Home Forums Sci Fi 6mm Sci-Fi Popping my cherry

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  • #66305
    Avatar photoBozz
    Participant

    I’m no stranger to wargaming, I got into 40k way back in 3rd edition and stuck with it until the end of 6th. As a lot of people do, I grew tired of giving my money to what I considered a less than excellent company and sold off my collection. I dabbled in a few other 28mm systems as well but by and large my hobby was on long term hiatus.

    Fast forward to 2017. I’ve moved to the uk and live in a converted hiace with my partner, we travel almost constantly as part of our academic research, she for her PhD and I for my Masters. I need a distraction from academia and I have fond reminiscings of painting and gaming, but I live in a van and space is at a premium. As I browse the web looking for systems that allow for solo play I came across the concept of 6mm squad based wargaming. Tiny figures, big fun. I knew about epic 40k but in Australia there wasn’t really a market for it and I’d never actually seen a 6mm mini before, let alone a battalion. It seemed I’d found the perfect cure for my itch, now to obtain some and get gaming!

    My search brought me to Angel Barracks which happened to be in Bristol where I just happened to be that day for a conference, I sensed destiny was doing its thing. I got in touch with Michael and headed over to look at his stock and have a chat. Michael’s a great guy, we chatted for a couple of hours and he told me about how his system works and the awesome background behind it. He had a few gaming boards set up that really inspired me and I left with his starter set and the desire to get stuck in!

    I’m in the process now of getting the minis painted up having bought a stock of paints, brushes and whatnot. I’ve the Chain Reaction rules as well as KR 16 and the background material and I’m looking forward to actually having a game. Any tips on other solo systems or how people adjust other systems work for solo play is welcome and appreciated.

    So this is me, popping my 6mm cherry 🙂

     

    "You will NOT call me sir! I actually WORK for a living"
    - Every drill-sergeant ever

    #66306
    Avatar photoMike
    Keymaster

    I got in touch with Michael and headed over to look at his stock and have a chat. Michael’s a great guy

    I heard that too!
    😀 😀

    Looking forward to seeing what you end up with.

    #66342
    Avatar photoDarkest Star Games
    Participant

    That’s awesome Bozz!  Is he really as tall as They say?  (Ha!)

    Destiny indeed, that is pretty cool bit of kizmet right there for ya.  There is a good bit of 6mm out there, but AB is tops where characterful individual figures are concerned, and Michael’s gaming is quite inspiring.  You’re in excellent hands, sir.  Look forwards to seeing what you do!

    "I saw this in a cartoon once, but I'm pretty sure I can do it..."

    #66368
    Avatar photoThuseld
    Participant

    You are one of us now! Checking the blogs and logs of us 6mm sci fi gamers you would struggle to find someone without a few angel barracks figures.

    #66376
    Avatar photoAngel Barracks
    Moderator

    You are one of us now! Checking the blogs and logs of us 6mm sci fi gamers you would struggle to find someone without a few angel barracks figures.

    Some even get their name immortalised:

    #66377
    Avatar photoStroezie
    Participant

    Haha, welcome down the rabbit hole of 6mm skirmish gaming!

    You’ve already got 2 rulesets that work great for solo gaming mechanics, if you want some way to generate a bit more of a background and/or story I would recomend you check out Nordic Weasel Games.

    The mechanics are great to but where Ivan’s games excell is in the easy peasy story/narrative generation imo.

    Oh and one more piece of advice, be carefull with 6mm…

    …it can be highly addictive

     

    #66388
    Avatar photoThuseld
    Participant

    be carefull with 6mm… …it can be highly addictive

    Yes. Mine started as a space saving side project. Has taken over completely.

    #66539
    Avatar photoBozz
    Participant

    Ha! As mine is also starting as a space saving project it’ll be interesting to see what kind of monster it grows into 😉

    Michael, I’d thought Wasberg named his profile after your stuff 😛

    Thanks people for the advice, keep it coming and I’ll hopefully be posting up the first painted batch of rdf tomorrow evening.

    "You will NOT call me sir! I actually WORK for a living"
    - Every drill-sergeant ever

    #66556
    Avatar photoThuseld
    Participant

    It will be interesting to see your take on the RDF.

    #66569
    Avatar photoBozz
    Participant

    As will I 😉

    In other news, where do people source there 12mm x 2mm bases from? The payment system of the one site that’s been recommended to me is playing funny buggers and I’d like to order while I’m stayed put for a few weeks so they have time to get to me.

    "You will NOT call me sir! I actually WORK for a living"
    - Every drill-sergeant ever

    #66570
    Avatar photoThuseld
    Participant

    I base mine on coins. They are magnetic for good storage solutions and I can get 100 bases for £1.

