THE SPECIAL CORPS

Will 2012 Be the Year of the Rat?

2012-01-26T17:10:00.000-08:00

Hi!

Well its been pretty much three years since I did anything with this project and in that time the 15mm scale sci-fi market has seen a renaissance which has turned it from pretty much a niche market with one or two manufacturers to a mainstream one with literally dozens!

I am hoping to spend the next couple of weeks going through my unpainted stuff and finishing off what I have left kicking around! The next step will be to try and get a couple of games in as I have loads of rulesets I want to try out and even a couple of new bits and bobs I want to buy or indeed sculpt to allow me to game Slippery Jims exploits once again!

I am unsure whether I am going to continue the action on Freibur or move onto some of the other adventures of Jim. Taking a look back at my very first blog entry here I cant help but think that its long past time I try and get some of my favourite heroes and villains from the books onto the tabletop!

All the best!

League Marines

2011-11-13T09:26:00.000-08:00

Hi!

Well I have been having a rummage through my unpainted 15mm scale figures and found these chaps:

US GI Troops

Originally from Peter Pig they are amongst the oldest figures I have in the Stainless Steel Rat project, predating it by several years they were originally purchased for a long failed World War 2 project but I never got rid of them. When I started this project I even went as far as doing a test piece for the Leagues finest:

Captain Gristle

Alas I never got any further than painting him up. Still with a new found sense of money saving I have decided to finish the platoon of them! It will provide some handy good guys for Slippery Jim to command or indeed to chase him if he commits any more felonies!

The original Captain Gristle conversion resulted in a rather heavily armoured figure whose weapon looked rather out of place. With the new conversion I am planning on lightening the armour a bit and updating the weapon to a blaster of some sort.

I plan on making a start on the little fellows once I get back to Portsmouth with the aim of getting them finished asap so I can get on with painting the rest of the bits and bobs I am taking with me which will hopefully result in there being a fully playable couple of forces to play with!

All the best!

Stainless Steel Collection!

2011-11-09T02:06:00.000-08:00

Hi
I am currently up at my folks and have rummaged out my Stainless Steel Rat collection! I had been thinking of selling it off as I am having a major clear out of miniatures but as soon as I looked at the little fellows I remembered the fun I've had collecting, painting and gaming with them.

I've therefore decided to resurrect the project to a limited degree. The problem is the miniatures are here in Edinburgh and I live in Portsmouth at the moment. If I was driving back I could simply shove them in the boot and be off but as I am flying with only hand luggage, I may struggle to transport my collection.

I know one remedy would be to simply post them down but I have very (read almost no) space in my current abode as there are four of us sharing.

Therefore I am going to grab some bits and bobs from my unpainted pile and bring that with me. I hope to be able to paint them up while I am busily working away at getting my own range of sci-fi figures sculpted. I've had great fun working on my own fantasy miniatures in 15mm scale and am relishing having a go at sci-fi.

It's not going to be hard military sci-fi though as I feel there's enough companies out there doing a sterling job of covering that area. I am aiming to produce pulp and science fantasy with daring heroes swashing their buckle, damsels in distress, femme fatales, evil aliens, retro robots and more!

I have mentioned it before as I believe that there's space for miniatures inspired by Flash Gordon, Slippery Jim diGriz, Starwars and all sorts of stuff that doesn't require tons of realistic tanks and future versions of the current military!

Worry not! The rest of my 15mm sci fi collection will be reunited with me at some point once my girlfriend and myself have settled down somewhere more permanent!

All the best!

The Stainless Steel Rat Returns!

2011-10-09T12:27:00.000-07:00

Hi!

Well I finally managed to pick up a copy of the new Stainless Steel Rat book!

The Stainless Steel Rat Returns

Its been ten years since the last book and I must admit I was excited to hear Harry Harrison was working on a new Slippery Jim novel and have been trying to find a copy for some time.

I have got about fifty pages in and its proving to be an interesting read but seems to be missing some of the fizz of his earlier escapades. Saying that its early on in the book so hopefully it will pick up a bit but even though its not his finest novel it still contains some great ideas for a campaign, especially as it features a herd of porcuswine and the country bumpkin diGriz clan!

All the best!

McSwineys Anyone?

2011-10-05T09:21:00.000-07:00

Hi!

Well at long last I have got a new addition to the Stainless Steel Rat project in the form of a McSwineys delivery van!

McSwineys Delivery Van

Purveyor of the galaxies finest Porcuswine burgers, McSwineys is a constant in the Stainless Steel Rat books, in fact Jim at one point spent several weeks avoiding the long arm of the law by hiding in one of McSwineys automated burger restaurants so I felt it was fitting that the game should have a homage to them too!

The van originated as a Hotwheels paper van but with a shiny new paint scheme and hand painted golden M, it fits the bill as a delivery vehicle in 15mm scale. Not only that, it will no doubt find use a getaway car in the not too distant future! Once I get chance I will make a small burger bar to go along with it!

All the best!

Return of the Stainless Steel Rat!

2011-07-31T15:16:00.001-07:00

Hi!

I have sorted through my 15mm sci-fi Stainless Steel Rat collection!

Stainless Steel Collection!

I hope to be able to get some more stuff sorted out in the next couple of months for Slippery Jim so keep your eyes peeled!

All the best!

NEW STAINLESS STEEL FICTION!

2010-09-10T06:09:00.000-07:00

Hi!

Just a quick update but theres been some new (well newish as Ive not had chance to look at them as yet!) books featuring our favorite anti hero Slippery Jim diGriz!

First off theres the Stainless Steel Rat Returns, A series of stories featuring the Rat in his latter years. Secondly theres a compilation of the old 2000AD comics in one handy volume!

The Stainless Steel Rat Returns

The Stainless Steel Rat Graphic Novel!

Hopefully they will provide me with a host of new bits and bobs for use with gaming.

In other news I plan on making a couple of small orders over the coming weeks which will allow me to complete my existing forces and provide some new enemies and allies for Jim.

All the best!

Rules Update!

2009-11-15T14:24:00.000-08:00

Hi!

Well its been another busy week at uni leaving me with almost no time to get any painting done! Alas Ive only managed to get a single miniature painted all week!

Other than that Ive had a further perusal of the internet for some suitable rulesets to try out, including Wildfire, Savage Worlds, and Chaos in Carpathia. The rules range from hard sci-fi to pulp but with the wide array of tech levels and planets featured in the stainless steel rat books I figure they will all be of some use!

Hopefully over the course of next weekend I will be able to get either a bit of painting done or try out a couple of rulesets! I hope to start up a bit of a mini campaign and play a couple of games a week (uni work permitting!) featuring Jims mission to Freibur!

Ive already got enough painted miniatures to play a couple of different skirmish level games so hopefully there will be some reports coming in from Jim soon!

All the best!

Hired Thugs!

2009-10-09T07:04:00.000-07:00

Hi!

Ive had a quick update from the chaps over at 15mm.co.uk! Heres the message:

Want Something for Nothing?

Get yourself a FREE pack of 15mm Science Fiction miniatures from the HOF range by 15mm.co.uk.

HOF54 Rim Mercenaries (10 Miniatures) worth £3.50 for nothing except the postage.

HOF 54 Human Rim Mercenaries. This pack contains ten miniatures taken from three poses of human males armed with automatic rifles dressed in paramilitary gear. Useful for any scenario or force that needs skilled fighters who wear no official uniforms such as guerillas or levies raised for planetary defence or alien invasion.

Go to this Link and add ONE pack to your cart and then proceed to the checkout page.

You need order nothing else if you do not wish to. We will then send you your free pack of science fiction 15mm miniatures.

PLEASE NOTE: We will only honour orders which contain ONE FREE PACK ONLY. If your order contains more than one of these packs we will still supply you but with only one pack.

This Offer is Valid Until Monday 19th October 2009

As always if there are any questions please email me directly at sales@15mm.co.uk

Ive got some of the figures and they did paint up rather nicely and I have a batch more which will be acting as heavily armed re-enforcements for Angelinas thugs!

All the best!

All the best!

Yet Another Halt To Work!

2009-10-07T09:25:00.000-07:00

Hi!

Just a quick update!

Im really busy at uni at the mo so my painting time is almost non existent so I doubt I will have chance to get any painting done for the next week or so!

Worry not! Things will be back to normal after that as I am determined to get an evening off every week to get some miniatures painted!

In the meantime all the best!

Police Skimmer!

2009-10-06T04:19:00.000-07:00

Hi!

Heres another police skimmer:

Police Float Disk

The miniature is one of the Foatdisc Heavy Scouts and as its a commission piece I didnt add the new style 30mm round base. I quite like the pilots irate expression!

UPDATE!

Ive just finished a heavy weapon version of the skimmer to add some firepower to my police forces:

Police Shooters!

All the best!

Stainless Steel Battle Report!

2009-10-02T09:37:00.000-07:00

Hi!

Ive managed to get another game in using Rogue Trader as a ruleset!

I will post some pics in the morning but in the meantime heres the battle report:

The Scenario

The Special Corps has dropped Jim some top secret supplies onto Freibur cunningly concealed within a meteor. Unfortunately for Jim the meteors trajectory was slightly off and the falling rock impacted close to one of the Rdenruntian outposts and a small village. Jim has raced towards the impact site only to find a couple of thuggish troops poking around the meteor.

Its now up to Jim to sneak up on them and immobilise the troops without raising the alarm and unload the spy gear from the meteor before the remainder of the Rdenrunt patrol turns up.

Unfortunately the troopers have already called their base and a truck is heading for the crash site to recover the meteor so Jim has a very tight schedule!

Setup

Jims deployment zone is in the village while there are two Rdenruntian troops guarding the meteor. The remainder of the squad are in a building opposite the village with an armoured car parked outside with a single sentry patrolling the compound. There are also over a dozen civilians milling around the village itself.

The Game!

The game began with Jim beginning to move towards the impact crater while the sentries milled around aimlessly.

Jim was soon in position in the undergrowth overlooking the sentries but sees the truck rumbling along the roadway so springs into action by firing his needle gun at one of the guards. Unfortunately the guard slumped to the ground just as his companion turned round. The guard scanned the bush but failed to spot Jim, meanwhile the truck left the road and promptly got bogged down in the mud (i was to spend much of the game in the same position!)

The next turn saw a brisk exchange of fire between Jim and the remaining sentry which saw Jim take a wound while the unfortunate trooper was knocked out with a burst of tranquiliser darts. Unfortunately the sound of gunfire had alerted the garrison and Rdenruntian troopers began pouring out of the building towards their armoured car and the crash site.

Jim soon made his way to the meteor and quickly set about recovering the equipment concealed within. In the meantime Troopers attempted, without much luck to get their armoured car started and the remainder continued closing on Jims position.

