Terminus Nebula - Cyborgs

A Techmagos Reclaimer with a retinue of Magos Guardians

With a new year on the rise, and after having finished Fireteam Andromeda I've thought to kick up this blogging a notch and start to include posts that will detail all the other myriad scales, bits and pieces for the setting that I'm working on.

Thus this is the first of many blogposts that will attempt to detail more of the Terminus Nebula setting. As such it will encompass the Mecha Doom, Fireteam Andromeda and Rosetta game systems but is focused on the actual setting material rather than rules. To kick things off, I've recently painted up four different cyborgs for 28mm skirmish games and figured it would be a good idea to give a general idea of the view on cybernetics within the Terminus Nebula setting.

Cyborgs & Cybernetics in the Known Universe

Enhancing, upgrading or repairing the body with mechanical parts is a concept that has been around in the Known Universe since the epoch of the Forefathers and the birth of the Imperium. As such, there are also numerous taboos, traditions and philosophies attached to the concept of cyborgs - almost as many as there are planets in the universe. To some civilizations and societies, the very notion of having artificial implants to either repair or enhance their biological body is considered sacrilegious at best whilst others not only welcome it, but take it to such excess that there's little of the biological body left at all.

The following article will therefore detail a sampling of the general view of cybernetics and cyborgs within the three primary coalitions in the universe; the Imperium, the Republic and the Alliance. These are used as very broad guidelines as to how a planet or society might feel about cybernetics and cyborgs within said coalition; but cannot be counted on for any hard and fast reactions from within these spheres, as explained in the following.

Imperial Savants

As the Imperium were among the first institutions to ever have access to cybernetics, the popular opinion about such enhancements has waxed and waned throughout the epochs. The view range from that of reverence to simple accept, depending on the individuals standing within Imperial society. Nobles, on some worlds, are actively encouraged by their peers or traditions to have cybernetic enhancements as a rite of passage whilst the workforce on many worlds become so heavily modified that they resemble robots more than humanoids. This has led, however, to a general consensus that most of the lower-born citizens within the Imperium are the most proponent subjects for enhancement; seeing as they have neither the power nor the resources to manage without such upgrades. Thus, among the nobility any cybernetic enhancement is seen as a mark of respect, whilst among the lower classes it is seen as a desperate attempt to regain some manner of standing. Shown on the left, we have a typical example of cybernetic enhancement within Imperial Space. The individual pictured here is a Savant; desperate or criminal individuals who have been forced by circumstance to give their body and soul to a Merchant House, Guild or a Noble family to do with as they please. Indeed, one of the worst sentences that any Imperial court may sentence a criminal to is that of Savantiude; the prisoner is then completely mindwiped; his higher brainfunctions destroyed and then placed into custody of the highest bidder - to serve the good of the Imperium until the end of his, now unnatural, lifespan.

Republican Operative

Within the Republican sphere, cybernetic enhancements are, at best, frowned upon. The general populace feels that the cybernetical enhancement of individuals are a throwback to the times of Imperial rule; a time that many feel is best forgotten completely. This has led to a Republican Decree of Sentience stating that any person who has had 50% or more of their body enhanced with cybernetics have lost their rights and privileges as citizens within the Republic and are referred to, by the populace, as "Tinmen". It is therefore common, and expensive, practice to hide any enhancements as much as possible to avoid any prejudice from the populace; leaving only the wealthiest of individuals within Republican space with any considerable amount of enhancements. Those who cannot afford to hide their enhancements often end up on the fringes of Republican society - either as gangers, pirates, or as the case of the individual pictured here, as a Republican Operative; special individuals who are in the employ of the Republican Cabinet in order to take care of any and all special missions that the Cabinet needs taken care of. They are often referred to as Ghosts as they have effectively ceased to exist within Republican society, making them the perfect assassins and spies.

