The Return to 40K

The Loss of Interest in 40K

A long time ago I admit I completely lost interest in 40K for a number of reasons. All of these reasons put together was simply to much to make me completely quit 40K. I still had interest in other games, mostly Battletech and Robotech. However I have branched of into hobby areas such as Gunpla (Influnce solely completely from my friend Dan.), some scale modeling. I also started collecting and building Legos with my wife which has always been a favorite of mine. I also play games on my XBOX ONE and my PC so no explanation there.

The Winding Down of Other Favored Games

Battletech had a wind down as my long running ATOW RPG game came to a halt when one of our players had a dramatic change in his life. Robotech was a complete failure. I may continue painting the models and maybe play the game in the future, but for now Fuck It ALL.

The Rise of Gunpla and Scale Modeling

Happily Gunpla and scale modeling are here to stay. Dan show me countless times one his excellent work on his models so I joined the fray. I have bought many and built many and I don't plan to stop. It is a far different hobby then wargaming so it is nice to be a part of it.

The Renewed Interest in 40K

While working in Knoxville, I passed by a game store I have never been to. I poked around and saw the new Kill Team merchandise. On a repeat visit I purchased the Starter Box which came with everything I would need to play the game. I started assembling, I started painting, then came my Codex Tyranids, then came a game of 40K.

It was fun to play a game again with Dan. It was also nice to use some of his older Tyranid models since I managed to forget to bring half my models and my wife ha to  bring me my codex, lolz.
I will  point out the yellow Tyranids are my color scheme. I like 8th edition a lot.

I probably have more to say, but I have said enough for now. More to follow soon as I have more to show.

STRAIGHT OUTTA MICRONIA | UEDF Valkyries Part 2

Robotech RPG Tactics

UEDF Valkyrie Assembly Part 2

Sadly I couldn't find a decent Valkyrie picture. :(

I finished assembling my first squadron of UEDF Valkyries Veritechs bringing me to a total of four  assembled. These will be the start of my bulk UEDF miniatures to protect mankind and fight the onslaught of my mighty Zentreadi Armada miniatures which are massing at the same time. What follows is a explanation of how I went about assembling them to bring them to there current state. I will also discuss what is next up for the Valkyries as I am far from finished with them.

STRAIGHT OUTTA MICRONIA | Zentraedi Regults Part 4

Robotech RPG Tactics

Painting Zentraedi Regults Part 1

Regult Tactical Battlepod

I finished painting  my first batch of  twelve rank and file Zentraedi Regult Battlepods from the Robotech RPG Tactics miniatures game. In this post I'll discuss in detail the painted miniatures, how I painted the miniatures, what I learned, and how I will apply this to painting going forward.

Father's Day 52 Battlemech Haul

Father's Day Gift Ideas

Prior to Father's Day my wife asked me for some gift ideas. I did some searching and remembered I have been wanting a few more BattleTech: Alpha Strike: Lance Packs to add to my collection of battlemech miniatures. The reason I like the lance packs is each lance pack contains four battlemech miniatures for a reasonable price expanding upon the miniatures contained in the 25th Anniversary Introductory Box Set. The four battlemech miniatures consist or two new battlemech miniatures not featured in the Battletech 25th Anniversary Box Set along with two battlemech miniatures featured in the Battletech 25th Anniversary Box Set.  The new featured battlemechs are BlackJack, Cataphract, Centurion, Charger, Firestarter, Flea, Hatchetman, Orion, Raven, Shogun, Stalker, Victor, Wolfhound, and Vulcan.I found a store online who sold them at a remarkable 35% off retail price. In additonal I already own three lance packs, Assault and Pursuit when they first came available and Fire lance as a gift from a friend. Taking into account what I already owned, I sent her a list of I what I wanted.

