THE TROUBLE WITH TOO MANY KLINGONS

IS 15MM A BETTER SCALE FOR SUPERHERO MINIATURES GAMING?

Image from the Old Glory Miniatures website

One of the biggest hinderances to using 28mm miniatures in nearly any genre is the "tax" you pay in table space. To achieve a decent amount of room to maneuver and/or achieve realistic ranges, you have to play on a nearly impossibly huge table or risk the parking lot effect - where everything is so close that nothing can move and may and what movement you can achieve means nothing. Much like other genres of miniatures gaming, this can be mitigated in superhero games by switching to a smaller scale - 15mm. 

As a scale, 15mm provides you with an economy of scale that allows you to get more space out of a standard-sized gaming table while still providing detail enough for superheroes to really stand out as individual characters. Characters will movement powers (flight, teleport, super speed, etc.) will have plenty of room to use their powers and characters with ranged attacks will have meaningful lines of sight and fire. In addition, there are ample sources of vehicles and scenery for 15mm miniatures and building your own city building can be done quickly if you wanted to. 

Image from the Old Glory Miniatures website

The end result is a much more dynamic battlefield for your heroes to fight on than what we often see with two teams of 28mm miniatures going toe-to-toe on a 4' x 4' (or less) board.

GETTING A LITTLE SPACEY - PAINTED ALTERNATIVE ARMIES 28MM SCIFI MINIS

 

A while back, I was gifted these three cool scifi minis from the Alternative Armies "Alternate Stars" range. From left to right they are AS008 Fomor Space Raider with Laser Rifle, AS003 CPU4016 Cyborg Enslaver, and AS011 Uhul Warrior with Laser Cannon (40mm Tall). I am mparticularly fond of AS011 as it is inspired by some of my very first miniatures sculpts, a fantasy race of owl men called the Uhul. Gavin told me that he had to have one in this range which is quite the honor for me to have created such a memorable race of imaginary creatures. the entire Alternate Stars range is a wonderful collection of scifi characters that all have the perfect balance of detail and simplicity that make for great game pieces. 

I have painted them using a combination of speed paints and regular acrylic miniatures paint with simple color schemes and not too much work. I tend to paint to a tabletop standard. For the Fomor Space Raider, I went with a red so as to break away from a more gobliny look. The Uhul is purple because I felt like doing something different than a regular owl color scheme.

 

20 LEAGUES UNDER MY BELT - REPEAER BONES DEEP ONES

 

Not exactly a league's worth of minis but they could be if you built them on the tougher side of how Deep Ones are portrayed in literature and RPGs. These are the Deep One minis from one of the Early Reaper Bones runs. they are still done in the original soft white stuff and will really mess up your paints if you don't wash them properly - a mistake I made. 

I based coated these in black over which I did a drybrush of white. Over this I worked with Speed Paints and let them do their thing. To this I added a Strong Tone wash. This wash ended up making their bellies a bit too dark so I went in with a white and stiples it in, leaving a good amount of the wash still visible to give them that mottled, dirty but pale look. The eyes were finished with white paint to give them eerie, mily eyes inspired by Golem from the Rankin and Bass Hobbit animations.

For the basing I used a custom ground text paste, made from a combination of Mod Podge, brown paint, tea leaves and grout mix. Over this I applied some static grass - loose and not with an applicator, and a few tufts with a sprinking of tea leaves. This was seled with PVA and isopropyl alcohol. This left a pretyt natural looking, mucky, marshy ground effect. 

I really like these figures and even though there are only three poses of them in the range they are suitable generic enough in their poses to allow for them to be bought in multiples. Add to this the inconsistent way in which Deep Ones and their hybrids are supposed to appear and you could easily mix in models from other manufacturers without much issue. 

I also have a Deep One Priest from the same range, all painted up in a matching style but with Dep One gold.

PULP ALLEY - ONE SYSTEM TO RULE THEM ALL

It is no great secret thatone of my favorite miniatures skirmish game system is Pulp Alley. With its ease of play, character building, and customizeable content it is just so easy to pick up and play. There are so many options available within the game that allow you to play nearly any setting you like that it really does beg the question of whether or not I'll ever need to buy another skirmish miniatures game system again.

