Alternative Armies - Dominator Spheres, Guardians of Dimension X

There are many strange inhabitants of Dimension X, many of them being "Artifical" in nature.  The Dominator Spheres, from Alternative Armies, are the guardians of the Psionic Overlords of that bizarre realm.  

Dominator Spheres by Alternative Armies 

The Spheres are multi are multi part models.  Four arms and a central body.  The arms can be posed in any configuration and are easy to bend to form a variety of poses.

Krang and the Cybernetic Overlords of Dimension X 

I painted the Spheres in a simple metallic scheme.  Nothing fancy.  Unfortunately my phone camera really does not due them justice.  The lighting made them look a lot more shiny than they actually are. 

• Black primer
• Vallejo Real Metal Steel, airbrushed.
• Airbrush highlights with Vallejo Model Air Steel and Chrome.
• Tamiya Clear Red was used on the central eye sensor.
• Washed in Polyshades Tudor.
• Sealed with Vallejo Metal Varnish.
• Tamiya Pigment Titanium was used as a slight highlight on the upper portions.  

These guys fit perfectly with my vision of this alien realm. When used in Alien Squad Leader, they will be the Power Armor guardians for the Cyborg Enslaver command stands.  

Alternative Armies - Space Brains

I picked these small Alien Space Brain guys up a few years ago, mainly to go with "Krang", my Big Alien Space Brain, also by AA.  Krang and his clever minions are the Overlords of an army of cyborg slaves from Dimension X.  That sounds more impressive than it actually is. 

The Psionic Overlords from Dimension X

The paint scheme was simple: Reaper Master Series Rosy Skin triad and Steel, from the Vallejo Real Metal paint line.  This steel is the most realistic version I have ever seen and is super smooth, usable in an airbrush without and thinning. 

The Power armor guards are from Khurasan.

These guys work perfectly as Psionic Masters for Alien Squad Leader.  Plus, they were fun to paint. 

15mm Sci Fi - Alien Squad Leader Armies - Alien Imperial & Alien Warrior Caste

 It has been awhile since I have made an army level entry.  These guys have been in a couple of blog posts, but this is the first time I managed to get everything in one place.

This force doubles as two different factions in Alien Squad Leader Games: Alien Imperial and Alien Warrior Caste.  My middle son is a big Halo fan, so I painted them up to look like the Covenant (as much as I could)

Alien Squad Leader Armies - Alien Imperial & Alien Warrior Caste

The Imperials are the highest technology force available in the game.  Equipped with both Superior Energy Weapons and Superior Energy Shields, and the abundance of Aiming Device upgrades, they are able to hit hard and often, all while reducing the effect of damage that might otherwise cripple other armies units.  Imperial units are not numerous.  Their high point cost means that every stand lost is a blow.  To supplement their forces they use a variety of Primitive units.  Some are equipped with primitive small arms with limited range and effectiveness, while others are armed with hand to hand weapons only or are made up of packs of wild beasts, more unleashed than controlled.  The biggest issue with the army is the vast unit selection they have.  So many toys and never enough points.

Warrior Caste is a variation of the Imperials.  They lack the energy weapons and shields and other technology upgrades.  However, their basic infantry is equipped with Power Armor across the board, and they have access to a number of upgraded Primitive Units to add to their numbers.  Curiously, they are also required to take 1 Mobile Artillery vehicle per 100 points.  Sadly, Warrior Caste armies do not have access to Robotic units.  They prefer to do the killing themselves, along with their loyal allied forces  

Command Stands and Characters of various types

I chose to represent both armies with a variety of miniatures, from both Khurasan and GW.  The 40K miniatures are big enough to work with the Khurasan figures and I had them lying around doing nothing.  The Soriog can be mixed and matched together to form more infantry stands if needed.  Four is just what I put on the stands for show.  The number of miniatures is irrelevant for the game itself.

Soriog Infantry units

Heavy Weapon Stands

Heavy Droids

The Grav tanks are also from Khurasan.  I needed something large enough to fit in scale wise with the Soriog.  It works (kind of).  Suspension of disbelief is required.  

