6 Month Challenge: Ghost Legion Pirates!

Well I finally finished the first few squads of my Ghost Legion pirate crew for the Solar Empires setting.  These are all Reaper IMEF and NOVA troopers because this pirate force split off from the Star Guard mercenary company.

On the Paint Table: Space Pirates and Wasteland Vehicles

 I've been working on some projects this week.  My Ghost Legion Dogs (veterans) are about 75% finished.  They will all have white hair which is why they all have grey hair now.

 I'm also working on some Raiders (regular troopers) for the Ghost Legion based on Reaper N.O.V.A. troopers from their Chronoscope line.  The Ghost Legion are former mercenaries from the Star Guard mercenary company.  They operate more like a military unit that most other space pirates.

Finally here is a WIP shot of the painting I'm doing for the wasteland vehicles I have been working on my my Dystopia post apocalyptic ptoject.  Hopefully I'll have these guy finished and on the table soon.

More Space Pirates: Ghost Legion Dogs and Bulldog AFV

 I'm working on some more pirates for the Solar Empires setting.  These are Ghost Legion "Dogs" (veteran pirates troopers).  The Ghost Legion are a newer pirate band who were part of the Star Guards mercenary company but turned to piracy after the "4 Vesta Incident" of 3028.  As such they still use a lot of former Star Guard equipment and weapons.  I've converted these guys from Reaper IMEF troopers with some Games Workshop heads from various Warhammer Fantasy sets.

This is a Bulldog Rover Armored Fighting Vehicle.  These antique transports were designed hundreds of years ago by the Terran Federation when they controlled the moons and planets in most of the outer solar system.  The Bulldogs were designed for long term missions over any terrain in hostile environments.  They are completely environmentally sealed and use a fusion engine that can operate for years without refueling.
Ironically designed to defend early settlements against space pirates they are now commonly used by pirate bands.

This vehicle is a Matchbox "On A Mission" toy called the "Battle Blaster".  Even though it is very large I thought it worked fairly well as a heavy rover.    

A new Solar Empires Project.

 I'm working on a new Solar Empires blog that will serve as a source book for the setting.  In addition to setting background information I will also be including No Limits army list and Savage Worlds stats for the forces and vehicles for the setting.

 I've got the blog up but I'm not yet ready to promote it.  I want to get a lot more content up on the page before I start promoting the page.  The entire site will be organized by using the page feature of Blogger to create index pages that will like individual blog post under that topic.

 There will be a page for Forces of the Solar Empires which will list every individual force we are working on then link content relevant to those forces as I publish it.  In this way it will be a living source book.  I am doing this not only to keep things straight for myself my players but also because there has been enough interest in the setting that anyone who might be interested can use that information for their own games.  

 I've started by photographing the various vehicles we have assembled for the various armies and I have begun posting background information and stats for them.  We are also working on some original artwork to illustrate the setting background information.

 Unlike a lot of current 28mm science fiction settings many of the vehicles and mecha in Solar Empires are used by multiple factions.  In this way the setting is much more like the Classic Battletech setting and different from the Warhammer 40,000 setting where even different Imperial forces use different vehicles and equipment.  Some types of equipment may be used only by one faction but quite a bit of it is used by several operators.  Each equipment, mecha, and vehicle entry will have an allowed operators list so that any force on that list may use the equipment in question.

 One thing I want to point out is that nearly all of the hobby related Solar Empires content will remain on this blog.  Any time we scratch build something or make terrain for the setting or paint something I want to publish that content will still go up on this blog.  The new blog will just be for setting specific information.  

Also we will be keeping up the System News Network blog for In character news related game reports and other news related content.
It seems a little odd to have so many blogs dealing with Solar Empires content but I think this is the best way to handle all the content we are generating for the setting.
We have been working now for several years to make Solar Empires a fully realized hard science fiction setting and we have generated a lot of content but we also realize not everyone who comes to this blog wants to read post after post about the various details of the setting.  They just want to see game reports and hobby related content.  That is why we are organizing things this way.