If you are not familiar with Pulp Alley, it is a game in which you create a custom team of miniatures, called a league. Your league engages in various scenarios of which their are now scores, either against other players and their leagues or in solo or even co-op play. Characters are built around die codes that are expressed as a number of certain dice from D6 to D12 which coorespond to a character's skills and what ther games would call ability scores. Unlike many games, Pulp Alley doesn't get bogged down in specific skills or equipment, choosing rather to abstract these concept through broadly expressed abilities  that a player selects during the league generation. 

                                      

Leagues also get perks which are league-wide abilitis and/or variations on league structure or league resources. Through this manipulaton of perks a league may be as few as two characters up to a small army of rank and fire squads. There are even ways to play leagues without top-level characters in the field, making it possible to model up miltiary units, tribal groups or the minions of some shadowy cabal. Leagues also have off-board assets such as contacts, laboratories, specialists, etc that provide them with bonuses when playing scenarios without placing a character in the roster. So, you might have a dynamic duo that benefitted from a high tech lair full of gadgets and a faithful butler who knows things and people. 

The game play is your typical dicing back and forth with some exceptions. Almost never is there a situation in combat where only one side is acting. Attacking somebody generally means they get to fight back, if they choose. The action of the game is further enhanced through the use of cards, held in a secret hand by each player. These cards are dual use, serving as effects to be played on a players own character or against their opponent or as a sort of meta currency when resolving certain challenges in the game. There are even themed decks to add in or substitute out the standard decks for such things as Horror. 

Scenarios are abundant and easy to create once you have played just a few. They are designed to focus in on a particular moment of action, often being framed as part of a greater narrative. Each scenario is expressed with certain guidelines for set up as well as any special rules for play. Most scenarios are settled in as many as six  turns at the end of which the game is over unless otherwise stated in the scenario. Campaigns are avaialble and the game is designed with campaign play in mind. 

While the action in the game is built around characters, it does also include detailed rules for vehicles, squads of generic troopers, super science, magic, and monsters should you need any of those for a scenario.

The game lets you use any miniatures you choose for whatever genre you want to play from  pulpy scifi to prehistoric adventure. No need to feel hemmed in by editions and miniatures ranges. Create and built and colelct in whatever ways you and your players feel is appropriate for the games you want to play and the stories you want to tell. 

So, why is this the game to beat all?

Well, it's not, exactly, but it's really close. 

Pulp Alley is never going to replace games of large bodies of organized troops or games with more detailed, tactical or strategic crunch. Pulp Alley cam be almost anything but it will always be the movie version of things - fast, loose, fun and satisfying on a storytelling and character basis. You're not going to get the depth of tactical choice that you would with a more military-oriented game. But it can do a lot and so I often find myself giving pause when considering a new, easy to play skirmish game. I have to ask myself, "Is this new investment worth it when I already have Pulp Alley?"

A recent example of this came when looking at two games, "The Baron's Wars" and "Pillage", both medieval one later and one early "Dark Ages". I really want to play in this time and even have a crap ton of Victrix Norman foot to work on that I could split across two or more warbands. Both games were tempting and both providing a very similar game even though the focus of their periods of history was separated by hundreds of years. 

But did I need both? Did I need either? Neither game seems to be a cupser crunchy attempt at historical simulation, focusing on histoical flavor and solid game play. This brought me back to Pulp Alley.

Pulp Alley can easily handle the warbands aspect of either game. There are rules for heroes and lesser heroes but more importantly you have the Gang rules which account of squads of "mooks". The various character abilities would allow for a fair amount of characterful individuals to distinguish individuals and, if one wished to venture into more legendary history, there are rules for minor supernatural abilities. So, I eased off getting either of the games, until I see if I can get a satisfying play out of Pulp Alley for these periods.  If it doesn't end up feeling right, the models will be painted up and those other games will still exist. 

I've already successfully played Star Wars games using Pulp Alley, with hoards of Stormtroopers being played using the Gang and Weapon Team rules. Imperial Officers are easily represented as Level 2 or 3 characters while the true badasses can be made reasonably well with Level 4 Heroes. The same thing goes with the good guys, though they are better built using another sort of League organization that focuses more on a few good heroes.

Pulp Alley is very much a simple, one-stop solution to almost any lighter skirmish fun you may want to engage in.

