Viper's Fangs-forces

Hello, just some pics of the painted forces for my game of Gruntz moderated Clantroops scenarios.
The first scenario I plan on playing is called the Viper's Fangs.
In this scenario, an Uller C mech enters the board with 4 elementals riding on its back. The Steel Viper
Clan mech and elementals are the attacker, facing off against an all infantry defending force.
The infantry consists of a platoon of 3 squads.relying on heavy weapons, grappel guns, satchel charges, and 4 artillery barrages at their disposal. The first squad has combat armor, while the other two rely on flak body suits. The Uller is a medium mech. The Clan Elementals are commanders with considerable power armor.The infantry are all statted out singly as specialists with 4 hps each. I plan on playing this out after I make all the cards, and will play it with random card activation.

ok, so all i need to do is make up a bunch of cards

Viper's Fangs

Hello, sorry no pics for this post.
This post is just a summary of my latest project. I am preparing to play a scenario from Clantroops, the supplement to battletroops. Battletroops and Clantroops are two of my most nostalgic games from the times I dabbled in the Battletech universe of gaming. I never seemed to have a lot of fun playing mech vs. mech games. But I was always drawn to infantry engagements, and combined infantry vs. mech desparation games. I thought of playing out a few scenarios from these two books using the original rules, but decided to use Gruntz instead. The only difference being that each infantryman will get rolled up as a commander, and each infantryman will get his own card for card based activation. Each soldier will activate randomly, and independently from his squad.
 This scenario is called the Viper's Fangs and the attacker is a Steel Vipers Uller C omnimech with 4 clan elementals hitching a ride. The defenders consist of 3 squads of infantry with grappels and satchel charges.
The scenario gives the defender 15 antipersonell mines and 3 anti mech mines to place and 2 artillery barrages. I am not quite sure how I will handle the mines, as I will be playing solo. 12 satchel charges are allotted for  one time usage....I think I will give them stats as if they were SA missle launcher but with a range of 0 or 1, I envision them as magnetic or sticky,being thrown short range or placed after grappling up to a mech. defender;s first squad has combat armor(soak 12), other squads having flak suits(soak 11).
I still need to stat out the attackers but here goes for the defenders;
Defenders( all will have shoot5; assault 4; guard 11; skill 2 squad leaders will have damage 14, soldiers damage 12) all soldiers have grappel gun!!!!
Squad 1:
   LT. 1:1> soak 12; mental 6; laser pistol, laser sword
   4 soldiers> soak 12 ; mental 6; laser rifle; total 4 satchel charges
Squad 2 :
 SGT. 2:1>soak 11; mental 8; SA medium plasma; satchel charge
3soldiers,2:2,2:3,2:4> soak 11, mental 6; plasma rifles, satchel charges
2 soldiers, 2:5, 2:6> soak 11, mental 6, SA missile launcher
1 soldier, 2:7> soak 11, mental 6, SA medium projectile, satchel charge
1 soldier, 2:8> soak 11, mental 6, projectile rifle, satchel charge
-Squad3
SGT. 3:1> soak 11 ,mental 7, projectile rifle , satchel charge
2 soldiers, 3:2, 3:3> soak 11 ,mental6, projectile rifle, satchel charge
2 soldiers, 3:4,3:5> soak 11, mental 6, laser rifles
1 soldier, 3:6> soak 11,mental 6, SA missile launcher
2 soldiers, 3:7,3:8> soak 11, mental 6, SA medium Grenade launchers
throughout the scenario, any of the 3 squad leaders can call in an artillery strike
instead of their normal action. This can be done four times and squad leader must have los to target
this will count as 1-4(artillery medium) 5-6 (artillery heavy).
in the original scenario, 2 artillery barrages were listed as well as 15 antipersonnel mines and 3 anti mech mines. I decided to leave out the mines , but give 4 artillery barrages to make up for it.
at first I was going to simulate the satchel charges by using AP grenades, but they seemed underpowered when compared to the battletroops stats, now they will have a  damage 0f 9 and an AP of 2, range of 0-1.
one time use, range of 0-1 requres succesfull assault roll, shaped charge, magnetic can explode immediately or 1 turn delay.if immediate, attacker is knocked prone and suppressed..
 I think this will be a fun scenario , especialy with card based activation.
Now just to stat out the mech and elementals.

gruntz infantry EHTC

Hello, just a few infantry squads for my new force for Gruntz...in N scale. The new force i am working on is the East Hydatum Trade Company, think Dutch East Indies Trade in space. I have just finished 5 squads/stands of gruntz in simple body armor, 1 squad of infiltrator gruntz in camo/ghillie suits, 6 squad attachments with laser cannon, minigun or other such heavy weapon., 1 specialist unit mortar,1 squad heavy power armor, and 1 squad light power armor. All converted mechwarrior clickies. next is armor and vehicles. All vehicles for this force will be hover: 3 medium tanks, 3 light tanks, 3 APC's, 6 hoverbikes.

