Halo Fleet Battles: A Bad Day at Omicron Station

Halo Fleet Battles: A Bad Day at Omicron Station

Greetings once again! Today, I have a Halo battle report for you written by Landlubber. You can find the original version on the forums. Without further ado:

********************************************

//////////EYES ONLY COMMAND STAFF SECTOR THREE////////////

TO: Commander, 19th Fleet

FROM: Operations Division, 19th Fleet

SUBJECT: After Action Report–Omicron Station engagement

1. Executive Summary. Vice-Admiral (VADM) Stanforth moved combined elements of Task Force 169 and Task Force 408 to Omicron Station (Sector Three) for reconnaissance (see Image 1). (Operations note: Omicron Station was abandoned last year after coolant leaks were discovered in the station’s main power core. No repair personnel were available at the time to repair the leaks, so the station was evacuated.) VADM Stanforth was under orders to scan Omicron Station and determine status of station power core. On arrival, one Covenant ORS-class heavy cruiser was detected behind a nearby planetoid. (ONI note: this vessel is likely the Eternal Entropy.) VADM Stanforth moved UNSC forces to engage the ORS, and were ambushed on both flanks by Covenant battlegroups led by CCS-class cruisers. UNSC losses were as follows: one heavy carrier (UNSC Everest), three heavy cruisers (UNSC Ku, Agurzil, and Minerva); 12 frigates.

Image 1: Omicron Station

Continue reading

Posted in Battle Report | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Adepticon Prep: Firestorm Armada Fleet Lists, Round 2

On my last Adepticon Prep post, I talked about the two fleet lists I worked up for the Schaumberg Prime offensive Firestorm Armada event. I got the chance to try out the first list, which contained a battleship and a carrier, with less than spectacular results. So it’s back to the drawing board!

0124d09b229c9dea22107f8dd582fffe6faf94ca3b

Continue reading

Posted in Space Naval Gaming | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Firestorm Armada: Terrans Vs. Dindrenzi

As you may recall, I recently sat down and hashed out some preliminary Terran fleet lists for the upcoming Firestorm Armada tournament at Adepticon. Last Saturday, I had the opportunity to meet with forum member Ryjak (make sure to check out his blog, the Ops Center, where he has written up his own perspective on this battle!) and try one of them out. As we shall see, the game did not go all that well for my intrepid Defenders of the Charter, but I had a lot of fun nevertheless!

725036_md-Firestorm Armada, Spartan Games, Terran

Continue reading

Posted in Battle Report, Space Naval Gaming | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

MBS Newsletter 21

Greetings Fellow Naval Gamers! I’ve got two bigimageannouncements to start off with.

First, the submissions window for the 2016 painting contest has officially opened! You have between now and April 1st to submit your entries. The easiest way to do so is using the handy-dandy submission form:

http://www.manbattlestations.com/blog/2016-painting-contest/

The second announcement is that Episode 3 of the MBS Podcast is live! You can find it on iTunes or on the MBS Blog here:

http://www.manbattlestations.com/blog/2016/02/01/mbs-podcast-episode-3/

Elsewhere around the community, there has been a lot of discussion about Firestorm Taskforce, a newly announced variant of Firestorm Armada that is due out at the end of the month:

http://www.manbattlestations.com/forum/index.php?topic=1102.0

Wargaming.net’s new Master of Orion video game is also causing some excitement:

http://www.manbattlestations.com/forum/index.php?topic=1101.0

In the DW forum, members are hailing the long-awaited ORBAT updates for the minor powers!

http://www.manbattlestations.com/forum/index.php?topic=1113.0

The FSA board is ablaze with discussions about the new models for the Syndicate and Xelocians, as well as planning for a FSA event at Genghis Con:

http://www.manbattlestations.com/forum/index.php?board=34.0

Lots of activity this month in the Space Naval Gaming board, including discussions on oldie but goodie games like Starfire and Full Thrust, along with news about the new BFG video game:

http://www.manbattlestations.com/forum/index.php?board=7.0

The Shipyard has also seen some new projects being started, including Quickdraw’s DW Ottoman fleet, Badi_Dea’s Star Trek Attack Wing ships, and my own Planetfall WIP thread:

http://www.manbattlestations.com/forum/index.php?board=9.0

That about does it for Newsletter #21! Don’t forget to get your entries in for the painting contest. Until next time!

Ruckdog& The Man Battlestations Forum Team.

{$board_url}

Posted in Monthly Newsletter | Tagged | Leave a comment

MBS Podcast Episode 3

image

[iframe style=”border:none” src=”http://html5-player.libsyn.com/embed/episode/id/4115286/height/100/width/480/thumbnail/no/render-playlist/no/theme/legacy” height=”100″ width=”480″ scrolling=”no” allowfullscreen webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen oallowfullscreen msallowfullscreen]

For Episode 3, Greg and Andy take another look at the Naval Miniature Game market and talk about Class “C” games. In the second half of the show, they discuss aircraft carrier operations and how they are represented on the tabletop!