 

Ganesha Games "Star Eagles" - Explaining Fighter Activation in Star Eagles

So, it would appear that I missed a few posts on the Star Eagles Facebook while I was attending to some family business. This has led to me posting updates a bit out of order. Things are returning to normal for me, so I should be able to keep up but please enjoy this post regarding how Fighter Activation works in Star Eagles. 

FIGHTER ACTIVATION

Those already familiar with other Ganesha Games such as Song of Blades and Heroes or Galleys and Galleon will already have some familiarity with the basic of how unit activation works, but STAR EAGLES has some notable differences. 

When a ship activates, it will have an opportunity to move, attack, and perform other special activities such as scanning. Everything a ship does in Star Eagles is called an action. There are three types of actions; free actions, normal actions, and reactions.

Free actions can be performed without using any pilot actions and are primarily just basic movement and basic turning. Normal actions require the use of pilot actions and these include advanced manoeuvres, shooting, launching missiles, scanning and other activities. Reactions are opportunities the pilot may have to take an action outside a ship's normal activation as a result of enemy activity occurring nearby. 

When a Starfighter has an opportunity to activate it may choose to roll dice to get pilot action points to spend during its activation. The number of actions it gets will be determined by the Pilot's quality and the amount of risk the player want to take when activating. The controlling player may choose to roll 1,2, or 3 dice. The players choice. Each dice that rolls equal or higher than the pilots Quality rating provides one action point for the ship. These points will be spent during the ship's activation to perform 'normal' actions. Dice that roll below the quality of the pilot are called an activation failure. If a player rolls two or more failed dice during an activation, the opponent may take the initiative if he doesn't already have it or draw a COMBAT CARD.

COMBAT CARDS are highly useful tools which I will explain in a later post.

Ganesha Games "Star Eagles" - Explaining Initiative in Star Eagles

Ganesha Games continues to shed light on the the system for their upcoming Star Eagles space fighter combat game. Following the coverage of movement in my last post, I wanted to share their own words on how initiative works in Star Eagles. The pic below shows the lovely range of ConStar light, medium, and heavy fighters.

To follow along with their latest posts, visit their Facebook page - HERE

Today I am going to talk a bit about how initiative works in STAR EAGLES. Tomorrow I will explain what happens during a fighter's activation. 

INITIATIVE 

When a mission is created, one player will start with the initiative as dictated by the mission. The player who has initiative has the power to choose which player will next activate a ship or group of ships. 

Having initiative is important because that player will control the flow of the battle. A player will keep initiative until it is taken away from him by rolling a TURNOVER(explained tomorrow when discussing the activation) or having the non initiative player damage one of the initiative player's ships. 

It is quite possible for initiative to go back and forth during a turn and also possible for a player to retain initiative during the entire game(although extremely unlikely). No matter who has initiative, all ships will eventually have a chance to activate in a turn, having the initiative just allows some control of when they will activate. 

This system creates a very dynamic battle and creates a lot of tension between both players. The Initiative player must decide how aggressive he wishes to be during his activation, pushing his pilots too hard may result in making mistakes and losing the initiative. The non initiative player must be aggressive if he wishes to take control of the battle.

Ganesha Games "Star Eagles" - Explaining Movement in Star Eagles

Hey all,

So Ganesha Games has moved beyond teasing us with pictures of the amazing ship miniatures for their upcoming Star Eagles space fighter combat game and started sharing some of the concepts behind their rules. While these are still in the playtest stages, they are pretty solid and show us how dynamic the system plans to be.

The words and pictures below are from their post on their Facebook group and I have posted the original text to preserve the integrity of their commentary - something I shall be doing with any of their more detailed release information.

Movement and Maneuvers in Star Eagles

When a ship activates it will have a number of pilot actions between 0-3 (See Activation post here for how pilot actions are determined…) it must then builds it maneuver. Maneuvers are built by linking a series of movement sticks to form the flight path of the fighter. Using this method, a wide variety of movements may be made without a great deal of complication or advanced calculation and it creates a visual representation of the flight path.

There are three types of movement sticks;

NORMAL a 3” move allowing up to a 22.5 degree turn at the end

  

TIGHT TURN or SIDE SLIP a 3” move allowing a 22.5 degree turn at the beginning and a 22.5 degree turn at the end.

 

REVERSE TURN a 3” move allowing up to a 360 degree turn at the end. It comes with risk as a fighter must make a pilot quality roll at the end. If failed, the opponent may decide the direction of the turn.

