Sierra Foxtrot Phase One Complete

The latest batch of models I had on order have arrived - three more Wolf-Mechs, a few Gila recon buggies for the Southern Commonwealth force, and a Gorilla-Mech. 

The three wolf-mechs were painted yesterday. With these and the transport shuttles for the fusiliers done, the Citadel army is now fully complete. 

For the fusilier unit I'm undecided how I want to handle their transports. While the shuttles clearly must levitate, they could be either a floating grav-skimmer just a few feet off the ground, or a fully airborne vehicle with mobility similar to a helicopter. In the former case they'd be treated as a ground unit, just with high-speed and the Amphibious rule. In the later they'd use the Helicopter rules (or something similar). Obviously makes a big difference in how the army would play, so I'll have to mull over this a bit. Might even playtest both versions, and see which one works better. 

The three new wolf-mechs are finished, giving me seven in total (including the Black Wolf). 

So, with the wolf-knight force complete that means my initial five Sierra Foxtrot armies are almost fully done. The last unit I have to do is the Gila recon ATVs for the Commonwealth. 

Truth be told, these models weren't actually my first choice for the SC recon vehicles. I was initially wanting the Comanche, but as this was out of stock I grabbed the Gila instead. If the Comanche comes back into stock I may buy a couple of those later, and repaint the Gila's as recon for the Zhaleed Empire force.

The last item in my most recent order was a Gorilla Mech. 

This was purchased out of curiosity as a sample - I really like both the Scorpion and Wolf Mech models, so based on that I figured the Gorilla was worth looking at. But having assembled it I can't say the model appeals, and I don't see it being part of a future army. Oh well, it never hurts to try something new.

Sierra Foxtrot - Jan 2021 Review

Some new models arrived yesterday, which means it's time for a review of the Sierra Foxtrot armies. I've decided to aim for six unit types for each force, and I'm getting close to achieving this. I figure two more orders (one already placed, plus one more after that) should do it. 

(Links below BTW are the sites I ordered through; some may be online re-sellers, not direct from the manufacturer.)

Going through army by army...

Zhaleed Empire

The Zhaleed Empire is complete, with the target six unit types, all fully painted.

• The core Shadeen infantry platoons (Rebel Minis) with transports (BTR-60's from Battlefront).
• The Devout Guard, an elite tank formation (KV's from Battlefront).
• The High Templar command unit, with Zealot bodyguards (both Alternative Armies).
• An Ataxs rocket artillery battery (SA-13 Gopher from Battlefront).
• The Sand-Krakens, with their primary and secondary tentacles (Alternative Armies).
• Ground attack fighters (IL-2 Sturmoviks from Battlefront).

The Malroid Swarm

The Swarm is very close to complete, with 5 unit types fully painted and the last unit assembled and in progress.

• Scorpion assault mechs (Rebel Minis).
• Banshee attack skimmers (Aries Games & Minis).
• Reaper infantry drones (Shalur mercenaries from Rebel Minis).
• Apollyon artillery drones (Soriog "Gundogs" from Khurasan Minis)
• The Tactical Node (A Ground Zero Games Outrim Coalition Heavy Cruiser type-B).
• Ground attack aircraft (Ground Zero Games Chalutz Chalal class Heavy Battleship. I've chosen to leave off the metal pieces for the rear engines.)

The Serpents

Serpent ground forces are complete and painted up. While they already have 6 unit types, I want to include air support for all the Sierra Foxtrot armies, and I've found a model I think fits. This is on order and awaiting arrival. 

• The Serpent Warrior infantry units, with transports (the Astragar range through Ral Partha, and Sirrus APC from Alternate Armies).
• Viper Battlesuits (also from the Astragar range).
• Serpent Warrior direct fire cannon unit (ditto).
• Serpent Warrior mortar unit (ditto).
• Anaconda assault mech ("Skuttler" centipede mech from Khurasan Minis; I just left off the legs).
• The Nest-Queen (plastic toy Cobra from Hobby Lobby, repainted).

The Southern Commonwealth

The Southern Commonwealth force currently has 5 units, all painted up and ready. Except for the air support (which are Panavia Tornados from Battlefront) these models are all from Rebel Minis.

• Lion Main Battle Tanks.
• Infantry platoon with their transports.
• ATGM variant of the transport.
• Rocket artillery variant of the transport.
• Ground attack aircraft.

