Station 42 Phase 2: Tarmac complete!

 I finished painting the tarmac today.  I think it came out really well.  This is probably the easiest terrain project I have ever done but certainly not the cheapest.  I went through about 6 packs of cork tile and 5 cans of spray paint.

 I actually forgot one section.  I intended to make a piece to sit under the refinery behind the Venture Star offices but I can knock that out easily enough tomorrow.

 I added triangle pieces to the landing pads to make them look more interesting and I think it also helps delineate the roads.

Station 42 Phase 2

We never really have been happy with the layout of Station 42.  It always felt a bit too linear and didn't really feel like it had enough buildings.  Another issue it had was that there were really no places to land space ships except the edges of the board and a few random spaces in the middle which also served as roadways.  The roadways themselves were very open and long creating long and wide lanes of fire which didn't feel very "urban" in nature.

One of the ideas we had when we did the initial set up was that since most of the building were on stilts they could be easily moved with cranes or VTOLs and placed in other configurations.  Another idea we had was that the station could be expanded on with more buildings and other structures.

So this is the rough layout of what we are doing now in phase 2 of the project.  We now have three large landing pads made from cork tile that I am going to spray pain black dusted with grey to make an asphalt look.  Each landing pad will get a warehouse/office which are shown here using some random buildings from our other terrain sets.  We will be building custom buildings for this purpose ASAP.  We will also be adding 2-3 inch high modular walls around each of the landing pads as we have time to produce them.

We also added some tarmac under many of the buildings to give it a more finished look and make the roadways more apparent.  The smaller adobe buildings will be used as small shops and will get removable signs.  I'm considering making all new shops but I already have these and their construction style ties them into many of the surrounding locations.  I also like the variety they give the station.  

There are also three smaller landing pads.  One in front of Rosie's workshop.  One at the Venture Star complex and one that you can see in the upper right on the table.  We may also add one in the lower right of the table but for now that is going to be the Hell Knights occupation base.

The base will start as a camp but be expanded into something more substantial.  The Hell Knights will also be occupying Rosie's workshop as well as making use of the landing pad in the lower left corner of the table.

We may also remove the NOVA security station and replace it with civilian parking spaces or simply convert it into another business.

I think this layout is far superior to the one we have been using for the station.  It is not only more visually appealing it should provide more interesting play.  
 
In story the idea behind these changes is that Smith and Wilson Agriculture have purchased Station 42 and have made several upgrades to the facility.  The Hell Knights have also become the new security contractors for the station.  NOVA Securities has been fired by the new owners and Rosie has fled the station after she aided the rogue Planetary Guard forces that were defeated in the "Battle of Station 42".  Smith and Wilson began making these changes shortly after the battle.



 

Solar Empires

I've finally settled on a name for the Sci-fi setting we have been playing our "Station 42 War" and "Maxed Out" games in.  I'm going with "Solar Empires".  I had previously called the setting "3031" and "Moon Miners and Terraformers".  I didn't like the first choice because it seemed silly to name a setting for a single date and I didn't like the second one because it was a mouth full and sounded dated.  I Google searched "Solar Empires" to check for conflicts and found that there was a video game named "Sins of a Solar Empire" but no game or anything titled just "Solar Empires"  Although this is merely a personal setting for my home games I would like to have an original title if possible in case I decide to develop it in the future.

I feel this name reflects the various different factions well.  Governments, corporations, and criminal enterprises can often be called "Empires" and since my setting is based on the Solar System it seemed like the best choice.  

I have some basic setting notes that we have actually been using for a couple of years now that I have not published because I was never satisfied with the setting name.  I have now created a new page for those notes on this blog here:   http://ironworkersminiatures.blogspot.com/p/solarempires-nathan-miller-2013.html
I plan to add some artwork to the page as soon as we create some.  As it stands it is just a big block of text and I want to make it more interesting to read.

Five Dollar Super Heavy Tank....

 I picked up this $5.00 toy tank today at Dollar General that I intend to use as a super heavy tank for my sci-fi setting.  As you can see it's pretty big.  The tank is 4 inches wide, 7.5 inches long, and 2.5 inches tall.  I think it scales okay next to these Wargames Factory Shock Troopers.  I intend to remove the electronics, it's a cable controlled remote control tank.

Stylistically it looks very similar to a German Leopard II tank or a Type 99 Chinese tank but it doesn't see to be an exact copy of any existing tank.  The biggest down side to the toy is that it has only one gun and no secondary armaments.  I plan to add at least a few other weapons to the finished model but I would have preferred additional weapons.

