AVP: "Young Tusk" Predator Youngblood

He is just gaining his reputation...

The first trophy of a successful hunt. The Elder of his clan will be proud.

I went with the same colours that I already used painting "Eager Youth". The miniature is a repainted Horrorclix action figure.

The recipe for a successful hunter: Cloaking Device, Melee Claws, Ceremonial Armor and Plasma Caster.

Young Tusk is the second of my Predator Youngbloods. Like his brother Eager Youth he just claimed his first trophy, lifting him into the caste of the true warriors of his clan.
I painted both the same way, symbolizing their bond as brothers. Since Youngbloods lack the experience of elite or elder Predators, they are allowed to hunt in packs of 2-3 warriors until they reach a certain reputation. I have plans to add at least two (maybe three) more Youngbloods to chose from for AVP miniature gameplay. After those its the heros next: elite and elder Yautja.

AVP: Carter C. Burke and Newt

Wayland-Yutani official Carter C. Burke and Rebecca Jordan, known as "Newt".

"I'm Burke. Carter Burke. I work for the company. But don't let that fool you, I'm really an okay guy..."

"...That's the plan. You have my word on it."

"We'd better get back, 'cause it'll be dark soon, and they mostly come at night... mostly."

"Newt. My name's Newt. Nobody calls me Rebecca, except my brother."

Burke and Newt. Finally, all Aliens movie characters are done. Apart from Dropship and APC all human items for team 1 are finished with those two.
Burke (Woodbine Miniatures) is only in use when playing scenarios out of the movie, otherwise he's just another civilian to be rescued by the Marines. Same goes for Newt (Hasslefree Miniatures) who will be just a generic child to be rescued in most cases, but if I want to play the movie scenes I now at least own an appropriate figure.

AVP: "Eager Youth" Predator Youngblood

"Eager Youth" is the youngest of my Predators. With his first trophy he now claims membership among his clan's blooded warriors.

The miniature is a complete repaint of one of the AVP Horrorclix figures included in the Predator set. The base once again comes from Fenris Games.

I went with glossy black for the Xenomorph trophy, flat black for the dreadlocks and bronze/iron mixture on all Predator metal surfaces. I think it looks pretty good the way it is.

The face of the miniature wasn't that nicely sculpted, but I still tried to represent the colours of the open mouth with its manibles as seen in the movies. It adds a little colour to the whole warrior.

 

This is the first time ever that I had to paint Predator skin. Looking at pics around the net gave me so many variations, that I decided to go with a base tone of khaki that was highlighted on muscle packs with two colours and finally toned down with watered down Armypainter Soft Tone. I will try to make the next Yautja a little brighter.

I tried to resemble the red blinking letters in Predator language on the controls for the Cloaking Device on "Eager Youth's" left arm.

So here it is now - my first ever painted Predator figure. I never had painted one before so this was quite challenging. There is so many pics and variations of the skin pattern around the net, that picking a suitable one wasn't that easy.
In the end I just painted away and added or washed over on the go.
Based upon Vallejo Khaki, that was highlighted with GW Kommando Khaki and finally GW Dheneb Stone, it was finished off by painting the sprinkles with GW Scorched Brown, before being washed over with heavily thinned Armypainter Soft Tone.
The mouth was highlighted with Vallejo Medium Flesh followed by GW Dwarf Flesh and finally GW Tentacle Pink. Teeth were done with GW Iyanden Dark Sun, Bleached Bone and finally Skull White. Same colours were picked for the nails on the fingers, which are almost claw-like.
The metal furfaces where basecoated in GW Tin Bitz before being highlighted with Revell Iron/Eisen and toned down with a wash of Armypainter Strong Tone.
All leather was done with Vallejo Saddle Brown and highlighted with GW Bestial Brown before receiving a wash with Armypainter Strong Tone.
The Xenomorph head (trophy) was painted Tamiya Flat Black, highlighted with GW Shadow Grey and its teeth with Boltgun Metal. I then coated it with the old GW Black Ink to give the upper part a shiny and glossy finish.
The spear was painted in Revell Iron/Eisen and Armypainter Weapon Bronze before being inked with Dark Tone.
The lettering on the cloaking device control pad was done in three steps: GW Crimson Gore, Blood Red and Fiery Orange.

I like how it turned out but I will replace the Khaki basecoat for the skin with something brighter on my next try.

AVP: 1LT Campbell, Ripley and Sentry Guns

UA 571-C Remote Sentry Weapons System (EM4 Miniatures)

Pulse Action Machine Gun, 500 times 10mm x 28 HEAP rounds, IR and ultrasonic tracking unit as well as ambient light optics. 60° sensor cone, 360° sweep radius when set up.

