Northern WiP thoughts

The weekend started off with an attempt to live-stream my painting at the request of a few who wanted to see how the contrast paints work.  Spent an hour getting things set up with the webcam, the right angle, lighting, etc.  In the end though, it was kind of a wash, as my camera was having issues getting the model I was working on in focus.  Tried it on Facebook rather than twitch, so the rest of the weekend was spent looking up ways to adjust the camera settings in OBS (my streaming software) to possibly allow for recording that way. 

End result?  Very little painting done, but a better understanding of what I would need if I was going to do how-to videos.  Next up, I'll try using my old iPad mini to film, then voice-over the painting footage.  Its not ideal, but the camera is still pretty good for being as old as it is.  A few extra steps, but without an actual camera (rather than a webcam) I think I'm going to have to stick to streaming gaming rather than projects for the moment. 

With all this going on, I did manage to get a bit of work done on my northern army.  I have everything base coated with the contrast paint except for a few paratroopers I am saving for when I can get a camera set up to record it.  After the failed stream, I went and decided to knock out all the models on my desk, only to realize at the end I hadnt gotten the footage needed.  So those will be sitting here until I can try it again this week. 

On the left, you have the WiP of the Stripped Down Hunter.  Militarium Green contrast paint for the ballistic cloth on the arms/legs.  It looks good enough in a photo, but doesnt look quite right in person.  The recesses are dark, gives the green look I wanted, but the flat areas of padding are splotchy and not the right shade for me.  So then you have the model on the right, where I took a 'faded OD green' (Mekong Moss from the Heavy Gear paint set) and wet brushed the raised areas.  Much better.  Gives the faded look while also showing off the texture.  Adds more to the process, but gets the right look.  I am still not sure if I should possibly undercoat the cloth areas with a regular green prior to the contrast paint, but in the interest of getting these done with the fewest steps possible, I think they should be fine without it.  Opinions?

This test was a flop.  I wanted to see how the Blood Angel red contrast paint would look on the head of my airborne troops.  I was going for more of a maroon, ended up with a bright red.  I think I am going to need to re-paint the heads using a dark grey if I want to use the contrast paint, or simply paint them the color I'm going for.  Below is a photo of the Asp I painted with a red shoulder, which was a grey base, and it has more of the muted red look I'm after. 

I'll try another one with regular paint before I go and re-do all the heads with a darker base color.  The red shoulders might look darker because of the overall tone of the model, rather than actually being darker.  Still, its progress. 

Southern Paint Experiment and Future Projects

The testing continues!  So far my experiments with the contrast paints have worked out well.  I started with the squad of Asp's as the test run, but given how well they came out I went ahead and did the entire force like that.  I'll post the complete color list and step-by-step on my next post, once I have finished models to show off.

Once I had the entire force base-coated, I tried a few different colors with my two Gila's (Duelists).  One in purple, which turned out too dark with the grey primer (and later turned out to still be too dark even on a white base, I think it might work if thinned down, but did not try that).  The other in green, which I liked.  That green is a runner up for choice with the army, but grey just felt more appropriate for a Southern group.  

I did the Asp's with red shoulders, then considered a different color for each group.  Started to go back and forth with it, thinking about doing the whole force with red shoulders instead, so I asked for advice.  After explaining to my wife the dilemma (for what is basically a 'platoon' or 'company' sized element, they really should all have the same markings), her response was perfect.  "Yes, I know that's not how the military works.. but this is space robots... sooo..."  She was right, as it turns out. 

Each squad got its own shoulder color, chosen from the colors that I thought would stand out.  Tactical?  No, not at all.  But its "space robots" so I can let that go.  The only squad that did not use contrast paints for the shoulder was the command squad, which had issues with the purple contrast paint being a bit too dark.  I went with a regular paint (non-contrast) purple instead.  

Testing details.  Red for the optics (green was considered, especially as the missile pods are also red, but growing up with movies like 'The Terminator' robots have red eyes.. it just didnt feel right otherwise), yellow bands around the missile pods for the warning stripes, etc.  I painted a few weapons in a full metallic grey and another set in black.  The black looked better, so repainted the metallic ones.  I'll probably hit details in gunmetal and drybrush it.

