Back from a Break and Completed Space Lizards Unit!!

So, having had 6 months of not blogging (the causes of which include, but are not limited to; family crises, moving house, laziness, etc), I've decided that it's been long enough. Must share what I've been doing in the hobby, to those few who care!

Anyway, to start things off, I completed painting the Space Lizards unit I converted (which is the previous post from February!).

As a recap, here's the first five I did:

And here's the new guys:

Space Lizard with carbine and bio/energy scanner.

Space Lizard trooper with carbine.

Space Lizard trooper with Graviton Gun.

Space Lizard specialist with heavy weapon (probably a multi-laser or lascannon).

Space Skink with carbine.

Space Skink with carbine.

And finally, here's a shot of the whole gang:

Space Lizard squad!

I have some more Rogue Trader type stuff I've been doing (robots and dinosaurs!), as well as some Fantasy miniatures, including Knights, men-at-arms, archers, goblins, and Chaos!. And I also thought I'd show some of the terrain I've been making.

Stay tuned!

Moar Space Lizards!

So, having completed the first group of space lizards, I decided I might as well use up the rest of the lizardman parts and make some more. Also, I had lots more weapons I thought might look cool in the hands of a lizard from spaaaace!

Here then , is the second group of space lizards;

Space lizard trooper with carbine and scanner.

This lizard has a hasslefree pulse carbine and a bio/energy scanner from a Tau firewarrior. Quite conveniently, it turns out that both saurus and tau hands have three fingers and a thumb, so I didn't even have to cut the scanner out of the tau's hand. The tau hands are slightly smaller, but I dont think its too noticeable.

Space lizard trooper with carbine.

Space lizard trooper with Graviton Gun.

This lizard is toting a "matter displacement gun" from Max Mini.

Space lizard specialist with heavy weapon.

This big gun is a plasma rifle from a Tau battlesuit. This lizard required a ridiculous amount of cutting and repositioning!

Space Skink troopers with carbine weapons.

These little guys came about because I also discovered a box of skinks in the same cupboard and thought my space lizard force could do with some light scout types. The one on the left holds a heavily modified Tau pulse carbine and the one on the right has a hasslefree plasma rifle.


Right then, better get painting them!

Space Lizards! Completed!

Over the Christmas period, I've had a chance to do quite a bit of painting and modeling, and the my Space Lizard alternatives I was working on have been painted!

Here we have the entire squad of five Space Lizards:

When painting them, I initially thought about throwing in loads of gold, bronze and other bright colours, along with green or blue skin. But I thought that would look too cartoony, or at least just look like Saurus warriors that had been handed guns. Then I saw a picture of one of these little critters:

It's a Desert Horned Lizard (or something) and I decided that's the kind of lizard I want mine to be!. I also avoided lots of golds and went for a much more militaristic iron with practical red harnesses. The only rich metal colours they got are the copper bands that they have around their wrists and legs.

These are the two troopers with carbines:

The guns are pulse rifles from Hasslefree miniatures

This next lizard is armed with a Plasma Gun, an old Ork variant, possibly picked up by the lizard after a battle somewhere:

Then we have the squad sniper, armed with a rather exotic looking sniper system. I've also thought that this could serve as a either a anti-tank gun or even a rapid firing squad-support weapon:

This of course, is the leader. He's wielding a pistol (of similar origins to the carbines) and a rather dangerous looking close combat weapon. I'd probably give this the same profile as a chainsword, as it looks like it could easily deal the same kind of damage:

Lastly, here's a shot of their backs, showing the harnesses I sculpted on and the equipment attached to it:

 
They all have knives as a backup weapon, and some of them have ammo clips too. The lizard on the far left also carries what might be a communicator or scanner of some kind.

So, that's my Space Lizards! They've been a lot of fun to build and paint, so I'll probably do some more to round out the force. But in the meantime, I'm also dabbling with making my own Space Zoats...