The Start of a Jovian Empire Household Army

I've started putting together a Jovian Household Army for my Solar Empires Setting.  The bulk of the Jovian military forces are made up of the various Household Armies each of which are commanded by powerful Jovian Nobles to protect the Empire and their own holdings.

I've constructed this squad of troopers to represent typical Household Footmen.  I used Wargames Factory Shock Troopers for the base figures then augmented them with Neo Brit Trencher Heads from Maxmini.  I also used Trencher backpacks and Comm Backpacks from Secret Weapon Miniatures.  They are based on 1/8x1 inch steel washers.  I'm pretty happy with the way they turned out.

The small mechs are a pair of Jovian Battlesuits usually piloted by lesser Jovian Knights.  They are M.A.R.S. HEROES toy robots I picked up at Dollar General.  The same brand I have made all my other battlesuits out of.  These however are sold individually.  

I'm not sure when I am going to get around to painting this force.  Right now I'm working on Pirates but I hope to get them on the table soon.

Scrap Dog Raiders Finished!

I finished up the first squad of Scrap Dog raiders today.  I'm really happy with the way they turned out.  The bases are similar to my Bloodborn pirates which is good because I play to combine my pirate crews together to make a bigger army for larger games.
I've got another 14 of these guys to paint and a light mech for the force as well so I better get on it.  I also created a No Limits army list this week for my pirate forces so hopefully we will see a pirate army in the field soon.    

Scrap Dog Raiders almost finished.

Just wanted to post these guys again.  I'm almost finished with this squad.  Just basing and a few details to go.

Scrap Dogs on the paint table.

I've got the Scrap Dogs on the paint table today and they are coming along fairly well.  I decided to use quite a bit a drybrushing on their clothing and equipment along with a dark wash which I think is giving them a dark and gritty feel.  The wash is a little shiny at the moment but I plan to coat these guys with Testors Dulcote so I'm sure that won't be a problem on the finished minis.  I've still got to highlight the skin tones as well as add metallics, final details, and bases but these guys are going quickly so I might have all 20 done pretty quickly.

More Scrap Dogs with bases.

I'm working on some more pirates for my Solar Empires setting.  These are more of the Scrap Dogs pirate band which I have shown before.  They are of course made from Warhammer 40k Chaos Cultist.  I've tried to convert them quite a bit because there are only five poses to work withe.
I thought I would show the way I am doing the bases.  Just some random scraps of granny grating and zip ties and other odds and ends to give the impression of a scrap pile.  This was a simple and cheap solution to doing bases for these guys that I thought would look good for them.  The bases are similar to what I have done for my other pirate band "The Blood Born" but I plan to make these even more heavily rusted when I paint them up.
I now have 20 Scrap Dog raiders which I plan to use as the core of this small force.  I plan to add some scouts and some heavier miss matched veterans as well and light vehicles and a few mechs.  

Leviathan Wakes

So after a lot of people who are have been following my Solar Empires setting and in particularly my Station 42 War conflict recommended I read this book because of the similarities to our setting I finally picked up a copy and did just that.  I have to say the similarities are pretty interesting.  Almost exactly the same general approach exist between the "Expanse" setting and our setting.  I think the setting is even more thought out than our setting but I would hope so since we are not a pair of professional writers and we are just working on our setting for gaming in on our spare time.  In many ways I almost wish this setting had come out before we started our project.  I could have been very happy setting my own adventures in the Expanse but I'm also happy with the setting we have developed.  

I thought the story was a really good one too.  Pretty interesting concepts.  Just enough science fiction and not too wrapped up in techno babble or pseudo science.  Mostly an interesting human story with some unexpected twist and character development.  I liked it quite a bit and I plan to read the other books in the series.

Project Wraith Episode 2 "Information is Power" game report.