Final bit of testing was the base.  I picked up a few big tubes of non-hobby paint on sale at a craft store a month or two ago for basing/terrain use.  Painted the sandy/rocky area with a burnt umber, then the squares like concrete slabs.  A wash of Agrax Earthshade tied it all together and gave it the weathered/dirty look I wanted.  Might hit the sand with a light drybrush before looking for appropriate desert foliage tufts to stick on a few of them.  

For me, one of the most time consuming parts of painting a force is figuring out what to paint which color.  There are still little details I keep having to go back to get as I realize I missed them (the road wheels in the feet/legs, pouches/knives on the waist, grenades, accessories, etc).  I take a lot of notes with what I try, what I decided to go with, and the order I paint them in.  Then, when I take another year or so off from painting somethings (or need to go back and make a new squad that looks the same) I have the hard part taken care of.  It also helps when people ask how I did them.  

This is really exciting for me.  As I've mentioned, I have been painting and playing with miniatures in one form or another since the mid-90's.  I do not think I have ever been this close to a finished army in any game I have played.  Most of the hard part is done, and trying to stick to a commitment of spending at least 30 minutes a day doing something hobby related has really gotten some solid work done.  

Next up will be my Northern army, which I have also done some testing with.  Ideas are abound there, mostly in how I can improve the technique.  For the contrast paint I am using as the 'base coat' I think I will try to thin it down some, maybe avoid those brown 'spots' I got when it was left to dry while too thick.  The green on the ballistic padding (a feature on any stripped down or paratrooper gear) did not turn out well either, so I may paint those with a different green as the base, then wash with either a contrast paint or something else.  The fiddly bits will be much the same as the south.  Eyes, weapons, accessories, they can all match the southern models.  

Long-term is a plastic Caprice army from the kickstarter.  As of now, I think I have 4-5 models assembled, the rest are still on sprues and in a box.  Once both the other two are done, I'll see if I have the drive to push on to a third army.  Good news is I already have quite a bit figured out with them with regards to painting.  I intend to do them up in a red shade (probably the Blood Angel Red contrast) and the basing will be a red-oxide colored paste that should simulate Caprice well enough (it has a very 'Mars' look to it).  My big hang-up with that army is magnets.  I have several good guides to work from with how to magnetize the army, its just finding the appropriate magnets I am finding difficulty with.  I'll keep looking while I get these two done.  

I have a game coming up this weekend with a completely new player, so I'm going to try and get as much done as I can before then.  I'll keep things updated here as best I can.

Testing Contrast Paints (Heavy Gear)

I took a few hours and tried out a northern and southern paint scheme last weekend.  As I have two fairly large armies for Heavy Gear, I wanted to do something that would let me get a decent paint job on them without committing to time that I just dont have to spend on them.  First, the armies.

Southern Army (ESE)

Northern Army (WFPA)

As you can see, there is a lot there.  Not bad for starting sometime in 2013.  Managed to get an army assembled and primed in less than a decade. Now for the real test, can I get them painted before 2020?

To start with, there is a color 'theme' with factions in HG.  The north tends to go for lighter earth-tones (yellows, browns, etc) while the South tends to go with darker colors (grey, green, etc).  While I have yet to find a resource in any of the old books I own, sometimes things like this just happen.  Like painting WW2 Germans as a grey rather than grey-green.  I digress.

Citadel recently came out with a line of Contrast Paints.  I wont bother linking to a video or review, just do a search, you'll find a ton.  My review came from a local game store, and the results were pretty good for the work put in.  The idea is that it is a one-layer paint/wash all in one.  It pools in the lower areas, giving it a lighter look on raised area and darker in the recesses.  My main concern was coverage, and how it would look on wide flat areas.  First attempt at using them was to paint some British Vospers for Cruel Seas that I did not plan to use.  Lets have a look.

As you can see, I also painted a few of my Italian ships after I tried them, except with a white primer.  The color of the primer can make a big difference in the final look of it, because of how transparent the contrast paints are.  If you look at the bottom, I used (from left to right) Basilicanum Grey, Creed camo, and Militarum Green (not counting the three that were left in the grey primer).  I also used the Basilicanum Grey on the Italians, but with the white primer they came out with a much lighter grey than the dark look (almost like a black wash) on the grey primer.  Good enough for now.

