Aerial Helix Unboxings - Alliance of Kurak Core Races

For the second part of the Planetfall Aerial Helix unboxings we have the ships of the Kurak Alliance Core races. You may have seen a sneak peak of the Terrans already in the last painting update, but we'll cover those again anyway. Given that, we may as well tackle them first...

Opening the box and getting to the resin we have four interceptors and one heavy interceptor, the first requiring only their jet exhaust adding, the heavy requiring two of these plus having a rear-mounted pod as well.

The models are nicely moulded with a minimum of casting flash, the heavy just needing the pouring lugs cutting off, which are nicely located where the exhausts will be glued - always nice to see a manufacturer thinking about this sort of thing in its production methods - kudos to you, Martin and your team! 

Taking a closer look at the interceptor, I rather like the "just in the future" look of these vehicles, they're very sleek and compact, and are a nice contrast to the Hawker planes, which i also really like. I also like how they are essentially the same as the SRS tokens from Firestorm...a nice little tie-in.

Underneath the models lose nothing in the way of detail, having six detailed missiles sculpted on, and with an integral flight stand holder.

Moving onto the heavy, again I really like the look of this, though I'm not sure it really screams "interceptor" to me...it looks like a ground attack and transport craft, but that's just my interpretation. 

 Detail on this model is superb, there's even a hatch sculpted into the underside to where the pod fits - very cool.

The pod itself is a bit of a mystery to me, it makes the whole thing feel a little like Thunderbird 2 - which while being no bad thing, again it doesn't personally chime with the interceptor theme. It's very nice though - I half expect it to launch out a couple of jetbikes or something!

OK, onto the aliens, specifically the Aquans

The Aquans are getting some very cool stuff in Planetfall (as they have in Armada), and the aerial helix is no exception

The five ships you get are all one-piece, the simplest in any of the helix boxes, but don't let that fool you in any way...these are not simplistic or basic in any way. The designs are beautiful, elegant and menacing at the same time.

The interceptors are sweet models, instantly recognisable as Aquan and they tie in extremely well with the existing Planetfall releases.

The Heavy interceptor is one of my favourite models from this release, it's like the interceptors but looks faster and meaner. It has lovely flowing lines and the sculpting is fantastic...10/10 for the Aquans I think!

Last (and for me, the least) for the Kurak Alliance are the Sorylians.

Now, I don't hate this box, it just puzzles me slightly...especially given the models that SG have just announced for the ground attack helix for the Sorylians. First, let's have a look at what you get in the box...

...it's a lot of stuff! Each of the interceptors is a six-piece model;

So there's the central pod, the two engines, two "winglets" and the flight stand holder insert. That gives us pod racers. Hmmmm. Now, it's an ok concept I guess, but again I'm looking at this with my suspension of disbelief eye...the rider is exposed, and even in a future with shields and power armour, this just seems unnecessary for such a practical and pragmatic race as the Sorylians. One possible answer would be that the lack of a physical cockpit gives the pilot an unprecedented field of view...but that argument is really shot down (excuse the pun) by the TERRIBLE field of view this guy is going to have whilst hunched over the controls - his forward vision is a measly 20 degrees between those pods, his forward down FOV is about the same. Again, you could argue that in the far future instruments will provide all this data, but in that case why have him exposed at all? Simply put, I'd prefer this model if the pods were under the line of the fuselage and in line with the pod. Having seen renders opf the ground attack ships, that's kinda what I'd expect of the interceptors. In fact, in all probability we'll simply swap with these models - these simply look and feel more like ground attack craft than interceptors.

Now that's not to say that these are not bad sculpts, by the way - as always, the execution of the designs and moulding is second-to-none - the pods in particular have some fabulous detail, and will really benefit from some nice painting.

The Heavy Interceptor, in stark contrast, is GREAT. It has a solid, purposeful design, looks Sorylian and has some great engineering features - like separated engine nacelles and the FOD guards on the intakes.There's also no discernable canopy, which further highlights the oddity of the pod racer design of the interceptor. 

casting on this model is also fabulous, again Spartan blow me away with how they cast items like this in a single piece and retain the complexity and detail of the designs - masterful!