After recovering the equipment Jim made for his skimmer but was spotted by a cleaver wielding civilian who promptly charged screaming at diGriz. Somewhat taken aback by the old lady with the cutlery Jims needle pistol fire missed her and she managed to get into combat with him forcing Jim to knock her out!

The delay caused meant that Jim couldnt make it back to his getaway vehicle before the troopers got to it and began blazing away at him. Fortunately their marksmanship was truly awful and they all missed.

Despite a storm of lead whistling past his ears a somewhat bloodied Jim managed to run for the edge of the table and escape.

I also have a second game to write up featuring the flight of Jim as he attempts to find a medical kit and transport while dodging military patrols and local hicks!

I will try and post some pics and a second battle report over the course of the next couple of days but Ive got a fair amount of work to do both with my painting commission and uni!

All the best

Starship Crew!

2009-09-29T06:15:00.000-07:00

Hi!

Just a quick update with a pic of my starship crew:

Starship Crew

The figures are from the 15mm.co.uk Starfighter Crew pack and are a nice batch of figures, especially the little asronavigation droid!

I plan on using them as an objective in some of my Stainless Steel Rat games as theres several instances when Slippery Jim has had to overpower or avoid starship crews while carrying out heists and daring escapes!

I'm Back!

2009-09-27T13:09:00.000-07:00

Hi!

I'm back from my hols and am back at uni from tomorrow!

I am planning on posting a basing tutorial on the blog here as theres been quite a lot of questions as to how its been done and what materials Ive used!

The plan is to post some step by step pics and a bit of a blurb about the process. Alas Its going to be a couple of days before I get anything done for the article as Ive got some commission work still to finish and I suspect I am going to be a bit busy with my uni work too!

Till then all the best!

A Commission, A Holiday And Uni! Oh My!

2009-09-18T01:41:00.000-07:00

Hi!

Ive got a bit of a commission to paint some 15mm sci-fi miniatures so Im not going to be able to update this blog for a week or so as Ive got till Saturday to finish painting them and then head off to Skye with my friends before returning to university in a week and a bit! The first batch of painted miniatures has gone on here. here
and here!

Its all very action packed but hopefully the Stainless Steel Rat will not suffer too much and I will be painting some more stuff and indeed playing some more games soon!

In other news I seem to have been awarded a Academic Achievement Scholarship from uni which is nice, if somewhat unexpected! It comes with a cheque for £1000 which was a nice surprise! Alas Im not going to spend it on miniatures but on some much needed drawing software upgrades for my illustration work (Ok there may be a bit left over for miniatures!)

All the best!

UPDATE!

Theres some more pics on my other blog showing some more commission work along with some other bits and bobs!

All the best!

Angelina: Interstellar Criminal

2009-09-16T13:34:00.000-07:00

Hi!

Just spotted this pic while perusing the Harry Harrison blog:

Angelina

Its quite a nice match for my Angelina model:

15mm Scale Angelina

I may paint up another one with brown hair and pointing the pistol a bit more aggressively!

All the best!

Freibur Frontiersmen!

2009-09-16T04:47:00.000-07:00

Hi!

Heres a pic of the latest additions to my Freibur frontier settlers:

Frontiersmen!

Ive now got more than a dozen of the fellows painted and I hope to get a game involving a posse of frontier types trying to capture and lynch our intrepid hero! I was in two minds as to which of my blogs to post them on but as they cover both Stainless Steel Rat games and general sci-fi I think they will get posted on both!

With only two of the frontier miniatures left to paint I am now turning my attention to the Stellar Guard which were undercoated last night...

UPDATE!

Heres a pic of the last two of the frontier posse, including Hanging Judge Jenkins!

Hanging Judge Jenkins & Minion!

The Judge is a Peter Pig wild west character (the pack comes with him mounted, on foot and dead allowing me to use him as part of a mounted or foot posse as well as an objective!) The figure has literally tons of character ranging from his gaunt, old guy face to a pair of rather impressive spectacles! I can see him shuffling around in a crotchety manner giving the townsfolk orders while blasting at anything that comes into his myopic field of vision with his trusty shotgun!

With the addition of a sheriff and some deputies to lead the posse it should make for an interesting game fielding a bunch of backward hicks against the galaxies finest criminal!

Theres some more pics of them over on my other blog Farpoint Salvage!

All the best!

An Update From Inskipp!

2009-09-14T04:44:00.000-07:00

Hi!

After my re-think of my blogging I have been off to see my friends in Newcastle for a bit of a break. Now Im back I have been rummaging round my box of unpainted miniatures to see what Ive got that will fit in as some of the assorted characters from the Stainless Steel Rat books. Ive got a load of bits and bobs waiting to get painted for my Farpoint Salvage blog but not much for the blog here.

This must be sorted out soon! I am going to place a small order for some new characters and have got some stellar guard to paint while Im waiting.

The Stellar Guard are mentioned in the first of Slippery Jims adventures and I figure they could make a nice, bright addition to the forces of good. I plan on giving them very bright uniforms, based on the classic pulp sci-fi films and comics as they are described as being a bit flash and showy.

I am using some of the Laserburn miniatures as the basis of them (theres a couple of armoured types with the Flash Gordon type of helmets and cloaks) The patrol is a bit under strength at present as there are only three of them but will soon be re-enforced by a further five troopers. I also have another chap whos perfect for an officer to lead them.

Hopefully I will be able to get some painting done today and post a pic of my progress tomorrow!

All the best!

Police Re-enforcements!

2009-09-11T05:04:00.000-07:00

Hi!

Just a quick update from 15mm.co.uk! Theyve got a small feature on their Metropolis Police Patrol:

Heres a quick pic of some I painted a while back:

Police!

http://www.15mm.co.uk/HOF52_Megopolis_Police_Patrol.htm

The packs been available for a while now but theyve got some nice pics of painted samples online now. Theres a small review of them earlier on in my blog too.

All the best!

A Quick Rethink!

2009-09-10T03:08:00.000-07:00

Hi!

Ive finally given up on painting 28mm stuff after a truly miserable evening spent getting more and more frustrated after three miniatures paint jobs in a row proved to be abject failures. I suspect its because I have been painting, and more importantly enjoying painting, 15mm scale figures.

Because of this I have decided to re-work my blogs a bit as after reviewing some of the stuff I posted here I have noticed that quite a bit of the recent posting has got away from the spirit of the Stainless Steel Rat books. Essentially the project was originally more about collecting characters, individuals and some minions based on the characters in the book. Lately Ive been getting a bit too enthused with painting military vehicles and mechs which while fun, arent what Slippery Jim is about!

From now on I will only be posting the more pulp miniatures and Stainless Steel Rat battle reports here while all the military stuff and sci-fi wargames and so on will be posted over on my Farpoint Salvage blog:

http://farpointsalvage.blogspot.com/

As already mentioned in an early post here Slippery Jim deserves his own blog and in keeping with that I think a bit of re-organisation is just whats needed!

Worry not its all going to be 15mm scale goodness but just a bit better oganised and I will be updating both blogs at regular intervals!

Next up for this blog is to get some of the named characters from the first Stainless Steel Rat book painted up!

All the best!

Automated Defence!

2009-09-09T09:04:00.001-07:00

Hi!

Just a quick update with a pic of my automated defence droid!

Defence Droid!

The miniature is a kit bash of a few different bits and pieces and is just the sort of thing miners may leave to keep guard of their claim or unscrupulous Megecorps would use to pacify unruly sorts!

All the best!

Tiny Robot And Giant Spider!

2009-09-09T01:04:00.000-07:00

Hi!

Alas I didnt have much chance to get any painting done yesterday but did finish another small robot:

Robot!

Its a Mechwarrior plastic power armour miniature and because it looks a bit Japanese I decided to paint it up in a slightly manga style using purple and white. Alas the picture isnt that great but its quite a nice little model. I am going to have a rummage through my bits box to see if I can find any more!

Giant Spider and Some Meteorite!

Also a Giant Spider and another salvage/objective counter, this time a valuable lump of meteoric rock (in one of the Stainless Steel Rat books Jim uses just such an item to drop all his gear onto an unfriendly planet undetected so it could make for a good objective for Jim to get to before a patrol of troops turns up)

The spider is a plastic Warhammer Quest giant spider and the objective is a small rock I found (I continue to try and work to a budget!)

All the best!

Frontier Militia Re-enforcements!

2009-09-08T00:56:00.000-07:00

Hi!

Heres a quick pic of my frontier militia heavy weapons!

Guns and Stuff!

From left to right: Frontier type with shotgun, missile launcher, support laser and heavy sniper rifle. The heavy weapons are all converted (the missile launcher is a cocktail stick, the laser is a plastic piece from Battlefleet Gothic and the sniper rifle is a couple of pieces of wire!) At 15mm scale weapons are really easy to convert which is a definite plus!

I quite like how the weapons turned out and may have to have the heavy rifle armed guy leading a Sponk hunting party at some point. It reminds me of Burts punt gun from one of the Tremors movies:

Ive still got another few frontier types to paint up but they are all armed with an assortment of small arms and Ive got another small robot, a giant spider and another salvage objective marker undercoated and waiting to be painted today!

All the best!

A Fair Sized Update!

2009-09-06T03:12:00.000-07:00

Hi!

Ive been working on a few vehicles, frontier types and even the occasional objective counter so without further ado heres the pics:

Mining Mech

Unmanned Scout Drone

More Frontier Types!

Salvage Objective Marker!

The mech is on of the old mechwarrior plastic mining mechs and is equipped with mining hammer, lasers and seismic charges. I used an article from Ramshackle Games to get the rusty look and quite like how its turned out.

The Unmanned Drone is one of the plastic starships from EM4 Miniatures and Ive had it kicking around for ages and decided that my frontier militia could do with a fairly low tech scout vehicle. I still need a controller figure for it but am sure I will find a suitable figure somewhere! It could make for quite an interesting scenario with one side controlling the drone and the other trying to either avoid being spotted or shooting it down with the possibility of a herd of militia turning up to see what happened to their drone!

The frontier types are all Peter Pig cowboys with the occasional piece of wire to convert a normal pistol into a heavy las pistol! Ive got another dozen to paint so will try and get them finished over the next day or so! I tried to go for a combination of traditional and new clothing and equipment as befitting a bunch of hardy frontier dwellers!

The salvage is a mixture of plastic gubbins I had kicking around and some metal stowage from Ground Zero Games that Ive had in my bits box for best part of a decade. Although intended to be 25mm scale I found they worked just as well in 15mm. I plan on placing a small order with GZG over the next couple of days for some more barrels and possibly a few infantry!

I am also hoping to get a game or two played at some point today but wont be posting any pictures as many of the miniatures are unpainted!

All the best!

Frontier Armour!

2009-09-05T03:07:00.001-07:00

Hi!