Once the army was primed, I picked a sacrificial unit from each as my color test unit.  Something that could look different from the others if I didnt like it, and it would make sense.  Asp's for the South, Stripped-Down Hunters for the North.  Here is the test run.

Top photo is the primer with the contrast paint test on the Asp, below that is a Stripped-Down Hunter and some infantry.  Once I got going on the contrast paints, I didnt really want to stop.  The infantry used Skeleton Horde for the body and Aggaros Dunes for the helmet.  For some reason, even though it is the same primer the Aggaros Dunes turned out much brighter on the Gear than on the helmets.  Maybe it was the surface area, or I used too much.  Still, I wanted to tie the two units together with a similar color.  I also find it very interesting that the resulting color does not really match the color shades shown on the various charts for the contrast paints.  My advice there is to buy what looks right in the bottle, and try it out.  You can also use helpful references like this: https://imgur.com/gallery/GjwQxcy

For the Asp, I did the main body with Basilicanum Grey, one shoulder in Blood Angels Red, and the weapons (gun and grenade packs on shoulders) with Black Templar.  The Hunter got Aggaros Dunes, with Militarum Green for the ballistic cloth.  I started to use Black Templar on the rifle, but the primer was too bright so I opted to just go back over with an actual black paint later on.  Here are the finish squads.

Some things to pay attention to.  You'll notice one Hunter has really brown shoulders.  That was accidental, when I went over a mostly dry section that had been painted once already with another layer.  Radically changed the color.  In this case, it works out.  That will be my Group Leader (CGL), but it is something to pay attention to.  There is a little play with the colors when they first go on, but if you try to touch it up later with spots you miss, you'll end up changing the color of anything that has dried.  I first noticed this with the Italian ships above, and it is a race to cover everything with a single layer before it starts to dry, without accidentally doubling up on coverage.  This is going to make larger models (like ships) a challenge. 

The other thing I noticed is that the Militarum Green on the ballistic cloth seemed to be very light on the raised areas.  Almost too light, with the tan showing through.  I went back over with a second layer there, which didnt drastically altar the overall color, but made the dark recesses very dark.  I'm not sure if I should maybe paint a layer of a green roughly over the areas on future models, then add the contrast paint.  Its worth some testing. 

All in all, I am happy with the results.  Minus a few details (guns, sensors, exhaust and other weathering) the Asps are done, which took me about an hour overall.  The hunters took a little more time, because I had to use two colors on specific areas, as well as having to be very careful with coverage. 

For those of us who want to try and save time whenever possible, I think the Contrast Paint line will certainly help.  I wont get into the debate over DIY contrast paints vs the Citadel versions and all that.  Thats something else you can dig up if you want to get into it.  I will say that once I have a stable studio, I may look into making a contrast paint base in a large quantity, then using inks to make my own, but thats way down the line.  For now, this works.  It isnt a one-stop painting solution, but it did save me quite a bit of time.  Some thought has to be put into it by using the right color primer to get the final result you want, but it did save me time in the wash/highlight step.  The result isnt perfect, but certainly good enough for table-ready models.  I'll be sure to post up photos of the finished squads so you can make up your mind there.

Summer 2019 Update

Well, the best laid plans... Spring of 2016 as my last update?  That just wont work.

Presently, I am "playing" the following games (I say "playing" because a lot of what I'm doing is often on the workbench, but the intent is there!):

• Bolt Action
• Heavy Gear
• Cruel Seas

As you can see, I've paired down my list of games by a big margin.  Now, I still have everything I need to play Flames of War, Tanks, and others.  I have just found that either the current edition of the rules do not suit me, or there are no players in my area.  I mention them, because I intend to work on them, they are just a low priority compared to the three games I actively play now.  

I went through others over the past few years.  Bought Team Yankee.  Sold Team Yankee.  Bought Blood Red Skies.  Still have it... played it twice. Cleared out of all of my Force on Force/Tomorrows War stuff.  Briefly dabbled in Kill Team (40k), but handed that off to the next generation (gave it all to my son).  X-wing is sitting on a shelf, maybe off to the sale bin (again).  I even got into doing 1:800 scale warships, though that has fallen off since I got into Cruel Seas (its 1:300).  

