Lead Adventure Forum
Miniatures Adventure => Future Wars => Topic started by: Macrossmartin on August 05, 2017, 11:50:37 AM
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Greetings, fellow lovers of tiny giant robots. :)
On this thread, I will chart my adventures into gaming battles set in the universe of the classic 1979 anime series Mobile Suit Gundam.
This all came about after browsing Ebay for cheap substitutes for official Battletech miniatures, on the grounds of being skint. Whilst doing so, I stumbled onto a seller with a swagload of 1/400 scale Gundam PVA Gashapon - basically, collectable, randomly-packed figures - which he'd sorted out, and was selling individually.
I was hooked. I'd been wanting to game something with a Mecha-anime theme since the disappointment that was Robotech Tactics, and, at about five bucks a figure, this looked like the perfect outlet for my desires!
After initially debating modding BT, a friend and fellow otaku discovered a set of free, fan-made rules by a fellow Aussie, called Mobile Suit Gundam Skirmish. Written for battles with 1/144 scale 'Gunpla' Gundam model kits, we quickly made some modifications, and away we went!
We decided to concentrate initially on the ground war stage of the One Year War; a conflict that encompassed all humanity, both on Earth and its thousands of orbiting, artificial colonies. I chose to side with the defending Earth Federation, and he took the invading Expeditionary Force of the Principality of Zeon.
Cutting to the chase, here's some images to show my Federation Army is progressing...
Let's start with a shot of some figures 'in the raw', after some reposing and gluing to bases. As you can see, they're quite nice as far as prepainted figures go. But, a bit lacking in uniformity, and heavy equipment.
(https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3672/33524253955_7e257469fb_c.jpg)
Here's some of my earlier figures, my initial nine walkers, alll repainted and decalled. The bases, incidentally, are lasercut 3mm acrylic, 40mm dia.
(https://farm1.staticflickr.com/444/32612996381_8c69363042_c.jpg)
The hassle with PVA figures like these is the same that plagued the Airfix Generation so many years ago... bendy weapons! :D As a solution, I digitally sculpted and printed the bazookas and most of the shields you see here via Shapeways.
(https://farm1.staticflickr.com/669/32736404375_5cbac9765c_z.jpg)
(https://farm1.staticflickr.com/305/32356690820_c96186f621_c.jpg)
Here's the 08th Team, from the eponymous 90's series... they're 'special guest stars' in my army.
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4205/35544389816_75aab7f49c_c.jpg)
... and lastly for the time being, a big family group portrait. I chose to name my army the 12th Mobile Suit Regiment (Blues and Royals), working to the idea that the Federation resurrected the name of that famous British cavalry Regiment as a recruiting tool prior to their invasion of Zeon occupied Europe.
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4265/35544389546_a80675974e_c.jpg)
I hope you've enjoyed this first look at my Mobile Suit Gundam Skirmish project. If you'd like to take a look at the current rules, they're available here:
https://donkusgaming.wordpress.com/category/mobile-suit-gundam-skirmish-2/ (https://donkusgaming.wordpress.com/category/mobile-suit-gundam-skirmish-2/)
and, without any desire to direct traffic away from L.A., let me invite you to come take a look at MSGSk's dedicated forum:
http://mobilesuitskirmish.proboards.com/ (http://mobilesuitskirmish.proboards.com/)
- but, be aware, most of the topics are about the various attempts many members are making to create new editions of the rules, specific to particular Gundam serials and eras. (I'm working on the new One Year War Rulebook, unsurprisingly!)
Thanks for taking a look, and I'll post more next time!
- Martin
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This is awesome! I have a couple of wing suits from the gashapon line I use for Ganesha's ruleset for giant robots vs giant monsters, but seeing a full gundam one-year war group is great.
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They look very nice.
I suppose the licensing must be a nightmare, but I am still surprised there is not an official set of skirmish rules.
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They look very nice.
I suppose the licensing must be a nightmare, but I am still surprised there is not an official set of skirmish rules.
Interestingly there was an official Japanese release of a Gundam RPG using modified Mekton Zeta rules. Those rules have an oficial wargaming mod as well, but the Gundam book was never translated.
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They look very nice.
I suppose the licensing must be a nightmare, but I am still surprised there is not an official set of skirmish rules.
Hence, just a set of fan rules, Ultravanillasmurf. I'd love to see these become 'official' but I'm sure it won't happen.
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really nice work.
I wish someone would do something for the 1/144 gundams.
Scurv, follow the links in my original post; the author wrote the original rules for 1/144, and most of the players in the forum use 1/144 also.
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I'm not particularly into giant robots, but these are really nice!
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Those are fantastic! I've got a bunch of them I picked up over the years with the intention of wargaming, they've seen the table as Battletech mostly, although I've been tempted to use Heavy Gear rules as well. Been many years since I checked out Gundam Skirmish, at the time it was far too basic for my taste in games. There's also The Gundam Fan Project, they haven't posted their rules yet but they're sculpting 1/500 mobile suits for a tabletop game, currently up on Shapeways. I already have far too many of the 1/400 ones to change scales, but it looks promising.
Paintwork is superb, I just give em a basic wash and rebase, you've got them really looking like a proper regiment! I think I might need to have another go at it. I've toyed with the idea of recreating the Gundam Side Story Sega Dreamcast videogame, following the White Dingo unit of GM pilots in Australia during the the One-Year War.
Where is your hovertruck from? There's a Shapeways seller that does a great set of 1/400 M61A5 tanks, haven't seen a hovertruck in that scale though
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I'm guessing they are gashapons as well, the ground war set was in 1/144 IIRC.
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Certainly not the ground war set, I have the Zeon set and those and they'ye bigger than the 1/400 gundams. Looks like I found them tho, the "gashapon" seggestion reminded me that there was a 1/300 scale set of figures and sure enough, they made a 1/300 Type 74 for the "Strategy of Gundam" line which looks like what MacrossMartni used. A little large, but not terribly out of scale.