Sanctioned Tagman

Within the small sphere of Alliance space, the populace have taken a more pragmatic approach to the question of enhancements. As it is expensive and difficult to acquire within the Terminus Nebula, then any person with any such upgrades is seen as a force to be reckoned with. As the Alliance itself consists of many former Republican or Imperial planets who have become disaffected by their former rulers, this has also meant that the populace have a keen interest in throwing any ties with their former cultures and try to find their own way. As a rule, then cybernetics is not considered taboo or are the subject of any official prejudice within Alliance space; instead - as mentioned - any reaction from the populace as a whole would likely be that of awe or respect; the person has either earned his right to the implants or have the resources to acquire it. Of course, this has also meant that there's a rise in cyber-jacking crimes throughout the Alliance, a problem that the Alliance Patrol has yet to take care of. Pictured on the left is a typical cyborg within Alliance space; a Sanctioned Tagman - the Alliance Patrol's answer to many of the crimes that they neither have the political power or resources to take care of. The Tagmen scours across the Terminus Nebula, attempting to take down and bring back various criminals that the Alliance Patrol has put a bounty on. As they are not directly affiliated with the Alliance Patrol, they have free reign to extradite criminals - but are also solely answerable to any crimes that they commit during these bounty hunts; the sanctioning only means that the individual gets paid for their efforts.

Magos Guardians

The Techmagos of Jorbaal on the eastern fringes of Imperial space see themselves as the true inheritors of any and all ancient technology and data-repositories throughout the Known Universe. In their eyes, the Forefathers were mechanical beings and cite this as the reason as to why they never took to enhance their bodies as they were already of a mechanical nature. To the Techmagos, the only way to become more as the Forefathers is therefore to enhance their bodies so that they can become one with that of the Ancients. While such philosophies are not exactly uncommon they are still regarded as somewhat of an anomaly, even within such a fractured and diverse place as the Imperial sphere. The Techmagos have gathered the greatest knowledge base in regards to the Forefathers of the Imperium; including many priceless technological marvels from that epoch - but they are also notoriously secretive as to what exactly they have found. On the left is shown a typical Magos Guardian; holy warriors who have been cybernetically enhanced to such extend that they can barely be recognized as humanoids anymore. However, as can be seen from the crudeness of the implants, he has yet to climb the ranks of the Techmagos cult as any and all implants must be exactly alike as that of a Forefather. It is rumored that the High Techmagos himself  has been encased within a Forefather tomb-body, deep within the Temple of the Forefathers on Jorbaal.

Paintstation - Repurposed 'Clix (Part II)

Just another quick update from the paintstation; another repurposed Mech-Warrior 'Clix miniature.

SeverDyne Inc. HT-30 Tank Hunter
SeverDyne Inc. have long specialized in creating light and fast vehicles - primarily producing various sport-hovers and race-cars but recently they entered the military market with the HT-30. 
It is a light two man vehicle, with separate booths for gunner and driver; with a fixed mount supercharged Heavy Laser; easily capable in itself to take out most heavy armored vehicles, but the maneuverability of the HT-30 means that it is easier for a well trained crew to flank the opposing forces and score a critical hit, should the standard penetrative power of the Heavy Laser prove insufficient.

A Gernash Leader shown for scale.

Gernash Kinsmen - The elite shocktroops of the Gernash Tribeships and heir apparent to the tribal council. 

Fireteam Andromeda - First Edition!

So, this little gem arrived in the mail today.

And thus it won't be long before I can finally launch Fireteam Andromeda to an unsuspecting world. I'm hoping for a late November, early December release - once the company, Two Knights Publishing, has been formalized and all that.

But mostly? I just wanted to share the grand feeling of getting something published for the very first time. Which, incidentally means that I've removed the free playtest download version of Fireteam Andromeda from the blog.

In the coming weeks I'll start writing the Fireteam Andromeda: Operations Manual which will detail all sorts of missions, scenarios, campaigns and what not to take the game to its next level. Following that there's bound to be a book about the various alien races in the Terminus Nebula and other new ideas for armylists, setting material and what. In short; stay tuned!