 Although it is pretty big it is no where near as large as this Games Workshop Baneblade super heavy tank or other sci-fi tanks so I'm pretty happy with it.  I'm not sure what army I am going to use it for yet but I play to buy at least a few of them and I may even use them for more than one force.

Battle of the Venture Star Depot ( A 1000 point No Limits Battle report for the Station 42 War)

 October 27, 3032 12 Kilometers south east of Station 42 on Titania.  Earlier today a small scouting force of the Hell Knights Mercenary Company raided a supply depot owned by the Venture Star Prospecting Company a known support of the Titania insurgency.  This volatile region has been quite since mid July when the Hell Knights Mercenary Company captured Station 42 from insurgents and renegade elements of the Titania Planetary Guard.

 As mercenary light armored units made a move toward the entry to the compound members of "Bear's Militia" opened fire disabling both vehicles.  Hell Knight scouts and snipers responded killing at least two of the militia members occupying a building with a communications array.  One unit of scouts kicked in the back door to a smaller building to gain access.

 The mercenary scouts and militia members continued to exchange fire.  Bear himself was shot by a Hell Knights sniper and one of his units was broken by the scouts in the building.  At least two scouts were also wounded in this exchange.  The Hell Knights Marksman Battlesuit exchanged fire with a militia auto-canon.  The mech was damaged but one of the crewmen manning the weapon was killed as well.

 One of the Hell Knights snipers killed the last member of Bear's personal unit while the other shot down a NOVA trooper.  A unit of scouts moved into the middle of the compound and killed the remaining crewman of the militia auto-canon but one of their own was killed by a member of Wolfhound Friekorps.  Three Wolfhounds were killed by grenade and laser fire from the mercenary scouts in the building while the mercenary battlesuit killed the militia sniper.  The militia field gun actually hit and damaged one of the compound buildings trying to hit the battlesuit.

 The two remaining members of Bear's militia rallied and found cover but were almost immediately gunned down by the scouts in the building.  Two more of the mercenary scouts in the middle of the compound were killed by NOVA troopers leaving only the Sargent of the unit standing.  The two remaining Wolfhounds fled from their position.  

 The Hell Knights battlesuit moved into point blank range with the NOVA security troopers but neither the mech nor the troopers could hit each other.  Another trooper was killed by one of the mercenary snipers.  The Wolfhound troopers rallied before fleeing the compound completely.  One of the Venture Star employees was shot by a mercenary sniper as his coworkers fled to one of the storage buildings.  The mercenary scouts began to pull back.

In a bloody and final exchange of fire the last two NOVA troopers were gunned down by the mercenary battlesuit.  The Hell Knights scouts continued to withdraw under the cover of their snipers.  As the mercenary forces withdrew it was unclear if the Hell Knights had achieved their objective.  They had certainly bloodied the nose of the insurgents and caused significant damage.  The remaining militia units did not attempt to pursue them.

Notes:  Well this was a pretty smooth skirmish.  It had been a long time since we had played so we didn't want to do a very large action.  Also we have decided that it would be logical for the next phase of the campaign to involve several smaller skirmishes with militia insurgents instead of pitched battles with the Planetary Guard.  We decided to hold this game to 6 turns.  The Hell Knights main objective was a scan as many of the compound buildings as they could.  I managed to scan 5 out of 6 of the buildings and inflict more casualties than I sustained so we considered it a victory for the mercs.  One of the funniest things about this battle was the poor performance of the militia field gun.  They managed to hit the Venture Star earth mover and shuttle as well as two generators and one of the buildings with scattered shots.  The only two shots they fired that hit nothing flew way over the heads of the snipers.  
Also I decided to try and take wide shots of the battle every turn and then add smaller inset details of the action which I think worked out here.  I plan to do that again for other battle reports.  I like to keep my total number of images small but this way I can also show more of what happened.        

The Battle of Station 42 (A 4000 point No Limits battle report for the Station 42 War)

Hell Knight forces on the western edge of the spaceport

 Over two months ago a company sized force of the Hell Knights mercenary company assaulted and secured Station 42 a vital space port on Titania.  During the fighting our "Flyspy" news drones were captured by agents working for the Smith and Wilson Agriculture company the Hell Knights employers.  It has taken TNN some time to recover the images taken by our drones so that we could cover the events that happened during the battle.