 This is Episode 2 of my new Solar Empires role playing game called "Project Wraith".  The player characters are playing specialist who have had their identity stolen by some kind of hacker known as "Casper".  Casper has been sending them on "jobs" for unknown purposes.  In Episode 1 Casper sent the party to the Greek camp of Jupiter's Trojan asteroids to search for a doctor who had discovered the cure to a dangerous Martian biological weapon.
In this episode Casper sent them to Titania right in the middle of the war zone surrounding Station 42 to meet with a contact who knew the location of Casper's hacker friend known as Starfire.  Casper sent three of his agents.  Spider is a female hacker from Titania.  Vogue is a female public relations specialist from Callisto, and Lone Star is a; gambler, drifter, gunslinger, from Titan.  They met with Casper's contact several kilometers South East of Station 42.

 Unfortunately for the party the meeting was a trap set by the Hell Knight mercenaries.  Six mercenary scouts ambushed the party when the team discovered the true identity of their contact.

Vogue updates her facebook about rolling a critical on her "Look at my boobs" roll she used to distract the bogus contact while Spider maneuvered behind him.

 Spider attempted to subdue their contact while the rest of the team engaged in a gun battle with the mercenary scouts.

 Eventually Spider managed to knock their contact out and then engage the rest of the scouts.  The fire fight was difficult.  Most of the scouts had cover while the team was out in the open.  Eventually the final scout fled the scene after Spider killed the last of his companions.
After defeating the scouts the bogus contact was "convinced" to reveal to the team that he did indeed know where Starfire was hiding but he assured them that the Hell Knights would get to the hacker before they did.

 The team arrived at a small compound about 20 kilometers further South East of their landing position.  Several armed militia members were on the rooftops of the simple structures that made up the compound.

 After convincing the militia members that they were friendly and on an important mission for one of Starfire's associates they were able to meet with militia leader Jim Dutton.

 Just as they were warning Dutton a Hell Knight LAGAREV transport arrived on the scene and blew up one of the small compound buildings with it's scatter laser.

Spider, Lone Star, and Vogue.  I can't remember what was so funny.

 The team immediately took up defensive position to help the militia members defend the compound.  About 10 Hell Knight mercenaries dismounted their transport as the transport's gunner covered them.

 The mercenaries split into two groups and took up positions in cover just outside the compound.  The mercenaries were armed with laser rifles while most of the militia had assault rifles.

 The mercenary LAGAREV was eventually destroyed by; Vogue, Spider, and the militia members.  Lone Star joined Dutton to engage the mercenaries hiding in the rocks.

 Eventually only one mercenary remained alive and only one militia member had been killed.  The mercenary warned the team that they would never get off Titania alive.

The team met with Starfire who told them she had irrefutable proof that the Smith and Wilson Agriculture Company had engaged in illegal dealings with several members of the Titania government and that their seizure of farms and Station 42 was a completely illegal action.  

Starfire agreed to flee Titania with the team but suggested that they gather a force to escort them since the Hell Knights knew where their ship had landed.  

 Before the battle Father Padre, another team member, joined them.  He had been on a separate errand for Casper who had sent him to Titania City aboard a civilian transport to aid them. Jim Dutton gathered his militia including his men and four improvised armored vehicles.  Dutton's forces were joined by a robotic force owned by the enigmatic "Rosie" of Station 42 who also piloted her own Cyclopes mech.
When they arrived at the landing site the Hell Knights had already arrived with three LAGAREVs, one Hobelar tank, an Incubus light mech and two scout squads.
  

The battle was bloody.  Most of Dutton's men were killed and more than half of Rosie's robot troopers were taken out of action.  Rosie's mech was also destroyed but she managed to eject to safety.  The Hell Knights lost half of their infantry forces and two LAGAREVs.  Their mech and tank were also heavily damaged.
The team managed to make it to their ship during the fighting but as they were making a run for the landing ramp a LAGAREV and a lone trooper with a grenade launcher fired on the.  Spider and Lone Star were wounded in the exchange and Starfire was badly wounded and in danger of dying.