Overall, the aerial helixes are again a somewhat mixed bag, though with 5/6 designs being absolutely top-notch that's not a bad win rate. The Sorylian pod racers are another "quirky" design that will be another marmite design choice that may put people off, though I think it's modular design and overall quality mean that it'll be easy to assemble into another, non-pod racer configuration. Spartan get it right more often than not, and their high standard of output has led us to expect an awful lot from them...we're lucky people really!

Aerial Helix Unboxings - Zenian League Core Races

The Aerial Helixes have been out for a couple of weeks now, and my usual unboxings have been delayed by a whole bunch of real life "stuff", but here is the first, addressing the Zenian League races.

We'll start off with the main proponents of war, the Dindrenzi.

They get a Heavy Interceptor and three standard interceptors, the latter modelled on the SRS tokens in Firestorm, which is a nice touch, and repeated with the Terran Helix. The others depart from this theme, but I'll get to that when we deal with those Helixes. The Dindrenzi Helix has one of the highest part numbers of the sets, as you can see.

The Dindrenzi heavy is a very nice ship, with a somewhat predatory silhouette, and moulded in a single piece with four engine add-ons.

All the parts are sharply moulded as you'd expect from Spartan, requiring a minimum of clean-up. Some of the engine parts have a little more thickness on the bottom, leading to them being slightly different heights. Rather than try to sand them all down to the same height, I just lined them up in height order and used similar sized units on each flyer, which worked just fine - the differences are only going to be noticeable if you use them side-by-side.

The standard interceptors require the most assembling of any aerial Helix bar the Relthoza Heavy. As there are three of them this amounts to the most modelling you will do in the aerial boxes. As well as the engine pieces, they require the wings to be added...which is the first snag. Looking at the models, the attachment area has a distinctive downward sweep angle of about 15 degrees, but on  the box they look like they've been assembled with wings straight out. If you do this, however, you're relying on the <1mm tab contact surface to hold the wing on.

In the end I decided to go ahead and angle the wing, both to provide a better joint, and because they look cooler that way. As the Heavy Interceptor also has downward turned winglets, they tie in well as a whole...plus who knows - they may be like X-Wings and have variable wing geometry!

Next up are the Directorate, who get a Heavy and no less than five drones

The heavy features some of the limited amount of metal in these releases - the missile pods Directorate players will already be familiar with from their Combat carrier. Once again it is beautifully cast with very little in the way of clean-up required.

Other than this, it has a flight stand holder and two dual-engine blocks to add to the underside/rear of the model.

The Drones, on the other hand, require very little assembly at all, being one-piece sculpts with just a flight stand needing to be added. They are very reminiscent of the designator drone in the tank destroyer set.

Both sets fit nicely with the established themes of the factions, the Dindrenzi being flying bricks that will probably scream overhead after their ordnance has pounded your position, as subtle as a display team at an airshow. The Directorate you'll probably only be aware of as your equipment malfunctions seconds before missiles slam into your forces from some unidentified location...based on the models alone (I haven't looked at stats yet), I'd recommend either to Dindrenzi or Directorate players.

Finally on the Zenian side are the Relthoza.

This set has probably caused the most controversy amongst Firestorm / Planetfall players (even more so than the Sorylian set which we'll discuss in the AoK Aerial unboxings), even before you open the box. Why? Flying Bugs, thats why.

Now, for me (and many other Relthoza players out there) the Relthoza were a really novel and unique race in the pantheon of miniatures games, because here were giant spider-monsters who were NOT a big hive-mind tyranid-esque plague swarming out across the galaxy eating their way through everyone etc. They stood out because they were subtle and stealthy, masters of cloaking and nanotechnology - these were not dumb bugs, but highly evolved, intelligent and creative individuals.

Some of the Planetfall releases seem to have directly gone against this background, and the aerial set literally seems to fly in the face of it. Here we have flying bugs - probably the oldest cliche to fall into with an insectoid race (which has been hinted at rather than an arachnoid race as they've always been). This bugs me in a number of ways (see what I did there? ;-) ).

