Anvil Industry: Exo Lords Black Ops Fireteam and Recon Snipers

Welcome to another review!  This time around  I will be taking a look at some of the resin miniatures produced by Anvil Industry.

Based in London, they produce resin miniatures, components and accessories for the avid collector. They also have their own skirmish game called Afterlife and produce a whole slew of miniatures for it. The rules can be downloaded as a free PDF from the website, which is found at the end of this article.

I hope to cover more of Afterlife in the future, but for now here is the first section of this two part piece, we will start with the Exo Lords Black Ops Fireteam.

These are 30mm heroic scale miniatures which can be used in any science fiction wargame. In the blister you get 10 highly detailed resin one piece casts of the legs and body, while the weapons are separate along with the power packs. There are around 40 extra components, such as ammo pouches, equipment belts, combat knives, pistols, Fusion Gun and stacked mag holders, allowing you to really customise your squad.

The helmets feature different versions of night vision goggles, with some sculpted directly onto the helmets, whilst others have separate attachments that you can apply yourself. The pack also includes some bare heads with re-breathers which I made the most of.

How you paint these guys is entirely up to you, but these will lend themselves really well to a black or deep blue colour scheme, or could even be painted in camouflage colours. These however will feature in my Death Guard army, fitting in nicely with the rest of the force. I went for mostly bare heads with the remainder wearing the singular night vision lens, perfect for my army. 

Sniper Recon:

The sniper blister pack features two resin one piece casts and one with a optional head. No bases are supplied with any of these packs, leaving it up to you how you want to base these impressive minis. Only one of the snipers weapons needed to be bent back into shape but this is normal for resins. I will be using these as part of my Heresy era army as well, making excellent alternatives for my Recon Squad as I prefer the look of these to the Forge World versions.

The scale is a perfect match for the Space Marine kits, as I have also used Anvil's Medieval legs for some spare torsos that I had from the Calth set. They stock plenty of great little conversion packs to really customise your collection, as well as stocking full kits like those above. They also do human factions , more of which will feature in the next article.

You can find all you need to know about Anvil and their ranges here:

http://anvilindustry.co.uk/index.php?route=common/home

Icarus Miniatures: Feral Nexus

This time around I take a look at something new for me, as I check out some of the latest releases from Icarus Miniatures. Based in North Wales UK,  they produce fine quality 32mm miniatures for the collector and wargamer. I take a look at the Feral Nexus, from the Icarus Project.

The Icarus Project is a science fiction skirmish game set 800 hundred years into the future, where humanity has expanded into the galaxy, but not without conflict. The powerful Nexus are a race to be feared and the Feral’s are even more brutal and bloodthirsty than the rest of their kind!

The miniatures are made from high quality resin, and feature some of the clearest detailing I’ve seen! The quality of the miniatures is amazing. The battle scars and ridges on the miniatures are crisp and clear, and once given a lick of paint really do stand out. 

The miniatures don't take much cleaning up, other than the normal flash you would expect to see on a resin miniature. Assembly takes no time at all, with each arm slotting into position with ease. The lower arms can be positioned how you like on the charging Nexus, whilst on the other miniature the lower and upper arms are connected. These are compatible with the other miniatures in the Nexus range and would make for some nice little conversions.

Each miniature is armed with twin bone knives and have a pistol attached at the waist. They have shackles attached to their arms and legs, giving the impression that these are kept under lock and key when not in battle! These simple little details tell a story and its details like that that really sell a miniature for me.

 The tribal necklaces with teeth adorning these miniatures ads to the feral look, as well as the tattered clothing. The fact that they are charging in with hardly any armour on shows just how tough (or crazy) they are!

Each was given a black spray primer, then the base colours of Knarloc Green, Rakarth Flesh, Calthan Brown and Bleached Bone were added before a generous wash of Army Painter Strong Tone. The skin was then dry brushed with Gretchin Green, whilst the straps and part of the necklace was painted Leather Brown.

The armour was painted in Army Painter Gun Metal with a Black Ink wash highlighted with Chainmail. The bone coloured areas were drybrushed with Bleached Bone again.  A few simple highlights and touch ups later gives a quick and effective looking paint scheme for these miniatures. The eyes were one of the last thing I painted, taking great care I used Sunburst Yellow, with Bleached Bone being used to paint on the tribal markings and highlight the ridges on the face and arms.