    #66756
    Avatar photoBozz
    Participant

    Got an afternoon and evening of painting done yesterday, 50 figures and 8 tents complete except for basing. The basing will have to wait til I get some flock which should be over the weekend. My hat goes off to everyone who paints their 6mm minis to a high standard cos it’s bloody hard! Mine are what I’d call “tabletop standard”.

    Base coat

    The easy bit with the spray can. This is the last we’ll see of the flak worms in these photos because frankly I put them to one side and forgot about them only realising when I’d put the wash on the last model at 10pm.

     

    First coat RDF

    The rdf got a grayish purplish colour that I liked the look of and should have a reasonable chance of reproducing…

     

    Junker colour

    The junkers got a kind of khaki tan which I also used as the base colour for the tents. Weapons got leadbelcher as did the civvie shovels. It got dark…

     

    Skin etc...

    One of my things is that I insist on a broad representation of gender and race with my minis, especially for sci fi gaming where a whitewashed universe just plain doesn’t make sense. To that end I used five different skin shades ranging from white boy(me) to, say, Samuel L Jackson with a random number of each. As for gender, there is one clearly female rdf sergeant and who’s to say what is under peoples clothes or armour? The chinese-style hats got yellow and the turbans are red, my officers got more coloured detail as did the HARD suits and the tents got different colours. And it got really hard to see…

     

    Shading

    Finally, everyone got a wash with nuln oil which made everything a bit dirty and worn, giving it the gritty look I was after. Then I found the bloody flak worms, cursed my miserable existence,  then gave it up and went to bed.

    Next up I’ll be posting a battle report probably using the fivecore system. Cheers to Stroezie for pointing me to NWG, really cool stuff! I’ll be having a few games with all the different systems I’ve gathered to see which one works best for me 🙂

    "You will NOT call me sir! I actually WORK for a living"
    - Every drill-sergeant ever

    #67180
    Avatar photoBozz
    Participant

    This the first game I’ve had with 6mm minis and probably my first wargame since 2013 when I stopped playing 40k. I’m using the Fivecore rules for this battle and Angel Barracks minis. I’ve also scaled down the inches to cm to adjust for 6mm rather than 15mm or 28mm which means my playing surface was 24cm x 24cm rather than 2ft x 2ft, I’m interested to hear peoples thoughts and comments on this 🙂 I do have photos to go with this post but they’re a bit large, I’ll get them up after some tinkering.

    The Scenario

    The RDF are running a training exercise in a simulated Junker village. Squads Bravo and Delta have been tasked with reaching the red hut and holding it for 2 full turns.

    Sergeant Ramirez of Bravo Squad and Sergeant Jones of Delta Squad both have Battle Sense, all ten soldiers are goons armed with Infantry Rifles and wearing Frag Armour.

    Turn 1

    The table is set up and the squads deployed. Due to the small and open nature of the village both Ramirez and Jones choose not to use their Battle Sense to allow a 3cm move. Reserve Rolls are made with Bravo Squad getting 2, 5 and 6, Delta roll 2, 2 and 4. Delta Squad win the role to go first and choose to Scurry. One squaddie moves to the objective then attempts to dash, he rolls a 1 which due to the Frag Armour means he stays put, in the open! Jones then moves to objective and claims it for Delta. The remaining members move into covering positions.

    Now it’s Bravo Squad’s turn and they need to contest that objective! They also opt to Scurry, Ramirez moves to contest the objective and makes a successful Dash to move into contact with it. The rest of the squad moved into firing positions hoping to pour fire onto Delta squad next turn.

    Turn 2

    Delta roll a normal turn and get to work. One squaddie moves to the southern flak worm for cover and is fired on by Ramirez to no effect, he then returns fire and also misses. The squaddie in the open moves into base contact with the objective and is fired upon by the Bravo squaddie by the northern hut who misses, he returns fire and the shots ping off the wall. The final activation sees the squaddie at the western flak worm fire on the Bravo squaddie by the southeastern hut and scores a 6 on both the Kill Die and the Shock Die! Bravo Squaddie’s Flak armour isn’t enough to stop the bullet, his training armour locks up and he goes down, first blood to Delta!

    Play now goes to Bravo who are eager for revenge, they roll a Scurry turn but elect to use one of their Reserve Dice to have a Standard turn. The squaddie by the southern hut activates and shoots at Sergeant Jones but misses to the left. The squaddie at the northern hut then takes aim at the Delta squaddie in contact with the objective and also misses. The third activation is taken by the squaddie at the northeastern hut who shoots at the same target but his shooting isn’t any better! The observing commanding officers aren’t impressed…

    Turn 3

    Delta can sense that the initiative lies with them as they roll a Firefight and try to really put the hurt on Bravo. Jones fires on the squaddie who fired at him last turn and Knocks him down! The squaddie at the southern flak worm lines Ramirez up in his sights, his shot pings right next to her head and she Flinches around the side of the hut… And right into the scope of the squaddie at the western hut who fires, his shot hits the ground at her feet and throws dust up into her eyes which makes Ramirez Flinch again as she retreats into the open. The squaddie by the eastern flak worm has no line of sight to an enemy so the final shot is taken by the other squaddie at the objective who fires on the Bravo squaddie at the northern hut, the shot slams into his amour and he is Knocked Down. It is Bravo’s turn to return fire. Ramirez is facing the wrong way from her Flinch so it’s down to the remaining upright squaddie to fire at the objective-claiming Delta squaddie who is Knocked Down. Bravo finally hit something!