All these are based on Proxie Models wonderful bases..40mm, 25mm, and 20mm

New Bases, New Life

Hello, sorry for no post for a while, been off on other hobby tangents. One of the things that renewed my interest in this project was finally getting some proper bases. I was perusing Proxie models website, when I saw perfect infantry bases for Gruntz in 10 mm scale. 40 mm diameter bases in black plastic with texture also. I bought 40mm diameter for squads of 6 gruntz; 25mm diameter for specialist figures; and 20 mm diameter for commanders.
 Proxie models delivered amazingly good, economical bases in a timely manner.....already thinking of placing another order( cavalry bases for vehicles).
 Next project already underway...EHTC, east hydatum trade company, think dutch east indies company in space...color palette is scarlet/ white/ light grey...very british.
 Currently painting 4 stands of infantry, light armor..1 stand infantry, unarmored...1 stand light power armored infantry, and 1 stand heavy duty powered armor infantry.
 So far undecided on the vehicle options...wheeled, hover, tracked, grav
Just may go with hover/grav so I can use all those lawnmower looking grav bikes

gruntz game1 beginning turn2

as the board appears beginning of turn 2, the RD pirates have foolishly left the cover of the mining compound to engage the Commonwealth naval force in the scrublands, although they are hugging the cover provided by patches of flora.
The CW naval force is steaming forward ,each APC supported by a light tank, the jump pack toting commander decided to leap onto the cliffs, perhaps looking for some rare alien bird eggs. Only one shot ,so far, a miss by a CW naval specialist laser cannon.

deployment first game of gruntz

Hello,
These are a few shots of the beginning of my first game of Gruntz , a solo,learning curve game, played in installments on the dining room table. The minis are in the scale of 10 mm, old discarded gems from Mechwarrior CMG, the table I would guess is close to 6 by 4 feet.
The play mat is from sabol design studio, the mountains from some forgotten christmas village thing. the alien plants and small mining outpost scratchbuilt hastily a few days ago, just to have some sort of terrain.
What you see above is the opening deployment as the 571st Commonwealth Naval expeditionary force prepares to liberate the small
mining outpost on a backwater planet from the control of the Porticollis guild of the Rim Defectionists.
The porticollis pirate force( in orange ) prepares to defend their claim using a small swift, technologically well equipped strike force against the lumbering might of the Commonwealth Navy( in blue).
We will soon see how the swift heavy laser attack bikes fare against the numerous clunky vehicles the navy dropped onto this rock.
As luck would have it I only managed time to set up the game and do one entire turn of movement. the navy actually fired one longrange shot with a laser cannon field piece, but missed.
I was initially using card activation for this game, but settled on locking in the activation order from the first turn, to be repeated each turn.... still random enough of a feel to support solo play.
will post pics of beginning of 2nd turn in a bit

Infantry manufacturors

Hello, just a little post to discuss different infantry manufacturors for  scifi in 10 mm scale.
This covers quite a grey area  from 10-14 mm in height.
1) Mechwarrior clickies; this is my immediate first choice simply because I currently have a vast collection, and fits in nicely with my 2012 theme " I will buy no more forever".
pros--> cheap, abundant, adequately pre painted, lots of variety, especially for power armor, lots of specialist choices
cons--> Pain in the arse to work with, difficult to separate from integral base. if you can stand keeping them on their brown base and not repainting, then this con is meaningless
2) Heavy Gear infantry from Dream Pod 9 , nice ,limited poses
pros-->metal, less fragile, beautiful sculpts,much easier to work with....desert infantry types
cons---> price,price,price...not as much variety as mechwarrior, might be viable for a desert themed army
or for INFINITY in 10 mm
3)WAVE 1/144 support crew. nice plastic multipose gundam crew members and flight support crew
pros--> interesting body armor, multi pose, plastic ,nice for conversions, cheap, available from Hobbylink japan
cons--> no weapons included, would have to cannabalize some guns from MW clicks, lots of cutting and reposing....but would be good for a different higher tech faction ,possibly with Gashopon support
4) New upcoming scifi/near future from Pendraken. should be available soon, looks stunning...wonderful heavy weapons teams.
pro-->beatiful, metal, probably much cheaper than heavy gear
cons--> would have to actually spend money
5) still no actual aliens or monster types foes in 10 mm... although Khurasan is rumored to be developing starship trooper type bugs in 10 mm. other swarm type armies could come from GW tyranid ripper swarms old...and new ... and Pendraken also have some old alien type monsters.
 if anyone reads this or has any other suggestions please let me know\
oops almost forgot, i think there are some 10 mm star wars stuff I noticed on space man spiffs blog, but havent a clue as to how to find them