The process is very simple;

1) Take a number of Normal Movement Sticks equal to the ships speed. An average speed is three, meaning it will start with three normal move sticks.

2) ALL movement sticks MUST be used

3) A normal move sticks may be ADDED or REMOVED by spending one pilot action for each stick added or removed. This is called using an action to thrust or burn retros

4) Advanced maneuvers may be purchased with Pilot actions as follows

a. A SIDESLIP cost one pilot action and replaces ONE normal move stick

b. A TIGHT TURN costs one pilot action and replaces TWO normal move stick

c. A REVERSE TURN cost two pilot actions and replaces TWO normal move sticks

5) Once you have decided how many and what type of sticks to use, just lay them out to form your flight path.

Adding New Basing Materials to the Tool Kit

I picked up some of the KHG Gamer's Grass tufts from Harold over at ClearHorizon Miniatures and I am very glad I did.

I am not the sort to invest in a lot of special hobby products. I haven't even learned how to use static grass. These little gems, however, may get me to rethink my approach to hobby stuff.

These miniatures were painted and based without the Gamer's Grass but the simple addition of these little tufts to most of the bases lends so much more warmth and depth to the miniatures.

Fly the Imperial Skies

Robin Fitton of Gruntz 15mm fame, has a new Kickstarter going for a set airship combat rules going. Imperial Skies is a fully fleshed out set of rules built around the existing range of Brigade Models' great airships. 

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/rottenlead/imperial-skies-wargame

 

First Go At Armada

Let The Wookiee Win

Yesterday I had a chance to try out the new Star Wars Armada game. I have missed out on most of the "clicky" miniatures games but the subject of this one was too cool to not try. I have always wanted to play fleet battles in the Star Wars universe. While this is not the first game to be made for this or the only to have done it all along, it is the first one that I have heard my local gamers get excited about.

My opponent, who has a few games under his belt, let me choose Empire or Rebel, I decided to go with a Victory star destroyer and several squads of TIE Fighters. Before we played, he gave me a run down on the rules and explained all the components and indulged my questions about how the theme of the universe and the ships being portrayed had been translated into rules.

I think it is worth noting that, as a Star Wars fan, I am mostly satisfied with the rules interpretations of the universe and the ships so far. It is a big deal that the ships in the game are able, within the rules, to perform as expected from the fiction. X-wings fight like X-wings and TIEs like TIEs. 

The fight itself was a pretty straight forward head to head. Two small Rebel ships and X-wings versus my own Victory and TIEs. The learning curve was minimal. The game is so well put together with everything clearly laid out and with everything having its own piece when it needs to. Orders, stats, even measuring are optimized (the movement tool is inspired). 

What this meant is that in no time I was barreling forward with my star destroyer, making a few course corrections and maneuvering my fighters around to harass the Rebel ships and engage their fighters. Combat is neat and clean and I never found myself at a loss for figuring out where I stood. 

There were a few points that took some getting used to but these mostly centered around the range bands and the special dice for these bands as well as getting used to plotting command in advance and working through those. I don't think I made enough use of the ability to hold orders for a later time but I also do not feel I had too many situations come up in this learning game where this was needed.

By the end of the game I was a convert. I had won, but just barely and only technically speaking. The game ran out of turns with me in a leading position but it was clear that my capital ship was a wreck and the two fresh fighter squadrons would be able to finish me with their next round of bombing runs.

Now I just bide my time and let the inventory of available models flesh out a bit before diving in. I know my budget for this game will be limited, even if the components are pretty reasonably priced, and I do not want to make an early purchase that I will regret when something new comes out. A little patience never hurts and I doubt my frugal hesitation will hurt the prospects of this game with its juggernaut appeal.

Take care,

-Eli

What I Have Learned About Producing Miniatures

One of the cool things about gaming that is bigger now than it ever has been before is the ability of just about anyone to get into the biz. This has its pros and cons and certainly not everyone is cut out for it and not everyone's stuff is polished to the same degree. That is not to say that the less polished is somehow bad stuff, it just means that often critical, useful and sometimes necessary editorial steps may been skipped. This is true for printed works, but also extends to other gaming media. In my case, this is miniatures.