Heres a quick pic of a piece of salvaged armour for my frontier types:

Old Thunder (updated picture)

The tanks body is a Peter Pig WW2 Sherman while the turret is from a plastic Mechwarrior vehicle.

The frontier militia have decided they need to beef up their starports security and have commissioned Sturn Industries to build an armoured fighting vehicle capable of driving off raiders and other lawless types. Alas as Sturn Industries is one man in his shed the armoured vehicle is made from an old bulldozer Sturn had parked next to his shed and some old League spares bought off the back of a lorry from someone named Jim.

The vehicles top speed is a mighty 15mph and compared to modern armour its pretty sub standard. Saying that the main gun (a Mk2 Masher class plasma gun) can easily cope with the light vehicles usually associated with raiders and is even capable of punching holes in most small ships. Also equipped with a bow mounted machine gun and a turret mounted quad recoilless long gun the tank, christened Old Thunder due partly to the noise its ancient engine makes and partly due to the roar of its main gun, can also churn out quite a lot of fire.

Sturn is so proud of the monstrosity he volunteered for the militia and is now the tanks engineer, in fact its only his constant tinkering which keeps the inelegant machine running.

As yet Old Thunder is yet to see combat so its unknown how it will cope with its mission!

I plan on trying out the tanks performance in a game as soon as possible but think it will need some targets to shoot up...

All the best!

Yet More Rulebook Ponderings!

2009-09-03T13:22:00.000-07:00

Hi!

Well Ive managed to play more games using 15mm scale over the last month than I have over the previous 3 years using other scales so its looking promising!

Ive found some more rulesets I plan on trying including VOR, Void and two editions of Warzone. Although several of these systems have specific settings I dont see why I cant do a bit of conversion work to allow existing stats to be used for characters, vehicles and units in Stainless Steel Rat gaming.

In fact Void and Warzone have some really interesting units and forces which could fit in really nicely with the universe of Slippery Jim (admittedly not the mutated monsters and aliens of the dark legion or koralon but Bauhaus, Imperial, Cybertronic, Capitol, Syntha, Viridia and the Junkers could easily be converted to act as planetary defence forces, league troops and assorted villains!) Meanwhile VOR has a custom force generator and the Growlers are just begging to be converted to 15mm scale (Imagine a giant angry ape/lizard, then imagine a pack of them hurtling toward you!)

Heres a pic of some I painted a while back:

Growlers

Admittedly they are 28mm scale but the pups (the little guys) are just about perfect for 15mm scale while the big guys can easily be seen as a sort of bio-tank! Imagine Jim being sent by the Corps to find out what happened to a newly built colony which has lost contact only to find its been over run by a pack of angry growlers defending their territory. I can imagine Jim calling in some big guns to help deal with the situation which could make for a really interesting game!

Im hoping to get another few games in over the course of the next week or so using an assortment of systems but I think the beauty of 15mm is that I can collect forces for each game, paint them and tailor them to the Stainless Steel Rat universe at a fraction of the cost, or indeed painting time of attempting the same in 28mm scale.

Alas I am back at university next month so my hobby time will be seriously curtailed but I plan on setting aside an evening a week to get some games in or paint up some more stuff!

All the best!

UPDATE!

Hi!

Ive just found my copy of Battleground Trinitry and will have a go at that too. It features quite an interesting setting which could be ported into the Stainless Steel Rat universe with little effort!

An Unusual Addition!

2009-09-03T04:58:00.000-07:00

Greetings!

I spotted this in Toys R Us for the princely sum of 99p and thought it would make a nice addition to my Stainless Steel Rat games:

Airship!

Its an airship for the Golden Compass movie but could make a nice small blimp for Count Cassitor or even a nice scout ship for any other force!

The miniature measures in at just over 20cm long and is just about perfect for 15mm scale. Its also just the thing for Aeronef players and anyone into Victorian sci-fi!

Im not sure if I will repaint it as I quite like the colour as is and it fits in quite nicely with Count Cassitors minions!

All the best!

Frontier Cargo Vehicle

2009-09-02T05:02:00.000-07:00

Hi!

Heres a quick pic of another vehicle, this time a light cargo vehicle for use on some of the more backward planets of the League:

Cargo!

The vehicle is another mechwarrior plastic miniature with all its missile launchers chopped off. Its just about perfect for a light cargo hauler for frontier worlds without a proper road system. Its still equipped with a defensive weapon as you can never be sure that some lawless types arent going to try and try and steal your cargo.

I reckon it will also do for games of star mogul as Ive been looking for a decent salvage vehicle in 15mm scale!

I also have a few more hover tanks to paint up for my League peacekeepers but think my next objective will be to paint up some more infantry and characters (these will include some more frontier types, a squad of elite league troops and a few more of Angelinas armed minions!)

All the best

League Peacekeeper Armoured Car!

2009-09-01T02:21:00.000-07:00

Hi!

Heres a pic of the first of my Galactic League peacekeeping vehicles:

League Armoured Car

The vehicle is quite a bit more high tech than previous vehicles Ive painted but it looks the part for a member of the Leagues peacekeepers. Although the Mechwarrior miniatures are 10mm scale the vehicles fit in quite well with 15mm stuff!

A Salvage Droid!

2009-09-01T01:29:00.000-07:00

Hi!

Heres a quick pic of a salvage droid Ive painted up:

A Grubby Salvage Droid

Although hes a 28mm scale miniature, he works perfectly for a heavy salvage droid in 15mm scale and his hammer could probably squash an unfortunate hero flat!

I went a bit overboard with weathering but it turned out quite nicely. Ive also found some plastic Mechwarrior vehicles which are just abut the right size for 15mm gaming so now have some more high tech armour for Slippery Jim to avoid. I plan on painting them up as a League peackeeper unit which will allow me to play some larger games following the Special Corps attempts to deal with Count Cassitor and Angelina!

All the best!

Off On Holiday!

2009-08-27T01:40:00.000-07:00

MEMORANDUM FROM INSKIPP

I am off on holiday for the next month so doubt I will have time to update the blog for a bit but worry not I will get back to work on painting and posting battle reports upon my return!

MESSAGE ENDS...

No Limits Battle Report

2009-08-26T07:47:00.000-07:00

Hi!

Heres the latest in a series of battle reports using different rulesets that I have played over the course of the week. This time I have been using No Limits, a freely downloadable ruleset available from Wargames Unlimited.

So without further ado heres the latest of Slippery Jim diGriz's heroic exploits!

The Scenario

After his unsuccessful raid on the warehouse to steal an artefact for Count Cassitor Jim decides to get some pay back on his employer for saddling him with a bunch of thugs who had promptly botched the heist and in the resulting fire fight several security guards had died and Jim had barely escaped.

Hearing that the count has a small science station operating on developing some highly secret project Jim has decided to break in and steal whatever it is that the scientists are working on.

The Objective

The science station is guarded by a squad of police troopers and Jims objective is to break into the bio dome where the top secret scientific data is being stored while either avoiding detection or silencing the guards.

The guards, once alerted will sound the alarm summoning all sorts of police re-enforcements so its important for Jim to be quick and quiet!

The Game!

The Bio Dome Objective

Jim begins by moving quietly behind one of the science station buildings, watching as the doughty forces of law and order plod around in a vaguely confused manner (in their eyes its a highly effective patrol rotation)

Jim prepares to make his move, one of the plods is standing isolated from his brethren so Jim clambers over a boundary hedge, picking up a few thorns in tender places as he does so, and aims his needle pistol at the beefy trooper. The silent weapons tranquilliser darts find their target and the guard crumples to the ground snoring faintly.

Jim Sneaks Forward

As the trooper snores his fellow officers continue their routine patrol but unfortunately for Jim the police sergeant chooses this moment to make a surprise inspection of the security detail and stumbles over the happily slumbering form of the darted trooper. Slowly the brutish instincts of the sergeant tell him somethings wrong. The alarm is raised!

The Tranquilised Trooper Is Found!

Cursing the sergeant Jim opens up with his pistol again hoping to silence the bellowing with a few well placed darts. Unfortunate dice rolling means that although the sergeant is hit and effected by the darts he still thrashes around woozily.

Hearing the cries of distress from their sergeant the remaining police start moving towards Jims location. As Jim prepares to move the sergeant spots him and lets rip with his riot gun. Despite Jims lightning reactions he is still wounded by the cloud of pellets.

Uttering a savage oath Jim returns fire and grimly smiles as his tormentor finally succumbs to the tranquilliser drug, possibly helped by the fact that he now resembles a pin cushion. Knowing that the rest of the police are closing in Jim makes a dash for the cover of a pile of cargo only to find a burly policeman waiting for him.

Seeing Stars!

The troopers club connects with Jims head causing another wound and it takes another full turn for jim to subdue his attacker. Another trooper rushes into view and spots Jim but runs out of actions allowing Jim to open fire and knocking him out.

There is only a single police trooper left and he wisely moves back to protect the bio dome and its precious contents. Finally re-enforcemets arrive in the distance as a police skimmer appears on the roadway.

Knowing that his time is limited Jim moves toward the bio dome but is charged by the remaining trooper (obviously emboldened by the sight of the flashing blue lights in the distance. During the melee the trooper manages to hit Jim twice but fails to wound him and jim finally manages to beat the stubborn trooper senseless and moves up to the bio dome.

Trouble Ahead!

Seeing Jim enter the bio dome the skimmer pilot powers down the road towards the buildings in hopes of catching Jim red handed. A police squad also arrives on board and begin to hurry down the road towards the action.

Emerging from the dome with a pile of secret documents Jim sees the skimmer bearing down on him and risks a burst with his needle pistol but the metal frame of the skimmer deflects the darts. Seeing that his weapon isn't going to stop the skimmer Jim takes to his heels and heads for the main buildings where he spotted some vehicles.

Jim With Swag

The skimmer fired repeatedly at the retreating form but failed to hit. Jim turned and fired, hoping to keep the skimmer off his back as he tried to hot-wire a yellow hover truck, unfortunately he again failed to damage the skimmer whose pilot, enraged by the flagrant law breaking opened fire again this time chipping paint off the truck Jim lurked in.

Hotwire Under Pressure!

The police squad continued its slog towards the action and a rumbling engine heralded the arrival of a police armoured car.

Jim managed to start the truck and rumbled forward as the skimmer took up a position blocking him from his getaway route. Seeing this Jim turned the vehicle and headed back towards the buildings. The skimmer moved again trying to block his route of escape but Jim out foxed it by performing an impressive hand break turn and speeding towards the open fields and freedom.

The police armoured car entered the building complex and seeing the yellow truck speeding past them the gunner opened fire with his machine gun but the burst went wide. Jim floored the accelerator and thundered off board.

Getaway!

