The Polar Bears

The Polar Bears
4th Battalion, 31st Infantry

Saturday, May 14, 2011

Building my first company 3: What I have so far

So after a couple of months I have most of my troops and vehicles collected and even painted.  Here are a few pictures:



Here is my First Platoon with Gunny Anderson standing in the front rank.  I still haven't painted up a LT yet, so the gunny might be the platoon's commander for a while.



Here's a zoom out of Alpha Company as it stands now.  On the left is my completed First Platoon and the beginnings of Second Platoon's 1st Section.  Behind them is my first tank section.  The Aliens Colonial Marines Technical Manual mentions a M34A2 Longstreet light tank.  So these Brigade Miniatures wheeled tanks (they are actually South African) seem to fit the bill.  I'm still looking around for a good proxy for the M22 Jackson.  So for now Alpha company will have to make do with a section of light tanks.  


Yeah, the Corps always gets the short stick when it comes to getting the latest gear!



A nice profile of First Platoon's Second Section.  I'm pretty pleased with how they came out.  QRF makes some nice miniatures!




Well, Second Platoon has to start some where.  I have the section sergeant and First Squad finished.  I'm hoping that I'll have Second Platoon up and running in time for Historicon so they can join in the game.  


In other interesting news Ed at THW announced that he'll be updating 5150 to the current Chain Reaction 3.0 rules standard!! Excellent timing Ed!!  With some luck I'll have these rules in time for Historicon.  The new book is called Star Army:


http://2hourblog.blogspot.com/2011/05/five-years-is-long-time.html


From what Ed said on the THW Yahoo Egroup, this book is a stand alone book that covers the basic 5150 rules and the Military Operations section of the current rule book.  The other parts of the rule book will be coming out later allowing you to add more detail to the game.  Good news there!  5150 is a game that is just crying out to be updated to the new CR 3.0 standard.  This will make an excellent game even better.  


I plan to use these rules in my Historicon game if they come out in time.


In other news, I've gotten my hands on a couple of the old Micro Machine USS Sulaco models.  They're simple affairs, but they look pretty decent on the gaming table.  I guess I'm in the market now for a good set of rules for them.  I'm thinking Colonial Battlefleet.  


Anyway, more later.


Semper Fi, Carry on...

5 comments:

  1. Hi scott, while I love the idea of this blog and it is looking like you are making a nice colonial marine force, I can see there are a few done and they are green, you really need to get a decent camera, I presume you are using a camera phone? I only have an old cybershot, cost me a couple hundred about 7-8 years ago, not sure how much they are now but they wouldn't be much, it must have a Macro feature for taking pictures of small things, and it would let us see your hard work, I have a bit of interest in your blog because I am doing a similiar force but with differant models and figures.

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  2. Honestly Dan I'm not sure if it's me (and my lack of skills) or my camera (it's a Cannon Sureshot). I do all of my gaming in my family's dining room and the lighting there is horrid. Also, I'm still getting use to the Picasa 3 software and its editing features.

    My attitude is to keep taking pictures, to keep playing around with lighting, and see what works and what doesn't. I have only trial and error, research, and hopefully constructive criticism to guide the way.

    Thanks for chiming in and, by all means, if you have any ideas to help me on the photography side let me know.

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  3. For the photography, use the macro setting if you're not already (the manual should be available online if you don't have it anymore to show how to set your camera), don't hold the camera, and use the timer. Extra lighting always helps.

    For the models, looks like an impressive project that'll be fun to get on the table.

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  4. You'll be able to see the whole thing at Historicon. I'm using most of them in a game on Friday at 11AM. With luck I'll be running the game with the new 5150 rules (Star Army).

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  5. Hi Scott,
    I do like what you have done, and under stand all to well photos and 15mm. I have not used my camera in a while, I have been using my Blackberry Storm. I have a canon power shot 710 or some thing like that. I have never read how to use it but look for the flower icon on the selector switch. That is for macro or small items. Have a look at my blogs and see what you think. Day light is all ways best for photos.

    Oh and I use Picasa 100% of the time.
    http://theorky15mmscifi.blogspot.com/
    http://theorky15mm.blogspot.com/
    Noel

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