30k S.O. Killzone and a request for help

By the end of the year I will release a 30k version of Special Operations Killzone. This version will be grander in scale than standard SO KZ. Teams will start off at 400pts and scale up to 750; it is 30k after all and should be Legion scaled Killzone!

30k Killzone will also add land speeders and dreadnoughts into the lists; which is something that standard Killzone will never do. It will also focus more on the Elite and Specialist units from the Legions.

In other Killzone news, I need some help out with keeping Codex Operatives up to date. The reality of the situation is that GW is updating to fast for me and my freelance game design work has me slammed to the max. This leaves very little time for updating KZ at a reasonable rate.

I need at least two volunteers dedicated to working with me on Codex Operatives. With help I can keep standard SO KZ alive and up to date. Otherwise it will remain lacking and only 30k Killzone will remain fully up to date going forward.

So if you can please consider lending a hand, cause I would hate for standard SO Killzone to remain so out of date in the Codex dept.

Until next time, keep your powder dry and bullets flying!

-Jim

Alien vs Predator game Kickstarter

This game and these miniatures are a long time dream come true for me! I love these two movie series! Prodos Games the guys behind Warzone Resurrection are in the final days of their Kickstarter for AvP!

This Kickstarter is to produce a limited edition version of the board game with highly detailed resin miniatures. In late 2014 a standard version will come out with your typical plastic playing pieces, but it is for sure that they will not be as nice as this limited edition version.

There will also be a full on wargame version of AvP where you move off the boardgame set onto the regular battlefield.

So far the miniatures that we have been show are stunning! IMHO

Prodos has also given us a scale image to GW's minis.

So if you are a long time fan of Aliens like I am this is something you should consider jumping in on! Alien Vs Predator the Game Kickstarter

Come join the Bug Hunt with me!

My first Warzone Resurrection models

Here are the first models I have painted for Warzone Resurrection. They have taken an excruciatingly long time to complete due to my current limitations. Before I show them off there are a few things I would like to share about the new miniatures line.

First off these are not "heroic" scaled miniatures, they are 100% proportional to their scale. They are billed as 28mm, but are actually 32mm, which I am excited about. The WZR models are 100% 3D designed, then printed and cast. They are cast out of polyurethane resin and have exceptional details. This isn't your standard quality resin either, out of my nearly 200 miniatures I have received I have not found a single bubble on them at all.

Secondly being truly proportioned to scale and being used to "heroic" scale models for 20 years is a bit startling at first. However once you begin building and painting these you become accustomed to it very quickly! I love them the more I look at them, they are gorgeous miniatures!

Thirdly these will not mix at all with any of the old existing Warzone miniatures, which is great in my eyes cause 80% of them look like garbage to today's standards.

Ok on to the eyecandy:

Here is a Capitol Free Marine:

Next up is a Dark Legion Razide:

I am quite pleased with how these have turned out, especially with my current painting limitations.

Until next time, keep your powder dry and bullets flying!

Leaving my mark on Mutant Chronicles Warzone Resurrection

The revival of the Mutant Chronicles universe on the tabletop is quickly approaching retail release via Warzone Resurrection. I am pumped about it for many reasons. First off this is my second favorite Sci-fi gaming universe, it is well written and has a compelling setting. Secondly I got to lend a hand in bringing this property back to life.

I was talking with the guys at Prodos Games asking them copious questions about the design of the new system. We talked about all sorts of things including the desire for everything about Warzone Resurrection to be very dynamic, from the miniatures to the rules, right down to how the table could interact with the armies during game play.

Prodos Games had chosen a very aggressive release window and I knew that they could use all the support they could get. I had mentioned many different ways that other games had done including the very dynamic mission system that had been created for Special Operations Killzone (my unofficial 40k fan skirmish game) as something they might want to look at to get ideas for something inspiring for Warzone’s gameplay.

They mulled over their options for a few weeks; I was eagerly waiting to see what they had come up with, when I got asked to help create a similar mission system for Warzone Resurrection; they mentioned what bits they were keen on and which they were not. I was totally stoked at the opportunity to help bring back the game with a very dynamic way to play games.

I decided against trying to reinvent the wheel, and took the baseline content from the Killzone missions as a starting point. First thing I did was strip out the 40k from them and the less liked bits, which was extremely simple. Callous disregard and desperate gamble were scrapped in favor of a tiered difficulty system.

So I went about setting up a tier system allowing players to determine how in-depth they want their games to be. There are 4 tiers Alpha, Beta, Delta and Epsilon levels each one adds another type of mission objective to the game. Delta is the most in-depth and difficult of the mission tiers with three distinct missions to complete over the course of a game.

After that I worked out deployment types for the missions, mostly tweaking and renaming things to fit Warzone; there are 5 possible deployment types.

