Hi ho,  Well, you will recall that I recently cracked on and painted a load of 15mm sci-fi , for a planned spaceport battle, based on my memories of games 45 years ago, using the Laserburn rules? Well, nice though those GZG and Brigade models were, they were not quite hitting the spot. The 13 year-old me, was into a more Space Opera vibe back then, and Laserburn did hit the spot.  So, I decided to go back to the drawing board and use the original Laserburn models again, which are of course available in all their greatness, from Alternative Armies. I wanted spectacle at the man-to-man level, with less emphasis on AFVs. After all, Laserburn was the game which replaced the main battle tank with the fearsome Dreadnought armoured suit, well before that upstart 40K was a pound sign in Games Workshop's red and glowing eye.  I planned for a BIG game, wherein a spaceport on on Entebbe II, a planet at the fringes of human Imperial space, is overrun by those fanatical and vile...

 Well, I am on a 3 week break, and so I've thrown myself into getting another of my 15mm sci-fi forces completed. I completed the vehicles for the Unified Systems Military Command company a couple of weeks ago, so now I am working through the 78 infantry who will crew them. The figures are Ground Zero Games, Pan African Union models which I like as they have that 'Striker/Traveller' mid-tech infantry look, which is the aesthetic I feel most at home with, and always will. As you will recall, I am trying to recapture the look and feel f the stuff I had and wished I had in the early to mid-80s, as well as the paint work. These are not showcase armies, but reimaginings of childhood stylings and armies, and if you like them, great. If you don't - great, knock yourself out. Not literally of course becaus ethat upsets the darlings who see every comment as a cause, not remembering that they are in no way obliged to look in here at all. But I digress... I have put in around 11 h...

  It's been a weekend spent pottering around the manse, punctuated by a Saturday night watching the Rocky Horror Picture Show, with original cast Q&A session and a 'shadow cast' performance in the manner of the 19th century Tableaux tradition. And, despite a mere 6 hours sleep, here's the first 15mm sci-fi force finished. I set out to do these for my own 'taste', not going for the level of finish I provide in my 'day job'. But, the end result has been quite nice, and very much in keeping with my desire to rediscover my own 80s aesthetic. The Hov-Cav are all GZG, apart from the Independent Power Armour (AKA The Light Ale Infantry) which are Brigade Models. Each vehicle is shown with it's crew. I'm certainly enjoyiong the creative process (at a personal level - like I said, I keep job and hobby compartmentalised) and have so much more to go at with the sci-fi bug.  I'm already working on the second force...      

 Well, yesterday, I painted for 10 straight hours, as it was a holiday, and I painted the most personal stuff I've done in decade. When you paint for a living, the idea of spending 'down time' paintings is abhorrent. But, as I've been getting a real kick for the last 2 years working on several projects involving vehicles in assorted scales,  and, having a trip back in time to my early days and some 15mm sci-fi aming, I threw caution to the wind. And behold, I finished the vehicles for my first force:   The models are all from GZG, and I just need to add the crew and some stowage. I like my sci-fi stuff to look lived in but not over weathered, so I've added a minimal dust/rust filter to the finished modes with a slight mud  layer around the skirts. The orange skirted vehicle is the Med-Evac 'can', and is awaiting the delivery of red crosses, after the Easter break. All in all, I am very pleased. Next up are 24 (maybe more) 'Adder' class vehicles from ...

 I love, 15mm Sci-Fi. To be honest, I'd really forgotten just how deeply this wonderful 'period' is etched into the DNA of my gaming experience. Rediscovering it, with the emphasis being on not recreating the exact models, but certainly going full-on with the aesthetic, is proving to be a real emotional roller coaster.  I have always been inspired by the Striker rules, box art, and 'grav' and 'hover' APC's, so it was only natural that this was the direction I took at the outset. As I mentioned previously in another post, I have opted for a mix of models from GZG, Alternative Armies (who currently have a 20% off everything sale in play - go and buy something immediately) and Brigade Models. Jon at GZG and Gavin at AA are a real pleasure to deal with, and they look after and dare I say, spoil their customers. I ordered over £400 of models from GZG at the start of the week, and, even with a late night addition on Wednesday, to my order, Jon got it all to me...