Stargrave – A Star Wars Story Pt 2
As mentioned in the first article, I bought the first models online on Etsy and printed the later ones at home, so let us see, what you get for your money online.
If you're not a patreon but buying the files individually (especially if you joined later) the question for make or buy was - especially without a printer - not that big of a decision. At 5,20 USD for STLs versus 10,99 EUR printed and shipped it is a close call (in low numbers).
Stargrave – A long time ago on a gaming table far, far away…
I covered my initial rant about StarWars as a tabletop wargaming IP, and where it works and where it does not. And in the mean time, between having ordered 3d printed models for this setting and printed my own as a patreon of Skull Forge Studios, I have narrowed down the rule set(s) and time frame.
As mentioned in the initial post, this is not going to be Star Wars Legions - for multiple reasons - but a skirmish on a troop / squad level and for that, in my opinion among other systems, Stargrave works quite well.
This idea started last year, that prior to me owning a 3d printer on my own, but I already fancied the 3d sculpts by Skull Forge Studios back then. With the models being outside of the patreon around 5-6 USD per sculpt on Gumroad and Wargames3D offering them for 9 to 11 EUR incl. free shipping from Spain via Etsy, I chose to order some. Among others I got myself these:
Battlefleet Gothic – Chaos Fleet Pt 2
The Chaos Fleet is set, and now it is time to choose the models. My "demand" are the following models.
- 1x Chaos Battle Barge
- 1x Grand Cruiser
- 6x Cruisers
- 3x Idolators Class Raider
- 3x Infidel Class Raiders
- 4x Iconoclast Class Destroyers
The closest option would be to try and go for second-hand market, but with the pricing that would quickly move the overall costs for this fleet above 200 EUR - if I get lucky. The either go for alternative models or get them printed. For Chaos Fleets there are two major creators, who cover the range. That would be Soul Forge Studio and ItalianMoose. With Soul Forge Studio coming up for about 50 USD just for the STLs to print these, with ItalianMoose offering the files for free.
All of what I needed was on cults3d. I used the Battleship file for the Battle Barge, the Grand Cruiser for the Grand Cruiser and what is pretty amazing, ItalianMoose offers the (Heavy) Cruisers either as complete models, or modular, so you can magnetize them, or use the weapons batteries files, that are available on their own.
Troublemaker Games – 6-8mm Terrain
We revisit the range of Troublemaker Games after covering their building and ruins range, it received an elaborated update with a couple new plastic sprues, stls and even printed items. As I'm heading into 6-8mm with my Epic 30k project (and the adjacent topics of Adeptus Titanicus and Aeronautica Imperialis) this was good reason, to give these new additions another look.
The Troublemaker range is sold via Vanguard Miniatures and shipped from the UK. Currently the don't offer IOSS for EU customers, but they offer a shipping cost cap of maximum 10 GBP.
Imperial Fists – A beginning into the Horus Heresy with EpicAU
First of all - don't be irritated, you'll see Imperial Fists in different scales on here. In 28mm for the Warhammer 40k 2nd Edition retro project as recently introduced, and in 6/8mm for EpicAU, as introduced in the Horus Heresy article. For "easier" differentiation, the 28mm on is the 3rd Company of the Imperial Fists, and the epic scaled one the Imperial Fists of the Third Sphere.
And we have to start somewhere, we will do that today with a first draft of a 2,000 point list build with Departmento Munitorum. I am aware that about 4,000 points is a common size, but as said, you have to start somewhere and according to some battle reports I found on YouTube (Tabletop Standard for example) it seems like a reasonable choice to begin with.
Adeptus Titanicus – Warmaster Iconoclast
The variant of the Warmaster Titan, the Iconoclast with different weaponry was released in Winter '21, and actually the first of the Adeptus Titanicus plastic kits, that I didn't cover as a review - until now!
The Warmaster keeps it very similar to the Warlord Titan, where only a single sprue is swapped to cover the alternative variant of the titan. And for that reason, this is more of an add-on along with some further add-ons, to the initial review of the Warmaster variant with the plasma destructors. As well as making use of my newly access to 3d printing.
The kit wasn't supplied by the manufacturer this time, but more of a casual chance at a trade, and I added a few bits that I found online (more in detail below). The RRP of the Warmaster is now 130 EUR since April '22 (compared to 125 EUR when it was released last year) and it covers four large sprues, an oval base, decals, a rather unflattering black and white assembly instruction, along with the cards and terminals made from card board, covering the rules and information for gameplay.
April 2022 review
A mixed month with a lot of 3D Printing of course, I tested out some files for projects where I am going to print the miniatures myself. But it is important for me to not drown in the new possibilities and get some structure in there. I didn't reduce my stock to fill it with printed stuff again, just because I can. So, this needs a plan.
These projects cover a protagonist and antagonist each, basically two forces for each system, so I'm more flexible to host games and such. What are these - well, according to my Tabletop Parking Lot theory, I still have open lots outside of the 28mm department. With my fascination for Adeptus Titanicus, and already having quite the stock here, Epic makes for a reasonable expansion, and covers 6-8mm along with a company level wargame (in distinction to the platoon level that 28mm Warhammer 40k - at least in 2nd edition is).
First Experience with the 3d printer
I have the Anycubic Mono 4K for about 1,5 months now and went through the first litres of resin. Therefore, I'd like to share my first experience with owning a 3d printer.
First of all, the choice of the printer and technology. I don't have the need to print whole armies in 28mm or larger things, it was always about bits and small-scale items. And with that need, FDM was out of the picture, because it wouldn't provide the level of detail that I wanted for those. Resin print was the option I was left with, but the challenges of where to run it and the initial costs.
I estimated roughly for the costs, that as long as my invested in 3d printing services wouldn't be higher than 500 EURs, investing in a printer of my own wouldn't pay off. And 500 EUR is a high threshold just for bits, but with 3 or 4 mid-sized army projects I would rapidly get there. From that point of view, going for two Epic armies and a few bits, I might just be below that. But we all know, once you have access to such a device, you're going to use it. So, that decision was made, that it would be cheaper and more flexible for me to own a printer for what I have in mind (but more on that later) - at least that was my assumption at that point.
Adeptus Titanicus – Legio Astraman Ad Arma Part IV
And we pick up the Legio Astraman for Q2 / 2022 again, I didn't finish them as part of the summer project, but I want to give it another go. New motivation, thanks to a new tool.
I want to start small and work my way up the titan size chart, so I'll pick up the squad of three Warhound titans.
March 2022 review
And then that was Q1 of 2022. March has been incredibly busy, and I don't mean that in a non-wargaming way.
Yesterday was april fools and I took the time to prepare a bit, with our CHAOSBUNKER PREMIUM LOUNGE. I'm glad you enjoyed it and as I got quite some message for the T-Shirts, let me check, if we can put those into reality and maybe use the turnover to do something good, like we did with the charity for cancer in April 2021. I'll keep you posted on this.
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