Battle at the Old Mining Town (a No Limits Station 42 War Game Report)

A "Hell Knights" APC engages Militia vehicles.

 Titania News Network:  Just a few short hours ago Titania militia forces and renegade Planetary Guard units came under attack from the Hell Knights mercenary company.  Our "Flyspy" news drones managed to record several images from the battle as it occurred.  

A civilian truck comes under mercenary fire.

 Titania forces were escorting a convoy of civilian vehicles out of Station 42 loaded with supplies for the resistance when they came under attack from Hell Knights, armor, infantry, and mech forces.  At least one mech scale "Battle Suit" was spotted among the mercenary forces.

Titania Militia units engage a mercenary APC.

 The conflict going on in the Station 42 region has been escalating for months.  The government of Titania acquired several hydroponics farms and mining claims in the region by use of eminent domain claiming that the land was going to be used for terra-forming facilities to provide planetary upgrades.   Instead building the facilities a  company known as Smith and Wilson Agricultural purchased the land.  The farmers and citizens of the region banded together and refused to leave.

The convoy moves into a gauntlet of deadly fire.

 Smith and Wilson Agriculture then hired to "Hell Knights" to enforce their claim to the properties.  So far the fighting has been mostly small in scale and limited to the region around Station 42.  Sympathy for the resistance groups has been wide spread across Titania.

Tanks from both sides trade fire.

 The battle that took place today was small in scale but brutal.  The Hell Knights have employed armored units and mechs before but never so many at one location.  They seemed determine to stop the Titania convoy.  The convoy was escorted by a Planetary Guard tank and several improvised armored cars as well as trained militia units and Planetary Guard fire teams.

Carson Boon is spotted fighting along side a unit of Planetary Guard.

Carson Boon and members of his militia were among the combatants.  Boon is believed to be the senior leader of militia units involved in the conflict.

Damaged and destroyed civilian and militia vehicles crash into abandoned buildings.

 As the battle raged many of the civilian vehicles were destroyed by the mercenary mechs and armored vehicles.  Mercenary snipers positioned on the large mesa and old silo also did considerable damage to the light vehicles.

A mercenary APC feels the sting of a Laser Canon.

 The Planetary Guard Tank put up as strong resistance taking out three armored personal carriers and damaging the mercenary hover tank.

Mercenary and Planetary guard tanks engaged at point blank range.

 For a good portion of the battle these two heavily armored vehicles traded fire.  Though the mercenary tank was heavily damaged it was not destroyed.

A mercenary mech scores a hit on the Planetary Guard tank.

 The mercenary mech was also badly damaged but not destroyed.  It was instrumental in destroying several civilian and militia vehicles.

Militia sniper "Redjack" lies motionless on the ground.

 The notorious militia sniper known as "Redjack" was noted among the militia casualties although his status is unknown at this time.  Evidence points to one of the Hell Knights snipers as the shooter.

The wreckage of several resistance and mercenary vehicles.

Most of the civilian and militia vehicles were destroyed by the end of the fighting.  It is estimated that the Titania forces lost close to 20 fighters and drivers while the mercenary casualties numbered at least 15 fighters and three armored personal carriers.  Only one civilian supply truck managed to pass through the mercenary gauntlet and it's location is unknown at this time.

At the end of the fighting the remaining mercenary forces withdrew from the area leaving the Titania forces to attempt to salvage their supplies and tend to their wounded.

This has been Alphonso Marks reporting for the Titania News Network.

Additional "Flyspy" coverage of the battle can be found in this gallery: http://www.flickr.com/photos/43472766@N05/sets/72157630926721772/

Breaking News! Battle at the old mining town.

Titania News Network:  This just in.  Titania militia groups and renegade planetary guard units have come under attack at the old mining town.  Our "Flyspy" news drone captured this image of the intense fighting between Titania forces and the "Hell Knights" mercenary company.  It appears that the Titania forces have been ambushed while attempting to move a convoy of supplies and equipment out of Station 42.  We will bring you more on this story as it develops.

