Communications Tower

I needed a communications tower for a scenario. I'd been trying to pick up the GW one on ebay for a while, but with no luck (possibly because I could never work out what they call it!) Anyway, I decided I'd better build my own.

Unfortunately, I forgot to take WIP shots. The box is a breath mints box, with a touchpad from Miniature Scenery. The aerial is an old pacer inner, topped with a flag pole top from an old kit. Various plastic and MDF oddments give some texture to the rest of the box.

I need to make this call, but I don't think I've got the right change.

Space Marine Scout Demolitions Expert

The last of the yellow and checks and love hearts! Number four is the demolitions expert. He's cobbled together from a few different scout bits: the gun arm was holding a missile launcher. The detonator is a modified sniper scope.

The explosives are mines from an old Tamiya WWII kit (I think).

And here they are, the Fab Four! They have already been on their maiden outing: update to come.

Colony 87 Kickstarter 2

I'd completely forgotten to post about this, in case some of you missed it.

The superb Colony 87 is back, with another glorious half dozen sci fi civilian characters.

I think the adviser (the guy in green) is the pick of the bunch for me, whispering sycophantic morsels in Governor Karthur's ear. The two mechanic types will be useful in a lot of scenarios too. 

If you want them, you'll have to hurry: sixteen hours to go at the time of writing. The original Colony 87 set is available too, if you missed them the first time.

Spaceport Escape - a Pulp Alley Game

In our previous game, Inquisitor Odo Lucipater successfully recovered the Tome of Regilus from its hiding place in an ancient cemetery. However, even with the aid of the a scribal expert, he has been unable to decipher the text of the tome.

While the scribe can do nothing with the text, he remembers meeting an old hermit while on a pilgrimage to the resting place of the sacred ginx-goad of Saint Cercaster. He and the hermit, one Jagarnath Astonaye, fell into conversation. The talk turned to great and glorious dreams and Astonaye told of life's passion to discover and translate the Tome of Regilus.

A series of inquiries trace Astonaye's last known whereabouts: the desert planet of Anx. We rejoin Inquisitor Lucipater and his party as they arrive on Anx, shuttling into a small spaceport. They are in posession of a number of plot points at the beginning of the game: the Tome of Regilus, the scribe and a servo skull.

However, it seems that the chaos cult have links everywhere. Lucipater and his party find they are not alone.

This scenario is straight from the Pulp Alley rules: Dangerous Delivery. Lucipater must get as many plot points as he can off the opposite corner of the table (through the door). The cultists must stop him.

As the cultists look to push forward, the flamethrower is attacked by a mutant rat. Soon a barbecued mutant rat!

Lucipater and his retinue surge forward.

A fight develops around a trader (one of the plot points).

The heroes of two previous games face off. Who will win - the indestructible cultist or the death dealing judge?

Down.

And up.

And down.

And not up!

The majority of Lucipater's crew look to slip through the building.

A minor complication.

Meanwhile, the judge is doing what he does best.

Less barbecue, more skewer.

A climactic confrontation: the two leaders face off.

The assassin rushes the cult psyker, enabling her colleagues to slip away.

A close victory to the Inquisitor: still in possession of the tome of Regilus and the scribe, ready to search for the old hermit.

Space Marine Scout Pointman

I was tempted to call the post Space Marine Scout Scout, but that would just be silly. Anyway, here he is. Number three in my little recon patrol. He's the man out front, scoping out the mission and spotting the dangers. He should be fairly fool-proof, between the scope and the night vision goggles and the binoculars!

A bit of conversion work that's difficult to see. His left arm was originally holding a sniper's rifle (similar to the figure in the bottom picture). I had to carve away the rifle and rotate the arm to hold the binoculars in this way. Making this little team showed me how limited the available scout poses are, compared to many other GW models. You have to do a bit of work to make something distinctive and interesting.

As a pointman, he deserves some cammo (really, everyone ought to have it, but the poses for those figures are not varied). The other nice thing about the cammo is one less Lamenter shoulder pad to paint! Unfortunately, it's back to the checks and love hearts for number four.

And here he is with his mates. One to go!

'To the Strongest' Flies East

Pikes, check. Elephants, check. Rockets? Headhunters?? Jesuit priests???

Master M and I headed east for our second game of To the Strongest. In August 1511, the Portuguese captured the city of Malacca (in modern-day Malaysia) in an effort to control seagoing trade between Indian and China. For the next one hundred and thirty years the Portuguese were involved in a series of conflicts with surrounding Malayan powers. Ultimately, they were defeated and expelled by the Dutch in 1641. For more information.

So, somewhere in the sweaty jungles of Malaya, the Portuguese face down the army of another upstart Sultan.

The Portuguese. Pike and shot in the centre, African slave shot and swordsmen on the left. Local allies on the right. The priest is a hero in game terms.

The Malayans. Archers and headhunter scouts in front. Rear: warriors, Sultan's Guard (in vests), elephants, rockets (not too many armies give you that illustrious combination!)

Opening dispositions.

The armies surge forwards. The jungle terrain splits the Portuguese forces.

Closer, and the Portuguese line looks a little ragged.

First contact: pachyderm versus pike plus priest.

The elephant expires, leaving a hole in the Malayan line.

However, the Sultan's Guard quickly plug the gap before the lines meet.

The conflict is fierce.

But ultimately it is the Portuguese who buckle!

One for the downtrodden colonies!