So what next?  First, I need to look through here, see what my plans were, and compare them to what my plans currently are.  I'm anxious to get some how-to guides up.  My year in Korea was very well spent, both work and hobby related.  I learned a lot, and I want to share that.  I'm interested in figuring out a way to record hobby videos.  My current youtube channel is all my streaming (link below for those interested), but I feel that making some guides might be helpful, if only to motivate me to get working on stuff.  

I've been trying out new products.  New techniques.  Actually putting paint on models and putting models on the table to play.  Its crazy.  

I attended my first gaming convention last month.  Historicon 2019 in Lancaster, PA.  It did wonders to get me fired up again to work on these projects, as well as to share it with whoever is interested.  So here I am.  

What can you expect here?  At this time, I'm setting up a status update with my main three games.  Full photo spread of what I have, what I'm working on, and what I'd like to see happen with them.  From there, maybe a video or two.  It will be rough, but new projects always are.  I'm thinking I'll start with Heavy Gear, as there are already plenty of good videos out for Bolt Action and Cruel Seas, I'm not sure I can really add much to that at this time.  

All in all, I just need to keep up the motivation, and get these projects off my bench and onto the table!

Until then, check me out on YouTube and Twitch.  I mainly run World of Warships, but I'm trying to get set up for tutorial videos (or something similar):

YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/user/ByzantineFalcon/

Twitch - https://www.twitch.tv/byzantinefalcon/

Spring 2016 Update

It would seem the buzz over Team Yankee has died down somewhat.  Considering I pre-ordered the rulebook from a store a few hours away in December, but it is almost four months later and I have yet to even read the rules, I will admit my own interest in waning.  I still plan to work on the models I purchased in 6mm, so hopefully actually getting the rules in my hands will get me motivated.

Though, I have to admit, I am somewhat glad it went this way.  Battlefront just announced the new rules set for the Afgantsy Air Assault Battalion which is how I had wanted to run my Soviet force anyway.  Of course, this means I need more Hinds.

Flames of War is on a semi-hiatus as well, at least with playing.  One player moved, another found a new hobby (that I also share), and another is on a different shift.  Makes scheduling games fairly difficult.  Still, work is proceeding along, just at a slow pace.  I would like to make this the year I FINALLY finish an entire army, and I have fairly high hopes of accomplishing that.  My Soviets are all in the beginning stages of painting, with the infantry almost done, and the tanks moving along.  If I can just keep from adding any more units, I should be fine.  Also, by the time I get it done, maybe the tournament points will return to a higher total so I can run the horde I had planned.

The Heavy Gear Kickstarter is showing some progress.  It was supposed to be delivered last November, but they are being good with the communication on status, and the delays are understandable.  The Living Rulebook (Beta) looks to be pretty solid as well.  I played a game about a year and a half ago that went fairly well.  Since then, I have been content to just continue working on the figures I have, planning lists, and watching videos.



I have some rough ideas of how I want these figures to look.  Basing is pretty much set, I decided to go with the Privateer Press 'lipped' bases, and I am heavily pinning most of the models.  My Southern force has been worked on since I started buying them up in 2013.  The Northern figures I have are coming along much more slowly, I had to re-plan the whole force with the Beta rules.  I still have the Peace River models unopened in their boxes, I wont even get into that until at least one of the other ones is finished.

Recently I decided to get back into X-Wing Miniatures.  There are a few local players, and it seems to be a much better casual play game, so I have been able to play it much more easily.  I am amazed at how much it has changed since I played last.  New faction, several new waves, and a fairly active organized play structure.  A friend and I started a cinematic play campaign using his Rebel Transport, and that has been pretty fun.  I wont go into a lot of detail on that, but felt it was worth mentioning.

I want to try and keep this updated, but the time I spent writing, I am not using to finish projects.  Still, I imagine a few people still read this, so I want to make it worthwhile.  As I can, I will update projects, post photos, and have some resources available for those that are interested. 

