Moongrunt Discussion

[Commander Roj]

Duly noted.  One more thing to spend on, cripes.

I just realized Dropfleet Commander has hit stores.  To put it mildly, I think I'm happy there aren't new Full Thrust ships right now.  Too many minis.

Isn't the link to Artifact earlier printable?  Probably also really illegal, mind you.  Last I heard Howard Thompson been very much unwilling to let Metagaming IPs go for any kind of reasonable price, much less free.

That being the case I shouldn't print it then. Shame I can't get a reasonably priced copy.

[Hobby Services]

That being the case I shouldn't print it then. Shame I can't get a reasonably priced copy.

This listing's about as cheap as I've seen in the last decade:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Metagaming-Microquest-Artifact-by-Glen-Williams-1980-RPG-COMPLETE-/222330903823?hash=item33c3f45d0f:g:R0wAAOSwtO5XIpjV

I like the game, but that's probably still kind of steep.  Although at least it's unpunched so you know all the counters are there.

[Davros]

    I have heard over the years that Howard Thompson has dropped off the face of the earth and I saw on the internet that some one was producing Rivets miniatures stated that the rights have been renewed.  I could be wrong.

[AndrewBeasley]

Thanks for that Davros, I haven't come across that before.
I was thinking about trying SJG's old Battlesuit rules:

http://www.docfoc.com/sjg-battlesuit

I've tried a few times to play Battlesuit (even bought it twice - large and small) and found it very hard to get my head around with the counting each time you move and reactions to the move.  It's an interesting idea (and one you may like) but for me it's never felt right.

A long time ago I built a 3D board (foam not printed) but never finished it as something new and shiny came along so I've never tried figures and maybe that's what was lacking?

Let us all know what you think...

[Commander Roj]

This listing's about as cheap as I've seen in the last decade:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Metagaming-Microquest-Artifact-by-Glen-Williams-1980-RPG-COMPLETE-/222330903823?hash=item33c3f45d0f:g:R0wAAOSwtO5XIpjV

I like the game, but that's probably still kind of steep.  Although at least it's unpunched so you know all the counters are there.

If I was tempted, they won't ship to the UK anyway. I was just an idea, I'm sure I will settle on some suitable rules in due course...

[Dezmond]

I just saw this Lockheed Martin concept for a Mars lander. And I couldn't think of anywhere better to post, man, this looks cool!





https://youtu.be/-s5pK-VAteY

Obviously the fighting between the US and the PRC will eventually spread from Earths moon to the Mars colonies and beyond.

[Commander Roj]

that is a thing of utter beauty!

So you can be sure that it will never be built.

[Dezmond]

that is a thing of utter beauty!

Right?

That *is* a near(ish) future USSF Mars dropship/suborbital bomber.

It's supposed to be able to land from orbit on Mars and then get back to orbit without needing to refuel. So it is totally a recovery boat from Starship Troopers the novel.

So you can be sure that it will never be built.

Sure, but hey, there is nothing to stop us stealing the design for miniatures.

[Mako]

Seems like a pretty easy design to make from scratch.

Just get a foam cone from the local craft store, cut some fins for it, and then blend into the overall structure of the fuselage.  I think styrene fins that interlock, and can be inserted into the foam, would be best, for structural stability.

Someone with a lathe could make wooden fuselages too, instead.

It does look neat.

Seems like the craft would be very vulnerable to enemy fire though, be they guided missiles, lasers, or high-velocity ball bearings fired from another larger craft, rocket, or missile. 

Similarly, unless underground, habitats on the moon or Mars would be very vulnerable to long-range bombardment as well, even from Earth.

[Dezmond]

Seems like the craft would be very vulnerable to enemy fire though

The landers would generally operate under the cover of the high energy lasers of USSF gunships in mars orbit, and land outside the air defence umbrella of the target, deploying the guys in space suits who then assault from the ground.

I am currently thinking that the USSF gunships look something like









For ease of construction. For me, not the USSF. Obviously on a Gunship (officially Space Dominance Vehicles) the payload module consists largely of lasers, kinetic kill vehicles, railguns etc.

[Dezmond]

Since we need two sides (the USSF and the PLSF) we need some way to differentiate their rockets. If we moved to gas core nuclear rockets, which run much hotter than the solid core nuclear rockets above, the craft start needing big radiators to dump the waste heat (solid core nuclear rockets don't need them as the propellant carries away enough heat when it shoots out the back).

A swift googling shows some potential radiator configurations:-





or





So if we assume one of the combatants picks one design and the other the other we can now tell our model apart!

Note that these are bolt on propulsion modules than could just be swapped out as new ones come online. No need to retire the expensive laser modules already in Mars orbit.

[Tas]

Regardless of the shameless threadomancy for this well deserving topic, punters may be keen to know that GZG recently released the first (?) infantry and buggy releases for a new British faction for Moongrunt.

Queen’s Lunar Rifles anyone? :-)

https://shop.groundzerogames.co.uk/moongrunt.html

[Mad Mecha Guy]

Might be able to the MoonGrunt heavy weapons one of these days, to do list getting longer.

Some new fighters should be available soonish, these as from master mould spins:
Excuse the mediocre pictures, took them in evening in poor lighting.

NSL fighters:


NAC Fighters


FSE


ScanFed:


ESU:


Might have time to do MoonGrunt ship one day.

[Dezmond]

NAC fighters that aren’t so clearly Z-95s and B- Wings! I like it!

Any idea which way you would go with moongrunt spacecraft?

[Hobby Services]

New fighters certainly look nice.  More 3D-drafted designs, I assume?  Seems to be the way things are going.

The one thing I'd love to see for Moongrunt would be a good generic lander (maybe with optional bits to customize it for different nations?) that looks like it could carry a squad and a buggy or two, or a full-on rover.  Sadly, be way too expensive in metal to be practical, and resins not really GZG's thing.  Maybe they can convince Brigade to do one?  Hmmm, maybe kitbash their sphere habitat terrain into a lander?