Wish List

BattleTech: Alpha Strike: Assault Lance Pack  x 1

BattleTech: Alpha Strike: Battle Lance Pack x 2

BattleTech: Alpha Strike: Fire Lance Pack x 1

BattleTech: Alpha Strike: Pursuit Lance Pack x 1

BattleTech: Alpha Strike: Recon Lance Pack x 2

If can swing

BattleTech: Alpha Strike: Command Lance Pack x 2

If can really swing

BattleTech: Alpha Strike: Support Lance Pack x 2

Father's Day Gift Reveal

I kind of left my ideas at this for awhile. Before I could give her some other ideas she had taken the list I gave her and made an order. She told me she ordered everything I wanted on the list except some things might only have one. I was more than happy to hear this as my collection of battlemech miniatures was about to be bolstered further. My future games and campaign games would now have access to a host of new battlemechs.

Soon enough a good sized package arrived at my doorstep. Inside I found way more than I expected. I received everything I asked for minus one copy of the Battle lance pack and she told me they only had one in inventory. I can get another Battle lance pack at another time. I think I did quite well with this gift haul.

If you noticed I don't own and didn't ask for the Striker lance pack because currently I don't want it. It is the only one of the lance packs which has only one new battlemech miniature not featured in the 25th Anniversary Box Set being the Guillotine along with three battlemech miniatures featured in the 25th Anniversary Box Set being the, Panther, Dragon, and Quickdraw. I don't use Quickdraws all to often, I despise Dragons and dislike using them besides cannon fodder, Panthers I suppose I could use for future campaigns/games featuring Draconis Combine forces. To obtain the Guillotine I may have trade or purchase a pair somehow.

BattleTech: Alpha Strike: Striker Lance

The Grand Scheme

My grand scheme of things is to obtain four copies of each lance pack, four copies of the 25th Anniversary Box Set and four copies of the Third Edition Box Set. I have since passed on the idea of obtaining a copy the City Tech boxed set as it's miniatures are much less than desirable. The battlemechs within these box sets and lance packs blend perfectly together with each other giving me many opportunities in my various Battletech games. However, four copies is a bit unrealistic and possibly overboard especially when it comes to the Third Edition Box Set. Third Edition miniatures are tough to purchase in a full set, people complain about the quality and still sell them at high prices because they are unseen. Two copies is more realistic without going overboard. Two copies will suffice mainly because I like to use battlemechs in pairs using the same or different variant. On top of this idea, I recently purchased a PDF copy of the new First Succession War source book and there are rules for playing games with multiples of the same battlemech.

All these battlemech miniatures are plastic miniatures ready to play right out of the box, no assembly required minus the Third Edition miniatures. Buying plastic miniatures is the best way to expand a battlemech miniature collection extremely fast. Trying to purchase all of the miniatures contained in the Alpha Strike lance packs alone is a lot. There is constant sway on whether the Alpha Strike lance pack miniatures are good or not, but they are good. They are of the same quality of the miniatures contained in the 25th Anniversary Box Set and far better than the quality of the Classic Box Set. The Third Edition miniatures are fine by to me as they were the first Battletech miniatures I owned and played with so they will forever be in high favor, this makes them far valuable to me past reasons of quality and unseen.

I own one Third Edition Boxed Set and luckily I was able to purchase a full set of the Third Edition miniatures in excellent condition. This second set has already made a mark in campaign games. I also own one copy of the Classic Boxed Set and one copy of the 25th Anniversary Boxed Set. Honestly I would like to replace my copy of the Classic Boxed Set with another copy of the 25th Anniversary boxed set. Honestly I would like to replace the copy of the formal with a copy of the latter as the latter has better quality miniatures. Nonetheless, both box sets see heavy use in my Battlemech games.

My Plastic Battlemech Collection So Far

Since this recent haul of plastic miniatures is pretty significant to me I wonder how many plastic battlemech miniatures I now own in my collection. I like numbers so lets see some numbers and lets do some math.

Lets see some numbers!

I have thirteen 13 BattleTech: Alpha Strike: lance packs with each lance pack containing four miniatures for a total of 52 miniatures. I have one copy of the 25th Anniversary Box Set containing 24 miniatures. I have one copy of the Classic Boxed Set containing 24 miniatures. I have one copy of the Third Edition boxed set containing 14 miniatures plus one extra full set of  14 Third Edition miniatures for a total of 28 miniatures. I am not counting the exclusive miniatures which came with the Classic Box Set or the 25th Anniversary Box Set. I consider those exclusives like collectibles which never see any use.

