HOF 15mm Grey Alien Flying Saucer now in resin!

One of the most popular parts of the wide scoped and large HOF 15mm science fiction range (which has over one hundred different packs) are the Grey Aliens.  Sculpted by Mark Ricketts they have been a favourite with Alien Squad Leader Players using the Alien Greys list and wargamers over all over the world using lots of different rule systems.  This week we have replaced the original white metal 15mm scale HOF50 Grey Alien Flying Saucer with an identical re-mastered resin vehicle.  It is the same saucer and includes a separate dome which can be put on or left off to expose the detailed cockpit with pilot. It also comes with a flying base. Priced at 4.00GBP it has not increased in price and it is also part of the Value pack which offers a saving for a whole character driven invasion force. Go HERE.

Grey Aliens are an enigmatic race of small, bulbous-headed, and highly intelligent aliens, the Greys are primarily scientists rather than soldiers, but sometimes come into conflict with other races when competing for resources, or when seeking to establish possession of a particular site for temporary and mysterious purposes. Their unauthorised experimental activities on live subjects who have usually been abducted can also provoke a hostile military response from races who have been subjected to such intrusions.

Indeed, the Greys appear to regard the rest of the universe like thier own enormous laboratory. Greys are not physically suited to combat situations, and their scientists in particular have an aversion to shedding the blood of living creatures, and so tend to prefer non-violent ways of defeating thier enemies, or to turning thier enemy’s weapons against themselves. Naturally, the more warlike races despise this reluctance to cause casualties as a sign of weakness, but the Greys have been reluctantly forced to train combat teams and actual soldiers as their ability to evade detection appears to have declined in recent decades. A Grey stands at approximately four feet in height and has light grey skin with black almond eyes and favours uniform suits of a silver and blue colour.

We have five codes including a value pack with saving at the present moment for the Grey Alien part of the HOF Range.  Seek them by the code below or click HERE.  We also have images of each code.

HOF47 Grey Alien Command (10 miniatures)

HOF48 Grey Alien Science Team (10 miniatures)

HOF49 Grey Alien Soldiers (10 miniatures)

HOF50 Grey Alien Flying Saucer (1 Resin Kit)

HOF51 Grey Alien Landing Party (12 miniatures, 1 Saucer Kit) Value Pack

Thanks for reading,

GBS

New SHM 15mm sci-fi miniatures released! SHM84-89

This week we release four new miniatures into the SHM 15mm Range.  New unique alien miniatures all sculpted by Eli Arndt.  Eli has a large presence in the SHM Range which is open to any designer to submit miniatures both sci-fi and fantasy (contact us for details on sales@15mm.co.uk) to and it means you get figures that would otherwise probably never make it into your hands.  Go HERE.  For full information on this release please read on.

There are now more than nearly ninety different miniatures in the SHM range and this set can be had a pack or as singles.

SHMP24 Denizens of the Galaxy IV

This value pack contains ten white metal 15mm scale miniatures and offers a saving over single miniature purchase.  A random but even and fair mix of the following miniatures: SHM84 Phase 2 Biomorph, SHM85 Stovan Servitor, SHM86 Sand Dipper and SHM87 Thorn Crawler.  Great for any setting from space adventure to space opera to near future and post-apocalyptic madness with a hint of horror thrown in.  You can purchase one pack or purchase three with an additional ten percent saving off list price selecting that option on the page (that 10% more than the ten percent the pack saves you already).  7.00GBP per pack.