Paintstation - Repurposed 'Clix Miniatures

Gernash Insurgents have a preferrence for Skim-boats to carry them into battle.

This is just a quick post to showcase some quick conversions I made of some 'Mech-'Clix models into usable 15mm miniatures. The first of these were these Skim-boats, which are intended to be fast, light assault vehicles - designed to quickly move the close combat orientated units of the Gernash Insurgents into striking range. The vehicles themselves have no weapons themselves, sans an Assault Launcher and some Scrambler Drones.

The original model for the Skim-boats; a JES Missile Carrier.

A quick shot to show the scale difference - or rather lack of same - between the Skim-boats and the Gernash Insurgent leader (Critical Mass Games, Naga Commander)

A scavenged heavy walker provides some much needed firepower for the lightly armed and armored Gernash Insurgents.

In other news; I finally finished Fireteam Andromeda and I'm awaiting the arrival of the first print test before I can give the go-code for launch. Look forward to a post about its availability within fourteen days - just in time for Horisont!

Paintstation - Engineers & Recon Vehicle

A small Engineering Team from the Republican Mobile Forces, hailing from the Sol Sector.

This is just a quick little post to detail some more units that I've been painting recently. I recently had an idea to "re-imagine" some of my older forces and rewrite some of their history to make it more "current" with the actual Terminus Nebula setting; that of the Employment War and the post-Great War era in the known Universe. The Engineering team seen above is the first step towards that goal. 

The DysonCombine 'Ronin' Mrk IV heavy recon vehicle is a popular choice for forces who are in need of a fast but rugged patrol vehicle. This particular 'Ronin' is in use by the Gernash Insurgents. 

I'm awaiting some more magnets for the turrets on these vehicles before I can paint up the last two. This one was painted more as a 'proof-of-concept' for how the Gernash Insurgents' vehicles should look. This has also led me to recycle and, to some extend, convert some old Mech-Clix models that I have had lying about for just about forever. It has been a bit of a hit-and-miss in this regard, but converting some hover-tanks suddenly sparked an inspiration for how the Gernash, as a force, should work. Which I will detail in the next blog update. 

Paintstation - A bit of landscaping

Just a quick post to show off some of the kit-bash-scavenger-terrain that I've made for my gaming board recently.

Paintstation - Gernash Insurgents

A Gernash Fireteam, as led by a Gernash Warchief, on the move towards the Imperial occupation forward base in the Valley of Souls on Orellian V.

And here they are then; the Gernash Insurgents, following up on my last post regarding the Imperial Troops and their Fifth Pacification of Orellian V. 

The Gernash Insurgents are "rebels for hire"; former soldiers and ex-patriots of the Republican Forces who were engaged in the Terminus Nebula during the Great War, they have since the ceasefire taken a keen interest in continuing their clandestine operations against any and all Imperial Occupation within the Terminus Nebula. 

Gernash Fireteam; their primary battlefield role is to provide a massive amount of fire to supress and pin down the opposing forces in order to allow the Gernash Bladesmen to get into close combat.

However, as they are no longer part of the Republic in any form of official measure, they have had to resort to become mercenaries in order to sustain their armed forces. As such, various Gernash Warbands are seen fighting on almost all sides across the Terminus Nebula - except they never fight, directly, for the Imperium or against each other. In order to prevent this, they have specialized in spreading dissent within Imperial held systems; fighting for all those who wish to throw of the shackles of Imperial rule - for a price. 

A Gernash Warchief displaying his ship-sigil; it marks him as being a Warchief of the Tri-Blade tribeship; a tribeship renown for its preference of melee combat and boarding expertise. 

The Gernash, as a race, live a nomadic life onboard huge ships called tribeships. These gigantic arks were constructed at a time just before their homeworld was ravaged by a stellar cataclysm, and house the major tribes from that period of time. Originally they were intended to settle new worlds, but the Gernash found that their neighboring systems were not only settled by other races, but were settled by races in dire need of many of the technological advances that the Gernash had developed.

