Recently Finished...

Introduction

I know how much my readers like eye candy, so here's a selection of models that I've completed fairly recently.  There's nothing particularly common to them, other than they're all 28mm figures.

Congo

First up is Uguah, the fictional witch doctor who comes with the "Mungo Mah Lobeh" expansion book for "Congo".  He's a seemingly cruel old man but a powerful sorcerer; he provides the main opposition for Mary Kingsley, the explorer upon whose exploits the campaign is based.

Despite his near-naked state, the model is covered with details.  I just wish that they were more visible, as his hunched pose hides much of the work, including the grotesque face that he is pulling!

Next up is a fairly generic lion, also from North Star.  I can never seem to find my existing lion miniature when I need him, so having an extra should help.

Finally (in this section), I have some dugout canoes.  These, like so many of my models, were undercoated many moons ago but only completed recently.  I've added some scratch-built paddles and some baskets (one empty, one containing fish) as I felt the canoes were a bit bare without this.

Dreadball

Here are two more star players for my Dreadball teams:

• The Excavator is a ForgeFather or Brokkr mining robot.  Apparently there's nothing in the rules that says they cannot bring it on to the pitch!
• A'Teo Adysi is an Yndij: a primitive species of hunter from some remote planet.  It seems that his strength and lightning reflexes make him a very good player.

Neanderthals

In our first game of Paleo Diet, all of the hunters were armed with spears.  That's all very well, but perhaps a bit dull.  To fix this, I bought some Lucid Eye Neanderthals to add to the tribe.  Mind you, they're from a different manufacturer and are painted in a different style from my existing Neanderthals so I don't yet know if they'll fit in very well.

One model had a club, so that was fine.  The other two both had spears, though.  I converted one of them into a fire-wielder by cutting down the spear and adding some flame from green stuff.  He's got a flint knife as well, so he'll be all right...

Viridians

I recently stumbled across a Facebook group called Void 1.1 Nexus (not sure if membership is required to see anything much), which is full of enthusiasts for this old game.  They're running a painting competition just now to encourage people to complete old (or new) figures that may be lying around.

Well, I have a very large number of Void 1.1 miniatures lying around, mostly still in packets.  I thought I'd get some out and paint them, without necessarily entering the competition.  Here is the first batch to be finished (and yes, I was persuaded to enter them in the competition after all):

Viridian chain gun on a ground mount

Viridian Commando squad

Conclusion

Well, it's another fairly mixed collection of painted figures; I hope you like them!  Not much more to be said, really...

12 Syntha Prosthene Marines

Introduction

Back in the day, there were 4 human factions for the VOID 1.1 Science Fiction game, as well as 1 alien race.  When the manufacturer, i-Kore, went bust, I bought heavily into 3 of the armies: the Junkers (despotic, brutal dictatorship), Viridians (fervent ecologists) and also the Syntha (technologically-boosted cyborgs).  Many people were selling off the VOID miniatures cheaply, which was great for those of us who just wanted to collect metal!  Note that these ranges are still available; they're now owned by Scotia Grendel.

Many of my figures from this period are still in blisters or shrink-wrapped.  However, recently I thought it would be useful to paint up some Prosthene Marines since my Syntha force is probably the smallest of the three armies.  No, I've no idea what "Prosthene" means.  I'm also unsure what makes these guys "marines", though I suspect strongly that the guys at i-Kore just thought it sounded cool...

Prosthene Marines

So here we have it: 12 Syntha Prosthene Marines.  These are fully-armoured, though I'd rate this as "light" protection in most sets of rules as it doesn't look especially thick.  Of course, a couple of soldiers have taken off their helmets, just to show that they are sergeants.  At least, right up to the point where a shell splinter or stray plasma bolt to the head turns them onto "ex-sergeants".

I've painted these up to "table" standard rather than my more usual "detail" level.  Mainly this is because I lost a lot of interest in the mini-project almost immediately after removing them from their blisters!  By that time they were taking up a lot of space and I have a new house rule (since January) that any model which goes on the workbench may only be removed when it is completed.  Consequently, I rushed the painting for these models a bit and skimped on some parts.

8 of the 12 marines are armed with the "pulse rifle"; a fairly standard oversized sci-fi weapon.  Arguably the background fluff makes this plausible, since these soldiers are supposed to be technologically-boosted humans with above average strength.  Make of this what you will...

