Finally got my 1st SGII Platoon!!!

Hello All: I bought SGII when they first came out. Wnfortunetly my local game
store never stocked the official minis or any other real 25mm SF minis. Until
now! Now I am the happy owner of a platoon of SG UNSMC figs. All I need to do
is put together a command squad and get a few vehicles... and I am set!

Good for you!! I'm up to 12 platoons (human-GZG, Grenadier, Leading
Edge) 4 platoons (Kryomek) and 4 platoons (Machine-Ral Partha and Global
Games)

I now have 8 Vehicles ranging from size 1-4 (GZG, Kryomek, Grendel)
5 Bunkers (Kryomek)

> At 01:13 PM 9/3/98 -0700, you wrote:

While we're on the topic of 25mm forces....

Continuing in my FT tradition of trying to field forces that are out of print
or just hard to come by (GW Space Fleet, Grenadier Space Squadrons,
Star Frontiers...), I picked up some "Spacelords/Metal Magic" figs a
while back. I've now got all the Yoyodyne Elite figs I want (close assault, I
figure -- they've got power swords or something) but only have a couple
"Yoyodyne Shigaru" figs, which look a lot more like your average grunts.
Anyone know of a place I can grab more of these figures?

(Actually, since I picked up the ESWAT commando team from GZG, I'll probably
also buy whatever other figures with caps on 'em I can get my
hands on -- IIRC, the FSE has a few, maybe some NSL Jagers, PAU, OUDF...
anyway. Just rambling. Guess this breaks my record, though....)

> I now have 8 Vehicles ranging from size 1-4 (GZG, Kryomek, Grendel)

Wow. I'm thinking of picking up some of the resin vehicles from
Geo-Hex;
probably the Phalanx APC (looks neat) and the Luki-IX... er, Rommel
hovertank. ^_^

Later,

Howdy!

> On Thu, 3 Sep 1998, Mark A. Siefert. wrote:

> I bought SGII when they first came out. Wnfortunetly my local

Now the hard part; What scheme to paint them in? Part of the decision is made
for you (i.e. their helmets)...:)

Laterish!

        Ken

> Kenneth Winland wrote:

> Now the hard part; What scheme to paint them in? Part of the

I thought about giving my troops blue helmets. Then I thought about just how
much of a BAD idea it is to paint what amounts to a big blue "shoot me" sign
on someone's noggin. As much as I politically disapprove of them in general,
even I don't think the UN is THAT stupid. So I just went with with a basic
brown motif, with red visor slit (for that "Terminator" look) and black
weapons with a silver
dry-brusing.  (I've just finish painting my first squad last night.)
Flock with "grass" and gravel (or in my case, kitty litter--clean, of
course), then liberally clear coat. I should be finished with them either late
tonight or early tomorrow. I've learned the secret to painting a large number
of similar miniatures at GenCon. First, get a bunch of tongue depressor. Then,
using a hot glue gun, glue your figs to the stick. You now can focus on all
your figs at once, instead of chasing them around your table, or spending the
same amount of time painting just one. When finished, just pull the figure off
the depressor and finish the miniatures' bases.

> At 07:11 PM 9/3/98 -0400, you wrote:

I just did the same--I grabbed a bunch of the Yoyodyne elites, since
they were all that my store had left. For the record, there were three kinds
of troops:

Elite, armed with powerswords or naginata,

Humbs, big brutish looking fellas armed with gatling guns, big cannons, or
some sort of gauntlet--it's hard to tell from the latter figures exactly
what they are supposed to be using as weapons.

And Shigaru, regular troops armed with a variety of weapons.

I intend to use the Elites and Humbs as a Shock Force army...some Japanese
corporation. I also picked up a bunch of Metal Magic Sardukyn (sp?) and
Cybertech heavys. Both are very nice PA troops.

However, the problem with the Metal Magic figures, especially now, when they
are only obtainable on a limited basis, is that there is such a variety in
weapons that is is very difficult to obtain a force that is armed
consistently. Most of the lines have at least 4 or 5 basic weapons, in
addition to the heavy weapons. My Sardukyn are armed with "Maulers", which
have two barrels, side by side. I have not yet decided whether I am going to
treat it as a GL or a laser targeting system.

'course, I have to paint them, first.

> At 07:53 AM 9/4/98 -0600, you wrote:

I painted mine white, inked 'em with grey ink, and then drybrushed them white
again. Their helmets are, of course, baby blue. Their APC is also
white, with a blue turret.  It has the desired effect--people look at
them, and ask me if they are supposed to be UN troops.... After painting my
umpteenth figure in cammo, I was looking for an excuse to paint something
different. Cammo is nice, but it takes forever to paint if you want it to look
good. Especially when you are painting a group of thirty or forty figures.
Although, art sponges can make it a LOT easier. That's how I finished all of
my Kryomek bunkers.

How about some sort of blue shoulder patch or emblem, for heraldic purposes.