40k Rogue Trader Mission: 'Contact Lost' - Part 2

And so, to the conclusion of this mission. It should be noted that the objectives of this mission were for both sides to claim five hidden pieces of experimental tech and get them and their remaining troops back to their own exit point (dropship for the Imperials, teleport sphere for the aliens). Each side would gain victory points for each piece of tech they got back to their exit point, and lose VPs for each casualty they suffered. Since the numbers on each side were not even, tech devices and casualties were worth differing VPs to each side. But they did all add up so that each side could score and lose an equal amount of VPs.

So, will the Imperials find out what happened at their outpost, or will the aliens succeed in getting away with the experimental Imperial technology? Read on to find out!

 The Imperials begint to fan out and move into the eerily quiet compound...

Meanwhile on the other side, the aliens advance through Gate 2, past the security bunker...

Some aliens advance into the inner courtyard.

While others sneak around the back of the buildings.

The Imperials make use of gaps cut in the perimeter fence to gain entry.

 

The aliens find their first piece of experimental Imperial tech, but continue to advance, rather than get the item back to their teleport sphere.

Aliens continue to make their way further into the compound, and have yet to encounter anyone else.

A survivor!! Unfortunately this terrified scientist was discovered by the aliens, who quickly killed him.

Another survivor!! This technician is much luckier, discovered as he was by Crimson Fist marines!

Contact! The Crimson Fist rescue team emerge from the building only to discover some hideous xenos lurking outside! They immediately open fire without hesitation, gunning down two rather surprised aliens!

Meanwhile, aliens attempt to outflank their opponents behind one of the buildings.

 The aliens take cover behind a parked Rhino, to shelter from the hail of gunfire unleashed by the marines!

A gun-battle quickly erupts in the middle of the compound!

The Imperial right flank forms a gunline to keep the aliens pinned down...

...While Corporal Bakun gets the VIP out the back...!

 The marines on the Imperial left flank, led by Sergeant Thorson, engage the xenos scum in close combat!

With Thorson's marines is Sergeant 'Tapper's Tapley and his men, 'Tappers' bravely charges the aliens, seeking to emulate the marine's heroism, while his men provide supporting fire.

One of Sergeant Tapley's men heads back to the dropship with vital experimental technology ("...Just looks like a box with wires, boss...")

Thorson and his marine continue to beat back the aliens in close combat, where they are unable to use their powerful plasma weapons.

Sergeant Tapley also has much success in dealing with the xenos, killing another and taking the experimental technology it had stolen.

 
 Unfortunately the second alien used its companions demise to get away!

The remaining aliens continue to cluster behind the Rhino, all the while under fire from the marines.

 The marines and army troopers sense the aliens hesitation, and advance!

One of Thorson's marines makes it back to the dropship with another top secret device (Marine: "Looks like a toaster...with blinking lights..." Pilot: "Maybe it is a toaster...?")

 The Imperial army troopers advance fearlessly!

With the aliens on the run, the marines move up.

The remaining three aliens make it back to their teleport sphere with a tech device for their masters to study. After this, the glowing dome of energy shrank and winked out of existence. It is unknown who the mysterious aliens were or where their teleport techology took them. They haven't been seen since.

And that was that! The aliens lost (unsurprisingly) by a large amount, having suffered 10 casualties and only claiming one device. This was mainly down to Stu's overconfidence, advancing on the Imperials when he should have got the tech devices to his teleporter. It wasn't entirely his fault though, I realised after this game, that the aliens were somewhat outgunned (the Imperials having 5 more models, plus special and heavy weapons), so in hindsight, I think the aliens needed more models and perhaps a support weapon of their own. If anyone wishes to run this scenario themselves, I can provide a google document of the entire mission.

Until next time!

40k Rogue Trader Mission: 'Contact Lost' - Part 1

This is the second Warhammer 40,000 Rogue Trader mission I've ran, and it was by all accounts, fun for all involved. My unwitting test subjects were Stu (of Montyhaul's Models) and TJ, Stu commanded the xenos and TJ took control of the Imperials.

The Mission:

"Contact with Imperial Research Outpost P5-GLB, on the forest moon of Bunndor has been lost for reasons unknown. Forces from two factions have detected their distress signal and have been dispatched to investigate. Each has been instructed to retrieve anything worth studying and report back. It is unknown what went wrong, whether the outpost’s staff are still alive, or if hostile forces are involved. The planet is known to harbour a few dangerous life forms, but the outpost’s defences were thought to be sufficient..."

