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41
Space Naval Games / X-wing and Armada are Dead
« Last post by Easy E on June 13, 2024, 05:12:22 pm »
In a shock to no one.....

https://www.atomicmassgames.com/transmission/update-on-star-wars-x-wing-and-star-wars-armada/

Quote
After long and careful consideration, we are here today to announce the end of development on Star Wars™: X-Wing and Star Wars: Armada.

We are grateful for the community’s passionate engagement and support. Over the past few years, rising production costs, global manufacturing, and pandemic-related challenges have made it increasingly difficult to produce high-quality, pre-painted miniatures which ultimately lead to the decision to end development.

Although development is ending, we are not stepping away from these games entirely. Atomic Mass Games will continue to support tournaments and Organized Play for both games, with OP kits to be found in your local shops, culminating in the Open World Championship at AdeptiCon in March 2025.

Thank you for your continued support and dedication.
42
The Shipyard / Homeworld first pass
« Last post by Kelly on June 10, 2024, 09:49:41 pm »
I told myself that I would not have to paint my Homeworld ships since they were already color coded, were box storable, and were potentially child resistant (with no paint), besides the fact that I have three other concurrent projects right now, but that decision has not lasted long.  So here are some of the first tests on some Taiidan fighters and a heavy corvette…



The color coding was what initially drove the testing as I really like the fighter round tokens, but it is almost impossible to tell the difference between variants of the same color given their size.  Despite the larger ship silhouettes still being easily distinguishable, when they are next to painted fighters they look out of place, and so I bid farewell to all hopes of sleep…

I did want to preserve the blue v. red aesthetic and first tried just line washes along the details of the pieces but the smooth finish of the plastic requires multiple coats of wash, which led to the second attempt of primer and traditional paint for not that much more time per piece.  Again, the nature of the models made priming difficult, and I had to switch to an airbrush primer to get better adhesion but that also made cleanup of any errant brushstrokes along the borders very easy.

The storage question is not that much of an issue since I was having trouble with the close fits of the vacuum formed box inserts so they will be moving into another space.  Also, the relative softness of the plastic they used is perfect for pieces that will be handled often, but with the standard deployment formations within Homeworld being set numbers by ship class, I most likely am moving them onto bases which should also mostly preserve their paint and have no real affect on their use in-game.
43
News and Rumors / Re: HMS Medusa
« Last post by Easy E on June 04, 2024, 03:21:00 pm »
That is really cool!
44
News and Rumors / HMS Medusa
« Last post by Kelly on May 18, 2024, 01:36:03 pm »
Warlord Games has a new partnership with a historical organization, the HMS Medusa Trust, supporting the last remaining Harbor Defense Motor Launch from World War 2.  With each purchase of an HMS Medusa for use in Cruel Seas, Warlord will make a donation to towards its preservation…
https://us.warlordgames.com/products/cruel-seas-hdml-hms-medusa

…wait, did I say preservation, I meant operation, as this ship is not only still seaworthy but is taken out on a regular basis.  That is two fundraising agreements for Warlord naval games down, only Victory at Sea is left now.

SKU 785101016
45
Space Naval Games / Re: Hostile Space - Space Mecha Combat Thread
« Last post by Easy E on May 07, 2024, 10:23:23 am »


The trading contract for the Freehold of New Arcadia will expire and come up for re-negotiation in the next rotations.  Traditionally, these contracts have been held by corporate interests aligned with the New Olympians, and New Arcadia was considered within the New Olympians sphere of interests.  However, the free hold is located in the Asteroid Belt, which the Earth Alliance views at its territory.   

With the contract set to expire, elements of the Earth Alliance have begun aggressively courting New Arcadia.  They have offered lucrative incentives, and coupled them with veiled threats.  In fact, some smaller trading and prospecting vessels from New Arcadia have gone missing in the region.  The Earth Alliance has cited this as a prime reason to change contracts, as the New Olympians have failed to properly protect and enforce the expiring contract.

The powers that be on NeOlympus have deemed it necessary to reinforce their alliance on New Arcadia.  To this end, they have deployed a patrol ship and a compliment of suits to New Arcadia space.  A Carrier arrived and dropped off just such a ship before continuing on its route.  The New Olympian commander on the scene has pledged to find the cause of the missing prospecting vessels.   

After chasing down leads to the Outsider Confederacy aligned Liberty Pointe, New Olympian agents were able to uncover that the Red Knights Mercenary Company was involved in the attacks in New Arcadia space.  The Red Knights are closely aligned with the Earth Alliance. 

New Olympian agents using a combination of espionage, human intelligence work, and predicative analytics believe they have located a possible location for the Red King base in New Arcadian space.  Therefore, the New Olympian patrol ship quickly deployed to neutralize this enemy base.  To avoid detection, they deployed their Combat Suit and Marine Landers at great distance.  These forces slowly closed the gap on their own power. 

