2018 Goals and Reflections after some thought.

I have been spending this month gathering my thoughts and deciding what projects I want to press forward with and what to leave alone for a bit. I am thinking about various hobbies, my career and my family. What is going to go on this year? I am not sure. But I will try and talk about it.

Looking back at my blog, I cannot believe it has been over five years since I took up the hobby again. I also cannot believe how much I have developed as a model maker and miniature painter. I look at my first couple of posts, almost embarrassed that I thought the internet would be interested in that. Building Terrain? Sure, I have had a go at that with mixed successes. I am so proud of it all. However, I have things that have been left on the back burner that I want to bring up to the forefront again.

My main focus this year in terms of painting, army building and terrain creation will be my 6mm WW2 project. I will need another order of Heroics and Ros miniatures and may also order some stuff from Baccus, which will give me a chance to get their ACW troops who I will use for Starport Scum as space cowboys. But again, my main focus is on WW2. Terrain building will be tricky I think. I reckon I will resort to purchasing buildings, which may be a little pricey. I am investigating hedgerows and forests, roads and rivers. I look forward to building terrain.

Where will my focus lie in gaming? Well I have a Horizon Wars campaign on the go, with one battle fought and more to come when I find time. There is also a Starport Scum campaign currently going, with a third adventure hopefully appearing this week/weekend. I am running a Horizon Wars campaign/tournament during my school activities week in June which will be interesting. Once I have enough terrain and miniatures I intend to try out my Battlegroup Overlord rules. I feel like I can use them solo for a couple of small engagements to get the hang of things. Students in my school may find that more interesting than my Tranquil Stars universe. 

I don't want to be too ambitious because there is a lot going on personally this year. Well, I hope for a successful year.

WW2 Project - A Fresh Start

Part of my plan this year, and having not made a "here is my plan for 2018" post this may come as a surprise, is to make progress on my 6mm WW2 project. I bought some Heroics and Ros miniatures at Colours 2016. I immediately painted up some Germans then stopped. Then over the summer of 2017 I painted up the US infantry and based a couple of squads of US and German infantry. Then it stopped.

However, I have been thinking about my dust-gathering set of Battlegroup Overlord rules and figured I would get back on track to actually use them.

Tonight this journey began. Four things happened:

1. I took the "finished" infantry and made a few final touches: I painted the rims of the bases black for normal infantry, red for NCOs and yellow for the BAR teams. They are now easier to spot on the table, and keeps my bases all a uniform round shape.

2. I based another two-ish squads of US infantry, then textured the bases. I will paint them at some point this week.

3. I based and textured the vehicles. You will see I have a grand total of four Sherman 76s. I ordered one of those and three standard M4s, but they gave me four 76s. I didn't really think to check and am not exactly complaining. I will order more soon.

4. I painted the buildings a light grey colour. I intend to get those ready for the table quickly.

My brother is currently painting up 15mm WW2 figures for Flames of War. I am encouraging him to play Battlegroup, but don't know if that will work. However, one thing I am inspired by is how simple his paint jobs are. I will be simplifying my 6mm paint jobs too.

Starport Scum Characters - Solomon Garrett

Solomon Garrett is on the run. Having escaped the Old Earth quarantine zone, it appears he managed to make it aboard an outbound space flight and managed to make his way across the known Galaxy to the edge of UCS space. His crime? Escaping the Old Earth quarantine zone. Living outside of the protected cities is a sentence to live in near poverty and constant fear for your life. How Solomon made it offworld is a question the Old Earth Authorities want answered. They will stop at nothing to have him returned and interrogated.

Imperial Knights.

Well I painted these guys to resemble the Imperial Knights from the Star Wars Legacy comics. I chose to paint blue blades as they would stick out more than white blades. The problem I am now left with is who they are, who they fight for, and if I have to come up with some kind of "the force"? Or do I just go crazy and turn my universe into Star Wars. 

Courtesy of Wookieepedia

If I turn it into Star Wars, then I need to source Star Wars vehicles (space craft okay, the miniatures game) and good Stormtroopers, soldiers I can paint up as rebels, then other factions.

If I keep my Tranquil Stars setting, I don't want to just shoehorn "the Force" into it, or some kind of evil empire. I don't have an Empire yet.

Edge of the Storm part 2: Youbos: Grabbing a Ride.

Garen's Spring. A small township where moisture is purified, turned into drinking water and then sold on. It is also the nearest settlement of any consequence to Sara's farm. This is where Sara, Ulrich and Corde are headed. Sara knows a mechanic with a vehicle that will be able to  get them across the wastes to a town large enough to have a space port.

Sara and Corde approach Garen's Spring. So far there have been no suspicions raised. The lawmen who escaped may still be being debriefed. Ulrich dismounted earlier and has circled round to the west of the town. He will be covering their exit should the heat come down.

 With suspicion still low, Sara and Corde dismount their car and meet up with the mechanic. They will be taking the red van across the wastes.

They begin their journey out of town, the local law still none the wiser.

 Luck runs out. Three officers open fire at the van causing minimal damage. Sara puts the pedal to the metal in hopes they can escape without fighting.

  A few bullets to the propultion system and the van shudders to a halt, smoking. Corde and Sara jump out firing wildly to immediate effect. Two officers crumple to the ground and another dives for cover. They might make it out of town, but now need to find a ride somehow.

 Ulrich takes a shot at the final remaining guard, keeping him pinned.

 Our farmer turned criminal flags down a vehicle, threatens the driver and climbs aboard, mechanic in tow. Corde takes out the final guard and hops on the back. Officers from across town begin heading over taking pot shots to no effect.

On the way out of town Ulrich hops aboard. Next stop a space port, a ride off of this dustball and a journey over to the Khalla sector.