M.S.S.R. Battlesuits Finished!

I finished up this squad of M.S.S.R. Battlesuits this morning for our Solar Empires setting.  These guys will make an appearance or two in our "Station 42 War" campaign as part of the units from the Martian base on Titania.  These are made from the same M.A.R.S. robot toys that the battlesuit I use for my Hell Knights are made from.  They cost about $2.00 each and come in packs of three.  I picked mine up and a local Dollar General.  They stand between 9 and 10 centimeters tall.  Even though they are a squad they are also considered small walkers so they are vehicles and can act independently like a larger mech.
Hopefully we will have a battle with these guys and the rest of the Martian forces up soon.

The Christmas Massacre: A 1000 point battle report for the Station 42 War

 December 25th 3032:  Members of the Titania militia attacked the Redwing Farm late in the afternoon on Christmas day.  The farm has been operating under the management of the Smith and Wilson Agriculture Corporation for over a year now and a small garrison of Hell Knight mercenaries were stationed there to defend the facility.

 The Hell Knights had little warning of the attack but managed to respond quickly to the threat.  With no armor on site a LAGAREV transport and a single short range missile launcher provided the mercenaries with heavy support.  

The attack was led by militia leader Ivar "Bear" Belyakov and consisted of about 28 militia member and three improvised armored vehicles.

 At least three snipers were among the militia force although two were killed in the fighting.  Early in the battle it appeared that the militia members would be beaten back by the mercenary defenders.

 After the Hell Knights afv was taken out of action the tide of the battle began to turn.  The militia infantry carefully used the farm's out buildings as cover as they moved into position.

 One unit of Hell Knights did manage to destroy two of the militia improvised armored vehicles and force a unit to fall back.

 The other Hell Knight unit did not fair as well.  Facing Bear's men, a sniper, and a technical vehicle the right flank of the mercenary defense began to crumble.

 The other unit of Hell Knights left their defensive position in an attempt to reach their comrades.  They traded fire with a few militia as they advanced which slowed their progress.  

 Despite efforts to aid them the mercenaries fighting Bear's unit died to a man including a mercenary officer presumed to be their leader.

 With only six member of their squad left standing the remaining mercenaries withdrew from the field.  

The last shots of the battle were fired by the mercenary missile emplacement which killed a few militia and routed the rest of their unit which allowed their comrades to escape the field.

Notes:  We gave the militia 1200 points vs the mercenaries 1000 points in this battle because we have found in the past if one side gets any kind of defensive position from the start that it really unbalances the game.  Also this was a surprise attack that we did as much to move the story line along as anything.  It wasn't that we pitched the battle specifically for the militia to win but we did want them to have a slight advantage.  My wife really used the terrain well pinning down my units with her "technicals" and snipers while Bears assault rifle armed unit moved into place.  With a rate of fire of 2 they are usually devastating at close range although they lack the skill of my trained mercenaries and they had the high ground as well.  All in all I think it was a fun little fight and it worked out well for the story line.  The militia were able to make off with some badly needed supplies and bloody the mercenaries which will bolster their recruitment and allow them to hold out a while longer.  
The insurgency phase of the campaign is about wrapped up.  We have some interesting things in store for the next phase of our little war.    

Martian Troopers and Wolfhound Veteran finished!

 Well we had a productive December 25th and we managed to finish up the troops on the paint table.  I got the Wolfhound Veterans done.  I'm not quite as happy with the way they turned out for some reason.  They look okay to me but not quiet as nice as the other Wolfhounds for some reason.  I did some object source lighting on the plasma gunner and I think I got a bit heavy but OSL has never been one of my strong points.

My wife shamed me by finishing up 13 M.S.S.R. troopers in the same time it took me to finish the 6 veterans I painted and I think they turned out really nice.  The old Vor troopers look a little large next to the Pig Iron troopers but I think they look good.  They are standing straight up and almost all the Pig Iron troopers are crouched a bit.  We may replace the Vor troopers eventually but at the moment we are trying out best to use the things we have and not spend a lot of money.

Martians and Wolfhounds on the paint table!

 We have been working on more forces for the Station 42 War the last couple of days.  Above are some Martian Soviet Socialist Republic forces my wife has been painting.  They are just about finished.  All she needs to do is finish up the bases.

I'm getting pretty close to finishing the Wolfhound Veterans and Assassin as well.  I still have the metallics and bases to do on them.  Hopefully they were all be finish later today or tomorrow.  We hope to have a small campaign skirmish tonight as well so these might not get done as soon as I would like.

Battle of the Smuggler's Camp: A 1500 point No Limits game report for the Station 42 War.

 Sunday December 15th 3032:  Early Sunday morning a patrol of Hell Knights mercenaries operating out of Station 42 engaged a group of insurgents off loading supplies at a smuggler's camp about 8 kilometers east of the spaceport.

 The Mercenaries attacked swiftly with three light APCs and a light hover tank supporting a light mech.  The insurgents seem to have been caught unprepared but they quickly rallied and fought back.

 Several militia improvised armored vehicles arrived on the scene trading fire with the mercenaries.  Among the insurgents was a squad of Wolfhound Friekorps and a Wolfhound APC.

 The Hell Knights quickly overwhelmed the insurgents right flank but were stalled by the determined resistance of Boon's Militia and the Wolfhounds.

 The Insurgents managed to destroy two Hell Knight APCs and push the light tank back.  The Hell Knights mech picked off the last of Boon's Militia but slipped and fell on some loose ground near one of the smugglers ship.

 The remaining Hell Knight APC charged the center of of the insurgents line and offloaded it's squad which engaged in hand to hand fighting with some Venture Star Miners while also trading fire with the Wolfhounds.

The mercenary mech regained it footing and attacked the insurgents field cannon and sniper killing them both.  The Wolfhounds APC was destroyed by the Hell Knights light tank and the rest of the Wolfhounds were killed by the mercenary APC.  The remaining miners immediately surrendered.  The smugglers ships managed to take off and escape in the confusion.  Other insurgents seen approaching the battle broke off and fled Northeast.

Notes:  This was a brutal battle that turned into a complete rout of the insurgents.  Most of the mercenary vehicles were heavily damaged and two were destroyed but I only lost one trooper.  I think my wife should have brought the rest of her reserves onto the board much more quickly but that's always a hard call.  

Jägers Painted!

 Well I got the Jägers painted up today.  This brings the total Wolfhound force up to 18 troopers 2 tanks and 1 APC.  Not bad so far.

I was kind of worried that the color for the bases would blend too much with the color of their coats but I'm pretty happy with the way they turned out.  It seems one of them lost his canteen along the way but I may be able to fix that some time in the future.

I'm really happy with the way they turned out.  I was also kind of worried that using the same heads would look goofy but I think it worked out well.  Pretty soon I think we are going to have a battle between the Wolfhounds and the Hellknights.  I would bet we have close to enough Wolfhounds for a 1500 point battle as it is.  With those super heavy tanks we might even have more than that.

Jägers on the paint table!

I started painting my Jägers today.  I used a WWII German camouflage pattern as inspiration for their coats and some German Camo Dark Green paint from Vallejo.  I'm planning on painting their flat caps and Packs German Fieldgrey but most of the rest of their kit will be black.  I'm pretty happy with the way they are progressing.  Hopefully we will see more Wolfhounds in our campaign soon.