Spetsnaz Profile And Special Rules - Why I Will Be Playing Ariadna Again

One of the things I love about Corvus Belli, is that they don't abandon a faction once they've released a bunch of models for them. You tend to get something new and fresh for them every couple of months that just rekindles your original love that got you interested in them in the first place. Enter the Spetsnaz.

I've already covered my thoughts on the model: to summarise it's utterly badass and an essential purchase. I play vanilla Ariadna and so this is pretty much an auto-include for me not just because of the awesome sculpt but also because of the lovely profile CB have recently released to accompany it.

May Releases: I Can See Only One Model

Well I've had a little Infinity break to get some Dropzone Commander painted and played, plus I've taken the plunge into X-Wing too. But I'm back! Do not worry dear readers! So, May's releases?

The Knights are really nice... and I mean really nice. The existing model was always one of my MO fav's as I think they got the pose soooo right. And I'm pleased to see the other three are so dynamic and exciting as after a couple of the most recent boxed sets of models I'd started to worry the old dynamism was starting to fade as newer releases appeared.

The Raiden is another excellent pose. Not dynamic but the unexpected way they have him holding the rocket launcher makes me very happy.

The O-12 Commissioner is great civvie model... and one I'd invest in if I didn't have a couple already (YAMS anyone?).

The new Nomad Interventors are superb. Really superb. The male model in particular looks extremely nice with a level of detail that must bode very well for future Nomad expansions and the inevitable Tunguska expansion. The Panda's are also brilliant. The issues with the Flying Cat released a couple of months ago, are gone here (I personally liked that model...) and again the poses are just perfect. Very intimidating for a pair of what look like toy animals.

But I'm just delaying. The big 'WOW' model for me is the Spetznaz. Not a knockout pose... but man is it perfect for the model. The guy oozes badass-ery. How hench is that dude?! The sculpt is just lovely. Fits the existing Ariadna range perfectly but at the same time bodes very well for the direction the faction will follow with the forthcoming new releases and the (now) distant Kazak faction. This will be an essential purchase for me and the sole reason I'm digging my Ariadnans out and packing my Tohaa away for a while. Corvus Belli, I love you.

My First Tournament: Initial Thoughts

Well Saturday saw my first proper Infinity tournament, at The Outpost in Sheffield. Overall it was a great day and a very well run tournament that has stoked my interest in attending more of them in the future.

So let's get into it then. Behold, my ramblings on playing competitive Infinity!

Ariadna Tournament Preparation: Cordelia

I've had the Scarface and Cordelia set for a good few months now, and Scarface got painted up fairly early on. Poor Cordelia however has been sat in primer the whole time... so I decided to end my Infinity painting block and get her done.

I think she came out alright for an impromptu four-hour painting session last night. Still need to base it but aside from a slightly derpy facial expression I'm pretty happy with her.

No prizes for guessing what Ariadna have hired to accompany them to the tournament on Saturday? Scarface and Cordelia, or an Irmandinho and Vet Kazak HMG?

Operation: Steel Phalanx In 15 Days Or Bust

Bit of a gap in posts, but I'm pleased to say this post will show I've managed to progress towards two of my Infinity resolutions for 2014.

Tuesday was 'No Shirt Or Slacks Day' in the Lhost training camp

Myself and a pair of friends (Starmonkee aka James, and Nate) are driving down to play in a small tournament in Sheffield in March, Paradiso Lost, hosted by The Outpost.

Suffice to say I'm really excited to be going as this will be my first proper tournament. I've been spending a lot of time with different lists, tweaking here and there to try and get the best out of the Steel Phalanx as far as ITS is concerned (a lot easier said than done).

Three games, 300pts, objectives with classifieds slightly modified from stock ITS. You must provide two lists and use them both over the three matches so lots of scope for list building fun, which I absolutely love. Honestly someone could create a tabletop wargame that involved just writing army lists and I'd be set for life!

It promises to be a really friendly day. Interested? Head over to the Facebook page for 'Infinity The Game: Northern Alliance' and have a look for yourself!