I printed out a set of the Skirmish rules, they are not what I was looking at (and disappointed with) 10 years ago. Going through my stuff, might try to scrounge up enough to play a few test games of it. What modifications did you make for the smaller figures?
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I've tried to get something like this going around my way for years, but always end up giving up when I can't find players. As you mentioned, everyone seems to want to play different eras.
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... I've toyed with the idea of recreating the Gundam Side Story Sega Dreamcast videogame, following the White Dingo unit of GM pilots in Australia during the the One-Year War.
Where is your hovertruck from? There's a Shapeways seller that does a great set of 1/400 M61A5 tanks, haven't seen a hovertruck in that scale though
Thanks for the nice words, Rhelyk (and others!). Actually, the dark blue and white scheme for the White Dingo Team inspired my colour choices for the Blues and Royals. When I get around to doing my EFSF force, they'll be in the more 'traditional' red and white.
The hovertruck, as some have deduced, is not 1/400 scale. It's from a 1/300 scale set that I actually bought by accident, having misread the scale! lol
But it proved serendipitous, because I decided to save myself the hassle of finding 1/400 infantry for my 'conventional' forces, and use 1/285 GHQ Moderns instead. Lots of 'Anti Mobile Suit' missile teams to choose from there.
I hadn't seen the 1/400 Type 61's on Shapeways before. If I had, I might not have sculpted this one in 1/285...
(https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2843/33677456460_55b622036e.jpg)
(https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2812/34021379526_6cc3730f91.jpg)
... but obviously I did! :) And into the silicone it will go in a week or two, if I can pull my proverbial finger out!
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I printed out a set of the Skirmish rules, they are not what I was looking at (and disappointed with) 10 years ago. Going through my stuff, might try to scrounge up enough to play a few test games of it. What modifications did you make for the smaller figures?
Great to hear you're going to give them a go! They're a little rough around the edges still, some rules you may want to 'house rule' to your tastes (Blast weapons are a little too scary, as writ, for example). Hence the fact I and others are involved with producing a revised edition.
We kept the same movement and weapons distances for 1/400 as are in the rules, halved all effect radii, (such as Blast 6" radius down to 3") and ruled that close combat range is base-to-base, rather than 6". That was pretty much all we changed for the scale reduction.
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Wow! Those minis are awesome, and the work you're done to fix the weapons and shields is amazing. I really need to learn some 3d sculpting...
Just to be self-promoting for a moment: you should find that Horizon Wars is well set up for Gundam skirmish, and the simple mech-design rules should allow gundams of every era to be accommodated.
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Going through my colection I remember why I never did One Year War, I've only got a few Zaku IIs and a handful of other 0079 designs, the vast majority of my stuff is gundam SEED figures (still my favorite Gundam series). The problem with doing SEED battles is that ZAFT had a whole bunch of different standard mobile suits while the Earth Alliance only had the basic Dagger and the Astray if you included the ORB units, both of which were fairly rare in the random boxes. Without all the spinoffs and side stories that you had with UC gundam, there just weren't all the ground-types Gundams and GM variants and Guntank/Guncannon variants to make for a good tabletop wargame. Great for an RPG where you have a few heroes piloting Gundams cutting down "regular"
mobile suits by the dozen, but not for a pitched battle. UC Gundam is where that really plays out well. May need to order some figs off ebay pretty soon.
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Going through my colection I remember why I never did One Year War, I've only got a few Zaku IIs and a handful of other 0079 designs, the vast majority of my stuff is gundam SEED figures (still my favorite Gundam series). The problem with doing SEED battles is that ZAFT had a whole bunch of different standard mobile suits while the Earth Alliance only had the basic Dagger and the Astray if you included the ORB units, both of which were fairly rare in the random boxes. Without all the spinoffs and side stories that you had with UC gundam, there just weren't all the ground-types Gundams and GM variants and Guntank/Guncannon variants to make for a good tabletop wargame. Great for an RPG where you have a few heroes piloting Gundams cutting down "regular"
mobile suits by the dozen, but not for a pitched battle. UC Gundam is where that really plays out well. May need to order some figs off ebay pretty soon.
hmm, makes me thing of the options of other sets.
Wing is pretty much right out as an army vs army game, but could work as a 2v2 game with a red force, plenty of points in the anime where the Gundams fought each other after all.
AGE could work nicely, assuming you like the aesthetic of the bad guys (I do) though I'm unsure on the quantity/quality of gashapons from it?
IBO doesn't have gashapons I think? Might be the skeletal designs not playing nicely with the bendy plastic. Pitty really, I would pay for a dozen or so grazes and variants.
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Going through my colection I remember why I never did One Year War, I've only got a few Zaku IIs and a handful of other 0079 designs ... Without all the spinoffs and side stories that you had with UC gundam, there just weren't all the ground-types Gundams and GM variants and Guntank/Guncannon variants to make for a good tabletop wargame...
I hear you, Rhelyk. I used to collect the 1/200 HCM Pro figures with the intention of wargaming with those, but finding common or garden Zaku II's in that range was nigh impossible, and GM's are as rare as the whites of Mirai Yashima's eyes! :D
Thankfully this isn't the case in 1/400. There's plenty of variations, and converting them for different weapon fit-outs is no tougher than with regular PVC figures. (In fact, using one of those plastic-specific superglues that come with a 'preparation' pen, I've found they glue better and stronger than pewter or styrene figures!)
The only hassle has been sculpting and printing weapons... which reminds me, if anyone's looking for conversion weapons etc for these 1/400 figures, I'm slowly putting some up for sale on my Shapeways store...
https://www.shapeways.com/shops/miniature-martin (https://www.shapeways.com/shops/miniature-martin)
... more to come, as I add bits for my Zeon forces. Speaking of which—!