A Hell Knights X93 "Vampire Bat" combat drone eliminates a militia sniper

 In the weeks following the battle Smith and Wilson Agriculture conducted a media blackout while the Hell Knights instituted strict martial law on the spaceport.  All of this was done while government officials in Titania City turned a blind eye.  The renegade Planetary Guard commander "General" Drake led the Titania forces.  

Hell Knight hovercraft speed to support their left flank.

 The Hell Knights arrived early in the morning and reached the western edge of the spaceport unopposed.  Most of their troops arrived in fast moving hovercraft but a few units of scouts and snipers had infiltrated deeper into the facility.

Rosie's robotic troopers marching out of her workshop

 In addition to Drake's troops the well known local mechanic and roboticist known only as "Rosie" fielded her own personal mech and 15 robotic security bots.  This came as a bit of a surprise to the locals but if this bothered the other Titania forces they didn't show it.  

Rosie's Battlemech destroys Hell Knights infantry units

 Also on the side of the Titania forces were the local NOVA Securities officers and some snipers and light vehicles from the local militia.

Armored units from both sides exchange heavy fire

 The most intense fighting of the day happened around the local "Klancy's" convenience store.  The Hell Knights took up positions inside and around the building as Titania forces closed on them from the east and south.

A Hell Knights "Incubus" mech outmaneuvers Rosie's heavier mech

 The Hell Knights fielding an extremely agile Incubus class light Battlemech.  This unit not only inflicted serious casualties against the Titania infantry and light vehicles but it also proved very difficult for the slower moving Titania forces to catch up with.  Using jump jets the mech was able to continually fire then flee before enemy firepower could be brought to bear.

Planetary Guard tanks burn near NOVA Securities office

 The Planetary guard tanks proved difficult to destroy but after suffering literally dozens of hits each both were finally destroyed in the vicinity of of the NOVA Securities station.

Hell Knight armored units speed past the remains of a "Guardian" class battlemech

 In addition to loosing their tanks the Planetary guard also suffered the loss of the Guardian class medium Battlemech while it was trying to root out the entrenched mercenaries in and around Klancy's.

The remnants of the Titania forces prepare to retreat from the field

After suffering the loss of most of their heavy fire power the combined Titania forces withdrew from the field.  Both side suffered heavy casualties reported as nearly 50%.  In addition to loosing their tanks and mech the Titania forces lost all of their militia light vehicles.  The Hell Knights lost two of their light transports, a light hover tank, and a heavy combat drone in addition to several casualties.

This has been Alphonso Marks for the Titania News Network.  

Additional photos from this battle can be found at this location: The Battle of Station 42 

Notes:  Unfortunately it has been so long since we fought this battle I was unable to do a play by play like I wanted.  I think we took over 70 images and I edited about 30 which you can see in the flickr gallery.  This was a massive battle with over 120 models on the table.  It took two long session and about 8 or 10 turns to play out.  We still plan on several more battle and one large final battle before we call it quits on this campaign.  We hope to wrap things up by the end of the year.  

Battle of Station 42 in progress! (The Station 42 War)

 Well we are in the middle of playing out big 4000 point No Limits game for our Station 42 War campaign.  We decided to have this battle in Station 42 itself which we set out on a 5'x12' gaming table.  That's 60' square of gaming surface.  This is the way the table was set up just prior to deployment.  

 This is the Hell Knights force.  Two Regular Rifle Squads, one Veteran Rifle Squad, one Armored Assault Squad. two Scout Squads, two Snipers, one Assassin, three LAGAREVs, one "Vampire Bat" combat drone, one "Landshark" AFV, one "Hobilar" light hover thank, one "Douglas" medium hover tank, one "Incubus" light mech, and one mechsuit piloted by my captain.  64 models in total and every model I have painted for my army except one assassin.

This is the Titania force.  Four squads of Titania Planetary Guard and one command squad, three squads of Battledroids, one squad of NOVA troopers, three Snipers, three Improvised Armored Vehicles, Three Badger MRAPs, two Medium Tanks, one "Guardian" medium mech, and Rosie's "Cyclopes" medium mech.  65 models in total.

We are currently on turn 9 of the battle and plan to play to the end of turn 12 unless one side pulls out.  Right now it's a toss up as both sides have taken almost %50 casualties.

The best laid plans and all that.