My second goal was for a painted Steel Phalanx. In an earlier blog post I'd mentioned batch painting them in a warm grey scheme reminiscent of Splinter Cell or Deus Ex. Well that stalled pretty suddenly as I really wasn't feeling the grey... partly as I realised I was effectively colour matching my army with my buildings. And partly as grey just isn't fun to paint. I've just added the Myrmidon box, Spitfire Myrmidon, Machaon, and a box of Rebots to my Phalanx collection and so I'm taking the opportunity for a wholesale repaint.

Small issue... it needs to be done in under 15 days to be ready for the Sheffield tournament. It's going to be extremely tough to do this, but I feel with my airbrush I have a chance at meeting this goal. Emphasis on the word 'chance'. If by March 3rd (army list deadline) I fear missing the March 8th final deadline, then I'll fall back on Ariadna instead as my army. I really don't want to have to do as I've been loving using the Phalanx of late!

Expect a progress report over the next two weeks.

New Year, New Models!

The 30th of December saw the release of the photos for the next set of releases from Corvus Belli, and in my opinion a pretty sensational set of models they are too.

Aside from the fairly "meh" repackaging of the Celestial Guard, it represents ten other models that in my opinion cement CB at the top of wargame models podium.

A Happy New Year... And Resolutions!

Well 2014 has begun, 2013 was one hell of year for me being as it was my first year back into tabletop wargames. I spent the first two thirds of the year up to my nuts in Warhammer 40k, and the final third up to my nuts in Infinity. In fact those final four months of 2013 have probably set the marker down for how my wargaming future will pan out - less GW, more of what else is out there!

Infinity is my main gaming system now, having replaced 40K with some ease. I've played Infinity almost non-stop since August with just a couple of games of 40k in between. I've tried and failed to muster the interest in collecting a new 40K army in that time, and instead have put my finances into more Infinity and more recently Dropzone Commander and Hordes too (new to me).

Setting wargaming themed New Years Resolutions seems to be the thing to do if you run a blog these days, so here are mine for 2014:

1. Own a 400pt, fully painted Ariadnan army - already most of the way there, but for ITS I need some additional models finished (I've plenty to choose from).
2. Own a 400pt fully painted Steel Phalanx - as above. I've already got the models (Gawd bless 80pt Achilles) just need to pull my finger out and get them finished. Then add Myrmidons.
3. Expand the Ariadnan army to a fully painted Ariadnan sectorial - this one will take some work as I have a very even mix of Kazak, French, and Scotch units. I'm excited to see how the Kazak sectorial will look so this could be the one I eventually choose.
4. Paint my goddamn terrain - I must have £200 worth of MAS and Bandua terrain and none of it has gone beyond a grey primer yet. Disgraceful.
5. Play in tournaments - the UK doesn't have the biggest tournament scene so this one will be tricky to fit in...
6. Create missions - I love a bit of creative writing and so I want to try and concoct some narrative-based standalone missions. Even better would be to string a couple together for an easy afternoons gaming a la the old Space Hulk mission booklets.

Assault Pack out of shot an' in yo' face.

So there you are. Plenty to be getting on with already and this is just for Infinity!

Non-Infinity related stuff revolve around Dropzone and Hordes, or anything else that takes my fancy this year. I can't rule out getting back into 40K at some point, but right now it's not on the radar at all.

Scarface = MVP

I had a chance to break out Ariadna for a couple of games today, and I decided to use Scarface and Cordelia. Previous to this the only use of Scarface had been in a painful doubles game that drove me into the arms of 40k for a couple of weeks as a result (yes, really...). So today was my opportunity to actually try him out properly for the first time since I'd finished painting him.

And I wasn't disappointed!

Sounds To Paint To

I'm trying to make a sow's ear into a silk purse tonight... a.k.a paint the Assault Pack Antipode models (just dire, dire models but such a good battlefield unit!). The only thing keeping me going is listening to the soundtrack to Deux Ex: Human Revolution. I've just started playing it again after nabbing the game for £5 in the Blockbuster Fire Sale. I never killed the final boss last time I played through it, so thought I'd give it another go.

Anyway. I'd not appreciated how epic the soundtrack was. The 'Main Theme' in particular conjures up all sorts of fantastic Infinity related visions!

Cometh The Dire Foes

After a couple months of anticipation, the Infinity Dire Foes boxsets are starting to filter out from Corvus Belli. And my oh my, what a selection of lovely little baubles they've put together for November!