Doms of the 711th Mobile Suit Brigade (Expeditionary Force, Africa Front)
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4317/36129637495_65c4671921.jpg)
and here with the Zaku II-RS of Zeon ace pilot Breniff Orguz, backed up with two lesser-model Zakus...
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4325/35959554492_07d5071a5c.jpg)
(The decals, by the way, are home-printed. Great for darker colours, but, oh for a white-printing laser printer! lol )
More tiny giant robot fun soon!
- Martin
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hmm, makes me thing of the options of other sets.
Wing is pretty much right out as an army vs army game, but could work as a 2v2 game with a red force, plenty of points in the anime where the Gundams fought each other after all.
AGE could work nicely, assuming you like the aesthetic of the bad guys (I do) though I'm unsure on the quantity/quality of gashapons from it?
IBO doesn't have gashapons I think? Might be the skeletal designs not playing nicely with the bendy plastic. Pity really, I would pay for a dozen or so grazes and variants.
You're pretty much right on the money, YPU. It's probably why most players of Mobile Suit Gundam Skirmish use 1/144 scale kits; you can find anything you want in that scale.
And it's perfectly fine for doing two-on-two fights, or even larger; the ground scale doesn't change in the rules for the scale of models used (unless you wish to change it, of course).
I'm pretty sure there's very few AGE gashapon, and I've only seen 'Super Deformed' IBO Gashapon so far, except (I think) some keychain figures, which might not be to a consistent scale.
Oh, speaking of 1/144th scale, I'd love to wargame with this lot... all 1/144th scale kits...
(http://cdn.mkimg.carview.co.jp/minkara/mybbs/000/002/641/901/2641901/p1.jpg)
(http://cdn.mkimg.carview.co.jp/minkara/mybbs/000/002/641/902/2641902/p1.jpg)
:o :o :o
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Oh man, that looks great. I love dioramas anyway and there just aren't enough large ones with gundams in it.
Wow! Those minis are awesome, and the work you're done to fix the weapons and shields is amazing. I really need to learn some 3d sculpting...
Nah man, you need to hire a talented young fan of your rules to do the work for you. :P
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Love this project.
I used Gundam Gashapon's years ago as the mechs in my Future War Commander games, like shown here:
http://tomsche69.blogspot.be/2011/01/fwc-battle-report-andrayadans-vs.html
Being a fanboy of the mobile suits, they are such great value for money, I went through the bendy weapon process with the old 'hot water" technique, but it`s far from ideal. Your printed guns look far, far better :-*
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Not a gundam fan, Just wanted to say how beautiful these minis are! well done ! :)
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Love this project.
I used Gundam Gashapon's years ago as the mechs in my Future War Commander games, like shown here:
http://tomsche69.blogspot.be/2011/01/fwc-battle-report-andrayadans-vs.html
Being a fanboy of the mobile suits, they are such great value for money, I went through the bendy weapon process with the old 'hot water" technique, but it`s far from ideal. Your printed guns look far, far better :-*
That's a great battle report, Tomsche, thanks for sharing!
Yep, there's only so much one can do with bendy guns. Eventually, you've got to find a better solution. I'm glad that I went the 3D printing path, it was a good creative process, and the first time I'd had a go at printing in 3D. Great fun!
Thanks for the positive words, nic-e! :)
More photos this weekend.
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Nah man, you need to hire a talented young fan of your rules to do the work for you. :P
Seriously, I'd love to. But you'd be amazed how little difference to my general income publishing my own rules has made. :(
R.
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Looking further it appears there are no normal gundam Wing bad guy suit gashapons, only SD versions. this makes me sad, the leo and tallgeese will forever hold a place in my heart. I guess I shall have to print some myself.
Seriously, I'd love to. But you'd be amazed how little difference to my general income publishing my own rules has made. :(
Well, I work cheap. ;D But yeah, my biggest frustration in the hobby is that everybody is brimming with good idea's and never enough time and money for them. Such is life I guess.
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no sorry you cant print your own gundams. Have not the 'experts' told you 3d printing is incapable of making wargames figures!
Thank you, Scurv, I needed a laugh today... lol lol lol
Speaking of laughs, here's a few shots of one of the stranger vehicles from the Gundam universe: The Gunperry heavy transport aircraft...
They come as hard styrene, push-together kits like this...
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4327/35287774524_e14b221c94.jpg)
... which I thought was a bit too primary for my tastes, so I repainted mine thus:
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4312/35959554122_33df7692a0_z.jpg)
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4301/35930929611_708fc51059_z.jpg)
I think they look a bit more military now. :) But there's no hiding the fact they look like something Derek Meddings threw together from kit parts for a background scene for an episode of Thunderbirds. :D
More fun next time!
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Interesting pieces of kit.
The lift fans would look better on the body not the cargo (or maybe I have been watching too much MCU).
Having never seen them in action, do they drop the boxes for the gundams?
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Interesting pieces of kit.
The lift fans would look better on the body not the cargo (or maybe I have been watching too much MCU).
Having never seen them in action, do they drop the boxes for the gundams?
That's how the crazy things appear in the anime. There's doors on the sides that can open downwards after landing, but the whole container is also capable of splitting down the middle and swinging open in two halves, allowing a Mobile Suit in each half to drop out. In that respect, the position of the outer fans sort of makes sense; it they were attached to the fuselage the container halves would interfere with the fans.
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I'm not often a fan of big armoured mechs, but for this I make a exception. Great job!
by the way, what program do you actually use to sculpt those weapons, I'm interested.
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I'm not often a fan of big armoured mechs, but for this I make a exception. Great job!
by the way, what program do you actually use to sculpt those weapons, I'm interested.