SHM84 Phase 2 Biomorph 

One 15mm scale white metal miniature. Gene Splicers have a lot to answer for and top of the list is the late 23rd century creation of Biomorphs. Assembled from the DNA of several species and speed grown in vats the Biomorphs were seeded into conflict zones where they could exist for years easily. Often sprouting faces and ever changing teeth and eyes Biomorphs can sneak up or even drop from ceilings with deadly intent.  This is a large miniature about 30mm long follows up on SHM53 Biomorph. You can purchase multiples of one or select 'buy ten and save 10%' on the drop down product menu and save.   2.00GBP

SHM85 Stovan Servitor 

One 15mm scale white metal miniature. Stovan used to be a byword for peace and harmony but no longer.  The entire Stovan race was fungal captured by the Kilthreen in a planet wide invasion turning them into servitors.  These servitors were then sold to the highest bidder across the galactic plane.  Large, solid and long lived a Stovan Servitor can be a real if tragic asset.  This miniature is 25mm tall. You can purchase multiples of one or select 'buy ten and save 10%' on the drop down product menu and save.   1.00GBP

SHM86 Sand Dipper

One 15mm scale white metal miniature.  The Sand Dipper is a common sight on hot inner system planets across the core having been seeded by colonists centuries ago.  It is a hard carapace creature expert in digging and with excellent night sight. This miniature is 10mm long. You can purchase multiples of one or select 'buy ten and save 10%' on the drop down product menu and save.   0.60GBP

SHM87 Thorn Crawler

One 15mm scale white metal miniature.  Do not be made unwary by the small size of the Thorn Crawler for it is a lethal predator.  Virtually every cell in its body is poisonous to all known carbon based life.  This has cost countless lives and generally Thorn Crawlers are shot when seen and then burned for even handling them can result in a fatal exposure to poison. This small miniature is 7mm tall. You can purchase multiples of one or select 'buy ten and save 10%' on the drop down product menu and save.   0.50GBP

Go HERE.

Thanks for Reading.

GBS

Free Worldwide Postage until 1st March 2016 at 15mm.co.uk

Leap into the Fray with our Leap Year Offer!

From now until early morning 1st March 2016 we are having a free worldwide postage on all orders over 10.00GBP in product value!  This applies to Alternative Armies, 15mm.co.uk and The Ion Age on all our 6mm, 15mm and 28mm miniatures and game systems in fact everything on our websites you can put in your cart (not downloads).  All you need to do is add to the cart and the website will do the rest.  Go HERE.

If you like 15mm scale including HOT Fantasy, TTF Fantasy, HOF Science Fiction, Laserburn, Altuos Renaissance, Pony Wars and ACW, Isarus Dark Age, Medus Medieval along with 6mm sci-fi and a lot more go to 15mm.co.uk.  

All the offers on our websites made during this month are still valid until the end of this event so in some cases you can get a double advantage.  Here are a list of the blog articles from this month applicable to offers:

Altuos 15mm Renaissance Range 25% off 25 Codes

Say Goodbye to the 15mm Charger APC and Maginot Defence Tower

Combing Orders Text

So if you like Flintloque, High Fantasy, Ganesha Games and other 28mm scale ranges check out Alternative Armies.  Space Opera science fiction wargamers should look to the unique range and setting of The Ion Age for excellent 15mm and 28mm miniatures, vehicles and rule systems.

Our three websites are having a free postage event.  If you place an order for more then ten pounds (10.00GBP) the shopping cart will automatically give you free shipping worldwide.  As many orders as you like across one, two or all three of our websites at www.alternative-armies.com, www.15mm.co.uk and www.theionage.com.  While the vast majority of customers are happy to place orders in this way we know that some of you would like to place a combined order by email and receive a paypal invoice to pay.  This is totally fine with us and here is what to do for a combined order by email.  Firstly choose your point of contact.  Is it Alternative Armies, 15mm.co.uk or The Ion Age?  Choose one and email us on sales@alternative-armies.com, sales@15mm.co.uk or info@theionage.com.  

Make your email title 'combined order' and give us your name, your shipping address, your paypal email address and a list of codes and quantities that you want to order from across our ranges.  We will then reply with a total and a paypal invoice.  You will get a free monthly miniature if you have Ion Age codes and you will get any other items offered free if applicable from the other websites if you have codes from its ranges in your order.  We typically reply quickly but be assured you WILL NOT miss the free postage on your combined order as we will honour it as long as your email comes in before the offer ends.  Speak to you soon.  Thanks.  

Gavin Syme (GBS).