"This area is off limits. We mean it."

Four of EM4 Miniatures' beautiful sentry guns. I didn't do anything to them, they were built out of the bag and placed upon Sulaco Series bases from Fenris Games. I tried to paint the lenses to reflect IR and ambient light sensors. Cute little things.

EM4 Miniatures' soldier to represent 1LT Campbell and Woodbine Miniatures' Ripley before entering the hive - all geared up for a fight.

Campbell with M4A3 pistol, Ripley with duct-taped combo of M240 Flamer, M41 "Pulse Rifle" and a PDL (Personal Data Locater) in order to find Newt.

Unlike Gorman, Lieutenant Campbell is a veteran - he prefers BDUs over formal uniform. Ripley also carries a bandoleer with spare 30mm HE grenades.

Not much to say about Ripley other than she's in a pissed off mood represented in that Woodbine Miniature. Its her just before she enters the Alien Hive on Acheron. The miniature actually shows all the gear Ripley took with her: Flamer, Rifle, Grenade spare ammo and the PDL she was using to locate Newt's whereabouts.
So who the hell is Campbell I hear you say?! Well, since I will need more than one squad of Marines I have to come up with another section that also needs to be lead by a Lieutenant. Campbell is the LT that was included in the 1997 AVP collectible card game. He and all of his Marines will be based upon those playcards. That will give me another set of 12 characters for the humans.

Stay tuned. More to come...(Ripley searches for Newt. Maybe she'll find her once I have painted the figure :-D )

CLASSIFIED: Special Operations, 1940 - 2010 PDF Version released

From covert actions against insurgent groups and daring sabotage missions to precision strikes against fortified positions and reconnaissance deep behind enemy lines, the special forces units deployed by many nations are the spearhead of modern combat operations. Classified, the latest companion volume for Force on Force, allows wargamers to recreate any and all of them. With detailed background information, extensive orders of battle for the world’s preeminent special forces units, and a range of scenarios, Classified gives Force on Force players a detailed and realistic experience of modern special operations missions across the globe.
"Classified Special Operations" is the latest release for Force On Force. It will also be available in print on February 19th, 2013.

You can find it in AAG's webstore or wait for the printed version that will also be available via amazon etc.

AVP: Facehugger bases completed

Ten Facehuggers, made by Pendraken, placed upon hive-like bases that I sculpted myself.

The Alien hive floor was painted in three stages of blue and grey tones, although its not quite noticeable in the pics.

The Huggers themselves were painted with GW Dwarf Flesh, highlighted with GW Elf Flesh and received a pin wash with Army Painter Soft Tone.

Hive floor: GW Shadow Grey, Revell Grey matt 57, Army Painter Dark Tone Wash, GW Fortress Grey.

The Facehugger bases have been finished. Although the pics make you think they are only drybrushed in grey that is not what I have done. What the pictures can't really show is that there actually is a blend of three colours that went into the "resin" of the hive floor - see the last pic above for detail.
I am really pleased with the way the Facehuggers emerge from the darker ground. I especially like the tone they turned into after I applied the Army Painter Soft Tone wash. Let me know what you think.

Stay tuned!

AVP: some work in progress...

Free Hugs !!!

Pendraken's Facehugger (normally a monster for 10mm Sci-Fi) suit 28mm well as the classic Facehugger like they were seen in the Alien movies.

Today I've been mostly sculpting with Green Stuff. Since the Pendraken Huggers are coming on a small base that is almost impossible to be removed without damaging the miniature, I had to do something to make them look right on a 25mm base. I decided to create the Alien Hive structure that was seen in Aliens with green stuff and wrap it around the Facehugger. Some bits cut from Warhammer Fantasy Skeleton Steeds create the skeletal structure that was seen in the movie. It looks a bit rough in the pics above, but since the putty hasn't completely dried, I could not cut the plastic bits into exact pieces matching the bases yet. This will be done before I paint them.

Burke, Ripley, 1Lt. Campbell and some shooty bits for the humans are next on the list.

AVP: Colonial Marines Drop Ship Crew and Synthetic

Supporting Characters: Drop Ship Crew with (from left to right) W/O Pfc. Spunkmeyer, Pilot Cpl. Ferro and Synthetic (Android) "Bishop"

Both also being trained riflemen, Ferro and Spunkmeyer carry M41 "Pulse Rifles". Cpl. Ferro also has a VP-70 pistol for back-up. Since they are the designated crew of the Marine's dropship they do not wear M3 Body Armor. Bishop solely being a scientist and medic is prohibited to bear any small arms or rifles all together.

