Oldhammer: 1st Edtion Ork Dreadnought (Warhammer 40k, Metal Miniatures)

Goddammit, I have a hoarding problem. I was cleaning out my bedroom, and found this. I must have brought it donkey's years ago, put it in a box, and forgot about it. Good thing actually, I needed something to do. 

 

So, allow me to do my usual context-providing ramble. The reason why this is a Dreadnought, and not the modern Deff Dread is because that term didn't exist yet. Rather, in the days of 1st edition, basically everyone had access to the same common pool of equipment, something which 2nd edition would move away from, and 3rd ed would largely remove. This was a period when the setting was still in flux, and often dictated by the moulding tech GW had. At this point, the concept of a "Dreadnought" was one of the few vehicle platforms available, and these were small, chunky affairs cast from lead. Plastic kits made by GW were much less common, to the point of actual rariety. There's much mystique associated with this period, although it's outside of my personal nostalgia window. I consider almost every Ork release prior to Gorkamorka and the 3rd ed revamp as early instalment weirdness. Ork Dreadnoughts of this period do however have their own charms, and are a fascinating precursor to what came later. Ork examples came in two distinct sizes, one with a claw and gun, and a taller one with double that. These are obviously the ancestors of the modern Killa Kanz and Deff Dread, if with a rather different look, like an angry potato. They also feature what are literally the same guns as the infantry models, with an odd curved mount. There's a lot of curved mounts, actually, with all the limbs attaching via ball and socket joints. And, yes. This allows for some posing, but only some. Mainly, this only serves to make gluing them together more of an arse than it needs to be. I will however own that I didn't notice some mould lines until it was too late, as I am prone to do. 

 

This model was incomplete when I got it, and I remember thinking at the time that I was not a fan of the weapons. The plasma cannons would be kustom mega blasters under modern rules, but this would have under the 4th ed codex, and I wasn't a fan of overheating. That's probably why I put in storage and forgot about it. The pilot was also missing and so was the banner pole. No biggie on either matter, I just kitbashed an exhaust, and closed the hatch. Getting the thing together though, as mentioned, was a bit of a ball-ache, this model needed some flat connection points and pegs. I attempted to pin these joints, breaking a drill bit in the process, before opting for the baking soda trick. That's probably not great in the long term, but this is a display piece, and a fairly light one at that. 

 

 

Once I got around to painting, I entered my usual zen state of simple/repeatable techniques. Dry-brushing, ink washes, technicals, contrasts and stippling etc. If you are one of the maybe 3 people whom reads these posts regularly, you know what I did. One point I would like to highlight are the orange sensors/windows. I wasn't entirely sure what these details were at first, but I did manage to find an old painting guide. Once done, these really brought the model to life. Job's a good 'un.

All in all? As a model this is really showing it's age, even versus 3rd edition era models like Killa Kanz. Metal minis are always tricky to work with if they have multiple components, but the basic sculpt is primitive. No disrespect to a model about as old as I am, but this is suspiciously close to something I could have moulded from miliput. It is also, smaller than a modern plastic Killa Kan . So, if you really want one, be aware of the work you'll need to do. I wonder if there's a 3d printed equivalent knocking about... 

 

Gunpla: The MSJ-121 Demi Trainer (HG, Gundam: The Witch From Mercury)

When I come to build a gunpla, I usually have some pre-existing experience with the design. Not with the Demi Trainer here, as I'd somehow managed to not watch any of Gundam: The Witch From Mercury in the 7 months since it came out. An unusual oversight for me. At the time of writing, I'm catching up with G-Witch, as it is short-handed, although I don't have any especially deep opinions on it. I like what it's doing so far, but I'm nowhere near that tonal shift that people like to meme about. Anyway, the Demi Trainer. What is the Demi Trainer? Well, it's more or less what would happen if the chinless wonders at Eaton or Oxford decided they needed giant robot classes. Most of the initial episodes of G-Witch take place at a school for the children of arms companies and the Demi Trainer, is, well, the official trainer mobile suit. People have their own, of course, when/if their often-terrible parental figure provides one, but this is the uniform standard. Such things have existed in the Gundam mythos before of course, but the Demi Trainer is a lot more prominent, as background set dressing goes. It attracted me due to its non-threatening grunt vibe. It's the head more than anything, it's just an uncomplicated and functional design.