1. It seems to be subtly ret-conning the Relthoza background - and I LOATHE ret-conning
2. Why would ANY advanced race which extensively uses drone technology for its SRS (as per the existing background) use a "flying combat suit" on the ground? You don't see the US military using men in flying suits as heavy interceptors or as flying controllers for their Reaper drones, do you? Why not? Because it makes no sense whatsoever
3. Even IF a flying suit made sense, WHY OH WHY would you power it with ACTUAL WINGS? The Relthoza are one of the most advanced races in the Firestorm universe, but they're going to make a suit with flappy wings? Take a look out the window next time you're near an airport or airbase...how many flappy wing aircraft do you see? None...now ask yourself why that is...because we have found different technological ways of flying...I rest my case.
4. It seems to be almost comic...which isn't what I'm looking for in my games

In short, this set messes with my suspension of disbelief. Now I get why some people who have just come into Planetfall think its cool - "Hey, flying bugs, these guys are like the arachnids form Starship Troopers", but the Relthoza were already cool, and DIFFERENT. It's just disappointing when Spartan have done so many cool things to see this sort of direction for the Relthoza, and it's the third time we've seen this kind of blip too...the Sorylian leviathan and the Aquan fish-riders being the other two (which I actually like, for the record).

Now I get that this is Spartan's universe and it will take it in directions that it wants, but for me it's just odd that it would pull in different directions to those already established over 6 years with Firestorm Armada...which should be the natural expansion base for Planetfall. The thing is that gamers are sensitive people - often highly attuned to difference...it's no surprise that they tend to be detail oriented..the sorts of personalities that notice editing and continuity errors in films. Why limit your expansion into an existing player base with differences in feel and background? I know many Firestorm players who feel this way, or nervous about both Planetfall AND Firestorm, wondering if these sorts of changes will wash back across the FA universe they love too. I really hope it doesn't, because I know from personal experience that these sorts of shifts can end up costing player-base, and for a game like Firestorm that is not firmly established everywhere, that could be costly...if you can't find a game locally, what do you do? 

Anyway, back to the Relthoza models. You get one heavy and three standard interceptors in the set, just like the Dindrenzi.

The heavy os a 10-part model, and not the easiest to put together from what I've heard (I've not assembled mine yet - still deciding exactly what to do!). Not surprising given the nature of the ball-and-socket joints, which provide a great deal of flexibility in posing (which is nice). The parts themselves are fantastic, and flash etc is minimal and restricted on the most part to the metal parts as casting spurs.

The drones are all single-piece castings, only requiring the adjoining pieces removing from between the wings and the pouring points cleaning up.

Once again, there are points on this model I like and points I don't. I like how it resembles the light walker, I think that's neat. I like how the "wings" seem to be platforms for some form of anti-gravity unit rather than physical wings...BUT...why have the "wings" at all? Why not positional A-G pads like on the hovercraft in The Matrix? Why not a dozen other possibilities?

At the end of the day, the Relthoza Helix just does nothing for me. There's always going to be this sort of thing in any game, and making flying bugs was always going to be divisive, which is why I don't really get why Spartan did it. Don't get me wrong - if you like that sort of thing then the models are beautifully executed as we've come to expect from Spartan games, and I'd highly recommend them to anyone on that basis. If they're not your thing, then they'll "bug" you in the same way they do for me!

Overall the Aerial helixes are exactly what you'd expect from Spartan - excellent models, great casts and sometimes quirky decisions!

Quick update - painting recap...Halo, Firestorm Armada, Planetfall & Zombicide!

Well it's been a month since the last post, and although I intended it to be the final segment of the System Wars review with the Commanders, I've had a few developments since that time. Work has been pretty unpleasant and stressful too, so instead I've been investing what little free time I have into actually doing some painting. This is relaxing, especially whilst catching up with recent or historical podcasts, and exactly what I've needed.

Of course, this is a good thing on many fronts, as it also reduces the wall of unpainted resin and plastic, and enhances our gaming experiences, so it's all good...the true win-win!