However, the New Olympian attackers were detected inbound, and Red Knight forces scrambled to intercept them.  They needed to buy their comrades time to destroy any potential intelligence to their employers, evacuate the base, and attempt to evade capture.


Forces:

New Olympians

3 Ares Space Combat Suits

- 1 Upgraded with #1 - Heavy beam Cannon

3 Hephaestus Lander

Red Knights

1 Shepherd Suit

- Upgrade- Combat Shield

4 Bulldog Suits

- 1 Upgrade- Rocket Tube   

3 Mongrel Defense Platforms

3 Beagle Defense Satellites

Mission

We will be using Mission 11- Assault the Base found in the main rule book.  In this scenario, the Attacking New Olympians are trying to land troops to take the enemy base.  Meanwhile, the New Olympians will gain extra VP if the Transport manages to land troops.

Set-up   

We will be playing on a 72 x 48 MU board the long way.  1 MU is equal to 1 inch. 

The Red Knight side of the board is a large asteroid.  This is 6x6 MU and covers altitudes 2-4.  The base in the center of the asteroid and at altitude 4.  This large asteroid is 12 MU in from the deployment zone, and 12 MU in from one of the board edges.  Attempting to fly through the asteroid at height 2-3 will result in a collision and the unit being destroyed.  4 can land on the asteroid.  5 Smaller asteroids are set-up in the battlespace at various heights.  They only apply to that height. 

The Red Knights are deployed anywhere within 12 MU of the base.  The Mongrels are on the base as a last line of defense.  The Combat Suits and Defense Satellites are trying to make a perimeter to stop the attack.  The Suits are going full-speed to intercept. 
 


The New Olympians are coming in from the opposite side.  They are approaching with a Suit escorting each Transport. They are spread out to try and get past the defenders.



You can read the full results on the Blood and Spectacles blog if you are so inclined.
https://bloodandspectacles.blogspot.com/2024/04/battle-report-hostile-space-raid-on-red.html
46
The Shipyard / Re: Star Wars second pass
« Last post by Kelly on May 04, 2024, 01:57:34 pm »
To try and impose some sort of order on my modeling, I now have three dates on the calendar that I have set as goals for themed models.  Too late (last weekend) I realized that the next date up, May the Fourth, was far too close for enough time to finish a Clone Wars design… and then inspiration struck!  If I could not finish a ship design, I could design an unfinished ship.


These Acclamators in progress are a first attempt at a ship-build, I started with the outlines of the original, subtracted a few spaces, and then added beams throughout and a reactor at approximately the right location, thank you SW Cross Sections.  Overall, I am pretty pleased at how these turned out given the time constraints, and hopefully will have a new project incorporating some of these that are larger than an inch soon.
47
The Swap Shop / Re: Selling new Dystopian Wars and Dropfleet Commander
« Last post by Wanjajoral on April 27, 2024, 02:13:13 pm »
Hi there,
sorry, I just now saw your reply.
Yes, everything listed is still available.

All the best,
Michael
48
Space Naval Games / Hostile Space - Space Mecha Combat Thread
« Last post by Easy E on April 23, 2024, 02:55:35 pm »
I figured I would make thread as I will probably have a few games of Hostile Space over the next few months. 



The following is a battle report for my latest game, Hostile Space:

The trading contract for the Freehold of New Arcadia will expire and come up for re-negotiation in the next rotations.  Traditionally, these contracts have been held by corporate interests aligned with the New Olympians, and New Arcadia was considered within the New Olympians sphere of interests.  However, the free hold is located in the Asteroid Belt, which the Earth Alliance views at its territory.   

With the contract set to expire, elements of the Earth Alliance have begun aggressively courting New Arcadia.  They have offered lucrative incentives, and coupled them with veiled threats.  In fact, some smaller trading and prospecting vessels from New Arcadia have gone missing in the region.  The Earth Alliance has cited this as a prime reason to change contracts, as the New Olympians have failed to properly protect and enforce the expiring contract.

The powers that be on NeOlympus have deemed it necessary to reinforce their alliance on New Arcadia.  To this end, they have deployed a patrol ship and a compliment of suits to New Arcadia space.  A Carrier arrived and dropped off just such a ship before continuing on its route.  The New Olympian commander on the scene has pledged to find the cause of the missing prospecting vessels.   

Investigating the last know location of one of these New Arcadian Prospecting ships, the New Olympians had unusual activity on their scopes. The New Olympians engaged the hostiles and drove them off.  Post-battle analysis allowed the New Olympians to identify that the suits engaged were of Earth Alliance design.  However, the Earth Alliance is well known for selling their tech to anyone with the currency to buy it.  Identifying their suits would not be enough to link them to the loss of the Prospecting Ships from New Arcadia. 