As both a product and project, the Demi Trainer is very similar to 30MM kits, especially the Extended Armaments chap I've done recently. It's joints feature no polycaps, the sticker sheet is extremely inoffensive, colour separation is on point, and, of course, there's a weapon set sold separately. As such, it's quite a fun lit that goes together with minimal fuss in an afternoon. Once complete it's nice to look at, and quite posable. This is however let down by the ankle/ foot area, which is rather hollow to look at, and doesn't have much forwards/backwards movement. Instead, the toes and heel can rotate separately from each other in a pretty comprehensive ankle tilt. This, and the occasional limb popping off, make it feel a bit rough around the edges versus some 30MM kits, although possibly I'm being a bit hard on it. It does a few things that are very characterful to compensate. Both the gun and shield mount to hardpoints on the forearms, with a nice solid connection, but these ports are not fixed. Instead the entire forearm rotates. The waist joint is unexpectedly advanced too, with the butt-plate serving as a locking mechanism. Finally, there's the whole "saber stick" and "duelling antenna" business. The G-Witch school, inevitably, has giant robot duels, but it's not to the death, it's until you stoke off your opponents antenna. These two accessories let you practice without using actual weapons. 

 

I had the bright idea to attempt three kinds of weathering and detailing, and maybe they don’t work that well together. I attempted to panel-line and pick out a few bits with black ink, which was alright, but I probably could have just used a marker for the same effect. I used dry-brushing and an ink wash to make it dirty, focusing on the extremities and the obvious points of wear. I know that this is a public schoolboy, so making it dirty possibly goes against the theme, but then the box art has one falling over, let’s pretend its that one. 

 

Yeah, I’m probably gonna get Chuchu’s custom example now...

 

 

Wargame Commentary: A Look at Xenos Rampant

This game first came to my attention via a Goonhammer article. I was looking for a fresh project, and it took my fancy. So, I got the book, and read it while travelling by train. Then again over the following weeks. Here are my findings.

Game Mechanics

The basic turn sequence is activation based, with a side order of "I rolled bad, now it's your turn". Each unit can perform one of several actions, like move, axe-to-face, shoot, and shoot back in your opponents turn, with more specialised units having additional options. Most units get a free action they usually do automatically, but most you have to test on 2d6. Pass, and you're good to go, but fail, and you end the turn. Further wrinkles are presented by mandatory actions like Rally, which is caused by unit morale, and the quite memorable Wild Charges rule, which is the Leeroy Jenkins approach to combat. The net effect is that your tactics cannot assume predictable behaviour from models except in a narrow specialisation, and that you need to manage their activations between what needs doing right now, and what a unit can do reliably without conceding the turn. It's not alternating unit activations, but it's inherently more dynamic than Igo-Ugo turns for this reason. The matter of causing harm meanwhile is something quite abstract, especially if you're used to weapons having discreet characteristics and multiple stages of dice rolling. To shoot a gun or throw a punch, a unit rolls ten d6, five if below half strength. You compare that to the relevant stat, I. E Shoot Value, and each you time you meet or exceed that value, it's a success. Then you compare that to the targets Armour Value, and for each group of successes that matches that value, you cause a loss of Strength; damage is done. So if you get 3 successes, and the target is armour 3, you reduce it's Strength by one, which could be either a guy biting it, or an armour plate falling off a vehicle. So it's an easily internalised system, where modest characteristic improvements have a big difference, rather than equipment explicitly improving something. A related concept is how the game treats weapon ranges. The range typically stated is it's optimal range, but guns can shoot at Extreme Range, which is unlimited by default, but the target gains an Armour bonus. On a standard 4 by 4 board, this means that anything with guns can hit everything it can see, but at distance such attacks are more about suppressing a foe, than doing real damage.

