or damage the generator is through moving infantry into base contact with it.

Mission 2: The Ghar Strike Back

This scenario has the defender surrounded in the centre of the board, by an attacking force The defender is attempting to bring a transmat station online, and does so placing an order dice in the bag for this too. When the defender pulls the order dice they may opt to roll a D6 instead of activiting a unit, and add these to a rolling total. Once this reaches 20 the game ends, though the defender may only do this once per turn. I anticipate this taking me 20 turns... The attacker is attempting to over whelm the defender before this total is reached, and may recycle units that are destroyed at the start of their next turn...

Mission 3: Exploration - The Battle of Discovery

In this multiplayer mission 2 or more explorers fight a Ghar force for control of builder relics. 2 per explorer plus an extra relic are placed on the board, with the objective being for the explorers to find the relics and get them off the board, whilst the defending Ghar try to stop them. Victory goes To either the explorer who removes the most relics, or to the Ghar if they inflict more damage on the explorers or prevent them from withdrawing the relics. What makes this scenario interesting is that the explorers have to cooperate to a certain extent to avoid being overwhelmed by the Ghar, however they also have to keep an eye on their capturing their own objectives...

Mission 4: Tunnels - The Builders revealed

Interesting mission this one with a lot of uncertainty. The basic premise and objective is to fight through some tunnels and secure the objective rooms. However, tunnels can collapse and beasties can appear to attack you as well as the enemy. Forces are suggested to be around the 750 point mark, and and nothing larger than a 50mm base can be used. This is going to be a very tense fight, and again going to be quite infantry intense. I can see the the not being able to fire through squad mates becoming quite an issue here too... 

Mission 5: Jail Break- The battle for freedom

Another attack/defence mission, with 6 objectives (prisons) and the attacker moving onto the table on the first turn along one of the long table edges. The defender starts with half of their units on the table, and then brings the other half on later. Victory goes to whomever can liberate or control the objectives by the end of the 6th or 7th turn. Another mission that will require a lot of aggressive play to try and head off the enemy, and mobility will be important too to try and sneak around and get to the prisons,

Mission 6: -A greater conflict - The Builders awake 

A large multiplayer mission this time, with 3 pairs of players facing off across a 12 foot table, and moving on from the first turn. One  of the short edges has an advancing dimensional rift (!) whilst the other short edge is the escape point. Each opposing pair of players has a different set of objectives, with the ones closest to the rift needing to escape, the middle pair scoring points not only for escaping, but also destroying their opposing pair's units and capturing relics as they  go.

The final pair closes to the exit are attempting to destroy one another, whilst still scoring points for killing other players forces. To make matters even more interesting, the dimensional rift advances throught the course of the game, and any models caught behind it are destroyed. The game lasts until either the rift reaches the other end of the board, or all units are destroyed/escape. 

This is going to be a tough mission and require a pretty single minded focus on the objective I feel.

My Force

For the event I am taking my Isorians as it's a good motivator to actually get them painted up. Unfortunately the Isorians still have some gaps in their range, however it's just another challenge to adapt and over come! 

Isorians in general 

Isorians are very similar to the Concord, in that they are well armed and armoured, however the biggest different is contained with their armour. Where Concord are more resistant to blast weapons, Isorians can use their phase armour to go down when fired at, even after they have activated, making them quite tasty and resilient. I have a feeling this will be critical in some of the scenarios, especially number 6. 

Senatex Command Squad

Command squads allow you a certain level of tactical flexibility as they have a good accuracy skill, but more importantly have the Follow, Command and Leader special rules. This allows them to activate another unit smultaneously as themselves, to help with the command checks of friendlies, and also to be a little more resilient to recieved fire. Very useful as a centre to the battle line or to help get stuff done slightly out of sequence of the order dice. Well armed too, I've equiped the leader with sling net ammo to help pin down the opposition, and also equipped them with a spotter drone. The temptation is to really tool this unit up, however I want to keep them small and flexible so they can get to where I need their buffs the most without getting in the way of my main units. 

Senatex Phase Squads

These are the bread and butter of the army, and I'm taking mine in 7 strong squads to maximise their resilience, as quite a few of the scenarios award extra points for destroying the enemy. Between that and their phase armour they should prove hard to kill, but so they are dishing out some pain as well they have a spotter drone, sling net for the leader and a plasma lance to hurt any bigger targets. 