Ultra Tanks and Ultra Transports (Grav)

Phase Tanks (Walkers) & a single Imperial Attack Craft

The Primitive units can be fielded as a mix of Fighters & Shooters, or as all Fighters (mixing the figures together).  

Lhurgg Commanders

Trained Creatures (Space Demons)

Mobile Artillery are represented by Tau Broadside Battlesuits.  

I forgot to include this guy in the photo.  A test paint early on for the Vallejo Shifters set.  Some sort of Matchbox toy.  It is used as any kind of light vehicle or transport.

 Perhaps these guys will even see action one day.

15mm Sci Fi - Old Crow Grav Vehicles, "the 19th Star Dragons"

 Today I finally managed to finish off a small sci fi vehicle pool which I started about a year ago, anti-grav vehicles from Old Crow and some mecha.  It is a small force suitable for Alien Squad Leader, Gruntz or Tomorrow's War (my two go-to games).  Old Crow vehicles are superb: no sanding or cleaning is required and they are very modular.  

The "19th Star Dragons"

I wanted the vehicles to be usable for a variety of forces that I have painted up, so I went with a basic Sci-Fi color: a medium grey, color modulated to lighter shades, complemented by brighter decals and white accents.  

• Primed Vallejo Black
• Base coated in Tamiya Medium Grey
• Highlighted with Vallejo Model Air USAAF Light Grey and Vallejo Model Air Grey White
• Selected areas painted in Vallejo Model Air Medium Sea Grey
• Gloss Coated
• Washed in thinned Minwax Polyshades Tudor.
• Re-highlighted in raised panel areas in Vallejo Model Air Gull Grey
• Mechs were dry brushed in Vallejo Model Color White Grey.
• Mechs had various other areas picked out in Vallejo Model Color Silver Grey and Pale Grey Blue

In Alien Squad Leader the vehicles are Armored Transports & Armored Vehicles, with an air-lifted movement mode, allowing them to make pop-up attacks from behind terrain/friendly units (but suffering from a weaker armor save).  The mecha are also Armored Vehicles, but use the Walker template.  This makes them slower but gives them the "Great Height" special rule, allowing them to see over some terrain and friendly units.  The mecha can also be used as Robotic Battle Mechs in some army lists.  Lastly, the Slingshot could be used as a Mobile Artillery vehicle (or even as Off-Map Artillery in a Human Imperial Army), with either regular artillery rounds or Scatter Missiles.  

Old Crow Slingshot Armored Vehicle (configured in Anti-Tank mode)

Old Crow Trojan Grav APC

Old Crow Gladius Grav Tank

Marauder Battle Mechs

Not sure what is next up on my Sci-Fi list.  I do have more battle mechs to paint though......

15mm Sci Fi - GZG Ixx Army

Well, I finally got around to photographing my GZG Ixx army that I painted last year.  The Ixx (called Vallax in my universe) are multi-dimensional aliens who utilize both the organic and bio-mechanical devices to wage war across the Multiverse.  Like Humaniti, the Vallax have created minions in their own image.

The army was built with Alien Squad Leader in mind: it is designed for both Alien Imperial, Cyborg Enslaver, and Alien Enslavers.  For the Alien Enslaver primitive forces I use Khurasan's Space Demons, although I do have some of their Bug Swarms to paint up in the same yellow scheme.  Of course these models are usable in Tomorrow's War and other rule sets with no issue.  Preferring to keep my models individually based, for ASL I simply use white tac to attach them temporarily to 50mm bases.  

GZG Ixx

I decided to go with the same scheme across the whole army: an insect like appearance for both their organic and bio-mechanical forces.  Spots are actually quite easy to do.  Just do random blobs and dots until you are satisfied.  

Ixx models count as Regular Infantry in Alien Squad Leader.  By design, I can get three models on a 50mm stand.  The actual number of them and on the stand does not count.  However, my preference is to fit as many models on a stand as I can.    

GZG Ixx Aliens

Alien Squad Leader has no dedicated model range.  That makes it a modellers dream: just about any model can be used in the game. The only limit is your imagination.  My bits box is a treasure chest for all kinds of stuff that I can cobble together.   The unit types I list are just some examples of what types of units the models could represent. 