Batch Painting 15mm Figures for AoMaS by Andy Jefcoate

Welcome to the second article for Age of Might and Steel by Andy Jefcoate a great fan of 15mm fantasy wargaming.  Andy has more articles to come which will feature on our blog and in this article he talks and shows how to get your figures painted and on the table using the very popular HOT21 Zombie Horde pack. If you missed the first article on building a Goblin Army then you can read that HERE on our blog.  We hope you enjoy and all comments or emails are most welcome. Follow the links in the text to visit our website for the rules and miniatures mentioned.  GBS

Batch Painting 15mm Figures for AoMaS

Everyone has their own individual style and method for painting figures and this often differs according to the scale and genre of figures you are working on. Recently I've been painting large numbers of 15mm fantasy figures and without a system this can take a long time. I thought I'd talk you through the system I use which as I have limited time I've found effective. The figures I'll use as my example are zombies from the 15mm.co.uk pack HOT21 Zombie Horde.  This pack has sixteen mixed unarmed Zombies in it and is excellent value and varied use too.

For Age of Might and Steel (AoMaS) you really need zombie units of 10 or 12 stands and each unit has to have a magic user attached. I personally don't like to paint a unit all in one go so I do it in 2 batches of 5 or 6 stands but this is just personal preference.

1. I start by gluing the figures 3 to a 40mm x 20mm stand. There are 4 different poses in this pack and I insure that there are 3 different poses on each stand but in a random order. Once the glue's dry I undercoate the figures in a matt black paint. I like to use acrylic paints as they dry quickly. 

2. I then add my basing material by adding fine sand to paint of the colour I want the bases to be and put it on. For my current 15mm fantasy armies I'm using a sandy brown as the base colour. Doing the basing material at this stage is a bit unconventional but I don't like it when I accidently get basing material on a nicely painted figure! I find it easier to just touch up the base itself later on if any paint from the figure gets on it. 

This can all easily be done in an evening leaving a couple of hours between each stage.The basing paint can then be left overnight to dry hard.

3. The first paint I usually start with is any metallic areas but as the zombies don't have armour or carry weapons I can skip this stage. 

4. Next I paint any flesh colour which for zombies in 15mm I like to use a sickly pale green. You could also use a light grey or add grey to a flesh tone if you want the zombies to look a bit more fresh!

5.  Then it's time for the clothing and hair. I use 3 drab colours such as a light brown, a dark brown and a grey, randomly across all the figures for the majority of their clothing and their hair as this makes the stands look part of the same unit even though they don't wear a uniform. I then like to pick out the odd clothing item in a brighter colour such as red, blue or green to give a bit of variety but only a maximum of 1 or 2 items per stand so as to not lose the uniformity.

6. By this stage the majority of the figure's surface area is painted and it's time to pick out any details that are unique to a particular casting. With the zombies one of the figures looks like it has half it's intestines hanging out so a nice dark purple for these catches the eye. I also add blood around any areas that look like they could have been wounds and on a few figures put blood on hands and around their mouths to hint at previous dark deeds! This adds a further bit of variety between figures.

7. To bring all this together I then cover the whole of each figure in a black ink wash. As it dries it highlights the detail on the castings, it dulls down the colour of the individual paints and also brings colours together by creating areas of shade. If you're painting figures with nice uniforms you have to be careful not to overdo it so as not to obscure brighter colours but this won't matter with zombies it just makes them look more grubby.

8. The zombies themselves are complete so its time to touch up the main base colour if required. The fine sand gives a nice texture which can then be highlighted with a lighter colour. I find that a bone colour works well over the sandy brown. I've done the bases in the same style for all of my 15mm fantasy armies as I can then use units as mercenaries or swap monsters to different armies and they immediately fit in visually.

9. For durability I then give all the stands a coat of varnish to protect them for transport and from damage in the heat of battle such as being battered by dice or being accidently knocked from the table. I use a spray matt varnish so that the figures aren't too shiny but again this is just personal taste.

10. Finally once the varnish has dried I add static grass to the  bases using PVA glue as it ties the units in with the green of my terrain tiles, but again this is purely personal taste. The use of different flocks can change the look of any army and can be used to fit them with whatever terrain you require. 