Again it was the first time Ive played the game in ages so had to keep referring to the rules but it was quite an enjoyable game and really got into the spirit of the Stainless Steel Rat books with Jim dodging police and bullets to commit a heist and then making a heroic dash for freedom!

Although No Limits is aimed towards battles rather than small scale rpg lite type games it played surprisingly well as the activation system allow you to move, shoot and perform actions in any order allowing for quite a bit of sniping. Other items of note are the abilities you can give your troops and characters. For example Jim had the Evade ability allowing him to dodge bullets and blows that would kill a lesser man. It was just as well he did as he put the ability to good use during the game!

I am off on holiday tomorrow so there wont be any more battle reports for a bit but rest assured I will get back to it on my return as well as painting up a load more stuff!

All the best!

Star Mogul Battle Report Part 2!

2009-08-25T14:50:00.000-07:00

The Game!

The game started with Angelinas thugs moving towards the salvage crew by leaving the village Meanwhile Slikk revved his vehicles engine and surged towards the opposing dropship zone.

Angelias Thugs Deploy

Seeing the opposition boiling out of the village Alexandr hurried his group towards the nearest salvage on the hillside next to the settlements ruined generator. The yellow pig swept forward slowly with its crew nervously fingering their sidearms and cursing Alexandrs decision not to mount a weapon on the ramshackle vehicle. His miserlyness would come back to haunt them...

Farpoint Salvage Are Go!

The Raiders Are Spotted!

Angelinas thugs continued to close with their opponents and were met with a smattering of gunfire. Although several shots hit none managed to cause any damage. The return of fire was somewhat more effective causing Ripp to fall from a vicious burst of fire from RED K1LLR.

The salvage crew, obviously enraged by the loss of their veteran crewmate (possibly partly due to his owing them money, and now with his biting the bullet how would they get their money back!) sent a wall of lead towards the opposition and cheered as the large red robot was blasted to smithereens, despite its primitive self repair systems the damage caused was too serious and RED K1LLR collapsed into a pile of scrap.

Alas this was the high point of the Farpoint team as Angelina, obviously annoyed that her hulking bodyguard had been dispatched took a pot shot at Alexandr and grinned as he was blasted off his feet. Tonk soon followed his boss as fire from Hogg took him out of action.

Things were not looking good for the salvage team at this point but a valiant fight back from EDDY and BUNGLE managed to blast Hoff (they hassled the Hoff!) and Angelina, possibly still gloating about putting Alexandr out of action, took a bullet and fell limply to the gound.

While the fire fight was blazing away, the Yellow Pig had quietly crept forward and Frank and Gubbs hopped out and loaded the cargo into the rear of the vehicle!

Even as this was happening BUNGLE, the Farpoints blue robot collapsed with a shot to his electronic cortex. Slikk finally managed to manouver out of the village and opened fire on EDDY but the bulky green robot shrugged off the fire from the LMG. Instead he turned and blased several shots into the raiders vehicle cuasing a loss of most of its frontal armour.

Things Are Looking Grim For The Farpoint Crew

Slikk Rumbles Into Battle (and the Farpoint drop zone!)

Despite his heroic last stand EDDY finally went down from an unrelenting stream of fire from the vehicle mounted LMG. Despite a heroic effort from EDDY’s nanite swarm he didnt regain his feet but started smouldering as fires started by the bullets which had pierced his armour burned out his electronics.

Hearing the sudden slackening of fire the crew of the Yellow Pig lept back into their vehicle and began making their way back to the drop zone. Unfortunately they were spotted by the remaining thugs and bullets were soon flying thick and fast at the battered yellow truck. The fire was worryingly accurate as its superstructure took a point of damage and it suffered a severe power core leak. As the truck ground to a halt the remaining Farpoint crew bailed out and surrendered to the raiders.

I Rolled for the casualties afterwards and the Raiders lost one droid and Hogg (surprisingly Angelina survived!), the Farpoint Salvage team were not as lucky as both their droids were damaged beyond repair while Tonk and Tate also died. Alexandr survived despite his wounds and now holds a grudge against Angelina for the death of his crew and more importantly, she had stolen his precious dropship. League military found the remaining crew living off frozen Macswiney burgers a month after the battle. Angelina and the dropship the Daisy Mae are yet to be found.

As it was my first game using Star Mogul I am sure I made quite a few mistakes with the rules but it was quite a lot of fun! The fog of war rule which can mean your opponent can activate during your own turn made for a very entertaining game!

I have become quite attatched to the Farpoint Salvage team and can see them making a comeback despite their mauling at the hands of a bunch of thieves!

Star Mogul Battle Report Part 1

2009-08-25T12:38:00.000-07:00

Hi!

Heres the first part of a battle report using the Star Mogul ruleset!

The Scenario:

Open salvage has been broadcast across the Outer Rim by the Frontier Union on either a crashed star freighter, an abandoned space colony, an old battle field or maybe an alien archaeological site. Two or more players have raced to the remote site where the discovery has been made, and deployed upon the surface to recover the salvage present and, hopefully, claim the salvage rights. The site may not have a breathable atmosphere, in which case the players may choose to only use crew members equipped with battle armour or other similar hermetically sealed suits. This is entirely up to the agreement between the two players. Vehicles should be used.

If a player can gain the salvage rights, then the Interstellar Frontier Union Government will pay big money for what they recover. In order to gain the salvage rights, however, a salvage company will have to recover OVER 50% of the salvage present to prove their claim – which means getting it back to their drop zone and having it airlifted out
via their drop ship while under heavy fire, no doubt, from the competition, who will not be too happy at the prospect of losing the salvage rights, and hence making very little or no money at all from the mission.

The Forces

Both players start with 30000 Credits to set up and equip their salvage company but as you need to pay your crew (not to mention keep a reasonable amount of cash back as a contingency fund incase things go wrong!)

Farpoint Salvage

Alexandr (company boss) armed with small arms (small arms skill 8, hand to hand skill 6, bargaining skill 5, salvaging appraisal skill 2)
Ripp (experienced crew) armed with arclight blaster (small arms skill 8, hand to hand combat 8, salvage hound skill 5)
Frank (regular crew) armed with small arms (small arms skill 3, driving vehicle skill 5)
Gubbs (regular crew) armed with small arms, salvage tools (small arms skill 6, hand to hand skill 5)
Tonk (regular crew) armed with small arms (small arms skill 5, hand to hand skill 6)
Elwood (regular crew) armed with small arms (small arms skill 4, engineer skill 4)
Tate (regular crew) armed with small arms (small arms skill 5, hand to hand skill 6)
EDDY (experienced mekk) armed with small arms (small arms skill 5, damage control nanobots 5, technician skill 3)
BUNGLE (regular mekk) armed with small arms (small arms skill 5, hand to hand skill 6)
Salvage Dog (the Yellow Pig!) Driven by Frank

Angelinas Raiders

Angelina (company boss) armed with small arms and grenades (small arms skill 9, hand to hand skill 9, grenade throwing skill 7)
Kurt (veteran crew) armed with small arms (small arms skill 8, hand to hand skill 8, hard as nails skill 3)
Slikk (average crew) armed with small arms (small arms skill 2, driving vehicle skill 6)
Cutter (average crew) armed with small arms (small arms skill 8)
Kipp (average crew) armed with small arms (small arms skill 4, engineer skill 4)
Hogg (average crew) armed with small arms (small arms skill 5, hand to hand skill 4, technician skill 2)
Dent (average crew) armed with small arms (small arms skill 4, hand to hand skill 7)
Hoff (average crew) armed with small arms (small arms skill 5, hand to hand skill 6)
RED K1LLR (veteran mekk) armed with small arms (small arms skill 8, hand to hand skill 10, damage control nanobots skill 1)
Salvage dog with LMG (Slikks Wheels) Surprisingly driven by Slikk!

The Setup

The abandoned colony of Murchisons Gulch is rumoured to have got some decent items of salvage and Farpoint Salvage had hit dirtside in search of some useful bits and pieces. Unbeknownst to them Angelina and her gang of thugs are holed up in the ruins of the colony after pulling off a particularly brutal raid on a nearby systems merchant shipping.

No sooner do the hapless scrap hounds set out to explore the area than Angelinas mob rumbles up and starts shooting.

Farpoint Salvages owner is a grizzled marine veteran named Alexandr whos not the type to back down from a fight. Assuming the hostiles are another salvage team out to steal his cargo he orders his crew forward in the hopes of driving the opposition off world.

Obective

There are three items of salvage (cryogenically frozen Macswineys burgers, bootleg booze or useful machinary) scattered around the board and the salvage teams objectie is to secure these valuables while holding off the hostiles and move it back to their deployment zone to await pick up from their dropship (The Daisy Mae)

Angelinas only objective is to kill or capture the salvage team which will allow them to grab the dropship when it arrives.

Its taken me a while to compile the force list as theres a little more book keeping required for Star Mogul. Its more of a skirmish campaign system like necromunda where the aim of the game isnt always to simply blast the opposition into their component atoms! It should make for an interesting game as Star Mogul has some really interesting mechanisms which could lead to some really random happenings!

I will try and post the actual report in the morning!

All the best!

Rogue Robots!

2009-08-25T06:40:00.000-07:00

WARNING!

Rogue robots have been spotted on Freibur! Anyone who sees a suspicious looking robot should contact the authorities immediately!

Are These The Droids We're Looking For?

The miniatures themselves are scratch built from bits of plastic tubing, cocktail sticks, cardboard, wire and even an old ork bolter! Just the thing to represent some scrap bots for Star Mogul or to add some extra randomness to any Slippery Jim game!

All the best!

Heavy Metal!

2009-08-25T01:50:00.000-07:00

Greetings!

Heres a pic of my latest purchase:

Heavy Combat Droid

Its a rather large plastic combat droid from the EM4 miniatures range and comes in a pack of five assorted robots for £2.50 which is quite a bargain! I decided to re-pose him slightly by swapping the legs round so they were at the original front part of the miniature and I think it looks quite a bit more agile than the original pose.

I bought two packs of the robots so have a second built with a running pose which is sitting waiting to be painted. The other droids are going to be used as heavy power armour as they look like a 15mm scale figure could fit inside them quite nicely. They come in two poses with one being larger than the other and are quite nice models without too much detail to fuss over while painting!

Heres a pic of the rest on my workbench along with a larger Mechwarrior plastic model which will be a bit of a monsterous command vehicle!

Big Stompy Robot Suits!

My plan for today is to get my junker bots painted up and hopefully get another battle report posted this evening!

Till then all the best!

Star Mogul

2009-08-23T13:26:00.000-07:00

Hi!

While rummaging around my rulebook collection I found my PDF of Star Mogul and having a bit of a read through it I quite like the setting and think it may fit in quite well with the Stainless Steel Rat universe. Therefore I have decided to collect up a couple of salvage teams so I can have a go at the game. Whats even better is they can be used as frontier types and actual salvage and mechanic types for gaming actual Slippery Jim scenarios!