Therefore, the Patrol Craft tracked their potential telemetry to a nearby Asteroid that could house a forward operating base.  En route, unknown suits were identified attempting to transit from the area.  Again, a vicious dogfight ensued, but the apparent lead suit escaped while the new Olympians lost one of their heavier suits in the fighting.   

With their leads running dry, the Captain set course for Liberty Pointe.  The Pointe was a well known haven for freebooters, criminals and smugglers, just the type of place where pirates would try to off load their ill-gotten gains.  The New Olympians hoped to pick up the trail there. 

After travelling through open space for several weeks, the Patrol Ship finally was able to contact Liberty Pointe.  Technically, Liberty Pointe was under the protection and aligned with the Outsider Confederation.  However, they graciously allowed a single New Olympian transport escorted by a few suits to enter dock at their Free Hold and pursue the investigation. 

Members of the New Olympian Diplomatic Corp as well as a criminal investigation team boarded the shuttle with their honor guard of marines.  The transport left the dock, and her escort of Ares suits soon joined her on the transit to the Pointe. 

As they approached, the traffic from other ships in Docking Orbit and their transports also increased.  When they were outside of the protection of the Patrol Ships guns, but before they were in close orbit to the Pointe calamity struck.  A Cold-Void Storage Container en route to the Pointe burst open and unknown Suits swarmed out of it and towards the Transport.  Someone didn't want this investigation to continue!  The New Olympian Escorts scrambled to engage the enemy suits.


Forces:

New Olympians

3 Ares Space Combat Suits

- 1 Upgraded with #1 - Heavy beam Cannon

3 Hephaestus Lander

Red Knights

1 Shepherd Suit

- Upgrade- Combat Shield

4 Bulldog Suits

- 1 Upgrade- Rocket Tube   

We will be using Mission 5- Escorts found in the main rule book.  In this scenario, the Attacking Unknowns earn extra VP for destroying the transport.  Meanwhile, the New Olympians will gain extra VP if the Transport escapes the opposite board edge, or avoids getting destroyed.

Set-up

This time, we are playing on a 72 x 48 MU board.  That means 1 MU is 1 inch in today's battle. I have placed large "shadows" on the board that represent other freighters, cargo containers, and other craft.  They all cover a single altitude that was randomly determined.  Each has a dice next to them for Height.  The large frieghters cover all the altitudes for this battle.  If a Suit or transport enters the area of a shadow and is at the same altitude, it is considered destroyed.

The New Olympians deploy on a short board edge with the transport in the middle at Beta and speed 4 about 4 MU in.  The rest of the suits form a triangle around the Transport at various altitudes all at speed 4.



The Unknowns are on the opposite side of the boards.  They are at various altitudes and speed 6 and all deployed 6 MU from their edge.



You can read the full battle report on the Blood and Spectacles blog here:
https://bloodandspectacles.blogspot.com/2024/04/battle-report-hostile-space-escort-to.html
49
News and Rumors / Re: Halo returns
« Last post by Kelly on April 19, 2024, 04:38:25 pm »
Just heard an Adepticon interview with Ronnie Renton from Mantic, he diplomatically steered the conversation away from both a fleet scale Halo game as well as Vault stl options, so those two predictions look like they were spot on.

The initial release scheduled is for a small scale skirmish game, heavily influenced by their earlier game Deadzone, focusing mainly on Spartans and Elites, but Ronnie did say all of their plans are accounting for many additional game modes, including Grunts, so that is a slight positive.  Possibly we will see boarding actions in the future, as opposed to replicating just the multiplayer experience.
50
Modeling Q&A / Not 3D printing??
« Last post by Kelly on April 19, 2024, 04:31:22 pm »
Through the constant deluge of marketing emails, one occasionally catches my eye and this one from last week* made me laugh out loud.


The careful observer will note that these are not the standard anniversary or birthday photos that are usually the subjects of Shutterfly prints, but these were good reminders of probably the best custom prints I have ever received from them.


I have had Shutterfly do fabric and vinyl prints for backdrops or tables, but these 1.4 inch full color magnets are printed on the reverse of convex glass that are perfect for planet objectives with a reasonably common size; here is another printed set on the left, versus the regular stock tokens  from Homeworld Fleet Command on the right.


Their email was a reminder that I need to keep a set of files on hand and be ready to upload them whenever a free shipping event comes back around because there is a surprising amount of products they now carry, just waiting for game resources.

*The only problem with these magnets is that they have a tendency to migrate to appliances, it took a while for me to track these down, and do not know where the rest are hiding.
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