Cyborg Enslaver Thrall stands contain 3 Spider Drones and a Grav Drone (to represent PSI control nodes via the Masters). They could also be used as Robotic Infantry in an Alien Imperial army.  

GZG Spider Droids

The three flying disk droids (something I made from GZG and Alternative Armies bits) are used to represent the leaders of the Enslaver armies: disembodied Vallax brains encased in metallic shells.  They count as Command Stands.  I have several

models from the Sadistic Space Demons range from Alternative Armies.  I use them as Character models (telepaths for example) or as Heavy Weapon Squads.   

Various types of GZG mobile weapon platforms (grav and walker) are used for long range firepower.  They count as Crewed Weapons and Floaters in Alien Squad Leader.

Hornet Grav Drones could count as either Close Flyers (normally one would use primitive models for this unit type, but I like robots), or Floaters (weapon platforms). The larger Bio-Mecha tackle enemy armor.  They count as Armored Vehicle Walkers and Crawlers in Alien Squad Leader.

various models from GZG, Khurasan and Alternative Armies

I used various yellows to break up the monotony a bit. 

After photographing these I decided to head back into 15mm Sci Fi projects for the time being.  I have several small projects to complete which I hope to showcase here in the coming weeks.  I still have two Old Crow Alien Grav tanks to add to this force.  Stay tuned...

15mm Sci Fi - Individual basing vs Group basing

I have a large painted miniature collection, both in 28 and 15mm.  The problem is I can never decide on a rules system to rule them all.  This impacts my model basing strategy since some games are structured around a specific basing system.  Over the years I have come up with a number of ways to make my collection, for both miniature scales, as flexible as possible.

Before I go into details, lets go over some of the rule systems that I use and or plan to use.  

Fantasy

• Warhammer/Oathmark - Individual based models.  Movement trays.  
• Kings of War - Group basing.  
• Hordes of the Things - Group basing.  Base size dependent on model scale.  

Sci-Fi

• Gruntz - Originally designed for individually based models.  Version 2.0 is moving towards group basing but can be utilized either way.  
• Alien Squad Leader - Group basing.  Units take 2-3 hits before elimination.
• Tomorrows War - Works best for individually based models.  Group basing can be used with difficulty.  
• USEME / Fireteam Andromeda / Laserburn / Beamstrike / No Stars in Sight / Clash on the Fringe - Individually based models.  

Originally, I  began my miniature painting career with Dungeons and Dragons in the 1980s.  RPGs are by their very nature individualistic, so group basing was totally unknown to me at the time.  This carried over once I began painting 15mm figures. 

As time went by I was exposed to move and more game systems.  Many of these used the group basing concept.  It seemed strange and unappealing to me; why would someone hamstring themselves by basing their miniatures in large groups?   Eventually though, I began to read some of these systems and found them appealing, particularly Alien Squad Leader for sci fi and Hordes of the Things for fantasy.  The problem was my entire collection was individually based.  What to do?

The answer was quite simple: create the bases needed for each game system and find a way to temporarily secure models to them.  This would preserve my desire for flexibility while at the same time allow play with group based games.  

For a game like Alien Squad Leader the process was rather quick: take an MDF base and flock it in the same style as my miniatures.  Blue or White Poster Tac is then used to attach the various models to the base (temporarily).  Some of my models use large bases which prevent multiple models from being placed on bases this way.  This is not always  aesthetically pleasing though.  My solution to this was to create, where possible, small dioramas on specific MDF bases, trees, clump foliage, rocks, ect.  This provides the visual bulk needed when a single model is placed on a base which is slightly too big for it.  

Alien Squad Leader Regular Infantry, on 50mm square bases.

Hordes of the Things required a bit of a hybrid approach.  At 28mm all units have a 60mm frontage (depth being variable depending on the unit type).  This is a pain since my collection is based on 20mm, 25mm, 40mm and 50mm square bases.  In some cases, depending on the unit type, there is simply no good solution.  Behemoths for example are 60x60.  This means I can get 1 Ogre miniature on a base.  Not exactly visually appealing.  For other sizes though I use a combination of my ASL approach and custom bases.  