commonwealth naval vehicles

hello, these are the finished vehicles for my Commonwealth Naval faction for Gruntz.
each of the first three pictures contains a medium GSV APC with two transport slots, a towed antitank heavy laser specialist, and a light tank whose duty it is to escort the APC. When paying for/creating the towed weapon specialist, I made sure to pay for it to have wheeled mobility, so I would not have to use a transport slot for the APC. So it will travel with the APC and appear to be towed, but primarily for aesthetic purposes.
The fourth pic shows a large command APC with 3 transport slots(may not be legal){and which did not make it into the points cutoff for this army}, a heavy tracked tank, and a medium tracked tank.
As part of the battle plan, there will be three sections each containing a light tank, an APC with 2 squads of marines, and a specialist hvy laser anti tank weapon.
the last two sections of this army will consist of a heavy tank with specialist mecha support, and a medium tank with specialist mecha support.
The final part of the army will be an uber commander tricked out with power fist, power armor, grenade launcher, and jump pack.
I just need to finish the commander, 2 small mecha, and 24 naval marines....and then I can playtest...

500 point army gruntz: Commonwealth Navy

Hello, the next army for Gruntz that I am working on is a Commonwealth Naval force. It weighs in at 499 points. I will not bore you by listing all the damage and soak etc. It is designed to be a mid tech level groundpounding army, ideally suited to intervening in anti piracy campaigns, and mining outpost defense situations. As such it is fitting that it should first battle the Rim Defectionist, house Portacollis raiding party.
The army is 80% finished at this point, I only need to finish 24 infantry grunts, a commander figure, and 2 specialist mecha figures( fenrir battle armor suits from mechwarrior). Once done I will finish a little alien Flora and have my first battle of Gruntz.
 Details of the Commonwealth Naval  571st expeditionary brigade.
1) commander/56pts/ light power armor,power fist,medium grenade launcher. perkz- higher modz and jump pack
2) 2 specialist mecha each armed with medium mortar/2x15=30pts/
3) 6 identical squads of marines../6x15=90pts/projectile rifles,medium armor,HE and AP grenades,cutlasses
    and geardo perk
4) 3 identical GSV medium APC's, wheeled 2 transport slots. light projectile dam 16/3x28=84pts/
5) 3 identical anti tank specialist heavy laser dam 6 Perk  melt away. /3x11=33pts/
    these models are towed gun carriages to be towed behind each APC. I paid for wheeled mobility  when creating , so as not to use up a transport slot on the APC.
6) 3 wheeled light tanks(total 106 points) all speed 8, dam 18 soak 16, one is armed with 2 light plasma, one is armed with a light missile pod, and the last one is armed with 2 light missile pods
7) a tracked medium tank dam 22 soak17 speed 7 with 2 medium lasers and skill 5/ 43 points/
8) a tracked heavy tank dam26 soak 18 speed 6 with 2 medium plasma and 1 medium missile pod skill5
    57points.
 primary battle plan is to have 3 APCs advance on objectives each carrying 2 squads of marines and towing an AT heavy laser. Each APC will have a light tank attached as an escort.
the medium tank will work independently(paired up with a specialist mecha fire support)
the heavy tank will work independently(paired up with the other specialist mecha)
 the commander will flit about with his jump pack trying to help without getting KIA
    will post some pics soon, as all the vehicles are done

finished Rim Defectionist army for gruntz

hello,
just finished my first force for gruntz. A Rim Defectionist army weighing in at 500 points.
first pic shows the entire small force.
6 specialist bikers, a small VTOL craft, a medium hover tank, a super large APC and a medium APC.
the super large APC has 4 transport slots and carries a power armor squad and two specialist dreadnought mecha.
The medium APC has two transport slots and carries a veteran gruntz squad with fusion rifles, and a squad attachment with a heavy fusion cannon, and the leader of the force.
Now i cant wait to finish an appropriate opfor.
I believe I will try for a commonwealth Naval force, as in the fluff they would be a likely opponent for the Rim Defectionist pirate/merchant force.
This is a very compact force relying on speed, technology and firepower.....will see how it works out. If interested, the exact composition and points for this force are listed about 2 posts back.
I am also relieved to not have to paint any more orange for a while

Rim Defectionists Jet VTOL ASV

Hello, just finished my first rough and ready unit for my new Rim defectionist army for Gruntz. It is a salvaged Yasha VTOL
from Mechwarrior clickie fame. this is a light ASV with anti infantry light laser, very fast but fragile, not sure what its use will be as I have not had a game yet. The ASV's do not appear to be mighty tank hunters in Gruntz, maybe more of a recon or anti infantry role....or possibly used as a rocket magnet. painting is hurried, model is small, but hey what do you want for 49 cents?