As they took off in their ship Father Padre managed to stabilize Starfire with his medical skills.  The team had managed to escape Titania but the militia forces had sacrificed quite a bit for it.  With Casper's resources they should be able to use Starfire's information to completely expose the true nature of the Station 42 War.

Check out the System News Network news report here:  http://systemnewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2014/04/notorious-hacker-starfire-escapes.html
Notes:  This was a tie in between our No Limits campaign on Titania and my new role playing campaign.  We wanted to do an rpg tie in to help us bring the Station 42 War into it's final stage.    

The Scrap Dogs! A space pirate band for Solar Empires

I've got about 20 of these Games Workshop Chaos Cultuist for Warhammer 40,000 which I picked up to used as a pirate band.  The only problem is that they only come in five poses so I'm doing some conversion to add some variety.
These guys will be called "The Scrap Dogs" and will be from the Asteroid Belt.  I've got a mech I'm working on for them as well.  I'm trying to make them look like scavengers which I think the cultist are pretty suited for.  The only problem is that I got the first group together and base coated before I figured out what I am doing with them and I intend to add some scrap piles to their bases.  I think I can just work around the painted ones and either hand paint the junk piles on their bases or hit them with another coat of spray paint.

ESF Strike Force Finished!

I finished up this Earth Security Force Strike Force today.  I know it's small but I don't yet have all the models for this force and as it stands I think this is still over a 1000 point No Limits force.  I'm pretty happy with the way it is turning out so far.  The drones were a pain to get right.  I scratch built their stands then had to epoxy them to them.  It was hard getting the epoxy to set fast enough.  
Next up I plan to add a squad of robotic troopers.  I'll probably go with 6-8 robots for the squad.

Closeup of Ghost Troopers and Wraith Battlesuit WIP: Solar Empires

I'm working on more stuff for my Earth Security Force.  This is a Wraith battlesuit.  It is made from a M.A.R.S. robot toy and is almost five inches tall.  The base is actually some kind of stop plate to keep doorknobs from breaking holes in drywall.  I picked it up at Lowels for two and a half dollars and it is takes paint just fine.  It's solid plastic and looks just like a large model base from GW when painted black.  They also had a larger diameter one that would be good for a larger mecha model.  

Here is a close up shot of one of the Ghost squads.  I'm only adding it here because I got a few request for a larger shot.

Earth Security Force Ghost Troopers

Probably the most feared unit in the entire Solar System the "Ghost Troopers" of the Earth Security Force are highly skilled special operations jump troopers and the only living members of the ESF.  Like everything else associated with the Earth the origins of the Ghost Troopers is a highly guarded secret.  Some speculate that they are all clones or highly advanced androids and it is almost certain that they are cybernetically and or genetically enhanced.  Each trooper wears a holographic suit and a helmet armed with a pair of mandible blasters for close combat.  Regular troopers carry a light rail gun and each squad is supported by a trooper armed with an advanced scatter laser.  Each trooper is also equipped with a jet pack and are trained to be experts in their use.

Solar Empires Blog Planned!

We've decided with a bit of reluctance to create a blog for our Solar Empires projects.  In the past I have tried different blogs for specific games and it hasn't really worked out very well.  Also I've asked for feedback on the subject and a lot of people have said they feel I should keep all content on this blog.  I know that makes sense from a certain point of view but I think We have good enough reasons to make a setting specific blog.
What we are looking at doing is making a kind of living blog for the setting.  More of a fluff resource.  The main page will be presented as a kind of System News site while I will have tabs detailing several locations and governments as well as other aspects about the setting.  It is likely that the Solar Empire specific game reports will move to that blog or at least news stories about them as well as other details about the blog.  Chances are RPG reports will remain on this site with news stories about them on the living blog while the wargame reports will likely exist on that site in basically the same form.  I may include galleries of images and the out of character game synopses on this site like the notes I post at the end of every report but more extensive.
Pretty much all of the production stuff for Solar Empires will remain on this blog.  All the; conversion and scratch building, painting and terrain, and planning about the site will remain here.
I am somewhat worried that we won't be able to maintain both blogs very well and that we will end up bringing all the content back to this site but we think this will be the best way to organize the content.
Anyway we will see if this works out.