Thus, the Tribeships now follow a set circuit of planets where they trade with the local populace, venture out into the deep mineral wells and energy nebulas in their areas; harvest and return to garner a profit. They are known for their expert boarding parties, preferring to capture ships rather than destroy them whenever they are engaged in stellar conflict; and their land-based forces reflect this in some fashion.

Although they cannot be considered scavengers, as such, they do have a preference for capture and control rather than outright destruction, reflecting their ancient rituals of tribe warfare, as the destruction of another tribeship would have meant that there were even less Gernash left in the universe. Due to the unique physiology they are savage and brutal fighters, but will keep their heads cool and attempt to utilize the minimum force required in order to obtain their goals.

Fireteam Andromeda - Emperors Household Troops

Real life has been at it again. The summer months came and went, and with it the time for writing and updating this blog came to a complete standstill. But things have been moving at a steady pace behind the scenes, as should be evident from the picture above - a whole platoon worth of troops joins in the strife around the Terminus Nebula; as the release of Fireteam Andromeda looms nearer. Nearer being around the end of October, but hopefully sooner.

In short; the Terminus Nebula, Fireteam Andromeda and Me are far from dead yet! The rest of this post contains various shots of the Imperial Troops, posing for the war correspondent.

The Emperors Household Troops on the move!

Quick Update

It would appear that Google Drive has been hassling people into requiring a log-in in order to download the various files I have uploaded, even though the sharing settings specifically states that "... no login is required".

Ahem.

Well, in any case, following a couple of comments regarding this required login (something which I myself also loathe) I've now started to host the files via a Dropbox account. If you have any issues downloading the files from there, then please post a comment or send me an email and I'll see what I can do.

Oh, and later today there will hopefully be an update regarding a quick playtest session of Rosetta, set in the Terminus Nebula setting. And wouldn't you know it; my Imperial Forces have finally returned home, and there have been some reinforcements for the Alliance Militia as well!

In short; the summer downtime is nearing its end! Stay tuned for more updates!

Rosetta Skirmish System

As I have hinted at before, then the Terminus Nebula blog is going to detail a myriad of science fiction goodness, set to the setting of the Terminus Nebula.

One of the new items is the Rosetta Skirmish System that I intend to use for 28mm or 15mm skirmish games, which I have just put out in an early draft edition for playtest and general review purposes.

It is located on the Download page, and as usual any comments and critique is more than welcome!

Fireteam Andromeda Updated to Ver 2.3

So, here we are then! Just in time for a big playtest - not only tomorrow but also throughout the entire weekend when I'm attending a small, private wargaming-get-together - I present to you, dear internet, a final beta-edition of Fireteam Andromeda!

With a "Final Beta" then I simply mean to say that, from this stage on, there's not going to be anything added to the game as such. Any new ideas that might crop up are instead archived and will be used in supplements or similar. The only thing that might change are some of the point costs, depending on various re-calculations and the inclusion of various examples, pictures and a whole lot more!

If you're interested in giving it a whirl then I strongly suggest that you right-click on this here link and choose "Save As..." in order to get the newest version of Fireteam Andromeda. And if your are so inclined, then click here in the same manner to get a totally revamped version of the Quick Reference Sheet.

And that's all for now - if you have any comments, questions or praise, then don't hesitate to e-mail me.

Paintstation - Imperial Lancers (Retained Knights)

As this is a relatively long post detailing how I went about painting these Retained Knights from 15mm.co.uk, the following is a tutorial with a lot of pictures on how these were painted; hopefully to serve as some inspiration to others out there!

Fireteam Andromeda - Playtest #2

Just some quick snapshots from last night playtest. It was a good game, but unfortunately the newly revised point-system left too much to be desired, and I need to fix it once more. The Imperial Forces took a sound thrashing against an equally costed, all-round Colonial Army - which essentially means that the point system is broken... again! 