Tsan Ra phase squad

These are a fairly points heavy unit, and only 3 models strong, though they have fairly good resilience and very good fire power. I don't see them as a front line unit though, and more as a fire base. Their weapons are very flexible though, being able to pump out 3 shots each, or a single shot with high strike value, Again, I've equipped them with sling nets to help put pins out when needed too. 

Senatex X Launcher team

I love these weapons, they are cheap, can be deadly, but also have the option for some dirty tricks with their ammunition. Again I've gone for net ammo to pin stuff and give me more tactical control. Hopefully. Also the team has a spotter drone to help them see targets...

Senatex Phase Sniper

A very characterful unit that I couldn't leave home.  I've equipped my sniper with camo and shield drones to increase their survivability. The sniper is here to act as a sniper, surprisingly. with D6 shots when stationary, a long range and good strike value, as well as ignoring the targets cover bonus, the Snipers job will be huntiing Nu-Hu and leaders that come into it's line of sight...

Senatex Light support drone

Another useful choice, I've only the points for one, and will probably use it in conjuction with my sniper to give myself a nice fire base for the rest of my forces too attack from. Equipped with a plasma light support it's job is to hit enemy units or light drones that may appear. 

Senatex targetter shard

Targetted drones are my favourite unit in the game! my dice rolling is generally awful, and these little guys really do help massively with to hit rolls, as a few together on an enemy unit can make shooting vastly more accurate and deadly. Only the one shard, but at least there's a lot of them, and it's an extra order dice in the bag.

In all, I'm very excited for this event, it looks to be a great days gaming, and the Isorians look to be a unique and interesting faction to play. I've got one unit painted, and have gone for a dark, almost Star Trek Borg like colour scheme. I'm still not finished on basing so will add more there once inspiration strikes, however now it's time to get assembling and painting...

You can read more about Beyond the Gates of Antares here, and can see more of my work or contact me for commissions at Volley Fire Painting Service. 

Warlord Games C3M4 Combat Drone

My friends at Warlord games very kindly sent me a couple of their new C3M4 combat drones to build as part of my ever expanding Beyond the Gates of Antares collection. 

These represent the first of the large vehicles to be released for the game, and a sensible choice they are too, as the C3M4 can be used by both Freeborn and Concord factions, so I have built one of mine for each faction. (I've also very recently completed my Freeborn army, but don't have pics of them yet...). The Green tank is to match my Concord, whilst the dark one drone is part of my Freeborn.

The kit comes on two sprue, and for shots of the parts and unpainted model check out my mate John's blog here.  The kit assembles very easily, taking around 30 minutes at most to get together. 

Options include 3 different types of main armament, which can be assembled loose and swapped between games to tailor for the specific mission being faced. I have a terrible habit of loosing optional parts like this, so fixed mine in place...

Warlords C3M4 can be armed with either a Compression cannon,  which though short range has a great deal of stopping power, a Fractal Cannon, which can be a great way to build pins on a static target. or finally a Plasma cannon, which is a solid all round choice of weapon, and as stated before these can be swapped to taste. 

Colour choice for my Concord drone was easy, and it was painted with a heavily modulated Vallejo 972 light green blue.with a glaze of Vallejo Game Colour green and blue inks applied after these had been mixed with some Pledge Multi Surface Wax, before weapons were picked out in Vallejo Black Grey, and lighting was effects were added. All painting was done using my Sparmax Max 4 airbrush. 

The Freeborn drone was far more experimental, and I used Alclads Prismatic Jade and Sapphire lacquers for the colouration. These require a huge amount of prep work, with the surface of the model needing to be rubbed smooth and given a coat of primer, before an initial layer of gloss black is applied. 

This gloss layer was also Alclad, and it gave a mirror like, glassy smooth finish for the prismatic colours, and depending on the light these make the C3M4 look blue, green or purple, though this does not come across in photos sadly (and inevitably.)

 

 One critical thing when using Alclad is to spray it thin and leave it plenty of time to cure. I left it 2-3 days between applying the black and prismatic stages, then a further 4 days before doing any more work, and the surface was still delicate due to very high humidity levels at the time, so be warned this can't be rushed. 

