Me(c)h..

We've all done it, right? picked up some nice-looking models with one aim in mind, and ended up going off on a tangent that may end up being a new ruleset, army and scale?

Well, at Warfare this year I picked up some spider drones from GZG to see if they would work as unusual mechanical spiders for my Ramos Crew for Malifaux, plus a couple of walker drones to cannibalize and make a Mobile Toolkit for the same crew.

However, having scratchbuilt/modded the Mobile Toolkit fairly successfully, I had a couple of spare walkers and I was also a little unconvinced by the Spider Drones - they were just a bit too big really for the look I wanted. One of them is going to end up becoming a Brass Arachnid for Ramos (as it only seems to be available in a box set and I already have all of the other figures in it) but that left 5 spare ones.

So, the idea of having some NATO and WARPAC walkers to add to my Cold War Commander armies started to crystallize... sort of a "Weird World War III" thing going on, or possibly more realistically a gateway drug to 6mm Sci-Fi gaming. A bit of discussion with the ever helpful folks on the BKC/CWC Forum later and the idea started to take shape...

Anyways, these are the initial results:

NATO Combat Walker carefully avoids stepping on a greenhouse.

3-tone NATO cammo helps them blend in...

Well, sort of. I think it's this one from Ground Zero Games 6mm Future Wars range.

Walker supported by NATO 6mm infantry

Parked up next to a Leopard II

Parked and blurred (sorry)

A Russian-build 6-legged Spider Walker opens up on NATO infantry at close range

The Russian scientists had initially found that making a 6-legged walker was a huge technical challenge, however given their role as "the baddies" they felt it was worth persevering with the more sinister and evil look the 6-leg articulation gave the walker, and eventually the Spider Crab Walker was born.

Originally called the Spider Walker by NATO, it was renamed the Spider Crab Walker in recognition of many Russians rather unseemly love of sushi.

The bright green night vision searchlight allows the Spider Crab Walker to be effective in all weather conditions, as well as allowing it to hide effectively under beds.

Walkers and H&R AFVs and infantry

The idea of having Walkers in the same force as an M60 just amuses me ....

Another ADLG Game...

This time it's another usually rubbish army, the Galatians, who take on an enemy Carthaginian army in a very short battle report that features a really good curry.

Pike & Shot(te) Video game review

In a new departure for this site, here's a link to a YouTube video I managed to create in which I do a very bad job of playing Slitherine's new Renaissance video game based on FoG:R, Pike & Shot.

You can see it on YouTube here.

Here also are a couple of screen-grabs of the YouTube video of the game.

Overall it's very simple to pick up, the game rattles along at a decent pace and the AI appears to be sensible - no MTW-style clouds of units milling around aimlessly here!  However the graphics are a little basic to say the least, and it's hard to imagine why they haven't included at least a simple form of Campaign Mode in the core game (I think it's under way and planned for an update soon).

That, for me, means the current price of close on £40 (I think £36 as I write this..?) is probably a little bit on the steep side - even accepting the "this is for a limited audience so the price will need to be different to a Total War type title" argument. Once this isn't "shiny and new" and Slitherine presumably decide to knock a few quid off and it will start to look a lot more sensible - add the campaign mode and this will be even more true. Anyway, a decent game and also your only choice for this relatively obscure and poorly served period in the games market.

See how much it costs on Slitherine's site now!

The Worlds, in Koblenz - 6 FoGR Match Reports

The Worlds in Germany - a brave Swedish army sails on a sea of beer and model railway fetishism towards a date with dice, destiny and pork-based catering products by the side of the Rhine in not-that-sunny Koblenz

The end result is 6 full match reports containing a full suite of the internet's entire content of German comedy video interludes, and some intriguing analysis from Renaissance Hannibal and the much-loved Princess of Sweden.

Enjoy The Worlds in Germany... preferably with a beer and a pretzel in hand