Eastern Sun Emirates (ESE) "OpFor" Planning

Initially, I had planned to put together two small forces to use in games.  Mainly, to save on the overall cost of the project, but also to leave room for expansion as I went along.  Then I went looking for lots of miniatures online, Bartertown mostly, and ended up with a lot of Southern Gears (and about twice as many Northern).  This was troublesome, as I was leaning towards Leagueless and PRDF.  While Leagueless can use both, it was recommended that I start with a non-Leagueless force, as they are set up mostly for experienced players due to how you can customize the Army.  At one point, it was suggested I put what I had together into a Southern force of some sort. 

I had wanted to do a Mekong Dominion unit.  I liked the idea of Bushido-based "marshals" in gears, not to mention the Vibro Katanas (I mean, come on... big stompy robots with katanas, might as well go big or go home).  Problem is, when I was originally looking at this I was using the Locked and Loaded rulebook as my guide (which would of worked).  After getting a look in Forged in Fire (The Southern Leagues sourcebook), running Mekong would require that I buy almost all of my core units... counter-productive to turning a box of extras into a playable force.  It was not that I did not have enough units to run a Southern force of some sort, the models are mostly the same between factions, but special rules favor some units over others depending on who you play.  To make the most of those rules, I would have to buy entirely different squads (cadres), or a variety of parts to modify what I did have.  It was not going to work.

That was when I took a look at some of the guides on the Dream Pod 9 forum and noticed the ESE.  To quote Korochun:

"Finally, we have the Eastern Sun Emirates, or the ESE, or the feudal hellhole of Terra Nova. While nominally in the AST Domain, and while their current Patriarch, Nigel Shirow is a much better dude than the former one, the Eastern Sun Emirates are still run like a feudal state. Meaning that there are thirty-something major feudal lords (or Emirs) which are more or less kings in their own territory, as well as hundreds of minor ones. Their allegiances tend to…differ. As in, they run the gamut of everything from AST to CEF to the North. This is quite possibly the most diverse faction you can play, as they can use units from any faction on Terra Nova and beyond, and even use some of their special rules. They can also field Iguanas and Basilisks galore, because they have a massive industrial base and Territorial Arms sold them rights to these designs. They can also swap any Black Mamba to a Gila, which makes for a very scary, very smashy army.

            On the downside, ESE is generally one of the most backward places on Terra Nova, to the point where even the Dominionites, who have institutionalized slavery, consider them generally barbaric. The society is very stratified with peasants, or shajahalin, at the very bottom, several castes of middle managers, and Emirs at the top. Before Nigel Shirow’s rise to power, the country’s most popular past time was televised bloodsports of any kind imaginable, and even though that has waned considerably since Shirow won his rebellion, many Emirs are still loyal to the old values and treat their population like dirt. Ah. So good to end this section on a cheerful note."

Sounds like it could be fun.  Seriously though, the fluff aside, their Army is versitile, which was the key for me.  The ESE has alliances based on the specific Emirate, which seem to be vague in the books (a good thing, being undefined like that), but can add in squads from just about every other faction in the game (on Terra Nova, at least).  So, I could add in Northern units, PRDF units, or Leagueless units (which are the ultimate in using whatever you have on hand).  Alternately, I could add in Mekong rules as well if I wanted.  

I spent a few hours looking at the rules, comparing it to the list of figures I had on hand, and settling on a list.  Drew it up, posted it on the forum for review, got feedback, revised the list, posted, feedback, revised, and finally settled on this:


ESE OpFor S_GEAR, Gear Regiment ESEG.
800 TV, PL 2, 3 SPs, 6 CPs
Ruleset: Gear Up 5 Threat Values
OpFor list for demo games - ESE with option for other factions

Veteran Line Strike Cadre (Specialist) [Army Command Group] 420TV
Allow Tankhunter upgrade

• Black Box Iguana [3/4/3/4] (14/42 LHC) LAC MPZF VB CGL, ArmyCmdr (8 options) 105TV
• Long Fang Black Mamba [3/3/1/0] (17/51 LHC) MAC MRP/36 MRP/36 HG VB  (2 options) 100TV
• Blazing Mamba [3/3/1/0] (17/51 LHC) HGLC APGL APGL HG VB  (2 options) 65TV
• Black Adder [3/3/1/0] (16/64 SLHC) SC MRP/36 VB  (3 options) 74TV
• Black Adder [3/3/1/0] (16/64 SLHC) SC MRP/36 VB  (3 options) 74TV
   