So, back to the drawing board, out comes the calculators and it is time to go number-crunching. Apart from that the, rules are still working just great; very little is needed to be adjusted in the core rules, which is a great relief - the issues that cropped up during play was minor things overall, except that the armor save for infantry now gains a boost from 4+ to 3+; which should increase their survivability a lot. 

Electronic Warfare, however, was a resounding success - while expensive, it definately gives you a whole new set of tactical possibilities! Better get some improved electronic shielding for your forces!

Fireteam Andromeda - First Army Finished!

The 417th Imperial Expedition Force assembles

Field Commander, NCO and Support Personnel

Imperial Shocktroopers (Protolene Khanates, Critical Mass Games)

Armor Support (Protolene Khanates, Critical Mass Games)

Reconnaisance Drone - cross attached from the 403rd Expeditionary Force (Yu-jing Remote, Crovus Bellis)

So, just a quick post to show off the first, completed army for Fireteam Andromeda - The Imperial Expeditionary Force. All miniatures are from Critical Mass Games, except for the Recon Drone and the New Israeli Hardsuits (White/Orange) which are from Corvus Bellis and Ground Zero Games respectively. 

This therefore means that for tonights playtest I'll finally be able to field two fullypainted armies! Hopefully I'll find some time after this weekend to post pictures of the Sol Colonial Militia, as well as prep for a battlereport/playtest-report as well. At any rate, have a good weekend!

Fireteam Andromeda - Version 2.1

So, after having slaved away at the desktop for a good number of days, burning the midnight oil and keeping everything going by coffee alone; I've finally... erh... finalized a new, and improved, version of Fireteam Andromeda!

For those interested; head on over to the download page and give it a look. As always, comments, critique and  praise is more than welcome!

So, what has changed?
Well, to put it simply, then there's a whole bunch of changes, but not a lot in the way of overhauls. The following list should state the major changes (not including some editing, spell-checking, word-rearranging and other such trivial, yet important, updates):

• Introducing Super Heavy Weapon Teams for all those with a hankering for big Anti-Tank guns and Howitzers crewed by Infantry. 
• New Force Organization Charts. These now reflect more of an actual platoon structure than before, allowing players to customize their forces even more - includes the option for using two or more platoons as well, in a single game. 
• Changed all Support, Light and Heavy Weapons so that they now have greater detail, more flexibility and are still customizable.
• Added rules for Electronic Warfare; allowing for new tactics to be employed. 
• Changed the point systems a bit, making it a whole lot easier to construct a force than before (no odd points!)
• Tightening up of the various Upgrades and Traits available to all units. 

In short; a rather massive update. Tomorrow it is time for another playtest here at Terminus Central, and hopefully the rules have evolved into a much more stable version so that I can post up a small battle-report for all of the readers out there. 

In other news, I've just received confirmation that the Imperial forces are getting some much needed reinforcements from 15mm.co.uk in the form of some Retained Knight and Muster Troops. Also, the Imperial Expedition Force is almost completely painted, and will probably feature in a blog-post in the near future. 

Till then; cheers, and happy gaming!

Paintstation - Wetpalette

So, there I was, having suffered from a slight paint-block in my vain attempt at painting vehicles. For some reason these models keep being my nemesis - no matter how hard I work on them, they always end up lacking 'oomph', which in the end means that painting vehicles is some of the last things I do.

However, this time around I tried something new altogether; a wetpalette! Now, to those who have yet to discover this 8th wonder of the world, the following is a short introduction on how to assemble your very own. Note that all images show various danish household items and shop inventory may vary around the world.

First step; acquire cd-case.

As can be seen, I cannibalized an average CD-case for my purposes. The main reason for using a cd-case is that I can close up the lid and keep the moisture locked in, for those short and frenzied painting sessions, scattered across an average weekend.

Second step; purchase pads and paper.

Now you need to purchase some make-up pads as well as some sort of baking-paper or similar (in Denmark we have something called "mellemlægspapir" which is basically what we use to shield our open sandwhiches from getting squished together in our lunchboxes). You could also use any wax paper - but this is as cheap as it gets.

Third step; getting it all together.