When I first set out to be a sculptor, I really had no grand aspirations of having my own line of miniatures and even when I did, I decided to enter the commercial realm of miniatures using contracted sculpts that I felt better represented my ideas to a degree that was, in my opinion, beyond my ability at the time. I do not regret this initial decision though I have reflected on its effect on my dedication to learning the art. But what does this have to do with what I learned about the miniatures business? A lot really.

My original plan was to contract for two packs of 6 different poses, which would have allowed for the basic elements of any combat squads. This was a reasonable starting point, I thought. I found a sculptor that did good work for a price I could afford and worked out a deal with a caster that I knew. This was falling into place and I was well within a reasonable budget for my finances. It all looked like smooth sailing.

It turned out that I tapped my sculptor's talent right as he was about to make a serious shift in his personal life. This stuff happens and I could hardly fault a guy for trying to better himself and his family's situation. He's a person and still an amazing talent that I hope to some day tap into. I tried to give the sculpts some time but eventually I had to pull the plug on that work and find a new sculptor. Finding a new sculptor wasn't all that hard and I soon had the initial sculpts for the Chuhuac back on track but then I ran into another snag in my personal life that really set me back, so much so that I entertained, and finally went through with running a Kickstarter for the miniatures.

I feel the Kickstarter went well, overall, but I have to admit that my lack of experience in the industry really set it up for all the problems that came out of it. I was new to KS and felt that I needed to pad the campaign with all sorts of stretch goals and discounts to attract backers. While this worked, it escalated the scope of the project beyond my original agreement with my caster and taxed my sculptor. I could have, and likely should have stuck to the original plan, had faith in the quality of the idea to attract folks to it. This would have prevented it from growing in the monster it did and would have saved me a lot of stress and anguish.

Flash forward to after the campaign and into the production and fulfillment process. This period was a lot of wondering and stressing and having to adapt. We had issues with the sculpts when they went to molding. I had to modify master casts so they would work for production casting. Add to this that we had to change what type and how much metal was needed for the project. Heck, just getting the over 100 pounds of metal from the UK to me cost a good chunk of cash. This is where I really learned the most. 

During the process of actually getting the miniatures to production, I took in a ton new knowledge. In addition to technical details, I had to realize that none of this stuff went fast. Mold makers and casters are often piled under work and it can take time for your turn to come up. Then there is always the possibility that things might not go right in the mold. Many problems will only emerge once you have attempted to mold the sculpts. It really pays to have an expert look over your sculpts before you send them for production. A good caster will catch most issues before they go in.

So, moving on to after the Kickstarter is done and gone. What is there left to learn? Well, for one there is marketing and such. This is where it can be hard as an independent producer. I have ZERO advertising budget and so have to rely on low cost or free outlets. This can work, using blogs, Facebook and Google + as communications outlets. There are also a lot of hobby news outlets who will pick up on your material for free, but you have to keep the releases rolling for them to do so. This last part brings me to my biggest marketing realization.

Since the Chuhuac have gone into general release, sales have been less than I would have hoped. There was a bit of a push when they first came out but sales dwindled fast as the months went on. Part of this has to do with the lack of new releases. Now, I realize it seems odd to talk about new releases after having just dropped an entire range of troops, support and other elements into the market. The truth is that most of the immediate market was accessed by the Kkickstarter and with the Kickstarter having dropped everything into the hobby's lap all at once, there was an initial buzz and then...tumbleweeds.

The Kickstarter actually left me in debt. Despite having generated thousands of dollars and even getting a financial shot in the arm from family, I still could not cover the full cost of the Kickstarter which came out to something around $10,000. This meant that I wasn't in a position to invest in new projects to keep the ball rolling. Going back to the original plan for the Loud Ninja Games start up, if I had released the two packs and then rolled those sales into new development, I could have kept up a semi-regular series of releases that would have established a market for my figures and built the LNG name up. Instead I came into the world screaming and kicking with a mixed bag of emotions and then pretty much went silent. 

So, here I am. I have a full range of miniatures released that are barely selling and currently no way to get new items to market. Even if I could get the greens by sculpting my own, I cannot get them into production until I am square with my casters. This is where hobby craft might come into good use. Displaying my product in use by others and showing off my own paint jobs of my product. The problem here seems to be that, despite there being 125 people out there with my product, only about four have posted any images of their new toys to the internet. This is not a complaint, but it certainly doesn't help with exposure. I do not have a local outlet for 15mm science fiction gaming and so posting my own game pics is difficult if not impossible. 