First up in this review of what I've been doing are the Covenant ships for Halo Fleet Battles. These are truly lovely ships, and I've waited a little while before painting them as I wanted to think about the effect I wanted before committing. Anyway, I saw a painting Youtube on the SG Community, and decided to steal/adapt their technique. This essentially involves priming silver and then covering with transparent paint to achieve a metallic under-sheen that looks very Covenant-like. I used an auto-spray can for Alloy wheels, and then used Purple and Blue Shades from Army Painter to finish. I put in a fair amount of variation, which I find gives quite a pleasing effect on the tabletop.

Now this is only stage 1, of course, with detail and engine glows etc still to add, but I think I've achieved more-or-less the effect I wanted. Unfortunately half-way through this my faithful Badger 150 broke, the nozzle shearing off somehow, so I bought a complete Medium conversion kit for it (it's the most cost-effective way of repairing it), and as I was away on business it arrived before I could spray again anyway, giving the old faithful a new lease of life, plus my old needle and parts as spares.

Next up were the Works Raptor Destroyers and Battlecruisers. These I gently shaded from black to lighter grey on several surfaces to give some tonal variation, then added weapons and power core/engine glows to fit with my other WR ships.

Note I've left off the PITA metal shields, which I'll paint separately and attach after I'm done detailing the main battlecruiser hulls. This inspired me to press on with my Ba'kash as well, since I've only played with them once as primed models and they did well, so they deserve to have a proper finish. For this I've chosen a Bronze basecoat, again Army painter which I've sprayed over a matt grey primer. This produces a very shiny and slightly glittery effect overall.

Cruiser and Destroyer, which I've used as a heavy cruiser and standard cruiser respectively. This is mainly because I'm not a huge fan of the Heavy Cruiser parts for the model, and I much prefer the old destroyer models, which I have a pair of...

And here's one of them with a frigate. Now this glittery effect is not one I particularly want, but I wasn't too worried since this is just a basecoat, and after a coat of Army Painter Strong Tone...

 It looks much nicer. You can see the pipe areas where I haven't washed (as I'll be painting these a different colour) are much brighter - the washed areas look much more "lived in" and realistic.

Here's the Frigate similarly washed. A drybrush with the bronze and edge highlights in silver, with some oxidation wash here and then should look good before doing the engine glow on these.

Now actually it's been a fair while since I posted anything paintwise, so I've quite some catch-up to do as well on updating the blog. Before I had my airbrush failure, I'd sprayed my Directorate Invasion ships, and before that I'd sprayed the Dindrenzi landers took. As these are atmospheric entry craft, I painted the Dindrenzi in my planetfall colours, whilst I tried some of Anarchy Models' paint masks on my Directorate, carrying on with my new adapted paint scheme for them. Here they both are.

Here's my Directorate RotO ships sporting the newer camo. Although I liked the effect, the Anarchy Models masks are definitely better than the "kids fishing net" mask I used for the RotO ships.

Now it's not just spaceships that have been receiving the attention of the brush...I know I'm jumping the gun a little since I've not yet posted unboxing blogs of them yet, but here are a couple of the new aerial Helixes. The first, the Dindrenzi...

As I was an ardent modeller prior to entering the gaming arena proper, and the rest of my dindrenzi are in late WWII German camo colours, I thought aerial late WWII colours of RLM 81/82 over 76 was appropriate.

The sahrk-like heavy looks especially menacing with the dapple on the fuselage.

Next up are the Dindrenzi's sworn enemies, the Terrans. Their "just in the future" look means they benefit from a US-style modern two-tone aerial combat scheme, both on the interceptors and the heavy.

Finally, the last of the aerial Helixes I've photographed (though I have sprayed the Aquan and Sorylian) is the Directorate.

This was another use of the Anarchy models Hex camo masks, but with a reversed colour contrast.

The Drones I've just gone for a simple dark grey top with light grey undersides, similar to the plain grey of the ground forces.

Next up are some of the larger zombies from the very fun Zombicide - here we have the original season 1 Abomination with a Fatty...still need to finish the camera. but almost there...

And here are the Prison Outbreak and Angry Neighbours Abominations too.

These are great models to paint, a lot of fun and painting them really makes a difference...can't wait to play with them!