For the last SC unit, I debated the option of adding a humanoid mech (this guy was being considered), but now I'm leaning towards some sort of scout/recon unit. Maybe something like a humvee or a dune-buggy type vehicle.

The Wolf-Knights

The army probably furthest from being finished is the Wolf-Knights. Being generous, I'm counting the cannon-armed, missile-launcher armed, and Black Wolf mechs as separate unit types. So with the Outriders that's four.

So two new unit types needed, and it's straight-forward enough what they should be - infantry and air-support. And models for both have been ordered. 

Battle of the Gordon Flat

 To amuse myself on a quiet Saturday afternoon, I decided to lay out a couple of my Sierra Foxtrot armies in a diorama - The Battle of the Gordon Flat. An outnumbered Southern Commonwealth cavalry squadron desperately attempts to hold back a Malroid swarm centered around 3 Scorp-mechs. 

These images also give an indication where my 15mm terrain set is at, and overall I'm happy with the progress. I now have plenty of hills and woods, and decent progress has been made on the buildings.

Occupy the Buildings

 The SC infantry stands have been finished; 

I'm reasonably happy with how these guys have come out. The final color scheme I like. While there is maybe some more detailing and improvements to the highlighting I could come back to in future, I'm calling these guys done for now. 

Fifteenmillville

For my next project, as a change of pace I'm going back to improving my 15mm terrain. Fortunately a lot of the terrain I did for 6mm is usable at 15mm. The hills and river sections definitely can, and even the trees look passably to scale to my mind. So it's basically the human-built structures I need to work on - buildings and roads. Here is where I'm at right now; 

Six buildings and two 24"/60cm road lengths, mostly base-coated. So a passable start, and probably enough to use in actual games. But also definitely room to make better. 

The first building piece I want to finish off is the fast-food restaurant. The building is from the Battlefield-in-a-Box range, but based up to include a drive-thru and parking lot. All that's strictly needed on this piece is to add the road markings. But as a stretch goal I'm considering re-painting the roof, maybe to either blue or orange. 

An army marches on its stomach

After that I want to improve the generic square buildings, which are MDF kits from Gamecraft Miniatures.

The quality of these is excellent. They're laser-cut (so the pieces fit together perfectly) and the tabbed design made for very easy assembly. The large windows do mean that the basic building looks like its under construction, so I'm thinking of finding something in the way of a colored plastic to use as windows, and maybe add some interior walls. 

After that it's the apartment block (brown building in the images above), convenience store, some more roads, and roading features (intersection, maybe an overpass). After which (oh, who am I kidding, it's happening right now) I'll have to start googling for some more "sci-fi" looking buildings to buy. 

After this is complete, I think I'll have a pretty decent set of kit for 15mm sci-fi games. While sadly COVID means it may still be a while before I can start gaming again, I'll probably amuse myself by setting up dioramas. Maybe even several in links set to describe fictional battles. 

SC Cavalry Reinforcements

A second batch of miniatures for the SC Cavalry force has arrived, meaning I now have all the models to fill the TO&E. All the new vehicles have been assembled and base-coated.

Still a lot of detailing and drybrushing to be done, but it's looking good. One set of models in particular I want to put a bit more time into is the infantry stands. I started working on them with a color scheme in my head, but even at this early stage its looking very meh. The color scheme on the Rebel Mini web-site looks good (and would fit well with the vehicles) so I'm going to try and duplicate that.

The rocket launcher and ATGM variants of the APC have come out well; 

So yeah, all looking good, and it shouldn't be too long before this force is ready to go. 

Sierra Foxtrot (SF) - Overall Review

Standing back and looking at my painting table right now...

... I think there are two very clear conclusions here. First, I have spent waaayyyy too much money on miniatures and really need to get a social life. But also point two, these are five very cool 15mm sci-fi armies either finished or well underway. 

The last models I currently have on order is these guys - Shalur mercenaries. The plan is paint them up in a black/dark purple scheme and use them as infantry for the Malroid Swarm force. 

After that the Malroids need some form of command model. Right now the thought is a "Tactical Node" - an eerie, floating supercomputer, maybe in the form of a sphere or Platonic solid.  