I especially like the X12 Android cult which features an assortment of rogue robots, advanced AIs and even a chuncky foundry droid which can trundle round devouring terrain and constructing more robots. I figure they would make a good new force to add to my Stainless Steel Rat project!

X12 Machine Cult!

Heres a link to their website:

http://www.alphaforgegames.com/starmogul.html

Rogue Trader Battle Report!

2009-08-23T05:45:00.000-07:00

Hi!

Heres a quick battle report I just played using Rogue Trader as my ruleset. Apologies for the slightly blurry pics but my camera seems to be rubbish at taking battle shots!

I decided to play a game using Rogue trader first as it is the ruleset I am most familiar with. After statting up a couple of small forces I rolled on the random plot generator which resulted in the gae being a raid and capture (or rescue) of an important person or item.

Selecting the relevent table I rolled again to see what the specific scenario would be and the result was:

A planets govenor sends a force of troops to raid a museum on another world and steam an important work of art. Is the govenor an enthusiastic collector of object d’art or does he know something? Could the item contain secret plans, a treasure map or some unfathomable secret. If so, is the govenor the only interested party or will the thieves find themselves persued by other collectors?

This is a perfect scenario for Slippery Jim diGriz and could easily form a mini campaign with scenarios based around the players sneaking onto the planet, the robbery, getaway and possible final stand off.

Forces could consist of police and security types, the goveners thieves, another criminal organisation or a plethora of other groups ranging from pirates to the Special Corps itself!

I settled for the single game thus far deciding that Slippery Jim had managed to get on to the planet with some assorted muscle without attracting attention.

Setup

The game needed several items: a building to house the priceless object along with suitable scenics, figures to represent the assorted forces and a more detailed set of objectives for the players.

The building, scenics and figures were easy to arrange but the objectives needed set out as follows:

Slippery Jims team. Your objective is to break into the building, disable any guards and bypass any security features and steal the artifact. Once this has been done you must get away by moving off the table edge of your deployment zone.

Security team: Your objective is to stop anyone from pilfering from the museum. The building is alarmed and locked and if the alarm is sounded you can rely on the local law to turn up pretty quickly to help chace down the crims!

Notes:

The buildings alarm and locking mechanism need to be disabled, this can be done by either stealing a guards pass key (which they keep about their person at all times) or by breaking in. In order to do this you must spend an entire turn in base to base contact with the building and pass an intelligence check in order to figure out how to disable the alarm. Once that is done its just a case of breaking in! If you have the pass key you can simply open the door, otherwise you need to pass another inelligence check to pick the lock. The other opion is to blow the door off its hinges (it has a toughness of 6 and 3 hits) If you fail an intelligence test at any point the alarm will sound as it will if the doors are blown.

The police will turn up on a roll of 5+ the turn after the alarm is raised, 4+ the turn after that and 2+ the turn after that.

Slippery Jim has been hired to perform the heist but has been lumbered with some of Cassitors thuggish minions. He will happily knock out and leave these villainous types as he believes the dastadly Count has instructed them to kill hime once he gets the artifact.

The Forces:

The Thieves

Slippery Jim diGriz, armed with needle pistol, bolt pistol, crack, smoke, blind and knock out grenades and flak armour, respirator and eye protecting contacts
79.5 points

Kurt, an officer, armed with needle pistol, stub pistol, crack grenades, hand weapon and flak armour
27.5 points

6 Thuggish minions of Count Cassitor, armed with needle pistols, hand weapons and flak armour
39 points

Total: 146 points

Security Forces

1 Guard Sergeant armed with mesh armour, shotgun, hand weapon and shield
4 Security guards armed with mesh armour, stub pistol, hand weapon and shield

46.5 points

Police re-enforcements

1 Police Sergeant armed with mesh armour, bolt pistol, hand weapon and shield
2 Police Troopers arned with mesh armour, bolt pistols, hand weapons and shields
2 Police Troopers armed with mesh armour, shotguns, hand weapons and shields

54 points

1 Law Enforcement Droid armed with bolt pistol with targeter, webber and 6 doses of web solvent

35 points

1 Police skimmer armed with webgun

66.5 points

Total: 202 points

The Game!

The Table!

I had quite a few bits of scenery lying about and the game itself was played on a 4x3 foot board.

The Objective!

The game started with Slippery Jim leading one group of thuggish types while Kurt lead the others. The guards were on a pre-determined patrol pattern and would only spot the thieves on a roll of 6+ at over 24 inches, 5+ at 12-24 inches and 4+ under that.

Slippery Jim Sneaking Towards The Target Building!

Jim lead his group along the back of the shanty buildings in an attempt to keep them out of sight of the security guards while Kurts group moved towards the target building behind the patches of trees to the right of the area.

Things seemed to be going smoothly until one of Jims group ended his movement out of cover and the security guard manning the gate spotted him. Calling to one of his friends the security guard raiised the alarm. It was now only a matter of time until police re-enforcements arrived!

Kurts Thugs Lurking In The Undergrowth

Seeing that Jims group had been spotted Kurt and his men broke cover and moved towards the main gate and sprayed the security guard with needle pistols but his heavy armour stopped their tranquiliser darts. Jims group hurried towards the guard as well and fired their pistols while jim attempted to hurl a knock out grenade at them. Unfortunately Jims aim was off and the gas exploded harmlessly in the roadway while the needle pistols of the thugs also failed to penetrate the armoured hide of the guard.

At this point all the guards rushed to the main gate and opened fire at the two groups of thieves but due to some truely bad dice rolling they didnt hit anyone. The roll was made for police re-enforcements but none turned up.

Kurt lost patience with his puny needle pistol and drew his stub pistol and fired sending one guard sprawling to lie motionless on the ground at the gateway. All the remaining thugs fired needle pistols but only one managed to knock out a guard with a lucky shot. Jim seeing the guard fall began to have his doubts about the possibiliy of completing the heist and swore that Kurt wouldnt get away with the slaying.

Worse was to follow as the guards opened fire with everything they had but failing to hit anything (possibly due to their portly nature and perviously cushy job or in the panic of seeing thier freinds fall) Again the call went out for re-enforcements but nothing turned up. Seizing the inititative Kurt and his thugs hurled themselves at the remaining guard at the gate while Jims thugs joined the action by scrambling over the hedge into melee with the guards lurking behind it.

A Nasty Brawl

Jim launched himself over the hedge but not before Kurt shot the guard sergeant and the thugs knocked out one of the two remaining guards. The last securiy guard decided that discretion was the better part of valor and legged it with Jims group of thugs in hot pursuit. They promptly chased the unfortunate guard off the table and were lost from play too.

The Law Arrives!

At this point Jim headed to the building entrance and started setting up an explosive charge to blow the door off its hinges. Unfortunately the police chose that very moment to arrive. A squad of them along with a law enforcement droid turned up on the road next to the compound and were soon exchanging fire with Kurts group. In the exchange Kurt dropped the police sergeant with his stub pistol only to be ensnared by the droids web gun. His remaining thugs were either gunned down or tried to run away.

Seeing the police making mincemeat of his compatriots and hearing the sound of a police hover disk approaching from behind Jim set off a smoke grenade to cover his escape cursing Count Cassitor for lumbering him with a group of bloodthirsty thugs. On the plus side Kurt had been captured and during the melee he had thoughtfully pocketed one of the guards security ID maybe he would make another attempt on the artifact but now it was more important to find somewhere to hole up until the police search had passed.

Conclusion!

The game itself proved to be quite a lot of fun although Jim could have done with some more luck. It played well and was simple too which is a definite plus. I think the characters in the game could have done with some re-rolls as the whole point is that Slippery Jim is a hero and can perform all sorts of heroic actions. As it turned out he got sidelined as Kurt and the thugs just blasted away at the security types (he couldnt even hit anyone with his grenades or needle gun!)

The early raising of the alarm was unfortunate but I had been a bit careless with the thugs having thought the security types wouldnt manage to spot him. It just goes to show what happens when Jim isnt left to get on with things himself!

Still it was a fun game and could easily lead to a mini campaign. Does Jim make another attempt at the artifact while dodging police patrols. Does Count Cassitor send some assassins to silence our hero (or to stop Kurt from blabbing!)

All very exciting and hopefully I will be able to play out a few more scenarios!

More Rulebook Ramblings!

2009-08-23T02:26:00.001-07:00

Hi!

Ive had a good look round my laptop and bookshelves and have found I had more rulebooks than originally thought!

I have Star Mogul, Gorkamorka, Necromunda, Rogue Trader, Nuclear Renaissance, Mutants and Deathray Guns, No Limits, Beamstrike and Babylons Burning. I also had a copy of Defiance Vital Ground but seem to have lost it (I think I will download the free demo pdf to give it a go too!)

I also plan on downloading a copy of Chain Reaction to see what thats like!

To settle on which ruleset to use I plan on playing a few games of each to give me a good idea as to which is the best and most suitable to use for Stainless Steel Rat gaming.

I hope to post some battle reports here on the blog of each system which will include my impressions of the game and a quick review.

My criteria for wargaming rules are that the game should be easy to learn and fun to play, doesnt rely on too much record keeping and isnt too simple or too complex.

Ive statted up a small police force for Rogue Trader and No Limits and will get some opposition sorted out ASAP which will hopefully allow me a couple of quick games this afternoon!

All the best!

Police Recreational Vehicle!

2009-08-22T09:04:00.001-07:00

Hi!

Heres a quick pic of my police RV:

Police Department RV

The miniature is a Quick Reaction Force Soviet WW2 armoured scout car and is armed with a HMG to deal with serious criminal types such as Slippery Jim. I plan on buying another one and converting it slightly to be equipped with a Rogue Trader heavy webber (essentially the perfect crowd control weapon which fires lots of sticky netting that traps lawless types and makes it fairly simple to capture them)

I also have a street police squad underway which will nearly complete my police department and allow me to get on with some more Rdenrunt villainy and Freibur frontier dwellers.

All the best!

Frontier Types!

2009-08-21T06:05:00.000-07:00

Hi!

Heres a quick pic of some of the frontier settlers of Freibur:

Gun Toting Settlers

The miniatures are all Peter Pig cowboys armed with a variety of weapons. I converted on pistol guy into a flame thrower (the orange jump suited guy) with a few bits of wire and a cocktail stick!

The miniatures all painted up nicely with a nice amount of detail. I have another twenty or thirty to paint up including a few more weapon conversions ranging from long rifles to rocket launchers which will give me a decent selection of troops to choose from!

I hope to get a few more done over the course of the next day or so!

Till then all the best!

Rules Pondering!

2009-08-19T09:46:00.001-07:00

Hi!