Soooo... key points.

1. Consider taking it slow and steady. Consider your release schedule and how it will build your brand. 
2. Do not take a Kickstarter lightly. It is a lot of work and can go horribly wrong.
3. Get as much info up front and make your move only when you have all the details you can get.
4. Pick your vendors (sculptors, casters, etc) widely.
5. Stay hands on. Inspect, ask, bother, bug and otherwise make a pain in the ass of yourself with all your vendors.
6. Advertise, show off and otherwise figure out how to market your products. Give them away to some convention goers if you have to.

For those looking for information on Loud Ninja Games and its products -

Store - 15mm.co.uk/collections/loud-ninja-games

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/LoudNinjaGames?ref=hl
Blog - http://loudninjagames.blogspot.com/

Miniatures I'd Like To See

Soooo...

My blog is slow these days, I know. I just haven't found enough to blog about and haven't been doing much in the way of gaming stuff that wasn't purely physical (painting, models, etc). That said, I figured a nice editorial piece wouldn't be without it's audience.

I'd like to talk about miniatures I would like to see.

I know, I know. I'm suppose to be a sculptor these days, but I'm only one man and there are still many limits to my abilities. So, in the interest of throwing ideas out into the cosmos, I present my own wish list of oddball miniatures ideas.

1) 15mm Space Opera. There is so much room for new additions here. As much as Space Opera themes are popular in movies, TV and comics, we really do seem to lack a proportionate abundance of such figures in 15mm miniatures. Sure, we have some of the oldies but goodies (Laserburn, Traveller) and  ranges expanding with new figures on the old but solid ranges (Ion Age), but we haven't seen a mighty push in that direction from anyone.

2) 15mm High Concept Scifi Troops. As much as I love them, I really would love to see something besides near future humans. Yes, there are some such as GZGs UNSC, but you would think that some of these sleeker designs that are growing in popularity in movies and video games would have filtered into 15mm scifi by now.

3) 15mm Anime. Darkest Star is the only company I know that has done a specific push in the direction of anime styled miniatures in 15mm. Why is that? I have heard that anime doesn't always translate so well to miniatures. I get that, but I think 15mm would be infinitely more forgiving than larger scales as you are really shooting for the sillouette of anime rather than the detail. Mecha, robots, cyborgs, and some of the above mentioned high concept troops fit into this category along with distinct vehicle styling.

4) 15mm Distopian Street Figs. Again, a theme that has only really seen so toe-dipping. Style gangs, corporate security, urban defense and law enforcement miniatures along side some strategic street personalities would make this work. Can we say Akira style bikers.

5) 15mm Superheroes. Why is it that everyone looks at me like I'm crazy when I mention this? I get it, superheroes are all about personality and character, but I think it has been well established that 15mm can delivery on that front. Think about how epic mixing 15mm and supers can be. Super System recognizes this in its scale conversion to 15mm and talks about how the battlefield really becomes super when you can fight for blocks.

One aspect of 15mm supers that I have not seen mentioned, however, is what you can do when you reduce your base scale size. Giant things can be giant. Factions like HYDRA or AIM can really make a showing on the tables with more than just  single super tank. Come on, who doesn't want to replay the landing at Normandy with Captain America leading the charge? Cosmic villains anyone?

6) 15mm Fantasy. This is an area that is seeing some growth, but mostly along the tried and true styles and themes that have been covered in 28mm. I wouldn't mind seeing some out of the box ideas here but like Really Alien Aliens in 15mm sci fi this is a tough call. I know I have thought  lot about fantasy elements to drop into historical armies.

"Enough with the 15mm, Eli!"

I hear you, but for the most part 28mm does a damned good job of addressing nearly every subject out there. Face it, nobody is hurting in that scale. 15mm has received a giant push in the last few years, but that push has really been concentrated in direction of science fiction. It's a scale that presents a lot of opportunities that are just too damned impractical for 28mm. Considering a single tank in 28mm can run you $40 to $50, the math is pretty damned easy to do.

So, universe, have at!

-Eli

Loud Ninja Games Available and Going to Salute 2014

Hey folks, so my miniatures range is life and available - HERE.. The full range of Chuhuac "Space Raptors" can be found there including all 15mm infantry, support and vehicle codes along with the 28mm infantry squad.

