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| Ooohh, shiny hover tank with mecha!!! |
Oh dear! I'm in trouble my fellow hobby fans. I'm still 'intrigued by Heavy Gear Blitz' it would seem, which is obviously a pain in the behind because I'm skint. Dream Pod 9 aren't doing anything to help me either it seems. Nope the swines are intent on actually releasing more bloody miniatures I like the look of. It's not on I tell you, it's just not cricket! This time it's the Sampson Hover APC, which I believe is for the NuCoal faction I seem to have taken a distinct shine to... must resist shiny Gears... only have one kidney left!!! So why am I showing you guys something I don't own (it will be mine eventually)? Well for a number of reasons. The pictures are actually really quite large and show the level of surface detail present within their range of miniatures. No question, for a 12mm scale miniature the detail is pretty sodding amazing if you ask me. It has me impressed any way! The other reason I'm showing you guys these snazzy photo's is because it emphasises something I don't think is initially clear about the Heavy Gear Blitz range, when you first look at it. The fact that you get a lot of different options and load outs in each box you buy. So if you're a dab hand with those rare earth magnets.... well enough of me whittering, here's more shiny pics of the shiny hover tank...
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| A sampson APC surrounded by ickle troopers. How cute!!! |
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| Mmmmmm. Sexy hover tanks FTW. The basic Sampson comes with Light Autocannons |
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| I find sexy things always look better from behind. Don't you? |
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| Nerdgasm, its back door opens... that sounded far dirtier than I meant it too! |
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| Sampson Javelin variant. Good for punching holes in Gears apparently. Doesn't seem very friendly! |
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| Sampson Medevac variant... I'll be needing lots and lots of these then! |
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| The Sampson Spear variant, because you can never have too many options! |
In conclusion I think we can all agree that tanks are cool, and that things that hover are awesome. Therefore I humbly suggest that hover tanks are awesomely cool! I'd include the Sampson APC in that list of awesomely cool hover tanks. To me the Sampson APC is just another one of the NuCoal miniatures that is teasing and tempting me, the hussy. This game will almost certainly get its claws in me eventually. I'm too much of a mech geek for me not to play it I guess. I just have to find some gullib... *ahem*... I mean willing friends who want to play it with me! I'm sure if I keep nagging people and telling them to look at the shiny miniatures someone will crack eventually. Then my only problem will be raising the funds myself for a faction. Undoubtedly that faction will be NuCoal. If I turned myself into a registered charity, how many of you would donate to the 'Frontline Gamer Miniatures Fund'? Peace out!
I keep looking at them for Gruntz 15mm they are sooooooooo nice. I think its the price tag whats holding me off at the mo.
ReplyDeleteGruntz is something I'm looking into at the moment, but I've got way more research to do before that article is anywhere near good enough to go. As for the cost of HGB... yeah I can still see the point. However, I'm starting to see that with the options in the boxes and some rare earth magnets things might not be too bad. It just requires a 'new perspective' on things. I know for a fact though now that if I could get a force and maybe Mr Chaos Space Marine and the Cured into it it'd snow ball round here... seriously snow ball!! there are people waiting for us to take the plunge and if we do... well you get the idea. So I'm painfully close to having a group, just findig a job and saving some dosh now.
DeleteDude, how's the takeup of Gruntz at Hammer'n'Ales? I downloaded the rules and picked up a bundle of SWAT and riot police models and vehicles to paint up all post-apocalypse-y for it.
Delete(Gotta love being able to put an army on the table for £30.)
Heya Firndil, Gruntz take up round here appears patchy at best. There are peeps playing it, but it's not a regular 'go to' system for them and I don't see it played much at clubs. But as I say I'll be doing an article on the 15mm sci-fi gaming scene too.
DeleteYou receive death threats when you talk bad about games people love.
ReplyDeleteI'm gonna start sending you death threats for talking nice about games I know nothing about.
Ironic, no?
For the record...skimmers with missile pods are da awesome.
lol.
DeleteWell what do I expect. We live in extreme times. Honestly though the geeky sci-fi nerd trapped inside of my cool, suave and elegant exterior just loves the idea of hover tanks. I mean why don't we have hover tanks already? Just seem military hardware companies have be slacking off of late. Surely we should have shoulder mounted rail guns and laser rifles by now. And I've been waiting for a personal mech suit for literally AGES!!! Scientists need to pull their fingers out.
Gruntz is the brainchild of my friend and gaming buddy Robin :)
ReplyDeleteIt's a cool game he has put a lot of time, energy and passion into and is still trying to convince me 15mm is the future :)
I'm painting up a fair few of his 15mm miniatures at the moment....
Then you mightbe the man I need to speak too!!!