Arloid, I'm working in a freeware program called Art of Illusion. It's a bit limited compared to more modern programs, but I like its interface, and it is fine for simple things like I'm doing. I'd hate to try sculpting cloth or organic detail in AoI...
I'll post some renders of the Star Trek inspired ships I've sculpted in AoI when I can (watch for a separate thread).
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Ah, that's the first time I ever heard of that program. I'm mainly into moddeling terrain, but I'm still looking for a sculpting program so you got me there.
I'm a big fan of Star Trek lately so I can't wait to see them.
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Arloid, I'm working in a freeware program called Art of Illusion. It's a bit limited compared to more modern programs, but I like its interface, and it is fine for simple things like I'm doing. I'd hate to try sculpting cloth or organic detail in AoI...
I'll post some renders of the Star Trek inspired ships I've sculpted in AoI when I can (watch for a separate thread).
I'm not going to lie, your results look a lot better than my first 3d drawings! So that must be great interface there. I agree that the interface of most programs are dense, to say the least.
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I am waiting for HLJ to restock the Zaku Tank so I can get a wad of those for my projects.
I believe its lets a case of HLJ stocking them, and more of Bandai needed to do another print run of them. There are a number of kits that don't get produced all that often, and when they do get snatched up quickly. The Hildolfr is a good example when it got re-printed a while back.
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Looking further it appears there are no normal gundam Wing bad guy suit gashapons, only SD versions. this makes me sad, the leo and tallgeese will forever hold a place in my heart. I guess I shall have to print some myself.
You saying you can't find any Leo's? If that is what your saying there are Leo's in this scale. Which is great as I love the Leo's over the Zaku's.
Grimm
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You saying you can't find any Leo's? If that is what your saying there are Leo's in this scale. Which is great as I love the Leo's over the Zaku's.
I was wrong, you were right, 2 version even and the other equipment would be easy to 3d print like Macrossmartin has shown. bugger, this is going to hurt my wallet. Any places worth looking for these besides ebay?
Ah , tallgeese and taurus as well, I guess I should be thankfull there aren't any virgo ones. (or should I, maybe I should CAD one up...)
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I was wrong, you were right, 2 version
3 in the 1/400 scale.
print them out on the wanhao. Cheap as then.
I don't have my Wanhao 7 as of yet. ;-)
You could do it f9r me.
And yes I know you wasn't talking to me originally.
Grimm
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there is an I3 available for anyone to use you included. The design just has to be original and a gundam build would be in my book, original.
Still waiting on those VOTOMS. :-)
Grimm
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For those so inclined, there is now a (very new) Facebook group for Mobile Suit Gundam Skirmish! Please consider yourselves invited to join in for fighty robot fun. :D
https://www.facebook.com/groups/486933428347559/ (https://www.facebook.com/groups/486933428347559/)
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A few pics of some new additions to my Zeon ground forces: A flight of three Dodai bomber / transports, a suitably sinister Kampfer, and the Zeon C.O. finally shows up in her Desert Gouf Custom.
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4462/36923030823_066bc22d30_z.jpg)
The Dodais have rare earth magnets inserted into their 'decks' to allow Mobile Suits with matching magnets to go sky-surfing...
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4494/37593259541_e4a1139cea_z.jpg)
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4481/36923031733_3113548bd9_z.jpg)
The Gouf-C on its ground base. The 75mm rotary cannon was a bit... floppy... so a new one was fashioned from plastic rod...
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4451/36923031103_c43b57b7f2_z.jpg)
... and here's the Kampfer, in night attire, ready for an evening of mugging passing GM's...
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4457/36923031413_007d8b1695_z.jpg)
Next up should be a contingent of Magella Attack Tanks, but I also have a bunch of Federation AFV's on their way from Shapeways, and the temptation to prioritise those instead will be strong indeed! >:D
See you next time.
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Very happy to see your work on these. You keep up a good speed many of us wish we had in our projects!
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Very happy to see your work on these. You keep up a good speed many of us wish we had in our projects!
It's all an illusion, I swear... ;)
Actually, I seem to have 'bursts' when I get a bunch of miniatures finished, then it dies off again until I'm inspired (or on a deadline) to do more.
Speaking of doing more: How about a Battle Report...?
Penetrated at Perevalka - a OYW Batrep
http://mobilesuitskirmish.proboards.com/thread/169/penetrated-perevalka-oyw-batrep?page=1&scrollTo=1943 (http://mobilesuitskirmish.proboards.com/thread/169/penetrated-perevalka-oyw-batrep?page=1&scrollTo=1943)
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4481/23939477308_e94646f1e0.jpg)
Follow the link above to the Mobile Suit Skirmish Forum to read my new batrep. Complete with turn-by-turn maps! I hope you enjoy it. :)
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Very nice.
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Wow, how did I miss this thread? Holy mini-robot goodness!
Reminds me of the Iron Hands (Necromundicon) Gundam project taken to the next level.
http://www.ironhands.com/gundamsog.html
Keep it up!
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Wow, how did I miss this thread? Holy mini-robot goodness!
Reminds me of the Iron Hands (Necromundicon) Gundam project taken to the next level.
http://www.ironhands.com/gundamsog.html
Keep it up!
Eilif, thank you very much! Pleased to meet one of the people who inspired me to have a go at Gundam micro-scale; I recognise your blog, and the SoG figures, they were amongst the first things I found when I started on this journey, trawling the 'net for inspiration.
I probably would have gone the SoG route, except that at the time I couldn't find a cheap source for the 1/300 stuff.
By the way, if you're still doing stuff with your Gundam variant, I have a Shapeways store where I'll be offering the 1/285th Type 61 as a Company deal, soon.