There are also unit deals available such as RAP004P Chuhuac Herd. There are also deals for smaller units, grav bikes, APCs and battlesuits.

Also, I am thrilled to announce that Loud Ninja Games will be going with 15mm.co.uk to it's first convention ever. It's a big one too! Those of you in the UK or other attending SALUTE 2014, come see us at the 15mm.co.uk stand (TF07). The entire range will be on hand there and you can look and buy our nifty space lizards to terrify your tabletop opponents.

20 Leagues Under My Belt - The Indomitable Thag

In the jungle, something stirred - first just a rumble, then a thunder. Suddenly, the trees seemed to burst from within sending foliage and splintered wood flying in a shower of organic shrapnel. Beasts cried out, whooping and howling their dismay as they fled in every direction and into the air. What burst from the trees left us stunned. 

Our terror seized us, holding us in an icy grip, even as we clutched our rifles much to the detriment of our porters. The towering, scaly colossus, allowed them no quarter, tossing them about with wide sweeps of the tree trunk it now wielded as a weapon. Their rag doll bodies sailed in great arcs as the heavy feet of the mammoth denizen of this deep, hidden land lay eyes on us and set us as its next victims...

Thag is a monstrosity that haunts the deep, fern-carpeted jungles of the primordial Hollow Earth. He preys on all who would follow upon his terror, wearing their bones and gorging on their flesh. He will represent another potential Terror in my Pulp Alley games set in the lost world of my Hollow Earth.

He began life as a Reaper Bones miniature, a Swamp Troll I believe. I had no need for such a miniature and as I was still in the sculpting mood after finishing the Devourer in the Dark, I was inspired by the plates on his back and a conversation with Alex Bates of Forge of Ice to convert him into a sort of humanoid stegosaurus. The name Thag was suggested by Alex, who informed me that the spiked tail of a stegosaurus was called a "thagomizer", a term I had not heard before. Thag it was.

The named fit my idea for the creature who I decided would hail back to the old Marvel Monsters. This collection of giant fiends were always depicted in bright colors with almost unapologetic, goofy monstrosity. Thag would be colored around an orange pallet. I added a touch of accent by giving him a blue tongue and mouth that was inspired  by a Skink lizard.

20 Leagues Under My Belt - Countess Velasco's Treasure Hunters

So, in a frenzy of painting fever, I pulled out a partially completed league and finished it up.

This league is my European treasure hunters, led by the cold and calculating Countess Velasco. She is joined by her lieutenant and supposed lover, Bronzini and his hired guns. Rounding out the league is the Countess's personal mystic and fortune teller Madame Zelda.

The Countess and her band stand poised at the mouth of the Gtungi lair, certain that the riches of this savage land are to be found inside. Hopefully, the Gtungi will be kept at bay by the relic displayed by Madame Zelda. Bronzini and his men are ready, nonetheless.


This league is one of my first and was made up of minis I had on hand when I first picked up Pulp Alley. It tends to follow the middle of the road for leagues in Pulp Alley, utilizing a lot of shooty, some tricks and a characters (Zelda) who doesn't do much except aid the rest of the league. 

This league is made up mostly of Copplestone Castings figures from several different codes with Countess Velasco cast into her role from Artizan Miniatures.

More of My Aliens Released by 15mm.co.uk

I while back I previewed some metal masters of figures that I had submitted to 15mm.co.uk's SHM miniatures line. Well it looks like they came out and I somehow missed it. So, here are the painted catalog pics from their site to show off these four new aliens.

Again, these are alien civilians intended to populate you star ports and offer objectives for your scenarios. Most of them are designed to allow you a wide breadth of use, with each figure representing a number of possible characters.

You can find these - HERE

Zakaar vs. The Outsiders

Pulp Sunday is upon us again and my buddy Chuck and I set down to play a game of Pulp Alley over dinner.

This evening's game took us once more to a Savage land, the land of Zakaar and his Monestone Guardians. The guardians had heard tale of stranger in their land. Again the people from Outside had come with their strange, metallic smells and their booming charms. This time they came seeking the creatures of his land. Zakaar would have none of it.

This time, the visitors were not simple treasure hunters or villains with exploitation on their dark minds. This time the explorers were none other that Loupe the boy reporter and detective and his comrades, Pepen the wonder dog, Captain Haddock and Professor Algebra. They had found there way to this secret place through tales and mysteries uncovered through long days spent burying themselves in obscure maps, ancient volumes and those places where the odd and strange dwell.