The mission is a retrieval and extraction operation for both sides. There are five objectives ("experimental tech") and both the Imperials and Aliens need to find them and get them off the table. Then they have to withdraw their forces off the table, all the while sustaining as few casualties as possible. That's the idea anyway...

The forces are as follows:

Imperials: 

Brief – Imperial Retrieval Team
"You have been dispatched to Research Outpost P5-GLB to investigate why contact has been lost, whether any experimental technology can be salvaged, check for possible survivors and if possible, discover who (or what) was responsible. You have been provided with a detailed list of items to be recovered, but it is unknown where anything was stored, so you’ll have to search all the buildings. Report back with as many of the experimental devices as you can find, and if possible, clues as to what happened to the base and its staff.
Finally, look after your team and protect your dropship. It’s your only way off the moon!"

Imperial Army – Necromundan 41st Regiment

• 8 Troopers with Lasguns, Knives and Flak Armour (6+ save)

• 1 Trooper with Plasma Gun, Knife and Flak Armour (6+ save)

• Sergeant Tapley (Human Champion) with Chainsword, Laspistol and Mesh Armour (5+ save)

Space Marines – Crimson Fists Chapter

• 6 Marines with Bolters, Bolt Pistols, Knives and Power Armour (4+ save)

• 1 Marine with Flamer, Bolt Pistol, Knife and Power Armour (4+ save)

• 1 Marine with Heavy Bolter, Bolt Pistol, Knife and Power Armour (4+ save)

• Sergeant Thorson (Marine Sergeant) with Chainsword, Plasma Pistol, Knife and Power Armour (4+ save)

Aliens:

Brief – Aliens
"Now that the intolerable noises made by those hairy interlopers have been silenced, the conclave has decided to send your cohort back to their camp to see what they were up to. The conclave has provided a list of their primitive devices that they want you to bring back for analysis, but be careful. If they’ve sent more of their kind to investigate, you may run into some resistance. Don’t get your warriors killed needlessly, and don’t allow any other life forms near your teleport sphere, or they could de-stabilise it, trapping you here."

12 Aliens with Bio-plasma Casters and Repulsor Fields (4+ unmodifiable save).

1 Alien Leader with Nano-Scythe and Bio-plasma Caster (built into the scythe).

I should mention what the alien equipment is, as it is created especially for this scenario:

Alien Weapons:

Repulsor Fields are a type of energy field armour. They grant the user a 4+ save against wounds caused by shooting attacks. However, the user receives no save against close combat attacks (including attacks with pistols) or effects from psionic powers. This save is never reduced by saving throw modifiers, so the user always gets a 4+ chance to save against shooting attacks.

Location
The Imperial research outpost consists of a fenced compound surrounding several small buildings, unusable or burned out vehicles, stacks of fuel drums/crates, plus a watchtower. The rest of the terrain consists of hilly woodland.

Moving with Objectives
Models can pick up objective markers simply by moving over them (so you can move 2”, pick up a marker and move your remaining 2”, all in the same turn). Models may also run while carrying markers, but cannot shoot. If a model is engaged in close combat while carrying a marker, it automatically drops it (place it in base contact with the former carrier). Whoever is still alive after the combat can then pick up the marker. Once a model carries a marker into the transport or sphere, they cannot return to the battlefield.

Deployment
The Imperial transport lands in the south-eastern table corner. The Imperial player may deploy his troops within 5” of the boarding ramp.
The alien teleport sphere is located in the north-western table corner. The alien player may deploy his troops within 5” of it.

Win Conditions
The side with the most VPs at the end of the game is the winner (regardless of whether one side is wiped out). Equal VPs obviously results in a draw.

Game Length
The game lasts until one player gets all of his remaining troops (and their prizes) to his transport/teleport sphere (or one side is wiped out). Or until you run out of time.

 The Imperial Research Outpost:

The Aliens emerge onto the battlefield from their teleport sphere:

The Imperial forces disembark from their dropship and form a perimeter:

Next time...'Contact Lost' - Part 2!