Fed hover trucks (with APC and command drop-on options) will follow shortly; I have some successful prints of both vehicles, just need to sort some production issues. :)
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Eilif, thank you very much! Pleased to meet one of the people who inspired me to have a go at Gundam micro-scale; I recognise your blog, and the SoG figures, they were amongst the first things I found when I started on this journey, trawling the 'net for inspiration.
I probably would have gone the SoG route, except that at the time I couldn't find a cheap source for the 1/300 stuff.
By the way, if you're still doing stuff with your Gundam variant, I have a Shapeways store where I'll be offering the 1/285th Type 61 as a Company deal, soon.
Fed hover trucks (with APC and command drop-on options) will follow shortly; I have some successful prints of both vehicles, just need to sort some production issues. :)
Oh dear, I'm afraid I have misrepresented myself.
Ironhands (i.e. necromundicon) is one of my favorite sites and has been a guiding light for my hobby since the 90's but it's not mine. It's the brainchild of Sean Pattern. He's a good sort and might be interested in your vehicles.
I find your project immensely inspring, but our club's mecha gaming is 10mm'ish (N, 1/144, 1/160, etc) using rebased Mechwarrior clix figures or in 28mm using a variety of models and toys. You can find our stuff here:
https://www.chicagoskirmishwargames.com/blog/?s=mech
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Eilif shouldn't sell himself short either, his Mech attack con game is spectacular!
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Fear not, eilif, my mistake! :D
Mech combat in 28mm? Wow! The majority of Mobile Suit Gundam Skirmish players use 1/144 scale Gunpla, which I thought was big enough... Colour me impressed.
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Reminds me of the Iron Hands (Necromundicon) Gundam project taken to the next level.
http://www.ironhands.com/gundamsog.html
Keep it up!
Great site. Been following it for years. But I especially love it for the VOTOM content.
Eilif shouldn't sell himself short either, his Mech attack con game is spectacular!
Very much in agreement. He and his group do some amazing things.
Fear not, eilif, my mistake! :D
Mech combat in 28mm? Wow! The majority of Mobile Suit Gundam Skirmish players use 1/144 scale Gunpla, which I thought was big enough... Colour me impressed.
Well the fact that a GunPla and say a Battlemech in the same scale would have the Gundam towering over the other buy double or more. Gundams are huge in size. Even in 1/144 scale a Gundams is like 6-9 inches, I think? Could be wrong.
But hey, it isn't like I would love seeing it. :-)
Grimm
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...Well the fact that a GunPla and say a Battlemech in the same scale would have the Gundam towering over the other by double or more. Gundams are huge in size. Even in 1/144 scale a Gundams is like 6-9 inches, I think? Could be wrong.
But hey, it isn't like I would love seeing it. :-)
Grimm
4" to 6", Grimm. The Master Grade kits are about 8" for a UC era Gundam (with the exception of the bonkingly-huge Psycho-Gundam). RX-78's were 18 metres tall, empty weight of about 40 tonnes. Not crazy, compared to some Assault Mechs.
There's bigger MS's of course; The 'O' stands about 25 metres, and so does the Sazabi. But it's worth noting Yoshiyuki Tomino - Gundam's Gene Roddenberry - said he didn't want his mecha to be improbably huge like the 'superhero' robots of preceding anime in the '70s.
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Not to mention the Psycho Gundam at 40m, that thing is scraping the super robot genre. For a more realistic size I prefer VOTOMS (and heavy gear, which is votoms the game in all but name really)
Still, looking at even the original anime for Gundam the suits never felt exceptionally over the top size wise to me. Even the first series has commando troops on hoverbikes using sticky charges to bring the Gundam down!
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I'm really loving this stuff. I can't believe how cheap 1/144th scale are from Hobby Link Japan. I might finally have a reason to do a big purchase from them now!
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I'm really loving this stuff. I can't believe how cheap 1/144th scale are from Hobby Link Japan. I might finally have a reason to do a big purchase from them now!
Welcome to the addiction. :D
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4" to 6", Grimm. The Master Grade kits are about 8" for a UC era Gundam (with the exception of the bonkingly-huge Psycho-Gundam). RX-78's were 18 metres tall, empty weight of about 40 tonnes. Not crazy, compared to some Assault Mechs.
There's bigger MS's of course; The 'O' stands about 25 metres, and so does the Sazabi. But it's worth noting Yoshiyuki Tomino - Gundam's Gene Roddenberry - said he didn't want his mecha to be improbably huge like the 'superhero' robots of preceding anime in the '70s.
Yep, knew some of those buggers were huge.
Not to mention the Psycho Gundam at 40m, that thing is scraping the super robot genre. For a more realistic size I prefer VOTOMS (and heavy gear, which is votoms the game in all but name really)
Still, looking at even the original anime for Gundam the suits never felt exceptionally over the top size wise to me. Even the first series has commando troops on hoverbikes using sticky charges to bring the Gundam down!
Yeah, don't forget to mention him. LOL I don't know who the Psycho is.
And yes, I am a VOTOMs fan, and the Heavy Gears as well.
I am not a Gundam fan as i dont like the flamboyant designs. I am more of a Leo Gundam kind of guy. And the Scopedogs and there predecessors are more to my liking.
I'm really loving this stuff. I can't believe how cheap 1/144th scale are from Hobby Link Japan. I might finally have a reason to do a big purchase from them now!
You never need a reason. There is always a reason.
But don't forget Macrossmartin's source on eBay. That guy has a good selection in many scales for reasonable prices.
Grimm
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Gundam's of the same scale are easily 2-3 times as tall as battlemechs. We game with 10mm'ish (1/144) aprox rebased mechwarrior clix figs and compared to 1/144 scale gundam, the battlemechs are tiny.
4" to 6", Grimm. The Master Grade kits are about 8" for a UC era Gundam (with the exception of the bonkingly-huge Psycho-Gundam). RX-78's were 18 metres tall, empty weight of about 40 tonnes. Not crazy, compared to some Assault Mechs.