Send in the Cavalry

The latest Sierra Foxtrot army I've started working on is the most conventional - a "Southern Commonwealth Cavalry Squadron". A straightforward mixed armour/mech infantry formation (using sci-fi vehicles) from a fictional future Earth nation. 

The models are the Merka 5 tank, Earthforce APC, and Earthforce Home Guard, all from Rebel Minis. I also found (and I don't know if this is by design or convenient coincidence) the turret ring on the APC is a close match for the Animech weapons, which made for very easy conversion of ATGM and missile launcher variants. 

This force presented a good opportunity to do something I've needed to do for a while - actually write up profiles and army lists for the units. This force was quite easy to stat up. Not having any weird sci-fi units, I could just find a real-world unit that fit the role and tweak them slightly. It also provides a good baseline. Having the profile of a conventional army fixed will provides a starting point for stating out the more unconventional units. 

Southern Commonwealth Cavalry Squadron

While Earth is no longer the only human world, it remains a major population center, and home to several major powers. One of these is the Southern Commonwealth - a federal state including what was once the countries of Australia, South Africa, Zimbabwe, New Zealand, and several Pacific Island nations.

The technology available to humanity is significantly below the level of the Malroids or Citadel forces, and even slightly below that of the Serpents. Nevertheless, it has proved sufficient for human armies to hold their own. The armored Cavalry Squadrons fielded by the Southern Commonwealth are an example of this. While Terran science has only vague theories as to the nature of the energy beams the Malroids use, battlefield experience has shown that the heavy armor of the Lion MBT provides a reasonable level of protection against them. Similarly the gauss rifles used by human infantry are also, for the most part, capable of taking on their equivalents in higher technology forces.

The composition of a Southern Cavalry Squadron would be reasonably familiar to soldiers from even as far back as the Second World War - a core of battle tanks and mechanized infantry, supported by artillery and heavy weapon vehicles.

A force based around a Southern Commonwealth Cavalry Squadron must contain; An HQ Armour Section Two Armour Troops It may optionally add: An additional Armour Troop Up to three Mechanised Infantry Troops An ATGM Troop A Rocket Artillery Troop

SQUADRON HQ

The HQ of a Cavalry Squadron consists of a single Lion MBT (see below for profile).

COMBAT UNITS

2 or 3 Armoured Troops

The Lion main battle tank forms the core of SC armoured forces. Its frontal armour is heavy enough that it pushes the limits of Terran engineering (which impacts on the tank's mobility and reliability) but it has also proved strong enough to withstand almost any battlefield threat. The main armament is a tight-focus 1.2 megajoule charged particle cannon. Some tanks are also fitted with the 'Halfback' laser Close-In-Weapon-System for defense against missiles and air threats.

HQ Lion MBT with:

2 Lion MBT Sections       [X0] points

3 Lion MBT Sections       [X1] points

Options

Add two 'Halfback' CIWS to each Lion for +[X2] points for a 3-strong troop, or +[X3] points for a 4-strong troop.

			Armour
Name	Rating	Mobility	Front	Side	Top	Notes
Lion MBT	Confident Trained	Tracked	20	7	2

Weapon	Range	ROF	AT	FP	Notes
1.2 MJ Particle Cannon	32" / 80cm	2	22	2+	Brutal, Stabilized
Halfback CIWS	16" / 40cm	4	2	5+	AA

0 - 3 Mechanised Infantry Troops

The rugged APC-2 series of armoured vehicles are the backbone of Commonwealth armies. The basic hull and engine have been used in numerous variants, from the original IFV, to artillery and heavy weapons platforms, to command, ambulance, and armoured recovery vehicles. Commonwealth infantry lack some of the advanced gadgets their opponents have, but are brave and well-trained, and can generally hold their own. 

• 5 Commonwealth Infantry Sections with 3 APC-2 Transports        [Y0] points

			Armour
Name	Rating	Mobility	Front	Side	Top	Notes
APC-2	Confident Trained	Tracked	5	2	1

Weapon	Range	ROF	AT	FP	Notes
720 kJ Particle Cannon	24" / 60cm	2	14	3+
DFD-12 Missile Launcher	32" / 80cm	1	20	4+	Move or Fire

So, that's at least the core units for the Cavalry Squadron done. The ATGM and launcher variants of the APC are still to-do;

... but I'll stat those up once I have the full troops finished.