New Ion Age Miniatures!

Sneak Peek time people.  Yes, new Ion Age miniatures.  The first newly molded masters in more than ten years in Alternative Armies 28mm science fiction line will be released before Salute 2012.  IB051 Retained Squires.

Conversions sculpted by Rob Alderman these four fill a gap most mentioned by players of Firefight 2.0, MOTH and other systems that the Ion Age range has virtually no bare headed miniatures to provide characters and a different look.  Well that is changing now with these four Squires.  Suitable as officer, sergeants or just plain troopers they fit the bill.  I already have these miniatures in my collection and they look great.

More information when I have it!

GBS

Following up on the success of the SSP04 Bier & Bones starter set for Flintloque 3rd edition late last year Alternative Armies are releasing another starter pack on Friday 2nd March 2012.  This second pack is code SSP02 Death in the Snow and gives a player all they need to to get on the action in the chilly Witchlands campaign.  The boxed set contains the ninety six page Death in the Snow game book along with a special two page insert (scenarios, characters, how to get started and more) plus fourteen 28mm White Metal miniatures (Elf Carabiniers and Werewolf Jagers with Vampyre Officer) and fourteen plastic bases.  Last but not least two percentile dice and the box it comes in!  Superb fun and value at only 30.00GBP.

I designed this starter set to allow gamers to get familiar with the game, the campaign and the two small sections before moving on and adding more forces to expand a collection.  It does this very well with the two sections being light infantry the addition of line infantry, cavalry, artillery and the Undead all easy to do.  Plus the insert has a code for 10% off your next Flintloque order…awesome!

There are two more Shilling Service Packs coming out in the next few weeks; news on them as the time comes.  One for Catalucia and one for Grapeshotte.

Look for these starter sets for Flintloque on the Alternative Armies website.

GBS

As announced in a previous posting on this blog I have now completed the Terminus Micro-Scenarios number 1-5 for use with USE ME.

You can expect to see the scenarios on Barking Irons Online in the coming few weeks.

1. Planet Fall

2. Primal Score

3. The Shootist

4. Gun Run

5. A Node in the Right Direction

Artwork as seen here will be included and was penned by Edward Jackson.

Enjoy!

GBS

SSP04 Shilling Service pack for Bier & Bones

I had planned to release three more Shilling Service packs for Flintloque 3rd edition in time for Salute 2012, much like the one for Bier & Bones.  However a few emails and one vocal member of the Notables Yahoo Group has led me to change my mind and to move the release forward a touch into March 2012. The new SSP codes will cover War in Catalucia, Death in the Snow, Grapeshotte.  Each will have a 96pp book along with miniatures, bases, dice and a two page special insert; all contained within a lovely box.

While I cannot give full details here the basic contents will be as follows.

SSP01 War in Catalucia

5025 War in Catalucia book, 12 White Metal 28mm Flintloque Miniatures (Six Blacke Watchit Joccian Ratmen vs Five Elf Chassuers and One Ogre Officer), 12 Bases, 2 Percentile Bases, 2 Page Insert (scenarios, character creation and more).

SSP02 Death in the Snow

5026 Death in the Snow, 14 White Metal 28mm Flintloque Miniatures (Six elite Elf Carabiniers vs Eight Werewolf Jagers including Vampyre officer), 14 Bases, 2 Percentile Bases, 2 Page Insert (scenarios, character creation and more).

SSP03 Grapeshotte

5027 Grapeshotte book, 8 White Metal 28mm Flintloque Miniatures and 2 Artillery pieces (Dogman Grasshopper Gun with Crew, Mortar Set with Dogmen Crew), 8 Bases, 2 Percentile Bases, 2 Page Insert (scenario suggestions for artillery, character creation and more).

I am quite happy to release the Witchlands one first (SSP02) as we have requests for it already.  This will be next week at the earliest….I still need to playtest the scenarios!

Never let it be said that I do not listen to the Notables!

GBS

Invisible and impermeable until a civilisation reaches a point of technical advancement capable of reaching its solar system’s edge the Terminus is a lethal challenge set to all space faring species.  From an inky nothingness to an obstacle that can only be overcome by skilful use of military force Terminus is the benchmark of adulthood for every race that fancies itself a possible master of the universe.  A Terminus blocks all exits from a solar system seemingly moving almost instantly to any vector taken by star ships trying to leave the system.  Appearing as a monolithic flat piece of golden metal some thousand miles wide  Terminus destroys any vessel that tries to pass by it but allows any and all vessels to land upon it.    All species are astounded to discover that the surface of their Terminus is porous and starships simply sink into it descending into a world like cavern with a breathable atmosphere and gravity much like their home planet.  As soldiers, scientists, explorers and others take their first steps within Terminus the tests begin….

Terminus sets those who wish to leave their home solar system challenges, lethal ones, beginning small and then getting larger and larger, pushing those who enter it to their utter limits.  Projectile, directed energy, plasma and all other types of weapons must face off against the enemies that Terminus sends forth.  Savage creatures, primitive aliens, robots and faceless legions each more difficult to defeat than the last.  There is no leaving Terminus without victory though signals for help are always allowed passage so that the screams of those found wanting can be heard upon the worlds from which they came.

Those races who have beaten their Terminus challenge have earned their place on the stellar stage.  Once they do they learn of the legends told by other space faring species of their own encounter with the dreaded Terminus.

Well if that got your attention and left you wanting to know more then you will need to check out Barking Irons Online during March 2012 where the Terminus micro scenarios will be put up for free for players of UM001 USE ME 15mm Science Fiction rules.

Each of these micro scenarios will contain an introduction, scenario forces and goals, solo play guide and what you need to play.  About seven hundred words around one central aim per scenario.  All geared towards a quick game with set objectives.

GBS

Back in 2010 Bob Minadeo and myself put together a playtest draft of a new 15mm scale wargame called HOF Fire Team.  This playtest draft was downloaded more than nine hundred times and more than two hundred people contributed to the testing.  A lot of these gamers did so after being informed of the rules by Dropship Horizon blog, at that time run by my good friend Mark Hannam, who was also in on the ground level with the rules.

HOF Fire Team is a little brother to Firefight 2.0 in that its mechanics are taken from that game but instead of being for 28mm its for 15mm miniatures.  The result is an intense 15mm sci-fi grid based game that can be played in quarter of an hour with about twenty four miniatures on the battle boards (20mm squared grids).  It uses ‘tech levels’ and ‘way points’ along with ‘action dice’ for a game that is very flexible and fast without being staid and predictable.

Confirmed now by 15mm.co.uk the game will be out in time for the Salute 2012 show at Excel in London’s Docklands in April of this year.  It will be an A5 format 56pp book with the cover you can see here.

More on this as it develops!

GBS