Veteran Gearhunter Cadre (Core) 200TV

• Command Jager [2/2/1/1] (15/60 SLHC) LAC LRP/24 APGL HG VB CGL 35TV
• Brawler Jager [2/2/1/0] (15/60 SLHC) LAC LGL LRP/24 APGL HG VB  (1 options) 44TV
• Brawler Jager [2/2/1/0] (15/60 SLHC) LAC LGL LRP/24 APGL HG VB  (1 options) 44TV
• Striking Jager [2/2/1/0] (15/60 SLHC) LBZK LRP/24 APGL HG VB  38TV
• Striking Jager [2/2/1/0] (15/60 SLHC) LBZK LRP/24 APGL HG VB  38TV
   

Gearhunter Cadre (Core) 180TV

• Command Jager [2/2/1/1] (15/60 SLHC) LAC LRP/24 APGL HG VB CGL 35TV
• Jager [2/2/1/0] (15/60 SLHC) LAC LRP/24 APGL HG VB  34TV
• Jager [2/2/1/0] (15/60 SLHC) LAC LRP/24 APGL HG VB  34TV
• Striking Jager [2/2/1/0] (15/60 SLHC) LBZK LRP/24 APGL HG VB  38TV
• Striking Jager [2/2/1/0] (15/60 SLHC) LBZK LRP/24 APGL HG VB  38TV

It makes good use of the mass of Jagers I had from the starter boxes and the lots (most common gear = everyone has a ton of the things), as well as the pair of odd models here and there that I had also picked up (DP9 sells most gears in box sets of 5 gears, and single packs of 2 gears.. but I am noticing that for some cadres you need THREE of any given gear for the composition... hmm....).  

The idea is that you have one really tooled up Veteran cadre, likely a portion of the Emir's household guard, and then two General Purpose (GP) Cadres that are there as an escort.  At PL2 I had two Veteran slots open, so I guess one Cadre is simply better at surviving than the other.  Made use of the models I had on hand, required a minimum of assembly for the rest of it, and I did not have to spend more than $5 on parts to finish it off. 

I would speculate on how I am going to expand it later, but that might be for another post, as I am sure it will change later on.  So, without further delay, here are my work in progress photos of this unit.

Southern GP Cadre (bought painted)

Start of second GP Cadre

Close up showing basing

I am running into some snags with getting pictures from my phone, onto photobucket, then having that open so I can link here (and on the forums).  Generally, I prefer Google Drive, but direct linking is not as easy.  If I can get my photos from the phone to the computer, I can upload directly from there.. but I digress.  

As of today, I have 4 gears in the final stages of completion (arms/weapons) and one more I need to base.  I also have a few alternates that are available, if I wanted to use different loadouts.  That is not even counting the PRDF/Leagueless/Northern squad that I could add, if necessary.

Once I have the whole unit taken care of, I will post the pictures up. 

Future plans for this include stripping the paint off of the painted minis, reassembling and basing those, then the painting begins.  Other than going with a desert/urban theme (the plasticard on the bases will be painted like concrete/stone slabs with sand/rocks around them), I am not entirely sure how I want to do the paint jobs.  Quick and easy, but this is also a great opportunity to try new things.  If they turn out horrible, hey, its an OpFor army anyway, so no worries.  A multicam-like scheme is being considered, as well as some more generic desert patterns.  I do not want the green/grey like the cadre above, I know that.  I could also attempt solid colors with some blacklining.  I may go that route, so I can get some experience with it.  

More to follow!   

Heavy Gear Project Update (September 2013)

A week late, but I have been busy. 

Currently I am sitting on the materials for three different forces:
- WFPA 08th Airborne "Drop Bears"
- ESE "OpFor"
- PRDF

It would figure that the ESE is going the best.  I only have so much to work with, and I do not plan to buy anything for it beyond what I have, so getting settled on a list seems fairly simple.  Planning for 750pts for a "demo" army, with options to expand as necessary.  I have the whole thing nearly done, with one GP squad having just been assembled and based.  I am thinking about taking the other squad home with me and stripping the paint as I am able, so I can reassemble it when I get back.  All that is left is the Strike Cadre.  I do have photos, but I wanted to post this up before I worked on that.