Hordes of the Things Custom Bases: Taking an MDF base of appropriate size, I then use plasticard strips to create a base with a recessed interior.  This is more visually appealing than just placing a 50mm base on top of a 60mm base.  In some cases the depth of the base (say for flying units, 60mm x 40mm) is the same as the base of the model I am going to use (40mm x 40mm).  In this case only the sides of the 60mm base have plasticard, since the depth of the base is the same as the model.  The figure then simply slides in between the two edges.  The model is secure since the width is slightly less than 40mm.  Just enough to get the model in but not slide out.  

Custom MDF bases, some with magnets

Models are  now ready for a Horde of The Things game.

None of these examples is particularly original or creative.  My idea was to be as simple and utilitarian as possible, allowing  my models to be used in a variety of ways without being tied to one particular game system.

15mm Sci Fi - Alternative Armies Double Feature: HOF Big Mouth Beast & Large Sadistic Demons

 Its been a few days since I have posted anything new.  I am a lazy blogger, but, I do try to paint something every day (and a lot has been painted since my last entry).

This past week I managed to finish some of the bozos below, which are part of a much larger GZG Ixx (aka Vallax in my universe) force (which is also now done).  My Alien Squad Leader armies are getting new friends....yay!  First up, the Alternative Armies Big Mouth Beast, who responds to the sound of "Pierre".

The model was simple in design: two legs and a mouth.  However, I managed to bugger it up, building the model in a more "upright" pose than what was intended by the sculptor.  It works, but I made a lot more work for myself since I had to sand parts which I thought were not molded properly.  Ugh.  Gavin at Alternative Armies pointed this out to me later on; Egg meet Face.  

Anyway, I did not have any ideas for skin tones, so I went with what I  had just finished painting en-mass: Ixx skin.  I admit I did not spend a lot of time in the sky. I just wanted him done. 

• White Primer
• GW Contrast Plaguebearer Flesh
• Black dots and scales.
• Reaper Splintered bone teeth
• GW Contrast Darkoathflesh for the interior of the mouth.
• GW Contrast Pink for the tongue.  
• GW Contrast Nazdreg Yellow on small areas for accents
• Washed in Minwax Pecan Polyshades.

• 

  Alternative Armies Hordes of the Future: Big Mouth Beast (aka Pierre)

Pierre loves to tip-toe through the woods on Altair IV.

Peek-a-Boo...Pierre sees you!

Pierre is happy.

Pierre loves to meet new friends.

This is a stock image of the same model.  I built mine with a slightly different pose, which no doubt contributed to my issues with the assembly of the legs.  It is a very unique model which makes me smile when I see it.  So in the end, I am happy.

After finishing Pierre I turned my attentions to five models in my WIP area which I had not bothered to think about: Alterative Armies Large Sadistic Demons, also known as Flesharons.  These bizarre aliens were originally released decades ago for 25mm.  However, they do fit in 15mm games as large aliens.  For simplicity sake I decided that these things would come from the same universe as the Ixx (Vallax), likely created as some kind of bio-weapon.  So, demonstrating more of my tremendous originality I painted them exactly like the Ixx.  

Alternative Armies Large Sadistic Demons (aka Flesharons) on Altair IV.

The Bio-Tank will likely be used as a Crewed Weapon or Armored Fighting Vehicle (Crawler) in Alien Squad Leader.  The Flesharon Warrior will be used as Characters for Primitive units.

Large Sadistic Demon Bio-Tank and Warrior

The Demonic Master will sub in as part of a Heavy Weapons Team, whereas the Drone will become Character, a Telepathic Master (he may be small, but he is very smart).

Large Sadistic Demon Drone & Master...if I looked like that I would hide my face too.

The only issue I had with these models were faint mold lines along each of the domed heads.  Not a big deal to clean with a file though.  That is expected with any metal model.

The models are big.  Towering over regular 15mm figures.  They are also all metal.

Flesharons and GZG Colonist (aka dinner)

"Do not gaze upon the ugly humanoid my brothers.  Shun him."

Overall I am happy with how they all turned out.  None of them took long and the colors are more vibrant than I normally paint.  They will be making a group appearance in a Alien Squad Leader Alien Enslaver army which is just been completed.