500 point army for Gruntz

This is a 500 point army I will be building for Gruntz. I have decided to build a small force based on the Gruntz fluff using the Rim Defectionists (RD). The RD are described as a loose association of mostly pirate and rebel factions with some minority trade stations and mining operations. They make use of whatever military kit they can and are sometimes lucky enough to have advanced technology. As far as a unifying pallette, I will be using orange ,white,  and shades of grey. I want to emphasize the non uniform drab military nature of this flamboyant  fighting force of pirates, merchant houses, and rebels.

RD expeditionary force
1)commander in power armor with a SA missile launcher, and power fist, equipped with a jump pack and combat drugs (50 pts.) S6 A6 G13 So14 M8 Sk4 Dam18
2)veteran squad in heavy armor with plasma rifles, laser sword, and force shields, and a squad attached medium plasma, and laser sword (48 pts.) S7 A7 G13 So13{15} M9 Sk5
3)Medium APC(35pts.) (carries commander and veteran squad) wheeled speed 8, light laser anti inf weapon
Dam16 So16{17} Ram11 Guard11 with Uber Armor mod and crew skill 6
4) 6 identical specialist 3 wheeled attack cycles classed as light,speed 7{8), mounting specialist heavy lasers, and with the perk ultimate agility(150 pts.) S5 A5 M6 Sk4 So13 G13 Dam5
5)Medium Grav Tank, expert crew6, armed with a medium plasma cannon, and a light projectile anti infantry gun, using the Micro CIWS mod granting +2 soak vs. missiles/rockets (46pts.) speed 8 Dam22 So17 Ram11 Guard11
6) Light ASV VTOL craft.(26pts.) crew skill5, speed 14,mounting an anti infantry vehicle lt. plasma chin mount. Dam12 So14 Ram10 Guard13
7)Assault class GSV APC "the bus"(38 pts.) 4 transport slots; carries 1 power armor squad, and 2 specialist mecha (dreadnoughts)..wheeled speed 7, armed with vehicle lt. projectile anti infantry gun. crew skill 5.
Dam22 So18{19} ram13 Guard9, with Uber Armor Mod
8) 2 identical specialist Mecha,(60 pts.) heavy, armed with medium sp. mortar, and power claw,  speed 5
S5 A6 M7 Sk4 Dam7 So15 Guard 11
9) Canned Heat Power Armor Squad (33 pts.) 6 gruntz with jump packs,hvy sniper rifles and CC energy weapons.S5 A5 Guard12 So14 M7 Sk4, double move12 inches.
so far comes to 486 points.
1 medium grav tank, 1 light vtol, 6 fast cycles, 2 APC's delivering the commander, veteran squad, power armor squad, and 2 dreadnoughts, overall a fast mobile strike force.

2 vehicles for blue army

Now the first of the vehicles for blue army for gruntz. have not statted these out yet, but one is a light tank
and the other is a medium support missile truck. So far I think Blue army will be pretty basic tech, with no hover or grav.

power armor infantry

Hello again, this time I have my first squad of power armored infantry for my blue army for gruntz.
another mechwarrior salvage, I believe they are Raiden battle armor, next to some basic infantry for size comparison.
next up my first two vehicles.

First Squad for Gruntz

hello, and so begins my great adventure....This is my first finished squad of infantry for my first army for Gruntz.
The figures are rescued Elite Infantry from the mechwarrior CMG from Wizkidz(and measure in at a whopping 10mm height). I opted to play Gruntz with my infantry squads mounted on squad bases instead of based singly, purely as a personal preference. I am not a big fan of individual casualty removal games and look forward to simply marking 6 boxes off the unit card during play.
My squaddies are mounted on a 30 mm diameter round plastic medical vial top, which has been filled with adhesive tile grout, spray painted and later drybrushed. I plan on using the original long oval mechwarrior bases for vehicles and mechs, and 22 mm diameter round bases for specialist choices, and 15mm round bases for squad attachment choices( both sizes readily available from medical vial plastic tops). This project is all about frugality.
My first force will be using a limited pallette of blue, grey, white, and lavender. I plan on making my forces heavily infantry and vehicles with a smattering of mecha and aircraft. I believe I am done with this squad, but will not entirely rule out the addition of some silflor tufts
in the near future.
I am intending on a universe setting near to far future ,in which all factions have access to all equipment , much like mercenary forces in the battletech universe.
Welcome to my mad project, open to any suggestions, advice, criticism.
Steve