Ive been trying to find a good set of sci fi rules which will allow me to play some Stainless Steel Rat games!

At present I have the following:

Rogue Trader
We Can Be Heroes 2
Future War Commander
No Limits
Mutants and Deathray Guns

Ive also had a quick look at Ambush Alley although I would be waiting for their sci-fi games release before purchasing any more rulesets!

Pros and Cons!

Rogue Trader is a good system which really works well with small numbers of troops in an almost role playing style but is a bit creaky and needs some serious modifying to allow vehicles and some more dynamic activation. A possible quick fix for this may be to download a copy of Necromunda.

We Can Be Heroes has some fantastic ideas in it allowing heroes to really shine but is possibly a little generic as heroes and monsters have the same stats but rely on abilities to make them individual. I do plan on using the hero points and card activation as it brings a really random factor to games.

Future Wars Commander is a good system but plays better as a mass battle game. It may get used to represent some of the invasions mentioned in the books!

No Limits is good as its free and has some excellent rules allowing a very flexible style of play and has a force generator allowing you to create your own forces and vehicles. Its a bit generic as its not tied to any set background but as I have all the background material I need from the Stainless Steel Rat books its not really a problem!

Mutants and Deathray Guns is a new system from Genesha Games which got some very good reviews for their Songs Of Blades and Heroes fantasy set but I just find it too simplistic to be enjoyable.

I plan on playing a few games using each system to see which is most suitable!

In the meantime does anyone have any suggestions for other rule sets worth having a go of?

All the best!

Rdenrunt Armour!

2009-08-17T07:21:00.000-07:00

Hi!

Im afraid Ive not had much time to get any painting done of late but heres a couple of pics of some of the bits Ive been working on!

First off theres the Rdunrunt armoured cavalry in the form of a somewhat retro armoured car (the vehicle is actually a WW2 Soviet vehicle):

Rdenrunt Armoured Cavalry!

The vehicle is from QRF and although its supposed to be 15mm scale it seems a tad on the small side as a 15mm scale figure would have difficulty jamming themselves into it. Still its quite a nice little vehicle and once its on its base it wont be too out of scale!

The casting quality is a bit ropy which lets it down a bit as there are several rough surfaces on the model which make it look a little battered. I decided to give it a civilian paint scheme as Cassitor and evil Angelinas plan involved revolution requiring some military might (especially armoured vehicles) to be kept secret. Hence its a bit of a civilian custom job!

Next up theres Cassitors armoured minions:

Armoured Jump Troops!

I decided that count Cassitor needed some slightly more high tech troops so painted up what will eventually be a squad of five power armoured and jump pack equipped minions to use as shock troopers. The paint scheme was originally inspired from the bad guys in GI Joe (the Cobra soldiers) with their menacing black armour and silver helmets. I think they fit in quite well with the rest of the force, adding a touch of high tech badness to an otherwise backward army.

The miniatures are from 15mm.co.uk and are from the Laserburn range (this time redemptionist initiates) and are nice chunky miniatures with some rather nice jetpacks. Alas theres only a single pose so I may convert one to be armed with some sort of heavy weapon, or even hack off its head and swap it for something a bit different.

It was a bit of a let down when I got the miniatures as they had lots of flash and annoying mould lines which needed scraping off (one covered the entire right side of the head and weapon on several of them) Saying that, once they had been cleaned they did paint up very nicely!

I hope to be able to crack on with some more bits and pieces over the course of the week to complete my Rdunrunt shock troops and maybe start on some frontier types in the form of Peter Pig cowboys.

All the best!

The Mighty Inskipp!

2009-08-04T03:09:00.000-07:00

Hi!

Heres a picture of Inskipp, director of the Special Corps!

Inskipp and Police Type!

The miniatures are both from the Laserburn range and painted up nicely as ever!

Heres a picture of the finished mining robot with a 15mm scale miniature along side it to show the sheer scale of the beast!

Mining Robot!

Im hoping to be able to get some more painting done at some point soon but have an illustration commission at the moment which is taking up most of my time!

Mining Robot

2009-07-31T12:16:00.000-07:00

Greetings!

Heres a couple of pictures of the Crustacean Q class 3 Super heavy mining robot (classified as CRA-B1) I am planing on using as an objective and random big beast for some villains to use to crush and stomp on unfortunate civilians!

Large Crabby Robot!

Another View!

I actually sold this chap a few years back but have another which is part painted and will be finishing it off over the course of the next few days. Its originally a huge crab droid produced by Wizards of the Coast for their plastic Starwars game but with minimal work it will make an excellent (Not to mention HUGE!) vehicle for 15mm scale gaming!

All the best!

Royalty!

2009-07-31T00:16:00.000-07:00

Hi!

Heres a quick pic of Queen Hildegarde of Freibur with her lady in waiting/bodyguard Miss Potts:

Hildegarde and Miss Potts

The miniatures are both from Peter Pigs pirate range and painted up quite nicely and are just the thing for scenarios as whats better for a villain than kidnapping royalty!

All the best!

Hussar Squad

2009-07-30T10:17:00.000-07:00

Hi!

Heres the first completed squad for my Rdenrunt Hussars:

Rdenrunts Finest!

The squad has turned out rather nicely and its going to be interesting to see what the entire force looks like with its rather sriking colour scheme!

In other news I received my order from 15mm.co.uk so will be spending a little time organising and basing them before cracking on with a bit more painting. Amongst the order theres my first squad of patrol marines, a squad of Stellar Guard, more thuggish types with guns, a few more droids and even a small selection of characters!

All the best!

Damsel In Distress?

2009-07-29T07:12:00.000-07:00

Hi!

Heres a quick pic of an as yet unnamed character from Freibur:

Damsel!

The miniature is one of the Pieces of Eight pirate range from Peter Pig and fits in quite well with the backwards tech level of Freibur and isnt in too much distress as shes wielding a large pistol!

I suspect she is going to be used as either the queens maid (or bodyguard!) or even as one of Angelinas alter egos!

All the best!

Transportation Ponderings

2009-07-28T09:09:00.000-07:00

Greetings!

Ive been pondering what vehicles to get for my assorted forces as the Stainless Steel Rat universe covers all sorts of tech levels from stone age to ultra high tech.

At present I need some vehicles for my police force and the armed forces of Rdenrunt. The police are fairly high tech while the Rdenruntian force is more early 20th century level. At present I am leaning towards getting a couple of British Saxon APCs for the police (available from QRF) as I really like the chunky look of them and while they are essentially military vehicles they look quite good as police trucks. Its got an oddly angular sci-fi appearance which suits the purpose Im looking for:

Saxon Police Carrier.

As for the Rdenrunt armour, I am looking at some of the British and Soviet WW2 armoured cars as I need something that will fit in with the lower tech level and doesnt have a huge gun!

Im quite tempted by some of the Battlefront WW2 miniatures and may have to look into my local Hobbycraft to see what they look like in the flesh so to speak.

At present I am aiming to finish Count Cassitors force first and it needs an armoured car to provide some much needed fire support for my infantry while they are performing nefarious deeds for their leader...

Hopefully I will be able to sort something out over the next couple of days but in the mean time any suggestions would be most welcome!

All the best!

Rdenrunt Uniformed Underlings!

2009-07-28T01:19:00.000-07:00

Hi!

Heres a pic of the first two of Count Cassitors Rdenrunt Hussars!

Dapper Minions!

The miniatures are from Peter Pig and although they are WW1 dismounted French Hussars, they have an excellent retro sci-fi look to them making them perfect for Stainless Steel Rat Gaming!

I suspect I will order another pack of them allowing me to field a full platoon and will also be getting them some support in the form of a machine gun and possibly a couple of steam driven armoured cars! One slightly disappointing thing about the packs thus far has been the lack of an officer. The Peter Pig website shows a great pistol wielding type who would have been perfect for the squads NCO but there were none supplied!

Its not too much of a problem as I plan on ordering another pack and will simply request a couple of extra officers!

All told the Rdenrunt force will come to about £20 which isnt too bad for an entire army!

All the best!

Femme Fatale

2009-07-27T00:59:00.001-07:00

Hi!

Heres a pic of evil Angelina from before she joined the Special Corps and was a homicidal evil doer!

Evil Angelina!

The miniature is as usual a Laserburn adventurer and is armed with a large calibre pistol. I went for a bit of a black leather look somewhat like the main character from Underworld as I thought it suited an evil type quite well! The miniature itself is really rather good apart from the fact she has a cloak which doesnt really work with the rest of the outfit.

Ive also finished a hover van, again from Laserburn:

Yellow Truck!

I ended up going for a bit of a beaten up looking finish as I hadnt given it a thick enough undercoat so the yellow appeared patchy. I think it looks quite nice and the vans design is excellent. I just wish someone would release some more sci-fi civilian vehicles (preferably with a choice of hover, grav and wheeled!)

Im now waiting on a couple of orders arriving before I do any more so it may be a couple of days before I can update the blog!

All the best!

Count Cassitor of Rdenrunt!

2009-07-25T05:39:00.000-07:00

Hi!

Heres a pic of Count Cassitor, a treacherous nobleman of Freibur. Hes actually one of (at the time) evil Angelinas pawns. Having ambitions after the crown of Freibur and with a sizable army of retainers he makes a perfect character for Slippery Jim and the Special Corps to operate against!

Count Cassitor!

Hes in the uniform of the Rdenrunt Hussars, his personal guard unit. Again the miniature is one of the Laserburn range and with the impressive uniform and swirly cloak hes a perfect looking villain!

A Giant Rat!

I also painted up a giant rat to act as a random monster to menace civilians and impede the heroics of the good guys. Hes originally a Citadel rat miniature which Ive had in my bits box for years and found it would make a perfect nasty in 15mm scale.

Ive still got an evil Angelina to paint and a few civilians but thats about all until my orders arrive from 15mm.co.uk and Peter Pig. Its quite refreshing to be able to paint up twenty plus miniatures in the course of a single week!

All the best!

Uniformed Minions!

2009-07-24T07:29:00.000-07:00

Hi!

Ive just placed a small order with Peter Pig for a couple of packs of infantry amongst which is two of packs of WW1 dismounted French dragoons:

Minions!

These guys look just the part to act as uniformed underlings for the villainous Count Cassitor of Freibur. Their slightly Flash Gordonesque helmets were perfect for the dastardly villain Cassitor. Freibur is a new member planet of the Galactic League so there is quite a clash between traditional and modern equipment and technology. The minions will be given snazzy black and red uniforms so they can swagger around oppressing people. I also need to get some more suitable troops for King Willelm IX and the old Duke Radebrechen so will check out some nineteenth century uniformed types.

Also required are a couple of steam driven robot servant types and the dastardly Count Cassitor himself. I think another order of some Laserburn miniatures may be in order!