The Drop Bears are a bit more difficult.  Same deal, I am pretty sure I have everything I need to play it, but settling on the options for an army that has a TON of great options is not as easy as expected.  Regardless, planning it for the 1000-1500 range, so that I can mix and match for smaller games.  It should also leave me with a bunch of extra figures, which I can go on to sell/trade. 

PRDF is sitting in a box in the closet, waiting on the release of the new PRDF manual, supposedly by the holidays.  Either way, its not an issue, that is where they will remain until the book comes out.  I have two assembled squads that came that way which I can use in the ERE force if I need to. 

I have VIDEO!  Got my setup together and recorded an unboxing of the Starter Set, Arena, as well as some basic "how I clean up my minis" viewing.  I still need to edit it and put it up on youtube though, which I am hesitant to do.  Still, its good experience.  I just want to have more of a 'script' if you know what I mean?  There are already so many good videos out there, its just that none of them really cover some of the things I am covering. 

The plan is to do it all on my mac, I think there are a few programs on this that will let me edit the video, add effects, etc.  Its going to be amateurish, but its something.

Heavy Gear: Start to Finish (a project)

Sometime around 2000-2001 I was made aware of a game called "Heavy Gear".  I had been a fan of Battletech for several years at this point (having started in 1995, or maybe earlier), and had vague memories of a game for the Playstation that involved giant armored robot suits in urban style combat.  Where Battletech had these several-story tall walking mountains of armor and weapons, Heavy Gear was more about squads of armored suits that, while bigger than a regular infantryman, were not quite the size of buildings.  I think it was the rifles (carried like rifles) and shoulder-mounted rocket pods that stuck with me.

So, around that time, I got a copy of the Heavy Gear RPG.  I might of actually had it for longer, but I can recall sitting around one day reading about it.  It was a fairly rich setting.  Based on the planet Terra Nova and set several thousand years in the future, Humanity had reached out to the stars.  Terra Nova was one of the colony worlds.  At some point, Earth had pulled back, leaving the colony in chaos, until things settled down and there were two major 'nations', the North and South.  The planet was similar to earth, but without the water (it was there, just scarce, especially around the equatorial 'badlands').  Anyway, in the setting of the game the two factions had settled into a Cold War of sorts, with combat being mainly carried out by Gears.  These were, basically, giant armored suits that fit the gap between unarmored infantry and tanks.  Earth had invaded again, had been repulsed, and things were settling back into the North vs South conflict. 

What had me interested, in addition to the detailed history, was that none of the technology seemed too far-fetched.  Hard Science-Fiction, though I did not know what that meant at the time.  The suits were computer assisted (so, no true AI), ran on highly efficient diesel engines (so, no fusion or such), and fired large caliber but otherwise 'normal' rifles.  It had more of a military feel to it than other combat games I was interested in at the time.

At a local game store, I saw some of the miniatures for the table-top version (as opposed to the RPG, which was the book I had.. and no one to play with).  They looked really good, if slightly bigger than I was expecting, but naturally the cost kept me from even entertaining the idea of playing it.  I filed it away in the back of my head as "neat" and eventually sold the rulebook I had, forgetting about the whole thing.

Several years later, I saw some Gears being painted at that same store.  They were much smaller, much nicer, and new.. so I asked about it.  Turned out, the company had not gone under as I had thought.  They had re-released the game in a new scale and it was looking to make a comeback.  I think I might of looked at the rules a bit, but never got a chance to try it, and figured it would be one of those obscure games that a few people played, so why invest?  I was more interested in other games that were regularly played, so again, filed it away in the back of my head as "neat" and forgot about it.

