More Starmada With the Kids

OK, I lied, I thought I had pics of the C8. I don't. I humbly ask forgiveness and hope you accept these pictures of a Starmada game in lieu.

This game was a three-way meeting engagement between myself (the blue/orange Mauridians), Michael (the grey/green GZG NSL), and Zachary (tan/scarlet GZG FSE). The boys actually had an advantage in that their designs were coherent, while I didn't realize earlier that somehow I had managed to mix together two separate sets of stats for the Mauridians and that the stats for the Mauridian dreadnought made no sense at all with regards for the weapons arcs. Yet in the end it came down to Michael and myself and was fairly close. He held back until Zachary was almost out of the game, then started advancing towards me. In the end though I had the dice on my side for one, especially with those one-shot supergun frigates.

Was a good, if long game. If I hadn't needed to help them with firing each turn the game would've been half as long as it was. It's not bad with only a couple ships per side, but this represented about 1500 points per side. My oldest son seems to have the hardest time grasping the combat phase. I think the stats I gave the GZG ships are fairly good, but need a little tweaking, especially for anti-fighter defense. The Mauridian carriers ended up being ridiculous, so weren't used and also need reworking. The "singularity missiles" I adapted from the original stats Xtreme Hobbies gave the Mauridians were insane. At one point in the game one hit from the weapon generated 21 damage and pretty much eviscerated Zachary's battleship. Another thing I think I need to do is boost the shield values overall.

Next week is Tomorrow's War, painted figures or not...

FSE Fleet and a side project

Here's the group shot:


And this is one of the side projects. A tray to help keep the dice from going all over the place. The dice tower I made a while back fits nicely in this as well. The felt isn't cut quite perfectly, but well enough to get the job done.

And the FSE fleet is done

In a final sprint I've finished the FSE battleship and battlecruiser. I think that from here on out I'm going to start with the larger vessels when I have the option. I seem to care more at the beginning of a fleet. I'll seal these last two tomorrow and mount them on their flight stands. Next up for painting are the VSD and the Mauridians. Though I need to wait for some Ninja Magic magnetic adapters to show up before I can start on the Mauridians. In the meantime I can work on the VSD and a couple side projects I have going. Nice thing about the Mauridians is that I already have a paint scheme for them from the first two frigates I bought a couple years ago. It's a bright scheme, but I like it. Hopefully it paints quick.

Four More

Finished up the three FSE corvettes and final escort cruiser this morning. Just need to seal and mount them. All that remains for that fleet is the battlecruiser and battleship. Thinking about priming the Star Destroyer.

More FSE Done!

Did these up from primer to sealer today, two FSE heavy destroyers and one escort cruiser. I also got one base color and a wash down on the other escort cruiser and the three corvettes as well as primed the battlecruiser and battleship. I think I finally managed to get a wash I like, it's a mix of ProPaint Chestnut Brown and MSP Brown Liner. These have already been based and are in the cabinet, but I apparently couldn't wait to take a pic. (click for bigger pic)

Pictures

Here's what I've accomplished so far:

My second Emperor CAV. The colors were supposed to be the same as those on Mil-Net, however, one of them turned out a little more purple than I expected. I think it works. I've got one more Emperor to paint, but it has to be a special paint job on it as it is one of the masters.


This one is the Centauro escort carrier along with the Mirage and Camerone fighters. Still perfecting my paint scheme for these. I don't think the shading is pronounced enough on the carrier and may go back to darken it up some.


And some terrain pieces. The satellite dishes are from JR Miniatures and in 6mm scale. The space station is a kitbash of several pieces that have been sitting around for a while. All three are painted to the 3 foot and squint standard, but they get the job done.

One More Down

Finished up the FSE escort carrier to go along with the fighter stands. Important lesson learned though. For the other ships that come in multiple parts it's better to paint then assemble, it's almost impossible to get under the bridge superstructure. This puts the annual total to a whopping four!

FSE Destroyers Done

Finished the two FSE destroyers last night. Unfortunately the weather refuses to agree and warm up just enough to let me seal them. I really need to order some brush on sealer. I'll probably get a start on the escort carrier and the two remaining fighter flights.

WooHoo

Nothing like opening a package of new miniatures, especially when it's coming from exotic locales like...Suffolk, UK. Just got my shipment of FSE and a few NSL ships from GZG. As part of the Christmas deal they offer I received a Merino-class livestock transport, 2x NSL Missile Destroyers, and 2x FSE Galiano-class New Heavy Destroyers. The rest of the order included (and needs to updated on the side bar):

1x NSL Escort Carrier
1x NSL Light Fighters
1x NSL Heavy Fighters
1x FSE Da Silva-class Battleship
1x FSE Duquesne-class Battlecruiser
1x FSE Centauro-class escort carrier
2x FSE Colbert-class escort cruiser
2x FSE Thetis-class destroyer
3x FSE Daphne-class corvette
1x FSE Mirage IX fighter
1x FSE Camerone heavy fighter

The casting on these are what I would expect from GZG, quite good, though it seems the mold didn't close properly on one side of the Duquesne, but nothing that can't be fixed. The flat areas don't exhibit the pitting that I saw with the NSL ships, which is a good thing.

Can't wait to get started on these, I think the FSE scheme is going to be brown/khaki on my wife's advice.

Nothing like new minis to make me feel all giddy.