UPDATE!

The rest of the budget has been spent with a small order with 15mm.co.uk in the form of an assortment of adventurers, villains and a few more minions!

All the best!

Thugs!

2009-07-23T12:49:00.000-07:00

Hi!

Heres a pic of a group of thuggish types which act as minions to one of my super villains (after all what decent villain can do without some disposable underlings?)

Street Thugs!

Again the miniatures are all from the Laserburn range. Ive done a few head swaps to add some variety to the group but need to find some more to supplement the group. Armed with clubs, knives and pistols they wont be much of a match for military or police groups but could cause some hassle for individuals...

15mm Ponderings

2009-07-23T07:14:00.000-07:00

Hi!

Im thinking of making the change from 28mm stuff to entirely 15mm as I have a limited gaming space and my gaming board is only 4x4 (no to mention a very limited gaming budget!) My Leviathan project is still underway but with the approach of another term at uni I dont have the time to spend days painting a single miniature.

I still plan on working on the Leviathan stuff during the hols but have found myself struggling a bit of late with it and need a change for a while.

Ive started off with the stainless steel rat stuff to see how I go and am quite enjoying painting at a smaller scale as I have been able to collect several small forces and paint them for a fraction of the money and quite a lot less time and have been thinking of having a go at the following next:

Space Captain Smith! The books by Toby Frost have got tons of really good ideas for gaming in the British Space Empire. Forces could include Smiths crew, British forces, Ghast Empire bugs, Mlag savages and of course Lemming men!

Warzone: The old 28mm scale game has such a good setting its just asking to be converted into a smaller scale!

Flash Gordon: Another excellent setting (Ive been following the Mad Welshmans blog and its got me re-reading my Flash Gordon graphic novels for inspiration!)

To help me decide what to have a bash at next Ive started a poll to see what folks would like to see done next!

All the best!

EDIT!

Ive had to remove the poll as it was making the blog go haywire! In place of it please feel free to post suggestions in the comments section of this post!

Most Confusing!

Getaway In Style!

2009-07-22T06:18:00.000-07:00

Hi!

Heres a pic of Slippery Jim and Angelina with their getaway car:

Getaway!

The miniature is one of the vehicles available from 15mm.co.uk as part of the Laserburn range and paints up really nicely. The model needed a bit of cleaning as it had some nasty mold lines round the edges but is otherwise an excellent little piece of kit. I now need to find some police cruisers to chase it...

All the League Characters

2009-07-22T03:56:00.003-07:00

Hi!

Heres a pic of the completed League characters I have:

League of Extraordinary Gentlemen

From left to right theres the tactical sergeant, Captain Steng, Psi man and finally theres the fleet bodyguard.

My next aim is to get some generic thugs painted up and then I am going to see about ordering in a few more miniatures as I need specific characters, not to mention some troops!

All the best!

More League Stuff!

2009-07-21T09:21:00.000-07:00

Hi!

Heres a couple more pictures of the League forces Ive been painting up:

Psi Man and Tactical Sergeant

The psi man is armed with a pistol and is in full uniform while the tactical sergeant is armed to the teeth with pistol, combat rifle and sword. I decided to make him a little less uniformed by giving him a flak jacket and quite a bit of assorted armour. Hes thus far been the most enjoyable miniature to paint for my in this scale as the level of detail on him is great and hes been quite a joy to paint. The psi mans uniform looks quite thunderbirds but the black makes him look a bit more sinister even though hes a good guy!

Ive still got another League trooper to paint up whos equipped in much the same way as the tactical sergeant I have already done. I am tempted to buy a couple of packs of the Peter Pig militia troops to act as patrol marines but need to get the rest of my stuff painted before I try to order any more!

All the best!

Rat Catcher MK1 Scout Drone

2009-07-21T05:05:00.000-07:00

Greetings!

Heres a picture of the Rat Catcher Mk1 Scout Drone recently brought into service by the Special Corps to aid in the capture of Slippery Jim. The drone is equipped with a plethora of high tech cameras, tracking and communication gear. Hopefully the drone will see more use over the coming months after successful testing during the hunt for the criminal diGriz!

Rat Catcher!

The drone was built from an old plastic space ranger backpack (still available from EM4 miniatures) and with the addition of a few pieces of wire. Its a really simple scratch build and turned out quite nicely as the vents on the rear of the backpack look just like intakes for the engine.

Ive got another one to paint up and have enough backpacks to make another four. I think the remaining versions may well be armed with a mixture of stun guns and possibly even a heavy support version with some sort of rapid fire weapon.

All the best!

Captain Steng of the League Navy

2009-07-21T02:32:00.000-07:00

Hi!

Heres a quick pic of the latest miniature I have got painted up:

Captain Steng

Steng is from the first of the Stainless Steel Rat books and is a member of the League Grand Fleet so gets a rather dashing black uniform with gold braid. Distrustful of Slippery Jim, Steng will make both a useful ally and opponent in games.

Its a bit difficult to paint highlights on black at this scale but he turned out alright. He has got a couple of patrol marines to back him up and a psi man to add some telepathic communication skill. Also needing painted are a couple of Rat Catcher mk1 scout drones which I have been working on. I will post an update later on this morning with more images of the Leagues finest!

The miniature itself is from the Laserburn range of ships crew available from 15mm.co.uk and is a really nice sculpt. I think that if he was painted in lighter colours he would really shine. Alas the fleet uniform is described as black so black he is!
On a side note this miniature would make a perfect captain for any imperial guard army for those interested in gaming 40k in a different scale!

All the best!

Completed Police Force!

2009-07-20T11:27:00.000-07:00

Hi!

Heres a pic of the entire police force consisting of police chief, police droid, patrol skimmer and two squads of beefy law enforcement!

Law Enforcement!

This is the average size of force I plan on collecting for Stainless Steel Rat gaming. Essentially there will be two to three squads, a couple of characters and the occasional vehicle. My law enforcement goons will eventually get a couple of light transports in the form of a pair of cruisers and some mono-wheel bikes!

All the best!

More Police!

2009-07-20T04:57:00.001-07:00

Hi!

Heres a quick pic of the police I finished painting last night:

Armed Police

Rear View

Ive added a rear view to show the slung shields. Its a pity that they couldnt have done a better job on the sculpting of them though as the detail is decidedly wonky. Still it does give them a somewhat beaten and used look which works alright!

Another slight niggle with the miniatures is that despite them being from the same pack, none of their uniforms are the same requiring a bit of cunning to get them to match. Also one arm is quite a bit longer than the other, fortunately the weapons tend to cover this discrepancy so its not too big a deal!

I may need another pack to give me two riot squads with shields and two general purpose patrol squads with small arms. Once Ive painted the remaining two police I am going to paint up my league navy crewmen as its an opportunity to paint some nice black and gold uniforms and the sculpts are a lot better than the polices!

Alas I have picked up the new Space Captain Smith book this morning so no work will be done until I have finished reading the latest volume of Smiths derring do!

All the best!

Another Update!!

2009-07-19T12:34:00.000-07:00

Hi!

as requested I am keeping this blog up and running as it seems the public needs to see Slippery Jim in all his glory on his own blog! So without further ado heres a few more bits and pieces Ive finished over the course of the last couple of days!

More Rozzers!

A Civilian and Transport of Delight

Still To Do!

The police have now got themselves a sergeant (complete with tiny sergeant stripes and an inflated sense of self importance), completed police robot and patrol skimmer!

Have made a start on the civilians too in the form of a delivery guy with his walking robot (one of the more unusual vehicles featured in the books which moves by hopping. It is also on record as being a bit of a bone shaker!) The robot is scratch built from sculply and assorted bits. It also illustrates whi I have gone for the more colourful bases as I found the tarmac look seemed to make the miniatures appear dull and lifeless!

And finally I added a pic of all the stuff I still need to paint! Theres a mixture of thuggish types, femme fatales, more police, criminal masterminds, sheeplike civilians, vehicles and even a giant Sumatran rat to add a touch of peril!

Somewhat foolishly I managed to leave all the Peter Pig stuff in Edinburgh at my parents which is a real shame!

I will crack on with the police tonight and hopefully have nearly all of them done for tomorrow!

All the best!

Police Chief and Guards!

2009-07-18T02:49:00.000-07:00

Hi!

Ive updates some Stainless Steel Rat stuff onto my other blog but heres a pic of the police chief and his guards:

Police Chief and Guards!

As requested heres a review of the miniatures themselves!

The miniatures are from two of the ranges available from 15mm.co.uk and theres quite a bit of difference quality wise between them.

First off theres the Laserburn adventurer with cape. This guy is really nicely detailed and paints up very nicely and has proven to be just the thing to represent my police chief. Hes armed with a pistol and sword and needed to be painted up to look a bit flash so hes got a nice red cloak, gold belt (possibly concealing a shield generator) and the green and white uniform of a police officer. I also gave him a bit of a perma tan!

Next the troopers themselves. Armed with riot shields and body armour, not to mention shock mauls the thuggish law enforcement types act as both a riot squad and as a good bodyguard unit for the police chief. The miniatures themselves are pretty poor quality to be honest and their thick base makes them loom somewhat over their charge. I ended up painting them with facemasks as their features were so blocky that they just didnt look human. The high point of the pack is that they seem to be based on the police in the movie the Fifth Element. Maybe I need to find some suitable proxies for Corban Dallas and Leeloo...

Ive got another half dozen police ready to paint which are armed with a mixture of pistols and riot guns to give me a bit more hitting power. I also plan on fielding a couple of detectives and a pair of float disk riding officers and some generic uniformed police as well!

In future I doubt I will be ordering much from the newer ranges from 15mm.co.uk as the quality just isnt there for the price they are asking (coupled with rather extortionate postage and 'handling' costs!)

All the best!

An Update!

2009-07-13T11:53:00.000-07:00

Hi!

Ive been doing some organising on my old wargaming blog and have decided to add all my stainless steel rat stuff onto it as it will need a lot less faffing to post everything from my assorted non Leviathan stuff onto one blog!

Heres a link to the blog:

http://leutenantbrittan.blogspot.com/

An Update!

2009-06-16T07:26:00.000-07:00

Hi!

Its looking like the stainless steel rat project is going to have to go on the back burner for the forseeable future as I am being kept so busy working on my Leviathan stuff. I do hope to update the blog from time to time but at present my leviathan stuff is going to have to come first.

All the best!

Captain Gristle Of The Space Marines!

2009-06-03T12:30:00.000-07:00

Hi!

Ive managed to paint up my captain Gristle miniature from the previous post:

Captain Gristle!

I decided to paint the miniature with bright armour as the Space Marines dont tend to be hurling themselves into battle too much in the books (Gristle is featured in The Stainless Steel Rat Goes to Hell and at one point the marines charge into Professor Slakeys 'hell' armed with nothing but salamis as no tech works there. It may make an interesting conversion in the future!)