Put the a couple of pads in the case, add a bit of water (not as much as I used in this photo, because then you'll suffer from overflow and having paint slowly reduced to washes, which isn't our goal!) and put on the paper over the pads. Let the paper soak for a while (roughly two-to-three minutes). Once it is moist, pour up some paint on the palette and start painting!

Painting a Protolene Walker.

And here is then the preliminary result of my attempt at painting the Protolene Walker for the Imperial Expedition Force. The wash used (Devlan Mud / Agrax Earthshade from GW) was put on far too heavy and all over the place. I was trying my standard method when painting model soldiers - but found out that it didn't really work out in the end.

So, armed with the wetpalette I went to town; getting quite a boost in keeping a consistent watered down paint that I could wetbrush the model with; leaving the recess shaded by the wash and hitting all the flat surfaces. Once the major areas were painted, I finished it off by drybrushing some Tyrant Skull (some of GW's new paints, designed for drybrush use) all over the model and finished it off with some minor detailing on the guns.

All in all, I think It went over quite well. Although I found that I had used too much water for my initial try, then the wetpalette definately has merit; I found that I got more brush control and a heck of a smoother coverage than before - definately a good thing when painting vehicles. Next up is another walker, but this time; lesson learned and I'll attempt to figure out a new method for painting this one. Stay tuned!

Terran Taxation War - At a Glance

At the height of the 3^rd Border War, the Imperial Armada had been spread out too thinly to effectively maintain peace across the Imperium. To prevent any upstart minor power from exploiting this perceived weakness within the Imperium, as well as to prevent any uprisings from within they had to form a new type of defensive force to patrol the borders and sectors across the Imperium. These were known as the Colonial Militias, and were to be tithed forces, armed with locally manufactured weapons and supplied within their local systems – but under direct Imperial control.

More often than not, the Colonial Militias were granted only second rate equipment and were ill-equipped to combat any of the threats that reared during the Border Wars. Pirates were disabling shipping lanes all across the western regions of the Imperium and the Militias had their hands full trying to maintain even a semblance of Imperial peace. As the 3^rd Border War dragged on, many of these Colonial Militia regiments were also transferred, away from their local systems, in order to bolster defenses across the frontlines of the war and the tithing of such militias to bolster the war effort rose slowly but surely, along with a growing dissent within the affected regions.

While the Imperial Court was not blind to the problems rising within the western regions; their internal intrigues and power struggles prevented them from accurately assessing the problem. The western regions were, after all, the regions closest to the frontlines and it was perceived that it would be easier to tithe and ship militia units from these regions rather than from the more peaceful eastern provinces. To address this, however, the Imperial Court devised another internal security force; the Colonial Control Unit.

They were formed along the lines of the Militia forces, but tithed at a much lower rate and given better equipment and training than all other Militias. These units were then shipped to the western provinces to bolster their defenses, and to secure the peace and prosperity of Imperial rule. It was the hope of the Imperial court that not only would this prevent any further disruption of trade, but that the new provinces would absorb some of the culture and philosophies of the eastern regions – effectively uniting the Imperium together. Thus, the Colonial Control Units were also heavily indoctrinated in Imperial lore and were encouraged to share with their less developed brethren.

Imperial Expedition Force on the Move

Unfortunately, this only further enraged the member states of the western region. Not only were they hard pressed to supply Militia units for a pro-longed and distant war, they were barely keeping peace across the shipping lanes and now they had to supply a growing force of, what they perceived, as propaganda units – there to enforce Imperial rule, and keep the population in check. Dissent spread like wildfire, meaning that Colonial Control Units were now more occupied with just keeping the peace within the Imperial worlds and were ill-prepared to defend from any incursions.

Meanwhile the Saari Communion was becoming hard pressed to stave off the Imperial Armadas advance into their territories. Desperate, they found out about this growing dissent across the western regions and were forced to exploit it, in order to buy them some respite from the conflict. Their plan was simple in its execution; begin an organized series of piratical incursions and raids deep within the western regions, hoping to destabilize the Imperium from within. However, the Saari Communion had never targeted civilians before and while their plan would work, it would also bring about the Second Schism within the Communion – diversifying the otherwise united Communion further.