There's bigger MS's of course; The 'O' stands about 25 metres, and so does the Sazabi. But it's worth noting Yoshiyuki Tomino - Gundam's Gene Roddenberry - said he didn't want his mecha to be improbably huge like the 'superhero' robots of preceding anime in the '70s.
This was our experience. I only know this because I bought a couple 1/144 gundam as possible mecha in our 28mm games. They were a bit too small. However, one of our members bought the older 1:100 scale Zaku kits which come in at 7-8 inches IIRC and they looked great (though of course not in scale as proper gundam). Like most of the mechs in our nominally "28mm" game they probably looked more suited for 25mm pilots, but on the table their comparative height fools the eye pritty well, they're probably more The simplicity and sturdieness of these older (80s?) kits really works well for wargaming too.
Here's one next to a Dust Tactics building.
(http://images.dakkadakka.com/gallery/2015/3/13/694812.JPG)
And with some of the other mecha we use. As a general scale comparative, the big round bases are standard sized CD's
(http://images.dakkadakka.com/gallery/2015/3/22/697990.JPG)
I'm really loving this stuff. I can't believe how cheap 1/144th scale are from Hobby Link Japan. I might finally have a reason to do a big purchase from them now!
As for 1/144 gundam, Even the cheap ones are pretty great kits from a wargaming perspective and you can basically put together a Gundam game with 6 inch gundam for considerably less than the cost of a 1:300 scale battletech game with 1.5 inch battlemechs.
Lastly, Kiwarm/Outland models on Ali Express or Ebay is a great source for cheap n-scale buildings ($7-15) that are actually tall enough to conceal a gundam. I've just bought a couple for my 10mm sci-fi and they're quite nice looking.
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As for 1/144 gundam, Even the cheap ones are pretty great kits from a wargaming perspective and you can basically put together a Gundam game with 6 inch gundam for considerably less than the cost of a 1:300 scale battletech game with 1.5 inch battlemechs.
Lastly, Kiwarm/Outland models on Ali Express or Ebay is a great source for cheap n-scale buildings ($7-15) that are actually tall enough to conceal a gundam. I've just bought a couple for my 10mm sci-fi and they're quite nice looking.
You never need a reason. There is always a reason.
But don't forget Macrossmartin's source on eBay. That guy has a good selection in many scales for reasonable prices.
Grimm
Welcome to the addiction. :D
>:( You guys aren't helping. I thought this was a support group for people who buy too many miniatures. ;)
I've been looking at the Kiwarm stuff in the aliexpress thread and thinking I don't need to get that stuff.
So in a completely unrelated question that in no way is to do with me wanting to buy anything... What figure scale do these guys match best with, 10mm or 15mm?
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>:( You guys aren't helping. I thought this was a support group for people who buy too many miniatures. ;)
...What figure scale do these guys match best with, 10mm or 15mm?
It is a support group! We support each other's inclinations to buy too many miniatures. ::)
The 1/144 Gunpla scale well with 10mm, but I think you could get away with 15mm, really. As for my chosen scale (1/400) I'm opting for 1/285 infantry and vehicles, just because they are easier to pick out on the battlefield.
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>:( You guys aren't helping. I thought this was a support group for people who buy too many miniatures. ;)
I've been looking at the Kiwarm stuff in the aliexpress thread and thinking I don't need to get that stuff.
So in a completely unrelated question that in no way is to do with me wanting to buy anything... What figure scale do these guys match best with, 10mm or 15mm?
I think you made a mistake, this is an "Enabler's Group". the "Support Group" is down hall, take a left and through the door marked "EXIT". lol
As for sizes,
The KiWarm stuff looks best with 10mm but it would probably be ok with 15mm too. Alot of the doorways are a bit larger than they have to be or have above-the-door windows that coudld be easily modded into a larger doorway.
Precisely speaking, the 1/144 Gundam kits are 11mm which is essentially 10mm. In reality however, Gundam are so big compared to tanks and infantry that you could easily field them with 15mm stuff and it wouldn't look at all out-of place. This is essentially the same calculation that MacrossMartin is using with 1/400 (nearly 4mm) Gundam and 1/285 (6mm) Infantry and vehicles or that I'm doing in large scale with 28mm Vehicles and Infantry and some mechs with cockpits or torsos more suited to 25mm or even 22mm pilots. Doesn't make mathematical sense but it looks right on the tabletop.
I would recommend going with whatever scale you prefer to game with and/or have scenery for. From a practical standpoint the comparison is basically this:
N-Scale buildings and terrain are cheaper than 15mm/1:100 (some folks use HO scale 1/87)...
...but...
...despite a few new entries in the 10mm range (Plantefall and Dropzone Commander), 15mm figures and vehicles are still more plentiful and in many cases the same cost as 10mm.
We went with 10mm for our sci-fi mostly because at the time we had access to lots of cheap mechwarrior clix. However, if gaming Gundam today I'd be pretty torn as to which way to go. I love the look of N-scale urban buildings, but there is such an amazing and growing array of 15mm figs and vehicles out these days.
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I think you made a mistake, this is an "Enabler's Group". the "Support Group" is down hall, take a left and through the door marked "EXIT". lol
Well I'm here already and the Support Group just seems so far away. I reckon I'll go with 15mm for the sake minis are more plentiful to ge with them (I like the thought of little infantry troops fighting against big mechs.
Sorry for slightly hijcaking the thread, you've just really piqued my interest in this.
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(I like the thought of little infantry troops fighting against big mechs.
I agree. Our mech games got much more interesting when we started using combined arms. Most of our games now include objectives that can only be siezed and held by infantry. Suddnely APC's and infantry become important. Paired with that, you can dial up or down the importance of Mechs based on what portion of Objectives/VP's come from destruction of enemy units.