The Gimmick

So, with the basic mechanics summarised, what is Xenos Rampant unique selling point? It's positioned as a simple and adaptable system for 28mm scifi gaming. It's miniature agnostic, like Gaslands, meaning that players are encouraged to just take whatever they have in their collection, apply whatever rules make sense, and be gaming in 10 minutes, tops. You don't get an army list, you get a total of 13 often densely written unit entries, pus the commander, a chapter of further xenos rules for customisation, and 60 pages of sample settings. This looks more involved than it actually is, with many rules repeated for convenience. The book prioritizes the unit types over the turn sequence in its layout, which isn't actually my preferred approach, but OK. It's an undeniably flexible system, but one that seems to favour less is more. It's not a system where you finely tune every aspect of the unit, you are intended to make a generalist take, but I found it very tempting to layer stuff on like pizza toppings. There's often more than one way to represent something in this game, with probably the most interesting being the idea of a Reduced Model Unit, where you keep the stats as they were, but use fewer models, thus simulating a more powerful unit like your army commander. The xenos rules meanwhile, and the setting specific rules, tend to be a bit more focused. There's stuff for zombies, robots, demons, and the nature of the battlefield, all with numerous example forces.

As there's probably too much for me to meaningfully analyse at this time, let's do a case study. Assuming that I did want to play this, how might some of my orky projects be represented? Xenos Rampant has a lot of moving parts, and the whole army building bit is somewhat more literal than it usually is. So lets have a go.

 

Ork Boyz: there's actually two good candidates off the bat, and which one you'd pick would be based on your clan and preference for shooting. Light Infantry is the obvious pick, as that's what Orks usually qualify as. You'd take Increased Squad Size, Assault Doctrine, and Close Quarters Doctrine, and you'd a have a good approximation. Alternatively, Berzerk infantry are much better at close combat without modification, if loosing ranged options. They are also subject to the Wild Charges rule, which is a major downside given how activations work, but TBH, it's a rare day when I wouldn't want to charge my lads in. There is also the Lesser Xenomorph unit, which is probably better suited to Tyranid beasties, but it might work for you. So, it helps to have a clear concept in mind, and pick whatever fits best without making more work for yourself.

Trukks: Xenos Rampant usually limits you to one armoured vehicle, I. E. a single tank, but has freer access to "Softskin vehicles". This could quite happily represent the Kult of Speed, and you can make a trukk by simply taking Transport(10). Softskins don't natively have a ranged attack worth mentioning, so you could make it a Technical for added dakka, but it's not hugely necessary.

Killa Kanz: these I had to think about for a bit, because they exist in one of those weird tactical niches 40k has, and Xenos Rampant is less granular. Making a Softskin Walker with Technical is the obvious choice, but one that tends to get expensive versus regular vehicles. I found that it was nessecary to apply a few downgrades to make them cheap and disposable i.e. Close Quarters Doctrine, Green Crew (heh) and Slow.  Alternatively, you can lean into the adaptability of the system and have them count as a reduced model unit of something. By comparison, Deff Dredds are much easier to represent in game. Just have a Fighting Vehicle with Walker, and it's done bar the tweaking. 

 

Meganobs: these are quite obviously Elite Infantry with Super Heavy Armour, a melee upgrade, and possibly Close Quarters Doctrine or Heavy Weapon subject to your clan and play style. You could probably do a mega-armoured warboss as a reduced model unit too. Point of interest for 40k players, you do get a free trait for your army commander, but it's randomised, and half of which are purposefully bad. You could also do Killa Kanz this way, although the irony makes my head hurt. 

 

Gunwagon: there is a bit of limitation with the rules in that it treats Fighting Vehicles (tanks) and Transports as two very different things, and Orks don't. In the absence of an IFV equivalent, I'd lean towards a Fighting Vehicle. As an alternative, Softskin vehicles have the option for a Large Vehicle & Transport(10), which could make a degree of sense, although it's more of a Mad Max War-Rig sorta thing. So, potentially awesome, but not nessecairly ideal.

Other ideas: The Support Infantry unit lends itself well to the more specialised forms of Orks, like Burna Boyz, Lootas, and Tankbustas. Militia Rabble are obviously Gretchin. The Beast Snagga units are a little trickier given the overlap with regular Orks, but you could give them Force Fields to represent their durability, and Hatred(Big Things) for their love of hunting. Their squiggly mounts, meanwhile, are either one of the Xenos units or the Mobile rule.

Conclusions

I'm both impressed and fascinated by Xenos Rampant. It's like encountering The Mecha Hack, but for wargames. As a system, it's boiled things down to essentials for faster play, with a self-aware sense of humour about it. Probably the main arguments against it are a matter of design objectives. Xenos Rampant isn't trying to be a tournament style competitive game, it's more a laissez-faire system, and that ain't for everyone. On a more personal level, I found the infantry focus to be a bit limiting, see the case study above, but that's something you're encouraged to fix yourself. I may very well give this a go.