These raids were methodical, effective and lighting quick. Once the piratical bases of operations were set up across the western region, shipping was effectively stalled completely within the western region. The Colonial Control Units could not spare any men or ships to combat this growing threat and had to rely on the Imperial Court to come to their aid. The court decided, in what has since become known as the greatest mistake, that seeing as the Saari was now desperate enough to implement these measures would mean that the Imperial Armada was pressing home the invasion. The Colonial Militias were therefore to combat this threat, and tithing of these forces would increase tenfold to secure Imperial shipping across the western region; it was believed that the 3^rd Border War would end within the year, provided that the Militias could uproot the pirates swiftly – thus the tithing was increased in order to quickly reinforce the western provinces.

Sol Militia preparing an Ambush

That was the final spark for the Sol system. For years they had been bled dry of material, men and what little they had gained in the form of protection from incursions had proven to be completely ineffective. So it was to be that in the year 414-5^th, the Sol system overthrew the Colonial Control Units in one of the bloodiest coups in Imperial history; utilizing the recently raised Colonial Militia regiments that were bound for combating the Saari pirates’ superior numbers and local knowledge to fight off all Control Units within the Sol sector within a single week.

As the Imperial tithing fleet, Pax Mammonia, entered the Sol system, they were surprised to be met with a flotilla of warships and all of the escorting picket-ships were instantly destroyed or crippled as soon as they left the entry point. As luck would have it, for the rebellious Sol system, this tithing fleet had recently collected four Militia regiments from the nearby systems, who were quick to join the Sol system in their rebellion. It is important to note, however, that whilst the coup was bloody – the general principle of the rebellion was not to overthrow Imperial rule as such, but to regain some manner of localized control over their region.

The Imperial Court, however, was outraged. They cared little for the rebels motives; what they saw was treachery at its highest – not only had they overthrown the Control Units, but they had attacked and plundered an Imperial tithing fleet. Not only would this setback the end of the 3^rd Border War by at least two years, but would also mean that other systems might begin to think of doing something similar. In all haste, it was decided that the Imperial Expeditionary Forces who were bound to return back for rearmament and rest, were to redeploy to the Sol system and quell this rebellion, swiftly and surely – to dissuade any other systems within the region to follow the example of the Sol system.

And in the year 414-5^th the Terran Taxation War began with a surprise assault on Terra itself, spearheaded by the 417^th Imperial Expedition Forces. The Imperial forces spared no-one at their landing sites; slaughtering civilians and militias alike – hoping that in so doing, the rebellion would become completely demoralized and collapse upon itself. Instead, it became the rallying cry for the rebellion, and the Terran Taxation War would soon spiral out of control.

Fireteam Andromeda - What is it all about?

As you may have guessed from the constant posts about it, here and other forums across the web, then I'm currently working on a (final) version of Fireteam Andromeda which is intended to be published at the end of this year.

Fireteam Andromeda is a dedicated set of rules for 15mm science fiction games, aimed at roughly a reinforced platoon per side, give or take. It has been designed as a quick game, light on the granularity, but heavy on the tactical side.

Colonial Forces on the move.

To promote this tactical gameplay, the game incorporates a very special Command & Control system. The system represents the overall motivation of the troops as well as the commanders overall ability to formulate tactical plans on the go. As troops are fired upon and take casualties, the commander will find that it becomes harder and harder to keep track of everything and needs to prioritize his actions.

Each turn, a player receives a number of Command Points equal to the number of deployed and confident units currently at his disposal. The player, taking the role of a platoon commander, then assigns a number of these points to his units in order to activate them. Each unit that receives such a point then becomes active.

However, players are limited to the number of units that they can activate during their Order phase depending on their Commanders Leadership. Typically, a force may activate two to three units per Order phase, after which it then becomes the opponents turn to activate their units. The players then alternate in Ordering and Activating their units until they run out of Command Points and the turn thus ends.

