Returning to the Cantwara sector an update

Well, it has been a month since I have last posted about my wargaming efforts.  I have been steadily painting away and purchasing a few more pieces.  Things are coming along nicely.  My purchases are a bit scatter shot as I don`t really have an end goal for my 15mm SCI-FI project.  One of the main things that spurs me on to make purchases is the fear of losing out on something.  It is a little bit of a weird mindset when I consider it, but I don`t think that I am the only wargamer who thinks in this way.

Vehicle from Ground Zero Games

The second of my GZGs truck is finished.  I was inspired by the livery of a local train, the Red Wing, where I live.  

Mine -  Ground Zero Games (I think)

The yellow mine is the last of these mine entrances that I had to paint.  I hope that the different colours will help them stand out well on the table.

Colonial settlement building -  Ground Zero Games

The final  colonial settlement building came together really well.  I have named the bar after a nightclub that I used to frequent as a younger man.  These little nods to the past really help me get invested into this fictional future.

Populating the Cantwara sector

To bring the Cantwara sector alive and to inspire some scenarios I though I had better start adding some non-combat figure to my collection.  

Civilians-  Ground Zero Games

The civilians come from GZG ranges and they will represent people working for Turner`s Mining Syndicate or the TMS.  The paint scheme is inspired by my secondary school sports uniform.

Robots-  Ground Zero Games & Alternative armies

The robots come from GZG & Alternative armies.  I decided to keep the paint scheme fairly simple at first, but I found that leaving them all metal didn`t work for me.  Hence the splash of colour.  

Armed forces in the Cantwara sector

I have two platoons of human forces that I have already painted.  One force of regulars and one force of irregulars that I thought needed an opposing force.  This led me to finally big into my lead mountain and pull out some aliens to paint.

Crusties-  Ground Zero Games

These aliens are, for me, one of GZG`s best ranges.  They paint up really well and stand out from the human forces as they are slightly larger.  I am looking to paint a platoon of them, so around 32.  Each section will have a different colour bandolier to make them easier to recognise on the battlefield.

 

Now for something a little different

I don`t want the Cantwara sector to focus only only 15mm SCI-FI, as I still love my Old School miniatures.  So, when the urge takes me I will paint other figures that I have.  Here is one example.

Chaos Legionnaire-  Games Workshop

This classic figure has sat, unpainted, in my lead pile since I bought it in the late 80s.  I am glad that he is finally ready to grace the tabletop.

Returning to the Cantwara sector after a long absence

 

Returning to the Cantwara sector after a long absence.

Time has a habit of going by far quicker than one expects, I can hardly imagine that I have let this blog lay fallow for so long.  But absence they say makes the heart grow fonder and I have the urge to try and resurrect the blog.  Since my last post I have been wargaming, but like many practitioners of the hobby I have been flitting from one project to another.  I have recently turned to my pile of 15mm Sci-Fi lead, mostly from Ground Zero games, which brought me back to the Cantwara sector.  I plan to morph the blog to not only include my Rogue Trader era miniatures but also all of my Sci-Fi projects.  The narratives will be grounded in the Cantwara sector, but it will take on a less grim dark look.  I hope by opening things up to various other scales, theatres, backgrounds I can post semi-regularly.

So, what have I been working on?  After a bit of thought, and needing a change from painting 20mm Napoleonic infantry, I decided to work on some of the terrain pieces that I have.  The more terrain that I have, the more varied I can make the battlefield and with that the different types of scenarios that I can fight.  Here are the pieces that I have finished so far, the colonial settlement of Keithstown is slowly starting to come to life.

Vehicles from Ground Zero Games - 

These sculpts were a real pleasure to paint and being made of metal they have some real heft to them.

Scatter terrin - Ground Zero Games

Most of the scatter terrain came as Christmas freebies with an order.  They will either serve as terrain or objective markers. 

Mines -  Ground Zero Games (I think)

The mines will do service as terrain, objective markers, and spawn points.  I have one more to paint.  I think that I got these from GZG, but I cannot find them on the website, so I could be wrong or they may no longer be available.

Colonial settlement buildings -  Ground Zero Games

These wonderful buildings make up the colonial settlement pack from GZG, they went together really easily and the painting was a joy.  

 Ambuscade in Repair Bay Astor

Clearing the Docking Bay access port, the crew of the Belgrave dived deeper into the guts of the space hulk.  An eery silence pervaded the corridors, the only sound coming from the movements of the crew.  After what seemed like hours Shino S spotted a flickering sign indicating that they had arrived at Repair Bay Astor.

A dim light emanating from a fusion reactor lit the repair bay as the crew entered, their eyes struggling to adjust to the gloom.  Wells raised his hand signalling to the rest of the crew to be on their guard, his keen ears picking up the sound of soft padding footsteps.

The bark of Wells` autogun sounded as he located the shape of a deformed mutant trying to sneak up on Shino S.  The high-powered bullets sent the pulped mutant`s body flying, but a few stray rounds fractured the fusion reactor.  Alarms in the bay sounded as the ancient reactor suddenly went into melt down.  The sparking and spluttering from the reactor revealed the presence of three more mutants.

The filth encrusted mutants hissed as they charged towards the crew of the Belgrave.  Okunishi Blue stepped forward opening fire with his las-pistol drawing the mutants away from Shino S and DCL-74 as they tried to stabilise the reactor.

Sweat dripped from DCL-74 as he worked on overriding the safety switches of the reactor, one false move could blow himself and his crewmates to pieces.  The surgeon was so focused on the task at hand that he failed to notice the mutant as it raised its weapon to cut him down until the purple light of YT-75`s laser sword flashed out and the mutant`s head rolled onto the floor.