Earth Security Force: Ghost Troopers

I've been working on a small Earth Security Force army this week for my Solar Empires setting.  The Earth Security Force consist of mostly drones and robotic troops but there are a few "human" troopers called Ghost.  Ghost are elite jump troopers who wear holographic armor that helps them blend into their background.

I made these troops from old Dark Eldar models from Warhammer 40,000.  I cut down their "spikey bits" and added some heads from Pig Iron Productions as well as jump packs I scratch built from small zip ties.

The Battle of MacIntyre Station: Trojan Uprising 2895 Memnon. A Solar Empires game report.

 March 18th 3033, 2895 Memnon, MacIntyre Station, Trojan camp of the Jupiter Trojan asteroids.  Last Tuesday a force of Jovian Imperial Legionnaires engaged a group of communist insurgents at MacIntyre Station on 2895 Memnon.  The Jovians attacked with four squads of Legionnaires and a light mech.  The station was defended by almost forty insurgents as well as four improvised armored vehicles and two light field artillery pieces.  

 The insurgents took the fight to the Jovians attacking immediately with their light vehicles and inflicting some casualties on the Imperial forces.

 Two of the vehicles were quickly dispatched by the light mech and Jovian troopers who steadily advanced on the insurgent positions.

 The Jovians were reportedly after insurgent leader Curt Stillwell.  Early in the fighting he and his squad were cornered by the Jovian mech but they were able to find cover in a nearby building.

 The remaining two insurgent vehicles were destroyed by the Jovian mech but the insurgents kept fighting in an attempt to save their leader.

 Stillwell and his body guards engaged Jovian troopers in close quarters fighting inside a small building as the rest of the battle raged around them.

 After dispatching the insurgent vehicles they Jovian Mecha destroyed an insurgent field canon only to be gunned down as it tried to jump away my the insurgent's auto-cannon and combined small arms fire.

 Several insurgents units sought cover under elivated buildings in the middle of the station where they engaged a squad of Imperial troopers.  Many casualties were inflicted in the close quarters fighting.

 Curt Stillwell escaped the troopers inside the building he was hiding in only to be gunned down near the wreckage of the Jovian mech by another squad of troopers.

 After their leader was gunned down the rest of the insurgents decided to flee the station.  Although they had inflicted heavy casualties on the Imperial troopers they had lost all their heavy support.

 The remaining imperial troopers began to quickly secure the station and search for remaining insurgents.

Up to this point the communist uprising in the Trojan camp of the Jovian Trojan asteroids has consisted of largely of protest over the abuse of workers in the region it appears that the Emperor is not longer interested in ignoring the situation.  Two Imperial Legions have been stationed in the region as well as forces of the local household armies to put down this revolt.

March 24th 3033: Associated Press.

Notes:  We're about to draw our Titania campaign to a close and we are going to stat to work on another competitive campaign.  In addition to that we are working up a list of ongoing conflicts going on in our Solar Empire setting that we intend to use for one off battles in a kind of system wide narrative campaign.  This battle was fought between myself and Curtis a gamer friend of ours who put together a force for our campaign setting using the brilliant Dreamforge Games  Eisenkern Stromtroopers.  I'm really impressed with these modes and what Curtis did with them and the Gundam Zaku mecha he used to supoort them.  It's a really nice looking force he is putting together and I look forward to playing against him again.  
As far as the battle goes it seemed pretty close points wise however at the end I only had lightly armed and armored militia up against powered armored troopers with assault rifles.  I decided that since the Jovians achieved their objective of killing my commander and I had little chance of continuing the fight that the battle was a Jovian victory if an fairly expensive one.