Stargrave – A long time ago on a gaming table far, far away…
I covered my initial rant about StarWars as a tabletop wargaming IP, and where it works and where it does not. And in the mean time, between having ordered 3d printed models for this setting and printed my own as a patreon of Skull Forge Studios, I have narrowed down the rule set(s) and time frame.
As mentioned in the initial post, this is not going to be Star Wars Legion - for multiple reasons - but a skirmish on a troop / squad level and for that, in my opinion among other systems, Stargrave works quite well.
This idea started last year, that prior to me owning a 3d printer on my own, but I already fancied the 3d sculpts by Skull Forge Studios back then. With the models being outside of the patreon around 5-6 USD per sculpt on Gumroad and Wargames3D offering them for 9 to 11 EUR incl. free shipping from Spain via Etsy, I chose to order some. Among others I got myself these:
Necromunda – Into the Dark Backdrop
Along the new releases of the last months, is a new installment of Kill Team - called Into the Dark this time, and while the game itself is not what caught my attention, it was actually the terrain of this starter set.
With 170 EUR RRP you could probably buy it at FLGS with a bit of discount, sell the gangs and keep the terrain for a proper deal, but I didn't fancy the string of events with if I went down that road, so I picked up the accessories sprue twice and one of the regular wall sections for a total of about 30 EURs plus shipping.
The accessories sprue is interesting, as I could upgrade my existing terrain (like the Plasma Reactors or Ferratonic Silos) and the upcoming bulkhead terrain builds with them, as they cover point-of-interest that could provide interaction on the table and at a tenner for a full sprue of this bits, I had to get my hands on them. And to save one shipping, I added one of the regular wall sections, to build a backdrop for my Necromunda gangs. About that - I am still working on the 1995s House Orlock Gang.
Middlehammer – Skaven Rat Swarms
Since I've ordered and covered the Made-to-Order classic Skaven characters from the Middlehammer era of the 90s, I was able to get my hands on some original rat people from Citadel to build a small skirmish warband around.
This gives me the choice to have two small packs of vermin warriors, led by a champion each and some characters. But as we are talking Skaven here, we need some rat swarms. In the classic Warhammer Fantasy battles, you had giant rats that you put on 40 x 40mm square bases. The ones shown in the second picture are the later 6th-ish edition rats, a bit more in line with each other compared to the earlier Oldhammer ones, and of course more variety than the swarm pack plastic ones.
Battlefleet Gothic – Chaos Fleet Pt 2
The Chaos Fleet is set, and now it is time to choose the models. My "demand" are the following models.
- 1x Chaos Battle Barge
- 1x Grand Cruiser
- 6x Cruisers
- 3x Idolators Class Raider
- 3x Infidel Class Raiders
- 4x Iconoclast Class Destroyers
The closest option would be to try and go for second-hand market, but with the pricing that would quickly move the overall costs for this fleet above 200 EUR - if I get lucky. The either go for alternative models or get them printed. For Chaos Fleets there are two major creators, who cover the range. That would be Soul Forge Studio and ItalianMoose. With Soul Forge Studio coming up for about 50 USD just for the STLs to print these, with ItalianMoose offering the files for free.
All of what I needed was on cults3d. I used the Battleship file for the Battle Barge, the Grand Cruiser for the Grand Cruiser and what is pretty amazing, ItalianMoose offers the (Heavy) Cruisers either as complete models, or modular, so you can magnetize them, or use the weapons batteries files, that are available on their own.
Battlefleet Gothic – Chaos Fleet
Welcome back to the grim dark space battles, with Battlefleet Gothic. I did an intro post on this dual fleet project, and we have to start somewhere, so let us do that with the Chaos Fleet.
I'll be using the fleet lists from the Battlefleet Gothic Remastered (I have the v.033 of the fleet lists at hand) and going for a roughly 2.000 points amount of miniatures as a starting ground, to know what to print and have a small collection for smaller to above medium sized battles.
Battlefleet Gothic – Terrain Building
While I'm still deciding on which STLs to use for my Battlefleet Gothic Fleets, I already got my hands on some upcoming terrain pieces. You can use flat terrain with BFG, it works fine, especially as line of sight is measured from pin to pin of the bases, and you don't actually need the height of the terrain pieces.
Yet, I prefer some three dimensional pieces, with the huge question going for domes or spheres on bases. I went for a mixture, the large planet would be a dome, as it would simply be too big to store and to handle on the table, and the others would be spheres on bases. I got myself a set of mixed sized and a large sphere made from two halves.
I actually split the set, as I wouldn't need that many planets and could share the remainder with a wargaming buddy. The two sets I got, set me back 15 EURs, for a two halves 20 cm (8 inch), two 6 cm (~2,5 inch), four 5 cm (2 inch), six 4 cm (~1,6 inch) and eight 3 cm (~1,2 inch) spheres. You probably can get these at your local art store, just make sure you're not overcharged. As you can see, I did a spread of the pieces I keep, along with a brief scale comparison with one of the Chaos Cruisers by Italian Moose.
Necromunda – 1995s House Orlock Gang
I have finished a Middlehammer Chaos warband, I have finished a 90s Blood Bowl Chaos team and now it is time to jump into Sci-Fi. And what better miniature stock to do so by taking a look at Necromunda?
Necromunda has roots in the Rogue Trader era as well. Not entirely unlike Blood Bowl, it had a predecessor. In this case called Confrontation (not to be confused with the game by Rackham), which wasn't released as a boxed game but as published across multiple issues of the White Dwarf Magazine in 1990 and 1991 (Mordheim initially went for a similar approach and was published across multiple issues in White Dwarf until it was released as a boxed game). Confrontation shared a lot of similarities with Necromunda, like the gang warfare setting in a Hive City, yet had a different design approach, as you can see from the artwork and miniatures.
Imperial Fists – A beginning into the Horus Heresy with EpicAU
First of all - don't be irritated, you'll see Imperial Fists in different scales on here. In 28mm for the Warhammer 40k 2nd Edition retro project as recently introduced, and in 6/8mm for EpicAU, as introduced in the Horus Heresy article. For "easier" differentiation, the 28mm on is the 3rd Company of the Imperial Fists, and the epic scaled one the Imperial Fists of the Third Sphere.
And we have to start somewhere, we will do that today with a first draft of a 2,000 point list build with Departmento Munitorum. I am aware that about 4,000 points is a common size, but as said, you have to start somewhere and according to some battle reports I found on YouTube (Tabletop Standard for example) it seems like a reasonable choice to begin with.
Necromunda – Outlanders Stock
I went over my Necromunda Underhive stock and did an update to the 2021 article, as I managed to complete large part of the collection, extending into the Outlanders supplement as well as beyond. From the core collection, I'm only missing a single Goliath ganger and I'd like to share the status quo of the extended Underhive collection.
Just to bring you up to date, a brief repetition from the last article: What is Necromunda about? It is a 28mm skirmish between the street gangs of the bigger Houses on the planet Necromunda, fighting over supply contracts, mines and facilities. And all that in the underground of a megacity (so very 2000 AD) in the Warhammer 40.000 universe. With the character / gang development it even included a narrative part, to tell the story of your own gang, with all the ups and downs that belong to it. And that narrative part is simply the cherry on top of that old school goodness.
Blood Bowl – Mordheim Marauders Part 5
And now it is time for decals! I chose the white numbers from the Nurgle Rotters and grabbed my decal set from Vallejo to get started.
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