Also contained in each pack you get a stat card, detailing all you need to field these warriors in your games. I’ve yet to play the game , but after building and painting these miniatures it has inspired me to start collecting. I am eager to see what other miniatures Icarus come up with in the future, and I highly recommend grabbing yourself some these stunning minis!

You can find out more about Icarus Miniatures here:

http://icarusminiatures.com/

Salute 2016

This was the first time attending the event, and was something I was looking forward to! I was most fortunate to travel down with Warlord Games, (thanks to Andrew Chesney!), I was tasked with manning the Antares table for the day, running demo games for those who wished to know more.

The two tables were built to represent habitation domes either on the surface of a starship, or on a barren planet. The two games featured many bespoke pieces of terrain, all done by Richard Carlisle of Warlord,including a large skeleton of some gigantic creature (or office rat!). Sarissa Precision provided the buildings and impressive dome! 

Floating around the boards was the latest addition to the Antares range. The new C3M4 Combat Drone plastic kit really does herald the way things will go in Antares. The vehicle is used by the Concord and Freeborn forces and was a popular item on the day! Full review is due soon.

Among all the shiny goodness that Warlord had to offer was the magnificent looking Project Z game, which at £30 a pop, was selling fast!  Watch this space for a battle report or two!

As well as the Conflict 47 rules coming from Clockwork Goblin and Warlord, they had on show a number of impending releases as well as some of their current products, this a game that I cannot wait to get into, in fact I bought some stuff there and then!

Alongside the Antares table was a decent sized game of Tanks Wars, which ran for most of the day.

I did manage to get a few minutes to myself and went off to see what I could find. For those who have not been before, the event is truly massive.  Over 14,000 square feet and over 150 traders, it is the place to be!

Aside from running off to purchase some shiny goodies, I went to check out the Hawk Wargames stand, where they had their immense display. Cannot wait for Dropfleet to hit the shops! Their event only items sold out within minutes of opening!

Moving further about, I discovered the guys at 4Ground. The Gotham themed buildings looked amazing, and I will be grabbing some for a future Batman article! The Flames of War scale scenery was spot on, and cannot wait for more releases from their sci-fi range, great for Antares, 40k and many other systems.

I also managed to get a glimpse of the forthcoming Halo: Ground Command from Spartan Games, this looks set to be a great system to get into, and with these guys behind it, is set for big things! The miniatures are stunning, and I cannot wait to get a game in!

It was great to catch up (in real life) with fellow hobbyists and friends, and pretty much geek out about this wonderful industry!

Salute 2016 was amazing, and though I would have liked to seen more, it was a blast! The event is so big that you would be hard-pressed to see everything, but I do urge you all to go.

 Thanks to all at Warlord for the opportunity and it was a fantastic experience...bring on next year!

Salute 2016

So this year I will be at Salute!

It's my first time there (shocking I know!) and I am very much looking forward to it, the sights...the sounds...the... smells?!

Anywho, come find me at the Warlord Games stand, where I will be manning the Beyond the Gates of Antares table!

Be great to see some of you there!

Cheers

Sam

Operation Sand Dune

Here you will find a link to the first in a series called Operation Sand Dune, where myself, Andy Singleton of Volley Fire Painting Services and Carl Titterington of T's Foaming Terrain and all That are building up armies and terrain based on the Duel in the Sun supplement for Bolt Action by Warlord Games.

More articles, blogs and videos are on the way!

Operation Sand Dune Part Introdcution:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIRQ-ZY0tNU

Andy Singleton;

https://www.facebook.com/VolleyFirepainting/?fref=ts

Carl Titterington:

https://www.facebook.com/FoamingTerrain/?fref=ts

Beyond the Gates of Antares, The Xilos Horizon: Battle Report

With the Xilos Horizon boxed game in hand, myself and Dave Walker of House Lancaster decided to use some of the contents of the game, showcasing a 500pt force aside built from just the components in the boxed game. We decided just to wipe each other out as we were putting on a show for the benefit of our club. The Ghar have a special Distort dice, which can really put a spanner in the works for either side, however we opted not to use it for our demo game, as we wanted to keep things nice and simple.

