So I’ve finished my little 15mm fellas from Asgard (now from Alternative Armies) originally for Combat 3000 which as I stated in my previous post I probably wont be using them for. Combat 3000 is a very complex and complicated system which is why it was originally for generic sci fi RPGs and not for platoon level skirmish gaming which is what I like most. I couldn’t imagine the book keeping of each of my 40ish miniatures in play having their own record sheet. It might be rewarding in the end to have played a skirmish like that, probably making use of my laptop rather than that many sheets of paper spread out all over the room, but it would probably take a week to play out a minutes worth of action, so it’s just not for me. Hopefully my Laserburn Imperial Commander rulebook will show up soon, it’s much more my speed, or alternatively I’ve also got Use Me Sci Fi.
The painting on these guys was pretty simple although I can’t remember the exact colours used. They started in white primer and then I laid down the basecoats with contrast paint, before adding in the metallics using proper metallic paints. I wouldn’t recommend using contrast paints for metallics, it just doesn’t work, even if GW tells you to. They then got an all over wash of Nuln Oil, which I took off of the higher parts with a dry brush so it only really settled in the recesses.
I’m actually most happy with the bases. I always get stuck on bases. For me as I like painting minis as quickly as possible while still getting something I’m pleased with from an artistic perspective (not necessarily a modelling perspective). My usual method is to apply sand, I find this to be the cheapest option and one which I have the most control over. I’m not the biggest fan of GW’s texture paints for basing, plus I’m usually slapping them on my blanchitsu models. The only issue with sand is putting down pva, applying sand, then waiting for that to dry, then applying watered down pva to seal it, then normally applying a wash and finally drybrushing before applying static grass and tufts etc. You probably lose an entire day if not more in drying times especially for the pva. It has to be fully dry or you’ll reactivate the glue with subsequent steps and ruin your base.
I do tend to pop models in our electric fan oven to speed the drying up at around 40 degrees. Do not put them in a gas oven or anything that has an actual flame you’ll end up with a bunch of puddles! In this instance I didn’t need to do as much of that, because after applying the pva and sand I only gave the sand a second coat of watered down pva. I didn’t do any further painting. I think they came out really well. This is primarily because my sand mix is actually a mix of bird grit and ground up cat littler. So there’s a good deal of colours and particle sizes to add the variety I’d be painting on later.
I then added patches of flock. I’m considering making a mix of my sand/litter and flock like the base ready stuff available from Geek Gaming. It’ll be interesting to see if that works. Getting basing done in two easy steps without compromising quality is certainly something I’m up for!
I think I paid around £20 for both forces including the bases which is one of the upsides of gaming in 15mm. From here I’d probably add a couple of vehicles and call it a day, or buy up a few of the miniature codes specifically to make full squads since the make up of Alternative Armies platoon packs of Asgard Miniatures is fairly random. The figures are really nicely detailed considering their age and scale. It’s amazing how far ahead certain companies and sculptors seemed to be compared to GW’s earliest offerings. Especially considering these guys are nearer to 12mm than 15mm, and probably wouldn’t look out of place on a 10mm gaming table as some of them are in power armour and are genetically enhanced slabs of beefcake full of steroids.
It’s just nice to finally have some of the original Space Marines. If you’re aware of any earlier ones please let me know! This weekend I’ll be using some of my newer Space Marine figures (Custodes to be precise) to play a game of Warhammer 40k 9th edition, or Combat 3000 12th edition as it should be known (that’s counting Laserburn as Combat 3000 2nd edition, and Laserburn Imperial commander as 3rd, Rogue Trader as 4th etc.).
Also since I’ve painted all of them thats:
818 minis bought (I had four 1/72 tanks show up this week).
959 miniatures painted.
Deathzap 