Chuck is just getting back into Pulp Alley after only playing a coupe of games before his long break and so we decided to keep it simple with a Smash and Grab scenario. The plot points would all take the form of various creatures of this lost world with the major plot point being the blue nosed raptor hidden in the rocky cave in the center of the board. The others - giant centipede, scorpion and juvenile dinosaurs were places around the rocky grotto.

A scorpion the size of a horse lurks in one dark hollow.

Zakaar and the caveman brothers Roku and Doba move forward, hoping to get the creatures to safety.

"By Darwin's Beard, look at that magnificent specimen!" Professor algebra and Captain Haddock rush up the rocky outcropping to get to the giant centipede, hoping to collect a specimen for later study. the two scramble up the ragged, natural steps despite some trouble in finding purchase.

Roku make his way to the cave and approaches the normally deadly carnivore. Speaking its wild language, the caveman manages to coax it out of the cave and into his care. His brother Doba watches on, stunned at his brother's stupidity for approaching such a killer beast. Meanwhile, Loupe and Pepen (the dog) have managed to secure the longneck for the museum. 

Doba races to the cliffs, hoping to beat the invaders to the centipede as Zakaar, summons his lengendary courage and moves to take command of a lethal cave scorpion.

M'wapi, the living dead Gtungi Worm, sneaks his way up behind the club tail and begins to try to soothe the grumpy giant lizard. He is not as successful as his comrades and will have to continue working at it (mutiple turns).

Doba climbs the cliffs and, dangerous as it might be, makes it to the top, just out of reach of the massive many legs. Meanwhile Professor Algebra has made it to the creature and begins to examine the specimen to find the best way of capturing it.

Meanwhile, back on the ground, Captain Haddock makes his way to confront these Savagelanders, intent on taking their prizes from them.

Zakaar and Nabba make their way to Roku consolidating their might and protecting the great creatures of their home. Haddock and Loupe move in, menacing the simple folk of this ancient place.

Despite having the patience of the dead, M'wapi fails to settle the club tail and finds himself pounded into the rock.

Loupe has his sights on Roku and chases the caveman and his dinosaur ward back toward the jungle under a hail of bullets. While several shots hit the burly neanderthal, he is unharmed and keeps his wits.

The many-legged creeper proves too great a challenge and Doba falls to the mandibles of the great hunter. Professor Algebra is now free to continue his studies and secure his prize. "Amazing!," The professor exclaims as the rugged primitive is bested.

As the captain makes his ways to join up with Loupe and his prize, Nabba lets out a vicious roar. The inebriate sea captain is unshaken, numbed to the danger of a mighty sabertooth cat bearing down on him. The captain shoots, hoping to repell the beast and while several shots find their mark, it is not enough. The two fight and then fight again (used Savage) and in the end, both are brought down by the battle.

Loupe now pursue the boy Atlantean, set on taking a giant scorpion back to civilization and fame. Shot crack the air as bullets and the blue energies of the Moonstone fly back and forth. Fortune is on Zakaar's side as he narrowly avoid fumbling his club and the ancient stone set in it.

Atop the rocky cliffs, Professor Algebra manages to solve the riddle of the centipede and had the creature feeding from his hand instead of on it.

Loupe continues to gun for Zakaar, not really wanting to hurt the lad, but intent on separating him from the giant scorpion. Unfortunately, the boy is too quick and the shots find only the earth and rocks. Zakaar retreats back, trying to put some jungle between him and the boomstick.

Nabba and Captain Haddock, both recover and before the great cat can regain he composure, the sailor unload another volley into her, taking her down. Pepen barks in celebration as the captain belches his disdain for the dispatched feline.

Zakaar has decided that the only hope is to flee into the underbrush with Roku, hoping to get some of their animal friends to safety. Nabba and the others would be fine.

the fight draws on, Loupe and his friends pressing on, desperate to claim more.

Pepen tries to sooth the angry club tail, hoping the presence of another dino will camouflage his intent but alas, the cantankerous reptile is having none of it.

The battle ends with Zakaar and his brethren slipping back into the jungle while Loupe and his compatriots retreat, having to be content with what they have. The fight has drawn other denizens of the Savage World and the very rocks begin to crawl with hungry life...