The models are anything BUT Dire! See what I did there?!

Last Post For Today I Promise! The Missing Tankhunter

I realised I'd not posted up my Autocannon Tankhunter model yet, a bit slack of me I know.

 

I'd wanted to use the studio camo scheme, but I couldn't work out exactly what they'd used colour wise. I'd seen a pair of Tankhunters painted with a green camo scheme with red elements but wasn't brave enough to try it, so he ended up more straightforward than that.

Aaa-ll Together Now, All Together Now...

304pts of WYSIWYG Ariadna (Duroc is used as a Cameronian). 300pts if you ignore the DEP on the Metro! I'd certainly consider fielding this lot together in games, even if it is short of ITS objective winners it should do fine in YAMS.

It is missing a couple of staple inclusions that I don't normally do without such as Chasseurs and I'm using the Assault Pack a bit too.

Three More. Possibly My Last Three Ariadnans... For A While.

As my second faction awaits dispatch from it's supplier, I've managed to complete my personal goal of 300pts of Ariadna units.

On to the newly painted models.

We have a Chainrifle-toting Irmandinho engineer, Uxia "Cherry" McNeill, and a female Line Kazak. And a whole lot of vegetation.

A Beginners Thoughts On Infinity #3: Guided Missiles

You know that feeling don't you? When you're playing that wargame you love so much, and someone unleashes a unit on you, that seems so utterly awful and impossible to counter, that the whole game system feels like it's falling down around your ears?

"You'll never get me when I'm in cover, pigs! -3 to hit, +3 to my ARM... mwah ha ha! Wait, what are those things coming out that remote..?"

Well that just about summed up my first experience with guided missiles.

Isobel McGregor: I choose you!

Corvus Belli has released a sneak peak of the new Dire Foes model for Ariadnan spec ops badass, Isobel McGregor via the Beasts of War YouTube channel. And it's a little belter in my opinion.

The only thing that (at the moment) stops this being a 10/10 model for me, is that the leg pose is rather similar to the Covert Ops Uxia model... but we're still talking a solid 9.5/10. The question is what will this proxy for in a regular list minus Dire Foes? Answers on a postcard.

"Surprise Werewolf!"

So after a short delay in productivity (GTA5 I mean...) I finally painted Duroc. I say finally, as he was in my first batch of Infinity models back in the middle of August and yet remained untouched so far. I suspect that was partially down to my cack-handed inability to keep him alive in game for longer than a single turn. I need to tie a knot in something to remember the smoke grenades...

Veteran Kazak Killing Machine: It's A Laydee!

I hit my 200pt goal yesterday, right on deadline. The idea being that I wouldn't substantially reinforce my Ariadnan army until I hit that magic number. I had bought a couple of single blisters in the mean time however, but the idea is that is should be 200pts of my regular list. Next goal is 300 and so on.

So anyway I rounded off my 200pts with a slightly cheaty (61pts!) Veteran Kazak model with HMG. I like naming these guys and I should really write it on the bases if I ever get round to purchasing a Micron pen (?). This one is called Starshy Leitenant Sonia Kasnyy; Veteran Kazak of the 2nd Kuban Kazak Brigade. Yep. It's a girlie with an HMG, deal with it.

With a slightly efeminate stance like that, could it be anything else? Slender legs too...

Highlanders SAS Reporting For Duty

One of the best bits of Ariadna, is SAS in space! Genius.

Sergeant Hamilton McTavish, 'A' Squadron, 1st Highlanders SAS Regiment.

Not One Metro... But Two!

Completed my two (for now) members of the Troupes Métropolitaines de la Défense Nationale, or Metros. Claude holding the Rifle, and Patrice brandishing the DEP.

Para Commando - Done!

This is Caporal Jean-Pierre Bosser (yeah I name my models...) he is a Para Commando from the Merovingienne 11e Brigade Parachutiste (11th Parachute Brigade). Armed with an HMG and a bucketload of badassery. Love this model to bits as the pose is just absolutely perfect.

81pts done from my target of 200pts, before I allow myself to buy any more models. I have about 320pts of Ariadna in total so I'm not exactly being too hard on myself! My aim is within a couple of weeks to be playing with a virtually completed army, paintwise, and then swap stuff in and out as I please - or acquire new models.