So we had this big plan to have a 4000 point No Limits battle actually in Station 42 for our "Station 42 War" campaign over the 4th of July holiday.  Unfortunately we didn't quite get it together.  We didn't get all the models done.  We didn't get stats created for the new units and equipment.  We didn't get out army list set up.  We did however almost get those things done and we got the Station set up.  That's a 5x12' table or 60 square feet of gaming goodness.  We hope to be able to do the battle this coming Saturday instead.

Hell Knight Regular Rifle Squad #2

I just finished another Regular Rifle Squad for my Hell Knights mercenary army.  This brings my total number of "troops" up to about 52.  I hope to finish another 10 man squad of Regular Rifles soon to finish out that platoon then I'm going to work on finish out my Veteran Rifle platoon.

Battle of Dutton's Camp (Station 42 War Battle Report)

 July 5th 3032 Titania "Green Zone":  Earlier today a small force of Hell Knights engaged member of the Titania Militia just near Titania City in the "Green Zone".  Regular vehicle traffic inside the zone is restricted to a few roadways so the mercenaries marched a force two kilometers inside the zone to reach the militia encampment.  Militia members under the command of Jim Dutton had set up a hidden recruitment base and the Hell Knights intended to shut it down.

 Hell Knight Scouts and Snipers crept close to the base.  Two NOVA securities officers were shot down in the opening exchange.

 Another group of scouts on Dutton's right flank engaged some Wolfhound mercenaries but in this engagement they did not do as well loosing two of their own.

 The commander of the Hell Knights and two Armored Assault Squads moved in with an Assassin saying in the cover of a large hill.  A militia sniper far on their left managed to take out one of the commanders men.

 The remaining three NOVA troopers closed on the scouts and engaged them but lost another of their member in the attempt.  A militia sniper kill one of the scouts but was wounded in return by a Hell Knights sniper.  That sniper was killed by fire from the commanders squad members who was shot by yet another militia sniper.

 The Hell Knights commanders final squad member was killed by fire from Bear's militia unit.  Another NOVA trooper was gunned down by the Scouts leaving only the Sargent.

 Leaping from the shadows a Hell Knights Assassin dispatched the remaining militia sniper on Dutton's left flank.  The three remaining scouts on the hill killed three of Bear's militia as the other Armored Assault Squad made a steady advance.

 Combined fire from the Scouts and Armored Assault Squad reduced Bear's militia to two members.  The return fire left only the Scout Sargent standing.

 The heavily armored Hell Knights took out Bear and his last militia member as the Scout Sargent withdrew from his position.  Dutton's militia and the Wolfhound mercs continued to close in.

The NOVA Sargent gunned down another armored Hell Knight but the mercenaries managed to break the Wolfhounds with accurate Heavy Blaster fire.  The assassin blew up a cache of  militia supplies and the mercenary commander gunned down one of Dutton's men.
With only seven men left in the battle the Hell Knights commander chose to withdraw from the field.  Although they had bloodied the militia they were unable to achieve their objectives.

Notes:  This was actually one of the more grueling battles we have had for the campaign.  With no vehicles allowed there was a lot of moving but there was also a lot of moving through difficult ground and a lot of cover.  The Militia snipers did a lot of damage to the Hell Knights.  The Hell Knight scouts really had a great position on the hill.  Elevated and with +2 cover from the woods enemy shots were at a -3 for the entire game.  This made them a tough group to take out.  Not only that they managed to give as well as they got in the long run.  If only I had put the other scout squad in an equally good position.  The Wolfhound Friekorps were also particularly nasty.  They dispatched my other unit of scouts in two turns without taking any damage.  The Hell Knights objectives were to take down Dutton and Bear and to destroy supplies and the militia's generator and communications up-link.  This may have been a few too many objectives especially with so many defenders to face.   This ended up being a pretty solid victory for the militia although a hard fought one.  

Little box of joy from Khurasan Miniatures! Federal Infantry

 This last Sunday I placed and order to Khurasan Miniatures for a platoon of Federal Riflemen plus some support weapons.  35 miniatures came to a total of $53.95 with shipping!  That's roughly $1.54 per miniature.  What a steal!  Not to mention I got the order today.  Just 3 business days after I placed the order.  I'm very impressed.    

 The miniatures are very nice.  Not the best sculpts but they are very good and very well styled.  The weapons seem reasonably sized and their equipment is very "Soldier of the Future" in nature.  There are 17 different sculpts in this line and a good selection of heavy type weapons.  Easily enough to make a nice platoon sized force for a 28mm skirmish game.