Alas although Ive got the paints the only brush I could find was a size 2 making painting 15mm scale stuff a bit of a challenge!

Next up is a batch of frontier types with a bewildering array of weapons!

Conversion Clinic!

2009-05-27T08:27:00.000-07:00

Hi!

Just a quick update!

Ive been messing round with greenstuff and have converted one of my GIs so hes wearing some chunky sci-fi armour:

Captain Gristle of the Space Marines!

Hes a bit rough and ready but at 15mm scale its not too noticeable. I may convert a squad to support him as and when I get time!

Ive also rummaged out a couple of my painted cowboy figures from Peter Pig that Im using as frontier types. These chaps are unconverted but Ive done a bit of fiddling around with a couple of others so they have backpacks, lasers and even a couple of heavy weapons. Hopefully I will get them painted over the course of the weekend (along with Captain Gristle!)

Assorted Frontier Types

The Peter Pig miniatures paint up really nicely and I cant wait to crack on with a few more!

All the best!

A Handy Find!

2009-05-24T13:40:00.000-07:00

Hi!

Well Im at my folks and have found some rather decent peter pig 15mm stuff in a box. The lot consists of a batch of WW2 US infantry and an assortment of wild west types. I plan on adding a few bits of green stuff to convert the infantry to a local militia (possibly from Paradiso Aqui allowing me to field Jim diGriz in a presidential election campaign) and the wild west types are going to make a nice group of lowlifes and frontier settlers!

Also in the box were some resin buildings and some vehicles which will allow me to add some much needed scenic madness to the table!

Law Enforcement!

2009-05-18T02:07:00.000-07:00

Hi!

Just a quick update!

Heres a couple of bits I have been working on:

First off theres the police skimmer from 15mm.co.uk. I was quite disappointed when they arrived as they are pretty puny and the actual skimmer is really poorly made (its not even round and the detailing is pretty rubbish!) I decided to beef it up a bit with the addition of a 30mm round lipped base. It makes it a bit more substantial and painted up ok.

Police Skimmer

I decided to go for a green and white colour combination rather than the usual blue (Its the Bit o' Heaven police department colours from A Stainless Steel Rat is Born)

Next up is my police droid again from 15mm.co.uk. This guy has quite a bit more character (I love his dalek head and spindly arms!) I plan on using him as either a bodyguard for my police chief or in independent action to attempt to capture Jim diGriz!

Security Droid

Ive still got to complete the bases for both (I may go for a more warm earthy tone as the previous miniatures look a bit cold!) Next up I will try and get a squad of police types along with the police chief done!

All the best!

Lack of Updates!

2009-05-14T10:39:00.000-07:00

Hi!

Apologies for the lack of updates at the mo but I am really busy with uni work and am barely getting enough time to sleep let alone paint any miniatures (so much for the easy life of the art student!) Still I am almost there now and will have a grand total off 4 months of holidays to look forward too!)

I have spent my spare time (what little there is!) re-reading the Stainless Steel rat books and now have a list of over 100 characters to work at ranging from Special Corps agents to assorted villains, minions and heroes so I have plenty of inspirational material to work from!

Hopefully once my uni stuff is finished in the next couple of weeks I will be able to get some more stuff painted!

Till then all the best!

Painted Miniatures At Last!

2009-04-25T01:11:00.000-07:00

Hi!

Heres some pics of the first of the miniatures Ive painted for the Stainless Steel Rat project!

First off it seems fitting that I should have a go at painting up Slippery Jim himself. I used one of the laserburn thugs as a basis and swapped his head for one of the civilians and after a bit of repositioning of his gun arm he looks suitable as Jim diGriz. I painted him in his traditional silver suit (The books say its a one piece job but this looks ok!) Hes mounted on a 20mm round plastic base available from EM4 Miniatures.

Arch Criminal James Bolivar Digriz

Next up heres my painted representation of Angelina, Jims nemesis and later on wife! Im not too happy with the model as Angelina is usually described as wearing skirts but none of the miniatures I could find were suitable so it will do till I can find a better portrayal of Jims beautiful but deadly wife:

Angelina: Femme Fatale and known associate of diGriz

Ive also started work on one of the 15mm.co.uk Floatdiscs. I have to admit that I was quite disappointed with both the quality and cost of these chaps. First off the disc riders come in packs of two for £3.00 but when they arrived I found them to be pretty tiny and poorly sculpted (The disc isnt even round!) Saying that its painting up quite well but I doubt I will buy any more of them!

I will get a pic posted of the completed model once Ive finished basing it!

MESSAGE ENDS...

Delay Of Insufferable Irritation!

2009-04-21T13:41:00.000-07:00

It looks like the troops I had requisitioned for the operation to capture the stainless steel rat have been lost somewhere in the ether! Consequently I am stuck waiting until they arrive which is causing me the utmost of impatient irritation!

MESSAGE ENDS...

Hi!

Alas my order hasnt arrived from 15mm.co.uk yet (I know its only been a week but I am really wanting to get something smaller and quicker to paint than the big stuff for my Leviathan project and had been hoping to get the stuff in the post over the last couple of days!) which has put a bit of a break in getting anything done! In the meantime I have been re-reading all the stainless steel rat books and taking notes on assorted characters, organisations and useful equipment which will allow me to get my teeth stuck into painting some suitable representations of slippery Jim and co when they do arrive (Hopefully soon!)

All the best

Orbital Assessment!

2009-04-19T10:41:00.000-07:00

Using some very high tech and secretive methods I have managed to capture some early satellite imagery of one of the buildings on Beta Cygnus X. Note the Parambulator 5000 transportation robot in the foreground. As yet theres no sign of diGriz but hopefully this situation will be remedied within the next 48 hours.

Image courtesy of Special Corps Gnasher Class Destroyer.

Judging by its generally grotty appearance the scene is from one of the less well to do areas in the warehouse district. Just the sort of place that a stainless steel rat would be found scurrying around. The building itself appears to be a single story workshop (the crude transportation robot out front seems to back up this hypothesis

MESSAGE ENDS....

A Bronzed God Of A Scientist!

2009-04-16T14:27:00.000-07:00

Good News Everyone! It is I Professor Coypu! Your guide to all things technology in the Special Corps! Alas as most of you low browed baboons wouldn't understand the inner workings of the likes of a time helix I will attempt to use small words!

Alas theres been some delay in the requested equipment arriving (The fools at shipping are no doubt to blame!) In the mean time the science lab, namely me, has stated work on a miniature representation of some of the buildings on Beta Cygnus X. Images will follow presently but you cant rush genius!

MESSAGE ENDS...

Stainless Steel Briefing!

2009-04-16T12:01:00.000-07:00

"Slippery" Jim diGriz

Real name: James Bolivar diGriz

Planet of Birth: Bit O' Heaven

Age: Unknown

First Recorded Crime: Robbed the First Bank of Bit O' Heaven at age 17 and briefly incarcerated in the local prison before escaping to continue his career as a criminal. diGriz has never been caught since despite the valiant, if plodding efforts of many law enforcement agencies.

Favoured Crime: Bank Robbery

Criminal Record: Too extensive to go into at present but needless to say his life of crime is about to come to an end!

Known Vices: Cigars and Booze

Notes: Con man, thief and all-round rascal. He is charming and quick-witted, a master of disguise and martial arts, an accomplished bank robber, an expert on breaking and entering, and (perhaps most usefully) a skilled liar. A master of self-rationalization, the Rat frequently justifies his crimes by arguing that he is providing society with entertainment; and besides which, he only steals from institutions which have insurance coverage. He displays a strong morality, albeit in a much more restricted sense than is traditional. (For example, he will happily steal, but deplores killing.)

As you can see from the above briefing diGriz is a career criminal but does appear to have some scruples. It is for this reason that I plan on offering him the option of either spending the rest of his days on a penal colony on the Drudgery Worlds or joining the Corps as his unique skills will make him a valuable addition to the organisation.

Postscript: The wit who came up with the title for this briefing should be flogged!

INSKIPP

MESSAGE ENDS...

The Rat Has Been Sighted!

2009-04-15T02:05:00.000-07:00

After a lengthy investigation I believe I have tracked the Stainless Steel Rat to his current con in the Beta Cygnus system. Latest reports place him on Beta Cygnus X where he is no doubt preparing for another of his nefarious crimes. I have contacted the local police and am traveling to the planet to personally oversee his capture with a Special Corps team.I have no doubt that the rat will be safely in our custody within the next 72 hours!

Local law enforcement have managed to retrieve the following image from the remains of the police robot that he criminally destroyed by dropping a safe on in his escape on Beta Cygnus III:

Note the self satisfied and smug expression. This criminal has eluded capture for far too long!

MESSAGE ENDS...

Introduction

2009-04-14T11:42:00.000-07:00

This site has been created to chronicle the Special Corps investigations. First off I have asked our research department to compile a report on our current target of investigation: "Slippery" Jim diGriz aka The Stainless Steel Rat, De rat van roestvrij staal, die Edelstahlratte, El Escurridizo un criminale al nichelcromo and a host of other aliases.

The Arch Reprobate Slippery Jim diGriz

A career criminal diGriz is responsible for countless robberies spanning half the galaxy and I have ordered the best the Corps can offer to come up with a way of catching this reprobate. His crimes are legendary and the Corps has decided that its long past time that we curtailed his felonious activities and he be either jailed or ,preferably, recruited into the Corps.

Hence I, Harold Peters Inskipp as head of the Special Corps have decided to take personal charge of the investigation and have no doubt that the criminal diGriz will be captured like a rat in a trap!

MESSAGE ENDS...

Greetings!

I have decided to have a go at 15mm scale gaming and thought that as the Stainless Steel rat was may favourite book and pulp sci-fi seems to be getting a bit of interest at present I would start with him! The best thing about 15mm gaming is that you can collect forces on a really small budget and play a game on a smaller table (I only have a 4x4 foot board)

The plan is to first locate a suitable miniature to represent Slippery Jim, along with some flat footed police types and Inskipp with a small Special Corps task force. Following on from that I am hoping to add some of the characters that are featured in the books by Harry Harrison such as the beautiful but deadly Angelina, Professor Coypu, and a host of assorted heroes, villains and bystanders.

As I collect my forces I plan on posting them here, mainly in the guise of Inskipp although vehicles and high tech stuff will be reviewed by Professor Coypu and Slippery Jim will also make an occasional appearance with reports. Eventually the blog will also contain stuff from my other favourite books, movies and graphic novels ranging from Buck Rogers to Flash Gordon and feature organisations such as the mercenary company Star Risk and Cerberus Security Systems.

At present I have no really fixed plans on the site but am starting to place some small orders for the first of my protagonists!

All the best!