Yuexing Animation: Tank Alliance Is Something That Exists

Generally speaking, I don't bother with the euphemistically named "third party" Transformer scene. A better name would be "unlicensed”, such things trading off the brand recognition while inviting legal action that never quite seems to happen. I'm not gonna be a snob about such things, as some of ‘em can be honestly very good, but there is a certain tendency for these manufacturers to create hugely expensive boutique items for collectors. Often the same item, by five or so different companies in rapid succession, that may be short on actual fun or creativity. So, I only deal with that market very intermittently, and for oddities. Hence the Tank Alliance and today's article. The back story of this set is a little mysterious. As near as I can figure, Yuexing Animation is one of the innumerable Chinese companies making robot toys, either ripping off Transformers, making their own stuff, or bootlegging the work of others, and/or being bootlegged themselves. Specifics seem to be hidden behind the language barrier, but this does seem to be an attempt to do something a bit different. And just looking at the stock image should tell you immediately how different. It's a set of six cutesified WW2 tanks, similar to the World War Toons models by Meng now I come to think of it, that transform into similarly cute robots, which combine into a giant robot by way of Funko Pops. Given the general vibe, and similarities to the Combaticons, this has prompted various half joking nicknames like "Cuteicus" and “Bruticus, whoops all tanks edition". It's a frankly daft idea, which I absolutely had to have. Even though I knew that it was probably going to be a very silly waste of money even by my standards of self-indulgent purchasing. 

 

So, what's it like in general? Well, it's like a late wave Combiner Wars giftset. You know, one that came in a big box, changed up the accessories, and possibly had a suggestion the moulds are wearing out? Or, put more charitably, that the design team is doing their level best, creating an interesting piece, but with a few flaws. It also comes with a massive box too, which is actually kinda nice, but don't feel bad about ordering these guys loose. As individual toys each is fairly reminiscent to a Combiner Wars era limbot deluxe, notably with respects to the waist joints. It's not direct a copy though, the combining bits are entirely different, in fact reminding me a lot of CW Devastator with how the torso goes together. The inevitable question is build quality, and I'm happy to report a favourable comparison to a modern Transformers deluxe. It's not as refined, some things just don’t fit like they probably should, but I still remember the issues with joint tolerances and tabbing in Combiner Wars, not to mention the occasional modern stinker, and the Tank Alliance is definitely holding it's own. You've got six pretty good tanks, at least five of which are better than CW Brawl, all sharing similar but distinct engineering, that combine into an adorable, if not hugely posable, gestalt form. There is also s seventh tank formed from leftover combiner bits, and it's a special kind of lunacy. Let's break this down into segments.

Arm Buddies: “TH-38” S35 Somua (desert drab) & “ST-39” M5A1 Stuart (olive drab)

The most similar to a Combiner Wars deluxe, these two chaps set the tone for the set. We got tank modes that edge into Advance Wars territory visually, but are actually based on WW2 tanks, lighter ones of the early war period. “ST-39” is based on the American Stuart, the compressed portions dropping a set of bogey wheels, which led me to initially think it was a Sherman. The S35 Somua led to go dumpster diving in youtube comments to figure what it was, but it turns out its a French cavalry tank, given how the war went for France, its probably not surprising I didn’t recognise it. These tanks rely a lot on plastic for their colouring for, with metallic paint picking out details like the tracks. The sculpts are simple on first glance, but there’s plenty going on. The turrets also turn, CW Brawl, I’m looking at you, and the guns can pivot up and down. A regrettable downside is that they lack rolling wheels, or weapon storage, which would have made the tank modes basically ideal. Thier robot modes are similarly dumpy and cute. These bring more grey into in the mix via the revealed robot bits, which ends up being the common visual element of the team. Posability is decent, if not spectacular. All the major joints are covered, for 16 points of articulation, so each can happily use their firearm. I’d say “ST-39” was my favourite here, but its a very close race. 