Overall these are great models, and I've already had a chance to get them on the table in a few mega games in and they really do add a subtle extra depth to a game as well, plus they make a superb centrepiece to a collection. Now... Do I add more Freeborn, Concord or start some Isorians???

You can get your own C3M4 from Warlord Games, and see more of my work at Volley Fire Painting Service.

Beyond the Gates of Antares, an over view

With Warlord Games imminent release of Beyond the Gates of Antares, I thought I'd put something together to describe the game based off my experiences of playing the Beta version, as well as a sneaky game of the final product a few weeks ago. Hopefully this will be helpful for those who are unfamiliar with the game, and for those who are on the fence about getting into another new system. In the interests of full disclosure I have been lucky enough to do some stuff with Warlord involving the game, however I can hand on heart say this is a fantastic product, that's shaping up to be a very exciting game indeed!

What is Antares?

Probably the most fundamental question, Beyond the Gates of Antares is a science fiction skirmish game set far into the far future, and is the brain child of the legendary Rick Priestley. Hoorah! That was a nice short article. Tune in next time folks! 

Hmm, I suppose I should expand on this a little more. Antares's universe has been in development for years, and so far contains 6 factions, all of whom are evolved forms of humanity (more or less), some more recognizably so than others. The game plays as a large skirmish game, and seems to fit at around 20-30 models, at least going off the currently released starter forces. At the moment all the models are metal, however the starter set is introducing the first of the plastic models to the range.

How does it play?

I'll give a brief overview, and describe some of the key points of the game, without getting into to many of the specifics. 

Each player has a force consisting of several small squads of typically around 5 models, though some are more, and some are less than this, backed up by a few support teams and drones. Units are deployed according to the scenario being played, and then Each unit in a players army generates an order dice, and each player places all their order dice in the same bag.

This works so that say player one has 5 units, they'll put 5 red(For example) order dice in a bag, whilst for this example has 5 units too, places another 5 dice of a different colour in the same bag. To decide who  goes first, a player reaches into the bag and pulls out an order dice, and the owning player can use this to activate one of their units, to move, fight, assault, over watch etc. Anyone who has played Bolt Action will recognize this mechanic. Once a unit is done, another dice is pulled from the bag, and another unit activates, And so on until every dice has been pulled, and the turn is over. All the dice then go back in the bag, and the process starts again.

Ranges for weapons, as well as movement are potentially very long, and this results in games feeling very fluid and punchy, your rarely fighting against the game mechanics to do what you want to do, and instead are able to focus on out foxing your opponent.

Shooting works by rolling a D10, and attempting to roll under the required score with modifiers applied for range and cover.  When and if hits are scored, the target gets to make a resist roll, by attempting to roll under their resistance value, again modified for cover, armour etc. If the target rolls under the required value all is well, however of you roll over the value, it's time for that model to fill in a sick note. 

A key concept of the game is pinning. Certain actions call for an agility test, which if failed causes a unit to gain something called a pin. Shooting hits also cause pins, as can a few other circumstances.

 The more pins a unit has on it the less effective it becomes. A unit with pins wishing to activate must pass an orders test, and the more pins on a unit the harder it is to activate. Pins also affect a units accuracy when it tries to shoot, and as such pins can render a unit ineffective as quickly as casualties can, though they are far easier to get rid of than in Bolt Action.

This barely touches the surface of the game, but does cover a few of the important points of the rules. The activation system and pinning mechanic prevents devastating army lists that destroy their opponent before a player can activate, and in my experience both of playing Antares and Bolt Action result in a game that is very tense, and forces you to be on your toes constantly. 

Factions

At present,  there are 6 faction. These range from the fighting forces of vast empires, to armed mercantile collectives.

The Concord

The Concord are a civilization whose lives are guided by a benevolent artificial intelligence, shaping society in the way most beneficial to it's people. The Concord troops are very heavily armed and armored, and arguably have the best equipment in the game. They are the force I've played the most, and work best at long range, dishing out very accurate and dangerous fire. The effectiveness of their armour decreases at close range, so it's always best keeping your opponent at medium to long range. 