    Bravo know they have to pull something special out of the bag now to have any chance at victory, they roll a Standard turn and get stuck in. Ramirez moves back into contact with the objective and is fired on by the squaddie at the southern flak worm who again makes her Flinch back which once more leaves her open to the squaddie at the western hut. His shot misses thankfully and Ramirez returns fire but to no avail. The southernmost squaddie activates and attempts to recover, he shakes it off and fires at Sergeant Jones, the shot grazes his cheek and Jones Panics, retreating back behind the western hut. This leaves Ramirez in control of the objective! Lastly, the eastern squaddie shoots at the squaddie at the western hut, he also Panics and runs to the yellow hut. Things are starting to look up for Bravo finally!

    Turn 4

    Delta need to try and take back control, they roll a Standard turn. First, the Knocked Down squaddie tries to Recover but succumbs to the pain and passes out. Next, Sergeant Jones tries to recover and is successful, he moves back into contact with the objective and takes a shot at the squaddie by the southern hut but his shot goes wide. Finally, the squaddie at the southern flak worm shoots at Sergeant Ramirez who once again Flinches around the hut and draws fire from the squaddie at the western flak worm which misses.

    With the numbers back to even, Bravo are desperate to get the edge on Delta, they roll a Standard turn and Ramirez puts her plan into action. The squaddie at the southern hut rushes Jones and engages him in a Brawl! They Struggle to a Draw and the squaddie withdraws back to the hut although he is now in the open. Then Ramirez herself charges in for a go, the two Sergeants face off against each other trading blows until Ramirez gets in a Telling Blow and Jones is taken Out Of Action! She is in control of the object but also out in the open and more vulnerable to Delta’s fire. Finally, the remaining Knocked Down squaddie at the northern hut rolls to Recover and succeeds, moving to the other side of the objective and shooting at the Delta squaddie behind the southern flak worm. The shot smashes into his helmet and down he goes! The tables have completely turned on Delta who now have to take a Morale check.

    Turn 5

    Delta test for Morale and fail about as epically as possible, double 6s!! An unexpected but well-earned victory goes to Bravo Squad who only lost one soldier, MVP has to go to Ramirez purely for her takedown of Sergeant Jones. They’ll be talking about that one in the RDF mess for years…

     

    That was a really fun playthrough. I’m sure I got some bits wrong and I need to use counters to keep track of who can Raction fire and whatnot but I enjoyed the system. Any feedback and comments welcome 🙂

    "You will NOT call me sir! I actually WORK for a living"
    - Every drill-sergeant ever

    #67258
    Avatar photoAlexander Wasberg
    Participant

    A nice write-up, and some pretty models before that as well 🙂

    Glad to see you found your way to NWG, Ivan’s rules have given me lots of fun games over the last few years!

    My only comment on the Write-up would be that it is always nice to have a few pictures along with the text 😉

     

    Keep doing what you’re doing, love to see more!

    #67270
    Avatar photoBozz
    Participant

    Yeah, annoyingly the photos are large to be uploaded. It’s just not the same without them.

    "You will NOT call me sir! I actually WORK for a living"
    - Every drill-sergeant ever

    #67277
    Avatar photoMike
    Keymaster

    Yeah, annoyingly the photos are large to be uploaded. It’s just not the same without them.

    Can you reduce the DPI or even image dimensions before uploading?
    Or host them elsewhere and link to here?

    #67345
    Avatar photoThuseld
    Participant

    Host them on a blog or on imgur then copy links here!

    #67370
    Avatar photoBozz
    Participant

    Got the photos into the battle report 🙂

    My tablet camera is a bit hit and miss, I’ll have to use my phone camera I think and just move the photos across.

    "You will NOT call me sir! I actually WORK for a living"
    - Every drill-sergeant ever

    #67578
    Avatar photoAngel Barracks
    Moderator

    Cool, much better!
    Good skills on using Flak Worms as mobile cover too!

    Through a bit of Deema seed down in a trail and hey presto, free movig defence!

    #68140
    Avatar photogreg954
    Participant

    Excellent, good stuff. Always nice to see stuff from someone getting into it again. You can’t really go wrong with KR 16, a slightly more improved and larger version of FUBAR.

     

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