XCOM -Building MEC-Troopers

Here are my attempts at converting MEC Troopers

Talos Bodies with Pig Iron heads

Or Heavy Gear alternatives...

XCOM - Blastastic

Recently XCOM THE WARGAME landed at the brilliant Blastastic show 

Featuring two tables -Urban and Crashed UFO in the Forest

This is the board in preparation 

Courtesy of Battle Systems

Downtown trouble is brewing

Death in the alley

Doc on overwatch

Floaters!

Terror!

Mutons

Hiding behind the Diner

Rooftop sniper 

New sculpted terrain for Lutzen 1632 Part 1

After a great day at Salute 2015

What really struck me was the quality of the terrain on most of the games.

Feeling put to shame I've started sculpting terrain for the Warre Game 1632 Battle of Lutzen

It's based on a series of Celotex boards 

8 boards 4 x 2 feet and a central road section of 4 boards each 4 x 1 feet 

The imperial windmill hill is slightly raised and covers a 5 x 2 foot area

This is the Swedish side of the battlefield showing the Flossgraben viewed from the Swedish extreme right wing

A view from the Swedish left flank with the Flossgraben flowing to the position which the town will occupy

This is a closeup of the ploughed fields

Achieved with cheap brown mastic, sand and my wife's broad toothed comb!

The full battlefield laid out in sections 

The road has carved ditches and lies centrally

The Imperial side remains untouched as yet. Total area 16 x 5 feet

Judicious use of household paint and drybrushing gets the Swedish deployment and roads ready for flocking and detailing. 

Flock and an industrial flagon of PVA

Dusting the flock through a sieve gives you better control and even coverage

After shaking off the residue for re-use 

Allow to dry and then follow up with a liberal spray of diluted PVA to seal the flock (I used an empty and washed screen de-iced bottle)

Waving some areas clear to show the nicely dry rushed earth below

It's all beginning to come together

Judicious use of teddy bear fur sprayed with army painter green denotes the windmill hill position in the centre of the imperial position

Seen from the Swedish left the road and Flossgraben really stand out

Next it will on to making the imperial ditch and bank hastily thrown up along the front of the road and then putting water in the Flossgraben.

The WARRE Game at SALUTE 2015

This weekend was the big one Salute 2015

The WARRE Game was Well received by many visitors to The Battle of Lutzen.

Dave Ryan at Caliver Books kindly stocked copies of the the Rules and quite a few were sold

Thanks are due to my friends Ben Adam Andy and Del along with Chris Worth and his mates who helped with the tearing down 😎 

Here are pics of the day

XCOM - First Contact - Operation Hidden Hand

THE COUNCIL OF NATIONS HAS AUTHORISED THE 

XCOM PROJECT

Operation Hidden Hand

"The German Government has asked for our help. Unidentified forces have attacked the old quarter of Leipzig and panic has ensued - Our mission is to secure the area...."

The Drop ship has arrived.

"I want a good clean dispersal this time..."

The squad dash to use cars as cover..

One squaddie has enough time to enter Overwatch..

Wait.... What is that? ...

Dashing to investigate the smoking structures, what has happened to these poor Devils?

With the rest of the squad holding in Overwatch the too anxious advance to the truck triggers...

Alien life on Earth?! ...

The aliens scuttle into cover adopting Hunker Down

Our intepid Squad lets loose a hail of fire

(We come in peace - shoot to kill!)

One alien wounded and another killed in the deadly crossfire.......................... the third alien summons help

Then strange rays pass from a new alien to the wounded One

Seemingly strengthened it fires a deadly blast dropping the squaddie behind the truck...he's bleeding out!

A new alien steps forward and wounds the squaddie sheltering behind the trike

Throwing caution to the wind the troopers rush forward to shoot at close range..... the use of a grenade kills one alien and seriously wounds two more

Alien shooting drops one trooper who is bleeding out whilst the second is disintegrated at short range!

At last fortune favours the squaddies

Dropping two more aliens in one turn, but ammo is running low!

The aliens back off and take cover but to no avail. A great long range shot drops one alien...

The last Trooper rushes forward to finish the last Alien only to find his magazine is empty!!
Flinging his grenade destroys the final Alien! in the nick of time.

The Alien threat has been eliminated

Six Aliens dead and One trooper killed, but two more critically wounded 

the dropship arrives to gather what's left of the squad.

The First Contact had been Bloody, and tactics will need to be revised in future, The remaining troopers have gained vital experience and will be promoted accordingly ...

NEXT TIME - OPERATION DISMAL GODS where new challenges await the XCOM Soldiers