Forces of the Zentradi Assembled

Hello again! It has taken a week due to real life intervention, but here is HALF of the Robotech RPG Tactics box set. I like these models a lot, and despite the delays in the kickstarter delivering, they are really nice models. Here is a group shot of the Zentradi Half of the box.

2 recovery ships, 2 command pods, 4 artillery pods, 2 recon pods and 24 assault pods. There are 25 in the picture, I got the metal prototype from a demo at Adepticon this spring.

The assembly is easy and they go together really well. There are a couple of flaws, but nothing a little modeling cannot fix. Every foot has a hole for the peg on the bottom of each leg to slot into. The top lip of that hole is domed over, and keeps the front toe of the leg from touching the base. This is a simple fix, just shave the top of the foot before gluing it to the leg. No big deal, but over this many models it is a touch tedious and could have been fixed in design. The other issue is the TINY matching gun bits on the "chin" of each pod. I am not sure why these couldn't have been molded into the chest. As is, they are really tiny bits. The issue lies with removing them from the sprue. My good hobby clippers snap the guns in half. Even using a new blade on my hobby knife, a good 45% still broke mid way along the barrel of the gun. Since these parts are so tiny, it is not very noticeable, but again, a design flaw that should have been fixed.

This is a size comparison with a space marine so you can get an idea of how large these are. Keep in mind, the space marine is 28 to 30mm scale. These are closer to 10-12mm scale.

This also gives you a close look at the prototype against the final models. They are close, and there is a TON of easy posability in these kits. Running, jumping, leaning, turning, all are really easy to do. Despite a couple of little issues, I really like the kits.

Now, on to the UEDF side of the box!

Robotech RPG Tactics arrives!

FINALLY!!!! I paid for this in April 2013!!!!

I think this was worth the wait. The game is a simple to learn, but strategically deep system that plays at intended levels in about 45 minutes. My copy was left on the porch in the pouring rain by UPS, fortunately no damage!

Rulebook, soft cover 112 pgs, only 29 are rules

Box cover

 

Side view, thick stock, decent quality

This thing weighs in at over 9 pounds! There are enough supplies here for two players to play indefinitely and never need to buy more...until wave two ships sometime in the distant future.....

one of 2 (!) bags of bases

Enough sprues and bases to choke a horse!

 

All the cards, dice and markers needed to play the game

Over all I am satisfied with the product, but I haven't dived into assembly or paint yet. From looking at the sprues they are PVC, and while the models are a significant number of parts, they allow for huge conversion potential. As a veteran modeller, these kits are not super complex, but I can see this pile of plastic scaring off some people who do not have the experience I do. I played the demo at Adepticon, and it was enough for me to buy in. This is definitely a skirmish level system, but I can see it easily scaling up to much larger encounters. All in all this is a solid product. I am reserving judgment on the game itself until I have a couple of games in, and a better handle on the models themselves.

No go away, I'm going to watch maccross again while I dive into all these sprues....

Updates on the Eldar

All the bikes are now in their yellow base-coat, and the flyer is on the way. The Spyders are waiting at GTA for pick up. Here are a few pics of the beginnings of the display for them.

The road to Adepticon 2015, AND Origins 2015

So last year (2014) Team Boltgun made it into the top 15 looks for appearance (out of about 150 teams) and maxed out our sportsmanship score! We are justifiably proud of that fact. Now we LOST 9 of 10 games, so our final scores landed us somewhere in the bottom third overall. This is due to battle score influencing the other two categories. We might not like it, but that is how it is. One of the judges even told us they feel that " it is a true skill to stomp someone's face in and still have them give you max sportsmanship". He is right, but we don't have to like it!

So on the way home while already hatching a devious plan for our display, we talked about what to do to remedy this situation. We had to have a theme, with beautiful, eye catching, armies, and we had to have a gimmick or trick in our display. All of these things we had done already, but we left the competitive meta fighting lists at home. This year.....nah we are bringing a bag of hammers to drop on our opponents, along with a goody bag filled with swag!

On that note, Eldar it is! So we have all begun to put to gether and paint our armies, and this is where I stand so far.

Speed and more speed....

Now Origins is a bit of a different animal in that we are no longer focused on JUST 40k. We are running a crazy number of events this year. Our newest editions being Black WAter Gulch, and Drop Zone Commander.

The Hawk Wargames guys have been nice enough to hook us all up with starter sets and a few blisters each to make some decent starter armies so we can run demos. That means new tables and displays for us as well. Now 10mm or railroad N scale is new to me, and the boards will be small, about 2x2 for the demos, but they will be fun to make! So far, this is where I am with it!

Shaltari Battlegroup

Coyote Warstrider and 2 Thunderbird Gunships

Warspear Heavy Fighter

1 of 3 Eden Medium Gates

Haven Terragate with 3 Kukri AA Grav Tanks

Haven Terragate with 3 Tomahawk Grav Tanks