If it wasn't for the rather large guns then I'd say that these models could quite easily be used in a hard sci-fi game, or even as near-future combatants.  Actually, there is another variant of the Prosthene Marines who are armed with the somewhat less bulky gauss rifles, so they'd work even better as "realistic" futuristic troopers.

The remaining quartet consists of a pair of rocket launchers and also a couple of "targeteers".  Now, having forward observation officers (FOOs) isn't in itself a particularly radical concept.  It does make a refreshing change from the normal sci-fi infantry support weapons of machine guns, rockets and maybe a flamethrower, though.

For me, the things that make the targeteers rather more interesting are that firstly they are part of the regular squad, as opposed to being a rare, attached asset from a different branch of the service, so they're very common.  Secondly, once they have "painted" a target, the massively parallel communications network in the Syntha army allows anyone or anything with smart weaponry to fire at that target immediately, whether they can see it or not, without any indirect-fire penalties.  That capability could lead to some very interesting tactics!

Showcase: Koralon snakemen

Introduction

I don't often sell off any of my models; I prefer to hold onto them just in case I find a use for them.  Very occasionally I do decide to sell off stuff, though.  One such case was my collection of i-Kore Koralon aliens (the versions done for VOID 1.1, not the later, re-modelled figures).  I had a very large number of these, but most had stayed in their blisters for years and it became obvious that I wasn't ever going to paint them up.

Once I had decided that I didn't much like the sculpts, I sold off almost all of the unpainted models (though I think I've still got a small number left).  However I did keep the ones that I had already painted.  Generally speaking, these were models that I liked better than the rest anyway, which is why I'd been interested enough to paint them.  Anyway, one such group can be seen here...

Snakemen (and women)

I cannot remember what these models were originally called [Edit: I've just looked them up on the Scotia Grendel website, where they are still available.  They were called "Arakto Brood"], but I think of them as just "snakemen".  There are a couple (I think) of special characters in with the grunts, but again I'm not really interested in distinguishing them.

Although officially the Koralon are a science-fiction faction, their predilection for melee weapons and lack of clothing or other obvious artifacts means than many of the models could just as easily be used in a fantasy setting.

Most of the rank-and-file figures had grotesquely ornate swords and I didn't like these at all.  I've put in a lot of work with a Dremel grinding tool to reduce these to slightly more plausible blades, though the hilts still bear traces of this fussiness.  Mind you, the over-muscled torsos and (still) huge weapons make them look very top heavy even with the amount of metal that I've removed.

It's interesting how the (presumably) male models above have armoured torsos, while the snakewomen ... don't.  Now don't get me wrong: I like a bit of boob as much as the next man, but in context.  To me, this is completely gratuitous and not at all appropriate.  Still, I painted the figures anyway, so what does that say?

The big guy has a pair of small critters on the base behind him.  It seemed like a good idea at the time...

Jason (the Argonaut) faces a large snakeman

These are large models - they're not mounted on the common 25mm round slotta-bases.  Rather, most of the snakemen are on 30mm bases, apart from the leader who is on a 40mm base.  This picture should give some idea of how they tower over a regular 28mm figure.

I really hope that wasn't a relative whom Jason has killed - the snakeman does look pretty annoyed!

Conclusion

Once upon a time, I quite liked the Koralon range, if only because they weren't particularly anthropomorphic.  Over time though, I've changed my mind (with a few exceptions) and I wouldn't buy them again.  Still, I'm going to keep the ones I've got!

Army Showcase: Viridians (part 3)

Part 3: Heavy Infantry

Following the previous articles on Mounted Troops and Light infantry, it's time to document the 3rd part of my Viridian force: the Heavy Infantry!

The Viridians were one of the original 4 human forces for the VOID game from the long-defunct Scottish company i-Kore.  My figures all date from this era (i.e. VOID 1.1) and the range is still available from Scotia Grendel.  They should not be confused with the faction of the same name from Urban Mammoth, who were a successor company to i-Kore and created new models and some new factions for the same fictional universe.  The Urban Mammoth models are very nice, but they're not really the same style as the older Viridians.

Metal Figures

Firstly, here are some regular armoured infantry.  There are 2 squads in the background and a hero in front.  These are some of my first batch to be painted; they have very distinctive tan knee and shoulder pads and very little weathering.

