Antares Mega Battle at Phoenix Wargames Exhibition

This past weekend I attended the Phoenix Wargames Exhibition at the Rheged Centre, At the show I decided to showcase Beyond the Gates of Antares on behalf of House Lancaster, and what better way to do that than get as many miniatures into a battle as I could!

The scenario was that the Algoryn Prosperate had just landed their ship carrying vital supplies for the war effort against the Ghar Empire heading to Xilos, who then promptly ambush the Algoryn!

The Algoryn however are resolute and opt to make their stand, hoping to deny the Ghar their prize. Meanwhile the  C3 Strike Squads of the Concord have also heard of this supply drop and have decided to take an interest, whether to benefit themselves or to aid the Algoryn is unclear…that’s up to the players!

The large spaceship in the centre of the board was an old Manta Force vehicle by Bluebird Toys, simply repainted and weathered slightly. The ship actually contains numerous smaller vehicles, and once the plastic Algoryn hit the store I intend to convert many into the crew of the ship, since there is actually fully modeled seats and control panels within the toy!

The building surrounding the drop site are from 4Ground’s Jesserais set and Micro Arts Studios Infinity range, with the gorgeous looking mat created by Deep Cut Studios.

The table was arranged so that those wishing to get stuck into a massive game can just pick up where the battle left off, making for a great participation game. For those that were not familiar with the system, a small section of the battlefield was cunningly arranged for this specific role, with a squad of Algoryn AI going up against a C3 strike squad.  I am pleased to say many a player then went immediately over to the Warlord stand to buy their first miniatures!

The table attracted quite a bit of attention and I admit I am very happy with how it all came together, and the event itself is well worth a visit.

House Lancaster will be back next year at the event, bigger and better!

Phoenix Wargames Exhibition

This year saw the first Phoenix Wargames Exhibition held at the fantastic Rheged Centre in Penrith, Cumbria.

The event was organised by Chris Sutherland and funded by West Coast Gamer's and Hadrian's Hobbies.

The event covered two large rooms in the building, with one room dedicated to tournament games of Magic the Gathering and Batman: The Miniatures Game. These games were looked marvelous with a lot of effort going into the making of them.

Situated next to these was the bring and buy area, were you could rent a table out on a hourly basis and sell your excess miniatures,perfect for starting a new project, clearing some space and for those looking for a great deal on their wargaming hobby!

The main room featured all of the traders and most of the games tables. Among the plethora of systems there were games of Lord of the rings, pitting the fellowship against the Uruk Hai at Amon Hen, put on by Matt Crump of Wargames in the Dungeon.

The gents over at Hadrian's Hobbies created a awesome looking Warhammer 30k blasted cityscape, fought during the Horus Heresy.

  The Beyond the Gates of Antares mega battle attracted a lot of attention featuring masses of Ghar, Concord and Algoryn. It even featured a spaceship!

The Antares board  was run by myself on behalf of House Lancaster. This will be featured in more detail in a separate article soon.

There was also a fantastic looking game of Bolt Action, featuring a very impressive bridge made by the guys over at Z1 Design.

The show also featured Ancient battles and games set within the  age of black powder, with masses of infantry clashing on some great looking battlefields.

Overall the show was fantastic, with a great variety of systems and traders to keep you going. The venue is  great and is very easy to get to. Featuring shops, cafes and a very nice deli it is a perfect choice for all us hungry hobbyists!

At this point I must say thanks to all the clubs, traders and organisers that put on this great event, and of course the public, without which there wouldn’t be a show!

Here is a list of the traders and clubs, it was great meeting you all, here's to next year!

http://phoenix-show.co.uk/

http://cjsutherland.co.uk/

https://www.facebook.com/groups/557962824304946/

http://www.warlordgames.com/

http://hadrianshobbies.co.uk/

http://wargamesinthedungeon.blogspot.co.uk/

http://gamesofwar.net/

http://emperortoadsemporium.com/

http://combatzone-scenery.co.uk/

www.facebook.com/cumbriawargaming

http://levenminiatures.co.uk/

http://hokaheywargaming.co.uk/

https://www.facebook.com/Grahams-Wuerkshoppe-112789322138273/

Lancaster Comics Day: House Lancaster Entertains!

So its been a while since I last posted anything... and here is why!

 Over the past number of weeks I have been preparing buildings, terrain and armies in preparation for our local comic con. The con also featured some great cakes created by another of our members, and we thanked Katie for them!

This past Sunday House Lancaster attended the annual Comic con in Lancaster, Lancashire, UK which is a yearly event showcasing local comic book talent. with seminars, stalls and more.  Among all this we were there to showcase our club and provide a decent games room for the public, where demo and participation games were available.

This was also a great opportunity to expand our club, by getting more members and showing a mere sample of what games systems we play. We had three main tables that stayed the same throughout the day, with two smaller ones that we could swap out.

On the larger we had Orks vs Death Guard in our 30k themed snow board, whilst games of Age of Sigmar and  Bolt Action focused on the core starter sets, giving a nice intro into each system. We also had games of X-wing and Beyond the Gates of Antares with Batman: The Miniatures Game and Judge Dredd on hand when we needed to swap something out. Dropzone commander was ever present and the skirmish game Malifaux attracted a lot of attention!

Overall despite the early close (we stayed till the very end) the event was a success for us, gaining more members and having some fun in the process!

It goes without saying that I need to thank the fine fellows of the gaming group that helped me out no end, without them there is no House Lancaster! Special thanks goes to Ben , Chris ,Mike and Dave for sticking with it on such a hot day, I owe you all a beer!

If you are interested in the House Lancaster gaming group, here is the Facebook group page:

A fresh new website is underway and should be up soon, a link will appear on here in due course.

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/