> At 11:32 AM 9/4/98 -0400, you wrote:

Heh.  That's amusing -- that's the exact opposite reaction I had when I
first started painting Heavy Gear minis, after mostly painting Epic stuff. It
was a relief to paint some cammo, 'cause all I'd been painting to that point
hadn't been cammo... well, I didn't do so well on my first squad
(desert/sand color with dark splotches, rather nondescript), but my next
batch came out nice. ^_^  ("Jungle" cammo, brown/red with tan & dark
green lines, looking kinda like vines.) The latter *definitely* took a while
to paint, but was well worth it....

And it got me to paint some of my Space Fleet ships, in (as with most GW
stuff) styled colors, beacuse it was different. It's actually kinda nice to
have the two different painting styles to switch between... though I guess you
could get the same thing by doing a headquarters squadron in parade colors, or
something.

> At 11:31 AM 9/4/98 -0400, you wrote:

Funny, ditto. I only grabbed six, actually, since I don't really see *that*
much use for powerswords in SGII (see also the "Welcome to ground
zero" short from, um, ??? a while back) but they look cool. ^_^  I
didn't like the Humbs, so ignored them, but grabbed the last two Shigaru.

> For the record, there were three kinds of

Well, if you'r stripping from GW, power gloves?

> And Shigaru, regular troops armed with a variety of weapons.

Huh. Might also look at the Japanese Corporate Mercs, which I think are
available from Geo-hex.  They're pretty nice, though they're not (from
what I remember) carrying as much stuff as the Yoyodyne figs.

> I also picked up a bunch of Metal Magic Sardukyn (sp?) and

Yeah... I think I picked up a couple of one type, to maybe use with
Necromunda, but I think I limited my purchases 'cause I was just a poor
college student then. I'll have to go back sometime and see if anything's
left.... <grin>

> However, the problem with the Metal Magic figures, especially now, when

I noticed that, even with the limited selection. Would probably just declare
the unit to have arms of similar potency until you get enough to have a single
type of weapon.

> My Sardukyn are armed with "Maulers",

Hmm. Where'd you get the name from? I don't remember the packaging saying
anything... thouhg maybe it did for the Sardaukar... er, Sardukyn. ^_-
(Dunno if there's a connection, but the speeling is *definitely* suspicious.)
Of my Shigaru, one has a long gun with a clip on the side

[Snipagge]

> Huh. Might also look at the Japanese Corporate Mercs, which I think

They are nice figures, and I intend to get some soon, but they look a little
small next to most of the figures that I will be using for Shock Force (Mostly
heavily customized GW Necromunda figures. I LOVE working with plastic
figures....). When I write them up, I will treat the swords as both (short)
ranged weapons and as actual swords. Pure melee troops don't survive too long
in Shock Force.

> I also picked up a bunch of Metal Magic Sardukyn (sp?) and

> At 07:51 PM 9/4/98 -0400, you wrote:

> Heh. That's amusing -- that's the exact opposite reaction I had when I

It's been waaay too long since I painted my 25 or 28mm troops in anything but
cammo. I'm getting burned out, though, and so that's going to change. I paint
too slowly as it is. Most of my earlier Epic scale stuff is very brightly
painted. My Ogre minis are black and bright red, for
example....
I did my next force in blue and white, the one following that in
off-white
and grey, and then did a handfull of GW marines in black, red, and white.
Everything since then has been in cammo, including my BIG force of GZG grav
tanks, all of which are painted in a simplified version of urban cammo: grey
basecoat, with very light grey geometric shapes painted over top and filled in
with black. Reasonably quick and easy to paint, and it looks pretty good. And
the new space marine stuff is being painted in brown and tan. This is it,
though! My next bunch of tanks is going to be something different. Blue and
glitter (using Embossing powder) Eldar, I think. I'm getting sick of dull
colors.

> And it got me to paint some of my Space Fleet ships, in (as with most

> At 02:02 PM 9/3/98 -0600, you wrote:

> Until now!

Well, if you or anyone else is interested, in anticipation of the arrival of
my own UNSCMC minis, I have done an OrBat for the the UNSC Marine Corps, which
is available for all to see via my Ground Zero Games Landing Zone web site.
I'm not a very well versed person in the ways of military organisation so the
OrBat I have done is heavily extrapolated from other OrBats I have seen, but I
think its O.K. You can see that and other GZG things I have done at:

http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Nebula/2470/gzghome.html

I'd be grateful for any improvements you can suggest I make to the list and
any contributions you have to make to the site.

Howdy!

> On Fri, 4 Sep 1998, Mark A. Siefert. wrote:

> I thought about giving my troops blue helmets. Then I thought

        Yes...and no.  If the UN have a bad-ass reputation, then in a
sour theatre (i.e. Rawanda or Bosnia), it would be GREAT advertisement to not
F%^ck with them.:)

        In Bosnia in 1996 (March), toopers of the 3e Esc./1er REC on
patrols ALWAYS wore their white Kepis on patrol or in anticipation of action.
The locals would therefor know that these were the Foreign Legion and not to
screw with them, as they had, er, less restrictive rules of engagement than
most other countries! <g>

> I should be finished with them either late tonight or early

My flatmate does this with his 15mm Napoleonics. I just line up my troops on
my table and move down the line.

Laterish!

        Ken