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I use my 1/144 gundam for 28mm. They look too small to carry a pilot for the most part so I use them as bots.
They would be cool autonomous bots for 28mm. I used to have a 1/144 gundam (since traded to a friend) with 4 awesome rotary cannons that would be great as a support or AA platform I think it was called Tall Geese.
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Probably the movie version heavy gear, or maybe the serpent custom. Tallgeese is more of a melee suit with a single big cannon.
But now that you mention it, a gundam kit would be a good starting place for say a Sentinal from X-men.
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Probably the movie version heavy gear, or maybe the serpent custom. Tallgeese is more of a melee suit with a single big cannon.
But now that you mention it, a gundam kit would be a good starting place for say a Sentinal from X-men.
Found it, it's "Heavy Arms".
https://www.amazon.com/Bandai-Hobby-Heavyarms-Endless-Fighting/dp/B0006N149M/ref=pd_sim_21_1?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=MA12GQN5JFZG056MDTGH
Now that's a flak machine!
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...Sorry for slightly hijcaking the thread, you've just really piqued my interest in this.
No need to apologise, beefcake. :) Happy to be a wellspring of inspiration.
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Found it, it's "Heavy Arms".
https://www.amazon.com/Bandai-Hobby-Heavyarms-Endless-Fighting/dp/B0006N149M/ref=pd_sim_21_1?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=MA12GQN5JFZG056MDTGH
Now that's a flak machine!
Doh, that's what I meant, I was looking up heavy gear miniatures at the same time and got it mixed up in my head. Its my favourite Gundam to boot, but I prefer the regular series version, with only 2 gatlings in the chest and one on the shield. Anything beyond that starts to feel like overkill to me. This is indeed the movie version that you linked (endless waltz) so that saves a bit of my geek (otaku?) creds.
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... In reality however, Gundam are so big compared to tanks and infantry that you could easily field them with 15mm stuff and it wouldn't look at all out-of place. ...
I can only agree, that's why I used the mentioned Gundam in my ViDe book together with 15mm minis.
(http://www.adpublishing.de/assets/images/Giant_Mech_Scenic.jpg)
see: http://www.adpublishing.de/html/fuco_updates.html
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I can only agree, that's why I used the mentioned Gundam in my ViDe book together with 15mm minis.
(http://www.adpublishing.de/assets/images/Giant_Mech_Scenic.jpg)
see: http://www.adpublishing.de/html/fuco_updates.html
Oh man, that's beautiful!
Doh, that's what I meant, I was looking up heavy gear miniatures at the same time and got it mixed up in my head. Its my favourite Gundam to boot, but I prefer the regular series version, with only 2 gatlings in the chest and one on the shield. Anything beyond that starts to feel like overkill to me. This is indeed the movie version that you linked (endless waltz) so that saves a bit of my geek (otaku?) creds.
I don't know exactly what all that means, but I'm glad we're on the same page. I don't think I've ever seen a Gundam movie or show, I've just a built a few models. Someday I should sit down and watch some Gundam. Got a starter series or movie recomendation for someone who is only peripherally intersted in Anime?
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I don't know exactly what all that means, but I'm glad we're on the same page. I don't think I've ever seen a Gundam movie or show, I've just a built a few models. Someday I should sit down and watch some Gundam. Got a starter series or movie recomendation for someone who is only peripherally intersted in Anime?
If you can stand older animation styles and clunky acting the original mobile suit gundam holds up quite well, considering its from 1979. After that "08th ms team" has the most down to earth feel and far more modern animation, mostly without resorting to Anime tropes too much, the first episode or 2 don't do the rest of the series justice though so give it a bit to see if you like it.
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If you can stand older animation styles and clunky acting the original mobile suit gundam holds up quite well, considering its from 1979. After that "08th ms team" has the most down to earth feel and far more modern animation, mostly without resorting to Anime tropes too much, the first episode or 2 don't do the rest of the series justice though so give it a bit to see if you like it.
The movie cut of "0083 Stardust Memory" isn't too bad either, but leaves out some of the better parts of the (seven-episode, IIRC) OVA. If you can get your hands on them, the 3D/CGI MS IgLoo OVAs are well-done modern takes on the classic themes established by the original series, especially the third "season" focussing on the ground war from the Federation's POV.
Regarding the original series, it's probably best to go for the three movie cuts. The actual show is incredibly repetitive and tedious, IMHO, and I'm saying that as a huge fan of the One-Year-War universe.
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If you can stand older animation styles and clunky acting the original mobile suit gundam holds up quite well, considering its from 1979. After that "08th ms team" has the most down to earth feel and far more modern animation, mostly without resorting to Anime tropes too much, the first episode or 2 don't do the rest of the series justice though so give it a bit to see if you like it.
I think 08th is on Hulu, I'll give it a try. Thanks!
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After some *bleep*ing around by Shapeways, I finally managed to get some decent prints of my 1/285 Federation AFV's... These are printed in Shapeways FXD resin.
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4445/38059187991_db7f81882d_z.jpg)
... comparison shot with 1/400 RGM-79C:
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4500/38028182272_028ef3c342_z.jpg)
Another candidate for the worth-watching pile: The first season of Gundam Thunderbolt, which has some of the grittiest combat yet seen in a Gundam series. (Things get a shade silly in season 2, but it's still perfectly watchable.)
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Those tanks are quite sharp! Quite a bit better than most small scale 3d prints I've seen.
Thanks for the additional show reco. I watched the first 5 epsisodes of 08th tonight while waiting for the few folks who came trick-or-treating. I'm still skeptical but it might be growing on me. I like alot about anime and quite a few anime shows and movies, but I think there are some anime tropes that seem to be present in most anime that I'm just not a fan of.
-Why is there so often an over-sexualized, over-spunky underaged female charachter?