 

 

Leg Buddies: “BP-35” Panzer V Panther (Desert Drab) & “SU-34” T-34 (Olive Drab)

Evoking the meatgrinder that was The Battle of Kursk, these two chaps form the legs, while having a number of subtle but meaningful differences from the arm chaps. They are the most similar to the aforementioned Brawl in terms of overall appearance in robot mode. Admittedly, they are still in the super-deformed style, if not as wide in the chest as the above pair. Other visual changes include painted mouthplates, and their turrets worn high. The leaner proportions help with posing, as do the wrist swivels, but the forearms are undeniably messy. I suppose you could flip over the bits as knuckledusters, if that does it for you? Their tank modes meanwhile continue the positives, and these two are undoubtedly the big name tanks of the set. Their part in the combined form is however is kinda minimal; I wouldn't be shocked if you told me these dudes weren't originally intended to combine. Forming legs is mainly a matter of putting them into tank mode and flipping a small strut out at each end. It works, but I have doubts in the long term. Of the two, I’d probably pick “SU-34”, but only because the other had a non-essential tab break.

 

Body Buddies: “GT-37” Panzer IV (Grey) & “WWT-36” Panzer 38t (Blue)

For the final pair, we go back to the early war for a Nazi doubleheader, although to be fair to the 38t, that was originally Czechoslovakian. Here is where the CW Devastator comparison comes in, as we have two dudes forming the torso, one having the unenviable job of being the pelvis and thighs. The pair are heavily reliant on the combiner kibble and tabbing to stay together, and so the pair diverge significantly in their engineering from the above. When it comes to “GT-37”, the experience isn't that different, but “WWT-36” is really taking one for the team. It's the weakest individual toy in both modes, the tank form being the most difficult to place and no real turret rotation. Meanwhile, the robot form suffers from having a weird and limited neck. It does however have the most interesting transformation, the scheme being reversed from the norm, so the robot chest is formed from the rear of the tank. He's not actually terrible or anything, but he would have benefited from another draft, maybe thick ratchet joints. “GT-37” fares better. He's somewhat more kibblely given both the additional armour and combiner ports, but his functions as an individual are less compromised. Both are pretty good though for what they are, it's just the blue chap feels like the one with the most difficult job, and he's kinda of a C-. 

 

 

Combiner Tank

Before we get to the main event, let's talk about the combiner bits. Now, in the pursuit of a great big robot made from many smaller ones, a problem that occurs is where to store the giant head and hands etc. when not combined, while still having everything look good. Many toys, especially those of 80's Transformers, opted to have these as external parts you just put to one side, which is the original meaning of the fandom term "kibble" I've used above. It's not great as such things go. A lot of modern toys still do it that way, including in the third party market, and the Tank Alliance does do too. However two things run in its favour, in that the head wasn't gonna store anywhere, and that they've done something delightfully daft with the leftover bits. A ridiculous assembly of all the combiner bits, this put me in mind of the old Micromaster Combiners like Sixwing. It is however reliant on you putting all the individual guns on it for full effect, which allows that one last gun barrel to store. While this probably isn’t the reason you’d buy the set, you have to respect the insanity on display.

Combined Mode

I’m not gonna mince my words. This poses better than you’d think, but its main skill is just standing there being adorable. Between the engineering, the weight, and the proportions, you can’t really do dynamic with this guy. The best you get is a kind of “angry puppy” vibe. My criticisms here are the head and knee design. The head is lacking both articulation and a good connection, while the knees are kinda theoretical and based on tabbing. Said tabs are honestly robust in a manner befitting a tank, so I’m probably worrying needlessly, but I’d feel a lot happier if there was more mass to them. Your expectations having been adjusted, Cuticus is however doing two honestly good things beyond being adorable. The first is articulated hands, and the second is a gun to hold in them. Said gun is formed from the individual weapons of the team, and its a very well-executed little gimmick. It helps that its all the same colour, and that there’s a dedicated tab for the hands. The articulation in this form certainly allows him/them to that gun too, with 15 points in the major joints, and a further 6 in each hand. You can make the toy just that little more expressive which feels honestly a bit premium for the price. And there’s the simple pleasure of having a big robot made from six tanks. I don’t think I need to defend that.

 

 

My point? Only that the Yuexing Animation Tank Alliance is something that exists. I don’t know why it exists. There’s a certain train of though that suggests it maybe shouldn’t, but it does. Its like someone purposely made this for me, possibly through the misuse of a time machine. Its got is weaknesses, but its also got charms.