Again, a few years later, while working on getting some models together for Tomorrow's War, I was browsing bartertown, and came across someone selling a gear for Heavy Gear: Blitz!  I had always liked the look of the Gears, and it was fairly close to 15mm (the scale I was using), so I picked it up.  HGB is actually 12mm, but for the suits that did not matter.  Close enough.  After getting it and putting it together, I got to thinking about the game itself.  This was 2011.  While at the mall in Tucson I went into one of the hobby stores and saw that they stocked the game.  Initially I was just looking for more Gears to add to my Tomorrow's War force, but the starter set looked like a pretty good deal to get into the game.  Still, more than I was willing to spend, and while I had some folks interested in playing, I already had too many projects on my plate (as you can go back into the archives from 2011 to see, I had plenty to do).  I never picked it up, and soon I was busy with life anyway, so it got filed away again.

So, here we are in 2013.  Again, back on bartertown, and I saw a post for a lot of Gears for a great price.  Again, thinking about Tomorrow's War (and I still am thinking about suits for my UAE army), I picked it up.  It was a bunch of Northern Gears that were all ready to be assembled (and a lot of work had been put into them, pinning joints, filing, etc, so I got a smoking deal there).  Got it in the mail, looked them over, and put them back in the box.  Figured I would work on my models when I got home.

Then I started to read the rulebooks.  So, you have models I like, combined with rules that seemed simple enough, and a storyline that was fairly in depth.  That got me checking out the webpage, which got me onto the forums, and it turns out the game was more active than I thought.  Still, it was yet another game, and I had plenty already, so I packed it all up and moved on. 

A few months later I came across another lot on bartertown.  Then another, and another.  Well, that got the wheels a turning.  While there were people playing, there were many others who had gotten into it and decided it was not for them.  I started poking through the rules again to get a handle on what was for sale, and one good deal turned into multiple good deals, and the next thing you know.. I have almost enough for three decent sized armies (and for an excellent price!). 

Now, I am never the type to miss an opportunity for a good project, and this was just the sort of thing I wish I had done with other games I have played.  So, here we are.  I have an opportunity to document, from the beginning, the steps I took to acquire, assemble, built, paint, and finish an army for a game.  I could combine putting together models for a game I was interested in into something worth writing about, and even if I could not find any other players.. well, I have more than enough for a few armies, so I can always talk other gamers into trying it.  If that failed, at least I had enough for Tomorrow's War, or just to paint and display. 

So, here we are.  That is the scope of my project.  Detailing how I got started, how I got my models, cleaning and assembly, painting, and finishing at least one force for Heavy Gear.  Then, if the first draft is not where I want it, I can do the whole thing over again with the next force.  One way or another, I will have a fairly detailed "Start-to-Finish" guide with how I do things. 

Heck, it got me writing, so either way, that's a win!

Heavy Gear BatRep - First Attempt

(Played in August 2013, Written October 2013)

One of the lots of figures I purchased included two painted squads of Gears.  Pretty much your typical GP squad, with some special weapons, all ready to go.  After having to reassmeble some of them from shipping damage, they were good to go.  Another lot included a variety of buildings which are mosty to scale for Heavy Gear.  What I had was enough to play a game.

Convincing a friend of mine to spend a free day trying it out yielded a pretty fun game.  We had both looked over the rules, but had not really gotten familiar with the details, so mistakes were made.  Some we picked up on during the game, others after.  All in all, the attempt was a smooth one, giving us both a pretty positive impression of the game.  Certainly enough that I felt I wanted to learn more.

I will not give a round by round narrative, in part because I do not remember the details, but I will say it was a prime example of seeing defeat snatched from the jaws of victory!  My initial tactics resulted in most of my squad getting overwhelmed and taken out, but the two survivors played a game of fall back/reenage, picking his squad apart one at a time.  I had some amazing rolls (firing full Rate of Fire(RoF) on some weapons and never running out/jamming, for example) while he had some horrible ones (grenades, especially).  He should of taken it when I was willing to concede mid-game.  We decided to play it out, and my shift in tactics won the battle.

If I were to do a demo like this again, I would go with the recommended 3 vs 3 with 'matched' forces (more or less) and a smaller play area.  Otherwise, it went well.

I was running the Northern Squad (Tan/Yellow), my friend was running the Southern Cadre (Green/Grey).



The bulk of my squad using containers as cover

Northern center defense while the South took the flanks

Southern Gears close to melee contact

Southern flanker took out a Hunter...

.. only to run into another with a Snub Cannon