Actually, i-Kore produced a bewildering variety of armoured Viridians (including, from memory, "Assault marines", "Shock marines", "Interdict marines", "Fenrir's marines"...).  However, as with the light infantry, I just mix them together in whatever way seems best to me at the time.

I also have a much smaller squad that was painted more recently.  They're the same metal models, but the armour is green all over and I've attempted to depict some wear and tear on it.  Possibly I've overdone the bare metal?

More "classic" metal models, though this time they're close-combat specialists.  As well as their "vibro-blades", they have shields made of advanced materials.  Possibly with minor force-field technologies built in to them as well?

The wolf-head designs on the shields are decals of my own making.  The ink on the paper ran a bit and so the designs are somewhat blurred.  Not something I'm really happy about, but I can't do anything about it now.

So far, I've only made up 1 heavy weapon for the armoured infantry - a twin gauss cannon.  Like many of my older models, I've based the crew figures separately from the weapon.  If/when I build more of these (from my lead pile), I'll probably put the whole lot on a single, larger base.

Plastic Figures

Just before the company failed, i-Kore released some plastic Viridians (and Junkers too, but that's another story).  These look a bit different from the metal figures, especially the heads and weapons.  I think I prefer the helmets; they look big enough to fit a human head inside (the metal ones are less plausible).  However the guns are overly bulky and can only be fixed easily to 1 hand.  The plastic shoulder pads are a nightmare and needed much trimming to make them fit.

For comparison, I also have a single squad of Games Workshop's Space Marines.  These have been painted in the same uniform as the i-Kore Viridians, so in theory I could use them in the same game.

Finally, here's a side-by-side shot of an i-Kore Viridian marine (left) and a Games Workshop Space Marine (right).  Make of this what you will...

Army Showcase: Viridians (part 2)

Part 2: Light Infantry

A while ago, I posted some pictures of my Viridian mounted troops.  This was not one of my most successful articles, at least when measured in terms of the responses (there weren't any!).  However, I'm not writing this blog entirely for the adulation of others; it also serves as a record of some of my collection.  So, I'm not prepared to give up just yet.

This time, I present the light infantry from my Viridian force.  The Viridians are a science fiction army from the VOID universe and the models are still available from Scotia Grendel.  The infantry in this force are split into 2 separate categories: fully-armoured warriors ("not-Space Marines") and unarmoured grunts.

The light infantry have a distinctly Hollywood-Vietnam feel to them, especially as there are some non-standard pieces of uniform such as sunglasses, bandanas and stetsons.  Additionally, their mix of weapons is very traditional and would be very familiar in a Vietnam movie: assault rifles, rocket & grenade launchers, mortars and heavy machine guns.  No aerial drones, mass drivers or light sabres here!

In my mind, these are a relatively low-tech force, particularly well suited to being a generic army on a backwater planet.  As such, they have appeared in some of my battle reports as "Planetary Defence Force" militia, not particularly well trained or equipped:

• 5150: Retrieve the agent!
• 5150: Installing the Acoustic Sensor Net

 So, without further ado, I present the Viridian Light Infantry!

Infantry Squads

Strike Commandos

"Strike Commandos" is a very grand title for a squad who differ from the regular infantry only in having a minimal amount of body armour.  Oh, and lighter weapons.  One of them is carrying a box which could be used as any kind of gizmo needed in a scenario, such as a pulse generator, phase emitter or beer cooler.  This is an equal opportunity squad: there are 5 women and 4 men in it, which is as near balanced as you can get with an odd number.

Rifle Squads

The basic infantry squads have a nice range of different figures in them because I've mixed the official "marine" and "commando" figures together.  I really didn't see enough distinction between these sets to warrant keeping them separate.  There are a few odd poses, particularly among the "marines", but overall these are decent figures.

One other observation: I painted the Viridian infantry in 2 phases.  The first batch was done early in my painting career (at least, early for my 28mm figures).  These can be distinguished by the green trousers and the flocked bases, with a single sprig of plastic foliage stuck to some of them.  I'm slightly embarrassed when I look back on them now.

The later batch of figures have grey, camouflaged trousers and their bases are textured; static grass has been used for sparse ground cover.  There's also some shading on the clothing.  Much better, in my opinion.

Support Weapons

Chain Guns

I have 2 ground-mounted chain guns for my Viridian infantry.  Again, the difference in skill between my earlier version and the later one is very obvious!  I scratch-built a number of spare magazines for the chain gun on the left; the way these have been strewn about suggests that the weapon has been in action for some time.

