Asteroid on the worktable

This piece of interplanetary scenery started off as a chunk of concrete I found after workers fixed my fence.  Standing on its end and painted black, it makes a fine asteroid for spaceship gaming, next to my previous efforts here and here. 

I just need to do some drybrushing, and the space rock will be ready to serve as a hazard to stellar navigation and a haven for star pirates.  Does anyone else build their own asteroids?  If so, how?

From across the pond

I picked up a handful of Nightmare Legion troopers on ebay from a seller in Great Britain, and the package arrived after just a week and a half.  When added to my recent skeletons purchase, these five skeletons give me enough figures to make seven stands of Spears for my Hordes of the Things skeleton army.  That's in addition to the four Spears elements I currently field.

Eleven 2-point elements is nearly enough for a complete HotT army, but I don't know if I want to try to land any more of these out-of-production minis.  Although I got a great deal on these--less than $11 including transatlantic shipping--the old 1980s Games Workshop miniatures seem to be getting more and more expensive.  Besides, I think I have enough to paint as it is. 

I could always base these command figures from this set that I painted back in the '80s.  I haven't mounted them for Hordes of the Things because I don't think their armor and weapons match the rank-and-file of the NL troopers.  Besides, I want the army general to be a Spears element, and these are clearly Blades.  Should I use them anyway?

Sunday Starships: Avarian work in progress

On the painting table I have the Avarian Gryphon-class super galactic dreadnought.  As you can see, the bottom of this ship is super-detailed.

Because this ship is so massive, I haven't secured it to a stand yet.  And because I don't have it based, I only have the underside painted so far; I want to make sure the paint is dry before I flip it over and and paint the topside--I don't want my new paint job to wear off while I'm working on it?  Anyone else have a multi-stage project they're working on this weekend?

Weird search term leading to my blog

"star trek fleet wars porn comic"

Uh, OK.

If you're wondering, it led to this post on a starship comparison poster.

What are some of the strange search terms you've seen for your blog?

5150: Star Navy replay

Since we tweaked the rules for 5150: Star Navy, Ed the THW Guy and I decided to replay last week's playtest with the rules modifications.  Ed also thought it would be a good idea to add a few more ships to this battle, so it ended up being 47 Class 3s against one Class 6.

We remembered to designate a flagship this time, and Ed vaporized it the first turn, affecting the performance of the remaining ships.

I also had a chance to deploy my scratchbuilt escape pods, which I used to indicate the position of ships that had been destroyed (since surrounding vessels take a test to remain on the board).

It played out like last time--most shots from the smaller ships were ineffective, but sheer numbers allowed a few attacks to cause damage, making easier to cause further damage.  Meanwhile, the dreadnought was taking out ships left and right, but eventually its luck ran out when it failed a bridge damage test, which lowered its Rep.  This made it easier to fail subsequent tests, and an engine hit forced the ship to flee the battle, ending the game.  

We're happy with the rules feel and the way the game's going.  Check out Ed's battle report for more details of the game.

Ed's new toys

These models aren't mine, but because of the great detailing on these ships, I had to share photos of these starship minis that Ed the THW Guy picked up from a TMP member.  These are Terran (above) and Avarian starships (below) from Monday Knight Productions.

The former owner did a fantastic job picking out the details on these ships.  There were several more starships, as well as fighter minis, that Ed purchased, but I didn't take photos of those.  Still, these pics will give you an idea of the craftsmanship involved.

Reminder: GuadaComaCon is next month

Don't forget, GuadaComaCon (formerly the South Texas Mini-Con) will take place Saturday, August 18 in New Braunfels.  Some of the featured games include:

• 5150: Star Navy (sci-fi space combat minis) run by Your Humble Scribe
• By This Axe I Rule (homebrew fantasy minis) by ckutalik of the Hill Cantons
• Paranoia (humorous dystopian sci-fi role-playing) run by Brad Ncube of Skull Crushing for Great Justice
• Clay-O-Rama (what it sounds like) run by artist-in-residence Jason Braun
• 5150: Star Army (sci-fi ground combat minis) run by Ed the THW Guy
• and many more

We're expecting a carload of gamers from Austin to come join us, as well as some of the organizers from the North Texas RPG Con.  Anyone is welcome, and admission is free (but donations will be accepted).  I hope you can make it.