==Quick Reference==

Class C Game Overview: 18 Min

Landlubber’s Musings: 1 Hr 6 Min

Carrier Operations: 1 Hr 10 Min

Ruckdog’s Report: 1 Hr 55 Min

==Links Discussed in Show==

2016 MBS Painting Contest Entry Forum

Modcube

Specialist Games Forums

Axis & Allies Forumini

Grand Fleets

Dystopian Wars

 

Checkout the Latest Episode of the MBS Podcast!

Posted in Podcast | 2 Comments

Adepticon Prep: Firestorm Armada Fleet Lists

01c93650770092d914389ca324aea16fec83ad56d5Adepticon is only two months away! I’m planning on participating in the 2nd Schaumburg Prime Offensive Firestorm Armada event, which will include three rounds. Players are allowed to bring two 1000 point lists, and then pick one at the start of each round. I plan on running my Terrans, so here are my two lists!

Continue reading

Posted in Space Naval Gaming | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

Halo Fleet Battles Ships Done

Halo Fleet Battles Ships Done

IMG_1233It has taken me a few months, but I’ve finally gotten all of the UNSC and Covenant ships from my starter box all painted up! This was the “Gencon” version of the box, which included an extra Covenant Heavy Cruiser and UNSC Heavy Carrier. Here is a gallery of pictures:

Posted in Modeling | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

ModCube Product Review

ModCube Product Review

Today, I’m going to talk about ModCube, a product that I have had a lot of fun using, and which I think really improves the “user experience” for a number of naval games. ModCube started out as a Kickstarter campaign, but has now transitioned into being available through a web store.

modcubelogo Continue reading

Posted in Review | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Man Battlestations Monthly Newsletter 20

Man Battlestations Monthly Newsletter 20

Happy New Year Naval Gamers!

First, Two BIG announcements to make:

  1. Episode 2 of the MBS Podcast is live! Make sure to check it out:

http://www.manbattlestations.com/blog/2016/01/11/mbs-podcast-episode-2/

2. The draft rules for the 2016 MBS Painting Contest have been posted for review and comment by the community! These rules will be finalized around the 15th of January, with the submissions window opening on 1 February. Make sure to take a look! Not only have major changes been made to the format of the contest, but I need volunteers to judge the contest, and I am also accepting donations for prize support. If you are interested, please email me at: ruckdog@manbattlestations.com.

http://www.manbattlestations.com/hostedfiles/DRAFTMBS2016PaintingContest.pdf

Here is all of the highlights from MBS over the last month or so since the last newsletter.

On the forums, there has been a big discussion about the new Star Wars movie:

http://www.manbattlestations.com/forum/index.php?topic=1074.0

Also, a number of members have chimed in with their New Year’s gaming resolutions:

http://www.manbattlestations.com/forum/index.php?topic=1076.0

The Crimson World book series has also come up in discussion:

http://www.manbattlestations.com/forum/index.php?topic=1078.0

In the Dystopian Wars section, member Quickdraw has posted an interesting scenario for our enjoyment:

http://www.manbattlestations.com/forum/index.php?topic=1071.0

In the Uncharted Seas forum, Captain Dan shared a link to faction cards for the Sky Pirates:

http://www.manbattlestations.com/forum/index.php?board=35.0

On the blog, I looked at how my predictions from 2015 turned out, and made some more predictions for 2016:

http://www.manbattlestations.com/blog/2015/12/31/2015-predictions-outcome/

http://www.manbattlestations.com/blog/2016/01/02/2016-naval-gaming-predictions/

Until next time!

Ruckdog & The MBS Team

Posted in Monthly Newsletter | Leave a comment

MBS Podcast Episode 2

[iframe style=”border:none” src=”http://html5-player.libsyn.com/embed/episode/id/4068112/height/100/width/480/thumbnail/no/render-playlist/no/theme/legacy” height=”100″ width=”480″ scrolling=”no” allowfullscreen webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen oallowfullscreen msallowfullscreen]

For Episode 2, Greg and Andy take another look at the Naval Miniature Game market and talk about Class “B” games. After that, it’s the first MBS Podcast Game Review! Greg and Andy take a look at Dystopian Wars from Spartan Games.

==Quick Reference==

Class B Game Overview: 26 Min

Landlubber’s Musings: 1 Hr 18 Min

Dystopian Wars Review: 1 Hr 22 Min

Ruckdog’s Report: 2 Hrs 18 Min

2016 Gaming Resolutions: 2 Hrs 24 Min

==Links Discussed in Show==

Modcube

A Call to Arms Starfleet

War Rocket

Star Navy 5150

Deep Wars

Grand Fleets

Star Blazers Fleet Battle System

Dystopian Wars

 

Checkout the Latest Episode of the MBS Podcast!

Posted in Podcast | 2 Comments