Ghar:

Assault Squad x 3

Battle Squads x3

Concord:

C3 Strike Squad x5

C3 Strike Squad x5

Plasma Light Support Drone x 2

Turn 1:

The first dice went straight to the Ghar, who advanced up the left flank of the battlefield, keen to get the Concord in their sights. The plasma light support drones responded to this by maneuvering themselves behind some containers, while the C3 squads on the right flank sought to seek a better firing position. The Ghar assault squad advanced towards the encroaching C3, hoping to get their weapons into range, but found their line of sight blocked.

The Command squad of the C3 used his Follow special rule, taking the nearest available squad with them into cover, in a bid to deal with the Ghar threat quickly.

Turn 2

The C3 squad had a clear line of sight to the assault squad and let loose a volley of plasma fire into them. With the fire bouncing harmlessly off their thick armour plating, the Ghar advanced towards the floating plasma drones.. The Concord responded in kind, moving the drones out into the open and losing off six round of plasma fire, but the tough suits of the Ghar managed to shrug off the attacks.

The Ghar assault squad advanced further towards the C3 strike squad facing them, opting to fire a volley of their own, killing two C3 troopers and placing a pin marker on the squad. The Concord troopers, not to be outdone initiated a Fire fight, the C3 squad managed to take down a Ghar!

Turn 3

The concord drew the next dice, and opened up once more with the plasma light support, once again however the tough armour of the Ghar managed to withstand the hail of SV 3 shots! This would take their height Res value of 12 down to a 9, giving the support drones more of a chance to destroy them. 

The Concord moved the nearest C3 squad out in the open to pour fire into the encroaching Ghar walkers, placing another pin on the unit but failed to kill any.

The Ghar enraged, sought to take their fury out on the C3, moving into a better position to try and charge next turn, firing their weapons but missing their target. The C3 unit opted to charge into the Ghar! Opting to combine their plasma grenades to at least try and damage the Ghar, the C3 troopers bravely launched themselves at the behemoths, losing off a hail of plasma point blank. Despite the firepower, the Ghar crashed into the hapless troopers, wiping the squad out!

The other C3 squad fired upon the Ghar, managing to exact some revenge on the unit by killing another, and cooking its reactor off! The remaining Ghar managed to hold it nerve and its Res roll, staying in the game.

Turn 4

The Ghar managed to draw their own distort dice, meaning that one of the squads would be out of action! Opting to use the last assault unit left, the plucky Ghar charged headlong into the nearest C3 squad, killing one with its opening salvo, the C3 unit fire back but to know avail as the Ghar barreled into them, killing one out right. Down to three men left, the unit tried to kill the Ghar but failed, with them losing two men the squad failed their Command check and fled the field! With the last squad gone, the C3 drones tried to gun down another Ghar unit, but failed to cause any damage.

Turn 5

The Ghar gained the first dice, and moved the Assault unit further towards the C3 drones firing a round into their sides, destroying one.  The Ghar drew the next dice, launching into the last drone firing all the way and despite the drone managing to hit its target, exploded in the iron grip of the Ghar ending the game!

Dave;

With a better dice rolls and perhaps not charging into the Ghar I could have clawed back a victory, the best thing when facing Ghar is do not get close, they are slow and easy to hit due to their immense size, so a tactic of shoot and retreat may have been better! The C3 Plasma drones were very useful, as there are tougher than the regular squads and stand more of a chance. They also pack some serious firepower, enabling me to have a better chance at disabling those tough Res 12 battle suits!

Sam:

The Ghar are just walking tanks, able to oak up much of the firepower ranged against them. But I must remember not to get too complacent as they can still die! Pinning the Ghar down is key to success, which why it’s still a good idea to keep them in cover as much as possible,  A great game all round!

The buildings, walls and containers are mostly from Micro Art Studios, as is the wonderful gaming mat. The rest is from Mantic and Warmill.

http://www.microartstudio.com/

http://www.warmill.co.uk/

http://www.manticgames.com/

500pt Beyond the Gates of Antares Battle!

Concord Vs Boromites

First off, my computer is currently in the workshop for repairs, so my apologies for not posting much stuff up! In the meantime here is a small battle report to keep you all going, plus another article on a more historical level which will be up shortly.

Myself and Chris Horgan from House Lancaster Gaming Group in the UK decided to wage war in Antarean space, using the Boromites and Concord, with the Freeborn along for the ride.