DeleteI'm doing, or trying to do an article on 15mm Sci-fi games and I want to heavily feature Gruntz as it's the one that people keep telling me I should play. Would you ask Robin if he minded chatting to me via email? Just want to pick his brains and ask a few questions really. Cheers in advance. :P
I'm pretty sure Robin would no problem at all giving you whatever you need mate :)
DeleteRobin also talks quite a bit to Craig at Critical mass and has a great relationship with them so chances are he put them in touch aswell if you wanted!
I'll have a word with him for you
That would be awesome if you could Mr Tater. Much appreciated if you could. :D
DeleteHe says yes he'll do it :)
DeleteCheers Dart if you could get him to email me at TheFrontlineGamerBlog@gmail.com that'd be awesome. Cheers.
Deleteno probs will do
DeleteFiendil Gruntz is going good Rich b and martin have stuff, and others are interesred to. I'm giving a demo to jake he keeps asking me. But i'm waiting for the V 1.1 rule book should be done end of this month. I've got 3 painted armys. Minis from GZG / old crow / crittical mass and others. The army builders are what make it. Build your own army its great.
ReplyDeleteWayland games do heavy gear stuff.
ReplyDeleteThey do indeed, but the last few times I've used Wayland Games I've found the whole thing exceedingly frustrating. Don't think I'll be going back there to be honest with you. and I can't find it anywhere else in the UK.
DeleteUgh, is it so bad with Wayland? I just ordered a South Combat Cadre and a Iguana two-pack... I considered ordering from DP9 directly, but the postage was as much as the two-pack.
DeleteI was watching HeavyGear ever since I played their PC games years ago, and I must say your two articles tipped the scale. They do seem to be improving model wise, and searching for actual model pictures yielded some very interesting photos - much better than at their site.
Alfred, if the stuff is in you'll be fine if it's not they'll cancel your order and refund you without telling you and you'll be wandering why certain stuff hasn't turned up. Honestly I through using Waylands Games personally. When I put an order in for HGB I'll do it direct with DP9.
DeleteThanks for the heads up! I'm sure I will make some photos of the models if/when they arrive. ;) Great blog BTW, I read through your past posts and there are some interesting articles there. I appreciate your serious attitude to writing!
DeleteAlso, if you go into Gruntz it is very close to Heavy Gear - they are almost the same scale - 12mm and 15mm. You can use same terrain for both. Although Gruntz is not restricted to any particular scale - there ware plans to use it with 28mm too. I'm waiting for your Gruntz article, interested about your findings. :)
Thanks Alfred, that's really nice to hear. I do try to give it my best shot when writing my articles. I didn't want to be just 'another' blog. I wanted to get across my love and passion for this hobby and the games and products. I think we're all doing the greatest hobby on earth. I have so much love for toy soldiers that I just want to get that across to my readers and inform and enthuse. So it's always really nice to hear when somebody appreciates what you do. I hope I can continue to provide interesting reading for fellow hobbyists because there's not much out there that covers non-GW or PP games that well. If I can do my little bit for the hobby that's all I want.
DeleteI think all the DP9 hover vehicles are dead sexy! Which is odd since so many of their ground vehicle designs don't do anything for me.
ReplyDeleteHmm... I really need to expand my miniature games group. Right now we're like... three. Not nearly enough to try out all the different games I want to!
As for Gruntz, it's a nice little ruleset. Especially the sturdy unit construction rules. I planning a review of it for Dropship Horizon, but need to play more of it first (see above).
Oh, and thanks for the linkage! :D
Pleasure as always Martin! :)
DeleteNever had a problem giving shout outs to decent articles on teh Interzwebz.
My problem with my 15mm Sci-fi article is I'm starting from scratch, no one round by mean has much of a clue, and I don't have the connections to get all the info I'd like... and still have time to apply for jobs. I'll get it done sooner or later but right now it'll be on hold until I can get someone willing to show me the ropes round here. Mucho frustration!!! x_X
Yes, I see what you mean. 15mm is tricky to get into since there is that mishmash of rulesets and miniatures. I started out all by my lonesome here in Sweden and gradually grew into the community. Since it's still early days (in a manner of speaking) for 15mm sci-fi the community is small but enthusiastic and helpful, and it's usually no problem getting in touch with designers and sculptors.
DeleteA good place to start is of course Dropship Horizon. Then there's the 15mm section of TMP, but I have a hard time dealing with its archaic workings.
I've been talking to Robin through email and Google+ and I'm sure he'd be more than happy to help you out.
Thanks Martin I'll take a smooch at those.
DeleteGood God, man! If you liked this, you'd better not look too closely when the model for the Fusilier comes out.
ReplyDeleteWell I've seen the 'artwork' for the Fusilier, and that too looks purty. I might as well face it. I'm destined to be utterly broke for the rest of my life because of a toy soldier addictions!
DeleteCan some let me know if the Samson APC will work well with 15mm infantry, or will it look too small? Thanks!
ReplyDelete