Lets do some math!

Alpha Stike Lance packs x 13 = 52 miniatures
25th Anniversary Box Sett = 24 miniatures
Classic Box Set  = 24 miniatures
Third Edtion Box Set  = 13 miniatures
Third Edition Box Set  = 13 miniatures

52 + 24 + 24 +28 = 128 Plastic Battletech battlemech miniatures!

Conclusion

I think anyone can conclude I love Battletech, the new lance packs, and plastic battlemech miniatures. I use every plastic battlemech miniature I own as much as I can and look forward to using my new plastic battemech miniatures. I already have plans to use a lot of these new battlemechs in my ongoing Battletech ATOW RPG campaign and hopefully I can play out some generic games suing these new battlemechs as well.

Along Came a Gundam

While out browsing around various locales I came across a shop were I noticed a sealed Gundam kit sitting on a shelf in a corner. I have recently been intrigued about one of these kits through the remarks of a friend who builds them for recreation. I have never watched any Gundam episode or movies and I can't say I am a fan, but I am a fan of mecha and robotics in general. The kit I found was new with good starting price point and looked cool so I bought it.

This is what I bought.

When I opened the box I found a large amount of different colored plastic sprues as well as some clear plastic sprues. Every sprue and part was labeled and easy to identify. Examining the instructions, I felt they were easy to follow and understand. I noticed there was no need for glue and a friend confirmed this. I did a lot of research into building these types of models and discovered there is a huge amount of science on how to go about building them. Even more there is a massive amount of different kits and sizes.

To make things easy I am going to just assemble this gundam kit as is adding panel lining as well. I am in no rush to build this in one sitting. I plan to take my time enjoying building different sections at a time.

I have all of the necessary tools minus some recommended high grade sand paper. Speaking of high grade sand paper it is some expensive stuff and not the easiest to find. I purchased a pack of different high grade sand papers from Hobby Lobby. I recall these kits are were I was introduced to the idea of adding panel lining to my Robotech RPG Tactics miniatures. For the panel lining I have micron pens to do the job, but I really wanted to try using the branded Gundam markers. There is a Gundam marker basic set which has five markers plus one fine tip for panel lining. After some questions and considerations I skipped on the marker set in favor of more fine tip panel lining options.

I found a store online where I was able to purchase all three different colored fine tip Gundam markers consisting of a black, dark grey, and brown colors. I also found a useful Gundam Marker eraser as well. I actually ordered two of each marker as one set was destine to be a return gift for a friend. I found out by chance he did not poses any of these markers and they turned out to be a great gift for him.

I have started working on the kit and currently I have the body, left leg, and left foot built. I am truly amazed on the plastic grade and articulation of the models which only drive my interest in gundam kits further.

If I were to build another Gundam kit I kind of have an interest in the MS-06R-1A ZAKU II HIGH MOBILITY TYPE. Even though I have no idea if it connected in anyway to the first one I am building. Their are a ton of kits so I bet the majority say who cares it is another kit to build.

I know I have been slow on updates lately, but I do have plans for some much needed battletech posts coming soon.

Battletech Battle Report | Draconis Combine versus Word of Blake

Here I bring another Battletech Battle Report for your reading pleasure. This battle report is for a Battletech game consisting of a small non-campaign lance on lance engagement in the Word of Blake designated Draconis Theater. I added a small narrative in the beginning followed a battlefield analysis at the end.  The battle report itself is a review of the engagement discovered on a damaged battle feed recorded long after. Please read and enjoy.

STRAIGHT OUTTA MICRONIA | Paint Test Subject Interrogation

Robotech RPG Tactics

Paint Test Subject Interrogation

I finished painting two basic rank and file miniatures from the Robotech RPG Tactics miniatures game. I painted a UEDF Veritech in Battloid mode and a Zentraedi Regult. In this post I'll discuss in detail for each painted miniature, how I painted the miniature, what I learned, and how I will apply this to painting going forward.