Why Mutant Chronicles Warzone Resurrection?

A lot of my 40k friends have been asking me the above question. Well I must admit there are a few reasons why. 

First off I love the Mutant Chronicles universe and it was the last universe that I role played with all of my friends from high school. So nostalgia has some to do with this and I am fine with that.

Secondly I like that the universe it set in our solar system with planets being terraformed and colonized. The Dieselpunk setting is relatable and has a real world feel to it, well outside of the mystical Dark Symmetry corrupting anything high tech like AI computers and the like; it was the harbinger of Dark Legions aliens bringing their necrotech into the realm of man.

Just imagine it, humanity has terraformed and colonized the solar system making large leaps in technology, relying on AI for many of the daily operating needs; when suddenly he Dark Symmetry is unleased and all humanities precious AI’s are rendered useless, plummeting humanity back to 1970’s and 80’s tech levels. To me that is a compelling game setting.

The third thing is the look of Mutant Chronicles. I love the stylistic 20th century national stereotypes of the corporations. Bauhaus has a very Prussian/German vibe, Capitol has a very American feel, Imperial is very much UK based on WWI and WWII styles, Mishima has a very strong Japanese Samurai meets sci-fi theme and finally Cybertronic has a Terminator the movie vibe, while not a national stereotype a very cool style.

Then you have the human religious faction the Brotherhood, think knights Templar meet wizards in space.

Finally we have the big bad, the Dark Legion using their necrotech to create hoards of Zombie legionaries and multitudes of mutants that brutally do the bidding of their alien overlords. The true power of the Legion is their mastery of the Dark Symmetry which lays waste to all but the simplest of human technology. 

 My last point is the fact that I have been hugely into 40k constantly for almost 26 years, but I need a break from it dominating my gaming time. 

Until next time, keep your powder dry and lead flying!

Vlka Fenryka: Wolf Theory: the Plan

So I had a couple of posts on this topic back on Galaxy in Flames, I have decided to revisit it now. As I gear up to start working on the reboot of my Wolves, but this time with a twist. I will be building it as a 30k Space Wolf force, which can be paired down to a 40k era force.

I will be using mostly Heresy era armor Mk’s, with Mk IV and VI being the most prevalent. Each of the "Packs" listed below will eventually be full strength 30k units. So there will be piles and piles of Wolves in my cupboard!

The plan in then end is to have access to an entire 40k era Great Company of Space Wolves this time around, but there have always been a couple of common issues.

How many Space Wolves are there in the Chapter in the 40k era? What makes up a Great Company?

Here is an important estimate from the original post:

I estimated that a full strength Great Company was around 200 Space Wolves; with the Chapter probably maxing out around 2500 Space Wolves if it included all the priests and their initiates.

Now that we have a number of Astartes to work from in print via the Black Library novel Battle of the Fang, I fully believe those numbers to be extremely close to accurate. At the end of the novel there is one Great Company Depleted to 23 Astartes (the 12th GC who had been decimated defending the Fang), the other 11 Great Companies are present just returned from campaigning but still numbering a staggering 2000 Astartes of the Vlka Fenryka.

The new information really jells with the information from my previous theory posts on Galaxy in Flames and I will be running with it. 

So here is what I plan to shoot for with my 40k Wolves:

1 Wolf Lord

2 Rune Priests

2 Wolf Priests

2 Iron Priests
20 Wolf Guard
12 Grey Hunter packs (total of up to 110 Astartes)

2 Blood Claw packs (total of up to 30 Astartes)

4 Long Fang packs (total of up to 20 Astartes)

2 Wolf Scout pack (total of up to 20 Astartes)

I will vary the number of models in the Grey Hunter packs to show combat losses.  The Claws will be broken into the 3 types with 12 of them being foot born Blood Claws. The scouts will be built as 10 strong packs as well as with the options to be split into 4 packs of 5.

So that is my theory and plan.

Until next time keep your powder dry and lead flying!

Tour of Duty: I Corps 1967

Well it is time to blog about a conflict that I greatly enjoy talking about. There are so many misconceptions about the scale of the fights in the Vietnam War it isn’t even funny. Most gamers seem to think that this was nothing but a skirmish war where squads or platoons set up or got ambushed on patrols. Sure this did happen, I won’t deny that at all, but it was a small part of the overall war effort. There were actions involving battalions of Free World forces and they were a very common occurrence. Anyhow, let’s move on to the real reason for this post.