They fit well with other 28mm lines.  They are a bit on the shorter and slender side and don't scale quite as well with more "heroic" scale lines but they look acceptable for most of the lines I use.

I plan to use these guys as Marines for the Confederacy of Outlying Systems in my Moon Miners and Terraformers setting.

Hell Knights Medium Hover Tank Finished!

 I finished the medium hover tank for my Hell Knights.  The model is converted from a Matchbox toy. The missile launcher is scratch built from different sized zip ties.  I have two other toys I've started converted so I will have a full tank squadron.

I'm pretty pleased with the way it turned out and hopefully I'll have the other two assembled and painted shortly.

Battle at Boon's Trading post (1500 point No Limits battle report for The Station 42 War)

 June 30th 3032, Titania:  After being turned back in their attempt to occupy Station 42 the Hell Knights made a direct attack on "Boon's Trading Post" owned by militia leader Carson Boon.  Expecting trouble Boon had fortified his business with a sandbag wall and barricades.  In addition to Boon's own men other militia forces were present including sharpshooters from the Titania Hunting Club and a unit commanded by militia leader "Bear" Ivar Belyakov.  Also present was a unit of mercenaries from the Wolfhound Friekorps.  The Titania forces also contained four improvised armored vehicles and a battle cannon light artillery piece.  

 The Hell Knights attacked with two Veteran Rifle Squads, a Scout Squad, two Snipers, three LAGARV apcs, a Hobilar Light Hover Tank, and a Mechsuit.

 The Hell Knights scout squad took a forward position near a rocking outcropping on their right flank.

 Militia units took up position around the trading post while the Wolfhound troopers occupied and rooftop of a house to their left.

 Carson Boon himself took up a position inside his house intent on defending it personally.

 The Hell Knights made an aggressive push destroying one of the improvised armored vehicles.  The APC on their right flank suffered heavy damage in the assault and was forced to withdraw.  The scout squad in the rocky outcropping also took four casualties but held their ground.

 On the Hell Knights left flank a squad of Veteran Riflemen took up a position in a rocky outcropping with the support of their APC and did significant damage to the militia units there.

 Hell Knight armored units on the right flank destroyed more improvised armored vehicles.  The mechsuit was lightly damaged by the Wolfhound unit who also took some casualties.

 Bear's unit managed to destroy the Hell Knight APC attacking the trading post with concentrated assault rifle fire.

 The Hell Knight Veteran squad who had been forced to fall back used the range of their light laser rifles to their advantage shooting down the rest of the Wolfhound troopers outside their range.  The rest of the technical vehicles were destroyed as the Hell Knights secured their right flank.

 On the left flank the damaged APC arrived to support the remainder of the Hell Knight veterans mop up the rest of the defenders.

Carson Boon was forced to to escape from his home by breaking out a window.  Bear's unit covered him as they withdrew from the battle.
This battle was a major loss for the Titania Militia.  Boon had been using his workshop to build improvised armored vehicles for militia forces and they suffered fairly heavy casualties.  Boon has already vowed to have revenge on the Hell Kights for attacking his home.

This has been Alphonso Marks for the Titania News Network.

Notes:  We could have almost called this "The Battle of Too Much Terrain".  Normally we like a lot of terrain but I think we got it a little heavy in this battle.  The Hell Knights actually had a slight point value advantage in this fight of about 150 points.  My wife was allowed to set up the sandbag wall and scatter terrain around the Trading Post however she wanted and normally the militia has proved pretty tenacious in defense.  Normally the "technicals" do a lot more damage as well but I think they were restricted a bit by the dense terrain.  Even my hover craft felt a bit hemmed in.  All in all though it was a good battle the played pretty smoothly.  We didn't really have any new units to play with so it was a pretty easy battle to manage.  I did seem to have better luck with the die rolls which is usually something my wife has more luck with.    
We are both employed at The University of Central Missouri and the new president there has given us a four and a half day holiday for Independence Day so we are planning to play a few skirmishes and one large 4000 point battle in Station 42 itself.  We had originally planned to wrap the campaign up by the end of the summer by we may extend it to the end of the year.  We plan to pick up with a new campaign early next year based on Ceres and the asteroid belt pitting the Martian Soviet Socialist Republic and the Jovian Empire against a rebellion supported by the Confederacy of Outlying Systems and several mercenary armies in the employment of various corporate interest.