For those who are new to the game, game utilises mainly D10s, and the Bolt Action order dice. Each unit generates an order dice, and are then placed into a bag,  each die is then drawn blind and the player whose coloured dice it is gets to activate one of their units. Once that unit has performed a relative action, another dice is drawn until all units have acted. This simple but effective mechanic means that you never know who will get the next vital move!

The game enables you to run, sprint, go to ground (Down) or even start a Firefight. So if your unit gets shot at and has no order dice attached to it, it can immediately fire back! Units can set ambushes or snap to cover and close quarter fighting is brutal!   Pin markers are also utilised in this game, with each unit gaining a pin from not just shooting, but other effects such as performing a Sprint action, this is to represent units becoming exhausted.

We opted to use the scenario Disputed Ground. The game limit was set to 600pts, with the Boromites coming just under. Chris opted to give the army the Pull Yourself Together special rule, meaning a Boromite unit can remove one pin marker from a single unit once, which could still be crucial in a turn. With the scenario all set and battle lines drawn, all that was left to do was wage war!

 

 

Turn 1: Chris managed to draw two dice in a row and proceeded to Sprint both the Boromite Overseer and a unit of Gang Fighters up into cover, giving them a better position to get to the objective. This managed to get them just inside the warehouse. Next the Concord, under the command of the Freeborn Captain, ordered the mercenary squad next to her up and into the warehouse. As part of a Commanders special ability, unit within range can perform the same order, as long as it doesn’t have a order and no pins.  The Boromites attempted a few shots at the plasma cannon, but failed to hit, unlike the plasmas cannon that promptly fired back, killing one!

The Concord C3 squads and Vardinari squad moved up and around the furthest building on the left flank, after spying the Boromites Gang Workers moving into a better position. The light plasma drone glided towards the main objective, firing off a volley of plasma at the Boromite light support, killing the last crewman and taking them out of the game!

Turn 2:

All dice where then placed back into the bag, removing one as a unit had been destroyed.  The Boromites wanted revenge and opened up with their mag weapons at the mercenary squad inside the building, pinning and killing one. The same mercenary’s drew the next dice and promptly fired back, killing one. The overseer and his bodyguard fired on the Freeborn Captain, re-rolling one To Hit dice due to the drone attached to his squad, managing to hit but failing to slay any.  The Freeborn Captain fired back, killing one of the Boromite Overseers body guards outright!

On the other side of the battlefield, the fight did not go well for the Boromites. The C3 strike squad had moved up and drawn a bead on the gang workers and with a -1 on the dice roll due to moving, yet still managed to kill three!  The light plasma drone moved onto the objective, simply to guard it from the oncoming infantry.

The Boromite squad lurking behind the building moves into the complex on the ground floor, opposite another building which is being cleared by an advancing Vardinari squad.

Turn 3:

The two units inside the building open up on each other, with the Boromites failing to kill any, whilst losing two of their number to mass plasma fire. The remaining gang workers are gunned down by the still advancing C3 squad, looking to capture the objective. The fight in the warehouse intensifies as another gang worker is killed, and the Boromite Overseer is slain by the Freeborn Captain’s compression carbine. The Boromite x launcher fires an explosive at the drone but fails to get through its tough armour.

The C3 squad move to capture the objective, after having survived sustained fire from the three remaining Boromite squad members in the building. The Vardinari squad see this and manage to kill another two, leaving a sole survivor.

Turn 4: The x launcher fires once more, hitting its mark, this time managing to place another couple of pin markers, bringing the total to five. The shot penetrates the armour and immobilises the drone! The shot was well placed, hitting the concord C3 squad as well, but due to the Hyper Light shielding (which gives a great benefit from Over Head shots) the squad manages to survive the blast.

The remaining Boromite from the command squad is finally brought down by the combined fire of the Freeborn command squad. With my C3 squads and Freeborn mercenaries clearing house, the Boromites loose off a few more rounds, but to no avail. With so much firepower now arranged against the few remaining Boromites, we decided to call the game there, with a resounding victory to the Concord and the Freeborn!

Hopefully this has sparked your interest for more! Beyond the Gates of Antares is gaining in popularity, and the miniatures have to been seen to really appreciate them. Remember everything is in a Beta stage, but with a great community at its core, Warlord’s know how and Rick Priestley behind the helm, this game can only get bigger and better!