Fluffy05 picked my cherry and has got me into ACTA!

P

polemarch

Mongoose
Hi to all,

After laying on a few subtle hints and explaining that I didn't need anything, Allan (AKA Fluffy05) finally got me to play this game just before Christmas. Not knowing bugger all about Babylon 5 of the game I turned up and got @#*^%&@. Not quite, however after seeing how easy it was to learn and the potential behind the game I was hooked.

The trouble though is that I am a miniature gamer and just can't get used to playing with counters. So I went and brought myself the Vree fleet box for Christmas and painted it up in time for a battle with Allan's EA. Managed to get all my minis on the table bar 1 wing of Tzymm and had a ball. However subsequent battles have been a bit more of a challenge.

So I decided to get some Non Aligned Worlds back up and purchased a Brakiri Fleet box and a couple of Halik frigates from BunkerBoi last Friday. Got them finished on Thursday night (bar the Tashkat cruisers) and they are awaiting battle against Allan and Bob [ who is not evil at all ;) ] when our wives let us out to play next Sunday.

A couple of notes on the mini quality (since I see that everyone else has had their say).

With the Vree, Mongoose was kind enough to through in free "Battle Damage" on the Xills, which I couldn't be bothered filling in and filling down. Very authentic. Getting the 2 halves to match was also fun since I had to grind out the internal ring to have one slide over the other. All the other models were OK, however an large number of the Tzymm fighters had part moulded engines and the same happened to a Xorr weapon pack. Hmmmm

As for the Brakiri, the mould quality was much better, though I also got some free battle damage on the Tashkats, the Avioki are a right pain to assemble and I need to buy a new file. The old one has suddenly decided to call it a day.

Anyway I have loaded some photos for you to look at and would appreciate your comments.

The table I made very early in the morning on day when my son work me up at 4AM. He was more than happy to play around in the shed and his mother was glad to have him out of the house! :)

http://homepage.mac.com/lornegibson/babylon5-acta/PhotoAlbum16.html
 
Very nicely painted, I tip my hat to you sir! I particularly like the Vree hiding in cotton wool... :D

I've been pretty lucky with Centauri models, only a few have had serious moulding problems, everything else has been fine.
 
Thanks for the feedback.

Mr Chernobyl, feel free to use any of the photos you like.

The cotton wool is polyester fibre, the stuffing they use in teddy bears and cushions. I have a whole heap of it from somewhere and thought it would make decent dust clouds. When I get the time I plan to dye it dark grey. I just keep on forgetting to buy the dye.

Any tips for making Asteriod fields?
 
Use the eyes from the de-stuffed teddy bears.... :D

Asteroids always seem to be a difficult one, mine either look too overly textured and fake, or just like the really chaep-ass 70's sci-fi fakes. Natural rocks don't seem to look right either, though it might be because I have yet to find the right rocks.
 
Hi Silvereye,

I was thinking of using the volcanic heatbed rocks you using in a gas BBQ (weber??). Bashing them up a bit, black paint and a dry brush and then sticking them on a small flying stand!

If it works I will post a pic.
 
I've previously used Woodland Scenics Talus, get the coarsest grade you can. I've found it much easier though to us lamintaed flat terrain pictures. not as cool, but travels much nicer.

Chern
 
I didn't see any mention of what the table is made of. I am interested in the top. What did you use for the space effect? The models are very nice, I like the planets and the cloud. How well does the cloud work while playing a game?
 
The table was pretty easy to make.

I used a couple of 5mm MDF sheets I had lying around, which placed side by side make a 6 x 7 feet board. The 5mm is fine, since I just lay them on my other gaming tables.

First step was to paint the boards black. I used a brush and a flat black what based paint.

When this was dry I got a couple of cans of spray paint, yellow, red and very light grey green. In this order I "brushed" the colour on using an arc (down swing forward up) motion. This provided the variation in colour density. In addition to this I also short loaded the nozzles by not fully depressing them. This delivered a slight splatter.

Once you have done this, use a can of black spray to apply some dark matter and smooth out any areas which are too colourful.

NB. don't wipe your hand or anything else on the table. If you are changing the distance of the spray you will end up with paint dust on the table (which I found good).

I then splattered white paint using a paint brush using a flicking motion from about 3-4 feet.

Once this was all dry, I applied 2 coats of gloss water based varnish to give it a hard glossy look.

All up it took around 4 hours allowing for 2-3 hours drying time.

I am thinking of making another one so that we can have a couple of games on the go at the same time. If you like I will take some photos of the stages for you.
 
The description you have given is quite satisfactory, but if you want to provide some pictures they are always good to have. Thank you for sharing and the Vree look very good.
 
Excellent paint jobs!

Excellent effects with the cloud!

Excellent table!

Excellent! :D

I look forward to any of your future pictures (and maybe some pics about how to make your next board).
 
Damn impressive mate! :D

Fantastic quality paint job and I'll also admit to being a bit jealous of the gaming table. :wink:
 
Silvereye said:
Use the eyes from the de-stuffed teddy bears.... :D

Asteroids always seem to be a difficult one, mine either look too overly textured and fake, or just like the really chaep-ass 70's sci-fi fakes. Natural rocks don't seem to look right either, though it might be because I have yet to find the right rocks.
Click to expand...

We have been using the rocks obtained from railroad beds. They make very nice asteroids. :mrgreen:


Dave
 
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