The Ghar

The Ghar are a mutated, spiteful and vicious race that goes to war in large armoured battlesuits to over come their physical weakness.  Not seen rules for these yet, but they appear to be very resilient and heavily armed, and I suspect we'll see something to represent their unstable and un predictable technology. 

The Algoryn

The Algoryn are a militaristic society, who have been locked in a long war with the Ghar empire.The troops of the Algoryn are well armoured, although they don't have the heavy fire power of the Concord, and don't have as much of the fancy technology and drones. They tend to be very mobile, and excel in close range punishing fire fights.

The Isorians

Another faction that we've yet to see much of. They are another AI guided civilization  like the Concord. Unlike the AI guiding the Concord however the Isorian AI was altered by the introduction of alien bio-organic technology, giving them a very different appearance and tactical doctrin, even though they carry equally heavy weapons.

From the beta rules though they use stealthy armour rather than the outright force of their Concord counterparts, and from the models seen at Salute this year, the range is going to be stunning. I can't wait to see more of these...

The Boromites

Bormites are biologically altered to work in  mines, and as such are heavily muscles with thick scales on their skin to protect them. They work as mercenary gangs, as well as being involved in more nefarious activities. They tend to be unarmoured, however their thick skin and high natural reslience provides them with solid protection. They carry lighter weapons, but are physically strong, and have access to a variety of beasts as well. Like the Algoryn they are a closer ranged faction, and are very effective in close combat, especially when supported by units like lavamites.

The Freeborn

The Freeborn are the merchants and traders of the Antarean universe. They operate mercanry forces to protect their interests, and until the full army list comes out for them in the mainbook, there isn't much know on these. They seem to be fairly lightly armoured and agile, with most units being lightly armed, however at least one is packing big guns and heavy armour, whilst also looking very awesome. These are a force I'm slowly building up, and collecting myself a band of pirates with lots of conversions.

I hope this helps to throw a little more information onto Antares, and all the models and photos in the article are from my own collection. You can read more about Antares at the Warlord page Here And as ever can check out my work at Volley Fire Painting

Beyond the Gates of Antares Ghar walker

I've been lucky enough to snag myself one of the new Ghar assault walkers... I'll be doing a step by step painting guide at some stage, but here's a sneaky peak at it. very cool model, and great fun to build too!

Beyond the Gates of Antares is now up for pre order for news letter subscribers, and will be up on general pre order very soon. It's expected to be available in November, and I can't wait! Keep an eye on it at the Warlord Games website, and you can find more of my work at Volley Fire Painting Service

Beyond the Gates of Warlord!

Wow. What an amazing few days.

I was lucky enough to be invited to spend a few days with Warlord Games playing Beyond the Gates of Antares, and along with Sam Phillips, Jez Allum and Matt Houghton we were treating to be  seeing some of the incredible new models that are due to be released very soon. Absolutely none of which I can talk about other than to say woooooooooooow, you are in for a treat. The book especially is shaping up to be something really special, and there is just so much character in all the models.

After a horrendous journey courtesy of rain that was obviously trying to do a (successful) impression of the Atlantic ocean, and hideous volume of traffic on every single motorway between Kent and Nottingham we unpacked our models for a photo shoot, and whilst the camera wizardry was occurring we played a small game, with Sam and I using the Boromites, and Jez and Matt fielding the Algoryn. We used forces comprising of 2 squads, a support weapon and a command squad, with the objective of taking a central point and then holding this until the 4th turn. 

The game was quick and bloody, with troops from both sides being cut to pieces in close range fire fights (A mechanic in the game that allows units at shortish range to fire on one another simultaneously if the targeted unit wishes, and has not activated that turn). Our Boromites got off to a great start, pushing some accurate and powerful fire, whilst weathering the hail of return fire, and although we managed to get to the objective point, a swift and sneaky counter attack from the Algoryn mixed with a failed orders check led to our control of the point being contested, and the game ended in a draw. 

A short break for lunch, and we were back in the car again and heading to a mystery visit, which turned out to be Rick Priestly legendary gaming barn! This was a truly mind blowing experience, to be picking the brains of gaming royalty and drinking his coffee whilst setting up our second game of the day.  My thanks to Rick for welcoming us to his home, and the innumerable brews we got through.