Including leaving the base paint overnight these 10 steps can be completed within 24 hours and I've done it in the past to have that final unit finished for a particular battle.

If you want extra variety you can convert some of the figures quite easily. With zombies you can simply clip bits off or bend them out of shape to show earlier damage. I always fancied doing a unit that's coming up out of the ground which wouldn't be to hard to do. Something for a future article perhaps........

Thanks for reading.

Andy

Altuos 15mm Renaissance Range 25% off 25 Codes

15mm.co.uk has a large selection of classic 15mm historical ranges for wargamers to choose from. These include the Isarus range of Dark Age and Ancients, the Medus range of Medieval and Hussites, the Altuos range of Renaissance and Turkish as well as Potomac ACW and Brickdust Napoleonics too. We don't often mention them much across the web and social media so we decided its time to share the love (appropriate time of the year too) with 25% yes twenty five percent off twenty five codes in the Altuos range. Go HERE. 

There are about one hundred and forty different miniatures in the Altuos range from the 15th to the 17th century covering the nations of Europe plus Ottoman Turkish too. Infantry, Cavalry, Command, Artillery Crews, Artillery pieces too. To be fair to wargamers who play Renaissance era rule systems and have diverse ideas of which armies to field the twenty five codes reduced are randomly spaced across the range. Discount is on the screen you just add to your cart. Go HERE.  Enjoy the range looking for the discounted codes.

The discounts last until the end of the month of February. 

Thanks for Reading, 

GBS

Say Goodbye to the 15mm Charger APC and Maginot Defence Tower

Yes say goodbye to the popular HOF27 Maginot Defence Tower and the HOF28 Charger APC models in our HOF 15mm Science Fiction range.  They will be withdrawn from sale at the end of February 2016.  But wait you say!  Why withdraw them when everyone loves them?  Well we have decided to re-master both of these models and then release them once more into the HOF Range in the late spring.  Its a great time to do this as we plan to expand the propulsion options on the Charger and weapon mount on the Maginot too.  Don't fret though since these new versions will be 100% compatible with the original models.  The new versions are also designed by Sam Croes who came up with the originals.

If you want to get your hands on the current Charger and Maginot before they become extinct and sought after you can go HERE.

Both of these models feature large in the Human Colonial Armies of the Alien Squad Leader rules system and are part of the sub-set of the HOF Range that is Security Force Alpha.  Click HERE to see all the SFA codes. The SFA range contains more than fifty different poses of 15mm white metal miniatures and vehicles allowing a wargamer to assemble a cohesive force for their campaigns. A whole integrated range within HOF which will be expanded even more.

All across the Human Colonies and on Terra itself there is a need for security after, during and even before the high rollers and expensive kit arrives in the battle zone. Security Force Alpha is just that force filling in as police, paramilitaries, mercenaries and planetary militias too. They are the faceless grunts that do the thankless jobs needed by all those who govern, control or enforce. Use them as you will from the near to the far future! 

Thanks for Reading,

GBS

Painting Agency Blog spots the Ikwen

“The pseudo-amphibioid natives of the jungle world Kwiell were progressing well through their version of the Bronze Age when the first sky visitors arrived.  Unfortunately for the Ikwen ("the Forest's Children" in their own language of hypersonic clicks and squeals) the visitors were not a curious scientific team, but a fleet of freebooters hired by the Human Empire to scout out sources of the fusion-modulating superheavy element unbihexium.....”

Allison M over at the Painting Agency Blog is a real fan of 15mm.co.uk and notably the Loud Ninja Games range of miniatures you can find there among many other things.  Check out the original blog post HERE and visit this page HERE for the Ikwen. The post on the painting agency blog concerns a guerilla action carried out by the native Ikwen against Human invaders.  A great little story which would sit well for a campaign using any 15mm sci-fi rules such as USEME or Alien Squad Leader with the Ikwen and perhaps the Rim Mercenaries from the HOF range standing in for the greedy Humans.

Thanks for Reading,

GBS