Next I tackled the missions themselves. I started by tweaking appropriate KZ missions, in the end there are 10 Priority missions, 6 secondary missions and 9 Corporate Agenda missions.

I compiled all this hard work together and sent it to the guys at Prodos and they were thrilled. Then it was on to playtesting and tweaking, although there was very little tweaking to be done, thank goodness.

I want to give a hearty thanks to all the people past and present that have helped with Special Operations Killzone, especially Brian (my long time partner in crime and terrain maker extraordinaire), Joe and Vlad who were instrumental in the creation of the current mission system out of the more complex earlier versions. So thanks again guys, without you SO Killzone would not have enjoyed the success that it has.

I have not made any money from this great undertaking, but I have been more than happy to aid in bringing back a fantastic universe to the tabletops of the globe! Although I did get a pair of pre-release Razide minis and my name credited in the Warzone Resurrection rulebook, which is cool beyond words.

So while I may have been down and out from actual hobbying, I found a way to contribute to the community.Thank goodness for this project it literally kept me from going crazy during the worst part of my recovery.

Until next time, keep your powder dry and lead flying!

-Jim

New Horizons, Going Forward

It is time to say goodbye to 40k centric Galaxy in Flames and move forward into blogging about all of my miniature wargaming experiences. I just cannot completely say goodbye since I built a very solid community on GiF and made a ton of new friends here as well, so think of this as a re-branding of sorts because that is basically what it is. A dawn of a new blogging era, please join me on this journey!

I have re-booted many things in my personal life to contend with my health issues. My life has been a constant struggle for the last 18 months, but now that I am getting a real manageable handle on those I can move forward in the hobby world.

I will still offer 40k hobby content although going forward there will probably be more Horus Heresy 30k than 40k. I will also be offering content for Warzone Resurrection, Flames of War, Grunts 15mm Sci-fi, Muskets and Tomahawks (French Indian War skirmish), Lord of the Rings and anything else shiny that strikes my fancy.

On top of all that Special Operations Killzone will be here as well, as my buddy Lee and I are working hard to catch up with the crazy release schedule that GW is throwing at us.

Until next time, keep your powder dry and bullets flying!

Trials and tribulations

So I have been through the ringer in the past 2 years. It all started when I was hit by a car while crossing the street. At the time it did not phase me much other than being extremely sore. Well it turns out it exacerbated my existing neck and back issues from my Paramedic career ending tumble down some stairs when I was 31

Since the day of my initial injury I have been in semi constant pain in my lower back and hip from sciatic nerve damage. Some days are worse than others. I have also had a hitch in my neck where some days I have a hard time turning it more than 20 degrees without excruciating pain. Mind you this was all prior to getting hit by the car.

Not much changed after the car incident well that was until six months later. That is when I started having twitches in my left hand and right foot. They were minor at first, but at the same time my sciatic nerve was the most painful it had been since the initial injury in 2001. So I promptly got off my feet per docs orders to alleviate the pressure on the sciatic nerve.

We it turns out old age and a few years of type 2 diabetes (which mind you I had completely cleared myself of in early 2011 through exercise and diet)  caught up with me. It turns out I have a circulation issue called venostasis and over the 3 months of being pretty immobile recovering from the sciatic pain this new issue reared its ugly head.

My leg had swollen and turned almost black like a giant bruise. I thought it was something far worse, but thankfully it is completely treatable, if managed properly. That said, this again put me on bed rest for recovery. That is when the issues with my neck really showed up, my left pinky and ring fingers were twitching constantly.

It has been almost a year since all this bad stuff started showing, but through diet and exercise the issues are slowly going back to a normal for me state. I have lost an additional 35 pounds, but have much more to go. The docs say that if I can get another 80 pounds or so off I should have very little in the way of pain or twitching and should be able avoid surgery, my weight is exacerbating the problem. 

As you can imagine my hobby time has been pretty much gone, short of a few games here because of this recovery. I am glad I am finally at the point that I can sit down and start hobbying again.

Anyway I am honestly on the road to a leaner more healthy Jim. I thank the lord for that every day. Sometimes you have to hit your lowest point to realize that your life needs a change.

Until Next time keep your powder dry and bullets flying!

Clear! Zaaaapp..... I'm back where I belong!

It has been a long year and it is high time I just retake my place amongst the blogging community. With my own flair on my original blog! Although the name is changing and more diverse content to be covered, everyone will know where to find me! So lets grab that defibrillator and jump start this pig!

I will begin tomorrow by sharing some details of what I have been through in the past 18 months. It has not been pretty but I have made it through and would like to believe I am stronger for it.

Until tomorrow keep your powder dry and lead flying!