-Why are the english dubs so over-the-top in expressiveness and volume range? Too much screaming man...
-etc, etc...
Still, there's alot to like about the show -not the least of which is the great mecha fight scenes- and the storylines seem solid so I'm going to at least watch the entire first season.
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-Why is there so often an over-sexualized, over-spunky underaged female charachter?
-Why are the english dubs so over-the-top in expressiveness and volume range? Too much screaming man...
These two things put me off from watching beyond the first few episodes for a long time.
The MS IGLOO series mentioned before has a lot less of this but does have extremely uncanny valley early CG humans. Thunderbolt is less guilty on both accounts, plenty of screaming but it feels more appropriate to what is going on.
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4445/38059187991_db7f81882d_z.jpg)
Those turned out great Martin! How did the support nub marks turn out for you? I have seen some shitty placement on those when the material was just released.
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Alas, one must always remember that the vast majority of Anime productions are aimed squarely at undersexed males with immature perceptions of women. :?
Surprisingly, the first and second Gundam serials (0079 and Zeta) present a lot of female characters in serious, characterful roles; surprising and refreshing for the late 70's - early 80's. In fact, the original Gundam's ratings were apparently saved by its substantial female audience, who were drawn to its romantic sub-plots and female characters who got stuck in fighting alongside the guys. (Go Seyla!!)
Things do seem to have gone downhill somewhat since then...
Agree with YPU's comment about the appropriate screaming in Thunderbolt. Some of it came from me... That show can be a little too gritty in places! o_o
As for the English dubbing... yes... well... that's why I'm a bit of a snob, and only watch subtitled stuff. Japanese voice actors take what they do very seriously, for the most part.
Those turned out great Martin! How did the support nub marks turn out for you? I have seen some shitty placement on those when the material was just released.
The supports weren't much of a problem, because I build a frame to which pieces attach, which lifts the print off the print bed. I did make a mistake though, trying to keep the orientation vertical; a lot of the prints came out with unusably rough surfaces where they'd contacted the supporting wax. Because I'm still a bit new at this 3D caper, I didn't realise orienting a part upside down to save on volume is a very bad idea. :`
Some people have asked about obtaining prints. I'm going to re-orient the files so everything prints right-way-up before I offer these through my Shapeways store. Will let people know when they're available.
Tank fight tomorrow! Will report on what happens.
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Greetings, all!
Just letting everyone here know - Mobile Suit Skirmish version 2.0 will be released on December 15th (US time) on the Mobile Suit Skirmish Forum!
Link to MSSk Forum:
http://mobilesuitskirmish.proboards.com/ (http://mobilesuitskirmish.proboards.com/)
This new version comes complete with rules for balanced point-costing for Units and Armies, as well as rules for Infantry, AFVs, Mobile Armours, and all kinds of new goodies!
If you're familiar with Mobile Suit Gundam: Skirmish of the past, I think you'll be very happy with how we've developed V 2.0. If you're new to the rules, download a copy after the 15th, and I think you will be glad that you did.
And of course, the new Mobile Suit Skirmish version 2.0 will be entirely FREE to download.
Stay tuned, Gundam fans! I'll have some pics of my new Cima Garahau's Pirate force to share tomorrow! :)
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Alas, one must always remember that the vast majority of Anime productions are aimed squarely at undersexed males with immature perceptions of women. :?
While modern western entertainment is entirely too preoccupied with being politically correct to be in any way fun or indeed relatable to the lives of actual human beings.
You pays you money and you takes your chance.
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LAUNCH GUNDAM!
Follow the link to the Mobile Suit Skirmish Forum to download your copy of the new rulebook!
http://mobilesuitskirmish.proboards.com/thread/219/mobile-suit-skirmish-rulebook-version (http://mobilesuitskirmish.proboards.com/thread/219/mobile-suit-skirmish-rulebook-version)
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Just downloaded it. Holy smokes this is a good looking ruleset!
Probalby the best appearance for a free ruleset I've ever seen. I'm not sure if I'll ever use it as my mech combat is more BT style, still I'll be reading it over to see if there are things I should incorporate into Mech Attack.
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Thank you, ellif and Scurv! We of the MSSk forum worked hard to get the 2.0 rulebook right. :)
There's also pre-filled Unit Stat Sheets to use with the rules. I'm slowly adding PDFs of these (for Earth Federation and Zeon Units) to the MSSk Forum's Unit Database:
http://mobilesuitskirmish.proboards.com/board/19/unit-database (http://mobilesuitskirmish.proboards.com/board/19/unit-database)
- you'll find them in the two pinned threads at the top of the Unit Database.
More Gundammy fun to come tomorrow!
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There's also pre-filled Unit Stat Sheets to use with the rules.
I appreciate that the EF cards have a blue theme and the Zeon ones are green.
I have downloaded all this stuff and am now pondering where I can get some of the 1/300 toys (given I imprinted on 6mm at a young age).
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...and am now pondering where I can get some of the 1/300 toys (given I imprinted on 6mm at a young age).
I'll recommend my friend Hiro's Ebay store; you will want the 'Strategy of Gundam' series, which are 1/300, and beautifully detailed.
http://stores.ebay.com.au/HIRO-GUNDAM-COLLECTOR/Gundam-S-O-G-H-G-C-O-R-E-/_i.html?_fsub=20832591018&_sid=1335621508&_trksid=p4634.c0.m322 (http://stores.ebay.com.au/HIRO-GUNDAM-COLLECTOR/Gundam-S-O-G-H-G-C-O-R-E-/_i.html?_fsub=20832591018&_sid=1335621508&_trksid=p4634.c0.m322)
Tip: Because of their collectable nature, some of the SoG figures can be quite pricy in certain 'rare' releases / colour schemes (though still a bargain compared to some 6mm Sci-fi stuff), so look carefully for cheaper variants.