The next game we played as a team game, with Sam and I again teaming up against the dastardly Algoryns of Jez and Matt. This time however Sam and I were using the Concord, with each side having a total of 14 order dice, including Matt's fantastic home made tank, and I was using a squad of Drop Troops and the Nu-Hu reviewed here.

The game ran for 5 turns, with our forces fighting over 5 key objectives to seize control of the area from the enemy.  My Concord were opposing Matt's Algoryn and his tank was slightly scary, I was eventually able to get some damage on it, but not enough and I had to be quite careful in my movement. We had a lot of close range fighting around a housing settlement, with my Nu-Hu gliding through and flattening everything he looked at. 

 

My drop troops tried to make a quick shift accross the board at the start of the game, and got punished for it, however I've learned a bit about using them tactically and can't wait to use them again. Ultimately the Algoryn were able to hold one more objective than us, but it was a close game that could have gone either way comfortably. 

Unit of the match has to be our targetter probes, these little treasures marked the Algoryn units and let us really punish anything silly enough to walk into range and site. The game took around 3 hours to play, even with so much stopping to chat and eat cake, the feel of the rules was intuitive and the differences between Beta and release were subtle enough that we all managed to jump straight in and have start messing each other up.

After the game it was off for dinner and beers, and again thanks to John Stallard for his hospitality, and wonderful of nostalgia in his treasure cave. 

The following day we spent our time making terrain using a variety of bits boxes, plastic cutlery and anything else not nailed down. Our creations will be in an upcoming Warlord news letter once they are painted, but it went to show how much can be done in a short time with a bit of imagination. A quick chat with Wotjek, lunch and a shopping expedition and it was reluctantly time for the long drive home.

I'd like to express my deepest thanks to Warlord for their kindness and hopsitality, and hope we can all get together again soon for some more games and cake, and I'd like to thank Jez for letting me use some of his photos. I really urge people to have a look at the Warlord Games website and sign up for the Beyond the Gates of Antares news letter, and also to check out the Facebook group. And as ever, you can always find my work or contact me through Volley Fire Painting Service

 

Beyond the Gates of Antares Concord Drop Troops and Nu-Hu Mandarin review

As part of my ever expanding Concord force for this rapidly approaching game, I've added a Nu-Hu and squad of Drop Troops to my force.

The Drop Troops come in a box of 5 metal models with seperate heads and power packs, and some have seperate weapons too. The set comprises of 3 Drop Troops armed with plasma carbines, a similarly armed squad leader, and a fifth trooper with a plasma lance. the final model in the set is a spotter drone. the box is rounded out with bases for everyone. 

All 5 figures are very cleanly cast with only a few light mold lines to clean up. Prep work took maaaaybe 5 minutes, including time to get the kettle on for a coffee. 

Personally I love everything about these models. The armour is no nonsense, practical, and just makes them look hard. The poses really do reinforce the impression these are elite troops sent into deal with the biggest and baddest threats. The rules for these weren't in the Beta version of the game, but they will be coming in the full release. 

Obviously these are designed for Gates of Antares, but the lack of anything particularly identifiable to one genre would allow these fine models to be used in any sci-fi game setting. 

The second addition I painted was The Nu-Hu Mandarin. This figure represents the leadership class of the Concord civilization, and represents a nanite infused, very powerful individual. You can read more on the Nu-Hu here. Again the model is extra ordinarily well cast, and includes the Nu-Hu's nanite drone as well. 

The figure is a single piece with a separate arm with spear/wand, and separate leg.He is dramatically posed hovering in the air and about to flatten some unfortunates with his powers.  Bases again are included. 

I painted both figures with my 'Ambiguous Blue' TM colour scheme, using Vallejo Light Green Blue as a base, and then using green and blue inks and glazes to add depth of colour and character.

I think this is a superb range of models, that simply oozes character and are quick and simple to build. I've also just had the opportunity to try them out, which I'll write up as part of my next post....

As ever you can see more of my work at Volley Fire Painting Service and you can pre order Beyond the Gates of Antares and read more articles on this great game at the Warlord Games page. I also really recommend signing up to the news letter for Antares, as there is a lot of information starting to flow now...