Anti Grav Assault AFV Work in Progress

A while back I made this post about a toy AFV I found at Dollar General.  It's a pretty big sucker especially with those wheels.  For the last couple days I've been working on futurising it.  I replaced the wheels with some odd looking pencil sharpeners that represent the anti grav drive.  I also replaced the gun with a scratch built laser canon made from the guts of a mechanical pencil and some wooden beads.  I also cut off all the gas cans and mufflers and other inconsistent bits. 

This is suppose to represent a super heavy AFV designed to transport heavily armored troops into the thick of a battle and then act as support for them.  It's basically the equivalent of a Land Raider for Warhammer 40k. 

I've still got some detailing to do to cover up the holes that resulted from removing the details.  I'm going to cover them up with tech bits but since I want to be able to make more of these I'm going to try and stick with easily acquired items.   

Scratch built APCs finished!

We finished up the three anti grav APCs.  I'm really happy with the results!  I thought I should show them with some troops. 

Three little AFVs

Well I have all three of my cardboard AFVs to the same stage of painting.  I also put a wash on them after I took this picture.  The wash got a little dark but I think I will be able to fix them.  I'm still really happy with them.  I should have them done completely tomorrow. 

Scratch built APC painting WIP

 Just a quick update.  I've got the base paint job done.  Now I just need to add battle damage and a wash then go back in and add the final details.

We have two more of these in the works at the moment and we plan to make a few more.  We even have a tank body we are working on as well as a staff car and a couple trucks.

Scratch built anti grav vehicle!

 We built the hulls for a few anti gravity vehicles a couple months ago for our Station 42 War campaign but we shelved them because we thought we might find a better alternative.  Unfortunately we did not find many alternatives that we felt we could afford.  In fact only a few companies make anti grav or hover AFVs in 28mm.  There are a hand full of hover or anti grav tanks but very few APCs and they are almost all quite expensive resin cast models.  To top that off most of those models that are out there are made by small companies in the U.K. and shipping is also quite high.

 My wife made the hulls and added the hatches and windows and plating then I added the details.  I'm calling it a Light Anti Grav Armored Reconnaissance Vehicle or "Lagarev" for short.  It's intended role is somewhere between that of a Humvee and an M113 APC.  It's a lightly armored multi role vehicle not intended for front line combat.  It is however very fast and can carry a variety of support weapons.

 Most Lagarevs are also drone rigged so they can be piloted remotely from a remote base well behind the front lines although the drone drivers and gunners are usually less effective than trained crew this feature allows the Lagarev to deploy troops then return for a pickup without the need for a crew.  It also makes it easier for comrades of wounded troops to provide medical assistance during evacuation rather than be concerned with vehicle operation.

 Here is a shot of the front of the vehicle.  I'm not totally satisfied with this angle.  It doesn't look very interesting but I may add some stowage when I finish painting the model.

 Here is a rear shot.  It's slightly better looking than the front.  I think I'm going to paint the zip tie strips I used for detailing up as light bars rather than adding traditional headlights.

 Here is a shot of the anti grav drive made mostly from disposable razors and zip tie bits.  There is also a piece of plastic canvas between the drives to add some more detail to the bottom of the model.  I figure if I need to flip them on their side to show they are wrecked I don't want just a plan underside.

Here is a shot of the weapon mount with a different weapon.  I have several of these that I got from a set of cheap toy robots.  They are intended to be shoulder mounted on the robots but I like the look of them as automated weapons.

I've considered going in and trying to clean these up with some putty but they kind of are what they are and I need to have the three we have started done by Sunday for a game so it's unlikely I'll do any more detail work.

I'll be painting these in my Hell Knights cammo pattern with markings.  I'm hoping that will make them look a bit nicer.  All in all though I'm pretty happy with the results especially since these are made from scrap cardboard and junk.  They probably cost less than a dollar in materials.