All three are Woodbine Miniatures. Bases from Fenris Games' Sulaco series. Note that Spunkmeyer had a head swap with a figure out of Gripping Beast's 28mm  Mo-Fo 1.9: 1990s US Downed Helicopter Crew 

Both flight crew members have USCM badges on their sleeves.

On the left arm: US flag and rank insignia (Corporal in case of Ferro, with Spunkmeyer's being invisible due to rolled up sleeves)

Next batch of US Colonial Marines figures finished. With the dropship's pilot Ferro and her weapon systems officer Spunkmeyer I now have all Marines painted for first platoon as it was seen in ALIENS. The Synthetic "Bishop" makes it complete.
The figures were put onto Sulaco series bases from Fenris Games. I used the miniatures as they were, but didn't like the head of the figure that was supposed to be Spunkmeyer. Its hair were way to long for what was an almost clean shaven soldier in the movie.
I used another 28mm figure's pilot helmet wearing head and replaced the hippie-like looking one.  Since the green jumpsuits of the flight crew alone would have been a little boring, I tried once again to add all the colourful badges of the USCM to their uniform.
Bishop's clothes in the movie were a blue to greyish looking like overall, so there wasn't much colour to paint on the miniature apart from a clipboard with some notes that he holds in his hands.

Next will be some civilians, especially those that I need to make the movie setting work and also some sentry guns. Bear with me, there is more to come.

AVP: Alien Warriors #2

Ten done so far. Only 30 to go.

Another bunch of teeth, flailing tailspears and razor-sharp claws.

Standard Xenomorph Warrior drones. There will be a lot more of them.

Work continues, another five Warrior drones are completed. Colonial Marines receive some back up shortly - I am almost done with painting a few more supporting characters.

TOMORROW'S WAR: an exclusive sneak peek at BY DAGGER AND TALON!

Republic of Arden National Guard Special Operations Forces (RANGSOF) insert into the Foix Gap via DTV-89's to conduct operations against the Darghaur flanks.

Darghaur recon troops operating covertly on Zero Palms.

Marshborn "Blood Claw" SPECOPS forces conducting a joint training operation with the USMC Force Special Operations Command (FSOC) on Zero Palms.

Pictures released by Shawn Carpenter on AAG forum. The pics are out of the upcoming scenario expansion "By Dagger and Talon" - a book for AAG's Tomorrow's War game.

AVP: Alien Warriors

"They grow into killers in a matter of days" - Alien Warrior drone

Alien Warrior (rebased WizKids Horrorclix figures)

Since there is different types of Xenomorphs the bases are marked ("Warrior")

"They protect the Queen with their lives" - Alien Royal Guard

Three Royal Guards. These are even more dangerous than regular Warrior drones

First batch of Alien Xenomorphs ready for gaming

...there is way more where these are coming from :-)

As the core of my Colonial Marines is finished it was about time to add some stuff to the opposition. In this case it is going to be Aliens of two types to start my "hive": Warrior and Royal Guard drones. I am aware that the Pretorians (as the Guards are also known as) would normally look different, but there is no miniatures available for them and I wanted to have some variation in my forces.
So the climbing Alien figures are all going to be Royal Guards while the other miniatures are going to be either Warriors for the most part.
Royal Guards are rare and chances for them to appear will be low in our games, but naturally they will be encountered en masse if you are coming to close to a breeding chamber of a Queen.
The regular Warrior drones are what is going to be the main enemy encountered by Predators and Humans alike. I have a huge pile of these figures and there will be plenty of these - some 40 or so.

Bases are once again from Fenris Games, the Alien saliva is made out of glue. Just put a few drops down into an old lid of a bottle and wait a few minutes for the glue to start to bond. Then use a toothpick and start to pull drips of glue out of it - the glue starts to leave thin strings - and add it to the jaws of the Aliens. Done!

AVP: Colonial Marines 2nd Lt. Gorman

Leading officer of my Colonial Marine forces: 2nd Lt. Gorman (Woodbine Miniatures)

Not really expecting to be out in the fight, Gorman still got injured early in the mission

Standard issue khaki coloured uniform and only a VP-70 pistol - Gorman didn't expect to be in a fight (no, really!)

Not much to show at all but I managed to get Gorman painted. He's another piece of the Woodbine Miniatures Character Set. Depicted is Gorman later during the campaign, after he injured his head, when the remaining Marines were fleeing the planetary processing unit in an APC.

I went with a really simple scheme, showing the Marine standard issue one-colour field dress (khaki). I was however trying to add as many of the patches that are seen in the movie as possible. So, Gorman sports both USCM badges (shoulder and chest pocket) and an US flag. The green stripes on the chest are supposed to resemble his name tags and service branch (Marines).

Gorman is un-armed apart from a VP-70 pistol.

Stay tuned for more AVP items in the next couple of weeks.