Mortars

My older support weapons had all the crew and the weapon itself on separate bases.  While this is very flexible for casualty removal or for fitting the figures into difficult terrain, I don't think it looks so good.

Here are a couple of newer mortars, each mounted on a single base.  This allows the addition of piles of ammunition, spare weapons or helmets and some interesting scenic elements.  It also permits more varied placement of the crew.

Still to do

I collected a lot of VOID figures from eBay at a time that they were becoming unfashionable.  This means that I have many more infantry to paint, if or when I find the time.  Ideally I'd start by painting up many more squads, since the support weapons above are at least company level assets but I only have enough basic grunts for a strong platoon.  Also I need some command figures, possibly some communication or medical specialists too.  Oh, well - maybe one day I'll get round to this...

[Update: Part 3 (Heavy Infantry) is now available]

Army Showcase: Viridians (part 1)

The Viridians

Part 1: Mounted Troops

These 28mm models originally came from the now-defunct i-Kore and were made for their "Void" game.  I was never much interested in the Void rules, though I liked the models and collected a large number of them.  Most are still unpainted, of course, but here are some of the completed ones.  I've used some of them in a game of FUBAR occasionally; otherwise they just sit in boxes on the shelf.  That's not really fair, so occasionally they get taken out to be shown to people.  Now it's your chance...

According to the Void fluff, the Viridians are medium/high-tech militant ecologists.  As such, they mostly use dinosaur-like creatures instead of (pollution-producing) vehicles.  I can't quite bring myself to believe that such a force would be militarily effective under most circumstances; I don't think there's the remotest chance that any animal, even if genetically engineered, would ever come close to a wheeled or tracked vehicle for speed, protection or load-carrying capacity.  However, perhaps they come from a planet that has extremely difficult terrain - so bad that vehicles are at a significant disadvantage.  Anyway, they look cool...

Fire Support Behemoth

This is an enormous beast!  On its back is a howdah which contains the primary weapon: a large cannon of some sort.  There are also a couple of "platforms" at ground level that mount chain guns.  These platforms are so low as to appear virtually useless, especially if the monster is in close terrain.  However, there are pistons mounted on the "arms" that hold the platforms; perhaps they can be raised and lowered as required.

Here's a view into the howdah, showing some of the stowage and other items that I've added.  I also replaced the shell that the loader is carrying, since the original was huge.  I don't care how big the guy's muscles are; no-one could have lifted such an item!

Assault Behemoth

This is another very large creature; it has an armoured command and power centre on its back.  The weapons are a pair of twinned gauss cannons, which have significant anti-tank capability as well as being devastating against infantry.  Again, the placement of the armament only makes sense to me if the fighting platforms can be raised and lowered at will. I think that it's possible that the protection for the model comes from a force-field generator rather than just armour plate.  Otherwise the load would be immense and the animal itself would be vulnerable, even if the command centre was not.

It's not often that you see a tank that can bite!

Mounted Infantry

Here's a squad of infantry mounted on the somewhat smaller terrasaurs.  The sergeant has a small howdah that contains radio and other command & control equipment, while the rest of the troops just have saddles on their beasts.  I don't know whether they always dismount to fight, or if they practice fighting on the move.  Certainly some of the figures are aiming at something; perhaps their advanced gauss rifles have gyroscopic stabilisers built in!

Scouts

Finally, we have a small squad of lightly-armed troops mounted on small, fast dinosaurs.  These scouts are tracking some litter louts; at least 2 of the models have found discarded fuel cans or food and drink tins.  I wouldn't want to be the offender when they catch up!

A closer look at the first half-squad

The second half-squad

Conclusion

So there you have it.  A bunch of fervent sci-fi ecologists mounted on various dinosaur-like creatures.  At least, the ones I have painted so far.  I also have a number of other behemoths, terrasaurs and some flying critters still to paint, if I ever get the time.

The Viridians have many plain foot soldiers too; I'll post the ones I've done so far in Part 2 (some time).

Incidentally, the miniatures (including these ones) and the rules for Void 1.1 are still available from Scotia Grendel.  i-Kore morphed into Urban Mammoth, who produce a follow-on set of rules and miniatures called Urban War.

[Update: here is Part 2: Light Infantry]