Continuing the Antares journey

Back in August last year I think it was, I took an exploratory dive into the Antares universe, and since that time, I've beevered away, building armies, trying out the game and roping in some of the locals to give the game a whirl, to whom I am very grateful; David, Jayden, Paul, Robert, Garry and Chris, please take a bow!

The game took a wee while to get to grips with, and whilst being conversant with Bolt Action certainly helped, there are certainly differences between the two games. And indeed Bolt Action itself has gone through a revision since then, incorporating some of the ideas from Antares... like the Follow or Snap to order mechanism.

Similarly we've had another game come along which appears to have then taken some hybridized route between the two games; Konflikt-47... which has incorporated the idea of Reactions from Antares but didn't adopt the other changes that came along with the upgrade to Bolt Action2...

But I digress, back to Antares and I have to say I have really enjoyed getting my head around the game, and it's more classic or 'high sci-fi' setting, if that's the right way to describe it...?

It's background is certainly a refreshing change to the doom and gloom laden milieu of another certain well established sci-fi game...

I have found the differing human races that feature there make the game easy  to get your head round, yet each with a unique character of their own.

There are no other true alien race armies as such in their own right, the Tsan-Ra being one exception but even they are an allied squad with the Isorian force.

I am sure we will see an Alien race in the not too distant future... the name Vorl has been whispered in dark corners and we await with bated breath to see how they will eventuate.

The game is still relatively in its infancy and many of the described larger vehicles are yet to have models produced for them, making the game a largely infantry affair. But I am happy to say the guys at Warlord are steadily producing figures and vehicles to complete and expand on the range.

Having listened to the podcast the Freeborn Shard it's been interesting getting a glimpse of the mind of the games creator and how he plans to take it forward... Rick Priestley none the less.

Rather than coming up with an army list or revision of one and then trying to get all the models churned out for it before the next revision is due, Rick has this time taken the approach of adding story arc supplements which add and expand on the existing ranges, rather than replacing wholesale...

That was one of the reasons I dumped 40k many aeons ago... I had started collecting squats and collected and painted a whole army...only  to see them canned ... I then switched to orks only to see a codex revision that made redundant half of what I had bought and painted.... even now the company continues to revamp it's ranges forcing you to try and keep up...  

So nice to see a more reasonable approach to developing and expanding on a game  system....

Antares plays well, and if you've enjoyed Bolt Action, and like sci-fi, then you really should give it a go. Admittedly the Xilos stater set, whilst good value, was a little tough to get to grips with, largely due to the number of special rules attached to the Ghar race.

The new Kar'a 9 set is a much better intro to the game with two well matched regular infantry forces. And great value again. And with an easy intro version of the rules to break you in gently.

So again I say give it a go... you won't be disappointed.

I will be taking our Hobby Corner stall to the Hutt Miniatures clubs Valley Con event this weekend... and whilst there will also be demo-ing  Antares with mate Chris Pooch, and no doubt ably assisted by mate Dave Oemcke.

Here's some pics of the troops and scratchbuilt terrain I've been working on... (thanks again to Bala Menzies for helping out with some of these buildings)

Boromites

Concord troopers

Concord Drones

 Concord and Boromite Comparison

 Xilos Beasties - Drummer and Snappers

My painted Concord so far... still more to finish and Ghar to finish too...

Anyone with any good links to other Antares related blogs or websites... feel free to add then in the comments.

Some links:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/gatesofantares/

Farmhouse completed.

A few pics of the completed farmhouse I showed earlier...

I decided to just go with a predominantly grey stone colour scheme, with a few areas of yellow or red bricks...

I did crop down the length of the chimney to protect against breaks. I just got it painted and Chris dropped it and snapped the chimney off! Thankfully it was a clean break and glued back together ok.

The internals again just whitewashed and a stained balsa wood floor. An opening front door too.

And some Krauts to show possible occupancy.

Well that's my second building done. I have something a little bigger planned next ... Watch this space. 

Bolt action armoured medley

I have been assembling two Bolt Action forces now for a few months, both US and German, and have greatly enjoyed assembling and painting their plastic vehicle kits. 

This first one is the German StuH 42, assault howitzer. A birthday present from my family 😀. 

Fitted with a casement mounted medium howitzer, it can really hurt enemy infantry. 

But it's not terribly good against enemy armour as the HE round doesn't have the greatest penetration, but can at least pin down the armour.

Next up is the Hetzer. A tank hunter fitted with a heavy AT gun. 

It does however have weak side armour so you really need to watch it's flanks.

It also has remotely operated MG with 360• field of fire. 

Next up is the Hanomag. I've done this one before but this time have toned down the decals with a brown wash as Millsy suggested.

An armoured personnel carrier, good for getting your troops into the table with a degree of protection from small arms fire. 

Capable of carrying 12 men and fitted with an MG for supporting fire. But you need some in it as passengers to fire. 

Next up is Panzer IV H. Again shown before, and again decals toned down. 

Fitted with a heavy antitank gun and two machine guns, it can hurt enemy armour, and infantry. 

Schurzen side armour gives some protection against bazookas to its flanks. 

The Puma is up next. An armoured reconnaissance vehicle, fitted with a medium AT Gun and MG. 

Equipped with dual steering positions it can reverse as quickly as it advances making it get out of trouble fast.

But that big gun tempts you to be bold with it so you have to remember it's not armoured like a tank! 

All the German armoured arrayed below.

Next up, the yanks...

First up the M10 tank destroyer. Fitted with a heavy AT gun, it can deal to enemy panzers very well. 

It also has a pintel mounted HMG, so can hurt infantry too. 

But it is lghtly armoured for a tank and is open topped so small arms fire can pin it.

Next one of my faves, the M3 half track. 

Bristling with MGs it can spit out fire from its passengers.

An armoured personnel carrier capable of carrying 12 guys. 

I can't help thinking of Kelly's Heroes when I see it. 😀

An HMG covers the front fire arc.

Next, the classic M4 Sherman tank. 

A medium AT gun with a nifty HE rule, and two MGs and an HMG. It can really bring the hurt to enemy infantry.

But it's prone to catching fire if hit... Leading to the nickname ' Ronson' after the lighter... It always lights first time...

For some yank armoured recce  we have the M8 armoured car.

A fast wheeled reconnaissance vehicle fitted with a light AT gun, MG and pintel HMG ... They stick 50cals on everything!

And finally all the tank armour arrayed.

I have been steadily working on the infantry side of these forces and will detail these in future posts. 

In the meantime, I'm really enjoying the game.