Okunishi Blue feinted away from the first mutant, twisting on the spot and catching the second mutant with a reverse slice.  Too late, he realised that he was wide open to the first mutant and his luck had finally run out.  A wave of heat spread towards the first mate as he waited for the killing blow that never fell.  Looking up he saw that the Bosun, Hanley had set the mutant alight with his underbarrel flamer.  Okunishi Blue nodded his head to Hanley in appreciation.

With the threat of the mutants finally dealt with the crew were able to turn their attention to the fusion reactor.  The rapidly pulsing reactor was on the brink of detonating when it was finally brought under control by Mandrake.  He was able to locate the emergency cooling valve controls and flooded the reactor with coolant.  Audible sighs of relief could be heard from the crew members as the emergency sirens cut out.  Another danger averted; they could continue with their exploration of the hulk.

Plunder at Peverell

 Plunder at Peverell

Standing outside the Docking Bay access port, YT-75 smiled to herself as she remembered the image of the space hulk appearing on the scanners.  Fresh salvage, probably enough archeotech to clear their debts and see them sitting pretty for the foreseeable future.  Best of all, the Belgrave was the first ship to come across the hulk, and they were not going to waste this opportunity.  YT-75 broke out of her moment of introspection as Shino S opened the internal bulkhead doors, releasing a cloud of hydraulic fluids.

The atmosphere of the Docking Bay access port was thick with ion and the floor crackled with sparks of electricity.  Shino S turned to the rest of the crew and said “watch where you stand, the floor is live.  I should be able to isolate the issue from one of these maintenance ports.”  The engineer set about trying to cut the power from the live conduits but in her efforts, she set off the security system.  The lights in the Docking Bay access port changed to red, and six ancient security droids appeared from lifts in the floor.

The security droids moved slowly forward on their creaking millennia old servos.  YT-75, and Wells, the Master-of-arms, opened fire with their autoguns.  The sounds of the shots  rebounded off of the walls of the chamber but the bullets could not penetrate the armour of those ancient weapons of war. 

Frustrated at their inability to move, the first mate, Okunishi Blue, and the Helmsman, Mandrake tore open other maintenance ports looking for a way to cut the power that was coursing through the floor, only for both of them to be electrocuted for their efforts.  Okunishi Blue slumped to the floor almost losing consciousness.

Whirling and clicking sounds came from the security droids as they tried to fire their malfunctioning guns.  Stepping out from their pointless cover, Wells and YT-75 unleashed a fusillade of bullets at the droids, taking two out of commission. 

On the opposite flank the second group of security bots bounded towards the waiting crew members of the Belgrave.  DCL-74, the ship`s surgeon, ignored the pain of the electricity as he moved to help Okunishi Blue. 

Shino S shouted to her crew mates “I think I`ve got it!”, and the electricity coursing through the floor ceased.  Hanley, the Bosun, let out a roar and charged towards the axe wielding droid, firing his las-gun on full auto.  The beams of light burnt holes through the chassis of the ancient robot and it collapsed, the light in its photosensors dying out.

Being free to move without fear of being electrocuted, the crew members of the Belgrave quickly dealt with the remaining security droids.  The final one`s body collapsed to the floor as a shot from Okunishi Blue`s las-pistol tore through its CPU.

Looking at the display terminal that Shino S had managed to bring back to life, YT-75 sighed, the ship was much bigger than she had first thought.  The only way to deal with a problem this big was through a strategic plundering of the ship.  They would have to choose the highest value areas to loot first.  Turning to her crew YT-75 barked out an order, “we are heading to the repair bay.  We should find some items of value there.  Check your weapons and stay frosty people.”

 

Now for something different.

I have set up a game of Horizon wars based on the Charles Grant scenario `Action at Sawmill Village`.

I randomly generated deployment and initial battle plans. The VFS is going to push its heavy mechs in the centre, while sending their light mechs out on the flank. The GDL are going to clog the centre with their infantry and swing their armour around the flank.

Turn one, saw the light mechs surge far forward, threatening the GDL flank.

The GDL light infantry reacted, and scored a critical hit on the Arbalest. Sensing an opportunity the Striker turned from its flanking manoeuvre and opening fire on the Arbalest. The SRMs blew out the core of the Arbalest sending it crashing to the ground.

The dispositions after turn 1

Turn two, the VSF won the initiative again and the Hatchet man charged towards the infantry. Multiple rounds hit him as he ran in, but nothing could stop him from trampling the infantry.

The pilot of the Flea realised that he could not win a shooting dual with the Striker and decided to try stamping on it.

To the north of the village the Vulture and the Challenger blew holes out of each others` armour.

The dispositions after turn 2.

Turn three, the GDL won the initiative and the Challenger scored multiple hits and criticals on the Vulture, almost knocking the heavy mech off of its feet. The Hatchet man reacted to the danger to the Vulture and charged towards the rear of the Challenger. The Hatchet man`s weapons were blown off as it approached the Challenger and was finished off by an SRM from the light infantry.

To add insult to injury the Flea went down to multiple hits from the Striker`s SRMs.

The pilot of the Vulture decided to preserve his mech and left Sawmill village in the hands of the GDL forces.

Post battle notes
The blog has been dormant for a while as I was distracted by other projects. I think that I will take it into a more general hobby direction, which will allow me to post more often. I hope that does not disappoint anyone who has followed the blog up to now.