But that is not all! Command Points can also be used to boost the effectiveness of your units as well as perform various defensive maneuvers, greatly increasing your tactical options, and much more. But once you've run out, then you've run out - and a clever Commander will keep at least two Command Points in reserve; just in case.

Imperial Forces hunkering down.

Fireteam Andromeda was also designed as a very light wargame. From the ground up, it was designed around a couple of easy to remember core mechanics, which gives a quick and satisfying gameplay experience; almost no charts and very few modifiers to remember in the heat of battle.

All units share three characteristics; Skill, Experience and Armor. Skill is used to determine the units chance to hit, Experience determines the units motivation and training and Armor, well, represents their overall Armor rating. What makes each unit distinctive, however, is the ability to design your own troops!

Fireteam Andromeda is intended to be a generic science fiction game, which allows for players to design their own troops, using some very broadly defined unit entries (grunts are, after all is said and done, still grunts) that can be customized to represent almost any miniatures out there on the market today. Customizing your units is a breeze - and includes point values to allow for pick-up-and-play games.

"In the pipe, five-by-five"

However, although it is generic, the book itself will include a small introduction to the Terminus Nebula setting, as well as a more detailed overview of the Employment War within that setting; a war in a heavily balkanized area of space, known as the Terminus Nebula, were major powers of the universe, as well as would-be dictators, despots and freedom fighters, are fighting a bushwar - of which most armies consists entirely of Mercenary Units.

Fireteam Andromeda is intended to become a fully developed game that includes pre-made army lists, templates, explanation, setting material and basic scenarios for quick games. For now, the game is being playtested and corrected here and there - the core mechanics are finalized and all that really needs to be added are explanations, graphics and some adjustment of point values, weapon effects and other minor details.

To give Fireteam Andromeda a go, then simply go to the download page and download your own copy of the rules - everything you need to get started is included in the PDF. Cheers, and thanks for your time!

Paintjob - 'Landsknecht' Wardroid

Today I finished up painting, not only the entire Colonial Militia for the Sol system, but also a bit of odds and ends. As per a recent discussion over on The Miniatures Page Cdude93 asked about a droid for 28mm that I thought of putting to use in 15mm. So, I dug it out, gave it a quick and dirty paintjob and wrote up some stats for it for Fireteam Andromeda - And thus, I present to you; the 'Landsknecht'.

The model itself is a Hellcat Fury from Scotia Grendel and has a vague ED-209 look that I'm rather fond of. There are multiple versions of the Hellcat droid in the Nexus Force range from Scotia Grendel, and I'm probably going to pick up a few more as time goes by. For now, however, I'm happy with the quick and dirty paintjob for this beast - that and the veritable torrent of fire that it can dish out during a game!

Using Fireteam Andromeda to stat up this robot was a breeze! I chose the Battlesuit unit entry and added a Light Automatic Weapon to the suit (thus the unit can only consist of 1 - 2 Landsknechts, as this is the maximum number of battlesuits that can carry a Light weapon) which, obviously, is the quadruple chainguns. 

To represent the increased torrent of fire from four (!) chaingun barrels, I decided to give it the Rapid Fire (Ballistic) upgrade, increasing the Light Weapons Rate of Fire to 5, as well as the Linked Fire upgrade, allowing it to re-roll any failed to-hit rolls. The two guns, which I've decided are some sort of vey light auto-cannons, were designated as Versatile Support Weapons, choose Ballistic to maximize the effect of the Rapid Fire Upgrade. Finally, I chose the Artificial trait for the machine, suitable for any robotic flak-cannon. 

Photo to illustrate the size of the 'Landsknecht'; it could easily be used for a Walker vehicle!

And now, as a special reader service, I leave you with a couple of pictures of painted NAC Power Armor miniatures from Ground Zero Games. Reader Dan asked for a couple of snapshots of them and here they are - enjoy!