My Pops yearly visit ended about two weeks ago and my recovery made my gaming time extremely limited. So we skipped our annual Nam gaming sessions this year, but we have decided to give a big go of it next year and running a 4 week mini campaign. We are considering focusing on the Hill Battles of 1967, which really is the 1^st battle for Khe Sanh.  If not the Hill Battles we will stick with 1967 and delve into the battles around Cam Lo, this was a particularly ugly fight that my Dad actually participated in.

Now we have not decided if we are going to use FoW Vietnam or a rule system of our own design. IF we use FoW Nam it will be highly (and I do mean highly) house ruled, I would have to write up a USMC army list cause they have not covered the Marines yet. More on this as it develops and as always I will share any rules or house rules that I write with the community.

So over the next year, I need to paint another entire company of USMC, a pair of M50 Ontos tank destroyers, another company of NVA and flesh out my Main Force VC. I am also hoping I can find some 1/100 Sea Horse or Sea Knight helicopters as well, I hate having to pretend Huey’s are Sea Horses. Since the USMC did not even get transport Huey’s until near the end of the war.

Until next time, keep your powder dry and lead flying!

Back to Business as Usual

So now that I have a clean slate and the worst of my health issues seem to be falling behind me for the time being, it is time to plot out my hobby time. I expect to start working on these projects in late June, but more realistically in July.

As you may have noticed at the end of my Galaxy in Flames days I am very excited for the resurrection of the Mutant Chronicles universe on the tabletop. The rulebook (which I have had a hand in, more on that later) and the first of the new miniatures range should be released by the end of June, so am I planning to dig into the starter armies as soon as I get them to start running demos of the new game.

Then we have the unfinished business of the Soul Reapers rebuild. I really need to finish up the decals and bases so I can show off the army. It has been sitting in that condition since about the time the new Codex dropped, it is table worth by most people’s standards and I have used it, but I really want to have it completed so I can put the project from a main one into a side one where I do the occasional unit just because I want to paint it.  

 

I must admit it has been a real struggle getting this army back to the 2500 point level that it was at. I will also admit that I think the army is much more dynamic looking than the first go around, which is awesome. I will also be posting the final version of the codex for 2013 very soon as well. I won’t revisit the fandex until next year unless someone offers to help me make it a more slick looking PDF.

I also have a spaceship table to build for my Narrative/Big game Events. It will be similar in concept to my buddy Brian’s original Sin of Alacrity table.

Finally I have a bunch of French Indian War miniatures from Conquest minis that I am dieing to paint for the game Muskets and Tomahawks! It is a fantastic skirmish game set in a time period that I have adored since childhood.

Until next time, keep your powder dry and lead flying!

-Jim

The Clean Slate

This is a time of great endings and fantastic beginnings into a bright future for miniature wargaming. It is time to say goodbye to 40k/Sci-fi centric Galaxy in Flames and move forward into blogging about all of my miniature wargaming experiences. It is hard to say goodbye since I built a very solid community on GiF and made a ton of new friends there as well, but I honestly feel that in the light of everything that has happened to me in the recent past it is time for a re-boot.

I have re-booted many things in my personal life to contend with my health issues. My life has been a constant struggle for the last 10 months, and as I can see the light at the end of this dark tunnel I need a change of direction in my hobby life as well.

I will still offer 40k hobby content as well as remaining on Deepstrike Radio to talk about 40k lore. I also will be offering content of Flames of War, Grunts 15mm Sci-fi, Muskets and Tomahawks (French Indian War skirmish), Warzone Resurrection, Lord of the Rings and anything else shiny that strikes my fancy.

On top of all that Special Operations Killzone will be here as well, with plenty of updates starting in late June or July. I have enlisted the help of my Father and Brother to help me finish a few Killzone related supplements that have been in the works for ages now. These will include Killzone Zombie Apocalypse and Killzone Campaigns.

So here we are, a Clean Slate for Big Jim in life and hobby, it is an exciting time and I hope that y’all will follow me on this journey.